NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 49ers Big Draft Trade; Draft on the Horizon

Episode Date: March 29, 2021

A room filled with some heroes- Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal bring you all of the latest news around the league starting with the 49ers splashy draft pick trades (3:28). The Athletic's Tim Kawakami stops by to discuss why he thinks the 49ers aren't moving on from Jimmy G. The Dolphins made some draft mvoes as well (28:52) and what are the Panthers doing? Russell Wilson seems to be happy about staying in Seattle (50:27) and Handsome Hank joins the show to talk about Efe Obada to the Bills (58:51).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. Free agency. What's free about it? Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hanzas.

I come to you from a virtual room filled with some heroes, Greg Rosenthal. Mark Sessler, look at us. Fancy new mics, trying to get it all figured out. We don't know if anyone can hear us right now, but, you know, tech problems galore. We're working it out. We trust Ricky. Do we trust Ricky? I don't know.

It's definitely not on Ricky. You know, we have this whole setup. I like it. It looks like Mark is coming to us from another plane. planet, which I appreciate. Well, you know, I've had a lot of issues in the home studio. And so I, this weekend, among other things, I just blew up the home studio and I've reorganized the desk and, you know, all the stuff behind you that is sort of essentially

just fake, like, that's still to come. I'm prepping that later. Didn't have time to dress up the set. It was one of those interesting Mark Sessler text weekends. And they happen occasionally. And we love them for it. It's what makes Mark a fascinating guy that sometimes when you're not in direct contact with him, your way to communicate is he just starts firing these texts. And sometimes he's coming from a different place.

Like my parents are in town, for instance. And you know when you're a parents are in town, you're kind of in a different head space. You're in a kind of a bubble. And then Mark is sending all these technology-based things about the camera quality, the mic quality. He's showing screen grabs and like dispatches with his wife about it. And I'm just like, I love this guy. but I can't really plug in. I'll have to see him on Monday.

Well, hold on one minute here because, number one, that shows that I'm a true professional. I'm always thinking about our craft. But number two, I tend to, like, any time I've been texting, Dan, during this parental visit, bubble that he's in, I always end the text with, in parentheses, don't worry about this now, can discuss later. Like, I'm not asking for an immediate response. Now, Greg, I don't know why, what took you four hours to respond to the text. You do definitely make me feel guilty because. while your texts indicate all you've thought about since our TV show ended Friday was the aftermath of that, the second we stopped recording,

that was the last time I had thought about it. And I was planning to never think about it ever again, and I was fine with that. I even did tell Simone, I said, Dan will care about this to some degree, and we're going to get a response to Dan. And I said, it is a complete wildcard if Greg gives even the smallest S about this specific issues. Yeah, you know, you got to know your lane. And if you're, you know, things I can't control, I don't want to get involved with. All right.

So we have a lot to get to. A lot. Friday, right when we were taping the network show, in fact, it got super complicated. We were supposed to start taping at 10 a.m. Pacific. At 10.04, Adam Schaefter, drops the news of a huge trade. The Miami Dolphins sending the number three overall pick to the 49ers for the 12th pick. The Niners also giving up multiple first round picks as well to move. move up to that spot.

And then the Dolphins then traded the number 12 picks of the Philadelphia Eagles. Just a lot of things moving around. The Dolphins finished the Friday moves with the number six pick in this year's draft. We have to break down all of this. But to start, why don't we focus on the 49ers side of it? Because it's fascinating. We're going to get to all the news. But we want to talk the Niners end of this.

And to do that, we want to connect with somebody who knows the team as well as anyone. It's Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, and he just wrote a banger on Jimmy G. And here he is, Tim Kawakami of the Athletic. Welcome to the Around the NFL podcast, Tim. Great to be on. Great to be on. Good to be talking to you guys. And Tim, and you have to check it out on the athletic, a post that went up,

a column that went up this weekend. Ten thoughts about Jimmy Garapolo's relationship with the 49ers, and why he's still their 2021 QB1. And interesting how this all shakes out Because the initial thought when it happens And we were just talking about We were doing our TV show on Friday Trying to process it in real time

And it felt like when you first get the news Oh, that's curtains for Jimmy G Where is he going to be in 2021? Probably not San Francisco That's not the way you see it And Tim, can you just let the audience know A little bit about this dynamic, this relationship Between Lynch Shanahan and Garoppolo

dating back to his arrival a few years back Yeah, I mean, they've been pretty straight up within the whole time. I mean, he came in with them actually wanting Kirk Cousins. So you have to understand that they've never really, I mean, they praise him. Obviously, he had a great season in 2019, gets him to the Super Bowl, did not have a great game in the Super Bowl. But they've never, you know, said, you're absolutely ideal. You're the perfect guy.

After they get to the Super Bowl, they take a look at Tom Brady. They take a close to the Tom Brady. And Geropalo understands it. I'm sure he doesn't love it. But if anybody understands the poll of Tom Brady, It's Jimmy Gropolo. And I've been told that he understand it, listen, when the Patriot's drafted Jimmy Garoppolo in 2014,

it was right behind Tom Brady, and Garoppolo was the young guy then. And the other important thing right now is, Fort Anderson think they have a roster that can win a Super Bowl. They really do. You have to understand. It isn't like, oh, my God, we've got to get a quarterback or else we're done. They think with Jimmy Garoppolo quarterback,

who has won a lot of games for them, and by the way, they've lost a lot of games when he hasn't been a quarterback, they can get back to Super Bowl. They love their roster. They're a confident group. John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan believe they had the best team in 2019. They just couldn't make the plays in the end of winning. This is a group that isn't going to plan to throw away a season with a rookie quarterback.

Now, the group rookie quarterback might turn out to be the best guy. There's competition, but they're not going to say, hey, Nick Boza, come back from your ACL. Hey, Trent Williams, come back as a free agent. George Kittle, you know what? Might not work out great in 2021 because we'll have rookie. But then the next seat, they're not thinking like. that they're thinking what's the best option to win now and they made this gigantic move obviously humongous move to get their quarterback for after that and if that quarterback beats out jimmy groppel

at any point 2021 they're better for it in their opinion competition pushing nobody has to love it creative tension right i mean we've all heard about it gropolo understands that i mean you know i was told very at the time i was told very clearly over the weekend trapped in jimmy groplo was Bill Belichick saying, we got our guy to replace you, Tom. We do. Let's see you prove that you are the guy. And guess what he wants your book? Then he want another one? Then he want another one. And I said, if this

happens with four-kniters, whatever their quarterback is, they'll be really, really happy with that. Whatever the tension is, they'll deal with it. And Garoppolo is a no-stress guy. I mean, you've seen his interviews. He's not a guy who gets amped up, gets over worried, he's a lawyer in the locker room. They'll play it out, and maybe he'll get beat out.

Maybe he'll get hurt again. But they're going to play it out with a young quarterback and Jimmy Gropolo. I thought that I was right in the story of the season. Like, this is what you're going to do. Do you need competition in there? I thought it was going to be a second round pick. I didn't think they're going to give up your entire future draft choices for this.

But I did think they were going to get a guy if Jimmy can't make it through the season or if Groplo isn't that good and the rookie beats him out. It's a two timeline plan that not a lot of teams do. I always thought this is what the four-nows we're going to plan to do anyway. It makes sense to me. I think they looked at where they were in the draft and they thought we don't plan to ever be up this high again. And I think they made the mistake in 2017 of thinking we need to set the groundwork

and we're going to get Q and draft Solomon Thomas and pass on Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mooms. And they didn't want to make that mistake again. I do wonder if Jimmy G., you know, could be traded in training camp too. These aren't decisions necessarily you have to make right now. If whoever they draft number three is legit in August, couldn't, you know, couldn't see Jimmy G going out the door in August? No question.

