Tune into the latest episode of Patriots Daily where Taylor Kyles from CLNS Media is joined by ESPN's Field Yates. They dive deep into the Patriots' new direction under the new regime, exploring the team's strategy and expectations. The discussion also covers free agency, highlighting the significant cap space the Patriots have to make impactful moves. Additionally, they analyze the rookie quarterback prospects, given the Patriots' third pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and what it means for the team's future.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 What's going on everyone?
00:24 Taylor Cowes here for CLNS Media coming at you with another episode of
00:28 Pat's Daily brought to you by our good friends at PrizePix,
00:31 the exclusive daily fantasy partner of CLNS Media.
00:34 More from them later, but for now, I'm so excited to welcome Field Yates back to
00:40 the show of ESPN.
00:41 Dude, you've been killing it.
00:43 Finally got to meet at the combine.
00:45 That was fantastic.
00:46 But first, before we get into Pat's direction, free agency,
00:49 the quarterbacks, all that good stuff.
00:51 How are you doing?
00:51 Because I just learned that that week takes quite a bit out of you.
00:54 >> It does.
00:55 Well, I was gonna say, you found out firsthand now, right, Taylor?
00:57 And now when you hear people talk about the combine demons, you kind of get it.
01:01 It was great to see you in person, great to meet for the first time in person.
01:05 The virtual world makes us feel like your friends a lot further,
01:07 a lot sooner than you actually meet.
01:09 So that was great to finally put a handshake on hand.
01:12 And it was a great week.
01:13 I love it.
01:14 The events changed a lot and certainly we're gonna see more and
01:16 more change going forward.
01:17 I mean, guys opting out of weigh-ins was not something I would have guessed
01:21 ten years ago, but that's the name of the game now.
01:23 But I will always hold Indianapolis near and dear to my heart for the combine.
01:27 The people you see, people you meet,
01:29 the prospects that go there and do whatever they want to do.
01:33 It's a valuable part of the puzzle.
01:35 It's just a part of the puzzle, but it's a valuable one.
01:38 >> Yes, sir.
01:39 All right, so we'll get into the good stuff, right?
01:41 >> All right. >> Patriots, a lot of changes.
01:43 Now you spent some time in the building with the old Belichick regime.
01:47 Now obviously, general manager, we got Elliot Lopez de facto.
01:51 >> Sure. >> Always gotta include that whole tidbit.
01:53 And we got Gerard Mayweather's head coach,
01:55 pretty much cleaned house on the offensive staff.
01:57 Mostly the same on the defensive staff with some changes,
02:00 and then specialty and similar to offense, brand new.
02:02 So overall, how do you feel about this new regime?
02:06 If you want to even touch on how do you feel about them deciding to move on from
02:09 Bill, just your overall thoughts on where they're headed in this new direction.
02:12 >> Yeah, as far as the new regime is concerned, Taylor,
02:14 I don't really have a great feel for that, right?
02:16 Because we haven't seen the coaches do anything, right?
02:18 They haven't even had the players in the building.
02:21 And as far as the front office is concerned, certainly I've heard and
02:24 I've heard strong things about Elliot Wolfe.
02:27 And they've got a lot of smart people in that building, I'll tell you that much.
02:29 And the scouting staff was not touched nearly as much as the coaching staff was,
02:34 obviously.
02:35 Now there were a couple of additions, Alonzo Highsmith amongst them.
02:39 But there's some smart guys in that scouting department that I think are gonna
02:41 have a chance to really shine here going forward under this new regime with
02:44 Elliot Wolfe.
02:45 And he talked about some of the ways in which might be a little bit different
02:48 than how it was under Bill Belichick as the overseer of the personnel department.
02:53 And we'll see how that impacts the way that they approach free agency and
02:57 how it impacts the draft.
02:59 Elliot gave us a general sense of how things will work, but I do think you'll
03:02 see even more influence from some of the people in their scouting department
03:08 who have big titles and now might have even larger roles going forward.
03:12 But again, too soon to tell anything because they haven't, I mean,
03:15 I guess they've made a couple of moves in terms of transitioning
03:19 tagging Kyle Duggar and a couple of releases that have taken place so far.
03:24 But not a lot of major moves to judge thus far.
03:28 We'll have a better feel for that a week from right now once free agency is off
03:31 and rolling and then certainly 50 days from when you and
03:34 I are talking when the 2024 NFL draft begins.
03:38 >> Yes, sir.
03:39 And one thing I'm curious your perspective because you did spend time in
03:42 the scouting department.
03:43 Elliot Wolfe mentioned they're really kind of overhauling how they do things.
03:46 I'm not sure how familiar you are with the Green Bay Packers system and
03:49 the things that he's gonna be adopting.
03:50 But you do know how things kind of used to work.
