Latest / 3 and Out with John Middlekauff / NFL Trade Deadline Reaction: Kirk Cousins is BACK with Vikings, Chiefs & 49ers snag WRs, Bills IMPROVE Defense + NFL Trade Deadline Mailbag

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NFL Trade Deadline Reaction: Kirk Cousins is BACK with Vikings, Chiefs & 49ers snag WRs, Bills IMPROVE Defense + NFL Trade Deadline Mailbag · 3 and Out with John Middlekauff

0:01
Speaker 1: The Volume. What is going on, my friends? How are
0:19
Speaker 1: we doing? John Middlecoff, 3NOW Podcast. Hopefully you are doing well.
0:23
Speaker 1: Trade deadline, we had action. Quarterback movement, one we talked
0:28
Speaker 1: about last night after the game. Chiefs, Bills, Niners, Denver.
0:33
Speaker 1: A couple teams refused to sell. We can dive into that.
0:36
Speaker 1: We'll do some mailbag questions as well. At John Middlecoff,
0:39
Speaker 1: at John Middlecoff is the Instagram fire in those DMs.
0:42
Speaker 1: You guys know the drill. If you listen on Colin's feed,
0:46
Speaker 1: make sure you subscribe to Three and Out. If you
0:47
Speaker 1: guys want to watch us, we're up on Netflix. We
0:49
Speaker 1: also got a bunch of content up on the YouTube page.
0:52
Speaker 1: So let's just dive into the trade deadline and Carson
0:57
Speaker 1: Wentz creating chaos. It was evident when we watched the game,
1:02
Speaker 1: but I'm not sure. We have had catastrophic events in football.
1:07
Speaker 1: They typically revolve around injuries forcing you to make a
1:10
Speaker 1: big move. We have seen quarterbacks. I was reminded of
1:15
Speaker 1: when Teddy Bridgewater went down and they traded for Sam Bradford.
1:19
Speaker 1: And the Bridgewater injury was just beyond awful. I mean,
1:23
Speaker 1: at one point in time, he thought he might lose
1:25
Speaker 1: his leg. We've seen the ripple effects of Alex Smith
1:29
Speaker 1: going down after the commanders, who I think were the
1:32
Speaker 1: Redskins at the time, We're like 6-2 or 6-3, and
1:35
Speaker 1: that changed the course of Jay Gruden's career. Quarterback injuries
1:40
Speaker 1: can derail you, right? Sometimes that you just find oil,
1:45
Speaker 1: like Kurt Warner. That's pretty rare. Or Brock Purdy. I mean,
1:50
Speaker 1: I guess it's happened over the years. Dak Prescott. So
1:52
Speaker 1: let me rephrase that. You just never know. But I
1:55
Speaker 1: would say Carson Wentz's 25 passes on Monday Night Football
2:00
Speaker 1: against the Bills is is one of the most catastrophic
2:04
Speaker 1: games for an individual player in a franchise where everyone
2:09
Speaker 1: universally went, yeah, there's going to be a transaction because
2:14
Speaker 1: of this. It's pretty rare for one guy to be
2:19
Speaker 1: that bad. He's not even the starting quarterback and go,
2:24
Speaker 1: something has to change immediately. And by the end of
2:27
Speaker 1: the night, it was pretty clear, like, who else are
2:28
Speaker 1: they going to trade for? It's going to be Kirk Cousins.
2:32
Speaker 1: And I think there are several elements to this. One,
2:37
Speaker 1: this is easily the most seamless transition. He's already played there.
2:42
Speaker 1: He knows your head coach. He knows the playbook. And
2:44
Speaker 1: he knows your star wide receiver who clearly isn't happy.
2:47
Speaker 1: And no one blames him. Like, Justin Jefferson's one of
2:50
Speaker 1: the rare guys. Like, that position can be a little
2:53
Speaker 1: bit of a wild card, you know? We have a
2:56
Speaker 1: long history of some pretty interesting personalities, you know, playing
3:02
Speaker 1: outside by the numbers, right? But Jefferson, to me, is
3:08
Speaker 1: everything you would want in a star player and has
3:10
Speaker 1: handled himself over the course of the last year well.
3:14
Speaker 1: with nothing but class, professionalism, even last night. I don't
3:19
Speaker 1: get as caught up after a game, storming out on
3:22
Speaker 1: the media, whatever. I would have too, if I was him.
3:27
Speaker 1: But something had to change, and something had to change now.
3:31
Speaker 1: And the Cousins thing, they got, let's face it, that
3:35
Speaker 1: game on Monday Night Football against another elite opponent. I
3:41
Speaker 1: know they're an AFC team, but you're going to play
3:43
Speaker 1: teams if you want to make the playoffs, be in
3:46
Speaker 1: the playoffs, make a playoff run, exactly like the Buffalo Bills.
3:50
Speaker 1: They literally have them coming up the next couple weeks. Packers,
3:53
Speaker 1: then the 49ers in Mexico. And it's like, with Kyler Murray,
3:58
Speaker 1: with Carson Wentz, with what you guys got going on,
4:02
Speaker 1: you will lose all these games. It's why I kept
4:05
Speaker 1: shorting the Vikings. I'm like, it's not, I don't care
4:08
Speaker 1: how good Brian Flores is, but last night, it was clear, like,
4:13
Speaker 1: I don't know if I've ever seen a time of
4:16
Speaker 1: possession that skewed. They had 17 minutes with the ball.
4:21
Speaker 1: And Florio reported today, it's the lowest time of possession
4:24
Speaker 1: they've ever had in the history of the franchise. So
4:27
Speaker 1: the game was that bad. Like, it's not hyperbolic to go, yeah,
4:32
Speaker 1: it's one of the worst games I've ever seen from
4:33
Speaker 1: a quarterback. Like, it was literally true. Like, we've seen
4:37
Speaker 1: a lot of bad offenses. Hell, Eagles have been playing
4:40
Speaker 1: bad offense for a couple years. You watch the Titans
4:43
Speaker 1: last year? You watching the Colts currently? Like, we've seen
4:49
Speaker 1: every week. They were just like, what's going on? The
4:53
Speaker 1: history of the sport. And that was historically poor. And
4:57
Speaker 1: from the eye test, you went, whoa, this is really,
5:00
Speaker 1: really bad. So they didn't have a choice. Now, I
5:05
Speaker 1: felt pretty good. Know a few people in the Raiders building.
5:08
Speaker 1: They were pretty dead set when the season started for
5:12
Speaker 1: writing this thing out. And they valued... Fernando sitting and
5:19
Speaker 1: I do think that was a message that came he's
5:22
Speaker 1: not technically the boss because he doesn't own the majority
5:25
Speaker 1: of the team but they lean on Tom Brady when
5:27
Speaker 1: it comes to quarterbacks and he was in those shoes
5:31
Speaker 1: different circumstances not the number one overall pick but sat
5:34
Speaker 1: and I think he viewed that as a huge benefit
5:36
Speaker 1: and I think in a perfect world that's what they
5:38
Speaker 1: would have done here but they got to a point
5:40
Speaker 1: where they went well we're going to bench him in
5:43
Speaker 1: a couple weeks anyway if we are four and eight
5:46
Speaker 1: And Fernando is going to get some reps. I think
5:49
Speaker 1: they have come to that conclusion over the course of
5:51
Speaker 1: the last couple months. That if we are out of
5:53
Speaker 1: it with five or six games to go, we're going
5:56
Speaker 1: to play Fernando Mendoza. So even if it goes worse,
6:00
Speaker 1: he gets those reps. Big believer in learn by doing. Now,
6:04
Speaker 1: some quarterbacks, they can learn through mental reps. But there
6:07
Speaker 1: is no arguing that people get better by doing stuff. People,
6:13
Speaker 1: football players get better by playing football. So while I
6:18
Speaker 1: commended it, me personally, I would always like to get
6:21
Speaker 1: some game reps. The Mahomes situation, Carson Palmer back in
6:25
Speaker 1: the day, kind of outliers. But it felt like they
6:28
Speaker 1: were pretty dead set on it. I do think last night,
6:31
Speaker 1: and you could argue the last couple weeks, clearly changed
6:35
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings' urgency to get this done. And the
6:38
Speaker 1: Raiders going, okay, We've played a couple good teams. We've
6:42
Speaker 1: got rolled. We just got the shit kicked out of us.
6:45
Speaker 1: We're playing Seattle. Let's just move on now. Now, as
6:50
Speaker 1: of recording this, they haven't announced Fernando Mendoza as the quarterback,
6:55
Speaker 1: which I would assume he will. We'll get into Fernando
6:57
Speaker 1: in a second, but let's get back to Cousins. He's
7:02
Speaker 1: playing good football. He can't move, but he knows how
7:07
Speaker 1: to avoid sacks because he gets rid of the ball quickly.
7:11
Speaker 1: And all their other options, one, all these other playoff teams,
7:15
Speaker 1: if you've got Mack Jones or just a credible backup
7:19
Speaker 1: who you go, this guy would be a big upgrade,
7:21
Speaker 1: they're not giving him to you. They wouldn't give him
7:25
Speaker 1: to you for a third-round pick because if their guy
7:27
Speaker 1: went down, they would want to maintain a certain level
7:30
Speaker 1: of play and continue to make the playoffs. And for them,
7:34
Speaker 1: it's like, well, even if you were able to pry
7:36
Speaker 1: a guy like that away, you'd have to teach him everything.
