Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - Protecting Football's Ecosystem & Divergent Contract Philosophies

Episode Date: June 23, 2020

College football players across the country are testing positive for COVID-19. Geoff explains why the programs are in trouble. Also, can Jamal Adams really talk his way to Dallas? Plus, we'll discuss particular distinctions Kaepernick might asses as a backup quarterback. Isolated NFL workouts: (2:45) College football: (12:07) Kaepernick: (16:01) Jamal Adams: (28:50) 'Move the Line' Betting Segment: (33:18) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jeff Schwartz is smarter than you. Jeff Schwartz is smarter than you. Jeff Schwartz is smarter than you! It's Tuesday, June 23rd. Dozens of college football players have tested positive for COVID-19. The Chiefs look like an ideal fit for Colin Kaepernick, and Jamal Adams clearly wants to be a Dallas Cowboy. I'm Jeff Schwartz alongside Gabe Goodwin.

And this is Jeff Schwartz's Smarter Than You. Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend, a great Father's Day. Gabe, happy Father's Day to you. I don't envy all the little kids running around your house, but nonetheless, happy Father's Day, buddy. Thank you very much. It was my third Father's Day as a dad, but my first with our newest. So it was a

special one happy father's day to you do you do anything fun i golfed for the first time in about a year my wife was so happy that i left the house like she she was like just leave like be gone enjoy your day and i did i played golf had a nice cigar you know went out for wings afterwards i'm a boring like fun guy like I don't drink, so... Like, everyone had to drink, so I was just a sober golfer who wasn't drunk at the end of the 18. But I had fun nonetheless.

It was great. Great time. It was good to be outside. Can I confess something to you? Yeah. Which I've sort of touched on here before, but a full cigar would make me drunker than a 12-pack. I couldn't hit the ball

if I took, like, a cigar on the front nine, the back nine would be a mess. I'd shoot 190. But I could probably work my way through most of a 12-pack of Bud Light. My cigar was done after two and a half hole. Oh, God. No, hole 11 and 12.

I think by the end of, we're rolling the 13 and I finished it by 13. Like rolling to 13. I couldn it by 13 like rolling into 13 i couldn't stand up in a in a t-box holding a club if i ripped down a cigar that fast no way it depends on the cigar though like i i brought these really mild ones a little flavorful so i wasn't gonna get now there are some i can have uh where i do feel that way or if i have two or three but i just had one it was good. It relaxed me a little bit, you know, back nine,

getting a little shimmy going. The thing about golf is interesting. I'm terrible at it. I just don't play. I haven't played in like a year. But, you know, you hit those two or three shots, and you're like, man, I'm in. Like, I'm sucked in.

I can do that next time. And, of course, you don't do that, and you suck at it. But that is the thing that draws you into golf. I hit four putts the first two holes. That was really good. Good start for me. And it was just, it's good to be outside. That was 90 degrees, sweat fest, but great time nonetheless. Well, I trust that you did all of that the safe way. You kept your distance. You know, you followed all the rules, which leads us to our first topic, Jeff. I got to confess, I'm getting a little nervous and more than a little nervous.

I know you talked about this on our bonus pod last week. Dr. Fauci came out and expressed some serious doubts about the NFL season. People didn't love hearing that. Since that time, the 49ers have joined the list of teams reporting positive cases for COVID. At least one of their players was working out with some other NFL players in Nashville. So not a team event, nothing official, but guys getting together and guys are getting sick. Jeff, this is a thing that happens every offseason, but it's happening a lot more this offseason because there is no official way to work out.

So guys are just sort of left to their own. They go to the place where it's legal or where they think it's safe to work out. And then what do you know? They start testing positive. The NFLPA doctor is telling players not to work out together now. That's news since the last time you spoke into a microphone. But this is a big, big problem. I mean, camps are supposed to open in a few weeks, and there are positive cases all over the league. Look, I've been very steadfast in my belief that football starts on time, and I'm still going to believe that because we still do have at least a while until the regular season starts Look, I've been very steadfast in my belief that football starts on time,

and I'm still going to believe that because we still do have at least a while until the regular season starts for both college and the NFL. We're kind of finding a common denominator, by the way, for a lot of these positive tests, whether it's on the college side mostly. Even now, there's a soccer team in Orlando that basically canceled the rest of their startup starting back to the season because their players went out to bars and nightclubs. This is where this is happening. We saw even South Korea that got rid of COVID had a flare-up

because one person went out to a bar, got sick, and got everyone else sick, right? We're seeing these bars and nightclubs be the hot spots. So I hope that the players understand that, look, if you want to play this year, you have to do your part in staying away from those established. It's hard. You're in college. You don't have school right now. What are you going to do, right? Of course you want to go out and party. But that's seeming to be a location where it's not going to be good and to be a place to spread this around.

But I just want to, I want to make a couple points sort of clear on this. One is that, and I think we agree on this that my concern is not really for the players themselves getting sick because a lot of them have been asymptomatic i think i mean how many games have we heard of that actually symptomatic well we don't know how many are we're ever going to hear about who actually felt sick but so far the reporting is none of these guys have really felt sick at all right so i'm not really worried about them because in two weeks they'll be able to work out again and they'll be fine, right? Right. What I'm worried about is the coaches, the support staff, obviously their parents. Now, their parents probably aren't in

the same town as them right now if they're back on college campus. But nonetheless, people that they come in contact with at the grocery store or maybe they go to church and there's some old folks there as well. Churches aren't open everywhere. I know that. But just in the daily life, running into people that actually are sick but more importantly in the football facility look nick saban's what 65 years old like he's in the age range where there could be concerns about getting covet 19 and so i'm not worried about the players getting i'm worried about the coaches getting sick and the support set equipment staff trainers which tend to be there's young trainers but the head guys tend to be a little bit older.

