Albert Breer on if Chargers Would Trade Herbert, Steelers Need WR Help and Lions’ Defensive Problems

All right, it's the report for Tuesday, November the 3rd. Happy Election Day, everybody. For everyone who's out there voting, I hope you have a fast, enjoyable, efficient process. But we're not here to talk about that. Of course, we're here to talk about the NFL. And to that end, we've got a mailbag edition of the Breer Report coming for you. As we always do, we put the call out for questions on Twitter. You flooded my timeline with questions. We picked three, and we'll answer those right here, right now. The first question comes from Dr. Max's Pears. That's at Real Tomato Soup. Dr. Max asks, who is the receiver the Steelers are most likely to trade for? Downs and Thomas Jr. have been floated. And someone suggested Garrett Wilson today, which has me overly excited. Looking for a little insight into anything you might be hearing. Love the pod, by the way, and your Monday column. Thank you, Dr. Max, for all of that. I would say Garrett Wilson is highly unlikely. The Jets are not looking to trade Garrett Wilson. I'd also say the chemistry between Rodgers and Wilson wasn't great when they were together with the Jets. But there is an opportunity out there for the Steelers to look, and they have been looking for receivers over the course of the last couple of weeks. And I think Brian Thomas Jr. is one name that you rightfully are looking at now. I don't think the Jags are necessarily looking to move. And there are a couple of reasons why, although he hasn't been all that productive and he isn't the greatest fit for their offense. There is a purpose he serves with what they're trying to do. They've got some guys who are really effective underneath catching and running and Jacoby Myers and Parker Washington and having the threat of Thomas out there really helps open things up underneath. So there's a functional reason why he's still good to have around for the Jaguars. There's also the fact that he's a good teammate and good soldier. And if so, if he's looking to get out of there in a weird way, he actually might be doing himself a disservice by being such a good guy. But that's certainly somebody you can ask on, and certainly somebody I think they would at least listen on. A few of the other names. You mentioned Josh Downs. Josh Downs, I think, would be a really good fit for Mike McCarthy as an inside sort of weapon. Good complement to DK Metcalf. That's one I would definitely look at. Somebody who I think could be a really productive guy, a chain-moving type of receiver. Quentin Johnston. The Chargers have not shown a lot of willingness to move their guys yet. They fell to 0-7 on Sunday. Maybe the tune changes this week. He's somebody who has had his option picked up for next year. I wonder if he was a little redundant with Metcalf as a bigger-bodied receiver, but he's somebody that you could look at. Hollywood Brown, again, this is somebody who I think would complement what you have and that he's a downfield type of weapon, complement DK in a different way. You I don't think it would take a whole lot know, to get him out of Philadelphia at this point. He's not playing a ton, and I do think I think that he could serve a purpose for you. Stefon Diggs, I don't think that the commanders are going to trade him in the end, that's but that's somebody you could at least make a call on. And the one that's sort of interesting to me is Calvin Ridley. a good Again, Ridley's a different type of receiver than DK Metcalf. And so Ridley would be somebody when you're, thing. you're looking about the dynamic between DK Metcalf and Jeremy Bernard, I think Ridley could fit nicely into that group. This is another player. I don't think the Titans are looking to move him. They need to evaluate their quarterback over the back half of this year. And so I don't think they're going to be giving away guys like Calvin Ridley or Tony Tony Pollard because those guys help you evaluate the young quarterback. But they still need picks. They still need players. And so if you put capital in front of them, I certainly think they're going to listen. The Steelers, of course, again, are looking for receivers. So that pool of players, I do think that they'll be kind of scouring through the market there to try to find someone to implement, someone to supplement what they already have. Question number two comes from Logan Rothaus. That's at L Rothaus, 53-227. Logan asks, do you think the Lions are actively looking for secondary and linebacker help? I would say right now they are looking for secondary help and they have been looking around for corners. And of course this is sort of a by-product of the Terry and Arnold situation. You expect it to have your former first round pick out there. What happened in the off season happened. They made the move to cut him. That looks like it was the right move based on everything that's happened since the Seahawks still haven't been able to get him on the field, but it did leave them with a pretty significant hole at the corner position. And, you know, now you're starting to look at where their defense is at. And obviously there's a much more serious issue they're dealing with, with Jack Campbell. We'll get to that. But this is a defense that's starting to play better. Brian Branch getting back in there, help. They'll get Kirby Joseph back. And so corner is definitely a spot that you're looking at. A couple of names that have at least been out there that the Lions could look at. And, and one is, is, is Tariq Woolen in Philly, similar to Hollywood Brown came to Philadelphia on a one-year deal. Obviously, the Eagles are now at a point having lost six straight games where they might be looking to offload some guys to try to collect some assets. So Tariq Woolen is a bigger, longer player in the secondary, somebody the Lions could look at, and then a different type of corner. This is one people in Michigan will be familiar with, Mikey Sanders, with the Washington Commanders. I, I, I'm not saying, again, the commanders are looking to move him, but he's somebody that the more people I've talked to, the more it seems like he could be available as sort of like a little bit of a reclamation project. He's got outside-inside versatility. He's probably better