Speaker 1: This is another edition of Football Today. Some breaking news
Speaker 1: on Sunday night, we had heard rumblings about it that
Speaker 1: the Bengals were making a lot of contractual progress with
Speaker 1: their outstanding wide receiving corps. Well they finished that up.
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase gets four years, one hundred and forty one
Speaker 1: hundred what is it, one hundred and sixty one million
Speaker 1: dollars yep one six one wow. T Higgins four for
Speaker 1: one point fifteen. Of course he was headed into the
Speaker 1: being a franchise tagged for the second straight year. So
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow gets his wish. He wanted to keep the
Speaker 1: entire crew together. That's exactly what is happening. Bobby Skinner.
Speaker 1: Is this the right way for the Bengals to do business?
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. There's not even a doubt in my mind.
Speaker 2: And it looks like they're going to get something done
Speaker 2: with Trey Hendrickson. And I do want to there's criticism
Speaker 2: I have for the Bengals on how all this went
Speaker 2: down in the long run, but the idea like, oh man,
Speaker 2: they're going to pay a wide receiver to that much
Speaker 2: and this guy at this top position. They are a
Speaker 2: team despite the fact that they have these big hopes
Speaker 2: every year that doesn't have people that they need to
Speaker 2: pay upcoming right. I think we always forget about this, like, oh,
Speaker 2: do we pay a wide receiver too this much or
Speaker 2: that much?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 2: And we've had this conversation in Giantslin because we don't
Speaker 2: have to pay many guys and or you don't want
Speaker 2: to pay a safety this much. Well, who do you
Speaker 2: have coming down the pipe? They don't really, They don't
Speaker 2: really have anybody, you know that's they've drafted recently that's
Speaker 2: going to get this big contract. Cam Taylor Britt probably
Speaker 2: will get a decent one, but I'd sacrifice him for
Speaker 2: you know, any of those guys. Dax Hill has been
Speaker 2: so so Nobody from the twenty twenty three class looks
Speaker 2: worthy of a decent payday yet, and the twenty twenty
Speaker 2: four class, you don't judge it right now. But guess what,
Speaker 2: the Rams know they have to pay somebody pay people
Speaker 2: from their draft class. The Bengals don't yet, so they
Speaker 2: don't have any you know, big time players coming up.
Speaker 2: They should have got this done. This is their best
Speaker 2: chance to win is to have that sustainability on offense, right,
Speaker 2: They need to get a better defense. They need to
Speaker 2: get a better run game, which we'll talk about. They
Speaker 2: actually have tried to, but creating more issues was not
Speaker 2: the answer for the Bengals.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with Bobby. I mean, I think there are
Speaker 3: splits with and without T. Higgins, and I think just
Speaker 3: use the eye test to not even stats. I think
Speaker 3: they are a different team without without T. Higgins. So
Speaker 3: I mean even this year, I'm just playing twelve games.
Speaker 3: I mean, if he played, if he played even sixteen
Speaker 3: fifteen games, he gets over one hundred catches, he gets
Speaker 3: over at a thousand yards safely. Safely, he gets over
Speaker 3: those numbers, which is just bonkers. I mean. And this
Speaker 3: is how when you have Joe Burrow, and Joe Burrow
Speaker 3: has played the way that he's played the last two years.
Speaker 3: Once he's been fully healthy and he gets out of
Speaker 3: the disaster that is the month of September for him,
Speaker 3: he plays like an MVP quarterback. In the identity of
Speaker 3: this team and why they're why they have a shot
Speaker 3: in any given game is because they have T Higgins,
Speaker 3: Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow. That's the identity of your team.
Speaker 3: Keep it and like Bobby said, I mean down the pipeline.
Speaker 3: I mean next year, they have one hundred and forty
Speaker 3: million dollars in cap space, not reflecting any of the
Speaker 3: deals that were just signed, reflecting a Trey Heundrickson extension
Speaker 3: or anything like that. But even in the midst of
Speaker 3: we're waiting for those cap pits and those future cap
Speaker 3: pits to hit. Sign these guys. This is the identity
Speaker 3: of your team. There's nothing that's holding you back from
Speaker 3: doing this.
Speaker 1: Okay, let me play the other side of this. You
Speaker 1: could have probably traded Higgins right. There wasn't a lot
Speaker 1: of wide receiver movement that made you go, WHOA, that's great.
Speaker 1: They probably could have gotten a draft pick for him,
Speaker 1: and then they probably could have brought in defensive players
Speaker 1: that would have helped them on the free agent market.
Speaker 1: They did not do that. They brought in TJ on
Speaker 1: the defensive line, solid rotational piece I think in out
Speaker 1: of Green Bay. But he's not a guy where you're like,
Speaker 1: people will have to really look up TJ. Slayton in
Speaker 1: order to know who he is. They brought in Owen
Speaker 1: Burkes to replaim to replace a Keem Davis Gaither at linebacker.
Speaker 1: I don't know what the future holds for Jermaine Pratt,
Speaker 1: who said, I'm I think that he'll go. I mean
Speaker 1: he led the team I think in misstackles a year ago.
Speaker 2: How about the future being better play for Jermaine Pratt.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's fine, but he's not the only reason that
Speaker 1: they stunk last year on defense. And we can all say, okay, well,
Speaker 1: lou Anarumo is it and he was the problem. So
Speaker 1: we'll send him to Indianapolis and we'll bring in Al
Speaker 1: Golden who they literally is trying to live up to
Speaker 1: his name as the Golden Child. I think they're relying
Speaker 1: on his ability to kind of tie this whole thing
Speaker 1: together because they have to get better on that side
Speaker 1: of the football, guys or else. This doesn't this doesn't
Speaker 1: make sense. They go out and score more than twenty
Speaker 1: five points every game. It seems like they did it
Speaker 1: eleven times last year. What do you think their record
Speaker 1: was in games where they scored at least twenty five points?
Speaker 1: Give me a guess.
Speaker 2: Do you have the number?
Speaker 1: I do, just guess off the top of your head.
Speaker 2: Six and ten, Actually six and six and eight. How
Speaker 2: about that?
Speaker 1: Hold on, I don't know if I said eleven games,
Speaker 1: they did it that they're teaching you.
Speaker 2: I'm surprised that they only had that many. They were
Speaker 2: one of the best. I'll say, how about that.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna say six and five. I'm gonna say closer
Speaker 3: to five hundred and hope that it's the answer.
Speaker 1: Five and six is the right answer. So they won
Speaker 1: forty five percent of the games in which they scored
Speaker 1: at least twenty five points the league average. If you
Speaker 1: score at least twenty five you win more than eighty
Speaker 1: percent of the time. Wow, the Bengals, come on, guys, this.
Speaker 2: Is Here's the thing is they keep keep the great
Speaker 2: thing great is what they should do. Yeah, they need
Speaker 2: here's like they need to get They need to start
Speaker 2: hitting on those defensive draft picks, right. You know they've
Speaker 2: they've had ten top one hundred draft picks over the
Speaker 2: last three years. Eight of them have been defense, all
Speaker 2: from the front in DBS, not even in any linebackers
Speaker 2: in there. You need Logan Wilson and Jermaine Pratt to
Speaker 2: play better. But again, I don't think they could have.
Speaker 2: They could have still done that, right if you want
Speaker 2: to criticize them on doing that, they still could have
Speaker 2: went out and got some more defensive pieces, but I
Speaker 2: would not I would not mess with what is a
Speaker 2: top five offense in the NFL to try and can
Speaker 2: plug in a bunch of holes through free agency.
Speaker 3: On defense, yeah, making the thirtieth defense the twentieth defense,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: But maybe the twentieth defense is the difference between watching
Speaker 1: the playoffs at home and being a pain in the
Speaker 1: ass to the Buffalo Bills in round one, which is
Speaker 1: what we all we were all begging for it as
Speaker 1: football fans. We're like, oh, please, let's see the Bengals
Speaker 1: make it, and then we were all kind of bummed
Speaker 1: out when the Broncos made it as the team. Listen,
Speaker 1: here's I'm just focused on the top three rounds. I
Speaker 1: think anytime you get a guy who becomes kind of
Speaker 1: a four down, good for you, Like that's a diamond
Speaker 1: in the roup in my opinion. But top three rounds
Speaker 1: is where you really have to live to keep your
Speaker 1: team healthy year in and year out. Here's the defensive
Speaker 1: players they have drafted in the first three rounds over
Speaker 1: the last several years. Chris Jenkins and McKinley Jackson. From
Speaker 1: last year, Jackson didn't play, he was injured Jenkins flashed
Speaker 1: at times. The year before their first rounder was Miles Murphy,
Speaker 1: Dj Turner's coming off an injury, Jordan a year before that,
Speaker 1: it was Dax Hill Cam Taylor Britt who at times
Speaker 1: we thought was gonna like jump off the page and
Speaker 1: be great, and then there were times where he looked horrible.
Speaker 1: Joseph Asai, his most famous plays pushing Patrick Mahomes late.
Speaker 1: Logan Wilson is the guy you have to go back
Speaker 1: to in twenty twenty to feel like they found a
Speaker 1: guy in the top three rounds as a defensive player
Speaker 1: that can be a solid every down contributor at this level.
Speaker 1: That now, and.
Speaker 2: They've drafted a lot too.
Speaker 1: They have, they've taken their swing. So either Duke Tobin
Speaker 1: ain't the guy who should be making the picks, or
Speaker 1: you're really relying. You're relying once again on the draft.
Speaker 1: They don't even have that many picks. They've got six
Speaker 1: pieces coming up in the draft, so you're trying to
Speaker 1: fix that side of the football to make them a
Speaker 1: super Bowl contender. What was the reason they went to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl Super Bowl fifty six, It's because Anna
Speaker 1: Rumo's defense played off the charts in the playoffs. I
Speaker 1: don't see that happening with this team.
Speaker 2: Sure, but what they what is going to keep sustaining
Speaker 2: them until that defense does get better, is the fact
Speaker 2: that they have this type of offense, right, Like, when
Speaker 2: you have Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, T Higgins for the
Speaker 2: next four years, they should have a top five offense, right,
Speaker 2: so you hope that you get within that time, Like, yeah,
Speaker 2: could they have let go of T Higgins and you know,
Speaker 2: went all in for this year to add you know,
Speaker 2: more in free agency, but I think keeping uh, you
Speaker 2: know Burrow obviously Burrow, but just Chase was an obvious one.
Speaker 2: But at keeping Higgins part of that keeps you a
Speaker 2: top five offense through the next four years and allows
Speaker 2: you to hopefully build that defense. Obviously it's a lot
Speaker 2: easier said than done, but I think that's that where
Speaker 2: the Bengals are mess up is not getting these contracts
Speaker 2: done earlier. You know. Now, maybe Jamar Chase didn't want to,
Speaker 2: but it would have been nice to get that deal
Speaker 2: done last year. Give them the same deal as justin Jefferson,
Speaker 2: you say, five mil per year T Higgins playing around
Speaker 2: on that contract for like, that's the one where you
Speaker 2: can say this is this is a joke that they've
Speaker 2: played around. He's now the ninth highest paid wide receiver.
Speaker 2: You know, you look at the receivers who are in
Speaker 2: his tier last year, Nico Collins, Calvin Ridley, Michael Pittman.
Speaker 2: Those guys got like twenty three per year last year
Speaker 2: and he's never hit eleven hundred yards in his career.
Speaker 2: So there's an extra ten million per year that they
Speaker 2: could have, you know, used to add some defensive pieces.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but ten million dollars that goes quick. I mean
Speaker 1: you could have for T higgins contract, which is one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifteen million dollars, you could have gotten Josh
Speaker 1: Sweat for seventy five and gotten another good player for
Speaker 1: you know, fifty. It's it's a little bit more, obviously
Speaker 1: than what T Higgins has worth. But that's my You
Speaker 1: have been whiffing this much every time you step up
Speaker 1: to the plate in the draft. Go get it in
Speaker 1: free agency. Get guys who have been proven at this
Speaker 1: level and have done it.
Speaker 2: I would not want to mess with the best. You
Speaker 2: know what we I predicted be you know, a top
Speaker 2: three offense of the next four years for Josh Swat Okay.
Speaker 3: I mean there's there's three guys on the Bengals last year.
Speaker 3: I mean Mike Gaseeki had sixty five catches. So three guys, Kaseckie,
Speaker 3: Higgins and Chase that over sixty five catches and all
Speaker 3: three of them have a success rate on Pro Football
Speaker 3: Reference of over sixty percent. I mean that that's unheard
Speaker 3: of to have gays.
Speaker 1: Where did they get them? Justin? It got given.
Speaker 2: They got them an offense where Row watch, I get it.
Speaker 3: I get it, Rose, I get it. And you know, hey,
Speaker 3: it's like you look at all these one score games
Speaker 3: and it's like they've lost to the Ravens thirty eight
Speaker 3: to forty one. They lod forty one points, they let
Speaker 3: forty four points to the freaking Pittsburgh Steelers, thirty four
Speaker 3: points to the to the Chargers thirty five points. They
Speaker 3: lost by one point to the Ravens in their second matchup.
Speaker 3: Now what I what I think they need to do,
Speaker 3: you know, outside of defense, And they have a guard
Speaker 3: problem too. They have a really you know, in tier
Speaker 3: offensive line in their in their two guards haven't even
Speaker 3: gotten to that. So there are issues. But I think Burrow,
Speaker 3: Higgins and Chase can elevate a lot of people. And
Speaker 3: even though they got Chase Brown, a dynamic runner out
Speaker 3: neither here or there. They need everybody to lock in
Speaker 3: the month of December because outside you know, from that
Speaker 3: October sixth game on onward, which that October sixth game
Speaker 3: was the Baltimore Raven game where they lost thirty eight
Speaker 3: to forty one in oh September. But yeah, they need
Speaker 3: to lock in September. What do I say, October Septembember. No,
Speaker 3: they need They have been locked in in December. They
Speaker 3: need to lock in the month of September because they
Speaker 3: went oh and three and then every game from that
Speaker 3: October sixth game they finished the season eight and four.
Speaker 3: And I feel like that's been an every year problem.
Speaker 3: And two years ago it was Burrow who got the
Speaker 3: season and injury just when it looked like they were
Speaker 3: heating up. Now that everybody is we can stop subtweeting,
Speaker 3: We can stop like everybody is paid. Get get Trey
Speaker 3: Hendrickson done, pay your stars. Everybody can lock in during
Speaker 3: training camp. Everybody can do what they gotta do. Nobody
Speaker 3: can has to worry about their future or fear of
Speaker 3: injury or franchise tager, nothing man, everybody, lock in, everybody
Speaker 3: get on the same page. Win in the month of September,
Speaker 3: and that'll make the Cincinnati Bengals job a hell of
Speaker 3: a lot easier throughout the regular season, even if their
Speaker 3: defense is bottom quarter in the league.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, we'll see, we'll see if it all works out.
Speaker 1: By the way, don't ever say a final score again,
Speaker 1: thirty eight to forty one.
Speaker 3: Forty one to thirty eight.
Speaker 1: Yeah, please, sorry, I'm reading.
Speaker 3: It off for profile bar offerens that are always lists
Speaker 3: the team first and then the opponent next.
Speaker 1: Don't ever do that again. Though the Athletic is reporting
Speaker 1: they had a really, really good column led by Michael Silver,
Speaker 1: who obviously has very good connections with Aaron Rodgers, that
Speaker 1: he wants to play for the Vikings, and that the
Speaker 1: Vikings are kind of split, that it's fifty to fifty,
Speaker 1: and that if Rogers doesn't play for the Vikings that
Speaker 1: he is seriously considering retirement. Where do you sit with this?
Speaker 1: We talked a little bit last week about whether or
Speaker 1: not the Vikings should because they are built to win.
Speaker 1: Right now, go get a guy who's a four time MVP, Bobby.
Speaker 2: I mean, we touched about this a little bit of Friday.
Speaker 2: If I were the Vikings gym, I would go get
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers, but we didn't. Let's forget like some of
Speaker 2: the on fields, like just the on the field play
Speaker 2: because I don't think Aaron Rodgers was great last year.
Speaker 2: You know, you're talking about how he finished strong, because
Speaker 2: last game of season was terrible. Do you mess with
Speaker 2: what like they have going on in Minnesota, which is
Speaker 2: a culture of winning, but a good culture, and let
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers kind of, you know, let him, let him
Speaker 2: in the henhouse.
Speaker 1: Okay, But so what is it that we think would
Speaker 1: happen in Minnesota. I understand what transpired in New York
Speaker 1: with the Jets, but that is an fed up team
Speaker 1: that has the longest playoff drout going in the NFL.
Speaker 1: They are desperate. They are desperate on so many levels
Speaker 1: to want to be loved in New York City, to
Speaker 1: not like they're the second team behind the Giants, to
Speaker 1: want to get back to the playoffs, to find a
Speaker 1: decent quarterback. They have a lot that where they're like,
Speaker 1: Minnesota is not that situation. So what is it that
Speaker 1: we're worried about exactly with Aaron that he's going to
Speaker 1: roll his eyes at receivers like Tom Brady does that.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I just think the Jets thing went like historically bad,
Speaker 2: and I get there's a lot of things at play there,
Speaker 2: but they went really really bad, and it's like it's
Speaker 2: just stuff pops up. I don't know, Like, what would
Speaker 2: you do if you were Rogers.
Speaker 1: I don't know how he feels. I can't imagine. I
Speaker 1: feel shitty at my age and I don't get chased
Speaker 1: by three hundred and twenty pound defensive linemen. So I
Speaker 1: don't know how he feels. And it is a long season.
Speaker 1: But I look at that team and say, God, dang man,
Speaker 1: and that play caller I would say, and those receivers
Speaker 1: in particular, and the way they've built up the interior
Speaker 1: of the offensive line through free agency at least taking
Speaker 1: good swings. I think, like I'm in, I am in.
Speaker 3: I think we're so far on the point where if
Speaker 3: the Vikings wanted to be in on Rodgers, wouldn't they
Speaker 3: be on it?
Speaker 1: Be in on it? Well, I don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: know if we know whether they are aren't. I mean,
Speaker 1: the Athletic article said that there are people in the
Speaker 1: building that are extremely split on this whole thing. But
Speaker 1: once again, we talked about turning the keys over to
Speaker 1: an unproven kid who's coming off a knee injury and
Speaker 1: had a ton of question marks coming into the NFL. Anyway, Yeah,
Speaker 1: don't we all agree that Aaron Rodgers would be a
Speaker 1: better quarterback for them just in twenty twenty five than
Speaker 1: JJ McCarthy, Bobby, can't we all agree on that? Not all?
Speaker 2: I can, because I didn't. I didn't think JJ McCarthy
Speaker 2: was was worthy of that pick. But if you think
Speaker 2: JJ McCarthy is worthy of that pick, you should think
Speaker 2: he's better than what anwered like, Aaron Rodgers was not
Speaker 2: good last year. I think he's the best quarterback available
Speaker 2: in free agency, but like, he wasn't a top ten
Speaker 2: quarterback or close to a top ten quarterback last year. Right,
Speaker 2: even there, you know the good games, there's a lot
Speaker 2: of stuff left on the field. But now he could
Speaker 2: still spin it. He's still got the mind that he does.
Speaker 2: But and hopefully, you know, another year off, the injury
Speaker 2: is better, but it could be, it could be worse.
Speaker 2: You know, he's forty one years old. Again, I just
Speaker 2: I cannot wrap my head around a team trading up
Speaker 2: for a quarterback in the first round and then in
Speaker 2: year two with the easiest landing spot ever being like, yeah,
Speaker 2: we're passing that up for a forty one year old
Speaker 2: QB who wasn't good last year. Like again, if Aaron
Speaker 2: Rodgers was coming off, if this is Aaron Rodgers two
Speaker 2: years ago, be like, hey, you're getting a guy that's,
Speaker 2: you know, one year removed from an MVP. We're three
Speaker 2: years removed from Aaron Rodgers playing good football in the
Speaker 2: NFL like Aaron like top ten quarterback level football.
Speaker 1: So I suppose the question is can he play at
Speaker 1: the level that Sam Darnold did last year? Yeah? Minnesota okay,
Speaker 1: so probably better?
Speaker 2: Probably better again, I think that, But if if like
Speaker 2: they should have that, that that should be the same
Speaker 2: evaluation for JJ McCarthy, And I think it is for
Speaker 2: a lot of people in the building, probably the GMS
Speaker 2: more so than the head coach. But like, that's that's
Speaker 2: why they let Sam Donald walk, was because you know,
Speaker 2: they thought JJ McCarthy could do better than him.
Speaker 1: M hm okay, So who thinks that he's going to
Speaker 1: be a Minnesota Viking? Anybody here? No, I don't Pennick.
Speaker 3: No, and I still think that. I think that Rogers
Speaker 3: is going to be a Pittsburgh Still.
Speaker 2: How many more conversations can the Minnesota Vikings have before
Speaker 2: offering a contract.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I'm with you. I don't think it,
Speaker 1: but I really want to see it. I do. I think.
Speaker 1: I think it would be fun. And I love Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 1: He's my coaching crush. I'm a huge fan of his.
Speaker 1: I want to see it.
Speaker 2: Oh, we just need a Brett far of prophecy to
Speaker 2: be which he should wear number four.
Speaker 3: I was just about to say he should wear number
Speaker 3: four too.
Speaker 2: MVP level season with the Vikings after failure with the Jets,
Speaker 2: Like again, he would he would be like I think
Speaker 2: in that offense, he'd you know, have thirty two touchdowns,
Speaker 2: five interceptions and get like MVP talk.
Speaker 1: Nick Mullins left for Jacksonville. So I think number twelve
Speaker 1: is available, Okay, h yeah, okay. So the Falcons keep
Speaker 1: saying they're gonna pay Kirk Cousins that ten million dollars
Speaker 1: roster bonus that he's due today, I'd be happy to
Speaker 1: have him in the building, even though he is clearly
Speaker 1: the backup Michael it is Michael Penix's job. Are we
Speaker 1: buying all of that statement?
Speaker 2: Well, Kirk's not gonna be happy. I think the Falcons
Speaker 2: if this was you know, Madden and these people that
Speaker 2: have personalities, I like I would keep Kirk there too,
Speaker 2: to have him in the building and helping with game
Speaker 2: plan and having a you know, you know, somebody that
Speaker 2: Mike Pennis can can talk to and ask questions, especially,
Speaker 2: you know, because they're both you know, in that quarterback
Speaker 2: who or mobile. But in reality, I don't I don't
Speaker 2: see how Kirk Cousins is happy at all being there.
Speaker 2: He's not, I mean has he hasn't been happy there
Speaker 2: since you know, April last year, the.
Speaker 3: Month after he signed the contract. I think he's staying
Speaker 3: because unless, unless, the unless, the Falcons are gonna buckle
Speaker 3: up and just eat the majority of that contract and
Speaker 3: then allow a team like the Browns the Titans, who
Speaker 3: could still take cam Warden have Kirk Cousins as the
Speaker 3: veteran backup for like a six round pick. I don't
Speaker 3: think Kirk Cousins is going anywhere. I mean, the contract
Speaker 3: is just absurd, seventy five million in dead money, and
Speaker 3: if they were, let's just say, if they were to
Speaker 3: cut him, and I guess this would be the same
Speaker 3: thing for releasing him too, seventy a trading him as well,
Speaker 3: seventy five million in dead money, and then they would
Speaker 3: oh thirty five million against the cap for the cap savings,
Speaker 3: it would put them in the red thirty five million.
Speaker 3: So I mean, there's just there's no team that is
Speaker 3: going to want like, Okay, you have to take the
Speaker 3: money and I'll give you a six round pick. But
Speaker 3: that's it. There's going to be no team that's going
Speaker 3: to want to take anything, or you just release him
Speaker 3: if you don't want him that bad. So that's why
Speaker 3: I think they're going.
Speaker 1: To keep them. Well, they're definitely not releasing him because
Speaker 1: the wouldn't pay him a ten million dollar roster bonus
Speaker 1: to then release him. So that is off the table.
Speaker 1: Let's play the trade game. And first of all, I
Speaker 1: want to say, why they don't want him in the building. Now,
Speaker 1: we heard that the day that Penni's got the job
Speaker 1: as the starter, that Kirk Cousins was like the first
Speaker 1: guy to call him and be like, hey, listen, I
Speaker 1: am with you. That is part of my job. He's
Speaker 1: a good veteran. We've heard of bad veterans. He is
Speaker 1: a good veteran, so I'm not worried about him being
Speaker 1: a malcontent in the building. Like, if you're to line
Speaker 1: up all the guys in the NFL and say who's
Speaker 1: the least guy who's going to be a problem, Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins is in the bottom five most likely. But the
Speaker 1: Falcons don't want a guy who they're paying one hundred
Speaker 1: million dollars to to be there just in case Michael
Speaker 1: Pennock struggles the first month, because you know what everybody's
Speaker 1: going to be talking about, Well, why aren't you giving
Speaker 1: kirk Cousins another shot? He wasn't healthy last year. We've
Speaker 1: seen what he can do at a high level. Why
Speaker 1: don't you play him like? That's the last thing the
Speaker 1: Falcons need to deal with. So now we get to
Speaker 1: the business side of this. Nobody in their right mind
Speaker 1: is going to trade for kirk Cousins full contract. But
Speaker 1: would you be willing to say, kirk Cousins ten million
Speaker 1: this year of the twenty seven that he's owed from
Speaker 1: the Falcons, and sure, I'll give a fifth, fifth round pick,
Speaker 1: because why not? Would don't you don't think that's some
Speaker 1: needy team. We know that there's the Browns, the Titans,
Speaker 1: the Giants, this unit.
Speaker 2: Would you, mister Cleveland Brown, would you because that's the
Speaker 2: team that there's the only smoke I've I've seen with
Speaker 2: with Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 1: I think I would pay. I think I would pay
Speaker 1: ten million dollars and probably a sixth round pick. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't want to give up the picks, but just to
Speaker 1: do it. Either that or we'll talk about the Browns
Speaker 1: quarterback situation.
Speaker 2: I say that I can transition do so. Would you
Speaker 2: would you give up a six round pick and pay
Speaker 2: ten million to have Kirk Cousins Kenny pick in the
Speaker 2: shad door standers?
Speaker 1: Well, you know what, before we get to that, let
Speaker 1: me let me do this because it all ties in.
Speaker 1: Miles Garrett had his reinchentry press conference, which was a
Speaker 1: weird thing. I don't know if you guys saw it.
Speaker 1: The Browns put up like these dinosaurs up on the dais.
Speaker 1: You know, they treat it like it was a free
Speaker 1: agent signing instead of an extension. But I think because
Speaker 1: of the media tour that Miles went on, well tour
Speaker 1: or blowtorch, whatever you want to say, at the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl that they had him meet the press on Friday.
Speaker 1: Then he sat down with my buddy Andrew Ceciliano, who's
Speaker 1: now the Browns radio play by play guy, and they
Speaker 1: talked about the quarterback situation in all serious is do
Speaker 1: you know who the quarterback is going to be? I mean,
Speaker 1: do you have an idea? After conversations, I do have
Speaker 1: an idea. Okay, do you like the idea?
Speaker 2: I like it enough to to uh be here smiling
Speaker 2: in front of you because I think we have a
Speaker 2: good chance of that happening and making the most out
Speaker 2: of it.
Speaker 1: Can you tell us who it is? Miles? You know
Speaker 1: I can't do that, Okay, So Miles, they told Miles
Speaker 1: something what I.
Speaker 2: I don't pay attention to any pre draft smoke, right
Speaker 2: unless it's like clear the ten that's going first, right,
Speaker 2: like this whole Titans thing, like we're not going to
Speaker 2: pass on an elite player at one, and then all
Speaker 2: the trade smoke out of the combine now looks like
Speaker 2: they're going like I just I just don't pay attention
Speaker 2: to that, and especially anything that comes from a player's
Speaker 2: mouth because they don't know. That was the first time
Speaker 2: I've ever been like oh what, Like he knows right,
Speaker 2: and he's not smoked, Like, why would Miles Garrett be
Speaker 2: smoke screening with that?
Speaker 1: Like what? What? What was that?
Speaker 2: Like, I I'm I'm I'm baffled. Did he just tell
Speaker 2: us the Browns are going to take Shad or Sanders
Speaker 2: or cam Ward at.
Speaker 1: Picked two or one?
Speaker 2: Or did he say did he not want to say
Speaker 2: that he didn't know about the quarterback plan and then
Speaker 2: realized he was in too deep, so he said, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's something I like because he wanted to try and
Speaker 2: not be like, actually, they didn't tell me anything. They
Speaker 2: just gave me forty million dollars per year.
Speaker 1: Well, whatever it was, he was in lockstep with the
Speaker 1: organization because that was on the team website that was
Speaker 1: put out by the team. That is an interview that
Speaker 1: was done by the franchise. So whatever it is, they're
Speaker 1: all in agreement on it. I don't know. Did you
Speaker 1: did you find it interesting panic or not?
Speaker 3: Yeah? In my brain, cam Ward is a Tennessee Titan
Speaker 3: until I improven. Otherwise, whether that's the first night of
Speaker 3: April or you know, the draft night in April on Thursday,
Speaker 3: or it's a trade a the Brown's trade up, the
Speaker 3: Giants trade up. So cam Ward is a Tennessee Titan,
Speaker 3: especially based on what they did in Freanancy. Did Russell
Speaker 3: Wilson visit the Browns last week Thursday? I think that is.
Speaker 3: I honestly, while the Steelers and the Giants are twiddling
Speaker 3: their thumbs waiting over egotistical Aaron Rodgers, Cleveland brown should
Speaker 3: go and sign Russell Wilson, And I think that is
Speaker 3: the I think that is the signing and the guy
Speaker 3: that makes the most sense. If you don't believe, Hey,
Speaker 3: if the Browns really like cam Ward. But again, in
Speaker 3: my head, cam Ward is a Tennessee Titans, is a
Speaker 3: Tennessee Titan. But I don't know if you really like
Speaker 3: Sure Sanders, I don't know if that's if that's the
Speaker 3: guy that you want to pair with whoever, or as
Speaker 3: we're you know, we're waiting to get that the sewing
Speaker 3: money out out the building and out the door, I
Speaker 3: think Russell Wilson is the guy that makes the most
Speaker 3: sense to bring in and try and bring some sort
Speaker 3: of stability that the Browns are desperate for without taking
Speaker 3: a desperate swing at a quarterback that probably probably won't
Speaker 3: be very good in should Sanders.
Speaker 1: So do you think paying let's say, let's say Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson and Kirk Cousins financially are about the same. You
Speaker 1: don't think that Kevin Stefanski would rather say, hey, let's
Speaker 1: trade a sixth round pick for Kirk Cousins. I know
Speaker 1: what I have here?
Speaker 2: Oh no, I would.
Speaker 3: I would much prefer Russ ver Kirk and.
Speaker 2: Had success with Kirk before.
Speaker 1: Yes, point right, that's the point.
Speaker 2: And like the only team I can see wanting Kirk
Speaker 2: over Russ, I guess not the only there's a couple
Speaker 2: of other teams that run similar offenses.
Speaker 1: And getting back to the Falcons standpoint, they want a
Speaker 1: draft pick. They've got three picks in the first six rounds,
Speaker 1: that is it. They've got two seventh rounders that ain't
Speaker 1: gonna help you. So they need to get better and
Speaker 1: they need to continue to put pieces on both sides
Speaker 1: of the football for Michael Pennix. They have no money,
Speaker 1: nobody then that's why the draft picks are even more valuable. Yes,
Speaker 1: so go do that. And if you can save a
Speaker 1: little bit of you know, jump change on Kirk Cousins,
Speaker 1: so be it. I think they're forced to trade him
Speaker 1: and what they're begging for is that Aaron Rodgers retires,
Speaker 1: because that means that there's one less veteran out there
Speaker 1: that's signed with a team, and so somebody else is
Speaker 1: getting desperate.
Speaker 2: I'm almost rooting for the Rogers retirement at this point,
Speaker 2: just to put all these teams in a scurry. I
Speaker 2: can I say something else on the Falcons. I never
Speaker 2: want to let it go how much they pissed me
Speaker 2: off with this Cousin's penick thing, right, and then when
Speaker 2: Pennix comes in this year and everyone being like, oh, man,
Speaker 2: I guess they weren't so crazy after all, Yes they are.
Speaker 2: They have no draft picks and no money because they
Speaker 2: signed Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: The argument was never just taking Michael Pennox alone. It
Speaker 2: was like, why did you do both? Why did you
Speaker 2: do both? You were picking eighth overall. Do not tell
Speaker 2: me you weren't confident in to get Michael Pennix as
Speaker 2: your quarterback. It just it drives me nuts that like
Speaker 2: they've they've put themselves in this crappy situation.
Speaker 1: I get it, I understand it. It was it was
Speaker 1: terribly mismanaged from the standpoint of giving Kirk Cousins one
Speaker 1: hundred million and then picking a quarterback at eight. Nobody
Speaker 1: has a problem. If you want to pick a quarterback
Speaker 1: at eight, nobody does so. But you're right. The way
Speaker 1: this has been done has not been Terry Fontineau in
Speaker 1: the organization's finest moment. I get that.
Speaker 2: And they lost a pick because of tampering too from it.
Speaker 1: Okay, so let's finish it up with this. This discussion.
Speaker 1: Is Kirk Cousins in Atlanta falcon after the draft?
Speaker 3: No, yeah, I'll say no. I think I think Atlanta
Speaker 3: eventually gets desperate, they eat the majority of the money,
Speaker 3: and they just take a Day three pick.
Speaker 1: I would agree, I say, no, who is the starting quarterback?
Speaker 1: Let's finish it all up with this. Who is the
Speaker 1: starting quarterback in Cleveland? After I'm number one on the
Speaker 1: depth chart? After the draft?
Speaker 3: Curly Kirk, Bobby said, Kirk, don't take sure, don't take Shart,
Speaker 3: don't take suret don't take sure.
Speaker 1: I'll say Russ for chaos, I think cam Ward Oh
Speaker 1: who is the starting quarterback for the New York Giants?
Speaker 3: Russell Wilson, Well, I just went away from Rusk. I'll say,
Speaker 3: Sir Sanders, Bobby love that.
Speaker 1: Who is the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph. Who is the starting quarterback for
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings. J. J.
Speaker 2: McCarthy, I'm very boring in my answers. Yeah, I'm also
Speaker 2: gonna go McCarthy Aaron Rodgers. I want pure chaos. I
Speaker 2: didn't give you guys a giant starter.
Speaker 1: I agree. I think Shdeorge Sanders is your I think
Speaker 1: he's your guy. I think that's where we end up.
Speaker 3: I think that's that's D and E.
Speaker 1: Look at you, Bobby, Are you okay? You look Constanpa.
Speaker 2: It's so much fun. I look forward to every d
Speaker 2: M after a bad game. All right, let's let's let's
Speaker 2: get let's get it rolling. You know what, rookie quarterback,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna take advantage of the moment.
Speaker 1: So what does that mean?
Speaker 2: It means I'm gonna break down every single game of film. Baby,
Speaker 2: That's what it means. I'm gonna break down every third down,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna break down every d pats. It means I'm
Speaker 2: gonna break it down.
Speaker 1: All right. We started this show with wide receivers. We're
Speaker 1: gonna end it with a wide receiver. Cooper Cup has
Speaker 1: a new home. He is staying in the NFC West
Speaker 1: three years forty fuck to Seattle? Is that a huge overpay?
Speaker 1: Or do we like what they have done offensively with
Speaker 1: changing out wide receivers, you know, trading one, releasing Tyler Lockett,
Speaker 1: trading Geno Smith, bringing in Sam Donald? Are we okay
Speaker 1: with what has transpired here?
Speaker 2: It's a weird room, man, where you've got receivers that
Speaker 2: are you know, a JSN, a Cooper Cup who aren't redundant,
Speaker 2: but you know, similar in alignment. I won't even say role,
Speaker 2: just alignment. Both are like, so you know, has so
Speaker 2: much to do with timing and being on the same
Speaker 2: page with the quarterback, where Sam Donald has been more
Speaker 2: of a you know what, this is what we're running,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna throw it here. If it's not there, I'll i'll,
Speaker 2: you know, look to extend and make a play. But
Speaker 2: I also can't blame them if they're going to bring
Speaker 2: in Sam Donald and then trade away DK and let
Speaker 2: lock it go. They had to bring in somebody else
Speaker 2: in this receiver room that was capable, and so yeah,
Speaker 2: can when we look back at those Cooper Cup contract
Speaker 2: and say this is amazing or whatever. I don't know,
Speaker 2: probably not, but they needed to bring somebody into that
Speaker 2: wide receiver room. I'm more frustrated to the Patriots didn't
Speaker 2: pay on this, right, This is the type of money
Speaker 2: that they should have, you know, spent a little bit
Speaker 2: of reckless toly On is helping your young quarterback and
Speaker 2: Jake May.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they still have like over one hundred million dollars.
Speaker 2: Or something that waste a little bit like I got
Speaker 2: not everything needs to be the perfect contract when you
Speaker 2: have when you have that type of cap space, you
Speaker 2: don't need the perfect contract. You need to help out
Speaker 2: your young quarterback.
Speaker 1: Yeah, particularly when you're not going to pay him for
Speaker 1: another two years. So you're right, that would have been
Speaker 1: a great one. As far as Seattle, it feels a
Speaker 1: little bit panic. And I want you to follow up
Speaker 1: on this is that they're rebuilding ish on the fly.
Speaker 1: And yes, they signed Sam Donald to one hundred million
Speaker 1: dollar deal for three years, but if you look at it,
Speaker 1: the reports are according over the cap they can get
Speaker 1: out after one year and thirty seven and a half
Speaker 1: mil where there's no dead money and they're not penalized
Speaker 1: at all. So they can use this as a one
Speaker 1: year litmus test to see if this is a guy
Speaker 1: that has truly grown as an NFL quarterback or he
Speaker 1: was built in a lab by Kevin O'Connell. So they
Speaker 1: can do that for one year. They got younger, they
Speaker 1: got a third round pick. They now have five of
Speaker 1: the top ninety two draft picks because they're the only
Speaker 1: team that's got five in the top one hundred. They
Speaker 1: can fix the interior that offensive line, I think if
Speaker 1: you trust John Schneider's ability to draft interior offensive lineman,
Speaker 1: because I think their running game can be way better.
Speaker 1: They were a bottom five running team and by all metrics,
Speaker 1: depending on which one you want to use, bottom five
Speaker 1: offensive line. So I think that they can get better
Speaker 1: and still be like a nine win team this year
Speaker 1: and figure out if Sam Darnold's the answer. So I
Speaker 1: don't hate what they have done entirely, do you?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 3: I don't either.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: The not someone I think does rebuilding and retooling kind
Speaker 3: of era is for the Seattle Seahawks. It's trying to
Speaker 3: fix their lines, both both D line, which I think
Speaker 3: their D line and their pass rush is closer than
Speaker 3: their O line. But Rose you mentioned it. I mean,
Speaker 3: the the only other teams that have five picks inside
Speaker 3: the top one hundred and ten are the Browns, the Jaguars,
Speaker 3: the Patriots, and the Giants. But you mentioned that they're
Speaker 3: the only I think they're the only team that have
Speaker 3: five picks actually inside the top one hundred and they
Speaker 3: have the ninety second pick, But that this is where
Speaker 3: they're gonna really in a draft where a lot of
Speaker 3: people are talking about, oh, it's you know, it's very
Speaker 3: you don't really have a lot of the superstars at
Speaker 3: the top. It's it's a dual carter. It's Hunter and
Speaker 3: then the two quarterbacks and then you know, where else
Speaker 3: do you go? Or those guys really work those top
Speaker 3: five top ten picks. So they have the eighteenth pick,
Speaker 3: eighteenth pick, but I'm really excited for their fiftieth or
Speaker 3: fifty second and there and there and their eighty second picks,
Speaker 3: Like that's where I think, you know what, they're really
Speaker 3: gonna need to hit on one or two of those
Speaker 3: guys in particularly hopefully one of them is an offensive
Speaker 3: alignment for them to really set them up in a
Speaker 3: good direction. But it almost feels like what the Commanders
Speaker 3: did last year. You know they brought in a guy
Speaker 3: like DeMarcus Lawrence. You know, you bring in Cooper Cup.
Speaker 3: It's like, all right, these guys are a little bit older,
Speaker 3: but you're bringing him in here for a certain reason
Speaker 3: for veteran leadership, and the also give you a little
Speaker 3: bit of a boost and play while you're retooling. Just
Speaker 3: the only difference between when teams try to replicate what
Speaker 3: the commanders said last year is the Commander's capped it
Speaker 3: off with Jiden Daniels. Odds are the Seahawks aren't going
Speaker 3: to be getting that performance out of Sam Donald. They
Speaker 3: could still be good, but it won't be like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I did. They need to add more young offensive
Speaker 2: pieces to this team, is the reality of it. I mean,
Speaker 2: I think that they've drafted that they feel good about
Speaker 2: it is probably just Jans and Charles Cross, you know,
Speaker 2: that's it, right, There's some other younger offensive lineman who
Speaker 2: can grow and develop. Christian Haynes when they drafted in
Speaker 2: the third round last year as a guy I was
Speaker 2: a fan of. But they need young offensive pieces. I
Speaker 2: think the defense is talented. It maybe lacks a little
Speaker 2: bit of star power, but it is talented. They need
Speaker 2: young offensive pieces added to this team for the long haul.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think they're gonna be an team to watch.
Speaker 1: I think in two years if they nail this draft,
Speaker 1: they could be as long as Sam dar is still
Speaker 1: the guy, because if not, then they got to figure
Speaker 1: out where they go a quarterback next year. And that's
Speaker 1: that's tough, tough run if you have having to do that,
Speaker 1: but it sounds like financially they can without penalty.
Speaker 2: I have one more thing, just in case I've wanted
Speaker 2: to get this out there for any Seahawks fans, lootening.
Speaker 2: I did a film breakdown on their backup offensive tackle
Speaker 2: Stone Forceyth. The Giants added they should have an upgraded
Speaker 2: offensive coordinator. I had never been so mad at an
Speaker 2: offensive coordinator. They just leave these these shitty tackles on
Speaker 2: an island all game long. They don't run the ball
Speaker 2: at all. It was the most reckless offense I've ever seen.
Speaker 2: No wonder Ryan Grubb went back to college at Alabama.
Speaker 2: But anyways, I just wanted to get that off my chest.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry you had to deal with, you know, leaving
Speaker 2: a second string tackle on an island all game one.
Speaker 1: All right, So for Bobby Skinner and Justin Pennock and
Speaker 1: producer Connor. I am Chris Rose. We will see later
Speaker 1: this week here on Football Today.