August 10, 2024 • 50 mins
This week on the show John dives into the latest with the 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk and if he thinks he will get traded and if so, what are some of the top destinations (7:54), can the relatinoship between Jalen Hurts and his head coach be resolved after a report that Hurts has lost respect for his coach (27:01), and should be people be talking more about Jayden Daniels than they are Caleb Williams (42:20).
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Speaker 2 (01:59):
What is going on, everybody?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
It's me John, And there's the three Now podcast, a
little thing we like to do, the best of little
weekend preseason action all around the league going on Saturday Sunday.
So we thought we'd recap earlier this week. I discussed
the Brandon Ayuk situation, which is a story that just
refuses to die, and all the different teams that were
(02:25):
involved in why it made sense for basically none of them,
So we will go over that. Obviously, the salacious story
of Nick Sirianni, the head coach of the Eagles, and
his quarterback came out, so I want to dive into
can you play quarterback for a head coach that you
(02:46):
don't respect? Can that work? Not quite sure? We talk
a lot about Caleb Williams and the hype behind that,
and it's it's fair. I mean, there is a saving
set on hard knocks, a lot of hype man, a
lot of hype from the outside.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Well, is it safe to say that Jaden.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Daniels is right behind him? Sauce Gardner made some comments
after the joint practices and I kind of dive into
how that hype is real. Washington is gonna He's gonna
change the franchise, So we'll dive into the hype train
that is behind that. Subscribe to Three and Out podcast
if you listen on collins feed YouTube page. We got
(03:26):
all of our content up there as well, and uh,
podcasts aren't gonna stop, So let's get ready for the
regular season. But before we dive into some football, I
had someone send me a DM the other day and
they said, you know what, I'll be real with you.
I was getting kind of tired of everyone anointing Zach
Bryan as this greatest showman of all time and I
(03:48):
couldn't take it, and I started not liking him. This
is not verbatim what he said, but essentially like I
was just like, give me a break, and then I
saw him because of you. Game Time, the official ticketing
app of this podcast, and he blew my mind and
I said, listen, I'm not making it up. John Mayer
(04:09):
reiterated what I said a long time ago that when
you see it, you're like, I don't know if I've
had that many experiences like this. I don't pretend to
be some like a historical musical. I have a ledger
of all the greats in front of me, but you know,
when you're at his concert, it's pretty special. And if
you want to go to a concert, you want to
go see him, go see anyone. Let just go to
(04:31):
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(04:51):
last minute tickets, lowest prices, guaranteed one thing. Since dating
and now engaged to Maria, living with a real estate
agent kind of enlightens you on people's egos, on people's
willingness to adapt to get a deal done, what people
(05:12):
argue over during a real estate deal. But I think
it's very enlightening of an individual and just a people
in general. Now, obviously, buying a home for the overwhelming
majority of people is the biggest purchase that they'll ever make.
It's the most money you put towards something. It's an emotional,
it's a professional, it's a personal. It encompasses everything. But
(05:37):
it's pretty eye opening because I've seen they come a
lot of these deals, whether you're dealing with a five
hundred thousand dollars house, whether you're dealing with a two
million dollar house, comes down to like under ten grant.
But there's ego involved. It's like, I'm not going to
give that. It's like, wait, you're really going to resind
your offer or tell him no based on seven thousand dollars,
(05:59):
You're poisoned to make two hundred grand. And it happens,
and it happens all the time, and the other thing
I've seen forever, and I wasn't able to afford my
first house till I was thirty eight years old. Lived
in a condo forever, which wasn't cheap because of the
Bay Area.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
But it was really shitty.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Is You hear all the time that young people and
obviously homes have never been more expensive relative to.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
What people make.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
But they're like, people are never going to sell their
home if they have a great interest rate. You hear
that all the time, and in theory, that makes a
lot of sense, because why would you get rid of
a house if you're paying zero percent interest? Not zero,
but you know two eight, three to one whatever.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Well, guess what.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
People get divorced on a daily basis. I know people
that are getting divorced currently. They haven't been married very long.
People die all the time, people.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Move for jobs.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Things come out of nowhere. I see Maria deals with
a ton of clients that moving to Scottsdale for work.
Where are you from Minnesota, Georgia, Florida. They didn't plan
on it. Things change. You can never underestimate the future,
good and bad. And I see it all the time,
just because I have a front row seat into this
(07:20):
just eye opening business that she works in that deal
with these people that ultimately comes down to a big
personal deal right for them. And I think when this
trade and the discussion over Brandon, I you six months ago,
the Niners were clearly dead set on keeping them. And
then you get to a point where are you really
(07:41):
going to not get the deal done over a million
dollars a year? Like, if you're willing to pay twenty
seven and ultimately twenty eight, we'll get it done. Are
you not going to budge? Is it really worth taking
it an extra couple weeks? Seems a little crazy to me,
But maybe they just have a number and we think
the value over that is just not worth it to us.
And listen when when deals go south with that mindset,
(08:05):
sometimes that's true. Maybe we go based on the budget,
based on who we need to sign extend, we just
can't go above that. Seems crazy to me, But I'm
not naive enough to think I know all the idiosyncrasies
of a salary cap of bonus money, of what party's
gonna cost. I get it, what Trent William's gonna cost.
Got a lot of moving parts. But this trade is
(08:28):
a good example of things change and things change fast,
and Brandon Ayuk and his camp is clearly just not
playing ball. And I think the forty nine ers by
this story coming out from one of the top forty
nine ers reporters. I know reporters get mad when you
source guests, but I think it's pretty clear what the
(08:48):
forty nine ers are saying, like, we need a resolution.
We're not doing this any longer. Like here's our offer,
here's what other people are willing to offer if you
want to play in these team, these two teams, let's rumble,
takes two to tango. We're ready to dance. And if
you don't want our offer, this is what these two
teams are offering. We have deals done, go play for them.
(09:09):
And I think that's what the forty nine ers did
on Monday night. They kind of drew a line in
the sand because I listen, Bosa was never going to
go anywhere. If he was healthy, he was going to
play the majority of his career for the forty nine ers.
When you get to a guy like Ayuk, list we
really want him here.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
He's a winning.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Player, but like this is our number. We don't feel
like we're royally screwing you.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Here.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
We get you emotionally, think you're at a different level.
We disagree. This is what we're willing. We'll even allow
you and your agent, who is also John Lynch's agent,
talk with other teams, see if you can get more.
But this isn't free agency. So these are the only
two teams we'd be willing to accept their offer. And
that's where it kind of feels like they're at now
when all this came out, And it just shows you
(09:51):
how fast things can change, because I never would have
thought a week ago that it would come out like
four teams are being named and players are being named
on other teams with trade offers.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I know this.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
If I was involved in this deal and I was
the Browns and Amari Cooper is named like, I wouldn't
be happy. I wouldn't want that getting out. The Browns
clearly aren't putting that out. So once you drag all
these other teams involved, it gets kind of dicey. And
that's how this situation is. And let's face it, of
all the teams right now that are contending teams in
(10:25):
the NFL, the Niners got more crap going on than
anyone else. Honestly, it's not close.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Today came out.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
McCaffrey's hurt, their rookie Ricky Pearson hurt his shoulder. Trent
Williams is literally at home on the couch and you
got this thing.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
But I do think the forty nine.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Ers are ready for resolution. So let's look at the
four teams. Let's start with Washington because it was reported
they were in and now they're out. Because part of
it is Brandon Ayuk was like in the offseason, he
acted like he was Kevin Durant, like I want to
go to Washington or I want to go to those Steelers.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Well do they want you?
Speaker 1 (10:57):
And obviously Washington has a connection with Jayden Daniels where
they played together for a year in college. Washington's out,
you know why, it makes zero sense for them to
trade for him if he was a free agent one pam.
But for them, they aren't a player away. They're about ten.
And when you start over as a GM and as
(11:18):
a head coach, take a deep breath, don't rush into anything.
The more assets you have, the more flexibility you have.
You can figure it out as you go. With your
young quarterback. Clearly you're gonna need more talent on offense.
And defense and as a team.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
But like, let's just see what you got.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
You're in. No one expects you to win ten games
this year.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
If you win.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Five, it might suck for the year, but very understandable.
Show the quarterback has made a little progress. They can't
trade a first round pick for Brandon Au because the
probability of them drafting in the top ten is just
too high. But if you're the forty nine ers, they're
not gonna give you scary terry. So do you go,
(12:01):
can I get two second round picks? Well? How does
that help the forty nine ers right now? A first
round pick wouldn't. But if that thing turns into seven,
you'd have to entertain it, just the possibility of it.
But it doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make sense
from Washington standpoint. It doesn't make sense for the forty
nine ers standpoint. That's why it doesn't look like it's
(12:22):
was never gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Let's go to the Steelers. This gets complicated.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
They clearly like him a lot, and I think one
thing they're probably hesitant to let happen if they can
control it, is to let the Browns get them. Here's
the problem for the Steelers because you go, well, just
trade them your first round pick. Ideally that pick's like
twenty four, and then you get Brandon au because under
(12:49):
contract for the next four or five years, and you're
in pretty good shape. You got another offensive, explosive player,
you got a bunch of defensive guys, you got a culture.
You don't have a long term answer at quarterback. The
OC yesterday or two days ago said we viewed justin
fields as a weapon. It's like, uh, it's not ideally
what you want to hear if you're a justin field
(13:10):
supporter in Pittsburgh. But if you're Pittsburgh and you go, hey,
we'll give you our first round pick. Well, if you're
the Niners a first having two first round picks, if
you're a good team, is an incredible feeling at the combine,
during free agency and leading up.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
To the draft.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
You know when it's pretty irrelevant if you have to
give up a player to get that extra first round
pick in August, September, October, November, December, the playoffs does
nothing for you. That player literally is wearing a college
uniform gives you zero value in prison time. So to me,
there's no match there. It makes no sense, and even
(13:50):
if you're the Steelers, you can't afford that if this
situation doesn't go well. And for the first time, what
if this season the quarterback position is off and you
go seven and ten and all of a sudden, you're
draft in fourteenth and if you wanted to get aggressive,
you'd be able to get up to five and draft
a quarterback in this upcoming draft. You have to leave
(14:11):
that flexibility open. You're not a wide receiver away and
not a player like this, ain't DeVante Adams and back
to Washington like we saw a couple of years ago.
