Ep.4 What's the price

Double-back alert, double-back alert, double-back alert, double-back alert, folks. That's right. Two notable players got paid, Brandon Aiula, Trey Taught, Courtland Sutton, and Darius Slayton wanting deals, and the villain of the NFL foiled once again from getting a potential head coaching job. We're going to talk about all of this on the fourth episode of the Football Junkies Podcast. I am your host, Mikael. Let's get it. All right, folks, so if you don't know, and if you haven't heard the news, Eagles receiver Devontae Smith has inked a three-year $75 million deal, $51 million of that is guaranteed, $33.9 of that money is guaranteed at signing, which on average, he will be making about $25 million a year. Now, quick points for Devontae Smith. So far, he has had two 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He's been targeted over a hundred times since entering into the league, and according to NextGenStats, he had a 72.32 cash percentage last season. So you're talking about a player who is productive and has a very pivotal role within the Eagles offense. And defenses want to try to double-team A.J. Brown, who's the main person that's going to get open? Devontae Smith. And so this isn't a long-term deal. This is a deal for basically three years. That's not really bad. By the time that deal is over with, he'll still be in his prime, which then he can re-up and get another contract, which always want players to get paid. Now, for the other person who got a bag alert, defensive tackle, DeForest Buckner, for the Colts, signed a two-year, $46 million extension with an $18 million signing bonus, which makes him the fifth-highest-paid defensive tackle in the league right now. Now, since 2017, he has created 44 sacks, one lineup at defensive tackle, which is the fourth most in the NFL, according to ESPN's analytics and NFL NextGen stats. Also, since 2020, he has the fourth-highest double-team rate as a defensive tackle at 65%. When you talk about a player who has been productive since leaving the 49ers, it's DeForest Buckner. DeForest Buckner has continued to show why he is a top-five defensive tackle in the league. Even when he's getting double-team and triple-team, he is still getting to the quarterback, folks. Still getting to the quarterback, and he is the anchor for that defensive line. Honestly speaking here, doesn't have a whole lot of talent. I mean, they do have Quiddy Paid, but really haven't seen a whole lot of production with him lately. Maybe it changed. I don't know. I'm not a magician. But, you know, congrats to the both of them on receiving a bag alert. Now, let's get to some trade talk, folks, because there is a particular player that a lot of people have been talking about, and there's been a lot of conflicting reports. Most of them have been false reports. Some of them have been credible reports. But we're going to deep dive into it. Now, 49ers receiver Brandon I. Ewick right now is in contract talks with the 49ers, and in doing so, things are starting to look a little bit murky. So, apparently, there have been reports coming out that the Steelers have been the main team that has been very persistent in trying to make a trade for Brandon I. Ewick. Now, we're going to have to dissect this like a surgeon. So I already have my knife, I already have my scalpel. Let's get into it. So with Brandon I. Ewick, he plays a very pivotal role on the 49ers offense, has been very, very, very productive within the last two years. He had a 71.43 cash percentage last season, 105 targets. He has two 1,000-yard seasons in the last two years, and his market value right now would be a four-year $99.8 million deal, which would make him the fifth-highest pay receiver. However, with the situation that the 49ers are in right now, they probably won't be able to pay that type of money to a Brandon I. Ewick, simply because they have all of these big contracts on their books, right? And so when you are a playoff-caliber team like the 49ers, somebody's going to have to get the low end of the totem pole, right? And sometimes, you know, they'll try to attempt to maybe try to add more money, but at the end of the day, the player, you know, ultimately makes a decision on if he wants to sign the deal or not sign the deal. Now, with that being said, we have to be honest here, folks. Brandon I. Ewick is in a situation right now where he cannot demand more money than Deebo Samuel. And the reason why I say that is because he isn't better than Deebo Samuel. He's just not. I'm sorry. I don't care what anyone says. Brandon I. Ewick is not better than Deebo Samuel. Even when a hurt Deebo Samuel is still more productive and still more dangerous than Brandon I. Ewick, okay? Not to mention, Brandon I. Ewick is in a situation where you have two choices, and one of these choices, you know, the other one is it's going to be a sacrifice, basically. Either you take less and you stay on the team that you're on, and then you could possibly win a Super Bowl. And then, you know, maybe they'll be in a situation where they could probably, you know, tack more money onto his deal. Or they can be in a situation where, you know, he leverages his way out and he gets traded to a crappy