0:00

They Around the NFL podcast.

0:04

He needs a sleepover at Mark's

0:06

man cave.

0:08

Welcome to another edition

0:11

of Around the NFL. My

0:13

name is Dan Hansis, and I got heroes here,

0:16

Greg Roosevelt and Mark

0:18

Sessler. Sestog, you got

0:20

a man cave. I've been to your place.

0:24

I don't recall her being a dedicated

0:27

man cave, nor have I ever seen you as a man

0:29

that would go man cave if given

0:31

the opportunity.

0:32

I mean, I think like you could reference the whole place.

0:35

Is that on?

0:35

It's on from some angle, but no,

0:38

the within the apartment. I

0:41

don't have a room that would be called classically

0:43

a man cave at the moment. But you've

0:46

you know, before the show, you were if you're on

0:48

YouTube, you were talking about my background that looks a little

0:50

spartan, could use a little bit of help.

0:52

So the place is in development, I'd say.

0:54

And Greg, you know, because Greg's going to Greg

0:57

and he was labeling it as constructive

1:00

criticism, and that certainly was not what I

1:02

was going I was offering a suggestion that maybe

1:04

your remote background, because that's what we're

1:06

doing the show remote for the next couple of

1:08

days, that it maybe could use a touch of color

1:10

on the wall, and I thought that would go

1:12

a long way. Not criticism,

1:15

merely unsolicited

1:18

advice slash suggestion.

1:20

I did not take it purely

1:23

as critique. I understand what greg was attempting

1:25

to accomplish there verbally, but

1:27

I didn't fall for that either. So you

1:29

know, point and pointer are taken,

1:32

and I you know, I look at my own setup

1:34

and it does look it

1:36

looks a little suspect. It could use a little bit of

1:38

just a little bit of life, and I'm going to work on that this

1:40

offseason.

1:41

It's not it's not normal criticism though, it's

1:43

constructive criticism. That's the gentleman's

1:47

criticism. Like if he's a man, a man manly

1:50

enough to even have a man cave, he

1:52

can take some constructive criticism. Yeah.

1:55

I don't have the men to see where maybe I can't take the criticism,

1:57

but I end in this case I can.

1:59

And uh and less less we forget,

2:01

I mean, silly me. Not

2:04

only does Mark Havman kV has an entire Super

2:06

Bowl segment based around it.

2:09

That's true, and that went very well.

2:13

Now time for a trip to marchmen.

2:19

McGregor, I forgot the Devlin

2:21

McGregor, the the crooked pharmaceutical

2:23

giant from the Fugitive sponsored

2:26

your segment.

2:27

Well, the greatest part of that segment beyond I

2:30

have no memory of it because of the state of

2:32

my health that day. But the Denzel Ward

2:34

and Miles Garrett were We're

2:37

not wearing like the cans, so

2:39

they couldn't they couldn't hear. They couldn't even

2:41

hear any of that.

2:42

So they greg.

2:45

I'll never forget the anxiety coursing through

2:47

Mark in addition to the

2:50

the germs uh due to his

2:52

illness ahead of that interview

2:54

with two Brown's greats, and speaking of anxiety,

2:58

I want to bring in the four person

3:00

on today's show. You know her, you

3:03

love her, you've missed her.

3:07

Shoannie's the queen Queen.

3:10

She is the Queen of NFL.

3:17

That's how I get brought in speaking of

3:19

anxiety.

3:20

Great, how

3:23

you been colly in anything new going on last couple

3:25

of weeks?

3:26

You know what?

3:26

No, I've just been laying real, lowing

3:28

low, just chilling a lot

3:30

of just not doing anything.

3:32

Really.

3:34

I can't wait until we write the

3:36

the Around the NFL memoir.

3:38

That's all I'm gonna say. But it's so good to see

3:40

you.

3:41

Okay, it's so great to be back,

3:44

guys, I've missed you. I'm

3:47

preparing for a soft launch of the

3:49

summer of Connie and go

3:51

into full swing right after the draft,

3:54

So it's this is our big

3:56

months, huge lead up to what's going to

3:58

be an amazing summer.

4:00

Are you doing the draft night stage

4:03

thing again? That's a big spot draft

4:05

night stage thing.

4:06

That's nice, that's exactly what they call

4:08

it.

4:09

So yeah, I will be in Detroit on

4:11

stage for night one, and then I wanted to

4:13

do Day three because they're doing puppy

4:15

adoptions and so I've

4:18

never done Day three before, so I'm gonna

4:20

skip Night two and then stay

4:22

for all of the shenanigans on day three.

4:25

Are we gonna maybe leave there with a puppy.

4:28

I don't know how. I

4:30

don't leave without a puppy. So

4:32

we're gonna see what happens.

4:35

But I'm gonna probably get my pick

4:37

of the litters since I'll be with them

4:39

backstage, and that's kind of my dream, is

4:42

to just be in a green room with a bunch

4:44

of puppies.

4:45

So it sounds great. And then like will the inevitable

4:47

party at your compounds occur like how

4:50

many hours after you return from the

4:52

draft, roughly.

4:53

Minutes, moments, seconds, Okay, it

4:56

already starts on the flight home.

4:58

You know.

5:00

I beloved dog Captain, who's now

5:02

about sixteen seventeen months old.

5:04

But shortly before Christmas

5:07

twenty three or

5:09

twenty two, Emily and I

5:12

went to this I

5:14

should give them a shout out because they do

5:16

really great work here in terms

5:18

of serving as foster a foster home

5:20

for pets here in the South Bay

5:23

and in the Los Angeles area. But

5:25

we went over to this couple's

5:27

home and there they were in the laundry

5:30

room. It was Captain as a

5:32

a three week old puppy, and

5:34

then three other siblings of

5:36

his. So it was it was a

5:38

female puppy and then three

5:40

males. And here's the one advice

5:43

I'll give Connie. Okay, we

5:45

picked Captain. Initially, we wanted

5:47

to get the girl dog, but she was totally insane. Emily

5:50

wanted to get to the girl but she was nuts.

5:52

And then you could tell she was the pied

5:54

piper and she was a maniac. And we're like, all right,

5:57

I love the dog, but we can't pick it.

5:59

The other two dogs were various levels

6:01

of overactive, and Captain as

6:04

a puppy was chilling way in the back

6:06

and hiding and acting.

6:07

Really low key.

6:07

And We're like, that's that's the puppy we want. But

6:10

I'll tell you something, Connie. We

6:12

got that little bastard home and immediately

6:14

he morphed into the other two brothers. Total

6:16

maniac that we We wouldn't have him any

6:18

differently, but they are smart enough even as

6:20

puppies to to con you and sell you.

6:22

So just be aware. Can I ask you a question?

6:25

He was He just wasn't tired

6:27

at the moment.

6:28

I am Greg.

6:30

I am telling you, dude, the that dog

6:32

was straight up acting to separate himself

6:35

from the pack. And he is a very intelligent

6:37

canine, so I really give him that benefit

6:39

of the doubt.

6:40

Wait, can I ask you a question like is it possible?

6:42

And I'm this is a theory, and we don't always agree

6:44

with each other's theories, and it's not it's.

6:46

Also not alone.

6:48

It's not a critique, but I

6:51

is it possible that Captain is maybe a little

6:54

less or maybe a little more emotionally

6:56

dense and wasn't aware like the other three dogs

6:58

that they were the city billions were about

7:00

to be separated, where the other three are reacting.

7:03

Then Captain gets home and realizes he

7:05

no longer has his siblings.

7:07

And I'll tell you what, Mark,

7:09

I love you, buddy, but I don't need a cat guy

7:11

telling me anything about the nature

7:13

of the dog advance.

7:16

I'm asking. I didn't tell you.

7:18

I'm asking the question, and it was, you know, constructive

7:21

criticism as Greg would would say, or just

7:23

a question.

7:24

I was trying to find. I was trying

7:26

to find the rescue that because you

7:29

said it to me before and was

7:31

telling me like, that's that after Blitzen,

7:34

So I was actually looking

7:36

at that rescue a bunch.

7:38

They have the cutest dogs.

7:39

But I can't find it now, but I will tell you that.

7:41

I'm going to text my wife and we're going to get it. All

7:43

right, Let's get on track. We got a good app

7:45

today. We're going to talk about

7:48

front offices, gms,

7:50

you know, coaches with pop owners,

7:53

obviously, the decision makers of

7:55

the organizations that dot

7:57

the NFL, who's under the most pressure

8:00

heading into a draft

8:02

weekend. And but before

8:05

that we're gonna hit some news. Let's

8:07

get caught up now, third

8:09

down and thirteen Bli's coming press

8:11

gott able to get out of the end zone, and

8:14

now.

8:14

Hears it out for Lamb.

8:16

He's gone, He's gone.

8:19

When he gets there, it's a touchdown.

8:21

Calibourns time,

8:33

CD Lamb from ninety two yards out.

8:35

Those Although I do and we're

8:37

gonna get to the NFL conquering

8:39

the days of the week again in a

8:41

few minutes, But I

8:45

really do enjoy those late

8:48

regular season Saturday night games where

8:51

like Daddy can have a couple of Tito's, My sons

8:53

are with me. We don't get to watch football enough do

8:55

to the nature of our jobs. And when like a

8:57

really exciting play happens like that, uh,

9:00

it kind of electrifies the house. That was that was

9:02

when and everyone knows that listens pot, I

9:04

love me some CD lamp in what

9:07

was a brilliant season. That game he was

9:09

an absolute monster, and

9:11

now the Cowboys are dealing with the repercussions of

9:13

it being a monster.

9:14

Because she gotta pay him like a god.

9:17

I'm still a little stuck on you know, you

9:19

calling yourself our daddy, But I

9:22

do want to move on because that

9:24

that highlight I think was the first time this offseason that

9:26

I saw highlight from the season, and like, for

9:28

a few weeks afterwards, I got to admit, like seeing

9:30

highlights from the season, it almost gives

9:32

me the chills, like, oh remember that. Back then,

9:35

it was just like you were in a totally different mindset. But now

9:37

teams have showed up, they've started working out.

9:40

Football is back. I was excited

9:42

to see, so I'll highlight there.

9:43

Now let's go.

9:45

Mark's going to reach through your monitor and

9:48

put an end to your jugglers.

9:49

We're working out.

9:49

We got Kirk Cousins doing interviews in the

9:51

Falcons facility.

9:53

They're they're there.

