Sifting Through Super Wild Card Rubble

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
They around the NFL podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
That pizza was great.

Speaker 3 (00:07):
Mark from the Chris Lastling podcast studio, it's around the NFL.
I'm Dan hanss Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler heroes both
what pizza.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Are we referring tomorrow?

Speaker 4 (00:19):
I mean no, because like we were just talking before
the show that we now you know we regularly read
ads for iHeart part of the gig. Yeah, it's like
it's it's we're happy to do it obviously, like on
to varying degrees and like, uh, I you know, I
don't know how they pick what we're each being tagged
to read. But I got a de journal one that
is nationally It's like, uh, now you poured your heart

(00:39):
into the and I actually have eaten to journal pizza
and I do believe in it. I don't want to
give them. I want them to come back with a
second spot and maybe in a more of a bundle
of an offer for me to continue to pitch them.
But like I will say, like I believe in the
product largely, and I put my heart into the read
and I've I've had people call me up from you know,
other parts of the country and so they just heard you,
uh doing a pizza on my.

Speaker 5 (01:01):
I feel a little conflicted here, Yeah, conflicted.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, because this Friday.

Speaker 5 (01:07):
You know, sometimes I mentioned I do the pic show
with Patrick and Cynthia, the game debut of course Friday,
you guys can see the debut a PM Eastern of
the Little Caesar's in Show ad that we filmed weeks back.
So it's a bit of a conflict here. For Multiple Pizza.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
You guys have the whole thing covered.

Speaker 4 (01:27):
Yeah, Multiple pie houses want us to speak for them.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
So I think there is a certain absurdist humor to
Mark doing a read for any food product.

Speaker 4 (01:37):
Yes, I got a lot of that, but it's like
you have seen me eat pizza.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
That would be so you.

Speaker 5 (01:42):
Would be a great sponsor because you'd be like, I
don't like much food and go, but this food satisfies
the market.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
I think to really get the cross promotion going with
the journal, it's it's now taking that the first read
was a little shock and awe and now adding some nuances.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Be like, listen, Hi, I'm Mark. I don't like food,
but what I must eat.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Right, I like to pitch.

Speaker 4 (02:03):
I mean, I'm not like I need more more of
a more weight in the creative process here. They just
kind of gave me the text last time. But I
think now that they see the ground swell here.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
If you want to cook the meal, you better let
me shop for the grocers.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
I am Mark.

Speaker 5 (02:16):
On a typical nine hour day at the office, I
just drink seventeen coffees and then.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
Like a root beer. But I'll eat some disorta.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
But I believe that I've seen you eat pizza. It's
one of the foods I have. Yeah, you eat. This
is the Wednesday edition of Around the NFL. This is
you know, that nice little you're that buffer zone. So
where we've moved away, we've moved out of the port
of wild Card Super wild Card weekend, and we have

(02:46):
our preview episode of the Divisional Round, the best weekend
of football of the year, coming up tomorrow. But for today,
I think it will be a good kind of sifting through,
let's be honest, the wreckage, sifting through the wreckage stag
of Super wild Card weekend and figuring out some of

(03:08):
these teams that you know, didn't it didn't go their way.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
What happens next? So we got that coming up.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
But before we do, all right, once again, it's turning
into the uh Jimmy Kimmel was saying, oh, we ran
out of time for Matt Damon situation.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
I did tease Colleen coming back, but listen, I don't
even need I don't have to get into it, and
I won't. Colleen's not here today. So that is three
straight weeks I've teased Colleen on the show. Next week,
maybe you know what, Let's go for it next week.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Colleen returns looking forward to it.

Speaker 4 (03:41):
It's a good like you're you know, part of your
showman duties is just the build up, right, And then
she's been a part of that too.

Speaker 3 (03:47):
I should have double checked with her, but I just assumed.
But you don't assume. In the words of the second
bad guy in Under Siege, too dark territory, assumption is
the mother of all.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
That's what I did. He came up with that. He
was pretty.

Speaker 4 (04:08):
I feel like I've been hearing that since I was
like a youth, but I'm.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
Not in the movie came out in nineteen ninety five. Well,
you weren't a youth. You were in your twenties at
that point, but like you might.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
Have seen it.

Speaker 4 (04:18):
He elevated the phrase, no doubt. All right, let's get
to the news.

Speaker 6 (04:24):
Came out of his ex wife's body, came out of
his body.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yeah, I'm not even gonna give the context. If you
missed that episode, you just just know Greg had comments
about that. And we're going to get to the Patriots
and their coaching staff and who's on it and who's not,
uh in a little bit.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
But let's start with Mike Tomlin.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
And you know, Tomlin was the subject of a lot
of speculation in December when the team was seven and
seven and I was having a disappointing year. Then they
reel off three straight wins, sneak in the playoffs, get
dispatched by Buffalo on Monday, leading to a postgame press

(05:15):
conference and a tense moment at the end where a
reporter for ESPN, Brooke Pryor, asked.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Hey, you know you got one year left on your contract.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
Tomlin gave a little look and then walked right out
the door without saying a word, which takes us to Tuesday,
where Tomlin told Steelers players and coaches that he plans
to coach a team in twenty twenty four, a day
after he walked out on that press conference. So, and
I think it's interesting even how it's reported here Greg
that he told the Steelers players and coaches, I'm coming back.
So assuming Pittsburgh there's not a disconnect here, it will

(05:47):
be Mike Tomlin once again back for yet another year.

Speaker 5 (05:49):
Yeah, we know he's a man of his word, but
I am very curious just to watch what happens this
offseason because he's going into the final year of his contract.
That's new, and I just wonder if him walking off
the set there was almost like a warning shot of like,
don't ask about that, because there's at least one route

(06:09):
that he could take here, which is old boss or
his old colleague Kevin Colbert took late in his career
where he just kept going into his contract years. He
wasn't sure. That was a little different. He was thinking
about retiring and whatnot. And I do wonder and this
would be something that will hang over the team if
Tomlin is interested in like maybe I will go into
my contract year and not sign an extension here. Maybe

(06:33):
the Steelers don't want that to happen and they'll try
to get him signed long term. But that it's just
something to watch with the insiders this offseason.

Speaker 4 (06:38):
I guess also because like when you argued that Belichick
would never be true trade bait, that he wouldn't go
to another team and have that team have to give
up a first round pick or multiple picks form or whatever,
like coaches are unwise to do that. And if you're
on your one year deal, you could be Mike Tomlin.
And if you get to next end of next season
and your quarterback situation isn't refreshed or vibrant or better

(07:02):
than it has been for the past couple of years,
you then become one of the most highly touted coaches
out there. He's not that old, he's still got plenty
left and like he could go almost anywhere he'd want
to with the best possible roster and not give up
assets in return. So it's like, you can't do that
when you're still have two years, and so if you
get to one, you're getting closer to freedom. If he
wanted that bright and he sounds loyal to Pittsburgh to

(07:23):
me also, and.

Speaker 5 (07:24):
He's also twenty years younger than Belgium. Could be a
money thing too, Steelers, Like does he get the top
of the coaching market money, Maybe he doesn't.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
Maybe it would take him becoming a free agent.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
To do that.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
In other news, the New Orleans Saints make moves on
their coaching staff, headlined by Pete Carmichael Junior, the longest
tenured offensive coordinator in football.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
He will not return to the Saints in twenty twenty four.

Speaker 3 (07:50):
The head coach, Dennis Allen announced that on Tuesday, they're
also parting ways with a few other assistants on the staff.
And you know, eighteen years, which eighteen season with the Saints.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
It's literally longer than any head coach in the league.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
And obviously you know right, yeah, it.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Is Tomlin is now that longest ten year head coach.

Speaker 3 (08:13):
He was a member of Sean Payton's original coaching staff.
He arrived as the QB coach in two thousand and six.
And of course it was when Peyton was there, was
Peyton's offense and Peyton was running the show, which I
guess eased Carmichael's transition when Dennis Allen took over. But
at this point in time, and we're gonna get to
Dennis Allen sticking around mark in a second, some comments
made by the general manager.

Speaker 4 (08:35):
They are making changes, just not at the top, I
mean the Pete Carmichael thing. I'll never forget being at
like a Hall of Fame game, literally like during the
flate Gate or something, or during like the whole bounty
gate thing, and seeing Pete Carmichael on the sideline, you know,
in late August. This was like a billion years ago.
So it's like he's been around forever.

Speaker 5 (08:53):
He was the interim before the other interim came back, right,
I mean, so.

Speaker 4 (08:57):
He's he's always been like Peyton's guy. But I think
two things. I feel a little bit like there were
whispers when they try to elevate him to oc that
he didn't really really desire it the way that you'd think,
like when you hear like you listen to Jordan Rodrieg's
play Callers podcast series, like all these guys are dying
inside and burning just to get a play into the playbook.
They want to be part of it, they want to create,

(09:18):
and like, you didn't get that vibe from late career
Carmichael in this situation. And I you know, Matt Harmon,
our friend put a comment out saying that like on
the week to week basis of watching film and watching offense,
like the Saints were the one kind of the film
that just drag them would drag them down to the
mud on a week to week basis, and it's like
they could use some new ideas, some fresh life.