If you trade for a great wide receiver and Davante's
a better player, not you, and you give up a
lot and it doesn't work out, it's like what.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Are we doing here?
Speaker 1 (14:32):
And you lose ammunition to go get the quarterback now
Davante they thought they had Derek Carr.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Clearly that fell apart.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
The Pats this one, okay, because like any deal, there's
certain someone could knock on your door and go, hey,
I offer you a five hundred grand for your house. Well,
depending on how much your house is. If your house
is two hundred grand, you're like, hey, have my shit packed?
Up cash right now, I have it packed up by tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Your house worth two million, And you say kick rocks.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
So if you're the Pats, you're like, we need some action,
we gotta pay somebody. Yeah, we'd be pretty interested. But
if you're Brandon at the first thing, you go, well,
I've been on a dominant team for the last four
plus years. This is easily and even Pats fans will agree.
One of the worst teams in the league. They're not
(15:21):
gonna be good, so you are going to suck. So
whatever the forty nine ers are offering you is what
the Patriots are offering you that much more the Saint
Texas or Florida. They tax you a lot there too,
so if you'd be willing to go there, you're gonna
stink and probably go immediately to a relevancy that has
(15:43):
to give him some hesitation.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
And this is why I think the forty nine ers
throughout the Pats and the Browns.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Do I think a kid from Sacramento that or I
guess Nevada, Sacramento, Arizona State forty nine ers wants to
move to Cleveland even though that's a good team. Or
definitely the Patriots. I don't especial. I mean, it's one
thing if it's like a twenty million dollar difference, but.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I don't think that's what we're talking here.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
But the Pats can make the forty nine ers think.
It's like, Hey, you know Matt Judon, he's clearly willing
to play it out this year because, like you said,
he doesn't want to get fined. What if we trade
him to you. We'll give you Kendrick Bourne that already
knows your system. And depending on how productive i Uke is,
it can fluctuate on the second day. So a third
(16:26):
round pick can turn into a second round pick depending
on how many games we win, out productive he is
or whatever makes you think, like you have a meeting
over that, John Kyle, you have your wide receiver coach,
you have your d line coach, like you're doing some
evaluations your scouting department. You're having several meetings on that
like that, you're talking that out. Are we better with Judon?
(16:47):
With Leonard Floyd and Nick Bosa, Maybe our wide receiver
room clearly takes a step back. But this guy already
knows Deebo looks fantastic in camp, This young rookie he's
heard again, like these are just conversations you have, and Cleveland,
to me, is the most intriguing because Amari Cooper. From
a statistical standpoint.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
It's just it's just a plug and play swap.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
They're very similar players in the sense of great route
runners get open on everybody. Like you feel close your eyes,
you're getting seventy five to eighty catches a Maari's been
doing it at a you know, much longer level. I
think Amari is easily considered one of the better route
runners in the entire NFL. You know, I think Davante
would be near the top. Keenan's pretty high. I U
cause Throne his hat in the ring and Amari, So
(17:33):
you do that. You're not tied to Amari because he's
a free agent.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
But here's the.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Problem, because even if I say, Okay, i'll go there,
they're gonna sign me to more money. I'll go play there.
If you're the forty nine ers, can you do a
swap for one year rental and also not get a
good pick. And that's where it makes it complicated for
Cleveland because I was looking at Cleveland's books today doing
a little Jake Rosenberg, Howie Roseman, like let's let's take
a look at the money. Obviously, DeShawn is on the
(17:59):
biggest contract in the history of the NFL. Miles Garrett,
while it was trumped last year by Bosa, is still
on one of the biggest contracts in the history of
the NFL for a non quarterback. They also signed Denzel
Ward to a massive contract. They have a very, very
high priced team. So having draft picks, which this year
for the first time in forever, they got a bunch. Well, clearly,
(18:22):
if I'm giving you Amri, i don't also need to
give you my first round pick.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
That's a joke. True, that's fair, But I'm giving you
a young player who you are going to extend that
you're gonna have for a while.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
So I'm gonna need something else back because it's pretty
clear that Mari's going to be a one year rental
for me. So then we start discussing second day picks.
Those are pretty valuable because that is where you get cheap,
impact starters. Anyone in the NFL will tell you the
second and third round. Obviously, if you have a top
ten pick, it's a chance to get a game changer.
(18:53):
But a lot of people get uncomfortable in the twenties
because you pay first round money for a pick that
actually hits at a lower percentage than need.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Fifty to fifty.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Yet in the second and third rounds, historically a ton
of Pro bowlers, a ton of long term starters come
out of that and for three, actually four years, sometimes
you give him an extension. After three, you get a
guy for like a million dollars a year. And that's
where I think all these situations are really really complicated. Now,
if the Steelers wanted them, and they'd give them the
(19:23):
first round pick and the forty nine ers know they're
not gonna trade them, maybe they just call uncle. I
don't see. They would get destroyed for that because that
first round pick does nothing for him Week one against
the Jets. And in these situations. This is where I
saw Kyle say this, like every situation so different, because
they were like, does this remind you of Nick Bosa?
(19:44):
Of course it doesn't remind him of Nick Bosa, cause
Nick Bosa never was not going to be a Niner.
They are clearly entertaining this because they're kind of tired
of it. They don't want to deal with it anymore.
It's a pain in their ass. I like Brandon Aiyuk.
He's he's been a fun player to watch, which expand
his game over the years, and he's tough. He blocks
(20:04):
like that's a big difference between him and Amary if
I say they're very similar on in the passing game,
where they're not similar as the run game. Brandon Ayuk
is one of the better run blockers.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
In the league. He's a badass.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Like, that's not really a Mari's thing. Guess what that is.
That's a Kyle thing. Kyle likes to run the ball
all the time. And if you're screwing up Christian McCaffrey's
box score, you're screwing with Kyle and he's gonna get
pissed off. Well, Brandon blocks his ass off, and that's
where all this stuff gets really, really complicated. And I
do understand, like I wouldn't be that comfortable paying him
(20:37):
twenty eight thirty million dollars a year. I don't think
he's worth that.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I really don't.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
You can say, well, this is the money when DJ
Moore give me a hundred catches a year and I'm
gonna throw them the ball that much. Am and Raw,
if he's on the field, is gonna get me one
twenty and I'm gonna throw it that much. The forty
nine ers an't gonna throw it that much. They never have,
they never will as long as Kyle Shannan's calling the plays.
That ain't their style. So when you have a number
(21:01):
and you're like, I'm not budgeting on this, Like the
Eagles pay their two wide receivers, do you know what
Jeffrey Lurry has loved to do since Andy Reid in
nineteen ninety nine?
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Throw the ball?
Speaker 1 (21:09):
He wants to throw the ball. That is like an
Eagle's ethos. As an organization, we want to pass the ball.
It's an analytics think. They're an analytically run operation. Obviously
they like running, they like running.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Backs, but they prefer to pass.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
So running backs like, why, say Quon made some sense?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
He actually didn't cost that much.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
And if IUC is only going to be a seventy
five to eighty catch guy, people on the internet can
argue all day long, he'd go somewhere else and thrive. Great,
he ain't gonna do that there, so why are you
willing to pay the freight? But you also can't just
give him away?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
This is fantasy. Fucking football.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
This isn't NFL live with players everywhere just saying can't
let him go. That's not the way the world works.
Like I do need a shitload of value back and
that's what complicates all this stuff. And even on the
other team standpoint, like steel it's easy to say no
if you're the Steelers obviously for Washington like you're we're out.
It's easy if you're Cleveland, like, yeah, we'll give you
a Mari in a fifth. Well, if you're the Niners, like, no,
(22:07):
we're giving you a younger, ascending player. You're giving upus
a guy that is a one year rental in the Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Why do they want a budge? Because they need those
draft picks.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
And the Pats, I think that comes down to is like, Okay, Brandon,
you want to go to Pats, we'll get you a
first class ticket tomorrow. If you want to go, go
sign the contract. They'll give us back what we want.
He's like, yeah, man, I just I'll just keep up.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
See it the hold in.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
See you guys in the cafeteria. What times meetings tomorrow
at eight thirty.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Yeah, I'll be there at eight fifteen. Get my uh
my typical omelet that's.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
That's what it feels like, and that's what this situation.
And listen, the Niners deserve, Like how did it get
to this point? And I think a big reason because
I go back, why didn't they trade them? Like if
they knew that it was going to be complicated because
the offers weren't there because he's Brandon Ayuk, He's not
Tyree Killer DeVante Adams. People were lying to give him
(23:00):
a first round pick after the combine, before free agency,
that wasn't the case. They didn't have a first round
pick on the table around the draft. He can get mad.
People can argue over the analytics all you want, like
the market's kind of speaking for itself, and now they're
hoping maybe a little desperation. Training camp teams feel pressure,
(23:22):
but like I said, I think this situation is going
to keep playing it out, which doesn't help the forty
nine ers, which clearly there feels like they're more involved
in this. And Trent like, hey, this is one of
the best players in the league. You probably want to
get him to the camp. He's thirty five and you
want him working out. And if you're a Cowboy fan
right now, you're like, what the hell's going on with
the forty nine Ers Eagles, And it's true, and this is.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
It's crazy.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
But all these other teams are involved, and I can't
imagine they're happy, especially the teams where you're leaking, their
players might get traded. If I'm the Browns, I'm like,
come on, guys, don't don't leak.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
We'd trade you with Mauri Cooper. We need this guy.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
If trade doesn't happen. Well, it was flying around on
social media today. I was scrolling Pro Football Talk and
I said, you know what, I'm gonna read this article.
It was on ESPN dot com and it was about
Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts. And obviously the big story
of the article was that they had a fractured and
(24:22):
unhealthy relationship in twenty twenty three, as well as Jalen
didn't respect him from an x's and o's standpoint, at least,
that was my biggest takeaway, and I would say the
most salacious part of the article by a wide by
a pretty wide margin, because, let's face it, the most
(24:44):
important people once the season starts, the GM doesn't have
as much control. The owner can't do anything. It's your
head coach and your quarterback and then falls in line
to your coordinators, right, and Sirianni's.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Lucky to have a job.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
We all know that. I thought he was going to
get fired after the season, so did most people, so
did some people in the Philadelphia Eagles building.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
But he survived.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
I don't think it's possible. And I've been in these
positions where you work for somebody and you don't respect them. Football,
like a lot of jobs in this country, can be
pretty aggressive, can be contentious, can be.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Like that's part of any high level industry, especially ones
like this where there's a ton of money on the line.
