NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Combine Presser Takeaways & RapSheet Rumors With RapSheet Himself

Episode Date: March 1, 2018

A luxury suite filled with heroes- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling & Marc Sessler- assemble at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine. The heroes recap the latest league news, including some roster moves for the Jets (5:00), Steelers LB Ryan Shazier’s plans for 2018 (9:00), a pair of notable veterans cut (15:00) and a big name signs with Buffalo. NFL Insider Ian Rapoport joins the heroes for a special edition of RapSheet Rumors Roundup — who doesn’t leave the show prematurely to take a phone call (20:00) and Combine Presser Takeaways with Kevin Patra (43:00).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast. Doesn't know how to pronounce Nagy. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast from Indianapolis, Indiana. Whoa. Marron. Dan Hans is here. I'm joined by a sweet filled with heroes.

Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg. Rosenthal. What is that, boys? Hey, Dan. Here we are, Greg. Oh, overlooking, as I speak to him, Greg, looking out over the field of Lucas Oil Stadium,

the 2010 AFC South champions once roamed here. Greg, goosebumps, aren't they? AFC championship runner-up banner. Still flying high somewhere? They took that down. I believe they took it down. Did they get it? I thought they're still here.

I think they're still here. Yeah, Sully's pointing. It's saying they're still up. Gentlemen, yes, here we are in Indy, and we are in one of the, I guess it's a luxury suite. Why not? It is. It is, absolutely.

Huntington Bank. Wes has some connections that work for Huntington Bank. The mayor of Tybee's little brother was an executive with Huntington Bank, and he texted me and said, I spent a lot of nights in that suite. Well, they just got some free value out of buying this suite, I'll tell you that. How about that? I used to deliver mail to Huntington Bank. And Sully just took a photo for me.

Thank you, Sully. 2014 AFC finalists. Isn't that the game when they got? Finalist. Wasn't that the late gate game? Well, when you lose 45 to 7, you want to make sure you remember it forever. Treasure those moments. Anyway, so it's great to be here at Lucas Oil Stadium, the combine, at least like the proper

combine where all the underwear Olympics take place is yet to start. But we get in a little earlier because we like to be boots on the ground for the press conferences for the coaches and GMs. And that's where we were today, Wednesday. All day we spent in a very heated cramped, well, not cramped, but unnecessarily warm, sweaty conference hall. And we talked to a lot of or listened to a lot of NFL coaches and GMs. And we're going to talk about what we took out of that. Takeaways from the scouting combine presser day one.

Also, we have a special guest joining us in the suite a little bit later, too, in fact. The first is none other than Ian Rappaport. It's time to bring it back, guys. rap sheet rumors get excited for that with rap sheet in the house i hope that goes well it'd be a little weird right if we do the sag in a false flat and the guy's actually there yeah it'd be concerning i think it would be uh you know probably in his eyes we're not quite as professional as him i think he may maybe look at us and say these guys are sort of gibronies i think his career will be fine either way yeah he'll be fine but we need to deliver i think he does

need to come face to face with the fact that he's a rumor monger okay well maybe we'll talk to him about that, because that seems like a bit of a blowtorch move there, Wes. And yes, as I said, we're going to talk about the takeaways from the Combine Pressers and Kevin Patcha. He's going to join us. I'm sure he's on the bench right now getting a little pump in, but he will join us and talk about his takeaways and we'll all share all of our takeaways. But before we do that, there is a bunch of news to get to. So Lindsay, full time behind the glass, Lindsay, are you a millionaire? Yes.

All right, she's Wow, there you go. She's a millionaire. I can't believe she's here still. Let's do some news. I might be out after curfew a few times this week. I got a free pass from my wife, so I look forward to seeing you guys. Now, I think, Mark, help me out with this.

I think he means he's allowed to stay out late, hang out with all the coaches and journalos and all that and team officials. But he'll say his wife gave him a free pass. You never know. I mean, you and I on the flight out in a bit of incredible technology sitting next to each other on the Delta flight synced up in unison a bad mom's Christmas. We watched that together. We suffered through about 12 minutes. But those women in that movie appeared to be in some sort of a hall pass scenario.

I think this is a little different than that means. Well, he wouldn't be the first NFL coach that we saw out with women that weren't their wives at the NFL scouting comment. Where are we going with the script? I mean, he's absolutely. I'm not saying Gruden has anything to do with that. I'm saying that's about as common as anything. We're not throwing anyone in particular under the bus, but. And can I just say, if you are a new fan of the NFL

or you're not really plugged in on what the Combine experience is, that what Gruden is alluding to is real deal. That's it. Cheating on your life. No, no. What he means is he's going to be out. He's probably going to go get a stake at Elmo's, and he's going to go to Prime 51 or whatever it's called,

and have a bunch of drinks. and that's part of the allure of this event. It's very much an industry event where the coaches and front office officials get sossed. That's what happens here. Why is Mark and Wes like, oh, my word. I know, they're a little friends about.

Because you are throwing a head coach under the bus with no proof. I am very clear. This has nothing to do with Gruden. I am saying it is a common sight at this event. We've seen it. We won't name names, but we've seen it. So many NFL head coaches being,

accosted and confronted by their wives tonight who are rabid listeners of the around the NFL podcast. A lot of wags, listen to this. Also, the basic breakdown here is that Gruden said it himself. You got a hall pass. And if you know what a hall pass means, it means, hey, go have fun. Have some fun.

You okay with this, Mark? I'm fine. Mark, very uncomfortable. No, not at all. I think, number one, Gruden is a rock star in this town. I don't even know if he needed a hall pass. He could do whatever he wants, obviously.

Interesting. Another interesting comment there for Mark. Let's get into the news. I'm not even nearly, Greg, I'm not even on the top five of an interesting comments on the show so far. Let's start with my New York Jets who made some news. Once upon a time, like three years ago, the Jets had a loaded defensive line. It was called by the fan base the, do you remember West, pop quiz? Sons of Anarchy?

Very, very true. It was a popular FX show at the time, and it was Sheldon Richardson. It was Damon Harrison, and it was Mo Wilkerson. And they lost Damon Harrison to Free Agency. and then they cut Sheldon Richardson or traded Sheldon Richardson, and now Mo Wilkerson is gone in three years. They're all gone, two years, really. The team informed Wilkerson of his release on Wednesday.

This comes just two years after Mo signed a five-year, $96 million or $86 million extension with the Jets. He ends up getting almost $37 million off the Jets, steals it from the Jets, really, which is a common theme in recent years with their big free agency deals before the team cuts bait at the first opportunity they can without getting killed by the cap. So Mo Wilkerson hits the free agent market a damaged property, right, Wes? Yeah, I think you have to wonder about his attitude problems, his tardiness, his commitment to the game,

but he also falls under the Bill Parcell's planet theory. There's only so many guys on the planet with his size, length, and athleticism. So he's going to get plenty of coaches and executives who think they can turn his career around. Here's a guy. Go ahead, Greg. No, go ahead. Well, I was just to say, here's a guy that didn't show up

to his own birthday party at the Jets facility. That's right. We ranked him number 21 on our top 101 free agent. Oh, I was close. Yeah, you were. And it's weird because Wes and I

basically saw him at the exact same spot. Although now that I've thought about it a little more and I'm reading this tweet from Manish Meda saying there are some dozies of the stories of Moe Wilkerson's basically irresponsibility. I do wonder, it's a guy that's made a lot of money who's probably not going to get paid that much money.

So you do have to be pretty worried about what's this guy, what's the fire in the belly for a guy who might only be making five or six, seven million dollars a year only? For the Jets fans that follow the team closely, he's a sad story at the end of the day, because he was a hometown kid. He was from Jersey, went to Temple, drafted by the Jets over four or five years, built himself into a true star. And like a guy that could stuff the run that could. get to the quarterback, and then, and it's really been dark for the Jets since this day,

week 17, 2015, when they were 10 and 5 and then blew the game against Rex and Buffalo missed the playoffs. Wilkerson broke his leg in that game. And I don't know, Wes, that's the one thing I'm curious about. If he still is even the same guy he was before he broke his leg. It's a fair question. He's never been as dominant. He had little fits and starts where he looked like the old Moe, but between the leg injury and the chronic tart. and minutia is to be believed more stories behind the scenes. This, you know. I might have to move him down.

This has proven to be your strong suit as a football evaluator, guys coming off of foot or leg injuries. You will put us in our place and say, hey, look, there's no guarantee this guy's going to come back what he was. I would like to talk to Carl Dunbar, the 2014 Jets defensive line coach, if we can find him tonight. I mean, what the knucklehead, the raging knucklehead factor he dealt with between Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson in that room.

Should have kept Damon Harrison. That's the takeaway that I have ultimately. Moving on, the Steelers will not have Ryan Shazier next season. I don't think this is a surprise to anybody, but it's official. Steelers GM, Kevin Colbert made it official. Did I say that right? I think it's close, yeah. It's totally right.

Oh, why did you say close? I don't know. I was thinking sometimes I get him confused with Stephen Colbert against Kevin Colbert. Oh, you mean his name? Yeah. Because Mark gave me a look, and I was like, did I say the wrong name? I was only half listening, so I had to cycle back through my mind to what it was. You even said.

Anyway, Colbert told reporters Wednesday at the Combine that Chazier won't play in 2018. That, of course, the result of the spinal injury he suffered. Last season, this comes on the heels of Chazier expressing his desire to return and being an all pro for the Steelers. But this, Greg, is a sad story because, you know, probably is not going to come back. to count him out, but he's definitely not coming back next year. I mean, this is uncharted territory. He wants to play football again. Obviously, rehabilitating his back and his spine for his life is the first priority.

And I think Culbert put this out there today because now you get into the unfortunate football side of things. They need to get his salary cap relief. They need to put him on a list. I'm not off the top of my head sure exactly which list it's going to be. so basically so that they can get the space to spend that money and to look for Ryan Chazir's replacement because he's a huge, huge part of that defense.

Moving on, a lot of talk about Kirk Cousins is about to become the highest paid player of all time. He got Drew Brees in the mix in terms of annual salary. Well, don't forget about Aaron Rogers. He is a guy that needs a new deal and the Packers are making progress on signing Rogers to a new contract. Packers President Mark Murphy said telling ESPN on Tuesday, Murphy added that new general manager, Brian Guntkust, Guttecunst.

Correct. He's talking to Rapsheet, who, of course, is going to be on a little later down during the pressers. And he said casually, oh, there's Goody. Anyway, Goody. Murphy added that Goody and Russ Ball, who's the director of football operations, are both involved in the negotiations. So this is something they hope to, quote, hammer out. in this off-season.

And when Rogers gets paid, I mean, come on. Best in the league, right? Well, Goody came out and said, well, you have to pay him now, or you have to pay him more and more. It's like, he said flat out, this is the best player in football. We know he's going to cost a lot of money.

But it will cost more because, and Thomas Dimitrov alluded to it today, the Falcons General Manager, Matt Ryan is due a new contract too. And he says he's been watching these quarterback contracts very closely. He seemed, you know, borderline concerned about it. And I think they know that Cousins is going to set a new benchmark.

And then Rogers and Ryan, in some sort of order, is going to go above that benchmark. And they'll be the highest paid players ever. Greg is such a gutting coonst. He's a total good a coonst. Gouda coonst was a regular, you know, HBO special comedian compared to Ted Thompson here at the comments. I used to love, but you know, Ted Thompson had that very dry sense of humor that I appreciated. And he's gone. A little overrated, but yeah.

In terms of it being a funny man, I mean, he's not a funny man. Total guanta cunts. You ready for the next really boring, grading, non-football-related story that you're going to have to deal with next season? No. Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL are expected to compel. Compel! Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, to reimburse legal fees the league incurred during this past season. According to Rapsheet, a rap report reported the payment of more than two. million by Jones would be a quote reimbursement of costs incurred by member clubs associated with

Zeke Elliott's efforts to appeal a six game ban and Jones's work to slow Roger Goodell's contract extension. Wes, you've read every football book. This is kind of right out of like the Al Davis manual or something. The fact that this is a story blocking extensions of the commissioner fighting, fighting suspensions and all that stuff. Here we are. It is along those lines. It's not close to what Al David is not as fun though. The enmity. But Al Davis have for Pete Roselle and vice versa, and Al Davis's ability just to be a stinker. Yeah. Well, I think it's great to, you know, try to keep this storyline in the news as long as possible for the league.

Exactly. Come on, guys. Two million bucks. What is two million bucks to a $14 billion company? Let it die. Let's move on. Jerry Jones has that buried in his yard. I don't think anybody wants to.

I would not want to get on Jerry Jones' bad. And it's a principal thing. Jarrah's not going to cough up $2 million. And, in fact, we've hearing reports that he's prepared to fight it. So get excited, folks. Don't go to war against Jerry Jones. It's over for Jonathan Stewart and the Carolina Panthers. After a decade together, the team announced Wednesday that the soon-to-be 31-year-old running back has been released.

The 13th overall pick in 2018, he is the franchise's all-time rushing leader. But, Wes, it's the end of the line, 3.4 yards per carry this back season, this past season with Christian McCaffrey along with him as a running mate. I remember thinking at some point in this past season that younger football fans and maybe fans from, you know, across the sea who were just picking up the game, probably would have no idea that Jonathan Stewart entered the league in 2008 is one of the most athletic, dynamic running backs we've ever seen physically. And by, you know, by 2016, 2015, he was a guy averaging about 3.5 yards per carry, no big playability. his long speed was clearly gone a guy I loved his career I loved watching him

but I think the end is here By the way this morning before and being announced that he'd been cut by the team he was on an American Airlines flight tweeted out American Airlines tripping this morning with this landing in Charlotte

exclamation point plane went in for landing about a hundred feet from the runway then pulled the okey dokey back up we go That's a tough day that's a guy just having a tough day moving on the Mike Lennon era already over in Chicago I remember just last year at this exact time people are wondering who will Mike Lennon sign with and fail quickly with it turned out it was the Bears they signed him to that deal three years 45 million he got he got some money but they had a trigger out after only owing 18 and a half million to Glennon and they took that trigger so they pay 18 and a half million for four starts this is the type of fate that I wonder Greg could meet

a.J. McCarran, but Mike Lennon back on the free agent market. I don't think McCarran will get quite the money just because there's other quarterbacks in this market. Glennon timed it well. But coaches love arm strength and some of the things that Glennon does. And I bet Mike Glennon gets a contract this year that's probably similar to something like Nick Folles got last year. Like the bucks will still pay him five or six million dollars a year, I bet, to be their backup. Monte Davis signs with the bills. West looks like he wants to bar.

I mean, I'm just saying. The league does have a recency bias, and they sour on guys quickly when they've been exposed. Bante Davis agrees to terms on a one-year deal with the Bill's Davis tweeted Bill's Mafia to let people know that it was a done deal. Davis was a very good corner with the cults for several years, had some injury issues, age 30. Wes, I kind of like that deal for Buffalo. How about you? I like it, too. He was a guy who, he went, I think, about two years without allowing a touchdown.

He was a legitimate shutdown corner. And then the last two years, he's been a disappointment. But guys like him who used to be Pro Bowl players and are now about 30 years old, you never really know. You can't predict whether this is going to be the end of the line or whether they're towing that cliff or whether, you know, like Eric Weddell or somebody, there's a couple of Pro Bowl seasons in his future still. Who has a better track record working, getting the best out of secondary players who have been cast? passed off by previous teams than Sean McDermott. I like that that's their identity, that they, that is their defense is building from the secondary and then forward.

And I think it's a really good looking secondary. And finally, a player comes off the top 10 of the top 101, Ziggy Ansah tagged by Detroit. I suppose he could be traded, but he probably not, Ziggy Ansah, back with the Lions, Mark. Well, I mean, we'll get into Matt Patricia down the road here, but you can't in his first season, offseason is the line. coach pulls Ziggy Ansah off the roster and leave that defense without him. I like the move from them. But the fact that they're willing to pay $17.5 million to Anza, I think, speaks to this, that there's no pass rushers available.

I mean, the top pass rushers are Julius Peppers and Adrian. Like 400 years old. And Adrian Claiborne. And it allows you to work that deal with them. So you're not going to be able to find any in free agency unless it's just these bargain kind of risks. So you got to keep them. One last news item before we move. on. Do you Dan as a Jets fan or Greg as a Tulane fan have Matt Forte memories? He's going to retire.

Thank you, Wes. I forgot about that. And I shouldn't have Matt Forte announced his retirement, ending one of the more underrated careers for a guy that was a dynamic like multipurpose player that just got stuck on a bunch of crap teams. Well, the retirement timing was sort of fitting for him, that he has been so overlooked throughout his career that if this news happened a month ago, It's like he would get a day of talking about Matt Forte. Now he's item 55, if he even makes it. I mean, it was his choice. Why did he?

Poor news, pretty poor news judgment on Matt Forte. Right. It was never that guy. He was never that guy. He leads the league since he entered it in Yarchan Scrimmage. Not Adrian Peterson, not Chris Johnson, not any other running back. And it's not even close. He's a guy who I think will get some Hall of Fame consideration.

Probably won't make it because he was stuck on a bunch of garbage offenses with garbage quarterbacks if he had played on with some good quarterback or on some good team we'd be talking about him at a chance that forgotten bear's playoff run with cutler right was the only time he was ever in the playoffs where does he rank in your jets what tom top 1,000 uh number 994 not a big not a big not a big yeah not but maybe the all-time greatest player to ever come out of two lane not at two lane but as a pro that's that's a good one forte was a great player That's what's happening in the news. All right, let's move on, special show here at Lucas Oil Stadium.

So we have a guest. We never have guests on. We don't like other people. And this man that is now joining us, it's been a while, it's been a minute since he's been here. But since it is combined season, this is when he's, really, this is when he's at his highest level of importance and relevance. So we get him in here. Ian Rappaport at Rapsheet on Twitter in the blood. Welcome, Ian.

Highest level of importance, lowest level of energy and overall good feeling. Kind of a shot at what he does the rest of the viewer. I feel he has many mountaintop experiences. The draft, there's a lot of rumors. Yeah, draft is a good one, but like... This is it, though. You said we don't like other people. Do we like rap sheet, though?

Let's see how the segment goes. Yeah, I mean, I was actually going to answer that phone call in light of recent events. Yeah, that's right. Ian just got into a massive feud with a DC-based sport, some shock jock about hanging up to take a phone call. Yeah. And so I'm not taking this phone call unless it's... This is a big opportunity for you, Rapcheed. I might.

This is your chance to kind of humanize yourself to the NFL audience. But you guys don't like the radio people, do you? I mean, podcast people and radio people, I feel like are at odds. I don't know. We're not avert. I like the idea of this, if it's true. They're not enemies. They're not friends either necessarily.

I don't think... See, I'm not going to say anything about my friend Chad Dukes, who I've made up with since. I privately text, and you can find it on the internet, the feud between Dukes and Rappaport, but I privately texted Ian, I said, do not make up with that guy. This is classic shock jock behavior. He's trying to play you, but you did go on the show because some other colleagues of yours convince you to bury the hatchet, as it were. Yeah, Mike Arafolo, noted friend of the show, although I'm sure he doesn't listen.

He advised me to call in and be the better man And, you know, the more I thought about it I am the better man There you got I think that... The only thing that was interesting for me Was I gave him an opportunity to come clean And really apologize for all the things he said about me

Which were not nice And he declined Which I think speaks for itself I say this sounds like the feud's reigniting No, no, no I'm at peace with where it is I am at peace He just declined to apologize

He could not meet you on the higher road, though, apparently. And we take the baton and start a few with them? I just, you know what? I mean, enough Duke's talk. We got a lot to get to because, Ian, your name comes up probably more than anyone else on our podcast because we have to cite you in most of reporting. Of course. Because we work for the same company. Big Mac comes up a lot as well.

We started a segment last week called RAPSheet Rumors. That, you know, we thought went okay. It was like a six out of ten. Right. Now here's an opportunity for Rapsheet himself to be here as we go through your reports. Now, let's start off the top, right off the bat. Do you have an issue with the fact that the segment's called Rapsheet rumors when it's based off your reporting? Let's talk about that.

Feels a bit flip. It does. I would say I've come to grips with my role in this football world, right? So there's some where it's like, you know, source, this guy just got released or this trade just happened. outside of that it's a lot of like this is probably going to happen this is probably not going to happen keep an eye on this thing and so I used to get offended when people would call it rumors or gossip but I did get voted biggest gossip in high school in the yearbook superlatives so I'm really happy to live up to that that honor if they're all rumors then you can't be wrong ever so that's nice

yeah I would say the internet would would view some of that differently But, yeah, I agree with that interpretation right there. All right, Ian's a very busy man. So let's start going through these rap sheet rumors, starting with a report that came out just a couple hours before we recorded today's podcast on Wednesday afternoon. Here it comes. The exact tweet for me, and the expectation is that Patriots tight end,

Rob Gruncowski, will return for 2018 after pondering his future, comma, I'm told. I'm told, he said, we may never make a, He may never make a grand announcement, but the belief is entertainment opportunities, parenthetical, acting, WWE, closed parenthetical, will wait.

Rumor or hear you say. Is that you doing that? I don't know. Go ahead. Yeah. So, sounds like Gronk is coming back, and which is not really surprised to anyone. I mean, people who know him well expect him to come back, the Patriots expected him to come back.

And I do really think he enjoys this of people wondering what he's going to do. the Patriots probably wondering what he's going to do, kind of the uncertainty. And, you know, he's a different dude. He's about as real as they come, but he'll say things like, and he's people I've spoken with this offseason like, Ali Millen, I'm retired. Or I'm just kidding, I'm coming back.

Like, he really has sort of played this up a little bit. He also is rarely sort of serious about himself. So I wouldn't expect a like, all right, guys, I'm coming back kind of thing. Like, to me, what it sounds like is he's just going to show up for offseason conditioning in April, and then a big, all right, Gronk showed up. So do you get the sense that he's the kind of guy who doesn't really care as much about something like being viewed as the greatest tight-in in history or playing a couple more years to kind of cement that?

Well, I don't think he cares about being the greatest titan in history. I've just never heard that come up. I mean, I think if you ask Belichick, he would make a full-throated argument that if he continues that he's going to be that. I just don't think for Gronk, it's really, I don't think that that's the way he thinks. I think the injuries have been very hard on him. What about the report or rumor from another guy that you once had a feud with Tom Curran in the Boston area?

There's a lot of feuds going. Saying that Grunk, you know, thought about retiring even in training camp. It crossed his mind that he was not happy with how the Patriots handled some of his desired ways to train. that he really even thought about walking away back in August? Yeah, I think that was accurate. I was actually texting Karn about that today. I mean, that's... Oh, it's good to see you made up.

Building more bridges. No, Karn and I always have an off-again-on-again-type deal. He's a great guy. We coexist well, and except when we don't. Once you got out of the locker, I believe he once compared you to a little rat kind of running around, like looking to eat little pieces of cheese. Good job bringing that back, right? Yeah, I mean, that sounds right.

And I don't think people realize what it's like in the Patriots locker room. It's not like there's a big buffet where you just sort of like get your bowl and shovel in the lasagna. You've got to dive for your cheese all over the place. Like, oh, there's Brandon Spikes. He might only be in the locker room for three minutes. So you've got to grab him when he's there. Anyway, yes, it was a hard year for Gronk. I think the injuries are difficult for him.

Not being able to come back from the concussion in sort of like a snap was really hard. And the Belichick tension that we all talked about with Brady and Brady's trainer, Alex Guerrero, and all that stuff. I mean, that existed beyond Brady. It existed with Gronk, too. It was a hard year. It's always going to be a hard year. And, yeah, I think you needed to take a deep breath from it. Would they ever trade him?

I know we have a lot of news, but this one's more interesting than the rest of them combined in my mind. Would they ever trade, Gronk? I would never say never for the Patriots trading anyone except for Tom Brady who's never getting traded. There you go. Yeah, Dan wants to move on. Let's keep move. We got a lot to get to. Next up, from Rapsheet, big report.

The Broncos are in talks to trade for Redskins' sources say. Says Rappaport, they are the team most interested in the likely landing spot for the talented former second rounder, no deal done yet. That's saucy. These tweets, looking at them over Dan's shoulder, the expanded character count. You're a fan of it, apparently? Well, I just don't want to, I don't want to be one of those people that's like, oh, I'm so important that I have to use all 280 characters. It's not like that. It's just sometimes you need a little extra more.

So, like, Mice Craven's tweet was one tweet, whereas in the past it would have been two. Multiple. I like the format. Yeah. This one is interesting, and I sounds like this one's going to happen. It's just really a matter of. agreeing on compensation and just kind of figuring it where they're out. I mean, the Redskins are definitely open to trading him.

The Broncos want him more than anyone. He would, assuming he wants to play, and I know he does, and I know the Redskins have some concerns about it. He's an interesting piece because he sort of fits in like the safety linebacker, kind of hybrid Dayonne Buchanan type of guy. He's really talented. The Broncos loved him coming out. So it sounds like this one's going to happen and probably happen here.

Next up, first we'll start with a report from Dale Lolly of DK.Pittsburgsports.com. He reported Kevin Colbert just said that the Steelers are not interested in trading Martavis Bryant and have not called anyone, said they have gotten calls but have said they aren't interested in trading him. Ian chimes in with a quote retweet. That is true. There is interest from several other teams. didn't you try to get me to trademark this a couple years back that's definitely not me because I have no business sense

but probably somebody did no I think it was you as a matter of fact yeah so this is one where you know this was a storyline we were following during the season where Mortevis Bryant was wanted to be traded denied it then came out and admitted that he did in fact want to be traded and then he was kind of a good soldier and played and played well and watch Judea Smith-Schuster kind of take some of his shine.

They are getting calls. There is interest. There's a couple issues. Obviously, you know, he's dealing with suspension. He came off suspension. He made his way back from banishment. There's that. There's the new contract that he wants.

He's sort of due for one. It's a lot going on here, and I don't know if they'll be able to trade him or get this sort of interest. I feel like Colbert's not a guy who BS is a lot, that if he says publicly we're not interested in trade. DM, I take that a little more, you know, seriously than some GMs who might say that. Yeah, I just, when you see the, first of all, that just means he hasn't gotten an offer that's worth taking. I mean, there definitely is a price.

I just, we do this so often where you come here, you talk to a GM, and everyone's on the record here, right? So I remember a couple years back, and no fault of Rick Spielman, I definitely get it. But, you know, tells all of us, I have no plans to trade Percy Harvard. And like, all right, that's that. And then end up trading Percy Harvard. So, I mean, we'll see what happens. Wes. Martavis, Brian, made some plays last year.

It wasn't as a big of playmaker as well. Before the suspension, still the same guy post-dispension that he was pre in your mind? He had all the drops early in the year. And part of that was Ben Rathesberger and him were not on the same page with their deep bow. But I thought he played well down the stretch. I'd be willing to kind of go out and say, yeah, he can be the same guy again. Coming up next, here we go. Hashtag Browns.

That's how Ian starts this tweet. That's basic. social media. Brown's coach, Hugh Jackson, said, Joe Thomas will, quote, come out and let us know fairly soon about what he wants to do. I'm told he is preparing to play, and those who know him well believe he'll be back. Now, Mark Sessler, this makes you happy because you love yourself some Joey Thomas. I love Joe Thomas, but I love him enough where I would like him to do what he truly wants to do

because he feels like a media fireball right now. He loves it. He loves it. I just don't want him to come back for one more year and they go two and 14 and the entire house implodes upon itself. Like, if he's off to greener pastures... What do you mean?

That would be a 200% victory. That's another way to look at that. That's the golden years. I mean, everybody died. I do believe he's coming back. I think the Browns think he's coming back as well. It sounds like he's going to probably announce him some sort of social media way, probably pretty soon.

It's interesting because, I mean, I feel like we've done the, the Browns are about to break out or come back or whatever, like 9,000 times. I sat with an offensive coordinator last night who had to play them last year and thinks the defense is going to be great and that they are basically a quarterback away from being a legitimately mediocre team, which is to say, oh, that's a huge, well, for them it's a huge step up. You know, if you're mediocre, then you're probably like five

five or six and six starting December and then they'll throw another parade in Cleveland if they're in playoff contention going into December. All right, settled down. Could his decision be based on what happens at quarterback though? If you go in with A.J. McCarran and like the draft pick no one's excited about it. If it ever shook out that way.

I don't know. Is A.J. McCarran good or I mean, I'm saying that wouldn't be a solution maybe. Well, we know he wasn't good enough to unseat Andy Dalton who's about average. Can Thomas wait? We can't wait that long to find out really because he's not at least not until the draft. Right. I mean, I think they also thought he was coming back when they did the extension for him last year.

But, I mean, I would say this, A.J. McCarron, as someone who could come in and hold the place of a rookie that they're going to take potentially number one overall would be a pretty good option compared to the other options. Next up, here's a nice scoop. Some good scoopage so far this week, Ian, you're doing well. Hashtag USCQB. Sam Darnold won't throw at the combine here in Indy. He'll do everything else saving, throwing for. his pro days anybody are there people in this building mad at sam darnald does this a big deal i'm mad why not throw i think the there's two reasons to not throw one is you're not going to have the one everyone talks about which is you're not going to have your receivers not going to you know um the other reason is it sounds like he's acting like and maybe is probably is the presumptive number one and if you have nothing to prove then why would you go out and throw in potential look bad uh what's

interesting is is he just going to be number one and they'll just be that or is it going to change is someone going to impress us here or i don't know um what happened you know the the ratings of the combine can change and i'm curious to see which way but i've seen like someone put out a list of quarterbacks who haven't decided not to throw at the combine and it's a list of quarterbacks that either got drafted high or higher than you'd expect it's like ryan tanahill didn't even throw at the combine and he ended up going much higher there was like it's a lot of long list of many number one picks and many guys who got overdrafted. If it's not going to really matter or help

you, why bother? Speaking of throwing, let's say we were walking down the street outside Lucas Oil Stadium Ian and I took your phone and flung it and it landed into a garbage truck on the move landed right in the back on its way to Muncie, Indiana. How

screwed would you be on a 1-100 level? Shepter's driving the car. Right. If he's driving and can't Text and drive, then I'm okay. I would say probably not as screwed as you think because I have several other devices or I could, I text from my computer. I text from my iPad. Making phone calls would be difficult.

I would have to have some weird FaceTime calls with some agents or team executives or coaches. DC area of shock jocks. But not easy to foil you. You have other, your resource. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, and, you know, there'd be some, there'd be some over-enactivity. phones coming in quick. Get on the cloud, restore

the info. I would be... Sounds like a nightmare scenario. Yeah, this is basically... You've thought this through, though. You're a superhero with a utility belt. That's basically what it is. Two more.

Two more, and then we've got to let Rapsheet go. This is the one who's like, a true insider never sleeps. Here we go. This one gives me goosebumps, just looking at it. Spot it on the way to Indy, colon. Hashtag, OU, QB, Baker, Mayfield. in a middle seat right next to hashtag Rams coach Sean McVeigh on a at Southwest Air. You're looking for like extra miles or something?

I thought they might re-tweet. McVeigh was seated first. Mayfield hustled to sit next to him. There may be some QB talk going on. Oh, a little flavor. I like it. It's just like scenes from. A little flavor.

Yeah, a little flavor. I mean, a little salt and pepper. The amount of people who commented surprised that Sean McVeigh flew Southwest was astounding. That's true. It was amazing. It's kind of amazing.

He's a regular dude. I mean, I don't know what I expected. I mean, you know, maybe Stan sends the private plane to Indy. He was asked about what he talked about with Mayfield after his press conference on the side. He said he liked Mayfield's comfortable swag. That was the way he termed it. Like it's like swag, but it's like comfortable swag.

Right back at you. He's not trying to take one to no one. It's not trying to put it on you. Yeah, I do too. I thought it was really. That's the essence of cool. It is interesting. Obviously, Baker Mayfield's going to be like a huge topic here

for the next couple months or whatever, and he's going to get the Johnny comparisons and all that. He got nothing but rave reviews in Mobile. I mean, he's a little bit of a prick, which I mean in the nicest sense, because he is a competitive toot. You've got that as well. Yeah, like, he's kind of a prick,

but he's actually, you know, not a bad guy, like that type of thing. It sounds, he has a bit of an answer. It sounds familiar. It sounds familiar. But the way he puts. practiced was something I think stood out to everyone. He seems like he's doing fine. I don't think it's going to be a Mansell-type deal.

Yeah, Tom Pelliserro had the column where he talked to him with all the quarterbacks. And Mayfields was the one that jumped off the page because for all the qualities that you think would make him troublesome, scouts freaking love him. I would actually question anyone who does compare him to Manzell. I think there's enough nuance there that Baker Mayfield is clearly a different kind of guy than Johnny Manzell. Mark, Ian has it in his contract that you're not allowed to mention. Other NFL Network Insiders.

We'll scrub that segment. We'll have that scrubbed. And finally, with the March, with the March looming. Uh-oh. All right, a little typo, tweet typo. With March looming, and there's no way to take it back. There should be an edit button. So let me stop you quickly.

The tweet where I've had most retweeted in my life was Deshawn Watson tearing his ACL last year. It was unfortunate and an awful moment And a tweet that was sent around the world And it had a typo And I'm still annoyed about it Yeah It's tough man Can't take it back

I have a different like tweet nightmare scenario The tweet that got most sent around the world That I sent was when the video Tom Brady's jersey getting stolen And I titled it Robert Kraft handing out victory cigars That's the newsman in me All right, finally, with March looming and some murkiness around hashtag Vikings QB, Teddy Bridgewater's contract,

he is expected to be a free agent, sources say, Minnesota is not planning to assert that his contract tolls and Bridgewater is proceeding as if he's a free agent. Red Mustang. It was green, northern red. Red, sorry. Okay. That's true story. Mother news fail. Now, struggling there.

Tumbling fast. the news to the professionals. Yeah, I'm out. Now, let me say this. That's a drop, by the way. Greg, please. Let me say this. This didn't have to be this way. Like, the Vikings could have said, Teddy, we're going to fight you on this,

but instead they're letting him go essentially, right? Is that how you read into this? And, you know, it would have been an argument. I don't know which way it would have gone, honestly, because the way it's written, it's if he's not healthy by the sixth game, and he was on PUP, he probably would have been able to pass the physical. It would have been arguments either way. But, you know, I heard back in the – during the mid-season,

when this sort of became an issue that they were not going to fight him on this. But it's amazing how long it's taken. And finally, Rick Spielman today admitted publicly to PFT, I think, that he was going to be a free agent, but it just took forever. He said it's ultimately up to the NFL, but that's what he expects. I'm sure that's true, but they are going to defer to the team if the team is not fighting it. Whatever. He's going to be a free agent.

agent I'm really curious where he goes I would what do you think what do you think happens with the Vikings while you're here uh I think that they probably end up signing Kirk cousins to a lot of money but probably not as much as the Jets are going to sign him to my guess on bridgewater or offer offer yeah so but that he would go to ultimately you would that he would be amazing if you had to guess you'd say he landed in Minnesota that's my guess I would say you know Minnesota I think Arizona has a legit, very, very real chance. I really do. A lot to like there.

For Teddy, you know, if he can't get a starting job sort of handed to him, which it seems far-fetched considering health-wise, I think the Panthers are looking to upgrade at their backup quarterback spot. They got Norv Turner and Scott Turner, who had him in Minnesota. Love Teddy. I could see him going there as a backup. Well, there you go. Ian you're on fire you did it you came in here I feel like you're leading the insider game this week I feel like Jay Glazer retired and now it's really and Lockhart is like in the in the back and it's really a rap sheet versus Schefter thing it always has been and this is so far I feel like you're in the lead I can't say anything like this because all it does is jinx and everything then let me say it can't comment Ian Rappaport follow him at rap sheet and he's on NFL network constantly right

right now it's rapaport season ian thank you buddy thanks guys big fish big fish rolling right along rap sheet out the door here it's uh sweet 33 b at lucas oil stadium now sitting in that spot wow a hunk of man he is kevin patra coming at you and patra downgraded this seat i don't think so i think if anything uh just that yeah you fill it out you fill it out real nice And based on the time of year, late February, heading into March, famously you bulk up big in the winter and then slimmed down for the swimsuits. And you got a wedding coming up. Where's your bod at right now? So, yeah, yeah.

I didn't bulk up as much this winter because I was trying to keep it thin for the wedding. For the penguin suit. Yeah, it's a veteran move. When is the wedding, by the way? May 19th. A tough day for the ladies. Same day as the one in England. And they stole our day.

Oh. Do you struggle with people having, you know, such high expectations for when they do see your bod? That there's some level of underwhelming. I've come to an understanding with it. I just have to. It's like Dan does not believe in the underpromise. I think most of the listeners understand Dan's ways. Yeah.

No, I mean, I've always been impressed by your hot bod. You know that. Now, Kevin Patra's here because Kev was among the. the group of ATN heroes down on the floor for the press conferences. A bunch of GMs and coaches spoke. So this will be the time for us now to share our takeaways from Wednesday press conferences at the old Indianapolis Convention Center. I think the big star and someone, feel free to jump in and disagree.

But I think that John Gruden and his big comeback at the Combine, he hadn't been here in, what, 15 years, something like that? Was it that long? 10 years? 10 years, roughly. Something like that. Anyway, 16. 16 years.

Somewhere between 10 and 16. I'm blanking it. 10 to 20 years ago, John Gruden was a fixture here. Now he's back and it was like he never left. In fact, I'll say that, but then also add a little polish to John Gruden after years on television. Here's what he had to say. The thing that picked got picked up in a lot of places in the news was his feelings on analytics, which is very hot right now.

You hear it in all the hallways around the combine. Here's what Gruden had to say. Man, I'm trying to throw the game back to 1998. You know, really, as a broadcaster, I went around and observed every team, asked a lot of questions, took a look at the facilities, how they're doing business.

There's a stack of analytical data or data, however you want to say that word, that people don't even know how to read it. It's one thing to have the data or data. It's another thing to know how to read the damn thing. So I'm not going to rely, on GPSes and all the modern technology. I will certainly have some people that are professional

that can help me from that regard. But I still think doing things the old-fashioned way is a good way. And we're going to try to lean a needle that way a little bit. Greg, is it crazy for me to think that's a little foreboding that's off from a guy that's been out of the game? When people are wondering if he was out too long and then he comes back and says, oh, the way people are doing it now,

take me back to 98? I don't think it's that rare. He's just more open about it. And when he's talking about the GPS as he's talking about the data from the next gen stats where they put the GPS and the players is now...

He's actually talking about like the car. You know, is now... Well, he's a terrible driver. Right, is now available. I think there's a chunk of teams that are using it to their advantage and there's plenty of teams like him and Reggie McKenzie,

I think as a GM is pretty on John Gruden's level that really aren't getting into it. But you also listen to Steve Wilkes and other new coaches is that just say, you know, that football's about running the ball. You know, we're not worried about throwing it. So it's like he, Gruden's not the only one.

Why did you give Steve Wilkes a southern accent? Why not? We'll get to Wilkes in a second because I had some takeaways from his opening press. There is obviously the new Cardinals head coach. But yeah, I did, I mean, did everybody else, most of you guys saw the Gruden press conference. I think the other big takeaway, West, and you wrote about it on the website. First of all, he's all in on Marshaun Lynch, it sounds like. And they expect him to be back and he expects him.

to be part of the offense, but it was another player, Wes, that he said is going to lead the offense. He loves Amari Cooper. He talked about, we all think he's a great player. Even more, we think he's a great person. And then he said, he's going to be the headliner of my offense. He's going to be the focal point of my offense. And it reminds me a little bit of where Sean McVeigh was with Todd Gurley last year, where

the talent is so obvious, but the season was so, like, maybe the most disappointing skill position player in the NFL for a guy who might have had some minor. injuries, but didn't have a major injury that would have caused him to play that poorly. So it's on Gruden to come up with a scheme that takes advantage of Amari Cooper and put him in position to succeed because that talent is definitely there. Other thoughts, gentlemen? On anyone else? Well, I like the idea of possibly running into Gruden, you know, tonight out at the bars.

He did tell the media that he's looking forward to seeing us. And he had a very early press conference. And based on his hair and kind of his eyes, I think he might have had a long night the night before. I did notice that, and obviously it's the aging process, but he is a different John Gruden than he was 10 to 20 years ago. He said he had a free pass from his wife to do whatever he wanted in Indianapolis. Yeah, he said he had the hall pass. I believe him.

Does not look 54 years old, though. No, he does not. He doesn't look 25 anymore. Obviously, he's not going to, but he looked like a guy is, you know, he's back after being gone for a long time. I will say this. I don't know. I feel like you guys have been more into the John Gruden experience in return than I,

I have been. It's been on my radar heavily. I feel like there's a lot of potential for deep annoyance. But today, I felt really differently. Like, if you took him out of today's proceedings, it would have been one of the duller Combine press conferences days we've ever experienced. He brought life. Here's a theory. Bruce Ariens was similar. John Gruden set up for life. He's got like a 10-year contract for the highest contract ever. You get to be a lot more truthful in what you tell the media when you have that much job security. We'll find out if he's truthful because he talked about Crabtree, Bruce Irvin, and Lynch as if they were all going to be stars.

If any of them are cut in the next week or two, we'll know that he's full of BS, which he was completely full of BS as a coach in the first time around. He talked about everyone like they were the greatest players ever. A couple of the Crabtree questions, he made it seem like he might not be back, and you guys should ask Reggie McKinsey about him, not me. Steve Wilkes, since we did bring him up, he is on the opposite end of the spectrum on some of the new coach. and obviously a lot of reason to be optimistic. But as he was talking, I couldn't help but notice what a tough spot the guy is in. And we just heard Ian say that maybe the Cardinals would be a surprise player and make a hard run for cousins. We'll see if that plays out.

But even as he's talking, he's like, he's going to these platitudes, oh, we're going to run the football. We're going to run the football. Because he literally doesn't have a quarterback. And even a minute, he said, oh, it's so amazing to have Larry back and all that. But everybody else is a free agent. So he doesn't really have any weapons in the passing game other than a 34-year-old. wide receiver and no quarterbacks. He's inheriting a tough situation, and you could sense that.

He emphasized several times, this is a pass-happy league, but my philosophy as a head coach is established a run and everything starts up front. It's the last thing I'd want to hear if I was a Cardinals fan. And that comes from his time with the Panthers, but it's also my one takeaway from today is that I listen to Vance Joseph say a similar thing. In Denver, we want to run the ball and play defense.

So two teams with quarterback needs, and allegedly in the Kirk Cousins hunt, have come out and said, we want to be a run-the-ball play defense type of operation. Is that even attractive for a quarterback? I don't know. Well, I mean, my takeaway from going to John Elway's presser was he seemed pretty confident that he's going to get the quarterback he wants, which is Kirk Cousins. He was as relaxed as we've seen him in years at this press conference. And he was talking about that's how they only need one more, one player. Like, this is not a rebuild.

We're not rebuilding. He wouldn't say it. So I took away. They're going to make a huge run. He said he's got plenty of cap space to offer him. I can see him going up. He just seemed like a guy who knew, who had an eye on the ball, and he's going to offer Kurt Cousins, whatever it takes.

I also said he'd bring back to Marius Thomas and Manuel Sanders. Rapsheet reported Al-Qib Taleb could be out of there. He wouldn't commit to Taleb or C.J. Anderson. He basically sounded like both could be on their way out. How about you, Mark, somebody that jumped out to you? Well, I felt like the guy or the team, Rick Spielman for the Vikings, that was going to obviously be pegged with endless Kirk Cousin. He's got to talk about four quarterbacks.

The three quarterbacks, he's letting go to market and Kirk Cousins. And so in a masterful bit of stagecraft, he opened his presser with like a four or five minute preamble that dodged sort of all answers entirely. And then in the middle of it, after someone, you know, a couple people tried to get a few cubic questions in. He sort of said, where you have made no decisions to bury that right out of the gate. Someone, and I'm pretty sure it was a Vikings plant, although the Vikings probably don't agree with that assessment, asked this bizarre question about Rick Spielman's son in Nebraska. Oh, that's a plan. That's a plan. And it went on for another three to four minutes, winding long answer. I thought, this was so skillful. You wiped out nine minutes of your 15-minute

allotted time to answer questions about nothing. That was like his brother and law, Ted Becker. He's an impossible spot. He is, but he did a job with it. Because he's uniquely as three free agent quarterbacks that he's meeting with their agents this week, but everyone watching this press conference knows that he wants another quarterback more.

Also a little news, not a ton of big news every once in a while when we come to these things. There's some legitimate news like when Greg ended Steve Smith's Panther's career. This has really been built up. That was notable. But Tyrod Taylor, when Bramette, Brandon Bean, the Bill's GM, spoke Tyrod Taylor.

Obviously, that's a hot topic around the bills. Is he going to stay or go? Most people think he'll be going elsewhere. But Brandon Bean, at least, is playing a little poker. Here's what Brandon Bean had to say about Tyrod Taylor's future in Buffalo. Well, Tyrod's on our roster right now, and that's the plan. And we're just taking it day by day. And like every position, we're trying to get better everywhere.

And so we're looking, you know, at every position, including quarterback. And the Tyraud did a lot of good things for us. So I'm not really worried about the bonus. I see him on our roster right now. And unless something changes, you know, he'll be here until, you know, through that part. Translate Patcha. We're going to keep him in our back pocket until we find something better. I mean, going to both Beans and McDermott's presser, there wasn't a lot of praise for Tyra Taylor.

They both said, yeah, he did some good things. Said they won't cut him, though. That's pretty definitive. Right, but they won't cut them until they find a better marriage, until they find someone to take the ring off his finger and put it on hers. Here's another translation. There is no more tedious output from a team, any team towards any human being,

than the bills towards Tyrod Taylor going on year five at this point. It is the most exhausting storyline, and it is endless. It would be tiring, especially if they really do bring them back. And I think there's a chance that they do. I think there is. That they don't wind up finding anything better, and they're just like, all right. I think that's what this is about.

This is about, like, we think he's better than the Case Keenoms of the world, so we already got him under contract, so we're willing to eat that $6 million if we can find somebody better. Tyrod Taylor is the Marvin Lewis of quarterbacks. You think he's gone, but the Bengals can't find anybody better. The bills can't find anybody better. They just keep hanging on. Greg, you were all over the place, as usual.

I found a very interesting how Steve Kime answered a question about Honey Badger, the Cardinals General Manager. And I wanted to ask him that, particularly because Matthew had a tweet yesterday, which sounded like a sub-tweet or I don't know what it was, but just a vague thing where he said, it's a gamble and I'm taking all bets. If I lose, I vow to make it all back. He wrote that yesterday.

Wow. I read that and I thought... Cinematic. I thought he and his agents will not renegotiate his contract because that's the belief of what could happen in Arizona. He's due $19 million guaranteed if they picked up a bonus. And when Kime was asked about it today, he was very non-committal about Matthew's future. He called Buda Baker a budding star, a future star, who plays a similar position to Matthew.

And he basically said that's one of those guys that were evaluating. Imagine two years them saying, oh, that's just a guy we're evaluating about Honeybadger. They gave him a five-year contract after he tore his ACL. And so he's in a different place right now. And I asked Wes, where would you put him in the top 101? because I think I'm thinking in terms of Honey Badger's tweets after this news came out because he retweeted what I said and he just said, it's a business decision. Then he went on and on about it that I've been doubted my whole life.

He quote retweeted Greg's tweet. Right. He did that. And then he kept going on about, you know, I've been doubted my whole life. This is, I'm used to this. He's retweeting Michael Thomas saying he should come to the Saints. And I'm starting to think he's getting cut. Sounds like he's mad.

