Colin’s top takes of the week.
He begins with the Dallas Cowboys far exceeding his expectations in their season opening loss to the Eagles (3:00), then Colin is joined by college football guru Josh Pate to break down the first weekend of the college football season.
They discuss Arch Manning’s extremely shaky start for Texas against Ohio State and whether his lofty expectations entering the season were far too high (12:00), and debate whether Michigan’s Bryce Underwood is a generational talent at quarterback (15:45).
They move to UNC and whether Bill Belichick’s inability to recruit good personnel could lead to an underwhelming tenure at Chapel Hill (19:15).
Finally, he’s joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to break down the ramifications of the Micah Parsons trade (32:00) and review the win totals for several NFL teams (49:15)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
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Speaker 3 (00:57):
All right.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
In a pretty surprising out come, Philadelphia beats Dallas twenty
four to twenty.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
I would argue that.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
If Cede Lamb makes that catch, Dallas wins the football game.
Ceed Lamb was CD lame. He had a really really
bad night. But I thought Philadelphia did a better job
with second half adjustments. And that's the ball game I
thought overall. I was pretty blown away. Now, Jalen Hurts
(01:26):
comes into this game, He's got the better offensive line,
he's got Saquon Barkley, and he has a at least
a head coach that he's very familiar with. They have
a new oc Kellen Morris gone. And it was kind
of an unimpressive kind of second half adjustment for the Eagles. Offensively,
I have they make great defensive adjustments to get pressure,
(01:48):
but there's a big advantage Jalen Hurts O line, Saquon
Barkley at home, and they looked unbelievable in the first half.
Three drives two hundred plus yards, three TD. Eagles were flawless.
And everybody points to, well, what about what about Micah? Well,
the Cowboys could not stop the Eagles twice last year
(02:09):
with Micah so and I'll give you an example.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
I saw.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
I saw this last year today, the Cowboys versus the
Eagles without Micah, without Micah one sack in five quarterback hits.
The Cowboys last game with the Eagles with Micah one
sack and one quarterback hit. Micah wasn't the difference. Okay,
So in the first half, I mean Philadelphia did this
(02:35):
twice the Dallas last year, and they did it to
Kansas City and the Super Bowl. That offensive line gets
rolling Saquon Barkley, those receivers, they didn't even use aj Brown,
barely looked at him in the first half, and were
up and down the field with or without Micah. At
one point Chris Collins were said, this is the Micah effect. Yeah,
I mean, it's Mike's real literally talented. But I didn't
(02:56):
think that was the ballgame. I think that what blew
me away with that, especially in the first half. Dak
got excellent protection. They don't have a great running back room,
They're not going to be a great run team, but
they opened some rush lanes. And yes, Jalen Carter's absence
changes Philadelphia's interior defense.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I mean, it's just no question.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
He is the dominant interior defensive lineman along with Chris
Jones in the NFL of the Chiefs. So, but I
thought Dallas in the first half, Dak had time, the
wide receivers got excellent separation. George Pickens looks like he's
a real asset. Although he had a really really bad penalty.
(03:39):
It ended up the Cowboys fumble the first turnover of
the season, but it pushed Dallas back, and who knows
how that drive transpires if they don't get pushed back
on the Pickens penalty. But George Pickens is going to
be an asset that length, his ability to keep the
ball away, the way he stretches out from defensive backs,
(03:59):
because Philadelphi's got a great secondary. But I thought dallas
Is o line held up very well. Dak had a
lot of time. I thought Dak played.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Really really well. They didn't move him much.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
He sat in the pocket at this point in his career,
he's a pocket quarterback. But I thought he was very,
very effective and Ceedee Lamb had three drops and the
brutal drop back to back drops on that last drive,
and that deep ball was a beautiful throw by Dak.
So I think, if you're Philadelphia, you made excellent second
(04:32):
half defensive adjustments to get pressure, and you know that
ends up being crucial because Dak was way too comfortable
in the first half. Meanwhile, he threw under duress in
the second half. There were a lot of bang bang
plays in the secondary. A couple of balls could have
been picked, but Ceedee Lamb dropped three balls. A couple
of balls could have been caught. So I came away
(04:54):
impressed with Dallas Philadelphia one back to back tush push.
I think if you put Saquon Barkley on the Cowboys
and took away Saquon Barkley for the Eagles, you'd have
a different outcome. I thought Saquon's ability to you know,
that one handed catch on the crucial drive, his just
ability to escape a lot of times, Saquon doesn't even
(05:16):
get credit.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Just for picking up three.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yards on a play that should should lose a yard.
It's not as long runs that make him exceptional. It's
the catches out of the backfield. It's taking you know,
these one yard games and making it a three to
a four yard game. He is just a sensational talent
and he got he got, you know, Philadelphia, out of
little jams throughout the course of the game. Wiggle here,
(05:42):
drop his shoulder here, make a one hand catch there.
Saquon was voted the best player in the league by
players in a recent poll. He's just a sensational talent
and he does all the little things. Well, he can
pick up a blitz one handed catch. But overall, I
think if you're Dallas, you have to feel great. I
mean they've got one of the best kickers in the league.
(06:02):
Their offensive line in the first half held up. I
like the game plan, Dak look comfortable. Their receivers created separation. Again,
they're the road team, They're the team of the new
coaching staff, George Pickens, the new player. Mike is not there.
Trayvon Diggs didn't practice much, and Dallas had a very
good performance. Ceedee Lamb catches the ball. They win the game,
so listen. It's game one. For a variety of reasons.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Is hard to.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Make any sweeping A general comment about a Jalen Carter
out changes Philadelphia's rush defense. Secondly, you're tired in the
second half, I thought Dallas is. I thought Dallas looked
a little fatigue their defensive front. You know, you got
(06:49):
that on line leaning on you longer drives by Philadelphia.
But overall, I mean Dallas's d line. Mozzie Smith was
a I wrote this down inactive, so he's a bust.
You know, Mike is no longer there. Kenny Clarkman in
nice play He's a nice addition. But you know, considering
(07:13):
Mike has gone and Mazzie Smith is a bust, they
have a little bit of depth up front. That's encouraging
for Dallas. You know, I'm looking at some of the
numbers here. Philadelphia's second half offensive game plan kind of uninspiring. Again,
it's week one, new coordinator. I don't quite know how
to feel about it. Philadelphia was I mean, Jalen Carter spitting.
(07:37):
They had four very early penalties, four early penalties in
the first half personal fouls of Philadelphia wasn't tight and
it almost cost him. Yeah, I mean, in the end,
Philadelphia had one hundred and fifty eight yards rushing. You
don't lose a lot of games in this league with
(07:58):
one hundred and fifty eight yards rushing. But Dallas, you know,
Dallas has twenty four first downs. Dallas averaged five and
a half yards of play. You got to feel pretty
good about that. Dallas had more total yards, more passing
yards themselves, rushed for one hundred and nineteen yards, had
more yards per play, more first downs, were very effective
(08:22):
seven for eleven on third down, had only four penalties.
I mean Mike McCarthy's teams were penalty plagued, only one
turnover in the game. Now Philadelphia again more rushing yards total,
and in the second half they pulled away in time
of possession. They were flawless in the first half offensively,
but overall, I would give the Eagles a B plus
(08:47):
because they won. I would give Dallas a solid B
to B plus. New coaching staff on the road first game.
I mean last year, I just didn't like Dallas's offensive line.
I thought there was real growth. If you're a Cowboy fan,
I thought you had to be encouraged with the protection
Dak Prescott got, especially in the first half, and Dak
(09:07):
hung in there in the second half. I mean he
was under dress in that second half after the adjustments.
I know, I'm going on and on about Dallas. Maybe
you know, if I had come into this game with
a clean slate mentally and not feeling like Dallas is
just going to be a mess, I'm gonna have to
revisit the Dallas schedule tomorrow. On FS one, I was
(09:29):
really impressed, you know. And it's not like Ceedee Lamb
didn't have a bunch of catches. I mean he had
great separation all night and those are excellent corners for
the Eagles. So Philadelphia sloppy, maintained a lead at home,
won a game. I feel I feel differently about the
(09:50):
Cowboys now than I did four hours ago. Well, if
you like college football, and I've been watching Josh paid
for a long time, but there are very few people
that cut through like Josh and there's no clicks involved.
It's just knowledge and prep and work. He is newly married,
(10:12):
he's got a beautiful wife, he's got an incredible job,
and it looks like he can bench Delaware. So his
shit is rolling right now, is Josh. It is a
pleasure to have you on. So I don't like criticizing
college athletes, but I have said we'll start with this
that once they started making five million bucks a year,
you're a professional. Whatever level you play at, you're a professional.
(10:34):
And Arch Manning can handle it. And I said, listen,
there are and this I feel this way about Belichick's opener,
there are games in which you struggle. I've seen Patrick
Mahomes just have bad halves, bad Super Bowls. But with
Arch it was I mean, when he first rolled out
to the right and skipped that thing about eight yards shine,
that was more than nerves. It was armslot, it was mechanics,
(10:58):
and he'll bounce back in the next three games. It's
you know, it's you know, really second tier programs. But
I don't think it's just a hey, it was jitters.
I had some concerns. I can't unsee it, and I
know that's punitive and harsh, but this is manning. I
joked before the game. Family dinners are events I don't
(11:19):
want to hear he was nervous. It was more than that.
It was kind of jarring, was it not.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I specially think if you bought into I don't know,
like the superheroification of him over the spring in summer,
you think about this. He has only just now become
a college football starting quarterback, and you and I have
talked about him over half a decade, so we've known
about it six years and now I don't think we
ever said that about anyone. So I go out there
(11:47):
in the spring watching practice, feel my way around the building.
Sarks really just open about stuff, especially when you get
him off the record that staff and the feedback wasn't oh,
we're worried about it. The feedback was we really hope
that the world's realistic about what we're doing here, about
what we're going to put on the field, because they
never expected it to be like you know, the preview magazine,
(12:09):
culture expected it to be.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
So it wasn't a shock to me that they tried
to ease him.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
Man.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
I think the jarring part for me I was up there,
I was standing on the field, is you didn't even
have to watch secondary line of scrimmage.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
If you just put your eyes.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
On him, you could tell the moment the ball came
out of his hand, that's not a good ball and
that's not going anywhere fast. So I think that part,
you get rattled, and at that point you're playing good defense,
so you feel like you can just win a rock
fight and we'll tuck it back in. We'll go back home,
we'll play a tomato can, we'll get ready for our
trip to Florida. I think is their next really big game.
So it wasn't is jarring to me because I never
(12:44):
did the Heisman thing with him. I never did the
arch manning number one picking the draft this upcoming year.
