Mind-Blowing NFL Trades + FA Fantasy Fallout - Fantasy Football Podcast for 3/22

So, I mean, he had nine touchdowns in 2020. That's his career. I never been double digits. Only two last year. So without volume. I don't think he takes a massive hit here because he got to a place last year where he was it. I mean, I know Renfro's great. But teams are not designing, you know, double coverage for the slot guy and Hunter Renfro. They were trying to get rid of Darren Waller. And you just don't do that now. Waller is not.

the weapon that you are scheming against. And you give that kind of talent and athleticism and size a one-on-one cover. You get him against the wrong matchup. And he could have a very good fantasy season still. All right. Shall we move forward beyond Devante Adams? Because there's a lot. All right. Deshaun Watson. This was the headline maker. It looked like we even said it on the show because he said it to the Browns.

that they were eliminated from contention and it was going to be the Falcons of the Panthers. Instead, Deshaun Watson had a change of heart. Uh, uh, Sean Watson's banker had a change of heart. Yeah. And he was traded to the Browns. The Browns get Watson and a fifth round pick. The Texans get three firsts, a third and a fourth round pick. It is a, and then they restructured his contract to be five years, $230 million, all guaranteed.

with a $1 million base in the first year, which may... Gross. Which may mean that his suspension is not impactful to his pocketbook, which does mean that. We don't know what kind of suspension he will get. I have settled on a word for the situation. Oh, let's hear it. The word is disturbing. Yeah, okay. Totally. And so that's the word I'm going to use to describe it. And that's not me saying that I know every detail for every circumstance or every situation. Sure. But...

For whatever reason, you know, when you're a franchise quarterback, the demand was there. He's going to make a ton of money. He's going to play football for the Browns. They will be trading Baker Mayfield away. They do not want that in the locker room. And they signed Jacoby Brissette to basically fill in for whatever sort of suspension Deshaun Watson is going to face. Fallout. Discussing Watson is very difficult.

just speaking for me personally of generally on this show, you know, if something off the field happens, you give the news on it and it's like you don't really have to elaborate. It's just here's so-and-so has a DUI that turns into usually a two-game suspension and what are the football ramifications of that? But this circumstance, it's so difficult to remove the off-field.

and just talk football for Deshaun Watson because everything that's involved, like there are 20 plus women who will forever live with whatever happened in the room with Deshaun Watson. And now Watson's going to a new place with a new contract, 100, because of. The disturbing part is the extra $100 million he received would not have happened without these allegations. That was a winning bid to get his services because he was on the block. So it's like,

It doesn't feel good when it's like, wait. He got an extra large, the largest guaranteed money of all time, not in spite of, but actually in a way because of the situation. So that is gross. But now we know he's up brown. Now we know he's going to play football. A suspension will come down almost definitely. It will almost definitely be six games to start. And when that happens, don't know. I imagine.

Well, will the NFL take the perspective of letting all legal matters be sorted before they do that? I imagine so, yes. They already have had that stance, so I can't imagine they would change. Okay. But haven't there been other situations that haven't come to completion where they did make the proactive step of? I guess the big difference now and the difference that caused the trade is that he was, you know, the grand jury. There will be no criminal charges. Right. And so maybe that allows them to make their decision quicker.

Well, Omar Cooper was traded to Cleveland. Yes. Jarvis Landry was cut. David Njoku was extended. Austin Hooper was cut. Deshawn Watson is a monumental upgrade on the field for the Cleveland Browns. The difference in what he can provide from a fantasy perspective versus Baker Mayfield is massive. And...

I already was kind of okay with Cooper going to Cleveland just because of all the places he could have gone. He could have gone and been a clear two. He's the guy on the outside. And with Watson arriving, he should have volume. And then you do have some peripheral options that are going to be interesting like David Injoku or Harrison Bryant. Yeah. How would you feel about Amari Cooper if Will Fuller shows up?

Like if Will Fuller is signed, because I've seen some, you know, links there, obviously they played together in Houston and he is a free agent and they need another wide receiver. Would you still view him as like the clear one on the outside for the team? Certainly from a volume perspective, I would. It wouldn't really, it doesn't detract me any more than Donovan People's Jones going deep. It would just be somebody to take that job. That's how I view it. Yeah. Let's hope Stafansky now, I guess this, what we're going to see.

Was the run, run, run the ball motif? Right. Baker? Was that like, well, Baker's our quarterback, so hand the ball off? I think they still will be run heavy. But that didn't stop like Kirk Cousins from having success in that offense. If you have competent quarterback play and you have competent weapons, it'll work out. Yeah, and the truth is, is whether you're the.

Like the Rams had to make a change of quarterback because in games that you were down, golf couldn't get you there. Right. The Browns aren't going to have the choice to be a running team if they're down three scores to Lamar Jackson. They need someone that can bring them back. Watson represents that. And we were talking at lunch, this is actually going to end up, I mean, far beyond this show, it's going to be one of the most difficult fantasy decisions, all of the players on the Browns. You're not going to feel great about, you know, as great about Nick Chubb.

if it's six games of Brissette. You're not going to feel as good about Cooper or Injoku, any of those players, even Watson, where he goes in drafts, if there's a suspension there. So the kind of value change that happens, you know, when you hear a player's injured for four weeks and you're like, oh, where does he belong in the draft? Well, he goes down a round or two because you're missing a good chunk of the fantasy season. Those type of things are going to come up in Cleveland. Yeah, we'll have to wait.

to see if by the draft season for fantasy, do we know whether the suspension is coming or does it look like it's going to be delayed? It could be a Zika situation where it's delayed for a little while. I looked it up. So the Zique suspension was back in 2017 and it didn't happen until week 10. Yeah. So TBD. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's a situation where Watson doesn't bear any of it this year. Right. So.

