Speaker 1: They around the NFL podcast. I am annoyed now from
Speaker 1: the Chris Wesley podcast studio. It's around the NFL. I
Speaker 1: am Dan Hansis. I got heroes all over Mark Sessler.
Speaker 1: Let's try something different, Mark Sessler. And then the person
Speaker 1: says something very quickly, Mark Sessler, happy to be here
Speaker 1: always every day, but something truthful? Right? That wasn't quick enough, ye,
Speaker 1: Colleen Wolf, I'm always annoyed. Now the song's over. I
Speaker 1: mean it's got to end before the song. Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: i'd workshop my response if I knew that was coming.
Speaker 1: We're gonna try it again in exactly two months, okay,
Speaker 1: with no warning, So just have something in the can ready.
Speaker 1: Now we're on season eleven of like a sitcom where
Speaker 1: now they just said the writer's room is like, they
Speaker 1: don't know what to do, so they just start throwing
Speaker 1: stuff against the wall just to keep themselves entertained. I
Speaker 1: think we arrived there long before today. Connie. This is
Speaker 1: the summer of Connie. I know it's confusing to people.
Speaker 1: It is southern California and really the West Coast in
Speaker 1: general getting battered by rainfall and storms repeatedly. I'm freezing.
Speaker 1: Does that cut into the Summer of Connie. Does that
Speaker 1: affect it in any way? Yes, this has been a
Speaker 1: really bad launch to the Summer of Connie. If I'm
Speaker 1: being I mean, you're here every week. That's a problem too.
Speaker 1: I'm asking you guys if I could come on the
Speaker 1: show because I am just sitting at my house watching
Speaker 1: the rain come down, so I'm availables. What about the
Speaker 1: old wisdom that April showers bring May flowers. Why it's
Speaker 1: March twenty second right now my lawn has slugs in
Speaker 1: it and it was like dead, just like a couple
Speaker 1: months ago. It was just hey, and now from the
Speaker 1: rain there's actually slugs. But all that dog yearn will
Speaker 1: take care of that. Though in time it will offset,
Speaker 1: it will offset it. Just think when I introduced you, Mark,
Speaker 1: you could have simply said April showers bring May flowers
Speaker 1: and the place would have went off off the roof
Speaker 1: of the time when you need to lean on the
Speaker 1: wisdom of a nursery rhyme or whatever, that would be
Speaker 1: that type of text truth truth, truth, All right, Thursday Show,
Speaker 1: we've lost I could just stopped talking at some point
Speaker 1: Wednesdays Wednesday, congratulations, you're wearing your Tokyo Swallows jersey first
Speaker 1: time in the Sadden in the closet, it was like,
Speaker 1: I've I've never worn this. This is the day. Did
Speaker 1: you uncover it in the move Japan the WBC shoots
Speaker 1: you figured it out, Colleen. I threw out a lot
Speaker 1: of clothes and I was like, no, this is cool.
Speaker 1: Actually I'm going to keep this, And now's the time
Speaker 1: because my guy Murakami, who is on the Swallows big hitter.
Speaker 1: So you are like the Japanese team. You are cemented
Speaker 1: as one of the biggest fair Weather fans of all time.
Speaker 1: You literally had the jersey housed inside your closet and
Speaker 1: you're wearing it now that the World champions. Wow, this
Speaker 1: is technically the team in Tokyo that Amico was a
Speaker 1: season ticket holder too, as a kidneys every year to
Speaker 1: their games. I can't say I'm an everyday fan. I've
Speaker 1: watched a great fan, watched six innings of baseball this year,
Speaker 1: and I'm yeah, I'm just a die hard fan now.
Speaker 1: And did you when you were laying out the shirts
Speaker 1: this morning, were you concerned it all about the cultural
Speaker 1: disconnect of wearing the jersey that just giant block letters,
Speaker 1: says swallows across them. Now, I think everyone could handle that.
Speaker 1: We know, we know where the swallows come from. The
Speaker 1: it's a boyd. Right, it's a bird. Yeah, it's a
Speaker 1: boy They travel north to That's actually how my grandfather
Speaker 1: spoke a bus driver from the Bronx. Yeah it was
Speaker 1: not a bird, it was a boyd. Yeah. Um, all right,
Speaker 1: we got a good show coming up. Baba, rest in peace.
Speaker 1: We are going to Hey, Connie. Remember remember baba also
Speaker 1: the Japanese word for grandmother. So there's a lot of
Speaker 1: this is unbelievable. Stop staring at I'm going cut my
Speaker 1: shirt back. Iron No, don't make himself conscious? No no, no,
Speaker 1: don't do it great, don't love it. Stand up your song, Colleen.
Speaker 1: You and I did a little thing called Power Rankings
Speaker 1: podcast during the season. Um, the Power Rankings returned this
Speaker 1: week on NFL dot com. How about that. I didn't
Speaker 1: get a call to do a show though, what either? Okay? Cool?
Speaker 1: And I didn't check in. I didn't check in with
Speaker 1: the Powers to Be either. I was like, okay, how
Speaker 1: they love how'd it feel? Dipping back in a little weird?
Speaker 1: It's tough, Just like when we did Winners and Losers,
Speaker 1: a free agency with Bill Barnwell, it's like, man, how
Speaker 1: certain do I feel about any of these teams right now?
Speaker 1: But the machine needs content it does so I did
Speaker 1: my best, and I did go through them again after
Speaker 1: I finished writing him, after I you know, went out
Speaker 1: live and you know, I did the NFL now Siciliano
Speaker 1: and I didn't check in to see if we even
Speaker 1: had to do a podcast. I went through it again
Speaker 1: this morning and I was like, Okay, what jumped out
Speaker 1: to me during the rece church and writing process, and
Speaker 1: we'll go through it and you guys can push back
Speaker 1: and say what I blew, because I actually think and
Speaker 1: this happens all the time. I blew a few right
Speaker 1: off the bat. I was like, why why is that
Speaker 1: team there? Who wrote this? And it was literally two
Speaker 1: days ago. Well, it's a tricky time of year because
Speaker 1: now are you spinning forward to who's going to be
Speaker 1: good in twenty twenty three? Us like who played well?
Speaker 1: As exactly? I love it. I love the debrief the regrets,
Speaker 1: all right, but first let's do some Newstis randoms. That
Speaker 1: is the voice of Cam Newton. I want to know
Speaker 1: who the randoms are. Uh. I think we could guess.
Speaker 1: I think basically almost every backup that got a job
Speaker 1: in the past week in free agency probably the target
Speaker 1: of his probably fuse like Taylor Heineke that way, it
Speaker 1: feels a little No, he's not a random. He's he's
Speaker 1: a lot of things, but he's not a random. I
Speaker 1: think it's Nickier stid up Here's I mean the thing
Speaker 1: about it is And you remember West famously had a
Speaker 1: term for Cam Newton. He called him do you remember
Speaker 1: Mark Stege? I believe And Cam's interesting because I was
Speaker 1: never a big fan of him, and then when he
Speaker 1: later in his career, he felt more like it was
Speaker 1: maybe a little humbled a little bit, and he didn't
Speaker 1: quite have the tools anymore, and he was just kind
Speaker 1: of grinding through that Patriot season and then that forgettable
Speaker 1: final five starts with the Panthers, and then you hear
Speaker 1: that drop and it's like, oh, that's the old, that's
Speaker 1: the old Cam. Um a little bit of a disconnect though,
Speaker 1: because he's kind of a random now. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: not a random. You can talk ability. He is a
Speaker 1: term of ability influence and sort of his career path.
Speaker 1: He's kind of iconic, like he's a player people will
Speaker 1: remember forever. At this point though, he's he's a right,
Speaker 1: one of the best college football seasons of all time,
Speaker 1: but he's I don't recognize. I don't think he's getting
Speaker 1: a job. He's thirty four now, and I think that
Speaker 1: Carolina season was probably his last one, right, I guess
Speaker 1: I meant, you know, more, it's a fraternity of the QBS,
Speaker 1: and he's obviously a far away off from twenty fifteen
Speaker 1: at this point. You know, well, he's getting older and
Speaker 1: the players again younger. But I'd say also that like
Speaker 1: even there still during that humble era that you mentioned,
Speaker 1: he still was coming to you know, the podium in
Speaker 1: like a grandmother's cardigan and the fedora. So it was
Speaker 1: like it wasn't a total mind. Would I trust Cam
Speaker 1: Newton for one game over Drew Locke, who got four
Speaker 1: million dollars from the Seahawks somehow that was a sneaky,
Speaker 1: terrible contract in free agency? Yes, I would. I would, okay,
Speaker 1: agree to disagree, but I don't think either you would
Speaker 1: be in a good position with either player. But we'll
Speaker 1: see if anything comes to that. He did throw at
Speaker 1: the Auburn Pro Day through to his brother. In fact,
Speaker 1: how did the brother do. That's what I want to know.
