NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Bengals Plans, Cut Candidates, and Ask Connie!

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Colleen Wolfe and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic to get you caught up on news from around the NFL including the latest development between Tee Higgins and the Bengals (10:30), a bogus rumor around Trevor Lawrence (17:18), and possible cut candidates headed into free agency (22:00). After the break, the debut round of Ask Connie (26:20)! Note: time codes approximate. NFL 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. Welcome to NFL Daily, where it's always a good day to welcome Colleen Wolf back into the Chris Wesleyan podcast. studio. I'm Greg Rosenthal, Jordan Rodrigue of the athletic is also here. The See You Next Tuesday crew is back for the offseason. We've been renewed. I love it. Hello, I'm back, baby. Rejuvenated. Yeah. Hanging on by a thread. Are we? Yeah, because you're in Philadelphia for the parade and we're going to get to that in just a second. But we actually have

some breaking news to start the show. Just two minutes ago, NASA has updated that there is now a 3.1% chance an asteroid will hit the Earth in 2032, which is up from 2.6% yesterday. This is the highest risk assessment the asteroid has ever received surpassing 2.7% in 2004. I feel like this is worth stopping down. I can't really focus on the rest of the show at this point. I just want to know if we could pick up the pace a little bit. 2032 is a long way away. Yeah, just put us out of our memory now.

I mean, is it, though? Like, imagine if you were told that you have a 3.1% chance of winning the lottery. Wouldn't that seem awfully high? I would think it's pretty low still. But I guess it is high. It's definitely high. It's exceptionally high. Let me put this into football context.

When you said that number, I just was like, where have I heard something like, like, like, this percentage before. The Rams had like a 3% chance of making the playoffs this year after a one and four start. Look what happened. If you just say, what is every team's chance

to win the Super Bowl in a given year? It's pretty close to. Okay. I can only learn things through a football. And your team one. You're team one.

Much clear now. I feel like this should be a bigger deal. Much like the asteroid of 2032, the Philadelphia Eagles were inevitable. Yeah. If you knew the Earth was going to end in seven years, like, what would that do? You know, what would you change in terms of your life process? I'd quit my job.

I'm just kidding. I love my job. I would probably move somewhere that's, like, exotic by a beach, like Costa Rica, maybe. If you had, like, you wouldn't go to Philadelphia. The exotic land of Philadelphia. That's, you know what? Okay, tell us about the parade. We haven't talked at all.

Can we edit out that I said I'm going to quit my job? Listen, everyone would quit their job, all right? If nothing matters. A lot of people don't, you know, have any money. So that would be a problem for the next seven years. I haven't saved anything. Do you think that I've saved money? No way.

I'll plan on bartering. We haven't spoken, Colleen, since your team won the Super Bowl. And, yeah, the Eagles have gotten a lot of love on this show since. And yeah, I need to hear more about it. I want to back up to Super Bowl night, but let's start with the parade. Because I saw on Instagram, you're heading to Philadelphia. I'm like, oh, that's awesome. The NFL Network's having Colleen cover of the parade again.

And then I realized, no, you're just there in the crowd. No, I was like, hey, guys, I just so happened to be in Philadelphia the day that the parade is happening. You know, you want me to do anything? No, we don't need your help. So I was like, okay, cool. Well, I can just like go enjoy it. The thing is, I was always going to. to be in Philadelphia that day because my Uncle Jack was getting married that night.

It was Valentine's Day. So I did a very aggressive double dip of the Eagles Championship Parade followed by a wedding in Northeast Philadelphia. And speaking of exotic locations, if you're not familiar with Northeast Philadelphia, maybe you should book a trip there at some point soon. Gorgeous. Sometime in the next seven years. Yes.

What was it? What was it like? It looked like a scene. Did you go to the first parade? I did. So I covered that. That was the Cardi B year when I didn't realize I was being recorded. And then it was played back to me on broadcast when I was singing Cardi B.

I was very excited. But it was interesting because it was two different vantage points. So this time I was just hanging out with my friends with some fireball in my pocket. Nice. That's different than being on the mic singing Cardi B. I mean, it's close, but different. It's in the same. same realm. But I heard that this one felt like the first one felt like catharsis. This one felt

like a party. That's how like Les Bowen was describing it. Yeah. That people were just really like soaking this one in and enjoying it because they had already broken through the ashes were poured at the last one of, you know, people who never got to see a championship. All right. And this one was just like an all out party. It was like a release. The first one. The first one was like, okay, we got there. Like just a release and relief at the same time. And then this one was just like, look at us now. We're back in it.

Like everyone gets into Super Bowl parades and World Championship parades, but there actually is no other city that's like Philadelphia and how they do it in terms of getting ready the night before and like the amount of people that are there and out there. They really do go harder, just like they did, you know, coming to the Super Bowl and kind of dominating the crowd. That's true.

the people. I will say the liquor stores the night before the parade were absolutely insane. And I completely forgot about all of the laws surrounding alcohol in Pennsylvania. There are a lot of them. So I had some challenges dealt with some adversity, but here I am. It's like a morning thing, isn't it? Like there's one where you can't. So I also saw a post where it was like some people in the in the crowd were throwing up the airplane bottles of liquor to the wags. Uh-huh. And, they were downing him and throwing them back. Like, I was like, hell yeah. That's everything.

Like, what a rad group of people. I know. You were in the stadium announcing the freaking Super Bowl as the in-stadium host. We're very proud to see that. We mentioned that on the post show. We have so many videos. But as the Eagles won't. So, like, what was that like?

