0:00

The Around the NFL podcast.

0:05

Here's a technical lighthouse

0:08

from.

0:08

The Chris Westling podcast studio. It's

0:10

around the NFL. I

0:13

am Dan Hansis got a hero here,

0:15

Greg Rosenthal. The

0:20

technical lighthouse is Mark

0:22

referred to Greg Olsen Fox play by

0:24

play man.

0:25

That will be a conversation point. I am begging

0:27

you to shut up.

0:28

Later in today's show, Mark

0:31

simmer down, because we

0:33

will have the great Andrew Marshawn late

0:35

of the New York Post now of the Athletic breaking

0:38

down the NFL media landscape.

0:40

So that's gonna be cool. Gregy, how

0:43

are you?

0:43

I'm doing great. This is an exciting show.

0:46

A lot of guests. JB Long to talk,

0:48

Aaron Donald. It is a sneaky,

0:51

frisky weekend by the NFL. The NFL said,

0:53

Oh, you thought Freed Andcy was done. We're gonna

0:55

give you a little frisky news

0:57

items to find out while you're like at your son's

1:00

nerf gun party on

1:02

Saturday afternoon.

1:03

Oh, Colleen relaxed,

1:07

Yeah, it was. In general,

1:09

this feels like twenty twenty four was the year that

1:11

the the week,

1:13

the free agency kickoff week. It just

1:16

changed like annoyingly, and

1:18

I'm sure this happens. It's a thing

1:20

that happens based on the calendar, the

1:22

way the calendar shifts. But I always used

1:24

to love, especially when I lived in New York, the

1:27

March sixteenth, Saint Patrick's

1:29

Day, March seventeenth, living on the Upper

1:31

West Side, and just like parking at a bar and watching

1:33

the first two days in March madness. You used to love

1:36

that. That was two of the best days of the year. And

1:39

now there were no games. It was just selection

1:41

Sunday on Sunday, and

1:43

that was different, and I don't like change

1:46

this year for free agency.

1:48

I feel like it used to.

1:49

Be, you know, Sunday quiet,

1:51

Monday, crazy, Tuesday, crazy, Wednesday,

1:54

big stuff going on Thursday, little quieter, Friday,

1:56

pretty dead. But this year it just

1:59

felt like wall to wall news

2:02

maybe except for Wednesday, ironically, which was the

2:04

start of the new league year, but it

2:06

was there was a lot to digest.

2:08

And we're going to get into all of it. Everything's

2:10

moved faster.

2:11

As of Sunday night, I think there was only twenty

2:13

seven players left off the one on one, and that was

2:15

the one on one for Monday. The original

2:17

one was down to like fourteen to fifteen players,

2:20

So team's just moving faster and

2:23

yeah to the Bearess credit. I guess

2:25

like not letting some of the stories

2:27

in the Chargers with Keenan Allen, we'll get to like

2:30

linger that could be lingering for a long

2:32

time.

2:32

And if you're wondering why you haven't

2:34

heard much from Mark Sessler yet, he is

2:36

not with us today and

2:38

I in retrospect when

2:41

his Instagram was on fire with nineteen

2:43

ninety two photos.

2:46

Whenever Camp Happiness.

2:47

Whenever Camp Happiness is at the forefront

2:50

of the Mark socials. In

2:53

some ways, he's in nineteen ninety two and it's hard

2:55

to get back to twenty twenty four.

2:57

You know what I mean, right, it's a jet lag for thirty

3:00

thirty two year journey back to twenty

3:02

twenty four. But he'll be back on Wednesday and

3:04

Thursday for a big around the

3:07

AFC and NFC week.

3:08

But for our for our knowledge in the future,

3:11

when Camp Happiness is going off on

3:13

the feed, we should plan ahead.

3:15

Okay. I think that's just a good way to

3:17

get ahead of things. Fair.

3:21

I want to go to Camp Happy. Sounds

3:23

nice. It's hard to leave though, once

3:25

you go there.

3:26

I did go to Camp Wilder as a kid,

3:28

which has a probably a similar vibe.

3:30

But that wasn't like a stay over with you.

3:33

Yeah, Nicoletown, there's no going to camps,

3:36

So you go to grandma's house and kill

3:38

eight hours.

3:40

See you when I get home from work, it's

3:42

tough.

3:44

You know. I was playing these whiffle ball and taking

3:46

a walk up to seven to

3:48

eleven up there

3:50

in North Middletown Road.

3:51

Like just can you carry this brick up

3:53

the stairs and then bring it back? You're like, why, I'm

3:56

just gonna return the brick back to where it was.

3:57

Just do it, Danny. They gave it a dollar

4:00

fifty in your hand.

4:01

You went up to you went up

4:03

to that seven eleven and you grabbed a slurpee

4:06

and then if you were lucky, a couple of pieces of that five cent

4:09

to Zuka.

4:09

Joe bubble Gum. I

4:12

do have guilt. That was summer and whiffle ball

4:15

same and except ours.

4:16

There was like a forest behind our house and you could cut

4:18

through the forest. It was about a mile plus

4:21

two sounds murdery to get to the Variety

4:23

store it was called. And

4:26

you know, in hindsight, I feel regrettable

4:28

that we would steal a decent amount from that variety

4:30

store because we didn't have any money. Yeah, you

4:33

pay fit, you know, you maybe buy a little bit and put's

4:35

more in your pocket.

4:37

Well, that's that's rogue delinquent behavior.

4:40

We would never think that do that at the local seven

4:42

eleven. But that's a difference between Western Massachusetts

4:46

in New York and Rockland County, hard

4:49

working people that would never steal from

4:52

a man trying to make ends meet.

4:54

I have regrets.

4:55

It's not too late to make a phone call. Okay, and probably

4:57

did, but it's probably not in business anymore.

4:59

Probably put him underground from the stress

5:01

of his financial failings as a result of

5:03

your malfeasance. Let's

5:06

get let's focus on.

5:09

Come on, Mark, let's get to Let's do some

5:11

news and shout.

5:12

Out to all the other sports podcasts out there. Making

5:14

a banger man around

5:17

the NFL. Part of my take is

5:19

always good. And then the Dan Levtard Show. I

5:21

mean, Dan's always killing it, so he's been doing it for

5:24

a long long time.

5:28

A couple of notes there. It's the New Heights podcast.

5:30

Of course, the Kelsey Brothers, winner of Best Overall

5:33

Podcast at the iHeart Podcast

5:35

Awards. Shout out to David

5:38

Singer, our gifted talent booker

5:40

here at NFL Media who put

5:42

that on my radar. And I little

5:45

Mia Koppa from Old Zeusser, who

5:47

you know is a little, a little snarly,

5:50

a little a little bitter, maybe

5:52

took a shot at the Kelsey Brothers

5:56

acceptance speech the video pre

5:58

recorded acceptance speech at the awards show.

6:00

We attended in person. We're lost in person.

6:03

Well they won and delivered the pre

6:05

recorded speech. Now I feel

6:07

bad because that was a class class

6:09

move or from their

6:11

podcast. That was from what the

6:14

acceptance speeches. I think that was recorded separately

6:16

as a part of the iHeart Okay awards

6:19

exciting, I mean, but what

6:21

we just listened to was from their most recently.

6:24

He was like.

6:24

Looking down, So I don't know how familiar

6:27

he is with the program, but I do appreciate the thought,

6:29

the uh, the shout out, and we

6:31

were mentioned first ahead of

6:34

pardon my take in Levatard, And.

6:36

I think there's something to take out of that. I think

6:38

there's absolutely something to take out of that.

6:39

We are getting to the age where there was a chance some of

6:41

these guys, if they were into podcasts,

6:44

were listening to the podcast, you

6:47

know when they were.

6:47

Getting to the age.

6:49

Well, I just mean like we're going to talk Aaron Donald

6:51

later and his retirement, right, but we

6:53

were there talking about his draft

6:55

day. Yes, So that means people coming into

6:57

the league now, they were like ten years old.

6:59

Maybe they were listening to our podcast or something.

7:02

Oh, you're dating me.

7:04

Let's get to it. Justin Fields

7:07

on the move. By

7:10

the way I called this one. We

7:12

had rotopad on, we did

7:14

our and we all throughout. Justin Fields

7:17

trade options. I said the Steelers, good

7:19

Jeff, so bully for me. Justin

7:24

Field has gone to the Pittsburgh Steelers in

7:26

exchange for a conditional twenty

7:29

twenty five sixth round

7:31

pick. Now that can elevate to

7:33

a fourth round pick if Fields

7:35

plays a bunch for Pittsburgh this year. But

7:38

that is very much up in the air because, of

7:40

course, Greggie.

7:43

A week previous, the Steelers

7:45

traded for Russell Wilson.

7:48

We're going to get to Kenny Picken in a second too. He

7:50

exits the picture. But

7:54

what we're hearing, what's being reported is

7:56

that Mike Tomlin has told Russell Wilson

7:59

that he is indeed going to be the guy they

8:01

see as their Week one starter. That's

8:03

what he's saying right now anyway. But Fields

8:06

now joins that totally remade

8:08

quarterback room in Pittsburgh, and the

8:10

Bears are left wondering how

8:13

we handled this and whether we botched

8:15

an opportunity to get much more bang

8:17

for their buck with Fields, who you

8:19

know, as recently as the end of the regular

8:22

season, a lot of people, including myself, thought

8:24

they could fetch a high pick, maybe a second rounder.

8:26

It ends up being as low as potentially a Day

8:28

three pick.

8:29

Yeah, it's a Day three pick regardless, right, sixth round,

8:31

fourth round, and it's not even this year.

8:35

I don't think they could have gotten more unless

8:38

they potentially waited until draft

8:40

day or potentially waited until

8:43

the fall. So when Ryan

8:46

Poles, their general manager, is kind of

8:48

putting out there, the Bears have put out

8:50

there through sources, there's so many angles

8:52

to this. I want to get to the on field stuff. But while we're talking

8:54

trade terms that you know, they could have

8:56

maybe gotten a little better of a deal,

8:59

but they wanted to do right by an.

9:00

I don't need to hear all that stuff that's so phony.

9:02

It might be vaguely

9:05

true, but the terms would only be like slightly

9:07

better. Maybe it was like a hard fifth or

9:09

a hard fourth, something like that, doesn't

9:12

matter.

9:12

They weren't getting what they wanted.

9:14

And the reporting is they started with a framework

9:17

of the Sam Darnold trade.

9:18

Again, good job by you, Dan, you mentioned

9:20

that trade.

9:21

I believe in this very

9:23

context, and that was what they were looking for, which was like

9:26

maybe a couple of late round picks or pick swaps

9:28

this year and a second round pick in

9:31

the future. And they found out

9:33

this offseason that offer wasn't

9:35

coming. And as

9:37

the free agency took off

9:39

and guys like Sam Bradford got jobs and

9:43

we're seeing these other backup spots get jobs,

9:45

it became clear no one was giving Justin

9:47

Fields an opportunity

9:49

to start right now at least,

9:52

and so teams were just looking at him for a backup.

9:54

And I think his contract played a bigger

9:56

role than everyone you know.

9:57

Is making out to be in this. No one was

10:00

going to pick up his fifth year out.

10:01

Now, I'm a little you know, I think there could have been

10:03

a case to be made that, hey, let's pick up Justin

10:05

Field, let's pick up the fifth year option, let's

10:08

commit to him. That's two years for like

10:10

twenty five million, that's pretty reasonable,

10:12

and he's our guy.

10:13

The next no one was looking at him that way.

10:15

And then once they got to that point and realized no one was looking

10:17

at him that way, no one's going to give up a good

10:19

pick for one year of a

10:21

guy who's a backup or competing. And

10:24

the one little thing I do believe the Bear

10:26

is on is he they probably had

10:28

a bunch of like lackluster options,

10:30

And whether he said the Steelers were

10:32

the choice that he wanted, that's what I would suspect

10:34

him and his agent, or that they just said,

10:36

like, look, this is this is probably the best chance with a

10:39

good organization and a potential chance to

10:41

play sooner than later, of all the choices,

10:43

including it it's been reported the Eagles were one

10:45

of them. At least you have a pathway here? Where

10:47

will send you to the best pathway?

10:49

I guess I'm still a little bit surprised how it all ended

10:51

up playing out, because I just.

10:52

Thought, I am too, Oh, I am too.

10:54

To be clear, I thought, while he certainly

10:56

hasn't, he'd still be a member of the Bears

10:58

if he had truly fulfilled his potential there

11:00

or what they believed he could be, but I thought he's shown

11:02

enough that there would be a team that

11:04

would really Yeah, like that Donald

11:07

trade. The Panthers traded for Donald thinking he

11:09

was a depreciated asset that could be a big

11:11

time player potentially, and nobody

11:13

saw him that way, apparently based

11:15

on this and that ESPN reporting from Courtney Cronin

11:18

was an additional the Bears had an additional offer

11:20

with stronger draft capital from a team with an

11:23

established starter, but the team

11:26

decided they wanted to put Fields

11:28

in quote a position to continue his development.

