John discusses Anthony Richardson’s Pro Day and the argument for Richardson being the first QB taken in the Draft, why Bill Belichick doesn’t deserve heat for a recent bad owners’ meeting presser, if potential TNF flexing is unfair to the players or good business, the latest on the compensation package that will finally get Aaron Rodgers to the Jets, why there’s not a bigger trade market for Lamar Jackson,
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gambler dot net West Virginia. What is going on? Everybody?
John Middlecop three and Out podcast back again. A lot
going on, and I mean a lot going on. We
(02:12):
got Pro Days, we got Draft buzz, we got Belichick
getting edgy, we got Thursday Night Football, Flex potential, rogers Lamar.
Just a lot happening. So we will dive into it
all today on the show and no mail bag today
I will put one out this weekend, put one out Sunday.
(02:32):
So at John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram.
Fire in those dms and get your question answered on
the show. So this just this is a meeting football podcast.
I was fired up about a lot of stuff that's
going on right now. It's fun times. Draft meetings started
around the league next week, a lot of draft buzz
after all the pro days basically end starting tomorrow will
(02:55):
be the last day. And very very excited. So any
other housekeeping I don't think so. So firing those dms
at John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Any football question, live question, whatever,
if you got golf questions. Next week is the Masters
at Golopod. At Golopod is the Instagram. You can fire
(03:16):
in those dms and we can talk masters gambling. Because
I love next week, so let's do it. I think
we're basically now free agency beside Rogers and Lamar, which
are pretty big deals, is over and now we're focused
on the draft. Also on those two guys though, because
there they got some MVPs and their quarterbacks. But that
(03:39):
this is a fun time of year, that this really is.
But before we dive into football. Can I tell you
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time app promo code John. He'll start with the draft.
I saw Anthony Richardson's Pro day to day. Obviously, CJ
and Bryce have already had their Pro days. And I've
(05:04):
been thinking a lot about this because one thing the
NFL does a really good job of is staying in
the news after the season ends because of the setup
they have. Right we go right from the Super Bowl
to the Combine. What happens at the combine, most GMS
and coaches talk. Then what happens we go to the
(05:24):
owner's meeting where every GM and owner and coach is
obligated to talk. Then we have the Draft, where before
the draft, your coach or GM also obligated to talk.
And then the draft happens, they all talk. So we
get a lot of stories going and right now, two
of the clear biggest stories is the Roger trade, which
ultimately reflects Zach Wilson bust backup and Kyle Shanahan admitting
(05:50):
Trey Lance is no longer the starter. If Brock Purdy
is healthy, he's competing to be the backup. And my
theory is pretty simple that forever in the NFL, and
players will tell you this. Any non highly drafted guy,
a late round pick, an undrafted free agent who makes
it in the league, he saw it firsthand for years, right,
(06:12):
Any guy that's older than thirty five, they saw the
chances that a high pick got over and over and
over again, but specifically on the team that drafted him.
And you basically were on scholarship for three seasons if
I drafted you high, especially in the top ten at minimum,
even if it wasn't going well. Hell, JaMarcus Russell, you're
(06:32):
getting three years. I think two is the new three,
and I think a big reason for that is the
pressure of the league, the amount of money on the line,
the importance of winning, and what it does to the
owner's bank council. Listen, all these guys are rich, but
they've never been richer. And now when you win, you
can accumulate so much money. The amount the Bengals are
(06:54):
making now because of Joe Burrow, they don't have time
to waste. If they miss on a draft pick, you
just move on. Obviously they're not drafting high enough. But
I think the Jets and the forty nine ers show
you everything you need to know. Historically draft picks were
like gold. Obviously they're still really important, but I think
it's fair to say these young, kind of more progressive
(07:15):
gms are much more inclined to trade those picks because
they go, what the hell, if we're decent, we're drafting
later than twenty. You know, there aren't twenty first rounders
in most drafts. Historically that wasn't the case. Teams were
hesitant to do that. And now you see Zach Wilson
and Trey Lance. They're going into year three, neither guys
going to be starting Week one. So part of this
(07:37):
theory shows you that you can take big swings. Like
Jed Yorke said at the owners meetings that he didn't
regret the trade, and you know what, they shouldn't. They've
won twenty three regular season games the last two years
and four playoff games, so what if they whipped They
made an aggressive, full speed decision. Now it was flawed.
It was a weird time with the twenty twenty COVID season,
(08:00):
especially for trade lands, and they acted a little bit
out of desperation. It did not work, but ultimately it
hasn't ruined their franchise. Zach Wilson picked before that. Look
at what the Jets have done in these last couple
of years. Now, part of it is other moves, the
Jamal Adams trade, but still their roster is really really good.
And when which they eventually will do land Aaron Rodgers,
(08:22):
We're all going to pick them to make the playoffs,
at least I know I will. So I think part
of this is Forever Belichick was truly the only GM who,
after like two years, if he drafted in the first
round and he sucked, he just move on. He trade you.
Most gms, I don't blame them for doing this, would
ride you out right. But now because of the just
(08:43):
insane amount of cash flow in the league, how big
the salary cap is, how easy it is to make moves,
how many other teams are willing to make moves. I
think these teams are much more willing to just like
eat a sunk cost and pivot and we all benefit,
like the fans. So when you see Anthony Richardson, who
I'll be honest, beside the Utah game, I didn't know
(09:04):
that much about. I didn't watch that many Florida games.
You look at his box, you know his box scores
and just his stats for the season that they're not
gonna blow you away. But I've heard more and more
positive things from NFL people who have watched him, who
have scouted him, and who have just do this for
a living. They are very, very bullish on him. And
(09:26):
one rumor I heard last week on the streets is
that some people think that the Panthers could draft him
number one overall and just kind of take a swing
for the fences. Now, I've heard good things about his character.
I've heard good things about obviously his physical attributes, you
don't need to be a scout to see that, and
just about people that really dissect his season, like, let's
(09:49):
not act like he's playing for Nick Saban or Jim Harbaugh,
Billy Napier their head coach. You know, better win this year.
He's gonna get fired. You know, last year was really ugly,
and Sharks are out for him. Now. I'm not saying
that he's the reason for his non development or whatever.
This guy needs some development, but the talent is beyond
(10:09):
de mens. And we've done this with players before. You're
not guaranteed that there's no such thing as a high
floor in a draft pick. We love saying that, and
it's very easy to say, and I'm probably guilty of
saying it. But Mac Jones had a quote unquote high floor,
he might not be a top twenty quarterback, so Solomon Thomas,
(10:30):
Cleveland Farrell. I watched those guys get drafted in the
top five. Well they got high floors. Actually they sucked.
I mean, they're NFL players, but in no world they
shouldn't have been first round picks looking back. So my
point is, there is no such thing as a high floor.
High floor guys bust all the time and aren't starters,
and high ceiling guys do too. You might as well
(10:51):
take a swing for the fences. If I was Carolina
and I felt good, and from what I've heard, a
lot of people do feel good. Not only about this
guy's town, bet about the person. Kind of a raw
you know, came from a very very tough upbringing good people.
If people really like this guy, I might bet on
that c. J. Stroud is the easy move Bryce. I
(11:13):
think he's an excellent quarterback. But I do understand, as
someone told me, said John at the combine, he was
so bloated he could barely move two hundred and four pounds.
He wasn't two hundred and four pounds. They played it
like closer to one and seventy. That's fake weight. His
real weight, you know, I would say, even once against
the NFL and kind of matures into himself probably more
(11:34):
like one low one eighties, so that that number's fake.
So I get why people are concerned, like that's fair. Now,
his ability awesome, incredible. Now, if he's gonna get hit,
if you'd hit in the NFL, you're gonna get hurt. Probably,
So is he more inclined to get hurt being a
smaller guy, for sure. We've seen him with two of
him slammed to the ground, doesn't get up, and sometimes
(11:55):
he does and keeps playing and throws a bunch of
picks and we find out later he gotta get cushion.
The Miami Dolphins cocushion protocols a little bit different some teams.
But I am starting to come around on this Anthony
Richardson thing. And when you just factor in Trevor Lawrence
and Andrew Luck ain't walking through the door in this draft,
what's the worst thing that happens you miss in a
couple of years, you pivot? I mean, I think there is.
(12:19):
I would say right now, if I was taking an
educated guess, there's a fifty fifty chance that Anthony Richardson
is the number one overall quarterback taken in the twenty
twenty three NFL Draft. Grand slams, no hitters, double plays,
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(14:34):
hundred five two two for seven hundred Wyoming or visit
www dot one hundred gambler dot net West Virginia. I'm
gonna defend Bill Belichick. There was a moment at the
owners meetings because, like I said, every every GM owner
two owners don't have to they just do with the
local media. But the gms and the coaches obviously builds.