7:40
Speaker 1: That is the advantage of Cousins, which does entail some
7:44
Speaker 1: risk just because of his age. I mean, it's just,
7:49
Speaker 1: this is not like a, it's not like there's no
7:52
Speaker 1: risk involved with this maneuver. Now, I will give the
7:55
Speaker 1: Vikings credit and their new general manager credit I said
7:59
Speaker 1: a first-round pick last night, but that was because I
8:02
Speaker 1: would have pulled a Howie Roseman and just kept saying no.
8:04
Speaker 1: Knowing their desk, what are you going to do? Trade
8:06
Speaker 1: for Geno Smith? Figure out a way to get Daniel Jones?
8:10
Speaker 1: Good luck to you, because I promise you'll miss the playoffs.
8:15
Speaker 1: Even Geno, who's obviously better than Daniel Jones, he doesn't
8:18
Speaker 1: know your stuff. So have fun the transitional period while
8:22
Speaker 1: you're playing all the sweet teams. See if Flores can
8:25
Speaker 1: hold every single team you play under like 12 points.
8:28
Speaker 1: Probably not possible when you're going three and out all
8:30
Speaker 1: the time. So they had to have Cousins. So I
8:34
Speaker 1: said first round pick last night, but listen, I would
8:36
Speaker 1: have given the Raiders a lot of credit. Just take
8:38
Speaker 1: a second, move on. You just took a guy who
8:40
Speaker 1: looked like he was shot over the offseason. Like coming
8:44
Speaker 1: into free agency, Cousins was like, this guy's been terrible.
8:47
Speaker 1: It's been awful. And then the Raiders, I read today,
8:50
Speaker 1: they've paid him a total of like $ 700, 000. The money
8:54
Speaker 1: got moved to next year, the $ 10 million bonus. Well,
8:58
Speaker 1: that's off their books now. That's with Minnesota. So there
9:02
Speaker 1: is a little leverage of like, hey, do you want
9:04
Speaker 1: to take the bonus next year, which they will either
9:08
Speaker 1: have to cut them and pay them the $ 10 million,
9:09
Speaker 1: or if this goes well, give them some sort of short, weird,
9:15
Speaker 1: long way away, but some sort of extension, even if
9:17
Speaker 1: it's just like two years, 50, 60. We know Cousins
9:20
Speaker 1: likes his money. So it ain't going to be cheap
9:23
Speaker 1: if it goes well. But they got him for a
9:25
Speaker 1: third round pick. To me, that's a pretty big win
9:26
Speaker 1: for Minnesota. That's a big win for Minnesota. And this
9:31
Speaker 1: move clearly signals that Kyler Murray's going to the bench.
9:36
Speaker 1: And as of recording this, I haven't seen a headline
9:39
Speaker 1: or news break, but I would guess that Carson Wentz
9:43
Speaker 1: will be released. I would be stunned if Carson Wentz
9:48
Speaker 1: keeps his roster spot moving forward. Because I would cut
9:51
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz, and I would use that spot to put Cousins,
9:54
Speaker 1: make Kyler the backup, and Bosmer the third. But I
9:58
Speaker 1: don't see how Carson Wentz keeps his spot because he
10:01
Speaker 1: was so bad on Monday night he literally just changed
10:06
Speaker 1: the trajectory of multiple franchises he forced the Vikings to
10:10
Speaker 1: be aggressive and get a quarterback and and he forced
10:13
Speaker 1: the Raiders to do something they ideally didn't want to do,
10:15
Speaker 1: especially right now, going into the Seattle game, and insert
10:19
Speaker 1: Fernando Mendoza. We think, I guess, they could just throw
10:23
Speaker 1: like one of the other guys on the roster, what's
10:25
Speaker 1: his name, Aiden O'Connell out there for, it's, Not an
10:29
Speaker 1: easy landing spot. It's Seattle at Denver. Like, go get them, kid.
10:34
Speaker 1: I mean, we can't run the ball, and our receivers
10:37
Speaker 1: are kind of short and not great. But, hey, throw
10:40
Speaker 1: to the tight ends, and our defense is going to
10:41
Speaker 1: give us some points, so we're going to be playing
10:43
Speaker 1: from behind. Godspeed. I mean, that's a tough spot. But,
10:48
Speaker 1: you know, the Vikings, I just don't remember a moment.
10:52
Speaker 1: And there's an element of timing. There's an element. We
10:57
Speaker 1: all get a little lucky sometimes with timing when things
11:00
Speaker 1: go well in our life. I've said it forever. Think
11:03
Speaker 1: how fortunate I am. I'm in the podcast business. What
11:07
Speaker 1: if I had been born 10 years earlier but had
11:11
Speaker 1: the same set of skills in my life? I would
11:14
Speaker 1: have been screwed. I would have had to move around,
11:16
Speaker 1: do radio shows. Who knows? Maybe I'd be in Alabama
11:19
Speaker 1: hosting shows. you know, Roll Tide pregame show. Who knows?
11:24
Speaker 1: But I have the ability to do what I'm doing
11:26
Speaker 1: right now from a studio in the back of my house.
11:31
Speaker 1: It didn't even exist. But the timing of my life,
11:34
Speaker 1: it's like the timing of that game, it's like the
11:36
Speaker 1: trade deadline was the next day. Because who knows? If
11:39
Speaker 1: the trade deadline wasn't the next day, maybe... They wouldn't
11:44
Speaker 1: have been able to get Cousins. Maybe they would have
11:45
Speaker 1: had to pay to get more Cousins, pay to get
11:49
Speaker 1: a higher pick to get Cousins immediately. Who knows? So
11:53
Speaker 1: the butterfly effect is going to be fascinating to watch,
11:55
Speaker 1: but typically these happen because of injury. When Drew Bledsoe
11:59
Speaker 1: got KO'd and then Tom Brady came in. Fernando Mendoza
12:04
Speaker 1: is starting this week for the Raiders, again, we assume,
12:07
Speaker 1: and Kirk Cousins is starting this week for the Minnesota
12:09
Speaker 1: Vikings simply because Carson Wentz played one of the worst
12:13
Speaker 1: games you've ever seen. What if Carson Wentz was just average?
12:17
Speaker 1: And the way the Vikings were playing, let's say they
12:19
Speaker 1: win that game, like 25 to 20. Obviously, they had
12:25
Speaker 1: 23 points, but maybe it just goes a little bit differently.
12:27
Speaker 1: He doesn't throw interceptions. And hell, they win it 20-17
12:32
Speaker 1: or something. Maybe this move doesn't happen. And they just go, hey,
12:35
Speaker 1: we'll just roll with this combination of these two guys.
12:38
Speaker 1: Because they would have been 7-1. But he was that shitty.
12:41
Speaker 1: And it's one thing. What if he was good and
12:42
Speaker 1: they still lost? He might have been like, we're okay.
12:44
Speaker 1: But he was that bad. And the impact now of Cousins,
12:48
Speaker 1: who gets... I mean, go home. I mean, he signed
12:52
Speaker 1: there as a free agent once upon a time. It's
12:54
Speaker 1: going to a place that he used to play and
12:55
Speaker 1: a coach that he knows. And the... inserting a Fernando Mendoza.
13:00
Speaker 1: So I think we all saw this coming because they
13:03
Speaker 1: didn't have any options. They had no, this was their
13:06
Speaker 1: only option, which is why I, listen, you can't complain.
13:11
Speaker 1: I mean, again, you signed Cousins for nothing to, and
13:15
Speaker 1: I was texting people with the Raiders today, like they
13:17
Speaker 1: loved him. He was incredible in the building and he
13:21
Speaker 1: played really, really well up until the Niner game. He
13:24
Speaker 1: was not very good. He was everything they could have
13:28
Speaker 1: asked for and more. His impact on the field, what
13:32
Speaker 1: he was like with Fernando, the way his impact in
13:35
Speaker 1: the building with the coaching staff, it couldn't have gone
13:38
Speaker 1: any better. But could you have got a second? It's like,
13:45
Speaker 1: what else were they going to do? How are they
13:47
Speaker 1: saying no to a second? I just would have kept
13:49
Speaker 1: hanging up. Like, yeah, third's not getting it done. I
13:52
Speaker 1: got to have the two to get them. Now, you
13:55
Speaker 1: could also say, like, that's kind of being greedy. What
13:57
Speaker 1: if they did go somewhere else? You know, you're like, okay,
14:00
Speaker 1: we keep them. Like, you have the benefit of, yeah,
14:04
Speaker 1: we'll just hold on to them. It's not that big
14:06
Speaker 1: a deal. But if you already know that you're probably
14:08
Speaker 1: going to bench them in a couple weeks because you're
14:10
Speaker 1: more than likely going to be out of it and
14:11
Speaker 1: go to the kid, it's like, well, this is a business.
14:15
Speaker 1: You want to get the value. If he's saying third
14:17
Speaker 1: is by far the most we're going to offer, it's
14:20
Speaker 1: easy to say call your bluff or it's like, well,
14:21
Speaker 1: just take the third round pick now and move on.
14:24
Speaker 1: and throw the kid out there, which is clearly what
14:27
Speaker 1: they ended up doing. But, you know, these situations, who
14:32
Speaker 1: would have thought this is how it would have played out?