Any other discussions from that transaction? Well, you're on Baker Watch now. Where Baker Mayfield is going to end up will not be in Cleveland. There's been links to Seattle. Carolina needs a quarterback. I don't think it's impossible that he's a backup. At this year. At this point, it will be tough because the locations are running out because the Atlanta Falcons traded Matthew Ryan.

to the Indianapolis Colts for a third round pick. So that destination is out of the running here for Baker Mayfield, at least to be a starting quarterback. I can't imagine they'll trade for him to be a backup. So the open spots, Seattle is wide open. And then if you look around the landscape, Detroit could use Baker Mayfield. Like, you know Jared Goff is not the answer. Baker Mayfield is probably not the answer, but probably a...

Probably a quarterback is better than definitely not. So maybe they make a run at him. But I agree, Jason, that if Jimmy Garoppolo still probably needs to be traded and we're running out of teams for a starting quarterback. So Baker is running out of time. And it's interesting just from a high level perspective because I think one of the things I've learned over the years, obviously we're not in the rooms with the GMs.

But we've had enough candidate access to some of these rooms where it's like, oh, they are reacting with the news the way that the public is. And you wonder about moves like Pittsburgh, right? Would Pittsburgh have made the commitment to Mitchell? Do they prefer him? Would they have, if Baker was on the table? I can't imagine they'd trade Baker in the division, though. Right. Or the commanders, right? Where they make their move. Yeah, that was the one I thought about. So, yeah, yeah, yeah. How much regrets do you have? My bet is Carolina.

I think Carolina makes, they're the most desperate, right? They have been chasing this position and been behind the eight ball every step of the way. So, yeah, Matt Ryan to the Colts. I don't know who to give credit to the Falcons or Matt Ryan himself, but this wasn't a media battle. This wasn't getting, you know, they didn't sell them down the river and say, oh, no, we just want you back. They did, they went all in on Deshaun Watson. They lost. And then they did right by Matt Ryan, in my opinion. I agree. So credit, where credits do.

Ryan said that he, you know, he okayed the Colts because they are a team that can win now. And this is great news for the fantasy assets there. Yeah. Michael Pittman Jr. I mean, pity city. Yes. It's back on. I think you couldn't have dreamed for a much better situation for Pittman than being able to get a.

Very competent, good leader for a solid, well-built team. Yeah, Matt Ryan goes from the Atlanta Falcons who on a pro football focus their offensive line, like end of season rankings. The Falcons finished 27th compared to the Colts who were a top 12 blocking unit. They finished at number 12 according to PFF. Mike Davis.

behind the line to Jonathan Taylor. It's a massive upgrade for Matt Ryan. Yeah, I hadn't realized the difference. I knew it was a better line, but that is a big gap. And Matt, if Matt Ryan has protection, he can, I think he can still be a... Hold on. Let me say this a different way. If Philip Rivers has protection, he can still, if Carson Wins has protection, they are, did they do a deal with the devil when they got Peyton?

We're like they were going to be condemned to the veteran quarterback every offseason for the rest of their life. Well, they did have Andrew Love. Well, but that was stolen from them. I mean, if you're Indianapolis, I mean, Matt Ryan is as good, if not better than the two options in the previous two years. I think he's better, flat out. I think he's better than...

He's more consistent than Carson Wins. The Phillip Rivers that they had. Yeah. And yeah, Carson Wins, yeah, is way too all over the place. Marcus Mariotta was quick to take advantage of the absence in Atlanta. He signed a two-year deal with the Falcons. He may be the starter. Yeah. I would assume, like are they off the table then for Baker in your mind with this transaction? I think so. Yeah, probably. This happened in a time when Baker was available.

They chose Mario da. I think that they still look at a quarterback in the draft. Not that they will draft one, but they'll at least, they're not going to avoid that situation because of Marcus Marietta. I think we talked in the office. The right approach would be the two-year suck approach, which they are on path for. I mean, they have done a great job of setting up their 2023 draft pick because their O line sucks.

their wide receiver core. Do they have to me? It does not. Frank Darby is there everybody, Dynasty Leagues. Pick up Frank Darby, please. That is, it's literally the worst wide receiver group I think I can ever remember. And obviously, they are going to draft someone and they got it. They have to sign. They have to have. I think they take the first quarterback off the board. I really do. They're at pick number eight. I think they'll take the first off the board. It could happen. And that person will compete with Marietta to start. Just know this. Whoever they pick.

it's not going to go well for their career, even if they get it right. Because you're just, you're setting that quarterback up to fail between a bad, you've got cowpets. And then, they're filling some blanks. I don't think it's going to be as bad. Obviously, it came down to the wire for Deshaun Watson to join this team. And they have a, they have a history there of being successful. So I think, I think it will, we'll think differently of the Falcons in a couple of months. Just give them a couple of months. And I think we will think differently of the Falcons in a couple of years. Okay.

They'll be great. And then Arthur Smith would then just get the chance to bench Mariota again. Oh, my God. It is worth noting that this is a reuniting of Marcus Mario with Arthur Smith. They were together in Tennessee. DJ Moore signed a new three-year $61 million contract extension. Get the bag, DJ. Yeah, go pay your wide receivers. You don't got a quarterback. Matthew Stafford cashed in. This is almost like a requirement. You win the Super Bowl?