On today’s episode, Jason discusses why it’s clear that the Cleveland Browns are tanking the upcoming season after trading 2x Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, how the addition of Garrett makes the Los Angeles Rams the heavy Super Bowl favorites this season, what – if any – weaknesses exist on the Rams roster after landing Garrett, why the Philadelphia Eagles should still be the class of the NFC East after trading away disgruntled Pro Bowl wide receiver AJ Brown, and why the addition of Brown is unlikely to stop the New England Patriots from backsliding in 2026.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntire.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up Fire Fire? HiT's me Jason McIntyre, Straight
Bowyer for Tuesday, June the second. I forgot what day.
It was momentary lapse because I'm so shook by what
what down in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
On Monday.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
We will take a break from the NBA on the podcast.
We will resume tomorrow. We've got a great guest coming
up the previou the NBA Finals. Nick Spurs. Haven't made
an official pick, but if you listen to the podcast
interview we do with the gentleman who's on tomorrow's show,
you will know where I'm going. And I think it's
a mild surprise. But I gotta say, folks, I mean
(00:51):
absolute shock from this movie that I saw Sunday with
my son back rooms. Did I talk about that on
the pod yesterday? I totally forgot if I did or
did not. I don't think I did. But it is
a weird movie, one of those like you come out
and you have all these questions. I've got to like
google stuff and look it up. It's crazy. I don't
know if I recommend it. I can't give it the
full endorsement. It's certainly not as good as the Euphoria
(01:15):
Season three. Other Euphoria Season three was phenomenal. Besides that,
you know, sixty percent of it took place in a
strip club and Sidney Sweeney is in various stages of
undressed throughout as an OnlyFans model. Yeah, it's I highly
recommend it. Obviously, the first two seasons were troubling and traumatic,
but season three was a little It took a while.
(01:36):
I think it was like three years from their high
school days. Highly recommend it. Interesting show, just different, dark,
weird at anyway. You know what else is weird is
that Miles Garrett got traded two months after I said
he was gonna get shipped. Do you remember this, I've
got to ask guys. It was leading up to the
(01:58):
NFL Draft in April. He gets his contract reworked. They're like, huh,
guy's coming off a best season and he had dressers
had in the history of the sport, and he gets
his contract. We worked what's that about? And instantly I thought, Okay,
they're gonna trade Garrett Garrett for AJ Brown line it up.
Set it off, boom done deal. But the problem is
(02:18):
AJ Brown would do nothing for the Cleveland Browns because
that is the equivalent of and I'm sure you've seen
that meme of some guy who has like a Ferrari
parked in his car port and is like eight hundred
square foot you know, cottage, and he's got a car
that's worth more than the house. You know, you don't
(02:38):
put aj Brown on the Cleveland Browns. That does nothing. Now,
Shador would love him, Deshaun Watson would love him, but
it didn't make sense. So Miles Garrett, everybody got winned.
On Monday morning, something was going on because the reporter
in Cleveland, Mary kay Cabot, was onto this, well, Miles
Garrett could get traded in. It was like what and
(02:59):
then she goes to this Cleveland golf thing and interviews
the coach and he the new guy, says, yeah, I
had no assurances that Miles Garrett be on the roster
when I took this job. So I was like, oh,
and then what next thing? You know, he's going to
the La Rams. Miles Garrett going to the La Rams
(03:19):
in exchange for Jared Verse and multiple draft picks. It's
it seems like a win win trade. I'll kind of
break it down, but I don't see this as a
loss at all for the Rams. Here the picks they
get in return are a twenty seven first round pick
which will probably be bottom five, a second round pick
(03:39):
in twenty eight, and a third in twenty twenty nine.
So three picks. Oh and by the way, they get
Jared Verse, one of the best young pass rushers in
the league. And you know, I know the Jared Verse
sack numbers don't line up with you know, his pressure.
He's one of these guys who's able to generate a
ton of pressure, but he's I don't want to say
(03:59):
he's not closer. He's just unable to close the gap,
so to speak, and get the sacks. Pro Football Focus
had him as the as a rookie, the seventh best
ed rusher and as a second year guy fourteenth best
ed rusher. He is twenty five years old. He turns
twenty six this fall. He will obviously get paid by
the Browns when it's when he's ready, you know, when
(04:22):
he's up for his contract versus a very good player.
But ultimately, well, let's let's just knock out the Browns
while we're here. I don't think they're going anywhere. I
think everybody would agree with me. I don't know how
the hell they won five games last year. Absolute luck,
I mean, whatever you want to call it. They're not
a good football team. They have issues everywhere, and as
(04:45):
a result, you know, you could make the case that
they're playing the Jets game. They're saying, let's forget about
the quarterback for now. Let's go out and get every
piece we can, get a bunch of good players, get
a bunch of picks in the future, and let's just
you know, we'll wait, We'll be patient.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
On the quarterback.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
We tried out Watson, we tried out Shudure. It doesn't
really matter, right, We're gonna lose a bunch of games.
But we've got all this young talent. And you look
on the roster and they've actually got a bunch of
good players. Obviously Denzel Ward had not didn't have a
great season, but he's very good. They like the wide
receiver conceptsi Oe right, You've got fannin the tight end
who's very promising, obviously, versus a stud Schweschinger. The linebacker
(05:27):
I think I got his name wrong from UCLA was
a monster last year. They like Mason Graham in the
middle of the defensive line, the top ten pick out
of Michigan, Like, they've got a lot of guys. This
is a team with a pretty good roster. What they
don't have as a quarterback, obviously that's gonna hold them back.
