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EPISODE 74 - Patriots combine and free agency!
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Introduction and NFL Combine
00:00:00
Savage Boston
Alright guys, welcome back to the Savage Boston Podcast. We are here. it is February 24th at 8.30 at night. And I'm Scott, your host of the Savage Boston Podcast with my co-host Snooty. And we're coming to you kind of at the beginning, right at the beginning of the start of the NFL Combine, which is um i like. I think it's cool. Enjoy the Combine. i know Snooty does as well.
00:00:24
Savage Boston
um we've been just watching it uh just personally for for years and years and years and um enjoy the whole process so um but i want to kick off this is kind of like when rumor season starts um which is which is fun it's better than the two two week kind of dead zone there after the super bowl where everyone's just depressed so we're back to kind of like getting in the swing of it, getting into the rumors, seeing how, how they want to build a team. What do they want to do?
00:00:53
Savage Boston
um And, you know, Elliot Wolf spoke today. it felt like he was everywhere today. He spoke, he had a bunch of different podcasts. He, he had that live interview with, you know, Patriots.com.
Player Performance and Team Loyalty
00:01:04
Savage Boston
So Elliot Wolf was, was all over the place. And, and he said a few interesting things.
00:01:10
Savage Boston
ah The first being, and I want to start with this is that, you know, Will Campbell, in Elliot Wolf's words said he wasn't basically, he wasn't the same guy after his injury.
00:01:22
Savage Boston
um And his, he didn't have the same lower body power after the injury, which, you know, which I agree with. And I think everyone watching would agree. um But again, brings me back to my point. i think we made last week, like why was he out there?
00:01:38
Savage Boston
You know, like why, why was he playing? If, if, and if you're saying three out of the four of his worst games of the season, happened after this injury. And these again were Elliot Wolf's words. Why was he out there? So Snooty, why don't you tell me why, why, why was Will Campbell allowed to be out there if he couldn't anchor?
00:01:56
Snooty
um Well, I think there's, it gets into like two different aspects of this where um people bring in like Vidarian low, if he were to be a better option and obviously, you know, you'd have to imagine he'd be a better option past blacking in the Superbowl just based upon the results of what happened. um That being said,
00:02:17
Snooty
in the backdrop is that everyone got their ass kicked in the Superbowl. So it's not like, it's like everybody was just destroying people and Will Campbell was getting blown up, right? Like everybody was having problems up front.
00:02:28
Snooty
The other part of it is run blocking. And it's an aspect that people don't bring up when they talk about, offensive line play, or and especially with with tackles, when they and particularly when they compare Campbell and Lowe.
00:02:40
Snooty
Lowe is not a very good run blocker at all. Campbell is a pretty good run blocker, right? So, like, that's the other half of it where it's like they've been trying to establish the run or they tried to establish the run the entirety of the playoffs. And I know they were having trouble doing that, but that's only going to be worse if Lowe's in there. So you got to kind of look at it that way. The other part is it's the human element.
00:03:03
Snooty
Like if you pull someone, the same reason they stuck by Wilson. It's the same reason they stuck by Stevenson. They stick by their guys when their guys do what they're supposed to do. Right. And they do it to a fault.
00:03:15
Snooty
um You could argue that this is that, you know doing it to a fault, but at least they have, At least they have a system and a way of doing things and they stick by it.
00:03:25
Snooty
Right. So like that to me is encouraging in the long run. That's going to be better because you still you can build up the kid's confidence.
Coaching Strategies and Critiques
00:03:32
Snooty
um You got his back. They already did it. I agree. They should not move him off of off of a tackle.
00:03:38
Snooty
um that He should stay a tackle. That's my opinion. um At least they have a system that they do. um You got to take the good with the bad when you do that. That's what you get when you get a coach like Rabel.
00:03:50
Savage Boston
I do like that they have, it feels like the system is in place. The roles are defined. I like that a lot. Like that, that feels really good.
00:03:57
Snooty
Yeah.
00:03:58
Savage Boston
You know, even ah again, Wolf today said 2024, Gerard Mayo had him handling player discipline. And you're like,
00:04:10
Savage Boston
you also like, why would he do that? Like Wolf's not even a football player. Like Wolf, and I know you don't have to be the football player, but like the players aren't going to relate to him in the same way as Mayo.
00:04:21
Savage Boston
Why wouldn't Mayo be doing discipline? Like he's the head coach and a former Patriot, all pro. Like don't, that it blew my mind.
00:04:30
Snooty
it'
00:04:31
Savage Boston
And I mean, Vrabel clearly comes in right away. he goes, no, no, no. Thank you, Elliot. Appreciate your service. I got it. Which just makes Elliott go, oh, thank God. You know, you know, Elliott, like, had no, he did not want to do that.
00:04:45
Savage Boston
Like, that's not his role.
00:04:45
Snooty
Right.
00:04:45
Savage Boston
As he said, like, Elliott wants to go sit in a room and watch college football and scout. That's what Wolf wants to do.
00:04:50
Snooty
Yeah. No, I mean, and it's two part. Cause like, not only is that the head coach passing that responsibility off, that's like the one strength Mayo was supposed to have was that I can relate to players because I'm a former player. Like all the shit we talk about with Rabel, right? Like that, like, Look, I've been in the struggle. I've been in the trenches. I know like what you guys are going through. like That's what he was supposed to do. Because he's not next as an X-to-the-nose guy.
00:05:18
Snooty
And Vrabel's really not either. right like So like you either have to be one or the other. You have to be like the super tactician guy or you have to be like the you know vibes guy. right The guy who can relate. And Mayo's like, nah.
00:05:30
Snooty
And just passes that off. It's like, dude, like you were fucking doomed from the start. like That's so bad.
00:05:36
Savage Boston
What did he do well? Like, I don't we knew don't need to shit on Mayo, but, like, I just don't... Other than just Kraft falling in love with him, I don't know why he got the job, you know, like ah and and clearly wasn't qualified.
