May 23, 2025 • 45 mins
Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Patrick Claybon and Nick Shook to get you caught up on all the news from around the NFL. First, the crew talks about the news coming out of the owners meetings including the tush push surviving for another year (01:25), playoff reseeding (05:30), the installation of the Protector of the Year Award (08:30), the Bills and NFC East being on Hard Knocks (16:20), and the passing of Colts Owner Jim Irsay (19:15). After the break, the trio checks in on some of the buzz from OTAs including Drake Maye and the Patriots (27:58), Caleb Williams and the Bears (31:50), Quinnen Williams and the Jets (36:20), and more!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to NFL Daily, where we will continue to push
that push.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Greg Rosenthal here in the Chris.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Westling podcast studio with my friend Patrick claybah And from Ohio,
Kent State's own Nick Shook.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Let's go, Patrick, let's do it.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Let's I was thinking, after all the shoved discussion, that
old high school cheerleader treat like cheer shove that ball
across that line, shove shove it. Nobody, nobody was familiar
with that one. It's it's perfect for the situation.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
Yeah, I got nothing. I wasn't listening to the cheerleaders
during the game.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
From the man who loves the flex, a total flex. Yes,
we're gonna hit the news. Obviously, there were a couple
rules proposals that failed at the latest league meeting. Some
hard knocks news OTAs have started. That's fun. I gotta
admit like hearing little updates about depth charity stuff. It
(01:03):
does make me feel like football's back a little in
a way that's meaningful to me.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So we're going to talk about that.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Obviously, it was a tough loss for the NFL community
on Wednesday when Jim Mersey, the owner longtime owner of
the Colts, passed away, so we will talk about him
as well.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
But yeah, let's start with the rules.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
And I'm a little surprised because both the proposal to
kill the tush push essentially and the proposal to reseed
the playoffs, according to reporting, kind of came directly indirectly,
I guess would be the right way to say it
from the league that the league was supporting this, and
(01:43):
yet both measures did not pass. The tush push was
shot down even though more teams wanted to kill it
than not twenty two to ten, but you needed twenty
four votes. So for the twenty twenty five season, the
Eagles have a little bit of an edge at that play, but.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Other teams could take advantage of it too.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Patrick.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yeah, and the discussion out of Philadelphia all week was like, hey,
you know, Jordan my lotta like, hey, if they ban it,
we'll just do something else, like Jalen hurts and aj
is saying it's just one yard. But then you see
the reaction from Eagle social right, yes, and they post
twenty six minutes of the I wish we would still
go brotherly show, but I guess the brushes is over
(02:25):
and it's here now we're you know, you kind of
see all sides of this. I think, like, maybe we
go a direction because if the league wants to do
it from a standpoint of watchability, and like, is this
what we want football to be? Did I guess get
rid of quarterback sneaks all together? Like if that's a
particular concern. But yeah, we've we got one more year
(02:48):
and we can see a very dominant team that's very
good at it, be very good at it.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Still well, I think the Eagles are the phase of
the rebellion.
Speaker 6 (02:55):
They didn't get the two teams that they needed to
cross the aisle and shoot this down. But at the
same time, it's a matter of, yeah, this is still
kind of football, and it's a product quality thing I understand.
But football and its purest format, its most basic form,
resembled somewhat of a rugby scrum before it developed into
(03:15):
what we now know.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
And it's still a brutal game.
Speaker 6 (03:18):
And when you have to win in the trenches and
ensure our situations, the solution is simple, don't let them
get to third or fourth and one, find a way
to stop it. It's not gonna last beyond this season,
I don't think. I think they'll win the war of attrition.
But as of right now, we get one more year
of an ugly play.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
That is fine. It's fine, like they would have figured
it out.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
I do believe that, like they are a great quarterback
sneak team. It is ultimately a quarterbacks quarter play. Like
the push of it all is only part of it.
And to me, you know, maybe not the most important part.
The important part is that they just have a good
offensive line and they coach it up well. It's the
same reason why the Bills are excellent attitude. I like
the teams that voted for it or against it just
(03:59):
for no reason, like the Patriots are just like, yeah,
we think that's fair, Like you should be able to
figure it out.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Good job, Good job Patriots.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
I thought it was interesting that some of the ex
Eagles coordinators teams voted to ban it, the Cardinals with
Jonathan Gannon, the Colts with Shane Steiken, and the Saints
with Kellen Moore.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
But then I thought more about it.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
I was like, the coaches are only so important, especially
those coaches no offense, Like they're not making the decision
whether to vote yes or no on that play.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Ownership is And it also like Stichen's offense, right, and
then the fact that the Cardinals have a quarterback that's diminutive, right.
I don't know how many shoves you're gonna run with
Kyler in that spot, and sometimes just don't want to
put their quarterback in that position. I did see the
argument where it would have eliminated pushing everywhere, like including
(04:50):
like Lineman coming down late down the field, and that
would have been a catastrophe for officials. And like I
understand keeping the play. I wanted to keep the play,
but I hate not doing things because it's too differ
goal for the officials to get it right, Like get
it right.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I didn't.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I didn't feel that strongly, but it just seemed stupid
to kill a play just because one team does it
because it works. So yeah, so I just didn't want
it to happen, but I also get it. I think
they maybe went wrong by putting so much into the
player health and safety aspect of it when there was
no proof that there was any problem with health and safety.
So it just seemed phony. That' said they did get
(05:24):
twenty two teams to agree. And one thing that Roger Goodell,
the commissioner, said about the touchbush and now we can
talk about the receding. That he made clear was these
issues were not done for in his mind, that they
were kind of gonna bring it back up again potentially
next year, that they have more to look at, and
so he said talking about the receding proposal, which would
(05:47):
have had teams seeded by order of their record, irrespective
of winning the division, and potentially reseed in the second
round as well, where the best team would play, you know,
the team with the lowest seed, Like all of that
was up for grabs, and he said they got valuable
information back from the ownership of what they actually want.
(06:10):
It does sound like the league would rather a team
that wins a division with a bad record be seeded lower,
which or play on the road, which I would before.
But it didn't even get close, Nick, It didn't even
get voted on, so it sounded like they just did
not have the votes there.
Speaker 6 (06:26):
Yeah, I think this is tied into the schedule because
you know, if you do a cross sport comparison with
the NBA, when they went to the receding format that
they have now where division titles don't matter, they play
eighty two games.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
There's more balance to their schedule.
Speaker 6 (06:37):
Yes, you play less Western Conference opponents than Eastern Conference
if you're in the Eastern Conference, but there's more games
to work with. In the NFL, we're rotating interconference divisional
opponents by year. The entire AFC North will play the
NFC West one year, and sometimes that leads to unbalanced
strength of schedule, which then leads to weird records, and
it takes a little bit of the importance away from
the divisional games as well. You still want to win
your division, but it just isn't as coveted as before.
(07:00):
So I think if they can kind of couple this
and marry it with the way that the schedule is
built and maybe take a look at that too, it's
more likely. I definitely think at some point they're going
to find a way to make it work. It's just
they need more time to figure it out.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
I am for the NFL's position on this one. I'm
against it in terms of the Touchbush. I think that
was dumb to try to kill that I would like
to receid. And the scheduling argument doesn't make sense to
me because the schedule is inherently so uneven in so
many ways and helps teams get higher seeds and win
the Super Bowl because of the schedule.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
There's like there's no fixing that totally.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And just because the schedules uneven, it doesn't mean that
the receding possibility.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Helps that at all. It might hurt it even more.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
It's sort of like a brain buster, but ultimately, like
the schedule to me, doesn't make any difference.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah, it's a question of which team and which accomplishment
are we going to prioritize because the balance is always
going to be in one direction or the other. Are
we going to prioritize the team that limps to a
division victory against a bad division or a team that
wins thirteen games? Yeah, but they have a juggernaut in
their division, Like why are they getting punished?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Right?
Speaker 1 (08:07):
That's the whole idea is to help out the Vikings
from a year ago or the Packers, And to me,
that makes sense, Like it depends on the year. But
you think of that Carolina Panthers team with Rivera that
had a losing record. You know, there has been some
bad division championship teams and like it's fine, you do
(08:27):
keep the importance of the division because you got to
win it. To make the playoffs, and then anything can happen.
We've seen that, but you know, make it happen on
the road. I like that the NFL did announce that
on side kicks they are going to adjust that that
you can attempt an onside kick at any point in
the game as long as you're trailing, so that's a
slight tweak. And that they have introduced a new award, Shookie,
(08:50):
are you excited about the Protector of the Year award?
Speaker 6 (08:55):
Yeah, baby, because offensive linemen never get any credit or
consideration for Offensive Player of the Year or VA because
it's the most overlooked position in the sport, and now
they have something to chase, which I'm very excited about. Also, guys,
I have a quick question for just to ask you.
Do we think that the whole proposal of like fourth
and sixteen on your own twenty as an alternative to
(09:15):
the on side kick is dead? Yeah, it feels like
that's off the table.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
There's been a bunch of chances, a bunch of discussions.
That doesn't seem like it's happening.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Maybe Yeah, a few years from now they'll try to
revive it. That is a bummer, but it is exciting
the Protector of the Year award the offensive lineman, and
it will be determined because the NFL is saying, you know,
us media folk, we can't comprehend offensive line play. And
they're probably right, and they're gonna have this award decided
(09:45):
by like a panel of esteemed x offensive lineman. I
just want to make sure that these guys are actually
doing the work though, because the and the ones that
they mentioned I think would be an are. It was
Andrew Whitworth, it was Jason Kelt. I believe it was
Charles Bentley, like they had some specific names out there.
And Andrew Whitworth was was integral and making this Protector
(10:07):
of the Year award happen. But Dion Dawkins, the Buffalo
Bills player, is the one that kind of really pushed
it publicly. And yet Eric Roberts made a whole sound
clip trying to give NFL Daily credit actually for helping
to make this happen, and he insisted that we play it.
At this point, I want to be the change you
(10:27):
know that you want to see in the world. Let's
make up pinay Sewel for Offensive Player of the Year candidacy.
I've been banging the drum for him as an Offensive
Player of the Year candidate, So I'll throw him here
in the MVP as well. I think it's totally fine
to make the award what you want. If an offensive
lineman is that incredible that he deserves something.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
You did it. Here we go, you did it. I
gotta give it the assistant.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
I guys, shit, we just won't stop talking about offensive
line And.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I nodded in that clip. I nodded, you.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Said, bluddy.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
I think we were saying back then too, like why
not put a fourth place vote on some offensive lineman
too to recognize them, or for Offensive Player of the Year,
give first place, but now they get their own award.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Yeah, and maybe let's open up this panel to two
more awards and just make the criteria. Are you going
to change how you vote based on somebody winning the
award previously and your board of them winning the award,
so you're not going to vote for them again? Why
don't we just get rid of that in everything?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Wow?
Speaker 5 (11:30):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Sean o'harrow is another name, Orlando pace Will Shields. I
wonder how did they pick this this panel? Who knows
they know line play?
Speaker 5 (11:42):
You know? We don't.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
I mean that's true on some level, Like I'm all
for that. I just want to know that everyone's putting
a lot of work into it, and that's there.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
I definitely are. I'll tell you that.
Speaker 6 (11:53):
It made me feel really good about five years ago
sitting down with Sean during our trip to New Jersey
when Cod was shutting everything down. Next to me goes,
I know you have no offensive line play. We're speaking
the same language. So it's good to see him on
this panel because that man, among many others, knows ball.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
I just mean as he like grinding and watching five
or six games from all these guys during the season,
all that, all.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
That sort of stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Because here's what they don't police is the associated press vote.
I mean some of those you know votes have been
and are done by people who should not have a vote.
So I think the offensive line protector is going to
be better. The NFL is going to allow NFL players
to play at the Olympics, which is cool here in LA.
(12:38):
Let's get a sign to that. Patrick, Well, me and you, yeah,
let's do it. Can we do that? I would love to.
I was kind of heartened by hearing, you know that
some of the NFL players, including JJ Justin Jefferson, talk
about potentially competing for the gold medal.
Speaker 7 (12:53):
You know, just think about the chances of you know,
playing in Olympics and you know, getting a gold medal
is a dream, you know, just reverting back to being
a kid and watching the track and field, you know,
meets watching basketball win the gold medal.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
So how about that?
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Do we actually buy that big time stars are gonna
want to do this?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Check?
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
I think that there's gonna have to be some things
that you build into the contract to protect you against
injuries suffered in an Olympic event, since we've never seen
that before. But I just think about Court of Gold,
that Netflix series that documented the twenty twenty four Olympics
in basketball, and how popular that was, how captivating it was,
and how the action itself was so entertaining. You take
that to football. I know, it's not the same sport.
You're playing with flags and everything else. I just think
(13:40):
the opportunity to entertain and to engage a whole new
subset of fans is the potential is limitless. I think
it's fantastic. I think players will be very excited to
participate a lot of guys with the Pro Bowl. They
went from passing on it because they didn't want to
play another game with pads on too. Now, oh, let's
go have fun because it's like playing you know, stand
loot football again. It's like you're a kid again.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
And I think we're gonna have better integration across the sport,
like between flag football and actual football. I really think
there's going to be more respect for the flag players
and probably vice versa. And I can't wait to see,
like what the apparatus looks like, what is USA football?
Speaker 5 (14:16):
Right?
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Who's Jerry Colangelo of USA football? What's that going to happen?
Speaker 1 (14:20):
And how do they determine who? How are the players
gonna try out? Because I'm sure the best way to
grow the sport would be to have some NFL players
in there. Certainly big name players like am I sure
that Tyreek Kill let's just say he was the same age,
or Justin Jefferson are gonna be the best players at
flag football.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I don't know that maybe they maybe they will be,
maybe the flag regulars will be great, or maybe it's
some like NFL players like like Braxton Barrios in his prime,
is like better at flag football then like super duper
starts like that wouldn't shock me because I don't really
know what translates. But clearly like getting you know, having
to deal with getting tackled, does it matter anymore? And
(15:00):
I think that matters, you know, for who's good or
who's not.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Yeah, I think that some things are always going to matter,
like route concepts and leverage and talent and speed, like
I think like but like you could have a Kyler
Murray team with Davante Smith or like Rashi hi Head
and Josh Allen, like you can make it work with
a lot of I think.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
You could make work with with just about anyone in
terms of trying to win for the US team. But
if you told me that like Khalil Shakir is a
better flag football player than a lot of the like
Lennon Jamar Chase, I think that's that's possible, wouldn't it be?
Speaker 6 (15:34):
You know, this leads me to the next step in
that evolution, which is basketball and introduced three on three
in the Olympics.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Right, we have the Big three league.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
Who is the media superstar, the entertainer that leads a
flag football professional league and convinces some of these NFL
players to go play for them. Who is the ice
cube of flag football.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
That would be Greg wils I need more capital here
and not no I that be tough. I would have
to leave the NFL because I would immediately be a competitor.
They're trying to be that there. You know, Roger Goodell
is trying to be the ice cube of flag football.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
It is. It is a big time push and I
think that's cool.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Our friend phib fl our friend Phoebe Scheckter, who's been
huge in terms of helping to build the flag among
people overseas and women and and here. It's pretty cool
for the people that have been involved to see this
all happening now. So yes, the other news before we
get to ERSA is that we got a Hard Knocks team.
(16:36):
We're going to do a division again. Shout out to
NFL Films. They got an Emmy for the the n
season Hard Knocks Division series on the NFC North, which
was great. It's going to be the NFC East. It
was the AFC North rather last year. And Eric Roberts's
Buffalo Bills are going to be on Hard Knocks for
the first time. What's surprised because they are not in
that group of teams Patrick that like you can make.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
To do Hard Knocks. So they flat.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Out volunteered at an interesting time in their run, which
they've been like the most consistent winner in the entire
NFL other than the Kansas City Chiefs, And now they're
going to be in the spotlight.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
I like it. They're not scared of attention.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
There we go.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
They're not running from anybody.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Brandon Bean will line you up on a radio show
like it doesn't matter.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
Anybody can get it at any point. I love it.
Shot up with the Bills.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
It's the year of Steinfeld and Josh Allen. I mean
we could go from Josh Allen MVP to like the
biggest most culturally significant, you know, movie of the summer
in Centers with Steinfeld, to Hard Knocks with Josh Allen.
Cut to next year Roberts Alan wins the Super Bowl,
(17:48):
Steinfeld gets an Oscar nomination or win next March.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
We're just rolling through.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
How do you feel as a Bills fan about being
the Hard Knocks team? Well, the Josh Allen iron is
hot right now, obviously, like you just laid it out,
sure any of other things Dion Dawkins keon Coleman. They're
always they're always good for a quote, good new stadium
coming up, the farewell of the Ralph, lots of lots
of storylines. Do they open with the crane, you know,
going from over the new stadium and the horizons of
(18:15):
Josh Allen's future.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
And there's plenty of options.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
There that might get into why it's happening. The stadium
part of it, because clearly, you know, their owner Terry
Polula has to be foremost among drivingess. He he's ultimately
in charge for them to volunteer. But I'm glad they did, Chuck,
we got we got a good team, no offense, dear Browns.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
But like we've seen them enough on Hard No.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
I agree.
Speaker 6 (18:39):
I'm tired of the after thoughts, the teams that basically
are trying to climb back into relevance being a hard
knock team. Let's get a real team, a real contender,
and dive in and you know, producer chops out of
Eric right there with the opening shot being the crane.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
I think that's a great idea.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
It's true it is almost always the team trying to
rise or trying to bounce back. So I like one
that is on the cusp, and it kind of worked
for the Lions, who were, you know, on the rise.
But I feel like hard Knocks, you know, helped make
them a national team in a way that the Bills
certainly would not mind. Let's wrap up talking about in
(19:18):
terms of the news, talking about Jim Ursay, who died
on Wednesday at the age of sixty five.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
According to everyone.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Close to the Colts and everyone that reported on that,
it was a big surprise and I think it really
knocked a lot of people back because he is synonymous
with the Indianapolis Colts and I think I think just
like one of the foremost owners. Obviously, like every ownership
(19:50):
group is important in different ways, but at this point
he's actually kind of part of the Old Guard. And
Judy Batista wrote a great piece talking about how he
went out of his way to try to learn from
the old Guard Art Rooney Wellington, mayor Lamar Hunt.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
How do I do this?
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Because he was put in a position at a pretty
young age after his father died of alcoholism, after he
was the GM of the Colts to become an owner,
and you know, has a legacy that's going to live
on in Indianapolis. Just look at the skyline there with
like the museums and the building and obviously Lucas oil
Field that he helped build.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
And to think that a lot.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Of the last interactions that people have with Jim irsay
was a tweet to say, go Pacers, go get this done.
And it seemed like the circumstances just willed themselves to
happen in that you could see the way how the
people react to him and probably one of the more
accessible NFL owners who publicly dealt with struggles that I think,
(20:57):
you know, not to highlight or celebrate them, but I
think to see somebody in that position go through something
real kind of allowed that level of connection between a
lot of NFL fans and Jim Mersie that you just
don't get another place.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Ran into Steve Weisch on the way in here and
said how great a job he did, because you know,
they were just on the air and then this happened
and I was watching his coverage and accessible is a
really interesting point because I think Steve would say, like
the most like someone close that a lot of not
just reporters had relationships with, but players had really close
(21:31):
relationships with, fans had relationships with I can't I can
remember going to Colts training camp for a Frank Gore piece.
I don't know when that was now, six six seven
years six years ago, seven years ago, and ursayes just
driving around on the golf cart handing out envelopes of
cash at random to fans just because he wanted to
whoever he thought was kind of being the best fan
(21:53):
and like being the most energetic, like he was doing that.
And there's so many stories of his personality on a
one on one basis, But you just heard it Nick
from like the ex players just saying what he meant
to them. Ryan Kelly, who lost his child at a
young age, saying how much Jim Mersey's support meant for
(22:16):
him in that moment and giving him all the access
and help that he could have. And I think it's
really telling that Edgrin, James, Marvin Harrison, and Dwight Freeney
all chose Jim Mersey as their presenter at the NFL
Hall of Fame, and Ers was on record saying, like,
other than the super Bowl title, that to him was
the greatest honors in the highlight of his NFL career.
Speaker 6 (22:38):
Yeah, and I think it typified who he was as
a person, somebody who was so passionate about so many things,
chiefly among them the Indianapolis Colts in the city of Indianapolis.
I mean, this is a guy who was deeply involved
and very expressive and would not hide that just because
he happened to be an owner of a team and
came from wealth, he didn't let that limit him or
you know, make him, you know, prevent him from engaging
(22:58):
with the fans and the people in this that he
called home, and especially a home that they had to
kind of claim when they moved from Baltimore. And he
made such a positive impact on so many people. And
the saddest part about it is that he was only
sixty five. And I feel a direct connection to this.
My dad died at sixty three and it was also unexpected,
and I'm sure you know his family's you know, having
a tough time right now. It's way too young to
(23:19):
pass and it's definitely gonna leave a void in the
NFL that the culture in the league at large, you're
going to have to find a way to fill.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, he's involved.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
His daughters and Tom Peli Sara talked about this very
prominently you know, his daughter was representing him at the
league meetings already, and so there is some preparation for this,
but you can never be prepared.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
And yeah, you mentioned family.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Just he comes from a fascinating lineage in a way
that his father and I think Jim mercy knew this
and would defend on some level, was one of the
most embarrassing NFL owners ever. You know, he died of alcoholism.
He had many public in front of a microphone incidents
(24:05):
that did not reflect well on the Colts or himself.
Because of his alcoholism. They moved the Colts out of
Baltimore in the middle of the night, which was a
dark moment for the NFL and certainly for Baltimore. And yeah,
you won't hear any of the ex Colts players from
them talk about Bob or say the way that everyone
(24:28):
is talking about Jim. And I bring that all up
to mean that, like, I think that does show a
strength that like your how you were raised and the
mistakes that the generation before you that he obviously struggled
with made, that you don't have to make all those
same mistakes either. And I think the legacy that he
has with the people around him and just the outpouring
(24:51):
of how much to Mersey meant to him.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
It says a lot.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Yeah, and you can see it, you could say, the
way the community and the league all over has reacted
to this like it's Jim, I say, meant something to
football and to America and the fans.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
And yeah, an interesting guy, you know, Like I mentioned,
he was a GM, which is crazy. He was the
youngest GM in the history of the NFL at the time,
and he traded for Eric Dickerson. They had been awful
for about ten years straight and they did make the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
You know, he was a Jim for a time.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Probably not the job that he should have had, but
the job that he did have, but also was you know,
very decisive in making the biggest decisions in this organization's history.
There's a famous story that Bill Pollion wasn't totally in
on Jim, I'm in on Peyton Manning and that he
at one point like slammed his his you know, fist
(25:41):
down on Ersa's desk. Bill Pollion did this and was
saying like that Peyton Manning's ceiling might be Bernie Kozar.
And the line is that he said, can you live
with Bernie Kosar because he thought the ceiling reportedly of
Leif was higher, pounding on the desk, and Ersae.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Was like, no, Manning, this is my guy.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
I am not betting on this. In the same way
that he did not bend on the decision to cut
Peyton Manning and move on to the Andrew Luck era
when that crazy season kind of all came together. So
he made tough decisions and still had like the love
of respect of Peyton Manning afterwards, which I think says
a lot. We're going to take a quick break, but yes,
(26:22):
rest in peace to one of the legends of the game,
Jim Ursay, dead at sixty five years old. Back on
NFL Daily, We're going to do some Ota nuggets, some
Oti buzz love it.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
We have on field stuff to talk about.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
One thing I wish I'd mentioned with Ersa too, is
like he helped get the insider out the paint.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Immediately he walks out of that meeting and it's like
he had just finished listening to ether or not like us,
even though it was before not like us, like he
had it was like a two solid minutes ripping him
to shreds in a sense where we're expecting like, oh,
you know, you have to use the right language.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
No, it's actually like the students trash get him out
of here. And he did it a legendary contribution and
removing a literal problem that was a problem for decades,
thought to Jennerson.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Yeah, yeah, for a little context, that was what three
years ago now at a league meeting. And he even
said as he was doing those two minutes that I
will not be silenced. He made it clear that he
was not supposed to be talking about getting Snyder out
the league at that point, but it had clearly gotten
past the boy and Snyder had been bad for all
NFL business. And sometimes it takes someone with power like
(27:37):
Jim Merced to speak a little truth. And he helped
grease the skids to help the Washington commanders out, So
Washington fans should be grateful as well. All right, let's
talk about some nugs we could just bounce around. It's
the teams with the new coaches. I'm not pretending that
any of these stories are massive. It's just kind of
fun to talk about twenty twenty five football happening on field.
(28:02):
The very first ota that media is at for the Patriots.
Drake May just throws four picks. I mean, why's he
got to do this? Shook out of his first nine passes?
Four picks in the streets. Man panic in the New
England streets.
Speaker 6 (28:17):
Yeah, everybody call him down. You hired a defensive minded
coach for a reason. He's already got his fingerprints on
that defense. It's confusing. Drake a little bit gived time.
It's May.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
Everything's fine, relaxed.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
No, yeah, I'm not too worried.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
So but I did listen to Tom Currn's podcast on it,
and he was like, one was just like a bad
overthrow on an open short receiver, which Drake May does
do more than you want. It's got a little young
Josh Allen in him. Another was just some missed assignment.
And yeah, the rest is, you know, it's first day stuff.
I did think it was noteworthy, though. Christian Barmore is
(28:51):
out there and reportedly looking really good.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
He's fully cleared.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
And I did a podcast with Taylor Kyle's over who
covers the Patriots, and he was great, and I started
thinking about this Patriots roster. They added a lot of
free agents and obviously they're excited about their draft but
I think just as important for them are actually these
guys that they have on the books that have been
good players in the back in the past, like bouncing back.
(29:16):
They have a number of them, but Kristen Barmore would
be number one amongst them because this this dude could
be like an all pro pro bowler type and supposed
they looked really good.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Yeah, it turns out when there's a roster devoid of
talent that that in and of itself depleted, things are
going to be very, very bad. And so yeah, the
Patriots will be significantly better. Can't wait to root for them.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Oh ever, so a, that's right.
Speaker 4 (29:39):
Wow, that was a great rug pull. That was fantastic.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Well are you gonna root against him?
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Well, you know they're back, The Patriots going to be
back there are going to be good.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Their quarterback is going to be good.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
They got you know, they got their partnerships with the
schedule release video and they're like, hey, you know what,
I don't like the Patriots, you keep doing it, and.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
So yeah, that that really bothered me. Their schedule release
video if you know which one I'm talking about. My god,
come on, we're just trying to make it easier on us.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
They're just bringing things back to reality.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Greg Barmore, Yeah, I mentioned those like veterans that they
could bounce like Remandre bouncing back, I think would be good.
I think Kendrick Bourne actually, if he makes this team,
could help him out a lot a year further removed
from surgery. Mikeuldn't when you got a ton of money
and then at his worst season, now the coaching was terrible,
but like that's someone. And then I did think about this,
(30:34):
and the people watching noted that the Mario Douglas, like
they think he could have a monster role here. It's like,
if you look at this roster, shook, I don't know
if there's a player that on most rostered would even
though there deeper would be a number two receiver like
Stephan Niggs isn't healthy, so I'm not really counting on
him yet. So I look at this roster and think
(30:57):
of what's worked for Josh McDaniels in the past, and
to Mario Douglas a good player, and I could actually
see like the Mario Douglas kind of being literally the
centerpiece of their passing game.
Speaker 6 (31:06):
Well yeah, and then I think that points to why
he made that note. About Kendrick Bourne too, is a
lack of available guys. But don't forget about mac collins,
who had a nice little year in Buffalo. If Jalen
Polk would have just lived up to his expectation, as
you know, a relatively early pick, then this wouldn't really
be much of a discussion, right because he was inconsistent. Yeah,
but luckily he's young and he's only got a year
(31:27):
in the league, So maybe we end up talking about
them having a nice little trio once Diggs comes back healthy,
depending on how good he is.
Speaker 5 (31:33):
Yeahs with the mccollins disrespect from Greg just now.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
I mean as like he's more there for like blocking,
you know, right, I think that's a fan of.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Being grounded, you know, walking barefoot. That's what it is.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
The Bears are one of the teams that are also
practicing this week.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Caleb Williams.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
They didn't schedule him to talk to the media, which
they don't have to at this time of year, but
the media certainly would want to talk to Caleb Williams
because he's the starting quarterback and because Caleb Williams made
some news last week.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
We didn't get too deep into it.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
He made the News the comments to Seth Wickersham for
a book that's going to come out in September. But
the excerpt came out last week and it detailed a
very organized and interesting effort by Caleb Williams's father to
explore not getting drafted by the Bears, which I don't
blame him at all. They had the right idea. Ben
(32:31):
Johnson was asked about all of that coming out.
Speaker 8 (32:36):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (32:36):
I love it.
Speaker 8 (32:37):
I love the opportunity to come on in and change
that narrative. That's where great stories are written. And so
we're looking to write a new chapter here twenty twenty
five Chicago Bears and looking forward to the future.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
I could just feel Patrick Wad and just jump in
and take apart in this story.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
I mean, area man considers his options, right, like area
man considers relative leverage with regards to employment for his son.
And now like we have a story about a book.
The story was written by writer. I guess we'll find
out who wrote this story to sell Seth flush Wickerson's
book at some point, you know it comes out there.
(33:16):
But I just I don't understand the idea. Ben Johnson, right,
had numerous jobs that he didn't take any number of
people who have romantic relationships, at some point that person
was considering not being with you, Like the circumstances change.
And Caleb Williams is the quarterback of the Bears and
he wants to win there. I don't understand why this is.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
A well because I don't think it reflects negatively on
Kayleb Williams.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
If anything.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
He went into the facility and at that point said
all right, like, let's try to win with these guys.
I do think it's interesting that Carl Williams was on
the record believing that the rookie you know draft and
I think you're on board with him, is unconstitutional.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
It's like and uh, like.
Speaker 5 (34:03):
Do anything anyway like that.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
The cap that they have, and that they explored very
serious legal options to potentially get out of it, and
that the Vikings were the team that they were, that
they were interested and Ryan Poles and the Bears had
to say, like, we're taking you no matter what. Man,
you can do whatever, you can say what you want.
You know, Carl Williams said Chicago is the place that
(34:27):
quarterbacks go to die, and he wasn't wrong, and they
viewed the situation nick correctly that Shane Waldron and eber
Flus were not the two guys to help his son
maximize his talent, and they didn't.
Speaker 6 (34:41):
Yeah, but lost in that is the is the beauty
of how quickly things can change in the NFL because
of the lack of patience, and especially when all signs
point to whatever you have, you know, in place, not
being the best for the organization. Well then they get
fired and then somebody who is the ideal fit for you,
at least on paper comes in and takes the job.
Like like Patrick just said, there you know, Ben Johnson
took that job because he knew of the potential of
(35:03):
Caleb Williams and how they could you know, make some
magic together. I also just want to note though, how
the grin, the slight grin on Ben Johnson's face just
kind of illustrated how crazy he is as a football
guy to be like, Oh, bring me more. I want
the adversity, I want the challenge. I'm going to prove
you all wrong. I love it.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
Yeah, I he's I'd love how he handles his press
availability Like he said that was such confidence, as like, oh,
you're coming to me with that, like he is the
right guy. But through no you know fault of literally yeah,
like through no fault Caleb. Like they lucked out Caleb
Williams and his father, But like the Bears could have
(35:42):
easily with a little bit of luck won some more
games last year, and they could have wasted three years
on Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron and it didn't.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
It didn't happen.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Caleb actually told Wickersham I quote, I wasn't ready to
nuke the city.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
It would have been aggressive.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
I think at some point some player might really do it,
even more than Eli Manning did with the Chargers, but
it will not be Caleb Williams. So that they're back
there on the field, that's fun. Quinn Williams and the
Jets are back on the field. I saw that they
had one hundred attendance. That's fun. I mean, no one's hurt.
(36:18):
Every everyone, everyone's showing up, no one's holding out. And
Quinn Williams was up talking at the podium and was
asked about the tweet that he had during the offseason
where when they got rid of Rogers, he said, oh great,
another year of rebuilding.
Speaker 9 (36:34):
Definitely think it was an immature thing for me to
do At the moment, out of emotions, out of frustrations.
It is definitely immature and ever since, and I haven't
talked to Aaron previously, his dad, and just just looking
at and trying to grow as a leader, trying to
grow as a player, trying to grow as an adult.
(36:55):
Talking to him, talking to the staff and everybody else
just gave me a super super excited and super super
confidence that we're going in the right direction to win
football games and to do the things that I want
to do, like to change the whole narrative of the
New York Jets losing streets, so the playoff streets and
different things like that, because I was drafted here a
long time ago, and I was paid to help change
(37:16):
this thing around. And I were there with a bad
badge of honor and like a cape to make sure
that before I lead his game, the New York Jets
is going to be.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
On top and good and good for for Quinnin. I
think it on both counts, right, like being frustrated being
there being a very good player on a bad team
that has the push was Hey, this this guy is
this guy is you know, levitating about Nazareth And he's
gonna save football, right, and and that's the pitch and
(37:46):
then like you get rid of that guy, and it's always, well,
now what do we do?
Speaker 5 (37:49):
Right?
Speaker 3 (37:50):
So I understand that reaction, but I also like that,
you know, the coaching staff, they reach out, they dictate
the plan to him, and he's not saying like, oh,
I shouldn't have said that. He says, I understand the
plan and the vision. Now I see that, and yeah,
things are good.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
I just watched that and thought about how these players
grow before our eyes. Like Quentin Williams, he said, I
got drafted there a long time ago. I was like, man,
it was that long ago, was it? But it's been
a minute. It was twenty nineteen, and I think of
him with the braces on and how he looked, partly physically,
but more how he sounded it back then. And now
(38:26):
I'm listening to him now and it's like, Okay, he
entered the league on one level.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
Now he's a full grown.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
You know, adult and leader of that organization and one
of the best at his position in the entire league.
And I would not want to mess with with Quinn
Williams this year. I don't know why. I just feel
like he's ready to go.
Speaker 4 (38:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (38:44):
I also feel like his maturity is potentially synonymous with
where the Jets are heading is an organization. By hiring
Aaron Glenn and having a I think a smart offseason,
you know, they seem to be headed in the right direction,
and it's probably better that they're not in the spotlight
with Aaron Rodgers and everything else like they were the
last two years. That's kind of the get rich quick approach,
at least at quarterback, it was there.
Speaker 4 (39:04):
They're lurking. They're out of the radar.
Speaker 6 (39:05):
Right now, but keep an eye on them, and I
think it's because of players like him and the leadership
that comes with Aaron Glenn.
Speaker 4 (39:11):
Don't be surprised if they exceeded most people's expectations this year.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
Yeah. Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner are both there. In
theory they could be looking for new contracts, but like
I said, one hundred percent attendance and Wilson was supposedly
very active catching passes from justin fields.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
It's all happening.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
There's a center battle Joe Tipman versus free agent pick
up Josh Myers. We've got position battles. We've got one
in New Orleans. Supposedly it was supposed to be a
three way quarterback battle. Everyone kind of forgets about Jay Hayner.
What good reason being in the mix with Spencer Rattler
and Tyler Shuck. J Canner was hurt in the first
(39:45):
day of OT is apparently gonna miss some time so
he won't be part of that competition. But we're taping
this on Thursday. And Spencer Ratler, according to Nick underhoo
Hill at New Orleans Football, looked quote awesome in the
first OTA, shook eight for eight in some passes downfield.
Don't give up on Spencer Ratler in this battle just yet.
Speaker 6 (40:06):
I mean, he wasn't time recruit back in the day.
But I'm more curious about where Nick Underhill lands. Which
side of the agenda battle does he land? Is this
pushing Rattler toward the front or is this legitimate?
Speaker 1 (40:16):
I think he's recognized, like most of the people covering
the team that Tyler Chuck is a heavy favorite because
of his draft status and because Kellen Moore took him.
But you never know what could happen once you get
out on the field. He could legitimately be a much
better player.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
You feel, do you feel solid that the Chuck is
the is the more player and not the Loomis player,
or do you think those two things are.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
I think the only evidence that Kellen Moore is part
of the Saints organization is that they draft Tyler Shock.
It has been like there's been no there's been nothing
has he done, There's no juice.
Speaker 4 (40:52):
He certainly wasn't part of the whole.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Derek carfiask and I think they let him pick his
quarterbacks is based on the reporting that our friend Adam
has done over at block party. But I think he
got to pick his quarterback because that's his thing, and
so that gives Shuck. Shuck apparently had a nice throw
down field to where she'd They're trying Trevor Penning at guard,
by the way, if you were if you were curious,
because you know, they drafted banks to tackle in the
(41:15):
first round. They drafted a tackle in the first round
last year Fuaga. So they're putting Penning at guard. The
Browns they're practicing their back shook and Deshaun Watson is
throwing at the facility to some of the receivers that
cut my eye. I wouldn't think he would have been ready.
I don't think that necessarily means he's going to be
ready anytime soon. But it's just kind of weird, like
(41:39):
he's still there and he's like literally at the facility
and throwing to the receiver.
Speaker 6 (41:43):
As your thoughts, yeah, I mean he's under contract, but
the whole thing's just gross and it's just like, h now,
why are you they're throwing? They stay in the background.
Your time here is done. They have a million other
quarterbacks that they're going to try out. Why do you
have to insert yourself? But he has employed, So I
don't think it means anything. I don't think it matters
in the long run.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Well they might.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
There's a whole thing where they get a certain amount
of insurance money that helps their cap if he doesn't
play at all this year. But could he potentially push
to play if he's already throwing, you know, by the
end of the year. Who knows. Just something to keep
an eye on. I don't think he'll ever put on
the uniform in the regular season ever again, but he
(42:21):
is there also there at least in Dallas rather but
on the field is Dak Prescott now cleared for everything
Patrick and they're they're big enough George Pickens at practice.
They're running out this four receiver set, they said, with
you know, he's on the outside and you got Tolbert
and Turping working weird things on the inside and CD
(42:44):
moving all around.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Are Are you into it?
Speaker 5 (42:46):
Yeah? I'm into it.
Speaker 3 (42:48):
An opportunity for Doc to get that second weapon out
there with with CD, and if he stays healthy, they're
going to win ten plus games and have a chance
to either be successful or disappoint in the playoffs. That's
pretty much what is going to come down to.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
I do like these cleared for everything, you know updates,
and Aidan Hutchinson is cleared, cleared for everything, and it's
like you get to these different points and other players
are not at those points, and I think those are
legitimate news items you can take away from me. There's
not a ton like, for instance, shook. Christian Wilkins is
not ready to play football again. I think people forget
(43:23):
what a serious foot injury he had. It was reported
by Tishan Reid, who does great work at the Athletic
that at some point this offseason he actually had to
put his boot back on during the off season. And
I don't know if there was a setback or anything,
but he didn't seem that close to getting on the
field again, so that's disappointing. But Max Crosby, who had
a pretty important surgery, a tightrod surgery, was back and
fully cleared. Malcolm Kunsu's coming off a torn acl is
(43:46):
not cleared, so it's just like figuring out who has
further to go to get to go play and Wilkins
might take a while.
Speaker 6 (43:52):
One of my favorite things to do in life is
to cross things off a checklist because it makes them
feel productive and it's one less thing to worry about.
So when they're cleared for everything, all right, well set
it aside, don't have to monitor that. Hopefully everything goes
well for them going forward. The Raiders, at least Crosby's there.
Luckily it's May, so they still have time.
Speaker 1 (44:08):
They have plenty of time, and they have made Ashton
Genty changes cool stance.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
I'm not cool.
Speaker 4 (44:14):
This is the sign. This is the sign that it's May.
Speaker 6 (44:17):
Is that I'd pull up Instagram and NFL on CBS
tweets or posts on Instagram and getting all my platforms confused.
Speaker 4 (44:24):
Look at the difference between Genti's stance.
Speaker 6 (44:27):
His hands are on his knees now and I'm like,
oh god, it's late Maine. This is what we're going
to now.
Speaker 3 (44:32):
As long as Chip Kelly is it randomly trading him
to the Buffalo Bills in the middle of the season,
I think I think things will be better.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
Yeah, I think it's gotta be just fine. That is
probably our sign that this show is over. Appreciate everyone
checking out all the episodes this week and the Bobby
Bowens episode which we put into our feed his podcast
as well.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
We will be back next week.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
We're going to put up a show Patrick and I
ranking some general managers.
Speaker 2 (45:00):
We just mentioned Deshaun Watson.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
I don't think Andrew Berry is gonna farewell unless Patrick
takes him off the board early.
Speaker 3 (45:06):
No, we're definitely not taking Jimmy has them took the.
Speaker 5 (45:08):
Credit there, so we're not gonna have it.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
Okay, So yes, we'll be ranking some gms.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
We'll be back. Everyone's back at OTA's next week. We're
getting updates on stances. That's how you know football's back.
Welcome to NFL Daily, where we will continue to push
that push.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Greg Rosenthal here in the Chris.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Westling podcast studio with my friend Patrick claybah And from Ohio,
Kent State's own Nick Shook.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Let's go, Patrick, let's do it.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Let's I was thinking, after all the shoved discussion, that
old high school cheerleader treat like cheer shove that ball
across that line, shove shove it. Nobody, nobody was familiar
with that one. It's it's perfect for the situation.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
Yeah, I got nothing. I wasn't listening to the cheerleaders
during the game.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
From the man who loves the flex, a total flex. Yes,
we're gonna hit the news. Obviously, there were a couple
rules proposals that failed at the latest league meeting. Some
hard knocks news OTAs have started. That's fun. I gotta
admit like hearing little updates about depth charity stuff. It
(01:03):
does make me feel like football's back a little in
a way that's meaningful to me.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So we're going to talk about that.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Obviously, it was a tough loss for the NFL community
on Wednesday when Jim Mersey, the owner longtime owner of
the Colts, passed away, so we will talk about him
as well.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
But yeah, let's start with the rules.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
And I'm a little surprised because both the proposal to
kill the tush push essentially and the proposal to reseed
the playoffs, according to reporting, kind of came directly indirectly,
I guess would be the right way to say it
from the league that the league was supporting this, and
(01:43):
yet both measures did not pass. The tush push was
shot down even though more teams wanted to kill it
than not twenty two to ten, but you needed twenty
four votes. So for the twenty twenty five season, the
Eagles have a little bit of an edge at that play, but.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Other teams could take advantage of it too.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Patrick.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yeah, and the discussion out of Philadelphia all week was like, hey,
you know, Jordan my lotta like, hey, if they ban it,
we'll just do something else, like Jalen hurts and aj
is saying it's just one yard. But then you see
the reaction from Eagle social right, yes, and they post
twenty six minutes of the I wish we would still
go brotherly show, but I guess the brushes is over
(02:25):
and it's here now we're you know, you kind of
see all sides of this. I think, like, maybe we
go a direction because if the league wants to do
it from a standpoint of watchability, and like, is this
what we want football to be? Did I guess get
rid of quarterback sneaks all together? Like if that's a
particular concern. But yeah, we've we got one more year
(02:48):
and we can see a very dominant team that's very
good at it, be very good at it.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Still well, I think the Eagles are the phase of
the rebellion.
Speaker 6 (02:55):
They didn't get the two teams that they needed to
cross the aisle and shoot this down. But at the
same time, it's a matter of, yeah, this is still
kind of football, and it's a product quality thing I understand.
But football and its purest format, its most basic form,
resembled somewhat of a rugby scrum before it developed into
(03:15):
what we now know.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
And it's still a brutal game.
Speaker 6 (03:18):
And when you have to win in the trenches and
ensure our situations, the solution is simple, don't let them
get to third or fourth and one, find a way
to stop it. It's not gonna last beyond this season,
I don't think. I think they'll win the war of attrition.
But as of right now, we get one more year
of an ugly play.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
That is fine. It's fine, like they would have figured
it out.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
I do believe that, like they are a great quarterback
sneak team. It is ultimately a quarterbacks quarter play. Like
the push of it all is only part of it.
And to me, you know, maybe not the most important part.
The important part is that they just have a good
offensive line and they coach it up well. It's the
same reason why the Bills are excellent attitude. I like
the teams that voted for it or against it just
(03:59):
for no reason, like the Patriots are just like, yeah,
we think that's fair, Like you should be able to
figure it out.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Good job, Good job Patriots.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
I thought it was interesting that some of the ex
Eagles coordinators teams voted to ban it, the Cardinals with
Jonathan Gannon, the Colts with Shane Steiken, and the Saints
with Kellen Moore.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
But then I thought more about it.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
I was like, the coaches are only so important, especially
those coaches no offense, Like they're not making the decision
whether to vote yes or no on that play.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Ownership is And it also like Stichen's offense, right, and
then the fact that the Cardinals have a quarterback that's diminutive, right.
I don't know how many shoves you're gonna run with
Kyler in that spot, and sometimes just don't want to
put their quarterback in that position. I did see the
argument where it would have eliminated pushing everywhere, like including
(04:50):
like Lineman coming down late down the field, and that
would have been a catastrophe for officials. And like I
understand keeping the play. I wanted to keep the play,
but I hate not doing things because it's too differ
goal for the officials to get it right, Like get
it right.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I didn't.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I didn't feel that strongly, but it just seemed stupid
to kill a play just because one team does it
because it works. So yeah, so I just didn't want
it to happen, but I also get it. I think
they maybe went wrong by putting so much into the
player health and safety aspect of it when there was
no proof that there was any problem with health and safety.
So it just seemed phony. That' said they did get
(05:24):
twenty two teams to agree. And one thing that Roger Goodell,
the commissioner, said about the touchbush and now we can
talk about the receding. That he made clear was these
issues were not done for in his mind, that they
were kind of gonna bring it back up again potentially
next year, that they have more to look at, and
so he said talking about the receding proposal, which would
(05:47):
have had teams seeded by order of their record, irrespective
of winning the division, and potentially reseed in the second
round as well, where the best team would play, you know,
the team with the lowest seed, Like all of that
was up for grabs, and he said they got valuable
information back from the ownership of what they actually want.
(06:10):
It does sound like the league would rather a team
that wins a division with a bad record be seeded lower,
which or play on the road, which I would before.
But it didn't even get close, Nick, It didn't even
get voted on, so it sounded like they just did
not have the votes there.
Speaker 6 (06:26):
Yeah, I think this is tied into the schedule because
you know, if you do a cross sport comparison with
the NBA, when they went to the receding format that
they have now where division titles don't matter, they play
eighty two games.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
There's more balance to their schedule.
Speaker 6 (06:37):
Yes, you play less Western Conference opponents than Eastern Conference
if you're in the Eastern Conference, but there's more games
to work with. In the NFL, we're rotating interconference divisional
opponents by year. The entire AFC North will play the
NFC West one year, and sometimes that leads to unbalanced
strength of schedule, which then leads to weird records, and
it takes a little bit of the importance away from
the divisional games as well. You still want to win
your division, but it just isn't as coveted as before.
(07:00):
So I think if they can kind of couple this
and marry it with the way that the schedule is
built and maybe take a look at that too, it's
more likely. I definitely think at some point they're going
to find a way to make it work. It's just
they need more time to figure it out.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
I am for the NFL's position on this one. I'm
against it in terms of the Touchbush. I think that
was dumb to try to kill that I would like
to receid. And the scheduling argument doesn't make sense to
me because the schedule is inherently so uneven in so
many ways and helps teams get higher seeds and win
the Super Bowl because of the schedule.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
There's like there's no fixing that totally.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And just because the schedules uneven, it doesn't mean that
the receding possibility.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Helps that at all. It might hurt it even more.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
It's sort of like a brain buster, but ultimately, like
the schedule to me, doesn't make any difference.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah, it's a question of which team and which accomplishment
are we going to prioritize because the balance is always
going to be in one direction or the other. Are
we going to prioritize the team that limps to a
division victory against a bad division or a team that
wins thirteen games? Yeah, but they have a juggernaut in
their division, Like why are they getting punished?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Right?
Speaker 1 (08:07):
That's the whole idea is to help out the Vikings
from a year ago or the Packers, And to me,
that makes sense, Like it depends on the year. But
you think of that Carolina Panthers team with Rivera that
had a losing record. You know, there has been some
bad division championship teams and like it's fine, you do
(08:27):
keep the importance of the division because you got to
win it. To make the playoffs, and then anything can happen.
We've seen that, but you know, make it happen on
the road. I like that the NFL did announce that
on side kicks they are going to adjust that that
you can attempt an onside kick at any point in
the game as long as you're trailing, so that's a
slight tweak. And that they have introduced a new award, Shookie,
(08:50):
are you excited about the Protector of the Year award?
Speaker 6 (08:55):
Yeah, baby, because offensive linemen never get any credit or
consideration for Offensive Player of the Year or VA because
it's the most overlooked position in the sport, and now
they have something to chase, which I'm very excited about. Also, guys,
I have a quick question for just to ask you.
Do we think that the whole proposal of like fourth
and sixteen on your own twenty as an alternative to
(09:15):
the on side kick is dead? Yeah, it feels like
that's off the table.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
There's been a bunch of chances, a bunch of discussions.
That doesn't seem like it's happening.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Maybe Yeah, a few years from now they'll try to
revive it. That is a bummer, but it is exciting
the Protector of the Year award the offensive lineman, and
it will be determined because the NFL is saying, you know,
us media folk, we can't comprehend offensive line play. And
they're probably right, and they're gonna have this award decided
(09:45):
by like a panel of esteemed x offensive lineman. I
just want to make sure that these guys are actually
doing the work though, because the and the ones that
they mentioned I think would be an are. It was
Andrew Whitworth, it was Jason Kelt. I believe it was
Charles Bentley, like they had some specific names out there.
And Andrew Whitworth was was integral and making this Protector
(10:07):
of the Year award happen. But Dion Dawkins, the Buffalo
Bills player, is the one that kind of really pushed
it publicly. And yet Eric Roberts made a whole sound
clip trying to give NFL Daily credit actually for helping
to make this happen, and he insisted that we play it.
At this point, I want to be the change you
(10:27):
know that you want to see in the world. Let's
make up pinay Sewel for Offensive Player of the Year candidacy.
I've been banging the drum for him as an Offensive
Player of the Year candidate, So I'll throw him here
in the MVP as well. I think it's totally fine
to make the award what you want. If an offensive
lineman is that incredible that he deserves something.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
You did it. Here we go, you did it. I
gotta give it the assistant.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
I guys, shit, we just won't stop talking about offensive
line And.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I nodded in that clip. I nodded, you.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Said, bluddy.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
I think we were saying back then too, like why
not put a fourth place vote on some offensive lineman
too to recognize them, or for Offensive Player of the Year,
give first place, but now they get their own award.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Yeah, and maybe let's open up this panel to two
more awards and just make the criteria. Are you going
to change how you vote based on somebody winning the
award previously and your board of them winning the award,
so you're not going to vote for them again? Why
don't we just get rid of that in everything?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Wow?
Speaker 5 (11:30):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Sean o'harrow is another name, Orlando pace Will Shields. I
wonder how did they pick this this panel? Who knows
they know line play?
Speaker 5 (11:42):
You know? We don't.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
I mean that's true on some level, Like I'm all
for that. I just want to know that everyone's putting
a lot of work into it, and that's there.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
I definitely are. I'll tell you that.
Speaker 6 (11:53):
It made me feel really good about five years ago
sitting down with Sean during our trip to New Jersey
when Cod was shutting everything down. Next to me goes,
I know you have no offensive line play. We're speaking
the same language. So it's good to see him on
this panel because that man, among many others, knows ball.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
I just mean as he like grinding and watching five
or six games from all these guys during the season,
all that, all.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
That sort of stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Because here's what they don't police is the associated press vote.
I mean some of those you know votes have been
and are done by people who should not have a vote.
So I think the offensive line protector is going to
be better. The NFL is going to allow NFL players
to play at the Olympics, which is cool here in LA.
(12:38):
Let's get a sign to that. Patrick, Well, me and you, yeah,
let's do it. Can we do that? I would love to.
I was kind of heartened by hearing, you know that
some of the NFL players, including JJ Justin Jefferson, talk
about potentially competing for the gold medal.
Speaker 7 (12:53):
You know, just think about the chances of you know,
playing in Olympics and you know, getting a gold medal
is a dream, you know, just reverting back to being
a kid and watching the track and field, you know,
meets watching basketball win the gold medal.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
So how about that?
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Do we actually buy that big time stars are gonna
want to do this?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Check?
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
I think that there's gonna have to be some things
that you build into the contract to protect you against
injuries suffered in an Olympic event, since we've never seen
that before. But I just think about Court of Gold,
that Netflix series that documented the twenty twenty four Olympics
in basketball, and how popular that was, how captivating it was,
and how the action itself was so entertaining. You take
that to football. I know, it's not the same sport.
You're playing with flags and everything else. I just think
(13:40):
the opportunity to entertain and to engage a whole new
subset of fans is the potential is limitless. I think
it's fantastic. I think players will be very excited to
participate a lot of guys with the Pro Bowl. They
went from passing on it because they didn't want to
play another game with pads on too. Now, oh, let's
go have fun because it's like playing you know, stand
loot football again. It's like you're a kid again.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
And I think we're gonna have better integration across the sport,
like between flag football and actual football. I really think
there's going to be more respect for the flag players
and probably vice versa. And I can't wait to see,
like what the apparatus looks like, what is USA football?
Speaker 5 (14:16):
Right?
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Who's Jerry Colangelo of USA football? What's that going to happen?
Speaker 1 (14:20):
And how do they determine who? How are the players
gonna try out? Because I'm sure the best way to
grow the sport would be to have some NFL players
in there. Certainly big name players like am I sure
that Tyreek Kill let's just say he was the same age,
or Justin Jefferson are gonna be the best players at
flag football.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I don't know that maybe they maybe they will be,
maybe the flag regulars will be great, or maybe it's
some like NFL players like like Braxton Barrios in his prime,
is like better at flag football then like super duper
starts like that wouldn't shock me because I don't really
know what translates. But clearly like getting you know, having
to deal with getting tackled, does it matter anymore? And
(15:00):
I think that matters, you know, for who's good or
who's not.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Yeah, I think that some things are always going to matter,
like route concepts and leverage and talent and speed, like
I think like but like you could have a Kyler
Murray team with Davante Smith or like Rashi hi Head
and Josh Allen, like you can make it work with
a lot of I think.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
You could make work with with just about anyone in
terms of trying to win for the US team. But
if you told me that like Khalil Shakir is a
better flag football player than a lot of the like
Lennon Jamar Chase, I think that's that's possible, wouldn't it be?
Speaker 6 (15:34):
You know, this leads me to the next step in
that evolution, which is basketball and introduced three on three
in the Olympics.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Right, we have the Big three league.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
Who is the media superstar, the entertainer that leads a
flag football professional league and convinces some of these NFL
players to go play for them. Who is the ice
cube of flag football.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
That would be Greg wils I need more capital here
and not no I that be tough. I would have
to leave the NFL because I would immediately be a competitor.
They're trying to be that there. You know, Roger Goodell
is trying to be the ice cube of flag football.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
It is. It is a big time push and I
think that's cool.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Our friend phib fl our friend Phoebe Scheckter, who's been
huge in terms of helping to build the flag among
people overseas and women and and here. It's pretty cool
for the people that have been involved to see this
all happening now. So yes, the other news before we
get to ERSA is that we got a Hard Knocks team.
(16:36):
We're going to do a division again. Shout out to
NFL Films. They got an Emmy for the the n
season Hard Knocks Division series on the NFC North, which
was great. It's going to be the NFC East. It
was the AFC North rather last year. And Eric Roberts's
Buffalo Bills are going to be on Hard Knocks for
the first time. What's surprised because they are not in
that group of teams Patrick that like you can make.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
To do Hard Knocks. So they flat.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Out volunteered at an interesting time in their run, which
they've been like the most consistent winner in the entire
NFL other than the Kansas City Chiefs, And now they're
going to be in the spotlight.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
I like it. They're not scared of attention.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
There we go.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
They're not running from anybody.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Brandon Bean will line you up on a radio show
like it doesn't matter.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
Anybody can get it at any point. I love it.
Shot up with the Bills.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
It's the year of Steinfeld and Josh Allen. I mean
we could go from Josh Allen MVP to like the
biggest most culturally significant, you know, movie of the summer
in Centers with Steinfeld, to Hard Knocks with Josh Allen.
Cut to next year Roberts Alan wins the Super Bowl,
(17:48):
Steinfeld gets an Oscar nomination or win next March.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
We're just rolling through.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
How do you feel as a Bills fan about being
the Hard Knocks team? Well, the Josh Allen iron is
hot right now, obviously, like you just laid it out,
sure any of other things Dion Dawkins keon Coleman. They're
always they're always good for a quote, good new stadium
coming up, the farewell of the Ralph, lots of lots
of storylines. Do they open with the crane, you know,
going from over the new stadium and the horizons of
(18:15):
Josh Allen's future.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
And there's plenty of options.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
There that might get into why it's happening. The stadium
part of it, because clearly, you know, their owner Terry
Polula has to be foremost among drivingess. He he's ultimately
in charge for them to volunteer. But I'm glad they did, Chuck,
we got we got a good team, no offense, dear Browns.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
But like we've seen them enough on Hard No.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
I agree.
Speaker 6 (18:39):
I'm tired of the after thoughts, the teams that basically
are trying to climb back into relevance being a hard
knock team. Let's get a real team, a real contender,
and dive in and you know, producer chops out of
Eric right there with the opening shot being the crane.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
I think that's a great idea.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
It's true it is almost always the team trying to
rise or trying to bounce back. So I like one
that is on the cusp, and it kind of worked
for the Lions, who were, you know, on the rise.
But I feel like hard Knocks, you know, helped make
them a national team in a way that the Bills
certainly would not mind. Let's wrap up talking about in
(19:18):
terms of the news, talking about Jim Ursay, who died
on Wednesday at the age of sixty five.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
According to everyone.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Close to the Colts and everyone that reported on that,
it was a big surprise and I think it really
knocked a lot of people back because he is synonymous
with the Indianapolis Colts and I think I think just
like one of the foremost owners. Obviously, like every ownership
(19:50):
group is important in different ways, but at this point
he's actually kind of part of the Old Guard. And
Judy Batista wrote a great piece talking about how he
went out of his way to try to learn from
the old Guard Art Rooney Wellington, mayor Lamar Hunt.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
How do I do this?
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Because he was put in a position at a pretty
young age after his father died of alcoholism, after he
was the GM of the Colts to become an owner,
and you know, has a legacy that's going to live
on in Indianapolis. Just look at the skyline there with
like the museums and the building and obviously Lucas oil
Field that he helped build.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
And to think that a lot.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Of the last interactions that people have with Jim irsay
was a tweet to say, go Pacers, go get this done.
And it seemed like the circumstances just willed themselves to
happen in that you could see the way how the
people react to him and probably one of the more
accessible NFL owners who publicly dealt with struggles that I think,
(20:57):
you know, not to highlight or celebrate them, but I
think to see somebody in that position go through something
real kind of allowed that level of connection between a
lot of NFL fans and Jim Mersie that you just
don't get another place.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Ran into Steve Weisch on the way in here and
said how great a job he did, because you know,
they were just on the air and then this happened
and I was watching his coverage and accessible is a
really interesting point because I think Steve would say, like
the most like someone close that a lot of not
just reporters had relationships with, but players had really close
(21:31):
relationships with, fans had relationships with I can't I can
remember going to Colts training camp for a Frank Gore piece.
I don't know when that was now, six six seven
years six years ago, seven years ago, and ursayes just
driving around on the golf cart handing out envelopes of
cash at random to fans just because he wanted to
whoever he thought was kind of being the best fan
(21:53):
and like being the most energetic, like he was doing that.
And there's so many stories of his personality on a
one on one basis, But you just heard it Nick
from like the ex players just saying what he meant
to them. Ryan Kelly, who lost his child at a
young age, saying how much Jim Mersey's support meant for
(22:16):
him in that moment and giving him all the access
and help that he could have. And I think it's
really telling that Edgrin, James, Marvin Harrison, and Dwight Freeney
all chose Jim Mersey as their presenter at the NFL
Hall of Fame, and Ers was on record saying, like,
other than the super Bowl title, that to him was
the greatest honors in the highlight of his NFL career.
Speaker 6 (22:38):
Yeah, and I think it typified who he was as
a person, somebody who was so passionate about so many things,
chiefly among them the Indianapolis Colts in the city of Indianapolis.
I mean, this is a guy who was deeply involved
and very expressive and would not hide that just because
he happened to be an owner of a team and
came from wealth, he didn't let that limit him or
you know, make him, you know, prevent him from engaging
(22:58):
with the fans and the people in this that he
called home, and especially a home that they had to
kind of claim when they moved from Baltimore. And he
made such a positive impact on so many people. And
the saddest part about it is that he was only
sixty five. And I feel a direct connection to this.
My dad died at sixty three and it was also unexpected,
and I'm sure you know his family's you know, having
a tough time right now. It's way too young to
(23:19):
pass and it's definitely gonna leave a void in the
NFL that the culture in the league at large, you're
going to have to find a way to fill.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, he's involved.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
His daughters and Tom Peli Sara talked about this very
prominently you know, his daughter was representing him at the
league meetings already, and so there is some preparation for this,
but you can never be prepared.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
And yeah, you mentioned family.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Just he comes from a fascinating lineage in a way
that his father and I think Jim mercy knew this
and would defend on some level, was one of the
most embarrassing NFL owners ever. You know, he died of alcoholism.
He had many public in front of a microphone incidents
(24:05):
that did not reflect well on the Colts or himself.
Because of his alcoholism. They moved the Colts out of
Baltimore in the middle of the night, which was a
dark moment for the NFL and certainly for Baltimore. And yeah,
you won't hear any of the ex Colts players from
them talk about Bob or say the way that everyone
(24:28):
is talking about Jim. And I bring that all up
to mean that, like, I think that does show a
strength that like your how you were raised and the
mistakes that the generation before you that he obviously struggled
with made, that you don't have to make all those
same mistakes either. And I think the legacy that he
has with the people around him and just the outpouring
(24:51):
of how much to Mersey meant to him.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
It says a lot.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Yeah, and you can see it, you could say, the
way the community and the league all over has reacted
to this like it's Jim, I say, meant something to
football and to America and the fans.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
And yeah, an interesting guy, you know, Like I mentioned,
he was a GM, which is crazy. He was the
youngest GM in the history of the NFL at the time,
and he traded for Eric Dickerson. They had been awful
for about ten years straight and they did make the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
You know, he was a Jim for a time.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Probably not the job that he should have had, but
the job that he did have, but also was you know,
very decisive in making the biggest decisions in this organization's history.
There's a famous story that Bill Pollion wasn't totally in
on Jim, I'm in on Peyton Manning and that he
at one point like slammed his his you know, fist
(25:41):
down on Ersa's desk. Bill Pollion did this and was
saying like that Peyton Manning's ceiling might be Bernie Kozar.
And the line is that he said, can you live
with Bernie Kosar because he thought the ceiling reportedly of
Leif was higher, pounding on the desk, and Ersae.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Was like, no, Manning, this is my guy.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
I am not betting on this. In the same way
that he did not bend on the decision to cut
Peyton Manning and move on to the Andrew Luck era
when that crazy season kind of all came together. So
he made tough decisions and still had like the love
of respect of Peyton Manning afterwards, which I think says
a lot. We're going to take a quick break, but yes,
(26:22):
rest in peace to one of the legends of the game,
Jim Ursay, dead at sixty five years old. Back on
NFL Daily, We're going to do some Ota nuggets, some
Oti buzz love it.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
We have on field stuff to talk about.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
One thing I wish I'd mentioned with Ersa too, is
like he helped get the insider out the paint.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Immediately he walks out of that meeting and it's like
he had just finished listening to ether or not like us,
even though it was before not like us, like he
had it was like a two solid minutes ripping him
to shreds in a sense where we're expecting like, oh,
you know, you have to use the right language.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
No, it's actually like the students trash get him out
of here. And he did it a legendary contribution and
removing a literal problem that was a problem for decades,
thought to Jennerson.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Yeah, yeah, for a little context, that was what three
years ago now at a league meeting. And he even
said as he was doing those two minutes that I
will not be silenced. He made it clear that he
was not supposed to be talking about getting Snyder out
the league at that point, but it had clearly gotten
past the boy and Snyder had been bad for all
NFL business. And sometimes it takes someone with power like
(27:37):
Jim Merced to speak a little truth. And he helped
grease the skids to help the Washington commanders out, So
Washington fans should be grateful as well. All right, let's
talk about some nugs we could just bounce around. It's
the teams with the new coaches. I'm not pretending that
any of these stories are massive. It's just kind of
fun to talk about twenty twenty five football happening on field.
(28:02):
The very first ota that media is at for the Patriots.
Drake May just throws four picks. I mean, why's he
got to do this? Shook out of his first nine passes?
Four picks in the streets. Man panic in the New
England streets.
Speaker 6 (28:17):
Yeah, everybody call him down. You hired a defensive minded
coach for a reason. He's already got his fingerprints on
that defense. It's confusing. Drake a little bit gived time.
It's May.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
Everything's fine, relaxed.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
No, yeah, I'm not too worried.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
So but I did listen to Tom Currn's podcast on it,
and he was like, one was just like a bad
overthrow on an open short receiver, which Drake May does
do more than you want. It's got a little young
Josh Allen in him. Another was just some missed assignment.
And yeah, the rest is, you know, it's first day stuff.
I did think it was noteworthy, though. Christian Barmore is
(28:51):
out there and reportedly looking really good.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
He's fully cleared.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
And I did a podcast with Taylor Kyle's over who
covers the Patriots, and he was great, and I started
thinking about this Patriots roster. They added a lot of
free agents and obviously they're excited about their draft but
I think just as important for them are actually these
guys that they have on the books that have been
good players in the back in the past, like bouncing back.
(29:16):
They have a number of them, but Kristen Barmore would
be number one amongst them because this this dude could
be like an all pro pro bowler type and supposed
they looked really good.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Yeah, it turns out when there's a roster devoid of
talent that that in and of itself depleted, things are
going to be very, very bad. And so yeah, the
Patriots will be significantly better. Can't wait to root for them.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Oh ever, so a, that's right.
Speaker 4 (29:39):
Wow, that was a great rug pull. That was fantastic.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Well are you gonna root against him?
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Well, you know they're back, The Patriots going to be
back there are going to be good.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Their quarterback is going to be good.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
They got you know, they got their partnerships with the
schedule release video and they're like, hey, you know what,
I don't like the Patriots, you keep doing it, and.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
So yeah, that that really bothered me. Their schedule release
video if you know which one I'm talking about. My god,
come on, we're just trying to make it easier on us.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
They're just bringing things back to reality.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Greg Barmore, Yeah, I mentioned those like veterans that they
could bounce like Remandre bouncing back, I think would be good.
I think Kendrick Bourne actually, if he makes this team,
could help him out a lot a year further removed
from surgery. Mikeuldn't when you got a ton of money
and then at his worst season, now the coaching was terrible,
but like that's someone. And then I did think about this,
(30:34):
and the people watching noted that the Mario Douglas, like
they think he could have a monster role here. It's like,
if you look at this roster, shook, I don't know
if there's a player that on most rostered would even
though there deeper would be a number two receiver like
Stephan Niggs isn't healthy, so I'm not really counting on
him yet. So I look at this roster and think
(30:57):
of what's worked for Josh McDaniels in the past, and
to Mario Douglas a good player, and I could actually
see like the Mario Douglas kind of being literally the
centerpiece of their passing game.
Speaker 6 (31:06):
Well yeah, and then I think that points to why
he made that note. About Kendrick Bourne too, is a
lack of available guys. But don't forget about mac collins,
who had a nice little year in Buffalo. If Jalen
Polk would have just lived up to his expectation, as
you know, a relatively early pick, then this wouldn't really
be much of a discussion, right because he was inconsistent. Yeah,
but luckily he's young and he's only got a year
(31:27):
in the league, So maybe we end up talking about
them having a nice little trio once Diggs comes back healthy,
depending on how good he is.
Speaker 5 (31:33):
Yeahs with the mccollins disrespect from Greg just now.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
I mean as like he's more there for like blocking,
you know, right, I think that's a fan of.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Being grounded, you know, walking barefoot. That's what it is.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
The Bears are one of the teams that are also
practicing this week.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Caleb Williams.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
They didn't schedule him to talk to the media, which
they don't have to at this time of year, but
the media certainly would want to talk to Caleb Williams
because he's the starting quarterback and because Caleb Williams made
some news last week.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
We didn't get too deep into it.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
He made the News the comments to Seth Wickersham for
a book that's going to come out in September. But
the excerpt came out last week and it detailed a
very organized and interesting effort by Caleb Williams's father to
explore not getting drafted by the Bears, which I don't
blame him at all. They had the right idea. Ben
(32:31):
Johnson was asked about all of that coming out.
Speaker 8 (32:36):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (32:36):
I love it.
Speaker 8 (32:37):
I love the opportunity to come on in and change
that narrative. That's where great stories are written. And so
we're looking to write a new chapter here twenty twenty
five Chicago Bears and looking forward to the future.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
I could just feel Patrick Wad and just jump in
and take apart in this story.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
I mean, area man considers his options, right, like area
man considers relative leverage with regards to employment for his son.
And now like we have a story about a book.
The story was written by writer. I guess we'll find
out who wrote this story to sell Seth flush Wickerson's
book at some point, you know it comes out there.
(33:16):
But I just I don't understand the idea. Ben Johnson, right,
had numerous jobs that he didn't take any number of
people who have romantic relationships, at some point that person
was considering not being with you, Like the circumstances change.
And Caleb Williams is the quarterback of the Bears and
he wants to win there. I don't understand why this is.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
A well because I don't think it reflects negatively on
Kayleb Williams.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
If anything.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
He went into the facility and at that point said
all right, like, let's try to win with these guys.
I do think it's interesting that Carl Williams was on
the record believing that the rookie you know draft and
I think you're on board with him, is unconstitutional.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
It's like and uh, like.
Speaker 5 (34:03):
Do anything anyway like that.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
The cap that they have, and that they explored very
serious legal options to potentially get out of it, and
that the Vikings were the team that they were, that
they were interested and Ryan Poles and the Bears had
to say, like, we're taking you no matter what. Man,
you can do whatever, you can say what you want.
You know, Carl Williams said Chicago is the place that
(34:27):
quarterbacks go to die, and he wasn't wrong, and they
viewed the situation nick correctly that Shane Waldron and eber
Flus were not the two guys to help his son
maximize his talent, and they didn't.
Speaker 6 (34:41):
Yeah, but lost in that is the is the beauty
of how quickly things can change in the NFL because
of the lack of patience, and especially when all signs
point to whatever you have, you know, in place, not
being the best for the organization. Well then they get
fired and then somebody who is the ideal fit for you,
at least on paper comes in and takes the job.
Like like Patrick just said, there you know, Ben Johnson
took that job because he knew of the potential of
(35:03):
Caleb Williams and how they could you know, make some
magic together. I also just want to note though, how
the grin, the slight grin on Ben Johnson's face just
kind of illustrated how crazy he is as a football
guy to be like, Oh, bring me more. I want
the adversity, I want the challenge. I'm going to prove
you all wrong. I love it.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
Yeah, I he's I'd love how he handles his press
availability Like he said that was such confidence, as like, oh,
you're coming to me with that, like he is the
right guy. But through no you know fault of literally yeah,
like through no fault Caleb. Like they lucked out Caleb
Williams and his father, But like the Bears could have
(35:42):
easily with a little bit of luck won some more
games last year, and they could have wasted three years
on Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron and it didn't.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
It didn't happen.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Caleb actually told Wickersham I quote, I wasn't ready to
nuke the city.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
It would have been aggressive.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
I think at some point some player might really do it,
even more than Eli Manning did with the Chargers, but
it will not be Caleb Williams. So that they're back
there on the field, that's fun. Quinn Williams and the
Jets are back on the field. I saw that they
had one hundred attendance. That's fun. I mean, no one's hurt.
(36:18):
Every everyone, everyone's showing up, no one's holding out. And
Quinn Williams was up talking at the podium and was
asked about the tweet that he had during the offseason
where when they got rid of Rogers, he said, oh great,
another year of rebuilding.
Speaker 9 (36:34):
Definitely think it was an immature thing for me to
do At the moment, out of emotions, out of frustrations.
It is definitely immature and ever since, and I haven't
talked to Aaron previously, his dad, and just just looking
at and trying to grow as a leader, trying to
grow as a player, trying to grow as an adult.
(36:55):
Talking to him, talking to the staff and everybody else
just gave me a super super excited and super super
confidence that we're going in the right direction to win
football games and to do the things that I want
to do, like to change the whole narrative of the
New York Jets losing streets, so the playoff streets and
different things like that, because I was drafted here a
long time ago, and I was paid to help change
(37:16):
this thing around. And I were there with a bad
badge of honor and like a cape to make sure
that before I lead his game, the New York Jets
is going to be.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
On top and good and good for for Quinnin. I
think it on both counts, right, like being frustrated being
there being a very good player on a bad team
that has the push was Hey, this this guy is
this guy is you know, levitating about Nazareth And he's
gonna save football, right, and and that's the pitch and
(37:46):
then like you get rid of that guy, and it's always, well,
now what do we do?
Speaker 5 (37:49):
Right?
Speaker 3 (37:50):
So I understand that reaction, but I also like that,
you know, the coaching staff, they reach out, they dictate
the plan to him, and he's not saying like, oh,
I shouldn't have said that. He says, I understand the
plan and the vision. Now I see that, and yeah,
things are good.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
I just watched that and thought about how these players
grow before our eyes. Like Quentin Williams, he said, I
got drafted there a long time ago. I was like, man,
it was that long ago, was it? But it's been
a minute. It was twenty nineteen, and I think of
him with the braces on and how he looked, partly physically,
but more how he sounded it back then. And now
(38:26):
I'm listening to him now and it's like, Okay, he
entered the league on one level.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
Now he's a full grown.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
You know, adult and leader of that organization and one
of the best at his position in the entire league.
And I would not want to mess with with Quinn
Williams this year. I don't know why. I just feel
like he's ready to go.
Speaker 4 (38:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (38:44):
I also feel like his maturity is potentially synonymous with
where the Jets are heading is an organization. By hiring
Aaron Glenn and having a I think a smart offseason,
you know, they seem to be headed in the right direction,
and it's probably better that they're not in the spotlight
with Aaron Rodgers and everything else like they were the
last two years. That's kind of the get rich quick approach,
at least at quarterback, it was there.
Speaker 4 (39:04):
They're lurking. They're out of the radar.
Speaker 6 (39:05):
Right now, but keep an eye on them, and I
think it's because of players like him and the leadership
that comes with Aaron Glenn.
Speaker 4 (39:11):
Don't be surprised if they exceeded most people's expectations this year.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
Yeah. Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner are both there. In
theory they could be looking for new contracts, but like
I said, one hundred percent attendance and Wilson was supposedly
very active catching passes from justin fields.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
It's all happening.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
There's a center battle Joe Tipman versus free agent pick
up Josh Myers. We've got position battles. We've got one
in New Orleans. Supposedly it was supposed to be a
three way quarterback battle. Everyone kind of forgets about Jay Hayner.
What good reason being in the mix with Spencer Rattler
and Tyler Shuck. J Canner was hurt in the first
(39:45):
day of OT is apparently gonna miss some time so
he won't be part of that competition. But we're taping
this on Thursday. And Spencer Ratler, according to Nick underhoo
Hill at New Orleans Football, looked quote awesome in the
first OTA, shook eight for eight in some passes downfield.
Don't give up on Spencer Ratler in this battle just yet.
Speaker 6 (40:06):
I mean, he wasn't time recruit back in the day.
But I'm more curious about where Nick Underhill lands. Which
side of the agenda battle does he land? Is this
pushing Rattler toward the front or is this legitimate?
Speaker 1 (40:16):
I think he's recognized, like most of the people covering
the team that Tyler Chuck is a heavy favorite because
of his draft status and because Kellen Moore took him.
But you never know what could happen once you get
out on the field. He could legitimately be a much
better player.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
You feel, do you feel solid that the Chuck is
the is the more player and not the Loomis player,
or do you think those two things are.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
I think the only evidence that Kellen Moore is part
of the Saints organization is that they draft Tyler Shock.
It has been like there's been no there's been nothing
has he done, There's no juice.
Speaker 4 (40:52):
He certainly wasn't part of the whole.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Derek carfiask and I think they let him pick his
quarterbacks is based on the reporting that our friend Adam
has done over at block party. But I think he
got to pick his quarterback because that's his thing, and
so that gives Shuck. Shuck apparently had a nice throw
down field to where she'd They're trying Trevor Penning at guard,
by the way, if you were if you were curious,
because you know, they drafted banks to tackle in the
(41:15):
first round. They drafted a tackle in the first round
last year Fuaga. So they're putting Penning at guard. The
Browns they're practicing their back shook and Deshaun Watson is
throwing at the facility to some of the receivers that
cut my eye. I wouldn't think he would have been ready.
I don't think that necessarily means he's going to be
ready anytime soon. But it's just kind of weird, like
(41:39):
he's still there and he's like literally at the facility
and throwing to the receiver.
Speaker 6 (41:43):
As your thoughts, yeah, I mean he's under contract, but
the whole thing's just gross and it's just like, h now,
why are you they're throwing? They stay in the background.
Your time here is done. They have a million other
quarterbacks that they're going to try out. Why do you
have to insert yourself? But he has employed, So I
don't think it means anything. I don't think it matters
in the long run.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Well they might.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
There's a whole thing where they get a certain amount
of insurance money that helps their cap if he doesn't
play at all this year. But could he potentially push
to play if he's already throwing, you know, by the
end of the year. Who knows. Just something to keep
an eye on. I don't think he'll ever put on
the uniform in the regular season ever again, but he
(42:21):
is there also there at least in Dallas rather but
on the field is Dak Prescott now cleared for everything
Patrick and they're they're big enough George Pickens at practice.
They're running out this four receiver set, they said, with
you know, he's on the outside and you got Tolbert
and Turping working weird things on the inside and CD
(42:44):
moving all around.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Are Are you into it?
Speaker 5 (42:46):
Yeah? I'm into it.
Speaker 3 (42:48):
An opportunity for Doc to get that second weapon out
there with with CD, and if he stays healthy, they're
going to win ten plus games and have a chance
to either be successful or disappoint in the playoffs. That's
pretty much what is going to come down to.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
I do like these cleared for everything, you know updates,
and Aidan Hutchinson is cleared, cleared for everything, and it's
like you get to these different points and other players
are not at those points, and I think those are
legitimate news items you can take away from me. There's
not a ton like, for instance, shook. Christian Wilkins is
not ready to play football again. I think people forget
(43:23):
what a serious foot injury he had. It was reported
by Tishan Reid, who does great work at the Athletic
that at some point this offseason he actually had to
put his boot back on during the off season. And
I don't know if there was a setback or anything,
but he didn't seem that close to getting on the
field again, so that's disappointing. But Max Crosby, who had
a pretty important surgery, a tightrod surgery, was back and
fully cleared. Malcolm Kunsu's coming off a torn acl is
(43:46):
not cleared, so it's just like figuring out who has
further to go to get to go play and Wilkins
might take a while.
Speaker 6 (43:52):
One of my favorite things to do in life is
to cross things off a checklist because it makes them
feel productive and it's one less thing to worry about.
So when they're cleared for everything, all right, well set
it aside, don't have to monitor that. Hopefully everything goes
well for them going forward. The Raiders, at least Crosby's there.
Luckily it's May, so they still have time.
Speaker 1 (44:08):
They have plenty of time, and they have made Ashton
Genty changes cool stance.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
I'm not cool.
Speaker 4 (44:14):
This is the sign. This is the sign that it's May.
Speaker 6 (44:17):
Is that I'd pull up Instagram and NFL on CBS
tweets or posts on Instagram and getting all my platforms confused.
Speaker 4 (44:24):
Look at the difference between Genti's stance.
Speaker 6 (44:27):
His hands are on his knees now and I'm like,
oh god, it's late Maine. This is what we're going
to now.
Speaker 3 (44:32):
As long as Chip Kelly is it randomly trading him
to the Buffalo Bills in the middle of the season,
I think I think things will be better.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
Yeah, I think it's gotta be just fine. That is
probably our sign that this show is over. Appreciate everyone
checking out all the episodes this week and the Bobby
Bowens episode which we put into our feed his podcast
as well.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
We will be back next week.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
We're going to put up a show Patrick and I
ranking some general managers.
Speaker 2 (45:00):
We just mentioned Deshaun Watson.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
I don't think Andrew Berry is gonna farewell unless Patrick
takes him off the board early.
Speaker 3 (45:06):
No, we're definitely not taking Jimmy has them took the.
Speaker 5 (45:08):
Credit there, so we're not gonna have it.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
Okay, So yes, we'll be ranking some gms.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
We'll be back. Everyone's back at OTA's next week. We're
getting updates on stances. That's how you know football's back.
Host
Gregg Rosenthal
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