11:31

And what rubs me the wrong way about that type

11:33

of not the reporting. The reporting

11:35

is fine, but the way the spin is

11:39

like, if you really cared about Justin Field's development,

11:42

you could have you know, had a much

11:44

more cohesive

11:46

plan when he was in your building and you saw him as

11:48

the future.

11:49

And now you're going to on the way out the door and be like, oh, you.

11:51

Know, we're gonna make sure we take care of you screwed

11:53

up his development with the way you handled the first

11:55

three years of his career, four years of his career.

11:57

So I don't that whole thing that me

12:00

the wrong way, But in general, I think

12:02

Fields in terms of his future, I

12:05

think it's it is a pretty decent spot.

12:06

And I'll give the Steelers credit.

12:08

I have to say, like, do

12:10

I love Russell Wilson or Justin Fields.

12:13

No, But if they're going this

12:15

route in terms of trying

12:17

to figure out the position, they could have done

12:19

a lot worse when you look at what they gave up to

12:21

get both Wilson or what they paid for Wilson,

12:24

which is nothing, what they gave up for Fields, which

12:26

is close to nothing, and now they're kind

12:28

of two lottery tickets and you see what

12:30

happens.

12:30

I think they did a great job.

12:32

I think omark in terms of where

12:35

they were and what they could do, they

12:37

did the best that they could do. Now they probably

12:39

don't have a long term change quarterback,

12:42

but I think Fields has a better chance than probably

12:45

anyone else was going to be. And I think it's important

12:47

to remember with Chicago Ryan Poles, their

12:49

GM did not draft Justin Fields, and that it's

12:51

been mentioned a lot, and that's

12:53

just how it goes. Like when you when they

12:56

messed up his development, but

12:58

it was like Matt Naggy to start and a different

13:00

GM to start and ownership all

13:02

that stuff.

13:04

The Steelers basically.

13:06

Gave up nothing to get

13:08

an upgrade from Kenny Pickett

13:11

and Mason Rudolph. It's kind of amazing

13:13

how little that they had to give up. Now, if Justin

13:15

Fields balls out and ends

13:18

up improving that draft pick from the sixth

13:20

to the fourth round because he does play more than fifty

13:22

one percent of his steps by the way, I would, I

13:24

would guess he would because I think I

13:27

think Justin Fields right

13:29

now is a is a better player than

13:32

Russell Wilson. And I understand why

13:34

you told Russell Wilson he's

13:36

the starter. And Russell Wilson's already

13:39

sending out tweets like welcome aboard Justin

13:41

Fields and hopefully that that's all you

13:43

know, a good relationship. You're gonna let those two guys

13:45

compete. They're so similar though. Justin

13:48

Fields holds the ball a long time, isn't

13:50

known for reading the middle of the

13:52

field that great, is

13:55

incredible making plays on his own, is

13:57

one of the better quarterbacks in the league in terms of his

14:00

deep accuracy, and can spin

14:02

the ball like, who does that sound like a

14:04

young Russell Wilson and Russell Wilson's an

14:06

old Russell Wilson. I'm not saying Justin Fields

14:08

is going to reach the level that Russell Wilson at

14:11

was early in his career. He's obviously behind compared

14:13

to where Russell Wilson was in his third year, but

14:15

the athleticism is there, and

14:17

I just I don't know, I can't imagine in a

14:19

fair competition actually that

14:22

Justin Fields doesn't get a chance eventually.

14:25

Plus they're going to want to get a look at him, right because

14:28

he's under a contract for one more year. So yeah,

14:31

I would think Wilson has to play extremely well

14:33

well to keep Fields off the field, and we'll

14:36

see if he can do it. I do have my doubts,

14:38

but in general, I give them high grades.

14:40

Now, we mentioned Picketts, so why don't we just talk about

14:42

him here. So the Eagles go and

14:45

they do business with the Steelers. They acquire the

14:47

former first round pick an exchange

14:49

for let's see, the Eagles send

14:51

the number ninety eight pick in this year's draft

14:53

end a seventh round pick next year, and

14:55

it's Pickett and the one hundred and twentieth overall

14:58

pick of this draft underd

15:00

and twentieth overall pick.

15:01

Was a four fifth, fourth fourth,

15:03

So it's worth around up of twenty two spots

15:05

and they had to give up a seventh,

15:08

so they didn't even pick up an extra pick the

15:11

Steelers to get rid of pig.

15:12

It so and there are reports

15:14

out there and pick Ittt spoke on it today as

15:16

introductory press conference, which is interesting. He spoke

15:18

for the you know, on behalf of

15:21

his new team or with his new team, that

15:23

he did not take the Russell Wilson

15:25

move well and kind of shut down

15:28

some workouts that were planned and basically said

15:30

get me out of here. And maybe Pittsburgh was like,

15:32

yeah, you got it, buddy. But in the end,

15:34

I feel like he is a cautionary tale

15:37

about when we talk about the draft coming up, like

15:39

that draft famously was not loaded

15:41

with quarterback talent, as I recall.

15:43

Yeah, it was Desmond Ritter and Malik Willis

15:45

and but then there really wasn't a winner.

15:47

These three quarterbacks pretty in the sun.

15:50

Right, all those guys, and but teams

15:53

cannot help themselves. It seems

15:56

there's always going to be even in a quote unquote bad

15:58

quarterback year, the teams they're

16:00

like, well, we'll be the first one to take a guy. And it's

16:02

later in the first round, but you still end up you

16:04

still end up turning over like two years of your franchise

16:07

to the guy, and the Steelers ultimately

16:09

set themselves back with a really middling

16:12

prospect in the big picture.

16:13

And that's how we played, right. I was never excited

16:15

about can you Pickett? A lot people weren't. People had third, fourth

16:18

round greens out of something. But he knew the facility.

16:20

Remember that he knew where the bathroom, which

16:22

is why this reporting and people got upset

16:24

with the reporting that now it's been convenient

16:26

that it comes out from like local reporters

16:29

that he didn't want to dress as an emergency

16:31

quarterback last year in Week eighteen,

16:34

that he felt like it was sort of insulting

16:37

and there's a question of whether he was truly healthy

16:39

or not. The Steelers did

16:41

him wrong no matter what, because Matt

16:43

Canada was his offensive coordinator.

16:45

It's a really crazy tenure

16:47

in.

16:47

Pittsburgh if you think about it, because Matt Canada was his

16:49

coordinator, then they fire him and

16:51

then if you remember, Kenny Pickett had the very

16:53

best game of his career in the

16:55

game after they fired Mike Canada, and everybody

16:57

was like, wow, they got rid of Canada. Picket's great,

17:00

and then Pickett got hurt the very next game,

17:02

never played for the Pittsburgh Steelers ever. Again,

17:04

Mason Rudolph comes in, looks pretty good.

17:07

They decide not to give Pickett

17:09

the job back in week

17:11

eighteen and for the playoffs, and

17:14

yet they get rid of Mason Rudolph too. Anyways,

17:16

at that point it was clear Mike Tomlin and then we're

17:18

probably just out on Kenny Pickett. And

17:20

so they did a bad job. But I kind of can't

17:22

kill them because I'm the guy. And I've talked about this

17:24

with Dave Danishek on his Minus

17:27

three podcasts. He's been killing this. My thing is

17:29

flood the zone with quarterbacks until you get one.

17:31

Just keep taking them, keep taking them. Now, the better process

17:33

would have been take Picket in the second or third round.

17:35

He was not worth a first round pick. But if

17:37

you don't have one, keep taking them. And I think they're doing it.

17:40

That's kind of what I.

17:40

Meant, right, don't just because it's a back

17:42

end of the first round and nobody's been picked yet at that

17:44

position, Like I feel like that sometimes

17:47

clouds the thoughts.

17:48

Of yes, they kind of take themselves into it.

17:50

It reminds me of J. P. Lossman.

17:52

It reminds me of EJ. Manuel. These like late

17:54

first round picks at quarterback.

17:55

You know, other than I guess Aaron Rodgers that was pretty

17:57

good in Lamar Jackson.

17:59

I am really you know, runing myself.

18:01

From those were like really late picks.

18:04

But there were other quarterbacks in those draft class. No,

18:06

No, I know. What I'm trying to say

18:08

on the Steelers though, is they're kind of doing that flood

18:10

the zone thing right now in a great way. So the

18:13

Eagles get a backup quarterback. They used to say

18:15

they wanted to be a quarterback factory. They basically

18:17

gave up nothing to get a

18:19

decent backup quarterback in Kenny

18:22

Pickett.

18:22

So it's good process for them.

18:24

But I would not, if I was the Steelers, rule

18:26

out taking a second

18:29

or third round quarterback this year

18:31

too. I don't think it's that crazy. This is a good

18:33

quarterback class. Next year is supposed to be bad. There's

18:35

seven eight guys. Now, you're probably

18:37

not going to use your first round pick in it.

18:39

But uh, there's some guys that people are pretty intrigued

18:42

about that could end up going in the third round, and it

18:44

reminds me a little bit of when Russell Wilson was

18:46

drafted.

18:47

That was a three tiered battle.

18:49

I believe it was Whitehurst, who was

18:51

a trade tar acquisition, Matt

18:53

Flynn, who was a previous free agent pickup

18:56

that wasn't really working out.

18:57

No, that was Flynn's first season.

18:59

That was his It was Sason Ann, Russell Wilson,

19:01

and it ended up being the third round pick that worked out. And

19:03

they didn't think Russell Wilson was gonna

19:05

be who he turned out to be, or else they would

19:07

have taken him earlier.

19:08

So I just keep trying them. You know, no, you

19:10

might hit one.

19:11

I've said, I've talked about it on the show before, but remember

19:13

having a conversation on the rooftop of a downtown,

19:16

LA like elementary

19:18

school and being taken aback by how

19:21

much Carol was talking about Russell Wilson, even

19:23

though we had done all this writing and reporting about

19:25

Matt Flynn signing with the team earlier

19:27

in the off season.

19:28

It was like, oh okay.

19:30

Also, the Eagles, by the way, did some business

19:33

on the defensive side of the ball. They signed

19:35

former Buccaneers linebacker Devin

19:37

White to a one year contract. So that

19:40

is a former first round pick White

19:42

as I recall, second team All Pro

19:45

and Worth a flyer there and.

19:46

People were talking, you know, talking about him. It was like, could

19:49

he be super Bowl MVP? He had a monster playoffrom

19:51

Worth a flyer, but really shows he's

19:54

the type of guy that color announcers were. I always

19:56

used to be like, oh, he's one of the best linebackers. Linking against

19:58

the free agency and nobody wanted. They also signed

20:01

you boy, Jake Elliott to a nice big contract. Kickers

20:03

make it the great money's these days. Finally,

20:06

well, what is it relative to the cap percentage?

20:09

Well, you're right, it's not much.

20:10

It's time for kickers to really take a bite into

20:13

the salary cap. That's what I want, not just more money

20:15

because there's more money being spent for a year.

20:17

You're doing twenty four million dollar contract.

20:19

It's pretty good though. That's that's

20:21

the highest. Now we would actually have to stay on the

20:23

team that whole time to get the end.

20:25

I'm sure it's backloaded.

20:27

But the way he's kicked, he's been as consistent

20:29

as anyone in the league since he started. Other than like Justin

20:31

Ducker, he could actually get all that money.

20:32

He's a badass. He certainly is also

20:35

Keenan Allen badass? Did

20:37

you know Allen?

20:40

Last year? He was the one

20:42

consistent threat on that offense

20:44

after Austin Eckler went into

20:47

a quick decline and Mike

20:49

Williams blew out his acl Keenan

20:51

Allen with Justin Herbert last

20:53

season just kept chugging along. He had one hundred

20:55

and eight catches, then gets

20:57

injured. He missed the last almost quarter

20:59

of the sea and he finished with one hundred and eight

21:01

catches for twelve hundred yards,

21:06

seven or eight touchdowns.

21:08

So obviously a premier producer.

21:11

And now he's on the move because the Chargers,

21:13

still dealing with cap Hell,

21:16

send Allen to the Bears.

21:19

So he is entering the final year of

21:21

a four year extension he signed with the Chargers before

21:24

the start of the twenty twenty seasons. Now, the thirty

21:26

two year old joins a Bears

21:29

wide receiver group that GREGI

21:31

is starting to look pretty

21:34

frisky, especially with Caleb

21:36

Williams obviously on his way in it seems.

21:38

And the number nine overall draft pick,

21:40

which is their own draft pick. And I

21:43

don't think they're necessarily done. This

21:45

is such a good class at receiver. Some people have

21:47

mentioned them because they've they've still got extra picks.

21:49

They just picked up another one.

