Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast prematurely crosses things on. Welcome
Speaker 1: to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast. My
Speaker 1: name is Dan Anon. I come to you the virtual
Speaker 1: room filled with some heroes. Mark Steessler, Greg Rosenhall boys.
Speaker 1: I hope everybody enjoyed your holiday weekend. But it's back
Speaker 1: at its fly Settler. I did have a nice weekend.
Speaker 1: I don't distinguish yesterday is like I mean, I I
Speaker 1: hold up the the holiday with much value for what
Speaker 1: it means in our country. But it wasn't like, hey,
Speaker 1: today is a holiday compared to what else. It's like
Speaker 1: we're home all weekend, We're home another day. Am I not?
Speaker 1: It is excited about the holidays? I should be. I
Speaker 1: saw something Simone was you guys went somewhere. I don't
Speaker 1: know what it was, but it looked fun. That was
Speaker 1: a field trip that I was not a part of,
Speaker 1: but I do believe they had fun. They went to
Speaker 1: a farm type environment. It looked like a sleepover situation.
Speaker 1: Now that like the weekend or something? Mark, what is
Speaker 1: it this weekend? I honestly was. I literally stayed home
Speaker 1: the entire time. I didn't leave my house. Interesting, really
Speaker 1: curious as always mark what he does on Mark time.
Speaker 1: Don't well, this is what did you guys do? I'm
Speaker 1: sure you had like you you know, you did puzzles
Speaker 1: and put you know, did barbecues and went to the
Speaker 1: park in the beach. Let me guess, find find me something.
Speaker 1: I mean, you don't have to take it personally. No,
Speaker 1: we did not. We did some hikes. We did some hikes,
Speaker 1: you know, we did some nature he We went down
Speaker 1: to the San Gabriel River, took a hike around there,
Speaker 1: did did some wetlands stuff. But yeah, it was it
Speaker 1: was pretty much just a family, not a lot of
Speaker 1: not a lot of big stories here. We had some
Speaker 1: friends over, you know. We enjoyed the pool and the
Speaker 1: barbe q and we uh played some whiffleball yesterday with
Speaker 1: the boys. Got their got their reps in. You know,
Speaker 1: I gotta keep that hand eye coordination. No no vacations,
Speaker 1: no time off. Although I will say that as I
Speaker 1: was playfully, you know, pitching to my son's at this field,
Speaker 1: this park across the street from where I live, there
Speaker 1: was a capital M, capital D mean dad on the
Speaker 1: baseball field right next to where we were, just like
Speaker 1: going off on his kid for not throwing strikes, and
Speaker 1: he he was the coach of this team obviously, and
Speaker 1: they had gotten there a half hour early to get
Speaker 1: some work in before the rest of the team got there.
Speaker 1: And I'm just like thinking to myself, like, if I
Speaker 1: ever become that guy, I'm out of here. I'm just
Speaker 1: shutting everything down. The kid, it's probably an eleven year
Speaker 1: old son. Take it. I'm kidding anyway, So be nice
Speaker 1: to your kids. Don't don't take sports too seriously. If
Speaker 1: you're a coach, dad, please, like, unless you turn into
Speaker 1: a total champion, and then we will, then we will,
Speaker 1: you know, put you on a pedestal, you know, like
Speaker 1: you will be Tiger Woods dad, or I'm thinking of
Speaker 1: some tennis dads, like it'll you know, you have to
Speaker 1: make it to the end otherwise we'll hate you. Right,
Speaker 1: It just feels like the odds are kind of against you.
Speaker 1: And even if you do make it to that level,
Speaker 1: at what cost? Right, they're probably much nicer than these
Speaker 1: mean dads, to be fair. Now, we do lots of soccer,
Speaker 1: and I have to say that the biggest turn off,
Speaker 1: um almost the only turnoff, are the other parents on
Speaker 1: our team. We seem to have pretty much chilled out parents.
Speaker 1: But like some of these other clowns, it's like these
Speaker 1: kids are nine. The results of this game does not
Speaker 1: decide your value as an adult. Mr. Vicarious, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that's well said. All Right, today's show, I'll see
Speaker 1: you at the crossroads where you won't be lonely. Bone
Speaker 1: Bone or perhaps Harmony once said, Um, who were the
Speaker 1: guys in Bone Thugs and Harmony? Greg? You like rap?
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know their name is like crazy Bone?
Speaker 1: There was different different bones. Um. I wouldn't say. I
Speaker 1: was like I knew. I knew them about as well
Speaker 1: as I bet you knew them, which is I knew
Speaker 1: their big songs and I could hum them. And that's
Speaker 1: where I left it. But you know, some of Cleveland's
Speaker 1: finest Bone Thugs and Harmony they filled up well. Some
Speaker 1: of the rap I feel like from that period hasn't
Speaker 1: held up that well. And you know what, you could
Speaker 1: put Bone Thugs out today, I think it would do
Speaker 1: well great. First of the Month is another classic Busybone, Wishbone,
Speaker 1: Lazy Bone, Crazy Bone, Flesh and Bone, and they had
Speaker 1: that goofball um come out of the draft repping was
Speaker 1: it Cleveland? What was his name again, machine Gun Kelly
Speaker 1: gun Kelly, Get Machine Machine g Kelly out of there,
Speaker 1: get Bone Dogs up on the stage to wrap Cleveland.
Speaker 1: I hear you put Dan, How would let's say someone
Speaker 1: came out on the stage a like Radio City Music
Speaker 1: Hall and did a mic jop about Tom Drop about
Speaker 1: the Jets winning the Super Bowl? I mean, would we
Speaker 1: be hearing critique about it like on June one? No,
Speaker 1: it was a delightful moment. I'm not saying that that
Speaker 1: guy's like music catalog is what I'm all about. But
Speaker 1: it was a nice moment that spice things up in
Speaker 1: a very you know, I think prim and proper environment.
Speaker 1: He was just like, I'm gonna upset the apple cart,
Speaker 1: Like I did not have Sessler watching the machine cun
Speaker 1: Gun Kelly clip talking about the Browns like for forty
Speaker 1: hours straight on Memorial Day weekend, like on my Bingo
Speaker 1: card for this year. But that's like how many times
Speaker 1: does Mark watch that video? He loved that video anyway? Yes,
Speaker 1: the Crossroads, Um, that's a that's a phrase that's like
Speaker 1: or a word that's stuck in my head as a
Speaker 1: sports fan since there was an old magazine. Um, it
Speaker 1: was like a Baseball monthly or something, and the story
Speaker 1: was Mattingly at the Crossroads, and I didn't even really
Speaker 1: know what the word meant, but it was a story
Speaker 1: about how Don Mattingly was facing a lot of issues.
Speaker 1: He was in a little bit of decline statistically, his
Speaker 1: boss George Steinbrenner was like a maniac, and there's talks
Speaker 1: of trades going on, potential trade, and his career could
Speaker 1: have went in any you know, multiple directions at that point.
Speaker 1: I always think about that now when you talk talk
Speaker 1: about you look into each season, there always are players
Speaker 1: that are the true crossroads in their career and what
Speaker 1: happens will dictate kind of their future. So with that
Speaker 1: in mind, we're going to dig into some NFL players
Speaker 1: or coaches or whomever at a crossroads where they may
Speaker 1: be lonely if things go really poorly. That's kiss met
Speaker 1: this smash hit Um married to an NFL segment on
Speaker 1: our podcast. So and before we do that, let's hit
Speaker 1: the news. Okay, five minutes, just five minutes, thank you. Escape. Well,
Speaker 1: there's the generational divide. Rookie Hollywood. Uh. We told her
Speaker 1: about the segment and she went and pulled up a
Speaker 1: clip from the two thousand one Britney Spears film Crossroads
Speaker 1: and some car sing along to an in sing song,
Speaker 1: which I guess was a little nod to the relationship
Speaker 1: between Spears and Timber like back then, Ricky, were you
Speaker 1: aware of bone Thugs and Harmonies Crossroads or his Crossroads
Speaker 1: specifically a Britney Spears of course, but anyone you know
Speaker 1: my age, you say crossroads, do you think of Britney Spears,
Speaker 1: like really trying to sing in the back of a
Speaker 1: car during the radio song. I mean, come on, I
Speaker 1: could be wrong, but I think we had a Britney
Speaker 1: Spears Crossroads conversation four years ago when we did this
Speaker 1: second because sometimes we do segments and Daniell like texted
Speaker 1: out and I googled it. I was like, have we
Speaker 1: done this before? Because I don't quite remember, and you're
Speaker 1: you know we had, but it was like four years ago,
Speaker 1: and I think we had this some sort of Britney convo.
Speaker 1: Then too, you saw the Mark, Yeah wow, because it
Speaker 1: wasn't a box office hit. I think it's it's lived,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's proven to have some legs. People still
Speaker 1: talk about it, but I don't think it was a
Speaker 1: big hit. I don't think who did you go with? Mark?
Speaker 1: I don't want to get too off the beaten path here,
Speaker 1: but I went with a female that I knew for
Speaker 1: very brief time. It was actually went like Sunday night,
Speaker 1: like his family was gone for the weekend. They're playing
Speaker 1: it at the New Art and Mark was there all
Speaker 1: by himself in a movie theater. Their response, Greig, all right,
Speaker 1: let's get into it. It is June one, which is
Speaker 1: an important date on the NFL calendar. It frees up
Speaker 1: a lot of financials for teams. They can move around
Speaker 1: money to the cap hits aren't um as disastrous as
Speaker 1: they could be. Aaron Rodgers is a perfect example. Um.
Speaker 1: If the Packers were to trade him after June one today, um,
Speaker 1: they'd free up sixteen million in cap space this year
Speaker 1: while shouldering a twenty one point one five two million
Speaker 1: dead money hit. This coming from the athletic match nine Schneidman. Uh.
