The Brandon Aiyuk sweepstakes is back on

0:00Why not go after Brandon and I, you know, whether that's Trader, you wait out for a release instead of AJ Brown? I mean, you know, Brandon and I was a first round draft pick. He was really good before his injuries. Obviously you need to assess that. But I would be much more interested in trying that before I go for an AJ Brown. Final hour, Jones and Keith, WweEI, as we take you up until 2 o'clock. You'll get WweEI afternoons at that point. Yeah, got her. Yeah, got fit. Yeah, got ball. So stay tuned for it at two. We'll get you the clip to your plus grab bag on the way later on this hour. Something's up with the AJ Brown stuff. And I don't, I don't know that I have my exact finger on the pulse. But between the darts reporting late last week that like, oh, geez, by the way, if they happen to get AJ Brown, it's going to kind of all be on Mike Raible and what if he gets it wrong? Okay. Then he follows that up with what about Brandon?

1:00I you got rather what Brandon, I you Brandon, I you over AJ Brown, like something's up there where either not everybody's in on AJ Brown in Foxboro or they know that maybe somebody else is a higher bid or they're just not going to work it out without a Roseman. And so now they're trying to like adjust expectations. But something's up there on the AJ Brown front. Neither you nor I are ready to go to Brandon, I you know, God, no. And I wonder if some of the AJ Brown conversation is just that we've been talking about it really on and off for two years. Yeah. And then now it's like heated up again. And then once they moved on from digs and yet it still seems like there's like a little bit of, not a little bit, a lot of bit of a stalemate. And now we're either waiting for the draft or June 1st and then even then, I go, are they ever going to get something done? And so being hesitant on him, I don't really understand it. Like from the from the outside, you're looking at his knees, I guess, or like, oh, he doesn't seem to be a happy camper there.

2:01Well, but it can't be that for Bdard specifically because what Bdard said is if you believe in his ability to handle personalities. Yes. Bring in a Duke. So if you believe that, that would have been a great example. AJ Brown, he already knows better than I guys. I believe Mike Vrayble to rain in some players. Not this guy. Oh, Brandon, are you? Yeah, I find him. Yeah, I don't know about that. Like there's a limit to everybody's power there. I don't know that Vrayble can handle him. I think if you're asking me, I think Vrayble can handle AJ Brown. So because of the personal relationship, I don't know that anybody can rain in Iyuk. So one of our famous segments is called Tale of the Tape. And if you're going to tale the tape, AJ Brown, Brandon, Iyuk, I would say player, AJ Brown, personality, being the better, check, personality, AJ Brown. Right. He doesn't get that check against every player, but he gets against Iyuk. Even his knee, better for AJ Brown, because Brandon, Iyuk, has played seven games two years ago and then didn't play it all last year. They both got these big contracts yet. They both seem to be upset with certain things that are going on. I also think AJ Brown, I don't, I don't think this.

3:02I know he has had more number one wide receiver seasons than Brandon, Iyuk. You could make a case, Iyuk's maybe had one. They're going to rock two years ago before I knew about this guy, go in A-Wall and all of everything else. You had a great addition. I was in that too. He would have been. Yeah. But no, AJ Brown, to me, not even close to Brandon, Iyuk at the stage of their career. He was pounding and then got hurt in San Francisco. And then last year, he went A-Wall. And then he showed up to the facility, then left going 100 miles an hour. We have two more last like news story on him. Two more years of data on him, where I agree there was a time where I was in on Iyuk. I can't go there anymore. Now, if it's a flyer in addition to AJ Brown or something like that, fine. But to come in and lead your receiver room, we're even going to be like one A, one B with Romeo Dobbs. No, thank you. Now, the money, how's that going to play out? Are you going to be cheaper? Oh, definitely. Like, way cheaper. And you either just pick them up once he gets cut, so you don't have to trade. So I guess the one check mark would be in the camp of assets given up. So that's why, if you're somebody like, he's going to be borderline no cost. Correct. Where AJ Brown could still be a hefty cost.

4:03So if you're like, I guess, craft and you're worried about the money part of it, and if, or if you're Elliot Wolf and maybe you're worried about like the draft pick compensation part of it or not just Wolf, but other guys that are in the front office, that would be the one argument in favor of Iyuk. If you get ever fired them, if you get ever get them out there on the field to actually play. Yes. So I do wonder if there's just some disagreement on AJ Brown. And I wonder if Iyuk's a name being kicked around. And I wonder if Bedard's here and some of that and he's passing it along. Because that's a weird one to just pull out of thin air. By the way, just talking about AJ Brown and his health, you said check mark for brown. Sneat over Iyuk. Iyuk hasn't really played since he hasn't played since he's worried about AJ Brown's knee, but he just puts a thousand year of season. AJ Brown's knees are like a chronic concern. I mean, AJ Brown posts for the most part, 16, 14, 13, 17, 17, 13, 15. I think the games last year were hamstring. I don't even think it was his knee. I don't I don't believe. Yeah, I think you're right. So I mean, I don't, I don't think to me. And Raible should have a good idea on his medical from his time with AJ Brown in Tennessee.

