August 22, 2023 • 43 mins
Today on 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe, LaVar called it; the Commanders snapped the Ravens 24-game win streak in the preseason. Jim Irsay grants Jonathan Taylor permission to seek a trade and Senior NFL Reporter for TheMMQB, Albert Breer joins the guys to talk about the biggest headlines around the league.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's the best of two pros and a couple Joe
with LaVar Arrington, Rady Winn and Jonas Knox on Box Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
So there he is, mister prognosticator. Mister tried to tell
everybody this little streak, this gimmicky little preseason streak that
the Baltimore Ravens are rolling out here, that they're so
proud of and everybody gets so excited about. It was
in jeopardy because of your former team, the Washington Commandos.
(00:35):
How bad at LeVar Arrington. The streak is over.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Can't call them commandos so much anymore though, right not
since the sale. I thought we said once they sold,
that we'd have to start really kind of thinking about
calling them something other than the Commandos.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So we just got to go with the same old,
boring commander stuff.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I mean, it wouldn't be boring for us to call
them that, because we've never called them that, Okay, But
I mean I was just curious as to what our
approach will be, because I think we did mention that
once they sold from little Danny's hands, his little fingers
like little Finger from Game of Thrones, that we would
(01:13):
start actually offering the real, the real name. Yeah, anyway,
they offered their real name and their real brand in
that game last night.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Right, Okay, was that not a fun game to watch?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I mean, if you know, I know, people love to
embellish saying the best ever, the greatest ever? Can you
believe that? But that really was Maybe that's got to
be one of the highest ranking, dopest preseason games, yes,
in history.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Just you could tell there was there was a different
vibe to it all the way throughout.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Because it matters.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah, you know, them dudes, them dudes talk to the
same girls. They got the same type of friends. You know,
people they hang out with. You know, Baltimore, Baltimore Ravens
players hang in DC. You know, they they do the
night the night scene more so in d C than
they do in Baltimore. You know, there's probably a ton
(02:12):
more Baltimore Ravens fans than people would imagine in the
DMV just because of how deteriorated the fan base of
the Washington Commander's team is.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
What do you think the split is fans?
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
I don't know, because it used to be a ton
of Dallas fans, So I'm sure there's more Dallas fans
I'm sure there's more Ravens fans, and there have been
less and less and less Commanders fans, so I don't
know what the ratio would be. There's still a tremendously
(02:47):
large contingent of of of Commander's fans.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Would you say sixty Commanders, forty Ravens, twenty percent Colby
or that doesn't make sense? Ten cowboys.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
I don't think it makes it.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I wouldn't intent excuse me, my masks off today, thirty
and ten, and but majority of that would be Commander fans,
and then you've got sprinkle in that the extra thirty
for the Ravens, and then you get your ten percent
cowboy fans, which.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I'm not I'm not gonna say that's for certain either,
because there's a lot of transient, you know, residents to
to the district, to northern Virginia. There there are a
lot of belongers as well in Virginia and in parts
of Maryland, and generally speaking like parts of DC, like
(03:42):
DC people really really they're they're they're generally real, stone
cold about it, like real d C people will not
not bang with with Baltimore Ravens because d C, a
DC thing does not mix with a Baltimore thing. That
that's not a mix. Right, So, so true dcs or
true PG countiers. Uh, you generally will not ever see
(04:07):
them be a Ravens fan because that's not d m V.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Like how far Away is like the Washington.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
It's a belt way.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
It's a battle of what they say, battle of ninety five,
you know, it's it's a beltway battle.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
So so coming into the game, people, I understand it
is a rivalry. You know, they don't the Ravens and
the the Commanders don't. They don't like each other, like,
that's not they don't, you know, the Ravens. And in
my head, I may have created this, but the Ravens
think they're better, and in recent history they are better, right,
(04:48):
they are better, not not not in history not better
all right, so let's not go there. But they they
are better than, you know, than Washington. And and what
since the since they've come come in pretty.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, since the Ravens have been in existence, they've been
a better franchise than Washington.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah yeah, yeah, but historically speaking, they are not because
they don't have enough history to be better.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
But with that being said, you're you're also talking about
like I said, you're fighting for for fan base market share.
These two coaches, they are familiar with one another. If
people put it together, you know, Ron and and Harball
were on the same coaching staff at one point in
(05:37):
time when you know where Ron was linebackers coach and
Harball was a special teams coach in Philly. So they're
familiar with one another and know one another from from
being on the same coaching staff. It's just there were
to me, there were like great storylines of why the
(05:59):
game matters. You got two new OC's that were in
the game. And I think Eric b enemy more so
than than Baltimore. I think I think Washington was really
trying to establish their offense and try they're they're working
to forge a culture in Washington that has never been there.
(06:23):
So it's like trying to get a muscle firing that's
had atrophy for over a quarter of a century.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
And look, Sam Howell looked pretty good, uh when when
he was in the game, So he played pretty good
quarterback for them. You could tell like yet an offensive
lineman for Washington. Uh, Sam Cosme, I believe who came
out and you know called the streak stupid and said
they were going to beat it as well too. So
he was on the LeVar train yesterday saying this streak
(06:52):
was in trouble for the Baltimore Ravens. But what was
interesting is that John Harbaugh afterwards, who look to be
the most stressed I've ever seen a coach during a
preseason game, a little bit fired up. John Harbor had
a little bit of a red ass, and you know,
maybe could have something to do with the fact that
it was kind of a busy day for the Harvaugh family.
(07:14):
But we'll get into that other story later on. But
here was the Ravens head coach talking about post streak
last night.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Something like that, and I just told our guys, you're
proud of it. Of course, you know, you appreciate it.
But the thing that you're proud of is all those
games are mostly just like that, you know, preseason games
that people want to write about, some of you in
here want to write about and say they don't mean
anything because you never played the game. You never were
out there in a preseason game, you never were fighting
for a spot on the team, and yet you have
the audacity to say that the effort that somebody puts
(07:44):
into that to win and fight and win a game
like that is meaningless. Tell me I was meaningless out
there what you just saw. If you like football, is
that a meaningless football game? You know, I can't respect
anybody that says that because of the effort these guys
put into it. That's what's such. You're proud of me,
That's that's why I'm so proud of these guys for
the way they fought. It doesn't matter or loss, it matters.
It matters the way they the way they went about
their business tonight, and I'm proud of them for that.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Always will be there.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
I mean, he's right, he's right about what he's saying.
But I mean he was taking a dig at somebody.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I mean, I like, you didn't play the game pulling
that from the bottom of the deck.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
He was finger pointing. He was he was finger pointed,
and you know, it happens. You know, it happens.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
And good for him, you know, good for him for
kind of taking the stance that he did, just just
for the simple fact that he is right. I mean,
the people that are saying the games don't mean anything,
they're right too. I mean, for what it's worth, I
don't think one has to be right for the other
or one has to be wrong for the other to
(08:46):
be right. You these games don't mean anything, you know.
That's that's why they're called preseason games. It's really no
different than being a scrimmage game. Now you can say
a scrimmage matters, because they do matter. In development terms,
they matter, but in terms of you know, statistical categories.
(09:09):
I never heard of anyone making the Hall of Fame
because they were, you know, undefeated as a player in preseason.
Like so, in the grand scheme of things, like whether
you like it or not, coach, preseason games do not
matter in a lot of regards, so, you know. But
(09:30):
but a guy's effort in trying to make a team,
it does matter. A guy trying to impact the game,
it does matter. It matters because more often than not,
it's it's them showcasing their talents with with the idea
and understanding that it's probably most likely for another another team.
(09:52):
I've seen guys have phenomenal and I mean absolutely amaze
brilliant preseasons and still end up cut might cut like
clearly better than the guys in front of them.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I mean, didn't Wes Welker get cut, I mean one
of the like he was going bro.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
There is such a long laundry list of players that
you could look up and see that are now and
some of them are resting in the Hall of Fame
and Canton. Some are on their way to Canton and
they were cut, you know, they were let go and
they were better. But that's the economics of the business.
(10:40):
You're not always getting the best players. You're getting the
most financially financially strapped or financially obligated to those are
the ones that are are going to remain on on
a roster and and so oh more often than not.
(11:02):
And people, you know, point this out quite a bit,
is that you have two three openings on a fifty
what is it, fifty five now fifty five man roster.
