Roster Reset: AFC West and East

we reset the entire NFC. This week it's the a f C s turn, and today we're tackling the East and West with our pal here from NFL Media, Mike g rd And Mike, We're gonna start with the East in a division this century that has been dominated by the Patriots, but they are not the top dogs anymore. The Buffalo Bills now went back to back a f C East Crowns looking to make it three in a row. And that's kind of what we expect here, Mike, with Josh Allen establishing himself as one of the most elite

quarterbacks in this entire league. But how competitive do you expect the division to be to try to topple the Bills at the top there? Yeah, I don't know that anyone has done enough at to this point, even though Miami has done some splashy things, um to close the gap on what Buffalo is. Because Buffalo has done a really nice job again this offseason and sort of maintains that distance I think between them and the other teams in the division. And you know, it's gotta be a

little disheartening, I think maybe for New England. Uh. And if I'm Miami, like, look, they're feeling good about what they did, but man, there's still a long gap. There's still a large gap rather between you and Buffalo in my opinion. Yeah, I would agree there, you know as well, and despite all the moves and all the trades and a new regime. Um. And we're gonna get into that with the Dolphins, Like, it really comes down to the quarterback in this division, and there's not one that is

on the level of Josh Allen at this point. But let's start there with the Bills. Then how would do great with the Bills did this offseason, which you know clearly has been impacted by the marquee signing of Von Miller. Yeah, I give him. As I was looking at it last night,

I'd say a minus. And I'd say the only reason I would go a minus and not higher is that Brandon being talked about the need for some more speed, I think on both sides of the ball, and I think, you know, von Miller certainly gives them some of that, but I think there's offensively they could use another guy

that has the ability to take at the distance. And yeah, Diggs, you have Gabe Davis, but I think maybe whether it's someone in the slot, maybe it's another big outside receiver we can take the top off, or maybe if you can start running back. I think that's an area where wouldn't surprise me come draft time if that's what they address. And they're they're going to be some receivers that have you know, that have gone. Some of the top receivers will be gone by the time the Bills are on

the clock. Here. We'll get to that here just a little bit, but there could very well be uh still one of the top flight wideouts in this year's class of ailable for them there. And look, I think you mentioned it, but Gabe Davis. You know, Emmanuel Sanders told us on g MFB last week when he was with the crew that Gabe Davis is one of those dudes

that is going to become a household name. And I think he kind of asserted himself into, you know, the conversation, inserted himself into the conversation in that divisional game loss to the Chiefs. But you have three touchdowns in that game against Kansas City, So I think we're gonna see a lot more from him. But you're right, I think a little more speed could certainly benefit what the Bills want to do, especially after locking up Stefon Diggs to

that contract extension. Let's move on then to the Patriots right there in New England. As we mentioned, a lot of staff turnover this year, clearly with Josh McDaniels out and no clear successor as an offensive coordinator, which has obviously been one of the storylines here. So if you if you factor that in, you know, to the grade here, Mike,

how are we are? We looking at the Patriots? C minus for starters are mentioned the coaching staff, right, I think unless Bill O'Brien had come to be the offensive coordinator, I think replacing Josh was gonna be hard to do. Gonna be hard to do this season. I mean, he's been calling plays for basically twenty years. Uh, he's helped be the architect of this offense and the way it's developed over the course of twenty years. Um, and he

did a terrific job I think with Mac Jones. And you saw the pictures if you're watching the games, after every series that goes to the bench, Josh goes there right next to him. Now, who's gonna be doing that this year? Is that Joe Judge? Is that that Patricia? Isn't Nick Cayley? Um? No one knows for sure. I do know that Bill Belichick has a large steak in Mac Jones and his future, and I believe that Bill Belichick will be more involved with Mac Jones. I think

that's the feeling inside the building. But again, what does that really mean? Does that mean an extra meeting a week with him? Does that mean he's watching the offense more closely and during games and paying less attention to the big picture. Like I don't. We haven't seen it yet,

so I don't know how it's gonna go. I just know that with Josh there, Bill was able to turn his back on the offense at times and talk to the defense because Josh was essentially the head coach of the offense and had you know, Carpe launched to do what he wants so that, to me is a massive issue for this team. And then I think the other thing, right I look at is they lost some good players that they haven't replaced. J. C. Jackson is gone, Right,

what's the replacement plan? Terrence Mitchell? No, Malcolm Butler, Like, okay, that's a nice dice roll. But theyn't really guarantee any money from Malcolm. So they're telling you right there, like, well, if it works, it was worth the risk. And if it doesn't, well we didn't pay anything to do it. And then I started go down the line too, and it's like, okay, they brought Devin mcquarterback. That makes sense, right,

you're going through some turnover. He's a culture guy. He still played at a pretty high level to keep him. But then I thought Trump Brown was gonna be gone. They got him back, They didn't pay him a ton of money. How much is he gonna play. He's had a hard time staying on the field. He's miss basically half his games over the last three years. Um, he's a big man. He's got lower leg issues like those don't get better. He's not gonna be two eighty five

