Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - NFL SQUAD: NFL Rule Changes SPARKS Debate | League Overhaul Incoming?

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

In this week's NFL Squad, the crew discusses some of the latest rule change proposals submitted by the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and other teams. Plus, they discuss the latest on the Aaron Rodgers, Minnesota Vikings saga, and which position group would have been a better selection for the Netflix series Quarterback.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBAfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. UpworkVisit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free to connect with top talent and grow your business today!FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Green Bay wants to ban the tush push, and Detroit just simply hates the national football league. That and more on this week's NFL squad. You are talking ball with the NFL squad, sponsored by game time. From the chiefs to the bills, Falcons to the 49ers, and everyone else around the NFL, it's the local experts of the Locked-on podcast network bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming weekend for hard-hitting football with our harder-hitting takes. Buckle up. It's the NFL squad. And we have a seat for you.

No hurt feelings allowed. Squad up. You're part of the NFL squad. Welcome inside this week's NFL squad. Sit back, grab your favorite drink and join us as we get ready to discuss another wild week across the national football league because it may be the off season, but there's plenty of stuff going on. As all of the new free agents and traded players are meeting their media beats for the

first time, the NFL is still behind. the scenes churning away, trying to change the game, especially the Detroit Lions who just apparently hate everything about what the NFL does. We are all part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. And we want to welcome you into this week's episode, Cody Rourke of Locked-on Broncos. As always, joining us here, Alex Clancy of Locked-on Cardinals, Mike DeBate, Locked-on Patriots, Kevin Ostriker, of Locked-on Ravens, no cute nicknames for your show this week. Thank you.

Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. We are going to start off today's episode. Talk about NFL rule proposals. This is the time of year that NFL teams get together and they discuss and they present potential rule changes. Of course, guys, the ban, the effort to ban the tush push, the Green Bay Packers leading the charge there, although after the NFC championship game, perhaps the Washington

commanders, Frankie Lou, specifically should be leading the charge to ban the tush push. Speaking of the Philadelphia Eagles, they want to align the postseason and regular season overtime rules to grant both teams an opportunity to possess the ball in overtime, no matter what happens with the first possession, and they want to make overtime 15 minutes to, you know, presumably give people enough time to have at least two possessions there. And then the Detroit Lions, all they want to do is change everything. They want to eliminate automatic first downs as a penalty for defensive holding or illegal contact.

They want to allow for an IR slot in the offseason that would allow an injured player to not count against a 90-man roster. However, that player could not be designated for return. So basically you're talking like, I don't know, maybe a receiver who tore pretty much everything, unfortunately in his knee and may not be playing football for the Houston, Texas anytime soon. And they want to reseed the playoffs. What I like to call the Peter Bakowski rule, unfortunately he's not here to defend the rule. But basically the theory is everybody gets into the playoffs, the same way they always have,

division champs, wild cards. But once that is set, if a wild card team has a better record than division champion that wild car team would then host a playoff game so cody we'll start off with you my good buddy uh which of these rules intrigues you the most rule changes i should say intrigues you the most well in terms of intrigue i i'm a defensive guy so i might be a little bias here i played defensive back and and i hate how the game is officiated today for the defensive side of the ball i feel like there's too many rules and contingencies in place you can't breathe on an opposing offensive player without there being a flag i really think in today's NFL

and it's always been part of the game, right? Physicality, especially even playing press coverage, could result in the opportunity as being able to get hands-on guys. I understand within a certain yard range, you want that. But I think that the Lions, you know, proposing that the NFL eliminates an automatic first down for legal contact. I think that's huge because in today's NFL we're seeing, you know, a lot of man being played,

but we're also seeing a lot of zone. So you've got to be able to reroute guys with, you know, and I understand you can't tackle a guy, you can't whiplash him or anything like that. But you can reroute, I think, get hands on to him, just a straight line to be able to attack a soft spot of the zone defense, I find a way to make that to where it's not an automatic first down. I think illegal contact, you see drives to get extended,

maybe make it half to distance or something, but not an automatic first down at that point. I like that one. I think it's a good one. And obviously, I think we'll share our thoughts on maybe the playoff seating that Detroit also proposed as well. I thought that was pretty good. But yeah, that's where I'm going to start.

