From World Baseball Classic Drama To NFL Trade Fallout

Aaron Judge goes 0-for-4 on a world stage and suddenly people act like they learned a brand-new truth about him. We’re not buying that. With Jace out today, I hop on the mic solo and start with the World Baseball Classic championship and what it revealed about MLB incentives, pitcher restrictions, and why the WBC still sits in a weird spot next to the World Series when it comes to legacy, credit, and blame.

Then I pivot to March Madness and the real reason the NCAA tournament owns the sports calendar. I barely watched college basketball all year, but a few days of nonstop games is enough to remind you why the upsets hit so hard. We talk excitement vs quality, how NIL and the transfer portal spread talent across the sport, why older players stick around, and why coaching stability feels shakier than it used to.

The back half is pure NFL chaos. I break down the Jalen Waddle trade from the Miami Dolphins to the Denver Broncos, why Sean Payton would pay up for a big-play receiver, and why Miami’s dead cap situation looks like tanking with a fresh coat of paint. From Malik Willis getting stuck in the middle of it, to the AJ Brown to New England Patriots rumor, to a full Mel Kiper mock draft reaction, it’s a full tour of how teams talk themselves into risky decisions.

Subscribe, share the show with someone who argues sports like you do, and leave a five-star review if you want us to keep taking swings every week.

Transcript

Solo Show Setup And Goals

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome back to the JB Sports Podcast. Today is Saturday, March 21st, and we are back for another pod. So for all that have been listening to this pod for a while, you know this is usually a two-person pod. Jace is Jace, my co-host last brother, is not here today. Couldn't make make it work out so we can both do it together. So I figured we can still kind of you know get on here, do a pod. It's not gonna necessarily be a long one, I don't think. And I always say that and then it ends up being super long, like two hours, but my main focus is for it not to be super long today. Because I just don't think there's a bunch of like uh content to really like talk about. There's a few things that I wanted to get on, which is why I felt the need to like come on here. Well, I felt I feel the need anyway, even if there is anything going on, I still feel like at least getting on here for the week, getting our voice, getting the voice out there, getting another episode out there, because you never know. Or a podcast that's still trying to build towards being something, like getting the more opportunities that I have to get on the mic, talk, like just keep talking about stuff, getting better. Like, I feel like it's just more just you know, just like baseball, you going at it, taking a crack at it, and you just keep taking swings, and hopefully one of those things will be a home run, or we're just gonna make it bring it back to the podcast sense, is that you never know what what that podcast is gonna be to kind of like get somebody new to start listening that wasn't listening before. So that's why I'm here, even though I just feel the need to anyway, because talking sports and stuff like that is where I feel at home. So me sitting here, even if I'm sitting here just talking to a computer slash wall, sitting here just rambling on about the sports takes that I have for the week, um, I'm more than happy to do so. So anybody that's been listening for a while, you understand that I've been doing this for a while. When it's not me and Jay, so I'm still gonna come on here and just do my thing and talk, talk away. And then anybody that's new, if this is your first one to listen to, I would under totally understand if like you don't want to sit here listen to one person talk, I totally understand that's not not everybody's for that. Some people like the because let's be honest, what's more more um popular nowadays is like the what is it, the the back and forth of like a first take type of type of uh sports shows. Um usually it is with me and Jace kind of going back and forth, but we still what podcast still has to go out. So let's go ahead. And if you do listen to me, you don't necessarily know exactly what this is at its best, go ahead and listen to a different pod with both me and Jace. And I think our last one was both with both of us. So you'll get a better idea if you listen to that one where you'll like have both me and Jace talking back and forth, getting a better idea of what we are at our best. So all in all, that's a that's all the like preamble that I have for today. So without further ado, let's go ahead and get to the things I wanted to talk about. So see, this is the one thing I feel a little bit bad about not having Jace because I do want to talk about the WBC, and I wasn't planning on talking about this until literally just like 30 seconds ago when it came to my brain. WBC happened and it was the championship game that happened. What was that on Thursday? Wednesday? I think it was Wednesday, right? When did the WBC um championship game happen? I think it was Wednesday. March 17th, that was four days ago. So that would have been Tuesday. Nope, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Oh yeah, it was Tuesday. Tuesday, WBC title happened between Venezuela and the United States. Venezuela won the game 3-2. Honestly, the the bats for the U.S. kind of just went super cold. The only person that really did anything in that game of note was Bryce Harper that hit a two-run shot to tie the game back up 2-2 after Venezuela got an early lead in that game, to I think it was 2-0. So that other than that, like the the U.S. bats went super cold. The pitching wasn't necessarily all the way there because one of the main stories coming out of it was how the manager for the US, why am I forgetting that guy's name? Um, who was that guy's name? I'm forgetting the guy's name. It doesn't really matter. He was talking about how the dealing with the pitchers for the United States was weird because you had to get clearance from all the teams, all of those pitchers as teams, whether they were allowed to pitch or not, and all that, and that was just a whole mess. And I'm like, and this is this is where the problem comes in, right? Because when you decide, and this is like the also a talking point for the Olympics as well, when there are so many rules as to when players can do things, and this is different by in comparison to like football or um not football, but like think about basketball in the in the U in the Olympics, where those players, when they're not like I get it, the the teams do have a lot of control, like during the season and stuff like that, but like when it comes to the Olympics, like they have the teams have say, but ultimately it's on the players because the players can kind of like the players have a lot more power in that scenario than the teams do when, especially in the offseason, right? But in the for the MLB, the players have power when it comes to just like the obviously money and all that. But when it comes to the teams, I think that the teams in general just have a lot more control as to what's happening, and it doesn't help that the WBC is happening right before the season is supposed to start. So if any of these players get hurt, it'll instantly impact what those teams are able to do throughout their regular season that Lydia is going to start in the next few weeks. So that is where I like I understand the teams like wanting to be overly cautious and not overwork these pitchers and players in general, because they're like, hey, we have a season coming up, and if one of these players gets gravely injured, especially one of our great pitchers, it'll mess up our season for the long term, and that could be a thing. So I told I understand from the teams' aspect how that can be a definite issue. But I just think when you when you're doing something like this, I think that is one thing that could potentially mess it up because I just think the amount of buy-in that players are gonna have and teams are gonna have is gonna be different, especially when you're comparing the US to those teams that the Dominican Republic and the V like Venezuela, like those teams, Venezuela and Dominican Republic, were like two of like the more joyous teams to watch because you could just tell all the players, like and most of those players, MLB players, not like you're dealing with non-MOB players on those teams, but you could just tell those players just had a lot more pride in playing for their country and winning this in comparison to the US. Where am I I'm not saying the players for the US didn't have pride, but it's just if you were to if you were to poll all the players on the ML and on the US team, what's more important winning the WBC or winning the World Series, a lot of them would say the World Series is more important. But when it comes to those players for those other teams in Dominican Republic and Venezuela, playing for their country is is that much more of an of an important thing to them. So winning the WBC to them is like if you pull those teams, it's gonna be a lot more likely a lot of them are gonna want to win the WBC for their country in comparison to caring about winning a World Series. So I just think the buy-in is a little different by comparison, and then you have the teams in I I mentioned the pitching thing before with the teams, I'm like, that has to be happening for those other teams as well. So like it's not necessarily the biggest thing that only the United States has to deal with, but it is something a talking point that was that was around coming out of it. And then when it comes like when it comes to the it's just the the bats went hot, went cold for the United States, and I think for most of the the WBC, like everybody was doing well, judges doing well, like everybody was playing. I think um Paul Skeens was pitching very well. I think he pitched in like three different games, and he pitched well, and it was just in that last game, you could just tell that once the United States bass went cold, there's really nothing they can do, and it felt like just Venezuela, it was Venezuela's day to win that game, even though Bryce Harper did do his thing to make it close, even though he didn't do anything throughout throughout the whole WBC until that very moment where he hit that two-run shot. But outside of that, he didn't do much, and I'm just it's so here's here's my main thing, and I I kind of did the long way, the long way around to get to my main point. The first thing that Jace texted me, because Jace, me and Jace kind of go back and forth just on many of things, and even though he and I are both Yankee fans, I feel like he's the more I think he's the more negative between us when it comes to certain things. And one of those certain things is Judge. I'm a little bit more positive on Judge in general. Jace is a lot more negative talking about, you know, he I think he attaches himself to some of like the main doubts are about him when it comes to not being playing big in the big moments, not showing up in the in the playoffs and the World Series, him having a very bad World Series two years ago against the Dodgers, definitely didn't help. And then now coming off of when Judge was in this game in the WBC Championship, going 0 for 4, didn't do anything offensively, and he that's just like another thing for him to kind of touch himself onto. He's like, hey, when we were talking last pod about Judge being the second best player, I think it was last pod, or we were just talking in general on just normally on not on podcasts. I said Judge was the second best player in baseball outside of Otani. And I think that's a pretty general, like general thing, like general knowledge type of thing right now, because they're both like winning multiple MVPs and all that. And again, I get the fact that Judge has had his truck troubles in the playoffs, but this last playoff run that the Yankees had, Judge played awesome, and he he did he think he was hitting like 500 over seven games and like did everything he was supposed to do. It wasn't his fault, our pitching was terrible, and we didn't have anybody on the back end when it comes to relievers and um setup guys to finish off some of these games we had an opportunity to win, especially against the Royals. So, no, it was sorry, not the Royals, Blue Jays. Um, so so he kind of texted me and said, Hey, what about Judge being the second best player in baseball? Second best player in baseball wouldn't have a night like that. And I'm like, the way I I'm like, one bad game should not again offensively it was bad, but nobody's like, and this is where I kind of came to my conclusion about what the future is for something like this, is that like for some of these star players in these spots, like going to this, like these world type of stages, right, where everybody's watching? Can anybody tell me that Judge had anything to gain by playing awesome in that last game and hitting multiple home runs and being the superstar player that he is? I get it, he didn't have a great game, but like if he were to overdo it and he was awesome and like totally destroyed the game, would anybody have given him any credit for doing so when