team, but he gets the bag and the 49ers win the Super Bowl. Those are the two extremes at this point, because whether we want to admit it or not, and this is the God and honest truth here. It's going to look weird for Brandon I. Ewick to be making more money than what Deebo Samuel is making, even though Deebo Samuel is the guy in the receiving room. That's going to look weird. That's going to cause friction within the locker room, which ultimately, you know, Deebo Samuel might ask for a trade or might ask for more money to tackle his contract, simply because, hey, y'all just pay him that much money and I know he's not better than me. So that's sort of the line that the 49ers, you know, are sort of teetering on at this point. And it also doesn't help that, you know, there are teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, unfortunately, and the Buffalo Bills who need a receiver. And so, you know, it's a very sensitive situation only because if you trade for someone like a Brandon I. Ewick, you're going to have to make them top five highest paid. He's not going to want to, you know, maybe we'll talk about it at the end of the season. No, he wants his money up front. He wants to talk about money. He wants to stand on business. That's what he want to do. He wants to stand on business. And sometimes when you stand on business, it comes with a price. And sometimes that price is you get shipped to a crappy team that's not going to go to the playoffs, that's going to rebuild. And now, you know, although you got paid, you're not going to go anywhere. Meanwhile, your other team, you know, they could possibly win the Super Bowl. They could, you know, go on a run and win two Super Bowls, three Super Bowls, whatever the case may be. So that is the problem in this situation, because, you know, if you're a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers, why would you trade for someone like a Brandon I. Ewick, especially when the receiver class is as diverse and as big as it is? That doesn't make any sense, especially when you have, you know, very pressing needs on both sides of the ball. You don't even have a starting center on the team right now. And to any person that says, well, Nate Herbert could play center. No. No, he can't. Because if he was to play center, he should have started playing center late last season. Or better yet, they shouldn't have just cut Mason Cole. They should have just kept Mason Cole for another year, drafted as center, so then they can just sit under him and learn from him. And then you make the transition instead of being in a situation where now you have this pressing need as center and you haven't you haven't even brought in a deaf piece. You haven't even signed anybody for center. You haven't. Meanwhile, you have players like a Brian Allen, a Conor Williams, and, you know, there's there's probably a few other centers that you could possibly sign right now. And that could, you know, that's another that's another position that you really don't have to worry about as much. But making a trade for Brandon Iuli, you already know the 49ers are going to want a first round pick. They're going to want your first round pick and you need your first round pick. It'll be different if a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers, if they didn't have as many holes on their team, if they didn't have as many holes on their team, then it's like, OK, cool. You can make this trade, you know, see what happens. If you make it to the playoffs. Cool. If you don't, whatever. But this is but this is another draft where, again, your first four picks have to hit. They have to be starters and they have to be productive starters. And if they're not, that's going to set the team back another year, another two or three years if we're being real here. So trying to be this, you know, super aggressive team that's trying to go after receiver who is about to get his first contract. That's redundant. It is. It'll be different if Brandon Iuli had already had his first deal and he's looking for a second one or he's looking to tack on more guaranteed money with his first deal. Then it's like, OK, cool. You can make that type of move, you know, you know, lower the cap hit and create more cap and, you know, whatever else may be. But he's looking for money and you already have players that pretty soon you're going to have to pay. So what does that look like? You selling all of that money to Brandon Iuli when pretty soon you're going to have to pay Najee Harris. You're going to have to pay Pat Farmouth. You're going to have to pay Jim Warren. You're going to have to pay George Pickens soon. You have to figure out what you have, what you're going to do with Cameron Haver. You have to figure out what you're going to do with Landon Roberts. You got to figure out what you got to do with Cameron Hayward. And you got to figure out what you're going to do with TJ Watt. That's almost eight players right there that you have to figure out what are you going to do? Are you going to pay them? Are you going to extend them? Are you going to trade them? Are you going to cut them? Are you going to just let them walk and let them test for the agency? Those are the decisions that you