First Things First - Final predictions, Lil Wayne reacts to the Micah Parsons trade, Mark Ingram & Matt Leinart join

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

(0:00) Jerry Jones justifies trading Micah Parsons to the Packers, Lil Wayne reacts (22:52) Matt Leinart and Mark Ingram on Texas vs. Ohio State, Arch Manning (38:18) Should Cowboys fans have any hope this season?  (46:12) FINAL PREDICTIONS: Super Bowl, MVP, Amendments (01:06:33) Can the Cowboys prepare for the Eagles?  (01:20:40) Who could’ve outbid the Packers for Micah Parsons? (01:24:21) Cowboys moved Parsons “to win playoff games”, Parkins’ SB & MVP Picks (01:45:26) Parkin’s Cowboys and Packers Picks (01:55:26) Cowboys vs. Eagles preview, Parsons expectations (02:05:42) Micah Parsons jumps to DPOY favorite  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live from New York, it's the show that is disputing some of the accusations around the internet that said I'm Captain Easy Stance. Okay. What do you mean? Well, I've got my predictions, and I've always had these. Let me guess. Eagles over the Chiefs. How about that? No, that's not. I don't think it is.

I think it's going to be Eagles over someone else, but it's definitely Eagles. Yes, because they're the best team. Which is why you're Captain Easy Stings. Who are you bick? There's a whole song about it. We'll find out, but certainly not the defending champ. Tell you that much right now. Exactly, because the Eagles beat them.

I'm just, listen, buddy. Wow. Just lean into it. Maybe I won't. Okay. But when you do, lean into it. You got to lean for this upcoming NBA season? Lean in the easy stand.

Do you? I like your thunder. We know. We know. All five positions. You're a superhero. First hour of first things first. Lots of Micah talk today.

Micah trade fallout. Jerry explains his plan and how this move is actually going to help the Cowboys win. Meanwhile, the Packers' Super Bowl odds are flying up the charts. Are we ready to say they are the team to beat over, I don't know, the Eagles? And finally, Matt Liner and Mark Ingram join us to talk Ohio State versus Texas. a huge game on Fox on Saturday. And I am going to try to explain must win. I don't know if I should do it.

I don't know if they'll get it. I don't know. Unless they're regular people. I don't know, man. But it's not a must win for either team. Okay. But it definitely is. Okay.

I don't know if they'll get it. Can I tell you back? You should have called them before the show. I have a good Matt line. story. Should I tell it now or with them? Is it about how handsome he is? Oh, I think he would enjoy it. He'll like that.

Then I'll wait until I see it. Buttery look. Yeah, okay. That's fantastic. Great. First hour, first things first. We're starting with Jerry Jones's explanation. The Cowboys owner said goodbye to his franchise player and one of the best defensive players in the league for two first round draft picks and Kenny Clark. Jones expects the Cowboys to be better. Take a listen.

This was a move to get us successful in the playoffs. This was a move to be better on defense, stopping the run. This was a move to, if we get behind, not be run on. And it was a deliberate move, a well-thought-out move to make this happen. We have a chance to get a minimum of three, and it could very easily be as many as five. Really top players. Cowboys last year, within without Micah, they gave up 27 points a game with Micah.

Without Micah, there was only four games. They gave up 30. The passer rating number is pretty bad. The passer rating number is bad. But for the record, 27 points is not fantastic. No, they were the number 31 scoring defense over the course of the entire year. So are you buying Jones's rationale? No, not one bit.

It sounds like he's trying to justify the trade that everybody knows is a bad trade, I feel. One, you're going to be better without him. I think this is an EPA stat that Nick will like. I don't like it. Over the four years of Mike's career. Yeah. EPA, Cowboys have the best defense EPA when he's on the field. When he's off the field, it's the worst in the league.

So that shows you the huge gap between when Micah's plays and when he doesn't play. So you're not going to be better without him. Stop the run. Okay, yeah, they have been bad against the run. Micah's not the greatest against the run, as happens with some big-time pass rushers. But you could have improved the run and kept Micah Parsons. All right. thirdly, he said, because I watched

the whole press conference. All right, he said... I watched it live, bro. What about you? Yeah, I didn't watch it live. I watched it. Yeah, I was grinding. Look, paying

three guys, over 50% of their salary cap would have been huge. And we don't think they would have been a great team even with Micah. But still, what shoots, you know, the air out of that from Jerry is you were willing to sign it.

You wanted to sign it. So this was a plan B. And I got, look, it was about Jerry's pride and ego. He thought he had a deal with Micah. And when Micah says, no, I want the guy that I pay to negotiate my deals to do it, all right? Why take that personal? Just because he didn't do it like Michael Irvin did it or any of your other superstars in the past did it. You should have respected that he hired a guy to negotiate the contract, do it with.

with him. So this was Jerry's pride and ego getting in the way of I think what was best for the Dallas Cowboys what their fan base wanted. And I look, I'm just going to say it. I think Jerry Jones has become the worst GM in the league. He's become the worst

GM in the league. Like if you look at the weight, the C.D. Lamb deal, the DAC deal, how long he waited. Even, heck, Micah, he could have got this done long ago for much cheaper and then had the money, as you said, Nick, to sign other guys. So you wouldn't have been jammed up

with the three highest paid players in the league at their positions if you had signed Micah. So it's just a mess and I'm not buying his rationale at all. They're going to have a bad season. And to be honest, I think the future is not, is pretty bleak too. Okay. To your point at the end, had they signed Micah at the first possible opportunity, The top of the D-N market at that moment was $34 million. It was a Nikki Bosa's deal. Had they signed him, you know what I mean? The beginning of last off season, right,

when the other superstars of his draft class got signed, the only one who didn't, the only superstar of that draft class that wasn't signed last off season, was Jamar Chase, who, by the way, another team that I don't think always does business well, and they ended up paying through the nose for it. So I agree with you there. I think it is disastrous and an indictment on Jerry Jones that they ended up where they were this week and yesterday.

I would have signed Micah at my first possible opportunity. If I determined, I can't pay Micah, DAC, and CD. CD would have been the one I traded because I think that's more easily replaceable and you're paying DAC already. and if I, after signing DAC, signing CD and then seeing this past year determine trading Micah's on the board, I would have rather done it before the draft, all those things. But you can't, where they were this week is where they were this week. And given where they were 72 hours ago, I don't think they did terribly in the trade, and I understand the trade.

So I want to make it very clear. be in the business of backing myself into the corner to where trading Micah Parsons makes sense, but where I feel no one is being fair, so to speak, to Jerry Jones is if the Cowboys yesterday, if the breaking news was the Cowboys signed Micah Parsons to four years, $188 million, we'd be making fun of Jerry Jones. We'd be saying, might look at what you cost yourself. The market was 34, then it was 40, then it was. was 41, now you're at 47.

And we'd all be saying we're not changing our playoff picks. They're still missing. So if you are, we thought the Cowboys were kind of stuck. And I don't know about you, I didn't look at them as, all right, this year I think they're going to be bad, but next year,

you know what I mean, sky's the limit. I know a lot can change. I do think, given where they, the corner Jerry backed them into, that this trade gives them some flexibility that maybe gives them the possibility to remake a team that we felt needed to be remade.

That's all I'm saying. Like, I know it's a little confusing of a take. I don't mean it to be, but like, you have extra draft picks. The defense, to your point, KW, was 31 in the league last year. And I know Mike had missed four games, but he was out there for 13 of them. They have holes all over the place. and I didn't so I

hate that they got to this point because the whole idea of the draft is to maybe be able to get a first ballot Hall of Famer which Mike is on pace to be but once you drove down this wrong road you yes you can say we shouldn't have turned on to it but once you're where you're at I don't think this was

a disastrous outcome because signing him for 48 million or 47 million a year and having far and away the highest paid quarterback, far and away the highest paid non-quarterback, and one of the highest paid skill position guys in the league, you're not going to be a champion that way. You're just not going to be. We've never seen it.

And so I understand the move once they got there. I hear you, but the reason they got to this point was Jerry. And it's the way he's always done it. That's the thing. You're delayed on the other guys. You delayed on Micah. and now you found out you were here. And he called Micah, Michael, like, four times.

One of those times, to be fair, the time where Stephen corrected him, the question was about a Michael Irvin, Micah Parsons' conversation. And so he didn't know if it was talking about Michael or Micah. But he did. Before that, he did threw it up a few times. But the one that's gone viral where Stephen steps in and he's like, no, Micah, that was actually a real clarification. Sports media ombudsman took a bit of an L yesterday, so I need to clean that up. He puts a lot of shots. Maybe take a week off.

Or if you like it or a week off. What is interesting, and look, I think they should have signed Michael. I think they should have done it long ago. But Miles Garrett on the Browns, they're going to be bad, a non-factor. Pittsburgh, neither of us has them in the playoffs. T.J. Y. Never won a playoff game. And now, right, haven't.

And now you got Micah. Now, he's going to, in Green Bay, obviously, they're going to be good. But, you know, if he had gone to Dallas, we don't think they would have made a bet. But go down a tick on the next highest paid guys. And it's Nikki Bosa's been to a couple of Super Bowles. Chris Jones, who's been to all the Super Bowls, like Daniel Hunter, who's on Texas team that plays in playoff games. Go ahead.

Meanwhile, in Green Bay, Micah, enthusiasm is moving the markets. Packers' odds jumped. They are now the favorites in the divisions over the Lions. They have the second best odds in the entire. NFC and they now have the fifth best Super Bowl odds. Does anyone or is anyone ready to say the Packers are the best team in the NFC? Spoiler alert. Oh.

Because I know we're doing our picks in a few moments. I am ready to say that the Green Bay Packers will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. All right? I was a year. Did I pick them last year? I was a year early. Yeah, but I was a year early. But you start.

I got them going to the Super Bowl because here's the deal. And I had them winning the division before the trade, but I think I'd say it yesterday, I was leaning toward picking Detroit. Yep. Their defense, if you looked at the Packers and you thought of a weakness outside of maybe questions if you have them about Jordan Love. But their defense, it was, okay, the cornerbacks, the pass rush.

It was a real defense was the concern because of the corners and the lack of the lack of a rush. Now Micah solves both of them to meet because obviously you've got a great pass rusher. Rashon Gary is good. Good. And he's been getting double teamed all these years. Now he's not going to be the one getting double team.

It's going to be Micah. So you pencil in Micah's 12 sacks. Then Rashon Gary's might go up to double digits. And then the cornerbacks don't have to cover as long because we got a great pass rush. So the defense was sixth last year in scoring defense. All right. Top five overall. defense. So I think they're going to have a top

eight-ish defense, if not much better. I mean, I mentioned the EPA before, just the gap. Green Bay was fourth in defensive EPA. So now you add, I'm just saying for the analytics. Josh, you got to stop. I did the show

well for four years. I never talking about it. Josh, we did for four years. Josh, we did it. Oh, look. Nick used is it when it supports his argument. I never used it. You used something.

I never once used it. I never once used it. But you're going too hot. No, no. I'm just saying. Adjusted or not adjusted. Well, look, I hit this. I'm here for the streets and I'm here for the analytics geeks.

So all you guys, I'm hitting all all cylinders. But the defense, I think, is going to be much improved. It already was good. Okay. And the offense, I think Matthew Gold is going to be a number one receiver. J-Lo, bounced back year. big year. Yes.

I got them. I respect the take. This is just such a huge bet on Jordan Love. Yeah. Because listen, what the Packers had, in my opinion, was a bunch of good players. Yes. And I agree. I'm not certain, aside from their safety, they had any definitively great players.

Now they do in Micah. but you do this because you believe your quarterback is ready this very moment. And you might say, I understand the initial reaction is, well, Micah's 26. Like, you know, you're going to have him for a long runway and you are. This is, this trade will be at its best immediately for them and be cost, more costly as the time goes on. So if we can throw up the Barnwell article, I think it is noteworthy because with the cost of those picks, not having the first round picks. Added on top of his deal, Parsons will cost the Packers more than $65 million per season over the next four years. Four-time Pro Bowler will make more, at least implicitly, than any other player in the game, his old teammate, Dak Prescott, included.

And twice as much as Bosa, who was the highest-batedged Russia in the NFL a few months ago. On top of that group. You know why I'm saying that to 60- because I don't know. know if people are going to understand that. Oh, it's because you don't, because you don't have the, the draft pick that you gave up. The draft, the two draft picks that you gave up. But I got Michael Parsons. No, I understand.

I just, I just think that's a little funny. No, I'm not the analytics guy that Barn Williams, but it's, you know. Well, you're dropping EPA left and right. I, uh, listen, it certainly, the draft pick certainly doesn't matter for this year because you literally wouldn't have it this year. It likely doesn't matter for next year because that's only one pick and they would be a rookie. where this trade, if it ever feels not great for Packer fans, it's in four years, right? It's when those guys that you would have been drafting would be entering their prime, they've achieved. Right.

