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00:00Adam Kaplan is our NFL insider. He's been touring all the NFL camps over the last month
00:11of preseason action and joint practices and preseason games and injuries and cuts and
00:21everything else. You can see him here on SportsGrid across the board. You can see him on Coast
00:26to Coast regularly. You can follow him on Exit Kaplan NFL. Almost three decades covering
00:33the National Football League and he's ready for the regular season in 10 days to start
00:37up or whatever it is on the 5th with the Ravens and Chiefs should be awesome. But let's start
00:44today. We got a double shot with Adam right now. Let's start with the CD Lamb deal and
00:48Dallas had finally got done and he is enriched. Yeah. And look, I told you every time you've
00:54asked me anyone on SportsGrid, I said it's going to get done before the season starts.
00:57It's a priority. This is the first one to get done, which is what I said two months
01:01ago. Dak Prescott's is going to be harder. No question about it. It's more complex, but
01:06they had to get as close as they could to get to get to Justin Jefferson's money at
01:1035 million a year. He's going to make it's going to make 34 million a year. We'll see
01:14what the real structure looks like. It's a four-year extension. By the way, most of these
01:18receiver extensions have been at least four years. So look, the bottom line is you just
01:22said it. He's going to get paid. He got paid and they had to get this deal done. The only
01:27thing that you worry about Scott, when you have holdouts, he was holding out. He was
01:30on his fifth year option at valid around 18 million. You do worry about when a guy's working
01:35out on his own, that's physical shape. It's when you report to the team, are you in football
01:40shape and they're not going to know that until he starts working with them tomorrow. So that
01:45is a concern. But the bottom line is he's going to be signed, sealed and delivered.
01:50This had to get done. What a season he had. There's no question about it. Leave me NFL
01:54and receiving and receptions. But the one thing about this player CD lamb is when you
02:00talk to NFL people, Scott, they'll tell you he's nowhere close to his talent is Justin
02:04Jefferson, but he puts up numbers. So you had to pay him. You can't knock him for the
02:08numbers and production. Like the guy's great. He's durable also, but in terms of offensive
02:13skill, he's not as talented as Justin Jefferson. Jefferson, by the way, has been an absolute
02:18stud as well. But bottom line is the Cowboys paid up. They had to do it. Now they could
02:22turn their attention to Dak Prescott. And also, of course, Michael Parsons. Once again,
02:27the Cowboys wait and they pay. I got to tell you, it's worth arguing about not between
02:34you and I, but by anyone's standards, the guy led the league in receptions and touchdowns.
02:40And the fact that people don't think he's as talented as Jefferson, he's a million off
02:45the mark. So apparently is as talented as Jefferson. And I guess the leftover language
02:52would be the million shy of what Jefferson makes Jefferson, a better player. If you want
02:56to believe that, I'm not sure I buy that. He's that much better than CD lamb. Seriously,
03:02I think they're both awesome. Equally awesome. Yeah. And again, the numbers lamb puts up
03:07major numbers. Now he is a factor of a passing offense. As a matter of fact, with Zeke Elliott
03:13as they're starting running back in the twilight of his career, they're going to have to be a
03:16passing offense. They're not going to win by running the football with Zeke. He's well past
03:20his prime. It's almost hard to believe Scott and today's NFL. You can't get a better, younger
03:25running back, but they haven't done that. They've reshaped their offensive line over the last couple
03:29of years. Their first runner Guyton will be a starter, but look, Tony Pollard's gone. He's now
03:34with the Titans. I was with the Titans a couple of weeks ago. He'll be the starter running back
03:38there. They're going a different direction in Dallas, but it's all about CD lamb right now.
03:42The first of the other deals that they have to get done. I got to tell you, I think he'll do
03:47better than Jefferson again this year. I think that look, the quarterback situation in Minnesota
03:54to me is not conducive to that happening. I think maybe down the road, this kid McCarthy could turn
04:01into a stud and be, you know, hook up central with Jefferson and make big numbers, but we already know
04:07what CD lamb is going to do with Dak Prescott. He's going to light it up barring injury.
04:11Oh, I mean, he had 136 receptions. When you're a passing offense in today's league
04:17and you have a good play caller like Mike McCarthy, and also we should get Brian Schottenheimer,
04:22the OC though, he doesn't call the plays. He helps structure the offense.
