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Ep. 9 The Wait · Football Junkies podcast

0:00
Bag alert, bag alert, bag alert, bag alert, bag alert.
0:03
The street continues, folks.
0:05
The schedule has been released.
0:07
Tua is holding out for a contract.
0:10
Justin Jefferson, the contract talks.
0:12
Brandon Niu of Dilemma, we all know
0:14
that's just a bad situation as a whole.
0:18
C.D. Lam is letting Jerry Jones
0:20
that time is ticking.
0:22
Jomar Chase, Antihigas is holding out
0:24
as well as Tristan Wirtz.
0:26
We got a lot to discuss.
0:27
We're gonna break everything down
0:29
on the ninth episode of the Football Junkies Podcast.
0:33
I am your host, your GM.
0:36
The GM who has produced multiple all-pros,
0:40
multiple holofapers,
0:42
and who currently is not on the team right now.
0:46
Kale, let's get it.
0:47
All right, folks, so crazy turn of events.
0:50
I was literally getting ready to put out
0:53
an episode yesterday when I checked my phone
0:56
and that's the thing I know, I got another bag alert, folks.
1:00
So the street continues.
1:02
Yes, let's see if the street can continue
1:05
all the way up to the start of the first game of the season.
1:09
Let's see, who knows?
1:11
I'm looking forward to it, but let's just dive
1:15
into the stats and everything, all right?
1:18
So, Nico Collins, a receiver for the Texans,
1:21
ain't a three-year, 72.7 million dollar extension with them,
1:25
with a 17 million dollar signing bonus,
1:28
52 million of that is guaranteed,
1:30
which would average around 24.2 million a year
1:33
according to SpotRag.
1:35
Now, when we look at Nico Collins,
1:38
Nico Collins has been a very productive receiver
1:42
since being drafted by the Texans, okay?
1:45
And if we can be real here,
1:48
he was having a crazy season last year, okay?
1:52
Let me just read off the stats that he had last year.
1:55
So he had 80 receptions, 1,297 yards, eight touchdowns,
2:00
and he averaged, averaged 16.2 yards a carry.
2:07
That is really good numbers for someone like Nico Collins,
2:12
and now that they added with them getting Stefan Diggs
2:18
in the trade and then Tink Dell coming back,
2:20
and then I think they traded for another receiver
2:23
that was worth the rams,
2:24
that is a very loaded, dangerous receiving core folks.
2:29
CJ Stroud is going to continue to be a terror,
2:33
not only in his division, but to other AFC teams.
2:37
I would not be surprised if they're back
2:39
in the same situation that they were last season, okay?
2:43
Now, let's go a little bit deeper into the analytics, okay?
2:47
So according to next-gen stats,
2:48
he was first receiving yards as an isolated receiver
2:52
in 2023 with 546 yards.
2:54
He was second, okay?
2:56
Second in receiving yards on post routes,
2:59
according to next-gen stats, by the way, of Fox.
3:03
It was an article when I did the research and found it.
3:07
And he was sixth in catch rate on an in breaking routes
3:12
at 73.9%.
3:14
These are really good numbers, okay?
3:18
Nico Collins is not getting talked about as much
3:20
as he should be because he is up there, okay?
3:24
When you talk about someone that is a productive receiver
3:27
who basically every single time he gets the ball,
3:31
he's making big plays and whatnot, that's what you need.
3:35
And so with the Texans having the offense that they have,
3:41
they can put up 20, 25, maybe 30 points a game.
3:44
They can do that because guess what?
3:46
Teams are gonna be focused on Steph on Dicks.
3:48
Teams are still gonna be focused on Takedown.
3:50
They're still gonna be focused on Nico Collins.
3:52
They have a almost complete rotation for that receiving core,
3:57
okay?
3:58
And it's only going to get better from here, folks, okay?
4:02
Everything that they have done at this point
4:05
for that offense is just spectacular.
4:09
And I would not be surprised if they tried to give a team
4:13
like the Ravens, like the Chiefs, a run for their money
4:17
because they can do it.
4:18
They have the offense and they do have the defense as well.
4:21
People are sleeping on the Texans defense,
4:23
but they did make some good moves for the defense.
4:27
With them having the Neil Hunter and Will Anderson
4:30
on one line or one line, whoo, terror, okay?
4:34
Terror, all right?
