QB Crisis: Would Vikings trade for Kyler Murray or sign Kirk Cousins?

Summary

Scoop City: Inside The NFL

Episode: QB Crisis—Would Vikings Trade for Kyler Murray or Sign Kirk Cousins?
Date: March 2, 2026
Hosts: Dianna Russini, James Palmer, Chase Daniel (with The Athletic)

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Episode Overview

This packed post-combine episode dives into the NFL's turbulent offseason quarterback carousel, how trades are outpacing free agency, the state of marquee wideouts (A.J. Brown, George Pickens), and what the combine revealed about teams’ intentions. The hosts offer insider access, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and vivid, informed speculation on where the NFL's most coveted QBs might land—including deep analysis on the Minnesota Vikings’ next move: Kyler Murray, Kirk Cousins or something wild?

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Inside the Combine: Networking, GMs, and the Changing Offseason (01:40–05:28)

• Combine Culture: Dianna and James trade stories about the long, exhausting days in Indianapolis—late nights, chance elevator chats, and the speed-dating style of networking, especially with so many new head coaches arriving from the college ranks.
  • Dianna: “The most valuable part of it is who you don’t expect to meet and see… That’s really where you learn to network and get a grip on these new people.” (04:08)
• Impact of the Short Free Agency/Draft Classes: Both free agents and the draft pool are “average,” pushing more teams toward trades rather than splashy signings.
  • Dianna: “You’re going to see a lot of teams making trades over the next few weeks… just trying to fill some roster spots in hopes to get the player they need and not have to give up too much.” (06:25)
• Offensive Line Market: The Tyler Linderbaum mention foreshadows that OL will command huge deals amid a thin talent pool.

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Franchise Tags, Free Agency Dynamics, and Team Dilemmas (10:51–20:09)

• Franchise Tag Intrigue—Colts/Daniel Jones (11:45):

  • Indy is “dead set” on not letting Daniel Jones walk, using the tag or working a long-term deal.
  • Franchise tag for QBs: Nearly $44M, meaning two tags = $94M guaranteed.
    • James Palmer: “That is wild… $46 million a year guaranteed… just do the math.”
  • Debate—Short-term Tag vs. Long-term Security:
    • Chase: “I would absolutely not bet on myself… take as much as I can get and run.” (14:13)
  • Transition Tag Mechanics and risk: less compensation, potential for another team to sweep in.
  • Vikings as a destination: If Jones hits the market, which QB-needy team moves first?

• George Pickens, Dallas, and WR Market:

  • Dallas is tagging George Pickens, showing confidence he can help make theirs the top offense.
  • Dianna runs down WR price tags: “Jamar’s at 40, Justin’s at 35, CeeDee’s at 34…”
  • James: “I can’t tell you the last time two teammates had over $32M/year deals.”

• A.J. Brown Trade Rumors (20:09–25:52):

  • Philly is holding its price high (“Come get him, but it’ll cost you”).
  • Dianna: “This goes all the way back to last year. This has been brewing… There has been tons of communication, but… A.J.’s never going to be in [the fold].” (22:13)
  • Speculation: Are the Bills prime AFC candidates for Brown if things fall apart with Philly?
    • “I think the Bills… are definitely looking at wide receivers.” (25:37)

• Max Crosby’s Potential Exit and Raiders Reality:

  • Vegas is open to dealing Crosby, but the price—near Micah Parsons territory—is too high… for now.
  • Dianna: “Max is in his prime years and wants to go win a Super Bowl, and this Raiders team is not in a position…” (27:55)
  • Watch list: Cowboys, Ravens, Patriots.

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Quarterback Carousel: Trades, Cuts, and the Minnesota Mystery (33:19–49:08)

Why This QB Offseason Is Unprecedented (33:19–37:15)

• Multiple starting-caliber QBs could be cut/traded, available at bargain prices due to offsets from previous teams (think: Russell Wilson’s 2024 after Denver).
• Kyler Murray: “He’s played at times like a top five quarterback… If you can have Kyler Murray (…) that’s so fascinating… you don’t necessarily have to have Kyler for multiple years.” – Chase Daniel (34:08)
• Other candidates: Kirk Cousins, Justin Fields, Mac Jones, Tua Tagovailoa—each becomes part of a wild confluence of QB supply and limited, anxious demand.

Minnesota’s Dilemma—Who Should Be QB1? (36:56–41:13)

• Dianna: “This season, they are not going into this offseason with J.J. McCarthy as the starter, no way. It’s going to be a competition.” (37:15)
• Options debated: Kyler Murray (aggressive win-now swing), Cousins (a safe retread but viewed variably by fans/front office), Geno Smith, Mac Jones (affordable trade candidate), and even Carson Wentz (“If they sign Carson Wentz, we’re having an emergency pod…” – Diana, 41:57)
• Overall sense: The choice will signal how much faith they have in McCarthy—mentor and insulation, or real “win the job outright” competition.

QB Market Guessing Game Rapid-Fire (43:13–45:49)

• Roundtable predictions:
  • Vikings: Kyler Murray (James), Browns: Likely to draft but maybe roll with Deshaun.
  • Cardinals: Jacoby Brissett or similar.
  • Dolphins: Could make big moves for Willis or similar if they decide to move on from Tua.
  • Steelers: Aaron Rodgers possibility. Colts: Daniel Jones likely stays.
  • Falcons: Possibly bring in Joe Flacco as a bridge to their next franchise guy.
• Jets: Wild card; possible landing spot for Tua or Kirk Cousins.

Who’d You Choose? Kirk Cousins vs. Tua Tagovailoa For a “Bridge QB” Spot (46:42–49:00)

• James: “You take Kirk Cousins over Tua? I would, as a player, right now in 2026.”
• Hosts debate current form, system dependency, and upside—with Tua seen as “broken” but once a league leader in passing.

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Combine Standouts and the Incoming QB Draft Class (50:55–64:53)

Fernando Mendoza—Vegas' New Hope at QB (51:25–56:47)

• Strengths: Poise, intelligence (“insanely sharp and smart”), capable of learning Clint Kubiak’s complex offense.
• Weakness: Has to adapt to under-center play.
• Chase: “He throws a really good back-shoulder ball… he’s a gamer. And I think that’s what separates Fernando from everyone else in the NFL draft.” (53:41)
• Both believe Mendoza will start Week 1—he can handle the adversity of a rookie campaign on a rebuilding Raiders squad.

Ty Simpson—Tools, Trajectory, and Landing Spots (57:31–61:15)

• Viewed as the “most mechanically sound” QB in the class.
• Could sneak into the first round; “I probably think he’s a second-round talent, but… I do think he could end up being a first-round pick.” (58:44)
• Best fits: Rams (can sit and develop behind Stafford), or possibly Steelers for the future.

Taylen Green—Freak Athlete's Surprising Rise (61:15–64:53)

• Brings Terrelle Pryor vibes: “This is the best vert that we’ve seen from a quarterback—43.5”, broad 11'2”, 4.36 40-yard dash.”
• Not an NFL starter yet but has coaches asking: “Let’s see what we can do if we get our hands on this guy.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Free Agency and Trades:
  • “You’re going to see a lot more of these types of trades go down over the next week or so.” – Dianna Rossini (07:32)
• On A.J. Brown’s situation:
  • “Both sides would like to go in separate directions and Howie’s probably trying to hang on as tight as he can right now to create the most leverage…” – Dianna Rossini (21:46)
• Vikings’ QB Plans:
  • “They are not going into this offseason with J.J. McCarthy as the starter. No way.” – Dianna Russini (37:15)
• On Ty Simpson:
  • “He’s mechanically, mechanically the best quarterback in the draft—and to me, it’s not even close.” – Chase Daniel (58:43)
• On the QB carousel:
  • “You want to have this conversation, right? Cuz it’s like if you’re one of these guys… you’re going to call up Minnesota immediately and you’re going to pull a Daniel Jones…” – Chase Daniel (42:51)

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Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• 01:40 – Combine anecdotes & networking culture
• 06:25 – State of free agency and uptick in trades
• 10:51 – Franchise tags, Colts and Daniel Jones situation
• 20:09 – A.J. Brown’s trade market; Philly’s stance
• 27:55 – Raiders openness to dealing Max Crosby
• 33:19 – Setting the table for the QB carousel
• 37:15 – Vikings not sold on J.J. McCarthy as starter
• 43:13 – Rapid-fire QB landing spot “guesses”
• 50:55 – Draft class: Mendoza analysis
• 57:31 – Ty Simpson’s draft rise and ideal fit
• 61:15 – Taylen Green’s eye-popping combine

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Tone & Takeaway

Scoop City lives up to its promise of unmatched access and honest, vibrant analysis—peeking behind the curtain at both the league’s decision-makers and those on the cusp of the NFL. The hosts (especially Dianna) dish out both scoops and snappy banter, capturing the urgency of a team executive mid-offseason and the speculation-driven fun of NFL fandom at its sharpest. If you’re fascinated by quarterback intrigue, this episode is a must-listen primer on every major decision, from Minnesota’s fork-in-the-road to Philly, Dallas, and the swirling market for both veterans and rookies.

