Wilson gets paid, Colts QB competition, Camp getting closer | The Insiders

Watch live local and primetime games, NFL RedZone, and NFL Network on Plus.NFL.com

Check out our other channels:
NFL Mundo https://www.youtube.com/mundonfl
NFL Brasil https://www.youtube.com/c/NFLBrasilOficial
NFL UK https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVe0dAja_vZCmvfHXjtdRQA
NFL Fantasy Football https://www.youtube.com/nflfantasyfootball
NFL Play Football https://www.youtube.com/playfootball
NFL Throwback http://www.youtube.com/nflvault
NFL Films http://www.youtube.com/nflfilms
NFL Network http://www.youtube.com/nflnetwork

#NFL #Football #AmericanFootball

We’ve been off the air for a
couple of weeks and despite
clear rules against it. Yeah, there was some news from Jalen
Ramsey to Darren Waller.
Extensions to surgeries. We will get you and ourselves up to
speed over the next 60 minutes.
Chargers rookies are already in training camp, though not one of
their top draft picks. We will
explain why. A lot of other teams also have question marks
on their attendance sheet. With
six more teams rookies set to report on Tuesday. For now,
everybody is zero and zero. That
also means there are questions about all 32 teams. Our intrepid
team of reporters has
information and opinions tonight about how the NFC West could be
won. Welcome inside with the
insiders alongside Ian Rapoport. I am Tom Pelissero. It feels
good to say that again. Ian has
spent the past couple of weeks on the golf course. I’ve spent
the last couple of weeks hauling
kids from one lake to another. But you don’t care about that.
You care about the fact that
we’ve got regular season football in 52 days, and by the
middle of next week, every team
in the NFL will be in training camp. The Jets got a jump start
on some of their remaining
business. And that is where we begin tonight. As Ian reported a
short time ago, New York getting
its one of its contract priorities, taking care of
agreeing to terms on a four
year, $130 million contract extension with Garrett Wilson, a
player Ian, whose future seemed
like it actually might be up in the air, had that guy number
eight still being in New York.
Instead, it’s Justin Fields. The Jets obviously have high hopes
for how Wilson will continue to
break out moving forward. That’s exactly right. And I think for
Garrett Wilson for the New York
Jets, most important thing right here is that this locks him in
and makes him a huge part of the
Jets future. He has done a ton of things on the field over the
course of the first three years,
enough to become one of the highest paid receivers in the
NFL. The terms of the deal, you
mentioned some of them four years, $130 million, $90 million
guaranteed. He is now locked up
for the next six years. Total contract. He gets the fourth
highest guarantee of any
receiver $13.75 million signing bonus with another $20 million
option bonus in year two,
another ten in year three. Garrett Wilson is going to be a
very, very rich man for the New
York Jets. This means two things. One, instead of
requesting a trade like he
probably would have done if Aaron Rodgers was back, he is
now not going anywhere. The
other thing is, and you mentioned he was one of their
priorities. Sauce Gardner, one
of the best corners in the NFL. Their other big time priority
likely going to be one of or the
highest paid corners in the NFL if and when his deal gets done.
That is where the Jets turn
their attention now. It was not that long ago that we were
looking at the Davante Adams and
Tyreek Hill contracts and saying, boy the numbers getting
into the mid 20s. Look at some
of the deals that have been signed. Most of these in this
offseason. Jamaar Chase with the
Bengals DK Metcalf as part of the trade from Seattle to the
Steelers. Now Garrett Wilson
cracking the top five as well. Certainly, I would think there
are some other wide receivers
around the NFL who are saying if Garrett Wilson is getting that
type of money, I should be
getting a new contract at some point here in the not too
distant future as well, though,
Garrett Wilson also has age on his side. Turns 25 next week as
we welcome in our Marc Ross to
the conversation Mark. This is a very proactive move by a new
Jets regime that turned over the
head coach and the general manager. Obviously, they’ve got
high hopes for exactly what this
is going to look like for Garrett Wilson for years to
come. Well, no doubt. And this
seems to signal that this is not the same old Jets, right? The
goal of a scouting staff is to
draft really good players. And then you want to sign those
players to extensions while you
have them identify the good players and know this is going
to be a cornerstone. The Jets
really just have not done that since its current financial
systems in 2011. This is the
first time that they’ve resigned or extended, let’s just say a
first round pick in their first
year of eligibility. This third year for Garrett Wilson, they
did Quinnen Williams after four
years, but the first time they’ve done it under three
years. So maybe this is a sign
that the Jets are finally doing business differently than what
they’ve had. I know each year
it’s something different with the Jets, but you always want
the stability. And Aaron Glenn
may be providing that. I think he’s really setting the tone for
all of this. So this should be a
good sign for Jets fans that okay, we’ve locked up one of our
young stars now. Now let’s go
lock up sauce as the second shoe will drop there, fellas. So I
think this will be a good sign
to say we’ve identified really Pro Bowl type players, and we’re
going to sign them and extend
them, not let them get out of the building. Mark, thank you a
lot more from you later in the
show, including on some of those rookies who are reporting to
training camps tomorrow. You
know what else is tomorrow? The deadline for franchise tag
players to sign long term
extensions with their current teams? Well, all the other ones
already got done except for that
man number 65 Trey Smith. By 4 p.m. Tomorrow. Ian, they’re
going to either have to have a
new deal in place for Trey Smith or by virtue of the fact he
already signed his tender, he’s
going to be on the books for 23,000,000 in 2025. That’s
right. Either way, Trey Smith,
one of the best guards in the NFL, is going to be a very rich
man. Either way, he is going to
be the highest paid guard in the NFL. It’s really just a question
of does he get that multiyear to
lock him up, to give him some financial security, to give the
Chiefs some salary cap breathing
room? Of course, it would help much more breathing room on a
multiyear deal than on the one
year, $23 million tag where you have to take all of it. The two
sides have been in
communication. There have been negotiations. We do not know
right now if a deal is going to
get done. But at least as of this moment it is a possibility.