he's given so much blame when he doesn't play well in these in these big moments? I would contend that it he wouldn't have gotten uh credit for playing big in this in that game on that day of Tuesday night. And now that he didn't play well, now he's taking a whole bunch of blame, saying that oh what oh best again coming back to Jace, second best player in baseball, and he has a night like that, and I'm just sitting there like, man, it's one game in in especially in this sport in baseball, there's so many different factors that have to go on. It's like it's not just the player, especially as a hitter, like you have to deal with the pitcher, and again, I get it, there were some spots that look very bad for Judge, especially that last at-bat, where you just watch some pitches go by that you can't watch let what like just watch them go. But it's just, I just don't know, man. I think in general, Judge this past postseason where he did amazing and he showed up and he played very well, and it was the Yankee team that let Judge down rather than Judge that let the team down. And then he has comes to this WBC, and then he has again he was awesome the whole tournament. He was playing def defensively, he was playing very well, he was gunning people out from right field. Like you just tell his arm is back and he's playing very well defensively. And then when it came to his hitting, he was hitting very well too, up until that very last game where he just had the over four day, which definitely was not good, right? And now it's gonna that's gonna be put on his record when if he would have gone out there and showed out, I don't think he would have been given a bunch of credit for doing that either. So I just think for some of the best players in baseball going out there for the for the WBC, that technically doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things in comparison to the World Series when that's what you're paid to go out there and win. And I think in general, the WBC is still very new by comparison, and I think someday it'll get to a point where the WBC will be a very huge thing that everybody cares about. But I still think in general, like the general population, the World Series is a lot more important than the WBC is, even though the WBC is a lot more of a um, it's a spectacle, and you get to see these real, like almost real life super super teams come together in like the only other opportunity you get to have to see a moment like that, other than probably the all-star game in the MLB. But you get to see these teams kind of built with all the best players coming out of baseball, and it is a spectacle, and it's a very fun watch if you're watching it, but I just think in gener like when it comes to stakes, the stakes are not that high yet. I think it'll get there one day, and I think if you add on the Olympics at some point, I think that'll up the ante a little even more. But I just think in general, I don't know. I just don't know for some of the star players and for Judge, I'm just in particular in this moment because that's the one that me and Jace were arguing back and forth about I just don't know where if the juice is worth the squeeze and putting your potentially putting your own um what's the word I'm looking for? Your reputation on the line to go out there and play a game. Even though this I think this should be fun, and I think you should have pride for your country, but I just I'm not sure if moments like this should be one of those where you're like building on your legacy. I just don't know if the WBC is there yet to where that stuff should count towards that. I think it's a fun thing, and I think it's a it should be, especially since it's coming like right before this upcoming season, I think it should be like a referendum on what these players should look like going into the major league season that's going to start soon. But I'm just not sure if you can use these moments as like building blocks for a player's legacy. And I fear I fear for a player like Judge that has had his his big moment woes, now this is being used as a as a building block for building up why he isn't as good of a player as we all think he is. When I just don't think this is this is one of those moments that should be used because it's just not there yet. But I don't know, it's just a weird one. I'm not I'm not even sure how many people listening to this body will even care about that. And I think this is more just me kind of waxing poetic about Judge and how I thought he did amazing up until that very last game, and then now I have to take up for him. But I just think in general, I think what we should look at, Judge, is that whole WBC as a whole, and then what he was doing throughout the playoff run last year for the Yankees, and I'm like, that is what we should hang on to, not just one game where he goes 0 for 4. I don't know. I don't know if anybody anybody even cares about that, but it was on my mind, so I wanted to talk about it. Next thing I want to talk about was the March March Madness, the the tournament, right? So that is going on right now. I think today and tomorrow where it's gonna be like the round of what is the Sweet 16? Yeah, sweet 16 um games playing um right now. I think today and tomorrow will be the Sweet 16 where they're all playing. So here's what I'll say before I get into anything else. I only did three brackets this time around, I think. Um let me make sure I'm not crazy. Yeah, three brackets is what I did. I don't know, man. I just didn't feel a need or a desire to really jump in and do all the brackets stuff. Because to be honest, I think before the tournament started, I think I've watched maybe an hour's worth of just literally a total hour's worth of college basketball all season long. I'll watch clips of Ohio State or like a couple minutes of Ohio State here or there as they're on. If I'm kind of walking around getting I like I'll see it on my phone that they're playing, I'll watch a few minutes of it until they start losing again, and then I'll just kind of jump off of it. And then I'll watch clips and stuff of or highlights of some like the bigger games throughout the season. But I can't sit here and say with confidence that I watched a bunch of basketball before this tournament started. And then ever since the tournament started over the last ever since this past Thursday, I watched a bunch. I like watched a bunch of basketball and um I've watched a few games here or there. And the game yesterday between Kentucky and was it Kentucky and why am I forgetting the team they were playing? Hold on. In Santa Clara, that game was crazy because the last couple seconds um before last couple seconds of the game hit a it was hit a three from Santa Clara, and then they give the ball right back to Kentucky where they hit a three to tie the that the Santa Clara hit the three to go up three, and then Kentucky with like two seconds left gets gets a shot off and hits a three to ten send it to overtime where Kentucky ends up winning the game. But that was a 7-10 matchup, and then you've had a couple upsets so far of like number 11 VCU beating number six North Carolina, and then you have let's see, what were some of the bigger upsets? Um let's see here like a 13-4 uh California Baptist and Kansas, that was a close game, 68 to 60. You had South Florida giving Louisville a problem, 79 to 83, but Louisville ended up coming out with that game. And then you had UCF almost pull off the upside against UCLA. Like you've had some good basketball, like not good, so exciting basketball. And I think that's my point that I've wanted to make throughout this is that like watching these games over the last four or five, three or four days or so, it has been more about watching exciting basketball, not necessarily watching good basketball. And I haven't really made any bets. I think I made like two bets yesterday on college basketball, and I think that's about it. I don't think I'm really gonna do much more when it comes to like betting games and all of that. But I think I've wa had a lot of fun just knowing that I think I think it's almost like a if you're not really used to it, I think it's like a um almost you have to like reset. Like, who knows? Like, for somebody that's not really a big college basketball fan in myself, the idea that it goes from me not watching any basketball to kind of being interested in watching how things go, and then not on top of that realizing that, oh, the um on top of that, that oh now there's gonna be basketball on for 20 almost 24 hours in the day for like three or four days in a row, and then you're gonna have a little bit of a break there until you're gonna start having some like you know, the round of 16, like um not the 16, but the round of the elite eight and stuff, like the sorry, what is it? The elite eight, like Swiss this elite, sorry, the elite eight and the final four, those is where a lot less games are going on. But this whole weekend, it's a very big weekend for a lot of people that bet on these games and that have fond memories of how like these these weekends go, and it's a lot of fun watching a lot of basketball. And I've watched a decent amount of basketball these last few days and I've had fun watching it. But it's not really good basketball, it's it's exciting basketball because you have these teams that like you know when it comes to players, I think all in all, I think the the talent is a lot more evenly a lot more evenly distributed throughout all of college basketball because of NIL and stuff like that. Kind of the same thing as for football in a in a certain certain sense, right? And I think also for basketball in general, I think for college basketball it helps because any of these players that thought they had a chance to go to the NBA and then don't necessarily have a great draft slot or a chance to really like be one of those guys to get drafted, they have a better chance of coming back to college, making some money in taking their time instead of just waiting for the first year of their basketball career to go by and then try to jump into the NBA as fast as possible. And because I think I think players end up being better, you think they'll have a lot more better players in general in these games, but also you're gonna have a lot more older players as well. That I think to a certain extent, as long as they've been playing basketball, the more basketball you play, the better that you get at it. Even if you're not particularly like like all time amazing, talented wise, I think that the more basketball you the play you play, the better you get. And I think in general, it allows some of these teams to kind of really build up. Some talent and build up some like some older players that can also have been like played a lot of basketball and like can really even though even if their talent doesn't necessarily qualify them to be able to play at a higher level, but it's because of the work they put into it and how good they are mentally at the game that allows some players to kind of play above their their talent and be able to have some really big moments in this tournament. And I feel like you've seen a lot of those kind of happen over the years, and I feel like it's gonna keep happening because these players are gonna be spending a lot more time in college basketball rather than trying to look for the first way to get out, get out and go play in the NBA. If they're not gonna be, even if they're not gonna be drafted high just to try to go play professionally and make some money, but now they can make money in college basketball. So I think all in all, this is that was a long way of me saying I think bat college basketball in general is gonna be a lot better played when it comes to the players. But I think the coaching is the one thing that has taken a hit over the years because I think a lot of the better coaches in college, I think college basketball in general has been more about the great coaches that have really built themselves up to be the stars of the show. Because players move so much and all of that, you don't really get a chance to get attached to players in general. But coaches you do. But it was some of the better coaches that have been there throughout the years in college basketball that have taken their leave because they don't want to deal with the new era of NIL and Transfer Portal and all of that. Some of the better coaches in the history of college basketball, the coach K, the coach uh Coach Kays and um the guy from Villanova, like some of the better coaches have kind of taken their leave because they're like, hey, I don't want to deal with this crap that's coming in college basketball. But I think all in all, the coaching has taken a step back, even though I think the talent and the players have taken a step forward because there's they're just playing a lot more college basketball than they were before, and they're sticking around to become better players in general. And you that all of that is seen when you watch these tournament games, and it's having I'm having a lot of fun watching it, and I'm not really necessarily getting too invested. I'm not really betting games, but it's just good to be like, hey, these last couple days, I'm gonna go throw on a game real quick and watch it and kind of watch in the background, or even