Yeah, man, look, I like the fact. And this conversation has happened across multiple seasons for multiple people. that so many defensive penalties are just so much more punitive than offensive penalties. Like offensive penalties, you pretty much always have an opportunity to save your drive. But defensive penalties, I mean, we've seen plays go from like third and 20 to first downs for plays, penalties that happen like two yards off the line of scrimmage on a play that resulted in eight-yard gain and would have led to a punt. Like some of these defensive rules being automatic first downs are absolutely insane.

So I'm all in support of that one for the Philadelphia Eagles and obviously for the or not the Eagles, the Detroit Lions, and the entire national football league, obviously is going to benefit from this. Kevin, I want to ask you as well, what one of these other rule changes that stands out to you? Is it the playoff seating? I mean, the Ravens don't typically have to worry about that, right?

But do you think that that's a fair rule change? Yeah, that's where I was going to go. And I think it is fair. You know, you kind of look at how the NBA does things now and it's the same thing, where it's the highest record, gets the highest seed and so on and so forth. Now, essentially, if you do this, if you're the NFL, divisions become a lot less important

when it comes to winning those games for your division title, but it's still important to win your division games. But the thing with that is, I feel like some of the complaints would end up being, oh, well, let's just say the AFC or, or let's say the Browns become this great team, the Bengals and this great team, Ravens Steelers, and people say, well, oh, the Ravens have to play these three awesome teams and all these teams have to play

where let's say, I don't know, some random division like the NFL South. You know, that's a division that, let's say they have four really bad teams. And all of a sudden, like, oh, well, now these teams don't have to play. So if there's one good team in the NFC South, they can just beat up on those other three teams and they get a really high season in the playoffs. That's not as fair. So I still think it's a good thing to do because we saw with the NFC North last season with

Green Bay, Detroit, and Minnesota, you have Minnesota and Green Bay. I think unfairly, you know, Minnesota gets the five. Green Bay, they have double-digit wins. they don't get a top four seed. I think the team should be rewarded for their performance. And yes, sometimes divisions will be good. Sometimes divisions will be bad. But I think there's enough parity in what divisions can be year to year,

where it won't just be top seeds will have that opportunity. Yeah. Look, I think if memory serves me correctly, I believe the Buccaneers and the Rams both would have had to travel for their first playoff games. And actually, I think the Washington commanders would have got one of those home games, which would have helped me greatly because I'll tell you what, guys, four weeks on the road. The commanders finished the season in Dallas.

Four weeks in a row on the road. It was exciting. Don't get me wrong. But man, it was exhausting and painful on so many different levels, including my wallet, which none of you care about. Alex Clancy, I want to ask you, though, out of these rules, if there was a rule that hasn't been proposed here that you could propose for the Arizona Cardinals, what would it be? Yeah. I think it has to be centralized around being able to review personal fouls on quarterbacks. It's so disjointed with how things are now. It's like, oh, everyone is

100% correct every time. There's no checks and balances. And this doesn't have to be, you know, a head coach has an extra challenge, a game just for that specifically. This could all come from the booth. There have been such egregious calls, and it's not just Patrick Mahomes who gets these calls. Quarterbacks get the helmet turned one way, but it was a legal hit and it was a shoulder pat or something, 15 yards. And you talked about it earlier, David, like they're debilitating to defensive drives when you have somebody on third and 20. So I think that's the biggest one for me.

I do want to touch really quickly on what Kevin said about the parity with receding. I think we have a lack of parity now. The really good teams are getting a lot better. So it's not like there's no middle class in the NFL anymore. So I don't think reseeding should be something where it's like it used to be, oh, you get a last place schedule, you have a better chance of getting first place in your division. That's gone.

