3 and Out - McCarthy/Dallas Makes Sense; Post-Pats Dynasty NFL; Wild Card Takes; Stacked Playoff QB Field; Top Headlines

In this episode, Middlekauff breaks down the Cowboys moving quickly to hire Mike McCarthy after stalling on Jason Garrett's firing, why he likes the move for Dallas, why the end of the Patriots' dynasty will be difficult to replace from an interest standpoint, his take on the weekend Wild Card games, and why the stacked QB playoff field shows teams without true franchise QB's are wasting time. He also discusses some of the hottest NFL headlines and answers listener questions in Middlekauff's Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Subscribe now!

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Episode Transcript

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(01:09):
going on? Everybody? John middle Coop that's me three and
Out podcast. That's what you're listening to. Appreciate everyone for
tuneing in, and we are often running on a really
busy day. I'm recording this on Monday. We got a
lot of moving parts here. The Dallas Cowboys woke up
this morning. I don't know about you. I didn't expect to.

(01:31):
I mean they were just stringing Jason Garrett out and
then all of a sudden they have a coach and
it's Mike McCarthy. Little shocked might be the word. Not
that we'll dive into that right off the top, but
I don't know. I didn't see that one coming. At
least this fast, Pat's Dynasty is it over? And just
some thoughts on just that franchise wild Card weekend. As

(01:54):
I record this on Monday, it feels like Houston the
Buffalo game, the first game of the weekend, feels like
three weeks ago. I mean, so much has happened since then.
It's wild how fast everything goes by, and just the
impact of every game. If you play first, you just
kind of forget. It's just it's wild how that works.
The divisional round. I'll look ahead a little bit. Some

(02:16):
things that jump out pretty good matchups, some really good matchups,
some really good quarterbacks, and then some headlines of Sean
McVay fired and coaches to a tongue of Byloa declaring
for the draft, the Browns interviewing Brian Dable, their interviewing
everybody and their mother. Josh McDaniel is going to take
a bunch of interviews. So we got we got a
lot going on. That's the great part about the NFL

(02:37):
as a coaching cycle is just it's big time for business,
at least in my business. If you're a fan and
you need a coach, it's just it's cool. It's a
it's a cool time. And then of course middlecof mailbag
at John Middlecoff is my Instagram handle, same as my
Twitter handle. My Instagram dms wide open. You can slide
right in them and ask me anything you want. That's

(03:00):
how I interact with you guys. You've just were modern
day podcasting. Slide up into those dams, answer your questions. Here.
I'm gonna start doing some stuff on YouTube. I got
a YouTube channel, John Middlecoff, just just doing like a
take maybe a couple thoughts throughout the week, and just
probably focus on one thing, But I'm gonna be much

(03:20):
more active on YouTube in twenty twenty. So if YouTube's
your thing, find me there. But let's start with the
Cowboys and one listen. I said it earlier. I didn't
expect this to happen. I don't know why. Maybe I
thought McCarthy would end up with the Cleveland Browns. I
didn't expect him to be the Dallas Cowboys. But after

(03:40):
it happened and I kind of took a deep breath
and you kind of like let it process in your head,
it makes sense. I don't know that many super wealthy people,
but the ones that I do mainly are older. Like
I don't I don't have like multi millionaire friends that
are in their thirties. There's some friends that are doing well.
Maybe maybe have a million, I don't know, but I'm
talking like multi millionaires, like super people that you would

(04:02):
just consider rich. And those people in my life and
I'm not even that close with them, but just spend
some time around them, would be all sixty five plus
multiple of them are in their seventies. I mean, I
was thinking about it today. The one thing to me
they all have in common is they're not patient men
they're not patient men at all. And you could argue, like,

(04:23):
I'm not patient. I've been thirties, I'm not some millionaire,
and I think a lot of just you know, alpha
males don't have that much patience. But definitely the older
you get, the limited amount of patience you're gonna have.
When you're in your twenties or your thirties or even
your forties, You're not like there's not a finite at
least in your own mind, time on your life. You

(04:44):
just feel you have a lot of time left. Like
I'm thirty five, I lived at seventy. I'm already halfway in.
Like if I die at seventy, I hope, you know,
knock on wood, I can go that far. Hopefully eighty,
who knows, But I'm already halfway into this journey. We're
Jerry Jones, I mean the dudes not just on the
back nine. He might be on the whole seventeen. Who's
to say that he has got five more years left

(05:05):
patience because you got well, you kept Jason Garrett for
the last week and then you just have one interview
with Mike McCarthy and you hire him. How the hell
does that work? I'll tell you how how it works.
He doesn't have time, he's not trying to overthink this,
and he meets Mike McCarthy. All of a sudden, Mike
McCarthy starts telling him about his accomplishments. He's won one
hundred and twenty five regular season games. For example, Jason

(05:27):
Garrett has eighty five wins. This guy's forty more wins.
Jason Garrett, who has been in five playoff games. This
guy's been in eighteen playoff games. Jason Garrett was two
and three in the playoffs. This guy has ten playoff wins.
So this guy is five times as many playoff wins
as Jason Garrett. Now we've all made fun of Mike
McCarthy in his stale offense over the years. But when
he sat down with Jason or Jerry Jones and Stephen

(05:49):
Jones and started just talking about his accomplishments, what he's learned,
how he's taken the year off, which I'm sure was
a benefit. When he was talking to Jerry, how he
had to do some introspection, look in the mirror, no
one needs to improve on, knows what he needs to keep,
knows the philosophies he have I could I understand why
Jerry Jones goes, you know what, this is easy, This
just makes sense. I don't even need to look any
other place, because it does feel like, now, maybe there's

(06:11):
a chance. I'm not naive to not think that these
guys have been working the back channels and have talked
to Mike McCarthy during the season, because I do think
at this point it would be a little naive despite
how much they loved Jason, that they weren't sniffing around
because their actions, despite what they said, and even despite
not firing Jason Garrett officially till what Sunday morning he

(06:33):
was on his contract was ending. So in their minds,
they had already believed that they were kind of moving on.
But then I think you start looking, oh, well, why
didn't they hire Lincoln Riley? Go after Lincoln Riley and
maybe they work the back channels to find out if
he'd be interested. You know what they were not going
to do. They were not going to interview Lincoln Riley
with an unknown whether he'd take their job or not

(06:53):
offer him the job, and then have him saying no.
Because one thing, if you say okay, John, the old
people are very impatient. Here's the other thing I would
say that old, especially successful people are, they're very prideful
because in Jerry's mind, he's done this all with his
own hands. Now, we all know in the nineties when

(07:13):
they want super Bowls, Jimmy Johnson was the reason that
they want super Bowls. But Jerry goes, well, everyone around
the country could have had the balls like me to
invest everything I had to buy the Cowboys in eighty
nine develop this brand over thirty year run. Hell, we
haven't even won, and we're the biggest brand in the
NFL over the last twenty years. It's because of me.
So I'm gonna have Lincoln Riley, who's been a head