14:34
Speaker 1: And it played out, you know, with Cousins going back
14:37
Speaker 1: to Minnesota because to start the season, I know where
14:43
Speaker 1: I stood. I'm like, I don't think this guy can
14:44
Speaker 1: play anymore. He's just old, can't move, has not looked
14:48
Speaker 1: good in a couple years. The game is kind of
14:51
Speaker 1: passing them by like it has all these quarterbacks as
14:54
Speaker 1: they get 37, 38, 39. Like most people are not
14:57
Speaker 1: Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Most guys are Roethlisberger, Eli,
15:01
Speaker 1: Drew Brees. Their body just kind of falls apart, and
15:03
Speaker 1: it's understandable. But Cousins has played really, really well. And
15:09
Speaker 1: I do think it's going to be fascinating to watch Fernando,
15:11
Speaker 1: who I heard someone report on this that they run
15:15
Speaker 1: special parts of practice for him. Like most backup quarterbacks
15:18
Speaker 1: don't get any reps. That's not true for Fernando Mendoza.
15:22
Speaker 1: They're treating it a little more like collegiate. The Chiefs
15:27
Speaker 1: used to do this with Mahomes as a rookie where
15:30
Speaker 1: you just kind of approach it a little bit differently.
15:32
Speaker 1: Most guys, there isn't such thing as development for guys
15:36
Speaker 1: that aren't playing in the NFL. Unless you're, maybe the
15:39
Speaker 1: Dolphins are doing it with some young players. But if
15:42
Speaker 1: you are a competitive team, like a team hovering about
15:45
Speaker 1: around 500 or above, There's not this time where you're
15:50
Speaker 1: just taking young guys and working on. You don't have time.
15:54
Speaker 1: You go to practice. You do everything involving the game
15:59
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Obviously, all the days are broke
16:03
Speaker 1: up differently. First down, second downs, red zone, two minute,
16:07
Speaker 1: four minute, different situations that have happened throughout the league,
16:10
Speaker 1: different situations you've struggled at. that you're trying to hamper home.
16:14
Speaker 1: Scout team, plays that you're working on, all this different stuff.
16:17
Speaker 1: Then immediately, depending on the time of practice, you go in,
16:20
Speaker 1: you eat lunch, you watch the film, you go back
16:22
Speaker 1: to walk through. There's not just like, we got an
16:25
Speaker 1: hour dedicated to the young guys on a Thursday. No,
16:27
Speaker 1: that's not the way it works. This isn't college football.
16:30
Speaker 1: So I think that he might be a little more equipped.
16:34
Speaker 1: It's going to be hard. And there's a decent chance
16:37
Speaker 1: to me that the Raiders are worse. I mean, I
16:39
Speaker 1: would say definitely these next couple weeks... they're going to
16:44
Speaker 1: take a step back in terms of what Cousins brought
16:47
Speaker 1: to the table. He's never started an NFL game. He's
16:50
Speaker 1: starting against the defending champs whose defense is incredible in
16:53
Speaker 1: Mike McDonald. Then he has to go to Denver against
16:57
Speaker 1: an unreal defense. Tough spot. It is. But I do
17:00
Speaker 1: think even if they take a step backward, which is
17:03
Speaker 1: not the end of the world, means you get a
17:04
Speaker 1: better pick, but he's able to learn. and have some
17:09
Speaker 1: good moments, have a bunch of bad moments, get coached
17:11
Speaker 1: on them over the offseason, we could look back and go,
17:14
Speaker 1: that was a period of growth for him that really helped. Obviously,
17:18
Speaker 1: best case, he comes in, he's an upgrade over Cousins,
17:23
Speaker 1: which I do think it would be hard for that
17:25
Speaker 1: to be the case because where he excelled in college,
17:30
Speaker 1: they were like the best team running the football in
17:33
Speaker 1: the country. The Raiders have no run game. Ashton Gentry
17:36
Speaker 1: looks closer to a practice squad player than a star.
17:41
Speaker 1: Their receivers, it ain't Jefferson and Jordan Addison. So it's
17:48
Speaker 1: very predicated on the tight ends, which is probably the
17:51
Speaker 1: easiest guy for a quarterback to throw to besides the
17:53
Speaker 1: running back just because they're relatively close to him. But
17:57
Speaker 1: when you think about his skill set coming from college,
18:00
Speaker 1: he was pushing the ball deep to the wideouts, and
18:03
Speaker 1: they were running the shit out of the football. And
18:06
Speaker 1: they typically had the lead. Well, some of these games,
18:09
Speaker 1: they're going to be down 10, 14 points, and these
18:12
Speaker 1: good teams that he's playing are going to be teeing
18:14
Speaker 1: off on him. So, I mean, I wouldn't be totally stunned.
18:20
Speaker 1: It's like, do you want to throw him out against
18:22
Speaker 1: those two teams? That's a pretty hard transition. It's like, hey,
18:26
Speaker 1: I'll just throw Aiden O'Connell, let him get killed, and
18:28
Speaker 1: start him in a couple weeks against, like, Cleveland, you know?
18:31
Speaker 1: Make it a little bit easier of a transition. But
18:33
Speaker 1: clearly that's, I mean, it'd be stunning if that happened.
18:37
Speaker 1: Also makes them a little more interesting now. There's going
18:40
Speaker 1: to be a lot of people, if Fernando starts this week,
18:42
Speaker 1: of like, I want to watch how he looks. It's
18:45
Speaker 1: a cool part about, you know, young quarterbacks who have
18:47
Speaker 1: been sitting on the bench finally getting their opportunity to start.
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Speaker 1: new feature, Squads, a group chat where you can see
19:49
Speaker 1: everyone and what they're trading on. Check the link in
19:52
Speaker 1: the description to join my squad today and sweat every
19:57
Speaker 1: NFL Sunday with us in the Polymarket app. So download
20:02
Speaker 1: the Polymarket app today and use the code when you
20:05
Speaker 1: sign up. That's code three out, code three. 3-O-U-T.
20:09
Speaker 2: Code 3-O-U-T to get $ 25 free after you deposit just $ 10.
20:15
Speaker 2: 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply.
20:22
Speaker 1: Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss
20:27
Speaker 1: can occur. See polymarket.com slash TOS for more information. The
20:32
Speaker 1: Polymarket US app serves as an independent software provider and
20:37
Speaker 1: affiliate of Polymarket US and Polymarket Clearing. The CFTC regulated
20:43
Speaker 1: exchange and clearing organization. Some other trades that happened, Josh
20:55
Speaker 1: Downs traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. I had his
20:59
Speaker 1: stats up from his first couple years of his career.
21:05
Speaker 1: He was drafted in 2013 or 23. Pretty solid rookie year.
21:10
Speaker 1: He had 68 catches. And then 72 catches and 58 catches.
21:14
Speaker 1: I was watching some highlights on YouTube. He's a good
21:18
Speaker 1: slot receiver. And for the Chiefs, one, it was like,
21:22
Speaker 1: could they get Brian Thomas Jr.? The Jags clearly were
21:26
Speaker 1: not even just hesitant. They just refused to trade him.
21:29
Speaker 1: But if they were to trade him, they would never
21:32
Speaker 1: have traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs. After what
21:35
Speaker 1: they did yesterday, trading first-round picks, second-round picks, they are
21:39
Speaker 1: all in on the Super Bowl. Well, if you were
21:41
Speaker 1: going to trade a guy who doesn't really play for you,
21:44
Speaker 1: who would have a lot of value on the open market,
21:46
Speaker 1: you definitely would not do it to a team that
21:49
Speaker 1: has been to a bunch of Super Bowls. And if
21:52
Speaker 1: they played you either in Jacksonville or you had to
21:54
Speaker 1: go on Kansas City, basically everyone and their mother are
21:57
Speaker 1: probably picking Kansas City. So you're not helping out Andy
22:01
Speaker 1: Reid and Patrick Mahomes that way. So that's probably a non-starter.
22:04
Speaker 1: It's like, Veach, yeah, we're just, we're not going to
22:06
Speaker 1: do a deal with you. And, you know, the Chiefs,
22:10
Speaker 1: It's not like they were going to overbid on a
22:12
Speaker 1: player that ain't exactly playing for his own team. So
22:15
Speaker 1: it was kind of a weird spot. They get a guy,
22:17
Speaker 1: plug-and-play slot receiver, who with Kelsey, they have a run game.
22:23
Speaker 1: What they need consistently is the pass rush. It was
22:26
Speaker 1: the Jets. But if they can get some sort of
22:30
Speaker 1: version of that moving forward, I mean, Chris Jones, when
22:33
Speaker 1: he turns it on, is still an unstoppable force. Karloff
22:36
Speaker 1: just has showed a little more life this year. And
22:40
Speaker 1: I just think that's going to be their key. Run
22:42
Speaker 1: the ball, defense, downs, improve the offense a little bit,
22:46
Speaker 1: but just, you know, a four and a five, it's like, okay,
22:52
Speaker 1: take them. We'll take a guy who's going into a
22:55
Speaker 1: contract year. The Buffalo Bills, honestly, I didn't know that
23:00
Speaker 1: much about this guy, Amani Hooker. I texted a buddy.
23:04
Speaker 1: They gave a second round pick, which on first blush,
23:09
Speaker 1: Felt pretty bold. Not going to lie. That felt like, jeez.