Like, Philly's getting stronger every year. Detroit's getting stronger every year. You know, Jacksonville's getting worse every year. Tennessee is getting worse every year. So there's not the parity like there once was. And while there always will be, it's not going to be as cyclical as it used to be. So I think that's what makes it tricky with the recent. Yeah, look, I mean, I think the NFL still has the most parity of any, you know,

professional sports league on the planet. But I agree with you. I think the same. Yeah. I think right now is probably the time where the NFL lacks as much parity as they obviously would like to. So I think it's a very interesting discussion. And yeah, and to add to your, you know,

roughing the past, and then like not just confirming roughing the past penalties, but also the ones that are missed. Like let's help out, you know, these referees who have all these things to see and they're humans. So they're going to make mistakes and all these things. I remember, I can't remember the specific penalty or the game.

So forgive me for that lack of context. But I remember there was a game specific where a penalty happens. It's a big penalty. It's a big time penalty in that moment in the game. And literally everybody in the press box is sitting there saying less than, less than 60 seconds later, we're all sitting there saying we can see on the angle that we get, which we don't even have all the angles, that that's a bad call.

There's absolutely zero reason to not use the technology that the NFL has at its disposal right now to make sure the game is officiated appropriately when it takes seconds. We're not talking a five-minute commercial break here. We're talking seconds to get these things right. Sometimes absolutely no reason that technology. What's the point of the sky judge when you run into that situation? Like you're telling me the NFL can't have their guy that's up in the box. say, hey, okay, we got word in really quickly.

Hey, that's the wrong call. Let's change it. Like, they're so concerned about, oh, we can't stop the flow of the game. At the sake of getting it right, I think that they should. I don't think it hurts. Like players want you to get it right more so than it's like, oh, here we go. You already have these stupid two-minute TV timeouts that these guys had to sit there and watch people in the stadium do little, you know, races, like barrel races or running around

the field. It's like, hey, if you're stopping that for that, they hate that. But if you're stopping the game in the context of getting an important. important call, right? That could make a difference toward the end of the game. They're okay with it. I've talked to players, but that's what we're running into, though. The NFL, they had the technology to do it. Why can't they embrace it? It's already the slowest, it's already the slowest-paced game of professional sports by a long shot now because baseball is a shot clock. I mean, what does it matter? Yeah. What is an extra minute or two here and there matter?

And we've seen, we've seen them do it too. And we're one, during games. We're one progression away, guys, from having nanocamars and every blade of turf across the national football league. bring it use all of those advantages to make the game better like you said Cody every NFL player they just want to win and lose based on the merits of how they play they don't want some crazy crap to cause them a loss and I mean they'll celebrate the win they'll take the win or whatever remember when Clay Matthew sent out rogerald's phone number after the the hell married i love that uh Mike debate well also needs you to chime in man what's what's a uh you know a thing or two about covering teams that affect rule changes um what's uh what's a rule change you'd like

to see the NFL adopted. Oh, that's a low blow. The guy that was affecting the rule changes isn't here anymore, David. No, I'm only kidding. Look, and I say that with every bit of reverence to Bill Belichick. But look, I think a role that right now is catching my eye is something that affected the New England Patriots in years past, and that's the playoff overtime rules that the Eagles are proposing right now.

Right now, they'd like the regular season overtime period to match the postseason overtime period. And look, I understand the need for equality. in that relevance and that realm to allow teams equal opportunity to be able to possess the ball and that type of chess matchup where it let's see if your defense can stop my offense and go one on one and still have a chance to me i do think this does skew the balance of competitive equality i know that's why the eagles want to go ahead and put this through but i think the best part of the football game is the end of the game and i've always been a fan of the end of the game whether you