Speaker 1: I think he caught some football. Okay, the media afterwards,
Speaker 1: there's always the other Cam Newton in our league that
Speaker 1: whenever you try to, like say there was a disaster
Speaker 1: like a guard or something, the other Lamar Jackson's like reporters,
Speaker 1: here's a public service announcement. Stopped doing the Lamar Jackson joke.
Speaker 1: It keeps happening. It's like Lamar Jackson just went on
Speaker 1: waivers and nobody claimed them to stop. Terrible tweet. Um,
Speaker 1: let me hear just a little more Cam J. Hottis
Speaker 1: randoms chickens though obviously I can't wait. Oh, I love
Speaker 1: You can't tell me that he would, No, that's love
Speaker 1: him in a lock around. He's a showman. Is you
Speaker 1: can't tell me you put him next to Terry Bradshaw
Speaker 1: and Fox on Sundays. I just feel like he would
Speaker 1: fit in that. The just feel like heians closet and
Speaker 1: he pulls out the cardigans. I don't know why we
Speaker 1: still need Terry Branshaw on that that equation, but Terry's
Speaker 1: just collecting those paychecks. Maybe Terry will come up in
Speaker 1: our conversation on NFL Media with Andrew Marshawn to The
Speaker 1: New York Post tomorrow. Probably not, but he could. And
Speaker 1: one last cam note. I had completely forgotten about that.
Speaker 1: He had he invented his own font. Remember that. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: it showed up and this announced and I was like, Bro,
Speaker 1: you're still doing that. Thinks dedication to create a language.
Speaker 1: Let's get to Let's get to the news, Starting with
Speaker 1: a report from our friend Ian Rappaport, who reported on
Speaker 1: Tuesday regarding DeAndre Hopkins. I'll read the tweet as the
Speaker 1: status of Cardinal star DeAndre Hopkins comes into focus, Talks
Speaker 1: are ramping up among the interested team. Sources say, similar
Speaker 1: to Brandon Cooks, a trade would likely mean an altered contract.
Speaker 1: All right, Greg, we know you're in a quiet war
Speaker 1: with agents right now. Now, even though you have an agent.
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm just try kind of, you know, present
Speaker 1: the little guy's side. It's agents and the big media
Speaker 1: versus everyone that's always been your stock and trade to
Speaker 1: code this tweet because obviously this is in in contact
Speaker 1: with his sources, possibly and probably agents. Right well, I
Speaker 1: think it's DeAndre Hopkins and his agent sort of trying
Speaker 1: to get it back out there that Hey, Okay, first
Speaker 1: wave free agency happened. They have been having these talks obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't think rap sheet in the agent
Speaker 1: are making this up and like trying to put it
Speaker 1: back front and center as like we wanted this to
Speaker 1: happen this week. Put your best offers on the table.
Speaker 1: I'm sick of sitting around when I see Brandon Cooks
Speaker 1: and some of these other deals happen. It's about it, Like,
Speaker 1: let's get it back into the conversation now, this is
Speaker 1: a good, nice, quiet weekend. Yeah, that was kind of
Speaker 1: my my thought on it. Connie, Like I saw the report,
Speaker 1: I saw it get aggregated everywhere, and then I looked
Speaker 1: at the report again, I looked at the tweet again.
Speaker 1: I was like, what does this actually mean? Too? Is
Speaker 1: maybe he's willing to take a pay cut, is what
Speaker 1: I read into that. And then I also saw the
Speaker 1: Browns are not interested in him. There was a lot
Speaker 1: of people that were talking about maybe some type of
Speaker 1: reunion with Deshaun Watson. But if there was going to
Speaker 1: be a possible deal, the Panthers would be really interesting
Speaker 1: to have him and Adam Feelin there with I mean,
Speaker 1: who knows who the quarterbacks but yeah, that would be nice,
Speaker 1: but that's also that's a thirty year old new than
Speaker 1: a thirty three year old Dealers, If I want to
Speaker 1: put DeAndre Hopkins into a scenario where you don't know
Speaker 1: who the quarterback is going to be, it could be
Speaker 1: a rookie. You could have to play Andy Dalton for
Speaker 1: a while. Andy Dalton and DeAndre Hopkins don't feel like
Speaker 1: a complete marriage to me. I think DeAndre Hopkins has
Speaker 1: to go. There's probably a smaller list of teams, and
Speaker 1: we're getting closer to the draft where I think if
Speaker 1: you're him in his camp, you don't want some of
Speaker 1: these teams feeling good about their wide receiver room because
Speaker 1: they drafted Guy A b or Ce, even though it's
Speaker 1: not a great draft for that, the Patriots reportedly have
Speaker 1: been sniffing around. They seem like the most logical. I
Speaker 1: think he talks about Belichick's like adoration of Hopkins. There's
Speaker 1: something that goes a long way there. I think they're
Speaker 1: in a similar spot to the Packers with Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: but you know, have less leverage, which is just like
Speaker 1: the Cardinals aren't in a particular hurry. What do they
Speaker 1: care about being in a hurry. If they have to
Speaker 1: wait till April to feel like they're going to get
Speaker 1: the best draft pick possible, then they'll wait till April,
Speaker 1: and they're probably not getting a second round offer. I
Speaker 1: believe if there was any team out there that was
Speaker 1: going to give up a second round pick, I think
Speaker 1: they would just say the same thing happens every year.
Speaker 1: Like six weeks ago, two months ago, we did a
Speaker 1: segment and we were floating trade ideas and it was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: nuke for a first, that makes sense, a late first,
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, you get to this
Speaker 1: time of year and it's like, maybe he gets a second,
Speaker 1: maybe a third. The veterans in the trade market seem
Speaker 1: to fetch less than you think. Brandon Cooks got a
Speaker 1: fifth and a sixth. And I'm not saying that the
Speaker 1: same player, but Brandon Cooks isn't is I would say,
Speaker 1: maybe I take them over Deanna Hopkins and the way
Speaker 1: we as fans and would not. But I hear you,
Speaker 1: I'm depends what team. It's debatable, but a third, you know,
Speaker 1: I know he's turning thirty one and that that's a
Speaker 1: little bit of a concern. A PD suspension followed by
Speaker 1: a bit of an injury plague up and you know,
Speaker 1: up and down season. There's things that I love you man,
Speaker 1: he said, I love you man. It's years ago. But
Speaker 1: like the Broncos are sandy want, there's the Jerry Judy
Speaker 1: is going to command like a first or a second.
Speaker 1: Give me a break. How would you ever, Jerry Judy?
Speaker 1: I could see it more because at least at least
Speaker 1: he's young. I think Jerry Judy would have higher value
Speaker 1: and you don't have him for much money, whereas Hopkins
Speaker 1: costs a lot of money and is older. For the record,
Speaker 1: mark that Nuke Belichick sound was from this past season.
Speaker 1: When did I say years ago? Well that was last year.
Speaker 1: I felt like years ago. Multiple it was the Monday
Speaker 1: Night Football Classic. Uh, Cardinals Patriots. I don't have my
Speaker 1: arguments idea of what was happening literally one year ago today,
Speaker 1: or who I was, or who the Giants were. So
Speaker 1: that's a weird ten. The Giants getting the drop um
Speaker 1: all right? In other New Years, Lamar Jackson, Oh, the saga,
Speaker 1: the saga continues. Your old boss Florio greg is hot
Speaker 1: on this story. He's into it. And here's a report
Speaker 1: from Pro Football talk that Lamar Jackson. Per multiple sources,
Speaker 1: a representative for the quarterback has contacted more than one
Speaker 1: team and an effort to this is Florio's writing spark
Speaker 1: negotiations had aimed at a possible offer sheet. The rep
Speaker 1: is not certified by the NFL Players Association. As the
Speaker 1: source explained it, the person has said that Jackson does
Speaker 1: not want to fully guaranteed contract. Some regard this, continuing
Speaker 1: to read Mike Florio's writing this as a possible exercise
Speaker 1: in semantics, with Jackson still wanting a very significant, significant
Speaker 1: amount of fully guaranteed money with one or more non
Speaker 1: guaranteed years on the back end. Mark Sessler, is this
Speaker 1: our guy? Is this our dude? Is it the Saint?
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I hope it is. If you
Speaker 1: were to line up a list of suspects, I mean,
Speaker 1: st Omni's got to be on that list, if not
Speaker 1: the top of the list. Love this. The one little
Speaker 1: thing is we talked about how Saint Omni helped Laramie
Speaker 1: Tunsel in that stame like PFT reporting, Laramie Tunsel tweeted
Speaker 1: about Saint Omni in quotes he was with me every
Speaker 1: step of the way. That's an agent, and like basically
Speaker 1: the agents are going nuts because it's like you're not certified.
Speaker 1: Um you like certified agents have to buy like malpractice
Speaker 1: insurance and go to all these union meetings and all
Speaker 1: this other stuff, and Saint Omni is just floating in
Speaker 1: on a spaceship and sealing the deal. I kind of
Speaker 1: love it, but I don't see why they don't love it, right.
