The guys recap 2 bonkers days of Free Agent signings for the Commanders as the ‘legal tampering’ kicked off, and now the official start of the NFL league year has arrived at 4 pm today.
What’s up gentlemen awesome to see everybody on a really wild day for a recording of the Blind Pig courtesy of BG OB session.com before we dive in first we’ll do intros top left is Chris he heals is Chris bottom left is John he heals is noon
Boon sorry not noon Boon bottom right is Bob you can find him at Neo fight top right is Mark he HS his home and you can find me on as silent threat and because Bob Bob’s mom is rumored to be a fan of the podcast Bob did put his pants on he
Did he did episode so appreciate that we’ll see if that comes up in the conversation on Saturday oh all right gentlemen so um oh yes interesting day interesting two days John and I kind of bounced off of John how we handle this instead of just diving in because I’m sure we all
Are going to have a lot to talk about uh I figure we would do position groups um just so that it’s somewhat structured because there’s a lot to talk about but the first thing I want to talk about before we dig into the Precision groups we signed two people back from the original
Roster uh as far as people that hit free agency today we signed Jameson Crowder and yesterday we signed who am I blanking on Jeremy re Jeremy Reef sorry today was today and it was both Crowder and Reeves uh Reeves is a two-year deal Crowder is a one-year deal you can’t
Even count Crowder I mean Crowder barely you know the ink was barely dry on his contract from last year right like it doesn’t even count so I’m just curious you guys reaction to those two before we start digging into the people that we brought in from
Outside it’s kind of a I don’t want to say indictment indictment might be too strong of a word because it’s not like we don’t have some Talent but it’s definitely if you didn’t think they were blowing this roster the hell up and rebuilding it you got to believe
That now right I mean I figured we I mean I think we all thought it would it would not be a ton of those guys but like I said setting aside Crowder one guy and I don’t think Reeves was really even on our that big of a one of the
Guys that we thought was a must resign kind of a thing so I’m I’m a little bit shocked I’m a little bit shell shocked but it’s not necessarily A Bad Thing I like I love the Reeves resigning for I guess two reasons one it’s an investment
In special teams and it just makes sense because he’s he’s been a solid player it’s also a little bit of a legacy thing we haven’t done a lot of that obviously because they turned over the roster dramatically but bringing back a guy who [ __ ] earned it right he he earned a
Resigning and he’s I think he deserves to be part of this that one just feels right to me I’m happy for him and I’m happy that they saw it that way homegrown guy um and he’s now made it through into his third coaching regime correct corre which is pretty cool not
Very many guys have bridged uh outside of the top three or four that have gotten contract extensions I think Reeves might and trese I’m just trying to think off the top of my head how many actually have been here since pre Rivera and it’s a short list you know we don’t we don’t
Get all Pros around here very often so I I feel like you kind of gota you kind of got to keep the guys you get um and and Reeves has been all that right so I was thrilled with that I actually was not unhappy to see them resign Jameson
Crowder today kind of the pros Pro um last year he he came in and he did exactly what he was asked to do uh a couple of guys on the boards commented that he was really kind of filling the role of almost a pseudo tight end that
He was making those kind of catches last year for the offense and being that easy that easy outlet but you know the I don’t remember the guy dropping a ball last year that got thrown at him and and he brought life back to our punt return
Game when we had none uh at all I mean he’s been the only thing vaguely exciting on the punt return side of the ball in four years I mean during the regular season right we all got excited about Cass Allen last year before he was one of the Final Cuts other than that
Excitement as to whether they catch the ball or not we had a lot of that excit before well there is that yes I’m talking about actually returning the ball Chris not just I know so I mean I was thrilled with that there are a couple of other guys I’d
Like to see him at least talk to but I’m not dying for anybody else back am I the only one who did who thought Crowder was older than 30 I was thinking he was 32 33 he’s still he’s got another three four solid good years doing what he does he doesn’t rely on
Speed right he’s a technique guy yeah I I did not know that I I thought he was over 30 so one thing I just want to throw out there and I don’t know I didn’t I I was lazy today it’s been a busy week I think for all of us so if
You’re expecting like a you know detailed breakdown of all these guys not gonna happen you’re not GNA get it tonight probably but I was just shocked by the sheer volume and I think I mean I get dumbass of the Year award so far because last week I talked about how
Adam um had Peters had telegraphed that they might not be super aggressive in free agency because you build through the draft and all that well hell you can throw that out the window I couldn’t have been wrong about that um but 15 is by my count we’ve and it’s not over yet
15 free agents signed including the two from internally um six on offense seven on defense two special teamers so it’s I don’t know what we how many free agents we brought in during the Rivera era I know that we this time the last couple years at this point of free agency we
Were like are we going to sign anybody yeah with Wy and Gates what Dallas fans are saying right now and jets fans right like are they gonna do anything uh and then the guys that we did bring in were were not what we’re seeing here which I
Know we’re going to talk about that but I just I’m just blown away by how aggressive they’ve been how many do you think we would of those 15 how many do you think we would have signed if Ron Rivera was still here and not Dan Quinn
And Adam pet I don’t think they would have wanted to come here I think that’s a big factor but it’s the right question kingsberry right it’s the right question right four I’m just over under five maybe and it wouldn’t have been some of the guys that we got well the other the
Other part of that probably would have been there wouldn’t have been as much Gap or room for it because they would have been bringing back guys like Cody Barton and um you know name your Ron Rivera signing that they want to give a second contract to how many those for one year