21:50

I guess it's in the future for fields, but could

21:53

they move up for one of these three wide receivers

21:56

at nine and really complete

21:58

that group? Because Alan he

22:00

raises the floor. But he's thirty two years old on

22:02

the last year of his contract. Whether he's there long term

22:04

or not, we'll see, he said, you know in

22:06

the opening press conference. Look, I'm I'm very

22:09

open to signing long term here. I wouldn't have come here

22:11

otherwise. I loved what he said

22:13

about not taking a pay cut. I

22:15

do want to circle back to what the Chargers are doing after

22:17

we talk Alt with because

22:20

they got Bosa and Mac to take a pay cup

22:22

and he was just like, that was the best year of my

22:24

career. I was the best player on the team. I'm not taking a tay

22:27

cut. And he is due

22:29

twenty three million dollars this year and

22:31

the Bears are going to pay it to him. So it's like it's

22:33

almost like he's he's getting a franchise tag

22:35

plus from the Bears and he deserves

22:38

it right now. But I

22:41

get why the Chargers, in such cap

22:43

straits were asking him to take a pay

22:45

cut, and I get why the Bears are doing this. It's

22:47

a fun It's a fun group to me. Him

22:50

and DJ Moore are a great tandem because

22:52

they have similar traits

22:55

where it's just gonna be very tough for defenses guys

22:57

that get open. I do think you kind

22:59

of want what bigger, physical,

23:01

maybe vertical guy to fill

23:03

out the group.

23:04

But it's a great tandem and that could happen

23:07

with that draft pick.

23:08

Let's see in the Chargers

23:10

by the way, yeah sore. More details

23:12

came out on what they did with back with Mac

23:15

and Bosa. I just found it interesting. Those guys took

23:17

significant pay cuts, but they really set

23:19

up the new contracts that they were like our one year

23:21

contracts.

23:22

It was really a win win.

23:23

I give them a lot of credit the player and the team

23:25

where they really reduced their cap

23:27

hits. They're gonna have some cap pain

23:29

next year getting rid of them, but they're almost certainly

23:31

gone after this year, but not nearly as much as it would have

23:33

been this year, so they get one more year out of them.

23:35

They convinced them to take pretty good pay cuts,

23:38

and so.

23:38

It wasn't hey, we're gonna blow everything up

23:41

right now, let's let's try to keep you

23:43

know, playing at a high level. Alan didn't want to do

23:45

it, but they convinced those two guys to do it. And those

23:47

two guys are almost certainly gonna move on after this year,

23:49

but they get one more year of them.

23:51

Yeah, I like, I like the way they handled

23:53

it. So we'll see what happens. But if

23:55

Mike Williams doesn't come back and he's visiting

23:58

with the Panthers, the Jets, I believe, the

24:00

Eagles, so that move could.

24:02

Be Steelers Steelers, which is that would be a

24:04

frisky one if he went to the Jets.

24:06

Are the Steelers makes a lot of sense, But

24:09

there's.

24:09

Also been talk that he might the Chargers. Now if

24:11

they've moved, Allen might be open to bringing him

24:13

back on a more cap friendly deal

24:16

they do have. If that doesn't happen, they got

24:18

a lot of work to do in terms of

24:20

building an acceptable

24:23

stable around justin Herbert. But

24:25

yeah, it does feel like a two year plan here

24:28

for Harbaugh. All right, let's talk

24:30

about the Jets, who make

24:33

a big signing this weekend. They

24:35

sign left tackle Tyron Smith, formerly

24:38

of the Cowboys, to a one year contract.

24:41

It's a deal that's worth with incentives

24:43

up to twenty million, which is obviously big

24:45

time money for a left tackle, but he's got to hit a bunch of

24:47

incentives to get He's got to stay healthy, which

24:50

has been part of his story at thirty three

24:52

years old. However, GREGI

24:54

for a guy that has consistently

24:57

graded out Pro Football

24:59

Focus and elsewhere as

25:02

one of the top blind side protectors

25:04

in the league, I feel like this was a home run

25:07

for the Jets to get him on a one year deal, and you

25:09

just hope and this has not been

25:12

something they've been connected to with

25:14

health on their offensive line. But if he stays

25:16

healthy, this is a big signing for the Jets,

25:18

who have now remade their offensive

25:20

line ahead of the draft, which

25:23

means that opens up their options in that

25:26

avenue.

25:26

Yeah, it's huge for them, and I think the

25:28

base salary is only like six and a half million.

25:30

Which I was like, Wow, Tyrone Smiths only getting

25:33

He must have been super annoyed about his market to

25:35

sign this.

25:36

Right, And the reporting

25:38

is that the Jets were a little surprised that he took

25:40

the deal in the end because he just stop me, we're

25:42

going to be out on him. And whether

25:45

he was annoyed at the Cowboys and just wanted to move

25:47

on from them, or the Jets were

25:49

just a better opportunity. The Patriots were reportedly

25:52

maybe maybe in on this and Patriots

25:54

don't really have a path, a great path to

25:56

being great this year, and maybe the

25:58

Jets structured it in a way where like they were

26:01

the only team that was like, well, you can make twenty million

26:03

if you actually play and you ball out.

26:04

I think it's a game changing move for

26:06

them.

26:07

It's a boomer Boss move, but this is the ultimate boomer

26:09

Bus season for them, so I think it's

26:11

great. Next Gen stats had him as the number

26:13

one tackle in the league last year

26:15

when he was just in one on one matchup,

26:18

so it's just single, I'm blocking

26:20

you. He had the third most snaps

26:22

of any tackle in the league, so he's not getting help. It's

26:25

like, I'm just blocking you. No one's helping me.

26:28

And according to them, he gave up the

26:30

fewest amount of pressures per snap

26:32

of any freaking tackle in

26:34

the league, so he was playing an elite level. I

26:36

kind of think he is a Hall of Famer. He's not that

26:39

old, but he has had pretty serious back injuries.

26:41

Look, their process hasn't been great because Joe Douglas said

26:43

he's the old line guy. And they went

26:45

into this offseason needing to fill three offensive

26:47

line starters. And like history tells you

26:49

between Tyrone Smith, John Simpson, and

26:51

Morgan Moses, like one or two of those probably

26:54

won't work out.

26:54

That's what history would.

26:56

But on paper, they did about as well as they possibly

26:58

could have going into this offseason.

27:00

Yeah, they And here's the thing, I was texting

27:02

with my Jet fan buddies and and

27:05

I've been saying, I've I'm pessimistic

27:07

about this year. Just seems there's too many red flags flapping

27:09

around this team with Aaron Rodgers, even

27:11

though, according to a report, now will not be chosen

27:14

as the VP candidate of

27:17

RFK.

27:17

But which is funny because supposedly it was rfk's

27:20

donors believing that like he wasn't

27:22

a good choice.

27:23

And it's also like when they chose a billionaire woman

27:25

instead who can pay.

27:26

Yeah, not to get sidetracked, but also

27:29

all the all the we got it.

27:31

We need to start to realize with this

27:33

Rogers stuff, like he

27:35

loves it, like the fact that it

27:37

was never a real thing.

27:39

It was never gonna happen.

27:40

Yeah, but as long as we're all like our

27:44

mouths agape and we're talking about it, that's what

27:46

he likes. He likes people being

27:48

either offended or annoyed with him

27:50

or just talking about him. And

27:53

that is part of the Rogers deal

27:56

and it's frustrating, but like he got

27:58

what he wanted out of that.

28:00

I don't know, man about a and Rodgers on TV

28:02

is a lie.

28:04

He just might want to be the vice president of the United States.

28:07

I wouldn't doubt that.

28:08

I mean, in this moment in time, I honestly

28:10

think it was more about look at me, how I'm connected

28:12

to this powerful figure, you know, ostensibly

28:15

powerful figure. I think one thing at Rogers

28:17

did not and maybe this is something

28:20

with Andrew Moore shan in a bit. One thing

28:22

that Aaran Rodgers did not take into

28:25

account is when you are saying

28:28

weird stuff allegedly or

28:31

crazy conspiracy theory

28:33

stuff as a football player, it might

28:35

not get picked up. But once you are all of a sudden

28:37

connected to a presidential candidate, people

28:40

might care about alleged comments

28:42

about Sandy Hook and maybe he learned

28:44

something, but I don't know if he learns anything, honestly.

28:47

But the Jets offensive line back to that I

28:49

think will be good. I was texting with my Jet fan buddies.

28:53

It only has to like once, just

28:55

like one year, Like these guys

28:57

got to stay healthy and everything has to work. Like

29:00

every other team, it happens like once, like

29:04

like once, like look at look

29:06

at their team with the Rogers and

29:09

the left tackle now there and Breece

29:11

Hall and Wilson in that defense.

29:13

Like we just need one year where things kind

29:15

of go right.

29:17

I have I can't remember just once a

29:19

team on like a now or else

29:21

year more than the twenty twenty

29:24

four Jets, and those usually don't go well.

29:25

Let that be said general, not in I

29:28

don't believe.

29:29

But I'm just thinking myself, Oh, just once,

29:35

just once, it has to work.

29:37

You're the most optimist Jets fan I know, and

29:39

I love you for that.

29:41

All right, let's take a break and then we'll continue

29:43

the news, right,

29:50

Welcome back, We

29:53

welcome back. We have more news to hit, so let's

29:55

spin through it before we welcome Andrew Marshaan.

29:58

When I hosted the show When You missed

30:00

one, and we came back with did you do it? Aside,

30:02

I didn't do it, and some of our listeners

30:04

got on me that they were saying that showed a

30:07

lack of confidence to not even give it a shot. But

30:09

I thought it was your ip. But now that I've heard that note,

30:11

I was like, Okay, I'll give it a shot.

30:12

Next time. I'll give it. Oh.

30:14

I think your first instinct was right that it'd be

30:16

cool to check with me. But I'm

30:18

totally on board with it being more a uh,

30:21

it's of the podcast as a whole,

30:23

like no I P I also would like to hear you try

30:25

it, actually try it.

30:26

Here I hit it, and let's hear Greggi's

30:28

version of the all right,

30:34

all right, welcome back, all

30:36

right, I need that we're working show.

30:39

That's good.

30:39

It's good, all right, last

30:41

one, and I'll do it just so you can get it in your

30:43

head for the next shot.

30:46

We'll do it one more at the end of the shot. All

30:50

right, welcome back.

30:51

It's like a there's like a descending

30:54

It's like a staircase of anticipation.

30:58

Let's get back to the news. M

31:00

mmmm.

31:00

Marque's Hollywood Brown got a job

31:03

and it's the best. I think it's the best possible

31:05

job in sports, or at least in the NFL

31:08

right now, wide receiver of the Kansas City

31:10

Chiefs a one year contract

31:12

worth up to eleven million, and

31:16

this.

31:16

Was overdue, I thought, for kid, it's very you.

31:18

Know, again, we talked about all the time, teams make a

31:20

lot of mistakes and free agency handing

31:22

out too much money to try to upgrade,

31:24

maybe just a little bit. But still with

31:27

the Chiefs after watching them for four months,

31:29

even during their Super Bowl run, and you're like, God,

31:31

stop wasting Patrick Mahomes

31:34

brilliant with all these haminaggers. Do

31:36

I come out of the first week of free agency feeling

31:39

like incredibly bullish because Hollywood

31:42

Brown is that guy. No, not personally,

31:44

but again, maybe he clicks with

31:47

Mahomes and becomes a true star,

31:49

which he is. There have been moments

31:51

where he has displayed that, But the Ravens

31:53

thought enough to get rid of him, right,

31:55

and so did the second team

31:57

he was with, the Cardinals. So yeah,

32:00

it's just kind of a bit of a math for me.

32:03

Too many drops out of mark.

32:04

Brown does have a unique skill

32:06

set and that he gets opened deep down the field.

32:09

And there's only so many of those guys that do it. I mean,

32:11

he's an absolute upgrade from Marcus

32:13

valdiscounting for less money.

32:16

So I think they did smart business based

32:18

on the cap space that they have. The

32:20

base salaries only seven million. I

32:22

haven't seen what the incentives were, but I saw

32:25

them referred to as relatively

32:27

easy to reach, like

32:29

a four million dollar incentive. So if he goes

32:31

and has a nice season, but even then, one million, eleven

32:34

one year, eleven million is nothing

32:36

for receivers in this market. So comparing

32:39

him to Calvin really, yes, I'd rather have Calvin Ridley,

32:41

of course, but for the money that they were at,

32:43

I don't think there's that big of a gap between those two

32:45

guys. I think they're they're nice players,

32:48

and Kansas City still has to get someone

32:50

in the draft, and I think they will.

32:53

I'll throw this out there just in it also buttons

32:55

up the last topic. We didn't

32:58

touch on it, but everyone pegging

33:00

the Jets at ten to take a tackle, and

33:03

now that they went and got Tyron Smith, they

33:05

can potentially go in another direction.

33:07

They could also trade down.

33:08

What you're hearing reports that Joe Douglas is looking to trade

33:10

down like I would love again as a

33:12

football fan, Chiefs come up

33:14

and get a monster wide receiver prospect, and

33:16

let's see if you could build another Tyreek

33:19

Hill type connection with Patrick Mahomes.

33:22

I'm hoping. I guess what I'm saying is that they have.