sit there and get it get like involved a little bit and like um invest some time and like really try to follow it. And it's just a lot of fun in general. And anybody out there that's like having a good old time watching these games, I totally understand, but it's just not necessarily my biggest cup of tea, even though I can even I not being the biggest cop college basketball fan can kind of jump on, enjoy it, have fun with it, and um and recognize how big of a moment it is in general for the country for watching this stuff happen because it is one of the biggest spectacles in all sports. It really is. I think again, is it the most fair? If I think it's the probably the best TV product of anything, because it just it captures the wonder of fans and players and all of that in general, because the Cinderella runs and it's not always this tournament is not always about the best team winning. It's about what team can get hot, and I think it allows for some like impossible moments to happen that I don't think can happen in college football or in other sports in their in their postseason tournaments and playoff structures. That's not gonna happen there, but in college basketball is one of the special places and stages where I think it does happen. I think you have you have a lot of fun watching it as it goes. And that's about it. I uh Ohio State played on played TCU. I think that was on Thursday, one of the first games to happen. And that didn't go well because again, I'm an Ohio State fan, if you don't know. And I like watching Ohio State bat like Ohio State in general. And am I a big Ohio State basketball fan? No. I'm definitely more of a um Um more of an Ohio State football guy, but I I'll play or shoot in every once in a while for Kyle State basketball if they're good. And again, I'm not I don't feel any um I don't feel terrible about saying so because I'm just like, hey, it is what it is. If it's good, I'll I'll watch them and I'll have fun doing it. And if not, it is what it is. And I'm not necessarily gonna be super mad about Ohio State basketball, and I'm not one of those people that's like, oh, Ohio State basketball needs to be good like Ohio State football is, because I just don't think when it comes to resources and all of that, that you can have everything, right? There's a reason why in college sports that there's a reason there is the saying of being a football school or a basketball school in college, there's a reason that is a saying that's used. And I think that Ohio State, even though I think when it comes to a brand, Ohio State has a huge brand that can potentially have the chance of have being both a basketball and a football school, but I just think that in general you're not really gonna be able to be great at both, let alone be as good as Ohio State as a football, and then expect the Ohio State basketball team to be able to do the same. I'm just not sure if I can say say that. So um I don't know. It was disappointing to see the way they lost at TCU where they got down, we're down 15 at the end of the first half, and then once let's see. Yeah, they were down 15, came back, got a lead in the second half, and then fumbled the game at the end. It was disappointing to see, but I'm just like, it's not gonna hurt my feelings because of that. It's not the same as it doesn't this hit the same chord for me as Ohio State football would if they were were to lose during their season or during the playoffs. It doesn't hit the same, it is what it is. Even though I've say I can say I've watched a lot of col like I've had a lot of fun watching Ohio State basketball over the year, especially when I was a kid watching the Aaron Kraft days and all of that. But it's just it just doesn't hit the same as college football for me, and it is what it is on that. So I don't know. If you're having fun watching it, go ahead and have fun. But it's just um for me, it's not necessarily the same, even though I can have fun watching it. So that's all the rambling I have on college basketball. I don't really have anything else to talk about there. Let's go ahead and get to football because that's honestly what we're all here for. I think I have a couple different uh football topics to really jump into. Um, and then I have a mock draft to react to at the very end here before we get out. So let's get to the football topics I had laid out. So let's do the first thing here. Um, one of the bigger things to happen this past week was the trade for Jalen Waddle. So Jalen Waddle got traded from the Miami Dolphins to the Denver Broncos. Yeah, the Broncos. Um they got traded to the Broncos in a trade that sent, let's see, Jalen Waddle and a 2026 fourth round pick to the Broncos in exchange for a 2026 sixth round pick. No, it's 2026 first round pick at pick, which is going to be pick 30 overall, a third round pick, which is gonna be pick 90 overall, and then a fourth round pick at pick 130. So Miami Dolphins sent Jalen Waddle in a fourth to Denver in exchange for the first, the third, and a fourth, all in this upcoming draft. Okay. Let's get to both sides of the trade here. Let's start with the Broncos. Why would you do this to trade for a guy Jalen Waddle? I think for what Denver has been over the years, I think they are a team that has been right there. Again, if they would have just had Bo Nicks playing in that last in the AFC Championship game against New England, I think they probably win that game. And I think they were close, pretty close to winning that game without Bo Nicks in that game. So now coming into this next season, you're gonna get Bo Nicks back. One of the biggest weaknesses on that Denver team, it wasn't their defense because their defense is one of the best in the NFL. I think they were top five defense in the NFL. It was their offensive consistency. Like there were times where they were super explosive and able to get points pretty quickly, and then there were times where they looked like one of the worst offenses in the NFL, couldn't really get any points, let alone touchdowns. In it, and as much as I'm not a big Bo Knicks fan, it wasn't all on Bo Knicks. Bo Nicks carried a little bit of blame when it comes to that, but I just think it wasn't necessarily all on him, right? And I think part of the reason why they couldn't do so is they didn't really have a lot of explosive plays in their offense. And it was the wide receivers that they had on that team, let's see here. Before this, let's see. Position. So the wide receivers they had on that team before, you were looking at Cortland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Lil Jordan Humphrey, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant. And I think outside of Cortland Sutton, I don't think they really had a consistent player on that team when it comes to wide receiver-wise, let alone a guy that can really break, like makes have some game-breaking plays down the field. I think Marvin Mims maybe, but I think for him, he's a fast guy, but he's pretty small, not really got like not really going to be a guy to get a lot of big one-on-one catches by comparison to what Jalen Waddle would give you. And I think for like Troy Franklin, I think he's a taller receiver and has long strides, but he's nowhere near consistent as a guy like Jalen Waddle can be in that offense. And to be to be honest, I think Denver has like really taken some chances of drafting some wide receivers over the past few years, and it hasn't worked out. I think Troy Franklin was a second or third round pick for that team. Um they drafted Lil'John Humphrey recently, Marvin Mims is a recent draft pick over the last few years. So like they've tried get like drafting wide receivers and building it up that way, and it hasn't really worked out for them. And I think for a team that is as close to being like on the Super Bowl doorstep as they were last year, and they think they can get back to again, getting a guy like Jalen Wilde, who who has already shown that he can be that guy in the NFL already throughout his what is it, six-year NFL career so far. I think he has shown that he can he's already well more than ready to jump into an NFL offense, another NFL offense and be the big play receiver that he has been throughout his whole career so far. Is he Tyreek Hill? Probably not, but I think he's probably the next best thing to that. And he can he can run the route tree, he can get some big plays down the field. He has game-breaking speed. Like once he gets the ball in his hands, he can make some some um some big plays after the catch. And that's why I think Denver would trade for a guy like him. Do I think they overpaid for sure? I do think so. I think they way overpaid for a guy like him. I don't think he's worth the first and a third. Like all those draft picks they gave up for him was definitely a little too much for me. What is it, a first, a third, and a fourth? Like, all of that seems like a lot to go up for a guy like Jalen Waddell. But I think what they get in general is a big play receiver. I think they have his rights for like the next two years or so. I think he they had he's well he's paid, and I think he's unpaid getting paid under$30 million for his contract, which I think is relatively cheap for a wide receiver right now. Because let's do let's get to that here. Hold on, give me a second. Um top wide receiver contracts. Sorry, I'm going to spot track real quick to tell you about some of the contracts that like so where let's see here. Jalen Waddle currently is getting paid. Let's see. Waddle. Sorry, I had him and then I lost him. Give me a second here. Waddle is currently getting paid, he has$84 million left on his deal, and I think he has like two or three years left. So he's getting paid like$20, he's like getting paid just under$30 million a year for the next couple years, right? And again, are they gonna give him an extension? Is he is he gonna want that? I'm not sure. But they have his his rights either way, right? But when you compare a guy like Jalen Waddle getting paid the money he's getting paid to Waddle is getting paid less than Cortland Sutton, who they already have on their team, and he's at Waddle's 25 years old, so he's definitely a lot younger, but he's getting paid less than Calvin Ridley, who's 29, that has 92 million dollars left in this contract. AJ Brown. And again, I'm not saying Jalen Waddle is those players, but he's getting paid less than some, like he's getting paid, let's see here. He's 25 and getting paid 84 when you have DJ Moore, two years older, and then he has$110 million left on his contract. So like there are some guys that aren't gonna be getting paid that aren't a lot a ton better than what you get out of Jalen Waddle, but they're getting paid a lot more than what he's getting paid. So, like, contract-wise, Jalen Waddle isn't necessarily all that bad on your books, and then he's already a well-established receiver, and I feel like when you have why am I forgetting the coach's name? Why am I forgetting that guy's name? Hold on, let me think. Um no, why? That's a bad time to forget that guy's name. Um Denver head coach. Sean Payton. And when you have Sean Payton with the offense that he has, it is not known to be very um wide receiver friendly, like especially young wide receivers. He definitely likes older players that he can kind of just, hey, this is the offense. I can trust you to learn it because you're an adult and you're a guy that's been doing it for a while. And he can bring in Jalen Waddell, he can get used to that offense pretty quickly, and he can translate to making a lot of plays early for that team. And I think with what he brings to the table, it makes total sense that Denver would be taking this chance when they were pretty close to doing it anyway without a guy of his stature adding into that team. So, and not to mention, they're they're a team with not a lot left to really improve on their team. Like they already have a very good offensive line, they believe they're having their quarterback of the future in Bo Nicks. Their defense is very good, like they have maybe they're they have a running back they just drafted, and they like they have a lot of pieces already intact. So, like taking a swing for a guy like this to really take the next step and make your offense that much more potent makes a lot of sense for that team. Now let's get to the Miami side of this thing, which I think is a lot harder to wrap my mind around as to why they would do so. I think no, in one hand, on one hand, it does make sense why they would do so, right? You're Miami and let's see here. You're the Miami Dolphins, and let's see how much. So coming into this next season, you got rid of Tyree Kill. You're gonna be paying a bunch of money, dead cap hit on him because you got because you dropped him. You let go of Tua. There's a bunch of dead cap, I think almost a hundred million dollars dead cap money on him. And now you're and you released a bunch of other players too, or traded them. So there's a lot of dead cap money that you're gonna have to be paying, and now you're adding Jalen Waddle onto this whole thing. So I think it's very obvious that they're gonna want to eat the these dead cap hits for the next couple years and then try to just restart this whole thing and start off from scratch here in the next year, year to two