And what was the afterglow and all that stuff? I somehow didn't see you in all of that. I know. I feel like I didn't see anyone. I don't know what happened. Where did I go? but it was surreal because last year was the first time I did the in stadium during the Super Bowl announcing and that was really cool just a totally different experience than I've ever had before

and it was Las Vegas and it was the final stadium that I needed to check off my list to get to all of them so that was great but this time with the Eagles in it it was much more surreal and also doing it with Ronde Barber who Eagles fans absolutely hate so it just added this other layer of kind of fun to the whole thing. But I was standing on the field during the coin toss. And that's when I normally am not someone who can pause in the moment and be like, oh, this is cool. I'm like just waiting for it to be over to make sure I don't mess it up.

And then I can enjoy it once it's done. But I was standing there during coin toss, just looking around and thinking to myself, holy shit, this is wild. That is badass. That's cool. Just think how angry the Chiefs fans there would have been. if they had known that this lady and doing everything

is an Eagles fan, but you kept your professional. I have it. I have a theory. You played a straight. You're actually wearing red too. Yes. You were,

we talked about this. You were wearing red, right? But theory, this isn't maybe an ask Connie for later in the show, but I have this question because, so I loved your necklace that you were wearing. Oh, thank you so much. But from far away,

it looked like a bird with wings outstretched. Like, I know it wasn't, but it looked like, and I was like, is Connie, like, subtly go birds right now?

like subconsciously go birds right now because I know you had to wear the red suit and be neutral and all of that but I was like that balanced it out the universal balance was that it did now that I'm thinking about it it was wing like the way that it was shaped but no that was not by design at all so total coincidence oh everything universe and coming up Connie it was like finally at the end when we did our final hit after they won and like the confetti's going I was like okay can I can I can now, can I now say something? Can I now talk about the Eagles? And they were like, go ahead, do it. And I was like, just went freaking wild. That is amazing. I need to get that video and play it on this show, since we forgot to, you know, consider having Connie on the show, on the field

where we were right after the game. I was like, I was thinking about it as I'm leaving the stadium that night. And I was like, oh, well, maybe next time the Eagles win the Super Bowl and we're all still employed there. I'm sure that's going to happen. I was just wandering around with a trash bag filling. Just like for a minute or two to come join us. If we could have Howie Roseman on and A.J. Brown, we can have Connie. But next time. I don't know how you missed me with all those rhinestones. I was covered in them. I did see that from way, way above. It was really, it was really sweet. So we were, we got some videos and stuff of you on the, like, we were panning from the field to jump. But it was really cute. We were walking. So the Superdome had so many steps everywhere. And just like,

So we were going up and down these steps in different booths and everything. And Greg stops all the sudden. And I'm like, why do you stop? And he got his phone out like a proud parent. And he was like filming you. And I turn around and I just see his face. And he's just grinning like just the biggest smile. And he's like, look, we know her.

Oh, you guys. I actually get like this whenever I see my friends on TV. Like when I see you guys. And it's so weird because this is our job. We work in TV. I've seen you on TV a million times. for some reason and other friends

I'm lucky enough to see on TV but like hearing for some reason actually being in the stadium of the Super Bowl and you're there on the that's cooler

that's cooler than all of it Connie's so cool we've built the whole show around asking for opinions later we're going to ask Connie we took listener questions and got a range of them I'll tell you what you know

I can't wait to they're about life questions they're about football, but first we'll hit a little bit of news. Not a ton of news dropping right now. I did the franchise tag primer last week with her friend, Nick Shook. As our people are listening to this, as we're taping this, the door is open. The teams can officially apply the franchise tag. And our first item of news does come from that. It's from our town Pelliserro saying that the Bengals are focused on a long-term deal for T. Higgins. But if they cannot reach it,

by the end of the franchise tag period, they are expected to place the franchise tag on T. Higgins. This would be a second straight year, so he gets a 20% bump off what it was last year. I think he'll be around 26 million. It looks like that's what's going to happen because they never get the deals done early. T. Higgins, I guess, is likely staying with the Bengals.

I'm still not even sure, but they're going to use the tag. Them releasing this or leaking it or however it came upon our timelines, it felt like a veiled threat almost. It's like, hey, if you're not going to make this easy or if we can't get this done, oh, we're going to tag you for a second consecutive year when it's been extremely clear

that Joe Burrow, that other members of the team want this to get done. And I don't know, it seems like a half measure to me. It doesn't seem like it is a half measure to me to not be able to secure that long-term deal with the player that the franchise quarterback has openly been discussing in terms. of keeping and sort of pressuring the organization publicly in ways we have not seen from him before.

And so to me, this is playing a dangerous game. They did it last year, as we know, it's playing a dangerous game again this year because it's like, okay, like, how happy will you actually be with a half measure? Or like, it's that meme of like the giant tub of water that's leaking and someone slaps a little piece of duct tape on it. It says fixed. Yeah. This has to be so incredibly frustrating for T. Higgins as what a 26 year old. He's going to be one of the top skill position free agents that would be available if he didn't get the tag. Having the tag back to back years, now he can't go out and leverage what could be a bidding war and actually get paid here. Like he is one of the best number two wide receivers in the league. Maybe for some teams

he could even be a number one wide receiver. So I know that this team has so many issues with their defense and like paying obviously to wide receivers wouldn't be wise. So a tag makes sense for them. But it's just, I think it's a real bummer because as you said, Joe Burrow is out here like, look, we can push money. We can do signing bonus. Yeah, Joe Burrow put his over the cap on earlier and was like talking about how much could be restructured or front loaded in different things and how his contract can be opened up in different ways. And I'm like, okay, he is public about this to the point where I'm not see, I guess I wasn't expecting him to be this public about the pressure. He's just pressure. He's like, why are, you better do every possible thing to get everyone paid