And remember, they're the youngest team in the league. That does make sense. But the point I'm making is you don't do this if you don't think you can win this moment, which is a bet on Jordan Love. That's a bet on Jordan Love right now. clearly think, and I think a lot of, even you who are not sold on him, you think the potential for greatness is there. Yeah. And that's the thing. He looks great. Like, the last two playoff games for him were tough. We didn't, we don't talk about that Eagles one where he threw three picks.

The Niners one where he threw the pick at the end. Like they, they, they, right, the Dallas one we talk about. So we're going to bring in a Packers fan now for a fan's perspective to see if, uh, this Packers fan is very, look at this. Four years from now, this Micah Trade is actually not going to be great, Wayne. But how do you feel about the micro trade right now? Man, it's beautiful. It's beautiful, for real. I have something personal about it, a personal opinion about it, and a personal reason why I'm not too surprised about it.

I'd like to label it. It's shockingly beautiful. Okay. I like that. Can you expand on the personal reason? You're not that surprised by it? Because I remember when Michael was at my house once, a few years ago,

I was, as soon as he got to the crib, I greeted him, I started talking about Jerry. And I made a, I made a comment about something like, you know, you're his son, you know, you're the golden son, you're the golden child. He's stopping you right there. Like, nah, no, nah. I ain't, it's like, no, I ain't, like, no, I don't,

we don't want me and Jerry Wings. I ain't one of those type of cowboys. And I'm like, what you mean? I was like, now, you know, you know, you know, you know, if Jerry like you. You could go out there and blow the world up or still go come, come right back on the team. That's a special space.

You're like, yeah, we ain't, our relationship ain't, we, it ain't like that one. That always stuck with me. That stuck out to him. Well, Wayne out here breaking news. One of Kansas City's most gorgeous hotel suites, by the way. Oh, it's stunning. That's top of the line. That doesn't get any better than that.

It doesn't, absolutely. I didn't know they had a place that nice of Kansas City, man. That's good. I hollered at Nick. It's called, apparently this is our guy's country, Nick tells me. He's. Wait, have your expectations for the Packers moved for this Micah Trade? They jumped ahead of the Lions in the division, and now they're right behind the Eagles to go to the Super Bowl.

Where do you have you? How optimistic were you before and how optimistic are you now? I think anybody that knows me, know, that I am the most optimistic would have to come to my Packers. But realistically, the defense was already kind of like a top five defense, especially. toward the end of last year. And all we were really missing was somebody that could rush to quarterback on a consistent basis. And somebody also, you know, we kind of,

it was kind of lacking on this, on the corners only because they're not too known yet. And I think we help them out a whole lot with this move right here. Oh, okay. Now, it's just, it's just guests, Central year. I'm surprised you didn't come with a jersey on it.

He got the green, right? Sue or Wayne. There are you know what it is. It's green and yellow all day. What are you doing, Greg? What's happening, Wayne? Just let me know where we mean in the box. We mean on the field.

What game we're going to? I mean, we're actually going to be there quite a bit. We're going to host of the trophy. Brew is jumped on board. We don't know what Nick's going to do. We really don't even care about Nick. This is about us, Wayne. Let's talk about it, man.

Because it is what it is. It's coming through Green Bay. I mean, we're definitely going to ride the little bicycle. We're going to ride through the bicycle. ride all the way to the street. We're there. We're doing it. We're doing it.

I already asked Michael what's the neighborhood I'm moving in. The downstairs suite, that's me. I like to be in the basement. Secluded a little bit, but we're getting it on. Yeah, it is what it is.

Greg, you've had it, you've had 24 hours now to digest it happen when we're alive. Have you had a, you were very enthusiastic when it happened? that felt like your alumni, and I sent you a text like, alumni Greg Jennings over the moon.

Analyst Greg Jennings, the same level of enthusiasm? Or has it measured up? Alumni Greg Jennings is definitely a little higher than analyst Greg Jennings. Like, I'm going to be honest. Like, this is going to be a really good team. Do they win the division? I believe they win the division now. Do they still have some bumps in the road?

Of course. But when you look at impact players and Micah being an impact player, and I know everybody's like, man, yeah, he disappeared in the postseason with Dallas. There was a, you remember me talking about this cloud, this dark cloud that kind of loomed over Dallas and Jerry had a lot to do with all of that. We don't have that in Green Bay. Wayne, we don't have that in Green Bay. We don't. So when he lines up in Green Bay in the cold, knowing that he has all these dogs on the other side

because they're not going to fall asleep. They're not going to be snoozing like the Dallas Cowboys always do in the playoffs. He going to be, oh, this is what it is? Because we're going to all be there. We're going to all be there. The stars shine bright in Green Bay. Oh, yeah, they've got to.

Absolutely. Absolutely, they got to. So that's my honest analysis. All right. I've got one before Wayne goes, because I know he's got a plane. to catch. Wayne, you know, this is maybe personal business, we'll make

it public a bit. I do owe you five from last year against the Bears. You said we'd run it back. I feel like now it's a fair fight. We can just do your team, my team. A Packers' Chiefs last longer, double or nothing, right?

I'm with it. That sounds awesome. He said that like you was going to be scared and back down. I don't know what's wrong with him. What are we doing? Thank you, Wayne. Thank you, Wayne. I appreciate it as always.

We'll have you on soon. Go Packers. Go, man. Go, Kevin, you got the hardest job ever. Well, thank you very much. Thanks, man. I trust me. I understand. Arch Manning Hight justified.

Matt Liner and Mark Ingram joined the show to talk about the huge game, Texas, Ohio State. Tomorrow we'll be back on FIS1 and the Fox Sports Channel on Series XM. Live from Columbus, Mark Ingram and Matt Liner. Thanks for being with us.

We're going to start off talking about Arch Manning guys. National champion aspiration, Heisman Aspirations, hasn't thrown the ball 100 times yet in his entire career. Nick is a little bit, I need to see a little bit more. Is that fair? I'm not skeptical. I'm agnostic. I know the guy has an awesome rivals rating and great last name,

but he just hasn't played much. That's all I'm saying. So is the hype justified? Yeah, I mean, look, I think a lot of the hype is kind of manufactured by a lot of us in the media and just you put that name. It's football royalty. Obviously, he was the number one player in high school coming out. And he's kind of waited his time, which I love. And he's developed there.

I would say this, you know, with the little tape that we saw a year ago, he's really, really talented. And the ceiling is really high. It's all the physical traits you want in a quarterback, the arm strength, he can move. He's really fast. Like, he's a great runner. And I think that's going to be a big factor in this game. And I actually spent a little bit of time with Cooper Manning his dad this summer. And I love just the way they've kind of, you know, dealt with all of this.

Like this kid is a normal kid. He goes to school. He just wants to kind of fit in. And he's got that type of personality where I don't think he's too high or too low. So again, yeah, I kind of agree with Nick in the sense that like we got to see him play. And I mean, road game against the defending national champ. Like we're going to find out a lot about Arch. Matt, I was going to ask you if you preferred them doing it the way they did where they brought him along slowly.

He's been behind Quinn Ewers or throwing him in right away as a five-star recruit as a freshman. You said you love this, so obviously you like to wait. But why? What do you think he'll benefit from having waited to get the starting job? Well, first of all, just development. I think in this day and age of college football in the portal, you see. kids just jump at the first chance they can get. So I think he went into Texas with the mindset to learn and develop.

And I'm just going to say this, Coach Sarkisian was my coach at USC. He's one of the best coaches that I ever played for, and he's one of the best quarterback developers that I ever played for. So I think that's a big reason why, Chris, is like he has one of the best coaches with him. He's learned the way of football. And Sark had success in the NFL as well. He's had tons of success in college.

So to get able to be able to learn from Sark for a couple of years, learn from a guy like Quinn Ewers, who Quinn yours is a really good college quarterback. We'll see what he does at the next level. And just kind of learn and be around the guys and the chemistry and all the things that a lot of times we don't see anymore because we see all these kids jump at the first chance. So I think the maturity and just kind of learning and sitting in it,

and then getting meaningful snaps last year. He did start two games and he did play against Mississippi State and the SEC. So it's not like he's coming into the season like Julian saying. the other quarterback that we're going to see that really hasn't played any football yet. Mark, I want to ask you a question. Obviously, both you and Matt were on unbelievably successful and legendary college football teams. It's very rare. It's not unheard of, but it's rare that a team as good as either one of these teams starts

the year playing a team as good as either one of these teams. If you go back to your career, like how real of, uh, Test is it, or test is the wrong word. How much of what we see Saturday is going to be an indication of who these teams are when you're a team this good this early in the year versus December when we expect both of them to be in the playoff? No, I think you're right. I think it's a huge test for both of these teams to come out in week one against programs with such aspirations and desires. But at the end of the day, this is going to be a great game. But, and we're going to learn a lot about the measuring stick of these teams, like where they're at.

at right now. But at the end of the day, both of these teams, whether they win or lose this game, they'll still have everything ahead of them going to the season. These teams who, they can lose this game and still very much likely be in the playoffs at the end of the year. So it is a huge test in week one to be in the top three matchup. And I think both of these teams will see a lot about them tomorrow about where they're at as a team, especially with both these quarterbacks. Ohio State lost a lot to the NFL. So did a, uh, so did, uh, you. Texas as well, a lot to the NFL. So we'll see a lot about both these teams and where they're at tomorrow with how they play this game.

Guys, want to talk about the other Heisman, hopeful Jeremiah Smith. I'm just going to read his playoff stats. Tennessee, six catches, 103 yards, two touchdowns. Oregon, seven catches, 187 yards, two touchdown. Texas, one catch, three yards, zero touchdown. Now, they did win the game, but what are you expecting from Jeremiah tomorrow? Is he going to go out and sort of have something to prove? as Texas, like, you know what, it didn't work, but he's not going to be the guy to beat us.

I think that's a massive storyline in this game. He's the best player in college football. I'm sure you guys got a chance to see him last year. The dude is, and he's only a sophomore, like he still has another year after this, which is crazy. But Texas did a great job last year, right? It was bracket. It was double team. It was just, hey, we're not going to let number four beat us.

We're going to let other guys be us. And that's exactly what happened. But Ohio State had the luxury of having a mecca, Bucca, is the first round pick. They had those two talented running backs. They had Will Howard who had played a lot of football and really peaked at the right time in the college football playoffs. So I think when you look at this game, the game plan to get him involved. If he has one catch for three yards in this game, Ohio State's going to lose. Because they have a lot, they have some new piece of. Carnell Tate had a big game last year in the national championship game. They got a new tight end who they're really excited about. But they have a young quarterback who's never played. So I think this game really falls on like Brian Hartline, the new O.C. Ryan Day. They've had eight months. to game plan for Texas on how they're going to get Jeremiah Smith involved in this game, moving around shifts, formations, just find those different mismatches. And Texas on the other side, guys, that defense was outstanding last year. Most of those guys are back.

So I think that's going to be the interesting chess match in this game is how do you get Jeremiah Smith involved? And if I'm Texas, I'm coming into this game like I'm not letting number four beat me. They don't have Quinn-Shon-Junkins. They don't have Trevian-Hengrins. They don't have a mecha-Ek-Bucca. They don't have Will Howard or that experience. So if I'm Texas, I'm saying one thing, I'm not.

letting number four beat me. Yeah. So we'll see. We'll see how it lines up. Yeah. And obviously for Smith, as great as he is, I mean, he's dependent on saying having a good game too. So, Matt, what can you tell us about this kid? Yeah, he's a SoCal kid.

I've had a chance to see him in the seven-on-seven kind of world back a couple of years ago when he was in high school. And I'll just say this guy is like he was the number one quarterback for a reason. He originally committed to Nick Sabin, Alabama, the Nick Saban, Alabama, the Nick Saban leaves, he immediately comes to Ohio State. He's got a lot of moxie. He's got a lot of that kind of confidence. He's not a very big kid, but he's got a great release. You guys watch this game, like the release, the ball. It's just one of those things when you watch in person, like, like, damn, that looks really pretty, right? But he's got a toughness to him. And there's a reason why he won this job. Like, this is Ohio State. There's a lot of pressure when you're

a quarterback at Ohio State, especially coming off a defending or coming off a national championship. So I think in this game, you know, at least what I would tell him, it's like, do the things that got you to this point, right? He manages the game well. He moves pretty well. Probably not as much as what Will Howard was in the run game a year ago, but you will see him take off and make some plays with his legs. He's really smart, high football IQ. A lot like Arch and the similar. Like these guys are walking into kind of similar situations. Like, all right, young quarterbacks, the stage is set for you guys. Like, how good are you going to be? But I'm fired up to watch him, man. He's been waiting here a year and now it's his time. Mark, what do you think

the focus on Jeremiah Smith will mean for the Ohio State running backs. Like you mentioned, last year, they're lining up four high, first or second round draft picks. Their top two receivers, their top two backs. And everybody knows how good Jeremiah is, but Emeka and the two running backs. This year, it's a little bit different, at least as far as their draft profile at the moment. What does the focus on Jeremiah Smith mean for what's available for the Ohio State running game? Well, everyone is under, they have to perform better. When you have a young quarterback like Julian Sand, everyone around him has to step their game up to make his job as easy as possible.