My whole stance on him was, and it still is,
he's going to be a pretty good quarterback this year,
and anything above and beyond that great, but it's Texas.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
You don't have to carry them.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
For that matter, I don't have to carry LSU club
think doesn't have to carry Clemson. A lot of these
guys have really good supporting cast. He has got racehorses
around him. I question whether there's speed at wide receivers
quite what it's been. But the whole concept of Texas
is We're going to load the roster up. Just make
good decisions, be big in the leverage moments. He was
(13:20):
not that in Week one, but you know you got
a much bigger safety net under you now because of
the structure of the playoff.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Yeah, and I'll get to a chad. You know. I
think first glances matter.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
And I followed high school recruiting not as much as
I used to, just because I have more things on
my plate. But I'll just say I don't know how
good Michigan is. I love Oklahoma this weekend. I think
if you can look at Oklahoma's depth chart, that defense
is juniors and seniors.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
That is an old team. They're at home.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
They got a lot of twenty two year old guys
and materears, very talented quarterback. I think Oklahoma's going to
have a day. But my first glance is at Bryce
Underwood on YouTube and high school and last week, Josh,
that's like whoa, whoa, whoa. Oh that is magic, and
I know he's going on the road. Now you needed
(14:07):
about four snaps. I really think Underwood is a lot
of these five star guys. I never bought into Quinniewers.
I mean, you know, in southern California, I've heard a
lot of five star recruits and I'm like, I don't
buy it. I always say LA recruits fives of four,
fours of three. They get overhyped. But I like Oklahoma
this weekend. But what were your interpretations of Bryce Underwood?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Better than I thought he'd be? And I had the
same I had really high expectations for him. I do
not throw around the G word. Okay, generational, you should
use that about once a generation. I believe that's the
definition he Even the guys I trust in the scouting world,
the ones that assignate the star ratings, even when I
listened to them coming up, you know, the ones who
(14:49):
are really careful with their language, they said that one's
just different. Go watch him, and he did. I don't
think he came to a lead eleven. So I went
out there. I didn't get to see him in person,
but eventually you get to see his high school stuff. Okay,
it's high school. He goes to Michigan. I know it
was New Mexico. Ninety nine percent of the country didn't
watch the game. I don't care if it was air.
There is a way that superstars look. It does not make.
(15:12):
It does not take mountains and mountains, games and games
of film.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
You just look at it and you say, WHOA. Now,
that's not like you said.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
It's not a guarantee that he's going to go light
the world on fire right week. In fact, it could
overinflate him to where he tries to do too much
on the road against a Brent Venables defense, which is
made like the Tours of the World look inferior in
year spec. So I'm with you on the Oklahoma sort
of dynamic this weekend, but long term, here's the way
I viewed Michigan this whole year. They are not good
(15:40):
at receiver, so they do not have the pass catchers
to probably have him fully feature himself. But what is
going to happen is everyone is going to see what
you and I are talking about eventually, because it'll play
out on the big stage and they are going to
be I think a portal magnet for wide receivers after
the year.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
And I'm viewing Michigan.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Twenty twenty five three twenty twenty six prism because I
think twenty twenty six they're right in the national championship conversation.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yeah, I don't know that far ahead. And they're not
good at receiver. By the way, if you go look
at Jim Harbaugh recruiting through the years, he's never had
good receivers. He didn't have him with Andrew Luck got
in San Francisco, he had Michael Crabtree and that was
about it.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Michigan. I mean.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
There were a run defense squash, you know, eat the
clock up. But the ball comes out of Bryce underwards
hand fast, very different. I mean, it just doesn't look
like other kids, all right. So much like the arch
Manning topic. I my question with Belichick and I and
a friend of mine, Ryan Rosillo, and I got on
(16:45):
this years ago, about seven years before Belichick got bounced
in New England. Rosillo and I used to his joke,
We're like, he can't draft. He's sitting there with his
dog in Nantucket on his iPad, and I'm like, he
can't draft, and I people, and so what happens in
the NFL? And it was Pete Carroll's undoing a little
(17:06):
bit in Seattle, where there are coaches Jimmy Johnson and
Sean Payton who are really really Sean McVay really good
with personnel. They really have an eye for it. Then
there's guys like Kyle Shanahan, who I think are great
play designers and play callers. I don't love their personnel view.
And then there's Belichick, who sort of tone deaf to
(17:27):
offensive personnel. I don't think he's tone deaf to schemes
because he's the best defensive coach of my life. But
his last seven years in New England, I mean, they
got a punter who was an All Pro.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
That was it.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
They couldn't draft anything interior, O line, sideline, quarterback. So
my question was why should I trust him in the
transfer portal. I didn't like him drafting college kids. And
when I watched Carolina, one of the first things after
the first series that jumped out to me is TCU
either had much better coaches or much better players. Because
(18:00):
a lot of guys running free in the second half.
I mean, I mean pulling away from safeties and pulling
away from linebackers. I just didn't see the talent. Now again,
the transfer portal you're getting used cars a little bit.
You know, if Georgia wants to keep a guy, they're
going to keep a guy. I thought it was again,
is it possible that Bill's not the listen? Saban was
(18:24):
a brilliant personnel guy. I don't think Belichick is am
I wrong?
Speaker 1 (18:29):
No, I mean I actually wish I did disagree with you.
I completely agree with you. I looked at the dynamic look,
I mean, take a step back for a second. So
I didn't even understand the circus around it, period. I
got when Dion came to Colorado, that is a massive
circus coming to town, not even in a pejorative way.
I got that a lot of people in my world
(18:50):
made this huge deal about Belichick coming in North Carolina,
and I maybe I just don't pay attention enough to
like mainstream sports talk, so I didn't get it.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
But that's just me, that's my personal preference.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
So then I start hearing these rumblings like boy, they
got a workable schedule, this year, and I started to
pick up what people were putting down cluse. The connotation
there was ooh, they could do something this year, and
I was, I know, the personnel they have, it's terrible.
And so I was looking at it saying, what are
you saying about the schedule? Come out and say it.
No one wanted to say it. So I finally got
(19:23):
some people to admit, yeah, I think it's Belichick. It's
a workable schedule. He could Yeah. I got the cattle
pride theory. He could cattle pride college football this year.
I was like, if that's your expectation for him, you're
in for a very rude awakening, and so is the
rest of America.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Like I didn't get it initially. I thought people understood he's.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Coming in there and you know, it's a big show
and it's going to raise the profile of Carolina football,
but the expectations largely to do what Caroline has done.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
I was so tone deaf on it.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
When I realized people's expectations were He's actually going to
elevate them to the level of maybe a fringe playoff contender.
I was so out so quickly on it. For fifty
different reasons. But one of them is the one you
talked about. I never talked about NFL. College football is
my space. But I didn't think he did a great
job at all of the personnel side of things the
last several years he was in the NFL, or he'd
(20:16):
probably still be in the NFL. And then the next
part of that is, all right, if you're telling me
that you want him to be more than a seven
or eight win per year on average guy, which is
Carolina football historically, well that means he's got to do
better in talent acquisition. And that also means you got
to beat Clemson for kids. You've got to occasionally beat
Miami or Florida State for kids.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
He's just not going to do that.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
I don't know if you've gotten in the weeds a
little bit and read some of the stuff that I've
been hearing for months. Has now sort of started to
go public about the impressions that recruits or portal kids
have had, the experiences they've had. They don't know how
to do it, man, and it's no knock on him,
they've never had to do it. Think about it that way,
like if you're watching right now and you're mainly al
(21:00):
and like you just dip your toe into college. Nick Saban,
I think's the best to ever do it. He got
to his early seventies after a lifetime in college football,
lifetime of mastering talent acquisition, and he said, this isn't
really for me anymore. Belichick, at the same age, is
trying it for the first time. He's older than any
three of his players come by, and he's trying that
for the first time. I never even gave a passing
(21:24):
thought to, oh, this will work. Of course it won't work.
I was stunned and still am that people think it
will work.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, you know, and what's interesting about you know, in
pro football, you draft the player, but in college football,
the player selects you. So if you're around Nick Saban,
he's funny. I've been around him a couple Dames. He's funny.
Mario Christobal, Dan Lanning. They're dynamic men.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Brian Kelly, they've got the personalities you have to sell.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Yes, they're salesman. And by the way, it's not all
they do. Bill's better schematically than a lot of guys.
But there are almost I mean, you'd have to go
back to Don James Washington in the you know, seventies
and eighties where a guy was fairly personality less and
was a really good recruiter. And I always thought James
was doing it with coaching and staff composition. Their personnel
(22:18):
was good. I don't think it was as good it's
never been. It was even in Don's best heyday. They
had a couple the Steve Tman defenses were stacked, but
basically they did it. They were just the smartest staff
he had. Just you know, they always had the best
special teams, kind of like Frank Beemer. They'd beat you
on special teams in defense. You never thought it was
the most creative offense. But you get him in Blacksburg,
get him in a Husky stadium. They won a lot
(22:39):
of games. But by and large, Belichick is kind of grumpy.
Mike Lombardi a smart guy, he's got that sort of
Jersey gruffness. It reminds me a little of Charlie Weiss,
remember when he thought he had this schematic advantage. And
after a while you're like, Charlie, you're your O lineman.
You're d lineman and Notre Dame should be O linemen.
(22:59):
You just not pulling, You're not pulling the players and
I think it's gotta Charlie Weissfield.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I am telling you one of the lines, point blank
that a head coach gave me top fifteen like playoff
caliber program. He said, you know how biggest slap in
the face it is to listen to the media. Tell us,
a guy who has never coached college of day in
his life in the last several decades is going to
come teach us something like Bill Bulach's gonna come teach
(23:26):
college football something. He said, college football will teach him
ten times more than he's about to teach college football Calus.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
The other thing about it is.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
The insinuation is guys are either schematics guys x's and
those guys or their talent acquirers.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
Sometimes that's true. Sometimes it's an A or a B.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
When you get to the higher portion of the college
football pyramid. I know this shocks and people collin. Some
have both. George's got both, like like Clemson's got both.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
They can get the talent better than you. They can
also out coach you.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
So unless you're going to go and really convince me
that you're going to out recruit in which you're not,
or you're going to out develop them and scheme them
not once or twice in your career. You may do that,
but you've got to do it about ten or eleven
times in a year to be able to get to
the playoff. Then I'm out on them achieving anything more
than Carolina football historically as.
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So I want to get into the Micah Parsons trade,
and this is why I supported what the Cowboys did.
As you know and our fans know, everybody has different windows.
(26:18):
When I started the volume, we didn't have We couldn't
take huge swings, we didn't have the revenue.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
We didn't even have a sales department. Now we do.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
There are different windows for companies, for teams, for franchises,
for people in their life. In your twenties, some guys
don't want to get married. They want to be all career.
