HR 2 - Seth Rorabaugh, Wes Uhler

Tom chats Penguins with Seth and Steelers with Wes.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Let's keep the Penguin talk rolling as we welcome Seth
Roarba from the trip to the program, Tom up from
and sitting in on the Mark Madden Show today for Mark, Seth,
let's just start with the topic on everybody's mind as
far as the Penguin's offseason is concerned. What would you
Seth Roarbaud do with f Guinny Malkin? And also what
do you expect the team to do?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
I thought you wanted to talk about ili Slova, but
I guess we could start with Malkin.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
He's like five or six questions down the list, so
just be patient.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
At least he's on the list, Guinea Malkin.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
I don't know that there's a wrong answer there, but
I think both answers have you know, significate consequences if
you sign him? Okay, fine, you keep a point per
game player.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
On your team. You keep a guy who's.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Off a franchise pillar, a guy who can still contribute
at the same time too.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
He will be forty at the same time too.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
He you know, he dealt with all kinds of injuries
this past season, most notably a left shoulder injury that
never healed.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Really and you.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Know he's again, this is a guy who doesn't exactly
play a conservative stat He's a player perimeter. He goes
full boor he you know, gets involved physically. Sometimes he
does something something's very stupid physically, such as slashing rastm
style lean in the head and getting himself suspended. So
you bring back up Guinea Malkin. Yes, I mean you
maintain you know something there that's positive.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
At the same time too, there are some minuses.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
But if you if you do part ways with him,
you're well, you're cutting off of one of your top
six forwards. You're potentially you know, you know, putting the
new ownership maybe in a bad position in terms of
you know, cutting ties with a franchise icon. I mean,
it did take twenty some years for them to bring
back armor yogurt uh for retirement summary for wherever that's
worth in terms.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Of you know, wins and losses.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
So I again, I don't I know that's I know
you probably want to maybe a more hard answer there,
But to me, I think there's not a bad answer
or an incorrect answer.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
It just both answers have some consequences.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
No, actually, I think that was a perfect answer with
what I was looking for, because I really think both
sides have a really strong argument here if you want
to let him go or if you want to keep them.
And because of that seth in a weird way, it's
almost like there isn't a right answer, you know what
I mean, Like, if you do bring him back, it
serves all the nostalgia stuff. He's a franchise legend, no doubt,
and and the tangible stuff that you brought up to

(02:12):
where he's a point per game player. He's still a
top six forward. But you're undoubtedly delaying the inevitable when
you do that, and you're not fully turning that page,
and there's probably gonna be a little bit of a
blockading as far as things go as power play is
concerned or something like that. But then again, if you
let him walk, you know, there's a bunch of drawbacks
to all those things I just illustrated. So it's it's
really a tough spot. It's it's not a clear cut thing.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
Also too, there's not really an immediate replacement available for him.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Even if you're just going to say five on five.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
I mean, yeah, Rucker McGarty and Relly equipment are there,
but would you say they've really earned, you know, an
immediate promotion to.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
The NHL based on what they offered last year.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
And you can get them in the lineup without displacing Geno.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah, and if you look at the free agent market,
I mean in terms of the least in terms of
unrestrict free agents, it's there's not a lot of value
out there. You can get Patrick Kane, you know, another
third se year old on the downside of his career.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
I'd rather have our legend than some others.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, and obviously, hey, I know, you know the talk
of Jason Robertson or other restricted free agents are out there,
but you know you have to pay a pretty penny
there first off to pay him, and then on top
of that too, you know the draft capital you'd have
to give up and make no mistake, Kyle Dubis has
accumulated a lot of the draft capital for that possibility.
So I don't know there's a good answer or incorrect answer.

(03:27):
Just every answer seems to have some sort of consequence.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
I think that he is going to come back, and
I'm not opposed to that. I'm Penguins fan, obviously, Seth
the love of Genny Malkin I've literally spent only twelve
years of my life on Earth not knowing Gino, Sid
and the Tang playing in a Penguin's uniform together. But
the one thing that really is giving me pause is
what he does on that power play. And he really
did seem to drag that unit down as the season

(03:51):
went on, especially in the playoffs, and his production goal
scoring wise over the past two years on the power
play is undeniably lacking for a player like him.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yeah, I mean, his greatest attribute when he was at
the height of his powers as far as the power
play entity, was that shot. Yeah, one time it was
it was a cannon blast, and it's just not there anymore.
And I'm curious if maybe that was maybe something exacerbated
specifically this past season with the left shoulder injury. There
there were a lot of things he couldn't do it
with that left shoulder injury. Maybe from just from a
physical standpoint in terms of you know, banging and crashing

(04:21):
and mixing it up, but you have to imagine and
probably you know, took off some mphs off that that
one timer just maybe you know, took away a lot
of his confidence with it. So maybe I'm being a
little too optimistic here. I'm going to bed maybe with
four or five months here of downtime to heal up.
Maybe you know, the he'll resource of velocity on that shot,
but again he'll be forty here at the end of July.