Speaker 1: I think it's in violation of the CBA though, And
Speaker 1: then the end of you mean the CBA that's negotiated
Speaker 1: between the union and the NFL. Yes, and in the
Speaker 1: union that's working with Lamar Jackson to get a deal done.
Speaker 1: But if Greg is all over this agent thing, like
Speaker 1: Greg's mentor Mike Florio is like doubly all over it,
Speaker 1: where like he is writing the NFL asking why is
Speaker 1: no one doing anything about Saint Omni and they aren't
Speaker 1: responding to him. He's on the other side of it.
Speaker 1: He's on the pro agent side. Uh. It's also, though,
Speaker 1: the same place where we were reporting all the agents saying, look,
Speaker 1: if Lamar had an agent, we'd be tampering the hell
Speaker 1: out of this. We'd be breaking all the rules that
Speaker 1: now we care about. They're just mad that he skipped
Speaker 1: all the Zoom meetings. It's like Satan Obley doesn't have
Speaker 1: to go to the compliance plan, Like, well, it's definitely
Speaker 1: like you're not in our group and you're doing all
Speaker 1: this lags. Wait, he wasn't at the town hall, right exactly,
Speaker 1: he doesn't get to get the benefits. Um, I mean
Speaker 1: nothing about this. They were mad about Lamar for not
Speaker 1: sort of selling himself around and the appairs. It appears
Speaker 1: someone is doing it now, and the semantics of whether
Speaker 1: like it's illegal or not, I don't think are going
Speaker 1: to matter in the end. It's more matters like is
Speaker 1: someone going to do something about it? Colts someone? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it is. It's moving so slow. I don't know if
Speaker 1: this means that he is in a situation where he's
Speaker 1: like not panicking, but I mean now he's reaching out
Speaker 1: to other options to try and get things moving. He
Speaker 1: knows that he needs to. But I guess the longer
Speaker 1: he waits, the more leverage he kind of has. Right
Speaker 1: in other news, speaking of leverage, speaking of guaranteed dollars,
Speaker 1: our boss on some level, Roger Goodell on a very
Speaker 1: concrete level, right, I love that Roger Goodell and NFL
Speaker 1: owners are expected to finalize a multi year contract extension
Speaker 1: for the commissioner at next week's owners meetings in Phoenix. UM.
Speaker 1: This is Roger Goodell's fourth extension or it will be
Speaker 1: UM since becoming commissioner, taking over for Paul Tagliabu in
Speaker 1: September of two thousand and six. UM Greg Goodell obviously
Speaker 1: has the faith of ownership across the league to continue
Speaker 1: to get these extensions and the big paycheck that goes
Speaker 1: with it. Hey, Roger, that was about you know, that's
Speaker 1: February nineteenth birthday. Boys have to stick together, me and
Speaker 1: Rog and I'm hoping for a similar type extension at
Speaker 1: a similar level. There was reports years ago that this
Speaker 1: was going to be his last contract, and I think
Speaker 1: we've heard the reports. Always happened, It's happened a couple
Speaker 1: of times. And then you get to the end and
Speaker 1: they're like, you know what, Roger Goodell has been really
Speaker 1: great at making us a ton of money, and they
Speaker 1: all want to keep him, and it's tough for him,
Speaker 1: like like many players when they get towards the end
Speaker 1: of their career and they think maybe they're going to retire,
Speaker 1: and then they get offered a great amount of money
Speaker 1: to keep it rolling. So next stop, Roger Goodell, Let's
Speaker 1: figure out what's going on with the old NFL media. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that would be the next bullet point, I guess.
Speaker 1: I mean, this isn't a secret thing. He's talked about
Speaker 1: it that they've you know, had these you know, putting
Speaker 1: it out there, trying to get a partner, and so
Speaker 1: I'm just curious what's gonna happen. It's weird because he's
Speaker 1: always seemed we are invested in that outcome. Yes, he
Speaker 1: seemed younger than me, but he'll be older if he
Speaker 1: if he goes through the end of this extension, which
Speaker 1: he be sixty eight, that's five years older than Pete
Speaker 1: Roselle was and three older than Paul Taglibu, who both
Speaker 1: Taglibo always seemed older than me than you know Goodell.
Speaker 1: By the assignm in Arizona outside of the coffee shop,
Speaker 1: as I was walking Watanabe's son, who is by the way,
Speaker 1: a huge tokyo swallows fan Uther sat Taglibu walking by
Speaker 1: what a large man he works out he does not
Speaker 1: look young now, um exactly? Yeah, Yeah, I think that
Speaker 1: he can have this job basically as long as his
Speaker 1: if he continues on this course, if he gets in.
Speaker 1: There's a new report from ESPN about one of the bidders,
Speaker 1: Canadian businessman uh for the Washington Commandity. I mean, if
Speaker 1: he gets Snyder out the paint and gets a big
Speaker 1: stadium and billionaire owner there, I think that's one of
Speaker 1: the best moments of Goodell's career. It feels like he's
Speaker 1: he's helping that long time coming. All right, let's take
Speaker 1: a break and we'll be right back. All right, we're back.
Speaker 1: In other news, the Houston Texans continue to build up
Speaker 1: their roster ahead of the very likely new quarterback to
Speaker 1: come with the second overall pick. They signed running back
Speaker 1: Devin Singletary, formerly of the Bills, one year, three point
Speaker 1: seven five million. He will join a backfield with Damian Pierce,
Speaker 1: who looked very good in his rookie season. They also
Speaker 1: I like this move. They signed tight end Dalton Schultz,
Speaker 1: formerly of the Cowboys, one year, nine million dollars. So
Speaker 1: there you go. This is a team that Yes, justin
Speaker 1: just moments ago, as you were teeming that up, the
Speaker 1: Texans signed former Raiders linebacker Denzel Perryman to a one
Speaker 1: year contract as well. As Variants twenty twenty one, very
Speaker 1: active time for Houston. Your thoughts, Mark, Well, I think it's,
Speaker 1: you know, you want to create an environment where the
Speaker 1: rookie quarterback you bring in who is you know you've
Speaker 1: got Case Keen and who could start the season. But
Speaker 1: build a good environment. And it's been a terrible environment
Speaker 1: for a long time, and you just move Brandon Cooks
Speaker 1: and so your light on wide receivers. But I liked
Speaker 1: their backfield, Dalton Schultz, Laramy Tunsil across from Titus Howard,
Speaker 1: a tackle with Shack Mason at guard. Their offensive line
Speaker 1: was a disaster for a long time, Like they are
Speaker 1: starting to build the semblance of an infrastructure to put
Speaker 1: a rookie quarterback in there. And I do think that
Speaker 1: the difference is you don't have another one of these
Speaker 1: one and done coaches that are propped up as total
Speaker 1: fall guys. You got Damiko Ryan's who the players already love. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And Dalton Schultz He's going to be perfect for whoever
Speaker 1: they bring in there at quarterback as a security blanket.
Speaker 1: I mean, he did great things with Dak Prescott and
Speaker 1: I'm kind of surprised because Dak loved throwing him. He
Speaker 1: was one of his best targets or most reliable targets.
Speaker 1: So I think that this is going to be. This
Speaker 1: is a nice little, nice little sign in here for
Speaker 1: you want you asked me like a month ago, nice job,
Speaker 1: Like I what do I consider a win for this
Speaker 1: top one O one list? Like you could look at
Speaker 1: the Dalton Schultz the lack of a market as an
Speaker 1: owl because I had him super high up and I
Speaker 1: was really surprised by that. I was shocked how why
Speaker 1: by that he didn't get more money because he got
Speaker 1: the whole up to nine million dollars. I don't know
Speaker 1: what's up with the up to this year everything has
Speaker 1: turned to up too, which is just a way to
Speaker 1: not say their real salary, which I think based on
Speaker 1: reports we haven't gotten the details. It's gonna be like
Speaker 1: Mike Kasecki, which is about half of nine million dollars
Speaker 1: and with a bunch of incentives. I'm shocked at Schultz
Speaker 1: and Gasecki didn't really get much money, didn't get a
Speaker 1: lot of interest. They misread their market and like hayden
Speaker 1: Hurst got way more than both of them. I like
Speaker 1: these moves through the Texans. They're like real live NFL
Speaker 1: offensive starters. So the tight end class this year is
Speaker 1: really deep and really talented, So that actually makes sense.
Speaker 1: I think teams are waiting for that. And like Schultz
Speaker 1: is a great snack, she needed a comeback take and
Speaker 1: she got it. Um all right. And before we hit
Speaker 1: odds and ends and hold on to your butts for that,
Speaker 1: let's listen to one of the forgotten important plays in
Speaker 1: recent Super Bowl history. Out of the shotgun, Ryan gets hit,
Speaker 1: Paul is out. This is a fumble. Do anyone hasn't
Speaker 1: high Tower knocked it out? And Prance recovers for the Patriots.
Speaker 1: That was Donta High Tower of the New England Patriots
Speaker 1: in Super Bowl fifty three, the twenty eight three game.