23:15
Speaker 1: I mean, Jesse Bates, who is obviously a much better player,
23:19
Speaker 1: just got traded for a second-round pick. But the value
23:23
Speaker 1: of this guy, because I texted a guy who's been
23:25
Speaker 1: on the coaching staff in Tennessee over the last several years.
23:29
Speaker 1: He's not there anymore. He was stunned when I told him.
23:32
Speaker 1: I broke the news to him. I'm like, what's a
23:35
Speaker 1: Monty Hooker's deal? He just got traded for a second-round pick.
23:37
Speaker 1: He said, whoa, that's pretty nuts. That's pretty bold. He
23:40
Speaker 1: said he's a good player, very reliable person and player
23:45
Speaker 1: in the right spots, super good ball skills, sometimes loses
23:49
Speaker 1: at the point of attack. And I don't know if
23:51
Speaker 1: he was specifically talking about tackling or high-pointing the ball.
23:55
Speaker 1: He does, you know, he's tied for the lead league
23:57
Speaker 1: in interceptions this year, and he's having a career year.
24:02
Speaker 1: So he's having the best year of his career under
24:04
Speaker 1: Robert Sala. But the key with this is, because... This
24:08
Speaker 1: is an overpay. Jesse Bates is going to be a
24:10
Speaker 1: free agent, but Jesse Bates is a high-end, all-pro, Pro
24:14
Speaker 1: Bowl-level guy. He's an elite impact guy. This guy's a
24:18
Speaker 1: really good starter. Jesse Bates is a free agent. This
24:22
Speaker 1: guy is not. He's not only under contract this year,
24:26
Speaker 1: they're paying him $ 4 million the rest of the season,
24:28
Speaker 1: but the next two years at $ 10 million and $ 13. 5 million.
24:32
Speaker 1: So they're basically just buying a guy that they probably
24:35
Speaker 1: would have liked to sign in free agency if he
24:37
Speaker 1: was ever available. It would have cost them more and
24:40
Speaker 1: they don't have to pay the signing bonus. That is
24:42
Speaker 1: one underrated part about doing some of these deals. So
24:45
Speaker 1: it's like Jordan Davis is a good example. You had
24:48
Speaker 1: to overpay to get Jordan Davis because Howie could go,
24:52
Speaker 1: I'm giving you a cost-controlled player who you would gladly
24:57
Speaker 1: sign in free agency and have to give the bonus.
25:00
Speaker 1: We've already done that. I heard one of the guys
25:04
Speaker 1: at the Ringer Fantasy Show, I saw a clip and
25:07
Speaker 1: he's right. They're basically selling a house where they're already
25:11
Speaker 1: taking care of the down payment. So we'll sell you
25:14
Speaker 1: the house. The down payment's already taken care of. So
25:18
Speaker 1: it is a big advantage for the Eagles when they traded.
25:21
Speaker 1: It would have been the same thing if they had
25:23
Speaker 1: pulled the trigger on Jalen Carter. His value would have
25:26
Speaker 1: been even higher because we already got him under contract
25:28
Speaker 1: cost control. You don't have to deal with any of
25:30
Speaker 1: that bullshit. That is what makes it complicated sometimes for
25:34
Speaker 1: the Quentin Nelsons, for the DeForest Buckners, just historically for
25:38
Speaker 1: guys who are going to be free agents. The value
25:40
Speaker 1: of trading for a player that you know, even if
25:43
Speaker 1: he's not, this isn't trading for Ronnie Lott here, but
25:47
Speaker 1: I'm getting a guy who's a plug-and-play starter, who's having
25:49
Speaker 1: a career year, he's 28, he's been in the league
25:52
Speaker 1: a while. This guy was drafted, I think, in 2019.
25:55
Speaker 1: But for the next two years, he's under contract for
25:57
Speaker 1: like $ 23 million total. Where guys like that off a
26:01
Speaker 1: career year, if they were hitting free agency, it would
26:04
Speaker 1: probably be a 50% premium on top of those numbers.
26:08
Speaker 1: So that factors in. Now it's going to be fascinating
26:11
Speaker 1: what he looks like for them. It's not an easy transition.
26:15
Speaker 1: I think I saw Liam Cohen say the same thing
26:18
Speaker 1: for Jesse Bates. There are some positions like guard. It's
26:22
Speaker 1: like plug Quentin Nelson in who's obviously injured. Boom. It's like,
26:25
Speaker 1: that's like trading for a third baseman. It's like, there's
26:28
Speaker 1: no chemistry issues in baseball. It's like, wait, you just
26:30
Speaker 1: traded for a left fielder. Yeah. I just put them
26:32
Speaker 1: in left field and I wrote his name in batting
26:34
Speaker 1: third every day. It's fucking pretty easy. There are some
26:38
Speaker 1: positions in football. It's like, I just traded for a
26:40
Speaker 1: defensive end pass rusher. Tell him to go in on
26:43
Speaker 1: second and third down and go, you know, Receiver can
26:47
Speaker 1: be a little complicated. You've got to get a rapport
26:49
Speaker 1: with your quarterback like Josh Downs, Keenan Allen, some of
26:52
Speaker 1: these guys because you've got to get a feel for
26:55
Speaker 1: where he likes the ball, the routes he's going to run,
26:58
Speaker 1: the playbook. Josh Downs is not just a plug-and-play player
27:03
Speaker 1: if the terminology and what Andy and Patrick are doing
27:07
Speaker 1: is dramatically different than anything he's done with Shane Steichen.
27:10
Speaker 1: So there's a transitional period. No different with safety. You're
27:14
Speaker 1: kind of like the middle linebacker. What's our defense? What's
27:17
Speaker 1: the responsibilities? What are the different checks? What do you
27:19
Speaker 1: like to do when they do that? There's a lot
27:22
Speaker 1: of nuance to the position. So same thing with Jesse Bates.
27:27
Speaker 1: I give these guys a little bit of a grace period.
27:29
Speaker 1: You can't expect him to just show up, he's going
27:31
Speaker 1: to start, but just to know everything that's going on.
27:34
Speaker 1: There's a lot of, and I was asked this recently
27:36
Speaker 1: in one of the mailbag questions, while you're in the
27:39
Speaker 1: defensive huddle or the offensive huddle, when you've just arrived somewhere,
27:43
Speaker 1: someone's telling you probably what to do. Hey, on this call,
27:48
Speaker 1: make sure, you know, cheat it a little bit. You
27:50
Speaker 1: just need a little help at first. Football is complicated
27:53
Speaker 1: to begin with. You know, I mean, it's complicated for
27:56
Speaker 1: guys like Brady and Manning who have been in the
27:57
Speaker 1: league forever. They even need to kind of, you know,
28:00
Speaker 1: work with their teammates and stuff. Hey, what do you
28:02
Speaker 1: like here? Imagine just showing up there and getting a
28:05
Speaker 1: brand-new playbook. It's difficult. It's way easier for a guy
28:09
Speaker 1: like Josh Simmons, right? Hey, fucking line up over the
28:13
Speaker 1: guard and let it rip, homie. And that's what he's
28:15
Speaker 1: been doing. So, listen, a little bit of an overpay
28:19
Speaker 1: for the Bills. Same thing with the Jags. But it's like, hey,
28:23
Speaker 1: we need this position. This guy's under contract. We'll do it. Obviously,
28:26
Speaker 1: a second-round pick is different than a first and a
28:29
Speaker 1: second-round pick. Also saw how he didn't trade anyone else today. Well,
28:33
Speaker 1: he tried to, but then the Bengals backed out because
28:35
Speaker 1: they would have got their comp pick taken away. He's
28:39
Speaker 1: not just giving people away. He was never going to
28:42
Speaker 1: do that. No chance. If you want to blow him away,
28:48
Speaker 1: because he's going, well, I get a new coaching staff
28:49
Speaker 1: in here next year, we make a couple moves, use
28:51
Speaker 1: some of these draft picks, he'll plan on being good
28:55
Speaker 1: next year. Like the Colts, you're not going to be
28:58
Speaker 1: good next year. You stink. You're terrible. So I supported
29:05
Speaker 1: the logic between or with keeping Jonathan Taylor, You need
29:12
Speaker 1: some good players on the team. At the same time,
29:16
Speaker 1: you are so far away from even being a little
29:19
Speaker 1: far away. You have so far to go before you
29:23
Speaker 1: even get close to say you're kind of getting close
29:27
Speaker 1: to being close. Why would you not entertain trading him
29:34
Speaker 1: for a second and a third round pick? Because you
29:38
Speaker 1: think you're going to sell tickets by hand him the
29:40
Speaker 1: ball in December when you've won three games? This is
29:44
Speaker 1: also the problem when you fire a GM. You have
29:48
Speaker 1: this interim GM who knows he's going to get fired
29:51
Speaker 1: whenever you hire someone else. And you have this owner
29:54
Speaker 1: who clearly medals as much as anyone in the league
29:57
Speaker 1: not named Jerry Jones. But unlike Jerry, who made his
30:01
Speaker 1: own money to buy the thing, she's like third generation
30:03
Speaker 1: rich kid, has no clue what she's doing. Like, I
30:06
Speaker 1: don't even see how that's arguable. Because she stands on
30:08
Speaker 1: the sideline and takes notes. Whenever I see people supporting her,
30:12
Speaker 1: it's like she's just trying to, what are we talking about?
