Latest / 3 Guys, 6 Balls NFL Podcast / How Can The Cowboys Become Relevant Again?, NFL Minicamp Holdouts, and Could We See The First 0-17 Team This Season?
Transcript
- 0:003 lifelong friends, 6 trusty balls and endless NFL takes
- 0:05welcome to three guys 6 balls NFL podcast welcome to episode
- 0:0815 of two guys 4 balls we're missing Avery today, so he is
- 0:12sick he had to sit this one out he said he was still in the
- 0:15bathroom longer than expected so he.
- 0:20Got the spins. Not that you guys didn't know
- 0:22that, but just letting him know. So yeah, today we're down,
- 0:27Avery. So it's just Will and I, but we
- 0:30have some exciting news for you guys.
- 0:32All three of us are going to be at the Raiders Jaguars game in
- 0:35Las Vegas on November 2nd. So we'll be there.
- 0:39We're going to be signing some autographs, taking some pictures
- 0:42with Mark Davis's haircut. Important to note, none of us
- 0:45are Raiders or Jaguars fans. This is completely a game of
- 0:49opportunity. We happened to live kind of in
- 0:52the area. So here we go.
- 0:54Well, Avery, Avery happens to be on the West Coast during that
- 0:57time. And then we happened to look
- 0:59kind of in the area. Yeah, we were going to try and
- 1:01go to a Dallas game, which is the following week I believe,
- 1:04but Avery was already going to be there.
- 1:06So we're going to go see a Jaguars game.
- 1:08My first NFL game will be Raiders.
- 1:11Raiders, Jags. That's a winner.
- 1:14We need to make it our goal to see Mark Davis's haircut.
- 1:18I don't want that to be a goal, but I do like the opportunity.
- 1:24We have to make it happen if we're there.
- 1:26By that point of the season, I'm assuming the Jaguars will just
- 1:28turn in their season into a banana balls, banana ball type
- 1:32season. If you're unaware of the Serenna
- 1:34bananas go go come up. So I'm assuming it's going to be
- 1:37entirely comedic and full of fun, entertaining, sports
- 1:42adjacent things. I'm excited for it.
- 1:44I'm very. Excited.
- 1:45I'm super excited. Very excited.
- 1:47You've been to an NFL game before, right?
- 1:49I have been to 1 preseason game, 2018 Dallas VS Arizona.
- 1:55In Dallas I have a picture of Dak Prescott holding his fist up
- 2:00as if he's waving to me. He's not.
- 2:02He's actually waving to people behind me.
- 2:04But the angle of the photo, it looks like he's waving right to
- 2:07me. And I tell people he was waving
- 2:10to me. That was back when him and Zeke
- 2:12were actually considered good still.
- 2:14And so I it's a strong memory. They didn't lose the game.
- 2:17But it was a surprise trip that my wife took me out.
- 2:19I didn't even know we were going, didn't even know we were
- 2:22getting on an airplane until I was in the Portland area.
- 2:26I had fallen asleep and she just went driving and I had fallen
- 2:30asleep. And the next thing I know, I'm
- 2:31being woken up in the Portland area, like 10 minutes from the
- 2:34airport. Oh, by the way, we're getting on
- 2:36an airplane. We're going to we're going to
- 2:37Dallas. Oh, OK.
- 2:39So yeah, no, I, it was a fun time.
- 2:42I'm excited to see Allegiant Stadium.
- 2:43I think I'm not most excited for that.
- 2:45I'm excited to see the game. But to see a new NFL stadium, it
- 2:47is my goal. I really want to see an NFL game
- 2:51in every stadium. I think that would be really
- 2:53cool just to see the different variety of, of all the things.
- 2:56And so it'll be cool to check a second one off the list.
- 2:58Yeah, I'm super excited for it. So I guess it's going to be both
- 3:01of our first regular season games.
- 3:03Yes, it is. All right.
- 3:06And I believe Avery's been to a few games before, but he's not
- 3:08here, so he doesn't count. He doesn't count.
- 3:11All right, so today we're going to get started with our fan
- 3:14question from Jake Jones, who is Avery and I's former roommate in
- 3:18college. And yes, I'm continuing the
- 3:20trend of doxing. Supreme doxing that's
- 3:23lookupable. That's what we do on this show.
- 3:25If you have a fan question, you are getting doxed on this show.
- 3:28Oh, you're right. All right, so here's the
- 3:31question from Jake Jones. With morale for the Cowboys fans
- 3:35being at maybe an all time low, what does this team need that
- 3:39could improve morale and bring life back to Dallas?
- 3:42Why don't you start us off, Will?
- 3:43Thank you. Since I was 50% of the choices,
- 3:47I, I don't think actually morale's at an all time low.
- 3:51I think year 8 or 9 of Jason Garrett where we're going 8:00
- 3:55and 8:00 every single year. I think morale's at an all time
- 3:58low then when the team just was not getting better and it was
- 4:01consistent and they weren't doing anything about the
- 4:03coaching, they weren't doing anything about the players, it
- 4:05was just consistently bad for like 8 or 9 years in a row.
- 4:09I think morale was lower then than now.
- 4:12And maybe I'm just not as in tune with the Dallas wire stuff
- 4:14as I should be, especially being a Dallas fan because I like to
- 4:18be ignorant about it. I don't.
- 4:19I don't like to hear I'm a big enough Dumer.
- 4:22And we all know I'm the Hager on this show.
- 4:24I'm a big enough doomer as is. I don't need everybody else
- 4:26bringing me down. But they could have started by
- 4:28hiring literally anybody else as their coach.
- 4:32Now we can't. We can't do that now.
- 4:34But we've got we've got Schottenheimer, right?
- 4:36Ryan Schottenheimer, head coach. Yeah.
- 4:38Boring head coach. They could possibly went with
- 4:41they have. They have not picked such a
- 4:43coach since Jason Garrett, which I get was 2 coaches ago.
- 4:47It's not like we're talking generations ago, but they could
- 4:50have they could have picked anybody else and actually made a
- 4:53made an effort to get a decent coach and decent coach.
- 4:56We don't know anything about Brian Schottenheimer's head
- 4:59coaching yet. We don't know anything about him
- 5:00yet. So I'm I'm making all this out
- 5:02of pure assumptions, but we could have got an exciting coach
- 5:06that's going to do something. The problem is that Jerry keeps
- 5:10picking yes men who are just going to do whatever Jerry
- 5:12wants. And so that's the other thing
- 5:15that could change morale is if Jerry, he doesn't have to retire
- 5:19from owning the team because that would be death.
- 5:21And I'm not wishing out upon Jerry Jones, but if he would
- 5:24step back his GM and let somebody else make player
- 5:27decisions and personnel decisions, I think that would be
- 5:30incredibly beneficial and that would that would boost morale a
- 5:33lot as if somebody else had actual say in the team.
- 5:36I agree. I think Jerry needs to step
- 5:38down, which we all know he's not going to, you know?
- 5:41A little bit. Unfortunately, it is going to
- 5:43take him dying for that to change.
- 5:46I actually went with a different approach.
- 5:49That is still Jerry's fault, but it's something that has to do
- 5:53with players on the field. I looked at the Cowboys playoff
- 5:56wins since their last Super Bowl victory in 1995.
- 6:00So they've played in 18 total games total playoff games since
- 6:04then. In those eighteen playoff games,
- 6:07they are O and 10 when they give up 100 yards rushing or more,
- 6:12and they're five and three when they don't.
- 6:15So what I personally think Dallas needs to do to bring life
- 6:19back to Dallas is get a dominant interior defensive player that
- 6:24they have not had in years. Let's look at the last four
- 6:28Super Bowl winners. You've got the Eagles, Chiefs,
- 6:30Chiefs and Rams. They all have dominant defensive
- 6:34interior players or had because Aaron Donald isn't playing
- 6:37anymore. So the Chiefs had Chris Jones,
- 6:40the Rams had Aaron Donald, and the Eagles had Jaylen Carter,
- 6:43who dominated last season. Yeah, I just think that Jerry
- 6:47needs to address the interior of that defensive line and I know
- 6:51he's technically addressed it by drafting some big lineman who
- 6:55were like late round picks and they also drafted Mozzie Smith.
- 6:59He hasn't panned out and I feel like most people thought he
- 7:02wouldn't pan out and then Jerry just drafted him anyway.
- 7:05There's been no like he hasn't made a move to draft any Aaron
- 7:09Donald type player and I know that's asking a lot because he's
- 7:12a Hall of Famer. You could say he's probably the
- 7:16best defensive tackle of all time.
- 7:17Honestly, even if Jerry doesn't get the best defensive tackle of
- 7:20all time, he needs somebody who is going to be an interior
- 7:23presence on the defensive line when it counts in the playoffs.
- 7:26Because there's been years where the Dallas Cowboys are top ten
- 7:30in run defense in the regular season.
- 7:32There's been several times that they've done that, but then they
- 7:34get into the playoffs and it doesn't matter.
- 7:36In I think it was 2018, they went and they won a playoff
- 7:40game. Then they played the Rams in
- 7:42their second game. They gave up like 253 rushing
- 7:45yards. Then there's a couple times when
- 7:47they played the 49ers. The 49ers just ran all over him
- 7:50in the playoffs. Then there's two years ago when
- 7:52the Packers, Packers, yeah, the Packers ran for.
- 7:56It was well over 100 yards in that game.
- 7:58It's like a billion. It felt like I watched that
- 8:00game. So what the Cowboys need to do
- 8:03is find some way to get a dominant defensive interior
- 8:08presence to actually make a difference on that defensive
- 8:12line when it counts in the playoffs to stop the run.
- 8:16Yeah, I I can't agree more, honestly.
- 8:18I think it's a really good point.
- 8:20I think they tried to do with their linebackers for years with
- 8:23Sean Lee and Jalen Smith and well, now Micah Parsons, who's
- 8:27not an interior linebacker, but they're trying to have dominant
- 8:31middle linebackers for years now.
- 8:32And it's just not the same. It's not the same when you've
- 8:34got your line back in court strongly to defensive line week
- 8:38and if their offensive line is getting the second level,
- 8:40they're just going to run all over you.
- 8:41And that's that can't happen. Exactly.
- 8:43Now shout out again to Jay Jones for the question.
- 8:46Hopefully Jerry Jones can make a move for a interior defensive
- 8:49presence, but we all know he's not going to, so not.
- 8:51Even. Fortunately, unfortunately,
- 8:53Jake, the disappointment will go on for several more years.
- 8:56Man, history, says Nathan. We're looking at probably 4
- 8:59years of Schottenheimer. Even if he goes 2 and 15 in
- 9:03three years and they'll go, you know what, one more year.
- 9:07We'll just give him what it's his team now, one more year.
- 9:10We'll have four years minimum here.
- 9:12We just need to buckle up for another another run of nine and
- 9:15eight at best. Jerry.
- 9:17Jerry will always find an excuse if it's.
- 9:20Yeah. Oh, somebody was injured.
- 9:22Somebody was. Yeah, exactly, exactly.
- 9:24Dak Press got got hurt so you were going to give you a pass in
- 9:28your first season and then all he has to do after his first
- 9:30season is go 9 and 8, even 8-9 and Jerry would consider that
- 9:34good enough to keep his job. How many could be anybody if CD
- 9:37Lamb gets hurt, and I hope none of these guys do get hurt.
- 9:39But if CD Lamb gets hurt, Oh well, you're your best player on
- 9:42offense. Got hurt.
- 9:42So what are you supposed to do? And then it's just next to next
- 9:45year. Oh, you're you're you thought
- 9:47you had a new play collar this year.
- 9:49So of course this, that and the other, it's just excuse after
- 9:52excuse. There's always some player who
- 9:54gets hurt, whether it's Diggs, Deron Bland, Dak, offensive
- 9:58lineman. There's always somebody.
- 10:00There's always somebody and and Jerry's 82 years old now, so he
- 10:04realistically is going to own that team for 10-15 more years.
- 10:09Yeah. I mean, if it goes to 100, sure.
- 10:11But I mean, he looks like he's 100.
- 10:13But seriously, though, 10 to 15 more years of running that team
- 10:17and, and rest in peace, Jim Ersen.
- 10:19But I just hope that I hope that Jerry has set his children up to
- 10:24be successful like like Jim Ersen did with his with his
- 10:27daughters. And I think they're all oh,
- 10:29girl, I see he had who quote now taking over that team.
- 10:32And they seem to be taking it over in stride and trying to
- 10:35make it better immediately. So that's it's going to be
- 10:38unfortunate if we get to generation 2 here of the Jones
- 10:41family and Steven sitting up there, passing his glasses to
- 10:45his nephew to have hit them clean.
- 10:46And it's like, all right, pal, you got billions of dollars
- 10:49sitting there. Let's maybe, let's maybe do
- 10:51something extra here. Go Cowboys.
- 10:54All right, 7 and 10, baby. Yeah, the.
- 10:58Problem is that's not going to be 4th place, that's going to be
- 11:00third place, NFC East 7 and 10. And so it should be like, well,
- 11:04we weren't last, so we could be. Worse.
- 11:07So we're winning, right? Could be worse.
- 11:09Yeah. Top three Yeah, bronze medal
- 11:11right here, 3 or 4. I'm glad you brought that up
- 11:14actually, because I actually want to talk about the Giants a
- 11:16little bit later in the show. So.
- 11:18Oh. Yeah, yeah, me too.
- 11:19All right, so first thing we're going to talk about here is, I
- 11:23guess second thing we're going to talk about is some of the
- 11:25players that are holding out from mini camps.
- 11:28And So what we're going to do is just go through some of the
- 11:30bigger names and kind of just talk about the situation they're
- 11:33in. I personally would like to go
- 11:36with Shamar Stewart last. I want to spend a little bit
- 11:38more time on that situation, if that's OK with you.
- 11:40Will. Yeah, let's get started with the
- 11:42Easy 1, though. Let's go ahead and start with
- 11:44Jalen Ramsey, who is a Dolphins corner.
- 11:47He is, I mean, the team is seeking a trade, so it kind of
- 11:51makes sense that he's not there. There's not really much to say
- 11:53on this one, but I do think that's going to be kind of a hit
- 11:56for the Dolphins secondary because they were a top 10
- 11:59scoring defense last year. So losing Jalen Ramsey is not
- 12:02going to do the many favors in my opinion.
- 12:04But do you have anything else to report on Jalen Ramsey, Will?
- 12:06Not specifically, I just think he's going to be harder to move.
- 12:09The problem is, is that the next three years he's he's cautioned
- 12:12out through three years here he's got 25,000,000 due next
- 12:16year, 26.8 the year after and in 2028 he's due $36.1 million of a
- 12:23on a cap, on the cap hit and some of the incentives and
- 12:26bonuses. I do believe that it's carried
- 12:28over. When you get traded, it's going
- 12:30to make it hard to move Jalen and so they may not be able to.
- 12:34So this holdout may be all for not at the end.
- 12:37They do have a potential out after this year, but still, the
- 12:42last thing they want to do is to have to cut a player like Jayla
- 12:45Ramsey when he's got a lot of trade value.
- 12:47Still I got. A question for you will and you
- 12:49may not even know the answer to this.
- 12:51What? Why do teams like when they're
- 12:54trying to move a player, why do they make it known that if they
- 12:57don't trade him that they're going to release him?
- 13:00Like why would a team trade for him in that situation if they
- 13:03just know that you're going to release him?
- 13:04Oh, that is a good question. So if they release him, he hits
- 13:07the waiver wire, which you probably know from fantasy
- 13:09football, but that is an actual thing.
- 13:11And in the NFL, when players released, it hits waivers and
- 13:15every team, just like in fantasy football has an opportunity to
- 13:18pick him up. And it starts with the worst and
- 13:21goes to the best. Now if it goes through all 32
- 13:24teams and not one team picks up his his option, his waiver
- 13:28option, then he goes to actual like free agency released.
- 13:32And so that's why you would trade for him.
- 13:33Because if you're sitting there as the Chiefs, you're going to
- 13:36have option #31 to get this guy. And if you really want this guy,
- 13:41you don't want to chance 30 other teams before you at 31
- 13:45have the opportunity to pick him up.
- 13:46And so you want to trade for him now to get him on your team.
- 13:49But if you were like the Titans, there's no way you're going to
- 13:53trade for him If you're if you want him and he can take his
- 13:55contract, you don't want to give up anything you have, which
- 13:58already it's not a lot. You probably don't want to pay
- 14:01the asking price. And if you can pick him up on
- 14:04the wager wire, that is infinitely better for you.
- 14:07So that would be why. I guess I never thought of that,
- 14:09but that makes sense. I just always thought it was
- 14:11kind of stupid that they're like making it publicly known that
- 14:13they're going to trade this guy and then.
- 14:15It's a risky business move, but it it is for business.
- 14:18Hey, if you don't, if we don't get a trade here, we're going to
- 14:22have to release him and he's going to hit the waiver wire.
- 14:24And so Eagles chiefs, even like a mid range team like the
- 14:28Steelers or something like that, if they're looking at him, they
- 14:32know that OK, he has to pass through 15 teams to get to us at
- 14:36#16 and we have to, to sign him or not.
- 14:39Sometimes it's not worth the risk, especially if you know,
- 14:42because once and I that I think is why other things get released
- 14:46of oh, this team was working at training for him.
- 14:48This team was working at training for him.
- 14:49This team made this offer. I'm sure all these GMs and
- 14:53player personnel, they all talk and they all know information.
- 14:56Obviously there's, there's trade secrets are not sharing from
- 14:59team to team, but they definitely know who's working at
- 15:02who and what team needs what with their scouts and, and
- 15:05everything like that. And so I I think they do it to
- 15:08try to be more business asking more like incentivizing people
- 15:12to actually trade for him rather than actually having to release
- 15:15him. I feel like they're going to end
- 15:17up getting like a sixth round pick for Jalen Ramsey or
- 15:19something. I mean, if it was two years ago,
- 15:21they'd be getting the King's ransom form.
- 15:24And I don't mean, I don't mean like if he was two years
- 15:25younger. I mean like if the timeline were
- 15:27such where he's what, 31 right now?
- 15:30No, I'm so sorry. Yeah, he's 31 right now.
- 15:32So he's 31 right now at 31 year old corner.
- 15:35Yeah, his skill level 2 years ago, you're hitting a first and
- 15:39a third. The the trade market two years
- 15:42ago versus now has tanked significantly.
- 15:46Players are just not value as hype.
- 15:48Teams are not giving up near as high of anything.
- 15:50And we look at like the Amari Cooper trade, right?
- 15:53Dallas gave a first round pick for them, and then and then a
- 15:56couple years later, players of similar skill levels are getting
- 15:59traded for fifth round picks. Six round picks, like a single
- 16:03pick. Yeah, but everybody was making
- 16:05those trades at that time. Any starter, any position was
- 16:07being traded for a first or second round pick.
- 16:09And now starters are going for 5th and 6th round picks because
- 16:12veterans are not being valued as high in the trade market anymore
- 16:16because I think it's because contracts have gotten so high,
- 16:19because you're trading multi $100 million contract for a
- 16:23fifth round pick who you're going to pay a nickel as it all
- 16:26comes back to money. All right.
- 16:28Well, since we're on the topic of the Dolphins, let's go to
- 16:32John Smith, the Dolphins tight end who's also holding out of
- 16:35mini camp. And this one I have a problem
- 16:37with because John Smith signed A2 year $8.4 million contract
- 16:41with the Dolphins last offseason and then this offseason he's
- 16:45asking for a new contract because he set career highs in
- 16:48catches, yards and he tied his career high in touchdowns.
- 16:52I have a problem with this because you signed A2 year deal
- 16:56for $8.4 million and now you're asking for more money just
- 17:00because you had a good season. And it's not like Jonny Smith is
- 17:03a player who like, he's like some of these other guys who
- 17:06we'll get to next, like TJ Watt. He's not that caliber of a
- 17:08player. He had a good season.
- 17:10It was his best season of his career, but he hadn't had
- 17:13anything. Significantly.
- 17:14Exactly. He hadn't had anything close to
- 17:16that his entire career before that, and now he's acting like
- 17:19he's one of these star guys like TJ Watt out here demanding a new
- 17:22contract for him to show up to minicam.
- 17:24So he will be 30 at the start of the season this year.
- 17:28Last season he had 111 receptions, 88 reception, 111
- 17:33targets, which is 38 more receptions in his highest.
- 17:37He has 300 yards more to his highest.
- 17:39He did have a career year, 8 touchdowns, but he also had more
- 17:43opportunity. And I think it's because when
- 17:45you run a backup quarterback in, they default to their safety
- 17:48Nets, their swing passes, the running back and the tight ends.
- 17:52And so that you see more production probably like David
- 17:55or Harbor at HN. Devon crushed.
- 18:02Devon had a higher year as well because there was no two on
- 18:05date. But I can't even get his first
- 18:06name right. This is why I don't use my brain
- 18:08much. I read more than I try to think
- 18:10of people. Anyway, his year was up last
- 18:13year as well. It's for the same reason.
- 18:15I overall don't have that big of issue with people seeking new
- 18:19contracts. He just signed it at the
- 18:21beginning of last year and now it's one year later he's looking
- 18:24for a new contract that won't take place till after this next
- 18:28season anyway. It's not going to replace this
- 18:29year. But I do have a problem with is
- 18:31him holding out when he's currently under contract.
- 18:34And I will say this again and again and again.
- 18:36Every single player you have currently agreed to do work for
- 18:41this company for an entire another year.
- 18:43If I were personally, if I were to just not show up to work
- 18:47because I wanted to raise, they would fire me.
- 18:50They would just fire me. They can just find somebody
- 18:54else, especially right now during my offseason, say, OK,
- 18:57you don't want to play Titan for us.
- 18:59OK. Yeah, you're under contract
- 19:01because you. Also don't have guaranteed money
- 19:03in your in your job. Sure, but his guaranteed money
- 19:07for 2025, his guaranteed money, they're looking at $2.2 million
- 19:14of guaranteed money for him this year.
- 19:16But that's that's their dead chat.
- 19:17That's not actually guaranteed money.
- 19:19So his signing bonus, that's base salary, signing bonus,
- 19:22roster bonus, none of this is guaranteed.
- 19:26All of this guaranteed money already hit.
- 19:27It was a 2024 salary plus a signing above this.
- 19:30So his $4 million have guaranteed money all hit last
- 19:34year. So he has no guaranteed money.
- 19:36Which is probably also why he search new contract.
- 19:40He's got nothing guaranteed this year.
- 19:41If he gets hurt, he's out. I I don't really know how the
- 19:44injury stuff works, but I'm sure that's part of it.
- 19:46If if he he's looking at $1.1 million in bonuses this year on
- 19:52top of a three and a half million dollar base salary.
- 19:55But still, none of us guaranteed money is going to hit 2026
- 19:58anyway. So get your butt to work and,
- 20:01you know, be part of the team quick.
- 20:02Getting left behind, yeah. I just, I just have a problem
- 20:05with it because of the level of player he is.
- 20:08Yes. Like if you're like a high
- 20:10caliber player and you're seeking a new content, go for it
- 20:14because you've proven yourself. But I mean, I guess he proved
- 20:17himself one year, but how many times have we seen players have
- 20:20one good year and then just suck?
- 20:22Well, and calling it proving himself is a bit of a stretch
- 20:24because it was his first year on the Dolphins.
- 20:26Yeah, he's a tendency for four years, New England for two
- 20:29years, Atlanta for one year, and he was in Miami for one year.
- 20:33So he really hasn't. Proven anything proven anything
- 20:35and and every other year besides last year, you have had terrible
- 20:39stats. I I don't even terrible is a bit
- 20:41strong of a word, but his highest yards total besides last
- 20:45year 84. The highest previous was 448
- 20:49receiving yards, and that was back in 2020 when there were no
- 20:52fans in the state in stands. So he also had eight touchdowns
- 20:56that year. So maybe maybe that's why he's
- 20:58good in Miami. Nobody showed up for the games
- 20:59there either. All right, let's move on to TJ
- 21:04Watt. I think this one's pretty easy,
- 21:06fairly simple, but just answer this question for me, Will.
- 21:08Yes. Do you see a world where TJ Watt
- 21:11is not on the field for the Steelers Week 1?
- 21:13No. I don't either.
- 21:14So this one I do view is different.
- 21:16Like you said, he's proven himself.
- 21:17He's been a Steeler for a long time.
- 21:19He's been been a capstone in the Steelers defense for a long
- 21:21time. He's been their guy for a long
- 21:24time. I don't blame him for wanting
- 21:26more money. He has no contract after this.
- 21:29It's not like he's got he, he's an unrestricted free agent after
- 21:33this season, so there's no guarantee he's going to get any
- 21:35money at all after this year. And so that's what he's looking
- 21:38for. He's looking for a commitment
- 21:40and I don't I don't really blame him for that.
- 21:42He is currently under contract for this year.
- 21:44So personally, I think you should get your butt to work and
- 21:47go do the thing because it to me, it also sets a bad example.
- 21:50They just had to draft. They just brought in a bunch of
- 21:52players and now your best guy isn't even out there to to show
- 21:56them your ropes, to show them what Steve or football is all
- 21:58about, to show them how to handle those guys like Aaron
- 22:01Rodgers. I think it sets a bad precedent,
- 22:03sets a bad example. It's becoming too commonplace in
- 22:06the league in my opinion, but I do understand it somewhat.
- 22:10Yeah, this one I understand a little bit more just because
- 22:12he's TJ Watt, Defensive Player of the Year caliber player.
- 22:15Yeah, so I understand a little bit.
- 22:17I just like, like he said, I don't see a world where he's not
- 22:20on the field Week 1. I think the Steelers are going
- 22:22to get this done. They're going to lock him up.
- 22:24This that right here is the reason why why has missed 11
- 22:27games in his career. In 11 games that he's missed,
- 22:30the Steelers are one in 10. In those games when they don't
- 22:33have TJ Watt, they're one in 10. So without TJ Watt, they are a
- 22:36completely different team, a completely different defense.
- 22:39He has had 11 1/2 sacks at least in six of his eight seasons, and
- 22:45one of those seasons where he didn't, he was a rookie and one
- 22:48of those seasons that he didn't, he missed seven games.
- 22:50This dude is as good as you're going to get when it comes to
- 22:53that position. So I don't see a world where the
- 22:55Steelers don't lock this up. They don't get it done.
- 22:57TJ Watts going to be on the field Week 1.
- 22:59I think it's that simple. All right, so next guy, Terry
- 23:02Mclaurin, wide receiver for the Commanders.
- 23:04So he's holding out because he's seeking a contract that's worth
- 23:0730 million per season. He's currently making 22.7
- 23:11million. 30 million a season. 30 million per year plus.
- 23:15So I actually have a little list here of every receiver who makes
- 23:20less than 30 million, but more than Mclaurin.
- 23:23And so I'm going to read this off Will and I just want you to
- 23:26tell me based off of this list and what these other receivers
- 23:29are making, do you think he should get this money?
- 23:31So again, this is every receiver who makes less than 30 million,
- 23:34but more than Terry McClure. First one is T Higgins, then
- 23:37Jalen Waddle, DJ Moore, Devante Smith, Miko Collins, Michael
- 23:42Pittman, Junior, and Calvin Ridley.
- 23:44They all make more money than McLaren.
- 23:46All of those guys are also younger than Terry Mcclorn.
- 23:48Well, McLaren's like 30. He will start the season at 30.
- 23:51So man, I mean, if you're looking for a two year, $30
- 23:55million a year deal, maybe, but most of that, most of that 30
- 23:59per year is going to have to be in bonuses of some kind.
- 24:03I just don't think that the, I mean, I guess let me let me back
- 24:07up this whole thing. If they're, if the commanders
- 24:09are going to do it right now is time because your quarterback's
- 24:12going to work a deal. And so exactly you've got more
- 24:14money right now, year and a half in three years because the
- 24:16salary cap keeps going up. I think that we will still see
- 24:21quarterback values go up, but I don't think it's going to be
- 24:23shared percentage wise the same. Terry McCoy has been a big piece
- 24:27of the the Commanders for a long time.
- 24:29Do I think he's deserving of that much money in comparison?
- 24:32Yeah, probably. But as you get older in years,
- 24:36your production goes down. And that's just that's just what
- 24:40it is. It's sad to say, I guess, but
- 24:42but he's another guy who's been a career commander.
- 24:44Well, he's been in his team in Washington for his entire
- 24:47career. However you want to say it.
- 24:50It really doesn't matter. He's been there as his entire
- 24:52career. And I guess if they want to be
- 24:55this new face commanders, it's the right move to to pay the
- 24:58man. But again, at the same time,
- 25:00you're under contract still get your bud to work.
- 25:03I know I'm so indifferent throughout these contracts.
- 25:06They're the values are so high because it's an entertainment
- 25:09contract specifically, but he's getting paid.
- 25:11His base salary is 15 and a half million dollars this year just
- 25:15to catch football. Now there's more to it than
- 25:17that, sure, but just these these bonuses and incentives, Sir,
- 25:21please just get to work. That's that's all I'd say.
- 25:24And I think statistically the players that hold out, we see a
- 25:27slower starts in the season. So like if you're looking
- 25:30fantasy wise as as we're coming in the year, I realize it's
- 25:33still June, we're not really thinking about finance football
- 25:35till end of July, August when pre season starts.
- 25:37But if you're not in camp earlier and we're talking
- 25:41mid-july, they wait until preseason or even a regular
- 25:44season to start playing. They have such a slow start,
- 25:47they're not even, they're not even useful for your team for
- 25:49the first quarter of the year. And it's not a strange football
- 25:51every time for the actual team. They're just not productive for
- 25:55the first four games. And so they end up hurting
- 25:58themselves more because then you don't get your incentives, you
- 26:01don't get your bonuses. And so, I don't know, do I think
- 26:04Terry McLaren's worth it? Yeah, probably for that team.
- 26:07But at the same time, I I don't know.
- 26:09What do you think? I think he's worth it 1 Based
- 26:12off of those names, I think he's better than a lot of.
- 26:14Those, yeah, I can agree. With that, and also I think he's
- 26:17worth it because I'm looking at the depth chart for the
- 26:19Commanders right now at wide receiver.
- 26:21So they have Debo, but I don't think Debo is that good.
- 26:24I think he's super overrated in my opinion.
- 26:27And then they have Noah Brown, Luke McCaffrey, Jalen Lane,
- 26:30who's a rookie, Michael Gallop washed, and then a bunch of guys
- 26:34that nobody's ever heard of. So I think it's kind of like the
- 26:37same situation with the Steelers and TJ Watt.
- 26:40Like, I think the Commanders know that they have to pay him.
- 26:42It's kind of just a matter of agreeing to something at this
- 26:44point. But I think they know they have
- 26:46to pay him because they don't have.
- 26:47They can't waste a year with Daniels as their quarterback on
- 26:51a rookie contract. Right, especially because they
- 26:53brought in all this offensive line help this year with their
- 26:56first round pick going to the right tackle.
- 26:58They brought in Laramie Tonsil. They're making all the moves to
- 27:01do the right thing. I would not be surprised if we
- 27:03see another like receiver or any other offensive weapon come in
- 27:07in the offseason, whether by trade or by, I mean, there's
- 27:10still some free agents out there, you know, right, He's
- 27:12still available. There's, there's still, there's
- 27:14still free agents available. And maybe that's the thing.