03:52 So what insight can you provide in terms of what things kind of used to look like?
03:56 I know that it sounded like for most perspective, there was a bit of confusion
04:01 or a lack of I guess connectivity when it came to what exactly guys were looking for
04:05 at times because it was a more role based system.
04:08 Whereas now I think they're gonna go in a bit different direction.
04:10 So what can you tell us about what the system used to be like and
04:13 anything that you know about the changes that could be being made?
04:16 >> Yeah, a lot of ways to skin the cat as it pertains to building a big board and
04:20 grading players year in and year out.
04:22 You mentioned how the system previously was a bit more role based, right?
04:25 So it's identifying when you draft Malik neighbors,
04:29 I'll just use him as an example.
04:31 Wide receiver out of LSU, the old system might grade him as first year starter or
04:35 something like that or first year starter with Pro Bowl upside right away.
04:39 This new system sounds like and I don't know,
04:41 I can't say that I've been inside the building at all obviously.
04:44 But it sounds like it's more towards what some teams rely upon,
04:47 which is just kind of like great, right?
04:49 Like top five pick, top ten pick, first round pick, whatever it might be.
04:53 And talking to people around the NFL, there's all different ways of going about it.
04:59 There's certainly a decent number of teams that rely upon the round grading system
05:04 because it just is the easiest, cleanest way, right?
05:08 And a first round pick this year is not the same as a first round pick last year or
05:12 the year before necessarily, right?
05:14 Especially at spots like the quarterback spot where there might be guys who end up
05:19 going in the first round, but aren't necessarily first round talents,
05:23 especially if it's a lean down year, right?
05:25 Kenny Pickett a couple of seasons ago would be a good example of a guy who ends
05:28 up going in the first round.
05:29 But if he was in this year's draft class,
05:31 might have a second round grade on him as an example.
05:35 But generally speaking, you can stack the board by identifying the players that
05:38 are about the best, maybe it's 10, maybe it's 20, maybe it's 30 or so guys that you
05:43 push towards that first round grade.
05:45 So, I think there's still a lot of to be determined analysis as far as how this
05:50 Patriots transition goes into the front office.
05:54 And I just would reiterate that I know this is something that after how some of
06:00 the personnel moves have taken place over the past three to four or five years have
06:04 gone down, I do think there's a lot of smart people in that building that I think
06:09 people will be more mindful of going forward and
06:12 understand how much influence they will have in this current regime.
06:16 >> That's gonna be exciting to see.
06:18 Now, with the end of Belichick's tenure,
06:20 a lot of it had to do with the drafting, with the talent acquisition.
06:23 And I think in the past couple of years, it's certainly fair,
06:26 especially with not addressing certain positions needs, things like that,
06:31 we can get into it.
06:31 But this free agency class for the Patriots, clearly one of the better draft
06:35 class they had in a while, because you got guys like Kyle Duggar and Mike Edwin,
06:39 who were some of the top players at their position on the market.
06:41 And then you even got role players like Anthony Jennings, Josh Uche,
06:44 undrafted Miles Bryant,
06:46 who were significant contributors on this team during their times before they hit
06:49 the market.
06:50 So, we'll start off with Kyle Duggar and Mike Edwin.
06:53 Kyle Duggar received the transition tag, not one that's often used,
06:56 we've really very rarely seen it league wide.
06:59 So, we now know that rather than getting paid the average of the top five players
07:03 position, it's the average of the top ten.
07:05 So, that brought him from about 17.1 to 13.8,
07:08 which I think is pretty fair for a 28 year old safety.
07:11 But if the Patriots lose him, they get no type of compensation.
07:15 And I think a lot of people also thought if they use the tag,
07:18 it's probably gonna go to Mike Edwin.
07:19 He's at a position where you could argue, it's got a higher value,
07:22 he's younger, has the same kind of versatility.
07:25 But it just kind of seemed like it made more sense.
07:27 So, what was your takeaway from Duggar's perspective and
07:29 why they maybe use a transition tag there?
07:32 And then for Mike and Wendy, what you think that could possibly mean in terms of
07:35 their progress to signing him to a long term deal?
07:37 >> Yeah, one of the tricks right now with the franchise tag for
07:39 offensive linemen is that they lump all of them into one big bucket.
07:43 So, we don't have a left tackle franchise tag value or center or a guard.
07:48 It's all just one big offensive line bucket.
07:50 And I believe, and I gotta go back and check the specific number, but
07:54 the offensive line franchise tag value was just over $21 million.
07:58 So, while Mike Edwin is a really solid player, when a player is tagged,
08:03 one of the ways in which he and his representation will often infer that is,
08:09 if you're willing to pay me one year into this value,
08:12 then if you want to keep me around for four years,
08:15 it should be for at least that value on average, right?
08:18 Teams don't see it that way.