33:24

A big move ahead of them still that hasn't

33:26

occurred yet, because then you got

33:28

Rashid Rice, Hollywood Brown, Kelsey

33:31

in the latter stage of his career.

33:33

They see it.

33:34

To me, there's still that one piece missing.

33:36

You get that offense back where it needs or should

33:38

be, and we'll see if they get it done.

33:40

Brown is a good two slash three. Rice

33:43

is going to be I think a good two in

33:46

the long run. But yeah, they need one

33:48

to kind of push those two guys down this class

33:51

and you never know, but man, these classes

33:53

have been so.

33:54

Good at receiver lately.

33:56

Is so deep that you know, the Draftnicks,

33:59

the Jeremias would say they might not even

34:01

need to move up really to take a pretty exciting

34:04

prospect there late in the first gear.

34:06

You know my feeling on Jeremiah.

34:08

And his takes and how Jeremiah

34:12

all right, The Bills agreed to terms with the wide

34:14

receiver Curtis Samuel, your guy you

34:16

like yourself from Curtis Samuel, formerly

34:18

of the Commanders, on a three year,

34:21

twenty four million dollar contract. Again

34:23

a lot of funny money here, it's worth

34:25

up to thirty million.

34:27

But anyway, I like this one.

34:29

Greg, I'm kind of with you.

34:30

I think Curtis Samuel, in the right setup,

34:33

can really be a dangerous player.

34:36

Man.

34:36

The right setup was with Josh

34:38

Allen in Buffalo. I like this one,

34:41

no doubt. He's only twenty seven years

34:43

old. Somehow it feels like he's been in the league forever.

34:45

I don't know how that really computes.

34:48

I guess he turns twenty eight.

34:50

He must have been in the league when he was nineteen. That's insane.

34:53

They will know how to use him. Joe Brady, though,

34:55

actually gets a little too cute sometimes. But I can

34:57

imagine a lot of getting too cute with Dalton k

35:00

James Cook.

35:00

And we'll see.

35:01

There hasn't been any buzz whatsoever about getting

35:03

rid of step On Diggs. I think that would be more

35:05

on draft weekend, if that ever would happen.

35:08

But the fact that it's been so quiet and

35:10

now you have Diggs, Shakir Samuel.

35:12

That's a versatile groups. It's not incredible,

35:15

but it's it's good enough to go.

35:16

Win all right.

35:17

In other news, the Los Angeles

35:20

Rams doing more business. They add a

35:22

backup quarterback to their room,

35:25

Jimmy Garoppolo. Uh,

35:27

he may have heard of Jimmy G. You may know that

35:29

guy. He now lands as

35:31

a first time Well I'm

35:33

trying to think, Actually, shouldn't say that, because obviously

35:35

he was famously and trenches

35:38

a backup early on, But is this the first contract

35:40

he has signed now where he is the backup?

35:43

I mean, for a minute, he was the highest paid quarterback

35:45

in the league with San Francisco Predictions.

35:47

Yeah, they bet on him big and he had that early

35:50

stretch and then the Raiders and yeah, what a

35:52

the decline in terms of his like

35:54

the types of contracts he was getting from this year to last

35:56

year.

35:56

So he lands now behind Matthew

35:58

Stafford in Los Angeles.

36:00

A nice.

36:01

It feels like Jimmy G just hanging out in LA

36:04

like in Malibu.

36:06

It feels like it makes sense. It

36:08

makes sense.

36:09

But it's a deal, a

36:11

one year contract, which is you know, very

36:13

different from the three year, seventy

36:15

three million dollar deal. He signed last offseason

36:18

and then played only seven games and then the Raiders got the

36:20

hell out of that deal. So he lands

36:22

there as they're backup. They also make a sign

36:24

signing and we're going to get to the Rams defense, which is

36:26

now going to be very different because of one missing

36:29

defensive lineman. But they assigned safety

36:32

Cameron Curl formerly of Washington, to

36:34

a two year contract. Former

36:36

seventh round pick who

36:38

did some good things.

36:40

With Washington right quite

36:42

highly ranked in my top

36:44

one to one and other top

36:46

one, you know, hundreds in terms of free agents, top

36:49

fifty type player, one of the better safeties that was available.

36:51

Kind of calms down a trouble

36:54

spot, I believe for them. It's

36:56

interesting that they've now become the

36:58

Rams, like the home for Way were quarterbacks.

37:01

You get Baker in twenty twenty two, Carson

37:03

Wentz quietly started

37:06

a game or did he just come in, but he played most

37:08

of that Week eighteen game that no one, no one

37:10

watched. He was actually okay in that game. He hasn't gotten a job

37:12

yet. And now you get Jimmy g. It's

37:15

a there's something about Stafford

37:17

and Jimmy G.

37:17

There's a lot.

37:18

It's the it's again pretty

37:20

pick privilege, right, that these

37:23

these wonder kinds, they they believe they could

37:26

fix what was wrong.

37:27

With the case.

37:28

It's almost like pretty McVeigh privilege that everyone

37:30

wants to go play for him at

37:32

a discount when their career is kind of at

37:34

a talented player is at a crossroads

37:37

because McVeigh can make you go look

37:39

good. So it's a smart move by Jimmy G. For

37:41

some reason, Jimmy G feels like a guy. I'm

37:43

not taking a shot here, but

37:45

like you know, you hear sometimes like, well he maybe

37:48

it wouldn't mind being a backup for a little while.

37:50

He's had it, like it's a lot going on.

37:52

A lot of injuries, Yeah, but a lot say

37:54

that if he wasn't so like smoking

37:57

hot, right, but if

37:59

he was busted up, dude, that's

38:01

probably not your take here. He was

38:04

at the center of a power

38:06

struggle, Colleen,

38:09

that that helped divide the greatest

38:12

dynasty in the history of the sport.

38:14

After that, he was like the highest

38:16

paid play You say, his role in that was he

38:19

was at the center of him.

38:20

He had nothing to do with it. He just got drafted by that.

38:22

But he was there and Robert Kraft had

38:25

had one opinion. Bill Belichick,

38:27

I think would have moved forward with Jimmy G's

38:29

sooner.

38:30

And then it became this whole thing. Tie

38:33

this to your take, go ahead.

38:34

I just mean that he's been through a lot. Then he goes

38:36

to San Francisco. It's massive injuries,

38:39

huge ups, two huge downs, letdowns

38:41

in the playoffs, gets bench for a seventh rounder

38:43

in the end, it makes a huge kind the Raiders

38:46

things a face like, Hey, let's just go as

38:48

you said, hang out in Malabu. Maybe let's chill

38:50

a little bit for a nice organization. Let's

38:52

take a little research.

38:53

I guess maybe we're kind of in this. We're landing

38:55

in the silver place. But I don't get the vibe

38:58

that like he doesn't really want. I

39:00

feel like you're insinuating that, like he's

39:02

he's.

39:02

Just said it's a good time. He also had surgery on his foot.

39:04

He's a lot of injury.

39:05

It's just been through a lot and has

39:08

famously gone on some big time dates

39:10

in La Oh yeah, mister.

39:12

Chow crazy one. That's

39:14

one of the craziest stories in the last ten years.

39:16

No longer with us. Look it up. The

39:18

restaurant in the state.

39:20

I was like, no, I think she's They

39:22

die young sometimes, like

39:24

wrestlers.

39:26

Very similar. The Vikings

39:29

make a big move in the draft. They agree

39:32

with the Texans on a trade that nets

39:34

Minnesota and an additional first round pick in

39:36

the twenty twenty four draft. Rap Sheet

39:38

and pell Saro had this on Friday. In

39:41

the deal, the Vikings acquired the number twenty

39:43

three overall pick in the first round and number

39:45

two thirty two in the seventh. The Texans

39:47

get the number forty two pick

39:49

in the second round, a number eighty

39:51

eight one eighty eight pick in the sixth round, and

39:53

an additional second round pick in

39:55

twenty twenty five. So

39:58

the Texans and everybody loves team

40:00

builders love second round picks. Never

40:03

forget that. They love it. They love the financial flexibility

40:05

they bring. They trust their internal process

40:08

to find a guy that's really a first rounder in their

40:10

mind in the second round. So the Texans like, we'll

40:12

move a little bit back, we'll get some extra assets

40:15

after day one. And now the Minnesota

40:17

Vikings, and I don't love this, Greg,

40:19

you know, I love my storyline

40:22

here about Darnold getting a chance, a

40:25

true chance to be a starter this year. But

40:27

now that they are armed with two first round picks,

40:30

they have the ammunition to move up

40:32

to the top of the first round.

40:33

Let's see if Minnesota does it.

40:35

Yeah, I think it was Quessi who or

40:37

maybe it was Kevin O'Connell who even admitted, Look,

40:39

we made this deal with kind

40:41

of an idea of what our

40:44

ideal path here is. We'll

40:47

see if we can execute it or whether to hop it

40:49

or not. But either way, we're happy to have this pick.

40:52

It's very clear the entire NFL

40:54

knows they're making this pick to have

40:56

a chance to go take a quarterback, to go

40:59

package that eleventh and maybe twenty third

41:01

pick, or or just be in a position

41:04

where they can take that quarterback.

41:06

You're gonna have to move up.

41:08

There's gonna be a lot of speculation

41:10

whether the Patriots move out of three or

41:13

not. A lot of people believe they're

41:15

gonna stay put and take a quarterback there,

41:17

and then it would be on Minnesota to trade

41:20

up and draft the fourth quarterback,

41:22

who everyone presumes is JJ

41:24

McCarthy. Intrigue,

41:27

but it's a lot of presumption. I don't know A

41:29

lot of times these like logic.

41:32

I went back and listen to one of our Like a lot

41:34

of times, no one

41:36

knows what's gonna Like, no one knew they were trading

41:38

up for Trubisky, no one knew they were taking

41:41

it, you know, taking Blake Portos

41:43

Like literally no one said any.

41:44

Of that stuff. So who knows.

41:46

Maybe maybe Minnesota has a different idea, maybe New

41:48

England has a different idea. But it's

41:50

spicy because according to the little pick

41:52

chart, the Texans won this trade pretty significantly.

41:55

I mean, it is a good deal of business for them in what's

41:57

believed to be the deepest draft

41:59

in a law long time. To just move down

42:01

eighteen spots and you get a whole second round pick

42:03

for next year. That's a nice job by the Texans.

42:06

I mean the Texan I mean, I'm pushing hard

42:09

and I know there's millions of listeners that want

42:11

this as well. For the Vikings to run

42:13

it back his team around the NFL man

42:16

the Texans futures seemingly

42:19

suddenly so bright.

42:20

Both in there you would point

42:22

out maybe last year was their chance.

42:24

But you know for the Texans where they're really

42:26

like a fresh new bi ale young

42:29

option, new bile young option.

42:32

Yeah, well that ship sailed

42:35

it.

42:35

Would be fun, though I'm in on it. It would be still

42:37

be fun. Eight o'clock

42:39

to light.

42:41

Curse of atn Lton vander Ash retires

42:43

after getting cut by the Cowboys. Michael

42:46

Gallup, Both Gallup,

42:48

Gregie and Vandersh guests on Around

42:50

the NFL Live from Cowboys camp last summer.

42:53

Yeah, vander Ash neck injuries. We'll always

42:55

remember what a player he was early in his career.

42:57

One of Chris Wesleyan's favorites. All

43:00

the best to him because he would have had a much different career

43:02

if not for these neck injuries.

43:04

Unfortunately, And how about Gallups knee injury.

43:06

He was really on a great path and now he has to

43:08

start over somewhere else. Patriots signed Rogers

43:10

Rover kJ Osborne and the Browns hire

43:13

Mike Rabel as a consultant, h and

43:15

sign another quarterback, Tyler

43:17

Huntley. Devondre Campbell signs with the Niners.

43:19

Jordan Fuller, DJ Wannham

43:21

and Dane Jackson end up with Carolina.

43:24

What a weird quarterback room for

43:26

the Browns. They got a lot of quarterbacks. Just makes

43:28

you wonder I do the Four Horsemen. Aj Dillon

43:30

returns to the Packers.

43:32

Interesting.

43:33

Joe Mixon gets a big new contract with the

43:35

Texans. Titans cut free agent bust Andre

43:37

Dillard. Steelers signed Van Jefferson.

43:40

I love that they are moving on

43:42

quickly when the Titans make a mistake

43:44

and Andre Dillard and I love that combo aj

43:47

Dillon and.

43:47

Josh Jake was a frisky, big old

43:50

combo in the backfield.

43:51

Cardinals signed Jonah Williams the thirty million, two year deal.

43:53

Jake Elliott we mentioned gets a new deal. Seahawks

43:55

signed linebacker Jerome Baker and Nathan Peterman.

43:57

Lands with the Saints. Saints

44:00

doing let's

44:06

take a break and then welcome in our

44:08

first guest.

44:11

Realistically need at least twenty five yards.

44:14

Love pressure up the middle,

44:17

runs away, throws across.

44:19

His body and not his picks.

