June 1, 2023 • 39 mins
Deshaun Watson wants to prove he’s still elite but the guys aren’t so sure he cracks the top 10. Senior NFL Reporter for TheMMQB, Albert Breer talks about the league’s true feelings towards the kickoff change and much more. Plus, Deion Sanders earns Colorado primetime slots to start the season.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:33):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Cherry Red one fifty, the one Whizzy and this Dizzy,
but the one sixty down to one Whizzy skirt.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Uh huh?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Bummed that that spunny you? We lost a hoopcap?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Uh huh huh?
Speaker 4 (00:54):
What's that? Cherry Red?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Cherry Red, Cherry Red. It's two Pros and a Cup
of Joe here on Fox Sports Radio. Savar Arrington, Jonas
Knox with you.
Speaker 5 (01:04):
Here.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
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The way tire buying should be, by the way. You
know what I just did?
Speaker 5 (01:34):
Lebar?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Can you guess what I just did?
Speaker 5 (01:36):
No?
Speaker 4 (01:37):
What'd you do?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Lotion time?
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Baby? Put on some hand lotion, A little soft hands.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Hands are all soft, feel great hand lotion.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Boy.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Look, you use the soap in the bathroom, and it's
like washing your hands with paint. And so I'd rather
not walk around with WD forty fingertips, and so I'd
like to, you know, make my hands a little bit
saw for hour two of this program. So I figure,
if the NFL is going to be soft and changed
the kickoff rule, that's what I'm gonna do. I'll make
my hands as soft as the NFL is. Now with
(02:08):
you mean that?
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Okay? All right, there you go.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Speaking of lotion, your buddy Massage Watson was speaking recently.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
To the Yeah, lotion, that's that's oil.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
But god, it depends on how far I do it.
We are I guess you're right, but your buddy Deshaun
slash Massage Watson was talking with the media recently about
just sort of the perception of him. His offensive coordinator
spoke recently about where he's at. Alex van Pelt is
the OC in Cleveland and talked about just the difference
(02:43):
between Deshaun Watson this year as opposed to last year.
Said that he's improved tenfold over last year. And so
there has been some speculation about what is this new
version of Deshaun Watson that gets ready for year two
in Cleveland. Well, he spoke recently about sort of the
perception that has come along with his quality of play.
(03:04):
Let's take a listen.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
I'm very motivated.
Speaker 6 (03:07):
I'm very excited to be able to have those opportunities
to go out there and improve what I what I
have before and even better. And that's the goal is
to be better than what you know people last saw me.
And yeah, I mean, honestly, you know, people are entitled
to their owner beans, but at the same time, you
got to you gotta respect everythings.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
You know, I missed two years of football.
Speaker 6 (03:24):
So if I was in their shoes, I wouldn't put
myself in that position either. I got to go out
there improving and that's what I'm looking forward too. So
those opportunities for me this upcoming season, I have to
take advantage of it.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
So three years ago, Deshaun Watson, you couldn't find three
quarterbacks you would take ahead of him in the NFL
to start a franchise. And now you start looking around
the league, I don't know if he's a top ten guy.
And it just goes to show you how much things
have changed, not only maybe on the field, but also
(03:55):
off the field. And I think this contract is going
to age so poorly in Cleveland. Like, the longer this
goes on and the more that he continues to fall
down the list, the worse this contract is going to
look in the effort of the Cleveland Browns and Deshaun Watson.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Well, you know who it won't look bad for.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Who's that?
Speaker 4 (04:15):
David Mullagetto.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
That's true, that is true.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
You know who else?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Who's that?
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Massage Watson?
Speaker 3 (04:22):
That is true? Got us two thirty, he said.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, man, So regardless of what anyone thinks, he's got
a fully guaranteed contract. And and you got to say,
one of the biggest concerns and one of the biggest
fears that that NFL ownership and decision makers would have
is opening up their you know, their purse strings, loosening
(04:48):
them up, you know, divvying out these types of contracts
knowing that this is a production sport, it's a production.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Profession. And so when you take away.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Any real motivation, I don't know how many guys are
going to be as motivated once they get a deal
so massive and it's fully guaranteed. I mean, we're seeing
it in basketball, like people want to call it load management,
(05:28):
whatever you want to call it. But you see the
way players are in terms of mentality in the league,
and those who separate themselves are the ones who work
their asses off even though they got those types of contracts.
And you see that it is very pronounced. It is
(05:54):
very pronounced. The ones that put in the time, they
put in the work even though they at max contracts.
So to me, when I look at the Massage Watson situation,
it could play out in a favorable way for Cleveland
(06:16):
if he comes out and he can regain form and
play at a very high level and have success in
the AFC North and be a contender in the AFC.
But I think that it's such a long shot for
Cleveland to be that team. I think it's such a
(06:37):
long shot for Deshaun Watson to be that player. I
don't want to sound like I'm a massage Massage Watson hater,
but I'm just saying realistically speaking, he had a limited
season last year and that season was well, it was forgettable. Yeah,
(06:58):
he didn't play the year and he didn't play the
year before that.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
The year before that, that was the four win team
with the Houston Texans.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Okay, four wins. Yeah, I just you know, I can't
say I wish him well. I will say that even
though I'm not a hater, I can't say, ah, well,
I wish him well because I just don't know that
I have a positive feeling about who he is as
a person and and and maybe I'm wrong for that
(07:32):
because when you're watching football, when you're watching sports, maybe
you're not looking at the sport and the player for
their character. You're looking at the player for the way
they play. So but just knowing what I know and
the things that have have you know, kind of kind
of found their way out there into the public consumption area.
(07:56):
I'm not a fan. I'm not a fan of them,
So it's kind of one of those things where you'll
be watching. I'll be watching just like everyone else to
see if he can live up to the contract. But
I think it's just going to be very difficult. Whether
you like him or whether you don't, whether you're a
Cleveland fan or you're not, you're going to pay attention
(08:19):
and you're going to want to see how it plays out,
because ultimately, if it does play out, it does bote
well for future quarterbacks who want to go after that
fully guaranteed contract. Even though I don't see how that
could happen just based off of the given all the
(08:40):
parameters and the stipulations and everything that has to take
place for a fully guaranteed contract to happen, I think
that that will be the one reason why it's of
significance outside of it being Massage Watson, is that can
he perform well enough it takes contract negotiations possibly in
(09:04):
a different direction.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
You know, you mentioned the guaranteed contract and how the
tendency for a lot of people, and look, I may
fall into this as well too, if you told me
I had two hundred and thirty million dollars guaranteed coming
to me, no matter what, no matter how I played.
First of all, I'm set for life. The people around
me are set for life. The people that they give
birth to are set for life. Like like, I could
(09:27):
understand why there would be a tendency to pull off
the gas. I think it's natural. But when you bring
up that point, it's part of the reason why there's
a lot of people complain about UFC fighter pay because
there's no guaranteed deals outside of what those guys get,
you know, when they get to the fight, and then
(09:47):
they've got a win bonus. So if a guy you know,
takes part in a fight, he only gets the other
half of his paycheck when he wins the fight. And
you look at that, and there's a lot of people
who aren't happy about that. Obviously, there's exceptions. You got
your McGray, you got your Israel Adasanya's, you've got your
Marquis John Jones, fighters who get all those contracts. But
(10:07):
to the defense of the UFC, and fighters have admitted
this and gotten some blowback because they're not supporting other fighters.
You do see guys fight a little bit harder when
they know I'm not getting the second half of that
check unless I win, and I'm not getting a bonus
check unless I look really good in my performance via
either a knockout or a submission or a performance of
(10:29):
the night. So there really is something too. If you
leave a little bit out there, a carrot to grab,
so to speak, you are going to see maybe a
better performance. And I don't know if Deshaun Watson maybe
has taken his foot off the gas because he realizes
I don't have another carot to grab. It's all here.
I've got everything I could possibly want. But I just
(10:49):
look at it. And if you go around the NFL
all list off a number of quarterbacks and you tell
me which one of these quarterbacks you would take ahead
of Deshaun Watson, Which is why say this contract looks
so bad on behalf of the Cleveland Browns. Like, if
you just go around the NFL right now, are you
taking Deshaun Watson over Josh Allen?
Speaker 4 (11:11):
No?
Speaker 3 (11:12):
What about Deshaun Watson over Aaron Rodgers. No, Deshaun Watson
over Lamar Jackson, No, Deshaun Watson over Joe Burrow, No.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
And that's that's then AFC North right there.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Yeah, Deshaun Watson.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
Over Jenny Pickett.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yes, well, yeah, of course I think Saint.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Well, don't load the deck check. I mean, like, throw
him out there, if you want to throw him out there.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Deshaun Watson over Trevor Lawrence. No, okay, what about Deshaun
Watson over Russell Wilson Because I'm not.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
That's a tough one. I'm gonna go with Russell Wilson
because at least Russ gets villain ize for being a
good dude.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Yeah, I mean yeah, and which is better than the opposite.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Which is better than the alternative?
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Okay, obviously Patrick Mahomes justin Herbert not taking them correct.
And then you get to a guy like Jalen Hurts Nope, yeah,
And and then you go around what about Kirk.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Cousins Mmm, probably the same as Russell Wilson.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Yeah, you'd lean towards Kirk Cousins, but it's it's at
least close. And then you've got your Dak Prescott's you know.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Now that's a.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Take Dak Prescott.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
Yeah, I'm gonna take Dak.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Yeah. So like you just you go around the NFL
and then you know, you get over. We just listed
a dozen quarterbacks. We didn't get to a Matt Stafford.
We didn't get to And this is all as of
right now. Man, if Bryce Young plays well, if c. J.
Stroud plays well, if Anthony Richardson plays well, if Will
Levis performs well for the Titans, if Justin Fields goes
(13:05):
to another level in Chicago, which a lot of people think.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Mean he needs to go to another level, I would hope.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
So, yeah, they won't win three games this upcoming year.
But like, we just rattled off potentially fifteen sixteen other
quarterbacks that you'd start your franchise with before you'd start
your franchise with Deshaun Watson. And that guy got two
hundred and thirty million dollars guaranteed. But by definition, yes
that the deal is awful. Yeah, you're right, it is
(13:31):
off me.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
You're right. But here's the thing. We don't know what
Deshaun Watson is anymore.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Well, we do off the field.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Well, he's relaxed off the field, Yeah, really very relaxed.
I mean he clearly comes across relaxed in his interviews too.
I mean, so it must have done it, It must
have worked.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Does he have any knots or tightness anywhere anymore? Or
has that all been gone? Like once you get like
two thousand massages, that all disappears, correct.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I mean you'd assume his throwing motion, his all kinds
of you know, his his his run fakes, and everything
is just going to be very very loose and fluid,
you know, like you know, just just be real, yeah, supple,
But I just don't know that we know what Deshaun
(14:22):
Watson is at the moment. And that's what's most I
guess intriguing about the whole deal in Cleveland.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
What is he? Yeah? And then what is Cleveland?
Speaker 1 (14:38):
You know, because Cleveland, Cleveland has has to be something
as well. It's not games take a team, it takes
a it takes a collective effort to win games. It's
it's very difficult to win games and be successful in
the NFL. So this is just just as much about
(14:58):
Stefanski and the the rest of those coaches as it
is about Massage Watson. So I think I think that
we don't really know what he is right now. He
could very well return back to form. But here's here's
my biggest question. My biggest question is you said there
(15:21):
wasn't three quarterbacks that you would take over Deshaun before
you know, everything took place. But I would debate that,
you know, I would debate that. I would debate that
there were more quarterbacks than that that I would start
a franchise with outside other than Deshaun Watson, because there
were question marks on his health. There there was you know,
(15:44):
the idea that sure he was having success and playing
playing fairly well and in the league he was cooking
while the team was really like not even doing really
well at times. But I mean, I never I never
looked at him as a league MVP. If he was
(16:06):
not one you take over some of these other guys,
then why wasn't he getting league MVP or consideration.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
I think that was the the ability was there, and
people looked at him and said, the next step in
his development, this is an ascending quarterback. This is somebody
who you know, again, to start a franchise, you would
look at a guy like Mahomes at the time. But
it just it shows you how fast things change in
(16:32):
the NFL, because in three years, I mean, he's been
laughed multiple times over. I mean, I don't think he
was a finished product. I don't think he was an
MVP guy. He was never Lamar Jackson like whatever anybody
wants to say, was never Lamar and he's never been
Joe Burt.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
So doesn't that lead to the bigger question being how
did they value him to get to that contract to
begin with? Hey, let alone for him to prove out
that he's good enough for the contract. How did he
get that contract to begin with a man? That would
be the bigger question for me.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Don't you think we should also maybe credit Baker Mayfield?
Because when Baker Mayfield went public and said I'm not
coming back. We need to go our separate ways, the
Browns were like, uh oh, we better do something here,
and Deshaun Watson was saying, well, listen, I'll just sign
with the Atlanta Falcons. I mean they already gave him
a jersey, like he slipped up and he had it
on his social media afterwards that he already had a
(17:27):
jersey printed out from Atlanta. And then Cleveland got desperate
and said, we don't have another option at quarterback. Here,
here's two hundred and thirty fully guaranteed, and we'll figure
it out afterwards. And if you missed the first eleven
games of your first year. Don't worry about it. We'll
push the majority of that money's towards the year two
and year three of the deal. It just the whole
thing is bizarre, Like there should really be a documentary
(17:49):
done on how we got to this point where he
got paid.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
That's to me, that's the more relevant question, because you
can't judge him based off of something thing he's not
capable of accomplishing to begin with. If you thought he
was going to be a world beater to win a
Super Bowl, what gave you that? What gave you that
inclination that that's what it was going to be? And
(18:13):
why was that the dollar amount that was connected to
him in the first place. Yeah, that to me is
the bigger that's the bigger question.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
It's crazy.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Two pros and a cup of Joe. Here Fox Sports Radio,
Savar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you. Come it up next
here from the Tirak dot com studios. There is a
report out, a story out about the NFL and how
they came to a big decision that could change the
future of their league, and we'll get into the details
of that for you. That's next.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Arrington and
Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern, three am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe here on Fox
Sports Radio. So coming up, we are going to have
what is very evident, a move made in the world
of football that tells you everything you need to know
about the direction of a team. Again, that is a
little over fifteen minutes from now, but right now the
direction we're headed is to Albert Breer, senior NFL reporter
at the MMQB. You can get him on Twitter at
Albert Breer, Albert, what's happening?
Speaker 5 (19:16):
Good morning, what's up, guys, Good morning, Good morning.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Morning, sir.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
All right, So we got to know because you put
this out yesterday, and I think it's fascinating the pushback
that we've gotten on the NFL kickoff rule change. And
you've got Matthew Slater who went in on the league
and it's hard to find anything to counter the points
he made about the issues that we have with the
change to the kickoff. Belichick made some comments Andy Reid,
(19:44):
John Harbaugh, et cetera, et cetera. So how the hell
did we get to the point where the NFL changed
the kickoff rule in the last week.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
Oh, I mean, it's actually, like, really really interesting if
you want to go back and look at how this
all came down, because I can't really remember anything being
so unanimous among coaches and players as this has been.
You won't find much pushback. And you know, it goes
back to you know, the meetings in March, and you know,
(20:16):
the big annual meeting, all the coaches and GM's are there,
and I think they could barely get a sixteen to
sixteen vote on this. Now you need twenty four votes
to change a rule because it should be hard to
change a rule, right, And in the time since you know,
they they decided a table edit that meeting and take
it to May because the commissioner really wanted to get
it through. And then the time since the Special Teams
(20:40):
coaches organized and basically did a study, they all met
at films before the draft, which is crazy if you
know how you know, busy that time is for football people,
And you know, I think about a dozen other Special
teams coaches went to NFL filmed in New Jersey. John
Harbaugh went to and they met and they studied it,
and they put together a study and then they had
(21:02):
a call with all thirty two Special Teams coaches and
it was basically thirty two to nothing that this rule
is bad. And then they enlisted a couple of veterans
Special Teams players and you all have those names for
you guys over the weekend, But those two guys are
as respected as anyone in the league. Those guys who
organized a group of thirty four players representing all thirty
two teams, and they all basically unanimously said this rule
(21:26):
is bad. And then they went to their head coach,
went to their general managers, went to their owners and
said this can't go through. And yet, like they get
to the owners meeting last week in Minneapolis, and on Monday,
it's eighteen thirteen one, so not that different from what
it was at the meetings in Arizona in March. And
(21:46):
then overnight, all of a sudden, you know, Roger goes
to work and starts politicking and working owners and saying
like that, there's good they're gonna be. This could open
them up to legal liability and to to work cushion
litigation if they let this go and all of a
sudden it's twenty five to six to one or twenty
six to five to one and it passes, and uh,
(22:09):
you know, Roger was able to flip eight teams overnight.
And you know, I think that that's why the coaches
and the players are so irate. You know, this isn't
one of those things where it's like split down the middle,
you know what I mean, Like it's it's like pretty unanimous,
and you can hear it in the way coaches are
talking about it now, and I know a lot of
(22:29):
these guys feel really really strongly about it, and uh,
and they feel like it's going to make to play
more dangerous and Lavaar you can probably talk to this
better than I can, But you know what a lot
of the coaches and the players feel is that, like
the counteraction to this is going to be not more
teams kicking it through the end zone and more more touchbacks. Necessarily,
it's going to be knucklers. It's going to be line
(22:50):
drive kicks, it's going to be squib kicks, it's going
to be directional kicks that they think are going to
create more chaotic, unsettled football, which is more dangerous football
then you're getting a normal kickoff.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
But I mean, if we're being realistic here, isn't isn't
that what you want for your viewers. Isn't that what
they call entertainment?
Speaker 4 (23:11):
No?
Speaker 5 (23:11):
No, no, because they they're like, what the league wants.
The league wants to take the kickoff out of the game.
And I think that that much is clear, and you know,
what they what they what they think. So what they
found in their study was that because of the touchback
being moved out to the twenty five, more teams instead
(23:31):
of kicking it into the end zone were popping it up,
and so liked be the counteraction to that rule change
was popping it up, which condensed the field and made
for more violent collisions, and you know, as a result
of that concussions. They felt like there was a reason
why the concussions went up from I think it was
ten and twenty twenty to fourteen and twenty twenty one
(23:51):
to nineteen last year, and so they wanted to do
something to eliminate like the pop up kickoff. So the
solution there was, well, let's just make it so the
guy fielding the pop up kickoff and call for a
fair catch and we move the ball out to the
twenty five. It's really interesting, you know what I mean,
Like if you think about it, because there are all
(24:11):
kinds of you know, there are a lot of potential
u intended consequences to that as well. A coach brought
this up to me. I thought this was really interesting.
What happens now, Like it's like, let's say you're down eight,
right and you know you score, you score touchdown, and
so you have to go for two. What's preventing on
(24:33):
what's preventing the defense from just saying go take the
quarterbacks head off, you know, and play through the whistle
and just just thrill them. What's preventing the defensive coordinator
from doing that? Because now if there's a fifteen yard penalty,
it becomes relevant on the kickoff right now, if you
kick him out from the fifty, you're just gonna fair
catch it and put it in twenty five. So but
there are like all kinds of things here that I
(24:56):
think that players coaches think could result from this, that
are that make it so any benefit there is from
this is going to be negated by some of the
unintended consequences and that this is really going to create
like a little bit of a id say, negative effect
when we get to the.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Fall and get them on Twitter at Albert Breers, senior
NFL reporter at the MMQB joining us here on Fox
Sports Radio. So you've got respected players, You've got coaches
both special teams, You've got head coaches, everybody's in unison.
They all agree that this is a bad idea, and
the owners agree, and then Roger Goodell does some work
(25:37):
behind the scenes in the middle of the night and
convinces other owners to flip, how the hell is this
landing when you hear when you talk to these players
and these coaches who who did the research took the
time to point out why it's a bad idea. How's
it landing to them? When the owners of these teams
disregard everything that's being said because they bought whatever Roger
(26:00):
Goodell was selling in the middle of the night about
player safety and potential litigation down the road.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
Yeah, I think like the point Roger's making is, well,
we can't just sit there and do nothing right, and
like I think that the and and Roger basically his
point is if concussions have gone up the last two
years in a row, like you're opening yourself up to
legal liability if you don't do anything, because if something
(26:25):
really bad happened on the kickoff, now, like could somebody
come and see you because you did nothing? And like
the coaches are saying, that's not the right reason to
change a rule, but you know, like to be fair,
the owners are the ones who are going too, you
know what I mean, Like, so like that's part of it,
you know. I just think that the coaches and players
feel like at some point, like football is a dangerous game. Yeah,
(26:51):
at some point, like you know, you have to do
if you have to, you know, have be great. You
have to be tough enough to to do things that
like you know, like like like you shouldn't just be
doing things in reaction to what could happen to you.
You should be doing things because you think it's for
the good of the game. And like, I know, the
(27:11):
coaches and players feel like this is just a band
aid and it's inevitable that this is going to be
changed again. And I think, yeah, I mean there's absolutely
some fear on the case, on the on the on
the on the on the part of the special teams,
coaches and players that this is going to affect, you know,
their their value you know in the league too, So
that's definitely a part of.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
It as well.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Abe, I want to switch gears on you and and
talk about John Grutin being brought in uh in New
Orleans too to help out with the installation of of
their the offense there.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Why has this.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Become such a big story. I mean, I'm kind of
trying to understand it and figure it out. I mean,
I get it, I get what took place obviously, but
at this point, I mean, why is this like just
give me, give me an idea of why this has
been made kind of or almost being forced into a
(28:11):
big story.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
Well, two reasons. Number one cause it's may or I
guess the student from now right, and there's nothing else
going on in football. I was in the kickoff role.
And I think the other thing is just how he
left the league, you know, and how controversial that was.
And I mean, I think what people have to understand,
and Lavarre, you were in the league for a long time.
(28:35):
I mean, like in the spring, how often did you
guys have like college coaches come by and visit, you know,
or like there's like a lot of like this information
sharing that goes on this time of year. You know,
like we're former coaches or guys who are out for
a year will travel around and go to like three
or four teams ohtas, and they'll study some things and
then they'll sit down at the end of the day
and they'll trade ideas with the guys who are coaching
(28:57):
in those places. I mean, I'm sure you ought, like
over and over again right when you were in the
NFL like that there there will be visiting coaches coming through.
That's essentially what this is. And I know, you know,
Dennis Allen felt like there were there were there were
a couple of good reasons to do it. I mean,
Number one, the guy is I mean, you know John
(29:18):
Grutin's you know, wealth of knowledge is going to be
beneficial for any coaching staff. So hey, can we get
a guy in here who like is going to be
able to kind of look at some things we're doing
and and and you know, like trade ideas with us
and that sort of thing. There's great value in that.
There's humility and being willing to do that too, you know.
And then you know number two is the direct experience
he has with Derek Carr. And so knowing having coached
(29:41):
Derek Carr for three years or four four years, four years,
you know what makes the guy tick and what the
guy's good at, and how to make the guy comfortable
and all that different stuff is valuable. And I could
tell you, like the day after he left, you, Dennis
Allen went into their offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, and they
they said to him like, Hey, look like we're still
(30:02):
going to be the Saints on offense. You know, like
what we've done here for a long time obviously works,
especially when we have a veteran quarterback who's got a
good handle on what we're doing. But you know, what
what I think Grutin's physic can do is it can
help them and like and and and and trying to
learn what best to emphasize and how to call it
(30:22):
in what makes them comfortable and how to get him
going because he's worked with the guy in games and
worked with the guy in gams for four years, you know.
So I don't think it's like Gruden's coming in to,
you know, change what they're doing offensively, or you know,
like like reinvent the wheel for the Saints offense, I
think more than anything else, it's all right. We you know,
we've got a great system here, but obviously for every player,
(30:45):
and especially quarterbacks, you're gonna tweak it a little bit.
And so having a resource of a guy who knows
what the guy is most comfortable with, what the quarterbacks
most comfortable is a great thing to have when you're
putting things together in May and.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Gym Albert Breer. Before we let you go, we get
about thirty seconds, but I got to ask you who's
going to be the starting quarterback for the Las Vegas
Raiders come Week one.
Speaker 5 (31:07):
I still think it's gonna be Jimmy Garoppolo. And I
think a lot of people don't understand what this waiver is.
This is actually relatively common with with the older players,
and you don't see them starting quarterbacks a lot for sure,
But like a lot of guys will have to sign
injury waivers to protect the team in situations where there
are injuries like this. Now, Jimmy Garoppolo still has thirty
(31:29):
three and a half million dollars guaranteed in this contract.
The only thing this changes is if he re injures
the left foot, then they can cut him right, So
it would have to specifically be that foot again, Like
if he separates his shoulder, or he blows out his
knee or he breaks his ribs, like that doesn't change anything.
His contract is still guaranteed. It's specifically if he injures
(31:50):
that foot, injured foot again. So we're talking about like
this somehow displacing him as a starting quarterback of the Raiders.
It would have to be that specifically happening again. And
so you know, I think Timmy, you'll be able to
get through it. From what I understand, he's coming along well.
Everything's gone according to plan since since he had the surgery.
He's been in there every day and building a relationship
(32:11):
with Davante Adams and obviously he knows Josh and a
lot of the staff already, and so I think everything's
on track now. The only thing this changes is like
they felt uncomfortable enough with the foot where they protected themselves,
where if he injures the foot again, their options are open.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Get him on Twitter at Albert Breers, Senior NFL reporter
at the mmqb AB. We appreciate it, as always, We'll
do it again next week.
Speaker 5 (32:33):
Thanks job, Thanks guys, have a good one.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
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We'll tell you who that team is. That's next Here
(32:57):
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Speaker 2 (32:59):
Be sure to catch five editions of Two Pros and
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Speaker 7 (33:10):
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Speaker 4 (33:16):
Who you don't know is for my entire life.
Speaker 7 (33:19):
I have lived in something I refer to as the
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Speaker 3 (33:43):
Two pros and a cup of Joe. Fox Sports Radio
LeVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here coming up top
of next hour a little over ten minutes from now
from the tire Rack dot Com studios. Somebody is still
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the NFL. Tell you who that is again, coming up
a little over ten minutes from now here on FSR.
(34:04):
By the way, before we get to this next story,
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and save at Progressive dot Com, So LaVar Arrington. Yesterday
there was a big announcement made by Fox. You know
our our fellow radio wife Brady Quinn yep and part
(34:26):
of the Big Noon Boys there pregame show for Fox's
college football coverage.
Speaker 4 (34:32):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
Well, I know where they're going to be the first
two weeks of the season, where are they going to be?
They're going to be in prime time because Dion Sanders
and the Colorado buffalo'ser back off a what one win
season a year ago, and now their first two games?
Speaker 4 (34:48):
Is stuff coming on that? Well?
Speaker 3 (34:50):
Yeah, he's back from better things, you know at Jackson State.
But when it comes to the Colorado Buffalo's and everyone thinking, man,
when are they going to bring back you know, Cordel Stewart,
what are they going to bring back? Michael Westbrook?
Speaker 4 (35:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (35:06):
What are they going to bring back? The glory days?
Don't worry. The glory days are here. We don't know
if they're actually gonna win any games, but the glory
days are here. Because Colorado will be featured as part
of Fox's big noon kickoff coverage at TCU and home
against Nebraska weeks one and two of the season, which
I think tells you everything you need to know about
before we get into the wins and losses of this team.
(35:29):
At the very least, Deon Sanders has put that program
back on the map and they're going to be featured
back to back to start out the year on Fox.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Back to back.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
How about prime time?
Speaker 4 (35:41):
If he wins like.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Game changer?
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Right, it's going to be a I mean, he'll generate
way more excitement if he can pull off winning those games,
even if he can split, even if he can split. Yeah,
I think he'll pull off a major level of excitement
for college football. So I know a lot of people
are skeptical of the transfer portal and and what that
(36:09):
can look like and how it should be executed, executed
in terms of like massive, massive changes of a roster.
I know people are looking at it like Jackson State
is an HBCU, which in all intentsive purposes should not
be comparable to the level of play of a Power
(36:33):
five program. But I've always said winning is winning, and
you bring together, you know, a good coaching staff, and
and some people may debate, some of the coaches may
some people may not. You know, I don't know, depending
on you know, what your background says for the different
pundits that that are speaking on Colorado. But one thing
(36:56):
I'll say for certain, Jonas is that Dion Sanders knows
how to capture the imagination of not only the public
in the media and the onlookers, he knows how to
do it with his players and his coaches. Yeah, and
I know Dion very well. Spent a lot of time
(37:18):
with him as a teammate, and I also spent a
lot of time with him as a coach when I
did the under Armour All American events.
Speaker 4 (37:26):
He's the real deal.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Maybe a lot of people aren't really aware of that yet,
but he is the real deal. He has done it
the right way. He's learned the game as a coach
and as an administrator from the pee wee league level
on up.
Speaker 4 (37:42):
He did pee wee league, he.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Did high school, he did college, He's done every level,
and he's done it for an extended amount of time.
So he's not an overnight success. He's not a fly
by night type of gimmick.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
He is the real deal. And if he.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Does win, if he does indeed pull off those wins
against those teams, which is going to be a daunting task,
but if he's able to do it, it won't be
It won't be because it was luck. It will certainly
be because he has a process that seemingly has taken shape,
it's taken hold, and it works.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
They're a twenty one point underdog against TCU to open
up the year. I think if they're just competitive in
those games, and I know we want to look at
the wins, but man, what if it's a close game.
What if they show significant upgrade over what was last year,
which shouldn't be hard to do considering what they were.
I just think as much as people don't like maybe
his approach like the old school, people don't like the
(38:46):
transfer portal, what if he does have success with it,
doesn't this make you reevaluate how you build programs around
the country.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
USC did Yeah, USC did it, And I bet you
if they could have done it at the level that
primed it, they would have did it.
Speaker 4 (39:03):
They would have did it. So I hope he wins.
I am a fan of Dion. I hope they do win.
So it's gonna be nice. That's cool that Fox is
going to have their games.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Hey, thanks for listening to the Two Pros and a
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(00:20):
show over at Foxsports Radio dot com, or stream us
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Speaker 2 (00:33):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Cherry Red one fifty, the one Whizzy and this Dizzy,
but the one sixty down to one Whizzy skirt.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Uh huh?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Bummed that that spunny you? We lost a hoopcap?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Uh huh huh?
Speaker 4 (00:54):
What's that? Cherry Red?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Cherry Red, Cherry Red. It's two Pros and a Cup
of Joe here on Fox Sports Radio. Savar Arrington, Jonas
Knox with you.
Speaker 5 (01:04):
Here.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
You can listen to this show as always on the
iHeartRadio app, and you can find us on hundreds of
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(01:27):
and over ten thousand recommended installers. Tire rack dot com.
The way tire buying should be, by the way. You
know what I just did?
Speaker 5 (01:34):
Lebar?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Can you guess what I just did?
Speaker 5 (01:36):
No?
Speaker 4 (01:37):
What'd you do?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Lotion time?
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Baby? Put on some hand lotion, A little soft hands.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Hands are all soft, feel great hand lotion.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Boy.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Look, you use the soap in the bathroom, and it's
like washing your hands with paint. And so I'd rather
not walk around with WD forty fingertips, and so I'd
like to, you know, make my hands a little bit
saw for hour two of this program. So I figure,
if the NFL is going to be soft and changed
the kickoff rule, that's what I'm gonna do. I'll make
my hands as soft as the NFL is. Now with
(02:08):
you mean that?
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Okay? All right, there you go.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Speaking of lotion, your buddy Massage Watson was speaking recently.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
To the Yeah, lotion, that's that's oil.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
But god, it depends on how far I do it.
We are I guess you're right, but your buddy Deshaun
slash Massage Watson was talking with the media recently about
just sort of the perception of him. His offensive coordinator
spoke recently about where he's at. Alex van Pelt is
the OC in Cleveland and talked about just the difference
(02:43):
between Deshaun Watson this year as opposed to last year.
Said that he's improved tenfold over last year. And so
there has been some speculation about what is this new
version of Deshaun Watson that gets ready for year two
in Cleveland. Well, he spoke recently about sort of the
perception that has come along with his quality of play.
(03:04):
Let's take a listen.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
I'm very motivated.
Speaker 6 (03:07):
I'm very excited to be able to have those opportunities
to go out there and improve what I what I
have before and even better. And that's the goal is
to be better than what you know people last saw me.
And yeah, I mean, honestly, you know, people are entitled
to their owner beans, but at the same time, you
got to you gotta respect everythings.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
You know, I missed two years of football.
Speaker 6 (03:24):
So if I was in their shoes, I wouldn't put
myself in that position either. I got to go out
there improving and that's what I'm looking forward too. So
those opportunities for me this upcoming season, I have to
take advantage of it.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
So three years ago, Deshaun Watson, you couldn't find three
quarterbacks you would take ahead of him in the NFL
to start a franchise. And now you start looking around
the league, I don't know if he's a top ten guy.
And it just goes to show you how much things
have changed, not only maybe on the field, but also
(03:55):
off the field. And I think this contract is going
to age so poorly in Cleveland. Like, the longer this
goes on and the more that he continues to fall
down the list, the worse this contract is going to
look in the effort of the Cleveland Browns and Deshaun Watson.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Well, you know who it won't look bad for.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Who's that?
Speaker 4 (04:15):
David Mullagetto.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
That's true, that is true.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
You know who else?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Who's that?
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Massage Watson?
Speaker 3 (04:22):
That is true? Got us two thirty, he said.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, man, So regardless of what anyone thinks, he's got
a fully guaranteed contract. And and you got to say,
one of the biggest concerns and one of the biggest
fears that that NFL ownership and decision makers would have
is opening up their you know, their purse strings, loosening
(04:48):
them up, you know, divvying out these types of contracts
knowing that this is a production sport, it's a production.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Profession. And so when you take away.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Any real motivation, I don't know how many guys are
going to be as motivated once they get a deal
so massive and it's fully guaranteed. I mean, we're seeing
it in basketball, like people want to call it load management,
(05:28):
whatever you want to call it. But you see the
way players are in terms of mentality in the league,
and those who separate themselves are the ones who work
their asses off even though they got those types of contracts.
And you see that it is very pronounced. It is
(05:54):
very pronounced. The ones that put in the time, they
put in the work even though they at max contracts.
So to me, when I look at the Massage Watson situation,
it could play out in a favorable way for Cleveland
(06:16):
if he comes out and he can regain form and
play at a very high level and have success in
the AFC North and be a contender in the AFC.
But I think that it's such a long shot for
Cleveland to be that team. I think it's such a
(06:37):
long shot for Deshaun Watson to be that player. I
don't want to sound like I'm a massage Massage Watson hater,
but I'm just saying realistically speaking, he had a limited
season last year and that season was well, it was forgettable. Yeah,
(06:58):
he didn't play the year and he didn't play the
year before that.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
The year before that, that was the four win team
with the Houston Texans.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Okay, four wins. Yeah, I just you know, I can't
say I wish him well. I will say that even
though I'm not a hater, I can't say, ah, well,
I wish him well because I just don't know that
I have a positive feeling about who he is as
a person and and and maybe I'm wrong for that
(07:32):
because when you're watching football, when you're watching sports, maybe
you're not looking at the sport and the player for
their character. You're looking at the player for the way
they play. So but just knowing what I know and
the things that have have you know, kind of kind
of found their way out there into the public consumption area.
(07:56):
I'm not a fan. I'm not a fan of them,
So it's kind of one of those things where you'll
be watching. I'll be watching just like everyone else to
see if he can live up to the contract. But
I think it's just going to be very difficult. Whether
you like him or whether you don't, whether you're a
Cleveland fan or you're not, you're going to pay attention
(08:19):
and you're going to want to see how it plays out,
because ultimately, if it does play out, it does bote
well for future quarterbacks who want to go after that
fully guaranteed contract. Even though I don't see how that
could happen just based off of the given all the
(08:40):
parameters and the stipulations and everything that has to take
place for a fully guaranteed contract to happen, I think
that that will be the one reason why it's of
significance outside of it being Massage Watson, is that can
he perform well enough it takes contract negotiations possibly in
(09:04):
a different direction.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
You know, you mentioned the guaranteed contract and how the
tendency for a lot of people, and look, I may
fall into this as well too, if you told me
I had two hundred and thirty million dollars guaranteed coming
to me, no matter what, no matter how I played.
First of all, I'm set for life. The people around
me are set for life. The people that they give
birth to are set for life. Like like, I could
(09:27):
understand why there would be a tendency to pull off
the gas. I think it's natural. But when you bring
up that point, it's part of the reason why there's
a lot of people complain about UFC fighter pay because
there's no guaranteed deals outside of what those guys get,
you know, when they get to the fight, and then
(09:47):
they've got a win bonus. So if a guy you know,
takes part in a fight, he only gets the other
half of his paycheck when he wins the fight. And
you look at that, and there's a lot of people
who aren't happy about that. Obviously, there's exceptions. You got
your McGray, you got your Israel Adasanya's, you've got your
Marquis John Jones, fighters who get all those contracts. But
(10:07):
to the defense of the UFC, and fighters have admitted
this and gotten some blowback because they're not supporting other fighters.
You do see guys fight a little bit harder when
they know I'm not getting the second half of that
check unless I win, and I'm not getting a bonus
check unless I look really good in my performance via
either a knockout or a submission or a performance of
(10:29):
the night. So there really is something too. If you
leave a little bit out there, a carrot to grab,
so to speak, you are going to see maybe a
better performance. And I don't know if Deshaun Watson maybe
has taken his foot off the gas because he realizes
I don't have another carot to grab. It's all here.
I've got everything I could possibly want. But I just
(10:49):
look at it. And if you go around the NFL
all list off a number of quarterbacks and you tell
me which one of these quarterbacks you would take ahead
of Deshaun Watson, Which is why say this contract looks
so bad on behalf of the Cleveland Browns. Like, if
you just go around the NFL right now, are you
taking Deshaun Watson over Josh Allen?
Speaker 4 (11:11):
No?
Speaker 3 (11:12):
What about Deshaun Watson over Aaron Rodgers. No, Deshaun Watson
over Lamar Jackson, No, Deshaun Watson over Joe Burrow, No.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
And that's that's then AFC North right there.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Yeah, Deshaun Watson.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
Over Jenny Pickett.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yes, well, yeah, of course I think Saint.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Well, don't load the deck check. I mean, like, throw
him out there, if you want to throw him out there.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Deshaun Watson over Trevor Lawrence. No, okay, what about Deshaun
Watson over Russell Wilson Because I'm not.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
That's a tough one. I'm gonna go with Russell Wilson
because at least Russ gets villain ize for being a
good dude.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Yeah, I mean yeah, and which is better than the opposite.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Which is better than the alternative?
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Okay, obviously Patrick Mahomes justin Herbert not taking them correct.
And then you get to a guy like Jalen Hurts Nope, yeah,
And and then you go around what about Kirk.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Cousins Mmm, probably the same as Russell Wilson.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Yeah, you'd lean towards Kirk Cousins, but it's it's at
least close. And then you've got your Dak Prescott's you know.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Now that's a.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Take Dak Prescott.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
Yeah, I'm gonna take Dak.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Yeah. So like you just you go around the NFL
and then you know, you get over. We just listed
a dozen quarterbacks. We didn't get to a Matt Stafford.
We didn't get to And this is all as of
right now. Man, if Bryce Young plays well, if c. J.
Stroud plays well, if Anthony Richardson plays well, if Will
Levis performs well for the Titans, if Justin Fields goes
(13:05):
to another level in Chicago, which a lot of people think.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Mean he needs to go to another level, I would hope.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
So, yeah, they won't win three games this upcoming year.
But like, we just rattled off potentially fifteen sixteen other
quarterbacks that you'd start your franchise with before you'd start
your franchise with Deshaun Watson. And that guy got two
hundred and thirty million dollars guaranteed. But by definition, yes
that the deal is awful. Yeah, you're right, it is
(13:31):
off me.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
You're right. But here's the thing. We don't know what
Deshaun Watson is anymore.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Well, we do off the field.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Well, he's relaxed off the field, Yeah, really very relaxed.
I mean he clearly comes across relaxed in his interviews too.
I mean, so it must have done it, It must
have worked.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Does he have any knots or tightness anywhere anymore? Or
has that all been gone? Like once you get like
two thousand massages, that all disappears, correct.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I mean you'd assume his throwing motion, his all kinds
of you know, his his his run fakes, and everything
is just going to be very very loose and fluid,
you know, like you know, just just be real, yeah, supple,
But I just don't know that we know what Deshaun
(14:22):
Watson is at the moment. And that's what's most I
guess intriguing about the whole deal in Cleveland.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
What is he? Yeah? And then what is Cleveland?
Speaker 1 (14:38):
You know, because Cleveland, Cleveland has has to be something
as well. It's not games take a team, it takes
a it takes a collective effort to win games. It's
it's very difficult to win games and be successful in
the NFL. So this is just just as much about
(14:58):
Stefanski and the the rest of those coaches as it
is about Massage Watson. So I think I think that
we don't really know what he is right now. He
could very well return back to form. But here's here's
my biggest question. My biggest question is you said there
(15:21):
wasn't three quarterbacks that you would take over Deshaun before
you know, everything took place. But I would debate that,
you know, I would debate that. I would debate that
there were more quarterbacks than that that I would start
a franchise with outside other than Deshaun Watson, because there
were question marks on his health. There there was you know,
(15:44):
the idea that sure he was having success and playing
playing fairly well and in the league he was cooking
while the team was really like not even doing really
well at times. But I mean, I never I never
looked at him as a league MVP. If he was
(16:06):
not one you take over some of these other guys,
then why wasn't he getting league MVP or consideration.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
I think that was the the ability was there, and
people looked at him and said, the next step in
his development, this is an ascending quarterback. This is somebody
who you know, again, to start a franchise, you would
look at a guy like Mahomes at the time. But
it just it shows you how fast things change in
(16:32):
the NFL, because in three years, I mean, he's been
laughed multiple times over. I mean, I don't think he
was a finished product. I don't think he was an
MVP guy. He was never Lamar Jackson like whatever anybody
wants to say, was never Lamar and he's never been
Joe Burt.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
So doesn't that lead to the bigger question being how
did they value him to get to that contract to
begin with? Hey, let alone for him to prove out
that he's good enough for the contract. How did he
get that contract to begin with a man? That would
be the bigger question for me.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Don't you think we should also maybe credit Baker Mayfield?
Because when Baker Mayfield went public and said I'm not
coming back. We need to go our separate ways, the
Browns were like, uh oh, we better do something here,
and Deshaun Watson was saying, well, listen, I'll just sign
with the Atlanta Falcons. I mean they already gave him
a jersey, like he slipped up and he had it
on his social media afterwards that he already had a
(17:27):
jersey printed out from Atlanta. And then Cleveland got desperate
and said, we don't have another option at quarterback. Here,
here's two hundred and thirty fully guaranteed, and we'll figure
it out afterwards. And if you missed the first eleven
games of your first year. Don't worry about it. We'll
push the majority of that money's towards the year two
and year three of the deal. It just the whole
thing is bizarre, Like there should really be a documentary
(17:49):
done on how we got to this point where he
got paid.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
That's to me, that's the more relevant question, because you
can't judge him based off of something thing he's not
capable of accomplishing to begin with. If you thought he
was going to be a world beater to win a
Super Bowl, what gave you that? What gave you that
inclination that that's what it was going to be? And
(18:13):
why was that the dollar amount that was connected to
him in the first place. Yeah, that to me is
the bigger that's the bigger question.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
It's crazy.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Two pros and a cup of Joe. Here Fox Sports Radio,
Savar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you. Come it up next
here from the Tirak dot com studios. There is a
report out, a story out about the NFL and how
they came to a big decision that could change the
future of their league, and we'll get into the details
of that for you. That's next.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Arrington and
Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern, three am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Two Pros and a Cup of Joe here on Fox
Sports Radio. So coming up, we are going to have
what is very evident, a move made in the world
of football that tells you everything you need to know
about the direction of a team. Again, that is a
little over fifteen minutes from now, but right now the
direction we're headed is to Albert Breer, senior NFL reporter
at the MMQB. You can get him on Twitter at
Albert Breer, Albert, what's happening?
Speaker 5 (19:16):
Good morning, what's up, guys, Good morning, Good morning.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Morning, sir.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
All right, So we got to know because you put
this out yesterday, and I think it's fascinating the pushback
that we've gotten on the NFL kickoff rule change. And
you've got Matthew Slater who went in on the league
and it's hard to find anything to counter the points
he made about the issues that we have with the
change to the kickoff. Belichick made some comments Andy Reid,
(19:44):
John Harbaugh, et cetera, et cetera. So how the hell
did we get to the point where the NFL changed
the kickoff rule in the last week.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
Oh, I mean, it's actually, like, really really interesting if
you want to go back and look at how this
all came down, because I can't really remember anything being
so unanimous among coaches and players as this has been.
You won't find much pushback. And you know, it goes
back to you know, the meetings in March, and you know,
(20:16):
the big annual meeting, all the coaches and GM's are there,
and I think they could barely get a sixteen to
sixteen vote on this. Now you need twenty four votes
to change a rule because it should be hard to
change a rule, right, And in the time since you know,
they they decided a table edit that meeting and take
it to May because the commissioner really wanted to get
it through. And then the time since the Special Teams
(20:40):
coaches organized and basically did a study, they all met
at films before the draft, which is crazy if you
know how you know, busy that time is for football people,
And you know, I think about a dozen other Special
teams coaches went to NFL filmed in New Jersey. John
Harbaugh went to and they met and they studied it,
and they put together a study and then they had
(21:02):
a call with all thirty two Special Teams coaches and
it was basically thirty two to nothing that this rule
is bad. And then they enlisted a couple of veterans
Special Teams players and you all have those names for
you guys over the weekend, But those two guys are
as respected as anyone in the league. Those guys who
organized a group of thirty four players representing all thirty
two teams, and they all basically unanimously said this rule
(21:26):
is bad. And then they went to their head coach,
went to their general managers, went to their owners and
said this can't go through. And yet, like they get
to the owners meeting last week in Minneapolis, and on Monday,
it's eighteen thirteen one, so not that different from what
it was at the meetings in Arizona in March. And
(21:46):
then overnight, all of a sudden, you know, Roger goes
to work and starts politicking and working owners and saying
like that, there's good they're gonna be. This could open
them up to legal liability and to to work cushion
litigation if they let this go and all of a
sudden it's twenty five to six to one or twenty
six to five to one and it passes, and uh,
(22:09):
you know, Roger was able to flip eight teams overnight.
And you know, I think that that's why the coaches
and the players are so irate. You know, this isn't
one of those things where it's like split down the middle,
you know what I mean, Like it's it's like pretty unanimous,
and you can hear it in the way coaches are
talking about it now, and I know a lot of
(22:29):
these guys feel really really strongly about it, and uh,
and they feel like it's going to make to play
more dangerous and Lavaar you can probably talk to this
better than I can, But you know what a lot
of the coaches and the players feel is that, like
the counteraction to this is going to be not more
teams kicking it through the end zone and more more touchbacks. Necessarily,
it's going to be knucklers. It's going to be line
(22:50):
drive kicks, it's going to be squib kicks, it's going
to be directional kicks that they think are going to
create more chaotic, unsettled football, which is more dangerous football
then you're getting a normal kickoff.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
But I mean, if we're being realistic here, isn't isn't
that what you want for your viewers. Isn't that what
they call entertainment?
Speaker 4 (23:11):
No?
Speaker 5 (23:11):
No, no, because they they're like, what the league wants.
The league wants to take the kickoff out of the game.
And I think that that much is clear, and you know,
what they what they what they think. So what they
found in their study was that because of the touchback
being moved out to the twenty five, more teams instead
(23:31):
of kicking it into the end zone were popping it up,
and so liked be the counteraction to that rule change
was popping it up, which condensed the field and made
for more violent collisions, and you know, as a result
of that concussions. They felt like there was a reason
why the concussions went up from I think it was
ten and twenty twenty to fourteen and twenty twenty one
(23:51):
to nineteen last year, and so they wanted to do
something to eliminate like the pop up kickoff. So the
solution there was, well, let's just make it so the
guy fielding the pop up kickoff and call for a
fair catch and we move the ball out to the
twenty five. It's really interesting, you know what I mean,
Like if you think about it, because there are all
(24:11):
kinds of you know, there are a lot of potential
u intended consequences to that as well. A coach brought
this up to me. I thought this was really interesting.
What happens now, Like it's like, let's say you're down eight,
right and you know you score, you score touchdown, and
so you have to go for two. What's preventing on
(24:33):
what's preventing the defense from just saying go take the
quarterbacks head off, you know, and play through the whistle
and just just thrill them. What's preventing the defensive coordinator
from doing that? Because now if there's a fifteen yard penalty,
it becomes relevant on the kickoff right now, if you
kick him out from the fifty, you're just gonna fair
catch it and put it in twenty five. So but
there are like all kinds of things here that I
(24:56):
think that players coaches think could result from this, that
are that make it so any benefit there is from
this is going to be negated by some of the
unintended consequences and that this is really going to create
like a little bit of a id say, negative effect
when we get to the.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Fall and get them on Twitter at Albert Breers, senior
NFL reporter at the MMQB joining us here on Fox
Sports Radio. So you've got respected players, You've got coaches
both special teams, You've got head coaches, everybody's in unison.
They all agree that this is a bad idea, and
the owners agree, and then Roger Goodell does some work
(25:37):
behind the scenes in the middle of the night and
convinces other owners to flip, how the hell is this
landing when you hear when you talk to these players
and these coaches who who did the research took the
time to point out why it's a bad idea. How's
it landing to them? When the owners of these teams
disregard everything that's being said because they bought whatever Roger
(26:00):
Goodell was selling in the middle of the night about
player safety and potential litigation down the road.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
Yeah, I think like the point Roger's making is, well,
we can't just sit there and do nothing right, and
like I think that the and and Roger basically his
point is if concussions have gone up the last two
years in a row, like you're opening yourself up to
legal liability if you don't do anything, because if something
(26:25):
really bad happened on the kickoff, now, like could somebody
come and see you because you did nothing? And like
the coaches are saying, that's not the right reason to
change a rule, but you know, like to be fair,
the owners are the ones who are going too, you
know what I mean, Like, so like that's part of it,
you know. I just think that the coaches and players
feel like at some point, like football is a dangerous game. Yeah,
(26:51):
at some point, like you know, you have to do
if you have to, you know, have be great. You
have to be tough enough to to do things that
like you know, like like like you shouldn't just be
doing things in reaction to what could happen to you.
You should be doing things because you think it's for
the good of the game. And like, I know, the
(27:11):
coaches and players feel like this is just a band
aid and it's inevitable that this is going to be
changed again. And I think, yeah, I mean there's absolutely
some fear on the case, on the on the on
the on the on the part of the special teams,
coaches and players that this is going to affect, you know,
their their value you know in the league too, So
that's definitely a part of.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
It as well.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Abe, I want to switch gears on you and and
talk about John Grutin being brought in uh in New
Orleans too to help out with the installation of of
their the offense there.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Why has this.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Become such a big story. I mean, I'm kind of
trying to understand it and figure it out. I mean,
I get it, I get what took place obviously, but
at this point, I mean, why is this like just
give me, give me an idea of why this has
been made kind of or almost being forced into a
(28:11):
big story.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
Well, two reasons. Number one cause it's may or I
guess the student from now right, and there's nothing else
going on in football. I was in the kickoff role.
And I think the other thing is just how he
left the league, you know, and how controversial that was.
And I mean, I think what people have to understand,
and Lavarre, you were in the league for a long time.
(28:35):
I mean, like in the spring, how often did you
guys have like college coaches come by and visit, you know,
or like there's like a lot of like this information
sharing that goes on this time of year. You know,
like we're former coaches or guys who are out for
a year will travel around and go to like three
or four teams ohtas, and they'll study some things and
then they'll sit down at the end of the day
and they'll trade ideas with the guys who are coaching
(28:57):
in those places. I mean, I'm sure you ought, like
over and over again right when you were in the
NFL like that there there will be visiting coaches coming through.
That's essentially what this is. And I know, you know,
Dennis Allen felt like there were there were there were
a couple of good reasons to do it. I mean,
Number one, the guy is I mean, you know John
(29:18):
Grutin's you know, wealth of knowledge is going to be
beneficial for any coaching staff. So hey, can we get
a guy in here who like is going to be
able to kind of look at some things we're doing
and and and you know, like trade ideas with us
and that sort of thing. There's great value in that.
There's humility and being willing to do that too, you know.
And then you know number two is the direct experience
he has with Derek Carr. And so knowing having coached
(29:41):
Derek Carr for three years or four four years, four years,
you know what makes the guy tick and what the
guy's good at, and how to make the guy comfortable
and all that different stuff is valuable. And I could
tell you, like the day after he left, you, Dennis
Allen went into their offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, and they
they said to him like, Hey, look like we're still
(30:02):
going to be the Saints on offense. You know, like
what we've done here for a long time obviously works,
especially when we have a veteran quarterback who's got a
good handle on what we're doing. But you know, what
what I think Grutin's physic can do is it can
help them and like and and and and trying to
learn what best to emphasize and how to call it
(30:22):
in what makes them comfortable and how to get him
going because he's worked with the guy in games and
worked with the guy in gams for four years, you know.
So I don't think it's like Gruden's coming in to,
you know, change what they're doing offensively, or you know,
like like reinvent the wheel for the Saints offense, I
think more than anything else, it's all right. We you know,
we've got a great system here, but obviously for every player,
(30:45):
and especially quarterbacks, you're gonna tweak it a little bit.
And so having a resource of a guy who knows
what the guy is most comfortable with, what the quarterbacks
most comfortable is a great thing to have when you're
putting things together in May and.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Gym Albert Breer. Before we let you go, we get
about thirty seconds, but I got to ask you who's
going to be the starting quarterback for the Las Vegas
Raiders come Week one.
Speaker 5 (31:07):
I still think it's gonna be Jimmy Garoppolo. And I
think a lot of people don't understand what this waiver is.
This is actually relatively common with with the older players,
and you don't see them starting quarterbacks a lot for sure,
But like a lot of guys will have to sign
injury waivers to protect the team in situations where there
are injuries like this. Now, Jimmy Garoppolo still has thirty
(31:29):
three and a half million dollars guaranteed in this contract.
The only thing this changes is if he re injures
the left foot, then they can cut him right, So
it would have to specifically be that foot again, Like
if he separates his shoulder, or he blows out his
knee or he breaks his ribs, like that doesn't change anything.
His contract is still guaranteed. It's specifically if he injures
(31:50):
that foot, injured foot again. So we're talking about like
this somehow displacing him as a starting quarterback of the Raiders.
It would have to be that specifically happening again. And
so you know, I think Timmy, you'll be able to
get through it. From what I understand, he's coming along well.
Everything's gone according to plan since since he had the surgery.
He's been in there every day and building a relationship
(32:11):
with Davante Adams and obviously he knows Josh and a
lot of the staff already, and so I think everything's
on track now. The only thing this changes is like
they felt uncomfortable enough with the foot where they protected themselves,
where if he injures the foot again, their options are open.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Get him on Twitter at Albert Breers, Senior NFL reporter
at the mmqb AB. We appreciate it, as always, We'll
do it again next week.
Speaker 5 (32:33):
Thanks job, Thanks guys, have a good one.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
There is Two Pros and a Cup of Joe here
on Fox Sports Radio, brought to you by Discover. At
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yourself at Discover dot com. Forward slash match. All right,
So something is very evident about one team in the
world of football. They are getting a lot of love.
We'll tell you who that team is. That's next Here
(32:57):
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Be sure to catch five editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Errington, and
Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern three am Pacific.
Speaker 7 (33:10):
Hi, this is Jay Glazer. And you may know me
for the world of football or fighting or even shows
like HBO's Bawlers.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
Who you don't know is for my entire life.
Speaker 7 (33:19):
I have lived in something I refer to as the
Great depression anxiety. So now I'm coming out with a
new podcast, Unbreakable, a mental health podcast with Jay Glazer,
where each week, while we talk about mental health, I
hope to describe it, give it words. Listen to Unbreakable
with Jay Glazer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
Two pros and a cup of Joe. Fox Sports Radio
LeVar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here coming up top
of next hour a little over ten minutes from now
from the tire Rack dot Com studios. Somebody is still
very very bitter with a future Hall of Famer in
the NFL. Tell you who that is again, coming up
a little over ten minutes from now here on FSR.
(34:04):
By the way, before we get to this next story,
you want to let you know. We are brought to
you by Progressive Insurance. Progressive makes bundling easy and affordable.
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and save at Progressive dot Com, So LaVar Arrington. Yesterday
there was a big announcement made by Fox. You know
our our fellow radio wife Brady Quinn yep and part
(34:26):
of the Big Noon Boys there pregame show for Fox's
college football coverage.
Speaker 4 (34:32):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
Well, I know where they're going to be the first
two weeks of the season, where are they going to be?
They're going to be in prime time because Dion Sanders
and the Colorado buffalo'ser back off a what one win
season a year ago, and now their first two games?
Speaker 4 (34:48):
Is stuff coming on that? Well?
Speaker 3 (34:50):
Yeah, he's back from better things, you know at Jackson State.
But when it comes to the Colorado Buffalo's and everyone thinking, man,
when are they going to bring back you know, Cordel Stewart,
what are they going to bring back? Michael Westbrook?
Speaker 4 (35:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (35:06):
What are they going to bring back? The glory days?
Don't worry. The glory days are here. We don't know
if they're actually gonna win any games, but the glory
days are here. Because Colorado will be featured as part
of Fox's big noon kickoff coverage at TCU and home
against Nebraska weeks one and two of the season, which
I think tells you everything you need to know about
before we get into the wins and losses of this team.
(35:29):
At the very least, Deon Sanders has put that program
back on the map and they're going to be featured
back to back to start out the year on Fox.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Back to back.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
How about prime time?
Speaker 4 (35:41):
If he wins like.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Game changer?
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Right, it's going to be a I mean, he'll generate
way more excitement if he can pull off winning those games,
even if he can split, even if he can split. Yeah,
I think he'll pull off a major level of excitement
for college football. So I know a lot of people
are skeptical of the transfer portal and and what that
(36:09):
can look like and how it should be executed, executed
in terms of like massive, massive changes of a roster.
I know people are looking at it like Jackson State
is an HBCU, which in all intentsive purposes should not
be comparable to the level of play of a Power
(36:33):
five program. But I've always said winning is winning, and
you bring together, you know, a good coaching staff, and
and some people may debate, some of the coaches may
some people may not. You know, I don't know, depending
on you know, what your background says for the different
pundits that that are speaking on Colorado. But one thing
(36:56):
I'll say for certain, Jonas is that Dion Sanders knows
how to capture the imagination of not only the public
in the media and the onlookers, he knows how to
do it with his players and his coaches. Yeah, and
I know Dion very well. Spent a lot of time
(37:18):
with him as a teammate, and I also spent a
lot of time with him as a coach when I
did the under Armour All American events.
Speaker 4 (37:26):
He's the real deal.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Maybe a lot of people aren't really aware of that yet,
but he is the real deal. He has done it
the right way. He's learned the game as a coach
and as an administrator from the pee wee league level
on up.
Speaker 4 (37:42):
He did pee wee league, he.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Did high school, he did college, He's done every level,
and he's done it for an extended amount of time.
So he's not an overnight success. He's not a fly
by night type of gimmick.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
He is the real deal. And if he.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Does win, if he does indeed pull off those wins
against those teams, which is going to be a daunting task,
but if he's able to do it, it won't be
It won't be because it was luck. It will certainly
be because he has a process that seemingly has taken shape,
it's taken hold, and it works.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
They're a twenty one point underdog against TCU to open
up the year. I think if they're just competitive in
those games, and I know we want to look at
the wins, but man, what if it's a close game.
What if they show significant upgrade over what was last year,
which shouldn't be hard to do considering what they were.
I just think as much as people don't like maybe
his approach like the old school, people don't like the
(38:46):
transfer portal, what if he does have success with it,
doesn't this make you reevaluate how you build programs around
the country.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
USC did Yeah, USC did it, And I bet you
if they could have done it at the level that
primed it, they would have did it.
Speaker 4 (39:03):
They would have did it. So I hope he wins.
I am a fan of Dion. I hope they do win.
So it's gonna be nice. That's cool that Fox is
going to have their games.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
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.
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