People have big egos. People I guess football more than
most industries, a lot of screaming back and forth. It's
a violent sport. It's full of aggressive people. So to me,
(25:51):
people screaming at each other. It's why when Aaron Rodgers
and Garrett Wilson or coaches, screaming means nothing to me.
Welcome even the article with some of the Dion Sanders
stories like, I don't care. This is not your normal
workplace environment when it comes to interactions between two people,
(26:12):
whether it be two players, whether it be a coaching player,
whether it be a coaching coach, I'm pretty numb to
that means nothing to me. So there have been clips
over the years of like Jalen and Sirianni yelling each other.
I don't care, honestly, that's that's what I expect, same
with any team. It doesn't do much for me. But
(26:34):
when you lose respect for a coach or for any
person that's in a superior position to you, whether you're
making fifty million dollars like Jalen Hurts, or whether you're
me and you and you don't respect your boss. You
don't have to agree with someone above you all the time.
(26:54):
But when I lose respect, like it's hard for me
to listen to anything he says.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
And I think the.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Much of this whole thing was it all revolved around
x's and o's. Can you imagine, Like I bet Matt
Stafford and Sean McVeigh always haven't had the greatest days.
Jimmy Garoppolo and Kyle Shanahan were at each other's next
non stop. Patrick Mahomes Andy Reid feel like they have
the perfect marriage, but I bet there are some tense days.
(27:22):
Do you think those quarterbacks?
Speaker 2 (27:24):
And I just used those as examples.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Ever, once questioned those coaches ability to scheme an offense,
those coaches intellectual capacity for football obviously not. And listen,
Sirianni is not like those guys. He can't call place.
We've seen him attempt to and it was a disaster.
(27:49):
Last season ended, you know, with the basically the building
on fire, and he hired a new offensive coordinator. He said,
I'm gonna be completely hands off. Even Mike McCarthy, who
who has much maligned Cowboys coach. Last year of his contract,
people love and part of it is the brand all
over him twenty four to seven, three sixty five. Here's
(28:12):
what you cannot argue about Mike.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
He can call an offense, just did last year.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
They were pretty good, and he did for Green Bay
many times. I know Mike McCarthy can be an offensive coordinator.
Nick Sirianni cannot. And part of this article was about
like people start freelancing, people start doing their own thing.
No one was listening to anyone, because listen, there are
(28:37):
a ton of coaches that are successful in this league
that don't call plays. John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh, Dan Campbell.
But one thing they are great Mike Tomlin is controlling
the room, keeping the chaos to a minimum, holding a
standard driving people. There was a comment in the Hard
(28:59):
Nine from Saban, which we'll get into in a minute,
but Saban basically said people aren't born to be champions,
whether it be in football, whether it be in life.
People are born to be average, get by, just survive.
If you want them to be great, you have to
do it, meaning you have to coach it. So, Sirianni,
(29:22):
my question has always been, what does he do? Seriously,
he's some great motivator where you wouldn't put him in
the hardball Mike Tomlin, Dan Campbell category. He's definitely not
a scheme guy for an offense one thing. And Jim
Harbaugh is a former quarterback, but really he's like a hybrid.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
He feels more like a defensive lineman.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Same with Dan Campbell former tight end. But if you
just saw him, he'd be like, oh yeah, I bet
he played d tackle back in his prime. John Harbaugh
and Mike Tomlin are defensive guys. But how often do
offensive head coaches are not super dialed in on.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
The scheme historically? Think about historically.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan, like all the best offensive coaches,
even if they take a year off or whatever, can
always call the offense. Even this year. Brian da Ball
is like, I'm taking it back. I'm calling the offense.
Why He's done it countless times in his past college
ampro If my offensive head coach isn't some elite leader,
(30:27):
which let's face it, he's not, can't dominate when it
comes to schematics, we got problems. So and I'm not
acting like Jalen's perfect. Takes two to tango. They probably
are both responsible.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
That's the way any situation usually goes.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
But how do you blame him? Like Jalen's had a
front row seat of elite schematics at Alabama were the
best of the best. We're coaching him on the offensive
side of the ball, and he knew his head coach,
while a defensive is arguably one of the greatest defensive
schematic guys in the history of the sport, especially when
(31:06):
it comes to the secondary in Nick Saban and then
he played for a year and a half with Shane
Steiken calling the offensive plays, so he knows what an
elite play caller looks like. I just think this thing
now I'm still high on the Eagles because I think
they have a lot of talent. But one thing they
hit on in this article, because everyone's in good spirit
right now, clearly the roster is really good. What happens
(31:29):
when they hit adversity, and it's the one thing that
gives me pause that will they turn on this guy?
I think most guys on the team like Nix around
it clearly personally. But like when you're in the trenches
and you're in the fire and you've lost a couple
of games, what could he bring to the table besides
some rudy Rudiger speech beside some crazy analogy in front
(31:53):
of the team on a Wednesday, I'm talking about a
game plan to give you an advantage. That's what the
great coaches on Sundays do. Urban Meyer in college was
an incredible recruiter and a great motivator, But then he
came to Sunday and none of that shit really mattered
because Monday through Saturday is a chess game against your opponent.
(32:16):
It's a thinking man's sport. Of course, you have to
push guys and make sure you're practicing hard, but you
win and lose on Sunday by play calls offensively and defensively.
That's why I think it's such a fascinating sport. It's
why even beside the head coach, we talk about the
(32:37):
coordinators non stop. God, that was a dumb blitz. Why
can't they cover this guy?
Speaker 2 (32:44):
God?
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Why are they running the ball so much? Cause you know,
I talked to someone the other day. In baseball, we
argue so much, actually, Adam the producer of this podcast,
that you know, everyone's so critical always of baseball managers
in the playoffs. I can't believe Aaron Boone or Dave
Roberts pulled that guy from the game.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
You can't.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
It's not his choice. It's being run by the front office.
Yet no one in football when the Niners grew up,
or the Chiefs screw up, or the Broncos screw up
on offense, ever go like got the GM You know
for a fact who called that play and whether it
worked or whether it didn't, and whether that led to
(33:27):
a winner, whether that led to a loss. It's a
huge part of this podcast. Once the game start, we
talk a lot about individual play calls. Individual play calls obviously,
how a team starts, how ready they are for a game,
and then like most games in the NFL, they're relatively close,
and a play here or a play there are the
(33:49):
difference in the game, and Sirianni has nothing to do
with that. Jalen Hurts think about this, Like Tom Brady
is a good example. Him and Bill buttedheads for a
long time, but one thing that was never argued. He
never lost respect for him when it came to x's
(34:10):
and o's. That's insane. I mean, that's crazy. It'd be
like working for you know, Warren Buffin and like he
does something to piss you off, Like yeah, just I
question his ability in the market. That's literally the job
of a coach. That's why it always drives me nuts
when a head coach gets hired from a coordinator position
(34:33):
and then they no longer do that. Robert Salah is
a great example. He was literally hired because of how
good the defense was in San Francisco. Then he gets
the Jets, He's like, I'm just gonna be a CEO. Like,
we didn't hire you to be a CEO. I want
you to run the defense and do that.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
You're the head coach.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
But the reason you're a head coach is because you
have an expertise doing one individual thing and then they
stop doing it.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
I just articles like this don't necessarily make me nervous
because I'm not picking the Eagles to win the Super Bowl,
and last year was a joke with their coaching staff
and they still won eleven games. Now, obviously they started well,
but I still believe they're gonna be good. But this
is something that doesn't just go away usually when you
(35:20):
I've been in position now, I'm never had a guy
of Nick Sirianni's like fame that I lost respect for.
But when you lose respect for someone above you, you
usually don't gain it back. You usually don't gain it
back because deep down you know he just doesn't know.
This guy's not good enough. This guy can't help me.
(35:43):
Why because there's a part of you that thinks he's clueless.
Think about that. That's usually what it is, at least
in my experience. Jalen Hurts. One part of this article,
which I actually thought was kind of cool, is he
called Wink Martindale after the season, before the Tampa Bay
playoff game and ask them for advice, Essentially like, what
(36:05):
do you see when you coach against me? Obviously, Wink
for two years was the Giants defensive coordinator and they
played him in a playoff game, so he had game
plan for him countless times and winks it. In my
forty years of coaching, I've never had a player reach out. Well,
you wouldn't have to reach out if you could lean
on your head coach, Rock Purty, Patrick Mahomes, all these
(36:31):
all these got Matt Stafford wouldn't have to reach out.
They would just reach out to their boss, to the
guy that they lean on, what do we need to
do and they would have the answers. That's literally their job.
Now I'm not saying it was wrong for Jalen to do.
I think that's gives a lot of insight into him
as a guy, as a person driven to be the
(36:53):
best he can. I also think it gives a lot
of insight is he doesn't think anyone in the building
has the answers for him to help him ount, which
is pretty scary. And this is a very slippery slope
this year. Like I said, I thought he was fired
at the end of the season. I thought Bill Belichick
was going to be their head coach and that is
definitely still on the table this year and making the
(37:14):
playoffs will not be good enough if they're one and
done in the playoffs. And the same questions kind of
come back, what is Sirianni doing? I don't see, because
you're gonna get to the point, like is Jeffrey Learry
going to give him an extension? And here's the other
problem for Sirianni. Now it's pretty well established if Kellen
(37:36):
Moore has success and their offense is awesome again like
it was under Shane Steiken. Because let's face it, if
they had to redo, which would have been crazy at
the time, but if they had to redo today, they
would do it. They would have fired Nick Sirianni for
Shane Stiken. Obviously that would have been unprecedented. It's they
weren't in a position to do that. But after a
year looking back, what the right move would have been,
(37:59):
And if Kellen more succeeds this year, it's him succeeding.
Sirianni has nothing to do with it. It's not like
he's picking the players. We know how he is the
grand poo ball when it comes to personnel. So you
just go, we just paying this guy seven eight million
dollars to be the head coach on our website. So
the Eagles are a team that everyone's gonna be watching.
(38:21):
If you watched Hard Knocks, you saw Nick Saban talk
about hype and expectations from the outside and how that
doesn't matter internally when you're trying to develop a quarterback,
and he discussed why so many quarterbacks fail because of
their expectations. I'm gonna disagree. I think a lot of
(38:42):
quarterbacks fail because they're not good enough. This pro football
it is really, really difficult. They go to bad teams,
they get bad coordinators, they get bad talent. Like any
young person, you lose any confidence you have, you can
get destroyed. And you know the way in the spe
in which the NFL works, you don't have time. There
(39:03):
are small examples of guys that just didn't care, you know.
