Tom E. Curran on the cost for A.J. Brown and the Jaylen Waddle trade

0:00With the New Year upon us, there's no better time to take control of your finances. Follow and listen to Jill on Money, wherever you get your podcasts. Like adding a few extra teams off air teams, it's going to look amazing that are making their way into the bracket. That'll be up shortly at Jones and Keith while you're there. You can also vote in the Jones and Keith March madness bracket. We do it every year this year. It is 1990 slash early 2000s, heavy metal, new metal grunge alternative pop punk, butt rock, rock bands, bracket, grab bag region has two matchups now, Green Day Oasis, along with Weezer and the smashing pumpkins go vote at Jones and Keith, but it's not just a tier Tuesday. It's also a Tom E Tuesday, Tommy current NBC sports Boston joins us here on Jones and

1:03Keith how we doing this week, Tom E current real good, real good. Okay. I thought you had something else. Okay. Yeah. Real good times two. I was born here. Do I mention this? I got a quick fan tonight. Oh. And you know, you kind of kind of digging down trying to find some stuff where the weight and portion of free agency. So I'm like, okay, this is five years ago, today, six years ago today, the Tom Brady said, see ya. Oh. And I'm trying to show people just how drastically the financial side of football has changed. Patriots didn't want to do two years and $50 million all guaranteed for him. Last May 20th, Brock Purdy signed a five year, $265 million contract with $182.55 million guaranteed. All of which is to say they should have kept Brady. Well, no, I agree.

2:05The NFL is going to be pushing for an 18th game very soon because they're cataloging about these rising prices. And as I noticed this rise and inflation in the past six years, I thought that I would pass that on unsolicited to my friends, Jones and Keith, into the wisdom ship. Because how it's, it's the end of March, almost early April, and we're probably running out of stuff for you guys. We like, oh, good. We got a little something out of current. We just tiered college basketball programs. So you can see where we're ahead, Dad, but we're talking rock bands all March. Yeah. Speaking of inflation, Tom, if Jalen Waddle costs the first and a third, what will AJ Brown cost? Yeah, probably the first and the second, first and next year's second. Maybe because you always want to inflate, if it's a year in the future, say it's a second round pick for 2027, you would consider it a third round pick if it was this year.

3:08So you deflate or DS, whatever. But I think every situation is different. You know, Jalen Waddle is, the Eagles are going to want to move on from AJ Browns. Now the cap, if the Eagles will suffer, will make it harder for them to sell to themselves and their owner that we can take less because he wants to get out of here. So we're going to take less and take a $27 million cap kit. That's a tough sell. But I don't know. I mean, I saw the thing and my producer Rob Snyder sent that to me. And I just wondered if it has to be the blueprint, or if it's just what the business done between Cleveland and Miami was. You have paid Miami. Would you have paid what Waddle effectively went for? There was a fourth round pick in here. But I think the easiest way to convey it is a first and a third.

4:08For Waddle is pretty much what the Broncos gave up today. Would you have paid the first and the third if you were at the Pats? To Brown or for Waddle? For Waddle. Is he a real one? No, probably not. I don't think so. Not a real one, a real one. He's a real one. But yeah, not a number one. I don't think so. I don't think I would have. I would have said, now, we're waiting on AJ Brown, but waiting on the guy who's got 7,000 yard seasons. And, you know, basically was catching from a faulty jugs machine last year and still ended up with 1,000 yards. Tom, do you think that I know everybody keeps talking about the June 1st kind of point in this calendar for the Eagles and like their salary cap and blah, blah, blah. But wouldn't they rather have picked in this upcoming draft? And if you save it till June, now you're not really getting anything that's going to help your current team when you move on from AJ Brown. So I know everyone's pointing to June 1st, but I kind of look at the draft as more of

5:10a AJ Brown deadline. Yeah, Phil has mentioned that a few times. So Perry, who always gets a shout out on this call, the 2027 draft is supposed to be chock full of football talent. So maybe they're looking, look, the savings now on the cap that will experience, no, we're not going to get the draft deck, but that savings that will experience now will help us going forward. I guess the question is, and I don't go that deeply on the Philadelphia Eagles. Are they putting on the year if they move on from AJ Brown, or do they still have a good enough team to be a threat to get to the Super Bowl? Because they should not be with the money they're spending and the talent that they do have at plenty of spots on the roster, presumed talent. They shouldn't be in a position where they're saying, well, we should be a contender or maybe we get lucky and get to the Super Bowl. They should be chasing Super Bowls if they're going to have Jalen Hertz.

