March 6, 2026 • 59 mins
On this episode of 3 & Out, we break down one of the biggest moves of the offseason as DJ Moore is traded to the Buffalo Bills. What does this mean for Josh Allen and the Bills’ offense, and does it put Buffalo back at the top of the AFC race?
We also discuss reports that the Dallas Cowboys are interested in Raiders star pass rusher Maxx Crosby. Could Jerry Jones actually pull off another blockbuster move, and what would it cost Dallas to land one of the league’s most dominant defenders?
Plus, we talk about Saints legend Cam Jordan, his future in New Orleans, and what his next chapter in the NFL might look like.
Later, with NFL free agency right around the corner, we take a look at the biggest storylines, teams to watch, and the moves that could shake up the league.
Finally John answers your questions in this episode mailbag segment.
All that and more on this episode of 3 & Out.
Follow John on Twitter, and Instagram for the latest.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on everybody? John Middlecoff Three
and Out Podcast? How are we doing today? Probably not
(00:22):
as good as the Bills who just landed themselves a
wide receiver. The Bears ship DJ Moore to Buffalo. We
will discuss the trade. I told you yesterday, I said,
get ready, probably get another one, and we did. Max
Crosby is a story that just won't go away. Cam Jordan,
legendary Saints player is going to be a free agent.
(00:43):
It's Fugazi Friday. So I saw something on the internet
over the course. I don't think we've done one in
a while. This is probably within the last week. That
involves a cheeseburger and a CEO and then wats to
do a mail bag at John Midlecoff At John Middlecoff
is the Instagram fire in those dms. Get your questions
answered here on the show. Other than that, yeah, everyone
(01:10):
get fired up for the weekend. Hopefully you guys are
enjoying yourself and if you live in a cold weather place,
hopefully it's starting to warm up because it's gonna be
ninety degrees here this weekend. But you guys know the drill.
Subscribe to the Three and Out podcast if you listen
on Collins Feed all of our podcasts, or up on
this streaming service called Netflix. I don't know if you
ever heard of it, but you can watch all of
(01:31):
our podcasts on Netflix. So go check those out. And
we had a big week we had on Derek Carr
a couple days ago. He was really good. We reacted
yesterday to the Chiefs trade, We'll react today to another trade,
and I'm sure next week we'll have a bunch more trades.
So we got free agency right around the corner. All
I can say is, buckle up, let's talk some football.
(01:52):
One pet peeve of mine before we dive into the
nitty gritty is I saw a lot of this on
the internet today. They gave a a second round pick
for DJ Moore. You see this all the time, you
see it with first round picks. You guys realize, I
know you guys do, But do some people not realize
that they're not all created equal? Because if I told
(02:15):
you that the Rams had traded pick thirteen for Trent
McDuffie instead of pick twenty nine for Trent McDuffie, you'd
be like, God, that's a lot pick thirteen Because pick
thirteen is worth what two pick twenty nine? So not
all picks in a round are created equal clearly, so
(02:36):
the Buffalo Bills trading pick sixty for DJ Moore might
as well be a third round pick. I saw so
much of this today, as like, god, that is a lot. Well,
the Houston Texans, for example, have the Washington Commander's second
round pick. Well, guess what happened last year? The Commanders sucked?
(02:58):
So what happened to the Texans? They got picked thirty seven,
also happens to be in the second round. What pick
would you rather have? My point is when we see
generic traded for a couple first round picks, traded for
a couple second round picks, that looks great on paper,
but where do those picks actually come in the round? Well,
(03:21):
right now, unlike when a trade happens in camp or
during the season, we don't know where they're gonna fall.
They traded pick sixty for DJ Moore a team, let's
face it. And the thing I appreciate about the Bills,
and I would imagine Brandon Bean feels this is like,
is there a team next year with more pressure on
them than the Buffalo Bills? Joe Brady Josh Allen, the
(03:44):
Bills overall operation. How many teams in the league could
say with a straight face, if we're not in the
AFC or NFC championship game, it is a complete failure.
The Rams, I mean, you'd say the Chiefs, but I mean,
(04:05):
we got to see Mahomes health, the Ravens. The Ravens
just missed the playoffs. Maybe the Packers if Micah and
all those guys are healthy. I want to see what
happens this offseason with the Eagles. Like, it's not that
long of the list, it's I wouldn't even say Seattle.
If you tell me Seattle makes the playoffs again and
(04:27):
losing the second round and be like, that's an incredible
two year run by Mike McDonald. The Bills are in
Super Bowl or bust these next couple of years in
Josh Allen's prime. That's why they fired their coach, That's
why they elevated the offensive coordinator. They're trying to take
that next step, and that next step is simply making
it to the big game, something that has eluded them
for a long long time. Obviously, they've never won it.
(04:50):
I mean they lost four straight, which I saw this
clip of Trent Williams saying that he would rather not
lose before the Super Bowl than go to who the
Super Bowl and loose. He said, it's the worst feeling
he's ever had in his entire life. And they haven't
even got the opportunity because they haven't got there. But
my point is, I can't even imagine what it was
(05:10):
like like to be like a twenty eight year old
Bills fan back in the early nineties. You just go
to every Super Bowl and loose. But I like this
trade for the Bills. They need wide receiver help. I mean,
their unit's not great, but their offense actually is pretty good,
and it's been statistically one of the best offense in
the league for several years now. A huge reason for
that is they probably have the best player in the
(05:31):
league at quarterback, Cook, their running back is a stud.
They got multiple tight ends. Khalil Shaki is probably one
of the more underrated players in the league. Joe Brady
talked about it like Joe Brady was the guy. And
I heard this at the combine, pounding the table for
Keon Coleman. So when the owner said at that press
conference that Keon Coleman was a coaches pick. It was
(05:54):
Joe Brady's pick, or at least he was one of
the guys leading the charge to make that pick. So
to me, that would be a positive for Kemp. I
would expect him to have a good season because that
guy is gonna coach him hard and be invested in
him having success. And then you immediately insert a guy
who is proven that he can get a thousand yards
(06:16):
year after year with random quarterbacks. What do you think
it's gonna look like with Josh Allen? So? Is he
losing a step? Is he as good as he was
four years ago? Probably not, But you're telling me Dj
Moore can't catch eighty or ninety balls for the Buffalo Bills.
He's proven he can play in cold weather. I mean,
two years ago on an awful Bears team he almost
(06:37):
caught a hundred balls, and last year on the Bears
their first two their first two picks were Lovelin, who
essentially is a wide receiver and he's elite, and Luther Burton,
who clearly Ben Johnson loves. I mean, those are two
picks that had Ben Johnson's fingerprints written all over, so
he was kind of getting phased out. They need defensive help,
(07:00):
and now the Bears have two picks at the end
of the second round. I would say if Drew Dolman
hadn't retired, they would probably just use some of this
amo to go get Max Crosby. Now, with the center missing,
it probably makes things a little more complicated, but I
think this is a no brainer move for the Bills.
What else makes you comfortable too? Where you know, like
(07:22):
when you some of you guys that work in different companies,
when you go, hey, we just hired this guy. You
know my boss used to work with him at this
other company. We know him well, he's awesome. I see
at the Volume we have a kick ass sales team. Well,
our main sales guy, the head Hancho Dane used to
work at Barstool. Guess where. He took a lot of
(07:43):
sales guys from people that work for him at Barstool.
Why he knows them. They can close, they can crush
and what has happened? They crush it. You work with
people that you've already worked with can make the transition
much smoother, especially when they're talented. I don't care what
bases and you're in. Joe Brady has coached DJ Moore
before when they were in Carolina. So he not only
(08:05):
knows the player, he knows the human being. So when
you're gonna go god, they had to pay a little,
They really had to pay a lot. It's pick sixty
in a draft that is viewed as not great. The
chance for a team that is in Super Bowl or
bus mode is gonna get a player at pick sixty
who can help them get over the top or you know,
(08:27):
like a starting, high end guy. Historic percentages would be
like less than twenty percent. Now doesn't mean you can't
find elite players with that pick. The Bears could find
a guy within five years. We go god, that was
a hell of a pick. But the Bills are trying
to win in twenty twenty six and DJ Moore gives
(08:49):
them a chance to win in twenty and twenty six.
So I like this move a lot. I love the
amount of teams in the NFL. We know the Eagles
always do this, the Rams clearly do this, The Bills
are now doing this. You know, the Chiefs historically are
always really aggressive. You know, Sean Payton and Denver is
(09:09):
going to maintain his aggressive nature. You know the Giants
were sniffing around on Mcduffeekus Harbaugh. It's not like he's
trying to lose. You just have so many teams in
the NFL who just think, like, we're playing to win
this year. What can we do to get aggressive and win?
And I saw Colin talking about this, how picks can
be a little overrated. I don't think they're necessarily overrated,
(09:32):
but I think we overvalue the likelihood of the picks
working out. When they do, they're incredible because if you
hit on a second or third round pick, you get
a starter, a Pro Bowl guy who doesn't make much money.
It's an economic windfall to your salary cap. But we
all know, we all follow different teams that go I'm
(09:54):
pretty fired up for this second round pick. Love watching
him in college, who's an All American, and then he's
not that good, and then a couple of years later
he's not even on the team. It literally happens every
single year, over and over and over. I actually learned
this when I left the NFL because I was going
to these training camps and I was just talking about
(10:15):
these guys and getting excited and trying to hype. You know,
it's part of the hype machine. And I go to
nine or practice, I go to Raider practice. But god,
I love this fourth round pick. I'd love this third
round pick. I mean, everyone talks about the first round pick,
but you know, you talk about the second round pick,
the fifth round pick. And then all of a sudden,
by the end of training camp, an undrafted free agents
beat that guy out and he's taking that guy spot,
(10:37):
and that fourth round pick gets cutting's on the practice
squad in three undrafted free agents that no one ever
talked about make the fifties three man roster. Happens every
year with every team. So anyone criticizing giving up a
second round pick, well, yeah, if they would have given
up pick thirty five for Dj Moore, I've been like,
(10:58):
that's a tat aggressive. You probably could have just got
some equivalent of Dj Moore at pick thirty five, four
way cheaper potentially, And maybe Brandon Bean would say, yeah,
we tried it last year with Keon Coleman. How'd that
work out. It'll be like, yeah, good point, so easy
trade and for the Bears, totally understandable. I would imagine
(11:19):
this is the best offer they could have got. Like,
I don't think that they just sent him to it
The best team possible. I think a lot of teams
were probably interested in DJ Moore in the third round range,
and a team got picked sixty instead of pick seventy five,
and they said, we'll take it because his role on
this team for whatever reason, his rapport with Kleb is
(11:39):
not great. And they've invested heavily in other players at
the skill group. Right, their tight end has a chance
to be elite. They drafted Rome in the top ten.
Now there's a ton of pressure on him to be
really good. There's a ton of pressure on him to
kind of step up and be a number one wide receiver,
which is gonna be difficult. There's gonna be a ton
(12:01):
of pressure on Luther Burned and listen, you show shot
signs last year. He he's there's no disputing his talent
and physical gifts. But it's like, hey man, you're gonna
be a full time starter now you and Rome are
gonna carry the load. You and Rome ideally, like can
you guys bring us? You know, Rome, can you catch
(12:23):
ninety balls? And can Luther? Can you catch seventy five? Like?
And teams. The other thing is it's not even just
about the production. It's like every game you go into.
In terms of our outside wide receivers, the teams are
game planning to shut you guys down right. The corn
the top corners, and the coverages are for you. And
(12:46):
that's part of the NFL. It's the way this business works.
So I have no issue with the Bears doing this.
This has been rumored and talked about for a long
time that you know DJ Moore, I would it be
Rome or DJ Moore? And Rome makes less. Robe still
has a high ceiling. But part of having a ceiling
is like there's the unknown. I can you hit it? Like?
(13:08):
We know what DJ Moore's good is and it's pretty solid, right,
is it elite? No? Can he be a ninety catch
guy next year for the Buffalo Bills? Was he gonna
be a ninety catch guy for the Chicago Bears? No?
