NFL Free Agency Chaos, Maxx Crosby Drama & League Power Shifts

Alex Hardy (00:00)
Hey, we are those guys. You see these guys over there? Well, don't forget about those guys. I'm Alex Hardy and join with me, Nick Ferguson, 10 years in the National Football League. If you happen to catch our last episode, you heard about his exploits in the CFL and in NFL Europe as well. So our man is well traveled, which is something that could be said about Max Crosby, but we'll get to him and the other moves with the NFL free agency window officially open. Nick Ferguson, happy.

New league year and what's going on my man?

Nick Ferguson (00:31)
Nothing much man, the only thing that's going on is that I don't have anything going in and that means money in this new league year going in my pockets. That's the biggest thing. I need some of that new cash.

Alex Hardy (00:41)
okay.

Well, considering your Denver Broncos have spent zero dollars on incoming free agents, maybe they're just holding out. They're just, making you sweat, and then they've got a contract waiting for you once we get a little further in a free agency. A little homecoming, if you will.

Nick Ferguson (00:56)
Yeah.

Yeah, right. mean, listen, the way they're giving out money now these days, I'll take it. I got about like 40 plays in me. I got 40 plays.

Alex Hardy (01:05)
Well,

over 17 games, right? 40 plays over 17 games.

Nick Ferguson (01:11)
⁓ shoot, I may give you 40 plays out of five.

Alex Hardy (01:14)
Hear that? Hear

that? ⁓ Denver hear that any NFL team Knicks ready to go? ⁓ You can leave me out of this. And let's start with ⁓ listen, we have a tampering period, which is a made for television event, right? In prime time or first thing in the morning, however you want to put it, like, we could be waiting for the new league year. But several years ago, the NFL decided we want we want some of that sizzle we want

eyeballs on us. want people to talk about our league, but it did create a bit of an issue. Like this is not the first time where we've seen a major deal go down and then all of a sudden when things become official and it's time to put ink on paper, teams bulk. But never to this extent have we seen this before where on Friday night last week, the Las Vegas Raiders agreed to trade Max Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens for two first round picks.

including number 14 overall for next month's by Wednesday, Tuesday night rather pardon me by Tuesday night, we're with you on a Wednesday. The Ravens decided I don't think so. I kind of see this one of three ways I know which way I'm leading, but I'm gonna have you choose your own adventure Nick. The Baltimore Ravens because we don't have an official we heard from Eric DeCosta today and we can go over his explanation for it saying that ⁓

Nick Ferguson (02:31)
Okay.

Alex Hardy (02:40)
You know, their plan was to bring in Max Crosby after they lost Tyler Lindner bomb, but it just didn't, it kind of fell through. Is it A, because of a failed medical, which was what was widely reported? Is it B, the Ravens balked at a Max Crosby contract extension? Or C, they did not have Trey Hendrickson in their plans and they decided to opt for Hendrickson and keeping their two first round selections. Now the

Ravens again, Eric DeCosta, their general manager said that their plan was to bring in both Max Crosby and Tyler, Taylor Hendrickson. But I, I'll leave it to you, Nick, to pick the avenue you want to go down.

Nick Ferguson (03:20)
Next, yeah, yeah, Hendrickson, yeah.

Let me see about this one. Nice selection. I'm going to take D, all of the above, because all of the above, even though you didn't give that to me as one of the options, is exactly what happened with this situation. And DaCosta kind of having this public interview, why did he need to do that? Obviously, he needed to do that to clear the air, because he doesn't want any other team or agent for that matter to have this dark cloud hanging over the Baltimore.

Raven's organization and by the way you're telling Trey Hendrickson hey you know we wanted both of you guys right we wanted both of you guys that's what you tell Trey Hendrickson because he wasn't your first choice

Alex Hardy (03:59)
Well...

Nick Ferguson (04:11)
Because if he was your first choice, you would have made him your first choice. But you gave up two first round picks for Max Crosby, knowing as though Trey Henderson was on the open market. You didn't have to give him anything, right? All you had to do is give him a new contract. And then, oh, by the way, you look at Trey Henderson. His injury took place, if I'm not mistaken, in 2025 and week six.

Max Crosby injury happened later in the season and he was eight weeks out from meniscus surgery. And the question is why did the Baltimore Ravens put out there last Friday that hey, you know what? Here's what we're doing with Max Crosby and we're giving up not one but two first round picks only to come back and go, wait a minute. You know what? Maybe we put the cart before the horse. Maybe we can get Trey Henderson and not give up two first rounders. I'm wondering if

Steve Bishadi jumped in a situation and said, whoa, whoa, hold on, Eric, what are we doing here? We giving up two first rounders? Something we've never done before. And that's right. So it forced Dacosta to now renege. If you play cards, which I don't, I don't play spades, I don't play dominoes. But I hear when you renege, that's a bad thing. And it seems as though that's exactly what the Ravens did. They reneged.