By your thirties, you're thinking about kids and getting married.
We all have different windows and timelines. So Dallas the
last two free agency periods, John had no flexibility. And
(26:50):
my take is in the NFL, that's one of the
reasons the Chiefs let Tyreek Hill go and why Howie
Roseman is constantly letting good players going. The great ones,
but he's always making deals because how he wants flexibility. Well,
the last two years the Cowboys have had none of it.
What would they have had if they signed Micah to
(27:11):
forty seven million? Now they offered him forty but like
this team could not pay Derek Henry eight million, and
they had unquestionably the worst running back room in the league.
So my take is they liked Micah, they offered him
forty but to get two firsts. That's now four first
(27:33):
in the next two years. And by the way, after
watching nuss Meyer and a Sam Levitt, the quarterback in
Arizona State, if they end up being one of the
six to seven worst teams, they may be able to
get a quarterback with their first pick and the next
Micah with their next pick in the first round. I
mean they this is a draft where if you're drafting
(27:54):
in the top eight, you don't have to move up
to get potentially a really good quarterback. So green Bay
in an incredibly deep, well coached offensive division with Kevin O'Connell,
Matt lefflur Ben Johnson, green Bay needs a playmaker on
the edge to get offenses off the field, and they
you know in our lifetime take out Reggie White. They
(28:16):
just don't have. Kenny Clark's a good interior defender against
the run. Cowboys can't stop the run. Kenny Clark comes in,
Green Bay needs a playmaker on the edge to get
offenses off the field and get it back to Matt
Lafleur and Jordan Love. So I thought it worked for
both teams. Dallas's defense was bad with Micah, it'll be
atrocious without him. But my take is the time to
(28:38):
move a superstar is in a rebuild year, and isn't
it clearly a rebuild year?
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Well, can we just lay one thing on the table,
is because most of the reaction has been pretty universal,
how could you trade Micah Parsons. There are untradeable players
in the history of this league. You know, Walter Payton,
Reggie White, Deon Sanders, guys in their prime. They're just unsoppable.
That is not you can run at Micah Parsons. He
is not Reggie White. He's not even the best player
at his position in the league.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
No, by the way, you could argue, initially John somebody
they put him in a stack linebacker inside, and that
people didn't think he had good eyes. They didn't think
he anticipated well, so they pretty much let him be
a pass rusher. Well, he's not as big as Hutches
and he's not as big as Miles Here, I would
argue he's a bit undersized, but they let him kind
(29:26):
of play that see the ball, attack the ball position.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
And it works.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
But he's a tradeable player. He's a great athlete. He's
an instinctive pass rusher. But you know, if there's seventy
plays in the game, they're not all seventy pass attempts
on third and ten. So we've seen in the playoffs
people run at him. That being said, I think the
issue that I have with this situation is anytime you
trade a player of this magnitude, like they did with
(29:53):
Khalil Mack too, right before that you're getting future first
round picks. You have no clue where they're going to be.
They could be excellent. We saw with Russell Wilson they
ended up and Matt Stafford trade. They go really high
because the team has an injury, but they also could
be back to back picks in the mid twenties. When
you trade a guy before the draft one, you have
more people coming to the table to be interested in
(30:15):
the trade because there's more teams with cap room and
you can know exactly at least that given year where
that pick lands, so you can value it. I do
feel it was Do you think there was any influence
on Jerry with this documentary coming out, because you watched
that documentary Go God Jerry and just hated that guy
was sharp, The guy was a maverick, that guy was willing,
(30:36):
and Jerry's kind of been a lot of people rightfully.
Sullivan like, yeah, Jerry's kind of scared to do deals
because a lot of people. I bet my four on
one k my aggression looks a lot different than yours.
I mean, looks a lot different than the guy that's
seventy five years old. But Jerry is just at a
point in time in his life. But I wonder if
he's like, oh, you think I won't do this, And
obviously once Micah, you can't convince me. When Micah showed
(30:58):
up eating nachos and then laid on the train. You know,
Jerry's old, stubborn and the deal wasn't going that well
in terms of the negotiation. It was kind of like
a double f you. So he's just like, Okay, we're
willing to trade him.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Micah's agent is also an agent that has gotten his
client's good money and a lot of I think he's
the Shawn Watson's agent, if I recall, so he signed
a couple of deals where the teams look back a
year later and don't like the deal. Now, I do
think Micah off the edge is exactly.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
What green Bay needs. Again.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Ben Johnson, Kevin O'Connell, you know Dan Campbell and that
old line. These offenses can keep your offense off the field.
So like, I like what green Bay did. And the
other thing about green Bay is is that they've always
been able to build good football teams. I mean they
for years they only drafted defense in the first round,
(31:52):
and yet they had great old lines and excellent tight ends.
And green Bay drafts and develops very well. Second round,
third round, fourth round. You know, there are teams in
this league and when Bill Pollion ran the Colts, they
nailed their first two picks every time. Middle rounds man,
but green Bay has shown a history to pick up
starters in the fourth and fifth and sixth round in
(32:14):
a much higher percentage than the rest of the league
over the last thirty years. So I think what they're
telling you. Green Bay likes this roster and they think
they got about a two to three year window to
make Hay, so they're rarely aggressive. I tip of the
cap to green Bay going for it.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
I think a lot of people, if you're a Packer fan,
was like, where was this move? Mid Aaron Rodgers right,
because that was our window and that was a big
reason that a lot of people are critical of Ted Thompson.
It's like, God, he's just kind of a kind of
a wos kind of conservative. When's he gonna take a
big swing? And now they finally do it with Jordan Love.
We'll see if it works out. I like the Packers
before this move. I text a lot of people in
(32:53):
the league asking him their thoughts. One universal take was
he's not like a troublemaker or anything, but Mike Parsons isn't.
Albert Breer reported about this when CD, when Zach Martin,
when Dak went through this, the locker room loves the guy.
That was not the reaction internally according to this, And
I had a GM who's very successful text me like, listen,
(33:13):
green Bay, their organizational culture has been.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
A lead for thirty years.
Speaker 5 (33:18):
It's been very consistent. It's just an easy place to operate.
They're bringing in Micah, who comes from a culture where
it's just all over the map in Dallas, do the
same thing in the Micah Parsons bringing him in there.
He is now making way more money than everybody. They
have an unproven, you know, still quarterback who you know
your quarterback is always kind of the leader of the team.
(33:39):
He's like, it is just there is some risk involved
when you factor in the finances, when you factor in
this big personality.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
He now is the face of the team.
Speaker 5 (33:48):
It's just it's a pretty big it would have been.
His point was, like, it would have been easier if
if you had Aaron, even if this guy at the time,
whatever the economics were, was making more than Aaron. But
Aaron's the face of the team. Mike is now immediately
the face of the team. Say what you want about
the Cowboys before this trade, Like still Dak was when
you turn on Sunday night football, is Dak's face, Like,
(34:08):
it's not even a question Micah Parsons.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
So let's just we'll see.
Speaker 5 (34:12):
Now they feel pretty good about their infrastructure. Xavier McKinney.
There are some questions fit right in. There's a big
difference though, in the amount of money Xavier McKinney's making
and this guy who knows he's untouchable.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
I mean, Micah's a personality. You see it in the podcast.
I think he's not going to get in trouble in
Green Bay and not like you got in a lot
of trouble in Dallas. But you know, Micah, Mike is
a personality. And I think when you have a week
coaching staff or a week head coach, which Schottenheimer is,
I think my take was if this team started one
(34:43):
in five and you signed Mike into a big deal
like Dallas, is going to be atrocious, I really do.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
I think I don't.
Speaker 5 (34:50):
Acting like they just traded Lawrence Taylor because that's not
what they just did.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
Well, they weren't any good.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Well, here's the other thing. If you were paying Dak
forty four instead of what you're paying him, then you
could have won. Then you guys could have met at
forty five million. All the problems here start. And we
know this, John, it's hard to win when you pay
Josh Allen top of the market salary. Okay, it's it's hard.
(35:17):
You're not going to have that second slot receiver or
that third really dependable you know, uh, interior lineback, you lose.
I mean you've seen this over the last couple of
years that Buffalo has moved off multiple veteran players in
the second.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Half their team last year.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Yeah, well and that's and they're still winning with Josh Allen.
And Josh Allen took a reasonably team friendly deal. Dak
is a B quarterback making a plus money, so you are,
and he's he needs an entourage. He is not Josh
Allen Lamar. So this the problems all stem from you
massively overpaid a B quarterback. And so I mean, we people,
(36:01):
and this is the case. The younger the media people,
the more they report pay the player. They're always pro player.
I have learned something over my life that like the
Rams could not trade Jared Verse, like this kid was
defensive Rookie of the Year. Like everybody's got a guy,
(36:21):
even take out the quarterback. There's a guy like Sakuon
Barkley to Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
They could win if he left. But boys with Jalen.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Hurts in the pocket sometimes a little tenuous. If you
trust him, they're just guys you can't move. I will
defend the Cede Lamb contract. I think he's a top
five or six receiver. He's a playmaker. I just I
wasn't comfortable making Mike of the highest paid defensive end.
I've seen him in a couple of playoff games. He
has been invisible in those games against better offensive linemen because.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
They run right at him, and that's not I think.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
So, how do I pay a guy?
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Now?
Speaker 5 (36:57):
I get what the Packers need. I think it's easy
for Jerry to go, well, I'm gonna give a guy
forty seven. I'm gonna match this contract for a guy
who's a liability in the run game, and the Packers
need that, and Rashawn Gary is a much more complete player.
I also defend the Cowboys the timing.
Speaker 4 (37:12):
I don't.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
I mean, I would have traded him before the draft,
but clearly they weren't planning on doing it then. Right,
he thought he could get a deal done at forty
million dollars, But when you trade him now, they go,
how did they only get that? Well, as someone told
me in the league a couple of years ago, they said,
this isn't the NBA, but players now have more juice
than they ever had. Twenty years ago, a team would
have been like, hey, even if the contract's not done,
(37:34):
we will trade for this player if you're over him,
and we'll figure it out. We have his control. Teams
are not doing that anymore. So if I'm going to
trade multiple ones, there has to be signed at the
bottom line. Well, so Micah Parsons kind of controlled had
a big part in mulgeda in where he went because
you go, well, you could have got more from Team X,
who the Lions, the Raiders, whoever, they would have given.
Speaker 4 (37:57):
Two ones, two twos and a player.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
Well, if they were offering twenty million dollars less than
the Packers salary, he goes, well, I'm not signing that
contract when this contract's on the table. So let's just
say there was another team willing to pay an extra
high draft pick, but they are the money. They go,
we're not paying them forty seven million a year and
one hundred and forty guaranteed. We'll give them a hundred
and twenty guaranteed. Well, he's like, I'm not signing that. Well,
then they're not going to trade him there right cause
(38:21):
that team's like, well the trade doesn't it's not on
the table then, so Parsons. You know there was an
NBA element if he got to dictate a little bit
where he went, because you were going to sign the
contract the moment you traded him Khalil Mack several years ago.
