- 1 week ago
The Falcons aren't playing around this year! Carl Dukes and Mike Bell break down a massive first day of the legal tampering period, including the shocking one-year deal for Tua Tagovailoa. Is he the answer, or just keeping the seat warm?
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00:00Hey Mike, let's get everybody caught up with what's going on around the NFL because it's been a very busy
00:05day.
00:06Negotiating period has started, which is what you're hearing about agreeing to deals.
00:11So, free agents out there agreeing to deals that won't become official until the first day of the new league
00:17year can't be signed until Wednesday.
00:20But Mike, man, it's been crazy today.
00:22Right, we'll start with the wide receivers.
00:24Mike Evans is going to sign with the San Francisco 49ers.
00:27They're going to give him $60 million.
00:29I've got to look at the language on how much that is guaranteed because that's a bit much.
00:33Also, a guy that is very similar.
00:36At first when I said what I said on the radio, I had to walk it back because I'm like,
00:39I wonder what Drake London would get.
00:40Drake London's got very similar numbers to Alec Pierce with the Indianapolis Colts, who just had his 1,000-yard
00:46season.
00:47They gave him more guaranteed money than anybody's gotten as far as the guaranteed portion of the contract at wide
00:52receiver.
00:53But Alec Pierce signs a multi-year deal.
00:55Well, Travis Kelsey is coming back to the Chiefs on a $12 million deal.
00:59So, he's back, at least for one.
01:01So, I think he wasn't happy with the way things went.
01:03That's for darn sure.
01:04We also found out that, again, the big news today, of course, is with us, that Tua Tungabailoa is going
01:10to sign a one-year deal.
01:12Now, we lost Dee Alford.
01:13He's signing with the Bills.
01:14Three years, $21 million.
01:15That was good for Dee.
01:16Always a good dude.
01:17Yeah, man.
01:17On Yamada, we always knew he was leaving.
01:19He signs a one-year deal with the Jets.
01:21No news on Caden Ellis yet.
01:22Caden Ellis has not been linked to any of the legal tampering with any tampering.
01:27So, Ian, I do think that Ian Cunningham kind of kept it open-ended when he had remarks at the
01:32Combine a week or two ago.
01:33So, maybe we still get Caden Ellis back after he tests the market, and maybe it's softer than he thought.
01:38Yeah, I'm hoping that's the case.
01:40And, again, I'm not saying, you know, when it comes to free agency, you've got to make the best business
01:46decisions.
01:46And I do think Ian Cunningham and our front office has done a good job of that today.
01:51First of all, way more active than I think most people thought they would be, but also very proactive in
01:58how they approach this.
02:00And, you know, you could have waited.
02:01Some of these deals are minuscule.
02:03Let's be honest.
02:03You know, when you talk about three years, $9 million, like for Llamide Sakia, you go, all right, well, you
02:08could have waited a few days or even until next week to maybe.
02:11I think they wanted to get ahead of this, Mike, to let us know, but also go get the guys
02:17you want to get.
02:17And I always talk about this.
02:18If you target people and you think they can come in and help your organization, don't wait around three weeks
02:23from now and, oh, free agency's been going on.
02:25Go make those moves.
02:27So, to bring in the kickers we brought in.
02:30And I mentioned this earlier.
02:31Atlanta, it's a big deal.
02:33So, I know we don't care about kickers, but we should.
02:35You don't care about them until they don't do their job.
02:37You know, we were very lucky with Matt Bryant and Youngway Koo for the earlier part of his career.
02:41But he went off the rails and we had three kickers last year.
02:43Nobody could do the job.
02:44Gonzalez actually was pretty good.
02:45But Nick Falk at 41 is a veteran.
02:47As I said, he only missed one field goal attempt last year, made all his extra points, and now he'll
02:51be indoors for at least nine games here in Atlanta.
02:54Last three years, to put it in perspective, the most accurate kicker in the NFL.
03:00So, that's what you're bringing in.
03:02There's a trust level there.
03:04Jake Bailey, you got to be able to flip the field and play field position in some of these games.