Alex Hardy (05:13)
Yeah, they haven't given up one.

Right. So we'll get to the perception of that not just as you know, NFL fans, but the perception from the rest of the league with insiders kind of trickling out ⁓ details coming from different organizations and just the overall business of it. Like if they're doing their due diligence and we're truly going to believe that the medicals were the issue. You mentioned it. Max had the meniscus surgery. The Raiders shut him down. Part of the reason why that drove him away is that he wanted to play through it.

But we were fully aware that he had surgery. We were aware he didn't finish the season. What changes from Friday when the publicly league available medicals compared to when Max came into the building and the timing of it as well, knowing that as soon as Max leaves, they have a four year, $112 million contract ready for Trey Hendrickson. That just seems fishy because Steve Bishadi has an obligation.

And is he going to allow his organization to spend nearly $60 million against the cap and two first rounders for two pass rushers? mean, an elite position that you need to have, especially for that identity of the great Ravens defenses from over the years. But it is just incredibly suspect. And the type of business that they conducted did not seem above board at all. And I understand that there are teams frustrated by it. I love, I think it was Tom Palacero put out saying,

1GM said that what the Ravens did was complete BS. And my first question is, was the 1GM he spoke to, was that John Spytech? Like for what, for what the Ravens did to the Raiders completely undid their plans for free agency because they went in after the trade on Friday and the tampering period opened on Monday. They addressed that position and they had so much money to spend they can still absorb Max Crosby.

and they're trying to do everything they can to retain some kind of trade value saying that Max is at the facility. We're going to make things right. He's going to come back a raider. I don't know if that relationship is repairable based on the great reporting that ⁓ still has Tom Brady in and out of the building. Alex Guerrero walking around as a narc and a guy who I don't know is the wellness coordinator may have waited like he listen, he tore it.

Nick Ferguson (07:49)
That's your guy. That's your guy.

Alex Hardy (07:54)
the Belichick-Brady relationship apart four years ago, who would think this would work? Wait, six years ago now? How old are we? My God, seven years ago. ⁓ Who would have thought that seven years later, it would work out for the Raiders? It's just like, I believe the wellness coordinator would have some input on the status of Max Crosby's knee. And if I'm Max Crosby and Tom Brady is telling me, well, my guy Alex Guerrero says you can't play, so you shouldn't play, like, I don't wanna go back to that organization.

Nick Ferguson (08:02)
Hahaha.

Alex Hardy (08:24)
So I feel bad for the Raiders because as far as I'm concerned, don't think the Raiders, ⁓ you know, they were operating in good faith, but the Ravens not so much. So I feel like I'm spinning in circles here, but it's just the Ravens, ⁓ you know, completely, you know, changed the market for every other free agent that's still out there, but certainly the Raiders plans as well. And it just seemed too convenient to be able to pivot.

to Hendrickson, they're negotiating with Max Crosby's extension while trying to get Trey Hendrickson in the building. Straight up, I just don't think they could have afforded Trey Hendrickson. He goes unsigned for two days and they say, all right, he's closer to the number that we want. And they essentially get him for two years, 60 million guaranteed with the contract that they signed, which is a much different equation than the extension that Max Crosby was after. More money, more years.

So this just seemed like the more convenient outlet for Baltimore. A lot of teams wouldn't operate this way, but the Ravens seem to be there right now.

Nick Ferguson (09:27)
But here's what I've heard, Alex. Don't know how true it is, but, ⁓ well, yeah, we talked to Ian Rappaport today, and Ian mentioned the fact that, you know, he had heard that...

Alex Hardy (09:30)
Yes, because you have some insight for me and Rappaport, is that right?

Nick Ferguson (09:40)
the Ravens had went back to the Raiders and say, listen, you know, I know we told you that we were going to give you two first rounders, but after assessing the situation and talking to our doctors, we've come to the conclusion as though we would still take max, but we are taking for less than that trade value. We actually told you, right? And it's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wait, I'm sorry.

Alex Hardy (10:01)
my god. That's even worse.