30:15
Speaker 1: In any industry, if the boss was looking over your shoulder,
30:19
Speaker 1: everyone would make fun of him or her and rip
30:23
Speaker 1: that person. Because it's insane behavior. it's, I mean, micromanaging
30:32
Speaker 1: to the 10th degree. And I just think the Colts,
30:35
Speaker 1: they are going nowhere fast. The day and age, I mean,
30:39
Speaker 1: once upon a time, they've been bad a couple times.
30:43
Speaker 1: They have bottomed out, and they got Peyton Manning, then
30:45
Speaker 1: they bottomed out again and got Andrew Luck. Well, here's
30:49
Speaker 1: the problem with bottoming out right now, because it ain't
30:50
Speaker 1: going to stop. There's no Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning coming.
30:54
Speaker 1: Because even if there were, you don't have a first-round pick. It's...
30:59
Speaker 1: I loved Peyton Manning and the Colts. I was as
31:03
Speaker 1: big of a fan in the late 90s, early 2000s
31:06
Speaker 1: as anyone not living in Indianapolis. They were probably my
31:09
Speaker 1: favorite team in the league. And this franchise feels like,
31:16
Speaker 1: I mean, a million miles away from where they were then. Hell,
31:20
Speaker 1: they feel a million miles away from where they were
31:22
Speaker 1: a couple years ago. I mean, the whole thing is
31:24
Speaker 1: just disintegrated overnight. And they did a good, you know,
31:28
Speaker 1: trade Buckner, trade Quentin Nelson, trade Josh Downs, get all
31:31
Speaker 1: these mid-round picks. But you could have got a second
31:35
Speaker 1: and a third with Jonathan Taylor and used some of
31:37
Speaker 1: those picks to get up into the first round if
31:39
Speaker 1: you wanted to or just take a bunch of swings.
31:41
Speaker 1: I even saw James Gladstone. Did he push back on
31:45
Speaker 1: the notion that he's just an F them picks guy?
31:50
Speaker 1: And he even thought the narrative in L.A. when he
31:54
Speaker 1: was there with Les Forever was a little unfair. He's like,
31:57
Speaker 1: we actually accumulated more picks over a certain period of
32:01
Speaker 1: time than any team in the league. We didn't have
32:04
Speaker 1: as many high picks, but we had a lot of
32:07
Speaker 1: picks over the years. And they believe, like a lot
32:10
Speaker 1: of people, it's about swings. Just because I give you
32:14
Speaker 1: pick 15, would you rather pick 15 and no picks
32:19
Speaker 1: until the fourth round or two picks in the second
32:22
Speaker 1: and two picks in the third? Now, some guys might go, well,
32:25
Speaker 1: I can take pick 15, move back 15 spots, get
32:29
Speaker 1: to 30, accumulate a second and an extra fourth. So listen,
32:33
Speaker 1: it's in the eye of the beholder. But I think
32:37
Speaker 1: the Colts are in a bad, bad spot. And the Chargers,
32:42
Speaker 1: to not trade Khalil Mack to me, feels like gross negligence.
32:47
Speaker 1: And I've heard some people say, what if it was
32:49
Speaker 1: his wishes to stay? Yeah, this is the National Football League.
32:53
Speaker 1: And you haven't won a game. And it feels like
32:55
Speaker 1: you're not even remotely close to winning a game. Because
32:57
Speaker 1: every time I watch you, you get your ass kicked.
33:00
Speaker 1: And this guy does have a lot of value. And
33:03
Speaker 1: he's not going to be on your team in a
33:04
Speaker 1: couple years. Pretty sure he's on a one-year contract right now.
33:08
Speaker 1: And because of his production, his character, what he just
33:13
Speaker 1: represents as a player and a person, you could 100%
33:16
Speaker 1: have got a second-round pick for him. And we're all
33:20
Speaker 1: watching your team going, you're going to need some help.
33:23
Speaker 1: You're going to need some infusion of youth and speed.
33:27
Speaker 1: So I feel like the Chargers have no clue what
33:29
Speaker 1: they're doing. I disagree with the Colts ultimately not pulling
33:35
Speaker 1: the trigger on Jonathan Taylor, but I understand their side
33:42
Speaker 1: of attempting to justify it. Big picture, I actually don't
33:45
Speaker 1: think it's going to have that big of an impact,
33:46
Speaker 1: like It's not going to help them get a coach
33:48
Speaker 1: if he's on the fence. And we ultimately, as I'm
33:52
Speaker 1: recording this, don't know the true... I'm just getting offered
33:56
Speaker 1: second and fives? Or am I getting a second and
33:59
Speaker 1: a four and a five? What were my packages? But
34:02
Speaker 1: you can't convince me the Chargers shouldn't have traded. Because, well,
34:05
Speaker 1: they did no deals. No, they actually traded Henley to
34:09
Speaker 1: the Broncos for some reason, who's a young player for
34:12
Speaker 1: a fourth and a fifth round pick. Now, he is
34:14
Speaker 1: going to be a free agent, but still... I don't know.
34:18
Speaker 1: I think some of these teams just feel lost. They
34:22
Speaker 1: really do. And these other teams have a clear vision.
34:27
Speaker 1: Of course the Chiefs traded for Josh Downs. They needed him.
34:30
Speaker 1: Of course the Bills got aggressive to get a secondary guy.
34:33
Speaker 1: They needed him. The Niners getting Keenan Allen, they just
34:37
Speaker 1: need bodies. It's like, ah, just six-round pick, we'll take him.
34:40
Speaker 1: He's been good in the past. I don't think it's
34:43
Speaker 1: that big of a deal because, one, he hasn't been
34:46
Speaker 1: that good in a while, but they just need to
34:48
Speaker 1: get more functional bodies, and Kyle really, like, he wants veterans.
34:53
Speaker 1: It's why they signed Brandon Cooks. It's why they signed, obviously,
34:56
Speaker 1: Mike Evans, who's a way better player, but Mike Evans'
34:58
Speaker 1: status is clearly way up in the air. It's why
35:00
Speaker 1: they re-signed Debo Samuel. We don't know about Stribling and
35:05
Speaker 1: his situation coming back from his injury week one in Australia,
35:09
Speaker 1: which is brutal because if you just had him now
35:11
Speaker 1: with the emergence of Jordan Watkins to go along with
35:13
Speaker 1: Kittle and McCaffrey and Kalon Black, you'd be feeling pretty
35:17
Speaker 1: good about your offensive weapons. But I would be stunned
35:22
Speaker 1: if the 49ers weren't, if they didn't really try to
35:25
Speaker 1: get Khalil Mack. There were some, you know, my guy
35:29
Speaker 1: Tim Kawakami has always said they've always loved Max Crosby.
35:32
Speaker 1: So have a lot of teams. But that was a
35:34
Speaker 1: guy that the 49ers would have taken a big swing on.
35:38
Speaker 1: I don't know if you've seen some of the highlights. Actually,
35:41
Speaker 1: the lowlights. I mean, there were some videos coming out
35:43
Speaker 1: of the Niner Raider game that kind of disturbed me.
35:46
Speaker 1: It's like, I wish I hadn't pressed play. And there
35:49
Speaker 1: was one video where it crossed your mind. Did the
35:52
Speaker 1: person just die on this fight? I mean, it was
35:54
Speaker 1: like a gutter rat convention. There's no amount of money
35:57
Speaker 1: you could pay me to go sit in the stands
36:00
Speaker 1: for that game. just the violence. It was like, what
36:04
Speaker 1: is going on? What is wrong with you losers? I mean,
36:07
Speaker 1: it's like, how is this happening? The Raiders getting away
36:10
Speaker 1: from Oakland and the Bay Area to Vegas, probably just,
36:14
Speaker 1: they don't have to worry about that as much anymore.
36:16
Speaker 1: The tailgating doesn't exist there, but it's like, what is
36:19
Speaker 1: going on? How could you take time on a Sunday
36:23
Speaker 1: to go enjoy a football game and end up Getting
36:27
Speaker 1: in brawls. I never get that. I mean, I cannot
36:32
Speaker 1: relate to that. I mean, seriously. Especially arguing over, like,
36:36
Speaker 1: the team or the player. Like, what a fucking losers
36:41
Speaker 1: of society. And those were the videos that have been
36:45
Speaker 1: an issue over the years with this game of, like,
36:48
Speaker 1: this isn't the normal crowd that attends. And on both sides.
36:53
Speaker 1: And the game gets really, really violent. And it wasn't just,
36:56
Speaker 1: I mean, I saw there were some brawls at the
36:58
Speaker 1: top of the stadium, but there were also some brawls in, like,
37:00
Speaker 1: the club level. And some of the brawls in the
37:02
Speaker 1: tailgates were legitimately, crossed my mind, is the guy dead?
37:07
Speaker 1: Are they going to have to find and charge someone
37:09
Speaker 1: with murder? But that being said, you know, there was
37:17
Speaker 1: a sniper. It almost felt like AI. There was a
37:20
Speaker 1: sniper in one of the hotels by Levi's Stadium. I still, like,
37:25
Speaker 1: I don't, what's he going to do? Like, there's a brawl,
37:26
Speaker 1: he's going to shoot somebody? Or is he looking for Ayuk,
37:29
Speaker 1: who's now reinstated, who I don't think I read got cut. But, yeah.
