Trade Tsunami 4: BACK FOR MORE

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Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL podcast, the worst podcast by dv o A of all time or Your Money Back. Welcome to another edition Around the NFL. My name is Dan hansis joined in a virtual room filled with some hero It's Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler, look a little A t N long weekend boys, you know, took Monday's show up with some logistical issues. We had a tackle and we figured it was a good time to push things back twenty four hours. Also gives uh, Mark another data process. What's been a wild few days on the NFL grid. I think, uh, you know, we talked about the huge numbers boys that the A t N broadcast does, and that will be back on Friday, but legitimately our podcast downloads for the Deshaun Watson episode on Friday, We're massive, according to Ricky Hollywood, and I think a part of that goes back to directly you, Mr Sessler, and people wanting to know how Mark feels right now. So I'm just curious, because you're as passionate as a fan as I've ever known, how you're feeling now that seventy two or so hours have passed since the biggest trade in NFL history since the herschel Walker deal. Read into that however you want, Um, I would just I would say waves of immense apathy towards that team, and apathy works. It's i don't know, typically just sort of a discount drowning in the waves of apathy. I can't stop not caring. I'm at the stage where I'm getting a lot of um, hateful tweets from certain Browns fans, and I you know what, great, Um, I nothing really has changed, to be honest, I just again, I feel kind of apathy. I'm not really being tugged in one direction or another, and nor does it revolve around me, So it's not about us. But I do feel for you, Mark, um I you don't want to be the center of the attention of this podcast for this reason. And I can just imagine after coming out of the weekend, there had to have been a thought of like, oh wait, we gotta just like talk about this every show for the rest of my life, three times a week. It's it's not like it's it's not like I will put that to the side, and that we we covered that last week. It's over. No, it's gonna be hanging out there for years. So and and I was, I was honestly thinking about it because I care for you, Mark and consider you a really good friend. Like that, it such a seismic situation that has these repercussions. And then I was thinking about a little deeper, and I know You're Browns fandom obviously goes back to the eighties, and like when you think about everything connected to Watson and what he represents and what it means for the future of the Browns, um good and bad, and what it means to be a fan of the Browns now, like the only other thing that I could even connect to, like, what's something similar, really similarly massive that would just change the way you look at things. It's when the Browns, you know, lost there, when Cleveland lost the Browns, And that was another like major shot to the stomach for totally different reasons, obviously, And now you you're living through both these things with a break of however long it's been twenty five years or so. So Mark, my my thoughts are with you, you know that. Thank you. I think that's a great point because I think that that um moment in time forced Browns fans to decide what to do, what direction they were going to go in. Like there was a concept do you become a Ravens fan? Do you do? You wait and see if they get another team, and then when they do, uh, hang on for the one of the worst rides of your life. But like there was there seemed to be nothing but civic, total, unified support for the idea of another Brown's team back then. This one is different because I think it's it's it causes a mazor, a major chasm in the fan base, and like, uh, there is high emotion on both sides. The idea of dropping it on the Friday kind of work because by Monday, once these the NFL shows started, it's like a lot has happened since you know what I mean, Like by the time they even got to the Monday night Total Access or you know, it's like that's it's not even a story anymore. Deshaun Watson. It's like it's in the C block because so much has happened this offseason and this week. That's why they call it the Friday news dump. All right, So we have so much news to get to since we last left you on Friday. Uh, so much more has gone down as expected, the the Watson move, so huge in terms of the entire NFL that it had a domino effect and multiple quarterbacks on the move in the wake of that decision of the Browns to trade for the problematic former Texans star. I want to share something before we get to all the news, and this is via Tom Pella Sero, who was on Good Morning Football this morning. I saw the clip and I like, did and now I'm gonna steal it um And I could have stole it without crediting anybody, which happens to us all the time, but I chose to. So I just want to make that clear. You're a journalist, you have a high integrity. In the past three weeks, these are just the trades that have gone down in the NFL. All right, here we go March eight, Russell Wilson to the Broncos, Carson Wentz to the Commanders, Khalil Mack to the Chargers, Amari Cooper to the Browns, Janik and go Way to the Cults, Davante Adams to the Raiders, Deshaun Watson to the Browns. I'm legitimately Matt Ryan to the Cults. NFL research says that traded players combined for thirty three Pro Bowl selections, somehow says the most. Someone actually researched that I'm highly annoyed by all of this because I have been assigned a piece that is due tomorrow. Um, grading every trade. And you've been me. You know, maybe you've got two or three of these to unpack and then you're out. You're good. But there's like eighty five things that happened. It's like you just just start whipping me in the face. I mean some might call it a trade tsunami, you know, trade tsunami for back for more mark. Can we get a little, uh, a little sneak preview. I mean, you are divorced from the Browns right now. Um, what would be the Browns grade for that trade? Well, I've not even thought about the article yet, but um, I would I would say that from a football angle, you'd have to they went for it. In general, you like the idea, but you get the grade however you want. I can grade it however I want, and I might be very stern in my in my grading. And also there's more to come because you've got Baker Mayfield twisting in the wind now, and he is twisting because all these moves are happening. And now I mean, is it's Seattle or bust for Baker? I don't know, Like where else does he I get Carolina? Maybe? I don't know. We'll see Jimmy g is still out there because Kyler Murray on the market. Potentially, we don't know right now. Christian McCaffrey, remember that was floated around combined time. Is that something I could still be in place? So things are a lot different now with this trade tsunami than things used to be. Even when we started this podcast, it wasn't like this. I mean, teams are just much more bold, much more more bold than they used to be. There's no way around it. That's where Greg, because he's so good at just drilling into the heart of the things, had one more, one more nug and then I was spitting to the news. I would probably just point us back to our time in Indianapolis, when the best and the brightest reporters in the business and all the gms and coaches were all in the same city, and the thing that was said by most people more than anything all week was well, it looks like there's not gonna be many trades and not many quarterbacks, not much quarterback movement. That was. That was just like a lot of hot air looks. Don't subtweet Mark Sessler's I was absolutely saying that, So maybe I was if anything wished I said everyone said that. That was everyone was saying that all week there, So nobody knows anything. All right, let us get to all the news whenever we need a brilliant insight. He's available at the drop of a hat. Let's give a much deserved shout out to John Clayton, longtime NFL reporter radio host, died at on Friday after a brief illness. The professor he was known as. If you and if you follow the NFL and you know, have an active Twitter feed, you saw just the waves of appreciation for Clayton, who was a dogged reporter and an all around good guy from really everyone. And I don't I didn't know the man personally, so I can't speak to that, but I will say that as a football med uh kid who kind of came of age as a sports fan and was a teenager throughout the nineties, like he was like the NFL reporter, and they put him on every show in