NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2019 Combine Coaches/GM Takeaways Part 1

Episode Date: February 27, 2019

Lucas Oil Stadium filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal are boots on the ground in Indianapolis at the NFL Combine to get the latest information from general managers and coaches around the league. The heroes break down the news including Nick Foles entering free agency, (4:55) where the Raiders stand with Derek Carr, (10:55) and the future of Josh Rosen in Arizona (14:25). Don't miss Chris Wesseling's Top 5 types of people he dislikes at the Combine! (42:00).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the NFL podcast. Pumps out so much content. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined. in a stadium filled with heroes,

Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan. Here we are, Mark. It's Groundhog Day, baby. We're back in Lucas Oil Stadium. And even to mess with the brain more, not only are we in the same stadium,

we're also in the same suite, and I believe in the same chairs, surrounded by the same people, more or less. Yeah, here in the Huntington. sweet i'm not sure uh what it is that they do but i'm sure it's a fine service it's a bank also the same security not so big on the banking industry same security outside and on our way in we we were all detained i believe or at least i was uh much like connor oar was kicked out of uh the building last year by the same man uh stopped us from coming uh to this well it's it's gregg

and west and i do not have on credentials the number eight and someone in the company uh failed to you know, provide the aid on our credential. It's another investigation that we're going to crack open and get to the bottom up. Eric, another way to look at it is I had the eight on my credential. Maybe a little sign from the company. Maybe the old Zeus or should go solo. And this should have been my show today.

You know, it's always your show, Dan. God, I love you. I'm happy to be here. I'd like to listen to that show. Let's try it. See what people think. It's a long off season. Maybe we'll all take our shots.

I love being here. I love the combine. well that's strong but i like getting on the road with you boys and having fun and you know that shrimp cocktail over at st elmos west ooh doggy all the sports writers are talking about it they changed their policy at san lamo this year now they have bruce springsteen playing the entire time in every room at a high volume uh we'll be doing that as a group on thursday that'll be fun um but today uh and tomorrow is about the press conferences that's really why we're here and a lot of coaches spoke today, a lot of GMs.

And it's interesting, Greg, when you have, we've been to this many times, though, this event, many, many times. This is 15 for me. That's about 10 too many. Seriously? Yeah. My God. Greg started coming here at age 3. It's an interesting event because you walk in there and all the risers are set up.

It's kind of like similar to opening night slash media night at the Super Bowl, only you unplug it. There's no juice to it. There's no special vibe to it. It's not on the floor of the stadium or an arena. So you remove all that accoutrema. And what you're left with is essentially just this spot where coaches and GMs can choose to further any narratives around their team if they want. And I think it's all very carefully done. And one thing I've noticed today is that it seems like the coaches, whatever, they say what they want. But the GMs are the ones really to pay attention to when it comes to like following narratives around teams yeah and personnel you could see the differences in terms of the coaches compared to the gms when it came to the quarterbacks for

arizona and the giants which we'll get into and i think that's because it's the time of year where gms are trying to not show their cards they're trying to leave every avenue open so like in the case of the cardinals and josh rosen maybe they're not as committal to him because they want people to think that they're going after a quarterback even if they aren't i don't know It's like, what do the coaches really get to decide? Which is interesting, like, if that's true, and it's possible that it's all a smoke screen. But is it, at some point, don't you want to support your guy? And we're going to get into all that.

Josh Rosen hung out to dry a little bit because now there's more headlines about, is this guy our guy? You just took him at the top 10 pick last year. I do think there is a difference though because Pat Schumer and Cliff Kingsbury have these relationships with their quarterbacks that need to be maintained and they're so important. The GM quarterback relationship, that's more business. I don't think they're as worried about that. All right.

So this is what we're going to do. We're going to go through the big headlines and takeaways from the pressers. A bunch of guys spoke today. A bunch of guys will speak tomorrow, Thursday. A few more on Friday. We'll be out of here, by then. Yeah, we don't care about the Friday, guys. Leaving on a jet plane.

But let's go through it. And then we'll do a little 8 o'clock delight. Just catch up on all the news. And then at the end of the show, we'll just share some takeaways, including Wes. I know you have something sexy planned. Well, sex is a little bit of an exaggeration. It's pure sex.

There's a lot of time. There's a lot of takeaways here. Got about your boy there, Adam Gase too. I guess I have a thought on Adam. All right, let's get into it. And let's start with, I guess, the biggest news, if you just say. What was the biggest headline, a former Super Bowl MVP? Nick Foles, a lot of speculation about what the Eagles will do,

with Nick Foles, and it was made official. Howie Roseman stood at the podium and said, we will not use the franchise tag on the quarterback, which makes him a free agent. Here is what Roseman had to say. It's hard when you have someone who's incredibly valuable to your organization at the most important position in sports, and at the same time, we've had an incredible success with him

when he's had to play. four playoff wins over the last two years great teammate a huge resource for Carson and Nate Sudfeld as well but at the same time he deserves an opportunity to lead a team it's a goal of his to lead another team and lead another locker room Mark the Eagles I saw in some circles on Twitter were being applauded for this decision but it kind of just makes sense right I think it makes sense and it is the for all the hemming and hawing you're getting these pressers where you have 15 minutes to essentially in a well-practice mode saying nothing. The Eagles gave us a concrete answer to one of the

biggest questions in the offseason right here. And it was funny because I went back to the room for a minute and Saul Roseman on ESPN saying not only is this the best quarterback out there that's available right now for team that needs one, but almost willing anyone to take them. We always thought, oh, they were going to try to keep them from the Redskins or the Giants. that all that stuff and Greg you challenged him a couple weeks ago if you're the Eagles don't be scared of where Nick Fools lands and I think this is the right decision to not take that tack and try to maneuver him to Miami or Jacksonville or some nonsense like that.