08:19 But if you're a player and his agent, you want to be leveraging whatever dynamics
08:23 you have in play, I think Mike Edwin is a really solid player.
08:27 I think 21 plus million dollars per year might be a little bit over inflated
08:32 relative to what he has been thus far in his NFL career.
08:36 He's a really solid player, but that might be one where you're more comfortable in
08:39 the 15 to $17 million per year type of range.
08:43 So, that would be my sort of read on why they decided not to use
08:49 the franchise tag on him as opposed to Kyle Duggar.
08:51 And the transition tag, while it still guarantees you nothing in terms of
08:56 compensation if he does decide to go elsewhere, it's a little bit of a safety net, right?
09:01 I mean, the Patriots now have at least the chance to match any offer that Kyle could sign.
09:07 It's not often that we see that transition tag used, but it also creates this dynamic.
09:14 There are teams that are reticent to even bother signing a player on the transition tag,
09:20 because for as long as it takes for the original team, the incumbent team,
09:25 so in this case, the Patriots, to either match or decline, it's going to tie up that
09:30 team's salary cap space because you're going to have Kyle Duggar effectively on the books.
09:36 We see this much more often in the NBA where a lot of restricted free agents do sign
09:41 offer sheets, or teams are reticent to do it even on really good players because they
09:46 just don't want to tie their books up a little bit.
09:48 So for Kyle Duggar and the Patriots, it's a starting point.
09:52 The Patriots made it clear they want to keep him around.
09:55 That market right now is an interesting one to calculate.
09:58 The top of the safety market could certainly explode if Antoine Winfield gets a deal done
10:04 with the Bucs.
10:05 I would imagine that would make him the highest paid safety ever.
10:07 And then Kyle Hamilton's a year away from being essentially eligible, and he'll just
10:12 probably top whatever Winfield gets right now if he does get a long-term deal.
10:17 But Duggar, I think, is a very, very good player as well.
10:20 But that transition tag number is probably fairly close to what he probably is worth
10:28 on an average annual basis, maybe a little bit more.
10:31 But I can't imagine it's any less than $12 million per year, $11 million per year.
10:36 That seems to me like a reasonable starting point on a multi-year contract.
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11:40 What do you think about where Mike and Wendy's starting point could be?
11:44 Because again, he is a unique situation where he's probably a best fitted guard, but he's
11:49 showed that he can play tackle.
11:50 You know, we saw him hold up against TJ Watt.
11:52 Now we can argue how, you know, what kind of shape TJ Watt was in after what happened
11:57 early in that game.
11:58 But still, we saw he went up against Khalil Mack and he did a great job.
12:01 He was a great player.
12:02 He was a great player.
12:03 But still, we saw he went up against Khalil Mack and he did hold his own.
12:07 Admitted there were some struggles he had, but he said, "Hey, when I'm on my technique,
12:09 I'm good."
12:10 So, in Alex Van Pelt's system, you could even argue, probably better as a tackle because
12:15 you're not going to pull as much technically, based on at least what we saw from the Browns.
12:18 So as someone who does have the flexibility to pay both, but is most likely more of a
12:23 guard, is there a starting point or example you can think of where, you know, maybe Mike
12:27 and Wendy now that he's representing himself is saying, "This is the kind of contract that
12:31 I want."
12:32 Did he decide he's going to represent himself or is he going to sign with somebody else?
12:34 I didn't-
12:35 Right now, it sounds like, I believe he told teams that he's representing himself.
12:38 So obviously that could change.
12:40 This is also going to air a couple of days after we record it, so who knows?
12:43 But as of now, it does seem that Mike and Wendy is going to represent himself.
12:46 Okay, so sorry mentioning 50 days out from the draft earlier, but for those that are
12:49 listening to it, maybe it's 48 days out until the NFL draft.
12:53 But Mike's a smart guy, obviously, but you know, representing yourself is tricky in a
12:57 couple of ways.
12:58 First of all, it's probably the first contract he has negotiated.
13:02 Second of all, it prevents him from talking to teams during the legal negotiating window.
13:07 Teams starting Monday noon Eastern time until Wednesday 4 Eastern time can talk to players.
13:12 That's why you're going to have, you know, all these tweets from Chef D about how so-and-so
13:15 is signing with so-and-so and what have you.
13:19 But Mike, if he represents himself, will have no latitude to do that.
13:23 So we'll see.
13:25 My guess would be somewhere in like the $14 to $15 million per year range is like a reasonable
13:29 sort of estimate for Mike and Wendy.
13:32 He is obviously a versatile player that you mentioned, powerful player, kind of is what
13:36 he is, right?
13:37 Like not premier athletically, but has enough sort of like raw power plus length to get
13:43 the job done that he doesn't necessarily need to have the fastest feet in the entire offensive
13:48 line.
13:49 Like he's going to be certainly good enough.
13:50 And the fact that he showed himself at two different spots does create a bit of a floor
13:54 for him.
13:55 So maybe it's $14, $15 million per year.
13:57 Maybe it gets up to $17 million per year.
13:59 It's free agency, right?
14:00 That's what happens in the NFL as we see contracts that way surpass our expectations or projections.
14:06 So that seems a reasonable spot to me, but we'll find out if he keeps no agent, I guess
14:12 Wednesday or starting Wednesday at 4 PM Eastern time.
14:16 So just put a bow on the in-house free agents.
14:18 There are some lower profile guys that I think are still pretty significant for the Patriots
14:22 considering they do still have to fill out the roster.
14:24 So you got guys like Hunter Henry and Farrell Brown as they have no tight ends under contract.
14:29 And like I mentioned, you got Edford E. Jennings.
14:30 Yeah, none at all, which is shocking.
14:33 Then you got guys like Edford E. Jennings, Uche, Miles Bryant, who I mentioned before.
14:37 What's your feel on some of those guys and who do you think should they maybe prioritize,
14:40 you know, relative to what their status is kind of on the team and their roles and who
14:44 do you think maybe it's time that they move on or just as likely that they may move on?
14:48 So it's going to sound cold and I admit as much, but I think that one thing the Patriots
14:53 as they turn this page into a new sort of philosophy and system going forward is that
14:59 and this maybe is a little bit too prisoner of the moment, but what we're seeing right
15:03 now is a lot of teams paying big at the top of the market for their best players and winning
15:08 around the margin elsewhere.
15:10 Right.
15:11 So Miles Bryant's a really solid player.
15:12 What would you call him?
15:14 What's the perfect role for Miles Bryant?
15:16 Third corner, fourth corner, third slash fourth corner with safety first.
15:19 What would you say in a smart football mind?
15:22 I would say rotational third corner where ideally you get like a Marcus Jones or someone
15:26 who comes in and passing downs and Miles Bryant's like your zone guy primarily.
15:30 Okay.
15:31 So that's like a borderline third slash fourth corner, right?
15:34 To me, that's a draftable slash findable position on the relative cheap and free agency or in
15:42 day three, right?
15:43 That to me would be my philosophy.
15:44 You know, easier for me to say when I'm just armchair GMing it.
15:47 But the trick is that like, I don't think you want to overpay on that spot to retain
15:52 a player and teams tend to, if they're going to get a deal done with a player that's already
15:56 in the building, they tend to get it done like on the more inflated side as opposed
16:01 to like the value side.
16:03 Right.
16:04 So I think for those, like those players all had solid seasons, you know, Jennings had
16:08 kind of his breakout year was excellent against the run was like a behind the line of scrimmage
16:13 splash player without as much pass rush production though.
16:16 And that's what gets you paid in free agency.
16:18 So I would argue that pretty much all of those are guys that if you're bringing them back
16:23 on your terms, that's okay.
16:25 Hunter not only fills the tight end boy, but also was a team captain this past year.
16:29 A guy that certainly has been respected in that locker room for his three seasons in
16:33 New England.
16:34 I just don't think that you want to extend yourself on players of that caliber and all
16:38 of a sudden see that money that was at the beginning of the week.
16:41 I had it at $96.9 million in cap space.
16:46 You don't want that to drop down into like 30 before the draft and most of it be just
16:51 guys that you kept right.
16:52 This roster obviously needs some work.
16:54 There's a reason why they went four and 13 last season.
16:56 So I think that there is some big game hunting value this off season in free agency.
17:03 I think the Patriots would be wise to explore exactly that.
17:06 When you talk about guys that are going to take up that cap space, I feel like it's not
17:10 mentioned enough.
17:11 Christian Barmore as an extension.
17:13 Because he did have his breakout season.
17:16 That was just one really great season.
17:17 So you could argue, okay, maybe they want to wait until you get a few maybe games in
17:22 the next season and see if he can continue to keep that up.
17:24 But I mean, it was pretty dominant.
17:25 I think you could argue that he was up there with the guys who made the Pro Bowl and even
17:28 the All Pro for the AFC.
17:30 So do you think that he's someone that they should maybe prioritize and say, hey, if there's
17:35 a chance that we go out and sign like a Christian Wilkins or these big name defenders, we should
17:39 probably take care of our guys first if we're really going to live by this philosophy of
17:42 the draft, develop and extend?
17:44 Or do you think it might be smarter to wait until next season before you get something
17:48 like that done?
17:49 I pay him right now.
17:50 I pay him right now.
17:51 If you have conviction and belief on the player, I pay him right now for a few reasons.
17:54 First of all, you want to reward the guys that do it right.
17:56 I mean, he's was probably their best, maybe second best defensive player this past season,
18:03 right?
