They are around the NFL. Podcast is doing leg lifts under the.
Desk from the Chris Westling podcast studio.
It's around the NFL.
I'm Dan Hansis got heroes here, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal.
Happy Mother's Day belatedly.
So all the moms out there that listened to the show, and there's a lot of them. But we're already spinning forward in this studio because we got a cool dad convention right now. We got a white denim jacket on Rosenthal, black denim on Cecilo. I just want to green screen me and put the good angel and the bad angel on each shoulder.
Jacket.
Bro, tell me what to do and how to play.
Yeah, last last weekend when we went out, I commented, I liked Mark's denim jacket sporting lately, so I went into my closets to try to find the closest thing.
I haven't thought we could be jacket bros.
Today.
Well, I really feel that connection with you, Greg.
It is and you also asked me advertise me out on YouTube.
You know, it's like how many episodes in a row could I wade through without whatever I wear or don't wear? Being commented on?
Well, it was funny that when we got together with a certain individual last week to celebrate times with a certain individual, that you asked, Greg because Mark was wearing this very handsome Levi's faded black jacket jean jacket. How come you haven't said anything on the show because you're always bringing up sartorial choices of us on the program. And I said, this one was a big deal, the faded Levi denim. So I need to give it a
little time to marinate. I knew it would be too hot if I came right away with a comment about it, so I gave it a couple of weeks.
It's a good strategy on your part. It's just like I fine, like jean jackets have been around for hundreds of years, if.
Not on you, not since maybe you know Lake Happiness, maybe around those times.
Unfortunately, I don't have the same social graces or intelligence that Dan does. And I came a hot and Mark did not like it when I brought it up.
No, I liked it. I think I did what you did.
Greg, I fired a shot back at whatever you had on your body at the time.
I was a taking shot, all right.
Welcome to the Monday edition of Around the NFL as we kind of ease into our off season sched you'll get two EPs a week until you know, around training camp, unless you know, things pop up.
Here and there.
We'll be doing shows from here in the studio were as I said.
At the top, Chris Westling Podcast studio.
But we'll be doing some remote shows too, and maybe maybe we'll do a road show. I want to have a conversation about that. A road show.
Well, we've also got the Big Theology podcast on the docket too.
Is this the year a big week?
Yeah, later this summer, I think. But for both of those things, I think the road show multiple stops. Are you just saying we go on the road to one place?
I mean, all this stuff, I guess is that's for a meeting, an extended meeting mark for us all After the show, I'm talking to Beef's sixty seventy five minutes.
I'll be forming my verbal strategy during the show to ensure my quick exit.
Today's episode is a fun little exercise that.
To kind of take a look at the landscape as of the NFL as we enter kind of a very quiet period on the calendar. Voluntary mini camps have taken place. When will the quote unquote mandatory camps veteran camps.
The first and second week of June they wrap up. I think June thirteenth to fifteenth is the second week of.
Them, right, So this feels like a good time to break out our glossary of terms twenty twenty three NFL offseason And as I recall, Mark, we enjoyed doing this last year, but it's kind of annoying how many letters there are.
Yeah, and that's something they could have dealt with from from an alphabet alphabet wise, you know, scenario a long time ago. But they continue on with though we've got to have twenty.
Six little bit of blows like you have your baseball season is too long thing? I would love a pivot to the alphabet is too long. That's a running and I'm correct on the on the baseball thing.
Oh, I love it.
I'd like the glory of a long season and the twists and turns of it all.
But this to your point, this episode I looked at last year's was like an hour and thirty minutes, so we made an adjustment to it.
I believe we have just be happy we're not, you know, producing this show in China or like you know, with the Chinese language of our background, around fifty thousand Chinese characters apparently an average adult I know it's maybe about eight thousand, So that would be that would be an extremely long episode.
That would be a year.
So you say that as a bullet dodge.
So what we're doing going to break this into two parts A through M today and through Z on Thursday. But you know, think like twenty of ATM and we're just like, what the hell are we going to talk about? We'll just do the Chinese alphabet in twenty thirty four.
It feels braggy to have that many letters, a little bit symbols.
Shurn it down, turn down a little bit, make an adjustment, all right, anything else before we get into.
The glossary, I want to see how you transition China takes a shot a shot. I'm just saying that would be actual problematic if we were trying to do it.
And also seems like and for most.
Headline for this podcast episode, Greg Roosevelt colon China problematic.
We're covered.
I thought you were. You were the problematic one here.
The gears are turning toward Rosie as.
The Japanese got about eight thousand characters and that and that's come up because my kids are learning a little bit. You know, there's like the most basic language, but like try to get to the third the third level, right, well, little what do you gotta do fresh you gotta learned seventy five hundred characters.
I took Japanese thinking my dad told me it would be smart for you, like no known future. If you want to be a businessman, you need to know Japanese. Three months later I had a raging I think I got about a forty two out of one hundred score in that class and just got a flying F. Never revisited the language, never will.
At least it was a flying f. You know.
Let's get into it. The glossary of terms, and we're gonna go all over the map here. Hopefully we don't have too much overlap. But by the time we finished this exercise at the end of the week, you're going to be totally immersed in the NFL experience.
And let's start with a a for all is quiet.
Just kind of a little preamble here, a little touching on what we just hit. Like I'll use your old guy, your old job, Greg as an example, Pro Football Talk scrolled through their content for the last week or so, about eighty four percent of it is rookie contracts being signed. Ever, the most electrifying read, especially in the post rookie slotting era of the CBA.
Literally no drama whatsoever.
There is one editorial that was curiously posted after ten pm Eastern last night, title should NFL shut.
Down on Mother's Day weekend?
Some takes in there, so my point being, there's just not a lot going on right now.
So wait, it was disrespectful to the mothers to do rookie mini camps.
It was the thought.
It was pointed out that back in two thousand and four, this is Mike Florio who wrote it. Receiver Plexico Buris boycotted a mandatory mini camp that was set for Mother's Day weekend. Apparently Scott Pioli, our colleague, had reached out and got a little spicy on Twitter talking about how, you know there should not be these activities.
Football is family, or so he believes.
What about the other eighteen holidays that they've totally laid siege to.
I don't know, And I also like, I don't know how it would play for players to be like, you know, hey, coach, love to put on some khakis and go to a brunch, So can I miss practice this weekend? I don't know if that would go over very well either, So it's almost like you just kind of grin and Barrett if it's falling on that weekend.
Well, it gave Mike Florio something.
To do, so that's true.
But anyway, we get to take a breath and kind of churn through the minutia of it all. So I'm happy if you're listening to the show right now that it's not the most action packed part of the calendar, but.
It's all quiet.
It's kind of coming though. I mean, at least there's players on the field. You can there is something about seeing Anthony Richardson throw a ball far while wearing the Indianapolis Colts jersey that just like gets me going a little bit, and you know, gets you thinking about the future. And then soon there'll be OTA's. But the difference between now in two thousand and four, for instance, when they were doing those mandatory veteran mini camps, just there's so
much less this time of year. We basically have the next three or four weeks, but it's pretty light. Even the mandatory mini camps are light. Whereas back in two thousand and four there were fifteen OTAs, most teams took them all. Most teams it was semi required, and you would do one or two mandatory mini camps where people are really tackling stuff. It's a totally different offseason. And I, for one, welcome in.
Yes, all right, B. Who has B?
I've got B. And that's gonna be the word A buoying. Let's hear it.
I mean, okay, okay, ew oh, I don't know, we want to try that out. That would be the sound that best describes me when a player from my top one oh one finally gets signed.
You know, the top one on one is still sitting out with So what is.
The boy exactly? I'm sorry, I'm the problematic one here.
Well, let's hear it. Let's hear it.
