Colin Cowherd Podcast - Chris Mortensen, Kirk Cousins The Top Target? NFL Free Agency, Russ To Steelers? More Turbulence For The Jets - podcast episode cover

Colin Cowherd Podcast - Chris Mortensen, Kirk Cousins The Top Target? NFL Free Agency, Russ To Steelers? More Turbulence For The Jets

Mar 04, 20241 hr 2 min
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Episode description

Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to talk offseason football!

They start the show on a somber note following the passing of legendary NFL reporter Chris Mortensen and reflect on his life and impact in the football world. (3:30)

They weigh in on the future of Kirk Cousins and why he is likely the #1 free agent domino to fall (6:00), and why Justin Fields hasn’t drawn much interest as a trade target (13:00). They talk about the latest episodes of the “Dynasty” documentary with the focus being Aaron Hernandez and why the Patriots weren’t willing to trade him away (15:30).

They dive into the Steelers seemingly being willing to lower their high standards if they stick with Kenny Pickett (26:30) and why signing Russell Wilson makes sense for Mike Tomlin’s team (32:00). They point to Washington as next year’s “surprise” team (38:00) and debate the draft status of Michael Penix Jr. (42:00).

They look at the Jets rough o-line situation (57:00) and Aaron Rodgers’ suspect choices for teammates (1:02:00) and predict more turbulence ahead for gang green.

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.)

Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #Herd #3andOut

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Speaker 1

The volume.

Speaker 2

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Speaker 2

All right, welcome in it's our usual Sunday hour. John Middlecoff, former NFL scout who just got back from the Combine like Thursday night, after spending four or five days there. For the volume, we certainly appreciated that I should mention right off the top. Chris Mortenson passed away today. He'd been battling cancer for some time. He was seventy two

years old. Mort was one of the more respected you know, he was as kind as he was wise, one of those kind of guys that I think transcended eras Paul Zimmerman Sports Illustrated the first like NFL guy I remember, like what you would call like your beat columnist, Peter King. Chris Mortenson. He came from the Atlanta Journal Constitution where he was breaking stories down there. Just a really nice guy. How was he viewed in the league, John, I mean,

these guys now it's basically about breaking story. Schefter took kind of Mortenson's role, and it's like minute to minute breaking stories. Chris grew up in a generation without the iPhone. It was more about contextualizing stories and breaking stories. How was he viewed her on the league?

Speaker 1

Yeah, I think people loved him. I mean I saw Peyton Manning, who obviously was very close with him in the Manning family in general. You know, when I think about football, like like you said, I mean growing up in the nineties, Chris Mortenson, Peter King, I mean those guys really, you know, from outside of people broadcasting games like a John Madden played an integral role, integral role

and all of us that love football. I mean the access that they had, it's so I mean you can find out everything now on social media and all these articles or all these blogs. They had something that not many people had, and that was information. So I think he was a trailblazer that way for sure. Uh and just an awful day obviously had been sick for a while, sucks.

I mean, he's I think he's one of the key figures in terms of like NFL reporting NFL just stories and someone that you had to go to for information before inform when information was really really hard to get and it was much more difficult to communicate.

Speaker 2

Yeah, and uh, you know, he was one of the first guys that was a beacon right at a major network. I mean remember sports departments at the network level were just abcnbccbs. You didn't get daily stuff. They were basically on for the weekends. And then guys like mort who were on this this this initially tiny cable outfit that could give you hour by hour, day by day report. It made kind of rock stars out of all of them.

And mort oas helett and check in terms of gratitude, very very gracious, you know, rest in peace to Chris Mortens and one of the old time greats.

Speaker 1

You were. You know.

Speaker 2

The combine. I think it's kind of interesting is that everybody likes Kirk Cousins everybody. And somebody the other day said this, They said, you know, everybody talks about Russell Wilson and Justin Fields and Baker Mayfield. And this person said, you know, he's got like a career ninety nine passer rating and completed sixty nine percent of his throws last year, And I mean is a proven high accuracy, high values, win a bunch of game quarterback. When you were at

the combine a lot of stuff. Guy like me in the opinion space, we don't talk about Kirk Cousins because he doesn't make news. You know, he's just very quiet. But when you're at the combine, how is that Atlanta opening viewed? For instance?

Speaker 1

Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people think that Cousins is the biggest domino to fall in terms of he's the number one target for the teams that are aggressively going to try to get a quarterback here in two weeks or whenever the official date is the thirteenth. Because Justin Fields is not viewed very highly. He's viewed highly on Twitter, not by NFL gms and coaches, right, not people that are trying to win nine ten games

last year. And Russell's a little more fascinating because he's a very interesting guy because his money's going to be low. But you always talk about this when you're really famous coming into a place, it's a little more complicated, right with Russell, even though actually number wise he wasn't terrible. He resurrected his career based on two years ago. He was terrible. Cousins before he tore that Achilles remember that

money and I came against the forty nine ers. He looked at Peyton Manning he had really kind.

Speaker 2

Of oh and the year before he had a game at Buffalo against Josh Allen and outdueled him. He has He's got a list of six or seven games against Mahomes, Josh Allen, the Niners where he has been the best player on the field.

Speaker 1

I think he mastered his talent right. He knows exactly what he is and his mind. You know, a lot of quarterbacks talk about this right that they get as they get older. They realize the game becomes easier than the problem is their physical skills diminish. Right. Tom's like, I've never been smarter a football. I just don't want to get hit anymore. Peyton Manning's arm was shot, Drew Brees's arm was shot. Cousins did get injured, though, and

a pretty major injury. I was with his agent one night, who I've known for a long time, obviously loves him. I mean they've made a lot of money together. He got a special contraption that like a lot of I'm sure facilities have and like hospitals have when it comes to rehabbing the achilles, because that's so much money. He just bought it for his house. You know, this is the guy that takes this stuff very, very seriously, and I guess that's gone really well. He's like, we've put

out videos of him moving around. They're not bounding their chest like Aaron Rodgers, like this is going to be a three month but they think all things can considered with the injury. Here's the other thing, Colin. His game isn't predicated on running around, right, Like when a corner or a wide receiver tears an achilles, you go even Rogers, like a big part of Rogers' game is the movement. Cousins is Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Philip River. He has a move so when you look at it, you go, well,

if he's healthy, it's not like you have to worry. Well, he's not as fast we never ran to begin with. So you're getting a guy, I think Atlanta. I mean a lot of signs are pointing to that. Now. He's not cheap, right, and he's proven like that. From a business standpoint, they have been very like they don't take discounts, so you're not getting the guy for two years sixty million dollars would you be willing to give him, you know, seventy eighty ninety million dollars guaranteed for sure. You know

it's a three four year contract. But if he's healthy, I mean, Atlanta could all of a sudden be an intriguing, you know, playoff level contender. I mean, hell, they were kind of right there this year for a long periods during the season, but their quarterback played like me or you.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I mean it's interesting in this league. There's there's sort of three levels of successful quarterbacks. The stars, you know, and we all know who those are, Mahomes, Lamar Josh.

