NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - CeeDee Holdout, Stafford Intrigue and Bears Deep Dive with Stacey Dales

Episode Date: July 24, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is back as are 23 more teams at training camp. He first addresses the CeeDee Lamb holdout taking place out in Dallas in a special news topper. But to begin the show he's joined by Nick Shook to go over some of the biggest headlines from around the league (2:07). Starting with the latest coming out of San Francisco regarding Brandon Aiyuk  (4:11) as well as the Ja'Marr Chase contract situation in Cincinnati (12:43). We finish with a round of quick headlines (19:45). Next, we're joined by Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic to discuss an odd day in Los Angeles to discuss Matthew Stafford's contract adjustment. (23:26) Finally, we're joined by Stacey Dales to inform us of the latest coming out of Bears camp and what the Bears might be capable of accomplishing this upcoming season. (35:03) 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, guys, this is Greg Rosenthal for NFL Daily. You'll notice no intro. What's going on? It's because we already taped the intro. We taped the whole show. We taped three different parts of the show. I got Jordan Roderick coming up.

I got Nick Shook coming up. I got Stacey Dales talking about the Bears. But I am growing increasingly insane, wanting to get every bit of news possible into this show. And we had breaking news on CD Lamb, not reporting for Dallas Cowell. training camp. He did not get on the Cowboys playing on Tuesday. Over to the West Coast and Oxnard, he is not showing up and I want to make sure that was in the show. Cowboys can't

be surprised letting it get this close. They've been here before by the way. Zach Martin held out a couple of years ago. Zekeo Elliott had a really long holdout you'll remember in 2019. That didn't end until the season almost started. It doesn't seem like the CD-Lam contract is particularly close. at this point, but he will not be there. It is not devastating for the Cowboys to be missing a wide receiver during training camp. It is not the same as if Matthew Stafford had missed training camp for the Rams.

We'll get to that later in the show. But it is still a reminder of how much work this Cowboys team has to do in the next couple of weeks between Lamb, maybe DAC. Michael Parsons is going to need a contract extension at some point, and CD Lam should not accept anything less than Justin Jefferson money, whether it's more, whether it's a little bit less, he's going to be in that ballpark.

So Cowboys camp starting off on an annoying note, but they love the attention, even if it's negative attention. And the Cowboys, it seems like they've had plenty of that this off season, a lot to get to on today's show. And now I'm going to send it over to myself and start off this show with Nick Shug to get to all the news. All the teams are back on the practice field. that really feels like the NFL season started on Tuesday and excited to have you aboard.

Welcome to NFL Daily, where we would not look better blonde. I'm Greg Rosenthal and Beyond Lucky today to be joined by my friend Nick Shook of NFL.com NFL Network, and he misses the days when he had hair. potentially color. Yeah, fun fact, Greg, when I was like six years old, I had a picture from my dad's wedding to my former stepmom. I had flowing locks, blonde hair. It was nicely quaffed for the wedding.

I was in a tux. But at one point, I went down to my shoulders. So I'm bald now. But it was in the past. It was there. I don't know if you could pull off the platinum look that Joe Burrow did on the way into training camp, but you got to love a young man who can, like, make national news just by changing his hair color.

I just feel different today, Nick. 23 teams showed up to work on Tuesday for training camp. It really feels like it's all happening. It started. There's a lot of news that happened today. And so we are going to get to all of it. We're also going to talk about the Matthew Stafford contract adjustment and whether there might be a little bit more to the story there

with one of our great contributors, Jordan Rodriguez of the Athletic. Also going to do a deep dive on the bears who have been in camp now for more than a week or almost a week there in Chicago. And we'll do that at the end of the show. But before we do that, Nick, let's roll through the news. Hit it, Randy. News. News.

Okay, outside of that, like, one hour where it looked like Matthew Stafford might be holding out. Nick, I think the most interesting news today, we're the players that showed up. Let's start with Brandon Ayuk and Tuatung of Iloa off the bat. Brandon Ayyuk. We've talked about how he requested a trade, but he is there in training camp. We don't know yet if it's going to be a hold-in, but it's definitely not a hold-out. John Lynch, the GM, was asked at a press conference on Tuesday whether he could guarantee that IUC stays on this roster. I think, again, no absolutes there.

We fully intend on Brandon being a nineer moving forward. We're always open to listen to things. But like I said, we expect Brandon to be an integral part of our team like he has been and excited about that. Yeah, it's interesting that he won't say that he won't trade him. Leaving that door open. I mean, that to me is very purposeful. I don't think he expects to trade him. I think they want to have him there. But I think they don't know how this is going to go and they're leaving the door just a little bit open in case someone wants to come with a real deal offer that I doubt has happened. So, far. Yeah, I think both sides are kind of feeling each other out. Neither is really handling this

the most graciously. The fact that IEach showed up, I was a little bit surprised. And the one thing you do is you never speak in absolutes. It's how you couch everything. I'm not going to go in absolutes. You know, he will be on the team because you get the Godfather offer and you're like, all right, we're going to move on. Like if there's something you can't turn down, then you obviously take that offer, but I just don't think that exists right now. And we don't live in a world like, you know, you had talked about with Ian last week where, you know, there's a one for one deal. you know, him for Devante Adams, who says no? That doesn't really exist. So it's going to be complicated to move him. I do expect him to eventually be on that roster, but I don't think

they really understand exactly where they are in negotiations right now. Yeah, there'll be more on this on Wednesday. We'll see a few practices. I doubt it. But I also said on Monday show that I expected Jordan Love would practice and was immediately wrong. So it's dangerous to make guesses on news that can change. Tua Tua Tuaa showed up, not a surprise to me. Tyreek Hill was also there, and that one's been on my radar that he wants a new contract. He talked about the one thing he wanted to get across to his agent, Drew Rosenhouse, on Tuesday. You honest, I had no idea. Obviously, I let Drew and, you know, the team handled that situation.

