Cutdown Day Takeaways from Every Team: Aaron Donald is BACK, Odell Makes the Cut and the 4 QB Trend

Gregg Rosenthal and Jourdan Rodrigue react to Aaron Donald coming out of retirement to play for the Rams in 2026. Plus, they get you caught up on all the news from around the NFL on roster cutdown day including Odell Beckham Jr. making the Giants roster, J.J. McCarthy and Anthony Richardson both not being released, the Jaguars trading for Quinn Ewers, a new quarterback trend around the NFL and more! 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're going to be watching
Aaron Donald play football in Australia.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm in my garage.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
I'm joined across town by my friend Jordan Rodrigue. It
is cut down day, a day of complicated feelings.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Jordan, as many players experience. get cut.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Their dream ends for now, but maybe they end up
on a practice squad. And yet the Rams, as they've
been doing all offseason, stole the show by finding out
today is the day that Aaron Donald decided to return
to the team. So we will get to all 32
teams and the takeaways from their cuts and some suspensions
and commissioners exempt list announcements. But we have to start

(00:47):
with the team that you were broadcasting on Thursday night.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Great job.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Again, it would have been nice if Aaron Donald came
back during that broadcast for you, but he did it
nicely for this podcast. Not a shock to us, but
what do you think about the timing, about the usage?
We've kind of waited to analyze the actual football impact
of it all until it actually happens, and now it's
actually happened.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
Yeah, I'm trying to think of even where to start.

Speaker 4 (01:12):
Cause there's so much great stuff to dig into with this,
but let's, I guess, start with the timing. I don't
think it should be a surprise to anybody that after
training camp is the timing here. This is something where
it could have been at this point into the season.
It's really clear to me that Aaron Donald really wanted.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
To be a part of.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
The speciality that this team is trying to build and
also reinvest into his teammates the whole way through. I've
been working up a column today for the athletic that'll
run tomorrow. Please go check it out about how. Back
when the Rams went on their Superbowl run last time
in 2021, he was paired with a different future hall
of fame, potentially, probably a edge rusher in, in Von

(01:55):
Miller and Von Miller used to sit next to Aaron
Donald on the planes to, and from these games, especially
late in the season and into the post season. and
just tell him stories about what playing in the Super
Bowl was like and winning it, because obviously Aaron Donald
had played in one previously, and what it felt like
to hold the Lombardi Trophy and even brought his Lombardi
Trophy in so that it would just sort of stand

(02:15):
in the equipment room as a reminder to everybody what
they were chasing. And Aaron Donald is going to be
that person for other players. There's not a lot of
Rams players on this roster now. who know what that
was like or had felt that. And Miles Garrett has
not felt what that is like. Like this is the
most intrinsically motivated guy ever. There's no question about that.
But when the season gets hard and when the goals

(02:36):
seem to be very, very small, very, very large, and
the chances of attaining them seem to be very, very small.
This is when having a player like this and somebody
who shows up when the best is required.

Speaker 3 (02:47):
This is when it will matter.

Speaker 4 (02:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
I loved seeing the, practice videos out there today of
him going through just the positional drills. I believe he's
going to speak actually later on Sunday evening. Thank you
to everyone joining us live, you know, give us questions.
But yeah, we're taping this for everyone listening on the
podcast side on Sunday evening as about 27, 26 teams

(03:12):
have announced their cuts. We're watching you other five team jets.
Just give us your cuts. So the contract is, Is
interesting to me. I don't want to linger too much
on it, but a $ 10 million base salary, $ 10 million
in per game roster bonuses that he has to be
active for. So a lot is really tied to him
being on the team. And then fascinatingly, $ 10 million more

(03:33):
on playoff bonuses where he has to be active. They
have to make the playoffs. So if the team just
stinks for whatever reason, he can't make any of those
$ 10 million. He has to be active for the first round,
and then you make a couple million dollars more. You
have to be active for the second round. You have
to make a couple million dollars more, and he maxes
out if they win the actual Super Bowl at $ 10 million.

(03:54):
So to me, the expectations are the thing that I'm
more interested in from your perspective, Jordan, because when we
last saw him, extremely effective player, one of the leaders
in pass rush win rate, one of the best players
at his position, hasn't won a defensive player of the
year since 2020. Those three now are six-plus years old.

(04:19):
What do you think about how they're going to use
him role-wise and what's a reasonable expectation after being two
years away and he's, what, 35 years old now?

Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah, I think it's going to be situational and game-by-game,
which is a double-sided... Meaning, because first of all, that
should be very worrisome for opponents because you're already having
to try to game plan for one of the most
difficult players on the planet to game plan for in
miles Garrett. And now you're not quite sure that I
think what the Rams are really wanting to do with

(04:50):
this is making it sure, making sure to, um, not
show any tendencies and having a player who is at
Aaron Donald's age, which is what 35 right now. And
to and also the fact that they're so deep along
their defensive line. You know, I've been saying for weeks
that I think this defense is going to really surprise
people with how multiple it is and how much it

(05:11):
can rotate even on the field without subbing players out.
There's so many players in the front and the back
that can play multiple positions and can rotate all around
each other and really activate against a bunch of different
types of personnel's.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
Without needing to come off the field.

Speaker 4 (05:27):
So if teams, which we think they will try to
go quick game on them or tempo in order to
try to mitigate some of this pass rush that they'll
see from miles Garrett, et cetera, You are, you now
have a counter punch for that. And that that's pretty worrisome.
I think when you factor in, you're not going to really,
really know what Aaron Donald's going to do week to week.
I was thinking about this today, you know, you mentioned
at the top and we'll hear from him later today.

(05:48):
So this might be wrong already that I'm saying this,
but I actually don't know if he's playing or not
in Australia. And there's precedent to where he has missed
the first couple of games of the season or the
first game, at least out of a thing like a holdout,
for example, which he had in the past. and still
went on obviously to win defensive player of the year
that season. But this is the long game for, for

(06:10):
the Rams. And certainly it's a mind game for everybody
else because we are so, we got so used to,
and we never really got used to, but we kind
of got used to all the stories of these opposing
coaches talking about how, when you play Aaron Donald, that's
actually the only player you're game planning around on defense
for the Rams. That's how much of the week that
it takes up in their meetings and how much of

(06:31):
the the reinstallation of offensive line protections and blocks and
slides and all these different things that you have to
focus on. And so now the fact that he is
going to be used situationally and you don't, you won't
be able to tendency predict week over week. That's a
real problem, I think. And I think it, it plays
to the Rams benefit. And I think they know that,
which again is one of the reasons why among all

(06:52):
of this other super team building thing, just the way
that they're doing it is also the reason why the
Rams have such a big target on their back this year.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
It, It's wild because, you know, Von Miller was great
in that run. He was not 2025 Miles Garrett. We'll
see if 2026 Miles Garrett is that good. But assuming
he is having those two guys in the field, it's
just special. It's the first team ever to have two
defensive players of the year on the same roster, which
kind of surprised me, I believe, at the same coming

(07:20):
into the season.

Speaker 4 (07:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
You add Braden Fisk, who's a good depth piece. You
add Puna Ford, who is a great run stopper. You
have Byron Young, who's a great edge rusher in a
contract year for him. You have a young player in
Josiah Stewart. It's a very deep front. Kobe Turner, of course,
is the guy who's also in a contract push. It

(07:44):
really stood out to me how... many free agents are
on this team. I'm putting together my list and man,
now Aaron Donald is another one of them. I mean,
the amount of players on this team that are in
the final years of their contracts, I know it's not
Superbowl or bus, but like for, for like a long-term vision,
but for this particular team, it is pretty crazy that

(08:07):
Kobe Turner is, Puka Nakua, both their guards, Kevin Dotson,
Steve Avila, Aaron Donald, Byron Young. I'm missing a few
more like Coleman Shelton, their center, like are all free
agents this year. And it's really exciting. If I had
to guess, yeah, you're right. It's possible he might not
even play that week. He's getting those bonuses each week.
He'll want to play, you know, but that will not

(08:29):
make the decision for them. And Ian Rappaport spoke on
NFL Network just like, look, they might. start him out
10 to 15 snaps or something, but he just can't
imagine that that's going to last particularly long.

