First Things First - Vikings sign Kyler Murray, SGA breaks Wilt Chamberlain’s 20-point streak record, NFL Title Pie

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

(0:00) Kyler Murray signs with Vikings, What does breaking Wilt’s record mean for SGA? (25:18) Tom Verducci joins (34:22) Will Justin Jefferson have a monster season with Kyler Murray? (45:26) NFL Title Pie (01:06:05) Romeo Doubs joins Patriots, Will D.J. Moore impact the Bills? (01:18:17) USA vs. Canada preview (01:20:23) Pieces to the Puzzle: Who should the Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, and Bengals sign? (01:40:18) Kyler Murray worries NFC North, What should JJ McCarthy do? (01:52:23) Have the Rams done enough to get over the hump? (02:02:56) Will Team USA dominate Canada?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live from New York, it's the show it's wishing you a happy Friday the 13th. No one talked about it. Boo. No. That was a swing and a miss. All right. Danny Parkins. We've got another power pack show today.

A little bit of basketball, a little bit of baseball, a lot of free agency. Drake May has a beard coming in. We'll analyze that. It's very interesting. He's very happy. He's there with Ravel. Josh McDaniels was having a blonde. Last new Patriots.

You just need to talk about something Patriots. So you beard on Drake May. Well, he welcomed in the free agents. I thought it was a very kind gesture. Could have been anywhere. That was kind. He's in Foxborough, Massachusetts. If you brought up the beard.

The beard, look out. Wait do you see the beard. Dusty, keep pulling the Drake May beard video. Are we leading the show with the beard? Exactly. We are. First hour of first things first today. Kyler Murray officially a Minnesota Viking.

We covered this yesterday. We're almost two. early on it. Now we're late. How scared should the league be of this offense? Meanwhile, special edition of title pie. No pie again. Greg is too healthy. NFL free agency edition. A lot of teams. How many teams are in title pie? I've told that there could be 20 in the pie graphics. So there are 20. Excellent. The whole league got a chance? A little bit. You've watched the NFL before. Yeah. First to first. And finally, USA Canada tonight can Aaron, judge and company take advantage of their

Second chance. Thanks to Vinnie Paswantino. Pay better. Greg, Jennings, Kevin Wilds, Danny Parkins. Danny, you're excited for Nick to be back. Have you enjoyed? I kind of like the three hours. Yeah.

He can stay in Japan, go play cards, whatever he wants to do. My dad, Greg, I was like, where's Nick? I'm like, I think Nick's in Japan, dad. And is he playing cards over there? I'm like, well, maybe, but he's not just always on gambling victim. So hopefully he's actually enjoying his holiday. Based on his wife's Instagram, they seem to be having a great time. A lot of food.

We're starting in Minnesota. Kyler signs a one-year veteran minimum since Arizona's paying him. He's a lifelong Vikings fan and happy for a new start. Take a listen. Ever since I started playing tackle football, I was seven years old. I was seven years old. Genuine fandom, you know, ran deep, Vikings gear through and third. through a lot of purple in my household.

I cried real tears whenever, you know, whenever Brett through that interception, I ever cried real tears that day. Okay. Nate Davis of USA Today, Vikings 2026 NFC North champs with Kyler Murray. You can bank on it. Danny, what's Kyler signing mean for the NFC North?

Well, I won't go as far as Nate Davis of USA today, but I will admit again what I said to you at one point in passing yesterday. Like, it's scary as a Bears fan because he represents a very high ceiling. Like with J.J. McCarthy, it's like, oh, a nice team with a tough defense, but they do not have a ceiling. Kyle Murray's talented. He is, everyone would agree that he is talented. Now, he has not harness his talent. He has not been consistent with it. But he goes to a place that has a long track record of maximizing a quarterback's talent. So, I would say it's scary as a Bears fan,

but just to remove the Bears fan component for a second, we should talk about the league. When we do best division in football, I don't know that that's going to be a debate. I think we are going to get some maybe NFC West votes, but I think across the board, the vast majority of football opinionists will say NFC North is the best division in football.

Because they're still, the clear cut, just according to the odds makers, worst team in the division, which surprised me a little bit, frankly, that it wasn't a little bit more bunched up. But so I went around and I looked at all of the other last place teams. This is the... Shout out to the new Titans logo. We updated it already. Yeah, it's clean, too. I like it a lot. It is not. Sorry, keep going. No, no, you're good. It's where I was going to do. Excellent. But like, they're clearly the best worst team.

Best worst team so far. So it's a good start to be the best of the worst. Yeah, well, and listen, I know some people think the Giants are going to be really good. I have some reason to believe in them. I know some people like the Falcons, but just you're like, well, they might have the best defense in football. They might have the best wide receiver in football. You know, right, fine.

Top five defense. I know you're a Texans guy. I like their defense too. Fine. Top five defense. Top five wide receiver duo. Playing a dome. great coach.

It's just a scary last place team if they are a last place team and then we already talked about their ceiling yesterday. Like, if they got, when they had the ninth ranked offense two years ago, they won 14 games. So I think Kyler Murray just presents problems for the rest of the league if Kevin O'Connell can maximize them.

So I'm going to need that graphic because I'll play off that graphic a little bit. But this is, this division now is up for grabs. And I understand them being lower than everybody in that division in terms of going into the season. But, you know, they play the, this division plays the NFC, South, the AFC East and the NFC. And then the Vikings play the last place winner or loser in every other division of the West and the South. So they're going to play one of these teams from the Cardinals.

Absolutely. And so we tend to believe that they're going to. win that part of their schedule. When we start to look within the division, they finished four and two in the division last year. You can eliminate the last game

if you want to because they split with Green Bay. Obviously they won that last game. Green Bay didn't play anybody. But they beat the Detroit Lions twice. They swept the Lions. Once with Max Brosmerat quarterback, obviously we know JJ was the quarterback for the

other game. They split with your Bears as well. Yep. And played them tight in the second match. So this is a team that believes that they are a quarterback away. Now, I understand they lose hard grave. They lose Jonathan Allen. You want to fill those voids.

Harrison Smith. Harrison Smith, which he was already kind of on the outs, but he gave you that veteran presence on the back end. You knew what he was going to, you knew what he was capable of and what he was going to provide you. but this team with Kyla Murray now, if you just get 20th best quarterback play, 20th?

20. More than that. I think they're definitely going to get more than that. But I'm just saying if you get... Your point is they got much worse than that last year, and they still won nine games. Thank you. Can I flip it to the most extreme?

Dust, can you pull up what I've labeled as the Vikings quarterback running? graphic. I don't know what you labeled it in the rundown. I thought this was interesting because look, Kevin O'Connell had Kirk Cousins not moving around. Sam Darnold, not moving around. Kyler, mobile. So Kevin O'Connell gets to open up a part of his playbook that I don't know he's opened up in a long time. Games, this is, since O'Connell has became the head coach, games with 10 or more rushes, none. Kyler's had 12. With 50 more rushing yards. Kyler's had 24. With one or more rushing touchdowns, all the Vikings have had 10.

Kyle has had 28. So Kevin O'Connell can, just from a pure pocket passer, we've seen what he can do. Now he's got Kyler has a whole new skill set he can utilize. So the question I have for you is this. And I'm kicking around like, all right, look at all these last place teams. Is there an argument that Kyler is the best quarterback in the division? No. An argument it can be the best quarterback

We unanimously say no Look, no No, no I don't need no there's I don't even know who's I don't even know who you think is one Because of Caleb Well no I still think Jordan Love is one Okay

I Jared Gough's the most accomplished Yeah Jared golf's numbers are good too He's the most of course I guess it's Kyle But I could see by the end of the year I'm like oh Yeah I would say Jordan Love He's entering an awesome situation I like Caleb.

Again, because we have not seen the consistency from Kyla Murray and the sustainability of how he plays, we have not seen it from start to finish, from week one to week 18, we just haven't seen it. And the idea, and this is where Minnesota comes in and Kevin O'Connell of the belief, if we can maximize who he is and get the version of, Kyla Murray that we've seen when he has been considered one of the better

quarterbacks in the National Football League, if we can get that version and sustain it, then you got a different conversation, but we just have not seen that happen. Yeah, and it's wildly interesting, and I actually hadn't thought about that component because now I'm racking my brain of like McVe, Jared Gough and Matt Stafford, not runners, O'Connell, like, Zach Taylor had Burrow, not not a runner. like the McVeigh system with a dual threat quarterback. Oh, wow, yeah. There's not a lot of examples of it in NFL history.

I mean, it's not that long, but still. So, yeah, that'll be a new component for the NFC North to deal with. I mean, you have to now defend RPO game with the Vikings. They're a fun team. Tyler, 38, 48, and 1 as a Cardinal starter. We're going to head to the West Coast where Mike Evans was introduced to his new team. I had to eat a paper-covered donut because of it. Delicious.

Here's Mike on a fulfilling, here's Mike on fulfilling the 49ers hunger for a playmaking wide receiver. Take a listen. A team that always, they always compete, even with the injuries last year. I think they went 13 and 4. I mean, I feel like they were one piece away, and I think that I'm that piece. And I look forward to coming here and improving that. Now, their odds not great. To win the NFC West, they're still in third, to win the NFC in 6 and win the Super Bowl.

for eighth, which actually is pretty good. Your reaction to Mike Evans being one piece away, Danny. He makes a compelling case. The Niners would be favored to win quite a few divisions in football. They'd obviously be favored to win the NFC South, just to

throw an easy one out there for you. So, like, the Niners won 13 games, and I remember us talking about it on the air and off. They would keep winning, but they had all of these injuries, and Brew would be like, when are we getting Brock Purdy into this?

show. And it was like, well, because we're not, we didn't really take them seriously because of all of the injuries. And whenever they played a good offense late, they got a ton of points scored on them. Obviously, Seattle on the playoff game put up 41. The Bears had that huge offensive game late in the season. So I think we were proven correct that they weren't really a contender last year. They just happened to keep winning. But give them Fred Warner. Give them Nick Bosa. Give it, give them their first round pick from. last year back. Michael Williams. Give them whatever they do in the draft

this year. Give them Mike Evans. If we look at the wide receiver production that they got, they got production from George Kittle. They got production from Christian McCaffrey, but they got really nothing from the wide receiver position. 650. Nobody went over 650. Right. And now you get Mike Evans.

Now again, they had CMC. CMC and Kittle were over it. But just in terms of we talk about offensive genius Kyle Shanahan, he had a tight end who he could throw two and get production. He had a running back. He could. But now he has someone on the outside that can. So a 13-win team with all those defensive injuries and adding Mike Evans, the only reason their odds are as low as they are is because Seattle and the Rams are in their

own division. So the odds makers feel like they've got a path really to the Wilds card and not a home playoff game. But they're a really, really good team. They are a really good team. And I hear Mike when he's talking about them being one piece away last year and him being that piece last year. But again, they were without those players that you mentioned on defense. And then now you're talking about entering into a season with your number one target offensively outside of CMC and George Kittle. He's just recovering from an Achilles injury two months ago.

Happened in the wild card round. And so you're going to be without him for a large part of the season, if not all of it. Mike Evans is going to go into this situation as their best option in the passing game. Clear cut. Like Ricky Pirsall injuries, he showed some flashes. I think he'll be a compliment. They were able to see and get some good production from him.

But Mike Evans, what made this so intriguing is, yes, they feel like a team that can win. We believe that they will always be in it because of their, They're coached well. They're going to be schemed up well offensively. But in that division, I'm not buying it. I'm not buying it. I'm not sold.

Look, if he's saying he was the one missing piece, well, if George Kittle isn't available, is he now the one missing piece that you still won't have? That's a good point. Well, so the cynical view of the Niners is why would they stop getting injured? Because their best players are old and injury prone. And that's totally fair. Like I have no rebuttal for it, but like sometimes it's bad luck.