4:36
Now, congratulations to Nico Collins getting his deal.
4:41
Now let's talk about the people who are trying
4:44
to get their deals in future bag alerts, okay?
4:47
So Tua currently is still in contract talks
4:52
with the Dolphins.
4:53
Apparently according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN,
4:57
there has been one contract offer
5:00
that was already put out, but of course,
5:03
Tua's camp declined it.
5:05
Now, before we get any further
5:08
with market value, anything like that,
5:10
let me just be completely honest here.
5:11
And I wanna continue to reiterate that I am someone
5:15
who was pro player, won everybody to get paid and whatnot.
5:19
But at the same time,
5:21
we have to address the elephant in the room here, okay?
5:24
Paying Tua top dollar money is somewhat of a double-edged sword.
5:29
And the reason why I say that is because
5:32
his extensive injury history,
5:34
specifically with concussions, okay?
5:37
In 2022, he had five concussions in that one season, five,
5:42
okay? He had them in week five, week six, week 17,
5:49
week 18, and in the wildcard.
5:51
That's not good.
5:53
That is not good at all, folks.
5:55
That is not a good cycle that you want to have.
5:59
We have seen players who have had to medically retire
6:02
because they were suffering too many concussions.
6:05
Case in point, former all pro linebacker,
6:08
Lou Keekley for the Panthers.
6:09
He had to medically retire
6:11
because he was getting so many concussions
6:14
in a small amount of time.
6:16
And around that time, the rules weren't as more strict
6:22
when it came to enforcing concussions and whatnot.
6:25
So unless it was really, really bad
6:28
where he couldn't walk off the field or something,
6:31
he still was gonna go out there.
6:33
He may miss a game or two or whatever the case may be,
6:36
but he was going to be back on the field at some point
6:40
compared to now, whereas they have people
6:43
that are specifically looking at players,
6:45
and if they feel like they have a concussion,
6:48
then they'll take them out and do whatever procedures
6:51
that they need to do.
6:52
So when we look at Tua coming into the league
6:57
had suffered a major injury while in college.
7:00
Let's be real here, folks.
7:02
The injury that he suffered is a similar injury
7:05
to what Bo Jackson suffered when he was with the Raiders.
7:08
And that ended his career.
7:09
Now, medicine has evolved and it's gotten more advanced now.
7:14
And Tua was able to get drafted
7:18
and then eventually played the league
7:19
and be where he is right now.
7:21
But the fact of the matter is paying Tua a lot of money
7:26
can either hurt you right now
7:30
or it's gonna hurt you in the future.
7:31
Because whether we want to admit it or not,
7:34
no matter how fast that they wanna try to get the offense
7:38
to be, no matter how many track stars that they get,
7:42
no matter how many people that they get
7:43
that can run a 4-2 or a 4.1 or whatever the case may be,
7:48
it's still not going to defeat the purpose
7:52
that at some point Tua is going to get hit.
7:55
And you don't want it to be a hit
7:58
where it could end his career or worse.
8:00
You don't want that.
8:02
And so in this situation,
8:05
you have to configure a contract
8:06
to where if anything crazy happens, right?
8:10
He would still get his money,
8:12
but you would only take the fall for maybe a year
8:15
compared to trying to scratch your head
8:18
and figure out, okay, we're gonna have to push this
8:22
down the road year by year by year, right?
8:25
So when we look at his market value according to Spotrack,
8:29
his market value is a four year, 198.5 million dollar deal,
8:34
which averages around 49.6 million a year.
8:38
Now, that is a pretty good contract.
8:41
It is, but it all depends on how they configure it.
8:46
If they front load this deal,
8:49
meaning that the first three years is when,
8:53
the highest cap hits and the signing bonuses
8:55
and all that different type of stuff is in,
8:58
that means that the rest of those years,
9:02
it's easy to work with.
9:03
It's easy to digest it,
9:06
break down and figure out how you're gonna work with it
9:08
compared to basically back loading the deal.
9:12
And now you're trying to figure out
9:14
how to where you're gonna be able to pay anybody else
9:17
that you wanna pay,
9:18
because they still have people that they have to pay.
9:20
They got Javon Holland that they're gonna have to pay,
9:22
Jalen Phillips, possibly Tyreek Hill soon, and Jaylen Waddle.
9:26
And I can tell you right now,
9:28
Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle,
9:29
they're gonna want top dollar money.
