July 29, 2022 • 30 mins
Adam Caplan pays his first visit to the Fifth Hour. Caplan has spent 20+ years covering the NFL, he can be regularly heard on various Fox Sports Radio programs, in addition to his work at NFL Radio on SiriusXM Channel 88. Caplan had a long run at ESPN as a guru of the NFL. The guys talk about Adam’s work covering the league, his thoughts on Kyler Murray’s “homework clause,” Deshaun Watson’s punishment, and the futures of Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts among others. You can follow Adam on Twitter @caplannfl. Follow Danny G Radio on Twitter @DannyGradio, Follow Big Ben on Twitter @BenMaller, and listen to the original "Ben Maller Show," Monday-Friday on 450+ terrestrial Fox Sports Radio affiliates, iHeart stream, and SiriusXM Radio channel 83, 2a-6a ET, 11p-3a PT!
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Boom. If you thought four hours a day, minutes a
week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
the old Republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
crackheads in the ghetto Cutter the same as the rich
pill poppers in the penthouse. The Clearinghouse of Hot takes
break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:24):
Maller starts right now, nine in the air Everywhere and
Welcome in the Weekend is now underway. Another Pipe and
Hot addition of the Fifth Hour with Ben Mallard and
Danny g Radio fresh out of the Oven. I hope
(00:46):
you've had a wonderful week and you've enjoyed the shenanigans
on the Overnight Show, all the nonsense that has taken place.
We had the Great Game Show scandal involving Eddie Garcia
and Justin Cooper and we're still working through that on
the show. It was quite the week involving a regular caller,
(01:09):
Justin and Cincinnati in cahoots with Eddie and Cooper Loop
conspiring against me. But we're not here to talk about that.
This the Friday Podcast and opportunity realizing that on the
radio we have a format which does not lend itself
(01:30):
two interviews. I can come in early and tape a
bunch of interviews. I know some of my competitors do that,
but I don't want to do that. I don't want
to do taped radio. I don't want to take part
in that. Uh. It needs to be live. The podcast format,
which is obviously on demand, is a much different animal,
(01:51):
and that is the domain that we are in now.
And why not take advantage and schmooze with some of
our our friends who happened to be NFL typeside. Today
is an NFL there, and the last couple of weeks
have been NFL heavy weeks. It kind of pays the
bills around here, and we are very excited to welcome
(02:12):
for the first time to the Fifth Hour with Ben
Maller and Danny g Podcast. A living, breathing NFL insider.
You've heard him on Fox Sports Radio various shows over
the years. He hosts his own radio show. He's regularly
on NFL Radio on Sirius xmi's based in Philadelphia. Spent
(02:34):
a long time as an NFL guru at ESPN. He
has broken many a story over the years, some of
them big, some of them not so big. That's part
of the job. And so without further ado, that's welcome
in Adam Kaplan who joins us now on the podcast,
And Adam, I actually met you in Los Angeles at
(02:56):
Radio Row. That was my maiden voyage. We had not
met before my maiden voyage to the super Bowl. But
I know that's your domain, right, You're there all the time. Yeah, Ben,
gonna be with you. Yeah. Yeah. My first Super Bowl
it was out to the game was terrible. It was
the Bucks Raiders h It was awful. But the week
(03:16):
was phenomenal in San Diego. I have to say, if
all the Super Bowls have been to, it was the
best week. Obviously, you can't beat the weather. The stadium
was old, that's why they stopped having it there in
a while. Of the churches moved, but the week was fantastic.
You didn't as you know, Ben, anytime, you don't need
a car to get around this as well before Uber.
It's a good thing because all the events were handled
(03:36):
near the gas antistrict in downtown San Diego. Yeah for sure.
But just being part of that event was great and
meeting you and some of the other people that was
was wonderful. So you are an NFL insider. That is
a very cool title to have among other titles that
you own. Is this something that you set out to do, Adam,
or did you stumble into this type of job. Well, well,
(04:00):
it's funny. Ben. As far as the title, let me
just address this. I didn't want the title. They gave
it to me at the ESPN. We had to have
it because you know, in this business you have to
have some sort of title. I find it corny, but
I'm like, all right, I understand. We for those of
us who cover the NFL full time for living, you're
gonna know some things that maybe the fan won't know,
or something that you know if you cover the entire league.
(04:21):
So maybe the the beg writer who's good may not
know certain things I know, And I get it. That's
just the way it is. So uh yeah. I started
covering league really in two thousand. From an injury standpoint,
I was known as one of the top injury and
ciders in the country, and then I just kind of
transferred into not just injuries, but contracts and hires and
(04:43):
firings and transactions and stuff like that. That's kind of
what happens when you cover the league from a national basis.
You know, I when I work for Fox Sports dot
Com for a year leaving up to the lockout eleven,
That's exactly what I was doing. So, yeah, that's what
I've done for the last twenty years or so. Is
there a golden rule to being an insiders? There is
there something that you follow? That's the secret? I would say,
(05:05):
Ben never stopped having a thirst for knowledge. You never
know as much as you think you know. And that's
kind of been a story of my career and why
I got into it because I growing up in Philly,
I just felt like I was not learning enough. I
want to know why did they Why did the Eagles
in this case? Does that's what I'm from that market?
Why did they sign that player? Why did they trade
that player? Why they cut that player? Why did the
(05:25):
coaches call that play? You know? Yes, I I handle
a lot of transactions and movement in the league, but
I also as a fan. I love the game. Ben,
A lot of reporters don't love the game unfortunately. They're
just they like doing it, but they don't love They
love covering the league, but they may not love football
as much as I do. Uh, And I wanted to
learn about how you put together game plan, Why did
(05:48):
you call that play? Why is that guy benched? That
was really the the I would say, the impetus and
one of the bigger reasons why I became someone who
was very interested covered the league. Was there a particular
Eagles team, Adam, that you fell in love with or
was just growing up you just watched the Eagles all
the time because you're from that area. Well, it's what's funny,
ben Is, and I think you noticed, as an NFL
(06:10):
fan and someone who's been observatively for for decades, just
because you grew up in an area doesn't mean you're
always a fan of that team and no matter what
support it is. Like in the NBA, I'm a Dallas
Mavericks fan. Although I love the Mavericks, also love the Sixers.
I actually was a Raider fan growing up in addition
to be an Eagles fan because I grew up here.
Then at one point, you know they have to pick
(06:30):
sort of. You can't be a fan of two teams.
I think when you when you're a family of NFL team.
So I wanted more of an Eagle fan than a
season ticket holder. But then the thing What happens is
when you cover the league, you stop being a fan
and you wait. When you particularly when you cover all
thirty few teams, the fandom for rooting leaves you. I
don't what what Eagles do win or lose, does not
(06:52):
matter to me. It's just like that with all the
two teams. I root for coaches and executives to keep
their jobs. Is there's a lot of turnover, but it
doesn't matter to me who wins our loses. Now, are
you like me as a talk show host doing and
you do radio as well, but doing the overnight show,
I'm always looking for the story and I want the story.
I want the good talk radio. That's what I want.
I don't necessarily care who wins or loses per se.
(07:15):
Obviously from you know, I gambled occasionally, so that from
that part of it, I care. But I just want
the great story to talk about. That's what I'm looking for.