JaMarcus Russell's probably the best example of all time of
a guy who literally did not give a shit. But
I think most guys, at least over the last decade
plus tried put in good effort and they simply were
not good enough. Like this is the best of the best,
this is the one percent of the one percent. It
(39:24):
is difficult to play in the NFL. I say it
all the time. I am much more comfortable being critical
of coaches because I think it is much easier to
become a coach in the NFL than it is to
become a player. And listen, guys fumble, Guys make a
bad pass, Guys misatackle. Football is hard now when you
(39:45):
consistently make mistakes, I'd argue it's on the coach pull
them out of the game. But the hype machine, Listen,
it doesn't matter that much if you're a GM or
you're a coach, or you're a player. You ultimately have
to produce and that's all that matters. But us on
the outside us to talk about football fans kind of
like it. It kind of makes this whole thing fun.
(40:07):
I was just watching the Team USA game. Part of
what made that game so riveting, it was fantastic was
because the hype around the team right and there was
substance behind it. We have some of the greatest players
in the history of the game on it, and it's
like they're gonna lose to Joker and a bunch of
other guys that none of us could point out of
a lineup. It was incredible television and the cool part,
(40:30):
and this is why I always defend the draft. The
draft is part of the business model of the NFL.
That moment, the hype train of the players coming in,
the excitement that it gives fans of hope that they
can turn things around. That's real, and that plays a
part into the revenue stream that ultimately the players essentially
get a fifty to fifty split of So I've always
(40:52):
defended like the excitement around draft time. It's why whenever
a player is drafted, especially in the first round, you
will never not see an ecstatic draft room. Even though
we know, you know, on average, sixteen of the thirty
two guys will not get second contracts with the team,
(41:13):
let alone becomes star players. Even the guys that get
second contracts, that doesn't mean you become JJ Watt right
or Patrick Mahomes. That just means you're a really good player. Right,
Maybe you make a Pro Bowl or two. But when
I draft a guy in the top ten, the top five,
my expectations are for you to become a star from
(41:34):
the team, from the owner, from the fans, from us
talking about it. That's the way this whole thing works.
And there is an incredible amount of hype around Caleb
Williams part of that started years ago when he kicks
Spencer Rattler to the curb, who's about to be Derek
Carr's backup quarterback in New Orleans. Turned out like, actually,
(41:55):
he's not terrible, pretty good player than what he did
at USC two years winning the Heisman Trophy and obviously
his physical gifts. But I do think the hype around
Jayden Daniels, I wouldn't put it on Caleb's level, but
it's pretty high and a lot like Caleb Williams, he
is entrusted with saving a franchise, saving a franchise. Now,
(42:17):
the Bears over the last twenty years have had good teams.
I mean some of those Brian Urlacker teams.
Speaker 2 (42:23):
Help.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
They went to a Super Bowl, right and they had
countless guys who were the best in the league and
their defense was awesome. Then they went to an NFC
Championship game the year Jay Cutler got hurt and Aaron
Rodgers ended up winning the Super Bowl. And then what
six seven years ago, Matt Naggie's first year with Vic
Fangio the Doink Game. They were hosting a playoff game.
(42:45):
So they have had more success than the Washington franchise,
but part of like you could argue it's harder to
save the Washington franchise than it is the Bears franchise.
Now they have not had a quarterback in Chicago really ever,
and and there's a new owner in Washington, so you
don't have the stink of Daniel Snyder. But still there
(43:06):
is going to be a ton of pressure. I worked
for the Eagles when RG III was drafted, it was
like he was the savior. Now he answered the bell
immediately and then clearly messed up his knee and was
never the same. But coaches, GMS, scouts, they're gonna have
a lot of opinions over the next month. Who's playing well,
who's not playing well, who's good, who's not good. That's
(43:29):
part of August. But when opposing players who are really
good come out and make bold statements like it makes
you go could this be real? And sas Gardner they
just practiced for a couple of days said that he
went up to Jaden Daniels. This is what he told
the reporters and told him you were gonna be really good.
(43:50):
And I don't think you do that randomly just to
be nice to a guy you're playing dB against him.
In all these drills, You're like, God, this guy's pretty sweet.
Earlier this week, ze zach Ertz said, stop saying he's
going to be good.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
He's good now.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
And I was just reading a bunch of quotes from
Cliff Kingsbury how he's just blown away by the way
this guy's work, like his work ethic, how focused he is,
and his study habits. Because a lot of guys, I
think can't handle the mental aspect of being a quarterback.
It's really hard transitioning from college where you can get
(44:26):
by with talent to the NFL, where you obviously have
to have the talent, but you also have to have
this insane amount of mental focus slash mental toughness because
you're gonna have rough days. It's a much longer season,
obviously from a football standpoint. They're throwing so much shit
at you. It can be very, very overwhelming. But like,
(44:47):
the hype on this guy so far has been pretty strong,
and I'm fascinated. And now it all falls on the
head coach and the GM. Can they coach well enough
over the next several years and put enough players around
this guy to give.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Him a shot.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
And I'm excited to watch, like it makes it fun.
And from talking to all my buddies when I went
to the combine, like they thought he was incredible this season.
Throws is a great deep ball. His arm strength has
gotten way better over the years. His decision making standing
in the pocket is way better. Obviously, he's a great
athlete moving around. The one knock on him And we
(45:25):
talked about it on the Fantasy podcast, like, this is
what Caleb brings the table.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
He is just thick.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
We've said it forever about Kyler running quarterback. While he's short,
he has built like a little tank. And Jaden is
really thin. And I remember when he got the Heisman
and he's there standing with the other guys. You're like, God,
this guy is really really skinny. Which there's nothing wrong
with being a young guy and being skinny at any position.
Sometimes it happens. It takes a little time to put
on weight. But if you are gonna be a runner,
(45:53):
you have.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
To avoid the hits.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
Cause even in twenty twenty four where everyone's like, oh,
they're just a bunch of you know, this league is
so soft. Well, yeah, relative to the seventies, eighties, and nineties,
it is a different sport. It doesn't mean you won't
get hit, and get hit really hard when you're running
around will linebackers aren't as big as they once were, Right,
you don't have a many two hundred and sixty pound
(46:16):
middle linebackers plugging the hole against Lorenzo O'Neil.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
In the ISO block.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
That's not how the game is, I would say, consistently
played now. But you get two hundred and forty pound
guys or two hundred and thirty five pound guys that
can run four four.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
Four or five forties.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
And if you're running four four, even if you weigh
two hundred and thirty five pounds. I've never been hit
in the NFL, but I can't imagine that feels good.
And once you cross that line of scrimmage and you're
not gonna slide, you're gonna die forward, you were gonna
get molly wopped. So that's something. And I've always believed
you either have this kind of innate feel as a
(46:51):
runner that you can avoid hits, and that goes for
running backs too. I always thought Frank Gore was definitely
not the fastest running back we've seen the last twenty years. Remember,
he had like eight knee surgeries before he even came out.
But he had this incredible knack from not taking big hits,
and I think that's a big reason why he played
(47:12):
such a long time. And we've seen quarterbacks Michael Vick's
a good example that just wasn't that good at that.
He didn't know how to slide, he didn't have a
great feel for contact. He was such a tough guy,
he wasn't afraid of it, but you were gonna lose
those battles. So clearly, this guy from a throwing perspective,
took a gigantic leap I mean a gigantic leap last year.
(47:35):
Now it's gonna be about staying healthy and the team
building it around him, because, let's face it, I was
thinking about this today. I was I go back and forth.
I'm like, I'm gonna probably pick him to finish last
in the division if he is good, Like if he
has a really good rookie year, their quarterback position is
much better off than the Giants their quarterback position depending
(47:58):
on how this Dack situation goes, like, I'd still be shocked.
But as long as he doesn't have a contract and
they can't franchise him, who knows If he's on the
team next year. Now you could argue if they are
offering anywhere near what he would get in the open market,
it pays to be the Dallas Cowboys quarterback literally and
figuratively off the field. But if he were to leave
all of a sudden, Washington, if he just shows signs,
(48:21):
they're like, God, they got a real chance. Because listen,
all this what Saban is right about. We're not playing
any games, even the preseason. That doesn't count. You are
judged on the seventeen regular season games and how you
improve over that period of time. But in theory, this
team should be a lot better off next year in
two years, and if you do it right, and this
(48:43):
guy answers the bell, that's why Caleb gets this incredible situation.
Speaker 2 (48:48):
He goes to the Chicago.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
Bears, who were not drafting one. They just fleece the Panthers.
They already had a sweet wide receiver, they had their
own pick, so they draft another guy and then they
trade for Keenan Allen. So he goes to his place
with three sweet wide receivers. They signer running back. They
already have a solid defense, Like it's one of the
better landing spots for a number one quarterback in the
history of the league, you never go usually go to
(49:12):
the commanders. A team that had cut guys, trade guys
last year, kind of starting over is going to depend
on a lot of young guys and just kind of
be a work in progress. That's fine, That's.
Speaker 2 (49:20):
Usually how it goes.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
And if you do a good enough job as the
front office and the head coach, like you can be
in great position. And there was a lot of talk
before the draft, you know about and even I kind
of threw it out there because I'm a big swing guy,
like what if Drake may hits?
Speaker 2 (49:37):
Could he be like Josh Allen?
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Could he be like Justin Herbert? Well, everyone that I
knew in the league that has scouted both of them
were like, this guy's just better, and there's just no
way you take that risk when this guy this guy
has a high ceiling too, and when you watch him
in the SEC, he's a baller. So I'm fascinated to
watch this guy. I get excited when I see these
quotes because I know the way coaches.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
And GMS talk with reporters.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
One, they're going to be really positive during this period
of time, But when other players start saying that, like,
zach Ertz won a Super Bowl, zach Ertz played with
Carson Wentzho at one point in time, looked like he
was gonna be the MVP.
Speaker 2 (50:12):
Zach Ertz played with Kyler Murray.
Speaker 1 (50:14):
You know, Sas Gardner plays elite quarterbacks basically every week
or every other week, like he kind of knows what
it looks like.
Speaker 2 (50:21):
So I put value in that.
