First Things First - Ravens trade for Maxx Crosby, Chiefs sign Kenneth Walker, Wemby ‘best player in the world?’

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

(0:00) Ravens acquire Maxx Crosby, Chiefs sign Kenneth Walker, Did Tatum exceed expectations? (28:17) Dolphins sign Malik Willis, Travis Kelce to return to Chiefs (40:37) A.J. Pierzynski joins the show (49:12) Ravens AFC favorites to win Super Bowl after Maxx Crosby deal?  (01:08:29) Wemby ‘best player in the world’, Lakers better without LeBron James? (01:23:18) Take of the Day (01:25:19) Tua Tagovailoa to the Falcons, Purdy or Baker more impacted by Mike Evans leaving? (01:47:46) Giants sign Isaiah Likely, Malik Willis to the Dolphins a good thing? (02:00:09) Raiders sign Tyler Linderbaum, Alec Pierce deserves best Free Agent contract ever? (02:07:51)  Will Paul Skenes dominate tonight vs. Mexico? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One and two. Live from New York, it's a show that's congratulating the Dominican Republic on a dominant run. Going into that game, also Brewers in his Ravens Road from Max Crosby. But I'm excited about the world baseball classic, Brew. I know you have to remain cool the whole time. I've got stats on the slugging percentage of the DR. I'm your huckleberry. Didn't I tell you that was going to happen?

I picked the DR to win it all. I said Tatee's Jr. was going to shine. that O'Neill Cruz, who's got two home runs, was going to shine. Everything is coming up, Brew, today. I hate to be. This weekend. Wow. I haven't even gotten to Mad Max, but I will. What was your take on Tatum?

Yeah, I say he was going to average 17 points a game. What he averaged this weekend. 17 points a game. You're just perfect. You're just perfect. What a weekend. Also, Danny Park is in for Nick Wright. Welcome, Danny.

Did you get any predictions right so far? No, I got a lot of things wrong, though, it sounds like. What'd you didn't think he was going to do? He said Tate him was going to go out there and look like Baylor Shireman. Or worse, worse, I should say. That's not what I. First hour, first things first. Today, Max Crosby is a raven.

Is it time to break out the box? Meanwhile, USA dominating the world baseball classic Mexico up tonight at 8 on Fox. Is there a chance we get upset? Oh. History says yes. Mexico's playing well. Randy Rose Arena. And finally, a bold proclamation from Brew, who is on a hot streak, a little bit of a take heat check here, is Wembe now the best player in the world?

People mocked me when I said if he's Akeem, Elijah, Juan, it's a disappointment. I think everybody agrees with me now. Everyone agrees with you. You don't agree with that? Can we see him play one playoff game? Nope. Okay. We've seen enough.

He's unbelievable. He's enough. Okay. Best player in the world. Power-packed free agency, legal tampering period, episode of Weird and Wonderful. That's true, but also first things first. We're starting with Max Crosby, Baltimore Raven. Two first round picks headed to Las Vegas this year and next as Vegas continues their rebuild.

Immediate upgrade, bro. Since last year, Sacks weren't your thing. Even though defense is in the Ravens DNA, 30 sacks was tied for 28, pressure rate 29th. Crosby, meanwhile, has had 10 or more sacks in four of seven career years. How much do you like this deal? Yeah, no misdirection here. No misdirection needed. All right.

I call for this Friday. Yes, true. They went out and got it done. Good job, Ravens. You're tired of seeing me in a hospital. bed. You're tired of seeing me on crutches. You're tired of seeing me in a neck brace.

So you go out and get mad Max Wilds. Danny, there is only one thing left to say. The box! Yes, the box! It's back. The box, baby. We're months away, but I am in the

mood and I got food. Sandwiches, chips, and of course a soda pop. And the reason Can't forget that. It's going to be a lot of people making sandwiches for the Ravens this year. Cincinnati, get the conies. The cheese and chili dogs ready.

Pittsburgh, parogies. Houston Tex-Mex. Cleveland, some corned beef sandwiches. It's going to be a lot of sandwich making, all right? Oh, my goodness. Where's the weakness? Oh, well. That's a good question.

It ain't a quarterback. No. It's not a running back. The receivers are good. I hate losing Isaiah likely. Good job, Giants. All right? But I'll deal with Mark Andrews.

The defense, Danny, improved over the second half of last season. Defensive backfield looks, we know it's good, even though they tick me off sometimes, but it's good and going to get better with a pass rush. Because that's something, as you said, Wiles, they didn't. have last year. Jesse Minter, job well done. He's a defensive-minded coach. It's on.

It is so on. It's going to be sandwich making. I would love a sandwich, but I did not love the trade. What? Really? I did. Oh, they gave up two first round picks. I'll give you this.

They're one of the few teams in the league that I think should have done that because they're all about win now. They're win now, period. Well, clearly. I mean, they were. They have to be, right? Well, yeah. I mean, but their personnel before Crosby is we got to win now.

Yeah, how about that? How many years have they been S-Bob? Oh, this is probably. Since Lamar became a superstar. Since Lamar became a superstar. So their S-Bob again, so that is obviously familiar territory. I always respect a team taking a big swing. But the 14th pick, they didn't have the 29th pick because this was not a normal year.

and we can roll our eyes or shrug our shoulders at that, but there is a significant difference between a mid-first-round pick and a late-first-round pick, and we can just look at the history of trading multiple first-round picks for non-quarterbacks. Those are the guys in the last decade who it's happened for. Obviously, jury's still out on Sauce Gardner and Micah Parsons, but early returns are not great,

but you'll notice they're all 25, 26, or 27 years old. Max Crosby will be 29 years old. He's coming off the meniscus surgery entering next year. And this is how it's gone for those teams. You're like, but that's the Jalen Ramsey Rams. Well, yeah. That was pretty sweet. Well, no, I'm going to do it right here.

So Jalen Ramsey, that one obviously worked. But they also are the team that is probably the most antithesis of the Ravens, because they are F them picks. They've used one first round pick in the last eight years. Whereas the Ravens, Brew, they builds through the draft. They are an excellent. drafting team. Laramie Tunsell, he won a few playoff games, but he's now not on the team that made that trade for him. He's been traded again. So I don't know that Houston would say

that that was a great trade to go get Laramie Tunsell. He's not even on the squad anymore. And the rest of those teams, again, we'll see on Sauce Gardner and Micah Parsons. The other ones, the juries are out. The juries are out at the top. Sure, if you want to say it. But the point is, it is hard to justify that amount of draft capital for a non-quarterback. And then when you add in, you lose likely. You lose Draymond Jones. You lose Linderbaum. You are not as stacked of a team.

You are not as, oh, wow, this is the best roster in football, which a lot of people had you as yesterday. I see I'm not moving you off your robe. Well, you put up a nice cute graphic about, oh, these have failed. Can I get a cute scoreboard for this week? Can I see the 14th picks that have not panned out or even 14 and above? Because there's a lot of number three picks, a lot of number five picks, a lot of number one picks that don't pan out.

One thing I know about Max Crosby, he can play. Now, I get it to knee injury and all that stuff, but he'll be fine. He is a raven through and through. Danny, I also like the graphics. I'm not going to call them cute. I thought they were informative. Thank you. Super Bowl odds don't necessarily agree with you.

In the AFC, well, overall it's Ram Seahawks. And the AFC, the bills are tied with the Ravens there, Bruce. So it feels like Vegas at large, who you seem to respect the opinions of the odds makers. The Ravens, to Bruce's point for the last three years, are Super Bowl or busts. They are a very talented team. And I love the hire with Jesse Minter. And in the AFC North, where Cleveland is awful and Pittsburgh has real questions, and Cincinnati only fields half of a team because they only field an offense, like they

should run away with the AFC North and they should be hosting a playoff game. But that didn't happen this year. This year was injuries. You know what? I didn't expect Pat's on the back from you to. The charge, this is all about the Chargers. This is all about the Patriots. No, the Linderbomb thing is real.

Dremont Jones is nice. That was a little switcheroo for the Patriots. The Linderbomb thing I think is real. I should have known. I should have known. happy for you. That the haters would be out. This is the one question for the, and this is legit.

I will tell you guys this. Here's the one question, and it has been the same question the last few years. Will Lamar and the Ravens play their best football in the postseason? I'll give you that. That's still the question. To me, I hate losing Linderbom, but there's no excuse. You have an, every team has some hole somewhere. there's no excuse for them not to get it done.

Well, you know, you put a lot of teams at S-Bob. A lot of good teams out there. Well, right. And only one can actually win. Like, the Rams are all in. Trade for McDuffie, give him the biggest contract ever. The bills are all in, the trade they made for DJ Moore. The Ravens are all in.

Some of these S-Bob teams are going to be disappointed, and the losses, the departing Ravens column, is pretty extensive. Those are good players you guys lost. disappointed too many years now. And the bills, obviously in the same exact boat as the Ravens, but I got defense for them. We'll see, right? Because losing Sean McDermott, he's been, you know,

that defense hasn't been good in the playoffs, but regular season has been good because of him. So that's a question mark for me. But look, you can't, y'all can't. It's a good day. You can't kill my vibe. It's an extra vibe. I want to try as you might.

All right. We are power. With moves. And this one is a little bit unfortunate for me because I did not see it happening. It's a shocking move for me, for Tampa Bay box fans, and for Mike Evans. After a statue-worthy 12-year career in Tampa Bay, he's gone, agreeing to a three-year deal with the 49ers. Danny, I understand that I thought this was all just agent talk. And I claimed you don't have to tell me, but...

Well, I'll tell you. I'll tell you. I was very doubtful Mike Evans was going to be on the move where you were as surprised by this move as I was. That's not the story. It's a small... It's part of the story. I just...

I hate this. Well, I hate this with a passion. Why? Because I've seen this happen dozens of times before. LeBron James left Cleveland, left Miami. It was hard. It was a sad. Redire and left O KC.

Brew, do you not know what's going on here? He remembers it. His take aged like an avocado. Can I show you Kevin Wilde from six days ago on Mike Evans? Please roll the tape. If Mike Evans leaves Tampa Bay, I will cook this into a donut and eat it. Wow. The script.

You think there's no chance? There is zero chance. There is zero chance. What's your favorite? type of donut. And a cruller, actually. All right, well. I mean, it's a savvy move by me to say I would cook it into a donut. It's not like, I'll eat my shoe.

You throw it into a blender. But I am shocked, and I just think this is an odd move for Tampa Bay to let an all-time legend who is still producing. I don't know. I feel like there's an emotional component to this. Shout out to Brock, though. Are you happy for Brock, Brew? I am happy for Brock.

You know, obviously, Evans. I think he's still, I still think he's a one. Yeah. So I'm happy for Brock. You know, you just hope the other guys can stay healthy. Pierce, all, Jennings. It makes them better because they kind of go down, you know, to the two and the three. So, yeah, it's great for the Niners.

I mean, you know, I'm not happy about the news that they might, you know, not have Trent Williams, that they might be open to move in him. But they know what they're doing, I would imagine. So I am very happy about this. I'm just stunned that you are so broken up about this. Honestly, I am too. I am not a Tampa Bay Bucks fan. I just found that for over a decade of my life,

Mike Evans was Tampa Bay. And maybe it's a little bit of like Brady New England scar tissue. But Mike Evans was a buck. He's their all-time leader and catches, yards, and touchdown. No, it's always a thousand yards. He's fighting for it. He got hurt. I don't know.

You didn't feel this way when Aaron Rogers left the Packers. Yes. I mean, that was, I felt like the writing was on the wall there. Well, the writing was on the wall here. I didn't think it was. And I don't know what Tampa Bay is like, they re-signed Cade. Like, I don't know if Tampa Bay is, it's an odd move for Tampa Bay and Baker, I think. Well, so I think, I mean, the difference between this and the Rogers one is there was obviously a lot of public animosity.

of Rogers at the end. There was a lot of public animosity for Tom Brady at the end. This, I mean, I don't know about that. You don't remember any of that that came out? In New England? Yeah, you don't remember any of that? All the articles and books and. Whatever, keep on going.

I just say, so I think moves have been telegraphed more than this one. Mike Evans has been up before for contracts and has re-signed in Tampa. And at times it even felt like he took less money to stay in Tampa. A lot of, Chris Godwin last year. took less money to stay in Tampa. So it did seem like there was a real chance that he was going to be a buck for life. But Tampa needed to allocate some resources

on the defensive side of the ball. Their offense has been great. They drafted Emeka Abuka last year, who was really good. They signed Godwin, who is still good when he was coming off of the ankle injury. They still got a good receiver. And because, and we'll talk Alec Pierce later,

but I don't know if you guys have noticed, it's a good time to be a free agent wide receiver. Yeah. Like, Alec Pierce just got the highest free agent-wide receiver deal ever. Mike Evans is 33 years old and got a three-year deal for 20 million a year. Like, that is a massive financial commitment to a player who is. Those always seem like, you know, it's like the deal we signed Stefan to last year. Yeah, you can get out of it.