anytime soon. Right, they got a weight clause inform to stay under three sixty. But I think he's just at the point of his career now where if he plays double digit games in the season I'd be surprised, or maybe you'd be excited by that fact. You bring James White back again, sort of been a key guy for you coming off a really bad hip injury. Wasn't walking for the first couple of months after the injury, Like, so where is he? Like he's making progress, but again,

no guaranteed money. Jabrol Peppers people are trying to get excited here about he projects as a depth piece and maybe a return guy. Like there's just I look at the roster and I say, man, there are a lot a lot of holes in this roster and a lot of things that need to be addressed. And look, I think it was it was probably it would probably be a little foolish to expect them to spend another you know, three hundred and whatever million like they did this two

off seasons ago. Now when they brought in you know, Hunter Henry and John new Smith and and spent all that money with Matthew Judan and that whole crew, and would love to get a little bit more out of that tight end room, particularly with John new Smith for some of the money that was spent, certainly got a lot out of Matthew Judan was was one of the best free agent signings of the twenty one off season period, not just for New England. So yeah, still someone answered

questions there for the Patriots. Let's move to the Dolphins. Mike McDaniel the only new coach in the division this offseason and seems dead set on rolling to a tongue of viola out there again and trying to support him. How much does that factor into the grade here? Yeah, I'm giving him. I'm giving him a B. And this could this could be at a if Tyreek Hill meshes with the quarterback and turn Armstead stays on the field, because we know when he is on the field he's

one of the best left tackles of it. Well, it also can slide to a D because I don't know that Tyreek Hill meshes with who two is as a quarterback, right and he's going from Patrick to to ah too. Is still trying to prove himself in the landscape. Patrick is the best quarterback in the league or one of two or the three best quarterbacks. Right, there's there's no

question about that. Um and Armstead, Like, if Armstead there's a big investment in him financially, and if he has another one of these seasons where he's playing six games, that that's a massive issue. And look at this point in his career, does it get better? You know, like you hope it does because you want to see the guy on the field. We all want to see the best players on the field every week. But that's not a that's not a lot considering his his past history.

But to your point, like it really is, it's all about Toah because now they've given him pieces, They've got a coach who at least publicly is saying he believes in him. Although the signing of Teddy Bridgewater at the number that they gave him makes you wonder like and look to it hasn't been healthy a lot either, so he's miss games. He I guess you have to have a viable back up there. But again it just sort

of it makes you think a little bit um. But look, I think probably McDaniel got the job in part because he said I can make this work with Tah. I think the owner wants it to work with Tah. But now we'll see they've got all the pieces for Tah. They gave him a much better offensive line than he had last year. Connor Williams add into the mix as well. Um, so you know now it's it's it's time, it's trying

to prove your worth. Or next year they got multiple first you know, they'll be in the quarterback market again.

I would believe. Well, so that's the thing. I kind of look at this as a win win for the Dolphins in this situation, and the first win would be to a thrives in this new environment, in this new system, with this new supporting cast that he has now, and they're ready to roll him out here for the future and he becomes you know, the face of the franchise, you know, without question, or they find out for sure this year that he is not the guy and then they're,

like you said, in the quarter back market again. So it's either we have found our solution or we know we need to find the solution. There's no middle ground after this year. Yeah, I mean, just think about how they started last year and look, the stories are pretty well documented now that Floors is not a believer in to and wanted them to move in a different direction prior to even last season. But they can't have another start like that too. We can't have another start like

that because he won't be playing. It'll be it'll be Teddy Bridgewater, and they'll have already made the decision we're

moving on in the off season to go ahead. Uh. And obviously, because of all the chips they put in on Tyreek Hill, the draft is basically a non starter for them as their first pick as in the fourth round, right, So you look at it, maybe you could steal a starter somewhere out of there in the in the latter picks, but most likely you're just looking for death pieces, or maybe you're you're rolling the dice on someone who, from whatever reason you know, had a second round grade, but

now he's slid into the fourth round because of injury or off field stuff or whatever it may be. And then maybe you hope you can you can you know, salvage that. But their team is pretty much their team

at this point. Yeah, that's a good point. And look, they'd love to to see some of those offensive linemen that they spent high draft resources on in recent years, Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt, leam Mykenberg, that whole crew really kind of step forward even more so this year too, you know, either jump into one of those best five starting positions or provide, you know, real quality depth on that roster as they look to continue to support in front of two a tug of Voloa in addition to

around him. Let's move to the final team of the division, the New York Jets, year two of the Zach Wilson Robert sala Era as head coaching quarterback. What did you see from this offseason? You know, they have gotten a lot of attention from people I talked to around the league, a f C, NFC executive, scouts. There's a plan in place like that. People are seeing a good execution of a plan and a step forward from this team here in this offseason. I say, it's a B plus offseason

for them. Like, you have the floor's offense, right, so what do you do? He needs tight ends? You didn't have any tight ends. So you go out and sign basically the two best guys that ended up being free agents in Conkman and Uzama. Right now, if they can get sort of mirror of the production they had last year, that's a great at And even if that production comes down a little bit. Still, they got nothing out of that position. They haven't had a good tight end since

