Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - Zack Martin Retires, Stafford & Darnold QB Carousel, Offseason Takes

Episode Date: February 21, 2025

Facial hair is still allowed here at Geoff Schwartz is Smarter Than You, where Matt and Geoff unpack the latest QB rumors, discuss free agency, and whether anyone wants a QB in the 2025 Draft.Listen to us on Cooler and subscribe to Pine sports using promo code "Geoff" for 50% off!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It is Friday, February 21st. I'm Jeff Schwartz. That is Matt Ford. This is Jeff Schwartz, smarter than you. Welcome back everyone. We are going to talk football, even though there's no footballs on Matt. I'm excited to talk to you about this.

I spent this week talking basketball and four nations hockey. Of course we have a bunch of USA hockey fans that did not know existed. They were very fired up for that event. We have the combine next week in the NFL. We have contracts, guys retiring, franchise tags, the NFL lives on buddy.

How we doing, how's your week been? Doing good man, it's Friday, we did it. I'm talking to some friends about a trip to Vegas, which with some friends I haven't seen now, you know this is how it happens, you don't see your friends for a while and you have a kid adult with kids. Yeah. So that's it. We have a group of five and, uh, we're talking about, you know, who's going to split rooms, whatever. And I was like, Hey,

I'm just going to spring from my own room because I haven't slept past 7am since 2023. Yeah. And I think the whole group was like, what it's like split between dads and non dads. I thought it was like, what? It's like split between dads and non dads. And I thought it was like that. I don't think I've shared a room in a hotel quite a while. Yeah. Yeah.

Couple days in Vegas in the summer, it's like, yeah, whatever. It's like these guys you haven't seen in forever, friends from high school and stuff. So, yeah, it's not off the table. You just wanna walk around nude whenever you want and take a, go to the bathroom with the door open. I get it.

I mean, I would probably do that anyway, but honestly, like the, you know, the temperature down to 65, you know, maybe like, maybe not get totally judged for the like, oh, you're back from blackjack at 4.30 in the morning. Like, oh, that's, that seems a little bit late. No, like, you know, maybe I don't need that. Okay, okay.

How do you, so when I go to Vegas, and I'm going, my wife's going in middle of May for the Electric Daisy Carnival, which. My wife's there right now, actually. Don't ask questions. And then Pac-12 Media Day is July 22nd through 24th, so I'm gonna go to Vegas, maybe that whole week is my kids are gonna be in camp for a month in July.

So I can't, what? Should I meet you? Should I come? If you wanna come, yeah, I'll be there for probably a week. I mean, what else? I got enough else to do, I got no kids at home. Vegas is the desert in July, what could go wrong? Okay.

It's cheap rooms though. The rooms are very cheap. I only bring about $1,000 in cash to gamble on the tables with because two reasons. One is that I'm a much better sports gambler than I am a table gambler, and I feel like I should save my money for sports gambling. I'm bad at both, so that's nice.

Table gambling, I love it, but I like to play craps, Matt. And you can lose a lot of money very fast. Yeah, craps. $1,000 can be cut in of money very fast. Very crap. So that $1,000 can be cut in half with one seven. And then my time, I find myself, put it like this, as an adult, I just don't gamble tables that much anymore. It does not interest me. I've also been to Vegas 50 times.

So like, it's not as much fun the more times you go. I disagree. I will take, I also don't drink. So like that maybe it takes away some of the fun of gambling. What I do do is I take my wife to Fremont Street because she's the worst gambler of all time. And I can't have her at a blackjack table hitting on a 16

with a dealer showing a three. Cause that makes the rest of the table really angry. But at Fremont, you're playing for five bucks a hand or 10 bucks a hand, unlike 25 or 50 on a Friday night in Vegas. That's why I go to Old Town. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. Sam and I spent some time there last year,

around that time in July, actually. Old Town or regular Vegas? In Fremont Street area. Summer league, right? Yeah, summer league. I will say the Circa where we stayed was very nice. Amazing pool, like probably the most fun pool I've ever seen. Derrick and Mike do a great job there. They're fantastic. Really, really cool spot. Uh, and yeah, I mean, I, I think, I think the thing about table gambling, Jeff, is when you really lock in with the right people and it's a team sport, I mean, that

is just the best, like when you sit down with a group of strangers at the black jack table and, and you all get hot. And then you leave that blackjack table, like knowing their kids' names and like, you know, all about their life. And then you're like, all right, literally. So kids' names and like, you know, all about their life. And then you're like, all right, literally see you never again, but I'll remember this like that. There's nothing like that.

And you can only really do that in Vegas. I had one experience like that a couple summers ago. It was for Pac-12 Mini-Date, the last one. I think I told you the story, right, with Anthony Mackie, the actor. I don't remember. Yeah, so basically this is like COVID-ish times and it was 2022 and he was wearing a mask

and he was on one side of the table and I was on the side with him there and no one really recognized him, but it was pretty easy to tell who he was. And the other side of the table was a collection of young men who, they had a lot of money and appeared. And when you play craps, right, you basically can bet on the dice or against the dice.

If you bet against the dice, you're basically betting against the table, right? And we don't like that when you bet the don't pass line. So this group of individuals on the other side was betting don't pass line, like a lot of money per roll. So I was rolling, Matt, and I rolled seven or it, like a lot of money per roll. So I was rolling Matt, and I rolled seven or 11 like five times, and they lost a lot of money. And the table's very heavy.