But I think either way, Trey
Smith is going to be more than fine this year and for years to
come. The Chiefs set to report
as a full squad next week, their AFC West rival Chargers already
in camp. But not that man Trey
Harris, their second round draft pick who is currently one of
32nd round picks who have not
yet signed their deals. Ian, this seems to happen every year.
There’s some type of a logjam
somewhere, whether it’s over contract language or guaranteed
money. Well, the fact that the
number 34 pick, Jaden Higgins, got a fully guaranteed deal
that’s had a ripple effect. And
we’ll see how many of these guys are reporting on time over the
next 8 or 9 days. Yeah. And I
would guess if I had to do it right now, Tom, that it’s going
to be several other holdouts as
of right now. Trey Harris, the first, the first to take a stand
to fight for that guaranteed
money. He’s way back toward the end of the second round. But
there are several others in the
middle, early part of the second round who are going to want that
fully, fully guaranteed deal. A
lot of attention is going to be paid to the contract that Tyler
shook. The Saints quarterback
gets. Does he get the fully guaranteed deal? Does he get the
quarterback premium? And does he
take all the picks before him with him as far as fully
guaranteed plenty of drama to
play out. So yeah, unlike most years, we may get a few holdouts
for training camp. Number 33
pick also got a fully guaranteed deal. The number 35 pick Nick
E-man worry in Seattle. That’s
the next one to watch. Meanwhile, another Chargers news
Najee Harris, their free agent
running back addition, sustaining what his agent, Doug
Hendrickson, called a
superficial eye injury during an explosion of fireworks on the
4th of July in his hometown in
California. According to Hendrickson, Harris is going to
be ready for the start of the
season, but he is not yet reported to training camp.
Chargers veteran set to report
on Wednesday. And until he does, and the medical staff and the
coaching staff get a chance to
spend time around him, there still remain lingering questions
about exactly when he’ll be
ready to get on the field. For more on that, let’s bring in our
Steve Weiss and Omar Ruiz, who
are in Los Angeles, and Steve, we already know the Chargers had
other plans in motion in terms
of their backfield. What do you anticipate that running attack
is going to look like here in
2025? Yeah, Tom, anytime you’re with a new coach, especially
with a new ball club, you don’t
want to miss reps at a position like running back, which is
deep. They went out and they
drafted Amari and Hampton. You know who’s probably going to be
the main guy anyway. But now
Najee Harris is going to be giving reps to players like
Hassan Haskins, who played for
Harbaugh at Michigan and was a heck of a player. You’ve got
other players. Raheem Sanders,
Kimani Vidal, these guys remember the Chargers also
played in the Pro Football Hall
of Fame game, so they’re going to have a fourth preseason game.
This is time for these guys to
get reps again under Harbaugh and Greg Roman and to establish
themselves. But Omar there’s
also this. If Najee Harris does miss time, he can be fresh.
Let’s say week three. Week four,
when some of the grind of the season starts to kick in, that
could help. Look, they signed
him because they need a veteran player who can not only run the
ball but help the pass pro
certain things like that. But again, any running back missing
time at this part of the season
with a new ballclub isn’t necessarily a great thing. Are
the silver lining? Steve could
be fresh in week six, and the irony to all this is that Najee
Harris, you see how tough he
runs. The football, has never missed a game in his entire
career, has played 17 games each
of his four seasons. It is that durability and that toughness. A
big reason why the Chargers
brought him in to help revamp that running back room. And now
we’re talking about an injury.
That sounds very scary when you talk about an eye injury and
fireworks. And 4th of July, as
you mentioned, Wednesday is when the veterans report will have to
see how much damage to that eye
there is. But you mentioned Omarion Hampton. You mentioned
Raheim Rocket Sanders, who has
made a name for himself in the off season. So there are plenty
of depth at that running back
position. And I think, Steve, we would both agree that this
offseason has been
overwhelmingly positive for the Chargers and how Joe Hortiz and
Jim Harbaugh have really built
off that first playoff appearance. In Harbaugh’s first
year as head coach, and this
regime has rebuilt the roster in their likeness. But when you
talk about the storylines now
heading into training camp, granted we are seven and a half
weeks until kickoff in Sao Paulo
against the Kansas City Chiefs, but we still have Rashawn
Slater, their star left tackle
who hasn’t had his blockbuster extension yet to come to
fruition. You guys mentioned
Trey Harris not in camp yet. And now Najee Harris, a big part of
that running back room. Some
questions around his availability at least to start
training camp. Some questions
here in the early going for Chargers training camp. Yeah.