You can move it around. It's always like a three-year, 60, and it's like, all right, one year. And we'll see all the specifics when it comes out. And yeah, for San Francisco, a team that is old and has injuries, this is another older player. So we'll see. So it's probably a shorter commitment. You're right. But I just think that Tampa needed to allocate some resources to the defensive side of the ball.

But yeah, great career. Look. Sorry, you're sad. Yeah. I find it strange that I'm sad. But if the NFC West becomes like an offensive-driven squad and Darnold's got JSN and Stafford's got Puka and Devante, Brock kind of always trying to check the IR, who's on, who's not, the injury, you know, trying to figure it out. Hopefully, if Mike can play 17 games.

Right. I mean, he is an older receiver, as Danny said, and, you know, the other guys have been injury prone. So we'll see. 866 catches over 13,000 yards, 108 touchdowns will now be catching them from Brock Purdy. All right, we're heading. Donate on the air tomorrow. Yes, and we have to figure out if there's any donut company is willing to put a script inside the product. Kansas City Chiefs added another Super Bowl MVP to their roster.

Kenneth Walker now in the backfield. Three years, almost $29 million guaranteed. Other news today out of Kansas City, Tonga coming over from New England. I loved him. And Kelsey is back more on that story later. Here's Kenneth Walker's stats, regular season, 13 rushes game, popped up to almost 22 in the playoffs from 60 to 104 and five rushing touchdowns. And then four in the playoffs.

Mahomes is thrilled. Reading, let's go. And two muscle biceps. Your reaction to this, Danny. A massive need for the Chiefs has been filled. But they everyone's

Jeremiah Love, the ninth pick. He's going to be gone. He's going to be gone before nine. So, they needed running back help. We have been talking about the Chiefs needing production at the running back spot since Isaiah Pacheco broke his leg. And is the best way to get a

productive running back, how they got it with Pacheco, a seventh round pick who you find and you draft and you, yes, that is the best way to do it. But when you have apparently one year left to Kelsey, Chris Jones towards the end, and you're smack dab in the middle of Patrick Mahomes's prime and he's coming off of his first significant injury, sometimes you're going to want to turn around and hand the ball off to a good player. And you're not, you're going to also want chunk plays to not have to only come from Patrick Mahomes. And Kenneth Walker, we saw it in the playoffs. He's got a tremendous amount of burst.

And he was, because of the timeshare with Charbonnet, he really wasn't used that much in Seattle. The thing that jumps off of that graphic you showed was the 13 rush attempts per game. Like that's a very low number. The Chiefs are going to do more than that for sure. And if we show up the explosive runs, he had more by himself than the Chiefs had all of last year. And that was with Kenneth Walker not getting the ball all. that much. So assuming Kenneth Walker becomes the focal point of their running game, which for 15 million

a year, he obviously will. He should have a massive statistical season next year in Kansas City. Wow. I've seen no reason for him. Massive. What are you thinking? At least 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns. Holy cow. I mean, he had 1,000 yards in Seattle with Charbonnet getting 13 carries a game. So Nick disagrees with this, but we have seen time and time again, Running back gets hurt. You could almost argue this is the Kenneth Walker story. Running back goes down. New running back comes in, either free agent or waiver wire guy comes in

and just picks up where the other guy was because the line and the play calling and the system works. The fact that Kansas City was so inept at running the ball makes me think it's not just a Pacheco problem. It was not just a Clyde-Zer-Clead-Ewood-Elear problem. Part of me thinks it's either a line problem or a play-calling problem. When you're down with just the teams that these are the only teams that ran the ball less effectively than the chiefs, Raiders who have a great running back, we think, Cardinals, Titans, Bengals, Saints, Brown, Steelers, Chiefs. I'm just not sure they were just a running back away that it's not more systemic, for lack of a better word.

I think that there's probably some truth to that. They hired Eric B. Enemy, former running back, former running back coach, offensive coordinator to come in. So he's expected to. Maybe he solves it too. He's expected to. And when he was there, they had a decent run game. Correct. And they're hoping, obviously, that Trey Smith and Creed Humphrey stay healthy together all year, the interior of their offensive line, which should be an elite run blocking unit. So yeah, I, and also, sometimes you have to just spend to fix a need. They had gotten nothing from that position now for years, and they just signed the Super Bowl MVP. I don't know how you don't like the deal. I like it. I,

Clearly they needed it. I agree love was not going to be there at number nine. And from Mahomes, when he comes back, whether it's game one or whenever, it's going to help him to have a running back that they can just give the ball to and he can get them four or five yards. And Walker showed when Charbonnet got hurt that he can be that bell cow. Like that's why his numbers went up. And a lot of running backs can't do that.

but he can be more than a guy that splits time. Now, he's not a great pass catcher. No. But he is a bell cow. And so I think that'll be more necessary. It's been necessary for them, but even more so with Mahomes coming off the injury. So I do like it a lot. I think what you said is interesting.

But I think Walker's great. He can break tackles. He's got, you know, runs with power, but obviously also can break long run. So he's a very good running back. so I think he'll be good for them. I do not expect the chiefs to be the chiefs of old, the 14 and 3 chiefs. I do expect them to be the no one wants to see them in the playoffs chief that sneaks in there as a wild card. And the playoff experience is like, yeah, I was a Super Bowl MVP before.

So now it's in Mahomes and Kenneth Walker. Scarier. You're already given the division to someone else. They're a wild card team. I like that. Look. Early prediction. I don't want to get you going.

okay it's like telling my kids like hey if you eat dinner we're going to go to the ice cream store and they just start talking about ice cream the entire dinner they don't eat their go ahead say it the chargers look scary yeah yeah they do Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel they should win that division oh my god are we a charger show no did we all speak I'm just telling you they do look good all right quickly on to the NBA Jason Tatum returned to the court about 300 days since tearing his Achilles and frankly he played great two day two games teams, 27 minutes, two wins, step backs, dunks, some defense, a little bit of everything here, bro. Here's Tatum.

Today felt a lot more normal, just from a preparation standpoint and mentally. The other day was such a big deal. And obviously, in home game in the city of Boston, I had a lot of family in town. Today just kind of felt like, you know, getting back in the flow of things. and that felt good for me. So it was Friday against the Mavs and it was Sunday in Cleveland. Brew, to me it looks like a very methodical and planned return.

27 minutes, both games. He took 16 shots, made six of them, both games, 15 points and 20 points. Did Tatum exceed your expectations? No, I mean, this is what I expected him to do. Like, I thought he would come out and play well. Now, it's not Jason Tatum yet, shooting 37% from the floor,

29% from 3. I liked that he was aggressive. He obviously is still trying to get his rhythm, his timing back. You saw him, I think he missed his first nine shots on Friday at least his first six, if not his first nine, and then he got going.

And this is the reason I thought that he would be able to come in and kind of, kind of pick up where he left off was because they have a system that They obviously create tons of space. And he, even in a diminished form,

is going to be better at beating defenders one-on-one and using that space than Derek White, Baylor, Shireman, Sam, Howser, any of these guys. Pritchard got a lot to it in his little bag so he can make his own stuff. And obviously Brown, but I felt like with the spacing that they get, he's going to still be able to beat people off the dribble and he's going to get open looks because that's what their offense creates

and he did it. But I think he's just going to get better. I'm not saying we'll see him at his 100% peak this season necessarily. But I think he's going to be a very good player for them. And one thing you also saw, Jalen Brown, you saw it against Cleveland in particular, was getting single coverage. He's been doubled a lot this season.

So now having Tatum on the floor opened things up for Brown. So look, the Celtics have a great chance to get out of these. There's no question. I mean, they just... You were thinking about selling all of your piston stock.

You quietly divested. Pistons are in a little slump and I'm not going to totally, you know, put everything in this. But they just, their shooting is obviously shaky. I think Detroit, Boston, and New York are, and I put Cleveland, I know you like them, Danny.

a little behind that group. But those three, it might be about matchups. I don't think the Knicks want to see Detroit. And I think they're hoping privately somebody takes them out. But the Knicks beat Boston last year with Tate. So it might be matchups as to how this works out. But, yeah, Boston, their fans should be over the moon. Over the moon.

Yes, because you seem so optimistic about this. but it still isn't Achilles for a basketball player. Now, maybe we just need to throw it all out, everything that we've known about this injury in the past, because normally it would happen to older players, and normally it would take longer to come back from. But because of the style of play and the distance covered and how difficult it is physically,

it seems like we're getting more Achilles' injuries and they're happening to younger guys. And Tatum opted to do his surgery the next morning, right? Before 24 hours had come since he ruptured, it. He was doing the surgery and he's back in less than 300 days. And I don't, the numbers are whatever, 27 minutes, 27 minutes twice in three days for a guy coming off of an Achilles injury, that is astonishing. You can talk about Dominique, we could talk about Kobe, we can talk about guys who have done it before. But like, I thought he looked awesome. I really would not have cared

if he would have went 0 for 16. Like the fact that he was, 16 would have hit my rating. It would been a headline. But like the fact that he was able to play 27 minutes twice in three days and feel comfortable to take that number of shots and they weren't all catch and shoot, there were plenty. But like the fact that he was doing everything, if that's your starting point on this 20 game sprint to the playoffs, yeah, Celtics are in very, very good shape. I don't think he was in cruise control by any stretch, obviously, but he said that the game against the Cavs felt a little a little bit more normal. Tomorrow against the Spurs.

All the Wemby hype, we know the Spurs are a surging team. I wonder, last time he had 32, 14, and seven last game against Wemby last year. I wonder if he's like, you know what, let me, let me see if I got a little bit of extra. So you go put 30 on them. If he did that, I'd be amazed. Like, it's not, Wimby obviously is the key. and he deters a lot of shots at the rim in the paint, all that. But they're going to, because of Wimby's presence back there,

it allows them to pick you up full court, play you physically. So their young, Stefan Castle and Dylan Harper and Dyerrin Fri, all their defenders are going to really, they're going to really put pressure on Tatum and test him. And I'd be shocked if he went for 30. I'm interested. I could see it going either way. Like, oh, he gets 30 or like, no, you know.

know what full court just he wasn't right yeah yeah two is gone malik willis arrives in miami that's next on fs one and the fox sports channel on serious xm schwarber launches it to team usa undefeated skeins on the mound tonight against mexico eight o'clock on fox dany you're expecting USA to dominate also great jennings is here welcome back hey guys Hey, Greg. Whatever you watch any of the game. It's like, yeah, of course they're going to dominate. Have you seen the roster?

They've drawn 24 walks in two games. The lineup is impossible. Love it. Makes me sad Schwabers not a cub. The Schwerver is amazing. He's unbelievable. If you look at the slugging percentage, I know that we are, we are a stacked team. Yeah.

Mexico slugging percentage above the United States. But they beat Brazil 16. Oh, I think we'll win. would win and I think, I mean, Skings is just filthy, so I think he's going to dominate. But this is not, Mexico's not to be taking light. No. Randy Orozarena, Jaron, Jared, right. They got several pros. It is a squad. All right, dub. All right, dub. Probably. Welcome back to first things first. And an exciting and power pack day.

We're head to Miami. Miami gave two of the bag and now they're left holding the bag. He was released. Dolphins hit with a record. Ninety-nine million dollar dead money. hit. In his spot, Malik Willis. Three years, almost $70 million. First two years are guaranteed total of 45. He reunites with his GM and coach Jeff Afflea from the Packers. So a good vote of confidence there. Daniel, we'll start with you. What's the bigger headline here for you, Tua leaving and the huge dead cap hit or Malik Willis? Well, the bigger headline I think is Malik Willis because we've just known that Tua was going to be a former dolphin for since the end of the season.

I mean, they voluntarily were playing Quinn Ewers over him. Right. So, I mean, this has been writing on the wall that Tool was going. If I was running the Dolphins, I would have taken the full cap hit this year, instead of spreading it out over two to do the, kind of do the soft tank, basically, and just take your medicine this year and then fully restart next year. So that's just an accounting issue. But I'm really excited to see what Malik Willis looks like.

And, you know, he goes with Jeff Haffley, who knew him from Green Bay, the general manager, you knew him. This year, though, they've let go of so much talent. I'm glad that there's pretty solid guarantees in year two, because this year is not going to be a very friendly year to make your audition to the rest of the league that you're a bona fide starter. But, you know, he just got $65 million to go give it a shot. Look, I loved it. We talked about this before. We both love Malik Willis. I love Malik Willis.

And I also love the fact that the dolphins went out and got him because there's a lot of teams that can look at what he was able to do. And I think this is the biggest story clearly because I'm talking about it. Look at what he can do and just don't know. There are a lot of uncertainties. There were a lot of known factors because of the rapport, the relationship. You mentioned it, Jeff Hathley, Eric Sullivan, the general manager. They know what they're getting not only as a player, but character as an individual. They understand the work ethic that he's willing to put in.

They've seen it. They've literally gone against him every day. Jeff Hathley on his defense. So when you know what you are going to get, you don't feel like it's a risk. So you put that money in the bank. Now you can go out into the draft and the rest of free agency and start that process, whether you're continuing to get rid of guys and adding different pieces that you know you're going to use to bolster your roster. For a future, you're going to do that definitely in the draft.

