Speaker 1: The Around the NFL podcast. Here's a technical lighthouse from.
Speaker 2: The Chris Westling podcast studio. It's around the NFL. I
Speaker 2: am Dan Hansis got a hero here, Greg Rosenthal. The
Speaker 2: technical lighthouse is Mark referred to Greg Olsen Fox play
Speaker 2: by play man.
Speaker 1: That will be a conversation point. I am begging you
Speaker 1: to shut up.
Speaker 2: Later in today's show, Mark simmer down, because we will
Speaker 2: have the great Andrew Marshawn late of the New York
Speaker 2: Post now of the Athletic breaking down the NFL media landscape.
Speaker 1: So that's gonna be cool. Gregy, how are you?
Speaker 3: I'm doing great. This is an exciting show. A lot
Speaker 3: of guests. JB Long to talk, Aaron Donald. It is
Speaker 3: a sneaky, frisky weekend by the NFL. The NFL said, Oh,
Speaker 3: you thought Freed Andcy was done. We're gonna give you
Speaker 3: a little frisky news items to find out while you're
Speaker 3: like at your son's nerf gun party on Saturday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Oh, Colleen relaxed, Yeah, it was. In general, this feels
Speaker 2: like twenty twenty four was the year that the the week,
Speaker 2: the free agency kickoff week. It just changed like annoyingly,
Speaker 2: and I'm sure this happens. It's a thing that happens
Speaker 2: based on the calendar, the way the calendar shifts. But
Speaker 2: I always used to love, especially when I lived in
Speaker 2: New York, the March sixteenth, Saint Patrick's Day, March seventeenth,
Speaker 2: living on the Upper West Side, and just like parking
Speaker 2: at a bar and watching the first two days in
Speaker 2: March madness. You used to love that. That was two
Speaker 2: of the best days of the year. And now there
Speaker 2: were no games. It was just selection Sunday on Sunday,
Speaker 2: and that was different, and I don't like change this
Speaker 2: year for free agency.
Speaker 1: I feel like it used to.
Speaker 2: Be, you know, Sunday quiet, Monday, crazy, Tuesday, crazy, Wednesday,
Speaker 2: big stuff going on Thursday, little quieter, Friday, pretty dead.
Speaker 2: But this year it just felt like wall to wall
Speaker 2: news maybe except for Wednesday, ironically, which was the start
Speaker 2: of the new league year, but it was there was
Speaker 2: a lot to digest.
Speaker 1: And we're going to get into all of it. Everything's
Speaker 1: moved faster.
Speaker 3: As of Sunday night, I think there was only twenty
Speaker 3: seven players left off the one on one, and that
Speaker 3: was the one on one for Monday. The original one
Speaker 3: was down to like fourteen to fifteen players, So team's
Speaker 3: just moving faster and yeah to the Bearess credit. I
Speaker 3: guess like not letting some of the stories in the
Speaker 3: Chargers with Keenan Allen, we'll get to like linger that
Speaker 3: could be lingering for a long time.
Speaker 2: And if you're wondering why you haven't heard much from
Speaker 2: Mark Sessler yet, he is not with us today and
Speaker 2: I in retrospect when his Instagram was on fire with
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety two photos.
Speaker 1: Whenever Camp Happiness.
Speaker 2: Whenever Camp Happiness is at the forefront of the Mark socials.
Speaker 2: In some ways, he's in nineteen ninety two and it's
Speaker 2: hard to get back to twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean, right, it's a jet lag
Speaker 3: for thirty thirty two year journey back to twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3: But he'll be back on Wednesday and Thursday for a
Speaker 3: big around the AFC and NFC week.
Speaker 2: But for our for our knowledge in the future, when
Speaker 2: Camp Happiness is going off on the feed, we should
Speaker 2: plan ahead.
Speaker 1: Okay. I think that's just a good way to get
Speaker 1: ahead of things. Fair. I want to go to Camp Happy.
Speaker 1: Sounds nice. It's hard to leave though, once you go there.
Speaker 3: I did go to Camp Wilder as a kid, which
Speaker 3: has a probably a similar vibe.
Speaker 1: But that wasn't like a stay over with you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Nicoletown, there's no going to camps, So you go
Speaker 2: to grandma's house and kill eight hours.
Speaker 1: See you when I get home from work, it's tough.
Speaker 2: You know. I was playing these whiffle ball and taking
Speaker 2: a walk up to seven to eleven up there in
Speaker 2: North Middletown Road.
Speaker 3: Like just can you carry this brick up the stairs
Speaker 3: and then bring it back? You're like, why, I'm just
Speaker 3: gonna return the brick back to where it was.
Speaker 1: Just do it, Danny. They gave it a dollar fifty
Speaker 1: in your hand.
Speaker 2: You went up to you went up to that seven
Speaker 2: eleven and you grabbed a slurpee and then if you
Speaker 2: were lucky, a couple of pieces of that five cent
Speaker 2: to Zuka.
Speaker 1: Joe bubble Gum. I do have guilt. That was summer
Speaker 1: and whiffle ball same and except ours.
Speaker 3: There was like a forest behind our house and you
Speaker 3: could cut through the forest. It was about a mile
Speaker 3: plus two sounds murdery to get to the Variety store
Speaker 3: it was called. And you know, in hindsight, I feel
Speaker 3: regrettable that we would steal a decent amount from that
Speaker 3: variety store because we didn't have any money. Yeah, you
Speaker 3: pay fit, you know, you maybe buy a little bit
Speaker 3: and put's more in your pocket.
Speaker 2: Well, that's that's rogue delinquent behavior. We would never think
Speaker 2: that do that at the local seven eleven. But that's
Speaker 2: a difference between Western Massachusetts in New York and Rockland County,
Speaker 2: hard working people that would never steal from a man
Speaker 2: trying to make ends meet.
Speaker 1: I have regrets.
Speaker 3: It's not too late to make a phone call. Okay,
Speaker 3: and probably did, but it's probably not in business anymore.
Speaker 2: Probably put him underground from the stress of his financial
Speaker 2: failings as a result of your malfeasance. Let's get let's
Speaker 2: focus on. Come on, Mark, let's get to Let's do
Speaker 2: some news and shout.
Speaker 4: Out to all the other sports podcasts out there. Making
Speaker 4: a banger man around the NFL. Part of my take
Speaker 4: is always good. And then the Dan Levtard Show. I mean,
Speaker 4: Dan's always killing it, so he's been doing it for
Speaker 4: a long long time.
Speaker 1: A couple of notes there. It's the New Heights podcast.
Speaker 2: Of course, the Kelsey Brothers, winner of Best Overall Podcast
Speaker 2: at the iHeart Podcast Awards. Shout out to David Singer,
Speaker 2: our gifted talent booker here at NFL Media who put
Speaker 2: that on my radar. And I little Mia Koppa from
Speaker 2: Old Zeusser, who you know is a little, a little snarly,
Speaker 2: a little a little bitter, maybe took a shot at
Speaker 2: the Kelsey Brothers acceptance speech the video pre recorded acceptance
Speaker 2: speech at the awards show. We attended in person. We're
Speaker 2: lost in person. Well they won and delivered the pre
Speaker 2: recorded speech. Now I feel bad because that was a
Speaker 2: class class move or from their podcast. That was from
Speaker 2: what the acceptance speeches. I think that was recorded separately
Speaker 2: as a part of the iHeart Okay awards exciting, I mean,
Speaker 2: but what we just listened to was from their most recently.
Speaker 1: He was like.
Speaker 3: Looking down, So I don't know how familiar he is
Speaker 3: with the program, but I do appreciate the thought, the uh,
Speaker 3: the shout out, and we were mentioned first ahead of
Speaker 3: pardon my take in Levatard, And.
Speaker 2: I think there's something to take out of that. I
Speaker 2: think there's absolutely something to take out of that.
Speaker 3: We are getting to the age where there was a
Speaker 3: chance some of these guys, if they were into podcasts,
Speaker 3: were listening to the podcast, you know when they were.
Speaker 1: Getting to the age.
Speaker 3: Well, I just mean like we're going to talk Aaron
Speaker 3: Donald later and his retirement, right, but we were there
Speaker 3: talking about his draft day. Yes, So that means people
Speaker 3: coming into the league now, they were like ten years old.
Speaker 1: Maybe they were listening to our podcast or something. Oh,
Speaker 1: you're dating me.
Speaker 2: Let's get to it. Justin Fields on the move. By
Speaker 2: the way I called this one. We had rotopad on,
Speaker 2: we did our and we all throughout. Justin Fields trade options.
Speaker 2: I said the Steelers, good Jeff, so bully for me.
Speaker 2: Justin Field has gone to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange
Speaker 2: for a conditional twenty twenty five sixth round pick. Now
Speaker 2: that can elevate to a fourth round pick if Fields
Speaker 2: plays a bunch for Pittsburgh this year. But that is
Speaker 2: very much up in the air because, of course, Greggie.
Speaker 2: A week previous, the Steelers traded for Russell Wilson. We're
Speaker 2: going to get to Kenny Picken in a second too.
Speaker 2: He exits the picture. But what we're hearing, what's being
Speaker 2: reported is that Mike Tomlin has told Russell Wilson that
Speaker 2: he is indeed going to be the guy they see
Speaker 2: as their Week one starter. That's what he's saying right
Speaker 2: now anyway. But Fields now joins that totally remade quarterback
Speaker 2: room in Pittsburgh, and the Bears are left wondering how
Speaker 2: we handled this and whether we botched an opportunity to
Speaker 2: get much more bang for their buck with Fields, who
Speaker 2: you know, as recently as the end of the regular season,
Speaker 2: a lot of people, including myself, thought they could fetch
Speaker 2: a high pick, maybe a second rounder.
Speaker 1: It ends up being as low as potentially a Day
Speaker 1: three pick.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a Day three pick regardless, right, sixth round,
Speaker 3: fourth round, and it's not even this year. I don't
Speaker 3: think they could have gotten more unless they potentially waited
Speaker 3: until draft day or potentially waited until the fall. So
Speaker 3: when Ryan Poles, their general manager, is kind of putting
Speaker 3: out there, the Bears have put out there through sources,
Speaker 3: there's so many angles to this. I want to get
Speaker 3: to the on field stuff. But while we're talking trade
Speaker 3: terms that you know, they could have maybe gotten a
Speaker 3: little better of a deal, but they wanted to do
Speaker 3: right by an.
Speaker 1: I don't need to hear all that stuff that's so phony.
Speaker 3: It might be vaguely true, but the terms would only
Speaker 3: be like slightly better. Maybe it was like a hard
Speaker 3: fifth or a hard fourth, something like that, doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: They weren't getting what they wanted.
Speaker 3: And the reporting is they started with a framework of
Speaker 3: the Sam Darnold trade.
Speaker 1: Again, good job by you, Dan, you mentioned that trade.
Speaker 3: I believe in this very context, and that was what
Speaker 3: they were looking for, which was like maybe a couple
Speaker 3: of late round picks or pick swaps this year and
Speaker 3: a second round pick in the future. And they found
Speaker 3: out this offseason that offer wasn't coming. And as the
Speaker 3: free agency took off and guys like Sam Bradford got
Speaker 3: jobs and we're seeing these other backup spots get jobs,
Speaker 3: it became clear no one was giving Justin Fields an
Speaker 3: opportunity to start right now at least, and so teams
Speaker 3: were just looking at him for a backup. And I
Speaker 3: think his contract played a bigger role than everyone you know.
Speaker 1: Is making out to be in this. No one was
Speaker 1: going to pick up his fifth year out.
Speaker 3: Now, I'm a little you know, I think there could
Speaker 3: have been a case to be made that, hey, let's
Speaker 3: pick up Justin Field, let's pick up the fifth year option,
Speaker 3: let's commit to him. That's two years for like twenty
Speaker 3: five million, that's pretty reasonable, and he's our guy.
Speaker 1: The next no one was looking at him that way.
Speaker 3: And then once they got to that point and realized
Speaker 3: no one was looking at him that way, no one's
Speaker 3: going to give up a good pick for one year
Speaker 3: of a guy who's a backup or competing. And the
Speaker 3: one little thing I do believe the Bear is on
Speaker 3: is he they probably had a bunch of like lackluster options,
Speaker 3: And whether he said the Steelers were the choice that
Speaker 3: he wanted, that's what I would suspect him and his agent,
Speaker 3: or that they just said, like, look, this is this
Speaker 3: is probably the best chance with a good organization and
Speaker 3: a potential chance to play sooner than later, of all
Speaker 3: the choices, including it it's been reported the Eagles were
Speaker 3: one of them. At least you have a pathway here?
Speaker 3: Where will send you to the best pathway?
Speaker 2: I guess I'm still a little bit surprised how it
Speaker 2: all ended up playing out, because I just.
Speaker 1: Thought, I am too, Oh, I am too.