37:41
Speaker 1: Veterans Day reminds us that America's strongest when we stand together.
37:45
Speaker 1: Folds of Honor carries that spirit forward. They provide educational
37:49
Speaker 1: scholarships to the spouses and children of fallen or disabled U.S.
37:53
Speaker 1: service members and first responders, ensuring their educational dreams live on.
37:59
Speaker 1: This Veterans Day, your donation sends a powerful message to
38:03
Speaker 1: these courageous families. They can count on them to meet
38:06
Speaker 1: sacrifice with hope. Donate today at FoldsofHonor.org. We'll just do
38:17
Speaker 1: some mailback questions. At John Middlecoff, at John Middlecoff, fire
38:20
Speaker 1: in those DMs. Get your questions answered here on the show.
38:25
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think what it would take for me
38:27
Speaker 1: to get into a physical altercation at a football game.
38:34
Speaker 1: Clearly alcohol's involved. I mean, that's what happens all these times. But,
38:40
Speaker 1: I mean, the Raiders have been trying to beat these
38:41
Speaker 1: allegations for a long time. And you have moments like that,
38:45
Speaker 1: it's like, It's hard to beat those allegations. Mailbag. As
38:50
Speaker 1: a Giants fan, seeing Harbaugh come in and change the
38:53
Speaker 1: culture and get the most out of young talent, it
38:56
Speaker 1: just shows you what can happen with an adult in
38:58
Speaker 1: the room. With that being said, how does Woody Johnson
39:02
Speaker 1: see this and not give a blank check to Sean McDermott?
39:07
Speaker 1: Leaving out Tomlin, because I don't think he would ever
39:10
Speaker 1: go to the Jets. Love, keep grinding. That's a good question.
39:18
Speaker 1: You know, I was watching some of Cam Hayward's podcast.
39:21
Speaker 1: He had on Tomlin today. And Tomlin was just in
39:24
Speaker 1: a good mood and they were telling stories. It's like
39:26
Speaker 1: a two-part. I think he did like two hours worth
39:28
Speaker 1: of podcasts, but they just came out. part one. It's
39:33
Speaker 1: going to be very interesting to see if... Does he
39:36
Speaker 1: want back into the fire? Does he want to be...
39:43
Speaker 1: You know, I mean, there's something to be said. He's clearly...
39:47
Speaker 1: Cam's adamant that he's never coming back. Life's too good.
39:51
Speaker 1: He's already rich. He's making a lot of money now.
39:55
Speaker 1: But when you've sat at the seat, and this is
39:57
Speaker 1: why I think a lot of these coaches, they leave
40:00
Speaker 1: and then they miss it. One, that they miss the competition.
40:03
Speaker 1: These guys are essentially drug addicts, but their drug of
40:08
Speaker 1: choice is the football, is the game, is the grind
40:13
Speaker 1: of the week. I've always said this. I've only worked
40:17
Speaker 1: for two coaches. Pat Hill and Andy Reid, they enjoy
40:23
Speaker 1: the preparation for a game week and going to practice.
40:30
Speaker 1: It's not the same high as the game, but their
40:33
Speaker 1: love of being on the field for practice is a
40:36
Speaker 1: 10 out of 10. And I think every coach worth
40:38
Speaker 1: their salt if you just go around college and the pros.
40:43
Speaker 1: I don't think you realize how much these guys love practice.
40:48
Speaker 1: And then you factor in the high of coming out
40:50
Speaker 1: to a home game on Sunday night or Monday night
40:52
Speaker 1: football or a big Sunday afternoon game. It's like there's
40:56
Speaker 1: not much that fulfills that. And the other thing is,
41:01
Speaker 1: when you're the head man, you sit at the front
41:03
Speaker 1: of the table where everyone's around on the big, you know,
41:07
Speaker 1: in the conference room. Everyone's looking at you. And you're
41:12
Speaker 1: the boss. You know, in the NFL, you're... I mean,
41:17
Speaker 1: John Harbaugh's the star of the Giants. I mean, hell,
41:20
Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan, they have famous Hall of Fame players and
41:24
Speaker 1: he's every bit as famous as any of them. Sean
41:26
Speaker 1: McVay's every bit as famous of any player on his team. Like,
41:30
Speaker 1: Sean McVay is equally, if not more famous than Matt Stafford. Like, that's,
41:34
Speaker 1: you don't get that. And listen, I brought it up
41:36
Speaker 1: to Colin. You think Sean McVay, if now that Puka's
41:40
Speaker 1: out and their season could get derailed, would he go?
41:44
Speaker 1: I hope he doesn't. I hope he stays in the NFL.
41:46
Speaker 1: But it is pretty enticing for some of these guys.
41:51
Speaker 1: And some of them are born to be media guys. Like,
41:54
Speaker 1: you just watch Tom. Like, Tom can just hold court.
41:56
Speaker 1: He's got a big personality. You know, Saban tries. It's
42:01
Speaker 1: not natural. You know who would be natural? Kirby Smart.
42:06
Speaker 1: If you reverse the two and put Kirby on the set,
42:09
Speaker 1: he'd be incredible. He's got that South Georgia charisma, kind
42:13
Speaker 1: of the outspoken swag. He's just a natural for it.
42:17
Speaker 1: Just like Tomlin and McVay. Some guys aren't. Kyle's personality,
42:22
Speaker 1: he's good because he's smart and he loves football. And
42:24
Speaker 1: if you give him a microphone, he was good on
42:26
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. But it's not something he'd be comfortable doing.
42:31
Speaker 1: So I just think that... I do think Tomlin is
42:35
Speaker 1: going to listen. Because... When you've been in it for
42:40
Speaker 1: that long, and I do think there's an addiction element.
42:46
Speaker 1: It's hard to give up. Plus, they've got a lot
42:49
Speaker 1: of assets to throw his way. Hey, you want all
42:52
Speaker 1: these first-round picks we've got the next couple years? You
42:55
Speaker 1: see some of this young talent we have on the team?
42:57
Speaker 1: And you get to kind of mold the team how
42:58
Speaker 1: you want? But, yeah, if you can't get him, I just–
43:06
Speaker 1: To me, Sean McDermott feels a little bit more of
43:08
Speaker 1: an under the rail. I don't know if he'd want
43:12
Speaker 1: that job. That'd be my first takeaway. I do think
43:16
Speaker 1: you need someone. John Harbaugh is a star. He's very famous.
43:21
Speaker 1: Kind of handles it pretty seamlessly. Now, the Giants are
43:24
Speaker 1: a little bit more... It's a different brand than the Jets.
43:30
Speaker 1: There's almost like a negative spotlight, it feels, on the Jets,
43:35
Speaker 1: even though the Giants have been pretty bad for a
43:37
Speaker 1: long time. But once you just get normal, let's face it,
43:40
Speaker 1: the Giants' parallel in that city is the Yankees, right?
43:48
Speaker 1: The Jets are much more the Mets. I know it's
43:51
Speaker 1: not going to happen, and Flores doesn't have a great
43:54
Speaker 1: track record as head coach. But if we can get
43:57
Speaker 1: a quarterback today, should the Vikings just fire Kevin O'Connell
44:04
Speaker 1: and go to Flores? And this is a conversation that
44:06
Speaker 1: obviously happened when the... I would say over the course
44:12
Speaker 1: of this year and even obviously last year. Here's the problem.
44:16
Speaker 1: Even if we just remove Cousins from the conversation. Flores
44:20
Speaker 1: is terrible with quarterbacks and offensive people. I was texting
44:25
Speaker 1: him with a buddy last night that worked with him
44:27
Speaker 1: with the Patriots for a long time. And he's like,
44:31
Speaker 1: I personally love him. We got along great, but he's
44:34
Speaker 1: not for everybody. And he's just kind of a cold personality.
44:40
Speaker 1: And he said that he knows people that worked with
44:42
Speaker 1: him in Miami that wouldn't piss on him if he
44:46
Speaker 1: was on fire. And I remember having a coaching buddy
44:49
Speaker 1: tell me, This is years ago. This is when, maybe
44:52
Speaker 1: right after he got fired or toward the end when
44:55
Speaker 1: it was clearly getting a little weird, that said some
44:58
Speaker 1: of the stories he heard from his buddies that were
45:00
Speaker 1: on the offensive staff there are unlike anything he's ever heard.
45:03
Speaker 1: This guy's been in some crazy places. So there's no
45:07
Speaker 1: disputing Flores. The defense, 10 out of 10. But if
45:12
Speaker 1: I'm going to hire a head coach, the most important
45:16
Speaker 1: person on the team is my quarterback. And if you're
45:19
Speaker 1: a defensive coach, you have to deal directly with the
45:22
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator. That guy's pretty important to you. Honestly, he
45:26
Speaker 1: can make or break you. Hell, we're watching Flores right now.
45:30
Speaker 1: They're not going to win any more games no matter
45:32
Speaker 1: how good he is, and he's incredible. So to me,
45:35
Speaker 1: that would be the question moving forward, whether it's the
45:37
Speaker 1: Vikings or someone else. His personality and the way it
45:43
Speaker 1: was described to me by someone that knows him is
45:46
Speaker 1: kind of the polar opposite of offensive people. Like the
45:50
Speaker 1: quarterback and the quarterback coach and the offensive coordinator, it's
45:55
Speaker 1: a different mentality and different mindset than the defensive personnel.