have to make. Not to mention, you also have to figure out what you're going to do with James Daniels because pretty soon he is going to be a free agent as well and IJC Amalo. So you have all of these pressing needs that, you know, to some fans is like, you know, they'll address them when they address them. No. Making a type of move like this could literally mean, well, not a life or death situation, but it can literally mean either your team makes a crazy run and goes to the AFC championship, maybe even a Super Bowl or it flops and now you're basically $25 to $30 million in a hole with a receiver. And now you're probably going to have to let a productive player walk. That's the situation it is. And so for all the fans, for all the fellow junkies out there who say, you know, their particular team should go after someone like a Brandon Aiu, I want you to look up his value. I want you to look at his market value. As I said early on to this podcast, but I'm going to say it again. According to SpotRak, his market value right now would be a four year $99.8 million deal. That's almost $25 million a year. He would be the fifth highest paid receiver. That's a lot of money. That's a lot of money. And you, you would be, you know, in a, in a category with receivers such as Devante Adams, Tyreek Hill, AJ Brown, DK Metcalf, Cooper Cup. Can you honestly speaking say that Brandon Aiu is better than a Cooper Cup, a DK Metcalf, an AJ Brown, a Tyreek Hill, or Devante Adams? Can you really say that? I can't. Even on their worst seasons, they can have a bad, I'm talking about just a horrible season. They can still put up more numbers than what Brandon Aiu could do. And, you know, for, for, for anybody out there, I don't want to make it seem like I'm a Brandon Aiu care. I'm always pro player, you know, getting, getting paid and whatnot. But to a certain extent, when, when you are trying to get paid, there was a way that you have to move in order to get, in order to secure the bag. You can't just, you know, sort of have a temper tantrum like how Brandon Aiu is having right now thinking that, you know, it's going to speed up the process. It's not. It's not. You unfollowing the 49ers, you deleting all the pictures that you have on your Instagram and other social media accounts, you may be taking 49ers out of your bio. That is not going to make them move any faster. It is not. Honestly speaking, it might actually make them rethink their decision and maybe rescind the offer that they currently have on the table. So you have to be careful because if you don't be careful, they will ship you to a team and will not think twice about it. Not think twice about it. They won't factor in, you know, how you may feel about it or whatnot. They'll just ship you off. Not think twice about it. They don't care. The, the compensation, whatnot, they just want you gone. And it doesn't help again, that this is a big receiver class. So I wouldn't be surprised if Kyle Shanahan probably had a conversation with John Lynch and probably said, man, forget him. Listen, there's about two or three receivers right now that I'm looking at right now that could probably be just as, or maybe even more productive than what Brandon Iyuk has ever been. Those are the conversations that are, that have probably been had leading up to the draft. So I say all that to say this, Brandon Iyuk, I do hope you get paid. Pittsburgh Steelers, don't make this move. You're on a, you're, you're on the right track. Well, sort of, you're sort of on the right track. Don't derail it for one player. But moving on to Cortlandt Sutton also wanting a deal as well. So with Cortlandt Sutton, it's a little bit more complex simply because he is a older receiver and he has about two years, uh, $27.6 million left on his deal. Now, before I go any further, when, when, when you hear that, you're thinking, Oh, what is he really complaining about? He still has money left on his deal. No, he doesn't. However, 2 million of his, of his 2024 salary is fully guaranteed while the remaining 25 isn't. So what that means is he is guaranteed 2 million for the, you know, for fully guaranteed for this year's salary, but the 25 million, he's not guaranteed that at all. So what he's trying to do is he's trying to re up on guaranteed money. Now, if you've never really looked into, you know, uh, NFL player contracts when, you know, when the news break of, you know, any person signing a crazy deal, you have to look at the guarantees because the guarantees, that is the money that they are guaranteed to get. The minute that they signed their name on that piece of paper, that is the money that is guaranteed to them, whether they are, whether they play, do not play injured, whatever the case may be. They are injured. The money that is not guaranteed, that is the money that a lot of times are, you know, that are pushed sort of like to the back end of the contract. Most of the times they can be incentivized. Sometimes they're not incentivized. It just all depends on the, on the structure of the contract. Now with that being said, Corlin Sutton has had, has only had one, 1000 yards of receiving season. He has 772 receiving yards last season. He had 90 targets last season and he had a 65.56 cash