Chargers Weekly: Latest Free Agent News in L.A. and Around the NFL

Matt "Money" Smith and Chris Hayre discuss the Chargers’ recent moves in free agency (00:25) — including the re-signing of OT Trey Pipkins and the signing of LB Eric Kendricks (17:15) — and the latest around the NFL (48:24).

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The late fifteen ten Touchdown. It's a free agency edition
of Chargers Weekly, as always, joined by Matt Mney Smith Money.
It's raining on this Wednesday morning in southern California. There's

(00:21):
so much to get into, and I guess the caveat
with this podcast, guys, as we are taping this on
a Wednesday morning, news will probably break as we're speaking.
There's so much to get into, from Eric Kendricks becoming
a Charger, to Austin Eckler potentially on his way out
of the Chargers organization. Maybe not. Trey Pipkins is coming back. Money,

(00:45):
I guess I'll give you the honor. So where do
you want to start with all of this news that
he seems to be coming in really every hour? Well, yeah,
I mean, look, the most impactful for the Chargers is
a guy who scored thirty eight touchdowns the last two years, right,
and whether or not he's going to be on the
roster next year, Yeah, I think the idea is very

(01:05):
similar to the one and look we discussed this last week, right,
Like this, the guys, in the last year of his deal,
he's making sick. He's the ninth highest paid running back
and he scored twelve more touchdowns than the next highest
guy in the NFL, so you knew this was coming.
I don't know. I'm not privy to what they're asking for.
I've heard there's some rumors that it's more in step

(01:28):
with touchdowns and receiving than running back, which makes sense
if you're Austin's agent, and it's, well, the guy's top
five in receptions and he's number one in touchdowns, So
why are we paying him like a running back when
he catches the ball as much as he does? And
you know, I think that leads to some you know,
I don't want to say acrimony, but just tough negotiations

(01:50):
and trying to figure out, you know, what's what's the
right number, what are the right number of years most
you know, as we tape this right now, there's a
report that Zeke Elliott's going to be cut today, you know.
And that's the largest running back contract ever handed out,
ninety million dollars. It didn't work out. He's been the
second best running back on that team for three years.

(02:13):
You know, maybe they I don't know what they offered.
If they offered to negotiate and tack a few onto
the back end of this and give them a little
bit of a bump, maybe get more in step with
you know, where Aaron Jones or Nick Chubb is. I
don't know. I do think. I do think if the
right deal is given to them, that they'll take it.
I just I think the league has moved in that direction.

(02:35):
It's moved way too much in that direction for teams
to continually invest in running backs on a third contract.
You just don't see it. And now, the one thing
I'll say is it goes back to our draft conversation, right,
which is, if you feel as though you're a piece away,
then dropt the running back draft b Jean Robinson if
you drop him in and that's the piece. So losing

(02:57):
that piece, you know, runs to my argument of, hey,
if your clothes, make sure your offense is firing man,
and that you've got every piece possible to put points
on the board. And when you lose thirty eight touchdowns
over two seasons, that runs a little bit countered to
what I think is the right thing to do. Unfortunately,
there's a reason why the league is so popular, and

(03:18):
the reason the league is so popular is because a
it's enjoyable to watch it's a fun sport to watch,
but be parody. And the reason there's parodies because of
exactly what we're seeing, you know, players on the move
from Super Bowl, you know, the Bengals losing their starting
backfield of Von Bell and Jesse Bates in the conversation
is the best safety tanem in the league gone? The

(03:39):
Eagles losing all their linebackers, two of their defensive linemen.
They're cutting Darius Slay out of today, Like, it's just
the way the league operates. It has to operate that way,
and that's why it's so popular. So, yes, the Chargers
are going to lose some players, some players I would
really like to see them keep, but you can't. You
just you can't keep everyone. So Austin's going to be

(04:00):
interesting because I think if they don't get what they're
asking for Chris, and I don't know what that is,
but I'm sure it's probably a pretty hefty price because
of how important he is, Like he's not gonna get
a one. You know, you're not gonna get a one
for a running back. It's just not going to happen.
But maybe they want to, you know, maybe they want
it too and change I think that's realistic for a
guy that's put up thirty eight touchdowns and is on

(04:21):
a six point two five million dollar contract this year.
I think if they get it, they'll take it, and
if they don't, they'll just say come back. Yeah, you
know it is what it is. You're under contract. Come back.
Austin has been durable. I look at the Christian McCaffrey
trade last year, and maybe he's not quite on that
Christian McCaffrey tier in terms of everything that Christian has

(04:44):
done throughout his career. But if you want to just
talk touchdowns, there's nobody better. And this is just the
business of the NFL. This is where it gets tough
because you gotta take care of a lot of people.
If you're the Chargers, right, you got to take care
of Justin Herbert coming up. He just took care of
dur when games. He had to restructure Mike Williams and
Keenan Allen and Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack just to

(05:05):
kind of keep this group together. So sometimes it's hard
to take care of everybody. But to Austin's point, as
a running back, and as a running back who has
produced better than than anybody in terms of touchdowns, you
only have a certain window to get your money, right,
and so he's looking throughout the league and we talked

(05:26):
it's it's ironic that we talked about the running back
position last week. Money and just you know, a guy
like Bijon or whoever, whoever any team drafts this year
that's a running back, they're going to have that that
four year or five year window where that running back
is playing for that team. Allston is a unique situation
where he was an undrafted free agent. He had to

(05:46):
work for everything he got. He earned that that contract
a few years ago, he exceeded it, and now he's
looking around the league and he's seeing all these other guys.
There's eight of them I think that that you mentioned
that are in front of him in terms of money
per year. So is there a team that is willing
to give up a second and pay Austin right? Because

(06:09):
it's not just pay him too. He wants money. He's
not gonna come to you on a one year, six
point two five million dollar deal. He wants the extension.
So here's like, I'll play both sides of it. Right.
If you're Austin's agent, you have to do this, you
know you that's your responsibility. And here's what my presentation is.

(06:29):
If I'm Austin's agent, You've given all this money to
Derwin James, to Joey Bosa, to Mike Williams. They have
not been healthy. So I don't want to hear about
My guy is a running back. It's a position with
heavy attrition. My guy has played every single game nearly
every single year he's been with you, and save one

(06:52):
season when he played ten. Otherwise it's been seventeen, sixteen, sixteen, sixteen, fourteen.
That's what he's played. So I don't want to hear it.
That would, you know, be point number one? If they say,
look it's running back, guys get hurt. Okay, well you've
already signed guys that got hurt, so that doesn't work
for me too. Production Find me thirty eight touchdowns? Where

(07:16):
are they? Where are thirty eight touchdowns the last two
seasons in the league. Find me nearly a hundred receptions
from the running back position. Okay, so now I'll play
the charger side of things. Okay, go show me the contract.
Show me the contract. You know, what is it that
you want, because that's what we do we base this
on other contracts around the league. So show me the

(07:39):
contract you're trying to model your guy after, and if
it's McCaffrey, I'll point out, well, listen, he's a little
bit of a different runner between the tackles. You're talking
about a guy that's not just the receiver but also
the thumper between the tackles. Austin runs hard, there's no
doubt about it. But I think you're pointing to some
of those four minute drills that the Chargers have not

