3&Out - Sauce Gardner gets PAID, Terry McLauren is NOT happy, Shemar Stewart may RETURN to Texas A&M

John opens the podcast discussing reports about the NFL having a collusion issue which John thinks is a ridiculous argument. Next, John dives into the Jets continuing to pay their guys, this time they took care of Sauce Gardner and why paying him is risky, but the right decision. Later, John dives into Trey Smith signing a $94 million contract extension with Chiefs making him the highest paid O-Lineman in NFL history. John then dives into Terry McLaurin talking to the local DC media voicing his frustration with the Commanders organization.

Finally, John answers your questions in this episode's mailbag segment.

4:35 - NFL has a Collusion issue

9:18 - Sauce Gardner gets paid

14:55 -  Trey Smith makes history

19:44 - Terry McLaurin is not happy

23:27 - Shemar Stewart may return to Texas A&M

31:04 - Mailbag

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on everybody? How are we doing?
Hopefully everyone is having a great day, a beautiful week,

(00:23):
staying cool, keeping that AC pumping. I know, I just
paid my AC bill. Thing is not low, but you
don't have a choice when it's one hundred and forty
to five degrees outside. Luckily, we're here to talk some
football and the NFL business is a booming, So we
had some guys get paid today, Sas Gardner, the Jets
go back to back, the new administration pay their highly

(00:46):
drafted corner, former All Pro. The Camsey Chiefs pay their
Pro Bowl guard Tray Smith. So we got money flowing.
But there is a guy named Terry McLaurin, scary Terry,
and who was not happy with his current situation. And
I think after we've seen some money get given out
at that position's scary Terry wants a lot of money.

(01:09):
So we'll discuss some of that. And a funny story
that I saw in regards to the Bengals. But a
lot of football stuff going on right now. I cannot complain.
We were getting some breaking news, some stories coming down
the pike in the middle of July, before even most
rookies have reported a training camp. I am happy. So

(01:31):
we will discuss this coming up. But before we do,
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time apt today, last minute takets, lots prices guaranteed. Before

(02:36):
we dive into Sauce Gardner and Trey Smith and Terry McLaurin,
I do just want to take an overall view. There
was a story that broke a cup within the last
couple of weeks by the Big Jays, Pablo Tory, Mike Florio,
and they were riding for it hard. This collude, the
NFL is colluding against its players, and it had no traction.

(03:02):
No one cared. And the two guys they talked about,
I mean the one leading guy was Kyler Murray. And
I look today that Kyler Murray at the end of
this season will have made one hundred and seventy million
dollars playing in the NFL. Justin Herbert was another guy
that was used in this story, colluded keeping his wages down.

(03:23):
He's twenty seven years old. At the end of the
season he will have made one hundred and fifty five
million dollars. I bet when it's all said and done,
both guys will combine for way more than five hundred
million dollars playing in the NFL. There has never been
a better time to be involved in the business of football.
Hell where I am sitting right now. I worked in
the NFL for three years and have parlayed a career

(03:46):
talking about the sport that has put me in a
position that I couldn't have dreamed of in basically any
other industry. I think about it a lot. With the media.
I mean think about one of the biggest media stars
right now, Pat McAfee was a punter signs for hundreds
of millions of dollars over the last four or five
years with multiple companies. The New Heights podcast with Travis

(04:08):
Kelcey and Jason Kelcey just sign a contract for one
hundred million dollars. It's a podcast they do once a week.
Pardon might take the biggest sports podcast. Let's Be Real
started out and is still mainly a football show. The
guy I work for, Colin Coward, who's arguably the biggest
guy in the business. What is he really known for

(04:29):
talking about football? Obviously, if you're involved as an owner,
as a player, as a coach as a GM. Do
you know I've known multiple gms who bought second properties
as in like lake houses or property in Florida that
would been reserved ten twenty thirty years ago for stuff

(04:51):
the owners would have done, maybe maybe the superstar coach
in two thousand and five or two thousand, because they
were the guys only making big time money. Now everyone
is cashing in. We see guards in the NFL now
signing for more guaranteed money than some wide receivers. Trey

(05:11):
Smith a year after Brandon a you got seventy five
million dollars essentially got the same thing. He plays guard.
So it is crazy, And I've said this forever. Football
is not going to stay on top forever. That's not
the way the world works. I don't care what industry
you're in. I don't care how good the times are.

(05:32):
It does not last forever. Now, that could be a
fifty year run, one hundred year run, a twenty five
year run, I don't know, but right now it's it
doesn't get any better. The game has never been more popular.
We have never had more people watching college football now
with this playoffs. I mean the ratings on the college

(05:52):
football games of the regular season last year hit like
historic eyes so the minor leagues, which is what that
sport is. For the NFL, obviously, the draft has never
been more consumed. There's never been a better time to
be interested in this sport, to be involved in this sport. Obviously,
if you're talented enough to play in the sport. Economically,

(06:16):
it's not even close. And I feel very fortunate that
as a kid I fell in love with football, and
as a guy who was terrible when he actually played
in high school, I loved it and I loved everything
about it, And for the last twenty years, once my
high school career ended, I have thought about it basically

(06:38):
every day of my life and been lucky enough to
be involved with it, and even as I left it,
to stay involved with it. And it is insane how
far it's come and where it's going like at this rate,
I don't even know. So I'm not surprised when those
guys tried to break this story about collusion. Everyone with

(06:59):
a brain basically just said, isn't that kind of business?
And I don't really see anyone getting screwed here? And
the business is absolutely booming. So listen, guys like Sacegardner
and Tray Smith. I would imagine they got big smiles
on their faces today. So let's talk about sace Gardner,
who had a rough year last year, and I've talked

(07:22):
about it that as I was told by a guy
who's pretty close to the situation that just said listen,
and Jets fans know this. They started officiating him a
little bit differently and it did not go his way.
And let's be real about him as a player, his
skill set, like Derek Stingley, who got more guaranteed money
than sas Gardner. Someplace Schefter originally tweeted he got sixty million,

(07:45):
then later it came out eighty five million. Regardless, he
got a lot of money, not as much as Stingley
in terms of guarantees, but he got paid a lot
for a new staff coming in off a rough season. Now,
he was drafted really high, and he's a chief in
terms of individual success a lot so far in a
short period of time. But certain players like Darrell Reeves

(08:08):
or now Stingley or Patrick Certan while prime, you know,
I wouldn't call him Richard Sherman as a tackler in
terms of playing on, playing off, he could do anything
because his athleticism was beyond delete. And typically the best
corners are the best athlete on the field in terms

(08:29):
of change of direction, in terms of speed, in terms
of stop and start, in terms of recovery speed, in
terms of explosion, because they don't know what's coming yet,
they follow the guy who's typically the best athlete on
offense everywhere, and the best ones don't allow any space
between the other guy. So that is not Sauce. He

(08:50):
is not some four to three guy. He is not
mister Dion Sanders in a short area changing direction and exploding.
He is a guy who who is going to be
His success is gonna be predicated on being physical, right,
That is gonna be his thing. That was Richard Sherman's thing.
But the thing Richard has is Richard tackled like he

(09:12):
was a middle linebacker. He's one of the greatest tackling
big corners you'll ever see. Jalen Ramsey was kind of
unique because, like Richard, especially early on in his career,
he would hit, but he was also a great athlete.
So in terms of change of direction and just explosion,
he was pretty special. Sauce is gonna get in you

(09:34):
and attack you at the line of scrimmage, and to me,
depending on how they're officiating, that can be kind of
risky to invest in a player like this. But the
one reason I'm okay with buying into this because I
thought pretty bold move. It's one thing to invest in
Garrett Wilson. He's proven he can produce with anyone at quarterback,
any idiot call in the plays, and he's just a
special talent. Sauce to me is like pretty scheme dependent. Well,

(09:57):
their head coach, former corner former dB coach, former defensive coordinator,
so that is his area of expertise. And if he
believes in them, because Sauce has been opened this offseason,
like they've been hard on me, they've been in me.
They think there's more there now. Part of investing in Sauce,
even as Aaron Glenn, who's a dB guy, is like,

(10:18):
are you comfortable doing this? There are some variables, a
little bit that's out of your control, Like they want
to put that yellow flag out of their pocket and
throw it on the ground. Nothing you can do. So
I think this is there's risk involved in this. But
if you told me this was an offensive head coach
who just got this job. I don't know if I
love it. When I see Aaron Glenn, who played in

(10:39):
the NFL for a long long time, who has proven
to be in not just an excellent dB coach, but
an excellent defensive mind, totally understand it. And like a
little bit of a tip in the cap for Joe Douglas.
I mean, two guys the drafted really high. The new
administration comes in and immediately gives you know, if you
count factor in the guaranteed money, well over two hundred

(11:01):
million dollars to two players. So ultimately, that's what you
want when you draft really high, right, you want to
get a guy that you are comfortable with giving a
ton of money for a second contract. And that's what
the Jets just did, even though their head coach and
GM had nothing to do with drafting these guys. Now,
you could easily counter me and go middlecoff. It is

(11:24):
fucking Garrett Wilson. Your mom could have drafted him. It
was Sauce Gardner, who was widely considered a top five
lock in most drafts. Yeah, I hear you, but still
we see a lot of high draft picks. New coaches,
new gms go yeah, just I want to invest in
my own guy, and that wasn't the case. And I
always give coaches that come into a situation that's been

(11:46):
pretty ugly, and I know these guys have had individual success,
but from a team standpoint, it wasn't pretty with the Jets,
and believe in the player, because I think it's easy
to come in and paint most guys with a negative
this isn't my guy, this isn't my guy. Can we
trade this guy and get a lot back? And they
didn't do that. You know, they did that with the Rogers,

(12:08):
but in terms of their young assets. Listen, if you
would have told me they traded Sas Gardner this offseason
for you know, a first round pick and two two's
or something. I've been listen the NFL new administration, new ideas.
Maybe not an ideal scheme fit. Maybe they think they
can do more with other positions. I would understood it,
but that is not the tactic that Glenn and his

(12:30):
GM took. So if you're a Jets fan and you
bought those jerseys a couple of years ago, because listen,
I've seen it before. I've seen Khalil Mack. I've seen
Khalil Mack. Me Defensive Player of the Year John Gruden,
get there and trade him before training camp. A lot
of Khalil Mack jerseys were sold in it with Oakland
Raider fans hell just around the NFL, and then boom,
He's on the Bears. So you can never say never.

