March 4, 2025 • 52 mins
John dives into the news of the day that the Bengals are placing the franchise tag on Tee Higgins and why this is the right decision if the Bengals want to get back to another Super Bowl. Next, John talks about the Jets and how they are looking to cut or trade Adams after an awful season in NY. After, he dives into how Deebo landing in Washington and leaving the 49ers could ultimately be a win-win for both sides.
Later, John answers your questions for this episode's mailbag segment.
5:19 - Bengals tag Higgins
10:14 - Jets looking to trade Adams
12:17 - Deebo lands in DC
15:12 - Eagles to release Slay
19:57 - Microsoft
30:31 - Mailbag
Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. #Volume #Herd
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume, What is going on everybody? John Middlecoff three
and now podcasts, Hopefully everyone is doing well out there
(00:22):
in society, in the real world. And Uh, we're gonna
talk a little football because I went on with Coward
a couple hours ago and we talked a lot about football.
And then I thought, you know, I'm not gonna do
a podcast. I'm leaving to Nashville tomorrow afternoon. I got
a million things to do. I haven't really done any
of them. I haven't even eaten dinner. I'm looking at
(00:44):
the clock right now it says seven thirty at night.
Feel overwhelmed, I feel stressed out. But what type lesson
would I be teaching my child? Then I realized I
don't have a child. But you're getting married, You're starting
to feel a little more mature. You're like, I gotta
set the two. So I decided I'm gonna do a podcast.
So I looked around the internet. So I saw some
(01:05):
things earlier today I want to talk about, from franchise
tags to Deebo. Samuel tweeted out some comments to uh,
Philadelphia made a transaction today that I want to dive into.
And we also do a mailbag at John Middlecoff is
the Instagram fire in those dms, and that'll be the show.
So I was, I refuse to be lazy as I'm
getting married and changing my life and setting lessons to
(01:28):
human beings that don't even exist in this house yet.
But we got to set the tone. We got to
set the tone early. So make sure you subscribe to
the podcast if you listen on Collins Feed three and
out wherever you may listen Apple, Spotify. Spotify is booming
right now, and uh YouTube, all of our content is
up there as well, so make sure you subscribe to that.
And the game plan. We will have a golf podcast tomorrow.
(01:49):
We will look ahead for the Arnold Palmer and make
some make some bets, talk a little golf, and uh
we'll kind of go from there. So, like I said,
Record of a Colin earlier, we did about an hour podcast.
We got a podcast here, a lot of content out
did podcasts. Deebo, Samuel Reaction Saturday Night, did a podcast
yesterday reacting to Matt Stafford. So we got you covered.
(02:10):
I can nitpick and be critical or give my opinion
on my beliefs on how to build a football team
and what to value and what not to value. Start
with the trenches. Don't worry about the wide receivers, right,
pick and choose your spots on the outside, win and
lose on the line of scrimmage, and then you get
(02:33):
really good players at wide receiver and you get a quarterback.
It's not that long ago that Carson Palmer told the Bengals, no,
I refuse to play for you. I would rather retire
than play for you. And he has spoken about it
over the years. A big reason was he didn't believe
that the things they said they were going to do
(02:54):
they would do, and historically the franchise has been viewed
as very, very cheap. Now, Andrew Whitworth I heard him
talk about this probably I forget where, but over the
last month he's like, if Carson Palmer had been a
part of those teams that Andy Dalton led, we could
have won a Super Bowl. I mean, those teams were stacked.
Now a big reason they had a bunch of draft
(03:16):
picks because of the Carson Palmer trade. But still he's
not wrong. The Bengals have actually been a pretty well
run operation when it comes to acquiring players. Just because
your frugal doesn't mean you don't know who can play
and who can't in a draft. I mean, and they
have drafted a lot of good players, I would say,
over the last twenty plus years. But they are operating
(03:38):
completely different because of one man and one man only.
And he's got a chance to be the best player
in the history of the franchise, and that's Joe Burrow,
and Joe Burrow has held their feet to the fire.
And I think he's doing it not because he views
himself like an NBA player, right, and that's this is
what Lebron James would do, or this is what any
powerful NBA player would do. I think he's doing it
(04:00):
because he knows you can't trust this operation and at
any moment they could pull back the reins and get cheap.
And I think if this was Andy Dalton or Carson
Palmer and not Joe Burrow, Ti Higgans just would have
had free agency. They would not have franchised him a
second time. I can't imagine they would have done this five, ten,
(04:22):
twenty years ago. But because of one man, they're doing it.
And if I was a Bengal fan like I don't
care if you got to pay him twenty six million dollars.
Let's do it. Let's keep him around. And I have
been saying, like, oh, Trey Hendrickson, how are you gonna
keep them all? Hendrickson technically is under contract now, it's
for a lot less money than he I'm sure reviews himself.
(04:44):
He's under contract for sixteen million dollars. He's easily worth
probably thirty plus. But like he's he's not a free agent,
so he can't just walk out the door. Now. He
could demand a trade, or they technically could trade him,
or they can just extend them. And to me, if
I was going to give a long term contract to
one of the two guys, because they've already gone on
(05:04):
record and said Jamar Chase is going nowhere now, Diana
Russini reported that the sides are pretty far apart, probably
because Jamar Chase wants like one hundred and fifty million
dollars guaranteed, and based on last year, I would not
blame him, but I would imagine the two numbers the
parties are coming in at are at different ends of
the spectrum, probably ones at one hundred, the others at
(05:25):
one hundred and fifty, and maybe end up meeting at
one hundred and twenty one hundred and thirty million, But
Jamar Chase is going nowhere. If I had to pick
one of the two guys between the pass rusher and
I know he's thirty years old and t Higgins, it's
not even a question. And ultimately the T Higgins situation
if you do, if you know they have said and
reports have been they will work on a long term
(05:47):
extension with the Higgins, I would have no problem paying
them year to year. Now, it's not an ideal way
to do business because when you give a guy a
franchise tag, especially the second which last year is like
twenty one now it's almost a twenty seven, that all
hits your cap and you owe him that much in cash,
But like you're basically giving him a two year, forty
eight million dollar contract instead of giving him a four year,
(06:08):
one hundred and twenty million dollar contract and guaranteeing them
seventy or eighty million dollars, especially when you have to
factor in other positions that are of need. I eat
a line of scrimmage, and you keep your quarterback happy
in the short term because really, you know, Joe's just
worried about twenty twenty five and if he's got T Higgins,
if you've got Jamar Chase draft running back, all of
a sudden, your offense is extremely dynamic again. And you
(06:29):
hope with Al Golden, Listen, I think Ana Rumo got
a little bit of a raw deal. Just a couple
of years ago, he's viewed as one of the best
defensive coordinators in the NFL, and now he's like the
village idiot. But Al gold is really good. He's been
there before. He's comfortable with the organization. We just saw
him in college kicking ass and taking names for Notre Dame.
I mean, he was easily one of the best assistant
coaches in all of Saturday. So if I'm a Bengal fan,
(06:53):
as long as Trey Hendrickson is on this team and
we keep T Higgins like our defense can't be as
bad and the way we play down the s like
we should be a factor. And you know today, listen,
we can nitpick how they're doing it, but having T
Higgins on the team for twenty twenty five is better
than having him not on the team. Speaking of bad decisions,
(07:13):
when it comes to wide receivers, I couldn't even imagined
And there were some people, not many, most people were
probably I know where I felt is thinking like this
Aaron Rodgers deal. Listen, I don't know if he's going
to lead the team to a super Bowl, but if
he plays a couple of years, they're gonna be a
playoff team and it will resurrect a franchise that was dead.
(07:36):
And it turns out he destroyed it even worse his
Achilles tour that he came back and their team sucked
in all while during that time he mandated after he
heard his achilles. Essentially, they trade for his buddy who
and I'm a Devonte Adams guy, President State Bulldog pro
Devonte Adams. That was a disaster trade because it did
absolutely nothing for their team and they gave up a
(07:58):
third round pick to win what five games, and they
cut Aaron Rodgers. They are going to cut DeVante Adams
because of this cap number. Nobody is trading for them,
and all of a sudden, you look, you go, in
our two years of Aaron Rodgers, what do we have
to show for it? And the answer is picks given
(08:19):
to other teams. And sometimes I'm all for taking risks.
I'm a pretty big risk taker in life, but it
can be a humbling experience when especially not that you
get cocky, but when some of your risks pay off
and they bear fruit and you're like, h this life thing,
this business thing, this whatever thing. I know what I'm doing,
(08:43):
and then all of a sudden you make a move
that was like, yeah, I would have traded for Rogers too,
and it blows up in your face. But it was
pretty crazy during the season as they're firing everybody that
they kept doubling down on that experience, and it led
them to just give away a pick for DeVante Adams that, yeah,
something they would clearly like back. Deebo Samuel has tweeted,
(09:06):
it's not often that you get a guy who wants
a trade, but he like him and Kyle have a
really good relationship. I think Debo really liked being a
part of the forty nine ers, and I was with
him on that plane flight when we got deplaned on
our way to New Orleans. Hearing him talk about the
forty nine ers like it was very positive, but like
(09:28):
also demanding a trade, like I don't want to be
here anymore, and when you trade me, I will retreat, retweet,
and repost every single picture of me. And a commander's jersey.
It's one of those like clean splits. It's like Debo tweets.
I love John, I love Kyle. Those are my hobies.
But I'm out and listen. I've seen every single opinion
(09:50):
under the sun of Deebo's fat. He's over the hill.
The Commander's got a steal. Like I said the other day,
I think this is a win win for everyone involved.
We're not going to pay him seventeen and a half million.
The commanders can't like what they see on the open market.
When you have to, you know, basically lock in several
(10:11):
years of contract to buy a player who's decent on
the open market, You're not getting the guy for one
year fifteen million dollars. You know, if you like the
player and he has a market, you have to give
him a multi year contract. And because free agency there
are multiple people bidding, supply demand, it drives up the price.
It's why you see every year like that guard got
(10:33):
forty five million dollars guaranteed and twenty one million dollars
a year. The Denver Broncos gave Mike mcglinchy fifty million
dollars guaranteed. What happens because yeah, the Bears were also
offering him a contract, and it drives the price up.
So you go, wait, I can get Deebo Samuel under
a cost control contract for a fifth round pick. If
it works out, great, We're in good shape if it
(10:54):
doesn't cost me a fifth round pick and some money
that I'm gonna spend anyway. But I don't have that
many options to spend it, and I have a general
manager that knows him, so I'm probably on the Uh.
It doesn't feel like there are that many people in
the forty nine er land that believe Debo has anything left.