(08:00):
been effective. And again that's listen, this is what this
is what happens when you go to arbitration. Right, every
guy presents why they're the greatest player on Earth, and
every team presents why you're terrible and you're lucky to
have a job. And that's where negotiations create acrimony and
create problems because you don't you don't mean to devalue

(08:22):
the player, you don't mean to insult the player. You're
simply trying to work in the construct of the rules
that the NFL operates. Yes, yeah, and so I think
that's you know, where they're at. I'm trying to find
like some of the like some of the deals they're like,
think about James White. You know, all those catches, all

(08:43):
those receiving touchdowns. Guy probably never made more than three
million bucks a year, four million bucks a year. I
think that's what Austin is going to run into. And so,
you know, ultimately, I hope that something gets figured out
between these two parties. He's an awesome guy. He's someone
that busts his tail to stay in shape, to stay healthy,

(09:06):
his nutrition, his commitment in the offseason is probably second
to none on the team. I don't know if there
was anybody that works harder than this guy to make
sure he's ready to go. I want to reward that,
but at the same time, I gotta fit. It's you know,
I think I said this last week. It's not basketball.

(09:28):
You can't get by with two huge salaries and filling
around those two superstit it's fifty three guys and it's
really hard to put that puzzle together in money. Honestly,
if Austin is catching one hundred balls, I don't think
that's good for the Chargers, right, I would. That's what
they'll say, football down the field, right, and I do
I in the same breath, I think Austin Ekeler is

(09:51):
extremely integral to what they do and how they want
to play. He's a change of pace. We've said it.
He's an offensive weapon. He is. He is a high
hybrid running back, wide receiver playmakers. So this is where
it gets difficult. But if I'm Kellen Moore, heck yeah,
I want to use Austin Eckler to his full capabilities.
But at the same time, I don't want it to

(10:12):
be a check down to Austin Eckler. I want Justin
Herbert to throw the ball down the wheel route field
to Keenan or yeah, or a wheel route or get
Austin down the field. I want this office to go vertical.
So it's gonna be interesting. As I said, you know,
we're taping this on a Wednesday morning. Greg kim our producer, Greg.
If if anything breaks, just just come in and let

(10:33):
us know. I just saw Aaron Rodgers says he intends
to play for the Jets money. So I guess, uh,
there we go breaking here, right, So Aaron Rodgers and
we play the Jets in New York? Yeah, how about that?
Chargers play the Jets in New York. And I'm telling
you right now, if you know if in fact that

(10:55):
that is, if if Rogers on Pat McAfee's show, We
Love Pat, give him the credit. He's at it himself.
My intention is to play and to play for the
New York Jets. So there you go. Now, two teams
still got to come to an agreement. Um, But what
I would say is, think about think about London folks.

(11:17):
To me that that game screams London Jets Chargers Aaron Rodgers,
Justin Herbert. You know it's a because look he's in
the AFC East. He's gonna get two with Josh Allen,
He's gonna get two against a Bill Belichick defense. He's
gonna get two against two and the Dolphins and that defense,

(11:41):
he's got Vic Fangio defense. So he's got a lot
of primetime games coming. And I could totally see the
league being like, you know, let's take care of our
international partners here and get a little Justin Herbert Aaron
Rodgers action across the pond. Interesting that he surprised me

(12:02):
at all. Money we've seen this coming for weeks now,
that that that it was trending towards the Jets. But
I just find it very interesting that that he would
leave the NFC right to to join up with the
Jets team that hasn't had a lot of success getting
to the postseason with Josh Allen and that Miami team
and the Patriots in that division with Justin Herbert and

(12:23):
obviously Patrick Mahomes and all Burrow and maybe Lamar Jackson,
all these other quarterbacks in the AFC. Um, I realized
that he's going to be able to call a lot
of shots here, bring some of his old guys there.
But I just find it interesting that you would leave
the NFC, where the quarterbacks um aren't as good, I
guess to put it nicely, uh, compared to the AFC guys. Look,

(12:48):
I would just say, look, he's been a failure the
last two years. There's no other way to describe it.
You know, he has lost two divisional games, um, Because
I'll argue last year, you know, was a divisional game
against the Lions. You know, in the divisional game against
the Lions was to punch his ticket into the playoffs,
and he lost that in Week seventeen at Lambo. You know,

(13:10):
so that's a failure for Week eighteen, that's a failure.
Year before. He can't score two touchdowns to beat the
forty nine ers in the Divisional round, even though they
have the best record in the NFC. So even though
the path to the Super Bowl perhaps looks a little
bit easier, you know, on the path is more perilous
in the AFC. You know, perhaps Aaron is trying to
shed the single super Bowl the way he got there.

(13:32):
If I remember right, I want to say that was
the NFC Championship game against the Bears in which Jay
Cutler broke his leg in the first quarter and Caleb
Haney was the quarterback. Caleb Haney get into that game.
So that's that's his one super Bowl. You're at Soldier Field,
the quarterback goes down in the first quarter, and you're
playing against an undrafted free agent at quarterback the remainder

(13:53):
of the game, and that's how you won your Super Bowl.
He's got four MVP. I'm almost wondering if he's Look,
he's a weird dude. I don't I'm not breaking news there.
I almost wonder if he just wanted this motivation. Like
you know, everybody's saying that I'm a pain in the ass,
that I don't get along with my teammates, that I'm
you know, it's just an eclectic or enigmatic personality. I'm

(14:15):
gonna go to the biggest media market, you know, arguably
on Earth, and I'm gonna put it down. And he's
got a supporting cast to do it. Man, Now they
need to fix the offer. They have to cross their
fingers that the old line is healthy. Is what they
have to do. You know, Mackay back then, Elijah vera talker.
Those guys got to be healthy. So, you know, because
we know he does not do well when he's not protected.
You know, it's the ball too long. But he's got

(14:37):
a legit back in Breece Hall. He's got legit receivers. Obviously,
we saw Garrett Wilson did last year with guys like
Mike White and Joe Flacco and Zach Wilson. He's got
two legit tight ends. I love Uzama, you know. I mean,
he's got the other Denzel Mims, Elijah Moore, awesome slot
receivers coming. Lezard's coming. He's got that defense, Quinnin Williams

(15:02):
in the middle of that defense. Sauce Gardener, he's got that.
So is this the best team in the AFC East,
I don't know. I mean, he's the second best quarterback
or the best quarter depending on how you feel about
Josh Allen, you know who. I think a little bit
of the shine came off last year with the struggles
with interceptions and the struggles in the playoff game. But
I'd take Josh Allen over Aaron Rodgers. That said, though,

(15:23):
I mean it's still a debate, right he might be
the best quarterback in the division now if he rediscovers
what makes him Aaron Rodgers and he's not just mailing
it in and not showing up to any practices and
not working out with his guys in the offseason and
just kicking it at Jeffreys in Malibu every afternoon. Like,
if he's motivated, it's gonna be a tough team. And
it's a team that was, you know, was ahead of