ESPN and my my whole like television schedule evolved around Sports Center and NFL Live and whatever programming Sunday Countdown and the Chris Berman's Sunday recap show primetime, like and Clayton was so prominent. So it's uh sad to see, uh John Clayton passed away at the age of sixty seven. Yeah, great reporter. I did his radio show a bunch like A always just remember him with his wife who who had MS, and how much he loved her and would would talk about her and always was like really nice to young reporters and helping them out. Whenever there's someone like that, where half the stories and anecdotes are things that happened in the shadows where he went and helped someone or gave someone advice or went out of their way, out of his way to like do something generous for them and no one else knew about it. Like that's kind of who John Clayton appears to have been to so many different people. I mean, met him twice, and I thought he was just like the nicest guy in like, you know, it wasn't fake, it was real. Rest in the peace, John Clayton. All right, let's get into the news. We'll start with this Matt Ryan on the move and the Falcons, of course, we're a quote unquote finalist for Deshaun Watson, and they were thirsty as hell to get Watson. And one thing that I think got a little bit overshadowed was how what's the word, I mean, how blatant the Falcons were hunting for Watson when you had this guy in your building who has been nothing but a consummate pro for fifteen years and owns every passing record and one an MVP and nearly took you to a Super Bowl championship. Uh, and you're basically disrespecting him. Uh. To put it boldly here, um by chasing after Watson. So the writing was on the wall. And very quickly after Watson goes to the Browns, the Colts acquire Matt Ryan for the Falcons in exchange for third round pick uh next month. So here we are, Greg Ryan is on the move. This is something I was kind of pounding the table for for a couple of months because it just never made sense to me, given where the Falcons were, given the um, the need for quarterbacks for so many teams that were looking to take the next step, that Ryan wouldn't be in the mix because his cap charge was hard. And it goes to show you once again, these teams have a way to make things work, even if it means the Falcons eating a ton of dead space right now. Yeah, I mean they made it work by having forty million dollars on their cap to not have Matt Ryan. Like, I don't think this was the plan. I really don't. I think the plan was to go get the Shawn Watson ownership push for that. I don't think when they agreed to this restructure a few weeks ago necessarily they expected this was how it was gonna go down. And then Arthur blank Coop has made some emotional decisions as as owner, including maybe the way they've restructured this contract year after year, pushing this pain into the future. Did right by Ryan by finding a place for him instead of maybe keeping him in Atlanta when that's not what he wanted anymore. And I respect that, and I like that as someone who likes to watch Matt Ryan play football. But they only got here by mismanagement and incompetence and their downgrading that quarterback and their roster looks terrible and it's like you said on Friday, maybe the only thing worse than in getting Watson is missing out on him because the way this ended is just we use the word Friday shameless, like it was a shameless day for the Falcons and they didn't get anything out of it other than you know, some hastily put together social media clips of like Matt Ryan's time in Atlanta. Yeah, I mean, I think if you're if you're a Falcons fan, the fallout leaves you staring at a team that looks completely disorganized. They almost easily have the worst roster in the league. And if anything, if you're Matt Ryan, and I like it for him because you know, we spent all the last offseason talking about how what a great landing spot it was for Carson Wentz and and the only question was how Carson Wentz would handle the job. And for Matt Ryan, you're in a place where you're getting to get better protection than you did last year. He had no weapons around him. Cordarrel Patterson was their leading rusher. You've now got Jonathan Taylor. They can use more help at wide receiver, but they've got money to spend. I think the Colts came out of this looking great considering the fact that you know, quarterbacks for running off the market. We were running out of options for the Cults, and they pulled this off like it is a win for a team that even still has you know, this is a patch for a couple of years they were fused basically to find like the quarterback of the future. But this, of all the scenarios that could have gone down, I liked this for Indianapolis and Chris Ballard well, the the already iconic Flashpoint series started with Carson Wentz, and we had Zach Kiefer the athletic on the show, and he did did a great job pointing out that once they decided Wentz was a steak and they had to get out of this, and they did, of course, Sendy went to Washington. Um, they really didn't have a clear path to get better at the position, and and and yet, and that was a few weeks ago when it felt like a pipe pipe dream or something not realistic that Matt Ryan was gonna be on the market. The fact that they do end up with Matt Ryan, and I know he's not the same guy anymore, but I absolutely love the move for the Colts because I think, and Greg, you might disagree, but I think Ryan, if you put him in a better situation, you give him blocking, which is so key, uh, and give he needs some more weapons, perhaps um to make this work. But he has Jonathan Taylor. I think he can give be a better version of what Philip Rivers was two years ago. Now. Is that enough to get the Colts over the hump in the loaded a f C. Probably not, but I at least give them a puncher's chance for some things to coalesce here. Whereas any other scenario outside of Deshaun Watson joining the team, it felt like they were just gonna be stuck in Purgy Tory for a year at least. I totally agree. I think when he played well last year, he played really well. We saw that that game against the Jets where actually they had a lot of pass rush on him, and he moves so well in the pocket. He's so accurate. He's not afraid to put the ball in tight quarters. He's one of the most accurate quarterbacks. I think the comparison to the Rivers is apt. He's a few years younger than Rivers was when he got to Indianapolis, and I think he probably makes better decisions. I don't think the rosters quite as good. But as Mark mentioned, they have cap space still, they have Michael Pittman, and they need help beyond that at wide receiver. They don't have a left tackle right now. I think they're a little short at cornerback. But Ballard is shown he's resourceful. He's still got roomed to spend. That's the part of this deal that I that I love for the Colts is he's only due Matt Ryan fifty three million over the next two years. That's like a bargain at that quarterback rates. That's what they're paying him. So that's twenty seven a year, a little under that. That's that's less than Carson Wentz. You know, you gave up less to get him. You only gave up one third round pick, so that that's one of the lowest veteran quarterback salaries actually in the league. That the Falcons are eating all that dead cap and that restructure and roster bonus, so that part of it worked out really well. I do think his arm strength has diminished. He was never fleet of foot, and he's definitely lost some athleticism. But I think he in theory, could be a little like Tom Brady where he can still move well enough in the pocket to to get it done. And and Frank Reich, I think is gonna love this guy and the right. I'm excited though, to watch the Colts in a way that I wouldn't have been if they just got like whatever Mitchell Robiskie or something that wasn't going to be a possibility to go further in the playoffs. I mean they had they you know, they were prepared to send a plane to pick up Jamis Winston for a visit. I liked the spending in Jamis Winston. I also like, if you're Matt Ryan, I mean had a huge difference. I don't think, but I mean I think Matt Ryan is a big difference over Jamis Winston. I do personally, but like you're in the a f C South, where you've got you know you. I don't trust the Cults as a super Bowl contender, but I trust them as a ten win team that could win that division because it's a very manageable division. So it's not it's it's a good situation for Matt Ryan. So not only is Matt Ryan far more decorated than Winston older obviously Winston if we're gonna talk about