I do believe he could have a productive season, and
a productive season for Debo, isn't ninety five catches like
(11:16):
look at his best year's like seventy seven catches Now,
he had almost fifteen hundred yards from the line of scrimmage,
and he had a ton of rushing touchdowns like those
days are over? But can he give you some big plays?
You know? Weight has been a big concern I think sometimes,
and I've been fired a couple times. Do you know
what it did for me? It motivated me. And I
know Debo wasn't technically fired, but this has to be
(11:39):
a pretty motivating experience, like debo. You didn't just get traded,
got traded for a fifth round pick. You know, that's
what the league thinks of you. That's the only way
that you could keep your salary was to get traded
for a fifth round pick. So I do believe if
not now, then it never will happen. But I do
think the debo will be motivated, and I think the
(11:59):
forty nine ers were able to maintain we're still like
a pro player operation. But uh, we're doing what we
probably should have done the last couple of years, be
a little more cutthroat, uh. Philadelphia, you know, speaking of
DeVante Adams, they trade the conditional third round pick for him,
and it just blows up in their face. It's a disaster.
He's on the team for half the season. You have
(12:20):
to cut him at the end of the season. You
know when it's whenever he retires, no one will ever
speak about his Jets tenure. And what Philadelphia got with
Darius Slay is a complete opposite. They traded a third
round pick for a guy who became their full time
starter for five years and made several Pro Bowls and
was a starter on a team that went to multiple
(12:41):
Super Bowls and won one. Like when you make a
trade for a guy no obviously the big first round picks,
when you trade for the Jalen Ramsey's, the Tyreek Hills,
the Khalil Max, it's your all. Your chips are in
the middle of the table. But when you make a
move like we're trading a third round pick for a
disgruntled player who makes decent money but we still believe
(13:01):
can be a really good, high end starter, this is
the best case scenario. You trade, you get a starting
corner who makes Pro Bowls, who's on your team for
four or five years, who you like. Then you cut
for basically no dead money. Like that's a seamless transaction.
And Howie Roseman look at the Jets. This is why
good teams stay good and shitty teams stay shitty. Right
(13:25):
when you trade a mid round or you know, a
late second day early third day pick and you get
a starter for multiple years at a premium position on
a winning team, that's gold. That's a big time transaction.
So listen, Darius Slay's Philadelphia Eagle career comes to an end,
and maybe his career. I know there were some people
(13:46):
in Philadelphia Land that I know thought that he might retire.
I think Darius had said after he plans on playing
another year. I still think he could probably get one year.
I don't know, ten twelve, fourteen million dollar contract somewhere,
Maybe not fourteen, but I would say eight. I don't
know who pays on the open market out there in
society eight to ten million dollars, So I would guess
that Darius Slay plays another season. But what a fantastic
(14:10):
little little run he had in Philadelphia. And last but
not least, Sean McVay loves Jimmy Garoppolo. I mean, there
were people talking about reporters who are clearly in deep
with the Rams, like Sean McVay could if they did
trade Matt Stafford start Jimmy Garoppolo, And I thought what
(14:32):
I think? Diana Rossini said that, and I had the
same reaction that her co host Chase Daniel had. I
think that's fucking insanity, And it is like, you couldn't
go into the season after making the playoffs twice with
this version of Jimmy, But you feel pretty good if
Jimmy Garoppolo is your backup quarterback and Stafford gets injured,
(14:52):
he has to start a game. Hell, he has to
start a month. You could win a couple games. You
can keep your season a full And I think Jimmy
Garoppolo has done your classic transition into you know, I've
made onundred and one hundred and fifty million dollars and
now I'm just going to be a backup for the
next I don't know, five six years ideally, and make
(15:14):
anywhere from three to seven million dollars a year and
rack up another I don't know, fifteen to thirty million dollars,
and as long as I don't have to play much,
I can maintain that price point. The time when I
do have to play a lot, that would be a
problem because I'd probably get exposed. But Jimmy Garoppolo's in
(15:34):
that sweet spot. Andy Dalton's in it currently long time
starter transition to backup start racking up those five eight
million dollar paychecks Boom boom boom. And the difference of
the Jimmy Garoppolos and the Andy Daltons relative to Chase
Daniels and those type players is those guys have started
for a long period of time, so you know, you
(15:57):
feel much more comfortable with a backup quarterback who's not
just a lifetime backup, a guy who has been a
starter in the NFL. You know, I view Marcus Mariota
and I think I would rather have Jimmy Garoppolo and
definitely Andy Dalton than Mariota. But the one thing you
feel good about having Mariota on your roster is like,
if we get into a pinch and this guy has
(16:18):
to start two games, three games a month straight. He
knows exactly how to operate as a starter. He knows
how to run the huddle, he knows how to prepare,
he knows what a given week what entails. He knows
how to lead young guys, he knows how to deal
with the veterans. Like he can just make a seamless transition.
Obviously there's a drop off from your starter to him
as a player, but like, I can just put him in.
(16:39):
Sometimes with these lifetime backups, you never know what you're
gonna get, and oftentimes you're like, oh my god, this
is a disaster. So I think Jimmy Garoppolo is in
that sweet sweet spot. Maybe Stafford rolls an ankle, misses
a game, you can win it with Jimmy, So I
get where Sean McVay is coming from. Let's dive into
my friends at Microsoft. So welcome to Chasing Challenges brought
(17:02):
to you by Microsoft and in the NFL. Just like
in the business world, overcoming obstacles is the key to success.
Microsoft empowers business decision makers with AI solutions, simplified cloud
and data management, with trustworthy, responsible technology to turn challenges
into opportunities. In this segment, we will explore some of
(17:24):
the biggest challenges being faced in the NFL in how
they can be overcome. Whatever challenges you're facing, Microsoft empowers
you with the expertise to say bring it on. This week,
we're discussing the challenges faced by every general manager. You know,
when you leave the combine, you have not only talked
(17:47):
with agents of your own players, so you get a
gauge of what my free agent that I want to
keep is going to cost, or what they are realistically
going to ask for, and probably the floor of their well.
While you are talking to them, they represent other guys
on other teams who are free agents or who might
(18:08):
be a guy like represent a guy like Darius Slay
who's not a free agent, but pretty clear he's gonna
be cut. Then he gets cut. Now he's a free agent,
and you start gauging the market. This is what we need,
these three positions. We want these group of six seven
players to fill those three holes. This is what it's
gonna cost. Then you have to go, well, we got
(18:30):
this much cap space, or maybe we will have to
make some cap space, which the cap in the NFL,
I would say, is one of the most fluid numbers
in the history of American business. Right, you can create
and make it look like anything you want it to.
It's like this team is fifty million dollars over the cap,
(18:51):
they cut three guys, then all of a sudden, they're
signing a guy. But you do need to work with
your owner and go listen, we can be aggressive and
we can sign these three guys even though we don't
have that much cap space because we can give a
much bigger signing bonus and then push that down and
kick the can down the road and manipulate our books.
(19:14):
But the way you can manipulate the salary cap, and
all gms at this point know this is by giving
huge cash up front. And that is not a general
manager or a head coach's decision to make you need
to convince the owner, who some owners are very much
behind you. The forty nine ers and the Eagles spent
(19:34):
an ungodly amount of cash these last couple of years,
and if you look, teams like the Patriots and the
Cowboys have not. So you can manipulate anything you are
willing to fit under a number if you want to
give more cash up front. And I think conversations after
the combine turn into we can get these two guys
(19:57):
if we're willing to do this. And while the conversations
have started between the coach and the agent, the GM
and the coach and the agent, the front office and
the agent, it now turns into the general manager and
the head coach dealing with the owner, and can we
convince him to pay this much of actual cash in
(20:21):
the next couple weeks to sign this guy, because any
coach or any owner has no problem. Yeah, we'll give
him three years fifty million dollars and just pay him
over the course of the deal. That's easy to do.
But the way some of these contracts work, especially in
a competitive market, is who is willing to give the
biggest signing bonus. You learn this in basic finance classes.
(20:43):
Money up front is more valuable than money down the line.
It's why last year Jordan Love signed the big contract
over the off season. He got seventy five million dollars
I think before like the middle of December. So how
you structure contracts can be the difference of landing a
place or not landing a player. But it's not the
general manager's money. It ultimately falls on the owner. And
(21:06):
as we've seen, some teams have more available cash than others,
and more importantly, some owners are more willing to part
with that cash than others. I think this is a
time if you're a general manager where you have to
turn into a salesman. You have to convince the people
with the money, which is the owner. He usually leans
(21:29):
on the president. He probably has an accountant you have
to deal with separate from your own cap guy, and
you have to convince him this is worth it. This
guy is going to be the difference of us winning
eight games or ten or eleven, and we're going to
be in the playoffs and have a chance to make
a run. Now, those conversations and if you can convince
your owner to part with his money, can come back
(21:50):
to haunt you if it blows up in your face.
But that is what's going on right now is a
bunch of general managers who will spend the rest of
this week I don't want to say begging their owner,
but attempting to convince them that spending this extra ten
million dollars, twenty million dollars, thirty forty to fifty you
(22:11):
know you pick. These numbers are getting huge now in
this modern day NFL spending spreeze. Come the middle of
March to cut those checks, and the guys who can
will land the players, and the guys who can't will
come out empty handed. So that's it for this week's
Chasing Challenges. Remember Microsoft's AI solutions empower you to take
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Speaker 1 (24:31):
Okay, let's bang out a couple of Middlecoff mailbags at
John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram firing those dms.
Get your questions answered here on the show. This is
a bit of a spicy take, so it might make
the show. Was quote I changed the culture over and
over again when your father, the coach the team and
(24:52):
ran the program, recruited about a million guys through the
transfer portal at every opportunity. The worst take of the
Combine wasn't the quote Gucci luggage quote the real culture changer.
I think he means Travis Hunter been a big supporter
of the Sanders family and the Combine. Shenanigan's kind of
(25:13):
left me disappointed your thoughts. I actually, right before I
recording this part of the mail bag, I saw Todd
mcshay's post that he talked to people at the Combine
that interviewed shador and shador I guess acted in the
interview like he didn't give a shit how into it,
(25:34):
you know, like what they thought of him. Basically, he
was just acting how he normally acts and didn't care
what their reaction was. Even though obviously it's a job interview.
I could understand the tough transition of He's played for
(25:55):
his dad for so long, and Dion is one of
the biggest personalities in the history of sports. And I
would say in a good way, probably at least of
my lifetime top two or three cocky ast athletes of
all time. But he's also one of the best. I mean,
you could argue pound for pound, he's one of the
best pure athletes in the history of civilization. And Dion
(26:19):
is an all time great football player. Shadoor is not
an all time great prospect. So when you go into
these situations, and again I haven't heard any of this.
Most of my friends work for teams that you know
in the playoffs. But and I'm not saying I just
mean I haven't even texted anyone at the combine about
interviews with guys in general. But most people that I
(26:41):
know in the league would not have interviewed shad or Sanders.
I would say this, you do want to go into
these meetings, having been someone who sat in one of
those cars when a kid was getting meeting, getting you know,
meeting the front office and the coaches. It should be
a pretty humble experience, right Whether you are Caleb Williams,
(27:03):
whether you are Miles Garrett, whether you are Kyler Murray.
I'm just picking some recent in recent memory, just some high,
high level prospects. I would imagine when they go in there,
they're just kind of on their best behavior. They're trying
to impress like you or I would in an interview setting.
So part of you know, shador, if it is true,
(27:25):
I mean again, I'm just basing this off top McShay,
and I've seen some other people tweet about this. They're
going to entrust you if I'm going to draft you
to be a quarterback really really high with the entire
keys of the franchise. More than likely, unless I get
a complete bailout of like hitting on brock Purty in
the seventh round, my career is going to sink or
(27:46):
swim with how you play and operate. And part of
being a quarterback is leadership, leading everybody, not just the
coaching staff, that the other players, the whole organization follows
you and that type stuff. Imagine being in a situation
(28:08):
you've never none of these people have ever met Shador, Right,
most of these people, If I'm Pete Carroll or if
I'm Brian Daboll, I probably haven't even watched him play
that much. Now, if you're day Ball, I would imagine
you've done some work over the last couple of months
on them, But relative to the work you will continue
to do, it's probably a small small percentage. So the
(28:31):
first reaction, and I say this all the time, and
I'm a Shador fan, I think he's a good player,
but like the personality stuff like that matters a lot,
and I think the league is full. I mean, think
of the best players in the NFL at that position.
Patrick Mahomes is like the heartbeat of their city. Josh
(28:52):
Allen and Lamar Jackson like resurrected those franchises, And think
of what they mean to their coaching staff, their team.
Just how good of guys they are twenty four seven,
three sixty five all the time, and the amount of
pressure that's on them and those guys these are talking
fucking MVPs and champions, like the way of the world
(29:12):
is on their shoulders, or you're just trying to get drafted.
You're not even considered the number one quarterback, So I
think you go in there really cocky, like Dion could
do that and listen as someone who looked up to
my dad and operates a lot like my father, who
definitely was not Deon Sanders. I don't he's just emulating
his father, but his father can operate and act differently
(29:36):
than him. So I do think you gotta be very
careful in these meetings. I would say this for any player,
especially a guy that's gonna get drafted in the first round,
any position, you should be on your best behavior. And
I'm sorry, like you gotta kind of kiss the ass
of these guys. Why wouldn't you want to? You want
the team drafting the highest to draft you get the
(29:57):
most money. So if that stuff, man, you gotta be
very careful about the way you interact with these coaches
of just coming off like you're kind of too cool
for school, because you know what they what they say
is like this fucking league will humble everybody. I don't
care who you are. I saw Andy Reid go four
(30:19):
and twelve and get fired. I just saw Kyle Shanahan
go six and eleven, get his teeth kicked in on
a weekly basis. You know, I just saw Mike McCarthy,
who had three straight twelve win seasons not even sniff
the playoffs, get run out of town. This league will
kick your ass no matter how good a player you are.
Look at Aaron Rodgers a couple of years ago. Aaron
(30:40):
Rodgers win the MVPs. By this year, he can't win
a game to save his life. I just think it's
a very, very humbling sport, and I think that's what
most coaches in GMS just I can take some cockiness,
like with Justin Jefferson, right, or with Miles Garrett. I'm
not even saying Miles this, but I'm just being like,
(31:02):
if my star player a little cocky, it's like, okay,
four time pro bowler, two time All Pro, It's like okay,
backing up. But like when you haven't done anything, most
of these people fair or not look at you, like,
who are you? Like I said, you're not even the
top quarterback in the trap. And I'm a fan, Like
I'm pro the player. But part of being a quarterback
(31:24):
is all the other stuff, right, It's how you act
how you conduct yourself. Everyone's looking and the reality your
dad's not there anymore, and he's going to be a
fascinating just I don't even know it's gonna get weird.
(31:45):
I mean, clearly already is getting weird. Listen, who do
you think saying that? Who are the teams should do? Or?
Ain't interviewing with the Eagles and the Chiefs. He's not
talking to the Bills, right, He's not sitting there with
the Packers. It's pretty clear of the teams. He's talking
to Titans, the Browns, the Giants, the Raiders. It's why
(32:09):
wouldn't you want those teams to like you? If anyone
could do it, it would be Travis. The Panthers just
had the worst defense in the league and have and
has ever seen the worst defense in the league has
ever seen. But there's also a clear hole at wide receiver.
Would you spend the money in free agency on defense?
(32:29):
In draft t Mac or go big for T Higgins
and draft Jalen Walker and Williams. Let me look, you
know what I haven't looked at in a minute the
draft order. Where is the Panthers rounds? So the Panthers
are drafting eight I'd have a hard time taking a
(32:53):
wide receiver at eight. I really would you just took
a wide receiver high in the draft in what's his name?
From South Carolina? Leget to me the trenches. I would
take multiple defensive linemen. I would one thousand percent. You
listed the two guys from Georgia. Two guys from Georgia,
(33:13):
the defensive tackle from from Michigan. Like I'm going defense,
I do not Like obviously you need skill guys, but
like I can find a wide receiver in the third round,
I am taking physical players, and to me, it's a
no brainer. Dan Morgan's my GM linebacker, tough guy. I
(33:37):
would not take the wide receiver, honestly. The wide receiver's
really good. And there's gonna be a lot of hype
on McMillan coming into this draft. I mean he's a beast.
He's six'. FIVE i haven't even seen what his combined
measurements and did he work. Out i've been preoccupied with
this wedding, stuff So i'm not super locked in on
(33:58):
all the measurements and. Times i'd see a lot of
the some of the offensive linemen their times were The
TEXAS a AND m pass. Rusher his his workout was just.
INCREDIBLE i mean it really. Was the problem is like
one of the greatest workouts we've ever, Seen but he
has a career four and a half. Sacks you're, like
that's kind of a. Problem and Then campbell and The
(34:19):
missouri offensive lineman both worked out, really really. Well, Now
luckily for those, guys they've been high level. PLAYERS i
think the problem with THE a AND m pass rusher
And Jim washburn taught me, this he's a big, believer is,
like you either get home or you. Don't it's a.
Skill it's like guys with bad hands usually don't improve.
(34:40):
It they always have bad. Hands, now if you're a
physical freak Like Terrell owens OR Dk, metcalf you can
get away with not Having Justin jefferson Or Marvin harrison hands.
Right but if you are not a physical freak and
you have questionable, hands it's a lot of teams won't
even mess with. You AND i would say the same
for pass. Rushers it's not often, like, yeah you, KNOW
ti year starter AND i had less than five careers
(35:02):
acts AND i came to THE nfl AND i started
averaging twelve sacks a. Season usually. Doesn't maybe they were outlier,
situations BUT i would just go the line of. Scrimmage
we just saw the. Blueprint we just saw the, blueprint
and it's not even The. EAGLES i would just say successful.
Teams we saw The bears do the opposite and they
(35:23):
regretted it. IMMEDIATELY a big. Fan been listening to you
for almost two. Years i'm an EXECUTIVE nba student At
oxford with a background and hedge funds in real. Estate
good smart. Dude we'd love to have you speak to
our class about THE nfl and. Business if you're ever In,
london let's make it. Happen. Uh you, Know i've never
(35:45):
been To. London i've always wanted to, go AND i
THINK i will try to get over there in the
next couple of. Years i've always heard great. Things i'm
sure many people listening have. Been it's obviously just feels
like one of the more popular cities in the, world
(36:05):
and everyone that goes has a good. Time But i've never,
been BUT i would like to, go and IF i,
did i'd speak to your. Class did you just say
The chargers have the best bookend tackles in THE? Nfl
my lotta just got rated as the third best player
BY pff And laye is his bookend their top, five
(36:27):
but The eagles are best by. Far, also if you're
ever In, philly let me. Know i'm At Trump. PHILLY
i think he means a golf. COURSE i didn't Know
trump had a golf course In. Philly, also why don't
other owners give their gms the money up front Like
jeffrey does For howie where he makes his job so much.
Easier they don't want to spend it, NOW i will say,
(36:51):
This you, Know, jeffrey part of spending a lot of,
money the expectations are to win and win big like last.
Year think about last year when they started whatever ten
and one and then lost all the games and got
bounced in the first. Round it felt like they just
were drafting in the top. Five it was a. Disaster
why because they're spending so much. Money so you spend
(37:12):
that much, MONEY i would say at, minimum its LIKE
Nfc championship. Game the forty nine ers were doing the.
Same they're spending a little, less but like one of
the highest spenders in the league with cash one six
and eleven, Season John lynch at The combines, like, yeah
we gotta pull. Back we don't have as much, Cash
we're gonna we're not gonna be as. Active you know,
why Because jed came in and, like fuck. This if
(37:33):
we're gonna cut huge, checks we better. WIN i think
a lot of owners just they like keeping that money for.
Themselves longtime, listener love The pod From tampa, area live
In North Carolina Chapel hill and have two daughters that
recently graduated from UNC. So One bucks question and one
regarding the Tar. Heels, first with the Team Jason light
(37:55):
has assembled and With baker playing, well if The bucks
add a pass rusher Like Khalil mack and draft a
couple good defensive, players are they a Legitimate Super bowl
contender next? Year, Second i'm optimistic In belichick having early
success and also really liking him being At carolina long
term more than a couple of. Years would love to
(38:16):
hear your. Takes also heading To scottsdale with the wife
And Third donald thirteen really excited about. It any suggestions
of what to do would be. Sure places eat much,
appreciated laid, back enjoying tennis and trying new. Restaurants The
Global ambassador seems to be a, very very popular place right.
(38:37):
Now i've never. Been maria's eating. There she said it
is a cool, vibe SO i would check that. Out
if you're an old TOWN i would say The mission
is always a tough place to Beat kierland at a
cool little, restaurant super high end. Steakhouse if you're in
that mood for, That dominis is my. FAVORITE i would
say on your first, Question tampa HAD i mean a
(39:01):
TOP a championship level. Offense the way they were, playing
the way they were scoring, points how. WELL i Mean
baker was playing like a top six to seven quarterback
in THE. Nfl offense did not let him. DOWN i
mean their secondary they were just getting. GASHED i felt
like down the end of the. Season so, YEAH i
would say you gotta feel pretty good About. Vidavea is It?