Contracts either that we have like seven guys that are on one-year contracts uh and I think in I think would that would have been a tough sell to say yeah we’ll sign you for a year hell I can get that anywhere else I just how long is
It way too long has it been since we’ve had players that have wanted to come here for something other than a paycheck yeah because they didn’t they didn’t drag anybody here because they offered them huge money they want to come here or long-term stability right or security right what I’m getting the impression
And I know it’s it’s like we’re we’re commanders fans so we want to believe good things about it but what it tells me is that what we thought and hoped was true that the transition from Snyder to Harris and having a legit GM and bringing in a respected head coach and
The draft capital and the salary Capal all those feathers in our cap that we had they mean something outside of the room here too they mean something out in the world in the NFL people are falling I think at least two of these guys have been quoted saying this is where I
Wanted to come for this opportunity the fact that they’re signing like you say Chris for for modest money and short term they want to be part of something we we might not have thought that Dan Quinn was like a home run higher but I think the NFL
Players see it a totally different way that’s that’s the vibe I’m getting and the coaches out there too right look at the we talked about the Rolodex he had and people wanting to come and he’d be able to pull together a solid staff and everything else this is all
Related so I guess let’s not waste any more time uh start on the offensive side of the ball I figure the easy one we kind of touched on uh is Zack SS I don’t know that there’s anything groundbreaking there beyond what we talked about last week um well he’s
Another guy that’s 27 Derek that we talk about him like he’s 33 I think he’s 27 I mean fact check me if you want but Z in the leag yeah Z SS has been around for a while 33 He’s 33 okay well I don’t know where the hell he got that yeah yeah
Because I saw several comments about what the hell are we doing signing a guy that’s a year older than Thomas he plays like a 27y old he does he does he definitely plays an active Ty he is not a lumbering tight end he is very active and he plays I
Don’t think we’re expecting him to be the lead guy right he’s a he’s a locker room guy and a meeting room guy and he a brid between don’t you think that’s a clear strategy in this is that we hired like we hired a bunch of guys to three-year contracts more than we
Probably realized and you figure those guys are still in their Prime if we’re giving them three years the some of the other guys like Wagner like Zack her the I mean they can still play at level but that’s got to be like mentorship changing the tone in the locker room
Work ethic being a professional that’s got to be a there’s a whole segment of these guys that I think that’s the role they’re going to play which is really smart um one of those guys and I guess we can jump right into o line uh Center
Tyler beot Tyler Bates I really want to call him Tyler badass just because it looks it sounds cooler but I guess I heard it’s it’s pronounced Bates and uh guard Nick Alig I believe they both got three-year deals if I’m not mistaken they did um so two big time interior o
Line additions Tyler has been a starter for multiple Seasons uh Alig gry has not uh he did start a number of games last year including the Super Bowl where fun fact while blocking on a play he tore his UCL which is the uh unilateral uni John you
Can probably say it better than I can but the ligament in your elbow that Tommy that creates the Tommy John injury for baseball pitchers so tour that in the beginning of the Super Bowl ended up playing six or not the beginning but he ended up playing 60 additional snaps in
Finishing the game with the torn UCL uh and only winning because of it but those are two big time o lineman additions and badis I gotta I gotta get that name down I’m going to say badass ass was a pro bowler in 2022 I mean he’s we’re also hurting our our opponents
Right in the division you got to love that as well I’ve heard several commentators say that that the one of the biggest advantages of botes in addition to being physically pretty solid is a great a great stabilizing Veteran Center for presumably a rookie quarterback you need to have someone there who can make
The line calls and and understand the game and help this kid along and if nothing else with both him and Alig gry the interior of rool with cosmi even if these are floor guys and we ended up we end up bringing an additional higher end or drafting
Somebody this is a pretty good floor for an offensive line in a transition year like this I’m I’m impressed with what they did there and going into a draft that’s supposed to be one of the best tackle drafts in like 20 years um so they’re you know they’re grabbing the
Guys that maybe aren’t going to be there aren’t going to be as many of them available in the draft to build to rebuild the interior I think that’s smart as well I you know I think you can you can look at the all 15 of these guys in in a in one big
Picture and get a really good picture of what Adam Peters thinks of this year’s draft you know look we’ve pretty much filled the defensive I realized we’re not talking about defense yet but but in the overall scheme of things we pretty much filled the de room right we and
This is not a strong draft for the edge I mean everything I read about it is that once you get out of like the the second round there’s just not going to be much in terms of edge in fact I read something the other day that this whole
Draft is relatively weak as far as depth is concerned and that once you get down into the middle of fourth round or early fifth round you’re looking at guys that in previous years would have had an undrafted free agent rating on them that that’s that that’s how slim this draft
Is that really it’s the first four rounds and after that not a lot and Edge is not a strong position uh tackle is Garden Center not so much so with the caveat though Bob that we they don’t [ __ ] know they they’re just you know I mean it’s no you’re right you’re right
That’s the only caveat is um sometimes all those those statements that are made by the draft experts don’t prove to be well if if we only had a GM who excelled in late round picks no man so you want to talk about the DN group defensive end group since you since you
Segue to that how about quarterback since we’re on offense yeah I figure we can knock out off um it’s not a huge deal Mariota one year I believe up to six million or sorry one year base of six up to eight eight and a half if I’m