But it doesn't matter because next year's draft is a
loaded quarterback class. So ultimately, I think this is a
(05:50):
fine trade for the Browns, Like, what are you doing
with Miles Garrett? You're not going anywhere? Even if everything
breaks right, you catch every break in the world. You
go six and zero in one score games. Maybe maybe
you win seven games, you go seven to ten. That's
like the ultimate pie in the sky. I mean, I'll
(06:11):
give you one more eight and nine, but doesn't matter.
What does that do for you? That puts you in
the middle, which gets you nowhere in the NFL, nowhere
closer to a quarterback. You ain't getting some free agent.
You're not trading for Matt Stafford like the Rams did.
It's not happening, guys. So now, if you look at
the twenty twenty seven first round, which again for the
seven hundredth time, is loaded, Dallas has Green Bays pick
(06:37):
from the Micah Parses deal. The Jets have Indianapolis first
round pick from the Sauce Gardener trade. That's a huge
bargaining chip. Although I will say Daniel Jones was like
actually seen on a practice field moving around. I know
that's totally different to playing in the NFL, but I
thought you would be out at least the half the season.
(06:57):
But maybe it's just the first four. We'll see. And
then the Jets have Dallas his first round pick in
the Quinn Williams deal. So yes, as a Jets fan,
I'm a huge fan of anybody playing the Colts and
anybody played the Cowboys. The Browns having the Rams first
round pick, again, it's probably in the thirty to thirty
two range, but with this deal. And again I think
(07:17):
that's I just said. Of five minutes about the Cleveland Browns,
it's about all they're going to get on the podcast
this year. They're just not good. And I don't care
about Shadoor Sanders versus Deshaun Watson. That's not a quarterback
battle that moves the needle. Although shout out to Shador
for getting seventeen million dollars and whatever some kind of
like merch collectibles apparel. I don't even know what it was.
I just saw he's the highest paid quarterback in that
(07:41):
in whatever that list was. People love shed Door, Sanders cool.
More power to them.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
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listen live.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Let's get to the Rams, who actually matter. What a
trade I mean, I instantly once you caught win that
Garrett was on the move before the trade was announced,
you kind of knew, Okay, it's probably gonna be a contender.
So I narrowed it down to they're not gonna ship
(08:20):
it to a contender in the AFC. I think they'll
send him to the NFC. So I took Flyers to
win the Super Bowl on Lions, Bears, and Rams, three
teams that I thought would make a big swing, and
it went to the Rams. But I only got them
like plus seven oh two. You know that those aren't
great odds. Anything happens to Stafford, it's over. But I
(08:46):
definitely think this is a team that should open number
one in every power rankings. I think you could make
a credible case they've had the best off season of anybody,
adding Trent McDuffie and Garret Are you kidding me? And
I'm not even gonna put in the Ty Simpson Quarterback
of the future nonsense. I don't think he's that guy, because,
(09:10):
as I said on the Herd yesterday, I'm of the
belief the Rams are all in because they are gonna
go win the super Bowl. It's so far Stafford, I'm
gonna hang him up, go out with the super Bowl.
Doesn't get much better than that. John always the last
to do that. And I think McVeigh, who you know
every single off season, is rumored to go to Amazon
or something. I think mcpage just says, you know what,
(09:31):
I'm good. I'm gonna take some time off, hang with
the family. He's got the wife, the kids and just chill.
Maybe he does some TV, maybe he does a podcast.
I don't freaking know. But what is he He don't
have to work, He's got a lot of money. He
will have two rings and he could get He's still
in his forty so he could easily take five years
off and come back, right. I don't know how mcveagh's wired.
(09:51):
He seems like the kind of guy who is gung ho.
But remember it, every off season, he's rumored to go
and he's not doing that every off season. Hey, I
might go to Amazon or with Netflix wherever he's doing that,
because you know, he's probably sick of coaching guys, these grinders.
It just wears them down. But he's got a stack
team and I don't see who's better than them on paper.
Obviously football is not played on paper. But the book
(10:13):
on Garrett. I didn't realize this. He's only thirty years old.
He's still pretty young now. Thirty, of course, was when TJ.
Watt started to fall apart physically and his stats declined.
Now they're saddled with, you know, the big Watt contract
and he's not delivering like he used to. But Garrett
is on a different level than him right now. Defensive
Player of the Year two of the last three years,
(10:35):
five of the last six seasons, first team All Pro.
I mean, folks, you're going from hey, her verskin wreak
havoc on the end to holy smokes, how do we
game plan from Miles Garrett?
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Like?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
You will have to game plan for him in the
postseason period. You can't go into a game without a
game plan for Miles Garrett, Like specifically you need one
for him. And when you talk McDuffie, I mean, let's
look at this right now. You match up against Seattle,
jsn's in the slot a lot. McDuffie's an elite slot cornerback.
(11:13):
I mean two years ago he was third best grated
out quarterback and corner of Pro Football Focus. Three years
ago he was fourth. Last year, the defense had no
pass rush, the defense was terrible, and he felt to
like fourteenth. But they are now built to go after
San Francisco. I'm sorry Seattle, well San Francisco too, but
I did see that they sacked Darnold three times in
(11:34):
that NFC championship game. They got after him. I think Garrett, though,
takes it to the next level. I mean, all of
his advanced stats, this guy is an absolute menace. And
to put him on the defensive line, I mean, folks,
this team is ridiculous. So I challenge you. If you
have a Pro Football Focus sub great, If not, you
(11:55):
know you don't need one for this. But here's the exercise.
Find me the weak position grouping on the offensive defense.
We're not gonna count special teams here because we're just
focusing on offense defense. So the defensive line. I mean, guys.