(39:23):
Clancy the guy they drafted was that last year or
two years? Ago feels like he's coming. ON i would
say they still have, some you, know older linebackers who are,
solid BUT i would say a little longer in the.
TOOTH i felt like their defensive backfield what's his Name
winfield was banged up a, lot so that didn't help
their corner. Play AND i Think Jason light talked about
(39:44):
this is like we had some injuries in our depth got.
Exposed so part of the reason or part of the
way you improve your depth is move guys that you
were forced you, know who were starting for, you and
turn them into backups by improving your. Starters So Super Bowl,
CHAMPION i don't, know but they feels like they played
The eagles pretty. WELL i would say that if their,
(40:08):
defense and part of the reason The eagles, WON i,
mean they had like the best defense in the. League
so it's hard to compete with a team who has
such a prolific offense and the best defense in the.
League so if you can have a top ten defense
in elite, offense you're, very very competitive in THE nfc for.
Sure First, off congrats on the, wedding appreciate. It, secondly
(40:35):
do you foresee quarterback contracts mimicking what we've seen In
Major League? Baseball ten plus years and five hundred? Million
why don't more teams copy what The chiefs Gave. Mahomes,
sure when his contract news broke it was, insane but
now he's the thirteenth highest paid per over the. Cap
you know, why because most quarterbacks would not sign that.
(40:57):
Contract doing that. Deal why would you want to lock
yourself up for ten years when you can get a
new contract in three or Four it was talked about
at the Time mahomes gave him one of THE i
would say more team friendly deals in the history of the.
League so most of these quarterbacks won't sign those. Deals
(41:22):
i'd rather sign a four year, contract four year, contract
fifty million dollars a, year two hundred million dollars guarantee
one hundred and eighty and then in three or four,
years When i'm thirty, One i'll sign a new contract
for three hundred. Million SO i think that's part of the.
Problem to entice a player to sign a ten year,
contract the number would have to be. Massive just want
(41:44):
to ask, you what should The bengals do moving? Forward
is it worth Keeping tea even though we have so
many problems in the offense and on. Defense what should
the plan be in the draft because the last couple
of years we kind of missed on our first round
Picks murphy And. Mims should they do like The eagles
did this year by taking two dbs back to back
(42:05):
or should they focus more on. Offense it's a good.
QUESTION i think the key is just getting good. Players you.
Know it's when you Take, mims or you take. T
higgins or you take whoever. High if they become a
high impact, player no one ever. Complaints. Right part of
(42:25):
the Reason Rome adonsday was such a polarizing. Player it's, like,
well some of these other offensive linemen we passed on
are really good And rome looks. Okay but If rome
had BEEN i don't, know a Pro bowl level. Guy
it's not all his. FAULT i mean the quarterback, situation
they were just But i'm just, saying let's just say
he would have had a great rookie. Season he would
(42:46):
have ninety. Catches no one would have. Complained so whoever you, draft, Right,
like let's say The, eagles let's Say mitchell turned out
to not be. Good so it's all of a, sudden
the corner sucked and then it was Like they're defensive
line wasn't as. Good it's, Like, howie why did you
take a corner instead of a defensive. Lineman this guy's getting.
SMOKED i promise you, this AND i do believe the
(43:08):
trenches the, trenches the, Trenches but there are other. Positions
and if you do take a player a, corner a tight. End,
whoever if he becomes an impact, player nobody ever, Complains
no one ever. Goes And i'm guilty of this. Too
you should have taken this guy instead of that, guy
because you're, like, Fuck i'm just glad this guy's on my.
Team like no one has ever, said you, know instead
(43:30):
of T, higgins we could have taken PLAYER, X y AND, Z, like,
no that's a great. Pick hell, yeah what a, Pick Duke.
Tobin so got to get these picks, right especially this.
Year you miss the. Playoffs you're drafting in THE i
think the late. Teams when we pull up The Cincinnati
(43:52):
bengals are drafting. Seventeenth you got a good player. Seventeen
what Of? John with the off season being, Here i've
had a bunch of VIDs of Mel kiper popping up
on my. Feet is he as big of a joke
to front office people AS i guess he'd. Be are
(44:14):
these draft experts respected or is it all just for?
Show there will be No melkiper slander on the. SHOW
i Love, melkiper LIKE i would say most people in
my age range late, thirties early, forties we grew even older.
FIFTIES i grew up watching Mel. Kiper there was NEVER
i never heard any bad words About melkiper WHEN i
(44:36):
was around football people and still to this day people
making Fun, now they might not always agree like he.
HAS i would say he has a strong, opinion but
that's no different if you go into a draft. Room
if you could see every draft room in the, league
and that goes for good and bad, teams there are
gonna be people in that room with just absurd. Takes
it'd be it'd be the equivalent of like putting them
(44:56):
on a television. Show they would go. Viral SO i
think when you look at Mel, kiper just like you
look at You. Know what Makes Daniel jeremiah pretty unique
is he worked in THE nfl for a long time
before he started doing. This mayock was the, opposite worked
in media for a long time and then transitioned to
become A. GM i think dj is probably has the
(45:19):
most friends in THE nfl in terms Of. Jesus he
worked with so many. Guys mel's just a LIFETIME tv.
GUY i, Mean mel's an. Entertainer but WHEN i was
at Cal, PAULY i was a senior in college AND
i was helping the football program work in the athletic.
Program this IS i, mean obviously the internet existed in
like two thousand and, seven but it was not the
(45:40):
internet what it is. Today he used to call THE
sid at Cal pauly to get a bunch of information
because we were going to have a Guy Ramsey's bardon
who ended up getting DRAFTED i think second or third.
Round so like Mel, kiper he did not fake his
way into. This grinded for a long, time and he
(46:01):
has some opinions that aren't always. Right i'm no. DIFFERENT
i thought The saints were gonna make the. PLAYOFFS i
probably do the equivalent of betting on teams and picking
teams and betting four against coaches as he does with draft.
Players the thing that Mel kiper what makes his job
impossible is he is just basing things in, him probably
(46:25):
more THAN. Dj like, HE i don't think he really
factors in. Character so to, me if you're not factoring in,
character it's hard to totally judge a, prospect AND i
THINK dj clearly does that a little. Bit BUT I i,
Mean Howie roseman AND dj are very, Close SO i,
mean in my, experience like how he OFFERED dj the
(46:45):
job That Joe douglass took like five or six years.
Ago maybe that was When joe. Left When joe left
to become THE, GM i think he offered the job
THE dj, SO i, MEAN dj is very very well
respected in the. League and mel KIPER i don't. KNOW
i think you guys a fucking. Legend so you're gonna win,
Some you're gonna lose. Some you have some bad. Opinions
(47:10):
cousins For davante Win WIN i think you Mean kirk.
COUSINS i would, say Kin atlanta just not mess with
any more wide. Receivers you Got Drake, london you Got Kyle,
pitts you got Be John. Robinson can we just focus
on the defensive side of the. BALL i would not
(47:33):
do that deal IF i was The Atlanta, falcons BUT
i hear you it'd be fun my Guy petticks slinging
it Around davante To Drake. London mooney Is mooney. THERE
i kind of Like, mooney always Like. Mooney, actually thanks
for all the. Content can you do a segment on
The Ben johnson media since Leaving. DETROIT i haven't ran
(47:56):
up on, it but it sounds like good. Content The
Ben johnson On Ben johnson, media you mean like him
talking to the. MEDIA i don't really know what you're.
ASKING i watched a couple of clips with part of my.
TAKE i will say this For Ben, johnson it doesn't
feel like where he's most, Comfortable like that's not really
(48:20):
Like Ben johnson's forte as a. Coach Like Dan campbell
is very comfortable in front of a podium, NOW i would,
say Like sean McVay born to be in front of the.
Camera you Watch Ben. JOHNSON i saw some of the
part of my take clips Whenever i've just seen, HIM
i saw the combine his press. CONFERENCE i don't want
to say he's. Awkward he's just he's not exactly Like
(48:41):
Rico suave up. There it's not something that feels completely
natural to. Him. Now, granted he's never been a head
coach and he's never even really have a team meeting,
Yet So i'm not going to make any huge judgments
or declarations that just because he's not not you, Know
Mike tomlin in front of A mike that he can't.
(49:03):
Coach if that's what you're, ASKING i don't. Know adam
from here In, australia THE nfl sneaky has a, big
(49:25):
big following In. Australia i'd be interested to hear your
thoughts on rivalries between teams and keeping teams. RELEVANT i
follow The niners and always hear about the Infamous raider,
rivalry but it's completely dead AND i don't know if
it would come. Back i've always thought The raider And
niner rivalry was not like AN nfl. Rivalry it was
(49:47):
something that existed in Northern california between people In, oakland
AND i would say The Oakland raider fan, first The niner.
Fan it wasn't to. Me it was not considered a
rivalry outside of The Bay. AREA a rivalry is The
packers and The. Bears rivalry is The steelers in The,
(50:10):
ravens The eagles and The cowboys With sean McVay And
kyle going to their, Teams Kyle shanahan Versus sean. McVay
The raiders' rivals Are denver In Kansas. City SO i think,
rivalries you, know like The jets and The, giants are
they rivals well locally for coverage and people, thought, yeah for,
(50:31):
sure outside like me And. Scottsdale DO i view The
jets and The giants'. Rivals, no The jets rival and
again rival would be, strong but like it's like The
dolphins and The bills and The patriots and teams in their.
Division same for The, giants like The eagles and The.
Cowboys SO i think THE nfl does a good job
(50:55):
Of the rivalries feel, big, RIGHT i, MEAN i think
The bills and The chiefs feel like a real. Thing
The bengals in The chiefs feel like a real. Thing
The ravens now against The, chiefs AND i would say
even say The bengals ARE i mean The ravens against The, bills,
RIGHT a lot of good, rivals. RIVALRIES i mean the
forty Nine ers and The. PACKERS i, MEAN i can't
even count how many times they've played in the playoffs
(51:16):
in my adult. Life they PLAYED i think four straight
years in the nineties WHEN i was a. Kid they
played multiple times With. Harbaugh they've played several times With Kyle.
Shanahan like that's a. Rivalry they play in a ton
of big. Games SO i would, say, yeah to, me the,
teams it would be The raiders and The, niners and
(51:37):
The jets and The. Giants teams that are just The
raiders are gone, now so like now they're In. Vegas
it's like it doesn't even. Exist BUT i hear what you're,
saying BUT i don't think THE nfl even thinks twice
about those type things at, all because it doesn't really.