Speaker 1: If they were to move him before today's state, it
Speaker 1: would have been almost thirty nine million and dead money
Speaker 1: charge on their caps. So there is some flexibility here. However,
Speaker 1: according to a source, Schneidman's reporting general manager, Brian Glutenkanst
Speaker 1: is still holding firm to the stance that he will
Speaker 1: not trade the reigning m v P Mark. This comes
Speaker 1: a week after Rogers was on ESPN speaking with Kenny
Speaker 1: Maine and he's kind of vague about things. Didn't go
Speaker 1: out and echo what's been reported that he wants a trade,
Speaker 1: but clearly got this unhappy. He skipped Otis for the
Speaker 1: first time and he's drinking booze with the guy from
Speaker 1: the Drum movie and everybody's having a good time. Um,
Speaker 1: What's where where are you at on the story and
Speaker 1: what do you think happens? Lest you go? Um, I
Speaker 1: you know, I think we're all a little tired of
Speaker 1: the story, but in terms of the freshness of it,
Speaker 1: where we're learning that the packers have no interest in
Speaker 1: trading and were good accounts does not have any interest.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think they've ever shown any interest
Speaker 1: in doing that ever. I mean, there's just been nothing
Speaker 1: to that. I mean, it's almost like if you come
Speaker 1: to a point where these two um parties playing chicken, uh,
Speaker 1: move into an area where Aaron Rodgers are going to
Speaker 1: sit out the year and maybe even retire and then
Speaker 1: kind of reboot the whole machine and start his career
Speaker 1: over um. Maybe at that point you said we've got
Speaker 1: to get value. I don't think they're there yet. And
Speaker 1: they're in the Packers like it or not hold enough
Speaker 1: leverage to not have to move or panic at this point.
Speaker 1: I mean there is there has to be panic inside
Speaker 1: the organization to some degree, but it really seems to
Speaker 1: boil down to good accounts. So is there maybe someone
Speaker 1: like a Mark Murphy or someone else saying, hey, can
Speaker 1: you figure this out before we move the greatest quarterback
Speaker 1: on the planet. Well, they're they're willing to give a quote.
Speaker 1: It's off the right. You know, it's unnamed, and who
Speaker 1: knows who gave it, But whoever gave it is giving
Speaker 1: it with the understanding that that quote, as small as
Speaker 1: it was, will not trade, will make a headline. And
Speaker 1: I bet it gets approved from whoever it was. You know,
Speaker 1: you don't want to guess, but some someone high up
Speaker 1: inside the Packers And so they're putting that out there,
Speaker 1: and why wouldn't they feel that way? And the the
Speaker 1: line that was most interesting to me in the article
Speaker 1: was yeah, but basically they don't really believe that that
Speaker 1: Rogers won't play, and and why I wouldn't either when
Speaker 1: you have James Jones and John Ken, I keep going
Speaker 1: back to his two of his best friends, saying publicly
Speaker 1: there's probably something they could do, and that Rogers literally
Speaker 1: asked to stay in Green Bay for years earlier this offseason.
Speaker 1: He just wants the contract that keeps him there, and
Speaker 1: that's that's where it gets complicated. But they're there's no
Speaker 1: point in even entertaining this for a while, at least
Speaker 1: until like midway through training camp. Then maybe it gets
Speaker 1: a little more Yet we will entertain it on every show.
Speaker 1: Possibly well this was the June first date. But I
Speaker 1: think the way Dan pointed out the financials is instructive
Speaker 1: because you know, even if they if they trade him,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, okay, you can save some cap space this year.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be your most expensive player on your cap
Speaker 1: when he's not on your roster. You really want to
Speaker 1: do that, like can Like this is so stupid, you
Speaker 1: just can't. I think the only way to do this
Speaker 1: is to wait it out and and call his bluff. Otherwise,
Speaker 1: you know, GOODU Cunts is in a really tough spot because,
Speaker 1: like I've said on the show, that there is some
Speaker 1: logic and just the idea of trading him at a
Speaker 1: max value and if he doesn't want to be there.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, it's like, you don't want
Speaker 1: to be the guy that traded Aaron Rodgers as an
Speaker 1: m v P. It's like, if you can avoid this,
Speaker 1: you will. He's not gonna make that UM, He's not
Speaker 1: gonna get that half a million dollar workout boat is
Speaker 1: bonus because he's already missed too many UM offseason workouts. Rodgers.
Speaker 1: I guess the next thing to watch is the mandatory
Speaker 1: UH camp. But even that that's peanuts for him, it's
Speaker 1: not even a under grand So really it's like we
Speaker 1: wait until training camp starts. And I'd also know this
Speaker 1: about the financials, like, well, for all this money that
Speaker 1: you lose for these practices, which I think is one
Speaker 1: of the most phony things out there, if this thing
Speaker 1: heals and they get back together, it's gonna lead to
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers signing an extension that kind of you know,
Speaker 1: it's like when you buy a house, which I've not done,
Speaker 1: but it's like you had all these little payments and
Speaker 1: death just throw it all into the mortgage, like it's
Speaker 1: all gonna get swept away by the massive signing bonus. Like, oh,
Speaker 1: you're not you know, you lose fifty dollars for not
Speaker 1: showing up to an O t A. He could care
Speaker 1: less about that. That would cripple us for two or
Speaker 1: three years. He could not give a smaller um iota
Speaker 1: about that. I agree with all that things do, even
Speaker 1: for somebody it's a multi multi multi millionaire like Rogers.
Speaker 1: Once you get to training camp, it becomes fifty dollars
Speaker 1: per day, and like, I don't care who you are,
Speaker 1: that that starts to add up, have you But the
Speaker 1: marks point it's negotiable. All you used to do is negotiate,
Speaker 1: you know, whatever deal that he takes coming back, and
Speaker 1: they'll say, we're not gonna you know, as part of
Speaker 1: that deal, we're not going to find you anything. No.
Speaker 1: I think what they should do is like hold hold
Speaker 1: them to the fines and still dare them to retire,
Speaker 1: just go all in. At this point seems I just
Speaker 1: kind of their move at this point, if they weren't
Speaker 1: going to give him againny guaranteed money beyond this year,
Speaker 1: that it does seem like they're kind of still flipping
Speaker 1: the finger out. I want them to hold one of these,
Speaker 1: like Packers shareholders meetings right now with the sky on
Speaker 1: fire and just like everyone up there fielding questions from
Speaker 1: twenty super irate shareholders. It's a good point the co
Speaker 1: COVID is saving Mark Murphy and Goudicuns from some like
Speaker 1: awful offseason event where they're like retiring some old packers
Speaker 1: number and just hundreds of Packers fans are like trying
Speaker 1: to light their entire facility on fire. Uh. Speaking of
Speaker 1: lingering melo dramas Julio Jones, we had Steve Wish who's
Speaker 1: is plugged in as they come and he even works
Speaker 1: with the Falcons and earns a salary compensation that he's
Speaker 1: yet to reveal. Tous on the show. Um, he said,
Speaker 1: don't get overly crazy worked up about Julio Jones trade
Speaker 1: happening in the near future. It could be down the road,
Speaker 1: it could be training camp before Jones gets moved however,
Speaker 1: again post June one, so some money can get moved around.
Speaker 1: And there are tons of reports out there, the Seahawks,
Speaker 1: the forty Niners, the Rams that tightens all reports reported
Speaker 1: to have interest in Julio Jones. Greg There's also a
Speaker 1: report right from ESPN this weekend that the Falcons have
Speaker 1: a first round pick um trade offer in hand? Uh?
Speaker 1: And if that's true, how could they not pull the trigger?
Speaker 1: Just move on at this point? Um, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 1: Do you think something happens sooner rather than later here? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it could. The fact that all these reports are from
Speaker 1: different outlets to me is meaningful, like everyone's got different
Speaker 1: sources on this, but the type you know. Florio, my
Speaker 1: old boss said the Titans are the favorites and that
Speaker 1: they may not for okay. Uh. The report that they
Speaker 1: have the first round pick in hand was from Diane
Speaker 1: and Racina, who also said the Seahawks are very much
Speaker 1: into it. The fact that the forty Niners are into
Speaker 1: it from a totally separate different I like, I I
Speaker 1: believe all of them, and the first round pick report
Speaker 1: coming out so early makes me think it's way in
Speaker 1: the future. So I I did ask, you can you
Speaker 1: can trade first round picks now? Like the Rams, for instance,
Speaker 1: are allowed to trade that pick now that but any
Speaker 1: team could and the Rams are in the mid and
Speaker 1: that made me think maybe you know, it could be
Speaker 1: the Rams first round pick who you know in three years,
Speaker 1: and that would explain why the Titans, I mean, why
Speaker 1: the Falcons wouldn't take that. They probably rather have even
Speaker 1: a set get next year over like a first and
Speaker 1: three years. Do you think though, that if it's a
Speaker 1: first round pick, it comes with the stipulation that you
Speaker 1: eat some of this money, versus maybe with a second
Speaker 1: rounder you would accept the entire Julio Jones contract. I
Speaker 1: don't buy. I don't know about the eating money. I
Speaker 1: guess we'll see, Like, yeah, wants a new contract too.
Speaker 1: So didn't the Panthers just do that with Teddy Bridgewater? Yeah, yeah, No,
Speaker 1: It's not frequent, but it could. It could absolutely happen.
Speaker 1: I I don't have any feel for that because it
Speaker 1: doesn't add up to me that he's gonna want more money.
Speaker 1: According to my old boss again Florio, that there he's
Speaker 1: gonna want some sort of adjustment so that but you're
Speaker 1: gonna pay. I don't know. It's just very confusing to me.
Speaker 1: Titans makes so much sense, to make the most sense.
