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Shan, RJ, and Bobby went Inside The Star and discussed the Cowboys’ search for linebacker help, moving off Patrick Queen and shifting their attention to other targets like Jordyn Brooks and Azeez Al-Shaair. They debated potential trade value, the challenge of dealing with Houston, reacted to win total predictions, and more.

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00:00Nick Harris kind of sending cowboy Twitter into a tizzy when he talked about a couple of linebacking targets.
00:07Bobby, give us the education and more importantly, whether any of them are going to be available.
00:15Yeah, so we've had a couple different reports.
00:17Now, Todd Archer had the note over on Friday on his article where he had identified three veteran linebackers that
00:27were worth keeping an eye on.
00:28He had mentioned Aziz Alshair from the Texans, Patrick Queen from the Pittsburgh Steelers, who we've talked about a lot.
00:36And then the other one was Jordan Brooks, the linebacker from the Dolphins, former Texas Tech linebacker, somebody who a
00:42lot of people have been chattering about and been interested in.
00:46And so it is something where I think they've definitely checked the market on all these guys.
00:52They're all entering the last year of their deal.
00:55They're all three guys with a decent amount of experience.
00:59All three have played really good football at different points of their career.
01:01Some are playing better than others right now.
01:03Jordan Brooks is playing at a high level still.
01:06Aziz Alshair was pretty solid last year.
01:09Patrick Queen was not.
01:10Patrick Queen struggled a lot last year for the Steelers.
01:13So because of that, you're...
01:15Jordan Brooks is 28.
01:16Yep.
01:17And you're probably looking at compensation that mirrors that.
01:20And Alshair is 28.
01:21So you would be looking at, okay, if Jordan Brooks is playing the best, you're probably spending the most draft
01:28capital on him.
01:28He's also the financially cheapest by a few million dollars.
01:32If you then want to go to Aziz Alshair, you're probably paying somewhere in the middle.
01:35And then Queen would be the most discounted one that you'd be banking on to probably take a step up.
01:40The only problem is I think...
01:42God.
01:42I think Queen wants a new deal, like, in getting traded.
01:46Like, they want to try to work something out to where they can get a new deal and then have
01:49that in place by the time that he gets here.
01:51So you would probably have an extension done, I would guess, if you wouldn't have made the move for Queen.
01:55First off, so the reason that they would leave these teams is because they don't want to pay them their
02:01extension.
02:02Right now, like, Miami doesn't want to pay a 28-year-old linebacker.
02:05Why would Houston do it?
02:07Jonathan, I just don't want to go through some...
02:10That's why I want to address it here.
02:11I don't want to go through some made-up fantasy scenarios because Jonathan Alexander works for the Chronicle.
02:17He said, two things can be true.
02:19Cowboys could very much be discussing Alshair, and the Texans could very much hang up the phone and laugh.
02:24Sure, they could.
02:25The only thing is that they may be hanging up on the phone and laughing because they don't like the
02:29compensation.
02:29Dallas hung up the phone on San Francisco the week before when they asked about Osa,
02:33and they tried to do a day-three pick, and they went, nope, we'll keep him, thanks, and hung up
02:35the phone.
02:36I just hate having to trade another pick for a linebacker after they all went off the board and free
02:44agency.
02:46All right, so Jordan Brooks compared to Quay Walker, Devin Lloyd, or power rank them.
02:54Shair, Brooks, Lloyd, Quay, Dean.
03:01If I'm talking about...
03:03For the Cowboys, for Christian Parker.
03:05Sure.
03:06Do you want me to talk about how they've played in recent years or what I think their projection of
03:09the future is going to be?
03:10Right, well, if they were all free and available, who would get the most?
03:14Jordan, Brooks, or Shair, I would guess.
03:16Okay, so those two over the free agent ones.
03:18They've played better.
03:20They've been better players.
03:21Now, the only thing you would have on the side of Quay Walker and guys like that is they're younger.
03:25They're younger, they're athletic, they've got those things working in their favor.
03:29I would say in terms of just best player out of that group, it's probably one is Jordan Brooks, two
03:36is Alshair, three is Quay, four is Lloyd, and five would be N'Kobe Dean.
03:45And the cock rating?
03:49Yeah, so the rating is you are the king of compensation, as that's what that stands for, for anybody who
03:54doesn't know.
03:55Yeah, he is the master of it.
03:57You've got probably Jordan Brooks, there was a theoretical trade thrown up by a Dolphins blog that I think doesn't
04:05sound too far off from what it could be,
04:07which is Dallas would trade that third they just got from San Francisco, and in exchange, they'd get Jordan Brooks
04:14and like a fifth back.