You know, Byron Young coming off the edge is really
(12:18):
freaking good. He graded out tenth best ed rusher pro
Football Focus. POONA Ford in the middle was outstanding, best
season of his career, fourth best defensive tackle in the
league according to PFF. Then you've got guys like Kobe Turner,
who's really good. And then you add Monles Garrett, who
is a wrecking ball at linebacker. How about Landman? Nate
(12:38):
Landman one of the better stories undrafted. Maybe he was
just punching above his weight class last year. He's been
on a rise though the last two years, and he
is an elite linebacker. I mean his reaction time, the
guy's phenomenal. He leads the linebacking crew and the cornerbacks.
Now you've got McDuffie on one side, you've got his
(13:00):
former partner Jalen Watson, who was also in CAC And
in the secondary you've got Cam Curl who's just a
playmaking machine. And then Carnell Lake, oh sorry, Quentin Lake,
who's an excellent cornerback. Folks, again, I don't see which
grouping of those this week. And if you want to
say whoa, I don't know about I don't know about
(13:20):
Lake and Curl. Again, it's just one data point. Curl
grated out as the eleventh best safety out of ninety
one and Lake thirty first, So they're one of the
best safety duos in the league. Now, if you want
to you say, well, wait, Jay, what about when they
have to go to the nickel and like McDuffie's outside,
who's their slot? Okay? Josh Wallace kind of unproven out
of Michigan. He was solid at the end of last year.
(13:42):
Actually played, didn't play in the playoffs, but played a
bunch in the like the last five weeks. I think
that was before Lake came back. Yeah, while Lake was
out he got reps. So maybe that could be a weakness.
But I'm just gonna go ahead and guess when it's JSN,
they're gonna have McDuffie shadow. That would be my guess.
Then you look at the offense, I mean, the wide
(14:03):
receiver room needs no introduction, Davante Puka, They're fine. If
you want to get a you wanna quibble a little
bit and go out, Jason, who's your third receiver?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
All right?
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Is it Jordan Wittington? Is it Mumpfield? I don't know.
Maybe the third receiver is a bit of a weakness.
That could be a liability. You're third receiver, Okay, But
here's the thing. They're built so they don't operate needing
a third receiver because guess what. They are loaded at
tight end. Remember last year McVeigh, the freaking genius, decided, Hey,
(14:35):
we're gonna go three tight ends. We're gonna shock some people.
They're not gonna it's gonna be a shock to the system.
So they got Higbee, they got Ferguson, and they got Parkinson.
They're loaded at tight end.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Guys.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
They you come into games and it's like, okay, who
do we stop? Well, you know, you gotta shut down
Pooka and then there's Davante and oh are they gonna
play two tight ends? One three? I don't know? And
then the running back room Kyrin Williams elite, and then
Blake corm one of the best backup running backs in
the league. I'm just again, I'm not glazing the Rams
(15:09):
because they're out here in LA, but I'm breaking down
every position group. They're freaking sacked. I think it's esp
under the athletic one of them. Every summer. It's like
sometime in July does a breakdown like they rank, you know,
and the Jets will be like seventeenth in linebackers, twenty
seventh in secondary. I'm just telling you, the Rams are
gonna be top eight in every position. Now, special teams
(15:33):
is the big question. That was an issue obviously the
fumbled punt that hurt badly against the Seahawks. And as
of now, I'm seeing their kicker as a gentleman named
Harrison Nevis. I am not that familiar with his work,
and the punter is Ethan Evans, and then it's unclear
(15:56):
to me who their kick returner is going to be now,
But I mean, you're desperate, you might have to put
Pooka back there for some of the big plays.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
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listen live.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
So I don't know, I don't see a real weakness there.
And I look at them, you know, this is a
Rams defense that gained an All Pro and McDuffie, that
gained Miles Garrett the defensive Player of the Year Seattle
lost three key defenders, lost the Super Bowl MVP running back,
and lost their offensive coordinator. I don't really see how
(16:43):
you can make a case that anybody is in better
shape in the NFC than the Eagles, and I don't
necessarily think it's particularly close. And that brings us to
the next team who made a big move. That's the
move was kind of bury because we all anticipated it forever,
and aj Brown ultimately gets traded to the Patriots. He's
(17:05):
very happy. Brown goes to the Patriots for a first
round pick in twenty eight. Smarter the Patriots to protect
that and Howie Roasman said, I'll get a twenty seven
to fifth because you didn't give me the first in
twenty twenty seven. The loaded draft. You know something, Drake
Mago's down or something, and that pick all of a
sudden turns into like twelve. That fifth round pick is
(17:27):
actually the better of New England's two picks in that round. Obviously,
this trade has been coming for months. We know every
reporter was on this one. This was one of the
rare non surprises. It's got to be a tough day
for Eagles fans when you lose your best receiver. No
disrespect to DeVante Smith and you watch a Super Bowl
(17:50):
contender in your conference who won twelve games at the
defensive player of the year. Bit of a bitter pil
to swallow for Eagles fans. From the Eagles point of view,
you know, listen, they've been prepared for this this. That's
why this is no major surprise. Offseason. They drafted Mackay
Lemon in the first round, who everybody likes. They grab
(18:10):
Wicks from Green Bay, who's a good possession receiver over
the middle, guy Hollywood Brown. They took a flyer on him.
I mean, who hasn't Elijah Moore one time? Jet? Yeah,
so they can we say they're five deeper receiver. I'll
say four. I don't know that they have an alpha,
but does it matter? I mean at tight end they're
good with Goddard behind him. You know, Stours and kal
(18:33):
Kata are solid. I just don't think there's any way
you can spin this, this this bit of a loss
for the Eagles. I mean, you're giving up one of
your better receivers. I'm sorry, You're best receiver, one of
your better players, and he's now going to the AFC
and you're getting draft picks in return. And I know
(18:54):
on the surface, Hey, we're building for the future. It's great.