Speaker 4 (08:40):
Well, I did see Albert Breer talking about the contract,
and I thought it said up to 15 games were
eligible for these bonuses, which made my wheels start ticking.
So maybe if he's not there right away, they still.
But the thing is, is I'm curious. Wolf, again, this
could be all us having fun right before they come

(09:01):
out and say, yes, he is or isn't playing in Australia.
I think that it would be so because especially because
they're playing the 49ers. I mean, they won't even talk
about what their travel plans are publicly. Like this, I
would not be surprised. Well, again, I might be wrong
at about 15 minutes, but I would not be surprised
at all.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
If they're just like, Hmm, he might play. He might not.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
We'll see.

Speaker 3 (09:24):
It's going to be a game time decision. We don't
know if he's going to travel.

Speaker 4 (09:27):
And then it's like a bunch of really interesting social
media shots where you see everybody boarding the plane, but
not him. And is he on the plane or is
he not on the plane? And, Yeah, it's a whole thing. Again,
that's what I'm saying. The Rams already have a target
on their back, but the way that they are doing
this also would create an even bigger one. And because
it's Kyle Shanahan, because it's the 49ers, I wouldn't be

(09:47):
surprised if they try to gamesmanship this one a little
bit too.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
Kobe Turner and Aaron Donald next to each other because
they're very different styles of players is pretty exciting to
think about.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
And for.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
just when I saw the money, even before I knew
it was only $ 10 million base salary, I was just like,
this guy, it is still Aaron Donald. And I know
you can't expect him to be exactly the same, but
he's making less money than Kenny Clark. And Deron Payne
and Zach Seeler, like he essentially took a discount and
helped them out because he wants to be part of this.

(10:21):
And I know they had a previous contract, but exciting.
And we have a listener watching us right now from Melbourne. And,
you know, I hope Aaron Donald, just for the excitement
of that game, goes over there. But if not, we
will see him soon enough. We will presumably see Puka
Nakua week one. He was not placed on the commissioner's
exempt list like some other players around the league, although
the NFL still could suspend him potentially.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
We'll find out.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
He was at practice, though, so he's back on the field.
All expectations, he's ready to go week one. Miles Garrett,
it's not believed it's anything serious as far as we know,
but he was not back at practice on Sunday. Tutu
Atwell is now part of this team, so it really
is a super team.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
In Los Angeles. Let's go to the rest of the
cut down. Two back, two, two.

Speaker 4 (11:05):
Right.

Speaker 2 (11:05):
Oh, there we go.

Speaker 3 (11:06):
Two back, two furious.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
I wasn't sure two, two would make the team, but
he's definitely going to be on that team.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
Why would he trade for him? I guess if he's
not going to make the team.

Speaker 1 (11:15):
So unfortunately, the other biggest items of news before we
get to kind of who made the team, some nice
stories and some surprising cuts. were a couple decisions by
the NFL related to domestic violence cases. Number one, Josh
Jacobs was placed on the commissioner's exempt list. And Jonathan Cooper,
who is an edge rusher for the Broncos, very good player,

(11:37):
also was placed on the commissioner's exempt list. We'll get
back to the Cooper news in a second. What the
commissioner's exempt list means for everyone watching and listening is
that the player actually remains paid. And it's a way
for the NFL to step in and not let the
legal process play out and kind of put this guy

(11:59):
on the shelf in the meantime while they figure out
what the punishment is going to be. Josh Jacobs, since
we last taped, learned he faces two misdemeanor charges. one
of battery and one of criminal damage to property. Matt LaFleur,
his coach, said he will be on the team. Those
were actually lesser charges than the original charges that he faced.

(12:20):
So a lot of people saw that news and thought it's,
quote unquote, good news for Josh Jacobs and the Packers.
But as part of the police report and everything that
came out, they say there is a video where Josh Jacobs, quote,
grabs the victim and throws her to the ground and
and she struck her head, suffering an injury. Jacobs then

(12:41):
took her phone from her while she was on the ground.
She laid on the ground and struggled to walk back
to the house. That is on video. The NFL obviously
knows about all of this, Jordan. The punishment for anything
domestic related is supposed to be a baseline of minimum
six games. I know I'm doing a lot of explaining here,
but I had to go back and even check. This
was a past precedent. Jabril Peppers had a very similar case.

(13:05):
where he was placed on the exempt list while they
figured out his punishment. Eventually, they suspended him seven games
at the point that they announced that he had already
been out for seven weeks, and they essentially considered that
time served. He then lost that money that he had
been making in the meantime, and that's, I guess, how
we're going to do this.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
We won't know the timeline.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
No one's going to know the timeline exactly, but I
think it's fair knowing the NFL's precedent that it's a
minimum six games for Josh Jacobs. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (13:33):
And I would just add to that too.

Speaker 4 (13:34):
We're on a hashtag noticing watch for Matt LaFleur too,
in his response to this and his continued response to this.
So that's what I would make sure to add to
this too, because it is not a secret how unstable
the depth at running back is there on their roster.
And you don't ever want to think that that factors

(13:55):
into some of the things that you say to reporters
and some of the decisions you make as a head coach,
But maybe it is.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
And, you know, hashtag noticing.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
We literally talked about on this podcast, can't remember if
it was you or Shook, that like, I don't want
this to be a Ray Rice thing where this has
been quiet for a while and that, well, then the
video falls, comes out and then everyone says, oh, he
can't play in the NFL again. So the video still
could come out in theory. We know there is a video,
but maybe that at least forced the NFL to act.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
Who knows?

Speaker 1 (14:29):
The Packers did make a move at running back. They
traded for Caleb Johnson, who was a day two pick
by the Steelers just last year, who was not going
to make that team. And I saw the Steelers fans
kind of like, oh, we got something for Caleb Johnson.

Speaker 2 (14:43):
The terms aren't out.

Speaker 1 (14:45):
It's very likely like a late round pick swap, like
a sixth or a seventh if he does something. So
I assume it's for almost nothing. Marshawn Lloyd is presumably
is going to be the starter there. The Packers also,
while we're on the Packers, signed Johnnie Smith at tight end,
traded for a Rams tight end rookie. So they added
a couple of tight ends. They got a sixth round

(15:05):
pick by trading away Kyle McCord. We'll hit that later
with the Dolphins. And then Micah Parsons was placed on
the PUP list. That means he's out at least four weeks.
None of that particularly surprising, but we'll see how much
their running backs hurt that running game. Cause it's a,
it's a lot of questions in terms of the, offensive.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
Line and the running backs.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
I mentioned Jonathan Cooper, and I kind of just want
to get these two out of the way here. He
is also placed in the commissioner's exempt list. He had
a couple incidents where he was arrested this offseason. And again,
we don't know how the legal process is going to
play out, but he has been kind of a core
edge rusher for them opposite Nick Benito. I think the
Broncos probably expected this to happen if you watch what

(15:46):
they were doing throughout the preseason and listen to them.
So not a huge surprise, but an important player for
them that they also are choosing not to cut.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
So the point you made.

Speaker 1 (15:55):
About LeFleur, the Broncos organization. Yeah, making the same decision.

Speaker 4 (16:00):
We are on noticing duties, Greg. That's unfortunately the case.
A lot of players on that commissioner exempt list right now.

Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, Terryon Arnold is the third who we'll get to.
He has a different situation. He is now a member
of the Seattle Broncos.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
Seahawks.

Speaker 1 (16:18):
That's the Broncos. That's the pass rushers. We still don't
know everything. Alaric Jackson of the Rams, I expected to
get a suspension. That still has not happened. I still
would not be surprised if it does happen before the season.
So just the fact that he wasn't suspended or placed
on a commissioner's exemplar list today does not mean the
NFL can't do it in the upcoming days.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
We will see.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Let's get to some happy news. Odell Beckham is on
the New York Giants. He's going to be on the
week one roster. That means like he's making his salary.
It's not compared to the money he used to make, Jordan.
It's not a ton of money, but it's guaranteed throughout
the season. It is one of my favorite things. like
cut down day stories that Odell Beckham is on the

(17:00):
Giants active roster heading into the season.

Speaker 4 (17:03):
Yeah. And he actually I mean, he had to sort
of like nerve this one out, too, because we weren't
really sure if he was going to make it or not.
And so obviously a very, very different circumstance than he
was used to when he played. actually trying to figure
out and then, and then the discussions about whether, you know,
is he going to contribute on special teams and what,

(17:24):
what kinds of things will he be asked to do
for this football team? Um, you know, it's, I think
you love a story like this because it's just a
testament to something that I think went really, really underrated
and under talked about or under discussed about Odell when
he was playing is how much he loves football. I mean,
that was, I got to cover him when he was

(17:46):
trying to make, you know, help the Rams win a
Super Bowl. And everyone said all these things before he
came in and there was all these headlines about him
and all of these things. But man, his teammates absolutely
loved him and that dude loves football. And so I
just thought, you know, this is cool to see because
go have fun out there and go give it your
best and see what's going to happen and.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
Let it rip.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
All that needs to happen for me And I'm sure
he has different thoughts and the Giants have different thoughts.
It's just like one big Odell play to whether it's
a touchdown or a monster first down in a primetime
game and the crowd is just going crazy. Just that
happening again is a really cool full circle story. And
to your point, yeah, we didn't know if he'd make it.
Calvin Austin is their slot receiver who is out for

(18:32):
the season. That might have had a knockdown effect. Although
right now, Darius Slayton is still on the roster. Darnell
Mooney is still on the roster. Mooney, I believe, will
be staying there. Braxton Berrios is not on the roster,
but it's already been reported that it's a procedural move
where they cut him and they're going to bring him
back before week one. But they're doing the thing where
like his contract won't be guaranteed, which is like shady

(18:54):
business NFL teams. But Darius Slayton might be the guy
who still gets traded. I did notice like hashtag noticing
this doesn't really qualify, but that this is the longest
between cut down day and the start of the season.

Speaker 2 (19:08):
I believe ever.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
And they did it because of the teams going to
Australia and the season starting on Wednesday. It's only by
a couple of days, but at this time of year,
you have an entire week for these teams. Now you
have a couple extra days to possibly still be making trades.
So with all these announcements, it's all kind of written
in pencil. Like Darius Slayton is on the team now.
If he lands on another team in a few days,

(19:31):
that wouldn't shock me. But most of the players that
were traded today and will be traded in the next
couple of weeks, even though I find it very interesting, Jordan,
I know it's not like rocking everyone's world in just
the same way. Maybe not your world either. You're not
as into spots 48 to 53 on the roster.

Speaker 4 (19:47):
I would say, though, I'm really actually quite liking this
adjusted schedule. I know that you can ask me again
in February when the Super Bowl's like a little bit
later than normal, but I am quite enjoying this. I
like the fact that we have an entire week to
sort of gather ourselves into this. It's a great content
week for NFL Daily. Got some really fun shows planned

(20:08):
this week.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
QB Island. We're not going to hide it. QB Island's coming.

Speaker 3 (20:11):
We got our over-unders.

Speaker 2 (20:13):
It's prediction week. Exactly.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
I love it. I think it's going to be fun.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:17):
And to be clear, I went and checked. It's just
a couple extra days. Usually it would have been Tuesday night.
Here it's on a Sunday. So nothing too crazy. But
the news is fast and furious. And one of the trends...
that I noticed on Sunday, and we were texting about
it earlier, when we thought the Browns were going to
keep four quarterbacks, they got out of it by putting

(20:38):
Dylan Gabriel on one of the most conveniently timed injuries
that no one saw when he was put on injured reserve. Like, wait,
didn't he just finish that game and was totally healthy?

Speaker 2 (20:47):
He's on injured reserve.

Speaker 1 (20:48):
So the Browns did not carry four quarterbacks, but at
least four teams did. And I might be missing someone.
The Vikings kept four, including J.J.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
McCarthy.

Speaker 1 (21:00):
The Steelers kept four, including Will Howard and Drew Aller,
plus Mason Rudolph and Aaron Rodgers. The Falcons kept four,
including Jack Strand. Jack Strand! And the Eagles kept four, including...
Who's their guy? Cole Payton, Tanner McKee, and Andy Dalton.

(21:21):
I don't expect all these teams to keep four going
into the season.

Speaker 2 (21:24):
That speaks.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
to the point I just made that more moves could
be happening. If I had to power rank the most
likely QB move of these four packs, I'm still thinking
JJ McCarthy is an ex-Viking by next week.

Speaker 2 (21:39):
But I could be wrong. I could be wrong. What
do you think?

Speaker 4 (21:41):
I think that you're hating on Jack Strand unnecessarily because
the young man played well in the preseason.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
He really did.

Speaker 4 (21:48):
Yeah, he threw the ball well. By the way, I
just showed my phone to you. I was getting notifications earlier.
As predicted, we're going to, quote unquote, we're going to
take it one day at a time, ramping up Aaron Donald.

Speaker 2 (22:01):
Thank you.

Speaker 4 (22:02):
Per Sean McVay, which we could have all seen that
one coming. And also the Chiefs finally did release their.

Speaker 2 (22:09):
Congratulations to the Chiefs.

Speaker 3 (22:11):
So I know you're on noticing duty for that as well.
So I wanted to let you know.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
But yeah, this.

Speaker 4 (22:16):
you have a saying that I say a lot now, Greg,
where if you have four quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks.
I think that the, actually the, the team that I
trust here, two teams that I trust here in this
entire process are the Steelers and the Eagles. I think
the Eagles have been stockpiling as resort quarterbacks as resources
for a while. I don't, I don't wouldn't be surprised
at all to see them be active. And then over

(22:39):
the next week and then the Steelers, I will say
this again. I think Mike McCarthy so underrated over his
history as a coach and, whether a head coach or
an assistant coach, of his work that he's done with quarterbacks.
And so I really think they're sort of extending this
particular assessment to see. And one of them I would
believe is tradable, but it wouldn't surprise me if that
guy's like Mason Rudolph or something.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
Right.

Speaker 1 (23:01):
I think the Steelers actually will keep their four, and
maybe they cut Mason Rudolph at the last second and
put him back on the practice squad, but probably they
keep their four unless someone comes calling.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
I think J.J.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
McCarthy would be available, but maybe there's not going to
be enough interest in him We'll see. The Chargers, you know,
with Jim Harbaugh, who could use a backup quarterback, are
certainly a logical landing spot. But you could also just
cut Max Brosner closer to the season and hope he
slides through and put him on the practice squad. The
fact that they're worried someone's going to claim Max Brosner,

(23:33):
I think shows how thin it is out there for
a lot of teams at quarterback.