Speaker 2: To be clear, I thought, while he certainly hasn't, he'd
Speaker 2: still be a member of the Bears if he had
Speaker 2: truly fulfilled his potential there or what they believed he
Speaker 2: could be, but I thought he's shown enough that there
Speaker 2: would be a team that would really Yeah, like that
Speaker 2: Donald trade. The Panthers traded for Donald thinking he was
Speaker 2: a depreciated asset that could be a big time player potentially,
Speaker 2: and nobody saw him that way, apparently based on this
Speaker 2: and that ESPN reporting from Courtney Cronin was an additional
Speaker 2: the Bears had an additional offer with stronger draft capital
Speaker 2: from a team with an established starter, but the team
Speaker 2: decided they wanted to put Fields in quote a position
Speaker 2: to continue his development. And what rubs me the wrong
Speaker 2: way about that type of not the reporting. The reporting
Speaker 2: is fine, but the way the spin is like, if
Speaker 2: you really cared about Justin Field's development, you could have
Speaker 2: you know, had a much more cohesive plan when he
Speaker 2: was in your building and you saw him as the future.
Speaker 1: And now you're going to on the way out the
Speaker 1: door and be like, oh, you.
Speaker 2: Know, we're gonna make sure we take care of you
Speaker 2: screwed up his development with the way you handled the
Speaker 2: first three years of his career, four years of his career.
Speaker 2: So I don't that whole thing that me the wrong way,
Speaker 2: But in general, I think Fields in terms of his future,
Speaker 2: I think it's it is a pretty decent spot.
Speaker 1: And I'll give the Steelers credit.
Speaker 2: I have to say, like, do I love Russell Wilson
Speaker 2: or Justin Fields. No, But if they're going this route
Speaker 2: in terms of trying to figure out the position, they
Speaker 2: could have done a lot worse when you look at
Speaker 2: what they gave up to get both Wilson or what
Speaker 2: they paid for Wilson, which is nothing, what they gave
Speaker 2: up for Fields, which is close to nothing, and now
Speaker 2: they're kind of two lottery tickets and you see what happens.
Speaker 1: I think they did a great job.
Speaker 3: I think omark in terms of where they were and
Speaker 3: what they could do, they did the best that they
Speaker 3: could do. Now they probably don't have a long term
Speaker 3: change quarterback, but I think Fields has a better chance
Speaker 3: than probably anyone else was going to be. And I
Speaker 3: think it's important to remember with Chicago Ryan Poles, their
Speaker 3: GM did not draft Justin Fields, and that it's been
Speaker 3: mentioned a lot, and that's just how it goes. Like
Speaker 3: when you when they messed up his development, but it
Speaker 3: was like Matt Naggy to start and a different GM
Speaker 3: to start and ownership all that stuff.
Speaker 1: The Steelers basically.
Speaker 3: Gave up nothing to get an upgrade from Kenny Pickett
Speaker 3: and Mason Rudolph. It's kind of amazing how little that
Speaker 3: they had to give up. Now, if Justin Fields balls
Speaker 3: out and ends up improving that draft pick from the
Speaker 3: sixth to the fourth round because he does play more
Speaker 3: than fifty one percent of his steps by the way,
Speaker 3: I would, I would guess he would because I think
Speaker 3: I think Justin Fields right now is a is a
Speaker 3: better player than Russell Wilson. And I understand why you
Speaker 3: told Russell Wilson he's the starter. And Russell Wilson's already
Speaker 3: sending out tweets like welcome aboard Justin Fields and hopefully
Speaker 3: that that's all you know, a good relationship. You're gonna
Speaker 3: let those two guys compete. They're so similar though. Justin
Speaker 3: Fields holds the ball a long time, isn't known for
Speaker 3: reading the middle of the field that great, is incredible
Speaker 3: making plays on his own, is one of the better
Speaker 3: quarterbacks in the league in terms of his deep accuracy,
Speaker 3: and can spin the ball like, who does that sound
Speaker 3: like a young Russell Wilson and Russell Wilson's an old
Speaker 3: Russell Wilson. I'm not saying Justin Fields is going to
Speaker 3: reach the level that Russell Wilson at was early in
Speaker 3: his career. He's obviously behind compared to where Russell Wilson
Speaker 3: was in his third year, but the athleticism is there,
Speaker 3: and I just I don't know, I can't imagine in
Speaker 3: a fair competition actually that Justin Fields doesn't get a
Speaker 3: chance eventually.
Speaker 2: Plus they're going to want to get a look at him,
Speaker 2: right because he's under a contract for one more year.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I would think Wilson has to play extremely
Speaker 2: well well to keep Fields off the field, and we'll
Speaker 2: see if he can do it. I do have my doubts,
Speaker 2: but in general, I give them high grades. Now, we
Speaker 2: mentioned Picketts, so why don't we just talk about him here.
Speaker 2: So the Eagles go and they do business with the Steelers.
Speaker 2: They acquire the former first round pick an exchange for
Speaker 2: let's see, the Eagles send the number ninety eight pick
Speaker 2: in this year's draft end a seventh round pick next year,
Speaker 2: and it's Pickett and the one hundred and twentieth overall
Speaker 2: pick of this draft underd and twentieth overall pick.
Speaker 3: Was a four fifth, fourth fourth, So it's worth around
Speaker 3: up of twenty two spots and they had to give
Speaker 3: up a seventh, so they didn't even pick up an
Speaker 3: extra pick the Steelers to get rid of pig.
Speaker 2: It so and there are reports out there and pick
Speaker 2: Ittt spoke on it today as introductory press conference, which
Speaker 2: is interesting. He spoke for the you know, on behalf
Speaker 2: of his new team or with his new team, that
Speaker 2: he did not take the Russell Wilson move well and
Speaker 2: kind of shut down some workouts that were planned and
Speaker 2: basically said get me out of here. And maybe Pittsburgh
Speaker 2: was like, yeah, you got it, buddy. But in the end,
Speaker 2: I feel like he is a cautionary tale about when
Speaker 2: we talk about the draft coming up, like that draft
Speaker 2: famously was not loaded with quarterback talent, as I recall.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was Desmond Ritter and Malik Willis and but
Speaker 3: then there really wasn't a winner.
Speaker 1: These three quarterbacks pretty in the sun.
Speaker 2: Right, all those guys, and but teams cannot help themselves.
Speaker 2: It seems there's always going to be even in a
Speaker 2: quote unquote bad quarterback year, the teams they're like, well,
Speaker 2: we'll be the first one to take a guy. And
Speaker 2: it's later in the first round, but you still end
Speaker 2: up you still end up turning over like two years
Speaker 2: of your franchise to the guy, and the Steelers ultimately
Speaker 2: set themselves back with a really middling prospect in the
Speaker 2: big picture.
Speaker 3: And that's how we played, right. I was never excited
Speaker 3: about can you Pickett? A lot people weren't. People had third,
Speaker 3: fourth round greens out of something. But he knew the facility.
Speaker 3: Remember that he knew where the bathroom, which is why
Speaker 3: this reporting and people got upset with the reporting that
Speaker 3: now it's been convenient that it comes out from like
Speaker 3: local reporters that he didn't want to dress as an
Speaker 3: emergency quarterback last year in Week eighteen, that he felt
Speaker 3: like it was sort of insulting and there's a question
Speaker 3: of whether he was truly healthy or not. The Steelers
Speaker 3: did him wrong no matter what, because Matt Canada was
Speaker 3: his offensive coordinator.
Speaker 1: It's a really crazy tenure in.
Speaker 3: Pittsburgh if you think about it, because Matt Canada was
Speaker 3: his coordinator, then they fire him and then if you remember,
Speaker 3: Kenny Pickett had the very best game of his career
Speaker 3: in the game after they fired Mike Canada, and everybody
Speaker 3: was like, wow, they got rid of Canada. Picket's great,
Speaker 3: and then Pickett got hurt the very next game, never
Speaker 3: played for the Pittsburgh Steelers ever. Again, Mason Rudolph comes in,
Speaker 3: looks pretty good. They decide not to give Pickett the
Speaker 3: job back in week eighteen and for the playoffs, and
Speaker 3: yet they get rid of Mason Rudolph too. Anyways, at
Speaker 3: that point it was clear Mike Tomlin and then we're
Speaker 3: probably just out on Kenny Pickett. And so they did
Speaker 3: a bad job. But I kind of can't kill them
Speaker 3: because I'm the guy. And I've talked about this with
Speaker 3: Dave Danishek on his Minus three podcasts. He's been killing this.
Speaker 3: My thing is flood the zone with quarterbacks until you
Speaker 3: get one. Just keep taking them, keep taking them. Now,
Speaker 3: the better process would have been take Picket in the
Speaker 3: second or third round. He was not worth a first
Speaker 3: round pick. But if you don't have one, keep taking them.
Speaker 3: And I think they're doing it.
Speaker 1: That's kind of what I.
Speaker 2: Meant, right, don't just because it's a back end of
Speaker 2: the first round and nobody's been picked yet at that position,
Speaker 2: Like I feel like that sometimes clouds the thoughts.
Speaker 3: Of yes, they kind of take themselves into it. It
Speaker 3: reminds me of J. P. Lossman.
Speaker 1: It reminds me of EJ. Manuel. These like late first
Speaker 1: round picks at quarterback.
Speaker 3: You know, other than I guess Aaron Rodgers that was
Speaker 3: pretty good in Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1: I am really you know, runing myself.
Speaker 3: From those were like really late picks. But there were
Speaker 3: other quarterbacks in those draft class. No, No, I know.
Speaker 3: What I'm trying to say on the Steelers though, is
Speaker 3: they're kind of doing that flood the zone thing right
Speaker 3: now in a great way. So the Eagles get a
Speaker 3: backup quarterback. They used to say they wanted to be
Speaker 3: a quarterback factory. They basically gave up nothing to get
Speaker 3: a decent backup quarterback in Kenny Pickett.
Speaker 1: So it's good process for them.
Speaker 3: But I would not, if I was the Steelers, rule
Speaker 3: out taking a second or third round quarterback this year too.
Speaker 3: I don't think it's that crazy. This is a good
Speaker 3: quarterback class. Next year is supposed to be bad. There's
Speaker 3: seven eight guys. Now, you're probably not going to use
Speaker 3: your first round pick in it. But uh, there's some
Speaker 3: guys that people are pretty intrigued about that could end
Speaker 3: up going in the third round, and it reminds me
Speaker 3: a little bit of when Russell Wilson was drafted.
Speaker 1: That was a three tiered battle.
Speaker 3: I believe it was Whitehurst, who was a trade tar acquisition,
Speaker 3: Matt Flynn, who was a previous free agent pickup that
Speaker 3: wasn't really working out.
Speaker 1: No, that was Flynn's first season.
Speaker 3: That was his It was Sason Ann, Russell Wilson, and
Speaker 3: it ended up being the third round pick that worked out.
Speaker 3: And they didn't think Russell Wilson was gonna be who
Speaker 3: he turned out to be, or else they would have
Speaker 3: taken him earlier.
Speaker 1: So I just keep trying them. You know, no, you
Speaker 1: might hit one.
Speaker 2: I've said, I've talked about it on the show before,
Speaker 2: but remember having a conversation on the rooftop of a downtown,
Speaker 2: LA like elementary school and being taken aback by how
Speaker 2: much Carol was talking about Russell Wilson, even though we
Speaker 2: had done all this writing and reporting about Matt Flynn
Speaker 2: signing with the team earlier in the off season.
Speaker 1: It was like, oh okay.
Speaker 2: Also, the Eagles, by the way, did some business on
Speaker 2: the defensive side of the ball. They signed former Buccaneers
Speaker 2: linebacker Devin White to a one year contract. So that
Speaker 2: is a former first round pick White as I recall,
Speaker 2: second team All Pro and Worth a flyer there and.
Speaker 3: People were talking, you know, talking about him. It was like,
Speaker 3: could he be super Bowl MVP? He had a monster
Speaker 3: playoffrom Worth a flyer, but really shows he's the type
Speaker 3: of guy that color announcers were. I always used to
Speaker 3: be like, oh, he's one of the best linebackers. Linking
Speaker 3: against the free agency and nobody wanted. They also signed
Speaker 3: you boy, Jake Elliott to a nice big contract. Kickers
Speaker 3: make it the great money's these days. Finally, well, what
Speaker 3: is it relative to the cap percentage?
Speaker 1: Well, you're right, it's not much.
Speaker 2: It's time for kickers to really take a bite into
Speaker 2: the salary cap. That's what I want, not just more
Speaker 2: money because there's more money being spent for a year.
Speaker 3: You're doing twenty four million dollar contract. It's pretty good though.
Speaker 3: That's that's the highest. Now we would actually have to
Speaker 3: stay on the team that whole time to get the end.
Speaker 1: I'm sure it's backloaded.
Speaker 3: But the way he's kicked, he's been as consistent as
Speaker 3: anyone in the league since he started. Other than like
Speaker 3: Justin Ducker, he could actually get all that money.
Speaker 2: He's a badass. He certainly is also Keenan Allen badass?
Speaker 2: Did you know Allen? Last year? He was the one
Speaker 2: consistent threat on that offense after Austin Eckler went into
Speaker 2: a quick decline and Mike Williams blew out his acl
Speaker 2: Keenan Allen with Justin Herbert last season just kept chugging along.
Speaker 2: He had one hundred and eight catches, then gets injured.
Speaker 2: He missed the last almost quarter of the sea and
Speaker 2: he finished with one hundred and eight catches for twelve
Speaker 2: hundred yards, seven or eight touchdowns. So obviously a premier producer.