Deshaun Watson is not squeaky clean either, so teams are taking on his past with any decision to bring him into your building. And speaking of options that, uh, the Colts could have ended up the roads they could have gone down. Yeah, they could have ended up with Marcus Mariota and said it's the Falcons who signed Mariotta, who recently, most recently was backing up Derek Carr with the Raiders. Tom Pelliser reported that the contract is effectively a one year six point seven five million dollar deal twelve million option for three. This is what the Falcons mark should be doing here, right, because you have a team clearly rebuilding the cap jail they're in because of the Ryan deal obviously hamstrings them and not going to contend anyway. So get a bridge quarterback by like Mariotta, see if Arthur Smith can work his magic, and if it doesn't work out, you say bye and you focus on the draft and find a young passer, right because the team is totally lost, and I mean yet, Arthur Smith knows Mariota and there's a you know, there's a relationship there that I think that's a big reason why this happened. It's notable to me that Atlanta, UM and other teams had the Colts to have zero interest in trading for Baker Mayfield. I think the contract is part of that, but the player and the person seemed to be seen as a much lower option than we would have thought of maybe a couple of weeks ago. Mariotta. Look, he came in and didn't some nice things for the Raiders in patchwork. Do I believe in him in as a as a starter? No, no, I do not, not, not in this situation where like we said, they're gonna try to rebuild that offensive line, but it was unplayable last year for Ryan and I got some people in my manager, well, why do you have him solo in the QB Index if you're saying saying he's good, Like his high moments were high and it faded hard the second half, especially the last six or seven games in Atlanta were tough to watch, and he couldn't overcome a brutal situation. It's hard to imagine Marcus Mariota doing that. And Arthur Smith, I think coached his ass up by getting them to seven wins. This is one of the worst teams in the NFL last year. Their number one receiver at the moment, I would say is Olamedi Zachius right? Is that? You know Christians Blake is maybe number two? I mean, I guess Kyle Pitts is. But do you have big time holes throughout the roster on defense too? And I like that Mariota gets to play football again, and Arthur Smith is the right guy to to have by his side because he had his best moments with Smith on that time. Remember that Week fifteen game against the Dolphins when he went in for Derek Carr and I think they blew the game at the end. I can't remember who blew the game. Somebody blew the game in a savage way. Uh Fitzpatrick completed that miracle passed with a face mask thing. Yeah anyway, but uh Mario Woda. I remember Mark we did the Thursday Night Football I think recap of that, and he played his ass off in that game. And I think some teams probably look at that table to be like, I wonder if kicked the tires on this guy. Maybe there's something some magic in the number two overall pick from years ago. Now, I would just look at all the other tape too, I got I got, I get that. You know that seems to be certain quarterbacks that slip into situations like that that up the fascination level. And there's always going to be coaches that look at Mariota and his skill set and say, I can do more than the other team did. I mean, Arthur Smith is basically saying I'll do more than I did before with him, but I just don't trust him as a starter on any level. Like you sell the contracts. When Falcons fans are wondering about Baker, for instance, who's definitely the best available guy right now, Baker's gonna cost a lot more. Mariota got got Teddy's contract, you know, and they got a second year option because Mariota had no leverage where if Mariot actually worked out, they can keep them for incredibly cheap next year. So he got Teddy's contract, he got Tyrod's contract, he got Mitchell trevi Skis contract, so that that was like one level. This year. Winston got like double that, and Carson Wentz got double of that, which is crazy because to me, it's like all those guys are relatively in the same mark. Qte is it that? Uh? Greg calls Bridgewater Teddy first name basis I mean Teddy, what a great name. You know, there's no other Teddy's. Jamis Winston's come up a couple of times on the show, so let's hit on him because he's in the news. Once Watson uh spurns the Saints, New Orleans is back in the same quagmire. It's like, bring back James? Do we give Taysom Hill another chance? Why are we still talking about this stuff? They decide to bring back Jamis Winston on a two year, twenty eight million dollar contract. That deal includes million guaranteed. Greg Winson's coming off an a c L tear. I know there's certain numbers that back up that he played well before the injury on Halloween. I wasn't as impressed. Um, But again, these teams and that's why I think part of the reason why what Indianapolis managed to pull off, I think is notable. If you don't grab Ryan and if you don't buy Baker as a guy, that's a nice bounce back, uh target, You're you're going back to the well with guys like James Winston. Yeah, I think they see Jamis Winston as a better player and certainly has the experience in that system is and they know him and and they know he fits. This is not a rebuilding team, though they're They're caught in this spot which is different than Atlanta. Atlanta's blowing it up the Saints. The Saints have, you know, Michael Thomas and Alvin Camara and Cameron Jordan's and Davenport's on his fifth year option, and lattinmore is getting a ton of money and Jenkins like this is a veteran team like there, they are trying to win. Now, you're right, Dan, his numbers were great, like at one point in the season he was number one in the league and e p a per play he ended up fifth. I didn't see that either, but I thought he was okay. He was like a mid level quarterback. I don't see a huge different between him uh and Matt Ryan necessarily, and I think they're excited. And the money they gave him showed the tastom experience is well over and that's been the reporting there. They're not going to consider him at quarterback and they decided to give Jamis more money than I thought he needed. Maybe the Panthers were in on him because he got twenty one guaranteed. That was significantly different than all those other one B bridge quarterbacks. So maybe the Panthers were sniffing around or someone was, maybe the Seahawks, because to give him that much money was a declaration, you are definitely our starter this year, and we'll see about We'll see about the next year, but we'll have to eat some money if if it's not next year, I mean it will be. It's Jamis Winston in a Saints offense minus Sean Payton. And I don't know if there's any bigger winner this offseason than Tom Brady and the Bucks because you are looking at his Saints team of Falcons team both in flux, disorganized Carolina totally disorganized, with no answer at quarterback right now. I mean, there's no different though, to be fair, are other than Sean Payton? Are they that different? Is the roster that different? I don't think. I don't. I think that they're the most competitive team in that division outside of the Bucks. But I think that Sean Payton is one of the two or three coaches that probably especially when you look at what he did with Teddy Bridgewater, what he did with Jamis. I'm giving them two or three more wins a year with Sean Payton is coach. It's a tv D with who they have now. If the Saints ended up getting Watson and assuming the suspension that is to come is in a complete season wipe out in two, they would have been really scary to pare Watson with Michael Thomas and whoever else and then that defense which is still really good. Uh. Instead, yeah, I think they're fringe E wild card contender. But you can't say that about the Panthers or Falcons. I think Tampa seems like a team that is going to walk to eleven or twelve wins. But Brady has to stay Brady at some point. They have to be a dominant defense. I mean, they did shut out Tom Brady. They kept Dennis Allen because of the defense, and so that's it's hard to count on being like a number one defense, but that's that's what they're counting on, and they're county on Dennis Allen learning from his time with the Raiders. I have this conversation with James Jones in my head um who works with us at NFL Network, where like those players hated Dennis Allen. Basically, I mean he was about. They did not like that experience. People change, Greg