6:14And that's just such a good example of the financial stuff that's going to arrive. But if we're going to have a $55 million quarterback, we need to be chasing titles, not rebuild it. Talking to Tommy Curran, NBC Sports Boss, and join this every Tuesday at high noon. Here on Jones and Keith, we've talked a lot about 31, and would you give it up for AJ Brown? And even would you package it with a third rounder for Jalen Model as we asked earlier? What are the paths need right now at 31? Where do you feel like they're still deficient? Where would they need to add entering draft season? Defensive end, tight end, I don't know if they need another rookie wide receiver. I don't know if they need to get younger in the wide receiver room. So I would say defensive end, tight end, offensive line, tackle with your understudy for Morgan Moses. And I would say closing quickly on the outside, if you get a good one, and I think there

7:18are some good ones in this draft, safety. Kevin Buyer is a 33 year old player, he's entering his 11th year, he's on a one year deal making $9 million. I love safety, I love tight ends, I think that they are pivotal points for every team that wants to be good. If you have a good one lose, it covers up a lot of ails. So I think that those positions to me would be the most important, I don't think adding another young wide receiver, not that they won't do it, but I just don't think it should be one of the leverage points of your draft. Hey, we got to get another rookie wide out, he got one last year, he has upside, he's no dummy, he's got physical talent, he's a good dude, work hard, stick with him, develop him first. What do you think Steph Diggs might end up, and do you think he'll have a productive season? I do think he'll have a productive season, and I think that the potential exists where

8:18he could be in the same position that he was here last year, where some team looks at him as, well, maybe we just give him a shot, help, could he end up with the Philadelphia Eagles? I mean, that would be a spot, he certainly wouldn't go in there, I think, looking at himself as, hey, I have to be the man, I think that he's probably evolved a little bit in that way, just based upon last year, and the fact that he's been now on the open market and nobody's really stepping around, so I would imagine he's going to be a productive player, a 60 plus catch player for somebody, and I asked Elliott Wolf last week if the door was closed, and I kind of let him down the Primrose path when I asked the question, because there's no way to really answer that without signing like a think, so he goes, no, I would never see the doors closed, but I think the door's closed. If they were going to add a player like AJ Brown, or they were going to take on more salary

9:19at this point in time, would they have to subtract, or are they just going to add to their line? And I guess what I'm really asking Tom is to add someone like AJ Brown, would they have to peel off a piece like Barmore or a piece like on Wenu, or are they just looking to add to their roster, similar to what you were talking about with the Eagles before? If you want to contend, don't you want to keep your roster together? How do the financials impact that? They're fine. They are more than fine. Let me look at over the cap right now, real quick, real quick, real quick. I think there is $50 million without buyered hitting. Right. That's cap, right? Cash spending on a three year rolling, I think they're right at about what they, what their, their target is, at least according to your colleague Greg Bedard, they're right about it. They're target for spending. Cash, not, not cap. Yeah, that being case, you probably have the room to do it, even though, excuse me, I'm so sorry. Hold on. She's getting pulled over. You got to call.

10:20What happened? No, Steve, the rifleman, Fleming out here. Just a very Fleming guy. What's up? Is Dre my green? Back from my 14th NBA season and the new season of my podcast, Dre my green show. I'm filter takes real hoop top and big time guests. There's no holding back on the court or on the mic. Follow the Dre my green show wherever you get your podcast. I hit the moment. Oh, you're Fleming. I don't know if I was a little worried for you there for a second. I was like, wait a minute. What? I thought Ty Lowe was going to be the interview. He'd be gargling like, can I get some little scratches in the back of my Navarose. So look, I'm not a big cashed cap guy. The three year spending and the rolling stuff. I'm going to be up front about it. There's people who like to get eyeballs deep in it. All I know is they have $22 million worth of cap space. He's got a $29 million guarantee contract this year. They got the room to do it. The team came out with the job titles for all the coaches on the staff this coming season.

11:26And we had already heard about this. They just kind of made it official. Whereas that core is the defense of coordinator. Torell Williams is the assistant head coach. What isn't the assistant head coach do? I know some teams have them. Some teams don't. It seems like usually of your head coach. You have your coordinators. Then you have all the individual position group coaches. How is this going to play out in your mind with Torell Williams now being reassigned to assistant head coach? I don't know what an assistant head coach does. Probably it's you know a rotating level of responsibility depending upon your situation. Dante Scarecchio was assistant head coach for a period of time here way back. The Patriots many teams around the week have assistant head coaches. And oftentimes they're more experienced coaches. And it's not going to face an honorary title. But it's more of a nod to the importance that doesn't accompany their position title. So he doesn't have a really a position title.

