- 22 hours ago
The Eagles suffer a big loss, as their top receiver AJ Brown heads to New England. Are they still the team to beat in the NFC East?
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00:00Two massive NFL trades today.
00:02The Patriots, most recently, within the last hour,
00:08putting the exclamation point on what has been a rumored trade for months.
00:12We knew this was coming.
00:13It wasn't going to take place until after June 1st.
00:16Today's June 1st, and then no time was wasted.
00:19Strange to me, by the way, everybody knew about this trade forever.
00:24Seriously.
00:25In fact, it became formally official.
00:28So Schefter came out and reported, I forget when it was in May,
00:33but sometime before the draft almost, at the end of April probably,
00:36we'd heard this thing's going to go down.
00:38And then in early May, he said, this is definitely a trade that's in place,
00:42but it's not going to happen until after June 1st.
00:45And there's still the assumption on both sides that other teams could get involved.
00:50Why wouldn't another team offer this for A.J. Brown, another contender?
00:55It's a first and a fifth.
00:57That's not that crazy for a locked-in, top-five wide receiver in football.
01:03You and I have both made the case for it being really smart for New England
01:06to add a weapon like this.
01:07He's a pain in the butt, and he's a diva, and you've got to deal with him.
01:11There's going to be some headaches maybe for Drake May and Josh McDaniels
01:15and Mike Vrabel in that offense, but they were just in business with Stephon Diggs.
01:19They're not new to guys who want the football at the receiver position.
01:22Are you surprised that nobody else got involved or even made this worth slowing down the process
01:30for Philly or New England?
01:32I am.
01:33There's always something.
01:36Well, let me try to put it.
01:37I'll put it a different way.
01:39I'm constantly surprised by NFL trades, whether it's the value, whether it's the lack thereof,
01:45or there have been multiple trades this offseason, for example.
01:49I've worked about this with the Pittsburgh Steelers getting Michael Pittman for nothing.
01:53I mean it.
01:53Nothing.
01:54They swapped a sixth and seventh rounder.
01:56That was it for a guy that goes for 1,000 yards.
01:58I'm not telling you he's Jerry Rice, but I'm also not telling you he's chopped liver.
02:01He ain't Noah Brown either.
02:02He's a good player, and nobody seemed interested.
02:05No one else wanted that?
02:06You don't let anyone know that he's available for maybe a fifth?
02:10No one would have given you a fourth?
02:12Whatever.
02:12Just crazy.
02:12And then here you go with Brown, a 2028 first-round pick.
02:17Not a 27 first-round pick, mind you.
02:19A 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth.
02:23So it's basically a fifth and a future first, and a lot will happen over these next couple
02:27years, whether New England recoups it, whether they don't, whether they make other maneuvers,
02:30let other guys go, they play the draft compensation game, whatever.
02:33The point is, it's not that much for a guy that's not 30 years old and in a terrible
02:38year went for 80 and 1,000.
02:41Seems crazy to me.
02:41I will never understand the value with NFL deals.
02:44I'm always wrong.
02:45There's a commander's element to this as well, not just because of the division and the fact
02:49that Phillies were in the pants in the East and Washington's chasing them, but lest we
02:54forget, September 13th, 2026, coming up in just over, wow, it's crazy to think about
03:00this, just over three months from now, when the commanders open the season in Philadelphia
03:05at 425 at the link against the Eagles, you don't have to deal with A.J.
03:10Brown.
03:10Just fine by me.
03:11To me, that is the evidence of just how different the team looks, how much a matchup playing the
03:17Eagles feels different without A.J.
03:18Brown.
03:19Washington's got him week one.
03:20And to look at this offense with and without him is night and day, as far as I'm concerned,
03:24in terms of just the fear of that group.
03:26Now, we don't know, we don't know yet where Makai Lemon could be great and Devontae Smith
03:30could really emerge and he's got a great relationship with Hurts and in the new offense, maybe he
03:34ends up going for 1,300 yards and having this massive season.