And you get off the money, you free some cap space,
you add some picks. You need defensive help. So if
they don't get Max Crosby, I would imagine that they
(13:30):
use those couple late second round picks. Again, I think
it's like fifty seven and sixty on defensive players or center.
They also have a left tackle problem because they're left
tackle Tours Achilles. So the Bears, you know, in this
weird way, coming off this incredible season that was touched
by the football gods like the Angels carried them. Do you
(13:51):
have some question marks? Right center, left tackle, A bunch
of guys on defense. Pressure now on some of these
young wide receivers to take a jump and to be
like the load guys. So I'm excited again, I said
yesterday Chiefs rams felt like a win win. This feels
like a no brainer move for the Bills, And I
(14:12):
would imagine Chicago had been like, we need to get
off his money, and this was the highest pick we'd get.
So we took it right. And we have to see
who they draft, but totally understand where they're coming from
as well. Some other stories, some rumors about the Cowboys
sniffing around on Max Crosby. You know, they got two
first round picks twelve and twenty. To me, Max Crosby
(14:34):
is a player if you think you're a player away, right,
So if you think you're a player away, like if
you told me the Bills gave two first round picks
for Max Crosby, and listen, I'm not talking financially. I
don't think it would work right now, I bet I
totally get it. If you told me the Broncos the
Raiders wouldn't make a trade with them, but the Ravens
(14:55):
the Eagles, I get it right to me. The Cowboys
like guy, you might be a step away from being
two steps away. Let's just take a deep breath. Let's
just sign some guys in free agency. Use your picks
twelve and twenty, draft some more defensive guys. You drafted
pretty well historically. I don't think the Cowboys should be
(15:16):
in the Max Crosby business, so if I was them,
you know, there's been some rumors about Trey Hendrickson that
makes a lot of sense. I do think Trey's market's
gonna be kind of unique, coming off a year who's injured,
a little older, but I mean the previous two years
he was seventeen and a half sacks the season he's
fucking huge. He's gonna have a fascinating market. I mean,
(15:37):
I think he's gonna be probably one of the more
intriguing guys for all the good teams, and I think
the Cowboys. You know, you had a little bit of
advantage with the state income tax. You know, Jerry Kind
of mentioned this in his h I almost called it
the win of Bago. It's like, it's like this RV
that he parks right between the Downtown Marriott and the
(15:58):
JW Marriott in Indianapolis. It has the star on each side.
It's just pretty badass. I don't think he sleeps in it.
I would imagine that Jerry sleeps in the JW. But
it's definitely nice enough when you see that when the
local reporters go in there to interview Jerry, you could
sleep and live in there. So maybe he does, but
(16:20):
I just appreciate. I would doubt Jerry drives that up
from Dallas. Maybe as someone else drive it. He Pj's up.
But Jerry was pretty cocky, acted like he was gonna
spend some money. So we're gonna find out Cam Jordan
will be a free agent that The stat is just incredible.
He's played for fifteen years in the NFL defensive lineman.
(16:41):
He's missed two games in his entire career. You know,
when we throw out the word durability sometimes and I
think we give some guys benefit of doubt. I think
it's borderline impossible to be more durable than Cam Jordan
has been And you can't convince me playing in the
trenches that the amount of games that some guys that
(17:04):
maybe didn't have his toughness, didn't have his pain tolerance
would have not been able to go two games and
fifteen years to meet these type guys, you know, Kalais Campbell.
I'm not paralleling their careers. I'm just saying high character,
winning players, productive players, durable, tough players, guys that bring
(17:26):
intangible stuff. I could see a good team given this
guy a little bit of an overpay to bring him
into unit, to bring him into a defense, to kind
of uplift the group. So I think Cam Jordan's gonna
be an interesting guy and listen part of the NFL is.
I talked to Sherman about this at the Super Bowl.
It's like it's hard, man. Sometimes you gotta let go
(17:47):
of like legendary veteran players after like seven or eight years.
Who knows, the Chiefs might not re sign Travis Kelcey.
Travis Kelcey will go down as one of the greatest
players in the league history. He was Mahomes right hand
guy for three Super Bowls. He will have his number retired.
He will get a statue at Arrowhead or wherever the
(18:08):
fuck they build their stadium in Kansas or Missouri or
somewhere in the vicinity of that area. And if you
told me that, like, yeah, they didn't really offer him
a contract, I'd understand. It's part of the way the
world works in the industry of football. So I don't
think it's weird at all. Now there's some rumors that
maybe the Saints could resign them. I think sometimes it's time, man,
(18:29):
It's just time to pivot and go into different direction.
You get new coaches, you get new ideas. I just
think this comes with the territory. You could argue he's
such an anomaly. How many guys in the Internet era
have played for a team for fifteen years, non quarterback,
non like Eli, Brady, Rogers, Big Ben. I'm talking position players.
(18:56):
It doesn't happen. It just doesn't happen. So to me,
Cam Jordan had tipped to you two games and fifteen years,
what a badass. As we go into free agency, which
is gonna kick off here in a couple of days,
you do have to be comfortable. You're getting taxed, you're
(19:16):
paying a premium to buy a guy, and all these
free agents you know Alt Pierce excellent season last year,
looks like a very talented player who's trending. You're not
buying Jerry Rice or Randy Moss in his prime. But
you're gonna pay a guy a ton of guaranteed money.
You know you're gonna overpay, but that is more money
(19:39):
than their current team was willing to pay him. Think
about that, the team that drafted them. And more than
likely a lot of these guys were like Lenderbaum and
a Van Pierce were highly valued by Eric to Costain,
Chris Vallard. They like those players, but it's a business.
They had a number, they weren't They didn't think it
was worth it. Now could they be wrong. Time will tell,
(20:01):
But we saw last year and sometimes you can't afford
to keep guys like Milton Williams. The Eagles couldn't keep
him on the team, but the Patriots gave him like
twenty six million dollars a year, and people thought at
the time, like, holy moully, that's a lot of money
for a guy that's never had fifty percent of the
snap counts for his own, you know, during the course
of his NFL career. But the reality is, even if
(20:25):
you overpay a guy and he's not gonna be a
Pro Bowl level player. If he's a really good player
and a productive player for you, you're gonna feel good
about it because you don't have to get a pick
for it. You just acquire the player for money. So
I think the key with free agency and the good
teams do this. And we talked to Schneider and Howie
about this is you locate one, two or three guys.
(20:48):
You're not throwing a wide net. Now. Your personnel department
has watched every guy. I love when I see a
report of so and so. Team is monitoring the Tyler
Lindenbaum situation. We are monitoring the Khalil Mack situation. You
(21:11):
guys realize all thirty two teams jobs are to monitor
all these situations. It'd be like if someone was covering
me like an NFL team. It's like Middelkoff is monitoring
every story right now that is out there in the
National Football League and trying to figure out what he's
going to talk about on today's podcast. Like, no shit,
(21:33):
that's what we do. Part of your job as a
GM is to literally monitor every player that's in the league,
current player on each individual roster. You have everyone graded,
all the free agents, all the guys that might get cut,
all the draft picks. It's like when someone asked me, like,
do you have to evaluate all the draft picks. Yeah,
(21:54):
that's part of the deal. You need draft grades and
work done on all the players in the draft. Obviously,
if you have seven or eight picks, you're not gonna
get all the guys. But what happens in a couple
of years you might trade for one of those players.
Those guys become free agents, those guys get cut, they
become available, so you have to have work done on them.
(22:17):
It always cracks me up, like so and so team
is monitoring the situation on Jalen Phillips. I would hope
that every GM in the league monitoring the situation, even
the ones without the cap space, because you'd never freaking know.
(22:40):
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New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. Before we get into the mailbag,
(24:30):
Fugazi Friday. I truly believe this is one of the
greatest clips I've ever seen on the Internet, and it
was the McDonald's CEO. His name is Chris's long last name,
very difficult to say. He looks like a guy that
takes health very seriously. Jawline skinny, looks like he runs
(24:50):
or pelotons. Probably a couple smoothies during the day, intermediate
intermediate fasting, a lot of greens, protein heavy, not many
carbs like you can just view some individuals, especially as
they get older and go that guy takes hell seriously. Well,
he's the CEO of McDonald's, which obviously is the largest
(25:13):
chain restaurant I think in the history of the world
and currently the biggest in the world. Right, They do
a lot of money worth of business. I think billions
upon billions of dollars of revenue. And i'd be lying.
I mean, I got about for McDonald's coffee is a
little weak, though it tastes pretty good. Definitely don't hate
(25:34):
a good mcflurry or two, and every once in a
while you're starving cheeseburger and bad. He did a video
of like I think it's called the Arch. I've never
had it, but it's probably somewhat in the uh in
the big Mac kind of world, I would guess, And
(25:55):
he was doing like a taste test slash to promote it,
and he he put it to his mouth. He could
barely bite the burger, and I was just thinking, like
I googled it today. On average the last couple of years,
he's made like eighteen nineteen million dollars. So this is
a very lucrative position being the CEO of McDonald's. And
(26:16):
there are a lot of people all over the world
that are in positions at a job at a company
that don't believe in the company, that don't associate with
the company outside of work. If I've known people in
the beer industry that don't drink, so this is not
like something that doesn't happen. But if you're gonna put
(26:40):
a guy on camera to eat a cheeseburger from McDonald's
and make it look like the burger has the plague
in it, and he could barely touch it because he
knows there's a lot of stuff in that burger that
are bad for his body. Someone probably should have thought,
let's get a chevier guy that is just gonna slam
this burger, hammer some fries and wash it down with
(27:02):
a coke, And that was not what they did. And
then a burger King, Wendy's, all these other companies came
out with their CEOs doing it and making fun of it,
attacking burgers. But I just think sometimes I could imagine
he was excited, he wanted to do it, and then
when the light went on and rubber was meeting the road,
(27:23):
he looked at that burger and thought to himself, I
haven't eat McDonald's in years, potentially decades, maybe ever. I
just work here. I make a lot of money and
we're very profitable. But it was fucking hilarious. So if
you haven't seen it, just type in CEO McDonald's East,
the Big Arch and you know it right away when
(27:44):
you see a guy. Because if you see a guy
and he's super skinny, unless he's like Chad Johnson, you're like,
you don't eat McDonald's bro and this guy definitely doesn't
and he was caught red handed. Okay, let's go mailbag
at John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff is the Instagram, Fire
into those dms and get your questions answered here on
(28:04):
the podcast. This is a Bears question. Can you explain
the dj more trade from the Bear's perspective? If tied
to Cross be okay, But otherwise why would you give
up a top wide receiver? He said, a number one
wide receiver that made some of the biggest catches in
recent Bears history. When Rome and Burden aren't close to
(28:24):
being number ones yet keep up the good work part
of the business. And we touch on this a little bit.
Is projecting right? Is projecting guys? Rolls? Guys step up?
I do think they're pretty equipped with two tight ends
to be take a little bit no pun intended of
the Burden off Luther Burden and even Rome that I
(28:48):
think at a perfect world levelin have like ninety catches.
I think Comet in this offense could have like fifty,
So you could have one hundred and thirty hundred and
forty hundred and fifty catches between your two tight ends.
And if both the wide receivers can just I don't
want to say be complimentary players, but give you one
(29:08):
hundred and fifty catches between the two of them. So
maybe Rome gives you eighty the other guy gives you sixty.
I guess that math would be a little off and
be more like eighty five sixty five something like that.
You'd be in pretty good shape. But that's part of drafting,
like it puts pressure on the guy, but you better
be right. And I think Ben Johnson's really high on
luther In Lovelin, and clearly for them to okay this trade,
(29:32):
they feel pretty good about Rome, and I think there's
a ton of pressure on Rome to become You don't
need Randy Moss or Jerry Rice. You could win a
Super Bowl with two number twos, Like can they both
just become like really good players? Like at the end
of the day, the Bears did not were not a
(29:53):
super Bowl team this year. And I mean they got
farther than they probably should have with that bat of
a defense. It wasn't I mean, the offense had weird spurts,
but their defense was atrocious, which ironic because their defense
actually played pretty good what was it against the Rams?