years, right? But here's my problem with what they're doing. I think when it comes to what the intent was of these dead cap hits that are going on in the NFL, it was meant to make teams have to rethink it and make you make these teams want to fix these issues rather than just start dropping players that they put all this money into. It was meant to try to keep um what's the word I'm looking for? It was trying to keep teams from doing exactly what the Dolphins are doing right now. Because you have to eat such high dead cap hits onto your cap, it was meant to be a reason for your teams not to make these huge um franchise altering decisions by getting rid of a bunch of like high-paid players all at once and just restarting your franchise. That like that this is not what the dead cap hit was meant for. The dead cap hit was meant to keep teams from doing this, and now it's becoming more and more clear that now that the cap is going up every single year based off of how much more and more money the NFL is making, it just makes it more and more feasible for these teams to eat all this and just say, hey, we're just gonna suck for a couple years and then we'll kind of build back up. And it's like almost like sucking on steroids because I'm sitting here like it's just like you're doing so much bad to your own team by doing this. So I'm gonna go to let's see, Miami Dolphins, right? So for this upcoming season, they have$179 million in dead cap money that they're gonna have to eat literally this season, which is number one in the NFL, and that's only half other other total cap because look at this. The total cap for all NFL teams this year is 326 million. No, sorry. What is the cap hit? What's the cap what's the amount of cap dollars? Let's see here. Let's see here. Hold on, I'm I'm crazy. Hold on, let me think. Give me a second here. I think it's supposed to be 300 and I think it's supposed to be 320 million total cap um for NFL teams. So the the NFL salary cap for this year is 301.2 million dollars, which is a$22 million jump from what it was last year. Okay. So over half of the cap for the Miami Dolphins are gonna be dead cat money they're gonna have to eat. So their team is literally going to be literally nobody's like their whole team, because they can't pay anybody to do anything, other than Malik Willis, who they paid to come be their quarterback for their team, they can't pay any big type of dollars for any players to come help their team be good because they have taken on so much dead cat money for the on for their team for the next two years because they've gotten rid of so many high dollar players from their team. And this is where my problem is with this, right? Because of all that they're eating, they're not going to lower the amount of the ticket prices to what could to have have fans come watch their team play. They're still gonna be charging absorbent amounts of money for for for fans to come watch the team in their stadium. They're still gonna be collecting a whole bunch of money when it comes to TV revenue for um for their team playing, because that's a guaranteed for all the teams throughout the NFL. So, like, you get to suck for two years, rebuild this back up the hard way, and like I'm talking the very hard way, by going to the down and the dumps by how bad you're about to be because you have no talent, because you're eating all this money in dead cap space. But it's just like this is not what it was for. It was meant to try to promote teams to go ahead and try to figure it out. And now more and more you're having these teams. You have Denver doing it over the last couple years with the Russell Wilson deal where they were eating$100 million in dead cap money, and now um the Miami Dolphins are putting that on steroids and now having$179 million worth of dead cap money in one single season. That's insane. That's insane that they're willing to take this type of bad pill. So, like, think about it this way. They're gonna be paying dead cap money. I'm gonna just give you the players that they're gonna be paying to not play for their team this year, okay? Tua,$55 million. Tyree Kill,$28 million. This is dead cap money, by the way. Jalen Waddell,$23 million. Jalen Ramsey,$20 million. And they traded him before last season. They're still paying dead cat money on him. Minka Fitzpatrick, who they traded away. Bradley Chubb, who they dropped and let him go to free agency. Teron Armstead, James Daniel, Zach Wilson, Alec Ingold. Like these are some John U Smith. Like these are real dead cat. Like, they're paying all these dudes to not even play on their team. They're paying 30 players to not play for their team. I get it. Not all 30 of those players are all awesome players, but eight or nine of them are all big money players that you're not you're paying to not play for your team. And it's just insane. And in the Dolphins, I get it, and this all stems from the fact that they should have never paid Tua the big amount of money they paid him in the first place off of one or two years of really good play. And I get it. That it's if the team's willing to pay that price to get it over with and not have to deal with it, I totally understand. And I don't necessarily blame them for not having Tua because the Tua thing was an instant mistake. I knew that. A lot of people throughout the NFL knew that, and anybody that really watched football knew that. That Tua wasn't really a guy that was going to be a long-term quarterback in the NFL. But it's just the amount of players they're all eating all at once, and then it's almost like they're they're they're hamstringing themselves from being able to put out a good team and be like, oh, we're trying, but we have to have all this dead cat money because we have to rebuild our team. Oh my God. I never wanted to do it like this. Like, that's exactly what they're trying to do. They're trying to make it to where they have no choice, even though they had a choice and they decided to go to the bottom of the dumps as pot as fast as possible. So they can try to rebuild their team in the next couple years. And it's just, it sucks because it's not like they're going to be selling$5 tickets for fans to come watch their team. They're still going to be paying, they're still going to make fans pay a whole bunch of money to come watch their team play. They're still going to be collecting a whole bunch of money from the NFL for the TV rights and all of that. And now you just get to suck on purpose in general and not have to pay any type of price for it. Like that's that that's where it sucks. Like that's the part that sucks about it. And it's just, it just, it's so obvious. And I just think that when people talk about tanking in the NBA and how big of an issue it is, but it happens in the NFL all the time, but nobody wants to jump down that rabbit hole and really kind of go down that road because the NFL's a lot better at like not talking about it and kind of keeping it on the back burner. But it's just, and not there's not as many games to deal with bad team sucking and comparison and all. I get it, I get it. There's a lot of differences that allows the NBA's tanking to become so much more apparent than the NFL, but it's happening in the NFL too, and nobody likes not many people like to talk about it. Especially when it's as abhorrent tanking as what's going on right now with the Miami Dolphins. I don't know. It's a big issue, and I just think trading Jalen Waddle, and I this is the part, and I went down this road, and I didn't really mean to. But the Jalen Waddell part, you're trading him away, totally understand. You're gonna be sucking anyway, you're gonna be eating a bunch of cap, dead cap money anyway. Why not get some more draft picks and be able to feel just like really restart this team from scratch in general? And that's the part where I'm like, I get what they're trying to do, and like trying to get as many cap and as many um draft picks as possible. Because think about it this way, right? With what they have now, draft pick wise, they have a let's see here. They have one first round pick, one second round pick, they have three fur three third round picks. They have how many picks in general in this year's draft? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Let me see. They have nine picks in this year's upcoming draft, including what is it? One, two, three, five picks in the first three rounds. And then next year's draft, they have just as many. Like they they're they're loading up on picks so they can just really build out their team with a bunch of young guys and hope that they're gonna do it the right way and kind of build up their team from scratch. And I get the idea if they're already eating a bunch of cap money, what is another 23 million from Jalen Waddle gonna be? Especially when you're getting all those draft picks from the Broncos to do so. And not to mention you have like two first round picks this year because of it, I think. Hold on, am I crazy? Um let's see here. Um they have two first round picks in this year's draft. Like no, sorry, that that whole thing I was just looking at was wrong. They have two first-round picks in this year's draft with a number 11 and number 30. They have a number uh one pick in the second round, they have one, two, three, they have four picks in the third round. And they have like, so they they have one, two, it's four, five, they have seven picks in the first three rounds. So I get the idea that what they're trying to do draft-wise, but it's just at what at what cost, and not to mention the fact that that assumes that you're gonna be able to do good things with those with those picks and actually pick up good players that are gonna be with your team long term, which is not necessarily a guarantee. So I'm just sitting here like, I just don't know. I I understand what they're trying to do, but I'm not sure if it's gonna work. And the Dolphins have been bad for so long. Well, not necessarily bad, but outside of those two years there with Tua, that they they look pretty good, they've been bad for a very long time. So, like, assuming that they're gonna be able to just turn this thing around with draft picks and like doing it the hard way for the next couple years is not necessarily a guarantee. And this is where it kind of comes to this is my biggest question because what they what the Miami Dolphins did is they they did a splash move in bringing in Malik Willis. They signed him to a hold on me, make sure I'm not absolutely nuts here. Let's see here. They brought a Malik Willis on a three-year$67.5 million deal with$45 million guaranteed, and it includes a$22,$22.5 million signing bonus. So like they're giving real money to Malik Willis to come and play there for the next three years. Okay. Why would you make this move? Because when you make a move like this, Malik Willis, who was looked at as one of the higher, higher tier quarterback free agents that you could sign, why if you're the Dolphins, would you sign a guy like Malik Willis when if you knew that you were going to trade Jalen Waddle and be try to be as bad as possible this upcoming season? Why? Why wouldn't you just get some crazy bat some backup on your team, let them be the starter for the year, and make it even more apparent of how bad you're trying to be for the season. Maybe they were just trying to make it seem like they were trying to make some good moves to be a good team this upcoming season with signing Malik Willis. But here's the thing you did that, and then you went and traded traded away your best the best weapon that Malik Willis would have to throw to. And this is the part that this is the part that I hope that at least I think they did right. I hope they did this correctly, right? I hope that they didn't lie to Malikulus and have total, like let's just say best case scenario for this Dolphins team is that they knew they they didn't think they were going to trade Jalen Waddle. They had no idea that they're gonna trade him, and they figured, hey, we don't have any plans on trading him because we have a crazy high price on him, and we don't think anybody's gonna pay that, which is why you bring in Malik Willis and be like, hey, we're gonna give you an opportunity to be a starter in this league, let you go for the first for a year or two. If you can be a guy, then you can maybe be our long-term starter for in the for the foreseeable future. If not, it is what it is and all that, right? I hope they were honest with Malik Willis and say, hey, we're gonna keep we're gonna keep Jalen Waddle. He's you're gonna have a really good number one weapon to throw to and give you the best chance to come out here and succeed, at least offensively, even though the rest of our team's gonna suck, you're at least gonna have somebody to throw to to at least give you a chance of going out there and putting your best foot forward and being a starting quarterback in the NFL. But what I totally but that do I actually believe that's what they did? I don't think so. I think they had a very good idea that if they saw a good enough offer for for Jalen Waddle that they were gonna trade him, and that they brought Malik Willis in and they told him, hey, we we have a great number wide receiver, number one for you to throw to. You're gonna have an opportunity to be a starter in this in this