There you go. You have very very limited spots. There's
the practice squad. Generally, practice squad guys will either get
(11:24):
grabbed up or the team will have to sign them
to a contract so another team can't take them. There's
just so many different things that can play out during
during preseason and post preseason, and so to say that
it doesn't matter is a bit that's a bit detached. Yeah,
(11:51):
you haven't played. Like I would say, even if you
played the game and said that it didn't matter, maybe
you have had a different set of circumstances other guys.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
And also just from the standpoint that a lot of
guys you saw last night, that's it for them, like
and that happens every single preseason game, especially this stage
in the preseason, to where that'll be the closest they
ever get to being not only just on an NFL
field late in a game that's important on national television
(12:24):
like that was last night on Monday Night Football, but
just on an NFL field period, and we can dismiss
it and say, well, it's just the preseason and whatnot.
And that's something you're going to be able to tell
your loved ones about, like, Hey, I played in an
NFL game, don't think so.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Look at this.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
I was on Monday Night Football. Was I was in
a game late that mattered. And I may not have
reached a regular season or played, you know, another down
or another snap, But the fact that these guys are
getting that opportunity, that's why I've always been a fan
of the preseason. And when they were talking about eliminating it, altogether.
I still think there's a place and I think that
(13:00):
was also John Harbuz's point. There's a place for this,
there is a.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
Place for it.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
No, it does matter, and there is a place for it.
And it is what it is. Quite frankly, it doesn't
go any further than what it is, though, just be
clear on that it is what it is. It serves
its purpose for you to get your entertainment. It serves
the purpose for guys to have an opportunity to get
(13:25):
good film. It serves the purpose for a guy that
had an opportunity to make a roster. I would say
it's very little that it serves the experience because it's
such a stressful time, right You're trying to solidify a
job and you know you're fighting the odds. So unless
(13:47):
you're one of those other guys that know they pretty
much have a roster spot, there's some surprises here and there.
You'll see a guy get cut that you didn't expect
or think was going to get cut, and they got
cut and they put somebody else on it. That definitely
does happen, but it's very rare. But the preseason does
serve its purpose. That's why it's been such a major
(14:09):
part of the game. It gives a team the opportunity
to work out the work off the rust of the
offseason and really really push and move towards what they're
going to be heading into game condition for the regular
season to hit. So it plays its part. But it
was all in all, that was a great game last night. Yeah,
(14:31):
you don't want to, like I said, you don't want
to throw great around too easily or anything like that.
But it was a great game and it, you know,
it was nice to watch. It was fun to watch,
you know, Eric b Enemy was operating the way he
was calling the offenses. They did all right. The Ravens
did did all right. And it should be noted that
no starters at all pretty much played for the Ravens.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
But the whole idea of boasting about preseason undefeated is
basically everyone giving the Baltimore Ravens credit for how much
talent they have and how deep they are in talented players.
And that's why they win because they're they're they're the
guys that they bring in are so much better at
(15:15):
the number two and number three positions of the team
that they generally win all of their preseason games.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
I mean, I gotta say this, Brady has been bloviating
about Za Flowers.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
For and runs he will be He looks fantastic, pretty
elusive dude.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Another another weapon there for the Baltimore Raven.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Be sure to catch live 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
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
App So, LaVar Arrington, we were wondering, God, how's this
sole thing with Jonathan Taylor and Jimmy Bigmouth Jim Irsay
gonna shape up for the indian Apples, And Yeah, we're
going to go ahead and reach the conclusion here pretty
soon because the Indianapolis Colts have given Jonathan Taylor permission
to seek a trade. This, of course, after there had
(16:12):
been speculation about them not wanting to trade Jonathan Taylor
and all the other stuff that came along with it.
Jim Ersay most famously pulled up to a golf cart
at training camp and said, I could die tomorrow, Jonathan
Taylor could be out of the league. Nobody would care.
And so Jonathan Taylor, who was seeking a contract from
the Indianapolis Colts. Says he's going to make about four
(16:34):
million dollars in change in the final year of his deal.
They've said they're not going to be any contract extension.
Apparently they've finally gotten the hint Jonathan Taylor doesn't want
to be a part of this organization anymore, and so
they are working to facilitate.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Jonathan Taylor get the hint that they didn't want him
to be a part of the organization anymore as well.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
Maybe it was a dual memo.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
I think this whole thing got sideways. The second Jimmers
made those comments, Yeah, I agree with you, because I
think Jonathan Taylor and you guys have talked about just
Tim being a stand up guy, and he's always had
a great reputation going all the way back to college
at Wisconsin and being in the Big Ten. And I
think that Jonathan Taylor would have been okay coming back
(17:17):
and playing and then we worry about the contract after
the year. The second Ersay made the comment he did
about Jonathan Taylor could be out of the league and
nobody would care the league moves on. I think he
took that personally, and I think that was a wrap.
I don't think. I think this became more of a
personal conflict than a financial one for Jonathan Taylor, and
I think that's where this whole thing got sideways. Your guy,
(17:42):
Jim mersy old Jimmy big mouth got into the out
of the liquor cabinet one too many times this offseason. Apparently.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Here's where I this is what makes this uh of
an interesting topic of conversation because there are there are
rules to the game, right, there are rules to how
you conduct business. And it's interesting because one of the
(18:12):
things that is not prominent in terms of high school
or college football. I'll say, I won't say every sport
because some sports may be different. I don't want to
make a judgment and be ignorant about it. But the
players aren't taught business. They're not Business is not discussed
(18:37):
in a way where you're prepared for the emotions or
the lack thereof you should have when engaging in business.
Like it's always going to be business over feelings, and
(18:57):
so when feelings get involved, feelings can can interrupt and
can disrupt and can destroy results in business. Now, sometimes
it can go the other way. Sometimes feelings can actually
yield positive results. It's not always a bad thing, it's
(19:19):
just a dangerous thing. And so the the interesting the
interesting dynamic when you talk about you have to remove
feelings from from business, is that football is all about feelings, right,
(19:40):
Like you're trained to to be in the moment. You're
trained to you know, feel your teammates and and feel
your your coaches, and feel that energy, and feel the
hard work and embrace the challenges and work together to
a common goal. Like everything is about teamwork, the ultimate
(20:01):
team sport, work together to get it done. It's a
common goal, it's a common bond, one heart, one mind.
You know, there's so many things that you are trained
and you are taught. You become very dependent on the
culture of football because everything is there. You're sick, you
come here, you got a toothache, you come here, you
(20:24):
got girl problems, you come here, you got whatever it is.
You still come to the football facility, and whatever the
solution is going to be, that solution is going to
resonate from there. So it's almost like the education of
a football player is to be totally dependent upon your
football team and your football community and then only to
(20:47):
in some cases have it stripped away from you and
ripped from under you, and it's like an unsuspecting result.
It's when you should be expecting it, or you should
be handling things in a business manner. Fans get mad
at you when you when you do business as a player,
(21:09):
Fans get mad. You know, people get mad. Oh, they're
they're they're worried about the wrong things or this, that
and the other, all these different things that they say
about the player, but they never say it about the organization.
They never say it about the team. And that has
always existed. The players are judged, but the franchise doesn't
(21:33):
get judged. It's just business. When it comes down to
the franchise, it's just business. But when it's the player,
the players should have showed this undying loyalty towards their team,
towards the franchise, towards everything that's going on, and so
you get upset with them. Now it might not be
that way so much anymore. The way things are, you know,
(21:55):
have I guess kind of evolved based upon like fantasy
football and stuff like that. It's kind of decentralized and
in a lot of ways, it's desensitized the fan bases
to having really fierce loyalties like days of old. But nonetheless, Jonas,
(22:20):
you're talking about guys who have been classically set up
for failure, and this is one of those moments where
you're seeing it play out. Jim Irsay should have never
said that, whether it's true or not, which it is
true what he said, but whether true or not, he
(22:41):
has an obligation to be more responsible than that, a
better steward, so to speak, over the flock that he
has ownership of within his organization. If your employees do
not have a collective belief in the value of what
you bring to the table as an owner, there's no
(23:04):
there should be no secret or surprise as to why
business in terms of if it's the business of winning
isn't taking place in Indianapolis.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
It feels like and you could be the biggest Jim
Irsay fan. And I like Jim Mersay, and Jim Mersey
has been a part of some good things in this league,
and he's good for the NFL, and he says funny
stuff and all that, and you know, but he cares
about his football team and nobody can deny that he
definitely cares about his team. I mean, he also cares
about Wales, but you know that that she gone, so
(23:38):
he's got to get focused on the season now. But
you can be the biggest Ersay fan. You can be
a Colts kiss ass all you want. There's a lot
of bad, embarrassing moments that have taken place with the
organization over the past couple of years, and I feel
like it's in large part because of Jim Irsay. And
(23:58):
this is one of them. The Jeff Sad fiasco that
was Ersa's fingerprints all over that that was his idea,
the way Frank w Reich was jettison the revolving door
quarterback and I get it. Andrew Luck retired on the
on the on the sideline in a preseason game, and
Philip Rivers decided he didn't want to come back. But
you know, you you could not get rid of Carson
(24:19):
Wentz fast enough, and then you brought in Matt Ryan,
and you couldn't get rid of Matt Ryan fast enough,
and then you couldn't get rid of Frank Reich fast enough,
and then you wanted Jeff Saturday to be your guy,
and you could go all the way back to Ryan Grigson,
who was you know, some guy that he used to
lift weights with, which is why he got the job
as a GM back in the day. It just it
feels like there's a lot of spur of the moment.
(24:40):
Maybe he doesn't really think things through, just kind of
shoots his mouth off or makes a decision then afterwards disconnected. Yeah,
it's like you've got to You've got a rookie quarterback
who's a raw talent by anybody's estimation. This look they
look at at you know, Anthony Richardson and go, hey man,
he's got all the tw in the world. It's been
(25:01):
definitely going to take time. He's not as polished as c. J.
Stroud or as Bryce Young are these guys. Wouldn't you know,
at all pro level running back being in the backfield
kind of help his development a little bit. I don't know.
It seems like that would be a move that you'd
want to make sure that that was part of your
organization and a position that was part of your organization
(25:22):
to get your rookie quarterback ready to go. And URSA
is just like now whatever, I mean all, uh, you know,
I could die tomorrow and uh, Jonathan Taylor could be
out of the league, and you know, the league moves on.
But by the way, please donate to my charity because
we got Shamou who can't breathe out of one, you know, testicle,
and we're trying to save his life, like whatever. Like
(25:43):
the whole thing's just weird. And and you got the core.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
It's a manner in which it's approached is what makes it.
Nobody's going to have an issue with you doing what's
best for your team, but you can. You can have
a manner and an approach that shows that you care,
you know that that you matter, and that, to me
(26:07):
is what breeds a culture and an environment that is
able to find that balance within the business because the
business is there. And then as you start to learn
about business and understand it as an adult that you're
thrust it into after all these years of doing it,
and the business was always there. You know, high schools
(26:31):
generate money off of their football programs they do, and
it's a business. It's interesting because that money has to
literally go back into the program for you to be
able to have the sport in order for it to
kind of survive. So it's a different set of circumstances
(26:52):
surrounding the business, but nonetheless still a business, money is
being generated, you know, there's commerce involved. Then it goes
into big business, big big, big business at the next
level if you go to college, and then it goes
into big, big, big business.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
If you make it to.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
The pros and you're you're ill prepared for the business
of it. And so when someone makes the business front
and center like Ersa did, and they do it in
a just a total disk just you know, just you're unimportant,
(27:35):
Like it's just disregard, total, total disregard to the player
as a person like that calls into that calls into
a lot of ways, whether he knew it or not,
or whether he meant it that way or not. It
calls your value into question. Yeah, and you never want like, oh, well,
(27:56):
he's talking about it in terms of it being a player, right,
Like he didn't say as a person, no one would care.
But as a player, you you take it as as
a person, no one cares, right, So you just devalued
me as a man.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Other players heard that.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Yes, what that's and that's why I'm telling you all
of these little things that you hear, all of these
things that these players experience and that they go through.
You're you're actually creating a culture, and that culture says
that if he can do it to Jonathan Taylor, who
is one of our best players, a franchise guy, he could.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
Do it to any of us.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
And so now that harsh reality of the disregard that
he showed towards Jonathan Taylor in the moment of when
he wanted a contract and he wanted to to, you know,
exercise seeing what his value was. This is how you're
going to handle it. Then you're going to handle it
like that with me. And so now you detach from
(29:08):
having any type of real personal ownership over the organization.
You're not You're not going to do anything more than
what you would do unless you're doing it for yourself,
unless you're doing it for your teammates.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
So to me, there's a lot.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
There's a lot to it, and it's unfortunate, but it's
you know, guys are ill prepared to be pros and
handle business and then things like this happen and then.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
You see fallouts take place.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
I thought Jim Mersey missed on this one, and he's
going to have to do some cleaning up to make
sure that he preserves what it is that he has
in his locker room or to help create, you know,
a better environment for winning in that locker room, because
they clearly have not been successful in.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
The winning at at Indianapolis.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
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.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
He's Mike Krman, I'm Dan Bayern.
Speaker 6 (30:11):
We have a brand new fantasy football podcast called I
Want Your Flex. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday,
we come up with new episodes to not only look
back at what happened, what you need to do at
that minute, and also look ahead of what's coming up
in the fantasy football world.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
That's right, Dan.
Speaker 7 (30:29):
Every week we're gonna scour the waiver wire to find
the pickups to turbot boost your fantasy lineup six starts,
fantasy football players rankings to get you ready to dominate
the competition.
Speaker 6 (30:40):
Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carman and
me Dan Byer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts and
wherever you be your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Right now, we'd rather not catch up with anybody other
than Albert Breer. Senior NFL reporter at the MMQB. You
can get him on Twitter at Albert Breer ab. What's
happening the thanks hanging out with us earlier in the week.
Speaker 8 (30:59):
What's up guys?
Speaker 4 (30:59):
You all right?
Speaker 2 (31:01):
So Jonathan Taylor, it feels like Jim Mersey made this
thing personal when he made the comments about you know,
and that's just sort of where the conversation turned as
far as Jonathan Taylor goes. So now that we're here,
what does a trade market look like for Jonathan Taylor?
And what does a timeline look like for getting a
(31:21):
deal done?
Speaker 8 (31:23):
Not great, it's probably the best way to describe it.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
You know.
Speaker 8 (31:26):
I think it's hard for running back to get paid, period,
and we've seen that over the last month. Now, what
Jonathan Taylor is going to be looking for is a
team that's wanting to pay him at a right B
is willing to give up a lot of draft capital
to get him, and then C is comfortable with his
injury situation where he's coming off of ankle surgery and
(31:50):
whether he had back Kane or not. That was out
there at the beginning of training camp. And the guy
who you know, has a lot of mileage on the
tires over the last you know, six years going back
to college so or five years going back to college.
So I think it's a tough sell. And it sucks
because he's a great player, you know, and you know,
(32:12):
like there's a there's a lot to like about him,
and there's a lot of teams that could certainly use
a player like Jonathan Taylor, you know that. It's just
the problem is the value is not there. And you know,
I think this is there's a possibility that this thing
gets uglier before anything gets better. And the reason why
(32:32):
is because I think it's possible Jonathan Taylor goes out
there and finds the team that's maybe willing to give
him a decent contract. But then if that team's not
willing to give him the draft pick compensation that's going
to make the Colts comfortable at dealing him, well, then
you're in another stalemate. And now you've got another problem.
And now not only is there an issue between the
Colts and Taylor, but now the Colts are blocking Tailor
(32:53):
from getting paid. You know. So I don't know where
this thing goes goes next. And obviously it only takes
one team, you know, Man, maybe there is a team
out there, But you know, right now, I'd say it's
it's gonna be a tough sell trying to find a
team that's willing to give up draft picks, that's willing
to give up a contract, and is comfortable with his
(33:14):
injury history enough to do this with less than two
weeks ago to the start of season or less than
three weeks.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Right, I mean, Abe, isn't it the same thing as
not having an exclusive franchise tag on? You like, already
go through this, Like we've already gone through this, Like
what would make it any different this time?
Speaker 4 (33:33):
Right?
Speaker 8 (33:33):
And we've gone through with LeVar and those other two
guys like Saquon and Josh Jacobs and an Tony Pollard too.
If you want to throw him in now, he's not
just tack early in the off season, so he's off
the market quicker. But yeah, I mean those guys were healthier,
you know, Like those guys are coming off of great years,
you know, And if Jonathan Taylor were coming off of
what he did in twenty twenty one, maybe we'd be
(33:54):
talking about something different. He's not, you know, So that's
that's just it, you know, is that it's not like
you know, there were teams lining up to trade for
Sakwon Barkley or Josh Jacobs, and you know, and again
like I love Jonathan. Can you guys can google my
name is Johnathan Tailors. You can see this stuff I've
(34:14):
written about him over the years. I think he's a
great player. I think he's the type of guy you
can build an offense around. If I'm the colt, I
pay him. And the reason why I pay him is
because he's going to help me develop my young quarterback.
He can be to Anthony Richardson what Jake Elliott was
for Dak Prescott or what Todd Gurley was for Jared Goff.
But you know, his own team paying him and finding
(34:36):
another team that's willing to give up not just to
get in the contract, but the traffic conversation and be
comfortable with the injuries and and do it all in
the doorstep of the season. It's gonna be tough to
find a suitor like that.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Albert Breer, senior NFL reporter at the MMQB, joining us
here on Fox Sports Radio. Get him on Twitter at
Albert Breer. Aby. You had a chance to sit down
with Sean Payton the Broncos head coach during your training
camp tour around the league. What stood out to you
in your conversation with him and his confidence heading into
this year with they revamped, Russell Wilson.
Speaker 8 (35:10):
Just does have resolved he is to do things his
way after a year off the LeVar. I think his
training camp would look familiar to you, not that it's
what it was twenty years ago, but they were running
gassers at the end of practice.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
It was a practice.
Speaker 8 (35:26):
It was I mean, they were doing things in practice
that and this wasn't even like the heaviest day that
I was there, but they were doing things that you
don't see teams doing in twenty twenty three. And you know,
when I sat down talked with him, he related it
to you know, his first summer in New Orleans when
they went to training camp in Jackson, Mississippi because they
(35:48):
were displaced by Katrina. And you know, I don't know
if you guys have ever been in Mississippi during the summer,
but it's not a pleasant place until August and so so,
you know, I think it's just the toughness of the camp.
Then as far as Russell Wilson goes, I mean I'm
challenging you guys. When I was there, and I wrote
this in the lead of the story, like it was
(36:08):
like he was invisible, you know, like last year you
couldn't you couldn't take two steps without bumping into Russell Wilson, inc.
You know, this time around, it was most decidedly Sean
Payton's show. And you know, I think that's going to
translate on the field into a guy who's probably going
to be deployed a little bit more like he was
in Seattle. And the level of buying that Sean Payton
(36:30):
gets that it's going to determine how far Russell Wilson
goes because there are lots of things that Russell Wilson
did in Seattle that he wasn't happy about at the end.
So if he willing to go back to being deployed
that way, to being involved in the run game more
to playing out of a moving pocket more, you know,
I think personally that Sean Payton believes a lot of
(36:51):
the things that Seattle did with them with the correct
things to do with them. And now, you know, I
think getting back to the success he had and Seattle's
gonna come down to whether or not he's going to
buy into what they did there.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Did you see the endgame interview of Josh Harris yesterday
evening during.
Speaker 8 (37:09):
The game, I saw the handshake, but not the whole interview.
Speaker 4 (37:12):
All right.
Speaker 3 (37:13):
You saw the awkward to him grab Troy's hand when
he put it out there a point.
Speaker 8 (37:18):
I'll tell you what the var after the last twenty
five years. I think if the owner's biggest problem is
no one when to shake somebody's hand, I think a
lot of Commanders stands to take that, don't you.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
All Right, So here's where I was getting at, right,
he seemed like he was a tad bit overwhelmed by
the moment of I'm sitting here with Joe Buck and
Troy Aikman as the owner of Improbable Owner by the
way of the Washington Commanders franchise. It goes along the
(37:50):
lines of what you just said, ab So I was
curious to get your.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
Take on it.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
It seemed like Josh Harris is really really committed to
making making things better and making things right. Is that
like all the reports that you've gotten now that they've
gotten to the other side of this and are in
position and doing what they're doing now, Like what has
been the general consensus.
Speaker 8 (38:13):
Yeah, I would say so. I would say there's at
this point just a lot of little things, right Like,
I don't know if you guys saw it, like yesterday,
but a bunch of the reporters tweeted out that there
was a working soda machine in the press box. I guess,
I guess the soda machine or the fountain right had
(38:34):
been had been broken for years. And you know, I'm
laughing about it.
Speaker 4 (38:40):
But you know, little things matter though, right Like, But honestly.
Speaker 8 (38:45):
But I have talked to players and coaches who have
said that there are little.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
Things that matter.
Speaker 8 (38:50):
Yeah, right, And it's like it's like making people's day easy.
I think right now, what it is is like you're
making people's days and their ability to do their job easier,
right because you're doing those level things. And right now,
because he came in in July, it's really hard to
make any sort of full sale change. You just I mean,
(39:12):
you're so far down the line as far as getting
ready for a season. You're not gonna you know, you're
not gonna flip the Apple card upside down. But what
you can do is you can do little things that
have gone sort of unfixed in that building for so
long and make people's ability to do their jobs on
day to day basis easier. And I think that that's
(39:32):
where it's at right now, Like that's what Josh Harris
is trying to do. And you know, you're trying to
do little things for the fans in the stadium. You know,
it's the same thing like you know, you hear about
like level things are doing as far as pricing and
stuff like that inside the stadium, cleaning up some of
the stuff in the concourses, you know, all the stuff
that went undone for years and years and years and years,
(39:53):
which to me is almost like saying, hey, look like
we can't fix everything at once, but here's a little something.
Here's a little something. Here's a little something to make
your experience better. Whether you're a player, you're a coach,
you're a pan whoever you are, we're going to make
your experience a little bit better in twenty twenty three,
with that sort of serving as our promise that things
are going to get a lot better in time.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Albert Brier, before I let you go, so you're joining
us on a Tuesday, because we're traveling to Dublin, Ireland
to be.
Speaker 8 (40:20):
Yeah, I'm jealous.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
All right, So have you been.
Speaker 8 (40:23):
At Brady Quinn? Is this a Brady Quinn driven trip?
Speaker 2 (40:26):
I'm sure Listen, I'm sure he's responsible for a lot
of this stuff, pulling the strings. It's got to be
a home game for him, of course. But I got
to ask you, have you been to Ireland? If so,
you got any tips or if you haven't been anything
you want us to knock off the bucket list for
you while we're out there, Well, are you.
Speaker 8 (40:43):
Going to play any golf for no?
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Come on, no, no, why are you going?
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Then?
Speaker 8 (40:52):
I personally, I personally have never been to Ireland? Now
am i am? I think about a quarter Irish? I
have to like look that back up and I think
I'm about a quarter Irish. And my family is my family,
my Irish. The Irish part of my family is from
County Limerick, which is in the I believe, the southwest
corner of the island. But no, I've never been. I've
(41:15):
heard the golf is incredible, obviously, the pubs are great.
Speaker 4 (41:19):
I think that's what I'm going for.
Speaker 8 (41:21):
Outstanding, right, which just okay, I've.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Heard mixed reviews, so curious.
Speaker 8 (41:27):
I love potatoes, So of all kinds, I love potatoes.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
So so yeah, we'll try in pubs. Yeah, and listen,
we'll be uh So there's going to be no golf,
but we're going to try and uh live up to
the quarter Irish that you are and have a couple
of cocktails at a nice pub, a nice Irish pub
out there for you.
Speaker 4 (41:45):
AB awesome.
Speaker 8 (41:47):
Don embarrass yourself.
Speaker 4 (41:49):
No, definitely, don't make that plural. Don't make that.
Speaker 3 (41:54):
Yeah, I've had enough life experiences AB to go ahead
and handle this.
Speaker 4 (41:57):
Dublin.
Speaker 8 (41:58):
No, no, no, no, no. I feel like I feel
I feel like you guys, three of you guys would
be able to handle yourselves over there and keep up
with the with the locals. Yeah, I believe in you.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
I'm just going to go in and try to find
Connor McGregor and have some propers with Connor McGregor, with
my boy Jonas and Brady.
Speaker 4 (42:15):
That's that's all.
Speaker 8 (42:16):
He's surprisingly small in person. Have you seen him. I've
never I mean not that I would say that to
his face or anything, but right, I mean.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
How about ab height shame and Connor McGregor here.
Speaker 4 (42:29):
That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
So now we're going to get our ass feed because of.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
Break good news Albert Breer.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Now, Albert, we appreciate it. We know it's a busy
morning for you, so thanks for hopping on a couple
of days early.
Speaker 8 (42:41):
All right, Thanks guys, there, thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
There He is at Albert Breer on x or Twitter
or whatever they're calling it.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
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 f f
are to listen live.
It's the best of two pros and a couple Joe
with LaVar Arrington, Rady Winn and Jonas Knox on Box Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
So there he is, mister prognosticator. Mister tried to tell
everybody this little streak, this gimmicky little preseason streak that
the Baltimore Ravens are rolling out here, that they're so
proud of and everybody gets so excited about. It was
in jeopardy because of your former team, the Washington Commandos.
(00:35):
How bad at LeVar Arrington. The streak is over.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Can't call them commandos so much anymore though, right not
since the sale. I thought we said once they sold,
that we'd have to start really kind of thinking about
calling them something other than the Commandos.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So we just got to go with the same old,
boring commander stuff.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I mean, it wouldn't be boring for us to call
them that, because we've never called them that, Okay, But
I mean I was just curious as to what our
approach will be, because I think we did mention that
once they sold from little Danny's hands, his little fingers
like little Finger from Game of Thrones, that we would
(01:13):
start actually offering the real, the real name. Yeah, anyway,
they offered their real name and their real brand in
that game last night.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Right, Okay, was that not a fun game to watch?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I mean, if you know, I know, people love to
embellish saying the best ever, the greatest ever? Can you
believe that? But that really was Maybe that's got to
be one of the highest ranking, dopest preseason games, yes,
in history.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Just you could tell there was there was a different
vibe to it all the way throughout.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Because it matters.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah, you know, them dudes, them dudes talk to the
same girls. They got the same type of friends. You know,
people they hang out with. You know, Baltimore, Baltimore Ravens
players hang in DC. You know, they they do the
night the night scene more so in d C than
they do in Baltimore. You know, there's probably a ton
(02:12):
more Baltimore Ravens fans than people would imagine in the
DMV just because of how deteriorated the fan base of
the Washington Commander's team is.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
What do you think the split is fans?
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
I don't know, because it used to be a ton
of Dallas fans, So I'm sure there's more Dallas fans
I'm sure there's more Ravens fans, and there have been
less and less and less Commanders fans, so I don't
know what the ratio would be. There's still a tremendously
(02:47):
large contingent of of of Commander's fans.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Would you say sixty Commanders, forty Ravens, twenty percent Colby
or that doesn't make sense? Ten cowboys.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
I don't think it makes it.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I wouldn't intent excuse me, my masks off today, thirty
and ten, and but majority of that would be Commander fans,
and then you've got sprinkle in that the extra thirty
for the Ravens, and then you get your ten percent
cowboy fans, which.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I'm not I'm not gonna say that's for certain either,
because there's a lot of transient, you know, residents to
to the district, to northern Virginia. There there are a
lot of belongers as well in Virginia and in parts
of Maryland, and generally speaking like parts of DC, like
(03:42):
DC people really really they're they're they're generally real, stone
cold about it, like real d C people will not
not bang with with Baltimore Ravens because d C, a
DC thing does not mix with a Baltimore thing. That
that's not a mix. Right, So, so true dcs or
true PG countiers. Uh, you generally will not ever see
(04:07):
them be a Ravens fan because that's not d m V.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Like how far Away is like the Washington.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
It's a belt way.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
It's a battle of what they say, battle of ninety five,
you know, it's it's a beltway battle.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
So so coming into the game, people, I understand it
is a rivalry. You know, they don't the Ravens and
the the Commanders don't. They don't like each other, like,
that's not they don't, you know, the Ravens. And in
my head, I may have created this, but the Ravens
think they're better, and in recent history they are better, right,
(04:48):
they are better, not not not in history not better
all right, so let's not go there. But they they
are better than, you know, than Washington. And and what
since the since they've come come in pretty.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, since the Ravens have been in existence, they've been
a better franchise than Washington.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah yeah, yeah, but historically speaking, they are not because
they don't have enough history to be better.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
But with that being said, you're you're also talking about
like I said, you're fighting for for fan base market share.
These two coaches, they are familiar with one another. If
people put it together, you know, Ron and and Harball
were on the same coaching staff at one point in
(05:37):
time when you know where Ron was linebackers coach and
Harball was a special teams coach in Philly. So they're
familiar with one another and know one another from from
being on the same coaching staff. It's just there were
to me, there were like great storylines of why the
(05:59):
game matters. You got two new OC's that were in
the game. And I think Eric b enemy more so
than than Baltimore. I think I think Washington was really
trying to establish their offense and try they're they're working
to forge a culture in Washington that has never been there.
(06:23):
So it's like trying to get a muscle firing that's
had atrophy for over a quarter of a century.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
And look, Sam Howell looked pretty good, uh when when
he was in the game, So he played pretty good
quarterback for them. You could tell like yet an offensive
lineman for Washington. Uh, Sam Cosme, I believe who came
out and you know called the streak stupid and said
they were going to beat it as well too. So
he was on the LeVar train yesterday saying this streak
(06:52):
was in trouble for the Baltimore Ravens. But what was
interesting is that John Harbaugh afterwards, who look to be
the most stressed I've ever seen a coach during a
preseason game, a little bit fired up. John Harbor had
a little bit of a red ass, and you know,
maybe could have something to do with the fact that
it was kind of a busy day for the Harvaugh family.
(07:14):
But we'll get into that other story later on. But
here was the Ravens head coach talking about post streak
last night.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Something like that, and I just told our guys, you're
proud of it. Of course, you know, you appreciate it.
But the thing that you're proud of is all those
games are mostly just like that, you know, preseason games
that people want to write about, some of you in
here want to write about and say they don't mean
anything because you never played the game. You never were
out there in a preseason game, you never were fighting
for a spot on the team, and yet you have
the audacity to say that the effort that somebody puts
(07:44):
into that to win and fight and win a game
like that is meaningless. Tell me I was meaningless out
there what you just saw. If you like football, is
that a meaningless football game? You know, I can't respect
anybody that says that because of the effort these guys
put into it. That's what's such. You're proud of me,
That's that's why I'm so proud of these guys for
the way they fought. It doesn't matter or loss, it matters.
It matters the way they the way they went about
their business tonight, and I'm proud of them for that.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Always will be there.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
I mean, he's right, he's right about what he's saying.
But I mean he was taking a dig at somebody.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I mean, I like, you didn't play the game pulling
that from the bottom of the deck.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
He was finger pointing. He was he was finger pointed,
and you know, it happens. You know, it happens.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
And good for him, you know, good for him for
kind of taking the stance that he did, just just
for the simple fact that he is right. I mean,
the people that are saying the games don't mean anything,
they're right too. I mean, for what it's worth, I
don't think one has to be right for the other
or one has to be wrong for the other to
(08:46):
be right. You these games don't mean anything, you know.
That's that's why they're called preseason games. It's really no
different than being a scrimmage game. Now you can say
a scrimmage matters, because they do matter. In development terms,
they matter, but in terms of you know, statistical categories.
(09:09):
I never heard of anyone making the Hall of Fame
because they were, you know, undefeated as a player in preseason.
Like so, in the grand scheme of things, like whether
you like it or not, coach, preseason games do not
matter in a lot of regards, so, you know. But
(09:30):
but a guy's effort in trying to make a team,
it does matter. A guy trying to impact the game,
it does matter. It matters because more often than not,
it's it's them showcasing their talents with with the idea
and understanding that it's probably most likely for another another team.
(09:52):
I've seen guys have phenomenal and I mean absolutely amaze
brilliant preseasons and still end up cut might cut like
clearly better than the guys in front of them.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I mean, didn't Wes Welker get cut, I mean one
of the like he was going bro.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
There is such a long laundry list of players that
you could look up and see that are now and
some of them are resting in the Hall of Fame
and Canton. Some are on their way to Canton and
they were cut, you know, they were let go and
they were better. But that's the economics of the business.
(10:40):
You're not always getting the best players. You're getting the
most financially financially strapped or financially obligated to those are
the ones that are are going to remain on on
a roster and and so oh more often than not.
(11:02):
And people, you know, point this out quite a bit,
is that you have two three openings on a fifty
what is it, fifty five now fifty five man roster.
There you go. You have very very limited spots. There's
the practice squad. Generally, practice squad guys will either get
(11:24):
grabbed up or the team will have to sign them
to a contract so another team can't take them. There's
just so many different things that can play out during
during preseason and post preseason, and so to say that
it doesn't matter is a bit that's a bit detached. Yeah,
(11:51):
you haven't played. Like I would say, even if you
played the game and said that it didn't matter, maybe
you have had a different set of circumstances other guys.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
And also just from the standpoint that a lot of
guys you saw last night, that's it for them, like
and that happens every single preseason game, especially this stage
in the preseason, to where that'll be the closest they
ever get to being not only just on an NFL
field late in a game that's important on national television
(12:24):
like that was last night on Monday Night Football, but
just on an NFL field period, and we can dismiss
it and say, well, it's just the preseason and whatnot.
And that's something you're going to be able to tell
your loved ones about, like, Hey, I played in an
NFL game, don't think so.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Look at this.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
I was on Monday Night Football. Was I was in
a game late that mattered. And I may not have
reached a regular season or played, you know, another down
or another snap, But the fact that these guys are
getting that opportunity, that's why I've always been a fan
of the preseason. And when they were talking about eliminating it, altogether.
I still think there's a place and I think that
(13:00):
was also John Harbuz's point. There's a place for this,
there is a.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
Place for it.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
No, it does matter, and there is a place for it.
And it is what it is. Quite frankly, it doesn't
go any further than what it is, though, just be
clear on that it is what it is. It serves
its purpose for you to get your entertainment. It serves
the purpose for guys to have an opportunity to get
(13:25):
good film. It serves the purpose for a guy that
had an opportunity to make a roster. I would say
it's very little that it serves the experience because it's
such a stressful time, right You're trying to solidify a
job and you know you're fighting the odds. So unless
(13:47):
you're one of those other guys that know they pretty
much have a roster spot, there's some surprises here and there.
You'll see a guy get cut that you didn't expect
or think was going to get cut, and they got
cut and they put somebody else on it. That definitely
does happen, but it's very rare. But the preseason does
serve its purpose. That's why it's been such a major
(14:09):
part of the game. It gives a team the opportunity
to work out the work off the rust of the
offseason and really really push and move towards what they're
going to be heading into game condition for the regular
season to hit. So it plays its part. But it
was all in all, that was a great game last night. Yeah,
(14:31):
you don't want to, like I said, you don't want
to throw great around too easily or anything like that.
But it was a great game and it, you know,
it was nice to watch. It was fun to watch,
you know, Eric b Enemy was operating the way he
was calling the offenses. They did all right. The Ravens
did did all right. And it should be noted that
no starters at all pretty much played for the Ravens.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
But the whole idea of boasting about preseason undefeated is
basically everyone giving the Baltimore Ravens credit for how much
talent they have and how deep they are in talented players.
And that's why they win because they're they're they're the
guys that they bring in are so much better at
(15:15):
the number two and number three positions of the team
that they generally win all of their preseason games.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
I mean, I gotta say this, Brady has been bloviating
about Za Flowers.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
For and runs he will be He looks fantastic, pretty
elusive dude.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Another another weapon there for the Baltimore Raven.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Be sure to catch live 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
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
App So, LaVar Arrington, we were wondering, God, how's this
sole thing with Jonathan Taylor and Jimmy Bigmouth Jim Irsay
gonna shape up for the indian Apples, And Yeah, we're
going to go ahead and reach the conclusion here pretty
soon because the Indianapolis Colts have given Jonathan Taylor permission
to seek a trade. This, of course, after there had
(16:12):
been speculation about them not wanting to trade Jonathan Taylor
and all the other stuff that came along with it.
Jim Ersay most famously pulled up to a golf cart
at training camp and said, I could die tomorrow, Jonathan
Taylor could be out of the league. Nobody would care.
And so Jonathan Taylor, who was seeking a contract from
the Indianapolis Colts. Says he's going to make about four
(16:34):
million dollars in change in the final year of his deal.
They've said they're not going to be any contract extension.
Apparently they've finally gotten the hint Jonathan Taylor doesn't want
to be a part of this organization anymore, and so
they are working to facilitate.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Jonathan Taylor get the hint that they didn't want him
to be a part of the organization anymore as well.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
Maybe it was a dual memo.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
I think this whole thing got sideways. The second Jimmers
made those comments, Yeah, I agree with you, because I
think Jonathan Taylor and you guys have talked about just
Tim being a stand up guy, and he's always had
a great reputation going all the way back to college
at Wisconsin and being in the Big Ten. And I
think that Jonathan Taylor would have been okay coming back
(17:17):
and playing and then we worry about the contract after
the year. The second Ersay made the comment he did
about Jonathan Taylor could be out of the league and
nobody would care the league moves on. I think he
took that personally, and I think that was a wrap.
I don't think. I think this became more of a
personal conflict than a financial one for Jonathan Taylor, and
I think that's where this whole thing got sideways. Your guy,
(17:42):
Jim mersy old Jimmy big mouth got into the out
of the liquor cabinet one too many times this offseason. Apparently.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Here's where I this is what makes this uh of
an interesting topic of conversation because there are there are
rules to the game, right, there are rules to how
you conduct business. And it's interesting because one of the
(18:12):
things that is not prominent in terms of high school
or college football. I'll say, I won't say every sport
because some sports may be different. I don't want to
make a judgment and be ignorant about it. But the
players aren't taught business. They're not Business is not discussed
(18:37):
in a way where you're prepared for the emotions or
the lack thereof you should have when engaging in business.
Like it's always going to be business over feelings, and
(18:57):
so when feelings get involved, feelings can can interrupt and
can disrupt and can destroy results in business. Now, sometimes
it can go the other way. Sometimes feelings can actually
yield positive results. It's not always a bad thing, it's
(19:19):
just a dangerous thing. And so the the interesting the
interesting dynamic when you talk about you have to remove
feelings from from business, is that football is all about feelings, right,
(19:40):
Like you're trained to to be in the moment. You're
trained to you know, feel your teammates and and feel
your your coaches, and feel that energy, and feel the
hard work and embrace the challenges and work together to
a common goal. Like everything is about teamwork, the ultimate
(20:01):
team sport, work together to get it done. It's a
common goal, it's a common bond, one heart, one mind.
You know, there's so many things that you are trained
and you are taught. You become very dependent on the
culture of football because everything is there. You're sick, you
come here, you got a toothache, you come here, you
(20:24):
got girl problems, you come here, you got whatever it is.
You still come to the football facility, and whatever the
solution is going to be, that solution is going to
resonate from there. So it's almost like the education of
a football player is to be totally dependent upon your
football team and your football community and then only to
(20:47):
in some cases have it stripped away from you and
ripped from under you, and it's like an unsuspecting result.
It's when you should be expecting it, or you should
be handling things in a business manner. Fans get mad
at you when you when you do business as a player,
(21:09):
Fans get mad. You know, people get mad. Oh, they're
they're they're worried about the wrong things or this, that
and the other, all these different things that they say
about the player, but they never say it about the organization.
They never say it about the team. And that has
always existed. The players are judged, but the franchise doesn't
(21:33):
get judged. It's just business. When it comes down to
the franchise, it's just business. But when it's the player,
the players should have showed this undying loyalty towards their team,
towards the franchise, towards everything that's going on, and so
you get upset with them. Now it might not be
that way so much anymore. The way things are, you know,
(21:55):
have I guess kind of evolved based upon like fantasy
football and stuff like that. It's kind of decentralized and
in a lot of ways, it's desensitized the fan bases
to having really fierce loyalties like days of old. But nonetheless, Jonas,
(22:20):
you're talking about guys who have been classically set up
for failure, and this is one of those moments where
you're seeing it play out. Jim Irsay should have never
said that, whether it's true or not, which it is
true what he said, but whether true or not, he
(22:41):
has an obligation to be more responsible than that, a
better steward, so to speak, over the flock that he
has ownership of within his organization. If your employees do
not have a collective belief in the value of what
you bring to the table as an owner, there's no
(23:04):
there should be no secret or surprise as to why
business in terms of if it's the business of winning
isn't taking place in Indianapolis.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
It feels like and you could be the biggest Jim
Irsay fan. And I like Jim Mersay, and Jim Mersey
has been a part of some good things in this league,
and he's good for the NFL, and he says funny
stuff and all that, and you know, but he cares
about his football team and nobody can deny that he
definitely cares about his team. I mean, he also cares
about Wales, but you know that that she gone, so
(23:38):
he's got to get focused on the season now. But
you can be the biggest Ersay fan. You can be
a Colts kiss ass all you want. There's a lot
of bad, embarrassing moments that have taken place with the
organization over the past couple of years, and I feel
like it's in large part because of Jim Irsay. And
(23:58):
this is one of them. The Jeff Sad fiasco that
was Ersa's fingerprints all over that that was his idea,
the way Frank w Reich was jettison the revolving door
quarterback and I get it. Andrew Luck retired on the
on the on the sideline in a preseason game, and
Philip Rivers decided he didn't want to come back. But
you know, you you could not get rid of Carson
(24:19):
Wentz fast enough, and then you brought in Matt Ryan,
and you couldn't get rid of Matt Ryan fast enough,
and then you couldn't get rid of Frank Reich fast enough,
and then you wanted Jeff Saturday to be your guy,
and you could go all the way back to Ryan Grigson,
who was you know, some guy that he used to
lift weights with, which is why he got the job
as a GM back in the day. It just it
feels like there's a lot of spur of the moment.