Speaker 1

It's a small handful two.

Speaker 2

Yeah, very small, six seven. And then the rising young stars people are excited about, you know, c J. Stroud, you know, Trevor Lawrence, Jalen Hurts, whoever. And then there's the guys that you know there'll be no chaos, Jared Goff, Dak Prescott, Kirk Cousins. I think Goff's the most talented of those. But there they don't get the fan base necessarily excited, but the minute they land, you start winning double digit games. I mean, say what you want about Dak.

He may he may have a lower ceiling. Dak gets you into the playoffs. Dak wins on twelve games three years in a row. So I find like Kirk Cousins, he's almost you juxta oppose him with justin Fields. He's the opposite. There's no flash, no excitement, there's no topics. But I just get sixty nine percent completion percentage and not a lot of doesn't miss a lot of games, doesn't turn it over a lot moves the chains. If he doesn't score, he puts your defense in pretty good

field position. So I think within the league there's a great appreciation for guys like Golf and guys like Kirk Cusions. I just don't think in the media there is.

Speaker 1

I think one thing, too, is this offense from the Shanahan family is so invoke every team's running it. You have the league is right. The Atlanta Falcons Raheem Morris, brings Zach Robinson. What are they gonna run mcveay Shanahan's offense? And I was talking to Jason light about it. They just hired Liam Cohen, who used to be with the Rams, McVeigh offense. I said, why do you like this offense so much? From a scouting perspective? He say, it's very

quarterback friendly. Now the quarterback still needs to be accurate within that quarterback front. The Jets ran the Shanahan offense for Zach Wilson. Howd that go? Like, you need to be accurate? Well, what is Cousins very very accurate? What is justin fields for example, not very accurate? Listen, Cam Newton, who is you know the conversation about things he has said he wasn't an elite talent, I mean an all time talent at that size, that movement, that arm strength.

His accuracy was horrendous. I mean he was not a very He had to overcome it with all that other stuff, and he had it unlike probably less than two or three guys in the league history. But what happened early thirties. If you're not accurate, you can't even function the league

because you're no longer running around cousins. As long as you have the arm right that Peyton and Breeze lost, you can function late into your career, right, especially in this league where the quarterback this isn't nineteen to eighty five in the Chicago Bears in.

Speaker 2

You yeah, you know. The other thing I find fascinating with Justin Fields is Lamar Jackson and when seventy six percent of his starts and I swear to God, I'm constantly defending him. He's just a winning quarterback and I think he's more a nimble athletically than Justin Fields. Justin Fields is like ten and twenty eight turnovers, bad second

half quarterback, and he has defenders at every turn. It was interesting in Chicago most of this year they defended him and then in the final week he faced Jordan Love and you just saw this chasm, this gap, and then it all went away. You can go back to weeks twelve thirteen. There were a lot of Justin Field's supporters in Chicago, but I think when he matched up.

Speaker 1

They were playing on some of those wins. I mean, it was the level competition was a joke.

Speaker 2

Yeah, So, I yeah, I think Justin Fields. I think in the league, as you pointed out, people are realistic about it, but there is a difference between the public perception and people in the league. And I think back to our initial point, Kirk Cousins well Well represented a lot of fans in the league.

Speaker 1

Like, I talked to someone who is around Lamar Jackson, who I think has completely changed anyone that had any questions about him after this season, really kind of mastered his skill set. But what happened in that in the playoff game against the Chiefs, he kind of resorted back to a couple of years ago. Talked to someone around the Ravens. He thought the big issue was is one the offensive coordinator had a weird day. He tightened ut. But Lamar, when he gets around Patrick, he thought it

was like playing Tiger Woods. First couple of holes, a couple of birdies, you get tight, and that threw them off because that guy, he's like, I've been around this guy for years now. That guy was not the guy that I saw season long, and we felt it. And let's let's face it, that's what Patrick, That's what Michael Jordan did, That's what Tiger Woods does, That's what Tom Brady did. They just make you unravel a little bit. And I think that's like I think the Ravens, like,

I'm not betting against him this year. They're gonna be good again, I'm sure, and they just have to avoid that or have the moment, which never really happened to Michael Jordan in the nineties, like can you ever take down that guy and it's on you mentally as much as it is physically. Yeah.

Speaker 2

No, I think that's a real thing. I said in the Super Bowl with Patrick Mahomes, I thought Kyle Shanahan thought to himself, I want the ball first and third. I don't know if you do that if it's any other quarterback not named Patrick Mahomes. I think if it's like Jalen Hurts, You're like, you give him the ball first, we'll react to it. We can stop him. I think with Mahomes it changes even Kyle Shanahan's thinking, well, probably won't stop them. At least give us the ball third,

give us another shot to move the rock. So I think your point to well taken. It by the way I saw you had a tweet. You are critical. I've watched The Dynasty all the episodes. So the book is obviously by Jeff Benedict. It takes a very favorable you know, the criticism of it. It's very much about the crafts. So the Aaron Hernandez it was episode six. So the first thing about Aaron Hernandez is Ernie Adams said during that hey, he was a first round talent and a

fourth round pick. We knew there were headaches. It is remarkable that he never even entered his prime in the NFL and averaged sixty catches and six touchdowns. With Gronk on the other side.

Speaker 1

He was the second best player on the team behind Brady immediately.

Speaker 2

And if you go back to watch some of those videos, I don't think I've ever seen, including Travis Kelcey or Kellen Winslow, I've never seen a tight end run like that. Patrick Chung was a guest on my show and I worked at the other place, and I asked him one time, who's the toughest guy in the league to defend? He goes, not even close. He goes, it's Aaron Hernandez and he had Gronk on the team. He goes, no, Aaron. He goes,

Aaron's faster. You can't. Aaron's just different. He's a wide receiver playing tight end, and he's just you know, he's twenty five to thirty five pounds bigger than a strong wide receiver. But there is you know, I mean, Gronk and Belichick want nothing to do with the Aaron Hernandez story, and you said it bothered you the portrayal. It was a very Bob Craft supportive on Aaron Hernandez.