5:06From drafting him to his time with AJ Brown in Tennessee, he should have a really good idea on the medicals, but it's not like AJ Brown is missing time with injuries. That's Iyuk. Yeah, no, I know. And it's been like a really long time. So I mean, by by Rich Keef rules, he should be great. Because in 2023, good point. He had an awesome year. Good point. If you're being consistent, you actually should be in. But he's he hasn't had a touchdown since 2023. He didn't play it all last season. And like Kyle Shanahan's talking about him like he is legitimately MIA, like it's not like a squabble, squabble. And I go, we're hoping to get him back or he's working out with the team. We're like, no, no, just an absolute mess. They put him on the left team list. And they took back $27 million from him. I don't know, not a guy I really want to take a chance on. I feel like if your team's a little bit different, like if you are, if you're the bills and your receiving room has been terrible for a few years, you just traded for DJ Moore. You might even draft another one. And he becomes available for a song. Pick him up.

6:06Pick him up. Adam in. If he's good, great. If he's not caught him. I think a team like that, it makes more sense for him. Yeah. You make a good point about just Iyuk will be much cheaper. You know, Brown might want an adjustment to his contract. He may have already wanted that. And I think that's part of what's at play in Philly. Why can't he be happy on a Super Bowl winning team? Well, because he wants targets. Why does he want targets? I'd imagine that's for his numbers to get paid. I mean, that's how I would assume. So I think already he wanted a new deal. Never mind based on the news of what JSN got earlier today in Seattle. So Florio has some new details on this. And I'm reading through it for the first time, but work me on this. For your extension, new money averages 42.15 million, which pushes the bar for receivers up from 40 million AAV, which was set last year by Jamar Chase. So you can get into some of the details. If you want $35 million signing bonus. Yeah, but I was looking at this. So he now has is the record center for receivers. He gets essentially 120 million guaranteed.

7:08The other number is higher, but like guaranteed money, 120. AJ Brown on the list of guaranteed money contract. He said he was eighth. No, he's higher than that. Oh, I think Nick would might have been the average AAV. He's eight. Only five receivers have signed bigger deals than AJ Brown, including the new JSN one. So it's JSN, Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, CD Lamb and Garrett Wilson. Right, but how many of that guaranteed money has he already been paid via signing bonuses? So like, what does he have left for guaranteed money? Uh, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know if we know the answer, but that could be why even though he's gotten a lot guaranteed, that could be why he's squawking again and wanting a new one. 51 maybe guaranteed that signing 84 of it is guaranteed. So I mean, no, I'm not saying he's going to play for this, but like he was pretty well respected then. And I think looking at the five names ahead of him, he'd probably make the case he's better than Garrett Wilson, but the other four guys are all way better than him now. No, and I, when you, when we, when Nick said he was eighth in AAV, I'm like, oh, that's probably is already too high. Yeah, that doesn't mean he's happy with it, but that probably is already too high.

8:09AJ Brown got 51 million guaranteed it's signing with a total of 84 million. So I don't know average that out. He's still, I don't know what his average is. Mathwise, but he got a bunch of it at signing. Yeah. Did I say anything? He just had some of that. Yeah, he just said, I'm just verifying. I definitely wasn't Googling. I was just like, yeah, yeah, uh, speaking of contracts, you want to hear the latest on this when we get to this now? What, headroom, a Kenna, uh, tweeted out a moment ago, the Patriots, I forgot. Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's all ties together. The Patriots and Pro Bowl cornerback Christian Gonzalez had quote, preliminary conversations about a contract extension at the combine according to a league source. Yeah, combine. How do you think those went? Proliminary conversations at the combine. And we're just now hearing about them a month later. The combine was, yes, February 26th through March 1st. A month later, we're just hearing little dribs and drabs that they had preliminary conversations. How do you think those went?

