Our latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast offers you our first in-depth update from the NFL Combine here in Indianapolis.
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00:00 Hi everybody, this is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation Las Vegas
00:06 Raiders Insider Podcast here at the Indianapolis Convention Center.
00:11 I don't know if you get your pods early or if you like to watch them late.
00:15 This is on Wednesday morning.
00:17 I apologize, the internet is just horrible here.
00:21 And so I apologize for the delay in getting up today's podcast.
00:23 We're working on how to improve that for tomorrow.
00:27 And to give you some observations from yesterday, I got to talk to Tom Telesco a couple of times,
00:33 got to talk to several head coaches and general managers.
00:36 Make sure you're checking out all of our articles at si.com/NFL/Raiders.
00:42 Was great.
00:43 We got to talk to John Schneider, the general manager of the Seahawks, and I asked him about
00:48 Patrick Graham, who was a very serious candidate for the job and almost got it.
00:54 He came in second and talked to him about Patrick Graham and then got to talk to Raheem
01:00 Morris of Atlanta Falcons, Dan Campbell of the Lions.
01:07 And we talked to a bunch of people about Antonio Pierce and then again got to spend probably
01:14 17, 18 minutes with Tom Telesco at the podium.
01:19 And then he came down for another, I'm going to guess 10, 12 minutes off podium, literally
01:25 just with us regular beat writers who cover the team.
01:30 I think Tom Telesco is great to talk to for a lot of different reasons.
01:37 There are some people that when you talk to them, they don't want to tell you anything.
01:45 So literally they'll just dance and dance and dance around something.
01:49 If you've ever seen the movie Spies Like Us, you know what I'm talking about, people, how
01:52 that they do that.
01:53 Or if you've ever watched any politician of any political party, they don't want to answer
01:58 something, they just dance around it.
02:01 Telesco doesn't do that.
02:02 He's extremely genuine.
02:05 When he doesn't want to answer something, he'll just be like, yeah, I'm not going to
02:07 address that.
02:09 And then, but when he does, you have to listen to what he says and what he doesn't say.
02:16 Now, last night, I got a chance to spend some time with several people from several different
02:23 teams, good friends on the phone, some of them in person, going to go out to lunch and
02:28 going to go out to dinner tonight with some people gathering information on the Raiders,
02:33 what I'm hearing.
02:37 And so I want to give you a lot of this inside information.
02:40 So if you follow me on my exclusives, which are my five minute audio only, I've been telling
02:46 you, well, I don't think it's a hundred percent off the shelf.
02:50 I don't see the Raiders doing anything for Justin Fields.
02:57 I think that could change, but I don't see anything about it today changing.
03:03 I think the odds are against it.
03:05 I'd say 20% that they get Justin Fields.
03:10 I can tell you there is a lot of people with the narrative of, well, of course they're
03:15 not going to get him.
03:16 Luke gets, he came from there and he wasn't good.
03:19 You can have any narrative that you want.
03:20 I can assure you that there were scenarios in which Justin Fields would be a Raider.
03:27 And if you just want to say, I don't believe that, that's fine, but it's not reality.
03:37 So I don't think, but I don't think that will happen.
03:39 I think the Raiders are definitely going to be looking at a lot of areas.
03:44 I don't think Kirk Cousins is on the table.
03:46 I don't think, yeah, Kirk or any other big free agent quarterback is on the table.
03:55 I think at this point they're resolute to draft somebody and probably sign somebody
04:04 to round out that quarterback room and have a competition.
04:10 That said, I don't believe if I had to make a statement today, I thought I made last night,
04:18 a statement today that the Raiders will be moving up to one, two, or three.
04:22 I don't think that's going to happen.
04:25 Doesn't mean it can't, but I'm telling you based on information that I've been able to
04:28 gather that cost is too high if you're not a hundred percent certain of the guy you're
04:38 going to go get.
04:42 Palesco even said yesterday, you can never be a hundred percent certain and he's right.
04:50 But that is something that is fascinating to me.
04:55 It doesn't mean I don't think that they take a quarterback at 13 and it doesn't mean I
05:00 don't think they take a quarterback at all.
