Cris Collinsworth on NFL Offseason, Jason Kelce's Retirement, Tee Higgins Free Agency, & More

what a great way to kick off the NFL offseason here on the show joining us now three-time Pro bow wide receiver Emmy Award winning analyst for NBC Sunday night football The Mastermind behind the machine that is Pro Football Focus Bengals Legend Chris korth and I hope you're having a happy Monday no one's puked on you so far you uh I don't know who it is that's uh dming you there but they're pretty good they they got some pretty good ones there when you need help writing your uh your Memoir or your biography connect I will connect the two of you yeah yeah Chris how's your offseason um good good I you know like everybody else um you know you take it's only been three weeks since the Super Bowl right I mean like God dang man so so everybody wants to just take a little break and then I'm you know I at the combine for three days going up there and and you know you you try and it's like for me college football season comes in the spring does that make any sense like I do pro football during the season and then I do college football like I so when I'm watching Ohio State Michigan I'm like like it just happened you know so I'm watching all these tapes as we're going through and you're getting ready for the draft and free agency and the whole thing but I always say it's like the the first sporting event I watch after the NFL season are the college basketball championships because you just need a little break right you need a little a little time cuz it's seven days a week you it's just it's onstop it's just you're doing something all the time and then finally at some point you go you know go up to my wife hi Holly how are you it's nice to meet you yes I remember what to yeah wait so I don't I did not know that you were at the combine this entire time look at you tell me give me the no no no no well see with PFF so I was there for three days but I wasn't there when the players were working out they wouldn't let let me in anyway they you know they let special Peter shreer and those guys go but so yeah know so we just go and we meet with all the teams and we do all that yeah amazing well I love that I know that we've got lots to talk about but let's start we had some breaking news this morning in the wide receiver World got to get your thoughts Mike Evans back to Tampa two-year deal this is a guy 10 straight 1,00 yard seasons okay Super Bowl champion I feel like when we talk about the great wide receivers in the league it's Tyreek it's Jefferson it's Devonte Adams why does Mike Evans not get brought up more um that's a really good question he's you know he doesn't he's not flashy in the traditional sense like so many times when you study for the draft or you study free agency or whatever you fall in love in on the film with quick guys you know and people who run 40 yard dashes and but let's think about that if you're 6'4 and weigh 230 pounds or whatever he weighs right first of all quarterbacks love that because they can actually get the ball to him but you're not going to look flashy you're not going to look quick you're not going to look fast you're not gonna none of that stuff and and but I mean think of of some of the the really great receivers in the game I mean they're all big tall guys right like Usain Bol never led the 100 meters at 40 yards right think about when you've seen him in the Olympics he never let it 40 yards so if we were going to judge the fastest man in the world based on the 40-yard dash you're going to end up with a bunch of guys that are 5 seven 58 those kind of smaller guys um because the first 10 yards is where you make up the that difference but what matters most when you go into a football game when those big beasts they get rolling right when those big long-legged guys they get running and now that full stride is in effect and it doesn't matter how fast you went the first 10 yards it's a little bitterness you know in my soul here with this whole thing clearly but you know those those guys the the ones that become the real superstars in my mind are the bigger guys who when they get to that 30 yard Mark and now it's time it's you know my Jets against your jets and that striding starts making a difference out there and that's where he's won over the years it hasn't been flashy and pretty and all that but that big dog gets rolling man and then at the catch Point man you gonna take the ball away from him you know I don't think so Baker Mayfield loves him Baker probably gave up some of his salary to keep I asked Baker about in Super Bowl I have a feeling Baker I don't know that Mike Evans signs without Baker coming back they had a really strong season together a lot of chemistry and I know Mike Evans at this point in his career he does not want to deal with a revolving door of quarterbacks or even a new quarterback so I have a feeling my my bold bold prediction here is that we'll have news on Baker returning to to Tampa Bay here shortly and maybe a future Hall of Fame situation for Mike Evans who keeps it going a decade in uh speaking of Hall of Fame worthy guys Jason Kelce did you see this he posted this morning he's going to address the media at 1 Eastern to talk about his future I'm assuming it's a retirement this guy talk about here's a guy sixth round draft pick I this means you got your mad scientist thing going you know your conspiracy theory you're consider could he come back that's what you're asking me right you're not asking me is could he come back like I could see that this magical run right with Taylor Swift and his brother and and I could see this whole thing exploding now into something much bigger and we're all going to be so excited about and the NFL is basically paying for the Kelsey boys out of Cincinnati Ohio thank you very much and Cleveland a little bit they went to college down in Cincinnati see these guys becoming an even bigger part of the NFL I hope so I love Jason I think he's great do you think there's a chance he's not done I mean how hard would it be to look at the team that he has right I mean what they went 10 out of the first 11 something like that and then whatever happened to them at the end of the year know any of us are ever going to be able to explain uh what happened um and but you know watch Travis again and then win another one and you know this this is what always happens at the end of a football season and they lost a little earlier this year you know and like the first round of the playoffs there so he's had a month and a half month whatever it is off here and your body starts to feel okay and you know and and you get a couple of people in Philadelphia go come on man you got another run and we got a good team you know and and when the season's over you're like ecstatic you're physically exhausted you're done you want no more part of football you hate football it's like just I just don't want to go to practice anymore and then a month and a half later sometimes stuff happens you know sometimes you just kind of start to feel it a little bit would it stun me if he announced he was coming back it would not Stun Me no it would stun me I think to make a press conference to announce