Football Function
Off-Season Outlook: AFC & NFC South / More Free Agency News
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Guys and girls welcome back to another edition of the football podcast available on all of your podcasting platforms including on Patreon if you prefer and add free listening experience. As always I'm one of the hosts of this show Michael Ritter. You can find me on X at Michael 5 Ritter on Instagram at Michael Ritter 5 and then obviously the host of the SmackDown Review over on the WWE podcast. Rolling solo once again this episode in particular is going to be a big one hopefully not in terms of links because I am going to try to roll through everything I have to talk about but in terms of what I'm trying to jam pack into one episode it's gonna be a loaded show. We're gonna start off just given the time of year that it is and how we've done the last couple episodes is running through the list of transactions seeing what all took place today on March 12th 2024. The final day before free agency officially begins tomorrow I think 3 p.m. my time 4 o'clock eastern time that's whenever the new league year officially begins and we're officially in the free agency so the legal tampering period has been extremely fun exciting you know you like refreshing your phone every five 10 minutes and just hoping that you see a blockbuster move hoping that you see some type of massive signing specifically with your team but at this point you'll pretty much take everything that you can get and anything you can get so after we run through all of the things that went on today we are going to close out the offseason outlook series that's right we have two divisions left both south divisions and why not just make a double whammy why not just go through all eight teams today on this episode and you know see how far we can take this bad boy so without any further ado let's go ahead and get into all the news that took place today because there isn't going to be a shortage of things to talk about throughout the course of this episode which is 491 cm just dropped episode 490 which is a Heisman themed episode definitely go check that out if you haven't already touching on some of the history and some Hall of Famers that have won the Heisman and giving his thoughts on Johnny Manziel stance about Reggie Bush's vacated Heisman Trophy award and also gives his thoughts under the whole Reggie Bush debacle so definitely go check that out but in the meantime we're gonna go ahead and talk about some of the things that happened in the National Football League today like I said this was March 12th tomorrow March 13th is going to be a pretty big day as well just given what I just talked about the start of free agency so if I were to wait a day to do this then we would have so much to talk about and it would pretty much just like I said yesterday I use the analogy of a load of laundry if you let this load of laundry just continue to stack up it's going to be overwhelming so let's go ahead and take this thing day by day I think that's a smart approach an approach that makes sense and I think we'll end up getting to the promise land but let's go ahead and start with Tyrod Taylor signing with the New York Jets Kenneth Murray signing with the Tennessee Titans Jevon Kenlaw with the New York Jets Darius Williams with the Los Angeles Rams Sam Darnold with the Minnesota Vikings Dequan Jones with the Buffalo Bills Aaron Jones with the Minnesota Vikings Cleveland Furl to the Washington commanders Matt Hennessy with the Philadelphia Eagles Marcus Mariota with the Washington commanders James Winston with the Cleveland Browns Naheem Hines with the Cleveland Browns then Mike Gessicki with the Cincinnati Bengals Shaq Barrett the Miami Dolphins Darnell Mooney coming over to Atlanta Derek Henry going to Baltimore Amique Robertson signing with the Detroit Lions Patrick Queen staying in the division but going to the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers interesting choice therefore him I did not see that one coming drew a lot taking his talents to Detroit and signing with the Detroit Lions Gerald Everett with the Chicago Bears John T. Fowler with the Washington commanders Kenny Moore with the Indianapolis Colts and that just so happened to be the biggest contract for a nickel cornerback in NFL history Josh Uchi with the New England Patriots a Sean Robinson with the Carolina Panthers key Sean Nixon with the Rema Packers Devante Parker with the Philadelphia Eagles Jeremy Chen with the Washington commanders John C. Gardner Johnson returns to the Philadelphia Eagles DeNell Hunter goes to the Houston Texans Willie Gay to the New Orleans Saints Jordan Poir to the Miami Dolphins and then Levante David signing a one-year deal deal to continue his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers so some pretty eventful things happened obviously there's a lot of big name players that were taking off the board there and some of the trades that took place Joe mixed in we thought he was going to be simply released by the Bengals they say not so fast nothing is official until March 13th 4 p.m. so probably today whenever you're listening to this they end up trading him to the Houston Texans for a seventh round pick so I think that both sides are going to enjoy that they're going to like that a little bit more Joe mixing gets to go to the Houston Texans phenomenal organization that's on the way up getting new uniforms why wouldn't you want to go there and then on the bangles side of things they were just going to flat out release them and now they get a seventh round pick and I know a seventh round pick really isn't anything to write home about but at the end of the day it's better than nothing you know depending on what you do with that seventh round pick you could just package it trade it for a future sixth or something along those lines it's better than nothing it's pretty much what I was trying to say and then we see an old-school player-for-player trade Deontay Johnson from the Pittsburgh Steelers goes over to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for Dante Jackson and a pick swap it's a little bit old schooled last time I seen something like this happen that was you know memorable was I think LaShawn McCoy actually got traded for Kiko Alonzo is that right does that sound correct from Buffalo to Philly I'm not really sure exactly but something like that that's happened in the past and obviously Champ Bailey for Clinton Portis that was one of the biggest of all time back whenever the Redskins traded their young up-and-coming corner for a franchise changing running back and I think the Broncos and the Redskins both like the payout that they got from both of her from you know both of those players so anyways that's all that I have written down today there was a lot more things that took place clearly but I did not want to just list you know special teamers getting re-signed or restructures happening if it's involving your favorite team you either already know about it or you'll find out in due time hello it is Ryan and I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin slot games on Chumba Casino calm I looked over the person sitting next to me you know what they were doing they're also playing Chumba Casino coincidence I think not everybody's loving having fun with it Chumba Casino's home to hundreds of casino style games that you can play for free anytime anywhere even at 30,000 feet so sign up now at Chumba Casino dot-com to claim your free welcome bonus it's Chumba Casino dot-com and live the Chumba life With the lucky land sluts you can get lucky just about anywhere this is your captain speaking we've got clear runway and the weather is fine but we're just gonna circle up here a while and get lucky no no nothing like that it's just these cash prizes add up quick so I suggest you sit back keep your trade table upright and start getting lucky play for free at luckylandsluts.com are you feeling lucky no purchase necessary void we're prohibited by law 18 plus terms and conditions apply see website for details hello it is Ryan and I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin slot games on Chumba Casino dot-com I looked over the person sitting next to me and you know what they were doing they're also playing Chumba Casino coincidence I think not everybody's loving having fun with it Chumba Casino's home to hundreds of casino style games that you can play for free anytime anywhere even at 30,000 feet so sign up now at Chumba Casino dot-com to claim your free welcome bonus it's Chumba Casino dot-com and live the Chumba life no purchase necessary TW review by law seat terms and conditions 18 plus but with that out of the way let's go ahead and move on to some more off-season outlook talk and get through these final divisions that we have here in front of us let's start with the AFC just because that is the division that's up next we'll start with the Houston Texans first place with a 10 and 7 record the winner of the AFC South they have the tide for 13th ranked offense 11th ranked defense they have 40.1 million dollars to spin 23rd pick in the 2024 NFL draft they lost in the division around to the Baltimore Ravens 33 free agents although they already have made a decent amount of moves I can actually pull up just some of the things that they've done here thus far in free agency already mentioned Daniel Hunter that was clearly a big-time move they paid him a good amount of money to go be the opposing edge opposite side Will Anderson and that's got to be a very promising young duo but I mentioned 33 of the free agents that they had 14 of them have already either signed with Houston or another team some of the ones that signed with other teams obviously Cameron Johnston Devin Singletary, Blake Cashman and Jonathan Grinard but the players that they signed Daniel Hunter Aziz Al-Shire, Daniko Autry, Jeff Akuta was one that they brought in Foley, Fatakasi but looking at some of the other players that are you know still on the open market that haven't signed with