I'm sure, I'm sure they did, but he wasn't. He wasn't ready for that experience the first time around. The players, I think all but like revolted on Dennis Allen, but they seem to like him in New Orleans, it's a little different. All Right, let's uh take a break and we'll continue to comb through the news. All Right, we're back. We're just talking some of the big quarterback moves um before we dive back in and get into the nitty gritty on uh some more qub actions. So Jimmy G. Baker, Mayfield, Panthers, Seahawks, Like, is there any sinner? I know there is a scenario, but in terms of like, those guys feel like guys that should be starting somewhere, and now those seem like the only two unless those teams, you know, go with a rookie through the draft. Like, is that where those two guys are gonna end up one of one or the other? Where is there a curveball in here somewhere? Probably? I think Seattle is the team that makes sense for Baker to me. I think John Lynch got caught bluffing or just no one was that interested in Jimmy Garoppol. I'm not buying these reports from Pro Football Talk that he was telling people he had two seconds in hand for Jimmy G and he was waiting for a better draft pick. I I just I don't believe he ever had those two seconds, And if that was true, what's going on here? Because there, you know, I don't know if anyone's taken Jimmy G. Period, He's like, he played poorly and he's coming off a bump shoulder. So Baker to see Hottle or Carolina for that matter, makes a lot of sense to me. I don't know what's going to happen with Jimmy G. I don't know necessarily that he ends up starting anywhere. I mean, if you're the Browns, you're not going to get much for Baker Mayfield at all at this point because it is just clear that, you know, I I thought more teams would be interested, but we're at a sort of a saturation point where to dance points, there's not a lot of landing spots. I don't imagine Jimmy G being traded to the Seattle Seahawks inside the same division. Uh. I think Baker is the more logical candidate there. It kind of just seems like more of a fit for Seattle. But Seattle is not running to chase after him either. I think the problem with Baker Mayfield is that whoever takes him on, you got him for one year, that's fine, but then you're stuck with the same decision that Cleveland didn't want to deal with, which is what do you do with him next? Also, what's the rush right now? Wait till? Like if Seattle only wants to give up let's say a fourth for him, it's just wait till, wait till the draft, like, wait until the second day of the draft and send your offer. And you don't really They apparently don't really care if they are just going in with this Drew Lock geno possible poopoo platter, which seems crazy, but they don't seem too worried about it. Yeah. I don't think you inherit what the Browns did, because it was a little more thorny with Baker because you had him as the number one overall pick and he had success and all that with with Seattle and really anywhere he goes, he has no personal leverage at this point. So it's just like he has to play out this rookie deal and then if he's good enough, they'll do business with him. If he's not, they're going to move on. I mean, he's kind of in a he's no longer the Golden Child because he's not going to be connected to the organization that saw him as the future. You know, well, there's a chance he's a backup to I mean, which is kind of a stunning departure from where we were a year and a couple of months ago, when I thought he played as well as almost he was a top five quarterback down the stretch their playoff year. I know that Baker over Carson Wentz in Washington. Yeah, well, why he made a huge mistake for that Carson Wentz move. That was that was a time in Washington. Fans are are in their feelings right now. I like follow their Espionnation site, which they do a great job, and it's all been like trying to like explain away like well, you know, at the time it made sense and we didn't know these guys would be available. That's fine, Uh, they blew it because I got a wild card. I would much rather have Baker Mayfield at the exact same price, much less at a cheaper price like at it. I think Baker's contract is an asset. I think the fact you're only gonna have to give up a fourth round pick for him is great. Like he's I would much rather have him than Carson Wentz and Mariota for that matter. That was that was like what when we were doing flashpoint on Big Baker though people didn't know what was gonna unfold, They didn't know available the timing, timing bang memo. I have a Sessler on this one. I know where Baker's going. Oh, it's a team that he would fit in so well with that city and the perpetual chip on its shoulder. And they're all scamps over there. We know some of them. They secretly don't love their quarterback, but they don't love the raft and they didn't want to get involved with the Shaun Watson the Eagles. They trade for Baker and then stick him in the picture. And then when Jalen disappoints them, Baker rises up and it becomes a folk here over there is that crazy crazy, but they have kind of the rich man They've got like the slightly poorer Man's version of Baker already and Gardner Minshew. I don't know, right, and it's not It's not crazy though, because they went and got Gardner Minshew a year ago in the same situation. So if they wanted to upgrade, I I kind of think that this one other potential landing spot that would be very um juicy, which would be Pittsburgh. I just I don't see it. I'm just saying, like, why not, Like you want to talk about ship on the shoulder and would it work out for the Steelers. It probably would work out quite well, and that would blow that division up. You know, if you were a Browns fan Mark, which you're not anymore, but if you were a Browns fan, that would be quite spicy as well. Maybe what if I became a Steelers fan? How about that? I've heard this theory and just hearing Mike Tomlin over the years, and knowing that Mike Tomlin prepared defensive plans to stop Baker for the last four years. I just don't think they'd be interested. I just don't think, right, I just don't think that they would think he's that dude. I think Carolina is the is the other spot other in Seattle. That makes sense to me. They're just spinning their wheels, They're just trying things. They don't have anything. They seem they seem like the Baker spot where they'd actually give up a pick, not weight around to the draft, beat Seattle to the punch, and I think that would make sense for them, I mean, compared to what they have. Now, what else are you doing? And you have that absurd photo out there of Dan and i Um the evening following the first round of teams draft. But we're at the cozy doing shots together, slapping each other on the back because we both had in Sam Donald and Baker Mayfield the aviers, and they'd actually been competing for a job where neither one of them or possibly even starting material at this point. Uh s. I included that tweet in his column this week. I I I regret nothing, mark Um. Optimism always lives within me, hoping that that guy will be the guy. And now there's someone else. My son was running around the playground yesterday in his Zach Wilson shirt. My other son running around in a Justin Herbert shirt. So there's a lot of a lot of heat in the house in the a f c UM. But anyway, let's uh hope is a good thing. Mark Hope. We'll take you home time for news and notes presented by up work where you can build the team that will build your business. Learn more at upwork dot com. Let's finish out the quarterback talk here, all right, So the Browns. You know, we're killing the Browns deservedly on Friday UM for their yes, shameless pursuit and successful pursuit ultimately of the Shaun Watson. And we were checking their Twitter feed and no one now ument, no announcement, no announce And finally the team announces the deal on Sunday that they have traded for Deshaun Watson uh D and Jimmy Haslum that the co owner's husband and wife. They all released statements. I think Kevin Stefanski released a statement. I'm not even gonna bother reading them because you know what it's all about. It's all about the Browns trying to win with the franchise quarterback and not any due diligence in any of that BS, so I will spare you any of that. UM. And they also make a move. They move on from case Keenum as the backup quarterback. They bring in Jake Brisket. Wow, Jacoby Bricett is slice me off a piece of that Jake Briskey man, he really moves, He really moves around the dial of the NFL trade. They've also trade case Keenum to the Bills, so he replaces