I got a fist pump from Anthony Mackey for that experience of ruining someone else's experience at the table. I felt bad for him though, one time someone went up to him and just like looked at his face like this to see who he was. In the mask, but don't know who he was. I mean, look, I've had fun times in Vegas. You get a hot roller, but I don't know, man.

The older I get, the less I feel some way about Vegas. So expensive and- Oh, it's ridiculous, but it's fun and it's sort of the only place I can convince a group of men in their 30s to go. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Are they all from, are they all live in the West Coast or are they gonna fly from the East Coast? They're all East Coasts.

Oh, okay. So for me, I'm like, cool, yeah, you wanna get there late or early, whatever, I don't care. I was reminded by our producer, Sam, we were there last year for Summer League and he was there like, he was there a really long time. We did a lot of shoots there. How many days would you say is too many Sam, we were there last year for Summer League and he was there like, he was there a really long time. We did a lot of shoots there.

How many days would you say is too many to be living on Fremont Street, you know, in the circle, which is a nice spot, but like, how long should you be there? So the time I stayed on Fremont Street, I stayed at California Nugget, okay? Oh boy. So I, when I was with, I think I was with How do you know still with action Network? So this is like

2018-19 I decided last month to go to March Madness. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. They had a table at the West Gate so Last second I decided to fly to Vegas So this is now like Wednesday or decide Monday to come to town Wednesday. Tournament starts Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. So I texted our mutual friend Black Jack. I'm like, yo, do you have a connection to Vegas? He goes, yeah, the California Nugget, I'll get you in. So the California Nugget, it was like 40 bucks a night.

I'm Googling it to see if I actually remember this. It was like 40 bucks a night. And it had a bed, a chair, and a TV. That's all I needed. I needed more than that. And I would go to Westgate and spend all day at the Westgate. With a-

A bed and a cock chair and a TV. No, no, no, it wasn't even a cock chair. It was just a regular folding chair and a desk. Just facing the bed, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, I recently learned about that chair on TikTok. I saw people that said it counts on TikTok to just focus us on those chairs in the room. And I never actually put it two and two together

about what that chair is. Because when I'm alone, I go to New York all the time for work. I love that chair. I sit in that chair, but it's like very comfortable. I put my feet on the bed. I love it. But now that I- You're not supposed to sit there, brother. But now I know what that chair. I sit in that chair, but it's like very comfortable. I put my feet on the bed. I love it. Now that I sit there, brother.

Well, now I know what that chair is. I feel less inclined to do so. So I was in Vegas from like Wednesday through Monday and I was in that sports book a lot of hours. One of the guys that works at your network put down like 27 vodka sodas, vodka bread bowls. I was impressed. So that, I mean, that six days was a lot. I So that, I mean, six days was a lot.

I would say that anything over three days is a lot in Vegas. Okay, so three days is too many. Six days, you're like beyond, like irreparable damage to your life if you're there for six days. And your whole digestive system after weeks is just. It's like how many meals can you have chicken tenders

in a row? So Sam and Antonio, I believe, were there not for three days, not for six days, not for nine days, but for 11 days on Fremont Street in the middle of the summer last year. And I think at some point, you know, that's just like, you just don't ever really recover from that, do you? Like, I wonder truly like what changed,

if Sam's life can be before and after that trip to Vegas. Did he get a blood test after he came back? I thought I wanted to know like, what was different about his entire structure of his body? And then he was assigned to the only sports show we have that talks about cuck chairs in the A block. Oh man. I feel bad for Sam because this podcast has been reserved for like the up and coming producer who just like.

Yeah, Sam's got more promise than all of them. I'll say that. I know. It's always been like, that's what I've realized over the years, which I very much appreciate from Gabe that we keep this podcast going, but I'm always assigned like the brand new producer. I have a role here, too. I will say, no, no, you do have a role, but

I'm not just a pretty face like taking more. You're the pretty face. So we talk about football. It's all right. I don't really want to go back to cutters. I bet on this football has been absent. I've been really want to. We can circle back to cut chairs later. I bet on, since football has been absent, I bet on college baseball. I bet on, obviously college basketball, the NBA. I had Oberg to win the Genesis Open, which was awesome last week.

I bet on Four Nations. So I'm watching it all, Matt. I'm paying attention to it all, I'm watching it all. But I'm here to talk to you about football and the different style of chairs in hotel rooms. So let's get into some football news. Yeah, I'll get back to the chairs. Before we talk about more chairs.

By the way, Sam texted me and said he was sick for one month after that trip to Biggest. I went to Super Bowl, I went to Super Bowl and I was sick for- Everyone got sick. I mean, it was there for six days. Like you're just gonna get sick. Everyone was sick.

All of our, every host who we worked with or executive right there was sick Alright, let's talk first about Zack Martin You'll have a lot probably to say here. He retired nine nine Pro Bowls in 11 years, or maybe it was all pros Not only yeah. Well, I don't know. Is he like is he like the best? Best offensive lineman of this generation? Like maybe, right? Is that Trent Williams? Calvo's offensive lineman retired.

This stats out there, I mean everyone has said it, but he had as many all pros, or he had I think more all pros than holding calls, except the holding calls in his career, which is pretty wild to think about here. But look, it's hard to quantify exactly like exactly sort of what made him so good because there's no numbers for offensive lineman.

Obviously all pros is one number we can use. PFF has certainly helped. SAC, I guess SACs, I mean, SACs are what they are because they might not be your fault. But his ability to be able to make every block, Matt, and make it look easy is what set him apart, right? And then his movement skills, he was so good in space. I put out a video at Jeff Schwartz on social media,

you go check it out, of just him making blocks in space. Like he just was a technician. He was powerful. He was workman-like. And he never got beat. Just never got beat. And you talk about impactful players of a generation. Yeah, he's the best guard of this generation.

I mean, best offensive lineman. I mean, there's Joe Thomas is sort of maybe part of the generation as well, but he's a little bit older. Lane Johnson, certainly in that discussion as far as current offensive lineman to best ever do it at their positions. He's the best guard of the generation,

that's fair to say. I mean, but then again, you know, Marshall Yanda. I mean, there's guys that are a little older than him that are in that discussion as well. But just current guys, yes, it's Ackermar. And he's gonna walk in the Hall of Fame immediately. He will deserve everything he gets for that gold jacket. And just a fantastic football player.

And it was a pleasure to watch him play during his career. And I'm happy for him. Look, he could have probably played another five years. I mean, you know, he could have done one year deals and two year deals to chase a championship. I mean, I'm sure if he would have called the Chiefs, hey man, you have a record opening, I'll do it for cheap. He could have gone to Kansas City,

but when it's time to be done, it's time to be done. Martin has determined it's time to be done. Missed watching him play and he was that good. If you're questioning it, go find some film, go watch him. As far as like non-quarterbacks, Matt, I mean, it's him and Aaron Donald, it's like the two best players, I feel like, of this sort of era.

It's like non-quarterback, right? Where Aaron Donald was, you know, best defensive player for years and years and years. And Zach Martin was the other guy, like never had to worry about him, just set it and forget it. And that offensive line the Cowboys had seven years ago, Taron Smith and Frederick and Zach Martin and Steele.

I mean, that was a Lyle Collins. I was a little bit of that group for a couple of years. That is a heck of an offensive line. So Zach Martin, a Bravo buddy. Hope you enjoy retirement. I don't see him by the way as a guy that's like gonna come back at any point. I think he's done done.

So, yeah. It's interesting you compare him to Donald's. Like, cause Donald did the same thing where it was just, and you could even argue JJ Watt did the same thing. Who's probably in that conversation too of just like, they left maybe a little early. And I think they would rather do that than struggle for a year.

Yeah. Well, the thing about Donald is I think he was rather do that than struggle for a year. Yeah. Well, the thing about Donald is I think he was still relatively healthy. Martin has, the last couple of years, has been hurt. So that has been the difference. So is he played 20, 23, sort of injured and had to move some positions? Was it then he moved some positions?

One year he had to move positions that he needed help and then last year he only played 10 games. He's just been beat up the last couple years. He's getting paid, man. He's been paid and he's finished. Aaron's all right, to my knowledge, still had a lot of juice left. He wasn't that beat up.

But those guys are the great, are great to the generation their positions. It's funny to look back. I mean, the Cowboys, what a, what a slide for them. The last few years, I'll try to say without, you know, too much joy and glee, but like you look back at their 20, 21 team, which ended up losing in the wild card. They were 12 and five.

They had the number one offense, number seven defense. And it was, Elliot was sort of winding down, but Pollard was there. Marty Cooper was there. Dalton Schultz was there. Their, their offensive line was so dominant. That was back when obviously Martin was, was playing and was good. And, you know, be out of shoes now with my team. And, uh, they just like got all these guys and it just feels like all of them, like all of them are gone and their coach has gone. Like McCarthy's gone. Dan Quinn has gone. Like they've really been stripped down. And I think that this is another one of those, like how many more body blows can the Cowboys withstand?

Like this is sort of another one. And it kind of like takes the, I don't know, there, it was even when the Cowboys weren't great the last few seasons, it was, it was still like, well, they still have this offensive line. They still have Tyron Smith and he left and then it was Zach Martin and now he's gone. It's like, there's, it's a real changing of the guard in Dallas as the Eagles move into sort of like super dominance and obviously Washington's courses changed.

So interesting times in Dallas. Um, there was some news this week about Trey Smith and the Chiefs and what their plans are. If any show is going to have a take on Trey Smith and the Chiefs guard situation, it's this one. So what's going on there and what do you think is gonna happen with Trey Smith? Yeah, so franchise tag window opened up.

So you can franchise tag any potential free agent, right? And that point doesn't have to sign that tender. They can just not sign it, I mean not play if they don't want to, but they'll sign it typically eventually. And that franchise tag number is, I think the aggregate of the top five salaries of that position.

