NFL QB free agency roundup ft. Baker Mayfield, Russell Wilson & Kirk Cousins | NFL on FOX Pod

Dave Helman sits down with Greg Auman to talk about NFL Free Agency! Within the conversation, the duo react to latest moves! Does Kirk Cousins make the Atlanta Falcons a contender? Will Rusell Wilson cook with the Pittsburgh Steelers? Can Baker Mayfield live up to the large contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Check out everything the duo said here!

#NFLonFox #NFL #BakerMayfield

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NFL QB free agency roundup ft. Baker Mayfield, Russell Wilson & Kirk Cousins | NFL on FOX Pod

All right, Greg, let’s be as efficient as possible, because the way, this is going, something’s probably going to happen while you’re on with me. In the time since you hopped on zoom, Brian Burns has been traded to the New York Giants. It’s just that kind of day. So we’ll get to Brian Burns.

There’s a lot to get to, but let’s start it with the big ticket items. You came on the show with me last week and we talked about the landing spot for some of these quarterbacks. Let’s start there with the biggest, most expensive position.

Kirk cousins, now a member of your division, the NFC south, agreeing to a deal with the Atlanta Falcons. And if I can be honest, this felt like the most poorly kept secret in the NFL for the last two or three days that this was going to happen. Yeah, absolutely.

It’s one of those where, you know, last week we’re talking about his in-laws are in town and all the connections and you know, Pro football talk is saying that he’s already looking to move his family there. So there was this lingering like, what if Minnesota realizes they might

Not have very much left at quarterback and tries to make a push? Um, they didn’t. So it’s one of those where I think you see how much money is involved with the Falcons this is four years in $180 million. $100 million guaranteed. Um, you realize how much that franchise was aware of what

The drop off was at quarterback and what their plan B might have looked at. And I think you pay a lot to avoid that scenario, basically. Yeah which I mean, there’s two with this, I guess. Let’s start with Atlanta, because it is it’s I mean, it’s this is the big ticket quarterback.

They’ve been missing since Matt Ryan left town, basically. And I’m curious, we we’ve seen what a struggle it is to win this division for the last couple of years. Is it as easy as saying the Atlanta Falcons are the prohibitive favorites right now? I think they’re probably a slight favorite right now.

I mean, everybody got excited when the Saints got Derek Carr last year, thinking that would push them over the top and it close. They tied for the best record in the division, but they didn’t close it out. So I do think, um, you know, the perception of this Falcons team

A year ago all last season was a great team that was missing a quarterback solid offensive line, great young talent on offense, a good defense and they just had quarterbacks that gave them 17 touchdowns in 17 games and as many interceptions and you can’t win without that position.

So I think what this does, as you said, maybe for the first time since Matt Ryan or maybe even two or three years before Matt Ryan was gone in Atlanta, is it gives them a guy who can be a playmaking quarterback, a 30 touchdown quarterback. I think I think the number with Cousins

Is 25 touchdowns or more in the last eight full seasons he’s played and that’s much better. Atlanta’s had 17 touchdowns each of the last two years 20 the year before that. So this should get them to be a much better offensive team and put them position at least to make the playoffs,

If not to win the NFC South. Yeah, I can’t Falcons fans, I can’t promise you that you’re going to make it to the Super Bowl or anything. I think Vikings fans are going to bring up the lack of postseason success, but I think you can set your watch to Kirk Cousins

Being a good, productive quarterback. I think Atlanta is going to be in the conversation in a way that they just haven’t been the last four or five years. Really quickly, before we move on, I do think it’s interesting to see where Minnesota goes from here, because now all of a sudden

It’s nice not having to pay the guy, but now it’s I don’t know. Do you try to swing a trade for Justin Fields or do you do something crazy in the draft to get up and draft one of those guys? The options all of a sudden don’t

Look inspiring in Minnesota, right, with Mayfield back in Tampa, with Russell Wilson in Pittsburgh. Now all of a sudden it’s like, hey, Sam Darnold might be available. So, yeah, I would think there’s got to be something between those two, whether it’s I mean, trading for fields, trading within the division

Is always a little bit harder to pull off. So the Bears might not want to they might take a slightly worse offer just to avoid seeing Justin Fields twice a year in divisional play. But again, he would be probably their best remaining option. There’s not a lot of good even second tier

Quarterbacks available. You’re talking about guys like Garoppolo. There’s other people that could they could go to. But it’s just it’s not a it’s nobody you’d confuse with Kirk Cousins at first glance. I’m really interested to see how they navigate that. We’ll have time when they eventually show us their plans,

We can talk about it. Then let’s get to those other two guys you mentioned. You and Eric Williams came on the show and y’all both honed in on Russell Wilson has a very interesting storyline. I got to be honest with you. I thought he might hang out there for a little while

Longer than he did, but Russ didn’t even wait until free agency opened. He signed a deal in Pittsburgh for roughly 1.2 million. I like I like the deal in the sense that I think Pittsburgh got better at quarterback and this was already a team that made the playoffs.

