They Around the NFL podcast, great additional crew work.
Gregg, Welcome to another edition of Around the NFL. He is he's working his way up the ranks and people are noticing he's turning heads.
But is there a glass ceiling?
Yeah, it's been marginally impressive by Greg his second career of.
His Dan Hands is here with you heard Mark Sessler and yes, Greg Rosenthal. That's in reference, of course, to the Flashpoint Focus series, which you know, here's the thing about the Flashpoint Focus series. You don't just pencil on an episode date where it's like this is the next episode. It's when it when it kind of comes into focus.
Huh.
And I just have a feeling there's something, there's something in the air that there could be one coming up soon. That's that's all. That's all I can say. Does anybody else have that feeling?
So?
Is this a flashpoint Focus? About a flashpoint Focus?
Sounds about right? How's everybody doing?
I great job holding it down with the great Patrick Claibhon On Tuesday, is the combine kicked off? I spent some good time with my parents who are visiting in town, and now I am locked in as well. The underwear Olympics roll on or getting going in Indianapolis, and we'll continue to comb the desert there and find some news coming out of Indy and the Lucas Oil Stadium. But we're also going to dig into some free agency and
team transaction talk, Reggie. In fact, we're going to try to put together some realistic trades a little bit later with the great roto Pat Pat Dherty.
I'm looking forward to my time of year. Well.
As we finished taping this, the on field drills kind of start at the combine and we'll wrap all those up on Monday and time about them next week. But it's almost like I enjoy this part. It's good, good to learn about all the prospects. It's like, get it out of the way, and then the real the fun starts for a couple of weeks and then we chill for like months.
Your thoughts about.
I was just reflecting back on the flashpoint focus updatedly provided and I am with you that it feels inevitable that there's some sort of tipping point coming, but it is mysterious at this point. I can I just can sense it like an Ariage original in the skies coming closer to to our city.
And there it is a fun it's kind of a funky time of the NFL calendar, I find because you do have this big event, this ten pole event of the Combine, and you have all the or many or most of the gms and coaches there and they're talking. So it makes you feel like this is a very you know, big time of year news wise, but you know it's still there as you guys definitely handled on Tuesday. There's a lot of food ezy stuff out there right now.
The real meat and potatoes of the news is coming up as the free agency kicks off in ernest I believe next week a couple weeks, two weeks, and of course then the draft starts getting closer. So we're gonna get you up to date on everything that's going on. And do you want to start where we usually start, which is the latest news.
Please let's do it.
Playing press on the outside, the homes will throw it in the pocket.
He's launching one long.
Mark quest for the scanty catches the call at the raven thirty on his backside, shades of the catch he had against Cincinnati in the end zone last year of the AFC Championship Game.
There's the call of course, some Mitch Holtis and the AFC Title Game. Marquez Velde Scantling one of the more frustrating wide receivers in the league, a guy that has always gotten open, has always had premium quarterback talent around him, but has never really broken through, but has made big plays. As you just heard, there was one of them, also
scored in the touch and the Super Bowl. The recent Chiefs went over the Niners, but now it looks like MBS will be once again looking for a new team because the Kansas City Chiefs are releasing the wide receiver who was headed into the final season of his three year deal. It gives the Chiefs much needed cap help. It provides twelve million in cap savings per over the cap.
So on the week where we learned that the Chiefs were going to tag Lugarius Snead and be open to a trade of him, and they are obviously all in, it seems I'm trying to get Chris Jones signed to a long term deal. This is some house cleaning that is much necessary. And also love him or hate him, or who loved them, but MBS did serve a role in at a paired down offensive attack down the stretch for the Chiefs, and now they have to find a replacement for him.
So the Chiefs have a lot of work to do well.
I think they're going to spend money and or draft picks receiver. We're talking trades later, and to me, they're a candidate for a wide receiver trade if any team out there is. So they're clearing money to do it.
And yet I'm not.
Sure if they win back to back Super Bowls without mvs or without some MBS like character. And there is something funny and I identify it with a little bit as a Patriots fan. If if a bad move that you made results in a couple big time postseason plays that leads to your championship, it all feels worth it.
He MBS had a monster AFC championship game a year ago, a huge one hundred and sixteen yards, and then in the playoffs and the AFC playoffs he had like the biggest catches in each of the divisional rounding the conference championship. So if you're a Chiefs fan, it's like, okay, that kind of was a waste of money, but we wouldn't won a super Bowl without it. It reminds me of when the Patriots drafted Sony Michelle over Lamar Jackson.
I still a little.
Salty about that, but uh, you know, they did get a title out of it, I guess in twenty eighteen.
I mean, Dan, you're right to call him a he was a frustrating overall experience. But it's like he was until he wasn't, and like the whole offense was a tough watch and then suddenly MBS made absolutely monster plays down the short I think you're right, greg Le. They don't reach the super Bowl or win it without a couple of those plays, but they are a strong candidate to reimagine the entire wide out room.
And I'm with you that.
I think when you think about a team that would be prepared to make a trade for a veteran wide out who you can plug in right away, you know what you're getting because they're sitting down number thirty two in the draft. I mean, there's a lot of good wide receivers, but you're not gonna get one of the premier guys necessarily there. It's like they just feel like a trade candidate big time.
To me, they're just so interesting because I said this last week that for a team that's coming off a Super Bowl, they have big decisions to make, and they could go in two very different directions. They could build around Mahomes and try to become a five hundred point team again and get back to the glory days there. Or they could dig in around Jones and Snead and keep that defense with spags intact and find a way
on offense. And maybe what this is is there trying to thread the needle here, because if they do look to trade sneed and obviously develop a new cornerback through the draft or a cheaper signing or someone already on the roster, then you can keep Chris Jones. He's the heart and soul that defense. You have the coordinator, you find a way, and then you go and attack that offense.
And it's a scary thought for the rest of the league because the Chiefs, I still think won the Super Bowl this year as a compromised team that still found away, and they could they could be the rare Super Bowl team where they get a lot better in the offseason and it's actually real, not like fake better, real better.
I think that's how they'll spend their money.
You mentioned sneed getting tagged, which we had breaking news right at the end of our show, Dan, but we didn't have the information that they give them permission to seek a trade right away, which the fact that that came with the news indicates to me he's very likely on the move if they get a good offer, and I don't see why they wouldn't get a good offer for a second team all pro like entering his prime.
He'll have a great market.
He is a decorated cover corner, a versatile guy, just came off a Super Bowl.
So the Chiefs.
I think the Chiefs are set up potentially for a monster offseason. We'll see what happens. In other news, the Bengals they're looking to get back to the realm of the AFC elite, and it's looking increasingly apparent that they think t Higgins being on the team is necessary toward that goal. The Inquirer Cincinnati in acquirer Charlie Goldsmith reported the Bengals have quote no plans to trade T Higgins.
That kind of echoes what Duke Tobin, their director player personnel, said that they plan to keep Higgins on the roster. So T Higgins, who is a perfect compliment obviously to Jamar Chase. And it looks like Tyler Boyd is going to reach free agency. But if you have those two guys as your dogs with Joe Burrow, as long as you could protect the quarterback, they're gonna score a lot of points.
This felt like a completely necessary move, and we touched on it a little on our last episode, but the news did firm up about what might happens. It might happen with a tag to t Higgins, like would they tag and trade them? Like with a sneeze like, and that's just not gonna happen. I just cannot imagine a world where you take take weapons away from Joe Burrow when you're already gonna lose potentially Tyler Boyd as well.
