Jaire Alexander Lands In Baltimore and What News Really Matters?

00:00:05
Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily.

00:00:06
Speaker 2: Hopefully you are safe, healthy and ready for some football discussion. What's up everybody, Patrick claiboun Here in the Chris Westling podcast Studio, Greg Rosenthal is off gallivanting in his ancestral lands with his offspring.

00:00:20
Speaker 3: Hopefully Greg's having a good time.

00:00:22
Speaker 2: Here to celebrate, not celebrate, because Greg's had the team on his back. Like Greg Jennings since the inception of the show. Our first trip in the podcast studio signs Greg for me Omar Ruiz of NFL Network spending time actively disregarding his news shift to spend this time with us. Thanks for spending time.

00:00:40
Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for having me. I love the Greg Jennings reference.

00:00:43
Speaker 4: Fun fact, I had the walk off interview with him when he was a Packer and they played the Minnesota Vikings when the Vikings Stadium was being built and they're playing at the University of Minnesota Field. So it's a very memorable interview I had of a couple games I did in that old facility, and you know, bringing back some core memories there.

00:01:06
Speaker 2: And it's funny because there's this whole generation of NFL fans that only knows Greg Jennings from the YouTube Madden clip where he's scoring a touchdown with a broken leg that I'm constantly referencing. It's like pure Internet versus the people who are like, oh, Greg Jennings, he was a good player, the very solid Packers wide receiver. That's kind of that argument for Yeah, they didn't have to draft guys in the first round because all these guys drafted after the first round. They had a lot of successful So what we have done today, I have kidnapped Omar from his news shift because it's that time of year where we are constantly doing news. The news department at NFL Media is the backbone of this operation, and I'm biased the centerpiece of that backbone, the core structure is the person that is doing the news updates and that is the task that Omar has today and every days. It's like a k us, a collection of everything to make one minute of television worthwhile to people and Omar at this time of year it can be a.

00:02:09
Speaker 3: Little tougher than others.

00:02:11
Speaker 1: Oh it is.

00:02:11
Speaker 4: Well, Thank goodness, we had four teams delaying their mini camps to this week and giving us some actual Patrick mahomes in the news today. Lamar Jackson's speaking this week, and the Rams going to Maui with the Maui camp, and the Giants and all their quarterbacks are in are in mini camp, so you know, we have some actual fodder, some actual news, and yeah, it's a fun time of year before I think we all check out for a little bit, Patrick.

00:02:39
Speaker 2: And that's the hope today. We're gonna after we're gonna hit the news of today, and then we're going to look back at the news of the day from June twenty twenty four, all of the consternations surrounding the discussions of all of those news items, and we're going to ask the simple question was this important? Like how much did this actually matter? So we're gonna get to that, but we start today with a little bit of the news that the news of the day as of this point, because again, Omar could bolt out of here at any moment to go do some more news. The Ravens sign Lamar Jackson's college teammate JayR Alexander to a new deal after they couldn't get things worked out in Green Bay. There was discussions of a potential trade all offseason. This was the thing that's like Gayr is coming back. Maybe no he's gonna be a Raven Omar.

00:03:26
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:03:26
Speaker 4: I like this move for the Ravens because they're obviously one of those teams because of Lamar Jackson. They're always going to contend. They're always going to be among those teams we talk about at the end of the year. Are they going to make some noise in the postseason? Is this year they get to the Super Bowl? So when you're building their roster, as Eric Tacosta does and John Harbad does, getting a piece like JayR Alexander could be that difference at the end of the year when we're talking about depth and the war of attrition that is the NFL season.

00:03:53
Speaker 1: Not to mention he's a good player.

00:03:55
Speaker 4: You know, we kind of forget that because he's been on the shelf so much the last couple of years. But if he can stay hell healthy, if they can build depth in that room, then he could be a difference maker as well as being a key depth piece for a AFC contender.

00:04:08
Speaker 1: So I like the move and I would.

00:04:10
Speaker 4: Imagine and obviously Lamar Jackson alluding to it when he campaigned to get JayR Alexander and for them to sign him.

00:04:17
Speaker 1: They were in the same recruiting class.

00:04:19
Speaker 4: They played three years together at Louisville, and they're both first round picks fourteen picks apart in the twenty eighteen drafts, so they're obviously boys. I'm sure Lamar Jackson vouched to Eric DaCosta and John Harbaugh for him his character, his locker room presence, and it'll be exciting to see what he does there in Baltimore.

00:04:37
Speaker 2: And ultimately with about one year four million dollars that there are some incentives there that could change that value. But you have to wonder, why does it feel like they were the only players in this Because I understand JayR has missed games. He only played in seven games last year, but you go back to twenty twenty only there was an injury, he only played four games. He played sixteen the next season at a very high leve Well, if I'm not mistaken, Yeah, he went to the Pro Bowl and got second team Associated Press votes. There at the cornerback position, people get hurt, you know, it's something that happens. But JayR Alexander still can play cornerback at a high level.

00:05:14
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:05:15
Speaker 4: I think he's one of those players that probably would have gotten a lot more noise closer to training camp, and I think the Ravens just jumped on it early before there was really any competition for their suitors. And again, I think when you talk about, you know, the presence that he has, and we know he can be a big personality. We saw what he did in Carolina a couple of years ago. Maybe the last week he inserted himself as a captain because he's from there, even though he was at an actual captain.

00:05:41
Speaker 2: You know, those are the things he might have to deal with with Jay or Alexander.

00:05:45
Speaker 4: But again with Lamar Jackson, the two time MVP vouching for his old college buddy, I think that made a big difference there with you know, DaCosta and Harbaugh and everybody else being on board with that.