03:08Not all, but most.
03:09We didn't do a good job of that.
03:11So, to bring in, you know, a kicker and a punter, great job.
03:14The hoop situation, Mike, again, my vision, we'll find out from Kevin Stefanski and Tommy Reese how they see this.
03:19But you can have now pits and hoop on the field, and you got to defend both.
03:24And we haven't really had that, Mike.
03:26Usually when we went two tight ends, you knew one guy was in for blocking, the other guy might run
03:30a route.
03:30That's not the case here.
03:31With all the 12 personnel, I think Charlie Warnershall has a job to do as far as, you know, the
03:35blocking tight end.
03:36But, yeah, you know what hoop brings to the table?
03:38We talked about, you mentioned Olamide Zaccheaus.
03:40I said that to Carl on Friday's show.
03:42I thought he'd be a cheap option.
03:43And, of course, both Matt Ryan threw balls to him, and Ian Cunningham was his boss, in part, with the
03:47Bears.
03:48And then a guy that, again, I don't know much about, other than he was a first-round pick who
03:52always gets more opportunities,
03:54and that's Jahan Dotson.
03:55And Jahan Dotson was a former first-rounder for the Commanders, wound up with the Eagles.
03:59But then again, he was looking up on Devontae Smith and A.J. Brown.
04:02And Dallas Scott and all those other guys.
04:04So he could be a solid WR, too, right?
04:07Opposite Drake.
04:08Drake still needs to get his contract.
04:10But that's where we're at right now.
04:11And very curious to see.
04:13And, again, happy for Tyler Algier.
04:14A couple guys asked us who missed the announcement earlier.
04:17Algier signs a two-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals.
04:19Yeah, lots of moves.
04:20The Jahan Dotson move for me, I really liked that one today.
04:23And as we started the show, that kind of happened.
04:25Two years, $15 million, upwards of $17 million in additional money that he could make.
04:31$10 million guaranteed.
04:33To me, that's your number two guy.
04:35That's what they're signing him for.
04:36Again, and it doesn't mean you might not potentially draft a wide receiver.
04:41But, Mike, you had an empty room that all of a sudden feels like it's filled a little bit.
04:44Right.
04:45You know, you had a couple of guys.
04:46You know, all right, how do we fill the void?
04:49So I'll say this.
04:50And then you have the Tua thing, obviously.
04:52This is a good job by the front office to see where we needed to address certain things.
04:58And now that you've done this, what's the approach of the draft?
05:02Does it change?
05:04Now, Mike, do you go get that big defensive tackle in this draft at 48?
05:09What's your second, which will be our first pick, your second pick in the second, or the first pick in
05:14the second round, where are you going with that pick now?
05:17Right.
05:17Again, there's some really good defensive tackles there.
05:19I think, you know, just because what you did in the wide receiver doesn't mean you still might not draft
05:24the wide receiver.
05:24Totally agree.
05:24You know, a running back, but definitely a D tackle, an edge rusher.
05:28Oh, yeah, we also, shoot, I forgot to mention, we also picked up a backup edge rusher for the Browns.
05:32We sure did.
05:33Yeah, and listen, when you talk about Cameron Thomas, three teams in four years, he was with the Browns.
05:39I think this is a depth move.
05:40Kind of like that Morgan Fox guy was last year.
05:42He wound up getting cut before the season even began, but very similar numbers to what Fox was coming from
05:47the Chargers last year.
05:47Six and a half career sacks, two and a half last year.
05:50So, again, that to me, Mike, is not an insurance policy for James Pierce Jr., which brings us to the
05:57James Pierce latest news.
05:59If you're just tuning in to Sports Radio 92.9 The Game and our buddy Mark Ramadi from ESPN had
06:04a new report today, Mike, that I think it's damning.
06:07That's how I look at this, and I said, this does not help him, certainly in the court of public
06:12opinion, but I also think in the case, because this is stuff that these, you know, the prosecutor's going to
06:16look at, right?
06:17I mean, people are going to look at this and go, you were stalking her?
06:21It's basically a classic.