Strength coaches. You know, that's what I'm worried about. I'm not worried about the players getting sick. So I'll end with this, and I'd love to get your reaction to this. People bash the West Coast for shutting down early, right? California, Oregon, Washington. I'm just going, yeah, there we go. California, Oregon, Washington.

South and north. People bash those states. Right now, now guys they're the three states that could play football right texas and florida right now two states that were defiant about full shutdowns they did partial shutdowns even now the governor of texas while their cases are on the the swing up said we're gonna wait a month one more month to see if we need to put back some restrictions in place. Florida, they're misreporting, you know, ICU numbers now.

Like it's those two states who were praised for opening up early might be the two states that cost sports being ready to be, not sports really, but really the NFL from playing on time. Like what do you do if you're an NFL team in Florida right now, what do you do? Teams are leaving Florida right now. Orlando, Orlando pride of the soccer league. They're not playing this year anymore.

Are you telling me that NFL facilities, Tampa Bay closer facility? Like it's, I don't know in Florida, in Texas, Arizona, how do you start on time? I don't know either.

And the other leagues are relevant because we know that the pressure at the highest levels, you know, people don't want to be the first to make a decision. If the NBA decides that they're scared of Florida and pushes or cancels its season after thinking they were coming back in Florida, that's going to impact the NFL, plain and simple. What MLB is doing right now is affecting the conversations of decision makers at the NFL. You'd be naive to think otherwise. You sort of blended the conversation of college players and college programs in with the NFL part. And I do want to get into some pretty serious stuff with college

because out West, we've had some big news here. But I want to back up for a second, Jeff. You talked, I asked you about the players who get together when they're not with their team, right? We know that off season workouts are not organized by the 49ers. In fact, they're not even allowed to be in most cases. So tell people maybe who are listening to the show, don't fully understand how this works. How does a guy like you and your playing days get together and work out with random other guys on other teams? What's that look like? And how would they prevent themselves from getting sick? Because that seems like the issue right now. Well, we don't know if they got sick at the workout themselves or whether they got sick somewhere else. I'd imagine they got

sick somewhere else. So I can just tell you what we did when we had the lockout on 2011. Yeah, we were all in town, though. I mean, the difference, obviously, we're all in town. We just hired a trainer. We worked out together at a gym by ourselves. So what happens is now guys are very much connected via social media, right? So, you know, say, hey, man, I think I saw an NFL player say, hey, I'm in California.

It was a wide receiver. He said, hey, I'm in California. It might have been Emmanuel Sanders. He said, I'm in California. I need a quarterback. And some JC guy was like, hey, man, I'll throw to you. You can arrange it on social media. You figure out who's in your area.

You go find a high school and you just go throw. Look, for offensive line community, there's a place in Arizona that's open lifting. There's a place in Dallas that's open lifting. You come together and work out. So I understand the need for shutting these down. But we don't know if they got sick in these workouts or whether they got sick obviously elsewhere and the goal obviously is prevent the spread from players right but but i guess what i'm getting at i don't have an opinion

on this but if that's how informal it is it literally like sliding into some guys dms and saying i'll work out with you or a bunch of guys who just all work out with the same trainer are showing up. There's no regulation. There's no one responsible for saying to these guys, hey, don't do that. So the NFLPA doctor is stepping in and saying to players, guys, don't get together right now. Not a good idea. You're putting yourselves at risk.

We want to play this season. Stop doing that. The league has said, you know, Axios sports looked into this because after Fauci made the news he did last week, people were like really panicked. So the guys at Axios, who mainly do news, reached out to talk to the doctor in charge of the NFL's policy. And that person described a quote unquote ecosystem outlook for containing the virus. Different than what the NBA and MLB are doing. They're putting in real policies and separating players and putting all this testing in place. Right now,

the NFL is saying, we just want to have an ecosystem. Everyone knows they're putting each other at risk, so they all have a shared risk. So they will, of course, not want to get sick or get each other sick. I'm not sure that's the mindset of NFL players. Does that seem like something that will work to you? Well, no. I mean, NFL players always feel invincible, right? I mean, you don't feel like anything's going to happen to you. I've said this before. I think if you tell an NFL player, hey, what's the chance that you get sick? Put a percent on it. Even just sick, like you just get coronavirus. You don't get symptoms. You don't get ill. Even if you get a little bit ill um i mean

players would take the risk and play football i just think we think we're invincible i mean i i got hurt seven times the nfl i had six of those times i had surgeries i still thought i was invincible even though i couldn't even move in my last season because my leg was so beat up like you just think you're invincible and players definitely think they're not going to get it i guarantee you that a lot of players think i'm not going to get this um and the players understand look we have got to get ready i mean gabe nfl training camp today is june we're recording on june 22nd i know we put this out june 23rd um i mean you're looking at the hall of fame game report we're supposed to report i think like july 21st ish around there the rest everyone reports

