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Ep.104: Gettin ya lick back · Football Junkies podcast

0:00
and with that the 2025 season comes to a close
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Now, I know this is a somber moment for a lot
0:05
of fans, but I'm just going to be honest with
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you. Everything's going to be all right. We're
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going to get through this, guys. We are going
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to get through this because you know why? Over
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here at the Football Junkies Podcast, we are
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going to continue to give you the fix that you
0:18
all need and love because we still have a plethora
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of different things we need to talk about. There's
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a plethora of different things that we need to
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prepare ourselves, okay? We got to get ready
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for the combine. That's around the corner. We
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got to get ready for free agency and everything
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that comes with free agency, okay? But before
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we get to... that point, we have to talk about
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the Super Bowl, we have to talk about the Dolphins
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cleaning house, we have to talk about the Cowboys
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planning to franchise tag George Pickens, we
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have to talk about the NFLPA's report cards that
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are being discontinued because the league owners
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are upset about it, and we have to talk about
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the plan for the offseason, okay? All of this
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and more. On the 104th episode of the Football
0:54
Junkies Podcast, okay, I am your host with the
0:56
most, all right? I am your chief bag roll dominance.
0:59
That's right, chief head of the table. Anything
1:00
and everything related to the bag, rumors to
1:02
the bag, and more. I am your hopium, hopium,
1:05
hopium, hopium, hopium deal. That's right. All
1:07
the hopium that you need to make it through these
1:10
next six months, I am your guy, okay? I am your
1:13
GM who currently is not on a team right now.
1:15
But don't you worry about it, okay? Don't you
1:18
worry about it because guess what? I am all these
1:21
things and more. importantly, the most important
1:23
thing that you must remember is I am your host,
1:25
Kale. Buckle up. It's going to get crazy. So
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guess what? On three, one, two, three, let's
1:29
lock in. All right, folks, let's just get into
1:54
the meat and potatoes of everything that is going
1:55
on in the league right now. So let's talk about
1:57
the Super Bowl. So Sam Darnold, 38 attempts for
2:00
19 completions, 202 passing yards, one touchdown,
2:03
5 .3 yards per attempt, and a 50 % completion
2:06
percentage. Kenneth Walker III, 27 attempts for
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135 rushing yards, five rushing yards per carry.
2:12
Cooper Cup. 12 targets for six receptions, 61
2:15
receiving yards, and 10 .2 receiving yards per
2:18
reception. Drake May, 43 attempts for 27 completions,
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295 passing yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions,
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6 .9 yards per attempt, a 62 .8 completion percentage.
2:29
Drake May again, five attempts for 37 rushing
2:31
yards, 7 .4 rushing yards per carry. Mack Hollins,
2:35
eight targets for four receptions, 78 receiving
2:38
yards, one touchdown, and 19 .5 receiving yards
2:41
per reception. So my two take... takeaways from
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this game is New England exceeded expectations
2:45
but needs to continue to improve their offense
2:48
while Seattle dominated every facet of this game.
2:51
Offensively, the two reasons why they made it
2:53
this far was because they minimized their mistakes
2:55
and they converted on key downs. Now that can
2:58
win you a couple of games, but at some point
3:00
you're going to hit that wall. And that wall
3:02
was the Seattle defense. Even if the Patriots
3:05
ran heavier formations, it still would have changed
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the outcome because at the end of the day, the
3:09
Seahawks were going to make those adjustments.
3:11
And once they found a weakness on this offense,
3:14
they were going to attack it. The Seahawks' defense
3:17
was attacking that left side of the offensive
3:20
line, and the Patriots' offense didn't have an
3:22
answer for it. You don't believe me? I got some
3:25
junkie nuggets to prove it. According to NextGenStats,
3:28
Will Campbell allowed 14 pressures, which is
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a 26 .9 pressure rate, which is tied for the
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most by any offensive lineman in a playoff game
3:38
since 2018. Now, in the entire postseason, Will
3:43
Campbell allowed 29 pressures, the most pressures
3:46
allowed in a postseason in the next -gen stats
3:49
era. Think about that for a second. I even took
3:52
notes on every single time Drake May was sacked.
3:55
The first quarter, 1st and 10, 851 left, Derek
4:00
Hall power rushes and chases down Drake May.