- 27:16They don't get a, they don't get a deal done with Terry to assign
- 27:19a free agent for cheaper. The only problem with that is if
- 27:22there's a guy who's a free agent, he hasn't practiced with
- 27:24the team. He's not sure, you know, at the
- 27:26facility doing the workouts. You know, it's kind of the same
- 27:28situation that you mentioned, like he's going to take him a
- 27:30little bit of time to get there, right?
- 27:33So I do like that though. Like I think Keenan Allen, even
- 27:35with McLaren, would be a great addition if he could find the
- 27:37money to pay both of them. Oh yeah, I think that way you
- 27:39don't have to rely anything on Dibo Sayville.
- 27:41Exactly, that dude's garbage. I think he's garbage.
- 27:44He had like one good season and he just happened to be on my
- 27:46fantasy team and actually won me my fantasy championship that
- 27:49year. But then after that he's been
- 27:51terrible. Sorry 49ers fans, I'm just
- 27:52telling the truth. He's on that team anymore.
- 27:54It's fine. I know they don't care about
- 27:55him. Anymore matter of fact, they
- 27:57probably hate him, if we'll be honest.
- 27:58Probably, but they love, they've like loved him too much when he
- 28:01was on this, just like they do with other players.
- 28:04OK, let's get on to the last two guys.
- 28:06Trey Hendrickson and Shamar Stewart, we're going to finish
- 28:08up this segment with. So let's start with Trey
- 28:11Hendrickson. In Four Seasons that Trey
- 28:13Hendrickson's been with the Bengals, he's told of 57 sacks.
- 28:16He's averaged 14.25 sacks per season.
- 28:21Last season, he led the league in sacks with 17.5.
- 28:24The season before that, in 2023, he also had 17 1/2 sacks, but he
- 28:29was second in the league behind TJ Watt.
- 28:31So this dude is on that level. He's on that level with TJ Watt.
- 28:35This guy knows how to get to the quarterback.
- 28:36He can help your I I can't imagine how bad the Bengals
- 28:40defense would have been without him on the field last season.
- 28:43Yeah, no joke. With as bad as it already was.
- 28:46The Bengals defense totaled 36 sacks in 2024.
- 28:49Hendrickson had 17 1/2. The rest of the team had 18 and
- 28:53a. Half that's.
- 28:55Terrible. And now.
- 28:56And now they can't find the money to pay this dude.
- 28:59Well, if you look at their offensive side of the of the
- 29:01football field, that's where their money is.
- 29:03And as we saw last year with the Bengals, if all your money goes
- 29:06to the offensive side, you're going to be stuck with
- 29:09statistically the best quarterback, statistically the
- 29:11best receiver, a very good running back.
- 29:13But those guys are going to be so dead tired by the end of the
- 29:17season because they're on the they're on the field so much.
- 29:21There's your defense can't stop anybody.
- 29:23So they're just, they have to score 50 points a game to win a
- 29:26game because again, your defense can't stop anybody.
- 29:29And so their offense is scoring coming up the field and your
- 29:32offense is getting tired out. And now you're back in Joe
- 29:34Burrow days of 2-3 years ago where he's getting sex 60 * a
- 29:38season. And whether you're good or not,
- 29:40if you're playing 75% of the game, like on the field for 75%
- 29:44of the game, you're just going to get exhausted.
- 29:46It's physically exhausting and your defense is worse than a
- 29:50white paper bag and it having having your best defensive
- 29:53player sit out right now and best by far defensive player sit
- 29:57out right by far. This is not good.
- 29:59He's only got one year left and this is the same same scenario
- 30:02we were just talking about where he's only got this year left and
- 30:05he's an unrestricted free agent after this year.
- 30:07And so he's just looking for guaranteed money moving forward.
- 30:10He's looking for longevity. He's not asking to leave.
- 30:12It's not like he's trying to leave the Bengals.
- 30:14He wants to stay there, but he has only the unrestricted free
- 30:18agent to where he's just trying to get some sort of career
- 30:21futures. Yeah, I think it's terrible that
- 30:23the Bengals have even given him permission to seek a trade.
- 30:26Like, what does that say about you?
- 30:28Like that says that they're not really even trying to figure it
- 30:30out. Like you've mentioned before,
- 30:32these contracts are just all fake.
- 30:34You could restructure Joe Burrow.
- 30:35You could restructure Chase, you can restructure Higgins.
- 30:38You could restructure anybody you want on that team and
- 30:41Createspace to sign Trey Hendrickson and give him what he
- 30:44wants. So I don't understand why
- 30:46they're not doing. It nobody wants to give up their
- 30:48money I mean that's that's simple they.
- 30:49Also don't want to win then? Yeah, you can put it that way
- 30:53for sure. There's just it's it's really
- 30:55hard to get paid and to give it up and you're going to have to
- 30:58right. Brady was never known Tom Brady
- 31:01best quarterback of all time. And that's I would say that's
- 31:03arguable, but the the best quarterbacks we've ever played
- 31:06the game. He was never known for his
- 31:08gigantic deals. We weren't talking.
- 31:11We weren't talking about Oh my gosh, Can you believe that Tom
- 31:14Brady gets paid so much money? Joe Flacco at one point was the
- 31:18highest paid quarterback to ever play, right?
- 31:20It was years and years ago. Tom Brady was nowhere near that
- 31:24because he knew it takes a village to win the Super Bowl
- 31:27and these guys just don't seem to care anymore.
- 31:29At least that's what it seems like from the outside looking
- 31:31at. And also, guess who's not a top
- 31:33ten paid quarterback? Patrick Mahomes.
- 31:35Well, he's not in the top 10. Now hold on though, I'm going to
- 31:38have to put put an asterisk on that one because when he got his
- 31:41deal, 10 years 500 and some odd $1,000,000.
- 31:46Let's not let's not act like when he got his deal, it was not
- 31:50an an outrageous, unbelievable deal.
- 31:53Again, it's all fake money. All of that 10 years is fake
- 31:57hundred 500 or some odd 503. I think $1,000,000 a 106,
- 32:01something like that. It's all fake money, fake deal.
- 32:04But when he got it, that was an egregious no way.
- 32:07You're paying this guy way too much money now.
- 32:10It was a really smart deal by the team.
- 32:12It was his same thing in the NBA.
- 32:13They sign these guys up for these huge deals.
- 32:15They're super Maxes. And by the end of their super
- 32:18Max, they're making like Trump change.
- 32:20It's the same thing that they did with him that when he made
- 32:23that deal, it was heavily front loaded.
- 32:25Yeah, you're paying them a lot now.
- 32:26But by the time that deal is over, he's it's going to be
- 32:29like, wow, you only pay him this much money.
- 32:31It was incredibly smart business session by the Hunt family down
- 32:34there in Kansas City. But they just don't take it
- 32:37anymore. No contract will ever be
- 32:38stupider than than they're trying to watch the contract.
- 32:41But. The Browns be Browning.
- 32:45Browns be Browning. All right, let's move on to the
- 32:49last guy here, Shamar Stewart, who is teammates.
- 32:52Well, it's supposed to be teammates with Trey Hendrickson,
- 32:54but he's also holding out and this is a rookie we're talking
- 32:57about. Well, I'll let you go first
- 32:59because I kind of got a lot to say about this dude.
- 33:01I don't really know what to say. I mean, at this point I equate
- 33:05this to pretty big baseball fan here.
- 33:08You can draft a player in baseball and then they can
- 33:10choose to go back to college. Or if they, if drafts are in
- 33:14high school, they can choose to go to college rather than coming
- 33:17to your professional team and they can enter the draft next
- 33:20year and they can get drafted to a different team.
- 33:22So you've been wasting a draft pick.
- 33:24It feels like we have the same thing going on here, except in
- 33:27the NFL you cannot choose to go back to college.
- 33:30At least I don't think it's an option for Shamar Stewart to go
- 33:32back to Texas A&M. Although if he wanted to get 1
- 33:341/2 more sacks, that's the place to do it.