Speaker 1: They we've circled them as a team that you wonder
Speaker 1: what's in store for them. Lost a couple of pieces
Speaker 1: on offense, lost the architect of their game plan, Arthur Jones.
Speaker 1: Now you plug in Julio Jones, you're starting to feel
Speaker 1: a little bit that they're going to be able to
Speaker 1: to survive that and move on and conquer. They have
Speaker 1: three point two million and available cap space, and I
Speaker 1: know that that gets brushed aside. They would just have
Speaker 1: to do a few things. I just would have to do,
Speaker 1: like don't get overly caught up in the cap stuff,
Speaker 1: because most of these teams do have a lot of
Speaker 1: backdoor methods to clear up the next Like the Bills
Speaker 1: cleared up eight million today by just giving Stefon Diggs
Speaker 1: bonus essentially and spreading his money out. I'm not sure,
Speaker 1: you know for what reason some people would think. Zach
Speaker 1: Ertz and I know we're going a crossroads later. I mean,
Speaker 1: Julio to me is a little bit of at a crossroads.
Speaker 1: I don't want to talk anymore Julio in that segment.
Speaker 1: Who've talked about him enough, But I think he played
Speaker 1: so well last year people are sleeping on that he
Speaker 1: can still be a top five receiver. And if he
Speaker 1: goes and has a second act where he is a
Speaker 1: top five receiver for a few more years, that just
Speaker 1: puts him on a another, you know level, And he's
Speaker 1: already high up there like a lock Hall of Famer,
Speaker 1: but that could take him to another You just can't
Speaker 1: have him for ten games a year. I mean he
Speaker 1: played well when he was on the field. Yeah, there
Speaker 1: are two parts of that. I think I was about
Speaker 1: to say what you just said, Mark, that he could
Speaker 1: play at a high level, but then missed five to
Speaker 1: six games every year, and then you know that's a
Speaker 1: little yeah, that's that's not good. Um. Last year, by
Speaker 1: the way, first time he missed more than two games
Speaker 1: since he had a lot of injuries where he placed
Speaker 1: through it. But he's in the injury No, he plays
Speaker 1: through them because he's tough as nails. But it's like
Speaker 1: I feel like I've written Julio Jones and foot in
Speaker 1: the same or foot area in the same article roughly
Speaker 1: seventeen thousand times, and that was years ago. Another news
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger. He is back for another year at the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers, and he did it after taking a haircut.
Speaker 1: Little industry jargon for you, that's a pay cut. And
Speaker 1: guess what Ben said? It was me. I'm the one
Speaker 1: who said this is what we should do. Here's the quote.
Speaker 1: It was my idea. I went to them and told
Speaker 1: them we needed to signed some guys. I knew we
Speaker 1: had a great defense and some great weapons. I wanted
Speaker 1: to help the team do whatever it could. That's an
Speaker 1: American Greg Rose at all. That is a man that's
Speaker 1: putting his team and his fellow man above himself. And
Speaker 1: when you look at Ben Roethlisberger and just the American
Speaker 1: flag flapping behind him as he ups out on the horizon,
Speaker 1: that is a leader. Don't You can talk about your
Speaker 1: little Teddy Bridgewater all day, Greg, but when you want
Speaker 1: a leader of men, Ben boy, leader of men, please,
Speaker 1: I'll direct you back to like all these p f
Speaker 1: T articles I wrote in like two thousand seven that
Speaker 1: all his teammates were sick of him even back then. Um,
Speaker 1: even Brent's gotta you gotta let you know that it
Speaker 1: was my idea. You know, it wouldn't never be the
Speaker 1: you know it was my idea. It's just it's very
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger. Like you know, when you talk about like
Speaker 1: people talk about, Okay, well he's a he's a franchise.
Speaker 1: Let you know, you gotta you gotta treat Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: with a certain amount of respect in this in that
Speaker 1: like that is Ben Roethlisberger to the nth degree. I
Speaker 1: feel like the Steelers are always bending over backwards to
Speaker 1: make sure Ben's Ben knows how important he is, that
Speaker 1: his ego is is nice and and inflated. I mean,
Speaker 1: in that article anti for Greg has Ben rab I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: there's few guys who I love watching more and not
Speaker 1: a fan off the field more than Ben Rothson. None
Speaker 1: of us love some of the Ben Roethlisberger off the
Speaker 1: field stuff, probably as a teammate. That man is selfless
Speaker 1: as they come. And just read the quote, Greg, Just
Speaker 1: read the quote, Greg, I mean Mark Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: I totally believe Ben Roethlisberger, let's start. But he also
Speaker 1: mentioned like I found this very also very ben esque
Speaker 1: quote because they were kind of pinning him about his
Speaker 1: deep passing last year and his quote, you know, I
Speaker 1: had total reconstruction on my elbow. That might have had
Speaker 1: something to do with it, but no excuses. By the way,
Speaker 1: he did not know that he had total reconstruction on
Speaker 1: his elbow. That was news as well. I was completely
Speaker 1: total reconstruction. I mean he got elbow surgery. I don't
Speaker 1: know what total reconstruction and elbow surgery, um, but Ben Roethlisberger,
Speaker 1: he put it out there there. And then there's some
Speaker 1: reporters who you who are close to Ben who have
Speaker 1: been putting it out there too that it's like Ben
Speaker 1: sees what everyone's saying about him and he is fired
Speaker 1: up to you know, shove it in their face, which
Speaker 1: I I appreciate. I mean, I want him to have
Speaker 1: that angle. And if he did it like that would
Speaker 1: be entertaining. I'm not anti Steelers in that way. Like
Speaker 1: if if Ben Roethlisberger becomes a heel and has a
Speaker 1: great season and like tortures Mark, I'm not saying I'm
Speaker 1: rooting for that, but it would make good podcast. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the theater I hope to go to. You know,
Speaker 1: these things cyclical, and you know Ben's now Ben's elbow
Speaker 1: was never actually healthy last year. That's not what we
Speaker 1: were told last summer to his hip. We were told
Speaker 1: last week not actually healthy last year. No, ten times
Speaker 1: better now now it's ten times better. But we were
Speaker 1: told it was healthy last year. Where are the injuries
Speaker 1: right now? They're healed that we're gonna learn next spring, healed,
Speaker 1: you know, staying because just because they were so significant.
Speaker 1: But Burrow especially is in a tough spot. I feel like, oh,
Speaker 1: you could totally see a June first, two thousand twenty two,
Speaker 1: Burrow colon, I'm finally back to right my knee as
Speaker 1: fresh as a baby's knee, and like, um, but he
Speaker 1: but there is video of him even today moving around
Speaker 1: very well. So you know this we're in the right
Speaker 1: age to get these injuries to some degree with the
Speaker 1: medical advances, Gregg, the advances that the medical field is
Speaker 1: miracles of modern it's nothing short of it. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: we haven't talked about this a lot on the show,
Speaker 1: if at all. We've talked about, for instance, how the
Speaker 1: thought that the Dallas defense could take a jump with
Speaker 1: a new coordinator Pittsburgh. You know they got rid of
Speaker 1: h Fichner. Is it Fightner, Randy Fankener Um. He was
Speaker 1: replaced by Matt Canada and Ralisberger also said in his availability,
Speaker 1: you'll see nothing that you've seen in the past. So
Speaker 1: I don't know who is it gonna be a brand
Speaker 1: new offense certainly if you If I'm a Steelers fan,
Speaker 1: I'm saying good because I didn't need to see the
Speaker 1: offense that they put on the field the last month
Speaker 1: or so ever. Again, so if this is an actual
Speaker 1: reboot of the offense. That could be a good thing,
Speaker 1: but also that could come with some growing pains and
Speaker 1: it's an old man at quarterback, wasn't any people were
Speaker 1: asking the same question as like, are we suddenly going
Speaker 1: to get Big Ben rolling out play action sets? I mean,
Speaker 1: how different can it be when your quarterback has become
Speaker 1: a stone age pony, as we say, mobile a quickly
Speaker 1: quarterbacks coach too, so he has a good relay and
Speaker 1: ship with with Roethlisberg. And there were these articles last
Speaker 1: year that's like Matt Canada is trying to integrate some
Speaker 1: new concepts into the offense, like end a rounds and
Speaker 1: it's just like okay, like he's getting creative and that
Speaker 1: was that was like a thing behind the scenes. So
Speaker 1: I don't I don't know how much of it's going
Speaker 1: to be different yet. A voice last night, let's turn
Speaker 1: down the snark on the Steelers. I feel like it's
Speaker 1: turned out pretty high the whole podcast right now, it
Speaker 1: should be noted that at least Greg and myself believe
Speaker 1: the Steelers could have another nice year, and the mark
Speaker 1: seems to be more on the train that this is
Speaker 1: going up in flames. No, that's too well, well, I've
Speaker 1: actually already even on the show, revised that that. Like,
Speaker 1: I feel like I had my January into February mark.
Speaker 1: But but the fact of the matter is, like, if
Speaker 1: the Steelers finished the game ahead of the Ravens or
Speaker 1: Browns or a game below, I wouldn't be surprised at all.
Speaker 1: I don't see them falling off a cliff the way
Speaker 1: that some do. I don't think any of us do,
Speaker 1: just because we've been doing this. They've never done that
Speaker 1: under Tomlin. Finally, in the news, Mac Jones he is
Speaker 1: the future at quarterback for the New England Patriots. Uh.
Speaker 1: This came out last week, but we missed it. I
Speaker 1: feel like we should touch on it. Um. Patriots coaches
Speaker 1: they like what they see from mac Jones, but the
Speaker 1: players do too. Here's what Kendrick Bourne said, uh two
Speaker 1: reporters after Thursday's o t A practice. He has the
Speaker 1: swag to him that I didn't know that he had
Speaker 1: at first. You know, he's got there. He's out there
Speaker 1: confident and that's what you need in a quarterback and swag.
