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00:00here on SportsGrid. NFL trade deadline is tomorrow, so we'll get to that and also the
00:07latest in the NFL. We've got a couple of coaches now out of work in the National Football League.
00:13Let's bring in Adam Kaplan and you know, Adam, let's start off with the news today. Dennis
00:17Allen shown the door by the New Orleans Saints. You know, I really don't know what the Saints
00:22expectations were to be honest with you at the beginning of the season. They looked very
00:25much like a 500 or sub 500 team going in. Dennis Allen, generally speaking, where he's
00:31been previously, currently not a great coordinator, hasn't had a ton of success as a head coach.
00:37So do we have to go higher here in the Saints hierarchy to really decide who to put blame
00:42on here for this? No, I thought Craig, you set up very well. The belief around the league
00:46was that they'd be somewhere around seven, eight or nine wins. And after the first two
00:51weeks where they just, I mean, it was incredible. Clint Kubiak, the new offensive coordinator,
00:5591 points. Their defense looked good. Everything looked good. Then Derek Carr has this oblique
01:00injury. The defense falls off and that's the side that Dennis Allen comes from. He's really
01:04responsible for the running his scheme. The defense was never dominant like most people
01:08thought it would be. They're not even good at home anymore where they were dominant for
01:11most years under Sean Payton and they just kind of fell off. Mickey Lewis, their general
01:15manager, did go on record today in their statement talking about they had their share of injuries.
01:21There's no question about it, but you really can't blame injuries when it comes to their
01:26defense. Just not good enough. Dennis Allen, by the way, is a very good defensive coordinator,
01:30but as a head coach, it just didn't happen. He was very young when he took over as the
01:33Raiders head coach in 2014 where he got to know Derek Carr and they got reunited, obviously,
01:38with the Saints. And look, the other thing is Derek Carr overall has not played good
01:42football many, many years. He's not been consistent. So if you take it, you talk about the hierarchy.
01:48If you take it, it's not just the head coach. I get that the head coach is going to be responsible,
01:52but there's some roster billing, cap issues, which they continually have. It's a challenge
01:57every year with them. And it's funny, after two weeks, people thought like, did we all
02:01miss on this team? No, we didn't. We thought they'd be mediocre and they were really worse
02:05than that. Yeah, it just hasn't been a great month and a half for them without a doubt.
02:10All right. So the trade deadline is coming tomorrow. Adam, generally speaking, we spend
02:15way too much time talking about the trade deadline because usually very little happens.
02:19I mean, I'm just being honest. We throw all these things out there. I mean, this is the
02:23one sport, generally speaking, that is quiet outside of that big McCaffrey trade a couple
02:27of years ago. So you hear that every team is like buying and they're looking and the
02:33Cowboys and the Dolphins, like I'm hearing reports of those teams buying. I don't understand
02:37that at all. But generally speaking, who do you think that is really willing to make a
02:42step forward to try to make the playoffs? All right. So in my reporting over the last
02:46couple of weeks, and I'll add a couple more things to it. So I put out a couple of weeks
02:49ago that the Steelers are in on Mike Williams. ESPN had a report, but before Mike Williams,
02:54they were in on Christian Kirk. Kirk breaks his collarbones out for the season. I'm told
02:57the Steelers are still in on Mike Williams. We'll see what happens by tomorrow's deadline
03:01at 4 p.m. Eastern. The Steelers have been probably better than most people thought.
03:06I like that. It's funny. I remember in May, I'm like, if you like the Steelers, you better
03:09get on them now because that 7.5 win total for the Futures numbers is going way up. It
03:14jumped up to 8.5 and I thought that was too low. Clearly, they're going to be way better
03:18than that. But the one thing they need is a wide receiver. Van Jefferson's the guy that
03:23they brought in. He played for Arthur Smith, their offensive coordinator when the two were
03:25in Atlanta. It hasn't really worked out. He's no longer starting. They're trying to figure
03:29it out opposite George Pickens and Roman Wilson, a guy I know who had a great training camp
03:35for two weeks. He got hurt with a hamstring injury and he's had too many injuries. He's
03:40on injury reserve, so they have to do something with receivers. It doesn't have to be a great
03:43player. Just a veteran can come in and play right away. So they're in on it. Washington,
03:48I'm told, is looking for cornerback help. I'm told they've checked into, I will make
03:51this perfectly clear, they've checked into J.C. Horn. That's a big name. I'm told he's
03:57not available now. That doesn't mean that you can't keep calling because I know from
04:00talking to GMs over the years and clubs, like, when you're told a player's not available
04:05and the team's out of it, you might want to try a couple more times, but the commanders
04:10are clearly looking for corners. They also need receiver help, to be honest with you.