9:31
So someone's gonna have to get the ax,
9:34
someone's gonna have to get the bottom
9:35
of the totem pole unfortunately.
9:37
Now the question is, who will that be?
9:40
How will that, you know, conspire?
9:43
And, you know, will the dolphins be willing
9:46
to possibly pay to one?
9:48
Now, if it was me personally, as I put on my GM hat,
9:51
as always, I would probably do a franchise tag.
9:56
And, you know, if his number comes down just a little bit,
10:01
and it's reasonable, then, you know, we can do business.
10:04
But if it's, you know, still something crazy
10:07
where he wants to make just as much money as Lamar
10:10
or Josh Allen or, you know, any of the top players,
10:14
then, you know, we're just gonna have to disagree.
10:16
And we're just gonna have to let you test free agency.
10:20
Because whether we want to, a minute or not,
10:23
Tua does have a market.
10:24
He has a market.
10:25
Now, it's just a matter of, is it a defined market?
10:30
Okay?
10:31
And the reason why I'm saying defined market is because,
10:35
sure, there are teams that are always gonna be interested
10:37
in players, but it's a matter of how much money
10:40
will they be willing to spend for such player, right?
10:43
Especially for quarterbacks.
10:45
Because quarterbacks, you know, are diamond dozen,
10:48
especially really good to elite quarterbacks.
10:51
They are very hard to, you know, to get
10:54
because they get locked up so quickly.
10:57
Once they get locked up, they're gonna stay with that team
10:59
basically for the rest of their career.
11:00
Unless, you know, something crazy happens.
11:02
Then it's like, okay, you know,
11:04
then there'll be free agent and, you know, do whatever.
11:07
But, you know, aside from that,
11:09
they're gonna stay with that team
11:10
probably for the rest of their career.
11:12
Um, so, you know, it's a case of wait and see
11:17
and figure out exactly what's going to happen.
11:20
Hopefully, you know, they do find some mutual ground
11:23
and they do get a deal done.
11:25
That has been official to both Tua and the team.
11:29
While at the same time making sure
11:31
that they protect themselves in case
11:32
of anything crazy happens.
11:34
Now, moving on to Justin Jefferson, all right?
11:40
Now, as we all know, Justin Jefferson is one
11:43
of the best receivers in the league.
11:46
He's one of the most popular players in the league right now.
11:50
But the Vikings have a very, you know,
11:53
tough decision that they have to make right now.
11:55
Because the wide receiver market is in a standstill.
11:59
Everybody is waiting to see
12:01
who's gonna fire the first shot.
12:03
Everyone.
12:04
Amon Rossi Brown got his deal, okay?
12:07
He's already reset in the market.
12:08
Then a few days later, AJ Brown reset in the market
12:11
and guarantees it from not mistaken.
12:13
And then here we are now, okay?
12:18
So you literally have Brandon Iewick,
12:20
Jermon Chase, T Higgins, and Justin Jefferson,
12:23
and CD Lamb all looking for a new deal.
12:26
The question is who's gonna be the first person, right?
12:30
Justin Jefferson is going to reset the market.
12:33
I don't care what anyone says.
12:35
I don't care what any analyst says, any former player,
12:37
any, you know, journalist or person
12:39
that just wanna talk on the microphone.
12:41
Justin Jefferson is going to reset the market.
12:46
And when he does reset the market,
12:48
the only person that could probably get close
12:50
or maybe oversee his deal could possibly be Tyree Kilmer.
12:56
And even then, there are limitations with him
12:58
because teams aren't gonna be as willing
13:03
to shell out all of this money, especially to a receiver.
13:07
They're just not.
13:09
So it's a wait and see type of moment.
13:13
And if we're being real here, it's going,
13:17
this could probably draw out into possibly,
13:22
you know, deeper into the training camp at one time.
13:24
I would not be surprised
13:25
because everybody's waiting to see who's gonna get the,
13:29
who's gonna reset the market next.
13:31
There's gonna be CD Lamb, there's gonna be T Higgins,
13:33
there's gonna be Jermon Chase,
13:34
there's gonna be Justin Jefferson,
13:35
there's gonna be Brandon Iewick.
13:37
If it was me personally, I feel like Justin Jefferson
13:40
is gonna reset the market first.
13:42
CD Lamb's probably gonna get as close as he can to it.