And that aligns with these running backs. One of the best ways to have your quarterback being comfortable is by running the football. So both of these two running backs, they need to have a great day tomorrow. They call them Sonic and Knuckles, and we're going to see if they got the speed into power because they're going to need it to be able to keep that balance, keep Julian saying clean in the pocket, but also to be able to not let them, you know, roll coverage and roll extra people to have eyes on Jeremiah Smith. Make them pay for not having a light box.

Make them pay for not focusing on the run game. And we're also going to have to see Carnel take step up too. I also think guys, too, to answer that, like, you're going to probably do everything they can again to take Jeremiah Smith off. Obviously, going to have some new wrinkles and things in Ohio State's going to prep differently. But when you do double that, obviously it lightens up the ball. And it's literally going to be up to Ohio State's offensive line. I know Texas on the defensive interior has some question marks, so I do think they're going to try to attack that.

But you've got to be able to run the box against five, six guys. Like you just have to, and football in general. Like, that's a common rule. If you can't, and then you can get to the quarterback and you can stop the run, combine that with obviously the immaturity of Julian Sam, because it could be a long day for Ohio State. We'll see. All right.

So now this is the most challenging part as a host. And if I don't do a good job, you can help me, okay? Okay. Okay. So we have a segment on the show called must win, all right? But it's not must win. It's not like the playoffs must win. I describe it like this.

On Mother's Day, I must buy my wife flower. I'm not going to get arrested, we're not going to, but I have to. Okay. So in the old school format, this was literally a must win. Your national championships hopes could be done. Now it's much, much more forgiving. That being said, who is this a must win for? Even though it's not a must win, but it is.

It's a confusing dumb thing you do, but we hope you understand. To me personally, I think if you put it in those terms, technically in the BCS era, by the way, your wife's birthday was this week. It's a must to spend the extra time with her to take the late flight. You told me. We're all smart up here, you know. We've got to take your own. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, but for me, a must win is for Texas. You got Sark, you got $35 million they put into this roster. They were in the CFP semifinal last year, lost to these champions in the Buckeyes. I think the must win is for Sark in these Texas Longhorns because not only the investment they put into the roster, but just because the amount of time that Sark has had with this team, I think it's time for them to get over to hump.

I think it's a must win for them more than Ohio. I agree, but I'll take the other angle just to have fun. I think it's a must win for Ryan Day in Ohio. State. A couple of reasons. You know, last year, Ohio State, what, they've lost four years in O to Michigan. We understand how big that game is. And guys, like, being around this rivalry, the last handful of years, it's insane. Like, that's just the one game that's always circled. So Ryan Day wins a national championship last year, kind of the monkey off is back, happy for them, a great team. This is just a brand new year, right? Now it's back to the same expectations.

You kind of have a brand new team. You got Julian Sandi, you all have all these news. And some people look at that, well, that's less pressure. It's not when you're at Ohio. State. And you still haven't beaten Michigan in four years. And Michigan's be pretty good this year, guys. They're going to be a really good football team. So can you imagine a world where Ohio State loses this game, then maybe they lose to Michigan down the stretch? Like, do the fans start calling for Ryan Day again? Like, I don't know. There's just so much pressure and expectation to win at Ohio State, which is probably unfair, but that's just the way it is. I just feel Ohio State has a way more favorable schedule if they lose the game as opposed to Texas.

So Texas, I feel like you lose this one. You drop this one. Then you might drop a couple more along the way an SEC play. As we said earlier, this is a massive measuring stick for, for really for both teams and both young quarterbacks. We'll find out a lot tomorrow. You crush muscle. They crush. I mean, they get it in a way that it took us years to get it. You guys got it. Before you guys go, I just, if either or both of you, a little story time, I've been, I went to Ohio State Penn State eight years ago. Huge game there. Seque Juan returns the opening kick for a touchdown. Yeah. But the crowd was. the crowd felt like a 12th and 13th man for Ohio State in that game, and Ohio State ended up coming all the way back. It's one of the reasons I think Ohio State, they're not favorites anymore, but I think they should be because the home field is such an edge, in my opinion, in the spot. Can you guys both give us an anecdote from your careers of either the most ominous road game you played or one that sticks out in your mind where it really felt like this, where you were playing,

was as big of an element as who you were playing? Well, I'll start. Listen, I'm going to take a shot at Notre Dame here just because I can't stand Notre Dame. And you guys know the Bush Push game and we won it. And I genuinely say this. Notre Dame, I had played there a couple of years prior, and it's not notoriously like a loud super home crowd.

It just isn't. But in that moment, to answer a question, I'll never forget. It was a fourth of nine play, and it's two minutes left, and we're down. and it was the only time in my career where I remember getting in the huddle and looking at the guys, and I couldn't hear myself speak, dude. It was so loud.

I was like yelling at everybody, and they're just, they probably had no idea what I was saying. But I was like, just look at my hand signals. I'm going to check this. But that moment for me in college is just one, and then the ending, obviously. But in that moment, in that like 10 seconds in the huddle, it was the loudest I'd ever be a part of. And then just quickly, like Oregon always on the road. You always hear those stories because, like, at that. time it only sat about 45,000 or 50,000, but that place gets rocking.

Yeah. Man, for me, LSU at night is insane. It's one of the, I think, one of the most electrifying places to go watch a football game or any live event. But for me, what stands out to me on the road, we played at South Carolina. We were the number one team in the country. We went in there, and they basically ambushed us, bro. They smacked you guys? They ambushed.

They didn't smack us, but they definitely beat us. We went in there as the number one team in the country. They went in there. Stephen Garcia played the game of his life, never played like that ever again. House John Jeffrey, Steph Gilmore. He's still salty about it. I'm sick. I'm sick, not.

Stephen Garcia, he bawled out that day, man. But that South Carolina crowd that day was insane. I don't think it's ever been that loud in the history of South Carolina. But I know for a fact that that place was jumping. It was booming, literally. Well, thank you, guys. Coverage starts 9 a.m. at Fox. We'll see you then.

Have a great show. a great game. Appreciate your boys. Thanks, guys. Great job. You know it. A fallout in the betting markets around the Cowboys. Pessimism abounds.

Super Bowl chairman and Greg Jennings is here, who doesn't have an apartment or doesn't have an hotel. He has an apartment. The Cowboys now have the 12th worst Super Bowl odds, fifth worst NFC odds. They are only ahead of the Falcons Panthers, Frisky Panthers, Giants and Saints. This feels like a rebuild to me. and to the betting markets. Should Dallas fans have any hope this season?

For the season as a whole, no. For week one, maybe. Oh, no, come on. Hold on, Kate. So this is what I, this is, just give me a second here, KW, because I'm really just talking to you. This is a nutty take, but I love it. Because this is the exact type of take if they were playing anyone but your beloved Eagles,

you would like them more in this game now. Nothing to lose game. Nobody believes in us. Not bad. Nothing to lose. Does the other team all of a sudden be like, oh. I was a little bit nervous about it. I knew it.

A little bit like, oh, Micah? Hold on. Like, we're good. See, I know. A little bit of that. This is a division game. They're not taking the Cowboys. I get all that, but it's the pomp and circumstances of the ban.

I knew you. I knew it. I don't love it. So I'm just telling you. I knew. he would feel that way. I was just trying to get in. We're good here. Chiefs next week. Exactly right. The look ahead

all of it. Cross my mind. I knew that was going to be the case. I'm just, I mean, but, and by the way, the line moved to half point on the Micah trade. It went from 7 to 7.7 and a half. Now maybe that in part is because they also, they thought he maybe might not be playing or would be limited.

Listen, I think they could be quite prolific on offense. But I thought they were going to have struggles defensively before this trade. And even though I really do like and have liked for a while, Kenny Clark, it's Jerry kind of overstated the impact that a 30-year-old D-tackle is going to make in the instance. So, I mean, yeah, I think that this is a reset year for Dallas, but I thought, and I think the table thought,

it was going to be a reset year with Micah Parsons. Not a reset year, but they were going to be made with Mikea Parsons. Yeah, I don't think they had reason to be out. optimistic before, but at least, and none of us, I don't think, picked them for the playoffs. But they were like playoff adjacent. Like it wasn't, it was like, yeah, you know what, if Washington, you know, sophomore slump for Jaden, Cowboys will win nine games. Maybe they win a couple more.

They could make it. Now, I have no thought whatsoever that they can make the playoffs. I actually think the big question is, will they or can they stave off the Giants for third, place in the division. That really is it. And the formula, they have to follow. I agree, they should be good offensively. It's what Greg said.

It's like the Bengals formula, but the problem is DAC isn't Joe Burrow. And C.D. is great. He's not Jamar Chase. So I just don't think their offense is as good. I think C.D. Jamar Chase is close-ish. But he's in the same class, but he's not. And Dickens isn't Higgins either. And Dax not in the same, I don't think he's in the same class as Burrow.

No, I agree. Go ahead. Sorry, Dallas. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Like, again, I've already spoken to their offense and what I feel like their offense can do. That still holds true.

Like, I still believe offensively, they can still be exciting. But as far as when you as a fan start to look outside of your house and you start peeking across the street and seeing what the commanders got over there and what the Eagles are. you know what the Eagles got. And then you start to, you kind of touched on it. Then you start thinking about, man, I used to have a better house and backyard set up than the Giants. Now I'm questioning, do I even have that? I kind of like what the Giants are doing. This is the worst possible situation.

Even if we, even if none of us felt like they were a playoff team with Micah Parsons, you still feel like they got a chance. Yeah. They could be sneaky good because you have superstar players on both sides of the field. That just feels like it gives you a chance. Now you look at that defense and you're like, Matt Iberfuse has to be. You feel sick for him now. Matt Eberfuz has to be like, really?

This is what I got. It is no disrespect to any of those other guys. But when you lose a guy like Micah who elevates everybody else, it's like it just takes all the air out. You guys want to answer this. Yesterday, when it was breaking, I was like, oh, no, we got this wrong. Or like the national media got this wrong, that one of the theories was Jerry likes the warmth of the spotlight and was dragging this on to kind of have the heat of the media. I was like, oh, we got it wrong.

But I was like, you know who else got it wrong? Dak Prescott, who thought this was going to get done. And the fact that he got it wrong and was very confident. I thought it was going to get done too. Well, and also, by the way, disconnect in the team that will show up on the field. So, no, I don't think that, here's what I think. You know who also got it wrong?

Jerry, who said the day after the trade request, don't lose any sleep. I think that, I think Jerry at the press conference last night exaggerated how long they have been seriously considering trading Micah. What I believe happened was they thought Micah would blink and either take the deal that they then leaked to the media was five years, 200 million, you know what I mean, the 40 million a year. Micah didn't want the extra year on it, which nobody does.

I understand that in the 40 versus 47. Or that he would play out this year. I think the combination of the training table and everything else, they're like and the backs saying the back, they then realized, oh, we don't have the leverage we thought we had, so they activated the trade piece of it. But to get back to this just quickly,

again, I already had them finishing last in the division. So I'm not sitting here saying like, I think the Cowher is going to be good. I am saying like to steal a line from you know, your pal Bill Simmons, is there any Ewing theory potential? Is there any, like the instance of the team trading away the superstar player who's never, they've never won with, and then all of a sudden

having a better than expected season, we've seen that a few times. Is it happening right now with your Red Sox? A little bit. Like, and so again, I thought they were going to be bad to begin with. So I'm, but. Yeah, but to Wilde's point, like, if you're in that locker room, like, we heard Dak. He, there was some optimism because of experience of going to the brink. CD probably felt the same way. And you lose that guy. You go into a game against your rivals, not only your rivals, but a team that just came off a Super Bowl

win a week from now, less than a week from now, like, you're going to be in that locker room. Naturally, you're going to be in that locker room and you're going to be looking like, man, his locker would be right there. Let me be taking. Sad. Like, you still have to play.

I'm not saying they're not going to play. But that's always going to be there. Like, man, when you walk off. off the field as an offense. I'm not hoping to get a stop. We ain't got nobody that can rush the password like that, like Michael. I hear you.

From New York, it's a show that thinks it's a must win for Texas. And the line flipped, I didn't realize that. Yeah, Texas is now the favorite. Yeah. It only makes sense. No, number one team in the land. It wasn't that way.

And by the way, we heard. Not at the true. By the way. number one. We've made a sizable investment in the Ohio State side. We were waiting for that line to flip. We got it. We have like a conglomerate. Me and my investors. Oh my gosh. That means he borrowed money from. No, it doesn't mean that at all. I don't borrow money to gamble with that take it back. Take it back. It's not true. It's quite the contrary. People people, people, people give me money that they trust me with to invest for them. Okay. What? Okay. I'm the tip of the sphere. Oh, my goodness gracious.

Christine, you got to get those suits with like an extra large armhole. I showed one day with a broken arm and people think you're in trouble. You guys both have broken arms? Like, that's common. Yeah, both of us. I had a broken arm. Sorry, us athletes were trained. Sorry.

Second hour, first things first today. We conclude predictions week with one very special twist. We are allowing someone. amendments. Meanwhile, I don't need it. Another part of Predictions Week where talking about MVP. And someone here who is beloved in Kansas City might have number 15. Getting back to his old ways.