46:01
Speaker 1: I'm not even talking play calls and scheme. I'm just
46:04
Speaker 1: talking just the way you deal with a guy on
46:06
Speaker 1: a daily basis. Think about a company, right? The HR
46:11
Speaker 1: people operate different than the IT people operate differently than
46:16
Speaker 1: the marketing people.
46:17
Speaker 2: Right?
46:18
Speaker 1: The IT guy and the head sales guy are completely
46:22
Speaker 1: different human beings. We've all met the IT guy and
46:26
Speaker 1: we've all met the top sales guy. Sales guy's out
46:29
Speaker 1: closing deals, doing who knows what, out all night, up early,
46:33
Speaker 1: just doing all sorts of shit that would get a
46:37
Speaker 1: lot of people fired. But as long as those contracts
46:40
Speaker 1: keep getting signed and that revenue keeps flowing, nobody cares.
46:45
Speaker 1: But there's a reason it's like, hey, you don't even
46:46
Speaker 1: need to come in the office. Just keep rocking and
46:47
Speaker 1: rolling out there. Do your thing, my man. And the
46:51
Speaker 1: IT guy operates differently. But if you're the CEO of
46:53
Speaker 1: the company, you have to be able to deal with
46:55
Speaker 1: that sales guy who's, you know, doing blow with the
46:59
Speaker 1: Costco rep. And you got to deal with the IT
47:01
Speaker 1: guy who's the only guy that can fix all your
47:05
Speaker 1: computer issues in a company full of a bunch of
47:07
Speaker 1: people with a bunch of technology. That's your job as
47:10
Speaker 1: the boss. And if you can't handle that, you can't
47:16
Speaker 1: do the role. That's what makes it kind of like
47:19
Speaker 1: there's a guy that's just the sales coordinator. Well, yeah,
47:23
Speaker 1: he only has to deal with the sales people. He
47:24
Speaker 1: doesn't deal with anybody else. That's kind of the defensive coordinator.
47:28
Speaker 1: It's like he just deals with the defensive guys. Kevin
47:30
Speaker 1: leaves them alone. But as the head coach, you've got
47:34
Speaker 1: to deal with the quarterback, especially for Flores, who's the
47:38
Speaker 1: defensive coach. It was a Fangio problem. I remember hearing
47:41
Speaker 1: stories of like, God, he's just– He's a little too
47:43
Speaker 1: gruff for those guys. It's like, bro, you've got to adapt.
47:48
Speaker 1: You've got to be able to deal with everybody. It's
47:51
Speaker 1: like John Harbaugh, the Greg Olson comment about Malik and
47:55
Speaker 1: the body language, and then Harbaugh came out and kind
47:58
Speaker 1: of defended it. It's Harbaugh's job to handle the entire operation.
48:02
Speaker 1: He's got to deal with Daggy, J.J. McCarthy, Malik Nabors,
48:05
Speaker 1: just like Arvel Reese, Abdul Carter, and everyone else on
48:09
Speaker 1: that side of the ball, including the kickers and the
48:11
Speaker 1: punters and the long snappers. Unless you're one of the
48:15
Speaker 1: Shanahan guys, then you just pretend the long snappers and
48:19
Speaker 1: kickers and punters don't exist. Unless they miss, then you
48:21
Speaker 1: get pissed. Do you think the Vikings are the team
48:26
Speaker 1: the Niners could have been if they didn't strike gold
48:29
Speaker 1: with Purdy? It's not apples to apples, but I see
48:33
Speaker 1: a lot of similarities. Unless KLC has some magic under
48:39
Speaker 1: that chiseled chin. God, he's got a great jawline, huh?
48:43
Speaker 1: He looks, I mean, he's just like perfectly skinny. What's
48:45
Speaker 1: that guy eating? Just salads and peanuts? I would say
48:50
Speaker 1: that I don't think that, no, because part of the 49ers'
48:56
Speaker 1: dominance when they went to Purdy was their offense. So
49:03
Speaker 1: they were good on defense. I have to go back
49:05
Speaker 1: and look the early Purdy days, but they were good
49:07
Speaker 1: back-to-back years. They were an offensive juggernaut. You know, so
49:13
Speaker 1: it's Minnesota is much closer to a team from my youth.
49:21
Speaker 1: In the 80s and 90s, I feel like there were
49:23
Speaker 1: a lot of teams, even some of the Raven teams
49:27
Speaker 1: with Billick, just no quarterback play, but incredible defense. And
49:34
Speaker 1: it used to happen way more before the rules changed,
49:37
Speaker 1: where you just... Harder to find quarterbacks. The rules on
49:41
Speaker 1: offense were hard. Not as many innovative offensive coaches. A
49:45
Speaker 1: lot more defensive coaches. But the 49ers were good on
49:51
Speaker 1: defense with Greenlaw, Bosa. But to me, they were much
49:58
Speaker 1: more well-rounded. And the defense, again, statistically, I don't think
50:05
Speaker 1: they have the top defense in the league. But I'm
50:07
Speaker 1: pretty sure they had the top offense in the league
50:09
Speaker 1: for a couple years right away with Purdy. So I
50:13
Speaker 1: don't think it's apples to apples because they're built differently.
50:18
Speaker 1: But I actually think the 49ers, it would have been worse.
50:24
Speaker 1: I think the 49ers, if Purdy hadn't come. You know,
50:29
Speaker 1: the Vikings, just with Carson and Kyler Murray, we're still
50:33
Speaker 1: going to get to like 9 or 10 wins. Probably nine.
50:38
Speaker 1: But going nine and eight with no quarterback play is
50:41
Speaker 1: an incredible accomplishment. I don't think Kyle Shanahan's, those teams,
50:47
Speaker 1: could have gone nine and eight with Kyler Murray and
50:50
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz. Because their defense, it was just, it was different.
50:55
Speaker 1: But he definitely saved their ass. For the mailbag, you
50:58
Speaker 1: said Jerry is the one making the draft picks, but
51:00
Speaker 1: I think Will McClay and Stephen Jones deserve more credit.
51:04
Speaker 1: Either way, the 90s dynasty was built through the draft,
51:06
Speaker 1: and today other teams use free agency far better than
51:09
Speaker 1: Dallas does. What does this team need to do to
51:12
Speaker 1: finally improve? Maybe I've misspoken. I don't believe Jerry is
51:18
Speaker 1: the guy breaking down the film going, we need Tyler Guyton.
51:23
Speaker 1: We need Tyler Smith. We need, no. So if I've
51:28
Speaker 1: said that, which I don't think I did, but he
51:31
Speaker 1: is dead set on being the general manager. But do
51:34
Speaker 1: I think Jerry is watching film? I think he watches
51:38
Speaker 1: zero film. I watch way more football. Now, granted, I'm
51:44
Speaker 1: not watching all 22 tape anymore in this job. But, like, just...
51:48
Speaker 1: I mean, Jerry just goes to a game, watches his team,
51:49
Speaker 1: and goes home. Probably flips on the Sunday night game
51:51
Speaker 1: before he goes to bed. Do you think Jerry's watching
51:54
Speaker 1: football all day Saturday? I'm not saying he has, like,
51:57
Speaker 1: Bravo on, but I don't think he's sitting at home
51:59
Speaker 1: taking notes. No chance. So... They are a well-run personnel
52:04
Speaker 1: operation because of Will McClay. I think him and the
52:09
Speaker 1: people working under him do a great job because the Cowboys,
52:13
Speaker 1: over the course of the last 10 plus years, draft
52:15
Speaker 1: really well. To me, the problem with the Cowboys is
52:20
Speaker 1: they hire cheap coaches or they finally just kind of
52:23
Speaker 1: lucked into McCarthy and then they screwed that up. If
52:26
Speaker 1: they just would have kept him, they would 100% be
52:29
Speaker 1: better off now. But it's like, we can do better. Like, no,
52:31
Speaker 1: you can't. And then you get Schottenheimer. The coaching situation
52:36
Speaker 1: with them going cheap is something that is hard to overcome.
52:40
Speaker 1: And then when you factor in the meddling from Jerry
52:43
Speaker 1: of just talking on Sundays, talking during the week, it's
52:48
Speaker 1: a lot. Even Dak, when he's like, you know, I'll
52:53
Speaker 1: just be in there watching film on a Tuesday by myself,
52:55
Speaker 1: eating some sunflower seeds, getting ready, getting an early jump.
52:58
Speaker 1: And then 17 people... from Galveston will walk in that
53:04
Speaker 1: just paid $ 1, 000 each to tour the facility that I
53:08
Speaker 1: got to take pictures with. It's like, that's just a
53:10
Speaker 1: lot going on. Do you know where that's not happening?
53:13
Speaker 1: New England for 20 years with Belichick and Brady. Shanahan.
53:20
Speaker 1: Ben Johnson. Howie Roseman. This stuff is not happening. So
53:27
Speaker 1: I think Jerry deserves blame for that type of stuff.
53:32
Speaker 1: It's a good question. I don't necessarily know the answer,
53:34
Speaker 1: but people always say the running game wears down the defense,
53:37
Speaker 1: but the defense gets worn out first. Why is that
53:40
Speaker 1: true when the offense has to exert just as much
53:42
Speaker 1: effort to play? I don't have a great way to
53:45
Speaker 1: articulate this, even though I can describe it in my head.