But Yeah, I just think that part of the business.
(30:18):
You got to make financial decisions. DJ makes a decent
amount of money. The bills guaranteed more money that the
Bears weren't going to do that. It probably factors in
financially as much as it does the projection of the
other wide receivers, which they're clearly doing. And that's also
when you have a good coach. Do you know what
(30:40):
the ultimate kind of theme is in the building. He'll
figure it out. That's part of having Andy Reid, Kyle Shanahan,
Sean McVeigh, Ben Johnson. He'll figure it out. He'll get
it done, He'll make something happen. He'll find someone if
those guys can't. That's how you have to think, what
(31:05):
up man? This is from Gilly. I want to know
why the media is so obsessed with trying to push
Max out of Vegas. Max and the Raiders have said
multiple times it's not what they want, but every other
day someone is starting a new rumor. It feels somewhat orchestrated.
At this point. One of the best known pass to
(31:26):
success in the NFL is getting a young quarterback and
surrounding him with high end talent. Apparently except when it
comes to the Raiders. The Patriots, Bears, and Commanders wouldn't
have had the same success they did the last couple
of years if they dumped veterans around their young quarterbacks.
So why are the Raiders any different. In addition, the
(31:49):
media says a trade him to a contender, Well, they'll
get a pick in the high twenties, and then in
the next segment they'll say they're only fifteen first round
talents in this upcoming draft. I think it's bullshit. The
media has taken it upon themselves to try and force this.
They've tried their hardest to get them to trade the
first pick as well. So what's the deal here? Sorry
(32:11):
for the long question. As a Raider fan, it's frustrating
seeing the NFL will try and constantly screw the Raiders.
Is now Davis. I can give several examples, including the
Gruden firing. Uh, the trading. The Raiders are not trading
Fernando Mendoza to the Jets for fucking seven first round picks.
They're not trading for Nando Mendos. They're gonna draft for
(32:32):
Nanda Mendos. Slow time, not much going on, you know,
It's like, uh, the Thunder and the Spurs can't carry segments,
so you got Steven A. Collin Zion fat. You know,
there's only so much going on, so you gotta manipulate stories.
You gotta create angles, which is the business they're in.
(32:52):
The Max thing, though, started with Jay Glazier at the
late December, which the Raiders did the right thing. You're
sitting down swing at the number one pick and you
need knee surgery and it worked, and listen, it pissed
Max off, which wouldn't you want him to be pissed?
Wouldn't you want him to be mad? Right? So I
(33:18):
I think they understand it. I think it's pretty clear
that Max and Spytech have a good relationship. But I
also think that the Raiders know in their division that
they're not close to winning next year, that they are
still a couple of years away, And what if in
three years Max is not the same player. So if
you can get two first round picks for him right now,
(33:40):
when you're probably gonna win five or six games next year.
Derek Carr came on the show and they made the playoffs.
His third year with the Raiders. First year I was there,
they started zero to ten and finished three and thirteen.
It's not going to be great next year. And even
if Max is there, like I saw Miles Garrett on
the Browns, he's a better player at Max crowd, it
(34:03):
doesn't matter, and their defense is pretty good. So I
don't think I know you Raider fans get so offended
by the media, and in fairness, they've been talking about
you for a long time. Some of it most of
it probably self inflicted, but that's neither here nor there.
I do think there's validity to this one, and it
(34:25):
started with Max, and I think some of these stories
have come out, like you know, Max's Max areted looking around,
he realized there might be greener pastures. I think he
started changing his mindset because he's had time over the
last couple of months to say, I do not want
to be traded. I want to stay here. And I
don't blame him, he just kind of I think he's
(34:46):
letting it play out. And my guess is he's traded
in the next three or four days, and I don't
think that's a bad thing. I do think that's the
right move for the Raiders, for the bag. So a
bit tongue in cheek, but then a bit not as
an international NFL and forty nine are fanatic who traveled
from Australia to our last two forty nine or Super
(35:07):
bowls Miami in Vegas. I was at them both too,
not the games, but that week they were awesome, too great.
I mean, I don't think anyone would complain if you
put the Super Bowl in Vegas or Miami every single year.
I support the league expanding abroad and can't wait for
the Niners the Rams matchup down here. So here's the
(35:27):
rant to anyone from the NFL who ever mentioned the
term world champions about a Super Bowl win but now
wines about flying around the world, they can shut the
bleep up. I agree. I've always hated World champions, but
now it might have a little more substance and validity
(35:49):
behind it, Right, if you're truly gonna play all over
the world, yeah, maybe our World champs. And I totally
get it. For those of you that live internationally, if
you live in some of these places in Europe, if
you live in Mexico City, if you live in Australia,
it's pretty cool. And if you're a Niner fan, they're
coming to Australia. I bet that game rocks mailbag moving
(36:13):
to Pacifica or Half Moon Bay from Tampa Bay. Those
are two coastal areas in the Bay area. Because my
fiance got a promotion with her company based out of
Palo Alto. I'm only going to be there for one
and a half two years quote hopefully, and I'm still
owning my home in Florida. I'm a Florida guy at heart,
(36:34):
so I love surfing, duck hunting, spearfishing. Based off my
knowledge of San fran area, I might hate it. I
wanted to see what do you think I should do
to make the most of my two year stint in California.
I've never been in my life, and I know it's
your home turf well, if you like to surf. Not
(36:54):
a surf guy, right. The one thing I learned at
cal Poly, which is in the middle of California, that
most of us from northern California there's a culture. Anyone
that went to school with people from the beaches in
southern California or San Diego, there's a surf culture and
they kind of fit that stereotype. Even though the surfing
up in northern California is better, we have bigger waves.
(37:18):
The problem is it's like the largest concentration I think
besides like South Africa of great white sharks in the
world and Mavericks, which is you know, can have like
fifty seventy five foot waves breaks on a reef also
as sharks everywhere. So I don't know if you're that good,
but there is really good surfing up in that area.
(37:40):
There's definitely duck hunting Inland, you know, close to where
I grew up in closer to like the Central Valley.
I don't know. I would just soak it in everyone
in life. If you get the opportunity when you're young,
should move to a place. Now it's gonna economically cost
you guys a little bit. No, she's getting to pay raise,
but she's gonna give a lot. Bat to California, somewhere
(38:02):
where you just you're not comfortable, move to a state.
I did this when I in my twenties to Philadelphia, uh,
and it helped change my life. It put me in
an uncomfortable situation because the older you get, the less
likely you are going to be with change. So when
you're young making some of these quote unquote force moves,
(38:24):
obviously it's typically connected to a job is an incredible
life experience, even if you don't think you have that
much common with the people, or you just just take
it in. I mean, if you've moved to half Moon Bay,
it's on the fucking water in the Pacific Ocean. So
now it's expensive. You know you're gonna you're gonna pay
a lot. But just find a place to rent and
(38:45):
just there's a million things to do. Uh Now, I
don't know what specifically you want to do. I would
it's not Northern California is not like Southern California or
Florida where you just go hang out at the beach.
You know, I'm born and raised probably hour fifteen minute
(39:06):
from some of the beaches like Bedega Bay. You just
Northern California is not a go to the beach and
just lay there and look at the waters. It can
be cold, it can be windy. The water is freezing cold,
but it is cool. There are a ton of good
places to eat in the city. You go to Lake Tahoe,
(39:27):
you go to Yosemite. There are a lot of places
to go. You could go down to the Pacific Highway
and go to southern California, go to San Diego, I
would definitely go to San Diego if I were you taking.
That's more like beachy town. You go to the Central Coast,
which is where I cal Pauly San Luis Obispo. But
Pismo Beach is probably three and a half hours from
(39:51):
you know, half Moon Bay. You can find enough to
enjoy yourself, for sure. The show has been great lately
with all the information from the combine. I have a
(40:14):
mailbag question. I think it was the right move for
the Colts to sign Daniel Jones to attack. He's been
the best quarterback they've had since Rivers are luck and
it seems like the coaches and players really like him. However,
a ton of people online are saying they should have
sign Kyler Murray. I don't really agree. The narrative seems
to be that Kyler is a high level quarterback, but
I can't remember that being the case. Has he ever
(40:36):
been better than Jones? Both nineteen quarterbacks? I think Jones
is the best in the class. What are your thoughts?
I was I saw Peter Schrager tell I had the
TV on, and he told McAfee that if you take
he wanted to do something for TV at ESPN where
you take five plays of Kyler Murray's career, and he
(40:57):
could make the argument like, these are some of the
best plays you'll ever see. And I remember when I
first got hired at Fresno State and Pat Hill used
to hate highlight tapes because it's like, anyone can make
a highlight tape look like a future Division I player.
Any guy in this draft could make a five play
highlight tape that's gonna get drafted in the third day,
(41:20):
that would look like a first rounder. You don't play
highlight tape. You play football. So part of Kyler Murray's problem,
no one ever disputed on an individual play basis, he
could make one of the best plays that week in
the National Football League and he's done it. But that's
not football. Football is like every single series, every single half,
(41:41):
every single week, doing it week in week out. Like
if I had to have a player, if they're both healthy,
I would rather have Daniel Jones one hundred percent. Kyler
can't see now he's injured, and I just think he's
a highlight player. The issue with Daniel Jones is he
has a torn achilles. He has a torn achilles, so
(42:05):
there's going to be pressure on the Colts next year
to try to win. It's like, is he going to
be ready for Week one? And if he is, how
good is he gonna be early in the season. I
think that's a little concerning. Now, didn't he have a
major injury? Didn't he tears ACL in New York? I
mean he's had some major injuries. Chiefs fan, how do
(42:27):
you think the Chiefs approached the running back position? I
see many having loved there at nine, but I can't
see the Chiefs waiting to hope he is there and
not instead grabbing one of those free agent backs and
then taking a d lineman at nine. Thoughts? Also, what
are your favorite areas to stay in Tahoe. We've stayed
at Edgewood and loved it, but recently we have rented
(42:47):
homes along the Rubicon Bay. We've stayed the last couple
of years in an inclined village. It's on the Nevada side,
opposite of Edgewood. Edgewood is where they play the golf
tournament with all the football players, which is beautiful as well.
I grew up staying on that side of the lake
(43:09):
where Heavenly the Ski Resort is one of my good
friends in I mean still is at my wedding. Has
his parents have had a pad back then at a
smaller lake on His dad was from South Lake Tahoe.
But my mother in law, she a couple of years
ago bought like a town home on the other side
(43:32):
of the lake, which listen Lakedaho is hard to beat.
I personally like Inclined Village a lot, but you can't
beat Edgewood. I've never stayed at Edgewood. I've been there
boozing a bunch over the course of my youth, but
I've never actually stayed there. I've definitely gambled at those casinos, though.
(43:52):
You just it's hard to be in Lake Tahoe, not
of a smile on your face and a beer in
your hand in the summer winter. You couldn't pay me
to go anymore. My winter sports and I love skiing,
probably in junior high and high school. I can't even
fathom skiing ever again. I don't even think I'll put
boots on my feet ever. Can't risk breaking a leg,
(44:13):
tearing acl ripping an achilles, no chance head injury. Those
days are done. What was your question the chiefs, Yeah,
free agency. I don't know one thing They could do
is take an impact lineman at nine. They could always
take the other Notre Dame back and pick twenty nine.
If he's on the board, he can fly, he can return,
(44:36):
he can catch price. If they did want a running back,
I definitely think that that would be an option. As
I've gotten older and moved further into hospital administration, I
focused on learning from people who clearly know their craft.
Watching you Transition on Netflix and interviews with top NFL executives,
(44:58):
it's clear you operate at high level, is my mom? No,
this is a guy named John. As your career advanced,
did you also find yourself intentionally seeking out high level mentors,
even if very informal or like when you met Coward?
Would love to know the details of the story. Yeah.