It's like this is your window, Like, just don't don't make false mistakes here and strip them away of a totally promising they have two number one wide receivers.
That's how you get back to the d AFC title game.
It's it's I don't know if it's bold and I like it. It's not surprising because it's just a Bengalsy thing to do. They let Jason Jesse Bates play out the last year. They like, well, we're gonna get one more good year out of Baits. You know, they almost won the Super Bowl. We're gonna get one more year out of te Higgins. We'll not worry about what we get cause I unlike I've seen some analysts out there say, like the wide receiver market, I don't know if it's
gonna be as strong. You have to give them the huge contract. It's like, no, I think t Higgins. They could get like a late first round pick fort Higgins, And I don't hate that they're not going to do it. You only have so many years where you're gonna have two great wide receivers like that, and I would not expect them to be back on the team. And they've done this before. They did it with Baits. They actually did it with aj Green during the COVID year, which
was a bad decision. They just had him stay one more year and he suddenly turned really old in that season. They've done it in the past, and it's fine, go do it right now while everyone's.
Around in other news. You know what, I get it. I've said on this podcast.
I get it.
My favorite team is kind of a source of fail Sun entertainment for everyone else, and I get it, and they're delivering. I feel like a lot of good content lately, and this year should be interesting. New York Jets had a wide receiver named Mikole Hardman, who's formerly of the Chiefs, that they brought in in the offseason, who was supposed to be a good compliment and add an element of big play, a big play element to their offense. It
never happened. He barely was seeing the field and eventually he was traded back to the Chiefs, where yes, he had the walk off touchdown in the Super Bowl.
Isn't that funny? Isn't that so cool?
Anyway, he also almost lost them, you know, ended their season before he did that with his terrible play.
He's he's a dummy.
But let's let's let's focus on the news that came out this week that Nicole Hardman, and this is according some reporting from Connor Hughes, that Hardman, frustrated by his lack of usage with the Jets, leaked game plans to the opposition. It was employed implied by several players on
social media, amongst them Sauce Gardner. He he leaked game plan details to the Eagles and also the Chiefs, ironically games in which the Jets have their high point of their season of victory over the Eagles when we were in London, as you may recall, gentlemen, and then a Sunday night game with the Chiefs that went down to
the final minutes that they lost. And also a commentary that Mikole Hardman made at some point before his trade saying that he had been in contact with both both Patrick Mahomes and Brett visch Veach the GM come get me, so the Jets are potentially report out there investigating tampering. So and I mean, at the end of the day, just a really good move to bring m Cool Hardman into the organization.
It worked, It worked almost perfectly.
I mean, it's It is kind of a reminder though that some of these off season ball stream of rosters and moves that get treated with a lot of you know, grandeur, Because it was like Robert Sola that you know, last offseason was gushing about me col Hardman and his speed and called him like gas I think, and just like it seemed like it all was gonna work and it
couldn't have gone worse. But my thing is like if they if this can be proven that he that he's sharing game plans and I'm not saying that, like unleashing the Jets game plan to the opponent was a lot of top secret stuff to begin with. When you have Nate hackettren no offense. But I just want to that's suspension territory. How do you how does.
How is that different? To your point? Like, how is that?
You know, we're very we come down very hard on gamblings as our league makes millions upon millions of dollars off it, and the idea it's all about the integrity of the game. If they they're digging through players' phones and emails and things to find out evidence of that, if they have evidence on his phone or wherever else that he was leaking the game plan of his own team, first of all, he should be out of the league forever. Why would anyone want that guy on their team? And secondly,
why wouldn't the league come down hard? I agree one hundred percent with you. I was the first thought I had.
Yeah, yeah, I don't know, I just based on the reporting. I don't know if there is like a smoking gun, it might be one of those things that got kind of talked talked around by the other players. He is certainly not a popular man, uh in the Jets locker room. I'm sure the way it all ended, and he didn't like this partly came about because he went on a podcast I think it was Ryan Clark's poadcast, and yeah, he said how he was completely checked out of the Jets.
Admitted that he refused to return punts for them one game because he felt like he had been lied to about having the punt return job or whatever and then was just like not giving any effort whatsoever. He admitted it, like in the middle of his s career, which is, you know, not something you probably want to put out there because I don't know if the Chiefs are that interested in keeping them either. I mean, it was a
nice He'll always have his moment. I mean it's he's not quite Malcolm Butler, but he'll always be part of like history.
But that might be about it for his career.
And this is going to sound like, you know, sour down with the Jets, but I just think he and if you watch Hard Knocks, and I talked about it with Collien at the time, if you feel you must go check the tape that he was one of the only people that didn't come off well on hard Knocks. He walked around with aviators indoors and kind of carried himself in a different way than everyone else in all the you know, the player bonding activities. It was just like,
what's hardman all about? So seems to be a premium knucklehead. But congratulations on that suit bowl and all the glory that came with it.
All right.
Oh, Also, Zach Wilson has been given permission to seek a trade.
Good luck.
I saw a report out there connecting him to Sean McVay and the Rams.
Okay, we'll see put a pin in that.
I actually have seven different Zach Wilson trade proposals coming up better part two of the show.
I actually do have a Zach Wilson one. It's one of about sixty that I concocted thom.
And I know it drives you guys and some listeners crazy that I believe that Sam Darnold is an NFL player that could be successful in this league. You will not hear me saying about that about Zach Wilson. That that was that always had a funky smell to it and I don't believe he has a future in the league. Finally, let's spin through a couple of things real quick. Uh, Jane Smith, the well traveled tight end. He has been
released by the Falcons, so he was cut. Gino is locked in after a con Geno Smith locked in after a contract restructure. Those two items are out there. I thought, you know, Smith was actually pretty good last year.
John who yet? I mean, he was like the guy that was on top of.
Did you do the thing where it's like you're saying the first name long so you're gonna correct it before you go into your point.
Thank you. I appreciate it, Thank you. So I don't know what's the best John?
Oh, yeah, he had a pretty good year, you.
Know, former Patriot great John new Smith. Look, he was the guy who was always at the top of your free agent waiver wire if you play fantasy and you're like, hmmm, he does have like five hundred yards this season.
And fifty catches. Should I pick up China Smith? But you don't want to.
Get the the ultimate like the week where he goes one for eight, which is probably what's gonna happen next.
He just put him in Pittsburgh. He can follow with Arthur Smith.
But it was interesting at the combine that the Seahawks essentially said I think they were a little misleading the way they said. They were like, oh yeah, Gino was always coming back, like it was just a question a timing.
I think they went through the process they decided he is.
Coming back, But the way they move the money around in his contract, he is locked in now as a Seahawk, so he's not going anywhere. Think it'll be Gino in some rookie to be named later. And finally in the news, Warner.
Goes under Stuffy's gonna go back in the shotgun first and goal with the two side Cardos left, Steelers show blitch. He throws the pass up. It's gonna be tech top Saint Harrison nat He's running up the timeline twenty five, thirty thirty five, forty still on a street. At the forty five head down, probably still on a street here, cuts pass is stuffing on the people. Put at twenty to fifteen. The cant the fat the touchdown shirt.
An amazing way, an amazing play.
