Zolak and Bertrand with Phil Perry and Alex Barth filling in, debate whether or not the Patriots should trade for Jakobi Meyers after missing out on big-name players.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
#nfl #patriots #football
Thumbnail photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
#nfl #patriots #football
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00:00phil perry i know has been one to beat the drum in recent weeks and i appreciate you so much phil
00:05for this you've been beating the drum saying hey if you're gonna do something try and do something
00:10big you've got assets you've got money cap space all of that why not try and do something big well
00:19a couple of the guys who were mentioned as guys to throw into the conversation as doing something
00:25big are now off the board terry mclaurin back with the commanders yesterday three-year deal
00:31and trey hendrickson yesterday agreed to a one-year deal with the cincinnati bengals that
00:38was their resolution so those options are now off the board they're back with their teams are there
00:46any other high profile names that we should insert into that conversation the most high profile name
00:53of them all really is micah parsons now should the patriots be in on micah parsons of course
00:59i mean why shouldn't they be they need talent as much as any other team in the nfl i was always
01:06one to say where if you had your druthers and you could pick from this group of names that i would
01:11go for the receiver because i think that's where you could do the most damage that's where you could
01:14see the biggest leap but if micah parsons is out there and it's as ugly as it apparently has gotten
01:20you've got money you've got needs they're not quite as desperate on the defensive side as they
01:25are on the offensive side but you have needs nonetheless and for me and i think for fans
01:31that are tired of watching a team that just isn't competitive and they know it's not competitive
01:37i think you have to show some urgency and i know it's the first year of a program with mike vrabel
01:43and i know they're going to take a long-term view of this and i would hate the idea of parting with
01:49multiple first round picks which is probably what it would require to get a guy like parsons
01:52but you gotta at least ask you gotta at least be interested you gotta at least show
01:57that you're willing to do what it takes to become as good as you can be as quickly as you can get
02:03there because it's been long enough this has been a team without a shot since tom brady left
02:10so show a little urgency don't be afraid to get good that's my approach beyond micah parsons is
02:18there anyone else barth not at this point oh you know i i did the thing last night where i started
02:24looking at the pre-agents for next year who's going to want the new deal next year might be
02:28shooting their way out but you know there's the jacoby myers trade request that one doesn't get me
02:33overly excited after him i i feel like everybody who's going to kind of everybody's where they're
02:38going to be for this year at this point all the big name players usually not having guys move at
02:42this point so it's over the dream is kind of dead kind of micah parsons is a real long shot
02:48for him to get moved for the kind of assets that were required to get him moved my guess is he's
02:53only gonna really end up going to a team where he wants to be and if there's a if there's a player in
03:00the nfl that reaches a status of kind of having that i'll call it an nba level of power right where
03:07the player can call his shot he's in that category no i'm not going to that team i'm not signing a
03:12contract there no i'm not doing it i'll go to this team i'll go to that team and that to me is part of
03:19that conversation even if it is a trade well the contract's the biggest part of it there are guys
03:23that aren't even at his level that had that kind of power like i just just go back to this off go to
03:28last summer go to go to this past this off season the patriots were interested in trading for dk
03:33metcalf he needed a new contract he didn't want that contract here in new england and so a trade
03:40was never consummated it was never even really discussed with the seahawks because they couldn't
03:43get past the thing that they needed which was a contract agreement with dk metcalf so like those
03:49guys have plenty of say now michael parsons might be willing to go i mean where would you rather be
03:53than dallas in terms of like market and a team that's going to be in the mix to win i know they've won
03:59in a long time but they're always in the mix he might just be willing to go anywhere that's willing
04:04to pay him because he wants the contract yeah but he also knows he probably has a decent shot of
04:10getting it in dallas it seems like it's gotten really ugly the thing that just opened my eyes
04:15was adam shefter the other day saying that he sees this as moving towards divorce he is very rarely that
04:23strong that early on something you know what i mean he's not a he's not a hot take guy at all he
04:30very rarely has takes i would say very rarely shares an opinion i would say i also think that
04:34no one's going to hold that against him if he's dead wrong right if all of a sudden he signs a
04:41contract today it's gonna be like oh well it was really bad and it was really ugly and it looked like
04:44they weren't gonna work it out and then they did sure because jerry decided that after all the
04:50headlines being made and all the attention being paid to the dallas cowboys that the next thing and
04:56the next step in that progression was to do the contract to get more attention on them that's what
05:00it's about it's about the show down there for the dallas cowboys it's never about winning football
05:04games it's all about how many headlines are we making how many segments are we taking up on those
05:09morning national talk shows that's what it's about for them that's why they haven't won anything in