(45:20):
I think I've just been very lucky. Once I got
out of college and I went to work at Fresley
State pat Hill, I went to work for the Eagles.
It was Andy Reid and Howie Roseman, and I was around,
you know, Veach and other people in that organization when
I got into this business. Now, I've been around and
associated with Colin for a long time, so I don't
(45:41):
know if I specifically it's not like I go on
LinkedIn and go I want to connect. I'm bad at
that type stuff. I've just maybe been unintentionally intentionally seeking
these type people, and I've just ended up working for
around or with people that are much higher level than myself.
(46:02):
So some people and you sound like it are good at,
you know, seeking out mentors, seeking out people. That's not
I'm just not great at that unless I'm at the
combine i start introducing myself to everybody. But I've been
very fortunate to see firsthand what it looks like to
be really successful. And I think, you know, a lot
of these lew Holtz speeches have gone viral. I think
(46:26):
most messages from successful people tend to be pretty similar.
It's about consistency, it's about discipline, it's about treating people
the right way. It's about having a good foundation at home.
You know. I think a huge advantage in life is
having a you know, if you are married, liking and
(46:46):
having a strong partnership with that person. If you do not,
there is no point because your life will get derailed it.
It's not possible to function if your home life's in shambles.
Unless you're like Tiger Woods in two thousand and eight.
Most people can't. So I think all these clips of
Lou Holtz and some of his speeches to the team
(47:07):
and stuff, it's all tends to be in the same world.
And I think most people I've seen, you know, Pat
Hill is one of the best, you know, smaller school
head coaches in the country for a decade plus. Obviously
Andy speaks for itself in colin. They all have a
lot of similarities. One ironically they're all friends with each other.
(47:27):
But two is like work, ethic, energy, passion, Like there
are like some things that go along with these people.
And I think you see this, whether it's Warren Buffett
or Bezos or the guy crushing it that owns three
h VAC companies, you know in your town who's a
multi millionaire that no one even realizes. It's like that
(47:48):
they're all kind of grinders, and they all kind of
like the grind. And if you don't like it's just
gonna be hard to do. It doesn't mean you got
to every single day wake up with a smile on
your face. But I think most people are pretty passionate
about what they do and pretty fired up, you know
that don't go around life just kind of pouting and
pissed off. Doesn't mean you can't be pissed off on
certain days, but like that, you kind of gotta attack
(48:10):
the world a little bit every day, as Jim would say,
with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. Again, some of these
things people make fun of. I don't know most successful
people I've seen. All these guys are like I mean,
Andy and Coward were Who even knows how much Pat
Hill was making millions. He was the first million dollar
non power for head coach back in the early two thousands.
(48:32):
I think they all have like the same three or
four characteristics. So I think I've just been lucky to
experience it more than like seek because I if someone
just tells me something that's not Sometimes my wife, like
we were trying to install she had a Cherokee. We
got her a new, bigger car, and we sold the
(48:53):
car to the dealership. As we're leaving with the other car,
we're trying to install the car seat, and she brought
the directions and I'm like, I don't learn that way,
so you can. She's like read the directions like I
can't read that, Like I won't, I'll get frustrated. So
I let me go to YouTube and let me try
it out. That's how I'll figure it out. And we
(49:15):
all kind of learn different ways. So it's like I
could sit with get advice from certain people. That's not really.
If I had a phone call tomorrow with Warren Buffett
not saying I wouldn't take things away, I'd be better
off having warned, like, hey, give me a couple of
things and let me just try them over the course
of the next year and let me get back to you.
(49:35):
Like our motto at cal Poly was learned by doing,
and that's truly, Like I sounds corny or whatever, that's
how I learned. I can't learn. I realized why I
never learned in school, because you just sit there and
they go over powerpoints like I'm fucking I'm not paying attention.
But if you told me to go do something with
what you're trying to teach me, I'm probably more likely
to learn. We finally got the car seat in, but
(49:58):
the lady that sold me the car was what are
you doing? Are elite edge rushers now overrated and overpaid. Garrett,
Watt Crosby all have been on irrelevant teams for years.
Garrett has a record year, and the Browns did nothing
similar to how they lay how they say how hard
it is for a team to win a Super Bowl
after paying the quarterback? Would it makes sense to trade
(50:21):
a high priced edge for multiple mid level starters and
spread the cap. I do think it's hard. With the
Garrett thing, the Browns are a joke, Like if you
put Miles Garrett on the Bills, like he could win
a Super Bowl. If you put Miles Garrett on the
Rams as a defensive end, unless you're like Lawrence Taylor
(50:42):
is in twenty twenty six, you're gonna need a good offense.
You know TJ. Watt by the end of the year.
Look at the Steelers, right, Crosby played for the Raiders.
I mean Gino Smith's trying to pick every game. Some
of these articles coming out of Chip Kelly. He would
even come to the lot at halftime. He let his
assistants talk to the team. I mean, you talk about
(51:04):
an all time mail it in for six million dollars
a year, I mean talk about an all ski mask team.
Guy would be the head coach. So I think you're
using these three examples, like now, I don't know how
good TJ still is as he lost a step. But
these guys, when they're playing well, if you put him
on a team with a good offense, they're gonna make
a big impact. The Steelers haven't had a quarterback for
(51:28):
like eight years, back when Ben was good. I mean
this year, Rogers tried, but he's forty one. The offense
kind of sucked. He got injured in Crosby's I can't
blame Max Crosby. So I think I have a hard
time having an issue with having one of those guys
on my team. What peptides do you take? I'm just
we're four days in. I think it's BPC and CJC.
(51:52):
The are the two I'm slamming five days a week.
Haven't quite noticed a difference yet. Lady said that it
might take a little while. I'm a big believer. I
remember in high school, what was the stuff? What was
the stuff that McGuire was taking andro I remember some
of the guys in the football team started taking it.
I was like, give me some, So I bought some,
(52:13):
but I didn't. I lift way more in my thirties
and forties than I ever did in high school when
I was a football team, and I would just take it,
thinking I would get big. Nothing happened probably wasn't great
for my body. It's like McGuire looks like that, shit,
what am I gonna look like? I'm a little be sweet.
I know we are a good football content part of
(52:35):
the year, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on
the Angels owner already moreno saying the Angels fans don't
care about winning and that it's not even a top
five priority. This feels like a giant slap in the face.
As a lifelong Angels fan, My family has given this
scumbag too much of our money and I'm no longer
(52:56):
spending money on this lifeless franchise. Last year, at a game,
Angels fans showed up in all white Angel costumes with
Halo's and it got a lot of media attention, and
then you heard sell the team chance over the TV.
It almost feels like this was a retaliation for that.
Does it make sense for the Major League Baseball to
(53:18):
step in and force a sale of a team since
he obviously doesn't care to be competitive. MLBPA can't be
happy with him openly admitting the price of winning is
too high. If I was going to defend him a
little bit. He's made some insane signings over the years. Right,
he gave Albert Pooles like ten years, three hundred million
(53:40):
dollars back when that was a ton of money. He
gave Rendon after the Nationals won the World Series, a
ton of money as rendon't even played. I mean, that's
an all time ski mask contract. I mean they've given
Trout like three billion dollars. He plays like seven games
a year. He has paid a lot of money to
(54:01):
individual players. None of it's worked out. I mean, shit,
he signed Otani out of Japan and the guy left
to the Dodgers. I'd say the highlight, Well, when I
was in high school, you guys beat the Giants for
the World Series. That sucked. Russell Ortz, Dusty Baker, that
still stinks. But what's his name? Who's your closer? Bonds?
(54:22):
Hit Bonds hit a ball? And what was your third base?
In his name? Not? You guys had a pretty sweet team.
They panned to him in the dugout and he's like,
that's the longest ball I've ever seen hit. Problem is,
the Giants were down two runs. It was a solo
home run the ninth, But you guys said, listen, you
want a World Series. That was pretty cool, but that
(54:42):
was a long time ago now, and two not to
date myself. That's I was. I would have been probably
eighteen when that happened. Now it's twenty twenty six, So
I feel your pain. I don't know, man, Baseball was
a weird business. It really is. You have the Roger
are spending all this money. You have the Phillies and
the Mets and the Blue Jays and the Yankees, and
(55:04):
then you have teams that don't spend any money. Then
you have these weird teams like the Angels, who are
periodically pay for a big time guy, but then their
team just sucks. I don't really have an answer. I
don't Baseball is just a bizarre ecosystem of owners of teams,
of finances. I've never followed it less to have like
(55:28):
a concrete answer, And specifically, I don't really know anything
about the Angels. You could argue, don't give them your
money anymore. And what's even more valuable than money is
your time. So it's like you're giving your money and
then you're going to a gate for three hours. I
would stop that. I know you've talked a lot about
Jalen hurts and how he doesn't fit in with the
(55:50):
Eagles back in Oklahoma when he was there for a year,
a lot of them, a lot of the same stuff
was going on, even at parties. He just seemed above
it all. Reminds me of Russell Wilson. Let me defend
Jalen here. All of our personalities are different. Philip Rivers
is different than Dak Prescott is different than Mahomes, is
(56:11):
different than Lamar Jackson, is different than Jameis Winston. So
every quarterback's personality is not going to be the same.
Jalen is a different cat. I don't think he's exactly
holding parties at his house for all the team to
come over. The key to be in the quarterback though,
whether you're Jalen or Russell Wilson or whether you're Patrick Mahomes,
(56:33):
does every guy in that huddle want to go to
war with you? Because if they do, you can't really
ask much more. And that's you know. No one's ever
questioned Jalen's work, ethic, his focus, how how hardy tries
up until this year when he stopped running. But listen,
(56:54):
I knew people at Oklahoma when he played there. It
was just it was a big, a lot different experience
in Baker Mayfield in the locker room, right, But you know,
not everyone has to be the same. I think the
bigger issue is does he do everything that's needed from
his star quarterback to ingratiate himself with his teammates still
(57:15):
at this famous level in which he's at with the money,
Because everything I've heard, that's what Lamar does, That's what
Josh Allen does, That's what Patrick Mahomes does. That's what
Dak Prescott does. That's what Peyton Manning and Tom Brady
and Philip Rivers and all those guys did. That's the
price of being the quarterback. Sometimes, on like a Thursday night,
(57:38):
you got to take the guys out for some beers,
even if you don't want to go for beers, even
if you don't want to go to the pizza joint,
even if you just want to go home and hang
out with your wife and watch a movie and go
to bed. Like it's sometimes you got it in certain
roles in life, especially ones that pay premiums. Stuff that's
(58:01):
not part of your contract is required. And that's where
I think there's gonna be a lot of pressure this
offseason on Jalen to like, you really need to be
all in on your group. And you know, obviously, if
you're playing well, no one criticized you. But when you
start playing kind of hit or miss, people start nippicking you.
And I think he's just he's always been a polarizing player.
(58:23):
I mean, he's a second round pick for a reason.
He got benched at Alabama. He went from playing well
in the Super Bowl to this year led the league
in three and outs. So I don't have a great
answer there, but it doesn't bother me, like I ideally
I want Tom Brady, right, Brett Farr, Troygman, the guy
that every teammate loves. Doesn't mean you got to be
(58:47):
best friends with everybody, but you need that guy to
respect you. And for whatever reason, Russell Wilson could never
get the respect out of guy's in Seattle. I don't
know if there was resentment what was going on there.
That's not how it started with Jalen with the Eagles,
but it does feel like it's kind of got to
that point where and this is probably why AJ's gonna
(59:08):
get traded, because they kind of need to reset in
that locker room. But it's gonna be incumbent on Hurts.
It's like, Bro, we need you to kind of rally
the troops. Like Jason Kelsy's not here anymore, buttcher Cox
is not here anymore. Brandon Graham's probably not gonna unretire again.