percentage. Now I understand the move right now, however, it doesn't favor you again, simply because this is a big receiver class and you are an older receiver. It'll be different if you will still like someone in your prime, if he was about maybe 25, 26, maybe 27 years old, then it's like, okay, cool. You're great, but you're entering out of your product. And so, you know, that can, that can make a GM a little bit hesitant on wanting to give you a longterm deal simply because they don't know how, you know, how, how much, how many years you have left, you know, of great production left. Because at some point you're going to hit that, you're going to hit that point where, you know, your production is just going to fall, it's just going to plummet. And then that'll be the point where you're probably going to walk away and all that different type of stuff. So you have to factor in all those different types of things. Now, the problem with the receiver market is that there is a bunch of receivers who are all looking to get paid. Okay. You have Justin Jefferson that pretty soon you're going to have to, uh, he's going to have to get paid. C.D. Lamb's going to have to get paid. Brian Iyuek, Corlin Sutton, like, like we're talking about right now, and Darius Slade. That's five receivers right there that are looking to get paid now. Some of them are going to get paid. Some of them are not going to get paid. Some of them are going to get big money. Some of them are going to get small money. It just all depends on where, you know, on how the chips fall, honestly. And so at this point, at this juncture, Corlin Sutton, the best option is probably to want to get traded because I don't think the Broncos are going to want to pay him the type of money that he probably wants, especially, especially when they, when they have to eat a $89 million dead cap hit with Russell Wilson. I don't think they're going to want to do that. I just don't personally, but you know, I could be wrong. Again, you know, for him, hopefully he, you know, he gets paid well. If he doesn't, you know, you can get traded. There's a few teams that do need a receiver. You know, I mean, you know, you were productive, you know, with, I mean, with the quarterback last year, Russell Wilson. So, you know, you could, you know, maybe come to the Pittsburgh Steelers, maybe, you know. Listen, Corlin, Corlin, if you're listening to this, come to the Pittsburgh Steelers, come to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Come on, follow Russell Wilson. Come on, just follow, follow him. Please, please follow him. Please, for this moment, please, as a fan, as a podcaster, please, Corlin Sutton, come to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Omar, get on the phone and get this man. I need the con artist to get this man. Please, add him a few more, a few more, maybe about two more years on the remaining part of his deal, a little bit more money. Boom, we in there like swimwear. Now, moving on to Darius Slayton. This is a really more complex situation, simply because of where the Giants are positioned in the draft. So, Darius Slayton, if you happen to not know, signed a two-year $12.2 million deal last season and is due about $6.2 million in his final year. And so, with that being said, he is not attending voluntarily workouts, which, you know, if he did, he would receive a $350,000 bonus. Let's be honest here, folks. Him getting paid simply relies on what the Giants are going to do in the draft. Now, you're probably thinking, well, that doesn't really, that shouldn't dictate on if he gets paid or not. Yes, it does. Simply because the Giants have a high draft pick and a lot of mock drafts have been mocking them to get someone like a Malik Neighbors, a Roma Dunzey, a Brian Thomas, one of those, you know, high-end receivers. Whereas there's also mocks that are also saying that they might get a quarterback as well. So, they're in a situation where, depending on what they do in the draft, will dictate, you know, someone like a Darius Slayton getting paid. Now, and I don't want to seem like I'm talking, you know, out of the side of my mouth. The problem with this situation is you wanting to get paid, but the Giants didn't even pay Saquon. And Saquon was the heart and soul of the offense. They didn't even pay him. So, I mean, if we being real here, honestly speaking here, if I could have a one-on-one conversation with Darius Slayton, I would say, bro, if it was me personally, I would just play the rest of the season out and then just be a free agent. Because at this point, if the organization didn't want to play, I mean, didn't want to pay, they're the heart and soul to their offense. A player who has been the most impactful since Odell Beckham Jr. Why in the world would they pay you? Think about it. Why would they want to pay you? They overpaid for Daniel Jones, overpaid. And now they're realizing the mistake that they made. Why in the world would they want to pay you, Tom Dollar? Darius Slayton is in a situation where, honestly speaking here, it's best if you try to see if you can work something out. However, if you cannot work something out, you already know you have two options. You can either sit out or you can