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Jeff Legwold joins Kreckman and Lindahl 8-31-26 · Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports

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  Speaker 1: We go right to the Ramos Law Hotline. That's right.
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  Speaker 1: Long live my radio. Ramos Law Hotline. Car accident? You
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: require Ramos Law. Medical doctor and attorney. Visit RamosLaw.com. Jeff
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  Speaker 1: Legwald of ESPN is standing by. Jeff, we got a
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  Speaker 1: 53 and a 17-man practice squad. Let's start with the 53. What,
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  Speaker 1: if any, messages and or themes did you take from
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  Speaker 1: the 53 that were decided upon by the Broncos?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, I think this is the first time
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  Speaker 2: I felt like Sean Payton sort of leaned into his,
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  Speaker 2: you know, really leaned into the way he did things
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  Speaker 2: in New Orleans. His teams always skewed older teams. in
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  Speaker 2: new Orleans. They were always one of the oldest rosters
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  Speaker 2: in the league. And I think experience matters to this group.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that's what showed up, you know, when
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  Speaker 2: they had, when they broke most of the ties, they
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  Speaker 2: broke it for experienced players and, you know, they lost,
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  Speaker 2: they lost the draft pick, you know, they had hoped
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  Speaker 2: to bring back in the process. So, and that is
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  Speaker 2: what happened. And I thought they took a little bit
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  Speaker 2: of a credit card approach. They'll have decisions to make,
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  Speaker 2: probably as many as four roster spots they're going to
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  Speaker 2: have to decide three or four weeks into the season.
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  Speaker 2: So I think they've just put off a couple decisions
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  Speaker 2: for later that they are going to have to make.
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  Speaker 3: All right, Jeff. Man, why... I know the answer. I'm
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  Speaker 3: going to ask anyway. Why three quarterbacks ultimately? Because you
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  Speaker 3: just talked about it right there. One of the ways
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  Speaker 3: you could have kept that tight end that you wanted
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  Speaker 3: that was your draft choice, you could have not gone
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  Speaker 3: with all three quarterbacks. Why do they need both Stiddy
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  Speaker 3: and Ellinger?
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  Speaker 2: You know, Andy, I think some of it is, you know,
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  Speaker 2: people are leaning that way in the league. I think
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  Speaker 2: two teams kept four this year. I'm not sure I've
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  Speaker 2: seen that in a long time. And I think Honestly,
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  Speaker 2: I think Stidham and Ellinger are two veteran players that
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  Speaker 2: they had basically said, you know, if things work out,
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  Speaker 2: everybody's making it because they, Ellinger in particular, you know,
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  Speaker 2: they want around here. So I think the concession they
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  Speaker 2: had to make was I'm on the roster and I'm
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  Speaker 2: not on the practice squad because he's, He's a veteran
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  Speaker 2: free agent. You know, if you cut him, he can
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  Speaker 2: negotiate with anybody. So I think that was just something
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  Speaker 2: they've hoped to do for a while. He didn't keep
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  Speaker 2: three last year, but he did keep three the year before.
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  Speaker 2: So not unheard of, and I think it's how Peyton
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  Speaker 2: wants to do it this year. You know, I thought
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  Speaker 2: they kept seven defensive linemen. They've often kept six. In
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  Speaker 2: the past, that was a roster spot. They have an
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  Speaker 2: extra receiver, little Jordan Humphrey. Again, they lean toward a
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  Speaker 2: veteran player at a position where they've often kept five
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  Speaker 2: in the past. That's a roster spot. So much so,
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  Speaker 2: they're going to open the season without a long snapper
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  Speaker 2: on their 53. They can get away with that for
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  Speaker 2: three weeks, but after three weeks, they're going to have
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  Speaker 2: to make another decision on the roster.
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  Speaker 3: All right, let me just get another one of my
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  Speaker 3: gripes out of the way, and I guess I probably
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  Speaker 3: asked you a thousand times last year, so let's make
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  Speaker 3: it 1,001. Why the hell Bidet over McLaughlin? I know
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  Speaker 3: we addressed it today. Is McLaughlin... Jeff, I just.