44:22

Footy dunners have it. Green Law

44:25

still up. He needs to get down. Green

44:28

Law is still on us. He's gotta go down, Just go

44:30

down and goes to the number. San Francisco

44:35

takes over.

44:38

Well, it's kind of fitting. Jordan

44:40

Love told us this week. He goes, listen,

44:43

there's some throws I've made that I know breage

44:45

kind of the cardinal rules of quarterback and the

44:48

one at the top of the list is you never throw

44:51

the ball late back across the

44:53

field.

44:55

There's the call from Kevin Burckhart and Greg Glson,

44:58

who you know, really quick

45:00

rise in the industry in terms of being seen as

45:03

maybe the best or if not, in the conversation

45:06

in terms of broadcast teams, and yet their

45:09

time as at the top of the food chain

45:11

with Fox could be over with

45:13

the arrival of Tom Brady.

45:14

And that's why it's time to talk to This

45:17

is our dude.

45:18

This is the guy that you want to go

45:20

to on all matters sports

45:22

media, perhaps beyond. We

45:24

haven't had personal conversations about life

45:26

and things of that nature yet, but maybe down the

45:28

road that occurs as well. Andrew Marshawn, formerly

45:31

of The New York Post, now with The Athletics,

45:33

senior writer covering sports media. Welcome

45:36

back to Around the NFL.

45:37

Andrew, Yeah, thanks guys,

45:39

thanks for having me.

45:41

Yeah, so we just played that clip.

45:43

I think this is where we got to start, Greggie, because

45:45

I think everyone wants to know what's

45:48

gonna happen, Andrew at the with

45:51

Tom Brady signs this massive deal

45:53

with Fox, it's been a

45:55

we've talked about it.

45:56

On the show. There's been some doubts is he

45:58

ever actually gonna do it? I'm going

46:00

to lose a sandwich on it.

46:01

Yeah, we have a sandwich prop on this. I said, he's

46:03

gonna do it.

46:04

Look at the money and he's taking the year off to

46:06

prepare and all that.

46:07

And now here we are heading into that season.

46:09

What happens with Greg Olsen, who's

46:11

obviously emerged as a superstar

46:13

in this field, who's under contract If I'm

46:15

not mistaken.

46:17

Yeah, Greg Olsen will move to the number two

46:19

booth with Joe Davis. The way

46:21

his contract was structured. When he's

46:23

number one, he's making around

46:25

ten million. At number two, he'll

46:27

make around three million. Brady

46:30

comes in his salary. I also

46:32

reported thirty seven and a half million dollars

46:34

on season.

46:37

Crazy.

46:38

Yeah, it's Liverpool, and

46:41

so he he's been working hard,

46:43

talking to a lot of people. Everyone I speak to every

46:45

time I speak to, you know, at

46:47

Joe Bunck or Mike Turko, Whoever's like,

46:49

oh yeah, Brady fucked.

46:51

So he's talking to everybody.

46:52

He called Payton up and

46:54

so he's trying to to

46:56

figure out how.

46:57

To do this.

46:58

And we all know Tom Brady.

46:59

So the expectation he's he

47:02

is working hard, which I've already heard, and

47:04

he's gonna work hard and try to be really good at this.

47:07

I'm I'm I guess I don't know why

47:09

I'm surprised by this. I shouldn't be. He's

47:12

got the time. He must

47:14

love that. There's some doubt about like

47:17

whether he's going to be good, But I just figured

47:19

a year away from the game, is it normal

47:22

for a guy to be preparing this? But I guess no

47:24

one's ever had an opportunity like

47:26

this, But no one's ever been paid like this either. I mean

47:28

he is he has a bigger cap hit than

47:31

almost any player in the NFL. I

47:33

mean he is making more money to broadcast

47:36

than every player in the NFL,

47:39

minus like nine quarterbacks.

47:42

And that's about it. Like he it is

47:44

crazy to me.

47:46

Was there any doubt, like through this process from

47:48

the Fox side of things, that he would follow through with this?

47:51

And like, what what does it entail that he's

47:53

working on it? Is this just kind of like smoke

47:55

to make people quiet down?

47:58

If Fox has had no doubt that he's gonna do it,

48:00

it's other voices that

48:03

have thought that, you know, what this is a hedge,

48:05

And let me just say one thing, and I think he's gonna

48:07

do it.

48:07

I want to be clear.

48:09

On the podcast they used to do with John Oran, we had

48:11

the Brady Meter where I did percentages

48:13

of him doing it, and it was always

48:15

above fifty percent, except for one episode

48:17

where I went.

48:18

To forty nine.

48:19

I think when the Raider ownership came about, and

48:22

that caused a lot of waves

48:24

and Brady even ended up responding, I write

48:26

a whatever anyways to

48:29

you directly, Well,

48:31

what happened is I don't like to go on

48:34

these podcasts and blame and blame aggregators,

48:36

but the aggregators got it.

48:37

It was just an opinion. It was fun, It

48:40

wasn't really a serious thing. And then.

48:43

The aggregators got it and it was like I was

48:46

reporting it, which I wasn't. Uh, And

48:48

then Brady responded to an SI

48:50

tweet and so any

48:52

long story short that I had to write a column.

48:54

It was just a pain. The whole thing. I wish I've never

48:56

said it.

48:57

I love that, you know.

48:59

So the question, though, the thing I would

49:01

say is that if he doesn't do it,

49:03

he's not gonna He'll say

49:05

no at the end right, like he's gonna

49:07

go through the process and let's just say behind

49:10

the scenes when he's practicing, he doesn't think

49:12

he's good. He's gonna embarrass himself. I don't think that's

49:14

gonna happen. I think he's gonna do it. Let's it say

49:16

that's the case or something else comes up. I

49:18

don't think. I wouldn't. I wouldn't

49:21

start saving up for that sandwich who owe, whoever.

49:23

You owe just yet.

49:26

I would wait because I think, you

49:28

know, if he if he does bow out, it's gonna be he's gonna

49:30

it's gonna show his intentions that he's that he wants

49:33

to do it.

49:33

Until he does it.

49:34

I still I'm more like the Brady meter now

49:36

is in the high nineties, but

49:38

still not a one hundred. Hasn't hit a hundred hill

49:40

a hundred that day that he does it. But

49:44

I think he'll be pretty good.

49:45

Not to conflate to sectors

49:48

and two things you've recently reported on, but you also did

49:50

that deep diving again. Now he's at the athletic

49:52

Oh yeah, Andrew, you know, he

49:55

gets to really spread out and write a little

49:57

deeper pieces. I feel like we're reading the nepotism

49:59

p and it made me think.

50:01

I was reading about you know, Jack Collinsworth

50:03

and how they installed him

50:06

on the Notre Dame Games and after a couple of

50:08

years they're like, whoa, I don't know about

50:10

this. So they had to pivot of course,

50:12

son of Chris Collinsworth with

50:15

this situation, like in

50:17

terms of risk for Fox,

50:19

because let's say.

50:21

Tom does it. Let's say Tom stinks,

50:23

because it happens.

50:25

We know what happens is that there's a long history

50:27

of superstar legendary players.

50:30

It's like we're talking about pretty pick privilege. It's

50:33

like pretty legend privilege here, Like you go right

50:35

to this number one spot.

50:36

What if he stinks? Do they end up in a spot

50:39

potentially.

50:39

Where Brady he's not doing well, either

50:42

removes himself from the equation or they have to

50:44

make a move and then Olsen's out the door. Because

50:46

the way they handle it, How big a risk are we talking

50:48

here for Fox?

50:49

Could they lose everything?

50:52

Well?

50:53

Number one TV contracts are

50:55

not like NFL contracts, so it

50:57

would have to be Brady's decision is

51:00

not gonna go eat you

51:02

know, thirty seven and a half million dollars

51:05

a year for ten years work

51:07

with him.

51:07

Yeah, it's ten years old myself.

51:10

So Brady would have to feel like, you know what, I don't

51:12

want to do this. I think for them

51:15

for him not to be it, it's like it's all like. And

51:17

that's why when he signed the contract. That's why why

51:19

there's so many people saying it's a hedge, because you

51:22

know, he did it because they kept offering more

51:24

and more money. And then I got to a point where he said,

51:26

you know what, let me try this. And

51:28

I'm not saying he's not into it now, but this isn't

51:30

some love of being

51:32

a game analyst that he has. I mean,

51:34

that's hard to believe. He did a story

51:37

a couple of years ago with the Wall Street Journals

51:39

Jason Gay where he was asked about

51:41

the broadcast booth and basically said

51:43

he had no interest and so the money got

51:45

so high. So it's not gonna

51:47

be Fox pulling the plug. It

51:49

would have to be Brady saying I don't want to do it.

51:52

And so look, I think he'll be good. But

51:55

if your doomsday scenario.

51:57

Yeah, I mean I listen.

51:59

I always for the best stories that would be interesting.

52:01

Let's put that'd be fascinating.

52:03

If he were not good but still wanted

52:05

to.

52:06

Do it, that would be an interesting

52:08

story to see how that played out.

52:09

Yeah, I look at it like through

52:11

the podcast Lens too. He's done a podcast

52:14

with Jim Gray, the Let's Go Podcast, but it's like he's

52:17

just sort of kind of doing it. You know, he's

52:19

on vacation, he's not putting

52:21

his all into it. It's like Jim Gray just

52:24

asking him questions like they were on the

52:26

radio or so. So it's like he's not trying

52:28

to make the best podcast possible. He's

52:30

just like tipping his toe into it. Every once

52:32

in a while he says something interesting and that gets

52:35

picked up or whatever. But it's not like

52:37

an overly successful

52:39

podcast, largely because

52:41

he doesn't put that much into it, and so people

52:44

will catch on if that happens at the NFL,

52:46

you know, at the Fox level. But the thing that's

52:48

crazy to me is the Greg Olsen part

52:50

of it is that Tom

52:53

Brady is now Drew Bledsoe. Our

52:55

friend Tom Curran used to call Drew Bledsoe

52:57

in his contract the hood Ornament, because they signed

52:59

him to this huge hundred million dollar contract

53:02

and said, look, we're a good organization. We have

53:04

the highest paid quarterback in the league, and Drew Bledsoe

53:06

immediately started declining. They call him the hood ornament,

53:08

and every Belichick knew he kind of couldn't play.

53:11

And Tom Brady is now the hood ornament.

53:13

And if he doesn't deliver on

53:16

a level that's even somewhat close

53:18

to Greg Olsen at least.

53:20

I don't know if he cares about people like us, but it's gonna

53:22

be in you know, the athletic and other places like that,

53:24

that like he is inferior

53:27

to the guy who's number two and

53:29

is making what won twelfth

53:31

of his money, and that's

53:33

gonna get back to him, Like he's

53:35

gotta be a little concerned that, like this

53:37

guy who's already proven he's great

53:40

at it is in his same building. What

53:42

do you think that the dynamic's gonna be when

53:44

they show up to like the Fox, you know, let's

53:46

take pictures and all pretend like we're laughing and

53:48

throw a football between each other sessions.

53:52

Well, I think a couple of things.

53:54

Number One, you know, the way these guys

53:56

are judged is subjective. You

53:58

know, when you're a quarterback, you

54:00

your team wins or loses, you throw for three hundred

54:02

yards. You don't throw for three hundred yards, and so it's

54:04

a little bit more cut and dry. I

54:07

think the what you're pointing out is

54:09

if Brady's like really bad, like if he's

54:11

there's gonna be people who don't like Tom Brady

54:13

just because they don't like Tom Brady. No matter what

54:15

he does, they won't like him. But I do

54:17

think you can win over the audience. And

54:20

the one thing about it calling a

54:22

football game maybe it's

54:24

one of the hardest things to do in sportscasting,

54:27

you know, doing a podcast, you

54:30

know, he's not the same thing.

54:32

You know, it's he's controlled

54:34

environment.

54:35

You're just talking to another person, Like you said,

54:37

in the setup that Tom has, you know, Jim Gray

54:39

is really the one orchestrating everything and doing

54:42

kind of the hard work to pilot

54:44

everything, and you know Kevin Burkhart will do that

54:46

in the Fox booth, but just knowing

54:48

how to get in and out, how to translate. Obviously

54:51

he has high level thoughts about football.

54:53

But can you say that so you know, I can

54:56

understand, so the average fan can understand

54:58

and simplify it. You know, that's a question that

55:00

until you do it, you don't know, and

55:03

it has to be natural, like Romo's

55:05

success at the beginning was

55:07

because he did come off as very natural,

55:09

very relaxed, and like he was just talking

55:12

to you in your living room, as opposed to being

55:14

like, you know, trying to be a broadcaster, trying

55:16

to be somebody else.

55:17

I I agree with you, and yet

55:20

I remember when Olsen did it as an active

55:22

player, and he was good, like the first game, and a lot

55:24

of times, like when we hear like Adjason

55:26

Whitten or someone that's not good the first game, the

55:29

first yeah, you can kind of tell right away sometimes

55:31

and it never changed, like Olsen was good. I know

55:33

he's gotten better, but he was good the first game. I want to

55:35

know what your Olsen meter is, though, Like what's the

55:38

chances he's not at

55:40

Fox to start the year?

55:42

And I guess what would be the other options

55:45

because I can't I can't imagine. He's too excited

55:48

to be taking that big of a

55:50

pig. I know he's made a lot of money in his life and everything,

55:52

but like he's he's competitive

55:55

as hell.

55:55

But imagine imagine the place where he must

55:57

be because you're you have

56:00

having this great success. Everyone loves you now

56:02

it's like seven million dollar haircut,

56:04

and now you're no longer the a guy

56:06

has to be really tricky more morale

56:09

wise.

56:09

For him right now it is.

56:11

I think he'll be at Fox, he'll do the number

56:13

two games, and then I think he'll

56:15

reevaluate everything and see what's up there.

56:18

I would say, though, I don't really feel that bad for Greg

56:20

Olsen. I you know,

56:22

look at him, as he's in a great

56:24

spot. He's thirty six, thirty

56:26

seven years old, and these jobs

56:28

are now paying thirty seven a half million or

56:30

eighteen million.

56:31

Dollars right here, Brady rose

56:34

the ceiling here

56:36

for guys exactly.

56:38

And there's only a small group of people who are going to

56:40

be offered these jobs, and they're mostly Hall of

56:42

Fame quarterbacks or legendary quarterbacks.

56:44

And they tried to get Peyton for you know, the salary

56:46

structure, you know, partly,

56:48

you know, the biggest reason was ESPN couldn't

56:50

get money in a football correct, But that

56:53

was in part because Peyton kept saying no. He said no,

56:55

no, no, no, and so and

56:57

then Romo had the you know, free agent

57:00

and see where he had ESPN and CBS both

57:02

wanting him, and the NFL contracts

57:04

with the networks were up, and so that's

57:06

why they got to that level. But it's just

57:08

a small group that's in there for

57:10

these jobs and they don't open that often because they're

57:13

great jobs and they pay so well. But Greg Olsen

57:15

will get the opportunity to be

57:17

a number one. I think, I don't

57:19

know where exactly some ideas, but I'm not going

57:21

to.

57:21

Say it on your podcast, No offense.

57:24

I'll get save those, but well

57:26

there's only so many.

57:27

What do you think about you think Amazon is bringing

57:29

back the same group this year?

57:32

What's that meter? They are?

57:33

Okay, he's saving his March bombs

57:35

for no I get it, but that's a separate

57:37

issue. So I was just kiddious if they respect

57:40

March bombs, if they would think about shaking

57:42

it up, whether it was herb Street

57:44

or how I don't know.

57:46

Let's finish here because you mentioned Romo

57:48

always a subject of fascination. I

57:51

loved Andrew going out

57:53

the door at the post after a huge run there

57:57

with Tony Romo. I know you didn't write the

57:59

headline, but Tony and Jim Nantz are a mess.

58:01

With Super Bowl twenty twenty four, barreling

58:03

toward them on a headline,

58:09

What did you think about the Super Bowl performance

58:11

by the pair and what is their

58:13

future in your mind? Where do you kind of see

58:15

there? You know, is that a pair that's

58:17

going to stay together? Will they be broken up? Do

58:20

you think your feelings which are strong and

58:23

on their struggles in recent

58:25

years, you think that shared inside the building

58:27

A year after, you know, some of the criticism

58:29

really started to build and the report

58:31

had come to Jesus conversation that was held after

58:34

the previous year.

58:36

So yeah, my post super

58:39

Bowl column for the Athletic, I think their

58:41

headline was a little maybe

58:43

a little softer.

58:44

But it was pretty strong column.

58:47

You know, they kind of messed up that final call, especially

58:50

you know, Nance calls the touchdown and then

58:53

for whatever reason, you know.

58:55

Didn't was they able to finish the call.

58:56

Because Tony was going in about the Andy

58:59

Reid play and he always like

59:01

loves to say, this is the play of the game,

59:04

this is that's the play of the game. You're this is

59:06

your chance to actually say that that

59:08

won the Super Bowl. That's what it should be and

59:10

better he probably should have let silence

59:13

happen, let the crowd take it over and then give your

59:15

analysis a little bit after. So they struggled

59:17

in that Super Bowl. I think there is an

59:19

issue in terms of that chemistry between

59:21

the two of them. I think that showed up in

59:24

terms of, you know, the fundamentals that

59:26

you have in a broadcast, especially

59:28

they've been together, I think six years

59:30

now, five

59:32

or six years, they

59:36

should be.

59:36

They should know, they should have it down. When you're a team.

59:39

You guys know, you guys have done a podcast together.

59:41

You know when you're going in and out, and you

59:43

know the Super Bowl is not when you want to mess up, especially

59:45

that final call. And so yeah,

59:48

I do think they have an issue.

59:50

Do they know it?

59:52

I think at some level that they know that there's

59:54

there's problems there. Will they

59:56

do anything about it? Maybe you

59:58

know at some point, but you know, not the moment.

1:00:02

All right.

1:00:03

Andrew marshaw on check him out on the Athletic Now.

1:00:06

His latest, by the way, is a banger about

1:00:09

Lebron James and JJ Reddick teaming

1:00:11

up for a podcast

1:00:13

that all about ball, all

1:00:15

about ball, and it has one of the best

1:00:17

quotes. This is what we need, Greg, We

1:00:20

need someone that vouches

1:00:22

for us the way Maverick Carter This is

1:00:24

this quote that Andrew.

1:00:25

We need inside sources with our next this

1:00:28

is what he says about Reddick and Lebron. This

1:00:30

is like two wine masters. Somalier's

1:00:34

talking about wine, not necessarily

1:00:36

you or me arguing if I like Burgundy

1:00:38

or Bordeaux better whoa. That

1:00:41

is amazing to be called a Somalier.

1:00:44

And you got that quote, and that's what we need. We

1:00:46

need support like that. That's what we

1:00:48

needed.

1:00:49

I can do.

1:00:49

I gotta do it about it.

1:00:52

What would be like the like the analogy

1:00:55

that somebody might use for you guys.

1:00:57

Oh man, I don't know, you know that

1:01:00

that we're setting each other up like Shaq and

1:01:02

Kobe or something like that.

1:01:04

Great Shack and Kobe feels strong.

1:01:05

It's like Brian Big Country Reeves and

1:01:08

whoever else was on the Vancouver Gress.

1:01:11

All right, thank you very much, Andrew. You're

1:01:14

the best.

1:01:14

Say hi to your brother for us.

1:01:17

The show and you didn't even.

1:01:19

Tell them.

1:01:22

Great, excellent, all right, Andrew Man, Shawn, thank

1:01:24

you for everything. Thanks Andrew.

1:01:26

Thank you.

1:01:30

There he goes, Yeah,

1:01:33

I mean, geez,

1:01:37

we need a Maverick Carter. That's that's kind

1:01:39

of the big takeaway.

1:01:41

But in terms.

1:01:43

Of of what we

1:01:45

just heard from Andrew.

1:01:46

I hadn't heard that. I don't know if that was out there.

1:01:47

I'm sure it was, but that Olso

1:01:50

in addition to taking that step down

1:01:52

to the number two teams losing seven

1:01:54

million a year, but the good job also by Andrew

1:01:56

adding the necessary uh,

1:01:59

you know, take a step back, that he's Olsen

1:02:01

has set up so well in the long term

1:02:03

that even if this is a little bit of a slice

1:02:06

of humble pie. First of all, everyone knows

1:02:08

it's not his fault. It's just the circumstances

1:02:10

of the situation. And whether it's

1:02:12

Fox or someone else, he is now

1:02:14

put enough on tape where he is going to be taking care of

1:02:16

down the line.

1:02:18

There's I mean, there's only so many someone else's

1:02:21

so it's you know, CBS or Amazon,

1:02:23

and you know, Andrew isn't gonna

1:02:25

want to do a Marsh Marsh bomb on

1:02:28

our show, and maybe we can get to this he says, yeah,

1:02:30

there's no chance, or he just

1:02:32

said, you know, Amazon's bringing back the same too,

1:02:34

which I have no reason to doubt, I believe. Though it was

1:02:36

reported that that was initially a three year

1:02:38

contract for those two guys, so this

1:02:40

might be there. Finally your feet feels

1:02:42

like they would want to shake that up. Man, he could

1:02:44

do even just keep out.

1:02:46

And I have an idea

1:02:48

as we go to break better than Herb Street. Eric

1:02:50

Roberts for the You

1:02:53

know how every episode, you guys write like a little recap

1:02:55

underneath the headline.

1:02:58

Or the title of the podcast. Just

1:03:00

do this.

1:03:01

You know, it's Dan and Greg on

1:03:04

today's show. And then right, this is

1:03:06

like two wine masters. Somalia's talking

1:03:09

about wine. Not necessarily you are me arguing

1:03:11

if I like Burgundy, your Bordeaux better.

1:03:13

That's all. That's all it is. That's it. That's

1:03:15

it, okay, and just see where the metrics

1:03:17

go on. I think it'll have a massive

1:03:19

impact.

1:03:21

All right, Let's take a break and

1:03:23

then welcome in another guest.

1:03:25

Oh nice guest. Heavy show today.

1:03:29

Less than they are to gain on fourth down, the forty

1:03:31

three seconds remaining rams

1:03:33

creepy on.

1:03:33

They rush forward, Burrow to frow Ford.

1:03:35

He's hit, Peace sacked, he throws

1:03:38

it away, He flings it away on fourth

1:03:40

down. Aaron Donald got there. Donald

1:03:43

takes his helmet off in celebration. He

1:03:46

flips Burrow to the turf and forces

1:03:48

the incompletion on fourth and

1:03:50

one.

1:03:51

He singles to his ring.

1:03:53

Finger on his left hand, and

1:03:56

you can build that man statue

1:03:58

out so far stadium right now,

1:04:00

the greatest of all time on

1:04:03

defense does it in the biggest

1:04:05

moment of Super Bowl fifty.

1:04:06

Six, a brilliant call

1:04:09

from JB. Long, the voice of.

1:04:11

The Los Angeles Rams, the

1:04:13

Super Bowl winning takedown a burrow

1:04:16

that led to Los Angeles'

1:04:19

close, narrow win over the Bengals

1:04:21

a couple of years back. And now Aaron Donald

1:04:24

is done with football. He announced his

1:04:26

retirement Friday after ten absolutely

1:04:29

dominant seasons. So why don't we

1:04:31

welcome in the great voice

1:04:33

of the Rams, JB. Long, friend of the

1:04:35

show who called

1:04:37

every game of Rams of

1:04:40

Donald's La Rams career, and

1:04:43

now Los Angeles moves into an uncertain

1:04:45

place without their stud JB.

1:04:48

Welcome back to her on the NFL.

1:04:50

Danny Greg, It's great to see you both. Thank you for the

1:04:53

invitation. You know how much I'd love to talk about Aaron

1:04:55

Donald, and he's done so much for me, including

1:04:58

getting the couple appearances on around

1:05:00

the NFL. So thank you bring and I'm thankful

1:05:02

for that honor.

1:05:04

What was it like? You know

1:05:06

you this is a guy.

1:05:08

And just to put it into context, there's

1:05:10

been maybe no other player in the history

1:05:12

of the sport that was as

1:05:15

consistently dominating as Donald,

1:05:17

you know, maybe barrs Anders. And it's fitting because

1:05:19

they both kind of retired after ten years at

1:05:21

the top of their league from the time they entered to the

1:05:23

time they exit. Three time Defensive Player of the Year,

1:05:26

eight time First Team All Pro, ten

1:05:28

time Pro Bowl selection every year of his career,

1:05:31

former Defensive Rookie of the Year.

1:05:32

When he started in Saint Louis.

1:05:34

What was it like watching this guy and essentially

1:05:36

covering him on a day by day, weekly

1:05:39

basis. How quickly did

1:05:41

you realize you were watching an all timer immediately?

1:05:44

I mean it was a privilege, it was an honor. I

1:05:46

remember my first training camp. Many of others

1:05:49

have shared this anecdote. But it's tough to practice

1:05:51

when Aaron's on the field. Oftentimes,

1:05:54

when Sean McVay was calling plays, even

1:05:56

against his own defense, he would wait to take

1:05:58

a shot until Aaron subbed out for just that

1:06:00

one rep, because otherwise the play

1:06:02

wouldn't get off, whether they were in pads or not. But

1:06:05

yeah, I was watching a living legend. The

1:06:08

play that you just talked about. To me was like

1:06:10

the culmination was his mountaintop, the

1:06:12

fact that he got hands on Jimmy Garoppolo in the NFC

1:06:15

Championship game as well to essentially

1:06:17

have walkoff hits in back

1:06:20

games at Sofi Stadium, the biggest

1:06:22

in RAMS history. I know

1:06:24

you guys that around the NFL are very careful

1:06:26

and draw strict boundaries when comparing sports,

1:06:29

but like, what is the equivalence, what

1:06:31

is the equivalent of that like yard in game

1:06:33

six? I'm sure, but

1:06:35

like to me, it's almost more like especially for a

1:06:37

defensive player. Can you imagine robbing a

1:06:39

home run in Game seven of the NLCS

1:06:42

and then coming back and doing it again in the World

1:06:44

Series for a second last

1:06:46

out. Like so much of that

1:06:48

twenty one year orbited around

1:06:50

Aaron. So much of what the RAMS have done during my tenure

1:06:53

have been driven by

1:06:55

maximizing the prime of the greatest defensive

1:06:57

player that I've ever seen walk the planet, whether

1:07:00

it's trading those picks, like what has

1:07:02

flipped those picks? You know, to use a

1:07:04

euphemism, really mean in the context

1:07:06

of the Rams, it's about using every resource

1:07:09

that you have to get the most out of Aaron Donald's

1:07:11

prime, because whether they were a four or five win

1:07:13

team, which they have been during my tenure,

1:07:16

or a championship winning team, every

1:07:18

game that Aaron played, you felt like you had a chance

1:07:20

to win. He was that influential a defensive

1:07:22

force.

1:07:23

He's the greatest

1:07:26

defensive player I believe

1:07:28

I've ever seen.

1:07:29

I think the only other.

1:07:31

Person that would be in the mix would

1:07:33

be JJ Watt, who at his very

1:07:36

peak, which was also during this show, and

1:07:39

he's the guy, along with Aaron Donald and Lawrence

1:07:41

Taylor, who have the only ones that have won

1:07:43

three Defensive Player Dependsive

1:07:45

Player of the years. At his very peak, JJ Watt

1:07:48

was at such a high level I have a hard time putting

1:07:50

anyone in front of him. But you can make your

1:07:52

argument for Donald that they're certainly right there

1:07:54

in the same area at their very peak.

1:07:56

It's just different positions. But did

1:07:59

you say Donald? I did Donald back?

1:08:02

But JJ what Like? That's why

1:08:04

Donald? When you're trying to compare him to other people,

1:08:06

the only other person that comes up to me is actually

1:08:08

Jim Brown because he played nine seasons

1:08:11

and that's the only other person I can think of that from

1:08:13

the minute he entered the league to the minute

1:08:15

he left.

1:08:16

Essentially he was.

1:08:17

At the very very top of

1:08:19

what he did, which is that's

1:08:21

what Aaron Donald did too.

1:08:23

Eight as you mentioned, eight first team All Pros.

1:08:24

He could have been first team, but he ended

1:08:26

that twenty twenty two season

1:08:29

a little early. He could have maybe gotten at his

1:08:31

rookie year too. It's just like people didn't know Aaron

1:08:33

Donald. He did come back that second year next

1:08:35

level, but unlike those guys you're

1:08:37

right, like, who combines all

1:08:40

of that with having

1:08:43

that moment? It's so rare in

1:08:45

sports to have the greatest

1:08:47

player in the sport at.

1:08:49

What he does have,

1:08:51

Like what is a walk off?

1:08:53

It's literally unprecedented in football

1:08:55

history. There is no one that's actually checked

1:08:57

off all those sort of boxes exactly

1:09:00

in the same way that Aaron Donald did. And

1:09:02

he's such a humble guy and quiet guy that

1:09:04

I think he probably got less attention because

1:09:07

of that and the position that he

1:09:09

plays. He got a little less attention because

1:09:12

of that because it takes ball Knower's like

1:09:14

you JB to recognize it.

1:09:16

You wrote about him on the RAMS website

1:09:18

this week, and I thought it was interesting.

1:09:20

You really talked about how glad you were

1:09:23

he came back for these last two years, So I did

1:09:25

want to ask you about that, what these last two years were

1:09:27

like after he openly considered retiring

1:09:30

and he's passing up what thirty million dollars this

1:09:32

year to retire, And then also you didn't

1:09:34

seem as surprised. I don't think about this decision

1:09:37

as most people on the

1:09:39

outside. So I guess just I'm curious

1:09:41

about how this retirement

1:09:43

came into view this offseason.

1:09:45

Two.

1:09:46

Well, I'm sure you both remember the conversation

1:09:48

that was being had in and around the Super Bowl

1:09:50

and certainly after the Rams won, leading up to the parade

1:09:53

about you know, whether or not he would be

1:09:55

back, whether he would just go out on top

1:09:57

of the world, quite literally in

1:09:59

professional football. And I had the distinct honor

1:10:01

of hosting that championship

1:10:03

parade outside the LM Memorial

1:10:06

Coliseum, and.

1:10:07

I was there with the kids, We got

1:10:09

the pictures, we were there.

1:10:11

Great Rams fans that you are, And maybe you can

1:10:14

echo back to me your sensation when

1:10:16

you heard that he was willing to run

1:10:18

it back and just to kind of go behind

1:10:20

the curtain a little bit. As a team employee,

1:10:22

I was instructed not to go

1:10:24

down the pathway of Aaron's future when he took

1:10:26

his turn at the micro understandably so, because

1:10:29

that was an unresolved issue. But I'm

1:10:31

standing between him and Sean McVay.

1:10:34

Shawn's kind of jabbing me in the ribs,

1:10:36

daring me to go ahead and ask

1:10:38

if he's willing to run it back, and so

1:10:40

talk about being between a rock and a hard place.

1:10:42

I had what second decision, and I

1:10:45

really appreciate the grace with which Aaron

1:10:47

handled that, but it started

1:10:49

a two year clock. I didn't know that I was going to run

1:10:51

for two years, but it started the preparation process

1:10:54

of this is not going to last forever. And

1:10:57

run it back did not go well, as you know. The Rams

1:10:59

fell to the depths of five and twelve, and Aaron

1:11:01

missed games in that twenty twenty two season

1:11:04

because of injury for the first time in his career,

1:11:07

and that prepared me mentally,

1:11:09

emotionally for what life was going to be

1:11:11

like after Aaron Donald. And we always knew it

1:11:14

was going to be a challenge because he spoiled

1:11:16

us, but whether it was like Baker

1:11:18

Mayfield beating the Raiders on Thursday Night

1:11:20

football at SOFI Stadium or some of the other uplifting

1:11:23

moments. It was a good preview that the

1:11:25

future is possible. And then I'm especially

1:11:28

glad for this past season when he welcomed a group

1:11:30

of fourteen drafted rookies, including Kobe

1:11:32

Turner and passed

1:11:34

the baton in a way. I think this past season

1:11:37

goes down as one of the most enjoyable for Rams

1:11:39

fans outside of their championship

1:11:41

seasons, because they overachieved and

1:11:44

because you can see now the path into the future.

1:11:46

And that includes for their head coach Sean McVay, who's

1:11:48

spoken openly about how the greatest defensive

1:11:50

player of all time has

1:11:52

helped him course correct and start

1:11:54

this second book of his I assume

1:11:56

Hall of Fame career eventually, just like Aaron.

1:11:59

Do you think internally,

1:12:02

like you said, a really fun season

1:12:04

for the Rams. They nearly knock off the Lions

1:12:06

and the playoffs and that great wild

1:12:09

card game. Do you think the Rams have been

1:12:11

preparing for this really since that

1:12:13

game ended or was there any internal

1:12:16

hope or belief that he would be back.

1:12:18

How much of a surprise was it in the building.

1:12:20

I don't think it was a surprise. And even

1:12:23

going back to like three and six at the bye

1:12:25

I think some of the moves they made, even as subtle

1:12:27

as signing Carson Wentz to make sure

1:12:29

that there was a backup to Matthew Stafford down the

1:12:31

stretch run even hinted at the

1:12:33

fact that we don't know if we're

1:12:35

going to get another crack at this with Aaron

1:12:38

Donald in his prime or ever. And so

1:12:40

while the NFC is wide open, while we do think

1:12:42

there is a path to a playoff spot

1:12:44

slim though the odds may be, let's make sure we're

1:12:46

doing everything we can to get him in the dance one

1:12:49

more time. Because at the end of the

1:12:51

last regular season, I think on the show, you guys

1:12:53

said as much they were the team that no one wanted to

1:12:55

play. Now Detroit got to play them, and

1:12:57

Jarrett had his moment and they handled that, And good

1:12:59

on them for knocking the Rams out of the postseason.

1:13:02

But who among us would have been surprised if,

1:13:04

led by Aaron and Matthew and whukn

1:13:06

nakua, they had made another run to an NFC

1:13:09

championship or maybe beyond. I think all

1:13:11

of those thoughts have been in the back of Ram's

1:13:14

executive minds for many, many years,

1:13:16

because the window is always closing

1:13:18

in the National Football League, especially when you have someone

1:13:20

beyond thirty years old.

1:13:22

Yeah, I've been reading a little

1:13:24

bit and it's fascinating they've had to prepare

1:13:26

umbellbreg about reading.

1:13:29

I just been on the Donald contract,

1:13:31

and we don't need to get too deep into that,

1:13:33

but it is interesting that they structured

1:13:35

this restructure in a way that kind

1:13:38

of showed maybe they knew this retirement could

1:13:40

have been coming, but also.

1:13:43

Leaves the door open just a little bit.

1:13:45

If he changes his mind at some point

1:13:47

in the future, because look, he already changes his mind

1:13:49

once. You just never know, and they would want to

1:13:52

leave room for that to

1:13:54

happen. They've got a lot to do

1:13:58

to replace him. They certainly got out to

1:14:00

a great start with that last year with Kobe

1:14:02

Turner and what they were gonna do, Like,

1:14:07

what do you think they're gonna do next?

1:14:09

Do you think they're gonna take some big

1:14:11

swings?

1:14:11

Maybe this offseason, having with this having

1:14:15

happened, they've been a little quieter, but I think

1:14:17

making smart moves and certainly spending money

1:14:19

at the guard position and everything that I expected

1:14:21

this offseason well.

1:14:23

Greg, let me start by stating the obvious, which you

1:14:25

both know as well as anyone. There is no such thing as

1:14:27

replacing Aaron Donald offseason

1:14:29

or ever. So that's your starting point. But

1:14:33

bracing for that impact, can

1:14:35

you do certain things to try and absorb the

1:14:37

loss just this gaping cavity

1:14:39

that you have in the middle of your defensive line?

1:14:41

Yeah?

1:14:42

Sure, I mean I think Kobe Turner having a borderline

1:14:44

defensive Rookie of the Year season helps.

1:14:47

But for so many years we've seen so many defensive

1:14:49

players benefit from the Aaron Donald

1:14:52

bump, right, whether it's Von

1:14:54

Miller at the end of that season, Leonard Floyd,

1:14:56

Dante Fowler, like even players

1:14:58

in the secondary really benefited.

1:15:01

Get people paid.

1:15:03

He gets people paid, that's right. He pushed the

1:15:05

market for defensive tackles into the twenty

1:15:07

million per dollar range and then the thirty million

1:15:09

dollar per range. Like you know,

1:15:12

I said that, He's both a driving force

1:15:14

behind the way that current

1:15:16

NFL offensive football is played and

1:15:18

then the perfect antidote to that. Right when you talk

1:15:20

about quick game and efficiency and getting the ball out

1:15:22

of your hands, interior pressure that

1:15:24

he created, the way that he punctured pockets faster

1:15:27

than anyone else. It's

1:15:29

irreplaceable, but that doesn't mean

1:15:31

that you can't win games. And if you've seen the

1:15:33

Rams, you know subtly invest in their offensive

1:15:36

line for a couple of years now to try and build that

1:15:38

wall, especially guard to guard in

1:15:40

front of Matthew Stafford so that he can't step

1:15:42

up in the pocket, take that extra hitch and go

1:15:44

through his full field reads. Or

1:15:47

making sure that DeMarcus Robinson is back.

1:15:49

Now, all these things that whether or not you have to improve

1:15:52

on offense and or special teams

1:15:54

to compensate for what you're losing inevitably on defense.

1:15:58

I think those things all go hand in hand. But

1:16:00

I don't think anyone was caught flat footed within

1:16:03

the Rams organization that this offseason

1:16:05

Aaron could do something like this.

1:16:08

I want

1:16:11

to pat myself on the back right now. I mean, that's

1:16:13

what I love.

1:16:13

Is that portion of the show already it is.

1:16:15

And I only know this because

1:16:18

one of our listeners sent me

1:16:20

this tweet earlier this offseason, not related

1:16:22

to Aaron Donald's retirement. They had been going

1:16:25

through the old archives

1:16:28

of all the shows we did. We did the

1:16:30

Aaron Donald Draft. Of course,

1:16:32

we were already doing our show. Then Dan

1:16:35

and Mark were in New York for

1:16:37

the Johnny Manzel draft. Chris

1:16:40

and I were back here with Kevin Patrick

1:16:42

coming at you in the studio with us, And

1:16:45

here was my reaction

1:16:47

when we did a little segment favorite

1:16:50

pick. I'm gonna give my

1:16:52

favorite pick of the round

1:16:55

to the Saint Louis Rams, even though

1:16:57

I wanted them to take a quarterback

1:17:00

because I just think they're

1:17:02

sticking with Sam Bradford too long. Ultimately,

1:17:05

you have to like the team they're putting together

1:17:08

with Aaron Donald on that defensive

1:17:10

line, Donald, Michael Brockers, Robert

1:17:13

Quinn and Chris

1:17:15

Long is the most insane pass rush defensive

1:17:18

line in the league.