Remembering correctly yeah I I seen a lot on Twitter and everywhere saying that this means that we’re now drafting Jaden Daniels because of the fact that he’s a more of a and I’m just laughing at people because they went after darnold before so I mean
It makes no sense yeah they they were in they were they were in conversation with darnold before that so I I literally just think that Peters and Company are looking at the best possible person for the scenario that we’re in and they’re they’re they’re you know they’re
Targeting those guys I don’t think it can think of Three Good Reasons off the top while you go with a guy like Mariota he’s not coming here thinking he’s going to be the starter he’s not nothing there’s no drama there he’s connected to is it Brian Johnson right coming down
From Philadelphia so they know him other than his little hiccup in Atlanta he’s known as a strong team and locker room guy um absolutely you bring in a veteran he’s not coming in to compete to start here and I’m sure he knows that I he’s
Not the guy that I would have picked he wasn’t on my radar I would have just assumed kept Kobe brassette if it was up to me because I think he was underrated but we’re gonna be a cheap have a cheap quarterback room man between possibly two rookies or and we don’t know what
They’re going to do with Hal but um you know they paid him six million with I think up to 10 in incentive so I mean that’s that’s about the cheapest quarterback situation you could have you’re going to be have tons of money to spend on guys that aren’t under Center
And that’s a lot different from most NFL teams plus Mark to your point about uh brassette it dawned on me he signed with New England there’s a pretty good chance he’s starting one yeah which it makes sense for him right knows he’s not going to start here his chances are yeah with
That opportunity came up I think that he was gone I feel good for him I I hope he does get to start what do you guys think it means the Mariota signing means if anything uh relative to same how what do you think I think it means more for how
Than it does what who we’re drafting I think I think how’s I think they’re actively shopping how and if they get anything better than maybe a fifth I think he’s gone I think he’s traded maybe maybe and I I think for a third I don’t know that I could
Turn that down for a fourth maybe I ideally and my first reaction to this John and I talked about this a couple of days ago when they first when I first heard they brought in Mariota I thought so they’re bringing in Mariota to compete with Sam to be the number two
Quarterback and I I kind of like that scenario it gives Sam a chance um we just I wish I knew what they thought of Sam Howell what they’re saying right because that changes everything we don’t know what they think of them and you know I I’m reading all these
People going this means they’re drafting Jaden Daniels I tell you who else Mariota reminds me of Sam how but you know I’m I’m sorry I granted I I admit it I’ve got I’ve I’ve got blinders on a I say blinders on a little bit I I’m hopeful I I saw a lot to
Really like in Sam last year and I and I would really hate to see the Young man thrown to the curb simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and that’s really the reality right I mean just the wrong place the wrong time
Put in a wrong in a poor situation by people that should have known better um and and I think the kid has a legit future in this league I mean eight games into the season last year we were talking about Sam Howell as a as as an
MVP Contender for the year right I mean he is PN and NFL Network both had his name on the short list for MVP of the year and and I I remember doing the math at 10 games if the defense had even been playing remotely decent football we
Would have been above 500 because Sam how was throwing the ball and doing well so do I think we keep Sam I don’t know do I think we draft a quarterback at two sadly I’m afraid we probably do um and I do mean sadly because I don’t feel like
It’s going to go well and I’m very concerned about that I pray this time next year I’m eating my words but there you go my friend Bob take my advice pull down your pants and slide on the ice oh Chris I want to hear what Chris thinks
About how about the whether it means anything for how uh I hope that it means that uh Sam Hal and Marcus Mariota will compete for the backup job um that would be ideal for me um because I think that Hal has very much the potential to if he is going to be
Traded he’ll be worth more later than he than he is today um as you get toward the beginning of the Season or injuries happen or all of a sudden A team’s in a desperate situation um I think he he he would return more value than he would if they
Traded him today so just just to wrap a bow on it I think that Adam Peters is way too smart to undervalue a guy that everyone thinks he’s about to trade because the second you sign Marcus Mariota you have no leverage you have you’ve totally devalued a how trade and I think they’re
A lot smarter than that so that’s just my rationale maybe I’ll they’ll probably trade them tomorrow but I don’t think he’s going anywhere and I mean kids got an NFL arm say what you will about anything else he he’s got an NFL arm and you don’t
It’s insane to trade a a essentially a second-year guy well we know he’s going into his third season that has that kind of an arm it’s insane to do that so can I can I do this to you guys but put what’s your price on Sam how somebody
Offers you a third yeah or n probably have to say yeah but a third’s hard to turn down but I think that’s my price too look but we we’re also talking philosophically there’s a lot of things that that determine I have said it multiple times on here
And I’ll say it again I am not locked in on quarterback at number two overall anyway because I you know and we’ve had this discussion so I I don’t know that I would completely dismiss if I was the GM Sam H how starting for another year and
Continuing to build the roster so that the new so that we can expand the window of the rookie quarterback we take now a lot of the moves that we’ve seen since we’ve had this conversation might accelerate the ability to win um I don’t know that it’s putting us into
Contention yet I think we’ve raised the floor immensely on this roster um but how far the ceiling has been raised is yet to be determined uh so I I guess if I’m drafting a quarterback at two I’ll take a three for Sam I don’t about if trading down into
Later in the first and still taking a quarterback which is what I think is a very realistic possibility here so we had one other big offensive signing um we’ll take that up later Austin Eckler uh signed him for two-year deal and Austin Eckler led the NFL in