Speaker 5 (09:39):
It's it's the way of like keeping the head coach.
But hey, we are making a change, and that's fine.
It has been the same system. I mean, it's Sean
Payton's system. They were average on offense the last two years.
They weren't much better with Car. They did finish better offensively,
so I think that's at least in their offensive line.
I think played well considering that the relative talent that

(10:01):
they have. So now it's like it's Car and all
these guys starting over in another system which has its
own share of risks.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
Right, and you know, if they don't get better next year,
they'll come for the head coach. And a lot of
people thought Dennis Allie should have been out this year,
but Mickey Loomis decided that the Saints wanted to go
deeper with Allen and he had a press conference today
which was hyper enjoyable. Just a warning mark to you

(10:29):
and the other mesophonius out there. Yeah, he's chewing gum.
That sound you're about to hear is a man chomping
violently on a piece of bubble gum while addressing the
media in see how it goes into a microphone.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Good luck, Bill Belichick.

Speaker 7 (10:48):
Here's his first three seasons six and ten, seven and nine,
seven and nine, Tom Landy four eleven, four, nine, five
and eight, four and ten, five and eight. Hall of
Fame coaches, all of them. Bill wallsh first year two
and fourteen, second year six and ten. So I think
the easy thing to do is just look at.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
The results and say, oh no, we've got to have
a change.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
And I want to address the musiphonia, which I'm coming
around on now, but we got to let this guy
cook because he's just getting warm warmed up here go whoa.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
You got to look beyond that.

Speaker 7 (11:20):
You know, what are the reasons why we were nine
and eight instead of you know, thirteen and four.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
And look, it's it's collective.

Speaker 7 (11:28):
It's the players, it's the coaches, it's me, it's our personnel, staff,
our roster, it's variables sometimes that we don't have any
control of. And so I my assessment is Dennis Allen
is a good coach. And again, you know with Sean
Payton we went ten and six the first year, but

(11:48):
then we were seven to nine eight and eight, I
heard some of the same noise, but at the time
I knew we had a good football coach, and so
I think sometimes the hard thing to do is to
be patient and wreck ignize your other shortcomings and get
those fixed. And that's what we're doing.

Speaker 3 (12:03):
I love that Saints Fans despise Dennis Allen. And then
the GM comes out and he does the cliche the
eighties bad guy move of popping in the gum whenever
you one. If you were getting into character and you
want to be okay, we want you to play this
as a kind of over confident buffoon who's also dismissive

(12:27):
of what other people think to be an obvious problem.
The first thing you do is you talk that way,
and the second thing you do is you pop in
the piece of gum, because it adds to this a
laura that you're not even gonna take this seriously, even
though everyone around you is deadly serious about the problem
around your organization or in your high school.

Speaker 4 (12:47):
Yeah. I mean, I you know, I was doing a
thing where I'm watching him, like on the monitor, and
it the whole noise part of it bothered me a
little bit less. But then if I turned away and
just did it like people driving around are right now
or you know, running or jogging in listening to that,
like it drove me ten times more insane. But the Hubris,
the DJF element to all that, and the Hubris to

(13:07):
suggest to a room of hard and football reporters that
I'm going to list off three or four Hall of
Fame head coaches from twenty twenty five years ago, yes,
who lived in a totally different NFL, and then say
I'm equating that to Dennis Allen. That is that is
that's Hubris. That's absurd.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
Maybe Jamis Wiston should be the quarterback because there is
some connective tissue there. When Winston was like trying to say,
this isn't a shot at DA, we just made a
team decision without him to score that touchdown, not realizing
that he was actually making the coach look worse.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
In this situation.

Speaker 3 (13:39):
You're not helping Mickey Loomis Dennis Allen by invoking some
of the great coaches in NFL history saying that they
started slowly and then came out. If anything, it just
makes you look sillier and weaker by comparison.

Speaker 5 (13:50):
Yeah, because I don't know if he's counting Dennis Sounds raiding.
I love it days. I do love it because if
you counted Denni Sounds Raider days, you could keep those
records rolling and start with four and twelve, four and
twelve and four, Johomp twenty four and forty six. I
love Mickey Loomis still being around because there aren't many
teams like this where.

Speaker 4 (14:11):
He oh boy, he is the best in the NFL.

Speaker 5 (14:17):
And and P mar Carmichael was like this too, at
keeping his job like he has been in this job
for twenty four years, Mickey Loomis, and he's not just
a gym. He's the executive vice president. At one point
he was running the Pelicans. That was a long term
bit on this show. I don't believe he's still running.
I mean, I know he's not still running the Pelicans anymore.
But he has as much power, I believe, as almost

(14:41):
any decision maker in the entire league, because he he
almost feels like ownership, and I think he's.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
Don't you gum like that unless you are completely safe.

Speaker 5 (14:51):
And he's got like he's got the media people that
like are his guys. He's got the ones that are
against him and he's definitely firing back against the ones
that are against me. He does some local radio hits
where he just like goes off and you're just like, Wow,
this guy is almost untouchable, and I think he likes.

Speaker 2 (15:05):
In his own fan base.

Speaker 3 (15:06):
Gregie, Yeah, the way he was and I'm joking but serious,
but chewing the gun that way, addressing the media in
that type of hyper confident way is being dismissive of
what is he would if we could hear it clearly
out in southern California, in New Orleans, it must be
an absolute blizzard of the criticism and negativity around the
coaching staff and the team in general. So for him

(15:28):
to come out publicly like, I'd be pulling my hair
out if I was a Saints fan because I'm like,
this is the guy that's leading us right now, like
he's on his own planet.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
Does that magic with the cap? You know, year after.

Speaker 4 (15:39):
Year, there's also, you know, not a lot of years
like this one where there's some high profile, attractive program building,
proven coaches out there and you're gonna not even think about.

Speaker 1 (15:50):
Right making a change.

Speaker 5 (15:51):
I think when everyone hears like, oh, Dennis Allen isn't
going anywhere to me that was like, Okay, Mickey Loomis
is going and isn't going in at some point Gail Benson,
who owns his team, is going to step in if
they struggle and have to push the eject button on
the whole thing. Because it's like Mickey Loomis kind of
kind of runs the team and he likes that he
has a coach that is, you know, under his thumb

(16:12):
to something.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
I like that.

Speaker 4 (16:14):
Maybe this is just like I'm basing this off of
personal experience, Like do you don't does it not feel
like fewer people And I'll start with adults. I'm not
like gauging children, but like fewer adults are walking around
chewing gum then than in the past. Do you I
used to chew gum all the time. I don't ever
think about buying gum. So that's me. I get that,
that's just me. But like, if you walk around seeing

(16:36):
a lot of adults chewing gum.

Speaker 3 (16:37):
Oh well, if you're talking like bubblicious, no, but people
that will chew it for the fresh in their breath,
I think that's still an industry that's thriving.

Speaker 2 (16:45):
Yeah, thriving, Yeah, I mean it.

Speaker 5 (16:48):
I hear what you're saying, we also live in Los Angeles.

Speaker 1 (16:51):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (16:51):
Maybe this is like a healthier because I do think
like it seems like people eat less candy, less gum,
less soda in general than when we were growing up
and we were.

Speaker 1 (17:01):
Just like cigarettes, right and well, there's that.

Speaker 4 (17:04):
That's that is there's a link right there.

Speaker 5 (17:06):
I have found an article in the Atlantic Mark that
says gum sales are down thirty two, twenty eighteen industry analyst.
So it's lost the little juice. Let's break it. Let's
break them back.

Speaker 4 (17:18):
That is a significant decline, by the way, yeah, for
only five five six years too that I.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
Want to see your data. I want to see your sources.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
I mean it's the.

Speaker 5 (17:25):
Atlantic, it's not a Atlantic. How chewing gum lost its
cultural cachet? Mark, You're always it's by Mark Sessler. Wow,
that is good.

Speaker 1 (17:34):
That is crazy.

Speaker 5 (17:35):
I will counter that with a article is called It's
just not cool anymore?

Speaker 2 (17:41):
Not ask me.

Speaker 4 (17:42):
That's true that I know, but he does not.

Speaker 2 (17:44):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (17:45):
The global chewing gum market is forecasted to make sales
amounting to forty eight point six eight billion US dollars
in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (17:52):
So it's still huge. I'm just saying not antil what
though not as huge relatively.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
I don't know. Fifty billion is fifty billion of me.

Speaker 4 (17:59):
Well, that's fine, Like I think Greg's study tells them.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
It's kind of like how people are like, oh, TV
is dying.

Speaker 5 (18:05):
It's like, okay, but you still have these advertisers paying
millions of dollars and millions, So it's it's on the
downslope a big gum.

Speaker 1 (18:12):
You're not going.

Speaker 4 (18:12):
Thirty two percent is a notable number.