or I'm going to be really upset. He is exerting as much public leverage as he possibly can. It's interesting about the timing because it was a team source that said, you know, that they'll tag him by the March 4th deadline in order to have time to get a deal done. I thought maybe it's a little bit of like, we're just, we're not going to. of Jesse Bates him, which is just letting him walk on the second tag, that it also could be a signal to the rest of the league like, hey, you want to trade for him? Like, let's get those offers in because we can tag and trade him. Yeah. And that's a whole, that's a whole thing. They could do that. And they haven't figured out the Jamar Chase situation yet. If they could go back in time

and figure out the T. Higgins situation before the Jamar Chase price went up even higher, you probably would want to do that. Now you're stuck between a rock and a hard place with two receivers and you might have to float, like you said, the idea of tagging and trading one and you know that's going to piss your quarterback off. Well, there's a report on ESPN that the team will attempt to secure

all three stars who need new deals this offseason. Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, and T. Hendrickson, which is like, yeah, that's great. I'm attempting to get like a color analyst job on one of the major networks for the NFL games like live past the meteor put me on it live past the meteor that would be good too wait did you guys see t higgins mom tweeting too no no tell us she tweeted last night so well she tweeted monday night selfish bastards and that was it whoa girl however like in the comments everyone's like

is this about the bengals and she's like no it's not not at all like so she's saying it's something completely different but just no context selfish bastards i think she's just finished the first six episodes of Love is Blind. She's definitely watching traitors if we're talking about the Bengals. So yeah, the Bengals are going to try to get everything done.

Well, you know what, Greg? As long as they try their best, that'll definitely make Joe Burrow satisfied with this off season. We just want them all to have fun. I think if you were a Bengals fan, though, actually you're happy that they're not doing the Jesse Bates thing, which is just letting him walk away. Because, yeah, him

or Devante Smith are the best number two receiver in the league. He's a top 20 receiver in the league overall. He's my number one overall free agent of this entire class. And I kind of think, like, you can't really do all that. You have to trade either T. Hendrickson or T. Higgins, probably. I would probably trade. What would you do? I would probably try to trade T. Hendrickson and see what you can get. But if it's not a lot, you get more for T. Higgins, it's not that crazy to pay Jemar Chase, pay T. Hendrickson. And if you can get like a high second for tea where you drafted him? I don't think you're, I don't think you're far off. It's okay. In that at all, actually, Greg, because I actually do, sorry, I meant you made a

very good point just now. The, the, they're going to be able to figure out what, like, basically who loses out on the potential Miles Garrett trade sweepstakes. Everybody's going to know the teams that are involved in wanting to trade for Miles Garrett and what the capital would be. And if you're saying Trey Hendrickson could be tradable, then there is a chance that, you know, you could figure out like who the loser of that potential deal is or who's in the mix for it and then that's where you push. There's not really anything like that for a receiver right now. So you would be then setting whatever the market possibilities would be if it's T. Higgins is tradable, but you would already know them and be able to leverage and lobby whatever that top trade is. You also have a lot

of time because if you tag them, it's just sort of this never end new thing. You could have all the way into the draft to get to get that trade done. One item that popped up last week was there was a report, not from a regular NFL reporter that said the Steelers had made a call, not like a regular one, had made a call, not like a day-to-day, B-writer. Throwback. A, uh, that the Steelers had made a call about Trevor Lawrence.

And since that has happened, the Jaguars came out publicly and said that it was ridiculous that never happened. Now there's sources on the Steelers side through pro football talk. and NFL.com where they said the Steelers never even made that call. But Trevor Lawrence is not going anywhere. And that's sort of an offseason news cycle of things. But that it would be ridiculous for them to consider trading Trevor Lauren. Trevor Lawrence was funny.

He was talking about how his agent texted him was like, hey, this is just like a report that's floating around. I'll check into it. And then he said, and then I'm thinking about it. And I have a no trade clause. So I would know about this if it was going to happen. He don't even have a GM still, right? No.

No, who's making it? Who's making the trade? This is the time of year. You're right. Now we know who's pulling the strings. I mean, it really is him. It's him and Tony Bisselli, but I don't. This time of year is so frustrating.

It sucks because there are just so many non-stories, but also could be a story that you have to read into everything and read between the lines of everything, too. I mean, Trevor Lawrence is about, they would not put him up for a trade, but he's about like one disappointing year with a new head coach that has a long contract away from it not being that crazy.

I've sort of made this reference before when it comes to William Cohen, but like he's a good vibes guy. Like I'm happy for Trevor Lawrence that he's got like a good vibes team around him in terms of his coaching staff and the people who will be working with him every day and maybe helping him feel like refreshed and better.

Grant Udinski, who came over from Minnesota, is going to be the O.C., literally gets lost intentionally in the Scandinavian wilderness every summer. Like, what? Right. Like, goes off the grid. No. Yeah. And like, they'll, why?

Like, it's just the most, I guess it's a hobby, you know? Getting lost in the wilderness? I mean, it has to be like a controlled loss. Because if you wanted to get lost and die in the wilderness, like, you could do it. I got lost control. You have to have some guardrails on that. He searches the fjords, you know, that's kind of what he does for his, like, get away from football time. I'm just saying I like, I just like the general dynamic in terms of bringing some freshness into that room.

Trevor Lawrence, you know, he's really an interesting guy. I know that we don't necessarily see that all the time. A lot of it's just been like he's been stressed and around people that kind of stank, frankly, in terms of his coaches. And not Doug Peterson, but prior to that, the urban years. and he's he actually is pretty cool like his brother's an artist like he's got a good family i just get the sense that like he's ready to take that step forward and like be around a collective like hive mind of people who all want to thrive and succeed together um brian thomas junior also is like such a great vibes guy i met him at honors um and like he was just so nice so fun tried to do the duval thing with him

the leum colm one i was just the one that did it but wait do you have an impression do you No, I just did the Duvall. DuBall. So good. Did you mention the tweet I had about Brian Thomas that teams could not draft him too early, that that was my only draft take of the year? God, it's so weird.