Touchdowns in 2021 and 2022 had a little bit of a Down here’s a down year for Austin Eckler he only had had over a thousand yards rushing and six touchdowns last season in a in a bad year that’s basically the best running back performance that we’ve had you know
Pretty much on par with and word is he played hurt most of the year right he wasn’t he was not 100% well I that’s the worst running back per it’s the best running back performance we’ve seen in a while but I’d also like to point out
That our running back sat on the Shelf last year and gathered dust for the most part uh unless unless Sam was throwing them the ball um so that’s I I don’t know I I mean you can you can only you can only produce if you’re given the ball and Brian Robinson wasn’t exactly
Giving the ball a lot and Antonio Gibson was giving the ball even less so I don’t get me wrong I’m excited about eckar I do think he’s an upgrade over Gibson um you know but I don’t know I I I was a little that’s one of those head scratchers for
Me I feel like bringing in Eckler on a two-year deal is the move that a a contender that’s missing that key third down component you know brings in that’s a that’s like a that’s a San Francisco or Kansas City signing I’m a little surprised that Eckler came here to he is
A Pros Pro man he’s a Pros Pro he’s he could be part of it could be that mentorship role in addition to still being a hell of a he’s got a relationship with Anthony Lynn who is just by the way our running backs coach so um additionally he is the perfect signing
For a transition of a rookie quarterback dingo that’s what I was just goingon to say um so to the to the where I’m looking at it more is that that that move is that tells me more about drafting a quarterback at two than Mariota does um because you don’t pay a
Guy like Eckler coming in is exactly what you need a guy who can be dynamic in the pass game Who can completely bail out your quarterback on on a an extremely consistent basis and do whatever you need him to do and he’s not coming in to start right
And be your bcow and carry 25 times a game he’s a he’s a situational and third down back veteran an outlet for your rookie quarterback I I think it’s I I love the signing I’m having hard I’m having a hard time really being critical
Of any of them so far and I’m I’m trying not to go too far down that road but this one my reaction on this one when I first heard it was oh hell yeah he he’ll look great on third Downs coming out of the back field and kingsberry will find
Ways to get him the ball in space I mean that’s what he does that’s what ecka was built to do that yeah I’m I’m with Bob I wasn’t in love with Antonio Gibson at all and I’m quite happy with if we’re trading Eckler for Gibson yeah that
Concur I’m trying to remember if I saw this on Twitter or if somebody put it on the board you know Gibson’s got the reputation as a as a guy that puts the ball on the ground Eckler has fumbled half again as many times more than Gibson over the last four years uh
And lost more of those fumbles than Gibson over the last four years and yet he doesn’t have the reputation intri what’s the difference in number of carries yeah I was about to say number of touches I mean he’s catching he had 100 plus targets not that long ago I mean
He’s doesn’t really matter if you’re put’s a good player man Gibson’s one of the best top three players we’ve had over the last four years and I’m not I don’t mean to sound like I’m knocking Antonio if we’d resigned he might have been fine with it um I’m I’m just saying that I’m
Not I’m not as unhappy about letting Antonio go to New England as I would be if you know a couple of other guys left this team how about that I’m Bob the point I’m not the point I’m making is he is going to be and again I agree there
Is a there is a level of concern with fumbles there but when you’re last season he carried the ball 179 times and he caught the ball uh or another 51 times when you’re doing that in the year before 204 carries 107 receptions on 127 targets he’s touching the ball more which means
There’s a more likelihood that he’s going to Fumble that’s all I don’t think Antonio Gibson ever saw that targets on that level or carries no he did not um he couldn’t he Antonio couldn’t have carried that workload from the line of scrimmage passing maybe but he couldn’t
Have he I mean we tried that with him as a rookie and and he spent half the season injured um you know and when they when they pushed his carry limit up you know he started you could tell so I Eckler’s got a level of of durability
That we probably see in Robinson but we never saw in Gibson Eckler’s also got a level of juice that we haven’t seen in a while yeah when you watch when I watched the Chargers play the last couple of years ecka he just keeps jump he jumps
Off the screen at you the way he plays the game he’s kind of a hair on fire guy which seems to be a pattern around here the two days all right guys let’s talk about guys that are actually going to be on the team instead uh you mean Tyler a uh
The Long Snapper we S I think he’s a ginger guy again and so we had red snapper I think we got to call him red otter that’s just I’m throwing that out there technically we have two long Snappers on the team at the moment no we don’t yes we do Tucker Addington was
Signed two-year contract in the middle of last season when we when we cut Cheeseman we brought in Addington and he was signed through next off season and he has yet to appear on a cut list that I’ve seen okay but is three-year deal um he’s I saw today that apparently
He and Trust way know each other they like played on Rival high school high school football teams y that’s kind of a cool little tie in what ended up winning that championship game by the way yeah I think the bigger note there the bigger connection there is he’s coming from
Seattle where he played for ISO and now you’ve got your Long Snapper who’s controlling your special teams coverages your your blocking packages your audibles anything like that you’ve now got him there and he’s walking in the room already knowing everything so we’re going to go back to never ever talking
About the Long Snapper ever that’s that’s the yeah I was going to say Here’s to Tyler OT me we never say his name for the next three years yes uh so not we’re not going to draft a Long Snapper this year up for him straight up and draft for long up and
Draft the best comment I’ve seen yet was from Nikki javala and on Twitter she goes hey we just saved ourselves a fifth round pick this year I was like I was like she goes now we can use that on a position of need like that’s pretty awesome since
We’re on that that track we should talk about our new Place kicker too right mcmanis kind of a big deal yep I all I could think of when I heard about that signing was our rgm SAT in a booth and watched his team arguably lose the Super Bowl on a missed extra