Sometimes you look into like the service station and internet conspiracy theories. Sometimes you fire a training staff. Or maybe you have a run of good luck. Like if the Niners best players for the most part are older and have all suffered significant injuries, Warner, Bosa, McCaffrey would top that list, right? If those guys get hurt again, well, then yeah, we're going to say the exact same thing. about them. But if they are healthy, they are a very talented team. That's my point. They're starting the season. And again, we know this team as they're constructed. If they are healthy, they're great. They're starting the season off already

down one, down a man and a really good man. And that's George Kittle. All right, quick question before we move on to CMC. When this news first broke, you mentioned Tom Brady the idea that he wanted like a new challenge and Tom took his game to the next level. We've seen wide receiver production not be totally linear sort of as guys get older. You see guys like Devante had the down year and then all of a sudden pops with Stafford. Is there a chance that Mike Evans doesn't have just a thousand yards but really pops and has a season that you would think if you'd, laid it all out was like five or six years ago. Let's say he stays healthy the entire season.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Within this offense, knowing what you have to contest with, with Christian McCaffrey and what he provides, and then you add a guy like Mike Evans, who's always been a productive receiver in this league. Look, when you leave a situation that, like he left in Tampa, and he made the decision to obviously get more money and all the things,

I understand his perspective of having a full room younger. And it's like, man, I'm kind of, I'm not the odd man out, but I got to let these guys do what they do. I was in that situation in Green Bay. I was the older one outside of Donald Driver. He was retiring. And it's like, Jordy, James Jones, Randall Cobb, this goes on and on, right? That was the situation he was in now. You get to go to a position where it provides a new challenge.

You got a quarterback, you got a system that's going to be suited for you, and you get to challenge yourself to reboot, re-energize, and show that I can still be the guy that I was and will be if I'm healthy. I like that. Moving on. Moving on to Oklahoma City. SGA goes for 35 and in the process breaks Wilts record by scoring at least 20 points in 127 straight games.

Thunder went on a last second file shot, by chat, boring and ridiculous foul call. Yeah, you don't love the file call. Yeah, I agree. I didn't want to spoil SJA's record, but I'd have to sneak that in. That's fine. Here's SGA on the accomplishment.

All the records and accomplishments are great, but they don't matter if you don't win. And that's all that was on my mind. I was having a terrible game to that point. Then like how I started, I started sluggish. I wanted to just focus on getting the car back on the road and making sure we walked out of here with a W. If we lost, I would have been pissed and would have gave the record for the W any day of the week.

So I'm glad we won and I got the record. Perfect answer. What's this record mean for SGA? It is just the latest data point for me to acknowledge and try to get as many people as I can to come over to my side and acknowledge that he is one of the most underrated athletes going right now across all sports. we are witnessing a player who is going to be regarded as an all-time score in the history of basketball. He might not get LeBron's scoring record. He won't. He won't.

He won't play that long. He probably will not get to Kareem's number. He won't. He won't play that long. But the run that he is on right now, especially if you remove Big Men, like when your name is mentioned with Wilt, when his numbers are video game stuff, he scored 100. The next day he had 58. It's a totally different era. It's one of the greatest scoring guards in the history of a league that is known for its scoring guards.

He's averaging 31.8 points per game right now. Pretty safe to assume he's going to finish the year averaging over 30 again. It will be the fourth straight year SGA averages 30 or more again. Entire list of players who have averaged 30 or more, four straight years, you'll know the next. name. SGA and Michael Gia. It's a pretty good company in terms of consistent dominance for a score. Now let's say four in a row. Okay, who cares about four in a row? How about just, have you ever done it four times? Brought in it out. List of players with 30 or more points per game for at least four seasons. AI, Kareem, Shea and Mike. He's 27 years old.

And so now you're talking about individual scoring. But when you add in, he's doing it in the context of winning, he's an MVP. Yeah, it's a good point. He's a finals MVP. He's a champion. Like AI led the league in scoring four times. Shea's only led the league in scoring once. But one of the years that AI led the league in scoring, he averaged 27 a game.

And obviously, Iverson never won an MVP, never won a number. a title, never won a finals MVP. I know. Surprising. Iverson never won an MVP? Correct. So it is the type of thing that I just think,

like he's the favorite right now to be league MVP. Yeah. Which means, and he's on the favorite to win the title. So that means he's the favorite to win finals MVP. That'd be a second of each. The whole list of guys who have two or more league MVP's and two or more finals MVP's, it's Kareem.

Duncan, Magic, Bird, Jordan, LeBron. And this year it could be Shea. Like, he's just, he's unbelievable. So what makes it so impressive for me, and I look at this a little differently. Like, I messed that up. Iverson won the 2001 MVP. I was just, I hit that in trivia the other day.

As soon as I said it, I don't have a finals MVP. I'm like, man, I'm pretty sure. My bad. Picture of him holding the trophy. My bad. 2001. After shit. But shout out to me for not arguing.

No, no, no, no. No, no. You said at that? Great leader. I had that on trivia. And then I messed it up here. Thank you. Sure.

It was in Philadelphia. We're alive. Like, he's doing this as the master of the midgame. Like, that, for where the analytics has gone, everyone is pumping, shoot the three, shoot the three. And he is showing everyone that I don't have to just shoot the three. You don't have to just shoot the three. I can beat you at the midgame. Get to the foul line.

He is so crafty. He is so savvy. everything about this game screams superstar. And I talked to Broussard about this off air. And we were talking about the only thing that he doesn't do and doesn't have, he's not the high-flying dunker that Jordan was, that we love to see with and those type of, so we don't really, we don't glowingly talk about him as just an electric,

exciting player to watch. when he is everything you really want in the player. There's just one other, there's one other glaring issue. And I like SGA. I think I know what you're going to say. A lot. Last night's game, and this is not from Kevin Wilds, this is from Jalen Brown. SGA's driving.

He gets a foul call here. This is a picture of me, not SGA. Dust, let me know if you have, there we go. Okay, SGA is driving. He gets this foul call. And on the broadcast, and you can listen to it online, Jalen yells out, that's not basketball. And after the game, Jalen explained what he was talking about. I don't foul bait. I'm not looking to, you know, flop or anything like that.

But it's almost like you got to. It's almost like there's a couple of plays in the fourth quarter where I felt like I drove strong, went up strong. And I didn't get the benefit of the doubt. But maybe if I were to flop, maybe I was able to sell that call. and those decide games. We commend players for, you know, playing the game the right way, but, you know, we give the benefit to those who, you know, who necessarily are trying to manipulate the game

into their advantage. I just don't think it's basketball. All right, that's not a social media troll. That is an MVP candidate and a guy scoring almost 30 points a game. So that, I think, is a mark against Shea. I'm not, it's not a reason we shouldn't celebrate this record, but I think that is sort of a fly in the ointment of his accolades. Foul baiting is not fun to watch. I completely agree.

And I'm not going to get on here and start respecting flopping. Like a point conceded and Shea does it. And he's really good at it. It is not unique to him is what I would say. Star players. Sure. Flop, exaggerate. to the, Luca does it, Jalen Brunson does it, James Harden does it.

No one, yeah, but you're universally found upon. Right, you know, absolutely. And the issue is, Shay is almost, and this is, I hate when people say it, she's almost too good to do it. Like, Shea doesn't need to do it. Jalen Brunson is undersized and crafty, but Shea can get his own shot when he wants. He's fast enough to get his own shot. He's big enough.

He can rise over guys. But the Hardin-esque game, I think, rubs people the wrong way. And I think it is a hurdle for him to have the world sort of embracing. I don't know if it's a hurdle, but he's effective. He's used it to his advantage. Call it better. I would have no problem if the refs stopped calling. Yeah, I agree.

I agree. Well, USA take advantage of their second chance. That's next with Tom Verducci. Next right here. on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. I lift up why Wilt's record was snapped. World Baseball Classic continues tonight. Quarterfinals, Aaron Judge and Team USA, up against Canada,

where heavy favorites all begins at 8 Eastern only on Fox. Joining us now from Fox Baseball's Tom Verducci. Tom, thank you very much. I'm feeling good about Team USA. We almost got eliminated there as we were watching the game on our couches. How optimistic are you about Team USA now that the Pasquatch saved us? Yeah, I'm with you, man. This is the reprieve. You know, they can actually breathe now. I'm sure that was a nervous day until Team Italy took care of business. But, yeah, getting a second

chance here, a new life here. Listen, we see how this team is so loaded with power. To me, that's the difference in this game. So that Canada's hit only two home runs in this tournament. They've advanced on pitching. Their pitch to have been really good. And the U.S. They can just beat you up and down the lineup with the long ball. I wouldn't say they're a great rally team guys. I mean, they just hit the ball out of the park. They're not stringing hits together. So they do have some strikeouts in there.

The key for me, when Italy went up against them, besides Italy played a great offensive game. They went after the USA lineup. I mean, they only had, what, one or two walks in that game? So if you take away the walks from this team, I think they're beatable. So to me, the key for Canada, throw strikes, and just kind of hang in there and do the best you can. can to limit the home runs to ones that don't have guys on base.

Mark Zerosa said the loss, you know, got him to lock in. Obviously, there was a lot of discussion and controversy around what caused that loss and the need maybe to lock in. But do you expect to notice any difference in their approach or focus going forward the rest of the way? Yeah, I do. You know, listen, I know they get something of a bad rap here by not being as emotional as a lot of the other teams in the tournament.

I think it's going to change tonight. This is their first winner-go-home game. There'll be a certain vibe there. And again, having a new life, a new breath here, they're well aware of that. They've started slow in a few games. And I would expect that would change in the game tonight. You know, put the pedal to the floor right from the start of this game,

put the pressure on Canada. You don't want to be playing these games from behind. It's going to be a bullpen game. I mean, people have to realize that. You know, I know the pitchers. counts where the starters get extended now in the knockout round. But these starting pitchers aren't going to go up to that limit. The teams are telling these managers keep them around 60 to 70 pitches, that's the limit.

So it's going to be a bullpen game. And for the USA, you saw they made some changes in their bullpen. Whenever you play Canada, you better have left-handed pitching. So tonight, it's Garrett Clevenger and Tim Hill, who is added to the roster, situational match-up lefties in big spots to go get own Casey or Nailer. That's what this tournament for the USA is going to come down to, rely on those bullpen matchups. Tom, Aaron Judge goes 0 for four in the Italy matchup. We all know his struggles in the postseason during the MLB season.

Like how important is it for him being the captain, the leader of this team to get out to a good start and to have a good showing in this game versus Canada with their, which they're heavy fair? favorites. Yeah, well, you said it. He's the captain, and that's just not a ceremonial honor here. This is a team of all stars, and on a team of all stars, they look to Aaron Judge, not just to say the right thing, but to set the tone. It's hard to be a leader 100% anyway when you're not playing well. I'm not saying he's not playing well, but he's got to be engaged in the flow of this game. We've seen to have good games, right? We've seen a home run, throw the guy at third base. I'm not worried about him.

I mean, this guy, it's a matter of whether he gets his pitch to hit. I can tell you this. He's not the best hitter in baseball. He's right there. Just absolutely destroys fastballs. He will be ready tonight. This is a guy who loves being a leader and nothing bigger right now than in a situation they're in a knockout game.

Tom, I'm obviously pulling for Team USA. At the same time, you know, I've got a spare tire in my car in case something happens. I'm ready for a backup. My backup team is the Dominican Republic who are just raking the ball. They are first in batting average. They are first in home runs. They are first in RBIs. They are first in on base percentage. They are first in slugging. They are first in vibes. What do you make of Dominican Republic? How dangerous of a squad are they if we get knocked out or even if we have to play them this weekend? Yeah, I've been hanging around this team and I I am digging those vibes.

This is a fun team to be around. They're playing in personality. And again, I'm going to get back to motivation, right? Julio Rodriguez, good example, right? Placed for the Mariners. They got winning one game of the World Series last year. They've never been the franchise to the World Series. He actually sold series and win the World Series with Seattle.

That's 99% of his dream. 100% of his dream is winning the WBC for his home country in the Dominican Republic. It's hard for a lot of American fans to understand that, but these guys are speaking from the heart. And I can tell you, you can feel this being around these guys. Yes, they have so many guys who can leave the yard. The home run numbers are ridiculous. I've been more impressed by how disciplined they've been at the plate.

In the past, they've been bounced from this tournament by being way too aggressive at the plate. And teams have taken advantage of that. Look at their walk totals. I mean, Fernando Tatis Jr. right now is absolutely locked in. You can't get him to chase anything, and if you attack him, it hits Grand Slams. So right now, they've got the mojo, I think, better than any other team in this tournament. Let's say they're winning. But right now, I like where they're at more than anybody else.