Dustin Keller. I mean it's been that long, right, So now you've got two guys that are have proven to be more than competent at the position. I love that Lake and Tomlinson on the front line. You know, maybe over paying for a guard, but obviously they know him from the San Francisco days, and look much like with we talked about, you know, to ah, this is a lot about Zac now, right and the second year, we saw some signs, especially I thought later in the year

of like, okay, he's he's grown a little bit. We're seeing some things here, and now let's protect him better. You know, they were had problems to tackle Beckton gets hurt last year early, doesn't play the rest of the season, maybe got three or four games in there. So like, if they can protect him better, they've got a good plan in place to maybe take some pressure off him, get him some safety security blankets there and maybe you know, now all of a sudden, we'll we'll see what Zach

Wilson is all about. Because let's face you can have a B plus offseason and if Zach Wilson doesn't take a step forward this year, then it probably is all for not and they may find themselves, like several other teams, back in the market for a quarterback a year or two. Double line. Yeah, and that's something that's that you just

can't do it at this point. If you're the if you're that Jet, that Jets regime with GM Joe Douglas and head coach Robert sala Um, you know, you can't go back to ownership and me like, hey, sorry about that. Let's let's try that quarterback thing again. It's just you just don't get that many opportunities. I mean, it's very It is rare for a GM and a coach to get a second opportunity to draft a quarterback up high. Ryan Pason, Matt Naggie did uh and only lasted one

season with the new quarterbacks. So you really gotta you gotta look at that as this is the guy we're riding with. How do we make it work? And I think a big part of how they will make it work as we start to look at some of the draft needs here. We'll start right there with the Jets and keep this conversation rolling is what they do at four and ten because Mike, I see the ability there to yes, get an edge rusher if you really want.

And as long as the top three guys aren't gone at number four, because then you're looking at you know, let's get another tackle. Why not continue to support Zach Wilson? Maybe bounce back at ten with a white out? How do you see it? Yeah? I think they're in a position where, uh, and Joe Douglas said it, like the opportunity with four picks in the top thirty eight, five in the top sixty nine, they can get some impact players and really help shape their future going forward. Um,

and I look at it, You're right. I mean you could go pass rusher, you could go offensive tackle, you can even go corner. I mean to me, Gardner is probably the safest pick in the draft. Maybe, Um, would you do it? Is it too high at forward? Do you think you can get him at ten? You know?

I I just think they're in a position where they can just look at it and say, like, if we get this position, we can still help ourselves at ten as well, or as we've heard, and I think it is clearly part of their thinking is, you know, can we yo get a number one. Is Deebo Samuel gonna get put out there? Is DK Metcalf gonna be put out there? I mean, as of right now, you're getting pushed back and there's nothing gonna happen, and there's still

time to fix this. But I don't know. You know, they put an offer on the table that Kansas City was willing to take without the two first round picks for Tyree Hill, and he'll eventually chose the Dolphins over the Jets. But if you had dangled that ten for someone like DK or Devo, would that be you know, enough to convince the that side to say, all right, well we love our player, but we have to pay him twenty thirty million a year. We get a ten, we can get a good, good wide receiver there and

start the clock over on that position. That's just I think they have a lot of options. Yeah, I think they did well last year. And then you know, as you mentioned, I just if you can get if you can get one of those top wideouts without giving up four and ten, you know, like they were poised to do with Tyreek Hill would have done that deal all day long. But at ten, I think you get a wide receiver with five years of cost control, you know.

And I think that pays off because I think there are players, you know, those two dudes that you mentioned DK Debo, they're one of one in terms of skill set, in terms of build, but there are guys that are similar in terms of the impact that they can make that they could get their attend Drake London being one of them as a bigger target. Right. You hear London's name attached to the Jets quite a bit here during this process, dating back to the combine, and it hasn't

hasn't died down at all. You know, they feel like they've got some smaller guys that they can work underneath, and then let's get that big receiver to you know, contested catch to help bail out Zach and times when you know the window is not that big or maybe he just needs to throw one up there and trusted your guy can go get it. And I think there's a feeling in New York that that maybe London is

that guy. I would agree. Let's go back up the totem pool here with the Miami Dolphins, as you mentioned, like get their first pick is coming in the compensatory area of the third round at number one hundred and two. Um So look, I I we're not gonna identify a player here, but again, like I think trying to find you know, another edge rusher there to kind of bolster that unit. Um, I think, you know, linebacker, I think

offensive line as as a possibility. There just anywhere where they can get some really good football players that are gonna, you know me, either compete on special teams immediately or provide depth is what they're looking for here. Yeah, that to me, like I said, it's almost like you're in a dice roll situation there because you're you're not picking