And the only thing I told Drew was like, do not get me traded, bro. Last time you did this, you got me traded. so that's been my only thing to him i'm like if i i want to stay here in miami man yeah i would want to stay in miami if i was him too with mike mcdaniel and and that city it's tricky though you kind of can't pay tyrie kill until you pay to a tung aviloa and it wasn't at our network but i've just seen some cautious uh reporting about that they might not be that close and that there might be a belief if i'm reading between the lines from the dolphins that look like, unlike these other quarterbacks,

there might not be a $60 million per year offer out there for Tua from other teams so that the dolphins actually feel they might have a little more leverage than other teams in this situation. That was Jeff Darlington that said that. I should credit him, our former coworker, just a little different on this vibe than all the other quarterback talks. Yeah, you know, this one feels like the dolphins are hesitant. And I think a lot of it is because of market value, like you said.

And it's also, you know, yeah, he led the league in passing last year, but he's also only completed one season fully healthy. And there's just a little bit less to work with. If he's your guy, you pay him. But I understand the hesitancy and how you're trying to react to a quarterback market that just continues to balloon and waiting it out. It feels like this one might actually go on pretty long, which could hold up everything else. But then again, if you look at Tyreek, how are you really going to pay him when we talked about this, you know, on a previous show? There are only so many shiny toys in that toy room that you can pay. you know, over time. And if you're going to give a ton of money to the quarterback,

then somebody's going to have to suffer the consequences. So it's, I think they're in a bit of a holding pattern right now. So we'll see how it plays out. Well, and they just gave him a ton of money two years ago. And the CBA rules are such, you can just always keep renegotiating. And that contract starts to look pretty good after a couple years just because of how salaries go up. So it's a tricky spot with him a few years away from free agency. It doesn't sound to me, though, that he is going to raise a big stink. And maybe he'll get the Amari Cooper deal. We're going to get to, him in a second where you just get like a little bit of a re you get something out of the deal for

for being a pain. Hassan Reddick situation is different though. He is holding out of training camp. There just have not been many holdouts since this new CBA was signed because you can get fined heavily and it really increases quickly where you're losing a lot of money. Hassan Reddick is due to make $14.5 million per year. I want to read something from Rich Samini who's one of the best Jets reporters out there. He works for ESPN. He wrote at the time of the trade, the Jets were quote, under the impression that Reddick, who turns 30 on September 22nd, was content to play out the final year of his contract and hit free agency. There may have been a miscommunication or perhaps Reddick changed his mind. Either way, it was an odd look for both

sides. I never seen this. A guy that gets traded and then is immediately upset with the team and you hate to say same old Jets, but it just is like this is not something they were expecting coming into the year that this is the bit of drama that they have to deal with. Yeah, it's a bummer too because he's part of a defense that's ferocious and it's the ideal piece to really, you know, take them to the next level. But he's also 19th in APY right now. And he's in the final year of his deal and he's 30 years old. So if he's going to cash in, it's got to be right now. So I understand the sense of urgency from him. But usually when you see these deals happen, you see extensions immediately follow.

The fact that we're seeing the opposite, as training camp starts, again, falls under the umbrella of Jets just not quite handling the situation the best. It just sounds, it says there may have been a miscommunication. So the jet, just reading between the lines with that reporting, the Jets thought they were good for whatever reason, because he was not happy in Philadelphia. That's really why they made the move to get Bryce Huff from the Jets who replaced Pesan Reddick.

I talked to someone in Philadelphia, not with a team, just a reporter, that was like, it was a deal last year. It affected Hassan Reddick. He was not happy. And I don't know if it affected his play, but they knew he wasn't happy. And now the Jets are dealing with that same situation. Your brownies won't have to worry about that, though. At least not with Amari Cooper, who, you know, has earned his money. And then some I would say with the Browns, that was an excellent move by Andrew Barry. And he did show up. And they didn't even give him a raise.

They just gave them $5 million in incentives, whether that's reachable incentives or not. We don't really know at this point the details aren't out there. And that's sometimes what you do with these veterans. You just tack like a little bit of incentives on when they don't really have much leverage and it makes them happy enough. And Amari Cooper is in the building and they need them in the building. Yeah, when we talk about leverage, I think about his position. I mean, he is the most important receiver on that team by a long shot.

This is another season in which they don't know what they have in Deshawn Watson. He needs that guy out there. I thought he was going to get more out of it. I thought he at least get another year. The fact that he just got $5 million in incentives and he got $10 million up front. I mean, that was a serious concession on Amari's part to get to camp.

I was very surprised by that because he's another guy, 30 years old. That's usually the mark when it's the last time you can really cash in on a multi-year deal. So to see that he only got half of it up front, 10 million out of that 20,

everything else is the same and you can earn $5 million more. I mean, he's been super productive. And I give him that. He could probably hit some of those incentives. We don't know what they are. But I was just surprised. I thought he'd get more on it.

Yeah. If I had to guess what happened was they just were not going to give him guaranteed money or give him a fair contract into next year. The whole idea of like, oh, we're guaranteeing him this salary. You don't need to do that. He's making the team. It's guaranteed once you're on the team week one. You get it $10 million right now instead of spread out.

Some people like that, you get the money quicker. You can invest it quicker. Who knows? Maybe he's buying a house. That's nice. But if they weren't going to give him a fair multi-year extent, He might prefer, okay, forget it. I want to get back on the market.

But it's not like they promise not to tag him or anything like that. So he'll be motivated to have a big time year. I'm sure he will. I know he hasn't been the most consistent player, but when he is out there, he has been awesome. And he was almost underrated how good he was last year for Cleveland. Let's go to their division rivals. Mike Brown talked about the Jamar Chase contract.