The description, Greg directly challenged that organization. I did write a column that said release, you know, let him free. Or else. Let him go to free agency. I think you legit scared that organization. I think they read it and they understood. They didn't have any options though. That's why I don't.

I give them credit that it's the right decision, but they didn't have any options. And I think they explored every option to direct him away from the Giants and the Redskins. And there was no trade market for him. They have as much cap problems as any team in the entire NFL. There's no way they could have his $25 million salary on even for a minute. And a trade market wasn't materializing. And it sure sounds like the Giants, at least, aren't going to get in on Nick Foles anyway. and that no one here, and that's kind of the big question,

can come up with a logical other team other than Jacksonville. It just seems full steam ahead to Jacksonville and Nick Folls. I mean, and the Eagles are going to get a compick for him too, which could be third or fourth. We don't know yet, but they're going to get something for him. Adam Schaefter reported, for what it's worth, that the Jaguars are the, quote, favorite to sign Nick Foles.

And again, like you're saying, it's just kind of connecting the dots right now. Right. And that's the thing was like, let's not say, okay, ooh, in this sports where there's, you know, you don't have any. loyalty or you don't like they did right by nick foals no they they had it in his contract that they picked up his option so that he had to pay them two million dollars to become a free agent

and the only reason they did all that is so that they could examine this market over the last few days see if a trade could develop and it didn't work out and that's fine it's all business but you don't need to give them any extra credit for it but they owe it they owe it to themselves to do that due deal sure that there's no offer out there that they could take i think that's fine and i think roseman put it well and he said that we had the situation where we had a top 15 quarterback on the roster and it comes down to something as simple as this they probably think cars and wince is like the seventh to 10th best quarterback in the league internally and they had the 15th best guy and they just said they had to let go one of them you let go but i agree

that they not many teams ever mark get in this situation where it's like we do have two legitimate options and they made their decision for all the good timing that happened with nick foals and the Eagles over the last seven, eight hundred days. This is the one case of it being terrible timing, because it's one of the few years we've ever covered football at all where there aren't like eight or nine teams looking for a quarterback. There's no bidding war. That's the reason they're going to let him go.

There was a, Mike Garifolo has been asking the question. How come people aren't nearly as high on foals as Kirk Cousins a year ago? And I think it's an interesting question, but I think it's because there's not as many teams looking for quarterback because to me, I think there's at least a case to be made that foals is developed late in his career and that his upside is pretty significant that he could be a pretty good starting quarterback for a while in the right system i mean kirk cousins never played games that nick foles has put up in terms of what he did in the super bowl and some of the performances that he's had in big spots well can can i answer that question for mike garrifolo

because kirk cousins has been numerically a top six or seven quarterback since he became a starter he has been durable he's been consistent and he's been that guy so that's why it doesn't surprise me at all he had more value compiler bro not this last year what do you mean he's a compiler so he kirk was a compiler in washington in my opinion and he got paid for it well they're similar what does that even mean yeah it is a wormhole he just puts up great numbers but what is he really proven in this league beyond that he can't carry injured teams to the playoffs there's similar concerns that like when you take Doug Peterson away from Nick Foles

what's going to happen and I think there's the same with Kirk Cousins in Washington and certainly his best numbers were when McVeigh and Kyle Shanahan were there or you put Nick Foles into a Jaguars offense with zero playmakers. Right. That could be a problem. Let us move on. Mike Mayock's been at this event

year after year. I've even had the blessing to many times be assigned with covering the Mike Mayock press conference which is a little unusual when you're covering a conference of ostensibly a colleague on some level, talking about draft prospects. I mean, he was our colleague like Dion Sanders is our colleague. It's like, hey, Prime, what's going on?

Want to go to the huddle? Like a thousand yards stare right through your body. Exactly. Exactly. But anyway, now he's the GM of the Oakland Raiders. And some other news that came out of today, he was pounded the table. That's his word, too. That's his phrase, right?

He used to say, pat on the table. Stand on the table. Stand on the table. He was standing on the table for down. Eric Carr, let's hear what Mike Mayock had to say about Mr. Carr. I think Derek Carr is a franchise quarterback. I truly believe that. Now, do I also believe that it's a general manager and head coach's job

to keep their eyes open to improve any position on a football team? Sure. But I think it's really difficult to try to improve over a franchise quarterback like the one we have in our building right now. Okay, you don't think he's standing on the table. I think he's hopping up and down. I think he's got his hand sort of firmly resting on the table to keep himself from falling down. All right, but that's not bad.

though. It's better than what I thought going into today. He's just sitting at the table, I feel like they're not even standing on it. I feel like everybody's reading this organization wrong when it comes to its quarterback. John Gruden and Derek Carr got off to kind of a shaky start. But every sign out of Oakland that I've seen for the past two months has been they think Derek Carr is their guy. That's fair, but I think the vast odds are that they wind up with Derek Carr, and so why not say everything you're going to say? And they probably do believe it to an extent.

But what if they fall in love with one of these? rookie prospects, they are in great position to draft one. I do think there's a backdoor open to go do what you want there. Right. For the trade that you envisioned happening, they're a car to Washington and they take a quarterback. Can we go through those terms? I think that we've burdened the listener with that already once.