I still think the most amazing play in NFL Super Bowl history, at least in a not end of game scenario w DVE. That is Bill Hillgrove with the call of James Harrison's pick six of Kurt Warner of the Cardinals in Super Bowl fifty three, took it back one hundred yards and they needed every one of those points because the Steelers were actually down in the final minutes. Warner was playing out of his mind with Larry Fitzgerald and then Big Ben to Santonio Holmes in the back
of the end zone. Another classic Hillgrove call, and the venerable play by play man is stepping down the teammate the announcement on Thursday that the eighty four year old is out retiring as the play voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers after three decades on the job. He took over in nineteen ninety four from Jack Fleming and now it is Hillgrove stepping aside. And people that listen to this podcast know we have a quite an affinity for local play by playmen and how they serve as the voice
of the fans. And it is, you know, a passing of the torch moment for Steelers fans because there's been a lot of big time moments in the last thirty years.
Yeah, I think like you.
The special thing about radio is that most of your memories, obviously, you're creating these images in your mind while you're like driving around, Like I don't even I'm not a big baseball fan, but I kind of love driving around listening to like a Dodgers game once in a while.
It just creates this texture.
His his name, his voice has been in our lives as long as we've been fans for the most part. And I think the way you judge these guys is in the biggest moments, like do they nail that call? And like, that's a great example of how precise and entertaining and andverbally talented he was.
He's a man.
It actually was making me think like they might be the most beloved positions in the media.
Like columnists.
Everyone turns on columnists if they ever like them to begin with, Like they get mixed reactions. National broadcasters, they'll have their fans, but they get a ton of hate.
Yeah, even podcasts. You stick along around long enough, people start turning on you too. But the local legend radio host is like beloved are our friend?
J B.
Long's gonna be that guy.
Someday people are gonna listened to that that Collie made when they won the Super Bowl Forever Great?
Do you think that at this point, at this stage and there is online evidence that this is possibly the case that the listeners are starting to turn on us to their ain degrees?
Well, I mean we've probably never all of us haven't been equally beloved the whole time, But yeah, I would think there's some there's some there's some haters out there.
But the good thing the podcasts is just like stop listening, you know, so that part I don't you do have that power? Take a walk loser?
Yeah.
If I write a podcast memoir in a few years, it would be uh, die hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain? I feel like that is forward by Sir Anthony Hopkins. It's got a nice rink.
To it, and you're absolutely right.
Mark Me and a couple of friends who actually were and this is like a sad Patriots fan thing to do. At this point, we're texting the Gil Santos call of Adam Vinteri winning the first Super Bowl with him, which he absolutely nailed, just the way the octaves in his voice goes up like sticks with me forever and gives me chills. I only played it because Walker wanted to
listen to it, and he absolutely nailed that call. And like Gil Santos, rest in peace will be a legend forever in New England for that.
Yes, Walker was told, if you want my love and a new baseball bat for the season, you will listen to this call.
No, he asked about it. He asked about it.
He's like, Daddy, tell me when they weren't embarrassing f minuses on the NFLPA report or whatever.
That's right, let's talk about that in a second.
But I know you guys mentioned Peter King, but Peter King retiring after you know, decades and decades is the you know, kind of the voice of the league as a columnist.
Hill Grove moving on, it's you.
Know, we've been doing this long enough now where you know, we've been covering the football for it feels like a mini generation of the league's history and now everything changes, you know what, somebody's gonna come for us one day too, So let's just enjoy it while we have it.
You know.
Yeah, they did put out the grades.
That's one more item the n f L P A kind of like this move and by the way what I was saying at the top of the show. This is a perfect example the the machine wants you to think this is a massive week or two on the calendar right now, but like in reality, it's a lot of flotsam and jetsam. So that's when the Union says, this is where we'll drop in our grades of coaches, facilities and the survey of their players. And three head coaches got A plus grades when the when their players
were surveyed. Andy Reid, well you knew it would be read. Can you guess who the other tour if you didn't see.
This, I did a plus. I think I handle a plus.
Uh, Kevin O'Connell and Dan Campbell the only three coaches that get an A plus.
Now Reid might have gotten an A plus.
However, the Chiefs, and this is the case I believe last year as well, didn't fare so well in other voting. Their facilities were I think at the bottom of the list and GM Brett Veach did not get graded well at all either, which you know they're back to back champion. So take that with a grain of salt, or see it as a la ravio magnifico of the entire experience anything else that kind of jumped out from the union list here well, that.
The timing of the vote mattered, because they pointed out that Nick Sirianni received an A.
But these holes.
Were done in November before they went off at the side of a cliff, So I wonder what even a six week difference would have made for some of these marks.
I think it was mostly about like communication and following through on your word. So the veach thing, maybe he
doesn't have a great like interpersonal skills. But the ownership stuff, Clark Hunt going thirty first out of thirty two owners because they feel like he's been selling them a bill of goods about their cheap facility, which kind of is fairly well known as one of the most rundown old facilities, and that basically he's repeated promised to fix it and then they were like, ah, you guys keep going on these long playoff runs. We didn't have time to fix it.
It is a little interesting. It hasn't worked like they they banged into what.
It actually says, Gregor you just protect might say, what until your playoff run was too long? We didn't have time this year.
No, that was they That was like one of the things that apparently he said he said to them after last season or something. It did work though, Like remember last year that like the floors who were on even in Arizona or Cincinnati, and a bunch of stuff were too, Like those teams were so embarrassed. And Tampa was another one that they did kind of like fix this relatively small scale stuff like the Cardinals, Uh no longer, you know, charge money.
For people to eat there. So I would like this.
If we had this at our work, we could we could have little you know, you know, try to improve what you can improve. I bet they're going to fix those facilities in Kansas City. I bet he doesn't like it. On ESPN, this is like a lead story that Clark Hunt's one of the worst owners in sports.
Well he calls a total firestorm for the Cardinals a year ago. You're right, And like the one that I kept seeing people going nuts about was that the Chargers and we and I I think it's you get the feeling that the Chargers cut some corners here and there in general, but they charged their players for game day daycare for their children. It's seventy five dollars for the
first child. And fifty for each additional child. Now, look at I don't I don't know what the other teams are doing on that front, but this like became a fiery talking point on Twitter yesterday.
Yeah, the Bucks like as another example and why this is a really smart idea by the union even if it probably ruffles some feathers in terms of relationship between the two sides. The Bucks felt compelled to release an organizational statement after they got slammed for having an unclean and smelly locker.
Anyway, Yeah, that's good.
It's like, what if we were just like, can we get those we get some red apples in the in the little.
Jar outside of mess because they're flavorless.
The green ones, I like the tank green.
And by the way, for people, younger people out there when they have those town halls for your job and like, you know, one of the people on the show needs to kind of ball inline on this too. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you can speak your mind because certain members of management will use it against you if you try to embarrass them.
You know, we've seen we've seen multiple and I know you're talking about me, and I take that note.
I accept it.
We have see shadowy, leak, figure trap move, never stand up.
We've seen multiple former NFL employees contribute to their status as former NFL media employees by stepping up in those big spots.
Yes, yes, yes, Mark, I have learned to say nothing except in then I do say something and then I wish I didn't.
That's how it typically works. Mm hmm.
And that's uh what's happening in the news. Let's take a break, and when we get back, we will welcome in the great Rhodopat Welcome back. Our next guest is a favorite, a personal favorite. Mark loves him. Greg hot and cold. He is one of the great NFL writers.
He'll be a break the sports. He is a Jeff Fisher scholar.
And if you have any questions about Joe Flacco talking Roger Federer's poise, you know where to go roto Pat Patrick Dharty.
Welcome back to around the NFL.
