Cowboys-Bucs Recap, News & Giants Deep Dive with Pat Leonard

It's around the NFL. Dan Hansis, Gregg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler, Colle Wolf, what's up? Hey? Are people Too? But I think the other thing that's a little jarring, uh, is we just witnessed on Monday night, um awaking nightmare for a place kicker Right, there was no punting drama over the weekend, So it's like, kickers are People Too? Is really what this is about? Yeah? I wish I had at that drop. In essence, the opening drop didn't fit,

um the topic of the show, various topics. It was awkward and it got us off to a weird start. Thank you everyone involved, Welcome to everyone listening. This actually is a show that people enjoy typically and We're gonna try to get this thing back on track here. Yes, how are you colling? I'm great, I'm great. I got my club arm here. So Colin was attacked by a vicious dog over Christmas. Thank the dog got me and uh still healing and I feel like I have a

club now that I can hit people with. And Colly and I do the same thing. As pointedly not asked what became of Tank? I was gonna ask, like the next The logical next step is Tank is not existing. I don't want to know anything has been decommissioned, perhaps for the safety of others, but also at the same time, it's something you don't want to think about. We're just happy here, don't with us? Um? Yes, big show today. You know we have a guest, Uh, the New York Giants.

They are a relevant football team in the middle of January. Sorry about that, Greg Um. So we're gonna talk about him some more. Pat Leonard of the New York Delly News will join this when the chips are down. The only one who believed in him my Giant last week picked them to win and they didn't. I'm not picking him this week. I think I will. That was a short journey. Greg, Yeah, I mean might cover. I might

take him to cover, you know. All Right, so we'll talk to Pat about the Giants and where they're out ahead of their big showdown with the Eagles. Man, I gotta say we kind of thread the needle on Super wild Card weekend because um, no big upsets, but also we got an entertaining football for the most part um and what we get out of it now is just a stellar divisional round we got. We got weekend of matchup.

So I like that. That's saucy. There was part of me kind of like rooting for the Dolphins to generate total chaos, but then it's like, now three days later, I'm like, I'm glad that they were dismissed and taken care of. Right, we don't need Miami going to Kansas City in the divisional round. But we got a good slate of games until the last one that was the

one that had nothing to it. And there is something strange about the Monday night Football Wild Card game, Like you've just had this like huge, great meal essentially five monster games over two days, and you're a little even though it's like the meal was great, you're a little stuffed for dessert. You know what I like, wasn't there for what that should have been? Cowboys Tom Brady like that was supposed to be fair and even before the game started and then the game was nothing. There's been

two of these now. Last year the Rams absolutely butchered the Cardinals in a game that was over by the end of the first quarter, and it was kind of similar in this game. We're gonna get to that game and the news that's been happening around the legal last few days. In fact, why don't we dive into it. Let's let's wrap up, let's close the door on Super Wild Card weekend. I'm a good boy, I'm a good corporate boy. With the Cowboys and Bucks from Tampa. You

think they're calling them off side? Maybe maybe they're gonna run a play fourth and four back to throw it after the lock on alone card at the two and I walk in touchdown for Ceedee Lamb. How did you

not cover the second team All Pro? Great question. I gotta ask Todd Bowls about that, because Ceedee Lamb did what he wanted to do, Dalton Sheltz did what he wanted to do, and most of all, Dak Prescott did what he wanted to do, and I thought a career best performance five touchdowns, no turnovers as the Cowboys coast past Tom Brady and the Buccaneers thirty one to fourteen, and what could be probably not we'll get to it

tom Brady's final game. I'm kind of need to have huge conversations about that after last year, but it's it is part of the storyline coming out of this game. But of course we start, Uh, Colleen Wolf with the Dallas Cowboys. I know you're not Dallas Cowboys fan as a Filly native, but you had to be impressed with a team that looked like it was limping into the postseason. Flipped the switch and what a polar opposite performance from

last week against Washington. Like, if the Dallas Cowboys can play this way next week, they'll definitely beat the Niners. They have a great shot to do it. They looked so good. Doak was dealing. This was his best game in so long, the first time in eight games that he didn't have a turnover. The defense was swarming. I mean him and Dalton Schultz. Like Dalton Schultz had a

great game. He led the team in catches, touchdowns, yards, targets, all of it, but it just seemed like every time he and Dak connected, they were just on a different level. It felt like I was like actually saying out loud, wow or oh my god, did you see this, or like looking back waiting for the replay. Um not just on the touchdowns, but on some of those completions to

really nice completion. So, I mean, was a slow start for Dallas to three and ounce to start the game, and then finally everything turned around, and I mean even Brett Maher bounced back at the end. Yeah, that's right. That fourth down touchdown we just heard was maybe largely because Maher had missed those four extra points and they didn't want to send him out there first jogging on the field, and then Zady was like, no, no, no no, no, we're gonna have to ask the act the bells out

here and were surprised that it waited. They waited so long to just go for two or to go for it instead, like instead of continually sending him out there to miss kicks like I don't. I was trying to decide, if you're the head coach, do you when you're up that big do you just keep sending him out there to break it, Like, I think that's I think it would have been different if it was a tie game. I agree with you. I agree with that it was tough,

and I think he's thinking about next week. That's the guy who's played great all season, Brett Maher And when you're up that much, you can afford to be like, wow, it's one point. Well, we'll see, Like we shouldn't be as surprised how one sided this was. I had the Cowboys winning because, like they were a team that over the courts of the season scored twenty more touchdowns than their opponent, whereas the Buccaneers were like scored ten less

touchdowns in their opponent. The Buccaneers were a bad team all year. But I was on the fence of who's gonna win this game? I think most people were. And you see Dak at his best, and it's just like I said this while ago. He reminds me of Tom Brady more than any of the young generation quarterbacks. Although Dak Prescott at this point is the oldest quarterback left in the playoffs by a few years. Patrick Mahomes is there.

It is crazy because he's gonna win before the snap and he's gonna adjust to what you're doing before the snap. If he gets a little confused early in the game, like he was, like, he's gonna figure it out. He's just smarter than most quarterbacks in terms of being able to make decisions and decide what's gonna happen. And like Tom Brady, if you give him time, like he's just gonna carve you up. And the Bucks never had a

pass rush this year. They didn't an offensive line in this game, so both of their lines were just pathetic. And Dak Prescott was out there like cooking pizzas back there on one of those like you do a play action on third down with all these fakes in the red zone where you don't expect to like have that much time, and he's just chilling back there. Uh for I think that was his third touchdown. It's like, if you gave Dak that amount of time, he will kill

you every time. He's that good. Yeah, And I think like if you the experience of the Dallas Cowboys, the experience of Dak Prescott and how they're dealt with by us, by everyone, Like had this happened in Week one, we wouldn't be going back to that Week one game, saying, remember that Dak Prescott's best game of all time. It happened at the most critical mass moment it could for Dallas, and where would we be had he had those two three and ounce the game the way the game started.

