Early OTA Buzz, Another Eagles Win, Bills on Hard Knocks and RIP Jim Irsay

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we will continue to push that push.

00:00:09
Speaker 2: I'm Greg Rosenthal here in the Chris.

00:00:10
Speaker 1: Westling podcast studio with my friend Patrick claybah And from Ohio, Kent State's own Nick Shook.

00:00:19
Speaker 2: Let's go, Patrick, let's do it.

00:00:21
Speaker 3: Let's I was thinking, after all the shoved discussion, that old high school cheerleader treat like cheer shove that ball across that line, shove shove it. Nobody, nobody was familiar with that one. It's it's perfect for the situation.

00:00:35
Speaker 4: Yeah, I got nothing. I wasn't listening to the cheerleaders during the game.

00:00:41
Speaker 1: From the man who loves the flex, a total flex. Yes, we're gonna hit the news. Obviously, there were a couple rules proposals that failed at the latest league meeting. Some hard knocks news OTAs have started. That's fun. I gotta admit like hearing little updates about depth charity stuff. It does make me feel like football's back a little in a way that's meaningful to me.

00:01:06
Speaker 2: So we're going to talk about that.

00:01:08
Speaker 1: Obviously, it was a tough loss for the NFL community on Wednesday when Jim Mersey, the owner longtime owner of the Colts, passed away, so we will talk about him as well.

00:01:20
Speaker 2: But yeah, let's start with the rules.

00:01:23
Speaker 1: And I'm a little surprised because both the proposal to kill the tush push essentially and the proposal to reseed the playoffs, according to reporting, kind of came directly indirectly, I guess would be the right way to say it from the league that the league was supporting this, and yet both measures did not pass. The tush push was shot down even though more teams wanted to kill it than not twenty two to ten, but you needed twenty four votes. So for the twenty twenty five season, the Eagles have a little bit of an edge at that play, but.

00:02:01
Speaker 2: Other teams could take advantage of it too.

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Speaker 5: Patrick.

00:02:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the discussion out of Philadelphia all week was like, hey, you know, Jordan my lotta like, hey, if they ban it, we'll just do something else, like Jalen hurts and aj is saying it's just one yard. But then you see the reaction from Eagle social right, yes, and they post twenty six minutes of the I wish we would still go brotherly show, but I guess the brushes is over and it's here now we're you know, you kind of see all sides of this. I think, like, maybe we go a direction because if the league wants to do it from a standpoint of watchability, and like, is this what we want football to be? Did I guess get rid of quarterback sneaks all together? Like if that's a particular concern. But yeah, we've we got one more year and we can see a very dominant team that's very good at it, be very good at it.

00:02:51
Speaker 4: Still well, I think the Eagles are the phase of the rebellion.

00:02:55
Speaker 6: They didn't get the two teams that they needed to cross the aisle and shoot this down. But at the same time, it's a matter of, yeah, this is still kind of football, and it's a product quality thing I understand. But football and its purest format, its most basic form, resembled somewhat of a rugby scrum before it developed into what we now know.

00:03:16
Speaker 4: And it's still a brutal game.

00:03:18
Speaker 6: And when you have to win in the trenches and ensure our situations, the solution is simple, don't let them get to third or fourth and one, find a way to stop it. It's not gonna last beyond this season, I don't think. I think they'll win the war of attrition. But as of right now, we get one more year of an ugly play.

00:03:33
Speaker 2: That is fine. It's fine, like they would have figured it out.

00:03:37
Speaker 1: I do believe that, like they are a great quarterback sneak team. It is ultimately a quarterbacks quarter play. Like the push of it all is only part of it. And to me, you know, maybe not the most important part. The important part is that they just have a good offensive line and they coach it up well. It's the same reason why the Bills are excellent attitude. I like the teams that voted for it or against it just for no reason, like the Patriots are just like, yeah, we think that's fair, Like you should be able to figure it out.

00:04:04
Speaker 2: Good job, Good job Patriots.

00:04:05
Speaker 1: I thought it was interesting that some of the ex Eagles coordinators teams voted to ban it, the Cardinals with Jonathan Gannon, the Colts with Shane Steiken, and the Saints with Kellen Moore.

00:04:18
Speaker 2: But then I thought more about it.

00:04:19
Speaker 1: I was like, the coaches are only so important, especially those coaches no offense, Like they're not making the decision whether to vote yes or no on that play.

00:04:28
Speaker 3: Ownership is And it also like Stichen's offense, right, and then the fact that the Cardinals have a quarterback that's diminutive, right. I don't know how many shoves you're gonna run with Kyler in that spot, and sometimes just don't want to put their quarterback in that position. I did see the argument where it would have eliminated pushing everywhere, like including like Lineman coming down late down the field, and that would have been a catastrophe for officials. And like I understand keeping the play. I wanted to keep the play, but I hate not doing things because it's too differ goal for the officials to get it right, Like get it right.

00:05:03
Speaker 2: I didn't.