And let's listen to it. because I think there's a couple directions we could go, but let's parse some Mike Brown talking before the season. He's a key player next to Joe. He's our next one. And he knows that we know it. This may take a while. We are going to bend over backwards to get it done.

I can't tell you when, though. Okay, so that was the positive part if you're a Bengals. fan. And that's what they latched on to. Later in that same press conference, he did indicate it's hard for him to imagine that contract happening before this season. And that was the quote that got sent out a lot by the national reporters. And then the Bengals fans are mad. And they're like, oh, why are you trying to make it sound like same old Bengals when he said he's going to bend over backwards? And the truth is somewhere in the middle, that indicated to me, and Jamar Chase being happy indicated to me, like, it'll be fine. But he's also saying, I'm not going to negotiate essentially with in-camp

or in the regular season. Like, other teams do that. So if you were really bending over backwards, you could do that. And other teams make sure to lock up their receiver this season a year early, instead of going into a contract year, having like a C.D. Lamb situation. We see it with Justin Jefferson. So he's not exactly bending over backwards. And the people that are saying, okay, it's always a little more complicated with the Bengals. I think there's some truth to that too. That said, I just think they've telegraphed. It's probably chase happening. Higgins not. And hopefully for Bengals fans, and for Joe Burrow, they get it done eventually. Yeah, exactly. I think this deal gets done next year, early next year. They have the protection of his,

you know, one more year left than his contract. They don't need to be in a rush. I don't think that he gets to a contract year situation. The writing was on the wall as soon as they tagged T. Higgins and didn't sign him to an extension. He's the only player who was franchise tagged this offseason who did not sign an extension. We know what that means. Joe Burrow already got paid. Jamar Chase is next. We're just not going to do it right now, but he is an integral part of our offense and of our future. The only question I have, Greg, does he exceed 35 million a year that Justin Jefferson got? Because if he has a huge year this year, then he's going to. Yes. Although the Bengals, Joe Burrow, they, they, they, they

got him to take just like a little bit less than the other guys. It wasn't much if you really looked at the structure. He obviously did extremely well, but just just a little bit less. So maybe he doesn't go over that. And to be fair, to the Bengals, I pointed out Justin Jefferson. He got drafted a year before Chase, of course. So that same contract did not happen until the following year. And you're right. It's got to cost a little more in a year, but the Bengals sound like they are ready to do it. And yeah, I mentioned at the top, Joe Burrow with the hair, what did you think? Eminem, I saw number one on the Billboard charts. It's in 2024. How about that? And then Joe Burrow with the homage to Eminem today with the platinum hair. As soon as I saw it, I just thought,

may I have your attention, please? It's the 99 VMA is all over again. Eminem and like 50 guys all with blonde hair. He's walking into camp. I love that Joe Burrow. He was very outspoken at LSU. He's a different sort of dude, and he has not let go of that at all. We can only hope he is healthy this year because like he he makes the NFL so much better a couple things before we get to our speed round just quickly the NFL PA their director spoke to Mark Maskey of the Washington Post talking about 18 game and making that part of every regular season and he said there's been very very very used three varies high level superficially with a recognition about yeah this is something we should be talking about so he was asked if there has been

and we should really kick the tires and understand what else is going to go into it. But he also pointed out, he's not ruling it out. He said the simple fact of the matter, when you have a growing enterprise and there's opportunities within that period of time, why wouldn't you want to do that? So it sounds like the players are open to it. The devil will be in the details. Yeah, it'll be in the details. But we know the NFL loves to make everything a tent pole event and they love to capitalize

on their ever-continuing growth. So I think this is an inevitable result of that growth. I thought you were saying they're going to make the CBA negotiations for 18 games like a new 10-ball event. Like we'll do some programming around that. We'll have a special. We'll talk about a whole set of coverage for it. My only question is, if you go to 18 games, do you work in two buys?

Because that is a grind of a season. Yes, I think you should. I think the players will want that. And again, that's the details. And for all you out there who don't know the CBA details, and why would you? You'll have football. It's not up till 2031.

So any 18 game season, if that happened, if they tried to agree to that, they'd have to rip up the deal. They'd have to make some adjustments. I'm sure the players would want some concessions, maybe a higher share of revenue. But it really feels like there is momentum there. They would get rid of a preseason game almost certainly. Roger Goodell has mentioned that.

So that story continues to move forward. Finally, Tyson Campbell, when a guy signs a four-year, $76 million contract, I just put him in the news. I know not a lot of people know about Tyson Campbell, but Nick Shuck does because he knows about every team. Yeah, baby. And I was thinking, I'm like, yeah, that makes sense. And then I thought, well, actually, let's go look at his numbers.

And last year he was not very good, but he was dealing with a hamstring injury for the majority of the season. And anybody who's ever had a hamstring injury knows those are nagging. They don't, you know, heal quickly. It can hamper you, especially when speed is the name of your game. The year prior, he had a great 2022. He finished in the top five and targeted EPA loud. His number was in way low, which is good when you're a defensive back.

it shot in the other direction last year because he was hampered by that injury. This is a contract that you're doing before the anticipated bounceback season so that you're not paying an even higher premium next year. So good on the Jaguars for betting on a guy that they believe in. Second round pick, you already have the investment there. Makes a ton of sense. Now he's just got to go out and produce and prove that he was worth it. Yeah, I love it because he was a really good player a couple years ago.