league, and we we're gonna make sure that you have a chance to succeed and like make this opportunity that you have, we're gonna pay you well to take this opportunity, and we're gonna make sure with this opportunity you're gonna be able to put your best foot forward. And I think that I don't I think the Dolphins totally didn't think that they were gonna actually try to help Malik Willis play well. I think if they have their in their dreams at night, they have a hope that they can suck as bad as possible so they can go and draft Arch Manning or have their pick whatever quarterback they want in next year's very quarterback loaded draft that's gonna come up, that is what they're hoping for. I don't think they ever intend for Malik Willis to be their long-term answer. I really don't think so. Because if you did so, why would you screw him over and taking away the best weapon he would have had to throw to to send him somewhere else and eat more even more dead cap money? Especially a young wide receiver, one like this wide receiver was old, he's 25 years old. He still has plenty of prime years ahead of him that you could have him for long term and let him be your number one receiver and like have a quarterback wide receiver duo if you really expect Malik Willis to potentially be your long-term answer. But I don't think they ever have that as a as an idea in their minds. I think they want to suck as bad as possible and have a chance to have their pick of quarterbacks for the for the next year's draft. And I think Malik Willis is gonna get screwed over because of it. And I have a weird type of connection with Malik Willis because when Malik Willis is getting drafted, when did he get drafted? In 20, let's see, it's 2020, 2022, 2021, 2021, 2022. I'm not sure how the math works on that. When he was getting drafted, the Pittsburgh Stars were looking for a quarterback and at pick 21, funny enough, and I was looking at it and be like, hey, I think because I didn't believe in any of the quarterbacks coming out in that year's draft when they picked up Kenny Pickett eventually in that first with that first round pick. I'm like, I don't believe in any of these quarterbacks, but I think if you had to give one of these quarterbacks a chance, I think Malik Willis is that guy because I think he has supreme athleticism. And I think, even though I think he needs to learn some things about being a quarterback in the NFL, I think the upside that he has is different in comparison to the other guys. And not only did Pittsburgh not pick him, but they let him sit, he went three rounds, two rounds without getting picked. I think he got picked in the third round. And instead of that, they picked, can he pick it up in the first round? That was a terrible disaster on its own. So I think in general, I think it would only help my case if Malik Willis didn't work out in the NFL and all of that, even if I was being selfish about my team, right? Because if he was to work out with the with the Packers, well, he did well with the Packers last year, and then he comes to the Dolphins. If he ends up playing well and showing he could be a starter in the NFL and play some good football, that only hurts my team because my team was the team dumb enough not to pick him when he was the easily the most talented guy coming out of that draft, even if he had his his his flaws. And the Steelers picked a different guy that was a totally different can of worms that blew up on them instantly. Okay. And now that these years have gone by, Malik Willis has shown to be the only guy to have a chance to be a real Sam Darnold, like bring his career back up by his bootstraps type of moment. Malik Willis is the only guy that has that opportunity too. Kenny Pickett is gonna be a career backup in the NFL. Good for him, he's gonna make a lot of money doing so. And then also, why for any other guy's name? Um, who was the other guy's name? It was the freaking um oh darn. Who was the other quarterback in that draft? Um it's the guy, it's the mayonnaise guy. It doesn't really matter. But I think in general, I think I just think Malik Willis is getting handed a very bad hand to be dealt with right now. And I think I don't think the Dolphins were honest with him about their plans of trying to suck as bad as possible. Because if they were, why would Malik Willis have chosen to go there? Because Malik Willis is trying to have some good guys to throw to and have a real chance to like be a real dude, why wouldn't he have gone to the Cardinals? Why wouldn't he have gone to some of these other places that would have had some real talent for him to play around him to help him play his best when the season starts? Why would he have gone to the Dolphins if this is what they were gonna do? And I feel like Malik Willis had no opportunity to think that they were gonna trade Jalen Waddell away and take away the only weapon that he had left on that team. Maybe they'll make up for it and pick some wide receivers up in the draft that'll like maybe take that spot. But again, they're then they're young players that have to grow on their own, and it's no way they're gonna be able to help out um Malik Willis right away, like he's gonna need it. So I'm just like, all in all, I feel like the Dolphins are screwing over Malik Willis in their pursuit of trying to suck as bad as possible in this upcoming drift this upcoming year, so they can have a great pick in the next draft. And I just say I feel like Malik Willis is gonna be taking all the L's on this, and I feel like that's that sucks for him, honestly. Because again, I get it, that's what he's getting paid for and all of that, but I'm like, I think he would love to have an opportunity to like show that he can be a long-term starter in the league. And I feel like after I have a true feeling that after the Dolphins are done with him, he'll never have a real opportunity to be a number one starting quarterback in the NFL after he's done with the Dolphins. I really do think so. I think they're gonna ruin what's left of his good the goodwill for him left in the NFL, and either he's gonna be a career backup for the rest of his career, or he's I'm gonna be in the NFL after the Dolphins are done with him because they're gonna make him look terrible. I really think so. So that that's uh it's a mess. It really is a mess with that, but uh, it is what it is. So now that I'm done with that, um let's get to the other thing I wanted to talk about here was the news that there is some there is some rumblings going on in the NFL that the that the Eagles and the Patriots have a secret trade that's gonna happen and that it's gonna happen after June 1 because I think it'll allow the Eagles to spread out the dead cat money that they would have to eat for trading AJ Brown away. So I think I'm not gonna go into details as to what that entails, but I think that's what the news was was that they have a deal in place to trade AJ Brown from the Eagles to the Patriots after June 1 to be able to help the Eagles on the back end with the money and all that. And it's only a matter of time before that happens. So I'm just gonna kind of react to what this means for both sides. So for the Eagles, I think this has been a long time coming. I think the Eagles and AJ Brown and the offense drama has been going on for too many years now, even throughout the Super Bowl year that they were having the similar issues with AJ Brown and the offense. And I think this has been a long time coming. I think the Eagles have played it off for so long and tried to make it, try to almost be like um the meme with the dog and the fire in the house, like, oh, every everything's fine, right? Like that meme, if you've seen it before. Like, that's been the Eagles with this AJ Brown offense of the offensive side of the football situation for years, right? And AJ Brown's been that fire, and it depends on the fire, right? Because I think there was a time where AJ Brown was the truth teller in the room when everybody was acting like everything was fine, when it was obviously not fine with that offense, okay? And then they get Saquon Barkley, they have their magical season, go win a Super Bowl, and it kind of quells it. And then this last season, when they like it feels like everything should be good, it goes back to being trash again, and the offense is worse as it's ever's been as it's ever been. The tush push has been taken away because of the officials, and like they're being a lot more um stringent on what they can do, throwing more flags and all of that. So like the offense goes to absolute dog trash this year, and AJ Brown, it's still a thing, and it's still like a storyline being talked about. And the Eagles are still playing it off like it's it's no big deal and all of that. I feel like they they get they can only play it off for so long. And I feel like it's finally come to an head, and I think that for the Eagles, I think it's the best thing to do to get rid of him when it comes to the personality. Because let's be honest here, okay. I think if money wasn't an wasn't part of this, and they were just looking at between because let's be honest, the issue is with AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts and that offense, okay. They're not gonna be able to fix the offense in one fail swoop because they can't really get a real offense coordinator to come in and deal with the issue, the madness that is going on with that team offensively. So if your two options is to either get rid of AJ Brown or Jalen Hurts and keep the other, I think if they were just looking at it player for player, I think they would love just to keep AJ Brown and get rid of Jalen Hurts. Okay, because I think AJ Brown as a wide receiver is better at his job than what Jalen Hurts is as a quarterback doing his job. Okay. But the problem is, is that you can't just take it on its face like that. There's a lot more things that are involved in that situation. Those things being that Jalen Hurts is a quarterback, and quarterbacks are much harder to replace when it comes to getting a good guy, a good one that you think can lead your franchise and do enough. Because I think no matter what I can say about Jalen Hurts and how up and down he is and inconsistent as a quarterback, he has shown in two Super Bowls that he can outplay Patrick Mahomes. In one, he truly outplayed Patrick Mahomes, and it like it just didn't work out. One literally one play kind of ruined the Eagles' chance of winning that game. And in the other, the defense was a lot more reason why Patrick Mahomes played terribly, but Jalen Hurts balled out in that game, too. So there were two of the biggest stages that Jalen Hurts was a part of that he's shown that he can go out there and ball out. Okay. In outplay, probably what who is generally most people's favorite quarterback, well favorite, but who most people would think is the best quarterback in the NFL in Patrick Mahomes. Let's not tell Jace that, but in general, that's what most people think. But Jalen Hurts is not like he's not consistent as a quarterback. He's not. And he doesn't throw in the middle of the field very well, and he's up and down accuracy-wise, and he looks like he doesn't like the offense, just looks to be not really all the way fleshed out with him at the helm. And then AJ Brown, like, like I just think AJ Brown is a wide receiver. He can do everything you want, and he's still at a pretty relatively young age. He's like, I think he's right around 30. Let me see here. AJ Brown age. I think he's right around like 28, 29. If I can tight, please. So AJ Brown's 28 years old. He's still relatively young. I think he still has two, three, four years of prime left in his NFL career. Injuries have been a little bit of an issue, but it's not necessarily debilitating or anything like that. So and I think I think AJ Brown is a much better wide receiver than Jalen Hurts as a quarterback. I really do. And but the problem is that quarterback is a more valuable position, that's harder to replace. AJ Brown is a little bit less of an adult than Jalen Hurts is. I think Jalen Hurts in general has made it his job to be as clean cut and as as um clean and cut as an individual as you possibly can be, and be the best leader of a franchise you can possibly be. Because I feel like it when it comes to Jalen Hurts, he's never gonna say the wrong thing, especially when it comes to the media. He's gonna be clean cut, never say an or never say a negative thing about anybody. He's gonna take all the blame if they lose. And it when it when they win, he's gonna give all the praise to everybody else. And he's like he's really shown himself to be an adult when it comes to doing that stuff. And I think as a quarterback, that that means a lot more at that position than what it is at wide receiver, okay. So when it comes to everything off the field, Jalen Hurts has done that perfectly, okay? And AJ Brown hasn't. AJ Brown's been a little bit more of a fire starter. He's gonna make it very clear when the offense isn't doing well, he's gonna be the guy to say so. He's made it his job to do so, whether whether it was for good or for bad. I think there were some times where AJ Brown was just being the truth teller, and there's other times AJ Brown was just trying to cause panic, and he's trying to cause an issue. And I have been