00:05:03
Speaker 1: I didn't feel that strongly, but it just seemed stupid to kill a play just because one team does it because it works. So yeah, so I just didn't want it to happen, but I also get it. I think they maybe went wrong by putting so much into the player health and safety aspect of it when there was no proof that there was any problem with health and safety. So it just seemed phony. That' said they did get twenty two teams to agree. And one thing that Roger Goodell, the commissioner, said about the touchbush and now we can talk about the receding. That he made clear was these issues were not done for in his mind, that they were kind of gonna bring it back up again potentially next year, that they have more to look at, and so he said talking about the receding proposal, which would have had teams seeded by order of their record, irrespective of winning the division, and potentially reseed in the second round as well, where the best team would play, you know, the team with the lowest seed, Like all of that was up for grabs, and he said they got valuable information back from the ownership of what they actually want. It does sound like the league would rather a team that wins a division with a bad record be seeded lower, which or play on the road, which I would before. But it didn't even get close, Nick, It didn't even get voted on, so it sounded like they just did not have the votes there.

00:06:26
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think this is tied into the schedule because you know, if you do a cross sport comparison with the NBA, when they went to the receding format that they have now where division titles don't matter, they play eighty two games.

00:06:36
Speaker 4: There's more balance to their schedule.

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Speaker 6: Yes, you play less Western Conference opponents than Eastern Conference if you're in the Eastern Conference, but there's more games to work with. In the NFL, we're rotating interconference divisional opponents by year. The entire AFC North will play the NFC West one year, and sometimes that leads to unbalanced strength of schedule, which then leads to weird records, and it takes a little bit of the importance away from the divisional games as well. You still want to win your division, but it just isn't as coveted as before. So I think if they can kind of couple this and marry it with the way that the schedule is built and maybe take a look at that too, it's more likely. I definitely think at some point they're going to find a way to make it work. It's just they need more time to figure it out.

00:07:11
Speaker 1: I am for the NFL's position on this one. I'm against it in terms of the Touchbush. I think that was dumb to try to kill that I would like to receid. And the scheduling argument doesn't make sense to me because the schedule is inherently so uneven in so many ways and helps teams get higher seeds and win the Super Bowl because of the schedule.

00:07:30
Speaker 2: There's like there's no fixing that totally.

00:07:33
Speaker 1: And just because the schedules uneven, it doesn't mean that the receding possibility.

00:07:39
Speaker 2: Helps that at all. It might hurt it even more.

00:07:41
Speaker 1: It's sort of like a brain buster, but ultimately, like the schedule to me, doesn't make any difference.

00:07:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a question of which team and which accomplishment are we going to prioritize because the balance is always going to be in one direction or the other. Are we going to prioritize the team that limps to a division victory against a bad division or a team that wins thirteen games? Yeah, but they have a juggernaut in their division, Like why are they getting punished?

00:08:06
Speaker 2: Right?

00:08:07
Speaker 1: That's the whole idea is to help out the Vikings from a year ago or the Packers, And to me, that makes sense, Like it depends on the year. But you think of that Carolina Panthers team with Rivera that had a losing record. You know, there has been some bad division championship teams and like it's fine, you do keep the importance of the division because you got to win it. To make the playoffs, and then anything can happen. We've seen that, but you know, make it happen on the road. I like that the NFL did announce that on side kicks they are going to adjust that that you can attempt an onside kick at any point in the game as long as you're trailing, so that's a slight tweak. And that they have introduced a new award, Shookie, are you excited about the Protector of the Year award?

00:08:55
Speaker 6: Yeah, baby, because offensive linemen never get any credit or consideration for Offensive Player of the Year or VA because it's the most overlooked position in the sport, and now they have something to chase, which I'm very excited about. Also, guys, I have a quick question for just to ask you. Do we think that the whole proposal of like fourth and sixteen on your own twenty as an alternative to the on side kick is dead? Yeah, it feels like that's off the table.

00:09:18
Speaker 3: There's been a bunch of chances, a bunch of discussions. That doesn't seem like it's happening.

00:09:22
Speaker 1: Maybe Yeah, a few years from now they'll try to revive it. That is a bummer, but it is exciting the Protector of the Year award the offensive lineman, and it will be determined because the NFL is saying, you know, us media folk, we can't comprehend offensive line play. And they're probably right, and they're gonna have this award decided by like a panel of esteemed x offensive lineman. I just want to make sure that these guys are actually doing the work though, because the and the ones that they mentioned I think would be an are. It was Andrew Whitworth, it was Jason Kelt. I believe it was Charles Bentley, like they had some specific names out there. And Andrew Whitworth was was integral and making this Protector of the Year award happen. But Dion Dawkins, the Buffalo Bills player, is the one that kind of really pushed it publicly. And yet Eric Roberts made a whole sound clip trying to give NFL Daily credit actually for helping to make this happen, and he insisted that we play it. At this point, I want to be the change you know that you want to see in the world. Let's make up pinay Sewel for Offensive Player of the Year candidacy. I've been banging the drum for him as an Offensive Player of the Year candidate, So I'll throw him here in the MVP as well. I think it's totally fine to make the award what you want. If an offensive lineman is that incredible that he deserves something.

00:10:52
Speaker 2: You did it. Here we go, you did it. I gotta give it the assistant.

00:10:55
Speaker 1: I guys, shit, we just won't stop talking about offensive line And.

00:11:00
Speaker 4: I nodded in that clip. I nodded, you.

00:11:02
Speaker 2: Said, bluddy.

00:11:03
Speaker 1: I think we were saying back then too, like why not put a fourth place vote on some offensive lineman too to recognize them, or for Offensive Player of the Year, give first place, but now they get their own award.

00:11:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, and maybe let's open up this panel to two more awards and just make the criteria. Are you going to change how you vote based on somebody winning the award previously and your board of them winning the award, so you're not going to vote for them again? Why don't we just get rid of that in everything?

00:11:29
Speaker 2: Wow?