And so the reason why the franchise tag is not liked by really anyone, I don't think even ownership likes it, but they like it more than the players, is twofold. I mean, one is that for the team side, Matt, is that that number is now locked in for the salary cap. So if a franchise tag is $20 million for a position, that's not $20 million on your cap. If you make a deal with a player and give them,

they might get more than $20 million a year, but you spread that out over the multiple years and you can manipulate how the cap works, right? How that cap number is. And then the player wants to get paid a longer contract, right, with more guaranteed money. The franchise tag doesn't really make anyone satisfied, but how teams try to keep their core players,

at least one player a year, from hitting franchisee. Now, you can trade a franchise tag player, the Chiefs traded Snead a couple of years ago. It can happen, but this class of free agents probably unlikely that T. Higgins or Trace Smith is getting trade attacked and traded because you gotta obviously then pay the players. Are you trading a draft pick for that T Higgins or Trey Smith is getting trade attacked and traded because you gotta obviously then pay the players. So you trading a draft pick for T Higgins

and then paying him or trading a draft pick for Trey Smith and then paying him. So here's why the Chiefs are not gonna tag Trey Smith and they're moving on from him. It's too expensive. Like the Chiefs have Creed Humphrey who's making a lot of money, have Joe Tudi's making a lot of money,

and Joann Taylor. You can't pay Trey Smith. You don't have enough money to go around. And you drafted players that have to play. Matt, there's a fervor to like ditch draft picks before they have even had a chance to develop by a lot of fan bases. If you draft a player in the second round,

in offensive line, anywhere, they gotta play. You don't see what you have in them. And if you draft a player in the third round, they gotta play. They gotta play, you gotta see what you have in them. And if you got to play in the third round, they gotta play. And the Chiefs have those players on the roster for offensive line in Kingsley, Souma, Matia, and Juan Ymores, like they gotta find a spot for them. And the reason why it's so hard to project in any position to be fair, right, in free agency.

And we talk about roster building, let's just as fans, right? As analyst fans. Is a lot of people say, well, the Chiefs are just signed so and so to fill the offensive line. In Carolina, right? A lot of Panthers fans like, we need T. Higgins. Well, they're not guaranteed

you're gonna get those players. So when you talk about your team right now, you have to talk about your team with the players you have on the roster. So Chiefs fans are like, well, we'll just get Zach Martin, which I saw a suggestion for Wright Garth, which is because Smith is leaving. Well, how's that looking right now, Matt?

You can't talk about players you don't have. You might say we need a free agent wide receiver and list the wide receivers you need or offensive linemen, but there's no guarantee you're gonna get those players in your building. So it's just a long way to say Trace Smith is not getting tagged because that's $25 million. For offensive line, it's not by position.

It's by overall aggregate of all the positions, the left tackle, right tackle. Not paying $25 million a year as a franchise tag number when they're already up against the cap. So he's gone. Look, he deserves every cent he's gonna get. Maybe the Bears, maybe the Patriots. He's a great guy. He's growing into a leadership opportunity. Wherever he goes, he's been more of, maybe the Patriots, he's a great guy.

He's growing into a leadership opportunity. Wherever he goes, he's been more of a leader in Kansas City. He's an enforcer. And remember, he's a first round talent that fell to sixth round because of blood clotting issues. He had at Tennessee. No problems in the NFL with that. So not a problem.

He's a five star. I think he was the number one player in the class in 2017 when he signed with Tennessee. So really happy for him, he's getting paid. And the Chiefs have to find someone else to play guard, but he's done a great job, man. And so I hope he gets paid as much money as possible because it would be for every player to get paid.

Yeah, I mean, this is what happens with teams that consistently go to the Super Bowl or have a great roster is you can't keep it forever. We just talked about it with Dallas, although they never got there. But yeah, I also think too, you know, there's there's we'll, we'll get to some of these wide receiver rumors. We have seen guards getting paid in free agency lately, right?

Like the Rams and Panthers last year made some splashes on the, on the interior of the offensive line. It feels like that's sort of becoming the Zags teams build is like, we actually like to protect upfront, or I'm sorry, more towards the middle than towards, you know, spending big on the tackles quite as often. So, interesting. Yeah, I think it just depends on,

in a given year, like who's available, right? And for some teams, like the Chiefs have never valued guards, really interior guys. And it's kind of crazy, like the Chiefs, in 2013 they had two GMs, John Dorsey and Albin Bradavich, they've only extended three offensive linemen that they drafted an entire time. Eric Fisher, they had to, Larry, the player from Montreal,

the doctor, and he got an under market deal. Duvernay Tardif. And he got an under market deal and then Creed Humphrey. Like they really don't do that. Now they've hit home runs with Joe Tooney. Does your brother not get extended? My brother went to, was the Brown first. Oh, right, right, right.

And they've hit home runs with Joe Tooney, with my brother, with Dolph and Smith, and was new ski one year for agent guys. So yeah, just what the Chiefs do. Yeah, interesting. Yeah, I mean, they had a gem with you in the locker room too. That's what it was.

All right, I wanted to go to offensive line talk. I can speak up a little bit more in this quarterback section. There was a little rumor this week from Jordan Roderig who knows things about, especially about the Rams. And she reported that McVeigh is, it loves, I think was the exact word, Jimmy G, who is the Rams backup. People forget.

There's these rumors about Matthew Stafford aren't going away. And usually what happens around this time of year is like a few things kind of just waft around forever. But the ones that are absolutely ludicrous gets shut down, right? Like we've seen how the Browns have handled the Miles Garrett thing. Like they, it's been pretty clear what their move is. Like they're trying to work it out with him before they open up the trade. It seems like Matthew Stafford might actually be available.