You know, these picks could be something. I'm just telling
you what walking out the door over the last three years,
I mean, oh no, he's been there for four years.
Brown's touchdowns first year eleven, then seven, then seven, then seven.
I mean, you're replacing a lot of production. By the way,
(19:15):
AJ Brown has not fumbled in the last two seasons
in the regular season, zero fumbles. Not bad. Last two seasons.
He's got two thousand yards receiving, He's got one hundred
and sixty receptions. That's a lot of production out the
door and you're getting nothing back in return. Now, I know,
I just mentioned they got Wicks, they got Hollywood Brown,
(19:35):
they got Makay Lemon. Okay, maybe they're gonna look a
little different. It's possible that, you know, Hurts with the
new OC, different guy. We'll see. I don't I don't know.
I'm still pro Hurts. A lot of people beating me
up on the internet yesterday, all these people, Oh, Eagle's
lost a great player. So who's got the best roster
in the division. Well, it's the Cowboys. I was like,
(19:56):
what are you guys talking about no no oh. Eagles
are still by far the best team in that division.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
By far.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I don't think it's particularly close. I mean, Dallas has
a decent roster, major question marks at head coach, I got.
I mean, would I have five new defensive starters. They're
not gonna gel instantly. I don't know about the running game.
Will the offensive line come together? Dak is really good?
I don't know. I mean I think they were. They
(20:24):
won in five against playoff teams. I don't have the
number in front of me, but like, this was a
good Dallas team. Less, you're not great. This Eagles team
won eleven games and well in the Super Bowl the
year before. I don't think it's close. The Eagles defense
is absolutely stacked. What does this mean for the Patriots?
It is interesting because all of a sudden, you know,
they've got this brutal schedule, everybody's ticking them down and wins,
(20:47):
and it's like, wait, is there a wide receiver room
better than the Eagles now? Aj Brown, Romeo Dobbs, Kayshawn Boody,
Matt Collins to Mario Douglas, Kyle Williams. I mean, if
memory serves Kyle Williams was pretty good last year. No,
he didn't do that much. I guess he just had
a couple of splashs. I bet it was a Tampa game,
right that where he had the big play. Yes, yeah,
(21:10):
one catch against Tampa, but it was a seventy two
yard touchdown. Early in the season, he delivered as a
young guy, had a big touchdown catch against the Giants,
touchdown against Baltimore. Basically when he comes in the game,
he's hitting you with a big place and he's delivering.
But later in the season they didn't use him. A
non factor in the playoffs. But he's a young guy.
Kyle Williams five to eleven third round pick, so he's
(21:35):
now their sixth receiver to Mary Douglas. Is solid led
by A. J.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Brown.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Now, obviously AJ Brown likes Vrabel. We'll see how AJ
Brown likes Drake Bank. Because that offensive line big question
at left tackle is it gonna be Will Campbell? They
got avt from the Jets. Who's gonna play guard before
he gets inevitably injured? And then you look at the
schedule and you're like, oh my gosh, this is how
(22:01):
on earth are they going to manage this. They open
against Seattle on the road, considerable underdogs. They should beat
Pittsburgh at home, at Jacksonville, at Buffalo three or your
first four on the road, Vegas and Jets should be wins.
So we'll give them three and three through six, and
(22:24):
then it's Bears loss, Dolphins win, Packers, Lions back to
back out of the by. Are you ready for this?
At Chargers versus the Bills, versus Minnesota, at Chiefs at Jets.
Damn Well, we'll give them. We'll give them four wins
(22:44):
against the Jets, four wins against the Jets and Dolphins.
But can you find six other wins? We'll give you Vegas,
We'll give you Pittsburgh, So that's six. Are they Who
else are they beat? I'll give you Minnesota. That's seven.
You beaten Denver, You've beaten Case, beating the Chargers. I
(23:11):
don't know, guys. I just I have a hard time
seeing that this team's gonna be very good next year.
I think the Bills on the division, I have a
lot of questions about that. Patriots the defense, specifically, we
know it showed well late in the season. Christian Gonzales
emerged as a stud, but I don't know what you're
getting from the defensive line. Is William's gonna have that
amazing year again and again they feasted on bad quarterbacks,
(23:34):
young quarterbacks in one of the historically easy schedules in
NFL history. So I'll go down eight to nine for
the Patriots and I'll go no playoffs. I think that
division will be a one team playoff. And again these
are just predictions. Yes, I am working on the NFL
model thanks to Claude, which is incredible if you guys
are using it. Obviously I'm not endorsing Claude. They don't
(23:57):
pay me. I highly recommend buying a separate computer and
doing nothing on that computer except Claude. At least that's
people who created AI agents or using AI agents told me. So,
I don't have anything set up on there. Obviously, don't
have it. Yeah, I mean, because this is what it does.
It's like a machine. I mean, this thing is really incredible.
(24:18):
And then you get the app on your phone. It's
I highly recommend it if you're into that sort of thing,
and you could just feed it all the data you
want and it's spitting out stuff. I'll hold off on
some of that and obviously, I'll add it on the
newsletter once that gets up and running here shortly for
the World Cup. But yeah, I'll have no Patriots in
the playoffs next year. I don't think aj Brown's going
to be happy going from two Super Bowls to no playoffs.
(24:42):
But the AFC, you know, Lamar Jackson, you're not going
to keep him down for long. Joe Burrow has the
easiest schedule in the league. We saw how the Patriots benefited.
The Bengals will as well, and then the Chiefs are
probably gonna bounce back. You know. So AFC a lot
tougher NFCS. It's the Rams and then everywhere el Us.
Let's see tomorrow.
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntire.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up Fire Fire? HiT's me Jason McIntyre, Straight
Bowyer for Tuesday, June the second. I forgot what day.
It was momentary lapse because I'm so shook by what
what down in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
On Monday.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
We will take a break from the NBA on the podcast.
We will resume tomorrow. We've got a great guest coming
up the previou the NBA Finals. Nick Spurs. Haven't made
an official pick, but if you listen to the podcast
interview we do with the gentleman who's on tomorrow's show,
you will know where I'm going. And I think it's
a mild surprise. But I gotta say, folks, I mean
(00:51):
absolute shock from this movie that I saw Sunday with
my son back rooms. Did I talk about that on
the pod yesterday? I totally forgot if I did or
did not. I don't think I did. But it is
a weird movie, one of those like you come out
and you have all these questions. I've got to like
google stuff and look it up. It's crazy. I don't
know if I recommend it. I can't give it the
full endorsement. It's certainly not as good as the Euphoria
(01:15):
Season three. Other Euphoria Season three was phenomenal. Besides that,
you know, sixty percent of it took place in a
strip club and Sidney Sweeney is in various stages of
undressed throughout as an OnlyFans model. Yeah, it's I highly
recommend it. Obviously, the first two seasons were troubling and traumatic,
but season three was a little It took a while.
(01:36):
I think it was like three years from their high
school days. Highly recommend it. Interesting show, just different, dark,
weird at anyway. You know what else is weird is
that Miles Garrett got traded two months after I said
he was gonna get shipped. Do you remember this, I've
got to ask guys. It was leading up to the
(01:58):
NFL Draft in April. He gets his contract reworked. They're like, huh,
guy's coming off a best season and he had dressers
had in the history of the sport, and he gets
his contract. We worked what's that about? And instantly I thought, Okay,
they're gonna trade Garrett Garrett for AJ Brown line it up.
Set it off, boom done deal. But the problem is
(02:18):
AJ Brown would do nothing for the Cleveland Browns because
that is the equivalent of and I'm sure you've seen
that meme of some guy who has like a Ferrari
parked in his car port and is like eight hundred
square foot you know, cottage, and he's got a car
that's worth more than the house. You know, you don't
(02:38):
put aj Brown on the Cleveland Browns. That does nothing. Now,
Shador would love him, Deshaun Watson would love him, but
it didn't make sense. So Miles Garrett, everybody got winned.
On Monday morning, something was going on because the reporter
in Cleveland, Mary kay Cabot, was onto this, well, Miles
Garrett could get traded in. It was like what and
(02:59):
then she goes to this Cleveland golf thing and interviews
the coach and he the new guy, says, yeah, I
had no assurances that Miles Garrett be on the roster
when I took this job. So I was like, oh,
and then what next thing? You know, he's going to
the La Rams. Miles Garrett going to the La Rams
(03:19):
in exchange for Jared Verse and multiple draft picks. It's
it seems like a win win trade. I'll kind of
break it down, but I don't see this as a
loss at all for the Rams. Here the picks they
get in return are a twenty seven first round pick
which will probably be bottom five, a second round pick
(03:39):
in twenty eight, and a third in twenty twenty nine.
So three picks. Oh and by the way, they get
Jared Verse, one of the best young pass rushers in
the league. And you know, I know the Jared Verse
sack numbers don't line up with you know, his pressure.
He's one of these guys who's able to generate a
ton of pressure, but he's I don't want to say
(03:59):
he's not closer. He's just unable to close the gap,
so to speak, and get the sacks. Pro Football Focus
had him as the as a rookie, the seventh best
ed rusher and as a second year guy fourteenth best
ed rusher. He is twenty five years old. He turns
twenty six this fall. He will obviously get paid by
the Browns when it's when he's ready, you know, when
(04:22):
he's up for his contract versus a very good player.
But ultimately, well, let's let's just knock out the Browns
while we're here. I don't think they're going anywhere. I
think everybody would agree with me. I don't know how
the hell they won five games last year. Absolute luck,
I mean, whatever you want to call it. They're not
a good football team. They have issues everywhere, and as
(04:45):
a result, you know, you could make the case that
they're playing the Jets game. They're saying, let's forget about
the quarterback for now. Let's go out and get every
piece we can, get a bunch of good players, get
a bunch of picks in the future, and let's just
you know, we'll wait, We'll be patient.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
On the quarterback.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
We tried out Watson, we tried out Shudure. It doesn't
really matter, right, We're gonna lose a bunch of games.
But we've got all this young talent. And you look
on the roster and they've actually got a bunch of
good players. Obviously Denzel Ward had not didn't have a
great season, but he's very good. They like the wide
receiver conceptsi Oe right, You've got fannin the tight end
who's very promising, obviously, versus a stud Schweschinger. The linebacker
(05:27):
I think I got his name wrong from UCLA was
a monster last year. They like Mason Graham in the
middle of the defensive line, the top ten pick out
of Michigan, Like, they've got a lot of guys. This
is a team with a pretty good roster. What they
don't have as a quarterback, obviously that's gonna hold them back.
But it doesn't matter because next year's draft is a
loaded quarterback class. So ultimately, I think this is a
(05:50):
fine trade for the Browns, Like, what are you doing
with Miles Garrett? You're not going anywhere? Even if everything
breaks right, you catch every break in the world. You
go six and zero in one score games. Maybe maybe
you win seven games, you go seven to ten. That's
like the ultimate pie in the sky. I mean, I'll
(06:11):
give you one more eight and nine, but doesn't matter.