Had that continued, we had had his Week one performance against the Bucks where he was terrible. Well, also got injured, So that's a different narrative, but just the way that the Cowboys worked the way out of that after last week's implosion, which they were heavily criticized for rightly, I think that Dak Prescott goes into San Francisco, and so does the whole team with a completely different mindset and so much pressure off their shoulders compared to the way

they went into this game. I think it was just like, will Dallas implode, Will Mike McCarthy be blamed because he's Mike McCarthy has been blamed for everything other than stuff for DAC And I just think that for Dallas to go in and absolutely destroy Tampa Bay and to leave Tampa Bay with so many questions, and like time, I know Tom Brady, we know who he is. He's the best of all time. He looked awful last night. That was one of that. He was his worst graded PFF

performance all season. It looked that way. He looks like someone who doesn't want to get hit. He had thirty one in completions, and for me, it's like, where does he go next? It's like it has to be a perfect situation from Tom Brady because he doesn't raise all the players around him the way he did in previous seasons. Um. Yes, I I think the his interception, which again this speaks to Tom Brady's greatness. It was his first red zone interception since he's been on the Bucks and this was

the last game of his third season. But yeah, he is. He seems much more vulnerable these days, and I think he's one of those guys and I think it's gonna affect his decision. I think he's coming back and we'll we'll play some sound from Brady and moment. But um, I think he could still play. But he's at the stage now where I think he really does need that great set up around him for things to work. He can't,

like Mark said, lift things. And I thought the game kind of turned um in early in the game after they were going back and forth three and outs. Uh, the the Tampa Bay has the ball. After Dallas gets their first touchdown, Mar mrs his first p I T P A T and and they go down the field. Four team play seventy yards and Brady throws a terrible interception and I don't know. It kind of looked like maybe he's trying to throw it out of bounds, but I don't know. Whatever it was, it was one of

his worst passes. You'll see Cowboys take over. They go fifteen plays, eighty yards and you know, after a miserable goal line attempt by Eazake Elliott, who I agree, by the way, Greg looks cooked right now. Um, fourth down at the one yard line in a six nothing game. That feels I can go either way. Great naked bootleg call Dak Waltz is into the end zone and from that point, even after another Mar miss P A T, they had this game under control. So I I totally

with you on that too. Mark, like the flips the whole script for Dallas, they now get to go to San Francisco. Last year, San Francisco came to them in the playoffs and they were expected to win. Now they're not expected to win, and they have some confidence. I think they're gonna be a tough out, especially if Dak feeds off this game. I don't like it. I don't like it at all. At least you're not getting you're real nervous, I know. So for me, best case scenario

now I gave you the unbiased Cowboys take. Now for the Eagles to beat the Giants and then to beat the Cowboys to make the Super Bowl, and then you know, beat Doug Peterson. We'll like you definitely. You know you have an active sandwich prop that the Eagles will not win a playoff game. Don't know what was going on with you in August, but that was that's sure. Either way, you could either get like a burrito from Tacos porfevore

or the like that. I love burritos. This doesn't change Cowboys Like it doesn't change my feeling about the Cowboys moving forward, because I knew they were. I thought they were one of the six teams or so that could win the Super Bowl this year, and they can. Like they played like a top five offense in defense very often this year, not always at the same time, sometimes at the same time, but like their ceiling is as high as any team in the NFL. Can they do

that four straight weeks? I don't know. Can they do that against the worst team in the playoffs like they showed that they can, and I think they could do it next week too, And they might lose that game even if they do it, because they're playing a great forts team. But it doesn't change to me. Like I know, it's the playoffs and it's massive for them to get over that hump. But the Buccaneers were one of the

most consistent teams in the NFL. I thought this year the NF we say how the NFL is so unpredictable. This was the same team all year. Like they they managed to have a knack for winning comeback games against awful teams and awful quarterbacks in the fourth quarter, or they would have been a six and eleven team, And so that's what made them more of an eight and

nine team. But they were a sub mediocre offense and a defense that could beat up on some bad teams, but was pretty mediocre itself when it played the good teams. So it doesn't like change. It was good to this version of them. Their upside is there, that's what we see. But Connie and I did the Power Rankings podcast. You can check that out today. Like I had them at six going into the wild card round, I have them

six now. I still think those big five teams, uh, the two teams in the NFC and the three a FC teams are ahead of them in terms of the pecking order. But when they when that version of the Cowboys plays, it's very close. They just know. And I you said that this version of Dallas would destroy I think you said the Niners wouldn't. I mean, well, I thought you were stronger than that, which which I mean maybe if he has five touchdowns. On to the consistency thing,

like the Niners have been. There have been a couple of quarters or drives here and there, but they have been as consistent as any team out there, more so than even Philly, who's got a quarterback with a shoulder situation right now. Like I don't trust this. I'm with you, Greg, This doesn't change the way I feel about the Cowboys. I love seeing what they did. I thought it answered a lot of questions about Deak Prescott. But do I think that they're gonna this is just they play pristine

from here on out. Absolutely, Niners, the Niners have won eleven straight games, like they have been streaking for a very long time at this point. But now I feel like the Cowboys are at their peak and if they can continue, then they can ride that through the playoffs. Do you have a shorter week to which I really had like more concerns about their defense coming to this game than their offense have. There's one thing I do

feel better about. It's that they dominated the Bucks offensive line, which really hasn't been that bad this year, and you look at the stats and it ends up only being one sack. But that's why Tom Brady looked so bad last night, is he doesn't You're right, he doesn't want to get hit. He freaks out after he holds it for two and a half seconds. But it was for a good reason. They won basically every snap. There was very few snaps that the Cowboys defensive line, which is

what we saw early in the season, weren't winning. And Layton Vanderys his return I thought was really big for them. He's been great for them. I always think think of West when old l V is stepping up because his his career trajectory has been a roller coaster, but he's playing played really well this season in his returns the door his rookie season, but then he really had had a thing for a while there. Let's let's listen to Tom Brady. So Brady, of course, his contract was the

contract is up um in March. He's a free agent. Very interesting to again see what his market will be. The last time this is a real thing was after his last Patriot season and he had kind of a luke warm market and then went to Tampa and was a monster in his first two years. This third year not so much. But first, how does Brady play it with the media after the seasons over? This is how he ended his press confidence. This was interesting and his h comments to reporters there. I just want to say

thank you guys for everything this year. I really appreciate all your effort. And I know it's hard for you guys too. It's hard for US players to make it through and you guys got a tough job. And I appreciate all that you guys do to cover us and everyone who watches and a big fan of the sport. We're very grateful for everyone's support and um, you know, hopefully um you know, I love this organization it's a

great place to be. And thank you everybody for welcome to me, all your regulars, and um, just very grateful for the respect and and I hope I gave the same thing back to you guys, So thank you very much, appreciate it. Let's try to do some translation of athletes speak here. Mark Szezler, Um, I think the only thing first of all, he got classy gesture. Uh one. Yes,

it seemed like maybe a goodbye to the Tampa reporters. Um. He The one thing that caught me is when he said hopefully and maybe he was going to finish sense like hopefully I'll be back here. But then he stopped himself purposely kind of leaving things as murky as possible. I think he's definitely gone, because, first of all, I have no doubts that he essentially got Bruce Arians shoved upstairs.