Like it actually does seem like there might be a price if someone is willing with him before they open up the trade. It seems like Matthew Stafford might actually be available. Like it actually does seem like there might be a price if someone is willing to reach it. But I'm curious if you're reading this one the same way I am. Yeah, I think they're open to it, Matt. I don't know what the comp would be, but they're surely open to Matt Stafford

no longer being their quarterback. And I don't know if that means that they're just gonna find any deal they can or whether it's like we're gonna only have the deal that we want to take and move on. But Jimmy G can't be the answer, right? Like that's not an upgrade. There's no way that's an upgrade.

So it's the point, see like if they do, if they get rid of Matt Stafford, to me, it's like we love a second round quarterback this year. You know, like it's not that Jimmy G's an answer for a year. I just don't see that. So to me, it's more about they fell in love with someone. Maybe they love Ken Ward out of Miami, it's Jers Sanders and they're gonna trade Stafford

and package that deal and move up and get a quarterback. I I can't imagine it's for Jimmy G Man, I'm not money. They're gonna save a little lose that they're gonna lose games. Who cares about the money you save Here's can I offer you a theory? Oh, please. I think I know who they're in love with. Oh Okay, I think they're in love with Sam Darnold. Yeah, that's about, yeah. So here's the thing with Stafford. Stafford this year, he has, his cap number is 50 million. So if you do really think that Darnold, excuse me, is going to be a starting level guy, at least for a couple of years,

then you can probably get him in free agency for what, 30? Like two years, 65, like you can really, I mean, then the cap spiked, so maybe it's more, but you can get him for a pretty good deal. And then I look, there are a lot of teams, Stafford doesn't make sense for too many teams. And there's, I think a quarterback at his level Someone's gonna talk themselves into it like you could see the Giants with day ball and and

The GM they're needing to save their jobs like talking themselves into sure Let's give up our high pick for him, but I gotta say man if I'm the Jets Why not try to run this Aaron Rodgers theory back with an actual like good quarterback and normal person? Who can come in there and be the thing that you thought Rodgers was gonna be an actual like good quarterback and normal person who can come in there and be the thing that you thought Rodgers was going to be which is just like the missing piece. Like if the Jets could offer their first round pick which is what seven or nine like if they could offer that pick for Matthew Stafford just straight up I don't really know who's going to say no to that if the Rams think feel confident that they can get Darnold.

Like, I kind of feel like that might be the plan. I don't know who to keep up. We've created first round pick for Stafford. Seventh pick? That feels like super rich, doesn't it? Why? He's, I mean, they were like one drive away from the NFC championship on a team where, I don't know,

they were pretty, they had a ton of holes. I think, I mean, what, is he the fifth best quarterback in the league? Is he the sixth, seventh? I think that's 100% worth the first rounder, no? If you're a team like the Jets who thinks we have a full roster, we're not gonna strip it down. who thinks we have a full roster. We're not gonna strip it down.

Not, it's just not really fair to Stafford, but are the Jets scarred from the veteran quarterback they brought in to save them? And it's bad fires. If they decide, what are their options? The Jets right now, yeah. Let's take Stafford out. And if you're picking seventh,

you're like maybe Chaudhuri's there, who, like, Chaudhuri and Kam Ward have no buzz right now, I feel like. I feel like no one is, you haven't heard that one report of like teams are in love with these guys, like this is a great class, like people are sleeping on these guys. You haven't heard that. This time last year, you heard that

about five different quarterbacks. I mean, there was a tweet from Dan Jeremiah that said that Kam Ward would be behind Bo Nix. And if they were doing that. The sixth quarterback of the five that played, you could say that there were five hits in the class last year. So look, I think if you're the Jets and you're like,

all right, we don't wanna trade Garrett Wilson. Like we're not gonna strip this thing down. We have a great defense theoretically. We have all these weapons on offense. Are you gonna strip it down and start over? Or are you gonna say like, hey, why don't we just throw Stafford in here and see what we've got?

Like if we thought we were that close the year before, we actually could do it this year. I truly think that if the Rams were going to get to seventh pick overall, Stafford would be gone in a heartbeat. I agree. And I think it's a fair idea. And they're kind of the only team, I think, that makes sense.

I don't think it makes sense for the Raiders. They have too long to go. The Giants, again, these teams could just go on tilt and do something weird. But I also feel like, I don't think there's a lot of reasonable talk about where Darnold is gonna go. Like the Vikings are in this really weird spot where they had their quarterback who, like odds are,

there's not gonna be six good quarterbacks drafted in the first round last year, right? Like the odds are. It's very high, it's a very high, that's unusual. Unheard of. And if you think McCarthy is going to be awesome, Yeah, it's very high. It's a very high, that's unusual. Unheard of. And if you think McCarthy is going to be awesome, then you kind of have to let Darnold walk.

And like, okay, you need to throw him out there. Well, the Vikings are letting Darnold walk, by the way. Like, he's gone. He's gone. Which is gonna suck, because you know the team that's, it's either, he's either going to go and whatever. Maybe he signs with the Giants and he stinks. But he's probably going to go to a team like the Rams. Who's by the way, like Kevin O'Connell was part of the McVay tree.

So if he were to move over there, it's, it's pretty much the same offense. I think he'd be great there. So that's kind of why I see this whole thing happening where maybe it's, maybe it's the Jets. Like, I don't know who else would do it, but I do think if you get a first for Stafford. Your mic is hot. Are you clicking a pen or something? No. That sounds weird.

