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1:21

is going on? Everybody? John Middlecop

1:24

That would be me three and Out

1:26

podcast. That would be

1:28

this what you're listening to? Recording

1:31

this on a Monday night as

1:34

you listen to me right now, are about twenty minutes

1:36

away from the National Championship

1:38

game. I having lived in

1:41

the on the East Coast for a couple of years,

1:43

I got mad respect for anyone that consumes

1:46

sports on that side of the country. It

1:48

feels late for me, and the game starts

1:50

at six o'clock or six ten nine

1:52

o'clock tip off. I mean, geez, Louise,

1:55

I get TV ratings and stuff, but I

1:58

struggled to stay up as ten, So I don't know

2:01

how you do it Monday night football. I remember

2:03

when I worked for the Eagles. You

2:05

know the game started day fifteen.

2:08

It's crazy. I got mad respect

2:10

for you guys as sports fans on the East

2:12

Coast coming out big show. We have

2:14

ab juju beef all

2:17

over social media.

2:20

Ab looks pretty bad that there's really no way

2:22

around it. Aaron Rodgers

2:24

kind of comes to his own defense. Of

2:27

course he does. I mean, what else was he gonna

2:29

say? And I thought Stephen

2:31

Jones had some pretty

2:34

strong works. You know, if Dak wants a deal,

2:36

it's got to be team friendly. And I

2:38

got news for you. Dak should want to do a team

2:40

friendly deal with the Cowboys because,

2:43

as Colin has talked about forever, and

2:45

as anyone that just fall as football knows,

2:47

you are more valuable as a Cowboy quarterback

2:50

than you are with most teams. But let's start

2:52

with Antonio Brown, and

2:54

he's gone back and forth with Juju, and it

2:57

kind of started with an innocuous comment

3:00

from a follower to Antonio

3:03

that basically tweeted at him a picture

3:05

of Juju being the team MVP,

3:09

and then Antonio kind of questioned

3:11

him, said that he screwed up their season with

3:13

a fumble, and then Juju comes

3:15

back and basically, like you

3:18

know, kind of show shock, couldn't believe he was taking

3:20

these shots when all Juju

3:22

had ever done was get his back, and

3:24

they kind of went back and forth. And

3:27

wait, they didn't really go back and forth but I think

3:29

Juju was kind of hurt. Then

3:31

today, Antonio

3:34

Brown as of Monday, tweeted out

3:37

a screenshot of a direct message

3:40

of Juju when he was at USC. Just

3:43

reached out like you would if you were a

3:45

college kid and you had you were

3:47

in finance, if you had like Warren Buffett's

3:49

direct message, to send him a direct message

3:52

that basically I'm paraphrasing here,

3:54

I play at USC, I

3:57

play wide receiver. I love what you

3:59

do on and off the field. Kind of ironic. I

4:02

want to know what makes you great, Like the

4:04

dude was just looking for words of wisdom.

4:06

Then the irony is that the Steelers end up drafting

4:08

him. He goes to Pittsburgh and they have a lot of success.

4:12

I say it all the time, and I

4:14

think a lot of you guys on social media easiest

4:17

way to get a hold of me, I always says on social media

4:19

at John Middlecoff, will do the Middlecoff mail bag a

4:21

little later, slide up in those dms. Same

4:23

with my Twitter account. Is it Twitter?

4:26

Really? Kind of nowadays?

4:29

People are so emotional with Twitter. Like I'm

4:31

not very emotional with Twitter. I was a couple

4:33

of years ago. I've gotten a lot better at

4:35

just like not being his phase by ship because

4:37

at the end of the day it doesn't really matter. But

4:40

earlier I don't do it as much anymore.

4:43

You knew exactly what I stood for, what

4:46

I thought about in everything in life, whether

4:48

it be sports, whether it be politics,

4:50

whether it be food. Like you followed my Twitter

4:52

account, you got a pretty good feel for me. Everyone

4:55

that I follow for the most part, if I

4:57

followed them for a long time, I know they're

5:00

colors. I know exactly what gets

5:02

under their skin. I know how they

5:04

view players, I know how they view sports,

5:06

I know how they view business. I know

5:09

that most people in the sports media like there's

5:11

this narrative most of the sports media

5:13

is really liberal. No, most of them

5:15

are. I follow them. They're extreme liberals,

5:18

which again that's a great part of about America.

5:20

You can think however you want to think. But with

5:22

social media, I know how you

5:24

think. Well. With Antonio Brown,

5:28

probably within the last month of

5:30

this trade going through, I

5:32

think a lot of people, including myself,

5:34

were like, you know what, some of

5:36

the ship this guy said is defensible.

5:39

Big Ben, you know, kind of has a history

5:42

of being a dick, kind of has a history

5:44

of being a me guy, kind of has a history of

5:46

being a drama queen, and you know

5:48

what, you know, maybe some of it was

5:50

on Big Ben, and I think most people agreed,

5:53

But then this comes out Juju,

5:55

who's pretty harmless and who

5:57

has stood for everything that's right about

5:59

young players in pro sports. Good

6:01

guy interacts with fans on social

6:04

media, is a tough player,

6:07

is a really good young player, works really

6:09

hard? I mean that the direct

6:12

message that Antonio took a screenshot

6:14

of the day. I'm

6:16

a little hesitant to go all in on this one

6:19

because this has a little bit of a WWE

6:22

feel, and these guys are good

6:24

with social media. So are they just making this

6:26

all up? I won't discount

6:28

that that's a possibility here, though it

6:31

doesn't feel like one, and I

6:33

don't know why Juju would partake

6:35

in it, especially because Levion

6:37

came out tweeted out a picture or something

6:40

that James Connor had sent him about

6:42

concrats on the deal and how much he admires

6:44

him and stuff like that, So it didn't really

6:46

feel like this is all being

6:49

made up. But I would be naive

6:51

to say that it's not a possibility

6:54

that this is all fake I'm going to

6:56

lean on the side that this is real, and

6:58

I'm gonna lean on the side of this

7:00

is Antonio Brown's true colors. This

7:03

is the guy that Ryan Clark said, Oh my god,

7:05

you don't want to pay that guy because he ain't

7:07

gonna listen to a soul. And my

7:09

biggest issue with this entire trade

7:12

was not that paying Antonio Brown. He's

7:15

worth twenty million dollars a year. He's

7:17

top five wide receiver I've ever seen. He's been

7:19

the best receiver arguably in the league for

7:21

the last four or five years, worth every penny.

7:23

I have zero issue with what they paid him,

7:26

and I obviously doesn't have no beef

7:28

with what they gave up to get him. But

7:30

what they gave up to get him, they were able to do

7:32

that for a reason. Most teams in

7:34

the league didn't want to touch him, and then

7:37

the teams that didn't want to touch him did not want

7:39

to them add money, because

7:41

the moment the Raiders got him, they immediately

7:43

empowered him by throwing more cash

7:46

at him. Where it's not like, you know what,

7:48

Antonio Brown's had six or eight years of one hundred

7:50

catches thousand yards averaging eleven touchdowns

7:53

a year. He's making thirteen million.

7:55

He's under paying, so the Raiders got to take care of him.

