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00:00Live right here on the early line on SportsGrid. It is officially not a
00:05Football Friday anymore. At the end of the 2024 NFL season, of course, the week
00:10following Super Bowl Sunday between the Eagles and the Chiefs. It will feel like
00:15a Football Friday in Philadelphia. About a million people expected for the parade
00:21down Broad Street in Philly today to celebrate the Eagles' second Lombardi
00:26Trophy in franchise history. And at least for the next few moments, Joe,
00:31albeit the offseason, the NFL never truly stops. A Football Friday, if you
00:37will, here on TEL. The reports we had over the weekend is basically what
00:43became official yesterday from the horse's mouth, from the franchise itself,
00:48in a couple of statements released by the New York Jets. That they are
00:52officially parting ways with Aaron Rodgers and moving ahead with a
00:57different option at the quarterback position. We got a statement from team
01:01owner Woody Johnson. We got another statement from the new brass, the new
01:06head coach Aaron Glenn, and the new general manager Darren Moogey. All in
01:11essence, Joe, saying what we already knew to be the case, that the Jets are not
01:15going to move forward with Aaron Rodgers at the quarterback position. And it's
01:21such a, again, not surprising for the Jets. They needed to blow everything up
01:26and start from scratch. So I'm glad they're doing that. But as far as Aaron
01:30Rodgers goes, at 41 years old, Ben, I mean, this is not a Peyton Manning
01:35situation when he was this age and he was, he ended up going to Denver,
01:40remember? And but Denver was a quarterback away from being a world
01:45champion. The teams that need quarterbacks right now are nowhere even
01:49remotely close to a quarterback away from contending for anything. So I
01:55don't know what happens with him. You never know with him. But I would
01:58imagine playing football is probably not what he's going to be doing,
02:02especially with a team that's going to be middle of the road at best. So
02:07that's the interesting component, I think, in the Aaron Rodgers part of
02:10this conversation. What is his future? He is 41 years old. He has played 20
02:16seasons in the National Football League. You look at the last two years,
02:20frankly, a disastrous and failure of a tenure in New York. It's not like the
02:25guy is still slinging it. However, he did win back to back MVP awards not
02:30all that long ago in this decade in 2020 in 2021 in Green Bay, his third
02:37and second to final years in Green Bay alongside the Packers. But let's start
02:43with the Jets component quickly here, Joe, because when you look back on
02:47these two years with Aaron Rodgers, it was a disaster, not his fault. In 2023
02:53for offensive snaps into the year, he tears his left Achilles. The Jets
02:58struggle from then on out. But each of the two years, Joe, New York entered
03:03with optimism and expectation. Ding Green had not seen in a long time, nine
03:08and a half to win total, both entering 2023 and 24 over having plenty of juice
03:14expected to be a playoff team in a competitive AFC. So when you look at
03:20this year, especially in which Rodgers remained healthy the entirety of the
03:24year, and you had so much young talent across the roster offensively and on
03:29the defensive side of the football to fire Robert Sala just five games into
03:34the year for all of the Jets invested into Aaron Rodgers. Let's not forget
03:39when he declared out of the darkness back in March of 2023 that he wanted to
03:44play for the Jets. It wasn't that he was a free agent. The Packers had to
03:49trade him to New York, so the Jets gave up multiple second round picks. Then
03:54they bring in everybody that Aaron Rodgers was comfortable with. Alan
03:58Lazard, Randall Cobb. He brought in guys like Devante Adams in a trade
04:03trying to save face this year. You bring in the O. C. In Nathaniel Hackett
04:08that frankly does not hack it at his job. You invested a ton in Aaron
04:13Rodgers, Joe to ultimately in a two year span, all coming in 2024 end up
04:19with just five total wins. Jets were a five and 12 team this season. Well
04:25short of that nine and a half preseason win total.
