In this episode, John explains why he thinks Bill Belichick will shine in 2020 despite the adversity of Brady leaving, COVID, and player opt-outs, and why the days of NBA stars making exponentially more money than NFL players are over. He also gives his biggest takeaways from the NFL players' Top 100 list, Mike Sando's QB tier list, and answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Subscribe now!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:42):
John Middlecoff three and out podcast Back at it again.
I appreciate everyone here listening. It's a Thursday kind of
late night. Actually, I got the Laker game and the
baseball game on in the background. As someone who loves sports,
not gonna lie, doesn't suck. Thank you for coming back
(01:03):
in any way possible, no fans, whatever, I'm just grateful
to see you on. Also may have a little cash
on Brooks keepka he crushed today. Also may have him
in some daily fantasy lineups. Feeling good. I'm feeling good football.
I think it's officially kind of back and rolling, at
least for a couple of teams. Rookies are now in.
We're starting to see some videos come out on social
(01:24):
media with players around. I saw Andy Reid in the
kanc Chiefs because they reported early, remember because they're kicking
off on Thursday night, saying with the Texans, their whole
team kind of came together. Today. We got a lot
going on, a lot of these opt outs, specifically hitting
New England. Have some thoughts on Belichick and you know,
(01:45):
kind of the big question marks that surrounds that Joey
Bosa got paid earlier this week, an astronomical amount of money.
And I think there was a long time narrative about
guys in the NFL, non quarterbacks, you know, not making
as much as the other big sports, the elite guys.
Now I think have kind of kind of shut that
(02:07):
up and put that to bed. Then I'll just dive
around the league. Some stories on just the top one hundred,
the quarterback tier article from Mike Sando, which I love,
some other signing, some hold outs, just you know, your
typical NFL drama, and also college football. I guess we've
talked a lot about it won't spend too much time.
(02:27):
They're all going to conference only. We'll get into that.
It'll probably in the next couple of weeks. And then,
of course the Middlecoff mail back at John Middlecoff my
Instagram fly in the DMS. We answer your questions here.
It's the people's show, it's your show, and it's how
you get on it's how you get on a podcast.
We don't do phone calls, but we do answer Instagram questions.
(02:48):
You know, it's been it's been hard to be like
you know in twenty twenty. Tell us to a guy
that hosts a radio show in two thousand and five,
I'm gonna have way more listeners than you, and it's
gonna be like this recorded thing that they can listen
to on their phone. And I'm not gonna have anyone
call in, but I can interact with my people through
my phone. They'll all kind of DM me, kind of
like a text message. It would be hard for these
radio hosts of like fifteen years to wrap their head
(03:09):
around what we're doing here. But good thing we are
and it's it's it's rolling along and I appreciate everyone
listening with I can't say it enough. So If you
like the podcast, go to three and out on Apple
and iTunes, leave a little review, a little five star
if you want leave a review, subscribe to the pod
and we'll go from there. But let's start with the
(03:31):
New England Patriots, who I think had six players opt
out over the last four or five days, and Bill
Belichick and I know, for me personally, and I think
I would imagine most people listening, Corona sucks. It has
been awful. But I've tried to be positive during this time.
(03:53):
And it's just as you grow and mature, you know,
you read a couple, you know, inspirational books. It's about
the right mindset and it does help, you know, for
as much as people make fun of, like, you know,
powerful inspirational self help type books, there are things that
you can pick up to just help you outlive your
everyday life and not be a miserable SOB and I
(04:15):
found during Corona to be inspiring in terms of my
business and having to pivot and think big picture and
we were doing something, might have to do something else.
Think about the way we were doing this not enough video.
We're doing a video. You can find it on YouTube
right now. We post videos of this podcast, and I think,
(04:36):
in general, and I think most people agree, during the
tough times you find out the most about yourself, and
in the toughest times, I will usually bet on the
most talented people. It's why this season, which is gonna
be very, very weird, football is not built to socially
(04:58):
distanced or be corona proof. The football is the complete opposite.
You touch everybody all the time, you're all together in
small quarters. You literally five guys touch the other four
every single play. The ball touches multiple people play. If
you're listening to this podcast, you understand that. But I
think the smartest and best coaches, which we all know,
the Andy Reids, the Sean Payton's, the Kyle Shanahans, the
(05:20):
Pete Carrolls, are gonna have the best opportunity to win
this fall. Now, Belichick, historically the last twenty years, I
would have easily put in that sentence, and I still
technically do, though his team is dramatically worse. So he
had his right tackle opt out, he had one of
his best front seven guys in high tower opt out.
He had running back opt out, he had a starting
(05:41):
strong safety opt out. He said, some guys opt out
it's you had Tom Brady leave, But I think he
has an opportunity this year one. He's the most adaptive
coach in league history. He knows every single position. He
could be a position coach at every single position. He
understands every play call, whether's offensive, fencer, special teams, and
(06:02):
he is just one of the most innovative coaches we've
ever seen. So if you give me a guy that
is given him in the middle of a pandemic, he
had a bunch of guys leave, He's breaking in a
brand new starting quarterback, whether it's Cam Newton, which would
be the polar opposite of the quarterback that he just had,
who was the greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady,
or whether it's George Sidham or Brian Hoyer. It's not
(06:23):
gonna be an ideal situation. But I think this because
Tom Brady, he's forty three years old. Whether it goes
well or not in Tampa, like his legacy is set
six Super Bowls. He's widely considered the greatest quarterback of
all time. It can't really be disputed at this time.
But I think just with coaches, we argue back and forth,
was it Brady was it Belichick bottom line? I think
(06:45):
most people agree Belichick, you know, is one of the
greatest coaches of all time. But what if this year,
with six players opting out his starting quarterback for the
last twenty years leaving, he's able to win nine or
ten games. The more and more I think about Belichick,
who is again equipped for the shittiest time to do
the best. We've seen him get hit with curveballs, some
(07:06):
self inflicted like Spygate. They went eighteen and one kicked
everyone's ass. We saw him deal with the flight Gate, which,
depending on who you believe, he had nothing to do
with it. Whatever started kicking everyone's ass again. He deals
with it all the time. Brady gets suspended, whins with
Jimmy wins Wouldjico? It doesn't matter this to me? Might
(07:28):
be his toughest test, right. He has a bunch of
guys on the team most people have never heard of
unless you're like a die hard college football fan, because
they're gonna be playing a lot of young guys. You know,
his best most experienced offensive guys like Julian Edelman, cam
coming off multiple injuries, or Jared Stidham is going to
be a starting quarterback Why couldn't he make the playoffs? Though?
(07:48):
I've thought all along that they are going to be
in the playoff mix, and I said, once they get Cam,
if he's healthy, they should be a playoff team. Look
at their division beside the Bills. Who do he think
is gonna be any good? The Dolphins won three of
their last five games to become a four win team.
Their quarterback, which Colin has been talking about a show
(08:08):
or on a show, who the head coach, Brian Flores
said should be ready to go was walking with a
limp when he entered the facility. The New York Jets,
who you know, I like Sam Darnold still has a
lot to prove a coach. That's there's some turnamoil. Now,
granted they went seven to nine, they just traded their
best player on their team for you know, draft picks
(08:31):
that don't don't help right now now, granted they did
get a safety back in McDougal, but still like to
think that the Jets are going to be better than
the no name Patriots. I can't go that far, but
what if Belichick kicks everyone's butt this year and goes
wins nine or ten games? Would that solidify the argument
with him in Brady because Brandy's already the best quarterback ever?
(08:55):
Could we start talking about Belichick being because in my opinion,
he already is. But I understand the argument people that
argue other sports, whatever, what if Belichick were to make
the playoffs and like win a playoff game with this
roster with these guys, because there was one thing was
he still returned all these guys his right tackle, you know,
High Tower Chung like his guys along with Slater and
(09:16):
the mccordy and Edelman. Well, now you're removing like half
those guys. I actually think Belichick has a lot on
the line, a lot to gain this year. And I
thought that from the jump, but I think after this
week with all these guys like nah, I'm good and listen,
I can't pretend to know. You read some of the
stories these guys that sick children, their grandparents were sick.
(09:39):
Cannon has been sick before. I haven't read anything specific
on High Tower, but this notion that, oh, it sucks
to play for Belichick, that's why they wanted out. I
call bullshit. When you play for Belichick, you win, meaning
you make more money in life. Like everywhere, High Tower
goes the rest of his life in New England. Hey,
let's welcome High Tower, three times super Bowl champ, three
(10:04):
time Super Bowl champ. Right, not, let's just welcome. Let's
welcome J. J. Watt, the Texans greatest player. Like that's cool.
But when you get introduced as three time super Bowl champ,
that's what All those guys in New England that have
played for this team over the last seven or eight
years are known for champions and which championships come cash.
(10:25):
That's just that's why you want to win, because not
maybe even just short term cash, long term you make
money forever. I know, I live in the Bay Area.
Ronnie Lott, Brent Jones, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice. It's not
just them. These guys are all over the place. Ricky Waters,
Bryant Young, these guys are staples in this community and
on radio, and you can hear them around. Once you
(10:46):
become a champion, you're just known as that around the team.
Whether you are Jerry Rice or whether you're Ricky Waters,
you're part of the squad and you have a ring
on your finger. And in the New England's case three
And I'm telling you, I think naturally people just are
kind of thinking New England's gonna suck. And in times
of turmoil, the toughest times, the smartest guys usually rise,
(11:10):
and I think counting Belichick out in the situation would
be pretty foolish. Okay, I saw something this week, as
I'm sure many of you did. Joey Bosa became the
highest paid defensive lineman in league history, one hundred and
two million dollars. And there was a time. It was
(11:34):
the year Kevin Durant signed with the Warriors. They had
a historic cap spike in the NBA and it was
the only reason the Warriors were able to fit Kevin
Durant under their salary cap. And part of it was
Steph Curry was on a team friendly deal and Draymond
had taken a tiny bit lass and it was a
(11:55):
unique situation, but there was a bigger picture thing in
the league where there was all this cap space, and
looking back, it was something that wasn't good for the NBA.