00:05:55
Speaker 2: And as a franchise ideology, I don't think you could ever have.

00:05:59
Speaker 3: Too many cornerbacks.

00:06:00
Speaker 2: And they had injuries in the secondary in the offseason as well. So it's a good opportunity for the Baltimore Ravens and you know, they do it again. They get a veteran who can play very, very good football. We'll go to here in Los Angeles. Sean McVay says that the Rams have made progress with Kyen Williams as far as a contract is concerned. A guy who looks to get the line's share of Carrie's and opportunities. And it makes me wonder, Omar, because we've seen relationships between Sean McVay and running backs deteriorate in the past. How confident are you that this one is ultimately gonna work.

00:06:38
Speaker 4: I think it will because I think Kyron Williams showing up at OTA's, showing up at mini camp despite the contract negotiation, I think is a testament to that relationship with Sean McVay as it currently stands. I think behind the scenes, they've expressed to Kyron, and they've publicly said just how important he is to their success. They want to build around the run game and how it's not just that he's productive, but how he runs the football so inspiring. He's a heart and soul type of figure for that offense, and obviously want to build around what he can do on the football field and the way he has shown up And I saw him out at OTA practice a couple of weeks ago, still has that big smile on his face, and he was doing a lot of stuff on the side because you know, when players are having these negotiations play out, they try not to get two in the weeds, you know, maybe mixing up with other players. Don't want to get hurt in that sense. So he's kind of doing stuff, but he had a good attitude. He's running around, still sprinting, kind of showing that energy that we see on Sundays, showing that in OTA practice despite this contract negotiation. So I think all of that together kind of shows the good faith that's there between him and the organization and the reason why I think, you know, I'm pretty confident that that'll get done at some point.

00:07:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, when the relationships work, they generally do with with Sean McVay and company, and that's why they're making efforts to get Jalen Ramsey back. But Sean McVay did say there are some obstacles and acquiring Jalen Ramsey. I'm assuming Jalen Ramsey's not going for one year four million dollars.

00:08:06
Speaker 4: Problem twenty four million obstacles to be exact, perhaps based on what he's expected to be paid in twenty twenty five.

00:08:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so the Rams obviously are going to be a contender in the division. Another long time NFC western Kalais Campbell, back with the Arizona Cardinals, had some thoughts this week about what he would like to do because he's still he's playing at a relatively high level, at a relatively you know, advanced age for the NFL. I'm not going to call Kalais Campbell because they have to find a mirror. But here's what Khalais Campbell had to say.

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Speaker 5: But I take be the mentor, you know, with a lot of honor. You know, I enjoy passing knowledge. I feel like, you know, is some point for me to die with all this knowledge, you know, go to the graveyard whatever. In my career, with all this knowledge, I have to share as many as many people as possible, and especially people that are going to help West win ball game.

00:08:56
Speaker 1: Don't scare him like that.

00:08:57
Speaker 2: Clais Is fine, don't mention that hopefully he's got sixty some thing more years please of ability to pass on this knowledge. Yeah, one of the better guys in the league. And looking just some of this list of other guys were drafted in two thousand and eight. OMAR podcasters Chris Long and Martellis Bennett, WOW, CBS color broadcaster Matt Ryan team color broadcaster Keeb Talib and Bear's second all time leading rusher, Matt Forte. These guys have been out in the league forever. Kalaius was still doing it.

00:09:25
Speaker 1: That's amazing. I think Joe Flacco is in that class right two thousand and eight.

00:09:28
Speaker 4: So you got these two thousand eight draft class guys. And for me, because you said, you know, looking in the mirror and all that, I love when these old guys still play. And Aaron Rodgers, for all the drama that he can bring, it makes me feel not as old. Yeah, quite frankly, just just to be blunt about it. And with Kalayis, Campbell is still bumping around and like you said, playing at a high level. And I think when you talk about what he meant to that Dolphins team last year and when they had hopes to turn their season around, if they were going to make a push to the playoffs, and they didn't want to trade Campbell because they was such an important piece to that team. Obviously they fell short and it didn't work out for them. But just goes to show you what he still means to an organization, what he still means to a defense, and especially with the Cardinals.

00:10:11
Speaker 1: You know a lot of people talk about them.

00:10:12
Speaker 4: Perhaps if they can get kind of Kyler Murray to play consistently all year long and Jonathan Gannon can finally get that defense to take that step to the upper echelon. If Kalayas Campbell's a big part of that, that'd be an interesting topic to talk about down the road.

00:10:25
Speaker 2: Now and for sure, and you spent so much time with this team in this Gannon era where I've called the twenty twenty four defense the search bar because all season I was like, wait, who is that? Who made this play? And so now you add Kalais Campbell to that group. What do you think that does for the Cardinals specifically?

00:10:43
Speaker 4: Oh, it brings leadership. It brings productivity, especially up the middle. You know when you're talking about you know, stuffing the run and the things that you kind of have to do to be a successful team the way Jonathan Gannon wants to run that defense. And I think what we've talked about so often is the draft class of twenty three of twenty four, so many young players have played. Like you mentioned, you're searching who is this guy? And Campbell brings a lot of leadership to that team, knows how.

00:11:12
Speaker 1: To play at a high level.

00:11:14
Speaker 4: Has played in a Super Bowl his rookie year, so he's played in big postseason games. Obviously, was part of that Jacksonville Jaguars team with Jalen Ramsey. Speaking of Ramsey back in twenty seventeen, that made that deep AFC run, and that was a similar type of team. We had younger players that had cut their teeth for a couple of years and they put it all together. And I think that's where the Cardinals are at. So the experience he has from that to bring to Arizona back where he started his career, in the place that he had gone to a Super Bowl, I think that all that is kind of the pieces that they're looking for.