I don't know all the other stuff like it's great
and all that, but I want to know this and
have you become that guy now, because that's you've been
the media a long time. That's when you know you've
crossed over when you're just going for the story. You
just want the story. Well, well, I'll be honest with you.
(07:36):
So over times in my career there's been reports that
I've had where maybe I under I underestimated that the
the magnitude of the story that I put out when
I worked at ESTN, I don't I don't really care
how big the story is. I'm just after the story,
the importance of it, because I know it's important to anyone. Uh.
We would drive stories by our reporting, no doubt about it.
(07:58):
But I wasn't worried about seeking my chest out. Wow,
I had a big story today. It was cool, but
it was just about the information, getting it out and
moving on to the next one. Now this week, you
know or recent stories that the Colin Murray contract fascinating
and I know you know on Fox Sports Radio you
guys been covering it. That's just fascinating to me that
that that's just very interesting. I've never heard of a
(08:20):
contract language. Because I've covered I specialize in contract reporting.
People follow my curb probably know this, and I've never
heard of language in there for making sure the player
of the quarterback studies. I remember heard anything like that.
And by the way, that's a major sports talk radio topic.
I get that as a sports talk radio host for
over well over twenty or almost twenty five. Yeah, I'm
I'm big on big, natural stories like you are. It's
(08:42):
just you and I may see them differently. What's more
important to you? You might like if you're in, if
you're a hot take guy, you may find something that
somebody said that that has something new with the NFL
more of a hot tape where I look at it differently. Yeah.
The Kyler Moore Murray story is a ten I'm right,
I'm right there with you. It is fascinating, like if
(09:04):
you have an employee like I. I I look at it
like if I was running a business at him and
I had an employee that was not putting the right work,
and why would I give them this massive contract and that.
So it's like the Cardinals are doing two different things.
That they're rewarding Kyler Murray with this massive amount of
money the riches of Solomon, but at the same time
(09:26):
they were also admitting, you're not really doing what you're
supposed to be doing here. So it's very odd that
they would do that. Why do you think they went
down that road? Well, let's be honest about it. Then
I think you just hit on it. They they obviously
felt that they need to hold them accountable in some way.
Now a right, by the way, did not have to
agree to this, And by the way, the big thing
(09:48):
and we we should give a little to the teaching moment.
Tip study, which is the All twenty two is paramount
true quarterback development and Carler Burry, by the way, it's
been in solid quarterback, he's gotten bad. He struggled late
in the season because of the loss of DeAndre Hopkins.
That that could tell their offense. But yeah, it's certainly
not a great sign when you're when you were saying, okay,
(10:09):
if you want this deal, you have to greate a
certain amount of hours and the way we want it done.
Now we don't. Here's the question, Yes we don't. He
did tape study. But what did they not like in
his response to for instance, you know you go in,
you know quarterbacks go in. They watched the tape of
the coaches and then did he not have good recall?
(10:32):
Was he was? He fuzzy on some of the details.
So there's gotta be a reason. But I think you
hit on it. Why they felt they need to put
this in there and that's the point. Well, and getting
to the bottom of it though at them, because you know,
I saw earlier this week Cliff Kingsbury bunch of the
players and they're they're obviously towing the company line. They're
saying all the right things about Kyler, but clearly there's
(10:52):
a disconnect somewhere along the way. And I put him.
I talked about this on my show The the Night
that Kylie is one of these guys. And you see
this probably all the time being in locker rooms, Adam.
There's a lot of guys that play football that it's
not their passion, it's not their life's love. They just
happen to be good at it, or they can make
(11:13):
a lot of money at it. And I I put
Kyler in that category. I get the sense, if it
wasn't for his father and some of the people around him,
he'd be playing baseball right now, and if it was
up to him, he might just be playing video games.
I don't know where football falls on the spectrum, but
I put him in that category. Is that a fair
statement of makers that unfair? Well, it's a little bit
unfair because we don't know exactly how much she puts
(11:36):
in or what is. Firstly, you would have to be
very close to his dad, by the way, has been
a coach, so obviously comes from a football background. We
know about the baseball in his background. But they want
to they won a way to make sure and it's
not like they're push him to study eighty hours a week.
They like they put a minimum of time in which
he is gonna do anyway. But I just I'm with you.
(11:56):
It is very curious why he and his agent and
another assignments which is fascinating. His agent, Arc Parker, also
represents the head coach, Cliff king Burr. It's just a
fascinating scenario for the quarterback in the head coach to
be working together and they have the same agent. Yeah,
well we I see that a lot in the media
(12:17):
business though, right, these guys that have the same agent,
good jobs and stuff like that. But I hear what
you're saying on that now. I'm gonna bring up to
Shawn Watson here, Adam, which is a dangerous point of
reference because at the time we're talking, uh, this has
not been adjudicated. There's a lot of chatter that something's
going to come down. So in the most general of
(12:37):
ways here is is the moment of reckoning, shall we say,
going to happen here in the next ten days, this
obviously airing on a Friday. So are we closing in
on this or is this just completely open ended? This
thing can drag into the regular season. I was told
by a very strongly source expected expector Sir Robins Sudden
(12:59):
before district to former federal judge it would take at
least two to three weeks for her to go over
both legal briefs from the nfl PA side and the
and the NFL side, because you remember, she's the one
who has to do it, and she has to make
your decision, and she's not gonna rush through it because
there's a lot of notes, there's a lot of information
given by both sides. But the source said it's a
(13:22):
recent expectation will take at least through to three weeks,
which means that the end of July is when we
could have an answer to answer your question. That's the
best I could get you, because that's what I was
told by so and I trust yeah. And there's been
all kinds of shatter and I'm sure you've seen it.
You've heard the same stuff I've heard everything from he's
gonna get suspended for the season two, he's gonna get
(13:44):
a very minimum suspension, and some saying he's not even
gonna be punished at all. Um, what have you heard
that you believe is the most credible regarding Deshaun Watson's punished.
I'm gonna take I'm gonna take a little bit of
a different sway, but within what you're asking the way
that one attorney who's dealt with the NFL for years
(14:04):
explained to me. He goes, Look, if you look at
some of these penalties have been reduced over the years,
historical president matters. No matter how bad it looks for
Watson on the surface, if the the NFL P, particularly
Jeffrey Kesler, who's the NFL's NFLPS attorney, who has won
so many casesn't done it. Some people have called a
(14:25):
Thornians on the against the NFL. For you, because he's
won a lot and he's had he's had companies reduced.
Kessler is a master at it. If if if he
could find a way to get the potential suspection reduced, well,
think of it this way. And this is also very
This is really interesting and important to note, and I
don't know why the nflp agreed to this, but if
(14:47):
there's if Sue Robinson recommends no games, it cannot be appealed.