Tom, I think we can show the lineup here. And if we can, it's okay because Pete Crowe Armstrong is batting ninth. It's just, it's so ridiculous when you look at the talent. Bobby Witt Jr., Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Kyle. Schwerber. There it is. Bregman, Anthony, Cal Raleigh, Bryce Terran, Pete Crow Armstrong. Like, it's just kind of fun for a baseball fan to look at. I'm a Cubs guy, so I marvel at any lineup that could have PCA bat ninth. But when you see that lineup, what's the superlative, I guess, that you would attach to it?

I would say If it just a look for a place where they have some relief surround somebody knowing you get to it completely with metal all-star game it's just a nightmare to get through they can beat you anywhere in this lineup but doesn't have to turn over.

I know PCA hitting knife is like a double lead off hitter the bottom because he can run but you know he slugs like a three or four hitter so that's the danger of this lineup is just the fatigue factor against the pitcher you can pitch well but the fatigue is you need to execute every single pitch without a mistake time after time after time because they're not going to let you get away with those mistakes so yeah it's so deep the other night when they lost to italy and i know there were reasons why they did this some are clear and some aren't They had on the bench three players with contracts of more than half a billion dollars. On the bench.

That's how deep this team is. All right. Tom, quickly before you let you go, do you have one team that you think is going to win it all? Is it the DR? Is it the USA? We haven't even talked about Otani. Yeah, don't rule out team Japan. I know they don't have Sasaki pitching.

Obviously, Shohey's not pitching. If you watch Japan play, it's like a, an American Legion team that knows how to win a part of it. There's something to the way that they play. Close games. They don't make mistakes on defense. They find a way to win games. I would never rule them out.

I think they're 34 and 8 all the time at WBC. They just have a way. I would say, though, again, back to talent. It's the DR. I would say they have the most talented lineup and don't go to sleep on their bullpen. We talk all about their lineup. Their bullpen is lights out, man. It's power arm after power arm.

So my heart says USA, talent, I go with the Dominican Republic, and my genealogy says Italy. Wow. I love it. There you go. All right. Well, thank you very much, Tom. The title game is on Tuesday, 8 o'clock on Fox. We've got games tonight and on Sunday.

Tom, thanks very much. Enjoy the tournament. Thanks, guys. More first things first right after the break. Head back to Minnesota where Justin Jefferson will be catching pasting from Kyle Murray. He was on the show during the Super Bowl. and still was confident he was the best wide receiver in the league. Greg, take a listen. It's a little bit difficult to be in those conversations. Having a young quarterback that's still

learning the game and still learning his potential in this league, you know, you kind of have those difficult seasons, which I had this past year. So I still think that I'm still number one. I still think that no one in this league can cover me man to man. That's without a doubt. So, you know, my confidence level will always be high and always will always will. field that I'm number one in my eyes. So we were going to ask if you think he's still number one. Is he back to being number one?

Is there a monster season incoming? Your reaction to that sound from the Super Bowl? What do you think? Well, my reaction to the sound is what did you expect him to say? I don't know. But he refused to throw nine under the bus. Look, all season long, I'm glad you went to him.

He was great. All season long, he was awesome. In the media. of how he talked about J.J. McCarthy. We all saw what was going on. We all knew his numbers were taking a dip, but he supported him. He wanted to do things off the field

to establish relationship and rapport. He was a great teammate. Answering this question? Yeah. Guaranteed. You talk about put it in the bank. You can put that in the bank. You can simply put that in it.

This guy is one of the most productive receivers we've ever seen in this league as he entered as a rookie. You take out his 20-23 season when he had only played 10 games because of the hamstring. And then

last year, which both of those seasons, he still went for 1,000, so he's always had a thousand-yard season. But this is his rankings. Obviously, the 19th, the 23 season, that was a 10-game span. He didn't play all 17 games. Last year, he finished.

He finished 12th in yards amongst all past catchers every other year. One, two, four. I mean, that's who he is. You get him competency at the quarterbacking position, a guy who can get him the ball and get him the ball consistently and be accurate with how he gets him the ball. Yeah, man. And one last thing, like his numbers, they weren't Justin Jefferson like numbers.

like numbers. He still had 84 receptions, over a thousand yards, average 12 yards a catch, which is extremely low for him because he's on, for his career, he's over 14, his lowest is like 14.1 until last year.

So yes, if I'm sitting there and my swag is high because I wear them, wearing a jewelry and put the glasses on, Jess is back. I love it. Yeah, I don't think he ever left. He just had a weird quarterback situation. And the thing is, as long as he gets competent quarterback play,

I mean, he's made quarterbacks look way more than competent, which is how bad JJ McCarthy and Max Bros. This is the entirety of the quarterbacks that have ever completed a pass to Justin Jefferson. There's not a ton of talent on there. Obviously, Cousins has been productive in a long career, and Darnold just won a Super Bowl and had a great year there. But, like, there's not a top 10 quarterback. There's not a quarterback with an MVP vote.

There's not an all pro. There's not an all pro. And that number at the bottom, so he leads the NFL in receiving yards since he came into the league. Second place over that time here is Devante. And he's got him by over a thousand yards with those guys throwing on the ball. Think of the other guys we talk about is the best receiver in football. J-M-R Chase, Joe Burrow, Pooka Nakuwa, Matt Stafford, J. J.S.N., Donald, but has only done it once.

Jefferson's done it. Every year he's been in the league over 1,000. And so, like, I do think he is the best receiver. You always speak very highly of Justin Jefferson. Is there a gap between him and I think Jamar is the second best, but I don't know where you have CD in the ranking? But it feels like maybe you have him on another, like, iconic level, without dissing the other guys.

But it feels like you have him higher than maybe we do. So when Danny puts it like that, I guess that's, That's why I have him so high because we don't look at Dak Prescott as a low caliber quarterback. No. He's top 10 and everybody's discussion, he's always top 10. Not fluid, but yeah. Exactly.

Joe Burrow, how do we feel about him? Like when he's healthy. He's in everybody's top five. Joe Burrow. Like he's never had this. And yet to your point, Sam Darnold, his first season actually looking at. like an NFL quarterback that had potential was with that guy. So that's why his route running, there's nothing that he doesn't do.

He gets awesome releases off the line of scrimmage. He's great on the deep end. He can run every route in the route tree. I mean, best receiver in the game. I would throw in the ball more. It's a bold strategy. No, but I would almost have like a, like when, I don't know who, like, what coach we're saying like started to shoot a lot of threes.

Maybe it's like the Phoenix Sun squad. Yeah. Like I'm going to throw the ball to Justin Jefferson. Good thing's going to happen. 20 times a game. It's like how the Puka Seattle game, like I'm going to throw you the ball 20 times. It's kind of puka every game almost. Well, they throw it.

It's a lot. It works. It does. It does. Get the ball. Speaking of the other JJ, after being drafted 10th and then turning into nine, JJ's future murky.

Charles Robinson, running for Yahoo. I'm certain of two things right now, that Kyler Murray was signed to eventually take the starting QB job for the 2026 season, and that McCarthy has 12 months to do whatever he can to keep from becoming the next Anthony Richardson senior, a young backup quarterback with an unrealized ceiling whose trade availability isn't exactly lighting up the league's phone lines. Danny, your reaction at Charles Robinson's take is JJ done with the Vikings. I love Charles Robinson. I think a great writer, great reporter. when I first heard about Kyler and Minnesota, I thought, oh, well, Kyler's not going to Minnesota to compete. Like, they're going to trade J.J. McCarthy.

That was my initial thought. But because it's Kyler, and I am high on the Vikings' chances, think he represents a ceiling, say it's scary as a Bears fan to have him enter the NFC North, all of those things. But because it's Kyler, there's always just like something that's a little weird. Sure. So there's always something. Like, he reportedly took Zoom calls with other teams before agreeing to the deal with the Vikings and was it with the Rams or was it with the Texans? Like, because, and then you saw the contract, you know, he's signed a minimum deal,

but with a no tag clause. I thought that was just smart, though. It's super smart. It's super smart for Kyler and his agent. But he's also apparently been a Minnesota. Vikings fans since he was seven years old. And you would think that if Kyler has a great year, he's going to want to stay in Minnesota, stay in a dome, stay with Kevin O'Connell, stay with Justin Jefferson. But he's keeping his options open, which is smart for his money. And if Matt Stafford

retires and you could go play with Sean McVeigh and be in L.A., maybe that's something he'd be interested in doing. I guess my point is maybe J.J. McCarthy just has to stay. Like, maybe it's not a competition, but they're not going to trade you because Kyler Murray is certainly not committing to you long term and you're not ready to commit to him. They did trade up to draft J.J. McCarthy, so you'd be selling very low on him right now. So I last week thought J.C. McCarthy was his shoeing to get traded when they brought in Kyler. After the no tag clause and the flirting with the other teams, I think he just might be the backup this year. So he's definitely going to be the backup this year. I don't think there.

giving up on him this year for sure. But and I think what Kyler, everything that Kyler has done has been looking out into the future too, betting on himself, understanding that if and when, I'll say when, because that's how we think as players when we're in that type of situation. When I have this great season, they're either going to want to extend me and commit to me or I'm going to have suitors. Yep. And so that's what you want.

if that is the case, if he balls out this year, it's over for J.J. McCarthy. Because the Minnesota Vikings can't afford to allow this to happen all over again. They just did it with Sam Darno. Sam Darnel, balled out. Obviously, everyone knew he was going to get paid. They could have got him at a decent amount of money. They were unwilling to do that, and they suffered for it by going with J.J. McCarthy. They will not do that again.

And so if you're Kyla Murray, you know all of this going in. You know they're in a desperate situation. So you go in here, you buckle down, you learn the playbook, you execute, and you get better, and you be what they hope you to be, and they will lock you up. Kyler's games the last four years, 11, 8, 17, and 5. Now, I think he was healthy enough to come back late in the year. Yeah, they chose Jacoby over there. They chose to sit them.

But there are opportunities to get on the field if Kyler is your starting quarterback. Malik Willis completed 30 passes last year. That 30 passes, and it's like, Malik Willis, he's our new franchise. He's completed 105 passes in four years in a total of six touchdowns. You don't have to do a lot. You can have a small sample size and be great and resurrect your value. Mac Jones won five games and lost three games. And now, according to the price tag for Mac Jones is out of control or whatever the report.

Oh, JJ should not demand a trade. No, come in for win two games, light it up, have a game like you did, have a quarter like you did against the Bears. I was like, JJ McCarthy, if they're married to Kyler, maybe we can get JJ in Pittsburgh. They're always looking for it. Who is Pittsburgh sport about? They expect it to be Aaron Rogers. So do you?

Yeah, I do. Well, what if it's not? Well, it's Will Howard and Kurt Cousins. Congratulations. Live from New York, it's a show that just learned that Danny Parkins has a dog named Oliver. Omar. Oh, my. You come at the cane, you best not miss.

I thought it was Oliver. Omar. Oliver Twist. Omar Devon Little. Omar. We feed him honeynut cherries. Fried boss and brew. Corsos over here.

I saw, of course. So the other day I wanted to get one. I got two. Cool. Why you chest up? I've got a burner, dude. It's a real dog. We don't have pets.

We got dogs. That's right. Oh, okay. I got to buy a new house for the dogs. The dogs have room to roam. Second hour, first thing for us today. Kyler in Minnesota, what's the ceiling for Kevin O'Connell and Brian Flores' squad? Meanwhile, can Team USA set up a date with the Dominican Republic this weekend?

And who will I be rooting for in that one? Not quite sure, but right now it's time for the most delicious segment in all of sports. It's a special NFL edition of title pie. Now, I did not have a pie because what was happening was I would introduce the segment and I would hold a pie and I didn't know what to do with it. Oh, that is a great pie though. They sell them at Grand Central. Yep. I was told no pie and I disregarded the rule.

It's a great. You guys are. It looks good. Healthy and dieting. Oh, it has the pie sign on it? Yeah, it's for pie. It's a pie day special. Pie Day, three one four.

So, you know, I'll take care of this in a little bit. But you guys said no pie? I didn't know what the math thing. I didn't listen. You guys ready? We're ready for Title Pie. I'm excited. A lot of slices.

Lot of slices, because it's the NFL. Basically anyone can win. And especially at this point in the year, I like to cast a wide net. Sure. You know, it's not, we're far away from predictions week. There's a lot of optimism in the air. So we're gonna have 20 slices.

of pie. Right. But I'm not sharing with you guys. So let's put up the one percenters. Because there's four of them. Tampa, the Giants, the Bengals, and the Dallas Cowboys. A couple of these teams earlier in the week, I called half a team, the Bengals and the Cowboys. Elite offenses, serious questions on defense.

