Does this matter? With Patrick Claybon

you questioning yourself, but you nailed it as always. Greg. Yeah, you know, Greg, I think there was one show that you were hosting where you called me Matt, So I think you're off to already a better start than than that episode was. Yeah, it's gonna be a loose show. Dan Wren's a tight ship. He's you know, he's the host with the most and m We're just gonna talk about stories from this week. It's you know, we're we're all getting ready for a little summer break a little bit.

Shows are going to be a little less often after this. The NFL teams are about to go on summer vacation. Um. It's got that last day of school type feel vibe this week, except for for Claibon, who's wearing a tie right now, and I think is working very hard throughout the summer. So I'm sorry for the previous thirty seconds. It's okay. I recognized that, you know, I am not the protagonist of reality and other people's circumstances are different than mine, and I appreciate it. I'm glad you guys

get a little bit of a break. Like. I'm not vindictive about it, you know. Well, I mean there would have been we were in personally, we were heading close towards like rebellion territory if we didn't get like a little bit of time here. So although we have two shows coming up next week to set out the schedule early, we're back next Tuesday and Thursday, I believe, so we'll have a little bit of a break, a sixth day break.

We still got two shows this week, two shows next week, and then I think we go once a week and we go dark, uh for a little while. And um, you know, it's stuck in my head. When we were in person, Sessler, Dan said like the juice cleans Cessler is not not his favorite Sessler, but at least you know which I think it was a little harsh, but it at least like on on screen the juice cleans.

Cessler might be my favorite Sessler. Sessler looks primed, he looks jacked, he is the color is good, the shirt sunbottoned. You know you look prime Cessler right now. So it might be my favorite Sessler. I like we're going with this. I will say that, Um, there's been a huge shift

in this house. I don't know if it's the same in your houses, but you know, the l A weather, l A regional weather has some hyped up a bit, and it's boring to talk about whether, but I will just say that one of the reasons I think I have a bit of a rosier glow is that it's like I'm sweating. It's hotter than a like a cannon ball shot into my face right now. So yeah, you know, great weather or historic drought that's gonna cause wildfire and untold damage to our state. You who can say? But

it is it is nice. Much much as Robbie Anderson's at about Sam Donald this week that there's an aura a glow. I see it on Mark. I see the energy ready to explode from him. Uh in a positive way, not like Mark's gonna you know, sabotage a shipping lane. I see it as is a good thing, like Mark's gonna hug some people and it's good. So this is more legit potentially than the Donald glow comments which I found.

You know, variable Barn's gotta like it too. I think someone's gotta like this good looking sesslor not that he is an high apathy. I would categorize it as high apathy. Uh, Clay, that's a perfect transition. Because today's show again, we're gonna talk about some stories this week. They would normally be the news items, but instead we're just gonna make that the segment. We're gonna throw out some things that happened this week. Uh, and we're gonna just declare as a group.

I guess, um whether we care or not, do we care or not? Does it matter or not? And uh, we'll move on and why not? Like that's a fine place to start. Wasn't planning on talking it. But do you think Sam Donald's rosy glo? Oh do we care about that? Patrick Clavon, You know that Robby Anderson says he's got an aura, he's got a he's got a

different vibe about him. I care enough to make jokes about it because I think it's funny because it goes to so much of the way I think about sports, and the way that we turn it into like a cartoon is to say, like, oh, this person is summoning the strength of the door, right, he's gonna wield the hammer. Um, yeah,

I'm glad Sam is happy. I'm glad the vibes are good. Now. Um, I don't know if that makes him a better football player, but yeah, I guess in the grand scheme of things, no, if we're saying doesn't matter his disposition, no, Uh, what matters is is he a better football player? Yeah. I mean it's like Robbie Anderson and Sam Donald, they've seen some things, having been part of that Jets wreckage. I mean, I do think there's probably something to the fact that

they're simply happier. Um. I gave Robbie Anderson a little bit of credit for, you know, we're killing these players understandably for the endless tropes. This was a little bit. This wasn't a Weather Warren trope the same way that you normally hear about quarterbacks. I mean, we're talking auras, we're talking clothes. Um. This is also a player that did not know the Panthers mascots. So I'm not sure how dep dug to create this narrative, but I I'd

enjoyed it to some degree. Yeah, I like it. I mean when you yeah, when you can go from gaze to uh, Joe Brady and Matt Rule, who I think are gonna kinna help Sam Donald out. Not sure about that offensive line in Carolina. PFF did like an offensive line rankings going into the season. Steve Palazalo, I never know how to say his last day, and he they had him thirty and you look at it and it's not great. I wasn't planning on doing Donald, but that seems like a fun place to start. We are going

to give some book recommendations. By the way, at the end of the show, you know, Mark Mark suggested that I like that it's summer reading time, and so that's how we're going to close the show. But let's go to a bigger item of news this week, which is all these mandatory mini camp holdouts, which is the only time you can use the word hold out until training camp because they are required to be there and they can be fined if they are not there, and Xavian Howard,

the Dolphins corner back, was a surprise absence this week. Uh, he wants a new contract. That's what Brian Flores, the Dolphins head coach, alluded to, and he called a quote unique situation when it came to Howard. Do we care about this one? Mark? I mean, I think it's something to monitor. It doesn't sound like it's it's like super cantankerous based on what Flora said, and he was kind of veiled in his comments. But this is a player that just signed a new year, a new deal, a