take your timeouts, how you manage the game the last two minutes, getting the ball back, you try to keep the ball away from the other team, whatever it is, I think that combines all the elements of football. I think when you start handing the ball back and forth and trying to make it a fair way, I guess, of trying to get guys into the end zone, I think it takes away from that a little bit. So I look at that, of course, team that I cover has been on the fortunate end of that. more often than not. I point to Super Bowl 51. I point to the playoff matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. I understand there are teams out there that feel they didn't get their extra shake, but if you can't get the job done within 60 minutes, there's got to be some sort of, you know,

accountability for that. And I think the more these rules are put in place, I think it takes away some of that accountability. Yeah, I say just coin toss it. Just have a coin toss. You know what? Actually, just break out Madden at the 50 and just have them go at it for let's see a time. Madden. Get your best Madden player from the locker room. Equipment, guys included. Just throw them out there with controllers and let him have that. Obviously, I'm just joking. What isn't a joke is the fact that Aaron Rogers might be about to complete the Brett Farr of trifecta. And it would be the most amazing thing that I've seen in my time watching the NFL and has nothing to do with what happens on the field.

Is Aaron Rogers going to Minnesota conflicting reports as we enter this week here on this NFL squad episode, part of the Locktown podcast network, your team every day? Today's NFL squad show is brought you of our friends over there at Upwork. And scaling your business requires the right expertise at the right time. With Upwork, you can find specialized freelancers in marketing, development, design, and more. Experts ready to help take your business to the next level. Upwork gives businesses flexibility by connecting them with top freelance talent across multiple industries, including IT, AI, web development, and marketing. Whether you need extra hands for a project or if you're looking for a long-term partner,

Upwork makes hiring simple and affordable. Plus, it's important in today's age to find the right talent. If you need help with a marketing campaign, Upwork can connect you with a freelance expert who delivered incredible results. Plus, their hiring process is fast and it leads to easy hiring, where posting a job is free and simple and within a day with multiple qualified candidates to choose from. So visit upwork.com right now and post your job for free. That's UPWORK.com.

to connect with top talent and grow your business today. Today's NFL squad show is also brought to our friends over there at GameTime. And look, folks, imagine watching your favorite team live, filling the energy of the crowd and witnessing unforgettable moments. That's the stuff that we live for as fan of sports, as music enthusiasts. And there's nothing like experiencing a big game or a concert event in person. And that's why Game Time is important for you to go for all your ticket buying experiences. Getting tickets shouldn't be stressful.

That's where Game Time comes in. it easier than never to grab last minute seats at unbeatable prices. Plus, they have game time picks. Curation makes it easier to find better value for tickets to sports, concerts, comedy, theater, and anything that's going on in your area. And look, they have great deals on some of the huge matchups coming up in the world of basketball. Plus, they have super deals like their lowest price guarantee or game time. They will credit you 110% of the difference.

So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time today. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. That's L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-N-FL-L-FL-T-L-E-D-O-N-FL-N-FL-T off. Download game time today. Last-minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. The most unwanted quarterback on every week's NFL squad episode, Aaron Rogers, yet he is the guy that nobody can stop talking about, man. Like, it doesn't matter how many, I don't say how many teams he's ruins. He's only ruined one team, but,

It doesn't matter how badly he ruins the team, how badly his friend comes to save the day with him and just ruins his season and just what else happens. Aaron Rogers just will not go away. The latest gentleman is that the New York Giants actually seem to be out on the whole conversation, but also may not be able to trade up to number one, so maybe they are going to be forced to be back in it.

But the Minnesota Vikings, obviously, look, for those who don't know or don't remember, Brett Farr, goes from the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, ends up with the Minnesota Vikings. Aaron Rogers or Brett Farr hate each other to a certain level of extremity that I'm not interested in really learning about, but it's there. Aaron Rogers, of course, goes from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets. Now comically, he may go to the Minnesota Vikings.