on AJ Brown's side for the most part for most of this, because I I do feel like they, the Eagles in that team, gaslit him for so long, to where it's almost like you can only expect a guy to be gaslit for so long before they start kind of crashing out, and that's what AJ Brown's been doing for the last year and a half, it's just been crashing out in general. And I understand that, but I also have to give up the fact that he is being a little bit childish and he's not really handling the best of ways in comparison to if you have to choose between him and Jalen, Jalen's been handling a lot better. So I just think in general, because of all those things, and not to mention the fact that the money itself is gonna is a big issue and all of that, because you have to be paying so much money to both of these players, that I just think in general it makes AJ Brown the easier tie to cut loose, right? So I just think all in all, it just makes a lot of sense that this is the time for AJ Brown to take his leave and go play out the rest of his prime somewhere else. And I think for the Eagles, because of money and because of locker room um culture and all of that, I just think that AJ Brown is the easiest one to get rid of to where you can make that change and kind of help out everything that has been issues, even though I think getting rid of AJ Brown makes you a worse football team. I really do do. As much as I think Devontae Smith is an awesome player, I don't think he could be a number one wide receiver in the NFL. I really don't think so. I think he's an awesome number two, but as a number one, I don't think he can be nearly the receiver you need to be to be a number one guy to be able to take up what AJ Brown was able to do for your team when you guys were playing at your best. But I just think with all the things coming together, I think AJ Brown is the easier guy to get rid of and kind of like start to try to get better in general, even though I don't I don't think. They're really going to be able to fix this with just by getting rid of AJ Brown, but it is what it is. So, all of that, not to mention what you can get for him. I think with Jalen Waddell, with Miami getting as much as they did for him, like, what do you think the Eagles are going to try to get for AJ Brown? They're probably going to. I think the news was last time I checked was that they were looking for a first and a second and more to for to trade AJ Brown away. So if they can get a first and a second for a guy like AJ Brown, for a guy that doesn't want to be there, and for a guy I don't think the Eagles really want around. I think that's a very good trade to get rid of a guy like that and try to, you know, maybe go get a different wide receiver to help out your team and all of that. So I just think for the Eagles it makes a lot of sense what why they're doing so. And then for the Patriots, for the Patriots, what they were last year, I think they made the Super Bowl last year. That is a fact. But what's also is a fact is that I don't think anybody looked at that Patriots team and saw that that was the most talented team on the AFC side of the NFL. They weren't. I don't think like um Drake May did an awesome job. He did what he was supposed to do and balled out, and at least throughout the regular season. And then in the playoffs, he definitely struggled throughout the whole thing until it finally came to a head in that AFC champion. Sorry, in the Super Bowl, where he totally just kind of dis he malfunctioned. But I think nobody's gonna look at that team and say that they were talented enough to be in that spot. I think they took they had their opportunity, they took it, and they went as far as they could with it, even though I think they played well above what they what their talent level was at that time. So in the so now with getting rid of Stephon Diggs in the offseason, now he's gonna go play somewhere else, and now you have a vacancy at wide receiver one for that team. Getting a guy like AJ Brown is definitely gonna be it would be a huge help for on the football field for what you are. Not to mention the fact that um Mike Vrabel has been the head coach for AJ Brown before. Uh AJ Brown started his career with the Tennessee Titans with with Vrabel there. So Vrabel has dealt with AJ Brown before and they have a rapport already. AJ Brown would be able to play with a much better quarterback that can get him the football a lot easier. I think Drake May in general is probably a better quarterback than what Jalen Hurts is as of right now. Even though I think when it comes between the two, Jalen Hurts has had some bigger moments and big in um bigger, much better play and bigger moments than what Drake May has had. But I think Drake May in general, I think a lot of people can can agree with the fact that Drake May is probably a toolsier quarterback that I think can be a real dude in the NFL in comparison to what Jalen Hurts can be. I just I think that's a pretty easy thing to say from what we saw this past season. So I don't think AJ Ram will have nearly the issues when it comes to the offense to what he did while he was with the Eagles. And not to mention the fact that the the Patriots have a lot more money to play with, and they don't like their team, they don't pay a bunch of people a lot of money. So like they still have a plenty of money to play with when it comes to the salary cap. They can bring in a guy with his number, like with AJ Brown's money that they're gonna have to give to him and not necessarily have an issue with paying it. And I think when it comes to the quarterback, meaning sorry, the coach and Vrabel and AJ Brown are already having that rapport. I don't think AJ Brown will come in and like be an issue when it comes to the culture. I just think all in all, I think it makes sense for both sides of the of the both teams in this trade if it were to happen, which I'm ever it I keep hearing it everywhere, not just from one source. Not I'm not a source guy, but when it comes to reading different sites and like people that actually have sources and they're all talking about it, I do think there might be some real smoke to this fire. So I just think it makes sense for all every all parties involved. I think it'll help out AJ Brown to go to a new new scenario with a better quarterback, better coach, yeah, definitely better coach, and just a better situation overall for AJ Brown to be able to be what he's supposed to be, not only on the field but off the field, and then have the support of having a better overall culture to where he like I just think AJ Brown can go back to just being a wide receiver that can be getting the ball and doing what he's supposed to do, and not have his voice be the number one voice in that whole team. Because I just think they they have a bit a better I think the the Patriots have a much better infrastructure because of what Vrabel has built there already within with his first year being there. I really do in comparison to the Eagles. I think the Eagles is a dumpster fire with everything everything from the anything below the GM, I think GM and up, I think, is the best in the NFL, but anything below the GM when it comes to head coach down, it's a clusterfuck in Philadelphia. And I think AJ Brown will be going to a much better, a much better culture in general from going from the Eagles to the Patriots. I really do think so. And I think football-wise, it makes sense for everybody. The Eagles will get some picks and to be able to use on other players and try to help out their team and get better that way, on top of getting the money off their books. That'll be a big help for them. And then the Patriots will be just being getting a much better player on the football field that'll be a better number one than what Stefan Diggs can give you. That is, I think AJ Brown's definitely a much better receiver than what Stephon Diggs is. And I think he'll be able to do a lot more down the field and help out Drake May, be able to progress even more as a quarterback and as a passer. And I just think all in all it'll be a much big move for everybody if they were to make it. Again, it won't, if the move happens, it won't happen until after June 1st. But once it does happen, we'll be we'll be more than happy to talk about it again. And I'll make sure to get Jace on it so we can get both of our opinions on it. But uh, but for the news that it may happen, I just make sure wanted to make sure to talk about it because I do think for for all parties in that scenario, I think it'll be a very good trade for everybody. So last but not least, I don't think I really have anything else in the NFL to talk about except for this mock draft that I wanted to do. So let's get to it here. Mel Kuper. I think I did a Mel Kuyper draft last time that I reacted to, and I think he has done one more. I think he released this one four days ago. So I just want to go through his mock draft or we react to it as we go, and then that'll be the last thing I do before we get out of here. So, and uh we're only a little bit over an hour right now, so I'm thinking I'm doing very well time-wise. So, this will be the last thing we do before we get out of here. So, let's go ahead and get to it. Number one pick for him is gonna be the Vegas Raiders taking Fernando Mendoza. Makes sense. That's the all-in-all number one overall pick. They're looking for a quarterback. Fernando Mendoza's number one guy. Makes total sense. No questions here. It is what it is. Fernando will be the number one guy taken in this year's draft. Number pick two, New York Jets. Um, Kuiper has them taking David Bailey, the outside linebacker, pass rusher to the Jets. It's either going to be David Bailey or it's gonna be Arvell Reese in that number two slot. I really do think so. I think the Jets need an outside guy. I think they've made it made it very clear based off the moves they have made, get rid of some guys that were already on their roster to get a guy that can be a big their number one pass rusher. I think that's either gonna be David Bailey or Arvell Reese. I think David Bailey is a guy that's a little bit more ready right now when it comes to can you just kind of drop him into that slot and he can kind of eat and he can kind of go out there and um do some good things right now, even though I think Arvell Reese is probably a little bit more of a project currently, but I do think Arvell has the higher ceiling between the two of Arvell can be like a top five pass rusher in the NFL. Even though I don't think David Bailey will be that. I think David Bailey will have a long NFL career of like getting sacks and doing what you're supposed to getting 10 sacks a year. I think Arvell has a real chance to be the next Micah Parsons, like um, like he has a real chance to be like that dude, but you have to do a little bit of molding first. And I it just depends on what the Jets want to do. Do they want to have to do a little bit of molding to get the best out of Arvel Reese, or do they want a little bit more of a sure thing in David Bailey, who can come out of the gate being a little bit hotter and like be ready to go, a little more ready to go right now? Kuyper, as of this draft, has David Bailey being the guy, which I don't necessarily mad at. Pick three Arizona Cardinals, they have Arizona, he has Arizona taking Arvell Reese, makes total sense. The defense for the Arizona Cardinals was definitely an issue for them. So, and there's no quarterback to take at this spot or anything like that. So taking the best player available for the Arizona Cardinals makes makes a lot of sense. And the Cardinals love taking buck guys, so taking another one would definitely would not be a bad one for them. Pick four, Tennessee Titans. He has uh Kuiper has him taking Jeremiah Love. I think with the moves that Tennessee has made, I think either it's gonna be wide receiver, Carnell Tate, and all that, or it's gonna be Jeremiah Love. I think Jeremiah Love might be the guy that Tennessee takes. Love is looked at as an easy top ten pick because of how good of a running back that he is, and I think getting a guy of that talent to help out Cam Ward on that team is definitely gonna be a huge deal for them. So I think all in all, Jeremiah Love or Carnell Tate's probably gonna be the pick for this Tennessee Titans team. I have no problems with Jeremiah Love being the pick, even though I do think Carnell Tate does have a chance because I think they do need a wide receiver one, a real wide receiver one to help out Cam Ward. But I think Jeremiah Love being the guy that he is at the running back position is definitely gonna be a huge help for that team. Um pick five, Kuiper has the New York Giants taking Caleb Downs from Ohio State. I they did pick up a couple safeties in this last year's in this uh this recent um free agency site free agency cycle. So I think it's a little far-fetched to take Caleb Downs when you've already put real resources into taking two other guys. Um, but I just again I'm not gonna sit here and poo-poo the Giants taking Caleb Downs. I think Caleb Downs is worth a top five pick. It would suck to see him go play for the Giants because you know the Giants is my stepdad's team, and I would I I've already told him that I'm hoping no butt guys go to him because I just I feel a little bit jaded in that