(04:43):
That generally does not aid well in terms of a
guy's finding another another gear in terms of their skating
or their shooting or.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Their physical play.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
So again, I you know, he was a diminished player
specifically in terms of the power play. And if you
keep him on there just out of better respect, I
mean you probably are you know, denying yourself lother what
can Ben Kintle do out there? What can you know
if you bring back Anthony Manthon, which I don't think
would be would be something that they'll do, But you
bring back Gena Cuff Like I'm look at Gina cuff

(05:14):
shot on that first unit seth.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
I mean, I feel like you have to find a
way to get it out there.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
So again I hate to keep repeating myself, but you know,
I don't know there's a wrong answer with a Guinny Malkom,
but there's a lot of consequences no matter what the
answer is.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
And power play is certainly one of those areas well.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
I certainly know what the answer would be if it
was up to the captain, he would want of Guinny
Malkin to be back. And you know, whether it's you know,
just with a comment here or maybe actually saying something
behind closed doors, I think he'll voice that opinion. Where
do you think the captain's game is at. I think
he was certainly playing through something towards the end of
the year after what Gudhas did to him in the Olympics,
taking him out of that gold medal game and out

(05:51):
for about a month of the Penguins regular season. But
he's still you know, found those moments in that Flyer
series where he was able to hit a gear and
take over the game.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
Well, I think if they were about eight or nine
years younger, I think Chris Cooninson and passwal Wo would
still be on the line up if Sidney Crossby had
say on that.

Speaker 3 (06:06):
But but I mean, he's just he's someone who likes
his yes, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
Having speaking of that seth, don't you think it's not
a coincidence they go back to rackellen Russ and he
seems to awaken in that series.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
I mean, Jay Kensel would still be here if Sidney
Crosby was in the GM, I suppose, but but no
as far as Sidney Crosby or he is physically, I mean,
he certainly was diminished after you know that the Olympics,
and you know, I mean miss however many was I
think eleven games after the Olympics, missed another one here
or there because the injury. Then said that the last
few games with things were kind of wrapped up with
the playoff seating.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
But clearly he wasn't the same player.

Speaker 4 (06:44):
Uh, We're gonna go ahead and give Seth the call
back a little cutting out of the phone there.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
I thought that I was kind of losing my mind
a little bit for a second eight through three nine,
if you want to jump in, you know, with Sidney Crosby,
as we were talking about that with Seth, you got
to feel so bad for how his season ended, right
with just goodas taking him out before that gold medal
game and then missing that time with the Penguins, that
never being quite himself for the Penguins too, Seth, who

(07:22):
got you back?

Speaker 3 (07:22):
Now?

Speaker 1 (07:23):
Sorry about that? You were talking about Crossby ow in
his status.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah, just I mean, clearly a diminished player after the Olympics.
Something there wasn't totally healed up with him still pretty
you know, dangerous player more often than not when he's
out there.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
Even if he's maybe at eighty seventy percent whatever it
might be. But benefit of a few months rest I
think will do him some good.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
I know the schedule bumps up to eighty four games
next year, but without it being so compressed as it
was this past season. Do the Olympics, I think that
might benefit him as well as any other older.

Speaker 3 (07:52):
Player in the league.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
So I wouldn't have any sort of concern about Sidney
Crosby as he does turns thirty nine and August going.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
Into his twenty seven season.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
Geez, I think he'll still be a pretty dangerous player,
top ten player if you will, in the next year,
because I mean, full health.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
Give me a young player this year, seth that kind
of disappointed you as far as they weren't able to
stick into the big league level like you might have
thought at the beginning of the year. You know, I'm
talking like the Covenans, the macgroarty's of the world, and
I'm not saying that you're you're done with them or anything.
I'm just saying twenty twenty six, you expected a bit more.

Speaker 3 (08:27):
I would say coaven In.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
I mean just there were so many high, sky high
expectations of him, and he was kind of the crown jewel.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
Of the Genseil trade.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
That was the guy that Kyle Dubis really pointed to
as being the guy.

Speaker 3 (08:37):
They really wanted to get out of Carolina.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
But yeah, by Carolina, but making that trade, he showed
a lot of promise. You know, at the end of
last season, I think it was like seven assists in
eight games playing with Sidney Crosby and Brian Russ on
that top line. Started this season on that top line
and just was so bad they sent him right back
to Wilkesbear after about a week or so, and then
he would come back and he's kind of deployed more
more often a third line role. But even in that

(09:02):
limited capacity, there wasn't much there in terms of like, oh, yeah,
he can he can do some things even from a
from a lesser role in the lineup, or he saw
some of his offensive brilliance.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
I mean, infarness to him.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
He was kind of snake bit a couple of times
when they were shooting opportunities to hit a post or
to shoot wide or something like that. But yeah, I
really think he was probably maybe the most disappointing Penguin's
player this past season, regardless of criteria, young, old, what
have you. So this was a guy who was, you know,
really given a great opportunity to play with Sitney Crosby.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
He didn't make the most of it. And you know,
and hey, he was very productive of the American Hockey League.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
Levels, you know, one of Wolke's Bear's top players there
and big reason why they're one of the best teams
in the American Hockey League. But for whatever reason, he
just that has not translated to the NHL, at least
in the limited showings he's had at this level. So
that's a guy that probably needs to have a pretty
big well postseason.