The Bears, they signed when the trade is done. So
the contract is a huge part of the negotiation. So
(38:43):
when I see all these people, how did the Cowboys
only get this because Parsons dictated the terms by the
contract And clearly I would imagine some of the teams
very interested, were nowhere near in the ballpark of what
the Packers gave him. And this is what makes the
NFL so unique. This team without an owner in the
middle of nowhere, can pay historic amount of money like
the opposite of baseball.
Speaker 4 (39:03):
Which is cool and.
Speaker 5 (39:04):
It's part of the NFL, but pretty risky deal. I mean,
this is I give Gutakins a lot of credit, but
he's kind of laying it all out there on the
table on this one.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Okay. So I want to go through.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
And I don't know if we'll do this on a
on a weekly bit, but I want to go through
the NFL.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
Week one. Odds Now, I'm going to throw a couple
of games at you.
Speaker 5 (39:37):
And.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Just a couple of games that I looked at and
they kind of jumped out to me. So you know
my feeling on Seattle. I like Sam Darnold, but I
also think this is a really good coach. And so
one of the lines that confuses me a little bit
is that Seattle at home is getting two and a
(40:00):
half points. Give me your take on the Niners' health.
I mean, they have real issues at wide receiver. So
if they're gonna beat Seattle, it's going to be some
running games. You're not throwing the ball downfield a ton
on Seattle, and I think Seattle's pass rush is going
to be pretty good. I'm surprised. It's My favorite pick
(40:22):
of the week is Seattle at home plus points. First
of all to division rivalry, so these games are always close,
so I love taking even average Pittsburgh teams historically can
cover against much better Baltimore rosters division games. I generally
take the points, but Seattle, I think top to bottom
has more athletes in their prime. Hufunga, gone Greenlawn, gone
(40:43):
Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey not in their prime. I think
Seattle has more athletes in their prime. Are you surprised
by that line.
Speaker 5 (40:51):
I think the market believes that Seattle's not going to
be that great because they're five to one to win
the division and the forty nine ers are like plus
one fifty. So based on the divisional odds, they are
a heavy long shot. If you look at every division,
they by far are the only team that has been
good the last several years. Nine wins, ten wins, and
it feels like Vegas gives them no chance to win.
(41:13):
And this is a good example, Juwan Jennings. This wasn't
practice today, so they've rekindled. So you got Juwan Jennings
back with pearsall Kittle, you know, McCaffrey like they actually
are offensively in theory healthy, Trent Williams Perdy coming into
this game. Yeah, I just think the market is pretty
low on Seattle. You and I are high on them.
My problem is whenever I bet on the Niners aggressively
(41:35):
Super Bowls, they've bit me in the ass, and whenever
I bet against them, they always come through and win.
So I just I kind of stay away from the Niners.
But to me, there is not a better long shot
on the board to win their division than five to
one Seattle. They won ten games last year. They had
the same amount of wins as the team that we
(41:56):
treat the Rams like. They're thirteen to fourteen win team.
They won ten They won ten games last year. I
think they won ten games the year before, and we
just we hold them to highest team rightfully so, because
they have a really good coach. Quarterbacks back in major trouble.
The forty nine ers at any moment, half their team
can be on injury reserve. I do not trust Kyler.
It is by far of the value that there's not
(42:16):
a better on the board. And I'm with you, Seattle
can get weird. I do think divisional games Week one
can be hard to bet. Like I do think the
forty nine ers are going to be pretty solid this year.
I think they got for the first time in the
year is kind of a chip on their shoulder, kind
of get to fly under the radar a little bit.
Sam Darnold's you know, this is a first start with
a new team. Offense a little different than what you know.
(42:39):
Kevin o'connoll likes to pass a lot, which is sam blite.
I mean, was they had justin Jefferson Kubiak like his
dad like Kyle, He's gonna call a lot of runs.
If they can run the ball, they're going to be
really good play defense. But what to see I mean
their run game, you know, Kenneth Walker, be healthy, Sharvion Ay,
we like.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
But Designers brought in Robert Sala and the reason being
is they don't have the same personnel. I mean no,
if Bosa's dinged up, it's Fred Warner and cross your fingers.
It is really an I mean, I think we look
at the Niners and we just sometimes you fall into
this romance because for about four years they just had
incredible defensive personnel.
Speaker 3 (43:18):
They don't on the back end right now.
Speaker 5 (43:20):
Yeah, I mean I think they're gonna need kind of
like the Rams. Two years ago, you didn't know who
after the roster was, and then a couple of years
later that they are just solidified players on defense, not
counting verse. You know who they drafted high, but a
lot of mid round, late round picks. They're gonna need
that to happen. And that's what the forty nine ers
did originally, right Kittle fifth round pick, Greenlaw fifth round pick, Perty.
(43:41):
So they've hit on a lot of late round picks.
That's how you get good in the NFL. The Ravens
let a lot of guys hit free agency, why because
they crushed the third through the seventh rounds, Because that's
where you make your hay in the end. Obviously you
got to hit on first round picks. But when you
get good in the NFL, it's hard to pick in
the twenties. That's the one thing a lot of people
are saying about the my could trade. It's like, well,
the Packers just good back to back of years. That's
(44:03):
pick twenty five and twenty eight, right, It's hard to
hit on those picks.
Speaker 4 (44:06):
Ask Jerry.
Speaker 5 (44:07):
When they started winning games with McCarthy, they're drafting Tyler Geidon,
Tyler Smith. It's a lot harder to It's much easier
to draft in the top five when Jamar Chase or
Piney Sewell or Jayden Daniels is staring at you. So
I like Seattle this year. This game to me is
just I don't know, you convince me. Niners win. Seattle wins,
Seattle kicks their ass. The Niners are into That's why
(44:28):
Week one. Like I like a lot of like the Titans,
you know, the Panthers. I like teams like that Week
one that everyone just thinks they're gonna suck. Some of
the times these divisional games like Giants Commanders like, I'm
had to stay away from me.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 5 (44:40):
If you tell me Giants win, I could, I could
see it. Cowboys are the one that's like, I have
a hard time seeing them win.
Speaker 3 (44:45):
Yeah, teams.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Convince themselves, even if they're Tennessee, they convince themselves they're
a playoff team. By week four or five, you start
losing guys, and everybody in the room knows. But yeah,
Tennessee getting over a touchdown the hook. I'd stay away
from that one. The other game that's fascinating to me
is it does matter you're allowed in Green Bay or
(45:09):
a Jacksonville or maybe a Seattle to have really ugly losses.
You're not going to get crushed Philadelphia, San Francisco, Chicago.
Speaker 3 (45:19):
It's loud, so.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
Chicago's an underdog at home getting a point and a
half against Minnesota, and Minnesota's a mystery team. I don't
know what JJ McCarthy is. I really do not know.
I've heard enough from people I trust. I got text
by somebody I really trust. A few weeks ago. He
said it's a work in progress, but if Chicago loses
at home, it'll be a huge, huge night in Chicago.
(45:44):
That shit could unarrival fast, really fast. If you had
to make a prediction, what do you think the Bears
and Caleb look like? Forget winning and losing. I mean,
they're the underdog at home, which I kind of like
that position, But what do you think it will look like.
Speaker 5 (45:59):
I think it's going to be really hard. I mean,
Caleb is much more talented of a thrower. But I
think there could be some parallels to the situation that
we saw with Arch in Texas trying to play offense
against Patricia. I mean, Flores is one of, if not
the best defensive coordinator in the league right now. Their
personnel has actually improved from last year. I like Minnesota
in this game, but I like you, I don't expect
(46:22):
hard to say JJ's gonna come out and throw three
or four touchdowns. We'll see Chicago's defense a little overrated.
Are they quite as good as we thought they were
going to be like a year ago? I don't know,
but I could see them like I expect this to
be a lower scoring like seventeen to fourteen type game,
and if in that situation, I'm just gonna take Flores
in Minnesota and Kevin O'Connell, I mean, he's just listen.
(46:45):
First game at home gets a little weird if you
have a couple of three and outs, Like in a
moment like this, you're gonna need some positive early momentum
because if the crowd gets a little weird, if you
have a couple that first try. I get it was
a preseason game against the bill twos and threes, but
he drove him right down and all of Chicago took it,
just took a sigh of relief, right like, oh my god,
(47:07):
he might be able.
Speaker 4 (47:07):
To he might be okay. Because the Ben Johnson thing.
Speaker 5 (47:10):
They played the Chiefs I watched when I was flying
to Hawaii that last preseason game.
Speaker 4 (47:14):
They got their ass kicked early on, and Ben.
Speaker 5 (47:17):
Johnson came out and said after the game like that's
just unacceptable, Like that's just too at this point in time,
too sloppy. Well, who were the Chiefs? A big time
team that took that game? Seriously, Remember I told you
when we were together like two and a half weeks ago,
that second preseason game Andy, because they got their ass
kicked by Seattle the Bills when they got their ass
(47:38):
kicked by the Bears. That's the point in time in
camp where he's been driving him, driving him. The legs
are heavy. But that last preseason game is more of
a ramp up, especially with Kansas City starters play a
little bit. You take it pretty seriously like you're coming
into that game with some some Well, the Bears tried
to do that too, and it did not go well. Now,
in fairness, Kansas City is like a dynasty, but Minnesota's
(48:00):
pretty good. They won fourteen games last week. Minnesota's got
the better roster. Yes, yeah, I mean it would be
like to me, if Minnesota wins, it'd be yeah, Minnesota's good.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
Right.
Speaker 5 (48:13):
I don't think it's like it'd be big if JJ
plays like an elite level game. But even if he's
just kind of average on the road, just win, get
out of there. It's not like we're not setting it
in stone the headline of their season. Whatever happens with
the Bears, right you lose, it gets weird. That's a
major story. They win, he plays well, beats Brian Flores,
that's a huge kind of monkey off everyone's back. Okay,
(48:35):
we might we might have. There's a lot that there's
there's not a game in the league Week one where
there's just more on the line because of the quarterback situations,
the hopes of that. Like we said, the expectation for
this franchise, anything less than nine and eight will feel awful,
and even nine and eight, if you miss the playoffs,
will be like God, what what are we doing here?
Speaker 3 (48:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (48:56):
I went through the schedule and it looks like eight
and nine, nine and eight to me, and I was optimistic.
I had them splitting with their division. Bears don't split
with their division. They went one in five last year.
