3 & Out - Patriots and Giants draft room, Fugazi Friday, Mailbag

John dives into the Belichick-Kraft saga that just won't seem to end and what the real reason might be that he isn't a head coach this upcoming season. John also talks about what he thinks the Patriots and Giants might be doing when their name is called next Thursday. Later, you have your Fugazi Friday comments answered and reacted to. 

Lastly, John answers your questions for this episode's mailbag segment.

6:42 - Belichick-Kraft saga

15:30 - The Patriots

19:39 - The Giants

26:53 - Fugazi Friday

43:13 - Mailbag

Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #Herd

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (01:29):
What is going on everybody? John Middlecock Three and Out Podcast.
We are less than a week away from the National
Football League's little thing they call a draft, so it's
right around the corner here, and I think my plan
is I'm going to talk to Field Yates this weekend
and he'll be on the pod next week. He's gonna

(01:52):
be on ABC's coverage. I've known him for a long time.
I think I'll do a mock draft maybe Wednesday. I'll
do a mock draft Wednesday, and then we'll have a
bunch of content on Thursday afternoon, Thursday night and for
Friday draft wise. Other than that, buckle up pedal the
Metal today, I want to the Belichick story. Man. It's

(02:15):
just it's getting pretty ugly between him and Craft, and
he's gonna be like what John Gruden was for like
five or six years. That's gonna be all this season
with Bill Belichick. And I think there are three teams
in the NFC East that he is going to get
linked to constantly. If things get weird. The messaging with
the top of the draft is pretty interesting. I wanted

(02:36):
to dive into that. Obviously, the Bears and the Commanders
aren't exactly hiding from taking a quarterback, but the Patriots
said something today, and I wonder if the owner, with
all the negativity and the pressure he's getting from his
local fan base which is pissed off at him right now,
forces them to take quarterback. We'll dive into why. And
then the Giants. Joe Shane gave a press conference to day.

(02:57):
I watched. He's an impressive guy, but he had a
lot of pushback on the buyer remorse and if they
regret the DJ contract and I'm sorry, it's just I'll
tell the truth for him. That's what we'll do. And then,
of course, Fugazi Friday. Fugazi Friday, So anyone that sees
any fugazi you can always fire into my DMS. Just

(03:18):
make sure you write fugazi Friday. It's easy for me
to search in my Instagram if you write that, So
anytime you see it, write that down, I will find it.
I've been putting it into a folder in my once
I screenshot it in my pictures. I've developed a nice
little system. I'm impressed with myself. Not gonna lie and
middle cooff mailbag which is also my Instagram, but you

(03:41):
can just ask questions in there at John Middlecoff. At
John Middlecoff, it's the Instagram. Fire in those dms. All
of our content subscribe to three and Out podcasts if
you listen on Collin's feed. Also YouTube, all of our
content is video wise. Fire up there, yeah, man, draft
right around the corner. Me and Colin will be on
a bunch next I think next Thursday. So let's get ready,

(04:01):
let's start Up's start the let's end the week off right.
But before we dive in my friends, close personal friends.
I saw they had a good ad with Big Cat
and PFT when I was watching I think I was
watching the golf tournament today or maybe ESPN, and it
came on. Love these guys. They've been loyal partners. They're
the official ticketing app of this podcast because of you guys,

(04:23):
because you guys have hammered that promo code. John. Last night,
my lady was like, let's go to a concert. She
was looking at She's like, you see, Luke Colmes is
coming to Glendale in like a month I'm like, let
me check game time. Started looking around, gotta figure out
whether I'm gonna go Friday or Saturday. But I'm gonna
use game time easy to do. Type in the venue,

(04:45):
type in the artist, type in the team. You want
to go to a Yankee game, you want to go
to an NBA playoff game, you want to go to
an NHL hockey game. Hell, I don't even have an
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Do it with game time? Promo code John twenty dollars
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(05:07):
Don't even need a thank you, Just hammer that promo code.
Promo co John, save twenty dollars. I do think the
Belichick conversation is pretty fascinating. I was listening to Michael
Lombardi's podcast. He's been on this show before. It is fantastic.
He was going off because of the situation in Atlanta
and how they, you know, are run by Rich McKay,

(05:28):
who is the executor of Arthur Blank's a state. I
definitely didn't know that until like the last week. That's
pretty crazy. Like I've known a few rich people in
my day. Usually the people that run their estate are
either a child or like a lawyer that they've had
for decades. I know Richard McKay's works for the Atlanta

(05:51):
Falcons now for almost I think twenty one years. But
that's a pretty powerful thing to hold if you have
any assets, let alone have the wealth that Arthur Blank possesses.
He makes the president of his football team the executor,
Like that shows you the connection with rich So like

(06:12):
whether the Falcons should have hired him or not. If
rich McKay does not like Bill Belichick and Bill Belichick
does not like Rich McKay, Bill Belichick was never getting
that job. The guy's the executor on his fucking a state.
He controls all of his money. Like if that guy
was gonna have a ton of influence, which of course
he does, Bill's never coming there. And I think it's

(06:33):
kind of played out that way obviously, but which I think, Listen,
Bill Belichick not being a head coach in this league
right now is crazy. I'm sorry, I stand by that.
I don't apologize for that. I don't even think that's
a crazy take. He should be a head coach if
he wants to be a head coach. But one conversation
that is going to happen non stop. I mean non

(06:55):
stop is gonna be what team is he coaching in
twenty twenty five. It's gonna be NonStop. And we already
know teams that sniffed around with them that kept their coaches,
the Eagles and the Cowboys. Let's be real. The day
or two days after the Cowboys got curb stomped in
that playoff game. It's one thing to lose in the playoffs.

(07:16):
It's hard, right, you can lose a playoff game, be like, God,
we played pretty well. Happened to the Packers. Happened to
the Lions, right, it happened to the Bills, played pretty
well against the Chiefs, like it happens, right. It's another
thing to get mollywopped and embarrassed, and it's worst when
it's at home, and that's what happened to the Cowboys.

(07:37):
So I remember being in a sauna, which at my gym,
which I love. I try to sit in the sauna
like three days a week. Twenty twenty five minutes feel incredible,
especially when you're a bald guy, you get right in
the shower, shave your head, get an incredible shave. But
there were two guys in there. I don't know them.
And sometimes if I'm gonna lay down, I take my

(07:57):
headphones in there and I'm listening to a podcast or
book on tape or whatever and just kind of lay
there for twenty five minutes. But I just went in
there and they were talking football, and they were like,
when is Belichick. I'll never forget this, When is Belichick
gonna be the head coach of the Cowboys. They don't
know what I do for a living. I'm like shit
by the end of the week. I mean, it felt
like a lock. And then they didn't do it, and

(08:18):
they're gonna be talk with the Eagles and listen. By four,
the most prominent teams with the most tangible pressure on
them to me are the Eagles and the Cowboys. The
difference I'd say with the Eagles is I would say
between Fangio and Kellen Moore. They're paying their two coordinators.
I'd say over under eight and a half million dollars.
Fangio is probably making five, Kellen's making three or four.

(08:39):
It's great that's just the going. That's what these guys make.
So the Eagles want this to work. They want Nick
Sirianni to work. And to me, if they get back
into the playoffs and don't go out like chumps and
win a game like I don't think they would fire them.
And the Eagles have proven to be you know, they
got rid of Doug, but they had missed the playoffs.

(09:00):
It was pretty ugly to me. If they're successful again,
the young players start a sending, I think they will
have no problem running it back. Kind of with this
core group Sirianni, Kellen Moore, Vic Fangel, that's what they want.
I don't necessarily believe that. With the Cowboys and listen,
we all kind of mocked Mike McCarthy rightfully so because

(09:20):
he lied about he had the year off, said he
watched every snap and then at the press conference like, yeah,
actually didn't watch every snap what like four games like
their roster like the Cowboys. I'm cool, But one thing
he's proven and it can't be argued he's a good coach.
He is. He wins a lot of games, won a
lot of games with the Packers, he and Aaron Rodgers.
Then he goes to Dak who's solid but he ate

(09:44):
sure as hell A and Aaron Rodgers, and they have
been consistently good. They've hosted playoff games two of three years.
The problem is McCarthy, the regular season means nothing now.
It's it's irrelevant whether he wins ten, eleven, twelve games,
none of it matters. He's gonna be brickly judged in January.
And to me, he borderline has to get him in
the NFC Championship game, which they haven't been to in

(10:05):
two and a half decades. I just can't imagine he's
gonna be the coach next year and we already know
that he's under his last year of his contract, which
is borderline unheard of in the NFL. I think Coughlin
did it years ago with the Giants and obviously he
lost his job. So to me, if the Cowboys aren't
super successful in the playoffs, and let's face it, based
on their offseason, like they've lost players because of their

(10:27):
cap situation, they had to get rid of productive guys.
They also lost their defensive coordinator who While the season
ended poorly for dan Quinn, I think we all agree
dan Quinn was a big addition to Mike McCarthy's success
the last two or three years in the regular season,
So do they come back to earth a little bit
in the regular season, that meaning they got to go
on the road if they can't win the division, you

(10:47):
would assume the division is a little better now that
you know who knows Washington to be a little spicier.
We know the Eagles and them play really tough games.
I just think that makes the most sense, even though
people are like, ah, Bill and Jerry the power like
Bill's gonna be seventy four years old. That's what I
want to happen. And then let's face it, the curveball

(11:08):
and we'll talk about the Giants in their situation a
little bit later. Is them. Belichick became a household name
for sports fans in the eighties when he was the
brains behind the motivation of parcels with the Giants, and clearly,
if you've ever watched the Two Bills, that organization he

(11:30):
has a special place for. He hates the Jets. He
wouldn't piss on every player on the Jets if they
were on fire in his front yard. He despises that organization,
but it feels like he loves the Giants and one
thing with Bill, and I'm sure we'll see this clearly,
Like Pat knows, we can't really ask about the Craft situation.

(11:50):
Bill probably doesn't want to discuss that publicly, but that
thing's getting really ugly. It really is. And even though
everyone has Bill's back in the Boston market, all the players,
Bill's wired to be like double fu mode. That's how
he's been with some of their big scandals, right the
flight Gate, Spygate. He comes out guns blazing, and I

(12:15):
can't imagine he will do whatever it takes to be
a head coach in the league next year and time.
Sometimes I would say shakes the negativity around him because
his team wasn't very good this year. Quarterback was a
joke and Mac Jones was on the team because of Belichick.
But the defense was good and their kicker was terrible,

(12:35):
which he draft. But I just think that I saw
it forever with Gruden, and I was fooled. I really was,
because when Gruden interviewed Forever or was like putting his
hat in the ring for all those jobs college and pro,
You're like, God, I'd be all over John Gruden. You
can get John Gruden and then he came back and like, Eh,

(12:59):
not quite what I expected. But then you look back,
how successful was he the last four or five years
in the NFL? Not really. So I think Bill is
gonna be constantly connected to these NFC East teams, and
that's fun. Like sometimes I think hypotheticals can get out

(13:19):
of control. To me, there's substance behind this, there's reality
behind this, and it's just gonna be something that we
continue to talk about, especially with the Cowboys if this
season just goes a little rocky. They already are in
a weird situation with the quarterback and what they're gonna do.
Are they gonna finally extend them? Are they just gonna
play it out? I don't know, but I think the

(13:41):
Cowboys to me, would be the number one if I
had to rank them. You know, if you told me
all three teams have shitty years, which I guess as
possible you can have a bad team win a Division
seven and nine, I would go Cowboys, Giants, Eagles in
the ranking of Bill Belichick landing next year. One thing
that has, you know, following these top teams and the

(14:04):
messaging coming out of them that's been pretty interesting is
the Bears never wavered. Right, My mom could have told
you they were taking Caleb Williams three months ago. Some
people still like, I'd go with Justin Fields, make it work,
give him a chance, and the Bears like, yeah, we're
sending him to the Steelers for a six round pick. Seeya,

(14:26):
And the conversation, even for those little radicals that wanted
Fields to somehow survive, we're completely muted and we all
agreed like everyone knows, so we don't even talk about
that much. There's nothing to talk about. Honestly. The only
conversation with the Bears is what they're gonna do with
the ninth pick. But the messaging coming out, they don't
even need the message. Caleb's taken one visit and it

(14:48):
was to Chicago. I mean, he's gonna be a Chicago
Bear now once you get to two. Adam Peters, I
don't want to say has been as a steadfast in
terms of like the Bears left no doubt, but he
has definitely let it be known like, yeah, we're not
really open for business. We feel pretty confident at this pick. Now,
we don't exactly know who's gonna pick. Most people and

(15:11):
the betting odds would say Jade and Daniels. I wouldn't
bet my life's savings on it. But when people ask me,
and when I ask people Jade Daniels, James Daniels, everyone
says Jade Daniels. So I think it's fair to assume
Jayden and Daniels. I wouldn't like fall out of my
chair if another name pops up next Thursday. But they're
gonna pick a quarterback, right, we know that. We just

(15:31):
don't know exactly one hundred cent sure who is gonna be.
But the other teams have not been like that, Elliott
Wolfe said today, longtime Executive doesn't even have the GM title.
Not quite sure what the crafts are doing, honestly, not
quite sure. Just name the guy the fucking GM. I
don't care if it's like, well, he actually has all
the duties, have the balls to name him the GM.

(15:53):
I don't understand. Separate from all the stuff with Bill
and the production company. Why are you guys being so
weird with this? You have a first time head coach.
Just make Elliott wolf the GM. Are you like giving
him a year trial run? He said, we're open for business.
And then it kind of hit me today if I'm
the Crafts Jonathan Bob and I am getting destroyed locally,

(16:17):
I mean destroyed. I have heard everywhere I look on
the internet, Boston people. I played golf with a guy
like three weeks ago from Boston. Every One I've talked
to or listened to say he's getting crushed because it's clear,
like listen, time to break up whatever. You don't need
to like piss on the guy's grave. You why are
you trying to get all that? Why are you doing this? Well,

(16:40):
what's the easiest way to make that negativity kind of
be silenced? Because if they trade back, it's like, oh,
they added two first round picks and they got all
these players. No one will care. No one gives a
shit when you draft an offensive lineman until that guy
becomes a star offensive lineman. But you take a quarterback,
you take Drake may or you take JJ McCarthy with

(17:00):
a third overall pick. We stopped talking about how cheap
the Crafts are, how shitty they've handled this situation, how
just what egomaniac and control freaks they've become since Bill left.
We just start talking about how good is JJ McCarthy
or Drake may or Jaden Daniel is going to be
on their team. Takes all the oxygen out of that conversation.

(17:22):
So even if Elliott Wolf wanted to trade back one,
he has no equity with the franchise in terms of
you know, he's never made a pick before for them too.
He's not even technically the general manager in three. If
you're of the crafts like Kake, whoever you like the
most of that position right there, we want you to
do that. Bill might say, yeah, we're not doing that,

(17:42):
and Bill would have traded back. Bill would have done
whatever he wanted to do. Elliot Wolf can't. He just
won't be allowed to. So even if the front office
and the coaching staff was like, you know, given our roster,
like let's take a deep breath, I don't even think
it will be an option because the owners will never
allout because it's the easiest way to have everyone stop

(18:05):
talking about how poorly they've handled everything. The Giants, you know.
Rich Eisen said, I see all his clips on YouTube.
He's got I think he's got a radio show, TV show,
not exactly sure what it is, but I follow this
stuff on YouTube. And one thing he said, like less
than a week, maybe a couple days after the combine.
Obviously he's there for a week calling it with DJ.

(18:28):
Is that One of the main buzz scuttle butt he
had heard is how much the Giants had buyer's remorse
on Daniel Jones, which everyone's like, yeah, no shit, and
Joe Shane the day at the press conference was basically
asked about that and he said none of it was true. Now,

(18:49):
before I dive into my thoughts on this, I understand
where he's sitting, regardless how you actually feel, even like
you know, I never actually wanted to sign this contract.
I was forced to by the ownership. We were lukewarm
on the guy even Dayball, like we would have been
cool with letting him test free agency. John Marra forceus.
On my hand, he can't say that, even if he

(19:11):
was on board with the signing and was like, listen,
short term deal, eighty million dollars sounds a lot to
ninety nine point nine percent of people NFL world a
couple of years. Move on, no, Biggie, we don't really
like him anymore. We'll find another quarterback we plan on
trading up in this draft. He can't say that either.
So he's in a position where he can't really tell

(19:31):
the truth, but let me tell the truth for him.
They one hundred percent ownership coach GM have buyer's remorse
if they could do it over, under no circumstances would
they assign that contract. I'm actually confident enough they wouldn't
have signed him to do any contract. They would have
just let him walk. Information changes. You can love your

(19:55):
wife or love your girlfriend, and then all of a
sudden you found out she cheated on you with three
different men changes the equation. You're in business with a partner,
you're all making a lot of money, you're getting paid,
and then you find out he's stealing. Your opinion of
that individual changes. With more information, we think differently. Like listen,

(20:18):
they were bullish on Daniel Jones first year, win some games,
and now he's also injured, Like obviously you don't know
he's going to be injured, but sitting here today he
had a torn ACL played like shit. Torn ACL makes
a lot of money. Pretty bad combination. So this notion
that they don't have buyer's remorse is just a bold
faced lie. It's just impossible for that not to be true.

(20:41):
And there's nothing wrong. We all make poor decisions all
of us. I know, I own a stock right now.
It's an ETF cling the Energy ETF. I've invested well
over one hundred grand into it right now. When I
open up my account it says about forty thousand dollars. Ultimately,
big picture, I still believe in the space. But do

(21:05):
I regret investing my money into that stock? Of course
I do. I would much rather have put it into
Netflix or put it into just anything else. But that
even if I like still and I have more belief
in that situation than I'm sure the giants do. But
why do I? I believed in it two years ago,

(21:26):
when it was working and going up. Things change. I
never understand people who are so beholden to the way
they thought a year ago, three years ago, eight years ago.
It's like it's twenty twenty four, April eighteenth, I'm recording this.
We have the information up to this point. You might
feel some way right now, well, April eighteenth, twenty twenty seven.

(21:50):
If things dramatically change about whatever you're thinking about, you're
probably not gonna think that way anymore. I hope you wouldn't,
cause if you still did, you'd probably have some issue.
You know, people ask me all the time, like, what
are your career goals? Do you want to be on television?
I don't know. I mean, is YouTube bigger in television
right now? I'd say for most people I know it is.

(22:14):
You know, things change at dramatic speeds. I don't know.
I'm gonna do whatever I have to do. I'm willing
to do whatever it takes wherever things are going, that's
where you go. I saw a lot of people when
I first got into radios around so many of these
newspaper guys. I saw a guy recently on on X
it was like, the best advice for anyone in sports

(22:35):
media still is to start at a newspaper. Unless I'm
not into like talking shit on Twitter as much anymore,
I don't care. That's it was the dumbest thing I'd
ever read. I'm like, this guy's actually putting this out there. Yeah,
if this was two thousand and one, maybe that's pretty
good advice. It's twenty twenty four. That'd be the last
thing I would advise to any young person, unless it's

(22:57):
like the Wall Street Journal. Do not not fucking do that.
So signing quarterbacks is complicated. Signing the great quarterbacks is
relatively easy, even though it's complicated because of the amount
of money, as in like Lamar Jackson, we all knew
he was good and it was still complicated, right. Patrick
Mahomes was pretty easy, Josh Allen was pretty easy. Even

(23:19):
the Herbert thing, like there's pressure for him to be
a consistent top five quarterback. Trevor Lawrence has not been
paid yet, Like we need to see a little more
before we give you one hundred and eighty two hundred
million dollars. It's a big financial decision, so eighty million
dollars is not two hundred million dollars. But you could
argue after fifteen touchdowns that even deserve eighty million dollars.
But there is no way to spin it. They have

(23:41):
buyer's remorse and there's nothing wrong with that. It's dive
into Fugazi Friday and a lot of you guys are
now doing most of the work because I just get
I get DM and I was like, yeah, I haven't

(24:01):
seen a big fugazi lately. A lot of you guys
that hit me up about my tahoe and I got
one of those plug in things. It works, okay. I
Actually I had someone from Chevrolet reach out listener of
the show, Jeff, hopefully you know something materializes. You know,
welcome to the show. We do a lot of business here.

(24:22):
So Chevy arms wide open. As my guys at CREED
would say, uh, let's start with this. I think this
position assignment in the NFL and how it leads to
contracts is somewhat of a fugazi Why wouldn't Kelsey's agent
identify him as a wide receiver? Bowers too, I think

(24:43):
they need to do positional groups opposed to specific positions quarterback,
running back, wide receiver, tight end, O line, D line, etc.
With the amount of scheming and utilizing players in multiple
positions with different formations, I think the current model is
outdated and they need to revamp considering its direct impact
on the cap, player contracts and franchises. Totally agree. Would

(25:07):
not be opposed to that, and I'm not exactly pro
agent here, but I think it makes a lot of sense.
Travis Kelcey is a wide receiver. The problem is the
way the situation is constructed. Jimmy Graham was too and
he tried to argue and he lost. So it gets
too complicated where you just it's not worth arguing over

(25:28):
something you will not win. And like in real estate,
it's all just comps on your position. Even though Travis
Kelcey would say, who's my comp? I catch one hundred
balls a year. I'm the greatest receiving tight end of
all time because I'm a fucking wide receiver. But that's
not the way it works. Micah Parsons like, hey, Nick

(25:50):
Bosa is a defensive end. He just got one hundred
and twenty million dollars guaranteed. I am not an outside linebacker.
I'm a pass rusher, just like PJ, just like Bosa,
and just like Miles Garrett, I am a pass rusher.
Pass catching tight ends and pass rushers get screwed. One
thousand percent totally with you. This is a Fugazi Friday.

(26:13):
A couple months ago, my wife and I had VRBO
booked for a trip to Miami, taking a little weekend
in the sun. Less than a week before our stay,
we get a notification from the owner that they sold
the place on a reservation was canceled. While they did
technically refund us, so you got refunded. It was extremely frustrating,

(26:33):
no alternatives, and the rebooking was on us to figure
it out. If it were the other way around and
we canceled for any reason, we would have lost our
payment due to the terms. But since the owner cancels,
they don't have any repercussions. What the fugazi. I think
there's a simple solution to this, and I'll be honest,

(26:56):
I'm not the biggest vrbo Airbnb like I I never
set that up. Whenever I'm at one, it's always through
someone else. Maybe I'm living in the past, still more
of a hotel guy when I travel. Maybe that will
change with time. Build a family, obviously it's much easier.
Maybe I'm just living in the past. Maybe I should
get into that game a little more. If your house,

(27:20):
I don't think it's crazy, Right I put my house
on vrbo Airbnb. Some guy knocks on my door, calls
me up and says makes me an offer I can't refuse.
I sell the house. If my house is for sale
or is pending a sale, and I'm doing this, there
should be some sort of situation that vrbo or these

(27:40):
companies help you facilitate a new place. Right to me,
if it's something that just happens overnight, which it's hard
for purchase to happen, overnight, so they would have known that.
To me is another step of like, Okay, my house
is on the market. I'm just vrb owing it out.
I know at any moment it could be sold, and

(28:00):
then people with reservations, especially in a place Miami, Scottsdale, right,
San Diego, Vegas, New Orleans. I mean that there are
certain travel destinations here that are going to be pretty
highly impacted when a house sells. So I would say, yeah,
I understand your frustrations, and this is easily avoidable, right,

(28:21):
especially if the house had been for sale for a while.
Fugazi Friday fast food. Fast food has always been terrible
for you, but it was convenient enough and cheap enough
to justify justify sacrificing some health every now and then, agreed. However,
in the post COVID world, outside of the real estate market,

(28:42):
it seems like there is no industry that has taken
advantage of inflation quite like American fast food. I used
to be able to go to BK. It'd be Burger King,
McDonald's or tackle Bell and grab a lunch for six
seven dollars. It's almost impossible to find anywhere much less.
Some already more expect of brands and not walk out
paying less than fifteen dollars. I ordered four burgers and

(29:06):
two orders of fries from one fast food joint, no drinks,
sixty two dollars. Service is stuffered at many of the
change yet the drive throughs are still twenty minutes deep
for god knows what burger and they nearly cost what
you can get ordered fresh at a sit down restaurant.
I'll never forget being a kid. You go to Taco

(29:28):
Bell and eat like a king with a five dollar bill,
eat like a king. McDonald's used to have pretty good
meals for under five bucks. Burger King definitely had a
good nine and nine cent menu, soda Wendy's. I don't
eat fast food as much anymore. I would say this,
and I always notice this because we go to in

(29:49):
and Out probably once a month, maybe twice a month.
That is easily the best paying for your buck. You
can get a shitload of food to feed four people
for thirty bucks. You can eat like a king for
two people for under twenty So I'm talking triple triples,
animal style fries, milkshakes. I just think that these companies.

(30:11):
I don't know where you live, but obviously in California
now minimum wage twenty bucks. So as all this stuff
goes up, the price, like they pass that on to us, right,
that's always hey, guys, it's why the government is always
so out of touch, Like cost gets passed on. Welcome
to I don't know the business world. So all their stuff,

(30:33):
you know, I don't know where McDonald's or Burger King
gets their meat, but that's more expensive. Everything's more expensive.
So as that gets more expensive, labor gets more expensive.
The McDonald's I think, owns their real estate, but some
of these other companies maybe lease out of, you know,
land that gets more expensive. It just drives up. But
I'm with you, it's hard to justify. I also think

(30:55):
we need to think about this differently because in the
history of the world, like the dollar doesn't come back
down in terms of you know, remember when a burger
was twenty eight dollars and then it came down to
fifteen dollars. Not usually the way it works. In my
thirty nine years of life, things have steadily risen. Car prices, clothes, food,
you name it, right, Like, this is the reality. And

(31:19):
I think for anyone I don't know how old you are,
but we used to look at twenty dollars or one
thousand dollars or one hundred dollars. You have it in
your head what that means. Well, doesn't mean that anymore,
which sucks. I'm not it just sucks. It was out
of our control, but kind of is what it is.
So I think you should just boycott the fast foods.

(31:42):
I still think you go to Taco Bell. I haven't
been there in a while, but bean and cheese burrito.
It's just regular tacos, even chicken soft tacos. My buyer
to Taco Bell is usually a bean and cheese burrito.
If I'm feeling fat, probably two chicken soft tacos supremes
and maybe like a chicken imbrito. That's if I'm feeling fat.
If I just want to stay healthy, just and I

(32:03):
need a little snack, two chicken soft tacos boom, little
mild sauce off and running. That's really the only fast
food I would do McDonald's for breakfast, but my body,
and I'm someone in my teens in the early twenties, Like,
I'm sure a lot of guys ate a lot of
fast food. I just I'll be two hundred and fifty pounds,

(32:25):
and like you said, it's not like you're getting some deal.
It's not like, Hey, you know, I didn't pay anything
double inflation Fugazi Friday companies that are charging more and
giving less. I'd rather pay additionally for same product and
not have the quality reduction. My dog treats recently started
charging more and now the treats are roughly fifty percent smaller,

(32:48):
cut in half horizontally. All this does for the consumer
is make them hate the brand. And I have sworn
off dozens of companies doing this and making my own
dog treats. Fuck companies who don't respect their consumer. Yeah,
I don't know what else to say. Having a dog
not cheap, especially bigger dogs. Food's not cheap. They eat

(33:12):
a lot. We always had labs in my house and
they eat a lot. The good thing is, you know,
certain dogs make them an egg here and there, feed
them some chicken. But I hear you. You know the
reason Amazon, I mean started run circles around people. Customer
service could send anything back. Delivery was free customer customer customer.

(33:35):
Any person listening to this as just someone who consumes
a lot. When you're customer friendly, that loyalty even if
in my generation we're less loyal than my parents' generation,
it does still mean something. It really does. Shitty customer
service is always the easiest way. You better have an
elite product. It's like a player. It's like he's pro bowler.

(33:57):
He's been arrested a few times. Well, it's still a
pro bowler. You're not a pro bowler to getting arrested.
See you you're cut right. It's like, yeah, the food's
all eat. Customer service sucks. You're like, I'm still eat there, Like,
oh yeah, your product's okay in your customer service sucks.
Peace because it's never been easier to find other options, right,
got this little thing called the internet. Lakers basketball is

(34:18):
a fugazi. First time watching the Laker game all year,
and the end of the game is just give the
ball to a d then they have a foul. AD
shoots free throws. Lakers win on AD free throws. I
think the Lakers I heard on a podcast ear this
year were like setting a record for most free throws
in a year. I mean the Lakers won that game

(34:38):
because Sion got hurt. They were gonna lose. Zion was dominating. Luckily,
we get to watch the Lakers lose the Denver Nuggets,
who are gonna kick the shit out of them. They've
got I'd say five. I'll give the Lakers a courtesy
game Audios Lebron Audio, Steph Audio's NBA television ratings. When

(34:59):
you're two most famous players, one gets knocked out in
the nine ten and the other gets knocked out in
the first round, it's gonna be rough for business. You know,
I like playoff stuff. But if you think I'm watching
King's OKC, you got another thing coming. Fugazi Friday. The
market for NFL quarterbacks. I'm a Dolphins fan, and the

(35:19):
big topic this offseason for fans on Dolphins podcast is
obviously to his extension. Everyone keeps bringing up the quarterback
market and that you can't offer a guy like Tua
thirty million dollars a year because the market dictates that
he should make more like fifty five million. I feel
like I'm taking crazy pills. They claim. This is why

(35:40):
Daniel Jones contract happened, among other dumb quarterback contracts. The
quote unquote market is such a fugazy If you put
two on the open market, there is no shot that
a team would Payhi more than thirty million dollars. I
never quite understand this either, because Daniel Jones and even
Tua you're not afraid to lose them. Like, what drives

(36:01):
up a price for a player is like he has leverage.
If so, if Justin Jefferson hit the open market, if
Nick Bosa or TJ. Watt hit the open market, like
you know, people would be lined up twenty teams, the
good teams and the bad team. No, everyone would try
to sign the guy. Okay, it's like, yeah, here's our offer,

(36:21):
three years, eighty million dollars will guarantee eighty will guarantee
the whole thing. But this is your offer. It's like, no,
what the disrespect? Okay, play this year out hit free agency,
and see what happens. If you play so well this year,
maybe we'll up the offer. I never quite understand that
with these middle tier quarterbacks. I don't get it makes

(36:44):
no sense to me. Baseball's all out of whack, just
in terms of guys signing right before the regular season.
They're free agent. Their business models fucked up. But one
thing that's come back to earth is like, yeah, Otani's
worth seven hundred, Mookie's worth four hundred. Most of you
guys are worth like a hundred and some of these
outrageous contracts have definitely slowed down and it's just healthier.

(37:07):
It's like, yeah, not everyone's worth this. The NBA is
obviously a lout of whack. They max out everybody, But
the NFL has that problem with quarterback. Like, yeah, Lamar
mahomes Alan, I'm sorry, Like, what's Tua the fourteenth best
quarterback in the NFL. Here's twenty eight million dollars a

(37:28):
year for three years. If you improve, we'll bump that
number up. We like you, Someone's gonna pay you. Yeah,
someone would pay us. That was what his agent would say. Okay,
go play for them for forty five million dollars. Good
luck to that fucking team. Godspeed. I'm with you. I
never have understood that we've seen it happen with Dak.

(37:50):
We saw it happen with Dak a couple of years ago.
Feels like we're gonna see it with Tua this year.
Be interesting what happens with Dak again. I just don't
get like a more manageable number. How there's not a gap, right,
because there is a gap in terms of the play.
So if there's a gap in terms of the play
shouldn't there be a cap in terms of the compensation.

(38:12):
If one of my sales guys is bringing in ten
million dollars a year and the other sales guy is
bringing in two million dollars a year, who do you
think is making more bonuses? Right? It's like, well, one
guy's just way better than the other guy by every metric.
The eye tests playoffs like it's not even debatable. I
don't get it, never have, never will to be honest

(38:33):
with you, Okay, Middlecoff mailbag very very easy to get
involved at John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff Instagram handle fire
in those dms. Let's start with Johnny. I want to

(38:55):
hear your thoughts on Pennix. I think he can be
something special. Whenever I hear people critique him, it's because
of his age, his injury history, and his tape against Michigan.
His injuries can't be ignored. However, that was before he
got to Washington. Unless you're Eli Manning or Brett Favre,
you're gonna miss some time. The tape against Michigan's not

(39:17):
very good. No, it was not my problem with people
bringing that up is I feel like the top prospects
would have struggled against that team. They were, after all,
the most complete and dominant team. I love Michael Pennix.
I've loved him for two years. I mean, he's one
of my favorite players in the draft. The problem is
to like push all my chips in the table. I'm

(39:39):
not as concerned the injury history because he's proven for
two years he can be healthy. I think it's more
of the Michigan game and when you look at it
in a vacuum, his team, like he had a really
good offensive line, several NFL players. Obviously he's playing with
several NFL players, a wide receiver. In that game, he

(39:59):
got and it really threw him off. He didn't get
hit all season. He didn't get touched. He got sacked
eleven times. So when he is not touched, you could
argue he's as good, if not the best quarterback in
the draft. And that includes Kleb Williams. Not touched, no
one would rather have thrown the ball. When you start
touching him and hitting him and just getting around him,

(40:20):
it threw him off in that Michigan game. That Michigan
team was an NFL team. That's kind of what it's
gonna look like. That's what gives me some reservation. Now
if I was if the guy's in the twenties or
the top of the second round, no brainer pick. But
I do understand because after the Texas game, like, how's
this guy not gonna be a top five pick? I

(40:40):
get it. The age? Who gives a shit? What someone
dm me the other day like, why do we talk
so much with aging quarterbacks whether you're twenty one or
twenty four? Who cares if you play for twelve years?
One guy's thirty two, the other guy's thirty four. Who
gives a shit? Totally agree? Age means nothing to me
in terms of a positive or negative though, Like you know,

(41:03):
Jayden Daniels was a fifth year guy, right, so he
should have a really good year. But he did. So
it's like, I don't care. The age doesn't bother me.
The Michigan game, though, and I had a little money
on Washington was it was more to holding over to
win the two games. But I just think that that
is a little concerning because if you factor in the

(41:25):
way he played, he didn't get touched, and that's not
the NFL. You get pressured and you get hit and
you get moved off your spot constantly. When he's not
moved off a spot, he's elite. Elite. But in the
pros man coming from all angles, can you move? But
and this is where he gets intriguing. Pro Day, it's like, well,

(41:47):
he's not a big movement guy. Then he runs a
four or five five, so you're like, God, this guy's
a really good athlete. Move him around, so maybe you
can incorporate that. He's one of my favorite players in
the draft, though I'm concerned with that. It's hard to
get that game out of my mind. But that's why
he's gonna go. I mean, if you're talking about a guy,
if I can get this guy in the mid twenties,

(42:08):
that's incredible. Every scout I talked to is like, got
you watched PANICX? When I'm watching Rome and Dunes, Like Jesus,
guy's good. So I think we're all in agreement. The
guy's a really good player. I don't hear anyone arguing that,
because you can't argue that he's fucking dominated for two years.
He made a program that is mostly I guess they've
been good since Chris Peterson went there. But a lot

(42:30):
of my life hanging their hat on the early nineties.
I was like five to eight. They were not good,
and then they had bad two thousands. Even Sark like
got a bunch of hype. They never won like more
than seven games. Pete got there made him real program again.
This guy took him to like that next level. It's

(42:50):
like Chip Kelly, Bloody was damn good. They were constantly
in the top fifteen. Then Chip Kelly took him to
another level. Washington was really good under Chris Peterson. It
felt like Pennix was the curveball inserted like, well, I
forget that was the quarterback's name. Kid from Sacramento. He's

(43:11):
the Bengals backup. He filled in for Burrow this year.
My mind is not working. Played at Washington, I mean,
a solid college player. I'm stunned he's in the NFL.
He actually looked pretty good this year. Pennix is in
a different universe than that guy Dallas. His name Jake.
I want to say, my mind's not working. This is
what happens in middle of April. A lot of things

(43:32):
flying through this prane. It's gonna piss me off because
I'll look it up when we're done. Mail back question
a lot of you guys listening like Middlecoff, you're an idiot.
I know you have the name. If Caleb Williams is
a good rookie season, maybe eighty to ninety percent of
what Stroud did, or make a wild card spot. Do
you think the Bears would consider trying to avoid what

(43:54):
happened with Philly's regression and promote Waldron to head coach
and fire Eberflus. If Shane Waldron is really good this
year and your offense is dynamic, which it's on paper,
gonna have a chance to be right. And if this
kid's shining and he starts interviewing or it's gonna look

(44:16):
like a lot of teams are gonna want to talk
to him. I don't even like who cares see ebra
flues audios? Nice knowing you cool new look again if
you feel confident about it, Because let's face it, if
the Eagles had to redo, it would have been the
craziest thing ever at the time, but it would been
the right move. They would have fired Cyrian and for

(44:37):
Shane Styking. If the Falcons had to redo the moment
Kyle Shanahan started interviewing, do you know what they would
have done, they would have fired Dan Quinn. Now it's easy.
Obviously after the fact we all know the information, but
you now have information to go off of, like we
know how this goes. So Caleb Williams your future he

(44:58):
especially if he looks good, We'll be talking like guy,
this guy become a top five quarterback and if they
get along, wouldn't even be a question in my mind.
I'm a Marine, thank you for your service, and grew
up in Oakland, not far from the Coliseum. Obviously, there's
a big East Bay and San Francisco rivalry in the
Bay Area. Now all that pro sports teams are out

(45:19):
of their way in Oakland, I can't bring myself to
continue rooting for the Raiders, Warriors, or as I feel
like it's a logical reaction. However, the city of Oakland
is as much to blame for the teams, leaving as
the respective ownership groups. Interest to hear your perspective on
what you would do in my position, root for the
Diners or the Chargers. Jim Harbaugh my favorite coach, and

(45:42):
the Niners are a great team. Rooting for a team
I used to hate just feels weird. Don't want to bandwagon.
I don't think in modern history we will ever see again.
And I don't even know if it's ever happened. The
coliseum where the A's and Raiders played, and right next
to it was Oracle. Three teams left in like a
four year span. Here's what I'd say about the Warriors,

(46:05):
Like that area, the Colosseum area sixty six in Hagenberger
is one of the biggest fucking dumps of all time.
Like if they nuked it tomorrow, no one would notice
or care. So Joe lacb just picked the team up
and went to the city where there's a lot more
money and financed it himself. So I don't think you
can blame the Warriors. Weren't Oakland's team. They just played

(46:26):
in Oakland. They were the Greater Bay Areas team, and
he just moved him down the street. I mean, mileage
wise is like fifteen to twenty miles. Obviously it takes
a lot longer with traffic in the bridge. But Joe
Lacob did not do what the other teams did. The Raiders. Listen,
you can't. I mean it was the right move. I mean,

(46:48):
there's no way around it. He never would have got
a free stadium it's in an area way more vibrant now,
way more money behind him. It's not even close. He
couldn't have financially survived one building stadium on his own.
Into the Niners suck up all the money and listen,
you're from the East Bay. I lived there for a decade.
You know, I'm from Davis, Sacramento area. The East Bay

(47:10):
is majority Niner fans, just like it's majority Giants fans.
Danville Pleasanton like the Niners, and Giants sucked up all
the oxygen. So even the A's like I don't I
bet would, They'll stay in Sacramento and they should. Sacramento
makes a lot more sense than Oakland. Next year they
will sell out fifteen thousand people at the Triple A

(47:32):
Stadium every single night. What was going on in Oakland
with the A's and listen their ownerships of joke? I mean,
the politicians in Oakland have historically been one of the
biggest laughing stocks in America my forty years of life,
I mean absolute joke. Now John Fisher, rich guy doesn't
want to spend but and I get it, but it

(47:56):
wasn't working like it was time. It was over the
Raider things more complicated. Uh, They're the one team that
I see the point of the fan, which is what
you're asking about. Joe Lacob made the right move, and
every human being in his position would have made that move.
The things a combination of a lot of variables. But

(48:18):
the Raiders. I do kind of believe him that he
would have stayed, but he would have needed a hand
out and he just wasn't gonna get it there, and
Vegas gave it to him. And now he's way richer
and living in a twenty million dollar house. You know, Dayton,
just tens that might be working, girls might not be.
You know, I'm not I'm not one to judge, but listen,

(48:39):
Mark Mark, Mark, Mark doesn't regret it. I would say this,
I would go Hardbaugh. It's not It's the Oakland Raiders
that you grew up rooting against, played the San Diego Chargers.
They're now the Los Angeles Chargers and the Spanos has
got in the league because Al Davis, so there's a

(49:00):
connection there. I'm rooting for the Chargers. People think I'm
a Charger hater. No, I thought Brandon Staley was a clown.
I love Jim Harbaugh. I'm a Jim Harbaugh fan. I
mean my squad's next year Niners, Andy Veach and Harbaugh.
Those teams were and the Eagles. I like the Lions.

(49:21):
I like Dan Campbell, Jared Goffs cow guy. So but
I'm one hundred percent room for the Chargers. I love
Jim Harbaugh. I've rooted for Jim Harbaugh now fifteen years
and I will not stop. So props with Dean Spanos
for We're hiring a real coach. Got me on board,
keep up the great work. Question for the mailbag. I'm

(49:42):
a Cardinal fan, and to be honest, I don't know
how to feel about the fourth pick. I'm a big
Kyler Murray guy, and drafting Marvin Harrison our neighbors sounds enticing,
but I'm wondering would it be more productive to trade
back for extra capital and possibly draft a receiver who
falls in the draft. We already have the Texans pick,
so I'm just not sure if the extra capital is necessar.
What I think the move is for the Cardinals and

(50:03):
this is what I expect, and it'll be an early
teaser for the old mock draft coming is I think
I think the Cardinals and Peter Schrager is pretty dialed
in with the Giants. I think the Giants trade from
six to four, so the Cardinals go to pick six,
well four quarterbacks go one, two, three, four. Even if
the Chargers, which I do not think are any lock

(50:25):
to take a wide receiver, but let's say they take
Marvin Harrison, You'll take Roma Doonzay. I've talked to enough
people in the league that know Monte Austin Fort. He's
not risking it on Neighbors because Neighbors is a little
bit of a wild card. But you will get one
of the top three wide receivers. And add I don't
know a third round pick. So if Marvin Harrison Junior
is taking it five, which again I feel pretty confident

(50:47):
that is not a lock, that is not a lock
at all. So you either get Marvin Harrison and Romadunsay.
One of those two players will be your wide receiver
at six. I think that's what ends up happening. But
I'm with you, like to go from like four to eleven,
Like that's that's probably two four because you do need
an impact skill guy. I guess if you went to eleven,

(51:09):
you could take Bowers, but your tight ends actually pretty good,
Nick Bride, So maybe not see you on Instagram all
the time. McBride's playing golf all the way around. That
guy's good. I me's I like that guy a lot.
Should the team that drafts Jaden Daniels trade next year's
number one pick to get Neighbors? In recent years, many
college quarterbacks are paired with their college wide receivers Joe

(51:30):
Burrow and Jamar Chase, and many of the Alabama team
produce high resorts results with this strategy. Should the team
drafting JD consider overpaying? Well, if we assume Washington takes them,
which is kind of universally assumed right now, Washington doesn't
have another first round pick, so if Neighbors is going
to go in the top ten, they couldn't get up

(51:51):
that far. No one's trading picked eight or nine to
go to the second round. Even if you give me
a couple first round picks. I just can't move back
that far. So I just it's not realistic. I hear
what you're saying, and in a perfect world it makes
a lot of sense. But yeah, any thoughts on oj Simpson.

(52:15):
I think I talked about it last week. Uh, since
I talked about it. He made him the kid sign
an NDA. What a fucking bizarre life. I mean, I mean, seriously, well,
that's just icing on the cake of the whole situation.
Children have to get into the when the guy's on
his deathbed has to sign an NDA. I mean, I've

(52:35):
been in a hospital room with my dad on a deathbed.
I can't even imagine. Hey, hey, sir, you need to
before you can come in. Jeff needs you to sign this.
What's this? There's an NDA, so anything discussed in here
you can't be said. I mean, it was a ninety
six million dollars, that's what OJ's the estate osen just

(52:59):
a It's just just feel dirty. The whole fucking thing.
Great podcast, always checking for updated wisdom from you. Would
you happen to know how they determine who gets a
vote for NBA MVP. I think it's just the media
likes people that cover the league, beat reporters, the main guys,

(53:20):
the Bill Simmons, Winhorse, Zach Lowe's of the world. I
don't think it's that complicated, Like, I don't think they
think that deep into it, Like if you've been covering
a team like Anthony Slater in the Bay Area, covers
the Warriors and now the Kings from cover to the
thunder forever with Durant like, I'm sure he has a vote.
I think you just want. I think if you were

(53:41):
running these things. Here's the problem is people get votes,
right if you are play by play, guys used to
have them. Well, they see their team. Eighty one time
is like a year, right, same thing with baseball. You're
not watching the rest of the league because you're always playing.
Like in the NFL, you can kind of keep up.
It's easier to keep up, but you still miss a

(54:03):
lot of games. I'm actually probably more suited to vote
for some of the awards than a guy that covers
the New York Jets because every week he's at a game,
so he's missing the majority games all on my couch,
three TVs Up seven games on television, watching everything. You

(54:25):
could argue that the GM should vote. Sad Broncos fan here,
what is stopping us from trading certained for a premier
quarterback in this year's draft? I feel like PS two
and a first rounder at least gets us the Pats
on the phone. Peyton has brought the options down to
a quarterback from left field, like Brady or one from

(54:47):
the draft with Danuci and Stidham. It's a rough quarterback
room being the only quarterbacks rostered is trading certain feasible
one million percent. Obviously you don't like trading elite players,
but you're in this foo bar situation, and let's face it,

(55:11):
that's what it is. It is a disaster. You're eating
all this cap room because of the Russell Wilson trade.
That is one of the worst trades of all time,
regardless of what happens Seattle for the Denver Broncos, it's
one of, if not the worst trade of all time.
The money, the production, the assets, the the cap implications.

