First Things First - Chiefs trade Trent McDuffie to Rams, Patriots release Stefon Diggs, Nick’s Tiers, Kyler a Viking?

Episode Date: March 4, 2026

(0:00) Chiefs trade Trent McDuffie to Rams, Would Kyler Murray make the Vikings contenders?  (25:25) Patriots release Stefon DIggs, A.J.Brown trade offer “laughed off” (39:07) When should Jeremiyah Love be drafted?  (44:45) Nick’s Tiers (01:06:45) Seahawks to not tag Kenneth Walker III, Best spot for Trey Hendrickson? (01:17:51) Take of the Day (01:21:07) Packed Stats, Shocked by McDuffie and Diggs moves? (01:44:46) Who should go all-in for Maxx Crosby (01:55:13) Kyler Murray and Vikings rumors (02:02:31) Retiring young should be ‘celebrated’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live from New York. It's a show that just needs to keep the takes within bounds, okay? What? No bonus takes today. Oh, no, there's going to be bonus. Brew, do what you want. He's just not as many. Wilde's just so mad that your cogent analysis takes away from his time for his

whimsical fanciful. Talk about the Charlotte Warner. No, we're gonna go through tears at four o'clock. Yeah. And Brew, he will open up a full page and it will just have take on. That's good. That's what the show is. It's more that unless you deciding at 7 a.m., I'm going to do Hornets for tears. And then seeing that I actually gave the Hornets a ton of respect. That was yesterday. And you're doing them anyway. I'm doing Hornets today. Horns are 500 now. Right. And I have way above.

They're too good for you to like, really. Not yet. A couple of, a month ago, it was your, if they get a little bit of better. I'm moving on to the Pelicans. 15 and 3, I think, right? Over the last 18? See? That was a bonus. These are my take. These are my take. You can be bonus takes. Today, Kyler leaving Arizona could a connection with Justin Jefferson make the Vikings immediate contenders. Look at this.

A little creativity out of the tease. Kyler throws it. Justin Jefferson catches it. That's confusing. No, it's not confusing at all. Was that your idea? No, that's all dust. and our dream team editors out in LA. Well done.

Meanwhile, World Baseball Classic starts tonight. Can future teammates Skeens and Aaron Judge bring home the championship? I gave that one. It would be nice. What do you mean future teammates? Future teammates. Eventually Skeen's going to end up on the Ayes.

Probably. Probably. One of the big boys are grabbing. Don't you think he'd want to go somewhere you can win a World Series? To where? The Dodgers? I don't know.

The Dodgers have to run out of money. A lot of teams, a lot of teams have won a World Series more recently. Are you an anti-Sense 10-09? I'm pro-acuracy. Yankees. And by a special edition of NBA tiers and a surprising appearance near the top of the tier. We had that yesterday. It was a short-lived yesterday.

What? Cades stay atop the hill. Oh, yeah. They did. 10 points. But I have a spined with 10 points. A lot of pressure on. Some people are.

Some people are ability. King of the Hill. Yeah, exactly. Chris Brousarre with some bonus takes throughout the show. They're going to be excellent. Kevin Wilde. Nick Wright, we're just going to start the show because we're starting in Kansas City. I know you want to get to this.

Yep. Trent McDuffie has been traded, headed to the Rams. Kansas City receiving pick number 29 in the first round, as well as a fifth, a sixth, and a 2027 third. Mahomes didn't feel great about it tweeting, darn but the swear. Nick, your reaction. That version. Trent McDuffie, I believe, is the best slot corner in football. Trent McDuffie was drafted by the Chiefs.

They immediately went to three straight Super Bowls winning back to back. It's an excellent player, and I think this is for a Rams team that... Sorry. We just had old confetti fall down. It's from like two weeks ago. It's celebrating the Super Bowl. Sorry. That was unbelievable.

The Rams, to me, more than any team in the league should be put all the chips in. Because they're good enough and their quarterback doesn't have a five-year window the way the other great quarterbacks are a 10-year window those guys do. So I am okay with them saying,

you know, forget 20-29. Let's try to go now. So I understand it for them. And for the Chiefs, this is what responsible adult organizations do, which is make tough decisions and do it a year early when you can get the biggest possible return rather than a year late,

where you get a tepid return or two years late, like the Bengals are doing with Trey Hendrickson, where you get no return at all. The Chiefs built the defensive backbone of their three straight Super Bowl appearances via the Tyree Kill trade. They just traded a player as great. as good as McDuffie is, not Tyree Kills caliber at the time for 85% of the return they got for the Tyree kill.

We put the two trades side by side. Both netted the 29th pick in the upcoming draft. Tyree got you a second, two fourths, and a sixth. This got you a third, a fifth, and a six. So not quite as much, but again, about 85%. And this is what you have to do. And I will add one other piece, Brew. the Chiefs under this regime have made it very clear

we can develop corners and we won't pay them. So secondary players, we can develop them, we won't pay them. They drafted Marcus Peters, they traded him to the Rams. They drafted Chavarius Ward. They let him walk for a huge deal with the Niners. They signed Honey Badger, they let him walk. They drafted Legerius Sneed. They traded him to the Titans.

They drafted Trent McDuffie. They traded him the Rams. on there. They drafted Jalen Watson in the seventh round, turned him into a really good corner. He's about to get probably 15 million a year in free agency. That's the spot they think they can develop in-house. So yes, they are, whoever they draft and whichever players they draft will not be day one as good as Trent McDuffie. But this is what you have to do, in my opinion, to have a 15-year contention window. Yeah, look, both teams were true to themselves. All right. The Rams, of course, less need what he said, F them picked.

Yes. Right? That's him. And that's what they've been doing. Getting rid of picks, but getting players that can help you right now. I agree. I was looking at you funny when you said they should be more all in than any other team because I'm thinking Baltimore of Buffalo.

But you're right. Lamar, Josh Allen have a longer runway than Stafford. So, yeah, I think for the Rams is great. You know McDuffie's going to be great. We've talked about how second half of their season the defense wasn't quite. quite up to snuff. And McDuffie, the quarterback's one of their big needs. And he is one of the best in the league.

So I thought it was great for them. They still have the Falcons first round pick number 13, I think it is. So they're in good shape with that too. And for the Chiefs, you showed a lot of what I was going to say. Like, this is what they do. Tyreek, they let go. And he ended up having his best year in Miami, but he still was awesome. And they let him go.

And it didn't hurt him, Legerius Sneed. and now Trent McDuffie. So, and they have drafted well. Obviously, they drafted most of these guys. So you would think with these picks that they're getting stockpiling, they're going to make the most of them. So assuming they do that and do what they've done the past few years, with Brett Veach, they'll be fine.

But it is contingent on them making the most out of these picks. If they don't draft well all of a sudden, then now you, yeah, you may be. going into a bit of a slide. I'm not saying like for too many years, but you could go into a slide if you don't drive well. But their track record says they will. So I think

it was great for the Rams and I think it was good for the Chiefs. Quickly on the Rams, you mentioned it, Brew. How good they were weeks 1 through 12. There was a point where we looked on them as the top five defense. Then they really fell off the cliff and they had to win games

in the 30s. So the Rams are going all in. That looks great. How optimistic are you about the Chief's season? Because this week we saw Joanne Taylor be a cap casualty. You think you're going to be okay. Trent McDuffie's leaving. It feels kind of future-oriented. And I know this is part of the business of the NFL.

But you still feel great about this year. Fifth hardest schedule? Yeah. So I am not as the fifth hardest schedule thing. I think we, the off season, how hard is your upcoming season schedule? It's sometimes you can tell and sometimes a bit of fools errand. And I think we learned that this year where like a lot of the teams that we thought were going to be walkovers were those were tough games. 49ers are easy.

Right. And teams that, you know, flip side or use the chiefs example, people are like, man, we got to go to Arrowhead in November or December. And it was like, that's great. And so, I am, if Patrick Mahomes is healthy, I am exceptionally optimistic, not only for this year, but for continuing years, because they have the stomach to do this type of thing. This is very Belichekian. I don't know how many times we saw the Patriots when they knew we had Brady and we're going to have this long run. Yeah. either trade guys away or have them leave for big dollar free agent deals and then come back.

And you know what I mean? And so in that regard, I am very optimistic. I will also say this. The Joanne Taylor thing, we all, you know, people that are care enough about the chief's cap situation didn't know, knew that was coming. The second most likely major move was trading Trent McDuffie. And so this is not shocking. You know, if the news was they had traded Chris Jones, that would shock me.

And so, and I also think the other piece of it is, I think Trent McDuffie, and he deserves it, and God bless him, is about to get like $30 million a year, which was just going to be untenable for the chiefs. And they could lose, like you already said Watson, the safety. Brian Cook, he's a free agent. So I got to be, they don't feel like an elite team. right now. Like, they don't feel, like, I think the Chargers in Denver definitely feel to me like they're ahead of them, just in that division. And so I, again, I have faith in Veach's resume where he will draft guys, but it feels like

it may be, I'm not saying this, writing this in stone, but it almost feels like next year could be kind of a, let's get Mahomes back to, you know, through the injury, back. to his old self and next year it's kind of a tough year. Maybe they don't make the playoffs again and then they make a great run the following year. So I I'll meet you halfway on this. I don't think

and I you know even with this draft capital and even with whatever they could do in free agency that it's reason it will be like chiefs pencil them back in for 13 and 4. I don't think that. I do think that if that if they go

10 and 7 and make the playoffs And by that time, Holmes is more than a year removed from the injury. And now these extra picks, these young guys have a year under their belt. They can be an exceptionally dangerous team. If they get in the playoffs, they'll scare some people. They'll scare some people.

And I just want to say one other things very quickly. Because we talk about Bill Barnwell a lot on this show because we think he's so smart and does a good job. Credit to him, he predicted Trent McDuffie to the Rams in one of his offseason columns. He thought the trade compensation would be Trent McDuffie and a fifth from Kansas City for the 29th. So the chiefs give up McDuffie and a fifth and get the 29th. It does seem like a pretty big haul if you're also going to pay McDuffie.

It is, it is, on the draft value chart, it is almost the same that the Jets got for Quinn and Williams. And it's about 80% of what the Jets got for Sauce Gardner, who is considered because he's an outside corner, a slightly more valuable spot. Like, this was, I think, the best value you could possibly get. And it's a bunch of picks. So to your point, the Chiefs have had the 2020 draft, the Chiefs crushed.

The 2023 draft, not a lot of hits. This needs to be the 2022 draft for them. And that's how you rebuild. It's fascinating. To Bruce point about a reset year, remember we called that with Buffalo, too, when they had an exodus of captain, and we did a lot of like defensive starts and they were excellent.

At the same time, I don't know if we'd be shocked, at least on this side of the table, if the Chiefs won nine games? Yeah, I wouldn't be shocked. And again, a lot of it depends on Mahomes. It's just Mahomes. If Mahomes starts week one, I would be shocked if they win nine games. I know they just won six. I understand, like the, but I do not look at this past season as the beginning of the downfalls

as a, you know, a reset, aberrant bad year kind of. of all the bad stuff that could happen, happen. But if Mahomes doesn't start until week six, oh yeah, then, yeah, then of course. If it takes him a while to really get going. But I think Mahomes independent, this is good business. If you want to contend for the entirety of Patrick Mahomes', you know, prime and into his late 30s,

these are the tough decisions you got to make. Coming up later, your Ravens letting your center walk. Hopefully not. Hopefully they'll work something out. Could we see recently released Kyler Murray throwing the ball to Justin Jefferson. Week 1 in Minnesota, Albert Breer, writing Kyler's $36.8 million guarantee

means he'll almost certainly play in the minimum next year with Arizona footing the rest of the bill. That'll allow him to make his next move purely on what's best for him. Football-wise, Brue, do you think adding Kyler makes the Vikings immediate contending? Well, the first thing is this.

If you bring in Kyler, you're pretty much admitting you're done with J.J. McCarr. Correct. Like we talked about Aaron Rogers. He could easily be there for one season. McCarthy learns under him and then McCarthy's starting in a year. Kyler. Now, Kyler could just go there and not play well.

And then McCarthy somehow is still in the mix. But what this would say to McCarthy is we're done with you. And look, in fairness, he has not delivered. And being hurt more than half of his time there is part of it. of not delivering. You just, I mean, you've just been hurt. So even though he's only had 10 games, he hasn't played well enough to get an attitude, but it would be saying, you may not be long for this league or this organization, certainly.

So if they go get Kyler, they got to know the message we're sending to JJ. That said, if they get Kyler, look, we all can think about his great highlights. He made two Pro Bowls, I think, legitimately his second and third years in the league. But in seven years in the league, I guess you can say six healthy. He made the playoffs once. He had one winning season in Arizona. Now, they never had a top 10 defense. He never made them a top 10 offense either, but they never had a top 10 defense.

