Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Fridays with Fox: Patriots Free Agency and QB Talk - 1/24/2020

Episode Date: January 24, 2020

It is Free Agent Friday here on Locked On Patriots. Joining host Mike D’Abate is FS1’s Tanya Ray Fox. They discuss the future of Devin McCourty in Foxboro, settle the Brady/Jimmy G debate (Hint: The Patriots made the right decision) and tell us why Eli Manning’s Hall of Fame hopes might be tied directly to the New England Patriots.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful! It's Friday and Locked On Patriots is back! That's right folks, the return of your daily home for news, notes, and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. I am Mike DeBate, your host of Locked On Patriots, which of course is a part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Please feel free to reach out to me on Twitter and follow me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And of course, throughout your travels of the Twitterverse, be sure to follow Locked On Patriots as well at LO underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, we have an action-packed Friday episode here, and I have no doubt about it

that you'll be enjoying this one. Fridays are typically a great day for fun, friends, and free agent talk. And today on Locked On Patriots, my guest is the ideal representation of all three. And if that wasn't enough, the alliteration is off the charts amazing. Football, free agency, Friday, fun, friends, and Fox, as in Tanya Ray Fox of FS1 and the Almost Shameless podcast. Tanya is a great friend of mine, and I am honored to have her on the show today. And we will be discussing Patriots free agency, particularly someone on the defensive side of

the ball that Tanya and I consider to be the most important Patriots free agent, not named Tom Brady. Speaking of Brady, we'll talk a little bit about Tom, including a little on Jimmy Garoppolo as well in light of Super Bowl 54. And believe it or not, folks, we'll even delve into Eli Manning a little bit and how his Hall of Fame candidacy might just be tied directly to your New England Patriots. So sit tight, folks. A lot to get to here on this Friday episode. As always, I sincerely hope that you enjoy today's podcast.

And before we move on with today's show, I just wanted to take a moment to apologize for the absence of Locked On Patriots yesterday. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we had to take a one day hiatus. I assure you all is a okay with me and the show. Sometimes things beyond your control have a way of altering your plans a little bit. But that being said, we are back here today. We won't dwell on the past. Focus on the present and the future.

As Bill Belichick would say, folks, it is what it is. We're on a Cincinnati. Okay, not literally, but you know what I mean. And in that spirit, I will be welcoming in Tanya in just a moment. However, there are a couple of news items that I wanted to address first. And I start with news that broke Wednesday evening out of Nashville, Tennessee, and that involves Patriots cornerback Juwan Williams, who was arrested last Friday on January 17th on drug possession charges. Now, according to a report from WTVF in Nashville, a highway patrol officer allegedly found an unnamed controlled substance, prescription drugs, and drug paraphernalia in Williams' vehicle during a traffic stop that occurred last Friday.

Apparently, Williams was being stopped for speeding, and a search of the car revealed this paraphernalia. As of the date and time of the recording of this podcast on Friday, not much more information is known on this, folks. The Patriots have yet to issue an official statement. The only comment that they've made on the matter is that they are, quote, aware of the situation and that they would not be commenting any further. And once again, folks, for the second time in as many weeks, the Patriots find themselves with a player that's in a less than ideal situation. You recall a couple of weeks ago, Julian Edelman was arrested in Beverly Hills, California, when he jumped on the hood of a Mercedes-Benz.

But Williams' charges are a bit more problematic. Leaving the legal aspect aside out of this, it involves drugs, which means the NFL's substance abuse policy. And that could come into play here, folks. It's something that the Patriots will definitely monitor. But I've heard a lot of people come out and say, well, this means Williams is absolutely going to be jettisoned from the team. I'd be cautious to say something like that. First of all, and most importantly, we don't know all of the facts yet. I'm aware that we do have the police report, and it doesn't sound good,