(15:45):
the Chargers, remember until the final three weeks of the
season for that playoff spot. So it's a it's a grind, man,
The AFC is a grind. And now Aaron Rodgers is
how to do a schedule with two with Patrick Mahomes,
two with Sean Payton, you know two. I think Jimmy,
like Jimmy Garoppolo's maybe in net neutral net, maybe a

(16:07):
little bit of a net game, you know, just from
the winning perspective, Um, it's gonna be tough man. Yes,
then they're playing to h Josh Allen and Bill Belichick. Again,
we know what Bill Belichick's done to Justin Herbert every year.
You know the two times he's played him. So nothing's easy.
Nothing's easy. Rodgers got a little bit harder. Rodgers was

(16:27):
in our backyard. I was at this event on Saturday
at a saddleback college. It was like this uh charity
flag football tournament. It was put on by Aaron Rodgers
in his r X three UM growth Equity company. And
Josh Allen was there. Ironically, Jared Goff was there at
line or so Sam Darnold who's now he's now a
forty nine, or alms St. Brown. So it was it

(16:50):
was cool to see all these guys there at once
and and everybody you could tell like it was just
kind of hanging over the event. It's like, what is
Aaron Rodgers gonna do? So so we finally know the Chargers.
We talked last week. We answered a bunch of questions,
got some real good feedback on the pod, and appreciate
you guys submitting questions and M submit them submitted every week. Well,

(17:10):
we'll try to get the we'll try to get the questions.
But when we can m Trey Pipkins was a was
a big topic of conversation last week. Money. Uh, the
Chargers get that continuity, they get Trey back, He'll play
right tackle. And I said yesterday, I'm just I'm happy
the Chargers were able to make this happen. They saw
it through, right, They saw potential in this small school

(17:32):
kid from some Sioux Falls, went through the growing pains,
and it paid off last year and now they get
to see his prime years with this offensive line led
by a Slater and Corey Linsley. It's clear. I think
it was priority number one, you know, And that's I mean,
you don't have to look far. Look look to the
Super Bowl, you know, look to the Super Bowl and

(17:54):
how they the Chiefs I think upgraded with Jiwan Taylor
over Orlando Brown. They just gave him what sixty eight
million bucks? You know, they prioritized offensive line two years ago,
and they prioritized it again this offseason. The Eagles have
arguably the best offensive line in football. Those are your
two super Bowl teams. One puts up thirty eight the
other thirty five you have to protect up front in

(18:16):
this league, and if you have, if you have two tackles,
you better figure out a way to pay them, because
it's the hardest thing to find, I think of all
the position groups. Yeah, it's hard to get two defensive ends,
two pass rushers. That's hard to But I think it
is incredibly hard to find two guys that you trust.
You know that you don't feel like you constantly have

(18:38):
to you know, shade protection that way or at a
tight end, or make sure your running backs always on
that side to chip or run your quarterback away, you know,
cut the field in half from that weakness. When you
have two guys that you trust, you can do a
lot more on an offense. And we saw what Kellamore
was able to do with that offense in Dallas with
two really well really with five really really good offensive lineman.

(19:01):
And I think, you know, we're projecting a little bit,
I think, but also not you know, Zion I thought
had a very solid rookie season. Yes it was a
rookie season, and there were a couple of games he struggled,
but if you can keep this front five, and we
talked about it, last week. I think Sawyer's a better
guard than a tackle because he struggled with speed on
the edge at time to time. But once he gets

(19:23):
his hands on you, he wins. So that's gonna probably
fit better as a guard. And he played some guard,
you know, at Georgia, so it's not like it's a
completely foreign position to him. So to me, that front
Slater Sawyer, Lindsley, Johnson, Pipkins, that's a really really good
offensive line. And when you're telling me, I can get
Trey Pipkins for twenty three million bucks and the Broncos

(19:49):
just gave Mike mcclinchey eighty million dollars, who was borderline benched,
was almost benched in San Francisco at the back end
of that year because he was so leaky over there.
Hey man, way to go, I mean way to go,
and um, you know, there were some other smaller moves
that we can get too. But but yes, I think

(20:09):
I think Trey was priority number one. I don't think
there's any question that that was the number one thing
they wanted to get done. And once it happened, I
think we saw the riding on the wall that Matt
Filer would be released because you need the money. So basically,
you took Matt Filer's money, you gave it to Trey,
and now you're even you know, you don't have to
worry about, you know, coming up with more money, restructuring

(20:30):
more contracts, cutting other people in order to get Trey
on the roster. Yep. And and like you said, you
saw your guard saw yours proven you could play tackle too,
so if anything happens on the left or right side,
you could probably play him in. You also have to
find some depth so that you talk about some of
these small moves. They put tenders on Foster Sourrell and

(20:51):
Cameron Dicker, So those are those are the two small moves.
Eric Kendricks I'll quickly say, though, Chris, I think the
Dicker things interesting because of how good he was down
the stretch. But then you have a little hiccup in
the Jacksonville game. You know, I don't think it's fair
to pin that on him. The guy had made like
twenty five or more than that, and he's like forty
straight kicks extra, So that to me is going to

(21:14):
be interesting because as we saw last year, you know,
Chargers had to dip into the kicker free agent pool,
you know, four times, so you know, they signed Dustin Hopkins,
then they had to go get Bertolette, they had to
get Dicker, and I think there was one other one
in there if I remember right, but it's I'm spacing
on it right now or three times whatever. But point being,
I think there's gonna be a legitimate competition in camp,

(21:36):
and I think they're gonna be They're probably gonna get
a seventh or a sixth for one of their two
guys that doesn't make the team, because teams need kickers,
especially two that have big legs, that can kick the
ball at the back of the end zone, and guys
that have proven, you know, they can win games for
you when the pressure's on. Yeah, well said. And then
you know Falster Surrell on a on a smaller scale
on that offensive line, just somebody who's been developmental, you know,

(21:59):
exactly developmental. A guy who's not developmental, who's been the
league for a long time. U C. L. A. Brew
and Eric Kendricks coming back to LA your thoughts on
that move, and I guess it kind of signals that
the Drew Trank was gonna be playing football elsewhere. That's
a sad part you know, and again just tough decisions.
And I think this particular move, and I'll start with this,
Kendrick's a great player, phenomenal player, you know. I mean,

(22:22):
I don't know how many Pro Bowls he's been too
in Minnesota, but like all of him, it feels like
he's a really really good in So what I looked
that up money he's only been to one? Is that right?
Just one? But he's been, but he's been like the
models because I thought the same thing, and I look
yesterday and I was like, he's only been a one
Pro Bowl. He's at all pro that you like it
was more yeah, yeah. So I think this illustrates how

(22:45):
hard it is to roster construct in the NFL, like
Drew is probably gonna get. I think based on kind
of what the numbers have been for inside linebackers. I mean,
you look at the Tremaine Edmunds contract, the Edwards Contra track,
like those are big numbers. So you know, Drew, you
never know, Like Drew, I think they probably figured was

(23:07):
in the eight to nine million range per season. He's
really good and he's an as sending player and he's
getting better every year. And I think they were like, Okay,
Drew's gonna cost us eight to nine, Kendricks is going
to cost us five to seven. What do we do here?
And that's how important those three million dollars are on