And Omar I think some questions
regarding Najee Harris availability is fair. My
understanding of where he stands
is he is not expected to miss significant time. Now. There was
a fireworks incident. Does sound
like there’s been some damage. Superficial was the word that
his agent, Doug Hendrickson,
used. But from what I understand, this is someone who
will be on the field sooner
rather than later and is not expected to miss games. There
are certainly some people close
to Najee Harris who are not as fortunate. During what sounded
like an unbelievably scary,
scary situation. But as far as Harris goes, specifically, his
injuries are considered
relatively minor. Should be back on the field soon. Steve. Omar.
Thank you. We’ll have you guys
take us to the NFC West a little bit later on in the show. One
other Chargers note today that
the first team reporting to camp. So they’re also the first
team making transactions. They
placed five players on the active physically unable to
perform list, including their
veteran wide receiver Mike Williams, who is back in LA
after a sojourn to the New York
Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Active PUP is one that
can be activated from at any
time during training camp. Doesn’t mean that he’s going to
have to miss regular season
time, though. That does create roster flexibility for them in
the short term. There also was
news in the past couple of days about Browns rookie running back
Quinshon Judkins, who was
arrested Saturday and charged with touch or strike battery
domestic violence, according to
Broward County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office records.
Judkins accuser alleged that he
punched her with a closed fist in the chin slash lip area and
later hit her in the left arm
and thigh while in a car leaving the airport on July 7th. The
victim told police that she is
in a relationship with Judkins, who has not commented. Both the
Browns and the NFL said they are
aware of the matter but declined further comment. The league,
let’s note, does conduct its own
investigations and can discipline players even if the
legal system does not, including
with a suspension, or by placing a player on the commissioner’s
exempt list. A lot more to come
on this edition of the insiders. Six more teams headed into
training camp as far as the
rookies, at least on Tuesday. That includes the Ravens and the
bills. What kind of help can
those newcomers give to the James Cooks and Derrick Henry’s
of the world? Our guy Ross has
it all to break down. Coming up right after this on the
Insiders. The insiders is
brought to you by Liberty Mutual Insurance. Only pay for what you
need. And, Doug, okay, here’s
what you want to do. Save Whoa!
Eyes forward. Don’t drive.
Distracted. Dominican Sue made it official over the weekend,
announcing that he is retiring
from the NFL. Sue played back in 2022, eight games with the
Eagles. He was one of the best,
albeit controversial, early in his career at the position of
all time 71.5 career sacks, and
won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers. After the 2020
season. As for the current NFL
players, as always, they are ranking their top 100 as we
count down the days to the start
of the 2020 NFL season, Dak Prescott revealed today as the
number 79 player, followed by
Packers defensive end Rashan Gary at number 82. Players being
revealed per day on X and NFL
plus through the end of August, training camps kicking off
around the league over the next
week and a half here and six more teams have their rookies
reporting to training camp on
Tuesday. Who is ready to get a look at the Giants collection of
rookies with Abdul Carter and
Jaxson Dart and company? They are on that list. So are the
Ravens, among others. As we
welcome back our Mark Ross to the conversation with me, Tom
Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.
Let’s start out Mark in Baltimore. They basically feel
like they got two first round
picks based upon the talent that Mike brings to the table. What
are you going to be looking for
that group here as we head through training camp. Yeah they
no doubt got two top 20 top 15
type talents with Malachi Starks. The safety, the
versatile safety out of Georgia
who I think will step in right away with that loaded secondary
of Baltimore and be a starter.
Then Mike green, even though he’s not going to start, he may
end up leading the team in sacks
just because he’s just got to go in there and just go get buckets
when big crucial third downs.
But I want to dig a little bit deeper, too. In that draft class
where third round pick Emory
Jones, the tackle LSU, who played mainly tackle there but
maybe even has a chance to start
at either the guard spots even push Vorhees or at one of the
guard spots. And then there are
two sixth round picks. Tyler loop the kicker out of Arizona
and then Johnny Webster, the
return specialist out of Colorado, where both of those
guys are really the kicker. Luke
is going to step right in and really win that job. He should.
And then Webster. The Ravens has
really been looking for a reliable return specialist who
can provide an impact there. And
Webster has done that both at Colorado and for you when he was
there. And then even step in
when Zay Flowers got hurt, banged up a little bit last
year. Webster is a similar size
build quickness as a flower, so he’s got a dual chance of being
the return specialist, stepping
in right away and also providing that slot receiver impact. So
the Ravens always find gems too.