But getting Malik Willis to solidify your quarterback need because you definitely had a need and you feel strongly that this could be the guy that we move forward with for the future if he continues to evolve and grow, this is the move to make. Well, first with two, you know, and you know I felt this way like teams just need to not be so impulsive or be more patient. because to me there was no reason for the dolphins to give him all that money with his injury history I felt the same way about Kyler who kind of forced Arizona you know he took all everything down from his social media about the Cardinals like he forced them into paying him that big money and now you just let him go so I just think there are some of these guys where you're not certain

about you need to be more patient on and we've seen several teams now end up with egg on face. So that's number one. For Tua, there's talk about him going to Atlanta. Like the Atlanta's going to go out after him. I like that for him. Now, I know Pinnix is the starter there, but Pinnock's with his injury history. I'm just saying for Tua, if he is up in Atlanta, you're going to a place where they have weapons.

I know they haven't been great, obviously, lately, but they do have offensive weapons, running back, receiver, tight end. and you may really get a chance to play, you know, because of the injury history of Pinnock. So I like that for two. As far as Malik, you're right. Like the fact that Hathley knows him from Green Bay, like that is the most positive thing here because it is a small sample size, three starts in two years. And he was great in those starts.

I mean, 78% completion, I think a 134 pass rating. But that is a tiny sample size. So seeing him in practice, I guess they're like, look, this is our guy. But Danny's right. I don't expect anything from him this year because that team is depleted. So you're going to have to, unless he just goes out there and is able to overcome his circumstances. But I would think he's going to struggle this first year.

And it might look bad initially, but Halfley obviously has major confidence. So I think they struggle as a team. I don't think he will struggle as a player because he's so exciting. When you look at the ability that he has to extend plays, get out of the pocket, use his legs, the physicality that he can run with, the accuracy that he throws with, that's a plus. So you insert him in any offense, and it's instant excitement. It's not necessarily wins, but it's excitement. It's like we can rally behind this guy. In terms of Tua, I don't think a lot of people really pay attention to the importance of having a backup quarterback that means.

the requirements. Like it makes sense that the Falcons are going after Tua Tula Tunga by Aloha. He's a left-handed quarterback. We don't have to reset our our strength, our offensive tackle situation. There's not a lot of lefty QBs. It's not both of them. And so now you you you you. When he leads with that? Absolutely. Like hi it's me too. I'm left-handed. Hey, you leave with that. You know you, I can back up. I can back up your guy. I also get injured. The reality is with a worse arm. But the reality is is if he's going in and you can say he can compete for a starting job, I doubt that that's the case.

If you're saying he's going to be your number two guy, I'm good with that. If we're going to turn off, if something happens to Pennix Jr., and you have Tula coming off the bench as your backup quarterback, you feel really good about that situation. All right, well, we're going to head back to Kansas City, Travis Kelsey, back for his 14th year with some early ideas that he would be open to suitors. Kind of like Mike Evans, you know. I thought there was zero chance. It's nothing sacred anymore. But in his professional and personal life, he remains engaged.

Kelsey's 2025 season down for him. But as far as tight ends go, pretty good. Fourth in targets, six in receptions, yards per reception, 11, which is good for ninth best, five touchdowns among 28 tight ends with 40 receptions. Okay. So what are your expectations for Travis Kelsey, Greg? Be what they need you to be. And that means in moments where we need you,

the Travis Kelsey of old to kind of give us a splash, give us that. They're not going to ask him to be what he's always been over the course of his career. We know that Travis Kelsey, that time is gone. However, with Patrick Mahomes on the field and Travis Kelsey there,

they have such a rapport and a feel of one another, he's going to give you those moments. In big situations, you know you can count on them and rely on him. And he's a safety valve for Patrick Mahomes. So the fact that he's coming back, it makes sense. You don't want to end your career on that sour note, not making the postseason, obviously going into this past season with expectations of not only having a chance to win the Super Bowl,

but at least getting a deep playoff run. None of those happens. You finish third in your division. It just all was bad for Kansas City. best friend gets hurt. He's the quarterback. There's a lot of positive things coming out of the fact that he's going to come back and be with Patrick Mahomes this year. It's going to be interesting.

Look, you say a safety valve. I do think with him and Kenneth Walker, you've kind of got two security blankets for Mahomes coming back off the injury. A guy he's familiar with and then a running back. The thing is, Kelsey was their number one receiver last year. And some of that was Rishi Rice being out, Xavier Worthy getting hurt. But now there's questions again about Rice. So if Rice isn't there. Like to me, if they don't have Rishie Rice, they got to upgrade that receiving group.

Because I don't think Kelsey can be their number one receiver again if they want to really compete for the, you know, make the playoffs and go further. So that's what I'm looking to see. I think they're going to have to upgrade that receiving room. Yeah, I think we're going to do a lot of conversations in the next 45 days. about Carnell Tate, the wide receiver from Ohio State there with the ninth pick. For them, I agree, Brew. They definitely need another pass catcher. Obviously, Travis Kelsey loves football, but we should probably just like applaud him for how much he loves football.

I mean, this guy could star in movies, host game shows. Starring movies, slow down. He's on his way to start. It's not easy to be in a movie. You don't think that Travis Kelsey is going to star in rock? The Rock can star in movies. Yeah, he's about, he's on that trajectory. He's not on the Rock's trajectory.

This guy. He was great and happy. He was a really solid performance as the waiter. Could have had better material to work with, but I bought it, is all I'm saying. He's got a very robust career after football. Wait, I'll buy that. Right, right? And then it's just the type of thing where you said he didn't want to go out like he went out last year.

He also didn't want to go out like he went out the year before. Yeah? With the Super Bowl loss and how he played in that game. You don't get to end a perfect career unless you're job. Most guys do not end by hosting a Lombardi trophy and walking off into the side. And he just keeps coming back. He's searching for it. And he's searching for it, which I do really respect because he is still good.

He's not Trey McBride or Brock Bowie. He's not the best tight end in football, but he is still really good. And he's going to give it another shot. You know what I was surprised by, not necessarily off walking away totally. I was surprised he didn't pull like a gronk move, like week eight. Like I don't know, does he have 20 games in him? Sure. Or I thought like come in.

After Thanksgiving, you know what? A little extra break for me. A little extra take away eight games of hits, eight games of training camp, and then come in and make a lot. I think a lot of that with Gronk was just his injury history and being injured so much. I wouldn't think a player, if you're healthy generally, you're not thinking, man, just let me play half the season.

I would imagine. Yeah. It's like how Nick is treating like March. Like, you know, just one week, you know, come in late, do some shows, do some shows, take off. Keep my takes fresh. Yeah. I'm ready to go.

Tonight is Team USA takes on Mexico 8 p.m. Eastern on Fox. Joining us now, A.J. Prisinski. AJ, thanks for making some time. We've got Skeens on the mound tonight. How do you expect him to fare against Mexico? Well, he can only go three innings. So I don't know how well he's going to fare in those three innings. But I would expect if we go off Paul Skeen's career, it's going to be pretty darn good.

But the question mark is, I guess, Matthew Boyd after him for three, and then which bullpen guys? That's the key to the U.S. is how is their bullpen going to progress and how will Mark DeRosa use the pitching as they continue in this tournament? Yeah, I mean, the USA is favorite, like you said, tonight won't be easy.

Mexico blew out Brazil as well. But DR looking great, obviously Japan. Do you think people are, a lot of people, I feel like in America feel like we're going to run through this tournament, But I, yeah, I beg to differ. Where are you on this? I think the U.S. is definitely the favorite because their lineup is unbelievably good. I mean, the guys they have on their bench would be starters in the 3, 4, 5 hitter for almost every other team in this.

Japan has won three of these, okay? They know what they're doing. DR has 1-1 and U.S. is 1-1. DR's lineup is crazy. I'm not sold on their pitching. They're starting pitching. Their bullpen is solid, right? Venezuela, the pitching's a little.

light. Mexico, the pitching's a little light. To me, it's USA, DR, Japan. Now, USA has one of the great things going for it. They don't have to play Dominican. They don't have to play Japan. They won't have to play Venezuela until the final game. So they kind of got a nice draw on this whole thing. Not saying it was kind of put that way, but they have a very nice draw to get to the finals. Yeah. So AJ, you're just mentioning, you know, some of the questions with the other teams. I look at Team USA's lineup. I'm like, okay, they drew 24 walks in two games. That's pretty good. I don't see any holes in that lineup. We just mentioned the pitching staff. Like, is there a question mark if you had to pinpoint one for Team USA? Well, it's the biggest problem they have. The biggest question

they're facing is not the names offensively. Their lineup, again, is just crazy. But the pitching, because Mark DeRosa has to deal with so many more things than other teams have to deal with. he has to make sure of certain guys pitch on certain days certain guys can't go back to back certain guys need two days off certain guys can only throw this many pitches or this many innings a lot of other teams they don't have to deal with that because they're not superstars they're not an affiliated baseball they're just like mexico tonight right they don't have all affiliated guys pitching so they can break trends they can break the rules a little bit and do a little bit more than because mark gross has to answer to 30 major league teams not just USA baseball he has every team calling him hey Paul Schemeans, 50 pitches. That's it. He can't go over 50. Hey, this guy can't pitch coming in the middle of an inning. Hey, this guy has to have a clean inning.

This guy has to pitch today. If Mark DeRosa warms him up, he has to put him in the game. So there's a lot more on Mark DeRosa's plate than a lot of these other teams. I thought Scoobel's plan, he's like, I'm going to pitch one game and go back. And I'm like, man, I don't know. So after he pitched, he's like, you know, I've got to look at it again. I've got to talk to the Tigers. I had a call Boris.

So I was telling my buddy this. And he's like, man, he's going to go back. That's just lip service so he can seem like the hero. I'm like, oh, shoot, did I get tricked? How do you feel like Scoobel? Are we going to see him again or is he gone? Okay, well, think about this. If he pitched, I did the game on Saturday, he pitched, right?

He gave up the lead off Homer and then nothing after that. He punched out jazz. He punched jazz. He was taking four times in that game. Well, he didn't, but the USA did. I think they had a bullseye on him. But he pitched on Saturday. He's scheduled five days after that to pitch in Lakeland.

And then five days after that would be the final of the WBC. Would it line up perfectly? Absolutely. But then it puts him off his schedule to get ready for opening day. Oh, come on. Which you all know for the Tigers is more important. It would be nine days. Could they make it work?

Absolutely. Would I love to see Terik Scouple pitching the finals against Japan, DR, whoever it is, Venezuela, whoever that other team is, Korea. whoever that team is in the final. Can you imagine he could go five or six innings? And then you let the rest of that bullpen eat? That would be a heck of a story. Trust me, I was there on Saturday night

when they were chanting USA when he took the mound. It hit you in the heart. Nice. It hit Terrick Scoobel. Yeah, AJ, I love Scooboo's attitude. Like, I mean, and I feel like, well, do you feel like over the year, we're taking this more seriously?

This is starting to mean more to the players than it has in the past. certainly when this tournament started. Well, especially to the USA. I think the U.S. in the beginning was like, ah, it was a bunch of exhibition games. And then they went out and got their butts kicked by Japan. They got their butts kicked by DR.

Buts kicked by Mexico. I think Mexico is four in one or three and one against the U.S. in this tournament all time, right? So, yes, the U.S. is taking this much more serious than what it used to do. And you see that by the roster that continues to improve every time, especially on the pitching side. U.S. needs to win.

They haven't won since 2017. They've only won one of these. They need to win. And there is a revenge, a motivation factor. I was around these guys Friday and Saturday of their first two games. This is a laser-focused team on winning this thing. Awesome. Great.

Well, so Japan is the defending champs. They've won it a few times. And I was told, AJ, I think I've talked to you about this. Hitting a baseball is supposed to be hard. Shohei Otani does not seem to make it. It's hard to hit a baseball for everyone else, and then this guy's in his own category, because he makes the sport look remarkably easy.

He's the best player that I've ever seen because he can do both, right? He can pitch and he can hit. And when he hits, he hits homers, he can steal bases. Heck, you could probably put him in the outfield or he'd probably put him at shortstop. And he'd be a gold glove shirt.

I mean, I don't even know what this guy can't do. But then he also throw in the mound. He throws 100 when he's healthy. So he's the best player of a generation and probably the best player will ever see. So enjoy every second you get to watch this guy. And listen, he, he can, can carry the Japan team to another title

offensively. But how cool would it be is say it's a U.S. Japan final and it sets up and he goes to his manager of the Dodgers would hate it. But he goes to the manager of the Japanese team and it says it's, let's see, Bobby Witt, Rice Harper, Aaron Judge in the 9th and Japan has a

one run lead and he goes out there and closes it out for him. That would be a pretty good story. He punched out his teammate Mike Trout last time. He could do it again. There's so many, you've said it, you're just kind of just in this conversation. There's so many cool storylines. I was watching the game or watching the game tonight.

It's like Roman Anthony's in the outfield with Aaron Judge, but Jaron's on the Mexico team. So it's just all these like odd snow globe of emotions. It's great. All right. So your prediction tonight, what's Mexico's path to winning? What do you see happening tonight, 8 o'clock on Fox, Mexico, USA? You guys know I'm from the USA, right?