massive extension, and now wants more money. It kind of reminds me of when we talked about Stephon Gilmore on UM Monday was that I I don't know what did Monday like that. You know, when he signed his deal, the deal look great, but then even a couple of years later, your fall down on that list of who's getting paid at cornerback and he's behind his teammate Byron Jones, which I think maybe could be a little bit a little bit of just I want to be heard. I want

to have some money moved around. I don't want to be locked into this from now until the end of time. UM that's you know, and so we monitor it and I leave it there. I think I think it matters in the sense of what Xavian Howard's golds are long term, because I think if if the discrepancy is between the twelve million for him this year and the fourteen million for Byron Jones, then I wouldn't really be sure what

he's doing. Um, if I'm not mistaken, he's the second highest paid player on the whole team, So I don't necessarily think this is as much about I think the team's potential outcomes in and he's had a few good years in Miami, so I can see from his point of view the desire for a long term trying to kind of answer to what his career is going to be like, because it'd be around a three million dollar cap hit if they let him go next year, depending

on the timing. Um, I'm I'm looking at you know the dropped battery charges right, Um, you know he there was a domestic battery is arrest and they were then dropped. Um. I'm not sure if they're a concern for Miami right as much as they should concern anybody right when somebody's accused of domestic battery. But I think the Dolphins might see that as a justification for paying him less, because if they were truly concerned, uh, then he wouldn't be

on the team. Right. So I think the Dolphins, the Dolphins would like to pay him less as much as you know, any any employer would probably like to pay a productive employee less. Uh. And so they see, you know, the way that that's playing out. But I really think it's just him looking for some sort of long term answer. But he got a long term answer. He signed through.

I think it doesn't matter then next year though, right, But they never would because he's a defensive Player of the Year candidate last year, who who is you know, relatively affordable for a cornerback. He signed like a five year, seventy five million dollar country at a time when I think they were probably differing opinions on Davian Howard, like he's up and down, and like at the time, people are like, Wow, that's a really good deal for Howard.

That's them believing in their young player and and on the field last year he backed it up with a first team all proceeds. I think it's really unique. It matters in the sense of like, any how much can any story for the end of felt matter in June um because I think it's tricky. I I don't see how you gives Amen Howard more money, not just because it's a precedent with so many years left on his contract, but he signed it two years ago. He signed for

three or four more years. Since he signed the contract, he had that domestic violence arrest. I mean, he he was in jail, Like that's significant. How can that not I've seen a handful of analyzes on this situation that don't even mention that, like, of course that should factor into whether you should sign a guy to a long term contract. And then in the two years since the other year he missed eleven games or seven games, nine games, whatever was, he missed more than half the season with

a knee injury. In so since he signed that contract, they got one incredible year one where he was hurt and you had this off field issue. But I think the main thing is we see this again and again, and we're seeing it with Chandler Jones in Arizona. Guys hate it when you signed a new player at your position to more money, and so he's just pissed that he knows he's better than Byron Jones, or at least he was, and Byron Jones is right next to him, and he's making more money. We see this at our

workplace sometimes. Absolutely, I'm not gonna name names. It's it's at any workplace. I'm not gonna name names. If we knew how much everybody was making, I guess we would would see it. Sometimes it pops up and you have an idea, though, and some people are not happy. I mean, I'm saying in front of the camera, behind the camera, I think this is a universal thing. I'm not. I'm not. I once had a terrible UM. It was a job where you basically wrote like proposals to get business. This

was a sort of a startup company up in Malibu. Um. Long story short, family owned about twenty employees. But some dunderheaded idiot and it wasn't me. UM sent out mistakenly the pay the salary of every single person inside the building, and like you know, a cornerback room, there were seven or eight people that were kind of grinders that we would all be looked at in the same role, and they all were equally valuable, but one of them was

getting paid like twice as much as anyone else. And one guy who probably just wasn't good at UM fighting for himself was getting paid like um someone that had been hired from a temp agency. So it caused immediate headaches and volcanoes. It was fascinating to watch shout out to shout out to that guy, shout out to Comrade Dunderhead. I know, like normal and I'm all for normalizing um salary and financial talk and money talk. Like in general, people get to tow up, you know, people act like

it's the most private thing in the world. Let's let's normalize this. It's just it's just money. Well, we shouldn't be all in our feelings about it. Let's stay in Miami though for our second the next story, and and talk to a tongue of voloa. Um. I feel like this happens with one quarterback every year. Jimmy Garoppolo was the guy a couple of years ago. I remember he threw like six interceptions in one practice. Uh, this time

it was to throwing five in a monsoon. This, um, do we care about two a tongue of viola throwing five interceptions in June? Patrick? No, No, like, are we extrapolating his his long term career viability based on a June practice. People are mannequing. People were just like, I don't know this. I think people are looking for reasons not to like to a write right now, or to like to and like defend that it doesn't mean anything. People get in their little corners, including me, Whatever confirms

your prior's right. That's that's how we handle June in NFL training camp news. Right. Um, I don't particularly think it matters. Like Brian Flores, I don't think this was an excuse what he said, like practice is a time to practice, to see what works and what doesn't work. Um. And if if you know you're picked off five times, yeah that congrats. Maybe Xavian Howard and Byron Jones and maybe everything's working back there. Maybe we take the positives

from that. Um. But I don't see it as some sort of strike against Tah that that he's stoleing picks against his what what was a good defense last year in practice? Well, I mean also it happened in like a driving rain storm there there with like two inches of rain were dumped on that part of Florida yesterday.

And you know this is coming. Just what the Beat reporters said and sort of a chill out, please chill out everyone that they were like intentionally unfurling like passes deep down the field into tight windows to kind of just you know, show aggression. The other thing I'd say is George Godse and Eric Studsville, who you know because their co o c s get a little bit heat on this show. And I think it is a tv D scenario. Um, But Myles Gaskin said, it is a

new playbook. It's a totally new playbook. This isn't to a you know, gaining more comfort from the playbook from last year. It's sort of the opposite of that. And I think that's flown under the radar just a little bit. Um. I have a no problem with these quarterbacks going out and having like one day like that where a certain statistical category gets jacked up. I mean, we complain all the time about Beat writers giving us too many detailed stats from a pad list or you know, super basic practice.

Well then we can't you know, be jumping out of windows when this occurs. Yeah. I used to right uh these articles during o t A mini camp season and it was like a huge paragraph on each team, like which players were rising and falling. This was especially did as a road world when I was doing more fantasy, but I did it here too, and I and I see it happening quite a bit still, especially in fantasy.

And I don't know if I'm right or I'm just like lazy, but I have come to the conclusion there's there's literally nothing you can draw from on field play in O t s and mini camps, nothing other than injuries, like nothing in terms of performance and and evaluation and competition. And Belichick and Flora's talk about this pretty often that this is teaching time, This is teaching and installing, and competition starts the first day of training camp. That's when competitions.

Coaches will also say that the one like the groups you can't even judge at this time of year, or offensive lines and mostly defensive lines. So it's like we're talking about a quarterback throwing interceptions when like the reason he's going to be held up right is hard to determine in in in early June, So I totally sail it down the river. I would just if if you're going to report the interceptions, right, just give us some some context, right, for reaching, like like maybe a graph

on each pass, like what was the average depth of target? Well, what's the circumstance with regards to the pressure of wind rate. I don't know if we're gonna if we're gonna draw stuff from it, then you just need to give us everything it does. It does get to what to a struggle in which was you know, deep throws and that they're gonna have to improve them that And I think mark your point is really good about that. It's a

new offense. It is a little bit of a concern like if you're a third year player on the Dolphins, this is your third offense, or if you're Invante Parker, um, it's about your seventh offense. And it's and it's your third and three years and your I projected four either rookie or second year starters on the offensive line. So

it's a young team. The Dolphins have this way of I think the last under florists looking like a hot mess in the off season, and I thought was like one of the worst rosters in the league going into each of the last two seasons, and and then they're

way better than the sum of their parts. So I'm giving a little bit of credit to the process that they'll they'll make it look better florists and greer then it seems to look on paper, but it is a lot there are there are a tricky team to evaluate with with again, as Mark pointed out, to two offensive coordinators, right, so so maybe two offensive just in this year, right

because we don't we don't know who's calling. It's some kind of imagine it's really one of the two that's leading the way, but I don't know who that was if that weren't the case, or like, you just it's like the way that their personalities mingle matters. I mean one if one of them is sort of like likes to quietly take credit for everything. It's like the guy that wants to be in Tua's ear on the sideline

with the other guys probably doing way more. Dudesville who's been around for twenty years and his beloved as he's usually running backs coach and like is known. You know, I don't know what happened here, but this is one of those things that Floris took from Belichick that he that's like, don't take that from Belichick. Like Flores probably has it in his mind that he wasn't even defensive coordinator. When he was the defensive coordinator, I don't think anyone

remembers that. Like when he was calling those plays in the Super Bowl, he wasn't He didn't even have the title, they didn't have one. Then the Patriots also went co coordinators at one point, and then they went to no coordinators in variety of years. So it's a silly thing to take from Belichick, but I don't think it's that huge of a deal. Let's go to Minnesota, where I'm gonna just tip my hand here. I think this was probably the biggest story of the week, which which tells

you it wasn't like a massive week. But Danielle Hunter uh signed a new deal with the Vikings right after we taped on Monday, and then right on the back of that, Sheldon Richardson returned to Minnesota where he was in twenty eighteen, I believe, for one year and played

pretty well there. So the common nation of those two stories, to me, I think are significant because this this contract thing happened with Hunter even before he heard was out for last season, so it had been kind of sitting there for a while, and so they moved up some guaranteed money, and more importantly to him, they'll make him a free agent after this season, or they'll pay him twenty million dollars in two So either way he'll either

have his freedom or he'll have his money. And between those two guys, it it helps what to me was the biggest weakness on the Vikings defense, which was their defensive line. Um, they might play a little more. Three four, they get Michael Pierce back from opting out. They signed Dalvin Tomlinson, they had they added a lot of people in the secondary, including Bashad Brelan recently that one slipped under the radar. They've got Patrick Peterson, they got Davier.

I kind of suddenly am thinking the Vikings defense, which was a hot mess last year and was the biggest reason why they didn't make the playoffs, it was not the offense should go back to what they normally were, which was very good under Mike Simmer got topped. And even then if they were a topped in defense, and suddenly you're like, Okay, maybe the Vikings are back in

the playoffs. Do you agree, Cleava? I do, and I think in the way that it happened, right, the rapidity in which it's like, oh yeah, this is oh okay, They've got Richardson Daniel Hunter's back. Um, it shows a clarity of purpose. There's no you know, wishy washy will will wait and see, like this is what the brass wants, this is what Zimmer wants, and he's gonna get it.

And so I think, right, um, you can see that there is this cohesion among the coaching staff in the front office with regards to one like we you know, who knows what the future holds, but this is what we're doing. And I like that. I can't see a negative to that. Yeah, I mean, Rick Spielman, the GM does not turn out a lot of like low level rosters. If anything, He's been, if if not, like a superstar,

has been extremely consistent. And they just they had PFF's worst pass rushing group a year ago and it showed they just sell the bodies. And so you know, I think, like, h Daniel Hunter, if he, if he is able to become what he was before, is one of the best

in the league. You got Stephen Weatherly, Um, Sheldon Richardson I thought played pretty well for the Browns and was a bit of a surprise departure I know that they're trying to change their scheme up just a little bit, and maybe he didn't quite fit in UM but but on top of just the player, uh, that was the one move that they've pulled off where teammates were agitated

because they loved Richardson. So you know, I know he's gone, he's he's moved around from team to team a bunch, but he was popular there and they liked him in Minnesota too, and they're bringing him back, So I don't hate that. I think the ones who punch changes their defense quite a bit. Yeah, the Browns did not help Richardson max his money this year with the timing, so

he got paid. I think it's with and you know, incentives and stuff over for like about four million, and he's better than plenty of defensive tackles who signed for more money. He's the perfect kind of veteran sign He's very much the in dominant Sue type signing, but a few years younger where it's like, hey, you just signed a guy who can play seven hundred snaps for you basically know exactly what you're getting, which is solid production. Like you know, he's not gonna be a superstar. But

you just plug them in and they needed that. And uh, I was looking at this roster they've I we talked about the Vikings. I did the Mina Kimes podcast with Lenny this week. People should check out. They drafted eleven players this year, including eight in the first four rounds. Half of those guys were on defense. I don't know

these defensive guys. They were third and fourth rounders. But it's like, I'm not gonna pretend I have some hot take, but it's like if you hit on a few of these and a few of the ones on offense, and they signed guys in numbers. Uh, in the secondary where they just have like six cornerbacks who have played or can play. Cam Dancer was a rookie for them. That was pretty good. I don't know. I I think they could be dangerous, especially in a division that Aaron Rodgers

might not be involved. And let's let's stay in that division and talk um Bears this week. Matt Naggie seems to doing the rounds this year. Seems to be in a really good mood, so that's good. I'm happy for him. You know, he sometimes he seems to really go up and down with his mood, but it seems like a happy I'm just saying, as coaches go, he seems either to kind of really hate the media experience or seems like a totally cool guy. He's in totally cool guy mode.

And he was talking with Chris Collinsworth this week on Collinsworth Podcast. Let's listen to that. But I do have to ask this one question. Is there a possible scenario where Justin Fields plays on opening Night? No? I mean Andy is our starter, and again I can't predict anything. You know that that's you know how it goes. I mean, there's so many things that could happen between today and that week one, but that's Andy is our starter and and Justin's our number two, and we're gonna put We're

gonna stick to this plan. It doesn't matter. Mark Cesler, you made the best facial espression of the three of us. Do you get there? Well, I mean, I guess the one thing if you're matten Egg, maybe you're going back to the blueprint the Chiefs used with Patrick Mahomes, where you know, if you take a look at Chicago's early schedule, maybe he's just sort of saying I don't want to put all this on a rookie because they have the Rams.

Then okay, the Bengals fine, but the Browns, Ravens, Raiders, Packers, Bucks, Niners, and Steelers before the buy. That's essentially going through a playoff field in the NFC and a f c um that said Mattegi was hired to do one thing to manage the quarterback position, to manage how you move from player A to b um, from a you know, a group of nobody's to a Justin Fields who he's going up. He's gone out of his way to compliment in high order.

I mean, he seems to love Justin Fields. So I don't know if this is more of a protection thing. I don't like it at all. Um, would you treat that said he you're going to treat your offensive line? A rookie blows up in August and absolutely dominates, so we're not ready for for him to be out on the field. It's just sort of like an it's the quarterback position, and I think, actually it's the wrong way to deal with quarterbacks. Ue, but I am sitting here.

It's his prerogative. But but he's leaning into it hard. Um. When it felt like it was going to be the first non frustrating Bears off season in a while. UM, I find it to be. It's just pressing a little too hard. Why do you have to say any of this because of the circumstances, right? Um? If if he's Andy Reid and he has the job security of an Andy Reid, uh, and Andy Dalton becomes Alex Smith, right that the twenty whatever version of Alex Smith, then yeah,

you have the luxury of of going with the starter. Um. But the best way, the most important job for a lot of coaches and gms is to keep their job. And in the best way for Matt Neeggie to keep his job and maintain his importance is to start Andy Dalton untild that circumstance becomes untenable and then start justin fields.

So I don't think it matters because, um, we could say that with any particular rookie quarterback, in any starting scenario, UH, the coach many times is going to do what's necessary to keep his job, especially if he's not coming in with a rookie quarterback. UH. If you are a holdover from a quarterback who didn't succeed UH in your system and a new quarterback comes in by virtue of the Denver Broncos choosing not to draft that quarterback. Then you

you have this opportunity to protect yourself. And so I see it as whenever the circumstances changed, that's when we're gonna get justin Fields. Regardless of how Matt Neggie responds to the dulcet tones of Chris Collinsworth, who sounds like a pitch shifted Jack Collinsworth to me, I'm looking a different, uh voice on his podcast. You're saying it's it's more sultry, it's a little sexier, which I don't think we can all appreciate. He Hey, Matt, now that matters, That take matters.

He he wants I've probably told this story before. We've done this podcast so long, but he wants pre taped a weekly question for this this digital fantasy show I hosted in around two thousand seven called The Fantasy Fix. And you know, but he did it all in one one take, like in September, and we just taped the

question for the whole year. But it would really crack us up because we would just watch this tape and it would be him for three minutes going, hey, Tiffany and Greg like, who do you think's better this I can't Wow, it's really falling apart my who do you think's better this week? Uh? Frank or or Tatum Bell? And then then it would just like get him going into the next one for three minutes straight. I really, that's my favorite cons Worth memory. That's you guys gave

such great answers. Mine is short. No not. I think this is all nonsense. And the only reason it it um caught fire as much as it did on Twitter was and I don't want to call the person out. I don't know who remember who it is. They paraphrased it wrong. I was in the aggregating game a long time and they they aggregated it in paraphrase that as Naggy said, there is no scenario where Dalton could be the backup week one, which Collinsworth, by the way, is

has self interest. He's calling that game. He's like, please give us justin fields, and we all do because we all want to watch that game with and yes, he started the answer by saying the word no to like a yes or no question, but then he went into a whole spiel about well, you know how it is, I can't predict anything, things change, UH in the meantime, Chris and I can't say what what they would be,

but you know, here's the plan. One of the things that can change is Justin Fields is awesome in August and Andy Dalton is not. And that's it's like why these coaches have to answer these questions. But I really, I truly think it means less than nothing. Of course, it's the plan. It's the game that you have to play publicly. I also think it's funny that in some other UH interviews that he's had, he also makes it very clear that Nick Foles is the number three and

as no chance to move up to number two. It's it that's kind of funny to me too, like if like he's doing this to like protect Dalton's ego and what they promised Dalton. But he has no problem saying like, sorry, falls man, I know you were a Super Bowl MVP, You've been in the league twelve years. There's actually absolutely zero chance that you could even move up to number two.

That's I don't even know what he's doing on the I think that's just like, you know, keep them safe inside like a carton or a crate until we trade him somewhere for like a late pick for a team that gets, you know, a ravaged by quarterback injuries. I like to hear that at least he's flexible naked. I mean, if this changes, then change with it. Because you mentioned, you know, career security, Clayband. But I mean if fields, like we're blowing people away visually and played really well

out of the gate, that's job security right there. I mean, you guys made the right choice for a change, and you're coaching them up. Um. I just find it to me a little bit like, I know, so we tweeted out QB once we've got a stick with that now, I mean that's that's was on a social media operative. Like it's just let's be flexible and really here please. Yeah, I uh, I don't know about I don't know about

the Bears. And you're right to Clayburn, like the Broncos not taking fields and it's funny because they were there. They were far from the only team that could have maybe used the quarterback to pass on them. You know, the Panthers, Panthers, you know, the Dolphins, you know technically could have you know whatever, There could have been other

teams that have done it. But the Broncos are the one team because I think they have a a Super Bowl ready roster if they had like a great quarterback where you are going to be thinking like Wow, the hype would be out of control if they had Justin

Fields right now on that roster, but they don't. And yeah, it's it's what I'm always gonna come back to because as much as we launched Chicago for for taking Justin Fields, my thing is, if you think that he's gonna start for you right for the next ten to twelve years, uh, why wait till eleven? Yeah, I think it might be like, let's see how that Rams defense is looking week one. If it looks like it did a year ago, maybe Dalton can be the sacrificial lamb and we go week

to Justin Fields. He's got to look good in camp. To let's go to one guy who has been with the same in the same uniform, Raiders uniform his whole career. You know, they changed it up when they moved to Vegas a bit. Uh, and he says, uh, he doesn't ever want to play in a different uniform. Derek Carr went as far to say as uh, he thinks he would retire before he would play in a different uniform. That's loyalty. Do we do we care about this? I care.

Derek Carr is threatening to retire in the event that the Las Vegas Raiders trade him. That's what I'm hearing. Uh yeah, you can. You guys can float these constant trade discussions every single year, or I can just say right now, if you trade me, I quit. I will not play for any other team. I'm tired of this

constant discussion. I see it as mattering because I think he might do it like I think, I think he would shut it down, perhaps just out of sheer spite for this constant conversation that he's been a part of. I mean, we don't know if Derek Carr internally is the guy that's saying and telling people closest to him, I want to play till I'm forty, which you've heard from like eight other quarterbacks at this point. Is he

that guy? I mean it's a bit of a severe kind of like, um, you know these things don't work in relationships. Ultimatum. So if you're telling the Raiders like I'm your starter and if you feel displeased with my play, um,

I'm just gonna retire. It's like, okay, but I don't think he'd ever actually do that, because you're leaving a tremendous amount of potential money on the table unless you kind of are done with football at some point or this to me felt like a quarterback who's always playing from behind um with the fan base, a big chunk of the fan base with the media, Like I've been hard on Derek Carr, but like, honestly, he played pretty well last year in some tough situations. He's not always

you know, had the easiest environment. He he does what even if he if he performs beyond X actations, he's always sort of this person who's viewed is not good enough for John Gruden, not quite what the Raiders want because they're going after Tom Brady. You know, you're thinking they might go after someone like maybe they'd go after Aaron Rodgers. They try a trade for someone else, there's always another quarterback um lingering in the imaginative distance. And

Derek Carr never seems to make anyone happy enough. And he he said as part of these comments that people don't know how close he is with John Gruden off the field, which I thought I thought was interesting and maybe that relationship has gotten better and better. Um, he said, I'm a Raider for my entire life. I'm gonna root for one team for the rest of my life. It's the Raiders. I feel so strong in my I don't need a perfect situation to make things right. I'd rather

go down with the ship. It does feel like one of those things that happens um in sports. I guess probably more than most industries, but maybe others that like, you are loyal to your employer until you realize how uh disloyal they are to you. Because I just the Raiders aren't going to be loyal to Derek Carr the

second that his performance drops, So he I don't. I don't put too much stock into the retirement there, because Derek Carr can make a great living and play football for another decade, whether it's starting back up, whatever it's going to be in the long run. Um it is uh. It is fascinating though that they've had like this, this

run together. He does seem like one of those guys though, Um that like was really mad at Kevin Durant for leaving the Thunder You know, that's like very loyal, lloyal wants his players to be loyal to their teams even though they're not necessarily loyal to him. So he's not going to be like doing the Russell Wilson um, let's leak to the media things if he if he has a great season and like wants to get a bigger contract. His contracts coming up fairly soon, by the way, Derek Carr.

But as Mark said, he doesn't have the public capital to do that because people are always getting at him just for being Derek Carr. Like, he's been pretty good. But so I I at least including me, I'll say myself, I've never I never was totally a believer, and I think he's improved every year with Gruden. Uh and he is an asset now for sure. I think he's a top top twelve. Of course I think he is too.

But I mean, we're in a league where unless you have one of those top five guys, it's totally fair game to be looking around, to be thinking about we could draft someone, and he's just always someone you never how often do we think, like, hey, they have Derek Car, they're good for the next four or five years. No one thinks that he'll be supplanted. He'll be replaced by someone soon, right, Jimmy g got replaced. Maybe wouldn't have if he had stayed healthy, but he's kind of a

similar tier. Well, we'll see whoever the next quarterback is. Right when it's when it's Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady like okay, Like, yeah, I can't be too mad about that. Russell Wilson, Yeah, I also can't be too But once you get into like maybe below that tier, um, then then you start to get your feelings hurt. I do want to point out, though, if Derek Carr was a

free agent, I heard this discussion somewhere else. I forget like trying to guess what he would make, and you know it was it was somewhere in between that like unbelievable backup and like quality starter level, which is like twenty four is the bottom of that, and and I thought, that's crazy. I think Derek Carr would make over thirty million dollars a year because exactly her Cousins is the

is the perfect example. Kirk Cousins, when he actually was a free agent and any team could sign him, got got thirty million because there was a competitive services for him and I think Derek Carr would be as attractive or more um as Cousins was as a free agent. So you know, you don't have to retire Derek. You can you can keep playing. Let's uh, let's finish with one more sort of holdout. Jamal Adams was excused from

mandatory minicamp um, so it's not a holdout. But Pete Carroll did allude to the contract negotiation taking place between the two sides as being a factor and why he's not there, and he said, um that they've been making that they've been doing good work on Jamal Adams contract and that he thinks they're going to get there. I think this does matter because Carol saying that publicly was more important than Adams not being there. It basically said

that it's it's a matter of time. This thing is going to be signed before training camp starts, and Jamal Adams will very likely be the highest paid safety in the league, topping Justin Simmons Denver Mark. What do you think? I mean? I feel like it was all predestined when they gave up multiple first forum and kind of said he's the cherry on top of our our Super Bowl roster. That's how we see ourselves. I mean I love that

they're aggressive. You know why when that deal initially happened, I killed the Jets for one thing, not being able to hold on two star players. But looking and what they've done since, Um, where I was incorrect or where I should have been a little bit different in my view of that was that he wasn't going to stick around with the Jets. They got a ton of value for him, and they found a buyer who bought at

a high high value. I mean, it's like incredible what they what they now have to deal with because they have no choice but to pay Jamal Adams a huge amount of money. So why haven't Mini camp what he is some sort of a non contact injury that takes him out of the of the of the deal for six months. Just keep them in ice and bring him back because you're forced to pay him now. I don't like that for Seattle a whole lot. I like the player. Um, there's a lot of drama that comes with him, but

I just feel like they have zero leverage. They have no the the the opposite of leverage. Yeah, I also see it as not mattering. Um, I think Jamal Adams would play with an amputated foot. Um, I think him missing a few days of mini camp is it going to be a long term problem? And like Mark said, Mike, you've said correct, Um, when you make the trade, you've already made the investment. Uh, It's just it's just a

matter of time before you get pinned to paper. And so I just see this as um dotting dotting of eyes and crossing a tease. And it's not really gonna hurt Jamal Adams and his ability to play football. He's not going to forget right they they can find him, and they're not going to because he's excused. And then the fines in training camp really get aggressive. So skipping this week is is one of the only levers players have left to pull, like a Stefan Gilmore or Howard

or Adams. Uh, it gets harder to do when it comes to training camp. Dwayne Brown, by the way, they're left tackle, also said he wants a new contract um and he has one year left on his deal. He was at mini camps, so this really UM isn't a huge deal. But I wouldn't be surprised if they give him an extra year or two on his contract because he's still playing at a really high level, kind of on the Andrew Whitworth plan. Okay, that was fun. You know,

I think we settled it. We settled what matters. What doesn't. Clayburne's got like a news hit coming up in about ten minutes. Do you need to go Patrick, We're good, We're good. Okay, So we're gonna wrap up this this summary show, um with some book recommendations. You know, I threw one out out of the blue apparently last week, not understanding what this some our last segment was going to be in our Pride episode. But Mark thought that's would be this would be a fun way. It's summertime.

Maybe you have a little more time. You're going to the beach, that's a thing, and we're gonna throw out some some books. We like to wrap up the show and go on for a long weekend. At least for us. Clay Brown is gonna be grinding what you want to start? Mark, since this was here, either I can I can throw one out there. I sell it buying books, um, when it comes to reading them at this stage in life, that's not been enough and so successful there, but I got this book, um room to dream put in front

of the camera. There it is uh, David Lynch, the director and artist David Lynch. It's like an autobiography. But why I think it's amazing and I'm only about forty pages into it, is that he co wrote it with this um writer, Christine mc kenna, and she goes and writes, like, let's say there's twenty there's twenty chapters that go through his life. She did a ton of research, interviewed hundreds

of people. She'll write the chapter about David Lynch from age born to age seven, and then Lynch in the next chapter comes back and basically read not rewrites it, but he writes his version of it, um because invariably it's gonna be different than your research and who you talked to. It was just his p o V. So the whole book is going through his whole career that way. Um,

he's number one an awesome writer. She is too, but his the way he thinks, in the way he remembers um stuff Like then you go watch his films and it's like, this is one of the more unusual individuals out there and people don't know he did like Twin Peaks he did, Uh you know a bunch of stuff. I mean, he's he's also on Mulholland Drive, like memorable movie going experiences of my life is driving like spooky l A streets and uh like where I saw some of the scenes, like the Pink's Hot Dog stand was

right near the movie theater. I saw that and I was just like, oh my gosh. Yeah. So you know, I like to recommend a book that I've only also read thirty something pages of which you know had happened from here on out. But there you go. So you're just throwing out one. Oh I came up with two big of a list here. Oh, I just didn't want to know. That's good Clayton for later. But okay, clay Um, I don't have a substantial list. I probably could crank out a couple, um, but the uh, I've been really

big into historical materialism. Uh. This this past a few months, UM, starting with W E. B. Two Boys is Black Reconstruction in America, which takes a materialists look back at the circumstances leading up to the Civil War and and throughout the reconstruction era before it was it was violently put down uh and set us on the path that we are today. So that that was a that was a good book for me, got into it with a reading

group and it spawned other readings. Uh. So that led to a productive summer of learning, right, which is uh not summer, I guess spring. I don't know what days are anymore, and it's all kind of the same. And audio books are crucial for me, right because between the kids and everything, you can't you can't have your attention divided too much before, especially the larger one tries to destroy some object or himself or his little sister. So yeah,

the audiobook of Black Reconstruction was good. H. Then there's Black Jacobins. I guess there's a theme right, which chronicles the Haitian Revolution, uh by C. L. R. James. It was a great book as well if you're into write a view of history and circumstances and you want to have a better understanding past like these people were mad at that at those people, right, and you want to get into the economic circumstances. Uh. Those are two really

good books for me. Number First of all, Um Claibon had a the briefest stop at Dad's summit of anyone, and uh, I only bring this up because I feel I feel I don't know if it was your pain, but I empathize with your situation, Clayland, because I have been there. You came to the party, you were aggressive in hoping to um take care of a how old your daughter want? Yeah? Okay, so she's one and Malcolm is four, but he's he's such a substantial four, but

he is, he's a lot. And you yeah, and you realized, I don't know how long it was, but it wasn't long that Nope, not worth it. It might have been a half hour. It was I I did. I've done the exact same thing multiple multiple times. You got to pull the ripcord sometimes and that those I wouldn't even have, not not not a cent Like you, You're aggressive, even trying the baby part of it, like combining I I

would sometimes I leave with one minor older. Now and it is it does get easier, so that it does get easier that I think it doesn't get easy, but it gets easier. I think in situations like that, Uh, I should read more nonfiction. I don't know. I I don't read enough nonfiction. I like reading is really it was gonna critique you in the same way. Greg, I don't think you've been reading enough nonfiction and let's get

your act together, please. I almost only read fiction. It's like, I didn't really come to reading this aggressively until I was about thirty two, so it's never too late. But I really found it is the most relaxing, um thing I can do. Like it's the best thing I have for mental health. I have never had a religion, but I think it's the closest thing I have to a religion, where like it just chills me out, it gets and I think it's because it takes you out of your

own head. That at least for me, and it's nice to get. You know, the same thing with a great movie, but it takes you out of your own head. Goes into someone else who said, because we're football though, I'm gonna throw out a couple of football books. Um, it's been a while since I read these, but I just thought, uh, and I've probably done it before on this show, but I don't care. Bringing the Heat by Mark Bowden is

maybe my favorite season in the life book ever. The same guy wrote this book Black Hawk Down, which became a big movie, but before that, he wrote a season in life about the Randall Cunningham Jerome Brown Eagles, and it's so awesome. I've read it more than once. It really holds up and he really goes in and the

characters on the Eagles team are awesome. Similarly, uh, there's this book A Few Seconds of Panic by Stephan Fatzis where he was in the Broncos training camp in two thousand six, kind of doing this George Plimpton paper lion thing where he got to practice with the kickers all the time and eventually got to like, you know, kick during some inter squad scrimmage or something at practice. But it's there's so few books that have like a real

inside look at what a team is like now. And this is Jake Cutler's rookie year, so it's Jake Cutler versus Jake Plumber. There's Mike Shanahan being very Mike shanahany and like sort of dominating an entire organization. There's Brandon Marshall as a rookie. Javon Walker's there, and and it's a lot of time with the kickers and punters too, which is a fun world. And that is a really fun read. And then to go really old school and see like what the NFL was like the last season

of We View Bank by Paul Zimmerman. Who have who have brought up before Paul Zimmerman, But this is uh one of Joe Namath injured seasons in New York and he's you know, on the plane with them the whole time. And it's a great look at what the NFL was like back then and really well written. So there's some three football books for you. So there's some nonfiction. I like that. Yeah, and I do read. I do read fiction as well. I got the Zombie Survival Guide in Okay,

I didn't know is that nonfiction? What is that? I guess what is it? It's a go to prepare for for the eventual rise of living dead? Right, Okay, you did it? Bring up things you wouldn't have thought up you honestly, it was helpful for the pandemic, like food prep and storage wise. Uh, not as much, right, fending off people. But we did see that line of people at the gun store right right across the street from the network. Uh maybe they were taking it to heat,

but not me. You had another one, Mark. So the other one that I've been reading is this actor Klaus Kinsky. Why am I so bad at putting the book in the camera? Um? He it's called Kinsky uncut. He is an actor that died, you know, some decades ago, one of the craziest human beings UM around Warner Herzog, the director did. They did a documentary together based on the many films together called not My Best Friend but My Best Fiend because there were multiple times when Klaus Kinski

literally was planning to kill Warner Herzog on set. I mean, there's some incredible stories. Is German. He's a crazy man. But this this autobiography. I don't know why I'm stacking autobiographical reads, but UM, you know, you get like fifty sixty pages into it and you're like, if this is this actually this man's life. UM, I have never read any account of one's living this way ever ever before. Um.

He's a truly strange character. But there are whispers, um, and maybe more than whispers that a lot of the book is just made up, that he went and wrote a huge autobio her feet, but concocted like huge chunks of it um as total fiction. That said, you can tell that some of it is based in his real Um. Experience is in a completely different world than we've ever lived in. So if nothing else, it is a gripping read. You've suddenly read like thirty one pages and you have

no idea where the hours have gone. Yeah, it's like what's what's uh? Fiction? Non fiction? It blends together for real like stuff. Yeah, it doesn't matter. I like the like the more recent trend they call like auto fiction. It's like, yeah, just right about your life and make up a few things to make the story better and call it fiction and like that. People like like to read that. That's basically what fiction has been pretty often anyways.

All right, um, you don't you have to go Claibroon right, Yeah, I'm copying. Okay, so I'm gonna have to throw out two more just because when else are we gonna do this? Dan'll be back and he'll be like, no books allowed. Um all right, Uh, we'll say goodbye to you, Claibon. Um all right and see clon. And I just got throughout two two quick novels to um Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga to Court Chick, which is one of the great titles ever. Drive Your

Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. It's kind of like a murder mystery where you think possibly animals are killing the humans. It's not to give away too much, um, but it's it's deep yet a quick read. And the other one is called earth Lings by Sayaka Marada, which I think Mark would really like, which is really out there people that do not think they're from um this planet necessarily or they just feel a little out of step with what's going on um in Japan, and it

goes crazy from there. But it's a well I do think you have a bit of a special power in terms of recommending books to me that I like you. You have an incredible batting average, so um, I will write that down and it will be a book that I'll buy, and then three years from I probably should start reading this. But you know, it looks it just looks good in the back. I picked those two because they're both like not you know, not for you, but yeah, they're like two pages or less. I think they're both

relatively quick reads. Earthlings Yeah by Murata and Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by recent Nobel Prize winner Olga. But it's a fun But that one is like she even said was kind of her I need money while I'm writing this tone that took me eight years to right, and I'm going to take a break and write this murder mystery over the course of like six months. But it turned out to be like one of her best books, and it's like an amazing read.

That's how I feel about like NFL dot Com articles, like in theory, quietly working on something important in the background while punching these things out left and right, not even left and right at this point that the like, wait, what are you the important thing that you're working on? Then well, no, that's the part that's missing, unfortunately. But I'd like to think, you know, if you whenever you like have these, you'd like to think you're working on

something important. In fact, I've probably even told people that at various junctures. Is it true? Not at all? This podcast thing? This podcast is important? UM. I mean, if you've made it this far, um, you you in this deep in the off season, you gotta love this podcast or you really love reading. Who really knows. We will be back on Tuesday next week, um and uh, hopefully we'll have some good stories to tell and hopefully the NFL does not explode. In the next day or two.

As mini camps wrap up, the NFL all the players, coaches, GMS, front office. They are taking their only true time off of the year through about July four. Then some of the people start coming back. The players come back for training camp will be around uh next week and throughout the off season, but maybe not quite as much. All right, let's hit the music. There is until Tuesday. Um Mark Sessler was here, Patrick Cleaveland was here. We got help from producing justin keep a call