Mitch Robinski. It's all a big game of musical chairs as the backup to Josh Allen and Buffalo and finally Greg Matthew Stafford gets a big fat extension. That's what happens when you win a super Bowl. Yeah, I love that for the Rams. That just happened so quietly. He sort of fits in the middle tier. Now it's like people are trying a little too hard to give him credits, like, well, he could have made more than that forty three million. It's like, okay, he's doing fine. He also got like a huge rays off that that last deal. Jake Brisket's gonna play games like Jake Brisket is gonna be a big factor. I believe whether the Browns make the playoffs or not, because I do expect that de Saun Watson suspension to happen. We'll we'll see what it is, whether it's four or six eight to who. We have no idea. We don't even know for sure if it's there, but the way they structured the contract indicated that they thought it was coming. They did it in a way that he wouldn't lose any money. H during the suspension. Um, he was amazing the amount of leverage that he, you know, extracted out of out of this Brown's front office. Uh. And I think Jake Briskett is kind of showing you that, like, hey, we were gonna have to play some games with Jake Briskett. I don't know how he's a fitting Kevin Stefanski's offense, Like he's the opposite of a quick jrigger guy. He just he holds onto the ball forever. Uh. And that is not what Stefanski liked about Baker Mayfield. They are being linked to Will Fuller. Uh. There is talk that they could potentially look to bring Jarvis Landry back. Like I do think that. Uh. We're being told that players felt a certain way about Baker Mayfield and they're gonna feel different about playing with a true franchise quarterback, whether we like the situation or not. Um, you could see Brissette playing up to ten games, so it's a that was a key signing, and uh, I guess you know, Case keenum out the door, and something isn't right in the stew when Watson was able to sit out or was forced to sit out an entire season with the Texans who got paid for it, whatever it was, it was something million or some huge number to not play and just work out at the facility. And then the Browns, who get a lot of credit for being smart in their front office with Andrew Berry friends, it was smart and it was part of the negotiation, which is, yeah, we'll pay you one million in bass salary in the first year to deal to protect you from being financially penalized for what you allegedly did to all these women. And it's like, at the end of the day, when the dust clears and he's playing again, he'll be essentially not penalized at all for um what happened, at least on the financial side of things, which also doesn't feel right and maybe something that the NFL will look to address because that was quite a circumventing of the good faith of what a contract is supposed to represent. Any well, and right like because you know, yes, it's fair to look at the Browns and critique them entirely for what happened, But what about the NFL in general? The way that this whole thing has gone down is a bad look for the league. It's a terrible look for the NFL. Came that down the money too, despite all those pitches, It's like most of these contracts, it's just like people are like, oh, well, can we have an organization where where free agents want to play. It's just like, just pay him. Whoever pays the most, like basically gets him. That's exactly what happened, right. Von Miller went from the beautiful climate of southern California and everything that comes with l a as somebody who presents himself was both a pro athlete with with the guy that hides his eyes on entertainment and being in front of a camera. They went up to Buffalo, you know I because they paid him a ton of money and he only lives there part time during the season, and then he could do whatever he wants. Things are different now. You don't you don't pack up the you know, an old truck and drive to wherever you play and then you live there for seven years or until your nee gets blown out and then go work at a factory. It's a little different now. Uh. That was news and was presented by upwork, the world's work marketplace. Learn more at upwork dot com. All right, all right, let's stop here for a break. We'll be right back. Oh grave digger, who did a great job last week filling in for Ricky? Where is Ricky? Ricky can jumping? How are you? Are you engaged? Let's start that. I am not no awkward, sorry to disappoint. Yeah, I know, but Ricky, I thought that you had the like you were describing the way that um it operates for the two of you, that you could have extended the the invitation to get married, and so you also chose not to do that. From your end, From your end, it's like, oh yeah, no, it's definitely probably gonna be me. And and there are there have been purchases. But she was even expecting it. It was too obvious. Everyone's commented, tweeting, commenting on Instagram. You know, we had what does she need to do to prove herself? She's oh, she's proving it. Like I said, there have been purchases made. No, there's no the windows not closed. The dollhouse window potentially. No, yeah, yeah, no, it's good. I just gotta keep her on her toes. You know, it was too like, you know, easy to expect that. And you said you listened back to the shows last week and you you saw that you call got some sniper fire, perhaps mostly from me, But at any point when you were on the beach celebrating, did it occur to you that you were missing perhaps the busiest week in the history of the Around the NFL podcast. I mean, listening back to you guys like you clearly needed material to keep coming back to the ocean bit, so it didn't seem that busy to me. She's upset. Listen, Ricky, it's good to have you back. Don't leave during free agency week again, please, we need you know, I mean, hey, Justin did did a great job. He did the grave digger. Also speaking of a great job the Titans, great job by the Titans. They pulled the trigger around a trade for Robert Woods, who became expendable in Los Angeles after the trade, after the signing of Alan Robinson. So Tennessee acquires Robert Woods. And you're seeing this a lot. And again it's why the commanders and everyone that roots for that organization is annoyed because it's like, wait, I don't have to give up multiple mid round picks, and I'm taking out a lot of salary. The Titans acquire Robert Woods from the Rams in exchange for round pick, because you're also taking on his contract and he's a really good fit, Greggy for what the Titans are about. They're a hard nosed team. They run the football. Everyone knows if you follow uh Robert Woods and the Rams that he's known as this great team player and a great blocker and a great receiver, just a good all around player. This he's got Titans written all over him. Yeah, great blocking receiver, a possession guy to pair with with a J. Brown. It's a nice compliment. He's guaranteed ten million dollars this year, which is not much for a wide receiver these days. It's you know, it's almost half what Kristen Kirk makes, and then he's not really do that much money in future years. I this was a reminder of how cold the NFL business can be, though, Like the Watson News is one thing in terms of like you can look at things in a cynical way if you wanted that all that matter, All teams care about his money and winning. Like this Robert Woods move was the one that struck me about that too, because all they've talked about is he's the captain, maybe the leader of this team, and they just had an opportunity to upgrade with Alan Robinson. But it's not like Alan Robinson's way younger. He's like a year younger. He's not coming off an injury. He's a different skill set. They had an opportunity to upgrade, and so they did it, and they were ready to cut Robert Woods. They like, Robert Woods was not going to be on this team anymore. The fact that they gave him up for a six round pick indicates they would have just cut him if no one was offering a six round pick, and that that's called business. But that's that's the NFL. I'm with you. I mean, I I can trying to think of another wide out that, when he was lost to injury, was more widely praised um as a locker room guy and as a blocker. I mean, how often do you even hear that kind of stuff. It's like he was so central to their attack and what they do. He's now been replaced. I love the move for the Titans. It fills a huge need. They didn't have a ton of money to go out and get a lot of players this offseason, but this was a savvy lever poll for Tennessee. Also took a picture with my son Walker was very nice to him when