play. And maybe see if you're having a crazy start to the season where you can sort of build up your draft stock and teams will be interested in trading for you. And then you get traded to another team mid-season. That's the position that you're at right now. Because if you hold out, the Giants are not going to care. They've already shown that they are invested into Jalen Hyde. They already showed that. There's already mocks that are continuing to show that they're going to draft a receiver. So honestly speaking here, like I said before in the beginning part of the episode, you're probably going to be one of the players who's going to get the bottom end of the totem pole. That's where you are right now. And so you have to figure out, do you want to continue to do this? Or do you want to just try to take a risk on yourself? Come in, work out. Even if it means you do workouts by yourself on the sideline, just do that. Just do that at that point. Because you just holding out isn't going to solve anything. Because it just won't. I'm sorry. It just will not solve anything now. Moving on to the scathing, scathing report that came out yesterday about former New England Patriot head coach Bill Belichick. So an article came out yesterday basically detailing that Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, sort of intervened in the hiring process for Bill Belichick to be the next head coach for the Atlanta Falcons. Now before we talk about the situation, we have to talk about the history. And so a few years, let's go back a few years. So Bill Belichick is regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time. One of the most winningest coaches of all time, especially in this era. However, the problem with Bill Belichick has always been, and this has been documented with books, former interviews with players, and whatnot, and people that worked within the New England Patriots organization is his ego. He is a person that wants control. And for the longest time, he has had control over the Patriots. He has. He has wielded an iron fist with the Patriots. For the longest time, folks, there was a period in time where he had this philosophy where he would cut a player two years early than to have them two years late. Did it work a few times? Yes, it did. But there were situations where it did backfire. And so when you have a head coach who has basically put the greatest football player of all time, Tom Brady, on the spotlight in front of the entire team, that can rub people the wrong way. His demeanor, how he moves, how he operates, all of these things has rubbed people the wrong way for the longest time. That's why a lot of players who were on those Super Bowl teams, when they come out and they talk about how tough it is to play for Bill Belichick, they're not saying these things just to create lights and create attention. They're doing this because Bill Belichick demands perfection. He demands that you do your job. For the longest time, his famous saying was, do your damn job. That was his saying. Do your damn job, OK? And so Bill Belichick is at a point in his coaching career where he doesn't have as many opportunities as what he thought he would. Because not only are you getting the coach in Bill Belichick, but you're also will be getting the GM of Bill Belichick. Because while he was with the Patriots, he also did have some GM power along with being the head coach. Case in point, look at the past three or four drafts that the Patriots have had. A lot of those players, he's whiffed on. From Mac Jones, to Nikhil Harry, to a few other notable players, he's whiffed on them. And it's been horrible. If we're being honest here, his last great draft was probably maybe Derrick Barmore, I would probably say, and Christian Gonzalez. Those are probably the last two where it's like, wow, those are really great. You know, really great drafts. It was only two. It was only two prospects. Everybody else, it's slim pickings, honestly. And so when you have a coach that demands that type of control, it can rub GMs the wrong way. It really can. And for the people that don't realize, in order for a team to be successful, your GM and your coach, they have to be on the same wavelength. Now, they don't have to be buddy-buddy. They don't have to be best friends. They don't have to go over each other's houses for Thanksgiving and for the holidays and whatnot, but they have to be on the same mindset that we are trying to win a championship. And sometimes when you have a coach whose presence is as strong as a Bill Belichick, that can rub people the wrong way. That can make people not want to work with you, honestly speaking here. And it honestly doesn't help that with the recent docu-series that's come out called The Dynasty, for those who haven't watched it, you should definitely watch it. It is a great watch. It sort of gives you the last dance type of vibes, but it's a little bit shorter. But it's really good, though, really, really, really, really good. It's on Apple TV, by the way. This isn't sponsored, just putting it out there. Now, going back to Bill Belichick, during the coaching hires cycle, Bill Belichick really wasn't getting a whole lot of interviews. Honestly speaking here, the most