I think they learned from the Josh Allen, now Josh Heinz Allen situation where they waited a year on to give him his contract and they ended up paying a lot more. And you just, the most important thing you can do as a team is identify who are your guys, the guys that you're going to be paying out three, four years. He got guarantees into the third year of this contract. And I think they did a good job there. That's also, that's a rare instance in which hyphenation really helps everybody. Usually it just complicates matters, but with two prominent Josh Allen's in the NFL, I appreciate the hyphenation of Heinz Allen. So that now when I write, I don't have to write Josh Allen the edge rusher, Josh Allen, the quarterback. So thank you, Josh Heinz Allen. Was he always

Joshua? Because he's now Joshua Heinz Allen. No, he was Josh Allen. Okay, so now it's changed on multiple fronts and more power to him. And good job by the Jaguars. All right, Randy, hit the music. We're going fast. Other players reporting to camp on Tuesday, Cortland Sutton of the Broncos, Alvin Camara of the Saints. Alvin Camara, probably going to stay quiet on the matter. I understand his position. But it's good that he's there because this is a big year for the Saints offensively. After that offense struggled, you know, statistically they're actually better than you realize,

but visually it was a tough watch. So it's good that he's there. He's an important part of that offense. And Cortland Sutton, just stay healthy and stay on the field and try and figure it out with your newest quarterback, whoever it is with the Broncos. Let's just see if John Payton can make it all work. All right, they're splitting reps to that point. the Broncos between three quarterbacks to start camp.

That never is great. It's Bo Nix. It's Jared Stidham. And it's our friend, Zach Wilson. The Dolphid signed Emmanuel Agba mentioned a couple shows ago, how Shaq Barrett retired. Agba gets $5 million. Was the best pass rusher available, so that makes sense.

He might be starting in week one. He probably is for them. They're so banged up. They also put Odell Beckham on the PUP list. Not a great sign there. Cadarius, Tony, is playing running back in practice. Oh, no, Greg. I mean, look, I understand trying to get the football on Cadarious Tony's hands.

He's a great athlete and everything, but he's also not the most resilient physically. I fear the idea of Cadarious Tony running between the tackles. That's not the Chief's offense, but it just scares me. Maybe you get him out on the perimeter, a little orbit motion, that type of thing, and it makes sense. But they got to find use for him some reasons. It's a chance to make the team, Shucky. It's his chance to make the team. He might not.

Lamar Jackson was out for a fourth straight day with an illness. Jacoby Brissette is the starter with the Patriots. according to their coach, Gerad Mayo. But Drake May could absolutely play his way into being the starter week one if he outplays percent in camp. Mayo said it's not about like hitting certain benchmarks

or like whether May is ready. He's just like if he outplays percent, he'll be a week one starter. I don't think they want that to happen. Chase Brown, a lot of Chase Brown hype, has the opportunity to be the guy in Cincinnati according to Duke Tobin. What do you think about that?

Yeah, that's strange. I mean, you know, they got rid of Joe Mixed and they were like, all right, though, we're going to go Zach Moss. Yeah, this is it. And I looked at that back hole, and I thought, committee, is somebody else going to pick up some of the slack? So we'll see what happens. They need somebody behind you.

I like Chase Brown. I like Chase Brown. It probably will be a committee. Zach Moss, Chase Brown. But it does show they like Chase Brown quite a bit. And finally, Antonio Pierce, the latest coach to join the R-Startars will play in the preseason brigade. Yeah.

It's kind of happening all over the league. At least a handful of teams are like, we're going to play starters. Gerad Mayo was another one. I feel like it's almost a pushback to the trend that's been happening. Yeah, we're facing a future in which you might have one less preseason game. These guys need tune-ups. These are not the days of old with two a days. So let's get him some reps.

Why not? That's it. Shuki, light work for you. This is like when you go to the gym and you just don't have time. Does that ever happen to you? Or if you go, you just make it happen. And you're just like, I'm going to do 30 minutes just on my thighs or I don't know. No, that's when I pound out some quick cardio.

and then I run through shoulders real quick, and it's just in and out. So light work for Shook today. He is going on a well-deserved couple days off coming up. So enjoy it, my friend, and we'll get to you next week, and we're going to get to Jordan Rodrigue of The Athletic right after the break to talk a little Matthew Stafford. Back on NFL Daily. Jordan Rodriguez of the athletic in a surprise appearance.

Location changed. We didn't know, Jordan, that the Rams were going to make news today, but you were there when the news was being made, and I thought you had a great perspective on it, and so wanted to get you on. We're actually going to start for the first time ever in the history of NFL Daily with an appearance by a previous version of our guest

before the actual guest. So listen to Jordan Rodriguez doing real reporter stuff at a press conference earlier today talking to Sean McVeigh about this Matthew Stafford contract adjustment. So just to be clear, respectfully, just so what it was, there was some financial component, but also there were additional things you guys wanted to talk through. There's a lot of layers to these things, Jordan, and I think you know that as well. And what I, here's what I would say, I would prefer and I totally respect and understand.

Just there's a lot of layers to it. There was a lot of conversations in dialogue, some of which, you know, maybe was somewhat close, some of which was really far off. And so all I really cared about was what I heard from him, what was important, that Jimmy communicated to our group, and then we were able to get it solved with Les, Kevin, Tony, and myself. And that I am grateful for. Hmm.

Just kind of a weird press conference, weird day with the Rams. Weird day, Greg. Right. The actual transaction shouldn't be that weird. like Matthew Stafford wanted more money and we don't have all the details, but I believe you're reporting at The Athletic has that there is more guaranteed money into future years of his contract and the devil will be in the details there. That's not strange, but even your question there that Sean McVeigh referred to

it wasn't all about the money. What was your takeaway with that? Yeah, I was, so when this situation started unfolding many months ago, I guess that answer doesn't necessarily surprise me, although openly talking about how it wasn't necessarily all financially related or admitting that it wasn't all financially related in terms of how the conversations unfolded. He made some allusions and references to previous situations, and he even talked about previous failures that he had gone through. And I wondered for a minute if that was potentially talking about some of the lack of communication that is very much

