Buckle up, sports enthusiasts! Get ready to tackle the most electrifying moves and strategy shifts in the NFL's free agency whirlwind. This episode peels back the layers on the Philadelphia Eagles' game-changing pick-up of Saquon Barkley, while we also throw the challenge flag on the Giants' all-in play for Daniel Jones. Howie Roseman's financial finesse gets a standing ovation, and we're reading the defense on the Steelers' playbook with their head-scratching trade for Justin Fields. It's a full-contact debate on the quarterback carousel, and the new bar set by rookies that's turning heads across the league.
The scoreboard doesn't lie—rookie quarterbacks are stepping up like veterans, and we're breaking down exactly what it means for the NFL's changing game plan. Witness the scrutiny on Mac Jones as we contrast his first year's triumphs to his second-year struggles under Matt Patricia, and join the huddle to discuss how coaching strategies are molding the future of young QBs. With a nod to the unsung heroes drafted in later rounds, we're crafting a play-by-play analysis on why the traditional draft playbook is getting rewritten thanks to the likes of Brock Purdy and others who keep defying the odds.
As the two-minute warning approaches, don't miss our strategic breakdown of the running back market's evolution, tracing the footprints left by free agents reshaping the gridiron. Diving into the Chiefs' playbook, we spotlight their savvy acquisitions and drafting genius, and while we're there, we tip our hats to Aaron Donald's hall-of-fame-worthy career. Whether it's celebrating strategic maneuvers or lamenting the gaps left by NFL giants, this episode covers the entire field—no blindside hits, just straight-up gridiron talk.
Buckle up, sports enthusiasts! Get ready to tackle the most electrifying moves and strategy shifts in the NFL's free agency whirlwind. This episode peels back the layers on the Philadelphia Eagles' game-changing pick-up of Saquon Barkley, while we also throw the challenge flag on the Giants' all-in play for Daniel Jones. Howie Roseman's financial finesse gets a standing ovation, and we're reading the defense on the Steelers' playbook with their head-scratching trade for Justin Fields. It's a full-contact debate on the quarterback carousel, and the new bar set by rookies that's turning heads across the league.
The scoreboard doesn't lie—rookie quarterbacks are stepping up like veterans, and we're breaking down exactly what it means for the NFL's changing game plan. Witness the scrutiny on Mac Jones as we contrast his first year's triumphs to his second-year struggles under Matt Patricia, and join the huddle to discuss how coaching strategies are molding the future of young QBs. With a nod to the unsung heroes drafted in later rounds, we're crafting a play-by-play analysis on why the traditional draft playbook is getting rewritten thanks to the likes of Brock Purdy and others who keep defying the odds.
As the two-minute warning approaches, don't miss our strategic breakdown of the running back market's evolution, tracing the footprints left by free agents reshaping the gridiron. Diving into the Chiefs' playbook, we spotlight their savvy acquisitions and drafting genius, and while we're there, we tip our hats to Aaron Donald's hall-of-fame-worthy career. Whether it's celebrating strategic maneuvers or lamenting the gaps left by NFL giants, this episode covers the entire field—no blindside hits, just straight-up gridiron talk.
You. What's going on, everybody? This is your boy TJ on the DK and Tree podcast. As you see on the bottom of the screen, we're sponsored by the TU Productions team. Conceded wins electrical and remodeling and DNA window tinting.
TJ:Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we are here to cause some chaos and to have some fun. There's been a lot of different things that's transpired with the NFL free agency, and we're going to we're going to talk about it, man, we're going to talk about it. So, first starters, man. First of all, this is my first time doing this thing, so this should be, this should be as chaotic and as fun as possible, but let's do it so, okay. So I don't even know where we're going to start. I think we should look at well, we can start with my team.
TJ:Why not the Philadelphia Eagles? We got, say, kwame Barkley on a three year deal. He played for the Giants. The Giants didn't do him any good Ever. Being totally honest, they decided to pay Daniel Jones instead of paying him, despite the career that he's had so far injuries are not, say Kwame is still one of the best running backs in the league. They decided to put their money in faith in the Daniel Jones, and here we are with, say, kwame Barkley. Now there's been a lot of commotion about that. We have, you know, some people joking around with the Tiki the Tiki barber comment about you're dead to me, which has been hilarious. So I just just hear just my thoughts on it, right, as a Philly fan.
TJ:If we're going back to what has been a dumpster fire of a season, which is what last year was, you started out 10 and one and then you close out the year with a whole lot of nothing. We just didn't get any any gas out on the field whatsoever. It was, it was it was, it was tragic, it was garbage, it was God awful. Everything that that is not PG rated. That's what the Eagles were to finish off last season. So you, you bring in a Kelly Moore office coordinator, big Vanjio, a defensive coordinator, you keep Nick Siriani at head coach still kind of a questionable move If we're being totally honest, but we'll find out this season. Then you have you still have all your weapons on offense. You still have Jalen, you still have Devante, you still have AJ, you still have Dallas, and now you add Seyquan Barkley, which is going to be great. So, and also, the deal is is not too bad as well. Three year 32, 30, 30 plus million dollars altogether, if we're being totally honest, not too bad when we think about how, how he rose men. The GM was able to to structure that deal, which was awesome. So shout out to how he rose men, who, yet again, has found a way to be a wizard when it comes to the cap. So shout out to how he on that one.