Speaker 2 (23:38):
The Eagles are.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
Probably trying to get something, anything for Andy Dalton would
be my guess. Because he played behind Tanner McKee and
didn't look as good as Tanner McKee at the end
of the preseason. So can we get like a 6-7
swap for Andy Dalton from one of these desperate teams?
Which could include the Falcons. Because I wasn't sure going
into their preseason finale, Jordan, that Tua Tungavailoa was even

(24:00):
going to make the team. The reporting starting to come
out there was like pretty crazy. And then Michael Penix
didn't play in their final game. Tua's numbers looked okay,
but I went back and watched. He fumbled a snap.

Speaker 2 (24:11):
It was a little....

Speaker 1 (24:13):
They did play starters there, but he was out there
with the starters. It would be weird to me if
they cut him, but maybe he could be available.

Speaker 2 (24:22):
I don't even know.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
We're 10 days out and no one knows who their
starting quarterback is going to be in Atlanta. I feel
like this offseason has gone about as bad as it
could for the Atlanta quarterback situation.

Speaker 4 (24:34):
Yeah, I mean, that's a tough look for the franchise
overall to come in and try to be establishing this
new coaching staff and this new front office and like
this new team president situation and to not have real
clarity of a plan quite yet. Your best player in
the preseason was Jack Strand. It's a huge issue.

Speaker 2 (24:54):
Wait, who is their fourth quarterback? I should know this.

Speaker 3 (24:57):
Now I accidentally shaded Jack Strand.

Speaker 2 (24:58):
Sorry, Jack. That's rude. That's rude. No, he actually really
did look good.

Speaker 1 (25:02):
We just weren't familiar with him before him, and he
hasn't played football at a high level. He was at
Minnesota State Moorhead, but who knows? He might be the
most exciting long-term quarterback on that roster. They kept Cooper Rush, too,
for now. That was like, you couldn't cut Cooper Rush,
but that maybe indicates to me maybe there's something else
going on eventually.

Speaker 4 (25:21):
Do you ever think it's funny how some of these
backup quarterbacks have just an iron grip on... the roster
churn of their respective franchises, like Tanner McKee, the power
that that guy has within the, within the roster planning
part of it when it's like, he's like a hinge
between the rest of the roster. And then all the

(25:42):
guys on the roster that are sort of churned in
and out practice squad and regular transactions over the course
of the year and standing in the middle, like Spider-Man
holding the bus together is Tanner McKee.

Speaker 2 (25:53):
I mean, he's, he's what matters the most. Um, Who knows?

Speaker 1 (25:57):
He could be playing big time snaps. Jalen Hurts is,
among other things, you know, very durable, handsome, durable. You know,
he gets a lot of knocks. And yet he finished
first on the Ringer Fantasy Show's hottest quarterbacks draft. And
that's worth something. I don't know how we got here,
but we're going to get out. The Falcons, by the way,
I mentioned the bad offseason. Matt Ryan traded like a

(26:19):
pick swap for Wanya Morris, who was a tackle from
the Chiefs, and then they cut him today. I always
notice when those things happen. You You trade for someone
and then you cut them. Like the Packers traded for
Zaire Franklin from the Colts, but the guy they traded
away to the Colts, today, Colby Wooden got cut. So
I know Zaire Franklin was maybe not long for the
Colts anyways, but that just looks bad. Like the guy

(26:41):
you traded him away for didn't even make your team.
Let's stay with the Steelers. They traded their first round
pick from a couple of years ago, Broderick Jones, who
played both left and right tackle for them. and a
fourth-round pick to the Cowboys for a third and a sixth.
That sounds good until you kind of add it up,
and then you're like, that's really just fifth-round-type value because

(27:01):
you sent the fourth back. So they give up on
Broderick Jones, who's been hurt. The Cowboys need a swing tackle.
They traded away Nate Thomas to the Texans. It was
kind of a trade-a-palooza. We don't like this guy, but
you can have him around the entire NFL. The Patriots
got one from the Vikings, the Texans. traded one to
the 49ers, but these are guys that they ultimately didn't

(27:24):
believe in. I did notice our guy Omar Khan, who
we had on the show, all his draft picks are
either great or they don't last on the team at all.
He has a lot of big swings and misses, and
having to trade a first-round pick a couple years after
you have him for a fifth-round value is a big
loss for him, and we'll see if the Cowboys can
rehabilitate Project Jones' career.

Speaker 4 (27:46):
It's interesting because they do need swing tackle depth, but
their offensive line is pretty established as what it's going
to be. And I wouldn't be surprised if some of
their plan for Broderick Jones is using him as like
an extra tackle in some of these jumbo personnel, because
their tight end depth isn't, you know, they have a great,
like a one, you have a great one and they've
got a one too, even, but you know, the, the

(28:06):
tackle depth sometimes can reinforce the fact that you want
to get into some of these heavier personnels, but you
don't necessarily have the tight end depth to do it.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
That's why Jordan Roderig makes the big bucks from all
three of the jobs she has. That's a great call
with Clayton Adams, you know, who you profiled there. And
if you think about what Broderick Jones, there was a
minute where he looked like he kind of figured out
that's the thing he does well. He's a big mauler
on the move. So that would absolutely make sense. And yeah,

(28:34):
the way their roster looks, he'll be their third tackle.
The Steelers also caught Landon Roberts, which surprised me. They
caught Malik Harrison, who was kind of a free agent
bust for them. They gave a lot of money to
him last year. from the Ravens, and they also activated
Joey Porter Jr. off their PUP list. Let's go to
the Colts, where I thought they might be in the
quarterback market, but instead they're keeping Anthony Richardson. It appears

(28:56):
that he is the QB, too, because he started the
final preseason game, and he was their best backup quarterback
throughout the preseason, although reportedly at practice, it was a
little tough to... You know, choose who is the best,
but I think Anthony Richardson played the best in the preseason,
so he's probably the backup. They also cut Nick Westbrook-Akina

(29:17):
because they brought in Keenan Allen, who was arrested for
DUI just hours after his preseason appearance for the Colts. Literally,
I think it was that night. They played the game,
and then he got arrested for DWI like hours later
in downtown Indianapolis. So that's very disappointing, but... It does

(29:40):
not mean he's not going to be on the roster.
In fact, he is on the roster right now. And
in general, DUIs take a while to adjudicate and NFL
suspensions don't happen until they do. So just based on
past precedent, unless the Colts want to do something about it,
he probably is just going to be on their roster
this year and face a suspension at some later time.

(30:00):
disappointing you know you bring in keenan allen i'm just
saying like i saw keenan allen you know the leaving
the jail and someone got him on camera and whoever
was driving the car with keenan allen like kind of
yelled at the person who was taking the picture from
a local news site like really bro really you're gonna
do that and i'm thinking like well yeah don't drink

(30:21):
and like don't get arrested for.

Speaker 3 (30:22):
Dui Never drink and drive.

Speaker 4 (30:26):
Right.

Speaker 1 (30:27):
Just like it's not a hot take. Don't be mad
at someone doing.

Speaker 4 (30:32):
That.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
That's the Colts situation. We'll see if Alec Pierce is
healthy for week one. More QB news. Quinn Ewers is
a Jacksonville Jaguar. The Jaguars swapped 2028 day three picks.
It was like a sixth and a seventh round pick.
Like barely anything to get Quinn Ewers from the Dolphins.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
They traded... They gave up so little, Jordan.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
You would think this is for their third quarterback spot,
but they released Nick Mullins, and no one else is
on the roster other than Trevor Lawrence, so presumably Quinn Ewers.

Speaker 2 (31:08):
Is there backup quarterback?

Speaker 1 (31:10):
What are we doing here that backup quarterbacks are so
little valued that all you're doing is trading like late
round pick swaps? There's something about the backup quarterback market
that's completely effed that even the smart teams have not
quite figured out, at least most of them.

Speaker 3 (31:26):
I mean, this screams Liam Cohen, honestly.

Speaker 4 (31:29):
Like Quinn Ewers is somebody who a couple of people
in the quote unquote, the tree had one eye on.
Mike McDaniel went and pursued him. in part because of, quote-unquote,
being of, quote-unquote, the tree. He just seemed like a fit.
You know, I was on Quinn Ewer's duty last year.

Speaker 3 (31:47):
Famously. Not the most fun time.

Speaker 4 (31:50):
Of my career.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
Haven't stopped complaining about it since.

Speaker 1 (31:52):
You know, you should have relished a chance to learn
about a college superstar in his day, you know?

Speaker 4 (31:59):
Yeah, so I just, but to me, this is like
a total I can fix him, this is total get
him in my system type of move here. Um, the
Hunter long trade to the Cardinals is interesting because the
Cardinals are going to want to play 13 personnel, but
tip Ryman's on PUP.

Speaker 3 (32:15):
So, and he was their third.

Speaker 4 (32:17):
So now Hunter long, we'll sort of fast track into
the third spot and Mike LaFleur we'll get to the
Cardinals in a minute, but Michael floor has a lot
of familiarity with him. Obviously the Jaguars went out and
were active in the draft at tight end. So they've
sort of replaced him anyway. That's sort of one of
those rare win-win trades, although not as rare this time
of year, when you have these sort of late, late
depth chart guys swapping for each other.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
Okay, I guess what I'm thinking about this depth chart
thing is, you could have invested more in a better
veteran in the offseason. Why is Jameis Winston only making
$ 4 million a year if half the league is trading
a 6th, 7th pick swap to get their quarterback to.

Speaker 2 (32:59):
late. You know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (33:00):
It's just worth the money. I think like Joe Flacco
only got $ 6 million. That would be worth the money
because basically you're saying if Trevor Lawrence is hurt, the
season's completely over, which maybe that's just a realistic way
to look that you'd be done with Jameis Winston and
whoever too, but I don't know.

Speaker 4 (33:18):
Also, one thing that you fail to factor into this
equation is the idea that Somebody can build him and
make him do all of the things that I want
you to do and point and shoot at where I
tell you. And you're not factoring in the little bit
of that, like in the back, maybe subconscious, maybe in
the forefront of some people's minds that, hey, if I

(33:39):
get this guy, I can really make something happen with him.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
Like Drew Locke's making $ 2. 5 million a year. I just
feel like that's actually quite a bargain compared to what
these good teams are having to be stuck doing just
to have someone that's played and knows how to play quarterback.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
All right. I'm lingering way too long on these quarterbacks.
I apologize.

Speaker 1 (33:56):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (33:57):
But you know what?

Speaker 4 (33:57):
You've opened the door and now I'm walking through it.
So I, I really think though that you see where,
where the league sees guys that really are high value backups.
Like that clearly the Rams, when they paid Jimmy Garoppolo,
they thought he was, he was making something like five
or 6 million a year. Marcus Mariota, uh, unfortunately is hurt,

(34:17):
but one of the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL,
you saw, you saw the team really. So it's like,
it's not that they're not going to pay these guys.
It's that there's a huge drop off between the backup
quarterbacks that the league thinks are very good and can
help them win some games. Davis Mills can help them
win some games or, and the ones that they just don't,
that they don't regard that way.

Speaker 2 (34:38):
Fair.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
It's still the toughest position in sport. There's just not
enough great ones around. Speaking of which the Titans had a, uh,
former future franchise quarterback in Will Levis. He is now
on waivers. Any team could claim Will Levis. I mean,
I assume he's going to get a job because someone
will try to turn his career around, but they couldn't
find a trade partner for him. I mentioned Kyle McCord earlier.

(35:01):
He is the guy replacing Quinn Ewers. Quinn Ewers was
traded for a pick swap. The Dolphins traded a clean
2028 sixth to get Kyle McCord. I'm actually surprised the
Packers gave him up just because he had such an
awesome preseason that I thought Matt LaFleur would look at
it like, hey, here's a guy maybe we could have

(35:22):
as our two slash three for a couple of years
at very cheap price that I'm developing.

Speaker 2 (35:28):
I mean, he looked gangbuster.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
He's kind of a feather in Matt LaFleur's cap that
he looked so bad in Philadelphia last year. And you
have him like he was one of the preseason MVPs,
but it shows you how little they valued that because
they just they still just gave him up for a
twenty twenty eight. And he presumably is the the Dolphins
backup and Dolphins like you can do something other than

(35:49):
just go get old Packers backup quarterbacks. Jeff Halfley, you know,
you're allowed to do that.

Speaker 2 (35:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (35:55):
And they have Tyrod Taylor there, too.

Speaker 4 (35:58):
And I think part of it probably is who's going
to run the scout team better because you need a
player who's going to be able to do that. And
you're not necessarily thinking about his development long term. Um,
you are instead thinking about who's going to run your
scout team. And it's one of those teams where it's like,
I think Tyrod is a great backup. And I think

(36:18):
that he does a lot of the things that Matt
LaFleur wants his backup quarterbacks to do. But I don't
think that Matt LaFleur is, is wanting to get back
in the quarterback development business and then have someone else
pay the guy that you just developed for a few years,
you know? Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
That's that I get. That's fair. Um, you're right.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
I just thought they'd keep three quarterbacks because quarterbacks is
so important, but To me, when you make a trade
like that, it's because you don't believe in your heart
Kyle McCord could be your long-term backup. And so they
essentially disagreed with Miami's assessment. Jeff Halfley had some interesting
quotes after their preseason game, which I wanted to throw
to you as.

Speaker 3 (36:55):
Ms.

Speaker 2 (36:55):
Dolphins on this podcast. Okay.

Speaker 1 (36:58):
He said, no, I appreciated these comments, by the way.
In other news, by the way, for the Dolphins before
we get to half of these comments, they put Kenneth
Grant on injured reserve designated to return. So that's a
serious injury for their defensive tackle.

Speaker 2 (37:11):
First round pick.

Speaker 1 (37:12):
They had one of the most surprising cuts to me
of the day with Tyrell Dodson, who is a longtime
starter for them. Jacob Rodriguez will be the starter there.
as a rookie, which isn't a shock, but Dodson is
a good player. He'll get picked up somewhere. Hefley said
after the preseason game that success this year will not
be measured in wins and losses. And he went on

(37:34):
from there talking about what was going to be important
was seeing how much they could develop their players, especially
their young players. Not a surprise that that's how they're thinking, Jordan.
Rare to hear an organization and a coach say, be
so straightforward with this year is not about wins and losses.

Speaker 2 (37:55):
I appreciate it. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (37:57):
He's telling the truth because how could you look at
this roster and think anything else? Honestly, what really annoyed
me actually was watching some of the takes on this
or the social media on this, which was, oh, wow,
they're admitting they're tanking or whatever.

Speaker 3 (38:13):
Like, No, this is the, this is.

Speaker 4 (38:15):
The phase of the rebuild where you don't set expectations
on the roster that you have. And everybody is very,
very clear on what this team is and what their
goal is to get better over the course of a season.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
That's it.

Speaker 4 (38:30):
Do you know, it's for these young players too. And
some of them who I thought really flashed positively in the,
in the preseason for these young players, that's maybe the
best thing you can do for them as a head
coach is to just totally remove Any pressure, any expectations
and say, go out there and get better every single week.
And that is how we will grade your time here.

(38:51):
Like that's that's one of the it's a gift you
do not get in the NFL.