Speaker 2: And now he's on the move because the Chargers, still
Speaker 2: dealing with cap Hell, send Allen to the Bears. So
Speaker 2: he is entering the final year of a four year
Speaker 2: extension he signed with the Chargers before the start of
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty seasons. Now, the thirty two year old
Speaker 2: joins a Bears wide receiver group that GREGI is starting
Speaker 2: to look pretty frisky, especially with Caleb Williams obviously on
Speaker 2: his way in it seems.
Speaker 3: And the number nine overall draft pick, which is their
Speaker 3: own draft pick. And I don't think they're necessarily done.
Speaker 3: This is such a good class at receiver. Some people
Speaker 3: have mentioned them because they've they've still got extra picks.
Speaker 1: They just picked up another one.
Speaker 3: I guess it's in the future for fields, but could
Speaker 3: they move up for one of these three wide receivers
Speaker 3: at nine and really complete that group? Because Alan he
Speaker 3: raises the floor. But he's thirty two years old on
Speaker 3: the last year of his contract. Whether he's there long
Speaker 3: term or not, we'll see, he said, you know in
Speaker 3: the opening press conference. Look, I'm I'm very open to
Speaker 3: signing long term here. I wouldn't have come here otherwise.
Speaker 3: I loved what he said about not taking a pay cut.
Speaker 3: I do want to circle back to what the Chargers
Speaker 3: are doing after we talk Alt with because they got
Speaker 3: Bosa and Mac to take a pay cup and he
Speaker 3: was just like, that was the best year of my career.
Speaker 3: I was the best player on the team. I'm not
Speaker 3: taking a tay cut. And he is due twenty three
Speaker 3: million dollars this year and the Bears are going to
Speaker 3: pay it to him. So it's like it's almost like
Speaker 3: he's he's getting a franchise tag plus from the Bears
Speaker 3: and he deserves it right now. But I get why
Speaker 3: the Chargers, in such cap straits were asking him to
Speaker 3: take a pay cut, and I get why the Bears
Speaker 3: are doing this. It's a fun It's a fun group
Speaker 3: to me. Him and DJ Moore are a great tandem
Speaker 3: because they have similar traits where it's just gonna be
Speaker 3: very tough for defenses guys that get open. I do
Speaker 3: think you kind of want what bigger, physical, maybe vertical
Speaker 3: guy to fill out the group.
Speaker 1: But it's a great tandem and that could happen with
Speaker 1: that draft pick.
Speaker 3: Let's see in the Chargers by the way, yeah sore.
Speaker 3: More details came out on what they did with back
Speaker 3: with Mac and Bosa. I just found it interesting. Those
Speaker 3: guys took significant pay cuts, but they really set up
Speaker 3: the new contracts that they were like our one year contracts.
Speaker 1: It was really a win win.
Speaker 3: I give them a lot of credit the player and
Speaker 3: the team where they really reduced their cap hits. They're
Speaker 3: gonna have some cap pain next year getting rid of them,
Speaker 3: but they're almost certainly gone after this year, but not
Speaker 3: nearly as much as it would have been this year,
Speaker 3: so they get one more year out of them.
Speaker 1: They convinced them to take pretty good pay cuts, and so.
Speaker 3: It wasn't hey, we're gonna blow everything up right now,
Speaker 3: let's let's try to keep you know, playing at a
Speaker 3: high level. Alan didn't want to do it, but they
Speaker 3: convinced those two guys to do it. And those two
Speaker 3: guys are almost certainly gonna move on after this year,
Speaker 3: but they get one more year of them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like, I like the way they handled it.
Speaker 2: So we'll see what happens. But if Mike Williams doesn't
Speaker 2: come back and he's visiting with the Panthers, the Jets,
Speaker 2: I believe, the Eagles, so that move could.
Speaker 3: Be Steelers Steelers, which is that would be a frisky
Speaker 3: one if he went to the Jets.
Speaker 1: Are the Steelers makes a lot of sense, But there's.
Speaker 2: Also been talk that he might the Chargers. Now if
Speaker 2: they've moved, Allen might be open to bringing him back
Speaker 2: on a more cap friendly deal they do have. If
Speaker 2: that doesn't happen, they got a lot of work to
Speaker 2: do in terms of building an acceptable stable around justin Herbert.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it does feel like a two year plan
Speaker 2: here for Harbaugh. All right, let's talk about the Jets,
Speaker 2: who make a big signing this weekend. They sign left
Speaker 2: tackle Tyron Smith, formerly of the Cowboys, to a one
Speaker 2: year contract. It's a deal that's worth with incentives up
Speaker 2: to twenty million, which is obviously big time money for
Speaker 2: a left tackle, but he's got to hit a bunch
Speaker 2: of incentives to get He's got to stay healthy, which
Speaker 2: has been part of his story at thirty three years old. However,
Speaker 2: GREGI for a guy that has consistently graded out Pro
Speaker 2: Football Focus and elsewhere as one of the top blind
Speaker 2: side protectors in the league, I feel like this was
Speaker 2: a home run for the Jets to get him on
Speaker 2: a one year deal, and you just hope and this
Speaker 2: has not been something they've been connected to with health
Speaker 2: on their offensive line. But if he stays healthy, this
Speaker 2: is a big signing for the Jets, who have now
Speaker 2: remade their offensive line ahead of the draft, which means
Speaker 2: that opens up their options in that avenue.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's huge for them, and I think the base
Speaker 3: salary is only like six and a half million.
Speaker 2: Which I was like, Wow, Tyrone Smiths only getting He
Speaker 2: must have been super annoyed about his market to sign this.
Speaker 3: Right, And the reporting is that the Jets were a
Speaker 3: little surprised that he took the deal in the end
Speaker 3: because he just stop me, we're going to be out
Speaker 3: on him. And whether he was annoyed at the Cowboys
Speaker 3: and just wanted to move on from them, or the
Speaker 3: Jets were just a better opportunity. The Patriots were reportedly
Speaker 3: maybe maybe in on this and Patriots don't really have
Speaker 3: a path, a great path to being great this year,
Speaker 3: and maybe the Jets structured it in a way where
Speaker 3: like they were the only team that was like, well,
Speaker 3: you can make twenty million if you actually play and
Speaker 3: you ball out.
Speaker 1: I think it's a game changing move for them.
Speaker 3: It's a boomer Boss move, but this is the ultimate
Speaker 3: boomer Bus season for them, so I think it's great.
Speaker 3: Next Gen stats had him as the number one tackle
Speaker 3: in the league last year when he was just in
Speaker 3: one on one matchup, so it's just single, I'm blocking you.
Speaker 3: He had the third most snaps of any tackle in
Speaker 3: the league, so he's not getting help. It's like, I'm
Speaker 3: just blocking you. No one's helping me. And according to them,
Speaker 3: he gave up the fewest amount of pressures per snap
Speaker 3: of any freaking tackle in the league, so he was
Speaker 3: playing an elite level. I kind of think he is
Speaker 3: a Hall of Famer. He's not that old, but he
Speaker 3: has had pretty serious back injuries. Look, their process hasn't
Speaker 3: been great because Joe Douglas said he's the old line guy.
Speaker 3: And they went into this offseason needing to fill three
Speaker 3: offensive line starters. And like history tells you between Tyrone Smith,
Speaker 3: John Simpson, and Morgan Moses, like one or two of
Speaker 3: those probably won't work out.
Speaker 1: That's what history would.
Speaker 3: But on paper, they did about as well as they
Speaker 3: possibly could have going into this offseason.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they And here's the thing, I was texting with
Speaker 2: my Jet fan buddies and and I've been saying, I've
Speaker 2: I'm pessimistic about this year. Just seems there's too many
Speaker 2: red flags flapping around this team with Aaron Rodgers, even though,
Speaker 2: according to a report, now will not be chosen as
Speaker 2: the VP candidate of RFK.
Speaker 3: But which is funny because supposedly it was rfk's donors
Speaker 3: believing that like he wasn't a good choice.
Speaker 1: And it's also like when they chose a billionaire woman
Speaker 1: instead who can pay.
Speaker 2: Yeah, not to get sidetracked, but also all the all
Speaker 2: the we got it. We need to start to realize
Speaker 2: with this Rogers stuff, like he loves it, like the
Speaker 2: fact that it was never a real thing.
Speaker 1: It was never gonna happen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but as long as we're all like our mouths
Speaker 2: agape and we're talking about it, that's what he likes.
Speaker 2: He likes people being either offended or annoyed with him
Speaker 2: or just talking about him. And that is part of
Speaker 2: the Rogers deal and it's frustrating, but like he got
Speaker 2: what he wanted out of that.
Speaker 1: I don't know, man about a and Rodgers on TV
Speaker 1: is a lie.
Speaker 3: He just might want to be the vice president of
Speaker 3: the United States. I wouldn't doubt that.
Speaker 2: I mean, in this moment in time, I honestly think
Speaker 2: it was more about look at me, how I'm connected
Speaker 2: to this powerful figure, you know, ostensibly powerful figure. I
Speaker 2: think one thing at Rogers did not and maybe this
Speaker 2: is something with Andrew Moore shan in a bit. One
Speaker 2: thing that Aaran Rodgers did not take into account is
Speaker 2: when you are saying weird stuff allegedly or crazy conspiracy
Speaker 2: theory stuff as a football player, it might not get
Speaker 2: picked up. But once you are all of a sudden
Speaker 2: connected to a presidential candidate, people might care about alleged
Speaker 2: comments about Sandy Hook and maybe he learned something, but
Speaker 2: I don't know if he learns anything, honestly. But the
Speaker 2: Jets offensive line back to that I think will be good.
Speaker 2: I was texting with my Jet fan buddies. It only
Speaker 2: has to like once, just like one year, Like these
Speaker 2: guys got to stay healthy and everything has to work.
Speaker 2: Like every other team, it happens like once, like like once,
Speaker 2: like look at look at their team with the Rogers
Speaker 2: and the left tackle now there and Breece Hall and
Speaker 2: Wilson in that defense. Like we just need one year
Speaker 2: where things kind of go right.
Speaker 3: I have I can't remember just once a team on
Speaker 3: like a now or else year more than the twenty
Speaker 3: twenty four Jets, and those usually don't go well.
Speaker 1: Let that be said general, not in I don't believe.
Speaker 2: But I'm just thinking myself, Oh, just once, just once,
Speaker 2: it has to work.
Speaker 1: You're the most optimist Jets fan I know, and I
Speaker 1: love you for that.
Speaker 2: All right, let's take a break and then we'll continue
Speaker 2: the news, right, Welcome back, We welcome back. We have
Speaker 2: more news to hit, so let's spin through it before
Speaker 2: we welcome Andrew Marshaan.
Speaker 3: When I hosted the show When You missed one, and
Speaker 3: we came back with did you do it? Aside, I
Speaker 3: didn't do it, and some of our listeners got on
Speaker 3: me that they were saying that showed a lack of
Speaker 3: confidence to not even give it a shot. But I
Speaker 3: thought it was your ip. But now that I've heard
Speaker 3: that note, I was like, Okay, I'll give it a shot.
Speaker 1: Next time. I'll give it. Oh.
Speaker 2: I think your first instinct was right that it'd be
Speaker 2: cool to check with me. But I'm totally on board
Speaker 2: with it being more a uh, it's of the podcast
Speaker 2: as a whole, like no I P I also would
Speaker 2: like to hear you try it, actually try it.
Speaker 1: Here I hit it, and let's hear Greggi's version of
Speaker 1: the all right, all right, welcome back, all right, I
Speaker 1: need that we're working show. That's good.
Speaker 2: It's good, all right, last one, and I'll do it
Speaker 2: just so you can get it in your head for
Speaker 2: the next shot.
Speaker 1: We'll do it one more at the end of the shot.
Speaker 1: All right, welcome back.
Speaker 2: It's like a there's like a descending It's like a
Speaker 2: staircase of anticipation.
Speaker 1: Let's get back to the news. M mmmm.
Speaker 2: Marque's Hollywood Brown got a job and it's the best.
Speaker 2: I think it's the best possible job in sports, or
Speaker 2: at least in the NFL right now, wide receiver of
Speaker 2: the Kansas City Chiefs a one year contract worth up
Speaker 2: to eleven million, and this.
Speaker 1: Was overdue, I thought, for kid, it's very you.
Speaker 2: Know, again, we talked about all the time, teams make
Speaker 2: a lot of mistakes and free agency handing out too
Speaker 2: much money to try to upgrade, maybe just a little bit.
Speaker 2: But still with the Chiefs after watching them for four months,
Speaker 2: even during their Super Bowl run, and you're like, God,
Speaker 2: stop wasting Patrick Mahomes brilliant with all these haminaggers. Do
Speaker 2: I come out of the first week of free agency
Speaker 2: feeling like incredibly bullish because Hollywood Brown is that guy. No,
Speaker 2: not personally, but again, maybe he clicks with Mahomes and
Speaker 2: becomes a true star, which he is. There have been
Speaker 2: moments where he has displayed that, But the Ravens thought
Speaker 2: enough to get rid of him, right, and so did
Speaker 2: the second team he was with, the Cardinals. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's just kind of a bit of a math for me.
Speaker 1: Too many drops out of mark.
Speaker 3: Brown does have a unique skill set and that he
Speaker 3: gets opened deep down the field. And there's only so
Speaker 3: many of those guys that do it. I mean, he's
Speaker 3: an absolute upgrade from Marcus valdiscounting for less money. So
Speaker 3: I think they did smart business based on the cap
Speaker 3: space that they have. The base salaries only seven million.
