Rodgers ‘pretty sure’ 2025 will be last season, Predicting the Browns starting QB | 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

3831.
Aaron Rodgers in a Pittsburgh
Steelers uniform. Does it look weird to you? Don’t worry. It
appears that you won’t have to
see this for very long. Rodgers today making some comments
indicating that his time in
Pittsburgh could be short. We’ll explain shortly. Elsewhere in
the AFC North the Ravens. Yeah,
this is a team that has been in contention the last couple of
years. It’s time to make that
step to get back to the Super Bowl. What do they need to do to
get there? We will break it
down. And Bryce Young. He improved within the season last
year. Now it’s time to stack on
that improvement from 2024 to 2025. In his second year with
Dave Canales and company. We’ll
take a look at young and what he needs to do to take that next
step. Welcome inside with the
insiders. Mike Garafolo here with you tonight. We’ve got
Gregg Rosenthal joining the
program as well as Brian Baldinger, Cameron Wolfe and
Sarah Walsh with us as well. All
of that news we just discussed and more coming at you tonight
here in the next hour. I
mentioned Aaron Rodgers. He was on the Pat McAfee program
earlier today. And he was asked
something that maybe, frankly, I should have asked him when I was
there covering this right here
minicamp because he signed with the Steelers. It took a while.
He talked about the possibility
of retirement. Probably should have asked, you know what,
Rodgers? Is this the last year
you think you’re going to play in the NFL? Period. Here’s what
he had to say on McAfee. I’m
pretty sure this is it. You know, that’s why we just did a
one year deal. Steelers didn’t
need to, you know, put any extra years on that or anything. So
you know, this was really about
finishing with a lot of love and fun and peace for the career
that I’ve had. I mean I played
20 freaking years. You know, like it’s been a long, a long
run and I’ve enjoyed it. And
what better place to finish than in one of the cornerstone
franchises of the NFL? I don’t
feel the need to prove anything to anybody, or or don’t have any
chip on my shoulder that I need
to hold on to. I don’t want the attention. I know that’s a
narrative out there. When this
is all done, you won’t. It’s Kaiser. So say you won’t see me.
I won’t be in the public. I
don’t want to live a public life. That’s why it’s so strange
what’s going on right now with
my private life? Because I don’t want to live. I don’t want to
live a life in the public eye.
I’m not going to be in the in the public eye when this is
done. I’m done and you won’t see
me. And like that, he’s gone. Well, not yet, not like Keyser
Soze disappeared. But no
spoilers. By the way, somebody spoiled that movie for me. It
was terrible. Of all the movies.
Anyway. Moving on. Yes. Before he is gone, Aaron Rodgers has
the chance to creep up on some
lists here. Touchdown passes to pass Brett Favre, Peyton
Manning, Ben Roethlisberger,
some Hall of Fame and legendary quarterbacks with a chance to
climb over them. Here with the
Pittsburgh Steelers with Arthur Smith and that offense. So get
in here Gregg Rosenthal and
Brian Baldinger. Rosenthal I am going to start with you my
friend. Look, it wasn’t a great
ending in green Bay. The two years with the Jets did not go
according to plan for anybody.
But this guy is still has been a phenomenal player and we should
really appreciate it if this is
going to be the last season of Aaron Rodgers, I absolutely
will, and I hope he plays at a
higher level and makes this team watchable because, you know,
they’re going to show the
Steelers a lot in primetime and national spots. But it’s not
surprising to me that he says
this would probably be his last year because I believe if he
plays at the level he played
with the Jets throughout last season, even those last few
weeks where the numbers were a
little better, I don’t think he would have a choice because I
don’t think there would be a
team out there still offering him a starting job, he says. It
would be probably and I would
have said that before this as well, because you mentioned it,
the last season in green Bay was
not a great season. I would say it was probably the worst season
of his career. He is now 42
years old. There is only one quarterback in the history of
football who has ever played
well. At 42 years old, that is Tom Brady, and there’s not a lot
of reason to think Rodgers can
play at that level again. Yeah, look, there’s some work to do
because yes, the Steelers
trusted him that he didn’t have to have the spring session with
them. But he’s going to have to
hit the ground running when it comes to training camp. It is a
new system. He doesn’t have
those familiar guys around him that he brought in with the
Jets. So there’s a lot of things
that need to fall into place here when it comes to Aaron
Rodgers baldy, I turn it to you
and say, okay, so what does this mean for the Steelers? Right.
They drafted Will Howard in the
later rounds. This is a team that we’ve said Mike Tomlin
never had a losing season. So
they’re always in the middle of that first round if not the
latter part of it. It’s kind of
hard to get yourself a quarterback when you’re still
there. So you already know
potentially you’re looking for 1 in 2026. How do they go about
this? Well, I mean, you look you
got to play out the swan song of Aaron Rodgers this year. If he
plays great and they play well
in the playoffs, they don’t have an answer to your point here to
your question Mike. And so there
might be conversations about coming back I mean Tom Brady won
a Super Bowl at 42. And he came
back for two more years. So it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s
going to walk into the sunset.