july 28th around there like it's coming up fast the players know like we got to work out we got to get in shape we have to get in football shape not just working out shape but doing football activities right running routes that that's how you prevent injury by the way like you prevent injury by doing football activities your feet are used if you're a wide receiver i know we had um um was it debo samuel got injured right he got his foot his foot uh hurt um but you know you you try to avoid those by doing those movements when you get to training camp your body's used to running routes blocking people being tired and fighting through fatigue and it only happens if you do those football things. So NFL players realize they need this practice. Okay, well, so they might feel invincible

or feel it's a necessity that they get together and work out. Not for me to judge if that's the right idea or not. But if folks keep getting positive tests, they're not going to be able to be with their team and they're going to put the season at risk. So we can just say those are facts. Let's talk college for a second because here it's a slightly different issue.

There have been more reported outbreaks at the top college teams than there have been in the NFL. So LSU is suffering from a major outbreak and they've got self-quarantining their players. Clemson, same thing. Alabama and Auburn, we already knew about. Basically, the top schools in the country are all managing this right now. And you touched on how that's scary more for the coaches and personnel than the players. But one school is taking this in a very different direction. The UCLA football team, 30 guys on that team got together and basically put out a statement saying that they do not trust their coach, Chip Kelly.

Yes, that Chip Kelly. He's at UCLA now. They don't trust him to act in their best interest. So they want a third party to come in and administer some sort of oversight of how to keep them safe as it pertains to COVID. This feels like a major Pandora's box that we're opening here. This is a major statement from these players. I need your reaction to what this means.

Yeah, so this is pretty interesting. I took this as not believing in Chip Kelly, their head coach, because in the end, he's the overseer of the program, right? There's a couple layers to this as well. You know, really no trust in the medical staff, you know, that the medical staff won't be forthright with them. A lot of players in general don't trust the medical staff. But there's also other things in there that are pretty interesting.

One is that they want their scholarships basically guaranteed if they get sick they they can't get their scholarship pulled i believe one of their requests also like what's the situation like if we test positive where do we go what happens like where do we isolate and i think ucla has decided to put together some sort of wing of the dorms where they can go isolate players who have had covid so there's a couple things all intertwined here One is the lack of distrust from the training staff. Two is a lack of the trust of the athletic department. You won't lose your scholarship. And I think three and all of that is it revolves around Chip Kelly,

in my opinion. I mean, if you trusted your head coach, you wouldn't put the statement. I know the quarterback, Dorian Thompson Robinson, I'll just say DTR from now on because I cover the Pac-12 and just call him DTR. It's easier that way. You put out a statement saying this has nothing to do with Chip Kelly. And then it mentioned his name in it all in the letter.

But come on, like this, this is, you're talking about your leadership. Your leadership is Chip Kelly. That's number one. You just got a new athletic director. So you're not talking about him. He's, you know, two months on the job. You're not talking about the basketball coach. You're not talking about the basketball trainers.

You're talking about your trainers and your head coach. So we're seeing game. I was talking about this last week. College players are realizing they have a little bit of a voice now. It's actually a big voice now and can voice their concerns. They have, by the way, some of the same, I'll use all air quote, demands here that the Texas players have with, they're not going to do boosters, right?

They want more accountability within the program. Two different reasons why they're getting there, but the Bruin players are using this opportunity to get some power back within the program. Yeah. And I mean, I wonder if players at other schools who might be getting sick are taking notes and saying, wait a minute, we can do this. We don't have to necessarily question coach. Maybe they don't have any

reason to doubt coach, but we can still demand some of these things and look out for ourselves before we enter into this season. Now, they're supposed to, most of these guys are supposed to be on back on campus or back on campus soon. They resume football work in July. So, you know, this is going to come to a head. But same level of concern, right? I mean, we're supposed to start playing college football August 29th. You know, I don't want to bet for sure that that's going to happen right now. I feel very nervous about that. All right, Jeff, let's switch gears here away from people's health

and get into another topic that keeps coming up, but in a slightly different way. So a while ago, you remember from last season, I brought up the idea that, hey, when Patrick Mahomes went down and the Chiefs were without a quarterback and they were going to bring in Matt Moore who hadn't played in like a year and a half, hey, why not sign Colin Kaepernick? Seems like a similar player. He's looking for a job. This makes sense, right? And you didn't really think it made sense then. But this idea has come back.

Our buddy Nick Wright over at FS1 brings it up, and I'm going to summarize his take into three basic points. One, there'd be no quarterback controversy if the Chiefs signed Colin Kaepernick as a backup. Everyone knows Patrick Mahomes is the starter. Simple. Done. Their current backup, Chad Henney, is Chad Henney. And he also basically hasn't played in a few years. Like if you compare their numbers, Kaepernick's had a lot more reps than Chad Henney

in the last five years. And three, Andy Reid, the coach of the Chiefs, has rehabbed a guy like Mike Vick after he was away for a couple of years in his prime. He came back and he maybe made Mike Vick an even better player when he signed with the Eagles. So, I mean, Nick sort of summed it up. I don't see any reason why this is a bad idea. The Chiefs kind of do need a backup. Maybe this makes sense. Let's talk about everything. I wrote down kind of the points that you made about what Nick said.