notable one that a lot of people were definitely sort of attracted to was the Falcons job and the Chargers job. There were a lot of people, including myself, that definitely believed that Bill Belichick was either going to go to either the Falcons, Chargers, or the Commanders, honestly. But ultimately, they decided to go in a different direction. And so here we are. Now, do I personally believe that Robert Kraft maybe probably intervened in his hiring process? I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be, simply because Robert Kraft really hasn't had the best relationship with Bill Belichick. May I remind you, ladies and gentlemen, this is the same Bill Belichick that tried to trade Tom Brady when he was winning. Yes, yes, yes. This is documented. You could look him up, go on Google, see for yourself. There was a point in time where the Patriots had just drafted Jimmy Garoppolo, and Bill was head over heels for Jimmy. And so there were rumblings starting to surface that Bill was going to move on from Tom and basically have Jimmy carry on the torch. And so that angered Tom to the point where Tom went to Robert Kraft, since they have a very close relationship. And Robert Kraft intervened, and Robert Kraft basically said, you're going to trade Jimmy Garoppolo. I'm telling you, I am demanding you, as the owner, as your boss, to trade Jimmy Garoppolo, and we're going to keep Tom Brady. And so since then, that has angered Bill Belichick. And he's probably kept that. And so you have to tack that on with GMs and teams. They don't want a Bill Belichick. They don't. They don't want someone who is going to want their hand in every single little thing. They don't want that. They want someone who can coach the team and try to win as many games as possible and ultimately try to compete for a championship. That's what they want. They don't want someone that is a part-time GM and a full-time coach. They don't want that at this point. Now, I will make a prediction, though. I truly believe that Bill Belichick will be the next head coach for the Dallas Cowboys. And I say that because the Cowboys are in a situation where they need a strong force. They need a strong presence within that locker room, within that organization, that is going to create order. And the only person I know that can create order the best and has consistently showed it, despite his recent failures, is Bill Belichick. Bill Belichick is going to clean house. He's going to bring in his people. And any player that may not like him, that may feel offended on how he moves and operates and coaches, he'll definitely shut them off, no problem, one of these things. That's about it. Do I think he probably would go anywhere else? Yes. From what I've seen in various reports, I've seen that he is interested in coaching for not only the Cowboys, but the Giants and the Eagles. Even in that situation, that's a little bit more complex, only because with the Eagles, all of their money is invested into the offense. And not a lot of money is invested into the defense. And so with Jalen Hurts already showing signs of regression, how much would he regress under a Bill Belichick system? Because a Bill Belichick system, it's sort of a run-heavy type of situation. And when you have receivers like AJ Brown and Devontae Smith, they're going to want theirs. So I say all that to say this, and this will probably be the last thing that I'll say. Bill Belichick is in a phase where he's trying to rebrand himself, trying to make it seem like I've changed, I'm more progressive, I'm willing to make changes and change how I coach and whatnot for the betterment of the team, T-E-A-M, as he said in one interview. Is that going to change the hearts and minds of GMs? I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see how the chips fall after this upcoming season. Do I think Bill Belichick will be a head coach again? Yes, 100%, simply because despite the ego, despite how people may feel about Bill Belichick as the person, you cannot deny his coaching. His coaching is still intact, and his defenses, when they have effective players, is still a very dangerous defense. So with that being said, I'm going to end this episode. Thank you guys for listening to this episode. If you like what you're listening, please leave a five-star review, download the episode, share it to your friends and families. You can follow us on Instagram at football underscore junkies pod. Again, that is football underscore junkies pod. If you guys have anything that you want me to talk about, please leave it in the comments. We're going to, we're setting up for the special stream for the draft. Probably the next episode, we're probably going to talk about more draft talk if there isn't any more bag alerts coming out. What else? What else? We'll probably do, you know what? I'm going to do a mock draft. I did a mock draft from the first pick to the last pick. I'm going to tell you how things come out. And then we're going to do another experiment with three more teams. If you have three teams that you want me to do an experiment on, please leave it in the comment, and then I will do it. And until then, hopefully this gives you the fix that you need. Peace and love. I'm out.