00:05:48
Savage Boston
But...
00:05:48
Snooty
I mean, he could have in the future. It's again, it's not that he got a position that he couldn't attain one day. It's, he just got it too early.
00:05:57
Savage Boston
Yeah, he's this he just wasn't right.
00:05:57
Snooty
Like. Yeah.
00:05:58
Savage Boston
I think he'll start again. He's getting paid a lot right now to sit out. probably Like I said, he'll go get a linebacker's coach job with somebody and he'll be fine.
00:06:06
Snooty
Yeah.
00:06:06
Savage Boston
But like this was just a tough just a tough go for him. And then Wolf also mentioned, thought this was interesting, ah he mentioned one of his biggest pet peeves as as a executive was when head coaches don't listen to their scouts.
00:06:27
Savage Boston
And I thought that was interesting. He has spent it very specifically. He's like, I really don't like one of my number one things I don't like is when head coaches don't listen to their scouts. And it's like, all right, well, who are you? rough Who are you referencing?
00:06:40
Savage Boston
Is that a shot at Bill?
00:06:43
Snooty
I mean, locally, yeah. I mean, that was the famous knock on Bill is that he would just basically...
00:06:44
Savage Boston
Like, cause yeah like Wolf and his staff goes to Bill and is like, Hey, love this guy at this spot. And Bill's like, man, I'm taking, you know what i mean?
00:06:54
Snooty
Well, I heard...
00:06:55
Savage Boston
Like,
00:06:56
Snooty
it might have been Breer, but I could be way off in that... who Like I think it was last week said that bill famously would basically get the stuff from the scouts and be like, okay, cool. And just like, that would
Team Success and Analytics Debate
00:07:06
Snooty
be it. They'd be done. They'd be on to next year.
00:07:08
Snooty
Like at like the beginning of like, like now like combine season, the scouts who did like the years prep for that would just be boop. Okay. You're on to next year. We're working on this now.
00:07:18
Snooty
And it's like, okay, like I, that's, that's the part where like, and they've spent a year studying these prospects, maybe milk them for a little bit more information.
00:07:19
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:07:28
Snooty
than what they get. You know what I mean? Like how much more are you, another way of putting is how much more are you getting on next year's class now when they're in fucking winter workouts versus like how much more information can you get out of them, out of those players? And Bill, I think he's underrated as a GM, particularly from a drafting perspective, but he went ice cold at the end and you know, we don't have to rehash everything, but, um,
00:07:51
Savage Boston
I do find it weird that, you know, Bill just kind of, it seemed at at points just, you know, obviously did what he wanted, but like the Patriots had, and this is by numerous reports and and we'll actually not even need a report from Wolf's mouth today.
00:08:07
Savage Boston
Again, saying like we were one of the lowest level analytics programs. And this was reported by, by Breer year ago, like how outdated they were. And we're all sitting here as fans, like what's the, fuck are we doing and then you know and again Brears is the same thing and now today from Wolf's mouth they had nothing and then you go to Cleveland and Cleveland has like this ridiculous analytics staff and then it kind of made me think like well the Patriots had no analytics they just had Tom Brady and Bill Belichick
00:08:39
Savage Boston
And Browns had this amazing analytics team and they can't find a way to win. So it makes you think like, is there a sweet spot for analytics? Are people just too caught up? but Like, how could the Browns be like, we're the top tier analytics and we're going to give the Sean Watson this contract.
00:08:58
Savage Boston
Right? Like, like,
00:08:59
Snooty
Yeah. Well, I mean, I think to that point, like analytics help provide information, but you can't let it drive the decision. Like you still have to talk to people. You still have to fit these people within a system. And it's not like baseball.
00:09:14
Snooty
It's not like basketball. There's two completely different separate offense defense. There's 22 guys like plus, you know reserves and rotational players and stuff like that. Like, And it's very, very different from scheme to scheme that like players fit in one and not in others.
00:09:29
Snooty
Like, are they going to get along with the coach that you have? Like it's shit like that. Like that's the human element. So like analytics can give you all the information you want, but you can't just go by the, know, was it the raw athletic score whatever relative athletic score?
00:09:42
Snooty
You can't just go by that.
00:09:42
Savage Boston
yeah
00:09:43
Snooty
You have to, I don't know, think about the people, who they are, how they fit, like what kind of system they're good at, what experience they have, how long they'll take to to develop, like how does that fit in with your timeline? Like there's ah there's a million different things you have to consider before drafting someone.
00:10:01
Snooty
And that's why-
00:10:01
Savage Boston
I just wonder how it went. I just wonder like what goes on in that Cleveland room. You know, they're all these guys are paying all this money to and the decisions they've made. You're like, what's what's going on there versus like just having the right quarterback and coach combination. Let's say like McVay and Stafford who like they turned over a ton of that roster. They burned all their first round picks were way over the cap and they somehow on the fly turned it around. and We're back in the and NFC championship game.
00:10:31
Savage Boston
Right. And they they they could have won the Super Bowl. Right. Seattle was just a behemoth team and they were close. So it makes you think like, is it just, is it coach quarterback owner?
00:10:42
Savage Boston
Like boom, boom, boom. Like spend the money, you support the team. Right. Right. You know what I mean? Like, is that the real, that's how you really do it versus like, let me just fine tune everywhere, you know?
Team Building: Free Agency and Drafting
00:10:54
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:10:54
Snooty
But it's like, so they signed a guy, Emmanuel Forbes, right? Who was famously taken one pick by Washington, one pick before Gonzalez.
00:10:59
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:11:02
Snooty
It was a corner out of Mississippi State, I believe. He was shit in Washington. He's already out of there, but he was a pretty good player for for the Rams this year.
00:11:13
Snooty
So it's a perfect example of like, it's not necessarily just the player.
00:11:13
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:11:16
Snooty
It's how they develop. It's how they work with the coach. And it's where they go, the scheme, how to use them. Right. So like, I know we can shit on Bill for not having, you know, the staff and all that, but like guy did hit on a lot of people.