(23:29):
a two hundred and twenty five million dollars salary cap.
You've got to figure out how to shave two or
three million bucks at a position so you can figure
out the rest of your roster. And I think that's
ultimately what it came down to. You know, it's one
of the I can't remember who which GM it was
that said it, but you know, I think Tom has

(23:50):
probably said it as well, and if he hasn't, because
he's not the kind of guy that pats himself on
the back, But you know, we'll do it here. That's
what happens when you draft well. You know, when you
draft well, you can't pay all your guys. Hunter Henry's
gonna leave, Drew Trank was gonna leave, Chenna A wos
who's gonna leave? Now? The one thing I would say
is when the market doesn't deliver what the player hopes
the market's going to deliver, that's when you got to

(24:12):
get in there and try to figure out if you
can make something happen. Like when Chenna. I thought Chenna
was going to get one of those sixty seventy million
dollar deals and when it didn't show up and it
became ten million per year, and it was I think
it's like a three year, twenty eight million figure it out, man,
figure out way to get him back. It's like, hey,
you know, we wish you well, we wanted you to
get that big money deal. Okay, how about not having

(24:34):
to pull up stakes and take off. Let's maybe do
something here and see if you can either get back
into the market next year and make all that money
for yourself, and you know, we'll protect you on the
back end with a couple of years in case it
doesn't work out for you know, Like I would love
to see more of that. Like think about if they've
just been able to keep Chenna last year for ten
million bucks, to be able to have him in that
depth at the edge. Like That's what I'm thinking with

(24:56):
Drew is you know, Kendricks is in his prime, you
know he is, he's starting to get after I don't
know right now, I think he is still in his prime,
but Drew was just starting to get into it. So
I think That's one of the things you have to
think about if you're Tom if the market does not
give Drew what he's looking for. You know, we know

(25:17):
how much he loves it here. Can you figure out
a way to keep him and keep that depth on
this team. Yeah. John Johnson is another name that's been
swirling around Twitter and obviously nothing official, obviously, but that
surprised me just because I think they like Alloie so
much and he's so affordable. You know, you're talking about
John Johnson is probably gonna want a few million bucks

(25:39):
and a Looe's making like eight hundred grand, you know,
as a sixth round pick or whatever he was. So
that's that's the one thing for people that are getting
all excited and they're trying to connect that and look,
maybe it will happen, you know, maybe Johnson doesn't have
him Again, I think it's all what is the market bear,
It's all about the more. But yeah, if it's me,
like if if I'm the one with the purse strings

(26:00):
and I'm the one, if I'm if I'm John Spanos
and I'm writing the check, get me Dalton Schultz, he
wants to come here. It's clear you can see through
social media, there are so many seeds being planted rumors
Chargers are interested. Dalton Schultz might want to reunite with
his Okay, that's his agent. He wants to be a Charger.
He loves playing for Kellen Moore. The guy's been incredibly productive.

(26:23):
Get done, like, go, get that done that way. You
don't have to be a slave to your draft pick.
You know what I mean, you you can now draft that. Look,
if there's a tight end there, God knows, two tight
end sets, nothing wrong with that. It's gonna it's gonna
ruin our Dalton Kincaid content. It's gonna ruin our Mayor content.
You know, if we bring what if what? It would

(26:45):
be awesome? So what if you bring in Dalton Schultz
and you draft Washington and now you've got that sixth
offensive lineman tight end and Dalton Schultz is kicked outside
and you can't cover him with a safety and you
can't cover him with a linebacker. Come on, I mean,
it's all right, it's all it's all numbers. It's all
the numbers games. So if that, like, that's the one

(27:06):
thing that's interesting about him is he kind of fits
that Travis Kelsey mode. More than he does that full
service tight end. He's a really hard cover. Now he
blocks too, Don't get me wrong, he can block his
ass off if you you know, if he's asked to.
But and I think the thing is Chris, he's a
really he's a really good player. Dalt shows a really
good player. So that's if that's how you fill your

(27:27):
tight end, that's a win. You know, that's that's a win.
The more the more guys you could bring in that
are familiar with what Kelly Moore likes to do too,
especially for Justin Herbert, I think the better the running
game under Kelly Moore's just going to be so fascinating
now as we wait to see what happens with Austin Ekeler.
So you know, if Austin Ekeler stays, what do they

(27:50):
do to compliment Austin If if he goes, we're talking
about a whole new running game. I don't know if
it's gonna be a more of a power running game.
Do they try to identify you know, I know is
at the tail in his career, even he's only twenty seven.
But you know there's gonna be some guys out there
that may make sense for what Kelly Moore may want
to do running the football. So those are the things

(28:11):
I think over the next forty eight hours, Bunny, that
that we're going to have a clear picture of. Is Hey,
if Austin's here, what do they do? Do they do
they just roll with Kelly and Spiller and maybe add
a guy in the draft? Or if Austin goes, do
you look to the draft exclusively to find your bell? Cow?
Is Isaiah Spiller your bell? Cow? Is there another guy
a veteran like uh Is? Like cream Hunt is cream Hunter?

(28:33):
Interstick to free agent a guy Kreme Hunts and us.
So I'm looking at it right now. By the way,
I pulled up the credit to spot racku dot com.
If you want to check out all these numbers market value,
they have Dalton Schultz pegged at fifteen million a year.
So that's gonna be tough. But that's how good of
a tight Endy is. Just to kind of put it
in context. Um, they're putting him up there with the
Dallas Goddards, the Dawson Knoxes, you know those guys that
just got those contracts in the fifty sixty million dollar range.

(28:55):
So here's the thing, that's working against Austin, right is
the Here are the deals that have been handed out.
And I know Rashad Penny has not been able to
stay healthy, but man, if he's healthy, look the hell
out because he can run. He gets a one year,
one point three million dollar deal. Matt Breta one for
one point four, Raheem Moster two for five point six.

(29:16):
So you're looking at about two and you know two
and chain two point seven per year, Jeff Wilson in
Miami two for six three million a year, Samaja p Ryan,
you know three and a three seven five a year
to stay in cincinn he goes to Denver, and David
Montgomery goes from Chicago to Detroit and he's making six
million a year. So now on the market, and this

(29:39):
could be kind of what what Tom Tolesco and Ed
McGuire and all those guys are thinking is if we
get what we want from Austin. Here's who's out there
right now. You have Kareem Hunt. You have Jamal Williams,
who broke Barry Sanders record for touchdowns in a single
season an Alliance uniform. You have Deonta Form who once

(30:01):
they traded Christian McCaffrey freaking lit it up for the
Panthers as a bruising back between the tackles. How about
Miles Sanders, who we talked about last year. He was
incredible this year, thirteen hundred yards, like the quietest thirteen
hundred yards and nine touchdowns or whatever you had. You know,
what is his market value now that he's out? I mean,

(30:23):
they've got his average annuals. The spot Rock has it
at seven point two. They think it's a two year,
fourteen million dollar deals money money. Sanders is a guy
who Kellen Moore saw a close twice twice a year.
And he's also a guy who was in an offense
with Jalen Hurtz, Gainwell and Boston Scott and still rushed
for thirteen hundred yards, right, I mean, geez. So that's

(30:45):
what I'm getting at, Like, that's that's what makes it
tough for Austin Eckler is that you heard the contracts
I just ripped off. The most expensive one was six
a year. Austin makes more than that. It's David Montgomery
who was the Bell kiland Chicago and goes to Detroit.
Outside of that, these guys are going three four million Bucks,
productive guys, Jeff Wilson, productive guy, Rain Boaster, productive runner.