Speaker 3 (09:53):
They're still in the postseason right now.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
Wilks bear a good offseason and a good training camp
to really show that he's worth a lot of the
hype that was surrounding him when the Penguins made that
trade two years ago.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
Other than Afgany Malkin, give me another pending UFA on
the Penguin's roster that you would consider bringing back. You
can give me a couple if you think that they're
a couple that warrant it. Anthony Manfa, you're in the
bring back to Anthony camp.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
Huh uh, it's under circum circ certain circumstances.

Speaker 3 (10:22):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
First off, I don't think I would give him more
than two years if you if you give him three years,
I think you're really really blocking the path for some
of these young guys, not just you know the Quavenans
and Gordy's, the guys are ready to go now, but
maybe someone down the road it goes on and or
you know, Will hork Off, you know, some of their
more long range prospects. Anthony Manpa May scored thirty three

(10:43):
goals and there's there's nothing really in his history that says, Okay,
he's going to do it again. And I know he
had to down a really bad playoff run here, but
in general, I think he was a bigger reason why
this team was so good. And it wasn't just because
he led the team with thirty three goals. I thought
he was a really good citizen in the dressing room.
He was really helpful a lot of the younger players,
guys like Ben Kendall, even going back to the preseason,

(11:03):
helping guys out there, you know, with just little things
like you know, how to dress for the road trip
or just you know, how to be a pro. Then
you know, you look at that was in November, Brendan Dillon,
the New Jersey Devil was just absolutely trucks Tommy Novac
and you know Anthony Mantha is, you know, right there
to fight Brendan Dillon, one of the tougher players in
the league. So I think anything Mantha does a lot
of good things for this franchise. Now, if he wants

(11:24):
a three year or four year deal, and hey, he
said he's looking for a three year deal to you know,
set himself, you know, up for family security. He's not
crying poorlock say cam Hayward, but he's just you know,
he's acknowledging that he's been around, He's moved around the
Angel quite a bit, and throughout his career, you would
like to get some stability. So with Penguin's canna offer that.
Then you shake his hand and you wish him luck
wherever he goes next. But I don't I'm not gonna

(11:46):
dismiss Anthony Manthon just because he had a bad playoffs series.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
They had a lot of a lot of players did
to this team. But that's a guy.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
I don't think it's quite automatic that you just dismiss
him after, you know, a port six game run in
the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
No, I don't think you can make an autumn to
just completely ignore coming to the negotiating table with your
leading goal scorer last year and your parameters are sound,
but you have to imagine he will get that three
or four years somewhere else and you would just get
out bid and you can't get into that kind of
bidding war with him.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
No. No, I mean you do your due diligence there.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
But if you know, I don't know the you know,
National Predators or whatever offer him four years or something,
you say, hey, good luck, buddy.

Speaker 3 (12:24):
So someone else, I don't dismiss Connor Doer. I mean
he's twenty six.

Speaker 1 (12:28):
He's on the younger side.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
Yeah, I mean that's that's kind of like that mold
of like you know, they brought in Tommy Novack last year.

Speaker 3 (12:34):
I know he had maybe mixed results, but he was
like twenty six and eager. China cuff.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
He's still young guys who aren't quite prospects are not
quite battle hardened veterans. Connor Doer kind of fits that mold,
and he understands his job on the fourth line and
uh fits it well. And you know, from the fourth
line and without much power play time, he scored fourteen
goals during the regular season, scored two goals in the postseason.

Speaker 3 (12:55):
I know one was an eighteen.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
Editor, but that's a guy you can really trust in
a lot of defensive his own situations. I know that
line might get broken up with military likely leaving, but
you know, with every chemistry he has with Saint Blake
Lazote and whoever else they might put on that line,
that seems like a pretty good safe bet in terms
of how you want to construct your fourth line and
deploy them to certain situations. I defense his own draws,

(13:17):
and again there's a modicum of offensive skill that Connor
Dour offers, and even in a pinch, he's not terrible
that if you want to move them up to a
bottom six roll, I'm sorry, top six rolls. The injuries
are or something maybe deprived of he cannak games.

Speaker 3 (13:30):
Yeah, yeah, kind of.

Speaker 2 (13:31):
Like Matt Cook would have done like fifteen years ago,
just for a handful of games is okay?

Speaker 3 (13:34):
There?