I think the only thing better would be to make him wear number four in Minnesota if he shows up there. However, there are reports that one, the Minnesota Vikings are preparing to go forward with J.J. McCarthy. Then there's also reports that, yeah, but they also haven't completely closed the door on Aaron Rogers. So I want to ask you guys this first and foremost. And actually, I'm going to start with you, Mike DeBate, a lot.

on Patriots, should the Vikings be interested in even leading the door cracked for Aaron Rogers? Or do they need to move forward, J.J. McCarthy, their first round quarterback from last year, who was injured and unfortunately was on IR all of this rookie season? No, they do not need to leave the door cracked open. They drafted J.J. McCarthy for a purpose, and I believe that's the guy they need to go with. Look, the fact that they invested such high-level draft capital in J.J. McCarthy shows that they like J.J. and they're being smart and not alienate him by bringing in Aaron Rogers at this point. They saw what Sam Donald did with this club last year.

They see Jane Daniels and Caleb Williams, and even if you'll permit me to be a homer for a second, folks, even Drake May, having first year's success. You know, they know that JJ can come in and he can keep this team right where it is. Why run the risk of bringing in a player who's clearly not into mentoring his successor, someone who could disrupt the team building dynamic

that they've built in Minnesota? Aaron Rogers and the side show that he brings with him, in my opinion, is just not worth it. So I think the Vikings would be smart to close this door. Put all of what you've got behind J.J. McCarthy. And then at that point, you can move forward. And that's where this team is headed in the short term and in the long term. They clearly saw a lot of what they love in terms of team building,

in terms of leadership when it comes to J.J. I think opening the door for Aaron Rogers is the wrong move in every. facet for the Minnesota Vikings at this point. Yeah. I mean, look, when JJ came in the NFL, everybody knew, everybody, you know, analyzed or projected, right, that he was a project. He's going to need some time to grow and learn. That's why a team has Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy, so they make the best decision they need to moving forward and all that stuff. But Sam Darnold is not Aaron Rogers in a lot of ways, but like you mentioned, Aaron Rogers is not really friendly with, he doesn't play well with others. You know what I'm saying? Which is ironic,

considering you play the most complete team game ever. But, you know, it is what it is. is. So Cody, you know a thing or two about veteran quarterbacks going places. Obviously, it went much better in Denver with Peyton Manning than it will go. I don't care where he goes. It's going to go a lot worse than what happened with Peyton wherever Aaron Rogers ends up. So if it's not Minnesota, where, I don't even say should, but where might he land? He shouldn't land on an NFL team this year, you know, in my opinion. Like, I understand teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New York Giants is the time that we're sitting down here on a Wednesday afternoon recording this. why would you want to hitch the wagon there?

Like we talked about last week, if you're the Giants and you're that coaching staff and Brian Debo and Joe Shane at GM, this is it. Your last chance is really trying to get it right this year. Now, if you draft a rookie quarterback, you know, in the draft,

the Giants might be able to extend the runway of Shane and obviously Brian Dave a little bit because now it's like, hey, we have a rookie quarterback. Let's see what he can do. It's going to take some time. We've got a good receiver around him and bleak neighbors, but that's not going to be enough, you know, to do it.

So Hitch and the wagon of those guys would be absolutely laughable at this point. The thing that drives me nuts about this whole Minnesota Vikings thing and Aaron Rogers, why would you do that to J.J. McCarthy in a sense? Because think about it from his perspective, as we've seen as fan bases, they want to win, right? I understand Aaron Rogers, he might still be able to play some decent football. But in my opinion here, you drafted a guy to be your eventual franchise guy. If you bring Aaron Rogers into the mix, even if Rogers is the backup there in Minnesota, every little mistake that JJ makes, you're going to have the fan base. Ah, I don't want, you know, I'm not like what I'm seeing.

Let's go with Aaron Rogers. You're going to impact and ruin his development. You can shoot his confidence down. I mean, this is a guy. We already know, J.G. McCarthy has a very, very intense grounding routine before every single game to get him in a spot, a good headspace. You bring Aaron Rogers to the mix. I think it completely throws that away. I think it's stupid.

