The Biggest WINNERS of NFL Free Agency

Albert, in the winner's category, we both have picked something, but I think it's impossible not to start with the story of free agency to this point.

And the biggest winner, and that's Tyler Linderbaum, the former Ravens center who goes, uh, to the Raiders on a, do you have the terms here like, it's just astronomical.

Um, $81 million dollar deal.

I can pull up the actual terms.

$60 million fully guaranteed.

And the crazy thing is, is, it's actually functionally a fully guaranteed deal because, so the way this stuff works, people don't know, there are early vesting dates on some of these guarantees.

So all $81 million are guaranteed for injury.

And then the last 21 million, which are in the 3rd year of the deal, that vest is fully guaranteed.

In 2027, which essentially means if they're going to get out of paying him the $21 million for 2028, they have to cut him before 2027, and then they're paying $60 million for one year.

So it's either a one year, $60 million dollar deal or it's a fully guaranteed $81 million deal.

Um, it is, it like I, I think that the most important metric here for me would be the APY, the average per year.

This is 50% above the previous top of the center market, which was Creed Humphrey in Kansas City at $18 million per year, so.

I mean that's essentially I, I'll give you the, the, the, the equivalent would be like so Dak Prescott's got the top APY.

Josh Allen's making more money, but the top APY when you're talking about traditional contracts, Dak got it at 60.

This would be like a quarterback getting 90 million , um, with the numbers so it's an incredibly strong deal for Tyler Linderbaum and I think it's also kind of like indicative of not to get too much in the weeds here of some of the inequities and all of it, the way all of this works like that's.

The franchise tags and the option numbers, like all the linemen are grouped together, winds up benefiting the guards and centers because the guards and centers, their tag numbers and their option numbers are based on what tackles make.

That is why the Ravens didn't pick up his option for this year and it's why the Ravens didn't tag him because those numbers were based on tackle, tackle figures, you know, so.

Um, it's as if, I mean, it's basically the equivalent of if you had to tag a safety or pick up an option on a safety based on what a corner cornerback makes, you know, or if you had to pick up an option or tag, pick up an option or tag a tight end at a number a receiver makes, you know, that's the equivalent of it, so.

Uh, that's how he winds up in free agency.

He, um, he's a three-time Pro Bowler.

He's one of the best centers in the league.

I don't think this past year was his best year based on, um, you know, some of the people that I talked to, but still a really, really good player.

And I actually like it for the Raiders.

And the reason why, I mean, look, what do you think?

Let me ask you this.

What, what's a more important position, center or guard?

Center, no question.

So the top guard right now is Trey Smith, and, um, it's, it, it's, it's, it's Trey Smith, and, um, he's making 24 million per, right?

And, um, I think it's Trey Smith still, um, he's making 24 million per with the Chiefs.

You can look that up for me, um.

So hang on one second because I think it's Tyler Smith and then Trey , OK, but he's right at 24, right?

Brandon Dickerson, yep, so it's not that much above where Tyler Smith and Trey Smith are.

They're both like right there at 24, so it's not that much of a markup on the 24 there.

Here's the other thing, all right.

Let's say the Commanders and the Browns were at 24, 23, 24.

So you're paying the extra 3 million.

So this guy's a really good scheme fit because he's not the biggest guy.

You get pushed around a little bit, but in, in, in the Kubiak scheme, it doesn't matter that much.

You need a center who can pull.

You need a center who can pull, yeah, and, and, and can get downhill , and Linda, there's that, yeah, there's that, then there's this.

It's gonna be really important for Fernando Mendoza to have a center who knows what he's doing because of what that offense, the way the offense, utilizes the center for people who don't know, the Shanahan , McVeigh, Kubiak, that family of offenses typically, not always, but typically, they take the protection calls off the quarterback and give them to the center, so the quarterback can play faster, right?

So there's a little less on the quarterback.

And so, because of who Tyler Linderbaum is, They're gonna be able to give a lot to him as far as the pre-snap responsibility and helping to run the operation, and that's gonna take a lot off of their rookie quarterback.

And so to me going and signing Tyler Linderbaum is actually an investment in Fernando Mendoza.

It's 100%, yeah, it's 100%.

And everything, so there's a couple of things here because I, everyone that is going.

Uh, bat shit over this deal, I think, needs to back up for a second and realize a couple of things.

The center market was so incredibly depressed over time that it was only a matter of time before something like this happened, because what's happening is, and, and for those of you guys who don't know, a center, a lot of times is responsible for the protection calls.