another team we got Sheldon Rankins Derek Barnett, Jerry Hughes, Steven Nelson, Hassan Ridgeway, George Fant, Denzel Perryman, Kareem Jackson, Scott Quisenberry, Josh Jones, Adrian Amos so clearly the Houston Texans I mean the money that they have is a good thing right because they pretty much have their choice do we want to go upgrade which is pretty much what they've been doing Jonathan Grinard was a phenomenal pass rusher I think that they'll trade him for Daniel Hunter nine times out of ten so now you have Hunter you have Anderson you obviously had Derek Steenly they go and get another phenomenal cornerback or at least a highly touted cornerback in Jeff Akuta he does have his questions he's obviously had some consistency issues he's gotten injured and that's really what derailed his his development in Detroit I feel like and he came to Atlanta last year a little bit of a disappointing season it started hot he got hurt really wasn't the same after that but I don't think that the Houston Texans are going to be asking him to be the Savior I just think they're hoping that maybe he can develop and hit his stride in Houston to be a big part of that defense because they are adding a bunch of young talent and obviously somebody with the potential and the pedigree the first round pedigree that Jeff Akuta has you're going to take that move pretty much nine times out of ten but the Texans are a team that you do not want to run into next year they're like you don't want to play the Texans man I promise you that because see just shroud in that it factor that he has you really can't coach that like the Falcons lucked away with the win against the Texans last year and you just you're kind of thankful as a Falcons fan that you don't have to play them this year because it seemed like they're gonna be clicking a lot better this year I love the addition of Joe mixin going to the Texans I think that it's going to really open up that entire offense and it's going to give them a dynamic running back and someone that's probably gonna you know empty his gas tank in Houston I already mentioned him getting new uniforms that's one of the most exciting aspects of being a Houston Texans fan the fact that you know you have that to look forward to and that's not something that happens just every day and it really has never happened with the Houston Texans organization these are the uniforms they debuted in 2002 it is beyond time for them to get a new look in a new wardrobe and I can't wait to see what they do and what they reveal come draft week but any ways that you can improve this team I think that they're already doing it the the minor upgrades that you see at running back at edge rusher obviously they're trying to improve the secondary when you look at the NFL draft you almost wonder are they going to try to maybe make a move up for a wide receiver to get another young talented player to grow with CJ shroud they resigned at Dalton Schultz so that was a pretty important move for them I think that their offense is gonna hit the ground running in 2024 they're gonna pick up right where they left off and be the odds on favorite to win this division but I do think that another wide receiver can really fit in well with what they have going on in Houston obviously you want to get Nico Collins taking another step forward getting some more growth with CJ shroud getting tanked down back I mean there's players in this draft like you know Xavier LeGette that would fit in well with this team maybe even AD Mitchell from the University of Texas keep him in state I know he was you know started off at the University of Georgia but he obviously played for UT last year and he's exactly what the Houston Texans could need so that's pretty much where I would focus is getting more weapons and bolstering up that defense because you know being in the AFC I mean you could have the most talented offense almost talented quarterback if you don't have a defense that could stop the Patrick Mahomes and the Josh Allen's of the world and you're pretty much going to max out at a divisional round appearance now all of the other teams in the AFC South missed the playoffs and we're gonna start off now with the Indianapolis Colts who finished 2023 with a 9 and 8 record third place in the AFC South they did put out the tenth ranked offense however but the 28th ranked defense they have 60.5 million dollars to spend the number 15 pick in the NFL draft 15 free agents and looking at some of the things that they have done thus far in the season Grover Stewart in the offseason I should say Grover Stewart re-signed Kenny Moore re-signed Rayquan Davis was brought in Zach Moss signed with the Cincinnati Bengals but signing or losing Gardner Minshew that's one that I feel like they're going to have to replace I know he's the backup quarterback but when you have someone like Anthony Richardson who is known to get injured and we don't even know how healthy he's gonna be to start the season so I feel like backup quarterback in Indianapolis should be a focus