But if you have a truly elite offense, you only need to be mediocre on defense. in order for you to win double-digit games, make the playoffs, and make some noise. And so, you know, Tampa also thinks that they can have a top 10 offense this year. They're going to invest some money on the defensive side of the ball. They're going to invest draft picks on the defensive side of the ball. They already have. And then the Giants, listen, Jackson Dart represents a very high-ceiling player. Do I think it's all going to click this year?

Probably not. But when you get Malik neighbors back, you get Jackson-Dart in year two, you get a new system, you have the pay. talent that they have in their front seven, you get the new coach bump. There's a lot to like in New York. If it all clicks at once, they got a shot. 1% represents 100 to 1. Let's show the two percenters, because there's a couple here as well.

Let's just get the Broncos fans mad at me again for doubting them all year. But Denver, Jacksonville, the Minnesota Vikings, and Houston Texans. Wildest Houston Texans have a Super Bowl caliber defense. I just have less than no faith, not only in C.J. Stroud, but also in their offensive line. The Vikings with Brian Flores and their defense, we know that Super Bowl caliber. We've been talking about it for the last couple of days. What is the ceiling with Kyler Murray and Kevin O'Connell? Bo Nicks and the Broncos were great.

It felt like their record was much better than the actual team was with all of the one-score wins against bad teams, but can't deny the success they had over the course of the year. In Jacksonville, their offensive play the last nine or ten games of the season was absolutely ridiculous. They've lost some pieces, but if Liam Cohn truly has unlocked Trevor Lawrence, then that's a very dangerous team in a very winnable division of the AFC South. Let's get to slightly bigger. The 3% group on title pie post-free agency. The Super Bowl participant New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles.

These are really good teams. They are. I cannot ignore the obvious flaws of both the resume of New England and how they got there. And we'll just say questions of how repeatable that is. I told you at the end of the season, I thought that it was a good chance that next year's team was a better team with a worse record. Well, if you're a worse record, you've got a tougher path in order to get there. Still very bullish on their future.

still very bullish on Drake May. Right now, though, putting them with another team that's lost a ton of talent in Philadelphia with a huge question mark for me anyway at quarterback as talent leaves around him. I think that that's a good grouping for those two teams. Now we get a little bit of a jump into the 5% group.

And that includes the San Francisco 49ers. 75% of the NFC North. The Lions, Packers, and Bears. Oh, my. All these teams believe they can win the Super Bowl. All these teams, though, have an obvious problem. And that is the other teams in their division. Yeah.

Like, the Bears could win the division, could win the Super Bowl, could finish in fourth place in the NFC North. Packers, I would say the exact same thing. Lions, I would say the exact same thing. Niners, I would say, the exact same. I'd be pretty shocked if they finished last in the NFC West with Arizona, but another bad injury season, Arizona gets better, new coach bump, who knows? It drives down all of the odds for these teams.

San Francisco, you show the odds earlier, 8th best Super Bowl odds, third best odds in their own division. Bears, third best odds in their own division, I think 10th best Super Bowl odds. So all of these teams are really, really good, but they have a problem to, like a path to actually hosting a playoff game. Now it's starting to get real. We jump up to 7% chance. to win the championship, and there are two teams that know each other intimately well.

The Baltimore Ravens, who on paper, even with some of the talent loss, people are going to have as one of the three most talented rosters in football. But they can't get it done in the playoffs. They do not play their best. The teams they beat, it's like, oh, you beat Houston in the playoffs. You beat the Titans in the place. You haven't actually gotten it done against the other Tier 1 AFC teams when you've gotten to the postseason. And then there's the Chiefs, who I don't think.

anyone would say have a top 10 roster in the NFL in terms of overall talent. But no one wants to play them if 15 is healthy. And by all accounts, 15 is going to be healthy. So you have the pedigree and the postseason dominance that if they can get to 10 wins and get in, no one's going to want to play them. So weird. And then you've got the team that. I totally agree with you. But are they making the playoffs? Right. But if Mahomes is healthy, like pass rush questions. Every position in the second. secondary questions. Wide receiver one questions, but healthy Mahomes. Healthy, healthy Mahomes. Maybe. Well, he will be healthy eventually. Yeah.

So it's healthier last year though. I'm not saying that's still a question. Right. I just think I think right now there is some at least discussion on like he has not been said he's going to play week one. But all of the reports are that he is gearing towards week. So I'm I'm baking this in as full season. Yeah. of Patrick Brown. And it's not an Achilles. It's an ACL. So he should be able to get back to 100%. Small jump again to 9% for the Los Angeles Chargers.

I do think the best team in the AFC North. I am doing this with Brune out here so I can snatch back the Chargers from Brew. We tried to steal them. That's his team. Not possible. They've signed a lot of guys who are good at blocking. That's good. because Justin Herbert gets hit a lot.

They are good pass blockers. They are good run. They signed a fullback. Jim Harbaugh is going to run the ball. Mike McDaniel is going to run the ball. They are going to be a diverse, modern NFL offense with a top five talent at quarterback with a great offensive play caller.

The Minter loss for the defense. Maybe the defense regresses a little bit, but I'm expecting a big step forward for a team that won 11 games on the offensive side of the ball. Just in front of them, though, the AFC favorites in my mind, the Buffalo Bills. 10% chance to win the Super Bowl.

You've got the best player in football. You gave him a number one receiver in DJ Moore, who I know we'll talk about later, but I do expect to get back to being incredibly productive when his target share and his volume goes up with Josh Allen. You have a new coach, so some of the vibes and the hangover of what was going on with McDermott are gone. I think that that team, yes, they have the Patriots to contend with,

but every year you know they're going to be there. Their floor is incredibly high. I think they are the co-favorites, according to Vegas, to me. They deserve to be the favorites in the AFC. And now we have maybe the first sign of disrespect to the champs. The Seattle Seahawks come in with a 14% chance to repeat. And we are parsing here if we want to fill out the last team because these teams get linked to each other all year.

15% the new favorites, the Los Angeles Rams. They were so close all year. They played classic games against each other in the regular season and the postseason. They were top three offenses, top three defenses. We know we like Stafford more than Darnold, but then Darnold ended up out dueling Stafford. But what's happened to this offseason? Even though they were expected losses for Seattle with Kenneth Walker and Kobe Brian and Rashid Shaheed,

there are still losses. Hey, the Rams, what do you need to do? You need to retool your secondary on the fly. No problem. Trent McDuffie, Jalen Watson, they bring in an entire new secondary. So the Rams have gotten better since the Super Bowl. The Seahawks have gotten worse, even if it was expected. And we don't know how the Clint Kubiak departure is going to impact Sam Darnold.

We don't know how the Kenneth Walker departure is going to impact their running game. There's just a few more questions post-Super Bowl for Seattle than the Rams, but they're as close as I can possibly put them. 20 teams as of today. have a chance to the next year's a super ball. It's a perfect pie. It's definitely not a perfect pie. Look, I'm going to help you out,

and I'm going to eliminate two of the teams, because I want to be sure. Eliminate it? Yeah, I'm going to eliminate two. So I'm going to take 2%. I'm going to take a percent from the bucks and knock them out. They have no chance.

I'm going to take a percent from New York. I'll respectfully, because their offenses are really good, and we'll see what their defenses improved to be. The Bengals, and the cowboys, I'll leave them up there. But I'm going to take that 2% and I'm going to pass that 2% along to the Texans.

And I really wanted to give them more percentage. Let's go. You guys are big CJ Stroud guys all of a sudden? Well, I've always been a CJ guy. Wild is the CJ guy now. Oh, okay, yeah, he's new. I was an early CJ guy as well. I was saying he was top two.

Remember all that? That was a lot. I wasn't quite that hard. I fold. Big yikes on the take. But we call. clearly know what they are defensively. Like, and they got better defensively.

Like, they continue to add depth over free agency. They get re-blanketship on the back end to go with Petrie, who's their nickelback, and Lasseter and Stingley, Jr. Obviously, we know who Will Anderson is and Hunter. But when you continue to add depth, because you believe I want these guys to, stay fresh. They're going to impact. Let's just remind America of how good this defense is. I don't know. I heard they were. I'll get to the offense. But let's just remind everyone of how

good this defense is. Like, these numbers, best by any team last 50 years. I mean, you read it. This is who they are. And I don't see them coming off that. And if they do, not by much. You go to the opposite side of the ball. Obviously, this is where they have to get. production around the CJ Stroud and more importantly from C.J. Stroud. But you support him by bringing in somebody that can be in the backfield with Woody Marks, that guy being David Montgomery. We all are fans of David Montgomery. We know how tough he runs, how hard he runs, think he adds value to that offense. You look at their receiving court. I don't think people understand they were young. You were banking on Tankdale getting back

and coming back off a gruesome injury. We'll see what that looks like. But Jaden Higgins, They're really high on. Obviously, we know who Nico Collins is. They have Xavier Hutchinson, like, they have a lot of talent that they can add to. I think they need depth more at tight end. And the number one issue with this team was quarterback play. I don't think CJ will have a season like he has had over the last two. I just don't think.

I am more optimistic in believing that what we saw. his foundational entry to the National Football League being is what we're going to get moving forward. The body of work on Stroud is becoming more on the inconsistent to average to below average than good, right? Like he has, you can split his career in half, and the second half of it is a quarterback that you would not want to really invest. Some of that's offensive line, some of its wide receiver.

There you go. No doubt. And that's why I give him such leash. Because I'm not saying that he doesn't own some of this of what he hasn't been able to emerge into. But because his offensive line has been so bad, because he has had an inconsistent carousel of guys that he is depending on to be available outside him in the perimeter passing game. and he was playing poor already. I don't expect him to, you know what? We need a bounce back. He's going to raise his high.

But he definitely needs to bounce back. But this team, they deserve to have a little more share of that pie. You want some pie? I just gave it. I just gave it to the Texans. All right. Again, we talked about this in the break. You've been doing a great job in for Nick all week.

Thanks, man. And we did some maybe NFL tears. Yeah, we did NFL. And you had the bears too high. And I'm like, oh, yeah. I'm like, sharpen them up while. It's time to go after Danny and the Bears. You know what?

We're going to ruin the whole week. We all left it alone. Left it alone. But you know what? It's Friday at 417. There's 45 minutes more of show. I said, you know what? Let's break out the Bears stats.

The Bears have a chance of winning the Super Bowl. They give them an Ozempic slice. Small slice, and even then they don't really want to eat too much of it. It's just a tiny slice. You know what? I'll nibble on it. That's disrespectful. For a few reasons, and I've shown you this graphic before, and the reason why I like

when you're on this show is you are really beholden to logic. Even when your fandom has to rub up against logic, it's like half dozen a one, six, the other you will lean towards logic. Pray at the altar of logic and reason. You know this is true. Go ahead. That a defense that thrives on takeaways and fumble luck and randomness, is hard to repeat.

The 26 Bears, we don't know what they're going to do this year, but they led the league in takeaways. The Vikings were a great defense, then moved to 10th. The Steelers were at 4th. The Ravens slid down all the way to 20th. The 24 Giants in Dayball Squad moved all the way down to 28th to 23 Cowboys when they were grabbing the ball all the time, moved all the way down to 12th.

Making matters worse. Go ahead. Wright is now on the Jets, and Kevin Byrd, who led the league in interceptions is now on the Patriots. So not only is luck not on your side, but you also lost the guys who were getting the takeaways have now been taken away. 15 combined takeaways, that's a lot.

It's a lot to lose. Even with the takeaways, the defense was not very good at all. No. How the Bears survived being like the getting the half a team label, I'm not quite sure. They weren't at Bengals level. That's a great point. But I didn't realize these numbers were that bad. 29th total yards per game.

Huge. Big plays 30th. Pressure percentage 27th. Maybe you solve that. Two guys are available. You didn't want either one of them, I guess. Or maybe you do make a move for Max Crosby, which would be smart. Chason was available.

He didn't go after him. And finally, it's called beating teams to get to the Super Bowl. Okay? It's not called squeaking pass teams. The Seattle Seasie. Seahawks in the Super Bowl beat the Patriots. Yeah. They were beating teams.