13:46
Then it's gonna be Brandon Iewick, then everybody else.
13:50
Because when we observe and we look at the market value
13:53
for some of these receivers, better yet,
13:57
let's start with T Higgins, for instance.
14:00
T Higgins market value, surprisingly,
14:02
when I did the research, is actually very lower
14:06
than what I expected.
14:08
He would be valued at a five year, $98.5 million deal
14:13
which would average around 19.7 million a year.
14:17
T Higgins should not be valued that low, he shouldn't.
14:22
T Higgins on another team could possibly be a one or a two.
14:27
Okay, T Higgins was on the Bengals before,
14:32
they became who they are right now.
14:35
So you would think that the Bengals
14:37
would compensate him for that and they have it.
14:40
And I remember there was a report that came out
14:44
that basically the Bengals haven't even talked to T Higgins
14:48
about a contract extension since last March.
14:52
Last March, okay, that's not good,
14:56
especially when they just paid Joe Burr all that money.
15:00
Everybody knows that if they do not keep that core,
15:05
things are not going to look good for the Bengals.
15:08
It's just not, I'm sorry.
15:09
And then not to mention it doesn't help that,
15:12
his teammate Jamar Chase is also looking for money as well.
15:16
And even then when you look at his market value,
15:18
his market value is a three year,
15:21
$90.7 million deal which would average around 30.2 million
15:25
a year.
15:26
That's not gonna sit well with that receiving core.
15:30
It's just not because T Higgins argument
15:33
is probably gonna be, I was here before all of this.
15:36
I was here when we were struggling to be a better team.
15:41
We were going through multiple quarterbacks
15:44
and the offense really wasn't doing anything.
15:46
We were at the bottom or at least third place
15:49
in the division.
15:50
That's what he's thinking, okay?
15:52
I don't know how this is gonna pan out,
15:56
but all I can say is this is not gonna be good.
15:59
This is not, and I will not be surprised if T Higgins
16:02
will possibly sit out maybe or just,
16:07
he'll just sign the tag and just do whatever
16:11
because whether we want to admit it or not,
16:15
the Bengals have been a little bit shiesty
16:18
when it comes to their business lately and it shows.
16:23
They have to do better when it comes to paying
16:26
their key players.
16:28
Tyler Boyd, that's perfectly fine.
16:31
Not saying anything about that,
16:33
but you have to try to keep that core
16:36
in T Higgins and Jermard Chase.
16:39
You have to, whatever you have to do, do it.
16:42
Because if you don't, you are going to see Joe Burrow
16:45
regress, mark my words.
16:47
Mark my GM words, you are going to see it
16:50
because Jermard Chase and T Higgins,
16:54
they do a lot on their offense and they create
16:58
so much of a presence on that field that at times
17:03
they might have to get double, they might have to get triple
17:05
or whatever the case may be, just because of
17:09
how big of a playmaker they are.
17:13
So it's sort of a wait and see type of situation.
17:17
And even then when we look at CD Lamb situation,
17:20
CD Lamb has let it be known that the clock is ticking
17:24
and that he wants to get paid soon.
17:27
But the problem is with his situation is
17:30
both he's in the contract here and Dak is in the contract here.
17:34
And then pretty soon Michael Parsons
17:36
is going to be in the contract here.
17:38
That's three players that if we're being real here,
17:41
two of them are probably going to get close
17:44
to resetting the market, okay?
17:47
I don't know if Jerry wants to do that.
17:49
Now granted, Jerry does take care of his players.
17:52
That is the one thing that we can all agree on.
17:55
Jerry Jones does make sure that he takes care of his players,
17:59
but at the same time,
18:01
he is going to try to get the best value possible.
18:03
Now, has he overpaid for players when he shouldn't have?
18:07
Yes, of course he has,
18:09
but he makes sure that he takes care of his players.
18:12
So I would not be surprised if this draws out,
18:15
you know, longer possibly into training camp
18:18
because CD Lamb in his eyes believes
18:21
that he is a top five receiver
18:23
and I'm not going to disagree with him on that,
18:26
but at the same time, the question is,
18:29
does Jerry value CD Lamb more or Dak more?
18:33
That's the question.
18:34
Because the team right now is at a crossroads
18:37
where either they can continue to progress
18:41
and they just, you know, they pay CD Lamb
18:44
and they figure out what they're going to do
18:45
with the quarterback or they re-up with Dak,
18:49
but at the cost of possibly losing CD Lamb to free agency.
18:53
That is a very tough decision
18:56
that they're going to have to make
18:57
and it's not going to look good,
18:59
but hey, they got to do what they got to do, right?
19:04
Moving forward to the whole Brandon IEU dilemma.
19:07
Unfortunately, yes, we do have to talk about Brandon IEUIC
19:10
because he is in that same boat
19:12
with a lot of these receivers, right?
19:14
Brandon IEUIC, if we can be honest here,
19:18
is in a situation where,
19:20
and I've said this before in previous episodes,
19:24
you can either take less and still be on the team
19:27
and possibly compete to win a championship
19:30
and then, you know, when you hit free agency,
19:32
you can re-up and get more money
19:35
or you get traded to another team
19:38
and you get the money,
19:40
but you never get close to winning a championship.
19:43
That's the dilemma right here.
19:45
Because whether we want to admit it or not,
19:47
the 49ers are not in a position
19:49
where they can just continue to reset the market
19:52
for every single star player.
19:54
They just can't do that.
19:55
It's not possible, okay?
19:56
They reset the market for Nick Bosa.
19:58
They reset in the market for Christian McCaffrey.
20:00
They reset in the market for Trent Williams.
20:02
At some point, someone's going to have to take less, someone.
20:06
And if Brandon IEUIC makes more money
20:09
than what D-Bow is making,
20:11
that's going to money up the waters.
20:13
Which, I mean, if we're being real here,
20:15
the waters are already moneyed up
20:17
with them drafting two receivers.
20:19
With them drafting Ricky Piersol in the first round,
20:22
that already just puts a damper in everything.
20:25
Because now you have a receiver court
20:27
that's just stacked that, honestly speaking,
20:31
who's really going to get a majority of those reps?
20:34
Probably D-Bow and probably whoever else is still on the team.
20:38
There's only one ball, only one ball.
20:41
So not everybody's going to be able to do something.
20:45
And so someone's going to have to go.
20:47
Now, if it's me personally, I feel like D-Bow will probably go
20:51
because his contract is more digestible for some teams.
20:57
So teams will be able to manipulate it a little bit more
21:00
in their favor compared to giving up high draft compensation
21:04
for Brandon IEUIC and then having to pay him top dollar money.
21:09
Right?
21:10
Let me look at Brandon IEUIC's market value, right?
21:13
He is valued at a four year, $106 million deal,
21:17
which were averaged around $25.5 million a year.
21:23
Well, correction, $26.5, sorry.
21:27
If we can be real here, yes, that is pretty normal,
21:32
but at the same time, at some point,
21:35
you have to put the line in the same, okay?
21:38
Brandon IEUIC is not a 30 million dollar year type of receiver.
21:42
He is not.
21:43
He's not up there with AJ Brown.
21:45
He's not up there with DK Metcalf.
21:46
He's not up there with Cooper Cup.
21:48
He is definitely not up there with Justin Jefferson
21:51
or Tyree Kill.
21:53
He is not, okay?
21:55
So, you know, if you're a team that is looking for a receiver,
22:02
you have to figure out, okay,
22:05
if we try to make a move for someone like a Brandon IEUIC,
22:08
how much money is he going to ask from us?
22:11
Can we do it? Is it going to work?
22:13
And are we still going to get the same production
22:15
that, you know, San Francisco got?
22:17
Those are very tough decisions
22:19
and those are very tough questions
22:21
that teams are going to have to ask themselves, unfortunately.
22:24
Now, if it was me personally,
22:27
if I was in Brandon IEUIC shoes,
22:29
if I was in his inner circle,
22:31
I probably would say take less.
22:33
Take less.
22:34
Take a two-year, take a two-year, three-year deal.
22:37
So that guess what?
22:38
If y'all went in championship, guess what?
22:41
You can hit free agency next
22:43
and then you can really re-up.
22:45
Get the bag.
22:46
You could go to a crappy team.
22:47
Wouldn't matter, because guess what?
22:48
You got your championship.
22:49
You got a ring.
22:50
So that's all that matters.
22:51
You are cemented in history, right?
22:55
Compared to just, you know, basically saying,
22:58
you know, I want all this money,
22:59
I want all this money, I want all this money.