(12:52):
The other guy is Tray Smith. And I think one
dramatic shift that I've seen in the NFL since I
got out of it and have been looking at it
from this view is the importance of guards. I would say,
you know, center, because of the communication, because of their
ties with the quarterback, I would say has always been

(13:14):
viewed as a very important position outside your tackles. Most
obviously offensive line coaches value all five positions, but I'm
saying most head coaches, from a big picture of you
value their center a lot. I think guards, depending on
the coach, depending on the quarterback, have always been viewed very,
very differently. You know, if you remember Sean Payton and

(13:37):
the Saints and their heyday, really valued that position because
Drew Brees was smaller, and they wanted to protect the
inside because that's how he stepped, stepped into the throat
to pass. You know, I've seen Tom Brady and Peyton
Manning make Super Bowl runs with random undrafted free agents
playing that position. When I first got in the NFL

(13:57):
in twenty ten, I mean that's we're talking by this fall,
that'd be fifteen years ago. There was a small handful
of guys that you went, that guy's a really good
pass rusher inside the garden center, so either playing defensive tackle,
nose tackle, lining up somewhere that wasn't considered an outside rusher.
They didn't really exist. I would say over the last

(14:19):
decade they are everywhere. There used to be the occasional
like JJ Watt, a guy that could line up multiple positions,
but just a true I'm Aaron Donald, I'm Jalen Carter,
I'm Chris Jones, I'm Buckner. I'm just one of these
guys who's gonna line up over the guard's face, over
the shade of the center. And I'm fucking comming at

(14:39):
that ass that they are everywhere now so the power
of a guard. You have seen their money fly. I mean,
the amount of guards right now making fifteen plus million
dollars is pretty nuts. If I would have told some
guys twenty thirty years ago that guard was gonna be treated,

(15:00):
I would say as good of, if not better than
like linebackers and safeties. People would have been like your nuts.
But that is simply the case. Now. When you have
a great guard, it's no different than having a great
any position. You want to keep the player, and that
is Tray Smith. But he just got seventy million dollars
guaranteed and more than likely if he's healthy and you

(15:22):
know he doesn't have a major injury, his play is
not going to drop off and he is going to
play for a while. And let's face it, one thing
with the Chiefs right now is their tackle position. Last
year was a question mark, and really it has been
since they had the Mitchell Schwartz Eric Fisher almost a
Jake Fisher Eric Fisher combination. They've been trying to figure

(15:43):
out how to fill the left tackle and right tackle positions.
Right last year or a couple of years ago, they
went after Trent Williams as a free agent. They thought
they had him and last minute the Niners came in.
I mean they have tried, and this year they drafted
the Ohio State tackle who I was actually wi when
I was watching the Kelsey podcast with Matt Maggie That's

(16:04):
where Jason Kelsey mentioned, who clearly watches the offensive lineman
for Howie every year, said, I think this guy's a
freak show like he is the closest thing I've seen
in the last couple of years in terms of movement
wise to Jason Peters and Trent Williams now injury wise.
Want to see how he responds. But if he is
a healthy, guy like that has a chance to really

(16:27):
fulfill that offensive line. So we know they have an
excellent guard. We know they have an excellent center. I
think the Byu guy they drafted last year that they
put out at tackle, I think ideally they might bump
him into guard And it wouldn't shock me at all
if the Chiefs offensive line, Now this is not a
new player for them, but I would imagine they're going

(16:48):
to be better this year. And I think he's showing
you their investment in the guards in the center position
shows you how important it is to shore up the
middle of the field. Because the are a great example.
They get so much credit for investing in their offensive line.
Offensive line offensive line will think who they're paying right,
obviously the two tackles, but they've invested heavily in the

(17:10):
center in the guard position, and they went from having
Jason Kelce for a long period of time to what
they have now. So I think it shows you that
being comfortable with your guard and your center, your two
guards in your center. But like you can't hesitate because
before I was like, oh, we'll let this guy's gonna
get overpaid and we'll let him walk. Well, if he's
a Pro Bowl level guy and you have a high

(17:32):
priced quarterback, I would keep him around. So the money
that's getting doled out right now is pretty crazy, and
that is why Scary Terry is going on local radio
is making comments. He's not happy because he's seeing the
money get thrown around, and he's going, I've been on
this team for a long time now. I have not
missed a game in almost five years. So not only

(17:57):
am I a good player, high character guy. I proved
last year that the number one asset in this franchise
the quarterback. We mesh because last year Scary Terry had
thirteen touchdowns. So it's like, if I'm gonna give you
for the foreseeable future eighty plus catches, and we know
I'm gonna be good for with this guy, potentially ten

(18:19):
plus touchdowns every year, Like we just saw what Garrett
Wilson got. Now I understand I'm a little bit older,
but this is a position where I can easily thrive
into my early thirties. And I'm twenty nine years old.
And this is where I always understand. These third contracts
with like Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson, we could argue
like is this a good deal? Is a smart deal?
With players like that Derek Stingley, any young player that

(18:42):
is their second contract. That is the easiest contract to give.
When you have a Tray Smith, when you have a
Pro Bowl level guy, when you have a guy who's
been an All Pro, it's like this. The third one
is where you just you ask yourself is this worth it?
You know, especially at these premium positions. And that's what
wide receiver is. It's not like Terry McLaren just wants,

(19:05):
you know, a raise of one year, Like he's going,
see what Garrett Wilson got, copy paste that and send
him my way and I'll sign it and I'll see.
I don't know where their training camp is land Over.
I don't have a great feel for that area, but
wherever they practice. I'll see you there. They won whatever
the Vets report, but make sure you send me that
contract first, Like you're just gonna give me, like, oh,

(19:27):
we'll give you a thirty million dollars more and guaranteed. No, no, no, no,
I want that contract. That's what I'm worth. You see
that thirteen touchdowns last year on a team that went
to the NFC Championship game. The heartbeat of this team.
And that's what Terry and TJ. While it's complicated for
their organization, what you measure in terms of their intangibles is,