Point and he oh hell no that’s not happening again here he’s been around the block man this will be his 11th NFL season but he’s money like last year he made 35 straight extra points a little bit better field goal percentage than uh Joey Sly not dramatically but he’s just
Guy that’s not going to screw it up very often which is what you want well and to to his C well to his benefit last season he was kicking he played in Denver so I mean he was kicking into much thinner air not not as good along right he’s
He’s not known for over 50 but you know if you can hit everything on a regular bases inside a 50 and the extra points that’s money I’ll take it the other thing to consider now with Place kicker is the proposed rule changes with kickoffs um and the the rule change that they’re
Talking about now is that uh touchbacks come out to the 35 now no longer the 25 so having that guy that Joey Sly who’s 100% Touchback percentage is no longer a benefit not a big a benefit anyway it’s like the NFL can’t figure that out right that for safety reasons we’re going to
Try to minimize kick returns but now they’re going to penalize teams for K get through the end zone and basically Force kick returns again yeah but they’re also playing with the XFL rules where the the kicking team lines up five yards away from the receiving team’s blocking package downfield they can’t
Move until the ball is caught a lot of things to try to eliminate that 100 m hour collision at the there’s too many damn committees I’m telling you NL that’s the problem like just stop just stop just because you have a committee doesn’t mean you need to you know change
Make yeah make rule changes all right so let’s get into the Greece here um the the the position we clearly addressed the most of was defensive end Edge oh I’m teeing you up for last brother don’t get too excited mark uh dorrence Armstrong was the biggest
Contract three years up to 45 million I want to say it was around 30 guaranteed 31 if I’m remembering correctly yeah something like that Cleland Ferell uh oneyear Pro it deal I want to say it was about three and a half I’m remembering and then Dante Fowler funny
Note with Dante Fowler apparently he was recruited by Dan Quinn at University of Florida to the point where he had committed to Florida State and then on signing day he switched and I think Chris put that nugget on the board if I’m not mistaken and I’m a Florida State
Fan I still remember that very well so then he ended up going to to Atlanta to play for Dan Quinn then he went to Dallas to play for Dan Quinn and now he’s in Washington playing for Dan Quinn so Three Edge rushers signed one of
Which to a deal Beyond two years which I think it actually is just a basically a two-year deal uh with a third-year option and then uh two other rotational guys how you guys feeling about rotational guys are former first top five draft picks oh before we move on to
We have to tip of the cap to Paul because he did talk about Tyler odish in the Pod last week about free agents we to Target I’ll give him credit not to toot my own horn I talked about Ferell I like it so it it you can see what where we’re
Headed right with this with the defensive philosophy they’re going to bring waves of guys it’s and none of these guys are necessarily flash speed rushers they’re solid play hard hit hard tackle I I’m seeing a nice healthy rotation going on and maybe trying to free up pay and Allen inside with stunts
And all the kinds of things we haven’t been doing around here um yeah I’m pretty confident we will draft an edge maybe in round two or three if they find a guy there a speed guy um but I’m watching these guys come in and I’m
Going and doing at least a little bit of YouTube just so I can get a sense of what they look like on the field and how they play and there’s a pattern there you got guys who who seem to know how to play the game and come at they come hard
Dorrence dorrence Armstrong very quietly had had the second most sacks on the Dallas roster last year behind Parsons right I mean and he wasn’t even a starter I think he played 45% of the snaps or something yeah I mean so it’s not like he was out there on even a
Majority of the snaps and he still had the second highest sack total on a team that was near the top of the league in sacks so the dudes the I watched a I watched an interview today with the Atlant the Dallas version of Ben standig effectively right he’s he’s the Atlantic
Guy that that’s dedicated to the Dallas team and he he said that Armstrong was a guy he was really sad to see leave um that that he felt like he but but he probably needs more snaps now than he was going to get in Dallas because he
Wasn’t going to displace any of the starters and even though they were rotational that he wasn’t going to get as many snaps as he deserved now the question is whether or not he will be able to make the move from part-time to full-time although is anybody full-time on the defensive line
In the NFL anymore so yeah like yeah again that that’s that’s where I’m coming from I don’t think we’re going to have guys who are are every down starters out on the outside unless we draft someone who becomes one I think we’re going to go heavy rotation I just wanted to throw one
Little this food for thought out there one thing I I wasn’t thinking we would do you know I mentioned that I I really was shocked that how aggressive we’ve been just in the volume of guys that we’ve signed um especially amazing considering this you know this is a new
Regime and they’ve probably been you know working overtime to catch up with the rest of the league in terms of the plan but I really think that when you bring in the kind of guys that we brought in already you’re really freeing yourself up to the when we get to the
Draft you can do anything because we’ve we’re going to have met so many position needs going into the draft that W they’re not going to feel they’re not going to have that pressure like we might have otherwise with all you know they can pick the guy that they
Think has is the best player whether or not it’s you know we it would have been a position of need player before and in addition to that that’s where where I say we’ve brought the floor up is we could draft an edge high that we weren’t expecting and we’re not bringing in a
Draft pick in an area where we’re handcuffed by a large contract elsewhere the same thing can be said for linebackers quarterback everywhere um so with these short contracts that we’ve been talking about it’s it it does free that up where if you see the right guy you can take him
Without the worry that well I’ve already got somebody on the roster making too much money for me to bring this guy in as we sit today and looking at the available players at the position that could be brought in as free agents offensive tackle I don’t think they can