It should have been over a gradual period of time,
but the union, the NBA Union was very shortsighted and
pushed it. And there was a summer where just random dudes,
(12:18):
We're getting like seventy million dollars guaranteed and forever. In
the NBA, superstars like quarterbacks in the NFL, get an
astronomical amount of money. But it became, i'd say the
last like twenty years, maybe ten, that like the second
and third type guys. And now the second and third
guy on an NBA team, if you're really good, is
(12:39):
like Klay Thompson and he's worth huge money, or you know,
you just go Anthony Davis, like you need two or
three elite guys in the NBA to win now. But
I think the NFL complained for a long period of time.
It was like the quarterback and then everyone was fighting
for the rest. Now, granted, it's still a lot of money,
and it's pro sports, and these guys are making a
ton of cash, but relative and baseball, And I got
(13:01):
a baseball game on in the background right now. I
got Manny Machado on. He's making three hundred million. The
Giants got like three guys that aren't even any good
that are making eighty plus million, And it just felt
like the NFL guys are kind of getting screwed. Part
of it is the NFL a ton of injury risk.
It's understandable, and having been in the front office, I
(13:21):
get it, like you don't want to tie yourself to
non quarterbacks for too long. But the simple fact is
those days are over. The elite players in the NFL
get huge cash now, I'm talking massive cash. Now. There
was a period in like the two thousands, like when
Sam Bradford's and Matt Stafford's and the Nadomicanzu and we
(13:45):
go through the list, I mean all the guys those
last couple of years in like OA O nine that
were top five picks that got huge money and it
threw the league out of whack. You know, Stafford's has
been fine, but Bradford was a good example, and people complained, well,
now they don't make anywhere near that much money, but
they still make huge cash. Like this year Joe Burrow
(14:08):
signed I think I saw on the ticker this week
thirty five million dollars. Kyler was well over thirty. So
when you look at guys like Joey Bosa, Joey Bosa
was a third pick in the draft in twenty sixteen.
He signed a contract. I didn't even need to google it.
It was probably twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven million,
dollars fully guaranteed. When a first round rookie signs his contract,
(14:31):
those first four years are fully guaranteed, and then if
you're just pretty good, you're getting the fifth year option
picked up. But there was a period of time where
it was like guys had to kind of play for
cheap and guys were always fighting for money when you're
a top guy. Now you get broken off and just
look at his class, his class, like the top seven
(14:52):
draft picks in his class are gonna go down. It's
probably the most highly compensated top seven in league history.
Jared Goff, Carson It's made huge money. And again, these guys,
I'm talking NBA money, because if you signed for one
hundred and twenty million, if you're Joey Bosa, if you're
Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, as long as you keep playing,
you're actually gonna make whatever the actual number is, whether
(15:15):
it's one seventy, one, eighty, two hundred, you know the
fluff number that we always look at and we go,
what's the guaranteed number, and you go, if it's Kleil
mac ninety, Miles Garrett one hundred, Joey one oh two. Well,
the thing where it's not fluff. If that guy stays good,
he keeps cashing those checks. With three or four years,
he actually ends up making probably one thirty, one forty,
and then he already made twenty five to thirty those
(15:37):
first three or four years, so he ends up with boom.
He's eight years into the league and he's got two
hundo in the bank. But the reality is is that
draft class twenty sixteen is just stupid good. You know,
Jared Goff kind of probably gets unfairly criticized sometimes his
offensive line was terrible. He is a solid quarterback. No,
he's a great player. No is Carson Wentz clearly more talented. Yes,
(15:59):
has Jared Goff probably been more productive, but Carson more
talented and had more moments. Kind of complicated. Reality is
both of them just making an astronomical amount of money
in their direct deposits every Tuesday when the NFL pays him.
Joey Bosa, the third pick in the draft, which I
thought at the time was a little crazy, turned out
to one be the right pick. Good job, Tom to
(16:20):
lesko Zeke. Highest paid running back Jalen Ramsey while he's
on his fifth year option. If he makes it the
free agency. The Rams are either gonna have to give
him seventy to eighty guaranteed or some team is gonna
make him. I don't know. He might get as much
as Joey Bosa. He would get so much money it
would be stupid. Ronnie Stanley is playing this year on
(16:41):
his fifth year option. I'll be honest, I didn't I
got a text around the league. I don't know that
much about him. He starts on the Ravens. They haven't
extended him yet. I feel like early on his career
a little bit of underachiever. But if you're playing for
the Ravens, like you know, you must be pretty solid.
I mean, they're one of the best teams in the
league and DeForrest Bucker was just traded for the thirteenth
pick and is twenty one million dollars a year. So
(17:01):
this group has done pretty well financially. But they also
proved obviously the quarterbacks are always gonna make big money
if you're good at hell, if you're just decent at quarterback,
you're gonna get broken off, whether it's fair or not.
And I think the players in the league jealousy is
probably the wrong word. I mean, it's just natural jealousy
when someone gets paid more than you, even though you
think you're a better football player than them. Though even
(17:23):
if you're a guard or a linebacker, you have to
acknowledge their positions more important. But I would imagine if
you're playing with a guy like Kirk Cousins, you're like,
and I'm adam feeling. I just go, I'm a dramatically
better player in this gay. I know he plays quarterback
and I play wide receiver, but we're still humans. This
guy's making thirty million dollars a year, I'm making twelve.
(17:44):
Is what you know. It doesn't, but it's just the
way the cookie crumbles. But the reality is now, when
you are an elite player at safety, at tackle, at
defensive line, at wherever, Jamal Adams another guy who's gonna
get a ton of money from the Seattle Shawks in
the next i'd say calendar year, you start getting paid
like an NBA player. And it's taken a while, and
(18:06):
there's been a lot of heat, like the money doesn't
get distributed. While starting to get distributed at a math,
the cash is flowing and I'm talking big time because
you're even starting to see like the second tier guys
like is Amari Cooper a start like a Mark Cooper's
a really good player. He got one hundred million dollars
this offseason and sixty guaranteed. But Amari was the fourth
pick in the draft, so he had already made twenty
(18:27):
twenty five million. So at worst case scenario, he never
plays football again a day in his life. Starting tomorrow.
He's got eighty five you know, that's we're talking. He's
six years in the league. Five years in the league.
This NBA money, the NBA Major League Baseball money has
made its way to the NFL. It's taken a while.
It's a little more complicated, more players, and obviously the
injury risk. But I don't ever want to hear that anymore,
(18:51):
you know, because if you're an elite player in the NFL,
you're getting paid now. Thunder Shot in the Maze Buy
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the ad Council. Okay, let's hit on some NFL stories,
and I'll start with one that's been going on I
think for the last two weeks, but this week they
basically did the last like fifty players. I can't even
pretend to care that much about the NFL. I think
(20:43):
overall it encapsulates the majority of the best players. I
don't put that much stock into what players say on
other players because on given years, they don't play that player.
A lot of stuff, just like in life, is on
perception and on just kind of the group think in
a league, in an industry, we all can relate. Right
(21:04):
In whatever business you're in, there are certain perceptions about
certain individuals, certain companies that if you've worked there or
worked around the guy, you just know are not true.
I think, for the most part, the top ten had
ten of the better players. Now Derrick Henry I wouldn't
put in the top ten. I don't think there's a
coach in the league, including Baltimore, that would take Lamar
Jackson over Patrick Mahomes. So Patrick Mahomes not being ahead
(21:28):
of them, Listen, it is what it is. I also
understand it from the player's perspective. Talked a lot about
it on my other podcast, like I get it players,
Lamar was fantastic. This was a regular season vote. They
didn't vote on the player, you know, the playoffs. Patrick
mahomes a better player than them. We all know that.
Every single person listening knows that, including Baltimore Ravens fans. Yeah. So,
(21:52):
I mean, I don't really know what else to say.
I don't I don't really care. I know, I had
to mention it just because it was just kind of
an Internet story week. The thing that I do put
a lot of stock in, and he does it every year,
is the quarterback tiers. Mike Sando, who works for the
Athletic ranks all the starting quarterbacks. He also includes some
(22:13):
backups for some teams like the Raiders, the Panthers and
who's other and the Patriots who have multiple quarterbacks who
you know, I know, Teddy Bridge was going to start,
excuse me, Kyle Allen, who's now with the Redskins. Maybe
it was the Redskins, but teams that have multiple quarterbacks,
We're not sure. You know Stidham cam now that Mariot
(22:35):
is the highest paid backup, but for the most part,
it's just starting quarterbacks, and it's people in the league, coaches, executives.
It gives you what the league thinks about these players,
which you can hear what I think about it, you
can hear what your friends think about it, you can
hear what other media members think about it. The thing
that determines how they get paid. What's their worth if
(22:58):
you're going to trade for him, what pensation cost is
what the league thinks. That is the marketplace. So I
think it's a fantastic exercise. And of course Patrick mahomes
number one, where he should be. And hell, Lamar wasn't
even a top tier player, and let's start with that.
I'm just gonna list some things. I'm not gonna do
a full breakdown of every player, but just some things
(23:18):
that stood out to me. Lamar was the first player
in Tier two. Maybe it was the second after Brady,
but I think a big element to Lamar inside the league.
And I heard Mike Sando say this on Ryan Rasilla's podcast.
If you just ask people in the league, they would
say he is an elite football player, because Lamar Jackson
(23:38):
is an elite football player right now, though he's not
an elite passer. And in big games what quarterbacks get
judged off of. He can't be trusted to beat you
on third and long. And part of it's not all
his fault. It's the way the offense is built around
him for his strengths. He doesn't have to do it
during the regular season. It's understandable. But for him ever
to be viewed as a Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, he's
(24:00):
gonna have to kick your ass with his arm in
big games against top defenses, and right now most people
in the league don't think he can. But he's such
a great runner, and he's still a dynamic passer because
when you're running the ball down your throat, you got
to commit to the run. Guys become wide open and
it's you dominate. But he's got to take a big
step passing, and I'm fascinated to watch him attempt to
do it. They put Rivers and Bet on this list.
(24:22):
Rivers was way too high to me. Rivers last season.
Now his body of work, I mean, he's there's probably
five quarterbacks on this list that are better than him
over his entire career. Right, like Brady Breezes Rogers, I'd
take Mahomes and like Russell Wilson. But when you talk
about Rivers right now, he was horrendous last year. Awful,
(24:45):
looked old, couldn't move through a bunch of picks. It
was terrible to me. He was a bottom like seven
eight quarterback in the NFL and they had him as
a top fifteen quarterback. Now he may bounce back this year.