9:53

Football is back, all right, And we

9:56

just lost Colleen. Hopefully we'll get her

9:59

back. He has

10:01

technical difficulties sometime design on

10:03

these remote shows, but we'll hopefully we'll

10:05

get Colleen back. And if we

10:08

don't, it was a great seeing her and she'll be back

10:10

soon enough. Let's get into the cd Lamb

10:12

story here, which is

10:16

I don't know if i'd call it thorny, but it's

10:18

on the radar and it's worth talking about. The Dallas Morning

10:21

News reported that there

10:23

is quote NFL precedent

10:25

for CDE Lamb not taking the field until

10:27

he signs a contract extension.

10:30

He's entering the fifth and final year of his rookie

10:32

deal. But he is one

10:34

of the best wide receivers in football we just talked about.

10:36

He's coming off an incredible season where

10:39

he posted career highs and receptions

10:41

one hundred and thirty five receiving yards seventeen

10:44

forty nine touchdowns twelve. So he's

10:46

a first time All Pro. He deserves

10:49

a contract that matches that,

10:52

and yet the Cowboys are just in slippery

10:55

conditions here Mark with their salary

10:57

cap, with what's going on with Michael

10:59

Park, Parsons, with Dak Prescott. In some ways

11:01

it's a good problem to have, but also in others

11:04

ways you're seeing the challenges of a team with

11:06

top flight stars bunch together.

11:08

Yeah, I mean it's you know, this stuff happens.

11:10

There is a precedent, I like that word attached

11:13

to this. But they've gotten to this point

11:15

with those three players you mentioned, like Prescott,

11:18

Parsons, and Lamb where all of

11:20

them need their contracts to be addressed,

11:22

and it for all

11:25

the business and hype around the Cowboys,

11:28

it just feels kind of like bad

11:30

business, like a little bit disorganized because

11:32

these wide receivers each year get incrementally

11:35

so much more expensive that you

11:37

could have done this before. You could have found a way to do this

11:39

before. Like the whole Dak thing, I'd say the same

11:42

thing. It's like quarterback wide receiver becoming incredibly

11:44

inflated price wise, And I

11:47

think it's Lamb's prerogative to say, look,

11:49

I want to be paid like what I am, which is one of

11:51

the top receivers in the league,

11:53

and you're not going to have my services without

11:56

that money. And if you look at what else they have on the depth chart,

11:59

they don't only choice but to make it happen.

12:02

It's just part of the offseason playbook right now. I

12:04

mean skipping offseason workouts. They're voluntary

12:06

anyways. If he skips a mini

12:08

camp or not, it's

12:10

not that meaningful. If he starts taking

12:13

into trading camp again, that's part of the playbook.

12:15

It's it's a catch twenty two.

12:17

With this fifth year option, you retain

12:20

his rights longer than

12:22

if he was a second round pick. But

12:24

they just never want to play on that fifth year option

12:27

if they're the kind of player that Ceedee Lamb is. He's

12:29

made a total of fourteen million dollars

12:31

in his four years, which is, you know, great

12:33

money for a normal person, but for the level

12:35

of production that he's had, you know,

12:37

it's minuscule. They will

12:39

get the deal done. They don't have a ton of

12:41

cap space. But I do think the

12:44

Dak Prescott situation

12:47

is looming over this that they, in my

12:49

mind, are going to choose on some

12:51

level to pay CD Lamb first

12:54

and wait and see how

12:56

Dak Prescott does this year. And I think

12:58

it's meaningful with the coming up because

13:01

I just look at a fairly deep

13:04

quarterback class and I know they don't have a high

13:06

pick, and yeah, I just

13:08

look at like the model that the Packers have shown,

13:10

and to me, it's not crazy for the Cowboys

13:13

to be considering taking a quarterback in this class.

13:15

And part of that equation I think is Ceedee Lamb's

13:17

going to get his money.

13:18

It's just a matter of time.

13:19

We don't need to spend like a crazy amount of time

13:21

this offseason, even though I suspect

13:23

it we'll go into training camp or something like that.

13:26

And this is you know, their Cowboys are a

13:28

victim of their own success on

13:30

some level. But also it's another reminder

13:32

and it's like you know, you saw the Digs trade

13:34

and the Bills in some ways,

13:37

and you look at their roster and what they're

13:39

doing now. They're trying to reload

13:41

on the fly with the star quarterback that

13:44

the Cowboys had their window like they

13:46

had it like that when you hit

13:48

on Parsons, Lamb

13:51

and Dak you had

13:54

that three or four years where that's when

13:56

you go and you win Super Bowls. And they weren't able to

13:58

get over the hump in the NFC. And it doesn't mean that they can't

14:00

contend for the Super Bowl again even this

14:02

year, but now it's getting increasingly

14:05

more difficult. And Parsons

14:07

is a top five, maybe even top three player,

14:10

maybe the number one player at his position. Lamb

14:12

you can make the same case for his position.

14:14

These are two of the highest paid positions

14:16

in the sport. And then Dak maybe not top five,

14:19

but probably a top ten quarterback

14:21

and he's a QB, so that's the highest

14:23

paid position in the sport. So it's

14:25

almost a perfect store mark k which I'm

14:27

less being feeling critical

14:30

of the Cowboys, but that they didn't

14:32

get the job done winning and

14:35

now they have to find a way to pay these

14:37

three dudes at like the most expensive price

14:39

tags in the sport, and it's kind of impossible.

14:41

Yeah, And I think, like, I mean, there's no

14:43

way to really shape

14:46

shift the message to not say that

14:48

Dallas has had an awkward, unpredictably

14:51

strange offseason that I

14:53

guess the starts goes against the actual messaging

14:55

of what they claim to be this offseason. And

14:58

I'm with Greg though, I mean, we can let

15:00

this one go until he gets paid.

15:02

You know.

15:02

The Chris Jones hold out last last year was

15:04

one of the rare ones where like a star isn't

15:07

there when the season starts. I typically just tend

15:09

to think these things get ironed out, but

15:12

they're they're in a thorny spot.

15:14

Yeah.

15:14

I think the story here is not the idea

15:16

of will see Lamb play for the Cowboys?

15:18

Will he show up?

15:19

And more just like the bigger yeah picture

15:22

situation around the Cowboys.

15:24

He said, by the way to TMZ, I'll be in

15:26

Dallas, which was like a clever non answer

15:29

to like, yeah, you'll be in Dallas, you live there. But he

15:31

wasn't saying he was showing up to practice necessarily.

15:34

Yeah, parse that Harvey Levin

15:37

all right? In other news. We

15:39

told you NFL one. They've defeated

15:42

days of the week. There's no longer any

15:44

issue. You could play an NFL game

15:46

whenever you want, and issues

15:49

with competition be damned. There

15:52

will be a way and a streaming platform

15:54

that will air it. And let's talk

15:56

about Week one. It's gonna have a new wrinkle.

15:58

There's a lot of new wrinkles with this schedule now because

16:01

everything's been blown wide open.

16:02

The Eagles will play the NFL's first.

16:05

Game in Brazil to kick off

16:07

twenty twenty four, and yes, they

16:09

will do it on a Friday night. So now we

16:11

get the Thursday night opener. We're

16:14

gonna have a this is the

16:16

Brazilian national anthem, by the way,

16:19

We're going to have Thursday night opener, We're

16:22

gonna have Friday night. We're

16:24

gonna have a dozen games on Sunday

16:27

and then games on Monday. So you

16:29

do the math. That's four out of seven in

16:31

one week of football. So the Eagles

16:33

last played an international game in twenty eighteen.

16:37

We'll face a two be announced opponent

16:39

in Sam Paulo Friday,

16:41

September sixth, the day after

16:43

the NFL season kicks off on Thursday, night, So it

16:46

will be the NFL's first Friday game on an

16:48

opening weekend in more than fifty years. Mark

16:50

what was happening fifty years ago when they last played.

16:54

I mean I was born fifty years ago, so I

16:56

think that was probably one of the bigger news items in the

16:58

country.

16:59

Yeah, I was just saying it was in your life cycle,

17:01

so not Greg and I.

17:02

So I didn't know if you knew who were the teams.

17:05

They have TV back then? Did you watch it?

17:08

There was a form of television back in

17:10

the in the early seventies.

17:12

Greg Roger Goodell had this to

17:14

say, By the way, we are just incredibly enthusiastic

17:16

about our.

17:17

Growth on a global basis. Same seas.

17:20

Yeah, I was curious

17:22

because I saw our frequent guest

17:24

Andrew Marshawn, asked the question, is the NFL

17:27

even popular in Brazil?

17:29

And I know it is popular to some degree, but

17:31

I wasn't sure as much. But the

17:34

NFL says that Brazil has the

17:36

third most amount of fans in the entire world,

17:38

number one US, number two Mexico. They

17:41

credit thirty million fans in Brazil. Now, it's

17:44

not a huge part of our audience because of the language

17:47

barrier, but bring it on, Brazilians.

17:50

We're sending you a good game.

17:51

It shows how much we respect Brazil

17:53

to give them Packers Eagles.

17:55

I mean, that might be the best primetime game of Week

17:58

one.

17:58

I also read that actually in Brazil

18:01

that the Packers, you know, they

18:03

probably looked into this, have one of the biggest,

18:05

one of the biggest, like fan fit the teams. The

18:07

Packers are like the second or third most popular

18:09

team there. But you know, Dan, you said that they can play

18:12

games any day. There is this like

18:15

age old rule out there

18:17

called the Sports Broadcasting Act of

18:19

nineteen sixty one, which happened before I was born.

18:21

But you are not allowed to play a

18:24

game on Friday as

18:26

of the second Friday in September. So what

18:28

they've done is they've found these calendar openings

18:31

where because Labor Day is happening

18:33

on September first, second, or third,

18:35

you can squeeze it in there.

18:36

And they've noted.

18:37

That the other years that are eligible will be twenty

18:39

twenty five, twenty twenty nine, twenty

18:42

thirty, and twenty thirty one. So it's

18:44

they're not gonna they can't do Friday night every night.

18:46

But when they find their way. They're gonna squeeze it in

18:48

there and disrupt your weekend in we'll

18:50

see.

18:51

We'll see, Mark, that's true under

18:53

reporting though by me like a challenge. Mark

18:55

didn't know all that, and I think

18:57

it was valuable to anyone making plans

19:00

for twenty twenty nine.

19:01

I could see the league. You're just challenging him on

19:03

sports back too, all.

19:06

Right, so, and thank you guys for giving me that

19:08

information, an updated information about their opponent.

19:11

That is exciting.