The Bears were squeaking past teams. Here are the point differential of all the 11 win teams last year. The Seahawks were plus 191. The Rams, who you also respect, you think they're so good. You call that the Super Bowl. I do like point differential. I do like point differential. The third team with the best point differential was in almost like the JV Super Bowl.

JV Super Bowl in your mind, which was the Super Bowl. They played the SEC this year. Go ahead. The Jags were 138, the bills, which you really like. 119, the Texans, we're still going here. The Broncos who you didn't really respect too much. The 49ers who you really like, the Eagles, your chargers at 28. And way down there at the end is the Bears, who are plus 26 because they had six game

winning scores in the final two minutes or overtime. There is a 165 point game. gap between the Bears and the Super Bowl champion Seahawks, there is a 159 gap between the Bears and the woeful Arizona Cardinals who are down mind on do the math. I figured it out earlier. So I think the bears deserve a slice. I, you know I'm a Ben Johnson guy. You know I'm a Caleb guy.

I like when Caleb goes, Claw, Claw, whatever he does he do? Claw City. Bear down. Bear down. Claw City. I do think it's more of like a GLP1 slice rather than a big fat Seahawks slice. Well, I didn't give him a Seahawks slice,

and I'm unmoved. Get out of town, you're unmoved. You love point differential. I do love point differential. Do you think that Caleb Williams year two with Ben Johnson will be better? I'm hoping he completes 60% of his passes. He's going to be much better.

61? Over the course of the year, the Bears' offense got better and better and better and better. They did. Colston Loveland got better and better and better. Luther Burden got better and better and better. I agree they will regress on takeaways. I agree they will regress on fourth quarter comebacks. I agree they will regress on offensive line help.

Health. I think all of that will be overcome by a better fundamentally sound defense. They were ravaged with injuries last year. in their secondary. And Caleb Williams is going to ball. He is going to ball out. The Bears are going to have a top 10, maybe top five, maybe top one offense in football next year.

Sure, throw up some of their offensive stats. They were pedestrian, pedestrian, good running team, pedestrian overall. Great offense in Chicago. This pie is delicious. I'm not sharing any of my pie. And Kyler just joined the division. I was scared earlier. I'm not scared anymore.

Time to run the no huddle. We are on a new team and met with the media edition. First up in Foxborough. Drake May on hand to welcome Kevin Byard, Elijah Vera Tucker, Romeo Dobbs. I don't know if we've got a shot at Drake's beard yet. Stand by. There's Brable. Where's Drake and his little beard?

Look at the beard. Saying hello to everybody. It's like peach fuzz. Is there the background of your phone? He's a young guy. I was waiting for the actual beast. Yeah. No, I mean, that's the beard I've been waiting an hour now.

Here's Romeo Dobbs. It was a great opportunity. I felt like I couldn't pass on. And, you know, I know I'm going to be around a great group of guys. I'm going to be around a great young quarterback and Drake, you know, great coaching staff and coach Ray Bull or Josh. I felt like it was an opportunity. I felt like I couldn't pass on in terms of just continuously staying grounded and growing on. growing on and off the field. I really believe this is the place where I can fulfill that.

Unconventional camera angle from the Patriots. I don't know if we're totally locked in yet. It's the offseason. Here's Drake's passer rating by target. Stephanie's passer rating was around 112. 137. Kishan 137. Pop Douglas, who I don't know if he's going to be on the squad, is around 120, and Matt Collins at 94. How do you think Romeo Dobbs is going to be? going to fit in? I think he's going to fit in great. You guys know how I feel about Romeo Dobbs. He can do it all. He's a really good route runner. He can stretch the field. He can, he's going to show up when you need him to show up. And in crunch time, he doesn't shrink. He's never had the opportunity to just be the number one guy. And sometimes health played a role into that.

If he can stay healthy, obviously he's had the concussions. But what he's, what excites me about this is you get a guy who is mature, who understands how to work, who's going to a situation that's structurally and organizationally solid. Can I say something? It matters. It matters. I always think it's interesting when, and Danny, maybe I'll put words in your mouth. I look at stats.

I look at highlights. I look at, you know, touchdowns or memories of a guy on another team. And you're very big on how, you know, you talked about, like, maturity and the structure. Why does that make such a big difference? It makes a difference because you, naturally, we all do it. We, whether our career path takes us to an opposition, a competitor, we have this, the need to compare. naturally we compare and we look at man they don't do this or man they don't have that when you go to a place that is less functional kind of dysfunctional if you will you immediately feel that you immediately

see where there's a dip and how you're now you're trying to figure out man is this really going to work or is this just going to be about what you're talking about the stats the numbers and all those things. Everybody wants that. But on top of that, what helps you achieve that and sustain it is when you're in a solid environment. That's what he's going to. That's what he's accustomed to. I was going to say it's where he's been in water. Exactly. And so now he's going to be, he's going, he's being brought in with the impression of you're going to be our guy. Like that's how, that's what it feels like. You're going to be our guy. What's the example? Don't, you don't have to name a team. But how would

it show up in a team that was dysfunctional? Well, I'll just tell, I'll go by my experience. I went from Green Bay to Minnesota to the Dolphins. And when I got to Miami, I'm not going to even name drop, but they had signed an individual to a large contract. And the team was training. The team was training, having a training session, this off-season. And one player was removed from the team with his own trainer at the facility on the outdoor grass training by themselves.

What? What is this? Day one, I am told, yeah, we're going to kind of need you to kind of merge that. That's not my job. You're already bringing me to do something that you should have nipped or you should have adjudiced. dress prior to setting the stage for everyone to come in. And so when I watch a guy like Romeo Dobbs get an opportunity to be a number one, come into a system that's established, a culture that's established, he's excited because he doesn't have to worry about any of those things.

I like that. It's like how we're all on the third floor on Europe, bottom the fourth floor. That's right. I was just thinking you won't eat lunch with us. Well, brew's up on the third floor. Willie's up on the third floor. Wardrobe's up one and third. And you can't talk about not eating lunch with that.

You don't even participate. I did the shared lunch today. Thank you for that. Come on. You like Romeo Dobbs? You want to move on? Listen, I think great opportunity I couldn't pass on. Being a number one for Drake May is a great gig for Romeo Dobbs.

But I didn't necessarily view him as a true number one. So it is a great opportunity for him to prove people like me wrong. Stay in the AFC East wide receiver room at large, DJ Moore in Buffalo, reunited with his old Carolina OC and introduced to Bill's Mafia. Take a listen. It's a lot of excitement on all sides. And then he was just get ready to run. That's what he told him when I was in Carolina.

So he told me the same thing now. Of course, the mafia. And then, you know, just the talent that's been up here. And, you know, Josh has been playing at a high level. So just to join him is something great. The cheese grader. DJ still has the cheese grater over. Oh, you noticed.

Over his shoulder, still with the cheese grain. Most receiving yards for a wide receiver in 20 and 21. He's right there, Justin Jefferson, Devante, Cooper Cup, Stefan, Tyreek, and DJ Moore, when Joe Brady was the Panthers O.C. Now he's the head coach of Buffalo, so this seems like a match made in heaven. Yeah, so I love that, and that is, it is the best quarterback that he's ever played with. And I got no problem saying that as a Caleb Williams guy. It's Josh Allen, argue with the best player in football.

and he gets to go back and team up with Joe Brady, who you just showed it, he had all that success. And I mean, I just looked a little deeper into it. He was seventh and yards, eighth in targets, third in yards per catch. When he was with Joe Brady, like, I think Greg and I disagree on this a little bit. I think DJ Moore dropped off last year because of circumstance, not himself. I don't think at 29 he's passed his prime. I think it was just a weird confluence.

of events over two years in Chicago where he had his most productive Chicago season with Justin Fields and not with Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. Like it was just, it was weird. And there's a few reasons for it we don't have to get into. But I expect him to pick up right where he left off and flirt with being a top 10 receiver in football in Buffalo. So we're off in a sense of I don't think that he's going to be what the graphics showed. I don't think he's going to be that.

I mean, that's an insane graphic. I was sure. I don't think he's going to be that. And yes. when he was with Joe Brady, that's what he did. He was also about six years younger with that graphic. What I am saying is they got a really good receiver. They got a really good receiver.

But to have the expectation of him being what Stefan Diggs was when he got there with Josh Allen, a young Josh Allen to kind of come together and blossom and emerge as a duo collectively, I don't see him being the missing piece that's going to put them over the edge. I don't see that.

Why? They need more. They just simply need more. You look at... Guy Keon Coleman. Khalil Shakir. I mean, I'm glad you brought up Khalil Shakir. Because, again,

DJ Moore in Carolina, who did he have with him? You barely even, you don't even really know. It was basically DJ Moore. young guy. It was... He had Kyle Allen throwing him the ball. He had terrible.

Absolutely. It was DJ Moore getting the ball in the backfield. Everywhere you can think of. He was a high volume player. He's not going to be asked to do all of that. Khalil Shakir is still a valuable piece to this offense. So was the tight ends. Dawson Knox, Dalton Kincaid.

Shoot, for that matter, James Cook in the passing game. So I just don't think you're going to just automatically shift who you are offensively when Joe Brady was calling the plays last year. Kyle Murray on the Vikings, a childhood dream realized. Take a listen to Kyler. Ever since I started playing tackle football, I was seven years old. I was seven years old. Genuine fandom, you know, ran deep, Vikings gear through and through.

A lot of purple in my household. I cried real tears whenever, you know, whenever Brett through that interception, I ever cried real tears that day. Never knew that story. I cried real tears, too, that day. Of joy. What a great moment that was when far through that interception. I like that this has, I think it's true, obviously.

I think it's true. Yeah. I also like that it adds an element of, I've always been a Viking. I think this is, maybe it's just a coincidence, but when you talk about it. about like it doesn't feel like I'm a one year, you know, rental player like maybe Aaron did in New York. Like, guess what? I've always been a Viking fan since I was a little kid.

I think very quickly Vikings Nation wraps their arms around you. Yeah, I think. But he also talked to other teams reportedly and, you know, sometimes in youth football you have a lot of years. Yeah, it has the no tag clause attached to it. This is an audition year. It's an audition year. It's a huge year.

It's a huge year for Kevin O'Connell, huge year for Kyler Murray. They don't even have a GM for the draft. Weird. They have an interim GM who's going to help with it. Like this, but they have Brian Flores, they have Justin Jefferson, they have Kevin O'Connell, and now they have Kyler Murray. So if Kyler Murray balls out, he's going to have options and Minnesota will be at the top of the list. If he doesn't, we're going to be talking about what his future is in the NFL given there's no chance he doesn't ball out. Is there, Greg?

Like that he has a dud of a year? Yeah, I don't think he has a dud of a year. Yeah, I don't think he has a dud of a year. I don't think there's a chance he has a dud of a year. Too good of a coach, too good of a coach, too important of a spot in his career. Like, this is a defining moment because even with injury, like, it's incumbent upon him to stay healthy because if he gets hurt, that's going to be something that's going to be tagged against him.

Yeah. Like, he can't finish the season on top of what we already have experienced and know. I think this is just a very pivotal spot that he's in, and I think he's going to do everything within his power as he should to take advantage of it. I can't wait to see the Vikings play. I might become a Vikings guy right away. They're a really compelling story for a last place, Tim. Predictions week coming in about.

Gianna, do you know when predictions week is? Gianna is looking up. It's probably been 12 weeks, 15 September. Hey, the podcast, how is the podcast doing, Gianna? Wow! Straight to the moon. Number one, she said. Congratulations.

Because, you know, I've seen some of these popular podcasts, they seem super popular and like influential, like politically. No, we're still number one. Wow. Okay. Check out the YouTube channel too. Doing great. Now into the No Bulls zone, sponsored by Credible.

You get great rates. You don't have to deal with any of the Bull. That's fantastic. USA versus Canada tonight at 8 p.m. Logan Webb of the Giants going up against a Troika, who's pitches for the snakes. Not looking past Canada in any way, shape, or form, of course. But if we win, we do probably set up a date with the Dominican Republic. Your guy, Pete Crowe Armstrong, sneaks into the line up there in the 9th spot.

That's his reward for hitting two home runs and getting us on the board. He's one of the fastest players in the sport, though. So it's like a second lead off hitter. You know what? When I was batten ninth, they used my little league coach. You told me that too. Yeah, it was basically like being lead off. It's like being lead off.