TJ:Now, what I also want to talk about is the Justin Fields situation. Justin Fields, who was traded to Pittsburgh for practically nothing. One could say Justin Fields right, I'm going to be that guy to say it because, because not a whole lot of people are, which is fine. I want people to understand that we are having discussions about Justin Fields off of him playing well for half a season in his totality, of him being the Chicago Bears quarterback, if we think about it right, hasn't won a lot of games. Granted, you could say it's not his fault, you know this is at a third. You can say that. However, it doesn't negate the fact that he hasn't had some opportunities to get the job done on his end Right.
TJ:And so I saw something today on the Rich Eisen show where Rich Eisen was talking about. You know, he doesn't understand the landscape of quarterbacks in today's league. Why, you know, you know, if you don't get it done immediately, you're immediately off the team, pretty much before your record contract is over. And it had me thinking, and this is kind of where, you know, it kind of goes in the land of Justin Fields. Right, it had me thinking, okay, because he said back in the day you know, you gave quarterbacks five years, you know. You know, especially if you drafted them high, you gave them their time, you had their opportunity. And then you know, after that, that third or fourth year, then that was decision time. Right, my thing with this whole quarterback landscape is this right, so there's two things that I think about.
TJ:I tell people all the time, one of the major reasons why the quarterback landscape in the NFL is the way that it is right now is because of two quarterbacks that comes to mind immediately, right, joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals and CJ Stroud of the Houston Texans. Now, you're probably wondering why those two names specifically? Right, let's talk about CJ Stroud. Right, he's the recent, he's a recent example of what I'm getting into. Right, he's a guy who, at the beginning of last season, we thought of Houston, the Houston Texans, as a terrible franchise that you know has no one on the roster. We thought that they were going to draft high again this year. That's what we thought of the Houston Texans. Okay, they drafted high, they drafted second overall. Right Draft CJ Stroud. Okay.
TJ:Now, cj Stroud not only has that going on in terms of the noise with the franchise, but he also has the fact that he has a rookie head coach, a rookie offensive coordinator, a whole lot of people that no one knows about as far as weapons are concerned, right, the offensive line being a struggle. Okay, so you had, you had, you had all that at his disposal. And the common theme when it comes to quarterbacks that are drafted very high is you're as good you're, you're you're for the first two years, you're as good as your, your situation is Right. So, of course, we're not going to see the talent, we're not going to see this. Then the third, because, you know, think about the situation. They inherited, right. So, cj, he inherited a mess in Houston. Not only did he inherit the mess, but found a way to not only make weapons in Tank Dell and Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz in Devin Singletary who, by the way, if we think about how detections were the year before, their star player was Damian Pierce. He wasn't even a factor, for whatever reason. Right, he turned those guys into studs. Then, on top of that, not only do you go to the playoffs, you win your division and wait, you win a playoff game in the process. This is again with the chaos that he inherited at the beginning of the season. Right? So that's CJ.
TJ:Now let's talk about Joe Burrow. Now, joe Burrow is a prime example as to why there's no more excuses for the top draft picks, the top, the top drafted quarterback. No more excuses. Right, think about it. He shows up in the game, since he, similar to Houston in CJ's case, terrible franchise up to this point, mediocre at best in terms of what, what the front office decides to do, right, then shout out to you, dad, you're awesome. Then you, you have, you have them.
TJ:Show up to Cincinnati. The offensive line is a mess. Joe Mixon at his at at running back for him is injury riddled already. He hasn't been. He hasn't been in the backfield for that long. Right, that's when we were having the conversations about him and Giovanni Bernard yeah, all that good fun stuff. That was still a conversation then, right. And then your best wide receiver was what Tyler Boyd at the time, no one else on all of its align. You had a rookie head coach also in Zach Taylor.
TJ:At the time there was a whole lot of question marks. The defense was, was, was was not the greatest, right. So his first year ended up in nothing but hot garbage because it ended with with injury. Right, he had to torn ACL. Then the following year with the same mess. And, yes, they drafted Jamar Chase, which helped a lot.
TJ:But you could have made the argument that instead of getting Jamar Chase because he was getting beat up so much and what led to the injury was the fact that he wasn't getting protected, he was getting beat up. That's how bad the offensive line was. You could have made the argument that the Cincinnati Bengals should have gotten a, a, a, a, the office of tackle, to help help out that line. They decided not to do that. They got Jamar Chase, okay. So the officer line was still a mess, Then found a way to not only win some games but goes all the way to the Super Bowl and if it wasn't for Aaron Donald wrecking shop and showing exactly what the offensive line was shown to be the last couple of years, with Joe Burrow at quarterback, joe Burrow might have a conversation of having a Super Bowl ring right now, right?
TJ:So with those two guys, right, there is no excuse, as in regards to you, that you are what, you what you're, a franchise, what would you inherit in terms of franchise, though, those excuses go out the window. Right, right, pretty much. Okay, that's what it was for them, okay. And here's just another thing that I had to take into consideration also that I think people forget about, right, cause Rich Eisen mentioned that, you know, back in the day, you had that time, right. But here's another thing that that wasn't a a thing. Think about your fifth rounders, your six rounders back in the day. Those weren't, those weren't, you know, put potential, anything. They were on the bubble to even make them 53 man roster. That, those, those, those picks at that at that time, 10, 15 years ago, don't those were nothing picks. Those are, you know, a we have picks, so we're going to make them. Those are what those kinds of picks were back then, right, but then you fast forward. You fast forward to this day and age.