(19:49):
you know, a huge factor. And I think these teams,
like these players and agents. I talked about this with Colin.
It's the NFL is not the NBA. But players have
never had more juice because they go, I see how
much money's out there, and it's one thing. It's like, hey,
we're talking like a five million dollar difference. Once you

(20:10):
start talking fifty eighty one hundred million dollars in real money,
it's like, yeah, I'm never stepping foot on that practice field.
This is not batting practice in Scottsdale in early March.
This is football. And even in training camp where it's
this isn't the Junks Boys or Buddy Ryan versus Bill
Parcells in the eighties, it's still like things happen, people

(20:33):
get injured, people lose seasons. So I got to sign
on the bottom line, there's just too much on the line,
and I know how much these teams are generating now,
so it's really become I swear and listen. Maybe it's
just a memory loss, but throughout most of my youth
nineties two thousands, there'd be a player or two that

(20:54):
would be like, yeah, I'm not sure what a training camp.
If you told me there were ten players here for
the next week that are like, I'm not showing up.
I think that's more than believable. And not every guy
is like some first ballot Hall of Famer. So I
think this Washington situation every time that one of these
guys gets paid, even if they're different positions. If your

(21:15):
guy like Terry McLaurin, if you're a guy like TJ. Watt,
if you a guy like Trey Hendrickson, it's hard to
get in your car day one of vets show up
with you know, your pillow and your video games. I'm
here right to roll. I'm gonna end on this. This
story kind of made me laugh. I don't know who
bud Elliott is, but I like that name, Budd Elliott.
Sometimes I just I think about names that would be

(21:36):
good in movies. I was like, that'd be a good
movie name, you know, like Johnny Utah, Bud Elliott, that's
just that's just a good good name. I was thinking
about ten Cup the other day with Kostner, and his
name was Roy McAvoy. I mean, think how close that
is to Rory McElroy and Roy McAvoy. That movie was

(21:57):
made in nineteen ninety six. Sure, Rory's like thirty five
years old, so I mean he wouldn't even have been
on the radar. But Roy mckaboy, that's a great movie name.
But Bud Elliott of CBS believes that Schamar Stewart thinks
he can return to school. Shamar Stewart was the seventeenth

(22:18):
overall draft pick by the Cincinnati Bengals. Obviously, him and
the team are at odds. Right, all these second round
picks want guaranteed money. He wants a bonus structure that
previously like the way like the money set, but he
wants to be paid on certain dates. They're pushing back
and scotten pretty ugly. Like Trey Hendrick Stoner's like screw you.

(22:39):
He basically said the same thing and left. I didn't
know this until by Guy Bud Elliott said that he
has been training and working out with Texas A and
M and I don't know if he's told people around
the program, but there is buzz he thinks he can
go back. Now. Listen, I'm not a Bengal hater. I'm
not rooting for the demise of this franchise, but that

(23:00):
would be the funniest fucking thing that ever happened. I mean,
I mean, it really would. And you go, well, eligibilities
are There is nothing more irrelevant right now than the
NC Double A. Every time you look, they're losing a lawsuit.
I don't know why anyone listens to them for anything.
I'm always done to when it's like, yeah, we're suspending

(23:22):
our coach to get ahead of the potential NCUBA sanctions,
I would bend over, spread my cheeks and say kiss
my ass. So listen. Obviously, historically you can't go to
the draft and then just come back and play the season.
But in this current climate where the NC DOUBLEA is
feels like a couple months away from folding, and no

(23:45):
one needs them less than obviously college football, which is
basically their own professional entity at this point and definitely
will be in the foreseeable future. Who would actually stop
him from playing? Like, why would you care what they said? Now?
I listen, Obviously at this point you get drafted seventeenth overall,

(24:06):
you like, I'm not saying he like should do this,
but like it's clearly gotten pretty ugly and at this
point in time, Like, I don't know why they just
throw that out there, but the Bengals have had a
guy named Carson Palmer just quit on them, the Trey
Hendrickson thing, Like I understand both sides there. This one, though,
this one's got a chance to take the cake. If

(24:29):
you told me right now what am I rooting for?
I would love Like Week one, Shamar Stewart runs out
with the Aggies and his nil is whatever the equivalent
of what is his first year salary, Like, hey, he's
making like seven million dollars, like five million dollars whatever
the seventeenth pick makes. That that'd be that'd be a trip.
But yeah, man, the the dude Budd Elliott thinks that

(24:53):
Shamar Stewart has a backup plan of playing for the
Texas and Aggie's in twenty twenty five talk. I mean
the SEC. It's just it's always the SEC. Baby, God,
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Speaker 1 (27:04):
Okay, let's do a little thing. We like to call
the mailbag at John Middlecoff at John middlecoff is the
Instagram fire in those dms. First congratulations on the pregnancy.
Appreciate it, former scout. Why do you think the Patriots
were so bad at drafting wideouts over the last ten
to fifteen years from Dobson to Harry? It seemed like

(27:27):
they just couldn't hit on a drafted wide receiver for
Brady to consistently throw to. Does it have to do
with poor scouting or just unfortunate luck. I'm a firm
believer of nobody truly knows anything in the draft, meaning
a guy drafted number one overall could be a bust,
or a guy drafted in the seventh round could go
on to be a Hall of Famer. You never know

(27:48):
what could be happened. I think the Patriots have a
pretty good history at a lot of positions, right. They're
really good on defense, They've drafted a lot of good
offensive linemen. They've obviously drafted productive running backs, tight ends,
tom But I think certain coaches just don't have a
feel for certain positions. And clearly, you know, Bill was

(28:10):
a dictator, right, so his scouts would work like most
scouting departments, and they think of all the guys that
have come through there obviously Casario to Jason Light, to
Addam Peters to you know, Cassara's got a couple guys.
I mean, they got a lot of people that worked
for New England who went on to have success, and

(28:37):
he wouldn't listen to him. Yeah, there were famous stories
where he'd just kind of do his own thing and
some positions it wouldn't matter, but others, you know, specifically
wide receiver. He got on the phone with HERM Edwards
and he fell for Nikhil Harry, who I actually kind
of liked in college but clearly wasn't a very good player.
So it to me was a blind spot for Bill.

(28:58):
You know, like when you're coming behind a set am I,
and especially if you're you know, on a windy road,
you're like, I'm going to wait a second, because if
I get in their blind spot and they pull over,
I'm screwed up against the medium. And it's pretty clear
that Bill had a blind spot for wide receivers. But
Bill could really evaluate NFL players. So it's why Bill
was really good at like Wes Welker right, Randy Moss.

(29:21):
He could find guys that had already had success or
even players who were underachieving Kyle Vanoy for Detroit and
know how to use them because he can watch them
in the pros, know what they're good at, and then
place them in his thing and he can create his
own scheme. But wide receiver, unless you're drafting one overall
or Julio Jones, those types, it's a lot of projection

(29:44):
and the other thing. If I'm defending Bill a little bit.
Gronk has talked about this hard to work with Tom. Basically,
once you got to the Patriots in the peak of
their powers, it was like taking some ki from Texas
and having him go to China and no one speaks English.
It's like, good luck learning Chinese, buddy, and that they're

(30:07):
not changing for you, so you'd get there. It was
just a complex offense. Tom had insane high standards. I
remember hearing Gronk tell a story one time, like, Tom,
you got to lighten up a little bit. You gotta
be easier with these young guys. But at a certain
point in time in his career he was not going
to change. So I think it was a twofold right.

(30:29):
Bill was weak at that position, and Tom was really
really difficult on young guys. Once he hit I would
say the post you know twenty ten, Randy Moss kind
of era twenty eleven, you know Edelman was kind of
an outlier, and you know Edelman. Think think about their
best wide receiver hit of the last fifteen years was

(30:50):
a seventh round quarterback who changed positions. You know. So
I just think it's, yeah, it's it's kind of weird,
but it's not really arguable. Can you please explain this
for those who don't understand the waiver wire? What is it?
Why is it? Why is it used as an alternative

(31:11):
to trading or releasing a player? What are the implications
for a team that claims a player off waivers? What
are the implications to the team that places a player
on waivers. I've never really understood it, and really interested
to hear your perspective. I'm not as dialed in sitting
here right now as I would have been a decade

(31:33):
ago to every to some specific details. But I'll try
to give you a cliff note version. If I just
draft a guy in the sixth round, John Middlecoff. Draft
John Middlecoff out of cal Poly right guard training camp ends,
I cut John Middlecoff. He is subject to waivers, So
when he goes to the waiver wire. I have released

(31:55):
John Middlecoff. He is cut from my team because I
unless you're a vested veteran, and I'm not exactly sure
that number. I don't want to screw it up. I
think it's like six years or certain amount of accumulated seasons,
you can avoid it. It's why like this guy was
a free agent. But let's just say I cut Keenan Allen. Right,

(32:17):
if I cut Keenan Allen, or I cut George Kittle,
or they're not Trent Williams, they're not Travis Kelcey, not
subject to waivers. But if I cut my six round pick,
he's subject to waivers well at the start of for
the first four weeks of the season. And whatever that
cut date is, let's just say it's August twenty fifth.

(32:37):
It goes in the order of the draft. So who
just picked one overall? Why am I not dialed in?
Who just picked one overall? Who just went one overall?
Who was the number one overall pick? Oh? The Titans.
So the Titans, if they liked middle Coough, they could
just claim him and then they take the contract. Where

(32:58):
it gets a little more complicated is why you saw
like Justin Fields and Trey Lance and guys and Mac Jones,
those guys cut because or excuse me, traded like why
I traded for them? Because when I trade for a
player that's a former first round pick and still on

(33:18):
that contract, if he's making five million dollars and I go,
he's a two million dollar player, maybe the team will go, well,
if you pay three, we'll pay two, and you're not
on the waiver wire till the twentieth team you trade
for him. So it's why a lot of times that
Adam Schefter rap sheet reports during training camp, so and

(33:39):
so team is going to cut this player because if
you're like the Ravens or the Lions or the Eagles
or a team that likes that guy, you know that
he's never gonna make it to you on the waiver wire,
so you negotiate a trade with that guy. That that
happens a lot so the waiver wire. If you claim
a guy in the waiver wire, you take on his

(34:01):
entire contract. Typically it's you know, younger players. You know
there's not huge contracts, right, But I don't know the
exact date. Again, I'd have to kind of dive into
the rules, but it's pretty simple. When you cut a player,
if they're subject to waivers, that gives all the other
teams in the league the opportunity to claim them. And

(34:21):
it's just based on first four weeks, the previous draft
order and I think starting week five, maybe it's week
six now, based on the current you know, records in
the league. But if you cut you know, older veteran players,
a lot of times they just become immediate street free
agents and any team can sign them. The waiver wires

(34:46):
are a really big deal when you work in the league.
That thing comes out and on a daily basis, you
know whatever a couple of days in a training camp,
I mean you are basically from the start of training
camp through the season that that is a very very
serious documents and during training camp the documents a lot longer.
You know, random weeks, a lot of guys can get cut,

(35:08):
you know, especially as guys are placed on injured reserve.
You have to manipulate it a little bit. So you
put a guy on injured reserve to open up a
spot because you don't want to cut them because then
you can lose them. It's a big part of training
camp knowing if we cut this player, try to get
him a practice squad. Basically what I was taught. If
you're willing to cut the player, you have to be

(35:31):
okay with never seeing him again, because if he's subject
to waivers and he goes on the waivers, any team
in the league can claim, and if he's claimed, obviously
he's gone. A question for the pod. With the new
Chargers alternate all gold uniforms coming out, it reminded me
how much I love the Charge uniform. What are some
of your favorite team jersey color schemes. I'm pretty simple, man.

(35:57):
It's why I'm a big fan of like some of
the old school college uniforms. Like USC feels like they
got two uniforms. Alabama just has a couple of uniforms.
Penn State just has a couple of uniforms. Not that
I'm against Oregon, but like I like the mid nineties
forty nine Ers uniforms. I like the old school Pittsburgh

(36:18):
Steelers or just the simplicity of the New York Giants.
I'm pretty simple, Like I'm not. Maybe it makes me
sound really old. I just I don't really care. Though
I did see the picture of the Chargers uniform and
it looked pretty cool. Not gonna lie. I thought it
looked cool. But I don't spend that much time, if anything,

(36:39):
about uniforms. I really don't. Maybe it's because I've never
really been a jersey guy. I had a couple of
basketball jerseys as a kid, like Michael Jordan. I had
Chris Webber when he's on the Kings. But I've never
really been a jersey guy. So maybe I just don't
think about it. I know some people are not against it,

(37:00):
but it's just not really my thing. Uh question for you.
I hear so much about how Dan Campbell is now
Chop liver and in trouble in the NFC North this
year since the Lions lost both coordinators, mainly Ben Johnson.
It is on record from Sean Payton and others that

(37:20):
Dan is an actual offensive genius and has a great
feel for football schematics, but he's always looked at only
as a CEO coach. I think he's a great offensive mind,
CEO of the operation and brings the best toughness versus
any other head coach. I think the Lions at least
win the NFC North and make another run. Your thoughts,

(37:41):
I think why he doesn't get credit for being a
quote unquote offensive genius or a schematic genius. He doesn't
call plays. So when you call plays, you get an X,
you get like extra credit, you get talked about in
a different light defensive two. Right when the guy's a CEO,

(38:01):
it still feels like feels like Andy Reid and Belichick
are calling these plays right where it feels like, you know,
Belichick is really telling Patricia what to do. And then
like Patricia and Flores or Naggy and Biennemy or whoever's
calling the plays, if they are calling the plays, always
give that guy a ton of credit. Well, it starts
with the head coach. He's setting the scheme. You know,

(38:21):
it doesn't feel like especially you know Dan Campbell's a
tight end offensive guy. Well, Ben Johnson ran the offense,
So I listen, I'm not saying he's not. I think
Dan Campbell clearly is way smarter that he was originally
discussed when he kind of got the job and his
career kind of took off with the Lions. But you're

(38:43):
just hard to call an offensive genius when you don't
call the plays. As a big Eagles fan, I'm obviously
a little bit biased on the Jalen Hurts rankings, but
I feel that Eagles fans' biggest problem with it is
does what does Hurts have to do to earn more
respect as a top five quarterback out of some of
the quarterbacks ranked ahead of him, he is only quarterback

(39:04):
who have a have an All Pro, which Burrow, Daniels, Goff,
and Herbert don't have. Only quarterback who have an All
Pro super Bowl appearance, super Bowl win, and Super Bowl MVP.
I feel like that is unfair to say for Mahomes
that winning Super Bowls is a quarterback stat, but for Herts,
he's just on a loaded team, since we don't all

(39:27):
quarterbacks since win, don't all quarterbacks who win a Super
Bowl have good teams? Not saying you said this directly,
but I always hear it in the media. You said
that Jalen Hurts has an All Pro? Does he? He
was an All Pro one of the uh one of

(39:47):
his I guess it would have been three years ago.
Maybe he was mean. Let me just double check second
team All Pro twenty twenty two. Let's look at that
season really quick. So in twenty twenty two, he through
twenty two touchdowns and he ran one thing Jalen does.

(40:08):
He gives you a lot on the ground because of
the Toushbush ten thirteen, fifteen fourteen. He has fifty five
career touchdowns on the ground. Here's what we got to
be honest about Jalen Washington. They blitzed him, he killed him,
but in that Super Bowl. He's played in two Super
Bowls and he's been fucking lights out. So if any
human being in life, regardless how they got there, in

(40:30):
the biggest moment of their life, excels, I give you
credit and it goes back Listen, like I'm not When
Jalen plays bad, I don't think he's like two brighter lights.
I mean, the dude played for Saban transferred Oklahoma Wally
pipped Carson Wentz with the deuces, Like Jalen ain't scared
of shit. But when he plays bad, to me, it's

(40:52):
like he just kind of plays bad, you know. And
he's kind of a flawed quarterback in the sense of
he's more like a modern day powerful Russell Wilson. Right,
he can he scramble, he throws a great deep ball,
and he throws well on the run. But just from
inside the pocket, you guys were crushing him. He was

(41:13):
getting crushed in the middle of the season last year
because the passing game sucked. That literally happened. So it's like,
should he be in the top five? Top five over who?
Like he doesn't play like those guys, And like you said, listen, Mahomes,
you say it's a quarterback stat. Mahomes has proven when
he has sweet players in a good offensive line, he

(41:36):
could throw forty fifty touchdowns. Like we know that over
the last couple of years. That's just not really how
they played. But he's done it before. You know. You said,
Jalen second team All Pro two thousand and twenty two,
And yeah, he was really good that season, especially down
the stretch second half of the season. He threw twenty
two touchdowns. I had another person, DM me that said,

(41:57):
the reason we get so animated about this is because
all these other guys and it's like, well, if Jalen
throws like thirty five touchdowns even if they lost in
the first round, Like, okay, but that's stout really, I
mean last year through twenty and everyone's like, see, he's
like fucking putting Joe Burrow. It's like, no, Joe Burrow Baker.
He's got thrown forty Now. I understand he guys had

(42:17):
some injuries but still got aj Brown, DeVante Smith and
an incredible offensive line in Saquon Barkley. Like, I do
think it's fair to go in the biggest moments, he's
been lights out, But in some of these regular season games,
when that's where you really become like, God, I'm just
a dominant player. It's like, hey, he's kind of he
can be hit or miss. He's just a polarizing player.

(42:41):
He just is and I don't think it's necessarily gonna
change unless he has an unreal statistical year passing. He's
a great D ball thrower, he's a great, powerful runner,
He's an instinctive player. He's clearly just a good player.
But like, he's not a top five quarterback in the NFL.

(43:15):
What are your thoughts on Jackson Dark As a Giants fan,
I'm pretty optimistic. He reminds me of a taller Baker Mayfield. Uh,
he's pretty bold. Baker was way better in college. I think,
I mean, I honestly, I think Baker is one of
the better players in the last decade. In college, Baker
was a legitimate stud and now he's proven it again,
Like Baker's really good. I don't know, man, he's a

(43:39):
fascinating guy. I remember watching him at USC when he
was really young. You love the physical characteristics. You know.
Last year, I just hard for me to forget that
Florida game. I think he's going to a pretty chaotic place.
I mean, they haven't been winning. The coaches coaching for
his job, it feels like the GM's GM, and for
his job, it's a pretty chaotic environment. He did when

(44:00):
he transferred from USC to Old Miss like he went
to a pretty stable place, you know. I mean, Lane
Kiffin has established himself as one of the better coaches
in college football. Played with a ton of good players.
I mean they had a down year last year when
they go nine to three, so it's like he just
played on really, really good teams and that is not

(44:22):
the case. Now he's not even starting. He's going to
be in a meeting room with Russell Wilson, who I
saw had a headline today said he's going to play
five more years. I don't know about that, but yeah,
I think best case scenario is they're just solid this
year and he doesn't have to play, and then they
started him next year, almost gets a red shirt year,
but I doubt that's the way it plays out. A

(44:45):
question for the pod big Rams fan and would love
to hear thoughts of my prediction for the Rams quarterback
situation going forward. I think the Rams will pull another
blockbuster Stafford like Drade and end up with Joe Burrow
in the next two or three years. It's a perfect
fit for everyone involved. Rams have an extra first round
pick from Atlanta they could flip into more future first

(45:05):
rounders and trade with the Bengals. If the Bengals don't
make the Super Bowl in two years, the Bengals organization
will get tired of paying everyone, which will make Burrow
want to leave. Joe seems like an LA kind of guy,
and I know he would love to upgrade to Sean
McVay and McVeigh light. Also, the NFL would love one
of the top four NFL quarterbacks in the NFC Burrow

(45:25):
versus Mahomes. Super Bowl would feed families. You know the
picture going viral over the last couple of days of
Sean McVay year one and Sean McVay year nine. He
looks better now and most you show it to any
girl they're like botox. I'm like, that's that's what botox does. Like,

(45:46):
I've never been one to stick a needle in my face,
but he looks fantastic. You're telling me that botox will
do that. I don't want my face to freeze. I
just wanted to look like Sean McVay. He looks good.
I mean literally looks the same at thirty eight thirty
nine as he did thirty years old. And then they
show Kyle Shanahan, who looks young and vibrant in twenty seventeen.
I mean he he looks like a guy that drinks

(46:08):
four cocktails and two packs of cigarettes to day for
the last decade right now. I mean he looks he
looks like a weathered sob. But yeah, I mean I
think that Sean. I think the Rams if Joe Burrow
ever became available and listen to be like middle cough
stop saying that about our star player Bengals fan. It's like,
well we've seen that before, Carson Palmer. Things can get weird.

(46:30):
If it ever does get weird, I would imagine the Rams,
just like a lot of teams, would be heavily involved.
He would be a highly, highly sought after player. The
amount of money let's just say like next year, I
guess not money. Draft picks that would be on the
table for Joe Burrow would be I mean, it'd be

(46:50):
it's it'd be like an NFL record, you know, it'd
be like, wait, they just offered what four ones, four
two's and five fives? How much amount of T do
you think you or a team would trade if you
knew you would win the championship? For example, the Rams
trading all their picks for the twenty twenty one championship.
I think it's dependent on how successful you are. But

(47:13):
I can't imagine the Bills or the Cowboys wouldn't trade
ten years of guaranteed no championships just for one. I
think the thing that always stops people, you know, a
decent organization, from doing crazy shit is they go, what
if we don't make the playoffs? What if our quarterback

(47:33):
breaks his ankle and we go six and eleven and
we've just traded two first round picks for TJ. Watt? Right.
I think that mindset typically stops people from doing things.
Because for most players in the NFL, I would say
ninety five percent of them, they would be available for

(47:55):
the right price. But it's so easy to say because
if foot While there's so many variables, injuries play such
a big part that people hesitate. And I think if
you could guarantee a team a championship, like what would
Jerry Jones would trade his next four drafts to win
the Super Bowl this year? Without his Jerry would be
the best colprit. I think certain people would be like, no,

(48:18):
we'll just play it out right. I think the Ravens
would be like, we'll play it out. I think Kyle
Shanahan would trade you whatever you wanted for a Super
Bowl what. I think the two guys that would trade
the most would be Jerry Jones, Kyle Shanahan, you're guarantee
me a super Bowl this year? Do you want fucking

(48:40):
Jed York's kids? Why do you think the Texans signed
their second round pick to a fully guaranteed contract so
quickly he sent a new precedent and put all the
other gms in a bind on signing their second round picks.
Looks like Schneider of Seattle is holding firm. But I
gotta think there are a bunch of gms out there
pissed at Caserio right now. You know what's funny is

(49:02):
like this was a story that I didn't even know
existed until it became a really big story of all
these guys holding out, and clearly it's gonna hit like
the Rubbers gonna meet the road. They're at a fork
in the road. Over the next I would say, week,
are all these second round picks not going to show

(49:23):
up when the rookies report? And I would say that
I think there's a decent chance a lot of them
are not going to show up, So the second round
picks are going to approach it like first round picks
you used to like, you either guarantee my I don't know.
I honestly, I haven't even asked anybody why he would
do that. I'm sure I think the Browns did one guy,

(49:45):
and obviously the Texans did one guy. Maybe he was
getting ahead of it. A lot of people aren't happy. Okay,
last question. I heard you say on the last pod,
if you put Burrow on the Ravens, they would have
beat the Chiefs in the NFC Championship. But I also
say that if you put Lam on the Bengals with
Jamar and Higgins, that he's not missed the playoffs two
years in a row. Either. I can understand the Lamar

(50:06):
versus Josh debate, but Burrow ahead of Lamar on the
ESPN rankings at this point is laughable. Well, I'm pretty
sure that Joe Burrow last year threw nine touchdowns against
the Baltimore Ravens. Let me see how game log. So

(50:27):
I remember watching the game where they lost thirty five
to thirty four the Bengals. Joe Burrow threw four touchdowns,
It was sacked three times for four hundred and thirty yards.
He played him again and he threw five touchdowns. So
in two games against the Ravens, he threw nine touchdowns

(50:49):
and they lost both games. What's Lamar gonnacount for ten touchdowns?
Like it? You just can't play any better. I think
Joe Burrow was as good as any player in the
league last year. His defense for the eighty percent of
the season was fucking atrocious. So like what's Lamar? Now?

(51:12):
Lamar runs, but I don't think beast based on last year,
you could argue that, Like, if you wanted to argue
Joe Burrow was a better player than Lamar, I think
that's a fair argument. So Lamar mark threw forty one
touchdowns last year. He had a pretty good season. I
didn't realize through so many touchdowns. It's pretty crazy that

(51:35):
Lamar won the MVP in twenty twenty three. Just doesn't
even feel right. Is that what he did with twenty
four touchdowns and seven interceptions. I feel like he was
way better last year. That's pretty nuts. How did I
not realize he threw that many touchdowns? Yeah? Shit, my bad.

(51:56):
Lamar forty one touchdowns easy way back? Yeah, listen, I
defend Lamar, but I undersold him on that one. But
Joe Burrow. One thing that's that Lamar has not had
a deal with that Joe has is Joe's defense last
year was atrocious. I mean it really was. I mean, Lamar,

(52:18):
the Ravens have good defenses. Even last year they started slow,
by the end of the season they were really good. So,
like I told Coward, you could make any argument with
I'm putting Mahomes one. You can put them in any order.
Personally for me, hell, I might, I might take Lamar
over Burrow, you know I I but I'm definitely taking

(52:40):
Josh second. And to me, I'm not I'm doing that
without hesitation. I'm going Mahomes one, Josh second, I might
just take Lamar because Joe's had a couple of major injuries.
But regardless, Like, I'm not gonna argue with you whoever
you're gonna take, but I'm putting Josh to and that,
to me is all that matter. Otherwise, like you know,
one thing Burrow has over both those guys, Like I

(53:04):
figured out a way to beat the Chiefs in Arrowhead.
You guys are ever gonna do that. So I think
that's kind of a trump card. Now you could argue
that's like a NBA rings analogy, but still, I mean
that happened, and the shit the Bengals were leading that
playoffs or I mean that Super Bowl late in the game.
So yeah, I just think we spend so much time

(53:27):
arguing over these things. It's like in football, not everything
is the same, right. The team Jalen Hurts plays on
is a lot different than the team the Arizona Cardinals,
the Houston There's so many variables. How good your defense
is as you play caller, And I mean, the one
thing Lamar has going for him no different. Patrick Mahomes

(53:49):
is like best organization in the league, the Bills. I
think of established a really good organization. I would not
put them ahead of the Ravens or the Chiefs. I
mean the bar is set in the AFC. It's Andy
Reid and John Harbaugh in terms of like the best
run consistent organizations, offense, defense, just drafting, just overall operation.

(54:11):
I think the Bills are damn close. We'll see how
like if they can sustain it over a decade long period.
But the Bengals are not. So he is not those
organizations are so much just better run, more money, just
a higher level operation. And that's where I think people
try to like, you got to bring context into it,

(54:33):
you know, the volume