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Summary by Scoop City Podcast Summarizer

Transcript

[James Palmer]

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[Mark Bittman]

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[James Palmer]

Is your hair long or those extensions?

[Diana Rossini]

I just grew it out. I took a vitamin yesterday.

[Chase Daniel]

Perfect. Dude, it's neat.

[James Palmer]

What I feel.

[Various Advertisers/Guests]

Do you like it?

[James Palmer]

Yeah.

[Diana Rossini]

Nobody liked it at the combine.

[Chase Daniel]

Really?

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah.

[Chase Daniel]

Everyone was like, wait, did you get hair hate at the combine?

[Diana Rossini]

I got a lot of hair hate. The best would be. Would be like someone. I was having a very serious conversation. I had one gm. We were having a serious conversation, and we. There was another person, like, talking with us, and he's like, could you excuse us for a second? And the person walked away. He goes, I don't like your hair.

[Chase Daniel]

Oh, welcome into Scoop City on a Monday. James Palmer here with you. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Come on. We got all the goods this offseason. We got the whole gang back together as well. The athletic senior NFL insider Diana Rossini joins us. Chase Daniel joins us. This was like a Monday during the season. We haven't had this in a minute. I dig it. Diana and I are back from the combine. How are your how are the bags under the eyes? Diana? I'm struggling, you know, throwing some cucumbers, all sorts of stuff. It was amazing.

[Diana Rossini]

We react to the cucumbers. I'm not eating steak for six months. I'm not having a vodka soda for about seven years. And I had tomato juice today to just try to, you know, find the nourishment that I lost. Geez, I am a disgusting human. Like, I know you're very healthy. Your wife would kill me right now if she could see, like, my food log.

[James Palmer]

What's like, a normal, like, sketch, like, for you guys, like, at the com, like, when are you going to bed? When are you waking up?

[Diana Rossini]

James.

[James Palmer]

Okay, so don't wake me.

[Chase Daniel]

You can get. You can get into the, like, you know, stuff starts cooking off. Diana. Right? Like, GMs. Head coaches were starting to talk it by 10 in the morning. So get there 8, 8:30 in, in those early days. And I was inside the room with the podiums and interviewing head coaches and GMs till about 6 on, like, Tuesday and Wednesday. Then maybe back to the room to kind of drop the bag off and you're out and about to dinner, meeting people and really head hits the pillow. Chase. Three, 3:30 every night.

[James Palmer]

These NFL teams love to. Love to hang out.

[Chase Daniel]

They love the nightlife. I don't like that a DJ booth at prime has replaced Bob Lamont's table. I'm not sure I'm a big fan of that, but these guys and Diana will tell you real quick, like, say this, they don't get out of their formal meetings till 11 at night. So the coaches are just getting a late start. Seeing each other with a late start.

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah. And I made the mistake last year of doing a lot of early breakfasts because I just would rather be a little bit more focused. No alcohol around, just a cup of coffee, quick 20 minutes. And I've been doing that with people that I've never met before. So you can imagine what I sound and look like after sleeping for like, three or four hours and then just being like, so I'm Diana. How are you? And they're like, definitely looking at me with judgment. So. Chase. It's a beast, but it's so valuable. It's so much fun. And I would say the yes, it's cool to, like, have drinks and dinner with the people you know and see them. But the most valuable part of it is who you don't expect to meet and see whether it's in an elevator, at a coffee shop, at a restaurant, at a bar. And that's really where you look, learn how to network and you can get a grip of who all these new people are. Because there were so many coaches that I saw in the halls that I was like, who is that? And I had to go out and be like, so who do you. Who are you with? And I, you know, you put it together and figure it out. But there's just. There's been such a big change over the last year in this new head coaching cycle that I'm learning a lot of new coaches that are coming from the college world. But. But in the end, you get home and you have to just kind of digest it all, which is what I'm hoping to do here on the show with some of the big top.

[Chase Daniel]

All right, coming up on this show, we are going to have the biggest storylines coming out of the combine in Indianapolis. Is that A.J.

[James Palmer]

brown?

[Chase Daniel]

Is that Max Crosby? Are they playing for a different team in 2026? Diana is going to get to the bottom of all of that. And then the puzzle pieces, how do they come together in the quarterback position across the NFL? We'll tell you why. This is an offseason unlike any other we've had before. And then Chase and I are going to stick with that quarterback spot. Why wouldn't we? And break down three different quarterbacks that were coming out in this draft that we really, really believe piqued our interest. Now, Diana, this is the interesting part about this off season. We're heading into the free agent world, but because of the landscape of free agency, we've already seen a player for player trade with the Titans and the Jets. We just saw David Montgomery now headed to the Houston Texans where they desperately needed a running back. Tell everybody, how many trades do you expect us to have? Because I think that's a very valuable way to get players right now with the way free agency looks to a lot of these teams.

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah, and that's the problem. The free agency class isn't exactly bonkers. I, I would say it's about average. And, and this upcoming draft class in certain positions is just average as well. So you're going to see a lot of teams making trades over the next few weeks in, in order to try to fill some of their roster spots in hopes to, you know, get the player they need and not have to give up too much. But I certainly was around a lot more people this past week at Indy where the conversations about which players are available that they can go after. And I think that kind of sets the stage for what this is Going to be like free agency will still be a frenzy. It'll be fun and you know, stuff will be flying around, but we'll get a sense of more of, remember last. Remember Milton Williams went for so much money. We were like, that's like the Tyler Lindenbaum this year. He'll be the Milton Williams of this year. Where you're going to see a lot of teams have to overpay for some of these guys because there just isn't so much selection. So I think we're to see a lot more of these type of trades go down over the next week or so.

[Chase Daniel]

Good name there. Tyler Linderbaum. Considering Eric Dacosta. Chase told us we are offering already a record setting contract or a market setting contract.

[Diana Rossini]

That's not a team that reveals anything. You know, when they said that that was like, that was him going, hey, agents, we're not going above 20 mil for this guy. We were already probably 18, 19. You know, you want to go to the market, go to the market. And knowing the way Lind Mom's agent works from, from my past dealings, he's going to go to the team that pays the highest price and that's what it's going to be about.

[Chase Daniel]

Chase, real quick before we get to these tags, how often when you were in the league, how often do players text each other about, hey, is teammate X going to get this back? Like do you hit up a guy if your teammates entire Linda bomb right now? Like, how does that work in the player world as we're all wondering where guys are going?

[James Palmer]

Yeah, I mean look especially like, oh, lineman, they, they have a creepy close relationship. Like all 10 of these offensive linemen on the team are like so ent close. So they have their group text. They have the big ugly group text. But absolutely, I think it's one of those things where you sort of know it doesn't start like right after the season. You sort of know who's going to be a free agent during the season in the last like five, six games and they're starting to play well and you're starting to think like, man, this could be some crazy type of payday. And it's just like a build up, like, bro, let's go, let's go. Drinks on you, food on you. Stuff like, stuff like that. But it's, it's something where, you know, until it's done, it ain't done because there's a lot of hoops to have to go through. This is technically tampering 101 here at the Combine, where all the deals get done. Everyone knows that. So there's a lot of happy people waking up and happy guys waking up today after talking to their hungover agents this morning, literally Monday morning, saying, all right, let me. Let me just get my napkin out. And you're gonna get this much, and you're gonna get. I'm telling you, that's how it happens. It happened to me a few times at the combine. My agent like, hey, this is where we're thinking. And you literally know, like, here's the three teams that want you. And then they just start pitting against each other. Sometimes there's just one because you're like, dude, you're going here. They're giving you the most. I mean, that. That's. That's sort of how it happens. And when the agents wake up today and tomorrow and they're calling their guys and like, hey, all right, that's really when you guys will start figuring out and start hearing from their age.

[Various Advertisers/Guests]

Okay.

[James Palmer]

This is. You start plugging in the pieces together.

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah. Side note, guys, I know it wasn't free agency, but how cool is it when we were in Denver and we got to see Cortland Sutton celebrating? Like, I have, like, such a vivid image of the cafeteria.