So I'm fascinated to watch the way this all shapes
out and keep firing those dms at John Middlecoff, at
(59:30):
John Middlecoff's the Instagram. Appreciate all you guys, and see
you next week. The volume
The volume. What is going on everybody? John Middlecoff Three
and Out Podcast? How are we doing today? Probably not
(00:22):
as good as the Bills who just landed themselves a
wide receiver. The Bears ship DJ Moore to Buffalo. We
will discuss the trade. I told you yesterday, I said,
get ready, probably get another one, and we did. Max
Crosby is a story that just won't go away. Cam Jordan,
legendary Saints player is going to be a free agent.
(00:43):
It's Fugazi Friday. So I saw something on the internet
over the course. I don't think we've done one in
a while. This is probably within the last week. That
involves a cheeseburger and a CEO and then wats to
do a mail bag at John Midlecoff At John Middlecoff
is the Instagram fire in those dms. Get your questions
answered here on the show. Other than that, yeah, everyone
(01:10):
get fired up for the weekend. Hopefully you guys are
enjoying yourself and if you live in a cold weather place,
hopefully it's starting to warm up because it's gonna be
ninety degrees here this weekend. But you guys know the drill.
Subscribe to the Three and Out podcast if you listen
on Collins Feed all of our podcasts, or up on
this streaming service called Netflix. I don't know if you
ever heard of it, but you can watch all of
(01:31):
our podcasts on Netflix. So go check those out. And
we had a big week we had on Derek Carr
a couple days ago. He was really good. We reacted
yesterday to the Chiefs trade, We'll react today to another trade,
and I'm sure next week we'll have a bunch more trades.
So we got free agency right around the corner. All
I can say is, buckle up, let's talk some football.
(01:52):
One pet peeve of mine before we dive into the
nitty gritty is I saw a lot of this on
the internet today. They gave a a second round pick
for DJ Moore. You see this all the time, you
see it with first round picks. You guys realize, I
know you guys do, But do some people not realize
that they're not all created equal? Because if I told
(02:15):
you that the Rams had traded pick thirteen for Trent
McDuffie instead of pick twenty nine for Trent McDuffie, you'd
be like, God, that's a lot pick thirteen Because pick
thirteen is worth what two pick twenty nine? So not
all picks in a round are created equal clearly, so
(02:36):
the Buffalo Bills trading pick sixty for DJ Moore might
as well be a third round pick. I saw so
much of this today, as like, god, that is a lot. Well,
the Houston Texans, for example, have the Washington Commander's second
round pick. Well, guess what happened last year? The Commanders sucked?
(02:58):
So what happened to the Texans? They got picked thirty seven,
also happens to be in the second round. What pick
would you rather have? My point is when we see
generic traded for a couple first round picks, traded for
a couple second round picks, that looks great on paper,
but where do those picks actually come in the round? Well,
(03:21):
right now, unlike when a trade happens in camp or
during the season, we don't know where they're gonna fall.
They traded pick sixty for DJ Moore a team, let's
face it. And the thing I appreciate about the Bills,
and I would imagine Brandon Bean feels this is like,
is there a team next year with more pressure on
them than the Buffalo Bills? Joe Brady Josh Allen, the
(03:44):
Bills overall operation. How many teams in the league could
say with a straight face, if we're not in the
AFC or NFC championship game, it is a complete failure.
The Rams, I mean, you'd say the Chiefs, but I mean,
(04:05):
we got to see Mahomes health, the Ravens. The Ravens
just missed the playoffs. Maybe the Packers if Micah and
all those guys are healthy. I want to see what
happens this offseason with the Eagles. Like, it's not that
long of the list, it's I wouldn't even say Seattle.
If you tell me Seattle makes the playoffs again and
(04:27):
losing the second round and be like, that's an incredible
two year run by Mike McDonald. The Bills are in
Super Bowl or bust these next couple of years in
Josh Allen's prime. That's why they fired their coach, That's
why they elevated the offensive coordinator. They're trying to take
that next step, and that next step is simply making
it to the big game, something that has eluded them
for a long long time. Obviously, they've never won it.
(04:50):
I mean they lost four straight, which I saw this
clip of Trent Williams saying that he would rather not
lose before the Super Bowl than go to who the
Super Bowl and loose. He said, it's the worst feeling
he's ever had in his entire life. And they haven't
even got the opportunity because they haven't got there. But
my point is, I can't even imagine what it was
(05:10):
like like to be like a twenty eight year old
Bills fan back in the early nineties. You just go
to every Super Bowl and loose. But I like this
trade for the Bills. They need wide receiver help. I mean,
their unit's not great, but their offense actually is pretty good,
and it's been statistically one of the best offense in
the league for several years now. A huge reason for
that is they probably have the best player in the
(05:31):
league at quarterback, Cook, their running back is a stud.
They got multiple tight ends. Khalil Shaki is probably one
of the more underrated players in the league. Joe Brady
talked about it like Joe Brady was the guy. And
I heard this at the combine, pounding the table for
Keon Coleman. So when the owner said at that press
conference that Keon Coleman was a coaches pick. It was
(05:54):
Joe Brady's pick, or at least he was one of
the guys leading the charge to make that pick. So
to me, that would be a positive for Kemp. I
would expect him to have a good season because that
guy is gonna coach him hard and be invested in
him having success. And then you immediately insert a guy
who is proven that he can get a thousand yards
(06:16):
year after year with random quarterbacks. What do you think
it's gonna look like with Josh Allen? So? Is he
losing a step? Is he as good as he was
four years ago? Probably not, But you're telling me Dj
Moore can't catch eighty or ninety balls for the Buffalo Bills.
He's proven he can play in cold weather. I mean,
two years ago on an awful Bears team he almost
(06:37):
caught a hundred balls, and last year on the Bears
their first two their first two picks were Lovelin, who
essentially is a wide receiver and he's elite, and Luther Burton,
who clearly Ben Johnson loves. I mean, those are two
picks that had Ben Johnson's fingerprints written all over, so
he was kind of getting phased out. They need defensive help,
(07:00):
and now the Bears have two picks at the end
of the second round. I would say if Drew Dolman
hadn't retired, they would probably just use some of this
amo to go get Max Crosby. Now, with the center missing,
it probably makes things a little more complicated, but I
think this is a no brainer move for the Bills.
What else makes you comfortable too? Where you know, like
(07:22):
when you some of you guys that work in different companies,
when you go, hey, we just hired this guy. You
know my boss used to work with him at this
other company. We know him well, he's awesome. I see
at the Volume we have a kick ass sales team. Well,
our main sales guy, the head Hancho Dane used to
work at Barstool. Guess where. He took a lot of
(07:43):
sales guys from people that work for him at Barstool.
Why he knows them. They can close, they can crush
and what has happened? They crush it. You work with
people that you've already worked with can make the transition
much smoother, especially when they're talented. I don't care what
bases and you're in. Joe Brady has coached DJ Moore
before when they were in Carolina. So he not only
(08:05):
knows the player, he knows the human being. So when
you're gonna go god, they had to pay a little,
They really had to pay a lot. It's pick sixty
in a draft that is viewed as not great. The
chance for a team that is in Super Bowl or
bus mode is gonna get a player at pick sixty
who can help them get over the top or you know,
(08:27):
like a starting, high end guy. Historic percentages would be
like less than twenty percent. Now doesn't mean you can't
find elite players with that pick. The Bears could find
a guy within five years. We go god, that was
a hell of a pick. But the Bills are trying
to win in twenty twenty six and DJ Moore gives
(08:49):
them a chance to win in twenty and twenty six.
So I like this move a lot. I love the
amount of teams in the NFL. We know the Eagles
always do this, the Rams clearly do this, The Bills
are now doing this. You know, the Chiefs historically are
always really aggressive. You know, Sean Payton and Denver is
(09:09):
going to maintain his aggressive nature. You know the Giants
were sniffing around on Mcduffeekus Harbaugh. It's not like he's
trying to lose. You just have so many teams in
the NFL who just think, like, we're playing to win
this year. What can we do to get aggressive and win?
And I saw Colin talking about this, how picks can
be a little overrated. I don't think they're necessarily overrated,
(09:32):
but I think we overvalue the likelihood of the picks
working out. When they do, they're incredible because if you
hit on a second or third round pick, you get
a starter, a Pro Bowl guy who doesn't make much money.
It's an economic windfall to your salary cap. But we
all know, we all follow different teams that go I'm
(09:54):
pretty fired up for this second round pick. Love watching
him in college, who's an All American, and then he's
not that good, and then a couple of years later
he's not even on the team. It literally happens every
single year, over and over and over. I actually learned
this when I left the NFL because I was going
to these training camps and I was just talking about
(10:15):
these guys and getting excited and trying to hype. You know,
it's part of the hype machine. And I go to
nine or practice, I go to Raider practice. But god,
I love this fourth round pick. I'd love this third
round pick. I mean, everyone talks about the first round pick,
but you know, you talk about the second round pick,
the fifth round pick. And then all of a sudden,
by the end of training camp, an undrafted free agents
beat that guy out and he's taking that guy spot,
(10:37):
and that fourth round pick gets cutting's on the practice
squad in three undrafted free agents that no one ever
talked about make the fifties three man roster. Happens every
year with every team. So anyone criticizing giving up a
second round pick, well, yeah, if they would have given
up pick thirty five for Dj Moore, I've been like,
(10:58):
that's a tat aggressive. You probably could have just got
some equivalent of Dj Moore at pick thirty five, four
way cheaper potentially, And maybe Brandon Bean would say, yeah,
we tried it last year with Keon Coleman. How'd that
work out. It'll be like, yeah, good point, so easy
trade and for the Bears, totally understandable. I would imagine
(11:19):
this is the best offer they could have got. Like,
I don't think that they just sent him to it
The best team possible. I think a lot of teams
were probably interested in DJ Moore in the third round range,
and a team got picked sixty instead of pick seventy five,
and they said, we'll take it because his role on
this team for whatever reason, his rapport with Kleb is
(11:39):
not great. And they've invested heavily in other players at
the skill group. Right, their tight end has a chance
to be elite. They drafted Rome in the top ten.
Now there's a ton of pressure on him to be
really good. There's a ton of pressure on him to
kind of step up and be a number one wide receiver,
which is gonna be difficult. There's gonna be a ton
(12:01):
of pressure on Luther Burned and listen, you show shot
signs last year. He he's there's no disputing his talent
and physical gifts. But it's like, hey man, you're gonna
be a full time starter now you and Rome are
gonna carry the load. You and Rome ideally, like can
you guys bring us? You know, Rome, can you catch
(12:23):
ninety balls? And can Luther? Can you catch seventy five? Like?
And teams. The other thing is it's not even just
about the production. It's like every game you go into.
In terms of our outside wide receivers, the teams are
game planning to shut you guys down right. The corn
the top corners, and the coverages are for you. And
(12:46):
that's part of the NFL. It's the way this business works.
So I have no issue with the Bears doing this.
This has been rumored and talked about for a long
time that you know DJ Moore, I would it be
Rome or DJ Moore? And Rome makes less. Robe still
has a high ceiling. But part of having a ceiling
is like there's the unknown. I can you hit it? Like?
(13:08):
We know what DJ Moore's good is and it's pretty solid, right,
is it elite? No? Can he be a ninety catch
guy next year for the Buffalo Bills? Was he gonna
be a ninety catch guy for the Chicago Bears? No?
And you get off the money, you free some cap space,
you add some picks. You need defensive help. So if
they don't get Max Crosby, I would imagine that they
(13:30):
use those couple late second round picks. Again, I think
it's like fifty seven and sixty on defensive players or center.
They also have a left tackle problem because they're left
tackle Tours Achilles. So the Bears, you know, in this
weird way, coming off this incredible season that was touched
by the football gods like the Angels carried them. Do you
(13:51):
have some question marks? Right center, left tackle, A bunch
of guys on defense. Pressure now on some of these
young wide receivers to take a jump and to be
like the load guys. So I'm excited again, I said
yesterday Chiefs rams felt like a win win. This feels
like a no brainer move for the Bills, And I
(14:12):
would imagine Chicago had been like, we need to get
off his money, and this was the highest pick we'd get.