Speaker 1: Why am I little? Yeah, I think it's I think
Speaker 1: it's like insert young player you know, probably a white quarterback.
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, this guy's got a little more swag
Speaker 1: than we expected. Did it with Baker, do it with
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow and now Mac Jones Here, I'm just thinking
Speaker 1: of that Mac Jones photo when his shirtless holding the cigar,
Speaker 1: and like, you know what, maybe maybe there was some
Speaker 1: swag there if you look closer at the photo, that's
Speaker 1: a guy that could have swag uh buried within him
Speaker 1: when he's walking, when he's walking to the to the stage,
Speaker 1: was that swag was? Some people like that he walked
Speaker 1: with a purpose. Um, it was kind of an interesting Yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess there was a little swag there. I mean
Speaker 1: sometimes it's sort of an effervescence that you can't feel
Speaker 1: until you're kind of up close to the person. A
Speaker 1: lot of people said that about Bill Clinton. Not I'm
Speaker 1: not saying everyone said of it, but like that you
Speaker 1: could feel him his presence when he walked in the room.
Speaker 1: I know, Greg, Greg's like Bill Clinton gone up to
Speaker 1: some bad things. I'm just saying in general, and well,
Speaker 1: you gave a look like you know, you remember water
Speaker 1: white water is what I'm pointing to. But I mean,
Speaker 1: maybe you know, maybe Matt Jones in person brings it.
Speaker 1: I didn't feel that at his pro day, for instance,
Speaker 1: watching that on a television in my living room. But well,
Speaker 1: I I wanted to put this news thing into the
Speaker 1: show too, because I read multiple articles, uh from Patriots
Speaker 1: beat writers that were like, I know we shouldn't overreact
Speaker 1: to one day in May, but my god, it's a
Speaker 1: quarterback competition right in that like mac Jones looked amazing,
Speaker 1: and like in Belichick put it out there, put him
Speaker 1: out there next to Camp for us to see because
Speaker 1: they're excited. I was, And to me, that's very surprising
Speaker 1: from some veteran reporters. And maybe we're just board here
Speaker 1: and I don't put anything into these practices usually, but
Speaker 1: there was there was that vibe from the Patriots reporters.
Speaker 1: So it might be a preview of what's to come
Speaker 1: in August, whether it's worthy or not, of Patriots reporters
Speaker 1: hyping up Mac Jones should be playing sooner than of course,
Speaker 1: I'm not surprised that he throws as well as Cam Newton,
Speaker 1: like in terms of accuracy and stuff. With that's what
Speaker 1: they're talking about Camp. There's a lot of those lawn darts.
Speaker 1: I guess I would be curious, like those same reporters,
Speaker 1: and they have a lot of the same guys there
Speaker 1: for several years. Were they saying it about Jared's did him?
Speaker 1: A couple of years ago Mike Reefs, who I totally trust,
Speaker 1: said that. He said that of mac Jones, he's probably
Speaker 1: for he's probably further along than any Patriots rookie quarterback
Speaker 1: at this point than anyone who came before him. And
Speaker 1: he basically said that three the three people blew him
Speaker 1: away in their first Patriots practice and equaled mac Jones
Speaker 1: to them were Dion Branch, Wes Welker, and Randy Moss.
Speaker 1: And he put mac Jones is sort of initial debut
Speaker 1: in front of the reporters up there with that. So
Speaker 1: I Mike right, Mike res I was talking about. I
Speaker 1: didn't see that. And Mike Greece is the godfather. He's right,
Speaker 1: He's not He's not a blow viator. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: very measured in his reporting. So that caught my eye. Um,
Speaker 1: is anybody gonna be mentioning Cam in the next segment.
Speaker 1: I think you certainly could, but any but avoid him
Speaker 1: certainly at the crossroads in his career. UM, Cam, maybe
Speaker 1: the quarterback with the most swag of the last ten years,
Speaker 1: you know, and now he's got this this guy rolling
Speaker 1: in saying his teammates telling him that the other guy's
Speaker 1: got the swag. Little drama there. I don't know what
Speaker 1: happens to Cam if he gets if he doesn't get
Speaker 1: his job, if he loses the job in camp, and
Speaker 1: just where what's his where's his career after that? Um,
Speaker 1: so we'll see if he gets an opportunity to hold
Speaker 1: on to that job. That's what's happening in the news. Yes,
Speaker 1: that's what That's where like an ad break would come in,
Speaker 1: but we have not. I think it's the veteran savvy
Speaker 1: you've got that we've all got, you know, the pregnant pause.
Speaker 1: We're comfortable in it. We can live in that little silence.
Speaker 1: We're not gonna just freak out. And people ask like,
Speaker 1: why don't you Every other successful podcast that I listened
Speaker 1: to their their ad breaks, And um, what Greg Mark
Speaker 1: and myself say is no, no ads in our show.
Speaker 1: We don't want the money. We'd rather just be a
Speaker 1: clean product for the listar no money, don't want it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we don't get we don't get the ad money either.
Speaker 1: So I appreciate everything's keeping us. Um, well, Greg, I'm
Speaker 1: trying to paint us in an affectional Yeah, well there's
Speaker 1: a parallel, I mean, And this is why I totally
Speaker 1: believe Big Ben he went to the big company, the
Speaker 1: big organ said I want less money, and I feel
Speaker 1: in many ways we've said at least we don't want more.
Speaker 1: We just keep us where we're at, Um, don't grow
Speaker 1: the show necessarily with your own sales, big company, keep us,
Speaker 1: you know, just afloat and we'll be fine. We don't
Speaker 1: need anything more materialistically for the tow over eight or
Speaker 1: nine years. No nothing providing to me. Of like three
Speaker 1: or four years ago, I feel like we had a
Speaker 1: we need more money season. West was West was leading
Speaker 1: the bandwagon on that one, but it was a bit
Speaker 1: of a bit of a theme. Now, I actually want
Speaker 1: to say thanks to our listeners. Someone told us we're
Speaker 1: in the top two hundred of all podcasts, not the
Speaker 1: sports podcast in the UK, and I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: that's that's pretty impressive. So I checked the US sports
Speaker 1: rankings just curious, and we were in the top twenty
Speaker 1: here in the off season of the sports podcast and
Speaker 1: there's no other football only uh non fantasy. There's like
Speaker 1: that the Fantasy Footballers, which is a fantasy one is
Speaker 1: in there. But other than that, like there's no other
Speaker 1: American football just football show in there. So I want
Speaker 1: to say thanks and that people should rate and review.
Speaker 1: We never asked for that every podcast I listen to
Speaker 1: ask every podcast. We don't do that every podcast. And
Speaker 1: since we only do it once every twenty podcast, go
Speaker 1: do it in a huge number right now, Good call Greg,
Speaker 1: And yes we decline ad revenue. We say, don't put
Speaker 1: it in our checking account because we want a clean show.
Speaker 1: What you could do for us listeners is five stars,
Speaker 1: leave a review. That's what I have other ideas of
Speaker 1: what they could do also, but that we'll start there.
Speaker 1: All right, crossroads, I'll see you at the crossroads. I'll
Speaker 1: see you at the cross roads. You won't be lone.
Speaker 1: The video was wild too. You had Uncle Charles, was
Speaker 1: Uncle Charles, and then he he death comes and taps
Speaker 1: him on the forehead and his eyeballs turned black and
Speaker 1: he just dies on his porch and I missed my
Speaker 1: uncle Charles. And then there's a big mountain at the
Speaker 1: end of the video and uh, just dead people walking
Speaker 1: up the mountain. It was. It wasn't dark. It was
Speaker 1: kind of a They were kind of a dark band
Speaker 1: in general. Their topics. Um, we're pretty dark, right, And
Speaker 1: then at the very end is oh, who's going up there?
Speaker 1: It's a guy in the raider's hat. It's easy. He's
Speaker 1: going up on mountain. He had not troubling. He was
Speaker 1: heading Mark, he's heading to paradise. Bro Okay, well, I'm happy.
Speaker 1: That's good for him. I'll see what the crosses where
Speaker 1: you won't be lonely. He was going up, not down. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm starting to connect the dots. I mean, i've certainly
Speaker 1: i've seen the video. You know, maybe it wasn't playing.
Speaker 1: You're taking trenchant notes on the whole thing, like I well,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna save them for the theology podcast because that
Speaker 1: that video really veers into that realm. Anyway, Crossroads, let's
Speaker 1: get it going. I'll start, and I don't want you
Speaker 1: to get sensitive to this Mark, but I'm because there's
Speaker 1: more nuanced to it. Baker Mayfield, let's go. I mean,
Speaker 1: I had a feeling this was coming. Baker Mayfield. Is
Speaker 1: that across Roads, but it's not because it's like Baker
Speaker 1: Mayfield is he actually good. Maybe he's not actually good.
Speaker 1: Blah blah. No, that's not the angle I'm taking. Although,
Speaker 1: of course, if he really struggled this year, that would
Speaker 1: create an issue for him. The next month is going
Speaker 1: to tell us a lot the next couple of months.
Speaker 1: If he gets that contract extension this summer, he's off
Speaker 1: the Crossroads list obviously. Um if he doesn't get it,
Speaker 1: and the Browns, it should be noted, have several guys, big,
Speaker 1: big time players that are up for extension, some that
Speaker 1: are entering contract years right now. Others like Baker and
Speaker 1: I believe is a Chub as well, Mark had their
Speaker 1: had their options picked up, or they have a two
Speaker 1: more years left. But I think Chubb and Ward definitely
Speaker 1: are on the resigned list. I think Denzel Award is
Speaker 1: the next guy up right. You also have Teller, the
Speaker 1: guard that went nuts. He's coming up anyway. So there's
Speaker 1: a lot of business to be done for the Browns
Speaker 1: and they have the option to wait it out. If
Speaker 1: they do, it could really it could go one of
Speaker 1: two ways, and that's where the Crossroads comes in for Baker.