Or maybe it's the same stuff. It's my collar there. Oh, it's on your collar. That's what it is. There you go. My sweet NFL film. Your mic is like, it's a nice pullover though. Anyone watching YouTube?

Yeah, thanks to NFL Films. There you go. Okay. So you go. Okay. So you have staff, I was talking about this Darnold the other day. The Jets are not taking Darnold, obviously. No. There's just not a lot of great homes for him.

The most interesting one is if the Niners say, we're not paying Brock Purdy, we want Sam Darnold for less money. But that feels like very, very out there. Very risky. That's's of course, yes. I don't think that is. I think the Rams make a lot of sense and I don't know, that's my theory.

Can you wager on this? I don't know. Maybe we can. Well, okay, well that was my take there. I had, there was another theory that I wanted to run by you. With the Miles Garrett one? Yeah, so. Well, that's that was my take there I hadn't there was another theory that I wanted to run by you with a miles Garrett one Yeah, so our friend our friends Mike Florio. He's not what I've actually never met but I'm sure he's a nice man He said he's a he's a very sensitive and whiny on social media, but sure but hey, we love Mike Florio

He he suggested that what if the Browns were to move in a miles Garrett package? Basically, they're gonna give you the best defensive player alive If you take on the Deshaun Watson contract and that's been talked about on the internet for a few days And I think it sounds like an NBA trade to me It reminds me a bit of the Brock Osweiler trade where they what was it that was it the Broncos traded in? It was an NBA trade where they traded. Yeah, but you trade away a draft pick. Yeah. Yeah What do you think of that? Do you think that has any any chance because I actually think it's not a bad idea and

the team like the commanders could just eat that giant salary chunk and Get Miles Garrett and just cut to Shawn Watson. I don't think Zero teams would ever consider that unless the Browns are eating a large portion of Watson's contract. It doesn't make financial sense to do that. Like you're basically just, you're paying for Miles Garrett,

you're paying a hefty price with draft picks, plus his salary. The top of that you're paying another quarterback who's never gonna play for you. Browns have to eat that. It's a very Mike Florio thing to say. He gets dragged on the internet like once a week. And I just, I'm here for it every single time. You know one time he told me, how about this?

This is crazy. This is years ago. I argued about something and he said, classic jock who doesn't like the opinions of people that haven't played football before. I was like, that's not me, buddy. I don't know, maybe he called other guys that way, but he does not like me.

We argue a lot on the internet. Yeah, I think it's an interesting framework, interesting thought. It's fun, but it feels like a maddening thing. It's not a thing that a real team's gonna take on a dead salary for a quarterback just to have Miles Garrett. Miles Garrett's expensive on his own right. He's incredible.

And he's worth the money he gets paid. But the Brazzers aren't eating any of that contract, Matt. That makes no sense. Yeah, fair enough. The only thing I really wanted to talk to you about besides cock chairs today was back to this Shudder and Ward thing. Yes, which is basically like there isn't a lot of buzz about these guys Yeah, and this time last year too. There was a lot of receiver buzz

There was the conversation had started like maybe neighbors is actually better than Marvin Harrison or maybe it's a doonsay like There was a lot of talk about that this time last year. So I'm curious what your read is on this class and if you're hearing anything. And while you do that, I'm going to remove my sweet NFL Films jacket. So give us a take so that Sam can cut away here. I'm gonna read a tweet from Jordan Reed,

he works for ESPN. He said, you're getting a representation of the draft right now. He said, heading into the combine, the overall thoughts about this year's draft class around the, across the league is pretty much the same. Fill holes and create depth with quality starters. But there's not a lot of star level,

star level instant impact players in the top. Deep class at running back, tight end, and deep at some line. Matt didn't even mute himself. He just, he didn't even mute himself. He just, you didn't even mute yourself. He just kept going without muting yourself. It was,

how could you have a video of Matt just struggling and take off his top there? Matt's back now. So basically, you know, this class is just not filled with stars. It's not a, it's filled with running backs, tight ends, defensive linemen. Like it's not a star driven class.

Now you might get some really good football players, but there's not a lot of headliners. Travis Hunter, certainly a headliner. Abdul Carter, certainly a headliner. Some decent wide receivers early on, but it's not a star studded class, Matt, in the way of you get a lot of impact starters. That's why I think there's not a lot of attention to this.

The buzz is not here quite like we've seen in other situations, in other years, I should say. So that's why I think less buzz. And look, Cam Ward from Miami, he is a, what's the, he is a boomer, boomer buzz is probably not the right word, but he has a lot of potential to be really good

if he can clean up a lot of the sort of errors he makes. He's still a young quarterback. He went to Incarnate Word, out of high school, he didn't pass the ball very much, went to Washington State, went to Miami. He's just immensely talented, but he's gotta clean up a little bit of some of the issues. There's some throws he makes like once a game,

you're like, please don't throw that ever again. And that's gonna scare teams away. And then you have Shajar Sanders who, you know, he's interesting. He does some really good things and then some bad things, inconsistency, the offense he played in was atrocious. Travis Hunter was really good, but just generally speaking, not a sound offensive structure.