53:50
Speaker 1: I do feel like it's easier for an offensive lineman,
53:52
Speaker 1: and they've all said this forever. Aikman said this early
53:55
Speaker 1: in the season on a Monday night game, that if
53:57
Speaker 1: you ever ask an offensive lineman, Would you rather run
54:01
Speaker 1: or pass? They always choose run because it's easier for
54:04
Speaker 1: them to run block. Pass blocking is more difficult, especially
54:08
Speaker 1: nowadays where there's a lot more– there's just way more
54:16
Speaker 1: high-end individuals that tackle, and obviously every team has multiple
54:22
Speaker 1: ends that can rush the passer. There's never been as
54:25
Speaker 1: many good de-tackles in the league in terms of pass rushers.
54:28
Speaker 1: But it is just easier to positional block in the
54:31
Speaker 1: running game. And so many of these teams now run...
54:34
Speaker 1: The other thing is a lot of these teams now
54:35
Speaker 1: run the zone scheme that basically makes you run. But
54:40
Speaker 1: I don't really know how to articulate it besides to
54:44
Speaker 1: say it's just easier for the offense. The defense clearly
54:49
Speaker 1: expends more energy. Because it's not just a saying. It
54:54
Speaker 1: is a truth. It's like... This is my truth. That
55:00
Speaker 1: is a truth, though. For sure. Can someone please explain
55:06
Speaker 1: to me why everyone is crowning Allen the MVP frontrunner?
55:11
Speaker 1: I don't think they are. I think there's a bundled
55:14
Speaker 1: group of like four or five guys right now. Look,
55:21
Speaker 1: I know he's incredible. But as a Packer fan, I
55:23
Speaker 1: feel like Love gets completely robbed of the credit he deserves.
55:27
Speaker 1: For me, he should be right at the top of
55:30
Speaker 1: the MVP conversation. With a banged up O-line, zero run game,
55:34
Speaker 1: he's still out completely dominating. Watching him play honestly reminds
55:39
Speaker 1: me of Aaron Rodgers. It feels like the media has
55:43
Speaker 1: already made up its mind to hand the award to Allen.
55:48
Speaker 1: Why does Jalen Hurts get nonstop heat and criticism every
55:53
Speaker 1: time he scores on a quarterback sneak, but when Josh
55:56
Speaker 1: Allen does the exact same thing, people act like he's
55:59
Speaker 1: a genius and the best ever? This guy's got it
56:02
Speaker 1: out for Josh Allen. I think the Hurts thing was
56:05
Speaker 1: there had never been anything like the tush-push. And once
56:08
Speaker 1: they created it and did it, everyone kind of copied them.
56:11
Speaker 1: But no one has an issue. Some of these teams
56:17
Speaker 1: use their tight end to do it. The Giants used
56:20
Speaker 1: Jameis Winston to do it. Everyone just copied the Eagles.
56:24
Speaker 1: So they created a trend and everyone followed. It's really
56:28
Speaker 1: that simple. I don't have an issue with any of it.
56:32
Speaker 1: It's like the rules, unless you change the rules and
56:34
Speaker 1: I can't shove you, then stop bitching and moaning about it.
56:40
Speaker 1: I would say this. If you win the NFC North,
56:42
Speaker 1: you can 100% see Jordan Love winning the MVP. Okay.
56:47
Speaker 1: If you tell me the Packers go like 13-4 and
56:51
Speaker 1: Jordan Love keeps doing what he's doing, he can 100%
56:53
Speaker 1: win the MVP. Same thing for Joe Burrow. If he
56:56
Speaker 1: keeps doing what he's doing and they win 13 games,
56:58
Speaker 1: he's going to win it. Or Purdy. It's pretty clear
57:03
Speaker 1: a group of guys that if their team wins a
57:04
Speaker 1: bunch of games, which all these teams more than likely
57:07
Speaker 1: are going to win a bunch of games, I assume
57:09
Speaker 1: you guys as well, there's going to be a lot
57:12
Speaker 1: of guys in the mix, which is good. I'm curious
57:17
Speaker 1: when a player is traded, do teams help with things
57:20
Speaker 1: like cost of breaking the lease? If they're renting a
57:23
Speaker 1: place and moving expenses. If so, which team would pay
57:28
Speaker 1: for those things? The one trading for the player question?
57:32
Speaker 1: That's a great question. They usually help with moving expenses.
57:39
Speaker 1: You would think, but a lot of guys like in
57:42
Speaker 1: the middle of the season won't bring their wife. If
57:47
Speaker 1: you're signing like– if you're trading for Quentin Nelson or
57:51
Speaker 1: DeForest Buckner or Josh Downs, you want them to be
57:55
Speaker 1: as comfortable as possible. So for you to pay thousands
58:00
Speaker 1: of dollars to help them move or transport cars, I
58:04
Speaker 1: would imagine some teams do, but not all of them.
58:07
Speaker 1: I mean, there are going to be some teams that
58:08
Speaker 1: are definitely cheap. You know, it's probably– on an individual
58:17
Speaker 1: basis but like if I trade for Miles Garrett in
58:20
Speaker 1: the offseason well if I sign a guy as a
58:23
Speaker 1: free agent I wouldn't give the free agent you know
58:28
Speaker 1: moving van right so I would I have to just
58:31
Speaker 1: because I traded for Miles Garrett do I got to
58:32
Speaker 1: pay him to move all the stuff you might just
58:35
Speaker 1: because you want him to be in good spirits so
58:38
Speaker 1: I think it probably depends on the team but it
58:41
Speaker 1: would not be the team trading you right If I'm
58:45
Speaker 1: the Colts and I trade, the Niners, Keenan Allen. I'm
58:49
Speaker 1: not paying Keenan Allen another penny. I'm not moving it.
58:52
Speaker 1: I'm not doing anything. The Niners fly him out. Then
58:58
Speaker 1: he's probably all in negotiations with the travel secretary if
59:02
Speaker 1: they pay for anything else. But I could be wrong
59:05
Speaker 1: on this. I don't know if there's anything in like
59:07
Speaker 1: the NFLPA that teams are, it's mandatory for them to
59:12
Speaker 1: kick in money. It's an interesting thought. That's why I
59:16
Speaker 1: like you guys because it's something that's never crossed my mind.
59:21
Speaker 1: I remember when I got the West Coast job from
59:23
Speaker 1: Philly and I was living in Philly, they paid for
59:27
Speaker 1: my moving expenses and I thought like, God, this, That's incredible.
59:32
Speaker 1: Now I realize it's just, you got to get your
59:36
Speaker 1: expenses up so you get a bunch of write-offs. I
59:38
Speaker 1: look at things completely different now. But at the time,
59:41
Speaker 1: I just remember, I remember when that huge truck arrived.
59:45
Speaker 1: I didn't have that much stuff, but I needed to
59:47
Speaker 1: ship my car. I didn't want to drive back. I
59:51
Speaker 1: guess maybe that's what they did. They just paid for
59:53
Speaker 1: my car, and then within the car, I put my
59:56
Speaker 1: TV and some random crap. With all the kicking problems
1:00:01
Speaker 1: going on throughout the league, how come you never see
1:00:04
Speaker 1: a kicker get traded? Well, it's like, why don't offensive
1:00:12
Speaker 1: linemen get traded? Why do tackles never on the move? Well,
1:00:16
Speaker 1: because if I have a good left or right tackle,
1:00:17
Speaker 1: I would never trade him. So if I have a
1:00:19
Speaker 1: good kicker, I need that guy. I only got one.
1:00:23
Speaker 1: It's not like I got three. It's not like a
1:00:26
Speaker 1: golf bag where it's like, hey, this driver's not working.
1:00:28
Speaker 1: I'll go to my garage and grab the other driver.
1:00:31
Speaker 1: it's pretty rare like what they're doing with Justin Tucker
1:00:34
Speaker 1: and Harrison Bucker, right? Just having another guy around. So
1:00:38
Speaker 1: I think that impacts it greatly. You just, I guess
1:00:43
Speaker 1: it could happen to a God awful team. If they
1:00:46
Speaker 1: have like a superstar kicker, you could trade them to
1:00:49
Speaker 1: a good team that didn't have a kicker, but that's
1:00:52
Speaker 1: pretty rare. I mean, how often it's like there aren't
1:00:55
Speaker 1: good role players on bad NBA teams. Why? Because bad
1:00:58
Speaker 1: teams are just bad. There are no roles. It's pretty
1:01:02
Speaker 1: rare to have a god-awful team and a bad kicker.
1:01:06
Speaker 1: Or excuse me, a good kicker. I guess it has happened.
1:01:09
Speaker 1: Carlson was good on the Raiders for a while. But
1:01:13
Speaker 1: when you think about most of the good kickers, like
1:01:17
Speaker 1: Tucker Forever, I mean, Butker, until recently, Vinatieri, they're usually
1:01:21
Speaker 1: on the best teams. So I hear what you're saying.
1:01:25
Speaker 1: I just don't think there's a market either for that.
1:01:30
Speaker 1: You know, it's like I could just sign a guy
1:01:31
Speaker 1: off the street and he could start making kicks. Adios.
1:01:35
Speaker 1: Congrats to Minnesota fans. You have life. The Volume.