06:22I mean, there's no other way, guys, to categorize it, and if you hadn't read it, I got the link
06:26up at Mike Bell, ATL, our buddy old Michael Rothstein, who does the investigative reporting.
06:29So, Mike was working with Mark Ramadi on this story.
06:32There's stuff that goes back to the Monday after we played the Saints in November.
06:37He's flying down there, and he's knocking on our door.
06:40There's a lot of stuff to process in this very big, in-depth article, but the police even told him,
06:45like a month and a half before the incident, stop.
06:47Just forget it.
06:49Stop coming over to here to talk to your ex.
06:51It's over.
06:52Didn't take the advice.
06:53In one instance, James Pierce Jr.'s father calls her to give her a heads up, and he's coming your way.
06:58He did not show up that day, but there's just a lot of stuff to process, and it's just a
07:02classic stalking.
07:03There's no other way around it.
07:05So, the thing we looked at, Rasheed Rice had his car accident where he was racing over 100 miles an
07:10hour, hit a car, and left the scene of an accident.
07:12Didn't check to see if anyone was okay, and he got six months, but they didn't act on that until
07:16the next season.
07:17He played the 2024 season, then he got hurt.
07:20He wasn't suspended in 2024, then he got suspended for the first six games of 25.
07:23So, the NFL moves at a snail's pace, and again, just with all this information, just because you're reading it,
07:28doesn't mean the NFL's going to render a decision.
07:30I would like to think for the Falcons, take the decision out of the Falcons' hands, so they're not in
07:34the awkward position to have him out there in the summer.
07:36You and I said it, and I agree with it.
07:38Guys get a second chance, deserve a second chance.
07:40There'll be a lot of people who read that article and say, this guy's nuts and is irredeemable.
07:44Well, okay.
07:45You must live in a glass house.
07:47I want to see him get some mental health help and see if they can get this guy off the
07:50ledge to where he can get back to being a normal person.
07:52I don't know.
07:53I don't have the answers, but I still believe in a second chance for this guy.
07:57The question is, are the Falcons going to allow him to have it?
07:58Yeah, I think more than anything, this shows me, as we're finding out more information, because I certainly don't know
08:03all the info on the story.
08:05And look, as we get closer to a potential punishment down the road, more and more information will leak out
08:09about where this was.
08:10But what this particular situation shows me with this report, Mike, is, is premeditated.
08:16He had been thinking about it.
08:17He was doing things leading up to this.
08:20This wasn't, we got into a nasty argument and things escalated, which not saying that's acceptable, but a lot of
08:29people assume that was the situation when he's ramming his car into her car is that, you know, things got,
08:35got crazy and out of control because they got into this emotional argument.
08:38But that's not this.
08:40This is, you know, you're ignoring me and I refuse to be ignored.
08:44And therefore, I'm going to do whatever I can to get your attention, including showing up and potentially trying to
08:49break into your place.
08:49That, that is not a good look for James Pierce.
08:52Ramming the car, running from the police, first driving from the police, you know, again, then running away from the
08:56cops.
08:57You know, if he had just stopped when he was in front of the police, this was, there was some
09:01manageable elements to this.
09:03Well, but this is still would have been out there.
09:05No, this comes out to, like, it's a classic stalking case.
09:07He's got five felony counts.
09:09And as we said, the best case scenario from a lawyer we spoke to in South Florida said it was
09:13a year and a half in jail.
09:14You know, so again, only time will tell.
09:16All right.
09:17There's a lot of memes out there, Carl, today with the news that the Falcons are going to move ahead
09:20with a one-year deal with Tua Tungabailoa.
09:21Tua Tungabailoa.
09:21Best one, NFL memes?
09:23NFL memes, Tua Tungabailoa has put his South Florida home up for sale after being released by the Dolphins signed
09:29with the Falcons.
09:29It's basically a picture of the blue medical tent on the sideline.
09:33It says, $72,000, one bed, one bath, 29 square feet.
09:37It's so cold.
09:3818, 731, Woozie Way, Miami.
09:40Yeah.
09:41I mean, look.