Speaker 3: I haven't seen what the incentives were, but I saw
Speaker 3: them referred to as relatively easy to reach, like a
Speaker 3: four million dollar incentive. So if he goes and has
Speaker 3: a nice season, but even then, one million, eleven one year,
Speaker 3: eleven million is nothing for receivers in this market. So
Speaker 3: comparing him to Calvin really, yes, I'd rather have Calvin Ridley,
Speaker 3: of course, but for the money that they were at,
Speaker 3: I don't think there's that big of a gap between
Speaker 3: those two guys. I think they're they're nice players, and
Speaker 3: Kansas City still has to get someone in the draft,
Speaker 3: and I think they will.
Speaker 2: I'll throw this out there just in it also buttons
Speaker 2: up the last topic. We didn't touch on it, but
Speaker 2: everyone pegging the Jets at ten to take a tackle,
Speaker 2: and now that they went and got Tyron Smith, they
Speaker 2: can potentially go in another direction.
Speaker 1: They could also trade down.
Speaker 2: What you're hearing reports that Joe Douglas is looking to
Speaker 2: trade down like I would love again as a football fan,
Speaker 2: Chiefs come up and get a monster wide receiver prospect,
Speaker 2: and let's see if you could build another Tyreek Hill
Speaker 2: type connection with Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 1: I'm hoping. I guess what I'm saying is that they have.
Speaker 2: A big move ahead of them still that hasn't occurred yet,
Speaker 2: because then you got Rashid Rice, Hollywood Brown, Kelsey in
Speaker 2: the latter stage of his career.
Speaker 1: They see it.
Speaker 2: To me, there's still that one piece missing. You get
Speaker 2: that offense back where it needs or should be, and
Speaker 2: we'll see if they get it done.
Speaker 3: Brown is a good two slash three. Rice is going
Speaker 3: to be I think a good two in the long run.
Speaker 3: But yeah, they need one to kind of push those
Speaker 3: two guys down this class and you never know, but man,
Speaker 3: these classes have been so.
Speaker 1: Good at receiver lately.
Speaker 3: Is so deep that you know, the Draftnicks, the Jeremias
Speaker 3: would say they might not even need to move up
Speaker 3: really to take a pretty exciting prospect there late in
Speaker 3: the first gear.
Speaker 1: You know my feeling on Jeremiah.
Speaker 2: And his takes and how Jeremiah all right, The Bills
Speaker 2: agreed to terms with the wide receiver Curtis Samuel, your
Speaker 2: guy you like yourself from Curtis Samuel, formerly of the Commanders,
Speaker 2: on a three year, twenty four million dollar contract. Again
Speaker 2: a lot of funny money here, it's worth up to
Speaker 2: thirty million.
Speaker 1: But anyway, I like this one. Greg, I'm kind of
Speaker 1: with you.
Speaker 2: I think Curtis Samuel, in the right setup, can really
Speaker 2: be a dangerous player.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 3: The right setup was with Josh Allen in Buffalo. I
Speaker 3: like this one, no doubt. He's only twenty seven years old.
Speaker 3: Somehow it feels like he's been in the league forever.
Speaker 3: I don't know how that really computes. I guess he
Speaker 3: turns twenty eight.
Speaker 1: He must have been in the league when he was nineteen.
Speaker 1: That's insane.
Speaker 3: They will know how to use him. Joe Brady, though,
Speaker 3: actually gets a little too cute sometimes. But I can
Speaker 3: imagine a lot of getting too cute with Dalton k
Speaker 3: James Cook.
Speaker 1: And we'll see.
Speaker 3: There hasn't been any buzz whatsoever about getting rid of
Speaker 3: step On Diggs. I think that would be more on
Speaker 3: draft weekend, if that ever would happen. But the fact
Speaker 3: that it's been so quiet and now you have Diggs,
Speaker 3: Shakir Samuel. That's a versatile groups. It's not incredible, but
Speaker 3: it's it's good enough to go.
Speaker 1: Win all right.
Speaker 2: In other news, the Los Angeles Rams doing more business.
Speaker 2: They add a backup quarterback to their room, Jimmy Garoppolo. Uh,
Speaker 2: he may have heard of Jimmy G. You may know
Speaker 2: that guy. He now lands as a first time Well
Speaker 2: I'm trying to think, Actually, shouldn't say that, because obviously
Speaker 2: he was famously and trenches a backup early on, But
Speaker 2: is this the first contract he has signed now where
Speaker 2: he is the backup?
Speaker 3: I mean, for a minute, he was the highest paid
Speaker 3: quarterback in the league with San Francisco Predictions. Yeah, they
Speaker 3: bet on him big and he had that early stretch
Speaker 3: and then the Raiders and yeah, what a the decline
Speaker 3: in terms of his like the types of contracts he
Speaker 3: was getting from this year to last year.
Speaker 2: So he lands now behind Matthew Stafford in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: A nice.
Speaker 2: It feels like Jimmy G just hanging out in LA
Speaker 2: like in Malibu.
Speaker 1: It feels like it makes sense. It makes sense.
Speaker 2: But it's a deal, a one year contract, which is
Speaker 2: you know, very different from the three year, seventy three
Speaker 2: million dollar deal. He signed last offseason and then played
Speaker 2: only seven games and then the Raiders got the hell
Speaker 2: out of that deal. So he lands there as they're backup.
Speaker 2: They also make a sign signing and we're going to
Speaker 2: get to the Rams defense, which is now going to
Speaker 2: be very different because of one missing defensive lineman. But
Speaker 2: they assigned safety Cameron Curl formerly of Washington, to a
Speaker 2: two year contract. Former seventh round pick who did some
Speaker 2: good things.
Speaker 3: With Washington right quite highly ranked in my top one
Speaker 3: to one and other top one, you know, hundreds in
Speaker 3: terms of free agents, top fifty type player, one of
Speaker 3: the better safeties that was available. Kind of calms down
Speaker 3: a trouble spot, I believe for them. It's interesting that
Speaker 3: they've now become the Rams, like the home for Way
Speaker 3: were quarterbacks. You get Baker in twenty twenty two, Carson
Speaker 3: Wentz quietly started a game or did he just come in,
Speaker 3: but he played most of that Week eighteen game that
Speaker 3: no one, no one watched. He was actually okay in
Speaker 3: that game. He hasn't gotten a job yet. And now
Speaker 3: you get Jimmy g. It's a there's something about Stafford
Speaker 3: and Jimmy G.
Speaker 1: There's a lot.
Speaker 2: It's the it's again pretty pick privilege, right, that these
Speaker 2: these wonder kinds, they they believe they could fix what
Speaker 2: was wrong.
Speaker 1: With the case.
Speaker 3: It's almost like pretty McVeigh privilege that everyone wants to
Speaker 3: go play for him at a discount when their career
Speaker 3: is kind of at a talented player is at a
Speaker 3: crossroads because McVeigh can make you go look good. So
Speaker 3: it's a smart move by Jimmy G. For some reason,
Speaker 3: Jimmy G feels like a guy. I'm not taking a
Speaker 3: shot here, but like you know, you hear sometimes like,
Speaker 3: well he maybe it wouldn't mind being a backup for
Speaker 3: a little while.
Speaker 1: He's had it, like it's a lot going on.
Speaker 3: A lot of injuries, Yeah, but a lot say that
Speaker 3: if he wasn't so like smoking hot, right, but if
Speaker 3: he was busted up, dude, that's probably not your take here.
Speaker 3: He was at the center of a power struggle, Colleen,
Speaker 3: that that helped divide the greatest dynasty in the history
Speaker 3: of the sport. After that, he was like the highest
Speaker 3: paid play You say, his role in that was he
Speaker 3: was at the center of him.
Speaker 1: He had nothing to do with it. He just got
Speaker 1: drafted by that.
Speaker 3: But he was there and Robert Kraft had had one opinion.
Speaker 3: Bill Belichick, I think would have moved forward with Jimmy
Speaker 3: G's sooner.
Speaker 1: And then it became this whole thing. Tie this to
Speaker 1: your take, go ahead.
Speaker 3: I just mean that he's been through a lot. Then
Speaker 3: he goes to San Francisco. It's massive injuries, huge ups,
Speaker 3: two huge downs, letdowns in the playoffs, gets bench for
Speaker 3: a seventh rounder in the end, it makes a huge
Speaker 3: kind the Raiders things a face like, Hey, let's just
Speaker 3: go as you said, hang out in Malabu. Maybe let's
Speaker 3: chill a little bit for a nice organization. Let's take
Speaker 3: a little research.
Speaker 2: I guess maybe we're kind of in this. We're landing
Speaker 2: in the silver place. But I don't get the vibe
Speaker 2: that like he doesn't really want. I feel like you're
Speaker 2: insinuating that, like he's he's.
Speaker 1: Just said it's a good time. He also had surgery
Speaker 1: on his foot. He's a lot of injury.
Speaker 3: It's just been through a lot and has famously gone
Speaker 3: on some big time dates in La Oh yeah, mister.
Speaker 2: Chow crazy one. That's one of the craziest stories in
Speaker 2: the last ten years.
Speaker 1: No longer with us. Look it up. The restaurant in
Speaker 1: the state.
Speaker 3: I was like, no, I think she's They die young sometimes,
Speaker 3: like wrestlers.
Speaker 2: Very similar. The Vikings make a big move in the draft.
Speaker 2: They agree with the Texans on a trade that nets
Speaker 2: Minnesota and an additional first round pick in the twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four draft. Rap Sheet and pell Saro had this
Speaker 2: on Friday. In the deal, the Vikings acquired the number
Speaker 2: twenty three overall pick in the first round and number
Speaker 2: two thirty two in the seventh. The Texans get the
Speaker 2: number forty two pick in the second round, a number
Speaker 2: eighty eight one eighty eight pick in the sixth round,
Speaker 2: and an additional second round pick in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: So the Texans and everybody loves team builders love second
Speaker 2: round picks. Never forget that. They love it. They love
Speaker 2: the financial flexibility they bring. They trust their internal process
Speaker 2: to find a guy that's really a first rounder in
Speaker 2: their mind in the second round. So the Texans like,
Speaker 2: we'll move a little bit back, we'll get some extra
Speaker 2: assets after day one. And now the Minnesota Vikings, and
Speaker 2: I don't love this, Greg, you know, I love my
Speaker 2: storyline here about Darnold getting a chance, a true chance
Speaker 2: to be a starter this year. But now that they
Speaker 2: are armed with two first round picks, they have the
Speaker 2: ammunition to move up to the top of the first round.
Speaker 1: Let's see if Minnesota does it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it was Quessi who or maybe it
Speaker 3: was Kevin O'Connell who even admitted, Look, we made this
Speaker 3: deal with kind of an idea of what our ideal
Speaker 3: path here is. We'll see if we can execute it
Speaker 3: or whether to hop it or not. But either way,
Speaker 3: we're happy to have this pick. It's very clear the
Speaker 3: entire NFL knows they're making this pick to have a
Speaker 3: chance to go take a quarterback, to go package that
Speaker 3: eleventh and maybe twenty third pick, or or just be
Speaker 3: in a position where they can take that quarterback.
Speaker 1: You're gonna have to move up.
Speaker 3: There's gonna be a lot of speculation whether the Patriots
Speaker 3: move out of three or not. A lot of people
Speaker 3: believe they're gonna stay put and take a quarterback there,
Speaker 3: and then it would be on Minnesota to trade up
Speaker 3: and draft the fourth quarterback, who everyone presumes is JJ McCarthy. Intrigue,
Speaker 3: but it's a lot of presumption. I don't know A
Speaker 3: lot of times these like logic. I went back and
Speaker 3: listen to one of our Like a lot of times,
Speaker 3: no one knows what's gonna Like, no one knew they
Speaker 3: were trading up for Trubisky, no one knew they were
Speaker 3: taking it, you know, taking Blake Portos Like literally no
Speaker 3: one said any.
Speaker 1: Of that stuff. So who knows.
Speaker 3: Maybe maybe Minnesota has a different idea, maybe New England
Speaker 3: has a different idea. But it's spicy because according to
Speaker 3: the little pick chart, the Texans won this trade pretty significantly.
Speaker 3: I mean, it is a good deal of business for
Speaker 3: them in what's believed to be the deepest draft in
Speaker 3: a law long time. To just move down eighteen spots
Speaker 3: and you get a whole second round pick for next year.
Speaker 3: That's a nice job by the Texans.
Speaker 2: I mean the Texan I mean, I'm pushing hard and
Speaker 2: I know there's millions of listeners that want this as well.
Speaker 2: For the Vikings to run it back his team around
Speaker 2: the NFL man the Texans futures seemingly suddenly so bright.
Speaker 3: Both in there you would point out maybe last year
Speaker 3: was their chance.
Speaker 1: But you know for the Texans where they're really like
Speaker 1: a fresh new bi ale young option, new bile young option. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well that ship sailed it.
Speaker 3: Would be fun, though I'm in on it. It would
Speaker 3: be still be fun. Eight o'clock to light.
Speaker 2: Curse of atn Lton vander Ash retires after getting cut
Speaker 2: by the Cowboys. Michael Gallup, Both Gallup, Gregie and Vandersh
Speaker 2: guests on Around the NFL Live from Cowboys camp last summer.