We were playing short center fields. Yeah. Dang. Okay, like you're so fast. Great. Also, Team Canada, we've kicked around this hockey thing, Greg. Team Canada coming out with these hockey jerseys. Bob Nightingale saying Team Canada wearing their hockey jerseys in pregame waroffs.

Just for the record, I know I don't like to, as my brief training in journalism, I don't want to jump and say that this is like some thing. These might just be their regular clothes like being in Canada. Like my brother, it's oftentimes... They're just default look is the hockey sweater? My brother says in Boston's the only place where jersey's just considered, like your Celtics jersey is just considered your green shirt.

Yeah, it's a great take by your brother. What are you wearing to the bottom? Like, I'm going to wear my green shirt. You just show up in a Tatum jersey. What? Yeah, no, that makes no sense. I mean, it's a choice. That's a point in Boston's favor as far as I have concerns.

First thing's first overtime. He didn't say, oh, we're weird. Live from New York, first thing's first overtime. Today, should the NFC North fear, Kyler and the Vikings, longtime Viking fan. Kyle and Murray now gets to play. It's like me playing for the Red Sox. Never know, Greg.

Never know. Never know. Meanwhile, have the Rams done enough to get to the Super Bowl? And what's with this new A.J. Brown story? I despised that report. Yeah? Oh, my gosh. The Rams do not need A.J. Brown.

Les Sneed, he's aggressive. F.M. Picks. Picking the tires. And finally, is USA going to impress us in a game against Canada tonight alongside Greg Jennings? I'm Kevin Wilds and Danny Parkins. He's bragging about his rescue dog. We get it. It's not what I'm doing at all.

You definitely are. It's okay. The cost of a doodle is a little. We get it? You're better than that. No, I mean, listen, that's true. Shot it to open. Good news. We have a brand new segment that we invented on the call and I am 92% positive. It's going to work. First week of free agencies wrapping up a lot of action still some moves to make Bill Barnwell listed as top five available free agents. Kurt Cousins, Brian Robinson Jr. Jouan Jennings, Debo, David and Joku. We're going to go through four quarterbacks, four of our favorite teams, starting with Patrick Mahomes to see who he should want.

Give a little call to the GM. Hey. Hey, Brett Feach. I don't know if you've seen this, that this guy is still available. Here's who the chiefs have gotten so far and who they've lost. They got Kenneth Walker, Super Bowl MVP, re-signed Kelsey. He wasn't going anywhere, although there was, I guess, some flirtation. Trent McDuffie went over to the Rams for some picks, and Jalen Watson is no longer on the team.

They do have the 29th pick for McDuffie, the Rams' first round pick. So, Danny, who should Mahomes want in free agency right now? This was a very fun exercise, and I'm not taking a free agent, and I'm not taking a player in the draft. I should have said that. It's everything, but you can't just, you know, it's not fantasy, but it's, you know, there have to be trade rumors. Trade rumors, and I will go one step further and just tell you the trade.

Excellent. Brian Thomas Jr. of the Jaguars for the 29th pick that they got in the Trent McDonald's. trade. I actually like that a lot. So you keep the ninth pick for the pass rusher. Everyone says this is a, the best part of this draft is the edge rush class. That's a huge need for the chiefs. But Mahomes hasn't had a number one receiver since Tyree Kill. You cannot count on Rishie Rice because of injury and off the field issues. Travis Kelsey is getting older. Brian Thomas Jr. fits the bill. He had a weird second season in Jacksonville. Everything went well

offensively for the Jaguars, except their rookie who had nearly 1,300 yards and double-digit touchdowns as a rookie backslid. Parker Washington was better. Jacoby was better. Like, Travis E.T.N. was better. Trevor Lawrence was better. This guy came back. The Jaguars are reportedly open to moving him for the right price. I would think a late first round pick would be good. You still get Brian Thomas Jr. on a rookie contract. You're ways away, you know, at least a year away from having to pay him. I think it's a fit for need. And I think they have the draft capital to entice the Jaguars. Very interesting.

That is very interesting. I didn't think about that. Well done. Thank you, sir. I will go on the other side of the ball where I feel like they're going to address the need and probably get even more depth and get younger. But Cam Jordan, defensive end. He was very productive with the Saints this season.

I know the last couple of seasons, his numbers kind of dwindled a bit, but motivated, not going to cost you a whole lot, immediately feels a need. that you currently are in dire straits of needing. And again, when you look at Patrick Mahomes, understanding that he's going to be coming off of injury, I know you want to flood him with a lot of talent around him on the offensive side of the ball, but I think when you've lost the departures of guys

in your secondary the way that they have, the value of those guys and what they meant to that secondary, the way you cover up for not being able to know what you're going to have in that secondary is solidifying. your pass rush. I'm not saying he's the answer and you don't go after a pass rusher again, but he can definitely feel that void, come in and spill guys and not let up off of your pass rush that you want to have on every single down. Do you think the Mahomes discount is still

around like ring chasing like we saw D'Andre do a little bit or is that mystique falling away? I think it's an element to it. Guys are going to always, especially when you, know you're on your way out. It's one or the other. It's either you're going to go for the biggest bang for your buck or you just want to go and be with a unit and a team that you feel like gives you the best chance to have a fun season and a chance to win.

I'd be, yeah. I assume players still look at the chief says you've got a chance to win. Yeah, I would think that they'd still be going there. But if you're a comparison, you know, is it still number one? Maybe not number one. Yeah, see, I don't know if that's what I'm saying. I don't know if it's number one. For Cam, a little bit of a different situation,

but it depends on the money. That's which is why the money is number one. Okay. Let's head to Buffalo. The bills have made some move. They've got a new stadium. They've got a new coach. They signed Bradley Chubbs, a $43 million deal.

They traded for DJ Moore from the Bears. They extended Dawson Knox, got McGovern. But they lost David Edwards as a free agent on the line. Danny will start with you again. Who should Josh want to add to the bill's roster? So I'll admit, this is sports, a little harmless anarchy. Never heard anybody? Sure.

So I'm rooting for a little bit of chaos here. Trade for Max Crosby. Price came down. I actually, the bills, the bills maybe look at the chiefs as their aspirational rival, but their conversational rival is the Baltimore Ravens. That's interesting. Who is going to get

their first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback, a Super Bowl appearance first, Lamar or Josh. We talk about it all the time. These two teams are Es Bob. There's an arms race. Why doesn't Buffalo get it done in the playoffs? It's not because of Josh Allen. It's because their defense ultimately lets them down

because Josh has traditionally been great in the playoffs. Well, they went out and got him a receiver, which I supported the move for both sides. I thought that was a win-win trade. But if the price came down on Max Crosby, To just a first or what? Yeah, we'll see what it is. Not two firsts.

But it is a reduced price that should, in theory, and again, I don't think this is going to happen until much later in the offseason. I think we are going to see some sort of Max Crosby workout footage that is going to all of a sudden reignite the trade conversation around Crosby. And a lot of teams are going to call. And I think Buffalo, can you count on Bradley Chubb? You've had no pass rushers since Brandon Bean, his. been there, really. You keep trying. Von Miller, Bosa, you keep trying to these guys, go out and get a sure thing pass rusher at a reduced price and stick it to the Ravens.

I like it. I like that a lot, Greg. You were worried. Can I, before you move on, I had a question for you? If I was Joe Brady and McDermott's departure, we think is going to hurt the defense, it feels like a nice one-stop shop to make the defense immediately look. look different than McDermott's defense and cover up some same thing we were saying about the chiefs. Get to the quarterback.

And McDermott would be probably like, where was this for me? I was dealing with Epinessa and Oliver and all those guys. I like that move. Yeah, that's a good move. I'm going to stay on that side of the ball. I'm going to go a little older again. At the linebacker position, you don't know what's going on. You don't know if you're going to bring back Matt Milano.

Levante David's out there. I know he's older 14 years, all in Tampa Bay. solid linebacker, green dot wear. He's one of those guys that's durable, reliable. He's going to be a high volume impact player on your defense

can settle you and ensure that you have a guy in the middle of your defense that is going to bring it every single week. Again, a little older guy, but always been productive, always been available.

Levante David, they need somebody in the middle of that defense. Bill's in playoff losses since 2020. Allow 33 points per game with over 400 yards allowed. Just six sacks in the six games. They have six sacks and six games. And their six playoff losses.

In the six playoff losses. So when they lose in the playoffs, their defense just generates no impact plays, is what that is saying. So Levanti David is a very solid player. I just don't know if he's, they need a, to generate, to generate, negative plays to generate turnovers. I feel like they need a bigger swing on defense. Next up, we're going to head down to Baltimore.

Most of our free agency talk it has centered around Max and Trey Hendrickson. Here are the moves the Ravens made unless, of course, they find a loophole to back out on any of these. They signed Trey Hendrickson. They re-sign Tyler Huntley, guard John Simpson, Linderbaum

is gone and likely I read that as likely lost Linderbom. I'm like, no, they lost Linderbomb. They lost likely to the Giants and backed out of the trade for Max Crosby. Who should Lamar want to go after? So Baltimore has been fascinating for a number of reasons. Obviously the controversy around the trade. But also, one of the things I love about football is, like, you can follow the money.

How does a team view itself? Well, where are they allocating their resources? They let Isaiah likely leave. They let Tyler Linderbaum leave. Those are big-time offensive pieces. And then they try to get cross. Cosby, big time defensive piece, they back out of it. Then they go get Hendrickson, big investment over there.

They now have the 14th pick in the draft back. I think you've got to go offense there. You hired a defensive head coach. Everything about this offseason has been defense, defense, defense. So I'm going to introduce you guys to the name Kenyon Sadiq, tight end out of Oregon, who was not terribly productive in college in terms of usage. But Greg, I'm going to show you a video. of Kenyantique at the Combine.

He is 6.3.245. And go. 6.3. 245. 4-440. That is Jemir Gibbs' time. At 245 pounds, you want to replace Isaiah likely? You want an heir apparent for Mark Andrews. You want a guy with an incredibly high ceiling who if he actually, you know, they want to use tight ends in that ball. Baltimore offense. He can still learn from Andrews who's there. I think that he's going to shoot up draft boards after workouts and stuff like that because he's just an absolute physical freak, 43 and a half vertical leap. I think that you got a, now that you got gifted that 14th pick back, you have to give Lamar something in this off season. And for now, I think it would be a weapon like Kenyon Sadiq. So I'm with you. I think in the draft, they are going to focus with that pick and use it on the offense side of the ball. But I'm looking at this a little bit.

differently if today I wanted the Baltimore Ravens to do something and knowing what they were trying to do defensively hearing what we heard Eric DeCosta say he was possibly hoping for and envisioning with both of these guys both Max Crosby and Trey Hendrickson so I'll propose the trade you got John Harbaugh over in New York they have a wealth of defenders on that front seven one of those guys is probably going to get shot Capeontibado he He has yet to truly pop and produce younger guy. You got Jesse Minner, you got a defensive-minded head coach. Can you maximize who he is and who he was coming out of college?

Can you get that level of production and manifest it with alongside of a guy like Trey Hendrickson with that defense trying to, knowing that you want to have a bolster defense, a more depth of alignment? We don't know what he can do. do in terms of the volume of production in sacks and all of that. He had 11 and a half in 2020. He comes so closely. He gets pressures.

He doesn't complete the task. He doesn't always get the quarterback down. So I just would like to see him in a situation where it's kind of featured around him. I know he was that for the Giants for a bit. But Kvon, Tibino, you got the draft capital. Before we move on, Greg, I want to get your opinion on the Ravens. We always talk about the Ravens needing wide receivers. They've taken a few gambles on older guys.

DeAndre, OBJ had a cup of coffee there. There's been some rumors. Patriots let go of Stefan Diggs. It was a very kind of, like, nice goodbye. Stefan was very nice to the Patriots. The Patriots very nice to Stefan. So there's now some rumors that Stefan might just, you know, do the old Homer Simpson routine, like leave and come right back.

That's Abe Simpson who does that, but go ahead. right when he walks into the bar and then walks out. Abe Simpson move where you come in and come in. What do you think about Stefan and Lamar? Do you think they're going to add someone to their wide receiver room? I don't think that's a, again, no knock on Stefan. He had a very productive season. I don't think his level of productivity transfers to Baltimore.

Why? That offense. Just because he would be a featured slot guy. Well, they kind of have a guy that's in that spot. His name is A-Flowers. You're not going to slide him outside or have another guy who's going to be backing him up, go inside, and he go outside. So I don't really care for that. It would give them depth.

They could add him later. But I wouldn't go right after him. He's going back to the Patriots. You think he's going back to the Patriots. I think so. The way that it, the way that it, the breakup was, it's a classic Patriots move. Why wouldn't they have just, I mean, I love the theory. And I got to be honest.

I haven't, I haven't, I haven't. I haven't. Why wouldn't they have just restructured the deal? Let him test the waters Maybe Okay It was just such I haven't heard this theory

It was just such a non-breakup And there was some like You know you don't try to be in the internet It's like till we meet again Are we talking about like All right on the opposing field Or just

So you think Romeo Dobbs And Stefan Diggs are Patriots this year I love that I mean I love the take And AJ Brown Yeah You're gonna have everybody Yeah. What a team.

I know. I'm feeling great. Trying to get back to the Super Bowl. Finally, Joe Burrow, always looking for a new haircut and an important defensive player, lost Trey Hendrickson. Here's how the Bengals moved. They signed Maffa. That's good. Brian Cook, Jonathan Allen, but they lost Trey Hendrickson as a free agent and ended our three-year speculation on what was going on with Trey. Danny, who should Joe Burrow want?

Well, I love Greg's idea, but I'm putting it on this team. And we just obviously did not discuss this, but trade a low pick for Kvon-Tibodeau. Oh. And so you lost Trey Hendrickson and you've gotten absolutely nothing out of your defense. That was just the trade, losing Trey Anderson for nothing is wild. It's just horrible. You have a resource. You have like a thing.

And everyone knows he's good. Now everyone also. agrees that he's not a totally complete player against the run. We're not saying he's Mike apart, but he's got a hundred plus million dollars from Baltimore. We've known this for two years in Cincinnati, and they couldn't figure out a way to sign him to a long-term deal. So they lose him for nothing. They were 22nd in sacks.

They've been top 15 in sacks just once in Joe Burroughs career. It's 2021. Anyone remember where the Bengals went in 2021? It was the Super Bowl. Give, because if you're an awesome offense, I've used this cross sport analogy before. There's nothing that means less in baseball than a great closer on a bad team. What's the difference between you get saves for a 72 win team or a 77 win team? The pass rusher is the closer of football.

So go get some pure pass rushers with upside to play. Because Joe Burrow gives you a lead plenty with the office. It's just that their defense keeps squandering it. So I assume your answer to this is also going to be on the defensive side of the ball. There's plenty of options. Like that part is. You also feel like another wider. Yeah, that'd be incredible.

But like better at what you go. Sharpen the sword. I just, I just, like, they didn't do the Bradley Chub move. They didn't spend on Jalen Phillips. They let Hendrickson go. So they're clearly bargain shopping here. I'm sure they'll draft one because, again, it's an amazing edge class. But you can't just add one guy.

I would take the upside flyer on Tibado. Yeah, that's a, that's a great ad. Look, this is a team. They just, they need so much on that side of the ball. Yes. But when I look at the Baltimore, or not Baltimore, Ravens, excuse me, the Cincinnati Bengals, they need, again, kind of like what I talked about, Willavante David. They need somebody that's going to be consistently there and durable.

They've gone through the Trey Hendritson in and out of the lineup, not wanting to be there. Bobby Wagner is a guy, and I've given a lot of nods to the veteran guys. Old timers. But veterans that produce and that. that are in it to win and in it to be on a part of a team that they can make immediate impact. Bobby Wagner has not fallen off. Like he's not the Bobby Wagner, obviously, of Seattle, of old. But with the Washington commanders, he led that team in tackles.

He's always available. We talked about this with Kevin Byard. Like, his durability, you can't coach that. It's either you're available or you're not, you're durable or you're not. He is. He's going to be a high volume guy. He does it the right way. He brings you an immediate captain on that side of the ball, a guy that you lost in Trey

Hendrickson. Like Bobby Wagner, he's available. You need help. I like it too, but I'm just like picturing, you know, Joe Burrow with the blackjack table, hit it on 16s against the 10 watching this segment and thinking, Kvon Tibino with Bobby Wagner is not enough. Oh. You know what I mean?

Like their defense has been so bad and let him down so much. He's like, you're giving Max Crosby to the bills. Like, I'm taking bigger swings there. So, but it's, I feel like maybe my, when I was doing the exercise, I was trying to be realistic because we know the Bengals don't spend a ton of cash. They don't take hyper aggressive moves on that side of the ball. So like when I just look at like, both of these pieces would absolutely help them and they absolutely would not be enough. Jeez, West, it's down on the Bengals. Well, their defense is Greg's right.

They, they have a lot of problems. on that side. Good start. All right, coming up next. How dangerous will Kyler make the Vikings alongside Brian Forres' his defense? That's next on first things first overtime. The World Baseball Classic continues tonight.

It's the quarterfinals as Aaron Judge leads Team USA against Canada. Heavy favorite. It all begins at 8 Eastern. Check it out. Only on Fox. Thank you for hanging out with us. on the OT. We got Willie Colon out here with myself and Greg Jennings. So Kyler Murray made it

official. We've been talking about it, speculating about it, connecting the dots to it, frankly, for weeks now, but it's a one-year veteran minimum because the Cardinals are paying him a bunch of money. Kyler says he is a lifelong Vikings fan and was asked, so what's it like? You grew up a fan of this team. Now you're wearing the purple and gold. Take a listen. Never in a million years I think that this was going to come around full circle not even a thought of my head

but the opportunity presented itself again just watching from afar what KOC's been able to do with quarterbacks the offense the guys in place here B flow in the defense I think that it's a great fit and like I said I'm thankful for the opportunity and I can't wait to get to work So, Willie, it's a great division with teams that all believe they can win a Super Bowl next year.

I guess the question is addressed to me, so I'll answer it first. Danny, thank you. Yeah, why don't you read that for me? Danny, how worried should the NFC North be? Thank you. That's great. Good job, buddy. Thank you, thank you.

I appreciate it. Listen, I will be honest, I am not happy that he's there. I'm happy for us because it's a great story. Yeah, yeah. and NFL intrigue, but I liked being in a very tough division with at least one team that didn't have the quarterback situation figured out. Okay. And now maybe Minnesota doesn't have the quarterback situation figured out for forever because he got a no tag clause and it's a one-year deal and he's using the Sierra as an audition year both for Minnesota and maybe to replace Matt Stafford with the Rams or any other number of teams that could need a quarterback. But Kyler Murray represents a very very.

high ceiling to me for the Vikings. Really? Yeah, man, we saw two years ago. We are one football season removed from Sam Darnold having a great statistical year in Minnesota. Yeah. They had the ninth ranked offense and they won 14 games because it's a ready made roster. And so is Kyler a flawed player?

Of course, both with work ethic and with size. Okay. But if you were going to rank, and this. This is getting a little long wind, and so I apologize. If you're going to rank, like, where would you go if you were advising a quarterback prospect to maximize his one-year production? Probably be like, if you can go play for Sean McVeigh, you go there, number one. If you could go play for Kyle Shanahan, maybe that would be number two. You know, Andy Reid as a coach would maybe be number one, but because of the lack of weapons.

But we'll call that top. Did you say LeFleur? LeFleur would be on that list for sure. But Kevin O'Connell with Justin Jefferson in a dome with Jordan and Addison, with a defense that's going to give you the ball back. So you only need to score 21 to 24 points per game to get some dubs. Like it is a top five place to go to rehabilitate your quarterback image as evidenced by Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold. So I do think the NFC nor should be worth. Yeah, see, for me, I don't think he makes the Vikings dangerous.

I think he just makes them unpredictable. And I get you. You talk about the season of quarterbacks who have landed in Minnesota. have been able to revamp their careers and onward or forward. We just don't know if Kyler, because he's injury prone, he's only one playoff game, that he's still going to be that caliber of quarterback that Sam Donald was or Daniel Jones was. So that's why I'm skeptical. From a team standpoint, they have legit holes on defense.

They just lost Harrison Smith. They lost Jonathan Allen. They lost Hargraves. Like, their defense isn't as good as people like to pretend they are. With that said, you know, I look at this division and I still feel the defense. The Detroit lines are the team to beat, to be honest, because one, they have the easiest schedule. Two, Val, they have lost some key pieces on the officer line.

I do think Dan Campbell has this mindset like, man, we're going to get it. By hell of highway, we're going to get it. By shield, will, and power. But that speaks to how good the division is because they just finished in last place. Right. But I think they're going to bounce back overall. Look, I don't think anybody in the NFC North will be worried. but unlike last year where as a fan

and even teams, you know you're playing the Vikings. If you're a defender, you're like, man, I'm going to get my sacks up. I'm trying to get interceptions because you're playing a young, unproven quarterback that typically hasn't,

that showed us nothing. With Kyler, you've got to pause a little bit. Yeah. Because you got to think about, wait, he can scramble, he can get out on the edge, he can run the R. RPO now. He definitely is extremely accurate

with the football. So my question, do you still believe he can be that guy coming off a foot injured? Because that's what he's coming off. Of course. Look, understanding what Justin Jefferson has been able to do with lesser talented quarterbacks, absolutely.

I also think that Kyler was ready to play. They sat him for Jacoby Percette. Yeah. They sat him for Jacob. Look, I think just as much as they were done with Kyler, Kyler was done with them. Sometimes it's time for a breakup. Yeah.

And he understands what this moment means for him. Like, if he goes into Minnesota and does not perform, there's going to be continued and even a higher level of concern surrounding Kyla Murray moving on to next year. Well, I don't want to like, you know, it's not about pocket watching,

but part of it you guys, pro athletes, you know you're playing for your contract. Correct. Come on. Like, that's a one-year audition. It's a one-year audition. If he balls out, we're talking about, you know, a guy in his late 20s. Show me the money.

It's a nine-figure. It's a hundred-plus million-dollar contract, again. If he doesn't ball out, it's you're going somewhere on a short-term deal to be in a competition. And you're going to be labeled a bridge quarterback. Yeah. So, I mean, it's so, but that's why I think he chose Minnesota and Minnesota chose him, like, because he's better than J.J. McCarthy. But, like, it is a spot. He has to be thinking, Sam Darnold did what?

I'm more talented than Sam Darnold. Kirk Cousins did what? I'm more talented than Kirk Cousins. And you guys would both agree with that, right? He's more physically talented than those guys? Yeah, but it's about scheme. Does he fit the scheme? Like, you can be talented all you want.

But if you don't fit the scheme, if you don't adhere to KOC's ways, and if you don't allow yourself to listen and learn and develop and become a student in the game, your talent means none of that. And that's always been a gripe. That's always been kind of that dark cloud that's hung over his head. That's 100% fair. That latter part is the part that I think most should be concerned with. Is he going to truly commit and apply himself and be dedicated to being a better quarterback?

Is he going to be a pro? Absolutely a pro because the talent is not in question at all. I truly believe that when you have a guy like KOC who has been known to typically get the most out of his quarterbacks, you, it's incumbent upon you to get the most out of him to lean into what he does well, but also know that, Kyler, you're going to have to do some things that make you a little uncomfortable. We saw it with Caleb Williams all the last year. So let's talk the other quarterback that we know their name in Minnesota. You think former number one overall pick, no brainer to start over a guy who's only played 10 NFL games.

We also had more interceptions than touchdowns. That would be J.J. McCarthy. but Kevin O'Connell, according to Kevin Seifert, long-time Vikings reporter, and he asked him, who's going to start? And COC in mid-season form with the snarkiness. Unless I'm confused in any way, shape, or form, I don't believe we have to name one of those currently, which, of course, he doesn't.

Willie, what does Kyler Murray's edition mean for JJ McCarthy? Well, if I'm JJ McCarthy, this moment can either make you or break you, to be honest you. be honest with you. If he wins the job, everyone in the building will know he earned it. If he lose it, he will already know how the Vikings feel about him. Right. And so with that mindset, I feel like if you're J.J. McCart – and I've been in competition battles. I don't know if you have great – like I've been – I've been in competitions battles with guys who I consider my best friend, guys who have they brought in the building and replaced me. You have to transform into a different guy, right? You have to turn yourself into a cold-blooded, distant killer and take everything personal.