Speaker 1: It was twenty eight twelve at that moment with eight
Speaker 1: minutes to play in the fourth quarter of the Patriots.
Speaker 1: Then it's to play this third and one? They should
Speaker 1: call at the twenty eight to twelve and eight minutes
Speaker 1: to go on a third and one game. I know
Speaker 1: that's not as good as it's even more remarkable than
Speaker 1: just how about this, Greggy. I thought we were teeing
Speaker 1: up a different highlight because he donta High Tower linebacker
Speaker 1: retired yesterday officially. He made the tackle on Marshawn Lynch
Speaker 1: at the one yard line before the Russell Wilson interception
Speaker 1: by Malcolm Butler, And we were sitting in that stadium
Speaker 1: high up, and when Marshawn got that ball, it looked
Speaker 1: like he was going in and that would have put
Speaker 1: New England behind in that game with less than a
Speaker 1: minutes player about a minute to play. That to me
Speaker 1: was like v play but another great Patriot. The man
Speaker 1: was called Mister February by no Leston Bill Belichick, and
Speaker 1: that play, those two plays actually kind of summarized Dante
Speaker 1: High Tower well because he was a big guy who
Speaker 1: could blitz. He was the only linebacker on the field
Speaker 1: in that Rams game where they held him to three points,
Speaker 1: six guys up front, one linebacker, because he could do
Speaker 1: it all blitz, run, stop, And that play where he
Speaker 1: stopped Lynch, like he has the center on him and
Speaker 1: he disengages from that block and tackles one of the
Speaker 1: toughest guys to tackle in the league, Marshawn Lynch, just
Speaker 1: a yard before, and like they literally don't win those
Speaker 1: two Super Bowls without Dante Hyde. I think like the
Speaker 1: performance against the Rams is undersold because of those two
Speaker 1: other games he dominated Jared Goff. The Rams didn't get
Speaker 1: past New England's twenty six yard line, and it had
Speaker 1: a lot to do with how tigeh Tower, how he
Speaker 1: was dispatched. He missed the Eagles Super Bowl with a
Speaker 1: torn pectoral. You have to wonder looking at that game
Speaker 1: with the fact that you're right. Belichick called to mister February,
Speaker 1: what happens in that insane back and forth contest if
Speaker 1: you have high Tower in there, because he's simply he
Speaker 1: delivered every Super Bowl there was the same result happened. No,
Speaker 1: I don't not at all. You get High Tower in
Speaker 1: folks face. You know, Greggy, the Patriots may not be
Speaker 1: special anymore, but you're all the kind of various homecoming
Speaker 1: anniversary halftime that's part of having this great run like
Speaker 1: they had for twenty years. Um, those are gonna be
Speaker 1: They're always gonna be lit. Bro, You're gonna have so
Speaker 1: many big time guys that you get to roll out
Speaker 1: as a Yankee fan with old timer's day you have.
Speaker 1: You have the same thing, especially like from the fifties
Speaker 1: and sixties, those runs. So it would be like Brady
Speaker 1: is DiMaggio man in general, like all the other guys
Speaker 1: like Devin mccordy retired also, and he was another vital
Speaker 1: cog in the Patriots machine. He will be coming out
Speaker 1: of that tunnel. You guys will always have that and
Speaker 1: I believe it's later is back. He's you know, their
Speaker 1: core special teamer. But mccordy and high Tower retiring this
Speaker 1: offseason does feel like kind of okay, this is really
Speaker 1: the end of the last embers of the players that
Speaker 1: were there for the titles. Do they still have the
Speaker 1: like the old Yankees? Am I misremembering this as a kid?
Speaker 1: Like the old Yankees would come out and play like
Speaker 1: a squad verse squad game. Yes, slightly depressed, but they
Speaker 1: still is that they shelved that at this point or
Speaker 1: do they still bring like forty nine fifty five year
Speaker 1: old sixty two year old players out actual gray beards.
Speaker 1: They do. Yeah, they bring them out and they play
Speaker 1: like three innings. But you can do that in baseball,
Speaker 1: that's a nice thing. You can't nice. Try doing that
Speaker 1: in football pads Like, Yeah, the less said about that,
Speaker 1: the better that would be. All right. From one depressing,
Speaker 1: scary situation and to odds and ends. Connie. Oh god, okay,
Speaker 1: different kids. I don't know if I have another key,
Speaker 1: you have another key. It's any of the time. All right,
Speaker 1: let's go high three. Okay, I don't think I can
Speaker 1: go ends. Everybody tell your friends. Ends. Oh it was
Speaker 1: very good. But where was the when it's Colleen? Though?
Speaker 1: It really hasn't here. It's not ominous. It was really funny.
Speaker 1: It's happy. It's happy, as Greg said, I thought, because
Speaker 1: Colleen's here, it's like it's a little more pleasant. What
Speaker 1: is What are these conversations that I'm missing? There were
Speaker 1: now conversations. There was a synth there. You just didn't
Speaker 1: quite catch it. No, Dan's gonna have to talk to
Speaker 1: you after the show. Breakdown in communication. Uh, justin Graver,
Speaker 1: please report to the principal office. Doctor Hanzas will see you.
Speaker 1: I did send you a bunch of options and you
Speaker 1: never got back. It's good that that will be struck
Speaker 1: from the record though. All right, odds and ends here
Speaker 1: we go. Okay, do we do eight o'clock de light
Speaker 1: with odds and ends? Yeah? Yes, all right, hit it? Please.
Speaker 1: The Bills make a move, adding Damien Harris to their
Speaker 1: backfield former Patriot. Great move. A lot of juice. It
Speaker 1: was terrific two years ago. More on the Bills in
Speaker 1: a moment. Yeah, don't let it stop you from getting
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry Dante Fowler returns to the Cowboys, Connie, Oh,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh. Yeah, he did a great job last year.
Speaker 1: I think that he is going to be able to
Speaker 1: do a good one. Mark Michael Parsons to Marcus Lawrence,
Speaker 1: come on, let's go. Ronald Jones also there. I guess
Speaker 1: he replaces Zeke. Ben Roethlisberger claims the forty nineties contacted
Speaker 1: him last year. Mark, I mean they went after Jimmy Gee.
Speaker 1: They would asked about Tom Brady, they asked about Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers in years past, they pulled a trade for trade
Speaker 1: for Trey Lance. I think they probably don't know why
Speaker 1: the claimed it. We just assume that Ben Roths is
Speaker 1: lying on the radio about this. I think it a
Speaker 1: weird thing. You know why why because Greg wrote that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I know from early was Ben Roths proclaims the FOURT
Speaker 1: like why would you just come on? Aaron believes not
Speaker 1: that high octane of a thing to say, Like, so
Speaker 1: we're assuming you're coming from the place you think he's lyned.
Speaker 1: I think as journalists you want to have Devil two.
Speaker 1: Maybe if it's if it's a choice between Cam and Ben.
Speaker 1: The Pats bring back Jalen Mills eighty Goldman unretired to
Speaker 1: join the Falcons, Andrew van Ginkl returns to the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: Isaiah McKenny McKenzie joins Colts David Blau back with Cardinals.
Speaker 1: The blowhards us a chance to start I think week one.
Speaker 1: I don't know if Colt mcquib will be there. M
Speaker 1: I don't think he has a chance to start a
Speaker 1: week one. I mean, I hope not. Geez, you're right,
Speaker 1: Tyler Murray, who's not going to play for a month
Speaker 1: plus and you've just signed another quarterback a chance? Okay,
Speaker 1: that's fair. I guess I'm just trying to think week one.
Speaker 1: That is a tough sitch. Yeah, unless you're trying to
Speaker 1: go unless you're doing the old desert tank job. What
Speaker 1: is it? And what is the old? Uh? You learned
Speaker 1: it in journalism class, Greg going muck raker. They would
Speaker 1: put out like actual newspapers of like you know, yellow journalists,
Speaker 1: yellow journalists. All right, are you ready, let's take a break,
Speaker 1: get some power Rankings. All right, well come back, you're ready, ready,
Speaker 1: let's go. I've never been more. Let's let's let's rush
Speaker 1: and doll this bit. All right? Go? What hey? Welcome
Speaker 1: to NFL Power rank Is presented by Energizer. Is that
Speaker 1: what we're doing? Yeah? Well, I don't know if we
Speaker 1: needed the presenting sponsor, but sure batteries with Colleen Wolf
Speaker 1: and two very special guests today, Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler.
Speaker 1: What's up. It's a pleasure to be here on your
Speaker 1: guys weekly periodic pod about the Power Rankings recreg Yeah,
Speaker 1: what took so long to ask us? I think it's
Speaker 1: important to set boundaries. You know, I didn't think you
Speaker 1: guys would want to be coming in for a Tuesday
Speaker 1: Power Ranking stamping and then do what Connie and I did,
Speaker 1: which is a turnaround and drill a Tuesday around the
Speaker 1: NFL taping by that take at all, But we'll proceed
Speaker 1: forward with the today's show. Also, I've heard Mike Flame
Speaker 1: mister F might be available for an offseason sponsorship. He
Speaker 1: let me know personally. He's an expert in escra hester.