Speaker 2 (13:35):
So he made one point one million. I can't imagine
him breaking the bank. I mean if you send him
maybe a similar contract that they gave to Saint Blake
Lazotte three years at two point twenty five, that might
be you know something that that would be you know,
appetizing to this overall directory of this franchise. But Connor
Dower is a guy that I would very much.

Speaker 3 (13:53):
Be interested in bringing back from Kyle Davis.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
Do you think the team approaches this offseason with from
Sergeyshoff being the number one goalie on day one next
year like they approached this offseason with that in mind?

Speaker 3 (14:05):
And is that what you would do?

Speaker 2 (14:07):
I'm not sure number one, but he'll be definitely one
of the top two. I think the path of the
folee's resistance would be just led Stewart Skinner walk, You
shake his hand, let him go off to wherever he
needs to go, and the you resigned archer Sea LOFs
depending RFA. Then you may be playing on entering the
season with the merchoff she loss. Uh, you know tannem
and net You let them figure out who's gonna who's

(14:28):
number one Frankly, I wouldn't be too opposed to doing
another platoon that they as they did throughout the most
last season with whether it was Sea Lost and Jari
or Sea Lofts and Skinner. That worked out marvelously for
for all parties concerned. And you know, you don't just
throw s Mershoff into the fire right away and expecting
to play.

Speaker 1 (14:47):
Which they've shown they don't want to do that, right,
I mean they've really gone development first with him.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah, yeah, So I mean you don't want to for
all the effort you've put into a player like that,
you don't want.

Speaker 3 (14:57):
To just ruin him when he right when he gets
to the NHL.

Speaker 2 (14:59):
So now that's that I mean, I mean I'm maybe
hijacking this into a larger discussion about the goaltending in
general here, so bear with me. But you know, okay,
you let if you let Stuart Skinner walk, you keep
Art that's probably the easiest thing you can do. At
the same time, to just give him his strong performance
in the playoffs and his r faced ass. You could
theoretically trade Arter se Loss for a draft pick or

(15:21):
something of value, and you know, maybe you deal with
Stuart Skinner and you know, maybe talk to him to
maybe a three year, four year contract and maybe discuss
a maybe a platoon with Sergey Mushoff.

Speaker 3 (15:31):
Maybe not three or four.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
Years, but there are definitely some variety of options that
payments can take here with their goaltending position. But the
most likely I think what happened would be she lost
Mershoff is a little tooon next year and you let Stuart
Skinner walk. But I'm not totally sold on Stuart Skinner
not being part of the group next year, just based
on what you could potentially get for she lost in
the trade.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
One last thing for you here, seth quickly. Eric Carlson
had his best year as a Penguin one team MVP.
Now he's entering the last year of his contract. Do
you approach him with negotiations or do you just kind
of let this play out.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
You definitely have to approach him, I think, just out
of due diligence that my question would be would he
want to make that type of commitment? Yeah, he'll be
thirty six at the end of this month here, and
what's to say the Penguins don't take a step back
next year? The way you know, we all kind of
looked at the Washington Capitals last year is you know
that model for a great building. Look, they fell back
to being a non playoff status this year. So Eric Carlson,

(16:27):
who said, you know, he wants to win the Stanley
Cup before he retires, and he's very much closer to
the end than he is leaving the middle, would he
want to maybe make a long term commitment to the
Penguins if you know, they take a step back next
year and you know, go back to the middle and
you know, aren't really necessarily making significant traction towards being
a true Stanley Cup contender. So from the Penguins perspective, yeah,

(16:47):
I mean absolutely, you definitely would want to a player
like Eric Carlson being part of the mix here and
being part of you know, the who's maybe helped drive
this team back to being a Stanley Cup contender. But
if the Penguins regress, I mean, I think across and
we have some things to think about in terms of
where he wants to play next and if he wants
to get that Stanley Cup ring before he retires.

Speaker 1 (17:07):
I'm sorry, we ran out of time before we got
the Solio off sets, so we'll have to do that
next time. But thanks has always forgiving me the time.
I always appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (17:14):
Hey time, Tom be well, but that's where I.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
Brought from the trip. Always love reading his fine work.

Speaker 3 (17:18):
There.

Speaker 1 (17:19):
We get a little bit of time off now for seth.
Now that the Penguins have cooled down a bit, I
guess we've got the draft on the horizon and the
Stanley Cup playoffs, of course, are ongoing Round two underway
right now. We'll update the playoff picture a little bit
when we come back in both NHL and NBA playoffs.
And we got Wes Euler joining us around four point
thirty to talk Steelers football. It's Tom oppermann in from
Mark one oh five ninety X. We got Wes Uler

(17:44):
from Steelers Nation Radio joining us in about six or
seven minutes from now. Get back into some Steelers talk.
Short segment here though, before we get to Wes, let's
just update the brackets when it comes to the NHL,
and I guess we'll do the NBA as well as
the playoffs are in full swim round two for both
of those leagues. In the NHL tonight you only have

(18:05):
one game eight o'clock on ESPN. You have the Avalanche
in the Wild, Colorado leads one to nothing after that
nine to six just insane game. It was a weird
way of saying that, but that's how insane the game
was in Game one, to the point where it was
just becoming a farce, to be honest with you, And
I think most people loved it. But there's so many goals.