Because essentially, you're fighting for your career. And if you're J.J., and you see Kyle Murray walk those halls, that's an indictment on you. So for him, he has to grow up really fast. So whatever woes he had, whatever his things were off the field, he has to now understand this is about his career because they're judging this man off of 10 games. He's only started 10 games and they're already giving up on it. So for me, I'm hell of pissed that Kyle of Murray's in the building. I am not a happy camper.

I'm not talking to anybody. And you have to go into an assassin mode. And if he's able to do that and win, I think that speaks of value. about him and as a quarterback. So I love this for JJ because competition, to your point, it brings out who you really are. It's going to show us who you really are and what you're truly made of. Now, Kevin O'Connell has let us know. He believes J.J. McCarthy, he's made of the right stuff.

He has that it factor. All that may be true, but we're going to find out if he truly has it. Because to your point, when you have a guy who comes and agrees to a contract deal and your team has brought you here from a first round pick and now we're two years removed from that and you thought it was going to be handed over to you and they're saying, wait, you got to compete again. You need to feel like you're being disrespected

but understand why they're doing it and get to work. Simply get to work and better yourself as a pro as a player, all of the above. So I no longer think they're going to trade J.J. McCarty. I did. See, I never thought that they were going to trade them. I just thought that there was no way that Kyler was going to come in for a competition. And I still think he will win this competition easily.

It will be interesting to see how much of a competition it actually is, like if it's a real one or not. But if you're JJ McCarthy, based on what I said about Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota earlier, don't demand the trade. Just stay. and you don't root for injury, but Kyler is only injury prone. He's injury prone. So are you. So are you for sure.

But at least he has a smaller body of work and is more typical of NFL size. Still a little undersized. But you also got to think from this standpoint. They said no to Aaron Rogers. They sent Daniel Jones down the road. They sent Sam Donald down the road. They traded up for JJ.

Correct. And so JJ was supposed to be there, a white knight. It hasn't turned out that way. So invalid, the Vikings have a history of not really developing young quarterbacks. They kind of get away from him early. But if you're JJ, you was supposed to be the guy to change the chapter.

You haven't delivered thus far. So now it's like, all right, this is starting to get murky. So we'll see if he beats out Kyler, but even if he doesn't beat out Kyler, which I do not expect him to, I would still, if I was advising him, which he's not going to ask. But I'd be like, just stay there. Wilde said it earlier, and he made the point perfectly. Like, Malik Willis just got 45 million guaranteed off completing 30 passes last year. You just need an opportunity, look good, and someone will bet on your pedigree and your upside.

Thanks for hanging out with us on the OT. Let's go to L.A. The Rams have made some big moves to put it mildly to get themselves in the headlines. You know, just rebuilding a secondary and one free agency period, not a big deal. Notably, the Rams acquired Trent McDuffie and Jalen Watson. both from the chiefs. And pay. Yeah, McDuffie, highest paid corner in the NFL.

He met with the media yesterday to talk about his excitement, not just for the $100 million deal, but adjoining the Rams. Take a listen. A big thing for me was I wanted to go to a team that were contenders. Let's just be honest. This team has been knocking on the door year in, year out, especially since I've been in the league. And I could tell that this culture was something special, you know,

talking to a lot of guys that have either been on this team or have been here on another team have just told me that the love, the support, and just the overall atmosphere of being a ram was top-notch, like best in the league. Well, the odds certainly agree. First across the board, arguably the toughest division in the NFL, their favorite to win it, certainly the tougher conference last year, their favorite to win it, and they are the favorites right now to win the Super Bowl. But of course, they got eliminated by the Seahawks in a name.

nail biter. So Willie, do you think the Rams have done enough to get over the hump and get back to the Super Bowl? I do. And I also, you know, answering this question, I think about the Rams saying to himself, do we have enough right now or have we done it enough right now to beat the most complete team in football and the Seattle Seahawks? And I think with the addition of these two studs, man, I feel like they have. I also think, it goes back, I was listening to an interview. Jared Verst was getting interviewed. And he talked about how he felt like this defense let the team down. And I think part of it is because when one side of the ball is so dominant, when the other side gets in trouble, you just automatically figure like they're going to get us out of a gym. And I think they got exposed. And I think right now, this defense realizes that we have enough, we have more than enough on offense.

It's on us to kind of go get this thing and go win the Super Bowl. And I think the theme next year for this team is, you know, we're all in for Stafford. We got to get Stafford of the Super Bowl. And then when you have that type of momentum and you have that theme, you know, that can cultivate the team. feel like with those two studs, man, and the defense they already had, reverse and fists, on and on and on, man, they're prime to go be hosting a Super Bowl, be playing in the Super Bowl. It's why Les Need made the deal. Because F them picks? Look, when it's worked for us before and we have another opportunity to go and do it again

and bring in a, you're bringing in an all pro. Like, Jalen Watson is no slouch himself, but and they've already, they already have a rapport, they've been in the secondary together, they communicate all, they just have to learn a new system. But you're bringing in an all-pro. Do you buy anything,

do you buy anything about like, he's just an inside corner that he's not going to be able to play more outside? No, he can play inside, he can play outside. Certainly paid him like he can. Look, because he can. You watch the tape.

He primarily is inside, but he has played outside, He has played outside the numbers against your bet. You see what he doing right here? Right, that was outside of the numbers against AJ Brown. He does that against a lot of the top players in our game on the offensive side of the ball. And so when you think about what, Jared Burns, you mentioned what he said. I think that's an area that they need to continue to improve because that's what fell off for them.

Their secondary was being covered up early in the season because they got to the quarterback. Once they stopped getting to the quarterback, then it was like, oh, shoot, we don't really. have anything on the back end to hold up. Well, I'll also say this. The Rams had a clear weakness, and it was their secondary. And they have changed their entire secondary. The question is that they do enough to get over the home. They were so

close to Seattle last year. Played that incredible week 16 game, played the incredible NFC championship game, two coaches that have the chess match back and forth against each other, quarterbacks who have duel out and shootouts against each other. They were two very evenly

matched teams. the Rams have gotten better. It might not be a perfect secondary, but it's clearly gotten better. Yeah. And Seattle's gotten a little worse. Right. So if they were like right here, but Seattle was just above them and beat them when it mattered, Seattle, the Rams came up here and then Seattle's come down here. Right?

It's because Seattle lost Rashid Sheed. They lost Kenneth Walker. They lost Kobe Bryant. Like, all. Yeah. All expected. You mentioned Clint Kubiak? Like all that.

Kubeiak, right. But like everything, all expected departures for Seattle. So it's not like they haven't been bracing for it and knew it was coming. But still, Seattle today is worse than they were when they played in the Super Bowl. That's just facts. That's facts, right? And the Rams today are better than they were when they played in the NFC title game. Also facts.

And they were so close this year. So if the question is, did they do enough? Yes. I think they have because they were already right there. But also the goal for this defense right now is you've got to be able to close games, right? They've been to so many shootouts that right now, the one side that's not. let them down as that defense. They got to be able to close games.

And that's the thing about Trent McDuffie. He allows this team to blitz more, too, because he can cover, you know, he can, he can lock dudes up. All right, let's go to Buffalo. I'm fascinated by this, how Greg feels about it in particular because we just disagreed on it. So Will, you could be the tiebreaker here. DJ Moore met with the media.

He talked about his new home in Buffalo, how it feels to have Josh Allen in. He's pumped about it, right? How can you not? Right, exactly. He gets to go to Buffalo and play with arguably the best player in the NFL. So Greg, I'll let you set the table. What are your expectations for a DJ Moore, Josh Allen duo? My expectations that he impacts, he makes a great impact on this team.

A great impact. A great impact. I don't think you, I think you think we're further off than what I'm implying, what I've been, my message has been. I just don't believe he's going to be, he's not the Trent McDuffie effect of, is he going to get them over the hump? That's not the answer. They need more.

And so that's how I'm looking at this. Does he feel a void that they desperately need? Yes. But if I were to tell you right now, Bill's got DJ Moore. They better? You would say, yeah, they're better. Are they winning a Super Bowl now? See, I mean, I think they're the favorites in the AFC and they can win a Super Bowl.

But we felt that way last year. No, no, no doubt. Where I perceive our difference to be is like, you think. Well, you think DJ Moore is a lesser player. Of course. I do not. I don't. Because he, yes, he is older than when he had the dominant seasons earlier in his career.

But he's the same age as AJ Brown. He's three years younger than Mike Evans. Like, it's not, he played all the games. Like, he's unbelievably tough. So I just, I don't think that, and he was playing through some nagging injuries last year. So I thought it was more of a chemistry system thing in Chicago than a DJ Moore is a lesser. So I think healthy number one receiver, even if it's not the highest volume

passing attack to outside the numbers guys. I expect DJ Moore to be really productive. Like 1,200 yard 10 touchdown type of productive next year. That's where we disagree, right? Yeah, that's where we definitely. Yeah, I agree. I expect him to be a stress reliever for Josh Allen. I think what's interesting, when you pair him up with a quarterback that can create with his legs and he's a featured number one receiver, he pops off the tape.

I got a graphic right here. This is his stats with Justin Fields, right? This is his production. And if he can do that with Justin Fields, I'm saying to myself, imagine what he can do with Josh Allen, because Josh Allen has been on record to say, I don't need you to run the best route. I just need you to get open, right? And so DJ Moore we know can win at all three levels. And when you have his resume and what he's been able to do and what he's been able to put on tape,

I expect them to Danny's point to pop off the tape and deliver. solely because his body shape, he has this big leg, he's built like a running back, but he has rob receiver skills. So you put him in that offense with Knox and Kincaid and James Cook, and you know what Josh Allen can do, man. I think the bills are prim to be a top five offense. I really do, especially with that office line in that scheme. So they always are a great offense.

I think where I differ from you guys is I look at this offense and I know how they have run. Joe Brady, yes, he has a relationship with DJ Moore, and they did some great things when he was in Carolina. He was a much younger player. They used him in a different capacity than what he's going to be used moving forward with the bills. They put them in the backfield. They used them everywhere. This version of DJ Moore is a receiver, primarily, a really good receiver.

But you have secure. And he's a very productive guy. He has a relationship already with Josh Allen. You have Dalton Kincaid. You have Dawson Knox. You have James Cook who's in your passing game. He's going to a team that has a really productive offense that they needed a number one receiver outside the numbers primarily. They get that.

But that doesn't mean automatically his numbers are going to be what Stefan Diggs were when he was there. Because that's just not how they've operated. I think that's why you get them to you. To get some of that back. Right. Have they, did they, I guess that's my question. Did they operate that way because they didn't have the number one? For me, that's how I see it.

But they had it in Stefan Diggs, and then they dialed it back because it almost was too much because they weren't getting everybody else involved. So now you're telling me we get DJ Moore, we're going to ramp it. We're going to go back the other way. We're going to, DJ Moore is going to get 12 to 1,400 yards, and we're not going to spread the ball around. Well, no, but if he gets 100, 100 targets, I would think 100 targets from Josh Allen with defenses needing to pay attention to James Cook.

And secure. I would think that would be 70-something catches and, like, a lot of productivity for DJ. I can't wait. He's going to be good. All right, all right. He's going to be good. This is going to be a fun one for us.

It's going to be a whole new story for Team USA tonight. That's what we were talking about, as they returned to dominance. Yeah, that's expected. Pretty much a 9-to-1 favorite against Team Canada. Did lose to Canada back in the original WBC, but the offense has been pretty good.

Scoring 35 only allow in 17. You expecting dominance, Willie, from Team USA? Yeah, I mean, listen, they strengthened the bullpen by getting some relievers. Logan Webb starting for them. Yeah, they changed up the bullpen. Yep. Logan Webb played, when he played Brazil,

I think he had six strikeouts. He played well. So listen, I expect him to show up. I do. With all the nonsense, with DeRosa and all that, they have to show up and show some pride and fight. They will win tonight's game. Bobby Witt Jr., Bryce Harper,

Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwartner, Alex Bredman. Impressive one. Roman Anthony. Cal Raleigh. Bryce Terrang. Dream team.

Pete Crow Armstrong is your nine hitter. Your guy. Pete Crow Armstrong's a nine hitter on a baseball team. All dull. It's just absolutely. absurd so yeah they're gonna beat team Canada in baseball and then we'll take on the Dominican Republic we'll talk to you