12:28But he's got an assistant head coach title. I don't know if it's just an honorific. But I'm sure that Torell Williams being a successful coach is going to want to make himself pretty free and useful. It's just a weird situation to be in. You get a defensive coordinate position that you've yearned for. Your head coach is happy to have you be in that position. And then you're struck by an illness. And then in the you know treatment and recovery from that illness. The team goes on an unimagined run and a younger coach has excelled. You're still 55 plus years old. You're still recuperating. You want to say, Hey, how come I don't get my job back? You want to say, You know what? Let's just do what's best for the team here. And I'd love to stick around to be useful. Boom, your assistant head coach. Now if I'm wrong, I'll ask for a little at some point, what is Torell Williams going to do? Well, my guess is it's more of a walking rebound wall from Mike with inside ideas and advice.

13:36Okay. He's Tommy current NBC sports Boston. Check him out there. Check him out on quick slants tonight. You got a little preview of what's coming up there tonight on NBC sports Boston up. What is that boring? Which the brought pretty Tom Brady? No, I didn't. I'll be honest. I didn't realize today's the five or would you say six year anniversary since Brady walked out the Dwight and realized that that is interesting. Like that. Yeah. How do you like that? Hmm. How do you like Brock Purdy making two hundred and thirty? That quarter of a billion. Well, he won the official time this past year. So all all the more forum. Keep all of the sudden. God brought for him. He's the hate of now. Now all of a sudden, keep loves Brock Purdy. It's weird how that turned out. Tommy Tuesday, every Tuesday, fall on Twitter at Tom E. Curran. Tom, we appreciate the time. Thanks so much. See you guys. Thank you, Tom. E. Curran. This just came out while we were talking with Tom. Of course, Jordan Schultz, the Eagles are signing a wide receiver. Oh, hang on. Hang on. Hang on. Yes. Take a wild stab at it. Tyree Cool. Hollywood Brown. Hollywood Brown, one year worth up to $6.5 million. But

14:42I mean, it's not a huge contract, but it is the Eagles adding a wide receiver. Yeah. No, I mean, I would say that's not. It's not as big of a. A bigger name would make me feel better about AJ Brown's out the door, but that's not nothing. Oh, it's not a scrub or it's not like a guy like just a flyer. I mean, it's a one year deal, but $6.5 million. This guy has played a lot in the league. So it feels like an odd fit. It feels like Eagles. Yeah, I agree. He's like a downfield guy. Exactly. Exactly. So, okay. But is he more in the mold of like a Davante Smith? Yeah. He's like a way worse Davante Smith, but like small, but like small, fast, like getting away from like they used to have big physical hours ago. Yeah, but I mean, are they kind of leaning in on that without their building it or is just another body on one year deal? I mean, I don't know, but I would say we need to move we need to get another receiver because we're about to get rid of the receiver. I would say, uh, yeah, I look, I think they're trading AJ Brown. Yeah. Sort of why? I don't know there's another reason. I don't know. They're trading him here. And I do think it's interesting

15:42to hear current kind of tick through it. They have the money. He said, which they do and they have the cap space, which they definitely have. The question is, can we talk about some of this yesterday? Can we able sweet talk, uh, robber craft into throwing a little more money onto the current team? Or are they going to have to peel off a guy like on when you or Christian bar more six, one, seven, seven, seven, seven, nine, seven, nine, three, seven sides. Interesting. Eagles sign a receiver in Hollywood Brown. Uh, we have another receiver move today. Jalen Waddle stays in the conference, but leaves the division. I guess on the one hand, that's good for the Pat's although I already thought the path to be way ahead of Miami. I think the Broncos got better, which is probably bad news for the Patriots adding Jalen Waddle. And yet I think the Broncos overpaid. They're better. But I think they overpaid and now the price for AJ Brown continues to go up. It went up a little bit when DJ Moore went for a second. It goes up even more when Jalen Waddle goes for effectively a first and a third round pick. There was a fourth round swap in there as well. So that price continues to go up. I guess if anything, how he rose been waiting, that's played in the Eagles favor.

16:43I think over the last couple of weeks, you can discuss six, one, seven, seven, seven, nine, seven, ninety three, seven, more on Jalen Waddle, that trade and what it means for the Patriots. Plus some thoughts on the NFL drafts. Same question we asked to current. All right. We're now through free agency for all intents and purposes. We're looking ahead to the draft. What do the Patriots need at 31 and does that sway you towards wanting to keep 31 in any potential trade for AJ Brown? We'll get to all that. Gun South has been a podcast about crime in the American South. But for our new season, we're widening the lens. Follow and listen to Gun South season five available now on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows.