Latest / Rice on the Radio / A.J. Brown to New England, Myles Garrett to L.A., and NFL Offseason Chaos

Transcript

A.J. Brown to New England, Myles Garrett to L.A., and NFL Offseason Chaos · Rice on the Radio

• 0:00
  When I hear Ian, I think of you.
• 0:02
  There's a lot of great Ian.
• 0:03
  Ian Rappaport, Ian Begley.
• 0:06
  It's pronounced differently, but Ian Eagle, but you're the guy.
• 0:09
  I guess there's only one way to find out.
• 0:11
  Let's do it to it, right?
• 0:13
  Ah, yes.
• 0:14
  Happy Monday.
• 0:15
  This episode was supposed to come out earlier.
• 0:18
  I was trying to get the NFL one down last week.
• 0:21
  Had my stories all lined up, all my notes sitting there.
• 0:24
  And then life did what it life does.
• 0:26
  Schedule gets a little weird, things pop up.
• 0:30
  Don't we actually get time to sit down and actually make the episode what you want it to be.
• 0:34
  For a minute there, you know, you feel like you're behind.
• 0:38
  And then Monday hits.
• 0:41
  And the NFL basically says, actually, it's a good thing you waited one more day.
• 0:45
  AJ Brown to New England, which we kind of all thought was coming.
• 0:49
  Miles Garrett to the Rams out of nowhere.
• 0:52
  Odell Beckham Jr.
• 0:53
  back with the Giants.
• 0:54
  The Jets actually giving us a few signs of structure and player buy-in.
• 0:59
  And oh yeah, Russell Wilson apparently choosing a CBS desk over the Jets clipboard.
• 1:04
  So maybe this episode wasn't late.
• 1:06
  Maybe it just needed a little better ingredients, a little more seasoning, you know?
• 1:10
  Today we're talking NFL offseason chaos, the teams that got louder, the teams that got better, and where the Giants and Jets fit into all of it.
• 1:17
  Let's get into it.
• 1:20
  Extra, extra.
• 1:21
  Keep the light blow.
• 1:23
  New York talking with the late night go from the garden glow to the stadium.
• 1:31
  Right on the radio, coming through your speakers, big things, bots tool, heartbreak, believe the matter games, death giants, next on the ride.
• 1:38
  Pull up a chair, let the whole city decide.
• 1:41
  No pretty hard after no sitting on the fence.
• 1:44
  We don't talk loud after making it make sense.
• 1:53
  So let's start with the one that's been sitting there for a little while.
• 1:57
  AJ Brown to the New England Patriots.
• 2:01
  This one of those trades felt a little surprising and not surprising at the same time.
• 2:09
  If you were paying attention, you knew that the smoke had been there all last year.
• 2:15
  The relationship in Philly had gotten weird, the offense had gotten weird, AJ Brown, Jalen Hurst, Nick Siriani conversation just had too much noise around it for too long.
• 2:25
  And before we even really get into the full football part of this, a little tip of the cap to Diana Rossini.
• 2:32
  Look, she may not be breaking NFL news from the same seat anymore, but she had this AJ Brown to the Patriots trail cooking long before a lot of people wanted to admit it.
• 2:44
  You know?
• 2:45
  Weird road, but got to the right destination.
• 2:49
  But now here we are.
• 2:50
  It's real.
• 2:51
  AJ Brown is a Patriot.
• 2:53
  New England sends Philly a first round pick in 2028 and a fifth round pick in 2027.
• 3:01
  And Mike Vrabel gets reunited with one of the best receivers he's ever coached in Tennessee.
• 3:06
  I know people are going to argue this one both ways.
• 3:10
  Some people will say the Eagles had to do it.
• 3:11
  Some people will say the Patriots are overpaid.
• 3:14
  Some people will say AJ Brown is a diva or a headache or a pain in the ass.
• 3:18
  Whatever.
• 3:19
  Whatever you want to label him, whatever you want to put it as.
• 3:22
  I get all of it.
• 3:24
  Here's where I land.
• 3:27
  Patriots got better today.
• 3:29
  Like immediately better.
• 3:30
  Not theoretically better, not better a year or two from now.
• 3:37
  They got a true number one receiver.
• 3:41
  A grown man, six foot one, 225 pounds, physical proven, still dangerous, and still the kind of guy who changes how the defense has to line up.
• 3:51
  Receiver.
• 3:53
  Again, you can call AJ Brown a D-Va if you want.
• 3:56
  You can call him difficult.
• 3:58
  You can say that he wears people out, fine.
• 4:02
  But he's also a monster.
• 4:04
  Both things can be true here.
• 4:07
  The headache conversation only goes so far when the guy giving you the headache can also win on the outside.
• 4:12
  Win through contact.
• 4:14
  Take a 60-yard slant home.
• 4:17
  Bail out a quarterback under pressure.
• 4:20
  That's a big deal for Drake May.
• 4:22
  The Patriots got to the Super Bowl last year and they took an ass kicking from Seattle.
• 4:26
  And as soon as that game ended, people started picking through the resume.
• 4:30
  The schedule was easy.
• 4:32
  The flaws got hidden.
• 4:34
  They were not as clean as the record was.
• 4:37
  They were not as complete as the run made it feel.
• 4:41
  That's what happens when you make it that far and you get smacked.
• 4:44
  Everybody starts digging through the bill.
• 4:47
  And New England heard that and did not sit around admiring a silver medal.
• 4:53
  You know?
• 4:54
  They went and got Drake May a hammer.
• 4:57
  And it's no shade against Stephon Diggs, but AJ Brown at this stage is a better football player than Diggs at this stage of his career.
• 5:04
  Different body, different force, different kind of problem.
• 5:08
  Diggs can still play, but Brown changes your physical profile.
• 5:13
  He gives you that receiver who can win when the play isn't perfect.
• 5:18
  And young quarterbacks need that.
• 5:29
  And you know, the Variable part of this isn't small either.
• 5:33
  If there is a coach that can handle him, where I hear, yeah, he he can handle AJ Brown.
• 5:41
  Vrabel's on that very short list of coaches.
• 5:44
  You know, they already have history, they already know each other pretty well.
• 5:47
  This is not some brand new relationship where the coach has to figure out the personality and the player has to figure out the coach.
• 5:54
  Vrabel drafted him in Tennessee.
• 5:56
  He saw the early vision, he saw what we could become, he saw the star version of him.
• 6:02
  He knows what comes with the package.
• 6:05
  That changes the equation for New England, especially in the division.
• 6:09
  The AFC East is not going to hear this trade and shrug and go, okay, it is what it is.
• 6:13
  You know, you can pretend you're not worried.
• 6:15
  You can do the offseason press conference thing where every coach says, yeah, we're focused on ourselves, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 6:21
  That's cute.
• 6:21
  That's wonderful.
• 6:22
  But when the Patriots add AJ Brown to Drake May and Mike Vrabel, everybody in the division has to take a second look and be prepared.
• 6:33
  Now from the Eagles side, look, I I understand the reset part kind of.
• 6:37
  I do.
• 6:38
  I'm not going to sit here and pretend everything was perfect in Philly.
• 6:42
  Clearly it wasn't.
• 6:43
  There was trouble in paradise, so to speak.
• 6:45
  The Brown and Hertz thing did not feel the same.
• 6:47
  The offense was frustrating.
• 6:49
  The public comments, the social media, the body language, weekly drama.
• 6:54
  You know, reading the book on the side of the sideline.
• 6:58
  It just all started to feel too heavy.
• 7:01
  Too much to get over some.
• 7:02
  At a certain point, maybe Philly looked at it and said, We can't do this anymore.
• 7:07
  We can't keep this.
• 7:08
  Maybe they decided the room just needed to breathe, too.
• 7:11
  Maybe they decided they would rather lose the player than keep the tension.
• 7:16
  I get the logic.
• 7:18
  I still do not think they got enough for him.
• 7:22
  A 2028 first round pick is real.
• 7:25
  I'm not dismissing that.
• 7:26
  Good teams can get stuck at the back of the draft for years.
• 7:31
  And an extra first gives you a little ammunition to move up if you have to.
• 7:34
  Or, you know, maybe the team you traded to stinks.
• 7:39
  You know, whatever.
• 7:40
  If the Eagles need that, if they need to pivot, if they need to reload without fully tearing the whole house down, that pick helps a lot.
• 7:48
  And the fifth rounder, like the fifth rounder is not nothing either, but come on, it's a fifth.
• 7:53
  It's not something you hang a banner on, right?
• 7:56
  The Patriots got AJ Brown, the Eagles got future flexibility that might be responsible.
• 8:02
  It might even end up being useful at some point.
• 8:04
  But today, in the real world, with actual football games coming this season sooner rather than later, New England got the better football player.
• 8:12
  And Philadelphia got the hope of a great football player in two years.
• 8:19
  That's kind of where the trade sits and dies for me.
• 8:21
  I understand why the Eagles did it.
• 8:22
  I understand why they made that why they may have like, I don't know, felt the room had to change.
• 8:29
  I understand why Howie Roseman probably did not want to drag this into training camp and have it become a daily soap opera of when AJ Brown would get traded or if he wanted to get traded.
• 8:38
  But if I'm New England, I'm thrilled.
• 8:41
  And I hate saying those words.
• 8:43
  You lost the Super Bowl, people told you your flaws were real, and your response was to hand your young quarterback one of the most physical receivers in football.
• 8:52
  That's how you get ladder in June.
• 8:55
  And if the AJ Brown trade was the one that everybody wanted to become official, Miles Garrett to the Rams was the one that kicked the door open wearing a ski mask.
• 9:05
  If you missed it somehow, some way, Miles Garrett goes to LA Rams.
• 9:09
  Jared Verse goes back to Cleveland along with a bunch of picks to the Browns.
• 9:15
  It's a massive defensive trade that feels like the Rams looked around the league and said, oh, oh, oh, everybody thinks so.
• 9:21
  We're slowing down and we're retooling and rebuilding.
• 9:25
  That's cute.
• 9:26
  That's where I give the Rams credit, man.
• 9:28
  People love to make the forget them picks joke with them.
• 9:31
  And it's funny because it's true.
• 9:34
  The Rams do not treat draft picks like the rest of the league treats draft picks.
• 9:39
  They treat them like poker chips.
• 9:41
  If they see a chance to push the table, they're gonna push the table.
• 9:45
  But the reason it works is because they're not just reckless.
• 9:49
  They are aggressive and competent.
• 9:52
  And that's a very different thing.
• 9:55
  Anyone can trade picks away.
• 9:57
  Bad teams trade picks away all the time.
• 9:59
  Desperate teams trade picks away all the time.
• 10:01
  The difference is the Rams usually have a reason, a timeline, a structure around the move itself.
• 10:07
  You know, you may not agree with every swing they take, but you can see what they are trying to do.
• 10:12
  And this Garrett move is fascinating because the Rams just took a young quarterback at 13.
• 10:18
  So that tells you they are thinking about their life after Matthew Stafford.
• 10:22
  They're not blind to the calendar.
• 10:23
  They know Stafford is closer to the end than the beginning.
• 10:26
  They know they need the next chapter sitting in the building before the current chapter collapses.
• 10:32
  Then, after doing that, they turn around and trade for maybe, maybe, probably actually, the best defensive player in the league right now.
• 10:41
  So what are they saying by doing that?
• 10:42
  Well, they're saying we can prepare for tomorrow and still hunt today.
• 10:46
  That is the Rams.
• 10:48
  They're trying to do two things at once and they're able to do it.
• 10:50
  They're preparing for the next quarterback era and still scare the hell out of people in the Stafford era.
• 10:56
  I respect it.
• 10:57
  Miles Garrett is on the back nine of his career in terms of age.
• 11:01
  He's not 24 years old anymore, but he's still operating like a prime monster.
• 11:05
  This is not buying a wash name and hoping he can stack on the defense.
• 11:09
  This is not some ceremonial late career move where you're paying for the jersey more than the player.
• 11:15
  This man just broke the sack record last year.
• 11:19
  He is still wrecking games.
• 11:20
  He is still one of those players where offensive coordinators sweat about every night leading up to the week they're playing in.
• 11:28
  The Rams' offense is going to keep them in games with Stafford, McVay, the weapons, the play calling.
• 11:34
  They are really going to be completely dead.
• 11:37
  They may have bad quarters, sure.
• 11:39
  They may have weird games, okay.
• 11:41
  Stafford may throw one where you're like, buddy, what the hell was that?
• 11:46
  But they are never really out of it.
• 11:49
  Now, give them a defensive closer.
• 11:53
  That's the fun part of this, really.
• 11:55
  You know, we might finally get Miles Garrett in January.
• 11:59
  Miles Garrett in the playoffs.
• 12:02
  Think about the playoff games where a pass rusher becomes the whole plot.