Like I was born in the United States. So do you think I'm going to pick against the United States of America? in a game with Paul Skeen starting. We're one and three. That's right. It's a revenge game. It's a revenge game for the U.S. Here's what I think happens.

I think the U.S. lineup is so deep. And Mexico's lost a lot of starting pitching that didn't show up. So they're kind of doing a bullpen game. Mexico's path is they use pitching chaos to use A.J. Hinch's terminology. Nine pitchers, nine innings, mix and match, do all that. And they have to slug. But you're getting Skeen's All-Star, Cy Young, Matthew Boyd, All-Star, really great.

Left-A-N pitcher. And then you're probably going to get Mason Miller and whoever else that Mark DeRosa needs to deploy for those other three innings. So it's a tough road for Mexico. We'll see. But listen, I'm always going to take the United States to win. Excellent. All right. Mexico, USA, tonight, 8 o'clock on Fox.

Thank you very much, AJ. Enjoy the game. Thanks. And if you guys haven't been to one of these games, go to one because they are unbelievable atmosphere, especially when you get the Latin countries playing each other, Mexico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic. I mean, I know Japan's on a Latin American country, but this is Winter Ball times 50. It is the coolest thing you'll ever go to.

All right. I'm going to be out this week, you guys. We got you. Sounds. I'm an aisle work. Thank you, AJ. Thanks, AJ. More first things first after the break.

Live from New York, it's a show that doesn't know if the internet is down or something, because I have yet to hear about AJ Brown to the Patriots. So I don't know if we have a wide-eye issue. I was really thinking something. I don't know what's going on. You were concerned for our tech support? Right. weekend and nothing and then today it's four o'clock I don't know what's going on we had our

photoshopps I tell him dusty I'm like be ready with reaction oh wow do you want him I won a J Brown clearly yes yes I do I think he would be a good fit Greg Jennings is here welcome back Greg second hour of first things first Danny and for Nick who is on vacation today are the Lakers better without LeBron or is it just an odd scheduling quirk we discuss. Meanwhile, Paul Skeen's on the mound tonight for Team USA. Is there a chance we are upset three and one all time against Mexico in the world baseball classic? But right now, well, we're headed to Baltimore. And so is Max Crosby. You know, the Ravens weren't great at getting to the quarterback last year, Brew. Now they get a game changing player for two firsts. Also of note,

Draymont Jones leaving the Ravens for the Patriots. Center is now on the Raiders. Linderbaum's gone. Isaiah likely is now on the Giants. So it seems like you got one player but lost several cornerstones of a team that you believed in. So richly, last year, here's your Super Bowl odds. They went up since the A block.

Now it's Rams, Seahawks, Ravensville's. Perhaps your sandwich-making rant moved the line in Vegas. Are you buying Baltimore? as AFC Super Bowl themes. Does this answer your question? It does. I saw it well. Right.

You're throwing out those names like they're equal to Max Crosby. Linderbaum certainly is not equal, but he's pretty good. But you said it. He's not equal. He's very good. I hate to lose him. And Isaiah likely I hate to lose. But they do still have Mark Andrews.

And the only thing I have against Mark Andrews is that drop against Buffalo. Outside of that, I like him. All right. It's a pretty big drop. It was a huge drop. It's a pretty big drop. Okay. Greg, I feel good.

I'm wondering what the weaknesses are on this team on the roster. Now, I do feel like they still have to show us that when they get to the postseason, which I think is an automatic, that they're going to play their best football. I also feel, and I said this Friday, but I think this is big. I don't know if the Chiefs are still in their head. but they didn't beat the Chiefs. Chiefs had a bad year, so did they. So if Max Crosby is not intimidated by the Chiefs,

even though they beat him most of the time, obviously, but he is clearly not intimidated by them. And I think him in that locker room will help them. I'm not saying he's going to give a big speech because they probably don't even admit that the Chiefs have messed with them. But I think his attitude and the way he approaches that game, should they meet the Chiefs, I think will be big for this team.

So, Greg, one of their glaring weaknesses last year was the inability to sack the quarterback. Now that won't be as big of an issue. The other linemen will get better because Crosby will be drawing so much attention. The defensive backfield will get better. And I have full confidence. I am not worried about Lamar Jackson falling off.

I think last year he was banged up. He wasn't practicing. There's all types of weird stuff going on. I think he'll be back. to form and I'm banking on Derek Henry having at least one more very good season. So walking into the building today, I was strongly considering if I were, if there were Ravenstock to buy, I might buy this stock. And then as the day continues to unfold and you lost Linderbaum, I saw likely leave the building. I saw all these departures and it's like,

is it, does that cover up those losses? Because you say they're not better than Max. They're not better individually. But when we watch Lamar Jackson, why didn't he play last year? Because of due to injury. Who protects him before anything? Offensive line. His number one point of contact is his center.

So that was a huge loss. Forget likely. Like we know the impact that likely could have in the skill set that he possesses. and we know they need depth at the catch ball catching positions. Max Crosby definitely rises your tide. But when you lose those other players, you lose a little bit that walks out the door with that. Now, if Lamar comes back, and I believe he's capable of having an MVP type of a year,

if he comes back and he's MVP Lamar, and you got that type of a player impacting on the defensive line, what you didn't have in the past rushing phase of the game, and you got a player at the middle linebacker position in Roquant Smith, and you got a player in the back end in Hamilton. You got pieces. It's about your quarterback being who we believe he's capable of being and who you expect him to be.

If that's the case, this team should be one of the favorites to contend for a Super Bowl. I'm not ready to say it yet because of what you ended up throwing the caveat. We still have to see how they perform in the postseason. No, that's. And listen, we can't play playoff games today. Correct. Right. So you can't answer that question until they get there again.

If they get there again, they were supposed to make noise this past year. Max Crosby makes anyone better. I said earlier that it's a lot to give up for a 29-year-old pass rusher coming off of a knee surgery. It's just the multiple first round picks for non-quarterback trades. Most of them do not age very well. And most of the guys you get are younger than Crosby. the questions you have now are on offense. Because you hire Jesse Minter, who helped the Chargers overachieve,

and now he goes to a team that has more talent on paper on the defensive side of the ball in Baltimore than they did in L.A. So can Lamar have the Ravens as a top 10 offense? Not by himself. There is still talent there, but they lost pieces. They lost pieces on offense that really mattered. Because I think there's a real chance that the Ravens' defense next year is better than the Ravens offense.

Now look, the offensive line has to get taken care of. But you don't have a first down's pick to do it and you don't have a ton of cap space to do it. They must have confidence in either what's in the building or that they're going to be able to get somebody. I agree with the line, but I think the skill position players are good. Like they don't have the greatest receiving core in the world,

but it's a good one with Zay Flowers and Bateman and all that. And honestly, I rather at this point in their careers, I'd rather have likes of. than Andrews. But Andrews still is good. And then if Derek Henry is himself, I don't think the offense, I think their skill positions are great.

And it's just a matter of, can the offensive line be good? Which I think it will. I would take Buffalo over Baltimore today on a neutral field, but Baltimore is a favorite. I think because Buffalo has to go through New England. Like, it's not,

Baltimore should host a home playoff game. Like, they should win their division easier than probably any other team in the AFC. Yes. Buffalo has to compete with New England. There we go. The Chiefs Chargers and Broncos have to compete with each other.

I think what's interesting at AFC. Like right now, today, I would say Baltimore, Buffalo, and the Chargers, to me, look like the toughest teams. That's what I'm expecting. But all three of them, now Josh has been good in the playoffs, but as a team they haven't gotten over the hump, all three of them have something to prove in the postseason. But you've made the biggest move.

Yes. DJ Moore is nice, but I think you have you've made the biggest move. All right, we're going to head to San Francisco. Mike Evans leaving Tampa Bay. He will join Kyle Shanahan, Brock Bertie, and the San Francisco 49ers. Six-time Pro Bowler Greg, 866 catches over 13,000 yards, 108 touchdowns in a 12-year career. Did this move surprise you?

It did. This one definitely surprised me. I mean, when you have played 12 years and you've had the success that Mike Evans has obviously had with one organization and franchise. You assume, and it's, you know what happens when you start to assume, but you assume that, man, he's going to want to end his career as a buccaneer. And I just think back to myself and a lot of players, you don't look for other opportunities when you feel like this one that I'm in is really good.

I really like it here. I'm situated, my family, I have impact, great friends, and what you are. You're financially comfortable. Yeah, I'm good. However, when I listen to some of the reports that are out there about why he wanted to challenge himself and he wanted, like, that's next level. Like that's Mike Evans trying to hit that Brady reboot of challenging himself to get back to, you know what, I'm coming off of injury.

Let's switch it up. Let's switch it up. You forgot that. Let's go to a place where I know I will be schemed. I may not be the feature guy, but I will be schemed open. I will have great opportunities when I'm on the field with a quarterback that can get me the ball. Obviously, we all know who Kyle Shanahan is as far as a play caller and able to design plays and utilize the players and the talent that he has on a roster. So I think it's an awesome fit for him.

It scares me because he's coming off injury. He goes to a team that just seems to be riddled with all this. the injuries that a team can ever ask for or not ask for. But if all things work out, he stays healthy, this could be really good for the 49ers. Danny, let me show you a graphic that Josh made because I was shocked and you touched on it, Greg, whether it's injuries, whether it's, you know, a new spot, a new scheme. This hasn't been super successful. Steve Smith went to Baltimore at over 1,000 yards, but Andre Johnson and Indy, A.J. Green

in Arizona, Julio and T. Tennessee, Keenan Allen, and Chicago, Mike Evans, all 32 or older in the season that they went to the new squad. Again, they're not with Kyle Shanahan. So do you expect Mike to have a big year? Not especially. He is definitely secure financially, and I think he definitely wanted to be a buck for life. But if you just look around, most receivers are staying with their teams.

They're not even hitting free agency. It's such a valuable position now. Teams are signing their guys. Man, he's going to be 33 years old, and he just got a $60 million contract offer. Tampa could not do this deal because of all the needs that they have on the defensive side of the ball. So I think we love, I romanticize sports. I want Janus to be a buck for his entire career, right? Like, I understand where you're coming at with being disappointed with Mike Evans wanting to be in Tampa his whole career.

But I think he looked around and he was like, okay, Alec Piers. is the number one free agent and wide receiver, and he re-signed. So that means he had, there were 30 teams who maybe, you know, 10 teams call his agent. All of a sudden his agent calls him. He's like, hey, Mike, I know you don't want to leave Tampa, but San Francisco is a pretty nice place to live for $60 million. And I just think money talked, and it's a good organization with a chance to win. They co-sign a purdy, too. Brew?

No, look, the Niners are clearly, you know, you're signing an older player. they're all in too. And if they can stay healthy, that's always a big if with them. But Evans, Jennings, and Pearsall, that's a good receiving court. Purdy giving up 13 to Mike? Oh, fun question. No. No.

It won, but easy to answer. Yeah, that's easy to answer. That's really good. If he asked, Purdy, I mean, I've had it for. I'm a first ballot hall of famer. Yeah, I was having it for 12 years, man. You think I can this might be it. That really is interesting.

I love that. I love that. Let's head to Kansas City. They added another Super Bowl MVP to their roster. Kenneth Walker now in the backfield, almost $29 million guaranteed for three years. Other news in Kansas City, Kelsey's back and Tonga coming over from the Patriots. Kenneth Walker's numbers, Greg, once he started getting the ball, shined one Super Bowl. Your reaction to Kenneth Walker landing in Kansas City.

I absolutely love this. Obviously, it was a need that we all knew that they needed to address. Thought they would possibly address it in the draft. Clearly, they're like, we may not get the guy that we want. Let's go get a guy that we know that we can get right now and avoid missing out. It shows that they are of the mindset. We're not just going to put this all on Patrick Mahomes when he is ready to go. We want to be in a position to where he feels like it's not all on him.

We have to establish a running game. Again, we know how great Patrick Mahomes is. We know what he can mask. But when you don't have a running game, it just hasn't been enough in the past years. With a running game, with a guy like Kenneth Walker, who can hit the home run at any point? Like, you just got to become more of a run. If you're Andy Reid, let's just continue to lean into that run a little bit more. And good things are going to happen.

I love to move for them. Yeah, Andy Reid would probably prefer he be a little bit better of a pass catcher because of what Andy Reid loves in the screen games. So Kenneth Walker is not a perfect player, but there's not always a perfect solution for what you need, right? Like Travis E. TN got a ton of money and an extra year of commitment. Jeremiah Love's probably going to be gone by the ninth pick. So they're like, all right, we need to upgrade running back. We cannot do what we've been doing the last couple of years. And we get a Super Bowl MVP who I think the biggest thing on that graphic you showed,

is the 13 carries. He was in a legit time share for most of the year. And then he started getting true number one workhorse back, and he shined in the biggest game. So the chiefs are going to pay him a lot of money, and they're going to give him the ball a lot to justify that contract. I think he's going to have a monster statistical year because they're going to do everything in their power,

A, to justify the contract, but be to make it easier on the homes. If he had 1,000 yards this year with only getting 13,000, carries a game. I don't know why he can't be a 1,200-yard 10 touchdown running back next year. No, look, I'm with you guys. I love it. I think it's a great move.