03:38But I would much rather play Philadelphia without one of the great receiving talents in the league,
03:42one of the great after-the-catch receivers in the sport.
03:46And maybe it is through the lens of Saquon Barkley gets back to 24 and rushes for 1750
03:50again or something.
03:51But he looked like he was hurting last year, not physically, literally, but after the wear
03:58and tear of the previous season and the usage and the odometer turning over as many times
04:02as it did with him getting the ball, he was not the same guy last year.
04:06Does that change?
04:07Does he get back to feeling a little more spry and get some of the juice back?
04:11We'll see.
04:12Evans in D.C.
04:13on the fan.
04:13Ryan, what do you make of the deal as it pertains to the Commanders?
04:18Hey, guys.
04:19I agree with you, Ryan.
04:20It is a night and day difference with A.J.
04:22Brown off the Eagles.
04:23I mean, I think he's underrated about how imposing he is as a receiver and how much he
04:28forces, you know, defenses to be soft on the Eagles and how much that's helped Hurts.
04:33But just in terms of the division, guys, I think you still lean a little bit more towards
04:37the Eagles just because they have that devil magic ability.
04:41So, no matter how ugly it is, they just always find ways to win games, no matter how weird
04:47it is.
04:47And you just can't take that away from them.
04:51There's something to that.
04:52Hold on one second.
04:53We'll get back to you in a second.
04:55There's something to that.
04:55But I just struggle with that as the reason, you know, like analytically or statistically
05:01or whatever.
05:01I need more than in the past.
05:03They've been able to win anyway.
05:05Or like, yeah, it looks like they got worse, but they still have the best GM and it always
05:09seems to work out for them, dot, dot, dot.
05:11It's almost one of those like hope is not a strategy, you know, strategy.
05:15Like because it's the Eagles doesn't really work as why I should be more scared of them
05:19than the Cowboys because runs end, you know, we thought, you know, the Phillies or the Mets
05:25were going to be a buzzsaw in the National League East or there's great examples all the
05:29time of like the Ravens last year going into the season.
05:31They're Baltimore, man.
05:32When the year ends, they're going to be right at the top of the division unless they weren't.
05:36But anyway, go, go back to Evan here.
05:38What do you got?
05:39Yeah.
05:40Can I, and I just want to say about the Cowboys and the Cowboys hype this off season.
05:43Yeah.
05:44They do look scary on paper, but they won seven games last season and two against our injury
05:51depleted team.
05:52And even when they were fighting for the playoffs last year, the second half of the season,
05:55they had inexplicably bad losses, you know, home losses to Jacoby Brissett in the Cardinals,
06:00J.J.
06:01McCarthy and the Vikings.
06:02They got blown out by the Chargers at home.
06:04So they're just a weird team.
06:06And I'll just ask you, can you trust Brian Schottenheimer?
06:09They're just a weird team that always tends to.
06:11They are weird, but how much do we want to use last year as what is going to predict this
06:16year?
06:17It's such a different team.
06:19I mean, are we going to do that for the commanders?
06:20I hope not.
06:22I could find you some weird losses on that schedule.
06:24Sure.
06:24Yeah.
06:24There's plenty of those.
06:25I expect them to be a lot different and a lot better.
06:27And hopefully their quarterback is healthier this time.
06:29But I mean, the Cowboys defense is a completely different personnel group and a completely
06:35different scheme.
06:36They went from having a butt of jokes coordinator who everyone thought should have been fired
06:42several different times throughout the year.
06:44Last year in Ibra Floos to one of the rising star guys in the league in Parker, who's up
06:49there with Durante Jones in terms of most exciting defensive hires in football.
06:53Then you add in all the talent that they added.
06:55He's right, like that stretch where they lost to the Lions, the Vikings, and the Chargers
07:00that did them in before they beat the commanders in Christmas.
07:04Gross.
07:05Pretty ugly.
07:06Basically two weeks from December 4th through December 21st, but three games where they gave
07:11up 44, 34, 34 points.
07:13That's it.