What does that do for you? That puts you in
the middle, which gets you nowhere in the NFL, nowhere
closer to a quarterback. You ain't getting some free agent.
You're not trading for Matt Stafford like the Rams did.
It's not happening, guys. So now, if you look at
the twenty twenty seven first round, which again for the
seven hundredth time, is loaded, Dallas has Green Bays pick
(06:37):
from the Micah Parses deal. The Jets have Indianapolis first
round pick from the Sauce Gardener trade. That's a huge
bargaining chip. Although I will say Daniel Jones was like
actually seen on a practice field moving around. I know
that's totally different to playing in the NFL, but I
thought you would be out at least the half the season.
(06:57):
But maybe it's just the first four. We'll see. And
then the Jets have Dallas his first round pick in
the Quinn Williams deal. So yes, as a Jets fan,
I'm a huge fan of anybody playing the Colts and
anybody played the Cowboys. The Browns having the Rams first
round pick, again, it's probably in the thirty to thirty
two range, but with this deal. And again I think
(07:17):
that's I just said. Of five minutes about the Cleveland Browns,
it's about all they're going to get on the podcast
this year. They're just not good. And I don't care
about Shadoor Sanders versus Deshaun Watson. That's not a quarterback
battle that moves the needle. Although shout out to Shador
for getting seventeen million dollars and whatever some kind of
like merch collectibles apparel. I don't even know what it was.
I just saw he's the highest paid quarterback in that
(07:41):
in whatever that list was. People love shed Door, Sanders cool.
More power to them.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Let's get to the Rams, who actually matter. What a
trade I mean, I instantly once you caught win that
Garrett was on the move before the trade was announced,
you kind of knew, Okay, it's probably gonna be a contender.
So I narrowed it down to they're not gonna ship
(08:20):
it to a contender in the AFC. I think they'll
send him to the NFC. So I took Flyers to
win the Super Bowl on Lions, Bears, and Rams, three
teams that I thought would make a big swing, and
it went to the Rams. But I only got them
like plus seven oh two. You know that those aren't
great odds. Anything happens to Stafford, it's over. But I
(08:46):
definitely think this is a team that should open number
one in every power rankings. I think you could make
a credible case they've had the best off season of anybody,
adding Trent McDuffie and Garret Are you kidding me? And
I'm not even gonna put in the Ty Simpson Quarterback
of the future nonsense. I don't think he's that guy, because,
(09:10):
as I said on the Herd yesterday, I'm of the
belief the Rams are all in because they are gonna
go win the super Bowl. It's so far Stafford, I'm
gonna hang him up, go out with the super Bowl.
Doesn't get much better than that. John always the last
to do that. And I think McVeigh, who you know
every single off season, is rumored to go to Amazon
or something. I think mcpage just says, you know what,
(09:31):
I'm good. I'm gonna take some time off, hang with
the family. He's got the wife, the kids and just chill.
Maybe he does some TV, maybe he does a podcast.
I don't freaking know. But what is he He don't
have to work, He's got a lot of money. He
will have two rings and he could get He's still
in his forty so he could easily take five years
off and come back, right. I don't know how mcveagh's wired.
(09:51):
He seems like the kind of guy who is gung ho.
But remember it, every off season, he's rumored to go
and he's not doing that every off season. Hey, I
might go to Amazon or with Netflix wherever he's doing that,
because you know, he's probably sick of coaching guys, these grinders.
It just wears them down. But he's got a stack
team and I don't see who's better than them on paper.
Obviously football is not played on paper. But the book
(10:13):
on Garrett. I didn't realize this. He's only thirty years old.
He's still pretty young now. Thirty, of course, was when TJ.
Watt started to fall apart physically and his stats declined.
Now they're saddled with, you know, the big Watt contract
and he's not delivering like he used to. But Garrett
is on a different level than him right now. Defensive
Player of the Year two of the last three years,
(10:35):
five of the last six seasons, first team All Pro.
I mean, folks, you're going from hey, her verskin wreak
havoc on the end to holy smokes, how do we
game plan from Miles Garrett?
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Like?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
You will have to game plan for him in the
postseason period. You can't go into a game without a
game plan for Miles Garrett, Like specifically you need one
for him. And when you talk McDuffie, I mean, let's
look at this right now. You match up against Seattle,
jsn's in the slot a lot. McDuffie's an elite slot cornerback.
(11:13):
I mean two years ago he was third best grated
out quarterback and corner of Pro Football Focus. Three years
ago he was fourth. Last year, the defense had no
pass rush, the defense was terrible, and he felt to
like fourteenth. But they are now built to go after
San Francisco. I'm sorry Seattle, well San Francisco too, but
I did see that they sacked Darnold three times in
(11:34):
that NFC championship game. They got after him. I think Garrett, though,
takes it to the next level. I mean, all of
his advanced stats, this guy is an absolute menace. And
to put him on the defensive line, I mean, folks,
this team is ridiculous. So I challenge you. If you
have a Pro Football Focus sub great, If not, you
(11:55):
know you don't need one for this. But here's the exercise.
Find me the weak position grouping on the offensive defense.
We're not gonna count special teams here because we're just
focusing on offense defense. So the defensive line. I mean, guys.
You know, Byron Young coming off the edge is really
(12:18):
freaking good. He graded out tenth best ed rusher pro
Football Focus. POONA Ford in the middle was outstanding, best
season of his career, fourth best defensive tackle in the
league according to PFF. Then you've got guys like Kobe Turner,
who's really good. And then you add Monles Garrett, who
is a wrecking ball at linebacker. How about Landman? Nate
(12:38):
Landman one of the better stories undrafted. Maybe he was
just punching above his weight class last year. He's been
on a rise though the last two years, and he
is an elite linebacker. I mean his reaction time, the
guy's phenomenal. He leads the linebacking crew and the cornerbacks.
Now you've got McDuffie on one side, you've got his
(13:00):
former partner Jalen Watson, who was also in CAC And
in the secondary you've got Cam Curl who's just a
playmaking machine. And then Carnell Lake, oh sorry, Quentin Lake,
who's an excellent cornerback. Folks, again, I don't see which
grouping of those this week. And if you want to
say whoa, I don't know about I don't know about
(13:20):
Lake and Curl. Again, it's just one data point. Curl
grated out as the eleventh best safety out of ninety
one and Lake thirty first, So they're one of the
best safety duos in the league. Now, if you want
to you say, well, wait, Jay, what about when they
have to go to the nickel and like McDuffie's outside,
who's their slot? Okay? Josh Wallace kind of unproven out
of Michigan. He was solid at the end of last year.
(13:42):
Actually played, didn't play in the playoffs, but played a
bunch in the like the last five weeks. I think
that was before Lake came back. Yeah, while Lake was
out he got reps. So maybe that could be a weakness.
But I'm just gonna go ahead and guess when it's JSN,
they're gonna have McDuffie shadow. That would be my guess.
Then you look at the offense, I mean, the wide
(14:03):
receiver room needs no introduction, Davante Puka, They're fine. If
you want to get a you wanna quibble a little
bit and go out, Jason, who's your third receiver?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
All right?
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Is it Jordan Wittington? Is it Mumpfield? I don't know.
Maybe the third receiver is a bit of a weakness.
That could be a liability. You're third receiver, Okay, But
here's the thing. They're built so they don't operate needing
a third receiver because guess what. They are loaded at
tight end. Remember last year McVeigh, the freaking genius, decided, Hey,
(14:35):
we're gonna go three tight ends. We're gonna shock some people.
They're not gonna it's gonna be a shock to the system.
So they got Higbee, they got Ferguson, and they got Parkinson.
They're loaded at tight end.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Guys.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
They you come into games and it's like, okay, who
do we stop? Well, you know, you gotta shut down
Pooka and then there's Davante and oh are they gonna
play two tight ends? One three? I don't know? And
then the running back room Kyrin Williams elite, and then
Blake corm one of the best backup running backs in
the league. I'm just again, I'm not glazing the Rams
(15:09):
because they're out here in LA, but I'm breaking down
every position group. They're freaking sacked. I think it's esp
under the athletic one of them. Every summer. It's like
sometime in July does a breakdown like they rank, you know,
and the Jets will be like seventeenth in linebackers, twenty
seventh in secondary. I'm just telling you, the Rams are
gonna be top eight in every position. Now, special teams
(15:33):
is the big question. That was an issue obviously the
fumbled punt that hurt badly against the Seahawks. And as
of now, I'm seeing their kicker as a gentleman named
Harrison Nevis. I am not that familiar with his work,
and the punter is Ethan Evans, and then it's unclear
(15:56):
to me who their kick returner is going to be now,
But I mean, you're desperate, you might have to put
Pooka back there for some of the big plays.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
So I don't know, I don't see a real weakness there.
And I look at them, you know, this is a
Rams defense that gained an All Pro and McDuffie, that
gained Miles Garrett the defensive Player of the Year Seattle
lost three key defenders, lost the Super Bowl MVP running back,
and lost their offensive coordinator. I don't really see how
(16:43):
you can make a case that anybody is in better
shape in the NFC than the Eagles, and I don't
necessarily think it's particularly close. And that brings us to
the next team who made a big move. That's the
move was kind of bury because we all anticipated it forever,
and aj Brown ultimately gets traded to the Patriots. He's
(17:05):
very happy. Brown goes to the Patriots for a first
round pick in twenty eight. Smarter the Patriots to protect
that and Howie Roasman said, I'll get a twenty seven
to fifth because you didn't give me the first in
twenty twenty seven. The loaded draft. You know something, Drake
Mago's down or something, and that pick all of a
sudden turns into like twelve. That fifth round pick is
(17:27):
actually the better of New England's two picks in that round. Obviously,
this trade has been coming for months. We know every
reporter was on this one. This was one of the
rare non surprises. It's got to be a tough day
for Eagles fans when you lose your best receiver. No
disrespect to DeVante Smith and you watch a Super Bowl
(17:50):
contender in your conference who won twelve games at the
defensive player of the year. Bit of a bitter pil
to swallow for Eagles fans. From the Eagles point of view,
you know, listen, they've been prepared for this this. That's
why this is no major surprise. Offseason. They drafted Mackay
Lemon in the first round, who everybody likes. They grab
(18:10):
Wicks from Green Bay, who's a good possession receiver over
the middle, guy Hollywood Brown. They took a flyer on him.
I mean, who hasn't Elijah Moore one time? Jet? Yeah,
so they can we say they're five deeper receiver. I'll
say four. I don't know that they have an alpha,
but does it matter? I mean at tight end they're
good with Goddard behind him. You know, Stours and kal
(18:33):
Kata are solid. I just don't think there's any way
you can spin this, this this bit of a loss
for the Eagles. I mean, you're giving up one of
your better receivers. I'm sorry, You're best receiver, one of
your better players, and he's now going to the AFC
and you're getting draft picks in return. And I know
(18:54):
on the surface, Hey, we're building for the future. It's great.
