In The Pocket: The player's perspective on the franchise tag and free agency, and Chase Daniel's take on the 2024 QB class

Whenever a player makes a leap—whether that's bad to average, average to good, good to great, or great to elite—it can change his team. Just think of guys like Zack Baun and Derek Stingley last season. Who might make a leap this year akin to what those two did in 2024? Derrik Klassen and Diante Lee from The Ringer highlight their top defensive breakout players on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Rundown Daiyan Henley Edgerrin Cooper Nate Wiggins Laiatu Latu Kobie Turner Brian Branch Will Anderson Cooper DeJean Honorable mention Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen With: Diante Lee Executive Producer: Michael Beller Producer: Michael Beller Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show... ⁠Apple⁠ ⁠Spotify⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠ Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social Follow Diante on Bluesky: @diantelee.bsky.social Follow Robert on X: @robertmays Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass Follow Diante on X: @DianteLeeFB Theme song: Haunted Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June is here, and with June comes all things summer. Sunshine, trips to the pool, cookouts...and fantasy football. That's right, fantasy football season is upon us, and we're celebrating that on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Michael Beller sits in once again for the vacationing Robert Mays, and he's joined by Jake Ciely, The Athletic's senior fantasy writer, to dig into the biggest moves of the offseason from a fantasy perspective. Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen With: Michael Beller and Jake Ciely Executive Producer: Michael Beller Producer: Michael Beller Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show... ⁠Apple⁠ ⁠Spotify⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠ Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social Follow Beller on Bluesky: @mbeller.bsky.social Follow Jake on Bluesky: @allinkid.bsky.social Follow Robert on X: @robertmays Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass Follow Jake on X: @allinkid Theme song: Haunted Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does one determine what is or isn't a successful move in free agency? Which teams could surprise us this year by ending up with top-10 play callers on both sides of the ball? How should we feel about the Jonathan Gannon era in Arizona thus far? Those are just three of the questions Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen get into on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Plus, the guys answer an email of the year candidate weighing the pros and cons of potential fictitious owners. Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen With: Michael Beller Executive Producer: Michael Beller Producer: Michael Beller Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show... ⁠Apple⁠ ⁠Spotify⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠ Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social Follow Beller on Bluesky: @mbeller.bsky.social Follow Robert on X: @robertmays Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass Theme song: Haunted Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've got some honest-to-goodness quarterback battles to look forward to this summer, a few of which have real stakes for their teams and the league at large. Derrik Klassen, Mike Sando and Michael Beller dig into those battles—including the Colts, Giants, Saints, Browns and Steelers—and also touch on a few QB situations that aren't battles but they're still watching closely on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen With: Michael Beller and Mike Sando Executive Producer: Michael Beller Producer: Michael Beller Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show... ⁠Apple⁠ ⁠Spotify⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠ Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social Follow Beller on Bluesky: @mbeller.bsky.social Follow Sando on Bluesky: @sandonfl.bsky.social Follow Robert on X: @robertmays Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass Follow Sando on X: @SandoNFL Theme song: Haunted Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've arrived at our fourth and final episode in the Offseason Buy or Sell series, and this is the big one. Seven of the eight teams that played in the Divisional Round of the playoffs last season are in this episode, and the eighth is a perennial contender that was ravaged by injury in 2024? So did the Rams, Commanders, Lions, Ravens, Bills and Chiefs do enough to win, say, another game or two in January of this coming season? Can the 49ers get back on track? Did the Eagles do enough to protect their crown? Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen make buy or sell calls on those eight teams on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen Executive Producer: Michael Beller Producer: Michael Beller Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show... ⁠Apple⁠ ⁠Spotify⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠ Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social Follow Robert on X: @robertmays Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass Theme song: Haunted Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.