00:11:28
Snooty
Right. Like he did have a a methodology to fit players in free agents, trades, in addition to the draft. And it worked. And yes, a lot of that, they had a ridiculously a high margin of error because they had Brady.
00:11:43
Snooty
Right. Like, so I'm obviously, but like,
00:11:46
Savage Boston
Yeah, it makes it it makes it easy when you have Tom Brady and McDaniels running your offense. You McDaniels, and I know people shudder when I say McDaniels for whatever reason. They ran an offense together, Brady executed, and, like, they they could they could barely draft a soul at, with like, wide receiver. You know, then they hit on you hit on the elite tight end, and you trade for, you know a couple guys. Like, it just came together, obviously, and they let Bill do what he needed to do on defense.
00:12:16
Savage Boston
And then there you go, right? It just ended up – that's why it's so rare. It's so impossible to create that type of team. Like even look at Mahomes now, who again, we'd all say – people all still say like he's one of the top QBs in the world, obviously, despite the fact that his numbers have gotten worse for basically three straight years.
00:12:23
Snooty
Yeah.
00:12:35
Savage Boston
Their offense hasn't been that good, especially this last year. I mean, he was, people are going to pretend like he was hurt for the whole year or something. He played this whole year. They were bad. They were a bad team. They really struggled. And this is in his prime, the homes.
00:12:49
Savage Boston
So I'm sure he'll come back this year with a vengeance, but like they got to figure out their offense, man. They're still trying to re resign Kelsey again, who's like 34, 35. Like he's not the same guy. So like, Not like it's not a chief's pod. Like they can figure out their own team. I don't know what they have in mind, but obviously something is not quite right there. Like, like it was. And it just shows again, how hard it is to sustain excellence. It just seems to be, <unk>s i mean, nobody does There's a reason why nobody can do it.
00:13:19
Savage Boston
And let's see what the Seahawks do.
00:13:21
Snooty
Right, I was just about to bring them up. like Conversely, like the Seahawks have three or four really good drafts in a row, and lo and behold, they get semi-competent quarterback play, and boom, they're in the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl.
00:13:34
Snooty
Right? Yeah.
00:13:34
Savage Boston
They hit so well in their drafts and like every single player.
00:13:40
Snooty
Mid-round picks, fourth, fifth, sixth-round picks, like, hit.
00:13:40
Savage Boston
It's crazy.
00:13:43
Snooty
like had a ridiculous they And they won't keep that up. right And that's ultimately why teams start to fade. see ah The Seahawks did that, you know, their first iteration where they had, you know, Legion of Boom and all that.
00:13:53
Snooty
Like, Richard Sherman was a fifth-round pick.
00:13:54
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:13:56
Snooty
Cam Chancellor was a fourth-round pick. ah Russell Wilson was a third-round pick. Like, they hit on all those guys. And then they all had to they they all got paid, and, you know, cap is crap, with whatever people want to say. But they did have to start paying guys, and they couldn't replace them with cheap.
00:14:10
Snooty
You know, they couldn't hit at the same rate. no one can. they They just can't. But they stuck by Schneider, the GM, and, you know, now he's back. Like, he went cold for a while, and now he's obviously not cold anymore.
00:14:21
Snooty
So, you know.
00:14:22
Savage Boston
They nailed it with a few of those picks. And then, like, what did they trade? The trade for, like, Leonard Williams and combine that with Byron Murphy and Mafé, Boye Mafé, whatever his name is, that Patriots are looking at in free agency.
00:14:37
Savage Boston
But, like, i would it's just a shift, and there's lots of things to talk about, but just a shift to free agency for a minute. Like, it feels like everyone's come to the conclusion that the Patriots um aren't going to be spending money this year.
00:14:37
Snooty
Yeah.
00:14:50
Savage Boston
Like, that's, like, seems to be the general consensus between Bedard and Phil Perry. Like, everyone's, like, they're not saying they're not going to spend at all, but they're not being, like, they're not going to go on a wild spree. That seems to be the consensus because of some three-year, you know the three-year running books.
00:15:11
Savage Boston
Even Bedard said something, like, today in a headline, like, the Patriots, it appears that they're not going to really be pushing. And I just... I don't know. I don't, I think they're going to still spend money. i don't, I don't think it's just going be some, like they only get bottom of the barrel free agents. Like Kraft wants to be in the Superbowl again.
00:15:32
Savage Boston
Like he wants to be like, you get a taste of it. Like, I don't think, I don't think there's going to be a lack of signings. I should say that they're going to pick up a bunch of decent free agents. Like, are they going to go make a massive splash. Like, no, they're not going to go pay Rasheed Walker that tackle, which that they said that today that report was false. Right. And, um, you know, but like, they're not going to go pay some middle of the road, tackle $30 million dollars a year.
00:15:59
Savage Boston
Like that's not, that doesn't, that doesn't compute, you know? So, I mean, I think there's a lot of targets there in free agency that are again, like mid tier people that maybe are going to be a lot less sexy as they say that they might be more interested in.
00:16:15
Snooty
But that's what they need, right? Like, I know they need a serious, like,
00:16:18
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:16:21
Snooty
I don't want people to think, hey, we went out to Super Bowl, like we're here, we can just start mortgages in the future and flipping picks for veteran players. Not there yet. You got totally outclassed in the Super Bowl, in part because you have holes everywhere. So free agency is ideally, unless you get someone like Milton Williams, ideally is used for, like, finding guys who can plug gaps on the short term, right? Like,
00:16:47
Snooty
Yes, you can get high-impact, high-character guys, like again, like Milton Williams or Hunter Henry from a few years ago, but most of them are going to fail right and not be worth the money that they get. There's no value in free agency. That's the definition of free agency in any sport, but especially in the NFL.
