Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Free Agent Preview, Super Bowl Recap, Mailbag

Right. To sit. And on the flip side, you have Fitzpatrick saying that he hopes he comes back, that that's where he wants to be. So everything lines up. The real issue here is money. The Jets have one of the most difficult cap situations because they made huge splashes and free agency on the defensive side of the ball this last year. So we just got to see if the money works out again for the third time in a row. And this is common for quarterbacks. I think he's going to be back. You don't see top half quarterbacks.

hit the free agent market and sign with other teams on a regular basis. Yep. Not when they're so close. You're right about that. Brock Osweiler is also a free agent. Denver is in, we're going to talk about them a lot because you've got Peyton Manning situation. Will he retire, Willie Nott, C.J. Anderson, Ronnie Hillman, some other pieces on that team. So what do we think about Brock Osweiler? I mean, if Peyton retired and he was the quarterback of Denver, he has relevance as a...

streaming quarterback next year. Sure. Otherwise, I don't see him landing someplace and getting handed the keys to an offense. He hasn't done enough in the NFL to warrant that. I would think there are the Chase Daniels of the world that would be just as viable, given a competition type of opportunity on another team. Yeah, but he at least has some resume. Osweiler beat the Patriots.

He played adequately. I mean, he was, he definitely, things went stagnant there towards the end, which is why they made the switch back to Manning. But I think Osweiler, if anybody we've talked about is by far the most interesting situation. If Manning is going to retire as we all think he will, Osweiler has some leverage on Denver because it would be, what are they going to do? If you don't bring Osweiler back, you're...

desperately hoping that someone gets cut like a Robert Griffin gets cut and you bring him in. Hey, they just showed you two days ago that they do not need a quarterback to win a championship. I was going to say the same thing. His best career path is to stay and enjoy Von Miller. Yeah. Just savor him. He just, I think he has some leverage as far as the structure of his contract goes. It would be surprising to me if they let him.

walk and you have a team coming off of a Super Bowl victory going into next year which often happens to Super Bowl teams as you lose a lot of pieces but you don't generally lose your top two quarterbacks from your depth chart no you're right about that and he'll be interesting if he does stick around there are other situations in the NFL that have quarterback issues

That will need to be solved, obviously. You can't help but believe with Johnny Mansell being cut and Josh McCown being Josh McCown that they're going to do something through the draft or through free agency in Cleveland. St. Louis is a place that I would bet just about anything that Case Keenum is not the starter for. You've got Houston. That is an interesting situation with Brian Hoyer and Blank, you know, the weed and T.J.A. or not the solution long term. It's interesting how many of these situations are actually kind of the...

You know, could Brock Osweiler go to St. Louis and enjoy that defense? Could he go to Houston and enjoy that defense? I mean, he seemed to be able to execute the Kubiak-style offense where you're handing the ball off and you're making throws when you need to. But it'll be interesting to see which guys come out of the draft and land in those places. And so we just want to mention his name as well. So let's move on to running backs. Running bags. All right. Matt Forte.

Yeah. He's the biggest name in the whole free agent kit and caboodle. We've said this many times. Oh, go ahead. Where is he going to go? Does he have a chance to return to the Bears? Because right now, I don't know if it's just media hype or other media outlets hope or what it is, but everything kind of seems like where's he going to go, not is he going to go? I believe he could come back.

I do because I believe that based on Matt Forte the person. Matt Forte, the person for the last year has been saying all the things that you don't associate with, I need to be the lead dog someplace. I think he's being realistic with his career and where he's at. I think he's still a good player. He's not the Matt Forte of old. But all of those things.

whether they're true or not, they don't really help the fantasy owner with Matt Forte. Because what we've said before on this show, and the reality is, it's more often than not when these guys leave in these situations at this age. It's not like you see an uptick. We'd love to see him land in New England and then start going, ooh, yeah. Oh, what can he do with Tom Brady? Well, they still got Dionne Lewis. They still got, he'd be in a platoon. He'd be used in a platoon there. I thought about this in a serious fashion just a couple days ago.

And I'm going to put it out there. If Matt Forte goes to the Patriots, he is an absolute top 10 back. No way. 100%. And I will water bet that. Oh, my gosh. You're saying no, because of... I'm saying because Mab Forte. No, because Mab Forte is older. And one, I just don't see that... If he went to New England, on a monster contract that makes no sense, then I'll agree with you. It wouldn't be. It would be on a cheap. Exactly. Yeah. And so he can't. And so he's a piece. New England uses pieces to win.

In the backfield, he would be a piece. Dionne Lewis, when he was just a piece and cheap, was really productive for fantasy because he was a piece of a great offense. Sure. But he didn't have other pieces around him to compete with that. Right. And Matt Forte won't really be competing with Dionne Lewis. Yes, he will. And we'll see. This is obviously beyond speculation. So a guy that got 200 carries that's breaking down. Do you think he can get, I mean, what's the carry load? I'm not saying he won't be fantasy relevant, but top 10 back is a bold.

Bold statement. I think I feel pretty safe on the other side of that one. Well, then you will take that water bet with me. I think he'll get 250 touches between the air and the ground, and he's got a nose for the end zone. He's going to be fine if he goes. Now, the reason we're saying that is because... You're just Switzerland over here. Mike, you're just sitting here twirling your beard. I got my popcorn out. I'm just enjoying the show. Mike raised of ESP in Boston. He believes the Patriots are going to explore that possibility. I like that you're exploring a possibility. That's like two...