- 33:37I just think that that it is going to end up being a waste of
- 33:40a draft pick. People keep talking about, oh,
- 33:42he could get drafted to you next year, but who's going to draft
- 33:45him? He's going to slide worse than
- 33:48Shidor Sanders. There's just no way that this
- 33:51scenario is well for Shamar Stewart in a long run.
- 33:55We have on this show talked a lot of crap about Shamar
- 33:58Stewart. I mean, he went through college
- 33:59and got what, 3, three seconds? We're going to have sex, 1/2
- 34:03sex, totally three years, three years, That's what it is.
- 34:05That's bad. You drafted a guy at pick #17
- 34:08due to his athleticism. And if you're talking about a
- 34:12linebacker, I I guess, or an edge rusher, he's not an actual
- 34:16edge rusher, is he? Or is he?
- 34:17Does he technically listening? So so he's an edge rusher and so
- 34:20athleticism really does matter there.
- 34:22But ask TJ what? Ask any of the what brothers
- 34:25technique, it's going to matter more.
- 34:27Ask Dwight Freeny about edge. Russian technique matters more
- 34:30than just pure athleticism. And that's teachable.
- 34:33But this guy Shamar here is showing over and over and over
- 34:36again. He's not going to be teachable
- 34:38if you're not going to sign your guaranteed rookie contract and
- 34:41it is fully guaranteed. It's four years, 18 million or
- 34:44something like that, fully guaranteed.
- 34:46And it's a preset scale. The rookie deals, the year after
- 34:51Sam Bradford and Adam can sue, they went okay, These rookie
- 34:54deals, these rookie contracts are getting outrageous.
- 34:57We're paying people to come in, we're going to have $60 million
- 35:01contracts, fully guaranteed, outrageous deals.
- 35:05We can't be doing this anymore. So they set up a rookie pay
- 35:08scale. And so it's not like there's
- 35:10room for negotiation or there's not like there's room for other
- 35:13movement here. You were picked at #17 this is
- 35:16the deal you get. Just the fact that you're not
- 35:18signing it I think is just completely, completely ass
- 35:21night. It's ridiculous.
- 35:22So I like that you brought up the the draft thing because
- 35:26actually have a couple like some information that I don't feel
- 35:30like a lot of people know. If the Bengals failed to sign
- 35:32Stewart by August 5th, which is 30 days before the start of the
- 35:35season, Cincinnati cannot trade him.
- 35:37Then the next major deadline after that is November 11th,
- 35:40which is similar to the franchise tag.
- 35:43If Stewart has not signed his contract by then, he's not
- 35:46eligible to play the rest of the season.
- 35:48And then if Stewart does not sign or ever take the field this
- 35:52season he is eligible to re enter the draft and the only
- 35:56team that cannot draft him is the Bengals so they would be
- 35:59completely wasting a pick. Their first round pick?
- 36:02Their first round pick, yes. I thought that was interesting
- 36:05because I actually didn't know that.
- 36:06And what an opportunity for Mark Stewart to come into the field
- 36:09on a defense that desperately needs help to work with any of
- 36:12the best defensive lineman in the league if he stays in the
- 36:15team. And then you're just pissing
- 36:16your opportunity away. You're just wasting your entire
- 36:19rookie learning time. It's the rookie training camp,
- 36:23stuff like that. But it's your work.
- 36:24It's your learning time as you move up in level high school or
- 36:27peewee middle school in high school, college, the coaching
- 36:30gets better. The facilities are supposed to
- 36:32get better. Although I don't know if the
- 36:35Bengals have better facilities in Texas A&M.
- 36:37That is is truly up for discussion.
- 36:41But I, I, man, I am not I, I don't know this is, this is a
- 36:44bad career move. That's what this is.
- 36:47Agreed. Here's my problem with Shamar
- 36:49Stewart. He's in a contract dispute over
- 36:51the language of his contract that could potentially void
- 36:54guaranteed money in future years if he were to get suspended now.
- 36:58This contract is the same language as the Cardinals and
- 37:02the Seahawks who were pick 16 and 18, which is right before
- 37:07him and right after him. It's the same exact language and
- 37:11those first round picks have both signed.
- 37:12The problem I have with this is if you're in a dispute over
- 37:16getting suspended and potentially losing money, that
- 37:19tells me something about your character.
- 37:21That tells me that the moment that you get your guaranteed
- 37:25money, you're going to go out and do something stupid and get
- 37:28suspended. That tells me a lot about who
- 37:30you are as a person, not just a. Player Yeah, I I think that's
- 37:34pretty shaggy. It is now.
- 37:36Here's the even bigger problem I have with Shamar Stewart, he
- 37:39said. I don't want nothing more than
- 37:41what I deserve now, aside from the terrible English.
- 37:44What do you deserve, Shamar? What do you deserve?
- 37:47You are a rookie who has never played one single down in the
- 37:51NFL. You had 4 1/2 sacks in three
- 37:53years. You could barely produce in
- 37:55college. You have not played one single
- 37:57snap in the NFLI. Don't care if you were pick
- 38:00number one overall. I don't care if you were pick
- 38:03seventeen overall. What do you deserve?
- 38:05You don't deserve anything right now.
- 38:08You are a rookie who can't even report to mini camp because of a
- 38:12dispute over your contract. The length language of your
- 38:15contract and you think you deserve something.
- 38:18You deserve absolutely nothing. You are not Trey Hendrickson,
- 38:22even though you seem to think that you are.
- 38:24You are not Trey Hendrickson who does deserve it because he has
- 38:27led the league in sacks. He's averaged 14.25 sacks per
- 38:31season since he's been with the Bengals.
- 38:33He has been the Bengals defense Shamar Stewart.
- 38:36You are not Trey Hendrickson. You deserve absolutely nothing,
- 38:42my friend, absolutely nothing. This is ridiculous.
- 38:45He wasn't even the best player on that Texas A&M defensive
- 38:48line. No, he wasn't.
- 38:50You weren't even the best player in your position group in
- 38:54college. And you come in the NFL where
- 38:56you are the smallest fish in the biggest pond when it comes to
- 39:00football. And you just, you just start
- 39:02trying to have a measuring contest and it is going to fail.
- 39:05He's going to fall far on his face.
- 39:07He's going to get stuck with signing it and then he's going
- 39:10to piss off his team and his coaches in the process.
- 39:13And if you think Tim Tebow's rookie hazing was bad, if you
- 39:16don't remember, look up his Friar Tuck haircut.
- 39:20That's a deep cut. I know.
- 39:22But but if you if you think that that some of these other players
- 39:26rookie hazing was bad, just wait until he finally shows up to
- 39:29mini camp. Shamar Stewart turn to be.
- 39:32He's going to go through it. It is not going to be a welcome,
- 39:36a warm welcome for him when he finally gets in the bagels.
- 39:38This. Whole situation, the more I read
- 39:41on it, the more I dislike Shamar Stewart.
- 39:43I hope because of this situation that Shamar Stewart fails.
- 39:48I hope he fails in the NFL because of I already didn't
- 39:51think he would succeed. But I hope that because of this
- 39:53situation, I hope that he is considered one of the biggest
- 39:57busts in NFL history, and I know he won't be because he's picked
- 39:5917. But I hope that somehow he gets
- 40:02to that level because I hate him that much because this is just
- 40:05ridiculous. But I have nothing to add to
- 40:07that. On that note, then, let's move
- 40:09on to our next topic. So we actually had two more
- 40:11topics for this show. I think we're just going to
- 40:14stick to one will and we'll save the we were going to talk about
- 40:17the Titans, but I think we should save that for next time
- 40:19when Avery's back just due to the time.
- 40:21And also I feel like we should get Avery's input on that too
- 40:24because of specifically because of a like IO Manor, who Avery is
- 40:27in love with. Our last topic for the day is
- 40:30going to be could we see the first O and 17 team this season?
- 40:34So in our lifetime we've seen two teams that have gone
- 40:37winless, but they went O and 16 because this was before the 17
- 40:41game season. So the 2008 Detroit Lions and
- 40:44the 2017 Cleveland Browns both went winless.
- 40:48We almost saw the Jaguars do it in 2020 when they finished one
- 40:52and 15. And then since the 17 game
- 40:55schedule has been out, the closest we've gotten is the
- 40:58Carolina Panthers in 2023, who were two and 15.
- 41:01So Will, why don't you start us off?
- 41:03Do you think there's any chance that we see an O and 17 team
- 41:07this season? And if you do, who do you think
- 41:10that team would? Be Oh, I think we have two
- 41:12potentials and I'm going to extreme bear in the lead here.
- 41:15So I think we have two potentials and I don't think
- 41:17that this is a shocker anybody but those two are the Giants and
- 41:21the Saints. So the Giants have, according to
- 41:24Shark Football analysis, the Giants have the hardest schedule
- 41:27in the NFL and the Saints actually have the third easiest
- 41:31schedule in the NFL. So let's start with the Giants.
- 41:34Now. The Giants recently got
- 41:36quarterback Russell Wilson and quarterback Jameis Winston on
- 41:38their team. Given these two, not a single
- 41:41other starter on their offense changed.
- 41:44They did not go with us last year with Tommy De Vito and
- 41:48Daniel Jones. I actually think they have
- 41:51slightly improved. I think their.
- 41:53Quarterback room got, I think their their quarterback room got
- 41:55better. I think is a fair thing to say.
- 41:57The acquisition of Abdul Carter in the draft, they've made some
- 42:00some additions on their defense as well.
- 42:02Even with the third hardest schedule, I still don't think
- 42:06they go. It's not the it's not the third
- 42:07hardest. It's.
- 42:08The hardest, Sorry, it's third easiest and the hardest.
- 42:11Thank you. It's not going to be the easiest
- 42:13for the OK, OK, I'm crossing wires here.
- 42:18It doesn't start easy and it definitely doesn't finish easy.
- 42:21They're at Washington, at Dallas, home versus KC, home
- 42:25versus the Chargers. But then they are at New
- 42:28Orleans. That's the one that's going to
- 42:31be if they go 1 and 16, that's the way they're going to win
- 42:33their home versus Philly, at Denver, at Philly, home versus
- 42:37San Francisco. And it's another winnable game
- 42:39for them because I don't think the Niners are going to be very
- 42:41good this year either. I don't think winless but not
- 42:44very good at Chicago, home versus Green Bay, at Detroit, at
- 42:48New England in Week 13 by at home versus Washington, home
- 42:52versus Minnesota, at Las Vegas, home versus Dallas.
- 42:56So it's pretty grueling, but it's not unwinnable.
- 42:59So I don't think they go over. I think they get a couple wins
- 43:02in there, maybe maybe three. I think 3 and 13 or 3 and 14 at
- 43:08best, at truly at best. We don't know what Russell
- 43:11Wilson we're going to get this year, and I think that is the
- 43:13best possible scenario for Russell Wilson.
- 43:16We have heard so much about Russell Wilson over the past
- 43:19years. Mr. Unlimited up in Seattle, the
- 43:22Instagram videos with Sierra laying in bed, the hey, hey,
- 43:27Broncos, let's ride. That's right.
- 43:29Hey, Denver, Bron, it's Broncos. Hey, what's up?
- 43:33Broncos Country. Broncos Country, that's the one.
- 43:35Broncos Country. That's right.
- 43:37Him doing high knees on the airplane.
- 43:39We've heard all this stuff about Rusty Wilson every offseason and
- 43:43every season for his entire career.
- 43:46And the one year he goes to the most high profile city in the
- 43:50country, we hear nothing about him yet.
- 43:53I mean, even that's a good point.
- 43:55Even day one of Broncos camp two years ago, his first year in
- 44:00Denver, he showed up in some massive truck making some
- 44:05absolute statement wearing his game jersey.
- 44:09He made an absolute Jack wagon of himself day one of camps and
- 44:15and now that he's in the, like I said, the most high profile city
- 44:19in the country and we haven't heard a single thing nationally
- 44:23about Russell Wilson. I'm sure there's been minor
- 44:25things. If you're in New York and you're
- 44:27a Giants fan, you're tapped into that wire.
- 44:29I'm sure there's been things, but we haven't seen anything on
- 44:32it nationally. And I think that is the best
- 44:34possible scenario for Russell Wilson as if he just goes to
- 44:38work. Like we've been talking about
- 44:39this entire episode. He just goes to work.
- 44:42He does his thing. Russell Wilson is not not a bad
- 44:45quarterback. He may have never received an
- 44:47MVP vote, but that doesn't mean he's bad.
- 44:49He well, I think it's a first place MVP vote technically by by
- 44:53all standards. So I I think that between him
- 44:56and Jameis Winston, which is a crazy combination and you get
- 44:59Jackson dart right behind the those things are to be clamoring
- 45:02for Jackson dart. But if Jackson Dart can sit a
- 45:06year or two behind prime mentality Russell Wilson, we
- 45:09don't have prime Russell Wilson, but prime mentality Russell
- 45:12Wilson, when he was consistently taking that Seahawks team deep
- 45:15into the playoffs and in two Super Bowls, it could set
- 45:17Jackson Dart up for a wonderful career.
- 45:20As much as I want to see him play early, he wasn't their
- 45:22first round pick this year, was he not?
- 45:24No, Carter was, but he was also. He was also.
- 45:27Yeah, yes. And so everybody was the one to
- 45:30start early, but I just don't think it's going to happen.
- 45:32So I see it for us. So once you can just show up and
- 45:34go to work. So the Giants, I'm going to give
- 45:37them a no. They're not going to go O 117.
- 45:40So before before we go on to the Saints, I also picked the
- 45:43Giants, but I picked the Giants as my dark horse team to go O
- 45:47117. And the reason why I picked them
- 45:48as my dark horse is because I have been on the show several
- 45:52times saying that I think the Giants are going to be
- 45:54competitive this season. Now, competitive doesn't mean
- 45:57that you're going to win games. I think that I think that the
- 46:01Giants are going to be a team that are are people are going to
- 46:04think that it's going to be an easy win, but it's not going to
- 46:06be an easy win. I think the Giants are going to
- 46:08be very competitive. I think they had a really great
- 46:11draft. I've even said on the show that
- 46:12because of their draft, I might be a Giants fan now.
- 46:14Yeah, I have said. Huge draft winners.
- 46:17They were, I believe. They were your pick for draft
- 46:19winners this year. They were, they were.
- 46:21I think they knocked the draft out of the park.
- 46:24But the reason I think that they're a dark horse team to go
- 46:26O in 17 is like you mentioned, they're schedule is just brutal.
- 46:32So they play the Commanders twice, they play the Eagles
- 46:35twice, they play Dallas twice. And I know Dallas isn't going to
- 46:38be good, but Dallas, especially when Doc Prescott is healthy,
- 46:42always seems to beat the Giants. So those games are not going to
- 46:45be easy. Then in Week 3 they got the
- 46:46Chiefs. Week 4, they have the Chargers.
- 46:48We mentioned the Saints. That was actually one of the
- 46:51four games that I that I looked at on their schedule and said I
- 46:54think they could legit win that game.
- 46:56One of four games that that I saw the Patriots is one of the
- 46:59games I marked as a game they could win.
- 47:01But I do think the Patriots are significantly better than they
- 47:05were last season. There's just there's not a lot
- 47:07of games in there where you look at it and you say they're going
- 47:10to win. Yeah, really, if I was to say
- 47:12any game with confidence, it's the Saints.
- 47:14But the reason I picked the Giants as my dark horse team is
- 47:17because it's possible because of the schedule, but I don't think
- 47:21it's actually going to happen. I can't remember that.
- 47:23All right, sorry I interrupted you.
- 47:25Go on to. The Saints.
- 47:26So then we've got the Saints and used to run through their
- 47:29schedule real quick. They open up at home versus
- 47:31Arizona and in San Francisco. Then they're at Seattle and and
- 47:34then at Buffalo home versus the Giants, which that is the one
- 47:38game that week 5 game, New York first New Orleans.