So I just name those guys. They got more draft picks and
probably provide an impact as
well. Leave it to our resident scout to pull two special teams,
guys who were drafted on day
three out of the mix right there. Certainly guys to watch
in Baltimore. Take me to Buffalo
here. Ian, we know that the bills have been at the precipice
for a number of years now to try
to get over the hump. They drafted a lot of guys who maybe
went a little bit later than
people were thinking. A lot of guys who played in the Senior
Bowl. What do you expect to see
from that group? I mean, if you look at the landscape of the
bills draft class, there was
really one theme and that is defense. And clearly players
they think are going to have an
instant impact on defense. And, you know, you look at the way
the bills have been constructed.
You look at the way they’ve done business. They spent all of
their last year locking up and
signing so many of their homegrown players to huge
contracts from Josh Allen all
the way down to Christian Benford, who was basically the
entire offseason of making sure
that their guys they drafted got paid. So what that meant was
free agency wasn’t wild and
crazy spending. It meant the Buffalo Bills didn’t go out and
shell out $30 million to, let’s
say, a top edge rusher. Instead, it was more like 8 or 10, right?
That also means they’re going to
need some impact from some of this draft class. I mentioned
some of the guys who went later
than expected. Maxwell Hairston a lot of people thought he was
the top corner, going to be a
top 15 pick. T.J. Sanders another one went a little later.
Landon Jackson went a little
later than people expected. And these are going to have to be
some of the names on the field
for the bills. If they’re going to take that next step. It
doesn’t need to be a big step,
just like a teeny teeny mini step, because you mention it,
they are right there. Did I
mention I’m excited to see how these Giants draft picks play
out here? Through the course of
training camp, we got a quarterback battle. Mark Ross,
you’re going to tell us a lot
more about that in the next segment. The Colts have a battle
on their own involving a former
Giants draft pick in Daniel Jones. All things quarterback.
We got competition training camp
right around the corner. Stick around. See insiders. Rise and
shine. We’re here, baby, let’s
get it. Gmfb is live from LA and by Toyota. Live games all
weekend on ESPN and more Disney
networks. I’ve been waiting a while to say this football is
back. Celebrate as teams across
the league take the field for Back Together Weekend, presented
by YouTube TV with two full days
of practices, player interviews and behind the scenes access,
it’s a can’t miss NFL reunion.
Go to NFL.com back together weekend for more information. I
will be in Detroit and Buffalo
for Back Together weekend, but for now I’m in Minneapolis where
our kind producers wanted to
bring up how nice the weather is tonight and tomorrow. You know,
at a time that I could be
outside grilling and instead I’m in my basement hosting this very
show that you’re watching. But
it does get us to the next segment, what we’re calling the
training camp competition Heat
index. The hotter the competition, the higher the
temperature. Everybody got that?
You got the ground rules. Great. Let’s play this game. Welcome
back to the insiders. It is Tom
Pelissero Ian Rapoport Steve White and Mark Ross. Mark I
thought Mark was going to be
here. How about this. How about let’s start with Ian. Ian do you
have a heat index you want to
get to. Yes I will start with the Indianapolis Colts
quarterback competition for me.
You want to talk about the hottest index. This is 100 out
of 100 for the Indianapolis
Colts. Of course we know right now Anthony Richardson. And
there it is right there. See 100
out of 100. That’s it right there Anthony Richardson and
Daniel Jones going toe to toe.
And really what is a somewhat rare like real quarterback
competition. We’ve seen
competitions before where like let’s say a rookie top pick goes
out there and you’re like, oh
yeah, these guys are really competing. And then whoa, the
rookie ends up winning it. I
never saw that coming. This is not like that. This is a real
one. This is why Daniel Jones
signed in Indy instead of returning back to Minnesota.
Anthony Richardson has known he
needs to step up his game. He needs to step up. His
preparation needs to emerge as
the franchise leader that the organization has wanted him to
be since taking him in the top
five remains to be seen how it will shake out. But yes, this is
a very, very hot competition.
And now we have Mark Ross and Steve back. So what’s up guys?
It was so hot in LA that our
four shot temporarily melted down. Mark you were really there
now. Giants quarterback battle.
How hot are we. Well it should be scorching hot about 90
degrees. Even though the Giants
are trying to keep it in the air conditioned. Much like you’re
down there in that basement,
Tom. They’re trying to keep it in the air conditioning by
saying Russell Wilson’s a
starter. We’re just going to sit Jaxson Dart all year. Jameis
Winston’s the backup, but it
needs to be out there in the heat. This needs to be a fair
competition. And let Jameis Cook
throw the interceptions. Throw the touchdowns. Do what Jameis
does. But even you never know
Jaxson Dart may be a revelation as a rookie. Much like last year
Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix in the
year before C.J. Stroud. The Giants should limit themselves
to just say that here’s the
pecking order. This is how we’re going to run things. It should
be an open competition with a
lot of heat, and let the best man win and not keep them in the
air conditioned and out of the
pool. Let this be a hot competition. New York Giants,
please. I don’t know how many
people in fantasy football are going to be drafting Giants or
Colts quarterbacks. They will.