Nick Ferguson (10:07)
We had an agreement for two first round picks. Now you want to come back to the table and you want us to accept less than that? It's like, dog, don't you know how negotiation works? Right? After you've already purchased the hamburger and you've taken a bite out of the hamburger, you can't give it back and say, you know what? I don't like this hamburger, so I want you to exchange it for another one. It's like, no, you can't do that. Like, well, let me take that back. You can do it, but

It really makes no sense. Like you chew, you've eaten half of the burger already, right? At some point, if the burger wasn't good, you should have damn returned it and say, you know what? I wanted it medium, but you overcooked it or you undercooked it. That's where this situation is right now. This is why the Ravens had to try to make a safe face and get out in front of it. And I asked Ian this question today. I said, well, with

the collective bargaining agreement set to reshape in 2030, do you think somehow that the NFLPA would include that in their negotiation practices, saying as though, OK, well, this is now set in precedent because those deals can't be finalized until Wednesday, 4 PM, right on the start of the league year. But

teams need to be able to go ahead and medically evaluate these players before you make these deals official. Because if you don't, once again, this has set a dangerous precedent. And who's to say next year come 2027, players and agents sign deals in principle only to go, you know what? ⁓ We were joking. ⁓ JK, April Fools. No, you have to do something to make sure that doesn't happen.

Alex Hardy (11:51)
Well, like

you know for a fact that ownership would push back if players were negotiating deals, they come to an agreement with one team and then use that to ⁓ negotiate with another team for leverage, right? That would be shut down immediately. And yet from this perspective of the Ravens and where the team is, I don't think we get the same kind of stink because it's not player driven. It's organizationally driven.

Nick Ferguson (12:03)
Leveraged.

I would concur and that's kind of basically

what it's all about. mean, it would have been great if the Ravens just came out and say, you know what? Hey, we wanted both of the guys. We were pursuing both guys. We wanted Max Crosby. And then we realized after further evaluation, it would be more cost effective for us to go with, you know, a guy like Trey Henderson, even though Trey Henderson was said to have some kind of a dominant issue, right? That kind of bleeds into maybe his hip. But that was a better

choice for us. So we made a mistake, right? I mean, I do have a receipt, so I should be able to return my product because once again, nothing was made official until 4 p.m. So had they said that, I would have been like, cool, I get it. I don't like it, but I agree.

Alex Hardy (13:08)
So this will continue to ⁓ create different machinations. We're going to find what the Raiders' response to this. Somebody other than Eric D'Costa better speak on this from Baltimore's perspective because my gosh, ⁓ Terry Pagula right now is probably looking around saying, hey, somebody did a worse job than I did, like when I talked about Josh Allen crying, and that's why I fired Sean McDermott. So we back away from this for now. There's going to be more to come. We'll bring you

Nick Ferguson (13:29)
You

Alex Hardy (13:37)
you know, whenever we hear more on this situation with those guys, at least in the meantime, the Baltimore Ravens, you know, they pivot, they sign Trey Hendrickson, they bring John Simpson back for a reunion. That defense is fortified by bringing in Jalen Hawkins from the Patriots and they retain Tradovia Ousey, who I believe had the best tweet of the entire free agency period. It was just the typo, right? But one of the

senior reporters covering the Ravens for the athletic said the Ravens have agreed to a one year $5 deal with veteran cornerback Jadobia Wouzie. Clearly he meant $5 million just omitted the the letter M or the million. Jadobia retweets and says just enough for a hot and spicy McChicken. My God. That's my dude right there. I can hate on the Baltimore Ravens but Jadobia Wouzie I hope you're an all pro this year. And I digress they lose.

Nick Ferguson (14:17)
You

Alex Hardy (14:34)
You know, John Harbaugh's guys, right? I like, I subscribed to the theory that a year ago, Harbaugh makes him sign the extension for Mark Andrews, which allows Isaiah likely to go to the Giants now. They also take the punter. They also take Pat Ricard, which is transformative to this offense. Yeah, exactly. I mean, it wasn't as if they were running out. God, he went to the Browns and his name just escaped me. ⁓ Todd Munkin. They're not running his offense anymore, but

Nick Ferguson (14:45)
Yeah.

A full bag. Yes.

Who? Yeah.

Alex Hardy (15:04)
It's a slightly different look for the Ravens. Is Trey Henriksen enough for you to make up for what could have been, let's say, Trey Henriksen and the 14th overall pick, enough to make up for what would have been with Max Crosby there?

Nick Ferguson (15:19)
Well, I don't know if that is going to make up for it because if you were to compare the two players and ⁓ ask me, well, which guy would I select? I'll go with Max Crosby over Trey Henderson. And I think very highly of Trey Henderson and what he's been able to do with the Cincinnati Bengals because just like Max Crosby, he was probably one of the better players.

on their team. the difference is Crosby was one of the arguably the best players on the Raiders squad over the past couple years. Trey Henderson was the lone ranger of the Cincinnati Bengals being the only player on the defense. And that's one of the reasons he wanted to leave. So it's going to be really interesting when we see Trey Henderson face off against the Cincinnati Bengals, a team that he knows really well and sacking Joe Burrow, something that he couldn't do in practice. But Max Crosby is amazing.

man, his motor, his length, you can put him on the outside, you can run TE stunts with him. He's got enough speed and running chase ability that he penetrates, you know, and beats guards. I love everything about him. Now, I don't know if you saw the text, not the text, but the tweet that Jay Glazer put up where Sean Payton, he said he had a conversation with Sean Payton and Sean Payton said, you know, he spoke very highly of Max Crosby, but also said, hey, listen, man, if you need me to writ that, this is me paraphrasing that G5,

Alex Hardy (16:30)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Nick Ferguson (16:41)
to get you out to Baltimore, I'm willing to do it. That shows a love of respect that Sean Payton has for him. But if the Raiders cannot move him, then that would mean that the Raiders defense has somewhat gotten better because now they have Max Crosby back. They had N'Kobe Dean at the linebacker position and they have Quay Walker.