Matter appreciate everyone. Listening have a great, day so you
(52:01):
the volume
The volume, What is going on everybody? John Middlecoff three
and now podcasts, Hopefully everyone is doing well out there
(00:22):
in society, in the real world. And Uh, we're gonna
talk a little football because I went on with Coward
a couple hours ago and we talked a lot about football.
And then I thought, you know, I'm not gonna do
a podcast. I'm leaving to Nashville tomorrow afternoon. I got
a million things to do. I haven't really done any
of them. I haven't even eaten dinner. I'm looking at
(00:44):
the clock right now it says seven thirty at night.
Feel overwhelmed, I feel stressed out. But what type lesson
would I be teaching my child? Then I realized I
don't have a child. But you're getting married, You're starting
to feel a little more mature. You're like, I gotta
set the two. So I decided I'm gonna do a podcast.
So I looked around the internet. So I saw some
(01:05):
things earlier today I want to talk about, from franchise
tags to Deebo. Samuel tweeted out some comments to uh,
Philadelphia made a transaction today that I want to dive into.
And we also do a mailbag at John Middlecoff is
the Instagram fire in those dms, and that'll be the show.
So I was, I refuse to be lazy as I'm
getting married and changing my life and setting lessons to
(01:28):
human beings that don't even exist in this house yet.
But we got to set the tone. We got to
set the tone early. So make sure you subscribe to
the podcast if you listen on Collins Feed three and
out wherever you may listen Apple, Spotify. Spotify is booming
right now, and uh YouTube, all of our content is
up there as well, so make sure you subscribe to that.
And the game plan. We will have a golf podcast tomorrow.
(01:49):
We will look ahead for the Arnold Palmer and make
some make some bets, talk a little golf, and uh
we'll kind of go from there. So, like I said,
Record of a Colin earlier, we did about an hour podcast.
We got a podcast here, a lot of content out
did podcasts. Deebo, Samuel Reaction Saturday Night, did a podcast
yesterday reacting to Matt Stafford. So we got you covered.
(02:10):
I can nitpick and be critical or give my opinion
on my beliefs on how to build a football team
and what to value and what not to value. Start
with the trenches. Don't worry about the wide receivers, right,
pick and choose your spots on the outside, win and
lose on the line of scrimmage, and then you get
(02:33):
really good players at wide receiver and you get a quarterback.
It's not that long ago that Carson Palmer told the Bengals, no,
I refuse to play for you. I would rather retire
than play for you. And he has spoken about it
over the years. A big reason was he didn't believe
that the things they said they were going to do
(02:54):
they would do, and historically the franchise has been viewed
as very, very cheap. Now, Andrew Whitworth I heard him
talk about this probably I forget where, but over the
last month he's like, if Carson Palmer had been a
part of those teams that Andy Dalton led, we could
have won a Super Bowl. I mean, those teams were stacked.
Now a big reason they had a bunch of draft
(03:16):
picks because of the Carson Palmer trade. But still he's
not wrong. The Bengals have actually been a pretty well
run operation when it comes to acquiring players. Just because
your frugal doesn't mean you don't know who can play
and who can't in a draft. I mean, and they
have drafted a lot of good players, I would say,
over the last twenty plus years. But they are operating
(03:38):
completely different because of one man and one man only.
And he's got a chance to be the best player
in the history of the franchise, and that's Joe Burrow,
and Joe Burrow has held their feet to the fire.
And I think he's doing it not because he views
himself like an NBA player, right, and that's this is
what Lebron James would do, or this is what any
powerful NBA player would do. I think he's doing it
(04:00):
because he knows you can't trust this operation and at
any moment they could pull back the reins and get cheap.
And I think if this was Andy Dalton or Carson
Palmer and not Joe Burrow, Ti Higgans just would have
had free agency. They would not have franchised him a
second time. I can't imagine they would have done this five, ten,
(04:22):
twenty years ago. But because of one man, they're doing it.
And if I was a Bengal fan like I don't
care if you got to pay him twenty six million dollars.
Let's do it. Let's keep him around. And I have
been saying, like, oh, Trey Hendrickson, how are you gonna
keep them all? Hendrickson technically is under contract now, it's
for a lot less money than he I'm sure reviews himself.
(04:44):
He's under contract for sixteen million dollars. He's easily worth
probably thirty plus. But like he's he's not a free agent,
so he can't just walk out the door. Now. He
could demand a trade, or they technically could trade him,
or they can just extend them. And to me, if
I was going to give a long term contract to
one of the two guys, because they've already gone on
(05:04):
record and said Jamar Chase is going nowhere now, Diana
Russini reported that the sides are pretty far apart, probably
because Jamar Chase wants like one hundred and fifty million
dollars guaranteed, and based on last year, I would not
blame him, but I would imagine the two numbers the
parties are coming in at are at different ends of
the spectrum, probably ones at one hundred, the others at
(05:25):
one hundred and fifty, and maybe end up meeting at
one hundred and twenty one hundred and thirty million, But
Jamar Chase is going nowhere. If I had to pick
one of the two guys between the pass rusher and
I know he's thirty years old and t Higgins, it's
not even a question. And ultimately the T Higgins situation
if you do, if you know they have said and
reports have been they will work on a long term
(05:47):
extension with the Higgins, I would have no problem paying
them year to year. Now, it's not an ideal way
to do business because when you give a guy a
franchise tag, especially the second which last year is like
twenty one now it's almost a twenty seven, that all
hits your cap and you owe him that much in cash,
But like you're basically giving him a two year, forty
eight million dollar contract instead of giving him a four year,
(06:08):
one hundred and twenty million dollar contract and guaranteeing them
seventy or eighty million dollars, especially when you have to
factor in other positions that are of need. I eat
a line of scrimmage, and you keep your quarterback happy
in the short term because really, you know, Joe's just
worried about twenty twenty five and if he's got T Higgins,
if you've got Jamar Chase draft running back, all of
a sudden, your offense is extremely dynamic again. And you
(06:29):
hope with Al Golden, Listen, I think Ana Rumo got
a little bit of a raw deal. Just a couple
of years ago, he's viewed as one of the best
defensive coordinators in the NFL, and now he's like the
village idiot. But Al gold is really good. He's been
there before. He's comfortable with the organization. We just saw
him in college kicking ass and taking names for Notre Dame.
I mean, he was easily one of the best assistant
coaches in all of Saturday. So if I'm a Bengal fan,
(06:53):
as long as Trey Hendrickson is on this team and
we keep T Higgins like our defense can't be as
bad and the way we play down the s like
we should be a factor. And you know today, listen,
we can nitpick how they're doing it, but having T
Higgins on the team for twenty twenty five is better
than having him not on the team. Speaking of bad decisions,
(07:13):
when it comes to wide receivers, I couldn't even imagined
And there were some people, not many, most people were
probably I know where I felt is thinking like this
Aaron Rodgers deal. Listen, I don't know if he's going
to lead the team to a super Bowl, but if
he plays a couple of years, they're gonna be a
playoff team and it will resurrect a franchise that was dead.
(07:36):
And it turns out he destroyed it even worse his
Achilles tour that he came back and their team sucked
in all while during that time he mandated after he
heard his achilles. Essentially, they trade for his buddy who
and I'm a Devonte Adams guy, President State Bulldog pro
Devonte Adams. That was a disaster trade because it did
absolutely nothing for their team and they gave up a
(07:58):
third round pick to win what five games, and they
cut Aaron Rodgers. They are going to cut DeVante Adams
because of this cap number. Nobody is trading for them,
and all of a sudden, you look, you go, in
our two years of Aaron Rodgers, what do we have
to show for it? And the answer is picks given
(08:19):
to other teams. And sometimes I'm all for taking risks.
I'm a pretty big risk taker in life, but it
can be a humbling experience when especially not that you
get cocky, but when some of your risks pay off
and they bear fruit and you're like, h this life thing,
this business thing, this whatever thing. I know what I'm doing,
(08:43):
and then all of a sudden you make a move
that was like, yeah, I would have traded for Rogers too,
and it blows up in your face. But it was
pretty crazy during the season as they're firing everybody that
they kept doubling down on that experience, and it led
them to just give away a pick for DeVante Adams that, yeah,
something they would clearly like back. Deebo Samuel has tweeted,
(09:06):
it's not often that you get a guy who wants
a trade, but he like him and Kyle have a
really good relationship. I think Debo really liked being a
part of the forty nine ers, and I was with
him on that plane flight when we got deplaned on
our way to New Orleans. Hearing him talk about the
forty nine ers like it was very positive, but like
(09:28):
also demanding a trade, like I don't want to be
here anymore, and when you trade me, I will retreat, retweet,
and repost every single picture of me. And a commander's jersey.
It's one of those like clean splits. It's like Debo tweets.
I love John, I love Kyle. Those are my hobies.
But I'm out and listen. I've seen every single opinion
(09:50):
under the sun of Deebo's fat. He's over the hill.
The Commander's got a steal. Like I said the other day,
I think this is a win win for everyone involved.
We're not going to pay him seventeen and a half million.
The commanders can't like what they see on the open market.
When you have to, you know, basically lock in several
(10:11):
years of contract to buy a player who's decent on
the open market, You're not getting the guy for one
year fifteen million dollars. You know, if you like the
player and he has a market, you have to give
him a multi year contract. And because free agency there
are multiple people bidding, supply demand, it drives up the price.
It's why you see every year like that guard got
(10:33):
forty five million dollars guaranteed and twenty one million dollars
a year. The Denver Broncos gave Mike mcglinchy fifty million
dollars guaranteed. What happens because yeah, the Bears were also
offering him a contract, and it drives the price up.
So you go, wait, I can get Deebo Samuel under
a cost control contract for a fifth round pick. If
it works out, great, We're in good shape if it
(10:54):
doesn't cost me a fifth round pick and some money
that I'm gonna spend anyway. But I don't have that
many options to spend it, and I have a general
manager that knows him, so I'm probably on the Uh.
It doesn't feel like there are that many people in
the forty nine er land that believe Debo has anything left.
I do believe he could have a productive season, and
a productive season for Debo, isn't ninety five catches like
(11:16):
look at his best year's like seventy seven catches Now,
he had almost fifteen hundred yards from the line of scrimmage,
and he had a ton of rushing touchdowns like those
days are over? But can he give you some big plays?