(31:06):
You know, Rashad Penny's the upside flyer guy that's rushed
for two hundred plus yards and a couple different games
in his career because he's so freaking good, he just
can't stay healthy. So there are so many different ways
to build this thing out. And we know last year, Look,
I know, I'm kind of just all over the place,
but like, think about all the splash signings the Chargers

(31:29):
made last year and how did it work out? They
got the number one corner guy played less than a
quarter of the season. You know, they got two of
the most desired interior linemen for the defense that they run,
Austin Johnson, Sebastian Joseph Day. Both were great, you know,
and one ends up getting hurt. Yeah, exactly. So it's like,

(31:49):
you know, they get a really good slot corner, you know,
and he gets banked, like it happens. You know, you
sign these guys and it doesn't guarantee you anything. So like,
to me, the most important thing is just you gotta
create depth. You absolutely have to create depth, you know,
because we see it every year. Guys go down. You know,

(32:13):
and so if you can find those value signings that
help your team out, you know, I think it's so important.
You know, that's why, like they're small, it's small tidbits
of news, but like you know, Fohoko Parum, like, look
at what a great depth piece for Hooko was last

(32:34):
year to have that guy, Like, how valuable that was.
You know, they've get time. And it's not easy, man.
It's why it's hard to be a GM in this league.
You're constantly being asked to just Hey, I know, Fohoco,
he's gonna get we can't afford to pay him three million,
two and a half million bucks. We can't so go
draft another one. Sorry, figure it out, you know. And

(32:54):
so that's that's Hey, that's why you make the big
bucks man. That's why it's why you and I, you know,
we live on scraps. We live on the crush that
was cut off of the PB and jade that's being
eaten by time Leo. You know, because we are not
tasked with being held accountable for those moves. We just
get to talk about it. Yeah, we just get to
talk about it. You know, you've mentioned a guy like

(33:14):
jac Jackson, who's gonna take up some cap space here
over the next couple of years. You know, if it
wasn't from Michael Davis, charge wouldn't be in the playoffs, right,
Jamari saw your six round pick. You know, a year
ago we're talking about the trade of Khalil Mack and yes,
Khalil had a good year, the signing of j C. Jackson,
and we were expecting a lot from j C and
more turnovers. Uh, it's whatever you see in March, it

(33:38):
doesn't necessarily show itself in September through February. And that's
the mark of a team that. Yeah, like if you
have a team with depth, um, those pieces they're gonna
show up late in the year. I remember, like I
remember watching in Money you called the game. It was
the Sunday night game against San Francisco and seeing all
these guys like like Herbert is playing without everybody right,

(34:03):
and they're still making a work with DeAndre Carter, who
who was just a free agent signing for like a
million bucks. Right. Uh, you know, Tito Bonia goes down,
Christian Covington goes down, so all these guys. That's kind
of when Fajoko and then Gaziano goes in and then
he goes out, so all these pieces that kind of
showed themselves in November December, those are the pieces that

(34:23):
helped the Chargers get to the playoffs, not the big
name free agents that we see in March necessarily. Well,
I think also too is you know you have to
remember and this goes to I can't remember who I
was talking to you, but I was. When I was
at the combine last week, I was chatting with somebody.
It was a front office guy, and he was talking

(34:44):
about a couple of players and he's like, you know,
one of the things I use. Okay, I remember who
it was. He's former GM a couple of different teams,
and he said, you know, one of the things I
always had to remind my staff of is what can
they do? Because all we would sit there and do
we fell into this rut where we just picked apart
what they can't do, and it led to us just
probably passing over some guys that we should have drafted

(35:06):
because we just focused on okay, essentially worst case scenario, like, hey,
we're gonna get into a game and look at this
guy's gonna be a liability and this one particular facet
of his game and it's going to cost us a win,
he was, instead of, Hey, this guy's gonna help us
win because he can do this, this and this. So
here's the parallel I'm drawing. Even if Austin goes, even
if Drew goes, if let's just go like, you know,

(35:28):
all of these guys get signed elsewhere. You've got a
roster with the offensive line we talked about with Justin Herbert,
Mike Williams, Keenan Allen, with a defense with Joey Bosa,
Khalil mack with with Derwin James, with Asante and Michael
will and Mike David. This team is still stacked. Like
the team is still stacked on both sides, to have

(35:50):
those two pass rushers, to have Derwin James, you know,
to have a secondary that we saw show out last
year with Asante and Mike Davis, and hopeful at some
point jac Jackson will be back. Like teams still really good.
Like it is a really good I would imagine if
you were to go through the league and just line
up all thirty two teams. I don't know how many

(36:13):
are saying we'd rather have our roster than yours. You know,
there's gonna be a lot of teams, you know, it's
probably gonna be twenty five or more that are like, yeah,
we'll take that roster with Justin Herbert and Keenan and
Mike Williams and Derwin James and Joey Bosa. Yeah, we'll
take that roster. That's that's the one we want. So
just keep that in mind. You know, Yes, it's gonna

(36:35):
suck to lose Dustin Ekeler if he leaves. It's gonna
it's stinks to lose Drew Tranquil, you know, and some
of the guys. And that's one of the great things
about a team and cheering for a team is watching
young men realize their potential and realize their dream and
go from being undrafted out of Western Colorado to the

(36:56):
NFL's touchdown leader and back to back seasons. It's a
great story. It makes us feel great because, you know,
we're not Derwin James. We're not like, I'm not saying
we're Austin Eckler. Hell no, we're not Austin Eckler, but
he's an NFL player, But we feel we identify more
with Austin Eckler with Braden Fojoko. You know, you saw

(37:19):
Braden's story on uh, come on, what the hell's it called?
HBO hard Knocks, you know, and you saw the joy
and the tears you know in his family when he
when he made the team, Like, we all relate to that,
and we become attached emotionally to these players. And it's

(37:40):
you know, it's something that that you know, I was
taught early when I worked for the Lakers. You know,
I had one of the people on the training staff
that just said, nod, there there, you're a likable guy.
You're great. You know, I enjoy conversing with you. The
players are certainly gonna like talking to you. Don't don't
be their friend, you know, be nice, be cordial, you know,

(38:03):
be a great colleague, but do not get emotionally caught
up in these guys. It's just it's not worth it.
And that's something I've always so I've always kept in
arm's length always, you know, enjoyed my conversations with them.
You want to be cordial, you know, by no means
them I ever standoffish. I say hi, I'll chat with
the guys and snack and you know, meals and all

(38:24):
that sort of stuff. Or if we're walking around but
they go, they leave. It's it's it's a short, capricious business,
and they have to take care of themselves financially because
their window, their earning window is from three to fifteen
years if they're incredibly lucky. Yeah, it's the business. And

(38:45):
you know, I look at the Chiefs too, money think
of all the players who have come and gone with
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey, right, Tyreek Hills gone. Now
they bring in Kadarius Tony and Jujusmith Schuster, Clyde Edwards
Air you know is now Isaiah paiceco. You know the
offensive line, they bring in Creed Humphrey and now Orlando

(39:07):
Brown's gone, they bring in Taylor. If you have the
franchise quarterback and then you have a staple with him,
like a Kelsey, you can build around. Right. So the
big piece here obviously is Justin Herbert, and you know,
Keenan and Mike have been with Justin. You know, we'll
see how much longer, but we know twenty twenty three

(39:28):
those guys are back. Justin Herbert's back, Corey Lindsley's back,
Rashawn Slater's back. So you can make things work around
a franchise quarterback and have sustained success in the NFL.
Now they have to they have to get past the
wildcard round. Now they have to now that we're justin
Herbert's fourth season, they have to get past that wildcard round.