05:02 I'm just saying at this point right now, I think Chicago, if somebody offered them three
05:10 ones and three twos, which is what it would cost to get that pick, I think would still
05:14 take it.
05:16 I say think now because I think they're really going through a juxtapose.
05:23 Their locker room wants Justin Fields back.
05:27 And I think there is immense pressure on management to go get a quarterback.
05:34 Now let me say this to you.
05:36 You've heard me say that you cannot approach the NFL draft in fear.
05:40 Got to approach it in total confidence.
05:43 You see teams who make bad moves because of pressure.
05:50 And to be successful in this league, you have to be somebody that understands the biggest
05:55 pressure on me should come from me.
05:58 And I'm not going to make moves based upon what other people want when they don't have
06:04 as much skin in the game.
06:06 So let me give you an example.
06:07 If you're a fan and you love the Raiders and you're like, I don't care who just moved to
06:12 number one and pick a quarterback.
06:15 That's a fair opinion.
06:16 And a lot of people have that opinion.
06:18 If you're Tom Telesco and Antonio Pierce and you're not sure you don't give up three ones
06:24 and three twos, not only do you cripple the franchise, but you're going to be gone.
06:29 You're going to be gone.
06:32 The only way that move works is like it happened in San Francisco where people above John Lynch
06:37 wanted Trey Lance and they went and got Brock Purdy and when Trey failed and Brock succeeded,
06:43 they were okay because people above them knew we're the ones that pushed them.
06:48 That's not going to be the case here.
06:50 And so they are going to be very calculated.
06:55 I know a lot of people have been critical of Telesco because he has not traded down
06:59 as a general manager.
07:01 I can tell you personally, he's more than willing to trade down.
07:06 The problem is you don't just trade down to trade down.
07:09 People have to pay you what something's worth.
07:12 I'll give you an example.
07:14 If I had a Corvette, say a beautiful, gorgeous Corvette that's worth a hundred grand and
07:21 you decide you need to sell it.
07:23 Okay.
07:24 And somebody comes along and offers you 10.
07:27 Well, can you say, I didn't sell it.
07:29 I didn't have any offers, even though that offer is not legitimate.
07:33 It's six to one, half dozen to the other.
07:35 The point is he would like to trade, but he also knows the value of first round, second
07:39 rounds, and you're going to have to pay the Raiders.
07:43 They're not trading down just because, oh, gee, we get to trade down.
07:46 We look smart.
07:47 No, you got to trade down and make it worth my while.
07:52 I believe the Raiders would like to trade down.
07:56 If there's a lot of guys at 13 that I think they feel like they could move down a few
08:05 slots, still grab a top-notch player worthy of a 13th pick.
08:12 But if you pick up another second rounder, that makes a lot of sense.
08:17 Now, I mean, if you pick up another first rounder and another second rounder, that makes
08:23 complete sense.
08:24 I mean, if you move from 13 to 20, so you drop seven slots, but let's say you pick up
08:29 a two and a five, that's super valuable, especially in this draft where there's going to be a lot
08:36 of overpicking and force some guys down.
08:38 Now, I want to talk to you about a guy that I've been telling you about for weeks is rising
08:43 up a lot of boards.
08:45 The good teams already had them high on their board, and that is J.J.
08:51 McCarthy.
08:52 We're going to be talking to him this week.
08:54 Look forward to that, talking to him a lot about what's happening and what's going on.
08:59 This is a guy that really solidified himself when you put on the tape of the Alabama game.
09:08 He was not asked by his team to throw a ton, and that's not on him.
09:14 That's just the reality.
09:16 So I think if some people approach his passing numbers, tapping the brakes a little bit,
09:20 that's fair, totally fair.
09:23 But when you look at him against the best competition, which Alabama had the best defensive
09:28 backfield he faced all year, he shined.
09:32 His ability to throw with accuracy, to throw while scrambling with accuracy are all tremendous.
09:40 So I think that's very good.
09:43 Last night I was having a meeting with a couple of executives, and we were just talking about
09:51 Bo Nix.
09:53 Again, a lot of people really like Bo Nix, but there's a lot of legitimate questions.
09:59 I laugh sometimes when people will say, "Well, look at this senior bowl," or "Look at this
10:09 whatever," and it's a practice session.