00:17:06
Snooty
So, yeah, they should sign some you know more mid-tier guys. They should extend Gonzalez, which is going to eat up some of the cap, but... You know, sign a bunch of mid-tier guys, plug the gaps, so that way when you get to the draft, you can truly go best player available at each spot.
Wide Receiver Strategy and Trade Speculations
00:17:23
Snooty
and And that's how you're going to have to build a team. It keeps coming back to the draft, but, like, they so they lack a serious, like, yes, they have a few players that are, are you know, in the core. Gonzalez, I would still say Campbell, May, like, they have guys in that core.
00:17:38
Snooty
but not enough. And you only get guys in that core by drafting. So like, you know, to use the example, like, you know, they keep, if look, if you can get Max Crosby for a first and only a first or like a first and a fourth or something, fine.
00:17:50
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:17:51
Snooty
If you can get a j Brown for a two, fine.
00:17:51
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:17:54
Snooty
I'm not doing both of those in the same, in the same class. I'm not doing that because that's a full year.
00:17:59
Savage Boston
No.
00:18:00
Snooty
Basically you just whiff on, or, you know, not whiff, but you don't get that young talent, young cost control talent coming in. And that's how you can actually go spend some money is if you have cost control everywhere else.
00:18:12
Snooty
That's how you build depth is with, is through the draft. You have to hit.
00:18:17
Savage Boston
I'd say like my, my general plan or what I want them to do to improve improve the weapons. Because like you have to add in the wide receiver room.
00:18:27
Savage Boston
And I don't think it's it's just so simple as running back with digs. like I think you have to restructure digs and make sure he wants to do that. Because that's just $26.5 million dollar cap hit for that player is too high. Even though like the player, can you at least get him down to $20 million?
00:18:46
Savage Boston
Or like, you know, preferably lower. But got to get him down to like 20. And then i still want to trade for AJ Brown. And the again, the problem is it's going to happen in the summer.
00:18:57
Savage Boston
And so that that would be challenging.
00:18:58
Snooty
Mm-hmm.
00:18:59
Savage Boston
It would be a post-June 1. We talked about how it changes the money. um i think he'll be available. Like, but he might be available for a desperate team. Like, I think it might be the Bills in August.
00:19:14
Savage Boston
And the Bills are like, fuck it. Like, here's a first, you know, like the, like, don't know, 2027 first AJ Brown and people are gonna be like, all right, like how, you you know, you think how he's going to say no to that?
00:19:28
Savage Boston
I don't, you know, most people think he's going to end up going for like a three, not even a two.
00:19:30
Snooty
Right.
00:19:34
Snooty
And because alternatively is like, if you want to get him before June 1st, like if you're like, no, we want him in now so we can get set our off season and stuff. They're going to be like, okay, well, if we're going to eat this huge cap pit to do that, like you're going to have to make it worth, worth our while.
00:19:49
Snooty
You know what i mean? So like, it's going to be more expensive to do before June 1st, just because it's going to cost them, you know, so much more money.
00:19:50
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:19:57
Snooty
So it it like, I don't see Brown moving realistically, just the contract and the way the trade works. Like, I just don't see it happening. Um, not cheap and i don't want to trade a one or you know or two or anything like that for him um or two plus whatever it is sure
00:20:09
Savage Boston
yeah i would love I wish it could happen earlier because I'd want to do it like today, you know, as quick as possible, right? um But yeah, it's it's just something that's gonna happen after June 1. And like i said, I think a team wants a win now team who's willing to trade a big asset in 2027, which by the way, 2027 is supposed to be a pretty generational draft, they say, right? So you're giving up your first. If you're Buffalo in 2027, and Buffalo's got two firsts, you know, or sorry, the Eagles then get two firsts.
00:20:40
Savage Boston
Like, that's something Howie might do. Howie's always ahead of the curve. And there is a risk with degeneration is in A.J. Brown's knee, blah, blah, blah. People talk about that. But,
00:20:49
Snooty
But like Buffalo's in a better spot to take that risk because they they're under immense pressure.
00:20:53
Savage Boston
yeah, they're they're, like, ready. They're ready to take the risk.
00:20:57
Snooty
He's getting older. He's 30 now, Josh Allen.
00:21:00
Savage Boston
think it's I think he's 30. think he's 30.
00:21:02
Snooty
Right. So like he's getting older, like, you know, his play style doesn't necessarily lend to lasting super long. Like they're under immense pressure like that. That makes a little bit more sense. You have a 24 year old quarterback.
00:21:15
Snooty
You don't need to rush like that. Like you don't.
00:21:17
Savage Boston
He's going be 30 in May. turn 30.
00:21:20
Snooty
Yeah, he'll be 30 next year.
00:21:20
Savage Boston
turn
00:21:21
Snooty
Yeah, like you don't need to rush like that. Like you don't. You just don't need to rush like that. So don't mortgage the future. i want them to be to be smart. That doesn't mean I don't want them to add talent. I do. That doesn't mean I don't think that you can't replace, you know, Booty or Williams or anybody else. You can. You can upgrade there 100%, especially at tight end.
00:21:42
Snooty
But I want they need to do it intelligently. Let's not get stupid here. We're not at that point yet.
00:21:48
Savage Boston
Yeah, but so so then in your opinion, how do they improve their offensive weapons this year
Enhancing Team Lines and Draft Prospects
00:21:58
Savage Boston
and then? Like who do they who do they get? Who do you want to see them target in free agency um or via trade on offense weapons-wise?
00:22:07
Snooty
So I would pay Pierce in free agency because I think what he does fits – yeah, Alec Pierce.
00:22:12
Savage Boston
Who appears? Yeah, he's going to get tagged though.
00:22:15
Snooty
I know, I know. But I'm saying were he to hit free agency, I would pay him because he's young for a few reasons.
00:22:17
Savage Boston
Yeah, yeah, Yeah.
00:22:21
Snooty
He's younger. what How he plays fits exactly how May likes to do it, right? He's a big, tall receiver, likes to go deep and catch the ball. He had 1,000, over 1,000 yards on like 40-some-odd receptions.