18:04 I think you can say best honestly, yeah.
18:05 Yeah, I'd say probably him, you know, at moments Duggar as well, right?
18:09 One of those two, if I had to argue, was, you know, some solid contributors that maybe
18:14 are like a couple, you know, a tier two, like, you know, Tavai, rock solid, but not at the
18:17 same level, right?
18:18 But I'd be extending him right now and for a few reasons.
18:21 One is that if he does that again next year, the price tag is going up, right?
18:26 We've had this exploding defensive tackle market last year, De'Ron Payne and Quentin
18:31 Williams.
18:32 There were like five guys that all got paid like major, major dough, right?
18:36 And it's possible that number explodes again because of Christian Wilkins being like a
18:41 true blue free agent, right?
18:44 He's 26, 27, a Massachusetts kid, by the way, from Framingham.
18:50 He is a true blue free agent.
18:52 He played his high school ball.
18:53 I think he finished up his high school ball that year, Connecticut, the Wilkins, but he'll
18:56 get tons of money.
18:57 We're talking like the potential for 25, $26 million per year.
19:01 But Chris Jones is the big one, right?
19:03 Because he is right now, arguably the best free agent on the board, whether he leaves
19:08 Kansas City is a different conversation.
19:10 We're talking about a guy who's been third, second, third, fourth best player on the back
19:16 to back champs, right?
19:17 And bettered himself this past year, played outstanding football.
19:20 So that number is going to go up more and more and more.
19:23 And then finally, not to go all to a Pat's cap on you, but if you sign a deal now, right?
19:31 If the number is four, I'm just making this up here, right?
19:33 It may not get, this may not be enough, but if it's four years, $84 million on top of
19:38 this final year for Barmore, the team can view it as like, that's five years and 85,
19:45 $86 million.
19:46 So while the new money is 21 million bucks per year, a team might be able to view it
19:50 as more like 17, 17, two, 17, $3 million per year.
19:53 And you get to use that fifth year to spread the cat pit out of the initial signing bonus.
19:59 There are obviously a zillion ways to construct a contract, but I would do it right now.
20:04 Patriots need to be in the business of every time they have a player that's a no doubt
20:08 about it, keep them around guy.
20:10 And he's extension eligible.
20:12 Do it, fire away, get it done.
20:14 I've been yelling into the echo chambers.
20:16 Thank goodness, I get a new perspective.
20:18 I'm on the right track.
20:19 Is it a hot thing?
20:20 Are people like against it?
20:21 Is that not a possibility?
20:22 I don't think anyone's against it.
20:23 It's just something I'm surprised is not talked about more.
20:25 But again, considering what happened last year, I'm not really surprised that people
20:29 weren't saying, "We got to keep these guys."
20:31 No, but that's the kind of thing that once we get to OTAs, training camp, people talk
20:35 about more because most of the items are off the shelf in free agency.
20:40 So right now it's, yes, you want Christian Barmore to be extended, but you really want
20:48 Christian Wilkins or you really want Calvin Ridley or you really want whoever it is in
20:51 free agency prior to getting that done.
20:55 Because it's not like if you don't extend Christian Barmore, you don't have him.
20:58 You're going to have him for at least this year.
21:00 So I think that's just the natural outsider's perspective is that you're going to clamor
21:05 for the guys that are available that are sort of the shiny objects right now in free agency.
21:11 Yep.
21:12 All right.
21:13 So moving on to the out of house free agents.
21:16 So Elliot Wills said he wants to weaponize the offense.
21:19 It seems pretty clear among people with the Patriots, they understand what the situation
21:23 is and they do want to get a lot better on offense.
21:25 The problem is great players don't tend to hit free agency unless there's some kind of
21:29 red flag involved.
21:30 And we've already seen that.
21:31 You got guys getting tagged.
21:32 You got Mike Evans getting extended.
21:35 Teams are understanding we need these guys.
21:36 We don't want them even touching the market if we can help it.
21:39 So based on the landscape and what's available, whether it's receiver, tight end, running
21:43 back, who do you think are some options the Patriots should go after?
21:46 You know, even if they're not necessarily game makers, but guys who could contribute
21:50 at a decently high level and kind of maybe combined to be able to make this at least
21:54 a respectable offense, even if it's not, you know, a top 10 explosive unit.
21:59 It's a receiver.
22:00 It's receivers.
22:01 That's what it is, right?
22:02 I mean, I'm not trying to totally crush the value of running backs or tight ends, but
22:05 they got a plenty good one in Ramondre Stevenson and they can find one somewhere in the middle
22:11 of the draft as well.
22:12 There is plenty of evidence that they can do exactly that.
22:15 Tight ends.
22:16 There's not that many good ones in the draft.
22:17 As a matter of fact, there's only one true blue tight end that of course being Brock
22:21 Bowers.