Speaker 1

I actually think it's very Jonathan Craft too. Who. I think it's pretty clear if you've ever been around the dynamics of an older business owner and maybe his right hand employee that he's leaned on to make a lot of money, their dynamic is always unique. Well in any family business, that child underneath the dad, that person that's made the dad all the money, does not view the child like the dad. Right. And Jonathan Craft in that episode,

Brady didn't say was never interviewed for it. He won't touch it, has never right, has not touched it since it happened. Gronk was not interviewed in that. Belichick, I'll give him credit, was willing to sit there in front of the camera. He didn't really take it. Robert Craft kind of went back and forth it. I loved him like a child the moment the murder happened. Robert's like I was going to get him a defense attorney. Jonathan Craft, who,

let's face it, is trying to shape the organization. Father's over eighty. Belichick's now gone. He's viewing himself like, this is my Clark Hunt time, this is my John Maher time, This is my time, said I was telling everybody get rid of them, right and no, it's like, give me a break. Even if you like Belichick doesn't want to

murder around his team, your dad doesn't either. I just think Jonathan Craft is really utilizing this documentary like I think Robert is pretty genuine whatever he says he said before in the past, This is more shaping it for This is Jonathan Craft's team and it's gonna be I hope his dad doesn't pass away for a while, but he's getting up there in age like this is He's gonna play a very, very prominent role for this squad. And I can imagine it's been reported on a little bit.

Doesn't like Belichick, Well why would he. I've met Belichick treated him like shit, And in fairness to Bill if your Bill, like, how do you respect this guy? Right when when I'm dealing with your dad and I think this is a And there have been reports that Bill is not happy with this the way this makes him look, because it makes him look like a scumback, which listen. A lot of people don't view Belichick like his mother Teresa. But was this necessary? It feels a little calculated the timing,

and this is not the players. You know, Tom and Gronk and Adaman, all these guys speak very highly to Bill. I do think Jonathan Kraft, though, wants to start like being anti Bill and anti everything that went on beside the Super Bowls and kind of a new sheriff in town, which is human nature how most children do when they inherit stuff. They kind of get rid of some of the people that were mean to him. Mark Davis did the same thing with Al's guys.

Speaker 2

Yeah, you know, it's funny. Wes Welker was the one guy that came out and said, yeah, it was obvious. A lot of guys trash talk and talk bullshit in the locker room. He's like, yeah, Aaron would say things that were just not like that. And then they played a piece of audio tape of Aaron talking about something that was pretty obscene and yeah, I mean you go back to his family, the whole Aaron Hernan his family, there was a there was a lot of truck going there.

It was a lot going on, but it's pretty coldful.

Speaker 1

I don't blame the Patriots for the murder. I mean, no one in the right mind. I just felt like Jonathan Kraft kind of tried to point the fingers specifically at Bill, like Bill would have been cool playing with a murderer. Like, no one, no one in that building, full high character guys knew what was going on clearly, I mean, murdered the guy right down the street from his house and clearly had murdered people before. Yeah.

Speaker 2

And the other thing is, you can go to every organization, even that most of the top college programs. Listen, you can't have eighty five guys on scholarship in college. You're gonna roll the dice on some guy. You know. Nick Saban said, what do you want me to do if a guy gets in trouble, Throw him out onto the streets, or you want me to rehab him. He goes a lot of people that get into trouble end up being

great dads, great business people. And I completely you know, defend Saban in college or Belichick in the NFL, Aaron Hernandez. You can't blame anybody but Aaron. He's got to be culpable for him. Chris Carter said when he talks to rookies. They had a speech during the Dynasty where he said, you know, I had to look at myself in the mirror. Because Chris had kind of a turbulent early couple of

years in the NFL. Aaron asked a question directly to Chris at one of those symposiums, as if it was kind of a foretell on what was going to happen. He said, basically, how did you turn it around? And Chris is like, I look myself in the mirror, and I told friends that were bad influences, don't call me. Well.

Speaker 1

I also think when he goes to Bill and asks for a trade to the West Coast and then he does get traded, people are, oh, Bill, Bill's best player. Bill doesn't know what's going on. There was a lot going on. The other thing, I went out the night before I left with a scouting buddy and he brought

some other scouting buddies. One thing that can be very very difficult at these big programs, and I would put Florida under this umbrella, is so when you get these famous players and just players in general that are gonna get drafted, it's much harder to get the truth nowadays because it gets back to these programs so quickly of the recruiting elements that my friends have said, they have to work extra hard to get the on the character guys to really dig because you kind of get the

PC version of like, hey he's got some issues, but everything's fine. It's it takes a lot of effort. We're back in the day they tell you everything. They weren't worried about it now everyone with social media stories getting out.

Some of these programs are very very hesitant and they give you, you know, a very watered down version of what is going on, and they know what's truly going on because they're you know, helping some sweep some of the stuff under the rug because it all gets back to them and they don't want their program to look like it's anti player. So there are just a lot

of variables with this stuff. So like you know, obviously those Florida teams, Urban there's some craziness going on, right but just giving out the information at will, I don't care who you are. I mean, Bill's one of his best friends.

Speaker 2

Urban Meyer, Yeah, leaned on him heavily through the years. He and Saban because Bill doesn't watch college football. Herm Edwills, you know, got him. Nikhil Harry. Was it Nikhil Henry?

Speaker 1

No, it was Harry. It was Nikhil Harry, who I thought was pretty good college player, but god, he was terrible in the pros.

Speaker 2

Couldn't separate. So you know, you and I have been on this for a while that offensive coaches. McVeigh moved off Golf who got to a Super Bowl. Shanahan moved off Garoppolo that got to a Super Bowl. Andy Reid moved off Alex Smith, who consistently could get into the playoffs. The Steelers defensive culture are sticking with Kenny Pickett. When I see that, I think to myself, you understand Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, and really some really sharp coaches

are in the division. Do you think they're sticking with Kenny Pickett or they just don't want to publicly hammer a local kid because you can't watch him and think that's gonna win in the AFC. He could be the fourteenth to fifteenth best quarterback in the AFC.

Speaker 1

One thing, I heard a lot of Russell Wilson rumors to Pittsburgh just because with the Broncos paying almost forty million dollars. You can get him for a million dollars, so he's relatively cheap. But the moment you signed that, Russell's not competing for a job, right, He's better than Kenny Pickett. If that truly happens, and they're not interested in these other guys and don't are actively drafting a quarterback,

that's insane. One thing I've heard in the league is for a long period of time with Kevin Colbert, who was one of the best general managers in the league, and Mike Tomlin, who's a really solid coach. I mean, has some flaws, but Mike Tomlin's better than most. I do think this transition and their new front office, I don't think they're quite viewed like the same powerhouse, like the Ravens transition from Azzie, who works more than any retired human you'll ever see. I thought I retired three

years ago. You see him at the Comboy sitting right there. The Ravens didn't skip a beat, right, da Costa right there. I think the Steelers they got a lot going on, right when it comes to the transition in front off, which is natural. Most teams don't just go smooth GM to GM or coach to coach, and I just think they're an organization to kind of keep an eye on. Did I wonder if it's quite as how long can