TJ:Let's talk about this year alone, right? Didn't anybody hear anything about Puka Nakula before before this season started? I don't think so. He ended up shattering rookie records this year for the Rams. Oh, how about that same Rams team who drafted a running back in the fifth round in Kyron Williams, who was spectacular, for that Rams offense, from beginning to end was a little nicked up, missed a couple of times, but when he was in, oh man, that balance of the McVay offense was there. It was. It was there, right, fifth, six rounders.
TJ:Okay, how about the guy that Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs had to face in the Super Bowl this year, brock Purdy, who was the last pick in the draft back in 2021? Where we're having conversations about? Okay, so what? They drafted, mr Irrelevant. Brock Purdy, last pick of the draft. What were we expecting to make out of that? Right, that same guy, that last pick ended up being the guy that led the 49ers to the Super Bowl and had to go down to the wire against that same Kansas City Chiefs team, that same Patrick Mahomes led team. Brock Purdy, that guy, seventh rounder, last pick. So why did you bring that up, tj? Why does that matter? Because now, in this day and age, now, if I'm an owner.
TJ:I can't help but to look at guys like that and say, okay, so, not only is there no excuse for the top guy, but now you're telling me that I can actually find more diamonds in the rough than ever before. Okay, so now there is that added level of expectation of okay, so okay. You're saying that we don't have an offensive line. We are saying that we don't have weapons. You're saying that we don't have this. We don't have that. What's your excuse? I just saw CJ do it last year. I saw Joe Burrow do it two years ago. What's your excuse? That's basically what ownership is saying. That's basically what GMs and NFL are saying.
TJ:So when you look at guys like Mac Jones, when you look at guys like Justin Fields, when you look at guys like Trey Lance, by the way, these are all the guys. Oh, and I totally forgot about Zach Wilson. Yeah, that guy. These are all quarterbacks, by the way, that were picked in the same exact draft. I have nothing for you. I have nothing for you, justin Fields. I have nothing for you, zach Wilson. I have nothing for you. Mac Jones Now, mac Jones is a little bit of a different story, right?
TJ:He's following the footsteps of a Tom Brady for being totally honest with you and oh, by the way, all things considered, still find a way to get to the playoffs with not a whole lot around him. So Mac Jones is able to get it done in his rookie year. But then Bill Belichick did some Belichick things and decided to have Mac Patricia out of all people calling offense a place. That didn't turn out too well. Now did it Right and that ended up being the end of Mac Jones. I don't care what anybody says. Once they decided to make that move, mac Jones was cooked. After that, there was nothing that no one could do, say or anything about it, right? So Mac Jones is a different story, but everybody else it's like ah, you had your shot, zach Wilson, you had your shot, you had your shot.
TJ:It's about leadership, making the most of their talent. Head coaches in San Fran Rams yeah, yeah, that's a fair point too. But again, right, even in those cases, now I have to have. I have to have a lens on who my head coach is. I do because now I'm like, okay, we got to figure out a way to produce, because I'm having rookie head coaches, that's getting a job done for their respective franchises and we didn't think much of them. When you know it was all said and done. I didn't think anything of a of a D'Amico Rhyans before the season started, before this past season started. I didn't think too much of a Zach Taylor. Before, before they got Joe Burrow, I didn't think too much of them, but now I do.
TJ:Now, of course, you could have the argument of is it more of the quarterback, more of the head coach? You can, you can have that. You can have that conversation by yourself. We're not doing that here. But what I am talking about is that there is so much of a level of expectation that is a little bit imbalanced and a little bit unfair. You can make that argument. That's fine.
TJ:But at the same time, I invested a lot of draft capital. I invested a lot of money into you to be the savior of the franchise. That was the whole purpose of us being a top draft pick in the first place. So do that. And I know we don't have a whole lot placed in front of him, I know we don't have this, I know we don't have that, but guess what? That's how it's supposed to be. That's a. That's the whole point of you drafted, being drafted very high by us.
TJ:So it's a little unfair, sure, but that just goes to show you just the level of talent in today's league, where you could find talent and make the most out of it, no matter where they're drafted at. And, like I mentioned before, we have guys like a Joe Burrow, a CJ Stroud, who basically said you know what, it doesn't really matter what's going on around me. I'm still going to find a way to find success in this league. There's only but so much grace I can have. There's only but so much room of patience I can have as a franchise when I'm seeing stuff like that, right. So so that's that's, that's what I, that's, that's what I have, that's that's what I have to say.
TJ:On that, one is legit to say a QB had a shot with an O line. That is yeah, yeah, I mean again, that's just kind of what we're talking about here. Is it unfair? Yes, but that's why we drafted you high. That's why we made the decision to to pick as high as we did. This is why we took a shot on you, right. So that's that's what I, that's what I have on that front. Now, that's also a mouse today, um, mike Williams being signed by the New York football jets, j E T S, jet jets Um. Now the jets right Signed Tyron Smith a couple days ago. They now have Mike Williams to to be with, to pair up with Garrett Wilson and Aaron Rogers and Breece Hall in their, in their offensive weaponry. I'm going to be honest with you Uh, the only reason why I like this move is because of what they signed him for, how long they signed them for, which is one year. Now.