Pointing out all my truly terrible Twitter memes that I keep on my account for like seven years at a time should probably change my Joe clock o'broncos heater, especially since he's good again. He's the comeback player of the year. He's so good that everyone pointed out it was better than literally coming back to life.
Does anyone remember Joe flaccol on the Broncos at this point? I certainly don't.
Roger Federer does.
Greg? Do you want to hash out the beef there with Rhoda Pat Well?
There was there was no beef.
Although I'm not even actually sure if I did hire Rhodopap, but I remember I was a big supporter of him. Back you were at road a world while we were laying brick by brick. I shouldn't take credit for for you. If Evan hired, he probably did, so.
You can't claim credit it was Evan. He actually Evan stole me in the night from the baseball side of the site too. They were I was going to do like a baseball test shift, and he immediately got me installed in a football test shift.
This is not a joke.
I did both sports about eighteen months, and the one day one of our other bosses, Greg Brett Randomark has called me, it's like Evan said, you're not doing baseball anymore.
All right.
I've thought about that often, and I know we would get to the trades. The first six months at Road to where I loved baseball. Baseball was, you know, my favorite sport at the time, and I wrote the baseball magazine. I worked in both baseball and football, and I often think like, if I had just not been assigned to cover football, how much worse my life would be, wouldn't he here.
Great sliding doors moments.
We were like OKI's in the thirties and as many opportunities. I'm just saying, the NFL has been very, very good to me.
Yeah, we were like OKI's in the thirties and forties. Just get all the way to California. Don't stop on the way there, skip over baseball and skip to football. That's for the almighty American dollars.
I have always wondered Pat like, if you suddenly switched gears, developed a new interest, became like a tax account or something, you'd have to rebrand your entire handless. The roado part of it wouldn't make no sense at that point, but.
The wardrobe would be ready to go.
I think, right now, what do you gona think of my tasteful wardrobe? You guys have the really tasteful backdrops. I have the tasteful wardrobe.
I need to work on my backdrops, but they used to BEFO before Musk came along. They used to hold it above your head like like an anvil. Do not change your handle or you lose your your verified check mark. And now we all lost our verified check mark. So I think he could change the handle.
Keep now.
Some people will be confused that followers of Pat will be confused if all of a sudden he's talking about advanced accounting around tax season after fifteen years of talking to baseball and football.
But you know they'll figure it out. He'll keep something, he'll loose some.
I have so much podcasting experience too, I'm sure I could be asked being an account and like I just don't cheat on your taxes. You should be pretty good. Even if you cheat a little bit, you're probably all right.
All right, tax podcast would very much weight, But you know what it's once you have you define what your audience is and then you just go for it. And I think Pat would have a chance. Here we are we're going to talk about Yes, while the combine is kicking off, we're going to really be digging into the draft side of things once those activities have ceased in Indianapolis.
But for now, we're going to keep our eyes on what's current, the players currently on rosters, with free agency a couple of weeks away, and players under contract, and teams trying to figure out how financially they want to attack, so trades could happen.
In fact, I believe it was around this time last year, or maybe the year before the Russell Wilson trade went down as an example, two years ago now, and so we could get a big one as teams set up for free agency.
So why not let's throw out some trades. Let's try to keep them in the realm of reality, things that could make sense. Now.
I know we said before we started that Rotopad has a hammer drop to end all hammer drops as we build it up to a level of expectations that cannot possibly meet.
But that's how we'll end. But we're also going to start with our guest Patrick, get us going with the trade.
First, of you're right, you're actually kind of late on a big trade where you know, the new league year when it begins March thirteenth. That has never stopped people from announcing trades in like January eighteenth, like Matthew Stafford to the Rams, like kind of wondering why the rules even in place at all when that kind of stuff can happen. But I'll start you're promising a hammer drop, I'll start as normy as possible, Okay, and I just the normy trade I want to happen is justin fields
to the Atlanta Falcons repair of second round picks. Some people will say he won't fetch that much. I call two second rounders kind of like the gentleman's first rounder, where you can't be seen like valuing him at a first round level. And I feel like, like like toxic fan purposes. He's not worth the first rounder, but he could be worth two second rounders. It's not an all in move. It won't like cripple the franchise. You don't
have to make an all in move. In the NFC South, it's a similar roster to the Bears, where it's made to have a high octane rushing attack. It's got a solid defense. He's proven despite his passing limitations, he can at least like strike up one of those like amazing like alpha wide receiver connections as you did last year with Dj Moore. And I just think it's a good It's more than a whole serve move. But it's like the Falcons finally trying to like actually get serious about
quarterback without having to make like some totally fan. Maybe it turns into a franchise altering move, but it's not like Deshaun Watson, where like totally alters the franchise with three first rounders going. And I just think, I think of all the Justin Field's potential destinations, I wanted to be the folk.
I think that's a good way to get going here because I'm sure you're not the only one that has a fields trade, So why don't we, uh will talk about that one. And if anyone wants to add a fields mark, go ahead.
What do you ask?
Well, I was I was gonna say I did a couple Justin Field snails. But Falcons, It's like cool, it's the missing piece. It's what they were so frustrating if they were for years in a row. It's just like, put a quarterback here and we got a lot going on. And I had the same thing as you. I had fields though for a second. And on this show, we have our guys dudes that we you know, really just sort of have a bit of a fetish with earlier
in their careers. They can't be stars, And like Tyler Lgier was my dude two years ago, and I kind of think it would help if they sent Tyler L.
Geer in a second back to the Bears.
It frees him up for a big career in Chicago and it gets it kind of unclogs the whole Bejon Robinson thing too. So I think the Falcons just seem to be using the wrong players at different times this season ago.
So he's a weird trade evaluation because you're saying two seconds, so that would have to be I think it's the forty third pick of the draft, and then I guess next year's second. We're trying to be specific here. I mean you could even get NBA like and trade a twenty twenty six second once I think we get to the draft and make the second.
The second second can maybe be a conditional third, like it can turn into a third or something like that.
Sure, they do have an extra third round pick this year that if they wanted to do that. His contract makes him more tradeable, more valuable. He's getting paid nothing this year and then he's on a fifth year option next year, which for a starting quarterback is essentially nothing. I mean, it's gonna be like twenty million dollars, but that's a bargain if you actually are a team that's
going to want to pay it. Whereas this year, I think you're literally paying him like five million bucks something crazy a base salary, one point six million, one point six million dollar broster bonus. You're paying him what like Sam Darnold made in San Francisco last year, what a like a backup is going to make, or less than a decent backup. That's why I think he might have
a better market than people think. I'm not sending him to Atlanta, though, I think they're on a weird timeline because Terry Fontineau is like he's been around for a while their GM, but the coach is new. I think they they might rather just go with like a young play a franchise, you know, draft pick, which Arthur Blank seems to be all over. So that's why I'm sending
him to the Raiders for the forty fourth pick. And the Bears did like getting a veteran back, so they're going to get back Tyree Wilson, who had one of the worst seasons out of a top ten pick that we've seen in a long time. Last year, but he was a top ten pick, so it's like, Okay, give us someone we can play with a little bit that has some talent. What was a year ago forty fourth pick overall and Tyree Wilson to the Raiders. I think they're the most likely team that would actually do this.
But I think that that's a good one.
Go ahead, Pat.
I love the idea, And if it's the Falcons, I love the idea of including al Jier because he's like a loaded gun laying around like he's gonna go off if he's on the roster, like they like coaches cannot quit him and like they let him being good be the enemy of Bijon being great, and he's just he's just got to get off the roster then.
Use it's not fair to Algier to call him a progress stopper, to use a parcelsism, because he's actually a young talented player, but he is in terms of letting Bijon be the guy what he wants to be, and that's a two thousand yard rusher. You got to give him the ball, got to give him the rock. So I like all these are all places that make sense
for fields. I also have a fields trade, but I have to tell you, in terms of BS detectors, there has been very few storylines that have popped up post Super Bowl in the last few years that smelled as funky as the Steelers saying they were good with their quarterback room. It actually brings to mind my first year and mark your first year at NFL Media when we were doing write ups with Mike Shanahan, not Kyle Mike Shanahan stating that he would stake his reputation on Rex
Grossman and John Beck that quarterback room. That's how it feels in Pittsburgh right now. So I think about Mike Tomlin, like, what have they been missing since Ben got old? I mean, just a true two way threat quarterback who can make plays, who could avoid the rush. And I think fields to
the Steelers makes a lot of sense. And I'm going to send the twenty twenty four second round pick fifty one overall, a twenty twenty four fourth round pick, and a twenty twenty five conditional third that becomes a second. It feels it's certain performance and durability escalators get it done.
Do not?
I smell the BS? So stop trying to stop trying to serve it Steelers.
Not trying to dominate the talking but amazing stylistic bit in Pittsburgh. And you make it a great point with the Steelers. And like the BS detector and the quarterbacks, I loved al Raheem Morris in Atlanta was just like, you know, he didn't do that at all, Just like I literally wouldn't even be here the quarterback was in any way, I would still be in LA Like let's just be real too. And so there was some admirable honesty.
With these guys that are that are actually still in a roster that the Steelers would have to go against what they've been for a long time.
And there's some indications that it's time Greg, it's time maybe mix things up in Pittsburgh.
And there's some indication that they are and that they will. It is a different general manager Omar Khan, than Bit, than Kevin Colbert who was there for a couple of decades. But I don't know, three three picks might get it done. I think there's gonna be a bigger market. I think it might be something close to that sort of trade. Then people realize that the trick is like I almost know the Raiders would be in on this, but maybe
the Falcons. There's actually not that many teams that are logical like destinations for for justin Fields, because most most of the most logical ones have picks in the top three. The Patriots, Commanders and Bears had.
Yeah, but we just named three teams that make sense.
The Giants are out there, They've been connected to Fields at least in time in terms of shatter.
I mean, that's four right there. I mean that's I think he's going to have a market.
And like you said, like the difference between him and say Sam Darnold when he the Panthers gave up a pretty good bounty, like Fields has actually shown something like he's shown he has a potential high level play in him.
That in the contract is a real great sweet spot. That's almost perfect. It's not too long in the future, it's two years at a very low rate.
Like that that helps.
All right, let's move, We'll stick with the Raiders. I'll throw them out here. That another thing that I don't quite buy now, I do buy that with all of the bravado and excitement around the Raiders with Antonio Pierce, that they want to win now. And maybe you're right, Maybe they go and they hunt and get a quarterback that they could believe they could be a playoff team with.
But I still the DeVante Adams thing. I'm still I'm not there.
I'm not there believing that he is definitely on that team given his age and where they are as a team. And I've always thought that the Jets were going to make up big play for him. You know, Rogers wants to make a big play. You know, Rogers is calling the shots for the Jets at this point. So if the Jets picked up the phone and called up the Raiders, what would it take. So I'm saying, tell me if
this is crazier, this kind of makes sense. The Raiders would give up their first round pick, the thirteenth overall pick. The Jets give them back their first round pick, which is a tenth overall pick, so the Raiders move into the top ten. The Jets also give him a second round pick in twenty twenty five, which, given the state of the Jets roster and the boomer bust nature, could be a pick in the low thirties potentially, you know,
in the thirties. Would that be enough to get Adams and his big contract out of Vegas.
No, I think so, I'm with you. I think the Raiders, especially under Josh McDaniel's Devanta Adams would have been history very quick. But new coaching staff, he likes the coach. I could see Pierce not wanting to move a player like that this offseason. But I just feel like if they get if someone calls, I think they'd be listening to this. I cooked up one, and maybe this is too high of a price for the Colts to give up.
But I thought that the Colts, who are also in like let's surround our young quarterback with weapons now, would be willing to give for a DeVante Adams in his prime the fifteenth overall pick and what I love about it for the Raiders, that may be a little rich, But in this world, the Raiders, who need a lot of pieces could turn around and redo their wide out room and have more as well because they had have the thirteenth pick and the fifteenth pick. But maybe that's
a little expensive for DeVante Adams. I don't think it would have been a year or two ago.
I've got a non official DeVante Adams one. By the way, he was like it really was as good as gone as any player has ever been when it was josh Y Dan where he would basically go up to the Monday night football camera like right and sharpie like I want to be traded, and then that didn't happen. I think Pierce like loves him a little too much.
My Antonio.
I was in Vegas, Antonio Pierce walked by me and the lobby like his dog levels just like walking in a lobby were so off the charts. I feel like he's not going to trade a dog levels guy like Davante Adams. But this isn't one of my official three. I want DeVante Adams to the Bills. I think the first rounder is too rich for Demonte at this point, I think I'm going back to my gentleman's first rounder two two's from the all in Bills for Devontae. I
don't know, he's two redundant to Stefan Diggs. Their salary cap situation is probably too messed up too. But Stefan and Demonte can both do everything on the football field. They're so all in that I really want devont Adams on the Bills instead of the Jets. Plus two story line up I'm playing Rogers twice.
Put a pin in that I could see. You know, you bring in Adams and then you get rid of Digs or whatever. But I don't think that's too much. They sent a first in a second round pick for him just two years ago. I don't understand. I don't think there's much of a chance DeVante Adams get traded. Why would they trade one of their best players. They're also not going to get any real like cap releaf out of it. In the short term. They get like
a very mind and they don't need cap relief. They need to be fill in that stadium and win some games. I guess I don't get why.
The answer to that, too, Greg, is that, at least in how the league typically works, big ticket guy for a team that's kind of rebuilding, reloading, that was a different regime brought him in.
There's always that chance.
Now have we heard Adams on records say he definitely wants to stay with Las Vega, Because if I'm Adams, I'm like, I got how many big time.
Years do I have left? One or two? And I don't know who my quarterback here is.
Like, I just think there's as much as the raiders want to put it out there, and I think the GM said he's a Raider a couple of days ago, like they were really pushing that hard. But that is also that's leverage, and I think given there would be a market for him, and some teams like the Bills are a great example too. The Bills and Jets are both very desperate teams in different ways that maybe you can get that first rounder. Now mine was moving up
in the first round and then a second. But you know, the trade famously that got Stefan Diggs to Buffalo was just Digs for a first and that worked out for everyone. The Vikings then got Justin Jefferson, so could Adams thirty two years old, which is kind of snuck up on me. That's part of it too, a little bit. I just think they can get even more cap relieve it. If they were going to trade them, they're going to trade him like during the season or see how everything goes
in Wait. I do have a Dig trade though, while he's not up there, I'm sending Diggs and I think Diggs is eminently tradeable. I think this wide receiver market has not like finished expanding. People are teams are going to be ready to pay wide receivers as quarterbacks, whether it's contracts or in trade terms. And so even though Diggs is coming off a down year, he's young enough. I think he could get a first round pick back.
I thought about the Browns, who there's some whispers they want to bring in a wide receiver Tony Pauline, that the Cowboys maybe.
With the brother thing.
But who's got an extra first round pick this year? It's the Arizona Cardinals with the twenty seventh pick overall. Just send him over to Stepan to Buffalo. For some reason, I think Stephan Diggs would be happy to be in Arizona where it's just chill, and he could just put up big numbers and who knows, maybe you draft you got you get a wide receiver in the draft. You got him, you got Wilson, you got Kyler Murray, let's fly.
I think the Bills would do that too, Greg I had a duplicate exactly the same trade.
That means it's happening. I hate the idea of a declining physically, but his ego higher and more powerful than ever.
Stephan Diggs going to the Arizona Cardinals, that zoo and seeing how that turns out. While you know Kyler, you know, either freezes him out of the game plan or is forcing targets. I mean that that smells like a disaster.
I think he would either embrace the retirement home aspect or he would just be, h, I'm going to retire. He immediately retire after they traded him.
He's only thirty, Like he wasn't that.
You know, he wasn't old last year he played old.
Last year he did.
He did finish with eleven hundred and eighty yards and one hundred and seven catches. I know it fell awf a lot, but you know, during the season, but it's not like he was a disaster. I just feel like both those teams would do that trade, and the Cardinals, you know, they can't. They have a surplus of picks that they're one of the teams that could actually give it up. Although that's the Texans pick, which we thought at the time was like going to be a top
five pick. There was like a week in the season where we're like, ooh, the text the Cardinals could have the top two picks of the and it ended up being the twenty seventh because the Texans got into the divisional round.
Yeah, if you if you like, do the math on it.
To get to eleven hundred yards if you play every week, is like sixty five yards a game. That's kind of what a ceiling was this year. And I just wonder, like if he is because people know, I'm not gonna say he's a diva or anything like that, but people know, you know he's he's a lot like and you got
to make sure Stephan's in a good place. If a guy that's coming off a red flag season and you know he's a little bit of a handful potentially in the locker room, what kind of is his market as strong as maybe you might think it should be strong because he's been like a top ten receiver for the last five years, or at least before last year. I think he's an interesting one in terms of trying to figure out how much he could command. I'm sure Brandon Bean and McDermot are thinking the same thing.
The amount of screaming between Kyler and Stefan Diggs would maybe set.
It would be great.
Though receivers are like yards. I don't know what the comparison is, but I think a t and I think this has happened with a lot of receivers, like they their expiration date with some of them, like happens in after about three years. But that first year is great, the second year is pretty good, and then it starts getting sour. So it's time you're gonna get one one nice year where he looks great.
All right, before we go around the horn again, let's pause, take a break, and we'll be right back with roto Pat and fake trades.
All right, Pat, give us another one.
This isn't the hammer drop this one hammer drop. This one is like for pure functionality. This is like buying a couch. You got to get the couch in the house.
You're not.
It's not flashy, but it is quite comfortable. The Kansas City Chiefs h I originally said conditional fourth rounder. I think I could probably be a conditional fifth rounder to the New York Giants for Darius Slayton, who just, for some reason every year the Giants hate Darius Slayton even though all he ever does is get like seven hundred yards unlimited targets. Yeah, he's cleared seven hundred yards in four or five seasons, something MBS has never done. For
the Chiefs. Just cut get a legitimate field stretcher who actually has like half a decade of proven production. He could be a great role player in this offense for the Chiefs. I think he's better than he's ever been allowed to be in New York, which maybe is not really a thing after five years.
But Pat, Pat, everything you're saying right now is exactly how we would have explained the Cadarius Tony trade two years.
Ago, except for like Darius Tony, he's actually produced, laying solid. But this is a perfunctory trade. It feels very like like a couple that's no longer really feeling the magic, but like, let's just knock it out.
Every other week.
He's done something and this is like this is like when when when Mark or actually I don't even remember it was Mark or west Or who was like where we have to drop like a big ticket like hammer drop of an item, And they talked about Geo Bernard's impact on the twenty twenty one bucks.
But this isn't the hammer drop, of course, And this is part of a large charge. This is part of a larger Chiefs receiver corps of because this is also part of the Chiefs trading for Justin Jefferson of course, which I'm going to get into on the show, but they got to remake the receiver. The fact that they want back to back Super Bowls was like the definition of like league replacement receivers. They're not going to do
it a third time. Famous last words, he's at a league worst quarterback play for half a decade, Man, Darius Slayton. Get hi about the real quarterback. Get the Chiefs the real field stretcher, and watch it, watch magic happen.
I also think the Chiefs with that thirty second pick, it's in that close sort of gentlemen's terms where it's if it's not a Slaton, but you want to go try and swing for the fences on someone else, you can essentially offer a first round pick that to the Chiefs looks like a second round pick and maybe get out of there. Because I think I'm with you. I think it's gonna be multiple. It's gonna be has to be multiple pieces. But it can't just be a bunch of b minus ham and eggers like last season.
This is this is a great wide receiver class. There's gonna be Look, you know, the top six could be all quarterbacks and receivers, which is crazy, But then the first round could be six or seven receivers, so there might be a spicy guy available.
You know, I said that the Steelers offense to me feels like the girl in the closet and all summer in a day. I tip my cap to what the Chiefs were able to do. All apologies to the Union, and they're incredibly comprehensive survey, but I can't watch another season of Patrick Mahomes checking down for four quarters for the.
I want my bomber back.
I want the god of all gods airing it out to a talented group of wide receivers. So yeah, that's why I push back against Slayton because I agree. I think everyone agrees that Slayton seems there's something there to unlock, and maybe that's it if he's a piece of that pie.
But I need a big time draft pick.
I need a big time number one wide receiver to pair with Mahomes and let him fly again, because you know, Kelsey is also going to keep on getting more and more lumbering as he's getting older. They can't wait another year and we shouldn't be burning Patrick Mahomes twenties prime with him as a game general.
We just can't do that. We shouldn't. It's a it's a shame, like what.
He like needed to prove something to himself or what you proved it man, Like, we get it. You can win with literally anyone.
Jesus coming from like the Fantasy Guy and then the guy who drafted Mahomes in Fantasy's true.
I'm so mad that.
They won the Super Bowl with him having like Alex Smith sub Alex Smith.
That this checks both boxes though as a Fantasy Guy fan, sure that dreven but also just like watching Mahomes be Mahomes. It's almost like when Jordan at the end of his run when the NBA was in a much different place when he was like winning game. You're watching that Jordan documentary and they're showing the highlights and they have the big music and they have the single cam on Jordan talking like, oh, and he disrespected me, so I had
to put him under the ground. And then he makes the big shot at the end in slow motion and then they put up the final score and it was like seventy two to sixty five Bulls win. Like it doesn't take away from Jordan's greatness. But you know, I want, you know, I want Mahomes to be nineteen eighty nine ninety Jordan when he's putting up thirty five a game and soaring through the aga.
Jarisson in the league. You watched the Super Bowl and your mom is like, I was told Patrick Mahomes through the ball deep.
I literally did get a text for my mom during the game that the game was kind of boring.
It was like mid third quarter. I was like, yeah, you're not wrong, Mom, I mean I'm wrong.
Deb Rosenthal is the conscience of the National Football League and people have to understand that.
Greg throughout another one.
Okay, I'm going to stick with the Chiefs. But on the defensive side, we mentioned Lagerius Sneed. I think he's getting traded. You wouldn't put that out there unless you were expecting to a bit of a risk. But they did let Sarvarius Ward go for nothing basically, and that worked out fine for them. So who needs a cornerback. There's a lot of teams, but who's going to be willing to give up something The Detroit Lions, and I
think the market for Sneed in a trade. The terms might not be that high because you have to make him one of the highest paid cornerbacks in the league, if not the highest, along with it. So that's going to temper the market. But I'm gonna say number seventy three this season and a twenty twenty five third gets
it done. So that's just next season's third. I think we need to get more into trading future picks, like the NBA, like they'll spend three months of podcasts talking about, ooh, the Lakers twenty twenty nine first round pick is now available, like they can trade that. It's like the NFL team should get into that more time. It's time for the Lions to push forward.
The old trades. They don't feel tangible at a certain point. It's like a trade ten years in advance. I like that the NFL, everything's a little more. Everything's within the three year window of reality.
Okay, but at least okay, just send a future pick.
So the Lions, they give up seventy three, they're already short of pick, I believe, and then yeah, I'm either a second or a third next year.
I think it's a cunning move too, because if you trade picks down the road and things go awry, you get can It's the next general manager that has to deal with that.
So that's exact savvy.
And the Lions don't want to be the new Bills, which is the lovable losers that become the big time team that then can't get over the hump. So this is kind of a sneaky important year in terms of continuing the franchise progress. That's why I'm with you. They're gonna aggressively look to get better this offseason. When I was getting ready for this exercise, I was say, what are the playoff teams that lost?
Like, what do they need?
And the Lions jumped out to me, and everyone knows Aden Hutchinson is a big time player for them, give him a little help. So I'm going to go in the front seven. And there's two options, both from the same team, the Chargers. And there's two And what I like about it is that the Lions and really any team that is looking for help in this realm, they can either go big ticket or they can get a
slightly discount item. So you have obviously Joey Bosa. I think he with his age, his track record, I know the injuries, but because of the position he plays a premium, proven pass Rusher. I think he's gonna cost a first round pick. So the Lions give up their twenty ninth pick for Joey Bosa, and all of a sudden, they have these dogs on the opposite ends of each other.
And if they don't want to go that hard, if they want to keep that first round pick, Khalil Mack's there, and I think Khalil Mack I think second round pick sixty first overall seems fair for a guy man. He's a little older, but he's coming off like an eighteen Sax season. Would you give up a late second to get Max? So they have two paths to go there, depending on how rich they want to be.
I really like this because the Chargers, I think, if there's a time to part with Bosa. This came into my mind too that post Brandon Staley, different situation, new vibe, and you know, they're twenty five million in the red right now. They've got a lot of changes they've got to make. They have the most expensive defense for a
number of years under Staley, and they were disasters. So it's like you can move and it is a player that I think has missed so much time that the Lions are taking a risk there, but it's time for the Chargers to think about a new a fresh, new start.
I think so Bosa was at a pistachio eating competition in my home town of Santa Monica last week.
I learned this information. I don't know why, some sort of spot how.
Much money could it be possibly making off that that it was worth going right.
I don't think he was in the competition, but it was some some sponsor event and he was eating. So they asked him about Jim Harbaugh and he said he loves the sound of it. It's like, I don't know if he's going to be on that team. I'm with you, Dan, I think he gets dealt. I think the Chargers would throw a parade if they could get a first round
pick for him, and they might cut him. I'm with you, they should explore a possible trade, and I think they'd take what they can get, whether whether it's a first, a second, and whatever it is. He just hasn't been able to stay on the field. When he's on the field, he's freaking awesome. So he makes sense for a team like the Lions that would like just take a big swing. But he's a huge He also would be huge risk, and the pistachio things a bit of a red flag too.
I do like pistachios, by the way, good how much are you eating?
Though?
In a pistachio eating I'll find out more information.
This came across my my like Santa Monica count that I follow, and I was like, what is happening here, Joey Bosa?
Is that third Street or something? To eating pistachios? All right?
Mark, do you have one more before we go to the hammer drop?
I do, And I'm going to use a rotot word wish casting. This is probably more something I would like to see happen, and it's very unlikely. But I do see a team, two teams with quarterbacks that I think behind closed doors they're like, what are we doing with this guy? And like this guy's overpaid and not producing.
I see two quarterbacks like that, So I think you flip the script here and just hear me out, Like the Cleveland Browns take to Shaun Watson and they look back on this season and say, you know what, this is not probably going to get a lot better, and we can either be an organization. Andrew Berry is a forward thinking general manager that like we can sit in our mistake if that's how we feel about it, or
we can we can move on. And I think that the New York Giants feel the same way about Daniel Jones and his absurd contract, and so the Browns and Giants flip quarterbacks. But I think in that world that the Deshaun Watson return to the NFL was about as toxic as it could be off the field, obviously, but to him to go to another team after the Browns, I think it's more palatable probably for the Giants to
take that experience at this point. And I think if you're Brian Daball, you can look at de Shaun Watson and say there's a lot we can do there. And if you're the Cleveland Browns, you're back in the world of reorganize, reorganized in a quarterback. But Daniel Jones could get you through a season or two.
WHOA wait, Can I just say that this is wild? This is I mean, this is impossible.
Although it's fun because an audience like the Browns detached from that quarterback is great. Nobody wants that guy, Nobody wants the guaranteed he connected to him at this point, and certainly a Tiffany franchise, like the New York Giants with the Maras and the Rooneys, they would never ever take on Watson. So I think it stops because of the baggage. Forget about any of the other stuff. In my opinion, I don't think that the Giants even pick up the phone, right.
I get it that that the Jones is a distressed asset, so he's like a negative asset too, But no one would give up. I don't think you know a condition no one would take Deshaun Watson on their team.
I don't think right now.
The other third, do you think there's back of possibility that the inside the Browns building, they're like, it would be nice to move on from this.
Point of course, Yes, I think the Browns would do this in a second, I'm with you, But I don't think any other team would.
Do Why don't you reach this is a there and people forget about this because and the Browns they deserve it.
They got buried.
But there were a lot of other teams that wanted Watson too, and they were reported out there. You could look it up, go call check in on some of those teams. Yeah, I do have an important update before the hammer drop.
Joey Bosa finished seventh out of eight competitors in a pistachio wonderful pistachio, get crack and eat in competition, the world champion, some guy named Webb, destroyed him with two twenty one. Joey chestnutt was there tied for fifth. Bosa finished one hundred and fifty two pistachios. He did beat one other person in the competition.
Someone that read actual, Yeah, someone's an actual competitive eater, and they couldn't beat the athlete that.
Was just.
Ed Rusher. You should be able to get off the bus.
And they build it as Joey versus Joey Bosa versus Chestnut and there appears to be about, you know seventeen people in you know hoodies watching this thing.
That it does make me finish.
Finishing seventh out of eight makes me think that, yeah, he doesn't have that dog in him.
I'm dropping that too.
That's a third round pick now going from Detroit. All right, it's time now to do what we must, which is clear the deck because Patrick Dherty roto Pat is about to share a hammer drup, a panty dropper, and everything that could drop is dropping here we go.
I think it ties together everything we've been talking about so far. So listen, Deshaun Watson, he got three first round picks, right, RG three got three first round picks sight unseen. In twenty twelve, Washington traded three first round picks for the.
Right but Rex Grossman and John Beck. Mike Shannon was ready to stake his reputation upon them.