But you got to wait until you see this guy in shoulder pads and run around their practice field and running their offense. And obviously, there's the bubble of Mack Jones as Max Jones and Max Jones, hey, if Kyle Shanhan thinks Mack Jones is Kirk Cousins. And anyway, you always, Kirk Cousins has always mentioned, by the way, when you talk quarterback with Kyle Shanhan.

I learned that early on. If you just keep saying Kirk Cousins was Kyle Shannon, you're never wrong. But if Matt Jones is the case, guy and he beats out Garoppolo, then you cut Jimmy Garoppolo or you trade him and that $25 million that other people are worried about, which the 49ers are not worried about Jimmy Garoppos, $25 million. They are not.

They've told me this consistently. We've budgeted it. We've figured it out. It's a cost of having a good quarterback in the NFL. That's what a 13th highest pay quarterback in the league. This is what it costs. And I think, yeah, they're prepared for that. And they're also prepared for Jimmy to play great.

Like if he goes out there and he kicks ass and the players, his teammates love the guy. And I've always said, too, part of the reasons why Longroom likes this guy so much, unlike maybe another quarterback who's kind of stratified off with the head coach, buddy, buddy, is that he's always getting, Kyle's always yelling at him. Kyle's always like that, you could have done this better. Kyle was very clear that he wasn't great in the Super Bowl. Accurately was not, you know, Kyle's analysis is accurate, but he's not been protected. He's not been coddled. You know, you don't have that Jared Goff thing where I think

they thought he was coddling Goff to get him. him to a spot and then just forget about it. I've done too much. With Shanahan and Garoppel, it's just been, you're my quarterback, I like you, you can do better. And I'm going to tell you that you can do better. And you know, you can get the Super Bowl 13 and 3. I'm still going to look at Tom Brady.

I'm still going to look at whoever. They were looking at Deshaun Watson. There's no question about it, this office. We can all talk about what that might have led them, how that might have led to this decision. But it's different, I think, when you have a straight-up relationship with a quarterback, which is not very often maybe in the NFL's, where he's treated like a center or a tight-in-in or receiver.

And it's different because a quarterback making the most money. But he really is treated like that. And again, that's why his teammates lagging him so much. They can rip him and joke with him. And he's not on this other level where, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not that situation in the four-n-hers locker room at all. And I don't think they would have loved it if the four-kniters just give the job to a 21-year-old quarterback in April.

If you see it, if the guy's fantastic, if he's Russell Wilson like Wilson was as a rookie, that's fine. You earn that on the field. They're not going to be in love with just say, okay, you know, Jimmy G, you want a lot of games, but we're a little tired of you. So this guy, whoever, it at Trey Lance, Matt Jones,

he's a starter period. Trent Williams, I don't care. That's what you're blocking for. I do not think that would have played very well in the four-dice locker. I guess it leaves me with some questions about the Jimmy G. experience in his persona then, because I get that, you know, the Belichick using a second round pick to somewhat light of fire, perhaps under Tom Brady, who already is the ultra competitor in sports today.

So, I mean, I don't know what fire needed to be lit, but it did help. But with Jimmy G., the idea that we're kind of going to be telling him, yes, you have a nice relationship with the coach, with the GM. We're all sort of on the level here. But we're essentially bringing some, they have given up the future. It's not a second round pick. it's a ton of draft picks to very clearly get someone to replace Jimmy G. And it just seems to me that most pro NFL quarterbacks would be like, forget that.

I want, this is my job or I want to go start somewhere else where I'm seen as the future versus he's essentially been reduced to the level of bridge quarterback. And that wasn't the narrative for him. So do you really think that Jimmy G is so affable and sunny that he would allow this just to go on without any complaint or reservations? Yeah, I don't think I'd pick the words Appleball or Sunny. I think it would be, okay, let's compete. Fine, let's compete. And you know what?

He's not making $25 million anywhere else. Even if he's traded the Patriots, I don't think they're paying them. They'll reschedule his contract. So that's part. It's not a bad life if you're competing with somebody and you're starting for this great roster is what everybody's opinion is here. And the pay's pretty good, too. So I don't know that he's, I've heard this again.

And this is in his camp or people around in his mind. This is him being drafted behind Brady. And it wasn't to light a fire under Brady. I've heard this. It was to replace Brady, not right away. But Brady was 37, I think, at the time. Had not had his best seasons. The Patriots had won a Super Bowl in nine seasons.

I think Brady thinks that Jimmy was drafted to replace him, not right away, but in two years. And Brady just played fantastic. his ass off so he pushed it away. Jimmy's not Brady, obviously. He's not that guy. It's not three number ones. That's not the same situation. I understand that. But in his mind, it's like, if I play so well that they can't put the rookie ahead of me, good. And if I play so well that then all of a sudden that they can trade me for something, that's good too. You don't back away from this challenge. And maybe in training camp, there's other decisions to be made. Let's see what this guy is like. But what if the rookie holds out? What if the rookie

he gets hurt. We've seen these things happen over and over again. Drew Brees. Joe Montana. I mean, Drew Brees had a very similar circumstance. Joe Montana in San Francisco was essentially benched for Steve Young and then had to come back and compete for it. And they gave up a ton of pick. So it's not unprecedented. Yeah. Again, if the salary is workable and the foreigners have always, which is what I've been writing since December, the foreigners don't think the salary is a problem. Garoppolo wants to compete and he wants to win a Super Bowl with these guys

and if you're a competitor you win a Super Bowl with these guys you get the trophy and then you go to hell guys you didn't think I was good enough for this this is what's sort of the general thought process maybe he's wrong

he could be wrong but he's not getting $25 million anywhere else by the way and that's the practical thing and if he plays really well the market's only better and he's you know I said I wrote

I just made him a $25 million underdog. That's not a terrible position to be in. Just shut up, go play. You think you're really good. Stay healthy, which is by far the biggest factor. He has not been healthy. Missed 23 games in the last three seasons. Hasn't really been the same quarterback.

Even though he was good in 2019, he's lost some mobility since the ACLTA in 2018. So all these things are part of the factoring. But he goes in there and plays great, and the offense works well. and the defense is as good as it was in 2019. I see this from that, like, hey, you know what? This isn't where I'm in a terrible situation if you grew up with him.

If they've been straight with him, if they've been lying to him and say, we'll never do this, we'll never bring in somebody else. You're the perfect quarterback. I think it's a different mentality. I think it's screw you, get me out of here. I've written about this a lot, so I can say this confidently. They've never told him stuff like that. They've never said, you're unquestionably the guy.

Well, Kirk Cousins has been somebody, Kyle Shanahan, has thought about constantly since he's been here. They almost didn't do the trade for Jimmy because they were going to sign Kirk Cousins in the next off season. They didn't draft Deshawn Watson or Mahomes or really even evaluated. And they might have evaluated Mahomes a little bit or Watson or both a little bit, not a lot, because they were going to sign Kirk Cousins. That's always been that relationship. I like you, Jimmy, but I always like this other guy better. So that almost helps them in this context. Because they have, again, they have not overplayed it with Garapolo.

It's not this passive, aggressive, you're the greatest, you're the greatest. Okay, now you stink. It's been this, yeah, I mean, it's just been this back and forth dialogue between, you know, a demanding coach and a quarterback's won a lot of games. And then he's also been hurt and he's also not played well sometimes. In that context, you know, they're going to try to look to get somebody better. And they decided now they really are going to look to get somebody better, not necessarily this season.