It's a security blanket from Mahomes as he works his way back to his, you know, full capacity. And you also got a guy that you know can perform on the big stage. Like you just saw him when his running mate got hurt and people were really questioning, can Walker handle the load. He stepped it up throughout the playoffs and in the Super Bowl. So you got a guy who's mentally tough too. So, yeah, I think it's a great move for that. Kelsey back, there was some flirtations that he was going to leave.

Seems like he's told the Chiefs that he's going to be back. Can we expect the Kelsey of old? Or is it still good, but he's still Travis Kelsey, but he's not Travis Kelsey, but he's still a great tight end. That was a fun 12 hours on the internet. I liked that. Where people pretended like Travis Kelsey was going to play. If Mike Evans on the 49ers, who know. If Tom Brady can leave and Mike Evans can leave,

I'm pretty sure Travis Kelsey would have either been the movie star that I project him to be or go back to Kansas City. So, yeah, I think he is, if Travis Kelsey is your number one option, like he has unfortunately been for them the last couple of years, like that wasn't by design. Correct. Remember two years ago, Rishie Rice has the suspension, then there's the injuries, and we look up and we're like,

man, what a weird year for Travis. Kelsey, he had 97 catches that year. But he wasn't supposed to be the one. And then last year, the whole season didn't go. Like, everything fell apart for the Chiefs last year. He still is a good player. He's not a great player. I don't even think he's a top five tight end.

But that's okay. That's totally fine. That is totally fine for a one-year deal to be there for Patrick Mahal. I think that's the point. When you talk about he wasn't supposed to be the number one guy, he ended up being. those are the type of situations that are that's a plus. If Travis Kelsey has to be a number one, can he still do it? Well, we've kind of seen him do it.

Not at the same level, but at least you know you have someone who when you need them to show up and make plays, he can still do it. Because he's done it his entire career. But don't you think they'd rather him be like the fourth option? Absolutely. Not close to number one. I believe he wants to be a fourth option. And knowing that the guys in front of him are producing, are being what they need to be, and allowing Patrick Mahomes to feel that same feeling that they got with him being in the brightest or the top of his game, that's ideal. But he also wants to win and he wants to be a part of why they win.

And that's why he's coming back. It feels like a true retirement year for Kelsey as well. I thought this last year I didn't feel like it was it was like maybe it's his last game it just didn't feel it felt like with the season going so poorly I did think this was going to be his last year

like I didn't necessarily entering the season but when it was going the way it did and it ended the way it did yeah I thought he's going to step up I'm with wilds on this the fact that he flirted with entertaining retirement this year he's never I don't want to say he never did that

but publicly been like, yeah, let me think about it. I'll get back to the team. This feels like this is it. Yep, one more. One more run. I thought this last year was it before the year. He was like, I'm just going to fulfill my contract to the Chiefs.

And then he's coming back. Guy loves ball. I think playing football is more fun than podcasting. A little bit. I just think it is. I mean, don't get wrong. I've had a lot of fun podcasting. Yeah, but you've never quite playing football.

So, I mean, you know. It's not true. How do you know? Yeah, just. Oh, yeah, that's right. I mean, call it a guess. Yeah. Three receivers.

Coming up next. Three. You know it's obvious. You know it's obvious. A possession receiver. The Lakers better without LeBron. What? Me.

Welcome back to first things first. LeBron was out against the Knicks. The Lakers cruised. New York couldn't get to a hundred points. Either bad shooting or good Lakers defense. Luca had 35. Austin Reeves had 25. Lakers now nine.

and two without LeBron, Brew? This is bubbling up on the internet. Are they better without LeBron? They're not worse. No, look, I still feel like

and we know when the three of them were playing together early in the season, it's a small sample size period. Early in the season, they were bad. Lately they had been playing better together, but it's still a small sample size. I do feel like in a playoff series

they'd have a better chance with LeBron. Of course. You know, than without him because of his experience and all of that stuff. But the numbers clearly say they're much better without him. Here's what is going on though. Because

with or without him, I don't think they can make noise in the West. So I think it's a moot point to some degree. But what's going on is that the Lakers need LeBron to be Chris Bosch or Kevin Love. Oh, that's what they need. And when you have a ball-dominant,

over-dribbling superstar, who's also your best score, all right? You can only have one other big score. So, like, when LeBron was that type of player, he had D. Wade, who was another big score. Chris Bosch had to become a role player. When he had Kyrie in Cleveland, and LeBron and Kyrie can score,

or Kevin Love has to become a role. role player. And with the Lakers, it was never an issue because they only had Anthony Davis as kind of another score. Dwight Howard, Rajan, Rondo, at that point were different players, but they were role players, all right? And so now look at Luca. Same type of player, you know, over-dribling ball, dominant, big score, all that. When he had just Kai Rhee as his second score, and then everybody else was a bunch of role players, they went to the finals, all right? And now when It's just Austin Reeves and they and no LeBron, everybody else knows their role, they can have success. LeBron comes in and he just can't be a role player.

Now, he's smart enough to know what I could do, you know, for the team. But 22 years as a superstar, you can't be a role player. Michael Jordan could not have been a role player, I don't believe, like once he became after a superstar. Alan Iverson clearly could not just be a role player. It's hard to do not only because of your, whether it's ego or just you've been a superstar for so long you can't adjust, but also your stature in the league and in the history of basketball. The other Lakers outside of Luca, because Luca is not LeBron, but you know, he's on that superstar level all time great himself. Everybody else is deferring to LeBron.

even if it's not physically or consciously, even if LeBriam's telling you, do you, man, do your thing? They are looking for cues from him even subconsciously and looking to see what's he doing. You know, getting permissions, you know, with your eyes or whatever. Like his presence on the court because of his greatness and what he means to basketball, those other role, they just defer naturally.

Austin Reeves defers naturally to LeBron James. Even if you say, oh, Austin's shooting. He's dribbling without LeBron. No, he's still looking to LeBron for cues and stuff. And so when LeBron's not there, you saw it yesterday. Like, everybody kind of fits into a role when LeBron's not there and they're playing freer and stuff. So that's really to me what's going on in L.

Yeah, and there's no way that even if he wanted to, that at this stage of his career with his skill set that he could like play like. Chris Bosch. I love LeBron's not... Yeah, and I don't... So much mean Chris playing style, but I don't mean be a role player. Yeah.

But he could... He could say, I will post up. I will... I can set the screen for Luca and roll to the basket or pop. Like, he could go into that role, but I just don't think...

He just has too much gravity on the court. Yeah, it's... Yeah, and I, listen, I'm not... If the Lakers are better without LeBron, to me, that is an indictment on the Lakers. it's an indictment on how they've put the team together because you knew what you had coming into the year. You knew it was year 23 from LeBron.

You knew Luca's defensive limitations. You knew Austin Reeves' defensive limitations. And you're right. I dug into it, just to take a look. And the sample size is really not overwhelming. Because nine of the 11 games that they missed were back in October or November when they were trying to figure it out. But this is the Lakers this season with Reeves and Luca and no LeBron.

Yes, they're nine and two. But are they actually good or are they just beating the bad team? teams. Like have the win... They just beat a good team. Well, the... But the Knicks shot 24% from three. They normally are a 37, 38%. They had an awful day shooting.

Their wins are against the wolves, Grizzlies, heat, hornets, pelicans, bucks, pelicans, Pacers, and then the Knicks just yesterday. Because if you just look at... Take Reeves and Luca out of it, this is LeBron. Yes, LeBron, no. The numbers are pretty similar. I'm just not convinced that because they're nine and two without LeBron, it means LeBron is the problem.

It could just be that, of course, those three guys don't fit together, so any combination of the two with more role players, more defensive guys. So where's the, I mean, I think to Bruce point, I know you were joking around, like they're not worse. Is that a fair takeaway from this graphic? Yeah, I think that's fine. But would they be worse without Austin? And just and Reeves without like...

Well, I mean, the numbers show that Luca and LeBron haven't been as successful as Luca and Reeves. And I think at this stage of his career with where he is, with him being a clear number two, with how similar Luca and LeBron's games are, I think that that makes total sense. But LeBron's averaging, what, 21 points, six rebounds,

seven assists on decent efficiency. Now, shooting is a little bit lower the three ball than he would like, be like, LeBron is still a good player. Of course. He should be. It's all about fit. That's what I'm saying.

So the roster construction with any of the, any machination of these puzzle pieces that JJ Reddick can put together, you're not going to get a great team. Brew, on the team group chat, this is all fictitious, but just go with me. On the team group chat, when JJ Redick posts that one of the big three, Luca, LeBron, or Austin, are missing the game. Not that they tweet it, not that they write back. But do you think Austin Reeves like, oh, no. Oh, no.

Oh, no. Lucas out? Oh, Luke is out. Do you think LeBron's like, oh, no. Or do you think there's just the... No. I think the vibe is off. I think that on other...

If Anthony Edwards is out, people are like, oh, they're bummed out. I think in the teams that fit together, they don't feel... I'm happy. I know it's all fictitious, but it feels like the vibe like Austin Reeves thrives when those guys If you get the group chat and it says LeBron's out, Austin Reeves is thinking, I'm about to cook

and not that he doesn't like LeBron or anything like that, but that's just how it is. You know, all the players are thinking, okay, I get to step up and play a bigger role. So, but like I said, but I would say this, in a playoff

game, I think it'd be different. I think they'd be like, okay, we really, we need LeBron. To have our best shot. I mean, again, I don't think they're going to do anything either way in the playoffs. No, it's still interesting. All right, spurs have been rolling. They crushed the Rockets last night.

Last 16 games, Brew, your spurs are 15 in 1. Here was Wemby's stat lines against the Rockets. 29 points, eight rebounds, four blocks, 30 minutes. 13 field goal attempts is ridiculous. That is ridiculous. Last three games, 94 points in 91. minutes. What do you make of Wemby's recent run? Well,

look, as Danny Parkins would say, since Wembe kind of entered the league or the conversation, I've been seeing this really clearly. That's true. I was first on him saying he he's going to be better than Akeem, Elijah and all that, and people got mad. So I am seeing things

clearly still, and I am ready to say he's the best player in the world. Wow. Right today. He's the best player in the world. Not like next year. He's the best player in the world because of the way he impacts the game defensively. He's slump proof.

We saw him last week, scored, have two back-to-back, I think it was back-to-back, 12-point games. But he impacts the game so much defensively. The last 10 games, he's averaged four and a half blocks. All right. And then it's not just the blocks. And we saw the one yesterday where he kind of, the volleyball spike to somebody to, I think it was Troy Eason's shot. But anyway, it's the shots that he alters.

Yeah, it's ridiculous. It's the shots that he deters, that you don't even take. Yeah. That you're taking against any other team or any, when he's out of the game. And so all of that, he has such an impact on that side of the floor. He's clearly the best two-way player without question. And don't, look, offensively, he's. he's great. There is nothing he can't do offensively. Don't, don't be fooled by the 24 point

scoring average, which in and of itself is very good. He could average 30 easily if he played on a team that played through him offensively. They do not play through him offensive. Or if you played more minutes. More minutes, but even in his minutes, if they played through him. Even some. You know, more than they, like he would average 30 easily. He could score from any part of the court. He is a combination of Kevin Durant and Akeem Elijahan. And I wonder defensively, it makes me feel like it must have been with Bill Russell

at that time in the 60s, dominating games defensively, but not Russell was not like a great offensive player. But he is, he is a great offensive player. He's got the handle. He's got moves. He's got, can shoot the three. Like, there's nothing he can't do on the basketball court. Convincing argument.

And, and finally, Danny, he is taking a team of youngsters. Dylan Harper should be a sophomore in college. Stefan Castle should be, what, a junior in college? And I know they got De Aaron Fox and some other vets, but he has taken this team that won 34 games to a large degree without him last year. He was hurt half the year. And now they have the second best record in the league? Like, last thing, I'm sorry.

No, no, you're cooking. If I had to start a team with put Yokic, Janus, SGA, Wimby, and they're all 22 years old, just like Wimby, all of them, I'm taking Wimby. I don't even think, because I'm not, most people would say I take Wembe. But yeah, because Janus is 30 or whatever he is and Yokic is 30. No, if they were all 22, I'm taking Wimby. Okay, there's a lot there, and it's fascinating, and I love the conversation. And I am not, I'm going to agree with basically everything you said, you have covered the league for forever.

I don't think you covered all of Russell, though. A little. Yeah. This is the first time ever you've given out. You know this title, Best Player in the World, that means something in basketball lexicon, more so than in baseball or football talk. Like, best player in the world, because there have been years where it's fluid. Okay, but what I'm asking you, because he was third in Bruce Ballot last week,

and I know that's not Best Player in the World, it's MVP-I. But like, have you ever given out the title of Best Player in the World to someone who has never played in the playoffs? Probably not. It has to be not. So it's just a, it's a show-stopping comment because, I mean, Yokic has MVP's plural and a ring. SGA has an MVP and a ring and is on the best team. Like, there are, there are guys right now that are in that conversation and in that pantheon

that have accomplished so much more than him. But never won a playoff game. It's almost like he's like Justin Huron. Like I test wise. Sure. What I'm saying is football, it's, there's 22 guys on the field at once. In basketball, that title specifically. So do you think he's going to melt in the playoff games?

