Insider Adam Caplan Previews NFL Season Start & Recent Deals

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00:00Adam Kaplan is our NFL insider. He's been touring all the NFL camps over the last month

00:11of preseason action and joint practices and preseason games and injuries and cuts and

00:21everything else. You can see him here on SportsGrid across the board. You can see him on Coast

00:26to Coast regularly. You can follow him on Exit Kaplan NFL. Almost three decades covering

00:33the National Football League and he's ready for the regular season in 10 days to start

00:37up or whatever it is on the 5th with the Ravens and Chiefs should be awesome. But let's start

00:44today. We got a double shot with Adam right now. Let's start with the CD Lamb deal and

00:48Dallas had finally got done and he is enriched. Yeah. And look, I told you every time you've

00:54asked me anyone on SportsGrid, I said it's going to get done before the season starts.

00:57It's a priority. This is the first one to get done, which is what I said two months

01:01ago. Dak Prescott's is going to be harder. No question about it. It's more complex, but

01:06they had to get as close as they could to get to get to Justin Jefferson's money at

01:1035 million a year. He's going to make it's going to make 34 million a year. We'll see

01:14what the real structure looks like. It's a four-year extension. By the way, most of these

01:18receiver extensions have been at least four years. So look, the bottom line is you just

01:22said it. He's going to get paid. He got paid and they had to get this deal done. The only

01:27thing that you worry about Scott, when you have holdouts, he was holding out. He was

01:30on his fifth year option at valid around 18 million. You do worry about when a guy's working

01:35out on his own, that's physical shape. It's when you report to the team, are you in football

01:40shape and they're not going to know that until he starts working with them tomorrow. So that

01:45is a concern. But the bottom line is he's going to be signed, sealed and delivered.

01:50This had to get done. What a season he had. There's no question about it. Leave me NFL

01:54and receiving and receptions. But the one thing about this player CD lamb is when you

02:00talk to NFL people, Scott, they'll tell you he's nowhere close to his talent is Justin

02:04Jefferson, but he puts up numbers. So you had to pay him. You can't knock him for the

02:08numbers and production. Like the guy's great. He's durable also, but in terms of offensive

02:13skill, he's not as talented as Justin Jefferson. Jefferson, by the way, has been an absolute

02:18stud as well. But bottom line is the Cowboys paid up. They had to do it. Now they could

02:22turn their attention to Dak Prescott. And also, of course, Michael Parsons. Once again,

02:27the Cowboys wait and they pay. I got to tell you, it's worth arguing about not between

02:34you and I, but by anyone's standards, the guy led the league in receptions and touchdowns.

02:40And the fact that people don't think he's as talented as Jefferson, he's a million off

02:45the mark. So apparently is as talented as Jefferson. And I guess the leftover language

02:52would be the million shy of what Jefferson makes Jefferson, a better player. If you want

02:56to believe that, I'm not sure I buy that. He's that much better than CD lamb. Seriously,

03:02I think they're both awesome. Equally awesome. Yeah. And again, the numbers lamb puts up

03:07major numbers. Now he is a factor of a passing offense. As a matter of fact, with Zeke Elliott

03:13as they're starting running back in the twilight of his career, they're going to have to be a

03:16passing offense. They're not going to win by running the football with Zeke. He's well past

03:20his prime. It's almost hard to believe Scott and today's NFL. You can't get a better, younger

03:25running back, but they haven't done that. They've reshaped their offensive line over the last couple

03:29of years. Their first runner Guyton will be a starter, but look, Tony Pollard's gone. He's now

03:34with the Titans. I was with the Titans a couple of weeks ago. He'll be the starter running back

03:38there. They're going a different direction in Dallas, but it's all about CD lamb right now.

03:42The first of the other deals that they have to get done. I got to tell you, I think he'll do

03:47better than Jefferson again this year. I think that look, the quarterback situation in Minnesota

03:54to me is not conducive to that happening. I think maybe down the road, this kid McCarthy could turn

04:01into a stud and be, you know, hook up central with Jefferson and make big numbers, but we already know

04:07what CD lamb is going to do with Dak Prescott. He's going to light it up barring injury.

04:11Oh, I mean, he had 136 receptions. When you're a passing offense in today's league

04:17and you have a good play caller like Mike McCarthy, and also we should get Brian Schottenheimer,

04:22the OC though, he doesn't call the plays. He helps structure the offense.