(07:34):
coach for three years, potentially turned me down. No chance, none,
That wasn't going to happen. He knew that Mike McCarthy,
if he offered him the job, was going to accept. Now,
when you take a step back, I don't think see
how anyone could argue this is not a major upgrade
over Jason Garrett. Now, if I wanted to counter that argument,

(07:55):
you'd go, well, yeah, John, it's a huge upgrade because
Jason Garrett was probably a below average coach and Mike McCarthy,
good coach, but the last couple of years had fallen
on really hard times with a really good quarterback. And
then you get rid of Mike McCarthy, you bring in
Lafleur in this new staff, and they go thirteen and
three and they're the number two seed. Not that much

(08:17):
has changed though they added the two Smith brothers, but
for the most part, the core group of that team
just returned. New coaching staff. They added. Best defensive player
in the off seasons is Darius Smith. But you know,
I don't mind it. I'm not gonna throw some parade though.
I get it because I said all season long, Jerry

(08:39):
Jones would have cut a check, one hundred million dollar
check to just whoever if that meant the Cowboys could
win a Super Bowl with Jason Garrett. So he could
just stay with Jason Garrett because that was easy. And
at his point in life, no patience, prideful, He just
wants it to work. All he wants to do is
win another trophy before they bury the guy underneath the ground.

(09:01):
And I'm not rooting. I hope Jerry lives in another
ten years, but the odds would show us once you
get in your late seventies, especially that generation that wasn't
healthy for a large majority of their life. That and
you know, Jerry likes to drink a little bit, but hey,
you know sometimes they say only the good die young.
Then you go, Jerry just doesn't know, So this gives
him the lowest risk. That was the other thing. Was

(09:22):
Jerry really like Lincoln Riley. Let's say Lincoln Riley would
have said, yes, that is still a major, major risk.
He's been a head coach total in his life for
three seasons, maybe four whatever, but a short period of time.
It's not like he has extensive experience being a head coach,
and he's never worked in the NFL. So this notion,

(09:45):
it would have been a really sexy higher and everyone
on Twitter would have applauded, including probably myself, like, damn,
Jerry just closed another deal. But I'd say fifty fifty
chance that it would not work at all. Look at
Chip Kelly now, personalities are much different, and Chip Kelly
did have success when he first came into the league,

(10:06):
but ultimately he had no NFL experience. The coaches that
he brought with them were not good enough to overcome
as they needed to adapt and he couldn't. Now you
could say that, John Well, have you seen on the
Twitter dot com that they say that Mike McCarthy is
bringing with him Mike Nolan to be as defensive coordinator,
And I'd go, I don't love that because that gets

(10:27):
back to friends hiring friends, and that is kind of
the way the world works. You'd be naive to think
any other way. I mean, that's just people hire who
they know. For the most part, people are very comfortable
in that situation in football, no different than normal business
because it's the easy route. But hiring Mike Nolan because

(10:49):
back in the day, I think in oh five, Mike
Nolan named Michael McCarthy the offensive coordinator for the San
Francisco forty nine ers. So fifteen years later, Mike Nolan's
kind of been exposed. Over the years, he's a position
coach probably at best, McCarthy hiring Again, as recording this,
it looks like that's where it's trending. I would red
flag that. I don't love that at all. I don't
love that. I actually hate that. Come on, Mike, you

(11:10):
can be better than that. I would say the positive.
When you're looking at Mike McCarthy, you go. He's a
grown up. He has had success. He has ran an
enormous like he didn't have success for Jacksonville. He was
the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, the top
five brand in the country. Now the pressure is a
little different because you don't answer to owners. But I've

(11:34):
been to Packer games against the Niners, against the Eagles,
against the Raiders. These are I've never been a Lamba.
I've just seen them play many places of other spots.
Fan base is massive, and it's it's a big time franchise.
Now the Cowboys are probably the cream of the crop.
But this guy's used to running a big time franchise
and winning with a big time franchise in a tough
guy division. So he checks a lot of boxes of

(11:56):
previous success, experience, winning, he really does. A guy that
can run an offense, a guy that's called plays, a
guy that should and will call plays moving forward. I
think the negatives would be his downfall in Green Bay
over the years. Was he stuck with dom Capers forever
and remember Jim Harbaugh and kicked his ass and their
defense was awful. And now he's gonna hire Mike Nolan.

(12:19):
Don't love that I think another knock is his offenses
can be a little vanilla when you look at the
offenses that are having success in twenty twenty and even
the you know, all season in nineteen, pretty exotic stuff.
What the Ravens are doing, what Andy Reid's doing, what
Kyle Shanahan's doing. This is not the vanilla days. Now

(12:42):
everything cyclical and could it come back into vogue again
being vanilla on offense just three yards? Probably not. Usually
we don't work backwards. That's not how society or football works.
So maybe he's really adapted and adopted new schemes and
new philosophies in this off season. I know that he
went on that PR campaign with NFL Network, and really

(13:05):
I think that PR campaign with NFL Network was much
more suited for other owners like Jimmy has Them. How
can Jimmy has Them kind of sell of vanilla coach
to his fan base because he's talking about analytics, because
he's talking about adding wrinkles to his offense. To me,
that wasn't for Jerry Jones to sell Jerry Jones. You're
gonna have to sit down with him and sell him,
and it was probably pretty easy. Mike McCarthy goes, well,

(13:25):
I'm a super Bowl champion, I've forty more wins, and
that guy you're just firing. I've been in eighteen playoff games.
Jason Garrett's been in five, So I've been in more
than triple the amount of playoff games. And I've beat
a lot of really good coaches over the last ten years.
Check the resume, check the Google dot com Jerry and
Jerry who is a risk taker? A lifetime risk taker.

(13:47):
I think the older you get, the richer you get,
the less patient you get, and the less riskier I
think you get as well. Because what Jerry can afford
with time not being on his side is a risky
blow up. Now, does Mike McCarthy win another Super Bowl
with the Dallas Cowboys. Odds would be no, because in
the history of the NFL, how many coaches have won

(14:07):
Super Bowls with multiple franchises. Now, if he did, and
you've won a franchise, you've won a Super Bowl with
the Packers, and you've won a Super Bowl with the Cowboys,
you're a legend. You're not just you're a legend, and
you're a Hall of Famer. Think about that. But I
don't think Jerry could afford to like even urban Meyer,
who I've said over and over I questioned some of
the stuff. You know, he's a little full of bs sometimes,

(14:30):
but he's an elite coach. But there is no guarantee
that it would work in the Pros. Probably would, but
it might not. I know Mike McCarthy works in the Pros.
I know it because I've seen it and it worked
for a long period of time at one of the
top franchises in the league. So it is despite it
kind of coming out of nowhere, because it did for me.

(14:51):
As I sit here on Monday talking about it, I
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into the Pats dynasty. And I see a lot of
people celebrating on their graves. I do not blame any
fans non patriot fan for enjoying the Patriots losing in

(16:41):
the first round. I don't. I completely understand if you're
a Steeler fan, Titan fan, Chiefs fan, Raven fan, whatever,
any fan you you're tired of them, I get it.
I completely understand where you're coming from. I also think
it shows they lost in the first round of the
playoffs and it feels like they're franchise to end. It

(17:04):
shows you the standard to me, only only Alabama and
even more of the Patriots because Alabama hasn't won the
national championship every year. It is legitimately super Bowl or
Bust for the Patriots. That's their standard. No one else
in sports can say that. I mean, not even Tiger
Woods at this point, like Major or Bus not really.

(17:25):
You know, if Tiger just plays well, it's cool. It's
the Patriots, it's super Bowl or Bust and they didn't
win it. But I do have a problem with the media.
People in the media, especially people in the sports media,
and that's mainly who I'm talking about, like enjoying this,
Like you guys understand the economics of how important the
Patriots are to everything that goes on in sports. They've

(17:47):
been doing this for twenty years. Do you know what
sports is. It's one big television show and I profit
off it just by talking about the characters in the
television show. McCarthy, Jerry Belichick, Brady Cousins, the Vikings, the Niners.
They're all just characters. Teams, players, coaches, owners, they all

(18:08):
play a role in everything we talk about. And I
was thinking about today. I did not have Netflix until
a buddy told me bro maybe Colin was talking about it,
but I had gotten a couple of texts from friends.
I remember years ago, like you gotta check this thing
out called House of Cards. I'm like, House of Cards. Netflix,
isn't that where they send you DVDs? Like, no, you

(18:29):
just it's this app you can stream stuff. I'm telling you.
House of Cards is awesome. So I remember getting the
Netflix app paid at the time, it was like six
ninety nine or whatever, and a House of Cards was
already on like season three by then, maybe two, and
I just remember binge watching. Watched every single episode in
like forty eight hours. Best show I've ever seen. It

(18:49):
was like, this is unreal. Watched the whole watched all
four seasons, and you know they ended up coming out
and like most people. It was a badass show. And
then all the stuff came out about Kevin Spacey, bad guy, pedophile,
just complete scumback like desserts, probably be in jail. I mean,
if the things are true, he should go to jail.
And then if he watched like some stuff that goes

(19:11):
viral on him, Kevin Spacey's just a weirdo, a weirdo
on top of being you know, probably a criminal. So
he couldn't be on the show anymore. And they came
out was season five without Kevin Spacey, and you're like, well,
his wife Claire, sweet character. I think it will still
kind of work. His little assistant, the bald dude, still
gonna be sweet. You know what. Season five without Kevin

(19:32):
Spacey and Netflix, I don't blame them, they could not
have him back on the show. But that, to me,
that show is what putting Netflix on the map. Season
five was terrible. The season the show ended, it was
over because House of Cards was not carried by all
these characters. It was carried by Kevin Spacey. It turns

(19:54):
out Kevin Spacey was the show. Now, I don't think
the Patriots are the end of the Cowboys, rate the
Niners rate the Eagle. There are a lot of teams,
but there is not a team in the NFL that consistently.
If you ask someone, you will get a distinct answer.
They either admire and love the Patriots or they hate

(20:15):
the Patriots. It's like Howard Stern. You either love them
or you hate them, but you care about them. It's
the number one thing in media you never want. It's
like the friend zone with a girl. If you're in
the friend zone with a listener, you're screwed because they
ain't even going to tune in. If they hate the
hate you or they love you, you got them and
the Patriots unlike any team in my life. And I

(20:37):
say this all the time, the explosion of the NFL.
I think the two most important people about the explosion
of the NFL what I was born in nineteen eighty four.
The NFL was big in the nineties. When I was
a kid. You had Young and Jerry and Farv and Akman.
The nineties was good. In the two thousands and part

(20:58):
of it was the world change. The Internet became big,
the NFL exploded, and clearly these last ten years as
reprofits unseen to most of these guys. I mean not
out of nowhere because they had been making money, but
it went to a whole different level. You know, guys
were a couple hundred million, became billionaires. And what Magic

(21:21):
and Larry Bird and Michael Jordan meant to the NBA.
The NBA was dead. Magic Larry created this great buzz,
this great rivalries, and they took kind of the country
by storm. And then Michael carried that flag and took
it to another level or what Tom Brady and Peyton
Manning did. And really, unlike Peyton Manning, Brady is tied

(21:43):
with Belichick, like that's part of this story. So it's
Brady Belichick versus Peyton, and in the two thousands it
was a rivalry. I was always a Peyton guy earlier
early on in his career, and then as I got
worked in the NFL, I just admired Brady. Now I
still admire Peyton and there both badasses. But those two
guys from basically the early two thousands up until still

(22:05):
to this day because Brady, even though Manning had to
retire a couple of years ago, has kind of kept
it going. And unlike Manning, where most people I think
respect him and thought he was good you could nitpick
his playoffs, which I've always thought he left a little
to be desired. There was nothing like on the fence
about the Patriots. They were twenty years of doing some
shady shit and kicking everyone's ass and going to countless

(22:28):
Super Bowls and winning six of them and having to
flake Gate and Spygate and Brady got suspended four or
four games, Belichick just being kind of a dick, and
you can't even make up the storylines that were associated
with this franchise. Now they happened like the Saints had
it right that with the bounty gate once upon a time,

(22:51):
but it happened a year and then it just kind
of went away, and then they just kind of became
normal again. With the Patriots, one thing after another after
another after another after another. There are weird things happening,
and they create I could walk down the street right
now and ask someone what do you feel about Belichick?
What do you feel about Brady? And I would invoke
a response and just emotion, and I would imagine a

(23:12):
lot of people like, I'm glad they lost, want them
to go away, and a lot of people would be like,
those guys are badasses. I like them, and I'm not
These wouldn't even be Patriot fans. That is very, very
important to the sport of football. Because if I walked
around right now, the NBA, which is in the tank,
in the tank said what do you think of Karl

(23:32):
Anthony Towns? You know what, most casual sports fans would
look at me, who who's that? Like? The NBA has
like one of those this Lebron maybe Harden, But really
the NFL is on a you know, exponentially bigger level
in terms of reach in this country, the amount of
people that consume it, and the Patriots, like the Cowboys,

(23:54):
are the most consumed team because we all have an
opinion on the franchise, so everyone, I'm not hoping they
break up. I hope that they stay together. And really
it would be Brady leaving. We think obviously now Belichick
can't go to the Cowboys, it would definitely be Bradyley.
I don't want it to happen. It's good for my business,
It's good. It just interests me, and I know it

(24:16):
interests you. I know it interests everyone. Thirty million people
start to finish. Highest rated game of this decade happened
Patriots against the Titans against the Titans, thirty million people watched.
I don't these all these people in the media like
I'm so I want them to go away. You guys
are idiots. I get why fans, but if you make

(24:37):
your money off football or sports, you guys, it's like,
I can't wait for the Warriors to go away. You
see the NBA without the Warriors, It's I'd rather watch
paint dry. I'm not saying it now. I'm not saying
that the NFL would be screwed without these guys, because
clearly other teams matter. It's it's marketed differently, They're not

(24:57):
as dependent on one franchise. But it would take a hit,
it really would, because these guys have twenty years of
equity in twenty years of controversy and winning and stories
that you just can't make up. Like part of Michael
Jordan's legacy was he was in our lives for a

(25:17):
long period of time and crazy things happened, from him
getting his ass kicked by the bad boy Pistons, from
him finally getting over on the Pistons and them not
shaking his hands, and then beating Magic, then a couple
of years later, him being the biggest star in America
and his dad has found dead in a ditch, and
then he leaves basketball, he's plays baseball, and then he
comes back and he loses. It was like Michael had

(25:39):
a long history of just crazy things happening, kind of
like the Patriots and that stuff. It's hard to duplicate.
For as great as Aaron Rodgers is first Ballad Hall
of Famer and Russell Wilson, they're just not as interesting
as the Patriots to the casual fan. So if this
is if that was it on Saturday night, losing to
the time, it's kind of getting, you know, props of

(26:01):
Brady Will kind of worked them. Derek Henry ran it
down his throat. We'll get into the games a little later.
I'm gonna miss him, and everyone in sports media should
miss them too, because they will be missed. Now. If
you're a Jets fan, if you're a Bills team kind
of on the come, you should applaud it. You should
want Brady to leave. And if my gut, if I
had to guess right now, I do think after Brady

(26:22):
canvasses everything, if Robert Kraft just doesn't allow Belichick to
lowball them, I think he'll be back. I would lean
probably sixty forty he's back, but that forty percent is
still a pretty big percentage of like he might leave.
And if he leaves, I know this, I'll be said.
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(27:28):
lead to adventure, and they see you there, fearless guide
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And we're live here outside the Perez family home, just
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This morning. Mom is coming out the front door strong
with a double arm kid carry. Looks like dad has
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(28:09):
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Right Seat brought to you by NITZA and the ad Council. Okay,
let's uh, let's dive into the games that just got
played and just some things that I jotted down, some
some notes that I made, and just thoughts that I have.

(28:54):
I'm not gonna spend too much time because by the
time you're listening, I mean, we're already on a divisional round.
You know, in this world and the way society works,
you can't you just can't look back. You got to
look forward. And that's the tough part about doing a
podcast on Tuesday with some of these games that happened
on Saturday. But it's the NFL, so we can do it.
Houston Buffalo. The way that game started, an incredible opening

(29:16):
drive by the Buffalo Bills, the sweet play with Josh
Allen running like a quarterback sweep power and then hit
that trick play where Josh Allen scores and they're up
sixteen nothing. And if you've watched the Houston Texans, they
are a basketball team. They got two dudes, and when
Fuller's playing, they got three. Now JJ Watts back, but
I didn't see a snap count. He played what probably

(29:38):
twenty snaps and he had a big sack. He actually
kind of got of going. But they are an NBA
basketball team. They are carried by two stars, and Watson
was off, Hopkins couldn't get the ball. But the second half,
especially down the stretch, those two guys heat up. And
when four and ten get going, they can play with anybody.
Fourd's been doing it, and I got TV on the background,

(30:00):
Clemson highlights are playing. He was winning Natty's against Saban
with stack teams against stack teams. He's a playmaker. And Hopkins,
for my money, I would feel as good going to
war with that guy as my wide receiver as any
guy in the league. Baller, and those two guys took over.
It was really that simple. And Deshaun Watson, for his

(30:23):
talentedness is Josh Allen is. And when it comes to
just athletic ability and just physical characteristics, he possesses it
all the size, the speed, he can make these throws
across his body thirty yards down the field that are
just like Jeez Louise. He's basically I mean, he's a
he's like a less accurate cam. He's a freak show.

(30:46):
But he's also a roller coaster ride. And there was
that stretch of plays where it's you know, it's like
second and ten, then all of a sudden it's third
and twenty seven. Then he takes another sack. He's a
roller coaster and then he's a young player. I actually
think if I wasn't a big fan of him coming out,
he's much better than I thought he would be. And
if you're Buffalo, you still have a long way to

(31:07):
go with them, but at least he's got something there.
But Deshaun Watson, that's what a star quarterback does. And
he even took it to I mean that play he
made where he bounces off the two guys, that's just
that's an incredible play. I mean, that's just I've been
watching football thirty plush years. You just don't see that
very often. That's that's a freak show. Now, Bill O'Brien

(31:30):
not that big of a fan as a coach anymore.
He's just he's just pretty black. He's pretty men and
I think four and ten they can carry you. But
I think it's going to come to an end when
they play the Chiefs. So it was it was an
impressive Houston was not playing well and they pulled it out.
Jigi Watt. That sack kind of changed the game Tennessee,

(31:51):
New England. Derrick Henry's a stud. I mean he was
kicking their ass up and down the field. He looks
like a defensive end just toting the rock right between
the tackles, outside the tackle. Some screenplays, he's a monster.
Talk about a guy that's made himself a lot of money.
It's fifth year option. I guess not a fifth year
option because he wasn't a first round pick. But he's
gonna be. You know, they're gonna franchise and they're gonna

(32:12):
have to. He's kind of their team. Ryan Tannehill. I
know he threw front one hundred yards, but if they
probably the best move of the offseason, if they would
not have, you know, doubled down and had a contingency
plan for Marcus Mariota, who wasn't just bad, who was
atrocious early on, and had Ryan Tannehill, they don't make
the playoffs, let alone beat the New England Patriots. Ryan

(32:35):
Tannehill for John Robinson the general manager. What a move.
Mike Vrabel then outsmarting the Fox. That was just the
ultimate double middle fingers across the field, Like Bill, I'm
doing what you do to me and you're so mad
over there and I'm taking these off sides and I'm
running the clock down to five minutes, and you're so angry.

(32:57):
And I loved it when analytical twitter at what was
it like worth and two or fourth and four or
fourth and one, whatever it was. You gotta go for it,
You gotta go for it. It's fourteen to thirteen. Was
six minutes left in the game. This is not random
game in October. This isn't an Excel spreadsheet just exercise.

(33:18):
This is an NFL playoff game. The New England Patriots
have thirteen points. They can't move the football, and then
he does his deal where he takes the off sides
and he gets a couple more yards than he punts it,
and they get the ball back like the twelve or fifteen.
Someone tweeted at me, John, they only gained twenty five yards. Well, yeah, guys,

(33:39):
if they're playing Oklahoma or Joe Burrow or the forty
nine or twenty five yards isn't far. But if you
watch the Patriot offense, twenty five yards is a long
way to go. It was one million percent the right
decision for of Rabel one to run the clock down
and two to punt, not go for it. You do
not give them the ball at midfield, not with Tom Brady.

(34:00):
I don't love kicking it to him either, but the
circumstances of the game dictated they can't move the ball.
That was That's not an opinion, that's a fact. Their
offense wasn't shambles. Nikkil Harry can't get open. Edelman had
a bad drop and he's just old and kind of
banged up. The running backs are just kind of average.
I actually think Brady was okay, but God, that was
just Tennessee just beat him. I really think it was

(34:22):
just that simple. They did one thing really well, and
that was Derek Henry, just NonStop, over and over and
over again, and the Patriots couldn't match that. I think
that was really the end of the story. Derrick Henry
was the best player on the field start to finish.
Saints against the Vikings. You tip your hat to Kirk
Cousins because I thought he was shaky the majority of

(34:43):
the game, and luckily he didn't have to carry him
because Dalvin Cook was killing him. But he made two
huge throws down the stretch, the pass he made to Finland,
and then anytime you have a walk off touchdown pass.
You tip your hat. That's for the eighty five million dollars.
Winning that playoff game wasn't worth at all, But that
was probably worth about forty million of it. Winning a
playoff game against the Saints as an eight point underdog

(35:06):
when there wasn't a soul, not a soul outside that
locker room that thought they would win the game. I
would imagine the Minnesota Vikings fans listening. Let's be honest,
you guys didn't think you were winning either. You shouldn't have.
I mean, the Saints are the first team in NFL
history to go thirteen and three or better and not
advance the divisional round, the first team in NFL history.

(35:28):
I'm driving around picking up dinner last night thinking, I
thought the Saints all season long were a top two
or three team in the league and they just lost
the Vikings at home in the first round of the playoffs.
How does that happen? It's one thing to lose, and
they lost in overtime. They were flat, They looked awful.
What was Sean Payton doing. Why was Drew Brees throwing

(35:48):
that ball up at the end of the half and
throwing the interception? What was going on breeze looked old.
They were playing so well down the stretch, and then
to play a game like that now, sometimes you gotta
tip your hat to Mike Zimmer, one of the best
defensive coaches in the league. Hunter Griffin, Kendricks, Harrison Smith.
I mean, these guys are premium players and they got

(36:10):
the best of the Saints and the Saints kind of
era is a little like the mccarthierra with Rogers, where
you go, God, we've had so much success, but we
only have one super Bowl to show, one super Bowl
the last ten years. Think about that, Saints and No.
Nine Packers the next year, and they got one super
Bowl between them, and they won so many games, they
had so many top seed, so many home playoff games.

(36:33):
It hurts. Man. I feel for you as a Saints fan,
because you go, we've been we've been winning so much
and we end up with this. It's kind of baffling.
It really is an Eagles Seattle one. There's a lot
of talk on Twitter about the dirty hit. I don't
think Clowney's a dirty player, or was it a dirty hit?
I mean, yeah, you'd have to say it was a
dirty hit. Carson Wentz I was I had money on

(36:57):
the Eagles. That sucks, man, I mean, we got this far.
He played fully healthy all season long for him to
get knocked out of the game. Would the Eagles have
won the game with Carson Wentz in there the whole time?
I don't know. Because Seattle plays the same freaking game
every week. The score has just changed. So maybe if
Carson been there, the score would have been twenty five
to twenty two when they still win. I don't know,

(37:19):
but I wanted to see Carson Wentz play a playoff game,
go toe to toe with Russell Wilson, and we got
robbed to that because he got a concussion, and that
that just sucks. I thought Josh McCown did a admirable job.
Russell Wilson just, you know, just finds a way to
make plays. DK Metcalfe. You know, the one thing that
stood out to me is size rank. We all know

(37:41):
that the picture on the internet two of his catches
one earlier in the game where he caught a ball.
They give him a touchdown, or maybe Marshawn scores the
next play, maybe they called him down. I can't even remember.
I got so much football running through my head down
the seam earlier in the game. He puts his hands
out last second, a little like Randy Moss. So if

(38:02):
you put your hands out early. I'm not a wide
receiver coach, but it's just human physics. You have to
kind of slow down. But if you can run full speed.
This is why Randy Moss shot his hands up at
the last possible second, because you don't need to break stride.
And you watch his ball skills. He shoots his hands
out and he catches the ball perfectly. It's like that
is that's impressive. And then the final completion of the

(38:25):
game that iced it for Seattle went on third down
and the Eagles are calling time out. You're like, the
Eagles are gonna get the ball back, and they go
for the kill shot. He beats the dbs and instead
of letting the ball come to him and maybe catch
it in the bread basket, maybe they break it up,
he does what you're taught to do. He high pointed
the ball because you had to assume the Eagles dbs
we're gonna jump to. They didn't. He high pointed the ball,

(38:48):
caught the ball at the highest point and just a
fantastic catch like that guy's got ball skills. He may
be a little limited in terms of his lateral movement,
but he is a really, really skilled player. And you listen,
I think the Packers should win this game going into it,
but Seattle is just they're like a roach. You just

(39:08):
can't kill them, you really can. And a huge reason
the culture Pete has and Russell in these plays that
he made, and god, the DK Metcalf. What a draft pick.
You know, there's a reason that quarterbacks get the girls,
quarterbacks get all the fame, and quarterbacks get the most money.
They're just more important. And it's everyone acknowledges this at

(39:32):
this point, right, It's not nineteen eighty nine with Parcels
screaming just like we can get by it with anybody
you need a star quarterback. We are two upsets away
with the Vikings and the Titans from having Jimmy Garoppolo,
Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, Tom Brady,

(39:52):
Patrick Mahomes, and Deshaun Watson as our final eight quarterbacks.
And I think we'd all say maybe Jimmy, Jimmy's played
like a top eight guy the last month or two.
But it's fair to say that he has. It's not
really what he's you know, first half of the season,
he definitely wasn't. But I believe Jimmy Garoppolo is a
top ten quarterback in the NFL and should just stabilize

(40:13):
himself as one. Obviously, Rogers and Russell Hall of Famer's Breeze,
Hall of Famer, Brady Goat, Lamar Watson, Mahomes just the
sweet young guys. This is a quarterback league. Now, Cousins
outplayed Drew Brees. I wouldn't put him anywhere in this category,
but he's lucky. He's on a really good team in
Tanny Hill. It'd even think about this. Cousins and Tanny Hill.

(40:37):
Who I mean, they didn't necessarily knock out Breeze and Brady,
but definitely Cousins played a bigger role than tanny Hill.
But Tanny Hill is a big reason why the Titans
are still around and are in the second round of
the playoffs. That Jimmy Garoppolo paid you know, one hundred
million dollars seventy guaranteed, Kirk Cousins got eighty five million dollars,
Aaron Rodgers over one hundred, Russell Wilson over one hundred.
Lamar Jackson gonna get huge money. Any Hill was once

(41:00):
a top pick who also got paid. Mahomes would be
the highest paid player everyone. Deshaun Watson gonna get stupid
amount of money. There's a reason why you trade up
for quarterbacks. There was a reason you put all your
chips in the middle of the table like the Eagles
did once upon a time for Carson Wentz, because you
have no shot, would just average Joe. So if your guy,

(41:21):
if you're going into this offseason and you can break
down all you want about we need pass rushers, we
need better corners, like we need better cover guys on
special teams. If your quarterback is not a player who
can consistently be a top ten player, Now he doesn't
need to be Tom Brady, he doesn't need to be
Aaron Rodgers, but he has to be a guy that

(41:42):
he should be considered a Pro Bowl type guy every
single year. In Minnesota, they don't have that. But at
least they kind of thought that they overpaid a guy.
They wanted to get him in, they thought that he
would take him to another level. Now they've been a
little disappointed, though he's kind of earned his Stripes with
that win on Monday. The whole point of this thing,

(42:03):
because I've been in these meetings where you're talking about
free agency and all these other positions. If you don't
have the quarterback, nothing else freaking matters, nothing at all.
When we talk about Mike McCarthy taking the job one,
he would have taken the cowboy's job no matter what.
But it makes it way more exciting for him going
I got Dak Prescott, and we can argue all day

(42:23):
long where Dak Prescott falls in the hierarchy of things.
He's still proving to be a pretty good quarterback in
this league. You definitely can win go to the playoffs
with him playing quarterback for you. That's the problem. Like
when you look at some of these open jobs, you go,
is Baker may feel that good, because I'd say, right now,
I'd have some serious concerns. The Carolina Panther job. Yeah,

(42:44):
and listen, there's only thirty two of these, So I
understand it. You go, well, it's Cam ever gonna be
the same. If we do cut Cam, what are we
gonna do the Giants? What if I don't think Danny
Dimes is that good? Because if you that's the starting point.
If you don't have it, it's you're just wasting time.
So you think that Bill O'Brien is glad that they
traded up and got Deshaun Watson? Do you think Andy
Reid's glad that they traded up and got my homes?

(43:06):
Do you think John Harbaugh is glad that this Lamar
Jackson situation has played out the way it has. Obviously
Rogers and Russ they've had forever. Think of what Ryan
Tannehill has meant to the Tennessee Titans. No chance they're
here with Marioda. I mean they're not even in the playoffs,
they're not. Now. The Cousins thing, we could go back
and forth of, you know, if they just would have

(43:26):
kept Kase Keenham, who knows, I don't know. I don't
really have an opinion there. I would say probably would
be pretty similar, but maybe Cousins a little bit better.
But the Jimmy Garoppolo thing, like Kyle Shanahan, I text
people with the Niners this all the time, Like, you
guys got to send Belichick thank you carts because once
upon a time, three years ago he sent you guys,

(43:46):
Jimmy Garoppolo at a pretty cheap price, Like what would
he have said? What would Kyle Shanahan said, Can we
have your first round pick for Jimmy? What do you said? No?
You know he got a second round pick for Jimmy Garoppolo.
Who's gonna be the starting quarterback for the next I
mean at minimum six seven years. So if you're if

(44:08):
you're wasting time with a mid level quarterback, just go
around the league. Like if you're Arizona right now, you
hope Kyler can be the guy. And I like Kyler,
but is he gonna be a top six seven guy
in the league? I don't know. I don't know. Like
if you're Tampa, it's probably the argument of like not
worth franchise and Jamis you got Bruce arians go draft
a guy, go develop a guy, don't waste your cast
cash on him. Don't don't do it. It's why I

(44:31):
think some people are thinking, Like in Pittsburgh right now,
what are we gonna do? We got Roethlisberg coming back
because he's too old, he's too hurt. Cleveland ways, Baker
Mayfield good enough? The Lions like a Stafford? Can he
is he old? Now? Can he stay healthy? Mister Bisky
we're screwed. Just just go around the league and that's
where the Eagles. You know, it sucks, he got hurt.
That was my response. It sucks. I wanted to watch

(44:53):
Carson Wentz play a playoff game. But at least, you
know what, we gotta dude, We gotta dude now, yeah,
we just we gotta protect him. And this year he
played sixteen games, so I do think. And that was
a freak deal. He got his head slammed on the ground.
Could have been Brady, could have been Jimmy, could have
been anybody. It would You just would have got a concussion.
Unless you're Julian Edelman. You just shake it off. Edelman

(45:14):
shakes off concussions. Everyone else gusking cuss. But this divisional
round is really I mean, great teams, big time coaches,
but this thing's being led by the best quarterbacks in
the league. 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, walcome mile

(45:35):
in my shoes. Welcome Mile in my shoes. Shoes. We've
all felt left out, and for some that feeling lasts
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it belonging begins with us dot org brought to you
by the ACT Council. Welcome out in my shoes. What

(45:58):
grows in 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

(46:19):
near you and start exploring. I Discover the Forest dot org,
brought to you by the United States Forest Service and
the AD Council. Adoption of teams from foster care is
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(46:42):
families that live them, with commentary from experts. Visit adopt
us Kids dot org, slash podcast, or subscribe to Navigating
Adoption presented by adopt us Kids, brought to you by
the US Department of Health, the Human Services Administration for
Children and Families, and the ad Council. Okay, let's talking
about a couple of different headline lines around the NFL
that I just want to hit on before we get

(47:02):
in the Middlecoff mailbag. I think we've known about that
he was going to do this. It was kind of
I guess making the internet rounds a couple of weeks
ago that Wade Phillips would not be retained technically as
contracts up and they didn't extend it. Now here's the
thing with Wade Phillips. One, he's just an accomplished defensive coordinator.
So it's gonna be very difficult for Sean McVeigh to upgrade.

(47:24):
I don't know what he's gonna do. Kind of hope
that he hires like Steve Belichick or something, but probably doubtful.
Wade Phillips makes a lot of money. My guests is
he was probably making like two and a half million
dollars for the Rams he was, so you know, in
three years he probably made about seven eight million dollars.
It might even be more. It might have been three
because if McVeigh really needed him, I thought once they

(47:48):
got Jalen Ramsey, their defense was a lot better. They
also fired their running back coach. I think Skip Pete
it's like, well he was he was he a genius
two years ago when Todd Gurley was running. Maybe it's
Todd Gurley's knee. This is the bad part about the NFL.
And I've had some friends who got fired in college.

(48:08):
You just you're not always fired because you're not a
good coach. You know, a lot of it is just
office politics in the NFL. The owner, especially once you
get high price to like Wade Phillips level, is like,
is this guy really worth paying all this money too?
I don't know how they're gonna upgrade. There's a chance
the rams are is worse next year with whoever their

(48:29):
defensive coordinator is to a Tonga Byloa declared for the
NFL Draft. We don't really have that much clarity. I
watched the press conference this morning about his injury because
even he doesn't know, and as he said, I'm kind
of taking a leap of faith. You have a better idea.
I think of a three month mark with the hip,

(48:49):
but there is no guarantee that he's gonna be just one.
So for me to make some declaration where he's gonna go,
if they can give him a bill of health that
says clean and he's gonna be one, hundred percent. By
week one, he's going in the top five lock lock,
top five pick. Hell, he's the second quarterback off the board.
He's going above Justin Herbert. But if there are a

(49:11):
question mark said, well he might be okay in a year,
or well, you know, he might never be the same,
then it's just up in the air, and then a
team is still gonna draft him in the first round,
but it would be a I don't know, pretty big
calculated risk. I hope he's gonna be okay. He sounded
in good spirits, really impressive. I haven't really heard him

(49:33):
talk that much. You can see why everyone in that
program loves him. His tape speaks for himself. He's like
a little Russell Wilson, just an accurate down the field killer.
He's not as mobile as Russell, but he's gonna Here's
the other thing from a scouting perspective, he's got a
legit red flag. Even if this hip is gonna be
a one hundred percent, He's injured ankles multiple times in

(49:55):
college and then in a hip injury. And it's not
like he's a five year player. He's played three years
and couldn't make it through a full season. This year.
Obviously with the hip and his freshman year, he didn't
really play a full season because he was always alternating
in and out with Jalen Hurts. So you really just
have the one season where he was the full time
starter last year and now thinking about it, remember he

(50:18):
got hurt I think in the SEC championship game against Georgia.
Jalen Hurts came in, won the game. Then they ended
up going the National Championship where they lost. But he's
been hurt in games both the sophomore and obviously this year.
So he's gonna be an interesting prospect that you know,
even if he does get the full clean bill of health,
just in the sense that he's bout a lot of

(50:39):
injuries over the years. The Browns, they're just interviewing everybody.
Clearly they it feels like they want Josh McDaniels. It
feels like Josh McDaniel is going to have his pick
of the litter. Whether it's the Giants, whether it's the Browns,
whether it's the Carolina Panthers. It's kind of gonna be
up to him. If I had to guess right now,
I would say that he ends up with the Carolina Panthers.

(51:01):
If he leaves, you know, is he gonna go to
New York Giants? Dave Gettelman, no chance, the Browns while
they have talent. Is he gonna go work for de
Podesta and Jimmy Haslm That that would be my question mark.
If I was ranking it, I would probably go Panthers won,
just because he can get a clean slate do it
all himself. I know they kept Marty Herne, but I
think Josh if he wants Marty Hernie out that Dave

(51:24):
Tepper would fire him. The Haslem and then probably the
Giants last, if they're gonna keep Gettleman. The Patriots. I
saw another thing on the ticker right now. I got
a Louisiana Miami of Ohio game on in the background
that the Saints, excuse me, Eagles Seattle was the highest
rated games as the Super Bowl. The Patriot game did

(51:46):
about thirty million people. It just the NFL is really
the only place that can generate that many people at
one time watching one event. It's life sports, but it's
specifically the NFL. Like the NBA can't do that, Baseball
can't do that, Tiger Woods can't do that. It's just
that and like an election, that's the power of the NFL.

(52:06):
That's why these guys are printing money. So thank you
Russell Wilson, thank you Tom Brady, thank everyone for watching.
So I have a job. It's cool to see the
power of the NFL, which is just rolling right now. Okay,
let's dive into the Middlecoff mail bag, dive right in
Tom podcasts. Where do you see sports data analysts going
in professional football and do you think it will work

(52:28):
in the NFL. It seems like the NFL is slightly
behind basketball and Major League Baseball in terms of datall movement.
I'm particularly interested in how you, as a former scout
feel about when analyzing potential prospects or trade acquisitions. Is
it a tool that helps or something that trumps the
gut instinct. Seems like sometimes there's tension between data analysts

(52:49):
and scouting. Yeah. I mean I think I say it
all the time. I think numbers have been a huge
part of football forever, from speed to wait to reduction
to even the in depth analysts like analyzing different individuals
at the combine, Like, numbers are huge part of any
what any scout or front office does. I think there's

(53:13):
some some you know, you know, push and pull. I
would say with some of the in game stuff, always
going forward on fourth down, some of that type stuff
I think can be argued. I said this last podcast.
My question always is why can't the data people ever
admit they're wrong? And they would just say, well, because
the numbers say it's right, and say, well, you went

(53:35):
for two there and it didn't work. You went forward
on fourth down. A day I heard of a Mike
Rabel wasn't idiot for punning? You won the game. But yeah,
in terms of players yards after catch, any in depth
numbers that you can give me that I don't have
readily available, why why wouldn't you take it? But this
notion that just you can determine a player, here's the difference.

(53:56):
Like toughness in baseball doesn't matter as much in football.
All you have to be able to have toughness and
grit and determination, Like that's what separates football players. We're
in baseball, it's just like a bunch of individual it's
like a stock market of just individual players. We're ultimately
all sports are. But in football, when analyzing a player
in just in terms of toughness and will power, especially

(54:19):
like in the trenches. There are just stuff that are
hard to quantify and I think are unquantifiable. Like is
everything quantifiable with Tom Brady? I'd say no, not even close.
Now you can tell his height and his arm strength
and his completion percentage. What makes Tom Brady great like
his just discipline, his willingness to do whatever it takes.

(54:43):
As he said on Tom Versus Time, if you're gonna
beat me, you better be willing to go every step
of the way because I've dedicated my life to this,
my eating habits, my sleeping habits, my film habits. You
ain't gonna outwork me. I've given up. I've given up
ice cream. He did. I wouldn't give up ice cream

(55:04):
for football, low the pod. I'm twenty four year olds
Lions fans, so I have never seen them win a
playoff game. Damn. I know you feel about their dysfunction
as an organization, but could you create a reality where
that happens next season other than all the other NFC
North teams shit in the bed? How would you handle
the third pick? And is there a possible free agent

(55:24):
for them to target to make this fairy tale universal reality?
I think the roster is decent enough, I would agree
to complete, but Patricia is a joke. Would love to
hear your thoughts and continue doing your thing in twenty twenty.
Thanks well, I would say at the third overall pick
with two a coming out is a good thing for
the Lions, assuming Stafford's healthy, and I think I saw

(55:45):
him claim a couple weeks ago. Maybe it was less
than that he's fine or his back is going to
be fine. They do have some pieces offensively, the running
back from Auburn Johnson, the wide receivers they have Hockinson.
If Stafford's healthy, their offense is really good. Defense, they
got to get a lot better. I mean, they traded
their starting safety the Seattle Seahawks was good. They Trey Flowers,

(56:07):
solid player, a little overpaid, but I think you could
potentially trade back down, you know, three or four spots
to someone who wants a quarterback, get multiple ones and
really kind of, you know, just add to the war
chest because you guys need a lot of talent, especially
on defense. Now you could say Patricia's a defensive coach,
shouldn't he be able to figure that out? And in

(56:28):
theory should, But when you look back at his time
with the Patriots. The Patriots defense got a lot better
the year he left, and then it was good again.
This year when he was there, it wasn't ever as good.
Is there a little fraudulent characteristic to him? You know?
I think it could be argued. But then you go, well,
you think Belichick would just let some fraud be around him?
You'd say probably not. I mean, the guy is really

(56:50):
smart and I think he worked really hard. But is
he that dynamic of a coach? I don't know. I
think that's gonna be your problem is because they were
in a lot of games early before they lost a
bunch of injured guys because their offense they could really score.
But he's got nothing to do with the offense. I
just think he's just the wrong guy. How do you
think the Rams are going to handle their cap space issues?

(57:12):
We have Goff, Girly, Donald and Cooks hitting heavy against
the cap, and now Jalen Ramsey needs to be signed.
We also have at least six key defensive players to sign,
including Dante Fowler, Littleton and Robie Coleman. I just don't
know how you build your team around having five guys
accounting for fifty percent of the salary. Cap, and the

(57:32):
salary cap is two hundred million dollars. And even Ramsey
on his fifth year option to go with the other
four guys is almost one hundred million dollars. Salary caps
two hundred million dollars, So you can't afford to have
many like ten to fifteen million dollar guys. I think
they are majorly screwed because a girl's contract, they're paying
him a lot and he's not He's just not physically

(57:53):
able to do it. And you've got Jared Goff who
was overpaid and he's If you're gonna make one hundred
ten million dollars, you have to play like Russell Wilson.
You have to play like Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes.
You can't play like Jared gott like. You gotta be
able to carry me, and it's hard for him to
carry anyone because he can't get away from pass rushers

(58:16):
because his offensive line is not very good. Well, what
do offensive linemen usually cost a lot of money? You
either got to draft him high. Well, they don't have
first round picks and they don't have much money to spend,
so you're gonna have to draft and develop. This is
gonna be a really really challenging year for Sean McVeigh because,
like you just listed those guys, Like, why wouldn't the

(58:36):
Chiefs offer little in some money? All these teams around
the league are gonna want Littleton. Roby's a really good
nickel corner when you want a guy like him. These
guys are gonna get paid, and they're gonna get offered
because the way it works in free agency is when
you hit the open market, it drives up the price
because you got multiple teams bidding at you, and they're
not gonna be able to bid just because they're gonna
have a limit on how much they can spend to

(58:57):
be you know, guy like Stan Cronker you probably love,
I guess in theory. I mean a lot of people
say they would, but they wouldn't actually spend it. An
you know, no salary cap, but there is a salary cap,
that's the rules. Why aren't people talking about Tom Brady
and Josh McDaniels are the Panthers. They have a new
aggressive owner with a solid defense and a plethora of
offensive pieces for them to work with. Well, I could,

(59:19):
like I do think Josh McDaniels might end up there.
I just have a hard time thinking Tom Brady's gonna
play for the Carolina Panthers. Now, if someone in the
league told me a while back, Tom, you know, Joe
Montana played for the Kanci Chiefs, right, Brett Falls played
for the Minnesota Vikings. Guys, just no one saw that coming.
So I will not discount it. I still will be

(59:42):
shocked if Tom Brady goes to a team like a
small market, and I don't. Caroline is actually a growing market.
But you know what I mean, you know, not like
a blue brut blood, huge top three or four market
in the country. But it does make sense from a
football perspective for Tom to go with. So yeah, I don't.

(01:00:03):
It's a tough call. I you know, they got McCaffrey,
they got DJ Moore, they got Samuel You're right, They've
got some weapons and defensively, they got some pieces. It's
not crazy. Maybe I just convinced myself maybe he does
go there. Maybe he's a Caroline tom Brady's at Carolina Panther.
It's hard to even say that out loud, Hi, John,
How significant are the differences in state income tax affecting

(01:00:24):
the teams In the context of free agency? The issue
gets referred to in passing from time to time, but
surely it's a major obstacle to the league providing teams
with the level playing field. If the league is serious
about equality of opportunity for all teams, should they not
base the cap on post tax I e. Take home salary.
My understanding is that it is instead based on pretax salary.

(01:00:45):
But I may be wrong. I love the podcast. Yeah,
I think it's a complicated matter. I don't think it's
incumbent on the league to do that, you know, I mean,
it doesn't work that way in society. Right. If EBOOK
wants to make a competitive offer to a guy that's
working in Texas, you got to overpay. You want to
get to the forty nine ers, maybe they have to overpay.

(01:01:08):
I've never been offered millions of dollars, and I've lived
in California and made a pretty good living, So it
definitely impacts. But there's a reason you pay more to
be in San Francisco. It's a bigger market. There's more
money to be made here. Same with LA. There's a
lot of a lot of these professional athletes have homes
in LA. They suck it up. Same with New York, like,
there is more business to be done here. Now you

(01:01:31):
can go play for Jacksonville or Tampa and yeah, you
might get some more salary. How the businesses around there
promise you they ain't like they are here or La. Now,
Dallas is the perfect combo of it both no state
income tax, massive market, massive brand. That's where I'd go,
But I listen if someone's offering you, if the Niners
offer some offer someone a competitive offer, and you can

(01:01:53):
play for the Niners. There's so much money to be
made around here. I think they can land guys now
in baseball, I've seen the Giants come up short with
a lot of people. Now it's hard to tell if
they're just they want to be talked about like they're
in the mix, even though they don't actually want to
pay the guys. But it's cost them a little bit.
I just I don't know. It's a good question. I

(01:02:16):
think it's a little overblown. But if all things are equal,
you know, like this offseason, let's say this, You're a
free agent and the forty nine Ers offer you ten
million dollars, the Raiders offer you ten million dollars, and
the Houston Texans offer you ten million dollars and you're

(01:02:36):
a cornerback. You can start at corner for any of
the three teams. Is it just strictly like where you
can win? Like what are your priorities? You want to win?
You go to Vegas and hang out. You probably aren't
gonna go the playoffs because the Raiders never go to
the playoffs. Texans. Yeah, you might go to the playoffs.
You might be one and done or a hell, let's
say the forty nine ers, you know, go to the

(01:02:56):
super Bowl this year. You go, I might be the
missing piece to get a championship, but I'm gonna make
the least amount of income from the forty nine ers. Now,
also professional sports on sixteen games, you don't get sixteen
games California tax because you play some games out of state.
So it's a little complicated. I'd actually actually that need
to ask people in the league exactly how that works.

(01:03:19):
But it's not like a black and white. You get
all your tax from California when you play like Arizona,
your tax of the Arizona rate. I've been a Dolphins
fan my whole life, and it's pretty miserable up to
this point. I'm only twenty four but I'm actually liking
the spot we're in right now. I'm loving coach Flores,
no nonsent, guy who wants to win. This draft is

(01:03:41):
obviously huge for the team, and I was curious your thoughts.
Obviously I'm thinking a quarterback with the number five pick,
But who do you think they should do with the
other three picks? The other three first round picks they have,
they got three first round picks, well, I guess they
only got two other ones this year from Menca and Tunzel.
That's a good question. I think you take Tuah Herbert

(01:04:01):
at number five, probably Herbert because too you might have
to trade up, like if you want Tah, you might
have to trade up to number three with the Lions
to get Tah, which I think that's the move. Sheila,
Joe Burrow, go on, you let Chase Young go too.
When you trade up to number three and you get Tah,
that to me is the play. And then with your
other picks, just take sweet players. You're gonna need some

(01:04:24):
offensive lineman, you're gonna need dbs. I mean, you traded
these guys. I haven't seen much of it beside it
came across the ticker like a week ago. Xavier and
Xavier and Howard your guy's best corner did he did?
He get rested for a hidding his girlfriend or wife,
so that might be game over for that dude. I
would say the number one thing you need to do
is land a quarterback and Fitzpatrick did an incredible job

(01:04:47):
this year given what they had, but they need to
get a Tuah or Herbert whoever you like more and
then just take best player available with the other two picks.
That to me is the key it. Load up on
the talent, Load up on the talent. Appreciate everyone listening,
Thanks for reaching out. Middlecoff mail bag always wide open
to you guys, and enjoy the week. Talk to you soon.
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