for so long. It's just like, what's there? Is there somebody that we liked it again for whatever reason, has slipped down the board a little bit, or is there someone we project and maybe he's a little bit of a project, but like, hey, if we can maximize this guy, knowing that we're essentially having an opportunity to red shirt him this year, that you know, maybe that's a guy that can impact our football team, you know, two years

from now. And you know, with what they've done this offseason, I don't know that they necessarily desperate for impact pieces right away. Up. Let's move to the Bills, who have eight picks in total starting with number twenty five overall. I skipped the Patriots will get back to them here

in a second. Um, but we talked about that is maybe a spot for another wide receiver or you know, if one of those guards is available, as you continue to try to, you know, kind of beef up up front and get a little bit more to that run game,

could be something they could consider. Mike. Yeah, you know it's interesting is as you kind of keep hearing from Buffalo that maybe there might be a surprise here and maybe running back is a place where even though no one likes first round running backs, that maybe they look at a piece there and say there's someone here who can help put our offense, which is already and an overdrive, and maybe take us to another place again looking for speed.

I mean, the other thing you have to look at here is Tnevious Whites coming off the A c L. I've heard he's the head of schedule, but you know you still gotta get on the field and start doing stuff. Um so is he gonna be ready for the start of the season and their number two corner to Levi Wallas is now with Pittsburgh, so Bean has not drafted Brandon Bean is not drafted a cornerback higher than the

fifth rounds since he's been there. But maybe this is the year where you go in and you find that corner opposite of trade Avious when he gets right and feel like, you know, we're looking at a f C where all the quarterbacks are at right now, all these weapons are at. You're gonna need to be able to handle the pass, and um, it might be a perfect opportunity there someone like Andrew Booth. I know they've had

him in for a top three visit. Uh, someone like that who can slide right in right away your number two corner and then who knows, you know, a couple of years down the road where that player develops and what he becomes. But you know, I would I would look at that area if I was them, A yeah, and if you know Booth is gone, you're looking into the you know, the Kyler Gordon from Washington neighborhood, You're looking at the Roger McCreary from Auburn neighborhood there as well.

At twenty five running backs, Wiz Kenny Walker, Briest Hall, Uh, Brieste Hall of Iowa State. Uh, you know Blaze, the both those guys really did, really did well in the athletic Hall's name is I've heard Breese Hall's name come up a few times in connection with Buffalo. So again, just something to kind of keep an eye on there. And Leslie for the Patriots picking four spots in front of the Bills there in my list, Yeah, run it

down all right, left guard, left tackle, cornerback. Uh, looking for a Devin mccordy replacement, you know, thirty four going thirty five, a playmaking linebacker. Don't have enough speeded linebacker level. Uh. They were as bad against the run last year as they were the year before and that was a concentration for them during this previous off season. So maybe another

run stuffer. And you know, if you want to be nice to Mac Jones, especially after what you've done to the offensive coaching staff here, maybe get him a shifty slot receiver, which is how they've really thrived in that offense for twenty years. And you know, give him that guy. They can get open in one point eight seconds. So if your offensive line isn't getting it done, you can get the ball out to someone you trust you can make a play. I'm into that as well. Love those

choices there. As we look at the a f C East, the roster reset here, assessing what these teams have done, what they will do in the upcoming NFL Draft up next on the docket. Mike's back with us as we dig in on the a f C West back here on NFL Inside Report, Red Lewis and Mike Gardi here

with us as we continue our roster Reset series. Did the a f C East at the top part of the show here, getting into the a f C West now, But want to remind you that you can read more on the Roster Reset series on NFL dot com slash Roster Reset, and we'll be hitting all the angles as well throughout all eight divisions here in the NFL on NFL Network all week long. We should have tuned into NFL Now and all of our platforms for that information.

Back here now with Mike, Mike most competitive division in football. It's like, um, you know, it's it's literally like like a I don't watch wrestling, but if I did, this would feel like each team getting up on the top ropes and delivering, you know, like the diamond cutter to every every single team, like with the moves that they were making. You know, started with Russell Wilson and we got the vote. Adams is the Entyree Hill is out. You know, Khalil mac J C. Jackson come over to

the Chargers. This was an insane a couple of weeks for the a f C West. Um any reason to believe that it is not the best division in football? Yeah, I can't see it. I mean I just think that everybody has done so much UM and it just oh well, the Chargers just did. Then the Chiefs did the like it's just like they it was almost like clear, look, we know they do it. I mean teams look at themselves, but they also have to pay attention to the competition.

And it was almost like, oh man, well we can't stand we gotta go and do something like hey, let's go get Colombette. Like they're just there were so many things that happened that make you believe, like every one of these games, especially when they play each other, when they have those interdivisional matchups, like you're gonna you're gonna wanna DV on the game if you're not watching it live, because it just has the potential to be so much fun.