Alex Hardy (16:43)
Yup. Yup.

Yeah, no, they absolutely tried to address, they were operating as if their All-Pro wasn't there, So they, yes, they brought in Quay Walker and a Kobe Dean to give a facelift to the linebacker core. Quidipay coming in from Indy, they retained Malcolm Coons and Thomas Booker and Charles Snowden too, had that great finish to the year. they, look, they had...

Nick Ferguson (17:10)
Yeah.

Alex Hardy (17:29)
I think before free agency started, $110 million to spend against the cap for next year. Otherwise, the NFL would have penalized them, right, for not hitting the salary floor. So the way that they are spending their money, most notably Tyler Linderbaum, to fortify what is a presumed Fernando Mendoza to go number one overall, like this is, you know, hopefully a better approach to building this team than we saw them do a year ago, right? Linderbaum is one player.

and they have Colton Miller on on Mendoza's blind side but they're still going to need to address a ton into that offensive line ⁓ but I am encouraged by the depth that they have on the D line even if that means Max Crosby isn't there. They do need to get 2026 draft capital for him but it remains to be seen if it'd be better than the 14th overall pick. As for the rest of the AFC that's competing with the likes of Baltimore I think you wanted to highlight the Buffalo Bills

who pushed their chips in multiple ways. Their two biggest contracts, right? They traded their second round selection to Chicago to get DJ Moore. earlier today, this being Wednesday, the first day of free agency, they bring in Bradley Chubb, who we have full familiarity with ⁓ from his time in Denver, who played pretty well coming off the ACL. But this is Brandon Bean essentially doing everything he can to try to keep his job.

The DJ Moore trade was aggressive Bradley Chubb, I believe was also aggressive but this is just two positions that Brandon Bean has continued to attack and frankly has not gotten the job done especially at the receiver position but I just see Bradley Chubb in particular. Well, let's start with him because you know him very well. First it was Vaughn Miller. Last year was Joey Bosa and Bradley Chubb now they continue to throw money at veterans that just don't seem to have

the type of success that has gotten them into an AFC championship game, a Super Bowl.

Nick Ferguson (19:29)
Well, yeah, and that's kind of the biggest roll of the dice. You're hoping that the third time is a charm. Like you said, he's done this with Bosa and Von Miller. You open Bradley Chubb can kind of be that guy because Bosa is definitely a free agent and they pay Bosa a one year deal worth 12 million dollars. And I would dare to say that he didn't live up to those expectations with only five sacks, which was crazy for me. And it's just like.

As a talent evaluator, looking at, you know, Bosen said, what has he done in the past for the charges? He had years where he had double digit sacks, but he's no longer that player. Like even when he was with the...

Alex Hardy (20:10)
Yeah. He's also had years with double

digit injuries.

Nick Ferguson (20:12)
Right, so we've seen him as a member of the Chargers where he didn't play in a significant amount of game because he was injured, but when you're chasing, when you're trying to make something happen, you become really desperate. And I notice they call it desperate times, call for desperate measures, you know, my dude. But you know what that means when you become really desperate? It makes you do dumb-ish, right? And when you do dumb-ish, you put your team in a financial bind and bring in

Bradley Chubb in, I hope it actually pays dividends for the Bills and Bradley Chubb is able to somehow kind of rekindle or jumpstart his career because here's what we know that's going to happen with Bradley Chubb that didn't happen with the Miami Dolphins. The fact is, know Josh Allen, they're going to put up points. So that means that your opponent that you're playing against, there's a possibility that they're going to be in Chase Mo, which means is though they're not going to be on the center, they're going to be in shotgun a lot,

which is going to pay dividends because all you have to do is ping your ears back and get after the quarterback. So maybe this may be a better choice for Brandon being because guess what? Von Miller was a little too old and Joey Bosa, injury issues and too long in the tooth. So Bradley Chubb still has a little more gas in the tank. So this kind of ⁓ connective combination might allow Bradley Chubb to maybe finish the season with double digit sacks.