No, I don't at all. I am just saying you're just breaking with historical precedent. I love it. It didn't happen for Michael Jordan. It did not happen for LeBron James. No, not without playing a playoff game. Without playing a playoff game. Bobby Knight said it, though.

Remember that? Bobby Knight said Michael Jordan was the best before he entered the NBA. Because he was crushing NBA All-Star teams for Team USA exhibition games. I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying it's literally never been said before in basketball. Right. No. And, well, people may have said it about Will or, you know what I mean,

before he entered the NBA or whatever. But this is an unprecedented player. Okay. Like we've never seen a 7-5 guy. I'm with you on that. do what he can do. We're going to get back to the NFL football gridiron. Did you see what Jalen Brown said?

No. Jaylon Brown said, I'm the best two-way player. And he said, when I say that, I'm talking about human beings. He's like, not Wemby. He's on another level. There you go. He said, I'm the best human being. Hey, check out the podcast.

It's been excellent. Our YouTube channel, still cooking. Gianna's got all sorts of great stuff. Our walking video, one of your best, Gianna. So thank you for all of your best, Gianna. So thank you for all of your. work and dedication. Also tomorrow, a special edition of King of the Hill featuring a tireless Danny Parkins. It looks like LeBron's mad at me. Yes, he is. He's like,

where's Nick? Nick would have me up higher on this go. Time now for take of the day. World Baseball Classic tonight, 8 o'clock USA versus Mexico. Paul Skeens is on the mound, AJ Pritzinski wins take of the day for you guys know I'm from the USA like I was born in the United States. So you think I'm going to pick against the United States of America in a game with Paul Skeen starting? It's a revenge game. And I don't think Mexico will upset the United States, even though they are three and one in world baseball classic history. I'll tell you what did get upset. What?

I cry foul. Drew, you got robbed. I thank you, Dan. You got wrong. It's never happened in the history of basketball. Who's voting on this? The best player in the world has never played a playoff game. Brew stands 10 toes down on Wemby.

Yeah, dude. I'm shocked. Well, you shouldn't be shocked because he had a nice take of the day and you came out with your pin and started popping his balloon. So is that? I convinced the production staff. I thought it was take of the day. He's like, really, have you ever done this before? The guy's never played a playoff game.

They thought it was silly. Take of the day. Does that matter? So then maybe I was robbed of taking congratulations to AJ Prisinski. He's not the best player in the world. That's going to take. USA, USA, Mexico, 8 o'clock.

We see some flaws in that segment. We're talking about one thing, talking about another thing. Still working on it. First thing's first. We got more coming up. It's a good time to workshop back. Yeah, we're still working on. First things first overtime live from New York.

Power packed hour coming up. Stories are just breaking during the show. We're shuffling the rundown, including this. Tua headed to Atlanta. Is he the starting quarterback? Is he the backup? And hold on. Can the Falcons all of a sudden go to the playoffs and be dangerous?

Whoa. Think about it. Someone's got to. Meanwhile, it's a bad division. Well, especially now that Mike Evans is in San Francisco. Big show it's like, hold on. A second, this guy's got 108 career touchdowns. Everything else will be caught by, well, Brock Purdy.

or Mac Jones, you never know. I'm happy that Matt Jones is important. Mike Evans. Probably perfect. And finally, Kenneth Walker, Jr. headed to Kansas City. Tonga also headed to Kansas City. He's going to be a sneaky great player.

It's going to be a fan favorite. It's good for me because I like it. He ran all over the Patriots. Man. Well, they were trying to keep the ball out of Drake May's hands, really. So there was a lot of just like ball control, drain the clock type stuff. You didn't want to let the silver medalist.

The ball control. with thumb on defense, stop the wash. Yeah, we do. Write that down. That's good. Look at that hole. You didn't read it down. Man, what kind of teammate are you?

I'll just an honest one. Make fun of the guy. I know. I know. Turn a little mean. Chris and Patrick's, Kevin Wilde. He's exposed and everything. Turns a little mean.

Chris Bollard, Kevin Wilde. Danny Park is in for Nick and Greg Jennings, who actually might be in for Nick, and I'm not quite 100% sure. But we are starting, because that's your seat. You know what I mean? Yeah.

I'm just telling you. Just try to adjust. Tua. It's cut by the Dolphins. They take a $99 million dead cap hit. Looks like he's going to find a home in Atlanta. Greg, your immediate reaction. And can Atlanta be sneaky good to really good?

Well, I'll start with the second question. Atlanta definitely can be sneaky good to really good. We saw how they ended last year, obviously, out of everything. And then they competed for their coach. end up getting fired. Obviously, Safansky is now taking over. But you get a guy like Tua to ensure that if things aren't going well with Michael Pinnock Jr., we have somebody that we can turn key this offense into. I mentioned the left-handed situation. He's another lefty. You want to protect your blind side. You're going to spend the money. You're going to spend the money on your

blind side. That's the right tackle, obviously, for both of these left-handed guys. You don't have to switch up anything offensively, schematically. And you got weapons if you're down in Atlanta. Now, in terms of who do I believe is going to be the day one starter, I definitely believe it's going to be Michael Pennings, Jr. I just believe he's going to get a longer leash. He's going to get the first look. So when I say first look, he's going to be out with the ones, get those reps. You mentioned earlier, like about Kevin Stefanski being in a new team, new situation, and not having ties either one of these

quarterbacks. But you do have ties to Michael Pennings, Jr. to a degree because he's the guy that's a draft pick that you feel like you're going to always

give them a little longer of a leash. Tua, if it works out great, awesome. Awesome. We're not paying him anything basically this year. If he turns out

and he pushes us and he wins the job, even better. Now we know we can move forward with this guy or somebody else, who knows. But Atlanta is a team that you just don't know from year to year.

Tua, I understand why he wanted to go to Atlanta. Offensive-minded head coach, true number one receiver in Drake London, truly impressive tight end who played great at the end of the year in Kyle Pitts, top offensive weapon in Bijon Robinson, playing a dome, playing a winnable division. There's a lot of boxes that you chill. Yeah, that sounds great. Yeah, it's a good spot. It would have been a good spot for Kyler, but I agree.

I think he's going to be in a competition with Michael Pennix Jr. And while Michael Pennix Jr. is a, he's a flawed quarterback. I thought sometimes he would lock in on guys. He doesn't throw it up every part of the field great. He's younger. He's got a much, much stronger arm. I don't think Tua is going to win that competition. And Tua is a guy who's completed every game once in his career.

He's made over $120 million. He has serious concussion issues. He has talked about not being able to see over offensive linemen and see wide receivers down the field. Can I say something? That was a post-Alabama issue, and Alabama's line was huge. He's led the league in completion percentage. He's led the league.

And he's saying last year? Passer rating. Didn't Tua say last year that sometimes he can't see the guys that he throws to? I forgot about it. That's what you're going to say. He's like technically post Alabama. Yeah. It was like six years.

Six years post Alabama. No, but I, here's what I don't. Here's what I'll push back. No, you're not. It's like a courtroom. Strike that from the record. The audience like, I don't even remember well. I think it's like a, it was like post draft.

It was like a lot of like he's physically limited. And in the NFL. But in the NFL, I've seen him put 70 points on the score. I've seen him lead in pass for rating. I've seen him leaning like. total yards. He's got a winning record for all these like quarterbacks are just being like tossed to the wayside. You look at his, his win percentage. The guy wins games. I, well, listen, he has not won a playoff game. When Mike McDaniel's offense came and took over the

league and he had at the time, arguably the best wide receiver duo in the NFL because that was still peak of Tyree kills, powers. And Jalen Waddle was a great number two. They had a good run game. Everything was going well. It has been pretty much downhill ever. since they had that 70-point game against Denver. Like, I would not want to buy stock intoua long-term as a starter in the NFL. Yeah. Like, is Tua going to start 17 games the rest of his career? Like a full season's worth.

I'd probably bet against it. Man, almighty, I'm the only Tua guy. I agree. I think it was a great move for Tua. And I understand Atlanta having interest in him. but and we don't know if Michael Pinnix is ever going to be better than Tua

like he may never have a year like Tua had what was that two three years ago when he led to league in yards but if you're Atlanta and you're right now with the new regime I had forgotten about that the new regime does me

it might just be a straight up competition it should be but they want they'll want Pinnix to be the starter not just be part of it's because of his age, they draft him all that. But also, and to some degree

he's the same issue, but if Tua beats out Pinnix and Tua is your starter, you kind of like he's going to get injured unfortunately. And hopefully it wouldn't have anything to do with his head. But he is just

if you can, no team can feel comfortable with Tua as our starting quarterback because of his injury history. I don't think any team ever will commit to Tua long term again. You just, I mean, you can't. A lot of people thought he should retire for his health. So you can't feel comfortable.

Now, Pinnix has injury issues as well, even dating back to college. So, but I think they would love for Pinnock to win this job. Can I show you a graphic, Greg? This is Tua's career. And I felt like everyone was banging on Tua and I became the Tua guy and I just haven't been able to shake it. So first two years, like, eh. Remember he was like fighting with like Fitzpatrick would come in. No, Fitzpatrick would come in and win the game.

And Flores was benching him. And his pass rating was at 88. And Mike McDaniel comes in. He throws for 200. This is over a course of three years. 270 yards a game. 73 touchdowns and 29. That's not just all like, you know, I don't think it is, but maybe it is.

It's all system. 73 touchdowns, 29 interceptions. Got a pass rating of 102. And then last year he was terrible. but still 20, you know, he's still through 20 touchdowns. I just feel like we have to decide. Once Sam Donald won the Super Bowl, like, you know what, we got to judge quarterbacks differently.

Different situations, guys improve at different rates. And it's like, hey, how about to it? Like, no, actually, he's no good. I saw him be no good last year. I'm like, well, three years ago he was pretty good. And like, nah, I don't know. I think the injury variable there is just so big. I mean, like, when he had that concussion,

I remember they, like, immediately put him on IR. And, I mean, right. Hopefully so, but some teams, you can come back from a concussion in a week or two weeks. They're like, well, with Tua, it's going to be a minimum of four to just be overly cautiously. It's just like it's an undeniable factor with him. And then you add in the arm strength and you add in. And we saw it. He's played differently post-concussions because he's not willing to take hits.

He's not hanging in the pocket as much. And so that go down sometimes. I think that's a huge issue. So I just think, but I just, my point is. they're all connected that if Tua is your backup, the goal that I've always been told from NFL teams is the goal of the backup is, can you go 500 while our starter is down?

And yeah, you can definitely go five. You know, Michael Pennick sprains his shoulder and misses a month. Can Tua go two and two? Sure. But if week one, it's like we need Tua to play 20 games for us this year because we're trying to win the Super Bowl in Atlanta, how do you have any confidence going into the year that he can get through that.

I think that's fair. Yeah. So when I look at Tua and I watch him play, to your point, he plays different. He was already, that three years span, everything was very time restrictive, meaning he was on schedule like that. I'm talking about the offensive play. You can probably every single snap was, it was he gets the ball and is out of his hands right away.

Everything was on time. He gets the adversity, he gets the concussion, and now if you can't even play within the framework, you're already limited, within the framework of who you are on schedule, from the pocket, on time, and you're starting to now kind of be a little fidgety and be off schedule,

now everything that once was great starts to unravel slowly, and that's what you saw. And I don't know if he can ever be what he was in that three years, Again, I just don't. And we, as much as we talk about the Baker-Mayfields, the Gino-Smiths, and, you know, this resurgence of who they are and Sam Darnold, obviously, being the poster child for all of it, every quarterback's not going to be that. Right. It's not going to, every, yeah, everybody's not going to have that opportunity. Now, we give them the benefit of the doubt because we've seen a couple guys have success.

Most recently, obviously, Sam Darno. But everyone can't be Sam Darnold. Arnold now. And I just, I don't know if Tua is going to be that, not because he doesn't have the ability, but because of the injuries and all the other things. The bad sign. I'm the Tua guy. That's just going to say, you're the Tua guy. You go online, it's like, I'm the Tua guy. Just comments, just zero. Just you're on your own. No one's pumped.

Maybe someone like roll tied. Like, all right, thank you. Mac Jones and Tula. All right, headed to San Francisco. You have a type. where Mike Evans, national chance. Winners. Mike Evans joining the 49ers and Kyle Shanahan, getting a nice warm welcome from George Kittle,

who wrote, let's go. Welcome to the Bay. It's spelled go. George Kittle enthusiasm. I tried my best. Is Evans signing a bigger deal for Baker, losing him or Purdy, gaining him? I would say Purdy because, you know, they've had injuries and he hasn't, he's rarely had a full receiving court since Brandon Ayuk went out. He lost Debo, Samuel. So now, again, injuries may still be an issue, at least for Pierceaw and Joanne Jennings. But those three are a nice trio. And then if Kittle can stay healthy, it's all these ifs. And you got McCaffrey still, if he can still have.

a good season. Like, that's a nice group of skilled players. And so I feel like, you know, Shanahan feels some pressure probably from himself just to win a Super Bowl.