I think there's gonna be a lot of competition, and I think, you know, when you get to this level and this level of competition and the way each team sort of feels about themselves, I think there'll be some hatred involved in the Division two, which I kind of like, you know, you get get a little nasty between. You know what's funny is that, like you literally with this division, you could make a case for each one of these teams to finish first, in each one of these teams

to finish last, like can you believe that? Like we could be talking about the Chiefs, you know, won the division, you know, five straight years here finishing last in the division and you know what, they still might make the

playoffs like doing that, which is also insane. And the Broncos who finished last each of the last two years, even though they acquired Russell Wilson, because of the strength of the division of the division, they could still finish last again but again could make the playoffs winning tenoral eleven games. Like that's how crazy it is. So let's kind of set the scene here for each one of

these divisions great their off season moves. Let's start with those Denver Broncos and obviously the Marquee transaction trading for Russell Wilson. Yeah, I say it's an a minus. You know, you gave up the five picks and some players to go get them. But when you consider where they've been since Peyton Manning retired, um, desperately seeking that next guy. Um they got him. Now. To me, I'd be a little bit worried about what I've seen from Russell the

last year and a half. Uh, sort of an unwillingness to run as much um. And obviously we know there was some friction there with Seattle Nathaniel Hackett's the first year head coach, Like, how does that? Mary? I know, right now everything's wonderful, But when they start calling runs and Russell wants to throw it every play, like, does that lead him to the same place he was in Seattle? That has me curry us to see how that looks, you know, in September and October. But for now, obviously

you just have to love the idea. They finally don't have to answer questions about that position or try to talk themselves into Teddy Bridgewater or um, god, how many other guys have they gone through, right, It's just like one year yo, yeah, right, like yeah, there's nicer yeah right, ripping right, like it was the market Margaret was not markets and whatever the other one the other rippon. So like, yeah, you got to this point where you're like, you're trying

to commit yourself. That maybe just made Drew lock that this could be the next guy. You don't have to worry about that anymore. This is the guy. You're gonna tire yourself to this guy long term and now hopefully you're gonna get yourself out of that rotten back in the playoffs. So they can, you know, with the consistency that again has been lacking for the last seven or eight years. Randy Gregory comes back over as well to provide that edge, pairing with Bradley Chubb, who hope is

even healthier you know this year for the Brocos. And otherwise it's a defense that was pretty darn solid. Let's it to the Las Vegas Raiders who made a marquee transaction on both sides of the ball. Mike, Yeah, they did, and I don't know how you're not excited about that either. It's certainly Josh McDaniels going out and trading for our number one ride receiver is absolutely the opposite of what

his mentor, Bill Belichick would ever do. Remember he's the guy who told Thomas demutrof in Atlanta, now, Julio Jones, you don't trade it for that, You can get Jonathan Baldwin. They'll be about the same guy. Jonathan Baldwin I think had like five catches in his career. And you know, we know what, we know what Julio Jones went on to become for Atlanta. UM, so I say, b plus, here, there's a you know, a lot to give up for Adams. And again that's an interesting position. But now everybody, all

the elite guys are getting paid there. But I just think the synergy between him and car the idea that he wants to be there, that he wanted to come home to play for them, I think it's pretty exciting. Chandler Jones is still a really good pass rusher. You pair him with Max Crosby, Um, you know, Crosby and and Gockway were great last year. Chandler is a bit better player against the run than in Gotways, so it should be an upgrade there. And I like and this

is you know, kind of a further down. They signed to Ron Harmon, former Patriot, former Falcon deep safety guy, Jonathan Abram. It's an interesting player, you know, drafted up safe. It hasn't happened for him. Can't can't play deep, you know, it's more of a box safety. So Abrams is still gonna play. But I think having someone that they can put back there and sort of quarterback that defense and that unit and sort of communicate what Patrick Graham, the new d C wants from his defense, I think it

is important. You know, like he's not like he's not gonna make game changing plays weekend and week out, but he's a smart player, and I think that will just help that unit become cohesive, you know, maybe quicker than it would take in a normal season where you don't have a veteran that that knows the system and sort of can be leaned upon to to help things out there.

Kind of view, Abram is like Jamal Adams light. You know, it's like a player of that ilk that you would want to put in that kind of position to succeed rather than force him, you know, to be a little bit more out of his comfort zone because you have to um and so now maybe a player like Harmon, you know, can help alleviate some of those concerns on the back end there as well. All right, let's get

to the l A Chargers trade for Khalil. Max signed j C. Jackson in addition to some depth pieces up front to kind of bolster what was one of the worst rush defenses in the league last year. And man, I'm feeling pretty good if I'm l A right now. Yeah, it's an A RNA minus. I mean, I think that j C is a is a perfect fit for what

they want to do. I think the way he and Brandon Staley are already vibing is to me, it's a really I think it's pretty clear um Staley's respect for Jackson, and I think Jackson always felt like he didn't necessarily get that respect here in New England. So I think that, you know, could help take him to another level just feeling more confident because they're feeling confident in him and