They don't split in their division. So okay, John and
I chopped it up. We are now both gonna go
watch Belichick and TCU and I can't.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Wait for that.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
This is the first of twenty two, twenty three, twenty
four conversations on Sunday Night. This is our Monday. I
am back to work tomorrow, buddy, and it's great seeing you.
Speaker 5 (49:26):
Awesome seeing you.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
The volume
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
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Speaker 3 (00:57):
All right.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
In a pretty surprising out come, Philadelphia beats Dallas twenty
four to twenty.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
I would argue that.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
If Cede Lamb makes that catch, Dallas wins the football game.
Ceed Lamb was CD lame. He had a really really
bad night. But I thought Philadelphia did a better job
with second half adjustments. And that's the ball game I
thought overall. I was pretty blown away. Now, Jalen Hurts
(01:26):
comes into this game, He's got the better offensive line,
he's got Saquon Barkley, and he has a at least
a head coach that he's very familiar with. They have
a new oc Kellen Morris gone. And it was kind
of an unimpressive kind of second half adjustment for the Eagles. Offensively,
I have they make great defensive adjustments to get pressure,
(01:48):
but there's a big advantage Jalen Hurts O line, Saquon
Barkley at home, and they looked unbelievable in the first half.
Three drives two hundred plus yards, three TD. Eagles were flawless.
And everybody points to, well, what about what about Micah? Well,
the Cowboys could not stop the Eagles twice last year
(02:09):
with Micah so and I'll give you an example.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
I saw.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
I saw this last year today, the Cowboys versus the
Eagles without Micah, without Micah one sack in five quarterback hits.
The Cowboys last game with the Eagles with Micah one
sack and one quarterback hit. Micah wasn't the difference. Okay,
So in the first half, I mean Philadelphia did this
(02:35):
twice the Dallas last year, and they did it to
Kansas City and the Super Bowl. That offensive line gets
rolling Saquon Barkley, those receivers, they didn't even use aj Brown,
barely looked at him in the first half, and were
up and down the field with or without Micah. At
one point Chris Collins were said, this is the Micah effect. Yeah,
I mean, it's Mike's real literally talented. But I didn't
(02:56):
think that was the ballgame. I think that what blew
me away with that, especially in the first half. Dak
got excellent protection. They don't have a great running back room,
They're not going to be a great run team, but
they opened some rush lanes. And yes, Jalen Carter's absence
changes Philadelphia's interior defense.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I mean, it's just no question.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
He is the dominant interior defensive lineman along with Chris
Jones in the NFL of the Chiefs. So, but I
thought Dallas in the first half, Dak had time, the
wide receivers got excellent separation. George Pickens looks like he's
a real asset. Although he had a really really bad penalty.
(03:39):
It ended up the Cowboys fumble the first turnover of
the season, but it pushed Dallas back, and who knows
how that drive transpires if they don't get pushed back
on the Pickens penalty. But George Pickens is going to
be an asset that length, his ability to keep the
ball away, the way he stretches out from defensive backs,
(03:59):
because Philadelphi's got a great secondary. But I thought dallas
Is o line held up very well. Dak had a
lot of time. I thought Dak played.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Really really well. They didn't move him much.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
He sat in the pocket at this point in his career,
he's a pocket quarterback. But I thought he was very,
very effective and Ceedee Lamb had three drops and the
brutal drop back to back drops on that last drive,
and that deep ball was a beautiful throw by Dak.
So I think, if you're Philadelphia, you made excellent second
(04:32):
half defensive adjustments to get pressure, and you know that
ends up being crucial because Dak was way too comfortable
in the first half. Meanwhile, he threw under duress in
the second half. There were a lot of bang bang
plays in the secondary. A couple of balls could have
been picked, but Ceedee Lamb dropped three balls. A couple
of balls could have been caught. So I came away
(04:54):
impressed with Dallas Philadelphia one back to back tush push.
I think if you put Saquon Barkley on the Cowboys
and took away Saquon Barkley for the Eagles, you'd have
a different outcome. I thought Saquon's ability to you know,
that one handed catch on the crucial drive, his just
ability to escape a lot of times, Saquon doesn't even
(05:16):
get credit.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Just for picking up three.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yards on a play that should should lose a yard.
It's not as long runs that make him exceptional. It's
the catches out of the backfield. It's taking you know,
these one yard games and making it a three to
a four yard game. He is just a sensational talent
and he got he got, you know, Philadelphia, out of
little jams throughout the course of the game. Wiggle here,
(05:42):
drop his shoulder here, make a one hand catch there.
Saquon was voted the best player in the league by
players in a recent poll. He's just a sensational talent
and he does all the little things. Well, he can
pick up a blitz one handed catch. But overall, I
think if you're Dallas, you have to feel great. I
mean they've got one of the best kickers in the league.
(06:02):
Their offensive line in the first half held up. I
like the game plan, Dak look comfortable. Their receivers created separation. Again,
they're the road team, They're the team of the new
coaching staff, George Pickens, the new player. Mike is not there.
Trayvon Diggs didn't practice much, and Dallas had a very
good performance. Ceedee Lamb catches the ball. They win the game,
so listen. It's game one. For a variety of reasons.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Is hard to.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Make any sweeping A general comment about a Jalen Carter
out changes Philadelphia's rush defense. Secondly, you're tired in the
second half, I thought Dallas is. I thought Dallas looked
a little fatigue their defensive front. You know, you got
(06:49):
that on line leaning on you longer drives by Philadelphia.
But overall, I mean Dallas's d line. Mozzie Smith was
a I wrote this down inactive, so he's a bust.
You know, Mike is no longer there. Kenny Clarkman in
nice play He's a nice addition. But you know, considering
(07:13):
Mike has gone and Mazzie Smith is a bust, they
have a little bit of depth up front. That's encouraging
for Dallas. You know, I'm looking at some of the
numbers here. Philadelphia's second half offensive game plan kind of uninspiring. Again,
it's week one, new coordinator. I don't quite know how
to feel about it. Philadelphia was I mean, Jalen Carter spitting.
(07:37):
They had four very early penalties, four early penalties in
the first half personal fouls of Philadelphia wasn't tight and
it almost cost him. Yeah, I mean, in the end,
Philadelphia had one hundred and fifty eight yards rushing. You
don't lose a lot of games in this league with
(07:58):
one hundred and fifty eight yards rushing. But Dallas, you know,
Dallas has twenty four first downs. Dallas averaged five and
a half yards of play. You got to feel pretty
good about that. Dallas had more total yards, more passing
yards themselves, rushed for one hundred and nineteen yards, had
more yards per play, more first downs, were very effective
(08:22):
seven for eleven on third down, had only four penalties.
I mean Mike McCarthy's teams were penalty plagued, only one
turnover in the game. Now Philadelphia again more rushing yards total,
and in the second half they pulled away in time
of possession. They were flawless in the first half offensively,
but overall, I would give the Eagles a B plus
(08:47):
because they won. I would give Dallas a solid B
to B plus. New coaching staff on the road first game.
I mean last year, I just didn't like Dallas's offensive line.
I thought there was real growth. If you're a Cowboy fan,
I thought you had to be encouraged with the protection
Dak Prescott got, especially in the first half, and Dak
(09:07):
hung in there in the second half. I mean he
was under dress in that second half after the adjustments.
I know, I'm going on and on about Dallas. Maybe
you know, if I had come into this game with
a clean slate mentally and not feeling like Dallas is
just going to be a mess, I'm gonna have to
revisit the Dallas schedule tomorrow. On FS one, I was
(09:29):
really impressed, you know. And it's not like Ceedee Lamb
didn't have a bunch of catches. I mean he had
great separation all night and those are excellent corners for
the Eagles. So Philadelphia sloppy, maintained a lead at home,
won a game. I feel I feel differently about the
(09:50):
Cowboys now than I did four hours ago. Well, if
you like college football, and I've been watching Josh paid
for a long time, but there are very few people
that cut through like Josh and there's no clicks involved.
It's just knowledge and prep and work. He is newly married,
(10:12):
he's got a beautiful wife, he's got an incredible job,
and it looks like he can bench Delaware. So his
shit is rolling right now, is Josh. It is a
pleasure to have you on. So I don't like criticizing
college athletes, but I have said we'll start with this
that once they started making five million bucks a year,
you're a professional. Whatever level you play at, you're a professional.
(10:34):
And Arch Manning can handle it. And I said, listen,
there are and this I feel this way about Belichick's opener,
there are games in which you struggle. I've seen Patrick
Mahomes just have bad halves, bad Super Bowls. But with
Arch it was I mean, when he first rolled out
to the right and skipped that thing about eight yards shine,
that was more than nerves. It was armslot, it was mechanics,
(10:58):
and he'll bounce back in the next three games. It's
you know, it's you know, really second tier programs. But
I don't think it's just a hey, it was jitters.
I had some concerns. I can't unsee it, and I
know that's punitive and harsh, but this is manning. I
joked before the game. Family dinners are events I don't
(11:19):
want to hear he was nervous. It was more than that.
It was kind of jarring, was it not.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I specially think if you bought into I don't know,
like the superheroification of him over the spring in summer,
you think about this. He has only just now become
a college football starting quarterback, and you and I have
talked about him over half a decade, so we've known
about it six years and now I don't think we
ever said that about anyone. So I go out there
(11:47):
in the spring watching practice, feel my way around the building.
Sarks really just open about stuff, especially when you get
him off the record that staff and the feedback wasn't oh,
we're worried about it. The feedback was we really hope
that the world's realistic about what we're doing here, about
what we're going to put on the field, because they
never expected it to be like you know, the preview magazine,
(12:09):
culture expected it to be.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
So it wasn't a shock to me that they tried
to ease him.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
Man.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
I think the jarring part for me I was up there,
I was standing on the field, is you didn't even
have to watch secondary line of scrimmage.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
If you just put your eyes.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
On him, you could tell the moment the ball came
out of his hand, that's not a good ball and
that's not going anywhere fast. So I think that part,
you get rattled, and at that point you're playing good defense,
so you feel like you can just win a rock
fight and we'll tuck it back in. We'll go back home,
we'll play a tomato can, we'll get ready for our
trip to Florida. I think is their next really big game.
So it wasn't is jarring to me because I never
(12:44):
did the Heisman thing with him. I never did the
arch manning number one picking the draft this upcoming year.