00:11:30
Speaker 5: I like that.

00:11:31
Speaker 1: Sean o'harrow is another name, Orlando pace Will Shields. I wonder how did they pick this this panel? Who knows they know line play?

00:11:42
Speaker 5: You know? We don't.

00:11:43
Speaker 1: I mean that's true on some level, Like I'm all for that. I just want to know that everyone's putting a lot of work into it, and that's there.

00:11:52
Speaker 4: I definitely are. I'll tell you that.

00:11:53
Speaker 6: It made me feel really good about five years ago sitting down with Sean during our trip to New Jersey when Cod was shutting everything down. Next to me goes, I know you have no offensive line play. We're speaking the same language. So it's good to see him on this panel because that man, among many others, knows ball.

00:12:11
Speaker 2: Okay.

00:12:11
Speaker 1: I just mean as he like grinding and watching five or six games from all these guys during the season, all that, all.

00:12:17
Speaker 2: That sort of stuff.

00:12:17
Speaker 1: Because here's what they don't police is the associated press vote. I mean some of those you know votes have been and are done by people who should not have a vote. So I think the offensive line protector is going to be better. The NFL is going to allow NFL players to play at the Olympics, which is cool here in LA. Let's get a sign to that. Patrick, Well, me and you, yeah, let's do it. Can we do that? I would love to. I was kind of heartened by hearing, you know that some of the NFL players, including JJ Justin Jefferson, talk about potentially competing for the gold medal.

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Speaker 7: You know, just think about the chances of you know, playing in Olympics and you know, getting a gold medal is a dream, you know, just reverting back to being a kid and watching the track and field, you know, meets watching basketball win the gold medal.

00:13:12
Speaker 2: So how about that?

00:13:13
Speaker 1: Do we actually buy that big time stars are gonna want to do this?

00:13:17
Speaker 2: Check?

00:13:18
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:13:18
Speaker 6: I think that there's gonna have to be some things that you build into the contract to protect you against injuries suffered in an Olympic event, since we've never seen that before. But I just think about Court of Gold, that Netflix series that documented the twenty twenty four Olympics in basketball, and how popular that was, how captivating it was, and how the action itself was so entertaining. You take that to football. I know, it's not the same sport. You're playing with flags and everything else. I just think the opportunity to entertain and to engage a whole new subset of fans is the potential is limitless. I think it's fantastic. I think players will be very excited to participate a lot of guys with the Pro Bowl. They went from passing on it because they didn't want to play another game with pads on too. Now, oh, let's go have fun because it's like playing you know, stand loot football again. It's like you're a kid again.

00:14:01
Speaker 3: And I think we're gonna have better integration across the sport, like between flag football and actual football. I really think there's going to be more respect for the flag players and probably vice versa. And I can't wait to see, like what the apparatus looks like, what is USA football?

00:14:16
Speaker 5: Right?

00:14:16
Speaker 3: Who's Jerry Colangelo of USA football? What's that going to happen?

00:14:20
Speaker 1: And how do they determine who? How are the players gonna try out? Because I'm sure the best way to grow the sport would be to have some NFL players in there. Certainly big name players like am I sure that Tyreek Kill let's just say he was the same age, or Justin Jefferson are gonna be the best players at flag football.

00:14:39
Speaker 2: I don't know.

00:14:40
Speaker 1: I don't know that maybe they maybe they will be, maybe the flag regulars will be great, or maybe it's some like NFL players like like Braxton Barrios in his prime, is like better at flag football then like super duper starts like that wouldn't shock me because I don't really know what translates. But clearly like getting you know, having to deal with getting tackled, does it matter anymore? And I think that matters, you know, for who's good or who's not.

00:15:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that some things are always going to matter, like route concepts and leverage and talent and speed, like I think like but like you could have a Kyler Murray team with Davante Smith or like Rashi hi Head and Josh Allen, like you can make it work with a lot of I think.

00:15:19
Speaker 1: You could make work with with just about anyone in terms of trying to win for the US team. But if you told me that like Khalil Shakir is a better flag football player than a lot of the like Lennon Jamar Chase, I think that's that's possible, wouldn't it be?

00:15:34
Speaker 6: You know, this leads me to the next step in that evolution, which is basketball and introduced three on three in the Olympics.

00:15:41
Speaker 4: Right, we have the Big three league.

00:15:43
Speaker 6: Who is the media superstar, the entertainer that leads a flag football professional league and convinces some of these NFL players to go play for them. Who is the ice cube of flag football.

00:15:54
Speaker 1: That would be Greg wils I need more capital here and not no I that be tough. I would have to leave the NFL because I would immediately be a competitor. They're trying to be that there. You know, Roger Goodell is trying to be the ice cube of flag football.

00:16:09
Speaker 2: It is. It is a big time push and I think that's cool.

00:16:14
Speaker 1: Our friend phib fl our friend Phoebe Scheckter, who's been huge in terms of helping to build the flag among people overseas and women and and here. It's pretty cool for the people that have been involved to see this all happening now. So yes, the other news before we get to ERSA is that we got a Hard Knocks team. We're going to do a division again. Shout out to NFL Films. They got an Emmy for the the n season Hard Knocks Division series on the NFC North, which was great. It's going to be the NFC East. It was the AFC North rather last year. And Eric Roberts's Buffalo Bills are going to be on Hard Knocks for the first time. What's surprised because they are not in that group of teams Patrick that like you can make.