Better offensive line, more faith in the coach, more faith
in the organization. I don't know. But last time I
check Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Hunter, Henry, he's better than
(25:08):
what he's got an indie. Now. The offensive line is
dramatically better, but the weapons do matter. And he's a
guy that kind of throws it up for grabs sometimes
and those guys he's benefited from that over the years.
And Ben, I don't know. You know, he played two
games last year. He's really old. He ripped his you know,
his elbow. You know, I have no clue to me
(25:28):
he's I wouldn't even put him on the list. I
would have put him on the side as just I
got no freaking clue, you know, does he have anything
left him? And Rivers basically the two biggest wild cards
in the league because If those two guys are good,
they're on two playoff teams. If those two guys are bad,
those teams are screwed, especially Pittsburgh because we saw a
duck and Mason stink. At least Jacoby is functioning. Jimmy
(25:52):
Garoppolo was below Kirk Cousins. Now. I understand Jimmy Garoppolo
as a polarizing player. I get it. He should be.
We don't. I think he's better probably the many people listening.
I think he is a good thrower of the football.
He has a great, you know, very very fast release.
He's a tough s ob in the pocket. He is
not scared, but and he can scramble around, keep plays alive.
(26:15):
He's a playmaker. He'll throw a lot of picks, and
he'll throw a lot of pickable balls. But I know this,
If I pulled every gentleman during the league, thirty two
of them, I would be shocked if it wasn't thirty
to two, if not thirty two zero people taking Jimmy
Garoppolo over Kirk Cousins. Now. I tweeted this out because
we talked about on my other podcast. Mike Sandell replied
(26:36):
and said, well, they were basically in the same kind
of group I just listed it. It went like Cousins, Goff, Jimmy,
and my thing is what I don't do in twenty
twenty are listen, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning. I would say,
beside like Rogers, far the best quarterbacks I've ever seen
in Lway, but I saw Elway when I was young.
(26:57):
He was kind of old, and pocket quarterback has always
been a thing in the NFL. I do think the
way the game has changed, with so many great defensive
lineman coming in, so many average offensive linemen coming in,
it's a huge benefit to quarterbacks. If they're just Patrick Mahomes,
you know, Russell Wilson. You don't need to be Lamar Jackson,
but you gotta be able to scramble. Kirk Cousins cannot move.
(27:18):
Jared Goff's even a bigger stiff, and I like Jared Goff,
and I honestly Kirk Cousins is not bad either. These
guys are solid starters. Jared both a little overpaid in
my opinion, but like you can win games with him.
Clearly their team has to be stacked, but you can
win with them. And that might be the case with
Jimmy Garoppolo, but I don't know that for sure. I
know for a fact right now what Kirk Cousins is.
(27:39):
I still think there's more to learn with Jared Goff,
but a little like Kirk Cousins and definitely like all
the older guys. Jared Goff is a good example. If
his offensive line is not good, he can't move, he
can't get away, like Jimmy does. Bring me that element
of just functional mobility. And I think you don't need
to be Kyler, you don't need to be Michael Vick.
(28:00):
But I do need a guy that can just scramble
around like that's what Aaron Rodgers did forever, and that's
I would take Jimmy Garoppolo over Kirk Cousins every day
of the week and twice on Sundays. Baker was just
a couple spots below Jimmy. I think he was like
twenty one listen. I would put a major question mark
on Baker, and I'm someone that loved him coming out,
(28:21):
but he has a first time head coach. He has
a pretty just I mean, anytime you got Odell Beckham
on your team, it's kind of like a powder keg.
If he's not getting the ball. He could get pissed off.
Jarvis probably one of his most consistent guys coming back
from injury. They're adding Austin Hooper into the mix, They're
adding a lot of new offensive linemen. Obviously, their head
coach is their play caller. Their running backs are good.
(28:44):
There is zero excuse, and let me repeat, zero excuse
for Cleveland to not be really dynamic on offense. They
should dominate on offense, and it starts with him, because
if you have great offensive personnel and you have a
good quarterback, you should be a top five or six offense.
Just that simple. The Vikings were a fantastic offense last
(29:04):
year and their offensive line wasn't even that good. But
why they had a good tight They had multiple tight ends,
star running back, two stud wide receivers. Well, the Browns,
in theory, should have a better offensive line than the
Vikings had. Just as good at running backs in chub
and an Hunt, Jarvis an O'Dell should be as good
(29:25):
as Digs and theeeling and the tight ends. You would
argue the Browns might be better like that should be elite.
But Cousins was salt and can Baker be that good?
I don't know. He wasn't last year. Now was it
just Freddy Kitchens might have been. We're about to find out.
The other thing in the article was I think Carr
was the twentieth quarterback on the list and Marioda was
(29:46):
like in the late twenties. Now Marioda was atrocious last
year and he was injured. And I heard Gruden today
talking about how he's been going through his rehab and
he feels like he's caught up on the offense. Everyone
in the league, like with a quote on Derek and
the quotes on Mariota is they would not be shocked
that if Mariota starts some games this year there is
(30:07):
tangible pressure on car They draft rugs really high, that
they now have a star tight ended waller, a star
running back. We think in Josh Jacobs. Their offensive line
is solid. They drift a couple more wide receivers in
the third round. Gruden is just a quarterback guy that
if Derek struggles this year, and his numbers were good
last year, but if you watched them the eye test,
(30:28):
the numbers in the eye test did not equal up.
He was not a play He was not a playmaker
last year. He just wasn't and they're gonna need him
in that division, which I think is going to be
very very good to be a playmaker. And if he's
not getting it done, and I'm not saying Mariota is
better than him, I would rather have Car. But you
don't pay the highest paid backup in the league that
(30:50):
if you if you feel good about it, like the
Chiefs are never gonna have the highest paid backup in
the league. Neither Wolf, Seattle, Tampa, you know, New England
never did, there will Philadelphia. When you have a when
you have a highly paid guy, you usually depend on him.
And in fairness, Cruden didn't pay Derek. You just it's
just something to keep an eye on. Now. If Derek
plays well, it won't be an issue. But I think
(31:13):
the pressure from the jump is gonna be on Car
to get the job done because Mariotte is gonna be
breathing down his neck. It's clear Tom Brady and Tampa
had a good They tweeted out some pictures of Tom
throwing to rookies. But Tom Brady does his best work
right with Dion Lewis, with James White, you know, with
(31:33):
all the guys in the mid two thousands, he likes
a little running back to throw two out of the backfield.
I mean, who doesn't If I played quarterback, I'd like
a little wheel route guy that if my tight ends
and wide receivers aren't open. Tom fisoff that Lashawn McCoy
is one of the best pass catching backs of his generation.
Now is he still good? I don't know. I mean,
(31:54):
I have a soft spot for Shady. I love Peak Shady,
but he might not be that good any more now.
I would imagine they didn't pay him any money, but
Tampa signed Lashawn McCoy kind of like that. There's been
some COVID guys you know that are on that the
COVID list. The two biggest names I've seen. I might
have missed something because over the last couple of days
(32:15):
the tests have been coming back, so the veterans like people.
I saw people tweeting like, why is Tom Brady allowed
to practice? Because quarterbacks show up to training camp with
the rookies because you can't run a practice in a
normal year without the quarterbacks, so they always come early.
It's like there's a reason your left field or does
not pitchers and catcher show up first. Quarterbacks and rookie
(32:35):
show up first. So Tom has been there since last week,
so he's already gone through the testing protocol period. That's
why he's able to practice. But I saw Anthony Barr
I didn't read the details whether he has it or not.
Lane Johnson is also on it, and Lane Johnson tweeted
out that he does, that he had it, he feels fine,
that he plans on being back. I think that's a
common theme. These guys get it. Again, if you just read,
(32:57):
I'm not I'm not trying to get political here. Young
people get it. A lot of them don't feel bad.
Now there are some that do, but in my experience
of the people I know in their mid thirties, and
these aren't professional athletes, feel fine. And obviously some people
are a symptomatic. But these pro football players, these pro
basketball players get it and nothing really happens. So I
mean that's a good thing. I mean, thank god, you know,
(33:18):
those things not even worse. And I'm not trying to
diminish Corona or any of that stuff. Just got it,
just wanted to go away, but it doesn't feel like
it's going away. I mean, Yannick and Doc Way, the
Jags are a joke franchise. It's just it's that simple.
The Jags are a laughing stock franchise. They're the biggest
joke franchise right now in the National Football League. Not
(33:38):
even sure that's arguable. I guess the Lions could probably
throw their hat in the ring. But I mean, Stafford's
still pretty good, so and they got some good players,
but they don't win either. And Patricia is not very good,
but he's holding out. He wants to be traded. I
don't know what they're gonna get for him. It's just
a disastrous situation. It's just classic Jaguars. And then Vic
(33:59):
b Easley, who was a Royal bust for the Atlanta Falcons.
I think they drafted him, was at seventh overall, like
really high in top ten. Went to the Titans this
offseason and he didn't jo up for training camp. Not
because he has corona, not because he's injured. He just
didn't show up an unexcused absence. I guess. John Robinson
said to the media today, he's been in contact. He
(34:21):
told him, like bro that you're not excused were yet
just you know, some guys, some guys get it. The
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almost on time. This morning, Mom is coming out the
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Oh but the diaper bag wasn't closed. Diapers and toys
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car seat buckle for the toddler. And now the eldest daughter,
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who looks to be about nine or ten, has secured
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are buckle correctly in the right seat for their agent's eyes.
Learn more at NHTSA dot gov. Slash the Right Seat
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Brought to you by the ACT Council. Welcome out in
my shoes. Okay, let's let's do a quick Middlecough mail
(36:34):
bag at John Middlecough is the Instagram handle, and you
fire in ask questions. You guys know the drill. Also
just got to remind you again. Three and Out Podcast
Apple iTunes. Subscribe to the podcast if you listen on
Colin's feed and leave a review greatly appreciated. Dre a
(36:55):
key member of the Seahawks just had a baby. If
a doctor tells that key member of the Seahawks that
he can't be around his new child because he's playing football,
that guy is not going to play and the Seahawks
will be three and thirteen at best. Wonder if Joe
Douglass thought about this, please discuss this for two minutes
on the pot. I would imagine you're talking about Russell
(37:17):
Wilson and his baby whose name is win w I N.