In my opinion, Rogers shouldn't play football in 2025. Yeah. Listen, man, you know, when the giants come up in this conversation, actually, I was, I was truth of I was more scared about Matt Stafford potential going to the Giants. But even Aaron Rogers, as much as I poke fun, as much trash as I talk about, you know, just because he's very trash talkable. The thought of Aaron Rogers with Malik neighbors and perhaps Travis Hunter and Tyrone and Tracy with that Giants defense, like that's actually not terrible. If it's Madden, right? It's not terrible.

There's another Madden reference. We should get paid. I have a feeling, Alex Clancy, you don't think Minnesota is a bad idea. Am I correct in that assumption that I'm making? completely un-kewed? Yeah. So it's the lesser of two evils. And let me explain. So while rational thought would lend you to think that Aaron Rogers is a complete dumpster fire that you wouldn't let enter the stadium, I completely understand that. Minnesota, outside of, included with the Giants and the Steelers, is the most stable situation for Aaron

Rogers. Sure, the Steelers have been the most stable organization, maybe in the history of football. they've got two problems on the outside of wide receivers. For D.K. Metcab is the highest penalized wide receivers since being drafted. And George Pickens, you don't know what you're going to get each day. So you put three of them together on the same field. That's not good. Brian Daibald probably isn't as good of a head coach as his reputation still would allow him to think. Joe Sheen completely ravaged.

He Dallas Mavericksed that team. So why would you want to go there? Kevin O'Connell is probably the most underrated head coach in football. and you have Aaron Jones, who he has a history with. You've got the best wide receiver in football. You've got a top five number two. You've got a top five tight end. You've got a really good defense.

They've got draft picks. If you ask me who gives the best chance to win in 2025 to potentially save Kevin O'Connell's job, it ain't the kid. He was a project. When people said that he was going to draft him at 10, you're like, really? This dude who barely threw the ball and then he threw a couple beautiful balls during the preseason,

and it was great. but this isn't about making friends. This is about winning football games and saving Kevin O'Connell's job. And Aaron Rogers plus Justin Jefferson is a double-digit win team, in my opinion. So you take the bad with the good, and the good is still there, especially behind that offensive line. So I know it's not perfect, but it's the better of both, in my opinion. It's an interesting take. It is an interesting take.

And, you know, look, if the Vikings decide that A. Rod gives them the better chance of winning, like you say, and that's more important than developing their first round quarterback and potentially, you know, even resulting in them trading him a la Trey Lance before he ever, Trey Lance had some opportunities. But before J.J. really gets a chance to show stuff. I mean, look, perhaps perhaps that's the outcome that comes. We will all be watching that on the edge of our seats, of course. Look, Kevin, I'm not going to make you talk about this conversation. You've been living and basking the glory of Lamar Jackson all these years.

So I am going to ask you when we come back to talk about the fact that Lamar Jackson not going to be part of quarterbacks, too, Instead, possibly the most boring lineup of quarterbacks to ever be filmed for a Netflix documentary. We'll talk about that. Coming up next on this week's NFL squad, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team, every day. The NCAA tournament is here, and so is the bracket breakdown. Locked-on Podcast Network and Amazon Fire TV channels are teaming up to deliver NCAA tournament coverage like never before. Watch studio shows featuring former players and Lockdown's local experts as they guide you through every upset, buzzer-beater, and bracket matches. Yeah.

Stream it all for free on Amazon Fire TV channel. Search Bracket Breakdown to see it all for free. It's your team every day. Back now to wrap up this week's NFL squad episode with the announcement that Netflix is going to be doing another quarterback docu series following three NFL quarterbacks around the 2024 NFL season. And we are going to see all the drama that unfolds behind Jerry Goff of the Detroit Lions, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals and Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons.

Listen, no disrespect to any of these guys, but there could, I mean, the combined personality between those three guys equals Taylor Heineckee, I believe. So that's to say, I don't cover any of these quarterbacks. I'm not going to be watching this series. Sorry, Netflix. It's not my job to pump your product. Kevin Ostriker locked on Ravens, Lamar Jackson, not on this list. Is that more a Netflix decision, more a Lamar Jackson decision? And how much do you hate this lineup, or am I just off base here?