Now, if you become elite, you know, and, and you're Joe Burrow or you're Aaron Rodgers or anything like that, you can call your own protections, right?

But younger quarterbacks who are coming out less and less and less and less experienced, and less and less able to huddle, or to do any of this stuff, right?

Center becomes increasingly important.

That's why a lot of these guys, Kyle Shanahan went to San Francisco.

The first thing he did was sign Alex Mack, right?

This is a big deal.

It's an important thing.

But that market was able to stay depressed over time just because teams built their lines from the outside in.

They built them at tackle first.

If you remember, Sean McVeigh, when he got to Los Angeles, brought John Sullivan with him from Washington, and Mike McDaniel got Connor Williams, I believe, from, you know, from Dallas at one point to come to Miami.

Like if you, if you really track what that family of coaches has done, they usually at least start with a veteran center.

Correct, um, and, you know, then the guard market exploded because what did teams do, right?

You had elite anchor tackles, so it's easier to pressure your B gaps, right?

And so then the guards had to get more money, right?

And now we're at the point where Attrition is such that like, if you bring in Fernando Mendoza, this kid's gonna be spinning , no matter how good he is for the first year, and Linderbaum is an asset.

He's on a rookie contract, so it's not like the 27 million a year doesn't really look that way when you're only paying your quarterback a fraction of that, right?

Your starting quarterback fraction of that.

And the other part of this too is that I, I, I think the Raiders knew that they had to pay a Raider tax.

I mean, and, and they are, they're paying a Raider tax throughout free agency.

I mean, I think to me the only the comp to me would be like what the Patriots did last year to get Milton Williams.

Was that worth it?

Yeah, I mean, like I think Carolina had an agreement with him.

It was around 20 million per.

I think Milton Williams like liked the idea of going, going to Carolina geographically and everything else.

He's from the South, so there's that part of it, you know, and the Patriots wound up blowing the market up and oh my God, they gave him $26 million.

You know who was worth $26 million was Milton Williams, you know, so I, I, I think it's, here's, here's the thing, like to me.

What you want to avoid doing in free agency is generally, you want to avoid taking somebody else's #2 and turning them into your #1.

Whether it's a receiver, an edge rusher, a corner, you wanna try to avoid paying a player who isn't elite at an elite level.

And that happens a lot in free agency, right?

This is an elite player at his position.

So even though you're paying more for him, you are making, you are putting yourself at the top of the league at that position.

So to me, like that's, that's a lot different than some of the other overspends you see.

And I mean, it's not only, you know, it's not only an investment in Fernando Mendoza, it's an investment in who?

Ashton Jenny, right, who had a tough rookie season.

They're gonna be running the ball a lot in Kubiak's offense.

They're gonna bring in another back at some point too.

Um, and I, I think one more, um, and I actually like what the Raiders did.

I mean, I, I, I, I think, you know, like to look at it, like Speedy Naylor to me is somebody who could be like a, an underutilized guy.

He came up big for the Vikings a lot when he had a chance to developed over the course of 4 years.

So he's, he's the right kind of guy.

So, you know, you get him and maybe he was a little hidden behind Jefferson and, and, um, And, and Addison, right, you're, it's a modest signing less than you would have paid for, for, uh, Rasheed Shaheed who they were also in on, right?

And I, I think then they take advantage of like a depressed linebacker market and bringing in both Quay Walker and Nacoe Dean, you know, so I, I think the Raiders and, and they bring back Eric Stokes, which is a factor too.

I, I, I just think.

It's really easy to explain the Raiders signings, you know, and I do think, like, and I, and I, and I, and I, I think it's like not like that to me is like, some of this is complicated.

But I do think in the end you want to be able to explain what a team is doing to an eight year old.

It's gotta be simple enough for them to, to, for you to explain it to someone who doesn't know this stuff, you know.

The Raiders, I think with the Raiders, yeah, I think what the Raiders did pretty simple to explain.

We had all bad players and now we're getting good ones.

Yeah, yeah, um, I always do like it though when a coach gets, I, I don't like it.

It's not funny, but this happened, I think, the year that.

Tom Coughlin left the Giants and it was very acrimonious, and then the next season, when Ben McAdoo came in, the team spent like, like a quarter billion dollars in free agency, and he's just like, dude, like, you know, I could have used it, some of those guys.