It was more telling to me to hear Mayak talk about Kyler Murray and really, you could see the excitement and just saying how hard they're really trying to figure out how he fits into the NFL. It's like the Seahawks aren't trying to figure that out with. with Kyler Murray because they have their franchise quarterback. The Patriots aren't that worried. You know, maybe that's a bad example. They're not up at the top of the draft.

But other teams, if you really have your guy, you're not investing all that time trying to figure out what Kyler Murray is. And the Raiders are obviously and openly doing that. Bro, you said the Seahawks don't have a quarterback need. Do you hear Sierra likes New York? She prefers it. That was like one of those things that today, someone was like oh yeah real good quote unquote journalism in 2019 this is ridiculous they're talking

russells in new york it's like let's not paint all journalists with that brush nice all right moving on all right here's more quarterback talk and this one this one surprise me i have to say so cliff kingsberry he comes to the podium uh and he's very um well coordinated he kind of to me looked like you know when you go into like j crew and it's the full mannequin outfit And I always, I'm envious because I don't have the body type where I could, oh, let me put that on and I'll look like the mannequin guy. But that's what Cliff's bod is like. So he was wearing a full J-Crew outfit. He was wearing what?

He was wearing a Henley, unbuttoned, Greg, with the vest, jeans, matching sneakers. There's a whole look he had. That's not my point. But he did look at it. I mean, I think that probably is your point. My point is that he got behind Josh Rosen. He likes Josh Rosen. He's looking forward to it.

But then the Kime bomb comes on. Tick, tick, tick, Steve Kine. And I was very interested by what Kime said when he was asked about Josh Rosen. Again, the Cardinals have the first overall pick in the draft. Here's what Kahnbom said. It's still early in the process. We haven't even gone through a full evaluation at all the positions. So really, it's, again, too early to say.

So then he was pressed on it. Is Josh Rosen our quarterback? Yeah, he is right now, for sure. Listen, it's not like hardcore, West. It's not like it was some grand statement that he said he wants to, find somebody else but wouldn't you throw all your weight behind this kid well he's not i think this goes exactly back to what greg said it the head coach should yes and the gm owes it to himself and his organization to open as many doors as possible pry them open keep them open and see if he can

what if he can have talks with other teams about josh but shouldn't this be now kingsbury has had nothing to do with uh rosen coming to the cardals kime had everything to do with it i get that side of it, but you could also have the case that Kime, this was his boy less than a year ago, and now he's kind of leaving the door open. I was surprised. That's all. It's unique. It's rare to be in a, to have the number one pick. And I think that's when

you have to have all your doors open and keep all avenues open. I think that just makes total sense to me. And you hear, sorry, you hear over and over that Cliff Kingsbury's offense is suited much more so to Kyler Murray than Josh

Rosen. And so, if you're Kime, have to work with your new coach who you also had a big part in hiring and what if you what if there are people behind the scenes saying look at we get it we'll be loyal to josh rose and we can work with them but i'm telling you this quarterback is a better fit what happens inside the cardinals organization this top of the draft is so fascinating between them and the raiders because so much could happen kime also said i think cliffs he's not tamping down the whole cliff is an offensive genius he said i think cliff's schematic approach is going to be different than probably most of what you've ever seen in the NFL.

So he's saying he has got to do things that are a little different, and you're right, maybe Kyler Murray could fit into that, but the timing of it is all very strange. My immediate thought was, okay, maybe he's trying to do the thing where he's saying we're kind of in the market for quarterback, so that teams will trade up to number one. So they keep Josh Rosen, and they get as much value as they can out of that pick. That's what I was thinking. And they trade down to the Giants or the Jaguars or whoever, and that seems most logical. but the timing's strange because like once you get past the free agent period and

quarterbacks, aren't they kind of pot committed to Josh Rosen at that point? That's where I like, I can't imagine them trading Josh Rosen on draft weekend, but who knows? I can't. I think it's a low percentage of that, but I just think that both of those things are a little bit true where there's a fascination form within the organization and you want to keep the door open to get the best possible return if you move the pick. And it raises like a larger point. that we're just catching up to

because we don't know this draft that well that, you know, a month or two ago, people were saying, well, there's not really many great quarterbacks in this draft. Now I feel like after just being here, now we're draft experts. It's like Dwayne Haskins and Kyler Murray are expected to go in the top five or six,

both of them. And once again, at this point already, it wouldn't shock me that much if they went one, two. Like, would it shock anyone if the Giants sound like they want to go trade up for a quarterback and would another team, you know, could another team end up trading up? And those guys end up going in the top, just like all the quarterbacks do. I also wouldn't surprise me if they go 8-10 instead of 1-2.

That would. That would really surprise me at this point. No. I'll give you my house if Kyler-Murray goes outside of 10. I don't think that Kyle-Kiler-Murray is, I don't think that's a sure thing that he's going that high. Mark, you don't own any property. Well, something other than my house. Or a car.

Or my car. Let me neither do why I'm just pointing out. Why did you need to point that out on our podcast? Tell me you had to have them deliver your wardrobe box from the office to your house, which is only about a mile, because otherwise you would have been trying to fit the wardrobe box into an Uber. I don't carry it out to the street. I don't carry around $70 pound wardrobe boxes to begin with.

Right, but if you had a car, you could put it in. Why have we, what is going on in the show right now? He does have a car, but his wife uses it. Oh, okay. We have unpacked this to a degree that I am uncomfortable with. Move on to the next football topic. I appreciate you as an admitted poor driver, just try to stay off the roads at this point.

Oh, absolutely, please. That's good. Back to the Giants. So Pat Schumer, a perfect example. Pat Schumer comes up to the podium. I like having Eddie Spaghetti, by the way, you know, Damasex producer in the house because he actually laughs at our jokes.

Tim Posse never does that. She doesn't care. She's not plugged in. My mic's not on. Yeah, but we can just, he doesn't even have a mic. And I just realized there's a huge rip in my crotch. And I'm sitting in, like, I'm sitting cross-legged all. Yeah, there is.

ground and I'm just basing you guys and all I can feel is like a breeze you know okay all right a lot of information coming out it's good all right so the new york giants uh pat shirmer perfect example of what you know what's going on in these uh these interview or these pressers he says eli's going to be back we're looking forward to having eli back you know we think he he really came on at the end of the season when the team got healthy and all that uh then gettelman comes on and he's a little more me and he leaves the door open and i think this one is a little speaking eddie spaghetti was a big giant's fan this one we were talking before the show this one to me is starting to come into focus a little bit more the giants picking at six overall if they keep

eli and i know it's a punchline it's like oh they're not even giving themselves a chance the giants are a joke for sticking with this is not it's no longer like we see eli is the answer long term I think it's now looking like Eli is now the bridge guy to who's going to be the quarterback who's going to be taken in the top six. It might be six. It might be moving up to get higher to get the guy they really want. But I think all Eli is now is just a caretaker. And I don't think that's a bad idea.

If you're looking for a caretaker, Eli's not the worst guy to have in the building. So from what I'm hearing from Gettleman, that seems to be what's going to happen here on draft. He is essentially the Kurt Warner. That's exactly what Kurt Warner did for him. a latter-day Kurt Warner. And I know that one thing I like Gettelman said that was true, that there's this narrative around Eli that everyone just thinks is. Can you say in the Dave Gettlement accent?

Nobody does. I do like it's like tall quarterbacks, short quarterbacks. Quarterbacks. I don't know. But I can't do it. But like he, they love Eli, the preparer and the teacher and someone that you would. He is a good person to put with a rookie and have the guy sit. They talked about the chiefs model primarily as a success.

So you think it's in their head. Yeah. And he kept talking about what his. mentor Ernie of course he did by leaving Eli that that would be a dream for him to do the same thing and he even like painted a pick I mean he was very cessler here painted a picture he's like said I'd love to just be watch he just loved to be in Cape Cod in retirement and just watching his guy you know run the giants for years like that would give him a big source of contentment I mean he's been on the job for like two year I don't know how quickly do we he's going to retire that

quickly but well he's he's he is like 70 and just had lymphoma so yeah two really good points by Greg uh two other giants tidbits uh getleman shot shot down not that we didn't um suspect this that it was all kind of just February BS but getleman said we didn't give odell beckham junior a huge contract extension to turn around and trade them so just let's why don't we put that on the no touch list on this podcast right now on any odel trade speculation oh that's good uh and But also, Landon Collins, I'll throw it to one of you guys because I heard somebody thought it was a little saucy. Greg, it was you. Landon Collins, again, there's been a lot of speculation about what they're going to do with the former first round pick.

There was, speaking of shenanigans to talk about him empty on his locker last week. What is his future with the Giants? It's murky. Well, there were some whispers that maybe they didn't value as much as, let's say, Chris and I did when we ranked the free agents. We talked about that on the last show. And then he had this common gettelman today that when they were talking about the tag, he said, let's talk about eliminating distractions. You tag a guy and he's mad.

And that's all you guys are going to write about for six months. That's what it's going to be. So I have to say to myself, is that worth it? And that was telling to me that he was, when they asked about bringing Collins back, he was very ambivalent about it. And it made me think maybe he's just going to be a free agent. It made me think of Josh Norman. He's already been through this.

Right. To me, that's not that Landon Collins isn't good. It's that I don't want to go through the same thing I went through with... Well, it's a combination to me, because if you think he's the best safety in the league, you just would do it, I would think. But you're right. Norman caught us flat-footed. Gettleman surprised everyone by not tagging him that year and letting him go, and I guess maybe it's going to happen again. I'd be a little concern if you're avoiding the franchise tag, which gives you another year to negotiate and work on keeping this player around because of the annoyance factor of writers writing about it between. now in September. Right. I don't know.

He also, I mean, he has a way worth words. He had said something about like, if you tell a lie long enough, then you start to believe it. And he was talking about people like Wes and I believing that we're lying about Eli Manning, that we've said it so long that we've started to believe it. And then at some point, you're just entrenched in your position and you can't move off the spot, which I immediately thought, you know who can't move off the spot? Eli F. and Manning. when it was last time he avoided that's exactly what i thought talking about a guy who can't move

off a spot your quarterback can't and i like this is a lot deflecting this is a window into how that media group is so bedeviled because of dave getelman's words he stood up there for five minutes and acted like eli manning it's a false narrative he's been a bad quarterback his numbers are bad his winning percentage is bad his game films bad and he's bad and you said the media they all just laughed it up with big smiles you're saying I'm saying the New York media has been doing that for four years. They're under some delusion. I mean, you've got to read some of these articles.