You know? Weight has been a big concern I think sometimes,
and I've been fired a couple times. Do you know
what it did for me? It motivated me. And I
know Debo wasn't technically fired, but this has to be
(11:39):
a pretty motivating experience, like debo. You didn't just get traded,
got traded for a fifth round pick. You know, that's
what the league thinks of you. That's the only way
that you could keep your salary was to get traded
for a fifth round pick. So I do believe if
not now, then it never will happen. But I do
think the debo will be motivated, and I think the
(11:59):
forty nine ers were able to maintain we're still like
a pro player operation. But uh, we're doing what we
probably should have done the last couple of years, be
a little more cutthroat, uh. Philadelphia, you know, speaking of
DeVante Adams, they trade the conditional third round pick for him,
and it just blows up in their face. It's a disaster.
He's on the team for half the season. You have
(12:20):
to cut him at the end of the season. You
know when it's whenever he retires, no one will ever
speak about his Jets tenure. And what Philadelphia got with
Darius Slay is a complete opposite. They traded a third
round pick for a guy who became their full time
starter for five years and made several Pro Bowls and
was a starter on a team that went to multiple
(12:41):
Super Bowls and won one. Like when you make a
trade for a guy no obviously the big first round picks,
when you trade for the Jalen Ramsey's, the Tyreek Hills,
the Khalil Max, it's your all. Your chips are in
the middle of the table. But when you make a
move like we're trading a third round pick for a
disgruntled player who makes decent money but we still believe
(13:01):
can be a really good, high end starter, this is
the best case scenario. You trade, you get a starting
corner who makes Pro Bowls, who's on your team for
four or five years, who you like. Then you cut
for basically no dead money. Like that's a seamless transaction.
And Howie Roseman look at the Jets. This is why
good teams stay good and shitty teams stay shitty. Right
(13:25):
when you trade a mid round or you know, a
late second day early third day pick and you get
a starter for multiple years at a premium position on
a winning team, that's gold. That's a big time transaction.
So listen, Darius Slay's Philadelphia Eagle career comes to an end,
and maybe his career. I know there were some people
(13:46):
in Philadelphia Land that I know thought that he might retire.
I think Darius had said after he plans on playing
another year. I still think he could probably get one year.
I don't know, ten twelve, fourteen million dollar contract somewhere,
Maybe not fourteen, but I would say eight. I don't
know who pays on the open market out there in
society eight to ten million dollars, So I would guess
that Darius Slay plays another season. But what a fantastic
(14:10):
little little run he had in Philadelphia. And last but
not least, Sean McVay loves Jimmy Garoppolo. I mean, there
were people talking about reporters who are clearly in deep
with the Rams, like Sean McVay could if they did
trade Matt Stafford start Jimmy Garoppolo, And I thought what
(14:32):
I think? Diana Rossini said that, and I had the
same reaction that her co host Chase Daniel had. I
think that's fucking insanity, And it is like, you couldn't
go into the season after making the playoffs twice with
this version of Jimmy, But you feel pretty good if
Jimmy Garoppolo is your backup quarterback and Stafford gets injured,
(14:52):
he has to start a game. Hell, he has to
start a month. You could win a couple games. You
can keep your season a full And I think Jimmy
Garoppolo has done your classic transition into you know, I've
made onundred and one hundred and fifty million dollars and
now I'm just going to be a backup for the
next I don't know, five six years ideally, and make
(15:14):
anywhere from three to seven million dollars a year and
rack up another I don't know, fifteen to thirty million dollars,
and as long as I don't have to play much,
I can maintain that price point. The time when I
do have to play a lot, that would be a
problem because I'd probably get exposed. But Jimmy Garoppolo's in
(15:34):
that sweet spot. Andy Dalton's in it currently long time
starter transition to backup start racking up those five eight
million dollar paychecks Boom boom boom. And the difference of
the Jimmy Garoppolos and the Andy Daltons relative to Chase
Daniels and those type players is those guys have started
for a long period of time, so you know, you
(15:57):
feel much more comfortable with a backup quarterback who's not
just a lifetime backup, a guy who has been a
starter in the NFL. You know, I view Marcus Mariota
and I think I would rather have Jimmy Garoppolo and
definitely Andy Dalton than Mariota. But the one thing you
feel good about having Mariota on your roster is like,
if we get into a pinch and this guy has
(16:18):
to start two games, three games a month straight. He
knows exactly how to operate as a starter. He knows
how to run the huddle, he knows how to prepare,
he knows what a given week what entails. He knows
how to lead young guys, he knows how to deal
with the veterans. Like he can just make a seamless transition.
Obviously there's a drop off from your starter to him
as a player, but like, I can just put him in.
(16:39):
Sometimes with these lifetime backups, you never know what you're
gonna get, and oftentimes you're like, oh my god, this
is a disaster. So I think Jimmy Garoppolo is in
that sweet sweet spot. Maybe Stafford rolls an ankle, misses
a game, you can win it with Jimmy, So I
get where Sean McVay is coming from. Let's dive into
my friends at Microsoft. So welcome to Chasing Challenges brought
(17:02):
to you by Microsoft and in the NFL. Just like
in the business world, overcoming obstacles is the key to success.
Microsoft empowers business decision makers with AI solutions, simplified cloud
and data management, with trustworthy, responsible technology to turn challenges
into opportunities. In this segment, we will explore some of
(17:24):
the biggest challenges being faced in the NFL in how
they can be overcome. Whatever challenges you're facing, Microsoft empowers
you with the expertise to say bring it on. This week,
we're discussing the challenges faced by every general manager. You know,
when you leave the combine, you have not only talked
(17:47):
with agents of your own players, so you get a
gauge of what my free agent that I want to
keep is going to cost, or what they are realistically
going to ask for, and probably the floor of their well.
While you are talking to them, they represent other guys
on other teams who are free agents or who might
(18:08):
be a guy like represent a guy like Darius Slay
who's not a free agent, but pretty clear he's gonna
be cut. Then he gets cut. Now he's a free agent,
and you start gauging the market. This is what we need,
these three positions. We want these group of six seven
players to fill those three holes. This is what it's
gonna cost. Then you have to go, well, we got
(18:30):
this much cap space, or maybe we will have to
make some cap space, which the cap in the NFL,
I would say, is one of the most fluid numbers
in the history of American business. Right, you can create
and make it look like anything you want it to.
It's like this team is fifty million dollars over the cap,
(18:51):
they cut three guys, then all of a sudden, they're
signing a guy. But you do need to work with
your owner and go listen, we can be aggressive and
we can sign these three guys even though we don't
have that much cap space because we can give a
much bigger signing bonus and then push that down and
kick the can down the road and manipulate our books.
(19:14):
But the way you can manipulate the salary cap, and
all gms at this point know this is by giving
huge cash up front. And that is not a general
manager or a head coach's decision to make you need
to convince the owner, who some owners are very much
behind you. The forty nine ers and the Eagles spent
(19:34):
an ungodly amount of cash these last couple of years,
and if you look, teams like the Patriots and the
Cowboys have not. So you can manipulate anything you are
willing to fit under a number if you want to
give more cash up front. And I think conversations after
the combine turn into we can get these two guys
(19:57):
if we're willing to do this. And while the conversations
have started between the coach and the agent, the GM
and the coach and the agent, the front office and
the agent, it now turns into the general manager and
the head coach dealing with the owner, and can we
convince him to pay this much of actual cash in
(20:21):
the next couple weeks to sign this guy, because any
coach or any owner has no problem. Yeah, we'll give
him three years fifty million dollars and just pay him
over the course of the deal. That's easy to do.
But the way some of these contracts work, especially in
a competitive market, is who is willing to give the
biggest signing bonus. You learn this in basic finance classes.
(20:43):
Money up front is more valuable than money down the line.
It's why last year Jordan Love signed the big contract
over the off season. He got seventy five million dollars
I think before like the middle of December. So how
you structure contracts can be the difference of landing a
place or not landing a player. But it's not the
general manager's money. It ultimately falls on the owner. And
(21:06):
as we've seen, some teams have more available cash than others,
and more importantly, some owners are more willing to part
with that cash than others. I think this is a
time if you're a general manager where you have to
turn into a salesman. You have to convince the people
with the money, which is the owner. He usually leans
(21:29):
on the president. He probably has an accountant you have
to deal with separate from your own cap guy, and
you have to convince him this is worth it. This
guy is going to be the difference of us winning
eight games or ten or eleven, and we're going to
be in the playoffs and have a chance to make
a run. Now, those conversations and if you can convince
your owner to part with his money, can come back
(21:50):
to haunt you if it blows up in your face.
But that is what's going on right now is a
bunch of general managers who will spend the rest of
this week I don't want to say begging their owner,
but attempting to convince them that spending this extra ten
million dollars, twenty million dollars, thirty forty to fifty you
(22:11):
know you pick. These numbers are getting huge now in
this modern day NFL spending spreeze. Come the middle of
March to cut those checks, and the guys who can
will land the players, and the guys who can't will
come out empty handed. So that's it for this week's
Chasing Challenges. Remember Microsoft's AI solutions empower you to take
(22:33):
bold steps and make informed decisions, sparking new ideas to
help drive your business forward. With Microsoft as your trusted partner,
you can navigate your journey with confidence, finding innovative solutions
and reaching new possibilities. Visit Microsoft dot com Slash Challengers
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Speaker 1 (24:31):
Okay, let's bang out a couple of Middlecoff mailbags at
John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram firing those dms.
Get your questions answered here on the show. This is
a bit of a spicy take, so it might make
the show. Was quote I changed the culture over and
over again when your father, the coach the team and
(24:52):
ran the program, recruited about a million guys through the
transfer portal at every opportunity. The worst take of the
Combine wasn't the quote Gucci luggage quote the real culture changer.
I think he means Travis Hunter been a big supporter
of the Sanders family and the Combine. Shenanigan's kind of
(25:13):
left me disappointed your thoughts. I actually, right before I
recording this part of the mail bag, I saw Todd
mcshay's post that he talked to people at the Combine
that interviewed shador and shador I guess acted in the
interview like he didn't give a shit how into it,
(25:34):
you know, like what they thought of him. Basically, he
was just acting how he normally acts and didn't care
what their reaction was. Even though obviously it's a job interview.
I could understand the tough transition of He's played for
(25:55):
his dad for so long, and Dion is one of
the biggest personalities in the history of sports. And I
would say in a good way, probably at least of
my lifetime top two or three cocky ast athletes of
all time. But he's also one of the best. I mean,
you could argue pound for pound, he's one of the
best pure athletes in the history of civilization. And Dion
(26:19):
is an all time great football player. Shadoor is not
an all time great prospect. So when you go into
these situations, and again I haven't heard any of this.