04:15You'd get something back to kind of even it out a little bit.
04:18All right.
04:19Aziz Alshair would probably be like a fourth.
04:23And then Patrick Queen, you may be looking at more like a sixth round type of pick.
04:27You want to trade a third for Brooks?
04:29Yeah, especially if I get a fifth back, I would.
04:31Because to me, at that point, it's like, all right, I'm getting something back.
04:34I know I don't want to give up the third round pick, but if you're telling me linebacker is secure
04:39now, and I know, because that would be secure.
04:42He would, yeah, for at least a year, that's solid now.
04:45Okay, but what about the other linebacker spots?
04:47Yeah, I would end up having to probably draft somebody on day three as another depth piece, and then you'd
04:52have somebody like Justin Barron here,
04:55who they like, who was an undrafted free agent last year and who has a lot of size and checks
04:59those boxes.
05:00At that point, then your linebacker group is probably Brooks, Overshown, a draft pick, Barron and or Shamar James, and
05:08that's the rotation.
05:09But Brooks and Overshown are going to be, they would be on the field the majority of the time, and
05:13you can roll with that.
05:14Brooks is making 7.8.
05:17And Aziz Alshair is 11, and Patrick Queen is 10.5, I think.
05:22All right, Chop, what are you doing?
05:24Third or fourth?
05:26And you are trading for a green dot.
05:28This is you trading for somebody who's going to be your lead communicator on defense.
05:32Okay, so that's not somebody you want to just draft and throw to the wolves like that.
05:37They would rather not do that.
05:38Absolutely.
05:39Well, look, we don't value fourth routers anyway, so let's just throw a fourth router at somebody.
05:47At a vet or at a pick?
05:51At a vet.
05:51At a vet.
05:52At a vet, yeah.
05:53If it's the green dot that's somebody that is going to keep everybody kind of, obviously make all the calls
06:00and everything,
06:00that's not somebody I want to throw a 22-year-old out there on.
06:03What about a sixth on Queen, who's the worst of the three, or has played the worst of the three
06:09for sure?
06:09Is Kyder's 10, you said?
06:10Mm-hmm.
06:11But he's somebody who probably gets a new deal if you make a deal for him and has seen a
06:17lot of football.
06:17The only problem is just he has been up and down his entire career.
06:23He's 26.
06:25It's fine.
06:27Fine.
06:29Because I bet you you could probably get him, if you do a new deal with him,
06:33is it going to be the three for 41 that he just came off of?
06:38No.
06:38Much less.
06:39I don't think it would be.
06:40Yeah, I don't think it would be that high.
06:41That's fine.
06:42All right.
06:42What do y'all want to do on the fan text?
06:44877-881-1053.
06:46It feels like the Twitter sentiment has been on Jordan Brooks recently.
06:50They love their Texas Tech linebackers on Twitter.
06:53They either want the veteran Jordan Brooks,
06:54or there's a lot of people chirping that they want Jacob Rodriguez.
06:57The Tech linebacker.
06:59And so, yeah, I would say that Brooks is definitely the favorite
07:02and has been the one that most people have targeted around.
07:05Been a lot of pushback against Queen because they go look at the PFF grade
07:09and they see 44 and they're not happy about it.
07:12425, how many games would Aziz play with all his suspensions?
07:15Aziz Alshayer has been in trouble with the league before,
07:18and he is somebody who definitely is a past offender.
07:22If there's any sort of a questionable thing he does on the field,
07:25he's going to get suspended again.
07:27But, yeah, I think that Jordan Brooks is the main focus of Cowboys fans now
07:30is, like, there's the value.
07:31That's how you can fix this and address this right now.
07:34Bobby, not thrilled that this team has the highest win total in Vegas
07:40with the recent over-unders that have come out.
07:44Yeah, this is a – look, if you want to be in on this team and say –
07:49See if Choppy can guess it because I know he didn't read your email.
07:51Okay, so if you want to say you're believing in the bounce back.
07:55I would guess Baltimore.
07:57Yes.
07:58I knew they were at 10.5 before the Hendrickson.
08:0211.5 now.
08:0511.5?
08:06Which is on their own.
08:07They are the only team 11.5 right now.
08:08That is –
08:09I don't understand how you – if you want to say,
08:12I'm buying into Baltimore, I think they're going to bounce back,
08:14I think they're going to be good again next year.
08:16Okay, fine.
08:16Like, history says probably.
08:18Like, even if there's questions about who they are,
08:22history says the Ravens are usually competitive.
08:24So that's fine if you think they're going to bounce back.