Alex Hardy (21:42)
We go to their top rival over the last decade in Kansas City. I mean, your headline is you signed the reigning Super Bowl MVP who's still 25 years old. Kenneth Walker's explosive plays addresses the biggest need that the Chiefs ever had on their offense. Alohi Gilman coming over from the Ravens after the Chargers traded him and Kairos Tonga coming over from New England. This on top of, of course, the 24 hours of drama

when we all knew that Travis Kelsey was coming back but could play for another team. No, they're giving him a thank you for your service type of contract, $15 million for a player with diminishing skills. ⁓ They have a lot of work to do, but Kenneth Walker alone, does that transform the Chiefs offense? Does it give you optimism with Patrick Mahomes coming back from significant injury as well?

Nick Ferguson (22:38)
Yeah, absolutely. Now, there is individuals here in Broncos country who, I don't know, they may have on their orange colored glasses. But I like to look at things in full spectrum because even though Patrick Mahomes is coming back off of injury, what did we see? Right.

Alex Hardy (22:52)
Yeah, yeah, the ACL week 15 he suffered.

Nick Ferguson (22:56)
So what have we seen from the Kansas City Chiefs over the past couple of years? Your quarterback has been somewhat of your leading rusher. Now he's coming off an ACL injury. You can't have that anymore. Also, you move away from Matt Nagy. You bring back the guy of discipline and accountability and Eric B. Enneemy. I don't care what people say about EB. EB's gonna wreck the ship, right? Here in Broncos country, they're like, well, you know what? It's not gonna make a difference that EB back in the building.

But I got to tell them I got listen, I have to tell them Alex. got to keep it real. If you go back to I think is.

20 between 2018 and 2022. When you look at the statistical numbers on Patrick Mahomes, 50 touchdowns, I believe in 2018 or 2019 and 2022 he had more than like maybe, I don't know, 5000 passing yards. So now you add a guy who can tote the rock. The reigning MVP, right? And this is where I say people just lose their mind because they've fallen into this trap of just it's a

game is a quarterback driven league. Name me a quarterback that's ever won a Super Bowl without a run game. And we just watched it. We just watched Sam Dono not only win the Super Bowl, but he's even gone to Disney World Disneyland with Kenneth Walker on the float. And it's like, why is Sam Dono on the damn float? Right? It was Kenneth Walker. Yes, that's what it was.

Alex Hardy (24:25)
Exactly. He was KW's plus one. Exactly. Yeah.

Yeah. So look, it's encouraging and you look at Kansas City and frankly, you look at the rest of that division, right? Like I could argue that the Chargers just getting beefier. Well, first of all, bringing in Tyler Biotish absolutely guarantees that they will not have the worst center play in the National Football League two years in a row. But you also add Alec Engel and Colestrange.

and the blocking tight end Charlie Kohler, which also, you know, on top of all the retentions that they had, Khalil Mack is back. Chargers are better. The Kansas City Chiefs with everything you've said about Kenneth Walker, they're better. Like the Raiders we've talked about, even if they get Max Crosby to play for them, they're better. Your Denver Broncos are one of two teams that have zero free agents signed as of day one in NFL free agency. They've retained some players of their own. J.K. Dobbins is back.

Nick Ferguson (25:12)
They're better.

Can I tell you something? Yes.

Alex Hardy (25:23)
but they've signed zero free agents.

Nick Ferguson (25:26)
But there are a lot of individuals here in Broncos country who are upset because the Broncos didn't make a lot of

big splash moves. And a lot of those splash moves, yes, had to do with Kenneth Walker, who, you know, they were never in the running for that. But Travis ETN was one of those guys, and Travis ETN is on record for saying, you know what, he doesn't really want to play in the cold. But when you have the choice of playing in Denver or going back to your home state of Louisiana, playing for your home team, and they're willing to give you, what, 12 million a year? I mean, yeah, you definitely take that. So the Broncos had their sights set

Alex Hardy (25:34)
0 splash moves, 0 moves.

Nick Ferguson (26:02)
on a lot of guys but fell short like Devin Lloyd was one of those guys from a linebacker standpoint that a lot of Broncos fans were like yeah that's our guy we want to move away from Drake Greenlaw, Justin Srinard and Alex Singleton but all what the Broncos did they addressed their needs just so happens they addressed their needs at running back and linebacker with familiar faces now I would say if you're a Broncos fan and you are upset I would be upset with what the Broncos did at the tight end position because

because that was one of those positional groups that didn't really pull their first share of the weight. I mean, obviously they didn't get that many targets, but you have to wonder, if you are tight ends and you're not getting targets when we're watching Travis Kelsey, who is far beyond his prime, get more targets and receptions and yards and touchdowns, that's a problem, Alex.