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  Speaker 1: You know what?
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  Speaker 3: Maybe I just want to make a statement. I just
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  Speaker 3: don't get it. Every time McLaughlin's in the game, something
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  Speaker 3: electrical happens. Every time Bidet's in the game, nothing happens.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing.
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  Speaker 3: I'm glad he blocks. I'm glad whatever. I don't understand
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  Speaker 3: for a guy that just gave everyone the lecture for
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  Speaker 3: watching the tape... Why in the hell does he love
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  Speaker 3: Bidet over McLaughlin? It's off my chest.
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  Speaker 2: It's multitasking, Andy. If you were making the decision on
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  Speaker 2: running back and running back only, Julio probably makes it.
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  Speaker 2: It's because Julio, as a player, you've got to find
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  Speaker 2: a way to diversify sometimes. And maybe he didn't play
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  Speaker 2: enough special teams. Bidet plays more special teams. Today is
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  Speaker 2: the personal protector on the punt team. That's a big position.
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  Speaker 2: You're a special teams coach. That's one of your core guys. Now,
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  Speaker 2: it doesn't get much discussion from us out here in
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  Speaker 2: the world, but if you're in the conference room last
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  Speaker 2: night and they're looking at you as the special teams
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  Speaker 2: coach saying, all right, these last three spots on this roster,
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  Speaker 2: who do you want? That guy's going to argue and
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  Speaker 2: pound the table for the player who does the most
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  Speaker 2: for him and among the running backs being talked about.
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  Speaker 2: That's Bidet. Also, when they go to the certain three
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  Speaker 2: wide packages on third down, they need the back who
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  Speaker 2: can block. And when Bidet is a better blocker, you know,
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  Speaker 2: Jaleel was willing and certainly confident you know, would stick
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  Speaker 2: his head in there, but he was not as proficient
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  Speaker 2: and the head coach could never quite wrap his head around.
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  Speaker 2: You know, he always said, there are certain things you're
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  Speaker 2: not going to call with Julio McLaughlin in the game.
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  Speaker 2: And I think ultimately they, they stuck to all those things. They've,
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  Speaker 2: they've talked about for a long time.
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  Speaker 1: The day's got the Riz, Andy, you gotta have the Riz.
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  Speaker 1: If you're going to make that team at the.
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  Speaker 3: End of the day, I really hope I don't see
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  Speaker 3: either bidet. I was hoping we wouldn't see Bidet or McLaughlin.
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  Speaker 3: Let's be honest this year. It'd be great if neither
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  Speaker 3: had to play a snap.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it usually works like that at running back. Jeff Legwald,
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  Speaker 1: brought to you by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
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  Speaker 1: IBEW Local 68. You start with a job and you
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  Speaker 1: end with a career. Jeff, some roster machination questions along
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  Speaker 1: those lines. Okay, so you mentioned they got the two
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  Speaker 1: long snappers on the practice squad right now with Furboni.
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  Speaker 1: And Basso, one of them, has to get elevated. And
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  Speaker 1: then Adam Prentice, the fullback, is on the practice squad,
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  Speaker 1: and they put the four running backs on the active roster.
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  Speaker 1: But again, this is a fullback team. I'm assuming Prentice
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  Speaker 1: is going to be in there when they go to
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  Speaker 1: Kansas City. How is all of that going to work
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  Speaker 1: here over the next few weeks for the Broncos to
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  Speaker 1: kind of get things set the way they want them
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  Speaker 1: to actually, you know, play the Chiefs?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, Nate, this is what I'm talking about.
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  Speaker 2: They did a little of this on credit card. They're
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  Speaker 2: going to have to move two guys off the roster after,
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  Speaker 2: you know, they get three elevations for, for Burley and Prentice.
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  Speaker 2: Those are the first three, unless something happens and somebody
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  Speaker 2: gets injured and they can move these guys up to
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  Speaker 2: the roster. Those are your practice squad elevations. The first
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  Speaker 2: two weeks are most likely. So you only get three
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  Speaker 2: weeks to do that, or three times with those guys,
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  Speaker 2: and then you've got to make two more roster decisions.
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  Speaker 2: When Frank Crum is ready to come off short-term IR,
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  Speaker 2: that's another roster decision they have to make. When Caleb
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  Speaker 2: Lohner is ready to come off short-term IR, that's another roster.
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  Speaker 2: So they have four, minimum four, roster decisions on the
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  Speaker 2: 53 that they're going to have to make within weeks.
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  Speaker 2: you know, before Halloween. All right.
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  Speaker 3: I'm curious. What's going to go on with Jonathan Cooper, uh, Nate.
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  Speaker 3: And I look, I trust Nate's instincts on this one,
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  Speaker 3: but I also find it weird. We haven't heard the
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  Speaker 3: decision yet. So he's on the commissioner's exempt list. Is
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  Speaker 3: there a chance to have him ride the list until
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  Speaker 3: this trial happens? Do you think we're going to get
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  Speaker 3: that decision in the next week or so?
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  Speaker 2: What do you think?
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  Speaker 3: What do you think is the short term or maybe
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  Speaker 3: a long-term future for Cooper?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, that's, uh, uh, Those things are, it's
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  Speaker 2: pretty narrow parameters. The commissioner puts you on the list
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  Speaker 2: and he can take you off. You know, again, it's ultimately,
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  Speaker 2: it was designed to, you know, to deal with a
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  Speaker 2: player that has an ongoing legal issue. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: Cooper was in court today and he still has an
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  Speaker 2: ongoing legal issue. The trial isn't until November if it
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  Speaker 2: goes to trial. So in theory, He can stay on there.
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  Speaker 2: The league has leaned, not always, but they have leaned
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  Speaker 2: in the past to not issuing a suspension before the
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  Speaker 2: legal matter was cleared up because they did not want
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  Speaker 2: to be accused of influencing a potential jury pool or
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  Speaker 2: by suspending a player before the legal process had concluded.
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  Speaker 2: That's a lot of if, and maybe I know, but the,
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  Speaker 2: you know, there's a lot uncertain there, but it's, you know,
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  Speaker 2: he can be around the team. He can go to
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  Speaker 2: meetings and everything, but he can't practice and he can't
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  Speaker 2: play in games. And ultimately the NFL will decide how
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  Speaker 2: long he's on that list. And if he gets off
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  Speaker 2: because of a, if he's removed from that list due
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  Speaker 2: to a suspension, then that's, that that's one way or
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  Speaker 2: the other way is the legal matter is settled before then. And,
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  Speaker 2: and he comes off the list and they move him
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  Speaker 2: to the roster.
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  Speaker 1: So for now, it's just exemplary. purgatory for cooper that's right.
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  Speaker 2: It's like paid leave the rest of the world yeah
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  Speaker 2: you're getting paid leave you know he you know it's
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  Speaker 2: different now now uh you can be around the team
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  Speaker 2: now the guy can go to meetings he can work
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  Speaker 2: out if he's needs medical treatment. He can get medical
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  Speaker 2: rehab and all that stuff in the, in the building.
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  Speaker 2: You just can't practice and you can't play in games.
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  Speaker 1: All right. So yeah, it's almost, I mean, Jeff, in
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  Speaker 1: a way it's like, it's like a de facto suspension
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  Speaker 1: with the league, not having to actually stick their neck
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  Speaker 1: out and say, you're suspended.
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  Speaker 3: It's just like, it's not going on your record as
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  Speaker 3: a suspension.
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  Speaker 1: Well put.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. The player keeps his money. You're suspended.
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  Speaker 1: You don't get, you don't get your money. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Which, and, and it, maybe, and probably will get to
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  Speaker 1: that point. Eventually, uh, Jeff Legwald, our guest here on
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  Speaker 1: a Monday afternoon, Crankman and Lindahl. We're taking a look
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  Speaker 1: at this Broncos 53 man roster and what comes next
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  Speaker 1: from here. Uh, Jeff, um, The decision to go with
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  Speaker 1: Dallin Bentley and to cut Justin Jolie, again, I'm aware
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  Speaker 1: we're talking fourth tight end right here, but what did
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  Speaker 1: you make of that choice with the team and choosing
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  Speaker 1: a particular profile of player? What did that tell you
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  Speaker 1: about the way that Sean and Davis Webb kind of
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  Speaker 1: envisioned this offense?