It makes me think, you know, not to play fantasy sports here, but if Shanahan is so in love with Kirk Cousins, some of these draft assets, why don't you go try to get Kirk Cousins using some of that draft capital? You could have gotten for almost nothing, by the way. Yeah, I just. That's what makes me think, again, the Mac Jones stuff is now overpowering. I'm not debating that Shannon probably really likes him. He went to his pro day.

It likes him at three. For three first round picks, you want the extra with that. If you want, you know, you want the Russell Wilson, you want, you know, the Josh Allen. Those guys beat the 49ers. So I can't see, I guess, I can't get, we know coach is going to be stubborn. We know that sometimes they aren't thinking the big picture, but they're bidding with everyone else for this, right? You pay three first round picks because you're bidding for the value. Why are you bidding for the value who isn't the great value?

You're doing this to move into that fields. Wilson, possibly Trey Lance thing, in my opinion. Again, Kyle might be so in love with Mac Jones, it doesn't matter. And if he is, I think it's a ridiculous, horrendous misvaluing of this situation. San Francisco will go absolutely crazy if they've done all this to get Mac Jones. I mean, your job is going to explain. What do they know, though? You know?

That's not going to stop them from reacting. I mean, that would be one of the bigger draft stories around. If they do this to get Mac Jones, people are going to go nuts. It'd be incredible. I was actually thinking I had to say, what if this is the greatest fag of all time? What if this is an inception level where he's doing this? He's going to trade back to 14 and take Mac Jones at 14. And then we go, oh, my God, he got Mac Jones at 14.

It's the greatest move of all time. I don't know. I don't see the logic. And even if Kyle was head over heels from Matt Jones, even if he was, somebody there has to put the brakes on it. Somebody there says, you know what? We don't have to do anything. We can sit at 12. And then if we're worried someone else is going to go off for it, then we react.

don't have to do it in March. That's the part that, like, I wonder if there was somebody there. I assume there was. Parag Marata is a great, you know, value guy. But we know coaches, and Kyle Shanahan is a shot caller there. There's no, that's not anybody else. It's Kyle Shanahan. So if he was just, that's it.

I want this guy. I'm worried, like, the only thing I could think is, you know, he was worried that Patriots might move up and go get him. Maybe that's what he was for. but is Bill Pallacek giving it three number ones for Matt Jones? Who knows anymore, Tim? Maybe he was giving up two, and that's why you had to go three, though. I don't know.

Who knows? I just, I don't put much in anyone's evaluation, though, of Mac Jones, because it's usually a bunch of people like us that it's not really their jobs, and we're basing it on other consensus opinions. And if Shanahan loves him, and that's the one pro day that he goes to, And Chris, you know, Chris Sims, who's his buddy, loves him. And it's like, then he's not going to feel like any price is too much. It definitely raises the stakes of this entire draft process, though,

because you could not trade up to number three. I guess you could be confident Mac Jones would be there. But you could not trade up to number three and know exactly what you're getting. You have to love two quarterbacks. You know, you have to love two guys. You have to absolutely be willing to change your entire franchise for two or three different guys. guys. Yeah, and, you know, why now?

That's, I mean, we're going to talk to Shanahan a little bit. That's going to be a key question. I don't know if he's going to answer, but why now? Why did you have to do it now? If you go through the Mac Jones thought process that he was afraid the Patriots are going to move up for him, going to get to trade it two. But with the Jets trade with the Patriots, too, I'm sorry, or four. It could trade with four, you know, with Falcons.

There could be spots for the Patriots to move in ahead of 12. but I just don't see you go through the process for somebody again it's just draft experts you're right but you look at the talent level just in field Zach Wilson versus Mack Jones just in the way the modern NFL is playing

the way Josh Allen plays the way Kyle Murray plays again guys are this is not like a you know just some experimental thought they've beat the 49ers they've beat them Patrick Mahomes slightly different but you know I think you need to get into that

if you're going to give up to it I mean I would have thought so anyway that you've got to get into that world of talent. You can't just try to get many Kirk cousins. But when you give up the picks that they gave up, you can't just do it to get another guy. And I think that I would think differently. I mean, I don't like to, you know,

I've seen it, you know, we've all seen a ton of Alabama games. You can throw the ball. You can be accurate. I think he's got slow feed. And in the NFL, you got slow feed, people coming in half a few notes. Now, Brady survives of a Brady, you know, he can move around. There's some agility within the pocket.

I just don't know that if you're just, I just believe this is a time to change some of the things that he wants to do. I believe there's a time to adapt some of the things he wants to do with the outsized athletic talent. And if you're a great coach, you should be able to adjust an outsized athletic talent, who can read the field, who can make the passes. And I think this is the year to do it. And again, I could see them thinking, well, at 12, like you said, we're never going to, we don't think we're going to be this high for a long time. This is a great quarterback draft. We like three of them. Let's go to three and we'll be fine.

And if we need to make a maneuver within, we're already at three, it's not going to cost a ton more. But I would still think they're going to stay at three. I get all that logic. I don't get it for Mack Jones. I really don't get it from Mac Jones. I think you could, you know, what? At highest, we're going to go to seven, eight.

Mac Jones, again, you're bidding against people who are trying to get Traylance. Jack Wilson or Justin Fields. So why are you paying that price for somebody who isn't going to get that in my opinion? Again, we might all be wrong. Maybe Matt Jones is the guy that everybody's erased. Maybe the Jaguars are now sweating over Trevor Lawrence or Mac Jones. I don't know. But it doesn't feel like that to me.

And it certainly doesn't illustrate it by the games they played and I think that we all watched. Tim, thank you so much for the insight and make sure you follow everything, Tim, rights on the Niners because this guy is plugged it as you could tell. Thank you, buddy, and good luck. Appreciate it, Tim. There he goes. Tim Kawakami. Really interesting.

And, you know, one thing that I thought, too, about this, because it is interesting. Now, the way things shake out, it started out being this draft is about Trevor Lawrence, Trevor Lawrence, Trevor Lawrence. And it still is. He's going to be the number one overall pick. The Zach Wilson thing has built up now where he is seen as a kind of elite prospect to a lot of people now. So now you've got one, two, to give up as much as San Francisco has to get to three

and maybe get the third best guy off the board when there is a drop off in a lot of people's eyes. That's interesting. But it also like one thing I thought when this went down, it gave them flexibility with the big name that people don't know how to talk about right now, Deshaun Watson. And every day you wake up, you check your phone. when you wake up and there's more lawsuits filed against this guy. And now there's a report from ESPN, reportedly about Watson reaching out trying to settle

with some and they're leading Instagram posts. And we obviously don't know the whole story here. But you just wonder if that third overall pick, they have options there, whether they want to go through the draft or leverage that to go get Deshaun Watson, one of the top five quarterbacks in the league, or is Deshaun Watson totally out of play right? now? Is that where he's at in his career? And what a stunning turn of events that has been over the last two weeks? Right. Or if all this to Sean Watson News lit a fire under the 49ers even more to go get this pick and get this rookie that they were thinking about. Kyle Sienan went to Mack Jones's

pro day. Apparently he never goes to people's pro days like quarterback's pro days in person. It's the only one I guess he went to. Whether they're trying. I don't know why they would telegraph things. I don't know why they would put things out through the media that they love Mack Jones unless they did. There's no way we're going to know. Who knows? Maybe it is all for Justin Fields. Like we're going to have to wait until April, I think, to get those answers. But people that seem to know Kyle Shannon Best think it probably is for for Mac Jones. And that and people around the league think it is. And that in the, it would add up. And the way Tim mentioned, like, isn't there anyone in the building that would,

say hold up. It's like, no, it's Kyle Shanahan's team. That's made it, that's been clear throughout. John Lynch is there to execute Kyle Shanahan's vision, very much like Bill Belichick's GMs are there to execute his vision. It is not the John Lynch

show. It's the Kyle Shanahan show, especially a quarterback. And three, first round pick sounds like a lot. Well, first of all, the first one is the 12th pick. So you're moving up. It's really, you know, two extra first round picks. I just think of that first draft. They keep mentioning it, though, the 49ers never got any agree for it. They had two first-round picks that year, too, by the way,

to start their franchise off. They took Solomon Thomas and Ruben Foster. So that's what two first-round picks can sometimes do for you. This is Kyle Shanahan laying a stake that this is my future. I plan to be with the 49ers for as long as possible, and this is going to be my quarterback. I got to assume it's for a very specific guy, and it's probably a rookie. And maybe the Watson news, to your point, Dan clarified it for him that this was going to get too messy. You don't do this unless you are crystal clear 100% certain that you're going to get a quarterback you're in love with. And we know it's not Trevor Lawrence and it's not Zach Wilson.