I mean he he his sticking around was contingent. I think on Arians leaving, now you've got Todd Bowles coming off a bad season. I think Byron left, which is gone, like there's a lot of changes. I don't think Tom Brady after report we had Scott Reynolds on the show that it was the reporter who said left which will be? And I like, I also heard that there was gossip that they were going to get rid of Left which during the season two, at some point when things were

going really likely. I mean, why would Tom Brady ever come back to this? He wouldn't. I think he's gonna, He's gonna. You're there's like the raiders are out there as an obvious reported concept. I think in a different world if if the Dolphins thought differently about TWA or to his health, Like the Dolphins kind of fit for Tom Brady, who they've courted him before. It's a Shanahan

type system. But the idea that you'd go to the Niners who have two quarterbacks on rookie deals, And I'm not even sure he's even better than Brock Purty right now, to be honest, I know it's a small sample size. It's like, I don't see that happening. I'm not sure there's a big market place to hear that out there though, And that was I think it depends to where Sean Payton lance like where he might go. True? Interesting, Yeah,

Sean Payton and Tom Brady to Houston. How about that? Uh, it's actually not quite as crazy as like you would think, Vegas makes more sense to me. I thought Brady's reaction though on the field after the game was interesting. You know, he was very generous, I would say, and like in a good mood to other players on the other team. I watched that whole press conference, and it wasn't like the end of the season Brady press conference. He maybe

seemed a little relieved. There was a comment from Troy Aikman and Joe Buck who said the people inside the Bucks said, over the last three weeks, he's kind of been back to being the real Brady. Like the cloud and the stuff about that's off the field that even more than you guys don't know about has sort of lifted lately. And I don't I'm not exactly sure what all that's about, but it almost seemed like he was like, Okay, this is this is done here, and maybe it's not

the end of the world. I've been through some rough times, but let's move and you know, we don't have to try to dig too deep into like behind the scenes of his life. But he did go through a divorce and now he is untethered. From that standpoint, it would really surprise me, uh, to see that the personal life go where it was, and then he steps way and leaves again. I think he's definitely back. I'd be shocked if he was back. Um, but I guess we'll find out.

He made it sound like he was gonna take his time before taking the time thing, because it's just then it's suddenly on us to discuss this over and over. Can we just like press a button and everyone goes where they go? Now, yeah, just just and we find

out now. I don't think we haven't need to have another conversation about this until something comes out from him or his camp moratorium substantial like Derek Carr, where there's gonna be updates because he can and likely will be traded, maybe even before the super Bowl, kind of like who is that Kirk Cousins Alex Smith rather a few years ago? Five years ago? Now? Uh, there's nothing to update with Brady.

He's a free agent and he can't be franchise tag attempt to stir excitement in me about where Derek car goes. I don't care, all right, um what like it's just like it's like filling the blank. Average mezzanine level quarterback going to New team you might be talking about every single show when he's the New York Jets quarterback. I'm kind of hoping not for Dan that happens too, because I don't think it's a solution. Everyone makes it. I

think he would be good for the Jets. But talking talking about Tom Brady, uh, and we'll we'll hit the break by talking about Dak Prescott, who ended the night at a point seven nine e p A per dropback, that is expected points added per play. That would be good for the eleventh best playoff game since two thousand.

That makes sense. I mean that was about as close to a perfect via r B S. Feel like some nerd had to go back and do the expected like e p O a business not at all, except that they weren't doing that in year two thousands, so someone had to go back and mark every every single game back to e p A is just numbers, so you can just run the numbers. I think true true media does it. Like on Cynthia's machine. It's there's no like PFF is grading and there's objectiveness to the you know,

subjectiveness to that. E p A is just numbers. You just pressed the button. Sounds machine, are you by the way are you? Are you unbeat by Derek Carr? I never was plucked. Oh good, well until the night, never even never even check checking. You guys got David Carr and Lindsay Rhodes took care of that for Yeah, so it's still back on it, though, did you check? I just went to look at Derek Carr, Derek Carr, and

it said these tweets are protected. Then I realized it's actually Derek Cark QB And now yeah, he doesn't file. But we're safe. We're safe. And I do I do know that David Carr, he's on Twitter. He likes likes our tweets sometimes, so I do try to keep that in mind if I'm going to fire. And he said hi to me, and I said, hi, David back, I'm not. I think he's aware of these comments that you've made in this episode. I hope that he would understand that

his role is perilous. And if he's hoping that no one ever critiques his brother, who's a pro quarterback, you would hope that he understands his brother is a mezzanine level quarterback. According to Mark Well, I don't think up this week I could let him know, let him know. Please, let's let's just keep let's keep this up. Let's take a break and we will hit the news. All right, welcome back. We got the final wild card game out of the way. Here is the schedule. By the way,

Saturday Jacksonville's yeah you are? Is that Chiefs for thirty Giants at Eagles eight fifteen on Saturday night? Sunday Bengals at Bills three Eastern. That's great? And UH the nightcap of Divisional round weekend, the best round of UH playoffs in the NFL Cowboys at nine or six thirty pm Eastern. Hawmona HAMMANA HAMMANA HAMMANA all right till you watch the Eagles in the hotel? Are you gonna go to like a Buffalo bar? I don't know. I haven't figured it

out yet. You're gonna go to a Buffalo bar? I think? I don't know anyone in Buffalo. You will by the time that night end. I'm just gonna go to I'm just gonna post up at anchor bar. I guess, yeah, yeah, But are you're gonna be decked out in Philly and say they don't mind there? There's no cross pollination, all right, let's do some news. Oh my god, I got to be kitting. I've never seen anything like it. Why are we kicking? Why are we kicking? What is he talking about?

A buzz kill? No one's ever missed three three extra points in a row. That's kind of halftime for playoff game'd be a a record, as Mike Vanderjack get a test too. That's Eli and Peyton on the Manning Cast last night. And that was after the third mar miss Uh he missed four, which was that he was the first. He wasn't the first to miss three, he was the first miss four. I'm so glad he made that. I don't understand. I don't know how to make What do you do

with some four points? If you really want to put it in? Like you see the kicker this weekend, Like are you really going to roll into the divisional round playoffs against the Niners after that happened? I don't think you can. Do you bring in a brand new kicker? Honestly think you have to. And he I put out the Kicker power rankings last night. Postpone got it out there. And Mark because he had a big time year, so the game or after the game, mid game, but I

didn't know. I didn't know it was based on the regular season on I got to say that during the regular NFL now hit on the kicker power rankings. They're like, all right, Dan, I hadn't seen that mar has dropped eighteen spots this week. You don't even have it on a team. I would keep him, I mean his overall body of working. When he misses his first kick in the first quarter. I think that, like you know, that was such a wesssum that kickers mentally become so derailed,

and we've seen it with so many of them. But you I don't know what the better option is right now with the guy second kicker. I know nobody. It's weird. I've talked about this before, Like for a position that's so valuable, they never teams never leave themselves any safety net. Uh, there's no backup. No, it's like a cornerback that tryouts, like the thirty fifth best kicker available. Is it great, But there's like a fifty percent chance he'll be about the same as make But the yips the yips, and

it's all sports, but the kicker as really um in football. Obviously, the most obvious case of yips that's where it comes from. Like when that happens, I mean it was hard to watch, like from a human stampoint. You felt so badly for the guy except for Peyton Man. And Peyton doesn't care. He does not care, although he cares about the game. I flipped it in the third quarter just because the game was so bad and they had Dan Campbell on and and I watched that part, like the third quarter.