00:22:33
Snooty
He had this average like –
00:22:33
Savage Boston
it It 47 catches and he had over a thousand yards.
00:22:36
Snooty
He averaged like 21.2 yards a catch or something silly.
00:22:39
Savage Boston
Crazy.
00:22:39
Snooty
That's just outrageous, right? like So that's I would do that. He fits the timeline. I don't care about paying the money for someone like that. And he fits the play style. So it like it works.
00:22:50
Snooty
I know that makes – to me that makes booty expendable. um I like booty. I mean, i but I'm not going to like – say that you can't upgrade over booty. You can upgrade your slot position. i think Kyle Williams could play more of that. Like I know he's a, he's like played X and that's what everybody keeps saying. I think he could be closer, be more like ah that digs role where he plays like that Z and the slot type of thing. I think he's fast enough and I think he could grow into, he has enough potential that he could, you can find a place for for someone like that. Like it's to let them grow and and things like that.
00:23:26
Snooty
Free agency. for tight end. um Likely Kate Otten, any of them. There's a kid from Tennessee. Like there's a few guys in free agency that I think could be some significant upgrades over what they have.
00:23:41
Snooty
Um,
00:23:41
Savage Boston
And Vrabel drafted to Tennessee's Chig Okonkwa. And Vrabel drafted him.
00:23:45
Snooty
yeah,
00:23:46
Savage Boston
He runs like a 4.5, but he's small. He's like more like Hernandez. He's like 6'2", 240. i Smaller guy. like Likely six four two probably 245. Likely's still fairly athletic, just a little bit bigger body.
00:24:02
Savage Boston
um I don't know how he's an okay blocker. I mean, none of these guys are are gronk. You know what i mean? Like you have to really hit that. Or pay for that.
00:24:13
Savage Boston
You know, you got to hit that in the draft. But I think likely, I don't know how much money someone wants to give likely. I would love to sign. I think he's if you can get him on not big money, I think he'd be a great building into your future one tight end, maybe depending on how you view him and Henry. That would be great. But again, the wide receiver position is still something you have to improve on.
00:24:36
Savage Boston
And I feel like they're going end up signing like Romeo Dobbs. Or Dobbs.
00:24:41
Snooty
he'd be an improvement on a lot of what they had.
00:24:43
Savage Boston
And he would. he would be an improvement. He's like a pretty underrated player who doesn't have crazy numbers, but he's a good player, good receiver. Didn't reach his full potential, you know, and in Green Bay, but like solid player. He's an X receiver. He's an outside guy. So I think you could sign Dobbs as that mid-tier guy. Because I just, again, the the big ones you wanted were like Pitts, the P's. Pitts, Pierce,
00:25:11
Savage Boston
Pickens or whatever are all franchise tacked. All of them, they'll be franchise tacked. So teams aren't letting talented players go.
00:25:16
Snooty
Thank you.
00:25:20
Savage Boston
They're just not letting them hit free agency. And free agency this year, in my opinion, is just not great. I'm glad you hit so well last year because like you're going to need to hit again on all these mid-tier guys this year because it's just not, it's not there for like the big names. It's just, that's what not free agency is anymore. Maybe used to be, maybe it was like that in baseball whatever, but it's just not there this year in the NFL. Like I just don't think it's, it's going to be tough. And a lot of the good players are going to stay. I saw some people predicting they're going sign Trey Hendrickson to some big contract. And I'm like, I just don't see them doing that. They're going to want to sign like,
00:25:56
Savage Boston
again, Boye, Mafé. Am I saying that right? Is it Mafé?
00:26:00
Snooty
I think it's Mafé.
00:26:01
Savage Boston
Yeah, or or O.A. from the Chargers, or maybe Khalil Mack on a one-year deal. Like, maybe they sign an edge like that. Maybe they bring back Chase on. Maybe they just draft an edge. Like, there's a lot of there's a lot of there's a lot of possibilities, basically. But, um yeah, I think there's just –
00:26:22
Savage Boston
I don't know. There's ah there's a ton of happening. We need the rumors, the reports that obviously start hitting to actually see what do they actually want to do versus like what do we think they should do? Yeah.
00:26:32
Snooty
I think, unfortunately, receiver every year we get to this point where there's three or four guys that are going to hit the free agent market, and then they all get tagged or signed and or signed. And pretty much every class, there's like, meh, every year, right?
00:26:47
Snooty
There's like ah so everyone, every player has something significantly wrong with them.
00:26:48
Savage Boston
yeah
00:26:51
Snooty
Even Diggs last year, older coming off ACL, right?
00:26:54
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:26:54
Snooty
Struck old with that.
00:26:54
Savage Boston
yeah
00:26:57
Snooty
To me, that just further proves that you they should be drafting a receiver every year and developing them because it's the only way that you can actually like get a receiver like that.
00:27:02
Savage Boston
Developing.
00:27:07
Savage Boston
There's some day to some day to wide receivers.
00:27:07
Snooty
There's every year, every year, because everybody throws the fucking rock all over the place in college. Every year, there's like five or six receivers that could, first or second round receivers, almost every year.
00:27:19
Snooty
I'm not saying superstar, but like there's always five or six like first round talent type receivers every year.
00:27:25
Savage Boston
yeah well how about that kid so i mean we'll start doing more draft stuff too but there's a kid wide receiver from tennessee people have mentioned like brazel i think his name is he's like six foot five they call him like you know kind of like kind of like moss he's six foot five he can he can run he can catch he's just not getting quite the same hype as the guys in the first round but like there's there's some talented receivers in this core like
00:27:25
Snooty
You should be taking one almost every year.
00:27:36
Snooty
Mm-hmm. and
00:27:52
Savage Boston
I'm Cardinal Tate and lemon and um Oh my god.
00:27:57
Snooty
Be Malachi fields, right?