04:28Yeah, very bad. But I mean, listen, it's it was so bad there that this had
04:34to get blown up, right? So it is a it's gonna be a new era no matter what
04:38they decide to do for the New York Jets organization. But I will say this,
04:42Ben, there was a previous time where the Jets went into a season with a
04:48new coach, a new GM and ultimately a new quarterback. And that was back in
04:532015 with Todd Bowles. Mike McCagney was your new GM. Oh, yeah. And Ryan
04:58Fitzpatrick was the new quarterback of the New York Jets. And as it turns
05:03out, they went 10 and six and it was the last winning season. The Jets are
05:07bad when they did that. So the problem is, and I love Fitzpatrick, but I
05:14don't see availability right now with free agents where somebody is gonna
05:18do that. The options are limited. Maybe Jordan Travis could be the lottery
05:24ticket of all lottery tickets that the Jets ended up drafting out of Florida
05:28State a couple of years ago. Ben, he's still on the Rossi still on the team.
05:32He's under Jets control whether or not the leg is healed. We'll find out. But
05:37my goodness, wouldn't that be something? And that's part of the
05:40conversation as well. You make this move to move on from Aaron Rodgers.
05:44That makes sense. It's a new franchise, a new era under the guidance of
05:48Aaron Glenn, a new general manager, Darren Boogie. But it's not as though
05:52the Jets have somebody in house that you're like, Yep, that's the air
05:55apparent. Jordan Travis, fifth round pick this past year. That would be a
06:00lot of confidence in a day three pick. And there's not a robust quarterback
06:06market either in the draft where the Jets select seventh overall or in free
06:11agency this off season. So the Jets have to figure out that QB question. No
06:16doubt. Quickly here, Joe, as we said, Aaron Rodgers, 20 years in the NFL, 41
06:22years old. Obviously, he will take his time now to contemplate his football
06:27future in 2025. Do you think Aaron Rodgers is playing in the NFL or might
06:34he decide retirement is his best choice? I don't foresee it. I mean,
06:40listen, the one thing we know about the guy besides being a few fries short
06:43of a happy meal, Ben, is that he wants absolutely nothing to do with playing
06:48for mediocre teams and being mediocre. That's not who he is. So the problem is
06:53the options are not great when you go down to teams that need quarterbacks.
06:58They're not good. So I think he retires eventually ends up in the booth.
07:04And Joe, would this version of Aaron Rodgers even walk into a new facility
07:08and be the starting quarterback from the jump? Would he be involved in a QB
07:12competition? Not something that seems like Aaron Rodgers would want to be a
07:17part of. 20 more on the early line next. Let's keep going around the National
07:22Football League offseason, almost feeling like a football Friday. Live
07:27right here on the early line on SportsGrid. He is Joe. I am Ben. What a
07:31week it has been for Kellen Moore in the city of New Orleans. Sunday evening
07:36is the offensive coordinator of the Eagles guides Philadelphia to a Super
07:41Bowl championship and Lombardi trophy in dominant fashion. And then it
07:46becomes official. What we all expected named the new head coach of the New
07:51Orleans Saints. So yesterday afternoon, as the new skipper of the Saints, he
07:56meets with the media for the first time. Joe, here was Kellen Moore talking
08:01about the process of how he became a 36 year old head coach in New Orleans.