00:11:47
Speaker 1: I think a lot of talents there. Obviously, they spent a.

00:11:50
Speaker 4: Lot of draft capital this past draft on defensive players, and I think Klayis is a player that can bring it all together and get it going the way again.

00:11:59
Speaker 1: In one there's.

00:12:00
Speaker 2: Reason to believe this is not just is they're talking about the Cardinals again. There's reason to believe the Cardinals can make trouble in the NFC West. As you know, there's been a lot of changes and of course the most consistent parts generally being the Rams and the forty nine ers. We don't necessarily feel the way about the forty nine ers. Perhaps, you know John Lynch's crying poor this week saying, oh we got to you know, we had to pay the quarterback. He also essentially played for free.

00:12:23
Speaker 3: For four years. So yeah, you figure those things out.

00:12:26
Speaker 2: And speaking of retirements, off of Kalais Campbell again, hopefully you play forever Kalais Dan Mehars, the original k C Wolf, is retiring after thirty five years as the mascot. He was the longest tenured mascot in the league omar by more than twelve years, according to the website.

00:12:45
Speaker 1: No way, but that's different than the bandit guy, right, No, yeah, yeah.

00:12:48
Speaker 3: Again, it's very important. Dan Mehars, the KC.

00:12:51
Speaker 2: Wolf is not to be confused with the imposter superfan that was arrested on.

00:12:55
Speaker 1: Federal bay Croft charges.

00:12:58
Speaker 2: Just seventeen years for bank robbing and money laundering, not Dan Mehars. He kind of casts a spersions on the entire Wolf community. Dan Mehers was doing it the right way. The other guy was roping banks and following the team and leaving a massive trail of breadcrumbs for the FBI. But he said, thirty five years for Mears. Yeah, thirty years incredible in a costume. That's a long time.

00:13:22
Speaker 4: I just imagine all those trips to the tunnel taking off today and then especially in those cold weather playoff games when it's negative seven, and seeing all the steam come off his face. I wish there should be an NFL Films documentary, not just him, but all the mascots, especially the ones that play in the cold weather elements, especially in playoff time. And my goodness, that's that's just Dan mehers Owt to get his Arrowhead right there, his name on there and maybe retire.

00:13:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe put some fur up there in Arrowhead and in the top next to the lights. You know, we talk about suits all the time in corporate America. Will shout out to the folks in the suits. Yeah, on Sundays and Thursdays and occasionally Tuesdays and Saturdays.

00:14:05
Speaker 1: Just five years rocking big old suits. And that's a long time to do anything, Patrick, literally anything.

00:14:12
Speaker 2: One of the newest guys, not doing it for a long time, but doing it to a level that we appreciate. An offseason James Gladstone down for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Had a conversation with friend of the show Andrew Siciliano about just what Travis Hunter is going to do if they gave up so much to get them, and probably for good reason in my opinion, how do you approach how much you play them and where you do it.

00:14:34
Speaker 1: He does not tire.

00:14:36
Speaker 6: He has got a spark, He has got the energy, the capacity from a physical standpoint, just to be able.

00:14:43
Speaker 1: To do it is certainly there. It'll be in terms of one game to the next. Where does it fit, Where does it make the most sense.

00:14:50
Speaker 6: Certain game plans might dictate usage differently.

00:14:55
Speaker 2: So there it is, and that's the obvious answer, right. It depends on the game plan. But you know what, I'm celebrating omar an opportunity to get on my soapbox and have an agenda pushed out to the people on this show with you by my side of here we go. So, Travis Hunter played more snaps in college football than anyone in the history in a single season.

00:15:14
Speaker 3: Last year he won the Heisman Trophy.

00:15:16
Speaker 2: He was drafted to be an offensive player question mark, defensive player question mark. At some point, someone needs to say this season that Travis Hunter is a high motor guy. Right, At some point Travis Hunter has to break the barrier and be the high motor guy if.

00:15:35
Speaker 1: He's got the highest of motors.

00:15:36
Speaker 2: Right, if he's going to play all these snaps on offense, maybe question mark all these snaps on defense, When are we going to break the barrier and get somebody in the secondary to be a high motor guy if he's literally playing more football than everybody else.

00:15:47
Speaker 3: Omore.

00:15:48
Speaker 4: See my thing with Travis Hunter, and I want him to succeed. I think this would be an amazing story if he was an elite NFL player on both sides of the ball the way he was in college. And you said he didn't just play more snaps than anybody, he played those snaps at the highest levels of college football and won the Heisman Trophy. My thing is is, after watching so many players and covering this league for as long as I have, you just see how much work behind the scenes goes into being an elite, elite NFL player. I'm talking about the film study and the working on the body, and the studying of the playbook and analyzing every different move and tell of their opponents individually. Collectively in the scheme, all of it that goes into being a Hall of Fame Pro Bowl type of player. To find that time to do that on both sides of the ball, I think that's where the tricky element of how to use Travis Hunter how good can he be? Come in because I think there's no question that he can has the stamina to do it. I remember Daniel Jeremiah saying when he went to that Pro Day or what do they call it, the oh the NFL showcase. Yeah, how he did all these running routes and and he didn't break a sweat a single time. And so I think he that is the difference making element to him. I think the stamina is what separates him from anybody else who's attempted to do this. He is just wired differently in that way. But just again, the time behind the scenes to spend to become elite at both positions, that is the tricky part, and I think that ultimately will be the story of his success. How he navigates that.