[Chase Daniel]

I remember that sitting in the cafeteria.

[Diana Rossini]

We've never. James and I've never been around players at the moment. They find out. So that for us, that was like the whole player. A real memorable moment and really cool.

[James Palmer]

As soon as you get into the, like, everyone's like, hugging and I mean, because, like, think about. Think about these guys, right? It's like, it truly is like, life changing moment. Not just from the money, of course. Like, what, like league minimum is life changing money, but when you're able to do it and you've worked your entire life, especially for your first time to hit free agency, that's when the real money begins. It's such a cool moment because they just. They think of everyone who got them there. Their mom, their dad, their coaches. And so that's what Courtland Sutton was like.

[Chase Daniel]

Yeah, that was super fun to watch. A little behind the curtain stuff for us. Thank you, Sean Payton, for letting us eat in the cafeteria. All right. Speaking about getting some money, Diana, the. The franchise tag numbers up because the salary cap goes up. And we're looking at a specific place that we just left Indianapolis. And what Chris Ballard has to do is we always look at teams going, all right, the. The Cowboys are tagging George Pickens. Okay, we know that's happening well in Indianapolis it's how do we go through Alec Pierce, our star wide receiver that we want to bring back? And we're telling him he's going to be a Colt. But we also know with this limited free agent market, he's going to be highly sought after as a wide receiver. But also we're trying to get a deal done with our quarterback. They could tag one of them. They could use the transition tag on Daniel Jones. Set up where Indianapolis is right now as they're trying to figure this out before the 4pm deadline Eastern Time tomorrow, that you have to decide if you're going to tag a player or not.

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah, March 3rd is the deadline here. And look, let's just be very clear. Indianapolis does not want to let Daniel Jones hit the market. They do not want to lose him. They really do not want to allow any team to sniff this out knowing that there, there are so many teams that would be in on Daniel Jones. And obviously their side knows this, which is why the price they're going to be looking for, it has to be reasonable. If it were to get to a point where they're knocking out a deal here in the last few hours. So Indy's made it very clear Daniel Jones's side is well aware that IND wants to keep them there. It's just going to be coming up with a number that makes the most sense. Obviously, Daniel Jones has been through this before. We saw this in New York. This actually was reminding me a little bit of those moments. Remember, we were waiting for the deadline to come between him and Saquon and who was going to get tagged in order for New York to keep them. And, and Daniel wound up getting the deal and Dan and Saquon Barkley got tagged. So he, he's been there before. His agent is familiar with this process. So I, Look, I. Again, Daniel's not going anywhere. It's just going to be a matter of what Chris Ballard is going to be most comfortable doing. And that's what I was going to ask.

[James Palmer]

Like when you, when you talk about comfortable with numbers. Right. Because let's just use the franchise tag. I mean, it could be him, it could be Alex Pierce, whatever franchise tag for quarterbacks this year, just call it $44 million. A hair under $44 million. Right. You could technically franchise tag twice. Correct. And that number would be. So what is it?

[Chase Daniel]

50?

[James Palmer]

I'm not exactly sure, but it'd be under 20%.

[Chase Daniel]

There you go.

[James Palmer]

50 million or so. So that's, that's, that is $94 million guaranteed over two years. So just do the math on that. That that is the, for everyone out. That is the starting point for this contract. Like, like $46 million a year guaranteed for. I mean, at least if I'm the agent and I'm saying you're going to franchise me, we're going like that is wild to me to think that that number could be somewhere in that range of an APY of $46 million a year. Because if they franchise tag them back to back, they can hold them. That it's just, this is nuts.

[Diana Rossini]

But Chase, if you're his dad and you're Daniel Jones, are you kind of sitting there like her cousins back in the day, like, sure, that's what you want to do?

[James Palmer]

Yeah.

[Chase Daniel]

Play the gamble.

[Diana Rossini]

Or if you're Daniel Jones, do you want a long term deal?

[James Palmer]

I want a long term deal right now. Because you, you dude, for two years of your career, like good, like, like one year in New York and then last year and you played really like amazing last year. And to be completely honest with you, if you watch the film, the later the year went on the worst Daniel Jones got. So I would absolutely not bet on myself. I would take as much as I can get a starting quarterback deal and run with it.

[Various Advertisers/Guests]

Yeah.

[Chase Daniel]

What do you think? Hold on real quick, Dan, I wanted to ask you this. They have the ability to transition tag them as well, right? This is something that is clearly a place. And to clarify this for everyone, the transition Tag would be 37.8 million. What's the difference? Well, the franchise tag is taking the top five salaries at the position over the last five years. Putting that together, coming up with the formula. It's the top 10 over the last five years for the transition tag. Now the difference also is you can talk with both of them to other teams. Really within the transition tag, a team can put in an offer sheet. The original team, the Colts can match that offer sheet and then they would get Daniel Jones. If they don't match the offer sheet, Daniel Jones would go to the other team. But they in turn, dyna, would get no compensation for Daniel Jones at all. He just leaves the building. Is that in play for Daniel Jones to transition?

[Diana Rossini]

It is in play. But as you're laying that out, I was thinking to myself, who's the team that is calling Daniel Jones first?

[James Palmer]

I know.

[Diana Rossini]

Who is it? Is it the Vikings? Like who's going, oh my gosh, we could get him.

[James Palmer]

Imagine, I mean for, for 30 million more than what they offered last year.

[Diana Rossini]

And that's the part that's mind blowing.

[James Palmer]

That 14 million last year, well, they're genius.

[Chase Daniel]

Is Chris Ballard thinking that, Diana? Like who else am I bidding against? I want Daniel Jones. He works with Shane Steichen and us do does. Is he maybe playing the gamble of I don't know how many other teams, even though his quarterbacks out there, they don't want even playing that long.

[Diana Rossini]

I think they want to gamble this, this which is why I think they are going to try to work hard to get that long term deal out knowing that there could be someone out there, a team that is needy right now. We got the Vikings, the Browns, the Cardinals, the Dolphins, the Steelers, the Falcons all looking for quarterbacks. You know that that's not worth the risk when you see it.

[James Palmer]

Crazy number though.

[Diana Rossini]

What have we seen over and over again? It's the quarterback position, right? Like Chris Ballard's job depends on that quarterback here and having success with it. So he's, he's going to probably choose what makes the most sense in order to stay alive because what do they do? They lose Daniel Jones? Where do they go? I mean, I don't even want to have that conversation right now.

[Chase Daniel]

Here's the situation also with the Sauce Gardner trade. They don't have a first round pick because of that trade. To even go after a quarterback within the draft in the first round, even though you know this one might be thin. We'll get to that a little bit later in the show. I think it's certainly leverage. Looks like leverage. Real quick. Another tag. I want to get to Diana. I want to know if you heard the same things I heard in Indianapolis, the Cowboys tagging George Pickens. It doesn't look like a tag and trade type of situation. Doesn't it have the vibe when you talk to people there that they are going to have George Pickens in 2026?

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah, they've always been really high on him. I remember even talking to them during the season about George and all those issues that that Pittsburgh had with him. It wasn't like they all went away in Dallas. They just seem to be able to control a lot of it and he obviously made those decision makers look really good with the way he was able to perform. So yes, despite the fact that he's got the same representation as Micah Parsons and it wasn't exactly the cleanest relationship when they were dealing with him. Jerry Jones was pretty open and adamant that like he's not gonna have a problem dealing with, with his rep knowing that they want to keep him and they need him.

[Chase Daniel]

Yeah, they Think they have the best offensive football, right? Chase, like if George Pickens is there, Javante Williams just came back. This could be the number one offense in football.

[James Palmer]

I mean look the way Dak was playing last year along with CD Lamb and George Pickens. My thing is like, man, are you going to be playing two receivers over 30 something million dollars a year? I mean probably if you get this done and like 28, I think, you know, so close. You know, if you end up getting a long term deal, Pickens is going to be looking for $30 million a year. And you're like, I can't tell you the last time, right?

[Diana Rossini]

You got Jamar's at 40, Justin's at 35, CDs at 34, DK 30, 33, Garrett Wilson 32, Terry McLaurin 32.

[James Palmer]

So, so he's gonna be looking for 32. Like I, I would imagine he'd slot in somewhere to there. Like I can't tell you the last time two teammates had over 32 million dollar year deals, right?

[Chase Daniel]

Since he's right there is at 28. So they're right there. Well that.

