Greg Bedard, along with Nick Cattles, go through the entire free agent market and debate who would be a fit for the Patriots.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 We got more free agency notes, Greg.
00:01 A lot of stuff happening throughout the league today because it is the deadline
00:05 for these tags to be used.
00:06 Let's start with wide receiver.
00:08 So Mike Evans agrees to a two year contract extension with the Bucks.
00:12 He's off the market.
00:13 Michael Pittman gets the non-exclusive franchise tag.
00:16 If people are wondering, that means that yes, you can negotiate with Michael
00:20 Pittman if you're the Patriots, but you'd have to give up and think it's what?
00:23 Two first round picks in return for Pittman.
00:27 I don't see that happening.
00:28 So just kind of your thoughts on the domino effect at wide receiver.
00:32 And it certainly looks like Calvin Ridley might be the guy that's best available
00:36 by the time we get to next week, right?
00:38 Yeah, I just think that, uh, he's probably going to be the top guy available and,
00:43 and he's going to get overpaid by somebody.
00:46 And I do not expect Elliot Wolfe and the Patriots to over pay for players.
00:51 I do think they'll pay and, and, but you know, getting crazy on Calvin Ridley.
00:55 I don't know about that.
00:56 That's more for other teams to do.
00:58 Um, one thing I wanted to point out, cause you also have like T Higgins, um,
01:02 yep, you know, is getting tagged by the Bengals, uh, another wide receiver.
01:07 I did want to point one thing out for people, and this is possible and it's
01:11 very possible with T Higgins and also luxurious need the chiefs cornerback.
01:16 Is that yes, the compensation is whatever it is to first round
01:20 picks or what have you, uh, depending on the tag, but nothing
01:25 precludes the teams from working at a deal.
01:28 So basically they, they, they would just trade the player.
01:32 You can, you can agree to a trade that's lesser than the tag.
01:36 It's very similar to how the Patriots got Wes Welker from the dolphins.
01:40 I think Wes was a restricted free agent at the time.
01:43 Um, the Patriots and the dolphins came to an agreement on compensation,
01:49 and then the Patriots signed Wes Welker to a new contract once he got there.
01:53 So don't be afraid of the compensation cause you don't really don't
01:57 need to sign a contract offer.
01:59 Now, if you really want the player and the other team wants to retain them,
02:02 then, uh, yeah, you're going to have to give that up, but that rarely happens.
02:06 Most of the time that the teams settle on say like one first round pick, and
02:11 then you got to pay the player, but you, you can, uh, you can craft a deal like that.
02:15 Great point.
02:16 All right, let's get to the tight end market.
02:18 So Dalton Schultz, who was somebody who's been linked with the Patriots
02:22 in some reports over the last few days, he's going to stay in Houston three
02:25 years, $36 million, of course, this could set the market for Hunter Henry,
02:30 maybe a little less than Dalton Schultz, maybe the same as Dalton Schultz.
02:34 But now the Patriots, Greg, they're looking at Henry who reportedly they
02:38 are far apart talking to him about contract extension.
02:41 Noah Fant is also out there.
02:43 Gerald Everett is also out there.
02:45 Where do you think this, uh, leads new England as far as the
02:48 tight end position goes?
02:50 Yeah, I think that would want Hunter Henry back.
02:53 What was the Schultz?
02:54 How much did he get?
02:54 Three years, 36.
02:56 So that's, is that right about the franchise tag?
03:01 I think, right.
03:01 Franchise tag went up a little bit.
03:03 Yeah.
03:04 And that's where, you know, Hunter Henry got it, you know, three years ago from the
03:07 Patriots, him and Johnny Smith both got like $12 million per year, um, from the
03:12 Patriots, um, you would think Hunter would be a little bit below that.
03:16 I could see why he's drawn a hard line and maybe wants to go to market.
03:19 Remember how the Patriots ended up with both Johnny Smith member, they signed
03:24 Johnny Smith first and then sort of Hunter Henry happened at the same level
03:29 a day or two, uh, after that.
03:31 And what really happened was Hunter Henry, uh, I think turned down the Patriots
03:37 offer, went to look for, for bigger money.
03:39 Wasn't out there.
03:41 Then came back to the Patriots and just said, is that offer still on the table?
03:45 And then Bill thought about it and was like, too tight ends at that.
03:48 No.
03:49 Okay.
03:49 Yeah, let's do it.
03:51 So Hunter is definitely, you know, one of these guys who, and there's
03:55 nothing wrong with this.
03:56 It's not a criticism.
03:57 You know, I think he's, he's looking for the best deal possible.
04:00 And, uh, to me, I think at the end of the day, you know, getting Pharaoh
04:04 Brown and Hunter Henry back, I think would be the best thing for the Patriots.
04:08 Then you can draft one and develop a guy sort of like what we wanted them to do
04:12 last year, uh, but of course we all know what happened with all that stuff.
04:16 Uh, tackle and tight end.
04:19 And so I could see Hunter Henry being back here, but again, they're going to let
04:22 them go to market and determine his value.
04:24 All right.
04:25 More tag news.
04:26 Josh Allen just tagged by the Jaguars.
04:28 Uh, he was one of the top edge guys defensively there and free agency, or
04:33 was expected to be, or hope to be, uh, he's off the market.
04:37 He's been tagged.
04:37 Brian Burns also tagged by Carolina.
04:39 So both edges get tagged.
04:41 Greg, I mentioned this name a little bit earlier.
04:43 I found it interesting that Doug Codd, Andrew Callahan at the Herald.
04:47 They've reported that the Patriots are going to target at least, at least one
04:54 elite defender who would start immediately for Gerard Mayo.
04:57 Now, when I think elite, I think elite, a lot of people say, oh, that guy's elite,
05:04 but he's like eighth or ninth, as far as rankings at the position elite
05:08 means cream of the crop, baby.
05:09 We're talking top 10, top 15 free agent here.
05:12 And I do wonder if edge is one of those places we talked about, you know,
05:16 Matthew Judon, maybe it's time to move on from him because of his contract.
05:20 We know he's going to want to get paid.
05:21 Daniel Hunter is a name I keep going back to.
05:24 Uh, he's somebody who has been incredibly productive, more than
05:28 70 pressures last year for Minnesota.
05:30 He's out on the market.
05:32 Uh, what do you think about Codd and Callahan's report about, Hey, maybe
05:35 the Patriots do go defense and try to get one of those elite names available.
05:40 Yeah, I think it's, uh, in my opinion, it's a case of,
05:45 um, I think it's swapping out one for another sort of what we talked about
05:50 earlier, I think, I think that Jude on, we all know what the contract issues
05:54 were last year and it's sort of hold in and camp, and then they move money from.
05:58 Um, 2024 into 2023 to get them done.
06:01 And now he's, he's not set to make much and, you know, no guaranteed money, stuff
06:05 like that, and, and, uh, a player has accomplished as Duggar, uh, Jude on and,
06:11 uh, doesn't like that.
06:13 And, you know, he's going to want a new contract or a new situation.
06:16 And I could see, uh, the Patriots saying like, okay, you know, go, go do your
06:22 thing and then swapping, you know, Hunter in for him would make a lot of sense.
06:27 I do think that I think the edge in free safety will, will be two spots on defense
06:32 where they're looking to make an impact.
06:35 You know, Josh Uche probably gone.
06:37 If Jude on is gone, they don't have anything on the edge, so they
06:41 better have a plan at edge.
06:43 I know some people were getting excited about Christian Wilkins, who's not
06:46 going to sign with the dolphins, but the question about Wilkins and really any
06:51 interior defensive lineman that's out there is you've got bar more.
06:54 And if you're going to sign bar more to a big fat contract extension, how much
06:59 money are you willing to pour into the interior defensive line?
07:02 Are you going to give bar more of this big fat extension plus give Christian
07:06 Wilkins a top of the market deal.
07:07 And now you're paying what?
07:08 35, $40 million average annual value at, at inside, you know, defensive line.
07:14 I just, I can't imagine that's going to be the case.
07:17 So I would look at edge.
07:18 I would look at safety and you know, it depends on again, the elite
07:24 moniker, but corner could be an option too.
07:27 You can move Jonathan Jones out of the outside.
07:30 So I don't think it'd be crazy to think that cornerback could be a target,
07:35 including old friends, Stefan Gilmore.
07:37 Maybe he's open to coming back on a one-year deal until you can kind of
07:40 reshape that thing with Christian Gonzalez.
07:42 Uh, let's get back to the office.
07:44 I will say, uh, just one, just real quick, I will say, um, totally agree on Hunter.
07:49 Um, Bryce Huff from the jets is a guy who I think is going to get paid.
07:54 Um, he's sort of flying under the radar, but, um, you know, really good.
08:00 And so, um, you know, and I do think, I think free safety when you look at it
08:05 and, and we don't know what their plans are with Marte Mapu, as we talked about
08:08 before, um, and how they view him.
08:11 But to me, there's no question that free safety was a weakness in this unit.
08:15 And if I'm Gerard Mayo, that's something that I'm looking to upgrade.
08:18 Yeah.
08:20 And some would bring up Hassan Radek, but of course, if you're going to, if you're
08:23 going to go out and get him, that's going to cost you a pick or two, because
08:26 that would be via trade.
08:27 So, uh, but he is another guy that's been reportedly available, even
08:31 though he says he wants to stay.
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08:52 All right, let's get back to the offensive line quickly.
09:02 We were talking about a window a little bit earlier.
09:04 There have been reports, Greg, that the Patriots are targeting Tyron Smith.
09:08 Of course, from Dallas, we thought that Smith was going to stay in Dallas.
09:12 Now it looks like he's unlikely to stay in Dallas.
09:15 Might lead you to believe that during the combine, his agent heard something
09:20 that he might be able to get more money than Dallas was willing to offer.
09:24 Would you like that idea?
09:25 The Patriots going out and getting Smith on a, on a short term, one or two year
09:29 deal and putting him at left tackle.
09:31 Yes.
09:32 And by the way, I forgot to add, like, first of all, nobody loves
09:35 Christian Wilkins more than I do.
09:37 I have loved watching his film over the years for the dolphins, but I agree.
09:41 It doesn't make a whole lot of sense for this team unless you're going to move
09:46 like the Von Godshow or something like that, even though they play
09:49 slightly different positions.
09:51 As far as Tyron Smith, when he's on the field, he's still elite.
09:58 The problem with him is he's hurt all the time.
10:00 So yes, in a vacuum, if he's healthy, yes, I would definitely look into that.
10:06 And I think that would be appealing, at least at least as a placeholder.
10:09 Maybe you get a developmental guy, you're going to have to have another plan if he
10:13 goes down because he often goes down and I don't even know how much he
10:16 practices and things like that.
10:17 You know, one thing, Nick, I want to caution people on, and we're going to
10:21 hear this and we've already heard it and we're going to hear it a ton more.
10:25 To me, it's hard to discern these reports, like how much interest there is,
10:32 because, you know, what's one reporter is, you know, the interest is another
10:38 reporter's due diligence and that sort of thing.
10:41 So, you know, I just caution people like just because the Patriots, they might be
10:47 quote unquote linked to somebody.
10:49 Look, the Patriots are going to be linked to somebody.
10:52 Look, the Patriots are going to, anybody who's available, including Tyron Smith,
10:56 they are going to check in on.
10:58 They are going to see what the, not only for their own interest, but possibly just
11:02 gauging the market, maybe even negotiations with other players and things like that.
11:06 Basically anybody that is available, and this goes for free agents, this goes for
11:10 trade, the Patriots are, someone from the Patriots is going to call that team, is
11:15 going to call that agent and find out what's going on.
11:19 Hey, let, keep us in mind.
11:21 Let us know what you're doing.
11:22 Does that mean that they're interested that they're really targeting this person?
11:26 No.
11:27 So, you know, just people should just be careful about, you know, linking too much.
11:35 A lot of this is just due diligence and doing their job and making sure they know
11:39 the market and not actual interest.
11:43 And sometimes that's tough to discern.
11:45 Yeah.
11:45 And I'll just go back to your points on Smith and his health.
11:49 You have to have a backup plan, as you said, is Calvin Anderson back in football?
11:53 How is he health wise?
11:55 Do you think he has something left that he was not able to show last year because
12:00 of the illness he had?
12:01 Is he your swing tackle?
12:03 Uh, Jermaine Illuminor is a name that I keep bringing up.
12:06 Is he great?
12:07 No, he's not, but he's been pretty good for the Raiders the last couple of years.
12:10 He could be a swing tackle.
12:12 He could be some depth insurance.
12:14 If you go out there and you get Smith.
12:15 Smith played 14 games last year.
12:17 He was a second team all pro.
12:19 And you know, a lot of people in Dallas would tell you it's because they
12:22 changed his practice schedule.
12:24 I E he did not take a lot of contact during the week.
12:27 They preserved his body.
12:29 So, uh, maybe that gets him somewhere before I give you another offensive
12:33 line name, Greg, I could be wrong, but I think you like this guy.
12:38 And I don't know if it's going to matter at all or not, but, uh, interestingly
12:42 enough, it looks like the dolphins have released, uh, they're starting to
12:46 release, uh, their starting linebacker, Jerome Baker, is that somebody who you
12:50 take a look at, um, uh, I would need to do more of a deep dive.
12:58 There's some of it.
12:58 I love Baker's athletic ability, but man, he is snookered a lot
13:03 on play action overaggressive.
13:05 I mean, is that the type of guy that Gerard Mayo looks at and says,
13:08 I can coach this guy up, um, possibly to me, I thought he, at least in the
13:13 scheme, the recent scheme for the dolphins, I thought he was more of a
13:17 liability than anything, but certainly, uh, uh, a fascinating prospect.
13:23 If you think there's another level you can coach him to another name, that's
13:27 been mentioned about this old line, possibly Patriots looking at targeting,
13:32 talking to whatever the case may be.
13:34 Jonah Williams.
13:36 He is somebody supposedly on the radar of the Patriots.
13:40 I don't know if this is in case you don't get Smith.
13:42 Uh, it sounded like the report that I read, I think it was in mass live, but
13:47 Karen and Chris Mason and Mark Daniels, uh, that report certainly made it sound
13:52 like it was Smith first and then Williams, if they couldn't get Smith, but your
13:56 thoughts on Jonah Williams as an option.
13:57 Yeah.
13:58 I mean, that's a name that I've been talking about for a while that, you
14:01 know, if, if, if I was going to draw it up, um, Jonah Williams would be that,
14:06 that tackle that I can get, and I'm still flexible because he's
14:10 played both sides of the line.
14:12 You could go, okay, we're going to lock up Jonah Williams.
14:15 So we know we have a starting tackle and it could be, he can start at left tackle.
14:20 He did that for many years and was a good, solid player.
14:23 He's better in pass pro than he is run blocking.
14:25 Um, and say you end up at the end of the day, trading down and taking one of the
14:32 top tackles in the draft or, or what have you, the secondary and the kid pops well,
14:37 and he can play left tackle.
14:38 Um, you know, let's just use Joe all as an example, say you trade down a few
14:43 spots in the draft out of quarterback and you draft the best left tackle.
14:47 If Joe Walt hits and he's the left tackle, all of a sudden Jonah Williams
14:50 is your right tackle and now you're cooking with gas.
14:53 So Jonah Williams is a guy that I would have a lot of interest in.
14:57 I wouldn't mind, Nick, I don't know how you feel about this.
15:01 I wouldn't mind kicking the tire on Makai Beckton.
15:03 Um, I know he's had a lot of issues, you know, it all depends on the contract
15:07 and stuff, but man, there's no question.
15:10 His early rookie tape was unbelievable.
15:13 And you know, sometimes guys just go through.
15:16 It stretches in their career, especially when they're young, when, uh, they go
15:21 through injuries and then all of a sudden they come out of that, is he coachable?
15:24 You know, a lot of it's going to depend on what the Patriots, what Scott Peters,
15:28 the offensive line coach, what Kugler, the assistant offensive line coach, what
15:32 they thought about him coming out in the draft, there's no question.
15:35 The talent is on the upside is unbelievable.
15:38 And there's one other name that I wanted people to, and I don't even know if it's
15:42 on this list where I'm looking and I keep scrolling through pro football talk.
15:46 Um, I am going to try to find it.
15:49 It is a, the Vikings have a backup offensive lineman that I heard things
15:56 about when the Patriots traded for, which is the dude that they traded for
16:01 for the Vikings, uh, the Darien low.
16:04 Um, somebody told me, uh, you know, the Darien low's got a chance.
16:10 You're who you really want is a guy named old Oli Udo, uh, six round pick in 2019
16:19 that, uh, that there's a, you know, he's six foot five, six foot, five and a half,
16:25 320 pounds, um, you know, hasn't really got a ton of a chance with the Vikings,
16:30 but he might be sort of one of those under the radar, you know, small bet,
16:35 hoping it, uh, hits big that the Patriots could be interested in.
16:39 Yeah.
16:40 To get back to Beckton, he is just a massive human.
16:44 And the question is, can he stay in shape?
16:46 Can he stay healthy?
16:47 How invested is he?
16:49 I watched, I actually watched him a decent amount at Louisville because,
16:53 uh, one of my really good friends down in Virginia is a Louisville fan.
16:56 So I saw a lot of Lamar Jackson and McKay Beckton during those couple of years.
16:59 And, and yeah, I mean, there's no doubt about his potential,
17:02 his athleticism at that size.
17:04 He'd be an interesting flyer.
17:06 He'd be an interesting kind of lottery ticket.
17:08 [MUSIC]