NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 20 Things We Learned from OTAs: Burrow's Belief, Chiefs' Receiver Problem, and Injury Updates Galore

Episode Date: May 20, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal and Nick Shook get you caught up on everything you need to know from OTAs around the NFL. Gregg and Nick comment on Joe Burrow's outlook on the Bengals' roster, the state of the Chiefs wide receiver room, Malik Willis and Jeff Hafley mixing into the Dolphins operations, the state of the Falcons quarterbacks room, Aaron Rodgers making a decision on his playing future and more! NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. We're the only Gregory on this show is Nick Gregory shook. That's right. Middle name reveal on May 20th as we take a look around all the news that's happening. There's a lot of news. We've got 19 things we've learned. Are you ready for another big news show, Nick Gregory shook?

I'm so excited for all 19 points. Nobody's better than you at pulling all these points together. but I hope I don't get docs now that everybody knows my middle name. Oh, sorry. Yeah, my name, like your first name, Nick is, it's a nickname that's a full name. I mean, there is no Gregory in Greg Rosenthal. There's no Nicholas in Nick Shook. It's just the more you know. We're still learning about each other. I got more syllables in my middle name than I do in my first and last name combined. How about that? We've worked together for almost decades, still learning new things about each other. But I know enough not to bring up what happened to the Cavaliers last night. So let's go to point one.

When we last left off with Rishi Rice, we taped on Tuesday, and we appreciate everyone who's been enjoying these news catchups. We're going to do these every other day roughly. And when we have some of the bigger shows, we'll drop those in as well with the ranking. So Rishie Rice, we mentioned he was going to jail for violating his probation. What we didn't know is that he also underwent a cleanup surgery on his right knee to remove loose debris that was causing inflammation. That's according to ESPN's Adam Schaefter.

That surgery is going to knock him off the field for a couple months. Now, he's going to spend one of those months in jail. It really highlights how thin this position group is. We talked about it a little bit glancingly on Tuesday's show with Patrick. But yeah, their number three receivers Taekwon Thornton. Their number two is Xavier Worthy. I don't even know who their fourth is going to be. And your county on Rishi Rice, who has not proven himself to be reliable off the field.

he had the suspension last year. And now, you know, he's spending time in jail. And the surgery, I'm sure has the chiefs a little worried shook. That gets to our second point from one of my old colleagues, Albert Breer. Could the chiefs circle back around on A.J. Brown? He threw that out there. But I don't think Albert Breer just throws that out there willy-nilly. There was believed to be some interest before.

And who knows? It could be an agent trying to drum up the market. but this is the risk for the Patriots of maybe cautiously assuming a trade is going to happen, another team could still jump in here. Like, what do you think about what Rice means to the Chiefs and maybe whether they could get involved here in the AJ Brown sweepstakes, as it were?

It's hard to define what Rashid Rice means to the Chiefs because we haven't seen much of him over the last couple of years. But the last time he was healthy and available, he was an important part of that team when they lost him a couple of seasons ago. It dealt a big blow to their offense. Now, we are also in that time, of the off season in which people like me play matchmaker and write up, you know,

like potential trades. But I don't think that's what Breer's doing here. I think that you're right. I think there's a little bit of smoke to this fire. And it's interesting because oftentimes when these trade talks happen with big names, you hear about maybe a team or two interested. And then sometimes the mystery team slides in. We don't even need the grand reveal if the chiefs are really in on it. And now they have a bigger reason to. So I would not at all be surprised if that drives up the price. And maybe he doesn't just walk directly to New England. Stefan Diggs has been sitting out there and his legal issues have apparently been taken care of. And he's been the most logical fit for a team like the Rams or the Chiefs, I think specifically,

that are certainly trying to win right now and could add some depth to their receiver group. The Chiefs getting involved in the AJ Brown sweepstakes would be incredible. Now, they are second to last in terms of cap space right now, $6 million. They still, you know, I'm not sure if that includes all the rookies that they've signed. That's some. You can always move money around. They're a team that has been trying to get a little younger. And yet, they're paying a lot of money to guys like Travis Kelsey and even Carl Loftus.

It might be tougher for them to fit in to their timeline. But I look at this team and I think, I know Patrick Bohmns is coming off a torn ACL. It's given a little 2009 Patriots vibes of a little bit of a reset year. but it's also an older team on on some level. And when you have Patrick Guam's to me, you're always win now. The AFC is wide open.

