Hopkins Bombshell + Free Agent Madness - Fantasy Football Podcast

mismanaged this situation a little bit. That's very kind. I'm trying to be a professional over here. Speaking of a team that feels a little bit like they're hamstrung from a contract they gave to their superstar running back, Zeke didn't fall off at all. I mean, he was still a great player, but you put your team in a certain position when you're paying that much money to the running back, Dak Prescott.

bet on himself, he's going to come out a winner, he's going to get top money, or, or they keep bungling the situation and somehow, oh my gosh, can you imagine Dak Prescott going into the season?

on the franchise tag oh 100% you think that can happen i think that can very much happen and that i mean that would be just a continuation of what has been happening which is bungling of the situation amari cooper is a now because the franchise as of the time of this recording he's

completely open, unrestricted free agent. He has no reason to go to Dallas more than Washington, more than Philly, more than anyone other than, you know, he's been with the Cowboys and money. And the Cowboys, I don't know that they can afford them. They're letting all sorts of pieces walk. Byron Jones, great cornerback. He's not going to be able to be resigned. Some of their pass rushers. So, yeah, I mean.

We know Dak Prescott is back. That's great. Dak was the number two quarterback in fantasy. He was phenomenal last year. He was phenomenal for fantasy. You could argue whether or not he was great in real life. I think he was. I think he was good. I don't think he was great. I think he was very, very good. And the reason why I consider it such a bungling is you should have locked DAC up so that you don't have this situation where you... Two years ago. Well, I'm talking about just

earlier, even in the off-season, I don't know, figure it out because you traded a first-round pick for Amari Cooper two years ago, and now you can't franchise him. Yeah, if he walks, he can just walk. Then you took this past years first, the 2019 first, and you lit it on fire to rent a wide receiver to help you not make the playoffs.

Low key news from the Dallas Cowboys. If you've been with the show for any amount of time, you know that I have a dull ache in my heart for Blake Jarwin. They signed him to a three-year extension worth up to $24.25 million, $9.25 guaranteed. Why? Because he's... Why the ache? Why do you like... Because he's good. I think that he is a good tight end. I've got the best water bet.

Of all time for you. Super duper early. All right. Hold on. You bring it up. I'll see if I can find the button. I'm going to say you get Blake Jarwin. Okay. And I get Hayden Hurst. Ooh. Yeah. I mean, they're both losing tight ends from their team that have targets. It's just a matter of who's more talented there. I think those situations are pretty good. No, because the Hayden Hurst one is much better. Yes, it is. Yeah. I'm not making the bet. But.

Blake Jarwin will be on the late round tight end radar. It's only that one game, but it was a big time flash. Jason Witten is gone. Amari Cooper might be gone. Randall Cobb might be gone. I mean, this team could be left with Michael Gallup, guys that were on the team last year, Michael Gallup and Blake Jarwin at the past catching area. It does sound like a bet you should take.

I think you talked yourself into it, Mike. No, but I'm interested in him and he might actually be on your dynasty waiver wire. Speaking of the Falcons, they are... That is the real point here. So, as I want to highlight what you just said, he could very well be on dynasty waiver wires. And if he's not, he could very well be on your roster in Dynasty and you just forgot. You're like, oh, I've got Blake Jarwin. That is also true. So go check it out.

He will be fancy relevant in deep dynasty leagues. Look, finding Blake Jarwin on your bench is like when you put on, you haven't worn a coat because it's been all, it's been summer. Now it's winter. Oh, it's cold. You put on a coat. Oh, I got a twin ski in the pocket here. It's been sitting here waiting for me. It's ironic because. Maybe a five ski. I don't know. Yeah. Maybe a, oh. Maybe it's a George. Chris Washington. I don't know.

Your team, you have Blake Darwin, right? In our main dynasty. I have Hayden Hurst. So this is perfect because I'm like, oh, man, maybe some relevance will come to this late, tight end. Speaking of the Falcons, they're going to release Devon to Freeman, who had a few years left on his contract, did not seem like he was worth it to the team. This is a major fantasy hole.

to be filled. I mean, not only, you know, we're getting ahead of ourselves, so they trade, they didn't trade Austin Hooper. They let Austin Hooper go in free agency, a major part of that offense. They're cutting Devont to Freeman, a major part of that offense. So there will be targets and carries to be picked up by someone else. I think Calvin Ridley is going to be, he's such a target for me. He was before this news. Now it's going to be difficult.

because people are aware of the added volume. Also, I expect the Falcons to be one of the best landing spots for a running back. A day two running back, I would expect in the draft. In the NFL draft, second or third round, they're going to draft somebody. Yeah. You can't go into the season with Edo Smith as the guy. I mean, I would like you to...

Give your thoughts on Edo Smith as the starting running back. Sure. For the Falcons. If you want to hear me throw up, I can. I'll be with you in just a second. Let me just put my finger down my throat. Edo Smith is not good. He's just flat, not good. He's bad. And so, no, he's not the answer. I brought the mood down a little bit too much. Do you remember when the Arizona Cardinals? Yes. Jeffrey Hopkins? He's ours. He's not yours. He's ours.