10:13 Again, people are entitled to any opinion.
10:16 I'm not God, and I don't really have an opinion.
10:19 When I've watched Bo, I thought he looked good.
10:21 I base my opinion on what I'm hearing from people in the draft, and there are a lot of
10:26 concerns about mid and long range accuracy, that he throws a lot within the first 10 yards.
10:34 And so that's fascinating.
10:36 But one of the men said last night, he goes, "I wouldn't be surprised if six and maybe
10:41 seven quarterbacks get in this."
10:44 Obviously Drake May, obviously Caleb Williams, obviously Jaden Daniels, obviously JJ McCarthy.
10:52 But then there's Penix, Bo Nix, that takes you to six, and Spencer Rattler.
11:00 Now a lot of the teams that are good quarterback drafting teams draft at the end of the draft.
11:06 And there's some intrigue with Spencer.
11:12 Talked to a couple of them.
11:13 They don't think that right now he's worth a one, but they also said, "Could he be?
11:22 Could you go through this process and learn them and maybe come up with the opinion?
11:26 Maybe, but there's going to be enough desperate teams.
11:29 Let's say you're a team at four or five and you take a non-quarterback.
11:33 Okay, then do you trade and move up to the bottom of the draft to take a Bo Nix?
11:38 Because one of those teams would be willing to trade because they're at the bottom for
11:43 a reason.
11:44 If they say, "Man, we like Spencer, but we don't have a first round grade on him."
11:47 Sure, we'll let you jump up and take Spencer.
11:50 And oh, by the way, give us a next year's one because you're not going to be good.
11:56 Or a couple of twos, I guess it could be probably two or three twos depending on where they're
12:03 at.
12:04 Again, it's all semantics and there's a lot going on here.
12:10 I'm going to address a couple of other things with you.
12:13 The Raiders, which I've been telling you, confirmed my reporting that they are going
12:18 to let Josh Jacobs.
12:19 They're not going to franchise tag him, which is smart.
12:23 They're going to look at him and see how this thing plays out.
12:29 What do they think his market value is?
12:31 What does he think his market value is?
12:33 I can tell you this, both parties want to come together and want an agreement.
12:38 They want that.
12:40 But I also am going to tell you that Tom Telesco and Antonio Pierce, as much as they like Josh,
12:44 and they do, that's totally truthful, they love, they love Zemir White.
12:53 They really like him.
12:54 Now, I'm not sitting here telling you, "Oh, they like him more than Josh."
12:58 I don't think that's the case.
13:00 But Josh now is going into his sixth year.
13:03 And his fourth year was his big money contract year when they franchised him, is the only
13:11 season that he's been able to stay healthy.
13:12 And the best ability is availability.
13:16 So I think there is a lot of concern.
13:19 How much money are we willing to put into Josh when he's proven he's not available
13:23 all the time?
13:24 Now that's not a slam on him.
13:28 He's a tremendous person.
13:30 I love Josh and he's a great player when he's healthy, but those are legitimate concerns.
13:37 You put the money in the guys who produce the honey, the sweetness, the winning, and
13:45 your best ability is availability.
13:48 And so I think they're going to let them test them and realize what the market bears.
13:52 Same thing with Germaine Illuminor and Andre James.
13:58 I've heard a lot of people saying, "Oh, they're not coming back."
14:01 I wouldn't rule them out.
14:02 I'm not saying they're shoo-ins.
14:06 They may go test the market and say, "Okay, you know what?
14:08 This is what the market says I'm worth and that's what the Raiders are willing to pay
14:10 me and that's worth it to not have to move.
14:15 I don't want to move just to move."
14:18 And they already believe in Pierce.
14:19 They already believe in everything.
14:20 I know that Pierce believes in James and believes in Illuminor, but it's going to be a situation
14:28 of how do you gauge it?
14:30 Now, Germaine Illuminor is a lightning rod with Raider fans.
14:36 The amount of vitriol spit at him is stunning to me.
14:43 Is he the best right tackle in all of football?
14:45 No.
14:46 But is he a good one?
14:47 Mm-hmm.
14:48 I mean, he's had some bad games.
14:50 Like that first Charger game last year was terrible.
14:52 And I think Germaine would tell you that.