However. They’ve got six Lombardi trophies four with
Terry Bradshaw, two with Ben
Roethlisberger. I mean they have been relevant and winning
Lombardi’s when they’ve had
great players at that position that they drafted and they
developed and both those guys,
Bradshaw and Roethlisberger are in their Steelers Hall of Fame.
And so that’s probably where
they got to go. I don’t know that Will Howard I don’t know
that any of us feel like he’s
the answer going forward being you know where he was drafted.
They’re relevant. And they can
compete with Baltimore and Cincinnati Lamar Jackson, Joe
Burrow. When you get a chance to
get one of the elite players in the league at that position, and
when they have had that, they’ve
been very, very good. Regardless of which coach you want to like
talk about whether it’s Chuck
Noll, you know, all the way through the ranks to Mike Tomlin
right now, the Steelers do have
a lot of draft capital for next year. But that helps you get
from like let’s say 5 to 3 or
something like that. It’s kind of hard to go from 20 if you got
to get all the way up for a
quarterback. So let’s see how they handle. Let’s see if Will
Howard can make some noise and
maybe let them know that he can be their quarterback of the
future. Maybe one day we’ll be
talking about Drake Maye the way that we talked about Aaron
Rodgers. Frankly right now one
of the better quarterbacks in the league is doing that. This
is Josh Allen to Sports
Illustrated saying Drake is super talented. One of my
favorite young quarterbacks in
the league. I’ve spent some time around him. He’s got his head on
his shoulders the right way,
just does things the right way. I think that he exemplifies
football. Drake Maye did not
have the greatest protection last year. They’re trying to get
their targets around him as best
they possibly can. Greg. So that is some super high praise from
Josh Allen that clearly sees
some talent that really hasn’t been unearthed on the NFL level
yet. Yeah, I think Josh Allen
looks at Drake Maye and sees a little bit of himself. Just a
big, strong, athletic player who
loves football. And one way that Drake Maye was better, I think,
than anyone expected last year,
and better even than Josh Allen was his first couple years in
the league was his decision
making. We were told this guy was going to be raw. It would
take a while to get up to speed
at the pro level mentally and what I saw, and you can tell me
what you think. I saw a guy who
made a mistake and then he didn’t make it twice, and that
for a rookie, a lot of it was
the plays that he didn’t make, the mistakes that he didn’t
make. And I thought he played
fantastic considering the situation around him. And I
think Josh Allen knows he’s
going to have two tough games against this kid for the next
number of years. I tell you,
Greg, I thought he showed a lot of poise, a lot of athletic
ability. He hung in there behind
an offensive line that honestly might have had one legitimate
starter. So they addressed the
offensive line this offseason via free agency, via the draft.
Obviously, Will Campbell coming
in to play left tackle. You know, Garrett Bradbury coming in
at center. They should be much
better up front, you know. And then you bring in Stefon Diggs
who’s been in number one for a
long time in this league. You know and you draft Treveyon
Henderson out of Ohio State. And
so you give him a lot of help. And so I expect Drake Maye to
make a big jump this year I
expect the offense. And it’s been dreadful for the last four
years. It just has. They have
not been competitive offensively over the last 3 or 4 years. Even
Belichick’s last couple seasons
they were not good. This looks to be the best group that
they’re going to put on the
field in a while. It’s going to start up front and it’s going to
start with the development of
Drake Maye. And look Josh Daniels. Josh McDaniels has done
a great job with quarterbacks.
And so he’s back in his role in New England right now I think
they’ve got a chance to really
kind of you know playmaker a play caller offensive
coordinator quarterback really
kind of coming together and growing together. So it should
be fun to watch throughout the
season. But it won’t surprise me to see a big jump from the
Patriots offense led by Drake
Maye this coming season. That last line from Josh Allen that I
read where he said Drake Maye
exemplifies football. That fits with everything I saw from Maye
during the pre-draft process and
into the season last year, the way that he interacted, the way
that he had that presence, even
in the pre-draft meetings with teams. He’s just that dude. And
Josh Allen clearly seeing that
from Drake Maye now to need to see him elevate his play with
some better support and
protection around him. Greg and Baldy don’t go anywhere. Coming
back to you in a little bit.
Travis Hunter not going anywhere. He’s going to be there
for the start of training camp.
That deal done two days ago four years, $46 million. The Jaguars,
as I reported a short while ago,
did also just agree to terms with the second pick of the
third day of the draft, the
running back that’s already making a push for some playing
time in that backfield. So I
think that leaves one Jaguar left to be signed Cameron Wolfe.
Come on in here because it
leaves two first round picks that have yet to be signed.
You’re seeing them right there
JD Barron with the Broncos and Shemar Stewart with the
Cincinnati Bengals. Let’s talk
about Stewart. This one has been pretty public. Usually these
rookie deals negotiations are
simple. And also behind closed doors. We’ve heard a lot about
this one. Catch us up. Yeah. The
Bengals and Shemar Stewart are still at an impasse. Look
holdouts are rare but not
impossible in this new CBA. And a lot of times they come down to
contract language guarantees and
precedent. And I talked to a few people in the situation and it’s
simply like this. The Bengals
are trying to create a new precedent with Shemar Stewart
putting language in his contract
on voiding for particular off the field incidents and whatnot
that would void the guarantees
in this deal. Qamar’s team, obviously, they don’t want to be
a guinea pig for this particular
motive. They’ll say that last year’s first round pick, similar
place, he didn’t have to sign
these deals. And so all of a sudden there’s a stare down
going on. The team will say,
hey, 16th in the 18th pick in the draft. They were players who
put this language in. And
Sharma’s team will say, well, those people already had
language in. And so right now
there’s a lot of posturing going on. There’s no imminent deal.