Speaker 2 (18:14):
Based on sales per region.

Speaker 3 (18:16):
The largest market for chewing gum can be found in Europe,
bowed by the Asia Pacific region. The North American market
ranked third. Okay, where the beloved chewy candy sales are
expected to reach three point five billion US dollars by
twenty twenty four. So listen, I'm still betting big on
big gum.

Speaker 4 (18:34):
You keep doing.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
Nobody ever went uh no one ever went broke betting
on big gum.

Speaker 5 (18:39):
You know what I mean, the the awful stick gums
which lose its flavor within like thirty seconds. Yeah, those
I think are are gone for the most they've been
out class.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
They've fruit strip striping.

Speaker 5 (18:51):
It's literally gone that has been continue like if you
have it for thirty seconds and we need a higher
quality gum, for sure, you.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
Know it's a wild thing still on the market, you
know how, or maybe you don't know. But chewing tobacco,
which is tremendously destructive, snuff and things like that that
are you know, everyone knows. They were sold in pouches,
and I think Major League Baseball and the miners now
have banned its usage. It was prevalent in sixties, seventies,

(19:19):
eighties into the nineties. Big league chwo is still out there,
and it's packaging is literally packaged in tobacco.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
In the same way the chewing tobacco, I mean.

Speaker 4 (19:29):
Big league chew was jackpot of gum in many ways.
I'd love juicy fruit as a sort of less sweet
type of trinket was good too.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
By the way, somebody gives me a slice of big
Red right now, I'm going Loomis on.

Speaker 4 (19:43):
The jewels, weird piece of gum.

Speaker 2 (19:45):
I'm going full Loomis, okay, all right.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
In other news, the Falcons Man, the falcons are casting
a wide net with big fish being dragged in because
a couple of days after Bill Belichick had a meeting
with the team and had an interview the Falcons and
ounced Tuesday that they completed an interview with Michigan coach

(20:09):
Jim Harbaugh. So you go, you go Belichick, Harball, back
to back Belichick the most successful NFL coach ever, Harball,
who had huge success with the Niners years back, and
just won a national title with Michigan. I mean, they
got to you imagine, this isn't gonna end with them
hiring some offensive line coach. One of these dudes is

(20:32):
probably gonna be their coach, right.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
You would think so.

Speaker 5 (20:34):
And they have we have a tracker for coaches and interviews.
They have requested and started interviews with other candidate's like
Mike McDonald, the Ravens coordinator, and Bobby Slowak the Texans.
So they have had some a Giro Evereu the Panthers,
so they've dipped into that pool too, And yet it
feels like they're the only team that's gone Harbob Belichick.

Speaker 1 (20:56):
What a world that to me?

Speaker 5 (20:57):
That Jim Harbor and Bill Belichick are competing for a
head coaching job in the year twenty twenty four.

Speaker 4 (21:02):
Yeah, and like Harpball's come vaguely close there was interest
with the Vikings two years ago. In the I think
he wanted the Chargers job a year ago also, which.

Speaker 5 (21:11):
Makes sense he wanted the Broncos job last year too.
They shot him down. I mean I thought that when
Michigan won that title, I was like, you got to
give a thanks to the Vikings and the Broncos for
turning him down.

Speaker 4 (21:20):
Yeah, I mean the Falcons though. It's like I could
see Belichick being like, if I want the Falcons job,
it's okay that we don't have a quarterback because I
can do my Bill Belichick things and we'll find one.
But like Jim Harbaugh, almost I feel like from the
hit the ground running needs to be attached to like
a promising young quarterback. I don't like the idea of
him going two years with the chaos.

Speaker 5 (21:37):
They've had, the buzzes. He might want a draft one,
depending on where he goes. JJ McCarthy, his quarterback at
Michigan who's seen as kind of like a late first
second round type of guy.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
I mean, in fairness to Harball, I don't think he's
one of those coaches that can't be successful unless you
give him a star quarterback.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
When he came to San Francisco.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
Alex Smith was a draft bust YEP turned him in
to a big time player, and then Colin Kaepernick took
the league over for a while, and obviously in Michigan
has found ways to make that organization.

Speaker 4 (22:08):
He just doesn't seem like someone that's gonna hang around
for nine years somewhere. So it's like, you don't want.

Speaker 3 (22:12):
No, you're kind of signing up, I think, And that
might be the trepidation. Trepidation for a lot of these
teams going back to last year is you know what
you're gonna get. He's gonna be painting the ass. He's
gonna be maybe even Monihacal. You're probably gonna butt heads
with him by the end of year one. But he's
been successful everywhere he's gone, So that's it. A deal
with the devil feels strong. But you're you know, if

(22:35):
you're getting into bed with Harbaugh, you make your team better,
it's gonna be a huge painting.

Speaker 4 (22:41):
You'll be the center of attention.

Speaker 5 (22:43):
I'm waiting for one of these, you know, dominoes to
drop here. And part of it is, as we're taping,
we don't know about the Eagles and the Cowbies, and
maybe that's holding things up. And then you also have
the guys that are in the playoffs like McDonald and
Ben Johnson. Feels like the bell of the ball that
the Lions, Oh see, who's gonna get one of the
those jobs? So that's holding things up a little too.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
And I like that. You don't need to have this
be such a like mad dash.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
All right.

Speaker 3 (23:08):
In other news, we talked about on Monday night that
the Patriots quickly moved on from Bill Belichick by promoting
Drowd Mayo to head coach, and on Wednesday, the Patriots
held a introductory press conference for Mayo.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
Here's a little bit.

Speaker 8 (23:26):
From the wet walls need to be knocked down in
your opinion, what relationships need to be rebuilt?

Speaker 2 (23:30):
And Robert you can take it as well.

Speaker 8 (23:32):
Yeah, as we evaluate the players, the scheme and things
like that, I think you have to evaluate the culture
and evaluate how the pieces fit. I will say this,
like my philosophy, I don't want to be in an
echo chamber. I just don't. I want people who are
going to be honest and open and then hopefully come
together and make a sound decision.

Speaker 5 (23:51):
That was really a theme I watched your odd mayos man.
It was like whiplash watching that compared to a Bill
Belgick conference where he's just like joking around.

Speaker 1 (24:00):
He wasn't nervous at all.

Speaker 5 (24:03):
You can see how he could be a charismatic speaker
but also pretty loose. But he hit that pretty hard
that he was lessened to the schemes and how everything's
going to look and more about developing people and really
like he was trying to he was as respectful as
possible to Belichick but saying kind of like this needs
to not just be a one man operation. I want

(24:24):
to listen to everyone in the building. Our insider ian
pointed out how like literally like assistant coaches aren't allowed
to talk to people walking by them in the hallway,
like media people like that sort of stuff, like your
key card only gets you into certain rooms. And I
think that was what Mayo was talking about. It's just like,
let's take away the skull and crossbones stuff about being

(24:45):
the Patriots, that it's so dark and everything, and let's
like develop players and be human. And that was sort
of what he talked about, is he was worried more
about like I want to develop these guys and be
their leader and everything else will fall into his place.

Speaker 4 (24:59):
And this was a totally different in terms of Lavarians.
You can get with Robert Craft, a different version of
Robert Craft in this press conference where he opened up
talking about the fact that you know, he has been
close to Durrod Mayo since two thousand and eight when
they drafted him and got to know him really well.
I mean, drot Mail calls Robert Craft. This kind of
blew my mind and I love it. And I was like,
would this ever been the nickname Bill Belichick uses for

(25:20):
Robert Craft? He calls him Thundercat.

Speaker 5 (25:22):
I was so confused because he kept talking about thunder
that's calling the whole time relationship, and I missed that
that was actually Robert Kraft, and he just kept talking
about it.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
I was like, who is this thunder guy?

Speaker 4 (25:33):
I mean, but I think the thing is because the
Belichick thing I just got so stale over the last
year and a half. Like this felt like such a
sea change, and I kind of think that behind the
scenes Mayo and Craft, like their relationship has was there
a bit of a hey, things could change, and I
have some ideas and like, you know, a lot of it.

Speaker 2 (25:51):
I think he Mayo refers to Kraft is thunder the
other way around.

Speaker 3 (25:55):
No, no, no, no, thunder Witch is short for young thundercat
dude to what he calls the eighty two years old's
young heart because he's friends with Meek Mill.

Speaker 2 (26:02):
That's why there's other reasons anywhere.

Speaker 5 (26:05):
Yeah, he has a very young wife. I mean not
as young as you know when when he met her.
Uh No, she's older now, well right, she's he is
older than me.

Speaker 1 (26:14):
So I'm saying very.

Speaker 2 (26:15):
Talk about wives, Greg, because I know where you're going next.

Speaker 5 (26:20):
I couldn't even remember what what body part, what I
was even talking about.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
Back then.

Speaker 5 (26:25):
They didn't talk any Steve Belichick, by the way, But
it's funny you mess what you were talking about, by
the way, Yes, Robert Kraft.