Except for Jordan Raynon. Like, he's always, like, killing them with tough questions. You could tell even Gettelman was kind of just like, oh, okay, here comes the Jordan. Is Jordan again up to his old tricks? Yeah, he hates Eli. Factor hate this guy. Lastly, he'll never get a bigger scrum, Kevin Colbert, the general manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers. than he had on Wednesday and why?

Well, that's obvious. Antonio Brown is one of the biggest stories or the biggest story of the offseason. And again, there's this interesting wrinkle, Mr. Sessler, to this entire story, that Antonio Brown goes on social media, sometimes sweating profusely during a workout, and tells us how he's moving on.

It's been a great run. Here's a highlight video. Here's some copyrighted music and I'm playing with it. And then the Steelers meet with him. And the Steelers like, yeah, it is time. I think we should, you know, look into making a move to ending this relationship. But Kevin Colbert said it again today, and I believe it. Like, listen, we'll trade Antonio Brown, but if we don't get an offer that we think is fair for the value, we'll just bring

them back. And what is Antonio Brown going to do about it? He's under contract. I think it's, I think if Antonio Brown continues to poison his own market and they can't get the right value, the Steelers are better off holding on to him. And he says, He said people don't believe him, but he's saying it's a real thing. We are willing to keep this guy if we don't get the right offer. And the Steelers have put forward, I think a good front office example of not being wilting flowers with their own players. And this was an example not to tread on Wes's territory to come.

I thought of you learn almost nothing from Kevin Colbert all. But everyone's going to retweet and tweet the same stuff that we knew weeks ago. The two things I thought that I learned, number one, that they might bring them back. They've discussed that before. But two, he did say that, you know, I thought it was hands-off AFC North and throw in the Patriots because there have been reports about that

that if one of those teams came and blew them away, maybe that door would be open to trade to one of those. Do I think so? I think that's their last resort. They want NFC. They want the Packers. They want someone else. But it's another press conference

where I don't feel we learn too much about this situation. They just don't want to hand them away. They don't want to look desperate. He said he would weigh that. And there was a report that they'd prefer the NFC So basically, if a division or the Patriot... I mean, of course they would.

Isn't that logical? Right, of course they would. But if they would have to kind of make up for it. And he did point out the salary cap hit that they would take by trading. And that that plays into it, too, into the compensation that they would need to get. That he is, in his words, Antonio Brown's one of the best players in the league. And we would need compensation that reflects it. All right, gentlemen.

So that's kind of the bulky news out of Wednesday. How about some kind of takeaways, other... kind of quick hit type thoughts, Greg, get us going. I know you wrote your debrief, so you have a lot of things kicking around that old break. How about Jason Garrett? Because that was late in the day. First of all, I feel bad for him. He's going to have to answer that he's on a contract year for the rest of the year.

And he was just like, I don't think about that. Because Stephen Jones, we haven't talked about this in the podcast, said this week that we all know that Garrett needs to take, that we all need to take the next step. And that's what's reflected here. So, I mean, it is more, and they made the playoffs this year. They even won a game. So it's like they basically have to go to the Super Bowl or else Jason Garrett's getting fired, which is. The Super Bowl?

Or he said they have to take the next step and they're not giving them the contract. And he's stuck answering this awkward question. But the bigger news from it was that they're not going to cut Randy Gregory. And he also made it pretty clear that Sean Lee is going to have a future with that team. It sounds like Sean Lee's going to take a big pay cut and kind of be like the veteran guy who just stays around. And Randy Gregory, I don't think. we talked about this on the last show. Oh, that's right.

It happened since then. He violated, well, there was a report going into last season that he had a violation of the substance abuse policy. And now it's come out that he's facing indefinite suspension. Which is huge because they're going to lose David Irving, likely in free agency, Gregory. I mean. DeMarcus Lawrence, they got to get that. Lawrence, who also had that suspension, you would think is not going anywhere. I'll throw out a takeaway there.

Where do I want to go? So many options. Gunti, Brian, Guntikuntz, the GM of the Packers. There was a lot of West. This was something that was grinding your gears last season with Mike McCarthy and the Packers' offense. Why isn't Aaron Jones have a definitive role? Why does he disappear from the game plan?

Why is he sharing touches with inferior players? Well, the Packers have an issue with his conditioning. And they said, Guna Khan said today, that needs to improve. Sheds a little light potentially on the situation with his usage. No, I've always liked Aaron Jones, but I always understood why he didn't get more playing time. And it's not just the conditioning. It's that he's not really good in the passing game. And that's a big part of playing running back in the NFL.

But he's clearly, by far, their best runner. I want to set you up, Wes, on your top five list at the end of the show. Do you have any other takeaways besides that? I do. If not for the uniforms, I'd be pretty excited for the Bruce Ariens in Tampa Bay. He said that going into a job, This is the best collection of skill players he's ever seen on a roster going into any of the places he's been to. And I think we were saying that throughout last season when Ryan Fitzpatrick was going nuts early in the year that they have so much talent.

They had a good play caller last year. But I think they also have a little bit more talent on defense than people think. And they just had a lot of injuries last year. Do you buy it in, bro? I'm not going to buy into James Winston, but I'm buying into the Buccaneers. They can also change those uniforms pretty soon. hopefully yeah i i had a big takeaway from that too which is they're not cutting dashin no he met he said he met with the sean jackson he kind of got him with the program

i think there's probably a a slight chance some team would give him a great offer that maybe they would think about but it sure sounds like they're just expecting deshawn jackson to be on that team i have a kangle takeaway for the last couple of uh combines and league events he was wearing uh bruce aryans like personalized kangles that had his logo it was like a pick a logo of him He got too big. I think maybe it's because Antonio Brown called him out. But now he kind of took it down a notch and it just had the NFL shield on the back of the Cangle. So it still personalized, but no longer, it was a little extra to have like a cartoon version of himself on the Cangle.