00:28:00
Savage Boston
Casey conception is is like maybe the third or fourth guy. Um, there's some talented wide receivers in the group that are all going, all going first round. There's also like ah ton of edges, ton of good edges that like, I don't know how far down people are going to fall.
00:28:16
Savage Boston
So when you talk about like, um, you know, how Cassius how from, i think it's from like a and M he had a ton of sacks, very explosive.
00:28:21
Snooty
a and am Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:23
Savage Boston
I like that player a lot. TJ Parker, like at at edge, like if Cassius how can fall to you at 31, I don't know how you would like, like, I don't know these guys, it, I don't know how people are valuing everyone. This is the hard part. Like there's a couple of those freaky players from Ohio state. They're all going top 10, like Sonny styles and Caleb downs.
00:28:43
Savage Boston
And like, you don't know, you know, some of these are development guys versus like David Bailey at edge. They're saying is like just premier boom. He's like premier come out sack man. And he's going to go like top five now.
00:28:55
Snooty
You're going to get some clarity post-combine. Things are going to start to settle in a little bit in terms of kind of relative where people are expected to get
Talent Development and Team Strategy
00:29:04
Snooty
drafted. But there'll be movement. And that's really just like public perception and teams, like leagues perception kind of merging. That's where like you get quote movement of a prospect. It's basically just like the public realizing how the NFL kind of views certain players, right? like because it happens every year. Guys rise or fall. It's like they don't really rise or fall. They just...
00:29:25
Snooty
We start to realize how teams view them. um I think the the relative depth in both the draft and in free agency at edge leads me to believe that they won't pay a premier amount for an edge player.
00:29:40
Snooty
I could see them signing like two of that, like more mid tier. Cause it's a deeper class. They might even be able to get a guy who misses out on a big payday on like a one year deal, little bit more expensive than chase on was last year, but maybe you get,
00:29:54
Savage Boston
but you You also have, by the way, have to bring back Harold Landry.
00:29:58
Snooty
Yes.
00:29:58
Savage Boston
Like, unless he is like non-functional, like you owe him, like you don't save a dollar by cutting him.
00:29:58
Snooty
ah
00:30:06
Snooty
You do if you designate it It's 1.6 million you'd save.
00:30:06
Savage Boston
say I don't think you save virtually anything. i would looked I would re-look that up. Okay, so you save 1.6 million.
00:30:16
Snooty
Yeah.
00:30:16
Savage Boston
save, but you're still a dead cap of what?
00:30:16
Snooty
it's It's virtually nothing.
00:30:19
Savage Boston
Like, it's still a certain amount dead.
00:30:19
Snooty
It's like 10 or 11 something. Yeah, it's not good...
00:30:22
Savage Boston
10 or 11, dead money.
00:30:23
Snooty
I think I...
00:30:23
Savage Boston
and like Yeah, so not a good contract, especially he's older.
00:30:24
Snooty
it's it's not a good like i think i
00:30:27
Savage Boston
i know that we got excited and everyone like, Vrabel wanted to sign this dude right out right off the bat last year because they didn't have a ton of talent. But I think he's an okay, serviceable player.
00:30:39
Savage Boston
But after that injury, man, he could not come back. And he's not getting younger. So I don't know. like Obviously, if he's going to be a different guy and a healthy guy next year and and looks good again, then maybe...
00:30:51
Savage Boston
great, but you can improve there. And then, and then we don't even have one on the other side. So like, cause chase on hasn't come back yet.
00:30:58
Snooty
That's what saying. I could see them signing two kind of mid-tier guys.
00:30:59
Savage Boston
So
00:31:02
Snooty
You might even be able to find someone who, miss like I said, misses out on a big payday because everybody else paid. And, okay, he gets paid.
00:31:09
Savage Boston
yeah.
00:31:11
Snooty
You pay him for one-year incentive-laden type deal, hoping to strike gold again. I could see something like that um and then and still drafting someone because that room is –
00:31:22
Savage Boston
yeah Again, but someone like Mafé is a ascending. This is what Wolf mentioned today too, is like figuring out ascending players. cause Someone like Mafé is not that old yet. I think he's like 26 maybe.
00:31:35
Savage Boston
Hasn't had the production yet. He only had a couple sacks last year, but it was good with a bunch of pressures. Really athletic guy. he just didn't get quite enough time and blah whatever whatever reasons. right so That could be like Milton Williams. You're trying to sign a guy who's ascending.
00:31:51
Savage Boston
He's young and still improving versus like signing Trey Hendrickson, who you're basically like, you so when you would sign them and then cross your fingers and pray that he doesn't get a hammy or an oblique again.
00:31:52
Snooty
Right.
00:32:03
Snooty
His back.
00:32:03
Savage Boston
And this, you know, back and soft tissue and right. Like variable already hates that shit. So that's why someone like OA or Mafia again, like these are, I believe younger. let me check always age as well. I don't, I think he might be young too.
00:32:18
Savage Boston
Um,
00:32:18
Snooty
think they're both like 27.
00:32:20
Savage Boston
Yeah, he's 27, Odafe Owe. Like, that's still, to me, that's, like, that's that's prime prime. Um, and Mafé is, uh, he's also 27. So they're both just prime beginning of their prime. you got at least, I would say three, four years there of really solid.
00:32:36
Savage Boston
You should have three, four years of really solid play. Like that's the meat of like your dominance, even as like an edge or a defender, unless you're maybe like a cornerback or there's a few positions that you have to be really young for like running back and maybe, maybe corner.
00:32:52
Savage Boston
But you can you can play really strong ball until 30, 31 if you stay healthy. I think at edge, you know, D-tackle. O-line, you can play until you're like 40. um
00:33:02
Snooty
Yeah, you arguably get stronger.
00:33:03
Savage Boston
Yeah, you just get better. so like Guys play until they're very old. But, like, you know, Khalil Mack is 35. And you could sign him on a one-year deal. Like, you've got to do better at that. But, like, it is interesting. I don't know how they're going to take it. You know, that's why we need some reports. Like, I think they need to draft – Again, you got to draft an edge. It's deep. Draft a linebacker, a young linebacker like Rodriguez from Texas Tech. Everyone talks about a fast young or the kid from Pittsburgh. They have a fast linebacker.