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  Speaker 2: It tells you, A, Jalen Waddell's going to eat up
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  Speaker 2: a lot of targets. Sure is. So the passing game diagram.
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  Speaker 2: looks different than maybe it did last year or the
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  Speaker 2: year before. So that's a consideration. And in their two
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  Speaker 2: tight end sets, they obviously want more depth and, you know,
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  Speaker 2: players available for the inline role. And I think I
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  Speaker 2: said on your guys' show, I thought one rookie tight
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  Speaker 2: end would make it and that it would be just
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  Speaker 2: sort of the choice of the flavor of either one.
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  Speaker 2: I personally think Jolie projects to me as a really good,
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  Speaker 2: valuable receiving tight end in the league down the road,
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  Speaker 2: but they, they obviously did not want that right now.
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  Speaker 2: And he, he was really, really raw as they knew
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  Speaker 2: when they picked him, he was really raw in the
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  Speaker 2: inline part of the offense. And, you know, again, I
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  Speaker 2: think we've talked on the show about tight end in particular,
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  Speaker 2: Sean Payton has been, does not play younger players until
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  Speaker 2: they have an awful lot of the job description mastered.
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  Speaker 2: For Jolie to play right away, Sean was going to
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  Speaker 2: have to defer some of that past belief, and this
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  Speaker 2: shows he was not ready to do that.
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  Speaker 3: All right, Jeff, I'm curious. It felt like a wild
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  Speaker 3: cut down day yesterday because I felt like we saw
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  Speaker 3: more trades than we've seen in the past. And I
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  Speaker 3: just was, you had told us people don't want to
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  Speaker 3: give up the 2020, what was it, 2027 draft choices
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  Speaker 3: because that class is supposed to be so much better
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  Speaker 3: than the class we just went through. What did you
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  Speaker 3: make of the, just a lot of the trading of
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  Speaker 3: the guys and backup quarterback switching and all that? Have
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  Speaker 3: you seen a weird day like that in the past?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think people are more willing now
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  Speaker 2: to sort of spin the wheel more than they have
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  Speaker 2: been in the past. And it may be the size
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  Speaker 2: of the practice squads are to the point now where
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  Speaker 2: you can really have a developmental plan for eight or
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  Speaker 2: nine guys now on a practice squad and then sort
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  Speaker 2: of play around with some of the rest of the
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  Speaker 2: spots and So you can acquire people for your 53, maybe,
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  Speaker 2: you know, very specific role players and that type of thing.
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  Speaker 2: And then I think the cap influences things a lot more.
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  Speaker 2: Now you got a lot more teams willing to mess
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  Speaker 2: with the dead money. And I mean, look at the dolphins,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we got to claim seven guys because they
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  Speaker 2: have $ 180 million or whatever dead money against the cap. So,
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  Speaker 2: I've not seen that. I can't recall a team claiming
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  Speaker 2: seven players the day after the roster cut down.
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  Speaker 1: Jeff, last thing, what's the status of Marvin Mims as
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  Speaker 1: we sit here today?
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  Speaker 2: I wish I could give you a more definitive answer.
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  Speaker 2: I know I did not see him at practice today.
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  Speaker 2: So teams are not required to issue an injury report
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  Speaker 2: until next week. So that means the Broncos will not
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  Speaker 2: issue an injury report until next week.
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  Speaker 1: Okay.
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  Speaker 2: They don't do anything on the injury report they're not
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  Speaker 2: required to do. But it is concerning, and perhaps that's
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  Speaker 2: why the extra receiver has appeared on the 53-man roster
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  Speaker 2: initially at least.
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  Speaker 1: That's Jeff Legwald, everybody. ESPN, read his stuff. Best coverage
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: in the land. Jeff, man, we appreciate it, as always.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks, fellas. We'll see you.