(18:27):
I was just like, all right, enough already, like let's
make a stop, let's let's engage in some playoff hockey.
But as long as the entire series doesn't shake out
that way, I think one game like that is always
very exciting and very unique. But well, the Wild tightening
up a bit tonight against Colorado. I think Colorado is
clearly the best team in the NHL, so I expect

(18:48):
the Wild to win some games in this series and
put up a fight, but Colorado will ultimately move on.
Golden Knights and the Ducks or the other side of
that bracket on the way Eastern Conference. Golden Knight's winning
Game one last night against Anaheim, so they are up
one nil in that series. Carolina and Philadelphia. The Hurricanes

(19:10):
won Game two in overtime, so they lead tow to
zero over the Philadelphia Flyers, so that series shifts back
to Philly. Hopefully they sweep the Flyers and Game one
of the Sabers in the Canadians hasn't started yet. They
don't even drop the puck until tomorrow at seven o'clock
between those two clubs, So Sabers and the Canadians on

(19:31):
Wednesday at seven o'clock. The East is wide open right now.
I mean Florida literally, the state has dominated the East
since twenty nineteen. It's been either the Lightning or the
Panthers breaking through to get to the Cup finals. So
finally some refreshing teams in the mix here, refreshing options
to get to the Stanley Cup Final, and it is
wide open. I mean other than the Flyers because they

(19:54):
are dead. But other than the Flyers, every team can
win the Eastern Conference. All three of the teams that
are still alive with the Pulse can get through because again,
the Flyers are dead. On the NBA side of things,
and I gotta be honest with you, I haven't had
much interest in the NBA this year. I think it's
picking up a bit though with the playoffs starting. Timberwolves
upset the Spurs, the sixth seed over the two seed,

(20:15):
they lead one nothing. They won game one last night
in San Antono. Game one of the Knicks and the
Sixers was last night to the Knicks just eviscerated the Sixers.
So they're up one nil. Game one tonight between the
Pistons and the Caves and the Thunder and the Lakers
as well. Thunder trying to repeat as NBA champions, and
they are the overwhelming favorite to do so. The NIXT

(20:35):
guy get out of the East this year, though, it
is now their time to shine. I know they beat
the Celtics last year, but with the Sixers upsetting the Celtics,
it's right there for the Knicks to take. And if
they don't get out of the East this year, I
don't know if they ever will. Who cares though, because
the NBA is honestly as dead as it's ever been.
I mean, they really have ruined that league so much.
It's just it's just not an entertaining watch. And I

(20:59):
don't think I'm a boomer. I'm not an old man
yelling at the clouds get off my front lawn to
say load management is a problem. I mean, you gotta
have your stars playing games. You are seeing finally, the
effects now in the long term of this shift towards
load management and making sure the players are healthy and

(21:19):
the negatives of well, now you just don't know who's
gonna be there. You take your kid to a game
and Steph Curry might not even play. So that league
is a joke. NHL's a joke for a bunch of
different reasons. But it's a wildly entertaining sport to watch.
And you got the Wild and the Avalanche tonight in
game two at eight o'clock Westeler's gonna join us next,
We're gonna talk to some Steelers. It's time out from

(21:40):
an Infra Mark on one oh five ninety X Westuler
and Matt Williamson hosts the highly successful Drive on Steelers
Nation Radio, part of the Steelers' audio network, every damn
day of the week. Wes is kind enough to join
me a lot when I host for Mark Madden, as
he does right now. Wes Rogers got us start there yesterday,

(22:01):
Jerry Doulac putting out there that the Steelers and as
he put its saint like patients seemingly starting to wear
thin a little bit as they put yet another quote
unquote soft deadline out there of May eighteenth when OTAs
get started. Is that the vibe you kind of got too,
that they themselves are starting to feel What kind of
the fan base is feeling with that patience wearing a

(22:22):
bit thin? Yeah?