7:57

He was already making nineteen and a half million

7:59

dollars. That's the thing with Antonio. He's

8:02

been making huge cash

8:04

since really starting in his third year in

8:06

the league. They have taken care of the Steelers

8:08

took care of him multiple times. He's

8:11

not been some underpaid player. He's

8:13

been highly compensated and he's been

8:15

highly productive. It's been a win win partnership.

8:18

But this shows that he's going to arguably,

8:21

and I've had a front receipt for him. I've

8:23

dealt with their dysfunction. I've dealt

8:25

with I got no

8:27

issue. I don't think Gruden's like some slap

8:30

clearly. I mean he's a legitimate

8:32

NFL coach, like he can coach schematics.

8:35

But I do think since he was last in

8:37

the league with Tampa, his ego

8:40

has grown exponentially. How

8:42

could it not. For ten straight years

8:44

he was making six seven eight million, kept

8:46

getting raises at Monday and a football because

8:48

people were getting on their knees and begging him to come coach

8:51

their team, college and pro. Finally,

8:53

the Raiders convinced him to do it. But

8:55

like I've said this on this show a long

8:58

time ago, he didn't come to the Raiders out of the goodness

9:00

of his heart and to give him one hundred million dollars,

9:03

not fifty million dollars, which was

9:05

another team offered him. Fifty was another team

9:07

offer him. Sixty was another team offer and say

9:10

he took one hundred million dollars,

9:12

and I thought it's been pretty disingenuous. The

9:15

Gruden often says, like, you know, I want players that'll

9:17

play for free, because I would coach for free.

9:19

Now, you wouldn't coach for free. You wouldn't coach

9:21

for eighty million dollars, you'd coach for a hundred

9:23

million dollars. But the one

9:26

downfall I've thought of Gruden beside

9:29

personnel, and we'll see if he empowers

9:31

Mike Mayock. I would bet against it. I

9:33

would bet on them having problems to

9:36

Alpha's two head strong guys, and

9:39

it's just I would bet against that marriage.

9:41

Not because I don't think Mike's good. I think

9:43

Mike is good. I think the group's just

9:45

not going to listen to him and he just because Gruden

9:47

has all the power and Mike's admitted as such.

9:50

Where I see a problem here is because

9:53

Derek is he's a people

9:55

pleaser. I actually don't think Derek even when

9:57

he plays bad him and if he has

9:59

bad game, we'll have that many

10:01

issues. I see it with John

10:04

and Antonio Brown. John has had

10:06

famous ones before with Keishan Johnson, he

10:08

had famous you know situations with the

10:10

Raiders back in the day. Was like the Al Davis, big

10:13

ego guys. He butts heads

10:15

with. Well. Antonio Brown, who

10:17

beside the New England Patriots, played

10:20

for the most consistent organization in

10:22

the NFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers played

10:24

on fantastic teams that were going to the playoffs

10:26

every year and played with the Hall of Fame

10:28

quarterback and still had issues. So

10:31

what is he gonna do when he

10:33

runs the wrong route? And I'm not saying

10:35

he's gonna run the wrong out because he won't know the plays just because

10:37

he's pissed off, or he has some sideline

10:39

blaw up and him Gruden get into it and

10:41

then he tweets out something because it's proven.

10:44

Like we all follow people on social media,

10:46

they just can't contain themselves. They

10:49

get so emotional about politics.

10:51

Oh my god, Trump, Like,

10:54

what does that accomplish?

10:57

They just tweet What

11:00

is that doing? That is that if

11:02

you're like, want to help the poor people, just

11:05

drive to the area and give some money

11:07

or clothes. I don't know. Tweeting about

11:09

it does nothing, but we've seen

11:11

it. Antonio tweeting about this

11:13

stuff does nothing. But he can't

11:16

help himself. He's caught

11:18

up in his own little world. And it's his prerogative,

11:20

it's his right. The problem is,

11:22

it's not an individual sport. This isn't tennis, this

11:24

isn't golf. He is connected with the other

11:26

fifty two guys on his team and his coaches,

11:29

and his coaches. You know, you could

11:31

argue not the most successful coach in the league,

11:33

but he might have the biggest ego in the league in

11:36

John Gruden. And I know John loves him.

11:38

I know John raised about his work ethic. No one

11:40

ever had a problem The Steelers never had a problem as work

11:42

ethic. They never had a problem with him

11:44

understanding the offense. His issue

11:47

was clearly not getting along with

11:49

other people, and that, to me is

11:51

a pretty big fundamental issue in

11:53

any office setting, in any team

11:56

setting, Like that's a problem, and

11:58

you're also downgrading quarterbacks.

12:00

Derek is not as good as Ben. I

12:04

just not even an argument. And

12:06

even in Ben's bad days,

12:09

he consistently gave A B the

12:11

ball. Like AB was targeted

12:14

countless times every game. That's

12:16

why he averaged over one hundred catches for

12:18

six straight years. The average

12:20

targets that he had for six right years, they

12:22

were extremely high. So it's not like

12:24

you know what, they're mad at Antonio

12:26

Brown. I remember the story that came out a couple

12:28

weeks ago. I think Levion said.

12:31

I was talking to somebody at ESPN and

12:34

was saying something like, you know what, when

12:36

Ben gets mad at you, he just won't feed you the ball.

12:38

Well, that's good in theory, and it's fun to say

12:41

when everyone assumes that Ben doesn't like a B and

12:43

a B doesn't like Ben. But the numbers

12:45

don't agree with that. And I believe stats

12:47

lie, but the stats do not lie

12:49

how often they fed Antonio Brown

12:52

the pill. Derek has had two. I

12:54

wouldn't say diva wide receivers. Crab through

12:56

would be closer to Mari Amari's different

12:58

personality. Both the relationships did not

13:01

end well. Now they didn't end like Ben and

13:03

a B. But those guys personalities

13:05

aren't necessarily like that. Crabtree and

13:07

Derek did not end well at all. Clearly

13:10

Amari and Derek were not on the same page

13:12

at the end. The difference of this situation

13:14

now, Antonio is dramatically better

13:16

than those guys, but he can't

13:18

throw it to himself, and Derek has games

13:20

where he can look horrendously bad,

13:24

really bad. So what happens if

13:26

that's week one or week two and they're

13:28

O and two and it's through two weeks,

13:30

they're O and two and they've lost two games

13:33

by an average of double digit points, and

13:35

Antonio Brown has a total

13:38

of ten targets, what happens?

13:40

Then I'll tell you what happens. More

13:42

likely, Antonio Brown goes to social

13:44

media and people like me, I

13:46

love it, I can't get enough of it, great stories.

13:49

You know who doesn't like it? The team Gruden.

13:51

And that's where it becomes a problem. That's

13:53

why this guy was available, because he is

13:55

a problem. Now is he malicious?

13:58

We could argue the semantics of it all day

14:00

long. I know this in

14:02

twenty nineteen now that social media

14:04

plays a big part of society,

14:06

and clearly a big part for teams because all

14:08

their players are on it. You would like guys

14:10

that are kind of low key and that you don't

14:12

have to worry about freaking out. No

14:15

different if I ran a media company, I would

14:17

want some people to kind of contain themselves

14:19

about certain things other than sports.