And from what I understand,
Shemar Moore is willing to linger this out through training
camp if there’s no deal. This is
a situation where the Bengals need him on the field. They
don’t have Trey Hendrickson,
their top pass rusher for another holdout situation. And
so they need that pass rush.
They need Shemar on the field. And Sharma’s agents willing to
negotiate publicly. They are
willing to say, hey, you give us a little bit of this. You give
us a little bit of that, we’ll
see how the team responds. Last year, the Bengals signed their
first round pick in July 22nd,
and so training camp will be the next deadline to see if there’s
any compromise on either side
from the situation. Great breakdown from cam. It’s
basically Shemar Stewart and his
agent saying you haven’t had similar language here in
Cincinnati. They’re saying,
yeah, but it’s the same language that they’re using around the
league. And they’re saying
that’s not our problem. We’re just focused on what’s happening
here. So the dance is going to
continue. And in an era where we don’t usually see extended
holdouts, we could see one here
with Jamar Stewart as we get into training camp. Stay tuned
for that cam myself everybody.
We’ll have you as filled in on that as we possibly can when it
comes to Baron, by the way.
Doesn’t seem like it’s anything overly complicated. It’s just
some stuff that needs to be
ironed out and done before the start of training camp. I think
there’s a lot of confidence that
this is going to be done, and we won’t see a holdout from Baron,
so stay tuned on that one as
well. Cameron Wolfe, thank you. Hang in there. Coming back to
you later in the program and
coming up just next here on the program. It’s going to be cam.
He’ll be joined by Sara Watkins.
We’re going to talk about Bryce Young I think everybody was
rooting for Bryce Young midway
through the 2024 season. We want to see what he’s going to do in
25 and take that next step and
see that confidence continue to grow. That’s next on the
insiders. Mom. When this
happens, they count on you. much support. There’s the
shotgun snap four man rush young
with time. Sends it deep down field for Thielen. Makes the
catch in the end zone for a
Carolina touchdown. High fives all around. Here’s the snap. The
fake to Boone. Young backpedals
rolling to his right. He can run for it. He’s got the ten. He’s
got the five Bryce into the end
zone. And Carolina takes the lead. Count them 12345
touchdowns today for Bryce
Young. What is that look on Bryce Young’s face is like lips
are curled up. I didn’t see much
of that in his rookie season. They did see it down the
stretch. Happy for Bryce Young.
Such a good dude and looking to see that continue Sarah Walsh
and Cam Wolfe. So let’s start
with you Sarah. On Bryce Young’s development. You see plenty of
him with as much as you cover
the NFC South. What do you think we see from Bryce Young in 25.
Well the thing about Bryce Young
he’s entering year three. But this is the first time he’s
going back into the same system.
Remember he was under Frank Reich. Then he was under Dave
Canales. And this is the first
time he’s got a year or two of someone system. And young said
that allows him to focus on
growth rather than on learning. And we saw that growth unfold
late last year after A02 start,
he was benched. He didn’t regain his starting role until week
eight, but after that, we saw
his numbers improve dramatically and his completion percentage,
his yards per game, his
touchdown to interception ratio. Dave Canales has said he wants
the offense to look like Bryce
Young, and young says a lot of that has to do with trust now. I
talked to his offensive lineman
Robert Hunt recently, and he told me he’s watched young grow
right in front of his eyes. He
says young is hungry, he wants to be good. And he also said
there is a feistiness about him
that people don’t see. Said he’s been talking smack and the
linemen, the guys on the team,
they love to see that. Hunt told me that they get the sense that
this team, they saw what they
could be, and they have a sense that that direction is starting
to change in Carolina. Cam. Yes.
Sarah, a much more confident Bryce Young. He’s been trash
talking. Jaycee Horn who’s been
yelling back in practice. But I talked to an executive earlier
this offseason said, hey,
surprise me. Tell me something that stood out to you about this
offseason. He said the Panthers
are going to make a playoff push and be a top ten offense. And I
said, why? And he said, just
look at the way they have surrounded Bryce Young with
weapons. When he first got into
the league two years ago, he didn’t have the offensive line.
He was running for his life.
He’s now got two of the best guards in the league. And Robert
Hunt, who you mentioned, Damien
Lewis, guys they’ve spent big money on in free agency and they
have really created that running
game where all the pressure is not on Bryce Young. Chuba
Hubbard rushed for 1000 yards
last year. They brought in Rico Dowdle from the Cowboys who had
1000 yards there as well. All of
those guys are going to be able to run the ball, which they did
really well over the second half
of the year. And then you got Tetairoa McMillan, who they
drafted in the first round to
put Xavier Legette two big, talented playmakers down the
field. Bryce Young has showed
that confidence in the last month of the season that they
believe he is their quarterback
and now they have him the right weapons to succeed. I think
Bryce Young is headed to the
best career, best season of his career this year. Yeah,
hopefully from wire to wire. If
you’re the Carolina Panthers, that’s what you’re looking for.