on the record about having happened between himself and Jared Goff before he traded Jared Goff. And so I think wanting to avoid that this time around, you know, this situation dragged on. Obviously, they weren't ever talking about, you know, that drastic of a move. But in terms of this contract adjustment, you know, wanting to make sure that even on something that you would think is relatively simple like this, that you're communicating very clearly. And there were just, I think, some things that they needed to hammer out and clear up. I think that you have two people who are, you know, similar in age and in, you know, status and

importance in that building in terms of what they feel they contribute and what they feel, you know, kind of is necessary and how to have that ecosystem work. And I also think that one of them is kind of revisiting his career. in a way where he's thinking, you know, I'm going to be a coach for a lot longer now. And another one is really thinking about, okay, how much longer am I going to do this? And my impression from the very jump of this in April when Ian Rappaport was the first to report that Matthew Stafford was looking for more guarantees on his existing contract, which Sean McFae confirmed that that reporting was accurate, you know, he was, to me it was a signal

almost like Matthew felt so good to this is my opinion and kind of me reading the tea leaves not just of Sean sort of wanting to make sure he didn't let past failures and communication lapses sneak into current and existing relationships but also on the other side of it Matthew Stafford may be sending a signal out there saying I'm going to be that dude for for more years than all the rest of you not just Rams but the rest of the league maybe thinks I'm going to be because of the year that he had in 2023 where he was significantly, you know, in the top seven, top five of quarterback play week after week and did elevate that roster so significantly. But I think it's important, too, to remember in something like this when you're

talking not just about the financials, some of it is financial. I mean, the quarterback market has inflated and Matthew Stafford, you know, who played the way that he played, he wasn't, he felt to like 11 or 12 in terms of average annual. And while that can be. skewed a little bit because he did make like, what, $65 million over the course of one calendar year at one point. The guarantees just maybe weren't quite where they were. There's 15 of $27 million guaranteed in 2025, but none guaranteed in 26. And so fixing that, correcting that probably was a part of the mission, but also clearing up some of the language around that was probably part of the mission as well when Sean McVeigh was addressing communication errors and just different

types of things and clearing up like he said you know that he didn't want people he didn't want to think that people were not accurate but things did need to clear up be cleared up between sort of the narrative around this entire situation um which i found to be very i'm not that clear i'm not that clear i know i found that to be what is it is it is it their relationship i thought it was just interesting that you said it maybe it's a signal to the league not just the rams but also of the Rams that he believes he can get play at a high level for a long time. And maybe he did not want to be in this year to year situation. But the contract that he got guaranteeing 15 million in 2025 that that sort of slicing it down the middle where I don't think that. To be clear,

that was the previous. That was the previous contract. So so the point of this is that the new will should it should according to anything I've heard so far. We don't have the official That's how frenetic this came together when they realized they didn't actually know a lot of the people in the building didn't actually know whether he was going to show up this more recording this on Tuesday morning. They didn't know whether he was going to show up to camp or not or whether he was actually, he could potentially actually have been, you know, committing to a holdout. And so getting this done, I mean, Sean McFay was scheduled to talk at 9.30 this morning to the point where the social team even started playing the live stream of the lectern. And he just wasn't there. And so then obviously, that's when I texted you, Greg. and I was like, hey, we're going to get Rams News today.

Yeah, and he didn't show up for three more hours, and it did have a happy ending. And I guess because of the guaranteed money, it seems that he would be there in 2025, barring anything crazy. Right. He has had his injury history, and that hangs over all of this as well. It's a commitment thing, too, 2026, previously not having, now I'm being, I'm doing, taking a, you're being a great mentor to me, Greg, because I totally just cut you off just now. great. If it's the right time for it, don't wait. So that 2026, previously having no guaranteed

money specifically in 2026 of a 26 million dollar base salary, that's like a mercenary type of vibe there. Like if you think you're going to be playing, you know, until near 40 and maybe even beyond that. And that's just, again, that's the tea leaves I'm reading from this whole thing, wanting that guaranteed money, then you're not going to be wanting to play on a mercantial. type of deal. I mean, that's basically one year, nothing guaranteed. And then you want commitment from the team that has previously positioned you as the star, the franchise quarterback, who made a documentary about you in the offseason. I mean, it's, it just feels like some of the things that Sean McVeigh was commenting on a bit openly about the non-financials had to do more so

of like communicating needs and wants in a very simple and straightforward way, frankly. Does it change and we'll wrap on this? I do appreciate you coming on how you think about Stafford's future with the Rams. Because that to me was, it wasn't the takeaway from today,

but it was just like, oh, this is something to watch maybe even a little more than I thought. You know, the Dak Prescott could be out there next year. Like, who knows, does this just put the Stafford and Rams relationship a little bit more on your radar, ironically, on a day where they're committing to him financially more? I think if he would have held out, then that would have been a significantly more dramatic story because there are roster casualties that happen all across the ecosystem. If a quarterback who does lift the roster as much as Matthew does holds out, then you're not, you can't get your offense off the ground. And they don't have reliable backup play because Jimmy Gropolo would be, you know, suspended for the first two games of the season if the holdout potentially extended.

So I would have probably been more concerned or more flagged about that. I just think that it's really interesting that Sean McVeigh again reiterated the importance of communication and said he thinks. And the other thing that I flagged a little bit was that he thinks that he and Matthew's relationship is better for having. undertaken this situation. But again, like, I can't emphasize enough. Like, all of this happened Tuesday morning over the course of three hours. Again, so it's like a debt, you know, the deadline, they seem to very, at that point, very much take the deadline seriously and potentially avoided a fracture down the line because

they're able to get in a room, you know, get in a room and talk about, again, simple wants and needs. And just wanted to, I did just get it to, I just wanted to clarify too. So adjusted contract means adjusted contract. Don't really know what it's going to look like in terms of year-over-year guarantees, but it does seem like some of the existing guarantees and then maybe a bump in some of those existing guarantees will be moved and reallocated over different courses of the contract. Okay.