08:06I think certainly the great joy that as you went through this process, it
08:09became very evident was this is a collaborative effort here. This is a
08:13team. This is a group that works really well together. We're excited to go
08:16through this journey. Obviously, we'll begin the process of evaluating the
08:20player side of this and building a coaching staff and doing it the right
08:23way moving forward. It's gonna be a really fun process. Tell him more
08:27throughout the entirety of his football life when he was a legend on the Smurf
08:32turf and in the blue and Boise, Idaho has always had a baby face. He has
08:36always looked young. It is crazy now to see him as the youngest head coach at
08:41only 36 years old in the National Football League. His first time as a
08:46head coach after a successful run four years in Dallas as an offensive
08:51coordinator, a stop in L. A. That didn't work out so great. But now a Super
08:56Bowl championship winning O. C. This previous season in Philadelphia, Joe,
09:01in my estimation, Kellen Moore has the pedigree, the credit and the resume to
09:06I think be a successful offensive mind and head coach in the NFL. He has
09:11basically been a coach since he was 20 years old at Boise State. But I don't
09:15necessarily believe the situation he finds himself in in New Orleans is all
09:21that favorable for a first time head coach to have success because here's
09:26what the Saints are looking at a five and 12 season a year ago, four
09:31consecutive years now of missing out on the postseason after four straight
09:36years of winning the NFC South 121 to win next year's Super Bowl. They have
09:42the ninth overall pick eight total picks in the 2025 NFL draft and you can see
09:48they are in cap hell or perhaps at the very worst purgatory as they are in the
09:53red minus 54 million. So over $50 million over the cap as of right now,
10:03not necessarily Joe, the financial flexibility necessary for a franchise
10:08that needs to bolster up its roster in many different positions. Yeah. And
10:12listen, it's not a, you know, we're a coach away kind of situation. Although
10:17I do think he's going to inherit one of the more, he's got more versatile
10:23weapons on this roster than many teams do. I mean the fact you got Kamara and
10:28taste some hill and you have an experienced quarterback who when healthy
10:32Ben has shown an ability to be able to light teams up here. So I could not have
10:38been more impressed with the coaching job. What we saw in Dallas versus the
10:44offensive coaching job we saw and how they transform that Philadelphia team
10:49into a world champion. He's got a lot of very interesting pieces offensively to
10:54make teams very worried about playing the Saints. I think next year I would
10:58agree Joe, but the biggest question of course is filling out the quarterback
11:02spot. We'll hear what Kellen Moore had to say about Derek Carr in just a little
11:06bit. I'll give you a little bit of a paraphrase non-committal highlighted
11:10what Derek Carr had done but not necessarily saying this is our guy. This
11:15is our starter. This is our face of the franchise, which frankly Joe, it didn't
11:19take Kellen Moore's introductory presser to let us all know that would more than
11:23likely be the case, but it's not Spencer Rattler. It's certainly not Jake
11:27Hayner. And so for the offensive mind in Kellen Moore to make it work, you would
11:32think there needs to be a partnership with a quarterback and Joe, that's the
11:36interesting thing. I tallied it up yesterday of the 32 NFL organizations
11:41entering this offseason. I would say seven firmly have to address the
11:46quarterback position and by I mean addressing it not like who do we like
11:50this guy or this guy like they have to have a new person in there either via
11:54the draft free agency or a trade from the guy who started last year as the
11:59team's starting quarterback in the Saints are certainly one of them. So you
12:04have nearly a quarter of the league looking for an answer at QB with not
12:09many available QB's on the market.
12:13I know and the ones that are available, then do they move the needle for you?
12:19Exactly. I doubt very much. They're moving the needle for the Saints either
12:24Derek or might be a guy that other teams want to invest in this offseason. But
12:29does Derek Carr going to the Steelers or the Jets make them a Super Bowl
12:34contender? No, we'll hear from Kellen Moore even more. So now
12:39live right here on the early line on sports grid. We continue with the NFL
12:43news and notes even firmly in the offseason all around the National
12:47Football League on what feels like a football Friday on TEL. So we're talking
12:53about Kellen Moore introductory press conference yesterday as the new head
12:56coach in New Orleans the seventh and final new head coaching higher in this
13:01coaching carousel in 2025 and Joe. He is an offensive whiz kid. He is 36 years
13:09old. He has been an offensive coordinator for six seasons already in
13:13the National Football League this previous year in the 2024 campaign
13:17leading Philadelphia to a Lombardi trophy. So you have that offensive
13:22mastermind. That's great. But to have success offensively, you need to also
13:27believe that you have a successful starting quarterback does Kellen Moore
13:32in New Orleans is Derek Carr. Let's hear from the new skipper of the Saints.