Speaker 2 (26:30):
From when Steve Belichick emerged.

Speaker 5 (26:32):
Yes, uh and maybe maybe he'll stick around, maybe not.
There were no specifics really about what what Mayo is
going to do. Uh, but Kraft compared Mayo to his
new wife Dana, and to Bill Belichick and to his
first wife Myra and said, like.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
These checking the boxes. I just go with my gut.

Speaker 5 (26:51):
And that's the only time I've had these feelings about
certain people. And I knew it in a day, and
I sort of knew that about Jirad Mayo in a day,
And this was always my plan, and and it spoke
to larger things that it sounds like they're just going
to be promoting from within for their GM and front office,
that they are going to look at outside people. But
he was kind of like, it's my motto my company.

(27:12):
Other NFL teams are different that I'd rather develop from within,
and we have a lot of good people from within,
and I'm not gonna specify blah blah blah.

Speaker 4 (27:18):
There was very one, very succession type moment where there
were some penetrating questions like, well, why is Jonathan Kraft
not even here, like you know, we some would think
he's running the whole thing behind.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
The sees, is not a serious person.

Speaker 4 (27:31):
Well he's basically you did say these like he didn't
say that, but he's like, you know, the Craft family
has so many businesses that Jonathan Kraft is dealing with
it with an almost emergency type situation in one of
our companies and couldn't be here today.

Speaker 2 (27:42):
It just kind of just like, Okay, we'll see.

Speaker 3 (27:45):
I still think Greg will be talking about it as
the months pass that.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
Oh, Robert's more involved than he's ever been.

Speaker 5 (27:53):
He he was with decision making, right he they they
asked him that question and he said, you know, I
guess it's a young Thundercat, right. Young Thundercat said, it's
gotta be the same as it's always been. We don't
get involved with that at all. We're gonna trust them
to do their jobs. We know what we don't know.
We look at it like we're fans. The only time
we get involved is if there's some sort of character

(28:14):
issue thing in other than that, we're gonna trust him.
There was one moment which I legitimately the whole thing
made me feel better about the Drowd Mayo thing. And
we'll see he's in a very difficult spot. But you know,
he said, I'm not trying to be Bill Belichick. You
can see that, and that's good. But there was a
moment where they asked, you know, whether because he had
said it was important it meant a lot to him
to be the first black head coach of the Patriots,

(28:35):
And they asked Robert Kraft, is it important to you
that he's the first black head coach? And Kraft had
this answer, like, I don't see color. That doesn't matter
to me. He just happened to be the best man
for the job, and I thought the way. Mayo then
took what Kraft just said and answered it said a
lot about him.

Speaker 8 (28:53):
I do see color, because I believe if you don't
see color, you can't see racism and whatever whatever happens black, white,
disabled person. I've always even someone with disabilities, I always,
you know, for the most part, people are like, you know,
don't you know when they're young, they kind of make
the spot hot. Younger people know what that means. But

(29:13):
what I would say is like, no, I want you
to be able to go up to those people, really
understand those people. So it goes back to whatever it is, black, white, yellow,
it really doesn't matter, but it does matter so we
can try to fix the problem that we all know
we have.

Speaker 5 (29:29):
For him to say that right next to Kraft after
Kraft said that, I thought it was telling and it
was great, and I just think it just shows he's
not afraid and he kind of knows being a black
coach in Boston's going to be tricky. A lot of
people I already saw it to it, like, aren't gonna
even like those comments.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
Like it's a says a lot about him.

Speaker 5 (29:51):
I think that he could have the respective craft to
kind of go against what Kraft just said right next
to him and address kind of a serious topic but
in a totally respectable and respectful way and be like, yeah,
you're like, I am the first black coach for the Patriots,
and like, I know that that might be a thing,
and I don't know.

Speaker 2 (30:10):
I think, well, I think.

Speaker 3 (30:12):
It's about a bit of an outdated cliche for someone
that is open minded about things and race relations to
say that I don't see color. That's now not necessarily
the way to go about it, But twenty years ago
or whatever, that's what everyone would say if you were
trying to express yourselves in a certain way. Boston sports
has a horrendous history when it comes to the black

(30:34):
players and coaches. And look at all the major teams,
whether it's the Red Sox of Celtics and the Patriots,
and I know Belgic's been there forever, but twenty twenty
four it took to get your first black coach.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
You know that was obviously overdue. Let's see, how.

Speaker 5 (30:50):
Mister Mayo, I gotta defend I got to defend my Celtics,
at least the organization, not the fans. They broke a
lot of boundaries. Of course, Bill Russell as a as
a head coach early in the NBA, I think a
first winning championship, stuff like that and bringing players in.
But you're you're absolutely right. It's it's a little thorny.
And that's why I thought that moment it was.

Speaker 3 (31:08):
That was pretty interesting, that Bill Russell documentary, eye opening
what he went through. Okay, let's uh, let's take a
break and then when we get back, we will and
this is an easy work. But we've brought the uh,
we've brought the wrecking ball out. We've brought all the

(31:28):
trucks are rolling in the back hose, and we are
sifting through the wreckage of wild Card weekend, common men.

Speaker 2 (31:39):
That's what it's about.

Speaker 3 (31:40):
We'll be right back and welcome back, all right. I
was just saying that we're sifting through the wreckage.

Speaker 2 (31:51):
Here. Here's what I wanted one to be doing.

Speaker 3 (31:55):
Mark, I want you to be in one of the trucks.
But you know, on a construduction site, there's just always
one guy, even if it's just rubble, just shooting water somewhere.

Speaker 4 (32:04):
You just hammer in an area with water, just with
a big ol' hose. Wet it down, just wet it down.
Sure that sounds like one of the easier jobs on
the site.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
But okay, I'm going to be actually in a collared
shirt with the sleeves rolled up and some papers and
just like talking to people. Okay on the Wow, Okay, Greg,
you are in you know how there's always a trailer.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
Yeah, you're you're in the trailer.

Speaker 1 (32:26):
And nobody's actually out working.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
You're no, you're you're answering phones and you're you're like
setting things.

Speaker 3 (32:32):
Upon and then uh and then Eric, you and Randy.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
Doing that work.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
We got shovels, shovels and wheelbarrows.

Speaker 3 (32:43):
And you got the you got your your tats are
out because you have the T shirt and you're looking
pretty good.

Speaker 2 (32:49):
And Randy's grinding as well. I like that. That's that's
how I see it. Look, what is it? What do
you guys?

Speaker 9 (32:54):
I think what you described is you guys had the
white helmets on and we have the yellow helmets. I
think that's the higherarchy on most constructions.

Speaker 5 (33:00):
I like that you positioned it as common men, but
then put us all in like mid level middle management
office jobs, the people that everyone out is whispering about
the jerks.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (33:11):
Mark probably is is more scene as able to kind
of travel. He's code switching because you're you're just you're
plasting that water in there. But that's to soften up
the rocks and the soil for those guys to have
to take.

Speaker 4 (33:25):
The I'm helping them if anything, and I so I
care about their plight, and you know, I think that
the common man is also equipped to just talk about
disasters versus cleaning them up.

Speaker 9 (33:34):
And that's what we Randy pointed out that Mark might
be oshas to make sure everything's up to the code.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
He's a code guy. Osha Rolls in Cess dog eating
is the yourno's.

Speaker 4 (33:48):
They're still doing those spots.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
There's a microwave in that trailer.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
Yeah, and then you know, I'll after I got my
sleeves rolled up, I pop into the trailer.

Speaker 2 (33:55):
You go in the trailer. Greg's already in the trailer.

Speaker 4 (33:57):
We're just feasting on the grenos and then well we've
been working hard, so it's not you know.

Speaker 3 (34:02):
And then he's like, We're like, oh, there's a couple
of slices left. Should we tell Eric and Randy? And
then Greg's like.

Speaker 5 (34:08):
Now let's say no, I would never be that be
that guy, you know, a couple slices.

Speaker 2 (34:15):
All right, let's get to it.

Speaker 3 (34:17):
Yeah, we're at the site, We're at the demo site,
and uh, it's time to start figuring out what to
make of, you know, the situation, and we're going to
get to Uh. It's not we can talk about any
of the teams that are playing this upcoming weekend. That's
certainly welcome, but I think a good focus of this
segment is going to be around who's not playing and

(34:39):
what comes next?

Speaker 2 (34:40):
And Greg, do you want to get us going? Uh?

Speaker 3 (34:43):
At the construction site, we've gotta sift through this wreckage
and what are you taking out of it?

Speaker 2 (34:51):
How is it? Mark?

Speaker 5 (34:53):
You know, the rams are are a site that I
think it's better shape than than we expected. It was
totally they torn down a year ago.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
That was the thought.

