May 5, 2026 • 40 mins
Tommy Radio in for Mark, Steeler discussion and Brian Batko at the bottom of the hour.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
I am starting to reach the conclusion, and I'm starting
to feel out there that a lot of you are
reaching this same conclusion as well, that the best thing
that could happen for the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback room this
year is for Aaron Rodgers to just go away, retire,
open up an ayahuasca farm dispensary. I don't know what
(00:24):
you do with ayahuasca, but do whatever it is that
one does with it, and just leave football behind, and
in particular, leave the Steelers behind. If he wants to
go sign with the Cardinals, maybe let them go sign
with the Cardinals. It's your prerogative if you're the Steelers,
thanks to that tender that you placed on them. But
isn't it starting to just become clear that what's best
(00:46):
for this organization to move forward? And I mean it's
starting to become painfully clear, because it was probably clear
before this, but painfully clear that they just need to
move on and go with the young quarterbacks, the young
lottery tickets if you will, that they already have in
house on the roster. And I'm starting to think, and
(01:09):
it's not just you and I out there that are
feeling this way, and some people in that organization might
be feeling that way as well. As we saw the
report from Jerry Dulac yesterday, the story that he dropped
where the saint like patients, as he put it, starting
to wear a little thin. When it comes to the Steelers.
May eighteenth, a third deadline has been dropped. Let's see
(01:33):
how Rogers responds to that. I am Tom Opperman. I'm
in today for Mark Madden. A three three four one
two ninety nine thirty nine is the number to call
if you want to talk Aaron Rodgers, and if you
disagree with me, if you want Rogers to come back,
if you think that is the best path forward for
the Steelers, and I want to key in on that
(01:55):
way of phrasing it, the best path forward for the
Pittsburgh Steelers, not just for TIS twenty twenty six, because
let's be real as we start this conversation about what
an Aaron Rodgers led ceiling is like in twenty twenty
six for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it's twenty twenty five. It's
the exact same thing that you just went through. It
ain't gonna get better than that. Who out there can
(02:18):
tell me why I should believe forty one going on
forty two year old quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was afraid
to get hit, who wouldn't stand in the pocket and
make a play, who so clearly if you just pressured him,
would not be an effective quarterback. Tell me why that's
gonna get better all of a sudden.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
You can't. It's impossible.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You'll be stretching and stretching trying to figure it out.
So it ain't gonna get better. It could be the same.
They could win ten games again, maybe squeak by in
the AFC North. You gotta have a lot of the
variables go right again for you like they did last time.
Lamar Jackson hurt and potentially regressing. Gotta keep an eye
on that. Maybe that is a trend that continues. Joe
(02:59):
Burrow hurt, the Bengals not having a defense whatsoever. I mean,
just because it's a new season, the injury aspect to
those two quarterbacks changes.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Naturally.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
The Bengals went out and they really tried to improve
their defense this year, made strides in getting better on
that side of the ball. So sure you could be
the same. You could squeak that division out again. And
lest we forget you squeak that division out by every
sense of the word, or should I say doinked that
division out? Missed field goal away, a made field goal away,
(03:33):
excuse me from missing the playoffs. But Tyler loop, of course,
for the Ravens misses it. So the ceilings the exact same.
When it comes to Aaron Rodgers. It ain't gonna get better.
You argue that there's more weaponry when it comes to
the offensive side of the ball, there's a better focus
towards offense because of Mike McCarthy. I agree with everything
(03:54):
you just said there. The quarterback's going to stand in
the pocket and make plays when it matters. You know,
the quarterback's going to take hits to utilize some of
that weaponry to maximize some of these plays that Mike
McCarthy brings to the table.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
No chance, there ain't no chance that that's gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
It was so clear last year that that was the
strategy against him.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
And it's not even his fault.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
He's just old. It happens to every quarterback. Tom Brady
the anomaly, he would stand in there, he would take
a hit to make a play until he was like
forty three, forty four years old, cost him his marriage,
cost him his family. But it's just not the norm.
You don't get older in life and all of a
(04:44):
sudden want to just crave contact more. I'm not even
blaming him for being this way. It's just a reality
of the situation and that book that was clearly out
on him last year.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Usure. If you're a team that can get some pressure.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
On Rogers, don't have to bring crazy blitz that he's
gonna pick up pre snap and tear you to pieces Minnesota.
If you can get home, it's gonna be a long
day for him. Gonna be a long day for that
Steelers offense. You saw that throughout the year. And then
let me remind you how that played out in the
playoff game against the Texans. Rogers were pressured on forty
(05:25):
five point nine percent of his dropbacks against Houston in
that playoff game. That was the second highest pressure rate
he had faced since at least twenty eighteen. So the
Texans said, we just got to get after this dude.
He was sacked four times. Remember the stripsack that was
taken to the house for a touchdown. He was five
or thirteen on his pass attempts under pressure for forty
seven yards, and he averaged a time of throw of
two point nine to eight seconds, his third longest in
(05:47):
a game this season. In the regular season, Rogers averaged
the quickest time to throw him on qualified quarterbacks at
two point five to nine seconds, and he averaged the
quickest time to throw in the regular season because he
didn't want to get hit. He's not gonna be able
to make plays anymore, not to the level that you
need him to do. Now, let's not pretend like I
(06:11):
think Drew Aller slash Will Howard is going to be
that guy and come in and hit as that quarterback
of the future. I have my doubts on both of
those gentlemen, but just give it a try, give it
a shot. Who knows, Maybe they're even better Alor or
(06:33):
Howard than last year. Maybe you win eleven or twelve
games with those guys. Maybe you, you know, win the
division comfortably. You know, maybe you flirt with the one
seed in the AFC. Absolutely none of this could happen,
but it's kind of fun to just be.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Like, well, what if maybe huh, what if that happened?
Wouldn't that be cool?
Speaker 1 (06:53):
But at least just give them a shot to see
if there's any anything there, any future there. And when
it comes to Mike McCarthy, you know that should be
the attractive part of this new Steelers era. Obviously it's
his era, the Mike McCarthy era.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It shouldn't be.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Oh, let's run it back with Rogers and meld him
with his old coach in green Bay. McCarthy. That's fresh,
that's new. I can't wait for that. I don't want that.
Let McCarthy just take the reins. And I'm sorry, I
can't get over the fact that it ended terribly in
Green Bay with him and Rodgers, and so they had
(07:32):
a couple of phone calls after the fact in saying
Kumbaya and now it's gonna be better. No, it's easy
on the phone, run into a guy in public, be like, hey, yeah,
sucks how things ended. Had some great time super Bowl ring, YadA, YadA, YadA.
I'll see you at the Hall of Fame ceremony, you
know what I mean. But then when it's at the
facility again, day in and day out, and McCarthy's offense
(07:55):
and Rogers is bottling in, it could wear on you,
I'm sure. And we have a history of it wearing
on Mike McCarthy, of it wearing on those two as
far as their relationship is concerned, like that doesn't just
get to snap its fingers and go away. It wasn't
the perfect peaceful ending between those two. So let's start fresh.
(08:20):
And I know that there are some ingredients left over
in the cupboard for Mike McCarthy at that quarterback position.
You got a Rootolph in there, you got a Howard
in there. But he doesn't have to use those ingredients
if he doesn't want to. He got to use the
Rogers ingredient. If it's here, that's got to be his starter.
(08:42):
Let him cook, damn it. And his main ingredient is
Drew Aller. That's his guy. Let's see what he's got now.
One thing that Tim Ben's pointed out yesterday, and by
the way, the poll that's on Tim Ben's Twitter page
right now, now, Rogers come of in last place, at
least that's where I was seeing him yesterday.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Let me check.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Rudolf probably slipped by him ultimately, but the young kids
were in front. Rogers is in third at eighteen percent.
Fifteen percent of the vote go to Rudolph, So Rudolf
did slip into last place. That's where he belongs. But
people are fed up with the Rogers thing and waiting
for him. They're ready for the new, the exciting what
(09:26):
if factor when it comes to Howard, when it comes
to aller one thing Tim brought up yesterday that I
think is a spot on when it comes to how
you handle let's walk in this hypothetical world now where
Rogers did not come back, how you handle the deployment
of the two young quarterbacks. You got to go with
Howard first. You got to at least turn that stone
(09:47):
over first. That's the stone that's got a higher bust rate.
They both have a pretty high bust rate. Let's not
kid ourselves. You know, the third round pick isn't always
going to walk in and end up being the next
Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
You know, first round ten.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Oh, it's just suck gonna happen, even if he has
that quote unquote first round talent. So they both have
a pretty high bust rate. Howard's got the higher bust rate.
Let's flip that stone over. But more importantly, as Tim
pointed out on yesterday's show, Tim will be back tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Hosting the show.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Aller needs that time to marinate. Aller needs to seizeon
a little bit under Mike McCarthy. That's the cell when
it comes to Aler. That's how you can start talking
me into that first round potential is if you couple
that with Mike McCarthy's gonna work with that ball of clay.