but without all of the facts on the case, it's simply difficult to offer an informed opinion. Probably the reason why the Patriots haven't made an official comment as of yet. But the other reason why I think it's reckless to assume that Williams is simply going to be out of a job here is because the Patriots invested a lot of draft capital and they see a lot of promise in Williams. Patriots selected him in the second round of the 2019 draft out of Vanderbilt. By all accounts, this is a guy they targeted and they even traded up to get him. Williams appeared in 10 games this year as a rookie, including one postseason game. He played primarily on special teams, but he did play 80 snaps as a reserve defensive back. It is true, he found himself on the inactive list more than a couple of times this season, but don't let that throw you. When everyone was healthy, the Patriots had a loaded secondary and there were only so many snaps and spots to go around. Also, Bill Belichick is very

well known for not putting his rookies into situations that he feels could damage them long term. He redshirts them an awful lot, and Williams is one of those players that can definitely benefit from some observation. If this situation legally progresses as the charges suggest, and Williams is in fact guilty, it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility that he might end up being released, but to automatically assume that based on just one report is probably not the best way to look at this situation. However, as more information becomes available, I will definitely do my due diligence to make sure that you're informed with

the latest. And lastly, before I welcome Tanya in today, I did want to take just a moment to address the situation surrounding Antonio Brown. And I'm sure you all know the details of what he's being charged with, his decision to comply with an arrest warrant and go before a judge for a bond hearing. And this all took place Friday morning. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed before this situation, which is already pretty dicey, escalated into something that was even more disturbing and possibly even tragic. There are some that'll point to this situation and maybe even try to make a cheap joke out of it. Bottom line, folks, there's nothing funny about this.

It's been obvious for quite some time that Antonio does have some deeply rooted problems. Perhaps this arrest gives him the opportunity to finally get the help he truly needs. He is certainly not a perfect human being, and he's made his mistakes. A lot of what he's gone through is self-inflicted, but to me it's also clearly obvious that Antonio's behavior is indicative of much more serious factors than simply just bad decision making. For the sake of both he and his family, I truly hope this is the first step in him being able to build towards a healthier and more productive future. And that being said, folks, it's just about time to welcome in Tonya Rae Fox for this Friday episode of Locked on Patriots. However, before I do so, I have a question for you. Yes, you, listening out there. Are you the

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You play, you win, you get paid. Few people in any realm of today's media whether it be sports media social media folks any media can tell combine the spot on insight with razor sharp wit than my guest today you know her great work from platforms such as usa today nfl network nbc spots boston that's just to name a few she is currently doing amazing work for f1, and next week, just in time for Super Bowl 54, she will relaunch the Almost Shameless podcast, which I wholeheartedly

recommend in advance without hesitation, and maybe, just maybe, folks, we'll get that Twitter verification for her because she deserves it and she needs it. It's right. It's just. It's what should happen. You guessed it, folks. My friend, the incomparable Tanya Rae Fox is back here on Locked On Patriots.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you so much for having me. The crusade to eventually get me verified will eventually, if it ever happens, I am not kidding. The first person I'm sending a thank you gift card to is you, Mike. Truly. We are in this together at this point. But, yes, it is a very exciting time.

Absolutely. It's a labor of love. It's a crusade that I fight honestly. And I tell you that not just because you're a personal friend of mine, but because it just needs to happen. Folks, hashtag verify TRF. Get it viral. Get it out there. Good weekend. There'sf get it viral get it out there good weekend

there's no football that you have to worry about this weekend yes i know what's going on so there's no football no i'm only kidding i shouldn't say that there is a football game but it's a perfect time to be able to do it especially in time for super bowl week and uh there is a lot to talk about when it comes to our new england patriots And we will get into that a little bit here on the show today, Tanya. But first, I wanted to start with a subject that is a little painful for Patriots fans to bring up. And that is Eli Manning, quarterback of the New York Giants, announcing his retirement today. Stellar career. But, of course, we know that he played his entire career with the