We all know he's a great coach. So they're going for it and I think this is going to help San Francisco. I, look, you hate to lose Mike Evans in Tampa Bay? They still have a good receiver core. Like,

and Evans even referenced that in his letter, you know, about leaving. So I think they'll be, I hate, I know you're crushed. I think they'll be fine.

I like loyalty. I like statues. It's definitely a bigger deal for Purdy and Kyle Shannon in this offense. They haven't had an elite red zone threat like Mike Evans outside of George Kittle in years. And when you look at this offense, he immediately fits the scheme. Like they are run first team, their action, play action team. He's going to be, he's a big body physical. He's going to run.

You're going to get that type of productivity out of him and effort. He's hungry to win again and prove himself that he's going to be worthy of this money that you just gave him. And then when you look at his just overall durability of his career, I know he's coming off of injury, but you're talking about a guy that's always been reliable, always been productive. Every single year he's played, win healthy. And with Kyle Shanahan as your play caller, you just have to be. believe he's going to have a bounce back. If Mike Evans is healthy, he is going to put up numbers.

It's just been who he has been for his entire career. How many touchdowns are you? Especially if he's running these like Devante-esque routes in the red zone of Brock. He's going to have massive opportunities. He's going to be schemed open and accordingly. This is a good situation for Mike Evans as well as for the San Francisco 49ers, which is probably why they did it. Yeah, listen, it is a little bit of a luxury ad for San Francisco

because of the weapons that Brew talked about, but they're trying to keep up in the arms race in the NFC West. And my guess is Mike Evans wanted to be a buck for life. He had said that in the past when he had re-signed in Tampa, but there weren't a lot of receivers in free agency, and he looked around and he was like, you're going to give a 33-year-old guy coming off an injury season, $60 million. Like, Tampa couldn't do this deal because they'd draft.

after Dubuca in the first round last year. They've got a lot of money tied up in their offense. They need to spend money on defense. They need to reallocate some resources from offense to defense. We talk about that a lot in Dallas. We talk about that in Cincinnati. We should also talk about it in Tampa. And so I'll just, you guys have covered the Purdy San Francisco side.

I could see Tampa being the team that signs Trey Hendrickson that takes this money. And I know Wilds doesn't want to talk about it. So I just put that into upset them a little bit. Like, I just, he's, he's from the area. They need a pass rusher badly. They clearly are trying to win in this window now with Baker where he still is there and in his prime and under contract. And so if at the end of this, at the end of the day, Trey Hendrickson signs a short term deal for a lot of money in Tampa. And Baker's like, well, if I could only have one, Mike Evans or Trey Hendrickson.

Like if it comes down to that, Trey Hendrickson is just a much bigger need. Frankly, defense is a much bigger need for Tampa. than Mike Evans. He became a bit of a luxury in Tampa because of how good Abuka was last year. Buck's, Saints, Panthers, Falcons. And four Falcons dead last, but Buck's still favored to win the division.

So we'll see. All right, moving on to Kansas City. The Chiefs are signing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker. Mahomes welcoming him in with another short but sweet message. George Kittle asked, let's go. Spelled go correctly. Yeah. with two muscles.

What does this mean for the Chiefs, Greg? And how confident are you in the Chiefs next year? So this means that they're going to have a running game. That's what this simply means. They're going to have a running game. They're going to lean into who he is as a running back. And as far as my confidence in the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes on the field and he's healthy, pretty confident.

Okay. If he's not, not confident. Let's say he's starting week one. If he's starting week one, look, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. It's Patrick Mahomes. I just believe that if he's starting week one, he's ready to play. Like he would have put, they would have watched him. I don't think that there's any way they rush their franchise back on the field week one,

and he is not ready. So if he's ready week one, I'm confident. the fact that they're getting him, other guys on that offensive side of the ball, obviously they need to add more up front in front of them, an offensive line. But the glaring need was we got to get somebody that we can trust that Patrick Mahomes, when he's on the field,

under center, he can turn around, hand the ball off, and we're going to get a lot of productivity from our run game. And now you feel like you have that in a guy like Kenneth Walker. So that analysis of the chiefs is totally fair. in Mahomes we trust, but we also have been doing it for the last couple of years. And if you look at the actual roster,

and I know it's impossible to remove all of the AFC championship games and the Super Bowl, they have a lot of significant holes. They just traded away Trent McDuffey. They got a hole at cornerback. Now, they will say, we've always developed our own corners.

Okay, let's say that they'll do that again. They have a serious issue at pass rush. They have a serious issue at wide receiver one. They have a question mark at least at one tackle spot. And they had a question market running back. Now they don't have a question market running back anymore. Like that's what this is.

This is, we have two first round picks. And we know that we can take 15 million bucks a year and solve one of our issues. And that issue happens to directly coincide with helping Patrick Mahomes come back from the injury. Because the explosive plays, where's the light show? Where's that gone for Kansas City? You can get explosive plays in the run game too. Yes. And last year, they were, I believe, second to last in big runs.

And Kenneth Walker had more rushes of 10 yards or more by himself than the Chiefs did. So this is just a very simple, we can solve one of our problems and it only costs us money. It's that simple. Can I interrupt you real quick? Christina just got into my ear. It says Travis has signed a one year $12 million deal. I expected it, but nice money when we thought it was just going to be a event. veteran swan song of 12 is that a lot I can't I think it with a salary cap over 300 million bucks

and what he's done for your team I think 12 million is is pretty well it's pretty it's pretty reasonable that's not going to be cost prohibited from them doing anything they restructured the homes is deal they've restructured multiple contracts like they're doing that because they know it's not going to stop them from signing anyone else and yeah this was other than for 12 hours on the internet where people were photoshopping Travis Kelsey and that's i saw i saw him in an eagles Yeah, it's like, I kind of like that, actually. So this was very expected. Well, look, they need to nail the draft.

And they have in the past. That's what they do. That's what it's, yeah. I mean, they've had some misses like everybody, but they've been great at drafting. And if they do that again with all these picks, then they can rebuild. But if they fail in this draft,

I think, like I was saying Greg last week, I could see this year being kind of a, a down year for them, not six wins, but maybe nine wins, missed the playoffs. But they're, and then next seat two years. Yeah. I think right now I like the Chargers and Denver better than them. Now, so I could see, I could see next year kind of being a rebuild year. Mahomes gets back to himself and then the following years when they kind of get back to being the chiefs that we've expected.

But I'm not predicting it necessarily. I'm just saying if they don't hit this draft or if those guys are delayed in terms of when they can really contribute the rookies, then I can see that type of season. In pencil, Greg, it won't hold you to it. Although Nick will be watching from Tokyo and he will hold you to it, but I will not.

Do you have the Chiefs winning the West? No. No. Do you have them in second place? I don't know what place I have them in right now, but I don't have it. Somewhere between the Raiders and the Chargers? Somewhere between two and four. You got the Chargers?

And four? Yeah. You got the Chargers? No way. Four? Four is crazy. I got to see. It means. It's two or three.

If Mahomes doesn't make it back, you don't think that they can. Well, he'll be. We're assuming he's back. We're assuming he's back. We're assuming he's about to drop an Adidas commercial on your Instagram. Oh, yeah. And he's going to be dancing at the wedding. Jake Glaze, you said he's coming back.

He'll be back. Chargers division. Chargers are doing. I mean, everyone's going to pick the Chargers. You picking the Chargers? Alec Willis to the Dolphins. Not a man. He's got negative.

That's got the Broncos. You can take the Broncos. Shwarber. That was another Kyle Schwerber Homer. I call him Schwerbombs. Swurba. I call him Schwar bombs personally. It was a 9-1 win over Great Britain.

Two-run Homer, five-run fifth. Willie, it has been dominant so far. They've, of course, got Mexico tonight, 8 o'clock on Fox. You're expecting another dominant performance from Team USA? Paul Skeen's pitching. Uh, maybe. Maybe, you know, it's interesting, like Great Britain was leading this game, 1-0. And it's the poison and the power at the plate has really showed up for Team USA.

They still have it, man. You know, there's a pitch count on this, Danny. So hopefully, you know, hopefully our boy shows up. 60 pitches or something. Right, 65 to be exact. But nevertheless, man, I expect USA to show up and do what they do, man. I got no qualms with what happens tonight. I will also say this, Team USA's lineup, they have 24 walks in two games.

Yeah, I mean, I can count. I had the box scores. 24, that's a bit above average. So watch the game tonight at 8 o'clock against Mexico. Of course. Fox. All right, let's talk some football here. All the free agent news going crazy.

We've been talking about it all day. So the dolphins announced that they were releasing Tua, taking the $99 million cap. It's spreading it across two years of the post-June 1 designation. But they've already found his replacement in Malik Willis, three years, 67.5 million with about 45 of it guaranteed. Now we think Tua is expected to sign in Atlanta, according to reports. So, Willie, I'll start with you.

Yeah, let's do it. Are you buying that Malik Willis makes a bigger impact for the dolphins than Tua did? Well, I'm intrigued. I don't know if I'm comfortable with it. It's solely because I got the stat right here. We throw it up real quick. I'm coming out the gate with the stat right. Wow.

Like this is, that's 155 passat tips in his career, Danny. Yeah. Like that's in his career, which is why he and six starts in four years. Right. He's never thrown more to 23 passes in a game. So you just gave a man $45 million with that on his resume. It just doesn't make me feel comfortable. So, yeah, is his strength running ball?

I get that. I understand that there's a lot of deficiencies. You know they're not good versus the pass. They're not good running a ball. I just don't know how he helps his team with that resume. That's what I'm struggling with, honestly. So I don't know if he changes the trajectory of who they and what they'll be. be this year, but he definitely gives them solid play at the quarterback position.

Yes, with 155 passing attempts with not having more than 23. When you understand the relationship and the rapport that's already been established, the know that your general manager and Sullivan and your head coach and Jeff Halfley, they've seen, they know him, not just as a player, but as a man, been in a man, been the building with him, watched him work, scout team offenses, Malik's running it every single day against Jeff Hathley's defense. So I know who he is. And so if I'm going to go out here and pay anybody, I would rather pay somebody that I've

seen the progression. I've seen the growth. And I believe that there is still more that he can now build on because of the opportunity and the exposure that we'll give him. Like, yes, it's a no-brainer. So listen, you know, Greg, I liked Malik Willis a lot. Whenever I saw him play for Green Bay, I was like, how do they? Green Bayer says that many good quarterbacks.

Every quarterback that comes in was good. Like last year, and you're right, it's not a big sample. But he, 30 for 35, three touchdowns, no picks, a pass rating of 145. Now, again, it's 35 passes. It's not a lot. But if you complete 30 of them, I'm at least going to take. You're going to roll your eyes at completing 30 and 35 passes in the end up. I think because we're hanging ahead, he had a big show against Baltimore, right?

And Baltimore had one of the worst past defenses in the league last year. So you're talking about a guy who, one, I think, rolled up on him, and they shocked Baltimore. Two, Baltimore wasn't very good against the past. He ran the ball really well against them. And I think when you're talking about a Miami Dolphin team, when you let go of Bradley Chubb to re-kill, you don't have to it right now, for me, it makes sense for me if you bring in a veteran quarterback, like a Geno Smith or somebody just to stabilize the offense. Because if you Jeff Halfley, play to your strength.

You're a defensive coordinator. Go out there and get some defensive pieces where you can least go to war with. Because at the end of the day, every time we talked about the playoffs this past year, it was about the defense. Never the office. Right, Seattle had one in Broncos and Buffalo, nevertheless. But my point is, if you're new to a system like Jeff Halfley is in Miami, I'm going to show up with a defense that I can go to battle with and squeeze out two or three wins solely because of my brainpower. So what would worry me about this fit for Malik Willis is someone who does. I do think he's one of the 32 best quarterbacks in the NFL.

I said that during the season when he made that spot start. And I even at one point did predict that he would go to Miami this offseason because of the fit with Sullivan, the GM, and Halfley. It wasn't that difficult of a dot to connect. But Arizona was reportedly also really interested in signing him. And Mike LaFleur is the new head coach in Arizona. He's Matt LaFleur's brother. So there would have been a connection there. You would have been able to throw to Marvin Harrison Jr.

you would have been able to throw to Trey McBride. Like Miami is so devoid of talent. You show their offensive line stats in that graphic. You know, Tyree Kill is gone. Chubb is gone. They keep everybody's leaving as they're re-tooling this whole roster. What I hope is is that this contract definitely guarantees him next year also. Because I could see Miami being the worst team in football this year.

Without a doubt. And if they're the worst team in football and you get the number one overall pick And you can draft Arch Manning. Like, I wonder if he just went for the bag, which we would all understand. Money's the motivation. It's $45 million guaranteed. But it is going to be very difficult for you to look good in Miami next year. That's all I'll say.