But am I crazy if I don’t think it changes the calculus for the Steelers all that much in the AFC pecking order? Um, they’re not like a top tier. I mean, I think it definitely helps them on the offensive side of the ball. They for it felt like for them to move

Forward with Ryan, with Kenny Pickett versus Mason. Rudolph was a lot like the Falcons a year ago with like Des Ridder or Taylor Heinicke. They were going to have a hole at quarterback. So what this does is it gives them if you just get Russell Wilson of last year, which is 26 touchdowns

Against eight interceptions, you’re getting that for 1,000,002. He’s he’s one of the cheapest guys on their roster. So even as a one year bridge quarterback I think they’re better for it. It makes them certainly a team that’s expected to be a playoff team. I don’t know if they’re going to challenge Baltimore.

I don’t know. I mean, Cincinnati is going to be better. Cleveland, that whole division is hard to get a good beat on right now. But I think it helps them. I think it’s a good match-up for him. I can see why he’s going to a veteran coach,

A consistent winner, Uh, has some weapons to throw to and for the Steelers. It’s definitely better than running it back with Kenny Pickett and hoping that he just finds himself in year three. That is one thing. I do think the Steelers deserve credit because they are more than almost anybody.

I just think the Steelers are they’re set in their ways. They I mean, it seems like they’ve done everything the same way since the 1970s. You know, famously, only three head coaches going back to chuck noll. So for them to kind of step outside of that comfort zone

And and bring in some competition for Kenny Pickett and to do it with a very high profile player, like I said, I’m not convinced the Steelers are a drastically better team because of this. But I do think they deserve credit for sort of deviating from that very typical Steeler way.

Sure and this is kind of I mean, from a locker room chemistry standpoint, there’s a risk involved here. I mean, Russ, again, Russ isn’t for everybody. He’s going to have to handle himself probably better and have things work out from a chemistry standpoint better than they did in Denver in that, again,

This is a guy that it got to the point where they were OK taking on $85 million in dead money in paying him $39 million this year not to play. So you’re taking a gamble that Tomlin just as a manager, as a guy who gets people to get along when

They might not otherwise do. So he’s got to figure out ways to make that work so there isn’t a negative aspect from a locker room vibe standpoint. Let’s take it down to your backyard, Tampa, Florida. And very similar to their whole off season.

I mean, they did it with Mike Evans a week ago and now Baker Mayfield resigns in Tampa Bay. I don’t think that’s a surprise. I think most people expected that to happen. But just the way that it all just sort of came together. No drama, no negotiating in public Baker slots.

Right in three years, 100 million with a chance to make 15 or so million in incentives. I think it’s just rare for a free agent quarterback you know the most important position to just kind of slot right in. But I guess it’s a testament to the relationship there

With Baker and the Tampa front office that this just felt really easy for such a big time negotiation. Right I agree. And I think it speaks well to Mayfield putting a priority on being in a good situation where he’s comfortable and feels like he’s valued and a leader as opposed

To rolling the dice and going somewhere where that might not be the case. I think he probably could have gotten more mean. Mean if he is a free agent right now, he’s probably going to the loser of this Falcons Vikings deal for more money than he’s getting right now from the Bucs.

But again I think he you know came there not knowing I mean when he went to the Bucs last year for $4 million that’s probably his last shot to go to a team as a presumptive starter and he made the most of that. He had career highs in yards, career highs in passing

Touchdowns, led them to the playoffs, won a game in the playoffs and kind of won the City over. It’s not take over a team from Tom Brady and he did that and he won as many games more games than Brady did. Won a playoff game when Brady did in his last year.

And now he gets the fruits of that, which is, you know, for him at least two years and 60 million. I like the symmetry of it. I like I like that the Bucs know where they are. You know, like similar to Kirk in Atlanta.

I don’t know if they’re going to win a Super bowl, but I think this is these last this last year or two, maybe three, it feels like Tampa’s last chance to do something with this core of guys that they won the Super Bowl with back in 2020,

Whether that’s Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, we’ll see what happens with lavonte David. But this feels like pushing your chips in for two years. And if it works, great. If it doesn’t, that’s when the Buccaneers retool. But I like keeping the continuity of this team. That kind of surprised people last year.

Right? oh, Yeah. And this will be a little bit different in that, you know, with the Brady years, you had such high expectations with last year, you had amazingly low expectations where some people thought they’d be among the worst teams in the league.

Yeah now think it’ll be kind of middle of the pack now. I think the NFC South will be seen as a dogfight. We’ll be seen as, hey, the falcons, you know, went out and got Kirk Cousins. They’re the team to beat. Bucs were able to bring everybody back maybe

A little pieces here and there because they’re not quite as cap strapped as they were a year ago. And the Saints are right there, too. I mean, the Saints again went 9 and eight, tied for the best record in the league. They’ve got Carr back. They probably won’t have the upgrades talent wise.

The rest of the division will, but I think they’ll be right in it. So yeah, it makes it a fun Division Ii two handicap going into the season. I’m going to say I don’t think anybody would mistake it with the best division in football. Oh, no, but be the most competitive.

I mean, I don’t think anybody is backing the Panthers right now. But other than that, you could make a strong case for any of the other three. So that’s definitely that’s going to be something to watch as we inch closer to training camp.