Steve, be trying to figure out what Broncos running back to
take a task that got that much
more difficult when J.K. Dobbins signed right before minicamp.
What’s the heat index of that
battle for the Broncos running back job? Well, that heat index
is a nice September fall day in
Denver. And I’m saying about 65 out of 100. And that’s not
because guys like RJ Harvey, the
rookie and J.K. Dobbins, the veteran, aren’t going to be
competing for playing time. It’s
because of the coach and the play caller, Sean Payton, who
tends to roll out a different
running back on every play. No matter what he does. He’s a guy
with a multitude of personnel
packages. But we know RJ Harvey. He’s going to be a guy out of
UCF who’s going to be exciting.
Been compared to Alvin Kamara because of the versatility and
the run and pass game. A guy who
averaged nearly seven yards a carry last year at UCF, a big
game hitter. He again he’s going
to be the guy the eyes are on. But then J.K. Dobbins a reliable
veteran. You’ve got Audric
estime someone who’s been there, a guy they say who could break
out if he gets the potential, if
he kind of figures things out. Jaleel McLaughlin another
shorter, stockier guy. So again,
the competition will be there among the guys. But again, it’s
going to be the head coach who
no matter how good someone is, he’s going to roll a lot of guys
through. And real quick, Marc
Ross, you’re looking an awful lot like Marcus Freeman there.
No beard, tight crispy haircut.
You should get in a lookalike contest with him. This new
summer. Look, cut the beard off.
You know, get refreshed and rejuvenated for training camp.
The return. All right, I got to
get one here. Give me the Cowboys running backs. They
signed Javonte Williams and
Miles Sanders. Their jersey numbers add up to 60. So that’s
what I’m going to do as the heat
index on that competition right now. Obviously they’ve also got
their fifth round pick Jaydon
Blue out of Texas. This is going to be interesting to watch
because with Javonte and Miles
Sanders, they got a couple of veterans who have had
productivity in the league, but
that production hasn’t really been there over the past couple
of years. From everything I’ve
heard through the spring, Javonte Williams looks like the
guy who once completely tore up
the Dallas defense down there in Frisco. He’s a player who, of
course had a torn ACL has come
back. It sounds like his twitch, his burst is back. I would not
be surprised not only if Javonte
Williams wins that job, guys, but if he has a pretty big year
for a Dallas team that’s going
to need that production in the backfield. Mark, thank you very
much. With or without beard, we
always appreciate your contributions. Steve. Stick
around a lot more from you.
Still to come through the course of this loaded edition of The
insiders, we had a lot that
happened over these past couple of weeks. We had a lot of a lot
of action. Let’s circle back on
some of the big deals we didn’t get to talk about, including
that blockbuster trade between
Pittsburgh and Miami. Stick around. It’s the insiders. NFL
red zone is where the action oh
is inevitable. Let somebody know Football Hall of Fame
enshrinement. August 2nd at 1:00
pm. With NFL plus. Keep the NFL in reach. Stream live
out-of-market preseason games
live local and prime time games on mobile during the regular and
postseason and NFL network,
including seven exclusive live games with NFL Plus Premium.
Enjoy even more football with
NFL RedZone game replays and NFL Pro. Sign up today at NFL.com.
Terms and conditions apply. We
are back on this show after a couple weeks off, so while we
were out there was some news.
Tom Pelissero Ian Rapoport back here on the insiders. Let’s
start out with a couple of
extensions that got done recently in front offices Ryan
Poles the bears general manager.
He gets a new deal that now aligns him with their new head
coach Ben Johnson in Chicago.
There have been a lot of moves over the past several years for
Ryan Poles. The optimism in
Chicago right now is that with Ben Johnson on board, that
quarterback that Ryan Poles
took, number one Caleb Williams will show why he was worth that
number one pick. Omar Khan also
has a new deal. The Steelers general manager agreeing to
terms on a new deal that will
keep him in Pittsburgh through at least the 2028 season. And
Omar Conwell, he’s been awfully
busy over the past several months as well. Nobody, nobody
has made more headlines on this
show than the Steelers, including while we were away.
You’re not allowed to make
trades during 4th of July week, but here we were. Ian calling me
from Tulum, and me jumping off
of a stationary bike to break down this trade. Jalen Ramsey,
Jonnu Smith and a 2020 seventh
rounder going to Miami for Minkah Fitzpatrick and a 2027
fifth. Ian Watt this was June or
March. This is about as big of a trade as you get. Yes all of
that is true. But let me just
explain to the people who watch our show, not just for the news
and insight and analysis, but
also to find out what in the world we were doing while news
was breaking. So let me just
take you there. My wife and I were on vacation in Mexico. We
were having a lovely time. We
were going to Tulum. We’re going to go tour the Mayan ruins.
We’re actually listening to our
tour guide. Tell me all about the different wildlife, all the
birds that are around. And all
this is we’re driving. And I started to have a panic attack
because as I’m texting a source
who had said to me, hey, this Jalen Ramsey trade is about to
go down in about ten minutes. Be
ready. I realize I have no service. You and I are talking.