And if you're Pete Carroll, and again, there's different scheme fits, and I'm sure Sure that, you know, uh, Pete Carroll would feel a, a, a, a different way about it, but literally, the first free agency after you leave, you get Nkobe Dean, Quay Walker, Malcolm Koontz, Quitty Bay, and Eric, you re-signed Eric Stokes, um, to a, to a three-year deal.

I like that Eric Stokes signing.

Um, I thought that was, uh, he played well for them.

I thought Stokes was one of these guys that were like, I, I thought somebody was gonna come in and, and take him.

And like he could wind up being and maybe it's just me like hanging on to like what I, I thought he was when he was coming out and you know like he flashed early as a Packer, but I think there might be something.

I still think there might be some growth there even though he's what, you know, 56 years into his career.

I, uh, I totally agree.

Um, all right, so we have the ultimate winner.

I mean, uh, Tyler Linderbaum is the undisputed winner, by the way, really the undisputed champion of free agency.

Jalen Phillips is a hidden, like a little hidden one too, like, I mean, really, uh, too.

I mean that guy got, uh, yeah, always got some funny money in his contract, but yeah, I, I would, I would.

is real.

Phillip Steele is real.

Yeah, um, and we can get to that.

Um, we each have a winner here prepared, but one more just funny note on the Linderbaum thing.

So I was gonna do a story on this that ended up just kind of not working out.

I might revisit it at some point, but Tyler Linderbaum and Tristan Werfs, uh, were rivals in high school, wrestling rivals, right?

OK, right?

Yes, in Iowa.

Yes, and so if you watch these things, they're on YouTube, it's like watching two bears kick the shit out of each other and like , but like no one wins.

It's just like these mammoth human beings that are just throwing each other around.

OK, that's amazing.

Tristan Werf's won every match, I wanna say, except were they both heavyweights or did they, I'm sure, I'm sure they were, but No, sometimes, sometimes you get like a center who could, who like, yeah, what would it be like?

I think it's what's the under heavyweight is like 215, is that right?

I can't remember what the weight classifications were back in the day.

I can't remember either.

Wasn't it something like that because heavyweight was classified.

I remember it's 275, and I think I wanna say the next one down was like 215, but I might be wrong about that.

Yeah, but, but, but like, but a high school center could slim down.

And play at 2 and wrestle at 2:15 is my point, but probably not one who's going Division One, maybe I'm wrong about that.

But either way, someone Litterbaum is smaller in my defense now I'm explaining away how idiotic I, I, I, I sound for, for saying Linderbaum might not have been a heavyweight.

Um, but someone posted the clip.

They're like, Linderbaum's been winning his whole life.

Here's like a clip of him like kicking Tristan Werf's ass in the state wrestling finals or whatever.

And then someone with the, someone with the last name Werfs on Twitter is like, like it's like, well, hold on now, this is.

The only time that he and then like there was this whole argument about high school wrestling on uh on Twitter yesterday which I really enjoyed and you can go back and you could take a look at it shoot, I wish I could remember this now.

This is like one of those like relatively irrelevant things that you pick up, but there was a, there was a team that had a bunch like an NFL team that had a bunch of former high school wrestlers on it.

A few years ago, and I remember asking, and The GM, I, I think I texted the GM and the GM was so excited that I picked up on it.

And then he went into this like, you know, yeah, you know, like, that's actually something that like, you really like, like there's a certain type of guy, blah, blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah, you know, but um there was a team, I can't remember who it was, but there was a team a few years ago.

That have like a preponderance of of high of former high school wrestlers on on on the on the team.

Good word, by the way, preponderance.

We're feeling good.

We're not, we're not beating I don't know yet.

We can look that up afterwards.

Let's go, um, all right, my big winner, and I can't wait to talk about this.

I am just like.

I, I'm just like everybody else, right?

I come into free agency like trudging in my snow boots and I'm like, free agency is bullshit.

Everything's dumb, like this, and, and not in a cynical way because it's like we do this every year.

It's like, uh, you know, like, oh my God, I get so, you know, this is amazing, and then it's gonna change everything and then the players are hurt and it doesn't matter and And then, you know, they all get like 2 years later, they're a cap casualty.

Correct.

And, uh, but, you know, and every year that I promised myself, I'm not gonna get swept away by it.

I had Mike Evans is my favorite free agent.

OK.

Um, I think Mike Evans is phenomenal.

I think Mike Evans is going to age well, which might be famous last words for me.

I don't know, maybe not.