23:01
When in actuality, guess what?
23:04
The 49ers are going to tell you,
23:05
we can only fit this much on this small little plate.
23:09
So what you're asking for doesn't fit on this plate.
23:11
So either, you know, you cut it in half
23:14
or we just going to have to take you off the plate.
23:17
I know it's a crazy analogy,
23:18
but hopefully you follow with me on that.
23:23
But you know, it's a very tough situation for GMs right now
23:27
because it's a standstill for receivers.
23:32
Because once the other person gets a deal,
23:36
then I'm going to be like, okay, we want a different deal.
23:39
We want more guarantees
23:41
or we want a bigger signing bonus
23:43
or we want this or we want that.
23:46
It's a very, very, very tough situation right now.
23:50
But hopefully something gets resolved pretty quickly
23:53
and everybody gets paid and everybody is happy.
23:56
But at the end of the day, as everyone says,
24:00
this is a business.
24:02
And sometimes you have to make business decisions
24:06
that not everybody is going to agree with, unfortunately.
24:10
But moving forward to Tristan Werff.
24:12
Tristan Werff, in my mind, is 1A and 1B with Pinesuwell.
24:21
Those two tackles are the two best young tackles
24:26
in this league right now.
24:28
When Trent Williams retires and whatnot,
24:31
those two are going to continue to carry the mantle
24:34
of being the best tackles, okay?
24:37
Tristan Werff is in a situation where he is someone
24:41
who can play both right tackle and left tackle
24:44
at an elite level.
24:46
And if you're the Buccaneers, you have to figure out,
24:48
okay, how much money do we have to shell out to keep him?
24:54
Because let me be real here.
24:57
Let me be crystal clear with what I'm about to say.
25:00
If the Buccaneers let Tristan Werff's walk
25:04
into free agency, I guarantee you,
25:08
by the before the end of the first day of free agency,
25:12
he would have already entered the deal.
25:15
And his deal will be way more,
25:18
or probably even as close to what Pinesuwell just got.
25:22
Because he's that good of a tackle.
25:25
And it's not like there's a whole bunch of Tristan Werffs
25:28
and Pinesuwells and Trent Williams and Roddy Stanley's
25:31
and this person, that person just sitting around.
25:34
It's not.
25:35
It's very hard to find elite tackles nowadays.
25:39
The Lane Johnson's of the world.
25:42
Trent Williams, like I just said, Tristan Werffs,
25:44
Pinesuwell, all of those guys, Tyron Smith,
25:48
during his heyday, it's hard to find those type of tackles.
25:52
David Bakhtiari.
25:53
I know I'm just listing people off,
25:55
but the names just keep on coming.
25:57
But the point is, you have to invest
26:02
into the offensive line.
26:03
You've already secured the bag for the quarterback.
26:06
You've already secured the bag for your receiver.
26:10
So basically he can, in his career, with you guys,
26:14
pay the tackle.
26:15
Because if you don't pay that tackle,
26:18
I can't guarantee that you'll be able to find someone
26:21
who will be just as good or even better
26:24
than what Tristan Werffs is.
26:25
And even then, who is to say that you
26:27
will be able to move up to be able to get him?
26:30
These are very tough decisions.
26:32
And so if you're a GM, you have to make sure
26:36
that you keep someone like Tristan Werffs on the team.
26:40
You have to.
26:41
No matter what you have to do, no matter if you have to cut
26:45
a veteran player that's been with the team,
26:47
all his life or whatever, I'm sorry,
26:49
you might have to take a pay cut.
26:51
Because we got to keep this guy.
26:52
Because he's that good.
26:55
And you have to protect the blind side of the quarterback.
26:57
Otherwise, they're going to get clothes
26:59
lined for basically four quarters.
27:00
And quarterbacks don't want that.
27:04
They don't.
27:05
Now, moving on to the schedule release.
27:09
Now, before we go deep into the schedule release,
27:12
big shout out to the Chargers for once again putting out
27:16
the fire that is their schedule release videos.
27:19
Folks, if you have not seen any of the Chargers release videos
27:24
when the schedules drop, please, you have to watch it.
27:26
Because each and every year, they get better and better
27:30
and better.
27:31
Like this year, they had something
27:33
to where there was a QR code for the Raiders.
27:35
And if you scanned it, it actually
27:37
sent you to the National Clown Foundation's website.