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3rd and 15, 415 left, Devin Witherspoon blinches
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Drake May for the sack. The second quarter, 10
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-43 left. Second and seven, Riley Mills walks
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down, and I literally mean what I say, walks
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down the left guard for a sack. The third quarter,
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first and 10, 5 -10 left, Byron Murphy sacks
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Drake May. And then in the fourth quarter, first
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and 10, 5 -29 left, Byron Murphy sacks Drake
4:32
May again. It doesn't matter if the Patriots
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brought in two tight ends, if they used their
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biggest tight end as a fullback, it wouldn't
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have changed the outcome because the Seahawks'
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defense was fundamentally sound and they had
4:46
a plan to go after Drake May. They were going
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after Drake May so much that Drake May became
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startled in the pocket. There were a lot of times
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he was just looking at his left side because
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he realized that Will Campbell was essentially
5:00
a rotating door. All four quarters. And since
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we're talking about Will Campbell, why is it
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that all of a sudden a report comes out that
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says, oh, Will Campbell played with a torn ligament
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in his knee? Is that supposed to be an excuse
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on why he didn't play well in the Super Bowl?
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Because I want to ask you this, my fellow Patriots
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fans. If you guys would have won the Super Bowl,
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do you think this report would have come out?
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I'm going to ask it again. If the Patriots would
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have won the Super Bowl, Do you believe that
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the report would have come out that says that
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Will Campbell played the entire season with a
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torn ligament in his knee? Me personally, I don't
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think so. Now I'll give the Patriots defense
5:43
credit because they held their own. They were
5:45
the sole reason why they were still in that game.
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But as the game continued on, they started to
5:51
lose their grip. In eight targets, Christian
5:54
Gonzalez only allowed three completions for 36
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yards. Craig Woodson was doing his thing. Robert
6:00
Spillane was doing his thing. Everybody on that
6:03
defense tried their hardest to keep the game
6:06
close. But unfortunately, the Seahawks made more
6:08
plays than what the Patriots did. And if we want
6:10
to be honest here, the unsung hero in this game
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is the Seahawks' special teams. Because their
6:16
kicker and their punter was green all night.
6:19
But let's talk about the Seahawks' defense. Because
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this, by far, is one of the most dominating performances
6:24
that we have seen a defense show in a Super Bowl
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in a very long time. The only two other times
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that I can remember a defense playing this well
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in the Super Bowl was when the Buccaneers crushed
6:34
Patrick Mahomes and then the Legion of Boom facing
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the Broncos. So when you compare the Legion of
6:40
Boom defense to the dark side defense, there
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is some similarities than differences. So with
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the Legion of Boom, they had two interceptions,
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two forced fumbles. They allowed eight points,
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306 total yards, 27 rush yards, 279 passing yards,
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and one sack. Now, the dark side defense, however,
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they have two interceptions, one forced fumble.
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They allow 331 total yards, 13 points, and six
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sacks. If you was to do a little bit of math
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between both of these defenses, specifically
7:11
the total yards that they allow, it's only a
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25 total yard difference. That's not bad. that
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actually shows you how similar both defenses
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are. Now, the approach that they have is a little
7:22
bit different because with this defense, they
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were more productive when it comes to sacks,
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whereas with the Legion of Boom, they were just
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menaces. God, I miss that defense, but we're
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not gonna talk about them, okay? We're gonna
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talk about this defense because this defense
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was effective in creating pressure while not
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overly blitzing. According to NextGenStats, they
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generated a 52 .8 % pressure rate. which is the
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second highest for the team this season the highest
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of any defense this postseason the fourth highest
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in a postseason since 2019 despite only blitzing
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on just 13 .2 percent of plays which is the third
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lowest for any defense this postseason the seahawks
8:01
front seven didn't allow zero explosive design
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runs for the seventh time this season They hit
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the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage
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on 53 .8 % of design rushes, which is the second
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highest for this team this season. Now that junkie
8:16
nugget just highlighted how effective this defensive
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line was, but also sheds light on how bad the
8:21
Patriots offensive line was. Now offensively,
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the Seahawks did just enough to win this game.
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However, Sam Darnold almost threw two interceptions.