19:13

Moving on, Josh

19:16

Allen, No, the

19:18

other Josh Allen, the one that plays for the Jaguars,

19:21

gets paid. He agrees to a new five

19:23

year, one hundred and fifty million dollar

19:25

deal makes him one of the makes

19:27

them one of the highest paid players at

19:29

his position in the league.

19:32

It is a contract that includes eighty

19:36

eight million guaranteed, and it replaces

19:38

the franchise tag that he was playing

19:41

under that was set to pay him a little more than twenty

19:43

four million.

19:44

GREGGI.

19:45

Allen coming off his second Pro Bowl trip in five

19:47

years. He is coming

19:49

off a perfectly timed breakout

19:51

year where he had seventeen and a half sacks,

19:54

sixty six tackles, two forced fumbles, an

19:56

interception, big time player.

19:59

They nailed the draft pick.

20:00

Remember when he came into the league, was like, oh, it's another Josh

20:03

Allen, Is this the right way?

20:05

And it turned out to be yes, the right play right.

20:07

He's sort of a classic example of a first round

20:09

pick that was a big win, a B plus

20:11

a minus, that wasn't a superstar but

20:14

better than the average like and

20:16

got better and better and developed,

20:19

I think in times his best season

20:21

for his contract year. And it just

20:25

reminds me how important self scouting and getting

20:27

ahead of all these contracts are because they could

20:29

have paid they could have paid him so much less

20:31

a year ago, and they could have paid

20:33

him this contract

20:36

months ago, and then they could have kept Calvin

20:38

Ridley, but they couldn't because then the franchise tag

20:41

wasn't available and he ended up being

20:43

able to squeeze him. It's a good thing though, for players

20:46

like franchise tag players we saw with Kyle Duggart

20:48

earlier this week are getting their long term

20:50

money, which is sort of how it's intended to

20:52

be used. But these quieter contracts

20:54

like the Eagles, for instance, with Dickerson and my

20:56

Lot, who are doing it years ahead like those

20:58

are the teams that are smart, they're even money in

21:00

the long run, because this is pretty wild.

21:03

I think it's seventy six fully guaranteed

21:05

eighty eight gart like he's getting that money.

21:07

It's it's not backloaded at all.

21:09

He actually has a chance to play a lot of this contract

21:11

that I think by the looks of it.

21:13

And it links to exactly what we were

21:15

just saying about Micah Parsons. I mean, it's

21:18

exactly what Dallas has to look at and say, oh,

21:20

we're gonna have to top that. And like, you're

21:22

right, seven of nine tag players have gotten

21:25

contracts and quicker than they

21:27

would have in other times. So like,

21:29

I like that's that part of it. And the Jaguars

21:31

needed to do this. I mean they Calvin Ridley is

21:33

not to me like a star wide receiver, but they

21:36

are letting players go. And you're watching the AFC

21:38

South, the Texans specifically turn

21:41

into a fire storm and you got a

21:43

wait and see on what Anthony Richardson's makes

21:45

the cults. So it's like the Jaguars, who you know,

21:47

six hundred days ago were a really sexy

21:50

new operation in the AFC, are now

21:52

like maybe the second or third at

21:54

least the second best team in the South and maybe the third.

21:58

I was going to say, hold that thought, but it was too late. We'll

22:00

talk about the Jaguars a little bit later. Potentially

22:03

we're gonna.

22:03

Have a Balkie off. I mean our multiple

22:07

co hosts here.

22:08

Don't be ridiculous, all

22:11

right.

22:12

Finally in the news, God,

22:14

if there's one person out there that got that reference,

22:16

please hit me up.

22:18

I did social media. I enjoyed it, but

22:21

go ahead, I.

22:22

Mean I do.

22:23

I don't want to spell it out for the listeners out.

22:25

There that you know. I give me the locky

22:27

barlacamists.

22:28

I'm fans, Okay,

22:31

the Bartaka heads out there.

22:36

Anyway.

22:36

Finally in the news, Bill Belichick

22:39

is about to enter an NFL

22:41

season not as a head coach or

22:43

a coach of any kind, and that will be the first

22:45

time since nineteen seventy four,

22:48

which.

22:50

Predates Mark Sessler.

22:52

No, it is I was, you know, on

22:54

the earth to witness the start of that career

22:56

for Bill dom Man.

22:57

This is like a whole fun game, like can we find an

22:59

event in history where Mark wasn't alive

23:05

anyway? Fifty years okay?

23:08

And Belichick, though, is keeping busy.

23:10

He recently spoke at Nebraska's annual coaching

23:12

clinic, and you know, the head

23:15

coach is an old man, an

23:17

old friend of the show, a

23:19

guy that once stole

23:21

Mark's heart at the NFL scouting combine

23:24

at a tavern, a local steakhouse.

23:26

That is Matt Ruhle.

23:28

He did not do well as a

23:30

head coach in the NFL, but obviously he's landed on

23:32

his feet well. And he was blown away by Bill

23:34

Belichick's presence, his knowledge,

23:37

his quah at

23:39

this clinic. Let's listen to Rule, who

23:42

also was very pointed

23:44

in his commentary about Bill

23:46

being out of work and how is that possible?

23:48

He is so smart,

23:52

It's seemed so much that

23:54

he can make the complex so simple

23:57

that it humbles you and embarrassed. I

24:01

was embarrassed just how smart

24:03

he is, how simple it was.

24:05

He went, what he how we went?

24:07

He went?

24:08

He went four and a half hours, was just with the coaches. Forget the

24:10

clinic, Like he came in and met with our coaching staff,

24:13

and three

24:16

and a half hours in, I was like, coach, would you like a

24:19

water coffee? Like

24:21

to use the restroom because I desperately had to use the restroom,

24:23

you know, and he's like, I'm fine, Matt. I

24:25

was like, yes, sir, and

24:28

just sitting there and just talking right, and just his

24:30

recall from things fifteen years ago.

24:33

And you know, the

24:35

only reason why we don't get through more information

24:39

is because he's having to slow down to make sure you

24:41

understand what he's saying. I

24:43

mean, So, you have this man who's a savant, right, Who's been

24:46

a defensive coordinator, He's been a

24:48

special teams coordinator, he's coached,

24:50

you know, he could be an offensive coordinator, has

24:52

been a head coach twice, he's

24:54

been a GM

24:56

person. I mean, he's and he's

24:58

talking about football in a way that just like I

25:02

mean, illuminates things and make things

25:04

so simple that you're like, oh my goodness.

25:09

I love that.

25:10

And I wish things worked out better from that rule, because

25:12

he seems like a good guy and a personal guy in

25:14

the NFL. So and some people

25:17

and I saw some you

25:19

know criticism out there that who cares what that guy

25:21

says?

25:22

He's terrible at his job.

25:23

Okay, he was bad as a Panthers head coach, but

25:25

he's clearly someone who respects the profession that's

25:27

done it for a long time, and what he's

25:29

telling you right there, does that sound like an

25:31

over the hill football

25:34

man, someone that doesn't have more to give

25:36

to this league. I think it's one of the great follies

25:38

and honestly the most ridiculous thing

25:41

in all our time doing this podcast, which

25:44

is we're going into our twelfth season that Bill

25:46

Belichick wanted a job and did not

25:48

get one this year. And that will probably

25:50

be rectified next year, but let

25:52

it be remembered when the next round of firing

25:55

and firings and dismissals goes down,

25:57

that a lot of those teams had a chance to

26:00

get Bill Belichick and instead chose

26:02

to outthink themselves.

26:04

I could I could see one you

26:06

know, silver lining here for Belichick,

26:08

because it's pretty

26:11

trenchantly noted that when coaches take

26:13

a year off, they their

26:16

health improves, they are able

26:18

to watch football more globally. I mean, it's you're

26:20

not gonna teach Bill Belichick new things. I get that,

26:22

but just the idea of kind of getting

26:24

out of the grind, re energizing,

26:28

taking a look look at football from a different place,

26:30

and I think for Belichick to go around to these you

26:32

know, these coaching clinics and to talk

26:34

to other coaching staffs. It's got to be fuel for

26:36

him. And I think it takes the hot butt rankings

26:39

and everyone who's on that list. It dials

26:41

the notch up. Because whatever exhaustion or agism

26:44

was happening around Bill Belichick a couple of months

26:46

ago, at the end of the New England thing and the

26:48

documentary that came out all that, It's like other

26:51

owners are now gonna be like, wait a minute, everyone

26:53

passed on Bill Belichick. But if I'm like the Giants

26:55

owner, I'm like, we could bring Belichick Bill

26:57

Belichick back to New York to be the Giants

26:59

coach in a bit of poetry,

27:02

if this thing continues to go south. So I think everyone's

27:04

now about to be watching it, like, wait a minute, Belichick

27:06

is already the lead candidate to take a job

27:08

a year from now.

27:09

Like that's all stuff

27:12

I agree with from both of you. And yet I don't think

27:14

it was some travesty. He didn't get hired, He needed

27:16

a year off. What he was doing was stale, he was

27:19

doing a poor job. I think it's going to be

27:21

extremely valuable for him to take a

27:23

step back and do some

27:25

self accounting of how he went twenty nine

27:27

and thirty eight with no playoff wins for four years,

27:30

three out of four losing records,

27:32

like cause there's no way he is happy

27:35

with that. And he is as critical as it

27:37

gets. And I randomly like reread

27:40

a critical of himself as he gets as he used

27:42

to be.

27:43

I reread this book, Patriot.

27:44

Raign, which is one of the great season

27:47

in the life embedded reporter books

27:50

that kind of got slept on. It's Michael Holly

27:52

who spent two seasons all sorts

27:54

of inside stuff with the Patriots two thousand

27:56

and two, two thousand and three.

27:57

It's kind of amazing.

27:58

It's like him going to Belichick's cousin's

28:00

house with Belichick when she has cancer, all this stuff,

28:03

and that like the number one thing that he stressed

28:05

that he was important to him was to not

28:07

have yes men around him, to have people

28:10

around him that he respected

28:12

that could push back on what he said,

28:14

because it can't just be one person running

28:16

the show, like it can't just

28:18

be one person. And Scott Pioli, especially

28:20

in that book, was really important as someone who

28:22

he trusted to do a lot.

28:24

And he loved how me and Genie pushed back, and he

28:27

said, I never want to be the type of

28:29

leader that gets

28:31

masturbatory. Heed that word in terms

28:34

of my opinions, and no one's gonna didn't have to use that

28:36

word, but he didn't.

28:37

But he was.

28:37

And and what did he turn into.