00:33:32
Savage Boston
um
00:33:33
Snooty
like the kid from LSU. He's smaller.
00:33:35
Savage Boston
i don't know. Yeah, Z.
00:33:37
Snooty
Yeah.
00:33:37
Savage Boston
Once you fly around in today's NFL, you just have to fly.
00:33:40
Snooty
Yeah.
00:33:41
Savage Boston
Gone are the Teddy Johnson days of of being a meat stick.
00:33:41
Snooty
But.
00:33:45
Savage Boston
in the middle and just hitting eight fucking a fucking gap, filling a gap for a fullback, bam, and just getting concussed.
00:33:50
Snooty
Yeah.
00:33:52
Savage Boston
Um, gone are the, the TJ days. Like you have to be able to run a four, six and fly laterally. Cause everyone is so fast and the offenses are like, so are very quick, quick game explosive, you know?
00:33:58
Snooty
Yeah.
00:34:05
Savage Boston
So Perkins, a Oklahoma guy from last year.
00:34:05
Snooty
I think it's, is it Harold Perkins? that his name?
00:34:12
Savage Boston
I mean, sure. There's another Perkins, but. Yeah, there's a lot. I mean, there's guys coming in. There's guys here.
00:34:18
Snooty
Yeah.
00:34:18
Savage Boston
and There's ways to improve this roster. I'm just happy that most of the guys like you don't have you have needs, but you don't have like.
00:34:28
Savage Boston
I don't think you have to go spend a crazy amount to improve the team like you go get a veteran, go get that dude from the Pittsburgh left guard. you malo or whatever. Like, um or go get Dan, whatever, from Buffalo. Like, there's a couple solid guards to me. I would do that in such a heartbeat, man. Like, I can't think of a bigger need.
00:34:48
Savage Boston
That, to me, is the biggest hole of the team. That maybe, like, safety. Where, like, because Hawkins hasn't signed yet. But, like, you got to, like, you need a vet. You need a vet so bad at left guard.
00:34:58
Snooty
And I think if you, let's do this exercise.
00:34:58
Savage Boston
So bad, like.
00:35:01
Snooty
If you think about this, and this is my overall point with where the team stands currently, list every position that you say would be like a hole or potential hole, depending upon something on ah offense, you need an upgraded ski wide receiver.
00:35:16
Snooty
No doubt. You're old at at tight end and arguably and arguably ineffective.
00:35:19
Savage Boston
Right end two. Right end two. You
00:35:21
Snooty
ah Even at the top tight end, Henry disappeared down the stretch outside of that touchdown against the chargers.
00:35:25
Savage Boston
did.
00:35:28
Snooty
um You need left guard, and that's if you move Wilson to center.
00:35:30
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:35:33
Snooty
You need probably need a right tackle. You definitely need a long-term right tackle, if not an immediate.
00:35:36
Savage Boston
Long term, not not I wouldn't say that's immediate need, but like...
00:35:40
Snooty
It might be. He's 35. I know they we just said they played at 40.
00:35:43
Savage Boston
All right, so that's four. That's right tackle, left guard, tight end, and wide receiver. That's fuller.
00:35:48
Snooty
We'll ignore depth at running back. Obviously, no quarterback. Safety. You probably need a second corner because you can't pay Carlton Davis forever.
00:35:53
Savage Boston
Safety.
00:35:57
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:35:57
Snooty
need an off-ball linebacker because you have you basically have one.
00:35:58
Savage Boston
Linebacker to run around. You can't have Jack Gibbons being Jack Gibbons.
00:36:02
Snooty
Right? You basically have one, and he's older. and ah in um What's his name?
00:36:08
Savage Boston
It's bland.
00:36:09
Snooty
It's playing. And you need an edge. You probably need two edge.
00:36:12
Savage Boston
And one or two edges.
00:36:14
Snooty
Right. Think about that.
00:36:15
Savage Boston
Yeah. so I mean, that's like 10 positions of like future building. They just have to prep yourself.
00:36:20
Snooty
And that's, and that's like, again, that's not even considering upgrades at other positions like depth at running back or depth at safety, you know, things like kick return, things like that. Like they have more holes than you think. Like they were an imperfect team that went on a run and they came up short, which sucks, but like, let's not get silly and and think that we're going to be back there next year automatically. Like they might get, but get there. i'm not saying that, but like,
00:36:47
Snooty
they're far from a perfect team. They have a lot of holes that they need.
00:36:51
Savage Boston
I mean, what one thing we're all, we're all not, cause the team building aspect is fun.
00:36:51
Snooty
They need to fill.
00:36:56
Savage Boston
I like the team building aspect, although, you know, obviously you want to get back to the season, but like the team building is fun. um
Player Focus: Will Campbell's Future
00:37:04
Savage Boston
You know, but we just got to one thing people aren't talking about is just the development of Drake May. I feel like it's not,
00:37:11
Savage Boston
talked about it enough. Like this kid was one vote away from MVP.
00:37:15
Snooty
Mm-hmm.
00:37:15
Savage Boston
And to me, that's not a fluke at all. He was dynamic and explosive. I would just like to see him be better taking the check down, being the intermediates. Like if he gets better with that, like that's mastery of the game.
00:37:30
Savage Boston
You know, just people wanted him to be Mahomes. I think they wanted him to come out and be Mahomes and like go be a second year player sprinting around bombing it all over the place and win the super bowl and i understand why you'd want that like i wanted that too but like it's it's so difficult at how young he is at 23 years old with the weapons he has to do that and again like i don't need to go through who mahomes played in 2019 when they won didn't i forget who he beat um the 49ers he beat with against what jimmy garoppolo like they had a they had a really
00:38:07
Snooty
Mm-hmm.