Getting an invite to the steak restaurant, me in Stone Street. In a booth, just chatting up. But right now, it's the conclusion of Predictions Week. Now remember, it's not called Predictions Day. You have the whole show till at this point, 6 p.m. Yeah.

To amend your predictions. Nick, in light of the major news in the NFL with Micah being traded, you are allowed to amend your playoff predictions. Would you like to do so? Yeah, if we just show you who I had real quick in the playoffs in the NFC. The AFC doesn't matter. It's not going to impact it. But, yeah, I'm here to tell you.

I had the Packers missing the playoffs. The Packers just added Micah Parsons. I now have the Packers in the playoffs and the Falcons missing the playoffs. I had the Falcons as the 7th seed and the Packers out and now have the Packers in. Like that's

not difficult for me. And by the way, I would like Wilde's you to confirm, there's no funny money about that. That's not no asterisks. We're within predictions week. Of course. We had a seismic event within predictions week.

It would be idiotic for me not to amend. Brew, do you have any amendments? I don't need them. I'm like Danny Parkins. I've been seeing the league clearly for a long time. You saw the Kenny Picket. It's weird because this isn't totally related to the Packers, but a little.

Because I thought maybe the Bears, maybe they split with the Packers. Now, you know, you might think the Packers win both. Now you want to knock the Bears out? No, I thought, I thought about taking the Bears out and putting that land in. Oh, wow. But I'm sticking with the Bears. Because I figured, look, I'm relying on a young quarterback anyway, whether it's Pinnix or Caleb. So I'm going to stick with you.

So I know a minute. Was Pennix sacked 68 times last year? No. No. No. Your final playoff, Super Bowl and MVP. Yes. But before I get to that, something very important because people have been clamoring all week because at our walk-in videos at the beginning of the week, I said I was the three-time defending champion of predictions week.

And you guys took some issue with it. And famous people were like, really, Nick, don't you remember? You picked the Bears to make the Super Bowl last year. Like, how could you have possibly won? That ruins everything. Yeah, picking a team that misses the playoffs. So just for you guys in for the audience, a quick refresher. when we established predictions week and we established the scoring system for our Super Bowl picks,

which are coming today. What? We've never. You lose three points. We had no. You lose no. You lose three points. Okay.

Again, these guys, check the archives. If you, when you go home, if you want to sit in your room and look over your little scores, fine. Get one point if your Super Bowl team makes the playoffs, too. You guys see all that. So here are, Greg. I didn't include yours and coaches to you guys have been in and out. Here are our Super Bowl picks. by year in case anybody needed them.

Now, I have been consistent. I did have a terrible Bears miss. Brew has only had one team ever missed the playoffs. The Packers is first year. Wilds, on the other hand, has been scattershot at best, which has led to the following scores. Brew, I think you'll like it. Here's the standings.

I have 25 career predictions week's points. This is absurd. Brew has three. Wildes at negative five. Five of the six Super Bowl teams have missed the playoffs. I had nine teams in the playoffs. last year. And you had eight.

It's the Super Bowl. It's the, we're only scoring Super Bowl picks. I don't believe in analyst wins. I'm just telling you. Okay, I'm just telling you. That's what it is. This is a horrible. I don't like it at all. We reject this wholeheartedly.

Time for the Super Bowl pick. First we do our conference. That's the last time we see that, Dustin. Put that in the Bruce. First, we do our conference championship game picks. You can reveal it, Dust, what my conference champion bracket is. In the AFC, Bill's Chiefs, same as last year. In the NFC, wow, Bucks Rams.

Now, I know the audience probably thinks they already, there's not going to be a big reveal on who I think is going to win Bill's Chiefs, the AFC championship game I correctly predicted last year and correctly predicted the result. I must admit, when it comes to Bucks Rams, however, I have been conflicted all week. Please no Please no I'm not joking Please no

I didn't want Oh wow It's not flowers I don't like this bit And last time I had a hint of it Because I saw the flowers In K's office This I had no idea about

I don't want to do this I have Greg do it KW I promise it's not what you think I promise it's not what you think Will you just tell the audience I've seen seven Will you just tell the audience

What the package says and then unwrap it. Please. What does it say? This is so stupid. I don't like this. Okay, you will like this. What does he say? Oh, care of.

I thought it said from me. No, to Nick, care of Kevin Wilde. This is the last time we're doing it. Okay. It also might not even be what you think. I know what I know what's in here? A bad segment. It's quite the unwrapping you're having to do.

What is this? This is Kelsey and Mahomes. Oh, is that the invitation to the steakhouse for the show? It's the invitation for the steakhouse. Oh, with this, hold on. First, look at this. What do we have here? Their new steak.

Wow, invite to the grand opening. Maybe I'll take you three. That's delightful. And it's assigned football by Kelsey and Mahomes, if you would like to take it out. nicely and gently. Nice football. Yeah, that's pretty good.

That is pretty nice. And then, you know what we have here? They included the official Super Bowl prediction. That's nice. This actually is pretty nice. This is pretty good. This is nice. Which we will open right now.

Oh, wow. The affair must be over. Wow. The Rams. Chiefs over box in the Super Bowl, Super Bowl 60. Revenge game. Yes. Yes, bake show, Chiefs over bucks.

That is my official Super Bowl prediction. And also, congrats to Travis and Patrick's for Steakhouse. It opens in a couple weeks. I'm sure, I'm sure Travis is like, this is too much publicity. So there it is. So my official bracket, Chiefs over bills in the AFC championship game, Bucks over Rams in the NFC championship game, and then Chiefs over bucks in Super Bowl 60.

And my league MVP, back to his right, it's been two, it's been three years. It has been a while. Patrick Mahomes. Okay, okay. There it is, Brew. Well, you know what's interesting? I will give you, it's odd that the Chiefs, when they're playing the Super Bowl, they play the same opponent a lot.

They played the Eagles twice, the Niners twice. And if you're right on this, you're the Buccaneers. I didn't even thought about that. It's interesting, right? So, yeah. But I think, you know what, Brew, add that to the reasoning. I hadn't even thought about that. Good point.

Yeah, go ahead. All right, but here we go for the real predictions. All right. In the NFC or AFC first, it's the same, you know, two years ago, you got to be the best. Greg, you got to beat the best. For sure. All right. So, Nick, I thought that was interesting, the graphic you had earlier in the week about

Josh Allen being 0 and 4 against Bowles, which is the most ever. And he's young, right? So I'm going to say that the Ravens, I take out the bills in route to playing the Chiefs. And then I got the Ravens beating the Chiefs. On the other side, you see I got the Packers and the Eagles. And as I said earlier, I'm with the Packers making the Super Bowl. So a year early. That was a lot of myself.

That was. And I didn't even think about that too. I saw the graphic. But yeah, I think I was a year early. I am going with, I don't have all the bells and whistles Nick had, but the Ravens, this is the year. It's got to happen for Lamar. I got the Ravens beating the Packers in the Super Bowl.

Lamar Jackson finally gets his Super Bowl. And then for my MVP, I was torn between three guys. J-Lo, Jordan Love, Baker, Baker Mayfield, and Joe Burrow. And I thought about Burrow, but I think with the Packers went in the division,

they're going to have a better, you know, a better chance because I don't think Beng was going to win the division. So I am going with Jay Lowe. Wow. That was my pick last year, too,

for the MVP. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But this year, I think he gets it done. So far I like these. Wow. All right, Greg, you've had all week to

see how the landscape has played out. We're ready for your predictions now. I did. I'm just going to go straight to, what am I doing? Your playoffs. No, yeah. Walk us through it.

Walk you through my playoffs. AFC is pretty straight forward. Oh, whoa. This is not mine. Oh, that's good. Oh, man, I was like, these look great. This isn't my. I thought.

And I was like, those look so smart. Like, I actually do some work around. Goodness. Stand by. Okay. Please stand by. Because that's not one. Give us one team that's obvious to fill the space before we get the graphic on.

Who do you have one in the AFC? Give us your four division winners in the AFC. So my four division winners, I got the bills. And they're going to be taking on. Oh, you don't have to. You don't have to. No, don't hold on. Oh, division winners.

Yeah, yeah. Bills went in the east. I got the chiefs win in the west. In the north, I got the Texans. Or in the south. I mean, in south, I got the Texans. There we go. Now we're back.

We're back. Oh, you still have the jacks. I'm right there with you, buddy. There we go. Yeah. Anything. Cardinals. I got the Ravens.

You know what? The Cardinals. You can sleep on. Wilde, you had them in. You had him up here a few years ago. I know. Or was that lashing? He's not knocking you for it.

No, I'm not knocking you at all. Okay. I'm just making sure. And then the NFC, look, just bear with me, guys. Trust me, bear with me. I got the Cardinals in the West. I'll start from the top. Actually, I got the Eagles.

Obviously, the Lions. And I wanted to switch this to the Packers, but I'm going to keep the Lions still winning the division. The bake show is going to cook. And then I got the Arizona Cardinals out west. Packers are going to get in, obviously. I got the Atlanta Falcons making it. And I know for the commanders fans, I know you're looking like, well, where am I watched the commanders? Because I obviously have the Rams at the bottom.

I have the commanders having a good season. I just look at their schedule. Correct. And I'm like, it's going to be tough. It is going to be tough for the commanders. And a young quarterback that I feel like he's not going to surprise anybody. He's still going to have a really good season. But defensively, I'm not sure what they'll look like there.

And then the Rams, I had, this was tough for me. The Rams or the 49ers? Because when I looked at the 49ers, there's a four-game slate that they have at the end of November and the beginning of December, where it's like, If there's ever a layup, they have it. Like, I think they got the New Orleans Saints, Tennessee Titans, Colts, and the Browns. And that's late in the season. But then I started to think about Sean McVeigh.

Smart man. He just finds a way to get into the postseason. He's only missed the postseason twice as a head coach. And I had to go with him because regardless of who he has available, he tends to find a way. I don't think Matthew Stafford will be available all season, but I still think he finds a way to get it done. You're also out on the Steelers and Rogers.

I am all, yeah, you know what? I think we all were. Yeah, no, I, the. Oh, did no one have the Steelers going to the playoffs? No one. And then for my Super Bowl matchup, I mean, come on, let's see. Representing the NFC, I'm in all green.

There's no surprise. I got the Green Bay Packers taking down. The Bills get there. Buffalo bills. It's so, I didn't want to do it to your Buffalo, but I couldn't have it a let's go Buffalo this year. I just couldn't do it. But you got there again, so you're trending in the right direction.

You're trending in the right direction. And then for MVP, what? Let me see. Let me see. At least get this right. Back to back. That man is back. Oh, he is?

Yeah, Patrick. Patrick. Patrick Mahomes. All right, I like it. That's my, those are my pigs, that's my MVP. It's gonna be a fun year. So I've sat here all week, all year I've been working on this project. This project?

Yes. And I told you, don't look at my papers. And I told you, the point of the show is not to convince me necessarily, but if you make a good point, I'll say good point, and I'll register it. Say, oh, hmm, I do like that. And I will be out on a team or in on a. team. Here are my AFC and NFC predictions I will be staked to. I think I have the same. I think a lot of us have the same in the AFC.

Bill's Chiefs, Ravens, Texans, Patriots, Bengals, Broncos. What is next to the Broncos, bro? Frisky Titans. That's just frisky. Risky Titans. I got a little bit of Titans. Little frisky Titans. I didn't know we could put a flow out there. The Texans, the Texans rookie quarterback, the commander's rookie quarterback.

The other thing that commits me about the Frisky Titans, I love a good offensive line. And Mangini's like, that offensive line will be good. Like, okay, Cam Ward's got time to throw. Defensively they were good leadership. And take out the wacky little levice. The team that you don't have making. I do have them. You spend all your time talking.

You spend no time on the Patriots or a bank. They spend no time. Everyone knows the Patriots are rebuilt, and everybody knows Joe Burrow. Now the Titans. Okay, let's go to the end I've seen. Eagles. And I was like, you know what?

I'm going with Greg. I need one Greg pick. Like we used to go to Blockbuster video. It said, Greg pick. I'll check out that movie. Cardinals. Lions, because I believe in Warren Sharp, they had the biggest rest advantage of any team.

You know how it's the least, viewest? The Raiders. Okay. The Raiders are doomed because of Warren Sharp. Then the bucks, Packers. What are we doing? Whoa.

I believe. In what? Wilds. I believe in Bryce Young. Why? Because I do. Okay. Because you only need to get 10 wins to get to make some noise in there.

Also, you yelled at me for saying I didn't think the Niners would win their division, and you don't have them winning their division. You did a whole thing about how bad their schedule was. I changed it. Okay. Because I changed it. Okay. But I don't have the, yeah, but not winning the division. He has the Cardinals winning division. I don't like Seattle's offensive line once I did a little bit more research. And I just don't, you know, I like a nice back. I don't need, you know. Somebody get the Captain Easy Stance music ready for this next part. Me and Brewer locked in. My Super Bowl prediction. Oh, wow. Eagles, obviously, over the Ravens. Lamar makes it takes another step.

I love this. I love an all-bird. I love an all-bird Super Bowl. And finally. Ravens. But wow, it's your beloved in Kansas City. I know that. Wow, it was last year, even though you didn't have the Chiefs winning the

winning. In the Super Bowl. No, your Super Bowl last year was Niners Dolphins. But I still had Mahomes as a winning Super Bowl MVP. And I'm beloved in Kansas City. I'm still waiting for that invite. That's going to your house or the office? My house.

make sure they have my updated address. And that is why I am choosing Jared Gough for MVP. Wow. Wow. Golf. The Lions, if I wasn't really pot committed with this gosh darn tweet with Jalen Hertz,

I would have the Lions going very, very far. I love this. Just go to Warren Sharpe's website and look at this rest thing. They've got eight games where they have more rest than their opponents. They're already a great team. and they have all the rest, which means they're going to be healthier.

I just love me. May I ask that question? Drew, I'm going to ask Brew the question. 14.20. Didn't someone on this show say this week that the only way Patrick Mahomes doesn't make the Super Bowl is if he doesn't make the playoffs? It seems like that. Didn't someone say that? I'm not with it.

He did. Okay. Does he have Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs? Yes, he does. I flirted with it, though. So now, again, so now we are at a year where there's four people on the show. And forget me being the only one having the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl. I'm the only one with the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

Okay. Okay. I'm beloved in Kansas City. Don't get me wrong. I don't know. The Eagles over Ravens be a great game. It'd be a great game. The Packers, a lot of juice.

You know what? You are a little, you learn like Dane got traded to the bucks like, cancel the NBA finals. Looks like it's bucks to the. A little bit of that with the Packers? A little bit. We are six days away from Cowboys Eagles. Philly was favored by seven. They are now favored by seven and a half.

Jerry did a press conference yesterday and was asked about the tenor in the locker room. Here's what he said. I like what this does. I'm absolutely zero. worried about the locker room. No, like, that's not meant to diminish anything here. I'm just not concerned at all about the locker room. Expectations for Dallas in their opening game.

Brew, you are the maestro of the F game. What are you expecting here? I expect a butt kicking. A demolition and annihilation. Oh, no. Yes, an F game by the Cowboys. I think morale has to take a hit, right? You lost your best player.

And, Wiles, I'm not, you're, you don't want anything to do with the button. So I'm not even going to, I'm going to do it myself. Thank you. All right. But F game in coming. F game, F game. F game. Ooh.

Love it. Here's the thing people would have to realize. The Cowboys were bad before Micah got there. They had made the playoffs once out of the previous four years before he got there. They had won six games the year before he got there. And those three straight 12-win seasons were with him. Like he helped turn. I'm not saying they didn't have other good players,

but his impact on that defense was a big part of them all of a sudden becoming a 12-win team. And so, like, losing him is huge. So they are going to get smashed. I don't think Nick, the Eagles are going to take them lightly. I just think it's a division rival. It's the Cowboys. And the Cowboys have played them tough. I think they're five and five over the last 10 meetings.

So they know that the Cowboys, you know, are still, you know, DAC has played well against them. So I think the Eagles are going to go in there, taking them seriously, and beat them down. Look, I don't think they're going to get smashed. I just don't simply because week one game. games, it's when you have an opponent that you're very familiar with, oddly enough, it matters who you put out there, but in the sense of just understanding who you're playing, it doesn't.

What do you mean? I know who, I know who you are. Everyone on our roster knows who you are. With or without Micah, we feel like we can still compete with you because you're like, you're like close to kin. It's an element of like why the Browns play the, I don't know, the Bengals or the Ravens, you know, and the Ravens. It was 75.13.

Yeah, I understand. I understand all of that. You, but you still have your quarterback. You still have an offense that can score points. What Jerry said, though, I really hope he's right. I don't believe he's right at all. With what he said. With what he said is about the locker room is going to be fine.

They're going to, it just seems, do you have a pulse of what something like this does to a locker room, does to the morale of the locker room, the chatter that's going to take place in the locker room? Are you having conversation, hopefully, with the guys in the locker room, trying to, not that you have to as an owner, but when you extract a guy like Michael Parsons, who's a vocal leader, who's just seen as an alpha in that locker room, a superstar. are you communicating to them what a potential plan is? Like more than what you give, you don't have to tell us anything. But there has to be a sense of what is Jerry doing? Like they all were in with the thought of, yeah, Michael, man, when he get back out here, we're going to be fine. We heard what Dak said.

But now you're going to be going into that locker room, looking, dressing, getting ready to take that field. No Michael Parsons. And as much of professionals that we are, I do expect them to go play. But there is going to be moments every single game this year where if that offense is rolling and they score and that defense goes out and they give up points and they don't get after the quarterback or they struggle stopping the run, which they've always done. If Michael was out here, we would at least have a chance. So I think it's a great point. I actually think of all the games on the schedule, this is the one that that's going to apply to the least.

Because it wouldn't have been a trend all year, you know what I mean, something that's been happening all year building up. I also think, to be fair, we have talked about this game for the last couple weeks, assuming Micah wasn't going to play or was going to be on a significant pitch count. You know what I mean?

I know that Dak said, we expect him out there. And so I agree with you that there are knock-on long-term effects of if the season's going sideways and the offense is rolling in these games. If they are looking like they're having a poor man's version of the Bengals season last year, that it can get really ugly over the course of the season. I think week one against Philly, because it's week one, I think the approach is just going to be, DAC and CD, we better score 40. You know what I mean? And that they are going to go out there and see if they can just outscore Philadelphia. Because I do not think Dallas, I thought with Micah, they were going to have their hands full on slowing Philly down.

Without Mika, I don't know that the Dallas defense has any hope of slowing Philly down. With that said, I think Dallas's offense against this new Philadelphia defense, new personnel-wise, that I would expect will be at its worst week one. versus later in the year once the young players have gotten used to Fangio and once the new the guys they brought in I've gotten used to Fangio I would think Dallas will be able to put up a fight when they have the ball like I don't I don't think that you are going to have a week one of the season divisional route like you guys like that's I brew you clearly that's why I said I don't think it's going to be a I don't

think they're going to get just blown out but I don't I don't think they're going to get just blown out. Can I pitch this to you? If there was a team that was going to get blown out, if there was a team that got a little nervous under the bright lights, and if there was a quarterback who got a little scared of the big moments. But doesn't this work in the other direction that all of a sudden now, this is like a free money season for DAC?

Like that there's no expectations that. If it gets, if it's early, Jalen, I know what Jalen Hurts is going to do. I look at that. I'm locked in. If it's, if DAC, random, random fumble, random fumble. I think it can get ugly. And I think when the Eagles have blood in the water, it's like the Super Bowl. They're not going to let up.

When you, when you extract a player like Michael Parsons who, you know, you could argue who was their leader. Like, was it Michael? Was it Dak? This is an opportunity for DAC to now reestablish and set in stone like, no, we can be just fine because of me. And so that's going to be his mindset. That's going to be

offensively. They are literally going to take that approach that you said. We're just going to outscore everybody. And they're not offensively. You're not even trying to be disrespectful to your defense. You're just being realistic. Like look, we know we're going to have to carry the load.

They knew that going in. With or without Micah. Like this offense has to be better than what it was last year. in order for them to even compete. And, Brew, the year before they got Micah was the year DAC broke his leg, right? The year they won six games.

Like, they won eight the year before that. Yeah, the eight year, the year, I just, the Cowboys have, they were not a contender with DAC, except for his first year until they got Micah. But they were a consistently solid team before they got Micah. Eight wins. They won 10 the year they made the playoff. Yeah, and they won 13, Dax.

for that year. Yeah, yeah. And my point is the one year they bought, the two years since Dak's been there that they've been really bad have both been DAC injuries. Yeah. Or in years when he broke his ankle or he tore his hampsies. And when he puts up those huge numbers for the most part. They're mediocre. Yeah. So they need a run game to help.

Last time the Cowboys were in Philly, 41 to 7. Seekwon went for over 2,000 yards. And who was the quarterback for Philly? For Philadelphia? Jalen Hurd. No. Oh, no, that was Kenny Pickett. Kenny Pickett put 41. No. With Micah. And Cooper Rush was the Cowboys quarterback that game.

The Phillies going to be able to score. The question is, can the Cowboys score? Fast forward all the way to week four. Less than a month away, Packers at Cowboys. Here's Jerry on that game. Take a listen. Micah will be problematic, very problematic. I'd suggest that we get ahead and run

the ball. That's like a little diss there. What do you mean? Well, he was saying that throughout the press conference. We needed to stop the record. Yeah, that they got better. He feels their difference. But I was saying there's a shot at Micah that they can't stop the rum.

Yeah. No, no, no. He's saying, I suggest that we get ahead, meaning. So that if they're behind, Micah's going to be able to pin his ears back and get after the quarterback. It was a little bit of both, I think. I, we just had on there. I don't know if we can go back to the previous bar for a second. second, just because it has the point spread on it. And this is the, and then this is kind of the

point I'm making overall on today's show. I understand the excitement about Micah going to the Packers, and I was down on the Cowboys before they traded him away. It is now the Packers with Micah, the Cowboys without him, and we assume it'll be Micah full go a month in, doesn't matter he missed training camp, two and a half point spread. Yeah. And so I, I, I bet you by the time, that game that week is going to be bigger. I would be surprised if it's more than a point bigger. Maybe we'll see. I just, I think that at least Vegas and other people feel like the Cowboys have a higher

baseline than we're giving them credit for because of their quarterback. You know what I mean? Just flatly because when Dak Prescott is healthy, they should be competitive. I do think Micah is going to have the type of revenge game that we thought Luca might try to have against Dallas. You know what I mean? Because I think Micah is, when you read his statement yesterday that he posted on Twitter, I know the video he posted, he's so excited and he's running around and he's talking about retiring his mom, all that. And he does seem very happy about where he's going.

And they couldn't have traded him to Green Bay without him signing off on it because he had to agree to the contract. But the same he posted Twitter made it very clear. I thought I was going to be a cowboy for life, and I was planning on being a cowboy for life. And so I think there will be some anger in his play when he returns, Spru. Yeah, look, I think a lot of it, though, the Cowboys know him better than anybody, and they may go out of their way to make sure he doesn't wreck the game. Doesn't every team do that?

Yeah, but I think that could lead to like Rashon and Gary, some other packers having a huge. huge game. Either way, whether Micah has a huge individual game or it's other players because of the attention to Micah, I think the Packers roll. The Packers have won 10 of their last 11 games against the Cowboys. They won five

straight against the Cowboys. And then those five straight wins, they average 36 points. Again, a lot of that was with Micah's in the lab, dude. So I'm up there. It's crying. Yeah, boy. So, yeah. So Green Bay is going roll. They're going to be coming off

the Browns game. Who's they in this? The Packers. Okay. Coming off the Browns game. Mike is going to go crazy in the Browns game. And there's going to be a lot of excitement. Naturally, yes, the Cowboys are going to do everything in their power to minimize his impact in this game.

Adversely, when you look at the Packers in that defense, everybody, there's not one player that has ever been in this situation. where they go to a team and they're returning to play that team, that former team, where the current team that they're on doesn't rally and want them to have a great deal of success. The coach is included. And so when you think about what you're going to, one of the things that we don't talk about a lot, like, Micah went from being in a 3-4, and last year was his first time playing in the 4-3 because of Mike Zimmer. He's going right back, and he was impactful in 13 games, 12 sacks. We know the numbers.

Now he's in the 4-3 with the Packers and what they do in that scheme. So he's already comfortable understanding this type of a scheme. They're going to ensure that Micah is anywhere and everywhere to get after that. It's like when Saquan went back to the Giants.

They're going to make a point. Hey, do you want to break your record? And he's like, I'm good. I think the point has been proven. Coming up next, Mahomes and Kelsey already jelling? You can play. All right, yeah.

So he's getting a little bit old. Yeah, I mean. Welcome back to first things first. Micah Parsons is a Packer, but was he destined to be only two first, not a historic hall a la Herschel Walker or even Khalil Mack? Who should have outbid Green Bay if anybody? I'm surprised that there wasn't a more robust market. I'm surprised that Detroit didn't trump it, especially if they were.

Especially if they were, like, if you're Detroit and maybe you make your offer and say, you know, two ones into three. Because I think Kenny Clark is the equivalent of a three. If you're Dallas, you call back, be like, okay, that's not good enough. And by the way, the team that's beat your offer is Green Bay. That now, and I'm also pleasantly surprised that Buffalo didn't do it. and Buffalo is the team that I thought was the most likely to say, screw it. Like, we have to break through.

What would they have had to do financially? I imagine, I just assume any team would have had to sign him to this deal. Like, these are two independent things. Like, once you get the four years 188 million, you know you have it. You know, it's clearly what Mulligato, you know, thought they could get something around those numbers, but they could have included Dequan Jones, could have been their Kenny Clark in Buffalo, you know what I mean, the defensive tackle run stopper, and then two ones and something else. Now, maybe Micah wouldn't have signed with Buffalo, so maybe they

weren't, you know what I mean, that's the tricky part. He would have been, I mean, I don't know him, but I just, he would have loved the culture in Buffalo. That's what I, the fact that he said yes to Green Bay makes me think there wasn't a city that's where the team's good. And, I just, that he would have said no to because like the Green Bay is the smallest market and so those are the two teams for me bro. I just think any with Detroit

I'm wondering if they're like look we're going to have to pay Aiden Hutchinson. We're not going to pay two edge rushers 40 plus million a year. So I think that probably had a lot to do with that but I just think any team that is close should have gone after him. Like I

don't think any team needed him more than Green Bay like the contenders He would have been great in Buffalo. Like if I agree with you, if I'm the bills, I'm trying to do everything to get him. Because he's just what we need. And we keep struggling defensively in the playoffs. Even though we're great in the regular season, I think he would have been great there. I say even Baltimore, I know they're stacked, but still, you haven't gotten over the hump.

Bring him in. He's energetic. He's a different personality. Maybe that helps them in the playoffs. So I just think any of the, even Tampa Bay, like, anybody that was close. So that's why I think Green Bay is a perfect fit because they were close too.

I'll say one other team that thinks they're close. Vegas thinks they're close. They about the same odds going into the year as Green Bay did. And they haven't paid their quarterback yet. And that's Denver. Denver, which has all the Russell Wilson money off the books next year anyway.

You know what I mean? Bo Nix is basically free. Now, Benito is, I think one of the most underrated players in the league. That I wouldn't have loved. I would have had to change some of my Denver opinions, you know what I mean? If all of a sudden you're coming to town with Nick Vanito and Micah Parsons twice a year, I wouldn't love that.

More first things first, and Danny's big predictions next. Live from New York, it's the show that it's predicting not one, but two touchdowns for Jeremiah Smith and a big Ohio State victory. Oh, wow. Okay. Good for you, buddy. I like you going on it. I feel that. I feel Jeremiah Smith huge back.

bounce back. That way, if people are like, oh, well, two touchdowns a lot, they just average one per game against Texas, which you could do, two over two games. Yeah, because he didn't have a big game last time. So he's due. Can I tell you something? Sure. Ohio State minus six and a half on the alternate line. I don't quite understand the alternate you just get better juice. It's like plus 200. You get like two to one at Ohio State minus six and a half. Ohio State to win by a touchdown at the shoot, open the stadium with the best player in the country. I hate to say it. I think Texas wins. What? You're front of all right.

I know. I still think Ohio State's got a good chance to, they will make the playoff. But first game, I think Texas is going in there. That is shocking. You got a pick, Danny? I mean, I don't go with my heart. That's strong.

Arch Manning debut. Yeah, I think Archmanning debut. I think Arch going to play with. Wow. Third hour, first things for us today. Awards movement. Could Jordan Love win MVP? Can Micah win defensive player of the year?

We discussed. Meanwhile, the return of Parkins picks. That's right. We have rented the throne. We should have bought it by now. You waxed Nick last year. He beat me by two and a half games. Crushed him.

Yeah, but I mean, by two and a half games. It felt like about. It was like the wild car with the Royals. It's a huge gap. Oh, two and a half a gap. Extended during the playoffs. Danny was, I don't know that that's true at all.

You were. Danny was the best handicapper on TV, national TV last year. But I was the second best. I was 62% against the spread. Remember, Remember the Kentucky Derby, the guy who came in second to, or the horse that came in second to second? Yeah, they literally paid millions of dollars for that.

What was the name of the horse? The one in this year's? No, second to secretariat. I believe it was for God. Oh, his name was not forgotten. I think his name was forgot. That's a good joke. No moral victories, though.

You're better than that. Thanks. Jerry met with the media yesterday after trading superstar Micah Parsons, even though he told me specifically, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it or shouldn't. You shouldn't. I didn't. Well, they traded like a porces. He says this move is going to make the cowboys better. Take a listen.

This was a move to get us successful in the playoffs. This was a move to be better on defense, stopping the run. This was a move to, if we get behind, not be run on. be run on. And it was a deliberate move, a well thought out move to make this happen. We have a chance to get a minimum of three, and it could very easily be as many as five, really top players. Okay. Highest pressure rate since Micah entered the NFL, he was a top player. Micah Parsons, Ray Anderson, Miles Garrett. He almost didn't make the show. for the first time in a month.

He made it. He got. How, we needed the overtime. He took the Overtie. Buying the Cowboys will be better. No, I'm not buying that the Cowboys will be better without one of the best defensive players in football in and entering his prime. And I'm also not buying that Jerry Jones believes it. Oh.

Like he's not an honest broker. You said, you know, the quote about not losing sleep. That was when the trade request came out, what, almost a month ago? We don't have to go back that far. Last week, Jerry Jones on his media tour said, we are not trading Micah Parsons. And we're not trading Michael Parsons. He's a part of this team.

We plan to keep him right here where he belongs. Any talk of a trade is BS. It is August 29th. That was August 22nd. So I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to adopt a new policy because Jerry's going to talk after every game and he's going to do his radio show, and he's just going to talk, talk and talk and talk.

I'm going to listen to Dak Prescott from this time last year. Dak Prescott said, I don't listen to Jerry Jones. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Because that, to me, seems the most important takeaway in all of this. Because no one believes that. I know what, Dak also told me that it was going to get done. Well, I...

You're in a tough about it. Okay, fair enough. But, like, obviously the Cowboys are not better without Micah Parsons. Like, does that really need to be debated? Listen, I don't think there is any argument that they got better this year. But Jerry just tried to make one. Of course he did. But he also, listen, there were some things Jerry said at that press conference that I understood.

Some I thought were more or less nonsense. Like when he also, we haven't talked about it on today's show yet, but he alluded to the idea is like, hey, there's nothing saying we're not trading one of those picks for a player to help us right now. Like they're, I'm telling you, that's not happening. Like there's no other star player coming available right before the start of the season. I do by the idea, however, that in four years, this trade might age far better for the Cowboys than we think. Because here is, I would not be in the business brew of trading Micah Parsons having that be a possibility. But they got in that business 18 months ago. They started down this road of not.

signing him when the top of the market was $34 million and he wanted the deal, of signing CD instead, you know, before they signed him, of not making sure this got done as soon as you could before the draft and deciding, if we don't get this done before the draft, then we are trading him before the draft. Those were all mistakes. But once they got to where they were yesterday, I don't think it is a catastrophic decision if staring you in the face is, all right, we just do a game of chicken with Micah Parsons, and maybe he misses games with a bad back, or maybe he plays as a hostage,

and then next year we have to tag him and go through this whole thing again. That's door number one. Door number two is we blow up the entire market and have the highest paid quarterback by a ton and the highest paid defensive player by a ton and one of the highest paid receivers, or a temporary step back for a year

to get more quality players. Once they were where they were, I understood the trade. Even though I'm not buying, they're going to be better this year. So do you think they can be a playoff team next year? Sure. Okay.

See, I don't. And I think that, like, we said it yesterday, getting these draft picks, that's for a rebuild. But your quarterback makes $60 million and he's 32 years old. So in those four years, let's say the draft picks pan out, they're not going to be Michael Parsons, but let's say they're pretty good players.

By the time they're really ready to wreck shop, DAC now is on the decline. Is it not, though, a poor man's version of what the chiefs did with Tyree Kill? Like, the chiefs didn't, the chiefs were not in a rebuild. And those guys helped them. No, that's why I said a poor man's, of course. Like, I'm not saying they're, but that's the most optimistic version. My point is the players the chiefs drafted with the Tyree Kill Trade, that was three years ago.

They've been helping them every step of the way. It's Trent McDuffie and George Carlopters. You know what I mean? And I'm not, you have to hit the picks. There's a lot of things. But I don't look at it as, it's not like the NBA where, and I know you're not saying that, but where, oh, the 19-year-old's not going to be able to help you until he's 23. Young players in the NFL, first-round picks are supposed to help you immediately.

Yeah, I think you're like drastically contortedly. yourself to try to justify some really bad process by Dallas here. This wasn't the plan. And it wasn't the plan, evidently, until a couple of days ago. They traded for George Pickens to win this year. George Pickens isn't under contract for the future. And you're right. They should have done it before the draft if they wanted to. And where you and I seem to fundamentally disagree is this isn't that bad of a contract. It's not like you said like we would be mocking Jerry Jones for get for losing in the negotiation if he would have signed Micah Parsons to this deal. Why?

Because he got $4 million more than T.J. Watt? I think it's six, right? T.J. Watt makes 41. This is 47. Okay. And Garrett is it's 42 and it's 47. Fine. Five million dollars more. It's not a significant amount of money when they have the cap space and the cap goes up six, seven, eight, nine percent every year for a guy who is three and four years younger than T.J. Watt and Miles Garrett. It's not a bad contract. No, listen, I'd rather pay Micah than pay CD.

I don't, and this is, I think it's two different conversations, KW. We all think it's a bad process. We all think the road they took was the bad road. My question is, if this is the direction to get to your house, KW, and I'm like, no, we're going to drive this way. Once we're here, it doesn't matter that we should have gone here. It's what is the best thing to do from here. The only problem is like when you're like, this is the way I wanted to go.

No, I wanted to take the scenic. Right. I agree with all the ones. You're here. Shouldn't you just sign the contract? Nick as well, the reports are that Micah's people, David Mulligetta, they called Jerry about a week ago and say, hey, you want to renegotiate this thing. And Jerry turned him down. Correct.

So now they're all the way over here when they were trying to go there. He had a chance to make it all right. And that's where I said. Ego and pride got in the way. But that's where I don't think. He could have made it all right and signed Micah. I believe Micah would have accepted this deal. The point that I am trying to make is,

I think had the news yesterday at 502 when you did this and said maybe they're trolling me, the Dallas Cowboys have signed Micah Parsons to a four-year $188 million deal. None of us would have said they're a contender. None of us would have all of a sudden put them in the playoffs. None of us would have said that that's a good, great job, Jerry. what a negotiation.

But we wouldn't, I wouldn't have been because of the contract. It would have been because of the process. But it also would have, the contract would have, we would have said,

once again, you're, you're paying way over the top of the market like you did with DAC. The Packers, now the Packers did that and gave up first round picks. And we're like,

great job, which I understand because that's how you acquire this type of player. But if you're trying to, like, I know, but that path would have made me feel

if that happened. I'd be like, all right. I can see nine wins getting to the playoffs makes a noise. Right. But now we're not saying that. Now I'm looking at like our schedule of games and I'm like, oh, is that one interesting just because it's the Cowboys or it's going to have playoffs? Like when are they getting back in the playoffs?

Look at the division. But that I guess this is, I think they got further away from playoff team. I think this might have been the only ripcord they had to pull to be able to become a content. Like, I don't think with the ninth or 12th, whatever, best quarterback in the league, making top of the market money, with a receiver who's really good making top of the market money, and with a defensive player blowing past the market, and that being more than 50% of your cap, you are going to contend. Like, that's the point that I'm making. Like, I think that they pulled the rip court on that, and now if they crush it in the draft, they can build their entire defense. this trade. But so four months ago were you saying trade Micah Parsons? Because then that, because they had already paid CD. It didn't seem like it was possible. You know what I mean?

It didn't seem like that's what they were thinking. And so, no, what I was saying was a year ago, I wouldn't have signed DAC. Like, I have been consistent on that I would have, I would have built around either CD and Micah or DAC and Micah, but they signed DAC, they signed and they seemed insisting on signing Micah. I just don't think it's responsible. Playoff amendment time. This is a little bit of a twist. This is a disaster.

When the news happened yesterday, Danny, put your head on the desk in total despair because Micah is now in the NFC North where he will face Caleb Williams twice a year. One note on Caleb. This is a, we didn't have to dig in their research files too deep for this. Is this an EPA stat wild? Nope.

It's called SACC 68 times. Yeah, is it good if the quarterback who's the most sacked player basically ever now has to play Micah Parsons twice a year? Would you like to amend your Bears to the playoff pick or anything else before we see your full predictions? Well, the Bears to the playoff pick, you know, I want to be able to still travel home to Chicago and be accepted there. So, no, the Bears are still comfortably in the playoffs. But divisions do get three teams into the playoffs now, especially. It's going to be a much more common thing. So this is what the predictions were prior to the Micah Parsons trade, where I had joined.

in love in the Green Bay Packers finishing fourth. And then they acquired one of the great defensive players ever. So I thought Long and Harden, like Brew, stayed up late. There you go. Lost a lot of sleep last night. I was thinking about it. It looks like it, yeah, bags under the eyes. And I've, uh, I have made a change.

Okay. Let's see what it is. Let's reveal the change please. Reveal the change. Third place still missing the playoffs, Green Bay Packers. That's right. Great take. Yeah.

Wow. Is it, is it though? A slight bump. Well, has a take in the back. A slight bump. Here's the thing. I remember watching you guys 48 hours ago being like, they've already cost themselves, this being Dallas when Michael was still there,

he's going to be on a pitch count. He's not going to be able to play well at the beginning of the season. How available is he going to be for that game against Philly? Well, now. That game's on a Thursday. Oh, the Plagers play Sunday. I mean, he's a world-class athletes. You remember Khalil Mack with the Bears?

That game is one of the most impressive. And a awesome game, maybe his best game with the Bears. was his first game with the Bears after holding out. Wow. I mean, they won 11 games last year with Malik Willis starting two of them. Well, with their quarterback being damaged most of the season. And Brew, so you have a team missing the playoffs that Bru is going to the Super Bowl. That's great.

That's correct. I love it. That sounds like one of my picks. All right. Your full playoff predictions now to conclude predictions week. Well, right. And we missed the South division for me yesterday, which is a big miss, obviously, for the show. because of the Micah Parsons trade news.

And we could reveal right there that a team that Nick has finishing dead last in the NFL, the Indianapolis Colts. You have them winning the division? I have them winning the division. I'm telling you right now. I like the Colts as a sleeper. That's the worst out. I like it.

I'm not talking about for the show. I'm talking about sports media at large. That's going to go down as the worst preseason prediction. Oh, really? Because they won, what, nine games with Anthony Richardson and eight games with Gardner Minshew. They can't win nine games with Daniel Jones. They can't.

He's the one. He's got Aaron Rogers in there, too. I'm not mad. But we knew that. The box one's good. Okay. Oh, you're accepting of the bucks because you have them in the Super Bowl? Yeah.

Yeah. I'm just looking at the ones we didn't see yesterday. Okay, yeah. So, yeah, very aligned on the NFC South, very different on the AFC South. But listen, I love the Chiefs. My mom's family was from there. We worked there. But unfortunately, you will be the only person on this show with the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

because the Buffalo Bills are getting over the home. This is their year, and they are beating the Detroit Lions. Everybody would like to see the Super Bowl. I've had the Lions in the Super Bowl. This is now my third consecutive year picking the Lions to make the Super Bowl. First, it does not succeed, and then it does not succeed. You try, try again. Eventually, the Lions will make it to the Super Bowl.

And Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, if they don't this year, They will be the first team in NFL history, assuming they win 10 or more games, to do that seven years in a row and not at least have a Super Bowl appearance. Their regular season dominance has been for so long. Every team that has been that consistently great has at least made it to a Super Bowl. This is the year for Bob. Flipside is there has never been a team, and this is bad for your Super Bowl pick in the AFC, and your guy's Super Bowl picks in the AFC.

There has never been a coach quarterback combo that ever made a Super Bowl together that did not make it within their first five years of being together. And for Lamar and Josh and for John and. Lamar and John Harbaugh and Josh and Sean McDermott. This is year eight. So like there is something's got to give. It is something's got to give on that note. The Lions one I don't I don't hate.

And listen, I have the bills in the AFC championship game. I think the bills are going to be really good. I just, I don't really care about the regular season dominance because we know what happens in the playoffs. They see Patrick Mahomes. They get very, very scared. and they lose. Are you familiar with Warren Sharp?

You follow Warren Sharp? I am familiar. The extra rest. Extra rest. We're back. Yeah. I love this extra rest staff. Extra rest.

And the Lions, the Lions have been so good now for so long, and they had such unbelievably bad luck all on one side of the ball. Like if their injuries would have been spread out offense and defense last year, they could have overcome it. They scored 31 points in that playoff game and got blown out because they could It didn't stop anyone. Just be kind of healthy on defense. So they're not going to miss Ben Johnson.

You know what a lot of times you go to the doctor? They say, you know what you need to do? Rest. Hold on. It's a huge rest of it. Historically. KW. I know you're big on the rest edge,

so you want to support that. Yeah. You missed the really just Achilles heel trademark, I know, of Danny's argument. So Ben Johnson isn't any good? They're not going to miss Ben Johnson. I got it. I got an answer for that.

They're not going to miss Ben Johnson. Bigger gain for the Bears than lost for the Lions. Oh, okay. All right. Very simple. That's fine. And so if the bills are going to win the Super Bowl, it feels like, really? Back to bad. Wow. MVP's. He is the second best player in football to Patrick Mahomes. They scored more points than the Eagles last year. And I listened to Dion Dawkins with you guys saying that Keon, he has not seen any player ever. I did like that take a bigger jump than Keon Coleman has. So some of those touch on points of James. So do you think Josh's numbers are going to be?

be huge? That's the thing. Because they weren't last. They weren't, but he still won the MVP. And I looked it up. The earliest the team has ever clinched the division. It's happened four times, Week 11. I think the bills are just going to boat race the AFC East. Wow. Mears fired at the Patriots. That's a clincher for them. Then he can just start stat padding, get that second MVP, get the one seed home field through Buffalo. The Patriots aren't going to roll over this year just because we're like a better team. I know Justin Fields is not.

Oh, boy. Christina has been trying to put his highlights in weird and wonderful. I just, I believe in Aaron Glenn. I believe in Aaron. So what do you expect from them? Six months. I expect a first year Dan Campbell Lions rebuild of culture, but without the big losing streak to start.

Okay, that might, that could happen. And that will pop up in a few big wins. maybe against the game. I expect, sorry, go ahead, Brew. No, I was just saying he had a quarterback, Cam. I think difference. I expect the bills to be what they are literally every year, the two seed. Like, Josh Allen has been awesome. This is an argument, Brew, I should have given, like you should use to support Lamar.

Josh's playoff numbers are unbelievable, but he also has just accumulated crazy numbers against the seven seed every year because they're the two seed. He has these. And historically for Peyton or Brady or those guys, they never got to play a seven seed because they just got to buy. They didn't get those.

And so I feel like the bills, I think they'll win 12 or 13 games, be the two seat again, probably play the Patriots in round one of the playoffs, crack them. But like the one seed would be huge for Buffalo. They've never had it. They've never, like, I mean, never had it since Jim Kelly was there.

I don't see it. Okay, coming up next. Danny reclaims his throne. I'm going to break it. Parkins picks next. Love this music. That's my song, Nick. It's terrible. It's my song. Welcome back. Who's that handsome man in a throne? Oh, hello. It's me. Your resident FS1 picks champion. I'm the same guy I ever was. National TV hasn't changed me one bit. Greg Jennings. She looked good, baby. You look good. Tell me something I don't know. I know I look good.

Talk to him. We wear ties on FTF, and I spent some of my money that I won last year on ties. And the throne is back. It used to be Nick's throne. But here's the thing about Nick Wright. Second place. Do you even remember who you guys beat in the Super Bowl? Of course not.

I know I lost you. He fell second place right there. A very respectable 60% in the regular season. He got to 62% in the playoffs. But 65% for me against the spread last year in the playoffs, I thought, you know, yeah, I bought some tithes. I also bought this chain. Bling, bling, with a little 65% logo on there to always remind you who the true champion is. And we don't even mention Colin Coward.

Yikes. You went a little small on it. Well, listen, I didn't play however long you played. I mean, you got stacks. That's true. Well, I got to. Stacks on stacks on stacks. Warren Buffett principal in investing.

You got to reinvest. your profits. So I'm putting it back into this year. But it is a Micah Parsons edition of Parkins picks. We're going to do it at this time every week. So this is going to be Cowboys and Packers season picks. I'll go one by one. You guys tell me if I'm right or wrong. But of course, again, 65%. The Dallas win total for the upcoming season is six and a half. And I will be taking the over. I understand that the vibes are terrible right now in Dallas. But we don't

bet on vibes and we do not play on vibes. These are still professional football players. There still is the new coach for the new coach bump, which is a real thing. But here's the data. The Cowboys have won seven games in eight of their last nine seasons, at least seven wins. We talk about them like they're a side show because Monday through Saturday, they often are a side show. But on Sundays, they're a pretty good team. They're not a great team. They're not a great team in January, but they are very rarely awful. And Dak Prescott has eight or more wins. in every full season he's played as a starter. They are worse today.

They are not a playoff team today. Their defense is worse today. But they still are going to win seven games or more this year. I like they're over. Yeah, I'm with you on this one. I mentioned it yesterday. Dag Prescott, when he's healthy, like he just wins games.

Like, that's what he does. In his division, he's 33 and 8. They have four games in that division. We'll see what they do. Or four games or six games. Six games in that division. And he tends to do very well as long as he's not playing the Philadelphia Eagles. That's only two of the games.

That's only two of the games. So I like this. You play with pride regardless of who's taking the field with you. So I like this. Yeah. Listen, I think you're right. They are in a little bit of a bond because the loss of Michael Parsons defensively. But I think the strength of strength of this team is on offense is their ability to throw the ball down the field.

Overall, man, I'm more interested to see how do they evolve. I think you talk about, yes, they were seconded league in passing prior to that press out getting hurt, but they were 31st in the red zone, right? So they have to be better in that regard. Overall, I can see this team win the eight games solely because they have to. They have to realize right now they're all they got. There's nobody walking through that door to save them. It has to go on back shoulders.

The other side of the trade is the Green Bay Packers, and vibes are much better there. But again, vibes do not result in wins. I'm taking the under on nine and a half wins. They are good. They won 11 games last year, but they beat up on the bad teams. And now, with them being the Super Bowl, you got them in the Super Bowl. Chris Broussard hasn't been the Super Bowl. I do. I mean, I've seen them competing for the Super Bowl.

They're getting everyone's best shot, arguably the best division in football, fifth toughest schedule in the NFL this year on paper, and Jordan Love, until I see consistently that interception percentage drop. you have a turnover prone quarterback, you are going to lose games that you otherwise should win with your talent. I will take under nine and a half wins on your Green Bay Packers. Ooh, talk to them great. Back them up. Do something. Come on. Talk about that pack like that. You need a loan? Do something great. I don't need a loan, Danny. Okay. I get it. I get it. You're you're enthralled by what you're, you're expecting to get out of the Chicago Bears camp. I get that.

I didn't even mention the Bears. Let's be honest. I did mention the Divide. You did. You did. Let's be honest. Like this is a team that lost, may I remind you, six games last year to three teams. They were what, one in five in the division? Six games last year to three teams. Took a blocked field. They lost to those teams twice. Like this is a really good football team without Micah Parsons. Now you add a Micah Parsons and you're telling me they can't get over nine and a half wins. Stop. Yeah. I think. I think it comes down to Jordan Love, right? It's about his consistency and health.

I think right now you talk about, and you know, the back, it's interesting too, because after week seven, they play five games in the division, that's the thing. Two, you also got to realize if, you know, from week 11 to 17, he had a 65% completion rate. He was hot. Overall, what you do want to see is stop the dumb mistakes,

clean up the footwork. He's a streaky player. Right, be more accurate with the football. But overall, Gray Jennings, I have them winning 12 games. Okay. I have the winning, I'm going with the oval. You guys are going on. against the king.

Did you see what the pendants are? 65%. All right. The next one, this is a little easier because the only way that you lose the wager is if he actually leads the league in sacks. Michael Parsons is not going to lead the NFL in sacks this year. He is a fantastic player.

He is one of the most consistent players. He is on a Hall of Fame trajectory of double-digit sacks each of the first four years to start a career. He's on a list of guys who are only Hall of Famers or J.J. Watt who will get in eventually. But the sack leader, he's always 15 plus sacks.

Every season since 2000, the guy who led the league in sacks, has had 15 or more. Mike has never hit that number. He's one of those double-teamed players in the NFL. Roshan Gary is there, and he's a great player. But I don't think Micah Parsons is all of a sudden going to become a 20 sack guy and actually lead the league.

Well, no, I think it comes down to how they use them. Valic, they're not going to pay them nine figures to be dropping back in coverage. But I think if you go, if you look at from a schematic standpoint, When they go to the 3-4 under, he's going to play that same linebacker, right? So they're going to have them going and they're going to reduce Van Ness inside. That's going to be a big factor. And also when they go to that 4-3 and to that nickel front, you know, the issue with that right now,

that's a five-man rush, but one got to drop. So now you have to choose who's dropping. Is that going to be Rashad Garrier or is now going to be Michael Parsons? But overall, man, if they let him do what he do, which is he is an elite pass rusher, I can see him being a double-digit sack leader again. Yeah, look, he may not lead the league in. in sacks because there's a guy in that division that I believe will probably lead the league in sacks and he's going to be in that.

Mr. Hutchinson? He's in that powder blue. Yeah. I mean, I'm, look, I'm excited. I'm excited about my but he's going to be right up there in that discussion because of all the pieces that you mentioned that they now have to move around that defensive line. So this time next week we'll be picking games against the spread.

That's the picks that'll count. That's where I'll be looking down on Nick Wright and Colin Coward of the standings. but I will give you a sneak preview right now, just as we're doing the Parkins picks, Micah Parsons Trade Edition. I'll take the Lions as a two and a half point underdog in week one. We are, we just were talking about, well, Micah Parsons is going to be on a pitch count against the Eagles.

He hasn't practiced. You were talking about you got to get warmed up. You got to push on guys. You got to take your hits. Even if it's just in practice, not in the games. They open up in Green Bay, and they're a favorite against the team that you like to say dog walked them. Last year, like, the Lions are, they've got something to prove too,

because the whole thing in Detroit is, oh, this brain drain, we lost Aaron Glenn, we lost Ben Johnson. Well, you go into Lambo Field. Yeah. And you've had this game circle the whole time, and you win this game where all of a single, wait, why are we an underdog? Why are the Packers favored over us in the division? Why are people picking the Packers over us?

We've destroyed this team recently. I think the Lions getting points in week one is a huge overreaction. I will definitely be on Detroit. This one is tough for me. Why? This one is tough for me. Jordan Lowe was not good against the Lions last year. It's tough because when I look defensively,

although Kenny Clark, the impact that he had on this team, it was major. And when you remove a player like that, I know you add Micah, but now you have to have guys fill in that role. You weren't planning for that. Sonic and Knuckles. You weren't planning for that.

And Detroit loves to run the football. So I'm still taking the I'm still taking the Packers. I got to say this, what scares me about this situation right now because to Greg's point, I think Green Bay is going to be more hungry and feeling like they're more ready because of Michael Parsons.

And the hardest thing as a competitor is to match the other teams' intensity. They're going to be playing in Lambo. They're going to be fired up. I expect Detroit to run up to school. I expect them to do what they do. But I wouldn't be surprised that Green Bay sneaks out of this one.

In two games last year against the Lions, Jordan Love completed 59% of his passes, one touchdown, one interception, a pass a rating of 84. Matthew Golden. Not Matthew Golden. Matthew Golden's the reason. I'll take the Lions plus two and a half.

Healthy. Healthy, Jay. Get ready. Another winning season of Parkins' picks. FTF edition. We should just buy this thrown. I don't know why we rent this. I got one in my house somewhere.

Oh, yeah. I would love to have it. Coming up, there's a lot of options. We talk Micah Parsons' Revenge Game next on FTF. In case you somehow missed it. Yesterday, the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. What? Two first round picks.

Kenny Clark going back to the Cowboys. Dallas kicks off the season week one against the Eagles. When asked how he thinks the Dallas lock room is going to respond, Jerry Jones had this to say. I like what this does. I'm absolutely zero word about the locker room. No luck. That's not meant to diminish anything here. I'm just not concerned at all about the locker room. Okay, you guys have approximately thousands more hours in the locker room than me, but I don't know that I trust Jerry Jones's input on this one. Willie, how do you feel like it's going to imagine? Yeah, it's tone deaf for him to say that out loud, right? Because one, your defense doesn't have an identity. You know what it means to walk out the locker room as a leader, what's your leader leading you on to the field? You know what I mean? There's a sense and a feeling of confidence that just overcomes you.

I could tell you firsthand when I was walking out the locker room with James Harrison and Ben Rockensburg of how I felt, like a million dollars. because I know he was about to go get us one. Overall, man, what really bothers me, too, is now you're looking at guys like Mazzie Smith, your nose tackle, who you really screwed his head up because you asked him to lose weight, and then you ask him to put on weight. And now he's second-guessing if he's even worthy of playing in this position because he's not productive at nose tackle. And he's supposed to be a guy that's supposed to be your run stopper. So you can complain about Michael Parsons not stopping the run, which I think he wasn't great against the run. He was elite pass wrestler.

We know that. But overall, you're going against the Philadelphia Eagles, who blew you out twice, who, who are Super Bowl champs, who understand that you're a bleeding animal. They're going to run the ball down your throat and they're going to get after you. So who's the next guy in that locker on the defensive side to say, hey, this isn't going to happen? Emotional leaders matter. And they don't have one right now. Yeah, look, you really cuffed Matt Iberfluse.

Like in terms of whether Micah Parsons played. As the Cowboys defensive coordinator. Correct. As a defensive coordinator, whether he signed and he played 15 snaps, 20 snaps, whatever, you still put pressure on your opponent to guess what you're going to do and where that guy is. When you look in a huddle or on the field as a coach and as players and you need a play, you know who you tend to look at? The guy who you know has always made that play. Sure.

And when you look, again, they're going to have guys make plays this year. A lot of guys. But that man right there on your screen, you knew he was going to be one of those guys. And now you don't have that. And so it's going to impact you immediately. However, you're kind of practicing already in training camp, kind of preparing to not have his services.

But knowing that he's not going to even be there available, to chatter on the sideline, to give you a look. Come on, man. Hey, man, you know what we do? Like just understanding what he's able to do, not even from a play standpoint, from just a leadership and a motivational standpoint, is going to impact this team.

And one more for you. You don't think Tavon Diggs and Blanem, they ain't sweating. They got A.J. Brand and DeVante Smith. Part of helping those guys out in the back end is having a pass rush that can go stop an elite quarterback like Jalen Hurts. So now Jailen Hurts got time. They can run.

They can do anything they want. And if you're in them corners and you're not secondary right now, You're nervous because they're going to be hungry. I will say I've marveled at how professional athletes have blinders. You guys are really amazing at blocking out distraction. You guys, you're putting your, you got to play that game. You have to learn the compartmentalize. So they're going to, they can get blown out by Philly with or without Michael Parsons.

In the media, we are going to say, oh, wow, Jerry stole their heart. Jerry gave him no shot at it. They were probably going to lose anyway. There is seven point underdog. Now there's seven and a half point underdog. They're probably going to lose that. And I'll say this, a loss is a loss, but how you lose matters, right? But if it's a situation where they're getting run it,

they're getting running up and down the field, that hurts. If it's a situation where it's a pass happy game, you're like, okay, you know, we'll figure it out. I think how you lose matters in this game, week one. Another huge spot on the schedule, week four, revenge game potential. Green Bay visits Dallas. What about the storyline of that game is going to be?

Here's Jerry Jones on facing Micah Parsons. so soon in week four. Micah will be a, will be problematic, very problematic. I'd suggest that we get ahead and run the ball. I agree with him.

It's funny. Jerry could be like, I think that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. That's spot on. You got to kind of keeps you on your toes in that way. But my guess is Micah has a big game when he gets to go back to Dallas. Yeah, well, they play the Browns. the week before leading up to that game.

So it's like a buy. Exactly. Oh, don't do that to him. Well, you get the sense that he'll have a good game coming into Dallas. And so then his emotions will start to hit him once he pulls up to the stadium and all the things. You clearly are going to have a Green Bay Packer locker room that is hoping and in full support of him having a very productive day. When you look at the Dallas Cowboys, they're going to do everything in their power to not do it. I've always felt

I've been in this position before as an offensive guy. Me too. Dependent upon a quarterback in the offensive line and in the unit to really function as one to get my job done. Defensively though. Man it's like

oh look I'm just I'm about to whip this guy in front of me and go get that. What can they do? Go rush the quarterback. Yeah but there's also an emotional aspect to it. I remember when I played the Steelers and I was in jet uniform and it was a TV timeout. And I remember staring, looking at

my defense, the big bad Steelers and looking at James Harrison and he just started laughing him because he knew I was on the other side of it now. He knew that like, oh, now we're coming to get you and everybody that looks like you. And it was weird. It took me a whole half for me to be like, oh, I'm in a football game. Yes, it's the Pist's persistent, but I still

got to do my job. I think Michael Parsons is still very much emotionally attached to the Cowboys. And I say that because I go off what his brother tweeted, right? Like, Mike had never wanted to leave. He wanted to remain a cowboy. Things went awry, X, Y, Z. With all that said, man,

I remember, once again, when I was playing against the Steelers, man, I got in a fight at the kneel down, right? Well, I mean, that was pretty common. Yeah, but it was. But at the end of the day, I thought I would have never been in that position. So my point is to Micah,

it's going to take him a little bit to get acclimated that he is in a Packer's uniform, especially going against the Cowboys. Yeah, he's going to destroy Dak. He's going to, he's going to have his moment in that spot. But expect to get booed. I know we talked about yesterday. Expect to get booed.

We'll see. It's going to be conflicted. This has not been the only blockbuster trade that Dallas-Fort Worth area fans have had to deal with. But I do not think this is an apples-to-apples comparison. Of course, back in February, the Mavericks sent Luca Donchich to the Los Angeles Lakers. You see them here with their Dallas uniforms as they were trading jerseys. I will just say, I understand the comparison in their prime stars, 26 years old, traded fan favorites. The fan base owns the jerseys, the whole thing.

Micah Parsons did request a trade. Like, we have been talking for months. Are they going to get this done? What's he going to get paid? How unhappy is he? Is Jerry crazy enough to do this? Luca Donchich was traded and we were like, what happened? Excuse me?

Was Shams hacked? Like, the circumstances around the trade in terms of the fan base being prepared for it, even if you were in denial as a Cowboys fan that you were going to trade Micah Parsons, You can't say it came out of nowhere. The Luca Donchus trade is still the craziest sports trade of my life time. Well, no, because you got to remember Brady and Mookie Betts was traded in the same offseason. So, yeah, I mean, Mookie Betts, you know what I mean? So they both got out of Boston, they're both significant figures in Boston.

Overall, for me, it's about the return. Like, Maver's got Cooper Flagg, right? They got Kyrie, if he comes back off injury, they got a deep bench. Like, their team is set. nobody is thinking about the Cowboys winning anything. Yeah, the immediate. And what did they get? Kenny Clark into two first rounds?

Sure. Listen, you can certainly make the argument that the Mavericks are in a better position than the Cowboys are. That's where I agree with you. You're looking at it more from like the, I'm talking about from the fan standpoint. The Luca trade would have just gutted me because when you did it, you didn't have Cooper Flack. But you didn't have Cooper Flagg. But you didn't have a deep bench and you're hoping Carrey and Clay and company to bring it home for? Both are gutting.

The Luca, totally, I agree with you. even more gut-wrenching because he was like the savior. He was the heir apparent to Dirk, Nguinsky, and supposedly going to be even better than Dirk. The face of the franchise. Exactly. Micah,

it's like, I know you say he requested the trade, but he openly voiced on several different occasions publicly that I want to be a cowboy. I want to end my career here. And then when he felt like

they're doing me wrong. You know what? Forget it, man. Get me out of here then if you don't want me here. There's more to the story. And I thought about this. Like, there's the whole handshake deal. Something pissed Jerry off for him to sit Micah Dada right. And it was just not, but I mean like, no, I don't. I think it was pride on whose part though? On Jerry's a part. Right. So I'm with you, but that's why I think something else happened along to trigger that man. Because for so long, we sat here and said, Jerry pays his guys. Jerry takes care of his own. If you sit down with a man and Mark to say, hey, man, we're going to get to.

it's done and it doesn't happen a week before the season, something pissed you up. Well, yeah, your prize just cost you, Micah Parsons. Thank you. Maybe your shot at the season. Welcome back to first things first. Before the trade, Micah Parsons was the second favorite for defensive player of the year at 7 and a half to 1. Agent Aiden Hutchison was the favorite. But Micah Parsons has jumped.

He is now the favorite at 6 to 1 for DPOI. I actually will stay with Hutchinson, but I just think that the Lions are. are going to be better. And if with that offense and that pass rusher, that's the type of guy who's just going to be playing from out in front, pure pass rush situations. So I have Hutch as the defensive player. Yeah, I got Nick Benito outside line back to the Denver Broncos.

He is probably the most versatile player in all of the NFL. I mean, you talk about coming off the edge, a fierce pass rusher, and you can drop him in coverage. She can cover anybody 13 and a half sacks last season. He's somebody, he's much to watch TV. I love his game. Yeah, I'm with you. We're aligned.

I'm going to roll with Aidan, Look, we don't need the Packers to sweep every category as far as accolades and awards and all the things. We already know where I have them in terms of Super Bowl. Should I be concerned about the leg sleeve? This man is coming off in ASEO. I can see comeback player at a year. Is that a concern thing there? Is that a concern thing there?

On the left leg? Comeback player at a year, defensive player at a year. Check it. No, I don't see that. NFC champion. I mean, listen, I've picked him to be in the Super Bowl three years in a row. I felt like I was a little early to it, but they were awesome two years ago. Last year, I really do feel like we were robbed of the Lions Eagles NFC championship game.

Oh, I thought you were saying we as in we, you being a Lions fan. We the people. We the people. Like, don't, you're a Bears guy. Yeah, no, I know. But I'm just saying, listen, once the Bears get eliminated, I like to watch the best teams. And I felt like the Lions were the best team. Biggest issue with the Lions right now, they need somebody to help him out on the other side and they don't have it.

That's right. And the secondary is going to be a little shaky. And that's exactly why he's going to be crazy awesome. Well, you think so, but he didn't have help last year. In the start that he had, oh, my goodness. Last year. Yeah, before he got hurt. Oh, before he got hurt.

Before he got hurt. Michael Parsons, though, if he takes this and he's like, okay, now I got paid, and now I'm on a good organization, and he's like, I'm just going to casually have 22 seconds. But there's no excuses for him. He has to go in. He has to go in. Like, I got to see how many snaps he's going to play. Oh, okay.

Now, okay. No, it matters. We can't still putting excuses around. He has to let them out. No, no excuses. I already picked him. Next week. It's game week.

Yes, sir. We got NFL games. Yes, sir.