14:56 I mean, I know that he didn't use the word terrible, but talk to me openly that he didn't
15:00 think it was his best game by far.
15:03 And I'm being nice because he can play, but he's versatile.
15:10 He can play a bunch of different spots.
15:13 He's a guy, a Swiss Army knife.
15:14 I think you want to give him a deal.
15:17 I think it behooves the Raiders to give Illuminor a two-year deal with an option for a third.
15:26 I think there's definite possibilities with Andrew James, but there are also some other
15:32 really good free agent linemen that may be a little younger or be a little cheaper.
15:39 And I know this, Greg Van Roten, everybody loved him on the team.
15:45 There was nobody on the team that didn't love Greg Van Roten.
15:49 And he struggled early, but he came on super strong for the Raiders the last two-thirds
15:55 of the season.
15:57 And I know that they would like to have potentially a Greg Van Roten, but you got to look at who
16:03 can I sign?
16:04 Remember, I've talked to you before about the numbers game.
16:08 So okay, you really like an Andre James, but what about Brian Allen who's out there, who
16:14 was recently let go by the Rams?
16:16 A very, very tremendously high functioning player, a good player, great locker room presence.
16:26 And if you're going to pay the same money for Andre James as Brian Allen, what do you
16:32 do there?
16:35 I think you have to take a long, hard look at both.
16:38 So the Raiders are doing that.
16:39 Tom Telesco yesterday really, in my opinion, really demonstrated kind of what you want
16:50 his experience and being careful on how they're going to do things.
16:56 I mean, the Raiders are in salary cap heaven.
16:59 And I asked him about that and about, you know, you're in such a good place and he is,
17:06 he goes, but he said something that I thought should be great news to Raider fans, but you
17:11 still don't want to go overspend.
17:13 You've got future guys you want to extend and you're going to have guys down the road
17:20 you need to extend, got to keep that cash in hand too.
17:24 So I thought yesterday was tremendous for Tom Telesco, but I've always enjoyed talking
17:29 to him.
17:31 I think you need to, is he is engaging and entertaining as AP?
17:38 No, but it doesn't mean he isn't less substantive and it doesn't mean that he doesn't do things
17:49 in a very, very good way.
17:52 Now I want to get to a couple other things.
17:55 So today we're going to have a lot of defensive linemen and linebackers going to be talking.
17:59 You're going to hear from a bunch of them, a bunch of them.
18:03 And I think it's going to be really good.
18:04 We're trying to bring you the best information that we can bring to deliver it to you as
18:11 fast and as quickly as we can.
18:13 We're talking to him about the Raiders, Antonio Pierce, trying to get a lot of different perspectives.
18:18 And I think that's important for you.
18:21 You know, you're not here, we are for you and to bring you their voices.
18:26 I thought it was really good yesterday.
18:28 I talked to Raheem Morris, the coach of Atlanta and about Antonio and Dan Campbell.
18:35 And I like both of those men, both of them, both of them, really good coaches and very
18:42 solid people.
18:44 It was interesting listening to them talk about AP.
18:46 It was interesting listening to John Schneider talk about Patrick Graham, who you guys all
18:50 know I'm all in on Patrick Graham.
18:53 I don't think he's a good coach.
18:54 I think he's great.
18:56 And I think he's going to be a head coach sooner rather than later.
19:02 And the more people that engage with Patrick, the more people who really find him fascinating.
19:10 I was told by somebody yesterday off the record, not off the record, because off the record
19:16 means I can't report it, but anonymously, who's part of the Seahawks organization that
19:23 he just wowed them in that if this coach does not work out and it's relatively soon into
19:33 the process, don't be shocked if the Seahawks went with Patrick Graham.
19:38 That's how big of an impression he made.
19:40 But I talked to Schneider though on the record, you can go watch that video, but a lot of
19:45 great things happening here at the combine.
19:48 We're going to be disseminating to you massive amounts of information.
19:52 So make sure you're checking out si.com/NFL/Raiders.
19:56 Make sure you're checking out our YouTube channel, Las Vegas Raiders Insider with Hondo
20:00 Carpenter and make sure that you're following us on IG, very important @HondoSR, Hondo Senior,
20:09 and on X formerly known as Twitter when you go to @HondoCarpenter.