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Now as the game continued on, the Seahawks started
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to rely less on the passing game and started
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to rely more on the run game. Another takeaway
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from this game is the rise of the nickel hybrid
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safety role. And the reason why I say that is
8:43
because in previous years, that was a position
8:45
that was not valued a lot, right? It was usually
8:48
somebody who couldn't play corner or safety full
8:51
time, but was athletic enough to do both. But
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now what you're starting to see is players make
8:56
a name for themselves in that position. You're
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starting to see people like a Jalen Petrie, a
9:01
Nicky Manwari, a Cooper DeGene, a Devin Weatherspoon
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be considered elite players playing that role.
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And the trickle -down effect that comes with
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that is now defensive coordinators are going
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to start emphasizing that role now, and GMs are
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going to start emphasizing that role in both
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free agency and the draft. So somebody who's
9:20
now considered a tweener may now become a first
9:23
-rounder just because defensive coordinators
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may think, oh, we can use him like how the Texans
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use Jalen Petrie, or we can use him like how
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the Seahawks use Nick and Matt Warren. My final
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takeaway from this game is that the Seahawks
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made the right moves to position this franchise
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in the right direction. And the reason why I
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say that is because when we look at the moves
9:43
that they made to get to this point, they had
9:45
to move off of Pete Carroll. They had to move
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off of Russell Wilson, Geno Smith, and DK Metcalf
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in order to be where they are right now. And
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specifically when we talk about the Russell Wilson
9:56
trade, look at what they received from it. Of
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course, we all know they got Drew Locke, Noah
10:01
Fant, and Shelby Harris, right? But look at the
10:03
draft picks, okay? That 2022 first round pick
10:07
later became Charles Cross. That 2022 second
10:10
round pick became Boye Mafe. That 2022 fifth
10:13
round pick became Tyreek Smith. That 2023 first
10:17
round pick became Devin Weatherspoon. That 2023
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second round pick became Derek Hall. And in that
10:23
same draft class, they also drafted JSN and Zach
10:26
Charbonnet. In 24, they drafted Byron Murphy,
10:30
Tyrese Knight, Christian Haynes, A .J. Barner,
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D .J. James. This past draft, they drafted Gray
10:36
Zabel, Nicky Manwari, Elijah Royal, Jalen Milrow,
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Ricky White, just to name a few. This is how
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you build championship teams, by consistently
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hitting on your draft picks. Everything that
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I've been saying since starting this podcast
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is shown right here, right in front of our eyes.
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The Seahawks have literally shown that if you
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consistently hit on your draft picks, if you
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have the proper infrastructure for success, you
11:03
are going to be successful. And that's exactly
11:07
what happened. Now, I'll be transparent just
11:10
for a moment. I was against the Cooper Cup signing.
11:12
I was against the DeMarcus Lawrence signing because
11:15
I thought those two were washed. I thought those
11:18
two didn't have no more juice left. But clearly,
11:21
I was wrong. And so here we are in an offseason
11:24
where, of course, we all know the Seahawks had
11:27
the last pick in the draft, but you have a lot
11:29
of cap space. So technically speaking, you could
11:32
run this thing back one more time because the
11:35
roster is still fairly young. So if you wanted
11:38
to, you could re -sign Tyreek Woodland. You can
11:40
re -sign Kenneth Walker. You can re -sign JSN
11:43
and a few other people. Now let's talk about
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the Dolphins for just a moment. So for those
11:48
of you who don't know, they decided to move off
11:50
of Tyreek Hill. James Daniels, Nick Westbrook
11:53
-Akene, and Bradley Chubb. Now making these moves,
11:56
they open up about $34 .4 million in cap space,
11:59
which is good. However, the question we all need
12:02
to ask ourselves is, how are they going to designate
12:05
Tyreek Hill's release? And the reason why I say
12:07
that is because there is a difference in cap
12:10
savings if they designate it as a post or pre
12:13
-June 1st designation. Also, if I'm not mistaken,
12:17
some of his guaranteed money, I think that's
12:19
tied in with injury bonuses or something, something
12:21
crazy. I will have to look at the contract again
12:23
is either avoided or he's still going to get
12:27
it. I don't know. That entire situation is a
12:29
little bit complicated. I'll be honest with you.
12:32
When they gave him that quote unquote extension,
12:34
I was totally against it because he was already
12:37
under contract with the Dolphins and there was
12:39
no need for them to give him another extension.