13:36Yeah, Derek's a tremendous quarterback in this league. I've had so much respect
13:40for him the journey that he's been on. He's a starter in this league. He's a
13:43premier player in this league. He's had a great journey. Obviously going from
13:47Fresno State to the Raiders and now here, you know, really excited to team up
13:52with him and go through this process. And so just like any player on this
13:55roster, you know, I just got here a few days ago and I'm excited to go through
13:58this journey with all of them.
14:01Again, you heard Kellen Moore reference it right there through his time at
14:05Fresno State. They were conference competitors Joe. They played in games
14:09against each other in college football, Kellen Moore at Boise State and Derek
14:14Carr at Fresno State. So that was Kellen Moore's nice way, politically correct
14:21way, if you will, of highlighting Derek Carr's football life, but not exactly
14:25saying, hey, this guy is the future of our franchise. So credit to the Saints
14:29media members. They kind of press that question a little bit more.
14:34Yeah, listen, I think it's interesting that he's already decided he's going to
14:39be calling plays. He's also said I could care less what's going to happen with
14:43the defense, whether we play a 3-4 or 4-3. So it's going to be, I think it's
14:48going to come down to whether or not he believes Derek Carr can execute the
14:53kind of plan that he wants. But don't forget, he missed seven games last year.
14:58They didn't win one of them, the Saints. So, you know, say what you want, but
15:02there is some value in keeping him there with a young new head coach.
15:07And we'll see, and we'll see how that goes. So again, as we said, the Saints
15:11media members were like, listen, that's nice of you, Kellen, to highlight all
15:15of your time against Derek Carr and what you think of his football playing
15:18career. But is he the starting quarterback in New Orleans? Again, the
15:23new head coach of the Saints.
15:26Do you view that as you guys have a decision to make at quarterback or do
15:30you view it as Derek Carr as a quarterback? I view it as Derek Carr as a tremendous
15:34starting quarterback in this league. We're fortunate to have him and we're
15:37excited to go through this process, you know, as we build this roster together.
15:41Again, I'm meeting these guys for the first time in the last few days.
15:44We're excited to meet more of them and this will be a lot of fun.
15:47I'll give Kellen more credit, man. He came with some answers ready to go to
15:52the questions he knew he was going to receive, much like Aaron Glenn did at
15:57his introductory press conference in New York about Aaron Rodgers. You
16:01never can, Joe, go out there and make a simple yet strong statement in your
16:07first press conference when it's your first day on the job, basically,
16:11officially to be like, hey, Derek Carr stinks guys out. We're already talking
16:14about our future at the quarterback spot. You sit there, you observe, you
16:18learn, and then you give it about a week and a half and you get a report
16:21that Derek Carr is going to be on the trading block this offseason.
16:25Yeah, and while that's the other aspect of it, right, Ben, is that can or will
16:30a team offer the Saints an ability to get out from under a contract, maybe
16:35get some cap relief, maybe get some assets.
16:37You know, it's not like again, he is the starting quarterback in the NFL.
16:41So there is some value on the open market for a Derek Carr.
16:46Yes, and we'll see exactly what Derek Carr's value is. So let's start with
16:51the individual that is Derek Carr. Two years ago, Joe, when he leaves the
16:56Las Vegas Raiders because the Raiders, despite drafting Derek Carr and getting
17:00the best out of him for about eight NFL seasons said, ah, we're going to
17:04make some moves. The Raiders have not exactly been in a great position at
17:08the quarterback spot and are not at this moment entering 2025. Derek Carr
17:13is going to the New Orleans Saints in the 2023 NFL offseason in the Saints
17:19then become the odds-on favorite. The frontrunner to win the NFC South was
17:23not a great 2023 and through a lot of 2024, poor play from Derek Carr, but
17:28also injuries a part of that conversation. There you see the stats
17:32this past year for Carr, 15 touchdowns to five INTs and only 10 games played.
17:39We all forget that New Orleans was the best offense in the NFL, the opening
17:44two Sundays of the year.
17:46One thing that will always be funny to me, Joe, and we can do this as you
17:50reflect on a season and you get deeper into the year and you have those
17:54sweeping reactions and takeaways as we always do, even though we warn
17:58ourselves from doing so in the first few weekends of the NFL. Week number
18:03three, the Eagles start off one and one. They head to the Saints who are
18:07an offensive juggernaut who had scored at least 40 points in each of their
18:11first two games, 91 in total in the Saints in New Orleans, mind you, but
18:17the Saints in that week three matchup against Philly were a two and a half
18:20point home favorite for a five-win football team against the eventual
18:25Super Bowl champs. All to say that they got off to a great start this year,
18:31but obviously things did not work out. Joe, you mentioned it. Do you think
18:35it would be wise for Kellen Moore and New Orleans to bring back Derek Carr?
18:40Do you think that is the eventual decision that is made?
18:44Well, until you're offered up a reason not to keep Derek Carr, right, Ben?
18:50What is your option here?
18:52Keep, are you just, maybe he loves Taysom Hill and maybe Taysom Hill is
18:57going to be your quarterback moving forward at which point they seek a
19:00trade or, you know, let Derek Carr open on the market to see what they can
19:05get for him.
19:06I think there are, you know, an aging quarterback with an aging defense,
19:11no salary cap.
19:13I mean, there's, it's not a lot the Saints can do, but one thing they
19:17can do is start shedding some salary and hopefully be able to get some
19:21assets back. And the guy that would bring the most, of course, is Derek
19:25Carr. And I think maybe that's why they're so noncommittal. Don't forget
19:29to Taysom Hill's on this roster here, Ben. So it's not like he can't play
19:32quarterback.
19:33I mean, you're not winning anyway.
19:39So, yeah, but so Joe again, that's kind of the issue, right? With a lot
19:46of these teams that I stated as you kind of look at the NFL draft order
19:50and where things stand around the NFL.
19:53I'll run through it quickly here because it's a part of the conversation.
19:56I found seven teams that not have a quarterback question like a guy on
20:01the roster.
20:01Is he going to live up to the hype kind of like Anthony Richardson in
20:05Indianapolis, if you will, but legitimate teams that more than likely
20:09will have a different starting quarterback to begin 2025 than they
20:13did in 2024. The Saints, one of those seven, the Titans draft first
20:17overall as of right now, the Browns second overall, the Giants third
20:22overall, the Raiders sixth overall, the Jets seventh overall, the Saints
20:27as we said ninth overall, we're up to six teams right there.
20:32And then I think you could probably scroll down the board a little bit
20:35and get to the Pittsburgh Steelers that have their own quarterback
20:38questions this offseason.
20:40So give or take six, seven teams of the 32 nearly a quarter of the
20:45National Football League that are looking for a new starting quarterback
20:49this offseason that don't already have somebody in place currently on
20:55the roster until there's not many out there this quarterback draft
20:59class in 2025.
21:01Not nearly as elite as last year.
21:04We saw six guys go to go in the opening round in 2024 the most ever
21:08in the modern draft era dating back to 1997 all six in the first 12
21:13picks as well.
21:14We might see two or three in this year's first round of the NFL draft
21:20and there's not many free agents out there either.
21:23Sam Darnold, maybe is the pick of the litter Russell Wilson, Justin
21:28Fields, Jacoby Brissett.
21:31You would have to make a deal Joe for a guy like a Kirk Cousins or a
21:35Derek Hall.
21:37You're going to have to make there are some decisions that need to be
21:42made here.
21:42I mean because that list of quarterbacks you want to throw in Cooper
21:46Rush or Jamis Winston in that list and you kind of get an idea of what
21:51we're looking at here Ben on the open markets.
21:54Yeah, it's not exactly plentiful.
21:57If you will war around the other line.