00:16:59
Speaker 2: To do Hard Knocks. So they flat.

00:17:02
Speaker 1: Out volunteered at an interesting time in their run, which they've been like the most consistent winner in the entire NFL other than the Kansas City Chiefs, And now they're going to be in the spotlight.

00:17:15
Speaker 5: I like it. They're not scared of attention.

00:17:16
Speaker 2: There we go.

00:17:17
Speaker 5: They're not running from anybody.

00:17:18
Speaker 3: Brandon Bean will line you up on a radio show like it doesn't matter.

00:17:22
Speaker 5: Anybody can get it at any point. I love it. Shot up with the Bills.

00:17:25
Speaker 1: It's the year of Steinfeld and Josh Allen. I mean we could go from Josh Allen MVP to like the biggest most culturally significant, you know, movie of the summer in Centers with Steinfeld, to Hard Knocks with Josh Allen. Cut to next year Roberts Alan wins the Super Bowl, Steinfeld gets an Oscar nomination or win next March.

00:17:51
Speaker 2: We're just rolling through.

00:17:53
Speaker 1: How do you feel as a Bills fan about being the Hard Knocks team? Well, the Josh Allen iron is hot right now, obviously, like you just laid it out, sure any of other things Dion Dawkins keon Coleman. They're always they're always good for a quote, good new stadium coming up, the farewell of the Ralph, lots of lots of storylines. Do they open with the crane, you know, going from over the new stadium and the horizons of Josh Allen's future.

00:18:16
Speaker 2: And there's plenty of options.

00:18:17
Speaker 1: There that might get into why it's happening. The stadium part of it, because clearly, you know, their owner Terry Polula has to be foremost among drivingess. He he's ultimately in charge for them to volunteer. But I'm glad they did, Chuck, we got we got a good team, no offense, dear Browns.

00:18:36
Speaker 2: But like we've seen them enough on Hard No.

00:18:38
Speaker 4: I agree.

00:18:39
Speaker 6: I'm tired of the after thoughts, the teams that basically are trying to climb back into relevance being a hard knock team. Let's get a real team, a real contender, and dive in and you know, producer chops out of Eric right there with the opening shot being the crane.

00:18:55
Speaker 4: I think that's a great idea.

00:18:56
Speaker 1: It's true it is almost always the team trying to rise or trying to bounce back. So I like one that is on the cusp, and it kind of worked for the Lions, who were, you know, on the rise. But I feel like hard Knocks, you know, helped make them a national team in a way that the Bills certainly would not mind. Let's wrap up talking about in terms of the news, talking about Jim Ursay, who died on Wednesday at the age of sixty five.

00:19:26
Speaker 2: According to everyone.

00:19:29
Speaker 1: Close to the Colts and everyone that reported on that, it was a big surprise and I think it really knocked a lot of people back because he is synonymous with the Indianapolis Colts and I think I think just like one of the foremost owners. Obviously, like every ownership group is important in different ways, but at this point he's actually kind of part of the Old Guard. And Judy Batista wrote a great piece talking about how he went out of his way to try to learn from the old Guard Art Rooney Wellington, mayor Lamar Hunt.

00:20:06
Speaker 2: How do I do this?

00:20:07
Speaker 1: Because he was put in a position at a pretty young age after his father died of alcoholism, after he was the GM of the Colts to become an owner, and you know, has a legacy that's going to live on in Indianapolis. Just look at the skyline there with like the museums and the building and obviously Lucas oil Field that he helped build.

00:20:26
Speaker 5: And to think that a lot.

00:20:28
Speaker 3: Of the last interactions that people have with Jim irsay was a tweet to say, go Pacers, go get this done. And it seemed like the circumstances just willed themselves to happen in that you could see the way how the people react to him and probably one of the more accessible NFL owners who publicly dealt with struggles that I think, you know, not to highlight or celebrate them, but I think to see somebody in that position go through something real kind of allowed that level of connection between a lot of NFL fans and Jim Mersie that you just don't get another place.

00:21:10
Speaker 1: Ran into Steve Weisch on the way in here and said how great a job he did, because you know, they were just on the air and then this happened and I was watching his coverage and accessible is a really interesting point because I think Steve would say, like the most like someone close that a lot of not just reporters had relationships with, but players had really close relationships with, fans had relationships with I can't I can remember going to Colts training camp for a Frank Gore piece. I don't know when that was now, six six seven years six years ago, seven years ago, and ursayes just driving around on the golf cart handing out envelopes of cash at random to fans just because he wanted to whoever he thought was kind of being the best fan and like being the most energetic, like he was doing that. And there's so many stories of his personality on a one on one basis, But you just heard it Nick from like the ex players just saying what he meant to them. Ryan Kelly, who lost his child at a young age, saying how much Jim Mersey's support meant for him in that moment and giving him all the access and help that he could have. And I think it's really telling that Edgrin, James, Marvin Harrison, and Dwight Freeney all chose Jim Mersey as their presenter at the NFL Hall of Fame, and Ers was on record saying, like, other than the super Bowl title, that to him was the greatest honors in the highlight of his NFL career.