I forgot about that. You should have. Next time I talked to him with honors. Jaguar's fans were very upset about this. Because of the contract, it would never make any sense to trade him right now either. Although it is crazy. If you were making a list of like the most valuable

quarterbacks, if you include the contract, it takes a while before you get to Trevor Lawrence. Like, he's not top 12. He's probably not top 15, which is just crazy. Even where you would have been with him like a year or two ago. I love fjords, though. What a word and what like an image. I know. I really brought that point up just to say the word fjords. There's a book called the Ice Palace that I bought in London this year. It's by Targes Vessass. One of the best books I've read of the last year. And it's about these two young girls who kind of get lost in these fjords.

Intentionally or not intentionally? The intentional part of this is the concerning. Kind of intentionally, but that's a little bit of a spoiler, but kind of intentional. As someone who has been lost in the wilderness, this gives me like heart palpitations.

It's a dark book. I recommend everyone check it out. We'll wrap up the news where I just wanted to give a shout out to NFL.com who's cranking out some great offseason content this time of year. And this is the type of article. We could almost build a whole show out of, but we're not.

So I'm just mentioning it as a quick little news items. They had 39 different players who would be cut candidates, you could possibly get released the next couple of weeks. We've already seen some of these releases happen. I mentioned how Rahim Moster and Kendall Fuller, the dolphins got cut already. So they listed 39. Matt Akota, who does a great job. We love that.

Wrote that up. And I recommend everyone check it out. But I just thought I'd throw five or six of the more interesting names out there. And just if you guys have any thoughts, let me know, Tyler Lockett. Yeah. That's an interesting one. Grady Jarrett of the Falcons. Wow.

End of an era in that case. Would surprise me a little bit. I'm putting that under 50%, but he came off a really serious injury. And he's a little older and they might try to get younger. Sam Hubbard of the Bengals, that's where they can save some money. Vaughn Miller seems very obvious to me of the bills. I think that'll happen. How about this one?

Joey Bosa, I think. I think the Bosa and Kahliel Mack era could be ending and then I'll wrap with a bunch of saints Derek Carr that's a big quarterback domino to drop

does Kellyn Moore want to keep him taste some Hill maybe because of his contract is really big Cam Jordan who's an NFL media colleague of our yeah he can just go right over

to the media side I hate that the saints are in such cap hell because their team name indicates that they shouldn't be in a place like hell but the same, that's where they are. Oh, my God.

I got to go. Somebody put me out of my misery. Thriving. Can we expedite the meteor? I did you right. I did love seeing Cam Jordan riding around everywhere in New Orleans on a scooter.

Just like he owns that city. It is just, it was. Oh, yeah, we saw that at like 1130. Like he's just by himself. No one was with him. We had this massive smile on his face. It was cool. I was like, 11.30 a.m.

No, at night. And he just zooms by. I'll by himself on this scooter. And we're like, oh, wait, that's, that's Cam Jordan on a scooter. And you know, But it's a great way to get around a city like New Orleans, which is it's, it's like you have maybe like a mile to go, but it's not worth getting an Uber. Any Super Bowl city, because like all the road closures.

I love that humidity. All right, let's take a quick break. We're going to come back and we're going to ask Connie. Woo-hoo. I'm nervous. It's really solved this going to be. The universe's problems. Until the asteroid gets here.

So it's an asteroid, not a meteor, an asteroid. Well, what's the difference here? Let's take a look. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel?

That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt. Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL.

Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team-building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the table. talk to decision makers and share the insights you won't find anywhere else.

It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six 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 players, 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. Back on NFL Daily, living to our fullest.

as long as we can. Well, now I know the difference between an asteroid and a meteor. A meteor is just a streak of light, so that's not going to end things. We need the asteroid. I think I would still work. I don't know.

Yeah, meteors. Come on in. That's not going to do anything. I saw that. Did you see the clip of Jalen Hertz's mom, the TikTok she did of like going into work the after, you know, her son No, I need to see it.

It's just like a little dance and with a little subhead of like, yeah, this is me like going into work after my son is Super Bowl MVP, you know, a little dance or whatever. It looked like a school, so I assume she works at a school and I was in... I wanted to be Abbott Elementary. Yeah, it

had that vibe. Some of the commenters had that vibe and half the comment was like, what's she doing working? How come how come she still us to work? And I'm thinking like, maybe she finds fulfillment. And that's where I'm bringing it back to the asteroid. It's like, would I want to work? Would I want to work?

I guess if you knew it was ending and you had the means to not work, yeah, I wouldn't want to work as much. I wouldn't have the means to be clear. However, I would like maybe work at a bar or do something where I could just like chill. Like maybe get like a boutique if I could. How about if I was Mrs. Hertz? Open up a boutique. I would want to keep working, even if you didn't have to.

What are you going to do all right? Greg. Right? What are you going to do? do something more fun. Do something more fun. I would come here, Chris Wesleyan. She's going to rescue more animals.

And watch Jordan take charge of this segment, ask Connie. Only Jordan knows the questions that we are asking. And she is going to lead the way. Okay. Thank you to everyone who follows us. I can't wait to hear the ones that didn't make the cut. Just like Greg interrupted the drop. Well, I didn't know it was even existed.

I mean, the producers. Eric worked hard on that. And it's news to me. Let's hear it again. And Eric. Ask Connie. That should be my text tone. Right?