27:41
I know it's crazy, right?
27:43
So let me look at this schedule.
27:45
This schedule is tedious for some teams.
27:50
And it's pretty good to others.
27:54
And just downright horrible for others, right?
27:57
If you're a team in the AFC North specifically,
28:02
this is going to be a tough stretch for you.
28:05
This is going to be a really tough stretch for you.
28:06
Like I know for the Pittsburgh Steelers,
28:09
they have a stretch to where they have to go up against the Chiefs,
28:14
the Eagles, the Ravens, and then another AFC North opponent.
28:20
Back to back to back to back to back.
28:23
That's a lot.
28:24
Now, if we're being real here, right,
28:28
when we look at this schedule, we
28:30
have to look at it from an analytical standpoint, right?
28:34
And the reason why I say that is because you can sort of
28:38
understand and see, like, OK, this is the reason why
28:41
that team, you know, this is why their schedule is
28:44
the way that it is.
28:45
This is why this team schedules a little bit harder
28:48
than the others.
28:49
This is why.
28:51
So let's sort of look deep into this, right?
28:55
So according to Sharpen Linux, shout out to Sharpen Linux,
29:00
the easiest schedules for the 2024 season
29:04
includes the Falcons, Chargers, Bears, Jets, Sains.
29:09
OK?
29:10
Now, all of those teams sort of have something in common.
29:13
Either they're going through a rebuild,
29:15
they just got their, you know, their star quarterback,
29:18
or, you know, they're still a young team
29:21
and they don't have as much star power on their roster, right?
29:26
Now, when you look at the hardest schedules
29:29
for the 2024 season, you have the Pittsburgh Steelers,
29:32
Patriots, Browns, Ravens, and Vikings.
29:34
Now, out of all of those teams, right,
29:37
one of those teams is a Super Bowl Caliber Team.
29:40
The other ones are Playoffs Caliber Teams.
29:43
Now, if we can be real here, folks,
29:46
sometimes these schedules can get pretty crazy.
29:48
They can, and, well, you know what this,
29:53
those probably just turn into a quick rant.
29:55
Honestly speaking here, with these international games,
29:58
I think the league does need to figure out
30:01
that they can possibly squeeze in a second by week,
30:05
because it's not fair to players that, you know,
30:07
they have to leave at a certain day
30:09
and then expect to, you know, play a game,
30:12
you know, within one or two days after landing,
30:15
you know, someplace internationally.
30:18
And it's not like they're going to places, you know,
30:20
like, like Mexico or somewhere.
30:22
They're going to places like London, Germany,
30:25
Brazil this year, possibly to Australia
30:29
from what I've heard.
30:30
Like, these are not just, you know,
30:32
okay, they'll only take maybe about five hours to get there.
30:35
Like, no, these are, you know, plain rides
30:38
that are going to take multiple hours.
30:41
And so, you know, players might be jet lagged
30:44
or, you know, they might have to stretch
30:46
or whatever the case may be.
30:48
So you have to figure, you have to figure something out
30:51
if you are the league,
30:52
because you still have to compensate these players, okay?
30:56
Whether we want to admit it or not,
30:58
they're human at the end of the day, okay?
31:00
And so, you cannot just say, oh yeah,
31:04
we want to have an 18 week season
31:06
or, oh, we want to have games, you know, in Australia,
31:09
or we want to have games here or there,
31:12
like you just can't do that.
31:14
You have to factor in the players to travel.
31:16
How would it affect the players
31:19
and what not listen to the feedback of the players
31:21
when they do go to these international games,
31:24
like in Germany and London,
31:25
and figure out some common ground that can, you know,
31:30
that can help both the league and also the players?
31:33
Because if you don't, players are going to push back
31:36
and you don't want that.
31:37
And trust me, we've already experienced one holdout, okay?
31:41
You don't want to experience a second one.
31:44
Now, I decided to do sort of a little experiment
31:47
and I decided to choose one team with the easy schedule
31:51
and one team with the hard schedule.
31:53
So, for the easy schedule, I decided to choose the Chargers.
31:57
And for a hard schedule, I decided to choose the Ravens.
32:00
So, let's start with the Chargers, okay?