Giants he has two Super Bowl championships but we know those Super Bowl championships all too well here in New England and once again the question of whether or not he's a Hall of Famer is becoming a hot topic I've gone on record by saying that I believe that Eli is worthy of induction but a lot of the reason why I feel that way is not only because of the runs that he went on to get those Super Bowl titles, but also who he beat to get them. And yes, folks, I'm talking about your New England Patriots. Tanya, you had a great thread on Twitter this week that outlined your thoughts on this. And you have a little bit of a differing opinion. And I think that you make an amazing argument for it

but playing devil's advocate to that argument i do believe he is likely to get in and based on that do you believe that his candidacy either should be or would be aided by the fact that both of his super bowl titles came at the expense of tom brady and the New England Patriots? I think that it is 95% of his argument. I think that when everybody goes back and looks at those accomplishments, it's beating the Patriots twice, taking two of those titles away from them, that really puts him over the top. Of course, winning two Super Bowls starts to put you in any conversation. And, you know, there are very few quarterbacks who've won two Super Bowls who don't eventually have Hall of Fame careers because one normally begets the other, right? Normally, if you're

playing in two Super Bowls, you're on a good team and good teams generally have good quarterbacks. So, of course, there's a correlation there. I look at Eli Manning's career as a bit of an anomaly in the sense that those two runs were extraordinary. He was excellent. He did what he had to do in the postseason. And I think we should always consider that to be, that should, that's, those are flashes of greatness. But the sustained excellence really isn't there. And even in the postseason, you know, those were really his only two runs, two years. And when you look at it, Mike, listen, they played in the Patriots played in nine Super Bowls in 18 years. If you went to the Super Bowl from the NFC, you had a 50 percent chance of playing the Patriots over that span of time.

OK, Eli didn't control his own destiny in any way there. He was handed the opportunity to play the Patriots twice. They were both very close games and he made some really good clutch plays that helped his team win. But I think we give a little too much credit to Eli, you know, for beating the Patriots when that really, he, that was just circumstance that, that he was put into. And it, you know, and he had these teams that were built sort of particularly to play the Patriots well, that was great, you know, and, and he took advantage of those opportunities. But when you look at the hall of fame and you see who his bust might be next to these players that really revolutionized the game in some way, or elevated it in some way, or set a standard, he never did that. And I guess

that that's what would bother me, is to see him next to Brady and Breeze and Rodgers and his brother. These people who at points in time have just been like, who is this player and where did they come from? Yeah, I think a lot of it, first of all, and I think you make great points. And again, I do encourage you all to check out the Twitter thread because Tanya really lays out her case statistically. You know, logistically, all of that is laid out quite nicely. And I do agree with a lot of what you said, especially when it comes to the legacy that Eli Manning leaves behind. And a lot of it is based on his last name. And I do understand that he did play in the shadow of his brother.

I understand that that can't be something that's held against him. But I also think in this circumstance, it can't aid a player. When you look at the type of maybe hindsight 2020, maybe being a little bit romanticized when it comes to Eli. I think it's a product of the time in which we live, to be honest with you as well, my friend, because I think a lot of what you see is a media creation. And I don't say that the media propped him up to a point where he doesn't deserve any praise for what he did.

But I think a lot of the coverage of the athletes that we that we see today maybe influence a little more of how we see them when it comes to hindsight than really just basing it off of purely on uh what we've the accomplishments that we've seen on the field i think a lot of those come into play and again i think that's one of the reasons why he will be enshrined but you make definitely an interesting argument with a 117 and 117 record on and off. It is, you know, questionable, to say the least, to put him in that pantheon of players like you mentioned. Brady, Breeze, Rogers, Montana, his brother, you know, Peyton, Marino, those types of guys that really revolutionized the position and how they've played. So we'll see what happens.

But ultimately, he did definitely take away two Super Bowl titles from the New England Patriots. And the fans up here in New England will never forgive him for that, I assure you. I mean, that's the big part of it, right? Like, that is really, for Patriots fans, it's almost like because we sort of had to live through it, we almost, it makes us feel better to think oh Eli's a hall of famer you know like it our pain is somehow released by the idea that he was an all-time great and maybe not just a guy who took advantage of some circumstances that you know there's something about the the nature of humanity that wants people who beat us to be winners.