I don't think it's crazy because that roster makes a lot more sense with Rhee as the two and Xavier Worthy as the three. I don't think it would be crazy for them to go after him. No, I don't either. And I feel like the, you know,

just because they missed the playoffs last year, the window of timing is strange for them. The Patriots comparison is a good one because the Patriots are never not in the race, but they did have a bit of a reset at that time. And it feels like the chiefs don't necessarily have the time to make such a reset. So they have to kind of bridge the gap between the two. Travis Kelsey, you know, there was thoughts that he may retire.

He's back for one year. Andy Reid gets asked about retirement at the end of every season. And you have Mahomes in his prime coming off of an ACL injury. So there's got to be a sense of urgency here that could prompt something like that to get done. All right. Those are our first two points. Our third in a lot of the show today, Shook, is going to be some sound. We got 10 teams practicing around the,

League, and one of them is the Cincinnati Bengals. First time we've heard from Joe Burrow since the Bengals had quite an active offseason. We're going to listen to two different clips from Burrow and the excitement that he has entering 2026. I just think we know where we needed to be better, and we went out and aggressively made it happen. And we filled some holes that we have from years past. got better at a lot of positions. I'm the best free agent safety.

Got the best detackle in the league, in my opinion. The front office has taken a lot of heat from fans, the public, the media, and, you know, we put all that behind us. They went and made it happen with free agency. I thought the draft, obviously, we'll find out. You saw what this roster looked like in 2021, albeit you were young, but that was a Super Bowl roster. Do you think what you see right now

from this organization and in that locker room is a Super Bowl roster? I think this is the most talented roster that we've had since I've been here. I love it. Look, Joe Burroughs' happiness was kind of a running plot line. I don't think it's media created.

He's contributed to it in very meaningful ways. He wears his emotions on his sleeves. I don't think it's crazy. I know Bengals fans don't want to hear it to imagine a world where if they didn't make the moves that he liked and that this season didn't go well, that we would be talking about other teams

getting in the mix for Joe Burrow and trying to give up every possible draft pick there is to go get him next off season. So I find it compelling that he's breaking down the tape. He believes that they got Brian Cook, the best free agent safety, they got the best defensive tackle, and that this is the most talented Bengals roster

that he has ever seen. the expectations are high, Shucky. Yeah, and they are. And I'm glad you brought that up because I felt like he left somebody out when he said that the front office took a lot of heat from, you know, a number of different groups of people. Yeah. I was waiting for him to say,

and me because he wasn't like shy about the fact that he was dissatisfied with the way the defense has played over the last couple of years. And when he openly wondered whether he was like, you know, his long-term future, just thought about how long he's going to play football if he doesn't necessarily enjoy it. That was applying pressure. And now he's gotten the results. of his actions, which is, hey, go make some moves.

They added like five new starters this year. You look about Dexter Lawrence, talk about Jonathan Allen, you got Brian Cook and Buey Mafe. So that's four right there. And you've got some other guys including draft picks like Cash's Howe, who could end up in the start – well, I don't know if Cassius Howe would necessarily end up in the starting rotation, but you've got depth too. You've got more rotational depth than you had before.

So he's right. This is a very talented roster. It's a lot better than it was last year, especially in the defensive side of the ball. But now it's about going and doing it. And so it's optimism season. everybody's happy right now. That's all fine and dandy. I'm sure we're going to get, this is the best I've ever felt in my life. I've never thrown it better than I am right now from him too, if we haven't already. But it ultimately comes down to how do you produce this fall, at least now they're better

equipped than they were last year. And I think him saying the most talented roster just raises the ante here of like what are the expectations. And I do get a sense the Bengals are going to be a trendy pick. And I'm feeling it too of a team that can go far. Like why not the Bengals? Why, if not this year than when. I would push back that this is the most talented roster because on the defense, I guess I got to see it first. And that was a pretty good defense back then. But they are a mature roster to have the trio with T. Higgins and Jamar Chase in their absolute primes. And now Chase Brown in his prime. To me, it comes down to the offensive line, which was not good when they made the Super Bowl. And it's better now. But it wasn't very good a year ago. I like that they

brought back Orlando Brown on a cheap deal and they didn't string it out with Dalton Reisner, but they need to play better especially run blocking early in the season was bad and pass blocking was pretty bad throughout. But yes, high expectations for the Cincinnati Bengals. What could go wrong?