Nick, obviously, very passionate Chiefs fan, very passionate supporter of Colin Kaepernick. Look, and on paper, he's right about some of these things, right? There'll be no quarterback competition, of course, right? Colin Kaepernick would Look, and on paper, he's right about some of these things, right? There'll be no quarterback competition, of course, right? Colin Kaepernick would be second or third string, depending. Obviously, signed now, most likely third string. I mean, he has not played in the NFL in quite a few years, has not been in this offense. We don't know what he has.

So he would, no offseason program, right? I mean, obviously, would probably be third string. So yes, from that perspective, definitely true. The question I have, and this is like a tough thing to say because distraction is different for every team, right? Some teams handle it better.

Some teams don't. But there's going to be the quote-unquote distractions, right? Cameras in the locker room every day talking to Colin Kaepernick. Everyone seeing everything he does. Everyone having their eyes. Maybe the starters love it.

Maybe Pat's like, look, cameras are not on me. They're on someone else. But I do think as a player in that locker room, this is uncomfortable to talk about, is that I'm not sure I want to be asked about Colin Kaepernick every day. I don't know what I could say that would be any different because you'll be asked every single day about Colin Kaepernick.

How did he practice? How did he look out there? What do you think? Are you going to kneel? And that's what's really interesting, Gabe, is we come to the season. I'm very curious to see, A, you going to kneel nothing that's really interesting Gabe as we come to the season I'm very curious to see how many players kneel we're not going to last but two I thought about this more because someone asked me about this is that the reaction to players not kneeling is that going to be a sign of you don't support your teammates I don't think

it's true that that's not the case but some guys just so just all these questions that are asked about Colin Kaepernick as your third-string quarterback aren't ideal. It's not a deal-breaker, in my opinion. They're professionals. They would get over it. But I don't think it's as simple as just, everything's going to work out great if you sign Colin Kaepernick. A couple other things to point out is, obviously, the Chad Henney point.

Look, Chad hasn't played in a couple years. I know Nick and Ed Warder went back and forth on this debate on how old they are versus how many times they've played. I don't know if the Chiefs end up with Chad Henney as their backup Jordan Tiamau Tamao from A&M who was in the XFL is on their roster as well maybe he becomes the backup and beats Chad Henney out but Chad obviously played in the NFL for a while I think that's I probably think it's negligible I don't know if Chad's even better than Colin Kaepernick. I don't know. Probably not. If Kaep is healthy and ready to go. You mentioned the idea of Michael Vick

came in 2009 after leaving prison. Didn't play much then. Played spot start here and there. 2010, they traded McNabb away. And then Vick eventually becomes a starter. I believe in 2011, became more of a full-time starter for a couple of years

and played under a chip in 2013 before Foles took over. So yes, I guess that's sort of the same situation, right? I mean, the difference obviously is McNabb was sort of on his way out. And I'm not sure Andy Reid ever thought Vic would be their starter at some point. I mean, Holmes is going to sign a $40 million deal. So the points do make sense,

but I want to discuss something that's actually really important here. And we do not discuss this enough. We've talked about this, me and you. I have not laid this out. I want to make this as simple as possible. Also, it's a very important discussion to have. When you sign a player, there's a role assigned to that player on the second you sign him. All right?

So I'll use me, for example, and then I'll get to Colin Kaepernick. I'll use me on the Chiefs. 2013, I'm signed to be on the Chiefs. I signed a backup contract. It was one year, I think it was $700,000, you know, 200 grand guaranteed if they cut me with playing time incentives. I remember I was playing well in training camp,

but I wasn't really getting a look to start very much. And my dad was kind of complaining about, hey, why aren't you getting a look to start very much and my dad was kind of complaining about hey why aren't you getting a look to start and my agents like they signed him to be a backup he signed a backup contract right like that's what he signed and they pencil you in and guys this is true in you know in the NFL for depth charts they basically pencil guys in there's very little movement up and down like they you know they pay Jeff Schwartz this amount of money they had a left tackle Albert, who's paid a ton of money. Jeff Allen, left guards, young and good. Rodney Hudson, John Osamoa.

Everyone's kind of penciled in. So I was not brought in to be a starter. I never really had a chance to win a job in training camp unless I was so far and above better than the player in front of me. So getting to Colin Kaepernick. There's a couple things to discuss here. What deal does he want? And what deal is he going to get from a team? So I'll give you an example for the Chiefs. Let's say Colin Kaepernick has offered a one-year deal for $700,000 and no signing bonus. So basically just show up and try

to win a job. That's a third string deal, guys. Does he want that type of deal with no guarantees? Just show up, hope you make the roster. If not, boom, you're gone. Or does he want a more guaranteed backup deal? One year, million dollars, half guaranteed, two million incentives, like a real deal where the Chiefs feel very invested in the growth of Colin Kaepernick. So when we see other quarterbacks signed, it was this spring, Tyler Bray signed,

who was formerly the Chiefs. I think he's on the Bears. He's on a one-year deal for like $500,000. And everyone's like, well, why is Colin Kaepernick not signed? Guys, Colin Kaepernick's not up for that job, right? He's not up for fourth string on the Chicago Bears. I would never sign that. I would not talk about what he should do.