• 12:07
  You know, Aaron Donald doing Aaron Donald things.
• 12:09
  JJ Watt in his prime, where even if Houston was not supposed to be hanging around, he still had to deal with number 99 ruining your afternoon.
• 12:17
  Terrell Suggs flying off the edge in bad Baltimore teams.
• 12:21
  Calais Campbell on those teams where the whole thing might not have been perfect, but that big monster up front could keep you in it long enough to make sure the other side felt uncomfortable.
• 12:31
  That is what I want to see with Garrett.
• 12:33
  I want to see him one of those games where every snap for the offensive line feels heavy.
• 12:38
  Every third down feels like a coin flip.
• 12:41
  And then suddenly he blows the right tackle up and folds the pocket and changes the whole mood of the stadium.
• 12:46
  You know, one strip sack, one third down pressure, one tackle for loss on a play that was supposed to calm the game down.
• 12:53
  That is exactly how these big time trades and for these big time edge rushers change the shape of a playoff game.
• 13:00
  So now he gets on the stage with the Rams and hopefully gets to live that out.
• 13:06
  For Cleveland, I don't know, man.
• 13:08
  The flood is interesting.
• 13:10
  I'm not going to do the lazy thing and just scream, oh, same old Browns, even though, listen, it is always sitting right there if we need it.
• 13:17
  But, you know, this feels more, a little more complicated, right?
• 13:20
  I wonder if there was like a quietly inevitable handshake, wink and nod.
• 13:25
  I mean, last year Garrett was making noise about wanting out.
• 13:29
  His camp was talking, the frustration was obvious.
• 13:33
  Then he signs a monster contract, and everybody does the eye roll that we all do.
• 13:38
  Yep, there it is.
• 13:39
  Everybody wants out until the money shows up.
• 13:42
  But again, I wonder if there was some kind of understanding there.
• 13:46
  You know?
• 13:48
  I'm just saying, from the outside, if I it wouldn't shock me if the conversation was something like, you know, look, sign the deal, get paid, give us one more year, maybe set the tone for some of the young guys coming in.
• 13:59
  Let us see if we hit on a coach or a quarterback or hit on somebody in the draft.
• 14:03
  And if not, we'll do right by you.
• 14:06
  Because this ending makes a lot more sense if both sides knew the relationship was already cracked.
• 14:12
  Maybe this was not the Browns getting blindsided, maybe this was the divorce everybody knew was coming.
• 14:18
  But they stayed together for one more year for financial reasons, you know?
• 14:24
  Look, the Browns get Jared Verse, they get picks, they get financial relief, they get a cleaner timeline.
• 14:30
  Garrett gets his money, keeps his value, and lands with a real contender in Los Angeles.
• 14:35
  It is still brutal to move a player like that.
• 14:37
  You don't just lose Miles Garrett and pretend the building feels the same the next morning.
• 14:42
  That is the kind of talent most teams spend 20 years trying to find, and then when you finally find him, pay him, and then you get rid of him.
• 14:51
  Still, what a swing by the Rams, man.
• 14:54
  Good for them.
• 14:56
  And speaking of emotional fans and emotional reunions and football reality colliding, let's get into the locals.
• 15:04
  And we'll start with the Giants here because Odo Beckham Jr.
• 15:07
  is back with Big Blue, back in the New York Giants uniform.
• 15:12
  I don't care how realistic you are.
• 15:15
  I do not care how many times you've told yourself you are the mature sports fan.
• 15:21
  If you're a Giants fan and you hear Odo Beckham back with the Giants, a little part of your brain starts running the 2014 highlight reel.
• 15:31
  You know, the catch, the slants, the celebrations, the number 13 jerseys, the whole thing.
• 15:38
  There are absolutely Giant fans who already went into the closet, moved three winter coats around, and found the old Beckham jersey, shook the dust off it, and said, week one, we are back, baby.
• 15:50
  I get it.
• 15:51
  Look, I'm I'm happy.
• 15:52
  I'm happy for him.
• 15:53
  I'm happy for the Giants fans.
• 15:55
  I'm happy for the Giant fans that actually care.
• 15:57
  I'm also not 12 years old.
• 15:59
  You know, this isn't 2016.
• 16:01
  This is not Odell walking through the door as a wide receiver one.
• 16:04
  This is not the Giants saying, great, offense is fixed, everybody go home, we're all good here.
• 16:10
  No, this is a 33-year-old receiver with a lot of mileage, multiple knee surgeries, and a career, you know, that's been trying to keep itself alive for a little while now, if we're being honest.
• 16:21
  And I say that with no disrespect.
• 16:23
  Honestly, I kind of actually kind of respect it.
• 16:27
  It's hard to give up something you love.
• 16:30
  It's even harder to walk away from something when that's the thing you've been doing your hardest since you were eight years old.
• 16:37
  It's hard when your body starts telling you the truth before your brain wants to hear it.
• 16:42
  Odell has been a star, a celebrity, a lightning rod, a Super Bowl champion, a franchise icon, and a villain to some people.
• 16:53
  And now he's back where it all started.
• 16:55
  With his hat in his hand, trying to extend his professional football life one more year.
• 17:01
  I don't have a problem with that.
• 17:03
  What I do have a problem with is everybody acting like this has to be one extreme or the other.
• 17:09
  Some Giant fans are furious.
• 17:12
  They're calling the radio show saying that he's a showboat, he's a headache, he's gonna ruin Jackson Dart, he's gonna bring the drama, he shouldn't be anywhere near this team.
• 17:22
  Relax, man.
• 17:23
  Everybody breathe.
• 17:24
  He's not being handed the franchise.
• 17:26
  He's not walking in as the offensive identity.
• 17:30
  He's probably wide receiver five or six, depending on the health and the roster math.
• 17:36
  Look, maybe he catches a couple third down slants.
• 17:39
  Maybe he gives you a red zone snap here and there.
• 17:43
  Maybe he's just a veteran presence who pushes the room and makes the summer a little more interesting.
• 17:48
  But this is not Odell saves the Giants.
• 17:51
  This is Odell comes home and maybe still has a couple useful Sundays left.
• 17:57
  If there's real value here beyond the nostalgia, I actually think it's more about Malik Neighbors and Jackson Dart.
• 18:03
  Like, I don't I don't need Odell Beckham Jr.
• 18:05
  to teach Jackson Dart how to how to be a quarterback.
• 18:08
  That's not why he's here.
• 18:10
  But can he help Malik Neighbors understand what it's like to be a superstar receiver in this town?
• 18:17
  That's a different conversation.
• 18:19
  You know, Odell knows that life.
• 18:21
  He knows what happens when you become a phenomenon in the city.
• 18:25
  He knows how fast the city loves you, how fast the headlines come, every sideline moment, every facial expression, every quote, every outfit, every celebration can become an entire conversation on the back of page six.
• 18:41
  You know, he knows the difference between what you can do and what you should do.
• 18:46
  And that could help neighbors.
• 18:48
  Not in a fake mentor way, not in some like follow my wisdom, young man, movie scene.
• 18:54
  More like, hey man, look, here's what I handled well, here's what I wish I could have handled differently, and here's how this city can build you up and wear you out at the exact same time.
• 19:03
  That's useful for a young superstar receiver in the making.
• 19:08
  The real story here is with Malik neighbors.
• 19:12
  You know, I'm starting to get a little bit concerned, legitimately concerned, actually.
• 19:18
  Not panicked, but concerned.
• 19:20
  You know, every update feels cloudy from the front office.
• 19:23
  Every comment feels a little carefully worded.
• 19:28
  Harbaugh and Shane are still being pretty coy about week one.
• 19:32
  Neighbors is coming off the ACL, and then there was the meniscus cleanup and the stiffness, the rehab process.
• 19:40
  And then the Giants go out and sign three receivers in one day.
• 19:44
  Odo Beckham Jr., Juju Smith Schuster, and Braxton Barrios, if you missed it.
• 19:49
  You know, you don't have to really be a detective with a corkboard and a red string to read the room here.
• 19:54
  Doesn't exactly scream everything is perfectly fine.
• 19:57
  It kind of screams actually, we need bodies.
• 20:00
  We we need to be able to survive a few weeks without the main guy here.
• 20:05
  And this is kind of where I want Giant fans to see the forest through the trees.
• 20:09
  You know, look, of course you want Malik Neighbors on the field.
• 20:13
  Of course you want your young quarterback to have his best weapon.
• 20:17
  Of course the offense is completely different when Neighbors is out there.
• 20:21
  I mean, he changes the math, he changes the coverage, he changes what the defense has to respect.
• 20:27
  But this is year three of Malik Neighbors' career.