Let's go to Atlanta where we start a lot of different quarterback talk year in terms of who's getting the reps, who's not. A little bit of a surprise to start OTAs when the media went out there. So was Michael Penix already on the field, splitting reps with Tua, Tunga Vailoa.

Let's listen to Tua, I mean, to Pennix, rather, talk about the fact that now he's got another quarterback taking those reps with him. I say, I'm running my own race. You know, I can't look in another lane, you know, but at the same time, you know, we are working together, you know, that's what it's all about. Working together and helping each other, you know, finish the race. And obviously, we want to come out on top, you know, as far as this team. So like I said, man, I'm running my own race, but, you know, Tua, Trevor, they all been there, you know, for me throughout the whole rehab process that I've been going through.

And, you know, I'm going to be there for them throughout, you know, each and every day. We're out there grinding and in the meeting rooms as well. Two very distinctive throwing motions, two different body types. But when I saw that video that the Falcons posted, my first thought is just like, it's just so weird to see, you know, two lefties right next to each other, just throwing passes and including, yes, if you're watching us on YouTube, help us out, like us, subscribe, and you can see, you know, a dime from Pennix to Drake London. Get excited, Shucky. I'm excited because, look, if they have to go between one of the two quarterbacks and at the bounce from two of the penics or Pennix to two of that sort of thing, at least these receivers

won't have to adjust to a lefty as opposed to a righty. They're both Southpaws. You know what, let's just build it out even more. Kevin Stavansky, tell your front office to go make a move for your guy that you used to have in Cleveland, Dylan Gabriel. Let's get three South pause in the quarterback room. Why not? I was going to say, are they the only two lefties? There aren't many backups that are lefties either. But yeah, you could get Gabriel. He might be available more on that in a minute.

Pennick's not doing all the team drills yet. It's still a little unclear if he's going to be fully ready for training camp. But the idea here was that Tua was kind of the favorite. Might be getting all the reps in the offseason. Early signs are that's not necessarily true. In Baltimore, Snoop Huntley is getting more. reps and OTAs then expected because Lamar Jackson, despite a lot of talk and he was there at the beginning of voluntary work, not there for the start of OTAs. Jesse Minter said he was not really

concerned about that called Lamar Jackson a leader and that they've had conversations and that he will be back soon. So nothing major. I wanted to get your thoughts though, Nick, on Jesse Minter and some of the early reporting coming out from Ravens camp. Every head coach that is just starting their regime has their little wrinkles that they throw onto practice that are like, hey, here's going to be our focus. Minter's focus, and it has the playoffs in mind, his quote is, be at your best when your best is required. A lot of words there, but they're calling it like the be at your best when the best

is required competitions to end every single practice where the offense and the defense goes against each other right now because of the rules and OTAs. They can't even do football against each other. So they just have the offense and the defense going against each other with competitive planking. That was how he did it last week when the media was there. And then a competition of just who can throw the ball further

and choosing two random players between the offense and the defense. if you're curious, Elijah Surat, the rookie wide receiver, won the day for the offense by chucking that ball pretty far. What do you think about

the Jesse Minter sprinkle to how he's conducting practices? It's very collegiate of him. And if I didn't know that he came from the Harbaugh tree, I would have asked if he was from the Harbaugh tree because it's very much something that the Harbaas would do.

I think it fits like the Ravens culture, even though they moved on from John, like it's still, that's kind of their MO is to do things like that. So, I mean, obviously we're not going to see whether that produces anything until the season. But it seems like the,

and this happens, I guess, with every coach, because it's new. And everybody likes something that's new because it's sparkly and it's fresh and it's different. But the vibes that have come from Ravens' offseason activities and everything else so far has been very positive with Jesse Mentor. So, and like that includes the comments on Lamar and Lamar showing up for workouts

before he took this planned absence. Like everything is just all hunky dory in Baltimore. We'll see when it comes to the season. Yeah, I just want to throw this into the show because I, I find someone who likes to follow the NFL every day, these little differences of the head coaches and what they do. And sometimes it becomes the thing you remember most about those coaches, like Joe Judge jumping in the mud during the loose ball drill.