(39:48):
They got to get to the division round. They gotta
get to an AFC championship and continue to build. But
when you have those two or three pieces, you know
you're gonna be in good shape for a long period
of time. It's a great point. You know, it's a
great point because when the Chiefs traded Tyreek Hill, what
did we all say? It changes everything. That that is

(40:09):
the that that is the queen on the chessboard, you know,
outside of a quarterback position that every defense had to
account for and now you don't, and it's going to
be so much easier to play the Chiefs. And it was.
But they still figured out how to win because they
had enough. You know, it wasn't as dominant, it wasn't
as explosive. They had to win tight games when before
they were blown people out, you know, by ten fourteen

(40:30):
points because of the explosive play availability of Tyreek Hill.
But they figured it out, and yeah, look, the Chargers
are up twenty eight nothing in a playoff game and
lost it. Like you know, that can't happen. It shouldn't
have happened. It's it's the greatest playoff collapse, you know,
one of the greatest playoff collapses in the history the NFL.

(40:51):
So you would like to think that history isn't going
to repeat itself. But I think when something like that
does happen, you do have to take inventory and you
have to ask yourself, Okay, why did it happen, and
do we have the right people. And that's top down.
I'm not talking about just players, talking about coaches. That's

(41:12):
why we got a new offensive coordinator on a quarterback coach,
you know, because they couldn't get a first down, they
could not convert third downs in the second half, they
could not run the four minute drill, they had no
ability to run the ball on designed runs. So they
went out and got a guy that does it better
than almost anybody else in Dallas and what he's done
with Tony Pollard, you know, and Zeke Elliott and that
running game in Dallas these last five years. So they

(41:34):
went on got him. You know. Defensively, Ronaldo Hill is
out you know, Derek Hansley's elevated Brandon. I'm sure coach
Staley is doing some self evaluation. He says he does
all the time, that you've got to be honest with
yourself and they've got to fix that because they couldn't
get off the field. They could not stop a team
on third down that was twenty eight nothing in the
hole and was essentially passing the ball over and over

(41:56):
and over again. And they could not figure that out. So,
you know, the things that you have to improve upon
year to year, and so that could be a reason.
You know, maybe they hold Drew responsible for some of that,
you know, the way you know that the calls are
coming in and maybe he's not getting them guys lined
up right, you know, I don't know, And that's why
they felt better with a veteran like Kendricks, you know. So,

(42:17):
but I think it's important to to keep all of it.
It's not a vacuum, you know, it's important to keep
everything in context from what happened last year. What do
they need? What do they still have? How do we
get to a super Bowl? You know? How how do
we get to I think it's Tampa, right, How do
you get to or wherever Vegas? How do we get

(42:38):
to Vegas in two thousand and twenty four in February
twenty and twenty four? And that's and do it under
the rules presented? Not easy? So yeah, that's why anything
else breaks. Since we've been talking. No, I was gonna say, Greg,
what do we got we gonna have? Right? All right? Nothing?
That's good? We like that. Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers told

(43:01):
Adam Schefter to lose his number. Good try though, when
he was confirming the report. That's funny, Thanks Aaron. You know,
I don't know. I don't know if you're aware of this,
but the guy's got a job, you know, they believe
it or not. There are other people that have jobs
in this business, and it's a big job because people
want to know people and they're not content. The people

(43:24):
that watch ESPN, the people that consume Chargers dot Com
that they want to know, they're interested. It's so for
you know, forgive them their sins of daring to project
where you're going. God forbid somebody not do things exactly
like you want. I'll tell you right now what I'll

(43:44):
be rooting for when they play the Jets unbelievable, guys.
An absolute nightmare, complete nightmare. And you know what, I'll
be honest Chris, like I think it's a terrible match.
I'll just say it, you know, and whatever due to
me what they did with Patrick Mahomes when I was
talking about him coming into the league. It happens. It

(44:04):
is not a good match as a team. The press
conferences are going to be incredible, Like the Green Bay
media and the New York media are a little bit different,
Like like, listen, the green Bay media is awesome and
they know their football, but times that by ten in
New York who cannot wait to make you a headline

(44:26):
the next day? I mean it's the headlines? Are they
right themselves already? So for me, I'm just like from
a football standpoint, this is a team with a dominant
defense and a really good run game and a struggle
to protect the past, a struggle to pass, protect offensive line.
Like we know how Aaron Rodgers likes to operate small,

(44:48):
way too long. It takes way too many sacks. He's
always going for the kill shot like that is not
a good match with this team, you know. I I
believe that there was serious debate inside the Bill like, hey, yes,
it's the shiny toy and it's the four time former MVP.
But you can make a case that like Derek Carr

(45:09):
might be the better guy, like the guy that wants
to get rid of it quick, the guy that's content
to take the check down and just protect the ball
at all costs and just let's just chunk our way
down the field and not have it like that's I
just don't. I don't think it's a great fit. I
think I think with the way that Robert Salo wants
to play, it doesn't And just his impatience, you know,

(45:33):
his incredulousness with young receivers and the way he treated
those guys last year after not working out with them
after they'd been drafted. It's like, you've got all these
guys that just came in, Robo Dubbs and the Christian Watson,
Like you're not gonna work out with them all summer long.
You're just gonna show up in training camp and be like,
all right, let's figure each other out. Plus what is
what is Garrett Wilson thinking when he sees his wish
list of Lazard and Cobb and Odell Beckham and what

(45:58):
she says is all byes, I'm the wide receiver one.
Elijah Moore was already upset he wasn't getting the football
and you you're bringing it all. Aaron Wilson's better than
all those guys. He's better than all those guys. I
know is Denze. Listen if I were tom it like,
I'm on the phone right now. I am on the
phone right What do you want for Denzel Mims? What

(46:20):
do you want? Because clearly the coaching staff doesn't like him.
I can tell you right now, Aaron Rodgers ain't gonna
like him, becase he's already asking you for Lazard and
Cobb and Odell Beckham I think was involved, got your Zamba,
Like what are you? What are you talking about? And
I love Mercedes Lewis. He's one of my favorite players ever,
Freaking long beach Polly Taken on Morey's Jones, Drew and