trusting him to do what he does. I mean, the Mac thing, he wasn't very good last year, but now he's got both On the other side, I think Max thing might have been a little bit about health too, So now if he comes back and he's healthy. He and Bosa like that helps guys like j C. Jackson, the second hair I maag just helps the whole unit entirely. And but keeping Mike Williams maybe it's a little bit of an overpay maybe, And I know all the receivers,

they are getting paid a lot of money. Maybe they want a little bit further than I would have gone for him. But look great synergy with Herbert um Keenan Allen's getting a little bit older, maybe he can make that transition and eventually become a number one Sebastian day in the inside, like they did a lot of good things for their football team that have to make them feel great, you know, missing the playoffs last year. But I have to make them feel great rolling into you know,

the draft and the upcoming season. But Mike, I mean, what a shrewd move by G M. Tomp Kalesco. Because the contract from Mike Williams three years and sixty million probably would have cost three and ninety million about three weeks later Son early rightin mill per year right there.

Based on the way that Davante Adams got paid, the way that Tyreek Hill got paid with stuff I think about how teams have gone into the off season, so many of these some of these receivers that were in free agency, and like I know in New England, you know,

they end up trading for DeVante Parker. And as people said, it's a classic Belichick move, Well, why because he doesn't want to pay twenty five million or he doesn't want to pay twelve million for mvs So this guy, pretty good player, has our time stand on the field all the time. But like for the production for the cost, like, okay, that makes sense. And I wonder if they're gonna be more teams that sort of trying to mind that middle class,

if you will. Um because of the escalating cost for receivers and particular the receipt if the receivers weren't going to come off the board early and often in the draft this year before all this happened, they are now Like wait till you see how many white outs go in the first three rounds of this year's draft. Like just because of that salary effect that we're talking about here, our final team for an offseason grade, the Kansas City Chief,

the perennial champion in this division. How do you see it? C plus and look, I like some of what they did to react to the trade of Tyreek Hill. I thought, bringing in mvs and Juju, they got a little bit more physical and wide receiver. I think they're they're kind of giving you the idea that maybe this offense is gonna morph a little bit from what it's become, what what has been, to maybe what it's going to become. Now. I think they can be a little bit bigger, they

can run the ball a little bit more. I think because they got two pieces. Honestly, a wide receiver that blocked very well. Harry Kill is not a blocker. These guys are big guys, physical guys. I mean, obviously that's not what you're paying them to do, but that is part of the equation. But I just I look at it and say, how can you take someone who he's a top five receiver and is a complete freak in terms of his speed and how he stresses a defense.

How can you remove that player still in his prime from the equation and think, at least in the short term, that you got better. You know. Now, look, there's still draft picks, and there's a lot of different ways they can build this and address that position and how they play offense. But until we see it, and I think it's probably to take a little time to until we see it, until we see it developed, then I don't know how you can be super high on what they did.

I do like the Justin Reid signing. Honey Badger is a great leader, but I think you're seeing now even they're sort of a slowing Yeah, he's not he's not a he's not a peer like Tyrone Matthew is in terms of awareness, but he's a better he's a better athlete at this point. Yeah, absolutely, And I think that's the reason they moved on, right. I think they just felt like, all right, we've gotten a lot of mileage out of this player, and maybe now he's starting to

show some tread on his tires. You gotta get younger, we gotta hit more athletic. They did that, So I like that move, But again, now you're removing a leadership piece as well. Honey Badger clearly one of the heartbeats of that defense. So you know, again, I think it's gonna take them a little bit of time, and by no means am I writing them off. To your point, you can finish and last and still be in the playoffs, And would you want to see them in the playoffs

if they're healthy and Patrick Mahomes is the quarterback. The answer is hell, no, you would not. So they're still dangerous to me, but I think it's gonna it might take a little time to gotta hit their stride. And by the way, Marquez vald Is scantling well not on Tyreek Hills level. Is as close as it gets in the league. Like, dudes got some speed. In fact, was the second fastest ball carrier this past season in the NFL according to Next Gen Stats as they do the

miles per hour. Uh stat there, okay, Uh let me start back here with the Chiefs as we get into the draft now, Mike, because I'm gonna pose this question to you because it's something Daniel Jeremiah and I talked about and moved the sticks a couple of times when this trade went down that sent Tyreek Hill on his way. I think the Orlando Brown franchise tag at left tackle hamstrung the Chiefs a little bit in the amount of money that they were willing to commit or could commit

to Tyreek Hill. So let me ask you this, um, because they couldn't get a deal done with Orlando Brown. What if they would have just let him walk for now and say, we'll keep Tyreek Hill, will give him the money, and we'll take let's say Bernard Ryman out of Central Michigan with the twenty nine pick in the draft or wherever they were tween or thirty, which whichever one was the original pick that they had, Like, would you would you take that? Or would you take Orlando Brown?