Speaker 3 (38:55):
You just don't.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
I like it. And I hope those quotes aren't thrown
back at them. They won't be.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
And I think everyone there understands them. Even the veterans
that they got on board to sign long term contracts
like Jordan Brooks, like Devani Chan.

Speaker 2 (39:08):
I think, understand that. And I think they've been sweet
with everything. So I'm with you.

Speaker 1 (39:12):
I think they've approached it the right way, whether it
all works out like that comes down to how good
their player evaluation and development is in terms of the draft.
And we'll find out about that as we go.

Speaker 2 (39:22):
All right.

Speaker 1 (39:22):
The rest of the news, there's just like a firestorm
of transactions.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
And you're right.

Speaker 1 (39:27):
Some are happening now. Cater Kohu was cut by the Chiefs.
So while you were talking before you told me about
the Chiefs, that was surprising news to me. And these
are just like the little veteran news. Kier Elam, who's
a first round pick from just three years ago, might
be out of the league now. That's less surprising. He
got cut by the Chiefs. So did Emmanuel Agba, familiar name.
But Cater Kohu was a guy that just hasn't been

(39:48):
able to get over injuries and was a guy I
thought would have a big role for the Chiefs when
they first signed him, and now he does not even
make the team. Speaking of fun slot corners, Kyler Gordon
for the Bears, placed on the PUP list. Jalen Jones,
one of two Jalen Joneses in the NFL, don't know
if you're tracking that situation because it confused me today,

(40:09):
was placed on injured reserve.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
He was a key reserve.

Speaker 1 (40:12):
We've been talking about their secondary is really banged up
in the Kyler Gordon news continues to get worse. PUP
into the season means you miss at least the first,
what is it, four to five games of the season.
I think then you can start practicing and possibly return.
So Gordon's going to be out for a while. They
also traded Gervon Dexter, who was a high pick a

(40:34):
couple years ago. One of Ryan Poles' misses, and he's
had some pretty big misses with guys up front. um
and but he started 19 games uh a year ago
every single game they played he started uh they traded
him to the falcons for a fifth rounder and clark
phillips so i look at their front and the names

(40:56):
don't inspire you i just hope they they know what
they're doing i i trust their evaluation of gravon dexter
that it wasn't going to work out they've had him
for a number of years but the names behind them,
including Grady Jarrett, you know, don't make you think that's
a plus position.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
And then on the edge, it's similar to that.

Speaker 4 (41:13):
Galaxy brain thinking other teams score as fast as possible
so that we get the ball in our hands as
many times as possible. No, I mean, I, one of
the best posts that I saw about this Gervon Dexter
situation was, I believe it was my colleague, Ted Wynn,
who said, do the bears know something about their defensive tackle.

Speaker 3 (41:32):
Depth that we don't know?

Speaker 4 (41:33):
And I, this certainly seems like they think they do.

Speaker 3 (41:38):
I'm not saying they do, but that they think they do.

Speaker 4 (41:41):
And I would say I do think that the, I mean,
I always will love Grady Jarrett.

Speaker 3 (41:46):
He's one of my favorite players of all time. I
don't know if you knew that.

Speaker 4 (41:50):
And also Neville Gallimore, not a bad like rotational D line. Again,
these are all guys who you're like, ooh, in a rotation,
I could really see that working out.

Speaker 3 (41:59):
But the problem is, is it's not really that.

Speaker 1 (42:01):
Yeah, Contavious Street is probably DT3 there. James Lynch is there.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
We'll see.

Speaker 1 (42:08):
It's because they're surrounded by an edge group that you're
not sure about. Their defense is a huge question mark
coming into the season. They cut Jedrick Wills, by the way.
the former first-round pick of the Browns who was trying
to make a comeback after missing all of last year.
He is the odd man out in that four-way tackle
battle that they have. Marcus Davenport, the former Saint, was
also cut by that team. Also getting cut, the Bucs

(42:29):
cut Jake Browning, who then told them, I am not
going to your practice squad. He presumably has an option elsewhere.
either someone else's practice squad or someone else's active roster.
He probably wasn't thrilled about getting cut. But one of
my favorite stories of a guy making the team, UDFA,
Jalen Daniels, the prospect from Kansas is their QB too

(42:51):
behind Baker Mayfield. He had an awesome preseason. He was
fun to watch. I mean, again, it's you're put, you're
just hoping Baker stays healthy. If not, they'll at least
be like, wow, Jalen Daniels is starting an NFL game
in 2026. And unless they bring in some sort of
veteran and, And they could be a team where, like,
if you told me they got Andy Dalton for basically
nothing tomorrow, that would kind of make sense.

Speaker 4 (43:14):
I'm on vibes watch for the Bucks quarterback room, too,
which I think this is a part of it, is, like,
make everybody feel as good as possible. And then as
Baker Mayfield continues to want to get paid, just, you know,
I guess we're on notice watch for a lot of
different things with a lot of connotations of the word notice.

Speaker 1 (43:33):
We are also noticing... A viewer who is right to
point out Jordan Vanderberg is what the Bears know. Yes,
a young player that Brian Baldinger shouted out on their
defensive line. So sometimes it's these young players that you
never heard of that they're developing, and maybe it's Vanderberg.
That's a Bears name if I ever heard one. Let's

(43:54):
go to the Cardinals who put James Conner on injured reserve,
designated to return not surprising news. We'll see if he
plays for them or not. It's just been a really
serious injury he's trying to come back from. They also
cut Trey Benson. So as I mentioned last week, they
are quite thin at running back, even though going into
the offseason, they had so many guys. They cut B.J. Ojolari,

(44:15):
who was a high day two pick a few years ago.
Tip Ryman, who is a tight end. I know you
like a lot. You mentioned that earlier that created. a
tight end shortage for them. He is going to the
PUP list. Christian Gonzalez, hashtag noticing that him and the
Patriots don't seem close on a contract. And Gonzalez, who's
very soft-spoken and very diplomatic, the most out-of-bounds thing said

(44:38):
in this entire contract standoff was actually by Patriots ownership,
who kind of called out Gonzalez for not taking a
contract that would make him the highest paid cornerback in
the league, even though we know they're probably fudging the numbers.
And Gonzalez just seems a little less... happy about the
situation now and just something to watch as they enter
the season. I don't buy the Patriots kind of blogosphere

(45:02):
panicking of like, could Christian Gonzalez be on the trade block?

Speaker 2 (45:05):
I really, really doubt it.

Speaker 1 (45:06):
But there's a chance he just plays under his current
contract and isn't happy about it. They also put their
swing tackle Marcus Bryant to injured reserve, which means their
first round pick Caleb Lomu will have to step up
Harold Landry, who's a starting edge for them. is on PUP,
so he's out for at least the first month of
the season. And they showed you where they're not feeling
comfortable about their roster by trading for a running back

(45:27):
from Arizona, trading for a tackle from Minnesota. I'm not
going to pretend I have takes on these guys, but
it just shows they do not feel good about those
positions right now.

Speaker 2 (45:36):
What did Mike Rabel call their depth? I forget.

Speaker 3 (45:40):
Not good.

Speaker 1 (45:42):
Yes. I think it was dog poop. I think it
was dog poop. Yeah, and just we're not very good
right now. And their third preseason game supported. It was
funny because after he said that, you know, they don't
send out any starters for their third preseason game. And
they get boat raced by the Browns and Dylan Gabriel.

Speaker 3 (45:59):
He's like standing there like, see?

Speaker 2 (46:02):
That's right. A little worried about that week one game
in Seattle.

Speaker 1 (46:07):
You just want a close game, even if you're not
a Patriots fan in week one for the kickoff game.
One thing I noticed was a fun story for the Bengals.
Dante Myers made the team. And so they kind of
swapped out some of their depth wide receivers. I think
this might be the best wide receiver room top to
bottom in the entire league. Colby Young and Dante Myers
both look great in preseason. And so they got rid

(46:28):
of some of their old guys. Charlie Jones has been
a returner for them for a while. Mitchell Tinsley was
a fun camp story in the past. But Dante Myers
was the guy we talked about in one of our
Sunday shows who had no D1 offers. who was just
working a regular job, who paid out of his own
money $ 100 to try out for the CFL. And from

(46:51):
that tryout, made a CFL team and then balled out.
Very undersized. He's like 5'7, something like that, receiver. And
he makes this team. And they're pretty excited about him.
And it has a lot of similarities to me to
the Andrew Hawkins story with Cincinnati, who had kind of a,
Some details were a little different, but the undersized and

(47:13):
coming through the other leagues and being out of football.
I love the short Kings, Jordan, and Dante Myers.

Speaker 4 (47:19):
I know you do, Greg.

Speaker 2 (47:19):
He's my new guy.

Speaker 3 (47:20):
He's my new guy.

Speaker 4 (47:21):
I remember when I told you a couple weeks ago
about how you're going to start to see the Bengals
front office flex a lot of what their abilities are
and what they can do and basically leave the entire
onus on the coaching staff to make all of this
work finally with this roster.

Speaker 1 (47:36):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 4 (47:38):
Um, this is one of those things also like a very,
very small scouting and front office executive staff famously. So
are infamously. So I guess in Cincinnati and they're like, look,
look who we can find. This guy is gold. Like, look,
you know, among all of our other things we did look.
And so I just, I told you, I said that
they're going to start flexing left and right here just

(47:59):
to make it extremely clear who's on the line here.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
He's really not that small. I was just wish casting.
He's listed five, 11, one 86. That's pretty normal.

Speaker 4 (48:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
What did you say?

Speaker 3 (48:09):
He was five, seven. No, you're five, seven. No, you're
not five, seven.

Speaker 2 (48:13):
You're five, four, five, seven, five, six, five, six.

Speaker 4 (48:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (48:16):
Um, yeah, I guess, I guess he's no baby Hawk,
but the, the, he had the, the conversation with the
media afterwards where he had the tearful call with his
entire family and they were on and he starts crying
immediately and, He said then once he cries, they cry.

Speaker 2 (48:32):
And that stuff is great.

Speaker 4 (48:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:34):
He's on the team.

Speaker 1 (48:35):
Joe Fanano from the Ravens, the UConn undrafted quarterback, made
their team. That intrigued me. The Seahawks, as I mentioned,
finally signed Terryon Arnold. He's immediately placed on the commissioner's exemplars.
John Schneider spoke about the long-term aspects of this signing.
2027 could really be the vision, I think, for Terryon Arnold.

(48:57):
He's not going to be a part of this year's
team anytime soon, maybe not at all. They traded a
sixth-round pick from a guy who was getting some buzz
when we were at Chargers camp, an undrafted rookie named
Avery Smith. I know Joe Hortiz is great, but wouldn't
you be a little worried about trading a cornerback to
the Seahawks?

Speaker 2 (49:15):
I wouldn't want to do it.

Speaker 4 (49:16):
Well, and his college tape is great.

Speaker 3 (49:20):
He is sticky.

Speaker 4 (49:21):
He, he makes plays. The fact that a guy like
that is going to Mike McDonald. Okay.

Speaker 3 (49:28):
Let's, let's see how that works out for the chargers.

Speaker 4 (49:30):
I guess.

Speaker 1 (49:31):
I think they got a sixth with, you know, if
you're just looking brass tacks, they felt like their secondary
room was deep. You know, you have an undrafted guy
and you pick up a sixth round pick. I guess
that's a win. But the much bigger win is if
you find an undrafted guy that can contribute to you.
So I'm surprised they didn't do that. Tony Jefferson was
going to be part of that crowded secondary. We heard

(49:52):
early in the day that they were going to cut
him from Adam Schefter. Then later in the day, they
made a couple of trades and that opened up room
for Tony Jefferson. So our favorite 34-year-old.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
Unk is on the team.

Speaker 1 (50:02):
34. Just the prime of athletic life, right?

Speaker 2 (50:07):
Jordan Rodrigue. Famous 34 year old.

Speaker 3 (50:09):
For some.

Speaker 1 (50:11):
I mean, you're maybe not athletic like playing, but how
about working for the athletic and doing three jobs right now?
You're just you're just entering your prime. You're like, I'm
trying to think of a comp. You're three Drake May
right now, you know?

Speaker 2 (50:25):
Oh, my God. That's the nicest thing I've ever said
to you.

Speaker 3 (50:29):
That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
The Seahawks also cut Trevon Diggs, by the way. I
don't want to linger too much on this compliment and,
you know, get a big head there.

Speaker 2 (50:39):
Monterey Foster.

Speaker 1 (50:41):
Everyone, like literally my son, who's into cut down day
and stuff, did not want any Seahawks hard knock spoilers.
But Monterey Foster, who's probably the most likable kind of
under the radar Seahawks guy in hard knocks, has made
the initial roster. So I'm looking forward to that being shown.
And hopefully he, Continues to make the roster because, as
we say, these things are written in pencil right now.

(51:04):
The Cowboys cut the player from the Navajo Nation, Shaz Pete,
who had that great locker room speech.

Speaker 4 (51:12):
Amazing speech.

Speaker 2 (51:13):
I hope he lands on their practice. Oh, my gosh.
I hope he lands on that practice squad.

Speaker 1 (51:16):
More surprising was Jaden Blue, their fifth-round pick from a
year ago at running back being cut. I mentioned Nate
Thomas got traded to the Texans. Camden Brown was an
undrafted rookie at receiver who made a bunch of big
catches in the preseason. He made the team. Sam Williams
was a high pick a few years ago. He got
cut in a pretty crowded edge room. The Raiders had

(51:36):
some disappointing edge news. Kieran Crawford was one of the
first picks of the third round. Maybe the first is
out for the season. They put him on injured reserve.
That was disappointing. I had no clue that that was
a serious injury. I thought he was going to be
a factor for them this year. They also only kept
three running backs right now. So that's if you're If
you're in fantasy leagues with Ashton Gentry, that might be

(51:58):
a good sign, although they could always look to see
who got cut over the last few days. But good
news for Gentry.

Speaker 4 (52:04):
It's also a huge sign of what they think of
Mike Washington, too. And they think very, very, very highly
of him, as you would hope, based on the potential
that he's shown.

Speaker 3 (52:15):
Been doing some digging around on that one. They love
that guy.

Speaker 1 (52:19):
Another couple big runs in that preseason game. I.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
Got a little overexcited.

Speaker 1 (52:25):
And said, like, I'm not sure that Dash and Denty
is better than him.

Speaker 2 (52:33):
Just like, period.

Speaker 3 (52:33):
Oh, Greg.

Speaker 2 (52:37):
I mean.

Speaker 4 (52:37):
You do.

Speaker 3 (52:37):
This is. I do.

Speaker 4 (52:39):
Sometimes when you do, you do get excited. And then,
you know, sometimes things like that come out. Sometimes compliments
come out.

Speaker 3 (52:45):
So I just sort of like sit back and let
you cook a little bit.

Speaker 1 (52:48):
I'm going to stand on it. Everyone was like, well,
let's see how he does it. You know, it's not
against third stringers. If you're watching the game, it's about
the traits. Like, when you're watching the preseason, the juice
is the juice. You can see it. And the thing
I didn't like about Jenty last year sometimes, and I
know he broke a lot of tackles, I think he's
going to be a really good pro. My overarching point was,

(53:11):
if you told me they're in the same bucket of, like,
good running backs in the NFL... That's around the same bucket.
That is the expected outcome I have now. That's how
highly I think of Mike Washington.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
But maybe I'll be wrong. They're going to use him, though.
You're the one. You should be patting yourself on the back.