We’re trying to figure this out.
I say Tom, listen, there is a chance that when I get the go
sign, I’m going to not be able
to hear anything. So be ready. You were ready, as you always
are, jumping off the peloton.
Thank you very much. It was a harrowing experience. I have no
earthly idea what the tour guide
said, which means I’m probably going to have to go to Tulum
again. But yes, as you saw in
that video, it also led to me doing a little a little shot
right in front of the ruins just
to tell people what was going on. As far as the actual trade,
though, Jalen Ramsey, you and I
reported for a lot of months wanted out of Miami. I think
Miami was certainly more than
willing to make that happen. I thought in my head it would be
the Rams. They just never could
figure out a way to get the deal done. The Steelers did. So
Ramsey goes there. He adds a
huge, huge piece to their defense. But in doing so they
give up. Minkah Fitzpatrick sort
of a salary swap a little bit. But I think the Minkah
Fitzpatrick part of this Tom
really caught people by surprise. Whereas maybe the
Jonnu Smith part of it probably
didn’t. Like you said the salary piece was part of it. In order
to take on salary you have to
move salary. But if you look back the last couple of years,
Megan Fitzpatrick’s production
hasn’t been quite the same. He’s still not even 30 years old yet
as he heads back to Miami, where
he was a first round pick a number of years ago. Here they
are hoping in Miami they get
some stability with Minkah on the back end. We’ll see what
that means for 2026. The
Steelers get a very versatile piece in Jalen Ramsey and also a
tight end in Jonnu Smith, who
wanted a new deal from the Dolphins. Instead he now gets
that for the Steelers. So what
does Miami now do at tight end. They bring back a guy we’ve
talked about a lot on this show
over the years. Darren Waller is back. The former Pro Bowl tight
end during his day with the
Raiders, reunited after one year in retirement with his old coach
Frank Smith, who is now the
Dolphins OC. Those guys were together with the Raiders. They
are extremely close. If anybody
is going to help Darren Waller come back from a year away from
the game, it’s going to be Frank
Smith. And from everything I’ve been told physically, mentally,
Darren Waller is in a much
better place right now. As for the Buccaneers and their star
left tackle Tristan Wirfs, he’s
been in a better place physically and he’s going to
miss some time. Yeah, this is, I
would say, somewhat significant blow for the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers. It’s been a knee
injury that’s been bothering Tristan Wirfs for some time. Is
a tough, tough dude. Always been
able to battle through it. Was training was getting ready. Kind
of gearing up for training camp.
It became clear that this knee injury was still a thing. He did
have surgery. My understanding
is he’s going to miss a couple of weeks of the regular season,
which means he probably starts
on the PUP list, not the pup list you start on before
training camp, but the one that
knocks you out the first, let’s say, four games of the regular
season. It’s not ideal, but if
this Bucs team is kind of what we think they’re going to be,
which is a team that’s going to
be there in the playoffs or at least competing for playoffs,
you will have him for the better
part of the season, which again, it’s not the greatest, but it
could be worse as well. Tough
news for the Buccaneers. We also had devastating news for many
people in the state of Texas.
While we were away, the NFL family stepped up to provide
immediate assistance and long
term resources to communities devastated by the flooding in
central Texas. An initial $1.5
million donation from the NFL Foundation, Dallas Cowboys and
Houston Texans led to additional
contributions from the Falcons, Panthers, Vikings, Saints,
Steelers and Seahawks. Kansas
City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt also announced another
contribution through his MLS
team, FC Dallas. At Ace. However me what it looks like to accept
help. Michael. Hey. How you
doing, my man? It’s John Lynch. Are you ready to be a nightmare?
Yes, sir. That’s awesome. Buddy,
we’re so fired up to get you, man. We’ve been sitting here
nervous about going up. I tried
to go up. Didn’t work, but we got you here, so we are so damn
fired up, man. You’re going to
be. You’re going to be great for us, man. And the entire building
got behind this. So I’m going to
turn you over to Coach Shanahan. All right buddy, let’s hear it
for Michael. Michael congrats
dude. Come on dawg what’s up man. Thank you coach. This is
what we’ve wanted since day one
man. We’re all pumped in here. And you’re with your family
right now. Yeah, man we loaded.
Dude. That’s awesome man. Enjoy it. All right. Special night and
enjoy it. Because when you get
here, man, it’s time to go to work. All right. Thanks, man.