[James Palmer]

But I'm saying that's your point. Two over 30. You know, it just takes up a lot now. The salary cap's what, 300 plus million dollars. So it's taken up a lot of that space. But it'll be interesting to like the fact though that George Pickens and what he was able to do, like he is a true outside receiver. You move CD all around, you have those guys, you have the tight end of what you have all these guys, you figure out that offensive line. Some things Dak plays as well as they were and Dallas fixes their defense. Man, I'm telling you right now, like Dallas could be someone we talk about as like, hey, like watch out. Like they got to fix the defense. They got to get one at each position on, on defense, interior linebacker and secondary. But if they spend in free agency like Jerry Jones said they were going to do, which they've never done, we'll see. I don't know.

[Chase Daniel]

Yeah, they're also, I was told, heavy into the defensive side of the ball in their formal meetings. They're almost all defensive players. It was almost like you're right. Hey, Christian Parker, new defensive coordinator, please draft amazingly for us on the defensive side of the ball because we're about to pay George Pickens on the offensive side. Speaking of dominant outside receivers, anything you you learned or, or pushed the story forward in any way. News on A.J. brown, Diana now.

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah, I think Philadelphia is going to continue to sit in a spot right now in a place that's. This is our asking price. And if you really want A.J. brown, you're going to pay it, come get him like that. That's the stance right now. That does not mean that's going to be the case in a week or so when perhaps Philly starts to get a sense that, all right, well, if A.J. brown doesn't want to be here, maybe we need to change our price. And I think that's what this story needs to get to next in order for there to be movement. I think Philly needs feel that Brown side to this, that it's not manageable anymore. That's the only way the price can change. Because then. Then you go down the line here. Let's just say how he makes the decision of, look, I'm not giving away a player of this caliber away for anything less than a first rounder. Then, okay, so now A.J. brown's on the team, but it's not working. Then we get through all. It's just too much drama. Would you guys all agree it just. It gets too complicated when I think everybody in that building is. Is very aware that both sides would like to go in separate directions and how he's probably trying to hang on as tight as he can right now to create the most leverage by telling everybody he wants in there. Of course he wants in there. He's really good. But the reality is that's probably not going to be the case. So I think teams that are interested in him and we're seeing several AFC teams, I think they're. They're sitting back now waiting for. For Howie to sort of get the though that, hey, yeah, you want this price, but that's probably not going to be realistic.

[James Palmer]

How do we get here? How do we get here to the. One of the best receivers in football? I mean, obviously, like, yes, I know the book and I know this stuff, but like in your guys's opinion, because I don't know. I have no clue. You guys know, you guys are the inside. What was like the final breaking point of like, hey, we're going sep. Like this is just because. Because I'm in the business of not giving away really good, amazing football players that are top six, top five of their position.

[Diana Rossini]

First of all, you're asking a very layered question because you of all people actually are the. A great person to talk to about this because we've had conversations about this offense and the problems and some of the things that Jalen does really well, and some of the things that he doesn't do very well. And I think quarterback. Most people see this as, oh, the problems were all from this year because, you know, they're coming off a Super Bowl. They lost some players from injury. Saquon's not the same player yet from what I've discovered. This goes all the way back to last year. This has been brewing and I think it just got to a point where instead of continually having conversations that are getting nowhere because there have been multiple conversations with AJ Brown, with Howie Rosen, with Nick Sirianni, with Jalen, they have tried everything. There has been tons of communication. But I think until somebody there agrees with AJ or if the. If the organization sees it from AJ's perspective, which is this isn't as good as it can be. AJ's never going to be in. Right. It's. It's always going to. They're always going to pick the quarterback over the receiver no matter what. And I think both sides realize that. I think A.J. brown realizes that, like this isn't going to be able to work the way he envisions or the way he thinks that Philly can be productive and. And he doesn't make those decisions from. From. Obviously we know that and. And the sense I've always gotten from talking to people in that building. This was never anger or dislike that AJ had for Jalen. Like, this isn't personal. It's production and the way AJ wants the ball and the way he wants the offense to look. And it's not exactly the way Jalen hurts. Wants it.

[James Palmer]

Yeah.

[Chase Daniel]

To button it up. Diana, I would say this too. This year, as you mentioned, it goes back to last year. There's other things this year in the tail end of the season. If you ask people there, that was the first time we saw it actually the frustration translate onto decreased production on the field. That's where it looked like what was going on with. With AJ actually was impacting for the first time what was hatching on the field. And that's always when things maybe make a little bit of a turn. I was with a head coach and when they found out this week Chase. What the asking price was, and I'm not gonna lie, they were somewhat interested. Heard the asking price, laughed. Laughed hard.

[James Palmer]

So obviously things are coming down from that right here.

[Chase Daniel]

Yes. How he'd be out of his mind if he didn't start here. I mean, here I like how he's doing 100. How he has to do it this way. I'm just curious if where he's at about to turn 29. I think that's in June. If he's the same player. There was some discussions at the combine going. We've probably seen the best we've seen of A.J.

[James Palmer]

brown.

[Chase Daniel]

How long does he stay at this level? We'll. Speaking of.

[James Palmer]

Wait, hold on. I have one last question. Sorry, this is just really interesting to me. So Diana said AFC teams, could we see an AJ Brown in Buffalo Bills uniform? Because the Buffalo Bills to me are the AFC team that absolutely needs a receiver the most. Can you get something done with new head coach? New. I mean, like Josh Allen. Like, I'm just saying, is. Is that feasible?

[Diana Rossini]

I'd be surprised if I wasn't having conversations about this. Yeah, I think, I think the Bills,

[James Palmer]

it just, it just hit me. I'm like, that makes so much sense.

[Diana Rossini]

It makes so much sense. No, I, I mean, I think they're definitely going to be a team watching this. I don't believe that they have had any direct conversations with Philadelphia just yet, but I can tell you they, they are definitely looking at wide receivers. So. Yeah, that, that, that makes sense.

[James Palmer]

Oh, man.

[Chase Daniel]

Josh Allen, a big body wide receiver on the outside. Diana. That you can go to on third down. And he will win with physicality and all sorts of things. Okay, sign me.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Who wouldn't win?

[Chase Daniel]

I did have a conversation with Joe Brady at the combine where he did tell me, keep an eye on Khalil Shakir. I want to use him in more ways than I have been as a receiving threat. That was kind of interesting. All right, how about to the other guy that everybody's talking about at the combine? Max Crosby? Diana, you and I sat at a folding table in the convention center, talked about Max a little bit. Do we have any further information from that conversation last week?

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah, I think there's a little confusion because you see people, and I say people, it's like fans that are frustrated because they can't even imagine someone like Max Crosby not being a Raider. And the sense I'm getting is that's another situation where the price is a little too high for teams right now. That doesn't mean it's going to change. I think Las Vegas is very honest with themselves about the reality of the situation with Max, and that's. He. He wants to play somewhere else, and they know that, and I think they're helping and open to exploring it. But from what I sense, it's just teams are being a little bit hesitant to being aggressive towards getting a deal done at this moment. Of course, that could change. The Dallas Cowboys could call them tomorrow and be like, here's what we got. We're doing this right now. But that's one I want to watch. See, because right now, the price being close to, we'll call it the Micah Parsons, like, trade, I don't believe that's

[Various Advertisers/Guests]

going to be it.

[Diana Rossini]

Like, it's got to come down in order for a team to do it.

[Chase Daniel]

Yeah, yeah. That's a tough number to get to, right, Diana? Because you have age, you have the way he plays. I mean, I'm not putting that as a knock, but the guy puts everything into every single snap. That and you're getting closer to 30. How many years do you have them? I had an interesting conversation with John Spytak, who, when I asked him, you want Max Crosby? Has Max conveyed to you that he wants to be there? Chase and he said, we're not going to get into the details of what's going on right now. So, yeah, I think there is some. Some back and forth going on there.

[Diana Rossini]

It's going to be going to hear anything from Max or his camp about those conversations. He is a loyal athlete that really, I think, wants to do this with respect and do this, you know, with respect to the fan base and to the owner. You know, Mark Davis and Max Crosby have a really strong relationship, but I think everyone knows, which is that Max is in his prime years and he wants to go win a Super bowl. And this Raiders team is not in a position to win a Super bowl at this moment.

[Chase Daniel]

Yeah, yeah. It was interesting. Diana, too. Spy tech.

[Diana Rossini]

I know what you're doing is rolling his eyes on me because he's going, okay, maybe you're not ready right now, but why would you give up a Max Crosby? If Fernando Mendoza steps in and he has a Jaden Daniels type season and you have a defense, I know what you're doing so well.

[James Palmer]

I'm just sort of thinking that. But I'm also thinking like, the Dallas Cowboys could use him so much.