there but some of the guys because they only have 15 like I mentioned some of the main ones have already been either signed by somebody else or by the Colts so Tave and Brian Jake Martin Julian Blackman Gerald or Bernard Avery Henry Black Danny Pinter and Tony Brown so the culture in a little bit of a unique spot because they do have a lot of talent like I mean outside of Darius Leonard kind of falling through the floor I think that they've done a hell of a job developing like in-house they signed Michael Pittman to a long-term deal you liked what you saw from guys like Alec Pierce last year I think that tight end is a position that the Colts have kind of lacked for quite some time now they tried to get Andrew Luck his own tight end with Kobe Fleaner they brought in guys like Mo Ali Cox in the past it just really hasn't worked out for them and I think that this could be the year that they finally say you know what we are getting our next Dallas Clark and I want Brock Bowers to go to the Cincinnati Bengals I have kind of you know been secretly wanting that for quite some time now but they signed Mike Asicki and now you think are the Colts just going to be the team that says screw we need the offensive talent bring in a blue chip player like Brock Bowers we have picked 15 in the draft why not utilize it on somebody that we know is going to give us a pretty decent return on our investment so I'm all for you know the the Colts making a move and getting a player that's going to you know put points on the scoreboard and somebody for Anthony Richardson to grow with I know he's from Florida and their rival is Georgia but I think if you were to have a Gator and Bulldog connection there it would absolutely you know take you to places that you want to go so the division if you look around all of these teams are starting to get talent on the offensive side of the ball Titans are a little bit behind but you don't want to fall back to where they are you want to try to keep pace with the Texans and the Jaguars you know you want to try to move up and surround Anthony Richardson with as much as you possibly can they have a dynamic running game obviously with Jonathan Taylor the offensive line can get back to form and I think a pick like Bowers could really take this offense and this team in general over the top let's turn our attention to the Jacksonville Jaguars who finished 9 and 8 in 2023 second in the AFC South they tied with the Houston Texans for the 13th ranked offense they put out the 17th ranked defense 1.1 million dollars to spin and the 17th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft and the Jags really haven't been quiet thus far and free agency just looking at some of the things they've already done they signed Gabe or Gabe Davis they did lose Darius Williams to the Los Angeles Rams what they signed Mitch Morse to be the new starting center Darnell Savage to replace Ray Sean Jenkins and be the new strong safety Devon Dooner or Duvernay was brought in Ronald Darby Darnis Johnston they did lose their kicker Brandon McManus to the Washington commanders but it seems like every year the Jags they're just not afraid to make big-time moves looking at some of their remaining impending free agents you got Ray Sean Jenkins Jamal Agnew Dwayne Smoot Kaleb on chase on Calvin Ridley that's pretty much it that's pretty much all the names that you need to know and I just want to say some really quickly screw the Jags all right they are being some we'll just call them hoes for how they're handling this whole Calvin Ridley extension long story short they owe us a second round pick if they sign him to an extension however if they push it to the start of the league year like four o'clock Eastern time then that pick is going to remain a third round pick even if they sign him to an extension so yeah your mom's a hoe whoever the general manager is there in Jacksonville I just I can't believe that that we're actually going to lose out on that second round pick but hey that's just a business you got to blame the Falcons for negotiating that deal and making it so easy for the Jags to avoid it but you know hopefully before four o'clock we get that news that Calvin Ridley re-signed with the Jags and if not I hope he signed somewhere else I hope he goes somewhere else or if he does stay with the Jags I don't want to wish negative because obviously one of my best friends in my life Dylan Gonzalez is a Jaguars fan so I don't want to wish negative on them as an organization I would still like for them to have success but maybe not Calvin really be a big part of it if that makes sense Judy was boring hello then Judy discovered Chumba Casino calm it's my little escape now Judy's the life of the party oh baby mama's bringing home the bacon whoa take it easy Judy the Chumba life is for everybody so go to Chumba Casino calm and play over a hundred casino style games join today and play for free for your chance to redeem some serious prices Chumba Casino calm no purchase necessary where provided by law 18 plus