Whereas Al Davis would say, just win baby. I'm pretty
sure that Russell Wilson is playing football this year. I'm
actually one positive Russell Wilson's playing football. Maybe not one.
I'll go to ninety nine because I don't want to
(37:37):
look like an idiot. If something, it would be the
biggest story of Corona. It would easily be the biggest
sports story of Corona. If Russell Wilson were to opt
out for the Seahawks, I don't know what they'd tell him.
I don't pretend to be a doctor. I mean, we
all can read whatever we want to read with kids
in the coronavirus. Russell Wilson's playing football. You know, he
(38:00):
has worked out all off season. He takes videos where
he's working out during coronavirus in LA while she was pregnant.
I think he had a pretty good idea of what
was to come given the baby. So I Russell Wilson's
playing now. If Joe Douglas knew Russell Wilson was opting
out and did the trade, yes, he would be a
(38:22):
genius because if they if Russell Wilson didn't play, the
Seattle Seahawks would be royally screwed and the Jets would
have sweet picks. But Russell Wilson's gonna play. Love the pod.
What software do you use to record the video side
of it? I've looked at a stream yard, but yours
looks slightly different. What I do is I record my
(38:45):
audio on garage band. I use my iPad which is
set up which if you follow me on Twitter, I
also do my periscopes for at my desk, and then
I send it to a guy named Elijah who's a
genius for Fox Sports Radio, and he sinks the audio
and the video. But if I wanted to send the
(39:05):
video to myself, I could just take the audio from
garage band, take my video from the iPad and drag
it into iMovie and sink it up. You could do
that as well. So that's how I do it. Am
I the most efficient one doing it? Probably not, I
would say on a tech savvy standpoint, I'm probably like,
(39:28):
I don't know four out of ten. When Seattle goes
balls to the wall with the Adam deal, it sends
two messages internally to the team that we're gonna go
to the super Bowl, to externally to soon be to
UFA's Seattle is a player friendly and when you are
a UFA, come here. We value talent. Might help Seattle
(39:48):
get a UFA down the road. Just my two cents,
I think Seattle has been pretty player friendly over the years.
You know, they've given Russell a ton of money. They've
you know, trade for high priced players and paid them.
They've paid Bobby Wagner, they paid Richard Sherman, they paid
Earl Thomas, they paid Cam Chancellor. You know, they traded
(40:10):
for clowning. You know, I think Seattle would be a
place if I was a player, especially kind of a
crazy player, and like physical football is a place where
I'd want to well, I'd want to play for sure.
First of all, love the show mate. Great to see
an honest take on the league's news from someone who's
worked inside the league. Appreciate it. My question is, are
(40:31):
the chances of the Buffalo Bills winning the AFC East?
In my mind, they are the clear favorites to win
the division. I would agree, and the news today if
Chung and High Tower that may opt out for the
seasons for further proof that the Pats are not going
to be a force this year. I pushed back a
little bit, but I would agree that the Bills should
win this division one. However, the bookies still have the
(40:54):
Pats favored to win the division. Buffalo are paying two
and a half to win. This to me is great
value bet and I don't think I've seen this good
of a bet in a long time. Am I crazier?
Is am I missing something? Ps? You guys have a
different odds system than the US. Okay, I was like
two and a half. I think I saw I'll pull
up on my bookie what my odds are? Listen? I
(41:20):
saw Jim Kelly said this during the offseason. Is that
the moment Tom Brady left. The Bills had no excuse
they were a playoff team last year, and the Patriots
are now in shambles when you just look at their
roster relative to what they've been, this should be their season.
Here's the thing, though, they Okay, let's go AFC Division
(41:41):
odds I have IFC East, I got the Patriots plus one,
I mean one to one. You're right, you can get
the Bills better odds to win the division than the Patriots.
I think that speaks to Cam Newton. I think that
speaks to Bill Belichick, and I just think it speaks
the unknown. I think the odds I'm looking at the
(42:02):
Jets and the Dolphins are both eight to one. The
Patriots are basically one to one, and the Jets are
like one point four to one, So plus one hundred
plus one forty and then eight eight, I would have
the Jets. To me, those odds are screwy. Like the
Jets one seventy nine last year, have a much more
established quarterback than anything Miami has. I would have the
Jets at like four to one, not eight, not the
(42:23):
same number as the Miami Dolphins. That seems crazy to me.
The Dolphins are the clear fourth best team in that division.
I don't care what happened at the end of the
last season, but I'm with you. I think the Bills
are fantastic value. I actually might bet on that before
the season starts. I'm gonna make a little note Bills
to win the division. I actually might look to parlay
that with something. Bills to win the division. I kind
(42:46):
of want to parlay them with another team. Can I
get the Chiefs Chiefs or minus four hundred that's a
little spicy, Maybe the Colts the Texans. I could do
the Bills to win the division and the Texans to
win the division. If I laide the two, I can't
parlay future bets. Never mind. Yeah, I'm with you. I
(43:07):
like the Bills to win that division as well. That's
that was a good text my gambling mind thinking. Hi, John,
I'm a recent Cal grad and wanted to ask your
opinion on Cali's current staff, including their new OC Bill
Musgrave coach Wilcox. Wilcox has shown a significant improvement on
the defensive side of the ball compared to previous regime,
but the offense has been at the bottom of the
(43:28):
pack twelve to the last few years. Do you think
Musgrave is the right hire to bring the offense to
at least average in the conference and continue the momentum
from the best season since golf Thanks. I think Justin
Wilcox is the legit coach. You know, he's clearly already
established his top four or five coach out West. If
their offense is good, their defense is gonna be good.
Like they run a tight ship, a physical defense. They
(43:49):
can cover, he understands coverages. Their defense is gonna be
good moving forward. It's just gonna be can their quarterback
play well? And last year I went to a game
against Arizona State on a Friday night and their quarterback
got hurt. And if he can play better. When Bill
Musgrave was here with Derek Carry at his best season,
he was on pace to win the MVP so until
(44:10):
he broke his ankle. I like Bill Musgrave. I think
they'll run a more traditional offense, like he uses a
fullback and he's known as a West Coast guy. But
I think he adapted well, like that year with Derek
Carr in sixteen with Crabtree and Amari was really really impressive.
I'm a big fan of Bill Musgrave. What grows in
(44:32):
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Best podcast Football Takes. Appreciate it. I've always been curious
about the teams deal with performance anxiety. When you were
working in the NFL, the teams invest in sports psychologists.
Was it common to see big times talents underperformed because
(46:17):
of performance anxiety? Keep up the good work. That's a
hell of a question. I had heard stories about individual
guys by the time, I think the last ten years,
these guys have their own individual performance coaches. I think
every team and definitely anyone that goes to a Powder
five school in college have access to them, and I
(46:41):
think it impacts positively a lot of guys, and they
just continue to use it. Sports are no different than life, right.
We all get insecure about things. We all question ourselves
at things, even when we're good at them, and definitely
when we're bad at him. We're all humans, so I
think it plays a huge role. Now, some coaches are
(47:01):
naturals at that are just natural uplifters. Like if you're
around coach Read and you're a good player, like I've
seen it, he's just good at it. You know, he's
a natural at it. I think as you know, I
think Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay, like they're just personality
around these players, like they're good at uplifting. Now you
might need one around Belichick or zimmer right, some of
(47:25):
the you know, the Parcels type guys. It's not exactly
the same. But I think a lot of these coaches,
the you know, Pete Carroll is like, might as well
just be a sports psychologist. So I think it just
depends on your coach, because these guys, when you're a
good player and you're making a lot of money, you
can always coaches doors wide open. Now we all have
(47:45):
things that we maybe can't talk about with the coach.
Then yeah, the teams definitely have access to it. Now,
some guys, you know, have it worse than others. You know,
I can't. I never played in the league. But there
has to be an Anxiety comes naturally the support of football.
It's not like baseball or basketball. Every game brings a
large amount of anxiety, but I think the older you
(48:06):
get in the NFL, the studying habits help. It's like
when you study for a test, you know the answers.
In football, you never quite know the answers. But these
guys study so much. I think the preparation helps a
lot of these guys kind of ease. You just spend
so much time in the NFL working toward the game.
You know, whether it's lifting, whether it's practicing, whether it's
film study, whether it's you know, working on your body.
(48:27):
You don't really have that much time for an exact Now.
There's other things in life, right, your family pressures and
your wife, your kids sick, whatever that we all need
help and to talk through. And yeah, the teams definitely
have and provide access for stuff like that. I mean,
these are billion dollar industries. Whatever you need, they will
point you in the direction if they don't have. But
(48:49):
that's something I think that all teams have. If I
texted around to my buddies in the league and the GMS,
they would say that, I'm sure they would say they
all have that. I never saw it around us, and
I never really asked. I was just so busy trying
to make sure players got graded and shit didn't get
screwed up, so I didn't get in trouble. You know,
I didn't really have time to think about performance coaches.
(49:11):
I knew we had a we had a great security
guard though. He's the best in the business. Saw him
at the combine. Yeah, So I appreciate everyone listening. Have
a good week, and I'll see you next next Tuesday,
and I think it we'll be in the full swing
of things. Not these guys I don't think will actually
be practicing. But all the vets come back to to
the facilities this weekend if they all passed the COVID test,
(49:34):
and you know, they'll start doing walkthroughs and lifts, and
I mean, in a in a coronavirus time, we'll start
heading toward the season. You know. Typically I would be
headed probably to some some padded practices this weekend for
the Niners and probably you know that sucks not happening now.
But you know, instead I'll just go play golf and
(49:55):
drink alcohol a weekend. You know, you just you gotta
deal with the cards you're dealt. You know I can't go,
I can't go, So enjoy your weekend. I hope you
do the same. And I'll see you next week. See
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hundred flowers dot com. Slash tune in. What is up everybody?
(00:42):
John Middlecoff three and out podcast Back at it again.
I appreciate everyone here listening. It's a Thursday kind of
late night. Actually, I got the Laker game and the
baseball game on in the background. As someone who loves sports,
not gonna lie, doesn't suck. Thank you for coming back
(01:03):
in any way possible, no fans, whatever, I'm just grateful
to see you on. Also may have a little cash
on Brooks keepka he crushed today. Also may have him
in some daily fantasy lineups. Feeling good. I'm feeling good football.