If she recommends four six, eight ten, it absolutely can
be appealed. That's the key here is And remember, and
here's the key point that the appeals officer is the
commissioner where his designating and obviously that that question will
be severely biased towards the NFL. That's the part. I
(15:10):
don't understand why the why the NFL he would agree
to that, But if there are giftbacks and negotiations, that's
a massive giftback. So just tinking it this way, if
Watson gets suspended, there's a very good chance it could
be increased on decreased. But historically if he gets off
from from this, from the situation, it's it's going to
(15:31):
be because somehow, some way, Sir Robinson felt historical president
President was taken largely into account and quite frankly be
ignoring some very strong evidence that something occurred. Yeah, and
this is an unprecedented situation. I mean, guys have gotten
in trouble, right, we all know that over the years,
but the volume, the number accusers. So this is uncharted
(15:54):
water here for the NFL and and Roger Guido and
what and whatnot. So we'll see what happens with that. Now,
Lamar Jackson turned the page. You're Adam Lamar Jackson. I
heard from my buddy in Baltimore that said the Ravens
have offered Lamar Jackson the second largest amount of money
in the NFL as far as quarterbacks are concerned, behind
the aforementioned Deshaun Watson. But he hasn't agreed to the contract.
(16:17):
And I don't know how much of that is actually
real money and how much of that is fake money,
and how much of how much of that is guaranteed
and whatnot. But if it doesn't get done, here does
Lamar Jackson enter free agencies. He's just gonna be franchise
tag year after year after year, like similar to Kirk
Cousins was in Washington years ago. Yeah, and here here's
the situation. So Kylin was kind of like with Kylin
(16:40):
Murray and the Cardinals did not have to do that deal.
They could have just waited and and had him. Now,
the difference is that remember Murray's drafted one year after Jackson.
But all they had to do is the Cardinals could
have tagged him. The Cardinals could have just simply rolled
over the fiftyear option, tagged him twice and had him
on a well plus the season for four years just
(17:02):
but they wanted they wouldn't direct by the player. Yes,
they got They got a huge break with the fully
guaranteed money. Now, if Jackson you mentioned this, the key
here is fully guaranteed money ex signing. Let's say let's
say a guarantee it's reported, and I you know I've
reported on a lot of these things. I can explain
to you. Let's say the total guarantees are hundred sixty million,
(17:22):
ninety million, hundred million fully guaranteed it signing, meaning if
they cut the player, they still own that money. The
rest of it, the rest of the guarantees, let's say
the rest of the six fifty million he has to
being a loster on the third year on the in
the third year on March did all that money becomes
fully guaranteed. So they're gonna cut them after you after
(17:44):
year two been if they don't think he plays well.
That's all you need to know. With all these contract negotiations.
It's not like n being a contracts and they have
so many rules. NFL contracts are very easy to explain.
And that's really it. And yes it's it's the fully
guaranteed money. It's signed because my understanding. Now here's the
other problem. He does not have an agent. This deal
would have been done last year. Trust me on that.
If he had any agent stunt quarterback deals, this would
(18:06):
have been done last year. And the Ravens won him.
They adore Lamar Jackson. He'll never walk, that's not gonna happen.
They wanted to be their guy and and don't forget
their offense starts with him, but with the run game.
That that's what people need to understand. But Adam. At
the same time, from a if you look at the
way Lamar Jackson plays, in the style of play, from
(18:29):
a team perspective, to go year to year would actually
probably be the better. It would be rude to Lamar,
but from the team's perspective, if you're the Ravens, wouldn't
you be better off doing that? Just saying all right,
this guy's he's a high risk guy to get hurt,
So we'll just go a year to year. We'll make
a ton of money each year. But that's it. We're
not gonna have a long term committment. No, they won't
(18:49):
do that. I mean no, no, I mean, look, here's
the deal. They want to get a deal done. They
know they have what's called the franchise marker. If they
need to use it, they could use it twice. They'd
rather not do at They'd rather like to take care
of him and not asking to do that. You know,
it's the one position in the NFL other than Kirk Cousins.
Are very few players, very few starting quarterbacks that don't
(19:12):
get that extension. The fact teams are doing it now
after the third year. That's the by the c b A.
That's that's you have to wait three years to to
extend a drafted player. They don't. They don't because he's
the face of the franchise. Teams are not waiting anymore.
They think it's really rude to be answered that. They
just don't think it's right as a leader to make
because it it's way too much heat on the club.
(19:33):
And by the way, when you do it early, you're
getting a huge break on the guarantees. That's that's the
thing that that fans don't understand. You to do this early.
You're you're getting get You're getting it, you're getting give
back from the agent. Okay, we'll still we'll extend you now,
but you're not getting a fully guaranteed contract. If you're
gonna do it this early. Now, where are you on
the sary count? You're the perfect guy to bring up
the Adam the sary cap. I talked about this all
(19:56):
the time. I'm a salary cap truther. I believe that
you can finagle the numbers with the salary cap. We've
seen the Rams do this. And every time I see
teams and say, wow, we can't come up with the
money when they release a player, I it reminds me
of my experience in the radio business, where if they
really want to keep somebody, they're gonna find the money.
And I think the same thing goes on in the NFL.
(20:17):
And it always bothers me when people call up radio
shows like what I do and say, wow, you know
they just can't afford the money. They gotta release this guy,
Like No, look at what the Rams have been able
to do. You can move the numbers around. That's always
been my belief on this. Where are you at on that?
Let me let me addrest the RAM situation, what they
actually did is they walked away from three or four players.
(20:38):
They have a cornervator run players are paying and that's
really it. The restaurant did the low level deals and
they they have their very poor depth at certain musicians.
As one one UH one team told me, he was
a ready taming the roster. They the Rams have made
it pretty clear how they're gonna win. We're gonna vo
with their court players. Pay those court players, like five
(21:00):
or six of them big time money, and that's it.
And they just don't. They just start willing to walk
away because they have to because you can't pay everybody.
See that's that's the thing that they're doing, which is
which is sort of different, sort of different, but not
that different. But you're right on manipulating the cat. What
you do is you just you kick the can down
the road. So many teams restructure, restructure, restructure. Now the
(21:22):
reason why teams think they're gonna get away with it,
not just the last but other teams. Then the cap
is gonna take a major jump in twenty three. This
is when the big new TV money hits is the
big number and that that's why you see teams massively
restructuring because they know the cap bumbers will go up,
but the coundt seller cap is gonna go up. So
you're right, No, they teams know this. There's a lot
(21:44):
of maneuverability within the cap. There are very few. Let
me make this perfectly clear because this on your questioning
your point, there are very few cap casualties. It's very
rare in today's NFL for team to walk away from
the player. That was different from when I when I
first started covering to the League of Night and in
two thousand, all sorts of cap casualists because the cap
is much more. Yeah, and speaking of quarterbacks getting paid,
(22:08):
you're in an interesting location there in the Philadelphia area
with Jalen Hurts. I'm not convinced he's the guy. Other
people seemed to think he is the guy at him
so the Eagles if you look at his contract, this
is a big year for Jalen Hurts. Does he get
the next extension? Does he get the big extension or
(22:29):
do the Eagles go a different direction. First of all,
he's on a contract next year. This is third years,
four year deal, so they have to do anything. It
was not a first round pick so he just don't
have a fifth year option for him just to be
the starter next season. That not only really have to
make the playoffs, he won't have to be a big
reason why. Whereas they won with him, they have to
be he had to bigger, be a big reason why
(22:51):
they want and he was not last year. Yes, he
was part of the run game, which was the best
of the National Folk League since Week six. But the
fact of the matter is he's got to play better.