05:14forever i think he ends up staying there they end up paying him that's what i think ends up
05:20happening and for the patriots they're left empty-handed so they talked about elliot wolf
05:26this is going back what 10 days saying they were burning up the phone lines they were talking to
05:3231 other teams they were making those phone calls something tells me that those phone calls are focused
05:37on depth pieces and down the roster pieces and not on something significant and big which is okay
05:45it's not a bad thing but i also don't think we should be waiting for something big now well in
05:52all likelihood right henderson to me represented the last thing that they could have done that
05:55really was going to be splashy yeah i would agree with that and so i think it's over and to me
06:00the most likely scenario throughout was that all of these guys were going to end up signing
06:06and staying that's just generally speaking what happens but to me the approach you know should
06:13be aggressive i guess i don't know i as a guy who really likes the draft and barth i know you're the
06:19same way and spends a lot of time on the draft i love that i was willing to part ways with a high-end
06:25draft pick in order to get terry mclaurin because the draft is what it is that thing is a crapshoot
06:31now it would not be the smart play to trade two first round picks for michael parsons and and maybe
06:38even a little bit more than that probably more that would be especially for a team like the patriots
06:43that would that would qualify as a dumb move but it's still a move that i think people would get
06:49behind because it would just show that you're invested in drastically improving a team that has
06:54been bad for a long time no i'm with you phil like as crazy as it sounds and trust me like i hate
06:59myself saying yeah i don't know that micah parsons makes sense for the patriots obviously he does he's
07:03a great player but when you look at how many additions they still need to make even with a
07:09guy like parsons to get into an area where they're truly contending who's had a better roster the last
07:14three years the cowboys or the patriots cowboys and how much as great as parsons has been you could
07:19argue this is because of other things but how much postseason success has having that guy
07:24yielded them so it as great as the player as he is it takes more than a pass rusher to get to that
07:32stage and if you're parting ways with multiple first round picks the other pieces you're going
07:36to need to get over that hump on top of him it's now much harder to get now you're going to start
07:42hitting on your second and third round picks which patriots haven't been able to do oh no they have
07:46get guys to take big contracts for agency and come here you're not going to get me which is which is
07:51it's only 10 12 and 30 seconds right now i mean you can't get me going on the patriots missing on
07:58draft picks this early can you are you going to do that to me today i mean you're going to see a few
08:03names for the 2024 draft class today beetle yes you are just a question of of when and how many yes you
08:09are the 2024 patriots draft class is uh well quite frankly horrific at this point i know drake may was
08:18the third overall pick i heard an interesting take on that last night from michael holly on
08:24felger and holly bst and that is if if i almost said mac jones he said he was talking about mac jones
08:33he said what if drake may turns out to be what we thought mac jones was supposed to be right which is
08:38good middle of the road capable of starting in the nfl you're not doomed with him but you're not
08:45winning a super bowl because of him right he said will that make this one of the worst draft classes
08:51in the history of the patriots 2024 i mean there are other strong contenders 2019 being in there
08:58oh yeah but where do you put it up against 2022 also a horrible draft class 22 could almost almost
09:05be done by the time we get to the end day today there might only be one player left from 2022 i mean
09:08by the time we get to the end of today we may only have eight nine ten players period that have been
09:13drafted by the team in the last five years think about that think about the draft classes you just
09:18mentioned as potentially the worst and they all have a case potentially the worst in organization
09:23history and they're all in the last half dozen years he basically said that drake may has to be a star
09:30to salvage that draft and it's not a bad take i'm stealing that for michael holly drake bay needs to be
09:37a star quarterback for that to not be the worst draft they've ever had because what if you miss on a
09:42quarterback with the third overall pick included in that draft that's the biggest thing and i said
09:46well you think about it in those terms terms that we are not thinking about drake may and i know you
09:51and i are not thinking about drake may in those terms but if it went if it goes that way how bad it
09:56could go down as just the worst ever we're gonna see some names one poke was cut already not not jalen
10:04polk is the other polk right jordan jordan polk he was he was let go already oh man so uh we'll get
10:13into that we'll talk about the cut downs as they happen today patriots cutting players needing to get
10:18down laden robinson's already been let go i'm looking at the the graphic in front of me of the draft
10:24class from 2024 it's ugly uh we'll talk more about that and talk more about a player who wants to be
10:32traded by his current team he used to play for the patriots should the pats be in on him i mean i
10:38get that he's a good player but they have this guy in the second round who basically is jacoby
10:42myers light and jack betch and used a second round pick on him and apparently he's been running with
10:47the backups all summer because jacoby myers is ahead of him on the depth chart so i would be i would be
10:53making that call i guess it would be a question of how much they would be asking for in return to give