12:42
They only did it because he made some noise about
12:44
it and he wasn't happy because he wasn't, you
12:46
know, top five highest paid wide receivers and
12:49
whatnot. But when we look at this move, this
12:51
was sort of expected. And the reason why I say
12:53
that is because we knew that Tyreek Hill was
12:56
going to be released, right? We knew that James
12:58
Daniels was going to be released. We knew that
13:00
Nick Westbrook -Akene was going to be released.
13:02
Now, Bradley Chubb's situation is a little bit
13:04
complicated because... I would have thought they
13:07
would have tried to at least keep him. But maybe
13:09
there was a conversation between Bradley Chubbs'
13:11
camp and the Dolphins. And they probably realized,
13:14
hey, it's just best that we just let you go right
13:16
now. So that way you can get a head start with,
13:18
you know, talking to other teams and figure out
13:21
what you want to do with free agency and whatnot.
13:23
But I think a player that we need to talk about
13:25
a little bit more than these guys is Tua. And
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the reason why I say that is because... his contract
13:30
is a little bit more complicated. Now, according
13:32
to Spoltrak, if a team was to trade for him,
13:36
they would be inheriting a three -year $141 .4
13:40
million contract that still has $54 million fully
13:43
guaranteed. I said it before when they gave him
13:46
the contract, and I'm going to say it now. This
13:48
was a bad contract from the beginning. I understand
13:51
that at that point, Tua was playing well. He
13:54
wasn't having a lot of concussions. The Dolphins
13:56
were in a really good place. But at the same
13:58
time, I would have gave him a shorter term deal
14:01
so that if anything crazy happens, guess what?
14:03
You can get off of the contract and you have
14:06
nothing to worry about. Because now you're in
14:08
a situation where, for starters, if you was to
14:10
trade him, you have no leverage. Teams are going
14:13
to lowball you because they realize that, one,
14:15
I'm inheriting a bad contract. I'm inheriting
14:19
a player who is... declining and I don't know
14:21
what state he's in right now. And I have to figure
14:24
out how I'm going to make that contract work
14:26
for my books. So the Dolphins can't say, oh,
14:30
we want a second round pick or first round pick
14:32
for Tua. They just have to receive whatever a
14:34
team gives them. But according to Jordan Schultz,
14:37
the Dolphins are beginning to field trade calls
14:40
for Mika Fitzpatrick. Now, if you're a team that's
14:42
looking for safety, Would you rather take the
14:44
cheap route and just draft one? Or would you
14:47
trade for a proven commodity, knowing that you
14:49
may have to pay that proven commodity a little
14:52
bit more money? Now, me personally, I would go
14:54
with the proven commodity, especially someone
14:56
like Amiga Fitzpatrick. But the question is this,
14:59
what's going to be the compensation to acquire
15:01
him? And what's going to be the selling point
15:04
to keep him playing on his current deal? Now,
15:07
if you're a team like the Chiefs, there's nothing
15:09
for you to really sell. Come on over. Let's win
15:12
a championship, right? But if you're a team that's
15:14
sort of in limbo, someone like the Bills or the
15:18
Buccaneers or the 49ers or, I don't know, the
15:22
Cowboys, for instance, you may have to sell this
15:25
trade a little bit harder to Minka Fitzpatrick
15:28
because, again, you're in limbo. You're not necessarily
15:31
a Super Bowl contender, but... you might be able
15:35
to be a more competitive team if you acquire
15:37
someone like Amika Fitzpatrick. So let's talk
15:40
about George Pickens getting franchise tagged
15:42
by the Cowboys. So for those of you who don't
15:44
know, there's different variations of the franchise
15:46
tag, right? There's the non -exclusive franchise
15:49
tag, there's the exclusive franchise tag, and
15:52
the transition tag, okay? I'm gonna briefly go
15:54
over each and every one of them. Then we're also
15:57
gonna talk about the history of the Cowboys using
16:00
the franchise tag on their star players, okay?
16:02
So according to - The window to make the tag
16:05
offer begins 22 days before the start of the
16:08
new league year and lasts for a full two weeks.
