Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast is floating on a dark la.
Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hans is coming to you from
Speaker 1: a virtual room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal,
Speaker 1: What is up? Boys? Big day? You know, last day
Speaker 1: we uh we see the Texas backdrop for you, and
Speaker 1: the first day we welcome in Brian Baldinger to the show. So,
Speaker 1: I mean what, it's a big show. It's a big show. Frankly,
Speaker 1: I really like to allow Greg to make the opening
Speaker 1: comment because it's a total dice roll on how it's
Speaker 1: gonna go. And I thought you did a nice job there, Greg,
Speaker 1: I myself would not want the responsibility. We definitely miss
Speaker 1: Chris Wesley increasingly. We definitely have had Baldy on our
Speaker 1: show in some capacity now, whether it's been on the podcast,
Speaker 1: Twitter show. Actually he appeared on our Twitter show and
Speaker 1: um and it was actually a Chris wesleyan kind of
Speaker 1: run segment where he broke down some film with us
Speaker 1: some degree. So Greg, do you want to take a
Speaker 1: second shot. I mean, this is the podcast. Those shows,
Speaker 1: those are blasted off into the sun. I don't know
Speaker 1: if he's been on our podcast. I don't think so,
Speaker 1: because I just feel like I would remember him in
Speaker 1: the studio, and we almost never did. You would definitely
Speaker 1: remember Greg, There's no little bit, no question. Guy's got
Speaker 1: a memory of a goldfish, all right. And just just
Speaker 1: a little bit of internal housekeeping here, Mark Sessler, you
Speaker 1: are not allowed to opt out of this podcast doctor's
Speaker 1: note or no, you're here? I mean if you were to, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, what is our equivalent of a hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty dollars off like a star NFL's contract twenty six
Speaker 1: bucks or something. I don't. I don't. There's no option
Speaker 1: to not be here. I am here, here, I am.
Speaker 1: It's actually a good question. Let's say I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: throw a random number out there. I mean, we're making
Speaker 1: close to league minimum, I would imagine, so you'd have
Speaker 1: you're not. Maybe the star player comparison doesn't work. You opted, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that would be awesome in our industry? Are our industries? League? Sorry?
Speaker 1: If I gave you Mark grand as an opt out stipend,
Speaker 1: would you take it for the entire year? And just yes,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't. I would take it and immediately, um somehow
Speaker 1: retroactively put it all into Kodak stock and just sort
Speaker 1: of flying to the skies little Stock, little Stock go
Speaker 1: on some nefarious stuff going on with It's it's really showing, um,
Speaker 1: the full breadth of the Sessler knowledge. I love it
Speaker 1: too much as Twitter middle school. Also, um weird because
Speaker 1: West obviously down right now he's in the process of
Speaker 1: fighting the big Cita for a second time, you would
Speaker 1: be down to leave Greg and I alone on the
Speaker 1: show for your little Kodak financial gambit. I think it's
Speaker 1: you know, what I would compare it to, And I'm
Speaker 1: different than you guys a little bit. It's kind of
Speaker 1: like when um, you suddenly of the house to yourself
Speaker 1: for like a day, and it's awesome for a day,
Speaker 1: but then it's a little bit less appealing. I think
Speaker 1: the opt out would be an incredible freeing experience, and
Speaker 1: then I'd be missing this and you guys soon after.
Speaker 1: So it's probably you know, if if I had any advisors,
Speaker 1: they should advise not to do it. Plus that like
Speaker 1: that one K or whatever it would translate to in
Speaker 1: our world. I mean, that's what I'm saying. It's like
Speaker 1: it's just alone. They're not making you know, they're basically
Speaker 1: not they're not getting paid. They just get you know,
Speaker 1: part of next year's salary fronted it. You know for them.
Speaker 1: I mean that that that's not you're not playing the game. Well,
Speaker 1: you know what that if Cessla can dig up a
Speaker 1: doctor's note for one of his maladies over the years,
Speaker 1: he would be able to get the money at a
Speaker 1: higher level and not have to pay it back. YEA fair,
Speaker 1: that's fair. I think we're definitely I would say how
Speaker 1: many years like the Mark Sessler insurance scam related with
Speaker 1: the NFL. There there have been some of those with
Speaker 1: employees you guys knew well back in the day at
Speaker 1: the NFL. But I feel like six seven years from that,
Speaker 1: you guys can keep pinning all these things on me
Speaker 1: and I will allow it today today alone. Yes, Brian
Speaker 1: Baldinger is joining the Around the NFL podcast for perhaps
Speaker 1: the first time, but not the first time. We've spoken
Speaker 1: with him, and we do know enough as fans of
Speaker 1: our league that he is as good as it gets
Speaker 1: when it comes to tape dogging. With all due respect
Speaker 1: to the great Chris Westling, Baldi does it at a
Speaker 1: level that um, he's turned into a cottage industry for
Speaker 1: himself with Baldy's breakdowns and all that. So we're happy
Speaker 1: to have him on today's show, and we're gonna break down, uh,
Speaker 1: kind of just chop it up with Baldy a little bit,
Speaker 1: not necessarily tape breakdowns, but just where he's at in
Speaker 1: the league and where he's at right now in this
Speaker 1: very strange time in human history. But before we do that, yes,
Speaker 1: let's do some news. It was Rob Gronkowski strumming an
Speaker 1: acoustic guitar, singing the lyrics. Now I'm a buck. Hopefully
Speaker 1: I don't suck. It's about right. That clip was perfect.
Speaker 1: It was like the exact amount of time that Rab
Speaker 1: Gronkowski like stays funny for. It's like for about eight
Speaker 1: at eight seconds, you're like, oh yeah, Grond's funny, and
Speaker 1: then you're like, okay, let's move on. I also found
Speaker 1: interest in that clip a little bit when I saw
Speaker 1: it and I clicked it, and he's holding the guitar
Speaker 1: and I'm thinking, wow, you know, still waters run deep.
Speaker 1: Maybe there's a little depth to this guy. He knows
Speaker 1: how to play guitar. People always, you know, portraying him
Speaker 1: as this like lunkhead. Well, no, he's just hitting it
Speaker 1: like a preschooler. There's no there's no fingers on uh chords.
Speaker 1: You know, he's just strumming along like my three year
Speaker 1: old wood. He has as much guitar skill as Harrison
Speaker 1: handsas basically, well, he's not allowed to also be a
Speaker 1: great guitar player. So I'm sort of satisfied to see
Speaker 1: that he that he not only mildly sucks, but outright
Speaker 1: um black skills. Rob Gronkowski jump ship from the New
Speaker 1: England Patriots, and now other people are joining him, albeit
Speaker 1: in a much different scenario. Uh. This is the big
Speaker 1: news that came down in the NFL on Tuesday. Dota
Speaker 1: high Tower, the star linebacker, opted out of the two
Speaker 1: thousand twenty NFL season because of the coronavirus pandemic, and
Speaker 1: he wasn't alone. Six players overall for the Paths opt out,
Speaker 1: a group that includes starting right tackle Marcus Cannon, starting
Speaker 1: safety Patrick Chung, reserve running back Brandon Bolden, fullback Danny
Speaker 1: vital Vitally, and reserve center slash guard Nowhea Turan. Uh.
Speaker 1: High Tower, though obviously is the big name on top
Speaker 1: of this list. And Greg, you're being a real trooper
Speaker 1: right now. You're not showing any signs of anger or worry. Yeah,
Speaker 1: bigger problems. Well, this is a team that lost Jamie
Speaker 1: Collins in the off season. Uh, Kyle van Noy, and
Speaker 1: now you lose the heartbeat of the center of the defense.