22:22 But who?
22:23 And this is a somewhat reductive way of thinking of it, but who's the highest paid wide receiver
22:28 right now?
22:29 The answer is Tyree Kill.
22:30 It makes 30 million bucks a year.
22:31 Who's the highest paid tight end right now?
22:32 It's George Kittle.
22:33 It's $17 million per year.
22:34 Who's the highest running back right now?
22:35 It's Christian McCaffrey.
22:36 He makes $16 million per year.
22:38 The league values, top end wide receivers, and that's just the way to go.
22:42 So if you're looking at the available wide receivers right now, I would argue that Calvin
22:45 Ridley is at the top of the list.
22:47 And that would be like, I'd be calling Calvin Ridley's agent, you know, the minute you're
22:51 able to.
22:53 And that would be my first call is get it done.
22:55 It ain't going to be for lack of resources, right?
22:57 Now he's going to obviously, he's going to have suitors for sure, right?
23:00 And he's going to have to make a choice.
23:01 And Jacksonville I know is motivated to bring him back.
23:04 And he's imperfect.
23:05 He's a little older.
23:06 He's actually sort of sneaky old for a guy that just finished his rookie contract, even
23:10 though of course he missed a full season because of the gambling suspension.
23:14 But he'd be my sort of like true blue.
23:17 He would be the weaponizing factor at the wide receiver spot.
23:21 - I'm wondering behind him, even if it's just kind of like complimentary guys, because obviously
23:25 there is a pretty significant drop off, but I was thinking guys like Darnell Moon here.
23:29 I don't think Hollywood Brown's necessarily a good fit, but anybody you think could maybe
23:32 fill that void if they say, you know what, moving on from Devante Parker and Juju, maybe
23:37 we get Calvin Ridley, but we might need one other guy who could line up at the outside,
23:41 but also maybe contribute inside, something like that.
23:44 - Yes and no.
23:45 Yes, because those guys represent upgrades.
23:48 I think there is a little bit of a fool's errand in free agency in paying mid tier wide
23:53 receivers because you end up paying big bucks for that, right?
23:57 Every once in a while, those become smash hits.
23:58 And Moon is a good player.
24:00 He had a thousand yards as a second year player a couple of seasons ago, but hasn't quite
24:05 fit.
24:06 He's a slot speed guy.
24:08 He led Chicago in slot snaps this past season.
24:11 So they need to address that slot spot themselves at some point, but I'd be careful there.
24:16 Again, that would be the one where I'd have to be on your own terms.
24:20 If he's looking for $15 million a year, I'm thinking to myself, is that a $15 million
24:24 per year player?
24:25 I'd rather keep making money when drafting guy at 15 million bucks would be my take.
24:28 So I'd be careful on the wide receivers and you are not sure our difference makers number
24:34 ones, which I think all things being equal, Calvin Ridley is the lone realistic option
24:40 because he's going to be a free agent that I would say checks that box.
24:44 - And I think that's a great point.
24:45 You want to overpay for the right players because if you're overpay for good players,
24:48 it's not really overpaying, but you don't want to overpay for that mid tier because
24:51 that's when you get a lot of the contracts that they're kind of stuck with now.
24:55 So last one.
24:56 - Yes, exactly right.
24:57 - Oh yeah.
24:58 And now moving on to the quarterbacks, we got to address quarterback.
25:01 So we got to see the top quarterbacks at top three, not perform, but we did get a little
25:06 insight into their personalities.
25:08 They got their press conferences.
25:09 We got some reports on how they interviewed, things like that.
25:12 But even someone like a J.J. McCarthy, where it seemed like his buzz really started to
25:15 pick up last week, kind of starting to sneak into that top three, maybe top four conversation.
25:19 So for the-
25:20 - Not top three.
25:21 - Not top three.
25:22 - I mean, do you see it?
25:23 I know you study these guys.
25:24 Do you see it?
25:25 - I do not see it.
25:26 I feel like it just needs to be, no, it's also lying season.
25:29 - Yeah, I was just going to say, Taylor, when it comes to evaluations, when you're grinding
25:32 the tape, call it like you see it, right?
25:34 And I know, you know, if you don't see it and I get like, I'm just telling you, like
25:37 I've spent every day since last, what was week zero, August 27th or something like that
25:43 in the college football season watching these guys.
25:45 I've seen every throw, every game of each of the top three quarterbacks and close to
25:50 every throw of every game from J.J. McCarthy as well.
25:53 Michigan had a couple of cupcakes early in the season, obviously.
25:57 So there were a couple of games that I let sort of go by the wayside for now, but they'll
26:01 be touched upon in the next few weeks here.
26:04 But yeah, to me, it's pretty obvious.
26:06 There's a clear drop-off.