00:17:27
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:17:27
Speaker 2: I say it all the time that you you acquire unique talent and you utilize that talent uniquely, And I can't think of a talent more unique yep, than Travis hunter based on what he's able to do. There's a great bit over on NFL dot Com. Our dear friend Judypatista has an off season article that I think everybody needs to pay attention to. It's things to maybe not pay too much attention to. She pointed out that it's it's tempting to look at Travis Hunters snaps in JAG's mining camp and say, oh, he's gonna play this.

00:17:58
Speaker 3: There's a lot to go. But we're gonna take a page out of Judy's book.

00:18:01
Speaker 2: When we come back, and we're going to examine what are the off season stories from last year?

00:18:06
Speaker 1: Did they matter?

00:18:08
Speaker 2: And do their corollaries matter in comparison this year. That's coming up when we come back right here on NFL Daily. Back on NFL Daily, I love this music coming out of break that we generally do. We found because Omar the Intrepid Reporter was asking about our break music. It's called Breaking Easy, Breaking Easy, the smooth What sitcom do we reference.

00:18:39
Speaker 1: Three's Company there? It is sounds very seventies eighties ish shout out to Joyce de Wit and.

00:18:45
Speaker 4: Breaking Oh it is, Oh my goodness, it's and breaking easy. It sounds like a breakfast restaurant too. Shout out to my hunger.

00:18:53
Speaker 2: I can actually I can actually see the still shots of the of the stars of the show eating in and out, and it's like, oh.

00:19:03
Speaker 4: Yeah, John Ritter start a three's company and the one that did just the workouts, what.

00:19:11
Speaker 2: Was gonna Susanne Summers, And there it is. That's the three choice to win, John ridd and Summers. We did it, no googling as as we gently fade back and forth. Shout out to those of you who are watching us on YouTube. Uh, feel free to comment, say say horrible things about me, specifically said omark.

00:19:31
Speaker 1: And liking subscribe. I've always wanted we got inscribed.

00:19:35
Speaker 2: We got some more, I got some more internet stuff that we'll wrap up this show today.

00:19:40
Speaker 3: If that's that's a little bit of a tease.

00:19:41
Speaker 2: But I wanted because because we do this, we spend so much time trying to scrounge some days for off season news before you go off and start covering the training camps and getting in there in person and doing like actual stuff. But it's some days it's a bit of a slog and I wanted to look at owned last year and say how much how much of this stuff actually had an impact? And we're putting not necessarily you, because you guys are listening to us or watching on YouTube and liking and commenting and subscribing, but there's there's this general pack of folks that consume NFL news in a bunch and it's like, well, how much of that really played out? So let's go through the top off season stories of twenty twenty four, starting with the number one story. Last off season, Omar the Vikings signed Justin Jefferson to a four year, one hundred and forty million dollars tracked extension. At the time, it was the biggest of an NFL history, but it seemed like a foregone conclusion because it was Justin Jefferson who was the Vikings, and we felt like it was gonna happen no matter what.

00:20:48
Speaker 1: And the biggest for non quarterback, right is that set the bar.

00:20:51
Speaker 3: That was the marketing statement that they had out at the time.

00:20:55
Speaker 4: And then we see there Jamaar Chases did the same thing in for non quarterbacks. But I think it was it was big because Justin Jefferson, I think the confidence that they had in him, I felt the Vikings, and obviously the confidence that they had in Kevin O'Connell to coach these quarterbacks. But as long as Justin Jefferson is in the lineup, I think Kevin O'Connell felt that I could play JJ McCarthy, and obviously before he got hurt, I could play Sam Donald, I can play anybody, Josh Doobbs jobs, yeah, and actually win football games with the Minnesota Vikings. But I think it's Justin Jefferson the foundational piece, the confidence that he exudes, not only in the locker room, on the field, the confidence that he instills into his quarterbacks, and I think that was emblematic of what we saw play out and the Vikings, you know, won all those games, went to the playoffs, and Darnald had a career year, made one hundred million dollars now in Seattle, and now usher's in the JJ McCarthy era in Minnesota. But I think Justin Jefferson is the key to all that.

00:21:55
Speaker 2: And honestly, because there was a time in a copycat league where narratives generally develop among media, and we were watching Super Bowl fifty one earlier today in the newsroom and I bemoaned as I always do. They only threw Julio the ball four times. And because the Falcons lost in that Super Bowl and there was that run of Patriots championships and then the team that had Randy didn't actually win, there was this idea that, oh, well, if you have a top flight wide receiver and pay them, then you can't win the Super Bowl. But then the Rams have Cooper Cup win with arguably one of the best wide receiver seasons in the past thirty years. We just saw aj Brown and the Eagles win a Super Bowl and Jamar Chase very very close. In fact, if you know Aaron Donald wasn't one of the best players we've ever seen, Jamar Chase might have scored a walk off touchdown in that Super Bowl. Where now the ideas shifted and people realize, hey, if you have good players, you put them on, you pay them, and you try to use them however you.

00:22:58
Speaker 4: Can, and just yeah, how dominant they can be in an offense and how they dictate coverage and just what impact it has on their opponents. And I think Jamar Chase is certainly one of those. And I think it's not only just a production that a player like him and Justin Jefferson can provide, but it's it's, like I said, the scheming and the matchups and with the chess match that you have when you have one of those guys, you know that the opponent's defensive coordinator is staying up at night trying to figure out schemes and what else can that benefit you as an offense going against that with a player as dominant as those two. So I think it is shifted back in that regard, and I think you know, the money obviously continues to trend up with the salary cap and all that, and you can afford to do stuff like that. But yeah, the Cooper Cup, you know, super Bowl fifty six season and going against Jamar Chase. That was an epic season for both those guys and obviously played out in the Super Bowl that way.