Speaker 5 (22:24):
Absolutely, Tom, And I think I'm sure it kind of
permeates the organization. You know, if you're Art Rooney, you're
probably tired of being asked about it. If you're Omar Kahn,
You're probably tired of being asked about it. You know,
we've got OTAs right around the corner here, guys like
Cam Hayward and PJ. Watt and Jalen Ramsey and all
the offensive linemen and Michael Pittman and DK Metcalf. When

(22:47):
the media all gets together for OTA's practices and goes
into the locker room, the first thing they're going to
be asked about is what do you think about Aaron Rodgers?
Is Aaron Rodgins going to be reporting? Who's going to
be your quarterback? I think the organization is just sick
and tired of answering all these questions and going through
this song and dance again this year when they didn't
think they were going to have to do that. I
think there's a real I think there's still a real

(23:10):
confidence that Aaron Rodgers is going to be a Pittsburgh
Steeler and will be QB one in September when the
Bullets really starts lying and they play their first regular
season game. But I'm sure there's some of like, do
we really have to go through this again? If you
don't want to show up to OTA's, fine, sign the
contract and we'll see it mandatory mini camp, just like
he did last year. There's no coincidence Tom, that Aaron

(23:31):
Rodgers signed after optional you know OTAs last year and
the leak right before mandatory mini camp. He doesn't want
to do the optional stuff. He doesn't want to do
the OTAs. He didn't do it with the Jets. He
didn't do it last year. Okay, fine, the Steelers, they don't.
They're tired of talking about this and being asked about this.
Aaron Rodgers, he doesn't want everybody in the national media

(23:54):
calling him a teammate and a bad leader when he
doesn't show up for OTAs. I feel like there has
to be a middle ground there. Sign the contract and
just say i'll see it in June a mandatory mini camp.
Make it known right away that you're not going to
be at okas. You can even spin it and say
I want Will Howard and Drew Aller to have all
those reps and all those practice opportunities and for them

(24:14):
to get a real big chunk of the pie. It
just it certainly does seem different than last year when
you see the the UFA tender and some of these
reports and some of the growing frustrations. But at the
same time, I think there's a middle ground where both
parties can be happy and and you know, just kind
of put this all to bed because I think everyone

(24:35):
Aaron Rodgers, all the power players within the Steelers organization,
the coaching staff, and certainly the fan base and the media,
we're just tired of this same song and dance. It's
a rerun episode, Tom, and it's not like a Breaking
Bat or a Sopranos rerun. It's something that nobody wants
to watch.

Speaker 1 (24:53):
I agree with what you said about how I think
they still have a lot of confidence that he is
going to be a Steeler and he's going to be
their starting quarterback. I just think some of the actions
that they've taken with whether it be that UFA tender
last week or with what dulek was putting out there
yesterday is about that frustration and just kind of that
eye rolling nature of it. And it is different than
last year, Wes. I mean, last year, you were trying

(25:14):
to coax Rogers to come to your organization for the
first time. He would then have to jump to a
third organization in his fourth year, and that was a
big decision for him. This year, you were already a Steeler.
So there's definitely a lot of different variables this year.
Do you think if May eighteenth passes, you know, kind
of this other this new soft deadline they've put out there,
they might pull out of the situation or they'll just

(25:37):
keep riding it along.

Speaker 5 (25:39):
I think they'll just keep riding in a long time
for two reasons. One is because they've already kind of
had some of these deadlines. I don't even know if
that's the right term. I think the term soft deadline
is kind of an oxymoron, but I guess maybe that
would apply a little bit here. You know, at the combine,
we heard Omar Khan say that they didn't want this

(26:00):
thing to drag out and they wanted to get it done.
And then a month later, at the end of March
and owners meetings. You hear Art Rudy the second say
that he wants to get this done by the draft.
So I think Aaron Rodgers will kind of call their bluff.
And as you know, it's seemingly done this entire offseason.
That's the first part of it, and the second part.
The real reason why I don't think the Steelers would

(26:22):
then say all right, we're moving on, We're gonna do
something else is because Tom we know, like the Steelers,
the last thing the Steelers want to have as a
losing season. And if you go into training camp with
Mason Rudolph and two guys who have never even taken
a preseason snap before, you are clearly you can't sell
the constant Steelers narrative we're always contending every year as

(26:43):
an opportunity to win the division, to go to the playoffs,
to contend for a super Bowl. You can only do
that in good faith and without lying out of you know,
both sides of your mouth if you have Aaron Rodgers
under center. And so I don't think the May eighteenth
deadline is a real say because I don't think the
Steelers want to have to face what do we do

(27:04):
with the quarterback position if it's not Aaron Rodgers, at
least not this year, at least not until they see
Will Howard and Drew Aller in a preseason game. For
crying out loud, I just think as annoyed as I'm
sure that they are, and as much as everybody wants
to get this over with, I think the Steelers would
continue to play Aaron Rodgers games because the only thing

(27:24):
that they want more than having this saga, you know, finalized,
is having another winning season and an opportunity to win
the division and an opportunity to go back to the
playoffs and continue that that streak of non losing seasons
and playing meaningful games, you know, late into the holidays
and into January. I think they are. I think they're
more afraid of life without Aaron Rodgers than they are

(27:47):
continuing to have some egg on their heads by him
dragging his feet.

Speaker 1 (27:51):
What do you make about this Cardinals kind of you
know story, all of a sudden emerging seemingly out of
nowhere where Now there is a second suitor when it
comes to Aarons, where it always seemed like it was
just going to be the Steelers, and maybe the Steelers
a little bit ahead of the curve on that, and
that's why you saw that UFA tender get applied.