And I think that that applies to Eli in that way. And I mean, when you look at the other, the only other quarterback to beat the Patriots in the Superbowl was Nick Foles, who had a real Eli type run in the playoffs. There's like, it's like,

all right, well, this is just the type of guy that beats the Patriots. We can handle that, you know, but to think that he met, he might've just been a guy. It goes against the idea that there's something special about the Super Bowl. And that's something that writers really reject as well. I mean, you look at a guy like LeGarrette

Blount, who plays a skill position and was an incredibly important part of two back-to-back Super Bowl runs, one for the Patriots, one for the Eagles. And you think, you know, I don't think that those teams could have won those titles without the contributions that he made. And this is a guy, this is a skilled position guy, he's a big part of the offense. Two Super Bowls really only ever matters if you're a quarterback, which I think is also a little bit of an issue when you have a team that's not – if the team isn't 100% based on the passing game, then you can't give the quarterback 100% credit of the Super Bowl when we don't do that for other skill positions.

As always, Tanya, it's all never about the past too much for long here in New England. It's usually about the present and the future. And we have a segment here on Locked On Patriots called Free Agent Friday, and we are going to highlight, with your permission, I'm going to ask you to highlight and help us out a little bit here to talk about one of the key free agents that the Patriots have out there. And look, we've talked ad nauseum about Tom Brady here on this program. You know we're going to get into Brady a little bit here, but one person that I look at, if Brady is free agent priority one, and I think there's no argument on that, this guy I'm putting as free agent priority 1A. That's how much high regard I hold him,

and I know you do as well from your time covering the team, and that's Devin McCourty. Devin is such a key component of that defense, and the team as a whole, on the field and off the field. I believe re-signing him is a must for the Patriots. But we know that the Pats take a very business-like approach to free agency. And Devin's age and his salary could be a concern here. With Devin's agent earlier this week taking to the microphone and saying that retirement wasn't an option, Devin plans to play, it appears that he's suiting up and he's going to be ready to play in 2020 in your opinion do you believe Devin will be back in New England

and what might it take to get that contract done to make sure that Devin plays in New England maybe even finishes his career in Foxborough so this is the free agent that I'm most nervous about because the secondary has been so deep and they have done such a good job of creating a large group of players that have been able to come in. They do have the, you know, the cornerback situation's pretty good. Obviously, safety is a little bit different, but this is an area of the defense that Belichick really shines at, right? You know, if you were to trust him with one group, you know, right now with the way that this roster is constituted,

the secondary is, you know, is really where we feel like, okay, I think regardless of how the roster looks next year, we're going to agree the backs are going to look good. So it makes me nervous, number one, because Devin is he's very smart. He knows what it takes to set himself up after playing. You know, he's going to be looking forward to like what is life going to look like when I am retired and when I can no longer do this, when my body does break down. So financially, that is going to be a consideration for him. And I have no doubt in my mind,

based on everything I know about Devin, that he wants to finish his career in New England. But, I mean, he's not in a Tom Brady situation where, like, a significantly lower contract is really palatable for him. I mean, he needs to really consider what another team might pay him with his experience and his knowledge and his physical ability, and he's still an excellent player.

To me, he's the guy on the roster right now that other teams would want the most. So if I were to say of all the key you know, the key free agents that they're looking to bring back in my eyes, he's the most likely to leave only because I don't think that Belichick is going to look at that situation and say, this is worth the kind of money that he could get elsewhere. That's interesting. And that's like, I think a very good point and something that maybe in my rose colored glasses and looking at it and having, you know, been able to be around Devin and know exactly how much he means to this team. I think that's probably why I labeled him as a must for a re-signing. First of all, Devin's coming off of, I think, arguably his most productive season as a New England Patriot. He's been, he was so key in terms of what they did this year, was, you know,

an interception machine, excuse me, when it comes to his ability to play in the secondary. His ability to keep that secondary together and almost be like the quarterback of the defense in tandem with a guy like Dante Hightower, I think it makes him invaluable. And so that's one of the reasons why I looked at him as a mustary signing. But again, we did touch upon that, and I think you expounded upon that so well, in that the Patriots do take a no-nonsense type approach to free agency. And the secondary is an area where they are very deep, particularly at the safety position. Even when you look at a guy like Terrence Brooks, or maybe even a guy like Juwan Williams,

who had his issues earlier on this week as well but you take a look at somebody that could be a hybrid don't forget Devin was a cornerback when he was drafted he he melded into a safety so it's not and one of the best in the league so it's not out of the question that Bill could be looking at one of the young guys on this roster and saying well maybe we could do the same thing for a fraction of the price especially if the Brady contract negotiations tend to get a little dicey in that regard as well. So, again, you always give us things to watch for and things to look for, Tanya, and your candor is something that I admire most about you.

Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail. I know we'd all love to see Devin back this year. Oh, absolutely. I think that it's good that Patriots fans see that maybe this is not the slam dunk everybody hopes it is. And at least it weighs the table and the groundwork for something if he chose if he did does indeed choose to seek employment elsewhere for 2020. Last but not least, my friend, you know that there is a Super Bowl to be played in just over a week's time and it's amazing that the New England Patriots are not a part of it first time in four years they will not be a participant in the Super Bowl but there is an old friend that's going to be taking

snaps in that game and that is Jimmy Garoppolo and the he and the San Francisco 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs now this has led to some to kind of indulge, I guess, in what I'm calling the take of the moment, and that is that the Patriots made the wrong choice in keeping Tom and trading Jimmy. Despite the fact that they've gone to two Super Bowls, they've won one since Jimmy was traded in 2017, but with Tom's status with the Pats at least in question,

and with the upcoming season looming large large it's a little bit of a different question but i i hope you understand where my context is coming from and asking you this do you believe first of all do you believe the patriots made the right decision there and second if in fact the scenario that the patriots fans are probably most frightful of and that is if jimmy wins a super bowl this year with the 49ers and tom does indeed leave new england and heads elsewhere do you think that would change your opinion one way or another as to whether or not the patriots did make the right decision in 2017 by hanging on to tom and trading jimmy i cannot stress this enough to you, Mike. There is no single part of me that regrets anything about Jimmy Garoppolo leaving and Tom Brady staying. spoiled Patriots fan, that there are people who believe that they should have moved on from Tom

and stuck with Jimmy based specifically on this situation. First of all, you have to remember that in this hypothetical scenario where they let Tom go and keep Jimmy Garoppolo, they have to re-sign Jimmy Garoppolo because he was entering, you know, a part of his career contract where he would have had to be renegotiated anyway. So now all of a sudden you're looking at, are you okay with paying the kind of money that Jimmy Garoppolo was making in San Francisco? I don't know if Belichick would have paid him that much or if Jimmy would have, like, taken the hometown discount to play on a title team. I don't know. But that's part of that as well. And then you have to believe that he could have led them and won the Super Bowl last year.

Because you don't trade a title. No matter how many titles you have, you never, ever, ever trade a title for the possibility of two titles. That is absolutely insane talk. And I cannot abide by it. The Kansas City Chiefs are in the Super Bowl for the first time in 50 years. There is a chance that the Patriots don't get to the Super Bowl last year, or they don't win the Super Bowl, and then they never win another one in most of these people's lifetimes. You take the titles that you can get and you take them from the person who's taken you there eight times before that. I just, I truly cannot understand this. First of all, do you know where Jimmy Garoppolo came? He came from Bill Belichick who drafted him. Jacoby Brissett came from Bill Belichick who drafted him. These are guys in the league with

starting opportunities and starting in the Super Bowl. Bill Belichick who drafted him. These are guys in the league with starting opportunities and starting in the Super Bowl. Bill Belichick can find another quarterback if we give him a chance. And if he can't, then guess what? We just had the greatest 20 years of being a football fan that anybody's ever had. I'm just tired of it. So if Jimmy Garoppolo

wins a Super Bowl this year, all that does to me as a Patriots fan is say, all right, Bill, who do you got in your back pocket? Who do you got in this draft? Let's see who we can get. And I think you absolutely hit the nail right on the head. First of all, I'm so glad that you brought that wisdom in council.

These are points that I've been trying to make here on Locked On Patriots for the last couple of weeks and telling people, don't be afraid to root for Jimmy Garoppolo in this game. There's nothing wrong with that, folks. You can, if that's your rooting interest. If you want to root for the Kansas City Chiefs, that's absolutely your prerogative as well. But I know a lot of Patriots fans are coming back, and this is feedback that I've heard here on Locked On. Oh, I don't really want to see him win it just because I don't want to hear the talk

show fodder. And I think a lot of that comes from the fact that people want to play into insecurities. And I think that's exactly what happened. I think any logical and level-headed approach to this argument is exactly the point that you made. You never trade a title. You never assume that a title can be won in another fashion other than take Tom off of this team last year and put Jimmy in place I don't necessarily know if they are able to win that and you know that's something that I think Bill Belichick realized and look our mutual good friend Tom Curran hit the nail on the head several times on this argument it was simply about the fact that the Patriots could not offer

Jimmy what he really wanted which was playing time and they weren't going to commit that type of money to a backup. It just wasn't a feasible option to keep both of these guys on the team. They made the decision. They went with the right decision. And I don't think anything that happens in Super Bowl 54 is going to change that. So I thank you for lending that counsel and helping my argument look a little bit better. Of course, I perused your Twitter timeline. I kind of knew how you were going to answer that.

But in any case, you definitely didn't disappoint. And you added some things in that I'm glad that you did because I wasn't prepared for a couple of them. And I'm glad that you added those in. So before I let you go, my friend, I did say last but not least but before i let you go i gotta ask everybody this question that comes on this show because obviously it's the question of the day and i wouldn't be doing my job percentage one way or another does tom brady take his snaps into england next year when the 2020 season begins i am now at 90 yes yeah and i am i am as as well. I'm starting to wonder where the hell he would go. I really, really am.

And I think he wants to stay. Absolutely. And to me, that's the question. And my executive producer here on Locked On joined me two weeks ago to this very day right on the show. And we talked about the potential of him leaving. And, look, there are some contract difficulties that have to be worked out. It's not going to be a very smooth process. They do have to work out some issues cap-wise, things of that nature,

the commitment, the time, how they're going to be able to work that out. But ultimately, I think the real question, and you hit the nail on the head, where is he going to go? Where's the best option for him to go? I've been saying this ad nauseum the last couple of weeks here and that tom is all about winning i don't think all of a sudden it's going to be about the money with him and if that's the case and he wants to win and succeed where is a better option for him to do that other than right here in new england i don't think there

is one and again that's why i definitely tip the scales in favor of him returning and i'm glad that you lend that level-headed approach. And I thank you for that, my friend, because, again, it makes me look better. So this is one of the reasons why I bring you on. Yeah, that's why I'm here. I'm just here to, you know, I'm just here to make sure everybody understands. Mike knows what's up. He's got all, he's got everything figured out.

No, I'm just kidding. But, yeah, no, we do tend to agree. I mean, we tend to agree on this stuff just because I think truly, you know, when it gets to some of this stuff, the reality is not – what we're saying is really what most people are thinking. And then there's a loud minority who are trying to shake it up. And realistically, he's not going to play for a losing team. He's not going to play for a team with a horrible owner and a horrible coach and a horrible GM. I don't think Indy is realistic for any, you know, that's a city that would like lose its mind, you know, and this is Peyton's,

that's Peyton's legacy. And I don't know if Brady wants to be mixed into that. So you really lose all these places. It just comes down. He's got to make Giselle happy. He's got to get his family settled wherever he wants them to live. They have to be able to see life after football. Then he can go to Kraft and Belichick and be like, listen, what do we got to do? That's really what it comes down to. Exactly.

And at the end of the day, I do believe cooler heads will prevail. You heard Robert Kraft say earlier this week, that's the plan to do that. Tom's hinting around. He comments on the Instagram post and saying that, you know, when they say stay, Tom, and the messages that people leave him in the snow saying that he loves you all. I really think that at the end of the day, all these sides want to come together. And that includes Bill Belichick. Ultimately, Tanya, you and I both know Bill Belichick is a pragmatist.

He's going to do what's best for the football team. And I think at the end of the day, he knows that Tom Brady is still his best option to win another Super Bowl before these things are all said and done here in New England. My friend, what can I say? On the West Coast, you get up, you share your wisdom and counsel with us here over here on the East Coast, and I couldn't thank you more. Before I let you go, please let our listeners know, again, where they can follow you. Remind them again, the verified TRF hashtag. It needs to go viral. And also, give yourself a little credit on this as

well. Folks, again, the the almost shameless podcast is about to come out and i for one cannot wait to listen to it it's going to be excellent as anything that she does so the floor is yours my friend tell our listeners a little bit about what you have on the horizon coming up yeah i am so the almost shameless podcast is launching next week during super bowl week i don't't have an exact day, but it'll happen during the week somewhere during media week. That handle is in my Twitter handle.

So I have at Tanya Ray Fox and then in my bio is the at shameless TRF. You can go follow both, follow me and follow the podcast. There's some stuff up from the podcast from before. It used to be Fox and Fallon. So we have a bunch of episodes you can go back and listen to and everything else. And then it's going to be, you know, me as a as a

solo host doing it on my own now. So there's content there, follow go through everything and then wait for the new stuff next week. My Instagram handle is in my Twitter bio, I really try to give it all there for you. Everything is there for you to go. Find me everywhere. And, yeah, and we'll look forward to next week when we get the pod going. And, you know, of course, my takes are always out there on Twitter for all to see. Engage with me. Debate me. It's truly what I live for. And, you know, in the meantime, we'll just be rooting for the Patriots to re-sign Tom Brady.

And let me be clear, guys. I just want anyone listening to understand that my mother-in-law is a Kansas City Chiefs fan, and she's been waiting for this her whole life. So I will be rooting for the Chiefs on social media, and I'm sorry. I know that hurts, but I just need the people to know. Well, in any case, you know what? The Patriots are not in it, so no one technically has a dog in the hunt. That rooting interest is yours and yours alone, my friend.

Thank you for the heads up. We appreciate that. So I encourage my listeners not to throw any type of salvos Tanya's way. She is New England Patriots born and bred. She's a big, big member of Pat's nation. And you know where her allegiances lie. So don't let that fool you. And again, definitely follow everything that she has, you know, in terms of social media, the work that she does. One of the big reasons why I bring you on is because it's so informative for our listeners to hear a fresh, candid and honest approach to everything.

I could not thank you enough for coming on here today. I look forward to the new podcast. I look forward to all the work that you do. And I look forward to having you back on here very soon. We always love having you on. And again, like I said, I could not be more appreciative. So thank you very much. And I wish you the best.

And enjoy the Super Bowl. Yes, you too, Mike. And thanks again. You killed it, as per usual. I love coming on. And we'll be talking between now and the Super Bowl. And let you too, Mike. And thanks again. You killed it as per usual. I love coming on and we'll be talking between now and the Super Bowl and, you know, let's do this together. Absolutely. Sounds like a great plan and I'm looking forward to it as well. Again, folks, Tanya Ray Fox, follow her on social media. Verify TRF is the hashtag. You need to make that viral,

folks. This is something that we feel very strongly about. But no, all kidding aside, it's because she deserves it. She is among the most knowledgeable and among the best at what she does in the business, and she deserves that recognition. So if there's any small part that I can play in helping that to get there, I am definitely honored to do so. Thanks again, my friend. Have a great weekend. Thank you, Mike.

You too. And I hope that you have enjoyed today's episode of Locked On Patriots with special guest Tanya Rae Fox here on this Friday. As a reminder, today's episode was brought to you in part by Blue Chew.

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Right now, we've got a special deal for our listeners. Visit BlueChew.com and get your first shipment free when you use our special promo code LOCKEDON. Just pay $5 shipping. Again, that's B-L-U-E-CHEW.COM, promo code LOCKEDON, to try it for free. Blue Chew is the better, cheaper, faster choice, and we thank them for sponsoring today's podcast. As for me, I will be back on Monday to bring you the latest news notes and analysis from Foxborough, including the Draft Network submission

for Mock Draft Monday. And seeing as last week was the Senior Bowl, I might just have a special guest along to give you some insight. And here's a hint, folks. He's the best in the business at giving you insight when it comes to the Senior Bowl, I might just have a special guest along to give you some insight. And here's a hint, folks. He's the best in the business at giving you insight when it comes to the Senior Bowl. Know who it is? Check it out on Monday, and I don't think you'll be disappointed. As always, please be sure to join me each and every day here on the Locked On Patriots

podcast. Subscribe and download via your preferred podcast provider. Once again, I'm Mike DeBate. I thank my friend Tanya Ra Ray Fox for her insight, wisdom, counsel, and appearance today. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Have a great weekend

everyone.