It's like a It's just like a fun word sometime with this glassery exercise where in year three you just see the letter and it just a word pops up and then you've got to retro fit something that comes to it.
Boying.
It's an automenopia. You know, it's not officially in the dictionary. But I think it's can be used in many different ways, and I do get excited when players come off to one oh one. I thought again to kind of intro this exercise. This time of year, I have noticed lately. I'm not saying GM's are you know, going through my lists, but there have been quite a few players that have been picked off from the list lately, Isaiah Win. Maybe i'll i'll mention a little later a couple of different players.
They're all between twenty five and seventy five, And it's a reminder a lot of these guys that are signed this time of year end up having a way bigger impact than all those first and second round picks that, like, we've spent two or three months talking about, so some players still left only eleven. Like I said, Yannik and Goakway. You can give you some pass rush sure, sure, not much of a run stopper. Genevian Clowney. I think he can at least give you five hundred decent snaps for you.
He will try it necessarily hard. I mean it'll be great.
Dalton Reiser, pretty good guard.
Who's out there, Marcus Peters, he's visiting the Raiders this week. Leonard Floyd. I thought it had a solid enough season last year. He's like a decent starter. Melvin Ingram who always starts every season great then falls off. Teddy Bridgewater is still looking for a job, Frank Clark is still looking for a job, Bryce Callahan who had a nice season in the slot for the Chargers last year. Justin Houston who signs every year in August and then ends
up being quite good. And then John Johnson who really struggled with the Browns. Thought he might end up back on the Rams. But they're not signing anyone. These are all guys who went into free agency. They're not unsigned because they're terrible. They're unsigned because they all had expectations of making a certain amount of money in free agency
and it just wasn't happening for them. So they will have jobs at some point, and like these guys will help, Like I said, a lot more than plenty of second and third round picks.
And the overwhelming majority of the names you just listed of remaining guys are over thirty. They're on the graveyards.
Literally, Gockway and Rise there. I think I don't know is.
Carson Wentz coming up in any capacity in the is.
I read a report today that he's so this sounds like it came straight from his agent, that he's receiving interest and is open to playing any role that could be, even maybe off the field. I'm not sure what right that is.
So, yeah, Wentz and Bridgewater both thirty years old, the two quarterbacks from the Graybeards still out there.
Yeah, Wentz.
You know interesting how it seems like the way this is going now, it's going from he found a starting job last year and now he's just trying to be in the league.
Tells you a lot about.
Washington played himself out of a multiple starting jobs. So I think it's like when they start, you know, Greg not doing these OTAs, but they're hitting each other and a quarterback goes down in the calamitous scenario. Suddenly Carson Wentz looks a little bit better than he does in early May.
Right, and you don't have to give up the compensatory pick now, like we're into that time. Your rock gas Sin, who I thought was a really good side mean by the Ravens recently.
It's just like these little ones.
The Jets finally brought Connor McGovern back, and then they drafted someone so that was a little surprising.
Just these little signings they matter.
And Robbie Gold still out there, cowboys still without any kicker?
What doing They have a kicker who has twelve field goal attempts in his career, So go get.
Right, what are we doing? What are we doing? Is Robbie Gould asking for too much money? Because guess what he's worth it? Go get them all right? The letter ce mark Slay. I like to write little odes, so this is my mark with a C by the way. Yeah, so I'm glad that you you assigned these. So I'm glad you gave me the mark with the sea.
But you go now just doing live interpretations of old drops.
I saw mark Ingram just the best we can do at this point.
You know, you know he's saw in the hallway today too, the Dominican Sue sitting at my desk. You know, how were we set everyone just sort of He even looked to see what I was doing on my computer, did he? Yeah? I mean I don't think it was his only goal, but he.
Can't help I was hoping for a second, the way that story was set up, that he was sitting at your desk and then you were gonna have to ask him to move.
Oh, that wouldn't go well.
I walked by him in stumped to the nuts. He's much larger than me. For half a second he looked at me like, do I know that guy? Did he interview me at like the Rookie Premiere in twenty eleven?
Oh no, I don't.
Did he bring me and leiococa hot fudge Sundays at the Ford Plant?
I can't remember.
Where's a small child room in the building.
With a cool dad jean jacket.
Let's go the letter, see Marca.
I want to do this all right? See is free?
That's a loaded question, by the way, gone.
I mean, I don't know why I've written these out, but like see is for cheers. Cheers to all those who cover the Denver Broncos and really talking heads everywhere for up to now pumping the brakes on ponderous theories and or credibility free think pieces on the presumed turnaround
of Russell Wilson under the watch of Sean Payton. It's a space where we could definitely see gabbers and attention seeking raw ro journo's possession take claim of the Russell Wilson bounce back narrative, and so far it's pretty quiet on that front. A collective chill pill has been swallowed. So cheers to you, fellow football heads.
Bad news and you're right, You're so right right May fifteenth, and when Russ gets to the veteran camp and then training camp, I think that's going to be a very well massaged narrative.
I'll take what I can get because I thought, even in another world, the minute that Sean Payton was hired, this could have started. And it's I think it starts with the fact that Sean Payton doesn't seem that into Russell Wilson or Russell Wilson's private office in the building of Russell Wilson's private training staff. He sort of bumped against that verbally every time. So I appreciate you Payton on this.
You know, I think it is Greg.
I'm curious, I know, because you were a little head of this Wilson thing. He was so bad last year that he looked cooked, So I think there's a It didn't feel like necessarily he was in An did poorly, as did the whole organization there to really set them up for success, and they had injury issues of course, as well bad offensive line play, they lost Javonte Williams, that lost wide receivers. It was a bad year in Denver.
But I'm operating under the idea that he just is one of those players and it does happen where their shelf life was shorter than expected, and you're going to get just a lesser version of him almost every year until he's essentially a backup in his mid thirties.
That's kind of where I'm.
Sting, and I'll be happy to be proven wrong because he seems like, in some ways.
A good guy.
He's very active in charity and Sierra. They go around the world together and they have a great old time.
But he might be shot, Greg, he might be shot.
I think there will be puff pieces. I think there will be hope and expectation, and I don't think it's unreasonable that with Sean Payton there and the weapons that they have, that he'll bounce back to like average, that he'll be closer to what he was the last three weeks of the season, when he was like, hey, he made a couple of Russell plays and wasn't like a total nightmare, And he'll have a couple good weeks and at the end of the year, you know, he's ranked
eighteenth in QB Index, because that would be a bounce back. He was one of the worst three or four quarterbacks in the entire league that the NFL, I thought, didn't totally get out of the Broncos business. They did give him three primetime games in fan base, I guess, but pretty mark Chiefs Vikings. He has a Sunday night game against the Vikings in the middle of the season. An
NFL network went on Christmas Eve against the Patriots. So I know that you haven't heard the Russell Wilson hype, but I do think the Denver local media is buying into the Sean Payton hype.
I'm starting to see that.
I don a problem with that.
Yeah.
Also, it should be noted once more that Jared Stindham was poached from the Raiders on the first day of free agency by Sean Payton.
So pretty good money if yes, at a good rate.
So I don't know if he is a middling quarterback. If he is a soso quarterback and they are.
A four and five, five and seventeam, I don't imagine he's going to stick with Russell Wilson if he if they were so hot in the pants to bring the backup in, they probably are gonna want to see the backup if they're already thinking internally, we're starting to turn the paper.
I think it's I think it's creating a narrative to break free from Russell Wilson after this season, which probably had to have been promised to Sean Pitton. You know, their third quarterback is named but Jared Garontano, and it's spelled exactly. They have two Jared spelled exactly the same way behind Russell Wilson. So there's a lot of heat coming out a lot Ben Denucci.
I think you say which Lucci's the.
He's on the Broncos.
There are there aren't many receiver groups that are better than the Broncos.
I know they might trade U.
I feel like we were saying that last long.
I get it, but now they've kept that. They kept that in Sutton Patrick, Jerry Judy. I like kJ Hammler if he stays healthy. Marvin Mims is a second round pick. We didn't really hit on that, but he's a nice player. Marcus Calloway's you're six. I mean, he's got some weapons.
Not bad, not bad, all right, A let's move to the letter D. D is for desperate. The Bengals.
They're a little desperate for their place in the sun. And I don't even I don't even hate on him for it necessarily, but a little needy reeling out to the NFL and saying, Hi, guys, it's us, the Bengals. Not only do we want to be on Black Friday this year, we would like to preemptively put our name in the hat to always be the Black Friday team. We want to be the lions of the day after Thanksgiving. How about us, guys, how do you feel about us?
And this?
And Mike North NFL executive Mike North, schedule guy.
He's like the Peter North of schedules. Like he's the guy.
Okay he that?
Hey, listen.
The Bengals actually raised their hand and volunteer and said, we'd be happy to host the first Black Friday game. He's the vice president for broadcast Planning North. In fact, we'd be happy to make this a tradition. How about Black Friday in Cincinnati every year? I'm sure that will be and then he added, I'm sure that will be something to explore moving forward.
So I like the play.
I like the aggression, but also it kind of came off as a little like, you know, you know, and you like a girl in high school and you kind of overplay your hand a little bit.
Some people beyond high school do then, right, exactly see it out on the town all the time.
You just kind of overplay your hand instead of playing it cool like they probably if they would have just raised their hand and say, how about Black Friday for us? We've got Joe Burrow or a powerhouse, right, and then if it goes well, like maybe you start to say.
Hey, we'll do it next year too.
But to come in hot and say we want Black Friday this year and every year cool?
It came up a little d does so I love.
I absolutely could not agree more. The only little I would throw in there that maybe is sneaky smart by them because it does look like all those things is that means number one, for the rest of time, everyone attached to the Bengals organization spends Thanksgiving Day at home with their family, right, they got to go to work the next day. But that's true of a lot of people.
But it's like you're never gonna have to fly somewhere else or you know, lug a bunch of equipment to you know, Detroit or fill in the blank on Thanksgiving Day. Other than that, I don't think that was part of their strategy. It just simply they look like teenage boys.
Might have been I mean, the Brown They are a family owned business, one of the few left I mean in terms of like the original NFL families. Maybe they were trying to just keep it all tight on Thanksgiving, not go out.
Katie Blackburn's running that chip.
Now.
It's sad, especially because it it feeds into Midwestern insecurities.
Is Cincinnati in the Midwest? Did we ever get a it is west?
Try to pitch that it was in the South, I believe, which was as close to pretty out there.
Yet it's really feeding into the insecurities of East Coast bias because you know Mike North, who I don't know if the Bengals would like him putting this business out there because it does make them look empathetic, uh, he said. Amazon requested that one of the New York teams.
I know, I saw that I was going to make that point. Next Amazon reached out to us.
Yeah, and Mike is very uh He's like very talkative about this, like he is letting people know that Mike North is in charge. Amazon reached out to us and said New York is the number one retail market in the country, and the game in New York might be a fun way to introduce this concept.
M The Giants Eagles was also considered. So yeah, this.
Does and I understand, even as someone who's a native of New York, I understand why those frustrations exist since he just played played a little stronger hand there.
It's a great information from Mike North, who just seems to want to dish left and right.
I mean, it's we get him on the show.
I think we should.
I mean, he sounds like he'll talk about literally and.
He I would, he would absolutely want want to come
on the show. I know Mike North a little bit because the first year I worked for the NFL, I had a desk it was about this essentially in business development, which didn't make any sense, but right around the corner the scheduling department, and they were you know, they were friendly guys in that department, you know, just just a few desks away, and they would get very busy and stressed, and I remember I once asked to like, go look at what's going on on their boards.
They wouldn't. They wouldn't do that. He was a nice guy.
I do remember once at the NFL office, and this was not Mike North, but a certain higher ranking executive went by my desk and was very upset that that NFL dot Com was mentioning the NBA. They were like comparing athletes to Lebron and they were like, we can't have that, Like we got to not get it coming.
These athletes to NBA players. No, you can't, like.
We cannot cannot give them any juice. And he held me personally responsible.
I was like, I don't know.
I remember writing rough leave twelve around the NFL blog posts about would Lebron James make a good tight end for the Dallas Cowboys metrics gold It was all right, let's take a break and we'll move on with the Glossary of terms Part one.
All right, we're back.
We're up to the letter E with Greg Ye.
All Right, my word is expectations, as in the Cleveland Browns should have high expectations this year. This is coming off the Zidarius Smith trade, which we haven't hit on
this show yet. Zadarias Smith, who had a great first half of the season for the Vikings and has had a great career in general before falling off down the stretch, and we talked about he wanted to be traded, he wanted more money, got dealt to the Browns for a couple day three pick swaps essentially nothing, just the contract dump where they give up a couple of fists and
they get a sixth and a seventh back. It's nothing, and they get a really good second pass rusher if he can stay healthy and if they can kind of keep him focused, which has been an issue for zadaria Smith, and as you mentioned about Clowney, just that position in general for Cleveland. And I just started thinking this team has had a really nice offseason. I like what they did adding Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman. I think the
offensive line's in good shape. You still have Chubb, you know, Nijoku. Conklin's sign long terms. Like I liked what they did in the draft. You bring in Dalvin Thomason. It's a good secondary. I look at this roster. I think it's a very good roster, and I think there should be high expectations for the Browns. I don't know if they'll hit him, because I don't know if Sashaun Watson's gonna ever get back to the way he was. But this
is year four of Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski. You gave up boatloaded draft picks and gave a guy the most guaranteed money in the history of the sport. Of course, there should be massive expectations, and I actually think if Watson can play, they have the team to reach them. And if they don't reach them, I think there's gonna have to be changes because year four, like, what are we doing here? What was the Watson trade and all that misery for if not to win some games.
I love the Smith move. I like the roster general.
I think we got back this offseason to Andrew Berry being the guy that I'd found so fascinating, the way that he quickly builds a team. I think he's done a better job than Stefanski. You're right, Watson is the absolute X factor there, but Miles Garrett, who's sort of been along with Denzel Ward alone on that defense, Jim Schwartz, I think people forget is the new defensive coordinator. You've got Miles Garrett, You've got Oguronquo, You've got Zadarias Smith.
You last year that the interior of the defensive line was a mess. You've got Tomlinson, Jordan Elliot's a good young player. They can move guys all over the place because Smith is someone that you can line up along with everyone else. And the defense, to me, which has been a real weakness at times in the past. If you look at their PFF grades on both sides of the ball, there really is an arraging weakness other than the lowest score of anyone is Deshaun Watson. So you have to find out what he is.
Yeah, I mean I kind of was saying this when you did the GM rankings. I thought you had him too low Andrew Berry because of the Shawn and all the heat that was cooked into that. But like he has overall done a pretty good job. I think building out this roster, and I think people it's and this is why you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube with Watson because you could say he's back to
who he was. Well, everything changed when when they brought in Watson, So no matter what happens, and I think this is ultimately the grand oversight of the Browns. No matter what happens, even if they go to the super Bowl this year, people are gonna only talk about in those two weeks going.
Up to the super Bowl.
I can't believe that Shaun Watson's playing in the super Bowl like you made, you got in bed with a character that really changes fundamentally how people view the team. However, you can't look at this roster and not say that's a playoff team.
If Deshaun Watson gets back.
To who he was, and I think that he is more more likely, and I know it was not a good six games. In fact, there was prett bad six games. I think it's more likely he returns to form or something close to it than he just sucks. Now, because when you break down why would he be bad? You would look at things like, is there a decline in skill age related decline? Is he playing with no skill talent? Is offensive coaching that up to stuff? None of those things are the case.
So is he mentally tough?
Is he mentally tough?
I have to say though, and this is we're separating some things now. Of course he has a level of mental toughness. He made it to the NFL. He was a college legend at Clemson, it became a superstar quarterback. It's all still there, and whether people like it or not, there is absolute reality where the Browns kick ass this year.
I think so, And I guess Yeah's why I wanted to throw that out there, because I think the Smith trade was the cherry on top of like they should be expecting a lot.
Though.
The reason why I don't feel bad that he's low on the GM rankings is it's a huge risk and if if it doesn't work out, that's all on him, that's all on them, and like what are they doing here? Like it ends up being one of the worst trades like like that you could come up with. And Browns fans just kind of can't have it both ways. They don't like pointing out that he was worse than Russell Wilson last year. He's one of the worst five quarterbacks in the league, I would say, And it was the
worst six games stretch of Watson's career by far. Like we'll just no other stretch like it, right, even as a rookie, Like there was no other stretch like it.
You can't have it that.
You can't say that and like say, well he's he's coming back, and then also say well, there's no expectations this year, Like I think Browns fans probably do expect this team to be good. Maybe I'm wrong, but like you can't also like tamp down saying like well, we're just trying to get back to winning nine or ten games.
It's like, what are you doing this for? Then you're for this program.
Tons of Browns fans, and like, I think the expectations from those who are like seeing all this that you mentioned are very high. Yeah, that's I think there's a lot of pressure on Stefanski.
I agree, and Barry, I think Browns are Jimmy Hasl hasn't stuck around with these gms too long this time he has.
Start five And oh in October, what are you up to over there? Mark?
Well, see, I mean I'm not you know, It's like I like.
I smut check in my mind.
I know, I know we do this periodically, to this periodically, but like let's just let's just see what happens. It would be they would be a big story. They would absolutely be a big story. And you brought up the brown type of a couple of years ago, when we talked about the Jets in their season coming up. Such a big difference with that team in terms of hype because it was built on Soggi foundation.
Ultimately, because Baker was the problem and he was the.
Quarterback in the defense, If de Seawan could play quarterbacks, is not gonna.
Be the problem.
Yeah, defense needs to not be too. They have been a total letdown. Heck they could have. I think they could have made the Super Bowl. That that their offense was good enough to make the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl with Baker Mayfield that year.
But the defense.
Yeah, he wasn't. Oh, he wasn't always the problem, like flying F Mark. All right, Uh again, I wrote this in the middle of the night, so I'm just checking back into the now. But I want to let you know how I feel about this letter.
Yeah, I totally believe that you have to text it us at six in the morning.
Well, no, I like I that is a factual account of how it's occurred.
F is for F me.
I'm a Patriots fan. Oh no, Well, hold on, Mark, here's the problem. We're not bad, We're boring. We're right down the middle, a big, fat bowl of heavily textured cottage cheese a beacon pointing only to yesterday. If I'm a sixteen year old Patriots fan, I've been duped into this by a gaggle of hard drinking Wooster Mass uncles.
They've known nothing else but ease since the turn of the century, slapping each other on the back and walking around their workplaces parroting Little bella chicken and phrases.
Can we get a split screen of Mark and Greg for the balance of this read?
Go ahead, Mark, little Bellachickian phrases, Little Bill Wannabe's in every desperate corporate office, men cradled and swaddling clothes through the childlike ease of six super bowls. Every Christmas morning is Christmas. Every dawn there's a bulging Easter basket by your bedside. But if you're that sixteen year old Patriots fan, the feeling is different. The feeling is that of being flung out of a moving vehicle along the burning Mass
turnpike seven feet above the ball boys. They're silenced, rotting corpses a minor price to pay for touchdowns. Their flesh will produce springtime flowers. That's how the earth works. But this time those flowers are being delivered from somewhere else the House of Satan. Welcome to your Endless Winner, a thirty two year period where you will know in great detail every inch of sports Siberia. I'm sure you'll stick around. That's my report on the New England Patriots.
See yeah, I like football. I like football season, all the things that go with it.
See you guys, you didn't like it.
I remember West didn't like it when I brought up that I was getting out when Brady leaves.
But it looks like it was a good, good move.
You know, well you didn't stick around.
Yeah, that it reminds me of lack of character. What Tony Soprano.
Said in the first episode of The Sopranos where he's talking about, you know what it was like growing up around the heyday of the Mob in Jersey and he kind of comes to a realization and he says, lately, I've been getting the feeling that I came in at the end.
The best is over. And that's that's not just the Patriots.
There's a lot of fan bases through all sports that you kind of come of age after a glory period.
Of Olden State Warriors. Your ten year old fans here.
Yeah, but it's particularly probably annoying for the teenage New England's sports fan who get the Celtics and the well in the season. At least that there was actually a twenty year run, so it was like an endless summer that you don't now have. I just like that someone else is speaking on this topic rather than me, and I'll say no more.
Well, forget the teenagers.
At least they got some they got some great fun at like great times to be a fan when they were ten to eleven years old. My poor son Walker is jumping into the Patriots fans.
He's eight years old. He can't he can't remember that Rams game.
Oh you don't have to do nothing, but media give it soun in California.
I haven't been pushing it on him, and he's quick to jump to whoever is winning.
But in his heart, actually the Patriots are his number one.
Well you're not really following the Patriots too closely.
Yeah, I'm rooting for but I'm not. I don't feel the I felt this and I really noticed during this you know Celtics run. I don't have the emotions, and I think because it's work related. But I don't have the same devastation on a losing Patriots game or win. I feel more like a fan with the Celtics.
You used to Greg, you're being at those Super Bowls with you, you were your body was quiver six titles.
So I would think, as someone that is a reasonable person deep inside, you know, how mad can you get when you get six?
I also I agree with that, and I think it's healthy with our work if you feel like just being loyal to football and disconnecting this a little bit from your team and still still rooting for them. They're still the only team that really.
Just supporting the shield. You're saying, yeah, blindly supporting Rob Low.
This roster is not terrible. That's the weird thing they're got.
I think the schedule is tough, but I think they're gonna be a pain and they'll probably annoy everyone and they'll probably win eight or nine games.
Again something the other.
Day, like down the middle, right they are It makes sense in a loaded AFC East on paper that the Patriots will eat dirt and go four and thirteen and be feasted on by all these teams. There's logic towards that. It's probably not how it's gonna play out. It's a credit to Belchick, even though now Bill has something to proved such a huge year for Belchick.
I think he's trying to be good on defense because that's what he knows and feels like he's best at. And they have set up a young and very versatile secondary they added to their front seven. I actually think on paper the defense could be a top five or six defense, and they played like that really the last couple of years without the same amount of the offense that needs to be Yeah, the offense needs to be a lot better.
Well, counter argument, we were downstairs watching, you know, on a NFL network the Rams the first Rams Patriots Super Bowl, and it's, you know, six minutes into the fourth quarter and Tom Brady is ninety six yards and the defense is not allowing the Rams and Kurt Warner to do anything. So back to the roots maybe, but still kind of boring that.
Yeah, that was a boring TP People thought that two thousand and one team was boring.
And they were easy to rout till it wasn't. Well, they started like one and three.
I believe that year they were Yeah, they were fine and it was fun. I was in Boston for.
That ride that was I just mean they were like highest scoring offense for the regular season or something.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, all right, let's see g G is for Green comma Trent replacement Matt Ryan joining CB. Yes, And I just want to say, first of all, I don't actually believe that Trent Green. I hope he has a long career that continues to flourish with the Tiffany Network. I do feel like there's a with Matt Ryan. He always seemed to be someone that would be destined to be in a broadcast booth. He looked like that when
he was twenty seven years old. When you take his helmet off, all he's like, oh, he looks like he's should be standing next to Iron Eagle, and now here we are. That time has come and he's coming off obviously a rough couple of years back end of his career where he struggled in Atlanta with a not so hot team and then went to Indianapolis and was part
of that tire fire. So now he joins CBS. He reiterated by the way that he's not retiring, and there's a there's a business reason for that because he still do twelve million from the Colts this year, So it would not behoove him to retire because that would muddy up those greenbacks from heading into his bank account from the cults who are desperate to just move forward as
an organization. My other point that I'm awake about Matt Ryan, there is a tendency for even though there's more scrutiny than ever on these booths, it's almost like everybody wants the same thing, and there's just like a flattening out of what you expect from your play by play guy and what your announcer. And that's why part of what made Romo sensation for that brief period, it's like, well, he's.
Got this enthusiasm and he's predicting plays. He's just different.
And then when you see Greg Olsen, who I like a lot, but he's now held up, is this like the vanguard, It's like he's just like pretty steady.
He's not like a lot of juice to him.
Give me the Matt Ryan, who's a maniac, the guy that there are legends about about how angry and he's screaming at people on the field and has like a ton of aggression in him when he studies the game and sees plays not go the way they want. I want Matt Ryan with the red face. I want him getting mad. Want I want some more personality in the booths in general, in the NFL and really in sports
media in general. But these NFL booths, and maybe Matt Ryan will shock us and not just be a milk toast generic x QB like some others we've known, but kind of brings a little edge and gets a little mad at the guys and isn't afraid to be overly critical, you know, mix it up, Matt reeh.
I think it's so like unpredictable which one of these guys succeed. And it's funny because Matt Ryan was that way and fiery, except always had an attitude of kind of being dull. You think about Matt Ryan, you kind of think of like maybe just a notch or two personality wise, more exciting than even his name Echo. Yeah,
but I mean maybe he'll be great. I mean, I think it's interesting that he's hopping right in where while there's increasing doubt that Tom Brady will ever take the role that he signed up for.
No, there isn't, Yes, there is is not increasing doubt.
There's literally reporting here me and Mary.
That's just you guys keep saying it.
Go read what Andrew Marshaun's put out over the last Go.
Read what Andrew Mushan said as a pushback to him getting aggregated off his podcast.
So hold on. So, like, the one thing is, why does Tom Brady need an entire year to go prepare for this when Matt Ryan's just going to go do it right now?
Because Brady has the ability to do that, you can do whatever he wants.
I'm very invested in Tom Brady doing this.
But I think because I'm from the start, I have a sandwich on and I said, everybody's got to chill out.
Everybody's expecting him to do something crazy.
I think it's a great sun. And you're like, I might do this in a year, like it's in general in life. It's like, I'm really excited I'll doing this.
I maybe picking an.
I turn it around.
I just realized he's going to be at the he committed to going to the Patriots game Week one.
I guess he's not working.
He's no, he's not working at all this year.
I'm going to turn around.
Why are people like you guys so invested in him not doing it.
We just like our predictions to be right.
Yeah, I just I think that's probably what it is.
I find that it's interesting.
I mean, I think why everybody's so like plugged into the idea of him renegging on the agreement. I think part of me, I'm trying to like say, like, well, oh, like he sought out this contract.
It's a huge deal.
It gives him high visibility at a huge salary with not a ton of work. Why are we just assuming he's looking to get out of a deal that he sought out and signed.
I think it was just like an exciting moment, like Kendall Roy got Tom Brady signed up for a minute that they got to have a press release and then nothing ever happened.
All Right, I guess we'll see.
I love it. You talk about like, you know, the burning intensity, don't worry about who you're talking about being critical. It's like, I need a year to sit on this and maybe get better at It's like, I just don't see that fought with Tom Brady or take a year to go play.
I think he was saying, I just played football for twenty straight years and I'm going to dive into this, So I'm taking any.
Came in what two thousand and eight. It's not like he's jumping out of his career after his first contract.
I think it's more likely that Tom Brady will be announcing games at some point than it is that Matt Ryan is suddenly gonna, you know, turn into Don Rickles.
They have a lot of fire. I think he could be good, and that's my hope.
And wish, but and a dream really but not the reacity.
Yeah, I can't imagine that. Just here him in front of a micro And that said, I think he could be. I just want information. I want to get smarter. And if he's a little dry, but he's like the Mayoch type of announcer where you're he's teaching the audience and is a little.
Dry, I like that.
And that's that's what I'm hoping for, because I don't think we're getting personality fiery Matt Ryan.
I haven't seen that game.
It'd be cool, though, it would be like, oh wow, it's a Matt Ryan game. Oh yeah, tm X is playing poorly. Oh Ryan's calling the game. He's gonna give it to him or he'll get you know, he's hyper emotional about certain way. It's like, that's why I want I want Dan Campbell to win a Super Bowl with the Lions at some point. But I also love to see Dan Campbell going off on some bros in the booth. He could be like a Maddenesque figure.
Maybe it'd be a great surprise for Matt Ryan to be to be what you're just suggesting.
All right, I'm gonna go with one of the most underrated words in the English language.
Hers stute, nice one, her.
Stute meaning like harry or shaggy.
And you know, it's a great time for the off season, just like the best beards or just to think about like it's a time for people experiment with their.
Who's the most here stut on the show right now?
Oh, I'm the most I'm the hairriest.
Its probably the most body hair per capita.
Yeah, because I do have a hairy chest, don't you.
I do?
I do. I think there was there were like beach images that leaked of Greg about eight nine years ago.
I beach images that leaked.
Yeah, damn, a Shek was all over it. I remember that.
That is ridiculous.
I uh, I kind of remember that.
Yeah, I don't.
Sam ask was up in arms, I don't on the cover breaking down or so of.
The other podcasts they do the just like a roseland took them out. I show it, show it off a little bit.
What do you mean you showed off on the other podcast.
Well, just know the rope, the cover art. I'm ware, oh, kind of see it. So everybody check that out on it.
You're not like Robin Williams or anything. I look, I'm basically a wet seal, like I just don't. I don't have a lot. Mark is probably very average on balance, I would say, in terms of.
There's a little on the front of it.
Yeah.
Well I look at my brother though and my dad and they're just they're just kind of like gorillas walking around, very hairy backs and stuff. So I'm happy in my family that I'm I'm the least her stupid. But it also goes to be like Harry and Shaggy. I mean right now, maybe maybe it's Mark with the beard.
I don't know a little bit.
I mean, but not really. Yeah, I mean, I don't think there's a huge like debate between the three of us on this front. We did why are we going down this road. I don't know, just just wait, what does that have to do?
Yeah, what's the glossary of terms connection?
Well, it's just like we could have the best beards in the NFL conversation. Oh, Kelsey, you got Mike Evans. I've always thought it's a nice beard. It's very consistent, it's always there. Darnold is one of the worst beards I thought when he added that it was one of the test spirals looked like like a guy who couldn't really get it going.
And I just think that's an And he don't grew a surprisingly strong orange beard.
Yeah, yeah, he grew more attractive when you like, with a number of island moves.
It just felt like, Mari, that's something you can experiment with in the off season.
It's an off season conversation.
And then once we were in the off season during the pandemic, I think we have a shot of it. Eric, let's take a look if you're watching us on YouTube.
We got our great friend Chris Westling. We got Mark.
I mean, Mark might be the most curstute guy there. I don't know, I don't know how to use it.
It's weird because I had never attempted to truly grow out a beard until the world nearly ended or seemed like it was ending. So I just, you know, it just kept on. It didn't really grow in full in like a cool mountain man way. It just was splotchy, itchy after a while, and it's like this sucks.
So it was maybe like the longest and it's like the thickest in parts. But again I'm not connecting the mustache with the beards, not connector looking Wes's was was fantastic.
It was a solid beard and.
As well.
I mean it was a very strange time. We had an agreement just to keep growing the beards. Then suddenly unannounced remember this one show, and I got, you know, a little bit uh inappropriately annoyed by it. I think Dan and Greg just suddenly shaved out of nowhere with no announcement. It was just like, well, what happened to our We had an agreement and then it was like we're out moving on?
Our society is somebody maybe it was you, but it does sound like something you get like really discuss.
I mean, you know, it's just like blinded by the move.
It wasn't like you were left to be humiliated when we did the next show and you still the beard.
Though I don't know it peaked me.
I just wanted to get her stew out there. All right, people should learn good job, good work. That's a wess and I used to use the word zoftag a lot. Yeah, like a large s a individual rubenesque woman.
All right, let's take a break and we'll hit the rest of part one.
Cvaceous that literally.
That has to go.
Oh my apple watch wanted to chime in or whether maybe that was credit.
Did you say bump but shapely?
Yeah?
What did that even?
Did he even talk at it? Gave the definition? Or maybe it was my search history.
All Right, we're back.
Let's finish out part one here, starting with Mark. I.
All right, I is for imbrulio.
Another good word.
Yeah it means I mean, it's got a couple of meanings. But it's an intricate and confusing interpersonal situation. And we've all been there. Uh, but in this case, I refer to the Niners, and I, you know, I think like I'm gonna ask you if it's an embrullio because I look at this quarterback situation and we're familiar with it, but there are some new developments on one level when it comes to Kyle Shanahan, who can't seem to get
enough of a good thing. Uh, You've got like this post surgery wonder boy with Brock Party, and it's like, he's not I just assume he's not gonna start the season, But why would we never not be fascinated to see what he is on the other side of this rehab? Right You've got a former first round pick and Trey Lance who's thrown one hundred and two passes in two seasons, and you sold the farm for him and he's just
hanging out. And then you bring in a first round flame out in Sam Donald, who, frankly, I mean because we've seen Kyle Shanahan, we've seen him indoor. Really, i'd say a really elongated, intense man crush on Kirk Cousins back in the day, and maybe it still goes on. You don't hear about it as much, but there were even little whispers this offseason that Kirk Cousins could have been a target for Kyle Shanahan. So I am just wondering because I'm at this point now where I don't
care about facts. I just assume that Donald is going to start a game or two out of the gate.
I absolutely do. If you listen to what Kyle Shanahan is saying about Sam Donald, I think we could be three weeks into the season and if you get Sam Donald, who does have skills, and you could argue everywhere he's been has been a mess, he get the Shanahan treatment, and you get the three best weeks of Sam Darnold's existence on the field, and he's like zipping passes to Deebo Samuel and doing things that you know better than Jimmy g And then some you've got a healthy brock
party sitting there, and you've got Trey Lance, who you sold multiple first round picks for as your third string quarterback. This is like not a QB room, It's like a QB harem. And I am just wondering, like, is this an imbrulio like again, a sort of a sketchy and trick it and confusing interpersonal situation, or is it just another Niners off season and we don't need to worry about it because it's all going to figure itself out.
Anybody that's listening to the show for any period of time, including my friend Gospel, who I met out to Mother's Day dinner last night, who is a huge fan of the show and had a lot of questions about things going on behind the scenes. Shout out, Shout out Gospel knows that I've been banging the table for Darnald getting a real chance in terms of good coaching, good players around him. I'm very excited and hopeful he does get that chance in San Francisco because I think he could
do well. Because I think not to take down brock Party at all, but I really do think Kyle Shanahan and that's set up there is so good that if you can get a guy that is a professional, that knows the playbook, that can make quick reads and put a throw on the money with some accuracy. Shanahan went out of his went out of his way to say that he calls Sam Donald a unbelievable thrower of the football. I think he thinks he can do the offense the way brock Party did, and if he does, Donald's gonna
probably hold onto that job for a while. But a lot has to happen still in terms of learning what's going on with Trey Lance and his finger, and of course Party and his elbow.
I think the keyword you said there were quick reads. That's where Brock Purty aced the old S two test, and I think that's why Sam Donald is on his third team. He doesn't make quick reads, doesn't make quick decisions, he doesn't have the quarterback processing to this point, I think that's what's gotten in his way.
But doesn't the other stuff factor in potentially into making quick decisions, whether it's line play.
I mean, you either have a natural sort of NFL quarterbacking ability in terms of and you can improve it. Certainly, Donald's young, but I don't think he has that at a levet like I think Purty as a rookie was already better than Donald's ever been. Now Kyle Shanahan's system, I'm just saying, in that one trait, Kyle Shannon system is such that you have answers to the test, that every play you have open receivers, and that, Yeah, it wouldn't shock me to see Donald looking great.
I did. I don't know. I just don't know how Trey Lance fits into all this.
That's like you almost have to try to trade Trey Lance if you're sold that Donald can just be here.
So the reporting out there now around Lance was that the finger injury from his first season led to a complication in his second season that was keeping him from throwing the ball the way he wants to, and apparently that's now corrected now that a lot of this is the classic spin that you hear every off season, like this thing that we used to be a problem is
no longer a problem anymore. It sounds like a lot of excuses for a guy who's, you know, as much as we rightfully kill Zach Wilson for being a bust, like Trey Lance, taken right behind him, is done not much more, barely played.
Barely played in the in the two years he's been in the league. So I don't know. I just don't know what kind of trade value he is right now.
Not well, I think it would need to be, like, you know, a team with promise again lose is someone the same way that could have maybe traded Jimmy g a year ago and it didn't happen. There's no guarantee that there's a space for him anywhere.
Weirdly, Walker has started in the mornings because for some reason, like it's allowed that he can watch some sports in the morning, you know, because he gets up so early, but not like regular TV. But he started going back and watching the season on game Pass and he had really he had Trey Lance's start up the other morning and I couldn't help watch it. And then I was like, and I know everyone's like I was in a rainstorm
and it's one game. That's all true, but like he doesn't kind of like Darnold, he doesn't have the pocket presence and it was just one start, but he doesn't have the pocket presence where he like stays cool if there's anything going on around, and he just sort of freaks out.
From one angle, there is something really beautiful about the way that Walker is uh just loving sports and really in many ways reminds me of what probably a young Greg would be. From another angle, I feel like it's like that old SI story on like Todd Morenovich's father, where like he's just being basically groomed to be an NFL dot com writer by age twelve or so.
Well, d Game's up one day he's seventeen, He's like, what happened to my childhood?
Exactly during Game seven.
Of the Celtics who have tried to raise him as a big fan, we have been he's off watching NASCAR because he's more into that.
Can't control him.
All right, up next, Jay, Jay is for jubilation, Jay is for justice, Jay is for Jesus is real. This Commander's sale is gonna happen. You know how I know?
It's on our website NFL dot com that the partnership led by Josh Harris, who co owns multiple professional sports teams, has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the Washington Commander's owners Dan and Tanya Snyder to buy the franchise. The two sides announced on Friday. The agreement is subject to NFL approval by a vote of at least three fourths of the league's thirty two.
Tween twenty four votes needed.
And there's another report out there, Greggie that under ordinary circumstances, there are some questions about how many people are involved with the purchase of the team, Magic Johnson and a whole host of people that the NFL is not entirely comfortable with some pacifix of this new ownership group. However, they want to turn the page so badly that this Josh Harris group is in a great situation where the NFL is more willing to.
Look past things.
Maybe they ordinarily would not because it is time to give the commander's life again.
Oh plus, he's playing six billion dollars for the team.
Six billion, six point oh five billion.
Panthers were what is U?
Point oh five? By the way, what is that?
Is that point oh five of a billion?
So what is it?
It's six like five hundred thousand, five hundred million, five hundred trillion, six billion, five hundred trillion dollars.
I mean, I didn't get a thirty nine on a state manity test, but I didn't do that well.
Yeah, but now we're both in the weeds on the same math equations? So what it all mean?
And I'm not high enough to get this quickly? It really shouldn't be that hard.
Saw three hundred thousand dollars?
Oh really, I was pretty close.
In fact, I'm not sure that's right, but I believe it is.
Six billion, three hundred thousd Such a weird.
It's like such a weird uh like little add on there the three hundreds?
I think.
Yeah, it just called again to go back to the roys. It seemed like he was fixated because there were reports that they were going to get more than six billion, and so this is more than six billion, and he made those reports control this.
Is all great.
It reminds me a little bit of you know, how we saw in the rookie mini camps this weekend that football is back.
Like that.
There's there's seventy five different moments that football is back, like I feel like there's already been three or four moments where the Commanders were sold, and there's still gotta be more because the owners actually have to officially vote on it and he has to officially become the owner, like Snyder is still the owner as of today. So well, we'll do a parade. And we've talked about it before. It is it's one of the most momentous things that
happen since we've started doing this podcast. A franchise that has been all but destroyed and taken for great and just run into the ground that that has great fans is gonna have someone different running.
It's it's amazing.
It is terrible news, probably for Ron Rivera after essentially going in and doing you know, hazard taking hazard pay to run the place for multiple years. I think that everyone will be swept out.
He's a smart guy though, so long though he's getting one more year.
That's what I mean that he's this is not an ideal for him, as you know, winning a Super Bowl as a head coach. But he's yeah, by the way, I should just because games and he'll keep a job. It's a it's a obviously a big story with a lot of layers, so I should be a little more specific. It's the Washington Post that shares the opinion. This is via PFT from an unnamed person familiar with the sale process.
Quote.
If not for the other owner's strong desire to remove Snyder from the league, the harristeel probably would not have been approved without some revisions.
One issue is.
The raw size of the proposed group of limited partners. They each have to be properly vetted by the league. That will sl things down.
I mean the Dolphins had like the Gloria Stepan and all those other people involved.
That was they were just kind of like like.
All the Williams sisters. Yeah, not just Serena and Venus, there's like fourteen others. They're just like they're all in come on in Urban Magic.
Johnson is part of this group, and as he said, well, God really blessed him with an amazing sports week and the Lakers won. My Dodgers swept the Padres. He also owns the Dodgers, and I became an owner. He should have specified NFL owner. But I don't get the sense there's a lot of editing with his tweets in general. No, because he already wasn't magic man, he's doing it. What a ride for magic?
Huh? I mean, if you're old enough to know the magic story, what a ride?
All right, let's wrap it up.
We got a couple more.
Uh uh, Let's see.
Kay Greg all right.
Uh kay is for kinetic pertaining to motion caused by motion, and to me, that is the Miami Dolphins, like they are the pre snap movement before the snap, everything just looks in perfect harmony after the snap, like they are kinetic. And it reminds me of how when Kyle Shanahan has shown up to places like Atlanta, everyone's like, hey, you're two. Kyle Shanahan's like Matt Ryan kind of struggled that first year, but that second year, that's when it really clicked in
and the whole MVP thing happened. Mike McDaniel like laughed at that. He didn't need a year to set it up. He had it all coached so well from day one that they looked in perfect harmony. They have great continuity. We've talked about all the good things they've done on their defense, So I think they'll just be a better team because they're deep on defenseive better defensive coaching. But to me, this is his chance in Miami. You just
don't know how many perfect chances you're gonna get. How long is Tyreek Hill going to be in his prime? Like everything is there right now. They have terrific continuity. They brought in Isaiah Win, which I thought was a smart signing over the weekend, a guy who's in my top fifty, who actually upgrades their tackle depth quite a bit. He might start for them, just give him a shot.
He's had some good snaps. Its problematic, maybe, but he struggled the last couple of years and didn't really seem to be on, you know, on the straight and narrow. But he has some good NFL tape, which most people available now do not. I just to me, this offense is kinnectic. It's perfect. It's like, right now is the year for them to take off. There is a chance it'll happen.
Really rough division. I mean their schedule, like when we say, like the Patriots schedule, it's like that. It's every one of these teams are dealing with the same thing. But every time before Mike McDaniel was hired, it was like, this is this guy, this is the guy behind Kyle
Shanahan that's doing all these things. Like basically told Deebo Samuel in that final season before he went to the Dolphins, like if you let me, you know, when he was doing an immense amount of rushing and receiving, if you let me handle your career this year, I'll give you a year that makes you a ton of money. It's like he specializes in taking certain players and creating some of their finest seasons, which is what Kyle Shanahan did like in Houston and other places before he was a
head coach himself. So I mean, there's nothing not to agree with here.
And Mike McDaniel was there with Kyle at almost every step of the way. Sure, and if he is really the guy, not like the guy versus Kyle, but just like the next guy is like a true innovator. I just think it's set up for this season to potentially be really special offensively.
You could tell me the Dolphins are playing in the AFC title game, and I believe you.
Tell me that they finished last place in the AFC East, I would believe you equally.
That's a vallat Old division.
Yeah, but then especially they do feel like and obviously the health of the quarterback is a major part of it.
If Tua was healthy, I'd be shocked if if they're not good, but you know, I get shocked in this.
And Mike White is a better backup, but still not an overly proven player himself who's had issues staying on the field at times. So there's a lot of variants there, but it's all on paper. It's all there.
Kinetic, kinetic k l Mark.
Here's another team that I'm annoyed at. L is for Luck Be Lady Tonight, sung once by Marlon Brando, sung by Frank Sinatra many times.
That's what I always thought he was. It was canon, it was Frank.
I mean it's from a play Guys and Dolls, And I believe Brando was that he was in the play.
I didn't know that Batra took that in New York New York Song too and made his.
Yeah, Sinatra, absolute like it's weird. No, that was kind of thing, was I. No, one's sticking guys and dolls. I get that. I get that part, but I sort of just shove that in there. That's what the what the ettle voice on that Sinatra?
Huh?
He's a good singer. But I would ask you this, could you ever imagine Josh McDaniel's in a top hat and cane singing that song on the biggest stage of all? Well, me neither, because Elle's for the Las Vegas Raiders, who strike me slightly as an identity free in drifting franchise.
It's spinning a little bit right now.
I this is about the Raiders the biggest stage.
So you're saying singing that song at the on the riser of the Super Bowl or like a stage like in Vegas.
In this world, him singing like being the star of the show and singing would be him coaching the Raiders in the Super Bowl.
So not even specifically singing that song, but just being as.
It's a metaphor, it's like his time in the sun, and I'm not sure that time's coming. So this is a team that let me get this straight. I understand that maybe maybe not everything went your way, but you bench Derek Carr, you ship him out of town in a box. Then, after all this time, your quarterback is Jimmy g who's basically just a better looking Derek Carr. So it's it. I know that Raiders fans.
That's actually David Carr.
That's true too. Yeah, that's a little but I'm just comparing their playing ability, and like Raiders fans are always getting super defensive, hot and bothered over words against their team. But I'm going to ask you this right now, the Las Vegas Raiders. Are they better than the Bills? Are they better than the Jets? Are they better than the Dolphins? Are they better than the Patriots? Are they better than the Bengals? Are they better than the Race? Are they
better than the Steelers? Are they better than the Browns? Are they better than the Jaguars? Are they better than the Chargers? Are they better than the Chiefs? Welcome to nothingness?
Oh my god, we definitely got a dark Overnight Sessler vision.
I was surprised when I looked up and down the AFC, because my answer to every one of those is either definitely or very likely.
No.
Okay, yeah, you skipped the AFC South, and yeah, so you left out a few teams. But if your point is going into the season on paper, they're probably like twelfth in the AFC or whatever that list would have come out to twelve thirteenth. Yeah, I mean, I guess I can't argue with you. The crazy thing is I look at their roster. I'm doing the projected starters and like, I'm shocked they kept the offensive line the same and
they definitely got a lot of questions on defense. But like, I just look at that roster over on I'm like, Eh, that's a six or seven win team, but you're right in the AFC that might not be enough to even win four or five.
You know, it could be tough.
Yeah, I know what you're saying that, Like it's that old. If you're not competing for the Super Bowl, what are you even doing?
Like if you're investing money in big time veterans like Devonte Adams, making a big splash for Jimmy g and all that, if you're not actually in contention, is this the right way to be running a team?
So that I get that. So, if you're a Raiders fan, do you think you're gonna win the Super Bowl this year? No, you're probably not. But do they also are they so bad that they're like one of the like the Cardinals fans are feeling this year that like, why are we even a lot of Cardinals plan year? Yeah, but I'm just saying in terms of, like we're looking ahead to this.
The Cardinals like essentially like a massive haul of draft picks and they're using this.
They're tanking this. Yeah.
So like so then it becomes like, what as a fan would you rather have? You would you rather have an organization like the Cardinals since you mentioned them that or I mentioned them that completely has cashed in on
an entire season and they're tolling a year forward. Or do you want to have the organization that might not be running at a high level and super Bowl level, but they're trying and they're gonna hopefully hang around in the wild card race and maybe they'll win a couple of games that they lost last year and at the end of the season they're nine to eight or maybe they squeeze out of ten and seven and surprise some people.
I think that's within the range of outcomes for the Raiders.
It is. I don't think the Raiders when they came into existence were branded on mediocrity.
I get that, I get all that, but that's a long time ago. Now, the Al Davis Raiders and all that. I'm just saying, like, when I think about truly kind of depressing setups in the league, I'm not quite on the same page as you. I know you're you're more kind of I'm not a Josh McDaniels fan, but this is not new. You do not believe in the McDaniels experience in general.
Is I want to like, you know, I'm not trying to.
I think they are a little like whispers and anecdotes, and there's past stops at when he's the top person that leave me a little concerned. And I don't think all that's completely out of the wash right now.
I'm more concerned about Patrick Grahm, their defensive coordinator, and that Rothter on defense, and if they're just one of the worst defenses in the league, they're not gonna be good enough offensively to make up for it. I do think Josh McDaniel's trying to stack his offense as much as he can to make himself and that's not a bad way to go to make the offense look good, and it could Adams, Jacobe Myers, Renfro, Michael Mayer, Josh Jacobs.
That's a pretty good group around Jimmy g if you can keep a healthy But like I said, I was shocked they just kept the same offensive line.
That was very strange.
All right, last one here we go, right, yeah, yeah, Amas for money, money, money, give it to me. As Missus Miller once said, money makes the world go round. Quinn Williams wants it. He wants it all. And how annoying is it that you know a guy that deserves all the money. You're starting to think, oh no, it's just turning into another one of those things for the Jets.
Because Williams, who said months ago, hey give me a new long term deal that pays me at the top of the market, that reflects that I'm an all pro player that is one of the top defensive ends in the league.
Take care of me.
And then what does he do trope alert he scrubs the Jets from his bio It now says, I don't know if it's changed since now, but defensive line.
For that, I think it's a question mark. Question mark, question mark.
And I know this is all posturing and all of it, but you can go back for years as far back as like Keishawn Johnson, Darrell Reeves, Jamal Adams. The Jets have an issue paying guys they don't that they draft and then giving him that second contract even when they deserve it. Do not do that with this guy. This guy is a foundational piece. Don't turn this into an off season of are the Jets going to trade Quinn? Just pay the man, Dexter Lawrence just got a ton
of gwop. Give him the deal, a better deal than that, and move on. Okay, And I know you got a lot of this stuff going on. You're reworking the Aaron Rodgers contract, but do not turn this into an issue because I'm just I'm kind of tired of it. It's hard to develop a superstar when you have it. Keep the guy in the building if he's a guy you trust and believe it.
It's interesting that you, you know, brought up Leonard Williams, not not intentionally, but like that's another it seemed to be I feel like in the time that we've worked together four or five like probo all pro caliber defensive lineman that the Jets have not been able to hang with who've gone on to play elsewhere and been productive.
And it's like there's so much hanging onto the Jets this season, and it's like they are under an immense amount of pressure and like, no matter what Aaron Rodgers are not, Like, what you really believe in on that team is the defense. And Quenta Williams, like what he did last season, is that guy for the Jets. And it's like you can't go on this journey and into Week one with him anywhere else but on your roster.
But I do trust Joe Douglas to figure it out because I feel like we're in this world where like you can find a way to pay anyone. I think we'll be were with Deebo Samuel or year ago. You can find a way to pay every one of these people.
Don't let it spiral.
Yeah, we didn't talk about the Dexter Lawrence signing where Lawrence got sixty million guaranteed on a four year deal. Lawrence played so well late last year it was really their best player overall, I would say at the at the end of last year, and yeah, Quentnin Williams, he's not being subtle about it. I think it's just a normal part of the process. He probably, I would guess, will get paid. It will be this offseason. I think at some point you might have to go through some
annoying stories. But yeah, it says defensive tackle for which is a lot of dots. And the last the last tweet that he retweeted was Dexter Lawrence's contract and one of the last things he liked on Twitter was from kid from Queen's Three who said, stop f and around and sign Q since you want to post him an S word as the quote retweeting a Jets tweet which which included Quentin Waie. So I think Quinn is letting everyone know how he.
How about this? Quinn like, you know, you don't need an agent for this. Just do the Lamard thing. Go take the Dexter Lawrence contract, turn it over to the Jets and say add ten million to this and let's go and see what Joe says.
I mean, I think it makes it might be tough because I don't know Dexter Lawrence at least had a better year last year.
It makes sense to scrub all your social at this point. I think you just do it and you know we're talking about it because that's a notable thing.
Add point oh five that works or billions.
Quinn's more of a pass us anyways, and a better player for what it's worth, I think than Leonard point five.
I think they're gonna get it done. I don't think he's gonna mushro him into it.
Yeah.
Total, he's better than Leonard Williams. He's better than Sheldon Richardson. He is much closer to like a revis talent in my opinion that Reeves is a Hall of Famer actually, so maybe somewhere in between those two.
Just don't create another distraction. Right. That's part one of the glossary. A to Z.
We'll be back on Thursday with the great Colleen Wolf, who's going to help us out for part two.
Good to have Connie around, good to have anybody around these days.
Final thoughts, just want to say, I, you know, sometimes use jokes to show my affection, and sometimes they're little jabs.
It's part of how I grew up.
And so my mention of your jean jacket, you know, back at our dinner and even even as you take it's a sign of appreciation.
I Greg at this point, I feel really comfortable with what you've said, and I appreciate your appreciation, and I also enjoy your wardrobe.
And to everybody behind the glass, if you want to get a still of me, I could even sit still, and if you could just photoshop both of the gentlemen on each shoulder black and white, devil an Angel, I mean, that's just that's cold.
I mean, in that right there, what you did was just an advertisement. You got to check out the YouTube to see the facial expression, the character work that uh Hansas is doing over a regular Kieren Colcin over here.
Kieran Colkin, I love that, dude. I love the Roman. Roy is a tough character. Man. What spoiler alert.
Verple skills.
Need the call hing a, the own