way. Just to be a little bit uh hateful. But I think in general, I think Caleb, wherever he goes, he's gonna make an impact and do some good things right away. Um, I'm not I'm not surprised Caleb was a top would be a top five pick in the in Kuiper's draft in mock draft. So it is what it is on that. Pick six, Cleveland Browns. Um, kyper has them taking Monroe Feeling the tackle out of Georgia. I think this is another slot where I think Carnal Tate could definitely go. But I do understand the fact that the the Browns are really trying to rebuild that offensive line for what quarterback? I have no clue. But but I do understand them trying to rebuild that offensive line. And if they do think that Monroe Feeling is the best offensive tackle here, I would understand the Cuban Browns using this pick to go for him. Um, I think the Browns have two picks in this draft, so I think what with one of those two picks they're gonna take up tackle. But if they think Monroe Filling is the best guy, I totally understand. But I do think Carnell Tate's definitely an option here as well because the Browns do not have a number one receiver on that roster as of right now. Pick eight, New Orleans Saints. Um Kuyper hasn't taken Carnell Tate. Even though I do think that Carnell Tate can be a number one in the NFL, but I do think if he does end up getting picked by the Saints, Carnell Tate is a number two to Chris Olave on the other side would be a definite, like a huge wide receiver deal to have to deal with. I think they already have their quarterback in Tyler Shuck. I think Shuck showed he can do a lot of good things um this past season. And to be able to get Carnell Tate to be your number two on the other side of um Chris Olave would be a definite, huge upgrade over what they had last year. And I think I think it'll be a very good pick to help out that offense. Even though I think they their defense definitely needs definitely needs some help as well. But I just think if they think Tyler Shucks they got getting him another weapon to throw to is definitely a huge deal. Pick number nine, Kansas City, their first of their two picks in this this upcoming draft. Um, Kuyper has him taking Ruben Bain, the defensive out of Miami. I totally understand that. Their defense is definitely they need to put this pick either on an offensive lineman to help out Patch Mahomes or to get a pass rusher to help out that defensive side of the ball because their pass rush was awful last year. So taking the best pass rusher that they can get at this number nine spot definitely makes a lot of sense. And Ruby Bane, Ruben Bain, even if he isn't the physical Marvel with the long arms and everything, but I think he has shown throughout this past season in college football that he could be pretty much beat up on whoever he saw this past season. So I do think you do, it's not necessarily I think he's a very safe player. Even if Ruben Bain can't be a superstar defensive end like some of the guys that are gonna be taken ahead of him, I think it's gonna be a very productive defensive end throughout his NFL career, getting a lot of sacks, and I think um Kansas City can do a lot of good things with him. Pick 10, Cincinnati, Mansord Lane, cornerback out of LSU. Cincinnati's defense is ass. Taking the best uh corner in this year's draft makes a lot of sense. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I totally understand that pick. Pick 11, Miami Dolphins, Kuyper has him taking Jordan Tyson, the wide receiver out of Arizona State. I totally understand that, especially after they got rid of their best weapon for um why am I forgetting Malik Willis to throw to getting another wide receiver to go in there and be the number one guy would definitely be a help. Even though I do think offensive line may be a good uh spot to go with here. Um they can go either way. Totally understand if they went either way on this, but I think Jordan Tyson is definitely a wide receiver worth getting picked this high, even though he has a lot of injuries that you're gonna have to deal with. Maybe he can he's gonna get have that behind him and he can have a very productive and healthy NFL career. But it's just throughout his college career, he was hurt a lot. So I don't know. I'm not sure about the injury thing, but if he has it behind him, I think he can be a very talented wide receiver. Um, pick 12 Dallas Cowboys. Um, Kuiper has him taking Jermon McCoy, the corner out of Tennessee. Very good corner. Um, playing in the SEC, he's faced a lot of guys. He, I think he's proven that he can be a very good corner. Um, if you give him some time, and with Dallas Cowboys having such a terrible defense last year, getting a guy for your back end of your defense definitely makes a lot of sense. Number pick 13, the LA Rams. Um get they have that's the pick that they have from the Atlanta Falcons. They have Kyper Asm taking Francis Maui Goa, tight end out of Miami. Is it Maui Noah or Maui Goa? It's Maui Noah, I think. Makes sense um to have an offensive tackle that you can kind of plug in there um after next year. I think their offensive tackle they have now is only going to be there for one more season. I think he's only signed for one more year. So to have a guy in waiting that can kind of take his time and not have to be the starter right away and be ready to go after this next season definitely makes a huge difference for the Rams, even though um, especially since they only have this one first round pick, they're they're in a spot where they can just take the best player available or they can kind of plan for the future. Francis Maui know is a guy that's kind of planning for the future a little bit to have your next offensive tackle in there waiting, ready to go. Pick 14, Baltimore Ravens, now that they have their first round draft picks back. Oh, those stupid, that stupid team playing real nasty um with that whole thing. I'm not gonna go back into that, but now they have their first round pick back. Kuiper has them taking Spencer Fono, the office lineman out of Utah. Definitely gonna be a big help for them. Their office line was one of their biggest weaknesses last year as a team. And if they want, um and if they want, why am I freaking his name now? Oh no, uh Lamar Jackson to be playing at his best, be able to protect him is definitely a good way to go. And Spencer Fono would be the best offensive lineman available at this spot based on how this this um draft is this mop draft is going, makes total sense for them to pick him up. Pick 15, Tampa Bay. Um, Kuyper has him taken Kenyon Sadiq, the tight end from Oregon. Because they don't have a guy like Mike Evans, they have lost out on a big body receiver to kind of throw the ball up to. That can make some big plays. Kenyon Sadiq, even though he's a tight end, can kind of really fill that role. Um, they already have a few young wide receivers they're gonna have on the outside, but now having a big body tight end on the inside that's gonna be a huge mismatch for any safety or linebacker he's gonna be able to face for Baker to throw to would be a huge addition to that offense, especially with Mike Evans not being there anymore. It makes a lot of sense for to especially help out that offense because I I think they might be able to help out the defense too. That defense is pretty bad, but I think between the two needs, with the having a guy like Kenyon Sadiq feel one of those needs in a very big way is a very, very big deal for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in this mock draft. Next pick, pick 16. Kuiper has the I think he has a trade at this spot. He has the Jets trading up. Um no no no. No, this they already had this pick because they got because they traded away um Sauce Gardner. So that's that's on me. My bad. So pick 16, he has the Jets taking Ty Simpson, the quarterback ally Alabama. I'm not sure if Ty Simpson's this good to be picked this high. I really don't think so. Not to mention, I don't think he's gonna be the answer for the long-term answer for the Jets, man. Again, if you're a team like the Jets, right? That is not a team that can pick a quarterback and hope that the quarterback can fix what they have. I think they need a quarterback that is gonna be a superstar guy that'll fix any issue going on with that team. And I just don't think Ty Simpson's that type of superstar that could just fix all the wrong things going on. That team is a dumpster fire. That team has so many things going wrong with it, and I just think that Ty Simpson's not gonna be a guy that can that's gonna be able to elevate over all of those things going wrong. And because of that, I just don't think that's gonna be a place where he's gonna be able to succeed long term. But I don't know. Maybe he's a talent that Mel Kuyper thinks he is, and that he's gonna be picked relatively high. I think he's more of like an end-of-the-first round guy, not a mid-first rounder, but you know, it is what it is. The Jets have made stupider decisions, so it is what it is. This is their second pick in this draft, so it's not like they've already gotten the first pick right, hopefully, with getting David Bailey. So they can take a little bit more of a chance with this second first round pick that they have in this upcoming draft, and maybe getting their quarterback of the future, which I don't necessarily agree with, but it is what it is on that. Pick 17 Detroit Lions. They he um he has them picking Caden Proctor, offensive tackle out of Alabama, makes a lot of sense. The offensive line was definitely a big weakness for that Detroit Lions team last year and be able to get it off a tackle that you can potentially. I'm not sure if he's a left tackle. I think he might be a right tackle or a guard. So, like, but again, their offensive line was definitely a little bit weak all over. So being able to get a guy that you can kind of put into one of those spots and be able to help be your next kind of uh another building block for your office line for the next for the next 10 years, definitely a big pick for the Lions. Uh pick 18, the Minnesota Vikings. Mel Kuyper has them taking Dylan Thinneman, the safety out of Oregon. The white boy safety. There's gonna be another white guy of safety in the NFL. And I think Thinneman, the guy out of Oregon, he's super fast. Um, he get he's super fast at the safety position. I think he's gonna be he's a very good athlete. I think he knows the defense well. He's gonna be able to go go in there, hit some people. He's gonna make he's gonna be very quick to get to the football. I think he's gonna make a lot of good plays. I'm not sure if I'm gonna be the team to take the chance on getting the white boy safety, but they have been taking a real glow up over the years of white boy safety is not necessarily being as big of a risk as they have been in years past. So, and plus, Minnesota's been a team that has been very okay with having a white guy's safety over the years. So, why not take another one? That makes a lot of sense, especially with Harrison Smith, the last white guy safety they've been dealing with for the past like 10 years or so. Getting another one to kind of take his spot will definitely be a huge, huge deal for that team. Pick 19. Kuiper has the Carolina Panthers taking Emmanuel McKee McNeil Warren, the safety out of Toledo. That makes a lot of sense. This the defense was definitely the bigger issue with the Carolina Panthers last year as they were going on their run getting into the playoffs, and in that playoff game against the Rams, their defense was definitely the bigger issue. And getting a talented safety, even though he's coming from a Toledo team that's not necessarily one of the biggest in college football, he's definitely a talented guy that can go in there. He's gonna take a little bit of a lumps when it comes to kind of taking that step of getting ready to play at the NFL level, but he's definitely a very talented um mold of clay to be able to mold, like a ball of clay, be able to mold into something, being a very good player for your team. And I under totally understand Carolina Panthers taking him. Um pick 20, Dallas Cowboys again having their second first-round pick of this draft. Um, Kuyper has him taking CJ Allen, the linebacker from Georgia. It's another defensive player from Georgia. I totally understand. He doesn't look like the most fluid linebacker athlete that you can get out there, but again, nobody, not a lot of players out there are Sonny Styles. So, and Sonny Styles has already been taken. So, all in all, makes a lot Did I mention? I think I sw I flipped right over Sonny for Washington. My bad. Going back real quick, I did I went right over the pick seven Washington commander as taking Sonny Styles. I don't know why I I I jumped right over that for some reason. But number pick number seven. Sorry, I went over it. Um, Mel Kuyper had Washington taking Sonny Styles. Makes total sense. The most athletic player in this year's draft. At linebacker, this defense was definitely the biggest issue for that Washington team. And I think Sonny Styles would be a huge upgrade over anything that they had on that team defensively. So Sonny Styles would be, and not to mention, he will be a leader for your team for years to come. And he's going to be an instant impact type of guy for that team. So it makes total sense for Washington to take him at pick seven. So now, with the Dallas Cowboys picking at 20, there's no other linebacker that's good enough to take at this slot. So CJ Allen, even though he's not the most fluid athlete, he still played at Georgia, was pretty productive. So being able to take a guy like that at pick 20 for the Dallas Cowboys, again, defense being their biggest issue last year, definitely a huge help, especially after taking a guy to help out your back end earlier on in this draft in Jermon McCoy. Pick 21. Mel Kuyper has the Pittsburgh Steelers taking Olive Vega Ione, the guard out of Penn State, as a Steelers fan. I totally understand that pick. Offensive line was not the most consistent last year. So getting a guard, especially after we let a lot of a few guards kind of walk in this pass free agency, getting a new guy. I think people look at this guard from Penn State probably the best offensive lineman pound for pound in this whole draft. But because he's a guard, he's never gonna be able to be picked up that high in comparison to some of the more project tackles that just have the physical body types that they need that they really want. But if this guard can be like a plug-and-play type of be able to have an impact day one, I think this is a very good pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pick 22. Um Mel Kuyper has the LA Chargers taking Peter Woods, the defensive tackle out of Clemson. For what they have from their defense, they I think their defensive line was definitely an issue stopping the run last year. So being able to pick up a guy like Peter Woods, even though some of them Clemson guys over the years have been guys that have kind of underwhelmed um in their time in the NFL once they get out of Clemson, so especially over the last three, four, five years or so. The Clemson guys have not been instant impact guys in the once they get to their NFL teams. So again, Peter Woods is talented. He has all the physical traits. But I think when it comes to the type of player that they're trying to get, it makes a lot of sense that they're gonna pick a guy like that. Um pick 23. Um Mel Kuper has the Philadelphia Eagles taking Max Iankor? I have no idea this guy's name. Max Max Ian Anchor, the tackle out of Arizona State. Makes a lot of sense. And you have Lane Johnson as like your right tackle as of right now, but he's a little bit older. He's gonna be retiring in the next few years. So if you're an Eagles team that's looking just to try to kind of keep planning for the future, taking it off of the tackle that'll be sitting right behind Lane Johnson to learn from him for the next year or so, year or two will definitely be a huge help for that team long term. Number 24, uh Mel Kuyper has the Cleveland Browns taking Mikhail Lemon, the wide receiver from USC, to kind of, you know, they didn't take their wide receiver with the sixth pick overall, so you have to take one here at 24. But my problem is that you already have Jerry Judy. And I think Jerry Judy and Mikhail Lemon are very similar receivers, so like maybe they want to get rid of Jerry Judy at some point to not have to pay him the money he's getting paid from them, and like maybe Mikhail Lemon can be the obvious replacement for that. But Mikhail Lemon is not an inside receiver at all. Like he is definitely he's sorry, he's not an outside receiver at all. He's definitely an inside guy, and I think that's what Jerry Judy is for them as of right now. So I'm not sure if Mikhail Lemon is a guy that they like a body type they actually need in that wide receiver room. But I don't know, man. It's a little bit weird. Weird fit, but again, if Tate and the um Jordan Tyson guy from Arizona State are already taken, there really is no better wide receiver to take this spot. So I understand Mel Kuyper having the uh Browns taking a wide receiver for this spot, and if they do, this is the best guy left. So I understand that pick, even though I think they probably should have taken Tate earlier on in the draft. It is what it is on that, but you know, I understand at this spot why do you do it based on how this mock draft has gone. Pick 25. Mel Kuyper has the Chicago Bears taking Zion Young, the defensive end out of Missouri. Chicago Bears need more defensive help. Their defense was definitely more of their issue last year. Their offense is definitely a lot more, a lot farther along their defenses. So taking a guy out of Missouri that had a lot of sacks for Missouri, I think he's gonna be a guy that can kind of help that defensive line out from day one. Definitely a huge help, but makes sense why they uh Mel Kuyper would have them taking him. Number 20 is pick 26, Buffalo Bills. They have he has them taking Avion Tyrrell, the corner out of Clemson. Again, another Clemson player that had like maybe he can go and play some very good football. Again, he's a Terrell, his older brother plays for the Falcons right now, so I think he has all the info he needs as to how to jump into the NFL and be a good player right away. And even though I think he was a little bit up and down at Clemson, I think he has all the physical tools to go out there and play pretty good football from day one. So as long as he can kind of get his mind right and be able to go and make the transition well, I think Avian Terrell would be a very good pick for the Buffalo Bills, especially with them watching so many of their secondary guys from last year go and go away in free agency. So they're gonna be using this draft a lot to kind of help out that defensive side of the ball. So Avian Terrell definitely makes a lot of sense of that spot in this mock draft by Mel Kuyper. Pick 27, San Francisco 49ers. Mel Kuyper has them taking Blake Miller, the off attack at all Clemson. That makes a lot of sense because of their issues with Trent Williams. Who knows? I think he's like 37 years old, so who knows how long he's gonna be playing with them, whether they pay him or not, or whether just, you know, father time and all of that. So having a guy that can be the air apparent to Trent Williams will make a lot of sense, especially at the end of this first round. They already have a lot of their needs kind of filled, especially with some of their guys coming back defensively. Maybe they can pick up a guy to help out their defense, but I think at this spot makes a lot of sense. Blake Miller having air apparent to Trent Williams makes a lot of sense. Pick 28. Um, Mel Kuyper has the Houston Texans taking Christian Miller, defensive tackle out of Georgia. I don't know why they would go defense at this spot. That really is a strength for their team, to be honest with you. Especially the defensive line. They already have so many defensive linemen that are on that team playing some very good football. I think they need to go offensive line here. I really I think they have to go offensive line at this spot. So I this might be the first one I'm like totally dumbfounded by. Why would they go defensive line at this spot based on how their team was last year? It doesn't make any sense to me. Um, I think they need to go best offensive linemen available. Like literally anybody. They just need bodies because of how many guys they've gotten rid of in this pet in this offseason. So I don't understand this pick at all. But um, I this is like the first one I'm like kind of disgusted to see because it's like doesn't make any sense to me. Pick 29. Uh Mel Kuyper has the Kansas City Chiefs taking Brandon Sise, the cornerback out of South Carolina. So they don't really have a lot of corners in their in their team right now that they that they have. So I totally understand them taking a corner at this spot. And if Mel Kuyper thinks Brandon Cise is the best one available at this spot, I totally understand him having the Kansas City Chiefs take him. Especially with them already getting their defensive line help earlier on in the draft and the in with their number nine pick. I totally understand them getting a guy that they think can help out their back end as well. Because I think their defense is probably the biggest weakness for them as of right now. So that makes a lot of sense to me, them for uh what Heath has the Kansas City Chiefs taking at pick 29. Pick 30. Um Mel Kuyper has the Miami Dolphins taking Kendrick Falk, Keldrick Falk, the defensive end out of Auburn with their second pick in this first round. He has I think he's gonna be a very good defensive, I think he'd be a very talented defensive end that can do a lot of things. I think they'll be able to drop him in day one. Will they be a very good defensive end right away? No, but I think he'll be able to help out that team, especially with the fact that they got rid of so many players. They don't really have a lot of talented players at all in many spots on that team. So being able to get a guy like in to drop in right away and let him go learn and let him play play out his kinks will definitely be a huge help. And I think if everything works out, I think he can be a very good defensive end. So like I understand the Dolphins, um Mel Kuyper having the Dolphins taking him with this pick. Pick 31. Mel Kuyper has the the um the New England Patriots taking KC's Concepcion, the wide receiver out of AM. I'm not sure if they will do this if they also end up picking AJ Brown, picking up AJ Brown in that trade I was talking about earlier, that the one that's been rumbling around news-wise. So I'm not sure if they would use this pick at wide receiver if they're gonna get AJ Brown in a trade, especially if I think this I think this pick would be a part of the trade if they're getting AJ Brown. So I'm not sure about this one. But if they do end up keeping this pick and they have to pick somebody, wide receiver would make sense, but I just think that I really do think they might end up getting AJ Brown. I think this pick will probably belong to the Eagles by the time the draft comes around. Or no, because if it's gonna be a post-June one, the draft will already happen. Oh no, sorry, sorry, now that I'm thinking about it, so if they still got to still get to keep this pick and they're giving up next year's pick, um, first round pick to give up to for AJ Brown, why would they use this pick on a wide receiver? I think they probably should use this pick on a defensive player. I think that would make a lot of sense for this Patriots team, but um, I don't know. Again, it depends on if they're actually gonna get AJ Brown or not. But I think it's gonna happen, so I just don't think they're gonna use this pick on a wide receiver. And then pick 32, the Super Bowl champion, Seattle Seahawks. Um the Mel Kuyper has them taking Colton Hood, who is the cornerback out of Tennessee. Totally understand them taking another corner because they kind of let a few guys go in this last year's um offseason. I think they let Reek Woolen go to the Eagles, um, and they also let a couple other guys go too. Um, so taking the best player available at corner would definitely make a lot of sense. I think running back is also an option with them letting um um why am I forgetting it's Kenny Walker go to the to the Chiefs. I think running back is also an option as well. But again, the Seattle, they draft so well. I don't I'm I'm not gonna ever gonna question what they do draft-wise because I they always just seem to work out, and every guy they take ends up being a dog. So I'm just gonna go ahead and just let the Seattle Seahawks do what they do and not really question them too much about it. But I understand why they would make this make this move, take this guy at this spot for from Mel Kuiper, what he thinks. So this isn't necessarily a crazy, um, crazy pick for what I think for what where they're at as a team. So that's the whole mock draft from M. Kuyper, and I just gave my reaction to that. I really don't have anything else to talk about, so I think I'm about done here, guys. So unless there's something else that's popped up over the last hour that I haven't done. Let's see here. I think they made oh, the Seahawks. Speaking of them, they did make they use their fifth-year options for both JSN and Devon with Devon Witherspoon. So they use the fifth-year option of both of them. I do think they probably intend to sign both of them to long-term deals. JSN being the one of the best wide receivers in football doesn't make any sense to let him go anywhere. And Witherspoon, I think, is a very good safety that I think did a lot of good things, especially in that Super Bowl. So I think they intend on keeping both of those players and signing them long-term deals. But again, if you need to use the fifth-year option to kind of help give you more time to make those deals happen, it makes total sense. But outside of that, I don't have anything else to talk about. So let's go ahead and get out of here before I find something else to. So let's go ahead and end the podcast here. So if you've been listening for a while, we appreciate you. If you're just now jumping on, hopefully you like us and enjoy us enough to join us on this ride of talking about sports in the dumbest way possible. And if this is the first one you've listened to, and if you've gotten through this whole pop just listening to me kind of ramble on, I totally appreciate it. 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