28:40

He turned into a guy who had who started

28:43

making all the decisions, had had no one

28:45

around him, didn't groom anyone that would

28:47

push back, and he will, I'm

28:50

sure reflect and say I did a

28:52

poor job for four years twenty nine

28:54

and thirty eight with three

28:56

losing seasons is a bad job no matter

28:59

what.

28:59

And I think he'll come back a better coach.

29:02

But it to me, it's not some like like he was

29:04

a little He needed to reset and change

29:06

the way he was doing things.

29:07

I know, but everybody, everyone seems

29:09

to be so sure of their opinion that he needed

29:12

to reset and he needed this.

29:13

Year away, But he didn't.

29:15

He didn't think it.

29:16

And just because he listen,

29:18

he could have gotten a job in January and still

29:20

done some self reflection and self scouting

29:22

and went into this enlivened

29:25

and re energized and learning from what happened

29:28

at the end of the New England Run and the

29:30

idea, like I think agism played a part

29:32

in the fact that he's in his early seventies and

29:34

now you're kind of in some way like the point

29:37

I'm trying to make will be made in January

29:39

when multiple teams want the guy, and

29:41

it won't be because like, oh, now he's had the year

29:43

and head coach jail where he

29:45

was able to, you know, come clean and

29:48

go to confession and finally see

29:50

the air of his ways. Like he's going to be the

29:52

same guy and he'll learn and he's learned some

29:54

things away from the game. But I think he would have been learning

29:56

and scouting himself. Either way.

29:59

That's such a bad job. Well

30:01

he I mean that's also unders I understand

30:03

what you're saying, and you could point to the end of the run.

30:06

He also ended up with a quarterback

30:08

that couldn't really play and that and that really

30:10

shades things. I think if if he ended

30:13

up with a better quarterback prospect than mac Jones,

30:15

we probably aren't having this conversation. And that's

30:17

not to put everything on mac Jones, because

30:19

he played a major role in Mac Jones. He

30:22

was the face of the organization behind the scenes as

30:24

well. I just I still

30:26

can't believe, and I don't want to dwell on it anymore. And I think

30:28

we're all on the same page. I'm just a little

30:31

more strident in my feeling that the

30:33

teams, Uh, these teams think they're

30:35

so smart and it's a copycat league, and I

30:37

think once other teams kind

30:39

of put it out there that, oh, we don't want that guy.

30:41

He's he needs a.

30:42

Good team, though I'm not assuming

30:44

he's going to do well. The odds would say like he

30:47

could be mediocre.

30:48

He loves that Greg.

30:50

The Jets, not like the Jets

30:52

are going to high him, but a team that actually has it in

30:54

place. His mind is obviously so sharp.

30:56

He's such a great defense of mine, like he can do all that

30:59

running an organized I think he showed

31:01

that his best days are are

31:03

behind him.

31:04

When it comes to that.

31:05

He'll he'll need to make some adjustments,

31:07

obviously, But I and he's not somebody

31:10

to speak on this. He's not going to do a Last

31:12

Dance Jordan thing and speak his mind

31:14

on this stuff. But he loves like guys

31:16

like national guys like a Greg Rosenthal, who

31:18

no one was ever more in his corner saying

31:21

he can't do it anymore. He's got to be in a perfect

31:23

setup. He needs to kind of. He can't run

31:25

the show like he used to. I think he's

31:27

going to be hungry. And

31:29

I think it would have been hungry this year too, I guess. Is my point

31:32

this idea that he needed to take the year off, Well,

31:35

he's getting the year off and let's see what happens.

31:36

Because I think a little all of it.

31:38

I think a little bit of all of that can be true,

31:40

Like even if he didn't want the year off, it

31:42

can help him. Like he can be doubted,

31:44

but we don't. You have to look at the full body of work. He's one

31:46

of the greatest coaches, if not the greatest coach of all time.

31:49

And I find your versatility, Dan

31:51

to be impressive that you can

31:53

come out and attack appropriately

31:57

the aegis and the people that you

31:59

know killed for his age on a show where

32:01

you're asking if I was here for

32:04

to witness the Revolutionary War? So I that

32:06

moatility is?

32:08

I think versatility, I'll tell I

32:11

think I think you're saying it's a little hypocritical.

32:13

Versatile seems like the word that's a nice

32:15

guy move.

32:19

All right, let's take a break and we

32:21

will talk about, speaking

32:24

of pressure and decision makers, who's

32:27

under the most as we enter a draft season.

32:40

Welcome back.

32:41

I'll tell you what this sport is not for the meek

32:43

of heart and leadership in

32:48

the front office, that

32:51

Holy Trinity owner,

32:54

GM, head coach. All

32:56

teams are different and who has

32:59

the juice, but ultimately

33:01

there's always someone who's responsible, who

33:05

will be either celebrated

33:08

or dragged through the mud.

33:13

For the draft and.

33:14

Free agency is a test for these decision

33:17

makers. But I feel like the real pressure

33:19

point, the future of the organizations are

33:21

really built on the back of these three

33:23

days every April.

33:25

And that's what we're going to talk about right now.

33:28

And that's why you're hearing that ominous

33:30

synth Mark Sessler, because

33:33

I can only imagine. I mean, look at we just talked

33:35

about Belichick. One

33:37

day, you're the goat, the next day you

33:39

can't even get a job. And that's

33:42

the pressure these guys are under. It's what have

33:45

you done for me lately? And if you're coming off

33:47

a so so draft, for instance, and there are a

33:49

lot of gms and front

33:52

office leaders that are coming off so so to

33:54

bad drafts, man, you better hit on

33:56

this one. Or you'll be joining Bill Belichick

33:58

at the next corn Huskers summit.

34:03

If you're lucky.

34:05

I think you're right. It's a stark, stark

34:07

environment. That's why it

34:09

seems to be happening a little bit less. But you got these like

34:12

coach doesn't like to brag about being

34:14

in the office ninety hours a week. In gms

34:16

right now are doing the same thing. They don't see their families

34:18

for four months. And I think this

34:21

year especially to a lot of new gms, but the

34:23

pressure is turned up on some of them, but especially

34:25

some of these guys that have been around for a while, and

34:28

there have been some disappointing tracks in the background.

34:30

So this segment comes at the right time. Den.

34:34

I don't want to get you know on

34:36

this podcast especially, but I did hear one

34:38

of the many of what you know, a lot of new

34:41

head coaches. To make your point, Mark, I

34:43

heard from a birdie that an example

34:45

is one of the coaches toward the facility

34:47

after being hired, and the first thing he

34:49

asked was like, where are the beds where the pullout

34:52

couches for my assistance?

34:55

And you could infer quite easily what

34:58

will be expected of that staff and

35:00

the fact that the assistant coaching offenses

35:02

didn't have a place to sleep meant

35:05

that needed to be.

35:08

Handled. Put it that way.

35:09

So, yes, there's a lot of pressure all the way

35:11

down the chain. But let's get into some

35:15

teams and front office leaders

35:18

who are under the most pressure entering

35:20

this draft. And Greg, why don't you get us go and throw

35:22

throw a team out there. We'll go around the horn. And by the way,

35:24

for those that are wondering, Colleen

35:27

Wolfe still missing in action. We're

35:29

going to continue to track this and hopefully

35:32

she returns, but hope

35:34

is growing dim.

35:35

Go ahead, great, I'll save Bartokamas

35:38

for you because I'm that kind of teammate. And

35:41

I want to mention a name I feel

35:43

like has not been mentioned since the day he

35:45

was hired. And he's going to

35:47

be drafting for the first time actually, and

35:49

he's not in a great spot, and yet I still

35:51

feel like he's under a lot of pressure. His name is Dan

35:54

Morgan. He's the Panthers GM

35:56

not getting a lot of pop pop this offseason.

35:58

The Panthers get a lot of attention,

36:00

partly because they don't have a first round pick, but you

36:02

know what they do as have is the first

36:05

pick in the second round and

36:07

then another pick six picks

36:09

later in a draft that it's

36:12

the perfect spot to have those two picks

36:14

where people really feel like the strength

36:16

of this draft is in the top fifty

36:19

picks, that the difference between let's

36:21

say fifteen and fifty

36:24

is not that great. And to me, the

36:26

Panthers have so many needs that he

36:29

can put a little bit of a fire sale up for

36:31

that thirty three spot overnight and see

36:33

what he can get for and pick up more and more.

36:35

They're thin everywhere.

36:36

I love the Deontay Johnson move, but

36:39

Adam Thielen, you can't expect what

36:41

you got out of him to happen again. Like he is a

36:44

three in a perfect situation. You

36:46

need more juice. You don't have a receiver, you

36:48

don't have a tight end. Your left tackle

36:50

from a couple of years ago has essentially

36:52

been a bust. And they're gonna say that they love

36:54

them, but they're gonna need another option

36:56

there. And then I look at their defense and they've added

36:59

some good, just veteran

37:01

players that kind of fill the the snaps.

37:03

Josie Jewel, DJ wantam Ayshawn Robbinson

37:05

like clown he's there like a bunch of solid

37:08

guys who can play, and they needed that. But

37:10

when you look on our lads, which have my favorite

37:12

depth charts, you could see, you know, when they got

37:15

drafted where they came from. And I

37:17

noticed like only three players

37:19

on the Panthers starting defense were

37:21

drafted by the Panthers, and one of

37:23

them, Shaq Thompson, who was practically playing with Dan

37:26

Morgan. Back with Dan Morgan was quite an

37:28

exciting middle linebacker back

37:30

in the day. And so they need homegrown talent

37:32

and they need to win fast because we've

37:34

learned with that owner. Like you

37:36

might think you have a timeline. Dan

37:39

Morgan's been in the building, he was part of the last

37:41

regime. He's not gonna have that long of a timeline.

37:43

And they just need to start finding some

37:45

players. And I just wanted to say hello

37:47

to the Carolina Panthers fans that listened to.

37:49

This show, I'm with you, because they've they've been completely

37:51

excited. That is a perilous

37:54

spot because I think if you're anyone's

37:56

gonna want to try their test at being a GM

37:59

and it was kind of an un I think Dan

38:01

Morgan could be as good as anyone else somewhere,

38:03

but it was a higher from within, which

38:05

tells me sometimes about what the

38:07

owner wants to be able to have control over. I don't

38:09

know if that's the case here, but the odds

38:12

on situation tells us the tepper wants

38:14

to have the strongest voice. You don't know if the quarterback

38:17

can play. You inherited a job

38:19

where you have given away a ton of draft

38:21

picks for the future and made a ton of terrible

38:23

team building decisions over the last three or four years.