From a passing standpoint, it clearly was not good enough,
but they failed talking needles. They feel like then he
had a much better off season because he's in the
same offense for the first time in his football playing
(23:11):
care for for two years since early in high school.
But are the Eagles a legitimate good team? Were they
just a product of the schedule they played last year? Well,
it's funny, you're right. They had a very good schedule
and they got smoked by the Bucks in the playoffs.
We're gonna give him credit was the next year on
his first season, they didn't have very good roster. Last season,
(23:31):
They've addressed just about every need in one way or
the other. They've got in the NFC a top four
top five roster. They're barring something unforeseen, there'll be a
wild card team and they could be the first team. Ben,
And this is an unbelievable stat which I find hard
to believe, but it's absolutely true. I've looked it up
several times just to make sure. We have not had
a winner in the NFC East in nineteen years since
(23:55):
two thousand and four? Are Ben? He's nineteen years? Yes,
we needles went back to back to back championships. Oh
two or three or four? How is it possible when
you only four teams in that division? But it's true. Yeah,
not only that, but it seems like for stretches Washington,
the Giants have been terrible, the Cowboys mediocre for a while.
He speaking of the Cowboys of the Eagles win the division,
(24:17):
Does that mean Mike McCarthy is doing television next year? Yeah, yeah,
I know with Jason, I know it's hilarious. Look, everybody
knows that that Sean Payne is very close to Jerry Jones.
We all know that it's an ound secret that would
obviously be his number one candidate if if McCarthy's can.
But let me just say this about Jerry Jones, because
(24:38):
like Cowboys. People always remind me Jenny is actually very patient.
Remember how many times if the fans wanted Jason Garrett fired,
like it was like a three or four year period,
he just wouldn't fire him. And I mean finally did it,
which not that I wish anyone to be fired, but
by merit, by the team collapsing. It's it's tough to
coach with Jerry Jones. It's just because he's the other
(25:00):
flush general manager and he does embarrasce the coaches from
time and time. That's just the way it is. It's
hard to coach there. I know guys have worked there.
He just pay pretty well. But the thing is he
he he lets that coaches stay, but he will get
involved with coaches of assistance being let that that has
happened over time. But Jason Garrett was part of the family,
(25:22):
right Mike McCarthy, He's not really part of the family.
Isn't that the difference? Wouldn't that be the difference to
change coaches? Yeah, I mean maybe so, maybe so because
he played there, I get it. There may be some
truth to that. But then I'm telling you, Jerry's got
had a lot of patients for all the losing they've
had over the last twenty five years and SICH of
not winning many playoff games. So they're not getting back
(25:44):
to the super Bowl since nine. Area look to have
got one. As much as twy friends would like. They
draft pretty well. Uh, they have not developed the players
well enough, and that's certainly been an issue. Well, and
Jerry has been the master though of keeping the Cowboys
relevant in our business. Credible, He's a maestro. It's unbelievable
and we love it. No, we look, Look, he's a
(26:05):
human sound bite. He's the greatest. You never know what
he's gonna say at this advanced stage. Well until the seventies.
Is son Stephen is a little bit most of date.
They're very interesting family, no question about it. And look,
there's never don't know when a big d I look
forward hopefully to go to ox Dart soon to visit
the Cowboys, and uh that's always a fun camp because
(26:28):
there's always some kind of side story with the Cowboys
typically been of waiting too long to extend contracts. That's
yet another issue that Cowboys have had over the years. Well,
moving on from the Cowboys, Bill Belichick did something that
is seemingly out of character. This week he was buttering
the biscuits of Mac Jones. Uh, it's very odd. I
(26:48):
I know. I guess in the past he's he had
said some good things about Tom Brady. Somebody, some one
of my friends in Boston told me when Brady was
early on his career, he was praising him too. And
but it just seems like that's out of character for Belichick,
the way he's operated for the last twenty years. Uh,
what do you make of that, Adam Is? Is that legitimate?
Is there some kind of other message Belichick is trying
(27:09):
to get out when he was just waxing poetic about
how great Mac Jones is. All right, two things, I'm
told by a very strong Patriot source that Matt Jones
is incredibly smart and processes very well. What that means
is he's given a lot of vinment the playbook he
was well had last year of where most rookies would be.
And yes, they feel very strongly about it. But let's
(27:30):
not forget all the praise that Belchick keeped on Cam Newton.
So before we we have to understand Bill Belichick is
will do things for strategic reasons. I want you know,
he always wants to prove that he's right. And I'm
I'm a Belichick supporter quite frankly, I'm not a hater
at all. But Bill is like other coaches. They do
things for strategic reasons. Bill doesn't he praised just to
(27:54):
do it. He does it sometimes because he wants to
show that he's right, whatever the case may be. I
strongly suspect that Bill did that for a reason to
get it out there that this is this guy. And
don't forget them. The craziness of the lack of an
offensive coordinator and who I was going to call the place.
Whether it's m Patricia who's worked with the quarterbacks I'm
(28:18):
told really since the since the spring, or if it's
Joe Judge, I mean, you tell me, man, that's just
bizarre to me. Actually, I think it's Judge's work with
the quarterbacks, Patricia with the offensive line. But anyway, it's
because they've never called place before, They've never drave the quarterback.
It's just bizarre. I don't get what Belichick is doing here.
(28:39):
Why would you want to do that with a young quarterback? Well, hey,
plus you're gonna know the first quarter of the first game, right,
you just look on the sidelines. You're gonna have a
pretty good idea who's who's the one? Yeah, yeah, yeah,
no doubt, and Billy Bill will be heavily involved in
it's all like you won't be involved. Yeah, so well,
speaking of odd situations, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who always seemingly
(29:01):
have a good team every year. Mike Tomlin no more
Ben Roethlisberger, though he's been pretty pretty mediocre the last
couple of years of his career. But now they don't
have an established quarterback. Are the Steelers gonna be any
goodness year at him? I do, I do, and they'll
they're gonna open more than hang on a second different media.
Uh yeah, they here's the thing. Then they will definitely
(29:23):
do more because with den Louisberger with his the lack
of downfield throwing, and they were very limited to what
they can do. So yeah, they're gonna open it up
a little bit. And you've got two a lot of
quarterbacks who obviously much younger, almost twenty years younger than Rothisberger. Yeah,
they're gonna be fun. I'll be I'll be at the
camp very soon. I look forward to seeing and and
re engaging with the coaches. And see what's gonna be
(29:45):
a little different. But you're gonna see some different things
with their quarterback situation. All right, we'll get you out
of here on this. So Russell Wilson is in Denver now,
he's still doing the same crazy stuff on social media
and all that. How how big an impact? Obviously he's
been a great player in Seattle, never an m v
(30:06):
P type player. So what do you expect from Russell
Wilson with his new team in Denver. Then I'm gonna
go on a limb. I'm gonna pick them to win
the af C West. I know it's a great division.
I know Denver was what seven ten last season. It's
all because of the quarterback. They're gonna be very aggressive.