20:13 So a lot of stuff going on here.
20:16 A lot of information being out there.
20:19 The quarterbacks, even though they're not working out till later in the week, are huge
20:23 attention.
20:24 Offensive linemen are getting huge attention.
20:30 I think as this plays out, you're seeing something.
20:38 And I want to, previously in an interview, and I would love to credit who it was with,
20:44 but I don't remember, but it wasn't with me.
20:48 But Antonio Pierce made a comment.
20:50 I know what a championship football team looks like.
20:53 I got to remember he played on the Superbowl team that whooped an undefeated Tom Brady.
21:00 So he knows what that looks like and what made that group special.
21:05 Think about it.
21:06 They had four rushers and seven pass defenders.
21:12 That is a legitimate way to beat a Patrick Mahomes.
21:18 That's a legitimate way to beat a Patrick Mahomes.
21:21 And so you certainly don't build your team with only Patrick Mahomes in mind, but you
21:29 certainly have to do keep him in mind.
21:32 I will just say it.
21:35 I fully expect at least one offensive lineman picked.
21:39 Wouldn't shock me if they pick two.
21:41 Wouldn't shock me if they go get another defensive end.
21:43 If there's a game changer on the board at 13 and there's not a game changer at another
21:48 spot.
21:49 I mean, Kool-Aid McKinstry from Alabama, Terrion Arnold from Alabama.
21:54 By the way, the other day, Terrion Arnold in a private workout ran a 4-3 in a private
22:02 workout.
22:05 I know that from somebody who was in the workout.
22:08 That guy just continues to demonstrate speed.
22:10 And a lot of people believe he's better than Kool-Aid in an Island situation, which is
22:16 what you know, Patrick Graham loves to run is the Island.
22:20 Remember Rivas Island or whatever, that he's better than Kool-Aid.
22:25 I mean, I think it's one A and one B, but I'm just sharing with you.
22:31 You got Nate Hobbs, you got Jack Jones.
22:33 Then you go over and you throw one of those guys in there.
22:38 It's pretty interesting.
22:39 I do want you to know, I talked to two people about Amik Robertson yesterday.
22:45 I thought this was interesting.
22:49 He's a free agent.
22:53 And I had a member of a, executive member of another NFL organization that said to me,
22:59 tell me about Amik.
23:00 And I told him, great kid, wonderful kid, great in the locker room.
23:07 There's nothing about Amik that you don't like, loved by his teammates.
23:11 I think the Raiders would like to have him back by the way.
23:14 And I have a sneaking suspicion Amik Robertson is going to get a really nice deal.
23:23 I don't know if it will fit in to the financial parameters of the Raiders.
23:33 They're going to be very studious and very careful.
23:36 But I am going to tell you, Amik is going to make a lot of money and good for him.
23:43 Great kid.
23:44 To the best of my knowledge, and if I'm wrong, I'm not lying.
23:47 I've never met his family.
23:48 I've met a lot of players' families, but I don't believe I've met his family.
23:52 So I can say this to you with truthful non-partisanship, which I know that's the wrong word.
24:00 That guy was raised by right, good people.
24:03 Because there's just nobody that dislikes Amik.
24:08 And being a good person, being a guy that's willing to be out in the community, being
24:13 a hard worker, being a guy that shows up every day for work, being a guy that goes over and
24:17 encourages people that are down, and then being a guy that is just a playmaker, that's
24:23 the way you make money in this league.
24:24 So again, there is a lot of interest in Amik, and that doesn't surprise me.
24:29 I found that fascinating.
24:30 I think you want to keep an eye on Robert Spallane running into the last year of his
24:37 deal.
24:38 I don't know that the Raiders want him to be playing on a one-year deal, because if
24:44 he continues to play well, which we have no reason to think he won't, then you have to
24:49 franchise him if he says, "Hey, I'm willing to go out and test the market.
24:53 Who else is willing to pay me?"
24:55 So just keep that in mind.
24:59 I think that's a fascinating thing to keep your eye on.
25:01 So a lot of great stuff coming.
25:02 In fact, in just a couple of minutes, some of the players are going to begin to talk,
25:06 so I need to go take care of all that.