We will look for that. And yeah, just a little surprise. A little extra something on this first day. Look at you getting spicy too, Greg. Throwing out a name. I'm throwing out another name in the mix here. Oh, why not? Let's, I've been saying it on this podcast.

Let's get a little more NBA-like. We can spend half the season. If, like, Stafford, like the team is struggling a little bit, I could see it. It's like Paul George and Clippers, will he leave, will he not? We need more of that, I feel like, in the NFL, and there's no bigger names than you can have. Then Dak and Stafford, maybe they could flip spots. I don't think it's got to happen, but just a little fun addition to our Tuesday show. Thank you, Jordan. A little extra Jordan on this week. And yeah, you're off and running now. Training camp is training camping.

I'm often sweating, actually, is more like it. So it's good. I think the longer, the more I'm awake, the bigger my hair expands. So. I love it. All right. We'll see you next time in the studio. After the break, I talk to the great Stacey Dales about the Chicago Bears back after this. Welcome back to NFL Daily. It's Olympics week. And so we brought on the only Olympian I know personally that Stacey Dales. Former number three overall pick in the WNBA, Oklahoma Hall of Famer. Does it disgust you, Stacey, to work with so many people that are so much less athletic than you, like myself? Disgust is a strong word, Greg.

I don't think I would go there, but you're also aging me a little bit. So thank you for that. Well, how did I do that? As my dogs come in the room. How did I age you? I did not say when you played in the Olympics. I did not say when you were the number three overall pick. I just pointed out that you are an athlete covering great athletes.

And then you got to talk to someone like myself. supposedly on an equal level. And if I were you, I would just be thinking, like, give me a break. I was big time. Come on. Yeah, I mean, I set the standard. I mean, what else can I say? No, I think it's because of all the injuries that I've had post career from all those years ago.

But it was incredible. Olympic week is amazing. It's amazing because there's no greater plat. There's no greater galvanizing global experience, uniformly that is so positive than the Olympics. And it's the best of the best. I mean, so for me, it's incredible and it was incredible and it's an incredible week to watch and kind of follow. Yeah, that must have been like, of all the things you've done in your career, that has to be up there just as a cool experience. It's a really cool experience for me to just have you on this

show. We're going to talk about bears. And I will point out for anyone that's watching on YouTube that it's not just your dog Rudy now back there on the couch. You got both dogs. We got both dogs hanging out and they're beautiful. I got more during the pandemic, Greg. Okay, so Blue, she's 80 pounds, 80 plus and she likes to take over the bench and their sisters. And Ruby is the oldest to her. I have another one who's older. But people liked my dogs more during the pandemic because of the whole home camera thing than my actual NFL reporting. So go figure. Why not both?

You know, the eye candy and then the info. And you were at Bears Camp on Tuesday as we're recording this. And you've gotten to see one of the most fascinating teams in the NFL. I finally am happy. I'm sure you are too, as someone that lives nearby, that the Bears are actually as interesting as the amount of attention that they get nationally, because they always get attention. They always get primetime games.

But now with Caleb Williams and a lot of optimism, what is your feel and you've spent time with them this offseason about how Caleb's adapting. We're about four days into camp for them. They have not started practicing in pads yet. And then more specifically, kind of like what they're building for him, like what kind of offense and what they want to accomplish with him in his rookie year. Yeah, Greg.

So, by the way, kudos. the Bears for sending Jonathan Owens, well, not sending him, but you mentioned to start this thing off with the Olympics, to watch his wife, Simone Biles, which is, you know, I'm Canadian and American, so I'm rooting for her. Congrats, by the way, a new American citizen doing that. Yes, and she's the greatest of all time. So that's just a cool storyline, but there's so many with the Bears, Greg. it's the best roster we've seen in totality in Chicago and at a point where I can't actually remember. I mean, the last time they had a total,

think about the offense along, Greg. The last time they had a total, you know, top five, I think it was scoring offense and top five total offense was in the J-Culler days in, I think, 2013. That was a good team. That was a decent team. It was. It was.

They had a couple good. receivers, a good running back, and Cutty could throw the ball a little bit. This is different, though. This is, there's a positivity, being at practice, there's, there's an energy. I really think this defense is the, the best part of the whole group. Like, they are spectacular. And I say that hesitantly because the receiving core is spectacular. To watch the ball come out of Caleb's hands, and he was so good today, you talk about

one day. They're not in pads. He can change his platform in a moment's notice, the way he's with his arm angles. And that coupled with his eyes and his ability to see the field in the amount of time a quarterback snaps of football, it's unbelievable what they're able to do. That's why your offensive line has to be really the stalwart of what you do, right, Greg, but you're talking three seconds, maybe four, if you're lucky, to really figure out and navigate where your reads are, one, two, three, boom, boom, boom, and then find the right one. He'll take the check down. He'll hit the long down, as I would say. I mean, he's going to do it all. Yeah, to me, his tape was so fascinating to watch because I think he was more mature than people

gave him credit for, for all the big playmaking that he tried to do in this last season, keeping up with a bad defense and overcoming a bad offensive line, maybe really not great skill position players either. He barely put the ball in harm's way. Like there were not many interceptions. There were not many near interceptions. He made good decisions. It actually makes me think, and I don't know how much RPO stuff they're doing here at

camp. They did a lot of RPO's in college. He's so good throwing to the left. I can't remember a prospect or almost any quarterback, a right hand or being able to throw to the left. And you're right, he has that great feel that he almost reminds me a little bit of a tennis player. Sometimes tennis players, like a Roger Fetter is a good example. Anz-Jabor would be another one.