There will be no micro managing of Russell Wilson in
the past. The game I peek with like with Carol
(30:26):
in Seattle. Now here's the difference. First of all, the
head coach with Denver is actually gonna call the play
as in eight Hackett. So things are being aggressive. They've
got tremendous talent at tight end, running back, in wide receiver.
Dever Denver Bronco fans trap band. It's gonna be a
fun year. Adam, thank you so much. I appreciate it
and we'll have you on again. And thanks for the time.
(30:47):
I appreciate it. You got my friend anytime. Thank you.
Boom. If you thought four hours a day, minutes a
week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
the old Republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
crackheads in the ghetto Cutter the same as the rich
pill poppers in the penthouse. The Clearinghouse of Hot takes
break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:24):
Maller starts right now, nine in the air Everywhere and
Welcome in the Weekend is now underway. Another Pipe and
Hot addition of the Fifth Hour with Ben Mallard and
Danny g Radio fresh out of the Oven. I hope
(00:46):
you've had a wonderful week and you've enjoyed the shenanigans
on the Overnight Show, all the nonsense that has taken place.
We had the Great Game Show scandal involving Eddie Garcia
and Justin Cooper and we're still working through that on
the show. It was quite the week involving a regular caller,
(01:09):
Justin and Cincinnati in cahoots with Eddie and Cooper Loop
conspiring against me. But we're not here to talk about that.
This the Friday Podcast and opportunity realizing that on the
radio we have a format which does not lend itself
(01:30):
two interviews. I can come in early and tape a
bunch of interviews. I know some of my competitors do that,
but I don't want to do that. I don't want
to do taped radio. I don't want to take part
in that. Uh. It needs to be live. The podcast format,
which is obviously on demand, is a much different animal,
(01:51):
and that is the domain that we are in now.
And why not take advantage and schmooze with some of
our our friends who happened to be NFL typeside. Today
is an NFL there, and the last couple of weeks
have been NFL heavy weeks. It kind of pays the
bills around here, and we are very excited to welcome
(02:12):
for the first time to the Fifth Hour with Ben
Maller and Danny g Podcast. A living, breathing NFL insider.
You've heard him on Fox Sports Radio various shows over
the years. He hosts his own radio show. He's regularly
on NFL Radio on Sirius xmi's based in Philadelphia. Spent
(02:34):
a long time as an NFL guru at ESPN. He
has broken many a story over the years, some of
them big, some of them not so big. That's part
of the job. And so without further ado, that's welcome
in Adam Kaplan who joins us now on the podcast,
And Adam, I actually met you in Los Angeles at
(02:56):
Radio Row. That was my maiden voyage. We had not
met before my maiden voyage to the super Bowl. But
I know that's your domain, right, You're there all the time. Yeah, Ben,
gonna be with you. Yeah. Yeah. My first Super Bowl
it was out to the game was terrible. It was
the Bucks Raiders h It was awful. But the week
(03:16):
was phenomenal in San Diego. I have to say, if
all the Super Bowls have been to, it was the
best week. Obviously, you can't beat the weather. The stadium
was old, that's why they stopped having it there in
a while. Of the churches moved, but the week was fantastic.
You didn't as you know, Ben, anytime, you don't need
a car to get around this as well before Uber.
It's a good thing because all the events were handled
(03:36):
near the gas antistrict in downtown San Diego. Yeah for sure.
But just being part of that event was great and
meeting you and some of the other people that was
was wonderful. So you are an NFL insider. That is
a very cool title to have among other titles that
you own. Is this something that you set out to do, Adam,
or did you stumble into this type of job. Well, well,
(04:00):
it's funny. Ben. As far as the title, let me
just address this. I didn't want the title. They gave
it to me at the ESPN. We had to have
it because you know, in this business you have to
have some sort of title. I find it corny, but
I'm like, all right, I understand. We for those of
us who cover the NFL full time for living, you're
gonna know some things that maybe the fan won't know,
or something that you know if you cover the entire league.
(04:21):
So maybe the the beg writer who's good may not
know certain things I know, And I get it. That's
just the way it is. So uh yeah. I started
covering league really in two thousand. From an injury standpoint,
I was known as one of the top injury and
ciders in the country, and then I just kind of
transferred into not just injuries, but contracts and hires and
(04:43):
firings and transactions and stuff like that. That's kind of
what happens when you cover the league from a national basis.
You know, I when I work for Fox Sports dot
Com for a year leaving up to the lockout eleven,
That's exactly what I was doing. So, yeah, that's what
I've done for the last twenty years or so. Is
there a golden rule to being an insiders? There is
there something that you follow? That's the secret? I would say,
(05:05):
Ben never stopped having a thirst for knowledge. You never
know as much as you think you know. And that's
kind of been a story of my career and why
I got into it because I growing up in Philly,
I just felt like I was not learning enough. I
want to know why did they Why did the Eagles
in this case? Does that's what I'm from that market?
Why did they sign that player? Why did they trade
that player? Why they cut that player? Why did the
(05:25):
coaches call that play? You know? Yes, I I handle
a lot of transactions and movement in the league, but
I also as a fan. I love the game. Ben,
A lot of reporters don't love the game unfortunately. They're
just they like doing it, but they don't love They
love covering the league, but they may not love football
as much as I do. Uh, And I wanted to
learn about how you put together game plan, Why did
(05:48):
you call that play? Why is that guy benched? That
was really the the I would say, the impetus and
one of the bigger reasons why I became someone who
was very interested covered the league. Was there a particular
Eagles team, Adam, that you fell in love with or
was just growing up you just watched the Eagles all
the time because you're from that area. Well, it's what's funny,
ben Is, and I think you noticed, as an NFL
(06:10):
fan and someone who's been observatively for for decades, just
because you grew up in an area doesn't mean you're
always a fan of that team and no matter what
support it is. Like in the NBA, I'm a Dallas
Mavericks fan. Although I love the Mavericks, also love the Sixers.
I actually was a Raider fan growing up in addition
to be an Eagles fan because I grew up here.
Then at one point, you know they have to pick
(06:30):
sort of. You can't be a fan of two teams.
I think when you when you're a family of NFL team.
So I wanted more of an Eagle fan than a
season ticket holder. But then the thing What happens is
when you cover the league, you stop being a fan
and you wait. When you particularly when you cover all
thirty few teams, the fandom for rooting leaves you. I
don't what what Eagles do win or lose, does not
(06:52):
matter to me. It's just like that with all the
two teams. I root for coaches and executives to keep
their jobs. Is there's a lot of turnover, but it
doesn't matter to me who wins our loses. Now, are
you like me as a talk show host doing and
you do radio as well, but doing the overnight show,
I'm always looking for the story and I want the story.
I want the good talk radio. That's what I want.
I don't necessarily care who wins or loses per se.
(07:15):
Obviously from you know, I gambled occasionally, so that from
that part of it, I care. But I just want
the great story to talk about. That's what I'm looking for.
I don't know all the other stuff like it's great
and all that, but I want to know this and
have you become that guy now, because that's you've been
the media a long time. That's when you know you've
crossed over when you're just going for the story. You
just want the story. Well, well, I'll be honest with you.
(07:36):
So over times in my career there's been reports that
I've had where maybe I under I underestimated that the
the magnitude of the story that I put out when
I worked at ESTN, I don't I don't really care
how big the story is. I'm just after the story,
the importance of it, because I know it's important to anyone. Uh.