They're so into like they're living and dying at twenty four, nothing about a bad play that the Bucks made, And I'm just like, I love that. They're mean, they're getting paid to be into the game. But yeah, but like I don't doubt that they aren't organically if that's I think he he just seems like hurt when like a safety makes a big mistake or a quarterback makes a big in a way that like most announcers are not that into the game, not that in So would you

cut him? Would you cut I would? I would have to. I mean they know him as well. I would think you would have to take a look at him in practice and see what happens. But it's either way it is team put him on like the inactive list and sign another kicker that you can of without letting him know that this has been done behind the scenes. It's a huge roll of the dice either way. I mean, everything kind of is on the back burner. Jason Peters also got hurt in that game, which is causing their

line to be shuffled again. But I think that is the biggest thing that's hanging over this team. Uh. And it's a shame because everything else was beautiful for Dallas in that game. You love it. By the way, Eli said during the Manning cast that he promised and he vowed to himself that he would never go back to the terrible city of Philadelphia his words, I'm paraphrasing um after he retired from football, but he said he will be going to the play off game and he's expecting

a record amount of double birds. Reception is going to be great for him. I can't wait, alright. The reception for Sean Payton is saucy across the football landscape. The former Saints coach um is hot and in demand. Peyton was on the Herd with Colin cow herd Uh Did I say that right? And he was setting to meet Wait, what is it? Colin Coward like cowards. I don't they put you on that path by calling up the Herd. They absolutely do, but I don't know it's Colin Coward.

Basically what I do a take two the Herd with Colin cow Herd? Did I get it that? That's fine? That anyway. Peyton was said he was going to meet with the Texans, the Broncos, the Panthers ESPN's Adam Schefter, so the Broncos interview will take place Tuesday in l A. The Panthers meeting is set for Ridea and Greggy Um. They completed an interview with Peyton on Monday, and he added, Peyton, I don't he's very open about this in the public

that he absolutely would take the Texans job. I appreciated like him being on and the fact that this is an unprecedented story, but I don't love the idea and I've seen this that like, oh, he's being so honest like and so open and transparent. It's like, no, everything he's saying is incredibly calculated and a lot of it is holding the Saints over a barrel, like he is essentially doing these interviews to send messages to the teams

he's talking to, including the Texans um. He mentioned David Tepper by name multiple time and really sounded pretty intrigued by by the Panthers. Like if you just listen to that, you would think he liked the Panther's job the best. But I also think that might be related to like driving the price up because they're the division rival of the Saints. But he also threw out the draft compensation,

which is like boxing Mickey Loomis into a corner. And then he's also saying, uh that, hey, the price is going to go down a lot next year if I don't pick a team this year in terms of draft compensation. So that's something you gotta keeps an analyst now as well. So he's what he's doing is Saint Mickey, don't f me here. And this is a guy that was supposed to be like a friend of his and the Saints,

and I think it's all fascinating. I'm not saying anyone's like right or wrong, but it's it's certainly on precedented, and I really thought it was funny him talking about the a f C South and like that he likes the Texans job. I think in part because Bill Bill Barselves used to like Yeah, you take the team at the bottom and then you're the hero when they go up, and I can be the boss here in Houston. I think he also looks at the FC South and he

thinks it's trash. They're in a division that you can at least look at and say, all right, Indie, Tennessee Jacksonville is nothing, but you can I think you can actually coming out of his ears two or three wins that they had this year, the Gears are turning like, oh, I need to pivot out of this point that I was making that the whole division sucks. He stalled out twice on that drive. That's good, you know, Greg, I I see and you love this stuff. Um, it's all

the game within the game. I mean this, he's playing the game. He is the I don't play chess, but let's say whatever. He's like the kingmaker here. He gets the opportunity to dictate how this plays out. The Saints they have to be passive and see how it plays out themselves. But it's Peyton, because of his standing in the league, that is going to be able to dictate how how this goes. And you know he's he's playing the game and he knows how to play it. He's

a savvy guy. He's not gonna go somewhere. I don't think that doesn't have a set quarterback situation capital well, all three of these don't. Yeah, I think he keep saying the quarterback doesn't matter, it's about ownership and the structure, that we didn't have a quarterback when they got to

New Orleans. He did talk about like the fact that the Saints and Texans had multiple years where they practiced in the preseason against each other and scrimmage, and he he went out of his way to like compliment like the the cal McNair family, like in Houston, which surprised me because I think of that as one of the

lower tiered ownerships situations out there. But in terms of getting the quarterback, in terms of having a ton of draft picks for years to come and a roster that has some good young players on it as well, Like I kind of think the Texans make more sense than anyone else. Chasing the Broncos make zero sense to me on any level. You're you're saddled with a quarterback who maybe can't play anymore. I mean, everything we saw this

year says is that Carolina. What I guess David Tepper like completely one over Matt Rule and those two mind melded when they met and then it went apart. And like David Tepper has not been able to get the quarterback he wants. Veteran Wise year after year, I don't they have no they have where where's their quarterback coming from? Cant they keep hearing uh in Sean Payton said, so that they'll get like a mid to late round draft picks, so it wouldn't be like the number two overall picks.

So you got you go to the Texans. You can take a quarterback number too. In a way, you go. I think you're completely set in Houston. In other Seawan news, Sean McVeigh he ain't ready to leave the sidelines. In Los Angeles, NFL networking centers Ian Rapport and Mike Carefull reported on Friday the McVeigh intends to return as the

Rams coach after taking a few days to consider his future. Uh. The team then announced the news mcveigh's figuring out his coaching staff, but after a five and twelve season where it looked very much like he was headed out the door, mark he instead is coming on back. Yeah. I again, I don't know why we needed to have all the reporting and the drama around it. I mean, it's just

how this thing works at this point. Uh. I always thought Sean mcmaybe was not into the concept of a RAMS team that was flatlining and needing to rebuild, and I thought maybe Matthew Stafford would have a similar viewpoint. They're both coming back, but there's a lot of work you need to do on the Rams. I think it starts with a Bengals esque offseason rebuilding of your line because what's fixed there, what's different? I mean, they're they're

they're top heavy, you have no draft picks. I think the future is bleak if you don't find a way to continue to trade for players and mortgage the future even further down the road. Just like what happened in those couple of days, because he talked to the media on Monday, you said you don't like the process. But it only is happening because Jehan McVeigh is talking about it. So why is he Why does he need to tell

us all this? But when he did, but then they were like, Okay, he's gonna go away for two weeks. The next two weeks are crucial. He spoke on Monday, sounded very tired by Wednesday. We heard it's coming by the end of the week, and it happened on Thursday. So it's like, it's not like he got away. He probably just didn't want to hear about it anymore. He already knew his answer, so he wanted to like shut everyone up about it. I guess. But he's the only

reason we're talking about it. We don't talk about this with any other coach. It's because he's he. I think he's an open guy with a lot of people, and he just was expressing, uh, ambivalence. I always thought like the story and some of the reporting around the story was always a little bit weird. That's like, uh. And I took some fire on this, uh in social media, like when I mentioned that he mentioned the war in Ukraine and his wife. Obviously that's a way more serious

situation than anything that's going on in the NFL. And I just was a little bit drawn taken aback by that being involved and mentioned with the other very normal football things that he was facing at that time. UM, and I wondered, I wondered the idea the sincerity of the entire UH plot line that was unfurling, whether this was something he was really struggling with or whether he was looking for a way out. The fact that he's

coming back UH tells me. It makes me think, Okay, I think maybe he this is a more sincere thing and he was something he struggled with and now and now he's back. So that's kind of my thoughts on it and where I where I've been coming to the story in general. The fact that ends up right back where he was surprises manage. I almost think he's so open and honest, and the fact that he hasn't been in this situation before while he's been coaching, just on

a team that has struggled this much. He's probably being a totally different line of questioning at this point too.

So it's just kind of uncharted territory for him and probably an area that he's learned from maybe to not be as open he was, but he's being open, like off the record, it's a good It's an interesting like capital JA journal question is like when the primary source is not always like a reliable source, like I believe everything that happened the whole time, that he that all this was happening in his head because he didn't know. He's just like going through all this and he's speaking

about it openly. Told someone like Sean Payton, for instance, it's very calculate. I don't think he's being honest. So it's like which which you want? Part of the story that was like, hey, hey, coaching staff, like go look for other jobs. It's cool, and then like two days later he's back. The thing is, there could be seven coaches.

There could be seven coaches going through the same taxing end of year process where the losing and the time and you're probably separated from your family so much it's unhealthy. Like I did this one article at one time. But the coaches that go away for a year and like it long for it was a long form bringing back. Just just go read that one. How about that? But all their health across the board completely changes, like they still are with team doctors, like everything about their physical

physical body improves. Like they go away and they watched football from a global bird's eye view and like Mike McCarthy went through that you know, epiphany or whatever it was, which I didn't buy at the time. But Mike McCarthy the one again today is wearing that the PFF subscription or whatever. I don't know, it's Tom Pellicero. Long former should be built in sabbatical for everyone that works at the NFL. Yes, what I'm getting to? All right, this

maybe this is the nexcess of long form. Uh, here's a theory. I'll just throw it out here. I just thought of it. McVeigh is younger. Uh, he's in Colleen's age bracket, firmly in the millennial. Maybe the millennials. You know that that's part of like you at your feelings. You definitely are. Then Bill Parcels was thirty years ago where you don't share anything about your inner thought process. You just you know, disappear from one job, reappear a

couple of years later. I think it was unhealthy. Yeah, and then get like trash Talk by Mike west Off when you joined the Around the NFL podcast, A generation of now on that front, or do you have any other big millennial takes you want to share? Um, you know what, I'll let you prepare for that. That's gonna be an offseason show. Connie the Millennial I also had

and I wrote this down. I forgot to mention picture it on a like a cloth napkin like a fancy restaurant, or then in red lipstick like scrawled pigskin gossip with Mark Sessler. I mean, I would adore that segment. I don't know where the lipsticks coming from. It on a cocktail napkin, that's it, next to a cocksticks shop. Because you mentioned gossip later. Usually it's more like reports, and you went gossip and I thought, oh, they or something.

There was some shadow that I heard. Yeah, okay. Um. In other news, another sean in the coach of ranks know his name is Jim Jim Harbaugh to remain as head coach of the University of Michigan. Uh. Two weeks ago he said he expected to remain with the Wolverines, and now he's well, this is good. Yeah, just another

version of this tedious you know. But I get that they had to have a big announcement that like said, he's staying, which is basically an announcement that like everything he had been saying the last week or two actually was meaningless and lies, but this time it is for real. Yeah. Eric at Holm does really good stuff for us. He's the lead draft writer for NFL dot Com. Wrote the article on it and Uh in the lead, he says

that he's stuck to his word. Harbaugh did, even with a few NFL franchise expressing interest and prying him away. That wasn't kind of the reporting that we heard at a Charlotte with the Panthers, where it was almost a courtesy interview we got. However, the fifty nine year old was believed to be one of the Broncos prime anidates for their head coaching job. Um. He also has tied

he had ties to other jobs, including the Cults. But in the end, don't you get the feeling Greggy And I think you do, because I think you already made comments about it that if a team really wanted hardball, he would be back back. As he just didn't get a job. He was one of the people in the mix for the Broncos job. He couldn't close it quickly or anything. I don't think they were giving him any signs that he was like going to get that job.

They said we're gonna have a process for another couple of weeks and like so he tried to get a job. No one gave him a job out Sean Paynton, No. I wonder how he interviews because he he I thought

he like. I liked covering him back in the day because he's one of the more bizarre guys on the up on the podium you'll find, and like these coaching interviews which we never are privy to, like maybe if he's already got this great, high paying job, that they want him around for the next decade plus, like do you do you ultra prep for that? He just roll in same like I'm Jim Harbaugh and that might not be enough. It's been a while, that's been a while

since he's been in an NFL coach now. The one thing I thought that was kind of interesting about the statement that was released, it was the Michigan president that put it out, saying that Jim shared with me the great news that he's going to remain as the head coach of the Wolverines. Blah blah blah. This is fantastic news that I have communicated to our athletic director, m Ward Manual. Yes, And there are a lot of people who are like, well, wait a second, why are you

breaking the news. Why are you telling the athletic director. Shouldn't the athletic director be in the mix this? So I don't know around the Big ten. In other news, offensive coordinators out the Door, Chargers have fired Joe Lombardi. Lombardi um, listen, heads are gonna roll. When you blow twenty seven nothing lead in a playoff game, heads are

gonna roll. And I think Jim Trotter nailed it in his speculation reporting on Twitter a couple of days ago everything about this franchise and pointed to them keeping Brandon Staley, who's under contract for multiple years, and bring him back after a ten win season. But somebody's got to go. So it is the offensive coordinator and the same thing happened, and we haven't hit this whole. I'll connect these two stories. Uh,

the Jets collapsed down the stretch. Ownership didn't want to make a change at head coach, but somebody's gotta go. Someone's gotta pay for it. So Mike Laflour, their offensive coordinator, gets fired, so to O c s at the out the Door and both of those a f C teams looking for one. I see them as different situations because I think there's connective tissue with Joe Lombardi de emphasizing the magic of Justin Herbert all season long and parts of it's like that this is this wasn't just about

this one game. Yet you're right that you've got to find a scapegoat for what happened, and they did. Mike Laflour got saddled with a totally failed draft pick, Joe Flacco and verre in hot and cold Mike White. It's like it's a it's a tougher situation. I'd like to see like we do this with quarterbacks and coach, give me Mike Lafloor with Justin Herbert, and I think you're geting a different offensive coordinated the Herbert heads. Uh would

be excited. I'd be excited. Did they have a stat on PFF called perfectly covered plays where basically every player

in coverage you know does doesn't make a mistake. And the Bucks and the Chargers of all the playoff teams this weekend almost doubled every other offense out there, which tracks when when you watch it, when you watch this Charger's offense, they could also use someone that like doesn't you know run of five oh forty, Like that is the slowest group of receivers when Mike Williams is not on the field, And even Mike Williams is like a burner Justin Herbert. It's just this the second season for him.

I was listening to your the last show that you guys had, what was that was at the recap show, and you were talking about Herbert Hive and about Justin Herbert. If you're going to take one of those two quarterbacks that were on the field to to move on um with, you would have taken Trevor Lawrence because he just looked like a more dominant player, more dominant quarterback. And I feel like we've speen We've seen Justin Herbert take like

a step back. Numbers regressed as well this season. So if Brandon Staley's not going to go, then obviously the offensive coordinator has to. Yeah, and uh, I'm kind of with you guys on the fleur with the Jets. Maybe you give him Derek Carr or Lamar Jackson and give

him another chance. But I think not that the Washington Post had it right about the head coach, but I think Woody Johnson, their owner, was like was putting his beak in a little bit and was like, Hey, something's got to change here, and and Salad made the decision, I'm not going to walk the plank, so Mike does my But the way Solid talked it sounded like he didn't make a decision, which is another sign of a dysfunctional organization, Like you stop trying to stop trying to

spin it spinning, like you obviously aren't happy with how like the Jets ownership has handled things like let Sala be ahead. I'm just saying you. I think I think maybe it's subconscious you want the Jets to be dysfunctional. I don't think. I don't think it's a dysfunctional organization right now. I think the owner making a coach fire a guy based on yeah, based on Sala's comments, and wanted to just like you wanted him to fire the head coach. Do you think and the people covering the

Jets are all saying the exact same thing. Do you not think though, that probably Brandon Staley was put into the same position. These coaches are loyal to their assistance and maybe by to me was gonna be fired. I think barring like a Super Bowl, I think that was an appropriate move on situation. I just not sure that Stanley came up with the kinds not defending Woody Johnson and I for at all, but let's not act like ownership.

They own the team. Um there. I think there are a lot of teams successful ones too where they have a voice. I mean, look at Robert Kraft. It doesn't mean it's necessarily uh dysfunctional. Let's see what happens. I just I'm trusting Robert Sala's judgment. Oh you had a conversation with him else? Wow? Wow, I just sit back and listening. This happens. This mad since I said that, like hiring Amster mcagnet or whatever was like this function

you could see bounce right off. Cardinals hired Titans executive Monty Austin Fort as general manager. I think the most notable notable thing about him is he looks like a cross between Steve Kim and Nick Shook. Alright, dial in on this. Anybody else have any other young young look. You can even see the head shot Shook with Austin Fort in the end of a long time when Kim

was hired. So he's basically a replacement another freaking Patriots you know, offshoot, who was in Tennessee for a long time and that's where he kind of made his name. More but all he talked about was Kraft and Belichick, and it makes you think about Brian Flores maybe as a potential candidate. Marks Udy, I just wanted to comment enough. You guys saw this. It just happened pretty recently. One of his first comments in the press conference was, ego

will not be tolerated in this organization? Is that Kyler Murray subtweet? Or what is going on there? You go? Organization? Organization? What's the other way? What's Canada like? Organization? An organization? An organization? Your organization? To me sounds like I'm organizing my death. So what is the team based out of Jacksonville? The Jaguars, jag Wires. I don't get that for a little bit. I think maybe Yessica's accent is having some influence. Is it a Yessica situation? Uh no, I would never

blame her for anything. Hey, is Yessica going to join us at the live show from the Bourbon Room tomorrow night Wednesday in Hollywood? Will be there? Yes? You will? Yeah? I thought that that'll be fun. That's good for you. I feel uncomfortable. What makes you feel uncomfortable? I don't know. The Browns Cecy, The Browns are high. Jim Schwartz is their new defensive coordinator. Jimmy Schwartz Uh, the former Detroit Lions head coach who has also won a ring with

Connie's Philadelphia Eagles as DC. He's been successful in his career and now he replaces Joe Woods the embattled Jo words. I think it's a great higher nice. The one thing that kind of would concern me is that you're hiring someone that might be seen more of a head coach than your actual head coach and things go off the rails early next season. Got him, Well, it's nice to connect the current Browns with Mark's favorite iteration of maybe

not favorite, the Bill Belichick Browns and Jim Schwartz. Yeah, he was should wide nine talk Cleveland. How about a little uh Belichick letters the Mark Seessler loans. Again, it's already been written. You can go. You can go read that if it's still available on our website. Is it still available on our website? That would be at the question you an ideas man about the Schwartz letters letters. Shorty year old man writes letters to a fifty six

year old football coach. I think that's a little strange. Uh, And that, by the way, but he would not write me back, and if the email wouldn't be, it wouldn't have hapen to be a whole different thing would be texting to each other. And the weird thing about that story, you know, the weird thing about that segment would be in that show on our network we're launching. That's also a lipstick on a cocktail map. Yet well, you know there's lots of partiny glass. It's just taken away to reveal,

all right. And finally the beacon of functional functionality, the New England Patriots. They're looking for an offensive coordinator. Bill O'Brien, old Billy, oh b the top target. You like that, I would like that. I thought it was interesting they like released the statements saying we're trying to keep Gerard Mayo,

We're going to have interviews for offensive coordinators. It was a level of transparency and a sign that like Craft is trying to do some public outreach after noticing some of those empty seats at the end of this, you know, Bill Belichick the only coach he ever hired that he hadn't worked with before. Because this is Bill O'Brien just playing the hits. If you bring back Bill O'Brien, but I don't know what's gonna Greg Siana was the only one and he didn't even make it. Literally fell out

of my chair. Did not get a lot of sleep less night. The voices in an outer Yeah, the rain stopped. It's like it was nice when it was raining and l was barking NonStop at can hear that? Interesting? There you go, that's what's happening in the news. All right, we'll be right back, and then Pat Leonard of the Daily News talk to do right back during the week, nobody tells it like the Daily News, odd drive past, paste, prou news you need, but Sunday it's city Lights, TV

week two magazines, comics and coupons, gossip and sports. What you need? What you want? That Daily News? Ah, Yes, the New York Daily News, New York's hometown paper and now joining us from the Daily News. It is a man who has covered the New York Giants for seven years now, and it probably hasn't always been the most glorious gig, but it doesn't feel uh that way anymore.

It is Pat Leonard. Uh, Pat, Welcome to around the NFL and welcome to relevant January football in the New York Giants, Dan, thank you, thank you fellas for having me on. It's been a while, as you know, and uh, it's fun to watch competent, winning football and roster construction. Frankly, even on the back end, you're looking at them and you're like, wow, not only is this a real NFL team again, but they might be able to build something

sustainable down the road. Yeah, we were talking before we went on live here that you know in the A T N Era, which um, we're naval gazers by our nature. Um we started in two thousand thirteen. Other than like some endless Eli Manning, Uh is he good? Is he bad? Will he retire? Will he get benched? Conversation? The Giants have kind of been on the back burner, and as fans are annoyed as well. I'm a Jets fans. There's always plenty of Jets talk, maybe not as much Giants talk.

So here we are now and after that big win, um this weekend against the Vikings, you know it's gonna be really interesting, isn't it pat to see how they react now against an Eagles team. The last time we saw them week fifteen. We don't really count the week eighteen game. Come on, it was forty two with Jalen Hurts as you wrote in your column, uh this week, staying into that game late into the game. Did that rub the Giants the wrong way? The way the Eagles

handled that game at the at MetLife? Yeah they notice? Did they hate the Eagles? And I know, I know that rivalries are a well known thing when we talk about the NFL and division matchups, but this one's nasty. And the Eagles have gotten the better of the Giants in every which way, Like when the Giants beat the Eagles finally, like they've lost eleven of the last thirteen in this series. They haven't won that Lincoln Financial Field

since two thousand thirteen. I think five field goals from Josh Brown that day, by the way, and um, yeah exactly, and when they beat them with Joe Judge as head coach, I mean the amount of not vitriol but emotion behind the scenes, just finally getting the Eagles back, but obviously hasn't been enough. The Eagles have won a Super Bowl more recently than the Giants, even though they have four um and they have just owned this head to head series.