terms and conditions apply see what's like for details Fargo the new virtual assistant from Wells Fargo makes banking faster and easier like this Fargo what's my checking account routing number and this Fargo turn off my debit card and this Fargo what did I spend on groceries last month and that's just the beginning do you Fargo you can in the Wells Fargo mobile app learn more at Wells Fargo comm slash get Fargo terms and conditions apply your mobile carriers availability and message and data rates may apply Wells Fargo bank and I remember FDIC hello saver whether you're saving for that trip to the tropics or saving for an emergency now is the time to take advantage of Wells Fargo savings options Wells Fargo offers savings accounts that can help you save towards your goals so what are you saving for visit a Wells Fargo branch or Wells Fargo comm slash save to open a savings account today Wells Fargo bank and a member FDIC but Trevor Lawrence is the big glaring stain right now as to why is this team not as good as what they should be phenomenal defense look at what Josh Allen did last year like he led the league in sacks now he's playing on the franchise tag they do have talent all over the defensive side of the ball they have receivers like a pretty much do whatever you need them to the running game it's not as dominant as what we would like it to be especially if you want to take a lot of heat off of Trevor Lawrence but I think this is a pretty big a pretty big year for their quarterback like it really is there's Jags fans that are not sold on Trevor Lawrence that kind of feel like they got hosed by this all this talk of like a generational talent picking him number one overall can't miss just slam dunk and it's pretty lackluster so far outside of some stretches here and there in some flashes where he's played decent football but the injuries really added up last year and it just seems like the Jags can't get out of their own way and the start to their season was a hell of a lot better than the finish and that's really where we need to improve but if we're talking about ways to get better personnel wise you need to figure out what you're doing a wide receiver one maybe get some I mean I don't know because I do like ETN but is he who you want to be your workhorse like is he who you want to pound the rock 15 20 times a game maybe get a a more powerful back to compliment him and maybe let them split carries a little bit but some offensive playmaking you can never go wrong there and just getting some maybe some secondary help I think that cornerback is a position that the Jags can target get somebody to compete with and help Tyson Campbell they're in the back and obviously bringing in Darnell Savage we need to see more moves from the Jags and we're probably going to see that as free agencies just now getting started the final team in the AFC South that we'll talk about was the Tennessee Titans who finished last place in this division with a six and eleven record 27th ranked offense 16th ranked defense 74.3 million dollars to spin the number seven pick in the NFL Draft and I'm wondering what the hell are the Titans going to do losing Taylor Loewan they you know it seems like the Titans are always they've always kind of been a team that likes to have a dominant offensive line they like to be able to run the ball we'll see what happens now that they do not have Derek Henry he signed with the Ravens like many other Titans legends after they leave that organization they did sign Lloyd Cushin Berry Chidobi a lose a Tony Pollard so I do want to run the ball maybe get a little bit more they signed Kenneth Murray but like I mentioned they lost Derek Henry Dineko Autry to a division rival Aaron Brewer signed with the Miami Dauphin Shawn Bunting sign with the Cardinals as he's Al Shire so they lost multiple of their players to division rivals some of their other free agents that are still there on the board Ryan Tennehill Terrell Edmonds Christian Fulton Chris Moore Chris Hubbard Nick Westbrook Marlon Davidson former Falcon terrible draft pick there yeah the Titans they're in a they're in a little bit of a tougher spot because when you look at the teams that they're up against they all have one thing in common all of those other teams already have a quarterback Anthony Richardson Trevor Lawrence and CJ shroud and we look at the Titans they're pretty much just kicking the tires on young quarterbacks too but they're shopping at a different store that these other teams are like when you look at the quarterbacks that they got number two overall CJ shroud number five overall Anthony Richardson number one overall Trevor Lawrence and you're trotting out Will Levis and Malik Willis and you know I understand these are talented prospects coming out but the NFL is such a big difference and Will Levis outside of a dominant game against the Falcons and some flashes here or there he really didn't give the Titans really much hope that he was taking big steps forward now you are going to build around them obviously you do want to provide more weapons for whoever the quarterback is and obviously Brian Callahan the new head coach who comes from the Cincinnati School of Thought where you could probably expect that number seven pick to be Malik neighbors or Roma Dunes a somebody like that I think that they are without a doubt probably going to take a wide receiver now I just said offensive line seems to be the smart thing to do if you're a Titans front office member but I'm not going to judge what works and here he said I want the people who score touchdowns and put points on the board paraphrasing that's pretty much what he said he referenced the Bengals taking Jamar Chase over Pennay soul and how it worked out he wants to do something similar why not dip into that LSU wide receiver pool one more time but the Titans are really always going to have a decent defense I know losing Mike Vable might that might be felt a little bit but at the same time you never know what you're gonna get you could get some improvements in areas that Mike Vable had the Titans playing at a disadvantage you're going to continue to stockpile talent on that side of the ball and pretty much just hope for the best it's not going to happen in one offseason I'm not going to sugarcoat it whatever you have players like Jeffrey Simmons it seems a lot easier to get the defense right because he might cover up a lot of holes because he's such a disruptive force but if Jeffrey Simmons misses some time he's it's like a quarterback missing time you know like you have to have some depth behind him and some players around him that you know compliment his game he gets to the quarterback maybe he makes the quarterback hold the ball like a secondary makes the quarterback hold the ball a little bit too long or maybe just a hair longer in which case Jeffrey Simmons and company can you know do what they have to do so as far as this division goes as a whole I feel like the Texans are in the driver's seat they're making the appropriate moves right now to not only succeed this year but in the coming years they're being built the right way and you know you love to see it and I am admiring it from afar because the next team we're going to talk about from a different division a different conference just so happens to hit a little bit close to home so we're going to start with the NFC South and obviously the Atlanta Falcons who finished for the third straight year with a 7 and 10 record third place in the NFC South 26 ranked offense 18th ranked defense 16.9 million dollars to spend in salary cap space number eight pick in the draft for the third year in a row as well but the six year in a row to miss the playoffs absolutely embarrassing absolutely pathetic I do expect us to make the playoffs this year though I mean come on we have I think the best quarterback in our division now we have a very easy division I know Tampa Bay is pretty much running it back but I think that if Kirk Cousins will the quarterback of the Falcons last year they probably run away with that division and now that we have a much better offensive mind I like Zach Robertson a hell of a lot more than Arthur Smith I think that you know Darryl Mooney obviously Drake London and Kyle Pitts like these boys are going to eat in this offense we're gonna be throwing the ball a lot I wouldn't be opposed going offensive line in round one just to give Kirk Cousins more time protect your very expensive investment don't let him get hit obviously he's coming off of the torn Achilles I think the number one priority should be protecting this guy now if Malik neighbors does fall to number eight you jump all over that get more weapons but the Mooney signing does make me feel a little bit more comfortable that we can punt on the round one wide receiver and get a more talented prospect at a position that we're going to need maybe next year of the year after I would like us to prepare for a life after Jake Matthews not just oh we lost Jake Matthews let's go draft a left tackle well this isn't a good tackle class well fuck we kind of you know put ourself in a little bit of position like we backed ourself in a corner that we have to take a tackle now like no if one falls into your lap you take the talented football player Caleb McGarry he's a decent run blocker as far as his pass blocking goes he's kind of sort of ash cheeks so I wouldn't mind getting someone like Joe Alt that could easily kick Caleb McGarry out of the starting lineup or eventually replace Jake Matthews at left tackle but that's just my personal opinion there's a lot of directions you can go obviously edge rusher I will never rule that position out maybe a possible trade down to get more draft picks there's lots of ways we can go here but having Rahim Morris this new defensive system that we're bringing in I think the defense if we can just be what we were last year even just 18th ranked if we can get more out of our offense more scoring and then I truly think it'll benefit the Falcons obviously you know lead to more wins the next team we'll talk about here the Carolina Panthers 2 and 15 last year last place in the NFC South and in the NFL is as a whole they tied for the 31st ranked offense 29th ranked defense 20.2 million dollars to spend but they do not have a first round pick in the 2024 NFL draft the thing that you know really hurt the Panthers right now is the Brian Burns trade trading in for a second in a fist whenever you offer two first round picks that's got to hurt trading Christian McCaffrey for pretty much pennies on the dollar that's got to hurt and seeing what they or what McCaffrey has already done I expect Brian Burns to really blossom in New York it's not a great time to be a Panther fan I feel for CAM I really do these you got it you know they got to be tough times but these are waters that you just get through you know you just you kind of just put your head down you go to work you just grind it out these are terrible terrible times for the Panthers right now but they're probably still gonna split with the Falcons that's just kind of how it goes one of those two wins that they got last year came against the Atlanta Falcons so I really can't talk too much shit on this team not that I really would anyways obviously I don't have any bad blood towards this team I'm just pretty much calling a spade to spade their general manager is running this team at the same way a third grader would and you know that's pretty much being kind like when you turn down trade offers to get a one-year rental of Brian Burns like you deserve what you get at that point but I don't think it's gonna be long for this team I really don't it'll be a couple years at most before you you know the roster looks a hell of a lot better now all of that is kind of depending on Bryce Young and how he develops because you have to hit reset the quarterback for a guy you trade it up to get that's how you set a franchise back but at this point whenever you're not really an attractive free agency destination so you're pretty much just signing you know bottom of the barrel guys you don't have valuable draft assets so when you're talking about improving this team it's gonna be minor improvements and you just have to hope that you can take a big enough step you know in the coming years that the moves get made and ownership really you know puts their hand on this and you know forces the the coach as I say that they forced their team to not draft CJ shroud so man that might not be a good thing I don't know I don't want to just make this all doom and gloom for the Panthers because I really think that they're the type of organization that can get it right we've seen them draft well in the past and you know build multiple different versions of good teams but it just seems like right now the cloud is certainly over their head but let's just hope that Bryce Young can pan out that's just step one you solve that quarterback position and things tend to work out for themselves so let's all just have faith that Bryce Young might actually be a starting quarterback in this league Fargo the new virtual assistant from Wells Fargo makes banking faster and easier like this Fargo what's my checking account routing number and this Fargo turn off my debit card and this Fargo what did I spend on groceries last month and that's just the beginning do you Fargo you can in the Wells Fargo mobile app learn more at Wells Fargo dot com slash get Fargo terms and conditions apply your mobile carriers availability and message and data rates may apply Wells Fargo bank and a member FDIC hello saver whether you're saving for that trip to the tropics or saving for an emergency now is the time to take advantage of Wells Fargo savings options Wells Fargo offers savings accounts that can help you save towards your goals so what are you saving for visit a Wells Fargo branch or Wells Fargo dot com slash save to open a savings account today Wells Fargo bank and a member FDIC Fargo the new virtual assistant from Wells Fargo makes banking faster and easier like this Fargo what's my checking account routing number and this Fargo turn off my debit card and this Fargo what did I spend on groceries last month and that's just the beginning do you Fargo you can in the Wells Fargo mobile app learn more at Wells Fargo dot com slash get Fargo terms and conditions apply your mobile carriers availability and message and data rates may apply Wells Fargo bank and a member FDIC moving on to the New Orleans Saints nine and eight finish last year second place in the NFC South ninth ranked offense tent or eighth ranked defense and they still miss the plant like in this division that just tells you right there how shitty the Saints are the fact that they have a ninth ranked offense eighth ranked defense which is literally like one of the like if you average that out probably like top 10 team you know but they don't even win the NFC South that's gonna be you know just absolutely pathetic so I do feel for the Saints in that regard not really I mean you know they are one team that you're not gonna hear much sympathy for me now I will say they you know still having Dennis Allen they're probably gonna have a you know well above average defense but as far as the roster goes like on offense they've been kicking the can down the road I'm hearing they're gonna part ways with Michael Thomas hopefully they do I'm tired of seeing that annoying overrated just nuisance would love to see him go to the AFC and just get out of my sight completely but the Saints do have the number 14 overall pick in the draft and please let them draft somebody like you know bonics or one of these quarterbacks that you know have a lower chance of panning out because I would love to see them with but for what it's worth the Saints usually hit on those types of picks whenever they have a decent or earlier to mid first round pick it's whenever they usually make them pan out so who knows what they're going to do to improve the situation the salary cap isn't going to fix them you know itself right now they're $202,000 over that's nothing obviously we've seen teams have a lot more work to do so the Saints are in a decent spot in terms of the cap for right now as we sit but just looking at some of the contracts they have an aging roster I think that they really just don't want to gut the roster and hit rebuild but I think at some point they're gonna have to look in the mirror and realize that's what it's gonna take to really get this team to take a another turn and take that next step the final team that we're gonna talk about here Tampa Bay Buccaneers the first place NFC South champion with a 9 and 8 record 20th ranked offense seventh ranked defense 16.6 million dollars to spend pick number 26 on the draft I mentioned they are running it back this is a team that lost in the division around to the Detroit Lions so why not run it back you clearly have a pretty solid foundation very talented defense I don't expect them to lose Antoine Winfield pretty sure they tagged him and then obviously the Monte David got re-signed Mike Evans got re-signed Baker Mayfield got re-signed they're bringing the whole band back this is just 2024 and 2023 Buccaneers are pretty much gonna be identical minus guys like Shaq Barrett but those are just decisions that you have to make you would assume that they prepare for that so how does this team get better in the back end of the first round they don't really have a whole lot of holes so you really could go best play available but I just I feel like cornerback is the is the position that kind of jumps out you just traded Carlton Davis you lost Sean Murphy bunting who do you have that you're gonna throw out there and say all right go guard Drake London go guard Chris Olave go guard who the Panthers just sign it wide receivers she's oh yeah Deontay Johnson they made a trade for him so yeah I go outside or go out there and guard Deontay Johnson you want someone that has potential someone that you could maybe develop into being a big-time player a cornerstone going forward so if I were the general manager I would probably invest that pick into the secondary I try to bolster up that unit and see if you can't just you know run it back and win another NFC South championship because it seems like this is the favorite every single year and if they're not the favorite they end up getting it done so the Falcons are gonna have to beat this team they're definitely the team to be so far in this division but that does it for the off-season outlook series here in 2024 I do apologize that the last three divisions had to be rapid fire free agency just caught up to us a lot quicker than what we were hoping and that's a good thing you know you want all these news items that be happening and you know your timeline to be popping so I'm all for it I just realized holy crap we better get this show rolling otherwise we're going to get left in the dust luckily that did not take place so thank you guys so much for tuning in if you listen to every single one of these divisions hopefully it was helpful at least in some way to give you an idea on how at the very least I view these divisions and how I think they are going to improve their roster or where they even stand so far in the 2024 off-season but thank you guys so much got some good stuff coming I think we're gonna have Howard Poole on the show tomorrow to talk about free agency and all of the things that are gonna be happening once the you know the 2024 lead year officially gets kicked off that's at 4 p.m. so I'm ready to get this bad boy out into the airwave so you can digest it and tomorrow we'll have a whole you know a whole mother long-ass list of names and signings to talk about I'm looking forward to that I really am especially since it's strictly going to be a free agency episode we actually get to dive in properly so thank you guys so much one more time have a damn good rest of your week walk passionately in the direction of your dreams and I'll talk to you soon Fargo the new virtual assistant from Wells Fargo 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