Speaker 3: Yeah, vander Ash neck injuries. We'll always remember what a
Speaker 3: player he was early in his career. One of Chris
Speaker 3: Wesleyan's favorites. All the best to him because he would
Speaker 3: have had a much different career if not for these
Speaker 3: neck injuries.
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, And how about Gallups knee injury. He was really
Speaker 2: on a great path and now he has to start
Speaker 2: over somewhere else. Patriots signed Rogers Rover kJ Osborne and
Speaker 2: the Browns hire Mike Rabel as a consultant, h and
Speaker 2: sign another quarterback, Tyler Huntley. Devondre Campbell signs with the Niners.
Speaker 2: Jordan Fuller, DJ Wannham and Dane Jackson end up with Carolina.
Speaker 3: What a weird quarterback room for the Browns. They got
Speaker 3: a lot of quarterbacks. Just makes you wonder I do
Speaker 3: the Four Horsemen. Aj Dillon returns to the Packers.
Speaker 1: Interesting.
Speaker 2: Joe Mixon gets a big new contract with the Texans.
Speaker 2: Titans cut free agent bust Andre Dillard. Steelers signed Van Jefferson.
Speaker 3: I love that they are moving on quickly when the
Speaker 3: Titans make a mistake and Andre Dillard and I love
Speaker 3: that combo aj Dillon and.
Speaker 1: Josh Jake was a frisky, big old combo in the backfield.
Speaker 2: Cardinals signed Jonah Williams the thirty million, two year deal.
Speaker 2: Jake Elliott we mentioned gets a new deal. Seahawks signed
Speaker 2: linebacker Jerome Baker and Nathan Peterman.
Speaker 1: Lands with the Saints. Saints doing let's take a break
Speaker 1: and then welcome in our first guest.
Speaker 5: Realistically need at least twenty five yards.
Speaker 6: Love pressure up the middle, runs away, throws across.
Speaker 1: His body and not his picks. Footy dunners have it.
Speaker 1: Green Law still up. He needs to get down. Green
Speaker 1: Law is still on us. He's gotta go down, Just
Speaker 1: go down and goes to the number. San Francisco takes over.
Speaker 7: Well, it's kind of fitting. Jordan Love told us this week.
Speaker 7: He goes, listen, there's some throws I've made that I
Speaker 7: know breage kind of the cardinal rules of quarterback and
Speaker 7: the one at the top of the list is you
Speaker 7: never throw the ball late back across the field.
Speaker 2: There's the call from Kevin Burckhart and Greg Glson, who
Speaker 2: you know, really quick rise in the industry in terms
Speaker 2: of being seen as maybe the best or if not,
Speaker 2: in the conversation in terms of broadcast teams, and yet
Speaker 2: their time as at the top of the food chain
Speaker 2: with Fox could be over with the arrival of Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: And that's why it's time to talk to This is
Speaker 1: our dude.
Speaker 2: This is the guy that you want to go to
Speaker 2: on all matters sports media, perhaps beyond. We haven't had
Speaker 2: personal conversations about life and things of that nature yet,
Speaker 2: but maybe down the road that occurs as well. Andrew Marshawn,
Speaker 2: formerly of The New York Post, now with The Athletics,
Speaker 2: senior writer covering sports media. Welcome back to Around the NFL.
Speaker 8: Andrew, Yeah, thanks guys, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so we just played that clip.
Speaker 2: I think this is where we got to start, Greggie,
Speaker 2: because I think everyone wants to know what's gonna happen,
Speaker 2: Andrew at the with Tom Brady signs this massive deal
Speaker 2: with Fox, it's been a we've talked about it.
Speaker 3: On the show. There's been some doubts is he ever
Speaker 3: actually gonna do it? I'm going to lose a sandwich
Speaker 3: on it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we have a sandwich prop on this. I said,
Speaker 1: he's gonna do it.
Speaker 2: Look at the money and he's taking the year off
Speaker 2: to prepare and all that.
Speaker 1: And now here we are heading into that season.
Speaker 2: What happens with Greg Olsen, who's obviously emerged as a
Speaker 2: superstar in this field, who's under contract If I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 9: Yeah, Greg Olsen will move to the number two booth
Speaker 9: with Joe Davis. The way his contract was structured. When
Speaker 9: he's number one, he's making around ten million. At number two,
Speaker 9: he'll make around three million. Brady comes in his salary.
Speaker 9: I also reported thirty seven and a half million dollars
Speaker 9: on season.
Speaker 1: Crazy.
Speaker 9: Yeah, it's Liverpool, and so he he's been working hard,
Speaker 9: talking to a lot of people. Everyone I speak to
Speaker 9: every time I speak to, you know, at Joe Bunck
Speaker 9: or Mike Turko, Whoever's like, oh yeah, Brady fucked.
Speaker 8: So he's talking to everybody.
Speaker 9: He called Payton up and so he's trying to to
Speaker 9: figure out how.
Speaker 1: To do this.
Speaker 8: And we all know Tom Brady.
Speaker 9: So the expectation he's he is working hard, which I've
Speaker 9: already heard, and he's gonna work hard and try to
Speaker 9: be really good at this.
Speaker 3: I'm I'm I guess I don't know why I'm surprised
Speaker 3: by this. I shouldn't be. He's got the time. He
Speaker 3: must love that. There's some doubt about like whether he's
Speaker 3: going to be good, But I just figured a year
Speaker 3: away from the game, is it normal for a guy
Speaker 3: to be preparing this? But I guess no one's ever
Speaker 3: had an opportunity like this, But no one's ever been
Speaker 3: paid like this either. I mean he is he has
Speaker 3: a bigger cap hit than almost any player in the NFL.
Speaker 3: I mean he is making more money to broadcast than
Speaker 3: every player in the NFL, minus like nine quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: And that's about it. Like he it is crazy to me.
Speaker 3: Was there any doubt, like through this process from the
Speaker 3: Fox side of things, that he would follow through with this?
Speaker 3: And like, what what does it entail that he's working
Speaker 3: on it? Is this just kind of like smoke to
Speaker 3: make people quiet down?
Speaker 9: If Fox has had no doubt that he's gonna do it,
Speaker 9: it's other voices that have thought that, you know, what
Speaker 9: this is a hedge, And let me just say one thing,
Speaker 9: and I think he's gonna do it.
Speaker 8: I want to be clear.
Speaker 9: On the podcast they used to do with John Oran,
Speaker 9: we had the Brady Meter where I did percentages of
Speaker 9: him doing it, and it was always above fifty percent,
Speaker 9: except for one episode where I went.
Speaker 8: To forty nine.
Speaker 9: I think when the Raider ownership came about, and that
Speaker 9: caused a lot of waves and Brady even ended up responding,
Speaker 9: I write a whatever anyways to you directly, Well, what
Speaker 9: happened is I don't like to go on these podcasts
Speaker 9: and blame and blame aggregators, but the aggregators got it.
Speaker 8: It was just an opinion. It was fun, It wasn't
Speaker 8: really a serious thing. And then.
Speaker 9: The aggregators got it and it was like I was
Speaker 9: reporting it, which I wasn't. Uh, And then Brady responded
Speaker 9: to an SI tweet and so any long story short
Speaker 9: that I had to write a column.
Speaker 8: It was just a pain. The whole thing. I wish
Speaker 8: I've never said it.
Speaker 1: I love that, you know.
Speaker 9: So the question, though, the thing I would say is
Speaker 9: that if he doesn't do it, he's not gonna He'll
Speaker 9: say no at the end right, like he's gonna go
Speaker 9: through the process and let's just say behind the scenes
Speaker 9: when he's practicing, he doesn't think he's good. He's gonna
Speaker 9: embarrass himself. I don't think that's gonna happen. I think
Speaker 9: he's gonna do it. Let's it say that's the case
Speaker 9: or something else comes up. I don't think. I wouldn't.
Speaker 9: I wouldn't start saving up for that sandwich who owe, whoever.
Speaker 8: You owe just yet.
Speaker 9: I would wait because I think, you know, if he
Speaker 9: if he does bow out, it's gonna be he's gonna
Speaker 9: it's gonna show his intentions that he's that he wants
Speaker 9: to do it.
Speaker 8: Until he does it.
Speaker 9: I still I'm more like the Brady meter now is
Speaker 9: in the high nineties, but still not a one hundred.
Speaker 9: Hasn't hit a hundred hill a hundred that day that
Speaker 9: he does it. But I think he'll be pretty good.
Speaker 2: Not to conflate to sectors and two things you've recently
Speaker 2: reported on, but you also did that deep diving again.
Speaker 2: Now he's at the athletic Oh yeah, Andrew, you know,
Speaker 2: he gets to really spread out and write a little
Speaker 2: deeper pieces. I feel like we're reading the nepotism p
Speaker 2: and it made me think. I was reading about you know,
Speaker 2: Jack Collinsworth and how they installed him on the Notre
Speaker 2: Dame Games and after a couple of years they're like, whoa,
Speaker 2: I don't know about this. So they had to pivot
Speaker 2: of course, son of Chris Collinsworth with this situation, like
Speaker 2: in terms of risk for Fox, because let's say.
Speaker 1: Tom does it. Let's say Tom stinks, because it happens.
Speaker 2: We know what happens is that there's a long history
Speaker 2: of superstar legendary players. It's like we're talking about pretty
Speaker 2: pick privilege. It's like pretty legend privilege here, Like you
Speaker 2: go right to this number one spot.
Speaker 1: What if he stinks? Do they end up in a
Speaker 1: spot potentially.
Speaker 2: Where Brady he's not doing well, either removes himself from
Speaker 2: the equation or they have to make a move and
Speaker 2: then Olsen's out the door. Because the way they handle it,
Speaker 2: How big a risk are we talking here for Fox?
Speaker 1: Could they lose everything?
Speaker 8: Well?
Speaker 9: Number one TV contracts are not like NFL contracts, so
Speaker 9: it would have to be Brady's decision is not gonna
Speaker 9: go eat you know, thirty seven and a half million
Speaker 9: dollars a year for ten years work with him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's ten years old myself.
Speaker 9: So Brady would have to feel like, you know what,
Speaker 9: I don't want to do this. I think for them
Speaker 9: for him not to be it, it's like it's all like.
Speaker 9: And that's why when he signed the contract. That's why
Speaker 9: why there's so many people saying it's a hedge, because
Speaker 9: you know, he did it because they kept offering more
Speaker 9: and more money. And then I got to a point
Speaker 9: where he said, you know what, let me try this.
Speaker 9: And I'm not saying he's not into it now, but
Speaker 9: this isn't some love of being a game analyst that
Speaker 9: he has. I mean, that's hard to believe. He did
Speaker 9: a story a couple of years ago with the Wall
Speaker 9: Street Journals Jason Gay where he was asked about the
Speaker 9: broadcast booth and basically said he had no interest and
Speaker 9: so the money got so high. So it's not gonna
Speaker 9: be Fox pulling the plug. It would have to be
Speaker 9: Brady saying I don't want to do it. And so look,
Speaker 9: I think he'll be good. But if your doomsday scenario.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean I listen.
Speaker 9: I always for the best stories that would be interesting.
Speaker 9: Let's put that'd be fascinating.
Speaker 8: If he were not good but still wanted to.
Speaker 9: Do it, that would be an interesting story to see
Speaker 9: how that played out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I look at it like through the podcast Lens too.
Speaker 3: He's done a podcast with Jim Gray, the Let's Go Podcast,
Speaker 3: but it's like he's just sort of kind of doing it.
Speaker 3: You know, he's on vacation, he's not putting his all
Speaker 3: into it. It's like Jim Gray just asking him questions
Speaker 3: like they were on the radio or so. So it's
Speaker 3: like he's not trying to make the best podcast possible.
Speaker 3: He's just like tipping his toe into it. Every once
Speaker 3: in a while he says something interesting and that gets
Speaker 3: picked up or whatever. But it's not like an overly
Speaker 3: successful podcast, largely because he doesn't put that much into it,
Speaker 3: and so people will catch on if that happens at
Speaker 3: the NFL, you know, at the Fox level. But the
Speaker 3: thing that's crazy to me is the Greg Olsen part
Speaker 3: of it is that Tom Brady is now Drew Bledsoe.
Speaker 3: Our friend Tom Curran used to call Drew Bledsoe in
Speaker 3: his contract the hood Ornament, because they signed him to
Speaker 3: this huge hundred million dollar contract and said, look, we're
Speaker 3: a good organization. We have the highest paid quarterback in
Speaker 3: the league, and Drew Bledsoe immediately started declining. They call
Speaker 3: him the hood ornament, and every Belichick knew he kind
Speaker 3: of couldn't play. And Tom Brady is now the hood ornament.
Speaker 3: And if he doesn't deliver on a level that's even
Speaker 3: somewhat close to Greg Olsen at least. I don't know
Speaker 3: if he cares about people like us, but it's gonna
Speaker 3: be in you know, the athletic and other places like that,
Speaker 3: that like he is inferior to the guy who's number
Speaker 3: two and is making what won twelfth of his money,
Speaker 3: and that's gonna get back to him, Like he's gotta
Speaker 3: be a little concerned that, like this guy who's already
Speaker 3: proven he's great at it is in his same building.