And let's say Christian Watson from North Dakota State at a wide out. That's a good that's a good little brain vender right there here. So I would side with keeping Orlando Brown. But I don't think Orlando Brown played great last year, and I think there's still some concerns about him as a pass blocker, as a left tackle. So you know, they gave up capitol ago get him. He's younger. Maybe they look at Tyreek and say, sometimes the hamstrings, like you know, when's the when has all

of a sudden that going to turn sideways? And when it does, then the impact of the player. So I guess I would say Brown. But boy, that is a tough one. It really is a tough one. I think about it. I just you basically remade your offensive line and I and and they were pretty good last year, So I guess I would I would say I'd want to keep them together and see if they continue to

blossom as a group. I I I agree with that part of it too, because we saw what not having a marquee tackle meant for Patrick Mahomes down the stretch in the in the Super Bowl loss to the Bucks, you know, year year plus ago. Now. But let me but I'll bring this up to you, um as well, because you know, now this is with the benefit of time. But if you had not given Orlando Brown the franchise tag, Look how long it took for to Ron Armstead to

get that deal with Miami. Like as the clocks kept ticking, and the clock kept ticking on Orlando Brown, and you could say, all right, we gave Tyreek Kill the extension. Oh this is what we got for you. Is it gonna be enough? Um? Or was he gonna get that amount of money out on the open market? I don't know. With the Colts have backed up the brink struck for him, um, whereas they didn't for to Ron Armstead. You know, I think there's there's not a Chris ballad move right that

tends not to delve into it that way. There are people around the league, and you talk to people like there are some people around the league that still believe Orlando Brown's a right tackle. I'm not a left tackle, sure, and they feel they feel even more emboldened by their their thought process before last year by the way he

played this year. But you know, smallish wide receiver. I know he had the freak speed, But like I guess, at the end of the day, I'm gonna stick with protecting Patrick and hoping that he can elevate whatever receiver you decide to go with in the draft, because I'm assuming they willn't take at least one in the draft um and the other pieces juju and mvs and and and elevate them because well, quite frankly, that's what you're

paying him to do, exactly exactly. Okay, let's then move back in order with the l A Chargers here as we go back up the way, we started Chargers on the clock at number seventeen overall, hit it out of the park last year at thirteen with Rashon Slater. Wouldn't hate it if if they got one of the top tackles in this year's Class two and moved slided him right over there to right tackle. Because at some point you're gonna be paying justin Herbert fifty bill a year. Yeah,

in that time is coming sooner rather than later. I'm a pent with it that. I think Storm norton uh struggle last year right tackle. I think there's an obvious area for an upgrade. I think that you know, when you look at the tackles, I think, really, if you're not getting a tackle in the first round, you are rolling the dice. I think that's where the good ones are. I think that's historically where you find the good ones.

So this is what I'm doing. You know, whether it's someone like Trevor Penning, whether it's Charlie Cross, like somebody there that can. Again, you want to keep Herbert upright, you want to keep him healthy. Norton was a problem again. I'll go back to just watching that Patriots game, and they just tortured Storm Norton on that right side. It was a massive issue of Judean. They were all eating off him. Um, you know, you've you've got upgrade that spot. And I think that's that makes a heck of a

lot of sense. Any other position I kind of look at is linebacker. Kenneth Murray hasn't developed. Now. I don't know how Brandon Staley sees Kenneth Murray and and if he foresees him making a leap as a player, but to me, that's been an area of concern for them, and I think the potential upgrade now know Devin Lloyd,

would that be something you would do there? I mean again, I would stick with offense because I think my team has built around Justin Herbert and I think I've done enough defensively at least to get significantly better than I was last year. So maybe linebacker is a luxury pick or something you look at the second, second, or third round. But you know, for me, that's another area that I kind of look in and say, I need more out of that spot and I gotta find someone for for

Staley's defense to be the quarterback there. Yeah, and look, and by the way, if you want to look at the third round pick of the Chargers, that's number seventy nine overall. If they want to if they want to look at a linebacker there, some names to follow would be, you know, Leo Chanal from Wisconsin. Um with big strong dude Trey Anderson from Montana State might be gone by that time. Um, but man Cheney can can. I WT the sneaky one. So he's not big, he's I think

he's five eleven. He's about two thirty. But I have become enamored with Oklahoma State's Malcolm Rodriguez. That dude, that Rhett, just like I know your Bucky and and DJ they might shoot me down. I just every time I've watched him now, he finds the football. It's like he has an unbelievable mac for finding the football. Sometimes he takes weird roots to get there, but he gets there and he makes plays. Uh, you know he I think he was a high school wrestler, like a really good high

school wrestler. I think he was also, Uh, I think he was a pretty good running back as well. I think if I had my memory or maybe he was a quarterback whatever, he was a good offensive player. I remember that. So like he's just he's an intriguing guy for me. And again, like then now we're talking, he's probably a fourth or fifth round pick. But you know, beauties in the eye of the beholder and right now. He's pretty beautiful to me. There you go. Yeah, Darien