1:17:18

Right now, there we go.

1:17:20

I'm sorry you had to be here for there, there for you, but that's

1:17:22

just part of the show and some of the mechanics of how

1:17:25

the sausage.

1:17:25

I enjoyed listening to this so much

1:17:27

because there was then there was a huge debate.

1:17:29

We were really fired up back and forth, kind

1:17:32

of killing the Ram. A lot of us were killing

1:17:34

the Rams for not taking Johnny Manziel,

1:17:36

But I did, like Mark had a fun statement

1:17:39

to about the drafting of it.

1:17:40

There have been twenty two men in

1:17:43

NFL draft history that have been drafted

1:17:45

with a combination of two first names

1:17:47

in their name, Aaron Donald being one of them.

1:17:50

None of them have lasted more than three

1:17:52

years.

1:17:54

Making things up, just making things

1:17:56

up, no one.

1:17:56

Ryan had a pretty good career in Major League Baseball,

1:17:59

well Worth.

1:18:00

That does not move the needle on

1:18:02

this podcast

1:18:05

to.

1:18:05

Sleep, I just put a hecks on the rams.

1:18:07

They are doomed to go seven

1:18:09

and nine every single year for the rest of

1:18:11

eternity.

1:18:12

Oh Man, Well, Wes often

1:18:14

was right and not in that case, and I could tell

1:18:16

you they had.

1:18:17

Some more seven nine ninees. I think yeah at

1:18:19

that point, JB.

1:18:20

I remember being in that hotel

1:18:22

room with Mark in New York City with I

1:18:25

think it was a twelver of amstelt Light,

1:18:27

just doing that podcast Greg

1:18:30

the Boss across the country, you

1:18:32

know, unaware that we were imbibing at

1:18:34

the time.

1:18:35

Well, I know, Dan that you and Mark have

1:18:38

really cornered the market when it comes to free

1:18:40

agency, that you've become the foremost

1:18:42

authorities. And Greg has

1:18:44

tried to dip his toe into those waters. What has

1:18:46

really seen for his niche And so it's a

1:18:48

good callback that He's always been kind of the draftnick

1:18:51

on the show, and that's where he should can.

1:18:53

Give ws, can give his ws where you

1:18:55

can get him.

1:18:56

What a what a player though, I mean, just

1:19:00

just insane to see him change games the

1:19:03

way that he did from really

1:19:05

his second year he was greatest first year. But I even

1:19:07

found some tweets back from his first game a second

1:19:09

year where I tweeted, but a lot of people

1:19:11

it's like, holy cow, Aaron Donald

1:19:14

is suddenly like the best player in the league right

1:19:16

now, and then just to stay that way from

1:19:19

from there through all these playoff runs

1:19:22

a legend, legend we got to see here in Lost Ange.

1:19:25

Do you ever hear anyone say a bad thing about him?

1:19:28

I didn't, No, I am kind

1:19:30

of curious, but it seems like there's never any like

1:19:32

stories about what he's like behind the scenes other than

1:19:34

like he's just like a nice.

1:19:36

Feel Like all I ever heard was like he has that dog

1:19:38

in him. He's an intense guy. Like what was

1:19:41

it like kind of dealing with him in one

1:19:43

on one.

1:19:44

Capacity professional

1:19:48

respects? You could

1:19:50

feel the presence of greatness when you walk

1:19:52

past him in the hallway, and if you saw him

1:19:54

smile, I mean, the guy lights up a

1:19:56

room, and there's so much for him beyond football

1:19:59

that I can understand he kept it to a decade.

1:20:02

But also, given what you said, would I be shocked

1:20:04

if if we see him again in Horns. Maybe

1:20:06

it's just naivete on my part or

1:20:08

a hopeful ignorance, but I would love

1:20:10

to see that happen. But

1:20:13

yeah, he was one of a kind, you know, eighty

1:20:15

ninety nine forever, He's one of one. And

1:20:18

I'm just so thankful for how easy he made

1:20:20

my job because it always

1:20:23

gave you the opportunity to ask his peers,

1:20:25

what's it like to work with this guy? Right, Like

1:20:27

as someone who asked questions and interviews players

1:20:29

and coaches for a living, Like how many

1:20:32

coach McVeigh shows did I do following a

1:20:34

loss where there was like, you know, a shrinking number

1:20:36

of things where we could actually talk about

1:20:38

to get through our twenty minutes, But there was always

1:20:40

well, Aaron played well right, and he could wax

1:20:43

poet about what a unique talent Aaron was.

1:20:45

And you know, the only criticism

1:20:47

I ever heard from him is that he would occasionally freelance

1:20:50

and like violate an assignment or a

1:20:52

gap right, and even those who would

1:20:55

say such a thing had to acknowledge that while

1:20:57

that may be a risk on film, it really wasn't

1:20:59

when who had put in the study and you had the competitive

1:21:02

greatness that Aaron did because he wasn't playing the same game

1:21:04

that the other ten players were on defense, so that anyone

1:21:06

who's ever played the defensive tackle position

1:21:09

ever has he perfected it in a very

1:21:11

unique way. And even going back

1:21:13

to the draft, for someone who had question marks

1:21:15

about length size, the fact

1:21:17

that he turned those question marks into the exclamation

1:21:20

points that made him a first

1:21:22

ballot Hall of Famer someday is what I'll

1:21:24

always appreciate about covering his career.

1:21:26

Well, he's a connection from Saint Louis. He's the connection

1:21:28

between Saint Louis and these La

1:21:30

Rams teams. I mean, he was fourteenth

1:21:33

pick overall in the draft that they had the second

1:21:35

overall pick, so like less

1:21:37

Need is the one that took him. It's funny because

1:21:39

you had a whole bit on that show

1:21:41

about Lesned's high cheek bones

1:21:43

and beautiful flowing hair, and they were like, asome,

1:21:46

you better have a good draft here if they're going to pass

1:21:48

on Manzell they'd better be a good draft still there. One

1:21:50

for two is plenty good enough when

1:21:53

the one is the greatest

1:21:55

of all time or you know, LT's in that mix.

1:21:58

But you know, we use that term to

1:22:00

really stay the top.

1:22:01

At least in the in the analytics era

1:22:04

and the there's nobody that grades

1:22:06

out like this man and so football

1:22:08

in the last fifteen years. May and we mentioned

1:22:11

what but what part of Donald's greatness

1:22:13

and his magnificence is that he he

1:22:15

kept his prime throughout his entire career,

1:22:18

just like JB. Long, Who's who

1:22:20

will continue to thrive as the play

1:22:23

by play man. Whenever the next great ram arrives,

1:22:25

he'll be there as well.

1:22:28

I sure hope so. And for

1:22:30

all of your friendship and integrity on

1:22:32

the Around the NFL podcast, I.

1:22:34

Commendet wow let

1:22:36

him to my next conversation. You're

1:22:39

the man.

1:22:39

Gion producer Eric whispered

1:22:41

something to me along the way in preparation for this interview.

1:22:44

I wish you all well.

1:22:46

Thank you Jamie great JB

1:22:48

along with the insight

1:22:50

that we needed, delivered.

1:22:53

Part of the family, I mean, Keisha

1:22:55

the remily well I was, I meant

1:22:57

more of the Around the NFL family I mean Keisha

1:23:00

when she comes to town. Yeah,

1:23:02

she's got a lot of people she wants to see, needs to see.

1:23:04

She she goes and sees her old, her

1:23:07

old neighbor.

1:23:07

Unless we forget Ricky Hollywood do.

1:23:09

I meant to tell JB Long to

1:23:12

keep an eye on Hollywood, just to keep her

1:23:14

in keep her in line. In general, Erica

1:23:16

needs that, and I think JB is a guiding

1:23:19

force for many.

1:23:20

Take a break and we'll close things out

1:23:30

right, everybody,

1:23:33

What do you guys think? Mind the glasses that better or

1:23:36

worse? Off? A

1:23:39

little staccato in your I don't know, not

1:23:43

for me.

1:23:44

There you go by the way, and I know what you're

1:23:46

saying, because you're talking about Donald

1:23:48

had the walk off, back

1:23:50

to back walk off in the Super Bowl. But

1:23:52

it really is crazy to look at Barry Sanders'

1:23:55

career and look at Aaron Donald.

1:23:57

Both played ten years, Both were

1:23:59

constant in the mix. Barry

1:24:02

was a first or second team All Pro all

1:24:04

ten years, ten time pro

1:24:06

bowler, won the Big Accoleates,

1:24:09

two time NFL Offensive Player of the Year. He won

1:24:11

the MVP once, which Donald I don't think ever

1:24:13

got. But that's they don't give it to defensive

1:24:15

players. But that's

1:24:18

the level of player. And I think Barry, if

1:24:20

you were old enough to see Sanders, you

1:24:24

wish he got what Donald

1:24:26

got, which was that chance on the biggest stage,

1:24:28

and Sanders never did. So the Lions never could get

1:24:31

out of the second round. I think they made

1:24:33

to one NFC title game that didn't

1:24:35

go their way, but otherwise,

1:24:37

you know, we're held out of the Super Bowls. They've been for

1:24:39

the entirety of their history. But Donald

1:24:42

getting that opportunity and us being there for

1:24:44

it, We've now been sneaky at a lot of huge moments

1:24:46

in NFL history.

1:24:48

This is not lost on me. I'm sure it's not lost

1:24:50

on you, Gregy.

1:24:51

We're very lucky to have seen Aaron Donald

1:24:53

in person make that play Joe

1:24:55

Burrow midfield, and that's a special

1:24:58

Joe Burrow year.

1:24:59

That was a secial Cincinnati year.

1:25:01

They had the Pixie dust all over them,

1:25:03

and they're down a field goal at midfield with

1:25:05

fourth down in the final minute of the Super Bowl, and

1:25:08

it's Donald who blows up the play because

1:25:10

don't you get the feeling, if Barrow gets protected,

1:25:13

he's probably finding somebody and they're continuing

1:25:15

to march with.

1:25:16

The field March chase.

1:25:17

He was open on that play if he had some time,

1:25:19

but he didn't have time.

1:25:20

And they had Evan McPherson, who's like having

1:25:22

an all time season as a young.

1:25:24

Kicker the playoffs.

1:25:25

He was really the start of the playoffs with them, and

1:25:29

yet Aaron Donald said no, and he

1:25:31

pointed to the ring finger. So a

1:25:34

reminder, we'll be back Wednesday

1:25:37

with are always

1:25:39

check in with all the team's post free agency

1:25:41

first wave around the AFC on

1:25:43

Wednesday, with a guest to be named

1:25:46

later around the NFC on Thursday.

1:25:48

I think we're getting clay bound on Thursday. Patrick will be excellent.

1:25:51

So that is great.

1:25:52

And a note for Behind

1:25:54

the Glass Eric I was thinking

1:25:57

about this some more so for the episode

1:25:59

recap. Let's

1:26:02

let's take this down verbatim. The

1:26:04

latest e f EP. The

1:26:06

latest EP is a hands of Rosenthal

1:26:09

joint period. This is like two wine

1:26:11

masters. Somalia's talking about wine,

1:26:13

not necessarily you or me arguing if I like

1:26:15

Burgundy or Bordeo better, nothing else.

1:26:18

Got it makes my job here as an editor.

1:26:21

Any thoughts of just ending it right right

1:26:23

at talking about wine or no.

1:26:26

You like the rest of it? I Ordo.

1:26:31

I like that.

1:26:32

I like that, like because there's a there's

1:26:34

a way what Maverick did there. In his conversation

1:26:36

with Marshaun, he was like, everyone else

1:26:39

are pissons like that are, but

1:26:42

these two people are

1:26:45

Smalia's like, don't

1:26:47

even try to be like that. I think that's you need

1:26:49

that a little more depth anything

1:26:52

else.

1:26:53

That's fired really at the rest of the industry, just

1:26:55

like Travis Kelcey did for us.

1:26:57

Give him pop I get you know.

1:26:59

I again, I apologize for being a

1:27:02

little flippant about Travis's

1:27:05

acceptance speech now that he gave us such job.

1:27:07

If you want to talk, you talk Yoh.

1:27:09

Hey, you got it all. Travis

1:27:11

has got it all, and you know he's got some class.

1:27:14

Let's see if they're still doing that podcast

1:27:17

ten years from now, you know, or

1:27:19

if we are should we.

1:27:20

Have quit after ten years? These

1:27:22

are all questions. We don't have that money

1:27:24

that AD's got, all right till

1:27:27

Wednesday, Heed the call.