No peaks and valleys. At least
not big ones during the season. Cam thank you very much Sarah.
Let’s go defense here. You like
Travis Hunter. You’re a two way player. Let’s talk about the
Panthers defense and what we can
expect from them in 2025. Well Mike for all the spotlight on
Bryce Young we know how it is
with the quarterbacks in this league. It was really the
Panthers defense that struggled.
If you take a look at the stats they’re not great. Last in the
league in a ton of categories
points per game, yards per game, rushing almost 180 yards. They
allowed opponents to rush on the
ground per game. That is the most in that category and almost
three decades. But help is on
the way, Mike, in the form of new faces and a familiar one.
One of those familiar faces,
Derek Brown. He tore his meniscus in week one last year,
was lost for the entire season.
He says he expects to be back at training camp with obviously a
managed workload, but this is a
guy that the year before he was healthy, a Pro Bowler, he had
over 100 tackles, 103, which is
the most by a defensive lineman since 94. They’ve also signed
Turk Wharton from the Chiefs,
all part of a plan to be better up front. Their defensive
coordinator has said that
Wharton’s presence, his aura, his note taking at all times has
really set a standard around the
facility. And then another guy that folks inside the building
tell me has had a terrific
offseason with them. Pat Jones, who comes over from Minnesota.
Jones says it is time for this
team to set a new standard. Mike great stuff. You see that big
man move that fast. Brian
Baldinger as we bring you in here. And you have seen this
Carolina defense and you’ve
seen, you know, some growth and some some solid play in spurts.
Got to put it all together. They
do. They do. Mike and Sarah hit on a lot of individual players.
You know anybody that’s been
around. Avro. You know he is an elite player. He’s an elite
coach. He’s he’s he’s been in so
many different places under the guidance of some great head
coaches and coordinators. He’s
learned a lot. He’s ready. I think he’s going to be a head
coach. But he’s got a you know,
obviously got to jump up from the stats we just saw last in
the league. It starts up front.
There are four man defensive front. So Wharton comes on comes
along with Bobby Brown. They
draft Nick Skirton. But honestly Derek Brown is a beast I mean
when you say he’s got 103
tackles, nobody gets 103 tackles at defensive tackle in this
business. Hall of Fame players
don’t get 103 tackles. This guy is unique and even with double
teams and everything that he
sees, he still knows how to split it. So getting him back is
going to be a big presence.
Getting Trayvon mooring in the back end at safety is going to
be a big presence. Jaycee horn,
like he’s got to go live up to this contract. He got a big fat
contract this year. He’s got to
go step up. And so I think at every level of this defense,
they should be better. This is a
question right now of ever really coordinating this thing
to make it better. And really
they don’t have any excuses because they’ve upgraded the
talent. They kept the defensive
coordinators for his third year. Now he’s getting a lot of head
coaching attention from around
the league. Now it’s time to put it together. I just wanted to
say someone that’s usually down
here in the NFC South, Todd Bowles with the Bucs had this
advice to the guys as they were
breaking before training camp. He said, don’t be working out
indoors because that’s not going
to help you in the heat. And Mike, as someone I know that’s
going to be heading out to
training camp, what viewers don’t know is home is Mike is
roasting. He doesn’t have air
conditioning in his place right now. The lights are on. He’s
like wiping himself off in
between commercial breaks. So I just wanted to applaud your
dedication to being in top form
when training camp rolls around. Mike, I like that I’ll take the
air conditioner, but you do you
there. This is a leather chair. Let’s just say when I get up, it
takes like five seconds or so.
There’s a little bit of a little bit hydrating. Keep hydrating,
you know, get the fluids in. You
keep them in. Yeah. There we go. It’s probably not enough. Yeah,
but thank you very much, Sarah.
Thank you. Sarah. See, somebody appreciates it. Thank you, Sarah
Walsh. Get more of the NFL. Get
more of something. Get more of the NFL with NFL plus, stay
connected throughout the
offseason with 24 over seven football news and coverage on
NFL network and with NFL Plus
Premium. Relive your favorite moments from the 2024 season
with game replays and access to
NFL player stats with NFL Pro. Subscribe today at NFL.com.
Terms and conditions apply. Of
course they do. There’s a Raven Derrick Henry. Here comes
another one Lamar Jackson. We’re
going to be talking Ravens after the break. One of the teams
that’s easy to talk about this
time of year because you can say hey they’re going to be good.
They’re going to be competitive
because they always are. But can they get to the Super Bowl? Can
they get to the promised land?
Talking that with Gregg Rosenthal and Kameron Wolfe
coming up next. Break brothers.
Hey, Thomas, I told him to use mayhem? It’s a miracle. Can you
believe it? Get NFL RedZone now.
Kenny Pickett getting some work in with Jerry Judy. And if I
told you that a couple of years
ago when Pickett got drafted, you’d say, oh, Judy got traded
to the Steelers. No. You mean
Pickett’s in Denver? Wrong again. Both guys together in
Cleveland, where Kenny Pickett
is trying to win a starting job. And another guy that’s in a new
place in Cleveland. Deontay
Johnson thinks that Pickett’s got the inside track. I don’t
want to put you on the spot, but
who do you think? Who do you think’s going to be the starter?