So we took it right. And we have to see
who they draft, but totally understand where they're coming from
as well. Some other stories, some rumors about the Cowboys
sniffing around on Max Crosby. You know, they got two
first round picks twelve and twenty. To me, Max Crosby
(14:34):
is a player if you think you're a player away, right,
So if you think you're a player away, like if
you told me the Bills gave two first round picks
for Max Crosby, and listen, I'm not talking financially. I
don't think it would work right now, I bet I
totally get it. If you told me the Broncos the
Raiders wouldn't make a trade with them, but the Ravens
(14:55):
the Eagles, I get it right to me. The Cowboys
like guy, you might be a step away from being
two steps away. Let's just take a deep breath. Let's
just sign some guys in free agency. Use your picks
twelve and twenty, draft some more defensive guys. You drafted
pretty well historically. I don't think the Cowboys should be
(15:16):
in the Max Crosby business, so if I was them,
you know, there's been some rumors about Trey Hendrickson that
makes a lot of sense. I do think Trey's market's
gonna be kind of unique, coming off a year who's injured,
a little older, but I mean the previous two years
he was seventeen and a half sacks the season he's
fucking huge. He's gonna have a fascinating market. I mean,
(15:37):
I think he's gonna be probably one of the more
intriguing guys for all the good teams, and I think
the Cowboys. You know, you had a little bit of
advantage with the state income tax. You know, Jerry Kind
of mentioned this in his h I almost called it
the win of Bago. It's like, it's like this RV
that he parks right between the Downtown Marriott and the
(15:58):
JW Marriott in Indianapolis. It has the star on each side.
It's just pretty badass. I don't think he sleeps in it.
I would imagine that Jerry sleeps in the JW. But
it's definitely nice enough when you see that when the
local reporters go in there to interview Jerry, you could
sleep and live in there. So maybe he does, but
(16:20):
I just appreciate. I would doubt Jerry drives that up
from Dallas. Maybe as someone else drive it. He Pj's up.
But Jerry was pretty cocky, acted like he was gonna
spend some money. So we're gonna find out Cam Jordan
will be a free agent that The stat is just incredible.
He's played for fifteen years in the NFL defensive lineman.
(16:41):
He's missed two games in his entire career. You know,
when we throw out the word durability sometimes and I
think we give some guys benefit of doubt. I think
it's borderline impossible to be more durable than Cam Jordan
has been And you can't convince me playing in the
trenches that the amount of games that some guys that
(17:04):
maybe didn't have his toughness, didn't have his pain tolerance
would have not been able to go two games and
fifteen years to meet these type guys, you know, Kalais Campbell.
I'm not paralleling their careers. I'm just saying high character,
winning players, productive players, durable, tough players, guys that bring
(17:26):
intangible stuff. I could see a good team given this
guy a little bit of an overpay to bring him
into unit, to bring him into a defense, to kind
of uplift the group. So I think Cam Jordan's gonna
be an interesting guy and listen part of the NFL is.
I talked to Sherman about this at the Super Bowl.
It's like it's hard, man. Sometimes you gotta let go
(17:47):
of like legendary veteran players after like seven or eight years.
Who knows, the Chiefs might not re sign Travis Kelcey.
Travis Kelcey will go down as one of the greatest
players in the league history. He was Mahomes right hand
guy for three Super Bowls. He will have his number retired.
He will get a statue at Arrowhead or wherever the
(18:08):
fuck they build their stadium in Kansas or Missouri or
somewhere in the vicinity of that area. And if you
told me that, like, yeah, they didn't really offer him
a contract, I'd understand. It's part of the way the
world works in the industry of football. So I don't
think it's weird at all. Now there's some rumors that
maybe the Saints could resign them. I think sometimes it's time, man,
(18:29):
It's just time to pivot and go into different direction.
You get new coaches, you get new ideas. I just
think this comes with the territory. You could argue he's
such an anomaly. How many guys in the Internet era
have played for a team for fifteen years, non quarterback,
non like Eli, Brady, Rogers, Big Ben. I'm talking position players.
(18:56):
It doesn't happen. It just doesn't happen. So to me,
Cam Jordan had tipped to you two games and fifteen years,
what a badass. As we go into free agency, which
is gonna kick off here in a couple of days,
you do have to be comfortable. You're getting taxed, you're
(19:16):
paying a premium to buy a guy, and all these
free agents you know Alt Pierce excellent season last year,
looks like a very talented player who's trending. You're not
buying Jerry Rice or Randy Moss in his prime. But
you're gonna pay a guy a ton of guaranteed money.
You know you're gonna overpay, but that is more money
(19:39):
than their current team was willing to pay him. Think
about that, the team that drafted them. And more than
likely a lot of these guys were like Lenderbaum and
a Van Pierce were highly valued by Eric to Costain,
Chris Vallard. They like those players, but it's a business.
They had a number, they weren't They didn't think it
was worth it. Now could they be wrong. Time will tell,
(20:01):
But we saw last year and sometimes you can't afford
to keep guys like Milton Williams. The Eagles couldn't keep
him on the team, but the Patriots gave him like
twenty six million dollars a year, and people thought at
the time, like, holy moully, that's a lot of money
for a guy that's never had fifty percent of the
snap counts for his own, you know, during the course
of his NFL career. But the reality is, even if
(20:25):
you overpay a guy and he's not gonna be a
Pro Bowl level player. If he's a really good player
and a productive player for you, you're gonna feel good
about it because you don't have to get a pick
for it. You just acquire the player for money. So
I think the key with free agency and the good
teams do this. And we talked to Schneider and Howie
about this is you locate one, two or three guys.
(20:48):
You're not throwing a wide net. Now. Your personnel department
has watched every guy. I love when I see a
report of so and so. Team is monitoring the Tyler
Lindenbaum situation. We are monitoring the Khalil Mack situation. You
(21:11):
guys realize all thirty two teams jobs are to monitor
all these situations. It'd be like if someone was covering
me like an NFL team. It's like Middelkoff is monitoring
every story right now that is out there in the
National Football League and trying to figure out what he's
going to talk about on today's podcast. Like, no shit,
(21:33):
that's what we do. Part of your job as a
GM is to literally monitor every player that's in the league,
current player on each individual roster. You have everyone graded,
all the free agents, all the guys that might get cut,
all the draft picks. It's like when someone asked me, like,
do you have to evaluate all the draft picks. Yeah,
(21:54):
that's part of the deal. You need draft grades and
work done on all the players in the draft. Obviously,
if you have seven or eight picks, you're not gonna
get all the guys. But what happens in a couple
of years you might trade for one of those players.
Those guys become free agents, those guys get cut, they
become available, so you have to have work done on them.
(22:17):
It always cracks me up, like so and so team
is monitoring the situation on Jalen Phillips. I would hope
that every GM in the league monitoring the situation, even
the ones without the cap space, because you'd never freaking know.
(22:40):
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New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. Before we get into the mailbag,
(24:30):
Fugazi Friday. I truly believe this is one of the
greatest clips I've ever seen on the Internet, and it
was the McDonald's CEO. His name is Chris's long last name,
very difficult to say. He looks like a guy that
takes health very seriously. Jawline skinny, looks like he runs
(24:50):
or pelotons. Probably a couple smoothies during the day, intermediate
intermediate fasting, a lot of greens, protein heavy, not many
carbs like you can just view some individuals, especially as
they get older and go that guy takes hell seriously. Well,
he's the CEO of McDonald's, which obviously is the largest
(25:13):
chain restaurant I think in the history of the world
and currently the biggest in the world. Right, They do
a lot of money worth of business. I think billions
upon billions of dollars of revenue. And i'd be lying.
I mean, I got about for McDonald's coffee is a
little weak, though it tastes pretty good. Definitely don't hate
(25:34):
a good mcflurry or two, and every once in a
while you're starving cheeseburger and bad. He did a video
of like I think it's called the Arch. I've never
had it, but it's probably somewhat in the uh in
the big Mac kind of world, I would guess, And
(25:55):
he was doing like a taste test slash to promote it,
and he he put it to his mouth. He could
barely bite the burger, and I was just thinking, like
I googled it today. On average the last couple of years,
he's made like eighteen nineteen million dollars. So this is
a very lucrative position being the CEO of McDonald's. And
(26:16):
there are a lot of people all over the world
that are in positions at a job at a company
that don't believe in the company, that don't associate with
the company outside of work. If I've known people in
the beer industry that don't drink, so this is not
like something that doesn't happen. But if you're gonna put
(26:40):
a guy on camera to eat a cheeseburger from McDonald's
and make it look like the burger has the plague
in it, and he could barely touch it because he
knows there's a lot of stuff in that burger that
are bad for his body. Someone probably should have thought,
let's get a chevier guy that is just gonna slam
this burger, hammer some fries and wash it down with
(27:02):
a coke, And that was not what they did. And
then a burger King, Wendy's, all these other companies came
out with their CEOs doing it and making fun of it,
attacking burgers. But I just think sometimes I could imagine
he was excited, he wanted to do it, and then
when the light went on and rubber was meeting the road,
(27:23):
he looked at that burger and thought to himself, I
haven't eat McDonald's in years, potentially decades, maybe ever. I
just work here. I make a lot of money and
we're very profitable. But it was fucking hilarious. So if
you haven't seen it, just type in CEO McDonald's East,
the Big Arch and you know it right away when
(27:44):
you see a guy. Because if you see a guy
and he's super skinny, unless he's like Chad Johnson, you're like,
you don't eat McDonald's bro and this guy definitely doesn't
and he was caught red handed. Okay, let's go mailbag
at John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff is the Instagram, Fire
into those dms and get your questions answered here on
(28:04):
the podcast. This is a Bears question. Can you explain
the dj more trade from the Bear's perspective? If tied
to Cross be okay, But otherwise why would you give
up a top wide receiver? He said, a number one
wide receiver that made some of the biggest catches in
recent Bears history. When Rome and Burden aren't close to
(28:24):
being number ones yet keep up the good work part
of the business. And we touch on this a little bit.
Is projecting right? Is projecting guys? Rolls? Guys step up?
I do think they're pretty equipped with two tight ends
to be take a little bit no pun intended of
the Burden off Luther Burden and even Rome that I
(28:48):
think at a perfect world levelin have like ninety catches.
I think Comet in this offense could have like fifty,
So you could have one hundred and thirty hundred and
forty hundred and fifty catches between your two tight ends.
And if both the wide receivers can just I don't
want to say be complimentary players, but give you one
(29:08):
hundred and fifty catches between the two of them. So
maybe Rome gives you eighty the other guy gives you sixty.
I guess that math would be a little off and
be more like eighty five sixty five something like that.
You'd be in pretty good shape. But that's part of drafting,
like it puts pressure on the guy, but you better
be right. And I think Ben Johnson's really high on
luther In Lovelin, and clearly for them to okay this trade,
(29:32):
they feel pretty good about Rome, and I think there's
a ton of pressure on Rome to become You don't
need Randy Moss or Jerry Rice. You could win a
Super Bowl with two number twos, Like can they both
just become like really good players? Like at the end
of the day, the Bears did not were not a
(29:53):
super Bowl team this year. And I mean they got
farther than they probably should have with that bat of
a defense. It wasn't I mean, the offense had weird spurts,
but their defense was atrocious, which ironic because their defense
actually played pretty good what was it against the Rams?
But Yeah, I just think that part of the business.
(30:18):
You got to make financial decisions. DJ makes a decent
amount of money. The bills guaranteed more money that the
Bears weren't going to do that. It probably factors in
financially as much as it does the projection of the
other wide receivers, which they're clearly doing. And that's also
when you have a good coach. Do you know what
(30:40):
the ultimate kind of theme is in the building. He'll
figure it out. That's part of having Andy Reid, Kyle Shanahan,
Sean McVeigh, Ben Johnson. He'll figure it out. He'll get
it done, He'll make something happen. He'll find someone if
those guys can't. That's how you have to think, what
(31:05):
up man? This is from Gilly. I want to know
why the media is so obsessed with trying to push
Max out of Vegas. Max and the Raiders have said
multiple times it's not what they want, but every other
day someone is starting a new rumor. It feels somewhat orchestrated.