16:13
A team can rescind an offer as long as the tag
16:17
remains unsigned, but once an offer is accepted
16:20
and a tag is signed, the tender becomes fully
16:23
guaranteed for skill, cap, and injury for the
16:25
upcoming season. Tag players can be traded, but
16:29
only if they sign their tender. Players who are
16:32
tagged can still negotiate a multi -year extension
16:34
until July 15th. However, if no extension is
16:38
in place, then the player can only agree to a
16:41
one -year deal for that season, which is essentially
16:43
the tag, right? Now, players who are offered
16:46
a tag must sign it before week 10 in order to
16:49
be eligible for the season. Now, with the non
16:51
-exclusive franchise tag, Players are free to
16:54
negotiate with other teams. However, if a player
16:58
agrees to the offer sheet from another team,
17:00
then the tag team has five days to match the
17:03
offer. If agreed, then the player rejoins the
17:06
previous team on the new contract. But if they
17:09
refuse to match the offer sheet, then the player
17:11
joins the new team on the deal and the previous
17:14
team is given two first round picks. Now, for
17:17
those of you who don't know, that was the tag
17:19
that the Ravens put on Lamar a couple years ago
17:21
when they were trying to negotiate his contract.
17:24
Now with the exclusive franchise tag, the value
17:27
is calculated based on the average of the five
17:29
largest current year salaries at that position
17:32
at the end of the restricted tender window. Now
17:35
unfortunately with this tag, players can't negotiate
17:37
with other teams, but players can be traded,
17:40
but they must sign the tag first. Now with the
17:43
transition tag, it's the least expensive tag
17:46
out of all three of them, but this one is calculated
17:49
by the greater of the average of the top 10 prior
17:52
year salaries at the position or 120 % of the
17:56
player's prior year salary. now players can negotiate
17:59
with other teams however if the tag is signed
18:02
then the previous team has five days to match
18:05
the offer if the team refuses to match then they
18:09
will receive no draft pick compensation for losing
18:11
the player the deadline to sign this tag is july
18:14
21st Now, if we was to calculate the franchise
18:18
tag by every single position, here's the difference
18:21
between all of them, okay? So with the non -exclusive
18:23
franchise tag for quarterbacks, it would be 47
18:26
.2 million, 28 million for wide receivers, 27
18:30
.7 million for offensive linemen, 27 .5 million
18:33
for linebackers, 27 .4 million for defensive
18:36
tackles, 26 .7 for defensive ends, 20 .7 million
18:41
for corners, 20 .7 for safeties, 16 million for
18:44
tight ends. 14 .1 million for running backs,
18:47
and 6 .8 million for kickers and punters. Now
18:50
with the transition tag, the value is 28 .8 million
18:54
for quarterbacks, 22 .9 million for wide receivers,
18:57
17 .4 million for offensive linemen, 16 .3 million
19:01
for linebackers, 13 .5 million for defensive
19:04
tackles, 24 .3 million for defensive ends, 25
19:08
.1 million for quarterbacks, 11 .4 million for
19:11
safeties, 6 .1 million for tight ends, 40 .7
19:15
million for running backs, and 22 .3 million
19:18
for kickers and punters. I think these numbers
19:20
are probably wrong, but this is Spotrack, so
19:22
do not fight me, okay? Now, the franchise tag
19:25
has pros and cons. For starters, if a team decides
19:28
to tag a player, their cap hit is going to be
19:31
significantly affected by it. However, you can
19:34
use the tag as a placeholder for contract negotiations
19:37
between the organization and the player. But
19:40
here's the kicker. you don't have a lot of time
19:44
to negotiate a contract extension. Because as
19:47
I just said, you only have a couple of days before
19:49
the new league year. So right now, if you're
19:52
the Cowboys, you need to figure out what you're
19:54
going to do with George Pickens. Now, unfortunately,
19:56
the Cowboys have a history of doing this. Now,
19:59
according to an article from Todd Archer of ESPN,
20:02
the Cowboys franchise tag history is a little
20:05
bit crazy. So in 2002, they franchise -tagged
20:09
Flozell Adams. In 2008, they franchise -tagged
20:12
Ken Hamlin. They franchise -tagged Anthony Spencer
20:14
twice in both 2012 and 2013. They franchise -tagged
20:18
Des Bryant in 2015. They franchise -tagged Demarcus
20:21
Lawrence in both 2018 and 2019. They franchise
20:25
-tagged Dak Prescott in both 2020 and 2021. They
20:29
franchise -tagged Dalton Schultz in 2022. And
20:31
then they franchise -tagged Tony Pollard in 2023.