I don't like the encroaching use of AI on this show. It's fine. We're doomed in seven years. It's great. Let's do it. It's got to be life questions, football questions, everything. And yes, thank you for everyone who follows us on blue sky and the questions there. I do feel like I have been very negative about like working.

And I do want everyone to know that I do love my job and I'm grateful that I have it. And this is not at all, like, taking anything I have for granted. So just throwing that out. Noted for the record. I'm just in a mood today. That 20-second little sound bite will save you. I know. That's the damage is dead.

They're going to be like, decide. Yeah, you're day. What about those 20 seconds on February 18? I've said too much. Okay. I love this energy, though. It's good. We're all doomed.

It's fine. Um, okay. So this is a mixture of football life, how to. Okay. And what's it all mean? Oh, no. Right. Which I find you perfect.

You perfect for. Great. There was a really good football question we got, and I think it's a timely question, and I think we're going to need to all collectively start thinking about this as a football society heading into 2025 season. And this is from on Blue Sky cartoon Steve Bold, and he negged his own question. I liked his question. He said, I only have a boring NFL question.

Not boring, Steve. What's the biggest impact the Eagles will have on other teams approach? Oh, this is a good question. You're going to throw to you first. Well, I think teams now are going to look at their coaching staffs and their personnel and they're going to need a big Dom. Like that is obviously where they're going to, maybe just more Italian influence altogether. We tried to get Big Don on the show. He was hanging right around our set after the game.

We thought he wanted to come on. And he wanted to. Yeah. But the Eagles wouldn't let him. What do you mean? Who he is the Eagles? Yeah. We, Big Don.

if you're listening, their PR was like, I think he was not doing it. They didn't, he wasn't doing any media. I feel like he was probably highly requested as well. I'm sure. Our set was a set.

He was hanging around. Yeah. Yeah, let's get some more like, you know, Nick Siriani, Vic Fangio, Big Dom. They have what? Pan Noonzeo.

Oh, that's it. Uh-huh. Just the Italian. Yeah. We're doing an Italian influence. Yeah. I see, I just missed the Italian market

and having been. home in Philly. I'm like, the canolies. Let's get more of them. Panoles. Let's go. But I mean, what? Everyone's going to want to say Juan Barkley, but you can't have. Good luck with that. Seyvon Barkley. Also, if you don't have that offensive line, too. And it's like, oh, here's a novel idea. Why don't you build in the trenches? Like, it all starts up front. Yeah, obviously, of course. And that's where we see it. Like, you have to wheel and deal a little bit like how we did and then hit on all your draft picks, too. Yeah. I think it's interesting

because everybody says that too. Everybody says, we're going. to run the ball and we're going to build both lines and all this stuff the eagles have actually really just been about it like legitimately been about it for years and it's been a years long process we're seeing the fruits of their labor now and we did a couple years ago as well when they won in 17 but what this is a years long um collaborative like guess and check process and I think what a lot of people are doing and I actually heard this about this year's GM cycle where people were um interviewing people a either from and in the Eagles building or people outside of the building who are candidates for jobs about different practices and methods that have since been publicized that the Eagles

use, such as the insurance policies on players and some of the contracts that help mitigate some of the financial damage should anything happen, injury-wise, about risk assessment and risk management. I met, and I won't, I'll keep her name out of this, but I met this lovely, lovely woman two years ago at the Combine who had done some consulting work for the Eagles saying, hey, we're actually trying to assess and quantify the level of draft capital per like red flag for prospects. So if they have certain traits or qualities or background information that we find that are considered to be a red flag, whether that's medical, whether that's

psychologically, emotional or personal, how do we quantify that toward draft capital? How do we move that needle up and down? Basically, they're constantly troubleshooting and constantly guessing and checking and trying these little micro experiments behind the scenes. They have a massive front office staff in which they can do this. And they sort of just like let the, no, it wasn't pick a message. I'm sorry. They said, she would be good at that, though. I'm guessing who this person was still.

I'm trying to guess. We're sending messages on computers here. But I should have kept a straight face and I couldn't. She would be so perfect for them, though. And I just think that they try these little micro experiments and they, when they're finally ready to go public with the outliers that they have ascertained for the positive, they've already done so much research and data building behind the scenes that it looks like, oh, they just keep winning.

They just keep making these right to sit. There's a whole process that goes into it. Yeah, they do have a huge front office in general. I mean, their personnel guys weren't getting hired. They're like, I'm still surprised Howie Roseman's right-hand man for the last decade, Al-Calabee, got one interview in this cycle. And it was the Jets who did the right thing by interviewing a smart candidate. And they interviewed everyone.

That's true. It's still there. But that's like a robust analytics department. All that stuff's happened. A lot of the stuff that they were doing in 17 and the line bit, like, it's very consistent. They've always traded more than other teams. And I think there's going to be a lot of trades. But I think the most obvious basic thing that they do better.

than other teams that every team could and should copy is they just get their contract extensions done early with no drama. And that's it. And so you actually end up getting a better price. So they're not going into Jamar Chase's contract year like the Bengals are. And you self-scout well and identify who your guys are. And it's not just the superstars. It's the Josh Sweets who had like, that first time they re-signed Josh Sweat, people were like, oh, really? The first time they signed Brandon Graham, I remember. And this is like a second. My lotta's first deal came so early.

Yeah. And people like, oh, really? But then that deal ages so well. And then they signed, they have already signed my lot again to another deal. It's the opposite of the Bengals. Yeah. They do it. Like a lot of teams, like Devanta Smith, like did the Landon Dickerson contract, you know,

extension last off season make a lot of news? No. But like, imagine if they hadn't done it, what he would be worth this year. And so like, they'll probably sign Cam Juergens this year. But teams need to do more of that. We're talking about. about the off-season plans for a lot of these teams. And that is the best way to spend money is do it on like, do it.

Like if Jalen Carter, like the second he's eligible, they will be resigning him. He's not yet. But it goes hand in hand with continuity. When you have a process, a scouting methodology, they have turned over that robust staff a couple of times in various ways. But at the top between Howie, Alec and then also a couple of other people, they've had their scouting department as well. Like that's, that's a language.

That's a process that's been developed. and built over time that keeps that continuity. One of the best pieces of advice that I ever got from a front office person was if you, it was about coaching hires. It's like if you make the right hire the first time, you never have to make the hire again. It's a similar concept with these players. If you identify and pick and have an ecosystem around a player where you can adequately develop

the first time, you literally never have to do it again until he's ready to retire or leave. Let's do our next. Yes. Ask Connie. Ask Connie. Up next. Okay, from Brock on Instagram.

My big game meal was an array of cereals. Thoughts? Ask Connie. So... That's bad. They get ready for a big day with cereal? I think he's saying Super Bowl Sunday he was just eating cereal.

An array of cereals. Oh. So I haven't really had like cold cereal in a while, but I will say like frosted mini-weets back in the day was my go-to from Costco. go, so you got the double box. But I see nothing wrong with that. Some people like a game day apple.

Some people like the cereals. In a ray is cool, because that is something as a kid you sort of fantasize about just having options. The most exciting thing for a child is being at a hotel that has the multiple options. So it's like that. You can relive that. Now, not a lot of nutritional value normally. I still buy shredded mini weights.

Yeah. That's it. They're not frosted. though? Just shredded. Frosted. Oh. Okay. Yeah. Like a cereal buffet? Sure. I figured you is more of like a, what are those little like nodules that you have to soak for a while?

Musilix? No. Oatmeal? No, you have to, like great grains or something where you have to soak them for a while. It's like really good fiber. I'm not a big cereal person either at this way. I would say... Are you drinking milk with it? Are you doing like oat milk? Of course you put milk in it. Of course you put milk in it.

I want to know. But I also probably only have a bowl of cereal max once every week or two. You know, it's not too often. It's not a part of my regular diet. But I haven't grown up out of that. I didn't know that, oh, Connie's too mature. She's too cool for, for cereal. You guys don't know what I eat.

I eat also. I actually, believe it or not, before I came here, you know those, like, infant little, they're like packets of blueberry and spinach or whatever that's, like, crushed up into a, Why can't I think of the name of it? A pouch? Yeah, it's like a pouch. Oh, it's a paste pouch. It's like a goo, like a cliff goo.

Yeah. It's like a baby food. It's a baby food in a pack. I eat that. I like that because I feel like I'm getting nutrients and I'm on the go. You have the same diet as my nine-month-old son. I do. And that's why I'm thriving.

That's amazing. All right. We got another one. We got another one for Asa Connie. Connie. Joey says, How do I cope with being a Cowboys fan? I never experienced.

experience the 90s. Oh, I'm so sorry, Joey, you will never cope. It's just, you'll have to go to a new team, I think, unfortunately. You can stay in the division if you want and be a turncoat, come to the Eagles, but I don't know what you do at this point. Why not? Let it build your character. You know, you've had some fun with the Mavericks, assuming you're just like a Dallas sports fan, although with Cowboys fans, you know. Well, I was going to say he always has the Yankees, you know? Oh, wow. Joey, I mean, I don't. I don't. know, buddy, but maybe this year is your year. Joey, my advice to you is to feel nothing ever. Yeah. The asteroid's coming, Joey. Don't worry. You only got seven more years rooting for the Cowboys. The Cowboys fan... Only seven more years.

No. Yeah. They occupy an interesting space, though, because they get the most attention. That's kind of cool. If you're a fan... It might be annoying, too. But they get... You get great coverage. No team I think is covered more

in their home city than the Cowboys are in Dallas. It really is... You always have access to what's going on. It is next level. There's the amount of coverage that they have all year round. So that's cool. And nationally.

And they're always... We're making fun of them. But other than like the five... Every five years where they bought them out, they're always pretty good. It could be worse. I could come up with eight or ten teams, which I'd rather not root for.

And so like, it'll build character. It will happen at some... Well, yeah, on the flip side, he, if he stays loyal to his team and continues to suffer a little bit longer, then at some point, maybe before the asteroid hits, they'll win and what a release that will be. Yeah, you could say, I was there for the McCarthy time.

I was there for the... Dark times. Yeah. Jerry Jones said, we made a bunch of moves and we're going to be aggressive and then did nothing era. I mean, I was there, at least as an adolescent, when they were truly bad.

the Dave Campo and the who is that quarterback Quinn's why am I blanking but they were like extremely bad for about five to eight years and they still were on national TV every week let's get our next our next question okay ask Connie Connie if you

could scream anything into the void what would it be go birds maybe but I have been doing that it seems like for the past two weeks screaming it into the void I scream a lot of things into the void do you guys ever actually just scream for the sake of it, you know, because no one can hear just like in your car or something

like that. Do you ever scream to the voice? I actually did that the other day. I just screamed. Yeah. Why? At my steering wheel. Well, in the car, I think there are things that happen that lead you to scream and just be super frustrated. There was one time in the 10 years, 11 years that I've worked here at NFL media that I was so upset and so frustrated with what was happening. I walked myself out to the parking lot and sat in my car and just screamed at the top of my lungs. Nice. And I need more.

Yeah. What led to that? It was a series of things. And then just a lot of miscommunications. And I got burned a lot. and so it was like I just, I was tired of like preparing and preparing and preparing

and then looking like I wasn't prepared and so then I just screamed. I screamed a lot and you know, I guess it felt better. I didn't scream at anyone. It was just into the void. This is actually why I think Grant Yudinsky goes to the fjords. Maybe he screams into the fjords. Yes.

Got two more fjords. Although you'll have you'll have like some voice coming back, some echoes like I bet it's kind of cool. I'm just like, baby food. Literal baby food. The Cowboys, by the way, weren't in the wilderness quite as long as I thought.

The Dave Campo years, three straight, five, and 11 years. But other than that. I still haven't remembered the name of the cereal. Up next. Quincy Carter. Ask Connie. Tequila guy, 77, says,

nice handle, by the way. Get it, tequila joke, handle. What's the best way to deal with being a fan of a mid-team? drink a handle of your handle. There you go. I mean, I don't know. Since the Eagles are good, I can't remember.

No, I, you know what? You just got to play fantasy and hope that your own team is going to be better than your mid team that you're rooting for. And, you know, just make sure everyone's having fun. You know, they say, they say comparison is the thief of joy. I think in this case that it's not true, realize that that's the vast majority. of experiences for all fans. Every fans say, oh, like, this would only happen to blank.

And like every fan base thinks of that. There are 20 to 25 teams in the league in their fan bases that are experiences sort of this mid-existence that you're talking about. And then you can realize, like, well, what makes me so special that I would think I'm going to have a way better experience than most of the people? I'm sharing this experience.

This is basically what being a sports fan is. Keep the expectations relatively low. Try not to be happy, Greg, is advising. No, I'm just saying keep the expectations low, says the guy who got to watch. That's a good rule, though. And he set the bar not too high. You set it on the ground.

And I think he's also saying, you're not alone. Yes, that's what I am. That's true. That's true. I will say that if your team is mid, I think that's worse than your team being absolutely terrible. Because if you're stuck in limbo, it feels way worse. because you could maybe get over the hump,

but you're kind of just like hovering over the middle of things. I don't like that purgatory for people. Right, but like I don't know why I'm suddenly thinking of the AFC North because the Browns are truly tortured. But then also just think of that same division. Like Bengals fans would say they're tortured. And Ravens fans, I know they've had a lot of success, but they would like, they find the current era

and what's happened last 10 years, like extremely frustrating. And Steelers fans, they think, you know, how come everyone doesn't realize that Mike? Tomlin can't win a playoff game and this is frustrating that we're always, they are the definition of men. And so it's like everyone has these frustrations. See, I think I would be fine. I'd be patient with most of these things. I would not be a Browns fan for many obvious reasons. But then the other thing is I would be pissed to be a Bengals fan because I would be feeling like I was being gaslit all the time. Because what do you mean you're trying? I hate that. You see the potential right there.

I'm frustrated by it. I can fix him. I hope he's not a Bengals fan. Let's go to to our next question. I want the whole... Oh, fashion advice for men. Oh, this is good. I don't love super tight jeans on guys. Wait, Greg, stand up. I think those are out.

I'm wearing slacks. They are. They were popular for a time, like super skinny jeans. Because for women right now, it's like a lot of wide leg jeans. Like sort of the bands. It's a lot of like Kendrick walking across. Well, that is... I loved his jeans.

They were like... Flares. Flare's. Love it. Boot cut, flares, bellbottomy. That's not really

my jam either. I don't really know a whole lot about men's fashion. So I like a good Henley and just make sure that your jeans are not like overly washed.

I was going to say what do you feel about the acid wash? Not into that. What about Ed Hardy? Please don't. Like affliction, anything that's like

affliction vibes. Colleen is very stylish, but I don't think she's a good person for men's fashion. I don't think she would have a lot to offer that. I don't know why. And also, like, I'm so fashionable.

I'm wearing, like, a Target sweatshirt from five years ago. But thank you so much. Let's do it. Ask Connie. If you weren't covering the NFL, what sport would you cover instead? There's two questions here. Let's take that one first. Okay, figure skating.

Just because it's what I know the most. So if you don't know, I was a competitive figure skater growing up. So I love it. And every time I watch it, it makes me want to go and skate. So, and I, like, actually know what they're doing, like, before they even get her. L.A. Olympics. Get her in the booth. This is a, you know some people at NBC.

Do you? Flex. Do you now? No, I haven't been able to get myself a job. That's my dream. Cover the, cover figure skating. And I've tried. I literally used to try very hard to get tennis, um, gigs at the Olympics.

Not like I would be on air broadcasting back then, just like, working behind the scenes and stuff, I was not able to pull that off. But that would definitely be what I would want to, to announce if I did another sport. Like, if anyone is out there listening, I mean, Randy works at the freaking tennis channel. I think my contract would allow it. I'm, I'm very knowledgeable and I'm available. I was going to say, I could see you covering tennis. I could see you definitely covering tennis, like as a commentator. It's a time. What about the biathlon? A breath of fresh air. The old ski and shoot. Let's see that the second question

Oh yeah Mine would be the dog show by the way Oh yeah I went to one That's good one My friend produced the dog show For NBC once And I went out and went to it

It was a lot of fun If you could pick a new team For one of the other members of the show To support which team would you Pick for them And I like the idea of assigning Greg A new team

Other than the Patriot I have so many teams though Because you have the Saints kind of just from like two lane. So maybe it's the Saints. Yeah. I would give the Connie the Giants just for the content.

I was going to say, are we mad at each other? We're assigning teams. You get the Jets. Yeah, you get the Jets. Congrats. It would be great to have Jordan have any team. I know. I'm a,

I root for stories. Maybe, you know what? You do kind of, you do kind of lean Cardinals just loving what they do and you are an Arizona gal. So. Did you grow up with a team? No,

Yeah, so because I grew up in Phoenix and it was like sort of like laughable at that time to root for the Cardinals and go sit in 150 degree bleachers sure to go watch them play games on Sundays before they had a stadium. Now I like them. I like what they're doing. I think they're interesting in terms of you know. They always had a pluggy charm. They had those Jake Plummer years were kind of fun. I do reverse and have you be a Cardinals fan now. My sister's a Cardinals fan. and she's miserable every football. That would be a betrayal. Yeah, we've got to get you out of the NFC West.

It's too much NFC. I pick the Vikings. I'll be a Vikings fan. Wow. Yeah, I like them. I like that for you. They're fun. Good vibes over there.

All right. Last question here. From Greg Rosenthal. Connie. Connie, why are you the way that you are? How much time do we have left from the show? There's so many reasons. Sit down.

Get yourself some refreshments. No, but if you had to like sort of, drill down to one. And you only have seven years to figure it out. Like a starting point. Why am I? Why are you? The way?

Well, I don't know if it's because I'm like the baby of the family, like the youngest. So I'm just like, oh, look at me over here. I can juggle. I can do this. I can do that. Like, what do you need me to do? I'm not. That makes sense.

That actually, that makes sense. As we wait. That explains Tim, too. Okay. Did you see Tim? I did at the wedding. Good. Yeah.

Shout out Uncle Jack. Jack and Bill got married. It was great. So you saw Tim. Yeah. Tim was there and my sister married. Does he listen to the show? No.

He does not. No, which is why I feel comfortable taking little jokes with. I think that when you are in your between space before the asteroid hits, you're deciding like kind of how you want to live your life, your shop, the name of your shop that you run could be called Essence of Connie. Oh. I kind of like that. Lots of odds and ends in there.

I love Chotchkes. So, yes, that's all I will sell. All right. Eric, before we leave, we do have a very small item of news. I don't know if it's breaking. I don't know if we have developing, but I'll take either one.

A second asteroid. Oh, God. One of those veteran quarterbacks is off the market. That's right. The Carolina Panthers have re-signed backup up Andy Dalton to a two-year deal. Let's go. I mean, that's something.

Good for him. $6 million guaranteed, 37 years old. $6 million guaranteed is not bad. Two years, $8 million. I think he looked at what's been out there for some of these guys in the past few years. And he probably likes living there and is like, I'm sick of it. That's a great gig. Like a backup quarterback, especially for him, like you're on the tail end of things.

Like, just sit back, collect some of that money. You come in when there's an emergency? Yeah, he saw Jimmy G. Make $5 million in L.A. last year. And he goes, I glowed up too. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, has improved his fashion forward hair. His hair.

Everything has incredible. Has improved. That's a swoop right there, Greg. I know you're working on your front swoop. Not anymore. It's a crime to cover that with a helmet. Yeah, it really is. Andy Dalton, what a career.

And I'm glad, you know, we have a connection with him here in the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio, the Dalton scale, for all these years later, a guy who got picked on a lot at the beginning of his career, and he's still making it happen. And now he's not the meridian for starting quarterbacks. That was the Dalton scale. He's now the prime meridian for backup quarterbacks. If you don't have a backup quarterback better than Andy Dalton, you need one. And if you have one better than Andy Dalton, then you're fine. You don't need to try to improve. He's also kind of a high point for finances for backup quarterbacks a little bit, right? That's pretty good.

For like truly true backups. Good for him. And, you know, Bryce Young's a, not that he's had any injury issues, but he, you could see Andy Dalton playing for the Bengals. By the way, I don't know if you saw this before we go. Panthers for the bandos. I thought this news was a little wild. Shefter throughout on his podcast.

He just kind of threw out that, hey, like, Aaron Rogers isn't going to cost as much as Matthew Stafford. If the Rams wanted to get some picks for Matthew Stafford, maybe Aaron Rogers would make a little sense there for like less money. And he would really like that. I think I saw something similar in The Athletic.com this week about the previous interests by the Rams and Aaron Rogers. And the fact that the Rams would only be going for a bridge quarterback should they actually decide to move on from Matthew Stafford. I don't know where I read it.

You wrote it. I think it was Theathletic.com. But, yeah, just noticing. To clarify, does he, Aaron Rogers count as a bridge quarterback that they could be interested in? That he does count, I think. For the limitations of the market

that I believe he will have, as well as his age, yeah. But I think, you know, if they do, bottom line, if they do move on from Matthew Stafford, it will be a bridge. They won't spend a significant amount of money or time parameters on a contract structure unless that person is their present and their future.

I can't wait to read more about that on Theathletic.com. I just want better for my family. My family, the Rams fans. They do not want Aaron Rogers. They do not want to be rooting for Aaron Rogers. But yet, it sort of makes sense that he would take a Sean McVeigh discount because who's the one guy who could revive his career

and have him go out pretty well. He actually might think about taking relatively little money for Aaron Rogers and they would be confident enough that they could make it work. But they shouldn't be. It's asking for a fox in the hen house. I will say, all of that's true. I will say, and I don't mean to make this sound

like a jab or anything. They're an extremely hubristic organization. Like, they think they should do these things and then half the time they actually go do them. Oh, man. I'm glad we got that in this show because that was just a little negative. Thank God.

Let's go. Fox in the hen house really got me. Let's play that music. Great having you back. So good to be here. That was fun. Ask Connie. Yay. We will bring back Ask Connie this offseason because Wisdom. Excellent. It's there in the title. It's a daily show. There's a lot of shows coming up. We'll be back previewing division with Patrick Claibon and Steve Weiss. Yes, it is the Gregular season right now. Regular. I love when you're like this because that's my default. So I'm like, come on over. Are you on hitched? Yeah. Let's all

be unhinged together. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 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 Sundays. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the I-Hart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant.

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