Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where this year it's more like
Speaker 1: partly cloudy Monday. I don't know. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm
Speaker 1: here in my garage and I'm talking to the only
Speaker 1: person I wanted to talk to on the day where
Speaker 1: NFL coaches traditionally get fired. But yeah, this year it
Speaker 1: didn't happen quite as much. It's our NFL national insider
Speaker 1: Ian Rappaport back on NFL Daily, what's up being.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry there weren't as many firings as you would like. No,
Speaker 2: I don't how how many is like an acceptable number?
Speaker 2: You what were you rooting for?
Speaker 1: I think it's great. I was going to ask you
Speaker 1: off the top now, Drod Mayo happened Sunday night. We
Speaker 1: had a couple in the season, and so it was
Speaker 1: just one head coach, Doug Peterson that lost his job
Speaker 1: today before I kind of go through a couple of
Speaker 1: different situations and just ask you your opinion. Do you
Speaker 1: think there is any league wide reason maybe for a
Speaker 1: little more continuity this year than most.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I sort of do so. I think a couple
Speaker 2: of reasons.
Speaker 3: One, I think owners they've always hated dead money, right,
Speaker 3: like dead money for players something something we talk about
Speaker 3: a lot, but dead money for coaches is you know, significant,
Speaker 3: and there was a time when you know, it was
Speaker 3: a big topic at the owners meetings, like in the
Speaker 3: room with owners of just like how much dead money
Speaker 3: they are paying? And like is that really worth it?
Speaker 3: Is that really the best way? Is that really the
Speaker 3: best way to do it? And when you fire a
Speaker 3: coach and then maybe you fire another coach, there's a
Speaker 3: lot of dead money.
Speaker 2: And like if you're you.
Speaker 3: Know the Raiders, who as of right now, I mean
Speaker 3: they have Antonio Pierce. Seems like he said to come back.
Speaker 3: It's what he sounds like. We haven't that confirmed, that's
Speaker 3: what he sounds like, but you know he's they're still
Speaker 3: paying Dave Ziggler and Josh McDaniels. You know, if you're
Speaker 3: the Raiders, then you fire him and then it's like
Speaker 3: two staffs you're firing plus all the It's like it's
Speaker 3: a lot of money. And so I think sort of
Speaker 3: that awakening or whatever for owners to be like how
Speaker 3: much in dead money are we paying probably affected some things.
Speaker 3: And then there are always trends, right like this year
Speaker 3: there were a couple of first time head coaches that
Speaker 3: really struggled, right Brian Callahan, Drive Mayo. I mean there's
Speaker 3: always there's always some obviously Jets five Robertshal he was
Speaker 3: a first time head coach. It feels like the trend
Speaker 3: is shifting more toward veteran coaches. Like that's a trend
Speaker 3: and that basically is sort of what tends to happen.
Speaker 2: But I also feel like.
Speaker 3: We're shifting toward patients, like the Giants exhibited patients because
Speaker 3: there's been so much flux over the last couple of years.
Speaker 3: I think owners are like, let's just try to be
Speaker 3: patient and maybe that works this time, which I am
Speaker 3: for patients, I think there should be.
Speaker 2: More of it, So maybe that's where we're going.
Speaker 1: Just you just want to calm Monday, which I don't
Speaker 1: blame you.
Speaker 3: I do want no I do want to come. I do,
Speaker 3: And I definitely root for my own I definitely root
Speaker 3: for my own self interests. But I also think that
Speaker 3: like like I think about this with coaches and quarterbacks, right, Like,
Speaker 3: you can look across the league at the quarterbacks who
Speaker 3: we knew for sure sucked, who are now starting for
Speaker 3: playoff teams, right like, from Sam Darnold to Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 2: I mean, there's Jordan Love.
Speaker 3: I think everyone watched his first the COVID start, and
Speaker 3: we're like, that guy sucks and he's really really good.
Speaker 3: Sometimes when you wait or you surround people with the
Speaker 3: right things, they become good. And like I think patients
Speaker 3: sometimes can show that and unveil that, and I wish
Speaker 3: teams showed more of it. So yeah, I mean, I
Speaker 3: root for my own self interest to have a calmer Monday,
Speaker 3: but I also think it's the right way of doing.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's go through in one by one. Okay, Jaguars,
Speaker 1: they fired Doug Peterson this morning. That was not a surprise, right,
Speaker 1: And it's funny you mentioned about the continuity and not
Speaker 1: wanting to pay all the dead money. I think one
Speaker 1: quote got the attention of a lot of Jaguars fans.
Speaker 1: Shod Cohn, who is on a press conference on a
Speaker 1: strange looking zoom said, what is a complete overhaul? He asked,
Speaker 1: because they're asking, why did you not make a complete overhaul?
Speaker 1: They announced they fired Doug Peterson. This will be the
Speaker 1: fifth head coach that con has had, and yet they've
Speaker 1: only had two gms or executives over all that time.
Speaker 1: And they announced they are keeping Trent Balkis, or that
Speaker 1: Trent Balki will be assisting in firing the new head coach.
Speaker 1: So you can put that together, shod Con says.
Speaker 2: Quote, what is the hiring?
Speaker 4: Not?
Speaker 1: Sorry, yes, sorry about that. I mean though eventually that's
Speaker 1: what happens to Trent Balki's coaches. Hey, now this is
Speaker 1: what Con said. What is a complete overhaul? You look
Speaker 1: at it, health and wellness of the player's medical, stats, analysis, scouting,
Speaker 1: number of other elements. Are all those areas we've changed,
Speaker 1: We've improved. Got eighty five people working on that side,
Speaker 1: and you're gonna say I'm going to get rid of
Speaker 1: them and find eighty five new people better than that.
Speaker 1: That's like s yourself in the foot. And my answer
Speaker 1: to that was no, you can keep most of those
Speaker 1: people or allow the new personnel guy to kind of
Speaker 1: form it his way. You don't have to keep every
Speaker 1: you know, you don't have to change all those guys
Speaker 1: if you fire Trend Balkis. Were you surprised that Trent
Speaker 1: Balki ends up staying here?
Speaker 2: Definitely not. I expected this.
Speaker 3: Now there are things that I expect that don't end
Speaker 3: up happening, right, Like I was, you and I talked
Speaker 3: about this offline, but as of three weeks ago, Jrowden
Speaker 3: Mayo wasn't going anywhere.
Speaker 2: Then you know, look there's the on field. It's been
Speaker 2: a disaster.
Speaker 3: So the fact that he was fired, I think, you know,
Speaker 3: I don't think it was warranted, but in the end
Speaker 3: at least I understand, Like, I get it, the product
Speaker 3: was not good, so but I expected Trent Balky to
Speaker 3: be around. It's a good roster. It is one that
Speaker 3: I think is really talented, and you know, Trent pal
Speaker 3: Key has shown the ability to stick around, to stick
Speaker 3: around and to maintain you know, his status to be
Speaker 3: in charge and to me like, look, if this coaching
Speaker 3: staff isn't good enough, right, if this coaching staff is
Speaker 3: one that doesn't take advantage of the talent they have,
Speaker 3: then they should probably move on and keep the people
Speaker 3: who put it really talented group of players. Like this
Speaker 3: is what Seaon Cohn is essentially forced to make these
Speaker 3: kinds of decisions, say is the right, what's the problem,
Speaker 3: and get rid of the problem and keep something that helps. Now,
Speaker 3: I think his quote is almost like like he's arguing
Speaker 3: something that wasn't asked, you know what I mean, like, yes,
Speaker 3: if you completely blow everything up like I guess, you
Speaker 3: would get rid of like the trainers. That's not what
Speaker 3: they mean. What they mean is why didn't you fire
Speaker 3: the GM? And what he should have said was I
Speaker 3: don't think the GM was the problem. And you know this,
Speaker 3: the Trent Balkey situation has garnered a lot of discussion
Speaker 3: around the league, but most people believe the roster is
Speaker 3: good enough that if you take everything you knew about
Speaker 3: the GM away everything and you would say, should you
Speaker 3: keep the person who built this team? Most people have
Speaker 3: spoken with today said yes you should.
Speaker 1: Wow, I don't know, I mean off.
Speaker 2: Again, take everything away?
Speaker 1: Just the gets of lines been a bit of a mess.
Speaker 1: You know, you got Brian Thomas here, but you sort
Speaker 1: of like swapped out, you know, one absolutely fantastic draft
Speaker 1: pick for you know what before was kind of a
Speaker 1: top heavy receiver group. They spent a lot of resources
Speaker 1: on the receiver room. So I hope that it would
Speaker 1: be good. Uh. They've had some injuries there certainly.
Speaker 2: I mean, but but but think okay, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Trayvon Walker over Aiden Hutchinson. They become a pretty good
Speaker 1: player though he's okay, like, you got a couple of
Speaker 1: good pass rushers. Sure, but he was there when Dave
Speaker 1: Caldwell was there, Balki, and this is it is a
Speaker 1: it's a lesson for people out there. It's a skill
Speaker 1: in life to be able to manage up. Your old
Speaker 1: friend Albert Beer from the old Patriots be a friend
Speaker 1: of me. Is that fair to say? No, he's friend friend?
Speaker 3: Okay, he used, I don't like taking I don't like
Speaker 3: the term managing up, but go ahead.
Speaker 1: There is a skill, I think to talking to billionaires.
Speaker 1: And ultimately, Trent Balki has the ownership's ear more than
Speaker 1: maybe the head coach does. And that's the case for
Speaker 1: a lot of general managers and personnel people and or
Speaker 1: executive vice presidents. And he's convinced him that it's a
Speaker 1: great roster. I don't know if I'm if I'm not
Speaker 1: convinced about that. And our friend John Shipley, who was
Speaker 1: on this podcast before the season, he writes for Sports Illustrated.
Speaker 1: He talked to a coaching candidate who has been tied
Speaker 1: to the Jags who said, you know, as an unnamed source,
Speaker 1: like having Balki there makes them lesson interested in the job.
Speaker 2: I get it.
Speaker 3: I get it, But here's what I would say. I mean,
Speaker 3: first of all, there's only thirty two of them. So, like,
Speaker 3: you know, there was a time when Byron lef Wich
Speaker 3: was a hot head coaching candidate, and I don't know
Speaker 3: if he quote unquote turned down the Jaguars, but definitely
Speaker 3: made it known that he was not interested in proceeding
Speaker 3: and going further.
Speaker 2: And I think that proved to be a mistake.
Speaker 3: Like to me, you know, unless you know for sure,
Speaker 3: for sure, for sure that you are getting one, the
Speaker 3: thought of not taking one because of the reputation of
Speaker 3: a GM seems insane to me, because you just don't
Speaker 3: know if you're going to be in that position next year.
Speaker 2: That's just that's just speaking in general.
Speaker 1: Life is short though, too. And if you have a
Speaker 1: good situation, and maybe you're not only motivated by by
Speaker 1: the money and the power.
Speaker 2: If you don't like money, I agree you should.
Speaker 1: Right now, but not you know, if you're happy where
Speaker 1: you are, that there is a value in that. All right,
Speaker 1: let's go to the Giants. The Giants announce they're keeping
Speaker 1: Joshane and Brian Dable. John Mara, the owners, spoke to reporters.
Speaker 1: Let's just listen quickly to tomorrow on my I understand,
Speaker 1: believe me if that's not going to be the most
Speaker 1: popular decision in Giant Land, but you believe it's the
Speaker 1: right decisions for us going forward.
Speaker 2: How long will it take to improve the product? John?
Speaker 5: Better not take too long, Bruce, because I've just about
Speaker 5: run out of patients.
Speaker 1: Shout out to Bruce Beck. Still getting it done. I
Speaker 1: mean he was getting it done twenty years ago when
Speaker 1: I first moved to New York.
Speaker 3: Bruce Bec's sun was my camper when I was a
Speaker 3: camp counselor thirty years ago.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. I think this is an example of what
Speaker 1: you were talking about about team that had gotten used
Speaker 1: to firing a coach every two years, and they literally
Speaker 1: have done that with McAdoo and Shermer and Joe Judge.
Speaker 1: And I can't say any of those firings were a mistake,
Speaker 1: but I do like that they're not splitting the two up.
Speaker 1: I have my doubts, but Mara credited the rookie class,
Speaker 1: which was really good. That's absolutely a fair point to make,
Speaker 1: wanting to build on that, and then credited Dable as
Speaker 1: an offensive mine and that he's still the coach that
Speaker 1: was Coach of the Year a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1: So I don't hate it. I just think that expecting
Speaker 1: this team to be a playoff team next year is difficult.
Speaker 1: So they're going to be two and four or something
Speaker 1: like that. If that happens early next year, and the pressure,
Speaker 1: in the displeasure from the fans is just going to
Speaker 1: be a ment. And yet I don't totally hate it,
Speaker 1: even if I'm not totally confident in the front office, especially.
Speaker 2: Well, here's what I will saying. I hope this is
Speaker 2: the right move. I like a lot of those guys.
Speaker 2: I like Dayball.
Speaker 3: I would say, I would say, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1: This is h hold on, it's a busy day.
Speaker 2: It's a busy day. So I hope this is the
Speaker 2: right move.
Speaker 3: I would agree if they start out badly next year,
Speaker 3: we're going to be in the same spot. But I
Speaker 3: think one thing that we've learned from a couple of
Speaker 3: different situations Commanders Texans, you get the right quarterback in there,
Speaker 3: things can flip pretty quickly. So if you believe in
Speaker 3: the coach and the GM and I don't believe Joe
Speaker 3: Shane was ever in trouble. But let's just talk about
Speaker 3: the coach. If you believe in Brian Daboll and you
Speaker 3: think you can turn this around, then you should do this.
Speaker 3: And again, we're not going to know if this was
Speaker 3: the right decision. It's going to play out. It'll either
Speaker 3: be right or wrong, and it is what it is.
Speaker 3: But like, this is what owners should do. Stick to
Speaker 3: what you believe in, do all the research, trust the
Speaker 3: people you hired, and keep going forward. Like I would
Speaker 3: agree unless lightning struck like Brian Dabele did not forget
Speaker 3: how to coach like so, I firmly believe he did
Speaker 3: not forget how It's not like he stopped giving efforts,
Speaker 3: he stopped doing so if you believe he is still
Speaker 3: the good coach you hired a couple of years ago,
Speaker 3: you should move forward with him and for them.
Speaker 2: I hope that this is the right decision I feel.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it was a bad at it,
Speaker 1: but watching Joe Sane on Hard Knocks made me feel like,
Speaker 1: you know, fans think that they could be a GM
Speaker 1: and it's just kind of a ridiculous notion, like I
Speaker 1: could do that, I could Watching that so actually made
Speaker 1: me think, actually, I think maybe I could, you know,
Speaker 1: I think it could.
Speaker 2: You could not be a GM. No, let's let's I
Speaker 2: get it. So can I just say please? I get
Speaker 2: so annoyed with people.
Speaker 3: Talking about how like you know that that hard knocks
Speaker 3: was negative, Like you know, no team's going to allow
Speaker 3: the hard knocks to be there, like for the Giants. Look,
Speaker 3: they did not make all the right decisions. I still
Speaker 3: agree with the decision to let Saquan go. I mean,
Speaker 3: I do not think he'd be the NFL rushing leader
Speaker 3: if he was on the Giants. And I think that, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, for where they were investing in the offensive
Speaker 3: line with money being finite, was a better choice.
Speaker 2: I have no idea if I'm right or.
Speaker 3: Wrong, but they had the opportunity to explain their decisions
Speaker 3: to all of their fans, for better or worse.
Speaker 2: I think that was a good thing anyway, go ahead.
Speaker 1: Although they spent you know, the same amount of money
Speaker 1: on like John running in Devin Singletary as Barkley, and
Speaker 1: it's just there's sometimes it's more than you're right, they
Speaker 1: would still be a bad team, and for the sake
Speaker 1: of the NFL, I'm really glad saquin Barkley left. I
Speaker 1: think the picks I.
Speaker 3: Would wonder, and I would also wonder. Yeah, and I'll
Speaker 3: never know the answer to this if they match the offer,
Speaker 3: does he really stay? I will never I will never
Speaker 3: find out the answer to that.
Speaker 2: My I don't know. I wonder, definitely the wonder.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's fair and yeah, the trade for Brian Burns,
Speaker 1: he was solid, but they gave up a lot, paid
Speaker 1: a lot of money, so they'll want him to get better.
Speaker 1: Maras specifically mentioned the defense, so we're not sure if
Speaker 1: there might be a change of defensive coordinator with Shane Bowen.
Speaker 1: Will find out. You mentioned the Raiders. I do want
Speaker 1: to get to as many teams because I know you
Speaker 1: got to go fairly soon. He so. Anthonio Pierce held
Speaker 1: a press conference on Monday. We've seen this enough that
Speaker 1: that doesn't necessarily mean he's staying. He had he had
Speaker 1: an interesting press conference. I watched some of it. He
Speaker 1: said he regrets not trusting his gut more often in
Speaker 1: his second year. Said he regrets his quarterback decision. Basically,
Speaker 1: he wishes he started Aidan O'Connell from the beginning. Do
Speaker 1: you think he ultimately will be back because I'm watching
Speaker 1: that and I'm thinking this is weird, and Mark Davis
Speaker 1: is unpredictable, and Tom Brady's in the mix now, and
Speaker 1: it just wouldn't surprise me if next Tuesday or pick
Speaker 1: a random day, Ian Rap reports on NFL network and
Speaker 1: there is a change. It's just up in the air.
Speaker 1: I feel like too, even though he had that press.
Speaker 3: Conference, well like anything else, until you get the official
Speaker 3: you know, word from Mark Davis or the organization or whatever, like,
Speaker 3: it's always up in the air. That's just, you know,
Speaker 3: teams sort of feel compelled now to announce or to
Speaker 3: have you know, Titans had a press conference and basically
Speaker 3: announced a press conference, and that was sort of the signal.
Speaker 2: You know, that was a signal that.
Speaker 1: Didnitely make a press release. So did the Dolphins, so
Speaker 1: did the Colts. Actually, you're right, it's kind of a
Speaker 1: new thing, that which is good.
Speaker 3: I wrap it all up in a bow, you know,
Speaker 3: I think it's a good thing. A couple of things
Speaker 3: about Antonio Piers. You know, the vibe I get and
Speaker 3: I am no expert, but the vibe I get is
Speaker 3: early Dan Campbell, like they were so bad, they were
Speaker 3: one and seven. Like this guy sounds crazy. He's talked.
Speaker 3: I mean the clip that drives Tom Pelisero crazy is
Speaker 3: we talk about biting kneecaps.
Speaker 2: It's like he's so much more than that.
Speaker 3: It's like, yes, but that became a symbol of like
Speaker 3: this guy will do anything. That's the vibe I get
Speaker 3: with Antonio Piers. This team is so bad. They played
Speaker 3: so hard, They played so many young guys. You know,
Speaker 3: Aidan O'Connell obviously got injured this year and didn't start,
Speaker 3: but by the end was playing absolutely fine quarterback and
Speaker 3: they were in games. They won a couple, and we're
Speaker 3: in games. So like to me, as someone who likes
Speaker 3: people sticking with people, that is enough to where I
Speaker 3: would say I would like to say more. Yeah, I
Speaker 3: would agree with you. We haven't heard the last of
Speaker 3: this because we haven't heard firmly. And finally, they played
Speaker 3: so many young guys and they're so bad that I
Speaker 3: think if they just take a little more time, they
Speaker 3: could actually be pretty good.
Speaker 1: And I agree, I think they played hard. It was
Speaker 1: a credit to him all season. It's not a good roster.
Speaker 1: They're kind of the most they might right now along
Speaker 1: with the Titans. But the Titans have the number one
Speaker 1: overall pick. Be kind of the most forgettable team in
Speaker 1: the entire NFL, which is not a place you want
Speaker 1: to be, especially if you're a Raider. The Raiders, I
Speaker 1: just mean, like they're the Raiders, so they matter. But
Speaker 1: just watching the product every week and the players.
Speaker 2: You mean, like who actually they are?
Speaker 1: Yeah, just there, it's it's kind of a boring team.
Speaker 1: At least the Patriots, you know, they have they have
Speaker 1: a young quarterback. You know, there's different franchises have something
Speaker 1: that they don't have much going on there. I don't know,
Speaker 1: we'll see. Maybe he doesn't want to be paying five
Speaker 1: different staffs in Las Vegas either. Miami is one of
Speaker 1: those teams we talked about that did release the statement
Speaker 1: Chris Greer is going to be back. Some people were
Speaker 1: locally were hoping maybe they would split, split the coach
Speaker 1: and the GM and maybe Greer, who has been there forever,
Speaker 1: would lose his job, but it's not going to happen.
Speaker 1: On top of that, Tyreek Hill changes his Twitter profile
Speaker 1: on Monday after having some statements about, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: exploring his options this offseason. After the game. We talked
Speaker 1: about that a little on Sunday, Nights Show. But then
Speaker 1: on Monday, he made his Twitter profile his face poorly
Speaker 1: photoshopped onto Antonio Brown's body when Antonio Brown ran off
Speaker 1: the field in Tampa and was like, I'm out. I
Speaker 1: don't know, give me what you got on the Dolphins
Speaker 1: because I agree, patients kind of makes sense. Although Chris
Speaker 1: Greer has been there forever and it's going to be
Speaker 1: a big year for him and Mike mcdanner, and kind
Speaker 1: of where do you think the Tyreek Hill will go?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 3: First of all, so you know, you say like it's
Speaker 3: gonna be a big year, like I guess, but this
Speaker 3: is sort of for better or worse. What it's always like,
Speaker 3: like they've been close at times, they have not gotten there.
Speaker 3: They have not won a playoff game in how long.
Speaker 1: They were in it? What seven years ago, five years ago,
Speaker 1: It's been a long time. It's been over twenty years something, insane.
Speaker 2: That's a long time.
Speaker 3: And so like their team is okay, and they were
Speaker 3: close and they did not make the playoffs, and it's
Speaker 3: like here's the problem. Like I again, I don't know
Speaker 3: what the right move and what the wrong move is.
Speaker 3: It's so impossible to tell, which is why talk about
Speaker 3: like could you be a GM? Of course no, but
Speaker 3: I think about sometimes could I be an owner? I'm
Speaker 3: not rich enough, but could I be an owner? Because
Speaker 3: these are such unbelievably high stakes decisions and everyone comes
Speaker 3: after you if you're wrong, and.
Speaker 2: There's no way to know.
Speaker 3: Like Chris Carew has done good enough to have his
Speaker 3: team right at the brink of the playoffs, but they
Speaker 3: have not won a playoff game in forever. So it's like,
Speaker 3: at what point do you say, Art, we're just starting new,
Speaker 3: Like that's that's the problem right now. As far as
Speaker 3: the Tyreek Khill situation, here's what I would say. It's
Speaker 3: impossible to know what a player thinks right after the season.
Speaker 3: You missed the playoffs. Everyone's annoyed, everyone's frustrated, everyone's tired.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't take anything that anyone says for sure, for sure,
Speaker 3: for sure, right after the season. But you know, Tyreek
Speaker 3: Kill making thirty million dollars a year coming off not
Speaker 3: his best year with a wrist injury at thirty something
Speaker 3: years old, Like, would somebody trade.
Speaker 2: For him and pay him that money?
Speaker 1: I have?
Speaker 2: I for sure have some questions there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think they would give up much. But
Speaker 1: even before this happened, I think it was a natural
Speaker 1: time to wonder if there was going to be a divorce.
Speaker 1: That it was a lot of ups and downs this
Speaker 1: year and he didn't play well, so I kind of
Speaker 1: expected him to I think if they would just take
Speaker 1: anything just to the salary, dump him potentially if another
Speaker 1: team was into him, although he just signed a new contract.
Speaker 2: Signed a new contract, right, so it.
Speaker 1: Makes it that makes it a little more complicated. Before
Speaker 1: you know, we had a bunch of coordinators that did
Speaker 1: lose their jobs. But I did want to get your opinion.
Speaker 1: And we haven't talked about this offline or anything, so
Speaker 1: I don't know what you think about it.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: Kevin O'Connell answered a question about the potential that other
Speaker 1: teams would be interested in Kevin O'Connell, who only has
Speaker 1: one year left on his contract after this year. Let's
Speaker 1: just listen to Kevin O'Connell. This is quick.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm not really interested in kind of I guess
Speaker 4: I should say. Addressing the rumors or speculation. What I
Speaker 4: can't tell you is I love this team. I love
Speaker 4: everything about this organization, and this is where I want
Speaker 4: to be. This is this is where I want to
Speaker 4: keep coaching and leading.
Speaker 1: Not a surprise. How how he answered that, What do
Speaker 1: you make of all this O'Connell stuff.
Speaker 2: I don't know how much O'Connell stuff there is.
Speaker 3: I mean, if you told me that, and I don't,
Speaker 3: I don't want to make could seem like I'm talking
Speaker 3: about someone else's report, because I don't like to do that,
Speaker 3: you know, because like there's plenty of my reports that
Speaker 3: someone could say stuff about. It's like, you know, would
Speaker 3: some team like to trade for the probable coach of
Speaker 3: the year? Like, yeah, I would think if a lot
Speaker 3: of teams had the choice, they would like to have
Speaker 3: the guy who's the coach of the year. I would
Speaker 3: imagine he's a very good coach. If you say to me,
Speaker 3: would teams like to have this really good coach? I
Speaker 3: would say they probably would. We talk about coach trades
Speaker 3: every year. The Mike Tomlin rumors come up every single year.
Speaker 3: The only coach trades we've had in the last like
Speaker 3: two decades were a retired Bruce arians and a retired
Speaker 3: Sean not a retired but a sabbatical Sean Payton. Right,
Speaker 3: unless I'm missing one, I don't know that anything involving
Speaker 3: a coach trade with a coach who's actually good is
Speaker 3: actual reality.
Speaker 2: I do not believe that is reality.
Speaker 3: And if you're the Vikings, why would you even consider
Speaker 3: anything that involves giving up on the coach of the
Speaker 3: year who has built everything.
Speaker 2: It's just none of this seems real to me.
Speaker 1: I agree, and I'm only speaking for myself, But just
Speaker 1: the fact that it went out there on broadcasts and
Speaker 1: Jay Glazer was the one who reported, and I'm speaking
Speaker 1: for myself here, not just the fact that it was
Speaker 1: out there, and don't I don't know how how it
Speaker 1: got out there or why it got out there, but
Speaker 1: generally I would guess that Kevin O'Connell hads like it
Speaker 1: didn't totally catch him by surprise that he got out there.
Speaker 1: Just the fact that it was put out there is
Speaker 1: interesting to me. Now, whether that's leverage for money, whether
Speaker 1: that's leverage for power, I don't know. I don't know
Speaker 1: what it would be, but it's an interesting timing for
Speaker 1: it to happen right before the playoffs. All right, let's
Speaker 1: take a quick pause here. We'll be back on the
Speaker 1: other side with Ian talk more about the coaching careself.
Speaker 1: I know you've got to go. So I do want
Speaker 1: to get you on a couple of things in terms
Speaker 1: of the interviews that have been announced. Let's go through
Speaker 1: a couple of them. Pats request Ben Johnson, that's all
Speaker 1: we've heard about, and he's going to do the interview.
Speaker 1: He's gonna interview with the Bears, and it's early. They
Speaker 1: can only do it remotely. Do you think which do
Speaker 1: you think of those two is more realistic?
Speaker 2: Ben Johnson, the Bears of the Patriots?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I would say if I were.
Speaker 3: Ben Johnson and you said to me, could you have
Speaker 3: the number one quarterback or the number three overall quarterback?
Speaker 2: Like clear of what he wants?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 3: I mean, I would like, there's Patriots are for sure
Speaker 3: not perfect now and the Bears are for sure not perfect,
Speaker 3: but they got both of them have quarterbacks that I
Speaker 3: think he could work with. So I would say that
Speaker 3: focus for Ben Johnson seems pretty clear to me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and there are Well would you ask which is
Speaker 2: more likely?
Speaker 3: Is?
Speaker 2: Would you yeah?
Speaker 1: Which is more likely? Realistic?
Speaker 3: I mean, I think like a lot of people that
Speaker 3: Mike Rabel is for sure the front runner in New England,
Speaker 3: So to me, the Bears is probably more realistic for
Speaker 3: Ben Jonson.
Speaker 1: Okay, and yeah, they asked Robert Craft on Monday specifically
Speaker 1: about Mike Rabel, and he didn't really answer the question,
Speaker 1: which is fine. It's at this point in the process.
Speaker 1: The Bears also have Aaron Glenn, Anthony Weaver, Drew Petzig,
Speaker 1: and Mike Kafka on their interview list. I'm just going
Speaker 1: to read off the interview lists that's been reported for
Speaker 1: the Jets. This is a wild group. Josh McCown, Brian Flores.
Speaker 1: Nice to see he's not getting blackballed considering the lawsuit
Speaker 1: with the league and all that stuff. Joe Brady, Aaron Glenn,
Speaker 1: Matt Naggi, Ron Rivera, who's already interviewed, Rex Ryan, who's
Speaker 1: going to Bobby Slowick, the Texans coordinator. Who are we
Speaker 1: sure that he's going to keep his job? Arthur Smith?
Speaker 1: And Mike Rabel. That is a long list between those
Speaker 1: two teams. And there's been a couple of Saints ones
Speaker 1: that have popped up to I guess I would just ask, like,
Speaker 1: which names catch your eye? What do you think is
Speaker 1: an interesting match? Is there any like semi leaders in
Speaker 1: the clubhouse that maybe have a better chance than other
Speaker 1: guys that have been mentioned.
Speaker 3: So I'd say for the Jets, I would not be
Speaker 3: surprised if they hired a coach who had previously already
Speaker 3: been a head coach. So I look at someone like
Speaker 3: Arthur Smith would be a good example. Did not treat
Speaker 3: the quarterback position properly in Atlanta led to really what
Speaker 3: they're in now. I mean thought he was gonna make
Speaker 3: it happen with Desma Ritter while building a strong team
Speaker 3: around him. It did not happen. They were close, but
Speaker 3: it did not happen. He is really smart, he is
Speaker 3: very good at offense, He can lead, and he's been
Speaker 3: there before, so he you know, knows from learns from
Speaker 3: his mistakes, and he's been around Tomlin for a year.
Speaker 3: Like that's the kind of hire to me that for
Speaker 3: the Jets, which is a really really challenging job, Like,
Speaker 3: that's the kind of hire to me that would make
Speaker 3: some sense. So I like, I don't know what Chuck
Speaker 3: You're gonna do, but if you told me they hired
Speaker 3: a veteran head coach or a former head coach, I
Speaker 3: would say that probably makes some sense to me.
Speaker 1: How about the report and Jane Slater has it an
Speaker 1: NFL Network that the Bears have requested to talk to
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy.
Speaker 2: I mean that makes sense.
Speaker 3: I would expect McCarthy to get a couple of requests.
Speaker 3: I mean why, like when a Super Bowl took a
Speaker 3: team to the playoffs many years in a row, Like
Speaker 3: I think Cowboys gonna let it happen.
Speaker 2: I mean, I have certainly have some questions.
Speaker 1: What do you think where do you think that goes?
Speaker 1: Because the Cowboys just open ended, like his contract is over.
Speaker 1: Obviously he's gonna have to figure that out first. Jerry
Speaker 1: Jones didn't sound on Sunday night like he was in
Speaker 1: a particular hurry, but.
Speaker 2: They're not, like the Bears is going to be in
Speaker 2: a hurry.
Speaker 1: Well, but the then he has to he has to
Speaker 1: answer this request essentially that he has to let Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy not until interview or not?
Speaker 2: Doesn't he eight days from now?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 3: Like Jerry, Like, I do not think anyone will bully
Speaker 3: Jerry Jones into accepting an interview request. So I no,
Speaker 3: I do not get the sense that they're in any
Speaker 3: hurry at all.
Speaker 2: I mean, they have eight days.
Speaker 1: So it's interesting you say the former coach thing in
Speaker 1: New York because of all those former coaches, Rabel. Rabel
Speaker 1: makes some sense to me with the Jets. If he
Speaker 1: wanted that job. We'll see Arthur Smith. I'm not I'm
Speaker 1: not to convince he brings much of a schematic advantage.
Speaker 1: Rex Ryan, don't think about it.
Speaker 2: Schematic advantage. I'm sorry, right, okay.
Speaker 1: Matt Naggi was another one there of all those guys
Speaker 1: that see.
Speaker 3: Naggy is interesting to me too though, because like, look, Mitch,
Speaker 3: they made the playoffs right two years?
Speaker 2: I think, right? Two out of four? Is that right?
Speaker 1: Did they think they? Yeah? Because he got the m
Speaker 1: v P one year and the other one they had
Speaker 1: the double doink. I don't know if you remember that
Speaker 1: Nickelodeon MVP that Trubisky won, but it.
Speaker 3: Was obviously classical. But so Managgi a really good example.
Speaker 3: Mitch Trubisky is, I think, at very most a backup.
Speaker 3: Naggie had us thinking he could be a starter or
Speaker 3: like a really viable starter in the NFL. Right did
Speaker 3: not end well, and I think by the end Naggie
Speaker 3: certainly lost himself play calling wise and leadership wise, Like did.
Speaker 2: Not end well.
Speaker 3: Right for any of them, I would be really curious
Speaker 3: to see what happened now that he's been back with
Speaker 3: any read what happens when he gets a second chance,
Speaker 3: Like I that to me is interesting, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was gonna say, of all those guys, hell,
Speaker 1: I almost would want to see McCarthy there with the Jets.
Speaker 1: But I don't think I have.
Speaker 2: Not heard McCarthy with the Jets.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I uh, that's true. Yeah, that has not been
Speaker 1: reported at all. I'll let you go. Ian. I know
Speaker 1: you got seventeen more hours of television to do.
Speaker 2: I have twenty six text messages that I missed.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. That's I mean, you wouldn't put it way,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna go ahead and say, that's love. You know,
Speaker 1: that's how you show love.
Speaker 3: Some ignoring text message as they say.
Speaker 1: Did you happen to see while we were talking Jerry Jones.
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones on that Billy Bob Thornton show clip that
Speaker 1: has been going around. Treat yourself, just do it, Jerry Jones.
Speaker 2: Possibly know what you mean by that?
Speaker 1: Go to Mina Kimes's Twitter page and she she retweeted it. Today,
Speaker 1: he is on the New Billy Bob Thornton Show with
Speaker 1: John Ham, where he plays an oil man and he's
Speaker 1: got like a two minute scene with Billy Bob Thornton
Speaker 1: and John Ham and Jerry Jones axes ass off and
Speaker 1: you might even be moved. And I just finished people.
Speaker 2: Just finish, and I'm going through it right now.
Speaker 1: It's the same. It's the same. The same creator created
Speaker 1: this show.
Speaker 2: Is it actually?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it really is. There you go, Ian Rappaport, he
Speaker 1: does it all.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Ian, thanks man. All right.
Speaker 1: That was Ian Rappaport. I wanted to talk to him
Speaker 1: on this day, get as much as I could with him,
Speaker 1: but there was more that we didn't get to. And
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna run through it and then we'll send
Speaker 1: you on your way. Nice tight show today, and then
Speaker 1: we'll get everyone in the studio for QB Island season
Speaker 1: finale on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to that, all right.
Speaker 1: The coordinators were not safe, even if the head coaches were.
Speaker 1: On Monday, the Bengals file fired lou and Aroumo, which
Speaker 1: makes a lot of sense based on how their defense
Speaker 1: played for most of the season. I thought the way
Speaker 1: they finished the year could potentially save him, but he
Speaker 1: struggled to develop younger players over the last few years,
Speaker 1: and sometimes even good coaches their run runs out in
Speaker 1: a certain locale. He will be a highly coveted coordinator
Speaker 1: in this hiring cycle, and the Bengals under Zach Taylor,
Speaker 1: we'll look for someone new. Bit of a surprise for
Speaker 1: me was that the Seahawks fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.
Speaker 1: Mike McDonald was speaking on a radio hit this morning
Speaker 1: and said that his offensive vision was just different than
Speaker 1: what he was seeing out of Ryan Grubb. And if
Speaker 1: you go back and you look at what they were
Speaker 1: saying before the season, what Dk metcalf was saying before
Speaker 1: the season, that they wanted to be a run first
Speaker 1: type of team that set up the passing game, and
Speaker 1: you think about the vision that Mike McDonald want as
Speaker 1: a defensive coach, I think it's their inability to really
Speaker 1: get that offensive line to be able to block for
Speaker 1: the run to run consistently at all was the difference there.
Speaker 1: So they will have a new coordinator there. Gino Smith
Speaker 1: has had a new coordinator every year for a while now,
Speaker 1: and Mike McDonald was just a tad non comental when
Speaker 1: asked about Gino Smith on that radio broadcast, which is
Speaker 1: a change he's been so in Gino's camp. That might
Speaker 1: have something to do with the contract of Gina, which
Speaker 1: is a little up in the air right now. He
Speaker 1: has one year left on it, but they could lower
Speaker 1: his cap number by extendium, so he might not have
Speaker 1: wanted to say anything that got him in trouble with
Speaker 1: that contract. But I have a feeling Gino Smith will
Speaker 1: be back. We'll find out who they hired. The Browns
Speaker 1: fired their offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey along with their offensive
Speaker 1: line coach Andy Dickerson. Not a surprise there that Dorsey,
Speaker 1: to me, was brought in to almost run a Deshaun
Speaker 1: Watson style of offense. It didn't work. Some of the
Speaker 1: Browns players, including their offensive lineman Jack Conklin, even said
Speaker 1: after their final game of the season that essentially, we
Speaker 1: can't build an offense out of one person's talents. We
Speaker 1: got to do what we do well, and that essentially
Speaker 1: is saying we should have the play action under center
Speaker 1: type of offense that Kevin Stevanski has been great with
Speaker 1: and not try to make everything work for Deshaun Watson,
Speaker 1: who probably will never play another snap again. These are
Speaker 1: my words, not Jack Conklin's words. There was a report
Speaker 1: or it came from the GM of the Browns that
Speaker 1: there was a complication in Deshaun Watson's recovery from a
Speaker 1: torn achilles when he came in for a physical. That
Speaker 1: raised my eyebrows a little bit. There there's been some
Speaker 1: news that Deshaun Watson had his contract reworked and that
Speaker 1: means they'll have a spot for him next season. I
Speaker 1: don't believe any of that. I think this is all theater.
Speaker 1: I don't think Deshaun Watson will ever play for the
Speaker 1: Browns again. I personally don't think he'll even have a
Speaker 1: chance to compete again, and this injury almost gives them
Speaker 1: cover that we just won't see him for twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: and they'll work out some way to either cut him
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty six or just get rid of him.
Speaker 1: And I have my doubts whether he'll play football again.
Speaker 1: We will see. So I just went through all the
Speaker 1: coordinator firings, we talked about all the interviews. I didn't
Speaker 1: mention the Jets GM situation and which also has a
Speaker 1: diverse group of options. We had mentioned in the best
Speaker 1: Jim Naggy, the Senior Bowl Guy, got an interview there.
Speaker 1: John Robinson, the former Titans gm who used to work
Speaker 1: with Mike Frable interviewed. Lewis Riddick, who works for ESPN interview.
Speaker 1: Thomas de Mittroff, who now is working for Summer Sports,
Speaker 1: got an interview. He used to be with the Falcons.
Speaker 1: Ryan Grigson, the guy who built the offensive line that
Speaker 1: helped Andrew Luck to retire, got an interview. Alec Hallaby,
Speaker 1: the assistant general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles forward thinking organization,
Speaker 1: was on Jordan rod Riegs the Playmakers podcast. You guys
Speaker 1: should check that out. That would be a good hire.
Speaker 1: Mike Greenberg, not the get Up host, but works for
Speaker 1: the Bucks was another one. And yeah, one name I
Speaker 1: didn't mention just because the Jets coaching interview list is
Speaker 1: so wild was Brian Greese, the former Monday Night football
Speaker 1: commentator who's been a quarterbacks coach for the forty nine ers.
Speaker 1: I really get the sense that the Jets are just
Speaker 1: interviewing guys to like get information out of them. So
Speaker 1: we're gonna be tracking all these interviews. We'll see what
Speaker 1: happens throughout the course of this week. Some other minor
Speaker 1: news are not surprising. Was out of Carolina, where Bryce
Speaker 1: Young was confirmed from Dave Canalis, it was good to
Speaker 1: hear him. Let's actually listen to Dave Canals.
Speaker 5: Well, i'd say we'll take a week to week. We
Speaker 5: got no more weeks, you know. So yeah, Bryce is
Speaker 5: our quarterback.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 5: I'm so proud of the way that he just took
Speaker 5: the challenge and he just grew every week. He just
Speaker 5: took new lessons, new things, applied it to his game.
Speaker 1: So that that is Dave cadallis confirming without a shadow
Speaker 1: of doubt that Bryce Young is their guy. He's their
Speaker 1: franchise quarterback. And the other news there was that Giro Evro,
Speaker 1: who would have been a popular defensive coordinator option in
Speaker 1: this cycle despite a bad Panthers defense this year, they
Speaker 1: just don't have any players. He will be staying in Carolina,
Speaker 1: and Dave Canalis, who got to work with Evro as
Speaker 1: part of an arranged marriage, says he really likes ever
Speaker 1: Roe and wants to keep him in the building. So
Speaker 1: that's all the hiring, that's all the firing. Unfortunately, we
Speaker 1: got some bad injury news for the Packers that Christian
Speaker 1: Watson will miss the playoffs. It's expected that he'll have
Speaker 1: surgery for a torn acl so that's really disappointing and
Speaker 1: changes how that offense looks. But we'll be talking about
Speaker 1: all the playoff games in our preview show later of
Speaker 1: the week. As I mentioned on Tuesday, we're gonna tape it,
Speaker 1: trying to decide whether we put it out Tuesday afternoon
Speaker 1: or maybe overnight as we switch to the offseason. Get
Speaker 1: into that cycle. Let me know which you guys like.
Speaker 1: But either way, we got Weiss hopefully back in the building.
Speaker 1: We got Connie Wolf back in the building. We have
Speaker 1: Jordan Rodrigue of the Athletic Let's play the music. Eric
Speaker 1: I got a prep for some QB Island. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be tough to choose. Yeah, thank you to Ian Rappaport
Speaker 1: once again, looking forward to getting back in this studio.
Speaker 1: Look when when Matt Naggy is interviewing for head coaching
Speaker 1: jobs and Trent Balkey is getting his coaches fired, you
Speaker 1: know football is back.