09:41That's not right.
09:42It's not.
09:42Baby, that's not right.
09:43It's funny, but it's not right.
09:45Yeah.
09:46And by the way, that's where we're going to be, Falcon fans.
09:50Yes, because the memes will continue just because of the nature of where our quarterbacks have been.
09:55And part of that is injured.
09:57So, you know, but Mike's right.
09:59I saw that earlier, and I was like, that's not right.
10:00But it didn't make me laugh.
10:01I will not lie.
10:02Now, again, we've got a quarterback that we worry about staying healthy, getting another quarterback in here to compete who
10:07can't stay healthy.
10:08But that's why I just, and a guy said to me, you mean we're tanking?
10:12No, no one's going to say tanking.
10:13The NFL, you always win a game you're not supposed to win one way or the other.
10:16We still have Bijon.
10:18We still got Drake.
10:18We still got a lot of talent on this team.
10:20And Pitts may finally get to where he's supposed to be consistently with Stefanski.
10:23But, you know, it's hard when you really, if you take your hope for Michael Penix Jr.
10:29And you like the guy, and you just take that away and look at it rationally.
10:32Nobody around the league expects Michael Penix Jr. to be anything on this team.
10:35That's the reality of it.
10:36So, Tua will get a chance to be a gap guy.
10:39And then you hope that Penix Jr. can maybe do his thing.
10:41But right now, guys, I've got to be honest.
10:45I'll be taking a long, hard look every week, Carl, at those top quarterbacks in the college ranks.
10:50Because I think that's where we're headed.
10:51As we should.
10:52This is going to be a really good draft coming up next spring.
10:55All right.
10:56We've got to get out of here.
10:57I'm exhausted.
10:58Let's clear our throat.
11:08Stay right there.
11:09Turtles got a bridge show for you.
11:11We've got college hoops because it is championship week, guys.
11:13We're your home for the Final Four and all the great college basketball.
11:17But Turtles got a lot of stuff to hit until the game tonight.
11:20So, stay right here.
11:22Good to have you back, Day Day.
11:24Glad you made it back safe.
11:25Dave, executive producer, and Big O behind the glass, our engineer.
11:30You think we've got some stuff to get to tomorrow?
11:32Woo!
11:33Make sure you're here at 2 o'clock.
11:35We'll dive deeper into this no fun NBA thing.
11:39We'll talk more about the Falcons.
11:41I don't think they're done.
11:42I think this was the start.
11:43They still have some things they need to address.
11:45But we'll see, man.
11:46They've done a lot already on the first day of legal tampering.
11:49All right, Mike Bell, we've got to get out of here, man.
11:51Let's clear our throat.
11:52Yeah, man, you touched on it.
11:53There's no way the NBA was blindsided by the Hawks' Magic City Night.
11:56You run a promotion like this, you run it by headquarters.
11:59I was telling Day Day during the commercial break, I looked and searched every search engine.
12:03I could not find one specific woman's group or any specific group that was protesting the NBA.
12:09This came from, I think Day Day's right, likely came from a sponsor.
12:12Somebody who spends a lot of money, Carl, with the NBA, didn't like this idea.
12:15And Adam Silver came.
12:18To a tongue of Iloa, I would love to have a ringing endorsement about being positive and knowing exactly what
12:28we're getting.
12:30But just like with Michael Penix, if somebody asked me on social media, I'd love to get your real opinion
12:35privately about Michael Penix.
12:37We don't have to go private.
12:39He's been inconsistent.
12:40That is what he's been.
12:42Again, I'll say it to Mike, and I'd say it to you, but so is Tua Tunga-Vailoa.
12:47I'm going to trust Matt Ryan and Ian and Kevin and Tommy and everybody on the staff to make this
12:54look the way it should.
12:55At the end of the day, you know what we want as Falcon fans?
12:57Dubs.
12:59And I don't care who's playing quarterback.
13:01I hope we got it.
13:02Hey, if you love the show, you tell your friends.
13:05If you don't!
13:07You yelled at me on Twitter about trimming crepe myrtles.
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