They pants the Giants front off as a couple of years ago in the draft, trading over them to draft Vante Smith, who the Giants were eyeing eyeing there in that draft. Obviously they end up trading back and a cat Darius Tony, and a first rounder that becomes Evan Knee. Know, we'll see where that goes. But just you know, then you have the Nate Sudfelt coming in and keeping the Giants out of the playoffs. So there is so much

on the Giants minds going into this game. From an organizational standpoint, from an ownership standpoint, from a front office standpoint. The players are gonna play the game. But when you look at that blow out and the fact that Hurts played so deep into it and they were throwing the ball late, running big plays and gashing the Giants defense,

yeah they noticed and they'll remember it. I just wonder how they match up physically with them, because like, yeah, you're you're upset that the Eagles are pouring it on, but it's because they got bullied and that that felt like a bit of a turning point. The Eagle season wasn't quite as pristina after that, and certainly I've come around. I thought the Giants were very lucky for most of the season, and I think they've played their best football the last three or four weeks. But how do you like,

how do you just think they match up physically? Because I look at that's where the Eagles to me, separate themselves up front on the offensive light and the defensively. No, Greg, I think you're you're absolutely right. Um. You look at the Vikings, right. Kevin O'Connell did a lot of good things as a coach, but one thing he did to play into the Giants hands was he didn't run the ball on third and fourth and short. Kept spreading it five wide, and that plays into Wink Martindale's hands. He

can scheme up pressures. The Giants were giving up four, eight eleven seven yards rushing to Cook on these carries. You look at the Philadelphia Eagles. If the Giants don't stop the run, guess what the the Eagles are gonna do. They're gonna keep running the ball and knock them back and they're not gonna stop. You know, Jalen Hurts, Miles Sanders, Boston Scott, the Giants killer. That matchup for the Giants, um is not in their favor. And I will say

this too after that game. I've been covering this team. This is my seventh season. They've been bad for a while, But I have never heard a Giants team admit so readily and honestly after a game that they were clearly inferior to their opponent. Then after that game, and it was so strange to me at the time because even though they were just being honest and then they were correct, You're you're looking at the standings and you're saying they could meet that they're meeting them again in week A

team they can meet them in the playoffs. And here's Daniel Jones saying flat out, this was proved that we're not where we need to be yet. So can the Giants finally and suddenly get to where they need to be to beat that same Eagles team that just demolished them and met Life Stadium in a month. I mean, it's there's a reason this game is a seven point spread, even though the Giants obviously put a lot of good

football in the field of Minnesota. You know, like Dan and I grew up right around Giants Country watching the Giants, and and I mean we go back to like the Bill Parcels days where Giants Eagles was a legitimate rivalry, and you know how it is when a team um stinks up the joint for a decade plus, these rivalries, um you can call them that, but they melt away.

And I would just ask this because I think this is such a huge moment for Danny Dimes, Like if he like what we saw in the last game, and where is the way developed if he were ever to go an outduel Jalen Hurts and the Eagles, Suddenly everything we think about him and everything that we think and thought about the Giants completely transforms. And I just wonder is like, has this Daniel Jones do you think in the last couple of seasons been there all along? It's

just that Brian day Ball came in. And you know, I don't know what a quarterback whisper really is. We throw that term around, but is this a Brian day Ball effect? Or is Daniel Jones finally surrounded by healthy players? He himself is healthy, But I see a different player in the last couple of months then in years past to completely transform quarterback. Yeah, well said, I do think

it's both. I think the coaching is the biggest change, and certainly I know for a fact that previous staffs, or particularly when Jason Garrett was the Ovens of coordinator. You know, the Giants were coming off really the main goal was to stop turning the ball over for Daniel Jones, and so combined with what Garrett already has known for offensively, there was a huge focus on protecting Daniel from himself. And so if you're doing that with a quarterback, you're

never going to fully unleash him. And also, whether you're doing it overtly or not, it's going to seep in that you don't have full confidence in his decision making and his ability to push the ball down the field. So I think chicken in the egg there with some of those things, but it kind of breeded a lot of um, you know. Either even if he was not turning the ball over in games they were low scoring

and there was a low margin for error. I will say this, Dable and Mike Kafka and Joe Shane when they came in, they didn't profess a ton of confidence in Daniel Jones coming in, and so even from the inside they put pressure I felt on him to kind of show them. And at the start of the year, if you look at tape of their first couple of games and tape of their recent games. This has been an evolution of him earning their trust. And so the other side of it is Daniel's dual threat skills have

been there. We know that he can run, but as he made the plays and protected the ball while making them early in the year in targeted spots, Dable and Kafka slowly pushed a little bit more onto his played, a little bit more onto his plate to the point where you're watching games like that Colts blowout where Daniel's running ability is the center point of the offense, or in Minnesota where it's his running and it's his arm.

And let's just face it, guys, forever now, especially since they drafted Barkley, they have been a team that we need to run the ball with se Kwan and supplement it with Daniel. But you watch these last two games Jones has played against the Colts and the Vikings, and this is now a quarterback centric offense that has se Kwon Barkley. And that's something I'll be writing about this weekend, talking to Brian Dable about is to be the maximum best offense you can in the NFL, your quarterback has

to be your best player. And I think what we've seen recently is the coaching has brought out the best in what was already there with Jones to the point where he is now that And you know, the proof was right there in the transaction wire with the Giants entering this season when they declined to pick up the fifth year option on Jones's contract, And now he's obviously

taken this big step forward. I'm curious, like what your vibe is around the team, Um, Like, how much in your mind is riding on what occurs on Saturday night or perhaps beyond, uh for Daniel Jones? Or do you think this is a situation now where this team is going to roll forward and and give him a contract and to make him their guy going forward? Do you think he's already now shown enough where they're locked in on Jones for as a long term answer there? I do?

I think uh. I mean, he definitely, even let's say a month or two prior, already had earned that he was going to be their quarterback next year. But of course that could have been franchise tag, transition tag, and even entering the playoffs, I think it was still trending towards and it still could be a situation where they start with a tag on Jones to protect the asset, and then they go from there based on how the negotiations go, while probably trying to sign Barkley to a

sensible multi year deal. But I thought that game in Minnesota was a flash point. And I'll just tell you this. I mean, you guys know this, but Joe Shane, he comes in and he's got a much more unemotional vantage point and removed sense of evaluation for a guy like Daniel Jones compared to Dave Gettleman who was here before and drafted him and this and that. So if it were just Shane making the decision, it might be still more calculated, cut and dry. Giants ownership was already in

love with Daniel. I mean the way that they were pounding their chests and shouting from the rooftops after this Vikings game about Daniel about their organization being turned around. Even if you even if you removed all physical checkbooks from the offices of Steve Tish and John Mara, I think they'd find some way to wire the money to

Jones's agents and get it done. I don't. I'm working right now on what the deal will look like, because going into the Vikings game, I talked to some smart people on the league who are very plugged into this, not only Jones's conversations, but also quarterback market and value, and they felt that if a long term deal happened, it might look something like a three year, hundred million dollar deal with anywhere from six to seventy five million guaranteed.