20:34
Now, according to Spoltrak, George Pickens' market
20:37
value is four years, $122 .4 million, which is
20:41
$30 .6 million a year. Now, when we look at his
20:44
stats from this year, he had 137 targets for
20:48
93 receptions, 1 ,429 receiving yards, nine receiving
20:52
touchdowns, and 15 .4 receiving yards per reception,
20:55
which isn't bad. Technically speaking, he should
20:57
have been a first -team All -Pro this year, but
20:59
we're not going to get into that, right? Now,
21:01
with that being said, if you're George Pickens,
21:04
What do you do at this point? Because remember,
21:06
George Pickens and Micah Parsons have the same
21:09
agent. And we all know how that Micah Parsons
21:11
situation went last year. I don't think George
21:14
Pickens wants to go through that. But at the
21:16
same time, if you're the Cowboys, you realize
21:19
that if you franchise tag George Pickens, that's
21:21
going to hurt your salary cap right now. Unless
21:24
you're not trying to pay George Pickens, you're
21:27
actually trying to trade George Pickens. Let's
21:29
think about this for a moment. Right now, if
21:32
the Cowboys were to entertain calls for George
21:34
Pickens, I guarantee you they could get maybe
21:37
a second or first round pick for him. But why
21:40
would you trade away George Pickens knowing that
21:43
he was super productive with CeeDee Lamb? See,
21:46
these are the things that make me wonder, what
21:48
is Jerry really doing? I understand a lot of
21:51
people are opposed to paying two really good
21:53
receivers 30 plus million a year, but times have
21:56
changed. That offense is really productive. As
21:59
long as the Cowboys can hit on their defensive
22:02
draft picks, this team could go somewhere. But
22:05
it could only go somewhere when you have adequate
22:08
weapons. The times when Dak Prescott is elite
22:11
is when he has multiple receiving options to
22:14
throw to. That year when he had Amari Cooper,
22:17
Michael Gallup, and CeeDee Lamb, that was when
22:20
Dak was putting up crazy numbers. The proof is
22:23
in the pudding, folks. That's the recipe for
22:25
success. That's what you have to do. Now let's
22:28
talk about this NFLPA report card dilemma. But
22:30
before we do that, we got to pay some bills.
22:33
Pardon the interruption, but this is your GM,
22:35
your bag road domus here to talk about rss .com.
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All right. So if you guys already don't know,
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Now back to the good stuff. And we're back folks.
24:15
So let's talk about this NFLPA report card conundrum
24:18
because there's a lot to unpack with this and
24:20
it's a little bit confusing. So here's the memo
24:22
that was sent to all 32 teams talking about this
24:25
grievance against the NFLPA and the NFL and I
24:28
quote. We are pleased to report that the NFL
24:31
prevailed in the grievance filed against the
24:32
NFL Players Association, challenging its practice
24:35
of creating and publicizing annual team report
24:38
cards. The arbitrator held that the publication
24:40
of report cards disparaging NFL clubs and individuals
24:44
violates the collective bargaining agreement
24:46
and issued an order prohibiting the NFLPA from
24:50
publishing or publicly disclosing the results
24:52
of future player report cards. Throughout the
24:55
course of these proceedings, despite numerous
24:57
requests, the NFLPA steadfastly refused to produce
25:00
any information or data related to prior year
25:03
surveys. However, at the hearing, the NFLPA's
25:06
witness and counsel characterized the report
25:09
cards as Union speech and admitted that 1. The
25:12
Union reviewed player responses and cherry -picked
25:15
which topics and responses to include or not
25:17
in the team report cards. 2. Players had no role
25:21
in drafting the commentary included in the report
25:24
cards, which was written entirely by Union staffers.