00:22:38
Speaker 6: Yeah, and I think it typified who he was as a person, somebody who was so passionate about so many things, chiefly among them the Indianapolis Colts in the city of Indianapolis. I mean, this is a guy who was deeply involved and very expressive and would not hide that just because he happened to be an owner of a team and came from wealth, he didn't let that limit him or you know, make him, you know, prevent him from engaging with the fans and the people in this that he called home, and especially a home that they had to kind of claim when they moved from Baltimore. And he made such a positive impact on so many people. And the saddest part about it is that he was only sixty five. And I feel a direct connection to this. My dad died at sixty three and it was also unexpected, and I'm sure you know his family's you know, having a tough time right now. It's way too young to pass and it's definitely gonna leave a void in the NFL that the culture in the league at large, you're going to have to find a way to fill.

00:23:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's involved.

00:23:28
Speaker 1: His daughters and Tom Peli Sara talked about this very prominently you know, his daughter was representing him at the league meetings already, and so there is some preparation for this, but you can never be prepared.

00:23:40
Speaker 2: And yeah, you mentioned family.

00:23:42
Speaker 1: Just he comes from a fascinating lineage in a way that his father and I think Jim mercy knew this and would defend on some level, was one of the most embarrassing NFL owners ever. You know, he died of alcoholism. He had many public in front of a microphone incidents that did not reflect well on the Colts or himself. Because of his alcoholism. They moved the Colts out of Baltimore in the middle of the night, which was a dark moment for the NFL and certainly for Baltimore. And yeah, you won't hear any of the ex Colts players from them talk about Bob or say the way that everyone is talking about Jim. And I bring that all up to mean that, like, I think that does show a strength that like your how you were raised and the mistakes that the generation before you that he obviously struggled with made, that you don't have to make all those same mistakes either. And I think the legacy that he has with the people around him and just the outpouring of how much to Mersey meant to him.

00:24:53
Speaker 2: It says a lot.

00:24:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you can see it, you could say, the way the community and the league all over has reacted to this like it's Jim, I say, meant something to football and to America and the fans.

00:25:05
Speaker 1: And yeah, an interesting guy, you know, Like I mentioned, he was a GM, which is crazy. He was the youngest GM in the history of the NFL at the time, and he traded for Eric Dickerson. They had been awful for about ten years straight and they did make the playoffs.

00:25:18
Speaker 2: You know, he was a Jim for a time.

00:25:20
Speaker 1: Probably not the job that he should have had, but the job that he did have, but also was you know, very decisive in making the biggest decisions in this organization's history. There's a famous story that Bill Pollion wasn't totally in on Jim, I'm in on Peyton Manning and that he at one point like slammed his his you know, fist down on Ersa's desk. Bill Pollion did this and was saying like that Peyton Manning's ceiling might be Bernie Kozar. And the line is that he said, can you live with Bernie Kosar because he thought the ceiling reportedly of Leif was higher, pounding on the desk, and Ersae.

00:25:59
Speaker 2: Was like, no, Manning, this is my guy.

00:26:01
Speaker 1: I am not betting on this. In the same way that he did not bend on the decision to cut Peyton Manning and move on to the Andrew Luck era when that crazy season kind of all came together. So he made tough decisions and still had like the love of respect of Peyton Manning afterwards, which I think says a lot. We're going to take a quick break, but yes, rest in peace to one of the legends of the game, Jim Ursay, dead at sixty five years old. Back on NFL Daily, We're going to do some Ota nuggets, some Oti buzz love it.

00:26:35
Speaker 2: We have on field stuff to talk about.

00:26:38
Speaker 1: One thing I wish I'd mentioned with Ersa too, is like he helped get the insider out the paint.

00:26:42
Speaker 2: Thank you.

00:26:43
Speaker 3: Immediately he walks out of that meeting and it's like he had just finished listening to ether or not like us, even though it was before not like us, like he had it was like a two solid minutes ripping him to shreds in a sense where we're expecting like, oh, you know, you have to use the right language.

00:27:01
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:27:01
Speaker 3: No, it's actually like the students trash get him out of here. And he did it a legendary contribution and removing a literal problem that was a problem for decades, thought to Jennerson.

00:27:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, for a little context, that was what three years ago now at a league meeting. And he even said as he was doing those two minutes that I will not be silenced. He made it clear that he was not supposed to be talking about getting Snyder out the league at that point, but it had clearly gotten past the boy and Snyder had been bad for all NFL business. And sometimes it takes someone with power like Jim Merced to speak a little truth. And he helped grease the skids to help the Washington commanders out, So Washington fans should be grateful as well. All right, let's talk about some nugs we could just bounce around. It's the teams with the new coaches. I'm not pretending that any of these stories are massive. It's just kind of fun to talk about twenty twenty five football happening on field. The very first ota that media is at for the Patriots. Drake May just throws four picks. I mean, why's he got to do this? Shook out of his first nine passes? Four picks in the streets. Man panic in the New England streets.

00:28:17
Speaker 6: Yeah, everybody call him down. You hired a defensive minded coach for a reason. He's already got his fingerprints on that defense. It's confusing. Drake a little bit gived time. It's May.

00:28:26
Speaker 4: Everything's fine, relaxed.

00:28:28
Speaker 2: No, yeah, I'm not too worried.

00:28:30
Speaker 1: So but I did listen to Tom Currn's podcast on it, and he was like, one was just like a bad overthrow on an open short receiver, which Drake May does do more than you want. It's got a little young Josh Allen in him. Another was just some missed assignment. And yeah, the rest is, you know, it's first day stuff. I did think it was noteworthy, though. Christian Barmore is out there and reportedly looking really good.

00:28:53
Speaker 2: He's fully cleared.

00:28:55
Speaker 1: And I did a podcast with Taylor Kyle's over who covers the Patriots, and he was great, and I started thinking about this Patriots roster. They added a lot of free agents and obviously they're excited about their draft but I think just as important for them are actually these guys that they have on the books that have been good players in the back in the past, like bouncing back. They have a number of them, but Kristen Barmore would be number one amongst them because this this dude could be like an all pro pro bowler type and supposed they looked really good.

00:29:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, it turns out when there's a roster devoid of talent that that in and of itself depleted, things are going to be very, very bad. And so yeah, the Patriots will be significantly better. Can't wait to root for them.

00:29:35
Speaker 2: Oh ever, so a, that's right.

00:29:39
Speaker 4: Wow, that was a great rug pull. That was fantastic.

00:29:43
Speaker 2: Well are you gonna root against him?

00:29:45
Speaker 3: Well, you know they're back, The Patriots going to be back there are going to be good.

00:29:50
Speaker 5: Their quarterback is going to be good.

00:29:51
Speaker 3: They got you know, they got their partnerships with the schedule release video and they're like, hey, you know what, I don't like the Patriots, you keep doing it, and.

00:29:59
Speaker 1: So yeah, that that really bothered me. Their schedule release video if you know which one I'm talking about. My god, come on, we're just trying to make it easier on us.

00:30:11
Speaker 5: They're just bringing things back to reality.

00:30:13
Speaker 1: Greg Barmore, Yeah, I mentioned those like veterans that they could bounce like Remandre bouncing back, I think would be good. I think Kendrick Bourne actually, if he makes this team, could help him out a lot a year further removed from surgery. Mikeuldn't when you got a ton of money and then at his worst season, now the coaching was terrible, but like that's someone. And then I did think about this, and the people watching noted that the Mario Douglas, like they think he could have a monster role here. It's like, if you look at this roster, shook, I don't know if there's a player that on most rostered would even though there deeper would be a number two receiver like Stephan Niggs isn't healthy, so I'm not really counting on him yet. So I look at this roster and think of what's worked for Josh McDaniels in the past, and to Mario Douglas a good player, and I could actually see like the Mario Douglas kind of being literally the centerpiece of their passing game.

00:31:06
Speaker 6: Well yeah, and then I think that points to why he made that note. About Kendrick Bourne too, is a lack of available guys. But don't forget about mac collins, who had a nice little year in Buffalo. If Jalen Polk would have just lived up to his expectation, as you know, a relatively early pick, then this wouldn't really be much of a discussion, right because he was inconsistent. Yeah, but luckily he's young and he's only got a year in the league, So maybe we end up talking about them having a nice little trio once Diggs comes back healthy, depending on how good he is.

00:31:33
Speaker 5: Yeahs with the mccollins disrespect from Greg just now.

00:31:36
Speaker 1: I mean as like he's more there for like blocking, you know, right, I think that's a fan of.

00:31:43
Speaker 4: Being grounded, you know, walking barefoot. That's what it is.

00:31:47
Speaker 1: The Bears are one of the teams that are also practicing this week.

00:31:52
Speaker 2: Caleb Williams.

00:31:53
Speaker 1: They didn't schedule him to talk to the media, which they don't have to at this time of year, but the media certainly would want to talk to Caleb Williams because he's the starting quarterback and because Caleb Williams made some news last week.

00:32:06
Speaker 2: We didn't get too deep into it.

00:32:09
Speaker 1: He made the News the comments to Seth Wickersham for a book that's going to come out in September. But the excerpt came out last week and it detailed a very organized and interesting effort by Caleb Williams's father to explore not getting drafted by the Bears, which I don't blame him at all. They had the right idea. Ben Johnson was asked about all of that coming out.

00:32:36
Speaker 8: I love it.

00:32:36
Speaker 5: I love it.

00:32:37
Speaker 8: I love the opportunity to come on in and change that narrative. That's where great stories are written. And so we're looking to write a new chapter here twenty twenty five Chicago Bears and looking forward to the future.

00:32:49
Speaker 1: I could just feel Patrick Wad and just jump in and take apart in this story.

00:32:54
Speaker 3: I mean, area man considers his options, right, like area man considers relative leverage with regards to employment for his son. And now like we have a story about a book. The story was written by writer. I guess we'll find out who wrote this story to sell Seth flush Wickerson's book at some point, you know it comes out there. But I just I don't understand the idea. Ben Johnson, right, had numerous jobs that he didn't take any number of people who have romantic relationships, at some point that person was considering not being with you, Like the circumstances change. And Caleb Williams is the quarterback of the Bears and he wants to win there. I don't understand why this is.

00:33:38
Speaker 1: A well because I don't think it reflects negatively on Kayleb Williams.

00:33:43
Speaker 2: If anything.

00:33:44
Speaker 1: He went into the facility and at that point said all right, like, let's try to win with these guys. I do think it's interesting that Carl Williams was on the record believing that the rookie you know draft and I think you're on board with him, is unconstitutional.

00:34:00
Speaker 2: It's like and uh, like.

00:34:03
Speaker 5: Do anything anyway like that.

00:34:05
Speaker 1: The cap that they have, and that they explored very serious legal options to potentially get out of it, and that the Vikings were the team that they were, that they were interested and Ryan Poles and the Bears had to say, like, we're taking you no matter what. Man, you can do whatever, you can say what you want. You know, Carl Williams said Chicago is the place that quarterbacks go to die, and he wasn't wrong, and they viewed the situation nick correctly that Shane Waldron and eber Flus were not the two guys to help his son maximize his talent, and they didn't.

00:34:41
Speaker 6: Yeah, but lost in that is the is the beauty of how quickly things can change in the NFL because of the lack of patience, and especially when all signs point to whatever you have, you know, in place, not being the best for the organization. Well then they get fired and then somebody who is the ideal fit for you, at least on paper comes in and takes the job. Like like Patrick just said, there you know, Ben Johnson took that job because he knew of the potential of Caleb Williams and how they could you know, make some magic together. I also just want to note though, how the grin, the slight grin on Ben Johnson's face just kind of illustrated how crazy he is as a football guy to be like, Oh, bring me more. I want the adversity, I want the challenge. I'm going to prove you all wrong. I love it.

00:35:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, I he's I'd love how he handles his press availability Like he said that was such confidence, as like, oh, you're coming to me with that, like he is the right guy. But through no you know fault of literally yeah, like through no fault Caleb. Like they lucked out Caleb Williams and his father, But like the Bears could have easily with a little bit of luck won some more games last year, and they could have wasted three years on Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron and it didn't.

00:35:52
Speaker 2: It didn't happen.

00:35:53
Speaker 1: Caleb actually told Wickersham I quote, I wasn't ready to nuke the city.

00:35:57
Speaker 2: It would have been aggressive.

00:35:58
Speaker 1: I think at some point some player might really do it, even more than Eli Manning did with the Chargers, but it will not be Caleb Williams. So that they're back there on the field, that's fun. Quinn Williams and the Jets are back on the field. I saw that they had one hundred attendance. That's fun. I mean, no one's hurt. Every everyone, everyone's showing up, no one's holding out. And Quinn Williams was up talking at the podium and was asked about the tweet that he had during the offseason where when they got rid of Rogers, he said, oh great, another year of rebuilding.

00:36:34
Speaker 9: Definitely think it was an immature thing for me to do At the moment, out of emotions, out of frustrations. It is definitely immature and ever since, and I haven't talked to Aaron previously, his dad, and just just looking at and trying to grow as a leader, trying to grow as a player, trying to grow as an adult. Talking to him, talking to the staff and everybody else just gave me a super super excited and super super confidence that we're going in the right direction to win football games and to do the things that I want to do, like to change the whole narrative of the New York Jets losing streets, so the playoff streets and different things like that, because I was drafted here a long time ago, and I was paid to help change this thing around. And I were there with a bad badge of honor and like a cape to make sure that before I lead his game, the New York Jets is going to be.

00:37:25
Speaker 3: On top and good and good for for Quinnin. I think it on both counts, right, like being frustrated being there being a very good player on a bad team that has the push was Hey, this this guy is this guy is you know, levitating about Nazareth And he's gonna save football, right, and and that's the pitch and then like you get rid of that guy, and it's always, well, now what do we do?

00:37:49
Speaker 5: Right?

00:37:50
Speaker 3: So I understand that reaction, but I also like that, you know, the coaching staff, they reach out, they dictate the plan to him, and he's not saying like, oh, I shouldn't have said that. He says, I understand the plan and the vision. Now I see that, and yeah, things are good.

00:38:05
Speaker 1: I just watched that and thought about how these players grow before our eyes. Like Quentin Williams, he said, I got drafted there a long time ago. I was like, man, it was that long ago, was it? But it's been a minute. It was twenty nineteen, and I think of him with the braces on and how he looked, partly physically, but more how he sounded it back then. And now I'm listening to him now and it's like, Okay, he entered the league on one level.

00:38:30
Speaker 2: Now he's a full grown.

00:38:33
Speaker 1: You know, adult and leader of that organization and one of the best at his position in the entire league. And I would not want to mess with with Quinn Williams this year. I don't know why. I just feel like he's ready to go.

00:38:43
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:38:44
Speaker 6: I also feel like his maturity is potentially synonymous with where the Jets are heading is an organization. By hiring Aaron Glenn and having a I think a smart offseason, you know, they seem to be headed in the right direction, and it's probably better that they're not in the spotlight with Aaron Rodgers and everything else like they were the last two years. That's kind of the get rich quick approach, at least at quarterback, it was there.

00:39:04
Speaker 4: They're lurking. They're out of the radar.

00:39:05
Speaker 6: Right now, but keep an eye on them, and I think it's because of players like him and the leadership that comes with Aaron Glenn.

00:39:11
Speaker 4: Don't be surprised if they exceeded most people's expectations this year.

00:39:14
Speaker 1: Yeah. Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner are both there. In theory they could be looking for new contracts, but like I said, one hundred percent attendance and Wilson was supposedly very active catching passes from justin fields.

00:39:23
Speaker 2: It's all happening.

00:39:24
Speaker 1: There's a center battle Joe Tipman versus free agent pick up Josh Myers. We've got position battles. We've got one in New Orleans. Supposedly it was supposed to be a three way quarterback battle. Everyone kind of forgets about Jay Hayner. What good reason being in the mix with Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shuck. J Canner was hurt in the first day of OT is apparently gonna miss some time so he won't be part of that competition. But we're taping this on Thursday. And Spencer Ratler, according to Nick underhoo Hill at New Orleans Football, looked quote awesome in the first OTA, shook eight for eight in some passes downfield. Don't give up on Spencer Ratler in this battle just yet.

00:40:06
Speaker 6: I mean, he wasn't time recruit back in the day. But I'm more curious about where Nick Underhill lands. Which side of the agenda battle does he land? Is this pushing Rattler toward the front or is this legitimate?