Speaker 1: If he has a monster year or he he builds
Speaker 1: off this year and has a similar or even better
Speaker 1: year and the Browns makeup playoff run again. Um, he's
Speaker 1: gonna end up when the contract comes. They're gonna sign
Speaker 1: him next year, and he's gonna get way more, you
Speaker 1: would think than he would have gotten signing the deal
Speaker 1: this year. He might go from being just beneath the
Speaker 1: top quarterbacks pay day to the top one. Conversely, if
Speaker 1: he does have a down year, I'm not saying the
Speaker 1: Browns would move on from him because he's under contract
Speaker 1: next season anyway, but it changes a lot of things
Speaker 1: for him and it ramps up the pressure. So if
Speaker 1: indeed he does not get this contract, it really it
Speaker 1: puts him in a city suation where his financial future
Speaker 1: and his Brown future is really magnified, and a lot
Speaker 1: will be riding on this season. Crossroads. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's impossible to disagree with the fact that he's out
Speaker 1: a crossroads. Um, because you're wondering. I think still it's
Speaker 1: fair for certain people to say there have been um
Speaker 1: ebbs and flows to his rather short career, and like,
Speaker 1: you can't just totally wipe away twenty nineteen, although there
Speaker 1: would be logical reasons too. But you look at last
Speaker 1: year and you look at the fit. He threw one
Speaker 1: interception in the regular season after Week seven. UM. In
Speaker 1: the NFL, there are two players that have had eleven
Speaker 1: thousand passing yards, seventy five passing touchdowns, and an eighty
Speaker 1: nine plus passer rating over the first three years. It
Speaker 1: is Baker Mayfield and Dan Marino. And look at you
Speaker 1: can you can you can shape those statistics anyway you want. UM.
Speaker 1: But like if you get the stretch version of Baker
Speaker 1: Mayfield and you know, you know we all I think, Greg,
Speaker 1: we just watched like that Chiefs Browns replay again. UM,
Speaker 1: that version of Baker Mayfield is a winning quarterback in
Speaker 1: this system. UM. He's in the same offense for the
Speaker 1: first time in his career in an offseason. So I think,
Speaker 1: like the environment is good. If he can't respond to
Speaker 1: that environment, that's why you have a fifth year option
Speaker 1: to take more time. They don't need a rush and
Speaker 1: do this. UM. But there's no doubt that if he flopped,
Speaker 1: like you don't have time in the NFL, you look elsewhere.
Speaker 1: So it's all about why I was saying, like, it's
Speaker 1: not necessarily is Baker good or not? And Rose numbers
Speaker 1: what you're saying backs up that he's been with the
Speaker 1: exception of that two thousand nineteen season, very good. It's
Speaker 1: more that it does create a situation. It's a high
Speaker 1: level of risk for the Browns, which I'm short they're
Speaker 1: smart organization. Now they're weighing all this right now is
Speaker 1: they try to figure out a game plan because there
Speaker 1: could become a dec esque situation, uh, the way the
Speaker 1: Cowboys ended up getting burned in their contract. Um if
Speaker 1: Baker continues to progress, so they're rolling the dice. If
Speaker 1: they don't do the deal, it could work out for
Speaker 1: them too, if it turns out he doesn't have a
Speaker 1: big year and they don't have to pay him as much.
Speaker 1: But obviously that's not eight news for the organization either.
Speaker 1: It's it's a lot of interesting dynamics that play. And
Speaker 1: you do wonder if the Went and Goth extensions play
Speaker 1: into the thinking of the organization as well, because those
Speaker 1: obviously did not work out for their teams. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think this is where player, you know, empowerment for lack
Speaker 1: of a better word or noise of how much you
Speaker 1: want to make when it comes to your contract really
Speaker 1: makes a difference. Because if I'm the Browns and I
Speaker 1: don't want to give him the contract. Now, what's the
Speaker 1: what's the big positive? If Baker Mayfield is gonna be
Speaker 1: happy enough behind the scenes and in front of a microphone,
Speaker 1: it's like, what's the upside of paying him now? It
Speaker 1: sounds like they're leaning towards doing it, and and uh,
Speaker 1: I I understand giving it to him. It removes him
Speaker 1: getting asked a lot of questions about it if they're
Speaker 1: struggling or if they're playing well. Either way, it will
Speaker 1: become like a bit of a focus during the season
Speaker 1: and that's not ideal. But I if I was the Browns,
Speaker 1: I was like, I would live with that because you've
Speaker 1: got him under contract for two more years, and if
Speaker 1: he plays great, I don't think he's gonna get that
Speaker 1: much more next off season than he get now. He
Speaker 1: gets he's not signing that contract for less than whatever.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a thirty two, thirty three plus million
Speaker 1: dollars a year. He's gonna get a real contract, even
Speaker 1: if it's now. So if I'm the Browns, if he's
Speaker 1: fine roll into next year, I would be fine too.
Speaker 1: And he hasn't made at least any public um mass
Speaker 1: about it. Who's up next? Mark um, I would go
Speaker 1: with with Matthew Stafford. I mean, there's the obvious crossroads
Speaker 1: of you have been in one place for so long
Speaker 1: in Detroit, and there's always been an excuse for anything
Speaker 1: that happened to Matthew Stafford the Detroit Lions. It's like
Speaker 1: no one can argue that. Um. Here's the thing I
Speaker 1: find a little bit interesting about the Matthew Stafford experience
Speaker 1: going to the Rams. I love the move by the Rams.
Speaker 1: I thought it was bold. It was, um, we're upgrading
Speaker 1: the most important position. Uh, Sean McVeigh really at this
Speaker 1: point also can just say, look at I have my guy.
Speaker 1: There isn't looking elsewhere, um or playing around this quarterback
Speaker 1: that saw Matthew Stafford, according to what we know about him.
Speaker 1: Right So, Matthew Stafford I think has a ton of
Speaker 1: pressure on him right now though as well, because what
Speaker 1: you start to hear now is the Rams are essentially
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl team. This was the final piece. My
Speaker 1: question is Matthew Stafford has never really vibe to me
Speaker 1: as the final piece of the puzzle. I don't think
Speaker 1: that they traded for um Aaron Rodgers. They did not
Speaker 1: trade for Russell Wilson. They got a quarterback who is
Speaker 1: extremely productive and solid. But what happens to Matthew Stafford
Speaker 1: And this isn't to say like he can't handle the pressure,
Speaker 1: but you could see things going a little bit tough
Speaker 1: for him and the Rams if he doesn't essentially takes
Speaker 1: him to the super Bowl. That's where the floor has
Speaker 1: been set based on expectations, based on a lot of
Speaker 1: other business player quotes like if they go you know,
Speaker 1: nine and eight, um and go into the wild Card
Speaker 1: and lose a wild card round game, that's a calamity
Speaker 1: for what they gave up. I think. I think it
Speaker 1: simply is. I mean the floor is the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: in their own stadium next February. Anything else I think
Speaker 1: will be um Land. Based on local l A talk
Speaker 1: radio which I listened to in the afternoons here, and
Speaker 1: you do in terms of urgency, do you think if
Speaker 1: things went sideways this year that the Rams would move on?
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know what the ramifications of
Speaker 1: that would be, because when I think about his situation,
Speaker 1: it feels like he moved to a much healthier situation,
Speaker 1: a great place for the back end of his career,
Speaker 1: and I feel like he's in a good place, a
Speaker 1: confident place, and a feeling that he has a fresh
Speaker 1: start here. I don't seem as a crossroads guys, because
Speaker 1: I just don't see him as somebody that's like win
Speaker 1: or else right now. But do you see it as
Speaker 1: like a situation where his career could be totally upside
Speaker 1: down a year from now if things don't go the
Speaker 1: way I think. I think it's it's it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: with some of these guys, like their contracts stipulations make
Speaker 1: it tough to move on and things like that, and
Speaker 1: they gave up so they might have to, as in
Speaker 1: a self fulfilling prophecy, just hang with him. But if
Speaker 1: it were a total flop and these things have happened,
Speaker 1: they all look great now. But then you get, you know,
Speaker 1: nine ten weeks into the season, and if it is
Speaker 1: a disaster and the Rams aren't working, Um, would they
Speaker 1: draft someone or make another move. I wouldn't think that's
Speaker 1: impossible and round pick, But I would say that the
Speaker 1: crossroads into a totally toxic situation. I don't think that's
Speaker 1: gonna happen. I just think that, like the problem for
Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford a little bit is it's like super Bowl
Speaker 1: or bust. That's gonna be really rough for thirty one
Speaker 1: other teams. I have been surprised just at the narrative
Speaker 1: around the Rams that they are now a top five
Speaker 1: NFL because I look at them last year and I
Speaker 1: think they were very I knew exactly who they were
Speaker 1: as a team. They were like the tenth best team
Speaker 1: in the NFL. And so you take away two starters
Speaker 1: from the secondary um from that team, you expect some
Speaker 1: defensive regression because they were the best defense in the league.
Speaker 1: And you add Stafford for golf, and to me, that
Speaker 1: kind of comes out in the wash, and they're probably
Speaker 1: to me, there's still about the tenth best team in
Speaker 1: the league, but that is not the public perception. And uh,
Speaker 1: that's gonna that puts a little more on on all
Speaker 1: of them this year. But he's signed through two and
Speaker 1: I just see them selling out to make the Stafford
Speaker 1: part of it work, not just for the next two years,
Speaker 1: the next five years really or else or else You're right,
Speaker 1: market is a disaster. You could absolutely be right on
Speaker 1: this one. I would in this type of exercise, I
Speaker 1: would say, if this year didn't go well for Stafford
Speaker 1: and then he was their guy. Next year, that would
Speaker 1: be when I would put him in the crossroads, but
Speaker 1: quickly so. I mean it's sort of my move to
Speaker 1: not totally understand the exercise too. But like, um, I
Speaker 1: have actually three or five other people. My next one
Speaker 1: will be a floor the floor falls out and the
Speaker 1: man maybe doesn't even exist after this year. I can't
Speaker 1: wait right after this ad break. No, we don't have those.