32:03
So the Chargers' opponents for this season
32:04
include the Raiders, Panthers, Steelers, Chiefs, Broncos,
32:07
Carnot Saints, Browns, Titans, Bengals, Ravens,
32:11
Falcons, Chiefs, Bucks, Broncos, Patriots, and Raiders.
32:14
Now, when you look at the schedule,
32:16
the schedule does has its highs and lows,
32:18
as, you know, as any schedule does,
32:20
but it allows the, you know,
32:22
it allows the team to sort of go through the roller coaster
32:26
that is, you know, the season.
32:28
So, especially with them having a new coach
32:31
and having a new offensive coordinator,
32:32
you kind of want to see exactly what's, you know,
32:36
what's going to happen.
32:37
How's the team going to be able to go up
32:40
against some of these teams?
32:41
And are they a team where, you know,
32:43
they can possibly make a leap to being a playoff team
32:46
or are they a team that, you know,
32:47
they still need another year or two to possibly, you know,
32:52
become better via the draft free agency
32:54
or whatever the case may be, right?
32:56
So, when we look at the Ravens, for instance,
32:58
since they have a hard schedule,
33:00
their opponents include the Chiefs, Raiders, Cowboys,
33:03
Bills, Bengals, Commanders, Bucks, Browns,
33:06
Broncos, Bengals, Steelers, Chargers, Eagles,
33:09
Giants, Steelers, Texans, and Browns.
33:11
Now, when you look at them,
33:13
there are some stretches in the Ravens schedule
33:16
where, you know, it's going to be hard for them.
33:19
It's going to be very difficult for them.
33:21
And if we're being real here for the Ravens,
33:24
they have to send the message week one.
33:28
They have to.
33:29
They have to send the message week one to the Chiefs
33:32
because if they don't,
33:34
the Chiefs are going to feel themselves, okay?
33:36
They're going to believe that, hey,
33:39
we beat y'all in the post season,
33:40
we can beat y'all in the regular season, okay?
33:43
And if you're a Ravens fan, you don't want that.
33:45
You just don't.
33:45
So, I say all that to say this.
33:49
These schedules are going to get more and more crazier.
33:53
The prime time games, do I like them?
33:55
Some of them, do I feel like, you know,
33:58
the Christmas game they should just get rid of?
34:00
Yes, personally, I just feel like, you know,
34:02
who really wants to watch football on Christmas, okay?
34:06
If it's Thanksgiving, I'm not going to argue with it.
34:08
I'm just not.
34:09
But Christmas, come on, guys, come on.
34:12
We have to do a better job because
34:15
when are they going to be able to, you know,
34:17
really spend time with their family on Christmas?
34:19
So you mean to tell me I got to play football
34:21
on Christmas?
34:22
Come on, man.
34:23
It's not cool.
34:24
But, you know, I'm going to end this episode right here.
34:27
I don't want this episode to be long and drawn out.
34:30
I know for the past couple of weeks,
34:32
the episodes have been a little bit drawn out.
34:33
So I just want to get something a little bit easier,
34:36
you know, just to give you the fix that you need.
34:39
If you guys like what you are listening,
34:40
please, please, please, please, please follow us
34:44
on Instagram at football underscore junkies pod.
34:47
We're going to be putting out some more content as well.
34:50
And make sure that you download these episodes
34:53
on whatever streaming platform that you guys listening to,
34:55
whether that be Apple podcast, Spotify,
34:58
whatever the case may be.
34:59
Make sure that you guys are downloading,
35:01
leaving a review and giving us a rating,
35:05
possibly five stars if can, please.
35:07
I would definitely appreciate it.
35:09
We're going to try to see if we can also put out
35:11
some content for the YouTube as well.
35:13
We got to make sure that we,
35:15
that we feed the YouTube junkies as well.
35:18
So I'm going, I want to try to see if I can convert
35:20
the older episodes into YouTube videos,
35:23
trying to work through that,
35:24
as well as create content for TikTok.
35:28
So a lot of things are going on behind closed doors.
35:30
I'm excited to put out more content for you guys.
35:34
And as always, hopefully I gave you the fix
35:37
that you need this week for all my football junkies out there.
35:41
I thank you everybody for listening and supporting so far.
35:46
I mean, it's only up for here because this is one of
35:49
the best sports podcasts that you are going to listen to.
35:53
Okay, just believe that we are going to be number one soon
35:57
and very soon.
35:58
And with that, peace and love, I'm out.