I like this music a lot. It makes me happy. Kind of reminds me of the funky news drop we had. That's true. That's true. So parts of that news related, that was a terrible phrase, but Austin Hooper, so they let him test the market, and the Cleveland Browns will be the team to sign him. They're going to give him a bunch of money. Does this interest you at all for Austin Hooper? I mean, he was, was he like the number one?

Fantasy wide receiver number one or tight end? When he was playing through the first whatever was eight weeks of season, he was number one at that point. Came back, struggled a little bit right when he got back, but finished strong. So Austin Hooper. But was he a system tight end or is it the skills you're buying into it? The Cleveland Browns have also apparently signed right tackle Jack Conklin, really upgrading that offensive line.

Are you interested in Austin Hooper? And at the same time, what does this do to David and Joku? Yeah, I mean, when I saw this, he's gone, right? Man, what if it's crazy to me that David and Joku, who's so talented and he hasn't been able to stay that healthy. But when he's been out there, he's shown that he's not, he's not like one of those complete busts where you draft him. He never did anything. He's just a loser. And you've got to replace him. He's flashed. He's shown.

that, you know, he might become what you drafted him to be, and now you go out and spend a ton of money here. I know Stafansky and the Vikings, they utilized in the red zone, the tight end, a lot. So this is, which isn't, you know, necessarily Hooper's specialty, but he's a valuable commodity. I think he is an above average tight end who deserves a little bit more respect than he's received. I'm not super thrilled about him.

On the Cleveland Browns, I certainly don't see him repeating the numbers he did last year. I've got the bet. I've got the bet. Okay. Blake Jarwin versus David Injoku. Oh, I would take Blake Jarwin there. They judge. Ha!

That has to hurt you so bad. It does because I love... You are the Injoku truther. Look, I'm not going to lie to you. Injoku is going to sign somewhere and be good next year. He's going to leave this team in a good... No, just wait. Let me just say this. I just said Blake Jarwin is going to be better this year. So obviously I don't think highly of Injoku this year. But there's no chance of getting rid of Injoku in a dynasty league. He's...

Definitely going to stay on my roster for that first. I held on to Jarwin for multiple years. You can hold on Djoku for a few. Let's keep up with the Browns news because they did place a second round tender onto Restricted Free Agent Kareem Hunt. He will be back. There's not going to be a team willing to give up their second round pick, plus give Hunt a new contract.

We know that he, I mean, he's a great running back, but he comes with a lot of baggage. If you're going to give up your second round pick, just use your second round pick on a great younger running back who doesn't cost nearly as much and doesn't come with the suspension risk. So I do agree with your take. This means Cream Hunt will be a Cleveland Brown, which he was, he was valuable. He was not worthless there. I mean, he was, you know, like more of a running back 15. More of a PPR situation. Certainly.

The Chargers, they placed the franchise tag on tight-in Hunter Henry, so he will be back. The Saints, as we talked about, they're putting their first-round tender on Taysam Hill for some reason. Well, nobody's going to sign him now. That's true. And that means they keep him. And for that amount of money, it's not that bad. Yeah. So the Packers have released tight-end Jimmy Graham Sternberger, Jay Sternberger. Are you interested in him at all in this?

Certainly interested in Jay Sternberger in Dynasty formats where he now has the opportunity to grow. I saw him as more of a three-year prospect, so I don't expect him to explode this year. But if Aaron Rogers can play into his late 30s, Sternberger should be exciting. I don't know who is going to go out there and sign Jimmy Graham. There are poorly run franchises. Yeah. So it could happen. It will happen. Really? You don't think you just retires? One can hope.

It's so sad. Jimmy Graham, before his kneecap was removed from his body, Jimmy Graham was one of the best tight ends we'd ever seen, best pass catching tight ends. He was a dominant fantasy player. I think he was like a first round pick. He was awesome. It was him and gronk and gronk and him. Yeah. And that's it. Oh, I mean, yeah, pour one out.

The Vikings have extended Kirk Cousins for two years. He was going into his final year of the deal. They didn't want to play any games. They didn't want to have a Dak Prescott situation, so they have extended him. Interesting news from Pittsburgh. Vance McDonald has restructured his contract, turning his base salary into a signing bonus. So.

Now, you, he's going to be there. You believed in the Vance Dance last year. I did not work out. I believe in Juju. It did not work out. There's obviously one giant common denominator, which is they didn't have a quarterback. Right. Now Ben Rathlisberger comes back. Is there any chance that the Vance dance is back on this year? Yes. There is the chance that we may be doing the Vance dance. Oh, but we'll see. I don't know. There's going to be a lot of late-in tight ends as there usually is.

The Chicago Bears, if you have been following the news for the Chicago Bears, one thing is very clear. They don't want Mitch Trubisky to be their only option at the quarterback position heading into next year. They have been linked to Teddy Bridgewater. They have been linked to try to trade for Nick Foles. They have been linked to try and trade for Andy Dalton. They want anyone who's available. I expect they will be linked to James Winston.

They will be linked to Tom Brady. They're going to be linked to everybody because they should be. Because they should be. That's why. To finish your sentence, they know. And this is, you know, kudos to them. Yeah. See, even Jay Gris wants it. You can't just keep doing the same failed thing over and over because it looked like it was going to work once upon a time for a few weeks. You have to at least do, and really.