[Chase Daniel]

I heard that a little bit at the combine. I heard that a little bit at the combine. And. And somebody kind of, when I brought it up, looked at me and went, I wouldn't roll it out. I wouldn't rule it out at all.

[Diana Rossini]

It's my favorite. I go, my favorite three team would be the Dallas Cowboys, the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots are the teams that him and Milton, when the trade went there, I'd be like, oh, boy. Like, good.

[Chase Daniel]

Highest selling jersey in the NFL. He goes to Dallas like that. I mean, oh my goodness. To Chase his point. And Diana, it's just because you know Chase so well and he's rolling his eyes and he's there and you go, I know what he's saying. I know he's because you know your guys so well. Chase Spitek did say this to me and it was wild that he said it on camera. And he said, I I Clint knows that he's not walking into a team as talented as the one he just left. And I'm like, okay, pretty good. He's like, he knows he doesn't have those weapons. He goes, we have to be very sober in our evaluation of our team and where we stand right now this offseason and where and how we want to get there. So maybe draft picks are a part of that.

[Various Advertisers/Guests]

That.

[Chase Daniel]

All right, coming up next, we're going to stick with players, maybe changing teams, and we're going to go to the quarterback spot. We're going to tell you why this offseason is unlike any other we've seen in the past. It's a carousel that may not stop for some time. Coming up next on Scoop City.

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[Diana Rossini]

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[Diana Rossini]

Experian

[Chase Daniel]

this is an off season at the quarterback position that we maybe haven't seen before. If you go back a couple of seasons, Russell Wilson gets cut by the Denver Broncos and you have a guy who's a Super bowl winning quarterback with a boatload of starts who's now available for the league minimum because the Denver Broncos were paying his entire salary. Everybody was going, wow, this is a big deal. Well, guess what? We may have five of those guys this offseason that have the ability to ability to essentially go wherever they'd like to go. Because money with all of these players may not be an option to a tug of Iloa. You're not paying him anything, really. With Kyler Murray, you may not be paying him anything. So if you're the Vikings, say Chase, you could maybe be the pick because People might want to go there. If you're. The jets might be a little different vibe and the jets might have to trade for somebody. There are so many moving parts we wanted to get into with this. You wanted to talk about this landscape.

[James Palmer]

Landscape.

[Chase Daniel]

Where do you want to start chase right now with where this quarterback carousel is?

[James Palmer]

Yeah, I mean, look, I think of all the guys you, you mentioned and this, this ties into what we're going to talk about in the B block too, with the draft. It's like, hey, there are so many quarterbacks who have played a lot of football that can be had for the league minimum of 1.3 million. Because a lot of these guys, right, there's like five, five guys that could be cut and then automatically have to have, you know, money from their other team that they can go. And so all that matters. And then like, to me, it like, I think the person who stands out the most out of all these guys is Kyler Murray. It's like, okay, well, Kyler Murray, for me, we've seen what he could be now, we've seen some bad, right? But when you talk about his ceiling, we've talked about this a lot. James, to me, me, he's played at times like a top five quarterback in the league. Now, I don't think he's going to be doing that. However, if you can tell me. And you got to get rid of sort of the off field demeanor of what he is and how, how he fits into your locker room, because that's an issue. But if you're telling me you can have Kyler Murray go team up with Kevin o', Connell, who we think. I'm just saying, like I say Minnesota because I think Minnesota is easily the best team who's looked in the quarterback market who can go out there for one year. And you don't necessarily have to have Kyler for multiple years. Kyler's using you. You using Kyler. You have still have an amazing offensive group and defensive group, a really good roster. Like that's to me is so fascinating because there's a lot of teams that need quarterbacks. You could get 1 point, 1.3 million for Kyler. Okay, well, what about Kirk Cousins or what about, you know, even just Justin Fields as a flyer or. But then there's a whole nother thing. It's like, all right, those are cut. What about trade Anthony Richardson? He's available for trade if his eye, you know, we don't. Probably not. But like Mac Jones, like Mac Jones, to me, he played exceptional and made himself A ton of money. But guess what? The 49ers are going to want probably at least a second round pick for Mac Jones. So when that happens, like, well, do I want. If I'm the Jets, do I give up a second round pick for a guy who maybe wanted to, or do I draft Ty Simpson at the back end of the first round pair?

[Chase Daniel]

Do you think the jets are drafting somebody in the 2026 draft with all the capital they have for 27 and all the quarterbacks there.

[James Palmer]

Browns make the Browns. The Browns could do it too. Like one. One of these. Like, I'm just saying, like, these are what. And this is fascinating because it's so deep. We don't have time to go that. But it's just fascinating because there's so many layers to the conversation that makes its way down to draft day and they have to work through these. Do we want this guy? And it just, it's fascinating to me everyone that's out there.

[Chase Daniel]

Well, there's more guys. I want to ask you this because he brought up the Vikings and Everybody's curious about JJ McCarthy and where things stand with the Vikings and JJ if Kyler Murray went there, would it be a truly open competition at the quarterback spot? Where do things stand with them? Bringing somebody else in. Will they have a legitimate chance to beat out J.J. mcCarthy?

[Diana Rossini]

McCarthy? Absolutely. This season. They are not going into this off season with J.J. mcCarthy as the starter. No way.

[James Palmer]

Like they learned something.

[Diana Rossini]

Going to be a competition.

[Chase Daniel]

Yep.

[Diana Rossini]

Just based on a. What we saw last year.

[James Palmer]

Yeah.

[Diana Rossini]

He needs to show and prove that it is his. That is his job. Which is why they've been really open about. Yeah, we're gonna bring somebody in here to move this thing along and. And to help.

[Various Advertisers/Guests]

Help.

[Diana Rossini]

The second chance quarterback situation in Minnesota is interesting to me. Right. Because we've seen Kevin o' Connell have so much success with those veteran quarterbacks. I think a lot of it is. And Chase, you're probably better to answer this, but if you're Kevin O' Connell and you want JJ McCarthy to work, you want him to feel confident and you want him to compete, what type of quarterback do you want to bring in? You know, like, is this a mentor. But a mentor that is. That could play. Right.

[James Palmer]

And I don't. I don't. But yeah. And that's what I'm saying. I don't know if that's Kyler Murray. I don't think Kyler Murray is going to go in and mentor your guy. Kyler Murray's trying to play and Win. And so that. That's where you sort of draw a line. Do you want Kirk Cousins? That's a whole nother.

[Chase Daniel]

Like, I don't think that's happening. Honestly, I just.

[Various Advertisers/Guests]

Just.

[Chase Daniel]

You're going to bring in Kirk Cousins, everybody's going to pull out their eight jerseys.

[James Palmer]

That's what I'm saying. I don't like it. You're going to like it.

[Chase Daniel]

That's why I could see Geno, Smith, Chase.

[James Palmer]

Yeah, but do you want Gino, who's through, you know, 18 or whatever it was, interceptions and stuff. I just think, like, here. Here's my thing about Minnesota Fire last year. Exactly. Here. Here's my thing about the Minnesota Vikings. And. And I am a huge fan of Kevin OConnell. This show is. He loves the show, all this stuff. But in this league of win now, if you have backto back years where you have not figured out the quarterback situation, you have not done this, you have not done that, you have not made the playoffs, it's like, not tarnished, but it's like, man, okay, now you got to work your way all the way back after two full years and you still don't have a quarterback. And so, like, that to me is like, crazy. Like, you would have to.

[Chase Daniel]

Why would you want to bring in somebody to mentor? Like you just said, wouldn't you want to bring in somebody to win the job?

[James Palmer]

That's why I like Kyler.

[Chase Daniel]

You said mentor, and then you said he won't mentor.

[Diana Rossini]

No, no. My intel about JJ to apply. What? He knows you shouldn't like Kevin that much. When I saw him, he was like, hey, when are we doing our podcast? I'm like, well, that means that Chase would have to be out. No, dude.

[James Palmer]

Yeah, he wants it.

[Diana Rossini]

He's such a wannabe media member.

[James Palmer]

It's funny.

[Diana Rossini]

No, I. Look, I do think there's a delicate situation there. And when I say delicate, it's because there. There is belief that JJ has potential, but everything needs to go the right way in order for that to happen. And this is a roster like we saw last year that I still believe could make the playoffs, could be really good. I. No doubt we've talked about on the show. I mean, they have Sam Darnold this year. They're having a good season. They're playing, if not as far as the NFC championship game, because I believe their defense wasn't as good as Seattle, but they had a lot of good pieces. So I. I think Mac Jones makes the most sense. It's just. I don't know if they're going to be willing to give that up.