Speaker 1 (50:26):
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Speaker 2 (01:59):
What is going on, everybody?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
It's me John, And there's the three Now podcast, a
little thing we like to do, the best of little
weekend preseason action all around the league going on Saturday Sunday.
So we thought we'd recap earlier this week. I discussed
the Brandon Ayuk situation, which is a story that just
refuses to die, and all the different teams that were
(02:25):
involved in why it made sense for basically none of them,
So we will go over that. Obviously, the salacious story
of Nick Sirianni, the head coach of the Eagles, and
his quarterback came out, so I want to dive into
can you play quarterback for a head coach that you
(02:46):
don't respect? Can that work? Not quite sure? We talk
a lot about Caleb Williams and the hype behind that,
and it's it's fair. I mean, there is a saving
set on hard knocks, a lot of hype man, a
lot of hype from the outside.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Well, is it safe to say that Jaden.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Daniels is right behind him? Sauce Gardner made some comments
after the joint practices and I kind of dive into
how that hype is real. Washington is gonna He's gonna
change the franchise, So we'll dive into the hype train
that is behind that. Subscribe to Three and Out podcast
if you listen on collins feed YouTube page. We got
(03:26):
all of our content up there as well, and uh,
podcasts aren't gonna stop, So let's get ready for the
regular season. But before we dive into some football, I
had someone send me a DM the other day and
they said, you know what, I'll be real with you.
I was getting kind of tired of everyone anointing Zach
Bryan as this greatest showman of all time and I
(03:48):
couldn't take it, and I started not liking him. This
is not verbatim what he said, but essentially like I
was just like, give me a break, and then I
saw him because of you. Game Time, the official ticketing
app of this podcast, and he blew my mind and
I said, listen, I'm not making it up. John Mayer
(04:09):
reiterated what I said a long time ago that when
you see it, you're like, I don't know if I've
had that many experiences like this. I don't pretend to
be some like a historical musical. I have a ledger
of all the greats in front of me, but you know,
when you're at his concert, it's pretty special. And if
you want to go to a concert, you want to
go see him, go see anyone. Let just go to
(04:31):
game Time. You want to go to a game this fall,
doing us have an experience and then don't even need
to thank me. Just use my promo code. So take
the guests work out of buying tickets with game Time.
Download the game Time app, create an account and use
a god John for twenty dollars off your first purchase.
Terms ofply again, create an account, redeem the code John
for twenty dollars off. Download the game Time app. Today,
(04:51):
last minute tickets, lowest prices, guaranteed one thing. Since dating
and now engaged to Maria, living with a real estate
agent kind of enlightens you on people's egos, on people's
willingness to adapt to get a deal done, what people
(05:12):
argue over during a real estate deal. But I think
it's very enlightening of an individual and just a people
in general. Now, obviously, buying a home for the overwhelming
majority of people is the biggest purchase that they'll ever make.
It's the most money you put towards something. It's an emotional,
it's a professional, it's a personal. It encompasses everything. But
(05:37):
it's pretty eye opening because I've seen they come a
lot of these deals, whether you're dealing with a five
hundred thousand dollars house, whether you're dealing with a two
million dollar house, comes down to like under ten grant.
But there's ego involved. It's like, I'm not going to
give that. It's like, wait, you're really going to resind
your offer or tell him no based on seven thousand dollars,
(05:59):
You're poisoned to make two hundred grand. And it happens,
and it happens all the time, and the other thing
I've seen forever, and I wasn't able to afford my
first house till I was thirty eight years old. Lived
in a condo forever, which wasn't cheap because of the
Bay Area.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
But it was really shitty.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Is You hear all the time that young people and
obviously homes have never been more expensive relative to.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
What people make.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
But they're like, people are never going to sell their
home if they have a great interest rate. You hear
that all the time, and in theory, that makes a
lot of sense, because why would you get rid of
a house if you're paying zero percent interest? Not zero,
but you know two eight, three to one whatever.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Well, guess what.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
People get divorced on a daily basis. I know people
that are getting divorced currently. They haven't been married very long.
People die all the time, people.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Move for jobs.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Things come out of nowhere. I see Maria deals with
a ton of clients that moving to Scottsdale for work.
Where are you from Minnesota, Georgia, Florida. They didn't plan
on it. Things change. You can never underestimate the future,
good and bad. And I see it all the time,
just because I have a front row seat into this
(07:20):
just eye opening business that she works in that deal
with these people that ultimately comes down to a big
personal deal right for them. And I think when this
trade and the discussion over Brandon, I you six months ago,
the Niners were clearly dead set on keeping them. And
then you get to a point where are you really
(07:41):
going to not get the deal done over a million
dollars a year? Like, if you're willing to pay twenty
seven and ultimately twenty eight, we'll get it done. Are
you not going to budge? Is it really worth taking
it an extra couple weeks? Seems a little crazy to me,
But maybe they just have a number and we think
the value over that is just not worth it to us.
And listen when when deals go south with that mindset,
(08:05):
sometimes that's true. Maybe we go based on the budget,
based on who we need to sign extend, we just
can't go above that. Seems crazy to me, But I'm
not naive enough to think I know all the idiosyncrasies
of a salary cap of bonus money, of what party's
gonna cost. I get it, what Trent William's gonna cost.
Got a lot of moving parts. But this trade is
(08:28):
a good example of things change and things change fast,
and Brandon Ayuk and his camp is clearly just not
playing ball. And I think the forty nine ers by
this story coming out from one of the top forty
nine ers reporters. I know reporters get mad when you
source guests, but I think it's pretty clear what the
(08:48):
forty nine ers are saying, like, we need a resolution.
We're not doing this any longer. Like here's our offer,
here's what other people are willing to offer if you
want to play in these team, these two teams, let's rumble,
takes two to tango. We're ready to dance. And if
you don't want our offer, this is what these two
teams are offering. We have deals done, go play for them.
(09:09):
And I think that's what the forty nine ers did
on Monday night. They kind of drew a line in
the sand because I listen, Bosa was never going to
go anywhere. If he was healthy, he was going to
play the majority of his career for the forty nine ers.
When you get to a guy like Ayuk, list we
really want him here.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
He's a winning.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Player, but like this is our number. We don't feel
like we're royally screwing you.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Here.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
We get you emotionally, think you're at a different level.
We disagree. This is what we're willing. We'll even allow
you and your agent, who is also John Lynch's agent,
talk with other teams, see if you can get more.
But this isn't free agency. So these are the only
two teams we'd be willing to accept their offer. And
that's where it kind of feels like they're at now
when all this came out, And it just shows you
(09:51):
how fast things can change, because I never would have
thought a week ago that it would come out like
four teams are being named and players are being named
on other teams with trade offers.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I know this.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
If I was involved in this deal and I was
the Browns and Amari Cooper is named like, I wouldn't
be happy. I wouldn't want that getting out. The Browns
clearly aren't putting that out. So once you drag all
these other teams involved, it gets kind of dicey. And
that's how this situation is. And let's face it, of
all the teams right now that are contending teams in
(10:25):
the NFL, the Niners got more crap going on than
anyone else. Honestly, it's not close.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Today came out.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
McCaffrey's hurt, their rookie Ricky Pearson hurt his shoulder. Trent
Williams is literally at home on the couch and you
got this thing.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
But I do think the forty nine.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Ers are ready for resolution. So let's look at the
four teams. Let's start with Washington because it was reported
they were in and now they're out. Because part of
it is Brandon Ayuk was like in the offseason, he
acted like he was Kevin Durant, like I want to
go to Washington or I want to go to those Steelers.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Well do they want you?
Speaker 1 (10:57):
And obviously Washington has a connection with Jayden Daniels where
they played together for a year in college. Washington's out,
you know why, it makes zero sense for them to
trade for him if he was a free agent one pam.
But for them, they aren't a player away. They're about ten.
And when you start over as a GM and as
(11:18):
a head coach, take a deep breath, don't rush into anything.
The more assets you have, the more flexibility you have.
You can figure it out as you go. With your
young quarterback. Clearly you're gonna need more talent on offense.
And defense and as a team.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
But like, let's just see what you got.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
You're in. No one expects you to win ten games
this year.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
If you win.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Five, it might suck for the year, but very understandable.
Show the quarterback has made a little progress. They can't
trade a first round pick for Brandon Au because the
probability of them drafting in the top ten is just
too high. But if you're the forty nine ers, they're
not gonna give you scary terry. So do you go,
(12:01):
can I get two second round picks? Well? How does
that help the forty nine ers right now? A first
round pick wouldn't. But if that thing turns into seven,
you'd have to entertain it, just the possibility of it.
But it doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make sense
from Washington standpoint. It doesn't make sense for the forty
nine ers standpoint. That's why it doesn't look like it's
(12:22):
was never gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Let's go to the Steelers. This gets complicated.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
They clearly like him a lot, and I think one
thing they're probably hesitant to let happen if they can
control it, is to let the Browns get them. Here's
the problem for the Steelers because you go, well, just
trade them your first round pick. Ideally that pick's like
twenty four, and then you get Brandon au because under
(12:49):
contract for the next four or five years, and you're
in pretty good shape. You got another offensive, explosive player,
you got a bunch of defensive guys, you got a culture.
You don't have a long term answer at quarterback. The
OC yesterday or two days ago said we viewed justin
fields as a weapon. It's like, uh, it's not ideally
what you want to hear if you're a justin field
(13:10):
supporter in Pittsburgh. But if you're Pittsburgh and you go, hey,
we'll give you our first round pick. Well, if you're
the Niners a first having two first round picks, if
you're a good team, is an incredible feeling at the combine,
during free agency and leading up.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
To the draft.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
You know when it's pretty irrelevant if you have to
give up a player to get that extra first round
pick in August, September, October, November, December, the playoffs does
nothing for you. That player literally is wearing a college
uniform gives you zero value in prison time. So to me,
there's no match there. It makes no sense, and even
(13:50):
if you're the Steelers, you can't afford that if this
situation doesn't go well. And for the first time, what
if this season the quarterback position is off and you
go seven and ten and all of a sudden, you're
draft in fourteenth and if you wanted to get aggressive,
you'd be able to get up to five and draft
a quarterback in this upcoming draft. You have to leave
(14:11):
that flexibility open. You're not a wide receiver away and
not a player like this, ain't DeVante Adams and back
to Washington like we saw a couple of years ago.
If you trade for a great wide receiver and Davante's
a better player, not you, and you give up a
lot and it doesn't work out, it's like what.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Are we doing here?
Speaker 1 (14:32):
And you lose ammunition to go get the quarterback now
Davante they thought they had Derek Carr.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Clearly that fell apart.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
The Pats this one, okay, because like any deal, there's
certain someone could knock on your door and go, hey,
I offer you a five hundred grand for your house. Well,
depending on how much your house is. If your house
is two hundred grand, you're like, hey, have my shit packed?
Up cash right now, I have it packed up by tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Your house worth two million, And you say kick rocks.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
So if you're the Pats, you're like, we need some action,
we gotta pay somebody. Yeah, we'd be pretty interested. But
if you're Brandon at the first thing, you go, well,
I've been on a dominant team for the last four
plus years. This is easily and even Pats fans will agree.
One of the worst teams in the league. They're not
(15:21):
gonna be good, so you are going to suck. So
whatever the forty nine ers are offering you is what
the Patriots are offering you that much more the Saint
Texas or Florida. They tax you a lot there too,
so if you'd be willing to go there, you're gonna
stink and probably go immediately to a relevancy that has
(15:43):
to give him some hesitation.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
And this is why I think the forty nine ers
throughout the Pats and the Browns.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Do I think a kid from Sacramento that or I
guess Nevada, Sacramento, Arizona State forty nine ers wants to
move to Cleveland even though that's a good team. Or
definitely the Patriots. I don't especial. I mean, it's one
thing if it's like a twenty million dollar difference, but.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I don't think that's what we're talking here.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
But the Pats can make the forty nine ers think.
It's like, Hey, you know Matt Judon, he's clearly willing
to play it out this year because, like you said,
he doesn't want to get fined. What if we trade
him to you. We'll give you Kendrick Bourne that already
knows your system. And depending on how productive i Uke is,
it can fluctuate on the second day. So a third
(16:26):
round pick can turn into a second round pick depending
on how many games we win, out productive he is
or whatever makes you think, like you have a meeting
over that, John Kyle, you have your wide receiver coach,
you have your d line coach, like you're doing some
evaluations your scouting department. You're having several meetings on that
like that, you're talking that out. Are we better with Judon?
(16:47):
With Leonard Floyd and Nick Bosa, Maybe our wide receiver
room clearly takes a step back. But this guy already
knows Deebo looks fantastic in camp, This young rookie he's
heard again, like these are just conversations you have, and Cleveland,
to me, is the most intriguing because Amari Cooper. From
a statistical standpoint.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
It's just it's just a plug and play swap.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
They're very similar players in the sense of great route
runners get open on everybody. Like you feel close your eyes,
you're getting seventy five to eighty catches a Maari's been
doing it at a you know, much longer level. I
think Amari is easily considered one of the better route
runners in the entire NFL. You know, I think Davante
would be near the top. Keenan's pretty high. I U
cause Throne his hat in the ring and Amari, So
(17:33):
you do that. You're not tied to Amari because he's
a free agent.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
But here's the.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Problem, because even if I say, Okay, i'll go there,
they're gonna sign me to more money. I'll go play there.
If you're the forty nine ers, can you do a
swap for one year rental and also not get a
good pick. And that's where it makes it complicated for
Cleveland because I was looking at Cleveland's books today doing
a little Jake Rosenberg, Howie Roseman, like let's let's take
a look at the money. Obviously, DeShawn is on the
(17:59):
biggest contract in the history of the NFL. Miles Garrett,
while it was trumped last year by Bosa, is still
on one of the biggest contracts in the history of
the NFL for a non quarterback. They also signed Denzel
Ward to a massive contract. They have a very, very
high priced team. So having draft picks, which this year
for the first time in forever, they got a bunch. Well, clearly,
(18:22):
if I'm giving you Amri, i don't also need to
give you my first round pick.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
That's a joke. True, that's fair, But I'm giving you
a young player who you are going to extend that
you're gonna have for a while.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
So I'm gonna need something else back because it's pretty
clear that Mari's going to be a one year rental
for me. So then we start discussing second day picks.
Those are pretty valuable because that is where you get cheap,
impact starters. Anyone in the NFL will tell you the
second and third round. Obviously, if you have a top
ten pick, it's a chance to get a game changer.
(18:53):
But a lot of people get uncomfortable in the twenties
because you pay first round money for a pick that
actually hits at a lower percentage than need.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Fifty to fifty.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Yet in the second and third rounds, historically a ton
of Pro bowlers, a ton of long term starters come
out of that and for three, actually four years, sometimes
you give him an extension. After three, you get a
guy for like a million dollars a year. And that's
where I think all these situations are really really complicated. Now,
if the Steelers wanted them, and they'd give them the
(19:23):
first round pick and the forty nine ers know they're
not gonna trade them, maybe they just call uncle. I
don't see. They would get destroyed for that because that
first round pick does nothing for him Week one against
the Jets. And in these situations. This is where I
saw Kyle say this, like every situation so different, because
they were like, does this remind you of Nick Bosa?
(19:44):
Of course it doesn't remind him of Nick Bosa, cause
Nick Bosa never was not going to be a Niner.
They are clearly entertaining this because they're kind of tired
of it. They don't want to deal with it anymore.
It's a pain in their ass. I like Brandon Aiyuk.
He's he's been a fun player to watch, which expand
his game over the years, and he's tough. He blocks
(20:04):
like that's a big difference between him and Amary if
I say they're very similar on in the passing game,
where they're not similar as the run game. Brandon Ayuk
is one of the better run blockers.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
In the league. He's a badass.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Like, that's not really a Mari's thing. Guess what that is.
That's a Kyle thing. Kyle likes to run the ball
all the time. And if you're screwing up Christian McCaffrey's
box score, you're screwing with Kyle and he's gonna get
pissed off. Well, Brandon blocks his ass off, and that's
where all this stuff gets really, really complicated. And I
do understand, like I wouldn't be that comfortable paying him
(20:37):
twenty eight thirty million dollars a year. I don't think
he's worth that.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I really don't.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
You can say, well, this is the money when DJ
Moore give me a hundred catches a year and I'm
gonna throw them the ball that much. Am and Raw,
if he's on the field, is gonna get me one
twenty and I'm gonna throw it that much. The forty
nine ers an't gonna throw it that much. They never have,
they never will as long as Kyle Shannan's calling the plays.
That ain't their style. So when you have a number
(21:01):
and you're like, I'm not budgeting on this, Like the
Eagles pay their two wide receivers, do you know what
Jeffrey Lurry has loved to do since Andy Reid in
nineteen ninety nine?
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Throw the ball?
Speaker 1 (21:09):
He wants to throw the ball. That is like an
Eagle's ethos. As an organization, we want to pass the ball.
It's an analytics think. They're an analytically run operation. Obviously
they like running, they like running.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Backs, but they prefer to pass.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
So running backs like, why, say Quon made some sense?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
He actually didn't cost that much.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
And if IUC is only going to be a seventy
five to eighty catch guy, people on the internet can
argue all day long, he'd go somewhere else and thrive. Great,
he ain't gonna do that there, so why are you
willing to pay the freight? But you also can't just
give him away?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
This is fantasy. Fucking football.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
This isn't NFL live with players everywhere just saying can't
let him go. That's not the way the world works.
Like I do need a shitload of value back and
that's what complicates all this stuff. And even on the
other team standpoint, like steel it's easy to say no
if you're the Steelers obviously for Washington like you're we're out.
It's easy if you're Cleveland, like, yeah, we'll give you
a Mari in a fifth. Well, if you're the Niners, like, no,
(22:07):
we're giving you a younger, ascending player. You're giving upus
a guy that is a one year rental in the Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Why do they want a budge? Because they need those
draft picks.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
And the Pats, I think that comes down to is like, Okay, Brandon,
you want to go to Pats, we'll get you a
first class ticket tomorrow. If you want to go, go
sign the contract. They'll give us back what we want.
He's like, yeah, man, I just I'll just keep up.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
See it the hold in.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
See you guys in the cafeteria. What times meetings tomorrow
at eight thirty.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Yeah, I'll be there at eight fifteen. Get my uh
my typical omelet that's.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
That's what it feels like, and that's what this situation.
And listen, the Niners deserve, Like how did it get
to this point? And I think a big reason because
I go back, why didn't they trade them? Like if
they knew that it was going to be complicated because
the offers weren't there because he's Brandon Ayuk, He's not
Tyree Killer DeVante Adams. People were lying to give him
(23:00):
a first round pick after the combine, before free agency,
that wasn't the case. They didn't have a first round
pick on the table around the draft. He can get mad.
People can argue over the analytics all you want, like
the market's kind of speaking for itself, and now they're
hoping maybe a little desperation. Training camp teams feel pressure,
(23:22):
but like I said, I think this situation is going
to keep playing it out, which doesn't help the forty
nine ers, which clearly there feels like they're more involved
in this. And Trent like, hey, this is one of
the best players in the league. You probably want to
get him to the camp. He's thirty five and you
want him working out. And if you're a Cowboy fan
right now, you're like, what the hell's going on with
the forty nine Ers Eagles, And it's true, and this is.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
It's crazy.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
But all these other teams are involved, and I can't
imagine they're happy, especially the teams where you're leaking, their
players might get traded. If I'm the Browns, I'm like,
come on, guys, don't don't leak.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
We'd trade you with Mauri Cooper. We need this guy.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
If trade doesn't happen. Well, it was flying around on
social media today. I was scrolling Pro Football Talk and
I said, you know what, I'm gonna read this article.
It was on ESPN dot com and it was about
Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts. And obviously the big story
of the article was that they had a fractured and
(24:22):
unhealthy relationship in twenty twenty three, as well as Jalen
didn't respect him from an x's and o's standpoint, at least,
that was my biggest takeaway, and I would say the
most salacious part of the article by a wide by
a pretty wide margin, because, let's face it, the most
(24:44):
important people once the season starts, the GM doesn't have
as much control. The owner can't do anything. It's your
head coach and your quarterback and then falls in line
to your coordinators, right, and Sirianni's.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Lucky to have a job.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
We all know that. I thought he was going to
get fired after the season, so did most people, so
did some people in the Philadelphia Eagles building.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
But he survived.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
I don't think it's possible. And I've been in these
positions where you work for somebody and you don't respect them. Football,
like a lot of jobs in this country, can be
pretty aggressive, can be contentious, can be.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Like that's part of any high level industry, especially ones
like this where there's a ton of money on the line.