you keep this up? Let's face it, fifty years they've been pretty consistent, like it's bound to maybe they'll go through a little downturn right now, but a lot of people in the NFL kind of have them a little red flagged operationally. I would say, not necessarily Tomblin, just the new GM, just the new thoughts from the front office. He's more of an analytical guy had come over originally. I think from the contract stuff. Kevin Colbert more of

an old school Rooney type scout. It's just something to peak at as we move on toward football.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I mean there's been you know, Tomlin has his defenders, and I like you, I think he in terms of you know, developing players, especially defensive players, they get better. He's a good motivator. There's some Pete Carroll there where he does a good job. You know, he's very good with young players giving him confidence, getting him into a system, and getting ramping young players up very quickly to play in this league and I don't think Pete was ever

good with old lines. I don't think Tomlin is. I don't think McDermott necessarily is where I think Andy Reid and Shanahan and McVeigh, you know, they're rebuilding those old lines. Last year, what McVeigh did with the old line of the Rams insane. He had tackles playing guards, guards, plan tackle. It was incredible. But I look at Tomlin and I think, you know, the standard of Pittsburgh for most of my life was like Super Bowls and AFC championships. Whenever I

hear this never had a losing season. It's so odd to me. Can you imagine McVeigh bragging about that, Like, I don't know, it's just like Pittsburgh's standard went down. And again you can go look at Dave wanstat wanstat when he was in Miami his four years there had a better winning percentage, I believe than Tomlin, and he got run. So I think it's one of those things where the Rooneys are reticent to make big sweeping changes

and Mike secure. But I just, off the top of my head when I think of Super Bowl teams, I haven't thought of the Steelers in seven eight years. I think of the Ravens immediately, I think of McVeigh and Shanahan immediately, I think of Andy Reid immediately. There's four Philadelphia as always in the mix. There's like five or six teams in the league. Baltimore's won. I just think

quarterback or not. It's like that structurally sound the standard in Pittsburgh Queer, I was anti pitt It's just like I consider them to be about like the twentieth best football team. If Kenny Pickett starts twentieth best football team in the league, well.

Speaker 1

Then factor in their division. Right. The Ravens have proven with Lamar Jackson as long as he's playing, even when he missed a couple of years ago in Huntley. But they're gonna be good with Lamar Jackson, right, They're not going away. The Bengals, who I had a pro scout. I remember Greg Papa told me this is the super Bowl. He's been calling games for twenty five years, the best game he's ever seen live. Joe Burrow this year against the forty nine ers, pro scout told me it was

the best game he saw on tape. Now, injuries are a question with Joe Burrow. What is not a question. If he's on the field, he's a dominant, elite player. And the Bengals haven't lost. They didn't lose their defensive coordinator, so they had the same play caller, the head coach, they have the quarterback, they have this infrastructure of an offense, they have an excellent defensive coordinator. If Joe Burrow plays a full season, which it's fair to question that right

now because he's been injured, they're a playoff team. So we're Pittsburgh benefited this year because Burrow. How many games did he play right? He was by middle of the season he tore his armyes out and they were still kind of competitive. But if he plays like Pittsburgh's definitely looking up at those two and the Browns. I talked to Stefanski for a little. Stefanski is an impressive guy. Yeah,

he's clearly a good play caller. Now they you know, Watson's cap hit this year goes from like nineteen to sixty these next three years, so they're gonna lose a lot of the depth. So they're I'm not feeling as strong, They're just gonna be as good. But I know the Ravens are good and I know the Bengals dominate when they got Joe Burrow. So you just look at the Steelers. They're very dependent on some of these MIKEU. Fitzpatricks and TJ. Watt having thirty sacks or else you're gonna win Eventually.

This is you're not gonna have one of those nine to eight seasons where you can pind your chest and you're gonna win five games. Yeah.

Speaker 2

So I'm gonna look up here very quickly the free agent period in the NFL. So what day does it start here?

Speaker 1

Well, the negotiations the eleven, Then he kicks off the.

Speaker 2

Thirteenth, so we're about ten days from it. Do you think? What do you think? So, if you had to hedge your bet here, give me your three biggest free agent signings.

Speaker 1

Well, I think I do think Kirk Cousin's gonna end up in Atlanta because I think they're gonna throw a lot of money at him. I mean, their owner, another guy over eighty ton of money. There's gonna be some urgency on them to win financially. This will be one of the lowest, but I do think it's by far the biggest headlines. I do think Russell Wilson and Pittsburgh makes some sense because Russell's been humbled a lot, right, And I also think, what's he going to do go

in there with TJ. Watt and MIKEA. Fitzpatrick and Cam Hayward and act kind of weird like it's not and Mike tomlin So and even Sean Payton kind of forced it like hey, you just either got to ship in or ship out.

Speaker 3

Now.

Speaker 1

Ultimately he was always gonna ship him out. But I think that's a place that is just I think it makes some sense because, like you said, the standard, you can't roll back Canny Pickett. There's pressure on you win the AFC. I mean you got Harbaugh. Now, the charges are gonna be good. Yeah, the Chiefs are a dynasty. Even Miami it's got some question marks, Like their coach is pretty good, they can score on offense, They're gonna be competitive the Bills, like it's the AFC is really

really hard. And then I think it'll be one of the defensive linemen. You know, one thing talking to It's always funny when you talk to pro scouts because I always assume, like, Eh, how's this organization. They're pretty impressive. We're like Yeah, I'm hearing some things. You know, you get that sometimes, right. We know that the Rams, the Niners, the Chiefs, the Ravens, but then there are all these like the Dolphins, and one thing I heard is they

got a lot of financial cap issues. Right. The Fangio thing was a disaster. A lot of theories at the combine, which makes sense. Hard and you and I have talked about this hard place to build a culture in Miami. When you have all these young guys in their twenties, beautiful women everywhere social media, it's easy to find stuff going on. Vic Fangio had had enough, no one would listen on there. Like his track record kind of speaks

for herself. He knows what he's doing. So Christian Wilkins, who's one of the better defensive tackles in the NFL. They're probably not gonna franchise them because I can't afford them, right, because of their cap situation. Very good, they're elite and those type guys don't often. It's a second contract hit the open market. Same thing with the defensive tackle ninety two for the Ravens. I screw up his name. I'd have got coach with the Ravens like he's like John Randall.

So when if those type players hit the market, I mean you're talking seventy eighty million dollars guaranteed and then you know the NFL contractor you got to decipher him, but probably one hundred and forty million dollar contract. So anytime defensive lineman hit offensive linemen usually don't you know the Cowboys Tyron Smith, Well, he's what thirty five years old,

he's been injured a million times. He's got the Chiefs or someone will sign him to a one year deal, but his name is bigger than is what you can But the young defensive linemen who are four or five years in they are going to get an astronomical amount of money if they true If Chris Joe just say, I mean what Kansas City is gonna have to pay them? Like Lugerious Snead who is a big time corner. But what are the Chiefs proof, Well, we just drafted Trent McDuffie.