Beavers from Cincinnati. Another one that I like. Joe Joe Dolman from Nebraska. Um, you know that kind of has some of that versatility that I think Brandon Staley would get into. So um, there's you know, just the thought there um on what the Chargers might do. Then let's get into now the Las Vegas Raiders, who again, look they're not gonna be on the clock until the third round after the Davante Adams trade eight six overall, but a a position group or another need that you'd like

to see filled their offensive line. I think if you looked at their offensive line last year, Colton Miller played really well, in fact, kind of established himself as one of the better young left tackles in football. Um, but I think pretty much the rest of that offensive line struggled. Uh. You know, Alex Leatherwood first round pick, they put him

a right to like, maybe he's better suited inside. I just think at that spot that's I kind of be looking to to to add some competition there and maybe get an upgrade because I just think they need to be better in front of Derek. I think there's there are too many holes and too many questions with that offensive line. So that's something I think makes a lot of sense. And you know Josh's offensive background, Like, let's all right, we got pieces on offense, we've got skilled players.

Now let's fortify up front and that you know, a third round guard. Now, that's more in line with the way Bill Belichick has thought all those years, right, and McDaniel seeing that up close and personal as well, Yeah, yeah, I know exactly right. Um, and again, they really only have five picks, and they've got two in the fifth round and then one's in the third, fourth and at seventh.

Let's move to the Denver Broncos, who will not pick in the first round because of the Russell Wilson trade, and say that's a a plus move from that perspective, essentially sending the number nine pick this year and a couple of players as well over to Seattle. So they're on the clocket number sixty four. This is uh the pick they got, one of the picks they got from the Rams for the von Miller trade. So here we are at sixty four. Were not like there for Denver.

So I think another cornerback here and I think there's plenty of guys to choose from that will be in and around that area. You know, something like Martin Emerson from Mississippi State Camp, Taylor Bread from Nebraska, Kobe Bryant, who, by the way, I really like from Cincinnati. You watch Sauce and nobody threw it sauce they're throwing at Kobe and Kobe handled his business over there in Cincinnati pretty well.

Like to me, that would make a lot of sense. Again, we're talking about the division we've we've rattled off these teams Mahomes Herbert car like, you need to have good corners. I think that's an area would make a lot of sense for me. I think another one, um, you know you traded fan as part of the deal to get Wilson.

How about McBride from Colorado State? Right, Like, would that you know in your backyard it was the top tight end in the in the country last year won the award, right might be a you know, nice little fit there and give give a security blanket for for Russell with a with a you know, treasure trove of weapons on the outside between Judy and Sutton and Patrick like they've got plenty of pieces outside, but maybe someone who can

work the middle of the field a little bit. That would be uh, that would be a luxury pick for them. I think I'd probably go a corner first, but McBride's a pretty good player. Might be hard to pass him up. Yeah, if he's there, that that could make some sense that you have albert A koy boon him who provides the

speed at the y position. Um, you know. And if McBride not there, Isaiah likely from Coastal Carolina, um has you know, is a guy that has been asked to do a bunch of things there for Coastal and really gets into it in the blocking game too, So could help that offense in a variety of ways. And look at interior defensive line um as well. Maybe a guy like Travis Jones from Yukon after they said Shelby Harris on his way, Um, just kind of beefing up the

front of that defense. Try to collapse the pocket from a number of different areas. I dug up a good little nugget. Um. They added ten players in free agency, Red who played forty four playoff games between them and their roster prior to had like nothing there was like, yeah, you know Jstin Simmons is one of the best players. He's one of the best safeties in the league. Right He's never played in the playoff game. They added and it's not just Russell, you know, it's a d. J. Jones,

It's Randy Gregory, Krowan Williams, Billy Turner, Tom Compton. Like, they added a lot of pieces that know how to play in January, you know, and know how to play in some of them in February. And I think that's a nice little addition for that team too, just in terms of leadership. You know, you're you're bringing some young players onto a team that that's got some pretty good guys that know how to point you in the right direction to where you want to go. I love that.

That's a great nugget in fact, because playoff experience, while you know it is oftentimes something we talk about, it's more tangible than I think people people realize when you get in the locker room and people see the habits and other guys see the habits, the daily work habits of those who have been there and knows what and know what it takes to get to the top of the mountain. So I think that's that's a good point there, Mike.

Already on the Denver Broncos now with some playoff experience, with some Super Bowl experience with Russell Wilson coming over as well, so a lot of like there in Denver. It's going to be a wild ride in the a f C West. Thanks for setting to straight like but all right, that's gonna do it for this episod hide

of NFL Inside Report. Thanks so much for being with this reminder to download, rate, and review our show and the I Heart Radio app on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast We appreciate you guys being along for the ride. For our producers Thomas Warren, Tim Paracca, and Harrison Stanford. I'm your host, Brett Lewis. We'll catch you next time. NFL Inside Report is the production of

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