9:09No, I'm not too much of a talk. Most conversations with Gonzalez are short. That's true. They're quick, man, a few words. Good. And yeah, they're like, uh, Christian, the, what do you want to say? So wait, you said that? What, what was the date on that? Well, the last day of the combine was March 1st. So it's three weeks and two days. If they talked on the last day of the combine. When did, when did McDuffy sign? Since then, yeah, McDuffy was after beginning a free agency. One was that I see for a date March 8th. So like, yeah, a lot, a lot of chapter, a lot's changed since the combine is all I would say. They don't appear to be in the club. And it is in Gonzalez favor, not in the team's favor, since those preliminary discussions. Well, that's tough. Well, this is why, this is why the JSN stuff's relevant. I think for a couple of different Patriots moves. Number one, AJ Brown, texture saying, hey, Jones, now you're worried about AJ Brown's money, whatever happened to it's not my money. No, no, I'm not worried about. I'm just saying, oh, he's going to want a different deal. Yeah, I was telling you, I think he's going to want that. And maybe that's what the Patriots are blocking at. I want him and I would pay him. I think he's already more well compensated

10:11than I realize is all I was saying. I don't think his contract is out of whack. But I think he's going to want a new contract. That's all I was saying. They should pay him. I'm not saying they shouldn't pay him. They should pay him if they wind up bringing him in. But the JSN contract is relevant for two things. Number one is AJ Brown going to want to rip his up, maybe. And number two, watch what Seattle's doing there. They already paid their offensive line in a couple of months ago, Charles Cross. They paid JSN today. They have not yet paid witherspoon. Although Ravsheet had a tweet earlier today. We're basically, it said something like I'm paraphrasing. He's next up in Seattle. He got more than McDuffie. I mean, I wouldn't think so. No, but then he also had a great Super Bowl. Like we talk about how Gonzo had a great Super Bowl to reason to pay him. Witherspoon had a great game. His team won. He lines up all over the formation. He was a really high pick for them way back when. Not to do the Bidard draft. No, please. I knew that profile. But like they thought highly of him. He played well for them. He plays left corner, right corner in the slot. And yeah, he had a really good Super Bowl.

11:11So I don't think he's better than McDuffie. If I had to answer your question, but he's the next guy up. Could they pay him more money? Yeah. And it could also might be waiting on that. He might be. And it could work very much in his favor. Or there is a chance. Not that it backfires. Not that he's going to like lose a lot of money. But maybe Witherspoon maybe comes to a deal and it's less than that. He's like, oh, like I thought the next guy was going to even set another bar higher than I would just jump over that. No, if Witherspoon gets less than McDuffie, then the Patriots get a little ground there. They gain a little ground with Gonzalez. If he signs for more. And the way it goes, he's probably going to sign for more. Guaranteed. Then yeah, all the sudden, there's also like that. As we said earlier, we're going to have some sticker shock. If Gonzalez signs first, I don't think Witherspoon should expect to get more than Gonzalez. So I don't either. Yeah, I would take Gonzalez over Witherspoon without thinking twice about it. But then that's where I guess maybe you run into like holdouts and things like that because he's looking at that and then they go back and forth on it. And it's like, how much do you value the player? But yeah, I don't know if that's the.

12:12That's not the best update. I don't think you wanted to hear that they talked a month ago. And now we're just hearing about it now. No, it's like. And what happened in between there is trepid McDuffie signed for the most money in the history of the NFL for a corner. And Tom Kern comes on our show. I was like, well, guys, what about the franchise? Well, that too. Actually, yeah, one was that. Was that probably a couple of weeks ago? Was that that was after the combined one thing? Yeah. That's not great. No, I don't think that's a good sign either. Now to your point, it was March 4th. Okay, thank you. He said that March 4th. So could that be? Could it be poor conversations where the Patriots said we're here and Gonzalez campus like we're there? Maybe it could also be we're waiting the cornerback market out. So we're not, I mean, it's possible. We're like, why are the Patriots waiting? And it's possible. It's Gonzalez's camp who wants to wait. It is. They wanted to wait for the Duffy deal. They want to wait for Witherspoon. I don't know the answer. I would say that's possible. Yeah, it definitely is. But it is funny. Like we're like, we're going to use two different possibilities where it's like signed Gonzo to a huge deal and trade for AJ Brown. It's like, no, no, no.