00:23:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm going to actually give the edge to the Jamar Chase version of this story because it's the Bengals and it felt like for a while like is this going to happen? Is one of the top four receivers in the NFL going to be able to hit the open market because we don't know what the Bengals are going to do, and they still you know, Tree Hendrickson and Jamar Stewart, as they very well know, there's still some contractual malfeast that's going on in Cincinnati, but we can definitively say that paying one of the best receivers in the NFL as an offseason story.

00:24:27
Speaker 3: It matters. Hey, well, yeah, there we go.

00:24:30
Speaker 1: I appreciate it.

00:24:31
Speaker 4: Well, it's funny you mentioned that, because, yeah, I think we talked about justin Jefferson, how it mattered. I thought last year, how I think Jamar Chase is going to matter this year. But I think big picture, this was the opportunity for the Bengals to shed the Bengals are no longer the Bengals. They pay not just Jamar Chase, but t Higgins as well, and kind of get acknowledgment for Joe Burrow's words that, hey, sign these guys. We're in the business of getting good players, and they shed that reputation for all of what two weeks.

00:25:02
Speaker 2: Two weeks because Joe did mention Trey as well, and this week some conversations have been happening. Hopefully those conversations were fruitful both for Trey Hendrickson and for the Cincinnati Bengals, because they're obviously a very very fun team.

00:25:16
Speaker 1: Our number two story from last year was the.

00:25:20
Speaker 2: NFL announcing training camp schedules and dates for all thirty two teams. That was a huge article on NFL dot com, and clearly because fans want to be a part, they want to participate. It's a story folks who are interested in. It made me wonder do training camp dates matter for the teams? And statistically I went and looked it up. Omar, the Chiefs, the Eagles, the Super Bowl contenders generally start around July eighteenth till the twenty second, but so does everybody else, so that doesn't actually matter. But in terms of when to get guys in, do you think the dates omar matter?

00:26:00
Speaker 1: Don't?

00:26:00
Speaker 4: I think in today's day and age, with with the with the sports science and the fifteen trainers that the teams have on staff to make sure that every practice and every allotted minute of practice time that they get with the collective bargaining agreement, that it is allocated so fine tuned, and they dedicate year round sports science to it that whether they get their July eighteenth or July twenty fourth, that they'll have them ready by September tenth and they'll figure all that out.

00:26:32
Speaker 1: So the dates I don't think matters.

00:26:34
Speaker 4: But by the way, how are we ranking this based on the clicks on NFL dot was purely.

00:26:39
Speaker 2: On NFL dot Com. As shout out to Dave Eally, I went through. He was my source to go through and mind the data to see what the people what.

00:26:47
Speaker 7: The people cleeel the most, Okay, really really interested in because yes, obviously fans of this institution NFL Daily with Greg Rowsethal, No, you know, we can get into the minutia, and there are some initial stories that I do want to cover because they're fun and silly and involve players who can be somewhat hilarious.

00:27:03
Speaker 3: That's a little bit of a tens.

00:27:05
Speaker 1: I am curious.

00:27:06
Speaker 4: I was curious to see when the Chargers opened up. Obviously we live here in LA one of the teams that I would cover because the Hall of Fame game is in July this year, so I was a holy cow, when.

00:27:17
Speaker 1: Do they open up training camp then?

00:27:19
Speaker 4: And it was July seventeen, so I have two weeks to prepare for that game in Canton. But it seems like that creeps up every year a little bit.

00:27:27
Speaker 2: You know, we're gonna die. We're we come close to hitting seven days in a week. The pandemic helped with that. Yeah, eventually we're gonna get twelve months in the year and it's it's gonna happen, and we're gonna be doing this podcast from your actual house listening to this.

00:27:41
Speaker 3: Okay, so let's go.

00:27:43
Speaker 2: We've we determined the particular training camp dates don't actually matter. I don't know, all right, Let's go to one that I do think in terms of fan interest is peculiar to me because it generates a lot of discussion and as the being counters know, does you know there's no such thing as bad thing number four story because there were some some negative stories that we're not gonna talk. We did lose Larry Allen last year Chiefs player, had a cardiac arrest. There was in Yeah, of course those things matter. But the number four story. The Vikings unveiled the Winter Warrior alternate uniform for twenty twenty four and the Ravens revealed a new alternate Purple Rising helmet. It had made me think of the announcement for the announcement Omar of a new Chargers uniform that has yet to be seen, but they announced that an announcement is coming, which is a particular NFL practice that we love so much.

00:28:35
Speaker 1: So as a fan, do you get excited for new uniforms.

00:28:40
Speaker 4: I don't get excited for new uniforms, but I do admit when I do see them. So when I see that it's been announced, I'm like, Okay, who cares. But then on July fifteenth, I think is when that Chargers is going to be released. When it comes out and it's flying everywhere on social media, I'm like, oh, these are nice and same thing. I remember the Vikings last year and just thinking that those were icy. I think they were all white, right right, and we're like, oh man, these are gonna look something else. Speaking of Justin and Jefferson, he's gonna look great in these and so yeah. So similarly, when they actually come out, I pay attention. I'm all over it. But as far as the dates being released of the uniform reveal not as big of adea.

00:29:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think specifically just just my again, no fashion knowledge whatsoever.

00:29:33
Speaker 3: I am famously not a fashion guy. I'm rocking this network.

00:29:39
Speaker 2: Tea network, Polo because it's it keeps me from getting grief for wearing shorts the eyes odd shorts that I got from TJ Max twelve years ago that somehow are still in my life.