Speaker 3: What do you think that the dynamic's gonna be when
Speaker 3: they show up to like the Fox, you know, let's
Speaker 3: take pictures and all pretend like we're laughing and throw
Speaker 3: a football between each other sessions.
Speaker 8: Well, I think a couple of things.
Speaker 9: Number One, you know, the way these guys are judged
Speaker 9: is subjective. You know, when you're a quarterback, you your
Speaker 9: team wins or loses, you throw for three hundred yards.
Speaker 9: You don't throw for three hundred yards, and so it's
Speaker 9: a little bit more cut and dry. I think the
Speaker 9: what you're pointing out is if Brady's like really bad,
Speaker 9: like if he's there's gonna be people who don't like
Speaker 9: Tom Brady just because they don't like Tom Brady. No
Speaker 9: matter what he does, they won't like him. But I
Speaker 9: do think you can win over the audience. And the
Speaker 9: one thing about it calling a football game maybe it's
Speaker 9: one of the hardest things to do in sportscasting, you know,
Speaker 9: doing a podcast, you know, he's not the same thing.
Speaker 8: You know, it's he's controlled environment.
Speaker 9: You're just talking to another person, Like you said, in
Speaker 9: the setup that Tom has, you know, Jim Gray is
Speaker 9: really the one orchestrating everything and doing kind of the
Speaker 9: hard work to pilot everything, and you know Kevin Burkhart
Speaker 9: will do that in the Fox booth, but just knowing
Speaker 9: how to get in and out, how to translate. Obviously
Speaker 9: he has high level thoughts about football. But can you
Speaker 9: say that so you know, I can understand, so the
Speaker 9: average fan can understand and simplify it. You know, that's
Speaker 9: a question that until you do it, you don't know,
Speaker 9: and it has to be natural, like Romo's success at
Speaker 9: the beginning was because he did come off as very natural,
Speaker 9: very relaxed, and like he was just talking to you
Speaker 9: in your living room, as opposed to being like, you know,
Speaker 9: trying to be a broadcaster, trying to be somebody else.
Speaker 3: I I agree with you, and yet I remember when
Speaker 3: Olsen did it as an active player, and he was good,
Speaker 3: like the first game, and a lot of times, like
Speaker 3: when we hear like Adjason Whitten or someone that's not
Speaker 3: good the first game, the first yeah, you can kind
Speaker 3: of tell right away sometimes and it never changed, like
Speaker 3: Olsen was good. I know he's gotten better, but he
Speaker 3: was good the first game. I want to know what
Speaker 3: your Olsen meter is, though, Like what's the chances he's
Speaker 3: not at Fox to start the year? And I guess
Speaker 3: what would be the other options because I can't I
Speaker 3: can't imagine. He's too excited to be taking that big
Speaker 3: of a pig. I know he's made a lot of
Speaker 3: money in his life and everything, but like he's he's
Speaker 3: competitive as hell.
Speaker 2: But imagine imagine the place where he must be because
Speaker 2: you're you have having this great success. Everyone loves you
Speaker 2: now it's like seven million dollar haircut, and now you're
Speaker 2: no longer the a guy has to be really tricky
Speaker 2: more morale wise.
Speaker 1: For him right now it is.
Speaker 9: I think he'll be at Fox, he'll do the number
Speaker 9: two games, and then I think he'll reevaluate everything and
Speaker 9: see what's up there. I would say, though, I don't
Speaker 9: really feel that bad for Greg Olsen. I you know,
Speaker 9: look at him, as he's in a great spot. He's
Speaker 9: thirty six, thirty seven years old, and these jobs are
Speaker 9: now paying thirty seven a half million or eighteen million.
Speaker 3: Dollars right here, Brady rose the ceiling here for guys exactly.
Speaker 9: And there's only a small group of people who are
Speaker 9: going to be offered these jobs, and they're mostly Hall
Speaker 9: of Fame quarterbacks or legendary quarterbacks. And they tried to
Speaker 9: get Peyton for you know, the salary structure, you know, partly,
Speaker 9: you know, the biggest reason was ESPN couldn't get money
Speaker 9: in a football correct, But that was in part because
Speaker 9: Peyton kept saying no. He said no, no, no, no,
Speaker 9: and so and then Romo had the you know, free
Speaker 9: agent and see where he had ESPN and CBS both
Speaker 9: wanting him, and the NFL contracts with the networks were up,
Speaker 9: and so that's why they got to that level. But
Speaker 9: it's just a small group that's in there for these
Speaker 9: jobs and they don't open that often because they're great
Speaker 9: jobs and they pay so well. But Greg Olsen will
Speaker 9: get the opportunity to be a number one. I think,
Speaker 9: I don't know where exactly some ideas, but I'm not
Speaker 9: going to.
Speaker 8: Say it on your podcast, No offense.
Speaker 1: I'll get save those, but well there's only so many.
Speaker 3: What do you think about you think Amazon is bringing
Speaker 3: back the same group this year?
Speaker 1: What's that meter? They are?
Speaker 3: Okay, he's saving his March bombs for no I get it,
Speaker 3: but that's a separate issue. So I was just kiddious
Speaker 3: if they respect March bombs, if they would think about
Speaker 3: shaking it up, whether it was herb Street or how
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Let's finish here because you mentioned Romo always a subject
Speaker 2: of fascination. I loved Andrew going out the door at
Speaker 2: the post after a huge run there with Tony Romo.
Speaker 2: I know you didn't write the headline, but Tony and
Speaker 2: Jim Nantz are a mess. With Super Bowl twenty twenty four,
Speaker 2: barreling toward them on a headline, What did you think
Speaker 2: about the Super Bowl performance by the pair and what
Speaker 2: is their future in your mind? Where do you kind
Speaker 2: of see there? You know, is that a pair that's
Speaker 2: going to stay together? Will they be broken up? Do
Speaker 2: you think your feelings which are strong and on their
Speaker 2: struggles in recent years, you think that shared inside the
Speaker 2: building A year after, you know, some of the criticism
Speaker 2: really started to build and the report had come to
Speaker 2: Jesus conversation that was held after the previous year.
Speaker 9: So yeah, my post super Bowl column for the Athletic,
Speaker 9: I think their headline was a little maybe a little softer.
Speaker 8: But it was pretty strong column.
Speaker 9: You know, they kind of messed up that final call,
Speaker 9: especially you know, Nance calls the touchdown and then for
Speaker 9: whatever reason, you know.
Speaker 8: Didn't was they able to finish the call.
Speaker 9: Because Tony was going in about the Andy Reid play
Speaker 9: and he always like loves to say, this is the
Speaker 9: play of the game, this is that's the play of
Speaker 9: the game. You're this is your chance to actually say
Speaker 9: that that won the Super Bowl. That's what it should
Speaker 9: be and better he probably should have let silence happen,
Speaker 9: let the crowd take it over and then give your
Speaker 9: analysis a little bit after. So they struggled in that
Speaker 9: Super Bowl. I think there is an issue in terms
Speaker 9: of that chemistry between the two of them. I think
Speaker 9: that showed up in terms of, you know, the fundamentals
Speaker 9: that you have in a broadcast, especially they've been together,
Speaker 9: I think six years now, five or six years, they
Speaker 9: should be.
Speaker 8: They should know, they should have it down. When you're
Speaker 8: a team. You guys know, you guys have done a
Speaker 8: podcast together.
Speaker 9: You know when you're going in and out, and you
Speaker 9: know the Super Bowl is not when you want to
Speaker 9: mess up, especially that final call. And so yeah, I
Speaker 9: do think they have an issue.
Speaker 8: Do they know it?
Speaker 9: I think at some level that they know that there's
Speaker 9: there's problems there. Will they do anything about it? Maybe
Speaker 9: you know at some point, but you know, not the moment.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 2: Andrew marshaw on check him out on the Athletic Now.
Speaker 2: His latest, by the way, is a banger about Lebron
Speaker 2: James and JJ Reddick teaming up for a podcast that
Speaker 2: all about ball, all about ball, and it has one
Speaker 2: of the best quotes. This is what we need, Greg,
Speaker 2: We need someone that vouches for us the way Maverick
Speaker 2: Carter This is this quote that Andrew.
Speaker 3: We need inside sources with our next this is what
Speaker 3: he says about Reddick and Lebron. This is like two
Speaker 3: wine masters. Somalier's talking about wine, not necessarily you or
Speaker 3: me arguing if I like Burgundy or Bordeaux better whoa.
Speaker 3: That is amazing to be called a Somalier. And you
Speaker 3: got that quote, and that's what we need. We need
Speaker 3: support like that. That's what we needed.
Speaker 8: I can do.
Speaker 1: I gotta do it about it.
Speaker 9: What would be like the like the analogy that somebody
Speaker 9: might use for you guys.
Speaker 3: Oh man, I don't know, you know that that we're
Speaker 3: setting each other up like Shaq and Kobe or something
Speaker 3: like that.
Speaker 1: Great Shack and Kobe feels strong.
Speaker 2: It's like Brian Big Country Reeves and whoever else was
Speaker 2: on the Vancouver Gress.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you very much, Andrew. You're the best.
Speaker 2: Say hi to your brother for us.
Speaker 1: The show and you didn't even.
Speaker 8: Tell them.
Speaker 1: Great, excellent, all right, Andrew Man, Shawn, thank you for everything.
Speaker 1: Thanks Andrew.
Speaker 8: Thank you.
Speaker 2: There he goes, Yeah, I mean, geez, we need a
Speaker 2: Maverick Carter. That's that's kind of the big takeaway.
Speaker 1: But in terms.
Speaker 2: Of of what we just heard from Andrew.
Speaker 1: I hadn't heard that. I don't know if that was
Speaker 1: out there.
Speaker 2: I'm sure it was, but that Olso in addition to
Speaker 2: taking that step down to the number two teams losing
Speaker 2: seven million a year, but the good job also by
Speaker 2: Andrew adding the necessary uh, you know, take a step back,
Speaker 2: that he's Olsen has set up so well in the
Speaker 2: long term that even if this is a little bit
Speaker 2: of a slice of humble pie. First of all, everyone
Speaker 2: knows it's not his fault. It's just the circumstances of
Speaker 2: the situation. And whether it's Fox or someone else, he
Speaker 2: is now put enough on tape where he is going
Speaker 2: to be taking care of down the line.
Speaker 3: There's I mean, there's only so many someone else's so
Speaker 3: it's you know, CBS or Amazon, and you know, Andrew
Speaker 3: isn't gonna want to do a Marsh Marsh bomb on
Speaker 3: our show, and maybe we can get to this he says, yeah,
Speaker 3: there's no chance, or he just said, you know, Amazon's
Speaker 3: bringing back the same too, which I have no reason
Speaker 3: to doubt, I believe. Though it was reported that that
Speaker 3: was initially a three year contract for those two guys,
Speaker 3: so this might be there. Finally your feet feels like
Speaker 3: they would want to shake that up. Man, he could
Speaker 3: do even just keep out.
Speaker 2: And I have an idea as we go to break
Speaker 2: better than Herb Street. Eric Roberts for the You know
Speaker 2: how every episode, you guys write like a little recap
Speaker 2: underneath the headline.
Speaker 1: Or the title of the podcast. Just do this.
Speaker 2: You know, it's Dan and Greg on today's show. And
Speaker 2: then right, this is like two wine masters. Somalia's talking
Speaker 2: about wine. Not necessarily you are me arguing if I
Speaker 2: like Burgundy, your Bordeaux better.
Speaker 1: That's all. That's all it is. That's it. That's it, okay,
Speaker 1: and just see where the metrics go on. I think
Speaker 1: it'll have a massive impact.
Speaker 2: All right, Let's take a break and then welcome in
Speaker 2: another guest.
Speaker 1: Oh nice guest. Heavy show today.
Speaker 6: Less than they are to gain on fourth down, the
Speaker 6: forty three seconds remaining rams creepy on.
Speaker 10: They rush forward, Burrow to frow Ford.
Speaker 6: He's hit, Peace sacked, he throws it away, He flings
Speaker 6: it away on fourth down. Aaron Donald got there. Donald
Speaker 6: takes his helmet off in celebration. He flips Burrow to
Speaker 6: the turf and forces the incompletion on fourth and one.
Speaker 10: He singles to his ring.
Speaker 6: Finger on his left hand, and you can build that
Speaker 6: man statue out so far stadium right now, the greatest
Speaker 6: of all time on defense does it in the biggest
Speaker 6: moment of Super Bowl fifty.
Speaker 1: Six, a brilliant call from JB. Long, the voice of.
Speaker 2: The Los Angeles Rams, the Super Bowl winning takedown a
Speaker 2: burrow that led to Los Angeles' close, narrow win over
Speaker 2: the Bengals a couple of years back. And now Aaron
Speaker 2: Donald is done with football. He announced his retirement Friday
Speaker 2: after ten absolutely dominant seasons. So why don't we welcome
Speaker 2: in the great voice of the Rams, JB. Long, friend
Speaker 2: of the show who called every game of Rams of
Speaker 2: Donald's La Rams career, and now Los Angeles moves into
Speaker 2: an uncertain place without their stud JB.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to her on the NFL.
Speaker 10: Danny Greg, It's great to see you both. Thank you
Speaker 10: for the invitation. You know how much I'd love to
Speaker 10: talk about Aaron Donald, and he's done so much for me,
Speaker 10: including getting the couple appearances on around the NFL. So
Speaker 10: thank you bring and I'm thankful for that honor.