Speaker 1: What are the Patriots and Bill Belichick gonna do here? Well,
Speaker 1: the losing High Tower is is significant. Losing him in
Speaker 1: Cannon are really the ones that I'd be focused on. Cannon,
Speaker 1: who who's been injured quite a bit in this career
Speaker 1: and you know, misstimes because of non Hodgkins lit foma,
Speaker 1: which is which is one of the reasons. He actually
Speaker 1: is one of the medical issue opt outs, which are
Speaker 1: a little different, you get paid a different sum, and
Speaker 1: he's one of the few actually that's um declared as
Speaker 1: a medical opt out. Donta Hi Tower and Patrick Chung
Speaker 1: was was the voluntary opt out. And if you're gonna
Speaker 1: pick one guy on the Patriots who's like Mr Patriot,
Speaker 1: who's Bill Belichick's guy more than anyone, it's High Tower.
Speaker 1: I mean, he is the leader of that group, and
Speaker 1: he's so versatile in terms of his intelligence, not only
Speaker 1: as an inside linebacker, but he could also play on
Speaker 1: the edge, where you know they're very thin in terms
Speaker 1: of a blitzer, and he keeps people in place. I mean,
Speaker 1: he is the Patriots defense to me. Devin mccordy's the
Speaker 1: other guy I would put there as Mr Patriot, And
Speaker 1: maybe it's Julian Edelman next, and you know who's after that,
Speaker 1: it's probably Patrick Chung. I mean, Belichick loves Patrick Chung.
Speaker 1: I I haven't quite understood the fascination the last year
Speaker 1: or two. He's certainly on the decline that they drafted
Speaker 1: a player at his position. They're pretty deep at safety,
Speaker 1: but high tower linebacker and then Cannon, who has been
Speaker 1: a very good right tackle and that I was been
Speaker 1: talking about should be a strength for them on the
Speaker 1: offensive line. Those are massive losses. Those are two of
Speaker 1: the highest paid players on the team, and so you
Speaker 1: know they're getting hit more and it doesn't look like
Speaker 1: there's a ton of more opt outs coming, at least
Speaker 1: not right now. Um, they got hit more than any
Speaker 1: team in the league by far. I mean the snaps
Speaker 1: they've lost on defense is significant, and I know that
Speaker 1: it's you know, I myself look at the Patriots and
Speaker 1: no matter what befalls them in the off season, I
Speaker 1: just ticket them for twelve and four. Uh, this is
Speaker 1: a legit concern because it's more the kind of thing
Speaker 1: that they probably will, um find a way to navigate
Speaker 1: the regular season better than most. And and from a
Speaker 1: positive note, you could say, I mean it's opened up
Speaker 1: um cap room for them, which they definitely needed, and
Speaker 1: they can make a few moves. What are they gonna do.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying clowney, but the idea that you could
Speaker 1: there were there. They're veterans, phil holes. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: not a great situation, but I mean, you know, it's
Speaker 1: your point, he calls High Tower Mr. February. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know if they win some of those Super Bowls,
Speaker 1: I don't think they do without High Tower playing the
Speaker 1: way he did. So you know, it's a key piece gone. Um.
Speaker 1: But the reasoning behind what High Tower did and what
Speaker 1: Chung did and they both have you know, newborns in
Speaker 1: their house. Um, this is the real life scenarios we're
Speaker 1: dealing with this situation. But I'm with you. I feel
Speaker 1: like yesterday there was a flood and there was maybe
Speaker 1: a little bit of sense of dread or panic that
Speaker 1: there could be a lot more. And today so far,
Speaker 1: when we as of when we're taping it is quiet. Well,
Speaker 1: the doubts made sense on Tuesday because that was the
Speaker 1: first day of training camp for everyone, so it was
Speaker 1: like a soft deadline. Now the actual hard deadline is
Speaker 1: only is a week after the players actually signed the
Speaker 1: CB and they haven't done it. So they still haven't
Speaker 1: signed it. And this particular part of the c B
Speaker 1: A I guess, is what they're still talking about a little,
Speaker 1: just in terms of figuring out the language. So players
Speaker 1: technically have at least a week more two opt out,
Speaker 1: but you would think the majority of them have already happened,
Speaker 1: because that's when you're gonna do it, before you start
Speaker 1: showing up for work. I wonder how many, if any
Speaker 1: players opted out, and the Patriots had the most players,
Speaker 1: but there are many more guys like Eddie Goldman, Starlotte Lally,
Speaker 1: Devin Functious, markis Goodwin, uh, and the list goes on.
Speaker 1: We're affected by what happened in Major League Baseball, where
Speaker 1: the count for the Miami Marlins now is in the
Speaker 1: high teens as an outbreak legit outbreak within their clubhouse,
Speaker 1: UM shut down the Marlins for an entire week of action,
Speaker 1: and MLB is scrambling and changing up their schedule, and
Speaker 1: it was the um proof to some that the idea
Speaker 1: of trying to hold a professional sports season outside the
Speaker 1: quote unquote bubble, which the MLB is trying to do,
Speaker 1: which the NFL's that's the model NFL is trying to do.
Speaker 1: I wonder if that affected it at all, because, yes,
Speaker 1: the start of training camp it was a a neat
Speaker 1: line up to where guys would start to opt out.
Speaker 1: But it also came a day after Major League Baseball
Speaker 1: basically went on fire. I'm sure it gave some people pause.
Speaker 1: But I mean if you look at, for instance, why
Speaker 1: Marky's Goodwin did it, um, it was very much a
Speaker 1: family situation. His wife has been through three miscarriages, and
Speaker 1: he basically said, you know, I put football first for
Speaker 1: years and years. I'm finally gonna put my family first.
Speaker 1: I was some of the other you know, there's definitely
Speaker 1: body mass index UM, a trace between a number of
Speaker 1: these guys. Eddie Goldman is a big dude. Started Luta
Speaker 1: Lailey is a big dude. I mean, one of the
Speaker 1: best players on that defense. Absolutely, But I mean, well,
Speaker 1: these losses are real. I think that you know, star
Speaker 1: Luta Lailey is not um, necessarily playing the way of
Speaker 1: his first name at this point in his career. But
Speaker 1: he's he was an important signing to them and they
Speaker 1: had they have depth. They're fun, just fun. Just losing
Speaker 1: Funch just for the Packers, I think, um, you know,
Speaker 1: we'll get into probably some of the stuff maybe Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers talked about, but they were all ticketed to draft
Speaker 1: a wide out. You went and got Funchs. So now
Speaker 1: it's nearly August and you've lost a guy who was
Speaker 1: ticketed as a starter in certain sets. Go ahead, No,
Speaker 1: I was that could help Alan Lazar to have a
Speaker 1: bigger role on that offense. But before West went down, Uh,
Speaker 1: we've talked about Bunches as a potential breakout guy for
Speaker 1: the Packers this year. Well yeah, and he the guy
Speaker 1: who made a lot of money from the Colts last year.
Speaker 1: He got that second contract even though it was one year.
Speaker 1: You know, there was ten million dollars again from the Colts,
Speaker 1: and I think that that's a through line too for
Speaker 1: some of these guys. Now Eddie Goldman maybe is an exception,
Speaker 1: but Michael Pierce is as a player from Minnesota, Uh,
Speaker 1: they really expected, uh, you know, to be a factor
Speaker 1: for them, and he's gotten paid before. And you look
Speaker 1: at Chung and Hightower, you know, it is sort of heartening.
Speaker 1: I mean you you obviously respect the decision the guys
Speaker 1: are making, but I don't know if there is part
Speaker 1: of me it is sort of heartening to see someone
Speaker 1: make a decision that isn't about money, where we're just
Speaker 1: so and I'm I'm guilty of this more than anyone
Speaker 1: who's always talking about the bottom line for these guys,
Speaker 1: and and they are making a decision that's not about money.
Speaker 1: They are saying, we we just value things a little
Speaker 1: differently this year. Hight Tower has made a lot of
Speaker 1: money in his career, but he was gonna make eight
Speaker 1: million dollars guaranteed this year, you know. And Drick Jung,
Speaker 1: is he ever gonna likes young gonna make this team
Speaker 1: in one? Maybe maybe not. He knows that, um, he's
Speaker 1: passing up he's passing up that money. So it's it's
Speaker 1: like putting your you know, it's putting your heart where
Speaker 1: you know, it's saying I agree something more importantly, I
Speaker 1: agree with you, And I think that you know all
Speaker 1: this stuff about the Patriots, you know, but Belichick trying
Speaker 1: to dial up a tank job is absurd. They just
Speaker 1: don't operate the way. But it is fair to say
Speaker 1: that with New England there might have been um a
Speaker 1: bit of a different complexion for certain veteran players who
Speaker 1: have basically been through everything you could ask for an
Speaker 1: NFL career. A guy like high Tower and the money
Speaker 1: is still there next year for him if if that happens,
Speaker 1: and if it doesn't, he'll be fine. I think there
Speaker 1: are probably a lot of stories we won't hear about
Speaker 1: of certain players and a certain financial bracket or um.