He would have that with Minnesota. I am not going to say he still would be likely the worst quarterback in that division. Jordan Love, Caleb Williams, and Jared golf, right? Maybe. I mean, unless Caleb does not take a leap and then doesn't have all those extra, you know, supernatural comebacks, but he likely is the worst quarterback in that division. Now, they had that this year in one-nine games. So I think they would be a playoff contender.

Like, could maybe make a run and get into the playoffs, I'll be a little bit hesitant to say Super Bowl contender. Go, KW. day I was driving my car. I made it some bad decisions. I said, you know what? I can get to the middle of Connecticut on just a little bit of gas. And next thing you know, my car shuts off. I was in a Prius at the time. Prius, you don't need gas. You do need a little bit of gas. It wasn't an electric long time ago. The car is now dead. And I get off the eggs and start rolling down. I say, I am in a bad spot here. I take a right because I see it's downhill. There is a downhill slope for three miles until there's a gas station,

I pull in and fill up, and I said, you know what? I made a series of bad decision, and look what I lucked into. That's the Minnesota Vikings with Kyler Murray. You have made bad decision on Sam Darnold. You made a bad decision on JJ McCarthy. You made a bad decision letting Daniel Jones walk.

And all of a sudden, number one pick, Kyler Murray, can fall into our lap for the league minimum. This is an obvious, an obvious, must sign. And I understand that like I was like I'm not sure he's I said he can hang with everybody in that division. You could say he's the worst. If he plays at his

highest level. But he can hang. He can hang. No, go ahead. I'll look at you. I think he can hang. I think him and Caleb, they can hang. Him and Gough can hang together. He's a number one pick who has shown that he can string together 10 wins in a row. No, hold on. That happened.

He's accurate. He has a can. And he can move. He's had some good. Okay. He is, he's 29 in a couple months. Okay. Which is, he's two months older than Donald.

He's not a young player. He's not an untested player. He has 10 more career starts than Joe Burrow. He has, when we look at these guys that are reclamations, Darnold got 38 starts with the Jets. Gino got 30 in his career before he, Seattle, you know, and he was out in the wilderness for a long time. Baker, it feels like he was with the Browns for a while.

59. He's at 87. We know exactly who Kyler Murray is. He went to the playoffs. See, I think that's... 40% of the league goes to the playoffs every year. Well, I'm just saying it's not comparable. If Sam Darnold took the Jets to the playoffs...

No, but Baker went to the playoffs. Yeah, there was a sign that he could pop. So, he is... None of us at this table. think he's one of the 20 best quarterbacks in a 32 quarterback league. So you don't think there's a chance. Because I'm with

Minnesota taking the chance. Maybe he's not any good. But hey, he's worth taking a shot. Hold on. So that is I'm not trying to be pedantic. Should Minnesota take a flyer on Kyler Murray? Yeah. Is a different question than

what KW's proposing. Adding the fight making contenders and that this is, they've made all these bad decisions and this could save it. No, it won't. Kyler Murray is not a good NFL quarterback. How many games could he win with the Vikings? They went nine and eight last year with a combination of McCarthy, Wentz, and Brosmer who started two games. So maybe they could win ten games.

So you think Kyler's one, just for the right, McCarthy played two, Wentz played six, was out of the league, then nine came back for four. Brasmer played for two. Let me ask you this. What if they signed Jacobi because the Cardinals had both healthy. That was a money thing. No. That no. That guy was trying to save his job.

Jonathan Gannon did. Jonathan Gannon was trying to save his job. And Jonathan Gannon got Kyler Murray back and said, you're not playing because I need to win games. I thought it was a Russ thing where if you get hurt, your money. I'm not sure he goes to next year. Guarantees next year. I would say this to you though, Nick.

Just what you're saying. you would have said about all of these reclamation projects except maybe Baker you would have said the same thing about Darnel you would have said it about Gino and they're not good NFL quarterback my point and that's why I mentioned the 87

starts those guys by start 75 all showed they could be good but they look they did not show you any of the flashes or upside or even decent stretches that Kyler has I have to

admit that. No, I agree. I think Baker did, but there's certainly Gino and Darnel did. Yeah, that's why. And Daniel Jones didn't either to your point. I just think I, all of us I thought kind of agreed that Kyler Murray was this level of quarterback, whatever it is. And now because he's been released, I think people are going to trick themselves into what they wanted to believe in him four years ago. We know the book on him. We know the book on him. We know. that he has not been overwhelmingly popular amongst with his teammates. We know that he has not engendered the trust of his coaches.

We know that he has not shown the ability to play anywhere near his best football in November and December. We know that he has seemingly trailed off at the end of years because he's small, whatever it is. And, I mean, the data that part backs it up where if you look at his best games, you know, 300 plus yard games or 100 plus passer rating, you can roll them. That's all fair. It's all, it's one through 10, he can do stuff. I think we have these. But weeks one through 10, he has 21 games with 300 plus yards.

After that, he has eight. The 100 plus passer rating. It's a similar trajectory. Again, his, all of that is who the player is. I wonder if, and you say he can hang with golf. He can hang with, all right. How about this? they play, I'm just giving me that he can hang.

Maybe he's just, these guys are here and he's there. That's all I'm saying. They also play the NFC South. I think he is better than or can hang with all those guys. They play the AFC East. Two teams I don't even know who the quarterback is. Drake was very good. Josh, who I've seen play head to head.

And I've seen Kyler beat Josh on one of the best plays in recent memory. So I think that Kyler can turn a 9 and 18. into contenders? Yeah, I think he win 11 games. I think you went, take those two Brosmer games out and win one of them. He has to improve a lot. And I think he's capable. Like I think, Nick, even the early in the season,

the numbers you show the decline late in the season, it could be size. It also could be related to his lack of work ethic and not studying hard because later in the season's teams, you know, they know your tendencies better. They have more tape on you. But you want to roll with nine instead? No, no.

What I, well, that's a separate discussion about whether or not you owe it to the, or yourself to see your decision through. But this is where, and again, the way I look at sports does not mean it's right. It's just the only way I know how to do it. I can only judge Kyler Murray against where he stacks up amongst the 32 starting quarterbacks. And so when all of us at this table would say, Mahom, Stafford, Allen, Lamar, Burrow, Darnold, Caleb,

May, Trevor, Gough, Love, Dak, Hertz, Baker, Herbert, Daniels, are without a doubt, better than him. That's 16. That's half. So he's not a top half quarterback. I have not mentioned Brock Purdy, who has proven more than Kyler Murray. I have not mentioned C.J. Stroud, who has a better singular season than Kyler's great 10 games.

I have not mentioned Daniel Jones, who prior to some people like, And your guy, Bryce Young, who also was a number one pick. I like Bryce. I know you do. So if you're not a top 20 quarterback or at best your 20th, adding you at 29 years old does not make a team a contender. I think adding Kyler plus the Vikings defense is very interesting. I don't.

You take all those quarterbacks? Yeah, great. I get to play your defense. You have to play Ryan Flores' defense every time. does that curve bring flip-flop Kyler and I don't want to get him to fight that. Brock Birdie, where he's

four and five against the 49ers. Would adding Mack Jones make him contenders? Yes. Because I don't, okay, so if you're into that's yes, then I'm fine with it. Because that's about the, that's the pool I think he swims in. Shallower end, albeit.

But that's the pool. He can move too if he's healthy. No, look, I'm just like, take a flyer on it. Because if it works out, great. If it doesn't, you're not paying him anything. If it doesn't, you still win nine games. Oh.

Seahawks. That's my non-TV face. Celebrating. More first things first right after the break. Don't worry. We will talk, Trey Hendritson. Podcast is flying up the charts in our YouTube channel. Check it out if you get a chance.

It has a lot of interesting stuff on there. Some trivia. Danny cheated in trivia. Did he officially? Officially. Because remember, I did it, and then Gian asked him the same question when he came back from vacation. He cheated in trivia. And I knew it because he knew Brooke Lopez was the Nets' all time leading scoring and he knew Elvin Hayes.

He cheated. Wow. Yeah, I know pathetic. He said, oh, he said that was the bit. Everyone knew I cheated. I said pathetic. That's not something my kid would say. All right, we're talking about A.J. Brown, perhaps a future Patriot, because we have some breaking news that Stefan

digs just got released. We're going to talk about that in a second. The Seahawks, no, I'm not talking about the Seahawks. That's the old story. Will A.J. Brown fly away from the Eagles, not for what Philly's asking for. The athletics James Palmer on the Scoop City podcast says that a head coach heard what the Eagles wanted in return for A.J. Brown and, quote, laughed.

Laughed hard. Are the Eagles better off keeping or trading A.J. Brown? It should make you laugh. We're negotiating. in. I'm coming in real high. And beyond that, he's a great player. All right.

And I am of the, if they get a package that they like where they can presumably draft another, like a top receiver in the draft, then by all means move on. I am not of the mentality, though, that they have to get rid of him. That it's addition by subtraction. I don't get that. Look, I don't love his foolishness. distractions and all that, but teams can win with a diva-like receiver or distractions.

They proved it a year ago. They won the Super Bowl with him reading books on the sidelines. Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl with Antonio Brown. All right? I know he got ugly at the end, but they won the Super Bowl with him. And so... They are light ears apart as far as...

Antonio was worse than this. That's what he said. That's what I'm saying. And they still won the Super Bowl. has to be close. Right. But I'm just saying, an even worse distraction

and they were able to win the Super Bowl. So that's where I'm at on this. And I also think this, Nick, Sean Mannion and I don't want to make him out like he's, you know, the next Kyle Shannon. I'm just saying he does come from a nice tree. He just was in Green Bay with LaFleur. He's played for McVeigh and all these guys.

Kevin O'Connell. I am sure his first order of business in his mind is this is how I'm going to get the most out of A.J. Brown. He knows what J.L.N. can and can't do. And this is what I'm going to do to get the most out of A.J. Brown. So, again, I'm not against trading him, Nick, but I am against just giving him away and thinking it's addition by subtraction. So I do think the Trent McDuffie trade just made this harder for other teams to acquire him.

Why? Well, I mean, who do you think is more valuable in this league, Trent McDuffie or A.J. Brown? It's at least close. And McDuffie just went for a one, a three, a five, and a six. And so when the reporting had been teams are willing to give up a two, the Eagles won a first plus. If I'm Howard Roseman, today I'm like, see, that's why.

We want a first plus. A team just, wide receivers considered a more premium position than corner. AJ's under contract, Trent is going to get the biggest new contract. Like that kind of emboldened in theory, Howie Roseman's position on what he deserves for it. With that said, the Eagles are patently out of their minds if he's on the roster week one. It is, I wouldn't give him away for nothing because you won't have to. Teams will make you legitimate offers, maybe not what the Chiefs got for McDuffie, but I'm certain they right now could get a solid second round pick for A.J. Brown.

And if that's the best you get offered, then you've got to take it. Because, Brew, you're right. You can win with the disgruntled receiver for a time. and then you must move on. Like Antonio Brown, you're right, Wild's a different story. He moved on himself. But Stefan Diggs, you know,

was disgruntled for a bit, moved on in both places. The, hell, Randy in New England. You know, eventually you have to move on. T.O. at multiple stops, but including in Philly, got to a Super Bowl. It was unbelievable.

At some point, though, you got to move on. And I believe, and I thought, and this is where I'm, I'm surprised by it. I thought we all believed that the Eagles regretted once they saw how the season ended, yeah, we probably should have traded him at the deadline. And so why sign yourself up for that again?

It's not going to be better. No. I don't think, and I don't think Sean Mannion is just going to fix it all in, you know, all in one fell swoop. It has been like this for consecutive seasons. It was like this when you had the glow of the Super Bowl win. you know what I mean, basking over the season. Now you have, man, we changed coordinators. We had a tough regular season.

I had my worst statistical year. We got popped in round one. It's not going to be better. I just think you have to find out what your best offer is and take it. Because I do think it is something of addition by subtraction, not to the point to where you would release him, but to where I just think you need to shake the snow globe of that locker room, even if I think a lot of his complaints,

he wasn't the only one who had them. He was just the voice of him. I just don't think you can stick with the head coach and the quarterback and the wide receiver that's upset with something to do with one of the two of those guys. I wrote, The Eagles and A.J. Brown are in a relationship where Valentine's Day is awkward,

but no one wants to call a divorce lawyer. Like, they can still make it work. It's not great, but like you said, I'll read a book and win the Super Bowl. Does he get his numbers? He had 1,000 and 3 yards. So you want to be negative? It's three yards less than Michael Wilson of the Cardinals.