I think it's officially kind of back and rolling, at
least for a couple of teams. Rookies are now in.
We're starting to see some videos come out on social
(01:24):
media with players around. I saw Andy Reid in the
kanc Chiefs because they reported early, remember because they're kicking
off on Thursday night, saying with the Texans, their whole
team kind of came together. Today. We got a lot
going on, a lot of these opt outs, specifically hitting
New England. Have some thoughts on Belichick and you know,
(01:45):
kind of the big question marks that surrounds that Joey
Bosa got paid earlier this week, an astronomical amount of money.
And I think there was a long time narrative about
guys in the NFL, non quarterbacks, you know, not making
as much as the other big sports, the elite guys.
Now I think have kind of kind of shut that
(02:07):
up and put that to bed. Then I'll just dive
around the league. Some stories on just the top one hundred,
the quarterback tier article from Mike Sando, which I love,
some other signing, some hold outs, just you know, your
typical NFL drama, and also college football. I guess we've
talked a lot about it won't spend too much time.
(02:27):
They're all going to conference only. We'll get into that.
It'll probably in the next couple of weeks. And then,
of course the Middlecoff mail back at John Middlecoff my
Instagram fly in the DMS. We answer your questions here.
It's the people's show, it's your show, and it's how
you get on it's how you get on a podcast.
We don't do phone calls, but we do answer Instagram questions.
(02:48):
You know, it's been it's been hard to be like
you know in twenty twenty. Tell us to a guy
that hosts a radio show in two thousand and five,
I'm gonna have way more listeners than you, and it's
gonna be like this recorded thing that they can listen
to on their phone. And I'm not gonna have anyone
call in, but I can interact with my people through
my phone. They'll all kind of DM me, kind of
like a text message. It would be hard for these
radio hosts of like fifteen years to wrap their head
(03:09):
around what we're doing here. But good thing we are
and it's it's it's rolling along and I appreciate everyone
listening with I can't say it enough. So If you
like the podcast, go to three and out on Apple
and iTunes, leave a little review, a little five star
if you want leave a review, subscribe to the pod
and we'll go from there. But let's start with the
(03:31):
New England Patriots, who I think had six players opt
out over the last four or five days, and Bill
Belichick and I know, for me personally, and I think
I would imagine most people listening, Corona sucks. It has
been awful. But I've tried to be positive during this time.
(03:53):
And it's just as you grow and mature, you know,
you read a couple, you know, inspirational books. It's about
the right mindset and it does help, you know, for
as much as people make fun of, like, you know,
powerful inspirational self help type books, there are things that
you can pick up to just help you outlive your
everyday life and not be a miserable SOB and I
(04:15):
found during Corona to be inspiring in terms of my
business and having to pivot and think big picture and
we were doing something, might have to do something else.
Think about the way we were doing this not enough video.
We're doing a video. You can find it on YouTube
right now. We post videos of this podcast, and I think,
(04:36):
in general, and I think most people agree, during the
tough times you find out the most about yourself, and
in the toughest times, I will usually bet on the
most talented people. It's why this season, which is gonna
be very, very weird, football is not built to socially
(04:58):
distanced or be corona proof. The football is the complete opposite.
You touch everybody all the time, you're all together in
small quarters. You literally five guys touch the other four
every single play. The ball touches multiple people play. If
you're listening to this podcast, you understand that. But I
think the smartest and best coaches, which we all know,
the Andy Reids, the Sean Payton's, the Kyle Shanahans, the
(05:20):
Pete Carrolls, are gonna have the best opportunity to win
this fall. Now, Belichick, historically the last twenty years, I
would have easily put in that sentence, and I still
technically do, though his team is dramatically worse. So he
had his right tackle opt out, he had one of
his best front seven guys in high tower opt out.
He had running back opt out, he had a starting
(05:41):
strong safety opt out. He said, some guys opt out
it's you had Tom Brady leave, But I think he
has an opportunity this year one. He's the most adaptive
coach in league history. He knows every single position. He
could be a position coach at every single position. He
understands every play call, whether's offensive, fencer, special teams, and
(06:02):
he is just one of the most innovative coaches we've
ever seen. So if you give me a guy that
is given him in the middle of a pandemic, he
had a bunch of guys leave, He's breaking in a
brand new starting quarterback, whether it's Cam Newton, which would
be the polar opposite of the quarterback that he just had,
who was the greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady,
or whether it's George Sidham or Brian Hoyer. It's not
(06:23):
gonna be an ideal situation. But I think this because
Tom Brady, he's forty three years old. Whether it goes
well or not in Tampa, like his legacy is set
six Super Bowls. He's widely considered the greatest quarterback of
all time. It can't really be disputed at this time.
But I think just with coaches, we argue back and forth,
was it Brady was it Belichick bottom line? I think
(06:45):
most people agree Belichick, you know, is one of the
greatest coaches of all time. But what if this year,
with six players opting out his starting quarterback for the
last twenty years leaving, he's able to win nine or
ten games. The more and more I think about Belichick,
who is again equipped for the shittiest time to do
the best. We've seen him get hit with curveballs, some
(07:06):
self inflicted like Spygate. They went eighteen and one kicked
everyone's ass. We saw him deal with the flight Gate, which,
depending on who you believe, he had nothing to do
with it. Whatever started kicking everyone's ass again. He deals
with it all the time. Brady gets suspended, whins with
Jimmy wins Wouldjico? It doesn't matter this to me? Might
(07:28):
be his toughest test, right. He has a bunch of
guys on the team most people have never heard of
unless you're like a die hard college football fan, because
they're gonna be playing a lot of young guys. You know,
his best most experienced offensive guys like Julian Edelman, cam
coming off multiple injuries, or Jared Stidham is going to
be a starting quarterback Why couldn't he make the playoffs? Though?
(07:48):
I've thought all along that they are going to be
in the playoff mix, and I said, once they get Cam,
if he's healthy, they should be a playoff team. Look
at their division beside the Bills. Who do he think
is gonna be any good? The Dolphins won three of
their last five games to become a four win team.
Their quarterback, which Colin has been talking about a show
(08:08):
or on a show, who the head coach, Brian Flores
said should be ready to go was walking with a
limp when he entered the facility. The New York Jets,
who you know, I like Sam Darnold still has a
lot to prove a coach. That's there's some turnamoil. Now,
granted they went seven to nine, they just traded their
best player on their team for you know, draft picks
(08:31):
that don't don't help right now now, granted they did
get a safety back in McDougal, but still like to
think that the Jets are going to be better than
the no name Patriots. I can't go that far, but
what if Belichick kicks everyone's butt this year and goes
wins nine or ten games? Would that solidify the argument
with him in Brady because Brandy's already the best quarterback ever?
(08:55):
Could we start talking about Belichick being because in my opinion,
he already is. But I understand the argument people that
argue other sports, whatever, what if Belichick were to make
the playoffs and like win a playoff game with this
roster with these guys, because there was one thing was
he still returned all these guys his right tackle, you know,
High Tower Chung like his guys along with Slater and
(09:16):
the mccordy and Edelman. Well, now you're removing like half
those guys. I actually think Belichick has a lot on
the line, a lot to gain this year. And I
thought that from the jump, but I think after this
week with all these guys like nah, I'm good and listen,
I can't pretend to know. You read some of the
stories these guys that sick children, their grandparents were sick.
(09:39):
Cannon has been sick before. I haven't read anything specific
on High Tower, but this notion that, oh, it sucks
to play for Belichick, that's why they wanted out. I
call bullshit. When you play for Belichick, you win, meaning
you make more money in life. Like everywhere, High Tower
goes the rest of his life in New England. Hey,
let's welcome High Tower, three times super Bowl champ, three
(10:04):
time Super Bowl champ. Right, not, let's just welcome. Let's
welcome J. J. Watt, the Texans greatest player. Like that's cool.
But when you get introduced as three time super Bowl champ,
that's what All those guys in New England that have
played for this team over the last seven or eight
years are known for champions and which championships come cash.
(10:25):
That's just that's why you want to win, because not
maybe even just short term cash, long term you make
money forever. I know, I live in the Bay Area.
Ronnie Lott, Brent Jones, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice. It's not
just them. These guys are all over the place. Ricky Waters,
Bryant Young, these guys are staples in this community and
on radio, and you can hear them around. Once you
(10:46):
become a champion, you're just known as that around the team.
Whether you are Jerry Rice or whether you're Ricky Waters,
you're part of the squad and you have a ring
on your finger. And in the New England's case three
And I'm telling you, I think naturally people just are
kind of thinking New England's gonna suck. And in times
of turmoil, the toughest times, the smartest guys usually rise,
(11:10):
and I think counting Belichick out in the situation would
be pretty foolish. Okay, I saw something this week, as
I'm sure many of you did. Joey Bosa became the
highest paid defensive lineman in league history, one hundred and
two million dollars. And there was a time. It was
(11:34):
the year Kevin Durant signed with the Warriors. They had
a historic cap spike in the NBA and it was
the only reason the Warriors were able to fit Kevin
Durant under their salary cap. And part of it was
Steph Curry was on a team friendly deal and Draymond
had taken a tiny bit lass and it was a
(11:55):
unique situation, but there was a bigger picture thing in
the league where there was all this cap space, and
looking back, it was something that wasn't good for the NBA.
It should have been over a gradual period of time,
but the union, the NBA Union was very shortsighted and
pushed it. And there was a summer where just random dudes,
(12:18):
We're getting like seventy million dollars guaranteed and forever. In
the NBA, superstars like quarterbacks in the NFL, get an
astronomical amount of money. But it became, i'd say the
last like twenty years, maybe ten, that like the second
and third type guys. And now the second and third
guy on an NBA team, if you're really good, is
(12:39):
like Klay Thompson and he's worth huge money, or you know,
you just go Anthony Davis, like you need two or
three elite guys in the NBA to win now. But
I think the NFL complained for a long period of time.
It was like the quarterback and then everyone was fighting
for the rest. Now, granted, it's still a lot of money,
and it's pro sports, and these guys are making a
ton of cash, but relative and baseball, And I got
(13:01):
a baseball game on in the background right now. I
got Manny Machado on. He's making three hundred million. The
Giants got like three guys that aren't even any good
that are making eighty plus million, And it just felt
like the NFL guys are kind of getting screwed. Part
of it is the NFL a ton of injury risk.