Didn't really help him very much, but he didn't help himself. He's a limited athlete. He's got a good arm, not great. He's very accurate. He's poised in the pocket. I mean, there's some things you like there, but he's not gonna have a high grade. And so what happens in the first round,

especially early in the first round, is you have to figure out, are we taking impactful quarterback, or like best player available? And if you're Tennessee, Brian Calehan's in his second year, new general manager, but I feel like he's got the pressure to win now. Maybe they tray out a number one,

but Travis Hunter's that good of a player. Travis Hunter will be higher graded than Cam Ward, but maybe you take Cam Ward for that, just you need a quarterback and you need to keep your job. So, those are the top of the draft, but that's why. The quarterbacks are good, not great. It would not surprise me if we found out, you know, three years from now that this was sort of a bust year

for quarterbacks out of the draft. The thing with Travis Hunter, if Travis Hunter was just a corner or just a receiver, like would he still be, would people be like jumping up and down for him? You think? Yeah. But like, okay, so who's, who's the last, like, let's just pick a corner. He's going to play, he's going to play corner in the NFL.

Yeah. So like sauce Gardner was probably like the last, he was like a number three overall, right? Like if you're like, okay, Sauce, I can get Sauce Gardner. Like I think you feel very good about that. You can get Sauce Gardner plus you can have him play 10 plays of wide receiver a game. Right, but like, but you're not, it's not Sauce Gardner and Justin Jefferson unless it is.

No, but, well, so look, if he just played wide receiver, he probably could be that player, but you can't in NFL, you just can't do both full time. And so you have probably more it's easier, easier and more impactful to probably play a lockdown corner and then some wide receiver rather than playing wide receiver. Then some corner like playing just go in and play some corner would be very hard. I think it's easier just to just to go ahead and and add the wide receiver. And once you become a good corners, if that makes sense. Yeah, I mean, I think it does.

And like we saw Deion Sanders do that. We saw Champ Bailey do that briefly. I think if. Like if he gets drafted to the wrong team. It could be a he could have a really interesting couple of years like. Yes, you need like if he goes to the Patri team, it could be, he could have a really interesting couple of years. Like, yes, you need, like if he goes to the Patriots, for instance, like, I think variable and McDaniels would use him smartly. And if he went to the Browns, like I think, you know,

they have a smart enough coaching staff. If he goes like Brian Callahan's team, like I'm not positive.'re gonna maximize his skill set. And I think that the conversation about him at the top of the draft, the Abdul Carter conversation is pretty short. It's like, yeah, we can get an awesome pass rusher who we can plug in from day one and he's good. But with Travis Hunter, you have to have a totally different conversation about, well, what do we do with this guy?

And I think that's interesting. And I'm curious if one of these teams is gonna be brave enough to actually like, well, what do we do with this guy? And I think that's interesting. And I'm curious, like if one of these teams is gonna be brave enough to actually say like, yeah, we're gonna do this. Like we're gonna, he's going to be this and this for our team and we're gonna plug him in and he's gonna, it's gonna work. Like, we'll see.

Yeah. But he's good, man. He's a good player. Like I, he was, to me he was easily the Heisman. I get why Gentie was up there, but he was, he was very deserving of that award. So, all right, Matt. I sent you an account on TikTok

that will show you all the chairs you could possibly imagine. So you can go check that out the rest of the day. Yeah, great. I'm hoping my plus 6,000 golf wager comes through for this weekend. Best of luck. No facial hair for the Yankees, quick take. Oh yeah. Or facial leave back for the Yankees, excuse me.

Probably good, I guess. I don't know. I don't know, man. I thought we used to stand for stuff. I mean, I find myself defending the status quo a lot these days, for better and for worse, but I do think that, I don't know, the Yankees used to have like a mystique, and now it's like, no, well, whatever,

they're not even the rich asshole team anymore, that's the Dodgers, they're just like another team now.. They're not even the rich asshole team anymore. That's the Dodgers. Like they're just like another team now. Yeah, the Dodgers are the rich asshole team, yeah. Yeah, it's like, there used to be like, every team used to have like a little bit of a different feel. These, you know, these like super teams and now the Yankees are just, you know, like everyone else.

They just listen to what everyone says on social media. Disappointed. Those guys that, yeah, are they woke now? Is that what we're going with? I'm sure, who's the first person to go woke with the Yankees are now woke? I mean, I'm sure a radio co-host of yours probably already went with that take.

So we'll leave that one to him. I figured that was gonna be the case. Do you have a strong NBA All-Star take? Do you wanna let, they're still on, still they're flying on Friday still, NBA All-Star take? Do you wanna let, they're still on, still, they're flying on Friday still, NBA All-Star takes. I think we need to give Adam Silver a Mr. Milchek-esque performance review.

Shout out Severance Heads. I just think that every single conversation that anyone's had about the NBA that isn't related to Luca and Anthony Davis is about why the product is bad like We got to change the narrative if you're if you're running the NBA Like you got to stop listening to people and you got to start leading like tell us why your product is awesome Like stop doubt stop thinking about all these rule changes like you're not a rule change away from being fun

Like just it is it's because it's be a leader. Like, what are we doing? I think that you have to have a balance in professional sports between owners and players, right? That there are things that owners might like for the league, the players might not agree with, but they maybe know more about business. Like, they know more about business. Like, you just have to trust them a little bit. And vice versa, there are things players want to be or want to suggest that might work for the business.