My whole stance on him was, and it still is,
he's going to be a pretty good quarterback this year,
and anything above and beyond that great, but it's Texas.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
You don't have to carry them.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
For that matter, I don't have to carry LSU club
think doesn't have to carry Clemson. A lot of these
guys have really good supporting cast. He has got racehorses
around him. I question whether there's speed at wide receivers
quite what it's been. But the whole concept of Texas
is We're going to load the roster up. Just make
good decisions, be big in the leverage moments. He was
(13:20):
not that in Week one, but you know you got
a much bigger safety net under you now because of
the structure of the playoff.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Yeah, and I'll get to a chad. You know. I
think first glances matter.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
And I followed high school recruiting not as much as
I used to, just because I have more things on
my plate. But I'll just say I don't know how
good Michigan is. I love Oklahoma this weekend. I think
if you can look at Oklahoma's depth chart, that defense
is juniors and seniors.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
That is an old team. They're at home.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
They got a lot of twenty two year old guys
and materears, very talented quarterback. I think Oklahoma's going to
have a day. But my first glance is at Bryce
Underwood on YouTube and high school and last week, Josh,
that's like whoa, whoa, whoa. Oh that is magic, and
I know he's going on the road. Now you needed
(14:07):
about four snaps. I really think Underwood is a lot
of these five star guys. I never bought into Quinniewers.
I mean, you know, in southern California, I've heard a
lot of five star recruits and I'm like, I don't
buy it. I always say LA recruits fives of four,
fours of three. They get overhyped. But I like Oklahoma
this weekend. But what were your interpretations of Bryce Underwood?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Better than I thought he'd be? And I had the
same I had really high expectations for him. I do
not throw around the G word. Okay, generational, you should
use that about once a generation. I believe that's the
definition he Even the guys I trust in the scouting world,
the ones that assignate the star ratings, even when I
listened to them coming up, you know, the ones who
(14:49):
are really careful with their language, they said that one's
just different. Go watch him, and he did. I don't
think he came to a lead eleven. So I went
out there. I didn't get to see him in person,
but eventually you get to see his high school stuff. Okay,
it's high school. He goes to Michigan. I know it
was New Mexico. Ninety nine percent of the country didn't
watch the game. I don't care if it was air.
There is a way that superstars look. It does not make.
(15:12):
It does not take mountains and mountains, games and games
of film.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
You just look at it and you say, WHOA. Now,
that's not like you said.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
It's not a guarantee that he's going to go light
the world on fire right week. In fact, it could
overinflate him to where he tries to do too much
on the road against a Brent Venables defense, which is
made like the Tours of the World look inferior in
year spec. So I'm with you on the Oklahoma sort
of dynamic this weekend, but long term, here's the way
I viewed Michigan this whole year. They are not good
(15:40):
at receiver, so they do not have the pass catchers
to probably have him fully feature himself. But what is
going to happen is everyone is going to see what
you and I are talking about eventually, because it'll play
out on the big stage and they are going to
be I think a portal magnet for wide receivers after
the year.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
And I'm viewing Michigan.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Twenty twenty five three twenty twenty six prism because I
think twenty twenty six they're right in the national championship conversation.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yeah, I don't know that far ahead. And they're not
good at receiver. By the way, if you go look
at Jim Harbaugh recruiting through the years, he's never had
good receivers. He didn't have him with Andrew Luck got
in San Francisco, he had Michael Crabtree and that was
about it.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Michigan. I mean.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
There were a run defense squash, you know, eat the
clock up. But the ball comes out of Bryce underwards
hand fast, very different. I mean, it just doesn't look
like other kids, all right. So much like the arch
Manning topic. I my question with Belichick and I and
a friend of mine, Ryan Rosillo, and I got on
(16:45):
this years ago, about seven years before Belichick got bounced
in New England. Rosillo and I used to his joke,
We're like, he can't draft. He's sitting there with his
dog in Nantucket on his iPad, and I'm like, he
can't draft, and I people, and so what happens in
the NFL? And it was Pete Carroll's undoing a little
(17:06):
bit in Seattle, where there are coaches Jimmy Johnson and
Sean Payton who are really really Sean McVay really good
with personnel. They really have an eye for it. Then
there's guys like Kyle Shanahan, who I think are great
play designers and play callers. I don't love their personnel view.
And then there's Belichick, who sort of tone deaf to
(17:27):
offensive personnel. I don't think he's tone deaf to schemes
because he's the best defensive coach of my life. But
his last seven years in New England, I mean, they
got a punter who was an All Pro.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
That was it.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
They couldn't draft anything interior, O line, sideline, quarterback. So
my question was why should I trust him in the
transfer portal. I didn't like him drafting college kids. And
when I watched Carolina, one of the first things after
the first series that jumped out to me is TCU
either had much better coaches or much better players. Because
(18:00):
a lot of guys running free in the second half.
I mean, I mean pulling away from safeties and pulling
away from linebackers. I just didn't see the talent. Now again,
the transfer portal you're getting used cars a little bit.
You know, if Georgia wants to keep a guy, they're
going to keep a guy. I thought it was again,
is it possible that Bill's not the listen? Saban was
(18:24):
a brilliant personnel guy. I don't think Belichick is am
I wrong?
Speaker 1 (18:29):
No, I mean I actually wish I did disagree with you.
I completely agree with you. I looked at the dynamic look,
I mean, take a step back for a second. So
I didn't even understand the circus around it, period. I
got when Dion came to Colorado, that is a massive
circus coming to town, not even in a pejorative way.
I got that a lot of people in my world
(18:50):
made this huge deal about Belichick coming in North Carolina,
and I maybe I just don't pay attention enough to
like mainstream sports talk, so I didn't get it.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
But that's just me, that's my personal preference.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
So then I start hearing these rumblings like boy, they
got a workable schedule, this year, and I started to
pick up what people were putting down cluse. The connotation
there was ooh, they could do something this year, and
I was, I know, the personnel they have, it's terrible.
And so I was looking at it saying, what are
you saying about the schedule? Come out and say it.
No one wanted to say it. So I finally got
(19:23):
some people to admit, yeah, I think it's Belichick. It's
a workable schedule. He could Yeah. I got the cattle
pride theory. He could cattle pride college football this year.
I was like, if that's your expectation for him, you're
in for a very rude awakening, and so is the
rest of America.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Like I didn't get it initially. I thought people understood he's.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Coming in there and you know, it's a big show
and it's going to raise the profile of Carolina football,
but the expectations largely to do what Caroline has done.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
I was so tone deaf on it.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
When I realized people's expectations were He's actually going to
elevate them to the level of maybe a fringe playoff contender.
I was so out so quickly on it. For fifty
different reasons. But one of them is the one you
talked about. I never talked about NFL. College football is
my space. But I didn't think he did a great
job at all of the personnel side of things the
last several years he was in the NFL, or he'd
(20:16):
probably still be in the NFL. And then the next
part of that is, all right, if you're telling me
that you want him to be more than a seven
or eight win per year on average guy, which is
Carolina football historically, well that means he's got to do
better in talent acquisition. And that also means you got
to beat Clemson for kids. You've got to occasionally beat
Miami or Florida State for kids.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
He's just not going to do that.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
I don't know if you've gotten in the weeds a
little bit and read some of the stuff that I've
been hearing for months. Has now sort of started to
go public about the impressions that recruits or portal kids
have had, the experiences they've had. They don't know how
to do it, man, and it's no knock on him,
they've never had to do it. Think about it that way,
like if you're watching right now and you're mainly al
(21:00):
and like you just dip your toe into college. Nick Saban,
I think's the best to ever do it. He got
to his early seventies after a lifetime in college football,
lifetime of mastering talent acquisition, and he said, this isn't
really for me anymore. Belichick, at the same age, is
trying it for the first time. He's older than any
three of his players come by, and he's trying that
for the first time. I never even gave a passing
(21:24):
thought to, oh, this will work. Of course it won't work.
I was stunned and still am that people think it
will work.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, you know, and what's interesting about you know, in
pro football, you draft the player, but in college football,
the player selects you. So if you're around Nick Saban,
he's funny. I've been around him a couple Dames. He's funny.
Mario Christobal, Dan Lanning. They're dynamic men.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Brian Kelly, they've got the personalities you have to sell.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Yes, they're salesman. And by the way, it's not all
they do. Bill's better schematically than a lot of guys.
But there are almost I mean, you'd have to go
back to Don James Washington in the you know, seventies
and eighties where a guy was fairly personality less and
was a really good recruiter. And I always thought James
was doing it with coaching and staff composition. Their personnel
(22:18):
was good. I don't think it was as good it's
never been. It was even in Don's best heyday. They
had a couple the Steve Tman defenses were stacked, but
basically they did it. They were just the smartest staff
he had. Just you know, they always had the best
special teams, kind of like Frank Beemer. They'd beat you
on special teams in defense. You never thought it was
the most creative offense. But you get him in Blacksburg,
get him in a Husky stadium. They won a lot
(22:39):
of games. But by and large, Belichick is kind of grumpy.
Mike Lombardi a smart guy, he's got that sort of
Jersey gruffness. It reminds me a little of Charlie Weiss,
remember when he thought he had this schematic advantage. And
after a while you're like, Charlie, you're your O lineman.
You're d lineman and Notre Dame should be O linemen.
(22:59):
You just not pulling, You're not pulling the players and
I think it's gotta Charlie Weissfield.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I am telling you one of the lines, point blank
that a head coach gave me top fifteen like playoff
caliber program. He said, you know how biggest slap in
the face it is to listen to the media. Tell us,
a guy who has never coached college of day in
his life in the last several decades is going to
come teach us something like Bill Bulach's gonna come teach
(23:26):
college football something. He said, college football will teach him
ten times more than he's about to teach college football Calus.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
The other thing about it is.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
The insinuation is guys are either schematics guys x's and
those guys or their talent acquirers.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
Sometimes that's true. Sometimes it's an A or a B.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
When you get to the higher portion of the college
football pyramid. I know this shocks and people collin. Some
have both. George's got both, like like Clemson's got both.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
They can get the talent better than you. They can
also out coach you.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
So unless you're going to go and really convince me
that you're going to out recruit in which you're not,
or you're going to out develop them and scheme them
not once or twice in your career. You may do that,
but you've got to do it about ten or eleven
times in a year to be able to get to
the playoff. Then I'm out on them achieving anything more
than Carolina football historically as.
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So I want to get into the Micah Parsons trade,
and this is why I supported what the Cowboys did.
As you know and our fans know, everybody has different windows.
(26:18):
When I started the volume, we didn't have We couldn't
take huge swings, we didn't have the revenue.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
We didn't even have a sales department. Now we do.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
There are different windows for companies, for teams, for franchises,
for people in their life. In your twenties, some guys
don't want to get married. They want to be all career.
By your thirties, you're thinking about kids and getting married.
We all have different windows and timelines. So Dallas the
last two free agency periods, John had no flexibility. And
(26:50):
my take is in the NFL, that's one of the
reasons the Chiefs let Tyreek Hill go and why Howie
Roseman is constantly letting good players going. The great ones,
but he's always making deals because how he wants flexibility. Well,
the last two years the Cowboys have had none of it.