Appreciate you. Coach never gets
old watching those draft phone calls. 40 niners. Hope it never
gets old. Watching Michael
Williams do things like this and do it in regular season games
where you can actually sack the
quarterback and not a guy wearing some weird getup that
looks like Michael could single
handedly throw him over the fence. Let’s talk more about the
NFC West with our West Coast
correspondents there. Dressed California business casual there
together. Steve Whites and Omar
Ruiz lay it on me. We got the 40 Niners rookies reporting to
training camp tomorrow. We’ve
got the Seahawks reporting with their rookies the training camp
tomorrow. What’s the biggest
questions facing each of those four teams in the NFC West. Well
Tom let’s start right there with
the 40 Niners. We saw John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan talk to the
defensive. Their defensive end
first round draft pick Michael Williams. But Omar the biggest
question could be on offense
where they took care of their quarterback Brock Purdy. And
where is he going to go with
that football. And a big question for me is how healthy
and how productive can Christian
McCaffrey return to form. Obviously, the offensive player
of the year in 2023, I think he
has to be back at that elite level because you look at the
wide receiver room, Steve, Deebo
Samuel is gone. Brandon Aiyuk is still coming back from that torn
ACL. We’re hearing now that
Jauan Jennings reportedly is unhappy, wants a new contract or
to be traded. Ricky Pearsall,
their first round pick last year, tweaked a hamstring in
OTAs. The newly signed DeMarcus
Robinson over from the Rams had a DUI last year, pleaded no
contest. Could be facing
suspension. So when you talk about the returning offensive
firepower, it’s George Kittle
and then Christian McCaffrey, who according to all reports,
and Kyle Shanahan, Christian
McCaffrey saying he is as healthy as ever. We saw what his
absence can mean for that team
in 2024, as they struggled to that six and 11 record. A lot of
their holes were exposed
throughout the course of last year. I think Christian
McCaffrey covers up a lot and
the way they operate, the way they use him in that offense,
that multifaceted role that he
has, the way that Kyle Juszczyk has, the multi-faceted role at
the fullback position, the way
George Kittle plays and can be lined up anywhere on the field.
It is important for Christian
McCaffrey to return to form play at that elite level, and then
they can worry about the
receiving corps for Brock Purdy. Christian McCaffrey, also a new
Papa. So congrats to him and his
wife for their new baby. Well I’m going to take it up to
Seattle. Right. So there is that
40 Niners connection right there. As Clint Kubiak is the
new offensive coordinator in
Seattle. And he’s got Sam Darnold as his quarterback. And
that is the big question for the
Seattle Seahawks. Can Sam Darnold replicate the magic
season that he had last year
with the Vikings. You know 35 touchdowns 12 interceptions more
than 4000 yards. Because he
comes to an offense that is similar not exactly to what he
ran in Minnesota. But guess
what. He doesn’t have Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson and
TJ Hawkinson to throw the ball
to the Seattle Seahawks. They lost Tyler Lockett DK Metcalf
now Jaxon Smith-njigba is a stud
wide receiver. He’s ready to take that number one role.
Cooper Kupp is the number two as
he comes up from the Rams. But as we know Kupp who’s going home
to Seattle to the Washington
area has had durability issues. Can the Seahawks and Darnold
sustain durability issues with
that wide receiver corps. But again the biggest question Omar
is can Sam Darnold play like he
did last year. Because if he did, Seattle might have a team
that could push somebody else.
Is there another team in this division that could surprise.
Well let’s talk about the
Arizona Cardinals. This is a team that when Jonathan Gannon,
the defensive coordinator from a
Super Bowl appearance and the Philadelphia Eagles takes over
in 2023, I’m going to read you
some stats here. They were 31st in the league in scoring defense
in 2023 25th in yards allowed.
They make that big jump last year and they improved by four
games. Those defensive numbers
in 2024. Now they’re 15th in scoring 18th in yards allowed.
And that is in large part Steve
to Budda Baker. And a lot of no names on defense that Jonathan
Gannon Nick Rallis the defensive
coordinator had those guys playing with energy with effort
there in most of the games that
they played. Didn’t get to ultimately where they wanted,
but they still improved by four
games and are looking to improve now in a dramatic way in 2025.
There you see Calais Campbell,
now a part of the team, Josh sweat, their big blockbuster
free agent signing. They have
Dalvin Tomlinson. They spent their first round pick on Walter
Nolan. They get Wil Johnson in
the second round. Fell to them. How quickly can this defense
come together for Jonathan
Gannon and the Arizona Cardinals. If they can now make
that jump from poor to middle of
the road to now maybe elite in Jonathan Gannon’s third year,
perhaps take some pressure off
of Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals offense, which seems
to be filling it a little bit
going into the third year in this regime. They could really
surprise, but the team that I
think everyone is looking at is the Los Angeles Rams, because,
look, they almost beat
Philadelphia in the playoffs last year. It could have been
them representing the NFC in the
Super Bowl. But the big question for them is can their
workmanlike secondary, which has
a lot of good players take advantage of that dominant front
five that they have? You look at
the secondary safeties like Quinton Lake, you’ve got Kelly
Weatherspoon, Kobe Durant, Cam
Kitchens, Kam Curl, Darius Williams. They’ve got players
back there right. But then you
look up front Poona Ford who’s going to be a huge addition.
