04-30-25 Hour 3 of Broncos Country Tonight

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All Bran, Maickferguson, Grant Smith here with you have five, six, six,
nine zeros.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
The text line.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
I wanted to get to a couple of different things
here about the draft Roccos Draft class, unofficial draft class,
the draft puzzle for those who are wondering, the solution
was Trevion Henderson, who would have been the pick for
the Denver Broncos if Johnny Barron, who they had graded

(00:26):
ninth overall in this class, had not been there at twenty.
They expected Miami to take him there at twelve. When
Miami didn't, they were kind of iron Arizona. When Arizona didn't,
they were like, we got to take him. They had
a deal in place with the New York Giants to
move back and they would have wound up with Travion
Henderson and Mason Taylor there at the top.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Would have been the plan in that scenario.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
So that was what the draft puzzle was about.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Do you like the fact that we got john Day
Barrett and R. J.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Harvey better than perhaps Trevion Henderson Mason Taylor, Ben.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
I won't know that until after the season is over.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
That but I just said it on a personal level.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
On a personal level, I'm gonna say yes. And here's why.
I just look at the needs that the Broncos need
to address.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Did they happen in the order by.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Which most of us, including Broncos Country, would have hoped.
Did the Broncos get the running back that most fans
were rooting for? And those and Broncos fans were kind
of split on which on which back, But you the
team addressed certain needs. They went heavy on an area

(01:40):
of the team that was more the most successful part
of last season. I know we sit here and we
talked all last season about, you know, Sean Payton, his brilliance,
the growth and maturity of bo Nicks, But a lot
of the conversation didn't slide towards the defense. Now, it

(02:02):
was maybe sporadically a player here, a player there, But
I don't believe the defense was given the amount of
credit that it should have been given. Now, it was
given a certain amount of criticism, especially after that Buffalo
Bills game, but that same criticism came when they played

(02:23):
the Cincinnati Bengals and Joe Burrow, but it wasn't a
lot of praise, Like there wasn't a lot of praise
for Riley Moss gutting it out playing in that Cincinnati
Bengals game when he was coming off of injury and
he wasn't one hundred percent. So when I look at
what the defense did last year and the Broncos flipping
their model from what they did last year in the

(02:44):
draft going offense defense, they did it differently. They went
defense offense, but it still added value and it will
assist both Sean Payton and Bonnet in the long run
because it's about building a team that you could fortify

(03:05):
through depth, and that Juday bearing Trey had a lot
to do with looking into the future as far as
what the league is going to be what it is now,
but also reflecting on the pass and saying well, when
Riley was injured. During that time that Riley was injured,
the defense really struggled. It put a lot of stress

(03:26):
on everyone on the defensive side to actually do more,
put a lot of pressure on Vance Joseph to come
up with a comprehensive plan to make sure that his
defense could go out there and get off the field.
So this move was made obviously with both Nicks in mind,
even though they chose to take a dB first and
a running back second, Yeah, you.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Know, and I think they shored up an area that
I felt like.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
They really needed to that slot corner position.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
You look last year, Ja Millen gave up four hundred
and some odd yards after the catch.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Last year, it was a problem with tackling. Baron can tackle.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
He's got positional versatility and all that kind stuff, but
he's got to can tackle and he can cover out
of the slot.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
He's got better long speed too. I think it's an upgrade.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Either one area where you kind of had a little
bit of weakness last year in the secondary. On the
front seven, I think you got beat up by teams
that are a little more physical. Buffalo and Baltimore put it
to you, you know that sort of with the two
defensive picks Jones and q those guys don't really add.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
A lot of beef to what you got there.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
Qu'es a you know, a little bit of an undersized
edge guy who was a special team's ace, so I
can sort of get behind this special teams.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
Before to that.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
But Jones is between her edge who really is more
of like a forty three right end than he is
what he's going to be for the Broncos, which is
basically a backup for John Franklin Myers. So that part
perplexed me maybe just a little bit, especially when.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
You had some beef out there that you could have taken.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
You know, there was guys like the only Walker, that
kid from Florida's four hundred and pounds or whatever.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
There were some guys that they could so that part
confused me.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
I liked this draft class overall, though people were complaining,
but I liked it.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
Yeah, but I don't think the Broncos were looking at
it in that way. Could they have said, Okay, well,
we were out physical in the Buffalo game, and there
was certain games during the season that the Broncos were
having trouble up front, So yeah, you.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Think, logically, let me go out and add some more beef.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
But I'm thinking that the team wanted to get more
athletic and they wanted to add more depth. It's like
you say, okay, well could Cibyon, I mean, could he
be a backup for John frank Lamers. There's a strong possibility.
So having that depth is important because we know the
season is a very long one and thankfully, by the

(05:53):
grace of God, the Broncos were not really beat up
as most teams were. But to add those aggressive players
and add that depth, to me, it actually helps the
team out.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
That's the way I look at it. I mean, I don't,
I don't.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
I'm not trying to view these guys as negative. It's
just like I'm trying to see the vision. I sort
of get it with Q because the special teams I
get that, right, you lost Treymon Smith. You need some
some special teams guys that that are special teams theass.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
Ye, But let's be totally honest.

Speaker 3 (06:23):
I mean, turve me on Smid what what what value
did he really give to you from a special.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
Teams the kind of a stot on special teams man
kind of you know, with down the may tackles he was.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
He was a guy that wasn't afraid to mix. He
was on every thing. You lost him.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
So now you've added Sherfield, you know, to sort of
be some of that. And and I think having Q
in there was a guy who was Nick Saban called
him one of the best special teams players that Alabama had.
You know, I think there's value in that. So I
sort of get that from that perspective. Although I think
drafting guys solely for special teams is not something you

(06:58):
you want to get in the habit of most.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
But the Jones picked to me. Love the player, loved
the interview we did. We talked to him on the
following after he got drafted. Love the interview. But as
I'm looking at this guy, I'm like, where does he fit?

Speaker 1 (07:10):
We are we having a philosophical shift in what we
do on defensive We switch into it even front because
it doesn't feel like that this guy fits unless that's
what you're doing. Maybe I'm wrong on that. This is
always why I say you got to see the vision.
But as I look at that, I'm like, I don't
this one doesn't like the hair on the back of
my neck is like, Okay, I'm missing something here.

Speaker 3 (07:31):
But see, that's the brilliant part of it is that
we don't know why they're thinking inside the building, and
I'm just gonna approach it from this standpoint, always looking
at what the team did last year and then what
the team was incapable of doing on either side of
the ball. There's gonna be subtle tweaks here and there.

(07:52):
You gotta get your Phillips screwdriver if you will, If
you advanced Jose with Sean Payne, you're gonna make You're
gonna tighten the bolt here, You're gonna loosen it up
a little here. And this is where I look at
those players who they're bringing in. Doesn't mean as though
the same thing you ran offensively last year or defensively,
you have to do the same thing. And I'm like, no,
I mean, because that's kind of the mark of insanity,

(08:14):
is it not doing the same thing and expecting a
different outcome. You have to do something that you've never
done before, just kind of switching it up, doing things
a little different. Now, there's gonna be some similar things
that we saw that Dancer's done over his career and
Sean has done over their career. But once again, to

(08:34):
break that book that everyone has on each one of
those guys, you gotta do something a little different. It's
this is why I love what Jacksonville did right. They
drafted Travis Hunter. It's a conversation whether he was going
to play both sides or one over the other.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
They said, hell, we got a player, go play, We'll
figure it out. We'll figure it out.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
And they are rolling the dice and sometimes been and
you know this as a guy who you know, you
got the parlay's going, you had twenty one part. You
know at some point you got to roll the dice
to get to get that reward.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yeah, I mean you have to take chances, you know,
in order to do that kind of star.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
But that was one of the ones.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
Like I liked the Pat Bryant pick when I got
a chance to go back and look at I mean,
at the time, I'm like who, But then I got
a chance to go.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
Back and take a look at him, Like, dude, it's
a baller. Man, he's a baller and he had a
bum at quarterback.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
That's where he's needing to put up the numbers that
you know that everybody else was putting up. If that
dude had played at LSU, are, played at Colorado or
played it, that dude would have easily had fifteen hundred
yards receiving it, probably closer than fifteen touchdowns.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
See this is where scouts really earn their keep because
every year we hear about the top twenty five guys
who are projected to go in the first round. But
it's it's that that mid to late round picks where
you make your money.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
You are fishing, you're searching.

Speaker 3 (09:55):
You're pulling all these stories about guys who are not
household names. But then you look once again, what do
you do in your scheme? What do you hang your
hat on at the end of the day. And Sean
said that and that it was like the biggest conversation
when the season was over.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
The Broncos running game. And everyone talks about the.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
Running game, and they they only skim the surface because
they talk about the offensive line and the running backs.

Speaker 2 (10:23):
They don't talk about the scheme to play calling.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
But also blocking on the perimeter, because that's the first
thing I thought. If your run game isn't on track,
there are certain several factors that you add into the mix.
But Alex gives voice was in the back of my
head saying, okay, well, you you need to have tight
ends that block, You need to have wide receivers that
block on the edge, right, because those are extensions of

(10:46):
the run game. When Terrell Davis or when I played
when Clinton porters, it was a outside zone. He breaks
around the corner, right, he expected an McCaffrey and Rob
Smith to do their jobs down the field.

Speaker 2 (11:01):
Right, it's the downfield.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
Blocking that helps extend that run after contact and if
Sean Payton is talking about the run game, the run game,
the run game, you bet your backside you better have
receivers on the perimeter who are about that life and
who's trying to block.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
And he is definitely that guy.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yes, And I think he adds to the room in
the sense that he's going to bring an edge. He's
going to bring an attitude that.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
You heard what he said, Yeah, we were man, and
that's call. I was like, all right, let's go right now.
This is God. But I'm just saying like he does.
He brings something I think that this room doesn't have.

Speaker 1 (11:35):
I don't think the Broncos receiving or really has that
same edge, and I don't think they've had it since
Tim Patrick's been gone.

Speaker 3 (11:40):
And you are absolutely right, and to say that doesn't
to mean to disparage any of those guys. But at
the same time, you have to possess a certain type
of attitude first and foremost to play this game.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
But to be out there.

Speaker 3 (11:55):
On the perimeter and being a wide receiver, you definitely
have to. It's like for me, say whatever you want
to say about Deebo Sammy's but he runs and he
plays physical like he's a linebacker and he takes it
as a slight when he doesn't make a hit on
the guy. These are the type of guys who you
who you want on your team. Like another guy and

(12:17):
Kwan Bolden when he played, he was one of those guys.
He's gonna come dig you out. And I hate to
say it because I really don't like this guy, but
his hinz war right, I really don't like him, the
cheap cheap shot war but even his cheap shots, he
was like, well, he's coming to bring the pain, right,
And you want someone who had that, who has that

(12:39):
mentality playing on your team as a wide receiver. That's
what they call unselfish play, right. I speak of it
in this way because I watched Rod Smith and Ann
McCaffrey do it so much. They didn't really care about
their catches, the yards and all of that. They were like, look,
I'm out here, it's a toss play. I got to

(13:01):
make sure that my guy is not in the frame.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
Yeah, And that's I think he's going to be one
of those guys. And and it'll be interesting to see
what he is able to contribute in year one as well.
I don't know how much pap brin will contributed. Receivers
tend to contribute more year too. Like you're one to
get the feet wet, they tend to contribute more year
to We'll see how that goes. Jack the Jaguars. By
the way, the Jacksonville Jaguars, there was some reporting out

(13:26):
there today for multiple different places. First of all, if
our tight end loner the basketball player had not been
drafted by the Broncos there in the seventh round, the
Colts were going to come at him with a giant
free agent bonus to bring him in. So just something
on the tight end there. And then on RJ. Harvey
and Pat bryan our second and third round picks, the

(13:46):
Jacksonville Jaguars wanted both. They were they were, they were
primed to take both those guys with their next picks.
And the Broncos must have had some intel or knew
something nobody else did, and we're able to get both
those guys before other teams did. The Jaguars were very
big on Archie Harvey and Pat Bryant. Now, obviously they
got a chance to see Argie Harvey up close and
personal there Jackson Build because he was the Central Florida

(14:07):
But Pat Bryant was somebody that they coveted.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
They were gonna bring him in.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
He was gonna be the other part of that receiving
duo that they brought in with Travis Hunter to be
part of the new lineup going up there for Trevor Lawrence.
So kind of interesting stuff as other players were indeed
coveted by other.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
Teams, because when you start to build a team, you
did not just look for just positional needs, right, You
look for guys who were cut from a certain cloth.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
I mean, when we were doing the draft, we.

Speaker 3 (14:34):
Started to I think you were the first person to
pick up on it that a lot of the guys
that the Broncos were bringing in with those first couple
of picks, they were team captains, right, and they brought
The Broncos signed a free agent linebacker out of Utah,
Kareeine Reid. You know, guess what, He was a team

(14:54):
captain for about two or three years at Utah.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
They love those guys, They love those guys that are
multi year team captains.

Speaker 3 (15:00):
Love that here and the reason you love it because
it's part of building the culture, not just the culture
on the field, but the culture that's sustainable in the
locker room.

Speaker 2 (15:11):
When when you talk about culture, there was.

Speaker 3 (15:13):
No better culture than when I was here in my
five years with the Denver Broncos. And I'm saying culture,
but the word was standard around the building.

Speaker 2 (15:24):
That's what it was.

Speaker 3 (15:25):
So that the Broncos are trying to I would say,
stick to that tradition and bring in those high caliber
type of players with high characters.

Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah, and that's that's what they've done, and that's what
they're they're betting on at work. When we come back,
we'll have the nfols expect right here on Brocos Country tonight.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
Benjamin ol Bright, Nick First and Grad Smith here with
you five six, six nine Zeres. The text line, we're
gonna have Zach Seekers. It was for an NFL expect.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
It's time for the NFL trained the last year at
insight and inside information you can't find anywhere else.

Speaker 3 (16:05):
No.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
Six the top six NFL headline.

Speaker 4 (16:08):
What the twenty twenty five NFL Draft is now behind
us and Kirk Cousins still with the Atlanta Falcons as
they weren't able to move him. Falcons GM Terry Fontano
said during a Tuesday radio interview that they've talked to
several teams six to seven. He said since the draft,

(16:30):
and the Falcons are remaining patient and not looking to
move kirk Cousins at this.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
Time until they find the right deal.

Speaker 4 (16:37):
How likely do you think it is that kirk Cousins
stays in Atlanta for this upcoming season and which teams
do you think are reaching out to.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
The Falcons about his availability. I think there's several teams
that are doing that.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
I think the Steelers are one that has to sort
of do that with the Roger stuff, you know, sitting
where it is, although I don't think he wants to
play in that offense. The thing about kirk Cousins, He's
got a no trade class, so kirk Cousins is going
to be deciding.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
Where Kirk Cousins is, you know, at the end of
the day.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
And so if he wants to go to Cleveland, I mean,
they've got a bunch of young quarterbacks. Now you could
see one headed back Atlanta's way maybe in that sort
of deal.

Speaker 2 (17:14):
On the other side of that.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
It's sort of a limited market, like where are you
gonna send kirk Cousins at this point. It's a really
limited market. So I don't know. I don't think he
wants to be in Atlanta, and so by virtue of that,
I'll say that.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
He won't be and we'll see where it goes better.
I'm going to cut to the chase and say, hell nah.

Speaker 3 (17:34):
And the reason I'm going to say that looking at
the way that Kirk Cousins played last year eighteen touchdowns,
sixteen interceptions.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
You watched the.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
Game last year when he played against the Denver Broncos.
So Kirk Cousins is pretty much the shell of himself.
Any team that's looking for Kirk Cousins to add to
their roster needs to be a team of an offense
that he's familiar with. So that means that you got
to go down on the Mike Sanahan coaching tree and say, well,

(18:03):
who could use it? And the Minnesota Bikens, well, they
run a similar offense. I mean, they're not going to
bring him in because they have JJ McCarthy. So the
window was closing for Kirk Cousins, and the fact that
the Falcons paid him an observed amount.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Of money was gonna eat that contract.

Speaker 4 (18:19):
Yeah, I think it's really uncomfortable to move off him,
which is why I wonder if maybe you know Now
that they've traded that first round draft pick, it seems
like coaching staff maybe the GM.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
Are in a bit of a desperate position.

Speaker 4 (18:30):
Do they just keep him so they you know, if
Michael PENNOCKX, who's had some injury troubles throughout college, if
he does go down, you have a backup who knows
the offense has been around, and maybe it gives you
somewhat of a higher floor. But to your point, he
was really really rough at the end of last season.

Speaker 3 (18:45):
You know, he will make this thing really interesting. You
mentioned the Browns and the Falcons. Would they trace the
doors in Atlanta?

Speaker 2 (18:52):
Where I was going with that too. Let's trying to
lay the groundwork on that. You know, you worked out trade.

Speaker 1 (18:58):
He grabbed two young quarterbacks you only really wanted to
be developed in one. You move one of those in
the in the swap Wiker cousins of White up Cut
and Joe Flacco.

Speaker 4 (19:05):
But then doesn't that give the Falcons the exact same
problem where they've got two young quarterbacks but only want
to develop one.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
In their particular case, I think that would be wise.
They're you know, they're a young group.

Speaker 2 (19:17):
That's there.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
I mean, fond notes, maybe a little shaky, but if
you're not any danger of firing Raheem more anytime soon?

Speaker 2 (19:23):
Two more sorry.

Speaker 4 (19:26):
Speaking of yeah, not Raheem Moore traumas favorite NFL Speaking
of the Atlanta Falcons. The NFL announced today that they
are finding the franchise two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
and Jeff Olbrick, their defensive coordinator, one hundred thousand dollars
after Olbrick's son, Jack's prink college Shador Sanders on Draft night,

(19:48):
what do you make of the punishment against Jack's or
I should say, Jeff, and do you think more needs
to be done?

Speaker 1 (19:55):
I don't get the fine on the Falcons. I get
the fine on Jeff Ulbridge. I think Jackson needs to
be suspended from any NFL activities for two years.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
I mean that includes going to games, parties, events whatever.

Speaker 1 (20:08):
He knowingly a twenty one year old man knowingly got
on his father's iPad, took a number that did not
belong to him, or several numbers, depending on if you.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
Believed the tyler ward and the other stuff that.

Speaker 1 (20:19):
Didn't belong to him, and proceeded to record calling this
guy for cloud on TikTok it's this sensitive information.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
There was other information in there that was sensitive.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
I think something needs to happen to the kid in
terms of like banning him from NFL.

Speaker 2 (20:32):
Stuff for a little while.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
As far as Jeff Helpriscoe one hundred thousand dollars, that's
a pretty big fine that guy we were talking about earlier,
I'd be whipping on a hundred thousand dollars worth of
the backside, you know, and then some.

Speaker 2 (20:43):
Mama, please, mama, please stop. That's exactly what would.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
Happen in my household if I had put my family
in this particular situation. It is sad, it's unfortunate, and
I feel a little different unlike Ben.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
Yes, you find land of foucause.

Speaker 3 (21:00):
Why because the defensive coordinator works for the team. It
was his computer, right, How did his son get the
cold to open the computer in the first place. That
is something that's within question. But for me, Ben said, well,
keeping him away from all NFL events, that's not going
to teach him a lesson, because I don't think he
was probably going to all those NFL events anyway. Now,

(21:23):
if you could find the kid, I would definitely find
him if I am his father, and that would teach
him a lesson, because you have to set president from
anyone trying to do this in the future.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
You have to make sure there's going to be a hempty.

Speaker 3 (21:37):
Fine pay for someone inside outside of the NFL organization.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah, they made an example of him.

Speaker 4 (21:42):
Josh McDaniels was fined fifty thousand dollars when he got
caught spine on opponents and this is double that. And
you know there's inflation and everything that goes into that.
But absolutely made an example of him. I wonder if, yeah,
they should do more, especially considering how widespread this seems
to be this year.

Speaker 3 (22:00):
Well how about this, I say this as it becomes
we look at NFOD drafts from heroing out. I mean,
why don't they do it like on like a video screen, right,
you just doll it up. You give guys a certain
codes and here's a video screen. If you get an
alert and it pops up, boom, that's legit. That's a team.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
Yeah, you could do it on zoom or something.

Speaker 4 (22:18):
And then also that way you can tell, Okay, this
is just some college kid in a dorm room and
not you know, Mickey Loomis or whoever it may be.

Speaker 3 (22:24):
You can work it through league sponsors, because the sponsor
through Microsoft.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
There you go three.

Speaker 4 (22:32):
Speaking of the prank call saga, Adam Schefter reported today
that Abdul Carter was also prank called on Draft Day,
with his prank caller pretending to be Jacksonville Jaguars GM
James Gladstone. Do you think that this is also connected
to the old Brick kid or is this just a
coincidental prank call situation.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
I don't know the answer to that.

Speaker 1 (22:55):
I don't speculate on that, but if it is connected
to the kid, I think it speaks to again a
larger problem of you know, wanting some degree of notarioty,
your attention from from those kinds of things.

Speaker 2 (23:05):
People have said to me, They're like, well, it's crank calls.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
We used to have puppets making crank calls as a
TV show.

Speaker 2 (23:11):
How is this a crime? And I'm like, well, that
was the comedy arena.

Speaker 1 (23:14):
It's a little bit different if it's the Jerky Boys
or roy D Mercer. When you know your friends have
set you up for a comedy thing versus somebody who
is not trying to be funny, trying to be malicious
and trying to you know, try to.

Speaker 2 (23:28):
Profit off of that, so wild, wildly.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
Different setups and scenarios as far as the rest of
this goes, we got to find a way to do
a little bit better about securing these numbers, and you
know on drafting.

Speaker 3 (23:38):
Yeah, jerky boys, I definitely remember those guys.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
And the crank calls.

Speaker 3 (23:43):
But this is one of those calls that you definitely
don't want to make on a date that a guy's
been waiting on his life to hear his name called
and getting that phone call and anyone decides to make
it about them, that's very tough. But me definitely has
a crack down on this, and they had to make
sure that this doesn't happen moving forward.

Speaker 4 (24:00):
It feels like they should be able to figure out
who made these other calls and if it was connected
to Oldbrick then maybe and the Falcons, maybe that find
needs to be up further. Either way, I feel like
they should comment on who did this because they should
be able to track it down. I mean, the guys
have the numbers that called them. Yeah, this should be
something that they'll get.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
To the bottom of eventually. Be poor.

Speaker 4 (24:21):
New York Jets quarterback and twenty twenty four fifth round pick.
Jordan Travis was the star quarterback of that FSU team
that almost made the playoffs last season before he went
down with a brutal leg injury. Has decided to retire
from the league after he was medically advised to do
so as his rehab connected to that leg injury wasn't
going as planned. This was just two days after Pittsburgh

(24:43):
Steelers' safety Ryan Watts also retired after being medically advised
to do so because of issues with his neck. Are
you surprised to see these players retire so soon after
being drafted and are there any selections from this draft
with medical red flags.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
Of a similar verity? Am I surprised? No?

Speaker 1 (25:03):
I mean there's guys like we had a Niners player
that retired, the linebacker I think retired after one season
or whatever.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
Things like that. Chris Portland.

Speaker 1 (25:13):
Yeah, if you get if you get to the point
where you know you're medically unable to go, you're medically
unable to go, and maybe you need to step away
from that and you can always try to come back
to the game later, but take the retirement, get yourself right,
get yourself healthy, and you get your whole life ahead.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
You don't.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
Don't sit out there and try to rush a rehab
like Travis Culta jets out by the way, uh and
and try to get yourself back for something that you
know may or may not be best for you long term.

Speaker 3 (25:36):
This is tough for a lot of those kids who
grew up like I did, wanting to play professional sports,
and then the moment you get there, now someone's selling
because they do a thorough injur report on you that
you can't because of your neck or in the case
of travi Is, I mean, just getting injured in college
football when he was having a sensation of season and

(25:58):
to now know that the doctors recommend that he stopped playing.
I mean, I understand why he's doing it. It's about
like been talking about life after football, but has got
to be tough for him to know that he can
no longer do something that he grew up dreaming of doing.

Speaker 4 (26:13):
Yeah, and a fifth round pick, you know, even after
such a devastating knee injury and I'm assuming concerning medical
report at the combine and when teams were checking in
on him, and still went in the fifth round, So
you have to think he would have gone, you know,
maybe fun day two if he didn't have that really
unfortunate injury. Five, A few days after Brandon Bean's wide

(26:36):
receiver focused rant on Buffalo Radio, the Bills have signed
Elijah Moore, formerly of the Browns and the Jets, to
a one year deal. Do you think Buffalo's wide receiver
group enough is good enough to compete for a Super Bowl?
As Brandon being argued in his rant? And do you
think Moore will finally live up to his billing as
a top thirty five.

Speaker 1 (26:55):
Selection in Buffalo? Well, I mean the pressure is off
of him. There got Kean Coleman, Josh Palmer, Khalil Shakir,
Curtis Samuel. I mean they've had that roster, by the way,
older receivers they've got. They've got something like, uh hush,
it feels like fifteen receivers right now on that roster.
Let's see Coleman, Palmer, Shakir, Cayden Prather. They just drafted uh,

(27:18):
Leige Moore, Curtis Saguel. They've got Jalen Verger and kJ
Hamler formerly broncos Leviiska, Channel Formuli Ceu, Tyrol Shavers, Hal Presley,
Stephen Gusnell, and Kelly KARIYAYI, so you got You've got
thirteen receivers on the roster right now. I think the
pressure is off of him. I don't know if he's
gonna live up to you know, expectation or whatever. But

(27:40):
in Buffalo, you'll get opportunities. You're not gonna you're not
gonna get value, you're not gonna.

Speaker 2 (27:45):
Force fed, but you'll get opportunities.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
Me Loki, the Buffalo Bill's had one of the better
receiving groups in the league because even though a lot
of those guys will not household names, they understood their
roles and that's what made and the offense go, each
individual guy understanding their role in those guys being unselfish.
But it also helps when you got a mobile quarterback

(28:08):
like Josh Allen, who's going to change those on angles
and as long as you can find aselves spot of defense,
he's going to deliver the ball. So, I mean, the
Bills have a pretty decent group and I expect for
them to be right there at the very end of
the season at twenty twenty five.

Speaker 4 (28:24):
I agree, And Khalil Shakir I think really emerged last
year did and I like the Elijah Moore signing because
I think they are similar archetypes of receivers. How their
short area quickness is so strong, great separators and you know,
gives you a little insurance in case you LuSE Shakir
one of the most valuable players on that offense.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
Yeah, sick.

Speaker 4 (28:43):
Surprisingly, today, the Baltimore Ravens declined to pick up star
center Tyler Linderbaum's fifth year option, making him the best
player from the twenty twenty two class to have his
option rejected by you best one by a wide margin.
Evan Neil, Kenyon Green, Shahan dotts In, Treylon Burks, Trevor Penning,
Kenny Pickett some of the other names that didn't have

(29:04):
their fifth year option picked up. Why do you think
the Ravens declined the fifth year option for one of
their better offensive linemen, Well, they.

Speaker 1 (29:12):
Already picked up one fifth year option they picked up
on the defensive side. Dan and Kyle Hamilton's I think
that's part of it. I think you know what to
pigeonhole yourself into, you know, into certain you know certain things,
so I you know, I don't think this is a
reflection of Linderbomb per se, although not getting your fifth
year option picked up.