when Walker said that was his favorite that yeah, it's nice. Nice classic man and check it out Instagram. The Titans also acquire Austin Hooper. They signed him to a one year, six million dollar contract, formerly of the Browns. Free to pick up a couple of years ago. Didn't really pop for Cleveland, so Titans hope to get him in a bounce back here. Big Bone Randy Randy Bullock also comes back, the kicker who replaced Sam fiking Uh in Week two and had a pretty good year, so they say, yeah, we'll bring him back. Hopefully it doesn't screw us. In other wide receiver news, the Chiefs signed Juju Smith Schuster, formerly of the Steelers, one year, ten point seven five million contract. Greggy another contract I like here looks smart teams make smart moves. That's cool because Juju has never come close to replicating the success of his first two years in the league, and yet how much do you connect his fall off statistically the last couple of years to a couple of injuries and also Big Ben becoming a statue, couldn't really play anymore. Now you're pairing with Patrick Mahomes, when everyone's concentrating on those studs on that offense, Juju gonna eat. Yeah, you're you rarely get a second chance in life, and I think Jiuju made a mistake resigning with the Steelers last year when the Chiefs offered him the same or more money, and so he's like, well, I shouldn't have done that. I'm out. And I think he's kind of misunderstood as a player, very hard nosed player. As long as he stays healthy, he's exactly what they need. I'm sick of waiting for like DeMarcus Robinson or Miko Hardman to turn into something that they're not. They're useful players, but they needed another reliable why don't and they got one. Yeah, they don't really have time for prospects to slowly grow into what they would hope. I mean, they were sitting right in their super Bowl window, and I think Juju is a big bounce back candidate there. Oh, looks like we have boys some developing news because Darius Smith agreed to terms with the Vikings. According to Ian Rappaport, a source tells me in three year deal based value of forty two million, worth up to forty seven million with incentives fourteen million a p y average per year. Is that more than the Ravens we're gonna pay him or about the same. It could be it is more on paper, but there could be some funny money because if ever there was an agent in a player that's gonna tack on some fake years to make it look like they got more, this would be the time. So you gotta kind of see the terms. What's the gear, what's the first two years? It's probably in the same ballpark though, also Daniel Hunters roster bonus, which was a robust eighteen million UM triggered on Sunday, so they've got both. The Vikings fans are excited about this. They've been waiting for something to happen. It's been quiet up there in Minnesota. Like they were mocked. They were making fun of almost like they sent out a tweet free agent visit. It was like the first one of those that refersed areas. So you're on the board here in Minnesota, you're doing things. The Bengals they keep doing the thing. The Duke Tobin lie to us. I feel like we we point blank asked Duke Tobin at the combine. It's okay, by the way, if he lied, because they don't say anything they're not supposed to. We said, dude, everybody knows you're gonna fix your offensive line. That's what's gonna happen in free agencies like, oh no, we like the guys. We have a don't know. Uh. And then they signed Alex Kappa. Uh, they get Ted Carras, carrass Carros, Ted Carris, and now lie All Collins formerly the Cowboys. Three or thirty million dollar contract. Good job by Cincinnati. The first visit for Collins was to Cincinnati. He doesn't get out of the building without signing a deal. So they have now rebuilt that line three out of five now, did Um and Mark they've done their job. Now Sometimes us uh football people who think we we get the game, we were now going to go through the entire summer and season be like, oh, Cincinnatis fixed their offensive line. Everything's gonna be awesome now and then it doesn't turn out that way. But that's where I stand right now. Cincinnatis fixed their offensive line and it's not gonna be a problem anymore. Well, the one thing that they were not good at doing was drafting lineman and developing them. So you've got known quantities at least. And I'm not saying these are perfect additions. But like Kappa did not give up a sack last year, Um regarded as a super tough player. So I in general, you're you're essentially what the Chiefs were a year ago. You were throwing bodies at a massive like position of need. It's all about your quarterback. Like, I have no problem with what they've done. I think that this is the way to do it. And I don't know if general managers typically come on our show to break news. I think they like to chop it up a little bit, but we seem to not maybe always draw um the most richest headline breaking uh concepts from them. I just I'm just saying. I looked eye to eye to Duke and I asked him that question. I think I did. Maybe I didn't. He lied to you, Now you did. He had a bunch of stats about what their offensive line did, and then he used the same stats on the podium a little later, so you know what he did. And he was like, well, you try to block Aaron Donald and who are all the other guys that they faced during the playoff run? Uh? And he just ticked off all these tight ends. We're actually not that us. I don't think that we'd be the targets to help. Yeah, they got to figure out how to coach the position. But Lyle Collins seems like a great pick up. Nice we only got twenty million dollars guaranteed. He was three for thirty. His market was a little depressed because the Cowboys did him somewhat dirty, cutting him a little late in the process. Patriots try to get him in the building. They end up keeping Trent Brown instead, but I think they would have liked Lyle Collins, Like that was the exact same contract that the Steelers resigned their right tackle chock A Chrea for, And it's like those are not equal players. Collins is you know, any team would much much much rather have him, so that the value of it also worked out. They've done a nice job. All right, Let's hit on some more moves here. Running back return Lombardi. Lenny returned to the Bucks to Brady effect. He I think he had a goodbye Instagram post to the people of Tampa. He did, and he erased it, you know, seconds after Tom Brady he did. When like no one really wanted to give Leonard Pointy that big money. It supposedly he was asking for eleven or twelve million. I was like, that wasn't happening for But he's a proven perfect fit on that team and has been good for them for a couple of years. So, uh, Cordorrel Patterson this one. I don't know why ce pat was so like, like pumped up about going back to the Falcons the whole time. Did he not have a market after what he did last year? Why? Why is he maybe just likes in Atlanta? Maybe shouldn't overthink it. I think he went to the the team that offered him the most money most most likely. I think everyone kind of looked at his first eight years and was like, well, Arthur Smith did this magical thing with him, But I don't know if we have that same idea of how to make him special. Let's just let Arthur's just use the plays that Arthur Smith used in the playbook. I don't know, is it that I don't know? I think he also thrived in a scenario where there were no weapons, so it's like he's not going to be the same guy with him and Russell Gauge and now it's just him and Rashad Penny also returned to the Seahawks, the former first round pick who was just like a total bust, the first round pick, right, yeah, total bus And then he got healthy finally and balled out at the end of last season, and that was enough to get him a second contract with Seattle and one more player returning, uh well not directly, but now he's back. The Patriots make move and signed the offensive lineman Trent Brown, Rossell Douglas and Tany Robert Towny and also back with their teams with the Packers. Your thoughts on those moves, fellas also Fletcher Fletcher Cox and Zach Pascal to the Eagles. I I think that they are reminders and as Patriots fans get more frustrated um by the day of just like the lack of new blood being added to this team, it is a reminder half of my top one oh one for instance, is still available and there's plenty of good players not in that top one on one. This free agency market has moved slower than others, so like freegency is not over by by any means, and there's that there's a lot of players still out there that are going to make very meaningful contributions