Alex Hardy (26:55)
Yeah, I mean that's that's an area they need to address. It's not all completely over like Let's say it's the of the top tight ends that have signed, you know, we mentioned isaiah likely chigga quank. Whoa is ⁓ on the move to washington ⁓ Kate otton is retained But are they gonna push all their chips in for a guy like david and joku or john who smith? I mean his tasum hill set to reunite with sean payton for his age 36 season These are all options that are on the table

I speaking of age 36 seasons, Zach Ritz could do the same. So it's not completely dried up at the position. And it's, ⁓ I wouldn't say top heavy, but there are two or three guys that, you know, given the right opportunity could develop into a pass catching weapon for Bo Nix. But it is something that is integral to the success of the Sean Payton offense. And we just didn't see that production since he's been in Denver.

moving on from guys like Noah Fant and moving on, you know, was Ivan Ingram on a one year deal and now he's out the door or no, he was signed to a multi-year deal this past off season, still ineffective. I was, there was a two year deal, but ineffective in year one. So we'll see if they try to build some competition at that position. I just thought it was of note that there are two teams that did not sign a free agent, but maybe you're in good company because the Seattle Seahawks are the other team that have focused on.

Nick Ferguson (28:02)
After this, after this season, after this season, think, after this season.

Alex Hardy (28:22)
retaining what guys that they have could even though, you know, Kobe Bryant on the move and other defensive stalwarts. We mentioned Kenneth Walker on offense. Rick Woollen. He's in Philly. Yeah, that was an interesting one too. Like Philly, you know, I thought they were going to tread water, but I thought Reed Blankenship was a big loss. I do like Rick Woollen ⁓ going there, but at the same time, it's just been ⁓

Nick Ferguson (28:30)
Rick Wolbin is now going to, yes.

Alex Hardy (28:52)
quiet. You know, there were whispers of a Jalen Carter trade, especially after they spent the big money on Jordan Davis. But it looks like they're going to stand pat to the best of their abilities because frankly, they just need guys on rookie deals. You know, the cap is pushed by their stars on both sides of the football and that offensive line needs a lot more young guys to come in ASAP. Below those type of teams, I don't know if we're ready to slide down to another tier, but it's like

There are teams that are just trying to push all of their chips in on one or two guys when really they had no business doing so. I think the Colts are absolutely of note with ⁓ Alec Pierce and Daniel Jones getting the huge paydays. Then having to ship out Michael Pittman as a result. And then other teams that kind of remind me of this. I can't really understand the Dallas Cowboys. I know we say this pretty much every year, but

The amount of defensive line depth that they've traded for has created a glut at the position, right? So after trading for or trading Micah Parsons away for Kenny Clark and then getting Quinn and Williams last year, they get Rashawn Gary from the Packers when he had apparently, according to him, then hacked. He said, thank you Packers. I'm going to be a free agent.

Nick Ferguson (30:13)
Tweet it, yeah. That damn

social media.

Alex Hardy (30:20)
And the Cowboys are like, here's our third round pick. We'll take them. Like, let's just, I don't get it. And as a result, like it became too much depth at that position. like, you know, I thought one of their best defensive linemen last year was, was Osa. You helped me with the last name, Odeh Gezuah. Like they then, they get a third round pick, essentially swapping the one that they got.

Nick Ferguson (30:42)
You got it.

Alex Hardy (30:48)
for that they had to give up for Gary in return for the Niners third round pick and they also because he has to have them on his defense no matter where he is they ship Solly Thomas to Robert Sala in Tennessee and you know I love the sentiment that to move up like 15 spots in the seventh round that's just disrespectful let Solomon Thomas go where he wants to go Solomon Thomas wants to play for for that defense for that

for that Bob Sala squad. Like that's where he wants to go. San Francisco, New York, he wants to go to Bob Sala. Would be my impression. But I just, you know, it's fun to cherry pick and make fun of the Cowboys, what they do every year. But the Colts too, like they really feel that a post torn Achilles, ⁓ Daniel Jones, know, shout out Duke University, he's on that Jason Tatum return plan. Like these teams really think that they're just a couple of guys away. I mean, let's throw.

Not official yet, but Kyler Murray's meeting with the Vikings tomorrow. Like, I don't necessarily see Kyler Murray being the difference for the Vikings getting back to the second success that they had with the Sam Dornal. So I mean, it's fun talking about, you know, the cream of the crop, retooling, adding a couple pieces right here. But like, I just think it's just too little for the likes of Indy to throw all their chips in on Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce to sort of start this conversation.

Nick Ferguson (32:14)
All right, so there's a lot to unpack. So I'll start with the Colts first. What would you have had the Colts to actually do? I mean, they have Anthony Richardson and they granted him ⁓ the right to seek a trade. That hasn't happened yet. And Daniel Jones, let's be totally honest, Danny Dimes was actually playing well.

Alex Hardy (32:27)
Yeah. No.

Nick Ferguson (32:34)
much better than he did as a member of the Giants. But once again, he went to Minnesota, he went to quarterback rehab school, and then he was released back into the schoolyard and he was playing well. Like, if Daniel Jones doesn't get injured...

with his quarterback play along with what Jonathan Taylor was doing from a running game standpoint, that made the Colts a real challenge and the AFC South, right? Because they were going to challenge the Texans. They were definitely going to challenge the Jacksonville Jaguars. But that injury kind of took them off the market. So they said, well, what other guys do we have out there? Justin Fields, Tarrod Taylor, Callum Murray.

Alex Hardy (33:15)
Yeah.

Nick Ferguson (33:17)
You Kobe Brissette, Gino Smith. They didn't want to go down that road. mean, so much so they had they brought in old man Rivers to come in and try to kind of be a bridge to the season and maybe try to win a couple of games here and there. They realized, no, Daniel Jones is our guy and you pay for him. Now, could they have waited and say, well, we'll wait till the Falcons release Kirk Cousins and then sign him. And they were like, well,

Alex Hardy (33:44)
Or two-a,

like...

Nick Ferguson (33:46)
No, no tour.

No Kirk Cousins, right? Because Kurt's been getting the bag for a long time, but he hasn't really earned the bag. So why go in that direction? So stay with Daniel Jones. Now talking about Kyle Murray. Now Kyle Murray has seen what can happen once you go to quarterback rehab school. So he's seen what's happened with Sam Donnell. He's seen what's happening with Daniel Jones. And right now he's in a great space because JJ McCarthy, we don't really know what he is at this

particular point.

Alex Hardy (34:18)
I think we know what he

isn't. I think we know what he isn't.

Nick Ferguson (34:20)
Well, well, I mean, OK,

so we know what he isn't, but we don't know what he is at this particular moment. So what better way to inspire a young quarterback who has sustained some injuries and some inconsistencies by bringing in another former first round pick? And granted, it's only it'd be a one year deal for Calamari because guess who else is footing the bill? The Arizona coroner. So this is a be. This is a great test drive. So if it does work out, then you can sign him long term. If it doesn't work

out you just hit the reset button and you got to stall all over with the quarterback position but this is why I love this game there's no other league a professional league that gives you this much drama and guess what we haven't even kicked the ball off yet you gotta love it

Alex Hardy (35:06)
Yeah, yeah.

So I guess to fix the Colts, I would have tagged Alec Pierce and given Daniel Jones what he asked for, you know, ultimately they set the number a bit steep with the transition tag and they built that. That's what they're negotiating off of. I don't know if a Achilles post Achilles, Daniel Jones commands more than, you know, other quarterbacks out on the market. mean, I guess like

I, it all depends. It's all up to Shane Steichen, right? They found the quarterback to fit his system. He was turning back into Danny Turnovers. I think he had six TDs and four picks in the last four full games he played before he suffered the Achilles injury. So I was, they were paying off the, what they were paying based on the first eight weeks of the season, which I don't blame them. It was great. They were what? Eight and two, nine and one.

Nick Ferguson (36:02)
Yeah.

Alex Hardy (36:03)
Like they put themselves in a position to believe they had the guy and they mortgage their future to do so, bringing in sauce Gardner and they don't have a first round pick for the next two drafts. This is just, this is where they are. And so by the time, you know, the Achilles is fully healed and they are able to finally get some draft capital back. Daniel Jones is ready to hit the free agent market again. So I'm just a little concerned about.

You know how things look for them long term especially when the Houston Texans as poorly as CJ Stroud played and look They're gonna have an issue with his fifth year option coming up at the end of this year, too but that AFC South, know depending on what you think if you're a guy Bob Sala and CJ Ward the Texans are who the Texans are and the Jags, you know won that division right or Sure, I I just it's a tough spot for Andy to be

At least they chose Daniel Jones over, let's see, Arizona having a Jacoby Brissette and a Gardner-Minshew-Cubie battle or the Miami Dolphins cashing in on Malik Willis' 35 pass attempts. I will say, I feel like in a sense the Dolphins were negotiating against themselves because that duo of Hathley and Sullivan were, you know, with Malik Willis every day. They saw his process.

Nick Ferguson (37:27)
Yeah.

Alex Hardy (37:28)
So they had the best knowledge of what he was like because on the field you didn't have much to work with. 155 career pass attempts, 35 for just this past season, but 30 of 35 is really nice. there's going to be a tough battle for the first overall pick. I look at Arizona, I look at Miami, I look at the Browns too, although they did address their offensive line to a certain extent, which hooray.