(55:35):
So I think you gotta think out of the box
whatever if they do that. Here's one positive for Sean Payton.
He doesn't give a shit what other people are saying. Clearly,
I mean he cut Russell and didn't even think. Twice
asked him take a pay cut in the middle of
year's Yeah, if you don't take a pay cut, we'll
gonna betch you, which it turns out wasn't quite allowed,

(55:56):
but he didn't care. So yeah, I would say everything's
on the table with them. Nothing will shock me With
Sean Payton nothing. What are the expectations for the Commanders
this year? New for an office, new coaching staff, a
bunch of new free agents can't help but be hyped.
Josh Harris has made I think it's realistic to go

(56:19):
like eight ish wins and just look like a team
on the come. Now you get to eight wins, that
would mean Jaden Daniels, assuming he's a quarterback, shows a
lot of signs. That's the wild card, right. I think
we all do this with the Bears too. NFL quarterbacks hard.

(56:40):
Even if it's easier to play now than ever, it's
still difficult and there can be a massive learning curve
the speed, the play calls, everything. So like the Commanders
in three years could be a dominant team and this
year could suck. Like that's on the table. You're not
being that good this year. If Jay is kind of swimming,

(57:01):
which might happen, and this is where you got to
be careful about. Like CJ. Stroud last year, that's not
normal obviously. I mean he chattered rookie records. That was abnormal.
That was an all time outlier. So most guys are
kind of up and down. It's difficult, It really is

(57:23):
and here's the problem. The difference for the Bears. Bears
have a good defense, so the Bears might be able
to win some ugly games. So if they get to
if you tell me the Bears are nine to eight,
I'd be like, well, maybe they're maybe. Also their defense
is like top twelve. Your defense might suck. I mean,
you just you got rid of defensive lineman. You just

(57:44):
have a lot of holes. You're obviously investing your first
pick in a quarterback. I think you got to see
the big picture. To me, this year is all about
just like getting this guy's feet under him and him
showing a lot of signs for the future. I would
say eight wins would be a really big success. But
even if you win six or seven, but it's like

(58:05):
you're in a lot of games. Maybe your defense is
getting gashed. That's how you feel pretty good. And honestly,
if you're gonna win six, you're almost better win five
or four. So you can get a high pick next
year and draft a sweet defensive player. But I think
we got to be careful with these rookie quarterbacks. Most
of them just do not play that well. Question first though,

(58:26):
I want to say how cool it is to see
what you're doing. I first heard you doing Raiders postgame
right after the Rams kicked the shit out of the
car Is rookie year. It was refreshing to hear an
honest take about how they had little to no talent
compared to the rest of the league. I'm pretty sure
after that game, if I remember correctly, they had they
had like six games left, and I thought they could

(58:47):
go winless. I didn't think they were gonna win a game.
And that's when the president who now got fired for
fucking up the taxes on the team called me from
the plane. He was in line to get on the
plane and called me because he saw a tweet that
I said, like, the Raiders have to sixteen on the table.
Weird place. I know they were own ten. Let me

(59:09):
remind you own ten. But he was not happy. Luckily,
the guy I worked for the time at the radio
station was like, Fox, say whatever you want, and I did.
Now for my question. It seems like they ended up
beating They got their first win against the Chiefs that year.
Alex Smith Chiefs on a Thursday night football game. It

(59:29):
was pretty cool, actually, the place was rocking. Rough loss
for the Chiefs. It seems like every year there are
more and more talented receivers coming out in the draft.
With a passing offense seven and seven growing so much
in the youth, high school, and college, it makes sense.
Could you see that position eventually being financially similar to
running backs. They don't have to wear and tear factor,

(59:51):
but it'd be supplying demand issue. Not to mention, not
many teams that overpay that position make it that far
in the playoffs. I see what you're saying. The problem
is is the wear and tear is a big thing.
Like if if I had Christian McCaffrey right now, and
it never crossed my mind like oh, he's just always healthy,
no big deal, Like he's gonna play ten more years,

(01:00:13):
you wouldn't hesitate giving him another huge contract. But when
you have these running backs, all you ever think about
is like, oh, he's gonna get injured. He's gonna get injured.
You don't really say that with wide receivers, even though
they get injured too. But like, I don't know how
old Davante Adams is, thirty one, thirty two, You just think, like,
got Davonte could play like six more years right justin
Jefferson's got ten years left. You start looking around the

(01:00:36):
league at all these guys can play forever. That wear
and tear is a huge part of the price. And
the other thing is I think historically receivers have been
very hit or missing the draft. I think in recent
memory it's been a lot more hits than missus, at
least in the top couple rounds. But when I have

(01:00:57):
a good wide receiver, just pick a guy in the
top twenty. I Uke's a good example because it's like, well,
how much do I want to pay him? Would I
trade him to the Steelers and use that pick on
a wide receiver? They're just his no guarantee. I have
Brandon Ayuk. I know he's really good. I know I
got to pay a little more than I want to,

(01:01:17):
But if I take that position. Look at the Titans,
it was one of the reasons that cost John Robinson
his job. Now maybe it was the ownership didn't want
to pay him. That's been out there. But like they
traded aj Brown, which in theory, like okay, you traded
him for pick whatever sixteen seventeen. They immediately take a
wide receiver and then that guy sucks. So it's like

(01:01:40):
I wouldn't obviously most of us wouldn't have done it.
But if you are gonna do it, you're like, wow,
you get a really high pick, pick the right guy.
The Vikings did the same thing. They just got Justin Jefferson.
So it's like, when it works, it's awesome. When it doesn't,
it's a disaster. The disaster easy to say, much easier

(01:02:01):
to fill. On running backs, like high end wide receivers,
there is a big drop off. I mean ask somebody
the Patriots, the Giant, some of these teams that last year,
the Titans, the Cardinals, I mean they got nothing. Seeat
I was like, yeah, we got three wide receivers. Locket,
He's sweet, Jackson Smith, Baller DK. You know, it's like
some of some teams. And then but you also there's

(01:02:23):
a hard part about the draft. It's like I would
have said, like if Cooper cups average, the Rams are
in trouble, and then they land Pooka Nakula and he
has the greatest rookie season ever. So I guess I'm
contradicting myself here. I don't have a great answer for you. Besides,
I think the risk is really high when you feel
you have a really good player. I think that's a
I think that's a huge factor. Appreciate everyone listening, have

(01:02:46):
a great weekend, and uh we'll see you next week
for some draft talk. The volume