Speaker 1: We've always wondered about mister F and what his true
Speaker 1: background is, where he gained immens wealth and traveling the
Speaker 1: world still in the Hague. He is literally a math
Speaker 1: genius from Hague, the Netherlands, so knowing Escrow wouldn't be
Speaker 1: that far out of bounds. He's now in Maine. It's true.
Speaker 1: It's all math to him, so he's in exactly, it
Speaker 1: put him on retainer, so he's an Escrow math genius.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know he'sn't genius enough to be teaching,
Speaker 1: you know, hungry high school students about economics and math
Speaker 1: and mathematical. He's laughing at this because he's like, Escrow's
Speaker 1: not complicated, and of our listeners are like, who's mister
Speaker 1: f Go back to season by all right? Power Rankings. Yes,
Speaker 1: there's a new power rankings up written by me on
Speaker 1: NFL dot com. You can find at NFL dot com
Speaker 1: slash power Rankings or NFL dot com slash hands us.
Speaker 1: And yes it's a an assignment. Did you ever get
Speaker 1: assigned by the way Mark the QB index post free
Speaker 1: agency post free agency? Yeah, I have not, and I
Speaker 1: would rather you not bring that up, as you have
Speaker 1: to say though, because I was thinking about why why not?
Speaker 1: Like I don't think it makes as much sense for
Speaker 1: QB index scenes changed, like what why why are we
Speaker 1: putting like Ryan Tannehill in terms of its own personal
Speaker 1: performance since it did it four weeks. If I could
Speaker 1: let me just say, like if Ali he's not going
Speaker 1: to these teams, these players, the quarterbacks that have switched teams,
Speaker 1: they change schemes, UH playmakers around them, I think maybe
Speaker 1: a pretty thorough deep dive about their new UM arrangements,
Speaker 1: how it could change where they fit UM in the
Speaker 1: league as as a whole. I think it's worth it
Speaker 1: well right because QB Index isn't just a ranking, and
Speaker 1: it's like a culture, it's a way of life. And
Speaker 1: in the off season sometimes when you don't do the rankings,
Speaker 1: you can still have interesting looks at the QB market.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of time about I don't entirely disagree
Speaker 1: with the concept. I don't know why the two of
Speaker 1: you are trying to take us, you know, a week
Speaker 1: day of mine and completely wash it aside. Like where
Speaker 1: did Patrick Mahomes finish number one? Okay, no left tackle?
Speaker 1: Right now? You lose Juju Smith Schuster. I mean I
Speaker 1: would assume he's probably still number one, but let's discuss it.
Speaker 1: Let's break it down nine. All right, let's get into it,
Speaker 1: because I did have to do this assignment and which
Speaker 1: makes entirely more sense. Yes, it does, it really does.
Speaker 1: Such it feel more urgency on that front then, So
Speaker 1: let's kind of go through it already. It's not me
Speaker 1: from today. If you're trapped in your car, if I
Speaker 1: hope you're not trapped in your car right now, I
Speaker 1: call the authority, yeah, to help you get you if
Speaker 1: you could reach to the on star button if you're
Speaker 1: in danger, if you still have that is that still exists.
Speaker 1: Here's the top ten and kind of connected again to
Speaker 1: Mark's QB index. I have the Chiefs at one, Eagles
Speaker 1: they stay there. I got the Bengals still at three,
Speaker 1: the Bills at four, the Niners at five. They swapped spots.
Speaker 1: I don't know why. The Cowboys six, Jaguars, seven Chargers, eight,
Speaker 1: board Jets, nine Dolphins. Ten. So there's the top ten,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna you guys can jump in whenever. I
Speaker 1: kind of went through it, and I just wanted to
Speaker 1: share some thoughts, and I'll start with the Bills because
Speaker 1: we hit it quickly there in eight o'clock to light,
Speaker 1: and I think I knew your answer, Mark, But I
Speaker 1: like Damien Harris. I've always liked Damien Harris, and so
Speaker 1: I think he's an upgrade over Devin Singletary. But Connie,
Speaker 1: do you think that they still need to do more
Speaker 1: to help that quarterback or would you be okay with
Speaker 1: them rolling forward with this and some draft adjustments. I
Speaker 1: kind of kept them where they were basically because I
Speaker 1: feel okay about it. But at the same time, it
Speaker 1: did seem to me like this is gonna be a
Speaker 1: missed opportunities to such a pivotal year for Buffalo. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't love what they've done so far in free
Speaker 1: agency because they haven't done a lot here. I think
Speaker 1: that they do need to help out Josh Allen. Obviously,
Speaker 1: that offensive line was an issue at the end of
Speaker 1: the year too, so that's something that you know needs
Speaker 1: to needs to be figured out. But you know, I
Speaker 1: like the fact that they kept Jordan Poyer. Losing Edmonds though,
Speaker 1: is such a big one for them, and I think
Speaker 1: that's going to come back to bite them, like I'd struggle.
Speaker 1: And I know, first of all, I know when you're
Speaker 1: doing the list, it's like this stuff gets into a
Speaker 1: different place and it's not because you're using some deepest
Speaker 1: mathematical formult But they were, they were five in they're
Speaker 1: now four and like the Niners lost some guys, but
Speaker 1: they didn't tangibly change to me, and so my thing
Speaker 1: is more not about where they're ranked. But it's like
Speaker 1: you mentioned DeAndre Hopkins, I think would be that's a
Speaker 1: good fit for Buffalo. It's like, go get him now,
Speaker 1: he's got a couple of seasons left. You've got one
Speaker 1: of the best quarterbacks in the league. You can pair
Speaker 1: him with the rest of that offense. Austin Ekeler you mentioned,
Speaker 1: that's a great idea, like someone or if you want
Speaker 1: to go Derek Henry. It's like if you're the Bills
Speaker 1: and you've been this quiet and you're not going all
Speaker 1: in and you're saying the roster we had last year
Speaker 1: is good enough, when again, like this is a team
Speaker 1: that's not suffered the devastating injuries that other teams have.
Speaker 1: They've relatively had on defense, maybe at on offense, that
Speaker 1: offense has been relatively healthy. And is this the best
Speaker 1: team in the AFC like we presumed a year ago.
Speaker 1: I don't think so at all. But I think they
Speaker 1: deserve to stay in the top five because they've earned it.
Speaker 1: They have continuity on defense. I think they're gonna miss
Speaker 1: Leslie Frasier. That was a sneaky, big loss to suddenly
Speaker 1: that McDermott maybe is calling plays again. They have more
Speaker 1: needs than they've had in previous years. I expect them
Speaker 1: to get creative and do more. It doesn't surprise me
Speaker 1: that they're kind of second wave of free agency team
Speaker 1: because they didn't have a ton of cap space. But
Speaker 1: to answer your question, Dan, no, they haven't done enough.
Speaker 1: They got issues at receiver, they got issues on their
Speaker 1: offensive line. Now they got to replace Edmonds. Keeping Poyer
Speaker 1: was nice, But I think they're going into this part
Speaker 1: of the season with a little more obvious knee than
Speaker 1: usual that they're gonna have to address creatively or in
Speaker 1: the draft. They signed Connor recovering on the offensive line,
Speaker 1: but like, I think they still need more help beyond that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just are they going in the right direction. Like
Speaker 1: I said, they gotta get they gotta get over the
Speaker 1: hump this year and you know we'll see um. Yeah
Speaker 1: with San Francisco Mark, that's just more like my kind
Speaker 1: of takeaway. I was thinking about, like, do we feel
Speaker 1: better or worse or about the same with our quarterback
Speaker 1: situation this year. I love that, you know, I was.
Speaker 1: I didn't mention them as a winner with Barnwell the
Speaker 1: other day, but like you know, fortifying that defensive line again,
Speaker 1: which has been such a big part of what they
Speaker 1: do m was very important. So they did that in
Speaker 1: free agency. But we shall see. I want to go
Speaker 1: to some tough ones. Tough ones the Chargers at eight,
Speaker 1: and I was thinking, like, should the Chargers be dropped
Speaker 1: out of the top ten? I don't know, Like I
Speaker 1: think there's some of that twenty seven zilch stink from
Speaker 1: the playoffs that that I'm dealing with personally. And Austin
Speaker 1: Eckler came out and said he's still wants to be
Speaker 1: a Charger if they could get a deal done. So
Speaker 1: maybe that's not over at this point. But they's just
Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe it's just a bad vibe situation.