They get some kind of consolation prize as far as I'm concerned. So at the end of the day, like you have levels to this and the team that wins day one of NFL free agency does not win the Super Bowl. But Nick, before we head on out of here, I mean, there's lots of teams to cover. There's plenty that we missed. But what are your expectations, I guess, as we kind of continue on? Is there a name that's still looming out there either in the free agent or the trade market? Is there a team that you are looking forward or?

rather expecting to see more out of. I where do you want to kind of leave things as we wrap up the first day of the NFL Free Agency?

Nick Ferguson (38:33)
Well, for me, the biggest thing is trying to see what they're going to do with the Philadelphia Eagles. Like, are we going to see AJ Brown remain the Eagle, or will we see him trade it sometime soon?

Alex Hardy (38:48)
Where's my alarm clock? Can I hit the snooze button

until June 1? Because it is roughly $40 million against the cap if they trade him post June 1. They're able to spread that out over the next two seasons. So their cap hit would be closer to, their dead cap hit I should say, would be closer to $15-20 million for this year. So unless they get blown away, they're not going to foot the bill now. They're going to wait until post June 1. Which you can do, right guys? we're cut with the June 1 designation.

but you can't do that on the trade market. June 2nd, Nick, we are going to lead the AJ Brown watch, but right now pick something else for me, please.

Nick Ferguson (39:19)
No, no, no, no, you can't.

Well,

really quickly going back with AJ Brown situation, a lot that means that a lot of teams, if they're figuring as though Jeffrey Lurie is going to do exactly that, they want to make sure that they have the cap space to actually bring on a guy like AJ Brown, which means as though. Right, right, so that's the thing, you got the extension, so other teams are trying to make sure that they wait or are they willing to wait that long?

Alex Hardy (39:42)
Yeah. Well, they're going to do an extension to wherever he goes.

Nick Ferguson (39:56)
for one particular player and potentially miss out on some other players where they don't have to give up as many. Yes.

Alex Hardy (40:01)
Yeah, how many moves are they willing to hold off on

now because come June they have a shot at him? I totally get it.

Nick Ferguson (40:07)
Yeah.

Yeah. So that is kind of the chess game and kind of what's going on. You know, I'll go back to the San Francisco 49ers, right? They add Mike Evans. Now, is Mike Evans still in his prime? No. I think with the weapons that they have around the San Francisco 49ers, that's going to make their team that much better, especially how Kyle Shanahan does a great job of scheming. And the 49ers are going to be right in the conversation once again, as far as

being contenders based on what they're doing. Now, I don't think that they are particularly done because they need to go out and get some more players and help out Brock Purdy on the offensive side of the ball and also on the defensive side of the ball. But that is definitely a team to watch. The other team that I would say is the team that won the Super Bowl and the Seattle Seahawks. We've seen them lose a lot of guys on both sides of the ball. But what they're thinking about is like, we just won a Super Bowl. This is at least going to buy Coach McHugh

at least two to three years to kind of slowly grind through this situation. Now it's gonna be very telling for Sam Dono because his safety net and Kenneth Walker is no longer there and Charbonneau is coming off of injury. So I got my eye especially on that NFC West for sure.

Alex Hardy (41:27)
Yeah, and the Rams kind of leading the pack. had the first blockbuster with Trent McDuffie. They bring in Jalen Watson as well, then retaining Cam Curl. Like that secondary was awesome. And that's, you know, not counting the fact that they didn't have a ton of work to do with how effective that pass rush was. So I like that NFC West as well. I guess for me, my parting thoughts, ⁓ you know what? Let's go back to the AFC South because we finally, well, we didn't get any clarity.

But the David Montgomery acquisition by the Houston Texans and two years in a row, ⁓ Nick Cicero reshuffling that offensive line. I'm really interested to see what kind of scenario that they build for CJ Stroud because for as ineffective as he was, the number one defense carried them to the divisional round of the playoffs. So they to me seem like the team to beat, but I do love what Jacksonville has done as well. ⁓

you know, Travis Hunter transitioning to more of a defensive role as, as one of their starting corners is intriguing. ⁓ but they're without draft capital because he's there now. So I'm curious to see really the two headed, the two headed dog, the two horse race for that division as it stands on March 11th. But again, there's plenty more to see. We'll get to it. And as things continue to unfurl,

We're going to cover it here on those guys. I'm Alex Hardy. He's Nick Ferguson. Ten years in the National Football League. You can follow him at Nick Ferguson, underscore 25, for any Broncos country or your team, any questions that you want to lob his way. I'm Alex Hardy. We are those guys. You see these guys? Don't forget those guys. We're right here. Nick, what do have for the people as we head on out of here?

Nick Ferguson (43:12)
Always remember, versatility is always key, whether it's in football or anything else.

Alex Hardy (43:19)
Happy New Year, Nick.

Nick Ferguson (43:21)
Happy New Year.