Well, that's been a good working relationship. The NBA is so player focused and player heavy that all the decisions are made around that, Matt. Like they don't wanna piss anyone off. Like David Stern wouldn't let the All-Star game get to where it is now. He just wouldn't, he didn't care. And the NFL was like, okay, fine players,

you don't wanna do this anymore, we'll just won't do it. And players were like, great, sounds good. Like you can, like just, but NBA just won't give it up. And they keep adding stuff to the NBA All-Star game that no one cares about. The problem isn't the All-Star game. The problem, I think, is that everyone, everyone is constantly talking about why,

how to fix the NBA. How do we fix it? The ratings are down, like they're telling the wrong story. how to fix the NBA. How do we fix it? The ratings are down. They're telling the wrong story. They gotta change the conversation. And they gotta stop. So the player is playing? I mean, the best players take nights off.

So it's hard to sell. Yeah, so fix it. There's so many ways to just change it and just do it and stop letting the internet tell you what to do. That's the thing that's driving me crazy. I do agree with that, yeah. It's like I think that people, they're actually listening to people like us.

It's like don't listen to people like us. No, don't listen to me. We need to react to you, not the other way around. That's certainly fair. The NFL. That's a good take. The NFL over the years has made some hard choices and they've made, and they've heard some criticisms

and then just kind of dealt with it. Like, and they've, they don and then just kind of dealt with it. And they don't get enough credit for that. The NFL has a pretty clear vision of what people like. They've stayed out of a lot of political stuff. They handled the concussion thing, I think, in a way that they don't get any credit for. That was a real conversation in sports media every day for a few years. It was like, is it even ethical to watch this sport and that's gone and they just handled it and yeah well they put it in the concussion protocol and what not yeah they changed

the rules they also just stopped showing the jacked up segments yeah it's like they stopped focusing on those hits that's because they they have a relationship with the media like you know Adam, if they have a heavy hand, like stop telling all the players to crap on the product all the time. Like, they need to change the conversation. And their phone's out to teach them. So, Blue Duck PR?

Yeah, yeah, that's right. Who's the biggest NBA person in the office? Is there someone who's a big NBA person? Hank, yeah. Hank and, you mean just like a producer? Is Hank just like ruined by the Luka trade? I mean, I will say, like, I've thought of a lot about the Luka trade.

Like, I think everybody who's into sports spent a few days being like, what am I missing here? But he's more, like, people like him are more, this is the other problem, is people like him are more interested in like the ninth guy on the blazers. Like there's this, there's this sort of like split between casuals and, and hard cores where like, I find what the NBA, the more you watch, the less, the more detached you are from what matters.

Like when the night to night of the NBA is there's so much to follow. Whereas if you just kind of zoom out and sort of look at things you can kind of see it more clearly It's kind of like the news And in that way the nfl doesn't have that problem like the more you watch the better your understanding is Yeah Yeah, I can see that I mean the nfl there are different ways to cover it though, which is different than you know The nba I think to your point like Well, there are different ways to cover it though, which is different than the NBA.

I think to your point, you wanna try to stick to the mainstream stuff as much as possible, not the Blazers ninth center they have on their team. The NFL obviously can get super in the weeds. And I think, again, I've talked about this before, I try my best to keep things as general as possible

while giving you some information. So I feel like some of these podcasts I listen to, these NFL podcasts, the numbers are, it's just too much. It's too many numbers and too much just sort of making things up. It's just not enough watching and understanding. That's right.

With the NBA where people tell me things and I'm like, well, what do your eyeballs say? Like, you can do that with the NFL. Like, you can say, like, well, what are your eyeballs say? Like you can do that with the, with the NFL. Like you can say like this quarterback is probably good because they go to the suitable every year. You know what I mean? Or like this court, this team might not have it because they always choke in the playoffs. Like, you know what I mean? Like if you just use your eyeballs and your common sense, whereas I feel like these sports where it requires like levels and levels and levels of understanding,

you kind of have to lose your common sense. And I think that that's a big part of these sports where the discourse centers around players and you know, regions and stuff like that. Last question, ready? Yeah. Switching sports, nationals over under 72 and a half wins. What do we think?

Oh, I'm not really qualified to answer, but I will say their buzz seems good. So I would, I would. Orioles, 87 and a half. That seems kind of low, no? Good division. Good team. We should just roll out every week we do the show,

just like one more win total. I didn't get in on it soon enough, but I'll tell you what, the White Sox over 53 and a half, it was 50 and a half, actually is a good bet, but it's 53 and a half now, I don't think you can do it. Missed that. They were so bad last year. I think you have to board over this year.

All right, we've done a lot today, Matt. We've covered a lot. I think you have to board over this year. All right. We've done a lot today, Matt. We've covered a lot. I've talked a lot this week. Talked a lot before the show. I think it's time to bid farewell to everyone. I'll be the combine next Thursday and Friday. I do not know, we can record early in the week, Matt.

We might skip next week. Oh, sure. While I'm at Indianapolis. If you see me there, come say hi. I'll be walking around, not hard to find. Have a great weekend, everyone. Enjoy the sports. Hope you enjoyed the podcast.

Please rate, review, subscribe. We always appreciate you giving us reviews and giving us ratings. Have a good weekend, everyone. Take care. See you, buddy. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha