Sifting Through Super Wild Card Rubble

They around the NFL podcast.

That pizza was great.

Mark from the Chris Lastling podcast studio, it's around the NFL. I'm Dan hanss Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler heroes both what pizza.

Are we referring tomorrow?

I mean no, because like we were just talking before the show that we now you know we regularly read ads for iHeart part of the gig. Yeah, it's like it's it's we're happy to do it obviously, like on to varying degrees and like, uh, I you know, I don't know how they pick what we're each being tagged to read. But I got a de journal one that is nationally It's like, uh, now you poured your heart into the and I actually have eaten to journal pizza and I do believe in it. I don't want to

I feel a little conflicted here, Yeah, conflicted.

Yeah, because this Friday.

You know, sometimes I mentioned I do the pic show with Patrick and Cynthia, the game debut of course Friday, you guys can see the debut a PM Eastern of the Little Caesar's in Show ad that we filmed weeks back. So it's a bit of a conflict here. For Multiple Pizza.

You guys have the whole thing covered.

Yeah, Multiple pie houses want us to speak for them.

So I think there is a certain absurdist humor to Mark doing a read for any food product.

Yes, I got a lot of that, but it's like you have seen me eat pizza.

That would be so you.

Would be a great sponsor because you'd be like, I don't like much food and go, but this food satisfies the market.

I think to really get the cross promotion going with the journal, it's it's now taking that the first read was a little shock and awe and now adding some nuances.

Be like, listen, Hi, I'm Mark. I don't like food, but what I must eat.

Right, I like to pitch.

I mean, I'm not like I need more more of a more weight in the creative process here. They just kind of gave me the text last time. But I think now that they see the ground swell here.

If you want to cook the meal, you better let me shop for the grocers.

I am Mark.

On a typical nine hour day at the office, I just drink seventeen coffees and then.

Like a root beer. But I'll eat some disorta.

But I believe that I've seen you eat pizza. It's one of the foods I have. Yeah, you eat. This is the Wednesday edition of Around the NFL. This is you know, that nice little you're that buffer zone. So where we've moved away, we've moved out of the port of wild Card Super wild Card weekend, and we have our preview episode of the Divisional Round, the best weekend

What happens next? So we got that coming up.

But before we do, all right, once again, it's turning into the uh Jimmy Kimmel was saying, oh, we ran out of time for Matt Damon situation.

Yeah.

I did tease Colleen coming back, but listen, I don't even need I don't have to get into it, and I won't. Colleen's not here today. So that is three straight weeks I've teased Colleen on the show. Next week, maybe you know what, Let's go for it next week.

Colleen returns looking forward to it.

It's a good like you're you know, part of your showman duties is just the build up, right, And then she's been a part of that too.

I should have double checked with her, but I just assumed. But you don't assume. In the words of the second bad guy in Under Siege, too dark territory, assumption is the mother of all.

That's what I did. He came up with that. He was pretty.

I feel like I've been hearing that since I was like a youth, but I'm.

Not in the movie came out in nineteen ninety five. Well, you weren't a youth. You were in your twenties at that point, but like you might.

Have seen it.

He elevated the phrase, no doubt. All right, let's get to the news.

Came out of his ex wife's body, came out of his body.

Yeah, I'm not even gonna give the context. If you missed that episode, you just just know Greg had comments about that. And we're going to get to the Patriots and their coaching staff and who's on it and who's not, uh in a little bit.

But let's start with Mike Tomlin.

And you know, Tomlin was the subject of a lot of speculation in December when the team was seven and seven and I was having a disappointing year. Then they reel off three straight wins, sneak in the playoffs, get dispatched by Buffalo on Monday, leading to a postgame press conference and a tense moment at the end where a reporter for ESPN, Brooke Pryor, asked.

Hey, you know you got one year left on your contract.

Tomlin gave a little look and then walked right out the door without saying a word, which takes us to Tuesday, where Tomlin told Steelers players and coaches that he plans to coach a team in twenty twenty four, a day after he walked out on that press conference. So, and I think it's interesting even how it's reported here Greg that he told the Steelers players and coaches, I'm coming back.

Yeah, we know he's a man of his word, but I am very curious just to watch what happens this offseason because he's going into the final year of his contract. That's new, and I just wonder if him walking off the set there was almost like a warning shot of like, don't ask about that, because there's at least one route that he could take here, which is old boss or his old colleague Kevin Colbert took late in his career where he just kept going into his contract years. He

I guess also because like when you argued that Belichick would never be true trade bait, that he wouldn't go to another team and have that team have to give up a first round pick or multiple picks form or whatever, like coaches are unwise to do that. And if you're on your one year deal, you could be Mike Tomlin.

He's also twenty years younger than Belgium. Could be a money thing too, Steelers, Like does he get the top of the coaching market money, Maybe he doesn't.

Maybe it would take him becoming a free agent.

To do that.

In other news, the New Orleans Saints make moves on their coaching staff, headlined by Pete Carmichael Junior, the longest tenured offensive coordinator in football.

He will not return to the Saints in twenty twenty four.

The head coach, Dennis Allen announced that on Tuesday, they're also parting ways with a few other assistants on the staff. And you know, eighteen years, which eighteen season with the Saints.

It's literally longer than any head coach in the league.

And obviously you know right, yeah, it.

Is Tomlin is now that longest ten year head coach.

He was a member of Sean Payton's original coaching staff. He arrived as the QB coach in two thousand and six. And of course it was when Peyton was there, was Peyton's offense and Peyton was running the show, which I guess eased Carmichael's transition when Dennis Allen took over. But at this point in time, and we're gonna get to Dennis Allen sticking around mark in a second, some comments made by the general manager.

They are making changes, just not at the top, I mean the Pete Carmichael thing. I'll never forget being at like a Hall of Fame game, literally like during the flate Gate or something, or during like the whole bounty gate thing, and seeing Pete Carmichael on the sideline, you know, in late August. This was like a billion years ago. So it's like he's been around forever.

He was the interim before the other interim came back, right, I mean, so.

He's he's always been like Peyton's guy. But I think two things. I feel a little bit like there were whispers when they try to elevate him to oc that he didn't really really desire it the way that you'd think, like when you hear like you listen to Jordan Rodrieg's play Callers podcast series, like all these guys are dying inside and burning just to get a play into the playbook. They want to be part of it, they want to create, and like, you didn't get that vibe from late career

It's it's the way of like keeping the head coach. But hey, we are making a change, and that's fine. It has been the same system. I mean, it's Sean Payton's system. They were average on offense the last two years. They weren't much better with Car. They did finish better offensively, so I think that's at least in their offensive line. I think played well considering that the relative talent that

Right, and you know, if they don't get better next year, they'll come for the head coach. And a lot of people thought Dennis Allie should have been out this year, but Mickey Loomis decided that the Saints wanted to go deeper with Allen and he had a press conference today which was hyper enjoyable. Just a warning mark to you and the other mesophonius out there. Yeah, he's chewing gum.

Good luck, Bill Belichick.

Here's his first three seasons six and ten, seven and nine, seven and nine, Tom Landy four eleven, four, nine, five and eight, four and ten, five and eight. Hall of Fame coaches, all of them. Bill wallsh first year two and fourteen, second year six and ten. So I think the easy thing to do is just look at.

The results and say, oh no, we've got to have a change.

And I want to address the musiphonia, which I'm coming around on now, but we got to let this guy cook because he's just getting warm warmed up here go whoa.

You got to look beyond that.

You know, what are the reasons why we were nine and eight instead of you know, thirteen and four.

And look, it's it's collective.

It's the players, it's the coaches, it's me, it's our personnel, staff, our roster, it's variables sometimes that we don't have any control of. And so I my assessment is Dennis Allen

I love that Saints Fans despise Dennis Allen. And then the GM comes out and he does the cliche the eighties bad guy move of popping in the gum whenever you one. If you were getting into character and you want to be okay, we want you to play this as a kind of over confident buffoon who's also dismissive of what other people think to be an obvious problem.

Yeah. I mean, I you know, I was doing a thing where I'm watching him, like on the monitor, and it the whole noise part of it bothered me a little bit less. But then if I turned away and just did it like people driving around are right now or you know, running or jogging in listening to that,

Maybe Jamis Wiston should be the quarterback because there is some connective tissue there. When Winston was like trying to say, this isn't a shot at DA, we just made a team decision without him to score that touchdown, not realizing that he was actually making the coach look worse.

In this situation.

You're not helping Mickey Loomis Dennis Allen by invoking some of the great coaches in NFL history saying that they started slowly and then came out. If anything, it just makes you look sillier and weaker by comparison.

Yeah, because I don't know if he's counting Dennis Sounds raiding. I love it days. I do love it because if you counted Denni Sounds Raider days, you could keep those records rolling and start with four and twelve, four and twelve and four, Johomp twenty four and forty six. I love Mickey Loomis still being around because there aren't many teams like this where.

He oh boy, he is the best in the NFL.

And and P mar Carmichael was like this too, at keeping his job like he has been in this job for twenty four years, Mickey Loomis, and he's not just a gym. He's the executive vice president. At one point he was running the Pelicans. That was a long term bit on this show. I don't believe he's still running. I mean, I know he's not still running the Pelicans anymore.

Don't you gum like that unless you are completely safe.

And he's got like he's got the media people that like are his guys. He's got the ones that are against him and he's definitely firing back against the ones that are against me. He does some local radio hits where he just like goes off and you're just like, Wow, this guy is almost untouchable, and I think he likes.

In his own fan base.

Gregie, Yeah, the way he was and I'm joking but serious, but chewing the gun that way, addressing the media in that type of hyper confident way is being dismissive of what is he would if we could hear it clearly out in southern California, in New Orleans, it must be an absolute blizzard of the criticism and negativity around the

Does that magic with the cap? You know, year after.

Year, there's also, you know, not a lot of years like this one where there's some high profile, attractive program building, proven coaches out there and you're gonna not even think about.

Right making a change.

I think when everyone hears like, oh, Dennis Allen isn't going anywhere to me that was like, Okay, Mickey Loomis is going and isn't going in at some point Gail Benson, who owns his team, is going to step in if they struggle and have to push the eject button on the whole thing. Because it's like Mickey Loomis kind of kind of runs the team and he likes that he has a coach that is, you know, under his thumb to something.

I like that.

Maybe this is just like I'm basing this off of personal experience, Like do you don't does it not feel like fewer people And I'll start with adults. I'm not like gauging children, but like fewer adults are walking around chewing gum then than in the past. Do you I used to chew gum all the time. I don't ever think about buying gum. So that's me. I get that, that's just me. But like, if you walk around seeing a lot of adults chewing gum.

Oh well, if you're talking like bubblicious, no, but people that will chew it for the fresh in their breath, I think that's still an industry that's thriving.

Yeah, thriving, Yeah, I mean it.

I hear what you're saying, we also live in Los Angeles.

I don't know.

Maybe this is like a healthier because I do think like it seems like people eat less candy, less gum, less soda in general than when we were growing up and we were.

Just like cigarettes, right and well, there's that.

That's that is there's a link right there.

I have found an article in the Atlantic Mark that says gum sales are down thirty two, twenty eighteen industry analyst. So it's lost the little juice. Let's break it. Let's break them back.

That is a significant decline, by the way, yeah, for only five five six years too that I.

Want to see your data. I want to see your sources.

I mean it's the.

Atlantic, it's not a Atlantic. How chewing gum lost its cultural cachet? Mark, You're always it's by Mark Sessler. Wow, that is good.

That is crazy.

I will counter that with a article is called It's just not cool anymore?

Not ask me.

That's true that I know, but he does not.

Okay.

The global chewing gum market is forecasted to make sales amounting to forty eight point six eight billion US dollars in twenty twenty five.

So it's still huge. I'm just saying not antil what though not as huge relatively.

I don't know. Fifty billion is fifty billion of me.

Well, that's fine, Like I think Greg's study tells them.

It's kind of like how people are like, oh, TV is dying.

It's like, okay, but you still have these advertisers paying millions of dollars and millions, So it's it's on the downslope a big gum.

You're not going.

Thirty two percent is a notable number.

Based on sales per region.

The largest market for chewing gum can be found in Europe, bowed by the Asia Pacific region. The North American market ranked third. Okay, where the beloved chewy candy sales are expected to reach three point five billion US dollars by twenty twenty four. So listen, I'm still betting big on big gum.

You keep doing.

Nobody ever went uh no one ever went broke betting on big gum.

You know what I mean, the the awful stick gums which lose its flavor within like thirty seconds. Yeah, those I think are are gone for the most they've been out class.

They've fruit strip striping.

It's literally gone that has been continue like if you have it for thirty seconds and we need a higher quality gum, for sure, you.

Know it's a wild thing still on the market, you know how, or maybe you don't know. But chewing tobacco, which is tremendously destructive, snuff and things like that that are you know, everyone knows. They were sold in pouches, and I think Major League Baseball and the miners now have banned its usage. It was prevalent in sixties, seventies, eighties into the nineties. Big league chwo is still out there, and it's packaging is literally packaged in tobacco.

In the same way the chewing tobacco, I mean.

Big league chew was jackpot of gum in many ways. I'd love juicy fruit as a sort of less sweet type of trinket was good too.

By the way, somebody gives me a slice of big Red right now, I'm going Loomis on.

The jewels, weird piece of gum.

I'm going full Loomis, okay, all right.

In other news, the Falcons Man, the falcons are casting a wide net with big fish being dragged in because a couple of days after Bill Belichick had a meeting with the team and had an interview the Falcons and ounced Tuesday that they completed an interview with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. So you go, you go Belichick, Harball, back to back Belichick the most successful NFL coach ever, Harball, who had huge success with the Niners years back, and

You would think so.

And they have we have a tracker for coaches and interviews. They have requested and started interviews with other candidate's like Mike McDonald, the Ravens coordinator, and Bobby Slowak the Texans. So they have had some a Giro Evereu the Panthers, so they've dipped into that pool too, And yet it feels like they're the only team that's gone Harbob Belichick.

What a world that to me?

That Jim Harbor and Bill Belichick are competing for a head coaching job in the year twenty twenty four.

Yeah, and like Harpball's come vaguely close there was interest with the Vikings two years ago. In the I think he wanted the Chargers job a year ago also, which.

Makes sense he wanted the Broncos job last year too. They shot him down. I mean I thought that when Michigan won that title, I was like, you got to give a thanks to the Vikings and the Broncos for turning him down.

Yeah, I mean the Falcons though. It's like I could see Belichick being like, if I want the Falcons job, it's okay that we don't have a quarterback because I can do my Bill Belichick things and we'll find one. But like Jim Harbaugh, almost I feel like from the hit the ground running needs to be attached to like a promising young quarterback. I don't like the idea of him going two years with the chaos.

They've had, the buzzes. He might want a draft one, depending on where he goes. JJ McCarthy, his quarterback at Michigan who's seen as kind of like a late first second round type of guy.

I mean, in fairness to Harball, I don't think he's one of those coaches that can't be successful unless you give him a star quarterback.

When he came to San Francisco.

Alex Smith was a draft bust YEP turned him in to a big time player, and then Colin Kaepernick took the league over for a while, and obviously in Michigan has found ways to make that organization.

He just doesn't seem like someone that's gonna hang around for nine years somewhere. So it's like, you don't want.

No, you're kind of signing up, I think, And that might be the trepidation. Trepidation for a lot of these teams going back to last year is you know what you're gonna get. He's gonna be painting the ass. He's gonna be maybe even Monihacal. You're probably gonna butt heads with him by the end of year one. But he's been successful everywhere he's gone, So that's it. A deal

You'll be the center of attention.

I'm waiting for one of these, you know, dominoes to drop here. And part of it is, as we're taping, we don't know about the Eagles and the Cowbies, and maybe that's holding things up. And then you also have the guys that are in the playoffs like McDonald and Ben Johnson. Feels like the bell of the ball that the Lions, Oh see, who's gonna get one of the those jobs? So that's holding things up a little too.

And I like that. You don't need to have this be such a like mad dash.

All right.

In other news, we talked about on Monday night that the Patriots quickly moved on from Bill Belichick by promoting Drowd Mayo to head coach, and on Wednesday, the Patriots held a introductory press conference for Mayo.

Here's a little bit.

From the wet walls need to be knocked down in your opinion, what relationships need to be rebuilt?

And Robert you can take it as well.

Yeah, as we evaluate the players, the scheme and things like that, I think you have to evaluate the culture and evaluate how the pieces fit. I will say this, like my philosophy, I don't want to be in an echo chamber. I just don't. I want people who are going to be honest and open and then hopefully come together and make a sound decision.

That was really a theme I watched your odd mayos man. It was like whiplash watching that compared to a Bill Belgick conference where he's just like joking around.

He wasn't nervous at all.

You can see how he could be a charismatic speaker but also pretty loose. But he hit that pretty hard that he was lessened to the schemes and how everything's going to look and more about developing people and really like he was trying to he was as respectful as possible to Belichick but saying kind of like this needs to not just be a one man operation. I want

And this was a totally different in terms of Lavarians. You can get with Robert Craft, a different version of Robert Craft in this press conference where he opened up talking about the fact that you know, he has been close to Durrod Mayo since two thousand and eight when they drafted him and got to know him really well. I mean, drot Mail calls Robert Craft. This kind of blew my mind and I love it. And I was like, would this ever been the nickname Bill Belichick uses for

I was so confused because he kept talking about thunder that's calling the whole time relationship, and I missed that that was actually Robert Kraft, and he just kept talking about it.

I was like, who is this thunder guy?

I mean, but I think the thing is because the Belichick thing I just got so stale over the last year and a half. Like this felt like such a sea change, and I kind of think that behind the scenes Mayo and Craft, like their relationship has was there a bit of a hey, things could change, and I have some ideas and like, you know, a lot of it.

I think he Mayo refers to Kraft is thunder the other way around.

No, no, no, no, thunder Witch is short for young thundercat dude to what he calls the eighty two years old's young heart because he's friends with Meek Mill.

That's why there's other reasons anywhere.

Yeah, he has a very young wife. I mean not as young as you know when when he met her. Uh No, she's older now, well right, she's he is older than me.

So I'm saying very.

Talk about wives, Greg, because I know where you're going next.

I couldn't even remember what what body part, what I was even talking about.

Back then.

They didn't talk any Steve Belichick, by the way, But it's funny you mess what you were talking about, by the way, Yes, Robert Kraft.

From when Steve Belichick emerged.

Yes, uh and maybe maybe he'll stick around, maybe not. There were no specifics really about what what Mayo is going to do. Uh, but Kraft compared Mayo to his new wife Dana, and to Bill Belichick and to his first wife Myra and said, like.

These checking the boxes. I just go with my gut.

And that's the only time I've had these feelings about certain people. And I knew it in a day, and I sort of knew that about Jirad Mayo in a day, And this was always my plan, and and it spoke to larger things that it sounds like they're just going to be promoting from within for their GM and front office, that they are going to look at outside people. But he was kind of like, it's my motto my company.

There was very one, very succession type moment where there were some penetrating questions like, well, why is Jonathan Kraft not even here, like you know, we some would think he's running the whole thing behind.

The sees, is not a serious person.

Well he's basically you did say these like he didn't say that, but he's like, you know, the Craft family has so many businesses that Jonathan Kraft is dealing with it with an almost emergency type situation in one of our companies and couldn't be here today.

It just kind of just like, Okay, we'll see.

I still think Greg will be talking about it as the months pass that.

Oh, Robert's more involved than he's ever been.

He he was with decision making, right he they they asked him that question and he said, you know, I guess it's a young Thundercat, right. Young Thundercat said, it's gotta be the same as it's always been. We don't get involved with that at all. We're gonna trust them to do their jobs. We know what we don't know. We look at it like we're fans. The only time we get involved is if there's some sort of character issue thing in other than that, we're gonna trust him.

I do see color, because I believe if you don't see color, you can't see racism and whatever whatever happens black, white, disabled person. I've always even someone with disabilities, I always, you know, for the most part, people are like, you know, don't you know when they're young, they kind of make the spot hot. Younger people know what that means. But what I would say is like, no, I want you to be able to go up to those people, really

For him to say that right next to Kraft after Kraft said that, I thought it was telling and it was great, and I just think it just shows he's not afraid and he kind of knows being a black coach in Boston's going to be tricky. A lot of people I already saw it to it, like, aren't gonna even like those comments.

Like it's a says a lot about him.

I think that he could have the respective craft to kind of go against what Kraft just said right next to him and address kind of a serious topic but in a totally respectable and respectful way and be like, yeah, you're like, I am the first black coach for the Patriots, and like, I know that that might be a thing, and I don't know.

I think, well, I think.

It's about a bit of an outdated cliche for someone that is open minded about things and race relations to say that I don't see color. That's now not necessarily the way to go about it, But twenty years ago or whatever, that's what everyone would say if you were trying to express yourselves in a certain way. Boston sports has a horrendous history when it comes to the black

You know that was obviously overdue. Let's see, how.

Mister Mayo, I gotta defend I got to defend my Celtics, at least the organization, not the fans. They broke a lot of boundaries. Of course, Bill Russell as a as a head coach early in the NBA, I think a first winning championship, stuff like that and bringing players in. But you're you're absolutely right. It's it's a little thorny. And that's why I thought that moment it was.

That was pretty interesting, that Bill Russell documentary, eye opening what he went through. Okay, let's uh, let's take a break and then when we get back, we will and this is an easy work. But we've brought the uh, we've brought the wrecking ball out. We've brought all the trucks are rolling in the back hose, and we are sifting through the wreckage of wild Card weekend, common men.

That's what it's about.

We'll be right back and welcome back, all right. I was just saying that we're sifting through the wreckage.

Here. Here's what I wanted one to be doing.

Mark, I want you to be in one of the trucks. But you know, on a construduction site, there's just always one guy, even if it's just rubble, just shooting water somewhere.

You just hammer in an area with water, just with a big ol' hose. Wet it down, just wet it down. Sure that sounds like one of the easier jobs on the site.

But okay, I'm going to be actually in a collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up and some papers and just like talking to people. Okay on the Wow, Okay, Greg, you are in you know how there's always a trailer.

Yeah, you're you're in the trailer.

And nobody's actually out working.

You're no, you're you're answering phones and you're you're like setting things.

Upon and then uh and then Eric, you and Randy.

Doing that work.

We got shovels, shovels and wheelbarrows.

And you got the you got your your tats are out because you have the T shirt and you're looking pretty good.

And Randy's grinding as well. I like that. That's that's how I see it. Look, what is it? What do you guys?

I think what you described is you guys had the white helmets on and we have the yellow helmets. I think that's the higherarchy on most constructions.

I like that you positioned it as common men, but then put us all in like mid level middle management office jobs, the people that everyone out is whispering about the jerks.

I don't know.

Mark probably is is more scene as able to kind of travel. He's code switching because you're you're just you're plasting that water in there. But that's to soften up the rocks and the soil for those guys to have to take.

The I'm helping them if anything, and I so I care about their plight, and you know, I think that the common man is also equipped to just talk about disasters versus cleaning them up.

And that's what we Randy pointed out that Mark might be oshas to make sure everything's up to the code.

He's a code guy. Osha Rolls in Cess dog eating is the yourno's.

They're still doing those spots.

There's a microwave in that trailer.

Yeah, and then you know, I'll after I got my sleeves rolled up, I pop into the trailer.

You go in the trailer. Greg's already in the trailer.

We're just feasting on the grenos and then well we've been working hard, so it's not you know.

And then he's like, We're like, oh, there's a couple of slices left. Should we tell Eric and Randy? And then Greg's like.

Now let's say no, I would never be that be that guy, you know, a couple slices.

All right, let's get to it.

Yeah, we're at the site, We're at the demo site, and uh, it's time to start figuring out what to make of, you know, the situation, and we're going to get to Uh. It's not we can talk about any of the teams that are playing this upcoming weekend. That's certainly welcome, but I think a good focus of this segment is going to be around who's not playing and what comes next?

And Greg, do you want to get us going? Uh?

At the construction site, we've gotta sift through this wreckage and what are you taking out of it?

How is it? Mark?

You know, the rams are are a site that I think it's better shape than than we expected. It was totally they torn down a year ago.

That was the thought.

And yet Les Sneed said famously in the offseason, he's got those four weight bearing walls. Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald, Cooper cup I think Sean McVay was a weight bearing wall, and you know what they proved to be much more on it in terms of being optimistic about what this team could do in terms of a reset. But I've heard rams fans and there's there a couple in my house and thinking about like the next few years. Wow, they're really set up, and I don't think you want

But this is closer to the end of their timeline.

They have a window here for a year or two more, and so I'm just very curious about how aggressive they are.

Going to be.

And my instinct is extremely aggressive that they are going to see that this window is now the next two years here. And yes, we have this great rookie class Kyrin Williams made All Pro and Kobe Turner who gets

I think it's a great call.

They did it a couple of years ago and we were like, oh, they bought that title on credit, and now they're gonna have to pay the price. Not if you're a well run, not if you know what to do. And that is great the way he explained that sneed because it's so true. If you have the pillars, whether you want to call him walls or pillars or whatever, construction stuff. If you have that that base, you could build around it pretty quickly.

And they have like literally no dead money, and dead money is not a killer. They made them, they almost made they did make the playoffs. Was that much dead money? But they like eight, you know, tens and tens of millions of dollars in dead money last year.

So it shouldn't be said now he's the defensive Kobe Turner is the defensive rookie of the year.

Of Greg Rosenthal, I said, votes I think he's going to get.

Called him it outright, but I could be wrong.

He's in that world.

I mean, he's gotta he's probably.

Gotta come in third if I had to get McVeigh came out, you know, and this is no surprise, completely strongly and said we're win one hundred percent behind Matthew Stafford for next season. I'm with you that you know that there is the health concern with.

Stafford and Donald also confirmed they're both coming back whicheah.

So you don't have it's not an immediate offseason thing. But like they put a fourth round pick into Stetson Bennett, one of the few players that didn't work out last year. It's like there is a world where you, if you're Saan McVay, you want to keep firing and bringing in quarterbacks and developing and getting something because that's the time.

Though I think, I think, I think it is exactly money and that that costs resources. Don't you want to?

I think saying like, not a high draft, keep bringing in quarterbacks and then then there'll be a time to go, maybe chase a veteran, but like you've got an MVP level quarterback for next season, and.

That's what I mean, like, use your any premium picks and your money, like build around him and go for it.

Most likely. I agree.

Oh though this is you know, by all accounts of really deep quarterback class, it would not surprise me at all if they look heavily into a first or second round quarterback, because now, to me is the time I really believe in that. I think the Packers have shown that that's a great way to do. I think the Patriots used to back in the day and it was smart. And maybe it's not your first round pick, but maybe maybe your second.

See now, see now I don't agree with you anymore because I I I agreed with your initial conceit, but I would say that if you're going to go all in in this short window where you only got how many elite years left you have of Stafford and Donald and Cupp, you know, like this is the time.

That was the hole that Cabo killed the Packers for taking love. I think they dedicate with free agency, with trade, certainly with their other draft picks. But they got to be feeling pretty good. They just got four more weight bearing walls. Maybe they're not walls quite yet, but four rookie starters who are going to play for them for four years without having a first round pick in a Vila and Byron Young, and so I think they'll feel

Go ahead, Mark would I would point to a team that lost the Cleveland Browns and they had a, you know, a nice season. I mean it ended on a high note before the playoff game when you went out and got Flacco, and I think it's like cool, Kevin Stefanski might be the coach of the year, and a lot of this stuff was good, except you look at what's happened since today. They fire Stunt Mitchell, the running back coach who's a very good running backs coach and went

This is just speculation, but.

I wonder if the decision to make the move with some of those coaches is the organization kind of just moving forward and understanding that was a lot of fun with Joe and we got to the playoffs and it

Is, Gregy.

A lot of this can be covered over these challenges if the QB now comes back healthy and performs at a high level. But now there's enough time that's passed since the Houston years and a very serious shoulder injury where you really have very real concerns, and it's also like, man, you gave him a fully guaranteed contract, right, which makes things infinitely more difficult.

Yeah, they they will likely move the money around in his contract and open up a ton you can create like thirty million dollars a cap space like that.

It's nothing, And I would anticipate this is.

It was a five year deal. It's only a year three.

It's only year three, so at this point they're not going to stop pushing that money. And when you look at the big number of this year, they made it that way last year, they already did it on purpose, knowing that they're going to move it again this year. I was I was pretty surprised they fired all these longtime coaches. Van Pie was there for a while, and Stefanski's an offensive coach, and I know he's the one calling the plays. But I think you're you're right Dan

I want the Browns to shock the world, give a nice contract and be like, you go against Deshan this summer.

I mean, there are a lot of Browns fans out there obviously rooting hard for Baker Mayfield, and I mean, I think there's got to be something that's right, that wrong, that would be fat, that would be totally intriguing, and.

Be like, Baker, we can't give you like a big contract, but we're not joking around here. You go against Watson this summer and we're gonna give you. We're gonna pick the best quarterback.

That'll be a healthy atmosphere for everyone.

All right, let's sift through some more wreckage.

All right, I gotta move that's a toilet bowl up, there's a baby, got it?

Say? All right? Moving on?

Okay, dog collar, don't see the dog? Okay, here we go, Zaddy, there he is. What's up, Zaddy?

I'm wondering, and I'm wondering.

And by the time this podcast hits, who knows, maybe Zaddy's out of a job, in which case of apologies, but just still enjoy the conversation. I'm wondering if if the reason Mike McCarthy hasn't been fired yet is because Jerry is very seriously considering not firing Mike McCarthy. And I know that's not what people want to hear, because Mike McCarthy's not overly popular or seen as a difference maker. But I also see the other side of this, which

Give him the contract or not, don't let him play.

Out the contract, just like the Minnesota Vikings did. And he's got one year left on his deal. So I wonder if that's a conversation at the Star right now. And Jerah, who likes working with Mike McCarthy, and I think he believes in McCarthy, wants to maybe push this one more year, as much as that doesn't please I think people outside that building.

I wonder if Jerah still believed.

Like, the thing I could completely get on board with is not giving Dak a new contract, not making Dak Prescott the highest paid quarterback in the league.

I like, I here's the thing with the quarterback.

He'll be the worst thing.

About If you're a top I would say, thirteen quarterback, you will be the highest paid quarterback.

In the league. Why that's Maybe that's wrong though.

But why does that have to happen right now? Though? Like I mean, I guess I think it's fair to wonder, like to have a bit of a wandering eye. With the whole Dak Prescott experience, I get to like the like sample size, big season, Like he was right in that MVP conversation.

It looks like he'll be the second I think he was the second team All Pro slightly over and he's thirty.

Yeah, probably just exhausted because I feel just exhaustion with Dak Prescott versus it's sometimes like looking at actually who he is.

Technically the hot taker move here is just and that's almost what the Cowboys exist now just for uh hot talk radio and these talking head TV shows to have their mid January to February filled up. Like I'm not saying they should dump Dak and like Dak is actually the problem Mike McCarthy, who I love is I'm just saying, like, if it's truly if you want to look at this globally, it's a combination of everything and getting rid of McCarthy to bring someone else, but then keep right Jack, who

But the everything is Jerry Jones, Like that's the everything, because yes, they can run it back and I don't think that's crazy. And some respected reporters in Dallas are with you Dan that the longer this drags one, the more they think there's a chance for McCarthy that he is going to end up staying. But it's like, we just went through that all in one more time season and it's just tough with this team in general, because

But it.

It's tricky because like what like if you say, like, okay, this is it the last time, Like they kind of were saying that this year too, you know, and they were they talked so well and it all seemed different, and then it wasn't different.

Yeah, this will and this loss, don't get me wrong, was worse than the others the last couple of years. They were getting beat by truly big time teams. Not to take anything away from the Packers in their in their rise here, but that was That's the type of loss. If McCarthy does get fired, he does deserve it because there.

Was just so much pressure on that game and they flop.

But I just think it's a little bit if they go and fire him and bring in I don't know, Bobby Slowick, Like you still got Dak and you still got the same core of a team that melted down last year. Don't be surprised that we're having the same conversation next year, just with a different head coach.

Here's the thing now, actually in this I don't think this is how to take you, but I think now would be the time to trade Dak his value, Like it wouldn't be after he's like you you play it out and you get to the franchise tag and it's kind of like a mid level year. And then it like if you want to be bold about it, be bold,

You go, imagine what you would get for Dak right.

Now, we've talked about that.

You would get it.

You would maybe get a top five draft pick, you would get.

An We've talked about it for years.

Greg Garrod loves his stars and loyal to his stars, and he I think he sees Dak Prescott at a level of QB and in fairness, and it got a little quiet in the amongst the footballcent They the you know, Dak, I don't think he's got enough criticism for how poorly played.

That game, for all the talk.

And it's not just you, Greg, and I was I was very positive about thatac this year too, but like he flopped epically in that game, a game that the defense, yes, pooped the bed, but there was a world where Dak says effet that we're not going out like this. I'm putting up forty points too, and let's see what happens, and they just weren't up for it.

So it's just like, how much longer do.

We We could look at McCarthy because he's the easy target and he's a bigger target, but Bett.

McCarthy is the easy target, but it's also a fair target.

I didn't say it's unfair, but I'm saying, don't say this is McCarthy's fault and then not look at the QB.

I'll look at both, and I'll look at the experience of the entire team. First of all, was a year ago when McCarthy's like, I'm gonna make my big move. I'm firing our offensive coordinator because I'm better. And look, their offense was great in a lot of ways, but collapsed at the exact same time they collapsed the year before. In the year before.

It's like, but I'm gonna say, I'm just gonna say, like, I think they collapsed in large part because the QB played like on Sunday, Like I don't know how much.

That happened on but that happened in big loss.

I just don't know how much for the way that well, Okay, I.

Mean I guess like you can, it's two pieces of the same pie. But I mean what we're talking about is like what you're talking about, I think for the most part is like four drives and that was it this season was the defense because because I disagree, like the defense had an all time meltdown and Dak couldn't afford to have four slow drives and that was all it was. It was like a couple of punts and it was those interceptions. And you're right, those four drives. I mean, the pick six ended the game.

He was a disaster on those four drives, no argument, and the game was basically over after those four drives.

After that, you know, it's like I think.

If you're Jerry Jones, like you're in Texas and your minds exploding watching C. J. Stroud, who costs very little money, uh, executing like a team in this rookie season in the playoffs, where yours who is selling rated with like twenty five minute long press conferences and endless money melts down.

You throw those press conferences and you spend that money like Jarah, Jerry's been telling us Dak is a Hall of Fame great for years now, right, we just haven't seen it.

Cowboys are great. It's like, I don't. I kind of thing is like, these are just stories, they're storylines, narratives. I don't want to read this story again.

Right.

But the thing that is so hard is it when you say everything to me, it's that's Jerry Jones. And so there's something here that you can't you can't put your finger on in terms of like they feel the heat in a big spot, because yeah, Dak had the worst four quarters of his life, I mean the worst four drives I would say of his career considering the spot, and then played well after that, but the game was

So it's kind of like, what the what the hell? What do we do?

Like organizational you know what I mean?

With you?

I'm Dak and he's the quarterback. But it's like everyone sucked and that's why.

They're in a tough spot because I guess.

The the kind of basic move is like fire the coach and they're having the same conversation with Philadelphia right now. But if you keep everything else for the most part, can you really expect a change because they.

Obviously need to. All right, Uh, Greg, you want to do a quickie.

I'll do a quickie on a team that is out of the playoffs. It's the Seattle Seahawks. John Schneider held a press conference on Tuesday.

I just found you're not an alternate site. This is not the wild guard side. This is a site well, but they're reconstructing. They expected to be back in the playoffs. They had that loss of the Steelers that knocked them out. They were in position.

And this press conference was fascinating because it made first of all, Schneider, I don't know if you rubbed me the wrong way, but he was enjoying. He's the man now. It's very clear he has all the personnel say. He had no say over the old coaching staff. He didn't ultimately have the personnel say. With Pete Carroll, they made a choice. John Schneider's running this organization, and he said he wanted to modernize and get younger in their interview

That's great.

He's been there a long time, they know him, and it was just I thought telling and that this thing that like it's all like he has now a ton of power compared to whatever coach is going to come in an interesting kind of twist on this reconstruction. I think got a little lost in the shuffle, understandably because we were all celebrating Pete Carroll as we should a week ago of like how this went down. It was kind of interesting that the owner.

I don't feel like stunned that he has been elevated in power through all of this. Yes, I mean he won that tussle. If there was a tussle, it felt like a friendly tussle. But yes, he's the right guy to do that considering who else is there, which is essentially nobody. It will depend what coach like they hire

And I think the coach, yeah, basically it might be.

But like I think that's where the Schneider thing comes into it, where it's like.

He wasn't effusive when they asked him about it. He said, well, I thought it was kind of like the flip side of Gino's first year where he started off a little slow this year and finished really strong, which was kind of the opposite of his first year, which.

Was, you know, not great praise. But depends on who comes in.

They've requested interviews with Patrick Graham, Frank Smith, who's McDaniels OC in Miami. I I have a feeling Frank Smith's going to get a job in this cycle. Raheem Morris, Dan Quinn, Ben Johnson. We'll see Schneider is signed through.

His contract goes through the twenty twenty seven drafts, so he's locked in there. And this is just you know, he said this in the interview. Apologies if you already said it. Great, but our setup earlier was the coaching staff did not fall under my umbrella, and now it will.

Yes, he really is there, you go, he is.

God really emphasized that that I think he didn't love Carroll's staff choices, especially.

On the defensive.

It's not necessarily a Jodie Allen decision or choosing this person to that person.

It's just a contractual situation. Okay, I don't know what that means.

He also talked about keeping the positive nature of the Pete Carroll experience intact that as a must for whoever comes in. So make sure when you're interviewing for the Seahawks job, make that, by.

The way, not for nothing.

We all love Pete cow right, maybe the most famous gum chewer in the history of the NFL.

Now he's out of a job, right, But I'd say you started chewing gum rough sixty seven years ago, So just say back to my industry.

I'm giving, I'm giving. You're a little pop here, right. Maybe he was forced out because of gum.

How about you know it's part of it because it didn't seem like this is happening because of his age here, But like I when people are like, oh, let's have part of it, like Belichick and Harbaugh, would be like a good shirt short term coach for a kind of ready made team, Like what are they called key ready team? I mean Pete Carroll to me, turkey turnkey, turnkey operation.

Like would that be that crazy?

I don't know, more so than Bill not get any buzz, so it doesn't seem like this is happening. But to me, that actually makes more sense to me as like a guy who's gonna come in that's already ready and just try to win for a couple of years.

Like anybody that's coaching the Cowboys is doomed. They're just doomed. So it doesn't matter.

Like maybe that's the only thing we should have said before, Like this organization is just swarming with ghosts now, and you need, like Peter Vankman, if you really want to find your way out of this. What Pete going down there? See that positivity gets zapped away in the middle of January. Oh, we're not sure what happened. Everything just changed. Pete's got it, HET's got the ghosts. Good Ghostbusters reference.

There an you name any of the Ghostbusters characters, Bill Murray, not the actor characters.

No salt in the theater.

Though you saw the first the first.

One, yeah, I mean as a child, I mean young person.

Eighty four, I saw I saw the second one eighty nine. Sneaky, terrifying. The movies in the eighties that were supposed to be kid friendly many times had elements that I just wouldn't. I wasn't ready for the fact that the painting. I was scared aim to life and he was a horrific man.

That was scary.

There's also a scene where a witch flies in from the sky into this high rise condo in New York and never steals the baby.

Takes a good.

Situation for anyone involves other than the witch.

I didn't sleep well. I'm gonna tell you that you have a quickie, Mark.

I will, I will, I will keep this quick. This is a team that, like you know, hit wreckage two weeks ago, and we almost never talked about this team, the Commanders, but I think collateral damage of what's happened to two teams in the Cowboys and Eagles that we

He felt like the bell of the GM ball absolutely like the most competitive high. He's like the Ben Johnson of the GMS this year, and they paid him a lot of money.

And Ben Johnson people are suggesting that no matter who they go talk to that Ben Johnson is likely the number one target as your head coach. So that pairing right there is intriguing. And the number two pick, second overall pick. It was on my list, Greg, I will get to it. Six top picks in the top one hundred, they have the most cap space in the.

Least just step on his number two overall take.

Well, I'm just like I have a simple list. I'm trying to get through. But they have a laundry list of draft picks. And I think find like a capable GM. And because you traded Montes Sweat and Chase young away, it's like I would want Sweats still potentially I would, But like Ron rivera somehow exited the organization with doing like an anti Levey Smith. He could not have been a better soldier from wire to wire for that organization and left with them in great shape For the next coach.

In Gas, somebody to fail at dignity. Ron River's your man.

He will be your man. I just think like if the Eagles are what we think they are right now, and they're going to go through a lot of flux and change, and maybe the quarterback isn't who we thought, and the Cowboys continue to sit and spin on this plan, or they're going to bring everyone back and be the

I'm just not ready to talk about the Commanders right now.

It's just more. It's it's much more because to Dallas and Philadelphia.

Though I've blocked them out mentally, to me, those teams don't exist. They're on that list of teams that do not exist for me right now. So I don't even know who you're talking about.

Okay, well they've been flushed, they're gone, but.

We will talk about it.

I had been a joy being part of this experience.

No, but Greg was way into it.

I know he was, so you Yeah, you kind of snapped at Greg.

But I couldn't even hear you were the Charlie Brown teacher when you were talking about whatever that I don't.

Even remember the name.

I see. That is the role that I continually play on this show, and according to your ears, so I will keep doing that.

Oh Mark, Oh Mark, How I love the quick one. I'm annoyed on the Eagles. If I'm Jeffrey Lourie and Bradley Cooper, I'm sitting down with Jason Kelcey and it's not talking about retirement or any of that, although it looks like he's retiring, but I'm gonna just find out.

I just need the dirt. Man. You just got to give me.

Tell me the real stuff, because I know you get it and you see tell me if the coaches need to go, tell me.

Which guys are cancers in the locker room?

Do the organization this one last solid, and let us know what the hell happened here, because I think Jason Kelsey is the type of dude that could give you some straight answers. Because I think beyond Nick Sierian Syriani's inability to stop the bleeding, I think there was some maybe bad apples in that locker room and the chemistry of the team went south. Too, and that happens in all different sports. So somebody has to tell Bradley Cooper

I think I think he could be going. I mean, he's also sort of the American Office on some level too, which crashed and burned hard at the end where it was likely we've solved all these storylines. It's been great, and you're still on for four more years? Will you need to make money?

We get it, everyone had to pay the bills. Will be a Hall of Famer someday. Ye know, if Matt Ryan had just put it on his hands a little more in that wild Card game, Eagles maybe never win that Super Bowl. People kind of forget the Falcons had a real chance at that had a one on one matchup and Ryan skies it out of the end zone. I'm like, second down, I believe, I'm with you. I have a feeling this Eagles news one way or another is coming today.

So no need to say too much more.

We have a show tomorrow, so we do. Yeah, we could say more than clean up the wreckage of this segment on tomorrow's show. How about that.

Tomorrow?

Yes, it is the divisional round preview, so we'll break down all the games.

And they're all excellent. I mean there's not.

Sometimes you know, someone sneaks through the wildcard round and it's a nice story, and then you start getting toward the next week of foot Player, like, eh, now you're gonna get killed.

We're cleaning them up next.

And now instead of like four great games, we're gonna have this one game that sucks and then we have to hope the other. No, I think you can make a for every game here, Greg, give me one game you're certain about the outcome on Saturday.

Now I don't. I don't have one.

I do.

Texans beat Ravens.

Oh, you want it, you need it.

It's happening.

You want it, you need it. I have to follow it. I have. Well, that's that's a good tease.

I have to follow up on what I said on Sunday, which is one of those teams the Darlings, the Texans, and the Packers will win. So I got to pick one of them? Will you lock up a team? That's These are all things that we need to talk about. Yes, Winston z Moore, Raymond Stands, and doctor Egon.

Spangler were the rest of the Ghostbusters with doctor Peter Bankman.

Which one was Murray.

Doctor Okay, Peter Veakman.

I'm surprised.

I don't know you are so plugged in on this film.

I haven't young children.

I've watched the Ghostbuster films many times in the last five years.

Ghostbusters has had a surprising long shelf life. I wouldn't say it had like a huge impact on my upbringing, although I do have a lot of the Bobby Brown Vego rap memorized in my head. But I was surprised at there to do it Halloween. How many little kids are still wearing Ghostbusters gear. So it's still happened.

Well, the new movie that came out was very good. I thought too, that hooked them back in. I mean that happened to My kids too.

Got the stranger things. Kids in it always are smart. We'll get rud involved.

It's a natural. That's when you do keep recreating because it's like kids and ghosts at least.

Got it well together. Thank you, Paul Rudd. All right, that's it. We'll be back on Thursday. Until then, you know what you need to do. Heed the call.