So three first round picks has kind of been the going rate for like the stunning quarterback trade and acquisition. It needs to be up to four first round picks. It's like someone's going to always break new ground in this territory. Kind of ties into Greg too, Like who cares about future first round? Just keep trading them, doesn't Matt. No one cares what the Brooklyn nets twenty twenty eight first round pick. Just get him out there. It's four
first round picks for an elite quarterback. The Commanders, I mean, the owner of the new guy. He tried to lay low for a year. He's like it's a new day in Washington, and like January first rolled around was like okay, never mind. Like he's sitting in on meetings at the combine. You know, he's like starting feuds with other assistant coaches in the league, like you know, like he spent his whole off season like leaking anti Ben Johnson dirt. He's he's ready to like ascend to the throne of like
the crazy new owner. I think it was Dan said the Los Angeles Chargers. They need they need a fresh new start. Jim Harbaugh all he wants. He doesn't care about passing the ball. He's not gonna pass. He doesn't want, he doesn't need to pass. Alex Smith, Colin Capitol gets the NFC Championship game every year. Trade Justin Herbert to the Washington Commanders for four first round picks. Blow up and restart two organizations, a new remake, a bold new NFL. It's a new era. The going rate is now four
first round picks. Everyone's happy and we get our We get something to write about for months and months and months.
I love it, including the number two overall pick. I'm assuming it's one.
Of those Yeah, sure, who cares?
I mean the steep price, that is a steep price. I think the Chargers would have to think about it.
They would have to think about it. Give him something to think about. Josh Harris, that's his name, right.
Josh, Yeah, that's it.
Give him something to think about, you know, you they George Bluth, un arrested Development once taught us that you never promised crazy a baby. I would say when it comes to the NFL, you know, always pick up the phone with crazy when it comes to trades. And I think Jim Harbaugh, he's just crazy enough to do it. I think Jim he's You're already hearing some stories behind the scenes. Jim is a wild man. Jim's gonna build this organization in his likeness.
Justin's not his guy.
Maybe he doesn't love him like the media loves him. Maybe he thinks he's got a bit of a ceiling on him. I don't think that's his. It's a hammer drop. But I don't think it's insane that Harbor.
Trade to and take JJ McCarthy, you.
Know, like my guy, my, You know, I could see Harbaugh doing something a mega splash, and that that would be a mega splash, spicy and.
Yeah, I mean Justin Herbert yea, the stat guy. We all love him. We love the empty stats, except when they didn't even come with any touchdowns in twenty twenty three, So didn't love him that much last year, but he can take his empty volume somewhere else. Jim Harbaugh gets his character building rushing attack and yeah, everyone careful with that.
With that, Justin Herbert slander the wrong media member could hear you and cut you ear to ear?
I draft him literally every year.
I love him, But so I take your empty stats elsewhere.
Well, it was a part of the I love the empty stats. He's not going to have him anymore in LA. I'm sure he'll have him for days in Washington for days and days. So that's why we need this to happen. Actually, it is the fantasy community.
Greg, your thoughts on that before we say goodbye to Patrick.
I don't like it. I think Jim har I believe in love. I believe Jim Harbaugh loves this man.
Justin Herbert, I do think if they offered the number two overall pick and multiple more first round picks, I think they would take it.
The charge.
As crazy as that as that seems, Jim Harbaugh would believe that he could just turn that pick into gold and rebuild the whole ship.
And it's cheaper, and it's not it's not that crazy.
You know, the other thing is it's not gonna it's not a fan base here in La where you're gonna get a ton of negative reaction to it. There might be no reaction. Literally struggling to have any imprint in the city. And like if you if you traded like Justin Herbert away from like the Dallas Cowboys, people are gonna go freaking nuts.
I think charges it's like off the radar.
It could be done without too much, too much cantankerous nature to it.
Patrick, you've said it all. You never promised crazy a baby, but I would. I would promise you a baby.
Let's be real. Many you got we have four folks.
Wow, that's a But you're in Saint Louis. It's a little bit of a different vibe there.
It cost the livings lower to it's a strong Irish Catholic German town. The long lineage. We actually have a small family by German Missouri standards like well four when you're getting started for real.
Pat probably lives in a home that is bigger than our homes combined. When you get that Missouri.
Bump, there's a Missouri bump. I can't confirm there's a Missouri bump.
Should we take our podcast and relocate to Missouri.
I feel like that would yeah, an energy tax break.
We'll give you a tax break on Lincoln her there.
You know, it really adds up.
What about your wife? What would she do to you?
I mean your your wife, Greg has been vengeful about certain elements of the move from New York to LA. If you took her to Middle America, then what happens?
Yeah, I think she just goes to Tokyo.
You're equidistant to both coasts here in Saint Louis, guys, actually a little closer to the East coast.
Oh man, Honey atn is moving to Missouri. Honey, I'm moving to Japan.
You had a good run, all right, good stuff, Pat, Thank you so much, And you could check out Rhoda Pat's at work over at road a World or NBC Sports and uh, I know you have a comprehensive banger you put out a couple weeks ago going over each team season, and I'm sure there's more to come in the near future.
So thank you, buddy, there is Thank you very much.
I've committed I believe the ultimate industry fauxpa where I'm late for my own podcasts.
Right, people should check out the Road to World Football Show because we've made him late for it today, so please check them in.
You could bang us for that go ahead, how much.
I would not miss the show, even for my own show, so thank you very much for having me.
Or you could trash us in the open of that one, and then we could do a little fugeizy podcast war and then everybody went to the Patrick's.
That's true, it's dark.
Thank you there he goes roto Pat. Yes, one of our favorites.
Alright, man, that Herbert thing really does get me thinking, I know it's absurd, blah blah blah, but Harbaugh really is. I mean people that don't know, people don't realize that that's a different cat. And the Chargers are not a team that's overly comfortable with paying massive bucks for anybody.
So if they had an opportunity where the coach got what he wanted, which is complete control of building the roster in his own vision, and all of a sudden there was a plenty of money freed up, well I could.
That would be fun.
I think Herbert is intention Also, it's like it's the closest kind of closest thing you get to the shocking nature of the herschel Walker trade, but the smarter team completely rebuild from scratch there and one multiple supergows.
It would be fun, but I think great Jim Harbaugh talks about Justin Herbert, He's like ready to build a statue of Justin Herbert. I think he's everything that Justin Herbert's everything Jim Harb's ever wanted out of a quarterback. He's been like searching for this quarterback forever, and just he is so confident that he's like, we need nothing more than a stud like this in me, and we're gonna freaking roll.
I kind of, I think ultimately, I'm with you on that.
I think the hardest thing to do is to locate a high end quarterback, and he's got one that's like twenty five years old, so maybe you don't want to overthink things.
Ultimately, I think we'll get some fun trades, though, some that we haven't even thought of, because you know, if they were that big of a surprise, we wouldn't be able to think of him. But it feels like there's a lot of cap space out there, and so we actually will get some fun trades.
I think of the next two weeks, all right, So there you go. That's it for another show. We will be back on Monday.
I think we're gonna go back to three weeks starting next week, so we're as free agency gets closer, we're gonna really be digging in. And also, like we said, the combine will be wrapping up by the time you hear from us again, so we'll be welcoming him on some draft guests and looking at how teams will improve on that end. So, yes, it is the beginning of a new journey twenty twenty four and we're here, Mark, Do you have anything you want to add before we say goodbye?
I think I just felt an earthquake in my apartment really yeah, or it was I don't know worse or or like amer contractually into the side of the apartment, but like it was, there was a major jolt right there.
So I'm going to be out that post haste. Yeah, that's it all right until until Monday. Thanks for listening, and uh, you know what you gotta do?
Heat the car.