• 20:33
  If you believe that this guy can be Mike Evans or Larry Fitzgerald, a franchise record receiver when he's all said and done, you don't rush him back because week one feels uncomfortable.
• 20:46
  You don't treat a franchise pillar like the week one prop bet.
• 20:51
  If Malik Neighbors is who you think he is, you protect the decade.
• 20:55
  You don't gamble the decade to make September feel good.
• 20:58
  So you want to beat the Cowboys week one.
• 21:01
  So look, if the Giants are slow playing this, I I don't fault them one bit.
• 21:05
  If he misses week one, fine.
• 21:07
  If he misses a couple weeks, fine.
• 21:10
  I know that is not what fans want to hear, but it's the right approach.
• 21:14
  The Giants have been wandering around the football desert for way too long to finally get a receiver like this and then rush him back because everybody is desperate to feel normal.
• 21:24
  Take your time, get him right, let the knee be ready, let the body be ready, and let the player be himself.
• 21:31
  Because if he's out there at 70%, that that doesn't help anybody.
• 21:35
  Doesn't help neighbors, doesn't help Dart, does not help the offense.
• 21:38
  Just lets everybody pretend that the depth chart looks prettier than it actually is.
• 21:43
  And speaking of depth chart, that brings us to Jackson Dart because all of this lands on him.
• 21:47
  Odell is the headline, neighbors is a concern, Dart is the consequence.
• 21:52
  The Giants and the fan base are asking a lot from a year or two quarterback.
• 21:57
  Look, I know he showed real playmaking ability.
• 21:59
  I know.
• 22:00
  There were moments last year where you watched him and thought, all right, man, there's something here.
• 22:05
  He gave the offense a little bit of edge.
• 22:07
  He made plays with his legs.
• 22:08
  He gave fans something to talk themselves into.
• 22:11
  And after the last few years, I understand why people grabbed onto that real quick.
• 22:16
  But year two is not automatic.
• 22:19
  Every young quarterback has growing pains.
• 22:21
  Year two, year three, it happens all the time.
• 22:25
  It's easier when the league has no film on you.
• 22:28
  It's easier when defensive coordinators are still guessing what you like, what you avoid, what your panic button looks like, what throws you trust too much.
• 22:39
  You know what?
• 22:40
  Now they have tape.
• 22:41
  The other teams coaches get paid a lot of money, too.
• 22:45
  And they're good at their jobs.
• 22:47
  They are going to adjust.
• 22:48
  They are going to say, okay, this is what Dart does here.
• 22:51
  This is what he does there.
• 22:52
  How do we take this away from him?
• 22:53
  How do we beat him on this angle?
• 22:55
  That is where the season gets real.
• 22:58
  You know, I think everybody wants this thing to be hunky dory.
• 23:02
  Hardball's here, Dart's tough, the line should be better, the vibes are better, Odell's back, neighbors will be back eventually.
• 23:10
  I don't know, man.
• 23:10
  Smart Money says they're still going to struggle.
• 23:13
  Ugly drives, bad reads, third and longs where he holds the ball a little too long and starts to scramble.
• 23:20
  Games where the defense has to have the right answer and they don't.
• 23:24
  Games where he looks like a young quarterback.
• 23:27
  Because he is a young quarterback.
• 23:29
  It doesn't mean he's bad.
• 23:31
  It just means he's developing.
• 23:35
  He has to learn to live to fight another day.
• 23:38
  I love toughness.
• 23:40
  Every fan loves toughness.
• 23:42
  Until toughness turns into a blue tan.
• 23:46
  Dart does not need to prove he is tough anymore.
• 23:48
  We know he is tough.
• 23:50
  He's already shown that.
• 23:52
  Now he has to prove that he can be smart and tough.
• 23:55
  The whole I'm gonna fight for the extra yard for my teammates thing sounds great in the locker room.
• 24:00
  It sounds heroic.
• 24:01
  It sounds like something every fan wants to hear from their quarterback.
• 24:05
  But the guys on defense get paid to be way tougher than you.
• 24:08
  They get paid to hate you, and they get paid to make their money by beating you up.
• 24:13
  Be a good leader, get down, get out of bounds, throw it away, play the next snap.
• 24:18
  That's not cowardly quarterback play.
• 24:20
  That's straight leadership.
• 24:22
  Now, across town, the Jets are in a different spot.
• 24:27
  Not louder, not splashier, not as headline heavy as the Giants today, but maybe for once a little more normal.
• 24:36
  And I mean that as a compliment.
• 24:38
  The Jets section of this episode is not plan the parade.
• 24:42
  It's not the drought is over.
• 24:43
  It's not me sitting here in June telling you I have cracked the code and the Jets are about to become a machine.
• 24:50
  No.
• 24:51
  The Jets success bar this year is simpler than that.
• 24:55
  Prove this is a real foundation.
• 24:57
  That's really it.
• 24:58
  Aaron Glenn in year two, he got his feet wet.
• 25:01
  Now he has to show the fans that he actually knows what the hell he's doing as a head coach.
• 25:06
  Not that he can just talk about culture and turning big ships, not be the uh hard ass at the press conference.
• 25:14
  Run the building, hire the right staff, put the team in a better position, make Sundays look less chaotic.
• 25:20
  That's the bar that we're looking for.
• 25:22
  Jets need to show us that this is not another one-year emotional reset where everybody sells a belief in May and starts leaking oil by October.
• 25:30
  And New York fans know what fake change looks like.
• 25:33
  You know, there's another team in this town that had a bad season, missed the playoffs, fired basically the entire staff except for the head coach, and still looks miserable.
• 25:42
  That's the Mets, by the way, if you missed that reference.
• 25:47
  That is what empty staff changes look like.
• 25:49
  That's what happens when the furniture moves, but the house still smells like smoke.
• 25:53
  The Jets need to prove this is different.
• 25:56
  You know, the encouraging part is that there are at least signs of structure.
• 26:00
  Garrett Wilson buying into Frank Reich's offense is worth paying attention to.
• 26:04
  Different quarterback, different systems, frustrations, the Aaron Rodgers mess, bad offensive rhythm, all of it.
• 26:10
  He don't care.
• 26:11
  He's still in.
• 26:12
  And Brees Hall, believing that he can be unlocked, is worth paying attention to too.
• 26:17
  He has spent too much of his career trying to be the feature back inside of a weekly fire drill.
• 26:22
  Frank Reich does not need to reinvent football.
• 26:26
  He just needs to make the Jets look like a grown-up offense, which is no small task on itself, but I think it's one that he can handle.
• 26:36
  Look, I think Gino is going to be Gino.
• 26:38
  He's going to show you flashes.
• 26:40
  He's going to look like a veteran.
• 26:42
  He's going to have the drives where you say, Oh shit, okay, we might, we might have something here.
• 26:46
  And then he's also going to have those throws where you stare at the screen and go, what the hell was that?
• 26:52
  That's kind of the part of the deal with him.
• 26:54
  The goal is not perfection.
• 26:55
  The goal is more good than bad.
• 26:59
  Manage the mistakes.
• 27:00
  Do not let one turnover become a franchise identity crisis.
• 27:04
  Don't let one bad quarter turn into the same old Jet spiral.
• 27:08
  Build an offense that can survive normal quarterback mistakes because every quarterback has them.
• 27:15
  And I kind of like Kate Klubnik too.
• 27:17
  I like the words going on around him, man.
• 27:18
  Look, I'm not trying to have a little quarterback controversy here in June.
• 27:22
  Please, for the love of God, the Jets do not need that.
• 27:25
  But look, if the kid is making noise in OTAs, I'm allowed to raise a little bit of an eyebrow.
• 27:29
  And again, it's only OTAs.
• 27:32
  But he goes 12 for 12.
• 27:34
  Ball never touches the ground.
• 27:37
  I think it's worth mentioning, man, because I'll tell you what, if he went over 12 in a practice session, we'd be talking about it.
• 27:43
  So again, you know, I'm interested.
• 27:46
  It's not a controversy, it's not a coronation.
• 27:48
  Just a little footnote here that maybe the Jets once in their franchise history got lucky and nailed some kid.
• 27:54
  And speaking of quarterback depth for the Jets, Russell Wilson is apparently choosing a CBS job over the Jets backup.
• 28:03
  Okay, fine.
• 28:04
  Respect to Russ.
• 28:06
  Great career.
• 28:07
  Super Bowl champion.
• 28:09
  Great, pretty deep ball.
• 28:12
  Seattle run was real.
• 28:14
  The defense was strong.
• 28:16
  The career deserves some respect.
• 28:19
  But did I need the Jets to become his final weird chapter?