He’s going to be one of those
guys we’re talking about literally one of the best free
agent acquisitions in the off
season. Joins Braden Fiske, Coby Turner, Jared Bush and Byron
Young. If this secondary can
start getting more and more takeaways, whether it’s forced
fumbles, whether it’s
interceptions, this defense could be one of the better
defenses in the NFC and the Rams
with all the weapons on the offense. Let’s not forget they
got Davante Adams at wide
receiver. They could be a Super Bowl contender. But here’s one
thing I talked to Sean McVay
about this that you know I talk about the workmanlike guys in
the secondary. They could have
had gotten a play for Jaire Alexander and Jalen Ramsey. They
opted not to. Part of it was
financial but part of it was they like the guys that they
have. So Omar this division is
kind of up for grabs. A lot of questions overall. But Tom, as
we send it back to you, we just
think that again, this is going to be one of the better
divisions overall in the NFC.
Hard to find a better duo than Steve Wyche and Omar Ruiz.
What’s that? Oh, we’ve got Puka
Nacua and Kobie Turner on the show tomorrow okay. That’s just
a better duo. You guys still
solid. Thank you very much for your contributions tonight. We
still got more insiders coming
up right after this. We’ve got details on flag football in the
2028 LA Olympics. We also got
one former NFL player who’s making a splash in a different
sport. Find out who right after
this on the insiders. Before the from one another. Having a team
like that changes the game.
What an opportunity, man. Go outside, play some football with
some friends. Play for each
other. Go blue out of time. NFL season is underway. Throws
intercepted by certain. Oh my
god oh my god oh Saquon Barkley he hurdles a guy backwards oh
Lamar Jackson. There goes Henry.
The pageantry of football. There is nothing like it. Oh baby how
beautiful is that. This is
behind Cooper who brought it in pitched it back to Allen who’s
gonna go to the goal line. Here
comes the Hail Mary with the game on the line. The ball is
caught. It’s a miracle. Welcome
to the postseason. Is that court? Yes. What a play by
Dallas. Got him. You can’t stop
Jayden Daniels. Playoff path to playoff Kelce. He’s a beast with
a capital B. There goes Barkley
through the snow. The Chiefs go to the Super Bowl for a chance
for a three peat. This flock of
eagles is heading to New Orleans. Hey no stone unturned
man. We come to dominate. That’s
it. Just embrace the moment, man. Let’s do this, y’all. Let’s
do it, baby. Hey! Back goes
Mahomes. He’s looking. It’s intercepted. And Jane is in for
a touchdown. Oh my god oh my god
yes. Hurts going deep for it all Devonte Smith he has got it.
Touchdown. It’s over. The
Philadelphia Eagles have won Super Bowl 59. What a season it
was. And what a week we’ve got
upcoming in flag football. The 2020 NFL Flag Championships
presented by Toyota are coming
to Canton field of approximately 300 teams across 12 boys and
girls divisions have now been
set. Watch every game on ESPN or NFL plus July 18th through the
20th with additional coverage on
ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and Disney Plus. Speaking of flag football,
it’s coming to the Olympics in
three years. The official schedule for those games in
different sports was put out
earlier today. The flag football portion will take place from
Saturday, July 15th through
Saturday, July 22nd. Exposition Park Stadium in Los Angeles.
Notable dates. Because that
means the flag event will wrap up right before NFL training
camps kick off. And some players
may or may not be doing both of those events. I can tell you one
event I will not be doing. I
will not be doing what Jimmy Graham is doing right now. He
and three others testing the
boundaries of their endurance and mental toughness in the
Arctic Challenge. They are
rowing 1000km across the Arctic Ocean in a 9.6m human powered
boat, attempting to set several
world records in the event, including the speed record of 15
days, five hours, the raising
funds for a couple of New Orleans charities. It is,
according to the New Orleans
Saints website, a sleep deprived, around the clock work.
Each person rowing 13 hours per
day with rotations of two hours on, two hours off and one hour
donated per day, very similar to
the rotations of our insider Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, who
are grinding away on their final
weekend before the training camp grind truly kicks off by hanging
out at Saratoga. Bring it down
for me here Ian. Who do we got. All right so we got the garafolo
we got. There he is right there.
His bald self. Mike was doing extremely well I would say
there’s the Garrett foals and
the Roberts late at night. Did we have a couple cocktails? I
don’t know who’s counting at
that point. It’s not like we started at 11 a.m. And finished
at 130 in the morning. It
doesn’t matter. That’s the Brant, by the way. Kyle, Brant
and Brooke hanging out with us
as well. They were strong drinking champagne at about 1030
in the morning. That is how you
start. It was a lovely day. Some NFL network bonding. Tom, you
were invited and not so politely
declined. So I will say you were not missed, but it would have
been fun if you were there. You
say I was invited, meaning you sent me one text in like
November saying, hey, we should
go to Saratoga next July. Never a follow up, never a reminder
about a horse race eight months
out that I would have to fly myself and wife in for. I would
say it was a it was an invite.
It was an invitation from you know, it would have been nice if
you were there. You were missed,
I will say, but if it makes you feel any better, Tom, we drank
enough as if you would have been
there. Okay. We drank enough for both of you guys. So there you
go. Six more teams in rookie
camp tomorrow. We