inside, but he's somebody that you could add to your secondary. Again, like, would that be a little redundant with Branch? You've got to play Sanders still a little bit outside more than maybe you want to. Is that a functional thing? Those are the questions you've got to answer. But I think Mikey Sanders still could be somebody the Lions could look at. So they're certainly looking for help at that position. Now, linebacker, this is interesting. Because, of course, the situation with Jack Campbell, real-life implications here. We're not trivializing any of that. There is the fact that that leaves a significant hole for the Lions at linebacker position. And so would you make a call on somebody like Jordan Brooks in Miami? I don't think Miami wants to let go of its veteran leaders, but they're another team that needs players. And so I look at, I look at Jordan Brooks as somebody that you could potentially make a move for. If you're willing to put something valuable in front of the Dolphins. To try and shore up that hole. And he's somebody who could be around for an extended period. A lot of that is going to depend on Jack Campbell's status. Again, I don't want to talk too much about this on football terms because I think we're more worried about him as a human being right now. But again, there are football implications to that. Sending our very best to Jack Campbell. Just a really tough situation there. So, yeah, I'd say the Lions are definitely looking at corner and could be sniffing around at linebacker a little bit too over the course of the next couple of weeks because of what a big role Jack Campbell played for them on that defense. He was the leader of that group. Finally, question number three. This is from Dee. That's at D Real Shooter. I've always wanted to do this. Thank God. Well, appreciate you doing it for me, Dee. Two-part question. 1A, how reasonable or likely out of 10 is it for the Vikings to trade for Justin Herbert? And 1B, how good of a fit would it be with Herbert in Minnesota? Chargers are now 0-7, and Kyler Murray is not the answer in Minnesota. Thoughts? I would say it's not likely that you're going to trade for Justin Herbert. I don't see a scenario where the Chargers make him available over the next week. But I, you know, I wouldn't mind the Vikings taking a swing on this. And, you know, I think the idea of trading for a player like this is similar to the idea of trading for Jeffrey Simmons, where Jeffrey Simmons wasn't necessarily available. And, you know, over the course of the last year and a half, the Titans heard from more than half the league. Think about that. More than half of the 32 teams. Called the Titans on Jeffrey Simmons thinking, well, we've got a new GM in 25. We've got a new coach in 26. Maybe he's suddenly available. And over and over and over again, those teams were told, no, he's not available. The Bears were the team that were willing to come to the Titans with an actual offer, and that was the difference. And they came to the Titans and said, we are willing to go to two first-round picks. You say the price is Myles Garrett. We are willing to go to that level to get Jeffrey Simmons out of here. And that led to talks, and you guys can read more about that on the MMQB. On, on, on how it all went down, but there's a good level of trust between the teams because the general managers are very close. Go way back. Those two guys go back 20 years. Mike Borganti and Ryan Poles are able to get something done. My point is that it can't hurt to make that phone call if you are the Vikings. And so would Nolan Teasley pick up the phone and call Joe Ortiz? Sure. Do I think Joe Ortiz is probably going to say no way we can't trade our franchise quarterback? Yeah, I think he's going to say no way. Would it be a good fit for Minnesota? Sure, it would. I would just say this about Justin Herbert. I don't think a lot of what's happened this year is on him. And I think if you go back last year and you talk to people around the league, a lot of people felt like he was playing at an MVP level in a near impossible situation last year with all the offensive line injuries they had. And I've said this once and I'll say it again. I really. Think that Justin Herbert, there is, there's a, there's a top five quarterback in there and it's not what I'm seeing. It's what the rest of the league is seeing. And it's what people I talk to are seeing. And it's in a way that it reminds me of the way people talked about Matthew Stafford in Detroit, the way that people talk about Justin Herbert with the chargers. So I think I think that that's in there. I think the Stafford. The, the, the, the, the sort of second life that he got when he got with Sean McVay. I think that that exists. I think that chargers know that. So whoever, I think the chargers know we got to find a way to give him that second life instead of creating that second life for him somewhere else. So I think that's what the chargers are focused on, but certainly if he got with Kevin O'Connell and Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, that'd be something else. And I do think the Vikings at the very least, like if I'm Nolan Teasley, I pick up the phone Could we offer you three first round picks for him and just see what they say? You already know the first round pick this year is probably going to be a low one. And, you know, there is some background, I'd say, in in that offense that Justin Herbert has. It's not perfect, but he is playing for Mike McDaniel now. And there are there are kind of some crossover. There's some crossover between what Kevin O'Connell does and what Mike McDaniel McDaniel does. And if you want to go further back. Into, into, into Justin Herbert's background. You can find some more of that too. Um, I would make the call, but I don't think the chargers are going to do anything with that. Appreciate you guys coming out. As always, you can leave your questions, your comments down below here on the YouTube page, or you can get to me on my social media at Albert Breer on Twitter at Albert Breer on TikTok at Albert Arbery on Facebook and at Albert underscore Arbery on Instagram. Appreciate you guys coming out. We got one more report coming for you this week. That'll be after the Thursday night game to preview week nine. We'll see you guys then.