So that would be like thirty three and a half a year, but that's still below like the thirty five million of Kirk Cousins. You look at what Jones just put on the field against the Vikings. Is he not worth more than Kyler Murray? Is he not worth more up to the is he not worth up to this? He's not worth more than Kyler Urry To answer your question, that's my answer. Who has more playoff wins? I think

those component exactly. I think those comps will be talked about behind closed doors, though though Greg I can't say disagree with I think that the average own, the average person paying this money, he is worth a lot less because you have four years of play now, every quarterback ends up getting paid, so I think he'll get paid in His value is so much more now than it was two months ago. And I think it's worth more right now than anyone else that's going to be available

off this offseason, which is maybe the most important. Like it's it's more than Gino. I think it's more than Tom Brady. Like ultimately, um, it's more than the Jimmy G's and everything of the world. So they're gonna have to tag him at worst. Does he like, does Daniel Jones give you anything kind of behind the scenes, because he he just seems like he doesn't want to give like the media or anyone anything, so largely he does not UM a year plus ago, so I think it

was prior to the season. Going into that off season, I had the same thought you did, of Okay, this guy puts up a good front, but who is he really? Because I had had enough conversations with teammates and coaches and family members and people behind the scenes you know you're not seeing the real Daniel. There's so much more to him, and I'm saying, we'll prove it. And I wanted to go to one of his workouts down in North caw A Line and just spend a day with him.

And try to get behind the curtain. He suggested, why don't we go to dinner when I come back. I said fine, and we sat down in Hoboken for a few hours at a steakhouse and I was able to do a story off of that and the pay in the Daily News. And what Daniel wanted to stress to me at that dinner was what did he get, by the way, what order he ordered? Uh? He just ordered a New York strip. He did not. He wasn't big on the sides. I remember, I'll never forget he said

he doesn't like mac and cheese. That always stuck with me. I'm thinking, everybody likes mac and cheese. What are you talking? Wait a minute, also only eating mac and cheese once in my life. So Daniel Jones and I have something. There's a link between us. He didn't he didn't drink. He didn't drink. I ordered a drink. He didn't, you know, kind of put me on the defensive a little bit.

That's the first time we went out with Greg Rosenthal when he came to the NFL that and it was me, Mark and Greg, We're trying to feel this guy out. And he didn't get a drink. Either, and it put us on our heels. We didn't know what to think exactly. You kind of you kind of blink a couple of times. No. So his message to me though that night was I got to know him a little bit better. You know, he likes basketball, um, you know, values his close friends

and family. But he wanted to let me know that everything he does is in the best interest of what he thinks helps the team the most. And it was kind of his way of saying so. In other words, he still didn't fully open up to me, but he was trying to stress to me that, listen, I do

everything I do for a reason. So if you think that I'm not helping you, or I'm not giving a lot, or I don't answer a question maybe the way you would expect or you would like, it's all based on what I think is going to be best for the Giants. And so he's he's hyper aware of um, the position he is in and how visible he is, and that, you know, the most interesting thing to me that night was he's tall, so people notice him. But not until we were walking out of the restaurant did I hear

somebody say, oh, there's Daniel Jones. You know, so he was. He was able to kind of slip in and out fairly undetected. I think that's gonna stop Derek Jeter Mode of New York Media Management, Mark, what do you got? Well? I just I wanted to know, Um, you know are we have had Cavon Thibodeau on the show a number of times. Um, it got to the point where we thought we had a friendship with him. UM. I'm not sure after our last interview with him that we that

we would claim that necessarily know. I asked him if, um, Brian Dable, if he thought, you know, getting to know Brian Dable, whether he was a big spoon or a small spoon in his private life. He didn't want to answer that. I will ask you a Brian day Ball question in a different way. What makes him special? Because he feels it feels like this is the day ball arrival has changed everything for the Giants. You've gotten to know him better than we have behind the scenes. What

makes them unique or special? The players say that Dable lets them all beat themselves, and that he lets the captains and the leadership of the locker room kind of police the team, and that they appreciate that versus other places they've been. The caution to that management style is if is it creates some looseness to how you're managing things at times, And so Xavier McKinney goes to you know,

Cabo and spring Break and bust up his hand. Um, you know, things like that maybe don't happen if the ship is tighter and and you're you're kind of looking over guy's shoulders more. But in the long run, when you've been in an environment where guys have the weight of the world on their shoulders and all the conversation is about how the offensive line stinks and the quarterbacks on his way out and all this stuff, they really have felt that Dabel has been a breath of fresh air.

He gives a lot of people a voice. He's collaborative. Like one thing that happened at the end of the Judge Gentleman regime was, um, you know, they did not see eye to eye, and Judge ended up trying to take everything on himself. He basically stopped delegating, and so that was something that was obviously a byproduct of poor decisions made all the way up to that. But what's happening now is now that Shane and Dable talk to each other and our friends and came from Buffalo together.

There's a lot of you know, alignment, I guess is the right word. And frankly, you asked me about Dable. But this is operating a little bit like a baseball team, where you know, Joe Shane is theo epstein and he's sitting with Brian Dable on Friday and Saturday making the game day lineup, and so Dable is inclusive in that regard, and Shane deserves credit also for kind of how the coaching staff is deploying the team on game day. Interesting all right, So there you go. Pat Leonard, New York

Daily News, check him out. Uh. He also has a podcast, Talking Ball with Pat Leonard. Uh, look that up wherever you get podcasts. Ball. Loved it. And one last thought, I mean, you mentioned that that Daniel Jones had a flash point moment against the Vikings, and I didn't know if you were aware of the around the NFL Flashpoint series, which really has taken off this year. So I don't know if that just seeped into the culture or if

you were aware of it. Either way, it was great to hear the word flash point and I can I have that audio and play it for Daniel absolutely the next, the next steak dinner and Hoboken. I used to live on tenth and Clinton and Hoboken. Good times. Twenty four year old zoos. All right, Pat, thank you very much, buddy, appreciate you coming on the show. Pat, your Guys show is awesome. Thank you so much for having me on.

Thank you. There he goes Pat Leonard, all right, put him on the list grave Digger, the database of of the guys we like and the gals we like and the list of the damned. Yeah, we found our giants. Guy, got a good giants. Guy love Pat. Pat's great, A lot of fun. Yeah, Simonds was again again. Do not even try to get in the door at the Bourbon Room UM in Hollywood Wednesday night where we're going to be there and maybe Colleen to yeah, nudge nudge, and we know Yessica will be there as well. We did

say it, we teased it. I'll be there, so make sure you're there if you've got tickets, and flood the secondary market and see if there is one. Your daughter doesn't need braces, You just should have braces. And I think that's an important distinction. You need to be able to tear children's needs along with your own needs, and I think your need comes first here without any conflict. You only get one one life on this blue marble. It's like, why does everyone's teeth have to be so straight?

Let's bring back crooked teeth. That's it, right, like the olden days. Yeah, let's be imperfect, all right, that's it. Uh. Dan Hands is signing off four Quiet Storm, the Old Boss, Connie Fox, the Tiny Box, the Grave Digger who will also be in Hollywood. Is your chance to meet Justin Graver? Oh my god, heed the call