Heach has proven he can draft dbs. So what will they do? I would imagine they're going to try to trade him to a team like the Lions desperate for a dB. Hey, this guy could be your star dB he's been a star for us. He's one you know his character, you know he's smart. You give us your late first round pick. Here's this guy, you give him sixty seventy million dollars guaranteed. Like that. Those are the type and that's what happens at the combine all those

type discussions. But look at the Chiefs. They're in position. Then keep a guy, they can trade a guy. And then you got a team like the Dolphins, one of their best players that they can't even franchise because financially doesn't even make sense on their books. So a lot of different organizations, who are you know, struggling? One thing I noticed, just because I know so many people with the Chiefs, it turns out I know a bunch a

lot of people with the Ravens. The top seven eight organizations are really just kind of competing with themselves.

Speaker 2

I know, yep, I.

Speaker 1

Mean ten organizations. You kind of walk around, you see people wearing the logo, You're like, you got no shot, you got no shot. And then a couple teams if they hit, like the Texans are clearly on the common moving forward, But a lot of teams they're just getting that four hundred million dollar check from the league. They're making some money, but they have no shot John in this league.

Speaker 2

One of the things I talked about last week on the show. I think it was last week or the week before. I was on vacation. I said, yeah, I came back and I talked about this. My takeaway when they said every team got an additional thirty an additional thirty million dollars in cap space because of the TV contracts. So that was a pleasant surprise to these cap strained

NFL teams. And my takeaway is you're going to see the same six to seven teams at the top because now Kansas City gets to they could franchise Tag Sneed or move him, and they got to keep Chris Jones, and so San Francisco a lot of discussion about what to do with Kittle, what do we do with both linebackers, But now you can keep them, and so I looked at that as the league becomes this surprisingly nimble revenue machine, all it does is make the NFL a bit more

like college football, where you kind of know the top six to eight programs annually. So I mean, the one team I think is very interesting as a breakthrough team is Washington because of all their cap space. I like their I don't know if I love Dan Quinn. I like the Kingsbury, Dan Combo. I think you have a very smart guy in the front office now the GM.

I like the cap space. I like their weapons. It's just I increasingly think Jayden Daniels is going to get picked over Drake May And I'm going to pivot to that in a second. But there's very few If I said to you, give me Houston this year, because if you really look at what happened, takes Cincinnati because they would have been good with Burrow. They always are. The only surprise in the late Green I mean, Detroit wasn't a surprise them to win the division? You did, everybody did.

We knew they were good and loaded. The only surprise was Houston. If I said give me the Houston, the only one I can look at is Washington, and the cap space is a big part of it.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I think it would be more like you would pick Green Bay is gonna win the Super Bowl. It'd be one of those teams that was a first or second or the Rams Super Bowl. It'd be that team that's already kind of that was one and done this year takes a big step and it's a thirteen to fourteen win team competing to be the number one seed. That's back to what I said about the group like,

it's the Lions are really well run. Now I met a guy who's out to lunch with one of my buddies from the Eagles the Packers, one of their number two guys comes over. You're just like, God, this guy's impressive. No wonder, they're well run. And you just see some of these other people. You hear some stories are pointing at these guys. You just this league. Like most industries, the best people usually work for the best teams. And when the shitty teams hire good people. Look at what

the Lions did. That GM they hired from the Rams is clearly really good. Yes. And dan Quinn is he ever gonna be? Really the mold he's in in the umbrella he's under. He's not a Shannon Handerma because he's not a true play caller. He's much more like a hardball brother. He's more of a leader, and you gotta give him credit. He's a good coach. Hire Look he hired and this is where you get credit. Ben Johnson, I'd never heard of Ben Johnson three years ago, and

you get a lot of credit for doing that. Like one thing that was clear with the Eagles. I've been around him and known these people fifteen year. They are a well run organization. They had a bad year hiring two assistant coaches. The two coordinators were whiffs. Well what they do. They went out and got Vic Fangio and they're paying Kellen More a ton of money, so they have no problem pivoting really fast. They don't go, well, let's just try to make this work. They're like, no,

you're gone. You're gone. And they're a little more cutthroat than some but it's why they're able to turn things over and figure it out quicker where some people hold on for dear life and the dan Quinn thing. Like I've known Adam Peters forever. I think Adam Peters is a superstar. Like I mean, I think he's a GM Yeah, Bob Myers, you know John Lynch, he's in that mold of just kind of has it right his personality. He played at UCLA. He's worked for Belichick, John Elway, and

John Lynch. Yeah, those are three guys. He's got rings multiple different teams, and was a big part of two Super Bowl teams with the forty nine ers. I think what Washington's looking for is this isn't apples d apples. But when Mark Jackson took over the Warriors, the Warriors had been shitty for a couple decades. He just got the train on the tracks. I think they just looking for dan Quinn, just get us competitive, Like we'd love for you to be one of the best coach in

the league. But if you just get us in a couple of years, we're just winning nine or ten games. That's where I think the Giants are in a little trouble. When you look at that division. The Cowboys a well run. Obviously, the Eagles have proven they're pretty consistent in their ability to find talent. Washington's gonna be dramatically better than they've been for twenty plus years. So the Giants have a lot of question mark, starting with their quarterback, which is

an al latrosh awful contract, and the coach. Let's face it, it was an impressive years first year. Turns out him and the defensive coordinator couldn't stand each other. Two years ago he walked out of the building. A lot of coaching turnover in that building, in the talent is just not great.

Speaker 2

Kind of wrapping up the combine, I want to talk about this. You know, when when I was younger, you know, some women you date and some you look at and think, you know, this could be long term. You could marry and that's okay. Women look at men just the same way. Some you date, some you marry. And I've thought about this for a long time as I watched the combine

and listened to all the quarterback talk. If you told me Michael Pennix gave me four years, I would draft him if I was a team that was just sort of stuck. If I was Sean Payton and somebody said, you know, he's available, It's funny. Whereas everybody else is viewed as a long term solution this league. Now by Thanksgiving of year two, people in the building are making

decisions on quarterbacks. I mean, I think the Giants coaches that they're not dan Neil Jones fans mara Is there's some sort of weird connectivity to Eli Manning and Daniel Jones, Southern kids, tall, dark hair, whatever. But I sort of look at Michael Pennix and I'm like, not every quarterback you draft has to be Brady. If you're in Washington's in chaos.

Speaker 1

Now.

Speaker 2

They're not going to get him with that pick, obviously, But if you start looking where Pennicks goes.

Speaker 1

Isn't two of the best example with Miami, he's not great, but he's just he just stabilized the franchise.