He's gonna mold that and get the most potential he
(10:40):
possibly can out of it. And that's gonna take a
little bit of time. So you roll Howard out there first, right,
Roll a Rudolph out there first.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Right.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
You have the patient approach when it comes to Aler.
I think that's extremely smart. And now that is the
way that I want to see to operate when it
comes to their quarterback room. A three, three, four, one,
nine thirty nine is the number to call some other
topics on the table. Of course, Gino staying or going
that is the big penguin's debate that is going to
(11:12):
rage on, and we'll get to that a little bit later.
But I have to say, in a way, I'm extremely
grateful for this geno should he stay or should he go?
Stuff that we're dealing with locally now, because it's allowing
me to turn my focus away from sid rumor season,
and that is in full swing. As I'm sure you
(11:35):
could imagine. This is from a Twitter account a couple
of days ago called Habs Infinity. I believe they are
a Montreal Canadians fan account, but don't quote me on that.
I'm just using context clues here. They tweet out we
all know Crosby is watching this young Habs team and
wondering about the what if for both teams and for
(11:59):
sid It just makes too much sense at this point.
I wouldn't be shocked if Crosby was a hab by
the end of this summer. First of all, Crosby's not
watching and second of all, how sad is it?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I mean, how sad is it.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
For your team to be in a Game seven playing
against the Lightning, bouncing them, moving on to the second
round to face the Sabers and you're thinking and fantasizing
about players that you don't even have. That's pathetic. It
(12:39):
doesn't get lower than that. How about you focused on
cold cowfield a little bit lotson focus. Huh. Now your
goalie standing on his head, you got nine shots of
support for him and he's shutting the Lightning out basically
to get you to the second round. I mean, you're
sitting there fantasizing about Crosby. You're still alive. It's pathetic,
(13:02):
and you'll never have sid. The Buccos go West tonight
and they will be without their manager. Don Kelly Kristavinski
suspended three games, appealed that down to two for throwing
at Sal Stewart and the Reds game over the weekend
that was an absolute clown show. The Saturday game that
(13:22):
went out of control, no warning, just get tossed. Now
he gets suspended two games. Don Kelly gets one game.
No clue why the manager got a game as well.
This is clearly major League Baseball. Though feeling shook at
the prowess of the Pittsburgh Pirates returning to the scene
(13:42):
and potentially running amuck through this league. I mean, you
gotta think they're the greatest last place team in the
history of Major League Baseball. I do, at least, But
it's absurd that he got suspended Devinsky for two games.
It's even more absurd that Kelly got spend it for
one game. And whether it was intentional or not, I mean,
(14:03):
south Stewart deserved it.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Screw him. He's a read I wish it made contact.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Eight three, three, four, one two, nine thirty nine is
the number to call. Buckos are in Arizona tonight. Chandler's
on the bump. Then they go to San Francisco. They
gotta win those games. We'll get to a lot more
Bucos talk though throughout the rest of the show. When
we come back, I want to keep talking a little
bit more about this Mike McCarthy optimism when it comes
(14:29):
to these young quarterbacks. Brian Becko is also going to
join us at the bottom of the hour. It's Tom
Opfermann Infra Mark on one of five ninety X expanded
coverage of The Mark Madden Show is backed by the
personal injury expert Shenderovit, Schandorovich and Fishman. They've got your back,
not your wallet. Went way too long in that opening
segment there, That's all right. I was rolling, I was flowing,
(14:51):
couldn't go to break. Didn't want to do it, but
I had to do it. We got Brian Baco on deck.
We'll get to him in just a little bit. I
know you're out there listening Backo. Just sit tight, all right, buddy.
I'm going to get to you soon. And I promise
we got Vince on the line too. We'll get to
his call in just a second. One thing I did
want to get to though, when it comes to Drew
Aller and Mike McCarthy. I am not a Drew Aller fan.
(15:14):
Let's not get that twisted out there, all right, as
a card carrying member of the Pitt Panther fan club.
In fact, I'm a bigger Pit Panther fan than you are.
I promise you that. And it's a competition right at
fandom it should be I'm better than you, as everything
in life should be. It's just an endless stream of
one person trying to top another. But anyway, I digress.
(15:34):
I'm not a Penn State guy. To put it lightly,
I don't think Drew Aller's very good. At least he
hasn't shown me that he's very good throughout his career
at Penn State. Unbelievably underwhelming when you think about what
his prospects were coming out of high school. Five star recruit,
can't miss, this guy's going to be a first round pick,
one day franchise type quarterback. Didn't achieve that the opposite
(15:59):
of a big game quarter back. The lights get bright
and he crumbles, but it's undeniable that the skill set
is there. It's why you are a five star recruit
coming out of high school. My faith when it comes
to the Drew Aller situation isn't in particular based on
(16:19):
Drew Aller. It is because of Mike McCarthy, the person
who's going to try to get the most out of
Drew Auler now and whether Aller passes or fails, this
is the correct philosophy that the Steelers aren't acting and
should enact moving forward. If it's a draft class that's
not loaded with talent, and if you're not picking at
(16:40):
a premium position in the first round or could trade
up for some of that loaded talent in the first round,
you take someone in the second or the third round
that is a very high upside that slipped because of
an injury, that slipped because of lack of big game performances.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Aler did both of those things.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
But you get my drift that you pick from that crop,
and then if that crop doesn't yield anything, maybe there's
a year that you're loaded as far as the quarterback
position is concerned, and you have capital when you move
up in the draft, or you had a miss season,
so you're picking fourteenth or thirteenth or somewhere right around there.
So one of these quarterbacks might slip to you in
(17:15):
a class like that. So the philosophy is the exact
right approach that theore should be taking. They should be
taking stabs at the draft. Aler's that first stab when
it comes to Mike McCarthy. Now he inherited a stab
and Will Howard a six round stab, but the first
one for Mike McCarthy is Drew Aller. I don't necessarily
(17:37):
have a lot of belief in Drew Aller himself, at
least what I've seen out of him so far. Do
have a lot of belief in Mike McCarthy what I've
been able to see out of him in his track
record at developing quarterbacks. It is undeniable that Aler has
an extremely high ceiling and has a ton of skills.
I trust a lot of what Mike McCarthy has done
(17:58):
with quarterbacks and extracting of those skills more than I
trust anything that Aler has shown me and is going
to bring to the table himself. So it's a lot
of faith in the McCarthy basket. It's a lot of
faith more in that. You know, let's just keep picking quarterbacks,
keep taking stabs at that quarterback, until eventually our coach
(18:19):
who was suited to develop these quarterbacks finds the right one.
If you need any convincing about Mike McCarthy and his
ability to mold a very talented quarterback that maybe a
little rough around his edges, just google how Aaron Rodgers
used to hold the football at cow. I mean he
(18:40):
had that ball up right next to his ear hole,
I mean, elbow cocked up about as high as you
could possibly imagine, like he was at the plate trying
to hit a bomb.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
It just looked so stiff and rigid.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
And it's funny because then fast forward to now you
think of Rogers and his you know, throwing style and
how he's in the pocket. He's very loose, right, and
he's cool, and that's just like a natural and it's
it's it's so easy to him. Not in a coincidence,
and Mike McCarthy had a lot to do with that.
Eight three three, four thirty nine. Let's squeeze a call
(19:17):
him before we get to bat go. Vince on the
north side wants to talk about the quarterbacks.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
What's up Vince, Tom, thanks for taking my call. Had
a thought during your opener, and maybe this has been
said before, but if the Steelers win that Week seventeen
game up in Cleveland, they take care of business there.
Rogers sits Week eighteen and we get four quarters of
Will Howard and then you have four quarters of game
tape to learn more about what you got, so that
(19:42):
when you're in this situation, the franchise might be more
apt to give Howard to run and tell Rogers the walk.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Oh listen, that screwed Howard over for sure, that they
screwed up in Cleveland in Week seventeen, because you're right,
there's no logical reason to play Rudolph in that game.
You would want to see maybe Rudolph starts the game,
but you'd want to see what you had in Howard there.
But you know what else screwed him big time, Vince.
And there's nothing Howard could do about this, either getting
hurt in training camp his rookie season, missing all of
(20:12):
camp and missing all of preseason. He would have had
a lot of runway in the preseason to show some
stuff on tape. Now he's got to compete with Aler
to do that. So thank you for the call, Vince.
It's a very good point. You know, if if we
could have just seen anything out of Howard, just some
tape preseason, or as Vince was saying, in a meaningless
Week eighteen game, it would make us feel a lot
better about where we're at with him and kind of
(20:34):
what we have in this room and maybe trusting him
to start this year before Aler gets the call. But
fortunately you just don't have that way over time. Back
goes up next. Tom oppermann in for Mark one to
five ninety X. Tom opferman in for Mark Man today
talking a ton of Steelers. We are joined now by
(20:55):
Brian Baco from the Post Gazette to do just that. Brian,
let's start with that's what your colleague wrote yesterday in
the Post Gazette. The Steelers, as he put at Jerry Dulac,
saint like patients, apparently running a little bit thin. Huh.