07:13That's all she wrote.
07:14They weren't competitive until then.
07:16They scored 43 times.
07:17They scored 37 in another game.
07:20By the way, think about that.
07:21They scored 30 or more, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, half their season.
07:29They scored 30 or more points last year.
07:31And then the games where they didn't, it's a lot of 27s and 26s in there.
07:35When a team can move the ball like that, that worries me.
07:38That's all.
07:38I mean, you got to score 27 when you go to Dallas or else you're probably losing.
07:43Terry's in Dansville.
07:44Hey, Terry.
07:46Hey, how are you?
07:48Good, buddy.
07:49Thanks for having me on.
07:51Yeah, I really believe that we don't have to be concerned about anyone.
07:56We shouldn't fear anyone.
07:57We have everything we need.
07:59We have the coaching staff in place.
08:02We shouldn't fear anyone in the division.
08:04We just need to take care of us.
08:06Just keep our head down and work hard.
08:08And at the end of the season, we'll be on top.
08:11This is Dan Quinn calling in there.
08:13And that's coach speak, right?
08:15Who had that line today that I was just, oh, you know who it was?
08:18Was Mike McDonald in Seattle?
08:20He was asked today at the press conference about the Rams getting the greatest defensive
08:26player in the league in a trade, and Miles Garrett coming over to L.A.
08:29And McDonald, the head coach, the defending champion Seattle Seahawks, said, I don't care
08:34about that.
08:36Not interested.
08:37I'm like, well, what's your reaction?
08:38He's like, don't care.
08:40We're worried about us.
08:41This is about this building here.
08:42That's what coaches say.
08:43Coaches have to do that.
08:44That caller was going full coach speak.
08:46Yeah, he leaves the podium, goes back into the office, gathers other coaches, and goes,
08:49oh my God, what the bleep are we going to do?
08:52I could say it a different way for the sake of the conversation, if you want.
08:55I said, who should the commanders be worried about?
08:57Who's the team to beat in the division?
09:00Okay.
09:01You don't want to play that game.
09:02Fine.
09:02Who's the best team in the NFC East?
09:04That's another way to ask it.
09:06Is it the Cowboys or is it the Eagles?
09:07No, you're allowed to think it's Washington.
09:08I would happen to disagree with you, but it sounds like that guy did.
09:12Reggie's in D.C.
09:13What's up, Reggie?
09:14Hey, what's going on, fellas?
09:15Hey, listen.
09:16We may think that Devontae is the number one, but we don't know.
09:21It's easy to be looked at at the number one when you got A.J. Brown on the other side.
09:25It's easy for T. Higgins to look like a number one when you got Jamar Chase.
09:30It's easy for George Pickens to look like a number one when you got C.D.
09:34So we don't know if Devontae is a number one.
09:38Now he's going to have Patrick Sertan.
09:40He's going to have whatever the elite cornerbacks are,
09:44he's going to get those guys in specific coverages that's going to be geared to stop
09:49like a Terry McClellan when, you know, picks it at number two Washington receiver
09:53when it makes it extremely difficult for him to get off.
09:57So we don't know.
09:58I think this is going to be huge loss for the Eagles.
10:01Right now, to me, there's no way you can look at the Eagles right now
10:04and say, yeah, they're better today than they was yesterday.
10:07This, to me, moves them back.
10:09It's just strictly the NFC East, moves them back towards their pack.
10:13And whoever plays the best quarterback out of, you know, the top three,
10:16I'm not even including the Giants, out of the top three is going to win the division.
10:20Whoever plays the best quarterback is going to win.
10:22Because right now the Eagles, they're going to really feel it.
10:25Because I'm going to be interested to see if Devontae is really a number one.
10:28I personally don't think so.
10:30But, again, we're going to see when he's got to face, you know, man, not even man coverage,
10:36but the best, yeah.
10:37So that's another thing I think that goes into my column.
10:41It's a great call.
10:41Thank you, Reggie.
