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00:00He was just voted the NFL Reporter of the Year at the Combine in Indianapolis.
00:06Back again is Adam Kaplan, our NFL insider, the best in the business, almost 30 years
00:10covering the National Football League, and he ate at all the best restaurants in Naptown
00:15and covered the excitement of the NFL Combine.
00:20And here he is for a double shot on a Thursday per usual.
00:24You can follow him at KaplanNFL on X.
00:27All right, Adam, let's start with the Hendrickson situation.
00:30I have to tell you just off the top that their problem was defense last year.
00:37He's the only guy on the entire defense that matters, and they're letting him walk.
00:41I mean, they must be stupid.
00:43I don't care what he wants financially.
00:45They have no defense without him.
00:47Yeah, Scott, look, a couple things have happened this week with the Bengals defense.
00:52Sam Hubbard, their other starting defensive end, announced his retirement at 29, which
00:57is a surprise to a lot of people.
00:59But the big story is, and I'm going to get into this and explain to you how rare it is,
01:03the Bengals, our team, if you looked at the last 30 years, rarely make trades.
01:08They just don't like to do it.
01:09It's been a thing going from Paul Brown to his son, Mike Brown, to Duke Tobin, whoever
01:15sees personnel for the Bengals, they just don't like to do it.
01:18But they did give Trey Hendrickson the permission to seek a trade.
01:21It doesn't mean they're going to do it, okay?
01:23It doesn't mean they're going to do it.
01:25Scott, you make an astute point here.
01:27Their defense is horrific last season.
01:29They changed defensive coordinators.
01:31They're trying to recharge this defense.
01:33But here's the thing, they want to spend money on offense, not defense.
01:37Trey Hendrickson, who's in the final year of his deal, wants an extension.
01:41He signed a deal three years ago.
01:44Now, let's be honest, it's outdated.
01:47But the Bengals have rebuffed his wanting a new deal.
01:54They've not been open to it.
01:55And they've given him permission to seek a trade.
01:57Now, he does turn 31 in December.
02:01Sometimes look, when you see these deals come out, and Max Crosby got a monster extension,
02:06okay?
02:07A monster extension.
02:08Wait to see what the Miles Garrett deal, whenever Miles Garrett gets extended with the Browns
02:12or another team.
02:14But Trey Hendrickson now, who turns 31 late this coming season, deserves a new deal.
02:20But you got to be careful when you have an older player.
02:24Sometimes they drop off, Scott, as you know, in their early 30s or mid-30s, so you got
02:28to be careful.
02:29But he absolutely deserves more money.
02:30He's going to make $16 million this season, vastly underpaid.
02:35They're middle-of-the-road players at his position that are making more than him.
02:39And I know it bothers him.
02:40He wants a new deal.
02:42And the Bengals right now, I'm fascinated to see what happens here, because, again,
02:45they don't like to make trades.
02:47And you make a really good point.
02:48They are so bad at defensive end.
02:51The only guy they've got left of any note is Miles Murphy.
02:54He's awful.
02:55A first-round pick.
02:56Right.
02:57He hadn't done anything.
02:58A first-round pick in 2023 out of Clemson, was overdrafted, no sacks last season, three,
03:04two years ago.
03:05The thought around the league was he should have been a second-round pick, not a first-round
03:07pick.
03:08I get it, Scott.
03:09They want to put their resources on offense, not defense.
03:12But if they're trying to compete, this is not the way to do it.
03:16And they're going to have to vote resources on their offensive line, which is still bad,
03:20by the way, and on defense.
03:22But again, they want to spend money.
03:24They've absolutely said they're going to take care of Jamar Chase.
03:28They're going to take care of our guy, Tee Higgins.
03:30I've yet to see that they put the pressure tag on him.
03:32But they never do.
03:33And they never do.
03:34I know.
03:35And by the way, one more thing I want to mention.
03:36I talked to Carl Pickens.
03:37Remember Carl Pickens?
03:38Of course.
03:39Who played for the Bengals, former first-round pick.
03:42I talked to Carl a couple weeks ago at a business event in Philly.
03:45He went through it.
03:47He went through his situation with the Bengals and all the losing and not being competitive.
03:51It grates on you.
03:52All their money.
03:53Their issues with money and spending it and being good on one side of the ball and not
03:57the other side.
03:58It grates on you.
03:59It's really tough to play there.