So there is someone sitting out there and maybe it is Mack Jones. I still think that, you know, the Deshaun Watson thing to me is completely off the table. I just don't know how any of this gets sorted out before the draft. And no matter how much you like the player, quarterback, is about availability, and we don't even know how this thing shakes out when he'll play next. I mean, there's a potential chance that if a suspension comes down at some point, that you don't even have Deshaun Watson next season. So I don't know how between now and the draft, these picks would have been used as leverage to spice up that kind of a deal.

I mean, a month ago, yes. And then they'd be sitting there thinking, now we have to go get someone. In my opinion, this looks like they fell in love with someone at quarterback. maybe it's Mac Jones, maybe it's Lance, we don't know. And they're really comfortable, based on our talk with Tim too, having Jimmy G as part of the plan for next season to ease that quarterback incorrectly. Well, I do wonder, too, if the, you know,

that to move out of three, the dolphins were getting good offer. Like that they, that whether it was the Eagles, potentially, who Ian Rappaport mentioned had been, you know, somewhat interested in moving up, but maybe it was only for Zach Wilson. And then as Tim mentioned, maybe it's the Patriots who wanted to move up for Jones and they felt the pressure that they needed to box someone out like now.

The timing of the trades, and I know we're going to get to the Dolphins Eagles trade, indicates that to me, you know, that there were other offers, that the fact that the dolphins had another trade ready to go five seconds later makes me think that there was a lot of conversation about this number three pick and backup plans.

The Dolphins basically had this whole plan mapped out before they even made the trade with the 49ers right and you mentioned the dolphins so the 49ers we talked about that the dolphins started this thing with the nineers by sending that number three overall pick in exchange for the number 12 a first and third round pick in 2022 and a first round pick in 2023 then miami turned around and sent the number 12 pick number 123 and their two 2,022 first round pick to the Eagles in exchange for the number six and number 156 picks in this year's draft. I would think that this for the Dolphins makes sense if you're going to give to a real good

look here as your potential future. And you now put yourself in position in addition to accruing more draft assets here, Greg. You also now have a chance to bring in a real stud playmaker on offense. And we've talked about that. you know, they went and they got Will Fuller, and that felt like a nice start. But the way this draft is starting up, where the first three picks might be quarterbacks, it feels like to be in that number six spot is a really good place to be to get a big-time playmaker.

Exactly. I mean, and this is a great top of this draft for playmakers. I don't think they're going to be in the left tackle market. And so that means they get to take Kyle Pitts, the tight end, or Jamar Chase, or if you want to take Devonty Smith, whoever it's going to be, whoever they like, they should have their choice of a few of those top guys and it makes me more excited about the dolphins. I want to see the Tua year two with talent around them

and that defense so well coached. I think they've done some weird things in terms of their moves and they've gotten off of players quickly on defense, but like that sounds exciting and I want to see the Tua year two leap and now he's getting a good chance for it. I think if you're a Dolphins fan, you know, it's been, this is a team that's sneaky

had a really rough 30 years. You now with Chris Greer, I think, have one of the best general managers in the game. He's been involved with over six years and eight separate deals for first round picks. He was a forward-thinking GM before a lot of the league is caught up. And I think you're looking at a team that is, you know, I wondered if maybe they were still, there were still a chance back in the Deshaun Watson, pre-Dashon Watson version of this whole thing, where maybe that would have been a destination or a move. But yeah, you're right.

At this point, it's go add the best playmaker you can around him. And you've got a coach and general manager that have a real vision, and they're able to pull it off. And Chris Greer never gets fleeced. You look at every single deal that they've pulled off. I think they've always gotten great value. You could argue Minka Fitzpatrick should have not been traded, but still, you got a first-round pick. I mean, you look at his transactions. Solid grades from Mark.

Mark's got the whole grade. He's got a lock. He wrote the grades article last week. grades are his new corner. Chris Greer getting a lot of solid A's. Was there, was, did you take the grades, uh, pop from someone else? Did you wrestle them away? Or was it sitting there? Anyone at dot com could have had it and you took it? Well, to dispel your theory that it's sort of a career launcher, I actually wrote the piece last year too. And it had zero traction. Um, and in fact, it has so little traction that we

carved out an entire network segment discussing the grades I had given the Raiders. And that was the first thing that got wiped out when during our show all this trade news came in they said we've got to get rid of content and they said well that makes for easy riddance so what's mark's most recent work take that out of the mix hey i want to not to get too sidetracked here but um panthers a loser right now they they're in a little bit of a tough spot here because we it all felt i wouldn't i don't want to say it was it was a done deal because it wasn't but there was momentum building toward them and Deshawn Watson and Mark, I think you nailed it on the head. No one is doing a trade right now until it gets sorted out. There's just too much at stake on both sides to do a deal involving

a guy who's having these legal issues that could become criminal. It could become a criminal issue right now. It's civil. Especially because the Texans don't want to. I still think that team like the Panthers or Patriots might be like this is a 10-year decision. We'll do whatever. But the Texans don't want to anyway, so that adds a whole other layer. And not to be flip here, but if Deshaun Watson has a 10-year prison sentence or something, you don't do a trade. I mean, it's just everything seems to be on pause.

I'm working under that. Maybe I'm totally wrong. Maybe it's actively going on behind the scenes right now. But if Deshaun Watson is off the table, now you have the Jaguars, Jets, and Niners locked one, two, three at the top of the draft, unlikely to move. Maybe, maybe the Jets move at a number two. but it doesn't seem that way. Not when you have the brain trust at Zach Wilson's Pro Day

and all the buzz around him right now. Does this end Greg Rosenthal with Teddy Bridgewater getting another shot in Carolina just because they feel like they got boxed in here? Just a thought, just the thought exercise there. Maybe competing, you know, with Lance or Fields. The thing is, though, if Mack Jones is taken third, I mean, you got to do the math. Then there's five of these quarterbacks, and they go one, two, three,

and the Panthers are still at seven. So I don't know how much they are going to like Trey Lance or Justin Fields if they fell. But there's still too many quarterbacks, and the Patriots certainly are looking for one, but they're much lower in the draft, and the Panthers are still in a decent spot at seven where they might go get it. And they are the ultimate team, and I would throw the Patriots in, but I can't see it happening. The Panthers are the ultimate team that might, you know, be willing to wait this out with Watson because like Jimmy G, they've got a quarterback that, and even it's more complicated to get off Teddy Bridgewater's contract.