00:29:49
Speaker 3: They're horrible. That's besides the point.

00:29:52
Speaker 4: We're both acknowledged Cotsco wardrobe guys through and through.

00:29:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, shout out to the shark.

00:29:57
Speaker 2: Unfortunate, you know, some unfortunate political opinions, but you know Greg Norman shorts on sale at Costco. The Chargers wouldn't announce an announcement of uniforms to me if powder blue wasn't a significant portion.

00:30:12
Speaker 1: Yes, of it has to be.

00:30:13
Speaker 3: And so that's that's my potential thing. Does it matter, No, but it is. It is.

00:30:17
Speaker 2: It's going to be exciting to see a uniform that generally everybody loves. So number five, let's get to quarterback contracts. And I think we need to preface this by making it about the player, because in twenty twenty four, Trevor Lawrence got a five year contract that could be worth up to two hundred and seventy five million dollars, And in twenty twenty five, after much discussion, probably the most discussed quarterback contract from the moment he finally started like he got on the field Rock Perty did and the universe will never know because his elbow exploded in the NFC Championship game how that season would have gone. How do you feel about those offseason stories mattering and does the quarterback involved in them change that for you?

00:31:00
Speaker 1: It certainly does.

00:31:00
Speaker 4: And I think what I think is interesting about those two is to me they were related because I think there was all that debate you mentioned rock Pretty discussion for years what was he going to get because obviously his rookie year, he exploded on the scene that ended with that busted elbow in the twenty twenty two NFC Championship game, So it had been debated for years. And then once I saw that Trevor Lawrence got what he got in twenty twenty four, I was like, oh, man, Rock Purty is going to get paid.

00:31:32
Speaker 1: Now.

00:31:32
Speaker 4: Obviously we didn't know exactly how much, but he wasn't going to do any hometown discount or settle for anything less than close to market value. Once I saw what Trevor Lawrence had done, because if you watch football, whether you're a Rock Pretty fan or not, you cannot disagree with his productivity on the field and whether yes, he has an All Star team around him or not, he functions in that offense the way they want him to function in that offense. It at a high level has taken a team to a super Bowl. When you compare everything that he's accomplished that Trevor Lawrence, it's not that close. But financially, you know, it's kind of set the table for what we saw Rock Pridy get paid. And I still don't even think he matched it with Trevor Lawrence now in terms of dollar amount, but it kind of set the table for him.

00:32:20
Speaker 1: And I think Brock Purdy got what he earned.

00:32:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Brock Purdy the minute he saw in that deal got more money than like five times as much money that he'd got over the course of his entire NFL career at that point, and it's deserved. Look, I think it's very difficult. We saw Dimes get more money than Aaron Rodgers this offseason, and it's difficult to find a quarterback. I think both of them clearly deserve to be paid. But it's just such a windfall for the forty nine ers to get Rock Party where they did. And obviously the perception that Kyle Shanahan has just made this creation of a quarterback. That's just a product of Shannon. That's not how the world works. Yeah, it's just not. And if they had protected him properly, would have thrown a touchdown pass to win the Super Bowl. But you know, candy and nuts and merry Christmases and all.

00:33:06
Speaker 4: That well, and I think the argument against that that I have is, if it was so easy to create that and manufacture it, then everybody, everybody have been playing at an MVP little level under Kyle Shanahan, which obviously wasn't the case. And you just go ask the twenty seventeen and twenty eighteen forty nine ers before you know, they got Jimmy g and you know, somewhat competent level quarterback play. And then I think Bruck Pritty has stepped it up from there and delivered and got paid accordingly.

00:33:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the number one overall pick, you know, the number one recruit in high school, won a national championship, six' five, runs a four or five.

00:33:39
Speaker 3: Him getting, Paid yeah that.

00:33:40
Speaker 2: Matters but the guy out Of Iowa state that was the very last pick in the, draft that matters. More but, yes off season, Quarterback yeah it, matters it. Matters let's go to one that's a little a little, fun a little silly because the number non. Story last, Year christian McCaffrey got on the cover Of madden twenty. Five this, year, Say quon's on the cover of mad twenty. Five do you believe in Cursesm.

00:34:02
Speaker 1: OH i?

00:34:03
Speaker 3: DO i?

00:34:04
Speaker 1: Do, Man and So i'm.

00:34:07
Speaker 4: NERVOUS i am so nervous for Sa quon BECAUSE i loved how much he impacted that he.

00:34:13
Speaker 1: GOES i loved watching him play ball last year.

00:34:16
Speaker 4: And to see what he what happened To christian McCaffrey last year and after he came, off you, know the Fantastic Super bowl, run finally had that first full season With shanahan and the forty nine, ers they go to The Super. Bowl oh my, gosh this is going to be a team that's going to be contending for.

00:34:33
Speaker 1: Years and they still might.

00:34:34
Speaker 4: Be but then he gets hurt and misses almost the entire, year and and it just.

00:34:39
Speaker 1: Sort of validates That madden curse.

00:34:41
Speaker 4: Again and so, Anyway Saquon, barkley WHEN i saw, that you, KNOW i did, cringe and And i'm. Nervous i'm nervous, Now, patrick because The, eagles just like Every Super bowl winning team for the most, part has good fortune in injuries and the, goals you, know for the most part were, spared you, know true catastrophic injuries last, year and so, yeah SO i. Worry you, Know i'm like a mom over. Here i'm worried About Saquon. Barkley, WELL i.

00:35:12
Speaker 2: Wonder if twenty six can assuage your, concerns because he was talking about managing his body this off.

00:35:18
Speaker 3: SEASON i want to see if you feel differently after hearing.