Speaker 2

Like I see Pennis in terms of throwing the football. You know, big strong kid, he's not going to run. He's clearly a pocket guy. What are you hearing about him? Because you know he came out, his hand size, his wingspan. I watched him live. He throws up the sideline like a twelve year pro. Like he is really aside. You know a lot of these quarterbacks like bow next, I like, doesn't throw a deep ball. Pennix was a great deep ball. He's not gonna move it all. What are you hearing?

Speaker 1

You know? I think Daniel Jeremiah said it yesterday when he was throwing. He throws the most beautiful ball here by far of the quarterbacks that were throwing. I mean half of him didn't throw. I had friends, I remember watching him a lot. I remember the game you went to and watching that game. Thing like this is a top ten pick and start texting around. A lot of people had him in the second and third rounds. Now, when you're a scout, you're closer to it, right, you

have all the in depth medical information. He had basically not completed four straight years, and a couple of those were shoulders, So if you've been scouting for ten fifteen years, that terrifies you. And then in the game against Oregon, In both games against Oregon, and definitely the game against Michigan, which are his best competition and NFL level players everywhere on the other side of the ball, he had to

be picked up and kind of carried. So physically he's not His arms are really long and his hands are huge, but he's not a very I don't want to call him slender. To me, jayde more slender, but Jaden's much. Jaden's an elite athlete, so he can get away. Mike Pennix is not a lot like TUA. Their pocket quarterbacks. They're not mobile guys. They can move a little bit,

but you're not running them at all. So I think the the size and he did not play well in that Michigan game, and that's an NFL team, and he had an NFL team in terms of his wide receivers. So I think you can find people like myself. Again, I'm just a couch scout now that went like, I'm with you. I've seen enough shitty quarterbacks in the NFL. If you're Sean Payton just a couple of years figured it out. Can this guy have you competing for the playoffs? And I have a lot of people to go. I

wouldn't touch him in the first round. So he is easily one of the more most polarizing guys because ultimately Jaden McDaniel or Jade Daniels and Drake May they're going two and three in some order. Even Caleb he's not polarizing at all. He's going number one. Bo Nicks polarizing a little bit, but he's still gonna go pretty high. Yeah, I think. And JJ McCarthy a guy someone people are having a lot of discussion on, is gonna get drafted high.

I bet you go in some draft rooms and they'll have this guy in the third round and other draft rooms that have them, you know, competing to be a top twenty pick. I like him because accuracy always matters. Deep ball in this NFL matters. If This was nineteen ninety two and we had to play the Cowboys, the forty nine Ers and the Packers, and Reggie White was tackling. I'm like, this guy's gonna get broken in half. The quarterback doesn't get touched that much. I've seen Brock Ferdy.

It's not that big. Doesn't really get touched a lot of small quarterbacks, right, It's just even some of Kyler Murray didn't get injured in terms of tearing his acl tackled. He tore it running. And Michael Penix is not a runner. So the offensive line's gonna matter like it will with any young quarterback. But I like Michael PENNOCKX. But I don't think a lot of NFL teams. I think a lot of NFL teams lean second day draft pick.

Speaker 2

Yeah, Andy Reid goes to the combine McVeigh Shannon and not interested.

Speaker 1

What is that? I think Andy Reid One defense I've heard of the Shanahans and the mcveigh's and McCarthy is this events become commercialized, right. They like prodding around their coaches and almost profiting off them. And it pisses off that crew of guys, which I push back and say, the reason you guys make twelve fifteen million dollars is the commercialization of the NFL, Like, welcome to the deal, guys.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

They also would say, well, I still zoom into all the interviews at night, so when we interview ten guys at night, I'm sitting right there on the computer, and any human being would say it is not the same that being there. Andy Reid told me none of this matters. Right, the workouts, the medical I have nothing to do with

as the head coach is out of my hands. The only thing that I come here for is when that guy walks into the room, Trent McDuffie, and for the first time I meet him and get to talk to him and just get a feel for been in the league long enough, just like all those guys. I get to introduce myself and talk to him and see how he interacts with my coaches. We tape tape that too.

But the react you've interviewed people, what's your reaction interviewing someone for your show when they're on zoom or when you're sitting next to him in person, when you're interviewing someone for the volume in person at you know, meeting him for lunch then a telephone call. It's dramatically different. And these are million dollar investments. So I don't agree with them not coming. Can I understand some of the stuff.

You're not obligated to talk to the media. You don't have to go to that little thing that Andy goes to. Belichick never did, never went. He still showed up for all the other stuff, the football stuff, which is very important. One thing with the forty nine ers, like they've hit on a lot of picks in the third, fourth, and fifth round. They've missed on a lot of high picks. So you know, if Andy Reid's going to be there, if Belichick went for forty years, Pete Carroll never missed it,

there's definitely some value there. And I'm not these guys aren't lazy individuals, but I do think they're wrong. I mean, who am I to tell them, But I just there's a value there. Clearly the best coach in the league. If you said, hey, there's a podcasting convention, Coward's going, Rogan's going, and Big Cat's going, should I go? Probably right, It's like, what are we doing? You know I would get if Kyle of just won the Super Bowl and he was off with his family, like you lost. This

draft's kind of big McVeigh. You've been They got knocked out in the first round, right, but they just can't stay. I saw a less sneed somewhere. He didn't even go like, it's not pinching pennies. This league's making so much money. I can't get behind the interview meeting these guys because it is important. And then you talked to a lot of it. Then what happens middle of the season. This guy can't learn, this guy can't figure it out. It's

not this guy. Well, you had the opportunity to meet the guy, right, you could have controlled some more of it. So coaches are always QUI to complain when they don't want to do some of this, and in fairness like this is not the combines, more about the scouting staff. But ultimately, once the guy's drafted, the coaches around him a lot more in the GM and the scouts.

Speaker 2

Yeah, no, it's interesting. I'd less needs take was, you know, we do things a little different around here. I don't have any My guess was a lot of the young coaches feel like it's an old boys network, you know, like when McVay decided I'm not going to play any starters in the preseason and got, you know, some pushback, and then they went eight to no to start the season. And now the young guys, now Bruce Arians when he coached, wanted to play starters. Belichick did, and he did, but

the young coaches it was like Robin Hood. All the young coaches fall of McVeigh. They didn't want to play any of their starters. So I do think there's a division of coaches in the NFL. There's been McVeigh and Lafleur and Shanahan, Raheem Morris, you know they see the world a little bit differently.

Speaker 1

Well, that's Shanahan crew for sure. We'll look at to all the parcels, guys parcells, Sean Payton there, Dan Campbell, parcels under Sean Payton there. So I think, whoever all Andy Reid's guys go to this, Pete Carroll's guys go to this. Dan quinn was there, So I think, whoever your mentor is or if Kyle's not going, I don't need to mcveigh's not going, I don't need to go. Not quite sure on McCarthy, he's surprised to be there, but Jerry Steven that's a little bit of a unique organization.

Like they ain't ask him McCarthy's opinion. They're gonna take whoever they want to take. Anyway, Robert Sala was a guy who didn't want to go, and I think some articles were written like you guys aren't good enough to not show up, and he ended up showing up.

Speaker 2

You know, I had ian Ian O'Connor on great author. He's wrote Belichick, Derek cheterbook Captain, The Rising Ring of Mike Krzyzewski. He's writing an Aaron Rodgers book, Out of the Darkness, which it comes out September. I cannot wait to read that book. And I think the Jets, I think, first of all, I think Aaron's a very complex, fascinating pro athlete. You know, he's got he's got a little bit of the smartest guy in the room thing, but he's a smart guy. So that's who Aeron is. I've

said this before and I said it last year. I didn't pick him as a playoff team. They got they gotta be good early because that Jets situation. When that Nicole Hardman came thing out, he said basically, yeah, I've been with the Chiefs, and I've been with the Jets. You guys don't have to believe me, but I know what winning looks like, and that ain't it. And that offense is just making shit up as they go With Aaron, I got to tell you can. You don't have to

be a great player to have great access. Like I thought that was damning by the way you could tell it was because multiple Jets fired back and a guy who had one catch as a Jet. What did you make of that?

Speaker 1

Well? I said this when the season and ended, I am one hundred percent not falling from them again. I will not pick them to make the playoffs. I don't even give a shit who they sign or draft. I'm not buying it, no chance none. I think the Rogers thing five plays or whatever it was, but if you've watched him for a long time, you could tell he wasn't quite as quick. And you're telling me, and this is the thing with the Cousins. Cousins doesn't move outside

of a two yard radius. Rogers greatness. And the reason you give a first round pick for a guy thirty nine you're paying all this money to was all the ad libbing and the movement stuff on top of the arm in the accuracy that's gone, I'm betting against that. And then the other thing is the organizational. No one I know thinks Nathaniel Hackett's any good and that's not even factoring in. Rogers tells him everything to do. So you got this guy that is not some natural talent.

You talk to people in the NFL, and I do agree with this is most coaches on offense, if you just get a quarterback coach, no coverages and no schemes, there is like an innate ability to call plays. Some guys have it, some guys do not. A lot of people have personalities. If you put a microphone in front of them, could they carry a show for an hour? Probably not, but some people would be able to, just like Shane Stiken had it. Brian Johnson this year the

Eagles found out does not have it right. Both of them could get on a whiteboard and tell you different things right, and you'd be like, Ah, this guy knows a lot of football. So Nathaniel Hackett is not viewed that way. Rogers kind of is, But he's kind of like this Lebron James figure where he always gets his way well you're not quite the same player. And then there's these weird dynamics in the organization. I mean, the athletic article coming out people whatever there is that never happens,

Andy Reid. Why because everyone respects everyone. A lot of organizations, when people don't respect each other, they start stabbing each other in the back self preservation.

Speaker 2

Well, it's like a white house. If there's a lot of leaks, it tells you everything you know about the president of the White House.

Speaker 1

It's chaotic, and that to me was on full display. And in fairness to everyone in there, if you're leaking, you're like, this is all going down. So you're like, I'm gonna get some stuff out there. And that's what's happening because you realize right away Aaron can't save us. And even if he was one hundred percent healthy this year, do they make the playoffs? The on line was terrible. Probably not well, their on line's not gonna be that much better. Their talent's not that great. I think they're

headed for complete implosion and a complete disaster. So and a lot's gonna have to do with a guy. We've seen it with these other older quarterbacks of his generation. Manning in breeze the moment they lost, and those guys weren't dependent on movement at all, but their arms just went. It was done. Roger's arm is still gonna be solid. If he can't move, he's gonna be much closer to the fifteenth overall guy than he is the six or seven.

And then you got a problem because they're not good enough to overcome that.

Speaker 2

Go look at old quarterbacks. So Stafford had Whitworth, Andrew Whitworth. Stafford had a good O line. Older quarterback won a Super Bowl with the Rams. Brady had a good O line, they drafted, they were weak at right tackle. Tristan Wurfs won a Super Bowl. Russell and Denver with Peyton decent O line had a decent year Rogers battle line out in four snaps. O lines are significantly more important to

older quarterbacks, and that there's no question. By the way Whitworth retires, Stafford gets hurt and the wheels come off. Then last year they shore you know, they get Dotson from the Steelers, they draft another guard, they shore up their middle. They're good enough at center, and Stafford's good again. So I don't think you can say what you want. I mean, to me, an offensive line matters much less for a hyper athletic quarterback. In the first three or

four years. I mean, Kyler Murray made the playoffs running for his life. Russell Wilson never had. They had Tom Cable. Russell will never had great on lines in Seattle in his prime. He got to two Super Bowls. The weakness was the offensive line. That Jets on line. Let's say they get the third best left tackle, because about eight will get picked in this draft. That guy's Andrew Thomas and the Giants is excellent. He wasn't ready to play as a rookie. These left tackles. None of these guys

are great. Trent Williams, Tyron Smith was for.

Speaker 1

The Cowboys outliers.

Speaker 2

Even successful left tackles scrap for until Thanksgiving. That the game is just so fast. These I mean, the best athletes outside a wide receiver in this league are arguably rush ends. So I just think they're gonna get a left tackle. He'll be fine. Rest of the O line is makeshift. Elijah Vera Tucker is never healthy. I think it's gonna be a mess.

Speaker 1

And the other thing is that that city like Philly is unlike anything else and there is a massive bullseye on that organized with Aaron and just with this operation. Now these articles coming out like everyone's paying attention. So all of a sudden, you're two and four. I mean, we're talking about Robert sala. If they are under five hundred throughout the season getting fired in the middle of

the season, that's very possible. All of a sudden, Gerrod Mayo beat you on Halloween with some random quarterback and you fall to four and six. Dode luck see you later. And Rogers starts acting weird. Everyone starts pointing the fingers. That's what happens in New York, you know, it's It's just you can see it coming from a mile away.

Speaker 2

With this team, it's interesting. So Brady had some wants when he went to Tampa. But what he wanted he wanted Gronk, a winning player that still had juice in the tank. He wanted a b you know, a winning player who could make plays Aaron befriends like Randall Cobb, or an offensive lineman who's rotational, or Nat Hackett like I understand an older quarterback wanting to bring an ally like I totally get it on that side of the ball.

Speaker 1

Coaches do it all the time.