Yeah, I believe it's going to be very difficult for him to look good. There was no guarantee that he was going to look great in Arizona. There's no guarantees in line. I'll get you. Yeah. The reason why I feel like it made sense is as a player, when you know, you're going into a situation and you have some touch points

you have some individuals within that organization they actually are making decisions and they are decision makers and they are believing in you that gives me a level of comfort and confidence that you know what in assurance

am I your guy? Yes I want you I saw you we were with you we're going to make you the one of the pillars of what we're trying to build when you sell it that way you understand what you're getting yourself into if you're Malik Willis. Now, his mobility is definitely going to be on full display.

And rightfully so. However, you know that you don't want, you're paying him, it's not a, it's a lot of money. But in quarterback talks in worlds, this is not a lot of money at all. I agree with you. But I think you talk about the three years. You know his strength is running the ball. This man has shoulder issues last year. We watched him throw football in damn, they throw his shoulder out of place doing so.

So if you're talking about guys, guys going to have to use. uses his wheels. We don't know if he's going to make it through 18 games. One, because he's never done it. And two, we don't know if he's durable enough. Well, that's what $45 million will get you. Oh, it feels good. And there are a win total in Miami next year, five and a half, expected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL. Let's go to the backyard here in New York. The Giants making a splash for Jackson Dart, giving him another weapon to throw to. Isaiah likely on a three-year reported $40 million deal. So, Greg, we know likely obviously makes any offense better. How much better does this make the game?

Giants. Well, it gives them an additional tight end in a past custer because they already have a young tight end that was making plays for him. Obviously Isaiah likely wanted out of Baltimore, not necessarily wanted out, but wanted a bigger role. You wanted to be a number one. He wanted to be that

guy. Yeah. And you go to a team that is now looking like, man, if they can get another receiver alongside Malik neighbors and you get likely and you get a young Jackson Dart, this is an exciting fill of an offense.

On paper they definitely are looking and drawing, piquing your interest. You know the, I don't want to say the productivity because none of them outside of Malik Willis has, or Malik neighbors has productivity when they were the guy. But the potential is definitely right there in front of all of these guys. And you want them to be able to grow together.

So I think it's a great move for the Giants. It gives them a receiver in a tight-in body that you can split out wide and create mismatch situations for alongside of neighbors or opposite the field of neighbors. So I really like this move for the Giants. Yeah, I agree. I like it. Isaiah likely killed my Steelers for a long time. But it was crazy he was doing that alongside Mark Andrews. So I agree that he now wants to be the number one.

He's obviously a security blanket. He's going to be a big third down weapon. But I think for Jackson Dart, now to Greg's point, if you continue to give him more weapons, you allow him to be comfortable. Now, they got to show up this office line. We talked about it before, Dan, especially that right side because they hit free agency. But if you're John Harbaugh, you have now a guy who you know one and two you can trust within his system, who, by the way, knows your system. So now I can sit down with Jackson Dart and be like, hey, man, this is how we think we did things in Baltimore. This is why I was successful.

This is things in between the 20s, especially throwing the ball vertically while I was able to eat on the seams. I like it, man. It's a win. I do think the Giants didn't use their Titans a lot last year. I think in the division, I think it was the commanders and cowboys who used the Titans the most. Now he has another weapon. Also, think about this. If you're Jackson Dart, this keeps you from running a whole lot, right?

Especially we have a big target sitting in the middle of the field because now you preserve your legs and preserve your body, which they want to do. Isaiah likely, for a guy like me who loves the eye test, he should be my favorite player in the NFL. He's never produced. So he's coming off of career lows and catches and yards. He's hurt. Okay. Okay. Let's talk about his career year in 2024.

Okay. Where he had career highs with 477 yards and six times. This man has never had a 500-yard season. And so, yes, he was hurt. And he absolutely passes the eye test. Big, fast, makes some ridiculous highlight place. Like, I believe. that there is a great player in there.

And he's young. I think he's 25. Yeah, no, he's absolutely because he wasn't a first round pick, so he gets up here earlier, and he reunites with Harbaugh, and he should be good in the scramble drill with Jackson Dart. Like, there's a lot to like, but Isaiah likely's next great season will be his first great season. Right? We are still all talking about this guy on pure potential, which is just, it's interesting because the Giants, that's Jackson Dartis potential. Malik neighbors looked like an absolute stud.

But then he got hurt. They're just banking on a lot of pieces to go right. To go right all at the same time. And they might because they're talented, but it's a gamble. Yeah, but again, this is one of the reasons why he kind of wanted out of Baltimore. He wanted to show it. He was never going to get out of that shadow clearly of Mark Andrews. And rightfully so.

Mark is a great tight end. Obviously, he's the safety valve for Lamar. So when you bet on yourself, this is what happens. You get an opportunity, and I believe that they made this, the Giants, move because they want their offense to be young and they want them to all grow together. We're going to provide you with, you have a young receiver, you have a young running back, you have a young tight in, you have young quarterback. Let's all grow together. Never played more than 60% of the snaps for Isaiah Lakeley. My guess is that's going to go up after he gets this deal.

The number one overall pick, she's got a pretty pretty good. pretty big insurance policy, very expensive one as well. We'll discuss. The USA is taking on Mexico tonight. You gotta catch it 8 o'clock Eastern on Fox. You might have heard of him. Paul Skeen on the mound for Team USA as they try to get to 3 and 0 in pool play. They've been dominating.

The lineup is ridiculous. Check it out tonight. 8 o'clock Eastern on Fox. Thanks for hanging out with us on the OT. Let's go to Vegas. I love going to Vegas. I used to. I did too much in my 20s.

The Raiders have signed center, Tyler Linderbaum, who some say was the most valuable free agent, some would be me. He got three years, $81 million, $60 million guaranteed, highest paid interior offensive lineman in NFL history. Listen, you're 25 years old, you get to go to Vegas for three years, make $81 million. Stay focused on, man. There's a goal at hand. And play in a scheme that Clint Kubiak's bringing there that is very simple. similar to the one in terms of the blocking scheme that you had. So it's a schematic fit.

You get a ton of money and you signed a three-year deal. So you're a free agent again at 28. And you get to help usher in a new offense, a new system, a new head coach. Fernando Mendoza's start to his career. Like you're going to matter a lot in that locker room. I think it's a home run signing for the ratings. Yeah, we just say here I talked about a security blanket for Jackson Dart in Isaiah likely.

This is a security blanket from Mendoza because when you're at center of this caliber, it's a three-time pro bowler, man, you know, you now set the protections. You now orchestrate the guys next to you. You're now taking those bricks off that young man's shoulders where now the game starts to slow down for him. And then from a development process, now he's looking at what he needs to focus on instead of saying, man, I've got to look at this whole canvas. And Linda Baum is great, man. He's great against the pass, solid against the run.

And he's tough as a roasted boat now. So it's, I struggled with that. You still got it out. I said a little bit of turbulence on the flight, but you landed the plane. I appreciate that. No, but they got a damn good center, man. And hopefully Mendoza, you know, he's got to do his part of it. Well, look, this solidifies.

We all kind of know what we believe that they were going to take at the number one pick. But when you go and get a center, all of what you just said is why you go get that center. Oh, yeah, sure. There was any doubt that Mendoza was going to Vegas. He's going to Vegas. It's locked, right. You go get a center because of. You know what?

We got somebody who's seen protections, who know what the calls, you know how to ID the mic and this. Like, you want to alleviate that from your young quarterback, like you just said. And then you go out, you get your receiver,

nailer from Minnesota Vikings. Like, they are doing a great job of setting up their young rookie quarterback who's going to be coming in, who they are going to take number one overall for success. Now, we'll see what that success is. looks like, but defensively, I don't know what they're going to look like, but they have

picks in the draft. We'll see how it works out for them. Yeah, but you're right. Like, offensive-minded head coach. He's going to go offense. Maybe the best center in the league, good running back, good tight end. It is now not a totally awful situation to walk into on the offensive side of the ball. So they've upgraded there. I'm very much looking forward to talking about this one with you guys. And I don't like to pocket watch, but it's the day of the big contract, so the money is at least a factor here. Alec Pierce is going to going back to the Colts. It's no big deal. It's just four years. One hundred and sixteen million dollars, the largest free agent contract for a wide receiver in NFL history. So the question

is, does he deserve the monster contract? And I will just say, to quote Snoop Pearson, friend of the show, from The Wire, deserves got nothing to do with it. Like, do I think, it's a little crazy that Alec Pierce flirted with $30 million a year? I do. I'd be honest. I think I think it's a little crazy. The guy had 47 catches last year. But this is what happens. I only took two econ classes in college. Econ 101 and 102.

Micro and macro. But supply and demand, he led the NFL in yards per catch two straight years. You went all in on Daniel Jones. You traded for sauce gardener. He just had a career year. He being Alec Pierce with Daniel Jones. Daniel Jones just had a career year with Alec Pierce.

They like each other. If you're bringing Daniel Jones back, you had to bring Pierce back and you had to pay him a boatload of money because 15 other teams wanted a receiver this offseason 2. So is he worth it? It's probably an overpay. But Greg, they needed it. Yeah, they needed it. And look, in terms of receivers being worth almost $30 million a year, I wouldn't put them in that category. Justin Jefferson, Javier Chase.

If I am Alex, Alec Pierce, thank you for welcoming me close to that category. It's a great deal. Look, man, he's a perfect fit for this offense. Sure. Like this, he now, now, you talk about the 47 catches, we're going to need and expect a lot more than 47 catches because you're going to get a lot more opportunities and you're the number one guy because there's no more Michael Pittman.

Like, there's a lot that's going to change. And so I'm looking to see what he evolves into because he started to become a little bit more of a Routrunner. He is still not there yet. I turn on the tape, I do not see a bona fide route runner. Can he run routes? Of course. He is great.

He's great getting off the line and vertical threat-wise. You are going to have to back pedal and get out of there. So he creates that threat for sure. And when you have a guy in the back field like Jonathan Taylor, you want a guy on the outside that's going to be a vertical threat because the play action is going to always be available. But it will be interesting to see what his, what his performance. production looks like this year. I still think he's going to be a great asset to that team

because of the scheme and because of the situation with quarterbacking and obviously the running game and what he provides for them the long ball. But that's all. Alex, well done, buddy. Way to hit it. Yeah, I mean, he completes their arsenal. Obviously, you have Tyler Warren and Josh Downs. You mentioned Jonathan Taylor, but I'm still worried about Daniel Jones. They're like he can be whatever he needs to be But if he doesn't have a quarterback that can get him the ball on time And aggracy and really deliver The coach have a problem

Like Dame Jones was a surprise for a lot of us He was surprised to me I didn't expect him to play as well as he played this year Now there's injury coming off Achilles Being able to be, you know, what he was last year Is he going to be a question? I just I think Alex Superior year the deal's great I'm glad he got the bag

But now I'm worried about if Daniel Jones isn't that guy Who's your number two? Because Anthony Richardson is going to And now we're relying on Riley Leonard who we don't know a whole lot of it. Well, so that's a different conversation, though, right? Because, like, again, the Colts go all in with Daniel Jones. They trade two first for Sauce Gardner, that Daniel Jones immediately gets hurt. And so now you're just finding yourself in this spot.

I'm like, what are we going to do? Right. They have no choice. They are locked in with sauce. They are locked in with Daniel Jones. And Daniel Jones, when he targeted Alec Pierce last year, it was 11.5 yards per pass. Second best quarterback receiver duo of anybody in the NFL. So you're like, well, if I have to make it work with Daniel Jones, I've got to bring back Alec Pierce.

I got no choice. Yeah, and look, man, let me tell you something. No Daniel Jones, Daniel Jones, Alex Pierce is going to be just fine. Oh, yeah. Money in the bank. Did that check clear? Were we good? I mean, again.

No, he's going to want to produce. Congrats to him, man. But I think he's going to definitely have to get better at the skill of running routes. And I think he will. While he's counting his money. Tonight, USA, Mexico, 8 Eastern on Fox. Paul Schenz, he's good. He's on the mound making his World Baseball Classic debut.

He struck out four over three innings and a tune-up against the Giants last week. USA, of course, dominated both games so far to go 2 and 0. I am personally expecting Paul Skeens to dominate, but we had AJ Prasinski on earlier. Okay. And he was talking about why it's just difficult for Mark DeRosa, the team USA manager, because they're,

you mentioned the pitch count, like, they're doing that because the pirates have them on a pitch count. Right. You know, so it's like, they're kind of serving two masters of trying to win the game, but also not upsetting their major league. Yeah, but USA has enough. They got Clay Holmes, got David Bettner. They got some people that I can kind of fill in

and get the job done. The issue with him, not even with him, is with this roster. There's so much star power. I mean, they can have lapses in the game. That sounds like we're on good problems. Right. I mean, my goodness, gracious. The lineup is just it looks like a creative

You know, like it is a create a team. I guess that's true. They did very fair point. They did create the team. I meant more like a video game. It's like it's unfair. That's like a point that I would have made. Yeah, it is.

You just got me on a technical. Kind of robed off of them. I thought you well. Yeah, no, that's true. But yes, to answer the question, I expect Team USA to dominate Mexico. They're not going to be challenged till the title game. But watch it on Fox.