At this point. One of the best known pass to
(31:26):
success in the NFL is getting a young quarterback and
surrounding him with high end talent. Apparently except when it
comes to the Raiders. The Patriots, Bears, and Commanders wouldn't
have had the same success they did the last couple
of years if they dumped veterans around their young quarterbacks.
So why are the Raiders any different. In addition, the
(31:49):
media says a trade him to a contender, Well, they'll
get a pick in the high twenties, and then in
the next segment they'll say they're only fifteen first round
talents in this upcoming draft. I think it's bullshit. The
media has taken it upon themselves to try and force this.
They've tried their hardest to get them to trade the
first pick as well. So what's the deal here? Sorry
(32:11):
for the long question. As a Raider fan, it's frustrating
seeing the NFL will try and constantly screw the Raiders.
Is now Davis. I can give several examples, including the
Gruden firing. Uh, the trading. The Raiders are not trading
Fernando Mendoza to the Jets for fucking seven first round picks.
They're not trading for Nando Mendos. They're gonna draft for
(32:32):
Nanda Mendos. Slow time, not much going on, you know,
It's like, uh, the Thunder and the Spurs can't carry segments,
so you got Steven A. Collin Zion fat. You know,
there's only so much going on, so you gotta manipulate stories.
You gotta create angles, which is the business they're in.
(32:52):
The Max thing, though, started with Jay Glazier at the
late December, which the Raiders did the right thing. You're
sitting down swing at the number one pick and you
need knee surgery and it worked, and listen, it pissed
Max off, which wouldn't you want him to be pissed?
Wouldn't you want him to be mad? Right? So I
(33:18):
I think they understand it. I think it's pretty clear
that Max and Spytech have a good relationship. But I
also think that the Raiders know in their division that
they're not close to winning next year, that they are
still a couple of years away, And what if in
three years Max is not the same player. So if
you can get two first round picks for him right now,
(33:40):
when you're probably gonna win five or six games next year.
Derek Carr came on the show and they made the playoffs.
His third year with the Raiders. First year I was there,
they started zero to ten and finished three and thirteen.
It's not going to be great next year. And even
if Max is there, like I saw Miles Garrett on
the Browns, he's a better player at Max crowd, it
(34:03):
doesn't matter, and their defense is pretty good. So I
don't think I know you Raider fans get so offended
by the media, and in fairness, they've been talking about
you for a long time. Some of it most of
it probably self inflicted, but that's neither here nor there.
I do think there's validity to this one, and it
(34:25):
started with Max, and I think some of these stories
have come out, like you know, Max's Max areted looking around,
he realized there might be greener pastures. I think he
started changing his mindset because he's had time over the
last couple of months to say, I do not want
to be traded. I want to stay here. And I
don't blame him, he just kind of I think he's
(34:46):
letting it play out. And my guess is he's traded
in the next three or four days, and I don't
think that's a bad thing. I do think that's the
right move for the Raiders, for the bag. So a
bit tongue in cheek, but then a bit not as
an international NFL and forty nine are fanatic who traveled
from Australia to our last two forty nine or Super
(35:07):
bowls Miami in Vegas. I was at them both too,
not the games, but that week they were awesome, too great.
I mean, I don't think anyone would complain if you
put the Super Bowl in Vegas or Miami every single year.
I support the league expanding abroad and can't wait for
the Niners the Rams matchup down here. So here's the
(35:27):
rant to anyone from the NFL who ever mentioned the
term world champions about a Super Bowl win but now
wines about flying around the world, they can shut the
bleep up. I agree. I've always hated World champions, but
now it might have a little more substance and validity
(35:49):
behind it, Right, if you're truly gonna play all over
the world, yeah, maybe our World champs. And I totally
get it. For those of you that live internationally, if
you live in some of these places in Europe, if
you live in Mexico City, if you live in Australia,
it's pretty cool. And if you're a Niner fan, they're
coming to Australia. I bet that game rocks mailbag moving
(36:13):
to Pacifica or Half Moon Bay from Tampa Bay. Those
are two coastal areas in the Bay area. Because my
fiance got a promotion with her company based out of
Palo Alto. I'm only going to be there for one
and a half two years quote hopefully, and I'm still
owning my home in Florida. I'm a Florida guy at heart,
(36:34):
so I love surfing, duck hunting, spearfishing. Based off my
knowledge of San fran area, I might hate it. I
wanted to see what do you think I should do
to make the most of my two year stint in California.
I've never been in my life, and I know it's
your home turf well, if you like to surf. Not
(36:54):
a surf guy, right. The one thing I learned at
cal Poly, which is in the middle of California, that
most of us from northern California there's a culture. Anyone
that went to school with people from the beaches in
southern California or San Diego, there's a surf culture and
they kind of fit that stereotype. Even though the surfing
up in northern California is better, we have bigger waves.
(37:18):
The problem is it's like the largest concentration I think
besides like South Africa of great white sharks in the
world and Mavericks, which is you know, can have like
fifty seventy five foot waves breaks on a reef also
as sharks everywhere. So I don't know if you're that good,
but there is really good surfing up in that area.
(37:40):
There's definitely duck hunting Inland, you know, close to where
I grew up in closer to like the Central Valley.
I don't know. I would just soak it in everyone
in life. If you get the opportunity when you're young,
should move to a place. Now it's gonna economically cost
you guys a little bit. No, she's getting to pay raise,
but she's gonna give a lot. Bat to California, somewhere
(38:02):
where you just you're not comfortable, move to a state.
I did this when I in my twenties to Philadelphia, uh,
and it helped change my life. It put me in
an uncomfortable situation because the older you get, the less
likely you are going to be with change. So when
you're young making some of these quote unquote force moves,
(38:24):
obviously it's typically connected to a job is an incredible
life experience, even if you don't think you have that
much common with the people, or you just just take
it in. I mean, if you've moved to half Moon Bay,
it's on the fucking water in the Pacific Ocean. So
now it's expensive. You know you're gonna you're gonna pay
a lot. But just find a place to rent and
(38:45):
just there's a million things to do. Uh Now, I
don't know what specifically you want to do. I would
it's not Northern California is not like Southern California or
Florida where you just go hang out at the beach.
You know, I'm born and raised probably hour fifteen minute
(39:06):
from some of the beaches like Bedega Bay. You just
Northern California is not a go to the beach and
just lay there and look at the waters. It can
be cold, it can be windy. The water is freezing cold,
but it is cool. There are a ton of good
places to eat in the city. You go to Lake Tahoe,
(39:27):
you go to Yosemite. There are a lot of places
to go. You could go down to the Pacific Highway
and go to southern California, go to San Diego, I
would definitely go to San Diego if I were you taking.
That's more like beachy town. You go to the Central Coast,
which is where I cal Pauly San Luis Obispo. But
Pismo Beach is probably three and a half hours from
(39:51):
you know, half Moon Bay. You can find enough to
enjoy yourself, for sure. The show has been great lately
with all the information from the combine. I have a
(40:14):
mailbag question. I think it was the right move for
the Colts to sign Daniel Jones to attack. He's been
the best quarterback they've had since Rivers are luck and
it seems like the coaches and players really like him. However,
a ton of people online are saying they should have
sign Kyler Murray. I don't really agree. The narrative seems
to be that Kyler is a high level quarterback, but
I can't remember that being the case. Has he ever
(40:36):
been better than Jones? Both nineteen quarterbacks? I think Jones
is the best in the class. What are your thoughts?
I was I saw Peter Schrager tell I had the
TV on, and he told McAfee that if you take
he wanted to do something for TV at ESPN where
you take five plays of Kyler Murray's career, and he
(40:57):
could make the argument like, these are some of the
best plays you'll ever see. And I remember when I
first got hired at Fresno State and Pat Hill used
to hate highlight tapes because it's like, anyone can make
a highlight tape look like a future Division I player.
Any guy in this draft could make a five play
highlight tape that's gonna get drafted in the third day,
(41:20):
that would look like a first rounder. You don't play
highlight tape. You play football. So part of Kyler Murray's problem,
no one ever disputed on an individual play basis, he
could make one of the best plays that week in
the National Football League and he's done it. But that's
not football. Football is like every single series, every single half,
(41:41):
every single week, doing it week in week out. Like
if I had to have a player, if they're both healthy,
I would rather have Daniel Jones one hundred percent. Kyler
can't see now he's injured, and I just think he's
a highlight player. The issue with Daniel Jones is he
has a torn achilles. He has a torn achilles, so
(42:05):
there's going to be pressure on the Colts next year
to try to win. It's like, is he going to
be ready for Week one? And if he is, how
good is he gonna be early in the season. I
think that's a little concerning. Now, didn't he have a
major injury? Didn't he tears ACL in New York? I
mean he's had some major injuries. Chiefs fan, how do
(42:27):
you think the Chiefs approached the running back position? I
see many having loved there at nine, but I can't
see the Chiefs waiting to hope he is there and
not instead grabbing one of those free agent backs and
then taking a d lineman at nine. Thoughts? Also, what
are your favorite areas to stay in Tahoe. We've stayed
at Edgewood and loved it, but recently we have rented
(42:47):
homes along the Rubicon Bay. We've stayed the last couple
of years in an inclined village. It's on the Nevada side,
opposite of Edgewood. Edgewood is where they play the golf
tournament with all the football players, which is beautiful as well.
I grew up staying on that side of the lake
(43:09):
where Heavenly the Ski Resort is one of my good
friends in I mean still is at my wedding. Has
his parents have had a pad back then at a
smaller lake on His dad was from South Lake Tahoe.
But my mother in law, she a couple of years
ago bought like a town home on the other side
(43:32):
of the lake, which listen Lakedaho is hard to beat.
I personally like Inclined Village a lot, but you can't
beat Edgewood. I've never stayed at Edgewood. I've been there
boozing a bunch over the course of my youth, but
I've never actually stayed there. I've definitely gambled at those casinos, though.
(43:52):
You just it's hard to be in Lake Tahoe, not
of a smile on your face and a beer in
your hand in the summer winter. You couldn't pay me
to go anymore. My winter sports and I love skiing,
probably in junior high and high school. I can't even
fathom skiing ever again. I don't even think I'll put
boots on my feet ever. Can't risk breaking a leg,
(44:13):
tearing acl ripping an achilles, no chance head injury. Those
days are done. What was your question the chiefs, Yeah,
free agency. I don't know one thing They could do
is take an impact lineman at nine. They could always
take the other Notre Dame back and pick twenty nine.
If he's on the board, he can fly, he can return,
(44:36):
he can catch price. If they did want a running back,
I definitely think that that would be an option. As
I've gotten older and moved further into hospital administration, I
focused on learning from people who clearly know their craft.
Watching you Transition on Netflix and interviews with top NFL executives,
(44:58):
it's clear you operate at high level, is my mom? No,
this is a guy named John. As your career advanced,
did you also find yourself intentionally seeking out high level mentors,
even if very informal or like when you met Coward?
Would love to know the details of the story. Yeah.
(45:20):
I think I've just been very lucky. Once I got
out of college and I went to work at Fresley
State pat Hill, I went to work for the Eagles.
It was Andy Reid and Howie Roseman, and I was around,
you know, Veach and other people in that organization when
I got into this business. Now, I've been around and
associated with Colin for a long time, so I don't
(45:41):
know if I specifically it's not like I go on
LinkedIn and go I want to connect. I'm bad at
that type stuff. I've just maybe been unintentionally intentionally seeking
these type people, and I've just ended up working for
around or with people that are much higher level than myself.
(46:02):
So some people and you sound like it are good at,
you know, seeking out mentors, seeking out people. That's not
I'm just not great at that unless I'm at the
combine i start introducing myself to everybody. But I've been
very fortunate to see firsthand what it looks like to
be really successful. And I think, you know, a lot
of these lew Holtz speeches have gone viral. I think
(46:26):
most messages from successful people tend to be pretty similar.