who just didn't have the market that they thought they were gonna have. But some you know, really good players, Dwayne Brown, Jandevian Clowney, Tyrone, Matthew like they're they're players, Stephan Gilmour, There's there's a fairly big name players still available, and there's good players almost at every position available. So it's like, all right, we'll come down, we'll see what it looks like in three weeks. I think one of the bigger question marks going into the next season is if what we saw from Penny is who he is or who he was uh down the stretch in a in a flash of the Pan type scenario, because they have Chris Carson as well and potentially no good quarterbacks, so they're gonna need both those guys. But I mean, the way Penny Penny looked like a version of Barry Sanders down the stretch, if if that's who he is, uh, I would be concerned for the rest of the of the division. We were there for a big Rashad Penny game on the Tuesday afternoon football Seahawks rams that we're in there by Penny in that in that game, I don't Barry Sanders. Wow, I'm just saying he looked like a ten times better version of himself. Le But I was going to Zack Center, like a Zack Center in August type dominance. Well that isn't that is that's fair? I mean that's I don't know if ever put up whatever seven hundred yards in five games or whatever. Penny preseason tape, right, there's a reason why Mark was over the moon. Well that's not the reason. That's just you know, the other the same reason he like Toby Gerhardt, Slander and Peyton hillis I appreciated his playing ability. Mark stuff the ballot box to get Peyton hillis on the cover of Madden. It's like you need this Wait what my sound? My sound is now a sound drop. I just want to clarify to the listeners that's not that's me live. I don't think they can tell the difference. What let's hear whatever this is does that even me, I don't even know. Oh that's you, that's you. That's uh the I agree with your point, and it's also your watch out. Daddy's about to come down the runway and start talking right. Welcome to my world, Greg, Like, no one knows what I'm talking about in the show, because what I say is a sound drop from four months ago. You know, we're working on AI technology for you, Mark. And actually, if you think about it, think about this, Mark, I didn't. This isn't how I looked at it originally, but maybe ultimately this is the way to look at it. You are an emotional man. Some of these things that happened in the NFL are traumatizing to you. Sometimes you just need a break. How about in the future when the Browns do something hideous, Mark real, Mark sets it out and we have a Mark what was that? Let's do this and we're ready to roll. I would say as an experiment, like I literally vanish from the show for like three weeks in June and see if anyone even notices. Can you just get I just need a few more Why don't we start just banking these Can you just say this is a huge story. I'll do that right now, this is a huge story. What else do we need? Greg, Let's go. I think I'll just say this. I'll okay, we go. I'll just say this. Can you say you nailed it? Dan? We're just gonna stand on that point. Here we go. All right, you nailed it, Dan, I think we do. I don't like that take. Let's try again. Um, well you nailed it, Dan. I think we just we stay right there with that. Wow, Greg, what a great point, Greg, an excellent point by you, and a great article on the site. All right, let's be standish the news. That was fun. Jamison Crowder Duke Johnson to the Bills. Jameson Crowder is a good receiver if he could stay healthy, and now he gets to play with Josh Allen. So it's another one of those when crowd is making big plays in January next year. Oh, it's good to have people that are smart making more his decisions. Gerald Everett to the Chargers. Do you like that? You guys like that? You like that he's like the new Jared Cook replacing the old Jared Cook. I I love the Bills off season in general. I feel like they are my Super Bowl favorites. They are probably going to be the Super Bowl favorites along with the Chiefs. I would imagine. The only problem I guess they both have is they're both in the A n F A f C. So you could make the argument that the Rams you have a better path than than either of those teams. You know I'm about to begin, or I have already started. Just one up on NFL dot com, the post first wave of free agency power rankings, and I did something, now this is my third year doing it, that I've never done before. I always had this hard and fast rule that whoever wins the Super Bowl, I keep them at number one through the off season, barring something insane happening with the roster, and it hasn't happened in the past two years with the champions. And then I keep them at number one till they lose. It's like I just leave them there and they're they're fine, and then once they lose, I could recalibrate. And then I realized that was a little too rigid, so I dropped a bombshell on the old dot com and I haven't even checked my mentions. I can't even imagine what people are saying I did. Put the Bills at number one in the Power rankings. I have the Rams at two, and I saw I saw the von Miller changing of address is just enough to flip them. What do you think, bold move, stupid move? Okay with saying the Bills are the best team in the league right now. I like the concept of shaking it up, um, just to break from your old patterns. I the A f C is so rugged that I I just not sure that. Like I I struggled to put the Bills at number one. I don't know if the Bills psychologically could handle being number one, but a strong argument for it. Strong argument, Well, this is it's starting to turn into your Tom Brady gradual decline. Take though, um, you know as a as a high placed Rams you know source pointed out in Indianapolis to you Dan, you ranked them dead last when there was eight teams left in the playoffs, dead last. Then when there was four teams left in the playoffs, you rank them dead last. And then in the Super Bowl you even ranked them behind the Cincinnati Bengals, who had appropriately. Using the word dead last is kind of misleading. Yes, I had them in the divisional playoffs. I mean to be fair that wasn't you know I there there were some teams there you could certainly argue that they would have been, that they had had more talent and a better resume at that moment that you know the type the only the only one I regret was the divisional round placement at eight. But you know what, those playoffs are crazy, those are weird. In almost this trophy right here, I almost regret the last one too, because why should I regret it? Because you, first of all, eventually you pick the Rams to win the game. So it's just like be consistent because you want to get it right. Ultimately, if you have the choice, don't you want to have the team that wins be number one? Well, when I wrote the Power Ranks, it was almost two weeks before the game. And don't I have the option of changing my mind? You do. I'm just saying, you're saying, it's like, no regrets I got I made the wrong decision. Why not regret it? Why not? Just because it doesn't matter. It's in the end, it's largely meaningless. But like, where do you have the Bengals by the way in your rankings? Um, thank you for the following. That's a great mark. Thank you did make it more of a question than a point, but I'll take it. The Bengals I have at a very respectable number four. So that's where we're at, all, right, here we go, And I kept the Brownies fourteen. I don't know, let's see this quarterback, like, when is he gonna play? I don't know. You know, the Browns are the real deal, now shut up. I don't know if the Bengals would make my top seven, right, sorry, Westling Brows, even after these reinforcements on the line. I just you just look at the other teams that you could put there, the Chiefs certainly, the Packers. Um, you're right after that, it gets it gets Um. They're not a classic super Bowl team where you just you lock them in at number two. They're not. They're not that show me that you can coach the offensive line. Um, but you're right. Maybe there's not any like locks ahead of him now that I really think about. I put the Bucks ahead of him too, so I think I probably have them five. And that high ranking ram source is not going to be happy when he sees this either, But he is a very nice man and he's probably flipping out right now in his office. I have it top ten Bills, Rams, Chiefs, Bengals, Bucks, Niners, Packers, Chargers, Broncos, Titans. Ten. That's the top tip for me. All right, check it out NFL dot com slash asut. Finally, in the news mark a little