00:35:20
Speaker 6: This everyone THAT i trust to me basically sit my ass down for a little. Bit so in past years WHEN i was, younger you, know you think, like, oh someone's getting better than, me or you, know Like i'm, relaxing and you, KNOW i See Derrick henry running hills OR i See christian McCaffrey posting something like the old me would be, like, OH i gotta. GO i gotta. GO i still have that competitive, nature but two completely different. Seasons so just listen to, everyone and when it's time to, Go i've been, going and when it's time to back, Off i've been backing.

00:35:50
Speaker 2: Off and so it's something that we've seen from The Kansas City chiefs going to all these Super. Bowls eventually the mileage adds. Up do you feel less us word? Now that seq?

00:36:00
Speaker 1: One so he's going to set his ass down, Here, no because it's THE.

00:36:03
Speaker 4: Nfl, man every every single play there's risk involved and and BUT i do like AND i think we saw that last year when he decided not to go for the record and kind of sat there and and even, INDIVIDUALLY i think it was The rams game On Sunday Night football when he could have gone for maybe the franchise record and he decided to let the young guys. Play, SO i, mean he has shown that selflessness THAT i hope that karma kind of comes back around and keeps him healthy because he is just so much fun to. Watch obviously the reverse hurdle and everything that landed him on the cover last, year but just a special, player so much you, know quality entertainment watching him, play and a good. Dude you, Know i've seen him a bunch of times behind the, scenes just kind of you, know a good person that he, is and so you just root for guys like. That and LIKE i, said you know the you Know madden, curse what happened With christian Mccaffreycaud you, say the same thing About christian. McCaffrey just such an entertaining player to, watch such a good dude behind the, scenes and that you don't want to see any of these guys get.

00:37:01
Speaker 1: Hurt and then when you when you when you see that, AGAIN i just got a little.

00:37:05
Speaker 2: Nervous, WELL i will yield To omar because he's he's making this show possible. Today so The madden cover it. Matters, yeah well but hopefully hopefully it. Doesn't hopefully it. Doesn't so the last before we get to the you know some more fun, ones Uh dumbarton. Story last, year The Hard knocks in season was featuring THE Afc north. Teams The browns did not have the. Best The ravens had a very solid. Season The steelers played both of their. Quarterbacks The bengals had a traditional slow. Start this, year it's THE Nfc. East there it.

00:37:40
Speaker 1: Is oh, yeah you can Hear it's.

00:37:42
Speaker 2: Like imagine that the gnat pops of like a sprinkler going and then you GET i Hear Leave schrager warming up his. Voice it's, like you, know join His facinda. Impersonation now it's THE Nfc. East do you feel like it's gonna ultimately? Matter for The Philadelphia, eagles maybe The El's, cowboys The, commanders probably not The. Giants but do you think Hard knocks?

00:38:05
Speaker 4: MATTERS i think it will matter for The giants because they have those, quarterbacks AND i THINK i think we would all be happy if The New York giants quarterback room had their own, documentary their Own Hard knocks in and of.

00:38:19
Speaker 1: ITSELF i think that would be quality.

00:38:21
Speaker 4: Entertainment Da, Russe, Wilson Jamis, Winston, Jackson, Dart Tommy, cutletz you, know going off, there and uh, SO i, think you, know it'll be quality. Entertainment, obviously being in the media capital of the world there In New york and so much. Coverage, obviously The cowboys are no strangers to Hard. KNOCKS i don't think that'll be a distraction for. Them it'll be interesting to see How, philadelphia you, know. Responds obviously the defending, champs and you, know they a lot of tension on them, already and so, yeah you, know AND i Think washington is one of those teams, that because Of jaden's play last, YEAR i think we're all confident that they're going to be contenders for years to.

00:38:57
Speaker 1: COME i Think Dan quinn is a fantastic. Coach he'll have them playing at a high.

00:39:01
Speaker 4: Level AND i think it'll be one of those opportunities to expose The commanders to the national, landscape For Jaden daniels to become a household name, perhaps and for several of these young players On washington who aren't big stars like A Zach ertz or A Bobby, wagner you, Know terry, McLaurin to become bigger stars in their own, right especially for a team that who we think is going to contend for years to.

00:39:27
Speaker 1: Come and these are gonna be guys that we're talking about for several.

00:39:30
Speaker 4: Years to be exposed to the national audience might be a, fun interesting.

00:39:35
Speaker 2: Watch, yeah and now the, task, well the tough test For Adam peters to turn everything around has already been. Accomplished but now you've got to continue that and you, know get guys Like terry McLaurin happy with their contract.

00:39:46
Speaker 3: And, yeah get, back get back to THE nfl.

00:39:50
Speaker 4: Championship you, know it's funny we started talking with this discussion On Justin jefferson And Jamar chase and you just Mentioned terry mclauurin looking for a new.

00:39:57
Speaker 1: DEAL i remember that. OFFSEASON i think it was A. J, Brown terry, McLaurin MAYBE dk.

00:40:01
Speaker 4: METCALF a lot of guys got paid in twenty twenty two and it was around like twenty two to twenty three million per. Year and now we're, at you, know thirty five forty seventhing million for the. Receivers just how quickly that market went up and it was to your original. Point how how, yes the landscape in THE nfl has. Changed receivers are perhaps more. Value you don't have to, have you, know it can't think, that you, know any receiver can do the job if you have a special. One and it's just kind of interesting to see in this own discussion how THE nfl landscape works and how things are very much cyclical all the.

00:40:34
Speaker 3: Time, yeah that's all come.