TJ:I've had conversations with with people behind the scenes where I've I've told people my my take on my thoughts on Mike Williams is that you can make the argument that it wouldn't even shock me if, within the next couple years or so, we're having a conversation about him retiring Right, and and I had a lot of people looking me sideways because I said that. I say that I've always said that when it came to Mike Williams, because look at his track record right, great receiver, one of the one of the best wide receiver twos there is right, but my God, he cannot stay healthy. He cannot stay healthy to save his life and it was bad. It was really, really bad. So let's look at the past three years right, great seasons. You can make the argument that he's had fantastic seasons but they were ended with a torn ACL, with a torn Achilles, with a torn ACL again. Now, mind you, mike Williams is six, five, okay, and you know what the status quo is when it comes to to anybody that has height, regardless of whether you're playing football or basketball, you name it. If you have enough derailing injuries, there has to be some sort of conversation in the back of your mind of do I want to go through rehab again? Do I really want to deal with, you know, the, the? The time is going to take in regards to recovery. Do I want to go through that again? Again, for Mike Williams, that's three years in a row where he's had that conversation. He's having it again this off season, right? So that's what's going on in the back of his mind.
TJ:Now, the reason why I like to deal it was a one year, $15 million deal, not too bad, if you ask me. I think it's good for the Jets. I think it's good for Mike Williams, right? This is a jet seam that, if we're being totally honest, needs a whole lot of just offensive ineptitude to not transpire for them to succeed. Right, maybe it's a move at offensive coordinator, aaron Rodgers. But hey, what do I know? So, so you made that, you made that move. So now you add another weapon for Aaron Rodgers. Awesome, you added somebody on the front line in Tyron Smith.
TJ:Okay, cool, cool, I know, right, with my height and same injuries, I can relate. Well, see, so even with something like that, right, and, by the way, my dad is not the tallest guy in the world and it's okay, he's made the most out of it, trust me. But even in that front, you have those conversations. I know you do, because even with the smallest of injuries a sprained ankle, and even if you want to consider that to be small right Turf toe, you name it you can still make the argument that those conversations are still being had in the back of your mind. Right, is an Aaron Rodgers more? Oh, my, yes, I am going to leave that alone because of the simple fact that I'm at the point now of Aaron Rodgers that if you're not adamant about playing football, then let that be that and just call it a day. I feel like now you're just hogging up spotlight for the sake of hogging up spotlight, which is basically what he's doing now, with him being part of the political side of things, but that's just me personally. But, like I was saying so, with the Jets, you have a great move. You have a great move and Mike Williams not too bad Not too bad, if you ask me Adds another piece to what the Jets are trying to do. So you have that going on.
TJ:We have a lot of indivision, of free agent signings to transpire this free agency. I definitely want to talk about the Patrick Queen move to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Um, uh, get getting paid to hog the spotlight, exactly, right, um, patrick Queen to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, for, for those that that know a little bit about the Pittsburgh Steelers, those who are fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers, y'all know that. Um, they are a weird franchise. What do I mean by that? Right, the Steelers are in a timeline that I don't think they understand it. They're in um, that is confusing fans and I'm pretty sure it's going to confuse players as we get further into the season as time goes along, right?
TJ:So you made a move to get Patrick Queen signed for three years 50, 50 million dollars, I believe it was. You signed them for that to add on to a defense that was not a problem last year. Defense was not an issue last year. In case you missed it, tj Watt is still in in that Pittsburgh Steelers defense, right? Um, you then decided to add Patrick Queen. What, for the for the sake of it? I mean, I guess you could say you know, high Smith, tj Watt, Patrick Queen, uh uh, triple double sort of thing. I guess you could say you could have that if you want to, if that's what you want to use as a premise as to why, you know, we decided to make that move.
TJ:Right, um, three head coaches in over 40 years. No other team has been more stable and consistent. Uh, well, well, you're right, right, but but this is why I say they're in a weird spot, okay, cause remember the conversations last year and has been for the past three years or so. For, being totally honest, is the fact that are we sure Mike Tomlin is still the head coach, that we all thought that, that, that he is pretty much that's what every Steelers fan likes to say. They want to get rid of them. This is that in the third, mike Tomlin is, is, is, is mid, all this other stuff, right, but still finds a way to have a winning season with a turnstile at quarterback, with an offense that would often align. That, like I just said, is a turnstile at times, more times, often not Right, still finds a way to get them into the playoffs, like he did this past year, right, um.
TJ:And so when you make moves for a Patrick Queen, you're like, oh, okay, all right, cool, like I can see that, right, you want to get a little bit more youth in that defense? I guess, fine, whatever, Right. But then you decided to go after Russell Wilson. Now say what you want about Russ. If you want, if you want to hold on to what he did in Seattle, god bless you. But the, the, the Seattle Russell Wilson that everybody knows and loved, the underrated, the, the undesirable, the undeniable tale, that that that he would carry with his chip on the shoulder of him being a third round selection, um, you know him, him having, you know, the opportunity of a lifetime, him winning a cup, him winning a Super Bowl, having a chance to win too. If it wasn't for a certain plate, I was made against the New England Patriots, if you know. You know, um, if that's what you want to hold on to when it comes to Russell Wilson, okay, okay, right, um.
TJ:Now, the good thing for the Steelers was that he's not. He's not, he's not really on, he's not really on our on our books. We're paying what? Two, two million dollars for him. Okay, whatever, that's fine.
TJ:The Broncos contract starts this year, we're not worried about him, that's fine, whatever, okay. So when I saw that move, when I saw that move new and improved Russell, we'll, we'll, we'll see man, we'll see man. Um, I, I say that. I say that because you, with Russ, you saw what happened in Denver, like, like, like. Are we going to forget that that Denver didn't transpire? Are we going to forget that, even with a guy like Sean Payton at head coach, who was dialing up the, the, the offensive play, calling for the Denver Broncos this past season, that he still was able to make an accurate throw after inaccurate throw, and, and and find himself extending plays when he didn't have to messing up the simple plays, which is why, eventually, he got benched later on in the year? Are we going to act like that wasn't a thing when it came to Russell Wilson? Cause, that's what I remember, that's what I remember. Okay, now Russ is also up in age.