When it comes to Aaron Rodgers, a third deadline, if
you will, has been put forth of May eighteenth.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
Well, if that's the case, join the club, right. Yes,
I think of myself as as more of a monk
than a saint.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Tom.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
I don't know about you, but well, I guess that's
not really true because monks take bows of silence and
I'm on the radio talking to you about Aaron Rodgers
yet again. But no, I mean, yeah, I understand the
frustration from the fan base certainly, and you know, when
it comes to the Steelers, I guess one of the
important things to keep in mind here is it's not
(21:46):
just that they're waiting for Aaron Rodgers in a vacuum.
I know there have been a lot of I saw
Ben Solak from ESPN, who I think does a pretty
good job. He's one of their national writers, and he
put out a little spiel about why Rogers isn't really
that good last season, and you know, the implication, or
maybe even out right said it, was, why are the
Steelers waiting around for someone who's kind of a bottom
(22:08):
ten starting quarterback in the NFL right now? Well, they're
not just waiting for that. They're also waiting for Aaron Rodgers,
probably at a very discounted price.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Which they got him at last season.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
So I think when you keep all of that in mind,
at the whole Rogers package, getting a starter for I
guess it be what fifteen million, Now, maybe that can
just lend a little bit more sense as to why
they allow this to drag on.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
The financial aspect makes sense.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
And if you wanted to argue from that mentorship aspect
right where he was so great with Howard last year
and he'll be so great with Aler now this year,
I guess I'll start to listen to you a little
bit more. But Brian, as I was saying earlier on
the show today, like there's no way the ceiling can
be any better than what it was last year with
Aaron Rodgers, am I off base with that that at all?
(22:57):
Like he he doesn't do well against pressure. The teams
aren't all of a sudden just gonna not pressure Aaron
Rodgers and the Steelers.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
Well, I think the Steelers' contention or logic behind it
would be Yeah, maybe Rogers in and of himself won't
have a higher ceiling, but the supporting cast will and
that will allow him to play better if maybe there's
better protection in front of him with the Maxi han
Achor investment on the O line, potentially the Jennings dunker.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
An investment on the O line. And then I think,
more so.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Than the blocking in front of him is the receivers
that don't have to throw to I think it's hard
to argue that they aren't an upgrade, at least on paper,
with Michael Pittman Junior and Jeremy Bernard joining the fold.
So yeah, if you bolster the people around him, maybe
that is where the ceiling part of the conversation comes in.
(23:49):
And then you know, to go back to just the
top there, Tom, I mean, let me know what you think.
Do you think there's even a small part of them
that really wants to avoid the stat and then the
ensuing perception and narrative that go with it of six
starting quarterbacks in six consecutive season openers, because that's what
it'll be if it's not Rogers.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Yeah, it's funny.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
I actually brought that up in a way yesterday with Tim, Like,
as odd as this may seem, Rogers coming back would
present their stablest course at quarterbacks the first time in
a half decade, Like it's just been a revolving door
at that position, and this would be your first time
that you'd be able to stack two years on top
of each other. And Brian is you know that's very
Steelers Ish right to get back to that kind of
(24:31):
stability especially it's such an important position.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
It is.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
And you know, another part of the equation here is
it's a very unstealers ish thing to have a head
coaching change, but they do this year for the first
time since two thousand and seven. Perhaps there's something to
be said for, Hey, if we're not going to have
stability there for once in two decades, do we really
want to also not have stability at the quarterback position.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
I mean, that argument can fall apart a little bit
if you start to say, hey, why does it matter?
For one?
Speaker 5 (25:03):
Two, Mason Rudolph is still around. Will Howard was around
last year, but obviously, you know, between the two of them,
one game started in twenty twenty five. Albeit, there are
some new faces coming in on offense as well, which
I threw out there to kind of make the case
for bringing back Rogers.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
So that starts to starts to become a little circular
when you go down that road.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
If May eighteenth comes and goes and he's still not here,
and I'm not ruling that out, do you think that
there's a chance that they could potentially pull out of this.
I guess them placing that tender on him would signal
that they wouldn't have any intention of doing that.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know what to make of
their aptitude for wanting to sit it out or appetite,
I should say, for wanting to sit it out Rogers
who like, what do you make of the Cardinals?
Speaker 2 (25:56):
I was going to ask you that too. That just
popping up out of nowhere?
Speaker 5 (25:58):
Now exactly great way to put it, Tom, Because as
a as a beat writer, when this stuff happens, I
at least try to rather than immediately feed the beast
and speculate more. If I can't find out anything about
it on the let's call it front end here, I
(26:18):
try to at least trace it back to the origins
if I can, like, all right, did this come from
you know? If not a random national reporter, did it
come from someone in Arizona?
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Is it coming out of left field?
Speaker 5 (26:31):
I have not been able to find ground zero for
Rogers Cardinals. It just seems to me like people are
naturally connecting dots of Okay, the Steelers use this tender.
They must think there's another snake in the grass.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
But who would it be?
Speaker 5 (26:45):
Well, the Broncos and the bow Nix thing doesn't really
hold up when you consider Sean Payton and Aaron Rodgers
have some pretty long standing beef. You know that the
other there are really no other teams that make a
lick of sense. Four Okay, well, Arizona, I mean all
things considered, nice place to live, nice place to retire to.
(27:08):
Quite literally, they have got a Lafleur as the head coach.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Maybe maybe the.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
Troll and Aaron would enjoy get some kicks out of
playing for the other lafloor two in his first.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Head coaching stint. And then I mean the third one.
Speaker 5 (27:22):
I don't really see the supporting cast being better than
the Steelers, but maybe for the world's biggest Jeremiah Love
and Marvin Harrison junior fan, and if it's just kind
of out of thin air to drum up a market
for him, I don't know, but it is sort of
strange that that percolated this week.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
If Rogers does say no or goes to Arizona, Let's say,
do you think the Steelers would then just trudge forward
with the three quarterbacks they have?
Speaker 2 (27:50):
I mean, maybe bring in a fourth as a camp arm.
But you know what I mean, like those three being
their serious option.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Yes, yeah, I think so.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
I think they're too far down the road to make
a huge pivot at this point. The only like real
kind of wild cards I guess would be there's Carrett
Carr is still like kind of sitting sitting in an
unmarked car, pun intended, waiting for the call of it
to come out and you know, potentially rescue someone's franchise.
I don't think that's coming unless it's coming from.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
North of the border.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
I don't know how the Saskatchewan rough Riders are looking
right now, but I guess he's.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Theoretically an option.
Speaker 5 (28:27):
Otherwise, I mean, even Torod Taylor got picked. Yeah, so
to be honest, I didn't even realize Trod Taylored was
still on the board.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
But we're at that point right like who knows this
even out there?
Speaker 5 (28:41):
Yeah, and last year it was like Flacco and Carson
Wentz at this time, I think Jimmy G might still
be a free agent, But I don't necessarily think that's
a real attractive option either, other than you know, Jimmy
G being an attractive man. So yeah, I don't think
there's really any other avenue is to explore other than
(29:01):
I guess there's always the trade scenario. But you're already
getting into OTAs in mini camp and starting to lay
the groundwork with the guys you have.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
We're talking to Brian Becka from the Postcazette here on
the Mark Matten Show. Tom Opferman filling in today for Mark.
Let's get to some other stuff having to do with
the Steelers, non Rogers related, Brian. They declined Broderick Jones
fifth year option. Everybody I think saw that coming, especially
with the injury problem that project's going through. Of that class,
I think Joey Porter Junior is obviously going to get
(29:30):
a contract extension. Does anyone else you think fit that
bill in a class that has had some pretty significant
contributors when you look at it to the Steelers right.
Speaker 5 (29:39):
Now, Yeah, I think Nick Krbig for sure fits that bill,
and I think they really would love to keep him around,
but it just it won't be easy because of what
he's going to be worth and what they already have
at outside linebackers.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
So it's the old cliche.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
It's a good problem to have, but it's a problem. Nonetheless,
I think if you really want to retain Nick Herbig
for the long haul, because you have to figure out
a solution to the problem, and that reminds me of
the point I was going.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
To make about Aaron Rodgers and no one knowing what
he's going to do.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Tom is you know he made a Netflix show or
he's in a Netflix show.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
About himself called Enigma.
Speaker 5 (30:17):
It's not called answer, it's it's not called as expected,
it's called Enigma. So we'll keep guessing as for And
I think the other way that these two conversations might
be connected is maybe you do want to keep the
salary low for Aaron to give yourself some flexibility and
wiggle room with the cap now guys like Porter and
Herbig and if they go down that road with Keanu
(30:39):
Benten or Darnell Washington, a lot of that money will
be in the future rather than this year's cap.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
But there's creative.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
Way is to to structure contracts to get people to
sign on the dotted line with you. And the Steelers
have four good contributors from.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
That draft, even minus Broderick, and.