It's understandable, and having been in the front office, I
(13:21):
get it, like you don't want to tie yourself to
non quarterbacks for too long. But the simple fact is
those days are over. The elite players in the NFL
get huge cash now, I'm talking massive cash. Now. There
was a period in like the two thousands, like when
Sam Bradford's and Matt Stafford's and the Nadomicanzu and we
(13:45):
go through the list, I mean all the guys those
last couple of years in like OA O nine that
were top five picks that got huge money and it
threw the league out of whack. You know, Stafford's has
been fine, but Bradford was a good example, and people complained, well,
now they don't make anywhere near that much money, but
they still make huge cash. Like this year Joe Burrow
(14:08):
signed I think I saw on the ticker this week
thirty five million dollars. Kyler was well over thirty. So
when you look at guys like Joey Bosa, Joey Bosa
was a third pick in the draft in twenty sixteen.
He signed a contract. I didn't even need to google it.
It was probably twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven million,
dollars fully guaranteed. When a first round rookie signs his contract,
(14:31):
those first four years are fully guaranteed, and then if
you're just pretty good, you're getting the fifth year option
picked up. But there was a period of time where
it was like guys had to kind of play for
cheap and guys were always fighting for money when you're
a top guy. Now you get broken off and just
look at his class, his class, like the top seven
(14:52):
draft picks in his class are gonna go down. It's
probably the most highly compensated top seven in league history.
Jared Goff, Carson It's made huge money. And again, these guys,
I'm talking NBA money, because if you signed for one
hundred and twenty million, if you're Joey Bosa, if you're
Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, as long as you keep playing,
you're actually gonna make whatever the actual number is, whether
(15:15):
it's one seventy, one, eighty, two hundred, you know the
fluff number that we always look at and we go,
what's the guaranteed number, and you go, if it's Kleil
mac ninety, Miles Garrett one hundred, Joey one oh two. Well,
the thing where it's not fluff. If that guy stays good,
he keeps cashing those checks. With three or four years,
he actually ends up making probably one thirty, one forty,
and then he already made twenty five to thirty those
(15:37):
first three or four years, so he ends up with boom.
He's eight years into the league and he's got two
hundo in the bank. But the reality is is that
draft class twenty sixteen is just stupid good. You know,
Jared Goff kind of probably gets unfairly criticized sometimes his
offensive line was terrible. He is a solid quarterback. No,
he's a great player. No is Carson Wentz clearly more talented. Yes,
(15:59):
has Jared Goff probably been more productive, but Carson more
talented and had more moments. Kind of complicated. Reality is
both of them just making an astronomical amount of money
in their direct deposits every Tuesday when the NFL pays him.
Joey Bosa, the third pick in the draft, which I
thought at the time was a little crazy, turned out
to one be the right pick. Good job, Tom to
(16:20):
lesko Zeke. Highest paid running back Jalen Ramsey while he's
on his fifth year option. If he makes it the
free agency. The Rams are either gonna have to give
him seventy to eighty guaranteed or some team is gonna
make him. I don't know. He might get as much
as Joey Bosa. He would get so much money it
would be stupid. Ronnie Stanley is playing this year on
(16:41):
his fifth year option. I'll be honest, I didn't I
got a text around the league. I don't know that
much about him. He starts on the Ravens. They haven't
extended him yet. I feel like early on his career
a little bit of underachiever. But if you're playing for
the Ravens, like you know, you must be pretty solid.
I mean, they're one of the best teams in the
league and DeForrest Bucker was just traded for the thirteenth
pick and is twenty one million dollars a year. So
(17:01):
this group has done pretty well financially. But they also
proved obviously the quarterbacks are always gonna make big money
if you're good at hell, if you're just decent at quarterback,
you're gonna get broken off, whether it's fair or not.
And I think the players in the league jealousy is
probably the wrong word. I mean, it's just natural jealousy
when someone gets paid more than you, even though you
think you're a better football player than them. Though even
(17:23):
if you're a guard or a linebacker, you have to
acknowledge their positions more important. But I would imagine if
you're playing with a guy like Kirk Cousins, you're like,
and I'm adam feeling. I just go, I'm a dramatically
better player in this gay. I know he plays quarterback
and I play wide receiver, but we're still humans. This
guy's making thirty million dollars a year, I'm making twelve.
(17:44):
Is what you know. It doesn't, but it's just the
way the cookie crumbles. But the reality is now, when
you are an elite player at safety, at tackle, at
defensive line, at wherever, Jamal Adams another guy who's gonna
get a ton of money from the Seattle Shawks in
the next i'd say calendar year, you start getting paid
like an NBA player. And it's taken a while, and
(18:06):
there's been a lot of heat, like the money doesn't
get distributed. While starting to get distributed at a math,
the cash is flowing and I'm talking big time because
you're even starting to see like the second tier guys
like is Amari Cooper a start like a Mark Cooper's
a really good player. He got one hundred million dollars
this offseason and sixty guaranteed. But Amari was the fourth
pick in the draft, so he had already made twenty
(18:27):
twenty five million. So at worst case scenario, he never
plays football again a day in his life. Starting tomorrow.
He's got eighty five you know, that's we're talking. He's
six years in the league. Five years in the league.
This NBA money, the NBA Major League Baseball money has
made its way to the NFL. It's taken a while.
It's a little more complicated, more players, and obviously the
injury risk. But I don't ever want to hear that anymore,
(18:51):
you know, because if you're an elite player in the NFL,
you're getting paid now. Thunder Shot in the Maze Buy
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near you and start exploring. I Discover the Forest dot Org,
brought to you by the United States Forest Service and
the ad Council. Okay, let's hit on some NFL stories,
and I'll start with one that's been going on I
think for the last two weeks, but this week they
basically did the last like fifty players. I can't even
pretend to care that much about the NFL. I think
(20:43):
overall it encapsulates the majority of the best players. I
don't put that much stock into what players say on
other players because on given years, they don't play that player.
A lot of stuff, just like in life, is on
perception and on just kind of the group think in
a league, in an industry, we all can relate. Right
(21:04):
In whatever business you're in, there are certain perceptions about
certain individuals, certain companies that if you've worked there or
worked around the guy, you just know are not true.
I think, for the most part, the top ten had
ten of the better players. Now Derrick Henry I wouldn't
put in the top ten. I don't think there's a
coach in the league, including Baltimore, that would take Lamar
Jackson over Patrick Mahomes. So Patrick Mahomes not being ahead
(21:28):
of them, Listen, it is what it is. I also
understand it from the player's perspective. Talked a lot about
it on my other podcast, like I get it players,
Lamar was fantastic. This was a regular season vote. They
didn't vote on the player, you know, the playoffs. Patrick
mahomes a better player than them. We all know that.
Every single person listening knows that, including Baltimore Ravens fans. Yeah. So,
(21:52):
I mean, I don't really know what else to say.
I don't I don't really care. I know, I had
to mention it just because it was just kind of
an Internet story week. The thing that I do put
a lot of stock in, and he does it every year,
is the quarterback tiers. Mike Sando, who works for the
Athletic ranks all the starting quarterbacks. He also includes some
(22:13):
backups for some teams like the Raiders, the Panthers and
who's other and the Patriots who have multiple quarterbacks who
you know, I know, Teddy Bridge was going to start,
excuse me, Kyle Allen, who's now with the Redskins. Maybe
it was the Redskins, but teams that have multiple quarterbacks,
We're not sure. You know Stidham cam now that Mariot
(22:35):
is the highest paid backup, but for the most part,
it's just starting quarterbacks, and it's people in the league, coaches, executives.
It gives you what the league thinks about these players,
which you can hear what I think about it, you
can hear what your friends think about it, you can
hear what other media members think about it. The thing
that determines how they get paid. What's their worth if
(22:58):
you're going to trade for him, what pensation cost is
what the league thinks. That is the marketplace. So I
think it's a fantastic exercise. And of course Patrick mahomes
number one, where he should be. And hell, Lamar wasn't
even a top tier player, and let's start with that.
I'm just gonna list some things. I'm not gonna do
a full breakdown of every player, but just some things
(23:18):
that stood out to me. Lamar was the first player
in Tier two. Maybe it was the second after Brady,
but I think a big element to Lamar inside the league.
And I heard Mike Sando say this on Ryan Rasilla's podcast.
If you just ask people in the league, they would
say he is an elite football player, because Lamar Jackson
(23:38):
is an elite football player right now, though he's not
an elite passer. And in big games what quarterbacks get
judged off of. He can't be trusted to beat you
on third and long. And part of it's not all
his fault. It's the way the offense is built around
him for his strengths. He doesn't have to do it
during the regular season. It's understandable. But for him ever
to be viewed as a Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, he's
(24:00):
gonna have to kick your ass with his arm in
big games against top defenses, and right now most people
in the league don't think he can. But he's such
a great runner, and he's still a dynamic passer because
when you're running the ball down your throat, you got
to commit to the run. Guys become wide open and
it's you dominate. But he's got to take a big
step passing, and I'm fascinated to watch him attempt to
do it. They put Rivers and Bet on this list.
(24:22):
Rivers was way too high to me. Rivers last season.
Now his body of work, I mean, he's there's probably
five quarterbacks on this list that are better than him
over his entire career. Right, like Brady Breezes Rogers, I'd
take Mahomes and like Russell Wilson. But when you talk
about Rivers right now, he was horrendous last year. Awful,
(24:45):
looked old, couldn't move through a bunch of picks. It
was terrible to me. He was a bottom like seven
eight quarterback in the NFL and they had him as
a top fifteen quarterback. Now he may bounce back this year.
Better offensive line, more faith in the coach, more faith
in the organization. I don't know. But last time I
check Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Hunter, Henry, he's better than
(25:08):
what he's got an indie. Now. The offensive line is
dramatically better, but the weapons do matter. And he's a
guy that kind of throws it up for grabs sometimes
and those guys he's benefited from that over the years.
And Ben, I don't know. You know, he played two
games last year. He's really old. He ripped his you know,
his elbow. You know, I have no clue to me
(25:28):
he's I wouldn't even put him on the list. I
would have put him on the side as just I
got no freaking clue, you know, does he have anything
left him? And Rivers basically the two biggest wild cards
in the league because If those two guys are good,
they're on two playoff teams. If those two guys are bad,
those teams are screwed, especially Pittsburgh because we saw a
duck and Mason stink. At least Jacoby is functioning. Jimmy
(25:52):
Garoppolo was below Kirk Cousins. Now. I understand Jimmy Garoppolo
as a polarizing player. I get it. He should be.