(46:40):
Dala sal in that epic game at Veteran Stadium, Like
it's just that, like just to spin it to the
Chargers and not what I think is a very popular
position now on Aaron Rodgers. I've held it for a
long time, but I would be calling Joe Douglas right now.
You need speed. I don't know what their problem is

(47:02):
with playing Denzel Mims. Go get them Rogers like eight.
Unwant them, We'll take them. Here's a third. We will
take a guy that's got almost no production in his
NFL career. We will send you a third round pick
for him right now. Take it and we'll take him.
Let's take a quick break, and I want to ask
you about a couple more a couple more moves that

(47:23):
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(47:46):
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(48:06):
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of a lifetime of weights only with on location. Somebody
we talked about the Jets. How about Darren Waller going

(48:26):
to the Giants leaving the AFC West and Kelsey Plum
coming out that McDaniels wasn't invited to the wedding, So
maybe that was a reason why was shipped out? Feel terrible.
Wife lives in Vegas. You know, she's a player for
the Las Vegas as W NBA team. They just get

(48:46):
married and now he gets shipped to the other side
of the country and he's a New York Giant. Look,
I don't get it, you know, I don't. I'm having
to having to deal with them. Well that's what I mean.
You have to deal with Waller at tight end, Davante
Adams on the outside, Hunter renfro in the slot. No,
thank you, right for the Chargers and they brought you

(49:08):
Kobe Myerson. Yeah, great for the Chargers. Get him out
of here, Get get get Darren Waller. Out of here
because the idea they had to assign, you know, Derwin
James to him the whole game. It's like Derwin, there
you go, and now you've neutralized Derwin because he's got
a neutralize Darren Waller. Now he's not flying all over
the field and doing a million different things. Now we
can do that. So you know that, it really was

(49:30):
a head scratcher for me. I think he is the
second best pass catching tight end in the league behind
Travis Kelsey. And to remove that, what it tells me
is that, you know, Josh McDaniels has full confidence of
Mark Davis. You're gonna ship out a guy in Derek

(49:50):
Carr that you know. I'm not a huge fan, but
the fans love him. You sold a ton of number
four jerseys. He's the all time leading passer. He wasn't terrible.
He was league average maybe fifteen to twenty quarterback. That's
exactly what Garoppolo is. He's a little bit cheaper, you know. So,
but you gave Josh his guy. He's Josh's guy, you know, Waller,

(50:11):
not his guy. Charcobi Meyers his guy. Okay, they believe
they are one sold on Josh McDaniels. So they are
allowing him to construct the roster in his image, and
that's what he's doing, and it's either gonna work or
it's not. And guess what, show me the Bill Belichick
disciple that's worked. I'd love to see it, because it

(50:31):
hadn't happened. Didn't have him for Charlie Weiss, didn't have
him for Romeo Cornell, didn't have him for Bill O'Brien.
Has not happened for Josh McDaniels had Like none of
the Joe Judge, Matt Patricia, there is not one. The
majority of them fail spectacularly. They don't just fail like
they fail spectacularly. So that's not what I'm saying Josh

(50:54):
McDaniels is gonna do. But I'm saying it that's that's
a hell of a risk to take if you're Mark
Davis and you're gonna him to tear apart your team
and build it up in the vision in which he
sees it should be built. Now, you know, it's not
like the Raiders have had any success. They have not
won a playoff game in twenty years, twenty one years,
So you know, okay, what the hell I figure it out,

(51:17):
They're gonna get their defense right too. I mean, yeah,
so how about this. By the way, Denzel Mims zero
career touchdowns, has barely played for the Jets. Four three
eight forty four three eight forty vertical, thirty nine broad

(51:37):
jump nearly eleven feet. This dude freaking flies. He flies,
you know, he's what is he? He's at two hundred
and ten pounds, he's six foot three. Go get him,
Go get him? But Elijah Boys another guy? Who which

(52:02):
which is? It's crazy to me that if these listen,
these are reports that Rogers wants these, you know, these Packers,
former packers to come in and play in Odell Beckham.
But it's it's just I think it's a complete disrespect
to the on the roster. Elijah Moore is a good player,
well like the thing. But Denzel Is they haven't played him,

(52:24):
They have not played him. He's got a career forty
two catches. Think about Josh Palmer, right, Denzel MIM's been
in the league for three years. He's got forty two catches,
six hundred and seventy six yards and no touchdowns. Palmer
had more than that this year. I don't think you
even need to have up a third round pick, right,
maybe a problem. I think the problem is Joe Douglas
loves him and he can't you know. That's that's my

(52:46):
guess is he's like, why won't you play this guy?
He's six three, two hundred and ten pounds and he
runs a four three forty? Why is he not on
the field? Get him out there? And for some reason
they won't, you know, so go get him. He was
drafted in the second round, Like you said, maybe give

(53:06):
up before. Who knows this, This may be a time
to get them because you know, Joe Douglas is busy
now signing Lazard and trying to get this Aaron Rodgerston. Right,
So you can't keep all these receivers because they're not
all going to touch the football. He said, Mims doesn't
even touch the football. Now, Ums, I want to ask
you about it was Jalen Ramsey going to Miami. Um,

(53:28):
it's it's another team, Chargers. Chargers play the Dolphins again
this year too. That that defense is gonna be really good. Uh,
we know what what that offense is all about. If
Ta can stay healthy. Just yet another contender or in
the AFC, it's a look it's a it's a grind, man,
it's a you want to if you're if you're a

(53:48):
Chargers coach or in the front office, just go ahead
and I'll google it for you right now too. Go
into Chargers Opponents two thousand, twenty three, UM and and
get a look at what that looks like. And it's
obviously Sean Payton with the Broncos. Now it's you know,
the Raiders, and two with the Raiders, two with the Broncos.

(54:09):
Two with the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes and defending Super
Bowl champs. On top of that, you got the Bills
Josh Allen second in the MVP voting last year. The
Dolphins just added Vic Fangio for defense and Jalen Ramsey.
And we already know Zavian Howard And is he still
on the team or they let him go? Yeah? No,
they let up Jones, so Xavin's still there, Christian Watson upfront,
Jalen Phillips, all that length that end. Like that's a

(54:31):
really good defense. And now Vick gets to coordinate that.
You get the Ravens. Please get rid of Lamar Jackson.
Let him go to the NFC. You know, the Cowboys,
the Lions, the Bears. Okay, you know, Lions on the
on the upswing away at Patriots, at Jets at the
Jordan Love quarterback Packers, who I hope take a step

(54:52):
without Aaron Rodgers except when they play the Chargers just
to rub it in his stupid face, and the Vikings
and Titans. It's a tough schedule, man, it's a tough schedule.
Remember they were talking about Jordan Love ahead at Justin
Herbert in that draft, after that season he put together
at Utah State. And I've heard the Packers really like him.
You know, he was being described as Mahomesy in his

(55:15):
off platform throws, the cannon of an arm. You know,
there was a conversation that he should be the third
quarterback drafted ahead of Herbert because if some of those
splash plays that he put together at Utah State. So
don't forget he's a talent. Love and Herbert worked out
together in Coastabasa leading up to the draft, prepared for
the combine. And that's what's funny. He's like, imagine Justin