14:22

And that's been a big issue with certain you

14:25

know, media entities. Right. ESPN said,

14:27

hey, guys, stop talking about politics. We're

14:29

into sports. Like, hey, Antonio, you can

14:31

talk about yourself, but should you be ripping

14:34

other people in team dynamics?

14:36

Now you could argue just not on the team anymore. They're

14:38

not on the same team. So yeah, but

14:40

how long until he takes a shot at an

14:43

offensive lineman, another receiver, the

14:45

defense, the coaches. To

14:47

me, it feels inevitable. And that

14:49

is going to be the downfall of Antonio Brown

14:52

in Oakland. It's not gonna be his talent, because

14:54

we know his talent is immense. It's

14:56

gonna be his ability to contain himself.

14:59

And we have proof now over and over. He can't

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16:12

Okay, let's get into Rogers because

16:15

the Green Bay Packers reported

16:18

for offseason activities Phase one.

16:20

Whatever the actual terminology

16:23

is, it doesn't matter. The offseason

16:25

began officially Monday, April

16:27

eighth for the

16:29

Green Bay Packers, so any

16:32

press that was around you better believe

16:34

they want to talk to want a human that was Aaron

16:36

Rodgers, and of course, like

16:38

anyone right, we're wrong, typically

16:41

they're going to defend themselves in their

16:43

position. And for the most part, most

16:46

of the quotes I read I have not seen video,

16:49

was Rogers speaking pretty highly about Mike

16:51

McCarthy, how they had good times, how he

16:53

meant a lot to him, how he regretted some comments

16:56

that he made, I think after the Bills game. But

16:58

he spoke pretty pretty lee about

17:02

McCarthy, also took some shots

17:04

at Finley and Greg Jennings, who clearly

17:06

that he doesn't like, which I don't blame him. We

17:08

all like and dislike other people. And

17:11

I had said last week on Friday

17:13

that I thought Rogers looked

17:16

worse than McCarthy. My guy,

17:18

loyal listener Jeff Schwartz, former offensive

17:20

lineman. You guys probably follow him on Twitter if you're listening to the

17:22

show, text me on Friday

17:24

or whatever that he disagreed he thought McCarthy looked

17:26

back, and my

17:28

thought on the whole thing was, I

17:31

think McCarthy already was

17:33

for the most part. The overwhelming

17:36

perception just in football would

17:38

just casual football fans think, you know, McCarthy

17:41

wasn't that good of a coach, and he really

17:43

benefited from

17:46

having Aaron Rodgers on his team. Now, he had some

17:48

really good teams in ten, eleven, twelve,

17:50

right, I mean, they won a bunch of games, and they made it back

17:52

to an NFC Championship game. For the most part,

17:54

though, I think these last couple of years, even

17:57

I guess the year the Atlanta Falcons went to the Super

17:59

Bowl, that team wasn't very good. They

18:01

got hot late and it just felt like a basketball

18:03

team. Rogers carried them, and it

18:05

felt like from that year till he got fired,

18:08

most people in football don't think that highly

18:10

of Mike McCarthy, and it was clear

18:12

this year with all these job open he didn't get a job,

18:15

did not get a job. Now, I

18:17

will agree with Jeff that the articles

18:19

did not make McCarthy look great. Like It's pretty

18:21

clear some weird ship was going on with Massages,

18:24

But like I said last week, to me, it looked

18:26

worse on Rogers just I

18:29

get that some of his former teammates don't like

18:31

him, and we knew that too, But anytime

18:34

you read in detail about being a

18:36

dick one, like I said to your

18:38

mother, you're usually not getting

18:40

the benefit of doubt from fans. Now, I think we'd

18:42

all agree that in this situation,

18:45

like in any business situation, if

18:47

you got to pick between two people, you're

18:49

gonna pick between the more important one. So it

18:52

was easy in this decision. But

18:54

I think the reflection from Rogers

18:56

now puts a ton of pressure after

18:59

this article on this season has

19:01

a new young head coach who just

19:03

looks like a male model or something, who

19:05

hasn't accomplished really anything. They've

19:08

spent some money for the first time this offseason

19:10

what feels like ever since, like

19:12

Reggie White or Charles Woodson and Reggie

19:15

White they landed, I mean Charles kind of landed in their lap.

19:17

Teams didn't want them. But this season they spent

19:19

some big money. They have two first round draft

19:22

picks, they have their own, and then they have the Saints.

19:25

But I did think this statement by Rogers kind

19:27

of stuck out to me. This was a smear

19:29

attack by a writer looking

19:31

to advance his career, talking

19:33

with mostly irrelevant, bitter players

19:36

who have all have an agenda, whether they're

19:38

advancing their own careers or just

19:40

trying to stir up old stuff. And

19:43

I wanted to say that sometimes moments

19:45

like this, and

19:47

I don't blame Rogers, and I don't know

19:49

what's true or not. So if Rogers

19:52

in truth is right at what's

19:54

Castanza's line, it's not

19:56

alive, you believe it, and

19:58

we all kind of live in our own little

20:00

world. So Rogers thinks that even if you

20:03

are kind of an asshole, if you think you're treating people

20:05

well, you don't view yourself as an asshole. Even

20:07

if people and you're a public figure, people talk about

20:09

you kind of like your you know, a dick. And

20:12

I think that's just kind of how we've talked about Rogers

20:14

for a while. The difference is these last

20:16

couple of years, it felt like he

20:18

was just kind of doing his own thing. Him and McCarthy

20:21

clearly didn't like each other. But now with

20:23

this new coach, you'd go, well, maybe

20:25

he does a little self reflection and

20:27

goes, you know what, maybe I have to be a

20:29

nicer teammate. But then you read a comment

20:31

like this. This was just a smear attack. I

20:34

don't think he's gonna look at himself in the mirror and think

20:36

he needs to change now. He doesn't really

20:38

need to change as a player. He's a great player. Now. He

20:40

needs to probably be a little more fundamentally sound.

20:42

I've talked about that in the past, but he

20:45

probably has to do a better job because one thing's clear

20:47

that him and younger players didn't always see eyed

20:49

eye. Well, I got news for you, Aaron. As you get

20:51

thirty five, thirty six, thirty seven, your teammates

20:54

on the other end of the roster are gonna consistently

20:56

be pretty young. Right, You're gonna, oh the

20:58

hell this year, You've got two first round draft picks

21:01

potentially, who knows what they

21:03

draft, but it might be a tight end and it might

21:06

be a wide receiver, So it might be two guys

21:08

you're throwing to both at twenty two or twenty

21:10

three. You better make a conscious

21:12

effort to get along with those guys. And

21:15

you know, say what you want about Brady and if you can't

21:17

learn his playbook, he kind of chuns you,

21:19

right, doesn't throw you the ball, but at least

21:22

he makes an effort. He makes a big

21:24

time effort as a teammate. So

21:26

you can say whatever line you

21:29

stand, whether you're pro McCarthy, whether you're pro

21:31

Rodgers, whether you think they're both in the

21:33

wrong. However, Greg Jennings, Jamichael

21:35

Finley right whatever. To me,

21:37

it's not even as much about that. It's

21:39

does Aaron stepped back at all and

21:42

go, you know what for the guy that they gave a one hundred

21:44

million dollars guaranteed to that

21:46

Actually, the way the contract work, you got eighty

21:48

million dollars through the last six months.