10:59myers but you could make it work even though you have a guy in pop douglas who's going to play on
11:04the inside even though you have stefan diggs who's going to play primarily on the inside jacoby myers
11:07believe it or not the majority of his snaps last two seasons in vegas have been on the outside and
11:11we know he's not a down the field stretch the defense kind of player but that's where he's been
11:17he has not been primarily a slot receiver they brought bowers there obviously plays a lot
11:21in the slot himself so i would be making that call again this is it falls under the same principle
11:26of this is a team that needs nfl caliber talent they have to cut down to 53 players today they do
11:33not have 53 nfl players on this roster okay so pop douglas has routinely been mentioned by many of us
11:39as the most reliable maybe consistent receiver the patriots are going to have in their in their arsenal
11:45this season would you agree with that yes okay so the question really is would acquiring jacoby myers
11:53result in a loss of playing time for pop douglas but what you're telling me is probably not they
11:59could find a way to make that work that they're both on the field together you definitely could
12:03so it's not a pop douglas versus jacoby myers conversation i think it's myers and digs that's
12:09probably the guy that's going to have his role or receptions or whatever you want to call it cut
12:13into the most i i would say it could be it could be booty or hollins like i you could roll out three
12:19receivers and have digs and myers and pop douglas all on the field and then you could find situations
12:25for matt collins you want to use his size because you're in the red zone you feel like you know it's
12:29third and long and it's a gotta have it situation he's maybe your fastest receiver you want to get
12:32him on the field fine but to me digs and myers are both pretty versatile you know they're not true
12:39x receivers they are in this patriots offense it's a little weird compared if you really want to get
12:45into the x's and o's and what they call the positions the patriots offense i've been told
12:49is like the only one this josh mcdaniel's offense is the only one in the nfl that the z receiver is
12:56not what the z receiver is with 31 other teams the z is the slot in new england and then the f
13:01is the z everywhere else whatever it doesn't matter all you got to know is to me digs and myers
13:07project is guys that can play both inside and out mark dundaro our very own mark dundaro here at
13:12the sports hub had a tweet that pop is more explosive he's more dynamic and i'm more interested
13:17in what pop douglas could do with josh mcdaniel's than what jacoby myers did do with mcdaniel's which
13:24if it is a conversation which again we we are now agreeing it's not of pop versus jacoby myers i would
13:31wonder what message that would send if after pop douglas put in the offseason that he did and the work
13:38that he did that was complemented by mike rabel and the camp that he had in the preseason that
13:43he's had to then sort of supplant him with jacoby myers i think that would suck i don't think that's
13:49the kind of program that mike rabel wants to build in in terms of hey you've got a guy who's good
13:56player good little player and he's doing all the right things and he's going to probably be productive
14:01in this offense for you if you were gonna remove his playing time i don't think it's worth the upgrade
14:07it just isn't like it's the the damage to the to sort of the dynamic of working hard earning your
14:15playing time is thrown out the window at cutdown day like pop douglas hasn't done anything to
14:20deserve losing his job no way no right he he to me has been their best and most consistent receiver
14:27this summer but i just i don't think we and i don't think the patriots should sort of
14:33lose sight of how a season generally speaking plays out which is you're going to deal with injuries
14:42this is a receiver group that is lacking high-end talent pop douglas is a guy beetle who's missed a
14:47lot of time so how do you get the most out of him is it you're making him now a three down player
14:52he's out there for every single snap in the slot running around getting his head taken off by
14:56linebackers and safeties in the middle of the field like that to me that's where he's going
15:00to be doing most of his work right alex but to me it's also you know this is just the nature of being
15:06a really small football player in a really physical game and so he's going to miss time in all
15:12likelihood stefan diggs is coming back from an acl to look at this receiver room and say
15:16no actually we're good we're good not thousand yard receiver like mr dependable 800 yards every single
15:23year a big strong tough guy can actually block a little bit in the right nope we're fine we got uh
15:28we got pop and we got diggs like this is one of the least talented receiver rooms in football
15:36and you would only be upgrading if you found a way to add this guy that's my that's my perspective on
15:42it again i don't know what they would want i don't know what you'd be willing to give up alex for
15:46jacoby myers but i think i'd be willing to part with a third round pick and just knowing that this
15:53is the kind of guy who's going to help your young quarterback develop and be more comfortable he's
15:57he's always open he catches everything nothing that he does is exciting so i understand on darrow's
16:01point like i'm not excited by he's not as explosive as like no he's never going to be but that's his
16:09game his game is just flat line reliable and you know what you're going to get and i think they
16:14could use some of that so again i don't think it's one or the other the thing for me is if it's
16:18going to come down to him or diggs right dig still has the ceiling i'll take the ceiling i'll i'll go
16:26with the lottery ticket at this point myers has a much higher floor again you can have both the other
16:30thing i wonder about this do you think he gets moved as a part of roster cuts because if not and