Speaker 1: If you're a young quarterback and you you fear never
Speaker 1: really you know, materializing again, you know, you don't want
Speaker 1: to be upstaged or a lot of these guys for
Speaker 1: you don't opt out and you have family reasons and
Speaker 1: you have good reasons, and they're not doing it. They're
Speaker 1: just gonna roll into it. I think there's a lot
Speaker 1: of people that are not making that choice. I I
Speaker 1: absolutely feel the same way, uh, Greg with what you
Speaker 1: said about you know, the players kind of going away
Speaker 1: from money, which is heartening. Um, it also tells you
Speaker 1: how scary this all is that players feel that is
Speaker 1: the best decision to give up eight million dollars because
Speaker 1: you don't feel like you can be safe, that your
Speaker 1: family can be safe. Do you think do you think
Speaker 1: mm hmm. I don't want this to come off as
Speaker 1: insensitive or silly, but do you think of Tom Brady
Speaker 1: is still the quarterback in New England? There is the
Speaker 1: same a number of opt outs? Absolutely, I don't. I
Speaker 1: also think, well, first of all, you have to break
Speaker 1: down each one. UM. You know, Cannon had had cancer
Speaker 1: and so he's he's sort of in his own you know,
Speaker 1: he's at a really high risk UM and he's had
Speaker 1: health problems. Even since then, he's had a recurrence. So
Speaker 1: he's one guy. Chung and High Tower, I think, really
Speaker 1: does speak UM two people who have done it before
Speaker 1: have made a lot of money. And and I guess
Speaker 1: the key I am thinking about with all these guys,
Speaker 1: you don't really know, like they're they're saying a statement, okay,
Speaker 1: and and Chung did speak on CBS and talked about
Speaker 1: the people around him, but even then that's what they're
Speaker 1: presenting publicly. This is a very private medical thing to
Speaker 1: talk about, and so I don't know. I feel like
Speaker 1: a lot of these players have their own reasons, And
Speaker 1: I think if they're if they feel that strongly. I
Speaker 1: don't think like having a chance to go win another
Speaker 1: ship is gonna is gonna be the reason that they play.
Speaker 1: But but I guess you never know. I mean from
Speaker 1: a league wide angle, if the opt outs, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm sure we'll get a few more. But if they
Speaker 1: were to pause here, the vast majority paused here, it
Speaker 1: is an incredibly small percentage of players. I mean, basically
Speaker 1: the equal of had you had a real training camp,
Speaker 1: you would have lost far more players to injury and
Speaker 1: soft tissue maladies and all this other stuff. I mean,
Speaker 1: the number we do have one, we do have one
Speaker 1: more significant one just just dropped. Hit hit the breaking news.
Speaker 1: Ricky Nate's Soldier, a former Patriot, is opting out of
Speaker 1: the season. It was a disappointing signing for them, but
Speaker 1: still was on the books there to be their left
Speaker 1: tackle or right tackle. Potentially. They drafted Andrew Thomas, but
Speaker 1: they also drafted a third rounder named Matt Pert. I
Speaker 1: think who who in theory Soldier was gonna battle with,
Speaker 1: But it was probably his job. He was making a
Speaker 1: lot of money, was one of the highest players in
Speaker 1: the league, and he's sitting out and he's someone who
Speaker 1: his son has had, um, you know, an incredibly tough
Speaker 1: life with a lot of heart surgeries and things like that.
Speaker 1: And I don't know what the reasoning right now behind it,
Speaker 1: but that that immediately came to mind. Wow, so soldiers
Speaker 1: out and um, yeah he's and he signed with the
Speaker 1: Giants a couple of years ago. I think it was
Speaker 1: the biggest offensive lineman contract in the league. And he
Speaker 1: has been a huge bus for them. But still that
Speaker 1: that affects them, that's a big loss for the Giants potentially. Um,
Speaker 1: I guess I'm the only other shoe I'm waiting for
Speaker 1: to drop here that would take this to another level.
Speaker 1: Is what happens if a quarterback does it? Is that
Speaker 1: something we'll see like a star quarterback? Is there is
Speaker 1: there gonna be someone at a higher level And if
Speaker 1: that happens, would there be a potential domino. I think
Speaker 1: that's the one part of this angle right now. I'm
Speaker 1: waiting to see how it plays out. That's I I
Speaker 1: That's sort of what I was pointing out before that
Speaker 1: I think that there is some there is It's not
Speaker 1: equal with every position, you know, there was there were
Speaker 1: rumors that bubbled up to the point where NFL Network
Speaker 1: had to address them yesterday about the idea that Nick
Speaker 1: Foles was someone that was going to drop out. I mean,
Speaker 1: it came from a weird place and it never happened.
Speaker 1: But isn't there way more pressure on a starting quarterback
Speaker 1: to just put football first and not even consider the
Speaker 1: idea of walking away from your team in a defensive lineman.
Speaker 1: I just think there is from a pr standpoint, everything right.
Speaker 1: It would take everything on your team right, it would
Speaker 1: take a different level. And and this is probably unfair too.
Speaker 1: But when I saw that Donovan Smith, the Bucks left tackle,
Speaker 1: showed up to you know, work and he's not gonna
Speaker 1: opt out, and he had talked about possibly doing it,
Speaker 1: I mean, I just I just wondered, it is Brady
Speaker 1: Brady texting with him, you know, and maybe he's texting
Speaker 1: with him in a in a in a way that's like,
Speaker 1: hey man, I respect whatever you do, but whatever it is,
Speaker 1: I don't know, you know, you do wonder what kind
Speaker 1: of if there's any internal pressure with it. It's different
Speaker 1: that have blaying Gabbert word starter in place at this point,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't Brady seems to have been from wire to
Speaker 1: wire or Cam Newton and Jared Stidham up there. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised and I would expect that if Belichick
Speaker 1: and has spoken with these guys, he seems like one
Speaker 1: of the first people to be like, make the decision
Speaker 1: for your family like first. And I know that sounds counterintuitive,
Speaker 1: you know, coming from him, He's like, make the decision.
Speaker 1: You're gonna be comfortable first, And and they obviously felt
Speaker 1: comfortable doing that. They they've put they put the time in.
Speaker 1: And other COVID nineteen related news, thirty two players have
Speaker 1: been placed on the NFL's COVID list ahead of the
Speaker 1: start of training camp, including two first round picks, Justin
Speaker 1: Jefferson and Isaiah Wilson, both players on the COVID nineteen list. Uh,
Speaker 1: there's all sorts of obviously hoops to get through. You
Speaker 1: gotta make sure they're healthy. Then they have to do
Speaker 1: multiple tests to prove that they have the necessary antibodies.
Speaker 1: And they're not testing positive for COVID nineteen. It's a
Speaker 1: it's a setback for those guys, and there will be more.
Speaker 1: There will be way, way more. That's to me. That
Speaker 1: number was was interesting. First of all, that the COVID
Speaker 1: list is interesting. You're not gonna know unless the players
Speaker 1: tell us um who had it or not, because the
Speaker 1: COVID list is whoever tested positive for you know, for
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen and if you were around someone in the
Speaker 1: last x amount of days who had tested positive, And
Speaker 1: so the NFLPA is actually sending out numbers. It was
Speaker 1: only twenty one players who did test positive since the
Speaker 1: start of camp, but thirty people are on that list,
Speaker 1: so you know, do the math. Some of them were
Speaker 1: just like around other people. You don't know who's too.
Speaker 1: But that's just the first round of testing, which was
Speaker 1: just quarterbacks and rookies last week. Uh. In theory, you know,
Speaker 1: that leaves about eighty five percent of the league who
Speaker 1: still we don't know their test results, and so I
Speaker 1: don't know, you would expect that number if if if
Speaker 1: about thirty of the rookies and other players got on there,
Speaker 1: you would expect that number to double or you know,
Speaker 1: or even more in the next handful of days. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think the variable and you hear it more
Speaker 1: from veteran players than maybe really coaches are saying at
Speaker 1: this point because why go on record deeply about it,
Speaker 1: But that This requires intense cooperation, um individually making individual
Speaker 1: choices and what you're doing when people can't see you.
Speaker 1: That's great at the facility that everyone's behind plexiglass and distancing,
Speaker 1: but then you're away from the facility for large chunks
Speaker 1: of time, and we see players get in trouble and
Speaker 1: do things they shouldn't be doing almost weekly, if not
Speaker 1: more than that. So I just think the doorway is
Speaker 1: open to chaos unless one team. Really, I would honestly say,
Speaker 1: take your team and if you want to win the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, everyone get into one hotel and don't leave
Speaker 1: it for the whole year. You're gonna have far fewer issues.
Speaker 1: But you know that's it's my observed. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's not gonna be fun though your your guys. Sam
Speaker 1: Donald admitted he is going to be the most boring
Speaker 1: person around this this year because he doesn't want to
Speaker 1: take any risks. Yeah, and that's gonna be a huge challenge.
Speaker 1: We talked about that on Monday show. That Yeah, not
Speaker 1: making any excuses for them, but just asking these young
Speaker 1: men rich have the world at their feet, to stay isolated,
Speaker 1: stay inside for the greater good of their team, for
Speaker 1: their families, for for the league itself. Well, there's gonna
Speaker 1: be temptation. We're gonna see how it plays out. Let's
Speaker 1: stick a pin and COVID nineteen talk for a while.
Speaker 1: Okay until Friday now, so let's just wait until like
Speaker 1: mid September. I'm with you. You know, the Chargers and
Speaker 1: Defensive and Joey Bosa have reached agreement on an extension
Speaker 1: five years. A hundred and thirty five million is the
Speaker 1: report out there, keeps Bosa with the Chargers for the
Speaker 1: next six seasons. That deal reportedly includes seventy eight million
Speaker 1: guaranteed at signing in a hundred two million guaranteed. That's
Speaker 1: a record for a defensive player. Um breaking your boy
Speaker 1: Mark Cecil Miles Garrett who just got that big deal
Speaker 1: from the Browns couple of weeks back. It is huge money.
Speaker 1: Does he deserve to get paid at that level? Greg Rosenthal, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's funny because Nick Bosa came in and he was
Speaker 1: pretty flashy. It's like, Joey Bosa is still better. I mean,
Speaker 1: Joey Bosa last season is is one of the you know,
Speaker 1: three or four best defensive player in the league. He's
Speaker 1: such a freak. Uh, they've seen him enough, he had
Speaker 1: the injuries a little bit early, he had the contract holdout.
Speaker 1: I just think if you're gonna invest invest in a
Speaker 1: guy like him, like just entering his prime, they know
Speaker 1: him well, they know he works hard, all that all
Speaker 1: that stuff, working hard, it's great being joe Joey, bossy,
Speaker 1: freakishly talented is greater, you know. And he's he's proven that.
Speaker 1: I know he doesn't like get the attention that that
Speaker 1: some other big time players are. But I think if
Speaker 1: if you were holding like an NFL wide draft, and
Speaker 1: uh like you have to take him by position and
Speaker 1: you're doing pass rushers, I mean, I think most gms
Speaker 1: would have him in their top two. I don't know,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think like he might. He might be
Speaker 1: the guy that they would say, if I have to
Speaker 1: start a franchise with one pass rusher, he might be it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think it was a no brainer signing and I
Speaker 1: you know immediately it's compared to maybe the way the
Speaker 1: Jamal Adams situation was treated. In the positions they played this,
Speaker 1: there were no there was no factor to not make
Speaker 1: this happen with with someone that they've grown in house.
Speaker 1: I think Tom Tals goes out a lot of talent
Speaker 1: to that defense. You know, one little and I'm not
Speaker 1: bringing up a Corona thing, but I will say something
Speaker 1: that I found hopeful. If you go back and look
Speaker 1: at what Bosa did as a rookie. He comes rolling in,
Speaker 1: missing the first four games. He appears in week five,
Speaker 1: everyone wondering what he'd be like, two sacks, totally dominant
Speaker 1: right away. It kind of shows you that maybe a
Speaker 1: lot of these guys are gonna be They'll still find
Speaker 1: a way to thrive at certain positions. He has nine
Speaker 1: games with two plus sacks in his career. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I think you can look at the injury situation as
Speaker 1: a little concerning He's he's missed thirteen games. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: Clowney gets killed for that all the time. Clown He's
Speaker 1: missed six games over four years, over the past four years. But, um,
Speaker 1: no brainer, what are you doing if you don't resign him? Cornerback,
Speaker 1: left tackle, edge rusher, cornerback. These are quarterback. These are
Speaker 1: the premium positions that get the absurd a hundred million
Speaker 1: plus guaranteed h type contracts. Boastes not even twenty five
Speaker 1: yet he turns twenty five. This month. He's averaged almost
Speaker 1: the sack of game since he entered the league. He's
Speaker 1: a total stud and um, he's getting quarterback money. Yeah
Speaker 1: if only he if only played in a bigger market,
Speaker 1: like people would pay attention to him more. You know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they're market arguably shrunk somehow. I don't know. I have
Speaker 1: no idea what's gonna what's gonna happen with the Chargers
Speaker 1: in l A. But Uh, that effectively everything with that
Speaker 1: gets the pause button gets pushed, which I'm sure Chargers
Speaker 1: management is like, all right, that's not the worst thing
Speaker 1: to happen. Uh this season. Uh, nobody's gonna be talking
Speaker 1: about how nobody's in that building latching Chargers games, because
Speaker 1: nobody's gonna be any in any building across the league
Speaker 1: for the most part. Uh. In other news, the Titans
Speaker 1: they use free agency to sign Vic Beasley, uh, to
Speaker 1: give them, you know, increased pass rush. But here's an issue.
Speaker 1: Beasley did not show up to the team facility with
Speaker 1: the rest of the veteran players to begin the COVID
Speaker 1: nineteen screening, so the Titans then place him on the
Speaker 1: reserve do not report list, and no reason was given
Speaker 1: for Beasley's absence yesterday, Greg, was there anything new on this? No,
Speaker 1: I did see our old I did. No one knows,
Speaker 1: no one. I think. I think there's gonna be some
Speaker 1: holes in reporting in general compared to most years. It's
Speaker 1: like you're not gonna be able to have any reporters
Speaker 1: at practices, like the contact between the teams, and all
Speaker 1: the reporters are at home, so you might not get
Speaker 1: the story. Sometimes. I did see our mark. One of
Speaker 1: Mark's best friends, really his mentor, uh Di Orlando led
Speaker 1: Better um twet tweeted something didn't and he was just speculating,
Speaker 1: but he said the reason Beasley couldn't get any trade
Speaker 1: interest at the at the deadline last year when the
Speaker 1: Falcons were trying to trade him, is that the word
Speaker 1: around the team was that he didn't really, you know,
Speaker 1: love football that much. That he seemed like a guy
Speaker 1: that maybe could take it or leave it. And so
Speaker 1: I don't know, ne Orlando lad Better recovered him for
Speaker 1: four years, five years, was putting that and putting some context.
Speaker 1: I doubt he would just put that out there without
Speaker 1: having some feel of the situation, so that that's the
Speaker 1: only context I have on that. I mean, it is
Speaker 1: odd because they said that he was present and available
Speaker 1: and you know, around for every zoom meeting they did,
Speaker 1: um obviously easier than he doesn't show up. It feels
Speaker 1: like a very ripe scenario. And I don't know what
Speaker 1: this individual is up to, but Frank Signetti has not
Speaker 1: been on any sort of a real NFL case of late,
Speaker 1: but something of a player. He's got a lot of
Speaker 1: money attached, He's a prime position and he's gone a well.
Speaker 1: I mean that's a perfect place for a league mandated
Speaker 1: p I to step in and you know, gum shoe
Speaker 1: his way to which an answer here that would be
Speaker 1: Frank shows up, crime hits the bricks. You know, Frank Signetti,
Speaker 1: you know, big part of this podcast. What was he?
Speaker 1: You liked him when he was the Rams offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: I believe. But he's bounced around as a quarterback, you know,
Speaker 1: according to his wiki page. That couldn't be wrong. Doesn't
Speaker 1: seem like he has a gig right now, had one
Speaker 1: last year. So well, he was always lighting, he's got
Speaker 1: some time, he's got some I mean, the p I
Speaker 1: thing was always happening kind of off the clock, right,
Speaker 1: you know, getting pulled into a case and and more
Speaker 1: obsessed with it. But he just has more time to
Speaker 1: do what he's naturally gifted at, more so than being
Speaker 1: an offensive coordinator. You could scrub your own wiki, and
Speaker 1: you know, Frank is scrubbing the p I element of
Speaker 1: that off the wiki because he's working a case or
Speaker 1: now he's working a job, and that takes focus and
Speaker 1: it takes a level of under the radar living. You
Speaker 1: know what, he's actually at Boston College, short coordinator. It
Speaker 1: was not in the NFL, but at Boston College. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's in Boston. He's doing a lot of Boston. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you're working in college football, you're probably gonna have
Speaker 1: a lot of time. This fault too. I would say, Uh,
Speaker 1: connect some dots if you want to do a little
Speaker 1: Google search Boston College up there outside Boston. Um, what
Speaker 1: dot Newton if there's any missing persons in Newton, Massachusetts. God,
Speaker 1: it's a good chance that Frank Signetti is on the job.
Speaker 1: Speaking of d lad Mark Um not to keep up
Speaker 1: bringing up COVID, but listen, it's insidious. As we've talked
Speaker 1: about another bomber. You had a press pause on that
Speaker 1: Carnival cruise to Nova Scotia that you and the d
Speaker 1: lads were gonna go on together. Sessler d led carnival
Speaker 1: cruise trip together. Yeah, I see, I see no evidence
Speaker 1: that my um admiration for him goes in the other directions.
Speaker 1: So I didn't hear about that trip personally. He may
Speaker 1: be going in And in other news, our friend Kyle
Speaker 1: Brandt of Good Morning Football has a new gig. I
Speaker 1: guess he's moonlighting with the Ringer and he has a
Speaker 1: program called Ten Questions with Kyle Brandt. And uh, the
Speaker 1: premier episode, he starts with a bang because it's Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: star quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. Uh. Really some
Speaker 1: good stuff. Rogers was very open with Kyle on a
Speaker 1: number of topics, including what's going on with his future
Speaker 1: in Green Bay and Jordan's love, the surprise first round
Speaker 1: pick in Wisconsin, and Uh, I'm gonna play two clips
Speaker 1: for you boys. The first one is Rogers kind of
Speaker 1: throwing some cold water on people talking about the cyclical
Speaker 1: nature of life. How what happened with Brett Farve and
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers is a rookie was similar to what happened
Speaker 1: now with Aaron Rodgers and Jordan's love. Here's what Rodgers
Speaker 1: had to say, in two thousand uh four, the Packers
Speaker 1: were uh ten and six in last in first round
Speaker 1: the playoffs, we were thirteen and three, and you know,
Speaker 1: one game from the super Bowl. I want a playoff
Speaker 1: game at home. Obviously want our division A little different circumstance.
Speaker 1: Not to mention that Bretta talked about retiring for a
Speaker 1: few years before that, so you know, I don't, and
Speaker 1: I've talked about playing in my forties. So you know
Speaker 1: that when people start talking about the parallels to this
Speaker 1: and that, well, you know, I felt um they traded
Speaker 1: up and Um drafted Jordan's and Rogers also, by the way,
Speaker 1: Rogers said, when the pick happened, he was tracking the
Speaker 1: draft board in different wide receivers that he liked. And
Speaker 1: then when Jordan's Love's name was called by Roger Goodell,
Speaker 1: he poured himself four fingers of tequila because he knew
Speaker 1: the firestorm that was headed his way. He was also, uh,
Speaker 1: very open about what this means for his future and
Speaker 1: the possibility, really the probability that he'll end his career elsewhere.
Speaker 1: I think that's probably what happens, you know, based on
Speaker 1: you know, just a circumstance around everything. You know, and
Speaker 1: you look at just look at the facts. You know,
Speaker 1: they traded up, they drafted him. I would say, they
Speaker 1: like him, they want to play him, And I get it,
Speaker 1: I really do. Like I don't harbor any ill will
Speaker 1: about it. Like was I bummed out of course it
Speaker 1: wouldn't be, you know, like I wanted to play my
Speaker 1: entire career in green Bay, past tense. I wanted to
Speaker 1: play my entire career in green Bay. It seems like
Speaker 1: a man who's still processing it all, you know. It
Speaker 1: was like it was like talking to someone who's in
Speaker 1: the middle of you know, knowing maybe the relationship is
Speaker 1: gonna end and is putting on a tough front a
Speaker 1: little bit, but it's still it's still a little fresh.
Speaker 1: Like he started with the kind of very cool and
Speaker 1: calm and and the whole thing is calm, but without
Speaker 1: Kyle even sort of you know, asking another question. Aaron starts.
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers immediately starts bringing up all those differences between
Speaker 1: his situation and Fire, like he has taken note of
Speaker 1: the differences that they are not the same situation. And
Speaker 1: when he says he'll probably you know, be playing else
Speaker 1: or whatever. I I don't know, I I you just
Speaker 1: see this little fire inside of him. That's like, I
Speaker 1: don't know if he really believes that. I think in
Speaker 1: his heart of hearts, he believes he's gonna light up
Speaker 1: this uh, light up the field so much that they're
Speaker 1: not gonna have a choice but to ever get rid
Speaker 1: of him. Right, I mean that the story is far
Speaker 1: from over, but I think the Kyle asked the question
Speaker 1: in a good way. He basically said, he are we
Speaker 1: gonna move on from Aaron Rodgers if you're the Packers,
Speaker 1: or do you just have a first round pick that
Speaker 1: you traded up for sit on the bench and not
Speaker 1: be used for four more seasons? As as you know,
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers has said he wants to play into his forties,
Speaker 1: and that's where he kind of came to the conclusion
Speaker 1: again that yeah, I just don't see that happening. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's the former that they probably move on from
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, which you know he's sort of hinted at
Speaker 1: that before. But um, if that's in your mind as
Speaker 1: a quarterback, as a starting quarterback in the franch the
Speaker 1: face of your franchise, that's got to be a distraction,
Speaker 1: no matter what you say, Right, I mean, it's got
Speaker 1: to be something sitting in there in your head. They
Speaker 1: brought in someone who looks like a potential replacement. He's
Speaker 1: not a sixth rounder. He's not even like Jimmy Garoppolo
Speaker 1: when they brought him and had nothing to do with
Speaker 1: replacing Tom Brady at that point. And let's face it,
Speaker 1: the way this our league is, when you have a
Speaker 1: first round rookie on his first deal every year keep
Speaker 1: him on the bench, you're wasting away, you know, golden
Speaker 1: years in terms of cat flexibility and ability to get
Speaker 1: a champion on the field with a cheap quarterback. I
Speaker 1: just to me, it feels like a fifty fifty shot
Speaker 1: at this point that this is Rogers last year in
Speaker 1: green Back. I mean, the financials are tricky though, to
Speaker 1: move them even after this season to something, Yeah, but
Speaker 1: I don't know you can work that out, though they
Speaker 1: could probably find a way, I would guess, because what
Speaker 1: are you gonna do. What's your other move? Either bench
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers or keep Jordan's Love a first round pick
Speaker 1: on the bench until his third season. That just doesn't happen.
Speaker 1: It doesn't. But but there's a couple of factors. One,
Speaker 1: you know, Love is not going to get the build
Speaker 1: up to his rookie season that you know, the Packers
Speaker 1: would have liked. I mean, I think about Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: is build up, and this is back when we were
Speaker 1: we were overly eager to like, you know, evaluate O
Speaker 1: t A s and mini camps, but like Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: was tearing, you know, he was like infamously terrible in
Speaker 1: the off season and he started camp bad. And everyone
Speaker 1: in Green Bay is like, Craig Noll is better than
Speaker 1: this guy. You know, acknowledge, you know, And the odds
Speaker 1: on Jordan's Love, who was very raw, to put it
Speaker 1: mildly coming out of college, like looking like a world
Speaker 1: beater right away, it's pretty long. Like I don't know
Speaker 1: if he's going to be the backup. It might be Tim,
Speaker 1: Tim Boyle, and who knows, Jordan's Love might never be
Speaker 1: that great. I mean that's the thing, Like drafted a
Speaker 1: guy in the first rounds easy him him being anywhere
Speaker 1: close to where Aaron Rodgers was after a few years
Speaker 1: in the NFL, good luck with that. I mean it's
Speaker 1: when I see that, you know, borrowing a regime change.
Speaker 1: The front office went out of the way to trade
Speaker 1: up for him. When front officers do that, they want
Speaker 1: to see a return on investment, and they want to
Speaker 1: see the player. And how many guys have been labeled
Speaker 1: as raw and red shirt and projects and then a
Speaker 1: year later their stars. I mean, I could give you
Speaker 1: fifteen of them, all right, let's hear well, I'll put
Speaker 1: it in a written piece and send it away. An
Speaker 1: all time for right now called him on his bluff. Well,
Speaker 1: you know what. There were people saying, well, I'm not
Speaker 1: sure Patrick Mahones, even Mahomes was spoken about that way,
Speaker 1: you know, Shaun Watson, every one. You know, it's all well,
Speaker 1: I've teased my article. I've given you two of my fifteen,
Speaker 1: So that's how you do it. Finally, in the news,
Speaker 1: John Lynch, Oh, what a success it's been in San Francisco,
Speaker 1: the general manager who was hired without any front office
Speaker 1: experience back in January of two thousand seventeen. He's turned
Speaker 1: that organization into one of the top teams in the league,
Speaker 1: and they rewarded him for it with a new contract extension.
Speaker 1: Mike Garifolo reported it's a multi year deal will keep
Speaker 1: him in charge of the team through good job by
Speaker 1: you and Mr Lynch and good job by the Niners
Speaker 1: for thinking outside the box, which not enough teams do,
Speaker 1: let's face and for almost letting your coach who is
Speaker 1: all you know, deciding pretty much right away when you
Speaker 1: hired Chan him, he's the key guy. Let's find someone
Speaker 1: that works with you know, every every situation is a
Speaker 1: little different. I don't think you can expect that out
Speaker 1: of each um, but Shanahan is still the key guy,
Speaker 1: and I think Lynch is there to like execute a vision.
Speaker 1: It's a way in which Kyle Shanahan is already better
Speaker 1: than Mike Sanahan, because Mike Sanahan, to me, was one
Speaker 1: of the best coaches of all time, and he ruined
Speaker 1: it by always being in fighting with his want with
Speaker 1: his would be general managers, and he was always fighting
Speaker 1: for power and it was always a distraction and it
Speaker 1: wasn't good at the g M part of it either.
Speaker 1: And Kyle, Kyle and John Lynch seemed like they worked
Speaker 1: great together. And it reminds me of Pete Carroll and
Speaker 1: Schneider because Pete Carroll's the key guy and Schneider is
Speaker 1: the one okay executing what what Pete Carroll wants to do.
Speaker 1: It's similar in San Francisco. Yeah, I like the way
Speaker 1: you put that, and I'm sure Kyle Shanahan learned, you know,
Speaker 1: infinite amounts from experiencing what his dad went through. And
Speaker 1: their demeanors are a little bit different, but you know,
Speaker 1: it was it was a year ago that that you know,
Speaker 1: people were wondering, is John Lynch on the hot seat?
Speaker 1: Is Kyle Shanahan on the hot seat? And it shows
Speaker 1: you how much can change in a year. But they
Speaker 1: always were um, well matched and married together and the
Speaker 1: best teams do that, and it's incredible how many teams
Speaker 1: in sports struggle to do that and its ego, Uh,
Speaker 1: it's in the in the opposite is happening here. And
Speaker 1: I think that John Lynch, you know, a lot of
Speaker 1: people when he came in off out of you know,
Speaker 1: former player in the media, it's like, well, that's not
Speaker 1: where a GM comes from. Well, Mike Mayok has showing
Speaker 1: you that's not true also, and Lynch, Um, it kind
Speaker 1: of reminds you what happened in Buffalo a little bit too.
Speaker 1: Coach and GM quickly got the right players in place
Speaker 1: to give Shanahan the right kind of players he needed
Speaker 1: for his offense, where other teams you're into the year
Speaker 1: three or four of a GM and a coach and like, oh,
Speaker 1: we're still missing like all these key ingredients to functionally
Speaker 1: operate on a Sunday. It's like, can you please get
Speaker 1: your act together? Not the case in San Francisco. All right,
Speaker 1: that's what's happening in the news alright. As promised one
Speaker 1: of our favorites in the football Gagna cent and it
Speaker 1: just so happens that he is a colleague of ours
Speaker 1: with NFL Network, the great Brian Baldinger, better known as Baldy.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Around the NFL podcast. Baldi, good to
Speaker 1: join you, guys man. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, we we've kicked the season off. It doesn't
Speaker 1: feel like it. I think it was officially kicked off,
Speaker 1: so uh, I know, at least there's some news to
Speaker 1: talk about here, and we could kind of get into
Speaker 1: the lee a little bit more than you know, what
Speaker 1: we've done over the last four months. Yeah, we could
Speaker 1: definitely get into the league. But I definitely want to
Speaker 1: start because you know, we've all been with NFL media
Speaker 1: for years now and and Baldi is something of a
Speaker 1: legendary figure behind the scenes at NFL media because you're
Speaker 1: so well known for your globe trotting and your adventures.
Speaker 1: And I was just wondering if during the this this
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen pandemic which has kept us all, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: sheltered in place for the most part, Uh, if if
Speaker 1: this were not, if this were normal times, would you
Speaker 1: be on a beach in Bali somewhere, you know, chewing
Speaker 1: eight on a beach and while supermodels dance around you
Speaker 1: in front of a bonfire, Like, are you missing out
Speaker 1: on that type of Baldi type of venture? I am?
Speaker 1: I mean, I used out. I was. I was all
Speaker 1: scheduled on a trip to Romania. I was going to
Speaker 1: boot Rest. It was the hidden jewel of Eastern Europe.
Speaker 1: Hadn't been there one of the sixty eight country I mean,
Speaker 1: only been to sixty eight countries. So I'm trying to
Speaker 1: get some more notches on that that one. I had
Speaker 1: a trip with my mom to Sicily had one. I
Speaker 1: just wanted to go for the connol. He's honestly, I
Speaker 1: think I could have gotten here. My mom probably would
Speaker 1: have bagged the trip, but I would have. I didn't
Speaker 1: know if I could get back and friends, which is
Speaker 1: not a bad place to be stuck. But the only
Speaker 1: person who still calls you, Brian, your mom. She's she's so,
Speaker 1: she's alone, He's alone. One left. But you know when
Speaker 1: your when your mom could call you, really, anything she
Speaker 1: wants goes by the first. I feel like, no if
Speaker 1: I ris can totally contain Baldi though, And I do
Speaker 1: see your back, your backgrounds. You're at NFL Films, so
Speaker 1: you're back. You're back in the building. They couldn't keep
Speaker 1: you out. I guess I'm on the list every day.
Speaker 1: Every day I'm on the list here. Um uh, you know,
Speaker 1: they take my temperature. I guess my temperature every day.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm somewhere between ninety seven points and ninety seven
Speaker 1: point nine. I guess my temperature every day. I follow
Speaker 1: the guidelines here. But I'm on the third floor. Honestly,
Speaker 1: there's two guys in I t that are there, Thank goodness,
Speaker 1: because they helped me out. And that's it. So I
Speaker 1: feel like I've got my own floor, my own desk,
Speaker 1: film lie library. I mean really, And I joke with
Speaker 1: people about this situation that we went about practicing citing,
Speaker 1: you know, social distancing. I'm like, I practure I practice
Speaker 1: social distancing every day up here, you know, And everybody
Speaker 1: wants to come into the film room, and usually what
Speaker 1: happens is they fall asleep, but I kick him out
Speaker 1: and I don't let him come back in. Um, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of things. I really haven't changed that much
Speaker 1: for me here. But you know, obviously we're through some
Speaker 1: some trying time, so I'm not I'm not being cavalier
Speaker 1: about it, but really, I mean, I'm glad I've kind
Speaker 1: of have really changed my lifestyle much at all. And
Speaker 1: you're right, I haven't. They haven't really been able to
Speaker 1: contain me. I'm beginning all over the country. Been going
Speaker 1: to a bunch of different camps. Over the last couple
Speaker 1: of weeks. I was at a quarterback camp for high
Speaker 1: school players, the top high school quarterbacks in Indianapolis. I
Speaker 1: saw Frank Wrich and Chris Ballard and and honestly, the
Speaker 1: wave of quarterbacks that are gonna come our way here
Speaker 1: pretty soon. They are there advanced. I mean, they've been
Speaker 1: well coached by a lot of people. Wow, give us
Speaker 1: the next Joe Burrow that no one has even heard
Speaker 1: of yet. Good, good, good, good question. I tell you this,
Speaker 1: Caleb Williams, who's the number one high school recruiting the
Speaker 1: country out of Washington, d C. Is going to Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: You're coming up on a senior year. I sat him
Speaker 1: in the film room and there wasn't anything that he
Speaker 1: couldn't spit back at me the game. But if you
Speaker 1: put him in Indianapolis at this year's combine, you might
Speaker 1: have thought that he could throw the ball with Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow every day any day. I mean, take the names
Speaker 1: on the back of the jersey's. I mean, this guy
Speaker 1: is six three to twenty and he's got a cannon,
Speaker 1: but he's smart. He knows where to go with the ball.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's what we're talking about him in probably
Speaker 1: like three or four years right now. Mm hmm. You
Speaker 1: know I thought the I think the last time I
Speaker 1: saw you in person, and this was a chance running
Speaker 1: wasn't at the Century City Mall here in Los Angeles,
Speaker 1: and I um had it was a day off from work.
Speaker 1: I had just come out of seeing Jennifer Lopez and Hustlers,
Speaker 1: and I'm not sure that he asked what I had watched.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that I was honest with you about
Speaker 1: what I had seen, because I was I'm dealing with
Speaker 1: that's still on this show, but a good film, but
Speaker 1: that feels like a different time. We can't do any
Speaker 1: of that these twodays, and we can. We can still
Speaker 1: discuss some of these issues. We had a lot to
Speaker 1: get to it. I I want to ask, because we
Speaker 1: were talking a little bit of forty ninersa John Lynch,
Speaker 1: they just gave him the extension. I have been super
Speaker 1: pro Kyle Shanahan on this show for a long time.
Speaker 1: And tell me if you think I'm right or wrong
Speaker 1: when I just think that he is the greatest in
Speaker 1: game play caller that the NFL has today. Um and
Speaker 1: that I am I'm not seeing. I think the ceiling
Speaker 1: for Jimmy g has not been found because of his
Speaker 1: coach and because of the way that he calls offense.
Speaker 1: I completely agree. Uh you know, look, Kyle is I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously he's been trained by his dad, he's been around
Speaker 1: in his whole life. But I think that Jimmy Gan,
Speaker 1: any quarterback that would ever play for him, from Matt Ryan,
Speaker 1: you you name the guy that's play for him, They're
Speaker 1: they're always gonna get challenged. They're gonna get challenged every
Speaker 1: day in practice, during games. Um, how he calls a game,
Speaker 1: I mean there's just a rhythm to it. There's uh,
Speaker 1: there is a next level of how he the run
Speaker 1: game is amazing. Um, you go back and you watch
Speaker 1: him against Carolina this year. I mean there are plays
Speaker 1: they didn't block lou keekly, but they knew they we're
Speaker 1: gonna block him. They knew the play action and motion
Speaker 1: and um, the quarterback play fakes. We're gonna take care
Speaker 1: of one of the premier players in this league. I
Speaker 1: think that the play action game that he has is
Speaker 1: is creative and innovative as we not as we have
Speaker 1: in the game today, but as we've ever seen in
Speaker 1: the game. About the history, I mean, he's just a
Speaker 1: difference maker. Um. I think that the best is yet
Speaker 1: to come. And and people could point to the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter of this most recent Super Bowl game or the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl against New England, you can you can point
Speaker 1: fault at Kyle and some of the things that he
Speaker 1: might have done wrong. Um, but it's not gonna it really.
Speaker 1: I know it irks fans of those teams, but I
Speaker 1: don't think it irks him. I don't think he stays
Speaker 1: up at night thinking about the play call that he
Speaker 1: could have done with Jimmy g this year or Matt Ryan,
Speaker 1: you know, four or five years ago. I think he's
Speaker 1: just looking for the next game, um, to try to
Speaker 1: to try to win. And I don't think it's gonna
Speaker 1: change whether it's regular season or postseason or Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm. I want to talk about, uh, the Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneers because you did an NFL Network hit today,
Speaker 1: I believe where you discuss their front seven and how
Speaker 1: it played as well as any front seven in the
Speaker 1: entire league in the last six weeks. Uh. And everyone
Speaker 1: knows what's going on the offensive side of the ball
Speaker 1: with Tom Brady there? Do the Bucks to you? And
Speaker 1: you you study all these teams as well or better
Speaker 1: than anybody they are. The Bucks are one of those
Speaker 1: teams that to you is a little bit under the
Speaker 1: radar as a Super Bowl contender. You know, you have
Speaker 1: the teams of the obvious contenders, but can the Buck
Speaker 1: The Bucks have the talent and the ability you think
Speaker 1: in the coaching to maybe go on a runner. And
Speaker 1: are there any other teams that you've been studying that's like, Wow,
Speaker 1: this team is way better than people realize. Well, I
Speaker 1: think Tampa. You know, I to watch them play football.
Speaker 1: The last six weeks, they scored four defensive touchdowns. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, they brought everybody back. And so if you
Speaker 1: look at J P. P and Shaq Barrett on the edges,
Speaker 1: and you look at Vita Villa and in Dominican su
Speaker 1: domin who has never missed a game. I know he's
Speaker 1: been suspended, He's never missed a game. I mean he's
Speaker 1: a complete pro. So a guy like Vida Vella watches
Speaker 1: and Dominicans sue, how he takes care of himself, how
Speaker 1: he prepares, how he gets his body ready. I mean
Speaker 1: he is a Polynesian power, just a tsunami of power
Speaker 1: inside no one guy can fly. And then if you
Speaker 1: look at what really Devin White did the second half
Speaker 1: of the season, I mean he's gonna be the Pro Bowlman.
Speaker 1: A linebacker for a long time, Nick Lavante David that
Speaker 1: front coached by a very good coordinator, Todd Bowls, God Bowls. Baby. Well,
Speaker 1: I look, I know people Bowls in New York. I
Speaker 1: mean they think, but Todd Bowl has always been a
Speaker 1: I think he knows how to communicate and I think
Speaker 1: he knows how to really put players in great positions
Speaker 1: to make plays, and he's got a lot of talent.
Speaker 1: Now you can say the back end, okay, the back end.
Speaker 1: All he did was they made their mistakes. They played
Speaker 1: a ton of young guys, rookie second year of players
Speaker 1: last year, Jamaldine, you go through the list of all
Speaker 1: the guys, I think they're just gonna get better in
Speaker 1: the front. Andybody knows that everybody's back into their defense
Speaker 1: plays better when the front is dominant. And so look
Speaker 1: at Tom Brady. I mean you look at they had
Speaker 1: seven pick sixes last year, including the final play of
Speaker 1: the season against the Falcons in overtime. That's how the
Speaker 1: season ended. What jameis Winston throwing a pick six might
Speaker 1: still be on the team if he didn't throw that ball.
Speaker 1: Was that I think he might still be on the
Speaker 1: team if he didn't throw that ball. Season ended on
Speaker 1: a pick I mean seven, that's never been done. We've
Speaker 1: seen a lot of quarterbacks that have dubious distinctions, and
Speaker 1: the hun of your history of this sleep seven pick sixes.
Speaker 1: It's hard to do. And they're seeing that way. And
Speaker 1: we know that Tom Brady, if he throws one, he's
Speaker 1: not sleeping for a week and he's just gonna make
Speaker 1: up for it. So I mean, I think if you
Speaker 1: cut down on the mistakes on offense, if you look
Speaker 1: at what they're bringing back on defense, and if anybody
Speaker 1: knows Bruce Arians, I know you'all do, but he's the
Speaker 1: anti Belichick. I mean, you can get a great joke
Speaker 1: from Bruce Arians ten minutes before kickoff. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: just now, he's gonna jump the officials. He's not gonna
Speaker 1: be happy during the game, but he's loose all you know.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, you know the thing that always
Speaker 1: irked me as a player is when coaches would tell
Speaker 1: you all week long, you know, go back, you know,
Speaker 1: like all week long they're just all tight. They're worried,
Speaker 1: you know, they're they're like they're scaring their own shadows.
Speaker 1: And then the pregame speeches. Go out and have fun. Well,
Speaker 1: players go out and have fun every day. I think
Speaker 1: Brady is gonna love him now. He he may not
Speaker 1: love the the exact culture right now, but he'll I've
Speaker 1: already talked to Ryan Jensen about Tom Brady. He gets
Speaker 1: a dissertation every days with him on thirty minutes or
Speaker 1: just snapping the football, you know, where he wants the
Speaker 1: towel what like how damp he wants to tell that
Speaker 1: he wears where the laces need to be shotgun understanding,
Speaker 1: I mean he gets a dissertations happened the ball? I
Speaker 1: mean this is what you're gonna get from Green, right,
Speaker 1: You're gonna get an offensive line coach along with the
Speaker 1: quarterback because and I do think there's a concern with
Speaker 1: their line. You know, the tackle positions. Will see if
Speaker 1: you know the rookie works out worse. We'll see if
Speaker 1: Donovan Smith plays a little bitter. But ultimately Brady is
Speaker 1: gonna make them look better. He always does. He makes
Speaker 1: his line better. I think how he would want, like
Speaker 1: a longer off season. He's tried to have it with
Speaker 1: the workouts that he have. But you've been in the league,
Speaker 1: you know as a player. You've been in this broadcasting
Speaker 1: business for over twenty years now too, so you're a vet.
Speaker 1: You've been to these camps a ton like we're never
Speaker 1: gonna see in August like this. I guess I'm wondering
Speaker 1: if someone who's been there, who knows what it's like
Speaker 1: to prepare for a season, what do you think is
Speaker 1: gonna happen in it. Let's say it all goes well
Speaker 1: like it goes how they want to. You've got about
Speaker 1: two weeks really to get ready, two or three weeks.
Speaker 1: You've got a couple of weeks where you're actually tackling
Speaker 1: in pads, like what do you think is going to
Speaker 1: be the fallout of that sort of run up to
Speaker 1: to season. But even before this pandemic, I mean, nobody
Speaker 1: was playing in August, and so September was the new August,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean we saw a lot of bad football.
Speaker 1: We saw the Patriots get off to horrendous starts wanted
Speaker 1: to start so until we saw them get off the
Speaker 1: bad starts and then fix and they use September to
Speaker 1: really fix what was broken and figure out the best
Speaker 1: way to win football games. I mean they were, I mean,
Speaker 1: they were the poster child for being able to do that.
Speaker 1: So if that was the whey it was before this pandemic,
Speaker 1: and we're looking at basically six weeks now to ratch
Speaker 1: it up for the season, I think the teams that
Speaker 1: handled the next six weeks the best are gonna get
Speaker 1: off to the best start. But regardless of what kind
Speaker 1: of start we see, I mean October is gonna be
Speaker 1: the new September. I mean, we may not see really
Speaker 1: good football until October this year because we're gonna get
Speaker 1: a lot of injuries where you know, I mean whoever.
Speaker 1: I mean, I could look at everybody's starting lineup. I
Speaker 1: doubt anybody's gonna start their twenty two that they have
Speaker 1: right now lined up. I'm we're just gonna see injuries
Speaker 1: because they're just not gonna get battle tests now. I
Speaker 1: talked to some teams like the Eagles. Um, they're gonna
Speaker 1: have two scrimmages, you know, once you put the pads
Speaker 1: on starting August seventeen. I mean they they want to
Speaker 1: try to get to as much full speed contact and work.
Speaker 1: And I'm sure other teams have other things. But I'm
Speaker 1: sure Jim Harball is not gonna go, you know, three
Speaker 1: weeks about a lot of contact. I mean, it's just
Speaker 1: who he is. But so, I mean teams are gonna
Speaker 1: do it differently. But how you handle these next six weeks,
Speaker 1: how do you come out of it? You know, from
Speaker 1: the COVID nineteen positive negative stance, how have you come
Speaker 1: out of an injury wise? How you get the bodies
Speaker 1: ready to play? How you get teams prepared to play
Speaker 1: at high levels starting September ten or the thirteenth. Whenever
Speaker 1: you start. I mean, whoever does that the best? He's
Speaker 1: gonna get off to a good start. Um, get off
Speaker 1: to the best start. And I think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: really important this year. Ball. They thank you so much
Speaker 1: for joining us. You really are like the Tony Stark
Speaker 1: of NFL media, but also knowing better in the business
Speaker 1: realm to give a alright, follow Baldy everywhere. He's the
Speaker 1: best in the business. Thanks buddy, Thanks, thanks for having
Speaker 1: appreciate Thanks Baldi. I I do remember him like doing
Speaker 1: some Fox games and I was in college. Baldi has
Speaker 1: been part of our lives. Oh yeah, for a long
Speaker 1: time before he was colleagues. Um, all right, that was excellent.
Speaker 1: So this boys and girls, you could come back now.
Speaker 1: This brings an end to my time here in Texas.
Speaker 1: I just want to say thank you to Bill O'Brien
Speaker 1: for having me here. Uh. In his attic, things did
Speaker 1: calm down after last week's issues and uh, and I
Speaker 1: look forward to heading back to l A and rejoining
Speaker 1: you guys in the same city tomorrow. And I want
Speaker 1: to also thank of course the Gatesville Messenger. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: not not this headline not vehicle theft leads to extensive
Speaker 1: man hunt, respect shoots, found this guy or what. I
Speaker 1: don't know, but it doesn't matter because the zeuser is
Speaker 1: on the front page of the Gatesville Messenger this week. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's been great being here. I look forward to returning
Speaker 1: and and we'll be back as a group maybe Friday.
Speaker 1: Are we planning Friday show? Did we ever decide that?
Speaker 1: I think it's a probable. It's a probable, assuming we
Speaker 1: have may be a mini show if if if so
Speaker 1: be if that's all we have. Yeah, what I'm saying
Speaker 1: network exactly, So make sure uh to tune in for
Speaker 1: that and thank you everybody for listening. Um. Until then,
Speaker 1: this is Dan hands Is signing off for Quiet Storm,
Speaker 1: the mail Man, the Old Boss, and Ricky Hollywood behind
Speaker 1: the Glass. Yeah, I said mail Man, because he's with us,
Speaker 1: he always is. Jill. Maybe Friday,