21:50

Do I need to adapt and change a

21:52

little bit? And from the comment about a

21:54

spear attack, I'm taking it now. I don't think

21:57

he's in the wrong at all. So I

21:59

struggled bet against Aaron Rodgers because he's

22:01

such a good player. I do bet against this Matt

22:03

Lafloor character. I watched his press conference.

22:05

I've talked about this before. I was blown

22:08

away. It looked like he was not just nervous,

22:10

but over his head. Now it is an enormous

22:13

job. It was. I'm not going to

22:15

judge you in one press conference because

22:17

I did go to Tennessee Titan's practice

22:19

last oka and I thought he was pretty impressive on

22:21

the field. Now, to be impressive on the

22:23

field when you're kind of just a bystanderd, it's

22:26

really just kind of yelling at guys, right, you stand

22:28

out if you're screaming and staying on guys, and he

22:30

was. He was yelling at the wide receivers and the

22:32

tight ends and Marioda. I was like, Ah, this guy's got a presence

22:35

to him. Now, that's been one of the knocks on the coach.

22:37

He doesn't have a presence to him. But Will

22:39

Rogers make a conscious effort with his coach

22:41

and definitely his younger players, because

22:44

potentially, depending on how this

22:46

draft shakes out, he might

22:48

have two skill guys that

22:50

are twenty two years old that they just drafted in the first

22:53

round. And I would bet

22:55

against it, just like I bet against

22:57

Chip Kelly changing when he kept getting hired,

23:00

just like i'd bet against John Gruden changing.

23:02

Because when you're paid so much money,

23:05

and even if people crush you, the

23:07

direct deposit always makes you feel

23:09

And I've never experienced this, and

23:11

I hope that I can always be self reflective

23:14

and take a step back. I think we all do. But

23:16

it's human nature when you're getting enormous

23:19

amounts of money for guys

23:21

that kind of defined your success, right or wrong,

23:23

and I probably lean it's not necessarily

23:25

right now. Roger's success has been defined

23:27

on the field, where he's been a fantastic player

23:29

and he deserved the money. But in

23:32

his mind he goes, I've been so damn good and

23:34

we've won, if anything, because of me. So

23:36

I do understand why he would say, maybe

23:38

I don't have to change, but this is a good opportunity

23:42

for maybe to take a deep breath and like, is there

23:44

anything I can improve on? Because

23:46

when you stop improving, whether it's

23:48

just with your basic fundamentals, which he's

23:50

terrible at, I mean, his fundamentals are awful

23:53

and it gets them in trouble or even as

23:55

a teammate or a leader. Hell,

23:57

you can read any leadership book. You always

23:59

have to be evolving. You're gonna get

24:01

yourself into rough situations. And the

24:04

division's probably never been better, with the

24:06

Bears gonna be really good. I think the Vikings are gonna

24:08

be really good, and even the Lions

24:10

are gonna be improved. But those two teams

24:12

are just better, clearly better on paper,

24:14

and they were better on the field than the Packers. So

24:17

as a fan of football and as a lover of Rogers,

24:20

the player, not necessarily the person.

24:23

I do hope they're relevant, and I hope they're good

24:25

this year, but I just don't feel that

24:27

confident that he's gonna make

24:29

a willing change. Okay,

24:32

let's get into them Cowboys.

24:35

You know, you probably argue the biggest brand in the NFL,

24:38

and anything they do is a story.

24:40

This weekend, I think it was Friday night,

24:42

might have been Saturday, I don't know. The weekend

24:44

when you're when you're letting loose and getting

24:47

after it all kind of runs together. But

24:49

they signed to Marcus Lawrence for a lot of money.

24:52

And Peter King actually had some really good nuggets

24:54

this morning and is I wanted to call it MMQB,

24:56

but it's like Football Morning in America now because

24:59

he went to NBC about how Steven

25:01

Jones got on the phone with

25:03

DeMarcus Lawrence and typically the way it

25:05

works in the NFL. I've never negotiated

25:08

a deal, but I talk to enough of these guys. They

25:10

just deal with the agent, right, You just deal

25:12

with the agent and you don't

25:14

often talk to the player, And that's where some

25:16

issues often happen. Well,

25:19

DeMarcus Lawrence's representation

25:22

told him you should call Stephen Jones. It will help

25:24

make the deal go through, and they talked and

25:26

I think clearly it worked out because he got

25:28

paid well. Dak Prescott

25:31

and Stephen Jones made a comment that

25:35

they need to sign a team friendly deal. Basically,

25:37

if the deal's gonna get done, it's got to be team friendly.

25:39

And I was thinking, like, for how many

25:42

people and a lot of you guys, and the expansion

25:44

of this podcast has really grown over last

25:46

year. The reason you know who

25:49

I am is because of Colin

25:51

Coward. I'm on Colin cowards

25:55

podcast feed. If it wasn't for

25:58

that, a lot of you guys maybe eventually

26:00

would have found me. I believe the cream usually rises,

26:03

but you might not be listening to me right now.

26:05

So without Colin Coward, this

26:07

podcast, even if I would have started

26:09

it completely on my own, probably

26:12

would have had a lot less people

26:14

listening. I know for a fact a

26:16

lot less people would have listened, and more

26:18

than likely many of you that have your EarPods

26:21

in at work whatever would not be listening

26:23

to this. I need Colin Kaepernick

26:26

much more than I call him Colin Kaepernick,

26:28

Colin Coward, not Colin Kaepernick.

26:31

Much more than he needs me. I'll promise you that

26:34

I got news for you, Dak. You need

26:36

the Dallas Cowboys much more

26:38

than they need you. Now. They do need you

26:40

too, And to me, that's why the analogy

26:43

of me and Colin doesn't work. Like they

26:45

do need Dak. He is a good quarterback

26:47

and he's a good player. But I know Colin

26:49

has talked about this on his show. He benefits

26:52

a lot and let me repeat

26:54

a lot from being the Dallas

26:56

Cowboys quarterback. And

26:58

that's the one thing that Allas has that other

27:01

teams like when Khalil mac left,

27:03

he upgraded teams. The Bears are

27:05

a bigger deal in the NFL than the

27:07

Raiders. There is not a team

27:09

that Dak could go to unless he took over for

27:11

Tom Brady, there would be a bigger deal than the Dallas

27:13

Cowboys. So whether he takes a

27:16

little less money, and when we're still talking,

27:18

when I say less money, I'm talking like a five

27:20

year, one hundred million dollars deal, so

27:22

average about twenty million dollars a year and

27:24

guarantee him like sixty million dollars.

27:27

Now would Dak sign that. Probably not, but

27:29

if he was smart, he would because the amount

27:31

of money that he can make is the Dallas Cowboys quarterback

27:34

is basically infinite, especially if

27:36

they win and they're gonna be good. The roster is loaded.