38:25

That's why Matt Ruhl doesn't have a job.

38:27

So it's like I think Dan Morgan like selling

38:30

that pick maybe and acquiring

38:33

all the assets you can. I agree

38:35

with Greg, I think that makes sense.

38:37

Yeah, because this is obviously the critical year

38:40

for Bryce Young. It comes quick in

38:42

the NFL, the number one overall pick coming

38:44

off a nightmare rookie year. If he's bad again,

38:47

very very real chance that

38:49

they just clean house.

38:50

Two fifth as they mentioned

38:53

too high seconds and then

38:55

the first pick of the third like they keep like that

38:57

third is almost as good as a late. Yes,

39:00

so he does have some even though they traded all

39:02

this picslay, they have some maneuverability.

39:04

They got to make it happen.

39:06

Yeah, I though one more before we throw it to Mark with

39:08

his pressure point just

39:10

a little.

39:12

Greg. I liked the way you did that.

39:13

That was an optimistic type way

39:17

to say hello to the Panthers fans. That

39:19

one thing that you got to remember to do, no

39:21

matter what, no matter what obstacles

39:23

you face, no matter the hardships in your past, there's

39:25

only one thing you gotta do.

39:29

Piled in.

39:31

All right, it's

39:35

been a while.

39:36

I you know, when you look at like the last

39:38

Panthers GM, Scott Fitter like

39:41

not surprising why he's not there anymore.

39:44

I think there's one GM sitting out there that it's

39:46

like it is a surprise to me that he's

39:48

still in the building. And it's George

39:50

Peyton, who I think we have a nickname

39:52

for. Was it Keaven Saunders? I

39:55

believe that's it. Okay,

39:57

So Kevin Saunders has

40:01

enough on his resume where he shouldn't be there. I think he's

40:04

a He's got a head coach who essentially

40:06

like probably runs that front office,

40:09

if not directly, just sort of spiritually,

40:12

and a head coach and Sean Payton who's

40:14

verbally whether I know, Greg always thinks whatever

40:16

Sean Payton is saying that he's lying, but

40:19

he says, you know, there are teams

40:21

up there above us in the draft where they're at number

40:23

twelve that we are. You know, trading up

40:25

for a quarterback makes them very valuable

40:28

front offices and assets. And I think, like you're

40:30

looking at a team that has Jarrett Stidham

40:33

and Ben Denucci in a post Russell Wilson

40:35

apocalypse, and there is a lot of pressure

40:38

to get up there and get someone if they don't

40:40

like who's going to fall to them as the fifth or sixth

40:42

guy. They do have more draft assets

40:44

than you would think. But I think either way,

40:47

if for some reason it doesn't go the way

40:49

that Sean Payton wants,

40:51

that Sean Payton has the easiest.

40:54

Fall guy around.

40:55

And there are you know, once every couple

40:57

of years there's a team that cleans house

40:59

in the front off right after the draft, and I

41:01

could see that being a real problem

41:03

for George Peyton slash Kevin Saunders if

41:05

it doesn't come out real well for them.

41:07

I mean they absolutely need it.

41:09

I mean that's happening. The decisions already

41:11

made.

41:11

If it doesn't matter, they're not gonna let him do

41:13

anything on draft weekend if they're gonna fire.

41:15

Well, so I'm saying I don't know if the decision's already

41:18

made or if they maybe they work better together than

41:20

we realized.

41:20

I don't.

41:21

I just think that the power structure puts them in a tough

41:23

spot. And it's almost like you have someone

41:25

you can blame other than Sean

41:28

Payton. If you're Sean Payton, if it doesn't go

41:30

well a couple weeks from now, I.

41:32

Mean you could almost like look

41:34

at it a different way than Mark like that, Especially

41:38

these teams coming off disappointing years, there's

41:40

not a lot of pressure. I mean there's pressure to

41:42

try to be better. But if

41:44

things go wrong, Sean Payton's

41:47

pulling the strings anyway, and he could just blame the

41:49

GM and start over there.

41:52

And if things go right, well,

41:55

Kevin Saunders keeps his job most

41:57

likely, and mickveigh and and Peyton

41:59

gets all the credit.

42:01

I don't like that.

42:01

I don't like the power structure for George Peyton

42:03

to begin with. But I would say, secondly, who

42:06

like Kevin Saunders? But if

42:08

you, if you like, go into another

42:10

rough year with Sean Payton. I think things get real

42:12

ugly, and you know, I just I just do. I

42:15

just think they I think they've got to come out of this draft

42:17

with a lot more hope than they were. Their

42:20

roster to me on offense is just like come

42:22

on, guys, like and the drafts have not been great. They

42:24

out they've not had great drafts under Kevin

42:26

Saunders. So it's like walball track record here.

42:28

As a Walmart that that owns the

42:30

Broncos. Yeah, I don't. We don't know yet

42:33

how patient they are. We

42:35

when we talked about the Russell Wilson trade,

42:37

I I made my

42:40

opinion that I shared

42:42

my opinion that I thought, if

42:45

they're being run the right way, that Peyton

42:47

should be mostly absolved of year one because

42:49

he had to inherit the Russell mess and everything

42:52

that came with it, for sure. And now

42:55

it's pretty widely known across the league that

42:57

the Broncos are in a very difficult

42:59

spot and terms of how they can spend

43:01

over the next couple of years because of that disastrous

43:04

Russell Wilson transaction. And I

43:06

guess I just disagree just a little bit about

43:09

like what the expectations are in Denver and

43:11

when the expectations are lowered because of

43:13

their unique situation that maybe

43:16

it's it's not as high a pressure point

43:18

as other teams.

43:19

Brongos fans didn't like it going into last season,

43:21

But I'm gonna make the same point now, is like, where

43:23

is the strength of this team? Give me a position

43:26

group that has has much.

43:28

It's a pretty bad roster. I might

43:30

put it in the bottom six

43:32

in the NFL. Like I think Peyton

43:34

did a fine job, Sean Payton. That's why

43:36

we talk about Kevin Sun. They find job coaching

43:38

up what they had. But

43:41

there's not a lot. There's not a lot to like wrap

43:43

your arms around here and

43:45

feel good about for the Broncos.

43:47

So I'm with you. They need some talent and fuse

43:49

it and if it and it's tricky like

43:52

b Nicks as the second rounder feels okay, Bonnicks

43:54

if you take them in the top fifteen feels

43:56

a little rich.

43:58

Yeah, they definitely need to get beat all

44:00

right. We started with two bad teams, two sad teams.

44:03

A bad team in a sad Panthers

44:06

are kind of sad and bad.

44:09

Anyway.

44:10

Panthers Broncos two teams that are looking

44:12

up at hill.

44:13

I want to look at.

44:13

I want to talk about a team that's

44:15

in a really the opposite place, but I

44:19

kind of attached the headlines to these. So

44:21

the headline here is take a window, for

44:23

granted, and soon enough it will be a wall.

44:26

M I like that pretty

44:28

good. Made that one up. Talk about the Packers,

44:31

and yeah, Brian Gouda Kuntz has

44:34

been there for a while now. He survived

44:36

the Aaron Rodgers power struggle, handled

44:39

it beautifully looking back on it, nailed

44:43

the Jordan Love pick. You

44:45

have Matt Lafleur there, his sixth season

44:47

with the team.

44:50

There's been a lot of success in those six seasons,

44:52

but also they have not gotten to the big

44:54

one with Lafleur. And

44:56

then that's this is an organization that expects

44:59

to get back to the super Bowl. And last

45:02

year's the whole last season they went nine to eight,

45:05

They closed very strong. Obviously, they went

45:07

into the playoffs, they were the team nobody

45:09

wanted to play. They took

45:11

the gave the Lions all that they could handle. And

45:15

now it is understood that this is the year

45:17

that they make that leap. And it

45:19

better be because I think that these

45:22

windows, especially at the Jordan Love situation, Greggie,

45:24

and maybe you can provide just a little clarity because

45:26

of his situation, where is he that contract

45:29

was.

45:30

He's entering the second year of a two

45:32

year contract. They're probably gonna give him a new contract

45:34

this offseason. If I had to guess in the summer.

45:37

Yeah, and then things get a little more difficult

45:39

for the Packers. And so what you

45:41

have with their situation. They

45:43

have the twenty fifth overall pick and

45:46

they have an early second round

45:48

pick that is the Aaron Rodgers trade.

45:51

It was going to be a first rounder, but Rogers

45:54

didn't reach the percentage of snaps because

45:56

of his injury, of course, so they get a second

45:58

rounder, so that is the ninth pick the second

46:00

round. They also have the twenty sixth

46:02

pick of the second round, and they have two

46:05

third round picks. So that's pretty nice they have

46:07

for a team coming off a successful

46:09

season with a really exciting young corps.

46:12

They now have five picks out.

46:14

Of the first ninety one, including

46:16

three in the top sixty. And

46:19

I think the pressure here is it's not like Gudakun is

46:21

going to lose his job, but this is

46:24

look at the Bills as a recent example, or what the

46:26

Lions are now entering as they come into

46:28

what feels like a big time important year for their organization.

46:31

I could have talked about the Lions in this exercise. This

46:34

is kind of the year.

46:35

And if Guta Kunz nails this draft

46:37

and makes smart moves and

46:39

picks up, hits the first round pick,

46:42

and then gets value in those ever

46:44

valuable second and third rounds, that could

46:47

really fill out whatever ills

46:49

this roster at this point, whether they decide

46:52

they want to go after an offensive tackle, even

46:54

though they had a pretty good season

46:56

from Rashid Walker who filled in for Bacdiari,

46:58

but that's a former seventh round pick. You want to upgrade

47:01

at that position. If you want to add some help

47:03

to the defense. You finally made the decision

47:06

and change defensive coordinators. But do you want to add

47:08

more talent there? I suspect that they will, and they'll

47:10

be aggressive addressing the defense because

47:12

the offense is in a very good place overall.

47:15

But this is such a pivotal moment

47:17

in recent Packers' history because if

47:19

you hit this draft, look out, you

47:21

could be hoisted in Lombardi in

47:24

February. If you miss on it, you could be

47:26

the next Bills a team that could have, would have, should

47:28

have, that was on the make and then never got there.