Screw around and go what we’ like to do they got to get a tackle we don’t have a tackle on the left side of line that’s got to be a huge priority I I think we’ve got to have two tackles I mean I’m looking at the draft minimum I would
Minimum you know right now if if we don’t draft a quarterback at two we kind of have to take a tackle and I feel like one of those two first picks in the second round has to be a tackle as well I mean I’m looking now I’ve seen a several people
Theorize that Peter ERS will do some shopping in the post-draft uh you know the second round of free agency that happens later in the year when teams really get a good look at their draft picks and go all right I don’t need this guy anymore and and and
You know there’s always some guys that get let go in May and June that people expected to be on somebody’s roster there’s guys that get let go at the end of Camp too yes no you’re absolutely right and and I think the best front offices
Have a really good feel for who may be getting let go later in the year you know I mean I I know good he’s Peters has got to be looking at other teams in the league and going this guy’s vulnerable and that guy’s vulnerable and
You know so who knows we we beefed up the the defensive end group significantly but you cannot underestimate what we did with safety and linebackers because we also we did the exact same thing at those positions so let’s talk about linebacker next because holy cow wait wait what was that
Word lb what was that word I you know I I had linebacker when we talked about him was that just last week that we talked about linebacker was it we talked about possib you know I brought up the possibility of Wagner I’m a little stunned by today’s news because
Everything I have read for the last week said he was wasn’t leaving the West Coast that he just absolutely refused to play Anywhere But the west coast and now here he is playing in Washington this next year I I’m blown away and quite frankly really impressed with the front
Office and this coaching staff because Wagner’s Wagner’s got some experience but the dude still play what he have 133 this year 183 183 led the league in tackles this and Bob to get him on day three that’s really impressive because you know there were a lot of teams that
Would love to have had Bobby Wagner um and he’s what he’s one year older than London Fletcher was when he came into Washington so just to give you some perspective on that front about a guy like Bobby Wagner being willing and interested in coming across the country
On a one-year deal to come play with this defense it if you st stop to think about what that part of it means so that Bobby Wagner signing today was the first one that made me think I’d put this stupid hat on backwards and do D I bought this hat specifically to wear
When good [ __ ] happens for our team this will be my Monday win hat God hope hope we get to wear it a lot but today this was the first one that I kind of stopped John I was driving home from playing golf and John texts me and says you hear they got
Wagner today and I was just for the first time I’m like oh [ __ ] yeah yeah because what this says to me it’s not about Bobby Wagner being Bobby Wagner from 10 years ago this is about Bobby Wagner being a first ballad Hall of Fame player still getting it done sacrificing
Money and a and a long-term final security contract to come across the country to be that guy in our locker room to be the character guy to be the mentor guy to be that you are accountable guy it just complete Game Changer for me in the tone of that
Defense he’s instant leadership on the field we talked about this a bunch of times last year John Allen is kind of a leader on the field but who’s the fiery guy who you know is holding people accountable we signed him today guys and he wanted to come here to be part of
This if good Lord if if you can’t as as a longsuffering Washington fan and you know the linebacker thing is yeah it’s funny we don’t do linebackers here until now now we do them again but that one to me is is the one that just kind of made
This go boom boom here we go let’s do it and look at the other guy we brought in right I’m gonna call him you because I think I’m I’m gonna love him but three-year contract and I mean that guy can play that’s a legit linebacker so to get
To get um Wagner and him um in the first three days of free agency that’s that’s really something what Lulu rhymes with the yooo or woohoo what wasn’t vulu like the top rated free agent linebacker on a lot of lists coming into fory another quietly signed him oh by
The way come on down and and be the be the mic that we haven’t had here well I know maybe Bobby will have something to say about that now but come that’s another exciting signing when you watch him play he’s he’s an older uh the one
That got away from me was James Bolton that’s the guy I wanted us to bring in and now he’s just tearing it up for KC I see vulu in that same mode sideline Seline louu is the only guy I wrote stats down on and I just want to give
Give you his 2023 stats 5.5 sacks 125 tackles 11 quarterback Hits 10 tackles for loss and two Force fumbles that’s that’s big time airon fire violent yeah well I you know the thing that all of these signings have said to me is we’re going after the quarterback and you don’t know
Where we’re coming from because all of these guys every single one of them including a couple of the guys we still have here in Allen and Payne have extensive histories of getting to the quarterback and so pressure can come from anywhere amongst that front seven maybe eight depending upon how close to
The line chin plays um or Quan Martin for that matter I mean who could who can line up deep or or up closer to the box so going to be interesting uh to your point mark I think ultimately what happens is Wagner’s wearing the green dot he’s the
Middle um louu is a bigger I shouldn’t say bigger taller Wagner’s 6 foot 240 and he had 183 tackles so the he’s still in shape let’s be real like that’s not you know Grandpa at the end of his career but uh louu I believe is what 63
Around 240 he’s not the fastest blazing speed guy but he’s aggressive so I could see situation where Wagner’s in the middle Davis and louu are outside at times you can move them around you can even put you can even have louu put his hand down in the dirt
And be a fifth pass rusher um on the edge of the line of scrimmage outside of the ends or put him at end and stand up one of those other guys um I I think all of these things and then we can transition into the safeties because