(24:40):
Maybe he doesn't really think things through, just kind of
shoots his mouth off or makes a decision then afterwards disconnected. Yeah,
it's like you've got to You've got a rookie quarterback
who's a raw talent by anybody's estimation. This look they
look at at you know, Anthony Richardson and go, hey man,
he's got all the tw in the world. It's been
(25:01):
definitely going to take time. He's not as polished as c. J.
Stroud or as Bryce Young are these guys. Wouldn't you know,
at all pro level running back being in the backfield
kind of help his development a little bit. I don't know.
It seems like that would be a move that you'd
want to make sure that that was part of your
organization and a position that was part of your organization
(25:22):
to get your rookie quarterback ready to go. And URSA
is just like now whatever, I mean all, uh, you know,
I could die tomorrow and uh, Jonathan Taylor could be
out of the league, and you know, the league moves on.
But by the way, please donate to my charity because
we got Shamou who can't breathe out of one, you know, testicle,
and we're trying to save his life, like whatever. Like
(25:43):
the whole thing's just weird. And and you got the core.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
It's a manner in which it's approached is what makes it.
Nobody's going to have an issue with you doing what's
best for your team, but you can. You can have
a manner and an approach that shows that you care,
you know that that you matter, and that, to me
(26:07):
is what breeds a culture and an environment that is
able to find that balance within the business because the
business is there. And then as you start to learn
about business and understand it as an adult that you're
thrust it into after all these years of doing it,
and the business was always there. You know, high schools
(26:31):
generate money off of their football programs they do, and
it's a business. It's interesting because that money has to
literally go back into the program for you to be
able to have the sport in order for it to
kind of survive. So it's a different set of circumstances
(26:52):
surrounding the business, but nonetheless still a business, money is
being generated, you know, there's commerce involved. Then it goes
into big business, big big, big business at the next
level if you go to college, and then it goes
into big, big, big business.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
If you make it to.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
The pros and you're you're ill prepared for the business
of it. And so when someone makes the business front
and center like Ersa did, and they do it in
a just a total disk just you know, just you're unimportant,
(27:35):
Like it's just disregard, total, total disregard to the player
as a person like that calls into that calls into
a lot of ways, whether he knew it or not,
or whether he meant it that way or not. It
calls your value into question. Yeah, and you never want like, oh, well,
(27:56):
he's talking about it in terms of it being a player, right,
Like he didn't say as a person, no one would care.
But as a player, you you take it as as
a person, no one cares, right, So you just devalued
me as a man.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Other players heard that.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Yes, what that's and that's why I'm telling you all
of these little things that you hear, all of these
things that these players experience and that they go through.
You're you're actually creating a culture, and that culture says
that if he can do it to Jonathan Taylor, who
is one of our best players, a franchise guy, he could.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
Do it to any of us.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
And so now that harsh reality of the disregard that
he showed towards Jonathan Taylor in the moment of when
he wanted a contract and he wanted to to, you know,
exercise seeing what his value was. This is how you're
going to handle it. Then you're going to handle it
like that with me. And so now you detach from
(29:08):
having any type of real personal ownership over the organization.
You're not You're not going to do anything more than
what you would do unless you're doing it for yourself,
unless you're doing it for your teammates.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
So to me, there's a lot.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
There's a lot to it, and it's unfortunate, but it's
you know, guys are ill prepared to be pros and
handle business and then things like this happen and then.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
You see fallouts take place.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
I thought Jim Mersey missed on this one, and he's
going to have to do some cleaning up to make
sure that he preserves what it is that he has
in his locker room or to help create, you know,
a better environment for winning in that locker room, because
they clearly have not been successful in.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
The winning at at Indianapolis.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
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.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
He's Mike Krman, I'm Dan Bayern.
Speaker 6 (30:11):
We have a brand new fantasy football podcast called I
Want Your Flex. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday,
we come up with new episodes to not only look
back at what happened, what you need to do at
that minute, and also look ahead of what's coming up
in the fantasy football world.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
That's right, Dan.
Speaker 7 (30:29):
Every week we're gonna scour the waiver wire to find
the pickups to turbot boost your fantasy lineup six starts,
fantasy football players rankings to get you ready to dominate
the competition.
Speaker 6 (30:40):
Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carman and
me Dan Byer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts and
wherever you be your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Right now, we'd rather not catch up with anybody other
than Albert Breer. Senior NFL reporter at the MMQB. You
can get him on Twitter at Albert Breer ab. What's
happening the thanks hanging out with us earlier in the week.
Speaker 8 (30:59):
What's up guys?
Speaker 4 (30:59):
You all right?
Speaker 2 (31:01):
So Jonathan Taylor, it feels like Jim Mersey made this
thing personal when he made the comments about you know,
and that's just sort of where the conversation turned as
far as Jonathan Taylor goes. So now that we're here,
what does a trade market look like for Jonathan Taylor?
And what does a timeline look like for getting a
(31:21):
deal done?
Speaker 8 (31:23):
Not great, it's probably the best way to describe it.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
You know.
Speaker 8 (31:26):
I think it's hard for running back to get paid, period,
and we've seen that over the last month. Now, what
Jonathan Taylor is going to be looking for is a
team that's wanting to pay him at a right B
is willing to give up a lot of draft capital
to get him, and then C is comfortable with his
injury situation where he's coming off of ankle surgery and
(31:50):
whether he had back Kane or not. That was out
there at the beginning of training camp. And the guy
who you know, has a lot of mileage on the
tires over the last you know, six years going back
to college so or five years going back to college.
So I think it's a tough sell. And it sucks
because he's a great player, you know, and you know,
(32:12):
like there's a there's a lot to like about him,
and there's a lot of teams that could certainly use
a player like Jonathan Taylor, you know that. It's just
the problem is the value is not there. And you know,
I think this is there's a possibility that this thing
gets uglier before anything gets better. And the reason why
(32:32):
is because I think it's possible Jonathan Taylor goes out
there and finds the team that's maybe willing to give
him a decent contract. But then if that team's not
willing to give him the draft pick compensation that's going
to make the Colts comfortable at dealing him, well, then
you're in another stalemate. And now you've got another problem.
And now not only is there an issue between the
Colts and Taylor, but now the Colts are blocking Tailor
(32:53):
from getting paid. You know. So I don't know where
this thing goes goes next. And obviously it only takes
one team, you know, Man, maybe there is a team
out there, But you know, right now, I'd say it's
it's gonna be a tough sell trying to find a
team that's willing to give up draft picks, that's willing
to give up a contract, and is comfortable with his
(33:14):
injury history enough to do this with less than two
weeks ago to the start of season or less than
three weeks.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Right, I mean, Abe, isn't it the same thing as
not having an exclusive franchise tag on? You like, already
go through this, Like we've already gone through this, Like
what would make it any different this time?
Speaker 4 (33:33):
Right?
Speaker 8 (33:33):
And we've gone through with LeVar and those other two
guys like Saquon and Josh Jacobs and an Tony Pollard too.
If you want to throw him in now, he's not
just tack early in the off season, so he's off
the market quicker. But yeah, I mean those guys were healthier,
you know, Like those guys are coming off of great years,
you know, And if Jonathan Taylor were coming off of
what he did in twenty twenty one, maybe we'd be
(33:54):
talking about something different. He's not, you know, So that's
that's just it, you know, is that it's not like
you know, there were teams lining up to trade for
Sakwon Barkley or Josh Jacobs, and you know, and again
like I love Jonathan. Can you guys can google my
name is Johnathan Tailors. You can see this stuff I've
(34:14):
written about him over the years. I think he's a
great player. I think he's the type of guy you
can build an offense around. If I'm the colt, I
pay him. And the reason why I pay him is
because he's going to help me develop my young quarterback.