00:40:16
Speaker 1: I think he's recognized, like most of the people covering the team that Tyler Chuck is a heavy favorite because of his draft status and because Kellen Moore took him. But you never know what could happen once you get out on the field. He could legitimately be a much better player.

00:40:28
Speaker 3: You feel, do you feel solid that the Chuck is the is the more player and not the Loomis player, or do you think those two things are.

00:40:36
Speaker 1: I think the only evidence that Kellen Moore is part of the Saints organization is that they draft Tyler Shock. It has been like there's been no there's been nothing has he done, There's no juice.

00:40:52
Speaker 4: He certainly wasn't part of the whole.

00:40:53
Speaker 1: Derek carfiask and I think they let him pick his quarterbacks is based on the reporting that our friend Adam has done over at block party. But I think he got to pick his quarterback because that's his thing, and so that gives Shuck. Shuck apparently had a nice throw down field to where she'd They're trying Trevor Penning at guard, by the way, if you were if you were curious, because you know, they drafted banks to tackle in the first round. They drafted a tackle in the first round last year Fuaga. So they're putting Penning at guard. The Browns they're practicing their back shook and Deshaun Watson is throwing at the facility to some of the receivers that cut my eye. I wouldn't think he would have been ready. I don't think that necessarily means he's going to be ready anytime soon. But it's just kind of weird, like he's still there and he's like literally at the facility and throwing to the receiver.

00:41:43
Speaker 6: As your thoughts, yeah, I mean he's under contract, but the whole thing's just gross and it's just like, h now, why are you they're throwing? They stay in the background. Your time here is done. They have a million other quarterbacks that they're going to try out. Why do you have to insert yourself? But he has employed, So I don't think it means anything. I don't think it matters in the long run.

00:42:00
Speaker 2: Well they might.

00:42:01
Speaker 1: There's a whole thing where they get a certain amount of insurance money that helps their cap if he doesn't play at all this year. But could he potentially push to play if he's already throwing, you know, by the end of the year. Who knows. Just something to keep an eye on. I don't think he'll ever put on the uniform in the regular season ever again, but he is there also there at least in Dallas rather but on the field is Dak Prescott now cleared for everything Patrick and they're they're big enough George Pickens at practice. They're running out this four receiver set, they said, with you know, he's on the outside and you got Tolbert and Turping working weird things on the inside and CD moving all around.

00:42:45
Speaker 2: Are Are you into it?

00:42:46
Speaker 5: Yeah? I'm into it.

00:42:48
Speaker 3: An opportunity for Doc to get that second weapon out there with with CD, and if he stays healthy, they're going to win ten plus games and have a chance to either be successful or disappoint in the playoffs. That's pretty much what is going to come down to.

00:43:03
Speaker 1: I do like these cleared for everything, you know updates, and Aidan Hutchinson is cleared, cleared for everything, and it's like you get to these different points and other players are not at those points, and I think those are legitimate news items you can take away from me. There's not a ton like, for instance, shook. Christian Wilkins is not ready to play football again. I think people forget what a serious foot injury he had. It was reported by Tishan Reid, who does great work at the Athletic that at some point this offseason he actually had to put his boot back on during the off season. And I don't know if there was a setback or anything, but he didn't seem that close to getting on the field again, so that's disappointing. But Max Crosby, who had a pretty important surgery, a tightrod surgery, was back and fully cleared. Malcolm Kunsu's coming off a torn acl is not cleared, so it's just like figuring out who has further to go to get to go play and Wilkins might take a while.

00:43:52
Speaker 6: One of my favorite things to do in life is to cross things off a checklist because it makes them feel productive and it's one less thing to worry about. So when they're cleared for everything, all right, well set it aside, don't have to monitor that. Hopefully everything goes well for them going forward. The Raiders, at least Crosby's there. Luckily it's May, so they still have time.

00:44:08
Speaker 1: They have plenty of time, and they have made Ashton Genty changes cool stance.

00:44:14
Speaker 2: I'm not cool.

00:44:14
Speaker 4: This is the sign. This is the sign that it's May.

00:44:17
Speaker 6: Is that I'd pull up Instagram and NFL on CBS tweets or posts on Instagram and getting all my platforms confused.

00:44:24
Speaker 4: Look at the difference between Genti's stance.

00:44:27
Speaker 6: His hands are on his knees now and I'm like, oh god, it's late Maine. This is what we're going to now.

00:44:32
Speaker 3: As long as Chip Kelly is it randomly trading him to the Buffalo Bills in the middle of the season, I think I think things will be better.

00:44:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's gotta be just fine. That is probably our sign that this show is over. Appreciate everyone checking out all the episodes this week and the Bobby Bowens episode which we put into our feed his podcast as well.

00:44:52
Speaker 2: We will be back next week.

00:44:54
Speaker 1: We're going to put up a show Patrick and I ranking some general managers.

00:45:00
Speaker 2: We just mentioned Deshaun Watson.

00:45:02
Speaker 1: I don't think Andrew Berry is gonna farewell unless Patrick takes him off the board early.

00:45:06
Speaker 3: No, we're definitely not taking Jimmy has them took the.

00:45:08
Speaker 5: Credit there, so we're not gonna have it.

00:45:10
Speaker 2: Okay, So yes, we'll be ranking some gms.

00:45:12
Speaker 1: We'll be back. Everyone's back at OTA's next week. We're getting updates on stances. That's how you know football's back.