What would they have had if they signed Micah to
(27:11):
forty seven million? Now they offered him forty but like
this team could not pay Derek Henry eight million, and
they had unquestionably the worst running back room in the league.
So my take is they liked Micah, they offered him
forty but to get two firsts. That's now four first
(27:33):
in the next two years. And by the way, after
watching nuss Meyer and a Sam Levitt, the quarterback in
Arizona State, if they end up being one of the
six to seven worst teams, they may be able to
get a quarterback with their first pick and the next
Micah with their next pick in the first round. I
mean they this is a draft where if you're drafting
(27:54):
in the top eight, you don't have to move up
to get potentially a really good quarterback. So green Bay
in an incredibly deep, well coached offensive division with Kevin O'Connell,
Matt lefflur Ben Johnson, green Bay needs a playmaker on
the edge to get offenses off the field, and they
you know in our lifetime take out Reggie White. They
(28:16):
just don't have. Kenny Clark's a good interior defender against
the run. Cowboys can't stop the run. Kenny Clark comes in,
Green Bay needs a playmaker on the edge to get
offenses off the field and get it back to Matt
Lafleur and Jordan Love. So I thought it worked for
both teams. Dallas's defense was bad with Micah, it'll be
atrocious without him. But my take is the time to
(28:38):
move a superstar is in a rebuild year, and isn't
it clearly a rebuild year?
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Well, can we just lay one thing on the table,
is because most of the reaction has been pretty universal,
how could you trade Micah Parsons. There are untradeable players
in the history of this league. You know, Walter Payton,
Reggie White, Deon Sanders, guys in their prime. They're just unsoppable.
That is not you can run at Micah Parsons. He
is not Reggie White. He's not even the best player
at his position in the league.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
No, by the way, you could argue, initially John somebody
they put him in a stack linebacker inside, and that
people didn't think he had good eyes. They didn't think
he anticipated well, so they pretty much let him be
a pass rusher. Well, he's not as big as Hutches
and he's not as big as Miles Here, I would
argue he's a bit undersized, but they let him kind
(29:26):
of play that see the ball, attack the ball position.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
And it works.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
But he's a tradeable player. He's a great athlete. He's
an instinctive pass rusher. But you know, if there's seventy
plays in the game, they're not all seventy pass attempts
on third and ten. So we've seen in the playoffs
people run at him. That being said, I think the
issue that I have with this situation is anytime you
trade a player of this magnitude, like they did with
(29:53):
Khalil Mack too, right before that you're getting future first
round picks. You have no clue where they're going to be.
They could be excellent. We saw with Russell Wilson they
ended up and Matt Stafford trade. They go really high
because the team has an injury, but they also could
be back to back picks in the mid twenties. When
you trade a guy before the draft one, you have
more people coming to the table to be interested in
(30:15):
the trade because there's more teams with cap room and
you can know exactly at least that given year where
that pick lands, so you can value it. I do
feel it was Do you think there was any influence
on Jerry with this documentary coming out, because you watched
that documentary Go God Jerry and just hated that guy
was sharp, The guy was a maverick, that guy was willing,
(30:36):
and Jerry's kind of been a lot of people rightfully.
Sullivan like, yeah, Jerry's kind of scared to do deals
because a lot of people. I bet my four on
one k my aggression looks a lot different than yours.
I mean, looks a lot different than the guy that's
seventy five years old. But Jerry is just at a
point in time in his life. But I wonder if
he's like, oh, you think I won't do this, And
obviously once Micah, you can't convince me. When Micah showed
(30:58):
up eating nachos and then laid on the train. You know,
Jerry's old, stubborn and the deal wasn't going that well
in terms of the negotiation. It was kind of like
a double f you. So he's just like, Okay, we're
willing to trade him.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Micah's agent is also an agent that has gotten his
client's good money and a lot of I think he's
the Shawn Watson's agent, if I recall, so he signed
a couple of deals where the teams look back a
year later and don't like the deal. Now, I do
think Micah off the edge is exactly.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
What green Bay needs. Again.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Ben Johnson, Kevin O'Connell, you know Dan Campbell and that
old line. These offenses can keep your offense off the field.
So like, I like what green Bay did. And the
other thing about green Bay is is that they've always
been able to build good football teams. I mean they
for years they only drafted defense in the first round,
(31:52):
and yet they had great old lines and excellent tight ends.
And green Bay drafts and develops very well. Second round,
third round, fourth round. You know, there are teams in
this league and when Bill Pollion ran the Colts, they
nailed their first two picks every time. Middle rounds man,
but green Bay has shown a history to pick up
starters in the fourth and fifth and sixth round in
(32:14):
a much higher percentage than the rest of the league
over the last thirty years. So I think what they're
telling you. Green Bay likes this roster and they think
they got about a two to three year window to
make Hay, so they're rarely aggressive. I tip of the
cap to green Bay going for it.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
I think a lot of people, if you're a Packer fan,
was like, where was this move? Mid Aaron Rodgers right,
because that was our window and that was a big
reason that a lot of people are critical of Ted Thompson.
It's like, God, he's just kind of a kind of
a wos kind of conservative. When's he gonna take a
big swing? And now they finally do it with Jordan Love.
We'll see if it works out. I like the Packers
before this move. I text a lot of people in
(32:53):
the league asking him their thoughts. One universal take was
he's not like a troublemaker or anything, but Mike Parsons isn't.
Albert Breer reported about this when CD, when Zach Martin,
when Dak went through this, the locker room loves the guy.
That was not the reaction internally according to this, And
I had a GM who's very successful text me like, listen,
(33:13):
green Bay, their organizational culture has been.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
A lead for thirty years.
Speaker 5 (33:18):
It's been very consistent. It's just an easy place to operate.
They're bringing in Micah, who comes from a culture where
it's just all over the map in Dallas, do the
same thing in the Micah Parsons bringing him in there.
He is now making way more money than everybody. They
have an unproven, you know, still quarterback who you know
your quarterback is always kind of the leader of the team.
(33:39):
He's like, it is just there is some risk involved
when you factor in the finances, when you factor in
this big personality.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
He now is the face of the team.
Speaker 5 (33:48):
It's just it's a pretty big it would have been.
His point was, like, it would have been easier if
if you had Aaron, even if this guy at the time,
whatever the economics were, was making more than Aaron. But
Aaron's the face of the team. Mike is now immediately
the face of the team. Say what you want about
the Cowboys before this trade, Like still Dak was when
you turn on Sunday night football, is Dak's face, Like,
(34:08):
it's not even a question Micah Parsons.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
So let's just we'll see.
Speaker 5 (34:12):
Now they feel pretty good about their infrastructure. Xavier McKinney.
There are some questions fit right in. There's a big
difference though, in the amount of money Xavier McKinney's making
and this guy who knows he's untouchable.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
I mean, Micah's a personality. You see it in the podcast.
I think he's not going to get in trouble in
Green Bay and not like you got in a lot
of trouble in Dallas. But you know, Micah, Mike is
a personality. And I think when you have a week
coaching staff or a week head coach, which Schottenheimer is,
I think my take was if this team started one
(34:43):
in five and you signed Mike into a big deal
like Dallas, is going to be atrocious, I really do.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
I think I don't.
Speaker 5 (34:50):
Acting like they just traded Lawrence Taylor because that's not
what they just did.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
Well, they weren't any good.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Well, here's the other thing. If you were paying Dak
forty four instead of what you're paying him, then you
could have won. Then you guys could have met at
forty five million. All the problems here start. And we
know this, John, it's hard to win when you pay
Josh Allen top of the market salary. Okay, it's it's hard.
(35:17):
You're not going to have that second slot receiver or
that third really dependable you know, uh, interior lineback, you lose.
I mean you've seen this over the last couple of
years that Buffalo has moved off multiple veteran players in
the second.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Half their team last year.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Yeah, well and that's and they're still winning with Josh Allen.
And Josh Allen took a reasonably team friendly deal. Dak
is a B quarterback making a plus money, so you are,
and he's he needs an entourage. He is not Josh
Allen Lamar. So this the problems all stem from you
massively overpaid a B quarterback. And so I mean, we people,
(36:01):
and this is the case. The younger the media people,
the more they report pay the player. They're always pro player.
I have learned something over my life that like the
Rams could not trade Jared Verse, like this kid was
defensive Rookie of the Year. Like everybody's got a guy,
(36:21):
even take out the quarterback. There's a guy like Sakuon
Barkley to Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
They could win if he left. But boys with Jalen.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Hurts in the pocket sometimes a little tenuous. If you
trust him, they're just guys you can't move. I will
defend the Cede Lamb contract. I think he's a top
five or six receiver. He's a playmaker. I just I
wasn't comfortable making Mike of the highest paid defensive end.
I've seen him in a couple of playoff games. He
has been invisible in those games against better offensive linemen because.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
They run right at him, and that's not I think.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
So, how do I pay a guy?
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Now?
Speaker 5 (36:57):
I get what the Packers need. I think it's easy
for Jerry to go, well, I'm gonna give a guy
forty seven. I'm gonna match this contract for a guy
who's a liability in the run game, and the Packers
need that, and Rashawn Gary is a much more complete player.
I also defend the Cowboys the timing.
Speaker 4 (37:12):
I don't.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
I mean, I would have traded him before the draft,
but clearly they weren't planning on doing it then. Right,
he thought he could get a deal done at forty
million dollars, But when you trade him now, they go,
how did they only get that? Well, as someone told
me in the league a couple of years ago, they said,
this isn't the NBA, but players now have more juice
than they ever had. Twenty years ago, a team would
have been like, hey, even if the contract's not done,
(37:34):
we will trade for this player if you're over him,
and we'll figure it out. We have his control. Teams
are not doing that anymore. So if I'm going to
trade multiple ones, there has to be signed at the
bottom line. Well, so Micah Parsons kind of controlled had
a big part in mulgeda in where he went because
you go, well, you could have got more from Team X,
who the Lions, the Raiders, whoever, they would have given.
Speaker 4 (37:57):
Two ones, two twos and a player.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
Well, if they were offering twenty million dollars less than
the Packers salary, he goes, well, I'm not signing that
contract when this contract's on the table. So let's just
say there was another team willing to pay an extra
high draft pick, but they are the money. They go,
we're not paying them forty seven million a year and
one hundred and forty guaranteed. We'll give them a hundred
and twenty guaranteed. Well, he's like, I'm not signing that. Well,
then they're not going to trade him there right cause
(38:21):
that team's like, well the trade doesn't it's not on
the table then, so Parsons. You know there was an
NBA element if he got to dictate a little bit
where he went, because you were going to sign the
contract the moment you traded him Khalil Mack several years ago.