And he's moved that out of the rotation. That's the kind of take that if you're home, this was a fashion observation that you had to be here to make that you did a nice job. There's a lot of fashion. There's a lot of fashion. There's a lot of fashion takes. I feel like it's a fit. Like, if you're in the Sean McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan tree, you have to wear the zip-up sweater with the button down underneath.

That's what LaFleur was doing. That's what Zach Taylor was doing. Like, that's the MO. And I do get the sense with LaFleur. There's some Packer people out there that are just kind of like, hey, wake me up when this press conference is over. This guy needs a little more juice in front of the mic. A little more flare.

Mark, give us something. I'll give you a couple little nuggets here. Number one, Zach Taylor absolutely looks to me like Tofer Grace. If they ever come up with some sort of gigantic Bengals movie, not expecting that to happen anything soon. He could be a double. I saw Anthony Lynn in the elevator, and he's just another coach that reminds you

because I thought Freddie Kitchens was probably like my height. Oh, he was a former Alabama quarterback. He's huge. Every one of these coaches almost are massive people. Brian Flores? They're huge dudes. Except for Zach Taylor and Matt LaFlor who looked like they should be asking the question. Well, Zach Taylor is like Tofer Grace.

But the other thing is the Bears, because I've been very hard on the Bears. But one thing that I got from Matt Nagy was that Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy, they gush over each other, and they are so much on the same page. And that may seem like, okay, of course they are, no big deal. But I'd say two-thirds of the league don't have that between a coach and GM. And he just talked about how much farther they are ahead right now working together than where they were a year ago. So that's a little... Are you speculating that they're in love with each other?

Professionally. What? What? You got to ask questions, Greg. No, but that was an untoward question. I mean, I think from in terms of, they have a good working relationship. Okay, that's a question that has to be asked. I mean, a painful one for their children to listen to, but yes. See, you take it in a different direction.

Yeah, it doesn't need to... We don't need to... That sounds to be carnal. Well. It could be. But he says no. Greg, give us another one. Well, I wanted to dive into this whole controversy on Twitter

that Lakeisha, the Paramore, is really into Cliff Kingsbury's voice. And that voice was putting West to sleep. But then a response from one of our social media coordinators, Kendall, who does a great job over at Yaut. She was like, that voice can put me to sleep. I had another female text me out of the blue saying, Cliff Kingsbury is it. This guy had not a modicum of personality or charisma during this whole 50 minutes.

No charisma whatsoever. He's boring the paint off the walls. Wes's fiance likes his voice. Wes coming hard after the man. This is nothing to do with it. I just can't think of anybody watching that and saying, hey, that's kind of cool or hotter. He put you to sleep. He's got a little.

He couldn't even hear him. He's got a little bit of the, I think he's got a little bit of the low-key energy. though but some women like that i think it's confident no it's because they think he looks like ryan gosling that's all he that's not by the way there's just too much proof west that a vast number of females disagree with you entirely on this can i you got to just got to live with that no get in there let me get let me just let me just say first of all they're wrong they're wrong cliff kingsbury is a nice resin to his voice that's all it's not an amazing voice how did you even hear it i was right next to him but i my point my kingsbury point is more

a year ago there was one team that i felt was doing when I was here and it was the Arizona Cardinals and it had no no offense to Steve Wilkes although I'm sure he will take offense to it if he heard this not that he does well he listens to every episode I assume but Wilkes just seemed to be a guy who was in a tough spot you know look at DJ DJ's looking at us to the glass he's like the grim reaper back to be on a popular podcast what's up buddy um Wilkes was a what Wilkes was a guy that seemed he had his back against the wall even when he took the job Kingsbury I don't know if he's going to be a good coach or not but he has that McVeigh, easy confidence, and he didn't seem overwhelmed.

So if I'm a Cardinals fan, I like the vibe he was giving off. He was in control. There's always one coach. I'm with Dan. I agree. Dan called him a chewy pretzel just out of the oven. He seemed, he seemed loki. This episode got weird.

It has been a weird one. He, every year there's a coach or two that, that early on in their tenure as head coach, they're like, why did I take the 945 press conference? And to me, Cliff Kingsbury was that guy. It's like John O. He knows what he's doing. You can just, I can pencil it in. Next year, John O.A's 3.45 p.m. or 4 p.m. on Wednesday. He's taking that last spot.

He's not having to worry about, you know, getting up and looking good early. I think Kingsbury was feeling it this morning. That's my take. Anybody got another one? My one thing is that this is like the seventh or eighth time we've come to this, or various amounts each, that the food situation is, is an ultra-disaster. And I, by now, there's no excuse for me not to learn from it.

And once again, I go into the fray at 9 a.m. with nothing packed. And then there's, like, a lunch upstairs that essentially will give 12 people heart attacks. And then there's nowhere to get food. At a certain point, it's on you, though. No, I'm blaming myself. Entirely, I went back to the room and got a low-level salad for $40. I mean, what, how are we planning for our day at this point? Hang in there, buddy.

Next year, get to get to the food area at 11. 45 a.m. and you're covered. Adam Gase, you could tell, like, the big takeaway from his introductory press conferences that he bombed it and he looked like spooked and his eyes were all over the place. This was more Adam Gase in his comfort zone. He was wearing a pullover sweater. He had his hat pulled down low like he'll always have on the sideline.

And he was just talking football. Yeah. Just talking football and about his team and my takeaway now. I'm always going to skew optimistic as a Jets fan, is that the reason he performed so poorly in that introductory press conferences, that is just not his thing. Being in a suit with the lights and everyone looking at him talking about being hired is not his thing. He's more, he's a football coach.

So I felt better. He seemed just comfortable today, which I kind of needed to see, to be honest, with you as a Jets fan. So that was my gays takeaway. That's fair. But it still could be a disaster. Don't get me wrong. No.

I'm just saying this is there's nothing viral about today's no and I think you're right but there is part of me that like is using this pop psychology that like that hat is like pulled over so much over his face that he like needs this like barrier between him and the media you know what I mean like Bono with his sunglasses yeah like Ricky Williams in the helmet right a little bit yeah there's a little bit of that and I and now so yeah okay press conferences aren't your thing but you know you are the New York is hiding his eyes you're the New York media. You're the New York Jets head coach. But it was a solid B-B-plus today compared to another phone. We liked him. We should have him back. And Mark, I've won Freddie Kitchens' take. It's more a Brown's organization. It's not telling me you sign Cream Hunt to make him a better person.

Well, all right. I don't know what else. I think he was asked the question five different ways and did the best he could with. You know, he didn't sign the player. And he has to explain the fact that the general manager, you know, knows him better than anyone. and it's impossible to come out of that without a large majority of people saying

whatever you say, you're wrong here. He did say one interesting thing to me that he that Kareem Hunt has he hasn't even gotten a second chance yet. Right. So they're making it. But he has. They're stating that he needs to do all these things right

behind the scenes to even get a chance. I don't know if I believe that, but that was the one thing that they're not even, they're not even going as far as saying he's definitely on the team. I think it's fine. Like wherever you like it's, I'm able to say, I just don't like that they, added him, and you can give it any answer you want.

I don't care what the spin is. I found it interesting. Chris Greer, the Dolphins GM, really shot down the Zavian Howard trade rumor. So that was just something that had kind of been on your mind. I know Chris, like, why would they trade him? And he was very strong and just saying he's got to be on our team. So I think I don't know where that came from or if that's a possibility. He was not too strong on Cameron Wake coming back, but did sound like they were going to

really try to make an effort to keep Juan James, who's a big right tackle. Who's supposed to get now I'm maybe like $13, $14 million a year. I mean, the Bengals did the same with John Ross. And part of me is like, why would you even waste a breath telling anyone that you are thinking about trading someone? And then suddenly their value plummets like a rock crashing through the floor. I mean, just say, of course not. We value this guy.

I got to come. Well, he called that report by Ian fake news. I mean, he went global. He even got it from somewhere. Right. That is a weird one where maybe there's some. in Ross's camp that's trying to get him traded and that the team doesn't necessarily agree,

which is just strange. A reminder, if that is true, two years ago in this building, he set the all-time 40 record. If the Bengals were already looking to trade him, a Titanic draft mistake. Well, yeah. Absolutely.

One final thing on Freddie Kitchens, Mark. Now, this is a guy who was comfortable, in control, showed charisma, and gave thoughtful, intelligent answers. All right. Any other thoughts? I will say one more thing. I have one more thing too.

Okay, the last two years at this venue, we've seen reports about Johnny Mansell, his agent leaking to different media people, that he is on the verge of a comeback, and there are a lot of teams interested in him. Well, this year, I just found it ironic that on this very day, instead of that being the report, the report is that the Toronto Alouettes released him

under hazy circumstances. Montreal, Elouettes. Oh, excuse me. My apologies to Canada. But I just thought that was an interesting bow potentially on his career that on this day he gets cut by Montreal under questionable circumstances.

I mean, do you think that general manager's glad he's not here being asked about why they gave two CFL first round. I know what a CFL first round draft pick gets you in the world. Is that what the cost was? Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Do you know who they're not getting miles scared of that. You know who their GM is?

Well, I don't know if he's the GM, but he's the head coach. Don't quiz me on that. Mike Sherman. Sharmbaum. By the way, put some respect on the Alloette's name, seven-time Great Cup champion. Big time.

Wow. Your thought? Brian Flores. I have high hopes for him. I've been really impressed by him, but we're never going to get an interesting answer or press conference or any kind of straight answer out of him. He's straight out of the Belichick tree,

and he obfuscates everything he says. He's boring. He's boring as can be, and he's just not going to answer any questions. Well, he's learned well. Yeah. All right, Wes. Anybody else? That's good?

No. Before we go, Wes, you, you know, listen, this is not a good event for Wes. Wes is here because he's a professional. But does he want to be here? No, not particularly. And when he walks into that press conference room, something starts grinding his gears. So he's going to share with us, what would this be, West, a top five what? Top five most annoying people at the first.

NFL Combine. All right. I like this list. Hope we're not on this list. Kind of like a, Wes, you kidding me? I don't know. You've got to workshop this.

All right, Wes. Let's start with number five. The guy who joins the scrum late, shouts over everyone else, and asks a question that was answered four minutes ago. Oh, my God. During the Adam Gays press conference, three gibronies asked about Chris Herndon, the tight end.

And after the third one, everyone was just like, bro, come on. And he was like, Sorry, what about Quincy and Nunewa? But at least he bailed out of the question. Here's my theory on it. Don't ask a question. It's a 15-minute availability.

If you show up seven minutes in, listen. You just got to listen. Forfeit your questions. Or you spy a veteran beat reporter ask if this has been asked. It happens all the time. Because this is, and we've said this before, I don't want to step on your point, so I won't go into it further. But there's only 15 minutes that all these,

journalists are getting. There are some side scrums, of course, as well, where beat writers get the chance to ask more questions. But when people start wasting questions and time, it's annoying. West, number four. The tapehead guy who tries to impress the head coach or GM with a late February question about a defensive lineman's technique. Well, I feel like you could name drop here because it seems to be the same three or four people every year that do this, but anyone that's here knows who those people are. Maybe there's a new generation coming up. Yeah, number three.

Don't come up. That's annoying. Number three, the guy who monopolizes the whole ridiculous Q&A format, which is like teacher and students, with a rapid fire sequence of questions solely related to the feature in which he's shoehorning the quotes to fit a narrative he's already generated. That was the point I did not want to step on because I figured it was on your list. That is the worst.

It's like, bro, we can tell what feature you're writing. This is way different than, say, a Lions beatwriter asking Seahawks GM, John Schneider, for example, what are we getting in Daryl Bevel, who you had in Green Bay? That's a useful question. This is more like I heard something about the AFC West 14 different times today. All right, number two. The guy who asks all the new GMs and coaches, what's it like, quote, on a personal level to be at the podium for the first time in your career? you're not going to get a lot out of that yeah it's just not you're not getting anything out of it

yeah you're not going hey how's it going like that's that's literally a question sometimes like how's your week how's your week going what that's the word all right ricky give us a little drum roll here as we go to number one reason uh why wet number one thing that a noise west at the scouting combine hit it buddy this is the fallout from the combine the twitter conspiracy theorist who trumpets the translation from on high for a simple direct quote. Translation, colon. Translation, colon. I don't do that.

I really tweeted that. I really believe Derek Carr's a franchise quarterback. Translation. Raiders trying to build his value, say, move up. A little presumptive, you're saying, yeah. I'm saying that he gave you a simple direct quote. I really believe he's a franchise quarterback. I truly believe he's a franchise quarterback.

Translation! He can't possibly believe that. Greg, your thoughts. I think that's fine. I'm with Wes. I'm trying to think when did I do that. I've done some translations. Ricky's saying that's right in your repertoire. You did today or like when they're the last.

Yeah, I think on Jerry Jones saying that they need to take the next step. That was a translation. I mean, one soft counterpoint is that 98% of these people are lying. Right. We spent the first 20 minutes kind of doing our own version of translation. But it is annoying on Twitter. I'm with you. Doesn't translation usually come into effect when you have a confusing statement rather than a direct simple statement?

Super clear statement. Here I'm just going to recraft it to say what I wanted to say. All right. Can I add one? Can we add one? How about the guy who uses like the nickname? Okay, here's the example. There's a Packer's writer today who is asking Matt LaFleur a question.

And he says, so is that your responsibility, Matt? or is that something Goody's going to handle? And he's talking about Brian Goody Kunst. And it's like, no. You don't earn that, bro. No, you don't call him Goody. I mean, maybe we should start calling him Goody. I don't know.

But, like, no. In that setting, that was just untoward. There's a boss in our company. I won't say who it is because I could get fired. But he goes by a nickname. But I was told, hey, don't call him by the nickname. He only lets people that he really understands, that he knows and is in the circle, call him by the nickname.

name it's not the same thing but it's similar it's like don't don't do it unless you're you know in the click right you're just some you're some jebrate translation there's a lot of ego floating around here right it's like hey like uh we're you know me and gudy we're all going to be out you know slapping back beers later so let's just do it it's a good nickname uh speaking of a slapping back beers what are we doing tonight we getting in some trouble getting a mess what are we up to tonight crickets i don't know I'll join you at some stage. Ricky, me and you're going out if these old fogies are these 40-somethings.

If they're not going out, I'm going out with you. Millennials are going out. Eddie Spaghetti, the old Zusser. You are hardly a millennial. The younger Zusser, Eddie Spaghetti, Ricky Hollywood, Kent Brown. Wait, who's the younger Zucer? That's me. I'm in my 30s.

We're 40s. We're kids. We have so much ahead of us, right, Rick. We got a long night. Rick. All right. We'll go. We'll have a lot of some beers.

Have a couple drinks. Mark, a couple chardonnays. We'll have some. fun. I will join you. A lot of gray hair. I mean, I'm not going to deal with these ageism hits all night long. Settle down on that, salt and pepper. Fair enough.

All right, here we go. That's it. Good show. We'll be back. We're going to check out all the pressers tomorrow. And then you'll have a show to you early Friday morning. Maybe we'll have a guest. We also have the Twitter show tomorrow, 430 Eastern, 1.30 Pacific.

So check that out. That's live. Twitter feeds will have all that info. And that's it. I think salt and pepper hair is not a bad thing to have. I'm just saying you, the idea of when someone thinks of millennial, I don't think that you are necessarily the first image. Listen, in my 30s, what can I say?

Dan Hansis for the Quiet Storm, the mailman, the old boss, and Ricky Hollywood. Till Friday. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective. you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together

we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL, visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. This is an IHeart podcast.