04:26Schottie is a forward thinking offensive coordinator. He's analytically driven. When
04:32you work with him, you're going to throw the football. And I give McCarthy credit because
04:36he was sort of a balanced run the ball game guy. He's not anymore. They're super aggressive
04:41throwing it. And let's not forget with Mike Zimmer as a defensive coordinator, how that
04:45defense is going to change. Wow. I can't wait to see how they do the Prescott and Parsons deals.
04:54Obviously they're worth $10 billion. They have more money than God, but how they structure
05:00these next two deals is going to be very interesting. Yeah. And look with Prescott,
05:05it's more complicated because if he just waits, okay, if he waits till next March to get a deal
05:10done, you're looking at well over 60 million a season and it could approach 65 million.
05:15That's the stratosphere now, because you got a bunch of deals around 55 million.
05:19The next group 60 to 65 million. Jackie's under contract, but this is his last year.
05:24And then you've got the Michael Parsons deal where he is now the premier pass rusher in the
05:28National Football League. He's got to get it next big deal. And here's the problem.
05:33Once again, Jerry Jones waits and waits and waits, and he always pays more than the market bears.
05:38He shouldn't do that, but he doesn't age and sloven for it.
05:42Let's talk about the champs. They made a move today and they brought back an old friend.
05:48Yeah. Juju Swiss Schuster is back. He signed there two years ago on a one-year deal worth just
05:53under 4 million. It was heavily incentivized. He would have had to put up major production
05:58to make more than that. But look, when you look at Juju Swiss Schuster,
06:01he's only 27 years old. You would think he would be like 29 or 30,
06:05but he was 20 years old when he was drafted by the Steelers.
06:09But look, the Chiefs are bringing him back, as I understand it, on a one-year deal.
06:12But here's the fascinating part about this, and we'll get into why they brought him back, but
06:15here's the fascinating part. The Patriots owed him 7 million, fully guaranteed,
06:19and they still cut him, Scott. That tells you that they don't want him on the roster.
06:24He did not do very well. His first two years of his salary were fully guaranteed with the
06:27Patriots. But remember, Bill Belichick, the former head coach of personnel control,
06:31and Belichick made that decision. But this group, think about it. The Patriots were in
06:37dire straits at wide receiver. They thought so little of Swiss Schuster that they cut him.
06:41But again, he's only 27 years old. The Chiefs, don't forget now, as we turn our attention to
06:45the Chiefs, they needed help at wide receiver. Hollywood Brown has got a shoulder issue. He
06:49didn't work today. He's been out for a couple weeks. They still got to show that he could
06:53take contact on that shoulder. You got the possibility of sometime during the season
06:58that Ray Shearice gets suspended. They're very young, the Chiefs, at wide receiver.
07:02They need experience, and that's why they brought back Swiss Schuster. And by the way,
07:06he knows this offense under Andy Reid. What's the real truth behind why he's dropped off so
07:14dramatically? What I'm told is he's had a knee issue for several years. I remember back in 22,
07:19we go back to when he signed with the Chiefs. There were teams that told me they were concerned
07:23about one of his knees, the condition of it long-term. And that's why he did not get that
07:28big free agent deal. Now, the Patriots, as I said, did give him two years of fully guaranteed.
07:34That kind of surprised me. But look, again, the Patriots moved on from him, and he didn't do much.
07:39But the Patriots had the quarterback problems from last year. They bring a guy, the Chiefs do,
07:44and a guy like Swiss Schuster, more of a slot receiver and inside receiver than outside
07:48at this point of his career. He's kind of an older 27. You worry about the condition
07:52of at least one of his knees, as I was telling you about. But the guy's healthy now. He passed
07:56the physical, and he's going to practice with them this week, and he's going to have a role.
08:00And remember, it's Avery Worthy, the first-round pick, a rookie, very talented, but very raw.
08:05We mentioned Rice, who's very talented. He's more of a slot receiver. Justin Ross, by the way,
08:11who's a guy who's been on and off the roster, pretty talented kid, a good training camp,
08:14he's got good size. But the bottom line is they need a definite receiver now,
08:18and they're counting on Smithsheen. Is that like the missing piece of losing
08:23Valdez-Scantling to put Schuster in that? Exactly. Exactly. Because now MVS, the one
08:28thing that MVS can do, you're talking about Mark Coyle's Valdez-Scantling, he can run,
08:32and he's got good size. But yes, he would be that one guy, and he won't start,
08:38Juju's not going to start, he'll be a backup. But the bottom line is he gives him that veteran
08:42experience. And you know Andy Reid's a spread offensive guy. You know they want to run a lot,
08:4611 personnel, three receivers, one to the end and one back. And to do that, they need...