Speaker 5 (35:03):
And yet Les Sneed said famously in the offseason, he's
got those four weight bearing walls. Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald,
Cooper cup I think Sean McVay was a weight bearing wall,
and you know what they proved to be much more
on it in terms of being optimistic about what this
team could do in terms of a reset. But I've

(35:25):
heard rams fans and there's there a couple in my
house and thinking about like the next few years. Wow,
they're really set up, and I don't think you want
to get it twisted here. They have over forty million
dollars in cap space. They can open up some stuff.
They actually have some draft picks to play with, and
I think they're going to want to keep that. I
don't think they're going to want to get rid of
all their draft picks suddenly. After having such a good
draft class and seeing what that can do for an

(35:47):
organization and having a first round pick this year. I
don't think that's what they're going to do. But this
isn't a long timeline. Matthew Stafford, how long can you
expect him to stay healthy and be playing at this level.
Certainly Aaron Donald the greatest player in in franchise history
and one of the greatest players of all time. Certainly
Cooper Cup the way we saw him, and they're not
getting rid of Cooper Cup because of salary and everything.

Speaker 1 (36:07):
But this is closer to the end of their timeline.

Speaker 5 (36:11):
They have a window here for a year or two more,
and so I'm just very curious about how aggressive they are.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
Going to be.

Speaker 5 (36:18):
And my instinct is extremely aggressive that they are going
to see that this window is now the next two
years here. And yes, we have this great rookie class
Kyrin Williams made All Pro and Kobe Turner who gets
Defensive Rookie of the Year and all that stuff. That's
all great, but now is their window, and I think
they are going to be as aggressive as any team,
trying to bring in more firepower on both sides of ball,

(36:40):
especially defense, but maybe some more weapons on the offensive
side too, and one of the teams, to me, that's
going to define the offseason because we've seen that they're
not afraid to be aggressive.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
I think it's a great call.

Speaker 3 (36:53):
They did it a couple of years ago and we
were like, oh, they bought that title on credit, and
now they're gonna have to pay the price. Not if
you're a well run, not if you know what to do.
And that is great the way he explained that sneed
because it's so true. If you have the pillars, whether
you want to call him walls or pillars or whatever,
construction stuff. If you have that that base, you could
build around it pretty quickly.

Speaker 5 (37:14):
And they have like literally no dead money, and dead
money is not a killer. They made them, they almost
made they did make the playoffs. Was that much dead money?
But they like eight, you know, tens and tens of
millions of dollars in dead money last year.

Speaker 3 (37:24):
So it shouldn't be said now he's the defensive Kobe
Turner is the defensive rookie of the year.

Speaker 1 (37:28):
Of Greg Rosenthal, I said, votes I think he's going
to get.

Speaker 2 (37:32):
Called him it outright, but I could be wrong.

Speaker 4 (37:34):
He's in that world.

Speaker 1 (37:35):
I mean, he's gotta he's probably.

Speaker 4 (37:36):
Gotta come in third if I had to get McVeigh
came out, you know, and this is no surprise, completely
strongly and said we're win one hundred percent behind Matthew
Stafford for next season. I'm with you that you know
that there is the health concern with.

Speaker 5 (37:47):
Stafford and Donald also confirmed they're both coming back whicheah.

Speaker 4 (37:50):
So you don't have it's not an immediate offseason thing.
But like they put a fourth round pick into Stetson Bennett,
one of the few players that didn't work out last year.
It's like there is a world where you, if you're
Saan McVay, you want to keep firing and bringing in
quarterbacks and developing and getting something because that's the time.

Speaker 3 (38:05):
Though I think, I think, I think it is exactly
money and that that costs resources. Don't you want to?

Speaker 4 (38:13):
I think saying like, not a high draft, keep bringing
in quarterbacks and then then there'll be a time to go,
maybe chase a veteran, but like you've got an MVP
level quarterback for next season, and.

Speaker 3 (38:23):
That's what I mean, like, use your any premium picks
and your money, like build around him and go for it.

Speaker 1 (38:29):
Most likely. I agree.

Speaker 5 (38:30):
Oh though this is you know, by all accounts of
really deep quarterback class, it would not surprise me at
all if they look heavily into a first or second
round quarterback, because now, to me is the time I
really believe in that. I think the Packers have shown
that that's a great way to do. I think the
Patriots used to back in the day and it was smart.
And maybe it's not your first round pick, but maybe
maybe your second.

Speaker 3 (38:50):
See now, see now I don't agree with you anymore
because I I I agreed with your initial conceit, but
I would say that if you're going to go all
in in this short window where you only got how
many elite years left you have of Stafford and Donald
and Cupp, you know, like this is the time.

Speaker 5 (39:05):
That was the hole that Cabo killed the Packers for
taking love. I think they dedicate with free agency, with trade,
certainly with their other draft picks. But they got to
be feeling pretty good. They just got four more weight
bearing walls. Maybe they're not walls quite yet, but four
rookie starters who are going to play for them for
four years without having a first round pick in a
Vila and Byron Young, and so I think they'll feel

(39:27):
confident that they can keep adding. But quarterback is a
tricky spot.

Speaker 4 (39:31):
Go ahead, Mark would I would point to a team
that lost the Cleveland Browns and they had a, you know,
a nice season. I mean it ended on a high
note before the playoff game when you went out and
got Flacco, and I think it's like cool, Kevin Stefanski
might be the coach of the year, and a lot
of this stuff was good, except you look at what's
happened since today. They fire Stunt Mitchell, the running back

(39:54):
coach who's a very good running backs coach and went
through this entire journey without Nick Chubb. They fire their
tight ends coach TC McCartney in a year when David
Nijoku turned into like a top five tight end, they
fired their offensive coordinator. So, I mean, there's the inside
the building. There is a wanting to reimagine certain things,

(40:15):
and I think a lot of that has to do
with the quarterback that we were able to forget about
Deshaun Watson, but you can't forget about the other They're
in their offseason mode now and they basically are looking
at one of the nastiest cap situations in the league,
Deshaun Watson's. And I get it. You can finesse some
of this and move it down the road, but you
can't move it down the road forever. Deshaun Watson costs

(40:36):
sixty three point nine million next year. That is a
player who's not been worth one fifth of that right now.
Amari Cooper cost twenty three million. You're only established wide
receiver Denzel Ward oft injured good cornerback, very good cornerback
cost twenty three million. Miles Garrett, no problem of this
one costs twenty Jedrick Wills, Your up and down left

(40:59):
tackle who's coming off a big injury costs eleven million,
is getting more and more expensive, so it's like you're
this top heavy roster. They essentially have the second most
dead money in the league. There are eleven million dollars
in the red with the second highest like cap charge.
So it's like there, Andrew Berry did an awesome job
last off season of adding a bunch of players that

(41:20):
change that defense, and yet you remain a team that
is somewhat hung out to dry by the trade you
made for a quarterback that's done nothing to suggest that
he's been worth that deal. And I think it just
despite all the feel good Kevin Stefanski is back in
a place where this can change so quickly, Like look
at Nick sire on it. You can all change so
fast if you're going to get another year of Deshaun

(41:42):
Watson underperforming, not being the guy you wanted, and you
can't surround him with the pieces he needs and are
really thorny AFC North. It's like, I trust them because
of what they did last off season, and I think
they all proved, like GM coach, that they're very capable.
But you're right back into a very tough situation and
one of the tough offseason maneuverings around in the NFL,

(42:03):
especially NAFC.

Speaker 2 (42:04):
This is just speculation, but.

Speaker 3 (42:06):
I wonder if the decision to make the move with
some of those coaches is the organization kind of just
moving forward and understanding that was a lot of fun
with Joe and we got to the playoffs and it
didn't work out how we wanted it to. But you know,
Flaco is probably not coming back, but we are getting

(42:26):
Nick chubbed back, and the offense with Deshaun Watson, who's
still our guy, was not performing the way we were
expecting it to before he exited the pictures, so they
maybe they're judging some of that coaching staff based on
what was going on with the Sean which is now
going to be their offense once again. And yeah, I
think it all as frustrating as it.

Speaker 2 (42:44):
Is, Gregy.

Speaker 3 (42:47):
A lot of this can be covered over these challenges
if the QB now comes back healthy and performs at
a high level. But now there's enough time that's passed
since the Houston years and a very serious shoulder injury
where you really have very real concerns, and it's also like, man,
you gave him a fully guaranteed contract, right, which makes
things infinitely more difficult.

Speaker 5 (43:07):
Yeah, they they will likely move the money around in
his contract and open up a ton you can create
like thirty million dollars a cap space like that.

Speaker 1 (43:16):
It's nothing, And I would anticipate this is.

Speaker 2 (43:19):
It was a five year deal. It's only a year three.

Speaker 5 (43:21):
It's only year three, so at this point they're not
going to stop pushing that money. And when you look
at the big number of this year, they made it
that way last year, they already did it on purpose,
knowing that they're going to move it again this year.
I was I was pretty surprised they fired all these
longtime coaches. Van Pie was there for a while, and
Stefanski's an offensive coach, and I know he's the one

(43:42):
calling the plays. But I think you're you're right Dan
to say, uh, let's build an offense around Watson. Uh
that because it wasn't really working with Watson and we
need to make some changes.

Speaker 3 (43:56):
I want the Browns to shock the world, give a
nice contract and be like, you go against Deshan this summer.

Speaker 4 (44:04):
I mean, there are a lot of Browns fans out
there obviously rooting hard for Baker Mayfield, and I mean,
I think there's got to be something that's right, that wrong,
that would be fat, that would be totally intriguing, and.

Speaker 3 (44:15):
Be like, Baker, we can't give you like a big contract,
but we're not joking around here. You go against Watson
this summer and we're gonna give you. We're gonna pick
the best quarterback.

Speaker 5 (44:26):
That'll be a healthy atmosphere for everyone.

Speaker 2 (44:29):
All right, let's sift through some more wreckage.

Speaker 3 (44:33):
All right, I gotta move that's a toilet bowl up,
there's a baby, got it?

Speaker 2 (44:37):
Say? All right? Moving on?

Speaker 3 (44:39):
Okay, dog collar, don't see the dog? Okay, here we go, Zaddy,
there he is. What's up, Zaddy?

Speaker 2 (44:47):
I'm wondering, and I'm wondering.

Speaker 3 (44:50):
And by the time this podcast hits, who knows, maybe
Zaddy's out of a job, in which case of apologies,
but just still enjoy the conversation. I'm wondering if if
the reason Mike McCarthy hasn't been fired yet is because
Jerry is very seriously considering not firing Mike McCarthy. And
I know that's not what people want to hear, because
Mike McCarthy's not overly popular or seen as a difference maker.

(45:13):
But I also see the other side of this, which
is and one thing we didn't really dig into. We
did mention on Sunday that Dak played poorly in the game,
but in general, Dak has one more year left on
his deal, and the reporting out there in early December was, oh,
the Cowboys are very interested and probably still are in

(45:36):
redoing the deal or extending the deal and making him
the highest paid quarterback in the league. I wonder if
Jerry Jones is having a little change of heart or
if he's not, maybe he should not in the sense
of let's get rid of Dak and trade him, which
is I think insane. But do the kirk Cousins move
and bring back McCarthy, who, as much as he's gotten heat,

(45:58):
they've won twelve games three years in a row, and
be like, I still do believe in this, And what
McCarthy said on Sunday, we picked up a bad day
to have a bad day, and if you believe in
the organization, you make some moves to try to get
the roster better and make twenty twenty four. Basically, we're
all in with this corps one last time, and if

(46:19):
it doesn't work. Not only is Zady gone, they can
have a real conversation about Dak and whether he is
the future of the organization if the goal is truly
to win, Lombardi.

Speaker 1 (46:29):
Give him the contract or not, don't let him play.

Speaker 3 (46:31):
Out the contract, just like the Minnesota Vikings did. And
he's got one year left on his deal. So I
wonder if that's a conversation at the Star right now.
And Jerah, who likes working with Mike McCarthy, and I
think he believes in McCarthy, wants to maybe push this
one more year, as much as that doesn't please I
think people outside that building.

Speaker 2 (46:52):
I wonder if Jerah still believed.

Speaker 4 (46:54):
Like, the thing I could completely get on board with
is not giving Dak a new contract, not making Dak
Prescott the highest paid quarterback in the league.

Speaker 1 (47:01):
I like, I here's the thing with the quarterback.

Speaker 4 (47:04):
He'll be the worst thing.

Speaker 5 (47:05):
About If you're a top I would say, thirteen quarterback,
you will be the highest paid quarterback.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
In the league. Why that's Maybe that's wrong though.

Speaker 4 (47:14):
But why does that have to happen right now? Though?
Like I mean, I guess I think it's fair to wonder,
like to have a bit of a wandering eye. With
the whole Dak Prescott experience, I get to like the
like sample size, big season, Like he was right in
that MVP conversation.

Speaker 5 (47:28):
It looks like he'll be the second I think he
was the second team All Pro slightly over and he's thirty.

Speaker 4 (47:33):
Yeah, probably just exhausted because I feel just exhaustion with
Dak Prescott versus it's sometimes like looking at actually who
he is.

Speaker 3 (47:40):
Technically the hot taker move here is just and that's
almost what the Cowboys exist now just for uh hot
talk radio and these talking head TV shows to have
their mid January to February filled up. Like I'm not
saying they should dump Dak and like Dak is actually
the problem Mike McCarthy, who I love is I'm just saying, like,

(48:02):
if it's truly if you want to look at this globally,
it's a combination of everything and getting rid of McCarthy
to bring someone else, but then keep right Jack, who
has struggled mightily in the postseason. With the exception of
a few cases, you might get the same results next.

Speaker 5 (48:17):
But the everything is Jerry Jones, Like that's the everything,
because yes, they can run it back and I don't
think that's crazy. And some respected reporters in Dallas are
with you Dan that the longer this drags one, the
more they think there's a chance for McCarthy that he
is going to end up staying. But it's like, we
just went through that all in one more time season

(48:37):
and it's just tough with this team in general, because
it's just a very tough spot. There's no easy answer
because if you go through it all again, it's just
all preamble to getting back to the playoffs again. And
why why would we expect anything to be different again
when it's been the exact same year after year. And

(48:57):
yet I wouldn't blame them. I'm with you, I wouldn't
blame the middle for keeping McCarthy. Maybe Dan Quinn is
gone because he's getting so many coaching interviews and his
defense more or less collapsed down the stretch. I mean
it wasn't Eagles level, but I saw stat the five
of his seven lowest EPA per play games in his
entire tenure with the Cowboys were in the second half

(49:18):
of this season, So they had some pretty bad defensive
games and so that will be a bit of a shakeup.

Speaker 1 (49:25):
But it.

Speaker 5 (49:26):
It's tricky because like what like if you say, like, okay,
this is it the last time, Like they kind of
were saying that this year too, you know, and they
were they talked so well and it all seemed different,
and then it wasn't different.

Speaker 3 (49:36):
Yeah, this will and this loss, don't get me wrong,
was worse than the others the last couple of years.
They were getting beat by truly big time teams. Not
to take anything away from the Packers in their in
their rise here, but that was That's the type of loss.
If McCarthy does get fired, he does deserve it because there.

Speaker 2 (49:53):
Was just so much pressure on that game and they flop.

Speaker 3 (49:55):
But I just think it's a little bit if they
go and fire him and bring in I don't know,
Bobby Slowick, Like you still got Dak and you still
got the same core of a team that melted down
last year. Don't be surprised that we're having the same
conversation next year, just with a different head coach.

Speaker 5 (50:11):
Here's the thing now, actually in this I don't think
this is how to take you, but I think now
would be the time to trade Dak his value, Like
it wouldn't be after he's like you you play it
out and you get to the franchise tag and it's
kind of like a mid level year. And then it
like if you want to be bold about it, be bold,
because you get it, you'd get a ton. And I
don't necessarily think it's like the best idea, but I

(50:34):
do think NFL teams could be a little more like
NBA teams, And like, considering this stuff with high level players.

Speaker 1 (50:40):
You go, imagine what you would get for Dak right.

Speaker 2 (50:42):
Now, we've talked about that.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
You would get it.

Speaker 5 (50:43):
You would maybe get a top five draft pick, you
would get.

Speaker 2 (50:46):
An We've talked about it for years.

Speaker 3 (50:48):
Greg Garrod loves his stars and loyal to his stars,
and he I think he sees Dak Prescott at a
level of QB and in fairness, and it got a
little quiet in the amongst the footballcent They the you know, Dak,
I don't think he's got enough criticism for how poorly played.

Speaker 2 (51:07):
That game, for all the talk.

Speaker 3 (51:09):
And it's not just you, Greg, and I was I
was very positive about thatac this year too, but like
he flopped epically in that game, a game that the defense, yes,
pooped the bed, but there was a world where Dak
says effet that we're not going out like this. I'm
putting up forty points too, and let's see what happens,
and they just weren't up for it.

Speaker 2 (51:28):
So it's just like, how much longer do.

Speaker 3 (51:30):
We We could look at McCarthy because he's the easy
target and he's a bigger target, but Bett.

Speaker 4 (51:35):
McCarthy is the easy target, but it's also a fair target.

Speaker 3 (51:38):
I didn't say it's unfair, but I'm saying, don't say
this is McCarthy's fault and then not look at the QB.

Speaker 4 (51:42):
I'll look at both, and I'll look at the experience
of the entire team. First of all, was a year
ago when McCarthy's like, I'm gonna make my big move.
I'm firing our offensive coordinator because I'm better. And look,
their offense was great in a lot of ways, but
collapsed at the exact same time they collapsed the year before.
In the year before.

Speaker 3 (52:00):
It's like, but I'm gonna say, I'm just gonna say, like,
I think they collapsed in large part because the QB
played like on Sunday, Like I don't know how much.

Speaker 4 (52:09):
That happened on but that happened in big loss.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
I just don't know how much for the way that well, Okay, I.

Speaker 4 (52:16):
Mean I guess like you can, it's two pieces of
the same pie. But I mean what we're talking about
is like what you're talking about, I think for the
most part is like four drives and that was it
this season was the defense because because I disagree, like
the defense had an all time meltdown and Dak couldn't
afford to have four slow drives and that was all
it was. It was like a couple of punts and

(52:36):
it was those interceptions. And you're right, those four drives.
I mean, the pick six ended the game.

Speaker 5 (52:40):
He was a disaster on those four drives, no argument,
and the game was basically over after those four drives.

Speaker 1 (52:46):
After that, you know, it's like I think.

Speaker 4 (52:47):
If you're Jerry Jones, like you're in Texas and your
minds exploding watching C. J. Stroud, who costs very little money, uh,
executing like a team in this rookie season in the playoffs,
where yours who is selling rated with like twenty five
minute long press conferences and endless money melts down.

Speaker 3 (53:05):
You throw those press conferences and you spend that money
like Jarah, Jerry's been telling us Dak is a Hall
of Fame great for years now, right, we just haven't
seen it.

Speaker 4 (53:14):
Cowboys are great. It's like, I don't. I kind of
thing is like, these are just stories, they're storylines, narratives.
I don't want to read this story again.

Speaker 1 (53:22):
Right.

Speaker 5 (53:22):
But the thing that is so hard is it when
you say everything to me, it's that's Jerry Jones. And
so there's something here that you can't you can't put
your finger on in terms of like they feel the
heat in a big spot, because yeah, Dak had the
worst four quarters of his life, I mean the worst
four drives I would say of his career considering the spot,
and then played well after that, but the game was

(53:44):
basically over because of the defense. Like Michael Parsons had
the worst day of his life, Stefan Gilmour had the
worst day of his life. Zach Martin, you're the literally
the best player since the Triplets left. Was getting dominated
in that game, like they all know showed, Mike McCarthy
know showed like Dan.

Speaker 1 (54:00):
So it's kind of like, what the what the hell?
What do we do?

Speaker 4 (54:04):
Like organizational you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (54:06):
With you?

Speaker 5 (54:06):
I'm Dak and he's the quarterback. But it's like everyone
sucked and that's why.

Speaker 2 (54:09):
They're in a tough spot because I guess.

Speaker 3 (54:11):
The the kind of basic move is like fire the
coach and they're having the same conversation with Philadelphia right now.
But if you keep everything else for the most part,
can you really expect a change because they.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
Obviously need to. All right, Uh, Greg, you want to
do a quickie.

Speaker 5 (54:27):
I'll do a quickie on a team that is out
of the playoffs. It's the Seattle Seahawks. John Schneider held
a press conference on Tuesday.

Speaker 3 (54:37):
I just found you're not an alternate site. This is
not the wild guard side. This is a site well,
but they're reconstructing. They expected to be back in the playoffs.
They had that loss of the Steelers that knocked them out.
They were in position.

Speaker 5 (54:48):
And this press conference was fascinating because it made first
of all, Schneider, I don't know if you rubbed me
the wrong way, but he was enjoying. He's the man now.
It's very clear he has all the personnel say. He
had no say over the old coaching staff. He didn't
ultimately have the personnel say. With Pete Carroll, they made
a choice. John Schneider's running this organization, and he said

(55:10):
he wanted to modernize and get younger in their interview
in Ben Johnson. They have like eight different interviews set
up and we'll see which way they go. But I
just I just thought it was interesting that, like, when
it comes down to it, and Pete Carroll was very
big about this, like John Schneider fired Pete Carroll in
my mind, and it sounded like this was in the
works for weeks and that ownership decided that we want

(55:31):
to give Pete John Schneider a chance to go run
this organization.

Speaker 1 (55:34):
That's great.

Speaker 5 (55:34):
He's been there a long time, they know him, and
it was just I thought telling and that this thing
that like it's all like he has now a ton
of power compared to whatever coach is going to come
in an interesting kind of twist on this reconstruction. I
think got a little lost in the shuffle, understandably because
we were all celebrating Pete Carroll as we should a

(55:54):
week ago of like how this went down. It was
kind of interesting that the owner.

Speaker 4 (55:58):
I don't feel like stunned that he has been elevated
in power through all of this. Yes, I mean he
won that tussle. If there was a tussle, it felt
like a friendly tussle. But yes, he's the right guy
to do that considering who else is there, which is
essentially nobody. It will depend what coach like they hire
in terms of how they work together. I mean, even
on an interpersonal basis, I mean, I'd add to the

(56:19):
Seahawks adventure Gino Smith because I know Pete Carroll in
theories somewhere you know, in the building and has a say.
But Gino Smith was Pete Carroll's guy, and I think
that Gino Smith obviously deserved like a second look and
more money and all this stuff after last season. But
after this season, he's Gino Smith and he is what
he is, and it's I know, on this show we've
got like a Geno Smith debate all the time, But

(56:41):
like you have to convince the next coach to have
that same faith in him.

Speaker 1 (56:45):
And I think the coach, yeah, basically it might be.

Speaker 4 (56:48):
But like I think that's where the Schneider thing comes
into it, where it's like.

Speaker 5 (56:53):
He wasn't effusive when they asked him about it. He said, well,
I thought it was kind of like the flip side
of Gino's first year where he started off a little
slow this year and finished really strong, which was kind
of the opposite of his first year, which.

Speaker 1 (57:06):
Was, you know, not great praise. But depends on who
comes in.

Speaker 5 (57:08):
They've requested interviews with Patrick Graham, Frank Smith, who's McDaniels
OC in Miami. I I have a feeling Frank Smith's
going to get a job in this cycle. Raheem Morris,
Dan Quinn, Ben Johnson. We'll see Schneider is signed through.

Speaker 3 (57:23):
His contract goes through the twenty twenty seven drafts, so
he's locked in there. And this is just you know,
he said this in the interview. Apologies if you already
said it. Great, but our setup earlier was the coaching
staff did not fall under my umbrella, and now it will.

Speaker 1 (57:36):
Yes, he really is there, you go, he is.

Speaker 5 (57:38):
God really emphasized that that I think he didn't love
Carroll's staff choices, especially.

Speaker 2 (57:45):
On the defensive.

Speaker 3 (57:46):
It's not necessarily a Jodie Allen decision or choosing this
person to that person.

Speaker 2 (57:50):
It's just a contractual situation. Okay, I don't know what
that means.

Speaker 3 (57:54):
He also talked about keeping the positive nature of the
Pete Carroll experience intact that as a must for whoever
comes in. So make sure when you're interviewing for the
Seahawks job, make that, by.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
The way, not for nothing.

Speaker 3 (58:11):
We all love Pete cow right, maybe the most famous
gum chewer in the history of the NFL.

Speaker 4 (58:16):
Now he's out of a job, right, But I'd say
you started chewing gum rough sixty seven years ago, So
just say back to my industry.

Speaker 3 (58:23):
I'm giving, I'm giving. You're a little pop here, right.
Maybe he was forced out because of gum.

Speaker 5 (58:28):
How about you know it's part of it because it
didn't seem like this is happening because of his age here,
But like I when people are like, oh, let's have
part of it, like Belichick and Harbaugh, would be like
a good shirt short term coach for a kind of
ready made team, Like what are they called key ready team?
I mean Pete Carroll to me, turkey turnkey, turnkey operation.

(58:51):
Pete Carroll seems a little more like a good head
coach for a turnkey operation in a short term environment
than those two guys in a certain like is Pete
Carroll coaching like the Cowboys?

Speaker 1 (59:02):
Like would that be that crazy?

Speaker 5 (59:03):
I don't know, more so than Bill not get any buzz,
so it doesn't seem like this is happening. But to me,
that actually makes more sense to me as like a
guy who's gonna come in that's already ready and just
try to win for a couple of years.

Speaker 2 (59:14):
Like anybody that's coaching the Cowboys is doomed. They're just doomed.
So it doesn't matter.

Speaker 3 (59:19):
Like maybe that's the only thing we should have said before,
Like this organization is just swarming with ghosts now, and
you need, like Peter Vankman, if you really want to
find your way out of this. What Pete going down there?
See that positivity gets zapped away in the middle of January. Oh,
we're not sure what happened. Everything just changed. Pete's got it,

(59:39):
HET's got the ghosts. Good Ghostbusters reference.

Speaker 2 (59:43):
There an you name any of the Ghostbusters characters, Bill Murray,
not the actor characters.

Speaker 4 (59:48):
No salt in the theater.

Speaker 2 (59:51):
Though you saw the first the first.

Speaker 4 (59:55):
One, yeah, I mean as a child, I mean young person.

Speaker 3 (01:00:00):
Eighty four, I saw I saw the second one eighty nine. Sneaky, terrifying.
The movies in the eighties that were supposed to be
kid friendly many times had elements that I just wouldn't.
I wasn't ready for the fact that the painting. I
was scared aim to life and he was a horrific man.

Speaker 2 (01:00:20):
That was scary.

Speaker 3 (01:00:21):
There's also a scene where a witch flies in from
the sky into this high rise condo in New York
and never steals the baby.

Speaker 2 (01:00:30):
Takes a good.

Speaker 4 (01:00:31):
Situation for anyone involves other than the witch.

Speaker 2 (01:00:34):
I didn't sleep well. I'm gonna tell you that you
have a quickie, Mark.

Speaker 4 (01:00:40):
I will, I will, I will keep this quick. This
is a team that, like you know, hit wreckage two
weeks ago, and we almost never talked about this team,
the Commanders, but I think collateral damage of what's happened
to two teams in the Cowboys and Eagles that we
saw as Super Bowl potential teams. Now look where the
Commanders are after after decades of looking like flotsam jetsum

(01:01:01):
and like nobody's nobody's apple of the eye, they suddenly
they have a new GM and Adam Peters who came
from the Niners, and all words are that, like he
was very valuable to that Niners team being built the
way that.

Speaker 5 (01:01:13):
He felt like the bell of the GM ball absolutely
like the most competitive high. He's like the Ben Johnson
of the GMS this year, and they paid him a
lot of money.

Speaker 4 (01:01:23):
And Ben Johnson people are suggesting that no matter who
they go talk to that Ben Johnson is likely the
number one target as your head coach. So that pairing
right there is intriguing. And the number two pick, second
overall pick. It was on my list, Greg, I will
get to it. Six top picks in the top one hundred,
they have the most cap space in the.

Speaker 2 (01:01:44):
Least just step on his number two overall take.

Speaker 4 (01:01:46):
Well, I'm just like I have a simple list. I'm
trying to get through. But they have a laundry list
of draft picks. And I think find like a capable GM.
And because you traded Montes Sweat and Chase young away,
it's like I would want Sweats still potentially I would,
But like Ron rivera somehow exited the organization with doing
like an anti Levey Smith. He could not have been
a better soldier from wire to wire for that organization

(01:02:10):
and left with them in great shape For the next coach.

Speaker 2 (01:02:12):
In Gas, somebody to fail at dignity. Ron River's your man.

Speaker 4 (01:02:15):
He will be your man. I just think like if
the Eagles are what we think they are right now,
and they're going to go through a lot of flux
and change, and maybe the quarterback isn't who we thought,
and the Cowboys continue to sit and spin on this plan,
or they're going to bring everyone back and be the
same thing. Like the Commanders. They got a long way
to go, but they are one of these teams that
you can see the rebuild if they get the right
quarterback happening closer to like a Houston Texans type situation

(01:02:38):
than something that takes three or four years, So keep
an eye on that day.

Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
I'm just not ready to talk about the Commanders right now.

Speaker 4 (01:02:45):
It's just more. It's it's much more because to Dallas
and Philadelphia.

Speaker 3 (01:02:49):
Though I've blocked them out mentally, to me, those teams
don't exist. They're on that list of teams that do
not exist for me right now. So I don't even
know who you're talking about.

Speaker 4 (01:02:57):
Okay, well they've been flushed, they're gone, but.

Speaker 1 (01:03:00):
We will talk about it.

Speaker 4 (01:03:01):
I had been a joy being part of this experience.

Speaker 2 (01:03:04):
No, but Greg was way into it.

Speaker 4 (01:03:06):
I know he was, so you Yeah, you kind of
snapped at Greg.

Speaker 3 (01:03:10):
But I couldn't even hear you were the Charlie Brown
teacher when you were talking about whatever that I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
Even remember the name.

Speaker 4 (01:03:15):
I see. That is the role that I continually play
on this show, and according to your ears, so I
will keep doing that.

Speaker 3 (01:03:22):
Oh Mark, Oh Mark, How I love the quick one.
I'm annoyed on the Eagles. If I'm Jeffrey Lourie and
Bradley Cooper, I'm sitting down with Jason Kelcey and it's
not talking about retirement or any of that, although it
looks like he's retiring, but I'm gonna just find out.

Speaker 2 (01:03:39):
I just need the dirt. Man. You just got to
give me.

Speaker 3 (01:03:41):
Tell me the real stuff, because I know you get
it and you see tell me if the coaches need
to go, tell me.

Speaker 2 (01:03:46):
Which guys are cancers in the locker room?

Speaker 3 (01:03:49):
Do the organization this one last solid, and let us
know what the hell happened here, because I think Jason
Kelsey is the type of dude that could give you
some straight answers. Because I think beyond Nick Sierian Syriani's
inability to stop the bleeding, I think there was some
maybe bad apples in that locker room and the chemistry
of the team went south. Too, and that happens in
all different sports. So somebody has to tell Bradley Cooper

(01:04:14):
and Jeffrey Lourie who stays and who goes. And my
other point is that Julio Jones and it was sad
to see him exit with a concussion and what might
be his last game. He's like the Simpsons. I was
thinking about this the first ten years. Just the best,
maybe the best ever, one of the best ever. But
I just hang around so long it's starting to dilute,

(01:04:34):
Like how great he was. I just want Julio Jones
to retire now.

Speaker 4 (01:04:38):
I think I think he could be going. I mean,
he's also sort of the American Office on some level too,
which crashed and burned hard at the end where it
was likely we've solved all these storylines. It's been great,
and you're still on for four more years? Will you
need to make money?

Speaker 5 (01:04:51):
We get it, everyone had to pay the bills. Will
be a Hall of Famer someday. Ye know, if Matt
Ryan had just put it on his hands a little
more in that wild Card game, Eagles maybe never win
that Super Bowl. People kind of forget the Falcons had
a real chance at that had a one on one
matchup and Ryan skies it out of the end zone.
I'm like, second down, I believe, I'm with you. I

(01:05:12):
have a feeling this Eagles news one way or another
is coming today.

Speaker 1 (01:05:17):
So no need to say too much more.

Speaker 4 (01:05:20):
We have a show tomorrow, so we do. Yeah, we
could say more than clean up the wreckage of this
segment on tomorrow's show. How about that.

Speaker 2 (01:05:31):
Tomorrow?

Speaker 3 (01:05:32):
Yes, it is the divisional round preview, so we'll break
down all the games.

Speaker 2 (01:05:37):
And they're all excellent. I mean there's not.

Speaker 3 (01:05:39):
Sometimes you know, someone sneaks through the wildcard round and
it's a nice story, and then you start getting toward
the next week of foot Player, like, eh, now you're
gonna get killed.

Speaker 4 (01:05:51):
We're cleaning them up next.

Speaker 3 (01:05:52):
And now instead of like four great games, we're gonna
have this one game that sucks and then we have
to hope the other. No, I think you can make
a for every game here, Greg, give me one game
you're certain about the outcome on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (01:06:05):
Now I don't. I don't have one.

Speaker 5 (01:06:08):
I do.

Speaker 4 (01:06:10):
Texans beat Ravens.

Speaker 2 (01:06:12):
Oh, you want it, you need it.

Speaker 4 (01:06:13):
It's happening.

Speaker 2 (01:06:14):
You want it, you need it. I have to follow it.
I have. Well, that's that's a good tease.

Speaker 3 (01:06:19):
I have to follow up on what I said on Sunday,
which is one of those teams the Darlings, the Texans,
and the Packers will win. So I got to pick
one of them? Will you lock up a team? That's
These are all things that we need to talk about. Yes,
Winston z Moore, Raymond Stands, and doctor Egon.

Speaker 2 (01:06:40):
Spangler were the rest of the Ghostbusters with doctor Peter Bankman.

Speaker 4 (01:06:44):
Which one was Murray.

Speaker 2 (01:06:47):
Doctor Okay, Peter Veakman.

Speaker 1 (01:06:49):
I'm surprised.

Speaker 4 (01:06:50):
I don't know you are so plugged in on this film.

Speaker 2 (01:06:53):
I haven't young children.

Speaker 3 (01:06:55):
I've watched the Ghostbuster films many times in the last
five years.

Speaker 5 (01:06:59):
Ghostbusters has had a surprising long shelf life. I wouldn't
say it had like a huge impact on my upbringing,
although I do have a lot of the Bobby Brown
Vego rap memorized in my head. But I was surprised
at there to do it Halloween. How many little kids
are still wearing Ghostbusters gear. So it's still happened.

Speaker 4 (01:07:17):
Well, the new movie that came out was very good.
I thought too, that hooked them back in. I mean
that happened to My kids too.

Speaker 2 (01:07:23):
Got the stranger things. Kids in it always are smart.
We'll get rud involved.

Speaker 4 (01:07:27):
It's a natural. That's when you do keep recreating because
it's like kids and ghosts at least.

Speaker 2 (01:07:32):
Got it well together. Thank you, Paul Rudd. All right,
that's it. We'll be back on Thursday. Until then, you
know what you need to do. Heed the call.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Sifting Through Super Wild Card Rubble

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.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}1. The Podium

2. In The Village

3. iHeartOlympics: The Latest

All Episodes

Sifting Through Super Wild Card Rubble

1. The Podium