27:39

You want to keep this roster going, and

27:41

his two key pieces on offense,

27:43

Zeke, the best player on the team, needs

27:46

to get paid. I'm sorry, Dad, He's much

27:48

better than you as a player. Amar. I

27:51

probably wouldn't pay Amar this year. I'd make him

27:53

play out the fifth year option. But he's gonna

27:55

get paid too, especially if he has a good year.

27:58

But Dak has to realize the Cowboys

28:00

have a lot of leverage in this now, how do they

28:02

find a quarterback. It's not like

28:04

they have an unlimited amount of leverage because

28:06

they do need what he brings to the table. But

28:09

the problem with Dak and the elephant

28:11

on the room with Dak, I think

28:13

when you talk to Dallas Cowboy fans, they go, how

28:15

good is he? He's never gonna be a top

28:17

five quarterback in the NFL. He probably

28:20

on his best day is like seven to twelve,

28:22

and he has some days where he's like fifteen to twenty.

28:25

But because the team is so talented,

28:27

you can get by. And like Colin

28:30

Kaepernick when he was with the forty nine

28:32

ers, and I would say Colin was more talented

28:34

than Dak. Faster runner, bigger

28:36

arm, the whole deal. He benefited

28:39

a lot because he was also, like Dak,

28:41

a flawed player, very inaccurate,

28:45

could not just throw basic routes. And Dak's downfall

28:47

is usually the deep ball. He's terrible. App Colin's

28:50

team was loaded, the defense was absolutely

28:52

stacked. They were paying a lot of people a lot of money. Patrick

28:54

Willis, n Borrow Bowman, Joe Staley,

28:57

Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree,

29:00

Smith, Alden Smith, Ray

29:02

McDonald. I mean, they had a lot of good players. Some of them

29:04

turned out to be questionable characters, but

29:06

they could ball. And that's a big part of

29:08

the Colin Kaepernick hype, which he made

29:11

happen. Just like Dak is a big

29:13

part of the Cowboys winning because when they're playing well,

29:16

he usually is playing decent, even if it's with

29:18

his legs, that's fine. Their defense is so

29:20

good and down the stretch. But he

29:22

wasn't good enough in that playoff game. He wasn't

29:24

That's why to me, the coin in the peak of Colin

29:26

Kaepernick was a better player than Dak.

29:29

Like you could win playoff games with

29:32

Kaepernick as long as your team was really good.

29:34

Can you do that with Dak? So far,

29:36

he's won and two in the playoffs, and in two

29:39

of the three playoff games. I guess his rookie year

29:41

when they lost to the Packers, he was good in that game. This

29:44

year, he wasn't very

29:46

good in the game against the Rams, and he was fine against the game

29:49

in Seattle. But they need better. And to me, that's

29:51

why I'm not rushing, and I agree with Stephen

29:53

like Dak, if you're willing to sign a team friendly deal, we'll

29:55

sign you right now. But let's not act like you

29:57

don't need us. We're not the Jaguar.

30:00

This isn't the Houston Texans, this isn't

30:02

the Arizona Cardinals. This is Dallas freaking Cowboys.

30:04

And you've been the quarterback here since you were a rookie.

30:07

And you weren't some first rounder, you were a

30:09

mid rounder, and you know

30:11

you were a high character guy. But you did have d y right before

30:14

the combine that probably cost you round. And

30:16

we took you. We didn't really

30:18

believe in you off the bat because you were like a third

30:20

Enforcering quarterback. It took Tony getting hurt.

30:23

Then it took Kellen Moore getting hurt. It took some things

30:25

happening, but you took advantage of it. You

30:27

took advantage of the opportunity like any

30:29

human has to do in life, and you ran with it. And

30:32

you've been damned good. But you're still flawed

30:34

and you have to admit that end you can. The

30:36

one thing about where I always sided with players, you

30:39

gotta get your money while you can. Well, when

30:41

you're the Cowboys quarterback, you can make

30:43

so much money. Would he be

30:45

on the Campbell soup if he was the Arizona Cardinals

30:47

quarterback? Of course not. They would not have chosen

30:50

him. He's a Dallas Cowboys quarterback and he's

30:52

good, and I actually think he's

30:54

got room to improve. But

30:56

I would recommend I don't think it's crazy

30:58

to sign a team friendly deal because unlike

31:01

some of these organizations where you go they can get

31:03

cheap. I know the Cowboys, they're

31:05

all in with their chips and

31:07

they need you to sign a team friendly deal. Not so

31:09

they can pocket some money because they want to sign

31:12

all your sweet teammates to deals, as they

31:14

just did with DeMarcus Lawrence. They want to do it with Zeke. They probably

31:16

want to do with the Mary. They want to do with all these guys. That's

31:19

where Kaepernick got screwed. He signed a team friendly

31:21

deal and they started letting guys walk

31:24

like Mikey Potti, Michael Grabtree,

31:26

Frank Gore. They let him a walk that

31:29

Jerry ain't gonna do that, Jerry, every guy

31:31

that you want him to keep, and that you would think, like, I don't

31:33

want Zeke on my team, so does Jerry. So why

31:35

Jerry drafted him really high? They're gonna

31:37

want to keep them, Mari. They just traded a first round

31:39

pick for him. DeMarcus Lawrence became

31:42

a franchise level player. They broke them

31:44

off. So, but Dak, when

31:46

if you want to if you're adamant that you're an eighty

31:48

five million dollars guarantee guy, which you're not,

31:51

and if you make the playoffs this year, you'll

31:53

probably get that your team

31:55

is not gonna be as good and that is going

31:58

to reflect your ability. Because I saw firsthand

32:00

with Colin Kaepernick those first couple years when

32:02

they started letting guys go. He wasn't

32:04

good enough to carry him, and Dak is not

32:06

good enough to carry him. But if your team's really good,

32:08

and it is and it's complete, it's good an

32:10

offense. You can run the ball now that you

32:12

have Amari Gallup's not terrible.

32:15

You have a little bit of a passing game. If your

32:17

team stays complete, you got a chance Dak

32:19

to win a Super Bowl as a Dallas Cowboy

32:22

quarterback. Again, not the Cardinals,

32:24

not even the Seattle Seahawks, not the Minnesota

32:27

the Dallas freaking Cowboys. You

32:29

will be a lifetime legend. And every let's

32:31

say you signed for sixty when you could have signed

32:34

for seventy five million. I'll promise you

32:35

you'll easily make that

32:38

much money times tenfold,

32:40

and you'll never look back, and you'll be a lifetime legend.

32:43

So listen to Stephen Jones. He's

32:45

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35:00

Okay, let's get into the Middlecoff

35:02

mailbag. Got a lot of good Middlecoff

35:05

mailbag Instagram. You can always get

35:07

a hold of me at John Middlecoff

35:10

is my Instagram handle and

35:12

it's the easiest way to get on the show. You

35:15

just fire into my DMS and I'll answer your

35:17

question. Good insight on Charlie Ambersol

35:19

You're the only one so far which

35:22

sounds like the correct take on him. Sounds

35:24

like he is a party boy in dated Britney spears

35:26

not too long ago. Not even a question,

35:29

just reading a

35:31

positive comment. Try to keep positive on here.