thought exercise. I had been my parents got into town yesterday. I've been really busy, um and I did not get a chance. I set this aside to have it on the tab open tab, this athletic report on the dysfunction around urban Meyer and I haven't had a chance to read it. I'm looking forward to it. But I was hoping if I could test you in real time, as a man who has written literally hundreds upon hundreds of news articles for the Old Around the NFL blog on NFL dot com, if you can give me a nice lead, uh, in real time on the athletic story that you would put up on dot com. Let's do this. You're asking me to verbalize like the sentence I would actually use to open. Give me the sentence or the opening graph. Yeah, I would say, uh, I don't have any idea, to be honest, like the article I perused, like found it. That was a tough one because I think that, alright, Gregg, he's gonna try. He's written maybe thousands going back, he should leave this off. From the outside, the urban Meyer experience in Jacksonville looked like a mess period. It might have been even worse than we imagined. And then and then then get into the details we might need like a Jason Zummalt narration of that one that that's a lead. My favorite part about this article is that DJ Chark is like the only guy on the record just slamming urban Meyer the whole time. You know, just like this prepared it was toxic the coach. It would sound seemed like a terrible job for the spot to be for the coaches. He made some racist comments to John Brown, like saying that he was slow to pick up things because he's from the South. Like everything about it just makes this guy seem like the biggest fraud that's ever been uh an NFL head coach. And my big my biggest takeaway is kind of like sweet, just like, forget whatever happened with Trevor Lawrence. Now I'm ready to just ignore all of that and be excited about Trevor Lawrence moving forward, because this situation was that miserable. I meant the article had so many um like overt things like you just mentioned that showed what kind of um leader he was or lack of a leader. But there were some bizarre little peculiarities to where at one point um he was telling offensive players that he wanted them to dunk the ball over the goal post whenever they scored, even though they would be openly fined by the league to do it like that that he was what what is this guy? Just sounded about his bizarre and detached as possible, right, and he would like deny that he took players out of the games to his coaches, He's like, why why are you saying that? You know I didn't do that, and it's just like what you told us to take about like this, what a what a clown show? Well here's the one that stood out to me, and I couldn't even I can't even tell you because again I have to read it. But is it true that in the articles revealed that urban Meyer didn't know who Aaron Donald was? Like who is this ninety nine guy? Yes, I mean according to a staffer, that was like inside the building they were about to play the Rams and He's like, this guy sounds like he could be a problem for us. Who what is going on with the cons How did not how were there not? How is there not a single La ravial magnifico during your vetting process and interview process to realize that the guy didn't know the league? I mean, and that makes me cons like he's a con man because he was a con man. He was like a Ponzi scheme as a coach. How about this? How about this for a lead? Ready the con men hired a con man? Period in that story? That is really good? Dang, I like, there's better yours a little more professional like Mike Florio approved. That was a little more a t n there's little I like yours better. You got to know as an editor when you can, when you can juice it up this This guy was literally on Fox talking about leadership like he was getting passed around a lot of the best people in our industry, being like, listen to Urban Myers rant about leadership when he was like on that Fox college football, what's going on in the NFL? What is up with you? NFL? And finally al Michaels, thank Christ has moved off the one yard line. He got his deal with Amazon. Uh. It is a deal that reportedly gets him quote Joe Buck money after Buck and Aikman went together over to Monday Night Football and um, you know this from of course, there's only one source. Andrew Marshaunt to the New York Post. Um, he will become the new voice of Thursday Night Football. And guess what who will be his partner? Well, guess we'll guess who it is. I don't know, do you guys know? I do know it's Kirk curb Street. Good. That's a good partner. They did a nice job. We are set up really well now with these after years of us all complaining we have Monday Night Football, well we have Sunday Night Football, our guy Tariko and Collinsworth Monday Night Football. Now we have Buck and Aikman and if you so desire, the Manning cast with Peyton and Eli. And then you go to Thursday and you have al Michaels and Kirk Herb Street, who is an awesome college guy, so he knows all the guys coming to league and he's just a really talented, polished broadcaster. We have finally figured it out. Now, if we could just keep these guys. I mean al is almost eighty. Uh, you know, but if we keep this for a few years, we're cooking with gas slash grease mark. There have been weak spots in these prime time lineups for ages. We've we have complained, and I think we've rightfully complained, especially with Monday night football. But you even dip into the new talent on Sunday as well beyond Romo, like Greg Olsen looks like he's going to be awesome for as long as he wants to do this as well, so you can't there are there are less Um. I guess Trent Green's out there, uh, which is a good thing. I'm sure he's a nice man, but like I find his analysis somewhat exceedingly bland, and that's not as acceptable as it used to be. Got to wipe the grid of these clowns. Well, we don't know for sure who's gonna be number one at Fox, so that is that'll be interesting to track. It seems like Burkhard and Olson are the logical we don't know that great. I think they'd be great, but because you need you obviously need a pipeline of younger teams that are going to become the iconic older guys, and I think Olsen has showed and burkhard big time. That guy's a rising star. We've had him on the show, and we're all good with Tony row. I know people like to get on Tony now and I've done it as well. But Tony Romo is still a great big game announcer with nance. So we we we did. I think it's it's a miracle, but I think we finally did it. Somehow. He is doing the radio on the big games. But you know, we maybe when our retires, I'll get into one of these big cheers. Miracle I tried. I had it cued up and then Greg started talking. I said, miracle, here comes the Al Michael's most famous drop in the history of sports broadcasting. It's not your fault. Just sometimes you hope these things line up and didn't, and we're just gonna live with it. I mean, we are not iconic broadcasters. That's what's been proven, repeated the debate around that that is that's proven. All right, So there you go. You're caught up on the League of thirty two. We'll be back on Thursday. Well I won't be back. I'm gonna, you know, well, sir Daddy Rich is gonna be a daddy down there in Anaheim for a few days. Going down to Disneyland. I'm gonna look for the original Tom Brady with the very average male face, the guy that was on the teacup on the what was it the Dumbo ride? And I think that that human being actually does not exist at this point, he was removed from society. What if I just see that there's like a statue of Brady on that ride and uh, but it's actually what's that? It's the guy from the movie with the spaceballs and the wasn't that somebody got put in clay like the statue? Are you talking about Hans Solo? What if that Tom Brady is trapped in the the clay the heartened Clay carbon Nite, I believe referring to Yeah, that's a possibility. There was a You've convinced me, all right, so I won't be around for a Thursday show, but you guys are gonna hold it down. Who's who's sitting in the chair. Clay Bonne will be involved profession I don't know, my Nadia four who knows. I'll get crazy, alright, enjoy it, boys, and I'll be back with you next week, so uh enjoy, uh enjoy the rest of the week with with the Boys and Ricky and uh we will be back and the Friday Show is back as well around the NFL broadcast, So set your DVRs or however you anding media, Connie Fox on that one. Yeah, nice gang, nice gang. All right, let's go. Stan handsOn signing off for the Old Boss and Quiet Storm and Ricky Hollywood. Until then, beat the call s