Speaker 1: When la do you guys see them as a top
Speaker 1: time I think it's a bad vibe thing right now,
Speaker 1: Like it's they need they need more speed at the
Speaker 1: wide receiver position, for sure. I know that they need
Speaker 1: some help on the edge too, but it just feels like,
Speaker 1: no matter what happens with the Chargers, they still can't
Speaker 1: get it done. And then when you have Austin Eckler
Speaker 1: who's trying to get paid and he's such a good
Speaker 1: player and that whole situation, I just like don't feel
Speaker 1: great about the Chargers. Yeah, I feel like it's two
Speaker 1: years in a row where you're left like the Brandon
Speaker 1: Still experience, had these early high moments where he was
Speaker 1: lord of seen as a genius, that a great communicator,
Speaker 1: and then like that Raiders lost two years ago was
Speaker 1: ugly from a coaching angle, and last year to lose
Speaker 1: the way they did is just like his whole selling
Speaker 1: point when he came in his early Q and A's
Speaker 1: was like, I don't even understand what it means to Charger.
Speaker 1: This is not that culture, and it's like, but you
Speaker 1: just it's not just you, but the whole team collectively
Speaker 1: did the biggest version of that ever and they haven't
Speaker 1: had a lot of ability to do much in this offseason,
Speaker 1: so they've stayed put outside of the Austin Ekeler news.
Speaker 1: For me, when I see the Jaguars at seven and
Speaker 1: Chargers to date, it just tells me how quickly the
Speaker 1: league drops off from teams that you could trust to
Speaker 1: make an AFC or NFC title game to absolute middle
Speaker 1: of the pack everyone else. Right, I think, I think
Speaker 1: you have the right top five, and the Cowboys make
Speaker 1: sense as six. I think they've had a solid offseason
Speaker 1: so far and they've just got so much talent. And
Speaker 1: then after that, like you could pick almost any team,
Speaker 1: the Jaguars were the ones that stuck out to me
Speaker 1: the most. Is like, wow, seventh best team in the league.
Speaker 1: A lot went right for them a year ago. They
Speaker 1: do have Trevor Lawrence, but I guess I'm not ready
Speaker 1: to put Trevor Lawrence with Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: and those quarterbacks just yeah, because I just want to
Speaker 1: see it like a little bit more, And I guess
Speaker 1: I'm not just assuming that they are a house on
Speaker 1: fire that starts right where they were a year ago.
Speaker 1: It's nice they're in that division. They couldn't do as
Speaker 1: much spending obviously this year because what they did last offseason,
Speaker 1: but the Ridley trade. When you add Ridley to the
Speaker 1: rest of the guys that are there, kurg z A Jones,
Speaker 1: Evan Ingram, Travis Etienne and Lawrence in year three? Who
Speaker 1: now has mojo right? He's he would be a buzzy MVP.
Speaker 1: I don't have a logical candidate for who then even
Speaker 1: would be ahead of them at seven. You can make
Speaker 1: a million cases like the Ravens to me are low
Speaker 1: at thirteen, but that's because they're the Ravens in Lowa.
Speaker 1: Marthing confuses everything I might I might put those Detroit
Speaker 1: lines up at seven, Why why drop them two spots? Like?
Speaker 1: I love what they did adding to the secondary. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I bumped and this Connie. You'll remember with the AFC
Speaker 1: West last year, they were the darlings. They opened Week
Speaker 1: one three teams in AFC West in the top ten,
Speaker 1: and two of them UM flatlined more or less. And
Speaker 1: so it's this year it's the Jets and Dolphins, who
Speaker 1: I just think UM have a lot of upside this
Speaker 1: year and there's a lot of you know, positive buzz
Speaker 1: right now, and that's what I'm writing in and I
Speaker 1: just it makes sense to me that they have top
Speaker 1: ten team upside, and I guess it comes at the
Speaker 1: expense of the Lions, But I mean I have them
Speaker 1: from nine to eleven. I still I love the lines.
Speaker 1: I love what they've done in the secondary with Sutton
Speaker 1: Mosley and Cegju. That is a big upgrade, and I
Speaker 1: guess they still need to get a little better in
Speaker 1: the in the front seven. Is the defense? Can you
Speaker 1: trust the defense at this point beyond Aidan Hutchinson. They
Speaker 1: they thought they had great depth last year and it
Speaker 1: didn't quite work out that way. They played better as
Speaker 1: the season went along. But I like that the aggressively
Speaker 1: addressed one issue. The offense is in good shape. But
Speaker 1: you're kind of just picking your favorite teams here. I
Speaker 1: probably would have put the Jets, the Dolphins, and I
Speaker 1: would put the Lions all those guys ahead of the
Speaker 1: Jags and Chargers for now. I would have maybe bumped
Speaker 1: up the Saints a little higher. I kind of Barrett
Speaker 1: twenty two, and then you have the Browns at twenty one,
Speaker 1: the Rams at twenty the Rams there, Um, okay, so
Speaker 1: let's let's start with the Saints then, because that was
Speaker 1: one of the teams. Kind of you're on the right track, Hey,
Speaker 1: that was one of the teams. When I was going
Speaker 1: through it again, I was like, you know what, I
Speaker 1: think I like the Saints more than I'm giving them
Speaker 1: credit in these rankings because UM. Their defense obviously was
Speaker 1: not the issue last year. UM. In fact, the Saints
Speaker 1: defense were eighth and total dvo A last year they
Speaker 1: were third and waited dvoa UM. And then you look
Speaker 1: at the offense and like, the offense has got a
Speaker 1: chance here, So you got Derek Carr. Michael Thomas is
Speaker 1: such a huge piece here and a part of the
Speaker 1: mystery around this offense. But Alava and Thomas on the
Speaker 1: surface is one of the better pairings of wide receivers
Speaker 1: in the league. Jawan Johnson could be a Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: type player. Jamal Williams now is there and he's better
Speaker 1: than mark Ingram at the stage, and he also gives
Speaker 1: them cover if Albun kamaram. This is a bunch of
Speaker 1: time with this off off the field issue. So I
Speaker 1: think they're going to score points and I think the
Speaker 1: defense should be Maybe does the defense take a step back?
Speaker 1: Is that the concern because this does seem like a
Speaker 1: team that can win ten games. I agree, but they're
Speaker 1: asking Dennis Allen to cook some magic in that defensive line.
Speaker 1: It's basically Cam Jordan in a lot of like who
Speaker 1: They did lose some players including Marcus Davenport, David on
Speaker 1: Yamada and brought in guys Kaylin Saunders and Nathan Shephard.
Speaker 1: We haven't talked about these movies, but these were guys
Speaker 1: that were like three hundred, four hundred, okay snaps for
Speaker 1: other teams that the Saints are going to ask to
Speaker 1: do a little bit more. Twenty two feels low though.
Speaker 1: They feel very much like a middle of the road,
Speaker 1: closer to sixteen type of team. I mean, I'm struggling
Speaker 1: with a couple things like come get my ass. I
Speaker 1: spent we spent all this time listening to each other talk.
Speaker 1: And you've been off Atlanta Falcons for two years and
Speaker 1: I've always thought that, like, if anything, Arthur Smith, Arthur
Speaker 1: Smith has gotten into a better record than they should
Speaker 1: have had. They were seven and ten a year ago. Imperfect,
Speaker 1: but he found a way to coach around some of
Speaker 1: their weaknesses. Is they're not the twenty seventh team in
Speaker 1: the NFL to me right now, after what they they've
Speaker 1: they've at least gone for it. I mean, if if
Speaker 1: you're gonna take the Jets without even having Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: yet and propel them up seven spots, I see what
Speaker 1: you're doing. They're like, it's well set, but like, I
Speaker 1: don't understand the Jets as the seventh best or the
Speaker 1: ninth best team in football and the Falcons at twenty seven.
Speaker 1: Jets have to do with the Falcons though, because I
Speaker 1: don't see a that disparity there, like that difference. I
Speaker 1: just think that there's I think, Okay, I Dan, I
Speaker 1: know you're not gonna want I don't see the Jets
Speaker 1: as the ninth best team yet I want to see
Speaker 1: the back because I thought we we breeze past that
Speaker 1: a little. But it's like that wasn't all Tell me audacious,
Speaker 1: and I'm totally down to hear it. Tell me um.
Speaker 1: And maybe it's as simple as you don't think Gan
Speaker 1: Rodgers can play anymore? But what makes the Jets not
Speaker 1: a team that is least? In that conversation, I think
Speaker 1: number one, I would flip the Dolphins and Jets to start.
Speaker 1: We have the Jets at ten, I can look at that.
Speaker 1: I'd flip them with the Lions though, and put them
Speaker 1: down at eleven. And we're talking about a giant team
Speaker 1: that just made the playoffs that I think is really
Speaker 1: well coached. I think the Jets are well coached too.