26:07 I mean, you can rank the first three quarterbacks however you want, Caleb, Jade, and Drake,
26:10 Drake, Jade, and Caleb, whatever you want to do.
26:14 But I can't reiterate this enough.
26:16 Four and 13 sucks for Patriots fans, but being number three in the draft is incredibly powerful.
26:22 Patriots have two options to pick three right now.
26:24 One, and I would argue for this, is take the third of the three quarterbacks.
26:29 You can have your own evaluation.
26:30 Anybody out there who's watching this might feel a certain way.
26:32 I'm just telling you, based off my evaluation of these three players, again, I've spent
26:36 the past six, seven months, whatever it is, following these guys as closely as possible
26:41 and talking to people that know them on a personal level, that have spent time around
26:44 them, have a good sense of their leadership and their football IQ and their processing
26:47 and all these things that go into the position that you can't grade off of Phil.
26:51 These guys are true blue quarterback prospects.
26:54 These guys are potential 10-year franchise options.
26:57 And if there are Patriots fans that are watching that are saying, "Didn't we say that about
27:00 Mac Jones?"
27:01 This is different.
27:02 This is different.
27:03 This is a guy that's had an awesome rookie season and has some really solid traits when
27:06 he has time and space around him.
27:09 These guys are problem solvers though, in a way that Mac isn't.
27:12 These guys, I mean, Jadon Daniels, back-to-back seasons, rushing for 1,000 yards.
27:15 Caleb Williams, one of the most incredible, innovative quarterbacks that I've seen in
27:20 a long time.
27:21 And Drake May, 6'4", 229 pounds.
27:24 I mean, the kid was built in quarterback factory and he's got an absolute hose.
27:29 Plus the dude can move.
27:30 The dude's got like, he's a sick athlete.
27:32 He led UNC in rushing two years ago.
27:35 So to me, you take the third and the job is, I get it.
27:40 Some would say that, "Hey, if he's your third best quarterback, you're really settling."
27:45 No.
27:46 Your responsibility as the front office and the coaching staff is to build a team around
27:49 him and design an offense around that player.
27:51 Because I'm just telling you, each of these three guys is good enough to be the real deal
27:54 for a long time.
27:55 Option two would be trade the pick.
27:58 Taking anything other than quarterback at pick three would be, to me, organizational
28:01 negligence of the highest order.
28:04 There's way too much value because even if the Patriots don't see quarterback three,
28:07 whoever it is, it's quarterback three off the board as a guy that they can build their
28:10 franchise around for the next 10 years.
28:12 There will be teams out there that will view whoever it is at quarterback three as a no
28:18 doubt about it, must acquire this player.
28:21 There's just way too many teams who have quarterback uncertainty and would love to get their hands
28:25 on a guy like Jaden Daniels or Drake May or Caleb Williams.
28:29 So the Patriots have two options at pick three.
28:31 It's take one of those quarterbacks or trade back and get the absolute haul.
28:36 Is there-
28:37 I'm on record though.
28:38 I'm keeping the pick and taking whichever quarterback is there.
28:43 I also, let's go back to JJ McCarthy.
28:45 I agree.
28:46 I understand why he's in the first round conversation.
28:48 He's got the youth, there's talent there.
28:49 I get that.
28:50 Top 10 even.
28:51 I don't really understand where that's coming from, but again, lying season.
28:55 But he's a good player.
28:56 And I hate that, you know, one part that sucks about the draft is it feels like you end up
28:59 being negative on players just to quickly weigh in on JJ.
29:02 He's got a lot of really good traits, really good traits.
29:05 The sample size is tiny compared to those guys.
29:07 JJ McCarthy in his last six games, six, okay?
29:12 Against high level competition.
29:15 Obviously the two playoff games against Alabama and against Washington, Ohio State, Penn State
29:19 was in there.
29:20 Maryland was in there.
29:21 Iowa in the Big Ten Championship, he threw for 847 yards.
29:26 So I'm not a math major, that's like 140 yards a game.
29:31 I'm just telling you, like, I'm not saying you have to like, that's not, I can't, he's
29:35 not the play caller, right?
29:36 But we have limitless reps of the other guys in particular, Jaden Daniels and Michael Pettix
29:43 Jr. for example, against top level competition.
29:46 We just do.
29:47 We don't on JJ.
29:49 We've got a smaller sample size, but the bigger the sample size, the more assurance you have
29:53 as an evaluator.
29:56 So when it comes to Drake and Caleb, or Drake and Jaden, rather, it seems like it's probably
30:00 gonna end up being one of those two.
30:02 There were some concerns about Jaden Daniels in terms of the hand size, in terms of the
30:05 arm strength, which I do see.
30:07 I understand, you know, he's fantastic on the fade throws, but when you see the drive
30:11 throws, his arm strength does worry me, especially if you're going to be a quarterback in New
30:14 England where your most important games are likely going to come in inclement weather.