Most of my friends work for teams that you know
in the playoffs. But and I'm not saying I just
mean I haven't even texted anyone at the combine about
interviews with guys in general. But most people that I
(26:41):
know in the league would not have interviewed shad or Sanders.
I would say this, you do want to go into
these meetings, having been someone who sat in one of
those cars when a kid was getting meeting, getting you know,
meeting the front office and the coaches. It should be
a pretty humble experience, right Whether you are Caleb Williams,
(27:03):
whether you are Miles Garrett, whether you are Kyler Murray.
I'm just picking some recent in recent memory, just some high,
high level prospects. I would imagine when they go in there,
they're just kind of on their best behavior. They're trying
to impress like you or I would in an interview setting.
So part of you know, shador, if it is true,
(27:25):
I mean again, I'm just basing this off top McShay,
and I've seen some other people tweet about this. They're
going to entrust you if I'm going to draft you
to be a quarterback really really high with the entire
keys of the franchise. More than likely, unless I get
a complete bailout of like hitting on brock Purty in
the seventh round, my career is going to sink or
(27:46):
swim with how you play and operate. And part of
being a quarterback is leadership, leading everybody, not just the
coaching staff, that the other players, the whole organization follows
you and that type stuff. Imagine being in a situation
(28:08):
you've never none of these people have ever met Shador, Right,
most of these people, If I'm Pete Carroll or if
I'm Brian Daboll, I probably haven't even watched him play
that much. Now, if you're day Ball, I would imagine
you've done some work over the last couple of months
on them, But relative to the work you will continue
to do, it's probably a small small percentage. So the
(28:31):
first reaction, and I say this all the time, and
I'm a Shador fan, I think he's a good player,
but like the personality stuff like that matters a lot,
and I think the league is full. I mean, think
of the best players in the NFL at that position.
Patrick Mahomes is like the heartbeat of their city. Josh
(28:52):
Allen and Lamar Jackson like resurrected those franchises, And think
of what they mean to their coaching staff, their team.
Just how good of guys they are twenty four seven,
three sixty five all the time, and the amount of
pressure that's on them and those guys these are talking
fucking MVPs and champions, like the way of the world
(29:12):
is on their shoulders, or you're just trying to get drafted.
You're not even considered the number one quarterback, So I
think you go in there really cocky, like Dion could
do that and listen as someone who looked up to
my dad and operates a lot like my father, who
definitely was not Deon Sanders. I don't he's just emulating
his father, but his father can operate and act differently
(29:36):
than him. So I do think you gotta be very
careful in these meetings. I would say this for any player,
especially a guy that's gonna get drafted in the first round,
any position, you should be on your best behavior. And
I'm sorry, like you gotta kind of kiss the ass
of these guys. Why wouldn't you want to? You want
the team drafting the highest to draft you get the
(29:57):
most money. So if that stuff, man, you gotta be
very careful about the way you interact with these coaches
of just coming off like you're kind of too cool
for school, because you know what they what they say
is like this fucking league will humble everybody. I don't
care who you are. I saw Andy Reid go four
(30:19):
and twelve and get fired. I just saw Kyle Shanahan
go six and eleven, get his teeth kicked in on
a weekly basis. You know, I just saw Mike McCarthy,
who had three straight twelve win seasons not even sniff
the playoffs, get run out of town. This league will
kick your ass no matter how good a player you are.
Look at Aaron Rodgers a couple of years ago. Aaron
(30:40):
Rodgers win the MVPs. By this year, he can't win
a game to save his life. I just think it's
a very, very humbling sport, and I think that's what
most coaches in GMS just I can take some cockiness,
like with Justin Jefferson, right, or with Miles Garrett. I'm
not even saying Miles this, but I'm just being like,
(31:02):
if my star player a little cocky, it's like, okay,
four time pro bowler, two time All Pro, It's like okay,
backing up. But like when you haven't done anything, most
of these people fair or not look at you, like,
who are you? Like I said, you're not even the
top quarterback in the trap. And I'm a fan, Like
I'm pro the player. But part of being a quarterback
(31:24):
is all the other stuff, right, It's how you act
how you conduct yourself. Everyone's looking and the reality your
dad's not there anymore, and he's going to be a
fascinating just I don't even know it's gonna get weird.
(31:45):
I mean, clearly already is getting weird. Listen, who do
you think saying that? Who are the teams should do? Or?
Ain't interviewing with the Eagles and the Chiefs. He's not
talking to the Bills, right, He's not sitting there with
the Packers. It's pretty clear of the teams. He's talking
to Titans, the Browns, the Giants, the Raiders. It's why
(32:09):
wouldn't you want those teams to like you? If anyone
could do it, it would be Travis. The Panthers just
had the worst defense in the league and have and
has ever seen the worst defense in the league has
ever seen. But there's also a clear hole at wide receiver.
Would you spend the money in free agency on defense?
(32:29):
In draft t Mac or go big for T Higgins
and draft Jalen Walker and Williams. Let me look, you
know what I haven't looked at in a minute the
draft order. Where is the Panthers rounds? So the Panthers
are drafting eight I'd have a hard time taking a
(32:53):
wide receiver at eight. I really would you just took
a wide receiver high in the draft in what's his name?
From South Carolina? Leget to me the trenches. I would
take multiple defensive linemen. I would one thousand percent. You
listed the two guys from Georgia. Two guys from Georgia,
(33:13):
the defensive tackle from from Michigan. Like I'm going defense,
I do not Like obviously you need skill guys, but
like I can find a wide receiver in the third round,
I am taking physical players, and to me, it's a
no brainer. Dan Morgan's my GM linebacker, tough guy. I
(33:37):
would not take the wide receiver, honestly. The wide receiver's
really good. And there's gonna be a lot of hype
on McMillan coming into this draft. I mean he's a beast.
He's six'. FIVE i haven't even seen what his combined
measurements and did he work. Out i've been preoccupied with
this wedding, stuff So i'm not super locked in on
(33:58):
all the measurements and. Times i'd see a lot of
the some of the offensive linemen their times were The
TEXAS a AND m pass. Rusher his his workout was just.
INCREDIBLE i mean it really. Was the problem is like
one of the greatest workouts we've ever, Seen but he
has a career four and a half. Sacks you're, like
that's kind of a. Problem and Then campbell and The
(34:19):
missouri offensive lineman both worked out, really really. Well, Now
luckily for those, guys they've been high level. PLAYERS i
think the problem with THE a AND m pass rusher
And Jim washburn taught me, this he's a big, believer is,
like you either get home or you. Don't it's a.
Skill it's like guys with bad hands usually don't improve.
(34:40):
It they always have bad. Hands, now if you're a
physical freak Like Terrell owens OR Dk, metcalf you can
get away with not Having Justin jefferson Or Marvin harrison hands.
Right but if you are not a physical freak and
you have questionable, hands it's a lot of teams won't
even mess with. You AND i would say the same
for pass. Rushers it's not often, like, yeah you, KNOW
ti year starter AND i had less than five careers
(35:02):
acts AND i came to THE nfl AND i started
averaging twelve sacks a. Season usually. Doesn't maybe they were outlier,
situations BUT i would just go the line of. Scrimmage
we just saw the. Blueprint we just saw the, blueprint
and it's not even The. EAGLES i would just say successful.
Teams we saw The bears do the opposite and they
(35:23):
regretted it. IMMEDIATELY a big. Fan been listening to you
for almost two. Years i'm an EXECUTIVE nba student At
oxford with a background and hedge funds in real. Estate
good smart. Dude we'd love to have you speak to
our class about THE nfl and. Business if you're ever In,
london let's make it. Happen. Uh you, Know i've never
(35:45):
been To. London i've always wanted to, go AND i
THINK i will try to get over there in the
next couple of. Years i've always heard great. Things i'm
sure many people listening have. Been it's obviously just feels
like one of the more popular cities in the, world
(36:05):
and everyone that goes has a good. Time But i've never,
been BUT i would like to, go and IF i,
did i'd speak to your. Class did you just say
The chargers have the best bookend tackles in THE? Nfl
my lotta just got rated as the third best player
BY pff And laye is his bookend their top, five
(36:27):
but The eagles are best by. Far, also if you're
ever In, philly let me. Know i'm At Trump. PHILLY
i think he means a golf. COURSE i didn't Know
trump had a golf course In. Philly, also why don't
other owners give their gms the money up front Like
jeffrey does For howie where he makes his job so much.
Easier they don't want to spend it, NOW i will say,
(36:51):
This you, Know, jeffrey part of spending a lot of,
money the expectations are to win and win big like last.
Year think about last year when they started whatever ten
and one and then lost all the games and got
bounced in the first. Round it felt like they just
were drafting in the top. Five it was a. Disaster
why because they're spending so much. Money so you spend
(37:12):
that much, MONEY i would say at, minimum its LIKE
Nfc championship. Game the forty nine ers were doing the.
Same they're spending a little, less but like one of
the highest spenders in the league with cash one six
and eleven, Season John lynch at The combines, like, yeah
we gotta pull. Back we don't have as much, Cash
we're gonna we're not gonna be as. Active you know,
why Because jed came in and, like fuck. This if
(37:33):
we're gonna cut huge, checks we better. WIN i think
a lot of owners just they like keeping that money for.
Themselves longtime, listener love The pod From tampa, area live
In North Carolina Chapel hill and have two daughters that
recently graduated from UNC. So One bucks question and one
regarding the Tar. Heels, first with the Team Jason light
(37:55):
has assembled and With baker playing, well if The bucks
add a pass rusher Like Khalil mack and draft a
couple good defensive, players are they a Legitimate Super bowl
contender next? Year, Second i'm optimistic In belichick having early
success and also really liking him being At carolina long
term more than a couple of. Years would love to
(38:16):
hear your. Takes also heading To scottsdale with the wife
And Third donald thirteen really excited about. It any suggestions
of what to do would be. Sure places eat much,
appreciated laid, back enjoying tennis and trying new. Restaurants The
Global ambassador seems to be a, very very popular place right.
(38:37):
Now i've never. Been maria's eating. There she said it
is a cool, vibe SO i would check that. Out
if you're an old TOWN i would say The mission
is always a tough place to Beat kierland at a
cool little, restaurant super high end. Steakhouse if you're in
that mood for, That dominis is my. FAVORITE i would
say on your first, Question tampa HAD i mean a
(39:01):
TOP a championship level. Offense the way they were, playing
the way they were scoring, points how. WELL i Mean
baker was playing like a top six to seven quarterback
in THE. Nfl offense did not let him. DOWN i
mean their secondary they were just getting. GASHED i felt
like down the end of the. Season so, YEAH i
would say you gotta feel pretty good About. Vidavea is It?