You know, these picks could be something. I'm just telling
you what walking out the door over the last three years,
I mean, oh no, he's been there for four years.
Brown's touchdowns first year eleven, then seven, then seven, then seven.
I mean, you're replacing a lot of production. By the way,
(19:15):
AJ Brown has not fumbled in the last two seasons
in the regular season, zero fumbles. Not bad. Last two seasons.
He's got two thousand yards receiving, He's got one hundred
and sixty receptions. That's a lot of production out the
door and you're getting nothing back in return. Now, I know,
I just mentioned they got Wicks, they got Hollywood Brown,
(19:35):
they got Makay Lemon. Okay, maybe they're gonna look a
little different. It's possible that, you know, Hurts with the
new OC, different guy. We'll see. I don't I don't know.
I'm still pro Hurts. A lot of people beating me
up on the internet yesterday, all these people, Oh, Eagle's
lost a great player. So who's got the best roster
in the division. Well, it's the Cowboys. I was like,
(19:56):
what are you guys talking about no no oh. Eagles
are still by far the best team in that division.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
By far.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I don't think it's particularly close. I mean, Dallas has
a decent roster, major question marks at head coach, I got.
I mean, would I have five new defensive starters. They're
not gonna gel instantly. I don't know about the running game.
Will the offensive line come together? Dak is really good?
I don't know. I mean I think they were. They
(20:24):
won in five against playoff teams. I don't have the
number in front of me, but like, this was a
good Dallas team. Less, you're not great. This Eagles team
won eleven games and well in the Super Bowl the
year before. I don't think it's close. The Eagles defense
is absolutely stacked. What does this mean for the Patriots?
It is interesting because all of a sudden, you know,
they've got this brutal schedule, everybody's ticking them down and wins,
(20:47):
and it's like, wait, is there a wide receiver room
better than the Eagles now? Aj Brown, Romeo Dobbs, Kayshawn Boody,
Matt Collins to Mario Douglas, Kyle Williams. I mean, if
memory serves Kyle Williams was pretty good last year. No,
he didn't do that much. I guess he just had
a couple of splashs. I bet it was a Tampa game,
right that where he had the big play. Yes, yeah,
(21:10):
one catch against Tampa, but it was a seventy two
yard touchdown. Early in the season, he delivered as a
young guy, had a big touchdown catch against the Giants,
touchdown against Baltimore. Basically when he comes in the game,
he's hitting you with a big place and he's delivering.
But later in the season they didn't use him. A
non factor in the playoffs. But he's a young guy.
Kyle Williams five to eleven third round pick, so he's
(21:35):
now their sixth receiver to Mary Douglas. Is solid led
by A. J.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Brown.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Now, obviously AJ Brown likes Vrabel. We'll see how AJ
Brown likes Drake Bank. Because that offensive line big question
at left tackle is it gonna be Will Campbell? They
got avt from the Jets. Who's gonna play guard before
he gets inevitably injured? And then you look at the
schedule and you're like, oh my gosh, this is how
(22:01):
on earth are they going to manage this. They open
against Seattle on the road, considerable underdogs. They should beat
Pittsburgh at home, at Jacksonville, at Buffalo three or your
first four on the road, Vegas and Jets should be wins.
So we'll give them three and three through six, and
(22:24):
then it's Bears loss, Dolphins win, Packers, Lions back to
back out of the by. Are you ready for this?
At Chargers versus the Bills, versus Minnesota, at Chiefs at Jets.
Damn Well, we'll give them. We'll give them four wins
(22:44):
against the Jets, four wins against the Jets and Dolphins.
But can you find six other wins? We'll give you Vegas,
We'll give you Pittsburgh, So that's six. Are they Who
else are they beat? I'll give you Minnesota. That's seven.
You beaten Denver, You've beaten Case, beating the Chargers. I
(23:11):
don't know, guys. I just I have a hard time
seeing that this team's gonna be very good next year.
I think the Bills on the division, I have a
lot of questions about that. Patriots the defense, specifically, we
know it showed well late in the season. Christian Gonzales
emerged as a stud, but I don't know what you're
getting from the defensive line. Is William's gonna have that
amazing year again and again they feasted on bad quarterbacks,
(23:34):
young quarterbacks in one of the historically easy schedules in
NFL history. So I'll go down eight to nine for
the Patriots and I'll go no playoffs. I think that
division will be a one team playoff. And again these
are just predictions. Yes, I am working on the NFL
model thanks to Claude, which is incredible if you guys
are using it. Obviously I'm not endorsing Claude. They don't
(23:57):
pay me. I highly recommend buying a separate computer and
doing nothing on that computer except Claude. At least that's
people who created AI agents or using AI agents told me. So,
I don't have anything set up on there. Obviously, don't
have it. Yeah, I mean, because this is what it does.
It's like a machine. I mean, this thing is really incredible.
(24:18):
And then you get the app on your phone. It's
I highly recommend it if you're into that sort of thing,
and you could just feed it all the data you
want and it's spitting out stuff. I'll hold off on
some of that and obviously, I'll add it on the
newsletter once that gets up and running here shortly for
the World Cup. But yeah, I'll have no Patriots in
the playoffs next year. I don't think aj Brown's going
to be happy going from two Super Bowls to no playoffs.
(24:42):
But the AFC, you know, Lamar Jackson, you're not going
to keep him down for long. Joe Burrow has the
easiest schedule in the league. We saw how the Patriots benefited.
The Bengals will as well, and then the Chiefs are
probably gonna bounce back. You know. So AFC a lot
tougher NFCS. It's the Rams and then everywhere el Us.
Let's see tomorrow.
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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