No, for Lamar, it's definitely more of a Lamar decision, I'm sure. I mean, Lamar is not one to go and do these things. He's not, you know, even media-wise. You know, he doesn't really do a ton of interviews. He's kind of more on the private side of things. So, you know, if he was approached by Netflix and has to do this, I'm sure he probably declined, which is a surprise to nobody here in Baltimore. And it kind of is what it is.

But I think you're right, David, where it's like the Joe Borough drama or whatever that would have entail would have been the Jamar-T-Higgin situation. That's already resolved. I mean, I guess you can do kind of the app. aftermath of that with Kirk Cousins, I guess the draw is will he get traded or not. But what if he's just sitting on Atlanta's bench and like nothing happens with that? And I guess they're kind of betting on him going somewhere or having a situation unfold. And then for Jared Gopp was kind of like, yeah, the lines are good.

They had a disappointing end of the season. But like, are there other storylines that you can, you can kind of forge from that? I guess there can be. I mean, I just wish they would have put a camera with George Pickens and followed him around off season like that's that's right well so Cody Cody before we went live or before we hit record I think was Cody it was either Cody or Alex mentioned or drew the connection between the last time Netflix did this quarterback docu series

and another Falcons quarterback Marcus Marriota who I love by the way I've got to know Marcus here Washington great dude super happy that he's back can't wait to see him in person again however that season did not go well for him in Atlanta and here's Kirk Cousins Atlanta I mean you know look Michael Pennix Jr if you're hearing this or agent or family or friend or someone who just has them on Twitter, do not do this, draw this series,

do not ever do the series. But I do think, you know, because I'm going pretty hard at Netflix. I think there is a point here to be made that. I was going to say, where they ever do to you, my mind.

And the teams have to agree to do it. I just like talking trash. The teams and the players have to agree to do this. So, you know, just because your favorite quarterback isn't on here, doesn't necessarily because like Jane Daniels, there's no way,

even if they asked, no way he was going to do this either. So, you know, there's a limit of who's available and who's willing. Cody, I do want to ask you this, though, of the three, and actually, let me, let me stop real quick. Did we see Jared golf on something?

Was it a hard knocks, maybe? Well, he was like mini golfing with his girlfriend. He was a man. Yeah. That was boring. Anyway, a little mini putt shack thing outside of his house. Yeah, that was more boring than unsalted popcorn. All right.

But Cody, let me ask you this. If not quarterbacks with this lineup, what else could Netflix have tried to? to do. Oh, go with cornerbacks. Go with the defensive position. I think cornerbacks are defensive linemen. Those guys have personalities. And I felt like in the cornerback game, it would have been fun for them to follow around at Sartan, Derek Stingley. Would you want to follow around Soss Gardner? I mean, obviously, I think that would have been appealing, but I would have tuned in for that because these guys talk to most trash, though. I would say Pat Sartan doesn't talk trash, really. He's really a quiet guy. But Stingley would be an energetic personality.

sauce Gardner certainly would be in that regard to. Defensive line, those guys have the best personalities, I feel like, on any team. You always have the funny guys there. I just don't finally appeal. Like, I think Joe Burrow will be great in this. I'm not really interested in hearing about Kirk Cousins. We already got to see Kirk Cousins already in this show. We got to learn a lot about Kirk.

I don't really care too much about Jared Gough. Like, what are we going to learn about Jared Gough that we don't know? Like, I understand teams have to agree to it, but there have been far, like Josh Allen. Would Josh Allen have agreed to it? Maybe. Maybe not. I know Lamar would have been a polarizing figure, but for me, it's, this just doesn't move the needle. And I understand you got to do it, but there's better options out there.