We would drive stories by our reporting, no doubt about it.
(07:58):
But I wasn't worried about seeking my chest out. Wow,
I had a big story today. It was cool, but
it was just about the information, getting it out and
moving on to the next one. Now this week, you
know or recent stories that the Colin Murray contract fascinating
and I know you know on Fox Sports Radio you
guys been covering it. That's just fascinating to me that
that that's just very interesting. I've never heard of a
(08:20):
contract language. Because I've covered I specialize in contract reporting.
People follow my curb probably know this, and I've never
heard of language in there for making sure the player
of the quarterback studies. I remember heard anything like that.
And by the way, that's a major sports talk radio topic.
I get that as a sports talk radio host for
over well over twenty or almost twenty five. Yeah, I'm
I'm big on big, natural stories like you are. It's
(08:42):
just you and I may see them differently. What's more
important to you? You might like if you're in, if
you're a hot take guy, you may find something that
somebody said that that has something new with the NFL
more of a hot tape where I look at it differently. Yeah.
The Kyler Moore Murray story is a ten I'm right,
I'm right there with you. It is fascinating, like if
(09:04):
you have an employee like I. I I look at it
like if I was running a business at him and
I had an employee that was not putting the right work,
and why would I give them this massive contract and that.
So it's like the Cardinals are doing two different things.
That they're rewarding Kyler Murray with this massive amount of
money the riches of Solomon, but at the same time
(09:26):
they were also admitting, you're not really doing what you're
supposed to be doing here. So it's very odd that
they would do that. Why do you think they went
down that road? Well, let's be honest about it. Then
I think you just hit on it. They they obviously
felt that they need to hold them accountable in some way.
Now a right, by the way, did not have to
agree to this, And by the way, the big thing
(09:48):
and we we should give a little to the teaching moment.
Tip study, which is the All twenty two is paramount
true quarterback development and Carler Burry, by the way, it's
been in solid quarterback, he's gotten bad. He struggled late
in the season because of the loss of DeAndre Hopkins.
That that could tell their offense. But yeah, it's certainly
not a great sign when you're when you were saying, okay,
(10:09):
if you want this deal, you have to greate a
certain amount of hours and the way we want it done.
Now we don't. Here's the question, Yes we don't. He
did tape study. But what did they not like in
his response to for instance, you know you go in,
you know quarterbacks go in. They watched the tape of
the coaches and then did he not have good recall?
(10:32):
Was he was? He fuzzy on some of the details.
So there's gotta be a reason. But I think you
hit on it. Why they felt they need to put
this in there and that's the point. Well, and getting
to the bottom of it though at them, because you know,
I saw earlier this week Cliff Kingsbury bunch of the
players and they're they're obviously towing the company line. They're
saying all the right things about Kyler, but clearly there's
(10:52):
a disconnect somewhere along the way. And I put him.
I talked about this on my show The the Night
that Kylie is one of these guys. And you see
this probably all the time being in locker rooms, Adam.
There's a lot of guys that play football that it's
not their passion, it's not their life's love. They just
happen to be good at it, or they can make
(11:13):
a lot of money at it. And I I put
Kyler in that category. I get the sense, if it
wasn't for his father and some of the people around him,
he'd be playing baseball right now, and if it was
up to him, he might just be playing video games.
I don't know where football falls on the spectrum, but
I put him in that category. Is that a fair
statement of makers that unfair? Well, it's a little bit
unfair because we don't know exactly how much she puts
(11:36):
in or what is. Firstly, you would have to be
very close to his dad, by the way, has been
a coach, so obviously comes from a football background. We
know about the baseball in his background. But they want
to they won a way to make sure and it's
not like they're push him to study eighty hours a week.
They like they put a minimum of time in which
he is gonna do anyway. But I just I'm with you.
(11:56):
It is very curious why he and his agent and
another assignments which is fascinating. His agent, Arc Parker, also
represents the head coach, Cliff king Burr. It's just a
fascinating scenario for the quarterback in the head coach to
be working together and they have the same agent. Yeah,
well we I see that a lot in the media
(12:17):
business though, right, these guys that have the same agent,
good jobs and stuff like that. But I hear what
you're saying on that now. I'm gonna bring up to
Shawn Watson here, Adam, which is a dangerous point of
reference because at the time we're talking, uh, this has
not been adjudicated. There's a lot of chatter that something's
going to come down. So in the most general of
(12:37):
ways here is is the moment of reckoning, shall we say,
going to happen here in the next ten days, this
obviously airing on a Friday. So are we closing in
on this or is this just completely open ended? This
thing can drag into the regular season. I was told
by a very strongly source expected expector Sir Robins Sudden
(12:59):
before district to former federal judge it would take at
least two to three weeks for her to go over
both legal briefs from the nfl PA side and the
and the NFL side, because you remember, she's the one
who has to do it, and she has to make
your decision, and she's not gonna rush through it because
there's a lot of notes, there's a lot of information
given by both sides. But the source said it's a
(13:22):
recent expectation will take at least through to three weeks,
which means that the end of July is when we
could have an answer to answer your question. That's the
best I could get you, because that's what I was
told by so and I trust yeah. And there's been
all kinds of shatter and I'm sure you've seen it.
You've heard the same stuff I've heard everything from he's
gonna get suspended for the season two, he's gonna get
(13:44):
a very minimum suspension, and some saying he's not even
gonna be punished at all. Um, what have you heard
that you believe is the most credible regarding Deshaun Watson's punished.
I'm gonna take I'm gonna take a little bit of
a different sway, but within what you're asking the way
that one attorney who's dealt with the NFL for years
(14:04):
explained to me. He goes, Look, if you look at
some of these penalties have been reduced over the years,
historical president matters. No matter how bad it looks for
Watson on the surface, if the the NFL P, particularly
Jeffrey Kesler, who's the NFL's NFLPS attorney, who has won
so many casesn't done it. Some people have called a
(14:25):
Thornians on the against the NFL. For you, because he's
won a lot and he's had he's had companies reduced.
Kessler is a master at it. If if if he
could find a way to get the potential suspection reduced, well,
think of it this way. And this is also very
This is really interesting and important to note, and I
don't know why the nflp agreed to this, but if
(14:47):
there's if Sue Robinson recommends no games, it cannot be appealed.
If she recommends four six, eight ten, it absolutely can
be appealed. That's the key here is And remember, and
here's the key point that the appeals officer is the
commissioner where his designating and obviously that that question will
be severely biased towards the NFL. That's the part. I
(15:10):
don't understand why the why the NFL he would agree
to that, But if there are giftbacks and negotiations, that's
a massive giftback. So just tinking it this way, if
Watson gets suspended, there's a very good chance it could
be increased on decreased. But historically if he gets off
from from this, from the situation, it's it's going to
(15:31):
be because somehow, some way, Sir Robinson felt historical president
President was taken largely into account and quite frankly be
ignoring some very strong evidence that something occurred. Yeah, and
this is an unprecedented situation. I mean, guys have gotten
in trouble, right, we all know that over the years,
but the volume, the number accusers. So this is uncharted
(15:54):
water here for the NFL and and Roger Guido and
what and whatnot. So we'll see what happens with that. Now,
Lamar Jackson turned the page. You're Adam Lamar Jackson. I
heard from my buddy in Baltimore that said the Ravens
have offered Lamar Jackson the second largest amount of money
in the NFL as far as quarterbacks are concerned, behind
the aforementioned Deshaun Watson. But he hasn't agreed to the contract.