We don't. I think he's better probably the many people listening.
I think he is a good thrower of the football.
He has a great, you know, very very fast release.
He's a tough s ob in the pocket. He is
not scared, but and he can scramble around, keep plays alive.
(26:15):
He's a playmaker. He'll throw a lot of picks, and
he'll throw a lot of pickable balls. But I know this,
If I pulled every gentleman during the league, thirty two
of them, I would be shocked if it wasn't thirty
to two, if not thirty two zero people taking Jimmy
Garoppolo over Kirk Cousins. Now. I tweeted this out because
we talked about on my other podcast. Mike Sandell replied
(26:36):
and said, well, they were basically in the same kind
of group I just listed it. It went like Cousins, Goff, Jimmy,
and my thing is what I don't do in twenty
twenty are listen, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning. I would say,
beside like Rogers, far the best quarterbacks I've ever seen
in Lway, but I saw Elway when I was young.
(26:57):
He was kind of old, and pocket quarterback has always
been a thing in the NFL. I do think the
way the game has changed, with so many great defensive
lineman coming in, so many average offensive linemen coming in,
it's a huge benefit to quarterbacks. If they're just Patrick Mahomes,
you know, Russell Wilson. You don't need to be Lamar Jackson,
but you gotta be able to scramble. Kirk Cousins cannot move.
(27:18):
Jared Goff's even a bigger stiff, and I like Jared Goff,
and I honestly Kirk Cousins is not bad either. These
guys are solid starters. Jared both a little overpaid in
my opinion, but like you can win games with him.
Clearly their team has to be stacked, but you can
win with them. And that might be the case with
Jimmy Garoppolo, but I don't know that for sure. I
know for a fact right now what Kirk Cousins is.
(27:39):
I still think there's more to learn with Jared Goff,
but a little like Kirk Cousins and definitely like all
the older guys. Jared Goff is a good example. If
his offensive line is not good, he can't move, he
can't get away, like Jimmy does. Bring me that element
of just functional mobility. And I think you don't need
to be Kyler, you don't need to be Michael Vick.
(28:00):
But I do need a guy that can just scramble
around like that's what Aaron Rodgers did forever, and that's
I would take Jimmy Garoppolo over Kirk Cousins every day
of the week and twice on Sundays. Baker was just
a couple spots below Jimmy. I think he was like
twenty one listen. I would put a major question mark
on Baker, and I'm someone that loved him coming out,
(28:21):
but he has a first time head coach. He has
a pretty just I mean, anytime you got Odell Beckham
on your team, it's kind of like a powder keg.
If he's not getting the ball. He could get pissed off.
Jarvis probably one of his most consistent guys coming back
from injury. They're adding Austin Hooper into the mix, They're
adding a lot of new offensive linemen. Obviously, their head
coach is their play caller. Their running backs are good.
(28:44):
There is zero excuse, and let me repeat, zero excuse
for Cleveland to not be really dynamic on offense. They
should dominate on offense, and it starts with him, because
if you have great offensive personnel and you have a
good quarterback, you should be a top five or six offense.
Just that simple. The Vikings were a fantastic offense last
(29:04):
year and their offensive line wasn't even that good. But
why they had a good tight They had multiple tight ends,
star running back, two stud wide receivers. Well, the Browns,
in theory, should have a better offensive line than the
Vikings had. Just as good at running backs in chub
and an Hunt, Jarvis an O'Dell should be as good
(29:25):
as Digs and theeeling and the tight ends. You would
argue the Browns might be better like that should be elite.
But Cousins was salt and can Baker be that good?
I don't know. He wasn't last year. Now was it
just Freddy Kitchens might have been. We're about to find out.
The other thing in the article was I think Carr
was the twentieth quarterback on the list and Marioda was
(29:46):
like in the late twenties. Now Marioda was atrocious last
year and he was injured. And I heard Gruden today
talking about how he's been going through his rehab and
he feels like he's caught up on the offense. Everyone
in the league, like with a quote on Derek and
the quotes on Mariota is they would not be shocked
that if Mariota starts some games this year there is
(30:07):
tangible pressure on car They draft rugs really high, that
they now have a star tight ended waller, a star
running back. We think in Josh Jacobs. Their offensive line
is solid. They drift a couple more wide receivers in
the third round. Gruden is just a quarterback guy that
if Derek struggles this year, and his numbers were good
last year, but if you watched them the eye test,
(30:28):
the numbers in the eye test did not equal up.
He was not a play He was not a playmaker
last year. He just wasn't and they're gonna need him
in that division, which I think is going to be
very very good to be a playmaker. And if he's
not getting it done, and I'm not saying Mariota is
better than him, I would rather have Car. But you
don't pay the highest paid backup in the league that
(30:50):
if you if you feel good about it, like the
Chiefs are never gonna have the highest paid backup in
the league. Neither Wolf, Seattle, Tampa, you know, New England
never did, there will Philadelphia. When you have a when
you have a highly paid guy, you usually depend on him.
And in fairness, Cruden didn't pay Derek. You just it's
just something to keep an eye on. Now. If Derek
plays well, it won't be an issue. But I think
(31:13):
the pressure from the jump is gonna be on Car
to get the job done because Mariotte is gonna be
breathing down his neck. It's clear Tom Brady and Tampa
had a good They tweeted out some pictures of Tom
throwing to rookies. But Tom Brady does his best work
right with Dion Lewis, with James White, you know, with
(31:33):
all the guys in the mid two thousands, he likes
a little running back to throw two out of the backfield.
I mean, who doesn't If I played quarterback, I'd like
a little wheel route guy that if my tight ends
and wide receivers aren't open. Tom fisoff that Lashawn McCoy
is one of the best pass catching backs of his generation.
Now is he still good? I don't know. I mean,
(31:54):
I have a soft spot for Shady. I love Peak Shady,
but he might not be that good any more now.
I would imagine they didn't pay him any money, but
Tampa signed Lashawn McCoy kind of like that. There's been
some COVID guys you know that are on that the
COVID list. The two biggest names I've seen. I might
have missed something because over the last couple of days
(32:15):
the tests have been coming back, so the veterans like people.
I saw people tweeting like, why is Tom Brady allowed
to practice? Because quarterbacks show up to training camp with
the rookies because you can't run a practice in a
normal year without the quarterbacks, so they always come early.
It's like there's a reason your left field or does
not pitchers and catcher show up first. Quarterbacks and rookie
(32:35):
show up first. So Tom has been there since last week,
so he's already gone through the testing protocol period. That's
why he's able to practice. But I saw Anthony Barr
I didn't read the details whether he has it or not.
Lane Johnson is also on it, and Lane Johnson tweeted
out that he does, that he had it, he feels fine,
that he plans on being back. I think that's a
common theme. These guys get it. Again, if you just read,
(32:57):
I'm not I'm not trying to get political here. Young
people get it. A lot of them don't feel bad.
Now there are some that do, but in my experience
of the people I know in their mid thirties, and
these aren't professional athletes, feel fine. And obviously some people
are a symptomatic. But these pro football players, these pro
basketball players get it and nothing really happens. So I
mean that's a good thing. I mean, thank god, you know,
(33:18):
those things not even worse. And I'm not trying to
diminish Corona or any of that stuff. Just got it,
just wanted to go away, but it doesn't feel like
it's going away. I mean, Yannick and Doc Way, the
Jags are a joke franchise. It's just it's that simple.
The Jags are a laughing stock franchise. They're the biggest
joke franchise right now in the National Football League. Not
(33:38):
even sure that's arguable. I guess the Lions could probably
throw their hat in the ring. But I mean, Stafford's
still pretty good, so and they got some good players,
but they don't win either. And Patricia is not very good,
but he's holding out. He wants to be traded. I
don't know what they're gonna get for him. It's just
a disastrous situation. It's just classic Jaguars. And then Vic
(33:59):
b Easley, who was a Royal bust for the Atlanta Falcons.
I think they drafted him, was at seventh overall, like
really high in top ten. Went to the Titans this
offseason and he didn't jo up for training camp. Not
because he has corona, not because he's injured. He just
didn't show up an unexcused absence. I guess. John Robinson
said to the media today, he's been in contact. He
(34:21):
told him, like bro that you're not excused were yet
just you know, some guys, some guys get it. The
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Perez family home, just waiting for them, And there they go,
(35:05):
almost on time. This morning, Mom is coming out the
front door strong with a double armed kid carry. Looks
like Dad has the bags. Daughter is bringing up the rear.
Oh but the diaper bag wasn't closed. Diapers and toys
are everywhere. Ooh but mom has just nailed the perfect
car seat buckle for the toddler. And now the eldest daughter,
(35:27):
who looks to be about nine or ten, has secured
herself in the booster seat. Dad zips the bag clothes
and they're off. Ah, but looks like Mom doesn't realize
her coffee cup is still on the roof of the
car and there it goes. Ah, that's a shame that
mug was a fam favorite. Don't sweat the small stuff,
just nail the big stuff, like making sure your kids
(35:48):
are buckle correctly in the right seat for their agent's eyes.
Learn more at NHTSA dot gov. Slash the Right Seat
visits NHTSA dot gov. Slash the Right Seat, brought to
you by NITZA and the AD Council. If I could
be you and you could be me for just one hour,
if you could find a way to get inside each
other's mind. Welcome mile in my shoes. Welcome mile in
(36:10):
my shoes. Shoes. We've all felt left out, and for
some that feeling lasts more than a moment. We can
change that. Learn how it belonging begins with us dot org.
Brought to you by the ACT Council. Welcome out in
my shoes. Okay, let's let's do a quick Middlecough mail
(36:34):
bag at John Middlecough is the Instagram handle, and you
fire in ask questions. You guys know the drill. Also
just got to remind you again. Three and Out Podcast
Apple iTunes. Subscribe to the podcast if you listen on
Colin's feed and leave a review greatly appreciated. Dre a
(36:55):
key member of the Seahawks just had a baby. If
a doctor tells that key member of the Seahawks that
he can't be around his new child because he's playing football,
that guy is not going to play and the Seahawks
will be three and thirteen at best. Wonder if Joe
Douglass thought about this, please discuss this for two minutes
on the pot. I would imagine you're talking about Russell
(37:17):
Wilson and his baby whose name is win w I N.