• 28:23
  Nah, I'm good.
• 28:24
  No, thank you.
• 28:24
  I understand it, but no, thank you.
• 28:26
  And I understand wanting veteran depth.
• 28:29
  I understand, you know, the logic behind it.
• 28:31
  You know, you needed a couple guys on your roster.
• 28:33
  You don't want to put Greg Sackleroy or, you know, any of the other extensive list of Jets quarterbacks that got thrown into the fire.
• 28:44
  But look, man, I don't know.
• 28:46
  I'm good with it.
• 28:47
  I'm good with not having Russell Wilson.
• 28:50
  I saw what I needed to see when he started for the Giants.
• 28:55
  So for the Jets, the story is not fireworks.
• 28:59
  It's foundation.
• 29:00
  Darren Muji has already given you at least one reason to say maybe the front office knows what it's doing.
• 29:06
  I mean, he got a massive return for Sauce Gardner.
• 29:08
  He got a better return for Sauce than Howie Roseman got for AJ Brown.
• 29:13
  Doesn't automatically make the Jets brilliant.
• 29:15
  You know, one good trade doesn't erase a decade of nonsense, but it is something.
• 29:21
  It is evidence that maybe the people upstairs are not just guessing.
• 29:25
  Now they need the coaching staff to match that.
• 29:28
  They need Aaron Glenn to grow.
• 29:30
  They need Reich to modernize the offense.
• 29:32
  They need Garrett and Brees to look like they're playing inside a real system.
• 29:38
  And they need Gino to stabilize things more than he shakes things up.
• 29:42
  They don't need to win the offseason, man.
• 29:45
  They need to stop losing the building.
• 29:48
  That's where I want to land this episode.
• 29:51
  This whole thing started with timing.
• 29:53
  I wanted this one out earlier, didn't happen.
• 29:56
  Life got in the way.
• 29:57
  I got annoyed, fell behind, and the NFL handed us a day where AJ Brown goes to New England, Miles Garrett goes to LA, Odell comes home to the Giants, and somehow the Jets are giving me just enough confidence to not make a sarcastic face every time I mention them.
• 30:12
  So maybe sometimes the delay is not the disaster.
• 30:16
  Sometimes the timing just is not done cooking, you know?
• 30:20
  That's the truth in podcasting, that's the truth in football, and that's the truth in life.
• 30:24
  You could be frustrated that something did not happen when you wanted it to happen, and then a day later realize it landed better than it would have if you forced it.
• 30:32
  That does not mean sit around and do nothing.
• 30:34
  That does not mean every delay is secretly magic.
• 30:39
  Sometimes late is just late.
• 30:41
  Trust me, I know personally.
• 30:43
  But every now and then, things just line up in a way that reminds you not to panic just because the schedule got punched in the mouth.
• 30:51
  This is kind of where I'm at with New York football.
• 30:54
  I'm not planning a parade for either team.
• 30:56
  I'm not doom scrolling either.
• 30:58
  For the Giants, be patient with neighbors.
• 31:01
  Be smart with Dart, and be honest about what Odell is.
• 31:04
  Enjoy the story.
• 31:05
  But do not confuse the story for the solution.
• 31:08
  And for the Jets, prove that the building is real.
• 31:10
  Prove the staff is better.
• 31:11
  Prove the offense can function.
• 31:14
  Prove that a year or two of Aaron Glenn is just not more speeches, but actual growth.
• 31:19
  That's enough for early June.
• 31:21
  Not blind faith, not misery, just cautious interest.
• 31:26
  And in New York football, cautious interest is basically emotional growth.
• 31:31
  But that's episode 71.
• 31:33
  I appreciate everybody listening as always.
• 31:35
  If you're rocking with the show, share it with somebody who talks ball the way that we do.
• 31:40
  Like, follow, subscribe, all that good stuff.
• 31:43
  It helps more than you know, especially as we keep leaning into these shorter sports-specific episodes and keep really building the rights on the radio into what it's supposed to become.
• 31:52
  Find me on socials, jump in the conversation, tell me if I'm right, tell me if I'm wrong.
• 31:57
  Tell me if you already pulled the old Dell jersey out of the closet and started stretching it out like it's week one.
• 32:03
  But until then, until next time, tell someone you love them, spread good energy, and I'll catch you on the next one.
• 32:11
  Cheers, you can't get a lot of fun.