16:36this thing's going to linger can you get a few weeks in see where diggs knee is at see if somebody
16:40gets hurt and maybe it's week three four five you have a better picture of what your room is
16:45and now you it's a lot more clear this is where jacoby's going to play this is how we're going to
16:49use them and then you go get him at that point it feels like you're kind of pussyfooting around i
16:54know i know that's not guaranteed but i think that would be the that's probably the smartest way to do
16:58it yeah would you give up a third rounder barth today they call and say give us a three and he's yours
17:02and then you got to give him the contract yeah i might yeah i wouldn't hesitate i'd be like sure
17:10all done same welcome back i i wouldn't hesitate maybe not because they have all this depth can you
17:16i don't know how much they don't have that gonna they don't have bodies they have bodies that's not
17:21depth this is a better body than some of those guys in that room so this is not just about the
17:26numbers so you got to move on from what jayvon baker i'm saying i could that help you if you unload like
17:31a jayvon baker or somebody like that he is more of a fit for what that team has done historically
17:38offensively so i wonder if like you could throw him in or something like that he's probably not
17:44making the team anyway i just i bar said something there that was interesting in terms of taking the
17:48lottery ticket and digs over myers and i think most people would if given the option go with digs over
17:56myers based on talent yes beetle who would you rather have right now i think that jacoby myers
18:04represents a more dependable option i have concerns about how much or how healthy stefan digs will be
18:11for an entire season that doesn't mean i don't want him here or that i don't want him playing as much as
18:17possible but i i think the reality is you get an aging receiver who's coming off a really serious
18:22injury and well that that is what it is and one guy's going into his 32 year old season one guy's
18:29going into his 29 year old like you can't be shocked if digs has an injury and misses some time that won't
18:34be shocking at all i'm expecting it do you expect drake may to play every single game this year i actually
18:40don't do i expect digs to play every game no i actually don't i think injuries are going to be a part
18:46of the the story with the 2024 25 patriots that is i'm not even really sure where i'm at yet but i
18:53just wanted to you know i think so who would i rather have who would i rather have i feel like digs
19:01is is necessary because he's just he's got more ability he's better he's better there's so much
19:09upside there there there is if everything goes right right with the injury and the age and the
19:14recovery is the recovery has looked good the level of play you're going to get from digs when he's on
19:19the field versus jacoby myers i think it's just better from digs and i don't think anybody's going
19:23to disagree and that's basically my point when i say you know do you want the sure thing with that
19:27floor where the ceiling's capped or the guy that who knows 31 knee injury but if it works i mean he's
19:33going to be the best receiver they've had in how long they're not good enough to settle for the floor
19:37that's kind of my thing with this team you're not good enough to settle for guys that have a good
19:42solid floor but don't have a high ceiling they just have so little talent that you've got to take
19:47your shots somewhere so then it's dick and that's why i would say dig that's why i'm answering this
19:50question with digs i think i'd rather have myers he's younger i i want give me the floor i'll take
19:56the floor all day long give me dependability give me a guy who i know is going to be there
20:00when i need him there who knows this offense if tom brady was the quarterback i take the floor
20:05yeah i just think they're going to be using it in a similar they're kind of similar players at this
20:12stage so like what you're talking about in terms of sealing with digs yeah is not the old digs like
20:18digs is not a field stretching guy he he's not going to be a 20 plus play 20 yard plus play kind of
20:26player but he moves man you've seen it he's got he can move that's of course he yeah he could can't he
20:34still in the same way i'm i'm betting that he will okay i think i would take my i think physically
20:41give him the contract and i feel good about him for a couple years you at least have some kind of
20:45anchor at that position in that room for multiple years he's a much better bet for multiple years
20:50so beyond this year you're right i mean you'd have to if it's about this year and then if it's about
20:57the next three years the better bet is jacoby myers every day of the week so that's where you bring in
21:01how much do you believe in kyle williams because this might supplant i have no reason to believe
21:06in kyle williams at this point i just don't have any anything to go on do you guys feel strongly
21:11about kyle williams good or bad uh i like kyle williams a lot and i would feel badly if they
21:17were putting a cap on him and and somehow limiting his development because i do think he could be a good
21:22player based on phil they can't do that again at that position but do you feel strongly based on what
21:26he was in college and the pick or do you feel strongly based on his summer uh it's more the
21:32latter although i felt unfortunately for him before his head injury that he was sort of coming on and i
21:39thought in minnesota he had multiple plays down the field where he was wide ass open and he just
21:45couldn't connect with drake may so i think there's real potential there again you could have all these
21:49guys you could have them all yeah and you could figure it out and you could give them all time and you
21:54could manage them all in such a way that it would get the most out of them i i just like that
21:58that's what i want i find the discussion an interesting one