Speaker 1: You would think it's strange that we don't, but we
Speaker 1: just all right, I'm gonna throw out a duo. I
Speaker 1: don't know if that's not understanding the exercise, but their
Speaker 1: teammates and they play the same position, so they make
Speaker 1: sense together. It's Chandler Jones and J. J. Watt. I
Speaker 1: think they both are at a crossroads and they're entering
Speaker 1: it together. JJ. Yeah, right, that's true. They're gonna have
Speaker 1: their buddies, you know, you you get a little long
Speaker 1: in the tooth, you go out to the desert. It's
Speaker 1: a move a lot of Americans do. Uh. These guys
Speaker 1: could have different careers if they can have a strong
Speaker 1: back night J J. Watt, we kind of think, Okay,
Speaker 1: he's at the end of his road. Same age as
Speaker 1: when Reggie White went to Green Bay. Can he have
Speaker 1: a second act around the same age of when Julius
Speaker 1: Peppers is still doing good things and in Chicago and
Speaker 1: before Peppers went to Green Bay? Uh? Can he have
Speaker 1: a second act? J. J. Watt like a Kurt Warner
Speaker 1: even you know where he ends up being an integral
Speaker 1: part to a team that goes further. Then he starts
Speaker 1: getting back to that j A J. Watt that we
Speaker 1: thought he was the first few years of his career,
Speaker 1: which is an all time great and and he's got
Speaker 1: that in his own way for that five years. But
Speaker 1: a nice little backstretch would really help change. And Chandler
Speaker 1: Jones isn't J. J. Watt, But Chandler Jones has been
Speaker 1: one of the best pass rushers in the league since
Speaker 1: he entered it. He's coming off a major injury, but
Speaker 1: what worries me about him is he's coming off the
Speaker 1: worst month of his career before that injury, which got
Speaker 1: a little swept under the rug because it's only a month,
Speaker 1: it's a small sample size. He's turning thirty one years old.
Speaker 1: Here's these two guys, which on paper might be the
Speaker 1: best edge rush you know, duo in the league or
Speaker 1: one of them. They could go one of two directions
Speaker 1: and I wouldn't even say Chandler Jones. You could, you know,
Speaker 1: totally eliminate him from Hall of Fame consideration when you
Speaker 1: look at the resume. Someday maybe he's not quite there,
Speaker 1: but if he has a strong stretch and they're good
Speaker 1: with J. J. Watt, people think of Chandler Jones a
Speaker 1: little differently too. Teammates in the cross Roads, they're not lonely.
Speaker 1: It's it's money because I I was thinking of their
Speaker 1: head coach, Cliff Kingsbury for the Crossroads. Um the whole
Speaker 1: organization feels like it is a little bit. I mean,
Speaker 1: Kyler is not going anywhere obviously, um so his his
Speaker 1: risk level entering the season is lower, but it feels
Speaker 1: like a really important season for the Cardinals. And some
Speaker 1: of these moves like a J Green Crossroads guy for sure,
Speaker 1: Yeah he's maybe to devastatingly lonely. Yeah, he's past He's
Speaker 1: past that cross I think it's just I just why
Speaker 1: is this such a fascinating player to me? And we
Speaker 1: we've kind of gone through his career on this podcast
Speaker 1: for the most part, and there's never as we get
Speaker 1: further away from those first few years. I think people
Speaker 1: forget that there was never anyone like him, not not
Speaker 1: that I've ever seen. And um, I'm not saying he
Speaker 1: could get back to that level, but if he can
Speaker 1: like really lead the way and be great for them,
Speaker 1: that would be amazing. You also, Chandler Jones. They could
Speaker 1: move on from him without any issues money wise after
Speaker 1: the season, right. I think they might have if if
Speaker 1: it was easier this year. But they want they wanted
Speaker 1: to see, They wanted to give him another chance. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's he's a beast when he's right. Um, I will
Speaker 1: move to the Minnesota Vikings and Kirk Cousins m hm.
Speaker 1: So this Kellen Mond situation, you know, let's not get
Speaker 1: crazy about it. He's a third round pick, early in
Speaker 1: the third round pick, but he is the um the
Speaker 1: highest draft pick for the Vikings at quarterback since your
Speaker 1: boy Greg Teddy Bridgewater back in two thousand fourteen. Um,
Speaker 1: and he's now in the building. You add to that
Speaker 1: that it was out there that the Vikings were in
Speaker 1: on Justin Fields. They didn't get him. It didn't work out.
Speaker 1: Things played out differently. The Bears in the division end
Speaker 1: up with Fields and the Vikings did something that apparently
Speaker 1: the Packers in it ahead of the draft is according
Speaker 1: to ESPN, they called Kirk Cousins and said, Hey, we
Speaker 1: might be dipping our toe back in the quarterback market
Speaker 1: in this draft class. We don't want you to be blindsided.
Speaker 1: Just f y. I why Kirk, And I'm just wondering
Speaker 1: how that phone call goes. By the way, It's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: you're still paying me thirty million this year, Like yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: Do I have thirty five million guaranteed next year? Yeah? Yeah? Okay?
Speaker 1: When they click and this news is going to completely
Speaker 1: enrage Aaron Rodgers that you're giving me more love than
Speaker 1: the Packards are giving him. Okay, So I don't know
Speaker 1: what happens um with his contracts. So he signed through
Speaker 1: two thirty five million bass salary for two by the way, um,
Speaker 1: and there's a forty five million dollar cap hit connected
Speaker 1: to it again the June one state. Maybe that becomes
Speaker 1: more movable. But if he has another one of these
Speaker 1: years that's up and down and you start to hear
Speaker 1: more of that, Jeff justin Jefferson vibe. You remember the
Speaker 1: interview we talked about a couple of weeks ago, where
Speaker 1: who was he popping up Joe Burrow? I believe how
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow had the swag and Kirk you know, doesn't
Speaker 1: necessarily have that, and uh, Kirk likes to get rid
Speaker 1: of the ball and all that stuff. If the if
Speaker 1: the Vikings kind of stay um earthbound, and I kind
Speaker 1: of see Minnesota's maybe a team that's kind of just
Speaker 1: trapped in NFL purgatory a little bit in the NFC
Speaker 1: right now, um with Mond in the building, entering year
Speaker 1: two next year, with Cousins on the final year of
Speaker 1: his contract with the Vikings maybe having a top twelve pick.
Speaker 1: If things didn't go right next year, it's Kirk cousins
Speaker 1: time with the Vikings near an end. If he doesn't
Speaker 1: deliver a season that makes them say no, he's the
Speaker 1: guy we want in here for multiple more years. I
Speaker 1: think the crossroads here I would say this, he he
Speaker 1: kind of reminds me of like a Jimmy Garoppolo figure,
Speaker 1: where what you might have end up doing is you
Speaker 1: bring in either where either it's Mond or you go
Speaker 1: somewhere else like quarterback, and you can't you can't trade um,
Speaker 1: you can't trade Kirk Cousins with who kirk Cousins is
Speaker 1: with the amount of guaranteed money he has next year,
Speaker 1: unless some insane team is um party to that, and
Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan has a quarterback, so I don't know who
Speaker 1: the who the who would be courting him at the Vikings.
Speaker 1: Maybe you know, pay some money to trade him. But
Speaker 1: in general, like, he's not a trade candidate. Um In fact,
Speaker 1: he's a much more weighty financial situation. Why would he
Speaker 1: be a trade candidate because he's only has one more
Speaker 1: year on the deal and if you do make the
Speaker 1: money work on both sides, he's very tradeable. You're you're
Speaker 1: asking a lot though that the team that the Vikings
Speaker 1: are gonna eat a ton of his salary to move him.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's possible, but what are you, like, what
Speaker 1: are you gonna get in return? I just I'm saying
Speaker 1: I don't think that there's a huge um line of
Speaker 1: people waiting for kirk Cousins. By the way, but no,
Speaker 1: right if he If he is, if they're looking to
Speaker 1: trade him, it's because he also stunk up the joint
Speaker 1: next year, so it's another year of kirk Cousins losing
Speaker 1: his luster. So I think it's I think it's the
Speaker 1: problem is it's is there cross winds. Are their changes
Speaker 1: happening here crossroads? Yes, But they're stuck with him the
Speaker 1: same way you'd be stuck paying someone a ton of
Speaker 1: money over the next two years. It's not that different
Speaker 1: than Stafford if Stafford were an absolute disaster. I think
Speaker 1: Stafford is a good comparison in terms of productivity because
Speaker 1: I don't think what we've seen from Kirk Cousins in
Speaker 1: his career, he's very steady, like him or not, uh,
Speaker 1: And he's a productive quarterback at least on paper. So
Speaker 1: I feel like the bad season for him would still
Speaker 1: be like, you know, close to four thousand yards, around
Speaker 1: thirty touchdowns, you know, passer rating around ninety five or something.
Speaker 1: But the team's going nowhere and he's not a very
Speaker 1: popular figure inside the building and they feel like, man,
Speaker 1: we gotta shake this thing up. That's kind of how
Speaker 1: I see it going. I don't know if he has
Speaker 1: that at this stage of his career with the sporting
Speaker 1: cast and just justin Jefferson there and Dalvin Cook, I
Speaker 1: don't know if he craters, which makes it a little
Speaker 1: bit more of a tougher decision for the Vikings. If
Speaker 1: they feel like they want to shake it, I would
Speaker 1: just say this, though his numbers were fine, Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: uh here. I mean, like, I think there's something about
Speaker 1: the kirk Cousins of experience that we're all suspicious of.