(16:17):
And I don't know how much of that is actually
real money and how much of that is fake money,
and how much of how much of that is guaranteed
and whatnot. But if it doesn't get done, here does
Lamar Jackson enter free agencies. He's just gonna be franchise
tag year after year after year, like similar to Kirk
Cousins was in Washington years ago. Yeah, and here here's
the situation. So Kylin was kind of like with Kylin
(16:40):
Murray and the Cardinals did not have to do that deal.
They could have just waited and and had him. Now,
the difference is that remember Murray's drafted one year after Jackson.
But all they had to do is the Cardinals could
have tagged him. The Cardinals could have just simply rolled
over the fiftyear option, tagged him twice and had him
on a well plus the season for four years just
(17:02):
but they wanted they wouldn't direct by the player. Yes,
they got They got a huge break with the fully
guaranteed money. Now, if Jackson you mentioned this, the key
here is fully guaranteed money ex signing. Let's say let's
say a guarantee it's reported, and I you know I've
reported on a lot of these things. I can explain
to you. Let's say the total guarantees are hundred sixty million,
(17:22):
ninety million, hundred million fully guaranteed it signing, meaning if
they cut the player, they still own that money. The
rest of it, the rest of the guarantees, let's say
the rest of the six fifty million he has to
being a loster on the third year on the in
the third year on March did all that money becomes
fully guaranteed. So they're gonna cut them after you after
(17:44):
year two been if they don't think he plays well.
That's all you need to know. With all these contract negotiations.
It's not like n being a contracts and they have
so many rules. NFL contracts are very easy to explain.
And that's really it. And yes it's it's the fully
guaranteed money. It's signed because my understanding. Now here's the
other problem. He does not have an agent. This deal
would have been done last year. Trust me on that.
If he had any agent stunt quarterback deals, this would
(18:06):
have been done last year. And the Ravens won him.
They adore Lamar Jackson. He'll never walk, that's not gonna happen.
They wanted to be their guy and and don't forget
their offense starts with him, but with the run game.
That that's what people need to understand. But Adam. At
the same time, from a if you look at the
way Lamar Jackson plays, in the style of play, from
(18:29):
a team perspective, to go year to year would actually
probably be the better. It would be rude to Lamar,
but from the team's perspective, if you're the Ravens, wouldn't
you be better off doing that? Just saying all right,
this guy's he's a high risk guy to get hurt,
So we'll just go a year to year. We'll make
a ton of money each year. But that's it. We're
not gonna have a long term committment. No, they won't
(18:49):
do that. I mean no, no, I mean, look, here's
the deal. They want to get a deal done. They
know they have what's called the franchise marker. If they
need to use it, they could use it twice. They'd
rather not do at They'd rather like to take care
of him and not asking to do that. You know,
it's the one position in the NFL other than Kirk Cousins.
Are very few players, very few starting quarterbacks that don't
(19:12):
get that extension. The fact teams are doing it now
after the third year. That's the by the c b A.
That's that's you have to wait three years to to
extend a drafted player. They don't. They don't because he's
the face of the franchise. Teams are not waiting anymore.
They think it's really rude to be answered that. They
just don't think it's right as a leader to make
because it it's way too much heat on the club.
(19:33):
And by the way, when you do it early, you're
getting a huge break on the guarantees. That's that's the
thing that that fans don't understand. You to do this early.
You're you're getting get You're getting it, you're getting give
back from the agent. Okay, we'll still we'll extend you now,
but you're not getting a fully guaranteed contract. If you're
gonna do it this early. Now, where are you on
the sary count? You're the perfect guy to bring up
the Adam the sary cap. I talked about this all
(19:56):
the time. I'm a salary cap truther. I believe that
you can finagle the numbers with the salary cap. We've
seen the Rams do this. And every time I see
teams and say, wow, we can't come up with the
money when they release a player, I it reminds me
of my experience in the radio business, where if they
really want to keep somebody, they're gonna find the money.
And I think the same thing goes on in the NFL.
(20:17):
And it always bothers me when people call up radio
shows like what I do and say, wow, you know
they just can't afford the money. They gotta release this guy,
Like No, look at what the Rams have been able
to do. You can move the numbers around. That's always
been my belief on this. Where are you at on that?
Let me let me addrest the RAM situation, what they
actually did is they walked away from three or four players.
(20:38):
They have a cornervator run players are paying and that's
really it. The restaurant did the low level deals and
they they have their very poor depth at certain musicians.
As one one UH one team told me, he was
a ready taming the roster. They the Rams have made
it pretty clear how they're gonna win. We're gonna vo
with their court players. Pay those court players, like five
(21:00):
or six of them big time money, and that's it.
And they just don't. They just start willing to walk
away because they have to because you can't pay everybody.
See that's that's the thing that they're doing, which is
which is sort of different, sort of different, but not
that different. But you're right on manipulating the cat. What
you do is you just you kick the can down
the road. So many teams restructure, restructure, restructure. Now the
(21:22):
reason why teams think they're gonna get away with it,
not just the last but other teams. Then the cap
is gonna take a major jump in twenty three. This
is when the big new TV money hits is the
big number and that that's why you see teams massively
restructuring because they know the cap bumbers will go up,
but the coundt seller cap is gonna go up. So
you're right, No, they teams know this. There's a lot
(21:44):
of maneuverability within the cap. There are very few. Let
me make this perfectly clear because this on your questioning
your point, there are very few cap casualties. It's very
rare in today's NFL for team to walk away from
the player. That was different from when I when I
first started covering to the League of Night and in
two thousand, all sorts of cap casualists because the cap
is much more. Yeah, and speaking of quarterbacks getting paid,
(22:08):
you're in an interesting location there in the Philadelphia area
with Jalen Hurts. I'm not convinced he's the guy. Other
people seemed to think he is the guy at him
so the Eagles if you look at his contract, this
is a big year for Jalen Hurts. Does he get
the next extension? Does he get the big extension or
(22:29):
do the Eagles go a different direction. First of all,
he's on a contract next year. This is third years,
four year deal, so they have to do anything. It
was not a first round pick so he just don't
have a fifth year option for him just to be
the starter next season. That not only really have to
make the playoffs, he won't have to be a big
reason why. Whereas they won with him, they have to
be he had to bigger, be a big reason why
(22:51):
they want and he was not last year. Yes, he
was part of the run game, which was the best
of the National Folk League since Week six. But the
fact of the matter is he's got to play better.
From a passing standpoint, it clearly was not good enough,
but they failed talking needles. They feel like then he
had a much better off season because he's in the
same offense for the first time in his football playing
(23:11):
care for for two years since early in high school.
But are the Eagles a legitimate good team? Were they
just a product of the schedule they played last year? Well,
it's funny, you're right. They had a very good schedule
and they got smoked by the Bucks in the playoffs.