Unfortunately, not a big fan of this. And I think Joe Burrough is probably going to steal a show. But I think this will probably underperform in terms of how people view it. Yeah, I mean, I mean, Joe Burrow, especially with the bangle season going out, like to get a little bit behind the scenes with him and all that stuff. Maybe that can certainly be interesting as well. Again, the teams also have to approve what gets. aired and what does and all that so that there's that little bit of a don't paidon would never allow it uh jare golf i mean of all the white guys doing big things in

detroit he's the least of them that i want to see on my netflix screen um Alex clancy you got any other ideas for what the for Netflix could do for these series yeah tight on you baby i mean they're like the wrestlers of the NFL like the crazy part about them like george kiddle does it with a smile because he's so good at football like there's a there's a confidence there that's not cocky it's not he's a child playing football and it's the craziest thing like you think even in years past with gromk and jimmy graham at his height like high end is like it's the most the specimen you need to be to play tight end in the NFL you're you're an NBA player you know who's playing football and you're getting tackled by or trying to be

tackled by very large men so i would say that i mean and with kirk cousins it's like it's like getting sam bradford on with his over this over you know sized uniform and you know shoulder pads at Thor War. Like he never got that right. It's like, I don't get it. I don't get it. But yeah, I think tight end would be super fun. I would love to see Saw. Marlon Humphrey, all those guys that like, because I think there's real rivalry between those guys. Like the brotherhood of the tight end is there, wide receiver. There's no rivalries anymore really. But with CB, it's who CB1. And I think that would have been fascinating to fall around all those guys too. Yeah, and you mentioned Kittle. I mean, Kittle was on the Netflix receiver series. Yeah. I would love to see Kittle again.

Like do a tight end you Netflix and bring Kittle back on. Honestly, you use the same footage again. I wouldn't even care. I would still watch it. Like that was just entertaining, man. How would the other tight ends be though? Like Kelsey would obviously be one. But yeah.

I mean, I would love like from like a set of metal sample like Zach Ertz, like the redemption story and all that stuff. Like I don't know how, you know, but like I don't know if the general NFL audience would love that as much. There is certainly tight ends around there that you could, you could follow around. Like there, like they're like, There is more star power in the tight end group than there's been.

I mean, Travis Swift. I mean, Travis Swift is a well-known player there in Kansas City. Mike DeBate, you got any ideas here? Where should Netflix pivot? I mean, this quarterback thing is happening, but where should they pivot if they could pivot? I kind of like Alex's thought process of going with Titan. You look, I covered Rob up here for a number of years. Rob Gruncowski is a reality TV show.

Anybody that's been around him knows that just take a camera, follow that guy around. You're going to find that. And I do think there are personalities in this league that can step into that. But you want to get guys that are flamboyant. You want that opportunity to tune in week after week to pigeonhole yourself into a positional group could be problematic. I think if you're going to do that, Cody makes the best suggestion. I think cornerbacks right now are very intriguing.

Look, not to play the homer card once again, but Christian Gonzalez doesn't get a whole lot of press for being the type of cornerback that would be must-see TV. I can tell you from speaking. the other corners throughout the league. A lot of trash talking that comes out of Christian's mouth. You don't expect it, but it's sneaky. And something like that could be intriguing for fans that don't get a chance to see these guys interact and really that rivalry back and forth.

So anything that shows off, any bitterness in the NFL, I think would be must-see TV. They've got to play the bitter card in order to be able to draw people in. I don't see this quarterback's two class doing that. Joe Burrow, like you said, can put on a master class in terms of quarterback play. but I don't see that from the other two right now. I don't think this is going to do as well as Netflix is hoping right now. Yeah, look, usually you hear Omaha and good things happen afterwards. This time I'm afraid it's probably going to be a big swing and a miss.

But this episode of NFL squad has been a lot of fun. So thank you all for joining us here for this week's NFL squad. We will be here each week. So make sure that you're following along and coming back for all of the wild fun happening around the national football league. And of course, follow every single person you see and here in this episode because we are all part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, bringing you coverage of all of these teams every single day, five days a week, all part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day.