Front Office NFL Chat
powered byJotCast
This chat is available to members only. Please log in to participate.
Sam Robinson
5:01
Hey everyone, last of the offseason chats. We're almost there. Let's get started!
TD-Machine
5:12
Could another division surpass the NFC West in terms of having three double-digit win teams?
Sam Robinson
5:12
Hey TD-Machine, I think so. We have to start with the AFC West here.

The Broncos' 2021 Bucs-like roster-retention effort illustrates considerable confidence in a core that won 14 games last season -- albeit 11 by one score. Jaylen Waddle should help against regression.

While I'm curious to see how the Charger defense looks post-Minter, their McDaniel hire should be a big plus for one of the NFL's most talented QBs. This looks like a less talented Chiefs team compared to anything in the Mahomes era, but if Rice remains available, I trust Spagnuolo to coach up unproven defensive parts once again.

I've mentioned the NFC North drawing the NFC South plus Dolphins and Jets games. I'm not sure we get three 10-win teams (health issues concern), but the roadmap is there. The AFC West used the NFC South to produce three 10-win teams in 2024.

The AFC North also draws the NFC South, but I'll stop short of predicting three 10-win teams. That is one to watch here, however.
Mort Report Pool
5:18
Hey, Sam.  Will we see any big/interesting transactions between now and next week?
Sam Robinson
5:18
Some extensions are still on my radar. The obvious one is the Pats and Christian Gonzalez. He is too important of a piece there to play hardball with, and they extended so many core players under Wolf thus far.

We haven't heard much from the Chargers and Tuli Tuipulotu, but he is a clear candidate to be paid like an upper-crust EDGE. That market exploding since March 2025, though, does inject a complication.

The Colts and Quenton Nelson is another to watch; he has not missed a game since being paid in Sept. 2022, but with the Linderbaum market-changing C deal cause a complication for a more proven G? Indy has consistently paid its OLs just before the season under Ballard.

Are the Rams going to do any pre-Week 1 deals from Australia? It seems Nacua won't get one right now, but Young, Turner and Avila have cases. A lot of young talent entering contract years.
Ballard's future
5:25
Do you think Chris Ballard will get a new contract at some point, or are the Colts moving on after the year?
Sam Robinson
5:25
On the subject of Ballard, this has to be the referendum year. He has traded two first-round picks and signed a wildly unreliable QB to a big-ticket extension -- with a player-friendly structure -- while rewarding Pierce before he missed the entire offseason program due to ankle rehab.

There is too much on the line here, and after viewing the Colts as a sleeper last year, I don't love where they're at now that the Jones and Pierce contracts have been doled out.

If I had to predict, Carlie Irsay-Gordon resets the operation in 2027. We saw this offseason a handful of teams side with their GM while firing a head coach, but this is year 10 for Ballard. He is 2-for-9 in playoff berths, and Nelson is the only one left from his impact 2018 draft class. Anything short of a wild-card berth shouldn't save him this year.
Ghost of George Young
5:31
What are reasonable asking prices for Christian Gonzalez or Joey Porter Jr. should their teams actually decide to move on?  Thanks.
Sam Robinson
5:31
Since 2019, we have seen All-Pro-level corners in their mid-20s go for two first-round picks (Ramsey in 2019, Sauce last year). That would be the Pats' floor for Gonzalez, who at 24 is a year younger than Ramsey was when he was dealt.

Gonzalez hasn't been quite on the level of Jags Ramsey yet, but the Pats would not settle for anything south of two 1s -- especially when they have him signed through 2027 via the option. NE would probably hold out for more, as the Colts had throw in Adonai Mitchell and the Rams an extra third-rounder in those trades.

Porter's value is trickier since he is probably a second-tier CB at best. A Steelers team that once landed the No. 32 overall pick for Chase Claypool (the pick became Porter) would assuredly ask for a first-rounder and then some for the CB.

Unlike the Gonzalez situation, though, the Steelers have some insurance in Asante Samuel Jr. But would they really trade their top CB when they have a 42-year-old QB and more aging pieces?
Mort Report Pool
5:38
Following up - does Joey Porter Jr. get dealt this weekend?
Sam Robinson
5:38
I have to say no here, but if a team dangles a first-rounder, it gets interesting. While it would be odd for a Steelers team with plenty of chips on the table for 2026 -- when Rodgers is 42, Cam Heyward is 37 and T.J. Watt turning 32 -- would make this move. They do have Asante Samuel Jr. as an option opposite Dean if a trade is made.

With the Steelers perpetually in QB no-man's land thanks to Mike Tomlin's .500-or-better wizardry, landing a first for Porter would be a smart move. Ammo for a long-sought-after post-Roethlisberger option.

Pittsburgh having paid three other 2023 draftees and not him is curious, but we also have to remember teams have been hesitant to part with 2027 first-round picks. A marquee first round may well await. Would the Steelers settle for a 2028 first and something else in this draft (a la A.J. Brown)?

I still say he stays due to where the Steelers are, but it's worth thinking about.
South Florida Steve
5:44
Do you think Baker and the Bucs will eventually do a deal, or will he leave/get tagged next spring?
Sam Robinson
5:44
The Bucs have been very good at retaining their own, even if players play out contract years. Shaq Barrett (2021), Carlton Davis ('22), Jamel Dean ('23), Mike Evans ('24), Mayfield ('24) and Chris Godwin ('25) were high-end free agents who all exited contract years unsigned. Jason Licht and Co. re-signed each.

Considering the Bucs' minimal QB alternatives (especially with the team unlikely to have a top-10 pick in 2027) and their Licht-era history with this pattern -- and Mayfield voicing a preference to stay in Tampa -- the sides work something out before the 2027 legal tampering period.

It looked bleak with Evans after no deal was reached in summer 2023, but the Bucs made a strong short-term offer to retain him months later. Baker's current situation feels similar.
Mike Lombardi's Rug
5:52
Has TradeRumors considered adding a College Football page since draft prospects, and to a lesser extent, coaching hires have big interest?
Sam Robinson
5:52
Not yet, but the news of college football -- and the NCAA's 2020s volatility -- has been spilling over onto the site rather frequently in recent years. Much of what is going on at that level is affecting the NFL -- from older draft classes to the Brendan Sorsby ruling to this previously unthinkable NFL-to-NCAA door opening this summer -- in the big picture.
Sam Robinson
6:00
We will wrap it up there for today. Thanks for the questions, everyone. We've got a four-day Week 1 to look forward to
Connecting…