[James Palmer]

Yeah.

[Diana Rossini]

To bring in somebody like Mac Jones is the first name during the season that I was thinking about. I'm like, Kevin's going to go call Kyle right now and get that done. But I don't think it's. I don't know if they're going to be willing to do that.

[James Palmer]

Yeah.

[Diana Rossini]

But I chase your point. I do think we're going to learn a lot about how they feel about JJ based on who they support. Sign.

[James Palmer]

Yes. Yes. And what they give up for it.

[Diana Rossini]

Even what they give up. If they do that. We don't need to have the conversation anymore.

[Chase Daniel]

The interesting part is they were looking to do this last year. They just didn't get it done. They were looking to bring back Sam or Daniel Jones. I'm just saying they're in the exact same boat.

[James Palmer]

Think about Aaron Rodgers with them. Better guys.

[Diana Rossini]

We've literally talked about this on this show.

[James Palmer]

This is the whole show a hundred times.

[Diana Rossini]

Like every Vikings blogger took our show just aggregated, thinking we were nuts to talk about this organization and the fact that we were pushing for them to bring in one of these vets. And look what happened when they didn't. They were late to the game. They brought on Carson Wentz. By the way, Carson Wentz may be an option, Right. Because he's at least comfortable. And I'm waiting for you guys to react with that. Are you kidding me?

[James Palmer]

Well, for whom, man? Carson Winson's option. For who?

[Chase Daniel]

The Vikings?

[Diana Rossini]

What about for Minnesota?

[Chase Daniel]

If he doesn't get hurt, they probably make the playoffs.

[James Palmer]

Don't say that.

[Chase Daniel]

I'm not joking.

[James Palmer]

Stop, Diana, stop.

[Diana Rossini]

If they sign Carson Wentz, we're going to have an emergency pod. And I'm not going to say a word. I just want Chase to be like, no, stop. We're not doing.

[James Palmer]

Stop it right now.

[Chase Daniel]

Why are you saying stop to that?

[James Palmer]

Just to know some backstory.

[Diana Rossini]

Just to rehash real quick. Anthony Richardson, Andy Dalton, Spencer Rattler, Will Levis, Justin Fields, Mac Jones, Derek Carr are trade opportunities. Teams that still. Oh, and then we have the veteran potential cuts. Right. With Tua Kyler, Kirk Cousins we now know, and Geno Smith. So that's what we're talking about. In terms of the field, you could

[Chase Daniel]

also trade for Tanner McKee. You could trade for Tyson Bagent. Those are probably options, right, Diana, as well?

[Diana Rossini]

Well, yes, it is, you guys.

[James Palmer]

We said like, that's. That's why it's fascinating. We said like 17 names. There's like six spots.

[Chase Daniel]

Well, that's, that's the point. That's why I think this is so fascinating. We want to have this conversation, right? Cuz it's like if you're one of these guys that's cut like and you want to go someplace, you're going to call up Minnesota immediately and you're going to pull a Daniel Jones where it's like Anthony Richardson there. I think I can beat him out. Kyler's like, maybe I can beat him out. But if you're the jets, you might have to trade for somebody because you might not be the desired location. Does that make sense?

[Diana Rossini]

Prep you or give you a heads up on Chase? But I'm looking at it now and you're so good at putting common sense, applying common sense to these quarterbacks. I'm going to say a team. This is guesses, guys. I know we usually report on the show, but these are guesses. If I see the Vikings, who do you think they go get?

[James Palmer]

Kyler Murray.

[Chase Daniel]

Okay.

[Diana Rossini]

I'm writing these down because I want to come back and see if you get these right. Okay. The Cleveland brass drafts.

[James Palmer]

Yeah, I think they draft somebody, but I think they roll with Deshaun or Shador.

[Diana Rossini]

Okay. The Arizona Cardinals.

[James Palmer]

Yeah, I mean Jacoby sets in there as well, right? Like, yeah, Jacoby probably is there.

[Diana Rossini]

Remember Malik Willis is out there.

[Chase Daniel]

I mean, I know bro can chase, bro can talk to bro and be like, hey bro, what'd you think? Like, give me the real goods.

[Diana Rossini]

All right. The Dolphins, Malik.

[James Palmer]

I don't know if there's enough money,

[Diana Rossini]

but I think it comes from Green Bay. I don't know.

[Chase Daniel]

I don't know how they physically. Diane, how could they cap wise do that with the 2 of money and then pay 30 million.

[Mark Bittman]

20.

[Chase Daniel]

20 to 30 million for Mali?

[Diana Rossini]

I asked people in indie that and they said they can make it work. They're like, that's not. It's not a stress.

[James Palmer]

Just like cap is false. Right? It doesn't.

[Diana Rossini]

Just going back to the Philly situation

[Chase Daniel]

exists in some capacity.

[Diana Rossini]

Everyone told me to go kick rocks when I brought.

[Chase Daniel]

I mean it has to. I know you can move money. You can't move the dead money. You can't play.

[James Palmer]

I think Malik will get a spot for sure.

[Diana Rossini]

Pittsburgh Steelers, Rogers, Aaron, Colts, Daniel Jones,

[James Palmer]

they'll get it worked out.

[Diana Rossini]

The Atlanta Falcons.

[James Palmer]

Yeah, that's the one that I could like.

[Chase Daniel]

I would love to see Joe Flacco till this till. Till Penx is ready.

[James Palmer]

I would think Flacco, but like to me actually I don't think Jones in Kevin Stefanski's offense makes a lot of sense.

[Diana Rossini]

I mean, I think we can all agree they're also lacking our favorite trade

[James Palmer]

candidate, but would they let him go for a third round versus second? That's.

[Chase Daniel]

They hold all the cards.

[Diana Rossini]

I don't believe.

[James Palmer]

So you can just go back and

[Diana Rossini]

make around the super bowl, when I was poking around on, it was like, we're not moving in them. AKA I don't think Tu.

[James Palmer]

I don't think Tua has a spot. This whole thing. Like, I don't think Tua has a spot somewhere. Like, it's for backup.

[Chase Daniel]

I would think, yeah. Backup. Or compete. Because I would think for $1 million, you're going to bring TUA into your building.

[James Palmer]

I'm just saying, like, yeah, no doubt. But I don't. I don't think. I don't even think he competes. I don't. I don't think he gets. I don't. I don't like it. I don't know.

[Diana Rossini]

All right, these will be interesting to circle back on to see how this plays out. This is. It's. It's. I find it very entertaining because it's not clean. Like, I feel like you usually can connect these guys around this time, but they're.

[James Palmer]

You didn't say the jets, that's like the number one.

[Diana Rossini]

Like, oh, my gosh. I didn't even put in the jets

[James Palmer]

that they're the, like, the number one team that I'm like, what. What are they going to do?

[Diana Rossini]

What do they do?

[James Palmer]

And.

[Chase Daniel]

Okay, I'll give a scenario. Yes. What if Tua is lacking opportunities and Tua goes, I'll come for one year on the league minimum, to rebuild myself up so I'm more marketable in 2027 and the jets go. That's. We'll have a new quarterback in 2027 because we're going to take whoever we want at the top of the draft in 27 with all the capital we have. You use us, we use you for one year. And we both can maybe benefit from how we bridge ourselves to 27.

[James Palmer]

Two get absolutely crushed if you went to New York. I don't think Aaron Glenn does that, but I like that idea.

[Mark Bittman]

Yeah.

[Diana Rossini]

I mean, well, Frank Wright, they have

[James Palmer]

to have somebody like Kurt Cousins to me and Frank Reich. I know Frank. I was in the room with Frank. I know Kirk. That, to me, boom, Kirk is like, I know I'm the guy for a year. Let me go out there and compete. Let me get some New York money. Let me go go to cbs because he's going to end up on the desk there after he's done playing

[Diana Rossini]

two jobs, maybe.

[James Palmer]

No, for real. Like that, that to me makes a lot of sense.

[Diana Rossini]

So that's why. What, like, there's been a lot of rumors about Kyler Murray to New York work and that the. I'm all for it until I hear Frank's part of the off. Like, do you think Kyler Murray fits in a Frank Reich offense that seems.

[James Palmer]

No, not even close.

[Diana Rossini]

Doesn't make sense to me either.

[Chase Daniel]

What's Kirk's, what's Kirk's incentive to go to New York? He's not gonna win.

[James Palmer]

Well, no, here's the deal. Here's the deal. As players, though, you got to look at the players. He might not have another chance to play, bro. And start.

[Various Advertisers/Guests]

Start.

[Chase Daniel]

That's the same point of tour.

