00:00And we're about a week out from the draft.
00:02One big thing we continue to hear from the new Falcons GM, Ian Cunningham,
00:07is that he doesn't like having so few picks.
00:10So he's got to be strategizing on how he's going to get that issue fixed.
00:15We kind of talked about this earlier.
00:16If it includes trading a player to get more picks, who is on that shortlist?
00:22I did say Bajon seems untouchable, and I was surprised to hear you both say, is he?
00:28For the record, I am wholeheartedly 1,000% against trading Bajon Robinson.
00:39He's quickly become one of my favorite players on and off the field of all time.
00:45And I say quickly, because he's only been here three years.
00:48But, I mean, you talk about guys that you'll go to bat for.
00:52Bajon Robinson is that dude all day, every day, on and off the field.
00:57Probably more so off the field, believe it or not.
01:00He's one of the few players I've ever been around this.
01:03He's a better person than he actually is a player.
01:06You know what I mean?
01:07And he's an elite player.
01:08It's hard to be that elite at two things, and he is.
01:13But, yeah, is he?
01:14Wasn't their vision.
01:16Maybe they don't want to pay a running back $30 million a year,
01:22regardless of the fact that he is a top three player in the league right now.
01:26Maybe they don't want to do that.
01:28Maybe their vision is, you know what?
01:30We can go find two guys that can fit what Kevin Stefanski wants to do in the backfield.
01:39We don't need one guy being elite at one thing.
01:41We can have a guy that's a good runner, but a lead out of catching the ball in the backfield,
01:47and a guy that's a great runner and okay catching the ball in the backfield
01:50that can also pass, protect, and stuff.
01:53And maybe they think they could turn it into multiple picks that could get your core better.
02:02I think we would love our team to be a playoff team every year and built that way,
02:06but right now it's hard for any of us to say you could walk from a guy like that.
02:10And I don't think they will, but you never know with a new regime,
02:15especially Ian Cunningham, all he ever says is how it'll be a bad draft for us
02:23if we only end with five picks or this and that.
02:25And you're just like, I don't know.
02:27I don't know if you can say he's untouchable.
02:29Yeah, that would be one of the crazier things I've ever seen.
02:33To me, that's like, man, that would be a tough pill to swallow.
02:37I'm with you, though.
02:38I'm 1,000% against it, no matter how you look at where this team lines up right now.
02:43Do you think it would be kind of like Dan Campbell in Detroit going in
02:46and this trade in Stafford?
02:52No, because I think that they got a way larger sample size of Stafford in Detroit
02:56and had yet to kind of get to where they wanted to go.
02:58So he's already well into his second contract at that point,
03:01and it seemed like it was best for everybody.
03:03I would put that more along the lines.
03:05And I think we've seen a couple of teams do this.
03:08We saw the Jets do this last year where it was like Sauce Gardner's out,
03:11Quentin Williams is out.
03:12We're going to start from ground zero.
03:15We've also seen, you know, the Panthers did it a few years ago
03:19when they got all the Bryce Young stuff going.
03:20They traded D.J. Moore and a couple of other players.
03:23McCaffrey?
03:23Yeah, I mean, they got rid of the heart and soul of their team
03:26and completely revamped everything.
03:28So it's not without precedent in the NFL that a team just completely gets rid of
03:32three or four stars and just starts over and gets all the draft picks.
03:36The thing that would be hard to stomach and all that is like sometimes that comes
03:39around with the first draft pick.
03:40And obviously you would want that back in return,
03:43but we already don't have a first-round draft pick.
03:45You know what I mean?
03:45So it's not like you're just going, oh, draft a quarterback, draft a receiver,
03:50draft a left tackle, draft an edge, and, you know,
03:53hit the ground runner from that angle.
03:54I look at this more along the lines of this conversation,
03:57and we're talking about players today, but I just,
04:01the more we get into this conversation, I don't know that a player,
04:05that that exists for any of the guys.
04:07I think Drake Lundin, in my opinion, is even more untouchable than Bajon Robinson
04:11because of how I feel about him and the competitive nature with which he plays
04:15for.
04:16And he's not going to reset the market the way that Bajon Robinson is going to
04:19for the running backs.
04:20He's going to be top 10 wide receiver money, but he's not getting, you know,
04:24Justin Jefferson money or Jackson Smith and Jigbo.
04:27Well, it might look like that.
04:28It might look like that by the time he gets paid,
04:30but it won't reset the market is what you're saying.
04:33And then you're absolutely right.
04:34But my point being is like a lot of people are going to look at this conversation
04:36and go, oh, it's easy cop hits.
04:38I don't know that you're just not getting the return.
04:40As a matter of fact, if there's anything that is damning about some of the picks
04:44you've made recently, it's that we're talking about three first-round draft picks
04:48from the Terry Fontenot era.
04:50Two of them seem draftable.
04:51Like if you tried to get rid of Michael Penix right now in a draft day trade,
04:55you're getting nothing for him, right?
04:57And that is about the most unfortunate thing you can say about what's happened
05:01in the last two years.
05:02Well, what do you think you're really going to get from Kyle Pitts?
05:03Because here's the thing.
05:05I think everyone thinks there's this amazing value.
05:09People just lined up.
05:10But the reality of the situation is it's a $15 million hit immediately.
05:16By the way, if you go ahead – look at you guys in unison.