- 47:42I truly imagine both teams show up O and four, they move that
- 47:46game to 10 AM Western Pacific Time Sunday morning and bury it
- 47:50deep on Fox where nobody ever has to watch that game.
- 47:54The last, probably the last winless team.
- 47:57One of those two teams will win and the other won't be the last
- 48:00winless team. I would.
- 48:01Actually watch that game just just because, just because of
- 48:05that, I would actually. Watch and they're and then
- 48:07they're home against New England, they're at Chicago, at
- 48:09home against Tampa Bay, at the Rams, at Carolina, which that's
- 48:13another game. So obviously NFC South there.
- 48:16We talked about this before your your 4 starting quarterbacks.
- 48:19The way it sits right now is Tyler Shuck, Bryce Young,
- 48:22Michael Phoenix junior and Baker Mansfield like the best one in
- 48:26the group can't remember his name.
- 48:27So Baker Mansfield is the best one in the group.
- 48:30So you're you're home and home or your your two games against
- 48:33Carolina are both possibly winnable, but I think Carolina's
- 48:36making strides because their system's staying the same.
- 48:38And then you've got your two games against Atlanta.
- 48:40But Atlanta again has a pretty all right team except for
- 48:44Michael Penny's junior, but even he played last year and so he's
- 48:47in great in the system a bit more.
- 48:48So they're they're at Carolina and they're home.
- 48:51They have a bi week, Week 11, home against Atlanta, at Miami,
- 48:54at Tampa Bay, home against Carolina.
- 48:56They're home against The Jets. So if they are winless going
- 49:00into week 16, that is a game where I can generally see them
- 49:03sneaking away with the win. Their last three is where they
- 49:05have the highest probability of sneaking away with the win.
- 49:08They're home against The Jets, they're at Tennessee, which is
- 49:12another team that I have as a question mark for winless, and
- 49:14then they're at Atlanta, at Tennessee and Atlanta.
- 49:17Those last three actually really those last four Carolina Jets,
- 49:22Titans, Falcons and what the Saints involved are going to be
- 49:254 games in a row where we're fighting for draft picks.
- 49:29Who's hitting the number one pick?
- 49:30Who is going to get in the top five here?
- 49:33I don't think we see a single winless team.
- 49:35I know all of that is to say no, but I I do think that that we
- 49:40don't see a single winless team this year.
- 49:42If there was any team that I would pick, I would say it's the
- 49:44Saints. I mean, I don't really have
- 49:46anything else to add. They're just terrible.
- 49:49They're just bad. I had two Saints fans on one of
- 49:51our social media posts on YouTube trying to argue with me
- 49:54that Spencer Radler and Tyler Shuck.
- 49:56We're going to be good quarterbacks.
- 50:01Yeah, so the we had a post last week about in our last episode
- 50:06where we were talking about how bad Spencer Rattler was because
- 50:09Avery asked the question, is it going to be Spencer Rattler or
- 50:12Tyler Shuck who starts? And I said Shuck and Avery kind
- 50:15of questioned it a little bit until he kind of went back on
- 50:17that. And then because because he saw
- 50:19that Spencer Rattler was just terrible last year and he went
- 50:22oh, and six in his starts, one of the guys who was kind of
- 50:24fighting me on YouTube was saying, well, Spencer Rattler
- 50:28was playing with a bunch of undrafted free agents, which is
- 50:31true because of all the the injuries that receiver
- 50:34specifically. OK, my response was there's no
- 50:38excuses in the NFL. So his response to me was, I'm
- 50:41going to come back to this post in a few months.
- 50:43And then my response back was when the Saints are O in 17.
- 50:47So I feel like I kind of have to say the Saints because of that.
- 50:50Just to back up my claim of the Saints are going to be O in 17,
- 50:54although I don't actually think it's going to happen.
- 50:55But if there was one team that I would pick, it's going to be the
- 50:59New Orleans Saints because they are bad.
- 51:01Also, just real quick on Tyler Shuck.
- 51:03This is a different guy who was fighting me, but he thinks
- 51:05Rattler is going to be the starter over Shuck.
- 51:07And I said, do you think that's a waste of a pick to pick Shuck
- 51:10at 40 in that case? And he told me I don't think
- 51:14it's a waste of a pick because I think picking him at 40 is a
- 51:17good spot for a high value backup quarterback.
- 51:20And I was like, what the Shuck you talking about?
- 51:24High value backup quarterback at pick 40.
- 51:27That's not good value. So I, I truly believe I'm
- 51:31looking at the same step chart right now.
- 51:34They have six of their 11 starters of first round draft
- 51:38picks and then two more. So bring us up to 8 of the 11
- 51:42are in the first or second round, including Tyler.
- 51:45Shocking this. So you have the vast majority of
- 51:48your starting offense offense as a first or second round draft.
- 51:53Pick that just tells you how bad they are.
- 51:55They should be better than that. I will not be surprised when
- 52:00looking back at their schedule Week 5 versus the Giants.
- 52:03We hear the announcement between Week 4 and Week 5.
- 52:06Take some titles. Listen as the starting
- 52:07quarterback because you have to have because you have run out of
- 52:10options. They went Week 1 and 2, Tyler
- 52:13Shuck Week 2 1/2. So week week 3 they switched to
- 52:18Spencer Rattler. Half into that game, Rattler
- 52:20does just as bad as he had before.
- 52:22Now you've crushed Tyler Shuck. And his 26 year old buddy.
- 52:25Yeah, you've crushed his morale. He's lost all mental faculty.
- 52:29It's not like he's incapable. It's just hard to recover from
- 52:32that. Spencer Radler has shown himself
- 52:35to not be the guy. And so where they have to put
- 52:37anybody who can kind of throw the ball and still is an
- 52:42athlete, and Zilla put Taysom Hill in, And I said this earlier
- 52:45on this show, not today, but in the previous episode, this is a
- 52:48good year to get Taysom Hill as a tight end for your fantasy
- 52:52team because when he eventually starts the quarterback, he's
- 52:55going to rack up the points because they're receiving corps.
- 52:58They've got Chris Allave, they've brought in Brandon Cooks
- 53:00this year. They've got Rasheed, Saheed
- 53:05Shaheed. I'm even looking at the name
- 53:08Shaheed Rasheed. I love the name pronunciation on
- 53:12this show. Joan Johnson is not terrible, I
- 53:16just think that if you get a good enough athlete, IE takes
- 53:19him ill in there, if you keep him, if you stop him from
- 53:22returning punts and kicks and actually put him at something
- 53:26that he can kind of do. He played quarterback in
- 53:27college. He's a BYUI.
- 53:29Truly think he probably gives him the best chance of winning,
- 53:32which sounds so sad because they don't want him to play
- 53:35quarterback. They wanted to play anything
- 53:36else because it's not that good of a quarterback.
- 53:39He's a real Tim Tebow type, but he just adjusted better.
- 53:42Yeah, that that team is just garbage.
- 53:44It really is. Although I still don't think
- 53:46they go with this. I think they they win probably
- 53:48one game. Honestly, they will be.
- 53:50They will probably be pick one or two next.
- 53:54Year, I have their whole schedule in front of me and I
- 53:56marked each of the games that I think they could potentially win
- 53:59and I marked one which was at Titans in week 17.
- 54:02That's the one game that I can that I can see like there's a
- 54:05legit possibility that they can win.
- 54:07And the reason that the Titans are another team I think could
- 54:10potentially go on 17 is because the Saints might be meet them in
- 54:14Week 17. Now, I'm just going to leave
- 54:17that as a cliffhanger as a segue into next week because we're
- 54:20going to talk about the Titans. And with that, we'll be back
- 54:22next week. We'll talk about the Tennessee
- 54:24Titans and what they put around their rookie quarterback Cam
- 54:27Ward. And as always, don't forget to
- 54:29keep your balls played with. We'll see you next.
- 54:31Time miss you Avery. Also, Mark Davis and Sarah Kyle
- 54:33still sucks.