Speaker 2 (29:29):
Generally does tend to motivate.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
You know, people tend to have good best years in
contract years, right, So you know, as far as that
kind of stuff goes, I don't think it's a it's
a reflection on him, but I do think that, uh,
they just when you have multiple, you know, fifth year options,
you got to pick up Sometimes that's a lot.

Speaker 2 (29:45):
There was one team didn't the Jets pick up three?
I think? Am I wrong on that?

Speaker 4 (29:50):
I do believe they picked up multiple with Ahmed Ahmad
Gardner and Garrett Wilson, oh Andrew mainj Anson.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
They've ranged up three yeah, three first, Yeah, the Jets
to be the rare thing of picking up three. The
Ravens don't have that kind of cap space flexibility, And that's.

Speaker 2 (30:02):
Really what this is at the end of the day.

Speaker 3 (30:04):
I think also the other thing that goes into it
is that how you view of the guys on your
roster and sometimes is the beauty is an added beholder.
Maybe there's something about men and moms that maybe they
didn't really like they were holding that. He came along
as far as development a lot faster, and we see
this happen with a lot of teams, and for me,

(30:24):
It seemed like a bad thing for the player, but
he now he has an opportunity to go out there
and play his tail off and then maybe end up
with another team making more money.

Speaker 4 (30:34):
I also think this is a result of a bit
of the problem and how the NFL is now structuring
these fifth year options. They're doing it by position, which
I do think is good. It's letting quarterbacks and wide receivers,
offensive linemen, cornerbacks make the money they should be making,
But it lumps all the offensive linemen together, you know,
guard tackles and centers.

Speaker 2 (30:53):
Not cost effective to pick up a fifth year option
with center.

Speaker 4 (30:56):
Absolutely, especially when he's made two Pro Bowls, which Pro
Bowls are an escalator in this factor. His fifth year
option was the most expensive of anyone in his draft class,
which I don't know, it's just very surprising to me.

Speaker 1 (31:11):
Yeah, it's just it's just how you structure a roster.
You just don't want to do that for a center.
They'll come back and they'll look at them before year deal.

Speaker 2 (31:16):
You know, thanks, you're more of the story, are you thinking?

Speaker 3 (31:18):
In terminology of the NFL, they're not trying to pay
you more money.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
They don't have to bro right, that's trying to do it.

Speaker 4 (31:25):
Yeah, the fifth year option, just the fifth year option
price for him would have made him the highest paid
center in the league by a wide margin. So just
I'm sure they'll probably bring him back, but just didn't
want to pay that margeted price.

Speaker 1 (31:36):
Yeah, I think, Uh, like I said, end of the day,
when you have some of these, like the Petting thing
is like, hey, show us, that's like the one where
you know when Garret Foles didn't get his fifth year
option picked out. That's what the Trevor Petting thing is
for the Saints. But the linen bomb thing is really
just about cost effectiveness.

Speaker 2 (31:51):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (31:51):
Some of these other ones, I mean, Dotson, that one
should be obvious. Why you're not treylt Burke, same thing,
I should be obvious cand he pick it. Nobody's picking
up those those things at those numbers.

Speaker 4 (31:59):
So yeah, I think the only other surprising one remotely
surprising were like Devin Lloyd and cool Strange.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
But you know you haven't gotten a lot out of
those guys right right right now, I'm I'm with you
on that.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
I think at the end of the day, you've just
got to find a way that you got to find
what's cost effective, and that kind of thing you could pick.
If you can pick up the fifthye options to cost effective,
you go for it.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
If not, you know, we're not.

Speaker 4 (32:22):
Also kind of further decentivized draft and centers and guards
maybe in the first round.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
And that's one of those things.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
I think people are starting to play that game where
they do that but create some.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
Marketing efficiency and make some of those other things more vital.

Speaker 1 (32:34):
So Ronco's country to Nypersts, EECT will be back after this.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
I'd be whipping one hundred thousand dollars for the backside. Mama, please, mama,
please stop