That's the best reporting in the world. They're going to almost explore the possibility. Maybe. There was some, I saw a blurb earlier where it was Matt Forte talking about actually wanting to go back to the Bears with Cutler. So there is that. As far as what do I think he could be back. I think he could come back. The demand for running backs on the free agent market is, we saw last year, it can be troublesome for them to make a lot of money. We got to look out for Jeremy Langford.

starting some kind of a smear campaign, though. It's true. I apologize for that sound effect coming out of my... A spaceship has just landed. Next on the list, Douglas Martin, who is 27 years old. We know that he was back after his rookie year's sensation, and then a couple years of just bathroom material. He came back, and it was a monster year.

over 1,400 yards on the ground, including that sensational game against the Eagles, where he gouged him for about 300 yards or so. All signs right now, say Doug Martin, he's talking, he wants to re-sign with the Bucks. The Bucks have said Doug Martin is a top priority for the off-season. However, will they pony up the money that Doug Martin's probably going to want? He's a running back.

his first real big payday opportunity, and for running backs, this is it. Most running backs, I would say they get one shot. Besides your rookie contract, you get one shot at a big free agent contract. Will Tampa offer him enough or will he go somewhere else? That's a great question. He's saying the right things. The bucks are saying the right things, but money is going to be the only thing that talks here for a running back. The problem is I'm not sure what teams have

a ton of money available who really need that running back position to be filled and go and make a splash. Because you do have, you know, the top three guys here on free agency, Matt Forte, Doug Martin, and Lamar Miller, for different reasons, all could be, you know, the best back to acquire in this year's draft. The question that I have from a fantasy perspective with Doug Martin, which I think is a question a GM would have with Doug Martin, if you're not from the bucks, is...

great. He was on a contract year and all of a sudden he was back. You see that from time to time. Like, oh, he stunk and then a contract year and he plays great. Do you pay the guy and then have him get fat again? I just want to take this moment to remind people that Eddie Lacey will be on a contract here coming up. Yes. He's coming in 30 pounds later. Prepare for that. Let me say this and this kind of rolls into the Matt Forte discussion too. Let me just...

I'm glad that we have a disagreement about her. About force? Yeah, I'm super glad. Because it really illustrates, and by the way, we're never mad at each other in reality. No. If you ever hear us arguing about it? You don't put words in my mouth. Okay. I'm not mad and Jason's not mad. But what it does is it illustrates. They're shaking. You got to go into your handshake. Left-handed handshake right there. That was very strong. It's very strong. And yet elegant. It was like the USA and the USSR have...

Solved all their difference. I'm going to say, oh, you got me first. Dang it. I'm Russia. But it highlights the beauty of fantasy football opinions, because there are, we don't know. We do not know what Forte would be in that circumstance, but it's so much fun to think about. Like, I want all the free agents to land in opportunities.

mentally, like the ones that we can come up with for them, where they're excited. You know, Brock Osweiler going to St. Louis, not as exciting as if he stayed in Denver. So I like the excitement. And Matt Forte would be at 30, really good player. It would be very interesting. And obviously missed some time. So it would be fun to see. As far as Doug Martin goes, I'm of the camp that doesn't believe that...

This was a I'm here, then I'm gone, then I'm here in terms of talent-wise. I just think it was a tough place. I know he let people down. I believe this is Doug Martin. So if he's back, I think this will be Doug Martin. He was drafted to be this and he looked it. And so I lean more towards this being him as well. I hope he's back. Lamar Miller. Guys, the guy we agree with the most of anybody, right? It's Lamar Miller? No, not enough.

I think he is going to be the premier free agent running back this offseason. He's 24 years old. This is not, this is not, I mean, Doug Martin is only 27, which is kind of young, but that's still up there. 24 is you're getting a guy going into his prime, not even there yet necessarily.

You know, Forte obviously is the best player of the bunch, but he's old. And it seems to me like Lamar Miller, unlike Doug Martin and Matt Forte will probably be gone. The cap, the cap position. Well, they just said that J. Ajai, they came out publicly and said that they believed, or that they believed he was a starting caliber runner. They're positioning themselves. I don't think there's a chance that Miller's going to want out.

I mean, if you're that guy where you feel like you've been disrespected and misused for multiple years, even with a new coaching staff coming in, you're just going to say, I'm getting out of here. Even with your sweet tax benefits for my contract, I still think he'll want to take off. And I agree with Jason. 24 years old. That's the highlight number there. 24. And on top of that, limited use.

We felt like he's getting misused in Miami because they're not giving him 20 carries a game. And that's what he came out and said. He said the number one thing he's looking for in free agency is the fit. He says he needs somebody that is going to use me and my skill set. Hello, Cleveland Browns. Yeah, I mean, I guess we'll see. I mean, there's the talk of Dallas. There's the talk of some other destinations for him. But you're right. The age.

And the fact that we haven't got to see him with a load could mean great things for fantasy. He is very talented, in my opinion. I think he is worthy of a larger contract from a team. And I think he'll pay off for that team. I'm really excited to see where he lands. And I'm excited for him to leave for Jay Ajai as well. Sure. Yeah, kind of clearing the...

murkiness potentially for both guys, depending on where Lamar Miller lands. Now, I'm going to name some other free agent running backs. Part of the purpose of this show, this is an overview. We didn't want to break this down into like five episodes. So I'm not going to linger on all of the running backs to discuss each one. We'll do that plenty in the off season. But other guys, Chris Ivory and Blah, pal from New York, and then you have situations with James Starks in Green Bay, Chris Johnson, Alfred Morris in Washington, Legerick Blunt in New England.