Speaker 1: What was it like? You know you this is a guy.
Speaker 2: And just to put it into context, there's been maybe
Speaker 2: no other player in the history of the sport that
Speaker 2: was as consistently dominating as Donald, you know, maybe barrs Anders.
Speaker 2: And it's fitting because they both kind of retired after
Speaker 2: ten years at the top of their league from the
Speaker 2: time they entered to the time they exit. Three time
Speaker 2: Defensive Player of the Year, eight time First Team All Pro,
Speaker 2: ten time Pro Bowl selection every year of his career,
Speaker 2: former Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 1: When he started in Saint Louis.
Speaker 2: What was it like watching this guy and essentially covering
Speaker 2: him on a day by day, weekly basis. How quickly
Speaker 2: did you realize you were watching an all timer immediately?
Speaker 10: I mean it was a privilege, it was an honor.
Speaker 10: I remember my first training camp. Many of others have
Speaker 10: shared this anecdote. But it's tough to practice when Aaron's
Speaker 10: on the field. Oftentimes, when Sean McVay was calling plays,
Speaker 10: even against his own defense, he would wait to take
Speaker 10: a shot until Aaron subbed out for just that one rep,
Speaker 10: because otherwise the play wouldn't get off, whether they were
Speaker 10: in pads or not. But yeah, I was watching a
Speaker 10: living legend. The play that you just talked about. To
Speaker 10: me was like the culmination was his mountaintop, the fact
Speaker 10: that he got hands on Jimmy Garoppolo in the NFC
Speaker 10: Championship game as well to essentially have walkoff hits in
Speaker 10: back games at Sofi Stadium, the biggest in RAMS history.
Speaker 10: I know you guys that around the NFL are very
Speaker 10: careful and draw strict boundaries when comparing sports, but like,
Speaker 10: what is the equivalence, what is the equivalent of that
Speaker 10: like yard in game six? I'm sure, but like to me,
Speaker 10: it's almost more like especially for a defensive player. Can
Speaker 10: you imagine robbing a home run in Game seven of
Speaker 10: the NLCS and then coming back and doing it again
Speaker 10: in the World Series for a second last out. Like
Speaker 10: so much of that twenty one year orbited around Aaron.
Speaker 10: So much of what the RAMS have done during my
Speaker 10: tenure have been driven by maximizing the prime of the
Speaker 10: greatest defensive player that I've ever seen walk the planet,
Speaker 10: whether it's trading those picks, like what has flipped those picks?
Speaker 10: You know, to use a euphemism, really mean in the
Speaker 10: context of the Rams, it's about using every resource that
Speaker 10: you have to get the most out of Aaron Donald's prime,
Speaker 10: because whether they were a four or five win team,
Speaker 10: which they have been during my tenure, or a championship
Speaker 10: winning team, every game that Aaron played, you felt like
Speaker 10: you had a chance to win. He was that influential
Speaker 10: a defensive force.
Speaker 3: He's the greatest defensive player I believe I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: I think the only other.
Speaker 3: Person that would be in the mix would be JJ Watt,
Speaker 3: who at his very peak, which was also during this show,
Speaker 3: and he's the guy, along with Aaron Donald and Lawrence Taylor,
Speaker 3: who have the only ones that have won three Defensive
Speaker 3: Player Dependsive Player of the years. At his very peak,
Speaker 3: JJ Watt was at such a high level I have
Speaker 3: a hard time putting anyone in front of him. But
Speaker 3: you can make your argument for Donald that they're certainly
Speaker 3: right there in the same area at their very peak.
Speaker 3: It's just different positions. But did you say Donald? I
Speaker 3: did Donald back? But JJ what Like? That's why Donald?
Speaker 3: When you're trying to compare him to other people, the
Speaker 3: only other person that comes up to me is actually
Speaker 3: Jim Brown because he played nine seasons and that's the
Speaker 3: only other person I can think of that from the
Speaker 3: minute he entered the league to the minute he left.
Speaker 1: Essentially he was.
Speaker 3: At the very very top of what he did, which
Speaker 3: is that's what Aaron Donald did too.
Speaker 1: Eight as you mentioned, eight first team All Pros.
Speaker 3: He could have been first team, but he ended that
Speaker 3: twenty twenty two season a little early. He could have
Speaker 3: maybe gotten at his rookie year too. It's just like
Speaker 3: people didn't know Aaron Donald. He did come back that
Speaker 3: second year next level, but unlike those guys you're right, like,
Speaker 3: who combines all of that with having that moment? It's
Speaker 3: so rare in sports to have the greatest player in
Speaker 3: the sport at.
Speaker 1: What he does have, Like what is a walk off?
Speaker 3: It's literally unprecedented in football history. There is no one
Speaker 3: that's actually checked off all those sort of boxes exactly
Speaker 3: in the same way that Aaron Donald did. And he's
Speaker 3: such a humble guy and quiet guy that I think
Speaker 3: he probably got less attention because of that and the
Speaker 3: position that he plays. He got a little less attention
Speaker 3: because of that because it takes ball Knower's like you
Speaker 3: JB to recognize it. You wrote about him on the
Speaker 3: RAMS website this week, and I thought it was interesting.
Speaker 3: You really talked about how glad you were he came
Speaker 3: back for these last two years, So I did want
Speaker 3: to ask you about that, what these last two years
Speaker 3: were like after he openly considered retiring and he's passing
Speaker 3: up what thirty million dollars this year to retire, And
Speaker 3: then also you didn't seem as surprised. I don't think
Speaker 3: about this decision as most people on the outside. So
Speaker 3: I guess just I'm curious about how this retirement came
Speaker 3: into view this offseason.
Speaker 1: Two.
Speaker 10: Well, I'm sure you both remember the conversation that was
Speaker 10: being had in and around the Super Bowl and certainly
Speaker 10: after the Rams won, leading up to the parade about
Speaker 10: you know, whether or not he would be back, whether
Speaker 10: he would just go out on top of the world,
Speaker 10: quite literally in professional football. And I had the distinct
Speaker 10: honor of hosting that championship parade outside the LM Memorial Coliseum, and.
Speaker 1: I was there with the kids, We got the pictures,
Speaker 1: we were there.
Speaker 10: Great Rams fans that you are, And maybe you can
Speaker 10: echo back to me your sensation when you heard that
Speaker 10: he was willing to run it back and just to
Speaker 10: kind of go behind the curtain a little bit. As
Speaker 10: a team employee, I was instructed not to go down
Speaker 10: the pathway of Aaron's future when he took his turn
Speaker 10: at the micro understandably so, because that was an unresolved issue.
Speaker 10: But I'm standing between him and Sean McVay. Shawn's kind
Speaker 10: of jabbing me in the ribs, daring me to go
Speaker 10: ahead and ask if he's willing to run it back,
Speaker 10: and so talk about being between a rock and a
Speaker 10: hard place. I had what second decision, and I really
Speaker 10: appreciate the grace with which Aaron handled that, but it
Speaker 10: started a two year clock. I didn't know that I
Speaker 10: was going to run for two years, but it started
Speaker 10: the preparation process of this is not going to last forever.
Speaker 10: And run it back did not go well, as you know.
Speaker 10: The Rams fell to the depths of five and twelve,
Speaker 10: and Aaron missed games in that twenty twenty two season
Speaker 10: because of injury for the first time in his career,
Speaker 10: and that prepared me mentally, emotionally for what life was
Speaker 10: going to be like after Aaron Donald. And we always
Speaker 10: knew it was going to be a challenge because he
Speaker 10: spoiled us, but whether it was like Baker Mayfield beating
Speaker 10: the Raiders on Thursday Night football at SOFI Stadium or
Speaker 10: some of the other uplifting moments. It was a good
Speaker 10: preview that the future is possible. And then I'm especially
Speaker 10: glad for this past season when he welcomed a group
Speaker 10: of fourteen drafted rookies, including Kobe Turner and passed the
Speaker 10: baton in a way. I think this past season goes
Speaker 10: down as one of the most enjoyable for Rams fans
Speaker 10: outside of their championship seasons, because they overachieved and because
Speaker 10: you can see now the path into the future. And
Speaker 10: that includes for their head coach Sean McVay, who's spoken
Speaker 10: openly about how the greatest defensive player of all time
Speaker 10: has helped him course correct and start this second book
Speaker 10: of his I assume Hall of Fame career eventually, just
Speaker 10: like Aaron.
Speaker 2: Do you think internally, like you said, a really fun
Speaker 2: season for the Rams. They nearly knock off the Lions
Speaker 2: and the playoffs and that great wild card game. Do
Speaker 2: you think the Rams have been preparing for this really
Speaker 2: since that game ended or was there any internal hope
Speaker 2: or belief that he would be back.
Speaker 1: How much of a surprise was it in the building.
Speaker 10: I don't think it was a surprise. And even going
Speaker 10: back to like three and six at the bye I
Speaker 10: think some of the moves they made, even as subtle
Speaker 10: as signing Carson Wentz to make sure that there was
Speaker 10: a backup to Matthew Stafford down the stretch run even
Speaker 10: hinted at the fact that we don't know if we're
Speaker 10: going to get another crack at this with Aaron Donald
Speaker 10: in his prime or ever. And so while the NFC
Speaker 10: is wide open, while we do think there is a
Speaker 10: path to a playoff spot slim though the odds may be,
Speaker 10: let's make sure we're doing everything we can to get
Speaker 10: him in the dance one more time. Because at the
Speaker 10: end of the last regular season, I think on the show,
Speaker 10: you guys said as much they were the team that
Speaker 10: no one wanted to play. Now Detroit got to play them,
Speaker 10: and Jarrett had his moment and they handled that, And
Speaker 10: good on them for knocking the Rams out of the postseason.
Speaker 10: But who among us would have been surprised if, led
Speaker 10: by Aaron and Matthew and whukn nakua, they had made
Speaker 10: another run to an NFC championship or maybe beyond. I
Speaker 10: think all of those thoughts have been in the back
Speaker 10: of Ram's executive minds for many, many years, because the
Speaker 10: window is always closing in the National Football League, especially
Speaker 10: when you have someone beyond thirty years old.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've been reading a little bit and it's fascinating
Speaker 3: they've had to prepare umbellbreg about reading. I just been
Speaker 3: on the Donald contract, and we don't need to get
Speaker 3: too deep into that, but it is interesting that they
Speaker 3: structured this restructure in a way that kind of showed
Speaker 3: maybe they knew this retirement could have been coming, but also.
Speaker 1: Leaves the door open just a little bit.
Speaker 3: If he changes his mind at some point in the future,
Speaker 3: because look, he already changes his mind once. You just
Speaker 3: never know, and they would want to leave room for
Speaker 3: that to happen. They've got a lot to do to
Speaker 3: replace him. They certainly got out to a great start
Speaker 3: with that last year with Kobe Turner and what they
Speaker 3: were gonna do, Like, what do you think they're gonna
Speaker 3: do next?
Speaker 1: Do you think they're gonna take some big swings?
Speaker 3: Maybe this offseason, having with this having happened, they've been
Speaker 3: a little quieter, but I think making smart moves and
Speaker 3: certainly spending money at the guard position and everything that
Speaker 3: I expected this offseason well.
Speaker 10: Greg, let me start by stating the obvious, which you
Speaker 10: both know as well as anyone. There is no such
Speaker 10: thing as replacing Aaron Donald offseason or ever. So that's
Speaker 10: your starting point. But bracing for that impact, can you
Speaker 10: do certain things to try and absorb the loss just
Speaker 10: this gaping cavity that you have in the middle of
Speaker 10: your defensive line?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 10: Sure, I mean I think Kobe Turner having a borderline
Speaker 10: defensive Rookie of the Year season helps. But for so
Speaker 10: many years we've seen so many defensive players benefit from
Speaker 10: the Aaron Donald bump, right, whether it's Von Miller at
Speaker 10: the end of that season, Leonard Floyd, Dante Fowler, like
Speaker 10: even players in the secondary really benefited.
Speaker 1: Get people paid.
Speaker 10: He gets people paid, that's right. He pushed the market
Speaker 10: for defensive tackles into the twenty million per dollar range
Speaker 10: and then the thirty million dollar per range. Like you know,
Speaker 10: I said that, He's both a driving force behind the
Speaker 10: way that current NFL offensive football is played and then
Speaker 10: the perfect antidote to that. Right when you talk about
Speaker 10: quick game and efficiency and getting the ball out of
Speaker 10: your hands, interior pressure that he created, the way that
Speaker 10: he punctured pockets faster than anyone else. It's irreplaceable, but
Speaker 10: that doesn't mean that you can't win games. And if
Speaker 10: you've seen the Rams, you know subtly invest in their
Speaker 10: offensive line for a couple of years now to try
Speaker 10: and build that wall, especially guard to guard in front
Speaker 10: of Matthew Stafford so that he can't step up in
Speaker 10: the pocket, take that extra hitch and go through his
Speaker 10: full field reads. Or making sure that DeMarcus Robinson is back. Now,
Speaker 10: all these things that whether or not you have to
Speaker 10: improve on offense and or special teams to compensate for
Speaker 10: what you're losing inevitably on defense. I think those things
Speaker 10: all go hand in hand. But I don't think anyone
Speaker 10: was caught flat footed within the Rams organization that this
Speaker 10: offseason Aaron could do something like this.