25:08 But I'm going to be talking to AP today.
25:10 There will be no video of it, but I'm going to be talking to AP today.
25:16 I know that I'll be writing a ton after my conversation with Antonio Pierce today, a
25:24 ton.
25:25 So I'm looking forward to that as well.
25:27 But we're going to be bringing you great information all week.
25:29 Please keep clicking si.com/nfl/raiders.
25:31 Be checking out YouTube for all the videos.
25:36 We bring you the podcast like we do every single day, and when internet allows it.
25:42 But I just want you to hear from all of us to all of you, we are growing exponentially.
25:46 It's because you guys are liking, sharing, subscribing.
25:51 Please just take a second and do that.
25:53 We keep all of our content a hundred percent free.
25:57 That's just what we do.
25:59 And we do it for a reason, because we understand we want to get you the information fast.
26:04 We want to get you quick.
26:06 We put up a ton of video because I don't think that you people need me to tell you what Tom
26:12 Telesco meant.
26:13 Now I can tell you what he said to me and how I interpret it.
26:17 But one of the things I hate about modern media is, let's just use politics, both sides
26:23 of the aisle want to tell you what to think like you're a stupid minion.
26:29 You're not.
26:30 And I know that.
26:31 Now, the other day on the podcast, I talked about people ripping me for an article Zeke
26:36 wrote.
26:37 And I did go off on that.
26:40 I mean, be smart enough to read something before you comment.
26:45 And, but you guys are smart and that's why we're putting up all the video so you can
26:53 see it.
26:54 You can watch reactions.
26:56 You can get your insight into what you think.
27:00 Have no problem when you put in the, in the comment section, Hey, I disagree with you
27:05 here.
27:06 Okay.
27:07 You don't have to apologize for that.
27:08 I'm not God, but we're going to give you all the information from here on the ground.
27:11 We'll give you some opinion, but we're going to give it to you so that you can take it,
27:15 digest it, and then disseminate your thoughts.
27:17 And we're going to keep doing that.
27:19 So please like, please subscribe, please share, tell your friends about it.
27:23 Like our Facebook Las Vegas Raiders Insider, Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, Las Vegas
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27:36 We got a lot of information for it.
27:37 It's fun talking Raiders.
27:39 And I'm going to tell you there last night or yesterday when Tom Telesco talked, it was
27:46 eight deep, maybe nine or 10 deep with media everywhere.
27:52 And I was at dinner with some of my colleagues last night and I think it was Vic Taffer,
27:59 but may have been Vinnie Bonsignor made the comment, you know, about that necessarily
28:06 isn't.
28:09 Probably what he was used to with the Chargers.
28:12 And but the Raiders are a different ball game.
28:14 There's a lot of buzz around the NFL combine about the Raiders.
28:18 A lot of buzz, a lot of people talking about it.
28:22 I've been coming to this combine for a long, long time.
28:25 It's my fifth as a Raider beat writer.
28:29 And I can tell you back before I was a Raider beat writer all the way up until today, I've
28:34 never heard the buzz around the combine like you are about the Raiders.
28:39 So y'all got the NFL's attention now for the right reasons.
28:43 Oh, I forgot to tell you one thing.
28:47 I probably had 10 people come up to me about my comments about Raiders Chiefs week one.
28:58 And these are other people who cover other teams or work for other teams that are all
29:03 like, oh, yeah, that's got to happen.
29:06 So come on, NFL.
29:09 Opening weekend.
29:10 The Las Vegas Raiders taking on the world champion Kansas City Chiefs and Arrowhead.
29:21 Come on now.
29:22 If that don't get your fire going, your woods wet.
29:26 I mean, if you're a football fan, if you just love football, you don't think folk going
29:34 to turn into Raiders Chiefs opening weekend with all the comments.
29:41 I love it.
29:48 This game is wonderful.
29:50 What a wonderful game that we get to all enjoy together.
29:52 So thank you for letting me enjoy it.
29:54 Thank you for letting us give you that information.
29:56 Like, subscribe, share, please.
29:57 All of that.
29:58 But from all of us here, be following it.
30:01 We got four reporters here covering your Raiders.
30:05 Got a lot more coming for you today.
30:06 Have a great day.