Speaker 5 (30:57):
I feel like they're going to do We'll do what
they can to keep say three of them.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
No, I think that makes a ton of sense.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
And let's stick with Nick Herbig there because I kind
of asked you a loaded question there, so you would
get to him. You're so right about them having to
really kind of finagle things cap wise when it comes
to an extension for her Big, because you already have
twenty percent of your salary cap allocated to two edge
rushers t J. Watt and Alex Sismith make up your
first and your third biggest cap hits. And if you're
(31:26):
gonna throw her Big into that mix and maybe bump that,
that's like a quarter of your team's cap just committed
to three edge rushers. I don't care if you're not
paying the quarterback. That's just too much money go into
one group.
Speaker 5 (31:38):
Yeah, I'd have to sit down and like really get
into the weeds on over the cap and see if
there's any other team devoting anything close to that for
that position.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Bangles and receivers. That's like the only thing that comes
to the top of the head.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Yeah. No, I just meant like edge rushers.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Edge rushers in particular.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
Yeah, right, A lot of teams, Yeah, I think a
lot of teams they're either you know, they're they're giving
one guy the Brinks truck and then they're kind of
piecing it together with rookies or guys on rookie deals,
or you like the Texans with daneil Hunter. They're doing
a weird thing where they kind of just give him
one year extensions every year where they keep him paid
(32:17):
very well, but it's not a long term thing.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
So I guess that's cool with him. Yeah, that's that's.
Speaker 5 (32:24):
Gonna be a tricky one for the Steelers, and you
know there'll have to be some hard negotiations with from
Omar Khan said, that is, if you're the.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
Team, even though you love the guy.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
You probably have to try to pour some cold water
on him, right and say, hey, all these efficiency numbers
and the stuff that you're pointing to as to why
you deserve so much in the on the open market,
well that all continue if if you're in a different scheme,
if you're not the you know, souped up number three
guy who's coming in throwing ninety nine after the opposing
(32:55):
offensive line has been getting leaned on by TJ. Watt
and Alex Highsmith for three for three quarters of the snaps.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Which of the draft picks in the twenty twenty sixth class, Brian,
do you think is going to be the most NFL
ready to start in week one.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
I'm gonna say.
Speaker 5 (33:14):
Either Jennings Well Jennings Dunker. I won't go with him
because he is transitioning from tackle to guard physically, I
think he's certainly ready, So I'll go with Jeremy Bernard.
I think there's a lot that's translatable from the way
he plays in college to what he can do at
the NFL level.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
I think he's got versatility on his side.
Speaker 5 (33:33):
Which is just appears to be big stepping into a
Mike McCarthy receiving corps, and I think there's gonna be
plenty of opportunity to.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Go around for Bernard as well.
Speaker 5 (33:44):
So he's already someone who kind of plays the game
like a technician, and you know, I don't think he's
overly reliant on his quicks. His speed is just pure
explosion as a wide out. So I think that maybe
that caps the ceiling to some degree, and maybe that's
why he was available at forty seven overall, but I
think it lends itself well to contributing off the back.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
No, I agree.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
I think those are the two obvious ones, and your
logic is sound. With Dunker having to make that transition.
If Dunker was a guard or had more guard experience
at IOWA, more recent guard experience. I mean, I think
he would just be a slam dunk to be a
plug and play type of player. I got a couple
hypotheticals that have to do with the quarterback situation of
Rogers to wrap up with you here, Brian. Hypothetical number one.
Let's say Rogers does decide to go elsewhere. How do
(34:28):
you think the depth chart would shake out for Week
one at the quarterback position.
Speaker 5 (34:34):
I think, based on everything the Steelers have said publicly
about him, Will Howard would get every opportunity to knock
off Mason Rudolph and relegate Mason to the number two role.
Yet again, that's the funny thing about the stat that
you and I guess and I pointed out, was if
(34:54):
it were six consecutive years with a different starting quarterback
Week one, it's never been Mason in that whole stretch,
which is which is wild. I mean, he's the longest
tenured one, essentially, I'll be it. He had his one
year hiatus in in Nashville. But yeah, I think they'd
give Will every chance, and unless he really got egg
on his face and training camp for the preseason, I
(35:16):
think they'd roll with him, and you'd be in a
weird spot, no man's land with Rudolph and alor. But
if it's really a fact finding mission of twenty twenty six,
then let Howard sink or swim, and then if it
comes to that, see what you've gotten alert well.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
To poor even more saltan to Rudolph swim in that hypothetical.
And I agree with you, by the way, I think
that makes the most sense. Not only would he slide
down to number two and lose his job to Howard.
Once Howard lost his job, it wouldn't be to Rudolph,
it would be to the number three Aller probably leap
frogging him again to be that starting quarterback.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
So Rudolph just will never be able to catch.
Speaker 5 (35:50):
Because yeah, I mean, if we're if we're gonna do
the hypothetical there, I mean, that would mean your season
is not going very well.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Right, Let's find out about Aler?
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Now let's say Rogers does come back. Who do you
think the odd man out would be? Because they can't
keep four quarterbacks. There's no stashing Howard on the practice squad.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
I don't think.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Unless he or Drew Aller injureds their finger or.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Something else, Arm Rodney Dangerfield meth in.
Speaker 5 (36:19):
Yeah, but even like you know that that happened, you know,
legitimately to Will Howard last year obviously, and then he
didn't really get much in the way of practice reps either,
So it's not like that's a no brainer good thing
all around.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
So I don't think you ever want to wish that
or plan for that.
Speaker 5 (36:34):
But to answer your question, Tom, I mean, I think
Rudolph would probably find himself as the odd man out,
unless again, it's just readily apparent that Will Howard was
more of your typical sixth round pick than a potential
steal and he's just not really a functioning NFL quarterback.
I think that's pretty unlikely, just based on the Will
(36:56):
Howard we saw at Ohio State. But on the off
chance that happened, and then you probably would have to
cut bait with him, hope that he clears, and you know,
roll with Rudolph as your backup.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
Brian has always thank you for the time, enjoying listening
to you and Ed Troup on the Steelers Standard on
Steelers Nation Radio. Happy to have you a board there
and we'll keep reading you in the post caauseette as well,
Tom se Man, Brian Batco from those places that, of
course I just mentioned. Always happy to have him join
the show when Mark's in, when I'm in, when anybody's
(37:27):
sitting in this host seat. We got a trifecta coming
up next. It's Cinco de Mayo. You could guess what
it's probably about, Tom Offerman and for Mark one of
five ninety x Tom Offerman filling in for Mark Madden
today it is time for the trifecta. We're going to
talk about Efguiney Malkin in that whole situation. Do some
(37:48):
penguins talk to start the next hour just a couple.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Of minutes away.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
If you want to jump on the line right now
eight through three, four, two ninety nine, thirty nine, talk
some Gino. You can keep talking some Steelers and Rogers
as well. We did a ton of that in the
first hour. Also gonna play Peer McGuire at three thirty.
He joined the show yesterday. Later in the show towards
the five o'clock hour with Tim Benz, usually at three
(38:12):
thirty on Tuesdays is when you get your peer maguire.
So if you're expecting that he get a bit of
a conflict. He's in Sweden for a few weeks, so
he had to move to yesterday. We'll play that interview
back for you though in just a little bit. But
his time for the Trifecta, and that is sponsored by
Danny's Pizza and Hogi's family owned and operated since nineteen
sixty Rout eighty eight in Bethel Park. Today is Cinco
(38:37):
de Mayo, a holiday that is basically just made up
to drink and drink and drink and drink and drink
and drink and drink and eat Mexican food, which is
very very good. So I don't want to undersell that
aspect of this holiday as well, but I think the
drinking really drives that home. And so for today's Trifecta,
we're just gonna go with the big three, if you will,
(38:57):
when it comes to drinking holidays in the fair country
of ours. Funny enough, they quite often have to do
with other countries and kind of celebrating their cultures. But anyway,
not to get into that too much, I think Marty Gras,
Cinco de Mayo, and then obviously Saint Patrick's Day, those
are your heavy hitters, right, Those are your obvious three.
(39:20):
You know, a lot of the times, the trifecta is
a ranking. You know, this is the moment number three,
and we go to one and oh, this is the
best moment, or oh this is the best. I don't
want to, you know, put them in any category here,
so all three get to be as one in this trifecta.
The big three drinking holidays in America today is one
of them. Maybe you're drunk right now as you're listening
(39:41):
to this, stepping on a margarita, getting some nachos, a burrito.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Some caesadillas.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Love fish tacos. Man, I've been on a huge fish
taco kick. I'd have to actually say that that's probably
my favorite kind of taco, the fish taco. I am
a fan of, you know, the classic ground beef. I'm
a fan of anti tako, to be honest with you.
Throw some chicken in there, steak any of it. But
(40:11):
I think the fish taco a really good fish taco.
It's hard to beat that. I also don't really like
any of these holidays. Hand up. Not a huge, you know,
let's get wastdy kind of guy. When it comes to
Sinko to Mayo, Saint Patrick's Day and Marty grab One
of these are my birthday too, so you figure that
(40:33):
one out. But not a fan of the drinking holidays,
but have a very happy Sinco to Mayo. If you
are celebrating today eight three, three four one two thirty nine.