It it comes into that conversation um with chin who is in his own right 63 220 and runs a 445 I I want to see what impact Bobby Wagner can have on our talented knucklehead our talented knucklehead could be could be a really great player I think physically mentally he’s not there
That’s kind of where I was going is you have Wagner in the middle and then they’re moving and it and and and you can literally go to Davis and say on this call it is it’s like the guy from the program you know what I mean where
It’s like kill the quarterback or the guy from The Replacements where he’s like I need you go get me the ball and I’m going to get you the like you know what I mean you can simplify life to the point for him where he’s not don’t worry
About aligning defense it’s this is your responsibility on this play go do it this is your responsibility on this play go do it um because remember Bobby Wagner was part of Dan Quinn’s defense in Seattle when it was a legion of boom so chances are he’s also walking in with
It already with the learning curve of understanding more about it than the other two guys so there’s gonna be a lot there I think with being able to manipulate things I agree with you Derek that that Wagner seems like the default Green Dot guy to begin listen to the
Write up from uh this is from Panthers wire from one of the Panthers writers about louu before he signed away uhuh last season played 56% of his snapped at inside 23% outside and the rest at the line of scrimmage either as a standup rusher or a Blitzer seven sacks 20
Pressure 84 solo tackles 47 stops whatever that ST means 10 tackles for lost and was great in coverage if you need a Green Dot guy in the middle of your defense there’s nobody better or more versatile in this free agency class another so you get Wagner to Mentor this guy and V louu
I’ll get it right one of these times I me he could be the starting mic for the next X number of years fill in your number so we talked about a little bit about Reeves already I think when we talked about the two uh internal signings so far what about Jeremy
Chen he’s he is he before Wagner he he was the one that got me the most amped up on the defensive side of the ball because um years ago I was big on Isaiah Simmons I and somebody posted on the board he or somebody posted on twt
Twitter about him and I said the dude is an UNO wild card okay he can do things that most humans can’t do and he’s not a ball Hawk okay he is not a guy that’s got 15 interceptions over three seasons or anything but like I said 63 220 can
Run a 44 I mean there are not very many people that physically are built capable of doing those kind of things and in a matchup League where you need to win matchups especially now that saquon’s in Philly even though now I just saw somebody speculating a report that Roseman talked
To him before the de the legal tampion period so now there’s going to be an investigation but that we’ll see if that’s actually credible and some of the other things that are out there having a guy like that who can play on the line of scrimmage who can drop back in
Coverage who can run back and be a third safety and who can basically also be an outside linebacker it’s just huge to have that kind of opportunity uh that kind of guy he also has position Flex right he can play he can play free or or strong or
Linebacker you can line him up as an outside linebacker he could hold his own so he’s basically the cam curl replacement I guess in my mind is that you guys on board with that I mean unless cam doesn’t get any interest out there right he might be
Back so he was in he was in the 2020 class he was I think he was a runner up to chase younger Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2020 I think that’s right he was how’s that working out Chase he’s still still unsigned still unsigned and down there at Carolina I I
Don’t want to say anything bad about the guy but I I will admit when I heard he’s gonna have to go to Carolina I was thinking gee that would suck for him well it’s a clown show down there right now did you did you just see what they paid their starting
Guard I didn’t see the number tell me four four years $100 million well that was hunt they got from Miami right yes yeah we’ve already been down that road right we already well we franchise Sheriff so $25 million for their for the guard they just signed that’s old school Redskins yeah right
And the Giants did that with with Burns paid ridiculous contract but I remember we looking today online and looking at these I think 40 seven free agency signings we’ve now made and they’ve used what half the cap available cap space whatever a little 60% they are not
Giving up big money to change the foundation of this team pretty impressive work so far I go ahead Derek sorry I think I saw the rough MTH was we’re still over 40 or 50 million and that’s if you take into count to rookie pool yeah yeah the last I saw we were 55
But that was before re and Crow Wagner we’re doing this we’re not blowing big money on big names we’re we’re building we’re rebuilding a foundation and this is I mean this is year one it’s going to be hard to remember that within all the excitement
But this is year one of a complete flush and re yeah we’re gonna need roster cards at for the first half of the Season man like who is that half of chat of our game chats will be who was that number 28 um I posted a graphic I don’t
Know who it’s from so I apologize but I posted it on the board at BG obsession. comom today where they were they were basically ranking a team roster Improvement uh by based on free agency we were number two right behind Atlanta on that graphic and that was before we signed bab babby babby
Wagner that was before the Wagner and Reeves signing so anyway I think we’re doing pretty damn well I Atlanta’s going to run away with that cuz the Kurt Cousins signing you signed a franchise quarterback you’re going to you’re going to own that but didn’t that same graphic
Show the Ravens as the worst and I’m really they just they just signed [ __ ] King Henry to yeah but they they lost they lost queen and they lost somebody else yeah I know I’m wondering if personally I spent some time today wondering if John Allen was a little less early
Now than he was at the end of the locker room clean yeah you got to imagine Alan Allen and Payne are on the phone talking about hey bro we eat this year yeah we’re gonna I imagine that Wht and he and Quinn have had some conversations already about like that was yesterday
This is today yeah get on board when they the the the linebacker signings the two big linebacker signings brought to mind to me listening to Joe wit at his inaugural press conference talking about the way we are going to play yeah we are we are putting me on them bones fast what he