Speaker 1: But like last year's collapse, they had a great run
Speaker 1: game two. They have one of the there the best
Speaker 1: rookie wide receiver in the league. Kirk Cousins did his
Speaker 1: job for the most part. Their defense fell apart. I mean,
Speaker 1: you got Alvin Kamara running for five touchdowns against the
Speaker 1: moment was it Christmas Night? It's like this was not
Speaker 1: six which is not a mic Zimmer defense, and so
Speaker 1: I think, like it's just like always kind of blame
Speaker 1: the quarterback that said to go get Cullen mum Is.
Speaker 1: It's a first step in the direction of they're not
Speaker 1: going to resign Kirk Cousins. They're gonna get out of
Speaker 1: this thing as soon as again, I mean, what would
Speaker 1: have happened if they had Fields, Greg, If they did
Speaker 1: get Fields, There's no way they were going to keep
Speaker 1: Fields on the bench for two years, so that it
Speaker 1: was already in their head. Yeah, they're looking to get
Speaker 1: out of this. It's a Lance scenario. Yeah, because but
Speaker 1: Cousins has broken some barriers. He did it with the
Speaker 1: franchise tag. And he's fascinating to me because he does
Speaker 1: remind me of like an NBA contract where he's guaranteed
Speaker 1: thirty five million next year that I can't remember something
Speaker 1: quite like that where his full salary is guaranteed. So
Speaker 1: that's like, that's like a Kemba Walker contract and uh
Speaker 1: in the NBA where it's just like that guy is
Speaker 1: getting his money no matter who's paying them. And Cousins
Speaker 1: is such a funny character because this has been his
Speaker 1: story since year too. Everyone's always wanting him to be
Speaker 1: something he's not. He's never that guy. He's sneaky like streaky,
Speaker 1: but he's also by the end of the year, ultimately
Speaker 1: you know what you're getting from the Kirk Cousins experience,
Speaker 1: and it like sort of drives everyone, including like his
Speaker 1: own front office crazy. The difference between him and Stafford, though,
Speaker 1: Mark I would just say is is I think if
Speaker 1: Cousins imploded or the Vikings imploded, everything gets blown up
Speaker 1: and then he is at a crossroads and then you
Speaker 1: do you just like the new regime just finds a
Speaker 1: way to get rid of him, and and that's not
Speaker 1: gonna happen in l A. I think, no matter what, right,
Speaker 1: because the Rams regime will survive like eight nuclear blasts.
Speaker 1: Like they've given away all their draft picks since they
Speaker 1: got there. What are they gonna they're also rather like unkillable,
Speaker 1: So there's it's a little bit different. But um this
Speaker 1: is he's so funny Cousins to try to figure out
Speaker 1: because like you were saying, Mark, like who would want him?
Speaker 1: Who would take on the money. In his last two
Speaker 1: seasons with the Vikings, he has ninety one touchdown or
Speaker 1: three seasons with the Vikings, all three seasons touchdowns, twenty nine, interceptions,
Speaker 1: ninety one twenty nine. Last season, he completed almost sixty
Speaker 1: eight percent of his passes yards, thirty five touchdowns, picks,
Speaker 1: pass rating of one oh five, um QBR sixty three
Speaker 1: point two. You know, like these are big time numbers.
Speaker 1: I know they're not maybe super duperstar numbers, but like
Speaker 1: I would kill to have a quarterback that produced like
Speaker 1: this every year. And I think something with Cousins, I
Speaker 1: don't know what it is. It's just something about him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's I think it's like in some moments he seems
Speaker 1: to short circuit. I think the BA I think Baker
Speaker 1: is Baker at worst, has got you're hoping is a
Speaker 1: is a rich Man's Cousins is a little bit better
Speaker 1: than Cousins without the short So I don't want to
Speaker 1: make it more money than Cousins. So well, you know
Speaker 1: too much intent. I think I think there's a lot
Speaker 1: of similarities there. He's also missed one game in the
Speaker 1: last six years. That a talent trait. Who's up mark
Speaker 1: all right? I would like to dip into the coaching ranks, um,
Speaker 1: because I think there's someone who is at a genuine
Speaker 1: crossroads and his name is Greg Roman, the Ravens offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: Because like, here's the deal. You could put it all
Speaker 1: on Lamar Jackson, um, but there's no like Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: passes the eye tests in terms of being like an
Speaker 1: elite athlete that you would build a team around all
Speaker 1: the time. Can he become a little bit of better
Speaker 1: of a better passer. Yes, we we see that. We
Speaker 1: know that, and they knew that when they drafted him.
Speaker 1: Greg Roman did an excellent job integrating his skills with
Speaker 1: an offense that zigged when the rest of the NFL
Speaker 1: zagged and Greg Roman's done that in various stuffs in
Speaker 1: San Francisco and Buffalo. But the Greg Roman experienced the
Speaker 1: problem little bit we all know is it gets a
Speaker 1: tad stale. And you know, last year UM a team
Speaker 1: that is essentially streaking towards the playoffs. They had a
Speaker 1: few bumps, but the Ravens were clearly a playoff team.
Speaker 1: They've got their wide receiver, Hollywood brown Um going nuts
Speaker 1: over the issues on offense. You've got Lamar Jackson telling
Speaker 1: the rich eyes and show that defenders are calling out
Speaker 1: the plays pre snap. Greg Roman months later this offseason
Speaker 1: said we are going to expand the offense. We have
Speaker 1: to we have to change a little bit. We've got
Speaker 1: to become a little more versatile. You went and got
Speaker 1: Sammy Watkins, You've got Rashad Bateman in the draft. You've
Speaker 1: got more help at wide receiver. Your tight ends are
Speaker 1: healthy again that it was an issue last year. There's
Speaker 1: no reason for the Ravens not to look a little
Speaker 1: bit different, not to respond a little bit differently to
Speaker 1: what's happened over the past two years under the Greg
Speaker 1: Roman offense. And if it doesn't, I think Greg Roman
Speaker 1: is in hot Water. I think that's a great choice,
Speaker 1: and they went from first in d v O A
Speaker 1: on offense to eleventh a year ago. That's been the
Speaker 1: track record. It's on him to kind of prove what
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people in the NFL um
Speaker 1: think about him, and that I think it was a
Speaker 1: little bit echoed in Hollywood Brown, like does he have
Speaker 1: another move here? It could be he feels like a
Speaker 1: guy that like his career wouldn't be at a crossroads.
Speaker 1: I feel like he'd get another job somewhere based on
Speaker 1: his track record. But you know, as a coordinator in Baltimore,
Speaker 1: I mean he's he's presided over some big offenses. He's
Speaker 1: a very unique what a unique history he has. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know he's worked for the two hard Bob brothers
Speaker 1: and then he had the good Tyrode season, the best
Speaker 1: Tyrode season Tyrode ever had. Um but he very much
Speaker 1: like like whatever he does starts wearing off after that
Speaker 1: first year, and like every spot at this point, you
Speaker 1: have to consider it a significant trend. Also, everyone we're
Speaker 1: talking about is going to get another job, but it
Speaker 1: would be a significant crossroads to lose essentially your third
Speaker 1: role as a play caller. You may not be a
Speaker 1: play caller against for a while, right I I I
Speaker 1: don't know if he would get another coordinator job, at
Speaker 1: least not right away. And this is a guy who's
Speaker 1: you know, has wanted to become a head coach. Alright, Greg,
Speaker 1: close us out, But actually before your point, you make that,
Speaker 1: you say that, Mark, and you're right, like most of
Speaker 1: these guys, all these guys, even if things didn't work out,
Speaker 1: they'll resurface somewhere else. Is there a Todd Gurley? Like
Speaker 1: Todd Gurley When we were like figuring the segment out
Speaker 1: on text yesterday, I cited him as an example of
Speaker 1: like that guy entering last season, big time crossroads years.
Speaker 1: It didn't work out obviously in Atlanta. Now he's just
Speaker 1: trying to stay in the league. Is there like a
Speaker 1: prominent player, Maybe it's a J Green. Do you think
Speaker 1: Cam would be out of football this year, next year potentially? Well,
Speaker 1: here's why I think it's there's a reason for that. A.
Speaker 1: No one sees him as a starter. B. Cam Newton
Speaker 1: is not looking to be a career backup for five
Speaker 1: years like a Coultbacoy. We don't know that. I don't
Speaker 1: understand that if those two things were true, I don't
Speaker 1: know what he want. His attitude in New England makes
Speaker 1: me think he might be more willing to do that
Speaker 1: than than we would have expected. But you're right, no one,
Speaker 1: no one really knows is trying out with the Lions.
Speaker 1: So it's like your girle hasn't walked away from football.
Speaker 1: It's just that you know, football is walking away from him,
Speaker 1: is what I'm saying. Like, is there someone that is
Speaker 1: in that situation? Um, if things go really poorly on
Speaker 1: a prominent former superstar that's kind of on the ropes
Speaker 1: here of things, Big Ben certain basically off the top
Speaker 1: of my head. Anyway, UM, I'm gonna pass. You know,
Speaker 1: I had a couple more so I'll just throw Zeke.
Speaker 1: Zeke could be interesting, but I'm gonna I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: with someone else here just because he fits a different profile.
Speaker 1: And that's Derwin James, who went into his second season
Speaker 1: in the NFL as one of the favorites for Defensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year. Um was one of the only
Speaker 1: rookie defensive players I can ever remember who got some
Speaker 1: love for Defensive Player of the Year. He did win
Speaker 1: Rookie of the year that not only was he, you know,
Speaker 1: probably the best safety in the league, but he was
Speaker 1: just one of the best defensive players at any position.