The Bears, they signed when the trade is done. So
the contract is a huge part of the negotiation. So
(38:43):
when I see all these people, how did the Cowboys
only get this because Parsons dictated the terms by the
contract And clearly I would imagine some of the teams
very interested, were nowhere near in the ballpark of what
the Packers gave him. And this is what makes the
NFL so unique. This team without an owner in the
middle of nowhere, can pay historic amount of money like
the opposite of baseball.
Speaker 4 (39:03):
Which is cool and.
Speaker 5 (39:04):
It's part of the NFL, but pretty risky deal. I mean,
this is I give Gutakins a lot of credit, but
he's kind of laying it all out there on the
table on this one.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Okay. So I want to go through.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
And I don't know if we'll do this on a
on a weekly bit, but I want to go through
the NFL.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
Week one. Odds Now, I'm going to throw a couple
of games at you.
Speaker 5 (39:37):
And.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Just a couple of games that I looked at and
they kind of jumped out to me. So you know
my feeling on Seattle. I like Sam Darnold, but I
also think this is a really good coach. And so
one of the lines that confuses me a little bit
is that Seattle at home is getting two and a
(40:00):
half points. Give me your take on the Niners' health.
I mean, they have real issues at wide receiver. So
if they're gonna beat Seattle, it's going to be some
running games. You're not throwing the ball downfield a ton
on Seattle, and I think Seattle's pass rush is going
to be pretty good. I'm surprised. It's My favorite pick
(40:22):
of the week is Seattle at home plus points. First
of all to division rivalry, so these games are always close,
so I love taking even average Pittsburgh teams historically can
cover against much better Baltimore rosters division games. I generally
take the points, but Seattle, I think top to bottom
has more athletes in their prime. Hufunga, gone Greenlawn, gone
(40:43):
Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey not in their prime. I think
Seattle has more athletes in their prime. Are you surprised
by that line.
Speaker 5 (40:51):
I think the market believes that Seattle's not going to
be that great because they're five to one to win
the division and the forty nine ers are like plus
one fifty. So based on the divisional odds, they are
a heavy long shot. If you look at every division,
they by far are the only team that has been
good the last several years. Nine wins, ten wins, and
it feels like Vegas gives them no chance to win.
(41:13):
And this is a good example, Juwan Jennings. This wasn't
practice today, so they've rekindled. So you got Juwan Jennings
back with pearsall Kittle, you know, McCaffrey like they actually
are offensively in theory healthy, Trent Williams Perdy coming into
this game. Yeah, I just think the market is pretty
low on Seattle. You and I are high on them.
My problem is whenever I bet on the Niners aggressively
(41:35):
Super Bowls, they've bit me in the ass, and whenever
I bet against them, they always come through and win.
So I just I kind of stay away from the Niners.
But to me, there is not a better long shot
on the board to win their division than five to
one Seattle. They won ten games last year. They had
the same amount of wins as the team that we
(41:56):
treat the Rams like. They're thirteen to fourteen win team.
They won ten They won ten games last year. I
think they won ten games the year before, and we
just we hold them to highest team rightfully so, because
they have a really good coach. Quarterbacks back in major trouble.
The forty nine ers at any moment, half their team
can be on injury reserve. I do not trust Kyler.
It is by far of the value that there's not
(42:16):
a better on the board. And I'm with you, Seattle
can get weird. I do think divisional games Week one
can be hard to bet. Like I do think the
forty nine ers are going to be pretty solid this year.
I think they got for the first time in the
year is kind of a chip on their shoulder, kind
of get to fly under the radar a little bit.
Sam Darnold's you know, this is a first start with
a new team. Offense a little different than what you know.
(42:39):
Kevin o'connoll likes to pass a lot, which is sam blite.
I mean, was they had justin Jefferson Kubiak like his
dad like Kyle, He's gonna call a lot of runs.
If they can run the ball, they're going to be
really good play defense. But what to see I mean
their run game, you know, Kenneth Walker, be healthy, Sharvion Ay,
we like.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
But Designers brought in Robert Sala and the reason being
is they don't have the same personnel. I mean no,
if Bosa's dinged up, it's Fred Warner and cross your fingers.
It is really an I mean, I think we look
at the Niners and we just sometimes you fall into
this romance because for about four years they just had
incredible defensive personnel.
Speaker 3 (43:18):
They don't on the back end right now.
Speaker 5 (43:20):
Yeah, I mean I think they're gonna need kind of
like the Rams. Two years ago, you didn't know who
after the roster was, and then a couple of years
later that they are just solidified players on defense, not
counting verse. You know who they drafted high, but a
lot of mid round, late round picks. They're gonna need
that to happen. And that's what the forty nine ers
did originally, right Kittle fifth round pick, Greenlaw fifth round pick, Perty.
(43:41):
So they've hit on a lot of late round picks.
That's how you get good in the NFL. The Ravens
let a lot of guys hit free agency, why because
they crushed the third through the seventh rounds, Because that's
where you make your hay in the end. Obviously you
got to hit on first round picks. But when you
get good in the NFL, it's hard to pick in
the twenties. That's the one thing a lot of people
are saying about the my could trade. It's like, well,
the Packers just good back to back of years. That's
(44:03):
pick twenty five and twenty eight, right, It's hard to
hit on those picks.
Speaker 4 (44:06):
Ask Jerry.
Speaker 5 (44:07):
When they started winning games with McCarthy, they're drafting Tyler Geidon,
Tyler Smith. It's a lot harder to It's much easier
to draft in the top five when Jamar Chase or
Piney Sewell or Jayden Daniels is staring at you. So
I like Seattle this year. This game to me is
just I don't know, you convince me. Niners win. Seattle wins,
Seattle kicks their ass. The Niners are into That's why
(44:28):
Week one. Like I like a lot of like the Titans,
you know, the Panthers. I like teams like that Week
one that everyone just thinks they're gonna suck. Some of
the times these divisional games like Giants Commanders like, I'm
had to stay away from me.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 5 (44:40):
If you tell me Giants win, I could, I could
see it. Cowboys are the one that's like, I have
a hard time seeing them win.
Speaker 3 (44:45):
Yeah, teams.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Convince themselves, even if they're Tennessee, they convince themselves they're
a playoff team. By week four or five, you start
losing guys, and everybody in the room knows. But yeah,
Tennessee getting over a touchdown the hook. I'd stay away
from that one. The other game that's fascinating to me
is it does matter you're allowed in Green Bay or
(45:09):
a Jacksonville or maybe a Seattle to have really ugly losses.
You're not going to get crushed Philadelphia, San Francisco, Chicago.
Speaker 3 (45:19):
It's loud, so.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
Chicago's an underdog at home getting a point and a
half against Minnesota, and Minnesota's a mystery team. I don't
know what JJ McCarthy is. I really do not know.
I've heard enough from people I trust. I got text
by somebody I really trust. A few weeks ago. He
said it's a work in progress, but if Chicago loses
at home, it'll be a huge, huge night in Chicago.
(45:44):
That shit could unarrival fast, really fast. If you had
to make a prediction, what do you think the Bears
and Caleb look like? Forget winning and losing. I mean,
they're the underdog at home, which I kind of like
that position, But what do you think it will look like.
Speaker 5 (45:59):
I think it's going to be really hard. I mean,
Caleb is much more talented of a thrower. But I
think there could be some parallels to the situation that
we saw with Arch in Texas trying to play offense
against Patricia. I mean, Flores is one of, if not
the best defensive coordinator in the league right now. Their
personnel has actually improved from last year. I like Minnesota
in this game, but I like you, I don't expect
(46:22):
hard to say JJ's gonna come out and throw three
or four touchdowns. We'll see Chicago's defense a little overrated.
Are they quite as good as we thought they were
going to be like a year ago? I don't know,
but I could see them like I expect this to
be a lower scoring like seventeen to fourteen type game,
and if in that situation, I'm just gonna take Flores
in Minnesota and Kevin O'Connell, I mean, he's just listen.
(46:45):
First game at home gets a little weird if you
have a couple of three and outs, Like in a
moment like this, you're gonna need some positive early momentum
because if the crowd gets a little weird, if you
have a couple that first try. I get it was
a preseason game against the bill twos and threes, but
he drove him right down and all of Chicago took it,
just took a sigh of relief, right like, oh my god,
(47:07):
he might be able.
Speaker 4 (47:07):
To he might be okay. Because the Ben Johnson thing.
Speaker 5 (47:10):
They played the Chiefs I watched when I was flying
to Hawaii that last preseason game.
Speaker 4 (47:14):
They got their ass kicked early on, and Ben.
Speaker 5 (47:17):
Johnson came out and said after the game like that's
just unacceptable, Like that's just too at this point in time,
too sloppy. Well, who were the Chiefs? A big time
team that took that game? Seriously, Remember I told you
when we were together like two and a half weeks ago,
that second preseason game Andy, because they got their ass
kicked by Seattle the Bills when they got their ass
(47:38):
kicked by the Bears. That's the point in time in
camp where he's been driving him, driving him. The legs
are heavy. But that last preseason game is more of
a ramp up, especially with Kansas City starters play a
little bit. You take it pretty seriously like you're coming
into that game with some some Well, the Bears tried
to do that too, and it did not go well. Now,
in fairness, Kansas City is like a dynasty, but Minnesota's
(48:00):
pretty good. They won fourteen games last week. Minnesota's got
the better roster. Yes, yeah, I mean it would be
like to me, if Minnesota wins, it'd be yeah, Minnesota's good.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
Right.
Speaker 5 (48:13):
I don't think it's like it'd be big if JJ
plays like an elite level game. But even if he's
just kind of average on the road, just win, get
out of there. It's not like we're not setting it
in stone the headline of their season. Whatever happens with
the Bears, right you lose, it gets weird. That's a
major story. They win, he plays well, beats Brian Flores,
that's a huge kind of monkey off everyone's back. Okay,
(48:35):
we might we might have. There's a lot that there's
there's not a game in the league Week one where
there's just more on the line because of the quarterback situations,
the hopes of that. Like we said, the expectation for
this franchise, anything less than nine and eight will feel awful,
and even nine and eight, if you miss the playoffs,
will be like God, what what are we doing here?
Speaker 3 (48:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (48:56):
I went through the schedule and it looks like eight
and nine, nine and eight to me, and I was optimistic.
I had them splitting with their division. Bears don't split
with their division. They went one in five last year.
They don't split in their division. So okay, John and
I chopped it up. We are now both gonna go
watch Belichick and TCU and I can't.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Wait for that.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
This is the first of twenty two, twenty three, twenty
four conversations on Sunday Night. This is our Monday. I
am back to work tomorrow, buddy, and it's great seeing you.
Speaker 5 (49:26):
Awesome seeing you.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
The volume
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