(55:36):
Herbert and not really seeing him at all until twenty
twenty three, right, Like, imagine having him just wrapped up
and not playing at all, and this is kind of
what we're gonna get with Jordan Love. But it looks
like Jordan Love has taking some strides, and I'm with you.
I hope the Packers do take a step forward with
Love and he has a good just not against the charactors.
That's we get to go to Lambeau. Yeah, you know,

(55:58):
I can't wait for that. That's gonna be Yeah, it's great.
I've called a handful of games there before I got
the Chargers job. I used to call for people that
don't know games nationally for syndicated Compass Media and probably
did three or four Lambeau games and it's just awesome.
It's it's awesome, like one of my favorite, one of
the I've told the story before, but you know, they

(56:19):
have such a great pr team, just the great people.
And one of them picked me up from the airport,
found out it was my first game there, you know,
and kind of said, hey, where you want to go out?
And I was like, yeah, whatever, man, take me wherever
you want to take me. And there was this place
kind of up the road from our hotel where we
were staying. Obviously it's not a huge place, and it

(56:39):
was they said, every Saturday night, it's place just Talma.
Four thousand people in the middle of the winner packed
in to this like bar that's three stories tall and
just having a great time. And it was awesome and
everyone was incredibly friendly and it's such a cool play.
And then I remember going to the stadium that day
and to get to the stadium, you know, I'm driving

(57:01):
through a neighborhood. It's just I don't get on a
freeway to go there. I'm taking neighborhood streets as all
these houses along this line are, you know, using their
lawns is parking for people. I looked to my right,
I'm at a stoplight and it's a funeral home and
people are tailgating on the lawn of this funeral home,
which is hilarious. And then I go through the light

(57:22):
as Lambo was on my I remember like it was yesterday,
the first time I did at Lambo's on my left.
There's like a gas station, a giant parking lot on
my right, and where the media parking was. I have
to go around the backside of Lambo and there's a
Catholic church right behind Lambo and a neighborhood right Lambo's
just dropped right in the middle of this neighborhood. So
there's houses, and here's a Catholic church. And in the

(57:43):
Catholic church is a is a stage and a band.
And remember I'm getting there early, you know, because I
gotta call the game. So I'm there probably two three
hour probably two and a half hours before kickoff. And
here's a band on stage banging out Zeppelin Rocket Role
and just on the on the lawn of a Catholic church.
I'm like, this is great. What's better than this? It's

(58:05):
such an awesome you know, if you're a Charger fan,
and you guys do a great job speaking to you
fans when we go on the road. We've seen you
all over and it's fun to see when we hit
the road. Um, some of some really great fans that
end up getting out Obviously, this is one you circle.
You get to do it every what Chris eight years,
get out out there. Man, I've never been. It's it's

(58:26):
it's one of the handful of stadiums I've never been to.
So money that means you're gonna have to pay it
forward and you're gonna have to take me to that
three story Barn Bar where there's four thousand people on
a Saturday night before Packard game. I need to be there.
You know, I have no problem doing that, So yeah,
it'll it's it's a really cool spot. Um, I get

(58:47):
the check a box. This year, I only have two
stadiums I have not called a game in. I've been
to US Bank Stadium for the Super Bowl, but I
haven't called the game there since they got the new stadium.
So that's one and then all. I'll have leftist Carolina
because I believe we were in the pandemic when we
went there, so I did not get to travel with
the team to Carolina, and that's it. Once that happens,

(59:11):
I'll have checked every box in the Uh. Oh, actually no,
because I had a COVID last year with our two
years ago with Philadelphia, so I still link the link.
I did the VAT, but I never did the link,
so I got to uh, I gotta figure that one
out somewhere down the road. I've been to Carolina. I
went to Carolina when Steve Spurrier was the coach of
the the reds now Command. Risks Um and Jake Delme

(59:37):
beat them on a final drive in Carolina, me and
my buddies. We took like this big like RV down
to Carolina from Nice, from Virginia, from from college. It
was awesome. I've been a Yeah, Charlotte's a good time.
A good time for sure. Really is. People don't realize
like how big of a city that is. Just banking

(59:58):
industry obviously tobacco, you know, it is huge there. It's
it's like a it's a big city. Like it's got
some big city vibes to it as well. I don't
think people realize that. So anyway, yeah, next year Minnesota.
The stadium's beautiful. I've just never called a game there,
but the stadium is incredible. In Minnesota. We're going back
to Nashville, which of course I have no problem with whatsoever.

(01:00:19):
That was that was so much fun. We went a
couple of years ago. Was it a It was twenty nineteen.
I think that was the game they lost on the
fumbles Melvin Gordon's two fumbles. Yeah, back to back fumbles
at the goal line when Austin Ecklers should have been
given the touchdown, but they took it off the board
and didn't review it, which was weird. So or maybe

(01:00:40):
they did and they just came to the conclusion that
call on the field stands as opposed to is confirmed. Yep.
That was Ryan Tannehill's first start with the Titans, and
and uh, both teams. I think we're like five and five.
I think it was Jeffrey Simmons's first NFL game. He
rereaked havoc and has been and uh, and we had
a good time at Luke Yons. And what was that

(01:01:00):
barbecue place we do It was Franklin, Franklin, Franklin, Yeah,
Franklin where they had the Yeah, that's another one, folks.
You got a lot of spots to go to next year.
A lot of great spots, really cool stadium in Minnesota,
incredibly cool towns in Green Bay and our special place
in the NFL and Green Bay and in a great

(01:01:21):
town to party all weekend long in Nashville, and perhaps
it overseas trip. Like you said, you never know. I
think that's gonna happen. Tom, call Joe Douglas, go get
Denzel Mims. Time that happened out of this podcast is
why Denzel Mims should be in La Charger. Figure out
what the draft compensation is, go make it happen and

(01:01:46):
party Dalton Schultz. Dalton Schultz too, it would be good
to get him. Um. I'm going to Sacramento tomorrow for
March Badness UCLA. UM. I think when we do this
podcast next week, money a lot will be different. UM.
Maybe you will know a lot more about what this
team looks like and can maybe answer more answer to
more fan questions. I think you guys remembers go ahead.

(01:02:09):
I think the I think the one thing remembers the
charters rarely do the strike first, you know, strike hard,
no mercy. Approaching free agency, they tend to be the secondary.
They want to resign their own, they want to draft, develop, resign.
You know, that's what they did with Pipkins. So I
think the thing to remember is they tend to be
the let's find some value. There's a reason why teams
are letting these guys go. But I think you're right.

(01:02:31):
I think we'll have. I think we'll have figured some
stuff out on the Austin ecler front, because I'm sure
they want to figure that out because if it ain't
gonna be Austin, there's some really good backs on the market.
Sanders is the one that comes to mind. Like you said, Kellen,
Moore's as a great point. Kellen Moore's got familiarity with
him two times a year, multiple years with the Cowboys,
So I think you're right. Well, we'll have a lot

(01:02:52):
more sorted out. Yea. All right, guys, always appreciate you. Listen.
We'll get this up quick so you can listen for money.
I'm Chris. We'll see you next week. As the official
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