47:30

I would just say, like one thing though, quick though, because

47:32

I see what you're saying that it's could swing either

47:34

way. But you know, with the way the Packers

47:36

operate in general, like I would give

47:38

Goody like an A if

47:41

not in almost an a plus on rebuilding

47:43

the offense, because in a way, even

47:46

though Aaron Rodgers is Aaron Rodgers, it was a little

47:48

bit of a progress stopper. And we're

47:51

only only like four months

47:53

removed from finding out that Jordan Love can play,

47:56

and now I think like the hope is

47:59

gushing out of the organization. They

48:01

went back to back MVPs before that last

48:03

season. No I know, but I guess it's more like you,

48:06

like, in a way, they found a good quarterback

48:08

in Love, but then you his rookie contract has

48:10

been eaten up by that situation.

48:12

It's two different things in a way.

48:13

But like they're pretty

48:15

conservative with what they do with their front office

48:17

and stuff, and I think Goody has to

48:19

be as safe a GM is

48:21

anyone in a division

48:23

in a way.

48:24

But also.

48:26

Because I'm not talking about I don't see this

48:28

segment as like who's on the hot seat. Necessarily,

48:31

it's about like who is in

48:33

kind of in many cases it will be, and

48:36

probably the other teams that bring up it will be. But in

48:38

good cunts the situation, it's more like, here is

48:40

a moment and it might not be on everyone's

48:43

radar that this kind of could be the

48:46

year that separates them and makes them a true

48:48

super Bowl team if

48:50

he hits it, and it's like a moment in time

48:52

before love gets that big deal.

48:54

Well, I think you said that he would be in trouble for

48:56

some reason if things went, if this draft and

48:58

go well, which maybe you weren't.

48:59

But you would live with regret more than he'd be in

49:01

trou Okay, I.

49:02

Think that's so true that as you were talking

49:05

and I'm thinking about it, like they

49:07

have a chance to really set themselves

49:09

up as the consistent

49:13

team in the NFC. A young

49:15

quarterback and a really good

49:17

young core, a lot of which is

49:19

on offense.

49:20

That's that's how you win

49:22

consistently.

49:23

And when you say watch out, you turn into the Bills,

49:25

And part of me thinks like, well, you should

49:27

be so lucky.

49:28

I mean, they did win.

49:29

Like the most amount of games over the last four years,

49:31

and I don't view the Vill's story

49:33

as remotely closed. To me, Josh Allen

49:35

is in the middle of their prime and so their windows open.

49:37

So consistent winning is what they want. You

49:39

want to get a little over the top and some

49:42

good picks on defense, especially, I think in the secondary.

49:44

Mate, maybe you get a little younger with the pass rush.

49:47

But they're a team unlike the Broncos. Where I look around,

49:49

I see a lot of strengths and I don't see

49:51

a ton of huge, screaming needs.

49:53

You mentioned a couple of them.

49:55

I think they'll definitely address the secondary at

49:57

some point with those first three picks.

49:59

But he's in a good spot.

50:01

I mean, if Damashek does that list

50:03

of like the greatest positions in sports, and

50:06

you know he puts like Bruins center and

50:09

Yankees something I don't even remember

50:11

what it was centerfield, It's like, how about Packers GM

50:13

going from Wolf to Thompson to Guda

50:15

Kunst.

50:16

You know that's pretty good.

50:17

I feel like.

50:18

Most of Dave's like cross

50:20

sports points just circle back to Mario

50:22

Lemieux.

50:23

Yes, it's it is.

50:24

The center I think is like number

50:27

one all time or something.

50:31

All right, Let's take a break and then we will

50:33

go around again talking about

50:35

different teams that the

50:38

decision makers.

50:39

What am I calling this again? Pressure

50:42

points? Was decision making team builders?

50:45

Pretty good? All right, we'll be right back.

50:53

Right everybody, you never played

50:55

that, Thank you very much,

50:57

Greg Rosenthal who said that. Uh,

51:00

by the way, Greg, any have you given

51:02

any thought so far about

51:04

the Delaware tapes now

51:06

that they are in the possession?

51:09

No mean, despite you know, the firestorm

51:12

on of interest on social

51:14

media. Wait, no, I haven't heard from one listener

51:16

on this thing. Nobody cares. We waited

51:18

too long for this bit. The desire

51:22

has really diminished over the years.

51:25

After the listeners are like, what's Dan even talking

51:27

about? It's this is from eight years ago.

51:29

What a mistake that was? Everyone, all

51:32

the soldiers of the ATN Army.

51:35

Please hit up Greg on

51:37

Twitter. We

51:39

need and let him know that you do want

51:42

to hear the Delaware tapes and

51:44

and and it would be a win, Mark,

51:46

like you said, a win for everyone, a win for

51:48

you.

51:49

And I think so, I think, like you know, when we're hearing

51:51

the innocent voices of

51:54

children, you know, young minds

51:57

and hearts asking that this

51:59

be the wish that were fulfilled not only just

52:01

for us, but for the future generations.

52:04

So I think it's important.

52:06

Yeah, that was a rookie mistake by me, and

52:08

I know you're not. I will be turning off notifications

52:11

until Monday, April

52:14

fifteenth, all.

52:15

Right, so start sending this on Monday

52:18

April fifteenth now. And

52:20

I know you're not in it for the

52:23

glory, but just

52:25

think, Greg,

52:27

that you two could have a

52:30

sign football from Dabo

52:33

Sweeney.

52:35

Like me that I helped.

52:37

I potentially played

52:40

a role in the I'm gonna say an

52:43

orphanage that was erected in

52:46

the Clemson region. I'm

52:48

not sure, but I did play role because I got that

52:50

ball. You too could have some type of artifacts

52:52

celebrating your great

52:55

Filmthrampic mind.

52:58

I think it was thanking you for

53:01

speaking to the Young Capitalists of America

53:03

conference or something.

53:04

So let's come down with the Orphanage.

53:06

Young Capitalists of America. That

53:10

is so that's so false.

53:12

So anyway, again, just before we get back to it, who

53:15

wins Mark and I, who

53:18

wins the audience, and who

53:20

wins the Santa Monica Food Bank as

53:22

an example, we will donate

53:24

on behalf of Greg if he lets

53:27

us all here the Delaware his

53:30

Prague acid rock group from

53:32

the mid nineties in high school out

53:34

of western Massachusetts. Some

53:36

of their great work includes

53:40

I have it under Delaware, bio under stickies

53:43

on my laptop, how.

53:45

Do you want to cook? Shiny Men went

53:47

to frog Town. These are all output

53:51

from Delaware. All

53:54

right, let's get back to it.

53:55

We must listen to Delaware.

53:57

Shy Man went to Frogtown. You're

54:00

up, Greg, I'm gonna go with

54:02

Brandon Bean point you.

54:04

Know, I started with Carolina. Let's go to a former

54:06

Panthers staffer

54:08

here, Brandon Bean who arrived

54:11

in Buffalo

54:13

after one season of Sean mcdermotty. He joined

54:16

his power there twenty eighteen. I think what they've

54:18

done since McDermott got there could

54:20

be taught at like a sports

54:22

business school of how to

54:25

rebuild a franchise through picks,

54:27

through trade, through free agency, how to take

54:29

something where there was basically nothing and

54:32

create a consistent winner. Hopefully

54:34

they you know, for them, they get a Super Bowl eventually, and it

54:36

really completes that story.

54:37

But I think he was excellent.

54:39

But you look at the track record over the last few

54:41

years and in the draft specifically,

54:43

there's just not enough home runs. There's a bunch of singles,

54:46

Like at Oliver, you found a guy who

54:48

you can kind of build around.

54:49

That was twenty nineteen. For

54:51

the most part, all.

54:52

Their best player, their core players, were

54:55

found back then when they first got their

54:57

seventeen eighteen nineteen, maybe

54:59

twenty, and since then they've been hitting

55:01

singles. He needs this fine guys

55:03

that can be around now. They don't pick until late. I've

55:05

seen some stuff that maybe they trade up for wide

55:08

receiver. I think that's crazy because they

55:10

do have some fifths and sixth in this

55:12

class where they can trade to move

55:14

around. But I think they need to find two

55:16

or three real difference makers in the top

55:19

seventy five picks. We're going to

55:21

talk receiver tomorrow, but you know their

55:23

number one receiver right now out wide is

55:25

Curtis Samuel or Khalil Shiftier.

55:28

I don't even know who.

55:28

Geez it's concaid. I mean they need

55:31

a wide receiver.

55:32

They've signaled that they're really happy

55:34

with their offensive line. They recently signed Layout

55:36

Collins too, so I think that's one area they won't hit.

55:39

But especially in the secondary, the defense

55:41

and at wide receiver, They need

55:43

core guys. They need the bills that are gonna

55:47

help carry Josh Allen to where

55:49

he hasn't gone before. I think he can do

55:51

it because he's done it before. But they're they're

55:54

starting to run out of time. I liked the draft last year.

55:56

It worked out okay, but they need to start

55:58

stacking him.

55:59

One thing I don't like about Buffalo's

56:02

situation is when you

56:04

know, less than a month before the draft, you

56:07

created a burning need at

56:09

a you know, for an offense that you

56:11

know you can say, Josh Allen, go do it all

56:13

on, it's on his own. Well, no, we can't. Like, that's just

56:15

not how this is going to work. And so

56:17

you have to go find that wide receiver.

56:20

It's absolutely you need to use it. You might

56:22

need a trade up if you fall in love us on, but then

56:24

you need that wide receiver to like produce right

56:26

away.

56:27

I just don't love the situation. I think things.

56:29

I think there is a.

56:30

Lot of pressure on the

56:32

coach, there's a lot of pressure on the quarterback.

56:35

There's a lot of pressure on the front office. And

56:37

they were they did Brandon Bean

56:39

did such a good job building this thing.

56:42

But they're in a place that they did not plan to

56:44

be I don't think on any level right now.

56:46

And they could they could make an aggressive

56:49

move up the board potentially to grab

56:51

one of these top wide receivers, but

56:54

it might end up being more likely that

56:57

with that twenty eighth overall pick, or

56:59

even in this second round where they pick sixtieth.

57:02

Yeah, they have to be sharper than ever and identify

57:05

someone that is a

57:07

high value guy and hope they

57:09

hit on it. They see I agree with it you're saying, Mark,

57:11

They just seem very kind of vulnerable where

57:13

they where they are right now, and

57:16

if you were going to trade digs,

57:19

the timing of it post free agency, pre

57:21

draft almost just puts more pressure on

57:23

the organization to hit on something. And it's

57:25

not easy to hit on these guys. It's as good

57:27

as this wide receiver classes. And like Greg said,

57:29

we're going to talk about that episode

57:32

later this week, Like, it's

57:34

not easy to land on the guy that actually turns

57:37

into a big time pro, and they need a.