Speaker 5 (28:09):
Yeah, it's an interesting one, Tom, because from some standpoints,
I think you can see why it would be attractive
to Aaron Rodgers to play for the Arizona Cardinals. That
warm weather, nice weather climate is very nice on the
on the body as you get older. Hey, I'm thirty five, Tom,
I was just out there in Arizona and it was
nice on my body. I could only imagine what it
would be like if I was seven, eight nine years older.

(28:31):
You do look at that organization and they've got Marvin
Harrison Junior, they've got Trey McBride, they just drafted Jeremiah Love.
They've got some real weapons on that offense. And they've
got Nathaniel Hackett his offensive coordinator, the guy that was
an offensive coordinator in Green Bay when Aaron won two
of his four MVPs, and the guy who Aaron handpicked
is his offensive coordinator when he got to the New

(28:52):
York Jets. So I think there are certainly things there
that you could see would be attractive to Aaron. But
I think for Aaron standpoint, if you're gonna play one
more season? Do you really want to go to another Arizon?
Do you really want to go to another New York
Jets situation? Do you really want to go to the
Arizona Cardinals who won three games last year? Like it'd
be different if the Cardinals were seven and ten and

(29:13):
had some things going for him? Even when Aaron Rodgers
went to the Jets, Garrett Wilson and Sauce Garner were
fresh off of the Jets, had the offensive and the
defensive rookie of the year, and had some real momentum
heading into the offseason that they might be, you know,
steering that ship in a new direction and not the
same old Jets. I just for all those things that

(29:33):
might be attractive to Aaron Rodgers. Do you really want
to end your career on a four or five win season?
I wouldn't think so. Do you really want to end
your career with a franchise? You know, we've heard Aaron
talks so much about so much about playing for the
Packers and playing for the Steelers and an historic franchise
and what that means for him. Do you really want
to go to the Arizona Cardinals? That might be the

(29:55):
complete opposite of that that might be at the bottom
of the barrel in kind of NFL franch rankings. I
just it feels like Steelers or retirement. I don't think
it's impossible, because again, there's some weapons on offense, there's
some coaching staff familiarity there. But at this stage in
your careers, are you really signing up to play for
a team that won three games last year? Picked third

(30:17):
overall in the draft is completely restarting and resetting from
ground zero. That just doesn't seem like a way that,
you know, a four time MVP Super Bowl champion who's
going to just moon walk into the Hall of Fame
five years after he retires and get his gold jacket.
For a guy like Aaron Rodgers, it's always been about

(30:38):
what he's been about. That doesn't seem like something he
would really consider.

Speaker 1 (30:42):
To me, talking to Wes, you were from Steelers Nation
Radio here on the Mark Madden Show. Tom Offerman in
for Mark today, Wes Roderick Jones got his fifth year
option declined. I think Joey Porter Junior will certainly get
a contract extension sooner or not later. The other person
in that twenty twenty three class and not to belittle

(31:02):
Benton or Darnell Washington. That I think is a clear
contract candidate is Nick Herbig. So his agent come out
recently and say that he wants Nick her or Nick
Herbig wants to be a Steeler for life. Do you
think they reach an agreement with him? And let me
throw this out at you before you answer. Right now,
twenty percent of the Steelers' cap space is allocated towards
two players TJ. Watt and Alex Heismith. Are you able

(31:25):
to allocate even more to that one position?

Speaker 5 (31:30):
Yeah? This is honestly, Tom, this is a very interesting
conversation because just on the surface, right you drafted Herbig
in fourth round. He's been a very good player for you.
He's still young in ascending. You don't want to ever
let a guy like that go on the other side.
As you mentioned, that's already your most kind of resource
allocated room there if you will TJ. Watt, Alex Heismith,

(31:54):
and even someone like Jack Sawyer, who you liked what
you saw from him in his rookie season last year,
and maybe even Tom, you know, you throw into the conversation.
I think this is all part of it. What you know,
it's Nick KRBC leaves and signs a big contract elsewhere,
you'll get a third round pop pick in all likelihood
back for him and for a fourth round pick that
gives you four good years and then you get a

(32:16):
third round pick. That's not the worst thing for business either.
But I think it all comes down to we know
the Pittsburgh Steelers, when they draft guys, when they develop guys,
they like to keep them around, particularly Tom when they
are on defense, particularly when they are pass rushers. Like
a lot of things have changed about the Steelers over
the years, will change with this new coaching staff. But

(32:36):
one thing that I don't think will change at least
no time soon, not anytime soon, is the Steelers defense
is always going to be predicated upon getting after the quarterback.
That's where they spend their money, that's where they put
their resources, and that's what they believe in as an organization.
And when that's your onnus, When your on us as
a defense is getting after quarterbacks making their lives miserable,
you know, it's almost been the Steelers birth right over

(32:59):
the last decade or so to lead the league or
be at the top of the league in sacks. I
don't think you can let a guy like her big walk,
and especially when you consider it Tom two of Yes,
Alex Highsmith was maybe the best Pittsburgh Steeler last year
after Cam Hayward. He was. He was maybe the second
best player on that defense, probably him or Joey Porter
Junior after Cam, and probably overall on the entire roster.