[James Palmer]

Yeah, but I'm just, I'm just saying at this point, though, there's only so many spots. You're gonna want Kirk Cousins. I'm gonna want Kirk Cousins over Tua and Kirk Cousins may have one or two spots to go to start. At this point, it's about, can I play and start? Kirk's not gonna go somewhere and sit like, Kirk shows enough he can play and be a mentor and all that stuff. So that's why I think it's New York interesting.

[Chase Daniel]

You, you take her Cousins over to Tua. I would as a player right now, in 2026.

[James Palmer]

Yeah. Wow. It's weird. I know. And the hot take, I, I just,

[Diana Rossini]

I don't think that's hot. I'm shaking my head. I, I, James, I'm surprised that you think that they're, I mean, I think

[Chase Daniel]

two is somewhat broken. I do. But I'm just looking at it. Two years ago, he led the league in pass to passing. Last year, you know, I mean, like, he led the league in passing

[Diana Rossini]

when he's playing well, he's very good.

[James Palmer]

It's just also, I, I, I, I would argue you that looking back on the film, Tua was a product of the system a little bit.

[Chase Daniel]

A huge product. I think Mike did an awesome job. I think two is actually cheaper.

[James Palmer]

I did a great job right now

[Chase Daniel]

in, in this situation.

[James Palmer]

Yeah.

[Diana Rossini]

Here's what I want. I want Kyler and Tua to be our second chance quarterbacks of next year. I want us to be laughing like

[Chase Daniel]

we love a redemption story.

[James Palmer]

Yeah. I don't think it's a little comeback, guys. I don't like this.

[Chase Daniel]

Okay. I love it.

[James Palmer]

All right.

[Chase Daniel]

This was outstanding. This was great. I'm being told Texas multiple times they wrap this up. Said, no, we're not wrapping it up.

[James Palmer]

This is too good. This is awesome.

[Chase Daniel]

Coming up next on Scoop City, we're going to talk about the quarterbacks some more, but how about the ones coming into the NFL in the draft? Chase is going to break that down next. Scoop City.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching your insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy. Just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money. When you bundle your home and auto policy. The process only takes minutes and it could mean hundreds more in your pocket. Visit progressive.com after this episode to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

[Various Advertisers/Guests]

Hi, this is Kim Holderness from the Laughlines podcast. Let's talk about spring break. You might be thinking, oh, no, Kim, nothing good happens on spring break. Well, I'm here to tell you it's time to redefine our vacation time.

[Diana Rossini]

We all deserve a getaway that is

[Various Advertisers/Guests]

meaningful but doesn't require a ton of plans. Spring break isn't what it used to be. It's better this spring. Stay three nights and get a $50 Best Western gift card. Life's a trip.

[Diana Rossini]

Make the most of it at best Western.

[Various Advertisers/Guests]

Visit bestwestern.com for complete terms and conditions. Taste the Mediterranean at Whole Foods Market with a vibrant selection that captures the flavors of the region. Shop coastal favorites like responsibly farmed whole bronzini and jumbo white shrimp and pair them with specialty pastas, robust olive oils and aram aromatic sauces directly sourced from the Mediterranean. Want a fast and easy dinner? Grab refreshing Greek salads and tortellini from the prepared foods department. Taste the Mediterranean now at Whole Foods Market.

[Chase Daniel]

Welcome back to Scoop City. James Palmer. Chase Daniel with you. Chase, I know you're watching everything with these quarterbacks. Some of them maybe didn't throw like I. E. Fernando Mendoza, but he was in Indianapolis. He was meeting with teams. I believe he did meet with the Raiders. Like what are you, what are you seeing from this situation? This is what I was interested in. What do you see about the strengths and weaknesses maybe he has coming in specifically to the situation that he's in in Vegas?

[James Palmer]

Yeah, well, I mean one of the just automatic strengths is, is the fact that he's going to an offense with Clint Kubiak. Right? Like, dude, like Clint Kubiak to Me is a perfect system. It's going to be difficult to learn the system because the is very intricate. Here's my one thing and a strength that a lot of people really aren't talking about is how insanely sharp and smart Fernando Mendoza is. He is just. He is sharp as attack. It is unbelievable. And so for him to go in and to learn this system from day one, I don't think there's going to be anything in the system that's going to be holding this team back. I think that's, that's the cool part about it, is they're going to be able to throw everything at Fernando, you know, and they're going to have a process to go through it and he's going to handle it really well. That's first and foremost. The other one is like, it's really hard to measure the intangibles of a quarterback. How are you on third down? How are you around your teammates? How of good of a leader are what's inside of you? What is your heart made of? To me, Fernando Mendoza is a perfect prospect with that. Like, like I know people who have coached him. I've, I've been around, I've talked to him. Like to me that that's what this is about. There's physical, some stuff that needs to get better. Right. He's not the best thrower. The football from under center just because he doesn't do it 98% in the shotgun. That's a big thing that people are talking about. But he's going to find a will and he's going to find a way to be able to do that. His eyes, for me, when I look at a quarterback, you have to be so confident about your reads and about going through progressions and your. His eyes to. Are never in the wrong spot. And I think that to me is, is. Is big. He throws a really good back shoulder bar. Yes, there's a lot of RPOs that could fall under the weaknesses. But when you look at him against the best competition of the year in the last five or six games, he played his very best. To me, it's a gamer. Sorry about that. He's a gamer. And I think that to me is what separates Fernando from everyone else in the NFL combine and the NFL draft draft. Really at quarterback?

[Chase Daniel]

Yeah, I love that. When I was having my conversation with John Spytek, he was saying exactly that. Chase, he was like, listen, at the top of our evaluation really is how does a quarterback retain information? How do they, you know, process information? But he Also said he's like, that's also in. In our opinion, we haven't fully even figured out how to do that in. In evaluations. I don't know if anybody has. It is so hard to test. That's what he's saying. He was like, we won't really know it till he's in a Raiders uniform to fully see it, but obviously that's at the top of our list. And we know he didn't really come out and say it because he can't say he's drafting for anybody. We know where, you know, the quarterbacks in this draft stand. And then I think you mentioned that that's a major strength. The other part he did mention to me was he's like, listen, with. With that part being clearly an emphasis with us. Two other things jumped out at me. He said, one was that we do have Tom Brady in the building. We do have Tom Brady here. And there is something I learn every day from Tom Brady. That quarterback will learn something every day from Tom Brady. And then the other part that I thought was fascinating, I want to ask you this and send it back is he said Clint was really. What sold us on him is his evaluation of players. We needed the next head coach to be a great evaluator of talent, and Clint's really, really good at that. But if you look at Clint's history, you look at Gary's history, his history, the Kubiak family essentially really does believe quarterbacks should sit, and they should, until they're fully ready. But do you think with everything you mentioned with Fernando Mendoza, he could kind of buck that curve and Clint could start him week one?

[James Palmer]

Oh, he's starting week one. There's no competition. There's no. None of this stuff.

[Chase Daniel]

I mean, he could add to the room. We don't know. Yeah, exactly.

[James Palmer]

Yeah. But even if they add to the room. Come on. Like, if you're drafting this dude and. Because in my opinion, I think sometimes you don't play quarterbacks because they're not ready mentally and they can't handle failure. To me, Drake didn't start right away,

[Chase Daniel]

if that makes sense. Yes. And he was the third.

[James Palmer]

Yeah. And I thought. I thought he should have. I thought he. I thought he should have. I thought he was ready. And when he played progressed and you said, saw the progression where he's almost MVP this year, but with Fernando, I think he could handle the bad with the good because there's going to be way more. Way more bad year for rookie year. And to be completely honest with you, I don't know if the Raiders can get any worse than they are. So you need to literally play him. And because here's the deal, you can practice a full off season, you can practice a full training camp, go one on one, go all this stuff. You could have 100 practices and it doesn't even remotely come close to one 60 minute game. When it comes to experience, when you play actual games in our situations where you have to figure stuff out onto the field, that's really what is experience. That is what you garner, that you put it in the back of your head, hey, remember week one, third and seven, they rolled to this cover two. And I should have got backside to this dig. I mean this is what they're coaching. And then so in week 10, he knows, oh, I saw this. We're playing the Chiefs again.

[Chase Daniel]

Dig.

[James Palmer]

Like all these small progressions that we just, we can't see because we're not in the meeting rooms. Those stack upon themselves and that's how you, you get confidence at quarterback.

[Chase Daniel]

Yeah, I love that. And the one thing, and with all the traits that you've been talking to me about, Fernando Mendoza, what does everybody say? You play too early, you start seeing ghosts, you get hit a bunch on a bad team, you're picking number one for a reason. His toughness mentally and physically is maybe one of his best traits. So you think he can, and I agree with you that he could. If he plays right away and he gets the snot kicked out of him behind a bad offensive line, it may not impact him as much as maybe some other guys because of how mentally tough and physically tough he is. All right, the guy who everybody else believes is next on that list, Chase. Ty Simpson. What did you see from the former Alabama quarterback?

[James Palmer]

Yeah, I, I loved Ty, man. I, I thought Ty had a really good day throwing the football. There was the one out route to the left that was a little bit behind him. But I thought, I thought it was interesting, all these guys going under center, like even Diego Pavia, like all these guys you just never see under center. It's your first chance to do this. And, and we've talked at length about how stupid I think the throwing combine session is. So I don't want to react to it. However, when, when I saw him throw, I just really liked the smoothness of the release. Like he's mechanically, mechanically the best quarterback in, in the, in the draft. And to me it's really not even close. He just looks pretty throwing the football, his motion, all this stuff. And, and so I Think he for sure has the most to gain in this entire preseason process of like, okay, the end of the year, then there's just, there's touch points, right? Then there's combine, then there's pro day, then there's like private workouts, then there's, I just think he has the most to gain. And I do think that, like, if teams realize like, he was a little sick, he was a little banged up, he was really skinny, now he's back to 210, 215 and realize like in a he, he can be moldable. Is that a word?

[Chase Daniel]

He can be molded.

[James Palmer]

Yeah, he can be molded. I struggle with words sometimes, you know what I mean, on this show. So he can be molded. And I think that's something. What, what teams in the bottom half of the first round, I do think he can sneak up there. I probably think he's a second round talent, but with the right coaching and you know how they want to tack on that extra fifth year year going into the first round, I do think he could probably end up being a first round pick.

[Chase Daniel]

I, I, I think you're very, I think you're spot on with that. From everybody I talked to in Indianapolis, it was this part on and it's funny that everybody goes, well, why is he going to climb and crush this part? He's not playing any football games, but he is showing you his knowledge of football. He is showing you, you know, like the moldability of him as well. You do have a somebody there that I think you can seriously work with. And when you talk about the best mechanics, I mean, that's going to make coaches go like, yeah, okay, let's start working with that. I did talk to a head coach who said, I'm not going to tell you who, James, but somebody wants him in the first round or else he would have went back to college. And his, his analogy to that was he was going to get six or seven million dollars if he stayed in college for another year. Somebody told him they're taking him in the first round. How about a fit real quick before we move on? What if, like Arizona 34, if he was there and Mike LaFleur is there?

[James Palmer]

Yeah, I mean, it's great. I, I, that's what, here's the thing.

[Chase Daniel]

You don't think he gets to 34?

[James Palmer]

I don't think he gets to 34. Yeah. I like to me a team that, like I have been saying that I think would be a perfect, a perfect fit for Ty Simpson is the Los Angeles Rams. Yeah, I, I I like and I've said it before, this is not the first time I've said it because one you, you can sit bro. You don't have to have the pressure. You can learn from McVeigh. You can mentally get on another level in terms of what are we doing and how are we doing. I just, I.

[Chase Daniel]

College starts. Yeah.

[James Palmer]

Very few college start. And, and to me to learn from staff for even if it's for two years. I mean you look at Jordan Love, he sat for multiple years. Mahomes even sat for a year. I'm not saying he's on my homes level but sometimes it's like that and I would much rather you go to a situation like that to where you're having to be a Day 1 starter for Cleveland or you're having to be a day one starter for the jets or maybe, maybe the Steelers. Like I don't hate the Steelers here. Aaron Rodgers and that whole regime over there. It could be interesting to follow. But I, I, I really like the Rams.

[Chase Daniel]

Oh I like the Steelers. One's kind of an interesting one in my head too because you know, Aaron's probably playing if he comes back and a lot of people believe one year Mike McCarthy, him working with quarterbacks. Yeah, I kind of dig that. All right. The guy who really at the quarterback position just blew the doors off of Indianapolis was Taylor Green out of Arkansas. I mean Chase, this is the best vert that we've seen from a quarterback. 43 and a half broad, 11, 22 and the second fastest 40 of a quarterback ever at 4, 3, 6. What when you were watching this, what, what are you thinking? If you're put your GM hat on and you're watching this happen from a quarterback, what are you thinking in your suite?

[James Palmer]

Terrell Prior? Like, like, but also like look, I actually watched some Taylor Green tape, okay at Arkansas last year and it was, wasn't, it wasn't amazing but there was that knack of like okay, can move, get open like first progression there, if not scramble. So like if you're, if you're a guy, if you're a gm, if you're a team who needs good football players, athletic football players, you got a 4, 3, 644 almost vertical jump, can jump out the gym. 112 brought like, like dude, take a flyer on the guy, have a package for him at quarterback. He can throw, he's just not an everyday thrower. Like you can build something with him, whether it be a tight end. If he's six six, like does his frame, can he put on 30 pounds. I mean like, to me I just thought that like, here's the thing about the combine, James, you know this. It's like you can't really, in my opinion, hurt yourself from a combine. But I'm always looking for that one guy who just, just like blows the roof off and just gets way more attention now than he ever had. And that's this, that's this guy, that's Taylor Green. Like, I don't care. And I'm not talking about a quarterback. I'm talking about you have a guy who's cerebral, who's smart, who can play some, who can throw some, who can run around, who tests out the water. No one in their mom was talking about Taylor Green until the combine. Now everyone is talking about, well, what can we do? And then teams are going back, well, could we do this? Could we do. So I just thought that like to me he was like, it was an MVP performance because he put his name on the map.

[Chase Daniel]

He really did all right. I just, just popped in my head while you were saying that. And this a little inside baseball. You were always a player rep. You know about the CBA and you know about how things have changed over the years in terms of the amount of reps and time that is involved in practice. When I look at Taylor Green, tell me if I'm wrong. In the old days where you would have many more reps, much more time on the field, more guys out there, would that world have benefited him better than maybe today's world as you're taking a flyer and a great athlete. But how many reps can you give him in your building once you draft him, wherever. Does that make sense?

[James Palmer]

No doubt. I, I think so. I, I, I, I'm, I'm 100 with you. I, I, he just, he needs rep. I mean like he's a freak of an athlete. He just needs reps and, and all these guys just need reps and yeah, I'm with you.

[Chase Daniel]

Time out. Hey, go take, go take. You know, this period at wide receiver, like, you know, go like let's go

[James Palmer]

get the tight end.

[Chase Daniel]

See it? You know what I mean? I mean like that's just from a career now he has to be willing. I mean, Terrell Pryor waited, you mentioned that, till I think he was 27 and then he had a thousand yard receiving season. I think it was in Cleveland, right? Like it was, it was what an athlete. I mean it was like very comparable. So we'll see what, what the future holds. But we love and coaches do right Chase. Of like, wait till I get my hands on this guy. I just got to see.

[James Palmer]

Because these don't come around.

[Chase Daniel]

Yeah. It's just really, really, really cool.

[Various Advertisers/Guests]

All right.

[Chase Daniel]

Right. That'll do it for Scoop City. Chase. Appreciate it, Diana. Thank you so much. Obviously, always. That quarterback chat was just. How long could we have gone? Chase, what do you think? The whole.

[James Palmer]

The whole thing? The whole thing.

[Chase Daniel]

Multiple days.

[James Palmer]

Multiple days.

[Chase Daniel]

We were still talking about it in the break. You and I. Yeah. Like, what do you think about this guy here? What do you think about this guy here? Like, and there's a way to the puzzle.

[Mark Bittman]

Oh, God.

[Chase Daniel]

It's unbelievable. I feel like the puzzle's still missing some pieces in some building. Maybe they got to look under the couch and see if they can find them.

[James Palmer]

Or in the.

[Chase Daniel]

Awesome, buddy. Good seeing you. I'll see you. You know, I'll see you around.

[James Palmer]

See you around.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all savings states. Over 90 of the top 100 US accounting firms trust bill to handle bill pay processes. Why? Because our tools are built on over a trillion dollars of secure payments. We're not just moving money. We're powering financial workflows for half a million customers. That's a level of expertise you just can't fake. Ready to talk with an expert? Visit bill.comproven to get started and grab a $250 gift card as a three. Thank you Terms and conditions apply. See offer page for details.

[Diana Rossini]

Spring break isn't what it used to be. It's better this spring. Stay three nights and get a $50 Best Western gift card. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at best Western. Visit bestwestern.com for complete terms and conditions.