I know we talked about it off
camera, but I mean they’re going to roll with Kenny for right
now. So you just had rookie
minicamp right? You went you went with them and did all that
stuff. Who who looked I’ve been
seeing Kenny going like right now with the ones. And then Joe
would come in. I think they’re
probably going to roll with him. Just like to see like just
coming off the season. He was
with Philly, right? Right. And having a Super Bowl. So I’d
rather see I think they’re going
to stick with him through preseason. And then you know
they can live with what Joe
brings to the table. Thank you. Sports and suits. Two things I
like just not in the dead of
summer. Here are the Browns starting quarter. I mean, I like
sports in the summer, but suits
it’s a little hot. 2021 the Browns starting. We can’t go
back any further. If we did they
wouldn’t fit on the screen. I mean, you know how it is when it
comes to the Browns and
quarterbacks. But yeah, that jersey with all the names on it
got all these names, including a
really long one in Dorian Thompson-robinson. So who’s it
going to be in 2025. Who’s it
going to be beyond that? Let’s just focus on this upcoming
season. And let’s start with
Cameron Wolfe alongside Gregg Rosenthal. Cam, start with you
on Deontay thinking that Kenny
Pickett has got the inside track past some of these veterans. You
think he’s right on or no, I
think it’s interesting that he’s given that perspective as a
receiver on the team. From what
I understand, out of handicap Joe Flacco as the favorite going
into training camp. But Kenny
Pickett is going to have a chance to steal that job from
him. I think it’s more likely
that it’s Kenny Pickett or Joe Flacco than Sanders or Dillon.
Gabriel and I spent draft week
in Berea with the Browns, and I talked to Kevin Stefanski on
draft day. I had a good idea
they weren’t taking a first round quarterback. Said, are you
comfortable with Joe Flacco or
Kenny Pickett as a starting quarterback? Without hesitation,
he said yes, and I’m like, why?
He’s like, Joe has an immense knowledge of my scheme.
Remember, 2023 came off the
couch, four and one played really well. We know that we’re
going to have a very high floor
with Joe. And he talked about Kenny Pickett and his talent and
feeling like they can develop
more out of him as well. We’ve seen in the past Baker Mayfield,
Sam Darnold sort of get career
resurgence. And there’s a belief they can do some of that with
Kevin Stefanski. But the reality
is this Browns team not a high chance people think of making
the playoffs. There’s a good
chance we probably see multiple quarterbacks start throughout
the season. And even if it is
one of the vets earlier, maybe we still see Cheddar and Dillon
Gabriel later in the season as
his team continues to build and develop. I know one thing is
clear there’s four quarterbacks
on the roster. There may be a question at the end of August.
Is there one out? Is one getting
traded? From what I understand, not playing to move on on either
rookie. So maybe whichever vet
loses the job, maybe on the trading block. Ultimately, I
think Deontay Johnson is right
that the Browns want Kenny Pickett to win the job. But I
think Joe Flacco will win the
job. And my main reason is just watching how Kenny Pickett has
handled his last two
opportunities. The film does not lie, and you look at two
organizations in Pittsburgh and
Philadelphia who both need quarterbacks, who essentially
gave up on Kenny Pickett. So we
know what Joe Flacco can do. He can play at a credible level. He
went four and one with the
Browns before when the Steelers traded Kenny Pickett just a few
years ago, they moved. All they
had to do was move down from the third to the fourth round in
order to do so. Last year, the
Eagles essentially gave Kenny Pickett away. So if we’re going
to spend this whole offseason
saying Howie Roseman is the best general manager in the game and
they could certainly use a good
backup at a low price, and he basically decided to give Kenny
Pickett away because Tanner
McKee is a better quarterback than him. Then ultimately, I
think Joe Flacco is going to be
a better quarterback than him and should, or Sanders will wind
up being a backup or third
string quarterback. Yeah, Flacco late in the season with
Cleveland looking good, not so
much in Indy. I think that Indy season just didn’t work for a
variety of reasons. I expect to
see a better Joe Flacco, sort of what we saw in 2023 this
upcoming season, which should be
able to win him the job elsewhere in the AFC North,
you’ve got Lamar Jackson making
the play for Jaire Alexander to become a Raven, and that is
exactly what happened. When your
franchise quarterback speaks, a lot of times you listen. Here’s
another veteran in the
secondary, Marlon Humphrey, talking about what the Ravens
defense could be with Jaire. I
feel that when I first came to the Ravens, it was all about the
Ravens defense. It was all about
the Ravens defense. It was all about the Ravens defense. And I
feel like I’ve let that standard
being here. I think the longest defensive guy, I feel like I’ve
let that standard kind of slip.
And that’s something that I want to get back, I want it,
obviously, we love Lamar
Jackson. It’s a great, great player. But I want you know, the
Ravens identity to be defense.