35:34

Hey, John, do you think that Vince McMahon throws

35:36

a shitload of money at Gronk and he ends

35:38

up at XFL either as the face

35:42

of it or as the face of a franchise. That

35:45

is a hell of a question. I

35:47

never thought about that. The

35:49

only thing I would say for Gronk is

35:52

money hasn't been an issue. He's been

35:54

making a ton for last five or six years.

35:57

Everyone close to him is adamant

36:00

that he saved it all. So he's not in

36:02

financial you

36:04

know, he's not anywhere near

36:06

financial hardships. He's retiring

36:08

because he has a bunch of money in the bank. He doesn't

36:11

need the physical wear and tearror. Now,

36:13

does he make some sense as

36:15

like a face of the league? Yes,

36:18

but if he's not playing, that only

36:20

goes so far. But I definitely

36:23

think it would make some sense

36:25

right for Vince to get Gronk involved

36:27

in the WWE and then kind

36:29

of use him with the xfl'

36:33

that's genius. So yeah, I

36:35

absolutely love that idea. I

36:37

just I have a hard time seeing

36:40

him playing in Even if the XFL

36:43

is cool that first year, it's not gonna

36:45

be great football. I mean, let's call it what it is. I watched

36:47

them af it wasn't that great. Is

36:50

Gronk, who's gonna be a Hall of Famer gonna

36:52

come back for a season or two on

36:54

the field for the XFL. Have

36:58

a hard time seeing that now if they gave him

37:00

fifteen or twenty million dollars, even if he's got

37:02

money in the bank. Like, listen,

37:04

we've all been doing well at certain

37:07

points in time in your life where

37:09

you're like, you know, I don't need the money,

37:11

and then someone offered you a number, You're like, h

37:14

well, actually do it, Like we all got

37:16

a number. So would he play one season

37:18

the XFL for twenty million dollars?

37:21

I wouldn't put it past Vince. I

37:24

would say that I have a

37:26

hard time seeing him do it, But

37:29

you never know. I definitely think there's already

37:31

some connections with him and wrestling

37:34

him and Vince. I was thinking

37:36

more would just the WWE, But why wouldn't

37:38

you get Gronk involved in football? So

37:41

I best question I think we've ever had in the Middlecoff

37:43

mail back. Love it so,

37:46

hey, John enjoyed your last podcast. So

37:48

in your mind, who's the bigger dirt bag

37:50

for enjoy for ignoring their

37:52

family? Patrick read or

37:55

Aaron Rodgers. Pretty good question

37:58

for me to have a dirt bag, Rank, I

38:00

have to know the reason you don't talk

38:02

to your family, Patrick

38:05

Read felt was more

38:07

his wife. Patrick Reid's defending Master's

38:10

champion golfer Jordan Speed hates does

38:12

not talk to his parents, but he's

38:14

got kind of a sketchy passed. Rogers

38:17

doesn't have a sketchy past. He's never been in

38:19

trouble or anything. He just kind of has

38:21

a pass where people think he's kind of a dick. So

38:23

I would lean Patrick Reid. I think

38:26

there are two different animals. But I've

38:29

been saying to a lot of people that have been texting me about the Aaron

38:31

Rodgers thing, Like, again, man, unless

38:34

she had like criminal activity against

38:36

you, or you know, left

38:38

you when you were a child, not talking

38:40

to your mother if you're a guy and she's

38:42

still alive, that one's

38:45

hard to justify. I really don't

38:47

see how it is justifiable. So

38:50

that they're both to me, I got massive

38:52

red flags now from the little information

38:54

I have a little more on read I

38:56

go read bigger questionable

38:58

individual. I think Rogers

39:01

and for people in the know, acted like Olivia

39:03

Munn played some role. But Rogers

39:05

today when he talked to the media,

39:08

I mean, was adamant. One thing he kept saying

39:10

was claiming that he

39:12

doesn't hold grudges, or that he thought

39:14

like that him still holding a grudge over Alex

39:16

Smith was like preposterous. Preposterous.

39:19

Well, wouldn't it be kind of crazy holding

39:21

the grudge with your parents over something that happened

39:23

years ago? Like they're your parents, man, and

39:25

you're in your late thirties, meaning they're probably

39:29

I don't know, sixty five seventy,

39:31

Like they're not gonna be around forever. You

39:34

might want to get on that and just call her and see how

39:36

she's doing. Hey, John, not a really

39:38

big Barry sports fan, seeing that I'm

39:40

from northern Ohio, But since I've been listening to

39:42

you and watching your live streams, I've gained

39:44

an interest in the Bay Area as a whole. What

39:46

are the chances that Gruden and Mayok take Devin

39:48

White over Josh Allen on Twitter?

39:51

It seems like Josh Allen is a lock to go to

39:53

Oakland. If Williams and Bosa

39:55

are gone at two and three, I definitely

39:57

think it's on the table. I personally

40:00

would take probably Devin White.

40:02

I'm gonna write something this week on Josh

40:05

Allen. I really only watched Josh Allen

40:07

hardcore in the Bowl Game. So

40:09

a lot of my thoughts on Josh Allen have been through

40:11

friends in the NFL that they've

40:14

been adamant about two things. Whenever I go Alan

40:16

or Bosa, people that I trust the most,

40:18

guys that I work with that I know know what they're talking about

40:21

and don't have a skin in the game, they're not

40:23

getting these players because most of my friends are

40:25

in the playoffs. They say

40:27

that they don't even think it's close. That Bosa

40:29

is a much more natural pass rusher

40:31

Josh Allen. If you talk to certain people

40:33

that they'll go you know, he's really more of an overachiever.

40:36

Now he's a talented overachiever. Like he plays

40:38

really hard. There's nothing wrong with playing hard, like

40:40

Khalil Mack plays really hard. Von Miller plays

40:42

hard, but they have eleap attributes.

40:44

I gotta dive in and watch Josh Allen six

40:47

four he's long, he's productive, but

40:50

how's it gonna translate? And also

40:53

he is a from what I've talked to, more of

40:55

a three four outside linebacker,

40:57

think Alden Smith. Now, Olden

41:00

could play for three and three four and you could

41:02

argue nowadays you're in, you

41:05

know, passing situations so much your hands in the

41:07

dirt or you can stay in it doesn't necessarily matter.

41:09

But you know the Raiders, are they an

41:12

ideal fit for him? I'm

41:14

gonna have to look at that later. I think Devin White's

41:16

really good. The one knock I've heard on Devin White

41:19

from my people in the league, and I watched a lot of Devin

41:22

White, and he makes them just incredible flash plays.

41:24

He's a freak athlete and can fly. Is

41:26

that like think Roquan last year? What made

41:28

Roquan so special? He was a heat

41:30

seeking missile because he was

41:32

so instinctive, so he was always in the

41:34

right place. And I got a front row seat

41:37

in the prime of their careers. Willis and Bowman what

41:39

made them so dominant? I think Keithley

41:42

was like this too. It is like this when he's on the field.

41:44

Is Their athletic ability is elite and

41:47

their instincts are elite and then their physicality

41:49

is elite. So it's like they're

41:51

always around the ball. And my

41:54

buddy was like, you know, Devin White, sometimes

41:56

he just he makes some plays even

41:58

though he's taken wrong angle or he's in the wrong spot

42:01

because he's a freak athlete. Now, you can get

42:03

away with that in college, but every step

42:05

you take it gets a little harder. Now he is really

42:07

young. Can you coach him up for sure? Like

42:09

I watched Devin Bush, who is not going to

42:11

go as high as Devin White. I'd

42:14

say Devin bush Is best attribute from that

42:16

I've seen is his instincts, elite

42:19

instincts, and to me, that

42:21

matters at linebacker. That matters,

42:23

you know a lot. You

42:27

have to admit that the Steelers Raiders rivalry

42:29

is renewed. Yeah, man, I

42:32

don't think there's much of a rivalry there.

42:35

DeMarcus Lawrence has a new deal since he

42:37

won't play under the franchise tag, could the team

42:39

technically use a franchise tag on someone else?

42:42

No, I think there's a date that you

42:44

have to franchise him by before

42:47

the season ends or

42:49

not the season ends before the

42:52

league year starts, So whenever free agency

42:54

starts, like the week before the franchise

42:57

tag, there's a deadline do you have to franchise

42:59

him? And then once you franchise and there's that deadline

43:01

in the middle of June or July, they have to sign

43:03

it by But yeah, I don't I don't

43:05

think they can franchise. I'm no cap

43:07

guru and I don't know all the rules, but I'm

43:11

like ninety eight percent positive

43:13

that once free agency starts, you can't

43:15

retroactively franchise. Now. You can yank

43:17

the franchise tag or yank the transition

43:20

tag like happened to Josh Norman that

43:23

it happened to Falls, or they just never franchise

43:25

them, But you can yank it at anytime, but you can't add

43:28

it now. Luckily for them, they

43:30

would have been in a tough position had like Zeke

43:33

and DeMarcus been a free agent, And if that

43:36

had been the case, I think they would have been more active

43:38

and got one of them done. That's a part

43:40

thing about the Cowboys, Like next year, what

43:43

years this for Zeke? Is this gonna be a fourth and

43:45

it's gonna be a Mari's fifth, So yeah,

43:48

I guess next year technically they

43:50

would have a Mari and Dak would be free agents,

43:53

so you can only franchise one. That's

43:56

why I think it's

43:58

fair to say and safe to say that

44:00

they are one hundred because Dak there's

44:02

gonna be Dak's fourth year and he was a mid round pick,

44:04

fourth round pick, so he's a four year contract.

44:06

This is a Mari's fifth year option, so

44:09

you that's where you get a situation where

44:11

if you want to keep them both, you better get one signed

44:13

this offseason. So then worst case

44:15

scenario, to me, I'd rather sign a Mari because

44:18

I think I can get a Mario a little cheaper, probably sixteen

44:20

seventeen a year if Dak's not signing

44:22

the team friendly deal. Like I'm sorry, Dak,

44:24

You're playing out this year and then I'll franchise you next year

44:27

unless we win the super Bowl or something. I'm not I'm

44:30

not giving you a huge cash you just

44:33

you don't deserve it. Everyone on this in

44:35

this planet, beside Dak and

44:37

his agent and maybe his family know that. And

44:40

I also, like I said earlier, I think it can be a

44:42

win win with Dak. I

44:44

really do. I think him making twenty to twenty two

44:46

million. It's not a bad deal at all.

44:50

If you're UCLA, why aren't you sending

44:52

the house at Chris Beard from Tech seems

44:54

like a no brainer. Well, now that I'm way

44:56

deeper in the podcast, let me flip on

44:58

the National Championship game. It was just

45:01

reported that Rick Barnes, former

45:03

Texas coach, now at Tennessee, who

45:05

had them number one in the country

45:08

Virginia. As I'm recording this is up

45:10

thirty seven twenty nine. I feel like Virginia's

45:12

gonna win. But Rick

45:14

Barnes. When I grew up having

45:16

I grew up in Davis, and you know, it's about

45:19

forty five minutes away from Berkeley, and my

45:21

dad we used to go to a lot of col football games. We were also

45:23

a big Cal basketball fans. I became a

45:25

pretty big UCLA basketball fan because

45:28

I had a family friend that played on

45:31

some of those teams with Steve Lavin and

45:34

it used to I mean, the West Coast we were actually

45:36

weren't a very good football conference. Like when

45:38

I was growing up, Stanford wasn't

45:40

good, Cal wasn't good, Ucla

45:42

was okay, USC was down, Arizona

45:45

was okay, Like Oregon was solid

45:48

Washington was okay, Oregon State

45:50

was decent, like the PATCHWAB wasn't great in football.

45:52

It was much more of a basketball school because UCLA

45:55

was good, USA was really good,

45:57

Arizona was really good. Stanford

46:00

with Mike Montgomery was excellent, Oregon

46:03

was solid. Washington

46:05

Washington State had their moments. So

46:08

this conference was a basketball conference. Ye,

46:10

we'd laugh at the SEC. Now the

46:12

SEC UCLA, who

46:15

was like the equivalent for basketball

46:17

on the PAC twelve, I wouldn't

46:19

go. I mean, they're basically ar Kentucky can't

46:22

even get Tennessee's head coach. It's

46:24

crazy, it really to me. It's

46:26

a reflection of the conference. And I

46:28

say it all the time, and it's part

46:30

of its biased, part of its anger, but part

46:33

of it's just facts. There are four

46:35

major conferences right now in college sports,

46:38

and it's let's call it what it is. When I say

46:40

college sports, I mean basketball and football,

46:43

and really the main thing is football, but basketball is

46:45

big two. The SEC is

46:47

the cream of the crop. The Big ten is

46:49

right there. The a SEC is

46:52

damn good because there are a basketball conference, but

46:54

they also their best football team

46:56

is Clemson, so they've won two or three national championships,

46:59

so they're pretty good shape. And

47:01

the team Big twelve,

47:04

well, I don't know, they got Oklahoma, they got

47:06

I mean shit texts, texts in the National Championship, and

47:08

then you got US, So you got the Big Four and then

47:10

like there's a tier, and then there's the

47:12

PAC twelve and then like right behind

47:14

the PAC twelve, and hell, you could even

47:16

argue might not even be that big of

47:18

a difference, like the Mountain West whatever,

47:21

the Health Conference they call that one, that Houston

47:23

and Ucfsen, Like, you

47:25

could argue the last couple of years those conferences

47:27

have been every bit of the equal in basketball and football

47:30

as the PAC twelve. And it's all about

47:32

money. Like the highest

47:34

paid coach out West is Chris

47:37

Peterson. I think he makes like four four and a

47:39

half million dollars. That's like what, I

47:42

don't know Old Miss pays their coach. You know

47:44

what do you think Kirby Smart and Dan Mullen.