Penguins fans, if you want f Genny Malkin to come back,
will you be celebrating at some point this offseason when
that contract is signed. I'll tell you what I think. Next,
(40:56):
it's time out from an Infra Mark. It's one of
five ninety x
I am starting to reach the conclusion, and I'm starting
to feel out there that a lot of you are
reaching this same conclusion as well, that the best thing
that could happen for the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback room this
year is for Aaron Rodgers to just go away, retire,
open up an ayahuasca farm dispensary. I don't know what
(00:24):
you do with ayahuasca, but do whatever it is that
one does with it, and just leave football behind, and
in particular, leave the Steelers behind. If he wants to
go sign with the Cardinals, maybe let them go sign
with the Cardinals. It's your prerogative if you're the Steelers,
thanks to that tender that you placed on them. But
isn't it starting to just become clear that what's best
(00:46):
for this organization to move forward? And I mean it's
starting to become painfully clear, because it was probably clear
before this, but painfully clear that they just need to
move on and go with the young quarterbacks, the young
lottery tickets if you will, that they already have in
house on the roster. And I'm starting to think, and
(01:09):
it's not just you and I out there that are
feeling this way, and some people in that organization might
be feeling that way as well. As we saw the
report from Jerry Dulac yesterday, the story that he dropped
where the saint like patients, as he put it, starting
to wear a little thin. When it comes to the Steelers.
May eighteenth, a third deadline has been dropped. Let's see
(01:33):
how Rogers responds to that. I am Tom Opperman. I'm
in today for Mark Madden. A three three four one
two ninety nine thirty nine is the number to call
if you want to talk Aaron Rodgers, and if you
disagree with me, if you want Rogers to come back,
if you think that is the best path forward for
the Steelers, and I want to key in on that
(01:55):
way of phrasing it, the best path forward for the
Pittsburgh Steelers, not just for TIS twenty twenty six, because
let's be real as we start this conversation about what
an Aaron Rodgers led ceiling is like in twenty twenty
six for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it's twenty twenty five. It's
the exact same thing that you just went through. It
ain't gonna get better than that. Who out there can
(02:18):
tell me why I should believe forty one going on
forty two year old quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was afraid
to get hit, who wouldn't stand in the pocket and
make a play, who so clearly if you just pressured him,
would not be an effective quarterback. Tell me why that's
gonna get better all of a sudden.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
You can't. It's impossible.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You'll be stretching and stretching trying to figure it out.
So it ain't gonna get better. It could be the same.
They could win ten games again, maybe squeak by in
the AFC North. You gotta have a lot of the
variables go right again for you like they did last time.
Lamar Jackson hurt and potentially regressing. Gotta keep an eye
on that. Maybe that is a trend that continues. Joe
(02:59):
Burrow hurt, the Bengals not having a defense whatsoever. I mean,
just because it's a new season, the injury aspect to
those two quarterbacks changes.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Naturally.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
The Bengals went out and they really tried to improve
their defense this year, made strides in getting better on
that side of the ball. So sure you could be
the same. You could squeak that division out again. And
lest we forget you squeak that division out by every
sense of the word, or should I say doinked that
division out? Missed field goal away, a made field goal away,
(03:33):
excuse me from missing the playoffs. But Tyler loop, of course,
for the Ravens misses it. So the ceilings the exact same.
When it comes to Aaron Rodgers. It ain't gonna get better.
You argue that there's more weaponry when it comes to
the offensive side of the ball, there's a better focus
towards offense because of Mike McCarthy. I agree with everything
(03:54):
you just said there. The quarterback's going to stand in
the pocket and make plays when it matters. You know,
the quarterback's going to take hits to utilize some of
that weaponry to maximize some of these plays that Mike
McCarthy brings to the table.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
No chance, there ain't no chance that that's gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
It was so clear last year that that was the
strategy against him.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
And it's not even his fault.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
He's just old. It happens to every quarterback. Tom Brady
the anomaly, he would stand in there, he would take
a hit to make a play until he was like
forty three, forty four years old, cost him his marriage,
cost him his family. But it's just not the norm.
You don't get older in life and all of a
(04:44):
sudden want to just crave contact more. I'm not even
blaming him for being this way. It's just a reality
of the situation and that book that was clearly out
on him last year.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Usure. If you're a team that can get some pressure.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
On Rogers, don't have to bring crazy blitz that he's
gonna pick up pre snap and tear you to pieces Minnesota.
If you can get home, it's gonna be a long
day for him. Gonna be a long day for that
Steelers offense. You saw that throughout the year. And then
let me remind you how that played out in the
playoff game against the Texans. Rogers were pressured on forty
(05:25):
five point nine percent of his dropbacks against Houston in
that playoff game. That was the second highest pressure rate
he had faced since at least twenty eighteen. So the
Texans said, we just got to get after this dude.
He was sacked four times. Remember the stripsack that was
taken to the house for a touchdown. He was five
or thirteen on his pass attempts under pressure for forty
seven yards, and he averaged a time of throw of
two point nine to eight seconds, his third longest in
(05:47):
a game this season. In the regular season, Rogers averaged
the quickest time to throw him on qualified quarterbacks at
two point five to nine seconds, and he averaged the
quickest time to throw in the regular season because he
didn't want to get hit. He's not gonna be able
to make plays anymore, not to the level that you
need him to do. Now, let's not pretend like I
(06:11):
think Drew Aller slash Will Howard is going to be
that guy and come in and hit as that quarterback
of the future. I have my doubts on both of
those gentlemen, but just give it a try, give it
a shot. Who knows, Maybe they're even better Alor or
(06:33):
Howard than last year. Maybe you win eleven or twelve
games with those guys. Maybe you, you know, win the
division comfortably. You know, maybe you flirt with the one
seed in the AFC. Absolutely none of this could happen,
but it's kind of fun to just be.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Like, well, what if maybe huh, what if that happened?
Wouldn't that be cool?
Speaker 1 (06:53):
But at least just give them a shot to see
if there's any anything there, any future there. And when
it comes to Mike McCarthy, you know that should be
the attractive part of this new Steelers era. Obviously it's
his era, the Mike McCarthy era.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It shouldn't be.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Oh, let's run it back with Rogers and meld him
with his old coach in green Bay. McCarthy. That's fresh,
that's new. I can't wait for that. I don't want that.
Let McCarthy just take the reins. And I'm sorry, I
can't get over the fact that it ended terribly in
Green Bay with him and Rodgers, and so they had
(07:32):
a couple of phone calls after the fact in saying
Kumbaya and now it's gonna be better. No, it's easy
on the phone, run into a guy in public, be like, hey, yeah,
sucks how things ended. Had some great time super Bowl ring, YadA, YadA, YadA.
I'll see you at the Hall of Fame ceremony, you
know what I mean. But then when it's at the
facility again, day in and day out, and McCarthy's offense
(07:55):
and Rogers is bottling in, it could wear on you,
I'm sure. And we have a history of it wearing
on Mike McCarthy, of it wearing on those two as
far as their relationship is concerned, like that doesn't just
get to snap its fingers and go away. It wasn't
the perfect peaceful ending between those two. So let's start fresh.
(08:20):
And I know that there are some ingredients left over
in the cupboard for Mike McCarthy at that quarterback position.
You got a Rootolph in there, you got a Howard
in there. But he doesn't have to use those ingredients
if he doesn't want to. He got to use the
Rogers ingredient. If it's here, that's got to be his starter.
(08:42):
Let him cook, damn it. And his main ingredient is
Drew Aller. That's his guy. Let's see what he's got now.
One thing that Tim Ben's pointed out yesterday, and by
the way, the poll that's on Tim Ben's Twitter page
right now, now, Rogers come of in last place, at
least that's where I was seeing him yesterday.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Let me check.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Rudolf probably slipped by him ultimately, but the young kids
were in front. Rogers is in third at eighteen percent.
Fifteen percent of the vote go to Rudolph, So Rudolf
did slip into last place. That's where he belongs. But
people are fed up with the Rogers thing and waiting
for him. They're ready for the new, the exciting what
(09:26):
if factor when it comes to Howard, when it comes
to aller one thing Tim brought up yesterday that I
think is a spot on when it comes to how
you handle let's walk in this hypothetical world now where
Rogers did not come back, how you handle the deployment
of the two young quarterbacks. You got to go with
Howard first. You got to at least turn that stone
(09:47):
over first. That's the stone that's got a higher bust rate.
They both have a pretty high bust rate. Let's not
kid ourselves. You know, the third round pick isn't always
going to walk in and end up being the next
Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
You know, first round ten.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Oh, it's just suck gonna happen, even if he has
that quote unquote first round talent. So they both have
a pretty high bust rate. Howard's got the higher bust rate.
Let's flip that stone over. But more importantly, as Tim
pointed out on yesterday's show, Tim will be back tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Hosting the show.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Aller needs that time to marinate. Aller needs to seizeon
a little bit under Mike McCarthy. That's the cell when
it comes to Aler. That's how you can start talking
me into that first round potential is if you couple
that with Mike McCarthy's gonna work with that ball of clay.
He's gonna mold that and get the most potential he
(10:40):
possibly can out of it. And that's gonna take a
little bit of time. So you roll Howard out there first, right,
Roll a Rudolph out there first.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Right.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
You have the patient approach when it comes to Aler.