25:27
Three, the union selected which anonymous individual
25:30
player's quotations to include or exclude entirely
25:33
to support its chosen narrative. And four, the
25:37
union determined the weight to give each topic
25:39
and the resulting impact on the alphabetical
25:42
grades it's assigned. In essence, the record
25:45
established that the report cards were designed
25:47
by the union to advance its interests under the
25:49
guise of a scientific exercise. These facts highlight
25:52
the numerous and significant limitations in the
25:55
methodology and accuracy of the team report card's
25:57
results that have been reported over the past
25:59
three years. Clubs should continue to solicit
26:02
feedback directly from their own players to assess
26:04
the club's strengths and opportunities for improvement
26:07
and when considering continued ownership investment
26:10
into facilities, staff, and services. The arbitrator
26:13
did not find that the union's independent survey
26:15
necessarily conflicts with its obligation to
26:18
conduct a joint scientific survey of players'
26:20
opinions regarding the adequacy of the medical
26:23
care under the CBA. Therefore, the management
26:26
council will continue to work with the NFLPA
26:29
to design and conduct such a survey in the coming
26:31
season, end quote. Now here's the statement from
26:34
the Players Association on the ruling of the
26:36
team report card grievance, end quote. The ruling
26:39
upholds our right to survey players and share
26:41
the results with players and clubs. While we
26:44
strongly disagree with the restriction on making
26:46
those results public, that limitation does not
26:48
stop the program or its impact. Players will
26:51
continue to receive the results, and teams will
26:53
continue to hear directly from their locker rooms.
26:56
Importantly, the arbitrator rejected the NFL's
26:59
characterization of the process, finding the
27:01
team report cards to be fair, balanced, and increasingly
27:04
positive over time. While I understand the Players
27:23
Association's views, the ruling is correct. And
27:27
the reason why I say this is because anytime
27:29
you have a program such as this, you know there's
27:31
going to be some level of biasness. Now, anytime
27:34
an arbitrator can find that the union reviewed
27:37
player responses and cherry picked which topics
27:39
and responses to include or not include in team
27:42
report cards, you don't have a leg to stand on.
27:45
You can't just choose the negative responses
27:47
over the positive responses. You have to play
27:50
it fair. And if you don't play it fair, they're
27:52
going to pick it apart. And that's exactly what
27:54
happened in this situation. Now, my only question
27:57
is this. What is the end goal with these team
27:59
report cards? Because I'm letting you know right
28:02
now, not every owner is going to do right by
28:04
the players. We have certain owners who are only
28:07
in it for the money. And then there's other owners
28:09
who are truly in it to win it. Jerry Jones is
28:12
not serious about winning a Super Bowl. He's
28:15
only serious about stuffing his pockets. I don't
28:17
care what he says publicly. I don't care what
28:19
moves he make. Jerry is about the money. He is
28:23
not serious about holding a Lombardi. He had
28:26
his time in the 90s. If Jerry Jones was truly
28:29
serious about winning a championship, I guarantee
28:31
you right now he would have invested as much
28:34
money as he needs to invest into his team to
28:36
make sure that they maximize their opportunity
28:39
to win a championship. But they didn't do it.
28:42
Really think about that for a second. There's
28:44
only so many owners who were born into the game
28:48
of football, right? For instance, The Rooney
28:51
family with the Steelers, right? The McCaskey
28:54
family with the Bears. The Ford family with the
28:57
Lions, for instance. Those are the prestigious
28:59
family -run organizations whose legacy is intertwined
29:03
with their team compared to a Jerry Jones who
29:06
made his money from oil or Shad Khan who made
29:09
his money from different industries. Make no
29:11
mistake, I'm not against the team report card
29:13
program. All I'm saying is that the NFLPA needs
29:17
to do their job and make sure that there's no...
29:20
holes in this program that the owners can poke
29:22
through. Because again, these are the same people
29:25
that colluded together to prevent quarterbacks
29:28
from getting fully guaranteed contracts. Now,
29:31
JJ Watt tweeted this out after the news broke
29:33
of the ruling of the NFLPA's team report card
29:36
grievance. The NFL won't let actual players grade
29:39
the workplace they attend every single day, but
29:42
they'll allow a third -party grading service
29:44
to display their rankings of players on national
29:46
television every Sunday night, which is very
29:49
true. That is a very true statement. And that
29:52
is something that needs to be brought up a little
29:54
bit more because it's unfair to the players that
29:58
I have to go into a workplace that I know doesn't
30:00
have the resources that I need in order for me
30:03
to play my best ball, even though they can get
30:06
it. Now, I'm not expecting every single team
30:09
to have an A -plus in every single major category.
30:12
However, the teams need to do right by the players.