He can be to Anthony Richardson what Jake Elliott was
for Dak Prescott or what Todd Gurley was for Jared Goff.
But you know, his own team paying him and finding
(34:36):
another team that's willing to give up not just to
get in the contract, but the traffic conversation and be
comfortable with the injuries and and do it all in
the doorstep of the season. It's gonna be tough to
find a suitor like that.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Albert Breer, senior NFL reporter at the MMQB, joining us
here on Fox Sports Radio. Get him on Twitter at
Albert Breer. Aby. You had a chance to sit down
with Sean Payton the Broncos head coach during your training
camp tour around the league. What stood out to you
in your conversation with him and his confidence heading into
this year with they revamped, Russell Wilson.
Speaker 8 (35:10):
Just does have resolved he is to do things his
way after a year off the LeVar. I think his
training camp would look familiar to you, not that it's
what it was twenty years ago, but they were running
gassers at the end of practice.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
It was a practice.
Speaker 8 (35:26):
It was I mean, they were doing things in practice
that and this wasn't even like the heaviest day that
I was there, but they were doing things that you
don't see teams doing in twenty twenty three. And you know,
when I sat down talked with him, he related it
to you know, his first summer in New Orleans when
they went to training camp in Jackson, Mississippi because they
(35:48):
were displaced by Katrina. And you know, I don't know
if you guys have ever been in Mississippi during the summer,
but it's not a pleasant place until August and so so,
you know, I think it's just the toughness of the camp.
Then as far as Russell Wilson goes, I mean I'm
challenging you guys. When I was there, and I wrote
this in the lead of the story, like it was
(36:08):
like he was invisible, you know, like last year you
couldn't you couldn't take two steps without bumping into Russell Wilson, inc.
You know, this time around, it was most decidedly Sean
Payton's show. And you know, I think that's going to
translate on the field into a guy who's probably going
to be deployed a little bit more like he was
in Seattle. And the level of buying that Sean Payton
(36:30):
gets that it's going to determine how far Russell Wilson
goes because there are lots of things that Russell Wilson
did in Seattle that he wasn't happy about at the end.
So if he willing to go back to being deployed
that way, to being involved in the run game more
to playing out of a moving pocket more, you know,
I think personally that Sean Payton believes a lot of
(36:51):
the things that Seattle did with them with the correct
things to do with them. And now, you know, I
think getting back to the success he had and Seattle's
gonna come down to whether or not he's going to
buy into what they did there.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Did you see the endgame interview of Josh Harris yesterday
evening during.
Speaker 8 (37:09):
The game, I saw the handshake, but not the whole interview.
Speaker 4 (37:12):
All right.
Speaker 3 (37:13):
You saw the awkward to him grab Troy's hand when
he put it out there a point.
Speaker 8 (37:18):
I'll tell you what the var after the last twenty
five years. I think if the owner's biggest problem is
no one when to shake somebody's hand, I think a
lot of Commanders stands to take that, don't you.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
All Right, So here's where I was getting at, right,
he seemed like he was a tad bit overwhelmed by
the moment of I'm sitting here with Joe Buck and
Troy Aikman as the owner of Improbable Owner by the
way of the Washington Commanders franchise. It goes along the
(37:50):
lines of what you just said, ab So I was
curious to get your.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
Take on it.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
It seemed like Josh Harris is really really committed to
making making things better and making things right. Is that
like all the reports that you've gotten now that they've
gotten to the other side of this and are in
position and doing what they're doing now, Like what has
been the general consensus.
Speaker 8 (38:13):
Yeah, I would say so. I would say there's at
this point just a lot of little things, right Like,
I don't know if you guys saw it, like yesterday,
but a bunch of the reporters tweeted out that there
was a working soda machine in the press box. I guess,
I guess the soda machine or the fountain right had
(38:34):
been had been broken for years. And you know, I'm
laughing about it.
Speaker 4 (38:40):
But you know, little things matter though, right Like, But honestly.
Speaker 8 (38:45):
But I have talked to players and coaches who have
said that there are little.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
Things that matter.
Speaker 8 (38:50):
Yeah, right, And it's like it's like making people's day easy.
I think right now, what it is is like you're
making people's days and their ability to do their job easier,
right because you're doing those level things. And right now,
because he came in in July, it's really hard to
make any sort of full sale change. You just I mean,
(39:12):
you're so far down the line as far as getting
ready for a season. You're not gonna you know, you're
not gonna flip the Apple card upside down. But what
you can do is you can do little things that
have gone sort of unfixed in that building for so
long and make people's ability to do their jobs on
day to day basis easier. And I think that that's
(39:32):
where it's at right now, Like that's what Josh Harris
is trying to do. And you know, you're trying to
do little things for the fans in the stadium. You know,
it's the same thing like you know, you hear about
like level things are doing as far as pricing and
stuff like that inside the stadium, cleaning up some of
the stuff in the concourses, you know, all the stuff
that went undone for years and years and years and years,
(39:53):
which to me is almost like saying, hey, look like
we can't fix everything at once, but here's a little something.
Here's a little something. Here's a little something to make
your experience better. Whether you're a player, you're a coach,
you're a pan whoever you are, we're going to make
your experience a little bit better in twenty twenty three,
with that sort of serving as our promise that things
are going to get a lot better in time.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Albert Brier, before I let you go, so you're joining
us on a Tuesday, because we're traveling to Dublin, Ireland
to be.
Speaker 8 (40:20):
Yeah, I'm jealous.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
All right, So have you been.
Speaker 8 (40:23):
At Brady Quinn? Is this a Brady Quinn driven trip?
Speaker 2 (40:26):
I'm sure Listen, I'm sure he's responsible for a lot
of this stuff, pulling the strings. It's got to be
a home game for him, of course. But I got
to ask you, have you been to Ireland? If so,
you got any tips or if you haven't been anything
you want us to knock off the bucket list for
you while we're out there, Well, are you.
Speaker 8 (40:43):
Going to play any golf for no?
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Come on, no, no, why are you going?
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Then?
Speaker 8 (40:52):
I personally, I personally have never been to Ireland? Now
am i am? I think about a quarter Irish? I
have to like look that back up and I think
I'm about a quarter Irish. And my family is my family,
my Irish. The Irish part of my family is from
County Limerick, which is in the I believe, the southwest
corner of the island. But no, I've never been. I've
(41:15):
heard the golf is incredible, obviously, the pubs are great.
Speaker 4 (41:19):
I think that's what I'm going for.
Speaker 8 (41:21):
Outstanding, right, which just okay, I've.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Heard mixed reviews, so curious.
Speaker 8 (41:27):
I love potatoes, So of all kinds, I love potatoes.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
So so yeah, we'll try in pubs. Yeah, and listen,
we'll be uh So there's going to be no golf,
but we're going to try and uh live up to
the quarter Irish that you are and have a couple
of cocktails at a nice pub, a nice Irish pub
out there for you.
Speaker 4 (41:45):
AB awesome.
Speaker 8 (41:47):
Don embarrass yourself.
Speaker 4 (41:49):
No, definitely, don't make that plural. Don't make that.
Speaker 3 (41:54):
Yeah, I've had enough life experiences AB to go ahead
and handle this.
Speaker 4 (41:57):
Dublin.
Speaker 8 (41:58):
No, no, no, no, no. I feel like I feel
I feel like you guys, three of you guys would
be able to handle yourselves over there and keep up
with the with the locals. Yeah, I believe in you.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
I'm just going to go in and try to find
Connor McGregor and have some propers with Connor McGregor, with
my boy Jonas and Brady.
Speaker 4 (42:15):
That's that's all.
Speaker 8 (42:16):
He's surprisingly small in person. Have you seen him. I've
never I mean not that I would say that to
his face or anything, but right, I mean.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
How about ab height shame and Connor McGregor here.
Speaker 4 (42:29):
That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
So now we're going to get our ass feed because of.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
Break good news Albert Breer.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Now, Albert, we appreciate it. We know it's a busy
morning for you, so thanks for hopping on a couple
of days early.
Speaker 8 (42:41):
All right, Thanks guys, there, thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
There He is at Albert Breer on x or Twitter
or whatever they're calling it.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
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 f f
are to listen live.
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