Yeah that’s smart. Especially when you got a defensive
coordinator like Zach or so cam
how good can this Ravens defense with Jamaar with Jaire Alexander
added be yeah the Ravens can be
special. They can be one of those elite defenses we talk
about again. But a lot of it’s
going to depend on health. Jaire Alexander has been a number one
cornerback for most of his
career, only played 14 combined games the last two years. That’s
why they got him on a little bit
of a discount. But I love what it can do for Zach. Lauren, this
defense look, last year from
week 11 to week 18, the Ravens had the number one defense in
football in yards and points.
After an abysmal start to the season. And a big reason why was
they just didn’t have that depth
early in the year. So Kyle Hamilton was spread too thin.
Zach moved Kyle Hamilton to free
safety. He locked things down this year. They’re going to have
a little bit more creativity
because Malachi Starks, who they drafted in the first round, can
play free safety Kyle Hamilton
go about being that chess piece again. Now you got Jaire
Alexander and Nate Wiggins on
the inside, allowing Marlon Humphrey to play in the slot
where he played his best last
year. I think this Ravens team can be really special because of
these improvements. Yeah, I love
that secondary. I love that Marlon Humphrey is a good quote.
I love the versatility they have
up front. But let’s be real. This team is about Lamar
Jackson. They are hoping on the
Ravens defense to just be the supporting actors to one of the
greatest quarterbacks of the
last 25 years. I’m doing a podcast series, the best 25
players the last 25 years.
Spoiler alert Lamar Jackson is on it. Over the last two
seasons, he hasn’t just been the
best quarterback on balance in the league, they have been the
best offense the way that
Derrick Henry helped to unlock that running game and what they
have in terms of the continuity
and the depth of weapons that Lamar Jackson has, they are by
far the favorite to be the best
offense in the league. Defense is up and down. It comes and
goes. Offense is forever.
Offense wins championships and I don’t care how good they are on
defense, the identity is going
to be this man. Number eight Lamar Jackson. Thank you guys.
Thank you Cameron Wolf.
Appreciate you buddy. Looking forward to hearing from you. As
the insiders rolls on later this
week. Greg you ain’t going anywhere. You want to know why?
Because he just teased it. Your
top 25 players in the last 25 years going to be talking about
that when the insiders comes
back with you and Baldy. Rise and shine. Welcome. We’re so
glad you’re here. Gmfb is live
from LA and we’ Having a team like that changes
the game.
New today, they’re in downtown. Mobile? Yes, a fresh new look.
The Panini Senior Bowl, Panini
America, the new title sponsor of the Senior Bowl. Yeah, the
draft starts in mobile. It still
does with Panini as the new sponsor. Looking forward to our
first trip down to mobile for
the Panini Super Bowl. Coming up in a couple of months. Gregg
Rosenthal, Brian Baldinger back
with us. Rosy, you talked about it before the break. NFL Daily’s
top 25 players of the last 25
years. We could start at any position, but we’ve got an
offensive lineman with us in
Brian Baldinger. So you know where we’re starting. Give us
some linemen on the list. Yeah,
I wanted to hear Baldy tell me I’m dumb. And this is a list
where I had to leave off so many
great players, Hall of Famers. I wanted to pick guys who were the
very best of the best at their
peak. And so Baldy, I went with Joe Thomas as my top tackle and
Walter Jones is also on the
list. I snuck in Zach Martin too. We had to get a good
interior lineman. Joe Thomas, of
course, known for the consecutive snaps streak, known
for just repeating what he does
on a play to play basis on such a high level. A technician, a
nice guy shows you don’t have to
be a mean dude to be one of the best to ever do it. And then as
I went through the list, the
second tackle spot was really tough for me. But Walter Jones
was a player when he was
playing. A lot of people just thought he was the best football
player, period. Forget about
just tackle at any position. And so I had to get him on the list
as well, you know more than I
do. I mean, I’m just a plebeian. So tell me what you think about
my offensive lineman choices and
maybe who who I might have missed in this list. Well, Greg,
first of all, I mean, you’re
spot on here. I mean, this is a difficult assignment, okay? So
there’s going to be some guys
that are going to be left off, and I don’t really want to speak
too much about the guys left
off. But the two guys you spoke of Joe Thomas and Walter Jones,
Joe Thomas, when you say
technician, I mean the level of technicality that he played the
game with, from his stance to
his set, which was straight out of he was a shot putter in high
school. It’s a shot put stance.
Lane Johnson copied it. You know Jason Peters copied his stance
and they copied his his his set
his vertical set. This stuff is what transcended some of the
game. His ability to keep one
hand inside, one hand outside, the kill hand, the guide hand. I
mean, he played differently than
a lot of people. Hit to hit, move the body. I mean, just sit
down with Joe Thomas. Things
just come to my mind, Greg, about how the game is played,
how you describe the game, how
you have to, well, how you have to play to be effective. And
then for Walter Jones, I
remember when they went to a Super Bowl that year and lost to
the Steelers. And you know,
Hutchinson’s the left guard and Walter Jones left tackle. They
were left handed team. And I
said I could build the entire game plan around that left side
of the offensive line. But
specifically Walter Jones. Matt Hasselbeck is going to throw
slants right by the air hole of
Walter Jones. His man is not getting to him. And then, you
know, you watch Shaun Alexander
run and how he ran. And then he ran for over 400 carries there a
team they ran behind Walter
Jones. I mean, the guy pushed trucks around the parking lot
for fun. Greg. Like, this is
real stuff, like moving trucks, because that’s the kind of power
that he had. He walked into the
Hall of Fame, rightfully so. I think you got two really good
players at that position. You
can argue others, but you can’t argue those two don’t belong in
your top 25. Yeah, you’re not
going to be wrong with any of these. It’s a question of the
guys that you left off and the
heartache of leaving them off. But 25 doesn’t leave you a lot
of wiggle room. So outside of
offensive lines, give us some notable names on your list of
25. Yeah. One of the most fun
parts of the exercise was kind of going through position by
position and, and making these
decisions, and one of the positions that was easy for me
was actually running back,
because I thought there was two above the pack. LaDainian
Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson.