04:00And here we are once again.
04:01Another guy wants out.
04:02All right.
04:03Let me go back.
04:04All right.
04:05I got to ask you a question.
04:06Now, I don't want to catch you off guard because I don't know how old they are.
04:09But do you know how old Crosby is and how old Garrett is?
04:14Because I'm going to say this right now.
04:17I think Hendrickson, to me, unequivocally, had way better numbers than Max Crosby.
04:26He's a better player than Max Crosby.
04:28I think Max Crosby robbed a bank.
04:31I cannot believe the money they gave him.
04:34And I got to tell you, you talk about Miles Garrett, to me, he's as old as Hendrickson.
04:39At least I think he is.
04:41I don't know exactly how old he is.
04:43But Hendrickson has the same kind of numbers.
04:47Two years older.
04:48All right.
04:49Fair enough.
04:50If anyone deserves the money, it's Hendrickson.
04:52And let me tell you something.
04:53They have played games, the Brown family, with Tee Higgins since he's been a Bengal.
05:01And I've heard that they've rebuffed a bunch of trade offers for him.
05:07Well then, for Christ's sakes, give him the money already.
05:09To leave your defense that naked, I said earlier on the show, no pants.
05:13They have no pants.
05:14No one's wearing pants on the defense.
05:17And Joe Burrow, watch them last year give up 40 points a game.
05:22And he put up just staggering numbers.
05:24He beat my Steelers in the freezing cold in the last week, in week 18 or whatever it was.
05:29He can beat anybody.
05:30But not when your team plays every week and gives up 40 points.
05:33They're not going to spend any money on defense.
05:35Zach Taylor's getting fired.
05:37And they're going to stink.
05:38All right.
05:39A couple of things here.
05:41Myles Garrett turns 30 late this season.
05:44Max Crosby, here's what happened with Max Crosby.
05:47He had a high ankle sprain last year.
05:48He played on it.
05:49Instead of taking weeks off, he played on it.
05:52And yes, that's why his numbers were down.
05:54But yeah, they didn't need to take care of him.
05:55They did.
05:57It's an unbelievable deal that Max Crosby got, his extension that he got this week.
06:02According to his agency, $34.5 million per season is crazy.
06:06So yeah, he got the bag, the big bag.
06:08But the Bengals now with Al Golden being their new defense coordinator, Lou Annarumo is out.
06:14He switched teams.
06:15Now he's one to the Colts.
06:18They're a team that is hard to figure out.
06:19And you make a good point, because by the way, the Eagles not only paid A.J. Brown top
06:23of the market or close to it, they also paid Devontae Smith.
06:27This could get done.
06:28And they didn't make Devontae Smith have to wait for it.
06:32I got to tell you, honestly, I think Annarumo wins going to Indy.
06:37He's better off there than Al Golden is walking into that den of iniquity with no talent.
06:44It's going to be hard.
06:45It's going to be hard, Scott.
06:46And they always seem to have turmoil.
06:49But you and I have talked about this now for five years.
06:52They've got to help Joe Burrow out.
06:54You can't put it all on him.
06:56Their offensive line was dreadful last season.
06:59They made the trade.
07:00They traded away Joe Mixon, which was a mistake.
07:02He was terrific for the Texans.
07:04Their team's got to figure it out.
07:06They're just not that competitive.
07:07Heck, your Steelers, despite all of their issues, are probably a better team at least
07:12right now.
07:13I mean, it's just unbelievable.
07:15It really is unbelievable to me.
07:17I'm going to have a stroke just even listening to this.
07:19All right, talk about the Seahawks with Metcalf.
07:22And then how about they announced, like, how does that get leaked the same hour they're
07:28supposed to be recognizing what Lockett did for the franchise for a decade as they let
07:34him go?
07:35But then Metcalf wants out.
07:37What a mess.
07:38Yeah.
07:39And Tyler Lockett, one of the all-time great guys, you might remember his dad, Kevin Lockett,
07:43who played in the 90s and early 2000s.
07:46So yeah, so Tyler Lockett still wants to play.
07:51They made this decision.
07:53He's a guy that you saw the regression a little bit last season.
07:57The offense, by the way, before we get to Metcalf, they went through Jackson, Smith
08:01and Jigba, the first-round pick out of Ohio State from a couple years ago, and now they've
08:05changed offensive coordinators.
08:07You know what's really interesting here?
08:09Clay Kubiak, the new offensive coordinator, made it very clear he was super excited to
08:14work with Metcalf.
08:15His role is going to be back to what it was about two years ago.
08:19But Scott, the last two seasons, okay, it's really three years ago when Metcalf was great.
08:23The last two seasons, his numbers have been down here, yet he wants more money.
08:26He's on the final year's deal.
08:28These guys hate to play or go into their final season when guys like Justin Jefferson's making
08:34$34 million a season.
08:36Metcalf wants his.
08:37They're going to have plenty of interest in Metcalf, the Seahawks, if they're willing
08:41to trade him.
08:42And by the way, you want to talk to a team that's baronet receiver right now?
08:44They trade Metcalf.
08:45All they've got is one guy, Smith and Jigba.
08:48So what do they do?
08:50The draft?
08:51And they get receivers?
08:54I am told by multiple teams, it's a weak receiver draft.
08:59You can find a starter, but you're not getting the high-end starter.
09:03That's what this draft is at one receiver.
09:05It's the Bears who are getting stacked up front for Caleb Williams.
09:10He was on his back more than a French hooker this year in Chicago.
09:15So they went out and got him some guys that can block for him, but they're aged vets.
09:19It could be dangerous.
09:21Yeah.
09:22Yeah.
09:23You know, Scott, let's address the Joe Tooney situation.
09:25I know Chiefs fans are out of their mind.
09:27Why would they want to do this?
09:29Why would the Chiefs give up on one of the better guards in the league?
09:32Well, we have to understand, Scott, Joe Tooney is 32.
09:36You never want to wait too late to trade a guy who's in the twilight of his career.
09:41Joe Tooney, now, he's not a left tackle.
09:43He played left tackle in college, but he played left tackle in the Super Bowl because
09:46they were out of left tackles.
09:48It didn't go well.
09:49What's concerning is, why are the Chiefs giving up an all-star type of player in Joe Tooney?
09:56Because he's older.
09:57Now, he's going to the Chiefs, excuse me, he's going to the Bears, right?
10:00And this trade will not be official until 4 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, but he'll pass
10:05the physical.
10:06It won't be a problem.
10:07The Bears' offensive line was dreadful.
10:09I know Caleb Williams held on the ball too long.
10:11Some of the sacks are clearly on him, be clear.
10:14But they had to dress their offensive line.
10:16They've not gotten it right through two general managers.
10:20It's been a long time since they've had a quality offensive line.
10:23Disaster.
10:24Yeah, it is not good.
10:26So Joe Tooney will be their left guard.
10:28Now, they traded for Jonah Jackson.
10:29Now, here's the story with Jonah Jackson.
10:31He signed for 17 million a season last year, coming over from the Lions.
10:36He was going to play center for them.
10:38He did.
10:39But he got hurt and didn't get his job back and he got benched.
10:42So they wanted to trade him.
10:44They found a trade partner and they found him a trade partner with the Bears.
10:48He should be starting guard.
10:49I'm told he's way better off at guard than at center, though, again, he could play center.
10:54So theoretically, they've got their two starting guards until they need a center and they're
10:59going to bring in a left.
11:00They're going to bring in some competition for Braxton Jones at left tackle.
11:04So they still have some work to do.
11:07One of the things I learned at the combine was they were going to be very aggressive
11:10in free agency and or the draft.
11:12So they're not done yet.
11:14It's about building around that offensive line for that quarterback.
11:18And of course, new head coach Ben Johnson, who came over from Detroit and remember he
11:22was with Jonah Jackson there.
11:24That's why they got him because the two know each other.
11:26So they'll be reunited here.
11:28But they've got to rebuild that offensive line and another thing, look for the Bears
11:31to be aggressive with the edge rush, the edge rush in free agency and or the draft.
11:37They're not good enough.
11:38Their pass was quite frankly, pathetic last season.
11:41And what about Keenan Allen?
11:43Are they going to keep him so that Williams can throw to him?
11:47Are they going to throw to the water boy and the ball boy?
11:51Who are they going to throw the ball to?
11:53Well Romo Dunzey was the first rounder last year and DJ Moore, the two starting receivers.
11:57Keenan Allen in the twilight of his career, Scott, by the way, he's a free agent.
12:02Keenan Allen is a number three receiver at this point of his career.
12:05He's a borderline Hall of Famer, a phenomenal football player by the way.
12:10He is awesome.
12:12He does.
12:13But he is a possession receiver.
12:14He's not a guy that he's made so much money.
12:16He's not well into his 30s now.
12:19He's not going to make a big free agent deal.
12:21But they need to add a third receiver, Cole Kometis, their tight end.
12:24This is a team, Scott.
12:25If they could ever get it right in free agency in the draft with Ben Johnson being a pretty
12:30dynamic play caller and schemer offensively, they've got a chance.
12:34Because, you know, every year we're looking for that surprise team.
12:37This could be it with the Bears.
12:38We'll talk more about them going forward though.
12:40Yeah, sure.
12:41All right.
12:42So I'll believe that when I see it.
12:43Now they got the hottest coach in the world.
12:45Let's see him win with that hack team.
12:48He was on the Lions and they made him look real good.
12:52And you're going to find out real quick how good these guys are when they're with these
12:55crappy teams.
12:56And I'll tell you another one.
12:57That guy, Kellen Moore, he's in for, he better enjoy oysters because he's not going to enjoy
13:01that talent he's got on that hack team down in New Orleans.
13:04I agree with you.
13:05Let's talk about your Eagles.
13:06Saquon Steele, did you like it or not?
13:10I don't think he'll ever put up those numbers again.
13:12This was more of a reward for winning the Super Bowl and getting them another ring,
13:17to me.
13:18I, I, part of it, you're absolutely right, it's a reward because, Scott, quite frankly,
13:25if you look at the landscape of running back, Christian McCaffrey had been the highest paid
13:28running back since 2020.
13:30No one had come close to getting what he was making.
13:33Then McCaffrey, a couple of years ago, got adjustment at pay raise from the Niners.
13:39And Saquon was only, only making 12 and a half million on the three-year deal he signed
13:44with the Eagles.
13:45He was vastly underpaid.
13:47Very light money in terms of guaranteed money in year three, and the Eagles, on your point,
13:51that's what they were doing.
13:52They were giving him peace of mind, giving him more guaranteed money up front.
13:56And look, you know it, Scott.
13:57He put the team on his back.
13:58I know their defense was great.
14:00He did.
14:01But they weren't, they were not sniffing anything in the playoffs without Saquon Parker.
14:06He was absolutely incredible, super high-character guy.
14:09And also, Zach Vaughn, Scott, do you realize Zach Vaughn had never played inside linebacker
14:13in his life?
14:14Do you realize that?
14:15He was unbelievable.
14:16I thought he was incredible.
14:18Best inside backer in football this past season.
14:21Better than Fred Warner.
14:22I didn't say he's better than Fred Warner overall, but he's better than Fred Warner
14:25last season.
14:26He played better than Fred Warner did this year.
14:28He sure did.
14:29And that play in the Super Bowl was sickening.
14:32That pick was incredible.
14:33But here's a couple things here, Scott, which people should realize.
14:37Franchise starts at 12 p.m. Eastern on Monday.
14:40Milt Williams, number 93, he's the best defensive player most fans have never heard of.
14:45He's going to make $21 million a season or more.
14:47You watch.
14:48There's a realistic chance he does not resign with the Eagles because, Scott, Jalen Carter
14:53after the season, most likely will get an extension.
14:56In a couple years, Quinion Mitchell and Cooper Dejean.
14:59Nolan Smith, after the season, potentially can get an extension.
15:02Can't pay everybody.
15:03And Josh Swett, number 19, who had two and a half sacks in the Super Bowl, Scott, another
15:07guy likely will walk.
15:09You can't pay everybody.
15:10The Eagles will still get it done.
15:12Howie Roseman, the last four years in the draft, nobody drafting better, nobody better
15:15right now.
15:16He's starting his career round.
15:17It's the 2020 season.
15:19You got to trust Roseman with what he does.
15:21But again, folks, if you're an Eagles fan, listen to us or watching us.
15:25You can't keep everybody.
15:27It's impossible in the salary cap era, in the cash era.
15:32But the Eagles will do whatever they can to keep this thing together.
15:35I mean, they're already dangerous as they are.
15:39And the deals that they're doing are smart.
15:41And Roseman is the best in the business.
15:44I think they'll be in a good position again to go for another run.
15:47Adam, great stuff.
15:49Good job at the combine as well.