04:13Now that's a team, Craig, I know you like them. They've exceeded expectations. I am
04:16stunned at how good they are, but they've got to play the Eagles in two weeks. They've
04:20got to actually play them twice. They also have to play the Steelers this week.
04:24Yeah, I still like them. I'm telling you, Super Bowl. Call me crazy.
04:28What are their future numbers? Do we know?
04:31It's all the way down. I don't know. I'll have to check the latest. It was like 20-something
04:36to one. I don't know that it's still there at this point. We'll see. Every week it goes
04:40down. Maybe it's under 20 to one. Frank, check that for me while we can. Giants, Panthers,
04:46Browns. I know that you're reporting that all three of those teams have players that
04:49could be on the move.
04:50Yeah, and look, this is what happens, Craig. I know you cover Major League Baseball very
04:54closely. When teams know that they're out of it, they do two things. A, they look to
04:59move players who are either not going to come back. They're older players or players
05:03they know that are going to be free agents. And they can get something for, like the Browns
05:08here with Sudarius Smith. Okay, this is not a secret. He's been on the block for about
05:11a month or six weeks. Probably more than, basically about a month. Teams have called
05:14the Browns and there was a report from Pro Football Talk that he's almost certain to
05:18go to the Lions. The Lions lost Eden Hutchinson. That's a natural. The Lions are now the NFL's
05:22best team in the NFC. We know that. And then you've got the Chiefs, by the way. They're
05:28looking for receiver help. Well, you could talk to, you could, the Chiefs made the one
05:31trade for D-Hop. They're still very light at receiver. Gary Slayton's a guy that has
05:36got some time left on his contract, but it's a situation, they're a really bad football
05:41team. The Giants did not expect to be this bad. You look at, I mean, honestly, you look
05:46at these other teams here. Look at the Patriots, KG Osborne. KG Osborne was brought in as a
05:50free agent. He was a healthy inactive. They have young receivers they want to look at.
05:55These things are easy to match up. When a guy's inactive who should be starting, you
05:59know that this guy's probably going to be moved. I mean, you look at Cam Robinson last
06:02week. He was a healthy inactive for the Jaguars. He got moved to the Vikings who need the left
06:06tackle. That's the way it works.
06:09So the Atlanta Falcons are a team that definitely feels like they're headed toward the playoffs,
06:15especially with the Buccaneers having the issues that they have. Do you feel like that's
06:19a team that could be active at some point?
06:21Yep. In fact, look, they made the trade with the Patriots for Matthew Judon. It hasn't
06:26quite worked out. I'm told they're still looking for pass rush help. They've got to do something.
06:30You mentioned teams that are out of it. The Dolphins, they're not technically out of the
06:33wildcard race, but we know they're not going to get there. Kendall Fuller, he's got a very
06:37tradable contract. He's a good football player, but we're number two corner. Keep an eye on
06:40him tomorrow.
06:41These are the type of guys you said, Craig. You don't see a lot of big names move, but
06:46there's a reason why GMs asked for the trade line to be moved two weeks back. Teams that
06:51are still in it, three and four, four or five wins, they're still going to make calls and
06:56still try to get players that can help them get one of those wildcard spots.
06:59Yeah. By the way, real quick, Dallas, you buy what Jerry Jones said yesterday, they're
07:03going to add tomorrow?
07:04I mean, what could they, they need a running back. Now that's the one position that Jerry
07:08completely missed out on that. Remember, he's not only the owner, he's the GM. They absolutely
07:12have to do something.
07:13All right, Adam. Thanks again.
07:16You got this.