30:18 We even saw with Bailey Zappi where in the last game of the season, it's, you know, huge
30:22 storm.
30:23 I saw he couldn't complete a downfield pass.
30:24 I'm saying as soon as they flip the field position and the wind isn't working against
30:28 him, he'll be fine.
30:29 And then what happens?
30:30 I think his first pass was a deep completion down the sideline, but that's not somewhere
30:34 you can live if you're going to be the quarterback of the New England Patriots.
30:36 So are there any of Jaden's deficiencies that scary enough where you're saying, I really
30:40 would prefer Drake, or do you really think that with the talent, it's enough to work
30:44 around and it's really either one of these guys is a home run for the bats?
30:47 I think they're both home runs.
30:48 I mean, I've got Jaden as the second ranked player on my entire board behind Caleb Williams.
30:53 I've got Drake a couple of spots down fifth overall behind only Marvin Harrison Jr. and
30:57 Malik neighbors.
30:58 You bring up good points.
30:59 Like if you're going to make the anti-Jaden case specific to the Patriots, it would be
31:02 the body armor.
31:03 204 pounds.
31:04 We'll see what the actual size of that is pro day, which is March 27th.
31:08 And then, you know, the grip strength, right?
31:10 The hand size that just plays into it.
31:12 Right.
31:13 I mean, we've seen guys with small hands who had, I think Jared Goff was a small hands
31:16 quarterback that we've had to sort of figure out how much it mattered or not.
31:19 But Joe Burrow, you know, they don't play in like, you know, sunshine and an 80 degree
31:23 weather all the time in Cincinnati.
31:24 He had small hands as well.
31:26 Right.
31:27 So ball security was not an issue for Jaden this past season.
31:31 He had four interceptions total.
31:32 I mean, the guy was more careful with the football the most.
31:35 So I'd bet on the kid, though.
31:37 I mean, this kid's freaking sensational.
31:40 Everything you could ask for this past season and more.
31:43 His clutch production was off the charts.
31:44 I mean, his big game output was by far the best amongst these all six of these quarterbacks.
31:50 I mean, the dude was absolutely nailed against the best competition.
31:54 So I love Drake and he's a freaking beast.
31:58 He's said he was built at quarterback factory and dropped off in the in, I think, the Charlotte
32:03 area where he went to high school.
32:04 Right.
32:05 Unbelievable kid.
32:06 He was somewhat worse this year than last year when he also had a different offensive
32:11 coordinator.
32:12 He did not have great wide receivers for the first half of the season until the Montez
32:15 Walker was brought back.
32:17 But there were some games this past year where he was incredible.
32:19 He lit up South Carolina in week one.
32:21 He threw four touchdowns against Miami.
32:23 He's going to have two safety drafted at some point in a month and a half from right now.
32:27 Four touchdowns, no picks in that game.
32:29 I mean, there were some down games.
32:31 NC State, Virginia down the stretch weren't particularly overwhelming, but this was not
32:36 a terrible year from Drake May.
32:37 Like, you got to go back and watch the tape and tell you what your eyes see.
32:40 And while there are things that can be cleaned up when you look at the stuff that I think
32:47 can it travel or can it not travel?
32:48 There's a lot of good that can really travel.
32:51 And that big hand in New England, like he can cut through that wind and that rain.
32:56 Something like Josh Allen playing in Buffalo was the perfect fit relative to their conditions.
33:00 Right.
33:01 Drake's not as athletic as Josh and the arms probably not as strong as Josh.
33:05 It is Josh.
33:06 That's such a canon.
33:07 But Drake May has got the goods to definitely handle those elements in New England.
33:09 These kids, again, there's no going wrong.
33:12 Patriots fans must recognize that right now.
33:14 One, two, three, no matter how it goes, if they take one of those three quarterbacks,
33:19 they are sitting pretty.
33:20 A lot of people breathe in sighs of relief.
33:22 I agree.
33:23 It's splitting hairs.
33:24 I'm a Drake May guy, but I will not be hard to talk myself into Jayden Field.
33:27 Thank you so much for your time, buddy.
33:29 Always appreciate you coming on.
33:30 Please.
33:31 I think people know where they can find you, but just let them know what they can look
33:34 forward to that you got dropping soon.
33:35 Yeah, we get more first draft over Monday and Friday.
33:38 I'm excuse me, Monday and Thursday with the great Mel Kiper Jr.
33:42 So go and check that out wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube.
33:45 Awesome.
33:46 Thank you, brother.
33:47 And thank you all for watching.
33:48 As always, take care of yourselves.
33:50 Take care of each other.
33:51 We will see you next time.
33:52 Peace out.
33:52 Peace out.
33:53 [Music]