(14:55):
Both talk to the media and we get a ton
of sound bites. It's incredible for the business. I'm in Gudekins,
the Lamar stuff, Rivera's talking and Belichick, who had the
quote of the week when asked like why anyone basically
you know this isn't you know? Said why should we
be bullish? Why should we be comfortable? Why should we
be hopeful? Of what's going on with the Patriots? And
(15:17):
Belichick had just an incredible line. I don't know the
last twenty five years and listen a guy like Belichick,
this is tough, right. What unique about the sport of
football is these head coaches, you know, Bill Belichick to
Andy Reid, to Kyle Shanahan, de Sean McVeigh, all these guys,
especially the top guys are making twelve to fifteen Belichick
(15:40):
might be making twenty million dollars. Yeah, he's being asked
these questions. I think that specific question came from Mike Reis,
who's good. But I mean most of these writers, you know,
I'd say the average annual incomes between like ninety and
one forty, which depending on where he lives at good
at good living. But most people that are making one
hundred grand don't get to sit there right in front
(16:03):
of a guy making fifteen to twenty million and just
criticize him. And what unique about sports is there are
people in sports media making a ton coward dan Patrick
stephen A. These people never go to these press conferences.
So the people at the press conferences, or at these
owners meeting situations, or at the combine asking the questions
(16:24):
are the lowest wrong in turns of income. I'm not
saying obviously some people are really good, but they just
don't make that much money. So Belichick, who is worth
a stupid amount of money, who's accomplishments speaking for themselves,
is getting drilled by these writers about how he sucks.
And in fairness, the last couple of years been pretty weird.
Last year pretty embarrassing. But also like you think Bill
(16:46):
Belichick's gonna be like, yeah, I'm terrible. Now you nailed me, right,
You're not his equal. Like think about you know, when
Bill Belichick goes to vacation, but he could run into Coward.
He ain't run into the local writer of the Boston Globe.
That's not happening. They can't afford it. So in Belichick's mind,
(17:06):
he's getting these people who I bet most people in
his mind that he's getting asked questions aren't even that
good at his job. And you're being critical of a
guy who I don't know has six Super Bowls, two
others when he was an assistant. One of them the
game plan to beat Joe Montana. Bill Walsh's in the
Hall of Fame, went to three others as a head
coach and lost. Like arguably one of the most accomplished
(17:28):
executive or coaches in the history of sports. What's he
supposed to say? Like, there's no answer to be like, yeah,
I had a bad year. I suck. You're right there,
you know, Billy from the Boston Herald, you got me Sully,
I stink. I wouldn't say that either. Now it's funny
his reaction, but I also understand it, Like I just
(17:49):
don't understand what he is supposed to say. We all
have bad moments, we all make stupid mistakes. His mistake
last year was beyond dumb. But his owner, who again
gives him carte blanche to do whatever he wants, allowed
it to happen, right because maybe he went maybe Bill
knows what he's doing. Obviously that one didn't work, but
(18:09):
he's made so many decisions over the years that have
worked right. And so to me, like, listen, people are
acting like his Bill lost his fastball or his Bill,
you know, kind of resting on his laurels. I don't
know that that's never really been his m O. He
was ahead of the curve years ago in cutting guys
off a year early, moving off guys, getting rid of Welker,
(18:32):
getting rid of Logan Mankins, he got rid of everybody.
He was always right, So, in fairness to him, the
majority of things he's done have worked out. So when
something doesn't work out and then he has this writer,
this blogger. Don't get me wrong, I like reading some blogs.
Starts talking shit. Well, I just don't understand what Belichick
(18:54):
is supposed to say in that you know, in that situation,
whatever he's gonna say is going to either sound petty
or like he's not taking responsibility. But would you take
responsibility in that situation? I mean, seriously, would you take
criticism from someone making I don't know a fiftieth of
(19:17):
what you make and you are infinitely more accomplished, even
if their criticism has some merit. Probably not Thursday Night Football.
This became a topic for the Ages because there are
some rumblings about flexing Thursday Night Football later in the
(19:37):
season because last year, as we all saw Al Michaels,
who feels like he kind of mailed it in Kirkerbstreet
who was not a great fit, and the games were,
you know, relatively boring some of them, but that's always
kind of been the case with Thursday. I think what
makes this situation unique is the NFL who partnered with
(19:58):
Amazon and their games are exclusively streamed, which I celebrated,
but I also understand that less people, probably the first
go around, are going to have access to Amazon Prime
than they did the previous year on Fox. I'm not
an idiot. Even though I was one of the leading
palm palm waivers for this is the future and if
(20:19):
you don't have Amazon Prime, I'm sorry, you're kind of
living in the past, right or any of these streaming
services Netflix, Amazon Hulu, like, this is where we're going.
And inevitably, I think this last CBA, most of the
older owners might not be around in ten years. Their
kids are going to be running it. Well, Listen, my
(20:42):
parents were of the baby boomer generation. They are so
loyal and I'm talking whether it's a plumber, whether it's
the guy that fixes your roof, to whether it's the
guys that broadcast your games, and that generation with Jerry
Jones and Robert Kraft, have a lot of loyal and
rightfully so to CBS, Fox, NBC. Those networks have made
(21:05):
them a lot of money. But in ten five more
years they may be well behind the curve in terms
of the power of Amazon Prime, Netflix and the way
we watch stuff. We see the fluidity and the speed
in which things are changing. So the NFL is very
inclined to be all in on the streaming service because
(21:28):
one day all the NFL games are gonna be on
streaming services. Whether that's the next CBA or in two CBAS,
that's inevitable. And the moment some of these guys die off,
I'm not root for any of these guys to die
and their children takeover. I'll promise you this. Their children
are way less loyal and it has nothing to do
with grown up rich or whatever. It's literally a generational thing.
(21:50):
My generation has never been like comparing us to the
baby boomers. Our parents are our grandparents. Our loyalties. I'm
not talking about your loyalty to another human being or
a girlfriend or a wife. I'm strictly topic talking in business.
My parents would do business with the same people, no
matter how good they were with the job, because they
liked them or because that's who they always went through.
(22:12):
My generation will google on the internet who's better, what's
a better price point? And I'll change tomorrow. There's no
business loyalty. Look how many people you know under forty
change jobs at rapid speeds. So I understand the NFL
because this year with Amazon Prime, well, I watched every
game Obviously I do this for a living, and a
lot of people did. I think it averaged almost ten
(22:33):
million people was down from Fox, and you could say
it wasn't Maybe it wasn't perfect. Now part of it
is putting out Michael's with Kirkherd Street was bad. But
the other thing is Amazon, who is a major worldwide
company that is not going away, had to do some
get rights for their advertisers. Now I don't know exactly
how the advertising deals worked out. There might have been
(22:55):
like listen, if you're gonna buy for NBC, if you're
gonna buy for CBS, if you're gonna buy some of
these NFL games, you have to do an add on
for Amazon. And it didn't live up to the number
that they promised that even though I can't quite wrap
my head around, like it's the NFL. This is the price,
whether we hit nine million or eleven million. Like you
want to get in the club, or you want to
get in the club, right, I mean this is it's
(23:16):
like the Masters. You want to be a member at AUGUSTA.
Here's what you need to do, Here's what you need
to have if you don't shoot out of luck. Sorry,
but that's not what happened. And Amazon had to payback
some of the advertisers because they didn't hit the number
that was promised, and so twenty two of the owners
they didn't do an official vote, they did an unofficial vote.
You need twenty four votes to get something to go
(23:38):
through in the NFL, right, and they got twenty two yeses,
eight knows, and I think two people didn't vote, So
clearly this is headed toward they're gonna flex Thursday night games. Now,
let me take it from the player's side and the
coach's side. I understand how unfair it is. It's very unfair.
I listened to a Theo Vaughan podcast within the last
(23:59):
couple of weeks with George Kittle, and he talked about
his body after a football game and how much paint
he's in, how he doesn't feel right to like Wednesday
or Thursday of the following week. And he's not alone.
We've heard anytime you listen to a player talk about
their body post game and how long it takes them
to feel right, it's several days. So the disadvantage of
(24:20):
human being, especially as the season goes on on Thursday
night football. So I it's so much easier to play
your Thursday night football game in September. You have such
an advantage over the teams that are playing it in
November and December, just from a body clock standpoint. So
I am very understanding of the difficulty. I'm also I
worked in an NFL front office for two years. I
(24:44):
worked and we played Thursday night both seasons, and I
saw the amount of time it takes for that team
and that coaching staff to get ready for that game.
It's crazy. You don't sleep all week long. I do,
but the coaches don't. And it's very, very difficult. But
today the Yankees, their game started at one o'clock. It
(25:06):
was not on national television. The Yankees are the biggest
brand in Major League Baseball. Today was Opening Day. I
couldn't watch the game. It started my time ten am.
My take, that's fucking embarrassing. How can you have your
biggest brand on Opening Day? I get you got one
hundred and sixty two games not be on national TV.
(25:27):
Roger Goodell. That would never happen the NBA. Earlier this week,
the media had hyped up for a month, and rightfully so,
an MVP showdown Denver versus the Sixers. Hyped it up,
hiped it up, hyped it up. This is this could
determine the MVP of the league. Day of the game.
Joel Embiid not playing, just claim I'm injured, Not really,
(25:51):
because I just played, just not gonna do it. They
don't care about the fans. I've never seen a league
that cares less about the paying customer or the customer
willing to give his time. It's Adams over from the
worst commissioner I've ever seen. He has no control of
his league. Complete embarrassment. Baseball little different. Their guys do try.
They just play so many games I can't keep up.