13:13You have Gonzalez under control. So don't worry about that. And you might get branded at you. What the whole lot of second. This isn't what I signed up for. Yeah, it is. It is quite different. The other bit of news from the Patriots today and we talked about this in the first hour of the show. Josh Dobbs out. Davido already got his two-year deal early in the off season, which I found strange when he signed. I'm like, I wonder what that means for Dobbs. Well, turns out it means he's not on the team. They tried to trade him. They couldn't. So your backup to Drake May is Tommy Cutlet. How should we feel about that? Yeah, probably roughly the same as you felt about the Posternock when they brought him in and you know, he had that one throw, right? That one completion kept a drive alive while Drake May was out. We'll always have that. We'll always have that one play where he made the one throw against. I don't even remember who it was anymore. I don't know, but not Cincinnati. What was it? Tennessee. Maybe. Wasn't Tennessee? Who made it knocked out against? I don't remember. Briefly, but yeah, no, like, I just remember when they thankfully didn't see him much. Right? Like that was a good, clean year for Drake Mays.

14:14He didn't see the backup very much. I do remember going back to camp and you're like, this guy's awful. Remember, like, yes. Dobbs was atrocious. We had a good eye when we were at Patriots camp. We're like, this guy looks terrible. We're like, Dibo's name is big. Dobbs stinks. And a lot of other nuance breakdown. We did see the K-Shaw booty look real good early. Saw that. He's making plays. That we had. Cowlams out of cat. Dobbs for seven. He had one catch. He had one catch. 10 for 65 yards during the season. A lot of what was mop up duty against the jets in the dolphins. Oh, right. But he had one pass for 12 yards. Yeah, he got any couple blowouts. We're saying good morning. Good job. All right, Nick. That makes up for you repeating what I said five minutes ago. Two for three today. But when they signed DeVito, I thought the same thing because he signed a little bit less, but a similar deal to a Dobbs signed the year before. And you're like, they're not going to have both these guys on the roster. Is the Joe Milton thing, Dad? Because like, he came out at the Super Bowl. No, but I mean, like, what's Joe Milton thing? Second guessing them about moving on. Is that dead because of his performance at the Super Bowl where he came on with Greg? And it was so clear. He's like, I wasn't going to be the backup. But you also, you also don't have to let him bully you around.

15:17And you could say, no, well, sorry, tough Joe, you're going to be here. Yeah, but that's part of, I think, even for a guy like Vrable, sort of picking and choosing being like, all right, I'll take a couple wild personalities. I'll get those guys on the same thing. Do I need to deal with a backup quarterback that's like that? No, I don't think they've probably thought that the net positive would be worth it. Plus, like, I don't know how good is Milton going to be like, we saw him in a little bit. Is he better? Chuck a deep. Is he better than cutlets? No, I don't even know. So I would say we've at least seen cutlets play an NFL game. I would say the upshot is is worth holding on to him. But is he absolutely better? I can't say that definitively. I think I can't even say it about Dubs. Probably not. And then when you combine it into the, like, is he a little bit of a headache? Like, DeVito, you probably won't hear from him all year. You might hear from his agent, but you're not going to hear. It's going to say, you know, his agent's a bit of a headache, but is he a headache? No, I don't think so. That's usually the backup quarterbacks. I remember I think when he was in New York, he was really starting to love himself some Tommy DeVito. Well, I think he went to his head. And then now he's been humbled again because he's not the starter. No, there was that thing in number that story, he was talking about

16:17he, like, blow off like a signing or something like that. Well, he, like, jacked the price up. I don't know what it was. He was going to meet somebody like an Italian sub shop or something. And then he was like, I'm going, just kidding. I need more money. But then he said there's a misunderstanding. There was a whole thing about that. Yeah, yeah. We might have done, like, a madness on it. It was such a weird story. But I feel like that's come back down to Earth. No, I think most backup quarterbacks that have a really long careers are probably not headaches at all. Like, Milton will be an interesting to one. Like, how long is he even in the league? Because teams might be like, all right, dude. I know you think you're the starter, but you're not. So you need to, you need to cool off six, one, seven, seven, seven, nine, seven, ninety three, seven. That's how you jump in line for WWE. EI afternoon. Yeah, got hard. Yeah, got fit. See, I got Dan ball. We also will continue to update the Jones and Keith 1990 slash early 2000s. Heavy mental, new mental grunge, alternative pop punk, butt rock and rock bands bracket. Two matchups for you in the sweet 16 of the grab bag region. And then we're on to the elite eight tomorrow. Yugga green day and smashing pumpkins. You got third eye blind already looking their wounds, I think,

17:17as they get matched up against blink 182 in the grab bag region. Woodstock 99 and Osfest elite eight regional finals are tomorrow at Jones and Keith. We'll get to the clip to shore and right after trending with Billy Lanny. It's time for grab back. Coming up after trending after trending after trending with Lanny. That same Billy whose grandpa would have got the tickets for many. Coming up after trending after trending after trending with Lanny. You'll be hit by you'll be struck by a smooth grab bag.