Um, and I had him pegged for the Rams, uh, and the reason why is I thought that the Rams would continue to do.

A little version of the evolution they did last year with Nakua and Devonte Adams, and continue to basically make themselves impossible to cover for a defense.

But the Forty-Niners swooped in and got him on a three-year deal, and I started texting with some coaches who have coached.

In that Shanahan scheme before.

And here's what makes me really excited about this, and I never do this, but if you're a fantasy football person, and you have Christian McCaffrey, I would listen up, OK?

Here's why the Forty-Niners did this.

It's very interesting.

Last year, Christian McCaffrey was like 10th in the NFL in 8-man box percentage.

It was like 30% of the time.

His yards per carry were down, and the reason why is because they didn't have any receiver who could draw a double team.

And so, if you can't draw a double team, where does that extra safety go, Albert?

It goes, it goes in the box, right, to stop the run.

So, why did they bring in?

Mike Evans to take that safety right back out of the box again because they want to run the football.

And I love this, which is very relevant when you're, when the Seahawks are who you're chasing 100%.

And, uh, one of the coaches theorized, and this is interesting, like the 49ers offense is gonna look a lot different because Mike Evans plays outside.

He is a true ex-receiver and Kyle Shanahan.

That was what the original scheme was built around, right?

It was Andre Johnson in Houston, it was Julio Jones in Atlanta.

It was this true physical downfield alpha X wide receiver.

But over the years, he's condensed his formation a lot cause he didn't have that guy.

Now, you haven't Mike Evans, so you gotta put out wide.

He's an out wide, wide receiver.

I mean, he's a true ex, right?

And so, what's interesting is not only are we going to To get more out of Christian McCaffrey, theoretically, we're gonna get a different looking Forty-Niners offense, like, structurally, it's gonna be set up a little bit different.

And so I'm excited about this in myriad ways.

And I just thought, man, what a great little kind of return serve at the Rams and the Seahawks to be like, dude, we're right in this too.

I love this for the Forty-Niners.

I thought, I thought what was interesting too was like, you know, you, um, they were, they were gonna be in on, A re on receivers in general.

And so my understanding is they were in on Alec Pierce.

They were in on, um, they were in on Romeo Dobbs and like I, I think one thing, you know, like they want big rugged receivers, right?

And now you look at like Evans and kind of the matchup problem that's gonna create Perall's a big guy, um, you know, obviously Kittles still a factor in the passing game and so.

You know, I, when they signed Evans, it kind of reminded me a little bit.

Do you remember like the Norv Turner Chargers back in the day, like when they had, I mean, it was like Malcolm Floyd, Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates.

It was like a basketball team out there, right?

And you know , I think that there's like a little bit of that element too where it's like.

It's gonna be hard to match up with them because of the size that they bring to the table now.

How much do you think Evans has left is if we're playing devil's advocate here?

So I think last year was his first year under 1000, which is really remarkable, by the way, like he had 11 straight 1000 yard seasons to start his career.

Last year.

Obviously he missed some time.

Um, you know, I don't hate this for the Bucks tried to bring him back.

I don't hate this for the Bucks because I do think like Emeka Abuka is gonna be a really good player for them and like when.

When the Bucks got healthy at that position, his role got mucked up a bunch, you know, and I think it kind of, I, I, I like, again, they wanted to bring him back, but I think that there was that element of it too where it's like, Mike Evans is one of the greatest players in franchise history, but he had he become a little bit of a progress stopper when it became to the younger, came to the younger guys, you know, and of course, they're paying Godwin, which we can argue whether or not that was a mistake last year, but that's part of the equation too, right?

Um, I, you know, I think that And again, big, big, uh, big couple weeks here for the electrical substation next to the Forty-Niners practice facility, Albert, which, you know, uh, I, I, I'm sure Mike Evans did his due diligence on before he came out there, but we have like the Wells report on that one yet or no?

Yeah, get on that, John Lynch.

Come on, Lynchy, um, but, uh, I, I think if you're, you know, it's like anything else, right?

There is a 100% injury rate in this sport.

You don't have the same color Yeti, by the way, that we're drinking out of today, which is very cool.

I have the mug.

You have the, uh, gray.

I use is gray.

Mine's a little greener.

OK, just mine's gray.

Mine's.

you can see like the spot there where the finish came off.

Yeah, just getting a little spooky.

I thought we were really syncing up here.

Um, I think like your Yeti, I, I think like the good thing about the Yeti is it's kind of like a, it's kind of like a, a good worn in like skillet, you know what I mean?