57:38

Guy who's going to be a big time pro. They're

57:40

trying to win a super Bowl.

57:42

It's not good enough anymore just to go twelve and five

57:44

or thirteen and four. Immense pressure

57:46

in Western New York.

57:49

That was that, GREGI Marky.

57:52

I mean, I think the most interesting spot

57:55

in the first round is

57:58

number four there on the Cardinals. And

58:01

I think with some of these guys, like with Brandon Bean, you can look

58:03

back and say, well, what have his drafts been? And

58:05

with Monte Austin Fort their GM,

58:07

I'm less concerned with. You know, he doesn't have that track

58:09

record, but he did. He almost reminds

58:12

me of our old guy Sashi

58:14

Brown, where he came in with a very distinct

58:16

strategy they used last year to

58:18

compile draft picks. They didn't

58:20

trade Kyler Murray, which was kind of this thing that people,

58:22

you know, I thought might happen. But they're cool

58:24

at quarterback, so they're not a candidate

58:26

to take a quarterback at number four.

58:28

They talk about a team that needs wide receivers.

58:31

They've got Michael Wilson, who I like, Greg

58:34

Dortch, who I like. Is these are supporting guys

58:36

and Chris Moore essentially, so you

58:39

know there are there another team that like,

58:41

well, what do you do?

58:42

You created this burning need.

58:44

You could also, I think, obviously

58:47

trade these picks to the Vikings and

58:49

get a good wide receiver down down in the down

58:51

the board a little bit. I guess I just cannot

58:53

wait to see what they do. They've got eleven picks

58:55

in this draft, and it's cool to keep accruing

58:58

them. But to go back to Sashi Brown because the one that

59:00

kind of comes up is like I love the strategy

59:02

because I think it's it's like you're always gonna have a team

59:04

when you're number four, and they have needs all over the place,

59:06

so recreate this team

59:08

with young players. But that's

59:10

Sashi Brown, a crewman of draft

59:12

picks, and this is other teams to try this too. It's like

59:15

you got to hit on them and they missed on a lot. There

59:17

was one draft where they drafted like four wide receivers

59:20

and a quasi like tight end wide receiver

59:22

type hybrid and like none of them

59:24

worked. None of them worked,

59:26

And like that's only the beginning of how it

59:28

didn't work. So I guess what I want

59:30

to find out is like Monte Austin

59:33

fort, great plan, good strategy,

59:35

You've got you sit at the inflection point of

59:37

the entire first round where you're gonna get great value

59:39

like you did from the Texans a year ago, and

59:42

you can't argue with that strategy. But then

59:44

are you the front office, the GM, the

59:46

group of people to go get the right players, because

59:48

if that doesn't happen, you passed on

59:51

someone like Marvin Harrison Junior. It's like you

59:53

could get a legit, bonafide

59:56

likely Hall of Famer, or you can continue

59:58

your draft capitol building

1:00:00

plan. I just cannot wait to find out

1:00:03

what they're offered, what they say yes to,

1:00:05

what they say no do, and what they do.

1:00:07

They have so many needs and they're just like

1:00:09

a little unlucky. Do you remember I

1:00:12

sort of memory hold this game, but week

1:00:15

seventeen, they were down twenty one to six to

1:00:17

the Eagles and Kyler

1:00:19

Murray ends up putting up thirty five points.

1:00:21

This is like it felt like the bottom

1:00:23

of the Eagles season, and yet they had more

1:00:25

lengths to go and they won that game, and

1:00:28

you know, they would have only won three games. I think they would have

1:00:30

been two picks higher if they hadn't won that game,

1:00:33

and they would be in such a better position here

1:00:35

to trade that number two pick

1:00:38

for a quarterback that they could have gotten the farm

1:00:40

for. And sometimes it is a little lucky. It's like

1:00:42

the Panthers got this one pick

1:00:45

for the pan I mean the Bears got this number one

1:00:47

pick for the Panthers being like this bad. No

1:00:49

one expected them to be this bad. So

1:00:51

it's just like a little bit of bad luck. And they have so

1:00:54

many needs that it's like you could pick any position

1:00:56

and they need it other than quarterback.

1:00:57

I would say maybe maybe offensive line.

1:01:00

I'll go glass half full in

1:01:03

the sense that, yeah, we

1:01:05

don't know if this management

1:01:08

you know, and never forget ownership, and

1:01:12

when you look at the teams are successful and teams that

1:01:14

aren't, like it all connects like

1:01:16

can you trust the Arizona Cardinals to make the right

1:01:19

decision? And if they were sitting with the number two

1:01:21

pick, as you're saying, like, then they have

1:01:23

to or more most likely make

1:01:26

a decision either to draft a quarterback

1:01:28

or they trade out of the pick, and maybe

1:01:30

they the trade they make is great, or maybe

1:01:33

it makes them overthink things and

1:01:35

mess things up. The way it is now, it's almost dummy

1:01:37

proof. It's like you got

1:01:40

in a top flight wide

1:01:42

receiver year. You need a

1:01:44

top flight wide receiver for this quarterback

1:01:46

that you paid all this money to go

1:01:48

Just take Marvin Harrison or whoever you think is

1:01:51

the best wide receiver, don't overthink it

1:01:53

and and get better overnight.

1:01:56

How do you mess this one up? Like, I don't know.

1:01:59

It seems like a tough one for even the Cardinals too,

1:02:01

But they're like I think they're likely. I would greg,

1:02:03

where would you put the odds that they trade it? I mean, it depends

1:02:06

what I think the vikings are already called them. It's

1:02:08

like I would put it at like sixty percent

1:02:10

that they would maybe trade it. That

1:02:12

may be a little bit high.

1:02:14

But or just like

1:02:16

justin Jefferson or Jamar Chase

1:02:19

or a player of that level to your roster

1:02:21

right now with your quarterback that you're still trying

1:02:23

to figure it out.

1:02:24

Like right, I guess that's what I mean.

1:02:25

I said, there's nothing wrong with trading back

1:02:27

when there's a quarterback starve team

1:02:29

out there and you have to pick up the phone of it.

1:02:31

It rings.

1:02:32

But also, like I feel like just

1:02:34

taking a potential first team

1:02:36

All Pro level wide receiver is

1:02:38

a path to getting a lot better also, you

1:02:41

know.

1:02:41

And to give my Monte

1:02:43

Austin for credit, look, last year Will

1:02:46

Anderson turned out to be great for Houston,

1:02:48

But the Cardinals are happy with that trade. They already

1:02:51

did a trade down last year, and they had a

1:02:53

sneaky good rookie class.

1:02:55

They got, you know, four or five real contributors,

1:02:58

real NFL players, so they're

1:03:00

off to a good start. I think it's a good coaching staff and the GM

1:03:02

has done a good job so far. And yeah, Mark, I think

1:03:04

it's significant the chances they trade. I'd put

1:03:07

it a little lower just because Harrison's so special

1:03:09

that it's like forty sixty. But it feels like it could

1:03:12

happen for sure.

1:03:13

Okay, I got a weird one here in terms

1:03:15

of the headline, because I wanted to give a headline

1:03:17

for each of these Yes, the Jaguars, let's talk about the

1:03:19

Jaguars, Little

1:03:23

Bartacamas, the Bartaka heads are going

1:03:25

off right now. Got Doug Peterson,

1:03:28

and I was thinking a headline for some reason. The

1:03:33

phrase I do not want what I haven't

1:03:35

got just came into my head,

1:03:38

and that is the title of

1:03:41

Shenado O'Connors nineteen eighty

1:03:43

nine album that

1:03:45

had of course nothing compares to

1:03:47

you on it, And I'm like, why did I think of that? Why

1:03:49

did that just come into my brain? That

1:03:52

seems strange? I'm

1:03:54

not even like a huge shnade head, like a

1:03:56

respector and rest in peace, and he

1:03:59

is Irish. I loved Sinead

1:04:01

O'Connor's voice, but like, it's not like I was a

1:04:03

super fan. I don't own an album, so

1:04:05

why did I do not want what I

1:04:07

haven't got come into my brain? So

1:04:10

anyway, apparently it's a you

1:04:12

know, it's a song off the album, and it's it's said to

1:04:14

be about finding acceptance for what can't

1:04:16

be changed, making peace with

1:04:19

loss and limitation, and finding

1:04:21

the courage to live and love.

1:04:25

I said that.

1:04:25

Kind of it's about Trevor Lawrence.

1:04:30

Wow, like are

1:04:32

the Jaguars now we

1:04:35

maybe didn't draft the savior of all

1:04:37

saviors and and he's

1:04:39

he could he could be very good, but

1:04:41

there's some limitations here. He's

1:04:44

not gonna be the guy that

1:04:46

takes you just on his back.

1:04:48

But you can move on from that. You once

1:04:50

you know that you have a.

1:04:52

Very good, potentially great quarterback, but

1:04:54

maybe not a first ballot Hall of Famer. Now

1:04:56

that we know that, we process

1:04:59

that and maybe there's some grief involved

1:05:01

there, but it's not the end of the world.

1:05:03

You still have a quarterback that twenty five teams

1:05:05

in the league, maybe twenty three teams in

1:05:07

the league, maybe twenty teams in the league would

1:05:10

kill to have.

1:05:11

So we move forward, and

1:05:13

how do they do that? Now?

1:05:14

They and this is

1:05:16

here's a quote. Do we have this quote by the

1:05:18

way, etp from

1:05:21

Doug Peterson.

1:05:22

I don't know if I'll ever get over it. I think for me,

1:05:24

it's going to be my motivation, my fuel,

1:05:26

you know, moving forward, you

1:05:29

know, and I'm not going to let it cloud

1:05:32

the vision. But at the same time, it's going

1:05:34

to be it's going to be close in my mind as

1:05:38

I move forward with the team.

1:05:39

This spring, Doug Peterson was

1:05:41

talking about the one in five finish to the

1:05:44

season when they were eight and three

1:05:46

and on top of the world. They won in Houston on

1:05:48

right around Thanksgiving to go to eight and three, and then

1:05:51

the wheels fell off and Trevor Lawrence's

1:05:53

injury played a big role in that, but

1:05:55

it wasn't the only thing. The defense melted down

1:05:57

as well. So now they have to figure out where

1:06:00

they're at and they have let's

1:06:02

see, they have the seventeenth overall pick.

1:06:04

They also and they

1:06:06

have the forty eighth overall pick in the second round,

1:06:09

and then they have a compensatory

1:06:11

pick in the third round. So they have three

1:06:13

picks in the top ninety six, two in the top

1:06:16

fifty.