Speaker 1 (53:28):
You said he had some stuff to him, you know,
right off the bat.

Speaker 4 (53:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:32):
And he does.

Speaker 4 (53:33):
I saw him play against the Texans' defense. I'm a believer. Now,
I'm not going to get as carried away as you are,
but that's the old Roderick Hedge right there.

Speaker 3 (53:42):
Never have a take.

Speaker 2 (53:44):
Our friend... That's the bad podcasting. You've got to have takes.

Speaker 1 (53:47):
Our friend Chris Wesseling, our old friend, would always say
that the one position in the preseason you can scout
easier than others is running back.

Speaker 2 (53:55):
It's true.

Speaker 1 (53:55):
Because it's the only time when it actually matters, actual gameplay.
And you can see it with your eyes, the ones
that are going to stick.

Speaker 4 (54:01):
That's why I will be really surprised if the Cowboys,
among other teams, are not a team that's keeping an
eye on the fact that the Rams just had to
cut Dean Connors, the back out of Houston.

Speaker 2 (54:13):
Good call.

Speaker 4 (54:14):
I'm on noticing watch on that one, too.

Speaker 1 (54:16):
I think there's going to be a lot of quarterbacks
and running backs changing position and changing rosters over the
next few days.

Speaker 2 (54:24):
Some claims at those positions. I have a comment here.

Speaker 1 (54:28):
That Washington's upright running style reminds him of Matt Forte. Now,
Matt Forte, you know, one of the greatest receiving backs
of all time, I think, like of my lifetime covering
the league, like so good in pass pro and catching
the ball. But if Washington can run like Matt Forte,
one of my absolute favorites, I see it. I do
see the vision as just like a tougher than you

(54:51):
think upright runner. The Commanders, and we're wrapping up here,
just a few more teams to get to. Cut Julian Good-Jones.
Hashtag noticing the guy they had snapping the ball to
Jane Daniels as the starter in that preseason game. Didn't
even make the team. That's a bad sign for the team.

Speaker 2 (55:08):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (55:09):
That they just don't know what they're doing at center.
I know they hope Nick Allegretti gets healthy, but I
think they might be looking for a center on the
waiver wire.

Speaker 2 (55:16):
It's like, good luck. Everybody is.

Speaker 4 (55:18):
Right.

Speaker 2 (55:18):
Everybody is.

Speaker 3 (55:20):
There's so many teams that need a center or a
backup center right now. It's crazy.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
And they're looking for like a starting center. And I
know Nick Allegretti might get healthy, but he hasn't been.
So we'll see. And even he hasn't played much. Trey
Amos was their top cornerback coming into the offseason. He's
on injured reserve designated to return. That's really disappointing for them.
Tank Dell is on injured reserve designated to return. Less
disappointing for him. I think it was always going to
be a long process, him coming back. You know, the

(55:45):
fact that it is designated to return. makes you believe
that they think Tank Dell will get there eventually this season.
There's only a few of those slots available throughout the season,
so they wouldn't use one on him unless they thought
he was coming back, but he won't be available early
in the season.

Speaker 2 (56:00):
Jared Wayne made that team.

Speaker 1 (56:02):
He's bounced off their practice squad for a number of years,
but he had a good camp.

Speaker 2 (56:05):
He made the team at wide receiver.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
The Panthers kept Haynes Kang on the roster, our Hall
of Fame game hero, Haynes Kang. The Hall of Fame
game matters, Jordan. Carson Beck, I mean, he was always
going to make the team.

Speaker 2 (56:18):
Never forget.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
Haynes King, I think, made the team basically off that
day because he's been barely healthy since. I think he's
back out on the field now, but he made the
Panthers team. Are you excited for the Haynes King era
in Carolina?

Speaker 4 (56:31):
Sure.

Speaker 2 (56:32):
I'm feeling bad.

Speaker 1 (56:32):
Eric, this is where Eric is like, this is the
last time a lot of these guys are going to
get mentioned on the show.

Speaker 2 (56:36):
You know what?

Speaker 1 (56:37):
But they're people too. They had some injury news in
Carolina too. Tershawn Wharton and Ikim Kanwu to the PUP list.
Not a surprise for either of them, especially Wharton, though
I was keeping an eye on who hasn't been healthy
at all. Taylor Moten to the non-football injury list. He's
expected to miss at least half the season. The Browns
I mentioned kept four quarterbacks for a second, and then

(56:59):
they put Dylan Gabriel on injured reserve. Talon Green, the
dual threat Arkansas quarterback, keep an eye on him. If
we were still doing sandwiches, Jordan, or maybe if we
stand on the tiny table.

Speaker 2 (57:16):
To make predictions like we did once, I would.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
Stand on the tiny table and say, Talon Green is
the quarterback that the least amount of people know about
that will start a game in the NFL in the
year 2026. Like, Talon Green, week 18 starter for the
Cleveland Browns.

Speaker 2 (57:34):
Book it. It's happening.

Speaker 3 (57:36):
Okay, I'll write it down.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
It's like, by the end, it's like, they've seen enough
of the other guys. Let's just roll with Talon Green
for the last couple of games.

Speaker 2 (57:44):
Of the season.

Speaker 3 (57:45):
I will write this down. Do you have a pen
I could borrow?

Speaker 1 (57:49):
No, you've taken all my pens. You haven't, you know,
paid customs for them, and then you've lost them.

Speaker 2 (57:57):
Final news.

Speaker 1 (57:58):
Christian Kirk of the 49ers going to PUP list. Michael Williams,
their first round pick from a year ago. And Isaac
Garendo to injured reserve designated to return. And then they
did cut Dijon Love from their roster.

Speaker 2 (58:14):
I thought he could make it.

Speaker 1 (58:15):
If you haven't been following the story, he runs some
great routes for the ladies on the beach.

Speaker 2 (58:24):
But yeah, didn't make the team.

Speaker 4 (58:25):
It's that grapevine, you know, that really must have got
some ladies going.

Speaker 3 (58:30):
You know, that just was, what a game changer.

Speaker 1 (58:33):
My favorite thing about Dijon Love, who's had one of
the most underrated careers of anyone over the last handful
of years, is that he gives back to the community too.
He had a turkey giveaway last year. I don't know
if you saw that Instagram post, but he had a
turkey giveaway. So I hope that's not the end of
Dijon Love's career, as we hope all these guys who
got cut today have jobs. A few teams still haven't posted. rosters,

(58:54):
but we got to get out of here, Jordan. This
was a lot of fun.

Speaker 2 (58:57):
We got to get ready for our next show.

Speaker 3 (58:59):
Quarterback Island is back.

Speaker 2 (59:01):
Quarterback Island is returning.

Speaker 1 (59:03):
Not only that, it is the return of Colleen Wolfe
to the studio.

Speaker 2 (59:08):
Let's go. Yay.

Speaker 3 (59:10):
I can't wait to see her. Summer of Connie is over.

Speaker 2 (59:13):
And let's be real.

Speaker 1 (59:14):
We don't have Weisha on the show as often as
we would like anymore either. Big ESPN employee Weisha in
the mix too. So that'll be our show. On Monday,
let's hit the music. Let's get out of here.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
Big week. We have QB Island.

Speaker 1 (59:29):
We have our win totals where we draft the teams
basically predicting our record. And then Patrick Claibon returning to
the studio as well with Jordan. And that's where we
get her to actually make takes. Pick a Super Bowl winner.
Pick an MVP. All coming up during Predictions Week.

Speaker 2 (59:45):
We'll see you then.