Tomlinson, to me, was just the most complete running back that
you could possibly create in a
lab. Not not only great on the goal line and getting you extra
yards and getting get small in
the hole, and tougher than I think he gets credit for, you
know, going through those
tackles that you see there. But just an absolute dynamo on third
downs. Whether you want him to
block or as a receiver. To me, he was my number one guy because
I think he’s better on all three
downs. But Peterson was absolutely fantastic to another
debate, and these two guys are
both very high on the list to me. Was JJ Watt or Aaron Donald
as the greatest defensive player
of the last 25 years? I won’t give it away here. But what is
high on the list? I think what
he did in that three year run where they robbed him of an MVP
and he won those defensive
players of the year was the best I’ve ever seen any defensive
player. He he helped me and my
friend Chris Wesley, he helped us see the game differently
because I didn’t used to watch a
defensive player snap after snap after snap, and he made it so
entertaining, so fun that you
actually started to understand the game better just watching
him. And then of course,
finishes with a big year in 2018 with the Cardinals too. And then
I will mention a guy who didn’t
make the list. And Baldy, you can talk about any three of
these guys you want, but I
struggled at safety. Ed Reed is high on the list for me.
Polamalu didn’t quite make it
and he was one of the players that hurt the most to leave off
the list. And it wasn’t that
he’s not a great player, but just comparing him to some other
players at different positions
and the value of safety and the all-pros and some of the
consistency, he didn’t quite
make the cut. So I think it’s a big debate between Ravens fans
and Steelers fans, Ed Reed or
Troy Polamalu. I made the choice of Ed Reed. I don’t know how you
feel about it, Baldy or the
other players I just mentioned. Well, I mean, look light. You go
back and look at his numbers.
Greg, he’s the only back in NFL history that went 400 plus
touches eight years in a row and
didn’t miss games. Still lined up, caught 100 balls in a
season. You know you’re trying
to differentiate him with Adrian Peterson. But lights volume of
carries volume of touches. You
watch guys. Now whether it’s McCaffrey or going back to Deuce
McAllister Shaun Alexander. You
go back you know in history and look at guys that touch the ball
400 times what they did the next
year. All Lt did was just consistently produce 400 plus
touches. Receiving rushing eight
years in a row. I don’t know that anybody. And then 31
touchdowns in 2006 still hasn’t
really been challenged yet. Maybe somebody will with 17 game
schedule, but nobody really has
challenged 31 touchdowns. And then look you get to JJ Watt
that that run between 2012 2015.
You know where he led the league in tackles for losses three
different times. He had 70
combined sacks in that run. And he played. He was the piano man.
He played up and down the line
of scrimmage at every position. He let everybody in the
offensive line feel his punch
and they felt it. He just changed the game and reads the
greatest safety of all time.
Just flat out I mean, there’s nothing against anybody else.
It’s the numbers, punt returns,
game changing plays, how he picked quarterbacks pockets, how
he took Peyton Manning to, you
know, behind the woodshed and picked him off. I mean, Ed Reed
is one of the greatest players
of all time at any position JJ Watt yeah, speaking of JJ Watt,
a short while ago announcing the
birth of his son Nico. What? Maybe one day we’ll be talking
about Nico. What is one of the
greatest players in NFL history? We shall see. Greg. Can’t wait
for the full reveal of the 25
players. Looking forward to that on NFL daily. Baldy, hang in
there. You’re with us. After the
break. We’re talking Sacks summit. I mean you’re an o
lineman. You don’t like guys
that get sacks. But maybe you do. You appreciate all kinds of
football. We’re going to talk
sacks coming up next. Dick’s epic 4th of July sale is on.