1:06:17

Where do you go if you're Balki? Where

1:06:19

do you go?

1:06:20

If you're Doug Peterson, who took the end of that season

1:06:23

very personally, you're definitely set

1:06:25

at quarterback.

1:06:26

You believe you got to decide whether you're going to.

1:06:28

Make Trevor Lawrence

1:06:30

a top five paid

1:06:32

quarterback in the league. That's a decision that it's

1:06:34

going to be difficult. But what do you do to

1:06:36

try to get better in the AFC

1:06:38

South and be as also Peterson

1:06:41

said in that press availability at the owners meetings,

1:06:43

like they're back to being the hunter in the AFC

1:06:45

South, and I'm looking at

1:06:47

like move the sticks mocks Terry and Arnold

1:06:50

to cornerback out of Alabama to

1:06:53

Jacksonville. There's a lot of issues with miscommunications

1:06:56

in the secondary, a lot of blown coverages

1:06:58

late in the season, So that makes sense, and say also

1:07:01

the repercussions of a move that a lot

1:07:03

of us first guessed at the time that Trayvon Walker

1:07:06

first overall pick when you had Aiden

1:07:08

Hutchinson who seemed like the safer pick because

1:07:10

Walker hasn't become the guy they expected them to be.

1:07:13

They have a big needed edge rusher still.

1:07:15

So I think it's the defense where you're focused, but you

1:07:17

can't ignore the offense that needs

1:07:19

help. With Ridley out the door and

1:07:22

Trevor Lawrence at a kind of an inflection point

1:07:24

in his career, like who is he will give him

1:07:26

the right setup and give

1:07:28

him the cast that allows him to

1:07:30

maximize what he is very

1:07:32

important, a lot of pressure on the brain

1:07:34

trust in Jacksonville.

1:07:36

I'd kind of maybe part of it is,

1:07:38

like, see what type

1:07:40

of wide receiver falls to

1:07:43

you. They're seventeen, you said, because

1:07:46

it is, it's a special draft on that

1:07:48

note, and like, I kind

1:07:50

of think it's easier when you're a team that

1:07:52

has a couple burning needs, like they need a wide receiver,

1:07:55

they need secondary help. Like you maybe

1:07:57

can't go I mean, you can go wrong with any of these picks,

1:07:59

but you probrobably can't walk away

1:08:01

from the first round of feeling good about whoever you

1:08:03

add, Like it's I don't hate their spot

1:08:05

there.

1:08:06

I'm higher on Trevor Lawrence maybe

1:08:09

than you are. And I know what you're saying.

1:08:10

But like the injury hurt him

1:08:12

a lot last year, but he's still like the

1:08:15

way he ended the season before outside of the playoff

1:08:17

game, Like he's six y six,

1:08:19

he can run, he can do everything.

1:08:21

Mark, Where would you have him in your quarterback

1:08:23

rankings right now?

1:08:25

Well, so, I mean the QB rank the QB Index

1:08:27

is based on like literally the last kind of stuff

1:08:30

we saw.

1:08:30

Over the off season, we just kind

1:08:32

of doll I wipe that.

1:08:33

Just in general, I would say this,

1:08:35

I think he has absolute potential to

1:08:37

be a top ten quarter But where.

1:08:38

Would you put him right now? That's all

1:08:41

I'm saying. Twelve?

1:08:42

Yeah, and I would too, I would put him in that territory.

1:08:44

And I'm saying, do you is it time to give the ghost

1:08:47

that you have the top three guy?

1:08:49

Not yet?

1:08:50

And that's all I'm saying, Yeah, just not yet. I

1:08:52

mean that that would be like ad But.

1:08:54

By the way, you can win with the top ten quarterback

1:08:56

obviously and many half so it's not the end of the

1:08:58

world. I'm just saying him as the all

1:09:00

world savior Peyton Manning type

1:09:02

guy. Maybe that's the calibration

1:09:05

that need or the recalibration that needs to be made.

1:09:07

Yea, I need to I need to write the list down, and I feel

1:09:09

like I'm lower on Lawrence and consensus, but

1:09:11

maybe not in this room. I

1:09:13

feel I think he's still in the

1:09:15

top ten. He's probably right

1:09:18

around nine or ten. And that's his play

1:09:20

so far, and I think he can get back. I think he's he

1:09:22

had a lot of good play last year that

1:09:24

that they were not supporting

1:09:27

him early in the season. But they are a weird

1:09:29

team. I agree Mark that the need the needs

1:09:31

aren't that screaming. They're a better version to me of

1:09:33

the Broncos, where it's like they're average

1:09:36

to good at most spots. Secondary

1:09:38

to me is an especially cornerback

1:09:40

is the biggest need.

1:09:41

But they feel like.

1:09:42

They solve something by signing Ark Armstead,

1:09:45

but that you know that's an older player with an injury

1:09:48

last year, and so you need defensive lineman

1:09:51

even if it's a third edge with Walker

1:09:53

and Alan, or if it's a defensive tackle,

1:09:55

and they would have loved to keep Bridley, so

1:09:58

that receiver wasn't a need, but now

1:10:00

you go into it with aany like. I

1:10:02

think Lawrence is emblematic of this whole team. It's

1:10:05

sort of in the middle. They spent a lot

1:10:07

on the offensive line, and it's not a bad line, but they've

1:10:09

spent a lot of resources for it to just be eh

1:10:12

uh. And you know their guy, our guy

1:10:14

Balki, our guy. You

1:10:17

know, he survived a lot of different power struggles.

1:10:19

Do you know who the coach was when Trent balk

1:10:21

entered the building there.

1:10:23

That'll be ridiculous.

1:10:24

It was Doug Maroone, it was, you

1:10:26

know, he was there

1:10:28

with Moron my urban

1:10:31

Meyer kept him around as like, okay,

1:10:33

you can kind of be my guy who takes

1:10:35

care of that side of things.

1:10:37

Uh.

1:10:37

Darryl Bebbll remember he was an interim head

1:10:39

coach there for a while and now he's still here with Peterson.

1:10:41

He had all those power struggles in San Francisco. He

1:10:44

supposedly wants a team that's like bigger and tougher

1:10:46

and stronger and faster than everyone. And I

1:10:48

don't quite see that. They're they're very middle

1:10:50

of the pack.

1:10:53

Hmm. I agree.

1:10:54

That's you know, it's time figure some things

1:10:57

out there. All right, good

1:10:59

stuff, let's a break and then

1:11:01

we'll wrap things up. All

1:11:04

right, we're back, and by the way,

1:11:06

we're still you know, Colleen

1:11:09

has been missing for about forty five to fifty minutes

1:11:11

now, and it's

1:11:13

I think where we're at now, Mark, it's

1:11:15

gone from a search

1:11:18

and rescue to I

1:11:20

hate to say this a search and recovery.

1:11:22

Well, yeah, I mean, I think part of the difficulty

1:11:25

is that we're still, you know, locked in our

1:11:27

chairs trying to produce the

1:11:29

show while realizing that we've lost

1:11:31

our friend. And so we're going to shift into full investigation

1:11:34

mode after the show. But if you can find

1:11:36

the Delaware tapes, I believe we can find like a

1:11:38

five foot one blonde.

1:11:40

There have been reports out

1:11:42

there from various

1:11:45

police scanners on the East side of Los

1:11:48

Angeles that there's been witnesses to a

1:11:50

young blonde

1:11:52

woman talking about Quescia Dolfo

1:11:55

Mensa's third year

1:11:57

in his rebuild that that it's kind of go time.

1:11:59

So I do feel like that

1:12:02

might be a little bit of a clue for where to

1:12:04

find her, just talking just on the

1:12:06

street street street corner.

1:12:07

It's a little worriesing.

1:12:10

Colleen has become like the gone girl of this podcast

1:12:12

over the last couple of weeks.

1:12:13

We just got to find her and hope she's okay.

1:12:16

All right, That is it for the

1:12:19

Wednesday show, and

1:12:21

we'll be back a little later in the week. As

1:12:23

we said, we're gonna continue our

1:12:26

draft wormhole and

1:12:28

and really dig in on one of the most exciting

1:12:30

positions or maybe

1:12:32

the it depends quarterback

1:12:34

wide receiver position groups

1:12:37

in this draft, which is wide receiver.

1:12:39

So that's coming up later this week. Anything

1:12:41

else to add.

1:12:41

Boys before we say goodbye, been

1:12:45

a pleasure as always

1:12:48

as always, and Mark again, not

1:12:50

constructive criticism, but

1:12:53

just a suggestion about your background

1:12:55

on remote.

1:12:57

You have put it on my radar fully

1:13:00

and I'm going to think about how to address it.

1:13:02

Oh and let me underline this with my

1:13:05

wife got back to me. The dog

1:13:07

rescue place is Love

1:13:10

Leo Rescue if

1:13:12

you are in the southern California

1:13:15

area. It is

1:13:17

an incredibly run organization

1:13:20

that really put the pet first.

1:13:23

Adopt a dog, save a life. Love

1:13:25

Leo Rescue as a non based profit

1:13:27

based a nonprofit based

1:13:30

in Los Angeles. We

1:13:33

believe all dogs deserve a second

1:13:35

chance, so check out Love Leo.

1:13:37

Rescue dot org. That's where I got my.

1:13:39

Beloved captain and they do amazing

1:13:41

work, So check that out. And

1:13:44

until next time, he's

1:13:46

the call. Where are you, Connie.

1:13:51

Hey, guys, thanks for listening to this episode

1:13:53

of the Around the NFL podcast.

1:13:56

I can't wait to do the same.

1:13:58

I'd like to thank producer Eric Roberts for going

1:14:00

into the office on an off day just so I'd

1:14:02

have everything I need to do the show

1:14:04

remotely.

1:14:05

Eric, we tried our best.

1:14:08

To Greg, thanks for sending out the news

1:14:10

items so early. It's a true hero

1:14:12

move.

1:14:12

You know me so well.

1:14:15

To Mark, my brother in anxiety,

1:14:18

thanks for probably over preparing today.

1:14:20

You're always ready for anything and everything.

1:14:23

I just wish I could say that about my internet provider,

1:14:25

especially today. And to

1:14:28

Dan who never stops

1:14:30

believing that my remote appearances

1:14:32

could maybe work this time. You

1:14:34

miss all the shots you don't take, and we've

1:14:37

taken a whole lot of shots, so

1:14:39

good times. Gang will reconvene

1:14:41

in studio to properly heed the call.

1:14:43

And now I gotta go.

1:14:45

I'm gonna go throw my computer into the sea.