Lamar Landing Spots, Danny Dimes Deal & Rodgers-Jets Meeting

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Around the NFL podcast. Hey, Greg, nice tortoise nerd
from the Chris Westling podcast studio sniper shot. It's around
the NFL. I'm Dan Hansis Greg Rosenthal's here? Untoward Gregg,
untoward Mark Sessler? How is everybody? I'm all for a

(00:24):
you know, out of out of a deep space shot
at Greg once in a while, but that seemed unseemly
to me. Greg, I don't I don't approve. I'm glad
for the concern. Nori has been struggling with the move.
We've had to move her cakes all around. She hasn't
been eating. The rain came and we had a covering,
but you know, we're having to buy something to cover up.

(00:45):
But she got a little wet. So we're we're we're
a little worried about Nori. Why does caring for an animal,
which we've all done in our lifetime, and why does
that make you a nerd? Among other things that I mean, Listen,
we didn't write that, we didn't record it. We had
nothing to do with this through me. We never do.
Um the tortoise, I feel like you can probably of
all the pets. Yeah, if the tortoise doesn't make it

(01:07):
just get another one. Yeah, they're all the same. Yeah,
it's not personality driven, not an animal from that I'm different.
It's like no, like you are the same, You're the
same during dinosaurs with the child even know, depending on
the child. The whole point though, is that like I'm
gonna be sixty five years old and Nori will still

(01:27):
be there. And that's the that's the beauty of the tortoise.
They don't die on you say, they stay with you
forty years. Oh well, then everybody wins. But I'm saying
if the tortoise croaks, yeah, there's a scenario where you
just replace the tortoise because of all the most important
thing is to keep your child happy and not not
be facing themes about what about myself? You know, it's
about you. It's about the around the NFL digging into

(01:53):
a big, big newsday. Um, we last spoke of you
on two on Monday, and then Tuesday was a massive
development of various storylines and we're gonna get to them
all in the news m But you know, Lamar Jackson,
I think it's the biggest. I think the Aaron Rodgers

(02:14):
story and he's meeting with the Jets. That is huge
obviously on a number of levels personally as well. But
the Lamar Jackson situation has layers. It's got a little
something for everyone. Whatever angle you cover football from, it's
got a little something for you. And I thought that
yesterday was fascinating because Greggy as for instance, you're a

(02:37):
member of the Lamarmie. Yeah, and I'm not. I'm not
a freedom fighter. On the other side, I feel like
you are. But you're just taking the easy way out.
Just say how you feel. You think he's overrated, You're
part of the Smarmie ll Smarmie. I don't find him

(02:59):
to be at the level of you know, the greats
in the league right now, but I see him as
a great quarterback. Love to have him by my team.
But I what I'm saying is when after all this talk,
all this speculation for weeks about why don't the Ravens
give him what he wants, the fully guaranteed contract, and

(03:20):
then they hit him with the transitional tag, the Ravens,
the franchise tag, the non exclusive franchise tag, and then
where it got really juicy, Mark was multiple teams. It
starts leaking to reporters are instantly not interested. We're being
told right now. That's where it stands now. The Atlanta

(03:40):
Falcons and Miami Dolphins, the Carolina Panthers, the Washington Commanders,
and it's creating this big story that goes beyond the player.
And maybe in some ways it's always been bigger than
Lamar because of what it means financially with the league.
It's just heating up. This is a huge story. Yeah,
I mean, I I think the interest among any general

(04:02):
manager or any coach in Lamar, it would be intense.
If Lamar's you know, theorized contract demands at some stage
in this process, Let's say they changed a little bit,
they lowered, they became a little bit off of this,
or they even found out what they were because I
found out they were. He doesn't have an agent, so
I think that adds some complexity because of an agent
can make Deshaun Watson and Deshaun Watson's financial demands which

(04:24):
were out astronomical and unlike anything we'd ever seen in
the NFL, feasible to one team. Certainly, maybe an agent
could do that for Lamar Jackson, who comes within zero
baggage and such a better I mean, I think the
whole Lamar Jackson experience is different, but I think there is.
If you look around the league, the idea that these teams,
through various channels and reporters came out to say no

(04:45):
interest or like at least right now, no interest, It
just tells me that there is almost a I'm not
saying it's spoken, but there's a league wide concept of
we're not going there with this contract guy after guy
at this point, what team Because a team right now
could say we're it's not that hard, We're gonna give
Lamar Jackson Deshaun Watson level deal and we know the

(05:08):
Ravens don't want to do that, so he'd be ours
or even structure in a way that the Ravens couldn't
match or just made it uncomfortable. It has been spoken about, though.
Steve Bashatti, who's the most important figure on the team
side here in terms of Lamar Jackson, the owner of
the Ravens, said that the contract for Deshaun Watson is
quote going to make it harder to do business. That's

(05:30):
what he said last winter. The NFLPA actually had a
report a complaint essentially back in December warning about this
exact scenario. Worried that the owners were going to come
together and not allow that to happen. And I'm glad
you brought up like the agent for Watson, because I

(05:52):
do think that is part of the story. Watson. The
thing I was so upset about beyond that he is
a creep and everything he did off the field was
I was upset with our industry because I felt like
his agent, David Mullaghetta, had all these reporters under his thumb.
A lot of hypocrisy there about. You know, reporting is
supposed to be about just being fair and balanced, and

(06:13):
that they were playing to the agent. They were playing
to that relationship. Lamar doesn't have an agent, and I
think he's an interesting figure because he's so different as
a player. People don't, you know, sometimes teams the power
structure doesn't know what to do with guys that are
so different as a player. He's also different in this
scenario either, except in this time the media and the agents,

(06:33):
who to me are very much on the same team
and they're working together. They don't, like I've heard on
our air, essentially people caping for the agent industry and
saying this is why you need an agent. So from
a pr angle in terms of how we're like handling it.
The messaging is where I guess Lamar Jackson loses out
from having an agent because he has a bunch of

(06:55):
reporters who it's in their best interest to make it
like Lamar is really blowing it by not having an agent. Yeah,
and here's the thing there is you can make that case.
Just because this was always going to be a very
complex negotiation, I thought it always read a big red
alarm for me when the reporting came out that the

(07:16):
NFLPA is working with Lamar as well to try to
get this done. So now you got the union involved
directly with the player and the owners. Obviously, as long
as there's been unions in a big ownership, there's gonna
be loggerheads there. That that was a red flag to
me that this could go in a different direction, and
that I think about the obviously kind of the root

(07:39):
of a lot of this is the Deshaun Watson, as
we're saying, the trade and then the fully guaranteed contract,
and that to me is becoming like the exon Valdi's
spill of the NFL where what had happened. It was like,
oh my god, this is a disaster. I can't believe
this happened. How is this allowed to happen? And then

(08:00):
as time passed, you thought you kind of move forward,
but no, it hangs around. It just it's this black
slick all around the league. And you got the birds
that are covered and you're watching them in the sink.
That's a sad thing to see, Mark. And that's what
I'm thinking about this now because and this is do
not take this as me being pro ownership or anything.

(08:21):
I'm saying. Everyone at the time said, wow, I can't
believe Watson got that money, especially considering his past obviously
and what he had done or what he was suspended for.
Do NFL owners and teams because one team, the Browns,
who have had a suspect pass let's face it, since
they came back in the league in general, with ownership

(08:43):
at times, made that decision to give the fully guaranteed money.
Does that mean all other ownerships now have to do
that with premier quarterbacks and if they don't, if they're
not on board with that, does that automatically make a collusion?
Like well, so that's the dirty word I speak about it. Yes,
which was a formal memo actually that the NFLPA sent

(09:03):
to the NFL just to give the background that they
were colluding to refrain from offering fully guaranteed contracts. That
was back in October. It was reported by Kaylin Kayler
or the Athletic Yeah, And I think the thing is like,
are you going to win that battle? Ultimately five years
from now, is this going to be It will be
a moment in time and then probably we're going to
have to deal with quarterback contracts that way because the
president has been set. But I think there is a

(09:25):
clear I'm not saying it's like necessarily they're on a
text message thread together. It's not that, but there is
a clear pushback to just open the floodgate. I think
there is a little bit of a Lamar esque element
to it, Like we all see that Lamar Jackson. He's
an MVP level player. His you know, injuries, durability has
been a problem the last two years. But there's a law,

(09:46):
like a Lamar side to where the type of quarterback
he is, his durability the last two seasons, do you
just hand him that money? Like if it were Joe
Burrow vying for this contract, I just think there'd be
if he were out there and it was Joe Burrow
or it was just is a little bit easier just
to basically look at and say, I can project Joe
Burrow for the next ten years, what he's gonna do.

(10:06):
Maybe someone would line up here and say I'll do
that deal. Well, it's an interesting case point because Joe
Burrow's going to be looking for a new contract this
of Jameson Herbert, but he's so far away from free agency.
He's also working for the Bengals, and it's just hard
to imagine the Bengals being the team to do this.
And in theory Lamar Jackson, the closer and closer he

(10:27):
gets to free agency, I've heard that he's lost his leverage,
that he should have held out two years ago and
now he's kind of stuck in the situation. And I
get that. But the closer he gets a free agency,
the closer he is to be in Kirk Cousins. Now,
Kirk Cousins was actually the last quarterback to get the
non exclusive tag when he was in Washington, and he
was the last quarterback to get to free agency at

(10:47):
this sort of middle of his career. And what did
he get. He got a fully guaranteed contract. This has
happened before, which at the time was setting records, and
people are saying, well, the Watsons thinks so much bigger. Yeah,
but just contracts in generals are bigger. And obviously Jackson
is at that level. So if he wants to play
it out and he actually could get to free agency,

(11:08):
I guess I would have a hard time believing that
he's not going to get a great deal. And I
do think the stances teams are taking now is not
necessarily the stands. First of all, teams that we haven't
heard about are taking behind the scenes, but also what
they could take in April or especially post draft. I
think the draft in people liking this draft class is
a big X factor here, and if Lamar doesn't sign

(11:31):
that offer, sheet thinks could change a little bit after
the draft, and even the teams and everybody because it's
it's for football fans. It's juicy, it's a soap opera
kind of here. So when Atlanta, Miami, Carolina, Washington, and
through various reports come out as ow they're not that
doesn't necessarily mean they're not interested. That to be fair,
No national for the most party, this was not national

(11:53):
reporters who are usually the word on these things. This
was like one reporter per team. The Falcons actually were
one NFL work we reported that was so widely reported
and so definitive that I believe it because the others
were like not expected to how it looks right now,
They're not expected this or that, And it was like
one reporter, the Falcons came out pretty hard. I was like,

(12:13):
dang man minutes, sorry to interrupt. The Falcons took over
like Twitter for ten minutes, where it's like this is
the land, okay, So that one I'm like, okay, I'll
buy it. I just yeah. That's where on the other
side of it, where it's like something doesn't smell right here,
is like why would these teams have that type of
outlook where they were not even looking to negotiate when

(12:36):
just because it's out there, and by the way, it
was refuted directly to Stephen A. Smith, he might remember
a week ago that he was even looking for a full,
fully guaranteed contract, Like why would that keep you from
at least having conversations with him making a contract offer,
which is let's say somewhere between like you know, Kyler
Murray's deal or Daniel Jones's new deal, which we're gonna
get to and give him an offer. Like That's where

(12:58):
it was a little bit to me, like wait, teams
are just saying we're out, Like we're just we're not
even going to have a conversation Frank Reich a week
ago at the Combine, you know, he's looking for a
quarterback in Carolina and they're certainly in good position to
draft one or trade up and draft the guy they want.
But that he basically said, no stone unturned. We're looked
through at every avenue. But so suddenly, and I know

(13:19):
that it's it's not you know, the team saying this,
but the no Panthers situation came a little quick. It's
like why at this point I think, I think is
the one little missing part with an agent is like
you're right, Greg, like we don't know exactly what Lamar
Jackson's asking for, and whatever he's asking for today or
what he wanted a week ago or a month ago
can shift and change, and suddenly you can bring these

(13:39):
nose back into the pool and you can bring these
other teams like if the Aaron Rodgers thing with the
Jets goes south, the Jets are heat seeking an answer.
They shouldn't be saying no unless there's something out there
in the atmosphere that says, do you want to be
the next Haslem contingent that hands this type of deal
to someone and draws the ire of every other owner,
just ruining every thing again, you know, one year later.

(14:03):
The the one thing, here's the thing that though like
teams are going to broadcast this either and even if
they're saying they're out, like the teams that were in
on Stafford, we didn't know until the last minute. H
the team like Carson Wentz had a market a year ago,
Matt Ryan had a market, and most of these had

(14:26):
very little breadcrumbs before they happened from the insiders. You know,
as as great work as the insiders do, the big stories,
this big haven't dropped until the last sea. Of course,
the Dolphins are gonna put it out there that they're
not going to be going into quarterbacks. They were. They
were saying the same thing about Tom Brady a year ago,
and it took them essentially getting suspended and losing a

(14:46):
first round pick to find out what the truth was. Like,
they're serving piles of you know, you know what, and
they could call it their side of the story to reporters.
And in this case, and I think you're seeing how
the reporting game goes. Like usually the eight, you know,
presenting one side to their porters and the team's presenting
the other side. And here it's just like all the
reporters are basically just going from the team side and

(15:10):
in a vacuum of information when it comes to a a
little I wonder at the end of the day of
Lamar and his family realized what they were really going
up against before they went into this negotiation, like and
how because obviously for him more though it makes me
want to like the precedent obviously was potentially set with Watson,

(15:32):
and if Lamar got or gets what he wants, what
do you think's gonna happen with Herbert and Burrow and
Jalen Hurts. So he becomes like this guy, Like was
the Browns thing a standalone situation that the league moved
on from or is this the deal that then cements
this is the new reality? I think it would be
a tipping point because why would you take less if

(15:53):
you're Joe Burn That's why it is odious. There is
something to it, Yeah, as odious as the Shaun Watson,
the whole the saga was like that agent did his job,
like he manipulated the media. He got him a fully
guaranteed deal. Like maybe it would have helped to have
somebody that was on his side that could read this
situation because it was soul multi layered. But you know what,

(16:15):
at the end of the day, I say all that
he's gonna be fine, Like it's not like these people
are talking, Oh, this is collusion. Look look at MLB
in the eighties. That was hardcore stuff. Go read the
Wikipedia on that. Daniel Jones just got a four year,
one hundred and sixty million dollars contract. Gino Smith got
what one hundred million or whatever it was. These guys
earned their pay days and because their quarterbacks, it seems inflated.

(16:39):
At the end of the day, Lamar will get paid
a huge amount of money, right, huge astronomical amount of money,
guaranteed money too. It might just not be what the
initial goal was. He certainly doesn't need he I would
expect him to, you know, do a hold in if
if if the tag thing is all that sits out there,
you see that relationship feels kind of over to me.

(17:02):
But but even in another world. I think it wouldn't
be if after July fifteenth you can regotiate a new
deal with Lamar, and it could be it could be
closer to this, like forty five million a year forty
six where it's like, maybe not entirely all guaranteed, but
you get closer. It's so different than the Kirk Cousins
situation though, because that didn't feel contentious so much as
concious in Washington while he was still there it was

(17:27):
multiple franchise actually almost felt uglier in a way that
just because he was upset with the situation and eventually
he got to go that The one thing, and I
agree with what you're saying about how the owners could
be looking at it, whether they're talking about it or not.
One boring thing that I didn't really know much about

(17:48):
and we've heard more about it is this whole escrow idea,
and it's like, it's very boring, But the NFL requires
NFL teams to have all the cash of any guaranteed
guaranteed part of the contract that they give out in
escrow while that contract is happening. So as I understand it,

(18:11):
and someone explained it, because I don't know what, the
it's all falling apart it twice. If you if you
give Kirk Cousins his three years ninety million or whatever,
it was totally guaranteed three years ago, the owner of
the Vikings has to have that ninety million dollars in

(18:34):
cash sitting there, even if he's not spending it at
that moment. You have to have actual proof that, like,
we have enough money at this time to spend it.
And you would think, oh, well, they're these guys are
billionaire owners, Like, no way. There's a huge difference between
how much cash some of these owners have and how

(18:55):
much cash some other owners have. And I've heard the
Raiders brought up as an example, for instance, that there
was there's no earthly way Mark Davis could give that
contract to Lamar Jackson just doesn't have the cash. Or
Mike Brown or the Chargers or the Giants probably like
there there are a lot of teams that just couldn't
have that pile of cash sitting around. And there are

(19:17):
a lot of teams like Jimmy Haslam who just like
bought a portion of some other sports team. What did
he just buy the Milwaukee Bucks. He's just like, oh yeah,
I'm gonna go buy a quarter of the Milwaukee Bucks
for seven hundred million dollars. He's got that cash city around,
and so that creates scenario other sports have had where
it's like, really, the rich owners can have an advantage

(19:37):
over the other ones. And I think that's partly what
some of them are afraid of or just simply can't
dolls the salary camp um before, we're going to get
back to Lamar talking about some destinations that we like.
Maybe we'll pitch some teams we like them. Do these
actual teams like them? That's I don't know, It's see,
it's the crux of the whole thing. Again. I thought

(20:02):
that we're gonna look into that during the break. I'm
also gonna share with you I did a little digging.
July seventeen of twenty seventeen, Cousins signed his second franchise
tag the then you know, our Skins did release a
um statement expressing disappointment, and then this is just a

(20:22):
funny little note. Team president of Bruce Allen said in
his statement, the Cousins was obviously important to our team
and fans, and detailed the team's offer made to the quarterback.
He also talked about the decision and a video posted
on the team's website, but referred to Cousins on five
occasions as Kurt instead of that's pretty good. That's pretty good,
Bruce Allen. Let's uh take a break and we'll hit

(20:44):
the rest of the news. Busy, busy, busy. All right,
we're back. I got some developing news right here, Um,
Dan rather a little different though similar. All right, listen
to this boom. I'm an honest question for you. Yeah,

(21:11):
mister integrity over there, integrity had just proper pronunciation drummed up. Um,
I totally own the fact that, like, there is no
excuse for me to U pronounce the name of that
tank rink correctly, and I did, and I will I'll
think about that. But had I, out of thin air,
had the correct pronunciation, would we have just gone through
all the bells and whistles to um senior Fallacier. We

(21:33):
move right on into Daniel Jones and Richeals was the
developing news? How about it? How about honest just so yes,
or how about you don't hit out? Well, I think
it's im I'm investigating the scenario wrong. Yeah, I got
it right. Well, we understand where you're coming from with that,
I said before the break, I was going to check
on it. So I had set it up with the audience.

(21:54):
I had to pay it off. That's what the host does.
And then I paid it off, and I would have
taken the tank gets a fair question on my part
to ask if we would have gone to such lengths
to inform the audience. I said what I said, Greig,
we're like Valdi's nuts. All right, let's see some news.
It's best for anybody who has an interest in us

(22:16):
to make a decision sooner rather than later. You know,
I remember, you know, when far before he retired. You know,
there were times where it was in April and May
and he's still you know, we weren't sure if he
was going to come back because he didn't come to
any offseason program. And then in two thousand and eight,
he actually did retire in March and then kind of

(22:40):
said no, no no, no, actually in June after OTAs, I
actually want to come back and play. And then that's
when you know I've been traded to the Jets. And
there's obviously a lot of tension that summer, but for
for everybody involved directly and indirectly, it's best for a
decision earlier. That's, of course. Aaron Rodgers from his mythic

(23:03):
appearance on the Aubrey Marcus podcast. The way that nearly
put me to sleep, Just the way he speaks a
little bit, it's very sleepy. Those are two best friends,
just chopping it up late at night. Yeah, late night chatting. Yes,
that's what Aaron Rodgers said last week. He doesn't want
to draw this thing out. And I think that would

(23:26):
be great if that's how it plays out, because right
now the Jets and Aaron Rodgers are in communication. Last
on Tuesday, it was reported that the Packers had given
the Jet permission to speak with their long time quarterback.
And then the Jets got on a private jet and
met with Rogers in California. And we don't know where

(23:49):
things are right now. That's where we're at, but this
is this is the situation. Now, the Jets are not
going to have Derek Carr and their team. The Jets
obviously need an upgraded quarterback, and now they're speaking with
Aaron Rodgers. And all I could say is get it done.
You cannot get into the red zone here and not
put this across the goal line. Fingers cross for everyone

(24:11):
that follows Gang green Well that assumes everyone wants Aaron Rodgers.
Is that the case? I think, well, smart jetsman, I
think it is you want Aaron Rodgers? Do you want
Aaron Rodgers even with all the baggage? Or do you
want Jimmy Garoppolo? Right? I mean, let's be honest about it,
like Jamis Winston, Andy Dalton, Ryan Tannehill, like who do

(24:33):
you want? Do you want to win a super Bowl? Like?
Are we we're a half century deep into this weight
for our next super Bowl visit? Do you want to
win the super Bowl? Because I am not. I don't
think I'm over shooting the moon here when I say
if they have Aaron Rodgers and he has a better
year than last year, of course this could be a
super Bowl contender. I think those are the stakes right now.

(24:54):
I'm with you. I think they'd be, you know, no
higher than fifth or sixth in my list of like
likely teams, but they would have in the AFC, but
they would have a shot. I believed when Woody Johnson
got on a plane, as the reporting shows, goes out
to California with a big contingent, that more likely than

(25:15):
not Aaron Rodgers will be a Jet and you you
were already you know, being cautious with your optimism, worried
about Lucy, you know, taking the football away from you
as a Jets fan. And I and I get that,
and Aaron Rodgers isn't is also a cruel vixen sometimes
an unpredictable guy say, and it's totally up to him.
But to get this far, it just feels like, well,

(25:37):
Aaron Rodgers wouldn't take the meeting unless he was, you know,
willing to go to the Jets. He knows the Packers
don't want him. On some level, we know his head
is not in the sand in terms of news reports.
He knows exactly what Bob McGinn reported. He knows they're
letting him talk to the Jets. He wants to be wanted.
So I can't imagine him going back to the pack

(26:00):
at this point once you've already taken this step. We've
heard it thrown back out there that retirement is really
an option here, that he's still not giving up. But
I don't know, I mean, I don't know what's in
his heart, but I don't see other teams making this
trip either. It just feels like this is probably gonna happen,
and he might make you sweat it out a little bit,

(26:21):
but I think he will do that. But I think
if you're a Jets fan, you aren't trying to compete
against three other franchises that have just as much to offer,
and the Jets actually in this matters Daron Rodgers because
I think if you're Aaron Rodgers, if you are constantly
thinking about your life, your consciousness, your legacy, who you
are as a football player. Talked about gaining new appreciation

(26:44):
for the fact that he is the one thing about
the Jets and applied to the Browns back when Odell
Becka went there and all this other stuff. If you
turn the Jets into a winner, if you took them
to a super Bowl, if you want a super Bowl,
it doesn't even matter about anything else. Ever, Aaron Rodgers
become complete and total legend and he's completely won. And
I just think if you're in New York, to your

(27:05):
point with the red Zone, Dan, if you're going to
fly out there on the plane, if you're going to
take him out to dinner, do all that business, there's
no one else competing for him. You've got to seal
the deal, and like, I kind of wish that the
like while they were out there, everyone just agreed to
it and you fly home. I don't like any situation
when you fly to meet someone and then you fly
back home and you sort of just have them sitting
there waiting. But you know what, they're the only team

(27:27):
in the race right now. I think the Packers are
in the deep rear view mirror at this point. Yeah.
And the thing is, because we were talking about before
the show, Greggy, it's like the Jets kind of need
this decision in advance of free agency, when other players
hit the market, when other teams have the opportunity to
engage in trade talks, when this Lamar Jackson situation is unfolding,

(27:50):
and it becomes a situation where they can't just sit
here and then be left like without a chair, Like
Aaron Rodgers has to work with them one way or
the other. And what makes me nervous is that Rogers
is an unpredictable person and Woody Johnson and the Jets historically,
although they did get Bread Farve once upon a time

(28:11):
fifteen years ago, this week, yes, do I trust? Do
I trust this to go off without a hitch. No,
it seems like I'm still a pretty wide open situation.
I wish I could be a fly on the wall
just to know how these conversations go. But it makes
too much sense. I've been saying this for almost two
months now. This always made so much sense for the Jets,
and I think it makes sense for Rogers as well now.

(28:35):
And we talked to I was on Rachel's show yesterday, like,
this is where he is at in his career now.
If the Packers are looking to move on, like, go
to a team that has a chance to win where
you could cement your legacy in a different way. If
you have the passion, this is a great setup where
you could be a legend in the New York market.
I mean, i'd also you know, who knows where Aaron

(28:57):
Rodgers was mentally a year ago. But like, if you're
going to go take this money from the Jets, this
is not year forty six with the Packers, I think
you need to be like, you need to get a
guy who is absolutely all in on the entire from
here on offseason on to work with new players to
make it is anti Aaron Rodgers, as we've felt about
him the last couple off seasons, Like, I mean, you've

(29:19):
had your time away, your retreat, your X and Y
and Z. Now if you're going to join the Jets,
like give them everything that you're worth, right, I think
the love of the game is real. You don't you
don't go through this, you don't become Aaron Rodgers if
it's not deep, if it's not profound. I think there's
this idea that he's, you know, little leftist center and
you like, this guy loves ball. Now, he loved having

(29:41):
a situation last year where he didn't have to be
there the whole off season, and I think the Packers
didn't love that. So I'm with you. I think that
would have to change. But that was one of my
takeaways listening to that podcast was how much I think
the love of the game and eat like that win
over the Cowboys alone, Like it sounded like it was
one of the most memorable moments of his entire career.

(30:01):
And I could see that even on the fans are like, well,
the only one one, it cames in the end, But
to him, this is his life and that was just
like a moment. And I think going to a newer
place and we saw it with Tom Brady. We saw
it with Peyton Manning when we thought he was kind
of done after Indianapolis, these greats. I think it's just
human nature. You can get reinvigorated being in a new situation.

(30:22):
And I think he's looking for a new man. Dan
like it may ultimately come out when the autobiography of
Jets winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers hits the shelves, that maybe
it was this much maligned darkness retreat that inside of
his heart, his soul, his mind turned the Jets into
a tangible concept for him, versus just floating around up

(30:44):
and down the avenues of Green Bay, where going to
the Jets would sound like a nightmare. Maybe this didn't.
It's it's like, what am I? God, I already know
the way to the stadium. You take a left on
Mike Holmgren Way and a right on McCarthy Avenue, And
I see, I saw this tweet from your old place
of work, Greg Pro football Talk, Aaron Rodgerson will be

(31:07):
all smiles and they'll say all the right things if
the Jets trade for Rogers. How long until the first
story citing unnamed source that Rogers hates Wilson and or
Wilson hates Rodgers, you know, miss me with all that
trash people want to bring storm clouds in all the
time with this team, Just let's see how it all
plays out instead of trying to manifest misery for an
organization that's had more than it's fair. Sharon Rodgers is

(31:29):
Zach Wilson's hero. And it is kind of hilarious to
me that, like, Zach Wilson isn't even mentioned in any
of this, and he shouldn't be. But it is weird
that it's like a number two overall draft pick that's
in his third season and no one's even considering him
as an option, including if they don't get Aaron Rodgers.
No one's considering him as I think if they got
there at Card, he might not have been on the team.

(31:51):
Rogers Actually makes sense to me that it's like, Okay,
I can just chill, I can learn the position if
I'm ever going to develop, Actually, this maybe gives me
a better chance. One last thing is, uh, you know
that Woody Johnson. Maybe you know he's he's been up
and down, mostly down, but he didn't always have the
closer Nathaniel Hackett on him. That is true Nathaniel Hackett

(32:13):
if he does nothing else, if he because remembers then
the Broncos a year ago, I thought when they always
when they went after Nathaniel Hackett, that was when we
were going Aaron Rodgers to Denver, like that would decrease
the skids And it didn't happen. But a year later,
Nathaniel Hackett all roses. You know what I would love
if the trade happened and then they have the big
press conference. First of all, I'd want Hackett to do
similar to what he did with Russell Wilson at the

(32:35):
press conference. Come on, y'all, Russell Wilson, holy just replace
the quarterback. Also, if he is the one that gets
this done, I want him entering the press conference, Hackett
to enter Sandman by Metallic to you just build a
statue of him outside. No no no, no, and he just

(32:56):
comes in like a rock star, dressed like Dean Blandino,
ready for a night out. Oh my god. Are more
valuable to the Jets than he was? Then he's got
to actually coordinate the offense. That's the problem part. Do
you think the Packers have the Jets over the barrel
a little bit? In terms of trade talks though, Uh,
you know you send you the owner there, you know
that they don't really have an option b I'm they do.

(33:19):
I think they want to go with Jordan Love you
mean in terms of another trade with leverage and like
who can they pivot and say, well, if you don't
give us this, we're gonna go to I think it's
just something where you kind of know you're going to
get a deal done. But I think the Packers start
out with a little extra edge here, and it's it's
weird because the contracts so big. I have a hard
time figuring out what Aaron Rodgers's value is because he's

(33:43):
obviously better than Russell Wilson. But you're not gonna get
the Russell Wilson package at this point. I don't think
you're gonna get that. Is there any reality where the
Jets get out of this with Rogers and their first
round pick? How can you Brian Goodencoston in trade Rogers

(34:06):
without a first round pick being involved? Right? I just
think part of it is part of story putting a
seventeen percent chance, But I think I think there's a
chance to like, we're surprised sometimes by the way these
trades because of the money. The money. Yeah, because of
the money. It might be like a first and a
fourth or which might be next years though sure fourth
and this year's third, you know, like and he has

(34:29):
to work with them because he has to say, well,
I also want to go here, and then they could
play those two teams off each other. It's it's why
it's messy, because sometimes you compare one situation to another,
like Lamar to Watson, it's not it isn't the same exactly.
And like you can't compare Rodgers to Stafford, for instance,
or Russell Wilson. I actually think, you know, the Jets

(34:51):
won't have to give up as much as those teams
gave up to get Roger. Um. All right, let's stay
in northern New Jersey and talk about the John Alliance.
Who human they make a huge splash on Tuesday. Tuesday, which,
by the way, was the birthday of Justin Graver, our producer.

(35:11):
That's true, Happy birthday, Justin. Thanks. How old did you
turn yesterday? I turned thirty one years young. You know,
people don't really talk about thirty one. Thirty one just
sneaks under the radar. It would be a big year
for you, but well it comes after a massive landmark
the thirties, who started they start to get lost a
little lost there it is what do you do for

(35:32):
your birthday? Jessica and I had a nice brunch and
then we had a nice day together inside watching some
Oscar Contender movies. So we're ready for this weekend. So cute.
And she got me a nice few gifts, very nice dinner,
nice dessert. It was great. Were there any um if

(35:53):
you could see marks the look in his eyes thinking
about the birthday evening, you wouldn't. I think it sounds
like you had a great time, and I'm not for you.
Were there any moments? And I know it must have
been uncomfortable, but like where you were a part? And
did you FaceTime during those like when you were in
the bathroom for instance? Uh? No, there was no facetiming yesterday.
There was a lot of texting with you guys. At

(36:14):
one point Jessica was like, you have to be on
your phone so much. It's your birthday and I'm like, yeah,
it's a really busy. We're trying to plan all this
free agency and adults. How about it? How about the
gift from us to you? No emergency podcast? Yesterday? That was.
That was tremendous. And you know what, I also have
to thank a quote unquote anonymous person for contributing to

(36:36):
our dinner fund last night, which I'm not supposed to
know who it is, but I know and thank you
very much. Is this somebody in the studio? Yes, I
think I know who it is. I think I think
I know exactly what it is. If I had to
choose between the two, both very upstanding gentlemen. But uh,

(37:00):
because this person wants me to say who it is,
but should I because I know it's from the playbook,
because this person has done the same for me in
the past for different things. I see, Yes, it was
Mark Sessler. I'm not confirming or to nine. A very
generous man, Mark Sessler, thank you well. It was that

(37:20):
makeup for the Valdi's thing. Gave you that, not even
the least because my intention was for it to not
be spoken about. But I'm happy that you enjoyed your evening.
Justin thank you. Until Dan gets involved, all right, let's
see Daniel Jones. Two part are here. So they do
come to terms on a long term deal. It's sign

(37:40):
he signs a four year, one hundred and sixty million
dollar contract that includes reportedly thirty five million and incentives.
How much is it virtually guaranteed, Greggy eighty two? I
think in the first two years, and then you get
twelve into the third year as well. How about this,
how about looking at Tuesday as a bad day for

(38:01):
Lamar Jackson, maybe a great one, because I think he
will get more than Daniel Jones from somebody, and that
will make him very happy, I believe, to look at it,
that's just another way to look at it. And in
of course hope so though and he might less this year,
I mean, yes, he's aiming a Lot're gonna get to
the Lamar. Somebody's going to offer him a big contract, right,

(38:22):
Somebody get out him something here. I mean, even if
it's not fully guaranteed, be not a showmanship yesterday amongst
his team. Someone's great. So the Ravens, depending on what
reports you believe, have offered a minimum of one hundred
and thirty three guaranteed, which is, you know, considerably less
than Kyler Murray, but is considerably more than Daniel Jones already.
Um So, because they were able to get a deal

(38:44):
with Jones, they didn't have to use the franchise tag,
which allowed them then to use that on se Quon Barkley,
who now will most likely stick around. You keep the
nucleus together, the two most important players on that offense,
and then it's up to Joe Shane and Brian Dable
Mark Sessler to build up the offense around them, and
we shall see so much. Obviously, this is all built

(39:05):
around the idea that Jones goes from what he was
last year, which was a functional to good starter to
great quarterback, franchise quarterback. It's a gamble, but also there's
a lot of money out there for a quarterback. It's
a lot for Daniel Jones based on really one year
where he looked like a complete changemaker. To me, I mean,
if suddenly they put Jason Garrett back at his co

(39:28):
head coach, I'd hate this deal. But it's full trust
for me and Brian Dable what he did last year
and having the ability to continue to do that with
Daniel Jones as really kind of a guy who's becoming
a top five, top seven offensive play caller and quarterback developer.
I mean, if you think that day Ball can keep
that going there, you are I mean, this is starting
to become the price of quarterbacks in general. But this

(39:50):
was a bit of a head turner that Daniel Jones
initially started to ask for way more than they thought
originally at that one point, and then he got it.
How about Lamar hires the agent that Danny Dimes hired
last week after firing the other guy. There you go
the contract, which didn't come out until this morning. So
that's a plus beyond helping Graver's love life of not

(40:12):
podcasting yesterday is we have the details, and even there's
an update since the last since I last read it
on PFT, they had an error. There is not twelve
million guaranteed for twenty twenty five until twenty twenty five,
which means in all practicality, it's a two year, eighty
two million dollar contract and it's fully guaranteed, which is interesting.

(40:35):
So everyone's complaining about, you know, guaranteed. He got fully
guaranteed two years at forty plus million a year, which
is a lot, but then they can get out. It
reminds me almost exactly of the Kirk Cousins contract that
he keeps resigning over and over because it puts the
Giants in a difficult position to have to make a

(40:59):
decision on Daniel Jones almost every year because his cap
hit as you extend this thing out, they got a
phony baloney twenty twenty six year in there starts getting
crazy and they're gonna have to keep renegotiating it. And
at that point you almost have to decide, Okay, do
we add another year of guarantees. That's a long way

(41:19):
of saying it's a two year deal. But he still
holds a lot of cards because they're gonna want to
go back to the table and renegotiate it pretty soon,
maybe as soon as next offseason, and certainly after two
of these four years, he does hold the cards. But
specifically with Daniel Jones, I don't hate this because we

(41:41):
don't really know what Daniel Jones will be two years
from now. Now there's the kind of thread of the needs.
I wouldn't even hate this for Lamar Jackson if Lamar
Jackson were coming from a different angle, like heavily guaranteed
two years, find out where we are after that, verses
four years, five years. If thet thin for Lamar would
be like two years ninety million plus and then you

(42:05):
get some guaranteed into the third year. Earth oh, or
he's so far below other quarterbacks who have been at
that level. Daniel Jones what had the fewest amount of
big time throws in the NFL last year. Daniel Jones's
numbers have been terrible. And I've always been on the
side of like, actually, Daniel Jones could be like a
good to average starting quarterback, but this is it's a lot.

(42:26):
I give a sense this is kind of like them.
I just wonder how Brian Dable's feeling because he made
Daniel Jones all this money. If there were if he
had another coach last year, Daniel Jones is bye bye.
Totally agree. Yeah, I saw somebody wrote like, if they
if they kept Joe Judge around, Jones is probably signing
like a one year, four million dollars deal to be
a backup quarterbacks. It's a little, that's a little. It's

(42:48):
within the outcomes. I mean said, he signs this this deal,
and isn't it crazy? And how unusual the Giants and
Jed I was texting with some Giants buddies yesterday. Such
a funky kind of strained hard to put your finger
on year. In general, for the Giants, who we know,
the expectations were so low. You have this new head coach,

(43:08):
You had a roster that didn't seem to have a
lot of pieces, a former first round pick, a quarterback
who had underwhelmed with a bad set up, a former
number two overall pick running back who had lost his
juice it had seemed, and then all these different things happened.
They actually make the second round to the playoffs. And
now these guys that Dave Gettleman drafted, the quarterback that

(43:30):
Gettleman drafted, the running back that he took, they get
new contracts. I know. It's a franchise tag right now
for sequon from the next regime that took over a
huge mess that almost never happens like that. You would
have these key players from a failed regime and then
build the next era of the franchise around them. It's
been kind of interesting. Lawns might be next too. It's

(43:52):
another Getleman guy. They're an interesting team because there it's
unusual how this next phase of Giants football is unfolded
different than how it usually works, which is new regime
takes over and then builds the whole thing from the
ground up, right but to the Jones contract and what
you got going on the sequon that if this year
went south, it's a you're not looking forward for half
a decade. This is I think if you're Joe Shaney said, well, yes,

(44:15):
of course, Like I would rather have picked up the
fifth year option. They didn't assess him to be this player.
He became it under day, but didn't they give him
the tag. That's the thing. I think they're making the
same mistakes that they made with Eli Manning. I think
this contract could be very regrettable. I think still just
two years though, I get it. But if if Janiel

(44:36):
Jones plays around the same level but they don't get
as many breaks and things aren't ready to really take
that next step, and let's say they go six and
eleven and Daniel Jones is the nineteenth quarterback in the
league and you owe him forty two million dollars the
next year, It's like, and it's not really the quarterback
that dayboll wants and loves. I just think it's thorny
when ownership gets involved, and you get the sense from

(44:57):
reporting that the Maras love Dan Jones like a son,
and they pushed them to treat him like this when
the tag was sitting right there. I mean if the
Ravens can give Lamar the tag or you can use
the tech. Just give him the tag. He's the perfect
candidate for the tech. Let's see if you can do
it again and if you get better in this. This

(45:18):
one was part of this conversation or who got him paid?
But would you want sa Quon getting a long term
lucrative deal when he turned down twelve million a year
in the middle of the season. I think we'd be
having we'd be critiquing the Barkley part of it if
he didn't get frantishised and got a deal that depends
on the guarantees we heard from Mike Garrett followed, I
mean first quarterback that they're they've gone up to thirteen

(45:41):
a year for Quon. If if that was like a two,
I'd rather play sa Quan two for thirty and most
of it's all of it's guaranteed and tag Jones. Then
then committing this extra year to Jones and paying the
extra money when you're see who you're coming from, Greg
Is and why this is a again with everything else
of the Giant. They're kind of an interesting team right

(46:01):
now and unique in some ways, like you don't typically
pay this kind of money and give out this type
of contract on a projection of course like this is
he has not proven he's worth this type of money yet,
but they're so confident internally that he will be that
guy that they're rolling the dice a little bit. I
think it's dare betting on Dable as much as it
is their guy. It's their in house guy. I put

(46:25):
something into that. I put something in into ownership and
the front office. And maybe day Ball is not so
hot about it, but I think he probably swings a
pretty big stick in there after what he did in
his first year that they believe in him. So believe
in your guys. They did, they showed it and they paid. Yeah,
it's it is tricky because they weren't there guys to
begin with. Right, It's weird, as you mentioned, And I

(46:46):
think Dexter Lawrence is going to be the next guy
who gets a long term deal and he makes sense
as an elite interior defensive tackle. One thing it does
do is it helps them spend more of their cap space.
This year, Daniel Jones's cap number is way way lower.
It's at nineteen million, uh than it would have been
if you got a tag so that would have been

(47:06):
at thirty one. So they have twelve million dollars more
to spend and they need you. They got a lot
of holes. Let's hear from Dimes, who spoke to the
media on Wednesday. In a situation like this, you're uh,
you know, trying to do what's uh, what's best for
you and your family while while also bouncing, you know,
being part of a team and understanding the goals and
the vision, uh that we have as a team and

(47:28):
as an organization. And that was certainly important to me
throughout the deal and and um, you know, I think
we found a way to to uh to do those
things and to to do do it, uh do it the
the right way for for both sides. So yeah, that
was certainly important to me. Um. And yeah, I mean
se Quon you know, I've you know, I've said he

(47:49):
means a ton to me as a as a teammate,
as a friend, and means a ton to us as
a as a player. So um, you know, certainly won't
I won't talk about his business, but um, you know
that was a piece of it. He's the perfect giant
I know, Greggy forty two and forty six and all
that but uh, like he's kind of the That's why
the Mayers love him too. Like he's that guy that

(48:10):
you could send him out there say nothing interesting, be
a good organizational soldier and somebody that like Eli, you
could just kind of plug him, and they see him
as that type of this this figure yes of stability
that they could build an organization. He's a guy you
would want your daughter to date. How About someone who
can make some more big plays in the in the

(48:32):
passing game annoy the end. I know the Eagles were
one thing, but you know he did light up some
teams at the end of the season about him getting
the standing ovation for the entire Giants crowd. I think
you'd want your daughter to date that guy. He's also
making forty million a year. He's considerably older than Greg's daughter.
I'm not talking about I'm saying like they like him

(48:53):
like you read there as boys. They like him like
a son. And it's like, okay, uh, Daniel Jones, how
about you not to be aggressively boring Like Pat Leonard
was on our show, right, and he had that whole
sum interview where he sat down. Okay, so they had
to stay dinner and Daniel Jones told him, yes, what

(49:15):
I like? He told him what I present publicly. I
go out of my way to be as boring as possible.
And it's just like, why, I don't know if there's
that much like charisma and everything exciting. Everybody needs to,
you know, command the spotlight. You don't party, boy, you
don't have to commit, just be yourself. Why to be
not being kind? I think he's boring, Like that's his

(49:40):
strategy that he doesn't want to cover because he's self
conscious about how boring is. So he's like, hey, this
is all just an act to keep the media at bay.
It was like, actually, I mean it worked for the
most outside of I'm not getting that, Johnny, I've been
I let the record show. I think I've been the
biggest dime supporter on this podcast throughout his career. The shows.

(50:05):
I'm just saying, like, as a player, I've always thought, Okay,
he's a little underrated here, but now he's he's a
little overrated. The man got paid, well, everybody gets paid,
just like Gina Smith got paid. How about that, Greggy,
I bet you're happy with that contract? Was Gino Smith?
This one came down, of course, as always does right
after we taped on Monday. Um the veteran quarterback who

(50:30):
had an incredible breakout season in year nine, h signed
a three year contract extension that includes forty million guaranteed.
He makes twenty eight million in the first year of
his new deal. And this is all funny money, but
just so you know, like Gino comeback player of the Year,
thirty touchdown passes, maxed out every possible uh incentive, I

(50:53):
believe on his deal. Got seven million last year and
it was probably the most he ever made it his
life far. He had only made seven only, but he
had made seventeen in his career before this time. And
now he quadruples his twenty twenty two salary in the
first year of his new deal. Good for Gino Smith,
I gotta say it, Greggy, I'm happy for him now.
Is this a lot of money to give out to
a guy that has had one big year in a

(51:15):
decade and kind of cooled off down the stretch. You
could make that case. I won't do it, though, because
when you have the year that he had, and just
like with Daniel Dimes there in New Jersey, they like
him in that building Seattle and they're like, we believe
in him as a guy that we could kind of
trust to run our offense and be a face of

(51:35):
the team. Gino got paid. Yeah, this was a win win.
I mean, this to me is one of the best
sporty stories in sports. For Gino Smith to come through,
it's so unlikely at this point. And like I said, yeah,
seventeen million dollars in his whole career now forty million guaranteed.
But I don't think it's too much. I think the
Seahawks actually got him to take a pretty team friendly contract,

(51:57):
and I think he understood where he was at in
his career year and he's not as young, he's not
a first round pick like Daniel Jones, and and that
all factors into it. But it's a very different contract
than Daniel Jones. It's really a two year, fifty million
dollar contract and they can get out of it if
they want after one year. Really that he's gonna make

(52:17):
twelve million dollars guaranteed uh in twenty twenty four regardless,
And so that's a lot of money to have to
just give away. But we've seen teams do it if
for some reason they wanted to move on and otherwise, Yeah,
it's a three year, seventy five million dollar contract that
there was a ton of incentives. There's a ton of incentives,
but it's three for twenty five, so that's that's right

(52:39):
around the league average or even below it for for
starting quarters. I think it's a completely fair contract. I
think he was a a better quarterback than Daniel Jones
a year ago. That's the thing is, Derek Carr and
Gina were better quarterback and are better quarterbacks I think
than Dan, but it's forty two million less than Daniel Jones.
I think it's very much a Sea Hawks situation too,

(53:02):
where they were looking to move on from an ego
drenched starting quarterback who was clashing with leadership, and they
moved on to Geno Smith, who fells Russell Wilson in
the opener, which I thought was symbolic and beautiful, ends
up breaking Russell Wilson's single season passing record along the way,
completely changes the way we feel about athletes who struggle

(53:22):
as quarterbacks over the first half decade of their lives,
and in theory, I think is exactly what the Seahawks
are looking for. This Seahawks under Carol want to still
be this like team first type situation. Thirty million of
this is an incentives which speaks to Gino and the
team believing that he can reach those and if they
does good for them, And they can also go out

(53:42):
and draft someone like Anthony Richardson and have him in
a perfect situation to develop behind Geno Smith and figure
out what you do at this point. I don't think
you stop looking at young quarterbacks, but Geno's not in
the way. But you keep a bridge here and it's
a great way to end a good story. Hed he
end up somewhere else, it would have been an ill
taste after the comeback Player of the Year operation that

(54:03):
he pulled off. I kind of think they're gonna draft
Richardson now if it's perfect, though why not? Sure? It's
such a great would he would only he would only
sit for so long, like five weeks probably right, And
that's where the contract kind of being a one year
deal maybe two comes into play if something like that
should happen. But who knows. Maybe Richardson is the guy
they truly love, and he feels like the guy they

(54:26):
would truly love. They just love big traits guys like
physical uh freaks. But maybe Richardson goes one overall and
they don't get the chance and they end up taking
a defensive lineman, or Richardson goes talking about ards going
on a little bit, Yeah, I mean I think it's
a little We would depend who who would trade into
that speA inflated, but that's some people around the Or
he goes number four overall, the Colts take him, whoever

(54:47):
it is. Maybe the Seaks don't get him, so they're
kind of covered either way. UM, I just feel like
the way things worked out because of the Denver trade
and then just hitting um the lotto on gino U.
You have an opportunity, it's like an organizational life hack
here where you could be a contender in the NFC,
have a have a season where you're contending for a

(55:08):
division title, and grab a potential star quarterback in the draft,
Like I gotta do it. I think done well. The
rebuilding year went all right. If it falls to them,
I umlike, and I've seen this on Seahawks Twitter. I
disproportionately followed too many Seahawks fans, but they're they're very

(55:29):
entertaining and there's definitely they're already clashing. Some people think
it's crazy to draft another quarterback with Gino. And some
people are like, oh, yeah, what you're saying, it's a
life hack, of course do a team hack. Well I would.
I'm more on your side that Actually. I think take
quarterbacks if you love them as much as I love Gino,
and I sort of am rooting for them. Not. I

(55:50):
actually think it's it's not a bad idea to do that.
And in this kindric kind of reminds me this Gino
thing on this podcast. Yeah, just us talking Gino, us,
all of us. I mean, he's gonna be in the
NFL six or seven more years because his skill set,
to me, translates perfectly to a guy who, even when

(56:11):
he's not starting, is gonna be like a good veteran
backup because to me, he sort of has that like
ability to read the field and understand coverages that just
age as well, and like that even when he's not
starting anymore. Like, I just feel like Geno's gonna be around.
He feels like a nice logical endpoint for your victory lap.

(56:32):
Like today's podcast, great job, Greg, We're all proud of you.
You nail the Geno thing. Um, now we can move forward.
Perhaps I think it'd be organic to move. That's not
my style, but I will take a victory laugh. Look
at this. Greg literally just ran around the desk. I

(56:59):
like that. This the dusty like that. Here's Pete Carroll
and Gino Smith. Yeah, when when you guys get your
chance and you really dig in, you'll see that it
Just see Rodgers comes to the gentleman. I knew that way.
We're counting on him coming through and doing the things
that he was able to do last year, and if
he dares, he's gonna get rewarded. And uh, we know
that if that, if he's able to come back and
do that, he's gonna have a great season and we're

(57:20):
going to be in great shape. We're gonna have a
real chance to be at the best at our best. So, um,
it is heavily structured that way, and uh, you know,
and he's gambling a little bit in that sense on himself.
But yeah, I mean what does that say about him.
He's clear about it. They were you know, this was
part of it and the perfect person throughout. So it's
a it's a really strong part of the contract. And
I think that's maybe why the ownership is so happy

(57:43):
with it. Too if you if you perform and you
get it done and you know gladly we would reward
you know. And so I think that was a real
combination of thinking that it worked out for us. That's
Brock and Salt show on Seattle Sports seven ten am.
It's like unbelievable. What does it say about Gino that
he just quadruple the salary to twenty eight million this year? Well,
what a soldier, well saying he took as there's an

(58:06):
extreme amount of insive integrity. Shout out to Derek Carr.
Shout out to the Saints, because I I've heard some
back room whispering that like the Saints coming up in
that Derek Carr move absolutely helped Gino get paid and
get this thing over all connected, So all connected? All right,

(58:27):
let's wrap it up here. The news no franchise tag
for Chiefs left tackle Orlando Brown. There's some saucy tackles
available to teams if you're looking to overpay for a
guy that's a little older but also has a track record.
Uh casey edge rusher Frank Clark also no longer connected

(58:47):
to the Chiefs. He has been released. The Bucks cut
ties with their veteran left tackle Donovan Smith. So that's
another dude out there, and the Dolphins say goodbye to cornerback.
Byron Jones, he's at least where do these various players
fall in the greggy one O one well or Lena
Brown number two overall? Man the the top one one

(59:09):
took a beating enfranchise tag deadline. Yeah, and there's been
some uh signings elsewhere too or later. Brown is now
number two overall. He'll get probably the most amount of
guaranteed money in this market. Now. I think we used
to do that, We used to try to guess. Yeah,
I think it would be because he's only twenty seven.
You're right, there are some veteran tackles out there, like

(59:30):
Mike McGlinchey. Uh. There there's some younger ones too, Juwan Taylor,
Caleb McGarry, Frank Clark. He is very inconsistent um as
a pass rusher, thirty years old. So he's down at
number sixty three Byron Jones. Nice career, but it sounds
like does not sound good that he's gonna be able
to continue playing football. Unfortunately, and now with all these

(59:52):
you know, guys that come off the list when they
get tagged and whatnot. A lot of guys are being
pushed up. So Baker, who be again at one on one?
He's got to be in what the eighties, now, nineties,
maybe low nineties, seventies maybe well, Dan Baker remains at
one on one, but you just lock him in there.
So one oh one is is more of a mindset.

(01:00:16):
It's a spiritual thing. And so it is unfair if
you're a Baker Mayfield fan that as these other players
are coming off the board. Our editor Ali Bun Purry
yes points out, are you going to be comfortable if
Mike White and Sam Darnold now pass the Baker to
sign the list because he's on this desk when Darnold passed?

(01:00:38):
Fans you have coming at you about this? H Glit
not many now, is he? I think it's something like
that where he's creepd nine spots. So we will lock
it in when free agency actually opens. But yeah, there
will be more players flying off this list. Amazing. I
love it, the one on one conundrum. Let's take a

(01:00:58):
break and wrap things up with some more lamar chatter.
All right, here we go before we say goodbye. Obviously,
did a lot of talk about Lamar Jackson in a
situation at the top of the show. But it makes
sense to talk about what teams make the most sense
to you guys in terms of where he should land

(01:01:20):
and and I'll leave it up to you guys, because
I didn't put too much into all those reports of
those teams being out, So you could certainly represent one
of those teams in a more meaningful way and pitch
Lamar on why he should join the team. Mark get
us going. I would love to see what um Shane

(01:01:41):
Stikeen and the Colts could do with Lamar Jackson. Are
representing the cults right now? Yeah, I'm representing the cults.
I think that you've got um an offensive mind who
turned jail and Hurts. We've got well, you know, the
collective we and you've got a coach that basically turned
jail and Hurts into an high flying Envy Pe candidate
and a Super Bowl quarterback and Lamar Jackson. I don't

(01:02:04):
know if like our city, Indianapolis totally feels like the
place where star players want to go necessarily compared to
like a Miami or something like that. But we have
a quarterback need and I think we've got the coach,
We've got a lot of them stray to your own
city and your pitch because this is me I find

(01:02:26):
that is just to be honest, A little little isn't
where I would call like the Circus of Stars necessarily,
But you've set some great quarterbacks that have played here,
and Lamar Jackson would be totally appreciated in Indianapolis. I
think he did the chance low after all this quarterback
wreckage that we've dealt with and Chris Ballard, who let's
be honest, like Chris, he works right down the hall.

(01:02:46):
He's got about one more chance on the quarterback front
before the whole ship sinks. Let's get this Lamar thing done.
Get Shane Styken off with a good situation at quarterback
for another. You know journeyman that you got to sell
to the press for six months, Let's do with he's
gonna help. I don't speak to them. They've got the
number four overall. Pick. I just hate when teams let

(01:03:07):
he has the number. You have the number four for all?
Guess I hate when who am I again? Shane? Just
don't don't let the cults as mistakes from the last
few years. Just change what you're gonna do you can
you imagine if Lamar was available for the Colts last
year at this time or two years ago at the time,
they would have been the team that would have gone
after him the most. But now because they've been burned

(01:03:29):
by Mat Ryan and Carson Wentz, then we have to
go with a rookie. They do have the number four
overall pick, though, so we have to see this differently. Yes,
it feels, but I mean, don't let those mistakes affect you.
And that's not Shane Stiking, by the way, about our coach,
who's got experience working with his rep for the organization.

(01:03:50):
You're a public rep, okay. I want to make amends too,
as a public rep for the New England Patriots who
drafted Sony Michelle thirty first over in the twenty eighteen
draft when all the national reporting and local were like,
you know that it doesn't quite make sense because you know,
Brady's still here, but they really love Lamar Jackson and

(01:04:11):
I was just hoping. I just felt perfect the end
of the first round and they took Sonny Michelle, who
by the way, was absolutely vital in winning their six
Super Bowl came playoff run just because the right cover
but now is the time. Now is the time to
do it. They're laying low. You know, I've been into
mac Jones. But if you have a chance to get

(01:04:33):
Lamar Jackson, I think you could find a home for
Mac Jones, maybe get some sort of pick back, and
you make it happen with Lamar. We make it happen.
We make it happen. Bill O'Brien, who would you rather
have with Lamar Jackson? Probably have like seven or eight
people thirteen, But he did coach Deshaun Watson. They're very,

(01:04:56):
very different players. But it just showed to me that
Bill O'Brien can be flexible. Whereas he went from like
Hoyer to Watson, he went kind of from Watson as
a runner to Watson much more as a pocket passer.
And I just think it would make my life more fun.
And I would just as a team REP right as
a team REP. I'm a huge fan of the Around

(01:05:17):
the NFL podcast, and I'd love to get Greg Rosenthal
back on board and bringing him Lamar. That would do it. Really.
That's interesting. He's taken a victory lap. He's now referenced
himself as a vibrant character up from the third person angle.
You're edging dangerously close to having a Neon sign behind me.
I'm a human, classic non human move right. They don't

(01:05:40):
feel like that crazy of a out of left field team.
I think they would be into it. Yeah, I'm curious. Yeah,
they hate the Ravens and that's cool, and they don't
really they respect him, but it's a rivalry. It's certainly
a rivalry with the Ravens. I guess they lose some
control here at this point, obviously Lee, but they do

(01:06:02):
ultimately have the final say about whether they want to
match a contract. Would you be comfortable traded or losing
him to an AFC rival at that level and then
having a deal with him for a decade plus potentially,
or would the Patriots? You left yourself open to these
type of situations to minecraft, you got that escrow money,
let's do it. I think the Ravens have to be

(01:06:24):
okay with the idea that someone could craft a contract
they're not going to match and they move on. I
just think that's part of this. But I don't know
if New England, I like, I kind of had I
had them on my thing too as a potential fit.
But it's like, do you think the Patriots the way
they operate, UM would dish out that kind of money
for for Lamar Jackson. I don't know. I think all
bets are off with the Patriots right now. They've been

(01:06:46):
very unpredictable. They are willing to spend on top of
the market type guys when they feel like there's a
value there. And it just feels like the end of
days in terms of balochick and things. I mean, they
freaking hired map but Trisia to be their offensive coordinat
or a year ago. Yeah, I think they're willing to
just do some things. Um. I'm a public rep, uh

(01:07:09):
front facing rep for the Atlanta Falcons, and I just
want to let everybody know, like we're just joking yesterday.
I just wanting to get people mad. We want to
get the Lamarmie fired up and cause some buzz so
that when the reports leak of us whining and dining
Lamar come out, it makes us look that much better,
like just like, oh, wow, they're playing chess. The last

(01:07:31):
Smarmie is not gonna like that. The um and listen,
sometimes you don't overthink things. We got a ton of
guap escrow out the ace. We got escrow out the ace.
You ever heard home depot? Ever heard of it? Yeah,
these are large store fronts, large stores. Go get your

(01:07:52):
lumber bit. Yeah, home Depot. It's like, oh you you
won your your You got your team because your dad
like had a good day at the racetrack. I built
home Depot literally screw drivers. Everything you need, hammers, plumbing supplies, fencing,
carpeting indoor and out, or grills would lumber deep. So

(01:08:19):
we got the escrow and we also have a head
coach who knows how to win with a mobile quarterback.
We got a nice offensive line. Uh, Mark, I know
you are a REP for a different team, but who
we got in the backfield in Atlanta. You've got a
wide ranging assortment of battlers, of maulers. I got you

(01:08:41):
a teachump, you got quarter All Patterson, and you got
is your guy. I'm not speaking about any player from
other team I've only I'm not I'm not going to
I'm not going to speak. I'm playing team rep. I'm
not Mark Sessler. Okay, fair, fair Tyler, who is that

(01:09:07):
that's noticing? I am now battling myself. Tyler Algier Bang
who averaged five point six yards per carry. Oh Kyle Pitts,
Oh h Drake London, Oh, a good offensive line. Did
I mention a week division? Did I mentioned playing in
a dome? Did I mention in playing in Hotlanta? This

(01:09:32):
is this makes too much sense to not happen. So
you can have your little Rassini reports out there. That's fine.
You could get people fired up on Twitter, you can
get the Lamarmie angry. But at the end of the day,
we are the place for this guy, and we might
not offer him two hundred and thirty five million guaranteed
or whatever, but we're gonna give him a ton of guap,

(01:09:52):
that home Depot guap, and he's he's gonna come to
us because it's too perfect. It was an interesting move
to added the gate rush to let him know we
don't we're not interested. That was the one team that
playing around the most. But they have the number eight pick.
Do you ever where you ever? You ever going to
home Depot as a kid with your dad or whatever,

(01:10:13):
and sure you just he kind of set you free
and you just start wandering around. It's kind of a
fun place to get lost in. Those aisles are like
forty yards tall. There's just all sorts of there's a
home and garden area outside. The wander out there. It
smells nice, the birds are out there. Um, it's fun.
I never did that. You never did they did. I

(01:10:33):
don't think they had what home depots in western Massachusetts. Well,
I feel like it was maybe took a while to
come out, but you're it's it's a larger version of
being taken to the hardware store when you're young. Sure
it's got that lumber smell. It's had some good time
at true value. Sure, how hardware store um, which is
the opposite, by the way, And I think Pergament was

(01:10:55):
dating myself here, But Pergament, I believe was a home
approven story in the Tri State area that I went
to a lot with Keith. The place I didn't want
to go to was Marshal's. Debbie would take me my
mom to Marshals and she would just, oh, my god,
Marshals is a discount um like clothing store. And I

(01:11:20):
would go on my it was the eighties, early nineties.
I would go on the lap around the store to
try to kill time. And by the time I got
back to where I left my mom, she was like
three feet over in the same aisle. The Marshal's trips
were forever a mom wormhole to home. Yeah. Anyway, does
anybody else, anybody else have another rep you want to

(01:11:45):
throw out there? What about one little operation here? We
are in the middle of the country. Uh. And everyone
just assumes that we're going to be parting ways with
our quarterback and just taking this guy that's played like
eighty two snaps and where everyone thinks we're set well.
Jordan Love could be sent back to any team anywhere
in reverse. And we just have Lamar Jackson as our

(01:12:07):
quarterback in green Bay. We love the idea of having
the backfield we have. We're a cold weather team. You
get Lamar Jackson as part of a run heavy offense
and our growing defense. And the green Bay Packers would
welcome Lamar Jackson after what we've been through with our
rather extra veteran quarterback of the past, you know, decade plus.

(01:12:30):
And we'll take Lamar from here and go. And I
think the Packers are this team that sits out there
is an excellent fit that's not being talked about because
we're operating. Can the Shadows can answer question? I've already
said what I need to say, But you're the team rep.
So I just want to throw it out there, Lamar.
One of the things he's dealt with for a long
time in Baltimore is like they don't know how to
properly build around him. Why would Lamar want to go

(01:12:51):
to a team that might have a worse skill group
than even the Ravens. Well, we don't see ourselves that way,
first of all, on any level. And we will do.
What we'll do is build around Lamar. I mean we
will flexibly coordinate our roster to accelerate and you know,
magnify his gifts. They might have two first round draft

(01:13:13):
picks this year after that, and that's right. I mean,
we're fully set up to build around him immediately. And
it's it's the greatest fan base in sports. He'd get
the chance to play in Lambeau and like look over
at Baltimore and say check you later. Nice move up,
Nice move by you, Ravens. All Right, I'm not a
rep from a team, I'm a rept from the NFL,
I guess. And what I would say is there's just

(01:13:34):
so many teams out there that Lamar would really juice
up that people are able to talk about it only
takes one or two. No, I'm not going anywhere. Could
be anywhere in these divisions. Could be Detroit, it could
be Minnesota. Carolina still makes a lot of sense. Tampa,
they've got a cap situation, but they certainly need a quarterback. Someone.
Someone's gonna pop up and provide a home for Lamar.

(01:13:57):
I agree. I mean, I though, you're gonna go with
Washington because what or what fan base needs a fresh
start more than the Commanders. And maybe you have a
fresh start from the top down, and then Lamar is
your quarterback and you can, finally, after decades in the wilderness,
feel like you're onto something fresh and beautiful and exciting. Um.
But yeah, that and you would stick maybe stick at

(01:14:19):
to baltiware that those two organizations don't really they don't
like each other. I will make one last team rep move,
which is h come home, Lamar. You know, we we
got a quarterback here in Miami that we're putting it
out there publicly. We do support him. We would only
come off of twa tongue of Voloa if we got

(01:14:40):
a super duper star, an MVP caliber quarterback. That's who
you are, Lamar, come home. He's a super duper star. Yeah,
he's he was an MVP, uh and he's a top
ten quarterback when he plays whenever he plays. Had some
injuries but nothing crazy. The Ravens are forty five and

(01:15:01):
sixteen with Lamar Jackson in two and eight without him
that superstar. Yes, I think he's a superstar. You said
super duper star. Okay, I'll leave it at superstar. I'm
just saying there's the one thing we haven't really talked
about today, which is like Lamar Jackson, is he a
superstar or is he a super duperstar? Because I think

(01:15:22):
that might define like whether he ever got his wish
or not? And how much do people put in? Twenty
nineteen was several years back now to injury plague seasons. Uh,
and the production wasn't extremely high. Um. I was looking
at the QBR. It was kind of a middle of
the pack guy. Last ten years, EPA per drop back

(01:15:44):
from twenty nineteen through twenty twenty two has gone from
first to fourteenth to sixteenth to twenty first. Although EPA
I have, well that's that's it seems like here's when
every time there's any critique of Lamar, it's like, yes,
but that doesn't really, that's not really valid. It's like
Lamar Jackson has missed twelve games over the last two seasons.

(01:16:07):
And all I'd say is that Baltimore, as much as
any team in the league, when Greg Roman's offense, when
it works for the first couple of years, made it
about as Lamar friendly as possible. You'd have to go
do that in Miami, where you have Tyree Hill and
Jail and Waddle. I am fully confident that would be
an extremely Lamar I think it's a great fit. But
that's I'm just saying of any of these about any quarterback,

(01:16:28):
but I just can't. I don't think you stick Lamar
Jackson to do any offense without it being Lamar was
in QBR this best season behind Jacoby Brissette. UH year
before he was seventeenth behind rookie Mac Jones UM. So
that's the only I'm certainly like. Aaron Rodgers is twenty

(01:16:48):
sixth in QBR, and I just think, using your eyes,
if super duperstars top five quarterbacks, he's not there right now.
He's not. Do I think there'd be a chance he
can get back there, certainly, but he's not there. He's
more in the six to ten rings. So I'll just
say like my final kind of thought on the situation.
And because if there is any type of backdoor conversations

(01:17:10):
going on with owners on how to handle this, you know,
that's something that needs to be brought to light. But
if you are not in that top five, should you
be getting the type of contract that is nearly unprecedented
in the league? Is that carve away conspiracy theories? Is
that partly at the heart of this No, And it
happened last year with a quarterback, right because with two

(01:17:33):
Kyler and Deshaun Watson. I mean, I'm dan, I'm with you.
I just I think that I think Lamar Jackson's a
tough long term sign. I really think that I wish
you could craft like a two year deal that like
rewards him richly for the player he is, which is
unlike any other player in the league. And I think
it would make it easier for teams. Okay, so try
some of this stuff. I don't know about two, but three,

(01:17:54):
maybe try it. Talk to him, don't cancel yourself. See
if we can creative, because it's that's the weirdest thing.
Seems like he kind of wants out of Baltimore, or
that the Ravens are ready to do this seat. See
what you can come up with. Maybe it will work,
maybe it won't. Yeah, all right, that's it. Thank you
and everybody for listening. Uh subicized edition of Around the

(01:18:15):
NFL with good reason. We'll be back, uh sooner than
you might expect with Around the AFC and forty eight
minutes with the Great Colleen Wolf Around the NFC and
forty eight minutes will follow soon after that. So a
big week and of course we are on standby. We
took Tuesday off because it was Justin's birthday, but otherwise

(01:18:36):
we are locked and loaded for whatever it may come next.
And Justin something on escrow real quick, real quick, real quick.
Nailed it. As you put the money away, Greg was
spot up. Okay, Greg, go around the Dusky. It's a
one time bit. He's a call

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