When they have so many tricks in their bag, when they have so many different things they can do, it can actually take them a little while to figure out what they should focus on and when to use what trick or what club in the bag. And I do wonder with him, do you get a feel from him or the bears? like what are the focuses for this rookie season? Yeah, I think you're going to see a lot of motion, and that's going to be part of his development. The number one thing they tried to figure out this off season with him is the cadence in delivering the play call

and getting the play call and delivering it to the huddle because he didn't have to do that in college. I mean, he wasn't required to be in command of, you know, ABC, D, E, F, G, Y, and Z. Like, all of that goes into one. one call to make sure everybody's on the same page, he's now having to do. I can tell you that when he left from the mini-camp phase to now the training camp phase, so what is that roughly a month?

There's palpable improvement. I mean, and everybody told, said, told me that, and everybody publicly denoted that, including head coach Matt Eberflus. You know, when you mentioned like the RPO's and stuff, I watched him today, just again, call it on air right we're not in pads but just a just a simple play action you know walk through kind of routine drill that they were doing the way he contorts his body and is able to to change on an angle right so he comes like you're saying to the left Greg he comes out to the left he rolls out to the left and he's able to just kind of cider on that thing and get his body in a very

controlled yet contorted position and that is important. stuff. Patrick Mahomes does that kind of stuff, right? And the best part about it all is his willing to work, his willingness to work, his fixation, as I've talked to his coach, his former coach Lincoln Riley about on his air, his, his, you know, things that he's not perfect at or, you know, challenges for him or things that didn't go right, mistakes that he's made. He is a grinder. now. So it's like anything, right? You mentioned Federer. If you are that gifted athletically and you do the things necessary fundamentally to become and enhance those athletic traits and innate abilities and enhance them to become this total package,

now you're talking like special stuff. And so I think that's what they fell in love with. and his personality has backed it all up here in Chicago. Yeah, the over-under wind total, you know, projected in the desert is eight and a half, which is the highest they've had since 2019. And that's, it's mostly about him. It's a little bit. It's also about the defense in how they finished out last year. And I know everyone's excited about the receivers around Caleb Williams, Keenan Allen.

I was worried, I saw he wasn't practicing today, but then they said it was a veteran day. It was like, okay, great. Roma Dunezay is out there. practicing. We know how good DJ Morris. Tyler Scott's made some practice. So I'm not I'm not worried about that. I will get to my concerns in a bit, but I want to talk to the defense because that has been the identity of this team. I think they've built up that secondary. Like to me, that's, if you want to see Matt Eberflus, you know, Ryan Poles, their stamp on the team, it's that defense where they give Jalen Johnson all that money. Tyreek Stevenson's been good. Jaquan

Brisker, Kyler, Gordon. That's their identity. They have to be special. I thought Jalen Johnson was interesting this week saying he's kind of sick of hearing about the potential of this team and now it's action time. And I do wonder what you think about that because like there is a lot of expectation on this team to be good right away. But it is a rookie quarterback. And I do think there are some issues with this team that maybe aren't the case with Green Bay and in Detroit in the same division. So how do you about how do you think they're going to balance that? All this attention, hard knocks, higher expectations. With the reality that it is a rookie quarterback, and I, you know, I don't see them as some

playoff type of favorite. I mean, I don't. And so can they handle that? No. Well, I want to, before I answer that, I want to come back to what you said, you think that maybe Detroit and Green Bay, you have the upper edge. I'm curious to know why. Line play. That would be where I start, you know, on both sides of the ball. I think I always look when you're looking for surprise teams, good or bad, who has the best combined offensive line, defensive line. And I think that's probably where Chicago's the weakest on both sides of the ball. And so that really worries me.

I think you pop under the hood in some of the numbers, like FDN Almanac, which is done by Aaron Schatz, used to be football outsiders. Like their mean protection for the Bears was 6.5. And partly, I think, because of that line play, partly because the defense improved so much down the stretch. They were 30th in the first half of the year, sixth in the second. And you can say, yeah, they brought in Montes sweat. but a lot of that is interceptions.

Can you keep the defense at that high a level? And yeah, I just think Green Bay and Detroit are more talented and they're better up front. And they've done it before. And they have proven coaches too. Like everyone wants to all focus on how last year ended for Iber Fluse. But I think that the year and a half before matters too.

And so I think eight and a half is a perfectly fine over under. That sounds about right. That they're about eight or nine wins. But that's not making it to the playoffs. Yeah, that's all I'm saying. No, this is a fascinating conversation because one would argue that if you look at Detroit and what they accomplished, right, they went to the NFC championship game. I was there at that game.

They lost to San Francisco who went on to the Super Bowl. What happened to them in the second half? They couldn't stop Brock Purdy. They couldn't stop the 49ers offensively. The big question for them is, is this going to be the year with all the talent they added defensively, including the youngsters to the back end of their defense, you know, guys like Tarian Arnon and NX-Rastrow, Ennis-Rake-Stra, that, you know,

they're going to improve what has been a struggling, you know, defense through the air, I would say. Fair. Yeah. In this division, to me, you have to have a bulldozer of a defense and the ability to run the ball in cold weather. And you have to have a dynamic quarterback. I think it's just a tough division. I don't think the Vikings are bad either. And when I look at the line for the bears, I see two to three question marks on the offensive line, maybe, and not much pass rush outside of sweat on the defensive line. They were 25th in pressure rate other than sweat. I think they're starting to Marcus Walker. It just, they seem a little thinner up front. And so that, that worries me. The case for them is just Caleb Williams covers all that up. And the Iber flus glow up, how he's looking very handsome.

and the defense is playing better, that it's for real and that it carries over kind of like the lines did a year ago and that I'm wrong. It's not going to fall back at all. Yeah, and this is why it's great to be underdogs in the NFL.

I think any team you talk, a lot of teams you talk to, Greg would be like, yeah, where the underdogs were coming after you, whatever, whatever. This Bears team is going to be different. I think there are both sides

of the trenches are going to be different. Right now they have a battle at center. That's one of the most intriguing storylines when it comes to Ryan Bates and Coleman Shelton, they are battling it out. They're trying to figure out which one of those two is going to be snapping the football to Caleb Williams. And so that's going to be critical.

We heard from Darnell Wright, who was a rookie last season. He's going to be so different. Every player is, but especially, I would say, you know, linemen coming into their second year. As I say that, Jervon Dexter is going to be a name that you need to remember. he is going to have a breakout campaign. He's going to be unleashed.

He's going to be unleashed up front. They know they need more push besides Montez Sweat. They do that. Now, he was solid. He's a second round pick, a defensive tackle who did some good things as a rookie. And so that is a good counterpoint that he could have a breakout year as a second year defensive tackle. Yeah.

And Eric Washington, by the way, comes most recently from Buffalo. We know how good that pressure was in Buffalo, right? and has been with Sean McDermott. And Eric Washington was a big part of that. So he's the new defensive coordinator. We presume Fluse will call the defense during the regular season. Eric's been kind of handling that here through the off season. So it's been a nice, nice relationship that they've really spawned together.

They have nine returning starters. Okay. Well, you mentioned what they were good at last year, right? They got interceptions, they got takeaways. They were top five in both. And they were the best run defense in football, the number one run defense in football. I asked Eric Washington, the defense coordinator, literally today, you know, what do you envision this past rush looking like?

They like their depth. I think there's some names on their roster, Greg, that are going to emerge. I just mentioned Jervon Dexter coming into a second season that are going to surprise people. no different than, for instance, like an Aleem McNeil in Detroit, who's one of my favorite players in the league. And he's, you know, one of the best at his position up front. They're going to rush with four and they want to rush with four consistently. What's that going to do? When you're able to just rush with four, as you know, you have numbers on the back end. And with the type of secondary, as he said to me, we want to be able to rush with four and

take advantage of just this unbelievable secondary that they have. And that group is, is a monster group. Their swagger, like, is off the charts. Brisker and Kevin Byrd's new in the mix. And Kyler Gordon, you mentioned Tyreek Stevenson. Like, that group, Jalen Johnson is one of now the top lockdown corners. The Bears paid him for a reason. How much will he get targeted this year?

How will Jaquan Brisker? It can't be less. I have a stat for you. They face the lowest percentage of passes. to a number one receiver. That says it all about him of any team in the league. That's how good he was a year ago. Yeah.

And his technique has become so good. I think defensive backs don't get the credit they deserve when you consider technique and what they have to do to defend every single week, every Sunday. You got Devante Adams. Now you got Justin Jefferson. You have, just name one, like the best receivers in the game today, you got stuff digs. Like, it's a task. And so I just think that guys like him going to another level with nine returning starters

and a couple of emerging players, I think this defense is going to be nasty this year. I love it. I love the optimistic. It sounds like you're going, you think it'll be more than eight and a half. wins. You think you think they have a chance. You also live in Chicago and I've never met a fan or talked to or thought of a fan base that's more optimistic

every time despite evidence to the country. So I get it. They now have good evidence that they actually will be good. And so I feel it and you've kind of convinced because the back seven on defense is fierce and great continuity. It is as good as maybe any

back seven. The linebackers are going to be year two. There's a lot to like and then you combine that with a quarterback to me, I'm as excited about as anyone since Andrew Locke to come into the NFL. That's a great combo. So you're going over. I don't know. I'm thinking like eight and nine, but they are somehow better than that. You know what I mean? Like, they're a better team than they were a year ago. But it just takes a little more. I just, I'm quick to pump the brakes at this time of year and picking wins because. Okay. You're a reporter anyways. That's putting you in.

Well, no. When I think about just this division, I think about like, I think about the receiving core and who's going to throw them the football in Minnesota. Like that, that shoot, Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson, that is a dynamic duo right there, right? The offense Detroit had was one of the best in the league last year. What is Green Bay going to look like with Jeff Halfley who, like, under Joe Barry, I love Joe Barry, but like, they're going to cut it loose under Halfley. And he is very defensive back friendly.

I mean, he coached debacks for a long time. of a long part of his career and wants to unleash those guys. And they're going to come after you up front, I think, a little bit differently. So it's just, it's a brutal division, not unlike how brutal the AFC North is. I think they're the two best divisions. You could convince me either way, but I almost might be in NFC North. I would say gruesome divisions. I think they're just, they're pound for pound.

They're just so gruesome. You know what I mean? Like, look at the AFC West. right? They just float the ball all over the place in that division with Mahomes and Herbert and we'll see what happens in Denver. But like, I don't know. I love it. I love it. Like I love that Bears Packers, which is always the like a Sunday night game. It's like now it's like when Stafford got to Detroit, I was so happy that the Thanksgiving games were just better for me. That net, because the bears are always on and I'm always getting sold a bill of goods. But now it's, it's for real. This

kid is for real. I can't wait. You are for real. Again, the only Olympian, I know. So when Canada and the U.S. go against each other, I mean, in women's basketball, that's not much of a competition. I don't even know if Canada made the, I'm just saying right now, the USA hasn't lost. I'm just saying who, when was the last time? They literally have never lost in the Olympics. I'm saying, who do you root for here? They're pretty good. Men's basketball. That could be, that could be frisky. That's a good question. I'm going to plead the fifth on it, because I just became a U.S. citizen. So, I mean, it's pretty cool.

Been careful. Well, it's a treat to have you on Stacey and hope to do it again throughout the season. Oh, one of your dogs is leaving the frame. That means it's time for us to go. That is it for NFL Daily. Looking forward to Thursday's show. We're going to talk some fantasy with Pat Dardy and we'll also get you caught up on all the news of the day. Until then, for Nick Shook and Stacey Dales.

See you next time. This is an I-heart podcast.