00:40:35
Speaker 2: Out we're gonna Have we're gonna have full, Blacks we're gonna, have you, Know mike all starts making a comeback for maybe two way, players like the nineteen forties With Travis. Hunter so there's a little bit of a catch. All as some Things i've decided unequivocally do not. Matter the off season physique, updates where people are looking At, yeah you're looking At jayden daniels. Triceps folks are Scouting Marvin harrison's. Triceps come, on that's not.

00:41:02
Speaker 3: That that doesn't.

00:41:02
Speaker 4: Matter what About Jackson dart saying he wants to be the last player in the building in The New York.

00:41:07
Speaker 2: Giants, No, Jackson, no because you And Russ if you guys are going to have a try hard, Competition, jackson you don't stand a.

00:41:14
Speaker 3: Chance you don't stand a.

00:41:16
Speaker 1: Chance the man is upstairs on a giant mural with.

00:41:19
Speaker 2: Integrity, okay you want to be the last guy in you're both gonna be Jj watt sleeping in the facility and you got you got staff in there trying to keep the place. Clean, no it's it's. Impossible don't do, It, Jackson get, Sleep get, Rest like.

00:41:31
Speaker 1: You, know rest is gonna do high knees out to the parking.

00:41:34
Speaker 3: Lot did it in the?

00:41:34
Speaker 1: Plane, No no need to try.

00:41:37
Speaker 2: Hard one of the stories last year Was Will levis tweaking his mechanics to make his throwing motion more. Efficient it turns out that one didn't. Matter, omar they traveled a quarterback at. All Cam, ward you can be working on his mechanics. Too the mechanics of holding onto the football and one of my more fun stories from Last, june the announcement of a collaboration Between hallmark and The Kansas City chiefs For Holiday touched A chief's love story and omar my. Film the film critic within, me did you watch?

00:42:11
Speaker 3: IT i watched the.

00:42:12
Speaker 1: Movie did you watch? It i've watched, That i've Watched Hot.

00:42:14
Speaker 2: Frosty the Entire hallmark database has been consumed by, well notably my, wife but you, know as as her partner and. Supporter i'm always a happy Belated Father's. Day oh thank you you. Too, yeah it has, you you, know filling that. Role and The bills are going to have their Own hallmark movie this. Holidays let's let's let's do. IT i need MORE nfl holiday. Movies, ultimately know this not going to determine anything wins and, losses but you, know around that time of year you can only Watch.

00:42:45
Speaker 1: Diehard so did you like The Chiefs holiday?

00:42:47
Speaker 3: Movie it was.

00:42:48
Speaker 1: About a lucky.

00:42:49
Speaker 3: Hat, okay it was about a lucky. Hat Santa claus was.

00:42:52
Speaker 2: Involved i'm not going to, say if you want to watch the spoiler ALERT Nfl daily there was there was some magic involved in. That it's been magical to spend some time with you here, Today, OMAR i would like to offer. Yourself oh, OKAY i received SOME nfl collectible teenay mates nice this week and they have some rare.

00:43:14
Speaker 1: Options.

00:43:15
Speaker 2: Okay as as a collector Of pokemon and other, THINGS i think it's it's important to try to find rare.

00:43:21
Speaker 3: Items, Okay so would you open your teeny? Mate?

00:43:24
Speaker 1: Sure what's the rarest of?

00:43:26
Speaker 2: Items the rarest is a metallic gold shot Caller Patrick, mahomes which is one in five hundred and twelve. Packs, Interesting, okay here we, go let's open shot up to Teen it's.

00:43:35
Speaker 4: FOLLOWING i took my daughters out to march in The Pride parade a couple weeks, ago and there is somebody from Funk O pop there handing Out funko, pops and my kid's got A Patrick mahomes And Justin.

00:43:46
Speaker 1: Herbert there is a Funk O.

00:43:48
Speaker 4: Pop so let's see IF i can Duplicate Patrick mahomes thing.

00:43:52
Speaker 1: Here IF i can figure out how to.

00:43:53
Speaker 3: Open, it WELL i.

00:43:54
Speaker 1: Will i'm going to reveal how did you open?

00:43:55
Speaker 6: It?

00:43:56
Speaker 1: PATRICK i just you would THINK i wasn't a fire. HERE i have Gnarled Eric eric got the there we, go all.

00:44:03
Speaker 2: Right their first survey, says, oh you Got, Lamar, No, Derek, DEREK i Got. Lamar all, Right so we got pay teammates quarterbacks in the teeny they're.

00:44:16
Speaker 3: Multiple, yeah we got we got. Multiples who is?

00:44:20
Speaker 2: This, Oh Christian, WILKINS A Christian wilkins, teenay, MATE i think this is D hop, okay number, Ten yeah we got nuke the. Bombs, okay this is.

00:44:30
Speaker 1: Cool all?

00:44:31
Speaker 3: Right those are my two and some uh, so, yeah we did some puzzle.

00:44:34
Speaker 1: Pieces we didn't get any Any Realvin. Cook oh you Got DALVIN i think.

00:44:39
Speaker 3: So.

00:44:39
Speaker 2: Okay, well to the podcast audience who's on, YouTube we we we hope you appreciated the the audio.

00:44:48
Speaker 3: Here but yeah we.

00:44:49
Speaker 2: Got we got our teena mates and they and they are they are very teeny and it is the perfect way to, conclude uh this edition OF Nfl. Daily thanks To omar we for again kidnapping himself from his news shift and spending time with us to talk about news that matters in the teeniest of, ways sometimes, teeny sometimes, tiny and almost always a little looney here in The Chris westling podcast. Studio you, know when we're opening tiny bits of COLLECTIBLE nfl. Memorabilia after discussing year old, news you know football's.

00:45:27
Speaker 6: Back