And we're going to talk about Jeff Hathley in a minute. I saw him getting involved with one of those tubes where he's trying to knock the ball out of the players. Like he's getting in the mix. And so this is Jesse Minner's little spin. And he talked about it afterwards too, of just that the focus for them is playing better when it really matters. And I think it's not a pointed remark

about how the past has been in Baltimore, but they have not closed their seasons how they wanted to. Speaking of quarterbacks at OTAs, getting their work in, Josh Allen, just wanted to note fully practicing at OTAs. He had a foot procedure. This offseason, they said it wasn't going to set them back too far,

and it hasn't. So he's out there practicing. And one of the players that he is throwing the ball to, this is our eighth point, by the way, if you're keeping track at home, is Keon Coleman. Nick Shook wrote a whole article about Keon Coleman and his statements on Tuesday.

Let's listen to his back and forth with the Bills reporters. How do you assess last season and how things went last season for you? Uh, I'm getting benched for a four games or anything like that. unacceptable. Ended off on a decent note.

We had a touchdown. So that was, I wouldn't even call that conference booths. It was just a positive to end the season on, but we lost. So it was another negative to erase that. But, I mean, I don't need self-motivation. I know what I'm here to do and know what I'm capable of doing.

To be clear, he said ass. We're allowed, we're actually allowed to say that the Bill's team site, courtesy, they gave us that video. and we appreciate them. Your thoughts on Keon Coleman entering this season. I was glad that he said what we all already thought

and what I may be working on, which is that it is a make or break season for him. This is going into year three, this is the 33rd overall pick a few years ago who has not lived up to the expectation of a number one receiver. A guy who just disappeared from the game plan, healthy scratches over multiple weeks last season.

There was a period in which it seemed like they refused to run him inside the numbers. He just hasn't been the guy that they thought he would be when they moved on from Stefan Diggs. Those are big shoes to fill, but he hasn't come anywhere close. And this is a team that's consistently had receiver problems

over the last few years, basically since they moved on from Diggs. Even going to the playoffs last year was, well, all of our receivers are hurt. And Brandon Cooks is our best guy. Leon Coleman needs to be your best guy. And he needs to do that this year, or else he's probably going to be looking for a new home

and a much lower salary than he would like. I mean, that sounds great. I got breaking news for you, Shook. He's not going to be their best guy. Yeah, there's no reason to think he's going to be better than DJ Moore and Cleo Shook. here. I will take a slightly better version of rookie Keon Coleman, just helping out as the best guy maybe in that X spot on the outside as a role player. But maybe you may be. Maybe you think he can be

better. Maybe you do. That's why he says it's make or break for him though. From his perspective, he needs to be significantly better than he was over the last. In two years combined, he has less than a thousand receiving yards. Now he's actually racked up a good amount of touchdowns given the fact that he hasn't broken a thousand receiving yards. But from his perspective, if he's going to actually maximize his career and his earning power, this is the make or break year. And he does have to climb up into that upper, you know, stratosphere with the bill's receivers. You know what's crazy is he broke 100 yards in that opening, you know, weak game against the Ravens. I mean, last year. And if you talk to us about like what we thought about Kean Coleman at that point,

I was excited about him. He actually had a pretty good rookie year for a 21 year old receiver. And you do worry a little bit. He tried to cite the touchdown that he had in the divisional round game against the Broncos. And I was like, oh yeah, I kind of forgot you had a touchdown there. Because what I remember is he completely bricked and dropped a wide open touchdown on one of the best plays Josh Allen made all season long earlier in that game. Now would have been called back by a holding penalty that had nothing to do with him. Eric is smiling at me, but I know he remembers that play too. No, there was there was a stretch of games where I think backed about games, Keon Coleman just had a Josh Allen missile thrown directly off his face mask.

like two or three on the goal line. He had a rough season. I have faith in Keon Coleman. I really do. I know I put fun at him in an episode a couple months ago. Okay. But I have faith in Keonanong. Good.

All right, Joe Brady. All right. All right, Brandon Bean. We'll see. I have faith in him to be what I said, which would be like the third most important wide receiver on that roster. And maybe the fourth most important pass catcher

with Dalton Kincaid. Who knows? Even James Cook getting in the mix. But providing an important role as a guy who's going to help out in the red zone. Get 650 yards. Just just be better. So that's our eighth point.

Number nine is a quick one. Justin Herbert, not at OTAs. If we're going to keep mentioning like, oh, Lamar Jackson's not there, just happened to note that Justin Herbert has not been at OTAs the last two weeks when the media was there. What is he taping too many music videos with his girlfriend?

He's gone all Hollywood. Justin Herbert. Let's go to Cleveland where Deshaun Watson first up in drills. We don't need to linger on this. It's just the day the media is there. but Shadur Sanders over on the side field with the second team while Deshawn Watson is first up in drills.

The drumbeat continues that this could be Deshaun Watson's job. Get those tinfoil hats out. Shador fans, because you're just going to say he's getting sabotaged again being on the side field with the second team. Todd Munkin was asked after practice today

whether he saw a favorite in the quarterback battle so far and he said no. So we're far away from that, but I'm telling you they're laying the groundwork for Deshaun to be their starter. as if the calves blowing a 22 point lead with seven and a half minutes

remaining do you understand how much pain I was in last night and this morning we're just going to just twist the knife deeper I'm a jerk

but as you told me that shows that we are you know really close that's your love language yeah we're boys ultimately that we can feel comfortable enough about I can imagine a fraction

of the pain just even a fraction just just call it time out, please. Because honestly, I'm not a Knicks fan. I'm rooting for the Cavs here. And I had turned it off thinking that game's over. And then I, and I

think I saw about three and a half minutes left. It's getting closer. And it pained me to watch that. So I can only imagine. Why do we do this? You have not been, you haven't been seasoned by Cleveland Heartbreak like I have. I was never comfortable. And then it all fell apart and I saw it all coming. It was like a car crash that you knew was coming, but you couldn't stop. It does

make you wonder, because I was talking about this with my beautiful wife last night. that it really hurt when the Celtics lost and everything but I was just thinking how much more pleasant the last three weeks have been compared to like a normal May that like, oh let's just check

just check out the Cavs game Knicks game for like a little bit and then let's switch over to the Dodgers for a nice May game I'm just I'm happier so what are we doing here? Throne of ease. I'm Luke Wilson.

Join me each week for film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL I've had a lot of my mind and now got my own show to have retired a lazy, takes. If you want honest conversations, join us each week. Film Never Lies, available on all TSN platforms in the IHeart Radio app. Browns, Quinchot-Junkins, part of team drills. I just want to throw that out there. Coming back from a important surgery, again, team drills in these OTAs, it's not real football,

it's shorts, it doesn't have, you know, the pads on or anything. But still nice to hear that Quinchon Jenkins, who I don't think is a lock to be ready for week one, is out there. That is a sign that it could be happening. Let's go to Miami where I got three different points. Number one, Jordan Brooks, Aaron Brewer, their linebacker and their center who are talked about as the weight bearing walls of the new regime. Pillars. The pillars. They gave Devon A. Chan his contract. They both want new contracts. They're working on new contracts. They are not holding out for new contracts. And both said they're happy to be. Their happy A. Chan got his money. Malik Willis also there.

First time he has spoken to the media since they traded away his number one wide receiver. I don't know who is number one wide receiver is. Willis asked about the trade of Jalen Waddle. Yeah, we've spoken to you since it happened. So what was your reaction when Jeline Waddle was traded and you wouldn't hurt him about that?

I was unfortunate for sure. To say the least, that's a really good player and I would love to play with him, but I don't know. That's above my pay grade, brother. Out of my hand. It's the brother at the end. Like, don't ask me about this, man.

That's all I can say about it. I know. You could almost hear him catch himself when he said, that's unfortunate. Like, I would have loved to throw to him. Because, of course, that's the natural reaction. And no one's going to fault him for saying that. But he's just not even used to being the starting quarterback.

And you can almost hear him thinking, like, oh, should I not even have said that? Because I got no problem with it. You know, I understand what's happening here. It's out of his pay grade. but let's help Malik Willis out, Shook. Let's get it. Top three receivers.

Top three receivers right now. Okay. There it is. I'm so glad that's clip. Keep that, please. Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert, 2-2-at-well. Yeah. That's above my pay grade too, brother.

Chris Bell, coming off a torn ACL from Louisville, I'm very intrigued by him. Probably not the early start of the season, but by the end. Caleb Douglas is a third-round receiver they took that was a, surprise to many people. We'll have the advantage of being a guy they took there. But yeah, I think it's number one receiver Devon H. Ann. Number two, tight end. It's the Greg Dulcich comeback season. Number 14 in terms of our points, we're moving pretty quickly here, is that just Jeff Halfley is the man. I like, like I said, to learn about these new coaches by hearing what they're doing for the drills at the end of the practice. Remember Mike McCarthy has his section at

end of the practice. We heard about Jesse Minter. Now we've got Jeff Haffley, who was miced up. This sound is courtesy of the Miami Dolphins. This isn't really a section. It's just giving a feel of like who he is as a coach at the end of his OTA on Tuesday. Understand the urgency guys. We don't have many of these. There's two done. These are going to go fast. We have to get better every day. You have to find a way to get better every day. And there's a lot more mental right now than there is physical. That's just the way this thing is built. right so you got to get on the tape if you need extra help you got to see your coaches tomorrow there's going to be more installs each day there's going to be more installs this is not slow you guys

understand what i'm saying so the urgency's got to build and we got to get better every single day we don't have time there's a race for that good work your effort was outstanding i can't wait to watch the film malik you got them like that malik i like is uh breaking down the team as the as the leader malik willis and that's above my pay grade better if you are great if you are great grading that speech in Madden. Like Halfley gets a grade for, you know, there's awareness and change the direction for the players. That's post-A-O-T-A speech.

What do you give? Inspiration plus one, motivation plus two, and that's it. I want an overall out of 100. I want an overall out of 100. 79. Oh, that's rude. I'm going to give him an 89.

He just gave him an agenda. It's like silly. This week. Hey, tomorrow, we're going to be more installed. Stay full. Do your homework. Get in the playbook. Authoritative.

Just seems like a guy who's comfortable in front of the room. There was some talk about Halfley of like, he might be better as a head coach than he was as a coordinator, like a guy that players want to follow. And so I think he fills that role. I liked it. It's like our shows. I'm going to give myself a lower grade. Our show on Monday, Shook, it was about 40 minutes.

It probably could have been 33, you know, 32 for a mid-May show. Let's get people in and out. Let's get people in and out. Okay, that's 14 points. We're getting all the way to 20. A nice round number. I started off saying it was going to be 19, Chuck, but we have some Aaron Rogers news that we're going to end the show with. Before that, we're going to get to point number 15.

Jackson Dart at a fan team event said something I found interesting that he believes that they will be a run first team. Don't worry about us throwing the ball all over the yard. Matt Nagy and this John Harbaugh, Giants offense, they want to run the ball first. That's the identity that they are trying to establish. To that point, Cam Skadaboo at the same event, was talking about his year,

and he said it wasn't really a successful year for him. He pointed out he had 400 yards on 100 carries in limited games. He says, when I play 17 plus games this year, it's going to be 300 carries for over 2,000 yards. What is that too high a number there, Shook? What do you think? Look, there's no knock on Arizona State Education or what kind of student Camp Scaboo was.

But math says 400 yards and 100 carries is four yards per carry. And if you multiply that by three, that's 1,200 yards, not over 2,000 yards. So that's a very high expectation. And I also like the addition of 17 plus games, as in we're going to be. be in the playoffs. Look, be optimistic. Set the goals high. Stay on the field as much as possible. That's what I need to see from them. I love that point by you, the 17 plus. I miss that entirely.

I also love it. He wasn't trying to say if you just, you know, pace it out 100 times three. I mean, you know, he's saying he was disappointed. Only four yards per carry. That's not enough for him. Now, if he could actually go, you know, between six and seven yards per carry, that that's over six and a half yards per carry if you do the math. That's one of the greatest running back seasons. Maybe, you know, the greatest of all time. That would be in terms of total yards, that would be in the top three or four all time. And you figure he gets a lot of sense of wine for that. Yeah. No, I'm saying, he's saying, I'm talking about rushing yards.

Yeah. Yeah, yards from scrimmage was also be a fantastic season for sure. he is maybe not the best indication of Arizona State's education when I've heard him talk. And yet, you know, who else graduated from Arizona State? Jordan Rodriguez. And as she did, as she's pointed out to me, like the journalism program there, great tradition. So I've learned that about the sun devils. Cronkite.

I think Scataboo is just got to get healthy for a week one. Although there's less around them than I expected. They're kind of running it back with that same group, Devin Sing. Singletary is there and Kim Skadaboo. Who am I forgetting? Third year player. Come on. Tyrone Tracy. Tyrone Tracy is there.

I like the depth there. I don't like the offensive line that much. Yeah. I don't necessarily think Scadabu even leads the team in carries, but he's just got to prove that he's healthy. While we're going around the different teams, let's just take a step back for a second. And let's talk about some league events.

We indicated Nashville could be getting the 2030 Super Bowl. My goal to stay employed until we get there. It is official now. We now know the next four Super Bowls will be L.A., Atlanta, Vegas, and Nashville. So my goal, shook, is for the two of us to be to be part of the NFL daily coverage for all four of those. That's official. The NFL owners also voted to increase the amount of international games that can be approved to 10. That would be for next season.

That does not include the Jags Wembley game, so it could be all the way up to 11. The more interesting part of this point is that they no longer allow teams to protect home games from being taken away from them for international series. In the past, they could protect a ton of games. And then the protections kept going lower and lower. And we were at the point now where teams could only protect two games. And that's the reason shook more than anything else that you're seeing better international games this year is because the home teams weren't being able to say, sorry you can't take that game from us. And now there's no protections at all.

So we might see even better international games a year from now. Yeah, we're going to see a better international slate. We're seeing a better holiday slate. The league is going very aggressive with the matchups, at least in terms of projections. For these big time stage events, which is what they do. That's how you grow the game.

I'm telling you, it's the steady march toward every team getting won at some point in the next three or four years. And it starts by putting marquee matches. Once you normalize marquee matchups overseas, then it's like a runaway train. And you can open all the doors for all the big time games. Yeah, you can't go back. And calm down. We got, that's what you're adding.

You're making an 18 game season eventually. But we've already added one game. Be generous. And you're still going to get eight home games in that season. These people are going to like that. Right. But you're still getting eight home games in that season. They only do it generally, unless you're a Jaguars fan when, when you've got the extra home

game. They're thinking about this. They're not thinking about how to properly respect Jackson Smith and Jigba. I can't believe after what Druski did at the NFL Honors making a joke about his name, which legitimately was disrespectful. And I think honors could have done a better job apologizing and making amends to that on the night instead of kind of later while everyone forgot saying something about it. The NFL sends him the offensive player of the year award.

I believe we have the graphic to it where they mean. misspell offensive player of the year. His brother tweeted about this and was quite annoyed about it. Jackson Smith and Jigba put it out on stories and just saying it's getting disrespectful at this point. Looking at it, everyone made an understandable assumption shook that they misspelled defensive player of the year, or that it was a defensive player of the year award, because it looks like it says defensive player of the year.

But it was actually somehow misspelling offensive player of the year. They essentially just changed the D in defensive player of the year to O. I mean, that's unbelievable. You work right in. You're into copy editing. I mean, what about attention to detail here, shook? Exactly. Quality control, major failure in quality control.

You're getting that thing engraved. You're telling me that's not clearing a couple of people. What are we doing, folks? I, as a former copy editor for a long time and somebody who prides himself on submitting clean copy, get it together, run a spell check. It's built in for God's sake. They, they got a, I'm shocked, actually,

that there wouldn't be more quality. Because that has to mean that only one or two people looked at that award before they put it in the post. Just the guy that made it, I presume. And then they just passed it on and gave it over to the FedEx. The effects of the great dumbdown. We're all reliant on technology.

we forget how to spell. It is crazy, too. It would have been more disrespect. It would have been insane if they had misspelled his name. It was, that's just sloppy. Obviously could have happened to any player, but the fact that it happened to Smith and Jigba was insane after the Juski thing.

I don't mind him and his brother feeling a certain type of way. Our final two points. Number 19 is Michael Pittman, who remarked just how odd it was. Yes, Michael Pittman is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's out there first day of OTAs. It's a whole new world, and there he is, catching passes from the multiple-time MVP, Aaron Rogers.

Even in, like, the first day, I mean, he made a couple of great throws, and I was like, wow, like, I'm really playing with Aaron. So it's great. I mean, I get to play with another Hall of Fame quarterback because I got to play with Philip Rivers. So I'm going to say he's going to make it. But so this is my second, so it's great. What respect?

Not just for Philip Rivers. but for all of us that do this for a living, I hate it when just the broadcaster throw out, oh, Future Hall of Fame. Pittman caught himself in the moment and wanted to explain. I'm not just throwing that out there. I believe Philip Rivers should be in.

But we welcome you, Michael Pittman. I am the self-appointed chairman of the Rivers for Canton campaign. We now have an extra five years off we didn't expect, but I will be leading the campaign in about five years. Yeah, I'm very happy. to say that I occupy a co-vice chair seat with Michael Pittman, Jr. now on this board as we get Philip Rivers to Canton. Yeah, Michael's going to have to play another five years to figure out whether that comes true. Four MVPs, by the way, for Rogers. And that's how many times that

Pittman has scored, he's caught four touchdown passes twice in his career over what we have six seasons here. 25 total. I think it would be a very successful first and probably only year with Aaron Rogers. If he clears that by one and a half to two times, if he gets to eight, which would be a career high, wildly successful run with Aaron Rogers. I knew Rogers had four, but it was just in my head that it's crazy how Tom Brady, quote, unquote, only had three. And then, you know, Rogers got four. Manning's got more than Brady. He's got five, right? And there was this graphic going around this week that annoyed Saints. fans and it was like, you know, who's

essentially the worst player out of some horrible AI image of him and Mahomes and Brady and Manning and Rogers altogether. And to me, it's kind of clearly Drew Breeze and they were like all offended that that would even be a question.

Aaron Rogers won four MVP's. What are we doing here? Yeah, yeah. Unless you're trying to say that Mahomes isn't yet better than Drew Breeze, but I'm all about peak and there's no question. It's like when they assemble like somebody sent me a graphic of like all time great quarterbacks and like

take one away, remove the worst one. My buddy was like Dan Marino and I'm like, get out of here. He was awesome too. He just didn't win any rings. No, that was what the graphic was. It was essentially take one away. I was thinking about Mahomes and his career trajectory. Is he settling into it? I was trying to think that we've never seen a career trajectory

like Mahomes. And then I thought maybe Marino if Mahomes settles into a certain sort of career. I don't think it's going to be like that, but he was the best out the gate, kind of like Marino, and now he's settling into a different career. He's achieved more. I think he's going to surpass him if he hasn't already.

But yeah, when it's all said none, I can understand that comparison. But again, like when it comes to awards, it's like basketball. Like LeBron could be the MVP every year for like 15 years, but people get tired of naming the same guy MVP, so they change it up. Our final point, number 20,

a nice round number. to put in that YouTube image. I wanted it in the image. 20 things we learned. Aaron Rogers at the podium with a little breaking news as we're taping this. You know, I thought that

that was probably it for me in Pittsburgh. But when a decision was made to hire Mike, I started opening my mind back up to coming back. Two more. Aaron, did you believe this could be your last year or do you have to think of that right now? Yes. this is it.

This is it. Definitive, Chuck. I mean, he did leave the door open last year and he did walk through that door this week. I find it fascinating that Mike McCarthy's hiring was what brought him back. Because then it leads us all to believe, it kind of confirms what we all thought

when they hired Mike McCarthy was that it was related to Aaron Rogers, at least in some regard. And now I'm very curious to see exactly what they can produce together because they did have a lot of success in Green Bay back in the day. It's just hilarious that hiring.

Mike McCarthy is what made you decide. You know what? I'm not going to retire, but I'll give it one more go. Yeah, I believe that it will be his last season. That's the most likely outcome. If close listeners to NFL Daily, you know, remember that this was a question throughout last year.

And it was an open question, whether he was going to come back or not. But if he, for some reason, played outstanding this year at age 43, then I no longer believe it. So I don't totally believe it. But that seems... When he starts getting gifts from teams every week, then we'll know it's real.

These things don't go well. I think it's really hard. I think it's oversimplifying it, but when you think of that quote, like once you're already thinking about retirement, you're already retired. These last seasons, they're tough. In almost every sport,

when you know that you're walking away, I think Tom Brady basically knew he was walking away in that last season. I think it was tough for him. it was probably his most disappointing season and he didn't play the same sort of style. I think it's got to be really tough on him. We did it. 20 points, Chuck.

What do you give our Madden score for this show? 99, the best possible. You know who's not retiring? Either of us. Okay, that's absolutely true. We got families to feed. We also got another show this week. While other shows are ranking,

the quarterbacks, like I mentioned, check out Nate Tice. Meena Kimes doing the same. We're ranking edge rushers. We're going to save the quarterbacks to later in the season. Me, Ali Connolly, ranking all the edge rushers. That's Thursday show. We will see you then. I'd say 92.

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