Say fast and violent is that what he said yeah and and if you’re if you that’s not who you are and what you want to do you’re probably not GNA be playing here so what we’ve got some cash as you guys just went over left not that they
Have to spend every dime of it but I don’t think they’re done so let’s take a stab not necessarily at Players although you’re welcome to do that what position group do you think they will will continue to try to boost with the remaining time and free agency I and
I’ll go last well but two we haven’t touched our corner and and offensive tackle so my too and the you know the I’ve been over and over and over the tackles that are out there um the best guy out there is the guy from Cincinnati and he
Absolutely positively wants to be a left tackle and I fully expect us to draft a left tackle you about Jon Williams uh yeah no he just did he he signed today then he signed about 20 minutes before we got on this podcast okay all right I missed that but
I mean he’s like the cream of the crop and everybody else’s is is the wrong side of 30 and not Smith is the biggest name right now and his his stock is plummeting well you know and the problem with Tyron Smith is that he’s 33 years
Old and he hasn’t played a full season he has not gotten a full 16 or 17 games depending upon which season you’re looking at since 2016 MH and two of those Seasons he didn’t play more than four games right so he got injured at the very beginning
Of the season and was out for the year I I’m not paying that guy big money so B I listened to that interview today it might not have been the same interview it might have been another with the guy from the athletic that covers the Cowboys with Craig Hoffman and with
Hoffman and he was talking about uh Tyron Smith and he said McCarthy had to have a plan for him where basic basally he didn’t do any any physical practice all week long just so he could play on Sundays yeah um and we don’t want to you know we need left tackle really badly
But I don’t want to start out that way well some something tells me near as a coaching staff yeah you know and and here’s the thing Quinn would know all of that so would Whit so remember best tackle class in like a decade or more I think we’re
Going tackle and draft that they may not they may they could be wrong about that but which I think brings us right back around a cornerback right um and and I will be really surprised if they don’t sign another Corner in the next few days I’d also be surprised if they didn’t
Bring in a little more offensive line depth in the next couple of days that’s what I think is going to happen I think we’re going to sign some big ugly you know as uh depth on the o line if we can see the holes that tackle the
Front office is seeing the holes too oh they’re aware of it I’m sure but I wouldn’t be surprised if they have looked at this draft class and said all right look we’ve got six of the top 102 picks in the draft we’re going to take if they take
Quarterback at two we’re getting back up into the top 15 and taking a tackle great up yeah I agree we nailed the position groups that guys I I would give us a little bit of credit last week we nailed um position group they they touched we talked about except a running
Back even kicker we talked about mhm well jents it has been an extreme couple days that something we haven’t seen in a long time and Beyond just free agent signings it has been prudent and intelligent moves at least that’s the way it looks so far so we’ve had exciting free agencies in the
Past but not not like this where you can look at it and say I can actually see some a direction a a direction and a consistency with what they’ve been saying and Peter said and Quinn has said is that we’re not building to patch holes and try to contend right away
We’re trying to build uh an organization that can compete year after year you do that by setting a really solid floor which is what they’re doing now in year one come year two all these one-year contracts you know if these guys are working out you try to bring them back
If not you bring it someone else they’re setting a tone and showing to me what looks like it’s almost uh contradictory sounding but they’ve signed 14 15 77 guys but they’re being patient because they’re not they’re not swinging at the fences trying to bring in guys that are
Going to help us win right away they’re trying to build a foundation of character and uh the kinds of players they want to be here and that will I mean that feeds itself right you’d like to think that next year if we continue doing this kind of thing other free
Agents are going to be looking around saying yeah that’s a place I’d like to go play circle it up Jeremy chin actually came out and said he turned down more money elsewhere or a longer deal because he wanted to come here and play for Dan Quinn um I know somebody said there were
Two or three of them I know Jeremy chin said it I saw it reported but I don’t know I might have missed the other one I have Bobby said something similar Derek he you know he he wanted to play here okay all I can think of is wit’s introductory press conference and some
Of these guys sitting out there knowing they’re gonna hit free agency to his press conference and going that’s a CO I want to play for yeah call my agent real quick hey yeah yeah let’s go so what we’ll do starting next next week is we will be breaking down
Position groups for the draft we’ll obviously if there’s some uh additional signings we’ll talk about that as well but we’re going to start breaking down by position group who we like in the draft and again I’m going to to our our horn a little bit we’ve been pretty damn
Good at doing that in the past not always who we drafted but we definitely picked out guys that ended up uh being you know very good players in the NFL so guys let let think about doing this too I’d like to do a a little segment
On what it what the kinds of signings and the kinds of players are bringing in tell you about maybe the kinds of systems we’re going to run on both sides of the ball because right now we’re we’re still talking about players and in the draft about Players whose
Measurables are this and that and the other thing I’m interested to find out what we think and how we think they are going to fit into what we’re trying to do here well and we’ve also actually finally seen some choices yeah I don’t think it’s to have that conversation
Based on what we’ve seen the last couple of days to your point you don’t do what you just did and have louu and not have louu and Wagner both on the field right yeah you don’t and and you don’t sign the three defensive ends to not have a rotation there and be utilizing
Them we’re starting to see some tea leaves that we can read all right fellas as always it’s been a pleasure we’ll hit it right at an hour and we’ll be back back next week good job guys