00:38:09
Savage Boston
Easy road to the Super Bowl, too. You know, like they didn't they did. They had an easy road, too. I remember going through it a few weeks ago, like they had a very easy path. So, you know what I mean? It's just um it all has to kind of line up.
00:38:23
Savage Boston
It all has to line up. And I think Drake will will keep getting better. keep being better. He cares a lot. He's a kid who's, he's really motivated. And so again, you just need him getting better at the intermediate stuff. You need him getting better at check downs. We know he can hit a deep ball. He's a fantastic deep ball thrower.
00:38:39
Savage Boston
Um, but you got to support him. And, um, and I think Will Campbell just, I i hope it works out. I agree with others points, including friend of the pod Bryson. I agree that,
00:38:55
Savage Boston
His body shape is made for guard. Like he's a perfect, like a more narrow. Like I think he he would be fantastic in that position. They're they're not moving him there.
00:39:08
Savage Boston
It's not happening. They're not moving him. Clearly he's going to be the tackle next year. um But it's going to be a massive talking point. You can't show up like that in the Super Bowl and the first two series in the playoffs and get your butt handed to you.
00:39:25
Savage Boston
By OA, then Will Anderson, and, you know, I forget, Daniel Hunter, who I know are all world. And then everyone in the Seahawks. Like, it was just too much. And, like, if you want to make excuses and say it's your knee with no power, that's fine.
00:39:39
Savage Boston
Make an excuse. But just, that means show up to camp. Like, no excuses next year. You have to show up and be good. No getting knocked on your ass every, like, two plays. So...
00:39:50
Snooty
Which, to be fair, he didn't do all year.
00:39:54
Savage Boston
Yeah, he didn't he did not. He was fine most of the beginning of the season.
00:39:57
Snooty
Right?
00:39:57
Savage Boston
But also, he didn't play high-level competition.
00:40:02
Snooty
Yeah. Outside of Miles Garrett.
00:40:06
Savage Boston
Miles Garrett, who did what?
00:40:09
Snooty
I think he had him for two sacks. Two and a half sacks?
00:40:11
Savage Boston
But totally had five sacks in the game, which I just i was like, okay, I was like, oh, God.
00:40:14
Snooty
Correct.
00:40:16
Snooty
Yeah.
00:40:17
Savage Boston
But yes, long story short, yes. As soon as he got in open space and there was like a chip, Garrett was like, and he was parked off.
00:40:22
Snooty
And I think the other part of it is like, not to make this a Will Campbell podcast, but like he now has a full year where he doesn't have to go into, he I think they came out today said he's not going to have surgery.
00:40:33
Snooty
That's huge. Right.
00:40:34
Savage Boston
There's not.
00:40:34
Snooty
So like he can get healthy, get stronger. he doesn't have to prepare for the combine. He doesn't to go through meetings and, and private workouts and pro day and all that bullshit. Like he's going to have a full regular off season to like, okay, let your body rest.
00:40:50
Snooty
Like, it was a very long season for the rookies, a rookie wall, you know, whole nine. And he can actually start to, like, focus and specialize on, like, his technique and stuff. And, like, I think he's worked with Duke duke Mayweather in the past, like I'm sure he will again, like, to really, you know, in refine his technique and stuff.
00:41:08
Snooty
because so And we talked about it the week out day after the Super Bowl or whatever, two days after. Like, so much of what he was he was trying to compensate or I don't know, he was just all fucked up. He was just completely fucked up.
00:41:17
Savage Boston
He missed his feet, his anchoring. it was completely dis destroyed.
00:41:19
Snooty
Everything was just off.
00:41:21
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:41:21
Snooty
So, like, I think if you give him time to, like, okay, like, take a step back, get in the film room, like, get out on the field, work, you know, really, really work at that technique. That's, I said it, and I said this when he got drafted, when we went to that in-season, you know, season ticket holder practice. I said, i told you guys that my biggest concern with him, the way you have to optimize him is you have to have an O-line coach who can really, really hammer the technique home because he's a very good athlete, but if his technique is shit, he doesn't have the physical gifts that others do to make up for that in in terms of size.
00:41:55
Snooty
like But if you if he's if his technique is good, like he will be a good player in this league. so
00:42:00
Savage Boston
I think I'm looking forward to how much mass he can put on and how much bigger he can get.
00:42:03
Snooty
Yep, and that's another part of it.
00:42:05
Savage Boston
And if he gets up to 6'6", he was like 6'6".
00:42:06
Snooty
He's 22.
00:42:08
Savage Boston
By the end of the season, he was probably like 6'6", You know what I mean? Like he needs to be 6'6", 330. You know what i mean? He needs to beef up, keep his athleticism, get his knee right. If he truly wasn't right, again, we can – We don't have to keep hashing Get right. However you need to do it.
00:42:26
Savage Boston
Because he needs people practicing bull rushes all fucking offseason in his face. he needs You need a good enough edge rusher to challenge him.
00:42:34
Snooty
Yeah.
00:42:34
Savage Boston
and We don't even have that. We don't have someone who's like that.
00:42:37
Snooty
He's 22. Like, he's going to physically mature.
00:42:39
Savage Boston
Oh, he's going to get so much better over the last eight years.
00:42:40
Snooty
Like, he hasn't even started to physically mature that.
00:42:43
Savage Boston
He's again, which is why people almost just want to bite the bullet and be like, just go to fucking guard because they think he's going to a hall of famer there.
00:42:43
Snooty
Yeah.
00:42:51
Savage Boston
This is, I get people's mindset, but then you got a glaring hole at left tackle. So it's like, there's no win guys, you know, we, and we all know that.
00:42:55
Snooty
Right.
00:42:59
Savage Boston
So, all right, I'm going end it here. Cause we'll just keep going on about Will Campbell. Appreciate everyone tuning in and we'll, we'll catch you next week.
00:43:06
Snooty
Yep.
00:43:07
Savage Boston
Peace.