Whereas Al Davis would say, just win baby. I'm pretty
sure that Russell Wilson is playing football this year. I'm
actually one positive Russell Wilson's playing football. Maybe not one.
I'll go to ninety nine because I don't want to
(37:37):
look like an idiot. If something, it would be the
biggest story of Corona. It would easily be the biggest
sports story of Corona. If Russell Wilson were to opt
out for the Seahawks, I don't know what they'd tell him.
I don't pretend to be a doctor. I mean, we
all can read whatever we want to read with kids
in the coronavirus. Russell Wilson's playing football. You know, he
(38:00):
has worked out all off season. He takes videos where
he's working out during coronavirus in LA while she was pregnant.
I think he had a pretty good idea of what
was to come given the baby. So I Russell Wilson's
playing now. If Joe Douglas knew Russell Wilson was opting
out and did the trade, yes, he would be a
(38:22):
genius because if they if Russell Wilson didn't play, the
Seattle Seahawks would be royally screwed and the Jets would
have sweet picks. But Russell Wilson's gonna play. Love the pod.
What software do you use to record the video side
of it? I've looked at a stream yard, but yours
looks slightly different. What I do is I record my
(38:45):
audio on garage band. I use my iPad which is
set up which if you follow me on Twitter, I
also do my periscopes for at my desk, and then
I send it to a guy named Elijah who's a
genius for Fox Sports Radio, and he sinks the audio
and the video. But if I wanted to send the
(39:05):
video to myself, I could just take the audio from
garage band, take my video from the iPad and drag
it into iMovie and sink it up. You could do
that as well. So that's how I do it. Am
I the most efficient one doing it? Probably not, I
would say on a tech savvy standpoint, I'm probably like,
(39:28):
I don't know four out of ten. When Seattle goes
balls to the wall with the Adam deal, it sends
two messages internally to the team that we're gonna go
to the super Bowl, to externally to soon be to
UFA's Seattle is a player friendly and when you are
a UFA, come here. We value talent. Might help Seattle
(39:48):
get a UFA down the road. Just my two cents,
I think Seattle has been pretty player friendly over the years.
You know, they've given Russell a ton of money. They've
you know, trade for high priced players and paid them.
They've paid Bobby Wagner, they paid Richard Sherman, they paid
Earl Thomas, they paid Cam Chancellor. You know, they traded
(40:10):
for clowning. You know, I think Seattle would be a
place if I was a player, especially kind of a
crazy player, and like physical football is a place where
I'd want to well, I'd want to play for sure.
First of all, love the show mate. Great to see
an honest take on the league's news from someone who's
worked inside the league. Appreciate it. My question is, are
(40:31):
the chances of the Buffalo Bills winning the AFC East?
In my mind, they are the clear favorites to win
the division. I would agree, and the news today if
Chung and High Tower that may opt out for the
seasons for further proof that the Pats are not going
to be a force this year. I pushed back a
little bit, but I would agree that the Bills should
win this division one. However, the bookies still have the
(40:54):
Pats favored to win the division. Buffalo are paying two
and a half to win. This to me is great
value bet and I don't think I've seen this good
of a bet in a long time. Am I crazier?
Is am I missing something? Ps? You guys have a
different odds system than the US. Okay, I was like
two and a half. I think I saw I'll pull
up on my bookie what my odds are? Listen? I
(41:20):
saw Jim Kelly said this during the offseason. Is that
the moment Tom Brady left. The Bills had no excuse
they were a playoff team last year, and the Patriots
are now in shambles when you just look at their
roster relative to what they've been, this should be their season.
Here's the thing, though, they Okay, let's go AFC Division
(41:41):
odds I have IFC East, I got the Patriots plus one,
I mean one to one. You're right, you can get
the Bills better odds to win the division than the Patriots.
I think that speaks to Cam Newton. I think that
speaks to Bill Belichick, and I just think it speaks
the unknown. I think the odds I'm looking at the
(42:02):
Jets and the Dolphins are both eight to one. The
Patriots are basically one to one, and the Jets are
like one point four to one, So plus one hundred
plus one forty and then eight eight, I would have
the Jets. To me, those odds are screwy. Like the
Jets one seventy nine last year, have a much more
established quarterback than anything Miami has. I would have the
Jets at like four to one, not eight, not the
(42:23):
same number as the Miami Dolphins. That seems crazy to me.
The Dolphins are the clear fourth best team in that division.
I don't care what happened at the end of the
last season, but I'm with you. I think the Bills
are fantastic value. I actually might bet on that before
the season starts. I'm gonna make a little note Bills
to win the division. I actually might look to parlay
that with something. Bills to win the division. I kind
(42:46):
of want to parlay them with another team. Can I
get the Chiefs Chiefs or minus four hundred that's a
little spicy, Maybe the Colts the Texans. I could do
the Bills to win the division and the Texans to
win the division. If I laide the two, I can't
parlay future bets. Never mind. Yeah, I'm with you. I
(43:07):
like the Bills to win that division as well. That's
that was a good text my gambling mind thinking. Hi, John,
I'm a recent Cal grad and wanted to ask your
opinion on Cali's current staff, including their new OC Bill
Musgrave coach Wilcox. Wilcox has shown a significant improvement on
the defensive side of the ball compared to previous regime,
but the offense has been at the bottom of the
(43:28):
pack twelve to the last few years. Do you think
Musgrave is the right hire to bring the offense to
at least average in the conference and continue the momentum
from the best season since golf Thanks. I think Justin
Wilcox is the legit coach. You know, he's clearly already
established his top four or five coach out West. If
their offense is good, their defense is gonna be good.
Like they run a tight ship, a physical defense. They
(43:49):
can cover, he understands coverages. Their defense is gonna be
good moving forward. It's just gonna be can their quarterback
play well? And last year I went to a game
against Arizona State on a Friday night and their quarterback
got hurt. And if he can play better. When Bill
Musgrave was here with Derek Carry at his best season,
he was on pace to win the MVP so until
(44:10):
he broke his ankle. I like Bill Musgrave. I think
they'll run a more traditional offense, like he uses a
fullback and he's known as a West Coast guy. But
I think he adapted well, like that year with Derek
Carr in sixteen with Crabtree and Amari was really really impressive.
I'm a big fan of Bill Musgrave. What grows in
(44:32):
the forest trees. Sure no one else grows in the forest.
Our imagination, our sense of wonder, and our family bonds
grow too, because when we disconnect from this and connect
with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is
closer than you think. Find a forest near you and
(44:54):
start exploring. I Discover the Forest dot org brought to
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of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You
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and start exploring at discover the Forest dot org. Brought
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Best podcast Football Takes. Appreciate it. I've always been curious
about the teams deal with performance anxiety. When you were
working in the NFL, the teams invest in sports psychologists.
Was it common to see big times talents underperformed because
(46:17):
of performance anxiety? Keep up the good work. That's a
hell of a question. I had heard stories about individual
guys by the time, I think the last ten years,
these guys have their own individual performance coaches. I think
every team and definitely anyone that goes to a Powder
five school in college have access to them, and I
(46:41):
think it impacts positively a lot of guys, and they
just continue to use it. Sports are no different than life, right.
We all get insecure about things. We all question ourselves
at things, even when we're good at them, and definitely
when we're bad at him. We're all humans, so I
think it plays a huge role. Now, some coaches are
(47:01):
naturals at that are just natural uplifters. Like if you're
around coach Read and you're a good player, like I've
seen it, he's just good at it. You know, he's
a natural at it. I think as you know, I
think Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay, like they're just personality
around these players, like they're good at uplifting. Now you
might need one around Belichick or zimmer right, some of
(47:25):
the you know, the Parcels type guys. It's not exactly
the same. But I think a lot of these coaches,
the you know, Pete Carroll is like, might as well
just be a sports psychologist. So I think it just
depends on your coach, because these guys, when you're a
good player and you're making a lot of money, you
can always coaches doors wide open. Now we all have
(47:45):
things that we maybe can't talk about with the coach.
Then yeah, the teams definitely have access to it. Now,
some guys, you know, have it worse than others. You know,
I can't. I never played in the league. But there
has to be an Anxiety comes naturally the support of football.
It's not like baseball or basketball. Every game brings a
large amount of anxiety, but I think the older you
(48:06):
get in the NFL, the studying habits help. It's like
when you study for a test, you know the answers.
In football, you never quite know the answers. But these
guys study so much. I think the preparation helps a
lot of these guys kind of ease. You just spend
so much time in the NFL working toward the game.
You know, whether it's lifting, whether it's practicing, whether it's
film study, whether it's you know, working on your body.
(48:27):
You don't really have that much time for an exact Now.
There's other things in life, right, your family pressures and
your wife, your kids sick, whatever that we all need
help and to talk through. And yeah, the teams definitely
have and provide access for stuff like that. I mean,
these are billion dollar industries. Whatever you need, they will
point you in the direction if they don't have. But
(48:49):
that's something I think that all teams have. If I
texted around to my buddies in the league and the GMS,
they would say that, I'm sure they would say they
all have that. I never saw it around us, and
I never really asked. I was just so busy trying
to make sure players got graded and shit didn't get
screwed up, so I didn't get in trouble. You know,
I didn't really have time to think about performance coaches.
(49:11):
I knew we had a we had a great security
guard though. He's the best in the business. Saw him
at the combine. Yeah, So I appreciate everyone listening. Have
a good week, and I'll see you next next Tuesday,
and I think it we'll be in the full swing
of things. Not these guys I don't think will actually
be practicing. But all the vets come back to to
the facilities this weekend if they all passed the COVID test,
(49:34):
and you know, they'll start doing walkthroughs and lifts, and
I mean, in a in a coronavirus time, we'll start
heading toward the season. You know. Typically I would be
headed probably to some some padded practices this weekend for
the Niners and probably you know that sucks not happening now.
But you know, instead I'll just go play golf and
(49:55):
drink alcohol a weekend. You know, you just you gotta
deal with the cards you're dealt. You know I can't go,
I can't go, So enjoy your weekend. I hope you
do the same. And I'll see you next week. See
you funderstruck adjective Shocked and amazed by the power of
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