Speaker 2

Yeah, just bring a guy that can play. It's like Aaron Alan Lazard, Randall Cobb and that Hackett that I mean, Brady came out and said, listen, I need my security blanket. Even Leonard Fournett, you know, Brady apparently just said, listen, he's a veteran, he's a little undervalued. He'll be fine. He's a gronk.

Speaker 1

They were, they were producing in yes games for the guy. All the guys Rogers brought over, if they were good, could not have produced. They would have been you know, kicked to the side for younger players. They weren't good enough to if the team had, if he had been healthy, to help them compete. That was clear when they were bad. So I'm with you, I mean, I he likes these guys. Randall Cobble was a really good player ten years ago, eight years ago, it's been a while. So And the

other thing with Gronk they already had. He got to kind of rotate in and out, yes, and also helped teach everyone else the offense with Tom and kind of his quirks.

Speaker 2

Yeah, It's just it's interesting, is is Brady is always strategic and it felt like Aaron wanted to be comfortable. Tom wanted to be great. You know Tom's standard is Super Bowls. Tom still had that fire. Tom wanted to be great. You know, you wouldn't take Nat Hackett nobody. I don't think Aaron thinks he's great. I mean you watched Aaron Rodgers' reaction multiple times this season because the camera was always shake his head constantly, So like Aaron's

no dummy, he knows. So it's like, I don't know, it's you know, I'll say this about like Lebron James. You know, Lebron James, he wanted Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade and Kyrie and Kevin Love and Anthony Davis. You know, Lebron's got no loyalty. If you can't play, he'll bring his guys. But you know he'll bring clutch sports he'll bring so you know it. I think, you know, the great players not only are they strategic, but you've got

to you've got to elevate them. Like Aaron brought over guys that I don't know if he drinks, but like it sounds like they were like drinking buddies or like like poker buddies it's like Aaron It's just you're going up against Buffalo Belichick's not good enough.

Speaker 1

Well, compare that, like how big that headline was last year Rogers to the Jets and the way everyone talked about it to now this year's version. It's not a it's not a quarterback, it's a coach. Hard bought of the Chargers. I didn't meet one person with at the combine. They didn't go They're gonna be good. It might this year might be a little bit of a transition. They got some cap stuff. We'll see how these next couple

months play out. But even people like I bet they'll figure some of that out and they'll draft enough guys. They're a playoff team next year. No one. I mean they had eighteen guys at the combine. Eighteen. They had six offensive linemen. You can only play five at one time. This guy, I mean, he's the Chargers. That is a that's a team. And on the on the opposite side, and listen, I know you worked with him. I've never

met him. I always when it comes to someone in football who supports you, and Antonio Pierce obviously as a player, was really good. Marvin Lewis really high level guy is his guy, and Tom Coughlin loves him. He's a good

foot Antonio Piers is a good football guy. Being a head coach is a little different animal, and he's been talking a lot, like you do know you're going You got the big version of Andy Bill Walsh right now in Kansas City, and you got Jim Harbaugh who's been winning now for twenty plus years at every freaking level. And Sean Payton got paid ninety million dollars for a reason,

like it's just it's gonna be very, very difficult. So you almost see most people I know think the Raiders are in trouble, not because they even think Antonio Pierce is like some idiot, it's just that's just gonna be difficult, and his natural reactions kind of a little more player talking a lot. It's not really how coaches operate. And then everyone's like thinks the Chargers are gonna just be good quick.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I mean, it's one of the things I've really come to terms with the NFL. There's a saying when you have kids, you don't have any yet, don't know if you plan to, But the saying, and it's really true, is the days are long, but the years fly by. You look up and your kids are like eighteen. My son had his eighteenth birthday the other day, and it feels like, you know, a few years ago, we were

at Disneyland on rides, laughing or butt off. One of the things I think I've come to terms with is week to week, the NFL has surprises, but by the end of the year, it's the same seven to eight coaches and quarterbacks, and you know, week to week you're like, oh my god, I can't believe that team. You know, it's the owners are going to propose an eighteen game schedule here over the next calendar year.

Speaker 1

Many I don't think you propose. I think it's coming.

Speaker 2

So when you have eighteen weeks in the NFL, you're just gonna have guys beat up. Good teams are gonna have bad weeks. I mean the Chief scuffed. I mean, look at the look at the Niners. They got housed by the Ravens. I mean, it just didn't even show up. So I think the NFL is getting more predicted. I don't think it's a bad thing necessarily for ratings or consumer interest, but it's that salary cap going up just

ensures they're really good teams. So what it ensures is the good teams can keep the guys they may have had to move, and the bad teams will overspend in the free agent market. That's the guarantee. Bad teams will overspend, good teams will smartly spend and retain good players. So I think I've already gone through kind of my predictions

on the with all the coaching higher stuff. After free agency, I unless you know, Atlanta is the one team based on who they land at quarterback, I would significantly alter. I would have them win the division. If they got Russell Wilson or Kirk Cousins, I could win the division. Outside of that, I feel like I'm taking Buffalo, Cincinnati, Baltimore, AFC South a little wonky, I'll take Kansas City Chargers. I think Washington's going to be the surprise team in

the league. I'll take Dallas Washington, Philadelphia pulls back, I'll take Detroit, Green Bay, San Francisco Rams, And I'm totally comfortable with all that.

Speaker 1

I mean, so you basically have one or two swings, and that's how it basically is. So everyone talking worse from first, worse from first, it's not as it's usually an injury based that happens a lot when you have or a team with a lot of injuries. The Niners have been to the conference championship for the last five years. In twenty twenty, they lost half their team to injuries. It wasn't like the coach in the organization didn't know what happened. The Bengals missed the playoffs this year because

their quarterback played like seven games. You know, this isn't a very complicated I'm telling you. It was eye opening at the combine talking to you, just Veach and Andy and I've known these guys forever that these organizations, like even Sean Payton, John Payton's really good. I'm a believer in them. They got some questions internally in the organization. I mean's sitting next to a guy when the camera goes to him, which is his new hire from personnel

guy from the Saints. You know, is he forcing out? There's just a lot of moving parts as you're taking organ The Chiefs have none of that, The Rams have none of that. You replace a coach here in there. But like the organization, the way you look what you want in players, everything the Ravens. Everything's so streamlined. It's like Amazon. You know, there's no just question marks, it's just and some of these organizations are just trying to walk straight and chew gum at the same time.

Speaker 2

John Middlecoff, former NFL Scout three and out the volume. Good stuff. We wrapped up the combine. Next time we talk, it'll be more about quarterbacks moving. There's a lot of discussion about this. Stuff's going to happen very quickly, and it always comes out before March thirteenth, as always, Buddy, Good seeing.

Speaker 1

You, buckle up, Colin, see you soon.

Speaker 2

The volume. Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed the podcast, take a moment, rate and review

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