Like you have enough coffee in it, it kind of like adds some taste to your coffee too.

Who knows?

I mean, now that we are doing an ad for Yeti, but if anybody out there is listening from Yeti, you know, we're open to it.

So yeah , I mean, I, I, I use it every day.

Um, I'm an iced coffee guy and it makes, it makes my, uh, coffee taste great.

Um, you can't, you can't go into this.

Just like you can't, like as a coach, right?

Every week, it's like, well, you're concerned about your running backs usage, it's like, nah, man, we're gonna go out there and hand him the ball 30 times if he warrants 30 carries, you know.

And if you're the 49ers, you can't.

You can't look at Mike Evans and say, OK, well, this is a massive injury risk.

It's like everybody is a massive.

What does Kyle Shannon say?

We could all be dead tomorrow, you know what I mean?

I, I, I, I think, I just think that there's part of that, and Mike Evans is worth the, is worth the excuses, is worth the, whatever it is, the, the risk, right?

I don't know.

I would also say this.

I do trust Kyle Shanahan's evaluation at that particular position.

I, I think he is, uh, I think he is like the best when it comes to that, like, and it's just, it, it's proven over the years, and you remember the group that he put around, um, Julio Jones back in the day when the Falcons were really rolling.

He had it set up perfectly with Mohammed Sanu and Taylor Gabriel.

Um, you know, Austin Hooper is not a receiver, but somebody that they drafted, um, while he was there.

And so I trust his evaluation, that's a position he played, um, and like his vision for how those positions work has always been really, really good and it's evolved over the years.

And so, Uh, you know, this is obviously to some degree a result of what happened with Brandon Ayuk.

I don't think you're doing this if Ayuk is still on board, I guess it's the best way to put it.

And so, um, so, but, but he didn't get the evaluation on Ayuk wrong either.

I don't think.

Ayuk's a really good player.

It wasn't, you know, they might, he might have gotten the personal evaluation wrong, but I don't think he got the football evaluation wrong, you know, so.

Um, I , I would trust his, his judgment at that position.

I think it's always been really good .

And so, you know, like I said, like I was asking devil's advocate, but I would trust that like if he has a vision for Mike Evans and he's watching Mike Evans and thinks Mike Evans still has something left or enough left to give him a good year or two and buy him time to find whoever the next guy is, I would trust him on that.

Give me one of your winners, Albert.

What do you think?

I, I love what the Chiefs did.

Um, here's why.

You know, like, I, I, I think, obviously the big ticket guy is, um, is, is Kenneth Walker.

So, this takes me back to 2 years ago.

And I remember Josh Jacobs and Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley coming off the market.

And it was at a time when I think most people were like, you never spend on a running back.

And anybody, you know, any of these analytics people on Twitter would like denounce any team that paid a running back, right?

And I remember after that happened, I remember thinking to myself, that's interesting.

The Eagles, Packers, and Ravens just did that.

Right, those aren't dumb teams, and they all did it at once, and it kind of like hit me.

Wait a minute, this is why, this is, this is, this this is maybe the turning, this is maybe like the, the , the whole thing turning where it's Has that position been devalued to the point where now signing one at the top of the market is a value?

And so, you know, here's, here to me is like maybe the most glaring thing about it.

He signed for just over $14 million in Kansas City, right?

Rasheed Shaheed got 17 to stay in Seattle.

Who's a more valuable player?

Right.

I mean touches the ball more.

It impacts the game more?

I mean, and, and, and, and look like I, I, I remember a couple of years ago thinking like, well, Derrick Henry, Saquan Barkley, and Josh Jacobs went for like what Darnell Mooney got.

Like that doesn't make sense.

You know what I mean?

Like, at some point, you have to look at this stuff and say, yeah, it's easier to find a really good running back and you can draft one, but if you're talking about the guys that are at the very top of the game.

Then it makes sense to sign one.

And, um, so, like, I think for the Chiefs, here's what this does for the Chiefs.

This is a position they were gonna have to address.

If you were gonna get it in the draft , can you count on Jeremiah Love being there at 9?

No, OK, so if you can't count on Jeremiah Love being there at 9.

Then you're talking about a draft class that according to the people I've talked to may only have one other player going in the 1st 3 rounds, and that's Love's teammate from Notre Dame, Jadarian Price.

That doesn't seem like a very good situation to be drafting a starting running back in, you know what I mean.

So now they've taken that running back need and moved it off the table.

We don't need to worry about that.

And it frees them up with the 9th pick, the 29th pick, and the 40th pick to do whatever the hell they want, OK, so maybe gets, if love falls to them, it still wouldn't be insane to take him, you know what I mean, you know, or they could take Kenyon Siddiq from Oregon to be Travis Kelsey's heir apparent, or they could take Carnell Tate from Ohio State, or they could address corner.

Or they could draft a defensive tackle to put in the pipe on to, uh, like, it just opens up everything for them.

Whereas like, I think before, you'd be looking at it and man, they probably have to take a running back with one of those 3 picks.

And then are you cornered into like, we have to take Jaar and Price at 40th overall, right?

Like we have to do it because there isn't another one that's worthy of going before Saturday of the draft.

So I love it from that perspective.

And then the other two signings.

Kyris Tonga from the Patriots and Elohi Gilman from the uh Ravens, right?

I really like those two signings because I think those are two guys on the way up.

Conga was a low-end signing for the Patriots last year from Arizona, was a massive part of their Super Bowl run.

They, the, the Chiefs needed a nose tackle, so they get a guy who's going, who's on the way up there.

And then Gilman was a, a revelation for Baltimore, and they trade, they traded for him .

They got him from the Chargers.

I believe that was in the, was that, that was in the OA deal, right?

They got him in the Adafe OA deal, and Gilman wound up being a real playmaker for the Ravens, and that was a brother, brother trade, you know.

That was the John Jim trade.

So, like there is some element of trying to help each other out there, which is, I'm gonna give my brother a good player, and Gilman, and, and Jim knew Gilman was a good player.

So I think, you know, you get Walker, who addresses a crying need and now becomes a centerpiece for your offense, right?

And then you get the two guys on defense that address needs, and I think they're both ascending.

And most of all, with all those picks now that you have as a result of the Trent McDuffie trade, you're ready to, to really restock, and those 3 picks in the 1st 40, you know, I, I, I think they've got a chance to really Really take it and say, OK, like, here is Patrick Mahomes 2.0. Like that, here is the, the, the dynasty 2.0. You know what I mean?

Like, and here's where we're going when Kelsey and Jones are gone.

Like I just, I think they've really set themselves up nicely now to, to bounce back and, you know, whenever Mahomes comes back for the, from the injury, he could have a different type of group around him.

Um, you know what I love about Kenneth Walker, so I did a deep dive on this, and, uh, you can read it at SI.

com right now.

So, um, in 3 of the last 4 seasons, Walker was top 10 in broken tackles, OK?

And in 3 of the last 4 seasons, uh, the Seattle Seahawks were one of the worst run blocking offensive lines in the NFL, OK.

In those same categories in 3 of the last 4, I think the Chiefs have not had a player, running back, who's finished in the top 20 in broken tackles since Clyde Edwards-Ha's first, since Clyde Edwards' Hilarious's rookie season, OK.

Um, and in that time, the Chiefs have had one of the best run-blocking offensive lines in the NFL.

Kenneth Walker is good.

Regardless of scheme, he's just a good running back.

He played well for Pete Carroll.

He played well, um, for, uh, Clint Kubiak.

The Ryan Grubb era was a mess.

That was dart throwing, play calling.

Nobody was playing well in that offense, OK.

But no, no, like, no real run scheme.

There wasn't a scheme, right, but Kenneth Walker in almost every situation has improved his team's setup just via being a good back.

Like, there's some, there's some running backs that are perfect scheme fits, and then there are some backs that are just good backs that are gonna make something out of nothing, and Kenneth Walker is one of those.

And because, and that's why I think He fits perfect with the Chiefs because Albert, what is the Chiefs' offense?

What's the Chiefs' scheme?

It's Patrick Mahomes, right?

It's like, it's like when Peyton Manning was with the Colts, right?

And before he went with Gary Kubiak, it's like, the scheme is Peyton Manning.

The scheme is what Patrick Mahomes sees.

And so, a lot of times, it's just gonna be, hey, Kenneth, I see that the box is light, I'm gonna check to this, and I'd like you to gain 5 yards, and he's gonna be able to do it.

Um, I don't think there's a lot of other backs in free agency that worked for Kansas City the way that Kenneth Walker did.

And Walker, like, this is kind of a subtle piece of it.

He's always been great.

I mean, he's going back to Michigan State.

He's always been great in big games, and I think that like who plays more big games than the Kansas City Chiefs.