Speaker 3: I want to pat myself on the back right now.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's what I love.
Speaker 1: Is that portion of the show already it is.
Speaker 3: And I only know this because one of our listeners
Speaker 3: sent me this tweet earlier this offseason, not related to
Speaker 3: Aaron Donald's retirement. They had been going through the old
Speaker 3: archives of all the shows we did. We did the
Speaker 3: Aaron Donald Draft. Of course, we were already doing our show.
Speaker 3: Then Dan and Mark were in New York for the
Speaker 3: Johnny Manzel draft. Chris and I were back here with
Speaker 3: Kevin Patrick coming at you in the studio with us,
Speaker 3: And here was my reaction when we did a little
Speaker 3: segment favorite pick. I'm gonna give my favorite pick of
Speaker 3: the round to the Saint Louis Rams, even though I
Speaker 3: wanted them to take a quarterback because I just think
Speaker 3: they're sticking with Sam Bradford too long. Ultimately, you have
Speaker 3: to like the team they're putting together with Aaron Donald
Speaker 3: on that defensive line, Donald, Michael Brockers, Robert Quinn and
Speaker 3: Chris Long is the most insane pass rush defensive line
Speaker 3: in the league.
Speaker 1: Right now, there we go.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry you had to be here for there, there
Speaker 2: for you, but that's just part of the show and
Speaker 2: some of the mechanics of how the sausage.
Speaker 3: I enjoyed listening to this so much because there was
Speaker 3: then there was a huge debate. We were really fired
Speaker 3: up back and forth, kind of killing the Ram. A
Speaker 3: lot of us were killing the Rams for not taking
Speaker 3: Johnny Manziel, But I did, like Mark had a fun
Speaker 3: statement to about the drafting of it.
Speaker 5: There have been twenty two men in NFL draft history
Speaker 5: that have been drafted with a combination of two first
Speaker 5: names in their name, Aaron Donald being one of them.
Speaker 5: None of them have lasted more than three years.
Speaker 1: Making things up, just making things up, no one.
Speaker 9: Ryan had a pretty good career in Major League Baseball,
Speaker 9: well Worth.
Speaker 5: That does not move the needle on this podcast to.
Speaker 1: Sleep, I just put a hecks on the rams.
Speaker 9: They are doomed to go seven and nine every single
Speaker 9: year for the rest of eternity.
Speaker 2: Oh Man, Well, Wes often was right and not in
Speaker 2: that case, and I could tell you they had.
Speaker 1: Some more seven nine ninees. I think yeah at that point, JB.
Speaker 2: I remember being in that hotel room with Mark in
Speaker 2: New York City with I think it was a twelver
Speaker 2: of amstelt Light, just doing that podcast Greg the Boss
Speaker 2: across the country, you know, unaware that we were imbibing
Speaker 2: at the time.
Speaker 10: Well, I know, Dan that you and Mark have really
Speaker 10: cornered the market when it comes to free agency, that
Speaker 10: you've become the foremost authorities. And Greg has tried to
Speaker 10: dip his toe into those waters. What has really seen
Speaker 10: for his niche And so it's a good callback that
Speaker 10: He's always been kind of the draftnick on the show,
Speaker 10: and that's where he should can.
Speaker 1: Give ws, can give his ws where you can get him.
Speaker 3: What a what a player though, I mean, just just
Speaker 3: insane to see him change games the way that he
Speaker 3: did from really his second year he was greatest first year.
Speaker 3: But I even found some tweets back from his first
Speaker 3: game a second year where I tweeted, but a lot
Speaker 3: of people it's like, holy cow, Aaron Donald is suddenly
Speaker 3: like the best player in the league right now, and
Speaker 3: then just to stay that way from from there through
Speaker 3: all these playoff runs a legend, legend we got to
Speaker 3: see here in Lost Ange.
Speaker 10: Do you ever hear anyone say a bad thing about him?
Speaker 3: I didn't, No, I am kind of curious, but it
Speaker 3: seems like there's never any like stories about what he's
Speaker 3: like behind the scenes other than like he's just like
Speaker 3: a nice.
Speaker 2: Feel Like all I ever heard was like he has
Speaker 2: that dog in him. He's an intense guy. Like what
Speaker 2: was it like kind of dealing with him in one
Speaker 2: on one.
Speaker 10: Capacity professional respects? You could feel the presence of greatness
Speaker 10: when you walk past him in the hallway, and if
Speaker 10: you saw him smile, I mean, the guy lights up
Speaker 10: a room, and there's so much for him beyond football
Speaker 10: that I can understand he kept it to a decade.
Speaker 10: But also, given what you said, would I be shocked
Speaker 10: if if we see him again in Horns. Maybe it's
Speaker 10: just naivete on my part or a hopeful ignorance, but
Speaker 10: I would love to see that happen. But yeah, he
Speaker 10: was one of a kind, you know, eighty ninety nine forever,
Speaker 10: He's one of one. And I'm just so thankful for
Speaker 10: how easy he made my job because it always gave
Speaker 10: you the opportunity to ask his peers, what's it like
Speaker 10: to work with this guy? Right, Like as someone who
Speaker 10: asked questions and interviews players and coaches for a living,
Speaker 10: Like how many coach McVeigh shows did I do following
Speaker 10: a loss where there was like, you know, a shrinking
Speaker 10: number of things where we could actually talk about to
Speaker 10: get through our twenty minutes, But there was always well,
Speaker 10: Aaron played well right, and he could wax poet about
Speaker 10: what a unique talent Aaron was. And you know, the
Speaker 10: only criticism I ever heard from him is that he
Speaker 10: would occasionally freelance and like violate an assignment or a
Speaker 10: gap right, and even those who would say such a
Speaker 10: thing had to acknowledge that while that may be a
Speaker 10: risk on film, it really wasn't when who had put
Speaker 10: in the study and you had the competitive greatness that
Speaker 10: Aaron did because he wasn't playing the same game that
Speaker 10: the other ten players were on defense, so that anyone
Speaker 10: who's ever played the defensive tackle position ever has he
Speaker 10: perfected it in a very unique way. And even going
Speaker 10: back to the draft, for someone who had question marks
Speaker 10: about length size, the fact that he turned those question
Speaker 10: marks into the exclamation points that made him a first
Speaker 10: ballot Hall of Famer someday is what I'll always appreciate
Speaker 10: about covering his career.
Speaker 3: Well, he's a connection from Saint Louis. He's the connection
Speaker 3: between Saint Louis and these La Rams teams. I mean,
Speaker 3: he was fourteenth pick overall in the draft that they
Speaker 3: had the second overall pick, so like less Need is
Speaker 3: the one that took him. It's funny because you had
Speaker 3: a whole bit on that show about Lesned's high cheek
Speaker 3: bones and beautiful flowing hair, and they were like, asome,
Speaker 3: you better have a good draft here if they're going
Speaker 3: to pass on Manzell they'd better be a good draft
Speaker 3: still there. One for two is plenty good enough when
Speaker 3: the one is the greatest of all time or you know,
Speaker 3: LT's in that mix.
Speaker 1: But you know, we use that term to really stay
Speaker 1: the top.
Speaker 2: At least in the in the analytics era and the
Speaker 2: there's nobody that grades out like this man and so
Speaker 2: football in the last fifteen years. May and we mentioned
Speaker 2: what but what part of Donald's greatness and his magnificence
Speaker 2: is that he he kept his prime throughout his entire career,
Speaker 2: just like JB. Long, Who's who will continue to thrive
Speaker 2: as the play by play man. Whenever the next great
Speaker 2: ram arrives, he'll be there as well.
Speaker 10: I sure hope so. And for all of your friendship
Speaker 10: and integrity on the Around the NFL podcast, I.
Speaker 1: Commendet wow let him to my next conversation. You're the man.
Speaker 10: Gion producer Eric whispered something to me along the way
Speaker 10: in preparation for this interview. I wish you all well.
Speaker 2: Thank you Jamie great JB along with the insight that
Speaker 2: we needed, delivered.
Speaker 3: Part of the family, I mean, Keisha the remily well
Speaker 3: I was, I meant more of the Around the NFL
Speaker 3: family I mean Keisha when she comes to town. Yeah,
Speaker 3: she's got a lot of people she wants to see,
Speaker 3: needs to see. She she goes and sees her old,
Speaker 3: her old neighbor.
Speaker 1: Unless we forget Ricky Hollywood do.
Speaker 2: I meant to tell JB Long to keep an eye
Speaker 2: on Hollywood, just to keep her in keep her in line.
Speaker 2: In general, Erica needs that, and I think JB is
Speaker 2: a guiding force for many.
Speaker 1: Take a break and we'll close things out right, everybody,
Speaker 1: What do you guys think? Mind the glasses that better
Speaker 1: or worse? Off? A little staccato in your I don't know,
Speaker 1: not for me.
Speaker 2: There you go by the way, and I know what
Speaker 2: you're saying, because you're talking about Donald had the walk off,
Speaker 2: back to back walk off in the Super Bowl. But
Speaker 2: it really is crazy to look at Barry Sanders' career
Speaker 2: and look at Aaron Donald. Both played ten years, Both
Speaker 2: were constant in the mix. Barry was a first or
Speaker 2: second team All Pro all ten years, ten time pro bowler,
Speaker 2: won the Big Accoleates, two time NFL Offensive Player of
Speaker 2: the Year. He won the MVP once, which Donald I
Speaker 2: don't think ever got. But that's they don't give it
Speaker 2: to defensive players. But that's the level of player. And
Speaker 2: I think Barry, if you were old enough to see Sanders,
Speaker 2: you wish he got what Donald got, which was that
Speaker 2: chance on the biggest stage, and Sanders never did. So
Speaker 2: the Lions never could get out of the second round.
Speaker 2: I think they made to one NFC title game that
Speaker 2: didn't go their way, but otherwise, you know, we're held
Speaker 2: out of the Super Bowls. They've been for the entirety
Speaker 2: of their history. But Donald getting that opportunity and us
Speaker 2: being there for it, We've now been sneaky at a
Speaker 2: lot of huge moments in NFL history.
Speaker 1: This is not lost on me. I'm sure it's not
Speaker 1: lost on you, Gregy.
Speaker 2: We're very lucky to have seen Aaron Donald in person
Speaker 2: make that play Joe Burrow midfield, and that's a special
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow year.
Speaker 1: That was a secial Cincinnati year.
Speaker 2: They had the Pixie dust all over them, and they're
Speaker 2: down a field goal at midfield with fourth down in
Speaker 2: the final minute of the Super Bowl, and it's Donald
Speaker 2: who blows up the play because don't you get the feeling,
Speaker 2: if Barrow gets protected, he's probably finding somebody and they're
Speaker 2: continuing to march with.
Speaker 1: The field March chase.
Speaker 3: He was open on that play if he had some time,
Speaker 3: but he didn't have time.
Speaker 2: And they had Evan McPherson, who's like having an all
Speaker 2: time season as a young.
Speaker 1: Kicker the playoffs.
Speaker 2: He was really the start of the playoffs with them,
Speaker 2: and yet Aaron Donald said no, and he pointed to
Speaker 2: the ring finger. So a reminder, we'll be back Wednesday
Speaker 2: with are always check in with all the team's post
Speaker 2: free agency first wave around the AFC on Wednesday, with
Speaker 2: a guest to be named later around the NFC on Thursday.
Speaker 1: I think we're getting clay bound on Thursday. Patrick will
Speaker 1: be excellent. So that is great.
Speaker 2: And a note for Behind the Glass Eric I was
Speaker 2: thinking about this some more so for the episode recap.
Speaker 2: Let's let's take this down verbatim. The latest e f EP.
Speaker 2: The latest EP is a hands of Rosenthal joint period.
Speaker 2: This is like two wine masters. Somalia's talking about wine,
Speaker 2: not necessarily you or me arguing if I like Burgundy
Speaker 2: or Bordeo better, nothing else.
Speaker 1: Got it makes my job here as an editor.
Speaker 3: Any thoughts of just ending it right right at talking
Speaker 3: about wine or no.
Speaker 1: You like the rest of it? I Ordo. I like that.
Speaker 2: I like that, like because there's a there's a way
Speaker 2: what Maverick did there. In his conversation with Marshaun, he
Speaker 2: was like, everyone else are pissons like that are, but
Speaker 2: these two people are Smalia's like, don't even try to
Speaker 2: be like that. I think that's you need that a
Speaker 2: little more depth anything else.
Speaker 3: That's fired really at the rest of the industry, just
Speaker 3: like Travis Kelcey did for us.
Speaker 1: Give him pop I get you know.
Speaker 2: I again, I apologize for being a little flippant about
Speaker 2: Travis's acceptance speech now that he gave us such job.
Speaker 1: If you want to talk, you talk Yoh.
Speaker 2: Hey, you got it all. Travis has got it all,
Speaker 2: and you know he's got some class.
Speaker 3: Let's see if they're still doing that podcast ten years
Speaker 3: from now, you know, or if we are should we.
Speaker 1: Have quit after ten years? These are all questions. We
Speaker 1: don't have that money that AD's got, all right till Wednesday,
Speaker 1: Heed the call.