30:16
You wonder why certain players are having to
30:18
go out their way to get certain treatments and
30:20
services because you guys aren't providing them
30:23
even though you can provide it for them. What's
30:27
a couple extra dollars to hire somebody that
30:29
can give massages? What's a couple extra dollars
30:31
to get some massage guns, to get a sauna, to
30:34
get a hot tub, to get the necessary things for
30:37
these players? Because it's going to pay for
30:39
itself. For all intents and purposes, if you
30:42
get all those necessary resources and it leads
30:45
you to winning one or two championships, who's
30:47
really complaining? No one. But on to our final
30:51
topic, and that's to talk about the offseason.
30:53
So here are some important dates that you guys
30:55
need to remember. So from February 23rd to March
30:58
2nd is the NFL Combine. Now what comes from the
31:01
Combine is rumors. This is when all those crazy
31:05
trade rumors start to heat up. This is when you
31:07
start to hear about players potentially getting
31:09
paid, maybe getting traded, maybe getting cut,
31:12
maybe not happy with their organization or their
31:14
situation right now. This is when all that stuff
31:17
happens, okay? So on March 3rd at 4 p .m., the
31:20
franchise tag window closes. However, we have
31:24
seen in recent years that teams are able to come
31:27
to terms to a long -term extension once this
31:30
window closes. We saw with Daniel Jones and the
31:32
Giants. if I'm not mistaken. Now, on March 9th,
31:35
the legal tampering window begins. Let me explain
31:38
this for just a moment. In this window, you're
31:42
going to see a bunch of things, okay? You're
31:44
going to hear Adam Sheff reporting, well, this
31:46
player intends to sign with this team. Key word,
31:50
intends. So in the legal temporary window, all
31:53
trades and signings cannot be finalized until
31:56
March 11th at 4 p .m. Meaning, you can tell a
32:00
team that I intend to sign with you, but then
32:03
sign somewhere else. Or you can intend to be
32:07
traded to another team, but in actuality, you
32:10
get traded to a team that nobody expected. We
32:13
see it all the time. Remember that. Please remember
32:16
that. Because I know you're going to see a lot
32:18
of things. Oh, this person intends to sign this
32:21
deal with the Buccaneers. Oh, this player decides
32:24
to re -sign with the Cowboys. None of that can
32:28
be finalized until the start of the new league
32:31
year, okay? Now, from March 29th to April 1st
32:34
is the NFL League meetings. That's when all the
32:37
owners come together. They talk about the rules,
32:40
what rules need to be changed, what rules need
32:42
to be getting rid of, all of that and more, okay?
32:44
You probably really don't care about that, but
32:46
I sort of do. April 6th, off -season workouts
32:49
begin for teams with new head coaches. So for
32:52
every single team that has a new head coach,
32:54
that's when your off -season workouts begin.
32:57
And in some ways, that gives you a little bit
33:00
of extra time so you can get comfortable with
33:02
the playbook, the coaches, all of that and more,
33:05
okay? Now, April 17th is the deadline for the
33:08
restricted free agent offer sheet. And on April
33:11
20th is when the off -season workouts begin for
33:13
teams with returning head coaches. From April
33:16
23rd to April 25th, of course, is the draft.
33:19
Yes, we will be live streaming it. We will be
33:22
talking about it in real time. Stay tuned for
33:25
that, okay? May 1st is the deadline for fifth
33:28
-year options to be picked up for 2023 first
33:30
-round picks. And from May 1st to May 4th or
33:34
May 8th to May 11th is when Rookie Mini Camp
33:37
starts, okay? So remember all of those dates.
33:40
Now, if you want to access those dates, just
33:43
go on Google, type in important NFL dates, and
33:46
they'll be able to show up, okay? But I'm going
33:48
to end this episode here. If you guys like what
33:49
you are listening, please, please, please, please,
33:51
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34:06
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-A -I -O -E. As always, I hope I gave you guys
35:27
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35:30
you guys so much. Thank you guys so much for
35:32
listening to the best podcast that you can listen
35:34
to on a week -to -week, day -to -day basis. And
35:37
stay tuned. The Stack and Shed series will continue
35:40
on, especially now that the regular season is
35:43
over with and all we have to really talk about
35:45
is just like smaller little things. So just stay
35:48
tuned. for that. All right. As always, I hope
35:50
I gave you guys a fix that you guys need. I love
35:52
you guys. I appreciate you guys so much. This
35:54
is your GM Kale signing out. Peace and love.
35:57
Later guys.