People have big egos. People I guess football more than
most industries, a lot of screaming back and forth. It's
a violent sport. It's full of aggressive people. So to me,
(25:51):
people screaming at each other. It's why when Aaron Rodgers
and Garrett Wilson or coaches, screaming means nothing to me.
Welcome even the article with some of the Dion Sanders
stories like, I don't care. This is not your normal
workplace environment when it comes to interactions between two people,
(26:12):
whether it be two players, whether it be a coaching player,
whether it be a coaching coach, I'm pretty numb to
that means nothing to me. So there have been clips
over the years of like Jalen and Sirianni yelling each other.
I don't care, honestly, that's that's what I expect, same
with any team. It doesn't do much for me. But
(26:34):
when you lose respect for a coach or for any
person that's in a superior position to you, whether you're
making fifty million dollars like Jalen Hurts, or whether you're
me and you and you don't respect your boss. You
don't have to agree with someone above you all the time.
(26:54):
But when I lose respect, like it's hard for me
to listen to anything he says.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
And I think the.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Much of this whole thing was it all revolved around
x's and o's. Can you imagine, Like I bet Matt
Stafford and Sean McVeigh always haven't had the greatest days.
Jimmy Garoppolo and Kyle Shanahan were at each other's next
non stop. Patrick Mahomes Andy Reid feel like they have
the perfect marriage, but I bet there are some tense days.
(27:22):
Do you think those quarterbacks?
Speaker 2 (27:24):
And I just used those as examples.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Ever, once questioned those coaches ability to scheme an offense,
those coaches intellectual capacity for football obviously not. And listen,
Sirianni is not like those guys. He can't call place.
We've seen him attempt to and it was a disaster.
(27:49):
Last season ended, you know, with the basically the building
on fire, and he hired a new offensive coordinator. He said,
I'm gonna be completely hands off. Even Mike McCarthy, who
who has much maligned Cowboys coach. Last year of his contract,
people love and part of it is the brand all
over him twenty four to seven, three sixty five. Here's
(28:12):
what you cannot argue about Mike.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
He can call an offense, just did last year.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
They were pretty good, and he did for Green Bay
many times. I know Mike McCarthy can be an offensive coordinator.
Nick Sirianni cannot. And part of this article was about
like people start freelancing, people start doing their own thing.
No one was listening to anyone, because listen, there are
(28:37):
a ton of coaches that are successful in this league
that don't call plays. John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh, Dan Campbell.
But one thing they are great Mike Tomlin is controlling
the room, keeping the chaos to a minimum, holding a
standard driving people. There was a comment in the Hard
(28:59):
Nine from Saban, which we'll get into in a minute,
but Saban basically said people aren't born to be champions,
whether it be in football, whether it be in life.
People are born to be average, get by, just survive.
If you want them to be great, you have to
do it, meaning you have to coach it. So, Sirianni,
(29:22):
my question has always been, what does he do? Seriously,
he's some great motivator where you wouldn't put him in
the hardball Mike Tomlin, Dan Campbell category. He's definitely not
a scheme guy for an offense one thing. And Jim
Harbaugh is a former quarterback, but really he's like a hybrid.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
He feels more like a defensive lineman.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Same with Dan Campbell former tight end. But if you
just saw him, he'd be like, oh yeah, I bet
he played d tackle back in his prime. John Harbaugh
and Mike Tomlin are defensive guys. But how often do
offensive head coaches are not super dialed in on.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
The scheme historically? Think about historically.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan, like all the best offensive coaches,
even if they take a year off or whatever, can
always call the offense. Even this year. Brian da Ball
is like, I'm taking it back. I'm calling the offense.
Why He's done it countless times in his past college
ampro If my offensive head coach isn't some elite leader,
(30:27):
which let's face it, he's not, can't dominate when it
comes to schematics, we got problems. So and I'm not
acting like Jalen's perfect. Takes two to tango. They probably
are both responsible.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
That's the way any situation usually goes.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
But how do you blame him? Like Jalen's had a
front row seat of elite schematics at Alabama were the
best of the best. We're coaching him on the offensive
side of the ball, and he knew his head coach,
while a defensive is arguably one of the greatest defensive
schematic guys in the history of the sport, especially when
(31:06):
it comes to the secondary in Nick Saban and then
he played for a year and a half with Shane
Steiken calling the offensive plays, so he knows what an
elite play caller looks like. I just think this thing
now I'm still high on the Eagles because I think
they have a lot of talent. But one thing they
hit on in this article, because everyone's in good spirit
right now, clearly the roster is really good. What happens
(31:29):
when they hit adversity, and it's the one thing that
gives me pause that will they turn on this guy?
I think most guys on the team like Nix around
it clearly personally. But like when you're in the trenches
and you're in the fire and you've lost a couple
of games, what could he bring to the table besides
some rudy Rudiger speech beside some crazy analogy in front
(31:53):
of the team on a Wednesday, I'm talking about a
game plan to give you an advantage. That's what the
great coaches on Sundays do. Urban Meyer in college was
an incredible recruiter and a great motivator, But then he
came to Sunday and none of that shit really mattered
because Monday through Saturday is a chess game against your opponent.
(32:16):
It's a thinking man's sport. Of course, you have to
push guys and make sure you're practicing hard, but you
win and lose on Sunday by play calls offensively and defensively.
That's why I think it's such a fascinating sport. It's
why even beside the head coach, we talk about the
(32:37):
coordinators non stop. God, that was a dumb blitz. Why
can't they cover this guy?
Speaker 2 (32:44):
God?
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Why are they running the ball so much? Cause you know,
I talked to someone the other day. In baseball, we
argue so much, actually, Adam the producer of this podcast,
that you know, everyone's so critical always of baseball managers
in the playoffs. I can't believe Aaron Boone or Dave
Roberts pulled that guy from the game.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
You can't.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
It's not his choice. It's being run by the front office.
Yet no one in football when the Niners grew up,
or the Chiefs screw up, or the Broncos screw up
on offense, ever go like got the GM You know
for a fact who called that play and whether it
worked or whether it didn't, and whether that led to
(33:27):
a winner, whether that led to a loss. It's a
huge part of this podcast. Once the game start, we
talk a lot about individual play calls. Individual play calls obviously,
how a team starts, how ready they are for a game,
and then like most games in the NFL, they're relatively close,
and a play here or a play there are the
(33:49):
difference in the game, and Sirianni has nothing to do
with that. Jalen Hurts think about this, Like Tom Brady
is a good example. Him and Bill buttedheads for a
long time, but one thing that was never argued. He
never lost respect for him when it came to x's
(34:10):
and o's. That's insane. I mean, that's crazy. It'd be
like working for you know, Warren Buffin and like he
does something to piss you off, Like yeah, just I
question his ability in the market. That's literally the job
of a coach. That's why it always drives me nuts
when a head coach gets hired from a coordinator position
(34:33):
and then they no longer do that. Robert Salah is
a great example. He was literally hired because of how
good the defense was in San Francisco. Then he gets
the Jets, He's like, I'm just gonna be a CEO. Like,
we didn't hire you to be a CEO. I want
you to run the defense and do that.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
You're the head coach.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
But the reason you're a head coach is because you
have an expertise doing one individual thing and then they
stop doing it.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
I just articles like this don't necessarily make me nervous
because I'm not picking the Eagles to win the Super Bowl,
and last year was a joke with their coaching staff
and they still won eleven games. Now, obviously they started well,
but I still believe they're gonna be good. But this
is something that doesn't just go away usually when you
(35:20):
I've been in position now, I'm never had a guy
of Nick Sirianni's like fame that I lost respect for.
But when you lose respect for someone above you, you
usually don't gain it back. You usually don't gain it
back because deep down you know he just doesn't know.
This guy's not good enough. This guy can't help me.
(35:43):
Why because there's a part of you that thinks he's clueless.
Think about that. That's usually what it is, at least
in my experience. Jalen Hurts. One part of this article,
which I actually thought was kind of cool, is he
called Wink Martindale after the season, before the Tampa Bay
playoff game and ask them for advice, Essentially like, what
(36:05):
do you see when you coach against me? Obviously, Wink
for two years was the Giants defensive coordinator and they
played him in a playoff game, so he had game
plan for him countless times and winks it. In my
forty years of coaching, I've never had a player reach out. Well,
you wouldn't have to reach out if you could lean
on your head coach, Rock Purty, Patrick Mahomes, all these
(36:31):
all these got Matt Stafford wouldn't have to reach out.
They would just reach out to their boss, to the
guy that they lean on, what do we need to
do and they would have the answers. That's literally their job.
Now I'm not saying it was wrong for Jalen to do.
I think that's gives a lot of insight into him
as a guy, as a person driven to be the
(36:53):
best he can. I also think it gives a lot
of insight is he doesn't think anyone in the building
has the answers for him to help him ount, which
is pretty scary. And this is a very slippery slope
this year. Like I said, I thought he was fired
at the end of the season. I thought Bill Belichick
was going to be their head coach and that is
definitely still on the table this year and making the
(37:14):
playoffs will not be good enough if they're one and
done in the playoffs. And the same questions kind of
come back, what is Sirianni doing? I don't see, because
you're gonna get to the point, like is Jeffrey Learry
going to give him an extension? And here's the other
problem for Sirianni. Now it's pretty well established if Kellen
(37:36):
Moore has success and their offense is awesome again like
it was under Shane Steiken. Because let's face it, if
they had to redo, which would have been crazy at
the time, but if they had to redo today, they
would do it. They would have fired Nick Sirianni for
Shane Stiken. Obviously that would have been unprecedented. It's they
weren't in a position to do that. But after a
year looking back, what the right move would have been,
(37:59):
And if Kellen more succeeds this year, it's him succeeding.
Sirianni has nothing to do with it. It's not like
he's picking the players. We know how he is the
grand poo ball when it comes to personnel. So you
just go, we just paying this guy seven eight million
dollars to be the head coach on our website. So
the Eagles are a team that everyone's gonna be watching.
(38:21):
If you watched Hard Knocks, you saw Nick Saban talk
about hype and expectations from the outside and how that
doesn't matter internally when you're trying to develop a quarterback,
and he discussed why so many quarterbacks fail because of
their expectations. I'm gonna disagree. I think a lot of
(38:42):
quarterbacks fail because they're not good enough. This pro football
it is really, really difficult. They go to bad teams,
they get bad coordinators, they get bad talent. Like any
young person, you lose any confidence you have, you can
get destroyed. And you know the way in the spe
in which the NFL works, you don't have time. There
(39:03):
are small examples of guys that just didn't care, you know.