05:20If you go ahead and make that deal, you have to be able to get in contact with him
05:25and his agent and negotiate another one.
05:27Because you're not going to give up anything for a guy who's going to walk the next year
05:30unless you think he puts you right over the top and you can say –
05:34you can go less need blank the picks.
05:37But there's not a lot of teams in the league that can do that, that are in that position.
05:42And also you've got to put over there is Kyle – what is his actual value trade-wise to begin
05:48with?
05:48And it's not a first-round pick.
05:50No one is trading a first-round pick for a guy bringing a $15 million hit,
05:54has a re-sign who might reset the market,
05:56and has only had two out of five good years.
05:58That's just the reality of the situation.
06:01Yeah, I agree.
06:02You maybe will get a late second, early third.
06:07After Jesse Bates last week made it known that he wants to retire with Falcon,
06:11I know his name has come up in a few of these conversations.
06:14If he was involved in some kind of package trade, package deal,
06:18I mean, would you be surprised after he made those comments?
06:22I know it's business.
06:23I wouldn't be nearly as surprised for Jesse because we haven't seen an extension for Jesse Bates.
06:29The writing was kind of on the wall with Caden Ellis in a lot of ways going towards free agency
06:34this year.
06:34It was like, we haven't seen that extension.
06:36We haven't moved money around, which they're so prone to do when they're trying to create cap space.
06:41So I wouldn't be as shocked.
06:43And like I said, the closer we get to it, and I think I know how Bo feels,
06:47the closer we get to it, the more I do think it's just picks for picks.
06:50I wouldn't be shocked – let me put it this way.
06:52I wouldn't be shocked if we saw a very – the opposite of like a Matthew Bergeron trade,
06:57where Atlanta goes up eight picks in the second round to 37 or 38,
07:03they send back their 44 and their 110, right?
07:09That to me is more something along the lines of what we're thinking about.
07:12You're trading back eight picks.
07:13Somebody needs to jump up and grab a guy at 48, and you recoup a fourth rounder along with it.
07:18I think you're spot on with that.
07:20I agree with that.
07:20That's what I've always thought it's been.
07:22And that's why we keep talking about 48, and I'm like, I don't think we're picking at 48.
07:27I've not thought that for a while.
07:29The thing – I'd be disappointed to answer your question about Jesse
07:32because, you know, as much as he – everything he said about Drake, apply that to Jesse.
07:36That's a good point.
07:36And that's not a knock on AJ, but Jesse is a guy who – well, you know what?
07:45He's a Jesse.
07:46He's a Jesse.
07:47Atta boy.
07:48That's what he is.
07:48Properly named Jesse.
07:51And he's a coach.
07:55He's a player.
07:56He's a leader.
07:58He's an all-pro.
08:00Like, he's everything.
08:01And he's heart and soul to me of the defense in a lot of ways.
08:07I do think that they will try to find a way.
08:11I just wonder – if Jesse wants to end his career here, I wonder if Jesse's going to have to
08:17make a sacrifice.
08:18And maybe take – and it's not even a hometown deal.
08:23Just not reset the market.
08:24He's a top-tier safety.
08:25Just don't reset the market, dude.
08:27Just take a fair market.
08:29Take a, you know, somewhere maybe top-ten salary for a safety but not reset it.
08:36And maybe he could be here.
08:37Because, look, the cap goes up.
08:39You can always find a way to keep players if you want to.
08:42You just have to be creative.
08:44It's why Ian Cunningham has talked so much about all these draft picks and having a plethora of draft picks
08:49every single year
08:51because it allows you to keep core, you know, premier players while also continuing to grow your team
09:00and not, you know, be basically at a deficit.
09:05Can I throw one more name out there?
09:07And I've tried to avoid doing this.
09:09Chris Lentz?
09:11Is that – I didn't mean to say your thunder, but, like, when you said I'm trying not to do
09:15this, I'm like –
09:16I've been trying not to.
09:18But –
09:18I don't think he's got the – what's his value, Mike?
09:21His value is that he's a former All-Pro guard.
09:23And in the correct system, you are talking about an insanely talented run blocker.
09:31I don't think that we want to run that system based on Kevin Stefanski's words and Matt Ryan's words.
09:37So maybe that is a situation where you look at him and go, and this is an All-Pro guard.
09:43Dwayne Ledford, where you at?
09:44Where you at?
09:45Who's running this wide zone, man?
09:47Three years ago, I would have been like – I would have jumped on that more.
09:51Or you've made me think that we have – we value him more here because of what we've ran than
09:59other teams around the league would.
10:01He – he – look, but it's the way we've been utilizing him.
10:05He should be able to pull.
10:07He should be able to get out in space and run screens.
10:09He's a 6'3", 300-pound guard.
10:10He should be able to do those things.
10:12We haven't asked him to.
10:13Maybe that's a different plan somewhere else.
10:15But I can see them saying, hey, if we can get a decent, solid pick for this guy, we'll move
10:21on.
10:21We'll up the right guard spot by about 25 pounds, and we'll become more road graders.
10:26Who was the guy we talked about yesterday, the offensive lineman that transitions?
10:30Yeah, the center.
10:31Yeah, or maybe he makes guard.
10:33Yeah, you're probably dealing with a lot of the same issues.
10:36But it's $20 million cheaper.
10:38Yeah.
10:38There you go.
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