I think that's extremely smart. And now that is the
way that I want to see to operate when it
comes to their quarterback room. A three, three, four, one,
nine thirty nine is the number to call some other
topics on the table. Of course, Gino staying or going
that is the big penguin's debate that is going to
(11:12):
rage on, and we'll get to that a little bit later.
But I have to say, in a way, I'm extremely
grateful for this geno should he stay or should he go?
Stuff that we're dealing with locally now, because it's allowing
me to turn my focus away from sid rumor season,
and that is in full swing. As I'm sure you
(11:35):
could imagine. This is from a Twitter account a couple
of days ago called Habs Infinity. I believe they are
a Montreal Canadians fan account, but don't quote me on that.
I'm just using context clues here. They tweet out we
all know Crosby is watching this young Habs team and
wondering about the what if for both teams and for
(11:59):
sid It just makes too much sense at this point.
I wouldn't be shocked if Crosby was a hab by
the end of this summer. First of all, Crosby's not
watching and second of all, how sad is it?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I mean, how sad is it.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
For your team to be in a Game seven playing
against the Lightning, bouncing them, moving on to the second
round to face the Sabers and you're thinking and fantasizing
about players that you don't even have. That's pathetic. It
(12:39):
doesn't get lower than that. How about you focused on
cold cowfield a little bit lotson focus. Huh. Now your
goalie standing on his head, you got nine shots of
support for him and he's shutting the Lightning out basically
to get you to the second round. I mean, you're
sitting there fantasizing about Crosby. You're still alive. It's pathetic,
(13:02):
and you'll never have sid. The Buccos go West tonight
and they will be without their manager. Don Kelly Kristavinski
suspended three games, appealed that down to two for throwing
at Sal Stewart and the Reds game over the weekend
that was an absolute clown show. The Saturday game that
(13:22):
went out of control, no warning, just get tossed. Now
he gets suspended two games. Don Kelly gets one game.
No clue why the manager got a game as well.
This is clearly major League Baseball. Though feeling shook at
the prowess of the Pittsburgh Pirates returning to the scene
(13:42):
and potentially running amuck through this league. I mean, you
gotta think they're the greatest last place team in the
history of Major League Baseball. I do, at least, But
it's absurd that he got suspended Devinsky for two games.
It's even more absurd that Kelly got spend it for
one game. And whether it was intentional or not, I mean,
(14:03):
south Stewart deserved it.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Screw him. He's a read I wish it made contact.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Eight three, three, four, one two, nine thirty nine is
the number to call. Buckos are in Arizona tonight. Chandler's
on the bump. Then they go to San Francisco. They
gotta win those games. We'll get to a lot more
Bucos talk though throughout the rest of the show. When
we come back, I want to keep talking a little
bit more about this Mike McCarthy optimism when it comes
(14:29):
to these young quarterbacks. Brian Becko is also going to
join us at the bottom of the hour. It's Tom
Opfermann Infra Mark on one of five ninety X expanded
coverage of The Mark Madden Show is backed by the
personal injury expert Shenderovit, Schandorovich and Fishman. They've got your back,
not your wallet. Went way too long in that opening
segment there, That's all right. I was rolling, I was flowing,
(14:51):
couldn't go to break. Didn't want to do it, but
I had to do it. We got Brian Baco on deck.
We'll get to him in just a little bit. I
know you're out there listening Backo. Just sit tight, all right, buddy.
I'm going to get to you soon. And I promise
we got Vince on the line too. We'll get to
his call in just a second. One thing I did
want to get to though, when it comes to Drew
Aller and Mike McCarthy. I am not a Drew Aller fan.
(15:14):
Let's not get that twisted out there, all right, as
a card carrying member of the Pitt Panther fan club.
In fact, I'm a bigger Pit Panther fan than you are.
I promise you that. And it's a competition right at
fandom it should be I'm better than you, as everything
in life should be. It's just an endless stream of
one person trying to top another. But anyway, I digress.
(15:34):
I'm not a Penn State guy. To put it lightly,
I don't think Drew Aller's very good. At least he
hasn't shown me that he's very good throughout his career
at Penn State. Unbelievably underwhelming when you think about what
his prospects were coming out of high school. Five star recruit,
can't miss, this guy's going to be a first round pick,
one day franchise type quarterback. Didn't achieve that the opposite
(15:59):
of a big game quarter back. The lights get bright
and he crumbles, but it's undeniable that the skill set
is there. It's why you are a five star recruit
coming out of high school. My faith when it comes
to the Drew Aller situation isn't in particular based on
(16:19):
Drew Aller. It is because of Mike McCarthy, the person
who's going to try to get the most out of
Drew Auler now and whether Aller passes or fails, this
is the correct philosophy that the Steelers aren't acting and
should enact moving forward. If it's a draft class that's
not loaded with talent, and if you're not picking at
(16:40):
a premium position in the first round or could trade
up for some of that loaded talent in the first round,
you take someone in the second or the third round
that is a very high upside that slipped because of
an injury, that slipped because of lack of big game performances.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Aler did both of those things.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
But you get my drift that you pick from that crop,
and then if that crop doesn't yield anything, maybe there's
a year that you're loaded as far as the quarterback
position is concerned, and you have capital when you move
up in the draft, or you had a miss season,
so you're picking fourteenth or thirteenth or somewhere right around there.
So one of these quarterbacks might slip to you in
(17:15):
a class like that. So the philosophy is the exact
right approach that theore should be taking. They should be
taking stabs at the draft. Aler's that first stab when
it comes to Mike McCarthy. Now he inherited a stab
and Will Howard a six round stab, but the first
one for Mike McCarthy is Drew Aller. I don't necessarily
(17:37):
have a lot of belief in Drew Aller himself, at
least what I've seen out of him so far. Do
have a lot of belief in Mike McCarthy what I've
been able to see out of him in his track
record at developing quarterbacks. It is undeniable that Aler has
an extremely high ceiling and has a ton of skills.
I trust a lot of what Mike McCarthy has done
(17:58):
with quarterbacks and extracting of those skills more than I
trust anything that Aler has shown me and is going
to bring to the table himself. So it's a lot
of faith in the McCarthy basket. It's a lot of
faith more in that. You know, let's just keep picking quarterbacks,
keep taking stabs at that quarterback, until eventually our coach
(18:19):
who was suited to develop these quarterbacks finds the right one.
If you need any convincing about Mike McCarthy and his
ability to mold a very talented quarterback that maybe a
little rough around his edges, just google how Aaron Rodgers
used to hold the football at cow. I mean he
(18:40):
had that ball up right next to his ear hole,
I mean, elbow cocked up about as high as you
could possibly imagine, like he was at the plate trying
to hit a bomb.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
It just looked so stiff and rigid.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
And it's funny because then fast forward to now you
think of Rogers and his you know, throwing style and
how he's in the pocket. He's very loose, right, and
he's cool, and that's just like a natural and it's
it's it's so easy to him. Not in a coincidence,
and Mike McCarthy had a lot to do with that.
Eight three three, four thirty nine. Let's squeeze a call
(19:17):
him before we get to bat go. Vince on the
north side wants to talk about the quarterbacks.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
What's up Vince, Tom, thanks for taking my call. Had
a thought during your opener, and maybe this has been
said before, but if the Steelers win that Week seventeen
game up in Cleveland, they take care of business there.
Rogers sits Week eighteen and we get four quarters of
Will Howard and then you have four quarters of game
tape to learn more about what you got, so that
(19:42):
when you're in this situation, the franchise might be more
apt to give Howard to run and tell Rogers the walk.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Oh listen, that screwed Howard over for sure, that they
screwed up in Cleveland in Week seventeen, because you're right,
there's no logical reason to play Rudolph in that game.
You would want to see maybe Rudolph starts the game,
but you'd want to see what you had in Howard there.
But you know what else screwed him big time, Vince.
And there's nothing Howard could do about this, either getting
hurt in training camp his rookie season, missing all of
(20:12):
camp and missing all of preseason. He would have had
a lot of runway in the preseason to show some
stuff on tape. Now he's got to compete with Aler
to do that. So thank you for the call, Vince.
It's a very good point. You know, if if we
could have just seen anything out of Howard, just some
tape preseason, or as Vince was saying, in a meaningless
Week eighteen game, it would make us feel a lot
better about where we're at with him and kind of
(20:34):
what we have in this room and maybe trusting him
to start this year before Aler gets the call. But
fortunately you just don't have that way over time. Back
goes up next. Tom oppermann in for Mark one to
five ninety X. Tom opferman in for Mark Man today
talking a ton of Steelers. We are joined now by
(20:55):
Brian Baco from the Post Gazette to do just that. Brian,
let's start with that's what your colleague wrote yesterday in
the Post Gazette. The Steelers, as he put at Jerry Dulac,
saint like patients, apparently running a little bit thin. Huh.
When it comes to Aaron Rodgers, a third deadline, if
you will, has been put forth of May eighteenth.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
Well, if that's the case, join the club, right. Yes,
I think of myself as as more of a monk
than a saint.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Tom.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
I don't know about you, but well, I guess that's
not really true because monks take bows of silence and
I'm on the radio talking to you about Aaron Rodgers
yet again. But no, I mean, yeah, I understand the
frustration from the fan base certainly, and you know, when
it comes to the Steelers, I guess one of the
important things to keep in mind here is it's not
(21:46):
just that they're waiting for Aaron Rodgers in a vacuum.
I know there have been a lot of I saw
Ben Solak from ESPN, who I think does a pretty
good job. He's one of their national writers, and he
put out a little spiel about why Rogers isn't really
that good last season, and you know, the implication, or
maybe even out right said it, was, why are the
Steelers waiting around for someone who's kind of a bottom
(22:08):
ten starting quarterback in the NFL right now? Well, they're
not just waiting for that. They're also waiting for Aaron Rodgers,
probably at a very discounted price.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Which they got him at last season.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
So I think when you keep all of that in mind,
at the whole Rogers package, getting a starter for I
guess it be what fifteen million, Now, maybe that can
just lend a little bit more sense as to why
they allow this to drag on.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
The financial aspect makes sense.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
And if you wanted to argue from that mentorship aspect
right where he was so great with Howard last year
and he'll be so great with Aler now this year,
I guess I'll start to listen to you a little
bit more. But Brian, as I was saying earlier on
the show today, like there's no way the ceiling can
be any better than what it was last year with
Aaron Rodgers, am I off base with that that at all?
(22:57):
Like he he doesn't do well against pressure. The teams
aren't all of a sudden just gonna not pressure Aaron
Rodgers and the Steelers.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
Well, I think the Steelers' contention or logic behind it
would be Yeah, maybe Rogers in and of himself won't
have a higher ceiling, but the supporting cast will and
that will allow him to play better if maybe there's
better protection in front of him with the Maxi han
Achor investment on the O line, potentially the Jennings dunker.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
An investment on the O line. And then I think,
more so.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Than the blocking in front of him is the receivers
that don't have to throw to I think it's hard
to argue that they aren't an upgrade, at least on paper,
with Michael Pittman Junior and Jeremy Bernard joining the fold.
So yeah, if you bolster the people around him, maybe
that is where the ceiling part of the conversation comes in.
(23:49):
And then you know, to go back to just the
top there, Tom, I mean, let me know what you think.
Do you think there's even a small part of them
that really wants to avoid the stat and then the
ensuing perception and narrative that go with it of six
starting quarterbacks in six consecutive season openers, because that's what
it'll be if it's not Rogers.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Yeah, it's funny.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
I actually brought that up in a way yesterday with Tim, Like,
as odd as this may seem, Rogers coming back would
present their stablest course at quarterbacks the first time in
a half decade, Like it's just been a revolving door
at that position, and this would be your first time
that you'd be able to stack two years on top
of each other. And Brian is you know that's very
Steelers Ish right to get back to that kind of
(24:31):
stability especially it's such an important position.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
It is.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
And you know, another part of the equation here is
it's a very unstealers ish thing to have a head
coaching change, but they do this year for the first
time since two thousand and seven. Perhaps there's something to
be said for, Hey, if we're not going to have
stability there for once in two decades, do we really
want to also not have stability at the quarterback position.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
I mean, that argument can fall apart a little bit
if you start to say, hey, why does it matter?
For one?
Speaker 5 (25:03):
Two, Mason Rudolph is still around. Will Howard was around
last year, but obviously, you know, between the two of them,
one game started in twenty twenty five. Albeit, there are
some new faces coming in on offense as well, which
I threw out there to kind of make the case
for bringing back Rogers.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
So that starts to starts to become a little circular
when you go down that road.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
If May eighteenth comes and goes and he's still not here,
and I'm not ruling that out, do you think that
there's a chance that they could potentially pull out of this.
I guess them placing that tender on him would signal
that they wouldn't have any intention of doing that.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know what to make of
their aptitude for wanting to sit it out or appetite,
I should say, for wanting to sit it out Rogers
who like, what do you make of the Cardinals?
Speaker 2 (25:56):
I was going to ask you that too. That just
popping up out of nowhere?
Speaker 5 (25:58):
Now exactly great way to put it, Tom, Because as
a as a beat writer, when this stuff happens, I
at least try to rather than immediately feed the beast
and speculate more. If I can't find out anything about
it on the let's call it front end here, I
(26:18):
try to at least trace it back to the origins
if I can, like, all right, did this come from
you know? If not a random national reporter, did it
come from someone in Arizona?
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Is it coming out of left field?
Speaker 5 (26:31):
I have not been able to find ground zero for
Rogers Cardinals. It just seems to me like people are
naturally connecting dots of Okay, the Steelers use this tender.
They must think there's another snake in the grass.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
But who would it be?
Speaker 5 (26:45):
Well, the Broncos and the bow Nix thing doesn't really
hold up when you consider Sean Payton and Aaron Rodgers
have some pretty long standing beef. You know that the
other there are really no other teams that make a
lick of sense. Four Okay, well, Arizona, I mean all
things considered, nice place to live, nice place to retire to.
(27:08):
Quite literally, they have got a Lafleur as the head coach.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Maybe maybe the.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
Troll and Aaron would enjoy get some kicks out of
playing for the other lafloor two in his first.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Head coaching stint. And then I mean the third one.
Speaker 5 (27:22):
I don't really see the supporting cast being better than
the Steelers, but maybe for the world's biggest Jeremiah Love
and Marvin Harrison junior fan, and if it's just kind
of out of thin air to drum up a market
for him, I don't know, but it is sort of
strange that that percolated this week.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
If Rogers does say no or goes to Arizona, Let's say,
do you think the Steelers would then just trudge forward
with the three quarterbacks they have?
Speaker 2 (27:50):
I mean, maybe bring in a fourth as a camp arm.
But you know what I mean, like those three being
their serious option.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Yes, yeah, I think so.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
I think they're too far down the road to make
a huge pivot at this point. The only like real
kind of wild cards I guess would be there's Carrett
Carr is still like kind of sitting sitting in an
unmarked car, pun intended, waiting for the call of it
to come out and you know, potentially rescue someone's franchise.
I don't think that's coming unless it's coming from.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
North of the border.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
I don't know how the Saskatchewan rough Riders are looking
right now, but I guess he's.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Theoretically an option.
Speaker 5 (28:27):
Otherwise, I mean, even Torod Taylor got picked. Yeah, so
to be honest, I didn't even realize Trod Taylored was
still on the board.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
But we're at that point right like who knows this
even out there?
Speaker 5 (28:41):
Yeah, and last year it was like Flacco and Carson
Wentz at this time, I think Jimmy G might still
be a free agent, But I don't necessarily think that's
a real attractive option either, other than you know, Jimmy
G being an attractive man. So yeah, I don't think
there's really any other avenue is to explore other than
(29:01):
I guess there's always the trade scenario. But you're already
getting into OTAs in mini camp and starting to lay
the groundwork with the guys you have.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
We're talking to Brian Becka from the Postcazette here on
the Mark Matten Show. Tom Opferman filling in today for Mark.
Let's get to some other stuff having to do with
the Steelers, non Rogers related, Brian. They declined Broderick Jones
fifth year option. Everybody I think saw that coming, especially
with the injury problem that project's going through. Of that class,
I think Joey Porter Junior is obviously going to get
(29:30):
a contract extension. Does anyone else you think fit that
bill in a class that has had some pretty significant
contributors when you look at it to the Steelers right.
Speaker 5 (29:39):
Now, Yeah, I think Nick Krbig for sure fits that bill,
and I think they really would love to keep him around,
but it just it won't be easy because of what
he's going to be worth and what they already have
at outside linebackers.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
So it's the old cliche.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
It's a good problem to have, but it's a problem. Nonetheless,
I think if you really want to retain Nick Herbig
for the long haul, because you have to figure out
a solution to the problem, and that reminds me of
the point I was going.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
To make about Aaron Rodgers and no one knowing what
he's going to do.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Tom is you know he made a Netflix show or
he's in a Netflix show.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
About himself called Enigma.
Speaker 5 (30:17):
It's not called answer, it's it's not called as expected,
it's called Enigma. So we'll keep guessing as for And
I think the other way that these two conversations might
be connected is maybe you do want to keep the
salary low for Aaron to give yourself some flexibility and
wiggle room with the cap now guys like Porter and
Herbig and if they go down that road with Keanu
(30:39):
Benten or Darnell Washington, a lot of that money will
be in the future rather than this year's cap.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
But there's creative.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
Way is to to structure contracts to get people to
sign on the dotted line with you. And the Steelers
have four good contributors from.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
That draft, even minus Broderick, and.
Speaker 5 (30:57):
I feel like they're going to do We'll do what
they can to keep say three of them.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
No, I think that makes a ton of sense.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
And let's stick with Nick Herbig there because I kind
of asked you a loaded question there, so you would
get to him. You're so right about them having to
really kind of finagle things cap wise when it comes
to an extension for her Big, because you already have
twenty percent of your salary cap allocated to two edge
rushers t J. Watt and Alex Sismith make up your
first and your third biggest cap hits. And if you're
(31:26):
gonna throw her Big into that mix and maybe bump that,
that's like a quarter of your team's cap just committed
to three edge rushers. I don't care if you're not
paying the quarterback. That's just too much money go into
one group.
Speaker 5 (31:38):
Yeah, I'd have to sit down and like really get
into the weeds on over the cap and see if
there's any other team devoting anything close to that for
that position.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Bangles and receivers. That's like the only thing that comes
to the top of the head.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Yeah. No, I just meant like edge rushers.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Edge rushers in particular.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
Yeah, right, A lot of teams, Yeah, I think a
lot of teams they're either you know, they're they're giving
one guy the Brinks truck and then they're kind of
piecing it together with rookies or guys on rookie deals,
or you like the Texans with daneil Hunter. They're doing
a weird thing where they kind of just give him
one year extensions every year where they keep him paid
(32:17):
very well, but it's not a long term thing.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
So I guess that's cool with him. Yeah, that's that's.
Speaker 5 (32:24):
Gonna be a tricky one for the Steelers, and you
know there'll have to be some hard negotiations with from
Omar Khan said, that is, if you're the.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
Team, even though you love the guy.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
You probably have to try to pour some cold water
on him, right and say, hey, all these efficiency numbers
and the stuff that you're pointing to as to why
you deserve so much in the on the open market,
well that all continue if if you're in a different scheme,
if you're not the you know, souped up number three
guy who's coming in throwing ninety nine after the opposing
(32:55):
offensive line has been getting leaned on by TJ. Watt
and Alex Highsmith for three for three quarters of the snaps.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Which of the draft picks in the twenty twenty sixth class, Brian,
do you think is going to be the most NFL
ready to start in week one.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
I'm gonna say.
Speaker 5 (33:14):
Either Jennings Well Jennings Dunker. I won't go with him
because he is transitioning from tackle to guard physically, I
think he's certainly ready, So I'll go with Jeremy Bernard.
I think there's a lot that's translatable from the way
he plays in college to what he can do at
the NFL level.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
I think he's got versatility on his side.
Speaker 5 (33:33):
Which is just appears to be big stepping into a
Mike McCarthy receiving corps, and I think there's gonna be
plenty of opportunity to.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Go around for Bernard as well.
Speaker 5 (33:44):
So he's already someone who kind of plays the game
like a technician, and you know, I don't think he's
overly reliant on his quicks. His speed is just pure
explosion as a wide out. So I think that maybe
that caps the ceiling to some degree, and maybe that's
why he was available at forty seven overall, but I
think it lends itself well to contributing off the back.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
No, I agree.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
I think those are the two obvious ones, and your
logic is sound. With Dunker having to make that transition.
If Dunker was a guard or had more guard experience
at IOWA, more recent guard experience. I mean, I think
he would just be a slam dunk to be a
plug and play type of player. I got a couple
hypotheticals that have to do with the quarterback situation of
Rogers to wrap up with you here, Brian. Hypothetical number one.
Let's say Rogers does decide to go elsewhere. How do
(34:28):
you think the depth chart would shake out for Week
one at the quarterback position.
Speaker 5 (34:34):
I think, based on everything the Steelers have said publicly
about him, Will Howard would get every opportunity to knock
off Mason Rudolph and relegate Mason to the number two role.
Yet again, that's the funny thing about the stat that
you and I guess and I pointed out, was if
(34:54):
it were six consecutive years with a different starting quarterback
Week one, it's never been Mason in that whole stretch,
which is which is wild. I mean, he's the longest
tenured one, essentially, I'll be it. He had his one
year hiatus in in Nashville. But yeah, I think they'd
give Will every chance, and unless he really got egg
on his face and training camp for the preseason, I
(35:16):
think they'd roll with him, and you'd be in a
weird spot, no man's land with Rudolph and alor. But
if it's really a fact finding mission of twenty twenty six,
then let Howard sink or swim, and then if it
comes to that, see what you've gotten alert well.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
To poor even more saltan to Rudolph swim in that hypothetical.
And I agree with you, by the way, I think
that makes the most sense. Not only would he slide
down to number two and lose his job to Howard.
Once Howard lost his job, it wouldn't be to Rudolph,
it would be to the number three Aller probably leap
frogging him again to be that starting quarterback.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
So Rudolph just will never be able to catch.
Speaker 5 (35:50):
Because yeah, I mean, if we're if we're gonna do
the hypothetical there, I mean, that would mean your season
is not going very well.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Right, Let's find out about Aler?
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Now let's say Rogers does come back. Who do you
think the odd man out would be? Because they can't
keep four quarterbacks. There's no stashing Howard on the practice squad.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
I don't think.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Unless he or Drew Aller injureds their finger or.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Something else, Arm Rodney Dangerfield meth in.
Speaker 5 (36:19):
Yeah, but even like you know that that happened, you know,
legitimately to Will Howard last year obviously, and then he
didn't really get much in the way of practice reps either,
So it's not like that's a no brainer good thing
all around.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
So I don't think you ever want to wish that
or plan for that.
Speaker 5 (36:34):
But to answer your question, Tom, I mean, I think
Rudolph would probably find himself as the odd man out,
unless again, it's just readily apparent that Will Howard was
more of your typical sixth round pick than a potential
steal and he's just not really a functioning NFL quarterback.
I think that's pretty unlikely, just based on the Will
(36:56):
Howard we saw at Ohio State. But on the off
chance that happened, and then you probably would have to
cut bait with him, hope that he clears, and you know,
roll with Rudolph as your backup.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
Brian has always thank you for the time, enjoying listening
to you and Ed Troup on the Steelers Standard on
Steelers Nation Radio. Happy to have you a board there
and we'll keep reading you in the post caauseette as well,
Tom se Man, Brian Batco from those places that, of
course I just mentioned. Always happy to have him join
the show when Mark's in, when I'm in, when anybody's
(37:27):
sitting in this host seat. We got a trifecta coming
up next. It's Cinco de Mayo. You could guess what
it's probably about, Tom Offerman and for Mark one of
five ninety x Tom Offerman filling in for Mark Madden
today it is time for the trifecta. We're going to
talk about Efguiney Malkin in that whole situation. Do some
(37:48):
penguins talk to start the next hour just a couple.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Of minutes away.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
If you want to jump on the line right now
eight through three, four, two ninety nine, thirty nine, talk
some Gino. You can keep talking some Steelers and Rogers
as well. We did a ton of that in the
first hour. Also gonna play Peer McGuire at three thirty.
He joined the show yesterday. Later in the show towards
the five o'clock hour with Tim Benz, usually at three
(38:12):
thirty on Tuesdays is when you get your peer maguire.
So if you're expecting that he get a bit of
a conflict. He's in Sweden for a few weeks, so
he had to move to yesterday. We'll play that interview
back for you though in just a little bit. But
his time for the Trifecta, and that is sponsored by
Danny's Pizza and Hogi's family owned and operated since nineteen
sixty Rout eighty eight in Bethel Park. Today is Cinco
(38:37):
de Mayo, a holiday that is basically just made up
to drink and drink and drink and drink and drink
and drink and drink and eat Mexican food, which is
very very good. So I don't want to undersell that
aspect of this holiday as well, but I think the
drinking really drives that home. And so for today's Trifecta,
we're just gonna go with the big three, if you will,
(38:57):
when it comes to drinking holidays in the fair country
of ours. Funny enough, they quite often have to do
with other countries and kind of celebrating their cultures. But anyway,
not to get into that too much, I think Marty Gras,
Cinco de Mayo, and then obviously Saint Patrick's Day, those
are your heavy hitters, right, Those are your obvious three.
(39:20):
You know, a lot of the times, the trifecta is
a ranking. You know, this is the moment number three,
and we go to one and oh, this is the
best moment, or oh this is the best. I don't
want to, you know, put them in any category here,
so all three get to be as one in this trifecta.
The big three drinking holidays in America today is one
of them. Maybe you're drunk right now as you're listening
(39:41):
to this, stepping on a margarita, getting some nachos, a burrito.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Some caesadillas.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Love fish tacos. Man, I've been on a huge fish
taco kick. I'd have to actually say that that's probably
my favorite kind of taco, the fish taco. I am
a fan of, you know, the classic ground beef. I'm
a fan of anti tako, to be honest with you.
Throw some chicken in there, steak any of it. But
(40:11):
I think the fish taco a really good fish taco.
It's hard to beat that. I also don't really like
any of these holidays. Hand up. Not a huge, you know,
let's get wastdy kind of guy. When it comes to
Sinko to Mayo, Saint Patrick's Day and Marty grab One
of these are my birthday too, so you figure that
(40:33):
one out. But not a fan of the drinking holidays,
but have a very happy Sinco to Mayo. If you
are celebrating today eight three, three four one two thirty nine.
Penguins fans, if you want f Genny Malkin to come back,
will you be celebrating at some point this offseason when
that contract is signed. I'll tell you what I think. Next,
(40:56):
it's time out from an Infra Mark. It's one of
five ninety x
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