Speaker 1: I think you are hoping and presuming that you're probably
Speaker 1: gonna get one year where Aaron Rodgers, that you get
Speaker 1: a plugged in, much better version, right. But with the Ravens,
Speaker 1: they're getting dropped because they don't have Lamar Jackson right now,
Speaker 1: and we don't know what's going to happen there, right
Speaker 1: amongst other things. I mean, the Ravens to me, like,
Speaker 1: I think we're assuming we know what's going to happen
Speaker 1: with Aaron Rodgers, right, but I don't know. I just
Speaker 1: feel to me, I guess as a as a stung
Speaker 1: Browns fan, this offseason reminds me of the offseason where
Speaker 1: they traded for Odell Beckham and they were being talked
Speaker 1: about as this thing that's just going to develop and happen,
Speaker 1: and there are a lot of X factors that can
Speaker 1: get in the way of that. And it has not
Speaker 1: appeared to me to be a put in. Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: about to turn forty in a new city, in a
Speaker 1: new like it won't be a new offense, but with
Speaker 1: all new teammates, we don't know how long this is
Speaker 1: going to go on. If he's going to actually miss
Speaker 1: the entire offseason, plug him in, and they're essentially the
Speaker 1: fourth best team in the AFC for you, as my friend,
Speaker 1: I hope that I don't see that right now. I
Speaker 1: need to see more path of that of that. Dude.
Speaker 1: Everything you're saying makes sense, Mark, Everything you're saying makes sense.
Speaker 1: There there is two ways this can go. I don't
Speaker 1: think there's a middle. I think they can be very
Speaker 1: competitive and be a major player in the AFC, or
Speaker 1: things can go very poorly with Aaron Rodgers. I think
Speaker 1: the reason I have them here is there is a
Speaker 1: lot of upside here and at this portion of the rankings,
Speaker 1: and also when you look at the other AFC contenders,
Speaker 1: I think they're they have the potential to be better
Speaker 1: than any of those teams. And I, you know, pointedly
Speaker 1: have them beneath the Jaguars and Chargers, but they're right there.
Speaker 1: I just think when you look at Rogers, and this
Speaker 1: is what a lot of this is about. Their defense
Speaker 1: is ready to go. We know that that that's going
Speaker 1: to be that's going to be a strength of this team.
Speaker 1: And I think they have in Garrett Wilson, Alan Lazard
Speaker 1: and Elijah More a really good trio. I think Elijah
Speaker 1: More with a actual core back, there's still a big
Speaker 1: time player there potentially, Okay. I think Breece Hall comes
Speaker 1: back from that injury. If he comes back, okay, And
Speaker 1: again these are ifs. He could be a star running back.
Speaker 1: The offensive line is going to be better, They're gonna
Speaker 1: use their draft to build it better, They're gonna get healthier.
Speaker 1: And I think you put those things together, there's just
Speaker 1: a lot pointing to this being a good team. And
Speaker 1: I guess my pushback to you on that mark would be,
Speaker 1: where would you have the Jets in this exercise? Who
Speaker 1: else in the AFC, for instance, should be Well? I said,
Speaker 1: I would put them first of all, I besides the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: all right, So I'd flip them with the Dolphins. I'd
Speaker 1: flip them with the Lions, so they'd be down at eleven.
Speaker 1: I might have them above the Giants. But I still
Speaker 1: I look at the Seahawks at fourteen and say, I
Speaker 1: think the Seahawks, after what they achieved a year ago,
Speaker 1: that feels low to me. I think the Seahawks have
Speaker 1: showed me more than the Jets right now. The Jets
Speaker 1: do have all these things, but like last year, they
Speaker 1: had a lot of those things too. They had terrible
Speaker 1: quarterback play, but they complete, that's what it's about. But
Speaker 1: they completely crumble down the stretch. That's part of your
Speaker 1: DNA as a team. Were the Seahawks who a year ago,
Speaker 1: I don't know where they were in these power rankings,
Speaker 1: but we were laughing at the idea of Geno Smith
Speaker 1: and Drew Locke and fill in the blank doing anything
Speaker 1: and they make the playoffs because because that because of
Speaker 1: that organization. So it's the Jets are selling us a
Speaker 1: massive organizational see change. That's cool now, but it's like,
Speaker 1: you know is better than anyone. It's like when we
Speaker 1: hit when we get to October November, it could look
Speaker 1: completely different. So it's just you feel to me last week,
Speaker 1: were you when I was talking about how I understand
Speaker 1: there could be reasons to be negative and the history
Speaker 1: is tortured. None of that actually matters. Like what matters
Speaker 1: when the games kick off on the field. I think
Speaker 1: there's an organizational trust, especially from ownership, that things that
Speaker 1: when things go wrong and there's always gonna be some
Speaker 1: adversity during the season, that they are they an organization
Speaker 1: that's going to handle it. While like you hope it's
Speaker 1: different with this coach and GM and everything and they're
Speaker 1: more important than ownership. But there is something in me
Speaker 1: that like looks at Ravens and looks at Jet and like,
Speaker 1: if they're close, I'd probably just give the edge of
Speaker 1: the Ravens. And they're the Ravens. And I'm not pitching
Speaker 1: this disastrous scenario either. You had them at sixteen at
Speaker 1: the end of the season. The Rodgers thing is nice.
Speaker 1: All I'm saying is I Seahawks, Lions, Dolphins above the
Speaker 1: Jets for me, right now, they're sitting down around thirteen fourteen.
Speaker 1: There's promise and we'll let's go. Or you would have
Speaker 1: them at thirteen and fourteen maybe okay, so not that
Speaker 1: far off. It's not that far off. But to vault
Speaker 1: the Jets into the top ten in this kind of
Speaker 1: exercise is a headline grabbing move, Colleen. These guys once
Speaker 1: hosted the Debate Club together. We're sitting here, as you
Speaker 1: don't say, bystanders. I just want to say this because
Speaker 1: the one thing that does annoy me is when people
Speaker 1: twist this stuff. No one knows this has a chance
Speaker 1: to go terribly more than I do. Do not think.
Speaker 1: I think this means I'm certain the Jets are going
Speaker 1: to be great. This is a projection of what they
Speaker 1: could be. And if if Aaron Rodgers is there unhealthy,
Speaker 1: you want to their potentially never you're not like this one,
Speaker 1: students say, I am. I'm out here saying there's no
Speaker 1: way the Jets aren't going to be awesome this year
Speaker 1: the exercize they're ranked ninth. So that's why we're discussing
Speaker 1: it now. It makes sense to me there's a borderline
Speaker 1: playoff team or like sort of lower and plaything, which
Speaker 1: which sounds about right to me. I'd probably have him
Speaker 1: eleventh or something, but that sounds their tent. But that
Speaker 1: sounds about right that one of the teams in the middle.
Speaker 1: That shocked me the first of all. I might have
Speaker 1: the Vikings not in the top twenty two or something.
Speaker 1: Oh you know what's funny before we go to your thing,
Speaker 1: because that in terms of on social media, after I
Speaker 1: posted this on Twitter, the heat I was getting over
Speaker 1: Vikings fans that were annoyed with me that I have
Speaker 1: them at sixteen. Vikings fans not annoyed with you. Well,
Speaker 1: they do the same with Kirk Cousins. They want them
Speaker 1: rank fit QB. Now I'm ready to reset. They just
Speaker 1: feel like a rebuilding type of team. I think they're
Speaker 1: gonna there's a decent chance. They saw on Mock Draft
Speaker 1: Live back on NFL Network hosted by for Tuesday, DJ
Speaker 1: put Hendon Hooker, the twenty five year old quarterback prospect
Speaker 1: who's coming off an injury with Minnesota in the first round.
Speaker 1: So I think they could be like using a quarterback
Speaker 1: on the first round pick. It just feels like a transition.
Speaker 1: Carolina at eighteen was as surprising as almost any team
Speaker 1: months entire list. I mean, I know they have some
Speaker 1: players on their defense, and they do have the number
Speaker 1: one pick coming, but I just feel like they're like
Speaker 1: a bottom five or six team in the in the
Speaker 1: NFL at this point. They lost their receiver Djork Like
Speaker 1: it's just a bad it's not a great group. I
Speaker 1: know their offensive line played pretty well. I like Frank
Speaker 1: Reich in general, but just feels like they're kind of
Speaker 1: a team that's that's starting from scratch. We'll see how
Speaker 1: the number one pick plays. Maybe he'll be awesome right
Speaker 1: off the bat, but it's a lot too expeact. No
Speaker 1: that and that's not part of my projection is not
Speaker 1: about the number one pick really, but going back to
Speaker 1: the Falcons. Now, Yeah, you could definitely make a case
Speaker 1: they shouldn't be separated by ten spots. I just like
Speaker 1: I see the Panthers of a team that's going for it,
Speaker 1: and they're being aggressive this offseason, and they're making a
Speaker 1: bunch of moves and they're going for the quarterback they've
Speaker 1: they've wanted and they're going to get the guy they
Speaker 1: own the draft right now. And I see the Falcons
Speaker 1: as a team that's just you know, we talk about
Speaker 1: the Saints or they're okay with going nine and eight,
Speaker 1: Like what are the Falcons trying to do? Like they're
Speaker 1: just gonna in year three of Arthur Smith. They're just
Speaker 1: gonna turn it over to Desmond Ritter and Taylor Heineke,
Speaker 1: And I'm supposed to get excited about that. I just
Speaker 1: their ranking is about me, And you know, I write
Speaker 1: it so like maybe it's not the most analytical breakdown,
Speaker 1: but it's like what team is more kind of lost
Speaker 1: in the midst than than the Falcons? To me? I
Speaker 1: mean not many you could from the quarterback angle. They
Speaker 1: believe in Desmond Ritter if they stick with him, way
Speaker 1: more than you do, and way more than a lot
Speaker 1: of people do. That's fair, but they've been as aggressive
Speaker 1: as any team out there to try to improve both
Speaker 1: sides of the roster. Bringing Jesse Bates was good, but
Speaker 1: I just don't feel like the Falcons have a ton
Speaker 1: of Jews. Also, I want to know, like, what are
Speaker 1: some of these other regrets that you have with Let's
Speaker 1: let's go through that because the whole episode once we
Speaker 1: should remember we regrets. I have the Commanders too low,
Speaker 1: and I think that's like, if the Giants are twelve,
Speaker 1: the Commanders can't be twenty nine. I was annoyed about that,
Speaker 1: but also I think some of that is like I
Speaker 1: feel like the organization is just trapped in purgatory until
Speaker 1: they figure out this ownership thing. So I'm just kind
Speaker 1: of don't you feel like when you're doing this lists too,
Speaker 1: it's like, crap, what someone's got to be between there's
Speaker 1: very little separating like twelve, wow, that's also to them
Speaker 1: down on the Giants, but very little separating twelve you know,
Speaker 1: to fifteen and like some of the mid twenties teams,
Speaker 1: but like the Giants is to cycle back to them.