JaMarcus Russell's probably the best example of all time of
a guy who literally did not give a shit. But
I think most guys, at least over the last decade
plus tried put in good effort and they simply were
not good enough. Like this is the best of the best,
this is the one percent of the one percent. It
(39:24):
is difficult to play in the NFL. I say it
all the time. I am much more comfortable being critical
of coaches because I think it is much easier to
become a coach in the NFL than it is to
become a player. And listen, guys fumble, Guys make a
bad pass, Guys misatackle. Football is hard now when you
(39:45):
consistently make mistakes, I'd argue it's on the coach pull
them out of the game. But the hype machine, Listen,
it doesn't matter that much if you're a GM or
you're a coach, or you're a player. You ultimately have
to produce and that's all that matters. But us on
the outside us to talk about football fans kind of
like it. It kind of makes this whole thing fun.
(40:07):
I was just watching the Team USA game. Part of
what made that game so riveting, it was fantastic was
because the hype around the team right and there was
substance behind it. We have some of the greatest players
in the history of the game on it, and it's
like they're gonna lose to Joker and a bunch of
other guys that none of us could point out of
a lineup. It was incredible television and the cool part,
(40:30):
and this is why I always defend the draft. The
draft is part of the business model of the NFL.
That moment, the hype train of the players coming in,
the excitement that it gives fans of hope that they
can turn things around. That's real, and that plays a
part into the revenue stream that ultimately the players essentially
get a fifty to fifty split of So I've always
(40:52):
defended like the excitement around draft time. It's why whenever
a player is drafted, especially in the first round, you
will never not see an ecstatic draft room. Even though
we know, you know, on average, sixteen of the thirty
two guys will not get second contracts with the team,
(41:13):
let alone becomes star players. Even the guys that get
second contracts, that doesn't mean you become JJ Watt right
or Patrick Mahomes. That just means you're a really good player. Right,
Maybe you make a Pro Bowl or two. But when
I draft a guy in the top ten, the top five,
my expectations are for you to become a star from
(41:34):
the team, from the owner, from the fans, from us
talking about it. That's the way this whole thing works.
And there is an incredible amount of hype around Caleb
Williams part of that started years ago when he kicks
Spencer Rattler to the curb, who's about to be Derek
Carr's backup quarterback in New Orleans. Turned out like, actually,
(41:55):
he's not terrible, pretty good player than what he did
at USC two years winning the Heisman Trophy and obviously
his physical gifts. But I do think the hype around
Jayden Daniels, I wouldn't put it on Caleb's level, but
it's pretty high and a lot like Caleb Williams, he
is entrusted with saving a franchise, saving a franchise. Now,
(42:17):
the Bears over the last twenty years have had good teams.
I mean some of those Brian Urlacker teams.
Speaker 2 (42:23):
Help.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
They went to a Super Bowl, right and they had
countless guys who were the best in the league and
their defense was awesome. Then they went to an NFC
Championship game the year Jay Cutler got hurt and Aaron
Rodgers ended up winning the Super Bowl. And then what
six seven years ago, Matt Naggie's first year with Vic
Fangio the Doink Game. They were hosting a playoff game.
(42:45):
So they have had more success than the Washington franchise,
but part of like you could argue it's harder to
save the Washington franchise than it is the Bears franchise.
Now they have not had a quarterback in Chicago really ever,
and and there's a new owner in Washington, so you
don't have the stink of Daniel Snyder. But still there
(43:06):
is going to be a ton of pressure. I worked
for the Eagles when RG III was drafted, it was
like he was the savior. Now he answered the bell
immediately and then clearly messed up his knee and was
never the same. But coaches, GMS, scouts, they're gonna have
a lot of opinions over the next month. Who's playing well,
who's not playing well, who's good, who's not good. That's
(43:29):
part of August. But when opposing players who are really
good come out and make bold statements like it makes
you go could this be real? And sas Gardner they
just practiced for a couple of days said that he
went up to Jaden Daniels. This is what he told
the reporters and told him you were gonna be really good.
(43:50):
And I don't think you do that randomly just to
be nice to a guy you're playing dB against him.
In all these drills, You're like, God, this guy's pretty sweet.
Earlier this week, ze zach Ertz said, stop saying he's
going to be good.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
He's good now.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
And I was just reading a bunch of quotes from
Cliff Kingsbury how he's just blown away by the way
this guy's work, like his work ethic, how focused he is,
and his study habits. Because a lot of guys, I
think can't handle the mental aspect of being a quarterback.
It's really hard transitioning from college where you can get
(44:26):
by with talent to the NFL, where you obviously have
to have the talent, but you also have to have
this insane amount of mental focus slash mental toughness because
you're gonna have rough days. It's a much longer season,
obviously from a football standpoint. They're throwing so much shit
at you. It can be very, very overwhelming. But like,
(44:47):
the hype on this guy so far has been pretty strong,
and I'm fascinated. And now it all falls on the
head coach and the GM. Can they coach well enough
over the next several years and put enough players around
this guy to give.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Him a shot.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
And I'm excited to watch, like it makes it fun.
And from talking to all my buddies when I went
to the combine, like they thought he was incredible this season.
Throws is a great deep ball. His arm strength has
gotten way better over the years. His decision making standing
in the pocket is way better. Obviously, he's a great
athlete moving around. The one knock on him And we
(45:25):
talked about it on the Fantasy podcast, like, this is
what Caleb brings the table.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
He is just thick.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
We've said it forever about Kyler running quarterback. While he's short,
he has built like a little tank. And Jaden is
really thin. And I remember when he got the Heisman
and he's there standing with the other guys. You're like, God,
this guy is really really skinny. Which there's nothing wrong
with being a young guy and being skinny at any position.
Sometimes it happens. It takes a little time to put
on weight. But if you are gonna be a runner,
(45:53):
you have.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
To avoid the hits.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
Cause even in twenty twenty four where everyone's like, oh,
they're just a bunch of you know, this league is
so soft. Well, yeah, relative to the seventies, eighties, and nineties,
it is a different sport. It doesn't mean you won't
get hit, and get hit really hard when you're running
around will linebackers aren't as big as they once were, Right,
you don't have a many two hundred and sixty pound
(46:16):
middle linebackers plugging the hole against Lorenzo O'Neil.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
In the ISO block.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
That's not how the game is, I would say, consistently
played now. But you get two hundred and forty pound
guys or two hundred and thirty five pound guys that
can run four four.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
Four or five forties.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
And if you're running four four, even if you weigh
two hundred and thirty five pounds. I've never been hit
in the NFL, but I can't imagine that feels good.
And once you cross that line of scrimmage and you're
not gonna slide, you're gonna die forward, you were gonna
get molly wopped. So that's something. And I've always believed
you either have this kind of innate feel as a
(46:51):
runner that you can avoid hits, and that goes for
running backs too. I always thought Frank Gore was definitely
not the fastest running back we've seen the last twenty years. Remember,
he had like eight knee surgeries before he even came out.
But he had this incredible knack from not taking big hits,
and I think that's a big reason why he played
(47:12):
such a long time. And we've seen quarterbacks Michael Vick's
a good example that just wasn't that good at that.
He didn't know how to slide, he didn't have a
great feel for contact. He was such a tough guy,
he wasn't afraid of it, but you were gonna lose
those battles. So clearly, this guy from a throwing perspective,
took a gigantic leap I mean a gigantic leap last year.
(47:35):
Now it's gonna be about staying healthy and the team
building it around him, because, let's face it, I was
thinking about this today. I was I go back and forth.
I'm like, I'm gonna probably pick him to finish last
in the division if he is good, Like if he
has a really good rookie year, their quarterback position is
much better off than the Giants their quarterback position depending
(47:58):
on how this Dack situation goes, like, I'd still be shocked.
But as long as he doesn't have a contract and
they can't franchise him, who knows If he's on the
team next year. Now you could argue if they are
offering anywhere near what he would get in the open market,
it pays to be the Dallas Cowboys quarterback literally and
figuratively off the field. But if he were to leave
all of a sudden, Washington, if he just shows signs,
(48:21):
they're like, God, they got a real chance. Because listen,
all this what Saban is right about. We're not playing
any games, even the preseason. That doesn't count. You are
judged on the seventeen regular season games and how you
improve over that period of time. But in theory, this
team should be a lot better off next year in
two years, and if you do it right, and this
(48:43):
guy answers the bell, that's why Caleb gets this incredible situation.
Speaker 2 (48:48):
He goes to the Chicago.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
Bears, who were not drafting one. They just fleece the Panthers.
They already had a sweet wide receiver, they had their
own pick, so they draft another guy and then they
trade for Keenan Allen. So he goes to his place
with three sweet wide receivers. They signer running back. They
already have a solid defense, Like it's one of the
better landing spots for a number one quarterback in the
history of the league, you never go usually go to
(49:12):
the commanders. A team that had cut guys, trade guys
last year, kind of starting over is going to depend
on a lot of young guys and just kind of
be a work in progress. That's fine, That's.
Speaker 2 (49:20):
Usually how it goes.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
And if you do a good enough job as the
front office and the head coach, like you can be
in great position. And there was a lot of talk
before the draft, you know about and even I kind
of threw it out there because I'm a big swing guy,
like what if Drake may hits?
Speaker 2 (49:37):
Could he be like Josh Allen?
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Could he be like Justin Herbert? Well, everyone that I
knew in the league that has scouted both of them
were like, this guy's just better, and there's just no
way you take that risk when this guy this guy
has a high ceiling too, and when you watch him
in the SEC, he's a baller. So I'm fascinated to
watch this guy. I get excited when I see these
quotes because I know the way coaches.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
And GMS talk with reporters.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
One, they're going to be really positive during this period
of time, But when other players start saying that, like,
zach Ertz won a Super Bowl, zach Ertz played with
Carson Wentzho at one point in time, looked like he
was gonna be the MVP.
Speaker 2 (50:12):
Zach Ertz played with Kyler Murray.
Speaker 1 (50:14):
You know, Sas Gardner plays elite quarterbacks basically every week
or every other week, like he kind of knows what
it looks like.
Speaker 2 (50:21):
So I put value in that.
Speaker 1 (50:26):
The volume
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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