Take 20% off bags and igloo
coolers 25% off Stanley control at ready.gov. I don’t
know, man. Attendees of the
Saarc summit. This guy might be a double agent. He might be
getting all that information and
bringing it back to the offensive lineman. I’m just
saying Brian Baldinger at the
2025, I guess this was 2024, I assume. Baldy 2025 coming up, I
don’t mean to, you know, I’m not
taking a shot at your character there, baldy. I’m just saying,
you know, offensive lineman
coming in there, they got to be looking at you like this a
little bit. Let’s talk about
this year’s Sack Summit. Yeah. No, I tell you it. I went last
year and was invited and it’s
really run by Von Miller, Max Crosby, Cam Jordan three of the
best out there in the league
right now. And it really it’s really kind of an open forum to
talk about pass rush to talk
about defense, every nuance of it, whether it’s the moves,
whether it’s stunts, how to set
guys up. And so we’re at UNLV out there in the desert heat of
Las Vegas. We’re outside. We’re
on the field for, you know, three, four hours out there
walking through things with Von
Miller right there. We come into the film room. Mike, I start
showing a bunch of different
film. Brian Burns is in the background right there,
different players. And it’s
interesting because we’re now it’s now really kind of
filtering down to a lot of
younger players. Like, for example, last year, the rookie
Braden Fiske was in the front
row with a notepad, taking notes, asking questions. He also
just so happened to lead all
defensive linemen with eight and a half sacks a year ago. So the
young guys are starting to show
up now. Yeah. Speaking of those young guys, what rookies could
be this year’s Braden Fiske guys
that could learn some stuff and carry it on the playing field in
25? Yeah, Mike, it’s pretty
exciting. The list right now is at least 50 guys and seven of
them are rookies, including the
40 Niners first round pick, Michael Williams, 11th pick in
the draft. You know, from
Georgia. He started as an 18 year old freshman for the
Bulldogs, won a national
championship there. You know last year. Played with a high
ankle sprain. Didn’t have the
same production he had his sophomore year. But he’s a guy
that can really play anywhere on
the defensive line because he’s six five. He’s 275 pounds and
he’s really strong. And so I
think he’s a guy that has a chance to really develop and
make an impact. Opposite Nick
Bosa year one. And then there’s Jalen Walker also from Georgia.
He went to Atlanta the 15th
pick. He was an off the ball inside linebacker. But he showed
great promise coming off the
edge. Great speed off the edge. Good size and power as well. And
so the Falcons have been in
search of a pass rusher to get after Baker Mayfield and Bryce
Young guys in their own
division. I’m anxious to see Jalen Walker’s movement and how
he takes to some of the
coaching. And then the last guy I want to mention is Guy from
Arkansas who the Buffalo Bills
took in the third round. You know, their top five picks were
all defense. Is this land in
Jackson? Because when you look at them and you study them
number 40 right here he’s six
foot six. He’s got long arms. He had great production. Here he is
playing over the guard on a
twist stunt with the with the end right there. He’s a good
long arm player. He’s got
natural moves already I’m kind of anxious to see his movement
and how he performs out there.
They do a number of drills on Thursday morning out there on
the field before we start
breaking out into groups and sessions and just talking about
different positions. A guy like
Calais Campbell, ageless Calais Campbell will be out there. I’m
sure a guy like Landon Jackson,
Jalen Walker, Michael Williams could learn a lot from a guy
like Calais who’s, you know,
back playing again this year with the Arizona Cardinals. I
learned a lot last year, Mike.
I’m looking forward to learning a lot this year and meeting a
lot of the younger guys. Just
seeing that there with Landon Jackson, that wasn’t just speed
or power or a combination of
both. That was technique that he already has in his arsenal. So
yeah, adding a little bit more
is going to make him that much scarier. Hang in there, Baldy.
You’re with us until the end of
the show. Wire to wire. The wait is over and the countdown to
kickoff has begun. Single game
tickets for the 2025 NFL season are on sale now. Visit NFL.com
to purchase tickets today.
Tickets are available through the NFL Ticket Network,
including Ticketmaster, SeatGeek
and Sports Illustrated. Tickets. We got the pass rusher Summit,
we got ol masterminds, we got
tight end university. A lot of athleticism on the field. And
actually one example of not much
athleticism. You’re going to want to see that next on the
insiders. Join the more than 7
million adults like Michael to see this NFL player’s choice
only on NFL network. Tight end
university is underway George Kittle Jeremy Shockey still
apparently yoked these days
Travis Kelce Greg Olsen that’s Brock Bowers on the right. All
of them professors at tight end
university and a lot of folks taking in what Travis Kelce had
to say. They’re not just there
to see Taylor who’s there for some reason, but Travis Kelce
not ready to hang it up for
himself, but making sure that the next generation of tight
ends has all the information
that they need. And then speaking of people, for some
reason that they’re there for
some reason, this guy is there. Now. Don’t quit on him, Brian
Baldinger because the first half
is ugly, but he made some halftime adjustments. Give us a
baldy breakdown of this. Well
look, Mike, I mean, obviously he’s not bending his knees at
all to start with, and he looks
like he’s got a blindfold on. He’s got no periphery
whatsoever. And so it was an
ugly start. It was a bad first half. Come in the locker room.
Get yourself some orange slices.
Read like really refocus. And once he started bending his
knees like an athlete okay. And
then really you look at him right here. Watch him start to
bend his knees here. All right.
Take the blindfold off. Now. Now he’s got confidence. It’s all
about growing confidence. You
can see Rapsheet got his confidence. Those last three you
know flags that he that he
caught right there. But I saw a good knee bend at the end. Mike.
He was way too stiff to start
this drill. Yeah I agree it is an ugly shirt. Oh you said ugly
start. Oh I’m sorry. Ugly sorry.
Start. The. The shirt was great. Hey. But you know what? I give
him credit. He hung in there. He
didn’t wilt. Maybe he’ll be on