TJ:So then there was a conversation about okay, you signed Russ. This seems like kind of a when now situation in Russ's eyes. Not saying this is how I view the Steelers, but this is, this is this is in Russ's eyes. This is the time timeline that he's in in his career where I'm going to go to a franchise where I'm going to have a chance at winning a Super Bowl. That's, that's where he's at right now.
TJ:Okay, but then you decided to trade for Justin Fields. Like I mentioned earlier, you traded him in the number one question that I was asking everybody and I, I guess we found out the answer. I guess we found out the answer. Um, tom, when a players, a players, coach prepared to, okay, okay, okay, we'll see, we'll see. Like I said, I like Tom and more than, most Honestly, I thought he was in the conversation for for a coach a year, last year, if he asked me, but that's just me personally. But you decided to go after Justin Fields right Now.
TJ:The conversation with Justin Fields and the reason why I've been very vocal about this whole Justin Fields situation is the fact that the Chicago Bears were dangling him on on this, on this sort of on this, on this sort of string, telling the league that hey, we got Justin Fields, so so, so. So, once Russ stops having babies, he should be. Oh my, oh my. No, no, he should be good. Oh my God. Okay, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe it's a, maybe it's a children thing, I don't know. Um, but, but you decided that you decided to trade for Justin Fields, which the conversation with him was that the, the Chicago Bears were dangling him to the rest of the league. Like, hey, we got Justin Fields who wants him. Like it was Lamar Jackson a couple off seasons ago. Hey, we got Lamar Jackson who wants him.
TJ:And the issue with that was, like I mentioned before, it wasn't just the fact that it was Justin Fields, a guy who hasn't won a lot, a guy who has shown that he can't really stay healthy over the past couple years, but the asking price for Justin Fields was insane because I guess we forgot that Justin Fields, whoever he was going to, whoever he was going to, was going to pick up his fifth year option. That was the only reason why there was a whole debacle with the whole Justin Fields thing. It wasn't that teams didn't want Fields, although if, if, if, teams had the same sentiments that I did when it came to Justin Fields, then I don't blame you, but they didn't mind going after Justin Fields. The problem was you were asking for a first rounder to two seconds. You were asking for two first rounders, and and and and two seconds. You were asking for crazy trade packages that all, by the way, people weren't even looking at giving Lamar Jackson when he when he was talking about wanting, wanting to be out of Baltimore a couple of years ago, you wanted that for Justin Fields. Huh, okay, right.
TJ:And then, what made matters worse? Three agency starts. And then the teams that we thought that would go after Fields, teams like in Atlanta, teams like a Pittsburgh, teams like we can go on and on Titans, maybe. I mean I know I know how much they like Will Levis from what he did last year, but there was a. You could at least had a QB competition by bringing Fields in. There were so many teams that could have, could have gone after Justin Fields. But as soon as free agency started, kirk Cousins go to Atlanta Before the, the, the, the initial start of free agency. Pittsburgh goes after Russ. So then the question becomes okay, what in the hell do we do we have with Justin Fields Like? What is his market now? Well, apparently we found out. Apparently, we found out, by the way, thank you for picking up Pittsburgh problem. Let me okay, let me, let me have.
TJ:Let me have this conversation about Kenny Pickett, right? Steelers fans, I need y'all to understand something right? That Kenny Pickett, was he the greatest? No, absolutely not. Was he the big Ben era parent that some of y'all believe it or not y'all were hoping for? No, he was not, and that's fine. But I want y'all to take into consideration and this is where the imbalance balance of the QB landscape is, because when Kenny, what Kenny Pickett inherited and a whole lot of quarterbacks is going to get anything done with that one, I'll tell you that much, all fence aligned, that was a walk in turn style, getting sat left and right.
TJ:Now, what didn't help was Kenny Pickett's decision making, because, my God, there were certain interceptions that he's, that he's made over his career, that I was like, uh, that's a little questionable, my friend, right, but y'all drafted him in the first round as a front office. Why? Why make that move? Why make that move, right? So, kenny Pickett, y'all decided to send him to the Eagles, which we didn't mind. We didn't mind taking Pickett. We know exactly what his role is on this team, which is a guy who needs development. He needs time If he wants to get his shot in NFL. He's going to need some time, clearly, right, kenny, two gloves, um, base office, I guess, I guess, but even still, even still, you, still, you could have waited until the second round to get Kenny, like he was still going to be there. You decided, you, just you decided to. You know, be that outlier in the room and be like, oh, you know what, no one else. Take a quarterback this, this, this round, we'll take them, like that. That's the kind of vibes that that the Steelers had when y'all decided to go after Pickett. Um, but even still, um, you, you didn't get a lot out of, out of Pickett. Now, the now.
TJ:The reason why Pickett wanted to leave in all reality, I kind of don't blame him is the conversations at the beginning of this off season, as soon as the season was over, was I don't care what anybody says, I don't know what anybody's talking about Kenny Pickett's our guy. We're going into next year. Kenny Pickett's going to be our quarterback, right, that's what the team is, we're going to be. We weren't entertaining anything else Kenny Pickett's our guy. Then, a couple months go by, now we're hearing oh, russ is interested. Oh, you know, let's take a look at Russ real fast, let's see what he's about. And you decide to go after Russ. Okay, what's going on here? Because I was having the understanding that y'all were going to back me up. I was going to be your guy, but y'all going to go after Russ. All right, cool, whatever, whatever. But at this point give me the hell up out of here. That's what it was for Piggy, the truth be told, and he's not. Obviously, like he said in his press conference, there was conversations that he had behind the scenes. I'm pretty sure they weren't as PG as I was just now, but that's what it was for him, right? So that's the whole thing with Kenny Piggy.
TJ:But you have two quarterbacks now in Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. That I'm not sure who's going to get the job done for you guys in Pittsburgh. Seriously, justin Fields can barely stay healthy. Russell Wilson does not have the same arm that he used to. The offensive line is still a question mark in certain spots, especially at guard, for example.
TJ:Um, well, and then you all decided to trade Deontay Johnson to Carolina and, by the way, I actually was was fine with that to a certain extent, because I think Deontay Johnson at at this point in time, he wanted, he wanted some money, which is kind of interesting that he wanted that money, given that you know he had a lot of time this past season, a lot of moments where he acted like and he performed like he did not want to be in Pittsburgh. But hey, that's neither here nor there, right? Um, um, wilson's IQ would get them through, we'll see. I hope so. I hope so, um, but, but, but you're going to need a little bit more IQ to get the job done in this league, right?
TJ:And only reason why I'm saying that with Pittsburgh, the only reason why I'm bringing up these questions when it comes to Pittsburgh, is because of the division that you're in and because the timeline that y'all decided to act upon. Because now, the actions that y'all taking right now in this offseason shows that y'all are. Y'all believe that y'all have a top 10 roster, that y'all have a chance to win a playoff game, y'all have a chance to win the division Y'all have. Y'all have a, y'all have a chance. It's basically what y'all are saying with the moves that y'all make it, but y'all forget that y'all in the same division as a Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens as the retooling of the Cincinnati Bengals with Joe Burrow, in the same division that has the Cleveland Browns with Kevin Stefanski at the helm. What they returning to Sean Watson with a returning Nick Chubb?
TJ:That AFC North is not the same. This is not it. This is not one of those scenarios where, back in the day, where we would look at the, at the teams in the AFC North and we were like, oh, this is a wide, open AFC North, anybody could it. No, it's going to be a slugfest for every single divisional game there is because every single team is viable to win the division. That's how great of a division it is and the moves that y'all are making is showing that. Y'all throwing that name in that hat, which is fine.
TJ:But I also need y'all to understand that if y'all don't get it done, there's going to be a lot of question marks. There's going to be a lot of eyes on a Russell Wilson, on a, on a Justin Fields, regardless of who finishes the season at quarterback. There's going to be a lot of eyes. If y'all don't get to the playoffs, if y'all don't have a winning season under Mike Tompkins belt, there's going to be those conversations. There's going to be the uproar. So I'm just giving everybody up to prepare for that now, because it's coming. I'm telling you right now it's coming If they don't perform. Well, that's what the conversation is going to be. That's what it's going to be. So we have that going on.
TJ:Here's what I also want to touch on the running backs, the running back carousel. Don't sleep on the post draft moves. Okay. Okay, I'm not ruling that out. There's only but so much you can do, because I don't think they have a whole lot of draft capital as far as Pittsburgh is concerned. Maybe I'm wrong. I have to look into that myself, but we'll see. I hope that they address some issues on that roster so that we can see them as a more viable threat for the AMC North Crown. We'll see, but I want to address the running back carousel in this free agency. That I think it's very interesting.
TJ:So the conversation with running backs, the position as a whole the past two to three years or so was that we're not going to pay the running backs because they don't last as long or they're one injury away from not being on the team or not being used. The same. That was the conversation for the last two or three years. That's where the conversation about the whole Jonathan Taylor and the Colts situation came about. That's how the conversation about Josh Jacobs and the Raiders came about. That's how we had the whole Austin Eckler situation, the Derek Henry situation. We had all that. We had the situation with Saquon. We had all that.
TJ:I find it interesting that in this free agency alone, the amount of running back moves have been made, and where they have been made too. Tony Pollard, signed by the Titans Now, okay, I mean, I like the contract, that's fine, but that is a running back that not too long ago we were having conversations about. He's one of the best in the league. That's Tony Pollard. He's in Tennessee. Austin Eckler, signed by Washington, a guy who is a touchdown machine Now, granted, he's had some injury issues over the past couple of years and that's fine, but he's in Washington. He was able to get a deal.
TJ:Derek Henry was signed by the Baltimore Ravens. Oh, we're going to get there, we're going to get there, we're going to get there. Derek Henry to the Ravens, that's a thing. Deandre Swift to Chicago, that's a thing. Saquon to the Eagles, that's a thing. Even if you want to go to a lesser degree, a. Zach Moss is now in Cincinnati, josh Jacobs is now in Green Bay, aaron Jones is now in Minnesota Something I didn't think that would happen. But hey, it is what it is Right.
TJ:There is a lot of running backs that I just named that have now been moved to new places, and I find that very interesting that we were talking about just how much of a non-necessity it is to have a running back, a top level running back, in your offense. Oh, we don't need, we don't really. We don't really need a running back. Saquon, saquon, saquon, saquon, saquon, saquon. What, right, right, we don't really need a running back. We don't need to invest money into a running back. What do we need that for? It's only going to be good for for two years. We we can get somebody in the draft, isaiah Pacheco, seventh rounder, who has been a part of not one but two Kansas City chiefs Super Bowl winning rosters, with him at running back, him being a part of a running back committee, right. But I just find it really funny that these teams are now making these moves for these running backs and I find it very interesting that now we're at a place now to where we can't ignore that the running backs are important.
TJ:You want to know why and I'm only putting this on one man, this is on one player, and one player only, who has ruined it for the entire league by himself. And that man is Christian Freakin McCaffrey, a guy who has had both of the stances of the obstacles placed ahead of him. A guy that was showing that he couldn't stay healthy in Carolina. A guy that you know won a lot of money when he was in Carolina. I mean hell. The officer line is that he had in Carolina and he was still able to put some of the production that he was able to put him in Carolina. You bet that he was going to want some money for that. Carolina decided not to pay him.
TJ:Fine shows up in San Francisco. In ever since that he has planted his two feet in San Francisco. San Francisco has been in the NFC championship game. San Francisco has been in the Super Bowl since he's been at the helm at running back. The same guy who was known for being hurt. The same guy that wanted X amount of money, that wanted to change the game for running backs. You see what he's doing now in San Fran and because of that and that alone now we're having the conversation of oh shoot, if we don't have a top 15 running back in our room, we may not have a good offense all together. Christian McCaffrey did it by himself, so shout out to Christian McCaffrey for making that happen. Okay, so that's the thing. Since he brought it up, we might as well talk about it too.
TJ:Calvin Ridley three years, $92 million with the Titans. Now, a lot of people don't like the contract. They don't like who's given the contract. Here's my two cents on it. Right, I don't mind the contract, me personally, I don't mind a person that's getting the contract. Calvin, really, say what you want, the God produces. You may have had his struggles last year with Jacksonville, but Boy oh boy, there was a lot that was going on in Jacksonville that led to them having a similar ending to their year that the Eagles did. We're just talking more about the Eagle season, more than the Jacksonville Jaguar season, but that's, that's totally fine.
TJ:I'm welcoming that conversation, but it was the team that decided to invest in him that made me give a side-eye the Tennessee Titans. So the Tennessee Titans decided hey, you know what, we are going to Get Tony Pollard, we are going to get Calvin, really, and we're still rebuilding what? What do you mean if you're adding Calvin? Really, I'm sorry, he's one of those moves that Sounds like he's going to be a part of winning football, a winning organization, an Opportunity to go to go to a contender. That that's the. That's the kind of skill, that's kind of talent, that's the kind of player that Calvin really is. Tennessee decided to invest that much money into him. So you decided to invest that into Calvin, really. But, god forbid, you decide to do that for AJ Brown a couple years ago. Oh, that was a problem really. That's my problem.
TJ:If it was a team like a, if it was a team like Buffalo, if it was a team like Miami, if it was a team like a this is gonna sound crazy to a team like Detroit, a Team like Houston, even, you can even go in the same division If there was a team like that that invested that kind of that, that invested that kind of contract for that level of play, I Would understand it absolutely. But Tennessee, out of all teams, deciding to pay, decide to pay for him, that was something that was a little bit insane Me personally. So it'll be interesting to see how that pans out. Um, again, this one those scenarios where, hey, we paying you a lot of money. You know you're going to be a difference maker on this team, you're going to be that. Why receiver one or two, depending on what that hierarchy is, with the Andre Hopkins there as well? Um, that's, that's exactly what it's going to be for for for Tennessee right now. Um, now, the.
TJ:The upside with that move, with the, the signings that they have made this in this off season, is that they're still selecting pretty high in this upcoming NFL draft, and If they can get those draft choices right, we might be looking at the Tennessee Titans that Made the AFC Championship game a couple seasons ago. Okay, but they have to hit, they have to hit and they better get it right To, because y'all decided to get rid of a Mike rabble, even though none of what happened last year was his fault at all. You can point to the record and and say, oh, oh, mike rabble, coulda, coulda. No, mm-hmm, that was not my, that was not Mike rabble, but you got rid of him though. Okay, fine, you took a fire with, with Callahan ahead, a head coach now, okay, cool, but now the eyes are going to be on that offense now, because you made this move, because you made a move for Tony Pollard, because you have the Andre Hopkins, because you have those pigs in the draft, the defense is gonna be what the defense is. But if you're, if your offense is not, top 15, we're not in the conversation for a bridge top 10 With these moves that you've made, I'm going to raise an eyebrow, I am so. So that's, that's the. That's the lens that Tennessee is in right now. That's the lens that Tennessee is in right now.
TJ:Um, kansas City Chiefs, they've done it again. They've done it again, man. So the whole conversation about Patrick Mahomes not having any weapons, yeah, enter into the chat Hollywood Brown, out of all people which, oh, by the way, I'm gonna be honest with you, I didn't even know he was on the market Um, you bring him along. You bring him along with a Travis Kelsey, um, with a Isaiah Pacheco, the weaponry that he has at that Mahomes has at his disposal. Not saying that he's gonna be this guy, but do not be surprised if Hollywood Brown has some Tyreek like production in this offense. Do not be surprised, do not be caught off guard. It will be, it will be a thing. It will be a thing.
TJ:Now, would that translate to them winning again and having a three-peat? I don't know. I Don't know. They won without a guy like, like Tyreek Hill, so I Don't know how much of a difference it would make. But Adding Hollywood Brown to that offense is fantastic, fantastic. I loved it. It was a great move.
TJ:Um, you're not investing a whole lot of money into him. I believe it's a one to two-year deal, so you're not. You know, if he doesn't pan out, okay, fine, whatever, we're not gonna be paying. You know, it's not like he's gonna be on the tab for very long. Um, that's, that's literally just what. It's what it's going to be in that Kansas City offense. And oh, by the way, where we're looking at them still finding a way to get a diamond in the rough in the first and second rounds of this draft.
TJ:Because the one thing that Kansas City has been able to do so far in their dynamic, dynastic run is that their draft picks have hit man. I Ain't gonna lie. Their draft picks have hit George Coloftus, a dominant, dominant guy off the edge. They'll want to see him every week. Chris Jones drafted him, trent McDuffie at corner drafted him. The list goes on and on. Willie Gaye, nick Bolton, creed Humphrey at center is is Shoot. Now that Kelsey's gone, might be the best center in the NFL as young as he is.
TJ:What makes this worse is that Kansas City drafts. Well man. So this whole idea of them not spending too much of free agency and they're not making a big splash moves. Maybe they're one of those teams that they don't have to. Maybe they don't have to Because they literally have the ability to just get right with the draft picks that they have available to them. They have a track record of doing it. So Shout out, shout out to shout out to the chiefs for that one Um. I would be remissed if I did not Finish off this lovely episode with shouting out one of the greatest defensive linemen, defensive linemen known to mankind to ever play this game. Shout out to Aaron Donald on his retirement man.
TJ:I saw the Rams post about quarterbacks. Rejoice that indeed, um, and I'm pretty sure opposing offenses are aesthetic that he's finally hanging it up. But talking about a first ballot Hall of Famer, a guy who, who has produced Since he's entered the league. It has been unstoppable ever since, um, and it just doesn't get much better than Aaron Donald, man, um, watching him all ten seasons, him being an all-pro and every single one of those seasons, him having a Super Bowl ring now under his belt from a couple years ago, him being Double team, triple team, quadruple team even just goes to show you just how dominant and how much of a, just how great he was. One one man was not enough. One man was not enough. And oh, by the way, even in those truck in, even in those triple teams, he was still getting to the quarterback. He was still Wrecking shop in that backfield by himself, right, um? So so shout out to Aaron Donald from what? For one hell of a career, my god, one hell of a career.
TJ:Um, I noticed a huge blow for the Rams. I noticed a huge blow for the Rams. Um, I slept on that one. But coming out of retirement in 20, I swear I ain't gonna lie, man he comes out of, if he comes back out of retirement, like pulling a Tom Brady, I guess you could say, or pulling a Brett Favre, you would say, oh my God, that would be insane. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I can't even. I can't even imagine, I can't even imagine what that would be like. I just, I just can't. Me personally, I just can't. That would be just insane. But that's a huge blow for the Rams and, honestly, I get it. I get it and I'm pretty sure the Rams knew about this behind the scenes. I'm pretty sure they knew that this was, this was on their radar at some point.
TJ:But the Rams are in a position now where they're kind of similar to Kansas City too, talking to, you know, talking about guys who they don't have to draft very high, but if they get the right picks, right, that's all they need and that defense will be totally fine. Because, if you know, aaron Donald's still there Now they definitely are not going to get the same production that Aaron Donald produces. They're not, they're not going to get that. That is going to be a huge blow. Right, talking about a leader of a defense, a leader of a team, a leader of a locker room, you name it. That's what Aaron Donald was. Right, you don't have that anymore. But now it's going to be okay. Now it's going to be time for the young guys who, oh, by the way, this past season were helping Aaron Donald Garner, that Rams defense to, towards end of the year, being being one of the top defenses to close out the season in terms of from a statistical standpoint. So don't sleep on that Rams defense despite Aaron Donald's retirement. But we shall see, man, we shall see.
TJ:So so, yeah, man, I know we have a whole lot more to cover and we will on the on the next episode that will be coming very, very shortly, soon and very soon. But I just had we, I just had to to have some fun with this one. This is my first time actually being able to to be to take the full time whole scroll. So hopefully I did well, hopefully, hopefully, and if not, that's what we got the comment section for it's totally fine. But again, this is the NFL free agency episode of the DK and Tree podcast. This is tonight's host being TJ. Thank you all so much for all the comments, all the love and support.
TJ:We continue to grow. Follow us on any and every platform there is DK and Tree podcast Instagram, facebook, youtube will be there, we'll be there. We're going to have, we're going to have a whole lot more shows coming up, especially as the draft is is approaching. So be on the lookout for that. And and before we get out of here, the only QB he couldn't get to was a large action. You want to know why? That is Because Aaron Donald was triple teamed and double teamed to oblivion.
TJ:Okay, um. So so I know I know you couldn't help yourself, I know you couldn't help yourself, dave, I know you couldn't help yourself, but, um, that that's. That's. That's what it is, man. So so again, shout out to everybody that was able to to, uh, be on this journey so far with us. That's been on the journey thus far. Um, again, be on the lookout. We got more coming out for you. Um, again, follow us on the DK and Tree podcast, on any and all platforms Facebook, youtube, instagram. We're on there. We got something cooking. This has been your host, tj, about to sign off. Thank you so much for coming and we will see you again soon. Yeah, sir, have to have to, man, but, um, but again, thank you all so much. This is awesome. We're going, we're going to keep doing this now. So so this ain't the same one off this one. Make that very clear, all right, so thank you all so much for coming and we'll see you on the next one. Man, we'll see you on the next one.