04:26Schottie is a forward thinking offensive coordinator. He's analytically driven. When

04:32you work with him, you're going to throw the football. And I give McCarthy credit because

04:36he was sort of a balanced run the ball game guy. He's not anymore. They're super aggressive

04:41throwing it. And let's not forget with Mike Zimmer as a defensive coordinator, how that

04:45defense is going to change. Wow. I can't wait to see how they do the Prescott and Parsons deals.

04:54Obviously they're worth $10 billion. They have more money than God, but how they structure

05:00these next two deals is going to be very interesting. Yeah. And look with Prescott,

05:05it's more complicated because if he just waits, okay, if he waits till next March to get a deal

05:10done, you're looking at well over 60 million a season and it could approach 65 million.

05:15That's the stratosphere now, because you got a bunch of deals around 55 million.

05:19The next group 60 to 65 million. Jackie's under contract, but this is his last year.

05:24And then you've got the Michael Parsons deal where he is now the premier pass rusher in the

05:28National Football League. He's got to get it next big deal. And here's the problem.

05:33Once again, Jerry Jones waits and waits and waits, and he always pays more than the market bears.

05:38He shouldn't do that, but he doesn't age and sloven for it.

05:42Let's talk about the champs. They made a move today and they brought back an old friend.

05:48Yeah. Juju Swiss Schuster is back. He signed there two years ago on a one-year deal worth just

05:53under 4 million. It was heavily incentivized. He would have had to put up major production

05:58to make more than that. But look, when you look at Juju Swiss Schuster,

06:01he's only 27 years old. You would think he would be like 29 or 30,

06:05but he was 20 years old when he was drafted by the Steelers.

06:09But look, the Chiefs are bringing him back, as I understand it, on a one-year deal.

06:12But here's the fascinating part about this, and we'll get into why they brought him back, but

06:15here's the fascinating part. The Patriots owed him 7 million, fully guaranteed,

06:19and they still cut him, Scott. That tells you that they don't want him on the roster.

06:24He did not do very well. His first two years of his salary were fully guaranteed with the

06:27Patriots. But remember, Bill Belichick, the former head coach of personnel control,

06:31and Belichick made that decision. But this group, think about it. The Patriots were in

06:37dire straits at wide receiver. They thought so little of Swiss Schuster that they cut him.

06:41But again, he's only 27 years old. The Chiefs, don't forget now, as we turn our attention to

06:45the Chiefs, they needed help at wide receiver. Hollywood Brown has got a shoulder issue. He

06:49didn't work today. He's been out for a couple weeks. They still got to show that he could

06:53take contact on that shoulder. You got the possibility of sometime during the season

06:58that Ray Shearice gets suspended. They're very young, the Chiefs, at wide receiver.

07:02They need experience, and that's why they brought back Swiss Schuster. And by the way,

07:06he knows this offense under Andy Reid. What's the real truth behind why he's dropped off so

07:14dramatically? What I'm told is he's had a knee issue for several years. I remember back in 22,

07:19we go back to when he signed with the Chiefs. There were teams that told me they were concerned

07:23about one of his knees, the condition of it long-term. And that's why he did not get that

07:28big free agent deal. Now, the Patriots, as I said, did give him two years of fully guaranteed.

07:34That kind of surprised me. But look, again, the Patriots moved on from him, and he didn't do much.

07:39But the Patriots had the quarterback problems from last year. They bring a guy, the Chiefs do,

07:44and a guy like Swiss Schuster, more of a slot receiver and inside receiver than outside

07:48at this point of his career. He's kind of an older 27. You worry about the condition

07:52of at least one of his knees, as I was telling you about. But the guy's healthy now. He passed

07:56the physical, and he's going to practice with them this week, and he's going to have a role.

08:00And remember, it's Avery Worthy, the first-round pick, a rookie, very talented, but very raw.

08:05We mentioned Rice, who's very talented. He's more of a slot receiver. Justin Ross, by the way,

08:11who's a guy who's been on and off the roster, pretty talented kid, a good training camp,

08:14he's got good size. But the bottom line is they need a definite receiver now,

08:18and they're counting on Smithsheen. Is that like the missing piece of losing

08:23Valdez-Scantling to put Schuster in that? Exactly. Exactly. Because now MVS, the one

08:28thing that MVS can do, you're talking about Mark Coyle's Valdez-Scantling, he can run,

08:32and he's got good size. But yes, he would be that one guy, and he won't start,

08:38Juju's not going to start, he'll be a backup. But the bottom line is he gives him that veteran

08:42experience. And you know Andy Reid's a spread offensive guy. You know they want to run a lot,

08:4611 personnel, three receivers, one to the end and one back. And to do that, they need...

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