47:46

I'm not even talking saving Mark

47:48

Stoops or Mike Stoops or whatever the Stoops

47:50

brother is at Kentucky. I remember I had a

47:52

buddy that was coaching a

47:55

position in the SEC. A position

47:58

was making like four hundred and fifth the GIR that's

48:01

like what we pay offensive coordinators out here

48:03

that financially we've fallen completely

48:05

behind. Because you can coach basketball

48:08

definitely football in like the Big twelve

48:10

or the SEC or the ACC. I mean,

48:13

Dabbel makes like eight million dollars. Dabbel's

48:15

coordinator makes two that's NFL

48:18

money. Used to you'd always go to the NFL because

48:20

you make way more money. Well, you don't need to

48:22

leave Ohio State for the NFL. The Ohio State

48:24

for the coordinator pays you one and a half million dollars

48:26

to the coordinator claims you're the coordinator, Alabama

48:29

coordinator, a Florida coordinator at Oklahoma,

48:31

you make huge cash. It was always

48:33

like you gotta go to the NFL. That's the private sector, that's

48:35

where the big money is. Now these colleges

48:37

pay so much unless you're in the PAC twelve,

48:40

than you always leave because the money's

48:42

not there. And again these are first

48:44

world problems. These guys all make a lot of cash,

48:46

even a lower I mean, no one's crying

48:48

for an offensive coordinator in the PAC twelve making

48:50

seven hundred and fifty grand. But when

48:53

you're just factoring in the industry, they're not competitive,

48:56

and now it's it's football failures

48:58

have now bled into basketball. Ucla

49:00

can't land a coach to save their life.

49:03

It's it's kind of sad, it

49:06

kind of pissing me off. To be honest with you, I'm

49:14

a huge Seahawk fan, and I was wondering how

49:16

they might go about building a team around Russell

49:19

Wilson if they signed them to a new mega deal.

49:21

And how much you think the new deal would be worth.

49:24

I think I might have talked about this on the last podcast.

49:27

To me, a fair deal would be no

49:31

math major. Let me pull out my calculator. Five

49:34

years times thirty five million

49:36

dollars a year. That's one hundred and seventy

49:38

five million dollars. So he's thirty one years old. I give

49:40

you a five year deal at one hundred and seventy five

49:42

million per and one

49:45

hundred twenty to one hundred and thirty million. I'd

49:47

started one hundred and twenty. I'd give one hundred

49:49

and twenty five million. How you build a team.

49:52

The salary cap is no longer seventy million,

49:54

you know, it's we're talking a two hundred

49:56

million this year. It's one eighty

49:59

eight so by next year be like one ninety eight. It's

50:01

gone up ten million a year for the last five or six years,

50:03

so it's only gonna go up. And

50:05

they have a ton of money now their owner just died.

50:07

But I'd have no problem given

50:09

him five years, thirty five million

50:12

dollars per and guaranteeing

50:14

one hundred twenty to one hundred and thirty million. Here's

50:17

my problem. And people it feels

50:19

like there's some smoke and people are like, oh, they gonna

50:21

trade him, and I don't Collins talk trade

50:23

him for? What? Like? How do you replace

50:25

him? He's basically the Michael

50:28

Jordan of their franchise, the best player they've ever

50:30

had. Now, you could argue Earl Toms they've

50:32

had some really good players, even with the early

50:34

Russell Wilson team, but the most important he's

50:36

a quarterback. So you're

50:39

gonna trade him for even if he traded him. Let's

50:41

say again some crazy hypothetical, the Raiders

50:43

would offer you six first round picks, Well,

50:46

how are you gonna find Russell Wilson with one of the first round

50:48

picks? I give you six first rounders,

50:50

but how do I fill the Russell Wilson

50:53

void? I got news for you. You don't.

50:55

That's why you don't trade him, why you don't even entertain

50:58

trading him. It's just why you pay him. You

51:00

make them your quarterback for the rest

51:02

of Pete Carroll and John Sneyder's career.

51:07

Just wondering why the NFL doesn't have a sponsorship

51:09

patch yet on their jerseys Like the NBA.

51:11

Study's a showing that sponsorship patch alone is

51:14

brought in over one hundred and fifty million to the league.

51:16

Seems like the NFL owners should talk about this at

51:18

a league wide meeting, but I'm not hearing

51:20

any information about it. What are your thoughts? Well,

51:23

I know the Niners, the

51:25

Cowboys, and the Eagles off top of my head,

51:28

and I'm sure countless. I think the Vikings a

51:30

lot of teams on their practice jersey

51:33

so like during training camp, during OTAs while

51:35

their players or interviewed have them.

51:37

I don't know if there's like league by laws

51:40

anyone that's involved in some sort of club,

51:43

and that's basically what the NFL is. It's just a

51:45

you know, fifteen billion dollars a year club.

51:48

There are by laws and maybe they had stuff written

51:50

in for the jerseys. I'm not exactly sure. I'm

51:52

the wrong guy to ask on that, but I do know

51:54

for a fact that many

51:57

teams, and probably you guys listening

51:59

because I have I get so many dms

52:01

from all you guys, you probably every

52:03

single team is representative that listen to this podcast.

52:06

You know, oh you go, oh yeah, the Bengals have one. Oh,

52:08

the Saints have one. Most teams on their practice

52:10

jerseys now have one. Now

52:12

why don't they have them on the game ward jerseys?

52:15

I would guess, and this is just an educated

52:18

guess. It's in like the NFL

52:20

buy laws that you can't mess

52:22

with the jersey. Maybe it's easier

52:24

in the NBA to put them on the side. Like in baseball

52:26

they don't have them either. I mean a golf

52:28

and like NASCAR, those guys are walking just

52:31

sponsors. I'd be all for it. I

52:33

mean, that's what you know, really

52:35

what a basketball steal it from? Right? The

52:37

EPL and the soccer clubs, they

52:39

have a bunch of shit all over their jerseys, and you

52:42

know, fans don't care if the team's good. So

52:44

I we're headed that way, whether

52:46

that's next year, whether that's in five years,

52:49

We're gonna be there. For sure. And you know,

52:52

if it's one hundred and fifty million for the NBA, think

52:54

of what the NFL would think of what a

52:56

major company, Netflix or

53:00

whoever, Gatorade or I make its Gatorade's

53:02

already represented. But just any

53:04

of these companies would pay to be on the Cowboys

53:06

jersey, to pay to be on the Patriot jersey,

53:08

to pay to be on the Eagles jersey. Think

53:11

how much money they could make of that. So they're

53:13

definitely talking about that, But they're also at

53:15

the point, like you

53:17

know, to me, it's it's not

53:19

necessarily that adding that is not like

53:21

pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered. That's just good business.

53:24

But you gotta be a little careful

53:26

of that because they already have this kind of public perception

53:28

that they're all about the money, and they are as they

53:30

should be. It's it's their business model

53:33

is to make money. But I

53:35

would imagine we're headed toward, you

53:38

know, Google being on the Arizona

53:40

Cardinals jersey or whoever. But

53:42

you can always hit me up at John Middlecoff

53:45

Middlecoff mail Bag. We'll answer your questions.

53:47

Thanks for all. They're pretty good this week. Watch

53:50

the end of this game. And I will talk

53:52

to you Friday. We're not that far away from the draft, right

53:54

around the corner. Godspeed, enjoy

53:57

the week, talk to y'all soon. See it. Get

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