Speaker 1: Like the reason why I have the Jets above the
Speaker 1: Giants is a lot of this, especially this timing of
Speaker 1: power rankings is like kind of a projection. I just
Speaker 1: think the Jets have a higher ceiling than the Giants
Speaker 1: right now. So that's why I have them ahead, and
Speaker 1: I guess they if I could do it again, maybe
Speaker 1: the Giants are down a couple spots in then the
Speaker 1: Washington Commanders are up about three or four or five spots.
Speaker 1: But that was probably the big one that stuck out
Speaker 1: to me. Go ahead, Greg, I'm been surprised that the
Speaker 1: Packers are still I just have a feeling this is
Speaker 1: gonna be one, you know, my one of my takes
Speaker 1: that we end up repeating for five months because ways
Speaker 1: to go. But I think the Packers were incredibly unlucky
Speaker 1: last year in terms of the close games that they lost,
Speaker 1: some of the injuries that they had. Certainly I think
Speaker 1: I'm giving Lafleur some credit and their front office some
Speaker 1: credit for winning thirteen games three straight years. I'm taking
Speaker 1: into account Aaron Rodgers wasn't peak Aaron Rodgers last year,
Speaker 1: and I'm taking layer evaluation of Jordan Love into account,
Speaker 1: and I'm thinking, like, if I look as a Lions fan,
Speaker 1: now that's what we all are, like, who are the
Speaker 1: Who's the team I'm worried about. In the NFC North,
Speaker 1: it's still the Packers. Like if you told me the
Speaker 1: Packers come out this year and they go eleven and
Speaker 1: six and they've still got a lot of good players
Speaker 1: on the roster, that wouldn't shock me at all. And
Speaker 1: that's the organization of the coming down right now in
Speaker 1: the NFC North. It's so early, But my guests would
Speaker 1: be Detroit would be a slight favorite over Green Bay
Speaker 1: and Minnesota. How about that? Vikings fans are gonna come
Speaker 1: after you now. I think I think the Packers they
Speaker 1: haven't done anything, which is very annoying. Like if I'm
Speaker 1: a Packers fan, why aren't you signing Dalton Saults? Like
Speaker 1: you have no one it right? Tight end? Like you
Speaker 1: haven't you? Just I know they'll do something eventually. But
Speaker 1: there's some there's some pieces there that you like a
Speaker 1: lot in terms of both sides of the ball. Really
Speaker 1: and you know the Ravens at number thirteen, which Connie is,
Speaker 1: we know number thirteen? What is number thirteen? It's like
Speaker 1: the twilight Zone. Yeah, it's like the team that I
Speaker 1: don't know what to do with them. They kind of
Speaker 1: confuse me. It's hard to figure it out because so
Speaker 1: I kind of just slap them at thirteen and move
Speaker 1: on with my life. And like the Ravens, the reason
Speaker 1: why they're they're perfect thirteen and why they're they're outside
Speaker 1: the top ten is because, yeah, maybe Lamar's back, maybe
Speaker 1: is not. It's probably still leaning more towards that he's
Speaker 1: not back, But I don't know. This may be one
Speaker 1: of the rare times where they think they belong at thirteen.
Speaker 1: They don't know what great what's going on. But because
Speaker 1: of the Lamar thing, and maybe not because of some
Speaker 1: of their moves in recent years, I just feel like
Speaker 1: the whole organization is is fro because remember even when
Speaker 1: Lamar was there last year, and I know they changed
Speaker 1: the play caller and all that, but like the offense
Speaker 1: wasn't so hot after the first couple of weeks, and
Speaker 1: they it was very clear like we need to like
Speaker 1: build around this quarterback. We need to add some more weapons,
Speaker 1: give him a chance to develop it as a pastor
Speaker 1: Is that happening right now? They haven't able to do anything.
Speaker 1: Where is the forward momentum of the Baltimore Ravens. And
Speaker 1: that's why I couldn't. I couldn't have him in the
Speaker 1: top ten. That's why I have him behind the Dolphins
Speaker 1: and the Jets and the Charges and the Jaguars because
Speaker 1: I can't. Usually I would just plug that that's a
Speaker 1: top ten team in this exercise last in recent years,
Speaker 1: this time of year. But I can't do it right
Speaker 1: now because I don't know what they're doing. I say,
Speaker 1: one of the thing for them that is this sort
Speaker 1: of raging X factors. You went out and got Todd
Speaker 1: Munkin as your offensive coordinator, and they're actually like probably
Speaker 1: having him go look at quarterbacks you like in the
Speaker 1: draft that we can get somewhere, because this is a
Speaker 1: guy that right now you're in the deep shadows trying
Speaker 1: to figure out a completely new offense. You're moving away
Speaker 1: from Greg Roman, away from Lamar Jackson Central potentially, Like
Speaker 1: that's not a good set up because it seems like
Speaker 1: we're a billion ways years away from the season, not
Speaker 1: in this not with this kind of stuff where you're like,
Speaker 1: what do the Ravens even look like on offense? To
Speaker 1: our parts, to our players even fit the drafts, Like
Speaker 1: four weeks away, they lost Bend Powers, they cut Klas Campbell,
Speaker 1: who is visiting with the Falcons. They just had those
Speaker 1: those veterans that Okay, it makes sense, you're not going
Speaker 1: to keep them forever. We'll see if any of them
Speaker 1: come back. But they were kind of key pieces for
Speaker 1: their team last year, justin Houston, Marcus Peters, even a
Speaker 1: JPP who came in late. Like, I'm not worried about that,
Speaker 1: but they just feel like they have a lot more
Speaker 1: moves to go. And when Devin Duvernet is still your
Speaker 1: number two, it is a little concerning. They seem to
Speaker 1: me like the most likely Hopkins. They haven't made any
Speaker 1: feel like they feel that feels right right, just because
Speaker 1: I mean, and I guess I don't know, does he
Speaker 1: have a no trade clause or anything? Like why would
Speaker 1: Hopkins want to go there right now? I don't see what.
Speaker 1: Oh no, that might be part of it too, that
Speaker 1: it's like what offense are we going to build? We
Speaker 1: have to find out who our quarterback is too. There's
Speaker 1: got to be like we talk about like they talk
Speaker 1: about like, um here, what are the Jets gonna do
Speaker 1: if Aaron Rodgers doesn't go there? Like what are the
Speaker 1: Ravens gonna do if Lamar Jackson's there. What is their
Speaker 1: backup plan right now? What is their plan if he's
Speaker 1: not there? Yeah, like the first round picks and you
Speaker 1: can like tr the quarterback, have a little McCorkle jones,
Speaker 1: let's go, let's go, let's give it to you, and
Speaker 1: that from the Tokyo Swallows. All right, there you go.
Speaker 1: Any other I think we covered it pretty well there.
Speaker 1: Just a mccorkill for Lamar straight up, you know, challenge
Speaker 1: trade that's suppressing. All right, good stuff, great job anything else,
Speaker 1: anything else anyone wants to share. Talking into a microphone
Speaker 1: being opportunity for all everyone in the room right now,
Speaker 1: justin you as well. Thanks Dan. I have nothing night
Speaker 1: right now, but I need to have bigger heads up
Speaker 1: to think of things to say. God bless you. All right,
Speaker 1: let's go, I mean unless somebody had something. Oh we're
Speaker 1: going out with the outra. I don't hate this song.
Speaker 1: It's a good song. You know, it's a banger. Gets
Speaker 1: me ready for more power rankings. All right, we're gonna
Speaker 1: be back with one more show this week. Connie, Thank you,
Speaker 1: you said it all of course, anytime until next time.
Speaker 1: Heed the call.