He's do all this guaranteed money anyway. So he's kind of their just backup plan that's going to be there. And they could wait it out until November. You know, they could wait it out as long as they wanted to. And if Watson really was their number one choice all along, which is what it sounded like, then maybe they are the team that gets that done in a long time. Yeah, but to Dan's question, though, are they drifting towards the loser category of the winners and losers here?

I would say they are because they also went after Matthew Stafford. All right, they clearly were the team most interested in Watson, and that thing's in a holding pattern. You're right, that can happen down the road. And the Falcons, I think, will draft a quarterback too. I think we're going to get four straight quarterbacks off the board. And then you're looking at the Panthers saying, are we cool enough drafting our fifth

or sixth choice at the position? They were at number eight. They just weren't high enough. It's the problem when you don't basically stink enough the season before and you're sitting in a place where people can hopscotch you. I thought the Patriots were going to hopscotch Carolina and move up to get to this place to get this quarterback.

They haven't. So there's two teams still looking for one and they're not enough quarterbacks to go around. No matter how good of a class it is, you already know that half of them are going to fail. They're not going to live up to their pedigree. In fact, if half live up to it, that will be a surprise. It's just not how it works.

Everyone's perfect today. They'll all be mega flops, half of them two years from now. Well, you could look at it one other way, too, though, which is the Panthers saying, sweet, the 49ers are out on the Deshaun Watson market and they're taking Mac Jones. Right. It's someone we don't want. It could. I mean, that is the other way to look at it, and you're right.

If they show exhibit patience here, wait out this legal issue and then come hard, there might be a smaller market. it could work out. You're right. There's two ways to look at it. But I imagine there's a level of impatience that could be building there. 2021 is not looking. After what they've done with Teddy, it is tough for, I think, everyone to stomach going into

week one with Teddy as you're starting quarterback. That would be tough. And then, you know, we could maybe get into the Eagles more in depth later in the week. But do you have any thoughts, boys, on what the Eagles have done here? They are the number six spot. which would have given them that money access to a big-time playmaker. They moved back to 12 in that Dolphins trade. They pick up an extra first-round pick, which is good.

And I think this is good news for Jalen Hertz. But at the same time, if I'm an Eagles fan, who's kind of on guard right now, Mark, about everything the organization is doing, am I a little annoyed? I traded out of a money spot to pick up a big-time playmaker. I mean, the Eagles fans are going to be annoyed, no matter what anyone does.

So that's the baseline. But I would say this. I think that if you're a little bit more of a philosophical fan, you can look at what Jeffrey Lurie's mantra has been since the season ended, that this is not a win now roster at the moment, that there is a setting the table. I'm not saying it's a six-year plan, but they now have 20 picks over the next two drafts.

They have two first-rounders next year, and that could turn into three based on what Carson Wentz does with the cults. That's how you, like other teams, set an environment where you can make a major trade up next season or even maybe be in position depending on where they finish to get a quarterback next year but at the same time not totally blowing up the world for Jalen Hertz this year that you give him a full clean chance to show

maybe he's the guy so I don't hate what they've done they've got a they basically kind of need to reconstruct everything coming out of a team a roster a cap situation that just burnt out and they've done it quicker than some teams do. It does make you wonder though. with the timing, when they saw the 49ers move to three and then they get out so quickly? I don't know.

We'll never know. Ian sent out that tweet about Zach Wilson and then an hour later sent another tweet that was like, well, maybe they didn't really like Zach Wilson. I'm not sure what's going on there. The report, just for clarity, the Eagles reportedly attempted to trade up to number three beforehand, but they were only going to do it for Zach Wilson.

So like if Wilson fell, they were prepping the pump. Yeah, either way, it's a little too much Joe Flacco in my life if I'm an Eagles fan. Like, we're going to just be hearing about him and he wants to be competing. And yes, it's Jalen Hertz's job, but it's like Joe Flacco is going to be there and wanting to get in the field. If anyone inside that organization is secretly viewing Joe Flacco as the starter over getting a full look at Jalen Hertz, then you've lost me. No, I don't think that would be the case. He's only getting paid $3.5 million, to be fair.

He got... Joe Flacco can say whatever he wants until that Johnny Unitas movie comes out that he was so-called ticketed for as an on-field version of Johnny Unitas. I don't believe anything he said. This whole up to $8 million as the... We have to get rid of up to in the contract signing.

But that's why all the Eagles fans were all fired up and annoyed about the Flacco signing because initially it was reported as like, up to $1,000 million for Joe Flacko. And it's like, no, he's getting $3.5 million. And it's like a very much a backup, like hardcore backup salary. And remember, like, not only do you get a backup quarterback, you get a statue. And you put them out there and you have, and you get that too.

So it's almost like a two for one. Factor that in as well. All right. Let's hit the rest of the news. Let's get out of this trade talk. What's going on in the league? In our league. And when our buses came in, they would egg us or mooners.

That day we came through the boy, I was 10 bucks right there lined up and all of them was white. Naked two, video. Well, I said, I got to get something for y'all. Unscored that game winning touchdown, boy. Hey, I'm going to tell you what, it felt good. It felt good.

I don't know what it was from, how recent it was. He's wearing a mask sitting around a fire, so it must have been in the past year. But I don't know if you guys saw Randy Moss telling a long story about the background on why he, as Chris Collins where famous, he put it, shot the moon at the Lambeau Field crowd, telling the whole backstory, very, very fun. It felt good, he says.

You got to love. It would feel good. When's the last time you moon someone? Or I'm assuming everyone here is moon someone at some point. I'm not saying recently, but as a child, I mean, I'd have to go back to probably middle school or something. Yeah, you got to go back a couple decades at least. Three maybe, three decades, 35 years, maybe.

I do it once a week just to sort of feel alive. Shake things up a little, yeah. In front of the elementary school. It's, you know, it's a shaky move, but, you know. It's like Greg lives across from a supermarket to that, you know, the supermarket crowd gets busy. Yeah. And, you know, and of course, that was,

he'll always be linked, uh, that game and that game winning touchdown catch and then the call from Joe Buck famously. That is a disgusting act by Randy Moss. You know, Joe is still digging out from that. All these years later, it, it's, Almost like he's been on a decade-long apology tour trying to prove that he's now a cool dad. He's like, no, that wasn't me. I'm actually cool.

I'm funny and I'm chill. But that's a tough, that's a tough, Mark. That's a tough one to, because once you burn that into the minds of football fans, it's a tough one to get out. And I always think that he takes way too much heat and especially, you know, in the world of Twitter. But he miscalculated that one because he came across. a sort of a little bit of a snooty school marm type person trying to tell us how we should live our lives. And it's like, I think it's kind of cool that a player mooned like the opposing crap. It would have been one thing if you were seeing like an actual mooning situation.

But it was just, you know, it was just pretend. And yeah, I think Buck's been digging out of that and been digging out of treating the helmet catch like it was a guy two putting on the 15th green at like, you know, the masters or something acting like that. It was it was terrible. terrible that was right helmet catch second most exciting play in super bowl history let's you know put it where it belongs those are yes those were still sticking with that one huh um oh yeah you know i i think he's a great enough is a disgusting act by randy mott it made the moment so much more famous too i think if he had just had a normal call it would not have lived on like who was the seahawks player that play acted um taking a large dump on the field during the super bowl and that he got

off totally without scolding it's just hard to to tell a lot of people that you're a cool dad when that was how you reacted in the moment so it's almost your truest self but uh you know jo hang in there buddy it's all going to work out for you in the end i think it has in fact all right uh sammy walkins he's off the board he's 27 sammy walkins is still 27 really yes yeah i mean i think He's turning 28, maybe. He's been 27 for 14 years now. It's incredible. Anyway, he has signed with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Ravens finally got somebody to play wide receiver for them. One year, $5 million contract. And he will be paired with Hollywood Brown. I guess is there one two punch there? You imagine Baltimore could investigate adding more weapons. Greg, let me ask you this. Do you find it, what does it tell you about what the league or wide receivers or what the players think about Lamar Jackson,

that it was so hard to get a guy in here before Watkins finally comes one for five? Yeah, that they weren't expecting a lot of passing yards when, you know, it came down to it. Now, I think the Ravens could have ended this narrative very easily by just offering significantly more money. he in in each of these cases you're mentioning it was juju it was t y ultimately they were choosing between very similar contracts and they went with a place that they thought you know could not according to rap sheet rap rap rap rap she said with hilton it was significant yeah but here's the thing it was like you know in that case it's like two years spread out so you're also these things are are shaped by

agents who have a narrative that they want to say the player in this case might want to have get back to free agency rather than taking more guaranteed money in less per year. Anyway, I think it gets exaggerated a little bit, but Sammy Watkins hasn't done much in a long time. He hasn't done much really since he was, you know, with the same coach that's in Baltimore that squeezed some yards out of him when he was back in Buffalo. He hasn't topped 700 yards since. So he's played well in the playoffs. He's very similar to Hollywood Brown.

That worries me. He's also similar in Hollywood Brown that he's performed his best in the playoffs. Hollywood Brown's been great in the playoffs. Sammy Watkins been great in the playoffs. Neither one of them have really shown up and been consistent in the regular season. I think this was also about the people involved. You mentioned Greg Roman was his coordinator

when he had his only 1,000-yard season. Keith Williams, who is Baltimore's past game coordinator, is his personal receivers coach. So there's relationships. Maybe that trumps some of the suspicion. Also, there wasn't much of a market for Sammy Watkins, obviously. But I do think you, it is, you know, great players go to terrible teams

and free agency because of money. And Baltimore did offer more, and there is something going on, I think, in terms of the way these players talk to each other, that the Baltimore landing spot, pass game-wise, for a wide receiver, is a bit of a dead zone. And I mean, there's a reason for that.

I don't think it's Lamar Jackson. I think it's the way the offense is put together. And you've got two years in a row to look at that and say, is that where I want to go on a shorter contract to show what I can do? Right. There are better landing spots, right? I guess so I want to be blocking.

Although Juju passed on the Chiefs to be. fair too at similar more money i i don't want to say it has nothing to do with lamar jackson not nothing it's just not there are 400 there's going to be 400 to 450 targets uh to whoever is catching the ball so i don't know it just made me think for a guy that's a reigning MVP usually guys race to go there is it all because they throw uh less or is or is it really not that big a story is it what greg saying it was a financial thing more than anything this might be my own blind spot But almost every time, you know, we hear that a player turned down more money elsewhere, I don't believe it. And almost always, it's proven, like, in the later to be a little bit exaggerated.

But, you know. Gotcha. All right. In other news. And by the way, Sammy Watkins' first round picked by the Buffalo Bills in 1976. So, you know, 273. They were going to pair him with O.J. It was going to be great.

Yeah. It's an unbelievable move by Doug Whaley. All right. Let's see. Carlos Dunlap re-signed with the Seahawks two years, $16.6 million. He was cut loose by Seattle about two and a half weeks ago, three weeks ago. But now he's back, and that's good, Mark, because Dunlop fills a need for them. And before he, I think he had a foot issue that slowed him down or a lower by

issue, I believe. But he was instant defense and pass rush for them. If he comes back and he's that guy, he will be a big help for them. I mean, their pass rush down the stretch became much better and one of the better ones in the league. And they really became more of a defensive-oriented team, you know, as I guess they got to the playoffs into January. And I think he was a big part of that.

The game that stands out to me is that Cardinals game that we watched in your garage, Dan, with masks on, just to be clear. Of course. Six feet apart, usually, six to eight even. maybe even more. He created chaos at the end of that game that, you know, I know Kyler Murray was a little banged up that changed that and really helped Seattle's season

not turn into a disaster. And I think he really wanted to be in Seattle, knowing him a little bit personally from that trip that I mentioned a thousand times, I think he's someone that Pete Carroll and the Cialx can say is like one of the most high quality, high character dudes who works out nonstop, like he's just, you're going to get your money's worth.

So who on that trip was not a high character? character, dude. Give us one because we know we know behind the scenes stories. So I know you have to be careful here, but an example of someone or maybe their behavior. I would point, I would say that my character could always have been a little bit better. Like, can I, can I answer that? I mean, it's not as fun, but you can. Okay. Well, I'm not going to out anyone. I don't, I also, when they would get up to certain things, that's when I would be taken off the invite list. I wasn't part of that because you had to roll in with like Gucci bags and like eight grand in your pocket. And I was on Roger Good. I had to put a boat trip. Plus in general, right, if they're volunteering to

you know, help out, you know, the armed forces and take a week out of their life for nothing, they're probably, in general, that's a self-selecting good group of guys. It is. It's not, it wasn't ragamuffin types, no. Is there? I don't know, my mind keeps drifting here. But now I'm thinking about Seattle and Seahawks fans are happy that we're talking about their team. They don't want to hear anything about Russell Wilson in a trade. It's not realistic. Blah, blah, blah, blah. could the Seahawks, if they really are open to a potential deal in some level, prey on David Teper's aggressiveness and the Panthers? And I'm talking Herschel Walker type trade.

Is that something that could happen where you give up everything you have because Tepers and he feels cornered and he goes nuts? I don't know. I'd listen. I think they're listening. That's all you could say. I mean, I don't know what would be too much to get. at Wilson if you were the Panthers.

Give them all the... Three firsts, three seconds. Sure. You know, your best defensive player. I don't know. Maybe Christian McCaffrey. I don't know. Like, what would it do?

What would it take? I would say just give Pete Carroll a running back and you'd probably, he would greenlight the thing. I have found it fun to watch, you know, Russell Wilson now on Twitter just like over the top excited about all these signs. He's like, yeah, Dunlop is back. And now he's like the super Seahawks cheerleader. It's like, okay, okay.

How about this, Mark? And we'll move on. I don't want to hang on this. But you are, I was going to say Schneider, but no, you're Pete Carroll. And I'm going to offer you three firsts, three seconds in Christian McCaffrey for Russell Wilson. Yes, I would say yes. Drake? I wouldn't bother.

I mean, at this point, I guess, no, Russell Wilson is basically untradable. But what if behind the scenes, the relationship? relationship really is just soured. Well, I'm looking at it from above where I would get rid of Pete Carroll and Schneider. I don't understand why you would want to start over looking for quarterbacks and be totally mediocre while. But then you're leaning on a strange ownership group to make that decision. And if you make the move now, there is no get rid of Pete Carroll to save Russell Wilson.

Russell is not there. All this is we have to be approved by ownership. But no, I try to go win the Super Bowl. with Russell Wilson this year because life is short and I think they would have, you know, some chance to do that. In other Seahawks-related news, Geron Reed, the defensive tackle signs with the Chiefs, a contract that features $5 million in guarantees.

Seattle tried to move Reed, who was in a contract dispute with the team. It couldn't make it happen. So now he is with Kansas City. He was a 16-game starter at six and a half sacks. last season and Greg he's three years removed from a 10 and a half sack season you like this move for Kansas City yeah I like it for Kansas City you give someone next to Chris Jones that'll help him out they've been thin there it's a weird sequence so he's one year removed from signing a two year 23 million dollar contract with the Seahawks and he played like Dunlop played well

down the stretch last year and they're eating dead money to get rid of them they took a risk by cutting Dunlop and hoping to get them back at a lower salary They were essentially hoping to do the same with Jaron Reed. And he might have, I don't know if he took less money to go to Kansas City, but he was not happy with how that was handled, and he ended up leaving. But Seattle was very much hoping to bring back Jaron Reed. And just this whole off-season's weird.

They really prioritized Chris Carson. They really prioritize trading for Gabe Jackson, a guard who's going to make $10 million, you know, a lot more than Jaron Reed, where you're paying to get rid of Jaron Reed. Gabe Jackson was a guy that the Raiders were trying to get rid of for two years. Is that going to solve their offensive line issue? I do wonder about the overall picture here, and what is the plan in Seattle? I'm not sure, because they haven't been particularly good at what Pete Carroll wants to be good at for a little while, which is running in defense.

Yeah, the only thing I'd add is this is a team with three draft picks. And I get this is maybe not the draft to load up on picks, but there aren't a lot of avenues for them to address any whole. holes they have. And the Jamal Adams trade, which I ripped the Jets for initially because what I thought was that the Jets kept giving away players that were good and they weren't developing. But a year later, that was a win at all cost move for Seattle. They did not win at all costs. There's no reason to think they're a better team right now and there are not a lot of resources to back themselves out of the corner they're in. So it is a strange time in Seattle. finally in the news

Leonard Fournett's back with the defending Super Bowl champions he signs a deal he's sticking around and that is that's it all their starters I believe are going to be back 22 all 22 first team ever to do that that won the that is and not just that

not just all 22 starters you also have the GM the head coach, the D.C., the O.C. That almost never happens. You usually lose one of these architects, especially the coordinators after a Super Bowl win, have all your major pieces of the coaching staff back and all of your starters.

That is remarkable. This is kind of an unprecedented experiment here by the Bucks. I can't say I blame them. I think it's going to be very interesting to see how it plays out. I'm like less excited about them running. it back but I do like having like as I was like getting ready to root them on because they were they were the most exciting thing about the 2020 season I thought from minute one to the very end you know because they were so different they were this new character and now they are the favorites

it's it's really interesting how quickly that that turn but you're right there's no reason to think they're going to like be bad they that roster's awesome like I think they'll be better I think like they're I mean if anything like we always think that we always think that we always Well, all I'd say is better over the course of the season. They didn't win their division. The version of them that won the Super Bowl, I thought, really bloomed late in the year. So I'm just saying in theory you get that from wire to wire. I don't need to be super excited about Leonard Fournett the same way I would be about some other people they brought back.

I really thought this would be a team that might have gotten James White to add one more Patriots piece that Brady knew so well. Because I don't think that part of what they had on their offense last year was maximized in terms of. like a pass-catching guy like White that can do so much. And now I wouldn't rule them out from drafting a running back, maybe not high, but as well. They also have, who's the other guy they have from last year, their draft pick? Kishon Vaughan. And like they, you know, he didn't play much, but apparently the coach is still like himself.

O.J. Howard's back. Did you say that? No, I didn't mention that. He's a returning. Former first round pick, tight end. He was a, by the way, O.J. Howard just, when I read that yesterday, I was like, Oh, yeah. He was an absolute can't miss tight end prospect. Those feel dicey. Those can't miss tight ends in the first round. Keep that in mind. Good player. Good player. Good, but was supposed to be like a game plan record. Maybe, yeah, maybe we'll be. I don't even get coming off a major interest. Bruce Ariens loves him that much. They are the bullies, though. I do like that they're coming back. Like, I like that they made this narrative so easy that we're bringing everyone back. They are completely loaded. They're going to be, they're going to have the most nationally tell.

televised games like it's on i like i like that and they did win eight straight to end the season i mean it was you know yes they started a little slow and they lost a lot of they lost some close games to good teams other than the other than new orleans who kind of beat them down but they won eight straight and they beat down the chiefs i mean it was about as good as it gets down the stretch if they ever ran it back and won another title first of all you'd have to do it again everybody i don't i don't care what their numbers are what their stats were where they are in life what happened set up for it. Tom Brady is guaranteed into 2022 now.

Yeah. Right. And, you know, also I think Tom Brady becomes the greatest free agent signing of all time. To add that to his list, if somehow they get back to the Super Bowl again, he's already right up near the top of the list. He's going to take that. He's going to take that from Breeze too.

If he wins title two, Breeze one and 20. So. In a much shorter, you know, more digestible time. What's better? What's better, Greg? Two for two or one for 20? I don't know. Just just let Drew Breeze.

have this. It's like... Oh, now you're defending, Breeze. Well, just, I don't know what else. A year from now, you have Tom Brady. Next time around it's going to have to drop the Lombardi trophy out of like a low-flying private plane and you're going to have Grong catch that

or Brady? It's like Brady's going to retire and then immediately jump on to the Today Show with Hoda Codby and actually Breeze will get squeezed out of that role too. He'll be doing Notre Dame with Toriko. He just hates Drew Breeze and wants to ruin his life.

That would be Jenna Bush getting canned in a big spot right there. I could definitely also see him winning three Super Bowls with the Bucks, and then the Jets give him a $700 million contract and he gets old. 48. Hey, that's what's happening in the news. Before we say goodbye, I want to check in with one of the great men of NFL media. He is the vice president of international, that title, Marron. He's also known in a podcast world as handsome Hank, and that is no lie.

He is, Henry Hotson. What's up, bud? Welcome back to the ATN podcast. Hello, friends. How are we doing? How are you? I'm good, thank you. How are you guys?

Doesn't that title actually mean that you're the vice president of the rest of the world outside of where we live? International is literally everything beyond America. I like that Dan says that whenever he leaves one word off, which I mean, I like that Dan, you should speak with this. It's international marketing, so it's less impressive than just, as you say, market. Really, what Dan says when he says it out loud is that I'm in charge of everything other than the U.S., but that's not actually true.

Last time that I came by, because Henry, you know, he's such a soldier for this company, like amongst other things, when you are vice president of international, your work hours are not like normal people. So I came by his house when I was doing my moving and the Hotchins were nice enough to watch the boys for a couple hours. hitting everybody up on that, by the way. Greg, they're coming over in about an hour. I knock on the door, Henry's wonderful wife answers. And there's Henry, in the middle of a meeting speaking fluent Chinese, probably launching some product. It's impressive.

Impressive. That's what was happening. Exactly. Yes. No, the hours is a strange. I wouldn't necessarily wish them on anyone. See how he didn't correct me when I said fluent Chinese? It's factual.

It's factual. He was going to let that one sit out there. Exactly. All right. Henry, you texted me last week. You were upset with me. And you know what? It was a bad job by me for years.

For years, we've been tracking the NFL's International Pathway program, a way to get athletes, football players from around the world, funnel them and give them the opportunity to play in our league. And, you know, we bet on a horse. His name was Moritz Bowringer. He was drafted by, hell, I don't know anymore. The Vikings. What was it? Mike Mayock called up Zimmer and said, get this guy.

Exactly. Get this guy. And Zimmer listened and he did it. And you guys were on the train from day one. No one's been the biggest supporter of Moritz than that. Actually, there was in the war room. You actually saw Henry sneak into the room and slip a couple hundreds into Zimmer's pocket and said, grab this guy. I need it for my international pop. He's a wide receiver, but he will become a tight end in a few years. Very versatile. He's now been in the Cincinnati Bengals organization for a couple of years. It just hasn't taken hold. And that's a bummer.

So keeping up with Bowringer, it's still, it's on the back burner right now. It's not because I think we actually, we ended that when he got cut by you, you invited me on to talk about Moritz's the end of his career with the Bengals. He is now, and if we can do an update, he is now back with the team that brought him to the NFL, the Schwabish Hall Unicorns. Whoa. There's the music. everything else. So that is the update. He's gone full circle. Back to the unicorns in Germany.

Ouch. That's it. Hey, we all are so lucky. Let's stay positive, though. The reason why Henry was upset with me is because there is one player who is the true success story of the pathway program. The only man who is now graduated to a 53-man roster, it's F.A. Obata. He had five and a half sacks last year for the Panthers.

The Panthers, so I don't know what's going to. on in that organization right now, but they say we're not going to bring him back. He lands with the Buffalo Bills. Same team that has Christian Wade, another member of the Pathway program on their practice squad. So Henry, I wanted to give you the floor here. I know Obata is somebody that you are proud of because he's a he's a countryman. I mean, he was born in Nigeria, but he ended up in London as a youth, a very tough childhood, a lot of challenges that he overcame. So since it didn't really click with Bowringer, and in fact, you thought sometimes it was mocking of the program, which it never was, I wanted to give you the platform here to celebrate

a true champion of the pathway program, FAA Obana. Well, first of all, I would say you did it very well for me there, Dan. When I texted you last week, if I could have had anything, it was exactly what you just said. So congratulations, you really nailed it. But I would say that it is a pretty amazing story. FAA's story of as you said he was he left Nigeria with human traffic to the UK lived on the streets of London

and then got this opportunity to discover football played I think seven games for the London Warriors and then went from that you know discovering football and playing at an amateur level in the UK to joining the Dallas Cowboys

and playing in training camp there and not kind of not totally being able to hook in that and eventually the international player pathway program was the thing that gave him his opportunity played to the Panthers was I mean I don't I'm sure you guys watched the what's the show called

the Ball or Nothing show exactly where he was one of the focal points of that Panthers season a couple of years ago you guys were at the game in London where he played for the first time in front of fans from the UK which was a which was a pretty cool experience and he I think he really became a big fan favorite in Carolina.

And so I think a lot of fans were sad to see him leave after his best season last year. He got five and a half sacks. And he collected some pretty good scouts. Tom Brady, I think, was one of the guys he got Aaron Rogers, Drew Brees. So if you're going to sack people, those are the type of people, I suppose, you want to be sacking. So now he's headed off to Buffalo. And from what I understand, on Good Authority, there were a few other teams that were in the mix to sign him as well. So I think he got a good deal there to go to Buffalo and get on.

on a team that may, unfortunately, for two of us on this call, with other allegiances to AFC East teams, maybe on track for a Super Bowl group. Yeah, a nice place to sign as a defensive lineman. They get production. They need help there. They rotate guys. He had 29 pressures last year in under 500 snaps,

so he was very productive. He's carving out a career. What is your personal relationship, though? Like, does he call you often? Thank you or what, how did I ask? Fun story, F.A. was part of the program when Moritz was there. And so I was with F.A. and Moritz when they were drafted in Chicago. We spent the day together.

And then, I know F.A. pretty well. And he's a fantastic guy, guy who, you know, has really gone through a lot in his life, but is super positive and gives back so much to fans in the UK, both to fans. And then also, like, the NFL Academy, which you may have heard about, which is sort of designed to get kids a little. bit earlier and get them starting to play football and hopefully getting into the college system in the U.S. FAs really supported that in a massive way and help grow that. And he wants to, you know, to help create the pipeline of future FAA Obados to the U.S. to be playing in the NFL.

You know, Hank, like one thing I noticed when I was in Europe that we, there were a lot of high school programs, football high school programs. And so they are starting to get kids introduced to the sports so much earlier than in years past. Do you think? think, like, in 2040, if things continue a pace with sports and society, that the NFL could look a little bit more like the NBA or Major League Baseball, where, you know, 20, we're talking about you're finding the most physically dominant people. They're not all in America, by the way. I know we like to think that, I mean, could you get to a point where 20% of the NFL is foreign from outside the country? I think 20% is a high number for 20 years from now. But what I would say is

that you're exactly right, Mark. Like, the way for the sport to grow is to do that is to encourage kids to be playing. And then you have to get kids an early age. I think the player pathway program has been incredible. And Dan, the one mistake you made is there been a couple other guys that they made it, including Jacob Johnson, Greg's favorite fallback in the NFL. Just got re-signed. They brought them back.

Got re-signed as well, exactly. But it's really hard to get guys at 20, you know, that kind of age. And they've never played football before. or they've had very limited exposure to football and then get them. They have to be like athletic freaks, which FAA is one of them. To make it to the NFL,

it's obviously much easier if they're playing, you know, starting at the same age that a kid in the US would start and learning the sport and developing their body and all those kind of things. So I think the early you can get them and the longer you have that momentum going,

then yeah, eventually maybe not 20%, but more players being able to contribute in more ways. You see it in college football right now. I think there's a really high, profile tc u's quarterback is a german guy you know i think those are the things that moves it along as well as getting guys that score touchdowns as fun as sacks are or or being good on the offensive line get me the name of that german guy got to work on a new drop um whenever you get the chance and can i mention one other yes maybe that's who the panthers are targeting go ahead

everything that we've talked about here like the the player pathway program international games in London, all those things. I just want to shout out a guy who's leaving the NFL this week named Alastair Kirkwood, who's the MD of the NFL UK office and has been for 20-something years. He was my boss when I first started at the NFL. Just an amazing man

who put into place the player pathway program. He put into place the fact that games are played in London, you know, where it was like completely insane when I was working there in 2003 that there would be regular season games played in the UK and now there are four a year.

he's the one who put the NFL Academy in place. Alster's done so much to grow the sport internationally. He, you know, essentially, in fact, I was on a call this morning with F.A. on there, where F.A. said, I couldn't have done, you know, I'm not where I am without Alastair's support. I'm actually not where I am without Alist's support. I had dinner last week with a friend of mine who's now become defensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys, who was the same guy that discovered FAA, who was coaching in London. He wouldn't be where he is without Alist.

So this is a guy who's who's done a ton to change and to grow the sport in the UK and kind of put the blueprint in for then how you do that in other countries as well. So I want to hail Alastair Kirkwood, a wonderful friend, man. He's got, you know, supported you guys coming, coming to London as well. I don't think we get to London for our two trips without Alters. It's true. He definitely supported you guys. Best of luck and Henry will do whatever it takes to get to the top of that chain. in the sorry we're seeing that right now.

I'm putting out on me. It's a fact-fied horribly. All right, Henry, good stuff. I hope that hang out of Zachary. And we know, see you, Hank. We know that we have a huge following overseas. So it's good to have Hank on the speed dial. All right.

We'll be back on Thursday with another brand new episode of the round of the NFL podcast. We get closer to the draft. We might ramp it up. We might do another one of our five times a week. runs when we get to draft week. But until then, we'll be on this schedule at the TV show on Friday. Check that out. 3 o'clock Eastern, noon Pacific NFL network.

Mark, you had one more. Well, one little note. Our co-worker Patrick Crawley and his wife, Natalie, had a son Cole over the weekend. Beautiful. We have a British Patrick Crawley and an American Patrick Crawley. I mean, they're not the same person. But the American one, no, the American.

and one had a child. That's great. Well, he was under you, Henry, he was under you, Henry, as a, you were his mentor for some period of time. I mean, not, I mean, he really made me look good. So congratulations, Patrick. And I hope Cole make someone look good in the future. Good stuff. All right.

The Wistons that you normally make. Signing off for handsome Hank, the old boss, the quiet storm in Ricky Hollywood, behind the virtual glass. Until Thursday. Hit the call. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building, building philosophy.

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