He shouldn't sign that either. If he asked me, I'd be like, why would you sign that? You're just going after training camp. They're not going to keep you around. People talk about Cam Noon and Kaep are kind of the same light as far as free. They're not. They're different free agents. Cam Noon is a bona fide starter in the NFL. He should only sign somewhere if they're going to make him a starter or make him a backup for $10 million a year in San Diego, and he's going to play week two because Tyra Taylor can't cut it. Cap's not signing that deal, guys. So there's

things to consider here, little nuances with contracts about the way we talk about what deal Cap should take versus what he might take versus what he might say no to. Like if I were him, Gabe, and the chief said, hey, man, one year, $700,000, I don't know if I'd take that deal. And I wouldn't fault him for saying no to that. I know people would say, hey, you know, they offered him. He doesn't want to play football. But I think in his mind, he feels he's worth no to that. I know people would say, hey, you know, they offered him. He doesn't want to play football. But I think in his mind, he feels he's worth more than that. And there becomes a worth, obviously, issue, which is something that we always fight for.

But I think that's something we never really talk about when it comes to Colin Kaepernick. No, that's all fair and interesting. And so I guess I'll ask this then. Why are there a few coaches coming out kind of unprovoked to establish that, well, he really fits in with what we're trying to do here? And we've heard this in so many words from the Eagles and in so many words from the Chargers. So I guess what I'm trying to figure out is what does he do and where does he fit in so that we can figure out the answer to the question you're raising of like, well, what's the right contract? What's the right job?

Because let's take the Eagles that came up the other day, Doug Peterson sort of made it seem like, yeah, I'd be open to him. He makes a lot of sense. Why not? Well, okay. But you have a starter that you supposedly love. You just drafted a guy who a lot of people think could be a starter one day and Jalen hurts. Well, how would he fit in? What kind of contract would you offer him? They'd offer him a one-year deal with no guarantees.

Third string quarterback deal. Which again, like, I mean, I get just saying like, yeah, Colin Kaepernick wants to get back in the NFL. He should just sign whatever deal he gets. But should he? I mean, like, I don't know. I think that in my last year in the NFL, I wanted to just play and I can only get one deal. It was like a minimum deal. the NFL, I wanted to just play.

And I could only get one deal. It was like a minimum deal. I probably, I could have just said no. I just want to play in the NFL. And I would have been fine with it and would have been whatever. But I signed a one-year deal for the minimum, got a little guarantee because I just wanted to try to finish my career. Like, you don't have to say yes to those deals.

And so, yeah, it sounds, you know, it's easy for Doug Peterson to say, hey, yeah, we'll bring him in because they'll bring him in and they'll just cut him after camp. He's not making the roster when you have Hurts there and you have Carson Wentz. Those are your two guys. They're both making the roster. So it's easy for Doug to say that, but he's not making the roster in Philly. So, you know, Colin Kaepernick, if he wants to come back and if there are plenty of offers on the table,

he should choose the one that gives him the best chance to play in a third string job especially by the way this year because i think there's going to be even less reps for the threes in training camp with less with with less time in camp right i mean they have to prepare the ones and twos to play so even in the chiefs let's use a choose example look andy reed knows chad henning he was there last year he knows that he can run the offense obviously Matt Moore came in last year and won a game just being basically what they want Chad Henney to be if Pat got hurt does does he also want to prepare Pat Mahomes and then also have a quarterback competition like a robust one for the second and third spot essentially while not really giving the reps as they used to have them I just I just don't know if there's enough time for Cap to even win a job. So look, I'll tell you what, if Cap were to sign a

deal or say no to a deal for one year, like I said, $700,000, I'd say, all right, good for you, buddy. I mean, you're making money from Nike. Like you don't have to take any deal the NFL gives you, especially if it's a bad deal. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, listen, I don't think that's an angle that too many people consider when they get hot and bothered on this topic. You know, the salary cap and the slot that he would end up in isn't usually the thing that gets a lot of retweets. But everything you just said makes total sense and I had not considered. I guess I want to merge the first two topics with a final thought on this and get your take. on this and get your take is the fact that we could see a lot of guys, even if they feel fine,

testing positive and therefore not able to train or maybe not even able to play if it goes as long as September. Does that maybe work to someone like Kaepernick's advantage? Like if he gets signed and he shows up at someone's camp and he proves he's an NFL player again, even as a third stringer, but then guys start being unable to play. They're a scratch one week because they test positive. That seems like something that could happen. Could he find himself in a starting role much faster if he just gives in and takes the 700 grand as if that's so bad? Takes the 700 grand you're talking about? Theoretically, sure. I mean, he'd have to have two guys test positive in front of them, essentially, right? I mean, I don't think he comes anywhere in a second string, or is he? Or he gets dealt. What if the Chiefs bring him in?

He becomes the third stringer, but he's established. He's a capable NFL player, and he's back in shape, and everyone sees that he's for real. Andy Reid likes him enough to have him on the team. Then two guys go down in San Diego or L.A., I guess. Can't they just make a deal and get him as the starter right away? Like, doesn't that become easier? I mean, wouldn't you just sign Cam Newton, though?

Well, we'll get to that. I want to talk Cam Newton'm saying like you would just like cam or you would or i mean you would trade for jamis winston like i don't know i just don't think a team after four years of really not playing is going to just trade for colin carver is i mean again if you if they eliminate two preseason games what you're talking about doing right because the players won't be ready yet to play a preseason game colin carver's getting no reps in two preseason games what you're talking about doing right because the players won't be ready yet to play a preseason game Colin Kaepernick's getting no reps in the preseason right I mean Pat you know Pat's getting the first quarter maybe a maybe a quarter and a half now obviously Chiefs are maybe a bad example but they probably won't play Pat very much but even Colin Kaepernick like he comes into the NFL and I've seen players say this like it's unfair for him to sign now because if he plays bad everyone be like see I told you he can't play right I mean look he hasn't played in four years

do you expect him to come in and be good right away I don't he'll need a year and again if he wants to if he wants to sit on the bench for a year and make his money more power to him I don't know if he wants that specific role I know people have said yes he wants to be a backup in the NFL but does he want to be the third string backup or the marcus mariota getting one year seven million dollars to be the backup for the raiders like what job get two different jobs guys two separate jobs and i don't know if we have an answer for that question yeah okay well what we'll have another chance to talk about this in a week because I'm sure the news will change. Let me bring up one that maybe I'm like a little too close to because I'm a Jets fan and people who listen to the show are already tired of hearing me complain about the Jets.

But I feel like I'm taking crazy pills with this Jamal Adams story. And I need you to cut me off and tell me where I'm missing something because it just doesn't it doesn't seem right to me. Here's how I understand it. The Jets Pro Bowl safety was offended by the notion that the Jets would even consider trading him at the deadline last year when, by the way, the team was atrocious one and six and also considering trading Le'Veon Bell, their star player who they'd just acquired, and like every other decent player on the team. But Adams didn't like the idea that the team was quote unquote going around his back back then. Well, okay. He wants a new deal because he's a pretty good player. He hasn't gotten that deal. And so this off season, he is demanding a trade. So the guy who was annoyed that they said they might trade him to the Cowboys is now demanding a trade. And guess what? He wants to go to the Cowboys. What do you know? Now he's the guy who's demanding a trade

because they aren't giving him the new deal he's looking for. And he doesn't feel loved enough in New York. He mentions in leaking this all that he'd be willing to play for like seven or eight teams. I mentioned the Cowboys, but also what do you know? He'd be willing to play for the Chiefs. He'd be willing to play for the Ravens. He'd be willing to play for the Niners and the Seahawks and the Bucks. Okay. He'd be willing to play for all the teams that are the favorites going into this year to win a Superbowl, but it comes back to the Cowboys. Like, yeah. So, so would everyone. So I guess here's what I want to know. Like, is this guy insane or is it just that contracts don't mean anything to players any longer? And I'm not some pro owner guy, man, Jamal,

get your money, but come, what are we talking about right now? How is this a thing? I mean, it's a thing that, that comes from his side, right? I mean, the Jets have no need to trade him. They have no need to give him a new deal now that he's going public about it. They can even franchise him eventually in a couple of years. I mean, they have no need to get rid of him. So it's really Jamal Adams just trying to put pressure, I think, on the Jets publicly to get him a deal, right? Basically to let people know in the NFL, the seven best teams in the NFL, they can come get Jamal Adams anytime they want from the Jets. You know, he obviously, you know, he didn't do the Zoom.

You know, he boycotted the Zooms this offseason like big whoopee. We'll see if he shows up in training camp. But look, the NFL teams pulled a lot of power in these situations, right? We know that players are sometimes powerless. Jamal Adams is not a quarterback. He cannot force his way, really, I don't think, out of New York. He's a good player, obviously. He's a great player in his position.

Jets probably want to keep him. As much as he will bitch and moan about it, they have no right to pay him, and they probably won't pay him. And unless they're going to get a first-round pick, they probably won't deal him either. The Jets going to get a first-round pick, they probably won't deal him either. The Jets, and look, you're a Jets fan, but the Jets are in this weird spot where they're not rebuilding, but they sort of are, but they might try to still win games.

Like they're in that weird kind of hazy spot, and they want Jamal to be part of the rebuild. They want him to be part of winning games. And so I don't know what the holdup is with, obviously, it's a money situation, but he obviously just wants no part of being in New York. No, he doesn't. And it's because they stink and he doesn't want to play for a bad team. And somewhere along the lines in the last few years, good players all decided that it wasn't worth playing unless they were almost guaranteed a championship. It started in the NBA, but it's becoming a thing in the NFL.

And we've seen, you know, pretty high profile players basically demand their way off their team or demand their way to a new deal with the threat that they're going to be uncooperative or they're not going to play. I guess I would just ask you, like, should Jamal be careful what he does here? Because I recall Le'Veon Bell doing something similar and he didn't play for a year and then he ended up in New York. And I don't think anyone's all that wowed with what he did there so should jamal like be mindful of his future here like is he kind of playing with fire a little bit i don't think so i think it's it's kind of seems like commonplace now where players complain about contracts i mean look he go to dallas and they're not giving him a deal either i mean there's no guarantee anywhere he would be traded to give him a new contract dallas has does have money the chiefs have no money like some of these teams don't have money to give him a contract.

So, look, the grass is not always greener. It would be really funny if the Jets, like, traded him to, like, Jacksonville or someplace he just didn't want to go. Buffalo, right? Somewhere he just didn't want to go. Buffalo's obviously in division. So, maybe not, you know, maybe, like, you know, I don't even know who the Cardinals or the Raiders,

somewhere he didn't want to go to. Players' leverage is now social media. It's now using the media. And that's what they're trying to do. He's trying to use the media here to get himself out of New York. Let's move to our next segment, moving the line, fake bets, over-under type stuff. We're going to hit some familiar names here, things you've already sort of touched on but slightly different angles so i want to know over under cap signing before cam which is really a way to say what the hell why

isn't cam signed well i mean it's every week i'm gonna ask you why the hell isn't maybe the best player around not a quarterback in the nfl really there is no rush for cam to sign anywhere but if you're looking at placing for him to start, there's two. It's the LA Chargers and the Patriots. And neither of those teams right now feel like they need to move on Cam Noon. Cam can be waiting for, you know, someone to get hurt, a more lucrative deal. I don't have a great answer for you. Those are the two teams.

They don't feel like moving on. It's just going to, I think Cam plays before Kaepernick does. But I just don't know when that's going to be all right uh i want to know seconds before dac decided to sign after zeke tested positive 4.5 seconds i'm not trying to make a joke out of zeke but come on what that was i don't so by the way dac is uh has decided to sign his franchise tender before the July 15th deadline. So I don't know why he did that. I don't really understand. You think it's because Zeke tested positive and he just wants to get paid? I'm being a wise ass, but it seemed very strange to me.

A few days ago when he was still, you know, making a stink out of this and voicing how unpleased he was with the Cowboys, is when his teammate and the guy we know he was hanging out with in April tested positive for COVID. And I have a feeling, I don't know, but I have a feeling that the offers and the patience from the Cowboys would get a lot less if, in fact, Dak himself tested positive. I'm not suggesting that he did or he will.

Well, for sure. I would have thought specifically. So maybe there's a secret. We'll find out. We've got a Schefter bomb coming up. By the way, as we're talking right now, I know we got over Jamal Adams. I just want to add one more thing that Jamal Adams just tweeted out. I'm going to go back for just a second.

Sure, yeah, please. He tweeted about a teammate of his, and he said in the tweet, I'm going to miss balling with you the most. Believe that. Like, buddy, you're not going anywhere. You can tweet about all you want. I mean, there's someone else on Twitter who tweets stuff out all the time that just is into the wind.

And every time he does it, I think of, I declare bankruptcy from the office. Just screaming into the wind. Doesn't mean anything. Like, the Jets aren't going to read this. And Joe Douglas ain't going to be like, well, that's it. I'm trading him now. He said on Twitter he's out. Like, I think it's a bad look i i i can i can i pose a counter though

as i didn't name him earlier but now i want to bring him up isn't this the playbook that jalen ramsay successfully ran in the middle of last season oh no it's worked before. It doesn't mean that I it has worked. I just I don't know. The Jags got a good deal for Ramsey. I don't know if people are going to give that much up for for Jamal Adams. teams that can win the super bowl this year or the cowboys yes all right yes last over under here i want to know people jeff blocked or muted after his griffey take last week over under 27.5 arbitrary number um oh it was under i mean look it's just the thing about it guys is the stuff about like people try to skew the numbers to show griffey's better and it's really funny like i used typically when i use the first 13 years that's the the years that bonds wasn't using and i just take griffey's first i think it's 13 years as the first 13 years he was healthy and just compare the stats like it's not that hard to do they're right in front of you and people just whatever reason i watch a compilation of griffey swinging the bat because they aired some

documentary yesterday on him, I think. And yeah, he's got a great swing. It's actually much shorter than I thought it was because his backswing is so long and that logo of his, but it's really short and compact and right to the ball. And the ball obviously flies out. People just like Griffey. And no matter what I say, I give him war.

I give him O. I give them, you know, OPS plus, MVPs, gold. They don't care. It doesn't matter what I say. Griffey was better than Bonds. And look, I don't think the steroids take is that off. I really don't. I mean, I just don't, like in that entire era, I would venture to say that the top players

were close to all using. I don't, I mean, I don't want to accuse everyone of doing it. I certainly am not accusing Griffey of doing it. I'm just asking why there is this, you know, he never did it. Even like a guy like Frank Thomas, who never had any suspicion whatsoever. People were like, you know, it was kind of big. Maybe it was juicing. With Griffey, it's like nothing ever.

It's the most incredible thing of all time. Right. I think it's a fair question to ask, even if maybe it ultimately is unfair to Griffey. I want to make it very clear, too. It wouldn't change my opinion on him. It wouldn't change, I don't think, yours. Baseball did not test for steroids until Congress got involved. Like, you understand, if baseball doesn't care about it

or did not care about it, Bud Seely's in the Baseball Hall of Fame off the backs of the steroid era. Right? Why would I care about players not testing or testing positive,

which they didn't do, they didn't test? Why do I care now? Baseball didn't care. Why should I care? People are so caught up in the steroid era. You guys all loved it.

You loved watching it. We all loved watching the home runs. Stop whining about it. Yeah, I'm with you. I want to know if you think, this came to me just as we were talking and then we'll wrap it up. Is Ken Griffey Jr. sort of like baseball's Vince Carter?

Where like, he's obviously awesome and a great player and every year of his career until the very end like you would have considered him one of the best guys in the game but he probably was never the best guy and the only reason some people will argue it whether they admit it to themselves or not is that his highlights are better than anyone else's right like Barry Bonds doesn't have anything as cool-looking as the coolest stuff Griffey's ever done. Correct. He's just so...

Well, I mean, he did hit a ball, like, out of Angel Stadium in the 2002 World Series, and Tim Sammons said it's the farthest ball he's ever hit. I mean, that's... Yeah. But that was steroid error. I mean, that's, like, in the middle of steroid error. Griffey gets credit for, like, the personality

and so much of what he did defensively too. That's what I mean. The highlight stuff, a lot of Griffey is on, you know, playing center field. But like Vince Carter, no one is claiming was better than Kobe or LeBron or the, you know, even Tim Duncan or any of the other all-time greats who he played with.

He's just in the same company as that next year. And that to me feels like a nice place for Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey's better than Vince Carter as a basketball. Okay. I'd like to agree. I'm not 100% sure I do. That is.

Griffey does have MVP, as Zuri would point out. See, God is not agreeing with your take. It is literally raining so hard, my house is almost shaking here in Charlotte. That's how much Gabe does not agree with your opinion. But I'm with Zuri on this one, which is that Griffey's better

than Vince in his ever was. I understand the way we talk about Vince Carter like he was and he never was he ever

top 15 player? Top 10 player? That's what I'm saying. I'd consistently put him in the top 10, but I would never make him the number one. And his 98 season was pretty special.

Obviously, McGuire and Sosa outpaced him, but it was pretty good. I want an over-under for you, Gabe. Bill Simmons had a rewatchable on Fletch. It got me thinking. Have you seen over-under 12 and a half times you've seen that movie? Under? Fletch is terrible. Fletch is one of the most overrated movies.

Oh, you're the one who hates Fletch. We used to talk about this at the old job. No, no, no, no, no. Old dudes like Fletch is terrible. Fletch is one of the most overrated movies of all time. Oh, you're the one who hates Fletch. We used to talk about this at the old job. No, no, no, no, no, no. Old dudes like Fletch. Oh, okay. Well, you were the – Fletch is – Yeah.

You got a Simmons age to like Fletch. Okay. Because we remember we had this conversation when I first met you. We were at the Oyster Place down at Central – at Grand Central Station. I know. And there was a big conversation about Fletch. Yeah.

And you – so you hate it. You were the one who didn't – okay, okay, good. I am anti-Fletch and our buddy Chad Millman is pro- Fletch and you, so you, you hate it. You were the one who didn't know. Okay. Okay. Good. I am anti Fletch and our buddy Chad Millman is pro Fletch. It's Chad Millman's favorite movie. And that's because Chad's a few years older than us. And Bill loved it. I watched listen to the whole way watchable. Bill and Chad are basically the same age. Okay. Came up watching the same stuff. Every guy I know who's like me, who's a friend of mine, who's maybe five or 10 years older than me,

loves Fletch. No one my age or younger like you has ever thought Fletch was funny. Okay. I watched it one time. It was whatever. It's got like two good lines in it. It's Chevy Chase is walking around ad-libbing for two hours and 20 minutes. There's like barely a script. Every scene is twice as long as it needs to be. And by the way, this is true of every movie made at that time, including, Zuri, don't yell at me over the chat function here. Beverly Hills Cop is too long. Oh, no, no, I love Beverly Hills Cop.

I love Beverly Hills Cop. Of course I love Beverly Hills Cop. Rewatch Beverly Hills Cop. Too long? It's got way too much fat in it. The first one? Yes. The gunfight scenes just go on and on and on one thing that's

about that movie those both those movies real quick the third i've seen the third one unfortunately is that um is that uh they're shooting six shooters and never reload ever no never like this is fire like they fire six times hide pop out fire six times they never they never reload they're also carrying they're also too by the way like not even remotely shooting like near the person they're shooting like the special effects are so bad in that movie like they're firing a shotgun from the hip and like shooting someone 30 yards like off the top of the roof it's just it's they didn't care because they because they why should they have cared that That's the whole point. The movie is about Eddie being funny,

just running his mouth, being hilarious. With two, with like two action scenes. Yeah, the action scenes barely needed to be in the movie. And yet it goes like, I don't know,

the runtime, Missouri wants us to end this right now. No, I know, because I think my power's going to go out. So that's why the storm is, is that bad in Charlotte right now. My lights are flickering. I do have a generator, like a big dog generator. I bet you do it. That big, big non-mansion house

of yours. Well, congrats on the rain filling up your pool for free. That's a bonus for you. I do need that because I jumped in there. I did a cannonball today. My son, by the way, said, Daddy, you do a better whale than Mommy. You're heavier. That's probably good. That's a good thing that he said that. That would have been a problem if it had gone the other way. Jeff, I think for the first several minutes of this show, you were making me a lot smarter. The last few, I feel like we're making each other dumber.

But thanks for schooling me up on Kaepernick and what the reality of that contract situation would be and just sort of, you know, figuring out with me what Corona is going to mean for football season. I remain nervous, but I'm glad you've explained a few things to me. I hope so, man. Trust me. I mean, our jobs rely on football being back.

So I'm just as nervous as you are that football will be here and moving forward. All right, guys. Appreciate everyone tuning in to the newest episode of Just What's What. Please rate, review, subscribe. We'll be back later in the week. We're going to get an interview. We're going to do it. I know we don't do it often.

We're going to find an interview. We're going to have a lot of fun with it. Hope you guys enjoy it. Have a great week. Talk to you guys on Friday.