Speaker 1: And the football heads that Jeremiah's the coast cells that
Speaker 1: everyone like speaking about him. I think in tones um
Speaker 1: that they reserved for all time greats. Really what they
Speaker 1: kind of expect Derwin James career to look like. And
Speaker 1: he's been hurt two straight years, and uh, you just
Speaker 1: hope he comes back from those two injuries like the
Speaker 1: same player, uh, that he was before, and then he
Speaker 1: starts building up his career. I'm not saying he has
Speaker 1: to be an All Pro like this year, but we
Speaker 1: might get an indication of is he going to continue
Speaker 1: on that that trajectory or is he just um gonna
Speaker 1: be unfortunately waylaid by these injuries and not the same
Speaker 1: guy like a Bob Sanders, by the way, a safety,
Speaker 1: a little smaller who won Defensive Player of the Year
Speaker 1: early in his career. Honey Badger is a guy that
Speaker 1: comes to mind too, that broke into the league as
Speaker 1: a monster force and then injuries kind of waylaid him,
Speaker 1: and then you wondered if he would ever be the
Speaker 1: same guy. And maybe if He's not the same honey
Speaker 1: badgery was initially in Arizona. He's still a productive, uh starter. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's that's a great one because I mean,
Speaker 1: in terms of crushing summer injuries, and the Chargers were
Speaker 1: one of the focused teams of hard knocks. I mean,
Speaker 1: you just saw the the air go out of that
Speaker 1: entire organization when he hurt his knee in practice last August,
Speaker 1: because he was, you know, the lynch pin of everything,
Speaker 1: I mean in the back end of that defense. And
Speaker 1: and the fact that you had waited all year to
Speaker 1: get him back and to lose him again. It does
Speaker 1: concern me that this idea of a professional athlete, when
Speaker 1: they go away for this long with injuries, um, to
Speaker 1: assume they can get back to that spot. It's it's
Speaker 1: a it's a big assumption. You hope he can, though
Speaker 1: he's very young obviously. Yeah, I mean there's a lot
Speaker 1: of mystery attached to that, and I think you know
Speaker 1: what's outsiders, you don't have any read on him because
Speaker 1: he kind of goes away. Um in terms of understanding
Speaker 1: his personality and him talking to the press. He just
Speaker 1: these guys are on rehab, vanished and they all come
Speaker 1: back talking about how arduous it was, how lonely that
Speaker 1: process is UM, and these guys thrive off of being
Speaker 1: in the locker room around their teammates. I do think
Speaker 1: that the presidence of Brandon Staley as the coach UM
Speaker 1: is a huge arrow up. Had they gone and gotten
Speaker 1: Um an offensive kind of coach, who's gonna just basically
Speaker 1: you know you're gonna get a couple of different defensive coordinators.
Speaker 1: I think Staley, what if you just look at his
Speaker 1: isolated one year with the Rams and what he did
Speaker 1: for certain players on that team, asked John Johnson, John
Speaker 1: Johnson went from good to great, right. I think the
Speaker 1: environment UM for him is is amazing, and I kind
Speaker 1: of just trust that the star athlete inside of him,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's sort of who he is, that's what
Speaker 1: his soul is, UM will respond. And contract wise, it's
Speaker 1: where the fifth year option kind of helps out both
Speaker 1: sides here because they picked that up and so you know,
Speaker 1: most normally he'd be in a contract year, which would
Speaker 1: make it mess. But he's under contract for next year too,
Speaker 1: and UM, you did get me thinking was Zeke, but
Speaker 1: his he has twelve point four million, that's already guaranteed
Speaker 1: for if he was bad. Um, I don't know. At
Speaker 1: some point if he was bad this year, he's not
Speaker 1: guaranteed to be there again next year, one way or another.
Speaker 1: But also you can phase him into like a deep
Speaker 1: committee and like he has gone one year later. I
Speaker 1: mean that's that would be across roads to some degrees
Speaker 1: on a star running back. And I thought Tony Pollard
Speaker 1: was better than him last year. I even like asked
Speaker 1: the research department to give me some like next gen
Speaker 1: cool stats of of like when the because his numbers
Speaker 1: per touch were a lot better, of like when Pollard
Speaker 1: was on the field and Zeke was on the field,
Speaker 1: because it seems so much better, and uh, they came
Speaker 1: back with no. Actually the Cowboys were way better with
Speaker 1: Zeke on the field. So sometimes you go to the
Speaker 1: next gen stats, you go to the research, it doesn't
Speaker 1: give you the result you want. And you know, and
Speaker 1: you got an egg in your face. You got a
Speaker 1: face when you mentioned teammates playing the same position. I
Speaker 1: thought you were gonna go jail and Smith and Laton
Speaker 1: Vanderesh of the Cowboys with Michael Parsons there because their
Speaker 1: money situation would allow them to completely get away from
Speaker 1: Vanderesh after this season and Jalen Smith that's a little tougher,
Speaker 1: but you'd have to pick one or the other. To
Speaker 1: stick with Michael Parsons. Your honesty there, your ability to
Speaker 1: be vulnerable and show the the trials and tribulations of
Speaker 1: being a football analyst for you just put it all
Speaker 1: out there for the audience just now. I just have
Speaker 1: so much respect for you. Truly vulnerable. Would have been
Speaker 1: very vulnerable if I actually like mentioned that in whatever
Speaker 1: article I was writing. But no, I just ignored that fact,
Speaker 1: just ignored it. Didn't didn't support my theory. Yeah, we've
Speaker 1: all done it. By the way Zeke is he posted
Speaker 1: career loads in rushing yards nine yards per tempt four
Speaker 1: point oh. Man, if the Jets added running back that
Speaker 1: average four point oh, I'd be jumping in the streets. Uh.
Speaker 1: And he tied a career worth. I think this is
Speaker 1: what at him most on the radar with people. He
Speaker 1: had six fumbles last year. Also, there was like a
Speaker 1: six week straight stretch where he lost the fumble every game.
Speaker 1: It wasn't just that he's putting on the ground, they
Speaker 1: were losing possession every time. It didn't look good. We
Speaker 1: are experiencing the Zeke is staying in shape off season,
Speaker 1: which happens every three off seasons. I think, uh that
Speaker 1: I've noticed in Dallas. So it seems like he's he's motivated,
Speaker 1: all right, So there you go. There are some players,
Speaker 1: some coaches across roads. We'll be back on Thursday, you know,
Speaker 1: projected starters. Greg. Are we going to touch on it
Speaker 1: this week? We said we would last Thursday. I feel
Speaker 1: like we should mark that would be lying to the
Speaker 1: audience essentially to say we would and will not. We
Speaker 1: haven't worked out the particulars of how that segment and go,
Speaker 1: but that is something that's percolating. Maybe we'll have a
Speaker 1: guest involved as well. I don't know. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: we are allowed to We are allowed to lie to
Speaker 1: the audience whenever we feel like it and in what
Speaker 1: in whatever form, But in this case it would feel
Speaker 1: wrong because it would also be you know, affecting Greg.
Speaker 1: I mean, we could just say that it's coming up
Speaker 1: next week and then just keep putting it off to
Speaker 1: like September. Yeah, kick that can all right, that's also
Speaker 1: in play, just to be aware of that, alright. Also
Speaker 1: in play is your roblow NFL hat I just want
Speaker 1: to say for our audio listeners, of course, uh that
Speaker 1: Dan's were in the this black NFL hat, this entire show.
Speaker 1: It's very distracting. I know, you know, I actually was
Speaker 1: looking for my product, my product, the Redkin, before we started,
Speaker 1: and somehow every one of my my the spencers is missing,
Speaker 1: so multiple you don't even you don't roll with one.
Speaker 1: I usually have them a different suggesting foul play. I mean,
Speaker 1: it doesn't sound like I am suggesting, yes, that someone
Speaker 1: was working against me here, like because we might be
Speaker 1: using a segment from today's podcast on our Friday NFL
Speaker 1: network show, and it's like, now I'm wearing a hat
Speaker 1: and net. That's not what I like to do on television.
Speaker 1: But who's working against you? Your wife, who's like, you're
Speaker 1: you guys are both making income, But why you're You're not?
Speaker 1: You're not too far away from where I am now,
Speaker 1: and we actually saw each other. You were in my
Speaker 1: town on Friday. How do I know that you didn't
Speaker 1: work against me? I mean in theory that says, oh,
Speaker 1: we can't use one of these for the network segment.
Speaker 1: We have more work to do for the network show.
Speaker 1: Why on earth would I go in that direction. Let's
Speaker 1: let's come on shore Macome, so let's start hides my
Speaker 1: stuff all the time for no reason other than just
Speaker 1: to mess with me. So like I'll like find my
Speaker 1: air pods like in his trash. Can you know just who?
Speaker 1: Don't let anyone in this room. No one's coming in here. Mark.
Speaker 1: That is the most like airtight alibi anyone's ever come
Speaker 1: up with. Why would I want to do more work?
Speaker 1: It's that simple. I'm ruled out as a suspect. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I buy it. All right, good stuff. We'll be back Thursday.
Speaker 1: Yes the network show Friday, right after Good Morning Football.
Speaker 1: To make sure you check that out at and as
Speaker 1: Greg alluded to, yes, maybe we should. Maybe we need
Speaker 1: to read some of these uh comments on the podcast,
Speaker 1: so keep that in mind. Leave a five stars. We'll
Speaker 1: read some on Thursday's show at the end of the show.
Speaker 1: Be a part of the adventure here on the Round
Speaker 1: the NFL podcast. This is Dan Hansons signing up for
Speaker 1: a quiet storm the old Boss Ricky Hollywood behind the
Speaker 1: Virtual glass until Thursday. Keep the call. M