10:42That's another thing that goes into the Cowboys part of the discussion is,
10:45he says, which quarterback has the best year?
10:48I think the guy with the most upside is Daniels.
10:51I think if you told me one of those three guys plays at a superstar level, wins MVP,
10:57I think it's most likely Jaden Daniels to actually go on and win the MVP or whatever this year.
11:03But the guy that is the safest bet, the guy that is a lock to be really good,
11:07the guy that has the best chance to go out and throw for 38 touchdowns and 11 interceptions and 4
11:12,700 yards,
11:13and I would say there's like an 80% chance if he's healthy that he goes 4,535 or whatever,
11:19is that Dak Prescott.
11:20Dak Prescott, yeah.
11:20So that's another reason.
11:21If we're saying it comes down to durability, health, performance of quarterbacks,
11:25then I would slot it Dallas 1, and then you can debate between Philly and Washington.
11:30I think Daniels has a great chance to outperform Jalen Hurts.
11:34I'd rather have Jaden Daniels than Jalen Hurts.
11:37Weird to say because he's won a Super Bowl and been in two and been fantastic in both of them.
11:40Probably deserves to have two rings.
11:42But he's a limited passer, and he's going to be in a new offense that's going to ask a lot
11:45of things out of him
11:46that he hasn't thrived doing.
11:48So here's my counter to that.
11:49His point about Devontae Smith is right.
11:51I think Philadelphia saw that too.
11:54And they're going, he may not have to be a true number one in the strongest sense of the word,
11:58which A.J. Brown was and probably still is.
12:01That's why you go get Makai Lemon.
12:03That's why you go get Wicks.
12:04That's why you go get Hollywood Brown to sort of, you know, Voltron this thing into guys that are going
12:10to maybe make it easier on Smith.
12:11If you can't find a true number one, there aren't that many of those guys running around.
12:14There aren't that many Jamar Chase, Justin Jeffersons, JSNs, etc.
12:17But you're going, okay, let's get a couple deep notes, a couple speed guys, a couple yards after the catch
12:21guys, a really good tight end.
12:22Again, a good O-line.
12:23Barkley, who's a threat?
12:24I imagine he catches more passes in this Mannion offense.
12:27Adds some play action looks to it.
12:28So you don't have to go, okay, Devontae Smith, your job now is to go 90 catches for 1,200
12:34yards.
12:35It may not be.
12:36You may turn the fader up on him slightly, but I think you've got some other options in there as
12:40well.
12:40I think they've remade this offense in an image that Mannion wants, and we're going to see it firsthand, up
12:44close and personal in September.
12:45Ike on Twitter says he's not sure if Dak can stay healthy for another season after doing so last year.
12:51I get the point.
12:52Like, Prescott missed half of 2024, missed five games in 2022.
12:57It just doesn't move around the same way anymore, you know?
12:59He missed almost all of 2020.
13:01So it's even years, basically.
13:0320, 22, 24, this is 26.
13:07Like, every other year, he misses a lot of time, so there's something to that.
13:10But he's also been 17 games in two of the last three years, three of the last five he's played
13:16every game.
13:16His injuries are also kind of freak things.
13:19But, again, if we're going to play that game, like, Dak might miss time.
13:21All right, what about our guy?
13:23I mean, he could miss time.
13:25Hertz is a guy that he has been mostly durable and healthy.
13:28I give him credit because he's played through a lot of pain.
13:30But how many times have we heard that story where it's like something's going on with his knee or we
13:35don't exactly know what's going on,
13:36but, you know, Jalen Hertz is getting treatment and he's not running, and they think it's because he's not 100%.
13:42Like, how many times has that happened?
13:44It seems like it's constant.
13:46And it's not one of those, oh, every once in a while.
13:48There's always a nagging thing, whether it's a personality thing that, you know, there's the damaging ESPN story
13:55or a teammate flare-up or qualifying comments or sort of figuring stuff out.
13:59It just never seems to be harmonious there.
14:02800-636-1067.
14:03800-1067, you want to hop?
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