(26:12):
And today is a great example. Opening Day Yankees not
on national TV. I just don't understand how that happened,
but it does. And the NFL is the most fan
friendly league in sports. It does everything for us. The
teams and the management are always in control. So they
want to keep a player that we like, they keep
them all their games always on national television. Any market
(26:36):
you live in, you want to watch your team play
every single game, very easy to consume all on you know,
basic cable right, Fox, CBS, NBC. And these enormous television
deals are what pay for everything. And the reason these
players have never made more money in the NFL and
the salary CAP's gonna keep rising is because of television
(26:57):
slash streaming. But they know it's to go to streaming
and no business, and listen, I'm part of a business
right now, not this venture. This venture is booming, but
I'm part of something else that's probably gonna make a
little less than we did in twenty and twenty two.
Not like you know, the end of the world. But
it sucks. That's anyone that's listening to this, whether you're
(27:18):
a sales guy, whether you're own your own business, you
always every single year. Now it's hard to control. Like
if you're in real estate, some things change, if you're construction,
some things change. It's hard. Business is difficult. You are
not guaranteed to make more money in perpetuity. There are
things out of your control that happened that slow it down.
That still doesn't mean you ever want to stop not
(27:38):
making more money year in the year out. It sucks,
you know, especially if you're trying to do everything humanly
possible to keep the grave for trading rolling. And the
NFL knows that we have to figure out ways to
make this as big as possible moving forward, so these
numbers continue to grow. Now, like I said, I get
the players, the coaches. I think it's outrageous because it
(28:01):
kind of is. No, it really is, but this is
kind of where the money comes from. Like whenever I
see Russell Westbrook or Kyrie Irving, two of the most
famous players the last decade. They're constantly throwing people out
of games. I saw a clip yesterday Westbrook threw someone out.
The other day Kyrie threw someone out. These people are
sitting front court at an NBA game, go to game time,
(28:23):
mapp see how much that ticket costs. It's like, I
can't believe the way they treat these guys. Now, if
he said something beyond outrageous, I get it, but it's
now the fucking throwing every single person out, no chance,
everyone's crossing the line. They hate the consumer. It drives
me nuts. It's just a business person, like, how can
you allow this to keep happening? And the NFL is
always about us, the consumer? What can they do to
(28:45):
make it better? Because they know the better it is
for the networks, the better it is for everyone, and
that always isn't the best for the teams or the players.
And it's a hard balance to strike. But I'll tell
you what, the players love, and I mean love, and
I would too the amount of money that keeps flowing
in the league. So are the coaches, all these you know,
a tight end coach making four hundred grand. These TV
(29:07):
networks weren't that big. Once upon a time they were
making thirty grand. So and one day, if it keeps
going with it, maybe they'll make six hundred grand. Every OC,
every DC making one two three million dollars. Business is
fucking booming. And the reason it's booming is because of
these contracts, and you gotta keep these people happy. So, like,
I just don't think it's as black and wise as
(29:28):
we could never do this. Well, I got news for you, Jags.
You're not getting flexes, the Cowboys, the Eagles, the Niners,
the Chiefs. I mean, it's it's the big boys carrying
this league, you know, the star quarterbacks, the big brands.
So I don't know if it's gonna happen. If I
was a betting man, it probably will happen. But it's
not like they're just doing it for ships and giggles.
(29:49):
They're doing it for money, which the players are part
of this little thing called a revenue share agreement. So
the more money that comes in, the more healthy the
league is, the more money for everyone. There's a balance
with health and safety. But I think for his biggest
Thursday night football. We all talk about it's the practice
schedule that the union demanded. We just get rid of practice.
(30:11):
Now guys drop like flies because they don't practice, they
don't hit. I go to trading camp, no one does anything.
So I think it's a little more nuanced and complicated
than just the way it's like, oh, we can never
do this. Well, can we talk about the different variables.
It's about making putting more money in your pocket, because
if the owners get more money, the players and coaches
(30:32):
get more money. It's the way it works. A couple
other NFL notes, I saw Florio say that that the
Jets trying to think about this trade or the packers
are this trade has been going on so long. I
forget even who's got one player. I've never seen a
(30:54):
trade that like, because some people have been in my dms,
why don't the Jets just go get Lamar Jack one
of these? Like, guys, the steal's done. The steal's done,
you know, like anyone that's ever done buy to home
or sold at home. You know, when you're under contract
and you're just hammering out the details, Like that's what's
going on that they're under contract, and the chances of
this deal unlike a real estate deal buying a home.
(31:17):
The steel's not coming back him on the market. Aaron
Rodgers is gonna be a Jet unless he retires, he
does not retire, which he said he's not going to.
He's gonna be a Jet. But they're haggling over what's
going on. And Florio reported that the Jets are no
longer dead set on getting the number thirteen pick and
(31:37):
talking to some NFL people this week as they drove
from Pro Day to Pro Day, and maybe Florio mentioned
this so I'm not trying to steal it, is that
when Rogers came on McAfee and said that he was
ninety percent going to retire when he went into the
Darkness Retreat, the Jets are like, this guy, we already
knew he would, you know, waffle about retiring in the
(31:59):
last couple of years. When you literally say out loud
that I was ninety percent just going to retire like
a week ago, how can I give you the thirteenth
overall pick. Come on, guys, you're giving me an asset
who could quit it any moment, which we all kind
of talked about. But then when he said that. I
heard that really hindered the negotiations and the Jets because
I've been saying for a while, you know, I'd probably
just give thirteen, especially now that I have two twos,
(32:21):
and just move on. But I do get it. From
their standpoint, like I'm gonna give you pick thirteen in
a draft that I've heard, it's pretty terrible. I've heard
the difference in this draft of pick twenty and pick
one hundred is not that different. Now, clearly there are
some non quarterbacks. There's I would say, depending on who
you talk to, if there are four legit quarterback prospects,
(32:43):
you know, tennish prospects. So the Jets that picks a
real player and that I do get it, I go no.
And maybe Rogers calculate was calculated when he said that,
knowing that because if you're him, when you rather just
have them draft the Notre Dame tight end right there?
Probably now you could argue it does even like rookie players.
(33:05):
But you know what I mean. And I think from
all signs that are pointing, from what I've heard ruler
rumblings out there that this deal could get done for
like a second and a conditional second third, depending on
if he returns next year. But I think the deal
because of all the hoop law about his future, is
going to be a lot less at least of as
(33:27):
we're sitting here today than we had originally anticipated before.
You know, he kind of came out of the darkness retreat.
Let's see. Oh I saw a rumor today. It's hard
because I gave a Lamar a lot of credit for
coming out with that tweet on the day that John
Harbaugh was going to talk, and then I saw that
he's just continued to tweet, and I think Dion Sanders
(33:49):
came out and said, like, bro, what are you doing.
You do not need to fight this battle on Twitter?
If you ever, just for those of you listening, if
you're not on Twitter, god bless you. What a fucking
waste of space ninety nine percent of the time. Beside,
if you like sports the occasional breaking news, it is
a hell hole of misery and you are never going
(34:12):
to and listen. I'm guilty. I used to be very,
very active. I would say, like twenty twelve through two
seventeen eighteen. These last couple of years, I just see
no point, Like I just keep a lot of thoughts
to myself, I'm not monetizing these thoughts, Well, what's the
point and just arguing over we're never changing our views,
(34:33):
and Lamar is just fighting this uphill battle constantly on Twitter.
It's like, what's what's the point of this? You don't
see these guys when they go through it consistently fighting
that why because that's why you pay an agent. And
I've said over and over this isn't even about like
saying that I'm pro anti agent in this situation. He
needs some help. And then there was a rumor and
(34:54):
it's hard because you don't know what to believe that
he doesn't need a fully guarante deal, he just needs
more money and guarantees this Deshaun Watson got. It's like,
if that is true, and I'm gonna prevent if it's true,
I got no clue. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, throw it
out there, and I'll be honest. So far, most things
he throws out there have been true just about players
(35:16):
in general. I think he's a pretty credible reporter. You're
not getting that, Lamar. And if you want to get
traded and that's your demand on money, like you're never
getting it. If you're willing to just sign I don't
know what other contracts guys are signing for non Deshaun Watson,
then maybe you get traded. But if that's your demand,
no one's gonna come after you. Now that being said,
all these teams and owners, I can't believe how naive
(35:41):
former players are when they're reacting to this. So many
people in the media are that these teams to just
say we're not interested, We're we're not going down that road.
Why do you believe? I never believe anything the team says.
I just judge teams off actions. That's the only thing
that matters. How to do Coaches and executives say one
(36:02):
thing and then just within a week, within a month,
at the draft, in free agency, during the season, do another.
Why Because ultimately their words are irrelevant. And if I
ran a team, was an owner, a GM or a coach,
I would say that too. Yeah, we're not in the business.
You are not doing your job. If you're not contacting
(36:25):
I don't know who is mom finding out what the
contract is and then talking with the ravens of what
the compensation would be right to think these teams that
have said we're not doing it haven't contacted them or
gathered information. Would just be ignorant to the way the
business works, would be ignorant to the way any business works.
(36:45):
The number one thing we all can do is accumulate information.
Whatever you do for a job and allows yourself to
make better decisions. Right, Like, I'm a better podcaster when
I picked the brain of three or four assistant GM's,
did they go from pro day to pro day? Right?
I get information that I was thinking one thing. And
(37:06):
it's like, I'm telling you, bro, this is happening. Like, well,
it's probably changed my tune. I'll never forget being at
the combine years ago. And my guy, he'll be at
GM one day and I'll come on this podcast. But
right now he's an up and comer, said Middlecoff. You're
being way too hard on Josh Allen. It's like, bro, inaccurate,
What are you talking about? This guy's got you know,
(37:27):
I think he's got three Super Bowl rings. Now he
knows what it looks like. And he was right, you know,
And I think anyone good in my spot. And it's
the one thing I say about reporters. If the only
people you talk to are agents, I don't take you seriously,
what makes schefter so powerful? And I would imagine Adrian
Wojanowski as well in basketball, and I think rap Sheet
(37:51):
has become this as well. Early on, I thought he
was kind of agent driven, but now, I mean I've
seen him at training camps, like you have to do
every GM and every coach and obviously you got agents too,
But if you don't know the gems and the coaches,
like I don't really care what the agents thing, because
the gms and the coaches are in control of the
contracts of who gets traded, right, I mean, they are
(38:13):
the ultimate decision makers. What what do you learn early on, Like,
especially when you get your first job, you can waste
a lot of time talking to someone on the phone.
If they ended up decision making power, it's kind of waste.
Like you got to work your way to a decision maker.
Sometimes that might even just be the secretary. Why because
the secretary can get you into the CEO. You waste
more time with sales guys in the middle of the office,
Like go to the guy's secretary, I'd waste more time
(38:35):
with her or him. You never know. In two twenty three,
but I just see some of this this talk. Do
people know the way the NFL works? Do people talk
to these coaches and gems. I haven't talked to one
person who's like, yeah, i'd be interested in Lamar. No,
I'm not. Some of these people aren't decision makers, and
some of these people don't need quarterbacks. But this notion like, oh,
(38:56):
don't talking to him. It's like Rod Rivera said, say,
how is the next party? If Washington hasn't talked to them,
everyone should be firing. That doesn't mean you should do
the deal. Because if I contact Lamar and we're like, hey,
we'd be interested about trading a couple once or making
a package for you, he's like, listen, can't has trade
(39:17):
for him? Part of it. He's mad about it the money.
So he's like, well, listen, here's my contract. You don't
need to guarantee me to you know, every penny, but
it's gotta be more than two it's gotta be two
hundred and thirty one million dollars minimum. What would your
first reaction be, I know what mine would be, Good
luck Lamar, look forward to watching him. Hopefully you don't
have to play it. God speed him a man. Good luck.
(39:40):
So it baffles my mind. I've saying this over and
over universally. Universally everyone ripped the Deshaun Watson trade and
the contract, yet like it feels like the media is
really defending him, like you gotta give him his money?
What money? This is not a We're not the Yankees here.
(40:04):
I don't know if an unlimited amount of cash, there's
a salary cap and he's not a top five quarterback,
neither's probably Deshauan Watson, why that could go down? Well,
if Russell sucks, Russell's probably be the worst trade ever.
Deshaun's still young, so maybe he could still have some moments,
but those could go down to two of the worst
trades of all time. I actually like Lamar better than
(40:26):
those two guys like currently, but the money matters. I
feel if if I don't have to pay him, I'd
trade two ones yesterday. But the cash and the guarantees,
like that's the whole deal here. Uh. And last we
not least, we talk about this, and we'll talk about
this with the quarterbacks that are getting drafted in all
these young quarterbacks, how serious you need to be. I
(40:50):
talked about it with Colin the other day, Like I think,
why I'm way better at this job than I ever
was as could be as a scout. I could never
have been a GM. I wasn't addicted to football. And
the people I know that are crushing it right now,
either as GMS coaches, assistant coaches, assistant GMS college directors, whatever,
(41:13):
are addicted to football. They're not watching the valvespar this weekend.
I am. You know. They're not worried about doing other
stuff in business. They might be, but football means everything
to them. Coach Read Brett, Veach, Howie Roseman, Belichick, Pete Carroll,
you go wrong. And most guys that I've known or
met or follow Nick Saban, Jim Harball football it's like
(41:37):
crack to them. There is no stopping it. That they
will never give up their addiction, and that's what makes
them so great, just like Tom Brady was addicted to
playing football or Tiger Woods was addicted to playing goal.
It's what separates them from the pack. Not always the
healthiest thing, but it's what makes them great in their field.
And to me, I was ever addicted to football, even
(41:58):
when I worked in it. Sometimes it kind of bored me.
I just couldn't watch seventh round or after seventh round
or a practice squad guy after a practice squad guy.
It's boring, you know, it really is. I like other sports.
I like watching an NBA playoff game, or like I'm
not missing the Masters for draft meetings. Back then I
had to. But if I could choose right, So you
(42:19):
really got to be to be a great player, or
a great coach or a great executive, you gotta be
addicted to the game. I've seen it firsthand and all
the great ones were and it was it was cool
to watch because I think that passion, you know, in
a weird way, especially if for coaches, keeps you young
because you get to be a round a lot of
young people. I think as an executive it can drive
(42:41):
you nuts, but as a coach it's it's kind of
a double edged sword. It's unhealthy the way you have
to live. But I do think it keeps you young.
And I think the character stuff when it comes to
the quarterbacks really really matters. I would not mess with
a quarterback who honestly wasn't pristine character. If your character
(43:01):
isn't on the high end of all the boxes, I
couldn't invest a lot India, whether that be a draft
pick or whether that beat money, and usually they go
hand in hand. And I saw Mike McCarthy, who is
his picture in the coach picture is just classic man.
He's actually dressed pretty well. He just looks so miserable sometimes,
you know, like school photos, you might not smile for
(43:24):
a second that catch you and your mom yelled at you.
Kind of felt like that. You just look kind of
grumpy off to the corner. Even though a lot of
the Super Bowl winners, you know, it was like Belichick,
Andy Harbaugh, Sean Payton were all kind of in the middle.
Never forget Mike's gott a ring, you know McVeigh. Mike
is away over there in the corner. So maybe he's
a little bitter that he's not in the end crowd.
(43:45):
He feels like an outcast. But he said he must
send this to reporters that over. Within the last couple
of weeks, Dak Prescott was coming in to work out
and spent four I didn't know Scott Tolzine, remember former
I think Wisconsin quarterback who spent some time on the Packers,
is now McCarthy's quarterback coach. And he said like he
came in for a workout I think they might have
(44:07):
like a captain's day, and I'm not exactly sure what
that is. But after it was done, they went in
one of the meeting rooms and McCarthy, Tolzine and Dak
watched all of his picks and dissected them for four hours.
And if you just google like and listen. I don't
blame when he's a Super Bowl champ, but like I
was hitting golf balls the other day at TPC, Travis
Kelsey was in the back with like a pro golfer,
(44:27):
just fucking around, you know. I mean, this is a
time when Josh Allen, you know, Sam Darnold, they're doing
golf videos with people. It's it's hang out time. You know.
This is I don't blame anyone for chilling in February
and March. As an NFL player, Dak Prescott and listen,
Dak needs doing prove he's getting paid one of the
highest paid players in the league. He's definitely one of
(44:48):
the most high profile players in the league. And I
was critical of the contract, not because I don't believe
in the human I think he is everything you'd want
to invest in. My issue was more like his talent.
I don't see you know, a talented enough guy. Now
we've argued about this in the DMS and Cowboy fans.
If you just want to win double digit games and
making the playoffs every year, he's gonna do that. So
(45:10):
the Cowboys are gonna have a lot of success and
they're gonna make money. But ultimately, like when you pay
to me a quarterback, a definitely a premium and one
hundred and sixty million dollars forty million dollars, especially a
couple of years ago, I would put that in the
premium category. I think your goal's got to be to
win a title, and what we've seen last he's just
not good enough to win a title. Now, if he
(45:30):
can somehow because his picks have gotten a little out
of control, figure out how to not turn the ball over.
And this is why you bet on character, because now
I'm not saying it's gonna translate. He could have throw
fifteen picks this year, but he truly cares, and to
spend four hours in the offseason when he could be
doing whatever the hell he wants, I mean, whatever the
hell he wants. Why because everyone in the league is
(45:52):
doing whatever the hell they want right now. I feel
pretty good if I was a Cowboy, and I feel
pretty good if I was Jerry. Now, ultimately that's got
to translate to the field. I think there's gonna be
a lot of debate. Have they made an incremental gap
made up for the Eagles at all? Eagles obviously lose Hardgrave,
We'll see. You know, they're gonna have Miles Sanders gone now,
(46:12):
like Miles Sanders was great, But who else they lose?
CJ they lost safety. Team's still gonna be pretty good
betting still on some old players. But I think Cowboys
gonna be pretty good. And I know Dak really really cares.
So it's just gonna come down to, like what they
worked on those four hours dissecting all those picks just
can't happen. And I've said it over and over, like
(46:33):
the Cowboys now two straight years he has played like
shit against the forty nineers in the playoffs. Well, who
are they likely to play in another playoff game? Rorty Niners?
And when you turn the ball over last year he
threw two picks like that. Just that cannot happen. You're
margin for air in these playoff games because the other
team is so good. You gotta be good with the football.
(46:55):
You can't turn them. Maybe you can afford interception, but
you definitely can't afford to. So props Jak Prescott grind
in the off season. The volume
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gambler dot net West Virginia. What is going on? Everybody?
John Middlecop three and Out podcast back again. A lot
going on, and I mean a lot going on. We
(02:12):
got Pro Days, we got Draft buzz, we got Belichick
getting edgy, we got Thursday Night Football, Flex potential, rogers Lamar.
Just a lot happening. So we will dive into it
all today on the show and no mail bag today
I will put one out this weekend, put one out Sunday.
(02:32):
So at John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram.
Fire in those dms and get your question answered on
the show. So this just this is a meeting football podcast.
I was fired up about a lot of stuff that's
going on right now. It's fun times. Draft meetings started
around the league next week, a lot of draft buzz
after all the pro days basically end starting tomorrow will
(02:55):
be the last day. And very very excited. So any
other housekeeping I don't think so. So firing those dms
at John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Any football question, live question, whatever,
if you got golf questions. Next week is the Masters
at Golopod. At Golopod is the Instagram. You can fire
(03:16):
in those dms and we can talk masters gambling. Because
I love next week, so let's do it. I think
we're basically now free agency beside Rogers and Lamar, which
are pretty big deals, is over and now we're focused
on the draft. Also on those two guys though, because
there they got some MVPs and their quarterbacks. But that
(03:39):
this is a fun time of year, that this really is.
But before we dive into football. Can I tell you
and listen? You guys deserve a round of applause. The
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time app promo code John. He'll start with the draft.
I saw Anthony Richardson's Pro day to day. Obviously, CJ
and Bryce have already had their Pro days. And I've
(05:04):
been thinking a lot about this because one thing the
NFL does a really good job of is staying in
the news after the season ends because of the setup
they have. Right we go right from the Super Bowl
to the Combine. What happens at the combine, most GMS
and coaches talk. Then what happens we go to the
(05:24):
owner's meeting where every GM and owner and coach is
obligated to talk. Then we have the Draft, where before
the draft, your coach or GM also obligated to talk.
And then the draft happens, they all talk. So we
get a lot of stories going and right now, two
of the clear biggest stories is the Roger trade, which
ultimately reflects Zach Wilson bust backup and Kyle Shanahan admitting
(05:50):
Trey Lance is no longer the starter. If Brock Purdy
is healthy, he's competing to be the backup. And my
theory is pretty simple that forever in the NFL, and
players will tell you this. Any non highly drafted guy,
a late round pick, an undrafted free agent who makes
it in the league, he saw it firsthand for years, right,
(06:12):
Any guy that's older than thirty five, they saw the
chances that a high pick got over and over and
over again, but specifically on the team that drafted him.
And you basically were on scholarship for three seasons if
I drafted you high, especially in the top ten at minimum,
even if it wasn't going well. Hell, JaMarcus Russell, you're
(06:32):
getting three years. I think two is the new three,
and I think a big reason for that is the
pressure of the league, the amount of money on the line,
the importance of winning, and what it does to the
owner's bank council. Listen, all these guys are rich, but
they've never been richer. And now when you win, you
can accumulate so much money. The amount the Bengals are
(06:54):
making now because of Joe Burrow, they don't have time
to waste. If they miss on a draft pick, you
just move on. Obviously they're not drafting high enough. But
I think the Jets and the forty nine ers show
you everything you need to know. Historically draft picks were
like gold. Obviously they're still really important, but I think
it's fair to say these young, kind of more progressive
(07:15):
gms are much more inclined to trade those picks because
they go, what the hell, if we're decent, we're drafting
later than twenty. You know, there aren't twenty first rounders
in most drafts. Historically that wasn't the case. Teams were
hesitant to do that. And now you see Zach Wilson
and Trey Lance. They're going into year three, neither guys
going to be starting Week one. So part of this
(07:37):
theory shows you that you can take big swings. Like
Jed Yorke said at the owners meetings that he didn't
regret the trade, and you know what, they shouldn't. They've
won twenty three regular season games the last two years
and four playoff games, so what if they whipped They
made an aggressive, full speed decision. Now it was flawed.
It was a weird time with the twenty twenty COVID season,
(08:00):
especially for trade lands, and they acted a little bit
out of desperation. It did not work, but ultimately it
hasn't ruined their franchise. Zach Wilson picked before that. Look
at what the Jets have done in these last couple
of years. Now, part of it is other moves, the
Jamal Adams trade, but still their roster is really really good.
And when which they eventually will do land Aaron Rodgers,
(08:22):
We're all going to pick them to make the playoffs,
at least I know I will. So I think part
of this is Forever Belichick was truly the only GM who,
after like two years, if he drafted in the first
round and he sucked, he just move on. He trade you.
Most gms, I don't blame them for doing this, would
ride you out right. But now because of the just
(08:43):
insane amount of cash flow in the league, how big
the salary cap is, how easy it is to make moves,
how many other teams are willing to make moves. I
think these teams are much more willing to just like
eat a sunk cost and pivot and we all benefit,
like the fans. So when you see Anthony Richardson, who
I'll be honest, beside the Utah game, I didn't know
(09:04):
that much about. I didn't watch that many Florida games.
You look at his box, you know his box scores
and just his stats for the season that they're not
gonna blow you away. But I've heard more and more
positive things from NFL people who have watched him, who
have scouted him, and who have just do this for
a living. They are very, very bullish on him. And
(09:26):
one rumor I heard last week on the streets is
that some people think that the Panthers could draft him
number one overall and just kind of take a swing
for the fences. Now, I've heard good things about his character.
I've heard good things about obviously his physical attributes, you
don't need to be a scout to see that, and
just about people that really dissect his season, like, let's
(09:49):
not act like he's playing for Nick Saban or Jim Harbaugh,
Billy Napier their head coach. You know, better win this year.
He's gonna get fired. You know, last year was really ugly,
and Sharks are out for him. Now. I'm not saying
that he's the reason for his non development or whatever.
This guy needs some development, but the talent is beyond
(10:09):
de mens. And we've done this with players before. You're
not guaranteed that there's no such thing as a high
floor in a draft pick. We love saying that, and
it's very easy to say, and I'm probably guilty of
saying it. But Mac Jones had a quote unquote high floor,
he might not be a top twenty quarterback, so Solomon Thomas,
(10:30):
Cleveland Farrell. I watched those guys get drafted in the
top five. Well they got high floors. Actually they sucked.
I mean, they're NFL players, but in no world they
shouldn't have been first round picks looking back. So my
point is, there is no such thing as a high floor.
High floor guys bust all the time and aren't starters,
and high ceiling guys do too. You might as well
(10:51):
take a swing for the fences. If I was Carolina
and I felt good, and from what I've heard, a
lot of people do feel good. Not only about this
guy's town, bet about the person. Kind of a raw
you know, came from a very very tough upbringing good people.
If people really like this guy, I might bet on
that c. J. Stroud is the easy move Bryce. I
(11:13):
think he's an excellent quarterback. But I do understand, as
someone told me, said John at the combine, he was
so bloated he could barely move two hundred and four pounds.
He wasn't two hundred and four pounds. They played it
like closer to one and seventy. That's fake weight. His
real weight, you know, I would say, even once against
the NFL and kind of matures into himself probably more
(11:34):
like one low one eighties, so that that number's fake.
So I get why people are concerned, like that's fair. Now,
his ability awesome, incredible. Now, if he's gonna get hit,
if you'd hit in the NFL, you're gonna get hurt. Probably,
So is he more inclined to get hurt being a
smaller guy, for sure. We've seen him with two of
him slammed to the ground, doesn't get up, and sometimes
(11:55):
he does and keeps playing and throws a bunch of
picks and we find out later he gotta get cushion.
The Miami Dolphins cocushion protocols a little bit different some teams.
But I am starting to come around on this Anthony
Richardson thing. And when you just factor in Trevor Lawrence
and Andrew Luck ain't walking through the door in this draft,
what's the worst thing that happens you miss in a
couple of years, you pivot? I mean, I think there is.
(12:19):
I would say right now, if I was taking an
educated guess, there's a fifty fifty chance that Anthony Richardson
is the number one overall quarterback taken in the twenty
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hundred five two two for seven hundred Wyoming or visit
www dot one hundred gambler dot net West Virginia. I'm
gonna defend Bill Belichick. There was a moment at the
owners meetings because, like I said, every every GM owner
two owners don't have to they just do with the
local media. But the gms and the coaches obviously builds.
(14:55):
Both talk to the media and we get a ton
of sound bites. It's incredible for the business. I'm in Gudekins,
the Lamar stuff, Rivera's talking and Belichick, who had the
quote of the week when asked like why anyone basically
you know this isn't you know? Said why should we
be bullish? Why should we be comfortable? Why should we
be hopeful? Of what's going on with the Patriots? And
(15:17):
Belichick had just an incredible line. I don't know the
last twenty five years and listen a guy like Belichick,
this is tough, right. What unique about the sport of
football is these head coaches, you know, Bill Belichick to
Andy Reid, to Kyle Shanahan, de Sean McVeigh, all these guys,
especially the top guys are making twelve to fifteen Belichick
(15:40):
might be making twenty million dollars. Yeah, he's being asked
these questions. I think that specific question came from Mike Reis,
who's good. But I mean most of these writers, you know,
I'd say the average annual incomes between like ninety and
one forty, which depending on where he lives at good
at good living. But most people that are making one
hundred grand don't get to sit there right in front
(16:03):
of a guy making fifteen to twenty million and just
criticize him. And what unique about sports is there are
people in sports media making a ton coward dan Patrick
stephen A. These people never go to these press conferences.
So the people at the press conferences, or at these
owners meeting situations, or at the combine asking the questions
(16:24):
are the lowest wrong in turns of income. I'm not
saying obviously some people are really good, but they just
don't make that much money. So Belichick, who is worth
a stupid amount of money, who's accomplishments speaking for themselves,
is getting drilled by these writers about how he sucks.
And in fairness, the last couple of years been pretty weird.
Last year pretty embarrassing. But also like you think Bill
(16:46):
Belichick's gonna be like, yeah, I'm terrible. Now you nailed me, right,
You're not his equal. Like think about you know, when
Bill Belichick goes to vacation, but he could run into Coward.
He ain't run into the local writer of the Boston Globe.
That's not happening. They can't afford it. So in Belichick's mind,
(17:06):
he's getting these people who I bet most people in
his mind that he's getting asked questions aren't even that
good at his job. And you're being critical of a
guy who I don't know has six Super Bowls, two
others when he was an assistant. One of them the
game plan to beat Joe Montana. Bill Walsh's in the
Hall of Fame, went to three others as a head
coach and lost. Like arguably one of the most accomplished
(17:28):
executive or coaches in the history of sports. What's he
supposed to say? Like, there's no answer to be like, yeah,
I had a bad year. I suck. You're right there,
you know, Billy from the Boston Herald, you got me Sully,
I stink. I wouldn't say that either. Now it's funny
his reaction, but I also understand it, Like I just
(17:49):
don't understand what he is supposed to say. We all
have bad moments, we all make stupid mistakes. His mistake
last year was beyond dumb. But his owner, who again
gives him carte blanche to do whatever he wants, allowed
it to happen, right because maybe he went maybe Bill
knows what he's doing. Obviously that one didn't work, but
(18:09):
he's made so many decisions over the years that have
worked right. And so to me, like, listen, people are
acting like his Bill lost his fastball or his Bill,
you know, kind of resting on his laurels. I don't
know that that's never really been his m O. He
was ahead of the curve years ago in cutting guys
off a year early, moving off guys, getting rid of Welker,
(18:32):
getting rid of Logan Mankins, he got rid of everybody.
He was always right, So, in fairness to him, the
majority of things he's done have worked out. So when
something doesn't work out and then he has this writer,
this blogger. Don't get me wrong, I like reading some blogs.
Starts talking shit. Well, I just don't understand what Belichick
(18:54):
is supposed to say in that you know, in that situation,
whatever he's gonna say is going to either sound petty
or like he's not taking responsibility. But would you take
responsibility in that situation? I mean, seriously, would you take
criticism from someone making I don't know a fiftieth of
(19:17):
what you make and you are infinitely more accomplished, even
if their criticism has some merit. Probably not Thursday Night Football.
This became a topic for the Ages because there are
some rumblings about flexing Thursday Night Football later in the
(19:37):
season because last year, as we all saw Al Michaels,
who feels like he kind of mailed it in Kirkerbstreet
who was not a great fit, and the games were,
you know, relatively boring some of them, but that's always
kind of been the case with Thursday. I think what
makes this situation unique is the NFL who partnered with
(19:58):
Amazon and their games are exclusively streamed, which I celebrated,
but I also understand that less people, probably the first
go around, are going to have access to Amazon Prime
than they did the previous year on Fox. I'm not
an idiot. Even though I was one of the leading
palm palm waivers for this is the future and if
(20:19):
you don't have Amazon Prime, I'm sorry, you're kind of
living in the past, right or any of these streaming
services Netflix, Amazon Hulu, like, this is where we're going.
And inevitably, I think this last CBA, most of the
older owners might not be around in ten years. Their
kids are going to be running it. Well, Listen, my
(20:42):
parents were of the baby boomer generation. They are so
loyal and I'm talking whether it's a plumber, whether it's
the guy that fixes your roof, to whether it's the
guys that broadcast your games, and that generation with Jerry
Jones and Robert Kraft, have a lot of loyal and
rightfully so to CBS, Fox, NBC. Those networks have made
(21:05):
them a lot of money. But in ten five more
years they may be well behind the curve in terms
of the power of Amazon Prime, Netflix and the way
we watch stuff. We see the fluidity and the speed
in which things are changing. So the NFL is very
inclined to be all in on the streaming service because
(21:28):
one day all the NFL games are gonna be on
streaming services. Whether that's the next CBA or in two CBAS,
that's inevitable. And the moment some of these guys die off,
I'm not root for any of these guys to die
and their children takeover. I'll promise you this. Their children
are way less loyal and it has nothing to do
with grown up rich or whatever. It's literally a generational thing.
(21:50):
My generation has never been like comparing us to the
baby boomers. Our parents are our grandparents. Our loyalties. I'm
not talking about your loyalty to another human being or
a girlfriend or a wife. I'm strictly topic talking in business.
My parents would do business with the same people, no
matter how good they were with the job, because they
liked them or because that's who they always went through.
(22:12):
My generation will google on the internet who's better, what's
a better price point? And I'll change tomorrow. There's no
business loyalty. Look how many people you know under forty
change jobs at rapid speeds. So I understand the NFL
because this year with Amazon Prime, well, I watched every
game Obviously I do this for a living, and a
lot of people did. I think it averaged almost ten
(22:33):
million people was down from Fox, and you could say
it wasn't Maybe it wasn't perfect. Now part of it
is putting out Michael's with Kirkherd Street was bad. But
the other thing is Amazon, who is a major worldwide
company that is not going away, had to do some
get rights for their advertisers. Now I don't know exactly
how the advertising deals worked out. There might have been
(22:55):
like listen, if you're gonna buy for NBC, if you're
gonna buy for CBS, if you're gonna buy some of
these NFL games, you have to do an add on
for Amazon. And it didn't live up to the number
that they promised that even though I can't quite wrap
my head around, like it's the NFL. This is the price,
whether we hit nine million or eleven million. Like you
want to get in the club, or you want to
get in the club, right, I mean this is it's
(23:16):
like the Masters. You want to be a member at AUGUSTA.
Here's what you need to do, Here's what you need
to have if you don't shoot out of luck. Sorry,
but that's not what happened. And Amazon had to payback
some of the advertisers because they didn't hit the number
that was promised, and so twenty two of the owners
they didn't do an official vote, they did an unofficial vote.
You need twenty four votes to get something to go
(23:38):
through in the NFL, right, and they got twenty two yeses,
eight knows, and I think two people didn't vote, So
clearly this is headed toward they're gonna flex Thursday night games. Now,
let me take it from the player's side and the
coach's side. I understand how unfair it is. It's very unfair.
I listened to a Theo Vaughan podcast within the last
(23:59):
couple of weeks with George Kittle, and he talked about
his body after a football game and how much paint
he's in, how he doesn't feel right to like Wednesday
or Thursday of the following week. And he's not alone.
We've heard anytime you listen to a player talk about
their body post game and how long it takes them
to feel right, it's several days. So the disadvantage of
(24:20):
human being, especially as the season goes on on Thursday
night football. So I it's so much easier to play
your Thursday night football game in September. You have such
an advantage over the teams that are playing it in
November and December, just from a body clock standpoint. So
I am very understanding of the difficulty. I'm also I
worked in an NFL front office for two years. I
(24:44):
worked and we played Thursday night both seasons, and I
saw the amount of time it takes for that team
and that coaching staff to get ready for that game.
It's crazy. You don't sleep all week long. I do,
but the coaches don't. And it's very, very difficult. But
today the Yankees, their game started at one o'clock. It
(25:06):
was not on national television. The Yankees are the biggest
brand in Major League Baseball. Today was Opening Day. I
couldn't watch the game. It started my time ten am.
My take, that's fucking embarrassing. How can you have your
biggest brand on Opening Day? I get you got one
hundred and sixty two games not be on national TV.
(25:27):
Roger Goodell. That would never happen the NBA. Earlier this week,
the media had hyped up for a month, and rightfully so,
an MVP showdown Denver versus the Sixers. Hyped it up,
hiped it up, hyped it up. This is this could
determine the MVP of the league. Day of the game.
Joel Embiid not playing, just claim I'm injured, Not really,
(25:51):
because I just played, just not gonna do it. They
don't care about the fans. I've never seen a league
that cares less about the paying customer or the customer
willing to give his time. It's Adams over from the
worst commissioner I've ever seen. He has no control of
his league. Complete embarrassment. Baseball little different. Their guys do try.
They just play so many games I can't keep up.
(26:12):
And today is a great example. Opening Day Yankees not
on national TV. I just don't understand how that happened,
but it does. And the NFL is the most fan
friendly league in sports. It does everything for us. The
teams and the management are always in control. So they
want to keep a player that we like, they keep
them all their games always on national television. Any market
(26:36):
you live in, you want to watch your team play
every single game, very easy to consume all on you know,
basic cable right, Fox, CBS, NBC. And these enormous television
deals are what pay for everything. And the reason these
players have never made more money in the NFL and
the salary CAP's gonna keep rising is because of television
(26:57):
slash streaming. But they know it's to go to streaming
and no business, and listen, I'm part of a business
right now, not this venture. This venture is booming, but
I'm part of something else that's probably gonna make a
little less than we did in twenty and twenty two.
Not like you know, the end of the world. But
it sucks. That's anyone that's listening to this, whether you're
(27:18):
a sales guy, whether you're own your own business, you
always every single year. Now it's hard to control. Like
if you're in real estate, some things change, if you're construction,
some things change. It's hard. Business is difficult. You are
not guaranteed to make more money in perpetuity. There are
things out of your control that happened that slow it down.
That still doesn't mean you ever want to stop not
(27:38):
making more money year in the year out. It sucks,
you know, especially if you're trying to do everything humanly
possible to keep the grave for trading rolling. And the
NFL knows that we have to figure out ways to
make this as big as possible moving forward, so these
numbers continue to grow. Now, like I said, I get
the players, the coaches. I think it's outrageous because it
(28:01):
kind of is. No, it really is, but this is
kind of where the money comes from. Like whenever I
see Russell Westbrook or Kyrie Irving, two of the most
famous players the last decade. They're constantly throwing people out
of games. I saw a clip yesterday Westbrook threw someone out.
The other day Kyrie threw someone out. These people are
sitting front court at an NBA game, go to game time,
(28:23):
mapp see how much that ticket costs. It's like, I
can't believe the way they treat these guys. Now, if
he said something beyond outrageous, I get it, but it's
now the fucking throwing every single person out, no chance,
everyone's crossing the line. They hate the consumer. It drives
me nuts. It's just a business person, like, how can
you allow this to keep happening? And the NFL is
always about us, the consumer? What can they do to
(28:45):
make it better? Because they know the better it is
for the networks, the better it is for everyone, and
that always isn't the best for the teams or the players.
And it's a hard balance to strike. But I'll tell
you what, the players love, and I mean love, and
I would too the amount of money that keeps flowing
in the league. So are the coaches, all these you know,
a tight end coach making four hundred grand. These TV
(29:07):
networks weren't that big. Once upon a time they were
making thirty grand. So and one day, if it keeps
going with it, maybe they'll make six hundred grand. Every OC,
every DC making one two three million dollars. Business is
fucking booming. And the reason it's booming is because of
these contracts, and you gotta keep these people happy. So, like,
I just don't think it's as black and wise as
(29:28):
we could never do this. Well, I got news for you, Jags.
You're not getting flexes, the Cowboys, the Eagles, the Niners,
the Chiefs. I mean, it's it's the big boys carrying
this league, you know, the star quarterbacks, the big brands.
So I don't know if it's gonna happen. If I
was a betting man, it probably will happen. But it's
not like they're just doing it for ships and giggles.
(29:49):
They're doing it for money, which the players are part
of this little thing called a revenue share agreement. So
the more money that comes in, the more healthy the
league is, the more money for everyone. There's a balance
with health and safety. But I think for his biggest
Thursday night football. We all talk about it's the practice
schedule that the union demanded. We just get rid of practice.
(30:11):
Now guys drop like flies because they don't practice, they
don't hit. I go to trading camp, no one does anything.
So I think it's a little more nuanced and complicated
than just the way it's like, oh, we can never
do this. Well, can we talk about the different variables.
It's about making putting more money in your pocket, because
if the owners get more money, the players and coaches
(30:32):
get more money. It's the way it works. A couple
other NFL notes, I saw Florio say that that the
Jets trying to think about this trade or the packers
are this trade has been going on so long. I
forget even who's got one player. I've never seen a
(30:54):
trade that like, because some people have been in my dms,
why don't the Jets just go get Lamar Jack one
of these? Like, guys, the steal's done. The steal's done,
you know, like anyone that's ever done buy to home
or sold at home. You know, when you're under contract
and you're just hammering out the details, Like that's what's
going on that they're under contract, and the chances of
this deal unlike a real estate deal buying a home.
(31:17):
The steel's not coming back him on the market. Aaron
Rodgers is gonna be a Jet unless he retires, he
does not retire, which he said he's not going to.
He's gonna be a Jet. But they're haggling over what's
going on. And Florio reported that the Jets are no
longer dead set on getting the number thirteen pick and
(31:37):
talking to some NFL people this week as they drove
from Pro Day to Pro Day, and maybe Florio mentioned
this so I'm not trying to steal it, is that
when Rogers came on McAfee and said that he was
ninety percent going to retire when he went into the
Darkness Retreat, the Jets are like, this guy, we already
knew he would, you know, waffle about retiring in the
(31:59):
last couple of years. When you literally say out loud
that I was ninety percent just going to retire like
a week ago, how can I give you the thirteenth
overall pick. Come on, guys, you're giving me an asset
who could quit it any moment, which we all kind
of talked about. But then when he said that. I
heard that really hindered the negotiations and the Jets because
I've been saying for a while, you know, I'd probably
just give thirteen, especially now that I have two twos,
(32:21):
and just move on. But I do get it. From
their standpoint, like I'm gonna give you pick thirteen in
a draft that I've heard, it's pretty terrible. I've heard
the difference in this draft of pick twenty and pick
one hundred is not that different. Now, clearly there are
some non quarterbacks. There's I would say, depending on who
you talk to, if there are four legit quarterback prospects,
(32:43):
you know, tennish prospects. So the Jets that picks a
real player and that I do get it, I go no.
And maybe Rogers calculate was calculated when he said that,
knowing that because if you're him, when you rather just
have them draft the Notre Dame tight end right there?
Probably now you could argue it does even like rookie players.
(33:05):
But you know what I mean. And I think from
all signs that are pointing, from what I've heard ruler
rumblings out there that this deal could get done for
like a second and a conditional second third, depending on
if he returns next year. But I think the deal
because of all the hoop law about his future, is
going to be a lot less at least of as
(33:27):
we're sitting here today than we had originally anticipated before.
You know, he kind of came out of the darkness retreat.
Let's see. Oh I saw a rumor today. It's hard
because I gave a Lamar a lot of credit for
coming out with that tweet on the day that John
Harbaugh was going to talk, and then I saw that
he's just continued to tweet, and I think Dion Sanders
(33:49):
came out and said, like, bro, what are you doing.
You do not need to fight this battle on Twitter?
If you ever, just for those of you listening, if
you're not on Twitter, god bless you. What a fucking
waste of space ninety nine percent of the time. Beside,
if you like sports the occasional breaking news, it is
a hell hole of misery and you are never going
(34:12):
to and listen. I'm guilty. I used to be very,
very active. I would say, like twenty twelve through two
seventeen eighteen. These last couple of years, I just see
no point, Like I just keep a lot of thoughts
to myself, I'm not monetizing these thoughts, Well, what's the
point and just arguing over we're never changing our views,
(34:33):
and Lamar is just fighting this uphill battle constantly on Twitter.
It's like, what's what's the point of this? You don't
see these guys when they go through it consistently fighting
that why because that's why you pay an agent. And
I've said over and over this isn't even about like
saying that I'm pro anti agent in this situation. He
needs some help. And then there was a rumor and
(34:54):
it's hard because you don't know what to believe that
he doesn't need a fully guarante deal, he just needs
more money and guarantees this Deshaun Watson got. It's like,
if that is true, and I'm gonna prevent if it's true,
I got no clue. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, throw it
out there, and I'll be honest. So far, most things
he throws out there have been true just about players
(35:16):
in general. I think he's a pretty credible reporter. You're
not getting that, Lamar. And if you want to get
traded and that's your demand on money, like you're never
getting it. If you're willing to just sign I don't
know what other contracts guys are signing for non Deshaun Watson,
then maybe you get traded. But if that's your demand,
no one's gonna come after you. Now that being said,
all these teams and owners, I can't believe how naive
(35:41):
former players are when they're reacting to this. So many
people in the media are that these teams to just
say we're not interested, We're we're not going down that road.
Why do you believe? I never believe anything the team says.
I just judge teams off actions. That's the only thing
that matters. How to do Coaches and executives say one
(36:02):
thing and then just within a week, within a month,
at the draft, in free agency, during the season, do another.
Why Because ultimately their words are irrelevant. And if I
ran a team, was an owner, a GM or a coach,
I would say that too. Yeah, we're not in the business.
You are not doing your job. If you're not contacting
(36:25):
I don't know who is mom finding out what the
contract is and then talking with the ravens of what
the compensation would be right to think these teams that
have said we're not doing it haven't contacted them or
gathered information. Would just be ignorant to the way the
business works, would be ignorant to the way any business works.
(36:45):
The number one thing we all can do is accumulate information.
Whatever you do for a job and allows yourself to
make better decisions. Right, Like, I'm a better podcaster when
I picked the brain of three or four assistant GM's,
did they go from pro day to pro day? Right?
I get information that I was thinking one thing. And
(37:06):
it's like, I'm telling you, bro, this is happening. Like, well,
it's probably changed my tune. I'll never forget being at
the combine years ago. And my guy, he'll be at
GM one day and I'll come on this podcast. But
right now he's an up and comer, said Middlecoff. You're
being way too hard on Josh Allen. It's like, bro, inaccurate,
What are you talking about? This guy's got you know,
(37:27):
I think he's got three Super Bowl rings. Now he
knows what it looks like. And he was right, you know,
And I think anyone good in my spot. And it's
the one thing I say about reporters. If the only
people you talk to are agents, I don't take you seriously,
what makes schefter so powerful? And I would imagine Adrian
Wojanowski as well in basketball, and I think rap Sheet
(37:51):
has become this as well. Early on, I thought he
was kind of agent driven, but now, I mean I've
seen him at training camps, like you have to do
every GM and every coach and obviously you got agents too,
But if you don't know the gems and the coaches,
like I don't really care what the agents thing, because
the gms and the coaches are in control of the
contracts of who gets traded, right, I mean, they are
(38:13):
the ultimate decision makers. What what do you learn early on, Like,
especially when you get your first job, you can waste
a lot of time talking to someone on the phone.
If they ended up decision making power, it's kind of waste.
Like you got to work your way to a decision maker.
Sometimes that might even just be the secretary. Why because
the secretary can get you into the CEO. You waste
more time with sales guys in the middle of the office,
Like go to the guy's secretary, I'd waste more time
(38:35):
with her or him. You never know. In two twenty three,
but I just see some of this this talk. Do
people know the way the NFL works? Do people talk
to these coaches and gems. I haven't talked to one
person who's like, yeah, i'd be interested in Lamar. No,
I'm not. Some of these people aren't decision makers, and
some of these people don't need quarterbacks. But this notion like, oh,
(38:56):
don't talking to him. It's like Rod Rivera said, say,
how is the next party? If Washington hasn't talked to them,
everyone should be firing. That doesn't mean you should do
the deal. Because if I contact Lamar and we're like, hey,
we'd be interested about trading a couple once or making
a package for you, he's like, listen, can't has trade
(39:17):
for him? Part of it. He's mad about it the money.
So he's like, well, listen, here's my contract. You don't
need to guarantee me to you know, every penny, but
it's gotta be more than two it's gotta be two
hundred and thirty one million dollars minimum. What would your
first reaction be, I know what mine would be, Good
luck Lamar, look forward to watching him. Hopefully you don't
have to play it. God speed him a man. Good luck.
(39:40):
So it baffles my mind. I've saying this over and
over universally. Universally everyone ripped the Deshaun Watson trade and
the contract, yet like it feels like the media is
really defending him, like you gotta give him his money?
What money? This is not a We're not the Yankees here.
(40:04):
I don't know if an unlimited amount of cash, there's
a salary cap and he's not a top five quarterback,
neither's probably Deshauan Watson, why that could go down? Well,
if Russell sucks, Russell's probably be the worst trade ever.
Deshaun's still young, so maybe he could still have some moments,
but those could go down to two of the worst
trades of all time. I actually like Lamar better than
(40:26):
those two guys like currently, but the money matters. I
feel if if I don't have to pay him, I'd
trade two ones yesterday. But the cash and the guarantees,
like that's the whole deal here. Uh. And last we
not least, we talk about this, and we'll talk about
this with the quarterbacks that are getting drafted in all
these young quarterbacks, how serious you need to be. I
(40:50):
talked about it with Colin the other day, Like I think,
why I'm way better at this job than I ever
was as could be as a scout. I could never
have been a GM. I wasn't addicted to football. And
the people I know that are crushing it right now,
either as GMS coaches, assistant coaches, assistant GMS college directors, whatever,
(41:13):
are addicted to football. They're not watching the valvespar this weekend.
I am. You know. They're not worried about doing other
stuff in business. They might be, but football means everything
to them. Coach Read Brett, Veach, Howie Roseman, Belichick, Pete Carroll,
you go wrong. And most guys that I've known or
met or follow Nick Saban, Jim Harball football it's like
(41:37):
crack to them. There is no stopping it. That they
will never give up their addiction, and that's what makes
them so great, just like Tom Brady was addicted to
playing football or Tiger Woods was addicted to playing goal.
It's what separates them from the pack. Not always the
healthiest thing, but it's what makes them great in their field.
And to me, I was ever addicted to football, even
(41:58):
when I worked in it. Sometimes it kind of bored me.
I just couldn't watch seventh round or after seventh round
or a practice squad guy after a practice squad guy.
It's boring, you know, it really is. I like other sports.
I like watching an NBA playoff game, or like I'm
not missing the Masters for draft meetings. Back then I
had to. But if I could choose right, So you
(42:19):
really got to be to be a great player, or
a great coach or a great executive, you gotta be
addicted to the game. I've seen it firsthand and all
the great ones were and it was it was cool
to watch because I think that passion, you know, in
a weird way, especially if for coaches, keeps you young
because you get to be a round a lot of
young people. I think as an executive it can drive
(42:41):
you nuts, but as a coach it's it's kind of
a double edged sword. It's unhealthy the way you have
to live. But I do think it keeps you young.
And I think the character stuff when it comes to
the quarterbacks really really matters. I would not mess with
a quarterback who honestly wasn't pristine character. If your character
(43:01):
isn't on the high end of all the boxes, I
couldn't invest a lot India, whether that be a draft
pick or whether that beat money, and usually they go
hand in hand. And I saw Mike McCarthy, who is
his picture in the coach picture is just classic man.
He's actually dressed pretty well. He just looks so miserable sometimes,
you know, like school photos, you might not smile for
(43:24):
a second that catch you and your mom yelled at you.
Kind of felt like that. You just look kind of
grumpy off to the corner. Even though a lot of
the Super Bowl winners, you know, it was like Belichick,
Andy Harbaugh, Sean Payton were all kind of in the middle.
Never forget Mike's gott a ring, you know McVeigh. Mike
is away over there in the corner. So maybe he's
a little bitter that he's not in the end crowd.
(43:45):
He feels like an outcast. But he said he must
send this to reporters that over. Within the last couple
of weeks, Dak Prescott was coming in to work out
and spent four I didn't know Scott Tolzine, remember former
I think Wisconsin quarterback who spent some time on the Packers,
is now McCarthy's quarterback coach. And he said like he
came in for a workout I think they might have
(44:07):
like a captain's day, and I'm not exactly sure what
that is. But after it was done, they went in
one of the meeting rooms and McCarthy, Tolzine and Dak
watched all of his picks and dissected them for four hours.
And if you just google like and listen. I don't
blame when he's a Super Bowl champ, but like I
was hitting golf balls the other day at TPC, Travis
Kelsey was in the back with like a pro golfer,
(44:27):
just fucking around, you know. I mean, this is a
time when Josh Allen, you know, Sam Darnold, they're doing
golf videos with people. It's it's hang out time. You know.
This is I don't blame anyone for chilling in February
and March. As an NFL player, Dak Prescott and listen,
Dak needs doing prove he's getting paid one of the
highest paid players in the league. He's definitely one of
(44:48):
the most high profile players in the league. And I
was critical of the contract, not because I don't believe
in the human I think he is everything you'd want
to invest in. My issue was more like his talent.
I don't see you know, a talented enough guy. Now
we've argued about this in the DMS and Cowboy fans.
If you just want to win double digit games and
making the playoffs every year, he's gonna do that. So
(45:10):
the Cowboys are gonna have a lot of success and
they're gonna make money. But ultimately, like when you pay
to me a quarterback, a definitely a premium and one
hundred and sixty million dollars forty million dollars, especially a
couple of years ago, I would put that in the
premium category. I think your goal's got to be to
win a title, and what we've seen last he's just
not good enough to win a title. Now, if he
(45:30):
can somehow because his picks have gotten a little out
of control, figure out how to not turn the ball over.
And this is why you bet on character, because now
I'm not saying it's gonna translate. He could have throw
fifteen picks this year, but he truly cares, and to
spend four hours in the offseason when he could be
doing whatever the hell he wants, I mean, whatever the
hell he wants. Why because everyone in the league is
(45:52):
doing whatever the hell they want right now. I feel
pretty good if I was a Cowboy, and I feel
pretty good if I was Jerry. Now, ultimately that's got
to translate to the field. I think there's gonna be
a lot of debate. Have they made an incremental gap
made up for the Eagles at all? Eagles obviously lose Hardgrave,
We'll see. You know, they're gonna have Miles Sanders gone now,
(46:12):
like Miles Sanders was great, But who else they lose?
CJ they lost safety. Team's still gonna be pretty good
betting still on some old players. But I think Cowboys
gonna be pretty good. And I know Dak really really cares.
So it's just gonna come down to, like what they
worked on those four hours dissecting all those picks just
can't happen. And I've said it over and over, like
(46:33):
the Cowboys now two straight years he has played like
shit against the forty nineers in the playoffs. Well, who
are they likely to play in another playoff game? Rorty Niners?
And when you turn the ball over last year he
threw two picks like that. Just that cannot happen. You're
margin for air in these playoff games because the other
team is so good. You gotta be good with the football.
(46:55):
You can't turn them. Maybe you can afford interception, but
you definitely can't afford to. So props Jak Prescott grind
in the off season. The volume
Host
John Middlekauff
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