you're coming back that's interesting like that's kind of a lot I feel like you're you're doing that to call it and if he does call it I mean is he the best center of all time you know all right I'm gonna brag on PFF just a little bit here and I I don't do this very often but please offensive line is probably the one thing that nobody else studies right and and we watch every play in every game we we get we have these guys nailed and Travis Kelce obviously the the star but Jason went from you know whatever he was fifth sixth round draft pick something like that but when you start watching every single play as athletic as Travis is out there on the field as smart as Travis is finding those little holes and and and in the in the coverage as good as all that is I'm telling you Jason is that good at getting to the second level of guys and reaching people and being playing on the Move we did the we did the Super Bowl where they beat the Patriots and I felt like I must have done 15 replays of Jason Kelce in that game getting downfield to the next level and I'm like that has to be the most as siner was ever shown in the history of of of a Super Bowl um so I think he can still play I certainly do I I've watched enough of their tape this year I do think he can still play and play at a very high level um but I think you know when you get into your mid-30s people start thinking about all the stuff that's a lot of hits to the head that's a lot of but Philadelphia will be a different they'll be a different team if he's not at Center they they will be I wonder like if you're commissioner gal you like you're not retiring or like retire and come to NBC come to Fox come to if you're asking me if I have any Insider information on there I don't but he would fit in very nicely at NBC I we interview him almost you know those production meetings all that stuff we do that almost every time we go to Philadelphia we get Jason because he can talk about the whole you know he's not an offensive lineman that can talk about you know offensive lineman and defensive lineman he can talk talk about the whole and and so he's going to be really good on television yeah they'll be a different team and maybe maybe Jason will be the one to give us the answers to this epic Collapse by this Eagles team that had so much talent uh going into last year and of course now going into this next year potentially without the maybe the best center of all time uh you mentioned PFF and the combine I'm sure that you have the best guys in the business best people in the business getting these numbers aggregating them making something of them but there's numbers that we couldn't get right potential number one pick Caleb Williams said nope no medical testing no throwing drills some people are questioning competitiveness for not participating where do you fall on how he's handled this combine I could give two cents I I just don't care I I I don't care he's you know it's it's it's interesting when you're talking about uh any of these young men now I mean forever the NFL was you know it and you just followed the rules and you just did we didn't have free agency when I played I mean you you were stuck with one team the whole time we were there now Caleb Williams has made $10 million in college football now there may have been other people who made $10 million that we were didn't really know about but he did you know this nil stuff is is you're you're in a business discussion with the guys that are on the top end of the of the draft now and I think that Caleb Williams understands his value and understands uh what he's going to mean to either I think the Chicago Bears or Washington commanders wherever he ends up Landing here um so yeah I I I don't think he's setting the rules he's like why am i g to do a physical for 32 teams I'm not making it past pick one whoever is that's pick one so if you're thinking about jumping up to pick one I'll do a physical for you and to some extent as a former player who used to get really frustrated that you had no say in the matter in any matter when it came to the NFL yeah it's kind of interesting now that the playing field is getting leveled just a bit it is interesting a lot of power in the players hands which we love to see last one for you Chris Bengals got to get into it here they franchise T Higgins who I talked to the Super Bowl and some think the reason that they tagged him so early in the process is so they could trade him Chris do you think they should move him or should the Cincinnati team go in this season uh I mean if we can get Joe burrow through training camp for once I mean it has been what three straight years now that he hasn't made it through there and and I I mean I I I thought the Bengals were gonna win the Super Bowl this year I I really did and and Joe just just could not get himself healthy but this was the year that the money didn't matter as much right that they still had people on the lower end so now you've got to pay T Higgins I tell you I look at this this draft class of wide receivers and and and we've already seen Mike Evans get a huge payday so you know we understand T Higgins with the play that you guys showed in the highlights is one of the most remarkable plays I think I've ever seen uh what he was able to do with that one but there are a lot of big wide receivers that can run in this draft as well so it it'll be really interesting as teams start to shop and compare which is where we are right now and and is do I need a t Higgins who is a proven commodity who's a proven great player in the NFL or do I need to pay my other Superstar players on my respective team and then go draft one of these young receivers and I think some of the answers are going to be we're better off having this rookie wage scale wide receiver over here um and but there's also a lot of teams sitting right on the brink there where a t Higgins can put them over the top and put them in the Super Bowl so and we'll just we'll just have to see we'll have to wait and see while you were talking I looked at it's 48 they have 40 48.5 million in space even after applying the tag yeah oh good all right you make that I know when you you switched over you made that so that's exactly a couple of poor football players get a chance to make a little change on on the K Adams level I you're damn right Chris Collinsworth uh PFF is amazing you got I mean that's what the teams are going to look at in making these complicated decisions uh all the information available you guys are crushing the draft coverage making everybody smarter and more aware of what's going on all the grades all the numbers and all the mocks going on uh leading up to what's going to happen in Detroit in a couple of weeks so thank you Chris for all that you do and for telling everybody that I make $50 million a year thank you I was trying to underplay it a little bit I know you of I mean obviously um I would never be on a two engine jet from Alabama getting thrown up on I'll tell you that much you're the best Chris you should have seen that guy he set a puking record you would have loved it all right see you K love you you're the best love you give my love to the family to everybody we'll be back after