He's much better than Michael Wilson of the Cardinals. He also had more yards than D.K. McK. McAff. And D.K. McAff is, we don't hear D.K. McAff trying to get out of Pittsburgh. Well, and the only complaint, he is about the numbers. Because remember, when they went through a stretch, it wasn't like a losing street, but they were up and down as far as winning and losing. But he was getting targets and numbers, and he didn't complain.

Can we? It's all about numbers. Sometimes you're such a talented broadcaster. Not really. Sometimes your analogies are so good. It distracts from your sports point. Can we die further into this awkward Valentine's Day? It's super awkward.

They're like, hey, we love. Well, the biggest thing about like, it's not. They're not, they're not ready to get. Nobody wants to just be out. If A.J. Brown wanted to be out, I want to be out. He could, he could cause a bigger fuss. It's almost like, you know what's a little bit like, Janice.

No. He does, it's totally different. He's like, fans to the franchise, everything. But, like, man, you don't really want to leave. I think he don't really want to leave. I think he definitively wants to leave. Then leave. Then just make a stink.

So I want, is what you say. I want out. Yeah. It's not hard. I think they're more iffy than him. I think they're more, how, I don't know if we want to get rid of me. Well, that's what I'm saying, but if I tweet. I think he.

Start, start, you know what you do? Start base level, entry level, unfollow the Eagles on Instagram. That might have happened. Oh. I mean, I don't know. I feel like there were a lot of, there were a lot of AJ Brown social media. He went on a dude's maddened Twitch stream and said, drop me from your fantasy team during the season. I don't know.

How much more direct? To your analogy, you're right. No one wants to call a divorce lawyer, but are you scrolling hinge in front of me? No, he's just being nice. He's like, hey, man, drop me. Dost, are we ready to do, Stefan? You have the news.

You're not. Oh, we have an IG post from Stefan Diggs. This is going to break my heart. The Patriots are releasing four-time Pro Bowl. It is very nice. Stefan Diggs. He had 85 catches over 1,000 yards. on four touchdowns.

Thank you for a heck of the year. We're family forever. Oh, gosh. And the real heart, not even the broken heart with a little fear on it. So can I just in real quick? Yeah, of course. Because KW on and off the air,

you know, was signaling massive alarm at the Chiefs releasing, I don't know, let's call it, the 16th best right tackle in football. Stefan Diggs is a self-proclaimed by Wilde. top five receiver in the league who I didn't say you certainly playing like right he was playing and like I don't think he's top five but Drake May's passering and his catch rate bring those up his catch rate exactly all of that I don't see a ready made in-house replacement this was something

that I think it's fair to say was not on your radar or our radar the day the season ended like oh they're probably releasing digs it did seem like the last few weeks there was local reporting this was going to happen. So what does this mean for your Patriots, buddy? First of all, take everything you said about Trent McDuffie and then just put a Patriots. Oh, you guys are getting picks for him? You guys are trying, we got to fix the bar, guys. They're not cutting it.

No, we're not getting a six round pick for him. A first, a first, third, fifth, and six. If you guys are trading him for draft capital, I feel very differently. say that you're getting AJ Brown or somebody like that. I don't know. That's a great question. That is a great question.

That's what this could mean. I have several questions I think this raises. Number one, and this is not the most fun thing to talk about. Is this on the field salary or does some off field? That's fair. Developments way into this. Yes.

It is what it is. I don't think we're. No, the chiefs might be in a similar situation with the receiver here sooner. than later. So I get that. That might be part of it. But that almost makes it harder from a team building perspective because it means you didn't plan

for it. If it's off the field that forces him off your team, it wasn't like part of a plan. What part of the equation? I don't think 100%? I don't think 0%. So what part of it? Question number two, who replaces him? So is that an A.J. Brown thing? What do we do with this money? Is it a draft

thing? Is there like a Brian Thomas Jr. trade out there? So who's going to replace Stefan either from production standpoint and from a leadership standpoint. I know like it's silly to talk about the vibes, but there was a maturation that we saw from Vikings, Stefan Diggs to Patriots in the Super Bowl Stefan Diggs. And he really led that group and some of the younger players talked about how he was a leader on the field. And three for him, where does he go now?

This is this will be team one, two, three, four. This will be team five. in, you know, fourth team in three years. I don't know that he goes anywhere immediately. Really? Yeah, I do think he has to probably clear up the off-the-field stuff. Which might get resolved very quickly. Right, but it also might get resolved in either direction quite quickly.

But I do think at his age and given, it was, the games were excellent with him, and you're right, the vibes were really good. But it started the year before with a Zepruder filming, the boat ride, and is that a lighter? Is that, is that, well, us Googling, what's Tootsie? And the, and it ended the way it ended. And so, to me, the most shocking part of the Stefan Diggs year with the Patriots was his productivity. For me, like I was not surprised by any of the other stuff. Leadership, that was a little.

No, I can put that in the productivity. He was great. And he was so good that I, during your playoff run, would have assumed, wow. I think, you know, it was a three-year, $62 million deal, but it was a one-year, $20 million deal. I would have thought they were probably going to bring him back. He wanted to be back. I thought they were going to bring him back. Well, look, and I'm not saying they're getting A.J. Brown.

But I don't think you want two potential diva receivers in your building like that. And who are veterans who have a high opinion of themselves. So if I knew I was bringing in A.J. Brown and I'm the Patriots. I don't need to find his either. Stefan, he didn't exhibit any of those qualities in the locker. But it's there. It's always right. If he brought an A.J. Brown, he's no longer your number one.

He's not your. You don't need to lead like that. Listen, you were right that booty was better than we thought. And you have the, what's the kid, Kyle? Kyle Williams. Kyle Williams. You know, it's a good pick. You'll see what he...

But you need a true possession receiver. You need, you know, which Diggs was. And so you see... I like Alex Pierce talk. Alex, but Alec Pierce isn't that. He's a deep ball threat. Dane Brugler of the Athletic released a new mock draft has Jeremiah Love of Notre Dame going to the Titans.

He broke Nick's heart with that. At four. I'm not all over. Join Cam Ward and O.C. Brian Dayball. You got so upset. you wanted to do this. No. You're furious.

No, that's, no. So go ahead. Sorry. How high is too high to draft Jeremiah Love? I don't. So I think it is all, it is more team dependent than you can't take him third, but you could take him fifth. Like I, I think, and the Raiders probably showed this last year in a pick I really liked,

that there are some teams that actually aren't ready to draft a running back. That's right. You know what they have that? I agree. It is not that running back doesn't. matter. It's not that a running back can't be the best player on your team, but if your team has enough other

just glaring holes at what are more high value positions, you need to use... And even positions that will keep that running back from shining. Right. So, listen, the Raiders can't draft them at one. They just drafted Gentie and they're drafting

Fernando. I think it would be malpractice for the Jets to draft him at two. And they just franchised. And they just franchised Breeze Hall. I think Arizona has far greater needs. Agreed. And I think the Titans have far greater needs.

There's only two players. There's only one player on the Titans I love, Jeffrey Simmons. And there's only one other one that I think I might one day love in Cam Ward. Like, I'll just leave it open for that. But if the Giants think they can address the offensive line in Free-Ey, agency, I think that would be reasonable. And if Washington thinks, forget the defense, the Giants are at five, Washington's at seven,

forget the defense, we're just going all offense and we want to give Jade and the best chance succeed, I think that's more than reasonable. Cleveland has six, don't you? Right, Cleveland just took Junkins. And I think New Orleans has needs every single place on the roster. So I think 5, 7 or 9 for the Chiefs, like all of those teams, it would make sense in a way that I don't think would make sense for the Titans,

but I wouldn't think it would make sense if they were at 6 instead of 4. Does that, yeah, he'd be great for, look, if he's there, I don't think he'll be there at 9. If he is there, he would be great for the Chiefs, you know. I do think Tennessee makes sense because they have, they feel like they have their quarterback. Now, I know they have needs elsewhere, but they do feel like we got our quarterback. If they didn't have their quarterback, I would say, no, it doesn't make sense at all.

But they think they've got him. And then where was Robert Sallat last year? San Francisco, and he watched a running back carry that offense. And Love is not just a great runner. Breakaway speed, breaks, tackles, all that. He can catch the ball. So I wouldn't be surprised if Sala thinks we can utilize him like San Francisco utilizes McCaffrey. So I could see that happen.

Don't you think Robert Sala will draft a defensive player, though? I mean, Nick's right. They got needs all over the place. So it wouldn't shock me. But that wouldn't shock me either because I think he'd think that would be valid. And this guy, some running backs we know are special. So he looks special. So I don't think Tennessee will take him.

I think Sala will draft line men, either defensive line or offensive line. We just said the Giants, you just took Scataboo in the fourth round. Now he's coming off a bad injury. You know, the, you also, that showed that there's talent in the fourth round. Correct. It also is John Harbaugh. What does his history tell us about, I don't know, about him drafting a running back that high?

Well, he's always had great run games, but it hasn't been like high profile guys except for Derek Henry. Correct. And so, listen, I would project he will be there at seven. I don't know if he will be there at nine. And the weird thing we're talking about this morning, we talk about Travis Etienne or Super Bowl MVP. Kenneth Walker, thank you.

And the Chiefs, the Chiefs, I'm sure, really wish the draft was before Free Agency this year. Because I do think if he's there at 9, they would like to take him. But they're not going to know that until Free Agency's done. And can you pass on Kenneth Walker and Travis Etienne being like, we hope to draft Jeremiah Love? And then he's not there. And it's like, wait. You know, so like that's where... Walker's going to want for running

a pretty good money. I can see Etienne there. But you understand what I mean? Like, I don't think you can spend... I don't think anybody that signs Walker or Etienne can then draft Jeremiah Love. No. You can't spend all that money on the running back

and then also draft him. So that's a weird kind of balancing act you got to do. Interesting. But if he's there, the chiefs are... That's a no-brainer for you. Well, yeah, but what if they give Travis Etienne... They're a bunch of money. They're not going to do.

I don't know about that. Really? Yeah. Live from New York. Hang out with us. I know. He loves hanging out with us. Oh, that's amazing.

Yes, by the way. I don't think you'll. Definitely will. Whenever you're like that, it's fine. Guess who would like to take the three of us and Danny, the whole first thing's first and overtime crew to dinner? Nacho, your buddy, you're a gambling buddy. Broadcast Hall of Famer, Dan Patrick.

Oh, I'm all in on that. Oh, you're all in on that. I told him you might not be able to go. Why? Because you said you don't want to hang out with us. I hang out with Dan Patrick. They're hung out with Dan Patrick. I hang out with you guys 70 hours a week.

You get paid for that. Not the text. Not the group jack. We had a nice dinner. We did. A month or two ago, whenever that was. I agree. We're due again.

I don't know. I don't know if I have enough topics. Second hour or first. things first. Today, are we sure JJ Reddick and Luca are on the same page? And Vanda. Vando is so good. It was good. And they re-ran it. Look at Luca. Look at Luca like, I will knock you out. It's fired up. That's a fun story. Meanwhile, World Baseball Classic starts tonight. How dominant will USA be? And are we running into a bit of a pitching problem? Well, we got some heat. Yeah, that's true.

Right now, you're in for a real treat last night while accusing an old friend of fraud because he lost that trivia. An elite committee of experts, analysts, and chiefs optimists fought and toiled and burned the midnight oil to deliver the best segment. In all of sports, it's an honor and a privilege. It's time for NBA tiers. The chief's optimist thing was a compliment. Listen, if you're going to be out here firing shots, football shots during NBA tiers, then I'm, brew. Being called the Chiefs are confetti just fell. Brew, did you notice how on tilt KW was with the digged release?

Oh, yeah. When he was like, it's the same as the Chief's trading, Trent McDuffie. What you got to do, he got to make hard. It was nothing like it. Yeah, because we went to the Super Bowl. This guy, you lost, all right? Barely. Barely.

NBA tiers. That's like your thing, we barely lost. Who's eliminated? Show us the elimination. teams, it's the same six. No fresh eliminations. However, and this is where I'm glad KW doesn't see the tier names before we get them revealed. Because I feel like he would be like, don't do that. And I'd be like, we're doing it. They're inappropriate? Well, bottom of the tiers, do not resuscitate. They don't want to be around me. They want to be eliminated so badly. The Bulls are doing everything

they can to get to the eliminated tier. They're like, how are we not there yet? with the Grizzlies and the Mads. My goodness. Just make it interesting, one team tier, the bucks. Just make the last few couple weeks interesting. Well, let's hope. That's what I'm saying. That's all you can hope for.

All you can hope for is if this, these are the final games for Janus as a buck, can they at least be interesting? That might be enough for Janus to be like, you know what? Signia! No, so be it. You know what if that's what he wants, fine. But like, can they be? two games back of the play-in with five to play.

We're like, all right, if they go four and one and the Hawks go, I don't know, just that's the whole. Cancel the play-in. We don't need it in the Western Conference this year. No. We don't. Clippers' Sons, Lakers Nuggets, Timberwolves Rockets, Spurs Thunder.

Those are the best eight teams. The Blazers, you know, nice season, dealt with the fact that their head coach got popped by the FBI first day of the year. Denny Obdia hurt. It's a nice season. We don't need you in the, we don't need you taking a playoff spot from,

you know, be the sons or the clippers or whomever. And the Warriors, yet it, this, it just ain't this year. They just love the playing, though. I know, the Warriors.

They're built for it. They live in the play. And so we don't need it in the West this year. And we might not need it in the East either, but we certainly don't need in the West. First round fodder. Hawks. Heat magic.

And now, by the way, I'm not certain all of these teams are actually going to make the real playoffs, but I am certain whichever of them do are just getting clipped in round one. The Hawks, I think, have made some savvy moves to set up their future. I get that. The heat are kind of just stuck in this. Giannis loved this take for me. They're the Steelers. They're the Steelers.

They're right. They're like, now I'm not saying they don't want to, you know, go hard. But they're locked in there. And they take pride in heat culture. It's the culture, yeah. But they're not going anywhere. I also like all this physical violence on wilds. Every show.

Every time. That's why you don't want to do the Trey Hendrickson story. Like, you know what I like about Trey Henderson? And by the way, we didn't even mention the magic whose best player and head coach aren't an open war against each other in the media. Best player comes out and they're like,

what's the difference in the second half of games? Like other teams make adjustments. We don't. Head coach comes out the next day. He's like, no, the other team made no adjustments. They just kept playing hard and we didn't. Not a wasted season. Sun, Sixers, Raptors.

Not a wasted season. And I say that not patronizingly sincerely. Listen, Matt Ishbia has not been a great owner. However, they traded away Kevin Durant. Folks didn't believe in him. He barked. He barked at Simmons on Twitter. He's like, watch us this year.

And you know what? He's been right. That team plays hard. They're better than they were last year. He's anti-tanking. The anti-tanking. And I think that might be in part because I think he's traded away all the fix. He's legally allowed to trade.

But still. Some nice ideas. They're going to get Booker back. They might get Brooks back. The Sixers, I think it's not a wasted season because I'm not writing them off entirely. But also, you know you got Edgecombe, right? Yes. And Maxie continues on the ascent.

A nice kind of year in the progression for the Scotty Barnes Raptors. Again, even if you're knocked down in round one. You have our attention, Clippers Hornets. It's nearly impossible to get our attention with the starts to the seasons these teams had. The Clippers obviously going six and 21, but have been really dynamic sense. And Kauai Leonard was playing. I think the best basketball of his Clippers career. Since he won it in Toronto.

Yeah, since that year in Toronto and since his last year in San Antonio. And the Hornets, just by every metric for about six weeks, have been one of the four or five best teams in the NBA. And by certain metrics, like, they've been the best team. They're going to be really interesting. You know, I don't mean in the future. I mean, like, this year in the playoffs, like, how real is it? Are they really going to do anything?

The power, oh, wow, back to the tears, please. The power of PR. Got 24 losses, can't play any defense, have a do-it-all European first option. Well, one team, it's that, one team is the apple of everyone's eye and the nuggets. And the other team, well, they obviously can't do anything. Their resumes are startlingly similar. And I understand, Joker is. a better player than Luca and Joker's a champ.

But their resumes are about this far apart and the way they are discussed about the failure, success of this season, about their chances to win a championship are about this far apart. Play tomorrow must win. I don't, so the Lakers have beaten, the Nuggets don't own the Lakers the way they did a few years ago. So I don't, you double must win? Maybe.

It should be like one of those like WWE match. Like from now on, you're the team that can win the chicken. It could be a double must win. Double must win? Could be, yeah. It went in Friday. That one cousin, Rockets and the Cabs. You want to believe them.

You want to be like, this time it's different. This time he'll pay me back. Yeah. This time he won't get arrested. This time he won't come to Thanksgiving high out of his mind. And it's like, nope, same guy. And, yeah. You just really want to believe they'll be different this year.

But they never are. And I just feel like the Rockets, like now they have Kevin Durant. And they seem to have weathered the tweet storm. But we probably know how their playoffs is going to end. And the Cavs, like they're winning now without Donovan Mitchell. And James Harden is turning. We kind of know how that's going to end. Gotta happen eventually.

Right? Does it? Got to make the finals eventually. Timberwell's never done it. History of their franchise, never done it. The Knicks haven't done it this century. Since the Clinton administration. They haven't, but they both have been,

the Thunder, I'm sorry, the Timberwolves and back-to-back years have been in the Final Four. The Knicks last year were obviously in the Final Four. Knocking on the door, you got to, eventually it breaks through, and double bonus take. This is like, I don't know,

maybe the third draft pick for the league office of ideal realistic finals. Nick Spurs, I think is number one. Yes. But Nick's Timberwolves with Ant having that surge might be number two. If we're going to say Nick's Lakers is not realistic and possible,

I think, you know, it would be, it would be a marquee finals matchup. absurdly ahead of schedule. Spurs, Pistons, and the title really does say it all. Both of these teams are ridiculously ahead of schedule. The fact that they are, there's pistons will be the one seed. The spurs could be the one seed. The pistons are not far removed from, oh, is that the worst team ever?

Like the, what's the losing streak? 22 or 23 straight. Right. And Monty Williams, thanks but no thanks and all of it to where they are. And the Spurs, coming into this year, it's like, all right, can we get a full healthy year out of Wimby? And the answer was, actually, no, we can't, and it doesn't matter because the team's good enough to sustain that. Wimby is at least on schedule, which considering the schedule was be greater than Akim Alajal. And they're way ahead of schedule those teams.

Up to speed by May 1st? Question one. That's a question for the Celtics. Can Jason Tatum be up to speed by the start of round two? Round one, I don't think they might not even need him or Jalen Brown for round one. Well, you could be Charlotte. Right. I'm worried about that.

I guess, I think at round one, they're going to be fine no matter what. But round two, they're going to play either the Cavs or the Knicks. Can Jason Tatum be not 100 percent? I think that won't happen until next season. But up to speed where. Playing like a star. Yes, and certainly to where he feels confident. He's got, you know, game shape, all of it.

That's what I think the timeline is. And atop the tears, entering their villain era, the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were flirting with it with the Shea push-offs and the corny interviews. But they- I like the interviews. Of course, exactly. And but Lou Dort,

combined with their, and I don't say this lightly, absurdly, rapidly annoying fans on the internet have made them a bit of villains and their champs. But they're the best team in the league, and they could be the first team to repeat in almost a decade. That's the latest tear through. Put a helmet on. Not bad.

Thank you. Well, look, the names, the titles, Derwin is it? No. My goodness. What's it Clinton? No, it's Marshall for the NBA, for the NFL. I know it was one of those. No, it's a totally different committee for the NBA.

Oh, no, this is just you. This is Tom. Oh, wait. Tom. I'm going to have the same people be my NFL committee, my NBA committee. That doesn't even make sense. Okay, well, Tom, Tom. Usually it's like, you should have let it be Derwin.

That, you know, it's so interesting. No. Right. Durwin is. No, Marshall and Mount, those guys are. guys, they all got great names. The NBA committee, it's Tom and Bill. You got Thurgood.

Isn't there a third good? Yeah, that's NFL. They're great. Yeah, you got Tom, Bill, John on the NBA. Brian and Brian. No, it's just how, you know how just making stuff up. Go ahead. I like Durlin.

I thought it was Derring. Anyway, yeah, the titles are good, but I got some issues. I think Nick, the Spurs, I'm putting them up on the second tier with Boston. I get there Boston and we're baking in, Tateham being back. But the Spurs move up. And here's why. They are six in one against the OKC, Boston and Detroit. Whoever wrote that,

grab a cardboard box from the stairs right here and put you off in it. You know who's doing it. That's absurd. It's dusty. I don't even know what that means. That is absurd. It's an absurd. Okay.

Okay. It's dust. All right. You should have ran that one by me, Dust. But anyway, move the spurs up there. Like I said, six and one against the other three teams in the top four. Here's the other thing, Nick. They've won 12 of their last 13,

despite not playing at home since February 7. Road Trip. Yes. Well, even beyond it, because they had two home games in Austin. But that's part of the rodeo road trip. So they went 8 and 1 on the rodeo road trip. And then had some games in Austin. Austin and all the southern counts.

No, but it's not, no, but they count as home games even though you're not at home. The court says Spurs. I understand. It's still with Spurs, man. It's not a home game. If the Knicks played at wherever St. John's plays in the garden. If the Knicks played at Barclays, would that be a home game?

When they do play at Barclays, it's a home game. I agree with you, bro. Yeah. It says Spurs there. I understand what it's not like when the Jags play at London. It's just like that. It says Jags on the court. It's just like that.

It's in Texas. Texas is huge. I understand. When they go to Dallas, they're in Texas. Houston's in Texas. The court said spurs. Where'd you go to high school? I'm in college.

Where'd you go? Philadelphia. LaSalle University. LaSalle. Austin to San Antonio is about as far as New York City to Philly. So if the Knicks played it LaSalle and they made it a Knicks sport, is that a home game? People were cheering for the spurs on those games. I agree with you, Brew.

Go ahead. They're not sleeping in their own bed. The bed part has nothing. to do with it. They got to travel. Of course. It's not bed face. Wake up in your own bed. That's not what it's about. It is not about the bay. They are not asleep diagonally.

No, it's not about sleeping diagonally. It's about the fans. And they score it and everyone cheers. I disagree. What about the bed? Next week. Next week. All right. So anyway, very impressive. Remember, you're sitting in Berlin, didn't have a, you was sleeping on.

Oh, Deandre. Yes. Go ahead. I agree with that was a red flag. That's why I say, dispersive. Now, my other movement is just the notch below the Knicks and the Timberwolves. I'm moving

them up too to be with Detroit. Oh, okay. Right? Look, the Knicks we know 15 and 4 playing great defense, have beaten some good teams. Detroit Look, right now, they're still

my pick. But the offense, I mean, what a day. When Cade isn't Superman, they struggle. I'm not totally out. I'm just saying yesterday Nick put the heat on him when he made him the best player in the league. And he went out and shot four for 16.

And in the playoffs, teams are going to really get the ball out of his hands, try to keep him from getting 30 and all that. And they don't shoot it that one. And then when they might, Minnesota 7 and 1, aunt has had two 40-point games in like his last five games or something like that. So Minnesota is a sneaky team out with. Yes. So I just think they should be on the same on the third.

Three through six out west is going to be a real dog fight down the stretch. Between Houston, Minnesota, Denver, and the Lakers. Go ahead, Kada. I hope the bar that I requested is accurate of what I'm going to say. Because I feel like if it comes off one way, I'm going to start a firestorm. I'll really kick the Hornet's Nest. You know what I mean. Let's see.

What's the bar? Dusty, please reveal the bar. I hope it says the Hornets are playing better than the Lakers. I'm not necessarily saying that they are better than the Lakers. They're one in one in the year. Most recently, the Hornets beat the Lakers moderately easily. But the Hornets are now 500 on our brand new team. I think they are, I would flip-flop the Lakers and the Hornets,

even though the maybe the power of the PR. Remember Lamello got all those first place votes. They win last night. They won five in a row. Now, Lamello had some, doing his normal Lamello stuff. Believe it or not, Lamello, not the most efficient shooter. He did take some bad shots. Well, that one went in.

Oh, it was four for 13 from three. Since January 1st, this is according to Zach Roberts. He's led the NBA in plus minus. I was like, holy God, that one shocked me. Last 20 games, Charlotte's 16 and 4. The Lakers are 12 and 8. Winning games by double digits. Offense has been better than the Lakers.

What's that bottom line say? Best in NBA. They have the best record in the NBA since January 18. It's shocking. So we're like, all right, are they just a great offense team? They shoot up a bunch of threes. You know, everyone's scoring like 19 points, Brandon and Khan in Lamello. The defense, sneaky great.

Last 20 games, top five defense, you know, defensive rating 106 is good for six. I'm not saying they're better than the Lakers. No, but they're currently playing better than Lakers. But here's, so here's my problem. They're 500. Because Wilds is like, I'm not as good at the analogies as you. But you're like someone that likes unpopular things, and to draw attention to it, you try to contrast it with a super popular thing. Because by, you could have done this Hornets thing as to why they're better than the nuggets or the rockets or the rockets or the rockets or the Caves or the Timberwolves or literally.

You want me to move them all the way up? I'm just trying to move them one spot up. So the thing is this. The Hornets have been the best team in basketball the last 20 games. That's what that graphic said. I wasn't right. That's what the graphics said. They can stand on their own two feet.

You want to put on number one? But no. What I'm saying is this is not really, Brew, so much about Wilde's love for the Hornets, as much as it is about his somewhat inexplicable disney. Dane for the Lakers. I like the Lakers. It is that the Hornets should move up and the Lakers should move down.

That's what he's saying. Is it left? I'm just moving to 12. Then why not do it? You guys wouldn't scream at me. I'm just going to move the hornets up one spot. The spot goes up. But you know who's not 12 and 8 in their last 20 who's on the same line as the Lakers?

The Nuggets. They play on Thursday. No. And that game will determine if we did this on Friday, maybe I would. Okay. Listen, buddy. It's okay. I might.

The Hornets are playing great basketball right now. That's what I said. I am also again, and then I'll be quiet. When the Lakers beat tomato can, KW mocked us for mentioning it. Who was on the other side of that Lamello highlight? I'm just curious. It was the Mavs without Cooper Flack. Okay.

A Mavs team that is giving up. That is not trying to win. But in your defense, we expect the Lakers to beat the tomato game. Yes. Charlotte is a couple months removed from being a tomato game. They're not even above 500. They're at 500 for the first time in. Who knows?

It's no way to tell. A long time. Troy, maybe a long time. This late in the season. This Lamello's second year probably. I was going to say that. Well, there you go. That's tears. Coming up next, who got franchise tag?

I know you're dying to hear about Trey Hendrickson. We got your color. You came to the right spot. I know no other national shows talking about the Plenty of national shows talking about Trey Hendrickson, buddy. The Desert Double stages set this weekend, IndyCar and NASCAR back-to-back, one track. Indy cars on Saturday, Alex Polo, trying to win second race of the year. And then Michael Jordan, Tyler Reddick, going for the four people.

If Reddick wins again, I'll shave my head. You just get a solid hair. You are dying to shave your hand. A solid hair. Fox for Indy, FS1 right here for NASCAR. No huddle, no franchise tag. Starting since, no, we're starting in Seattle, thank goodness. I couldn't wait to get to the train drinks and stuff.

I got nervous. Seahawks don't tag Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker. It'll be a free agent after spending all four of his years. in Seattle. Nick, where you surprised the Seahawks let Walker walk? No, I think that the Zach Charbonnet injury,

while unfortunate for Charbonnet, obviously who's the other running back in Seattle, probably made the general public feel like Seattle featured Kenneth Walker over the bulk of the season more than they actually did. This was a true, you know, dual load backfield. and one thing that, you know, dates all the way back to Dion Branch or Larry Brown in 95 with the Cowboys. Hell, the guy who threw the tight end, Dust will know it, who threw the Philly Special for the Eagles.

Trey Burton, huge Super Bowl moments, much less Super Bowl MVP's, net you big paydays in free agency. and I think Seattle was not going to give him that type of money and didn't want to tie up $14 million for a running back who is not even really their feature feature back. He is used more than Charbonnet, but yes, 1A, 1B type of thing. And I think he's going to get huge money. And so no, this doesn't, right now there's two running backs making around 20. There's five running backs making 14 million plus.

I bet he gets $16, $17 million. a year. And so, no, I'm not shocked by this. I'm not either. Look, and credit to Kenneth Walker, he did show he's capable of being like, I agree. Very few teams have one feature back, but he showed he's capable of being the bell cow, right? Because they were concerned about that when Sharbonnet got hurt, so credit to him. But I agree, Nick. And I don't, I don't think it was necessary to lock him up at 14 million a year. Like, they got other things they need to do. I think they feel like Sharbonnet. Barbonade, maybe some of their other backs.

And they probably haven't written off maybe being able to bring him back. I mean, it depends on what other teams offer. I'd be a little surprised if he's at 16, 17. Derek Henry's making 15. I don't think he's more valuable than Henry. He played great. He obviously was great in the Super Bowl. But it'll be interesting.

I wouldn't be so surprised if he's under 14. Oh. Because he's not like a top five back in the league. I agree with you, but that's kind of the point I'm making about the glow of the big Super Bowl. Like I, which is, so I would be surprised if he comes in under 15 million. I would be. And I think

he is a really, really good back who doesn't catch the ball. And so that is. So that makes it hard for him to be like full time. So that's the one thing that could kind of be. Yeah, at three catches in the Super Bowl. Yeah. But it's, am I wrong? Like, I know, I think you're right. But he had like, I think 161 yards from screaming. Yeah, like 25 or so.

Yeah. So. Super Bowl kind of hurt my feelings. Yeah, you're going to have you. Silling over it, man. Here's our guy. We're in Cincinnati. You know what will make you feel better? Bringing in this big galute to the Patriots.

Ray Henderson's now a free agent. Down year last year, marred by injury. Only had four sacks. He missed 10 gains. Prior to that, he was around 17 and back-to-back years. For a Bengals defense, that checked my notes, wasn't good.

What's the best landing? spot for Trey Hendrickson. I, everybody, of course, could say Dallas, and I wouldn't be mad at that at all. But I'm going to say maybe I'm being a little selfish. I like to see them into purple and black, Baltimore. Their pass rush was non-existent. Like they were 30th, 30th in the league with the pass rush. Remember just a few years ago, they had this great pass rush.

So I think it's a veteran team. He's obviously a veteran. It's all about the Super Bowl. So I think he would be a good fit there because they clearly need to upgrade their pass rush. So I don't know of Trey Hendrickson what his top priority is. If his top priority is most money possible, then what I'm about to suggest will not happen.

If his top priority is sticking it to the Bengals, then it could happen. And that would be Baltimore, Buffalo, New England, Kansas City. on, you know, a high salary one-year deal. And then he's, don't you think he's going to won a long time? Well, I guess when I, one year in the way Stefan Diggs deal was a one-year deal. It was three years, 63 million, but it was anticipated by, I guess, a lot of parties that they would cut him after one year. But he makes, you know, he made, Diggs made 21 million this past year.

Because I don't know, Hendrickson, it's not like he's coming off a rookie deal. Hendrickson did get paid by Cincinnati. He just thought he was undermarket and then he got franchise tagged and was angry. And everyone, the only people that should be angry than Trey Hendrickson about this are Bengals fans because this is a case study in how to squander an asset.

They made it very clear they were not going to pay him and they were too prideful to then trade him for something at any point along the way. A fifth round. Anything. And by the way, last off season, a year ago, he's coming off back to back 17 and a half sack years. He's already been through a year of a contract dispute.

You know you're not paying him. You could have traded him a year ago, not for a fifth round pick, for a second and something. Like he was considered one of the top pass rushers in the league, and they didn't do it. And so I just, if you're a Bengals fan, you have to be so mad at this process here. Like the, this is to me, and again, I know this is the opposite of what the chief said with McDuffie. With McDuffie, they're like, all right, this is his final year of his rookie deal. We are, we're not going to, we know we're not ever going to give him the 30 million a year. We're going to trade him at his value at the absolute highest and, you know, get the return.

instead of being like, no, play this year out, then next year be angry, you don't give you a deal, we'll franchise tag you once, and then you walk for nothing. Joe Burroughs should be so frustrated in this, but I do think there is a chance he signs with a different AFC contender. That'd be interesting.

It's also possible, to your point, he goes to Dallas, or goes somewhere just for the most money. He's 31, and the contract, I mean, we joke around, we've covered a lot of his dispute with the Bengals. Missing those 10 games, If he was on a team that has a real playoff push, do you think that he could have? Oh, that he could have been back for the end of the year.

Maybe. I'm not saying, but I think he was extra. Let's say he prioritized his health for a team that. Which he should have. 100%. 31, though? 31 for past rusher isn't 31 for wide receiver or running back, but it is to me more of a year-to-year spot. Yeah. Next up, the prince losing a member of his court.

Travis at the end rushed for 1,100 yards, bro. Seven touchdowns, also caught six touchdowns. Almost at 300 through the air. Nick, what is the best spot for Travis? He's not necessarily leaving. I think he's leaving, and I think this is where I could see the chiefs doing something. I don't think the chiefs can sit out running back free agency and just be like, man, Jeremiah,

love at nine because there is real reason to fear he will not be there at nine and there is also real reason to think he could be there at nine and not be the best pick because Rubin Bain or you know a marquee pass rusher or maybe they love one of the wide receivers and they're worried about Rishy's future whatever it is. I like this if the chiefs were to sign you know a relatively big name running back I like Travis more than Kenneth Walker because because of his threat as a pass catcher and his ability, you know what I mean, I think to be a real chess piece in that offense. So I think the Chiefs make sense.

I think that there's the, I think Cincinnati, if they want to go. I don't like their running game as much as I think Brew necessarily does. I think that also Denver. You know what I mean? Makes sense. I'm not as high on R.J. Harvey as some. But I think Travis Antean is a very good player. Not a great player, but a very good player.

I agree with those teams make sense, and particularly the Chiefs. But how about Houston? But they just traded for David Montgomery. Oh, that's right. So, yeah, so, like, I think that they wanted to, they clearly wanted to upgrade, but they traded for Montgomery. But I like Montgomery better, though. So, yeah, so I like the Chiefs. I don't like this one at all for the Prince.

I don't either. It's not like they didn't get over the hopper. They're not in, like, college team. Yeah, they're not in a reb, you know, this is what. successful teams do. It's not the Trenton McDuffie story. It's not Kenneth Walker, the Kenneth Walker story where you're the main guy

and the team was unlocked offensively. I don't know. Well, again, like, they made, what would his franchise would have been 14 million? They probably didn't want to lock him in at 14 million. Maybe they can get him for less. Who's giving him 14 million?

Well, so that's the other thing about all these guys. It is no, it is to be reminded. usually when guys hit free agency, they end up leaving. But not always. Like some, and I know what Seattle, the local reporting with Seattle at least is, that they've told Kenneth Walker, go see what's out there and maybe we'll match. I don't know.

The reason that I do think he's gone there is there was real smoke last training camp that he could be traded, that Travis Etienne could be the odd man out in that backfield. Then he had the best year of his career, or arguably the best year of his career. I mean, I've always liked him as a player. I liked him at Clemson. And I think he's still got a lot left in the tank. I think it was a step backwards for the Jags. Yeah, I don't like losing it.

Coming up next, Jaggs did it to me. I already got two guys. Really? Yeah, yeah. Who is it? I'm not going to say. Who's on the bubble? Who's on the bubble?

I'm not saying. Paul Skeens. I don't know who's on the bubble, but I know. Oskine, you want me to put him on the bubble? Yeah, well, I've got a ball. I mean, I hadn't thought about that. I hadn't thought about the World Baseball Classic. All scheme.

We've only won it once out of five times. We should win, but scheme's going to have too much rest to start the final. Tune in tomorrow. We got great WBC takes. New segment called Take of the Day. We're talking about A.J. Brown potentially leaving Philadelphia. Unfortunately, I won the first. Wow.

Really? That was take. It's awkward, but no one wants to call. Valentine's Day is awkward, but no one wants to call a divorce. divorce all right. I'm fine with that. Take of the take of the day. One nothing wise.

We are going to. We got to keep score. And are we also going to use this time since this is new? We're figuring out in real time to revisit that topic. I think so. Yeah. I think we just briefly revisit it. Oh, oh.

So I feel like A.J. Brown did call a divorce. I feel like A.J. Brown, all of his actions at the end throughout last year, we're making it very clear, I don't want to be here. You make a good point. It is odd he has not just said, I don't want to be here. But does anybody think he doesn't want him to trade him?

It gets iffy, though. I know someone who has walked away from his marriage, doing his thing, but isn't looking to get divorced, at least right now. Okay, I've heard of it. So I'm, I wasn't supposed to be a literal thing. I'm just saying like, no, what Nick, I'm saying, this guy I know is doing what Nick's saying.

He's showing you, I want out, but he's not going there and saying I want out. If he wants out, be out. That's it. Miles Garrett said he wanted out. Lamar said he wanted out. And nothing happened. Hold on. It has to be more of an NBA, Anthony Davis style.

I won out. You show up with his shirt says, that's all, folks. I don't know. I don't pick out these shirts. And now I am. I'm going to torque. true the analogy because it was so good. But the flip side is the Eagles not only have called the divorce lawyer,

but if they're talking with teams about trades, they have decided I want a divorce. I just want to make sure I'm getting enough of the assets. I don't think they actually like it. And if I'm not getting enough though, I can make it work. But that doesn't work. Yes. Nobody, you can't be like.

If you say, yeah, no, that's what they're saying. See, I think the Eagles have, once you start negotiating trade terms, then you are signaling we are done with this player. Yeah, but once they're saying, they're saying, oh, you're not giving me half? I'm not even getting a quarter? You know what? No, we're stayed again. This is taking the day.

It's great, Kate. Take it again. It was a tortured analogy at this point. It's a great analogy. Coming up next. I would say it in taking trade. The way he went. You got.

I believe he's getting traded. You got a ticket. Well, the Patriots should get paid. Live from New York, fresh episode of first things first overtime. How does Trent McDuffie to the Rams impact Patrick Mahal? Well, he responded with one word, and it wasn't savvy move. Are you sure it wasn't just listing his favorite Kendrick Lamar albums? I don't know.

A coincidence. Here's the, do you have to do that, though? Even if he's like, I get it. But you have to do that? You're a leader to the team. That's a good question. Meanwhile, who should go all in for Max Crosby? Maybe nobody.

Wow, somebody will. Kings Ransom. I don't buy it. You're not buying it. I'm not buying King's Ransom. Well, it's going to go for more than McDuffie. McDuffie went for. That's not a King's Ransom.

A first round pick. A first, the third, a fifth, and sixth. If you're going to go for more than that, that means you're going for two firsts. There's only thing more than a first. third, fifth, and six. There's two first. And two first,

second. About first and second. Oh, yeah, you know what? Also, stats are cool. Don't forget. We had a lot. This, these are breaking news stats. Yeah.

Stuff was happening. Stuff was moving, bro. He can't be it. Chris beside Kevin Wilde. Nick Wright, Harkins. Welcome back. Thank you. I don't know why.

We did a show the other day. What are you talking about, man? I don't know. He is, can I say, it's wins. I don't know. I know you've been. I don't know how much of the show you've seen.

I'm in a lot. Wilde has been on tilt since the Diggs news came down. Confetti dropped on his head, would remind him of the Super Bowl loss. Yeah. We did Kenneth Walker highlights. Diggs got released. Yeah. And he is really.

One of great. Yeah. We'll carry you. Yeah. I tried to, like, soothe myself with the balm of the Hornets being 31 and 31. That's not going to do it. Didn't. I'll bet go.

It wasn't great. We're starting in Kansas City. Trent McDuffie traded to the Rams, Kansas City receiving. Pick number 29 in the first round as well as a fifth to six in 2027. Third, Danny, you had some time to react to this, as did Patrick Mahomes, who tweeted, darn, but it was down. Your reaction to this news, Danny. Well, it's very on brand for both teams, which is why I did this when you guys were out. I talked about this as a trade that was going to happen back in a couple weeks ago and Bill Barnwell.

But it was a pretty easy one to piece together because the Rams had such big problems in the secondary. And the chiefs don't pay corners. And Les Needs says F them picks. And the chiefs kind of say F them corners. It was a pretty easy dot to connect. And I love it for the Rams. And I'm just, I don't know how long you can keep getting away with it if you're the chiefs. I know why they deserve the benefit of the doubt,

but I don't think all of the corners that they've let go are created equal in terms of like their age, their injury history, when they were going to pay them, how much they were going to get paid. And McDuffie's really good. He's a really good, versatile, young, you drafted him, you developed him. Corner, like those are the types of players at a premium position. Those are the types of players that generally speak. your organization wants to reward and keep.

And so I wouldn't be celebrating it. I understand it because of the hall that they got, but it's very likely that whoever you take at 29 is either going to be a corner to replace McDuffie or a player who will just be worse than McDuffie. Well, so it's that. It's also the 30 million of cap space that it would have taken to keep him.

Which you can move around. But so you can't move it around. infinitely and in perpetuity. And if the hope is to contend basically every year of the next decade of Mahomes' 30s, or at least the next seven years, that bill comes to unless you do things like this. I love Trent McDuffie. I think he's the best slot corner in the league. Versatile is not necessarily the word I would use because I don't think he, I don't think

he's a great outside corner, but I think he's the best slot corner in football. And that's super valuable. And he's a very good blitzer as well. But here's where I will defend the process. Forget the fact that when Bill Barnwell suggested it, he thought the trade would be McDuffie and a fifth from Kansas City for just the 29th pick. Instead, it was McDuffie with nothing else attached to him for the 29th, a fifth, a sixth, and a third next year's draft.

But the chiefs are trying to do something. Only one other team in NFL history successfully did, which is essentially. contend year in, year out with a blip here or there for more than a decade consecutively. And the team that did that did moves like this all the time. What are the huge contracts that Patriots gave out to guys not named Tom Brady or Rob Grunkowski? There aren't many. A few offensive linemen, which the chiefs have done. They went out and signed an excellent corner.

free, in a free agency, they went out and signed, I forget who it was, but it was a big-name corner late in Brady's. Was it Gilmore? Gilmore as well, but it doesn't matter. It's not that they never spent money. I don't remember, but maybe it was Revis. But it's not that they don't spend money,

but they are very judicious with it, and they are not afraid to sell high on a player, to let a player walk because they think it's too much money, or to trade Richard Seymour away, in the middle of his prime because the return is too great to turn down. And the fact that they were able to get 85, 90% of what they got for Tyree Kill, and the Tyree Kill trade netted them the defensive pieces that led to three consecutive trips to the Super Bowl. To me, says the process is sound.

You have to nail the picks. Obviously, you have to nail the picks. They nailed them in the 22 draft. They didn't in the 23 draft. We'll see what they do in the 26th draft. Well, look, I love it for the Rams. I think also with that pass rush, McDuffie could even be better for the Rams, right?

So I think it's great for it. And I'm tempted. I'm tempted to like, like I feel like they might be the best team in the NFC. There's something in me against going with the Rams, maybe because of these little skits or whatever. But they, this is big for the Rams. They got better. I just don't feel like.

picking the Rams in an FACC, but I think they got better and I think they look great right now. For the Chiefs, I'm kind of with Danny and that, I said this earlier, they don't feel elite to me right now, you know, and I agree if they nail and Veech has been good, if they

nail these picks, then yeah, because they did get more than I would think they would have gotten. So if they nailed the picks, it could be good, it could work out, but right now they got to do that and they, I don't know if it's just Mahomes injury, but they don't feel, I don't feel like they're definitely

going to be right back there in the hunt. I like Denver and the Chargers right now, better than them in their division. So I think I would not be surprised at all if this is just kind of a, let's just rebuild it. You know, it might be a tough year. Maybe we win nine games, but don't make the playoffs. And then a year from now or two years, seasons from now, they're back in the hunt. The only thing I'll quibble with you, Nick, I just like, I don't, I think it's more like 70% of the value of the Tyree Kill trade than 85%. I just think things have changed. I don't think the late round picks are as valuable now because more guys are going back to college because of NIL.

And it's a future third round pick as opposed to the Tyree Kill draft. It was in that draft that they had. So there was pick certainty. Like you knew when it was coming. And it was a second instead of a third. So I just, it's a little bit more than I would have thought for McDuffie. But I don't think it is some sort of like overwhelming draft. It's almost what the Jets got for Quinnon Williams.

It's, I mean, I don't, I think it is, I also anticipated that this trade could happen. This is, and I think Wilds is with me because I was in your office when we heard the terms of it. I was surprised that they got quite as much as they did. Now, again, you have to hit on the picks, but the other piece of it is, there, and this is the point that I would make, then we can leave it. If they didn't do this, they had two other options. One is play out your fifth year option and then walk for nothing. Or franchise tag him and then walk for nothing.

That, to me, is disastrous team management. It's the cheapest way. And for next year, for this coming year, it's, you know, probably he's going to be better than the 29th pick and the fifth rounder, you know, next year. The other option is, pay him. Have the single, and now go into next season with the highest paid D tackle, the highest paid center, the second highest paid guard, the highest paid quarterback, and the highest paid corner,

who, by the way, doesn't play outside corner. That, to me, is bad process and not sustainable. So the number one goal, yes, is to draft good players and keep them forever. The number two is draft good players have them play for you when they're basically free and then turn them into more free players. That totally makes sense. And so, but I think I totally buy.

that if you were Brett Veach and you, I was Brett Veach and you were Clark Hunt. And I'm like, good news. We're the new Patriots. We are not going to have a little dynasty. We are going to be the dominant team for a decade plus. And if I was Clark Hunt, I'd also be like, we're also a six-win team.

Patriots didn't have a losing season. Yeah. We're also a six-win team with an injured quarterback who just traded away our best defensive player or second best defense player. Like, oh, well, through that lens, I'm a little more shocking. I like the Patriot stuff a little bit more. Makes the draft fascinating.

Well, yeah. A team in Mahomes, like, Mahomes in his prime with two first-round picks. Three picks in the top 40. Yeah. And they can move around. The extra third could be used to move around. Like, there's something new. I think you like picking back, too.

29. It's like where you're comfortable being. No, well, that's the thing is I think I could see that. I don't think they're going to trade back from nine, but I could, I would be surprised if they make the picks at 29 and at 40. Now, I don't know if that means they moved up or they moved back. But, I mean, that's how they got Trent McDuffie. They had the 29th pick from Miami.

They traded that to New England, I think, to move up to get McDuffey. Did you want them to try to move up to assure that they get love? If they move up, if they move up in the top nine, it has to be because they, for a pass rusher not to move up for love. I mean, and I like love a lot, but I think pass rushes a better practice. I don't like it. I like it. All right, some sad news coming out of New England.

The Patriots are releasing four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, Stefan Diggs, who triumphantly came back from ACL injury and played great. 85 receptions, 1,000 yards, 4 touchdowns, and also went to the Super Bowl. Thank you for a heck of a year. We're a family forever and a nice heart. Not even the heart with like the little bandages around it. Just the raw heart sitting there. I had no bandages. So are we really family?

Yeah, if you have the heart with the bandages, it means one thing. The raw red Valentine's Day heart means another. Everyone knows that. Danny, what's the question here? What does this mean for the Patriots? It's not great. Yeah, I'm pretty surprised by it. I know there were articles talking about he could be a cap casualty,

but maybe they could have restructured the deal. It seemed like such a good fit, and he seemed to like it so much, and was so productive, and they won, and he was to. touted as a leader that I got to be honest, I didn't see this one coming. And you've got a lot of cap space. So maybe you guys become the Alec Pierce destination and you just like pay at the top of the market for him. But I also think you guys are going to be the team most linked to A.J. Brown. I just, I think that that just, sure. Now, do what my gut tells me A.J. Brown stays in Philly. You and I disagree on that. But if he gets moved, I would bet strong.

strongly that it's New England, that they would just trust that Vrabel's culture would be a relationship. And his relationship and May's arm would make A.J. Brown be on his best behavior. And you would then be upgrading from Diggs to A.J. Brown. But I feel like this makes it, it's like it's priority one, two, and three almost for the Patriots. Like they need to fix and fill this production. I'm very surprised by it. That's what it means to me. Go get A.J. Brown. That's like, because I don't need A.J. and Stefan Diggs. And I get Diggs was a great soldier this year. But two guys with diva tendencies I don't need. AJ is better, obviously, than Stefan Diggs right now. And he would be, and like Danny said, he's got a quarterback that's going to be throwing

him the rock all season long. It's not going to be anything like Philly where they're throwing it 25 times a game. And so he's going to love it. And they're a good team. He's got the relationship with Vrable. Like, go get A.J. Brown. Would you give up pick 31? For A.J. Brown? Yes.

Okay. I mean, like, if A.J. Brown was, like, all of a sudden, at the combine, like, here's A.J. Brown. But, yeah, I mean, yeah, that guy looks great. Yeah, he's more expensive, older than the guys at the combine. But, yeah, I mean, AJ Brown would get 150 targets on the Patriots next year. Yeah. So I would be great. So if I, the, this is why, even though I don't think it's a stunning move, it, Danny's point about, you guys aren't. Some teams cut productive players for cap reasons because they have to get cap-compliant.

It's like the chiefs with Joanne Taylor. And again, he wasn't as productive as Stefan Digg, so maybe it's not a perfect example. But it seems like, no, this is a good player who, all things being who would like to keep on the roster, but we're literally going to be against NFL rules if we're not under the. The Patriots already had cap space.

So freeing up 20 more million was not a necessity. But it did create a necessity on the roster. Correct. I thought they potentially needed another wide receiver even with Diggs. Now, to your point, they definitely do. I think they definitively need another pass rusher, and I think they need offensive line help. And now this priority jumps up.

I personally would say to you, if you guys are going to trade for a receiver, the variable relationship notwithstanding, I would trade for Brian Thomas Jr. Before I trade it, try to trade for Brian Thomas Jr. Before I try to trade for A.J. Brown. He's younger.

He's amazing. It's the, he seems to have fallen a bit out of favor in Jacksonville. They have Travis Hunter coming back, you know, and he can kind of grow a same timeline as Drake May. Not that A.J. Brown's any of the more close to over the hill, but for a receiver, he probably has like two prime years left, and so that's a different spot. The reason why it was surprising to me when he signed this deal, I think there was a lot of question marks. Are you going to be a problem in the locker room? No. Are you going to be look like yourself coming off of an ACL? Yes. Can we win? games with you. We went to the Super Bowl, you had

a thousand yards. So it felt like... So do you think it's just the off the field? Again, it can... I don't, you know, I haven't been following the legal in and outs of that, you know, with a fine-tooth comb, I guess. But it's not nothing, certainly.

But they can upgrade, too. Like, A.J. Brown is a big upgrade over, Stavon. He was, look, A.J. Brown is great. I just think Stefan Diggs, on the field kept his end of the bargain. So you're blindsided by this too? Not blindsided because there started to be sort of tremors that it was going to happen.

He's crestfallen. I am I am I am crestful. That might be worse. That might be worse. Got to the Super Bowl. All right, good news. I know you think stats are just like for policy wonks. You know what I mean if you're in the auditing office?

It's not true, okay? No. They're actually pretty cool. Here to prove it to you is Danny Parkins. with the stat as old, with a segment called Pack Stats. And again, we're ready, Kay. I'm ready to go, man. Just because I'm putting on my gloves while you throw it to me is fine.

That doesn't take away from the coolness of the stats. Get that one all. It's really small. It's very small. I'm sorry. But I was just curious if you guys wanted to know what else is going. Yeah, what else has got to just start. Size not mattering.

Can I open this? Size not mattering. That's right. Big things in small packages. Get it? Swing and a miss there. We took a bull. Would KW like that one? No. I did it anyway.

Kyler Murray. Better than he's given credit for. Oh, come. Oh, wow. Total yards per game quarterback since 2019. He's as good as Lamar. He's not as good as Lamar. Wow, one yard short, not even a yard.

But yeah. I'm not saying he is 14 inches short of being as good as Lamar. Love it. But like, in terms of, In terms of, yes, I understand commitment issues. I obviously know how tall he is. But are you really saying that if with the best coaching that he's ever had, with the best receiving that he's ever had, with the, as you put it yesterday,

the realization of, oh man, I got to be a pro right now. I just got fired. I've failed for the first time in my life that if he goes to a better situation than he was in, that the best football could not possibly be in front of the bank. This is what I don't like. Great call. When he was young. People thought he was in a great situation with Cliff Kingsbury.

People loved Kingsbury. Everybody loved me. And his glass house and his feet up on the thing. I forgot about the glass house. That glass house was cool. And he is, Danny, you do not believe he's one of the 20 best quarterbacks in football. So why is he going to excel? Just stats, man.

Stats are cool. Again, the total yard. That right there, that stat right there made me question total yardage. if he's the sixth most productive. And again, I'm very curious the qualifiers put on at minimum 80 starts. How many guys are not eligible because of the number of starts? I don't know. I mean, playing matters.

Well, I agree. Playing games matters. But I also, I think the fact that he is 87 starts into his career and the same age as Sam Darnold is right now, not Darnold when he left the Jets, Darnold right now makes me think he is who he is. Do you not, if we would have taken, like, remove this year, of the team success of Sam Donald. So just like go back in your minds 12 months.

Who is the better player, Sam Darnold or Kyler Murray? After Darnold's Vikings year? I would have said, three Vikings, right? No, he's saying pre. I would have given you the Vikings year, but certainly, but sure, go there. Like, he, I mean, it would have been arguable after just the one Vikings year,

particularly with the meltdown at the end of the season and in the play. But that's, okay, I mean, I don't people would say it. I wouldn't have gone that far, but pre-vikings, I would definitely say, Tyler. When you get to the, oh, time for cool stats. Sorry, guys. So since I know what is cool, I also know what isn't cool.

You know what isn't cool? What? What's not cool. It's not cool. The stat is cool, but it's not cool to get hit. So I'm going to tell you a stat about that, Wilds. You didn't like that one either. I like it.

Who cares about Wilds? Everyone's talking about Tyler Windabom leaving who's going to sign him. What about the impact on Lamar Jackson? Not good. He just had the highest sack percentage year of his career, and he's losing his best offensive linemen in the captain of his offensive line. And if we talk about Lamar and injuries, Lamar and this new contract and him entering,

while still a great athlete, obviously, and still a first ballot hall of famer and an MVP candidate, but he is going to need to operate more from the pocket. And he just had his most sacked year. Instead of talking about the addition of Linderbom from another team, should we be talking about it more through the prism of your guy, Lamar. Well, so much so that I'm hoping Linderbombeam isn't necessarily. gone. Like he wants a ton of money. There's reports he wants $25 million. Creed Humphrey right now is getting what, 18? He's the highest paid center. So maybe if and again, reports are that the

Ravens are willing to make him the highest pay center. So maybe they're like, look, see what's out there and they may match something. You know, if a team goes above and be out. But we'll see. But I look, I love the guy and I think they need him. And I would imagine Lamar is saying the same thing that we got to keep Linderbombe. I think that they want him, but they let him hit free agency. Can I ask a quick question? Yeah, go ahead. I know, you know what else is cool? What? The

Bears having a center. Listen, I would love it if Linderbaum was the center of the Bears, but I don't think that's going to happen. You need a center, though. Because the Bears Center just retired. Yeah, stay tuned for First Things Last at the end of the show. You guys got time for one more? Yeah, also Billy and Deanna's

segment. Oh, yeah, that's right. Our kids did a show called First last before. Yeah, it was like two years ago. They sat out here. Yeah, that's true. All right, well, my monologue segments. Yeah.

Yeah. Have you seen the second? Yeah, I didn't know it was called. Do you watch the show? Yeah. All right, guys, you know what else is cool? Late. Versatility.

Oh, that is true. And as in, we can do hoop stats, too. Oh, wow. Do we really know the new Lakers? Did you know that LeBron, Luca, and Austin Reeves Reeves have almost played as many minutes together in the seven games since the All-Star break as they played in the 54 games before the All-Star break, kind of shocked me because the LeBron's injury, obviously, AR's injury as well.

So they've seven games since the break. They've started all seven games. They've played together, and they're playing pretty well. Beating up on some tomato cans. It also speaks to that, you know, really awful early season, that plus minus with the three of them on the court. Yeah. Was a tiny sample.

Really small sample. tiny minutes-wise sample. And I do think you are seeing more signs of continuity offensively when the three of them are out there. Now, maybe it's competition-based. I don't know. But to your point, I think they play the Nuggets. Well, the Nuggets defense stinks, too.

They're going to have to out score them, though. Figure out more on that tomorrow. You got 3.20 plus points. 1.30 and two other in the 20, so we should be able to put the ball in the only. Oh, that wraps it up. another edition of cool stats. Coming up next. What's coming up next?

What we're going to talk about if the team should go all in for Max Crosby? What team should go all in for Max Crosby? Give us a hint, Dan. I think the reports on this are just way off. And he stays? I'm not talking about staying, but the cost to get him. Very interesting. Welcome back to First Things First.

Willie Cologne hanging out now. Where is Max Crosby going? It's going to be one of the biggest topics of conversation until a decision is final. The reports are, they don't really want to be in Vegas, but he's not demanding a trade yet. Diana Rossini, friend of the show,

coming out and reporting. So where do things stand right now based on several conversations with league sources? The Raiders have not moved off from their asking price of two first round picks and a player. Several teams are interested, but decision makers are getting mixed signals

from the Raiders in regards to their genuine interest in dealing their star, which makes sense because that is an absolute. absolute King's ransom. So, Willie, the question is, who should go all in for Max Crosby? Okay. But before we get into the specifics of the teams, I love Diana Rusini, I respect Jay Glazer, all of these NFL reporters, they have way more sources around the league

than I do. I feel like you're about to say so. I'm about to say something. It would be breaking with league precedent for a player like Max Crosby to get a Micah Parsons-like package, a Khalil Mack like package. It's just simply because of age. Age and injury. Age and now the injury.

Well, Micah didn't get his injury until you landed with the package. Till he'd been traded, right. But so this is just what I put together. Non-quarterbacks in the last 10 years who've been traded for multiple first round picks. So not even including and the player. Okay. Look at their ages. They're all 25, 26.

The oldest is 27. And Khalil Mack at that time hadn't been paid yet. It was only four years into the league. and was considered basically like the best defensive player in football. Crosby is coming off the meniscus cleanup and will be turning 29 before the season. So he is a great player. And I will talk about how I want him as a bear soon and that I think he makes a lot of teams better and makes sense for a lot of teams. But I will be floored if all in ends up being defined as two firsts and a player,

like what just what Micah Parsons was just traded for. I don't think it's going to cost that much. Well, I respect the King's Ransom because if you want to debate, you know how negotiations work, right? Like you start high, hopefully you land in the middle. So I understand the Raiders. Oh, I'm sure the Raiders want that. Right. I just don't believe that a team is going to do that for a 29-year-old pass rush or coming off knee surgery.

I don't believe it. Well, see, I think differently because I think if you're a team right now who feels like you're in win now mode, and for me, there's a couple of teams. Let's hear them. Buffalo Bills, right? You need a closer. You haven't had an edge presence since Greg Russo, Leonard Floyd. AJ Epinezzar is going to be a free agent. You're going to lose him.

You know you went into this division game against the Broncos, not having a presence on the edge that can close and get home to the quarterback. Max Crosby can do that. If you're the Baltimore Ravens, you're going to lose Kyle Van Nuoy, the free agency. You know Matt Crosby can elevate your defense, right? You know the type of culture he brings into the building, you know his makeup, you know what he can do. I love him on the Ravens.

Not really, but I get it. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, the Steelers issue. Yeah, yeah. And also the Cowboys. Because if you're Jerry Jones right now, it's time to put up and really say, you know what? I've been talking a lot of smoke. I've talked about what I'm willing to do.

Getting him proves it. And you have a young D.C. and Christian Parker who's new to the job, new to the building, and you're going to give him a weapon that can really bolster that defense. So for me, those are the three teams that I feel like can make hey. I will be Florida, if it's Dallas simply because they traded Micah away. for multiple picks and a player to then turn around and trade multiple picks and a player for Max Crosby

would surprise me. I love the Buffalo idea. I think that one's perfect. Bill Barnwell, when he did his off-season projections of trades and he nailed the McDuffie Chiefs trade from earlier, as did I. He said it first, though. I'll give him credit. Flex. Yeah, subtle.

Nothing humble about this brag. No, but he said DJ Moore and a first for Max Crosby. Okay. So I would do that in a heartbeat as a bear. Well, the bears are the cleanest fit.

I give you that. And he seems to want it. Like him and Caleb, some things he said on social media, things he said during the season, it's a huge need. The only thing that now gives me pauses, and I'll talk about Drew Dalman's retirement a little bit later in the show,

but Drew Dalman retiring, the center for the Bears, it just creates another, like they've got a left tackle question mark, they've got a pass rush question, mark and now they have a center question mark. Before they when they didn't have a center question mark, I was like, oh, trade your first and DJ more, fix your edge rush problem. And then you just have your left tackle thing to figure out. Now with the extra question

mark, I'm not sure that the bears are in a position to trade a first round pick anymore. Yeah, that's fair. But I also don't fall, like I'm not willing to bite the app on reference to his relationship with Caleb because I'm pretty sure Max would love to play with Josh Allen who's in his prime. I'm sure. Who would love to play with Lamar Jackson who's in his prime. right like the problem with Max Crosby he's never had a quarterback that he could depend on right because when the defense gets off the field after handing the office the ball he wants to hand the ball to a quarterback that can deliver he hasn't had that he said five he said five different head coaches so any of those coach any of those quarterbacks he would fall in love with that's why i'm not all right he loves caleb he would love jay lincoln okay uh to philadelphia so come on we're talking trades we're talking a jay brown because philly is asking for a high price for their wide receiver and reports from the athletics uh james palmer

on his Scoop City podcast. He says, so a head coach heard what the Eagles were asking and, quote, laughed, laughed hard. So obviously, the Eagles asking price for AJ Brown is high. This is a fun one because, like Max Crosby, an undeniably great player, though a little bit more baggage with A.J. Brown. Willie, where's the best fit for A.J. Brown?

Well, let me say this. If you let A.J. Brown go, whatever that looks like, the Eagles aren't making the playoffs next year. Wow. I'm going to jump out there and say that. Like this receiver room is built around A.J. Brown and Devante Smith. If you let him go, all eyes on Devante Smith. And the reason why Devonty Smith has been able to eat because he had A.J. Brown on the other side.

So you don't think Devante is a true number one? We haven't seen it, right? No, definitely not. And I think the reason why. I think he's very good, though. I think he's damn good. But this is what you have to understand with the Eagles of offense right now. They're going to lose potentially both tight ends of free agents.

Dallas Goddard is going to be a free agent. And they have, I think the kid's name right now is Grant Calf the Terran. I'm chopping his name of so I apologize. They could potentially lose that. Right? On top of that, you need office line help. Bad. The money that the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the eagles would take a big dick-cap hit

if they let A.J. Brown go. I think it was like 23 million. You can reserve that money and get you an office line, some pieces on the office line that can revamp this run game and get San Juan Bakley, excuse me, back on par. I think this is all smoke. I don't think AJ Brown's going anywhere. I don't think he wants to go anywhere. And I'm going to tell you the grand pool of it all.

AJ Brown walks away. Let's just say he goes, plays for the Patriots. That's hypothetically. There's a chance the Eagles may realize that Jalen Hertz is the problem. Oh, yeah. Listen, I'm saying that for years, buddy. Trust me, I've been next to me. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But there may be an issue where that Jailen Hurst may have hit a ceiling. And that's a bigger crisis that I think the Eagles are willing to deal with right now. Okay, so we're actually pretty aligned here because A.J. Brown would have a better fit with a better quarterback. Right? That's fair. I think so Stefan Diggs gets released. If you just said in a vacuum, next season, week one,

AJ Brown is an eagle or AJ Brown as a Patriot? Which team is A.J. Brown going to have a better statistical season? I would say the Patriots. I don't disagree with that. Drake May throws the ball down the field. He can push the ball outside the numbers. He's a great deep ball thrower. AJ Brown would probably get 150 targets in New England next year.

And that's just not how Philly's offense operates. But if I'm Holly Roseman, I'm looking around, I'm like, I need A.J. Brown and Sequin and Devante. That's the only way this has ever worked at a high level. He stabilizes your off with my quarterback. So I fully expect, and this isn't maybe the best, like, take for the Internet or take for the next two months of the off season because projecting trades. But I think status quo is going to win here. I think A.J. Brown is going to be in Philadelphia next year. And then, by the way, there will be problems with A.J. Brown in Philadelphia next year.

But what are the problems? I'm saying. But my point is that you've said you wouldn't love to leave the locker room that leave the locker room when A.J. Brown's on your team. But they're consistent. They are consistent. They're not all loaded up place. They're not patchy statements. What he's saying is, I'm open, right?

Like, I've said this time and time on the show. When you turn on a tape and it's him versus another guy, he's open, right? He is correct. When there's a blitz coming and he's your big third down receiver, he's open. Jalen Hurts has struggled to get him the ball. And for whatever reason, and I think a large part of Jailen's regression is because of the office line. They haven't been able to protect him. I think he starts to see ghosts and he looks unhinged in the pocket.

I think that's part of the problem. But nevertheless, man, there's nothing wrong with A.J. Brown. I think his game hasn't regressed. He just hasn't been utilized to the best of his potential. Well, so that's the thing. Like, he's such a good player that, let's just say conservatively, he's a top 10 receiver in football. I don't think anybody's my argument. Right.

Let's just say it. So he's a good fit, literally everywhere. Take the worst team in the league. If you put him on Vegas, you're like, oh, well, that's a good fit because it would help Fernando Mendoza, you know what when he comes in. Take the Titans. Oh, that would help you realize what Cam Ward is. But I would say New England, Buffalo, Baltimore, Baltimore would all be. be just like they all need true number ones. They all have great quarterbacks. They're all in a

win now mode. They all have low first round picks that they can trade. Like those would be the teams if he does get dealt that I would circle. But I think he's literally a good fit on every team in the NFL. Talking about guys who are moving, Kyler Murray is a former Cardinal and everyone seems to be connecting dots with one team. We'll talk about what it would turn the Minnesota Vikings into if they land the former number one overall pick. Thanks for hanging out with us on the OT. Let's talk Kyler Murray. So we discussed yesterday where we want him to go.

But there are reports circulating that this was his preferred outcome, being outright released, which makes sense because then he can pick his destination. And he's got the Vikings near or at the top of the list with two destinations lined up. Albert Breyer writes, Kyler Murray's 36.8 million guarantee means he'll almost certainly play for the minimum next year. Arizona flits the rest of the bill, which allows him to make his next move purely based on football. So I said Minnesota,

it's a pretty easy doubt to connect because of the J.J. McCarthy stuff. Willie, let's talk about the hypothetical. Would you like Kyler Murray in Minnesota? Well, first of all, this out of all the headlines and stories in this free agency time, this intrigues me the most.

Oh, wow. Okay. And let me start there. Two, if the Vikings bring in Kyle and Murray, this signals to me, they're giving up on J.J. McCarthy. I agree. Because you're not bringing in Kyle of Murray to sit the bench. You're bringing him to start. Are you bringing him in to compete?

Because I think there's a real chance that if you do this, you are trading J.J. McCarthy and that he's not even on the team. I don't disagree with that. But I'm just thinking about from a logistic standpoint, like, it's not college, right? You're not going to say, all right, Kyler, you're running with the ones. JJ, you take this scout team and you get your reps in. That's not how NFL league's practice. That's not how the league works, nevertheless.

I also have to say that, I don't know if you know this, Kyle Murray is not a good cold weather quarterback. He's done, I got a stat to play. Can we get can we throw it up there right now? Like this is this is Kyler in games below 55 degrees. 55 55 55 I know. I was it. I think you're 35 35 I know.

Listen that's not the biggest sample. He's only played nine games. So we play nine games. Think about that. And if these only played two games below 40 degrees, right? And so think about it goes to a dome. So if yeah, but he has to play Green Bay. If he lands in Minnesota, he has to play Green Bay in Chicago.

Oh, I'm aware. Another team that's been floated out there is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mike McCarthy has said, I love Kyla Murray. Yeah. That whole division's outside, right? So do you like him? So not the Jets either because Buffalo, New England are both cold weather teams. Miami, Atlanta?

No, the team I would love for him. I should just let you say it instead of guessing. Well, the team I would love for him to land is the L.A. Rams. And I'll tell you why. This is ridiculous. Because Matthew Stafford and the Rams, I think, got lucky with his back situation. I don't think anybody looked at Stafford going into last season, thought he was going to play as great as he did

or would remain as healthy as he was, right? Going into this year, there's a chance that the back may flare up again. Sure. And there's another chance that if they don't make the Super Bowl, he may hang it up. That he retires. Sure. We all know what Sean McVeigh can do to a quarterback,

let's say rehab quarterback. He's probably one of the best in the business. So if you're Kyle Murray and you say, hey, if I got to sit a year potentially or if Stafford gets hurt, I'm landing in the system with weapons and a coach who can elevate me. So it is a compelling thought exercise. And I don't mean to be patronizing. I honestly don't.

It's one of your best skillset. Thank you. Happy anniversary to my wife. Here's what I would say. That is just not going to happen. He's too good. What are you talking about? You think Kyler Murray is just going to volunteer in the middle of his athletic prime to go

back up Matt Stafford? First of all. I just, I can't, he, because he could go, yeah, you can't work with Sean McVeigh, but you can work with a guy on the McVeigh tree in Kevin O'Connell and a guy who got Kirk Cousins to ball out and a guy

who got Sam Darnold to ball out and you think you're better than that. Like, I understand that Kyler Murray is not the platonic ideal of a quarterback prospect because he's short. But I think at his best, he's a top 10 quarterback. Okay. At his best.

Yeah. We haven't seen a lot. of, but I've seen them cook. You've seen stretches of great play, sure. But so, like, in that world where we just, there are 32 teams, but there are not 32 good starting quarterbacks, but he is good enough to do it, and he's been in a bad spot. And I don't know if you'll like this stat or not. Nick hated it.

But I put this up during the A block game, and stats are cool at pack stats, total yards per game since 2019 of guys who have started a lot. He's sixth. Yes. He is a, he is a, he is a, unique athlete and a unique weapon. And he has been in a bad situation, not the worst situation, but a bad situation.

You're telling me you give him a Brian Flores defense. Kevin O'Connell calling plays, and he gets to throw the ball to Justin Jefferson in a dome. That team won nine games this year with Carson Wence, Max Brosmer, and J.J. McCarthy. Why can't they win 12 with Kyler? Like, that Vikings team with just league average quarterback play. And I think you say he could be top 10. Let's just say. At his best.

Sure, right. But I would assume that Kevin O'Connell and Justin Jefferson would be able to get him closer to his best than what he's had in Minnesota the last couple of years. So, like, on one hand, I can back up Matt Stafford. And on the other hand, I can start for a team that had a winning record last year that has a top. one receiver in football with the top five defense in football and play in a dome? Like I just, I cannot imagine

any human being on earth volunteering and signing up for the backup job instead of the starting job. I just don't think it's realistic. It's a very fair argument. My thing right now, Kyle is one is coming off a foot injury. So we don't know if the athleticism

we know he's capable of may take a hit from that. Most of the time it does, we'll see. On top of that, he needs a run game. Aaron Jones is gone. He's not going to be on the Minnesota Vikings. They need a run game to stabilize that offense. That's why they were able to survive and put up the little bit of numbers they were able to because they had a run game.

Right? On top of that, Kyle Murray, for me, needs a year where he needs a little revamp. And then I show you think Kevin O'Connell is a guy, but I also believe in Sean McVeigh, because I think both guys have proven they can revamp quarterbacks, rehab him, and get off and go. Listen, I think every quarterback would love to do a one-year apprenticeship under Sean McVeigh, but it's just not available. Because it's successful. Yeah, no, of course.

And I'm also baking on that Stafford might get hurt. I get it. So that's where I'm leaning. And it's a great organization and it's great and it's great weather. And he's stepping into a Porsche, right? It won't be a limit. Like for me, the Vikings feel like a limit. Really?

Because of what they had to deal with with JJ McCarthy. Like their identity on what they were able to do took a big hit. I don't know, man. I mean, Kirk Cousins had a career year there. Sam Darnold until, like, Sam Darnold revitalized his career. partially there. Two different quarterbacks. No, I know.

Style play, but all the above. Don't you think Kyler looks at them and says, I'm better than both of them? You would think? Yeah. But this is also a guy who only played five games last season. Listen, that is undeniably true. He's just, I can't see him signing up for a backup role.

Drew Dalman has retired. What it means next. It's time for first things last. Yesterday, amidst all the normal NFL noise of the franchise tag deadline coming and going, a massive story dropped out of Chicago. Bears' standout center Drew Dalman reportedly told the team he intends to retire from football

just one year after signing a three-year $42 million deal. In just his fifth season in the league, Dalman was an anchor of an offensive line that led to Caleb Williams' breakout. He started every game. He made the Pro Bowl. And maybe the most eye-popping part of the story, Dalman is just 27 years old.

Whenever a story like this comes about, it's labeled as a huge surprise. But it forces us to remember the brutality of the game we all love and the toll that it takes. Now, I don't know Dalman at all and hope nothing but the best for him. I texted one of his teammates just to get his reaction, and he said, obviously, he was surprised, but you've got to respect it. He also mentioned the grind of what it takes for any of them to get through a full season. Dolman played over 1,100 snaps last year. Now, Dalman is a smart guy who comes from a football family. He was a second team academic

All-American at Stanford who graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. His father played seven seasons in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl with the Niners. So he saw both the highest of highs the game can provide, and presumably the tolls the game can take on someone as they age. But those are just guesses as to the factors that led to Dolman's decision, and he owes us no explanation. But what I keep thinking about is given what we know about the effect of the game and what it has on the mind and body, the surprising thing should be that this doesn't happen more. Andrew Luck and Luke Keakley are high-profile examples of guys who retired due to injuries and health concerns. but Blake Martinez retired early after signing a $30 million contract to sell Pokemon cards.

Now, there's so much money in the game now that if you can get in, make some, and get out with your health intact to pursue other passions, sounds like a pretty good option. So here's the trying to no longer be surprised or disappointed when one of these stories comes out. Let's do what we do for anyone else and any job. Wish Drew Dalman the best of luck in retirement because not many 27-year-olds get to go out on their own terms. That's all I've got. Thank you so much for hanging out with us on the OT. We're back tomorrow with more First Things First.