08:26But to have them as the clear standalone leader in wins and just be like,
08:30oh, yeah, from a betting standpoint, that's the team right now.
08:33And they've lost way more than I feel like they've picked up.
08:37Well, I counter back with give me the team.
08:41If you're the book, give me the team that you'd have leading in win total over under.
08:48I would have Buffalo ahead of them.
08:50I would probably have Seattle ahead of them.
08:54Rams.
08:56Okay.
08:57The Ravens' seasons since 2019, 14 wins, 11 wins, 10, 13, 12.
09:04Last year, 8.
09:0711 and a half is high.
09:10So, you know, even if you – so, like, for example.
09:13Especially the division, too.
09:14Like, if, if, if, if, if that's all they are, the Cincinnati Bengals.
09:18If, you know, you'd have the Bengals, the Steelers, 8-9, same old, same old.
09:26Yeah.
09:28They can.
09:28Yeah, they can because their defense is good.
09:30But, you know, we see this in, we see this in, in baseball a lot.
09:34Like, you'll have win totals of 95.
09:36You never should pick the over.
09:38You know, like, one injury costs you that.
09:40You know, you never should pick the – 11 and a half is insane.
09:43That's an insane number.
09:44Like, that's, that's not something you ever pick the over on.
09:46Yeah, this is – I mean, if you look at their, their roster, they lost – like, I didn't even
09:52realize this until yesterday when I was looking around.
09:53I was like, I know they've lost a bunch of guys.
09:55Who all have they lost?
09:55So, they lost Alohi Gilman.
09:58That's a starter at safety.
09:59They lost Draymond Jones, starting defensive lineman.
10:02They lost two tight ends, Charlie Kohler and Isaiah Likely.
10:04They lost Tyler Linderbaum.
10:06They lost Keaton Mitchell, who was their backup running back who people thought was a really good spot player behind
10:11Derrick Henry.
10:11David Ojabo, one of their edge rushers they've lost.
10:14They lost their safety, Ardarius Washington.
10:15And what they've signed since, Trey Hendrickson, and if we played who he played for with all these guys before
10:23they were in Baltimore, Javon Gwynn, John Simpson, Jalen Hawkins, Danny Pinter, and Durham Smythe.
10:30Yeah.
10:31That's who they've brought in to replace – which, again –
10:33They lost a player that the Patriots signed, a linebacker?
10:36Draymond Jones, the defensive lineman.
10:38And so, I mean, they've – now, their defense was not great last year, so you may not feel bad
10:42about losing some of these guys.
10:43But you're talking about Linderbaum's a pro bowler.
10:46Like, Isaiah Likely's a pretty strong tight end.
10:48Like, they –
10:49So you're jumping the under on that.
10:50Plus –
10:50Yes.
10:51Man, there's this –
10:53The coach.
10:54Well, the quarterback.
10:56Like, there's this thing in my mind.
10:59This is just a feeling.
11:00I don't know anything, and this will get the Lamar fans angry and ticked off.
11:05I always have this feeling about Lamar that he drags out some injuries, and he's like, no, I'm not ready.
11:11I don't – like, Lamar will check out on you.
11:13In my opinion, there's been like – there's been this feeling over the past couple years.
11:18He marches to the beat of his own drum.
11:20And then, how is the body going to hold up with his playing style as we continue?
11:26Three years to come.
11:27I mean, what is his prime?
11:28Like, Lamar misses three or four games, and you should be set by betting this under.
11:33You would think so.
11:34Should be.
11:35We look at quarterbacks, and we've talked about this with Stafford and Dak and all these guys as they age.
11:42Like, they're just now – when you get to your 30s, you're just now coming into your own.
11:46Right?
11:46You're figuring the position out.
11:48You're on cruise control.
11:49Yeah.
11:49Well, Lamar is a different animal because how much of his body – how much of his game relies on
11:56his legs?
11:56A lot.
11:57But, you know, I don't think he's – I don't envision Lamar Jackson in seven years still being in the
12:04NFL.
12:05Or five, really.
12:06Well, yeah.
12:07And if he's in there –
12:08He does try to drop back and pass.
12:09He's going to have to, right?
12:10He's going to have to.
12:10He's gotten better at it, too.
12:11He's been doing it.
12:12But still, like, a lot of what makes him so special and so unique is his legs.
12:17That's just not – I mean, I don't think it's going to hold up.
12:19Last year was the first year of his career where he had a losing record as a starter, where he
12:24went six and seven.
12:25So, I mean, even when they had Lamar, they were not winning a lot of ballgames.
12:29You've got a first-time head coach.
12:30It just does not feel like a recipe for the highest win total in the NFL.
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