(33:22):
But high Smith also the last couple of years has
missed a decent amount of time with injuries. You look
at TJ. Watt Hey, if you're gonna if you're gonna
give a guy a little benefit of the doubt to
get back into form, I do think it would be TJ.
But he's had some injuries and some dropping his performance
over the last year or two, and he's got a
mammoth contract that you know could be coming albatross if

(33:44):
he gets older here sooner.

Speaker 3 (33:46):
Rather than later.

Speaker 5 (33:48):
I just think with TJ and Alex Highsmith, while they
are without a doubt, I mean TJ is gonna go
to the Hall of Fame, and he's gonna be in
the Steelers Hall of Honor and all those things. He's
one of the best players of his generation. Alex Highsmith
is one of the best. You know, Robbins that we've seen.
He's a top ten edge rusher in the National Football League,
and he was great last year when he was on

(34:08):
the football field. But I think there's a lot of
question marks around those two in their future as well.
To me, it just feels like you have to find
a way. You're not paying a quarterback big money. You
still haven't had to pay all those young extending offensive
linemen that you hope you're gonna have to pay eventually.
The salary cap continues to go up like crazy every
year because the NFL revenue is just insane. They are

(34:30):
so flush with cash. They are in such a great standpoint,
you know, from a business model, I think you have
to pay her big and you find a way to
make it work as it plays out. You just you
can't let a guy like that walk, especially when your
two starters of that position. Yes, are great and have
been great, but they might be certainly more so on

(34:50):
the nine of their careers as opposed to the front nine.
To use a golf.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
Analogy, as always was thank you for your time. We
look forward to continuing listening to you and Williamson on the.

Speaker 5 (35:00):
Every day Tom Take care buddy. I enjoyed listening to
you so far here today, I just I need a
little more Flyers splander and a little more Philadelphia splander
from you and the rest of the show.

Speaker 1 (35:10):
Okay, I will do my best. I promise that to you.
Wes Euler Flyers down oh two, by the way in
the series against the Hurricanes, so they are cooked. You
can hear Wes every day with Matt on Steelers Nation Radio.
We'll get to something when we come back, and we
got a whole bunch of more Rogers talk at the
top of the hour. It's Tom out from an Infro.
Mark on one oh five ninety X. Got some sponsors.

(35:33):
I need to catch up on Steeler's Pro Shop. Get
directions on the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at
shop dot Steelers dot com, eighty four Lumber and People's
Natural Gas. Tom oupraman in for Mark Madden. Got some
more Rogers stuff. Want to get off my chest in
just a little bit before we do that. Hirates Tonight
ninety first pitch in Arizona. Three games with the Diamondbacks,

(35:56):
then three games against San Francisco Diamondbacks. The game under five.
They've been underwhelming this year, but they're pretty solid ball club.
Giants look like they stink this year. So the Bucks
got to have a very successful road trip here and
get away from that sweep at the hands of the Cardinals.
I know they did a lot of that damage by

(36:16):
then turning around and sweeping the Reds, But getting swept
at home by your division opponent just is a terrible,
terrible thing. But take advantage of some weaker opponents now
on the road. Starting the night in Arizona, Bubba Chandler
vers Eduardo Rodriguez in Game one against the Snakes. Connor
Griffin for the Bucks. We talked about him earlier in

(36:38):
the show. He might be just straight up the best
hitter in the Pirates lineup right now and that should
continue for hopefully ten plus years to come. But ripping
the cover off the ball north of three forty in
the past week and ops over one thousand past half month,
hitting two ninety three, really settling in at the plate,
he draws a lot of walks. Really pleased with what

(37:01):
I've seen from him. O'Hearn is such a professional hitter,
But the ceiling on Griffin is just out of control.
You might as well go ahead and annoying him already
as the best hitter in the Pirates lineup. Had a
four hit game over the weekend against the Reds. Hopefully
he can keep that up tonight against Arizona. If you
see that trend keep happening as we get closer to

(37:23):
June with him, won't be long before he's hitting towards
the top of that lineup, and that impact, the impact
of Connor Griffin being that kind of hitter, like dropping
in and being the best hitter in your lineup, that's
the type of thing the Pirates need to scratch out
one of these wild card spots, or dare I say,
compete with the Cubs, who seem to be really starting

(37:44):
to get a grasp on being the team to beat
in that Edinel Central, we talk some more Rogers. Next,
it's toime out from an infor Mark back in thirty
seconds on one oh five nine The X