We're gonna give him credit was the next year on
his first season, they didn't have very good roster. Last season,
(23:31):
They've addressed just about every need in one way or
the other. They've got in the NFC a top four
top five roster. They're barring something unforeseen, there'll be a
wild card team and they could be the first team. Ben,
And this is an unbelievable stat which I find hard
to believe, but it's absolutely true. I've looked it up
several times just to make sure. We have not had
a winner in the NFC East in nineteen years since
(23:55):
two thousand and four? Are Ben? He's nineteen years? Yes,
we needles went back to back to back championships. Oh
two or three or four? How is it possible when
you only four teams in that division? But it's true. Yeah,
not only that, but it seems like for stretches Washington,
the Giants have been terrible, the Cowboys mediocre for a while.
He speaking of the Cowboys of the Eagles win the division,
(24:17):
Does that mean Mike McCarthy is doing television next year? Yeah, yeah,
I know with Jason, I know it's hilarious. Look, everybody
knows that that Sean Payne is very close to Jerry Jones.
We all know that it's an ound secret that would
obviously be his number one candidate if if McCarthy's can.
But let me just say this about Jerry Jones, because
(24:38):
like Cowboys. People always remind me Jenny is actually very patient.
Remember how many times if the fans wanted Jason Garrett fired,
like it was like a three or four year period,
he just wouldn't fire him. And I mean finally did it,
which not that I wish anyone to be fired, but
by merit, by the team collapsing. It's it's tough to
coach with Jerry Jones. It's just because he's the other
(25:00):
flush general manager and he does embarrasce the coaches from
time and time. That's just the way it is. It's
hard to coach there. I know guys have worked there.
He just pay pretty well. But the thing is he
he he lets that coaches stay, but he will get
involved with coaches of assistance being let that that has
happened over time. But Jason Garrett was part of the family,
(25:22):
right Mike McCarthy, He's not really part of the family.
Isn't that the difference? Wouldn't that be the difference to
change coaches? Yeah, I mean maybe so, maybe so because
he played there, I get it. There may be some
truth to that. But then I'm telling you, Jerry's got
had a lot of patients for all the losing they've
had over the last twenty five years and SICH of
not winning many playoff games. So they're not getting back
(25:44):
to the super Bowl since nine. Area look to have
got one. As much as twy friends would like. They
draft pretty well. Uh, they have not developed the players
well enough, and that's certainly been an issue. Well, and
Jerry has been the master though of keeping the Cowboys
relevant in our business. Credible, He's a maestro. It's unbelievable
and we love it. No, we look, Look, he's a
(26:05):
human sound bite. He's the greatest. You never know what
he's gonna say at this advanced stage. Well until the seventies.
Is son Stephen is a little bit most of date.
They're very interesting family, no question about it. And look,
there's never don't know when a big d I look
forward hopefully to go to ox Dart soon to visit
the Cowboys, and uh that's always a fun camp because
(26:28):
there's always some kind of side story with the Cowboys
typically been of waiting too long to extend contracts. That's
yet another issue that Cowboys have had over the years. Well,
moving on from the Cowboys, Bill Belichick did something that
is seemingly out of character. This week he was buttering
the biscuits of Mac Jones. Uh, it's very odd. I
(26:48):
I know. I guess in the past he's he had
said some good things about Tom Brady. Somebody, some one
of my friends in Boston told me when Brady was
early on his career, he was praising him too. And
but it just seems like that's out of character for Belichick,
the way he's operated for the last twenty years. Uh,
what do you make of that, Adam Is? Is that legitimate?
Is there some kind of other message Belichick is trying
(27:09):
to get out when he was just waxing poetic about
how great Mac Jones is. All right, two things, I'm
told by a very strong Patriot source that Matt Jones
is incredibly smart and processes very well. What that means
is he's given a lot of vinment the playbook he
was well had last year of where most rookies would be.
And yes, they feel very strongly about it. But let's
(27:30):
not forget all the praise that Belchick keeped on Cam Newton.
So before we we have to understand Bill Belichick is
will do things for strategic reasons. I want you know,
he always wants to prove that he's right. And I'm
I'm a Belichick supporter quite frankly, I'm not a hater
at all. But Bill is like other coaches. They do
things for strategic reasons. Bill doesn't he praised just to
(27:54):
do it. He does it sometimes because he wants to
show that he's right, whatever the case may be. I
strongly suspect that Bill did that for a reason to
get it out there that this is this guy. And
don't forget them. The craziness of the lack of an
offensive coordinator and who I was going to call the place.
Whether it's m Patricia who's worked with the quarterbacks I'm
(28:18):
told really since the since the spring, or if it's
Joe Judge, I mean, you tell me, man, that's just
bizarre to me. Actually, I think it's Judge's work with
the quarterbacks, Patricia with the offensive line. But anyway, it's
because they've never called place before, They've never drave the quarterback.
It's just bizarre. I don't get what Belichick is doing here.
(28:39):
Why would you want to do that with a young quarterback? Well, hey,
plus you're gonna know the first quarter of the first game, right,
you just look on the sidelines. You're gonna have a
pretty good idea who's who's the one? Yeah, yeah, yeah,
no doubt, and Billy Bill will be heavily involved in
it's all like you won't be involved. Yeah, so well,
speaking of odd situations, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who always seemingly
(29:01):
have a good team every year. Mike Tomlin no more
Ben Roethlisberger, though he's been pretty pretty mediocre the last
couple of years of his career. But now they don't
have an established quarterback. Are the Steelers gonna be any
goodness year at him? I do, I do, and they'll
they're gonna open more than hang on a second different media.
Uh yeah, they here's the thing. Then they will definitely
(29:23):
do more because with den Louisberger with his the lack
of downfield throwing, and they were very limited to what
they can do. So yeah, they're gonna open it up
a little bit. And you've got two a lot of
quarterbacks who obviously much younger, almost twenty years younger than Rothisberger. Yeah,
they're gonna be fun. I'll be I'll be at the
camp very soon. I look forward to seeing and and
re engaging with the coaches. And see what's gonna be
(29:45):
a little different. But you're gonna see some different things
with their quarterback situation. All right, we'll get you out
of here on this. So Russell Wilson is in Denver now,
he's still doing the same crazy stuff on social media
and all that. How how big an impact? Obviously he's
been a great player in Seattle, never an m v
(30:06):
P type player. So what do you expect from Russell
Wilson with his new team in Denver. Then I'm gonna
go on a limb. I'm gonna pick them to win
the af C West. I know it's a great division.
I know Denver was what seven ten last season. It's
all because of the quarterback. They're gonna be very aggressive.
There will be no micro managing of Russell Wilson in
the past. The game I peek with like with Carol
(30:26):
in Seattle. Now here's the difference. First of all, the
head coach with Denver is actually gonna call the play
as in eight Hackett. So things are being aggressive. They've
got tremendous talent at tight end, running back, in wide receiver.
Dever Denver Bronco fans trap band. It's gonna be a
fun year. Adam, thank you so much. I appreciate it
and we'll have you on again. And thanks for the time.
(30:47):
I appreciate it. You got my friend anytime. Thank you.
Fox Sports Radio News
Host
Jonas Knox
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