(39:23):
Clancy the guy they drafted was that last year or
two years? Ago feels like he's coming. ON i would
say they still have, some you, know older linebackers who are,
solid BUT i would say a little longer in the.
TOOTH i felt like their defensive backfield what's his Name
winfield was banged up a, lot so that didn't help
their corner. Play AND i Think Jason light talked about
(39:44):
this is like we had some injuries in our depth got.
Exposed so part of the reason or part of the
way you improve your depth is move guys that you
were forced you, know who were starting for, you and
turn them into backups by improving your. Starters So Super Bowl,
CHAMPION i don't, know but they feels like they played
The eagles pretty. WELL i would say that if their,
(40:08):
defense and part of the reason The eagles, WON i,
mean they had like the best defense in the. League
so it's hard to compete with a team who has
such a prolific offense and the best defense in the.
League so if you can have a top ten defense
in elite, offense you're, very very competitive in THE nfc for.
Sure First, off congrats on the, wedding appreciate. It, secondly
(40:35):
do you foresee quarterback contracts mimicking what we've seen In
Major League? Baseball ten plus years and five hundred? Million
why don't more teams copy what The chiefs Gave. Mahomes,
sure when his contract news broke it was, insane but
now he's the thirteenth highest paid per over the. Cap
you know, why because most quarterbacks would not sign that.
(40:57):
Contract doing that. Deal why would you want to lock
yourself up for ten years when you can get a
new contract in three or Four it was talked about
at the Time mahomes gave him one of THE i
would say more team friendly deals in the history of the.
League so most of these quarterbacks won't sign those. Deals
(41:22):
i'd rather sign a four year, contract four year, contract
fifty million dollars a, year two hundred million dollars guarantee
one hundred and eighty and then in three or four,
years When i'm thirty, One i'll sign a new contract
for three hundred. Million SO i think that's part of the.
Problem to entice a player to sign a ten year,
contract the number would have to be. Massive just want
(41:44):
to ask, you what should The bengals do moving? Forward
is it worth Keeping tea even though we have so
many problems in the offense and on. Defense what should
the plan be in the draft because the last couple
of years we kind of missed on our first round
Picks murphy And. Mims should they do like The eagles
did this year by taking two dbs back to back
(42:05):
or should they focus more on. Offense it's a good.
QUESTION i think the key is just getting good. Players you.
Know it's when you Take, mims or you take. T
higgins or you take whoever. High if they become a
high impact, player no one ever. Complaints. Right part of
(42:25):
the Reason Rome adonsday was such a polarizing. Player it's, like,
well some of these other offensive linemen we passed on
are really good And rome looks. Okay but If rome
had BEEN i don't, know a Pro bowl level. Guy
it's not all his. FAULT i mean the quarterback, situation
they were just But i'm just, saying let's just say
he would have had a great rookie. Season he would
(42:46):
have ninety. Catches no one would have. Complained so whoever you, draft, Right,
like let's say The, eagles let's Say mitchell turned out
to not be. Good so it's all of a, sudden
the corner sucked and then it was Like they're defensive
line wasn't as. Good it's, Like, howie why did you
take a corner instead of a defensive. Lineman this guy's getting.
SMOKED i promise you, this AND i do believe the
(43:08):
trenches the, trenches the, Trenches but there are other. Positions
and if you do take a player a, corner a tight. End,
whoever if he becomes an impact, player nobody ever, Complains
no one ever. Goes And i'm guilty of this. Too
you should have taken this guy instead of that, guy
because you're, like, Fuck i'm just glad this guy's on my.
Team like no one has ever, said you, know instead
(43:30):
of T, higgins we could have taken PLAYER, X y AND, Z, like,
no that's a great. Pick hell, yeah what a, Pick Duke.
Tobin so got to get these picks, right especially this.
Year you miss the. Playoffs you're drafting in THE i
think the late. Teams when we pull up The Cincinnati
(43:52):
bengals are drafting. Seventeenth you got a good player. Seventeen
what Of? John with the off season being, Here i've
had a bunch of VIDs of Mel kiper popping up
on my. Feet is he as big of a joke
to front office people AS i guess he'd. Be are
(44:14):
these draft experts respected or is it all just for?
Show there will be No melkiper slander on the. SHOW
i Love, melkiper LIKE i would say most people in
my age range late, thirties early, forties we grew even older.
FIFTIES i grew up watching Mel. Kiper there was NEVER
i never heard any bad words About melkiper WHEN i
(44:36):
was around football people and still to this day people
making Fun, now they might not always agree like he.
HAS i would say he has a strong, opinion but
that's no different if you go into a draft. Room
if you could see every draft room in the, league
and that goes for good and bad, teams there are
gonna be people in that room with just absurd. Takes
it'd be it'd be the equivalent of like putting them
(44:56):
on a television. Show they would go. Viral SO i
think when you look at Mel, kiper just like you
look at You. Know what Makes Daniel jeremiah pretty unique
is he worked in THE nfl for a long time
before he started doing. This mayock was the, opposite worked
in media for a long time and then transitioned to
become A. GM i think dj is probably has the
(45:19):
most friends in THE nfl in terms Of. Jesus he
worked with so many. Guys mel's just a LIFETIME tv.
GUY i, Mean mel's an. Entertainer but WHEN i was
at Cal, PAULY i was a senior in college AND
i was helping the football program work in the athletic.
Program this IS i, mean obviously the internet existed in
like two thousand and, seven but it was not the
(45:40):
internet what it is. Today he used to call THE
sid at Cal pauly to get a bunch of information
because we were going to have a Guy Ramsey's bardon
who ended up getting DRAFTED i think second or third.
Round so like Mel, kiper he did not fake his
way into. This grinded for a long, time and he
(46:01):
has some opinions that aren't always. Right i'm no. DIFFERENT
i thought The saints were gonna make the. PLAYOFFS i
probably do the equivalent of betting on teams and picking
teams and betting four against coaches as he does with draft.
Players the thing that Mel kiper what makes his job
impossible is he is just basing things in, him probably
(46:25):
more THAN. Dj like, HE i don't think he really
factors in. Character so to, me if you're not factoring in,
character it's hard to totally judge a, prospect AND i
THINK dj clearly does that a little. Bit BUT I i,
Mean Howie roseman AND dj are very, Close SO i,
mean in my, experience like how he OFFERED dj the
(46:45):
job That Joe douglass took like five or six years.
Ago maybe that was When joe. Left When joe left
to become THE, GM i think he offered the job
THE dj, SO i, MEAN dj is very very well
respected in the. League and mel KIPER i don't. KNOW
i think you guys a fucking. Legend so you're gonna win,
Some you're gonna lose. Some you have some bad. Opinions
(47:10):
cousins For davante Win WIN i think you Mean kirk.
COUSINS i would, say Kin atlanta just not mess with
any more wide. Receivers you Got Drake, london you Got Kyle,
pitts you got Be John. Robinson can we just focus
on the defensive side of the. BALL i would not
(47:33):
do that deal IF i was The Atlanta, falcons BUT
i hear you it'd be fun my Guy petticks slinging
it Around davante To Drake. London mooney Is mooney. THERE
i kind of Like, mooney always Like. Mooney, actually thanks
for all the. Content can you do a segment on
The Ben johnson media since Leaving. DETROIT i haven't ran
(47:56):
up on, it but it sounds like good. Content The
Ben johnson On Ben johnson, media you mean like him
talking to the. MEDIA i don't really know what you're.
ASKING i watched a couple of clips with part of my.
TAKE i will say this For Ben, johnson it doesn't
feel like where he's most, Comfortable like that's not really
(48:20):
Like Ben johnson's forte as a. Coach Like Dan campbell
is very comfortable in front of a podium, NOW i would,
say Like sean McVay born to be in front of the.
Camera you Watch Ben. JOHNSON i saw some of the
part of my take clips Whenever i've just seen, HIM
i saw the combine his press. CONFERENCE i don't want
to say he's. Awkward he's just he's not exactly Like
(48:41):
Rico suave up. There it's not something that feels completely
natural to. Him. Now, granted he's never been a head
coach and he's never even really have a team meeting,
Yet So i'm not going to make any huge judgments
or declarations that just because he's not not you, Know
Mike tomlin in front of A mike that he can't.
(49:03):
Coach if that's what you're, ASKING i don't. Know adam
from here In, australia THE nfl sneaky has a, big
(49:25):
big following In. Australia i'd be interested to hear your
thoughts on rivalries between teams and keeping teams. RELEVANT i
follow The niners and always hear about the Infamous raider,
rivalry but it's completely dead AND i don't know if
it would come. Back i've always thought The raider And
niner rivalry was not like AN nfl. Rivalry it was
(49:47):
something that existed in Northern california between people In, oakland
AND i would say The Oakland raider fan, first The niner.
Fan it wasn't to. Me it was not considered a
rivalry outside of The Bay. AREA a rivalry is The
packers and The. Bears rivalry is The steelers in The,
(50:10):
ravens The eagles and The cowboys With sean McVay And
kyle going to their, Teams Kyle shanahan Versus sean. McVay
The raiders' rivals Are denver In Kansas. City SO i think,
rivalries you, know like The jets and The, giants are
they rivals well locally for coverage and people, thought, yeah for,
(50:31):
sure outside like me And. Scottsdale DO i view The
jets and The giants'. Rivals, no The jets rival and
again rival would be, strong but like it's like The
dolphins and The bills and The patriots and teams in their.
Division same for The, giants like The eagles and The.
Cowboys SO i think THE nfl does a good job
(50:55):
Of the rivalries feel, big, RIGHT i, MEAN i think
The bills and The chiefs feel like a real. Thing
The bengals in The chiefs feel like a real. Thing
The ravens now against The, chiefs AND i would say
even say The bengals ARE i mean The ravens against The, bills,
RIGHT a lot of good, rivals. RIVALRIES i mean the
forty Nine ers and The. PACKERS i, MEAN i can't
even count how many times they've played in the playoffs
(51:16):
in my adult. Life they PLAYED i think four straight
years in the nineties WHEN i was a. Kid they
played multiple times With. Harbaugh they've played several times With Kyle.
Shanahan like that's a. Rivalry they play in a ton
of big. Games SO i would, say, yeah to, me the,
teams it would be The raiders and The, niners and
(51:37):
The jets and The. Giants teams that are just The
raiders are gone, now so like now they're In. Vegas
it's like it doesn't even. Exist BUT i hear what you're,
saying BUT i don't think THE nfl even thinks twice
about those type things at, all because it doesn't really.
Matter appreciate everyone. Listening have a great, day so you
(52:01):
the volume
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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