It's about consistency, it's about discipline, it's about treating people
the right way. It's about having a good foundation at home.
You know. I think a huge advantage in life is
having a you know, if you are married, liking and
(46:46):
having a strong partnership with that person. If you do not,
there is no point because your life will get derailed it.
It's not possible to function if your home life's in shambles.
Unless you're like Tiger Woods in two thousand and eight.
Most people can't. So I think all these clips of
Lou Holtz and some of his speeches to the team
(47:07):
and stuff, it's all tends to be in the same world.
And I think most people I've seen, you know, Pat
Hill is one of the best, you know, smaller school
head coaches in the country for a decade plus. Obviously
Andy speaks for itself in colin. They all have a
lot of similarities. One ironically they're all friends with each other.
(47:27):
But two is like work, ethic, energy, passion, Like there
are like some things that go along with these people.
And I think you see this, whether it's Warren Buffett
or Bezos or the guy crushing it that owns three
h VAC companies, you know in your town who's a
multi millionaire that no one even realizes. It's like that
(47:48):
they're all kind of grinders, and they all kind of
like the grind. And if you don't like it's just
gonna be hard to do. It doesn't mean you got
to every single day wake up with a smile on
your face. But I think most people are pretty passionate
about what they do and pretty fired up, you know
that don't go around life just kind of pouting and
pissed off. Doesn't mean you can't be pissed off on
certain days, but like that, you kind of gotta attack
(48:10):
the world a little bit every day, as Jim would say,
with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. Again, some of these
things people make fun of. I don't know most successful
people I've seen. All these guys are like I mean,
Andy and Coward were Who even knows how much Pat
Hill was making millions. He was the first million dollar
non power for head coach back in the early two thousands.
(48:32):
I think they all have like the same three or
four characteristics. So I think I've just been lucky to
experience it more than like seek because I if someone
just tells me something that's not Sometimes my wife, like
we were trying to install she had a Cherokee. We
got her a new, bigger car, and we sold the
(48:53):
car to the dealership. As we're leaving with the other car,
we're trying to install the car seat, and she brought
the directions and I'm like, I don't learn that way,
so you can. She's like read the directions like I
can't read that, Like I won't, I'll get frustrated. So
I let me go to YouTube and let me try
it out. That's how I'll figure it out. And we
(49:15):
all kind of learn different ways. So it's like I
could sit with get advice from certain people. That's not really.
If I had a phone call tomorrow with Warren Buffett
not saying I wouldn't take things away, I'd be better
off having warned, like, hey, give me a couple of
things and let me just try them over the course
of the next year and let me get back to you.
(49:35):
Like our motto at cal Poly was learned by doing,
and that's truly, Like I sounds corny or whatever, that's
how I learned. I can't learn. I realized why I
never learned in school, because you just sit there and
they go over powerpoints like I'm fucking I'm not paying attention.
But if you told me to go do something with
what you're trying to teach me, I'm probably more likely
to learn. We finally got the car seat in, but
(49:58):
the lady that sold me the car was what are
you doing? Are elite edge rushers now overrated and overpaid. Garrett,
Watt Crosby all have been on irrelevant teams for years.
Garrett has a record year, and the Browns did nothing
similar to how they lay how they say how hard
it is for a team to win a Super Bowl
after paying the quarterback? Would it makes sense to trade
(50:21):
a high priced edge for multiple mid level starters and
spread the cap. I do think it's hard. With the
Garrett thing, the Browns are a joke, Like if you
put Miles Garrett on the Bills, like he could win
a Super Bowl. If you put Miles Garrett on the
Rams as a defensive end, unless you're like Lawrence Taylor
(50:42):
is in twenty twenty six, you're gonna need a good offense.
You know TJ. Watt by the end of the year.
Look at the Steelers, right, Crosby played for the Raiders.
I mean Gino Smith's trying to pick every game. Some
of these articles coming out of Chip Kelly. He would
even come to the lot at halftime. He let his
assistants talk to the team. I mean, you talk about
(51:04):
an all time mail it in for six million dollars
a year, I mean talk about an all ski mask team.
Guy would be the head coach. So I think you're
using these three examples, like now, I don't know how
good TJ still is as he lost a step. But
these guys, when they're playing well, if you put him
on a team with a good offense, they're gonna make
a big impact. The Steelers haven't had a quarterback for
(51:28):
like eight years, back when Ben was good. I mean
this year, Rogers tried, but he's forty one. The offense
kind of sucked. He got injured in Crosby's I can't
blame Max Crosby. So I think I have a hard
time having an issue with having one of those guys
on my team. What peptides do you take? I'm just
we're four days in. I think it's BPC and CJC.
(51:52):
The are the two I'm slamming five days a week.
Haven't quite noticed a difference yet. Lady said that it
might take a little while. I'm a big believer. I
remember in high school, what was the stuff? What was
the stuff that McGuire was taking andro I remember some
of the guys in the football team started taking it.
I was like, give me some, So I bought some,
(52:13):
but I didn't. I lift way more in my thirties
and forties than I ever did in high school when
I was a football team, and I would just take it,
thinking I would get big. Nothing happened probably wasn't great
for my body. It's like McGuire looks like that, shit,
what am I gonna look like? I'm a little be sweet.
I know we are a good football content part of
(52:35):
the year, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on
the Angels owner already moreno saying the Angels fans don't
care about winning and that it's not even a top
five priority. This feels like a giant slap in the face.
As a lifelong Angels fan, My family has given this
scumbag too much of our money and I'm no longer
(52:56):
spending money on this lifeless franchise. Last year, at a game,
Angels fans showed up in all white Angel costumes with
Halo's and it got a lot of media attention, and
then you heard sell the team chance over the TV.
It almost feels like this was a retaliation for that.
Does it make sense for the Major League Baseball to
(53:18):
step in and force a sale of a team since
he obviously doesn't care to be competitive. MLBPA can't be
happy with him openly admitting the price of winning is
too high. If I was going to defend him a
little bit. He's made some insane signings over the years. Right,
he gave Albert Pooles like ten years, three hundred million
(53:40):
dollars back when that was a ton of money. He
gave Rendon after the Nationals won the World Series, a
ton of money as rendon't even played. I mean, that's
an all time ski mask contract. I mean they've given
Trout like three billion dollars. He plays like seven games
a year. He has paid a lot of money to
(54:01):
individual players. None of it's worked out. I mean, shit,
he signed Otani out of Japan and the guy left
to the Dodgers. I'd say the highlight, Well, when I
was in high school, you guys beat the Giants for
the World Series. That sucked. Russell Ortz, Dusty Baker, that
still stinks. But what's his name? Who's your closer? Bonds?
(54:22):
Hit Bonds hit a ball? And what was your third base?
In his name? Not? You guys had a pretty sweet team.
They panned to him in the dugout and he's like,
that's the longest ball I've ever seen hit. Problem is,
the Giants were down two runs. It was a solo
home run the ninth, But you guys said, listen, you
want a World Series. That was pretty cool, but that
(54:42):
was a long time ago now, and two not to
date myself. That's I was. I would have been probably
eighteen when that happened. Now it's twenty twenty six, So
I feel your pain. I don't know, man, Baseball was
a weird business. It really is. You have the Roger
are spending all this money. You have the Phillies and
the Mets and the Blue Jays and the Yankees, and
(55:04):
then you have teams that don't spend any money. Then
you have these weird teams like the Angels, who are
periodically pay for a big time guy, but then their
team just sucks. I don't really have an answer. I
don't Baseball is just a bizarre ecosystem of owners of teams,
of finances. I've never followed it less to have like
(55:28):
a concrete answer, And specifically, I don't really know anything
about the Angels. You could argue, don't give them your
money anymore. And what's even more valuable than money is
your time. So it's like you're giving your money and
then you're going to a gate for three hours. I
would stop that. I know you've talked a lot about
Jalen hurts and how he doesn't fit in with the
(55:50):
Eagles back in Oklahoma when he was there for a year,
a lot of them, a lot of the same stuff
was going on, even at parties. He just seemed above
it all. Reminds me of Russell Wilson. Let me defend
Jalen here. All of our personalities are different. Philip Rivers
is different than Dak Prescott is different than Mahomes, is
(56:11):
different than Lamar Jackson, is different than Jameis Winston. So
every quarterback's personality is not going to be the same.
Jalen is a different cat. I don't think he's exactly
holding parties at his house for all the team to
come over. The key to be in the quarterback though,
whether you're Jalen or Russell Wilson or whether you're Patrick Mahomes,
(56:33):
does every guy in that huddle want to go to
war with you? Because if they do, you can't really
ask much more. And that's you know. No one's ever
questioned Jalen's work, ethic, his focus, how how hardy tries
up until this year when he stopped running. But listen,
(56:54):
I knew people at Oklahoma when he played there. It
was just it was a big, a lot different experience
in Baker Mayfield in the locker room, right, But you know,
not everyone has to be the same. I think the
bigger issue is does he do everything that's needed from
his star quarterback to ingratiate himself with his teammates still
(57:15):
at this famous level in which he's at with the money,
Because everything I've heard, that's what Lamar does, That's what
Josh Allen does, That's what Patrick Mahomes does. That's what
Dak Prescott does. That's what Peyton Manning and Tom Brady
and Philip Rivers and all those guys did. That's the
price of being the quarterback. Sometimes, on like a Thursday night,
(57:38):
you got to take the guys out for some beers,
even if you don't want to go for beers, even
if you don't want to go to the pizza joint,
even if you just want to go home and hang
out with your wife and watch a movie and go
to bed. Like it's sometimes you got it in certain
roles in life, especially ones that pay premiums. Stuff that's
(58:01):
not part of your contract is required. And that's where
I think there's gonna be a lot of pressure this
offseason on Jalen to like, you really need to be
all in on your group. And you know, obviously, if
you're playing well, no one criticized you. But when you
start playing kind of hit or miss, people start nippicking you.
And I think he's just he's always been a polarizing player.
(58:23):
I mean, he's a second round pick for a reason.
He got benched at Alabama. He went from playing well
in the Super Bowl to this year led the league
in three and outs. So I don't have a great
answer there, but it doesn't bother me, like I ideally
I want Tom Brady, right, Brett Farr, Troygman, the guy
that every teammate loves. Doesn't mean you got to be
(58:47):
best friends with everybody, but you need that guy to
respect you. And for whatever reason, Russell Wilson could never
get the respect out of guy's in Seattle. I don't
know if there was resentment what was going on there.
That's not how it started with Jalen with the Eagles,
but it does feel like it's kind of got to
that point where and this is probably why AJ's gonna
(59:08):
get traded, because they kind of need to reset in
that locker room. But it's gonna be incumbent on Hurts.
It's like, Bro, we need you to kind of rally
the troops. Like Jason Kelsy's not here anymore, buttcher Cox
is not here anymore. Brandon Graham's probably not gonna unretire again.
So I'm fascinated to watch the way this all shapes
out and keep firing those dms at John Middlecoff, at
(59:30):
John Middlecoff's the Instagram. Appreciate all you guys, and see
you next week. The volume
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The Girlfriends: Trust Me Babe
When a group of women from all over the country realise they all dated the same prolific romance scammer they vow to bring him to justice. In this brand new season of global number 1 hit podcast, The Girlfriends, Anna Sinfield meets a group of funny, feisty, determined women who all had the misfortune of dating a mysterious man named Derek Alldred. Trust Me Babe is a story about the protective forces of gossip, gut instinct, and trusting your besties and the group of women who took matters into their own hands to take down a fraudster when no one else would listen. If you’re affected by any of the themes in this show, our charity partners NO MORE have available resources at https://www.nomore.org. To learn more about romance scams, and to access specialised support, visit https://fightcybercrime.org/ The Girlfriends: Trust Me Babe is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts. For more from Novel, visit https://novel.audio/. You can listen to new episodes of The Girlfriends: Trust Me Babe completely ad-free and 1 week early with an iHeart True Crime+ subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “iHeart True Crime+, and subscribe today!