And West says he's going to put him at number six in the 101. That sounds about right. I think it's a good bet. He could make a lot of money as a free agent. Yeah, we're talking about a guy who was two years ago in the defensive player of the year conversation, and it took him a while like it did the first time he tore his ACL to get back there. But I thought in the last month of the season,

he played at a really high level. I'd rather have him than a guy like Sheldon Richardson. That's some real sex appeal to the top 101. Yeah. Get a little honey badger in there? It needs it. Yummy, yummy. Hey, speaking of sex appeal, I'm a big Matt Patricia fan.

You know, I've already named him. He's the number one. coach in the bear community. I find him to be an excellent looking man on some level because he's so interesting. Now, one thing I've learned. Do you consider yourself an honorary member of the bear community? I've been told. You'd fit the mold.

I've been told bear qualities. Let's move on. Now, here's the question. What are we talking about again? All right, Matt Patricia. I really like the way he came off in his press conference. He is a dude. He's a regular dude.

He's a perfect guy, Patrick for Detroit. Absolutely. He's a perfect fit, especially Jim Caldwell. You know, God bless Jim Caldwell. Did he land on his feet somewhere? I don't know. He's filthy, rich. There's nothing about Jim Caldwell to get the fan base excited.

And I'm not saying Matt Patricia is going to, like, get you jumping up and down. But he is such, like, clearly like a lunch pale guy. And you would think that coming out of the Belichick regime and the shots you saw on the sideline where he would have that big bushy beard and those crazy intense eyes that he would be. somebody from that machine and someone with no personality. But he just came off as a guy that you could talk to

that would be able to communicate with his players that would have a good relationship with the media. I'm not saying the Lions are going to surge this year into the NFC title game, but I really think they got a guy that they could build around.

I'm with you. I think the Lions and Patra, you've suffered with Detroit for a long time. I've often found them to be one of the dullest teams and they have a new energy around them with Matt Patricia. And in Chicago, you go from John Fox, who this podcast was not super high on, to say the least,

to Matt Negi, who I think was also did a good job today. It wasn't information rich, but he is another good personality. The NFC North has a whole different feel, and it's a long time coming. Matt Patricia also, and Patrick, you let me know what this bothers you. I noticed, like, a logo on the breast of his t-shirt, and I was like, why is that ring a bell? And I was like, is that a Bon Jovi logo? So I typed Bon Jovi logo into my phone, and sure enough,

He went to his presser with a Bon Jovi t-shirt. I wonder if Belichick gave him. I don't know. I was just going to say, it doesn't bother me because it seems like something that he probably got for free. He's like, sure, I'll wear this to the press. And he went to the concert and had a good time to a little, like, living on a prayer. He's that type of guy. You're all in.

I'm all in. I think he's the kind of guy. He's very smart, and that comes across. He's not as, he doesn't keep as much to himself as I thought. And when he does, he does it verbosely, like, talks around it as whereas Belich, is more gruff with it and he's like dan said he's the kind of guy you could want to grab a beer with yeah you know and i feel like the pencil in the ear thing is a bit now and he's like he like telling his buddy say watch this i'll put this pencil in my ear and they'll all it was remarkably sharpened too like it it's clear

that he's making that a thing and i appreciate there's going to be thousands of fans in detroit wearing pencils during where does uh matt patricia rank on your new coaches charisma rankings which i believe is i think it's pretty clear where he ranks he's a question directed at dan hand yes pronoun good pronoun usage there or not using pronoun um he is up there uh in in the charisma rankings it i'm going to probably say gruden even though he's an old new coach uh just own the room and he had the biggest crowd i can remember for coaches that's sherman number two people left at shirmer sherman didn't bring a lot of energy i actually sat in on all the new press new coaches press conferences and yes i would say that uh patricia is right there behind gruden number two how they came across

One thing on Nagy, just to wrap that one up, I think if Bears fans are looking for something that's going to make him a lot different than John Fox, he was asked, not for his whole philosophy, but how he felt about Doug Peterson and going for fourth downs aggressively, he smiled really wide and said, I like it, I like it. I'm not joking around. I've heard the word in, like, hallways, at Shula's. I keep on hearing analytics. Maybe it's in my head. I feel like everyone's taught. Maybe it's like really going nuts now. Is this just in my head?

Like, is, bouncing around your head? Analytics never been because when I think of going for it on fourth down, I think about the analytics say that that's what you do and that's what the Eagles did. I think it's a thing. I think it's sticking. I think all of these coaches have an analytics guy in their headset for situational football, but no one has the stones or the onions of Doug Peterson.

How are you Roseman was asked about Doug Peterson's balls today, and he said they were tremendous balls. Excellent. That's a quote. We actually, we were at a bar last night, and there was an entire analytics meetup. Just a bunch of analytics dudes with Cynthia Freeland. So, like, maybe that's why, because they literally are everywhere now.

We were also at a bar, and we met Dave Gettelman, and what a wonderful guy. Honestly, he shot up my power. He already was high in the power rankings, but he's like, oh, your dad's a Giants fan. Like, you sounded kind of like cut from the Keith Hans' household a little bit. Oh, I could totally see that. We were leaving a bar right at closing time. Orca Tamposi was there as well, Sean Sullivan. And as we're walking out, I'd turn around.

And as this happens, sometimes you lose Mark. He doesn't immediately come out. It turns out Mark makes a B-line, and I look back and I see him stick his hand out and say to Dave Gettleman, I just want to shake the hand of one of the greatest GMs of all time. Well, I told him because I wouldn't, I don't think I'd be here. Which is quite an honor for a man that's never won to Super Bowl. I wouldn't be here if my dad was not a huge Giants fan and a football fan growing up. And I just liked that he brought honor back to that team.

One of the greats of all time. I think he is one of the great personnel men, one of the great personnel men, and he will continue to show. Jerry Reese is like, I brought two Lombardi trophies. What honor did I take from the organization? They had their last season. Maybe Gettleman was the force behind Jerry Reese. He was working under him at the time.

Possible. All right, we got to move on. Can I say one quick thing? Yes, one quick thing. Excuse me, combine setup people. Like, whatever you plan to serve for lunch today was an outrage. It was some of the shakiest sandwiches. I couldn't even eat them

because it's like filled with what was in them. Meat. Roast meat. Food. Well, you're all not feeling well for like two hours after so don't shake your head, Greg.

All right. Before we go, before we go, first of all, some breaking news. I don't want to be on your corner here, Greg. Scary. We, this is a note from Mark Brady, one of the leading shadowy league figures in the business. We, the Around the NFL podcast,

are on Spotify. A deal was reached this week. Wow. Things getting done at the combine. Now, it just occurred to me that all the people that are complaining on Twitter, how come we're not on Spotify, we don't listen to the show anymore. They're not getting this announcement. But we will also send it out via social media.

We are now on Spotify. Effective immediately, Mark? Effective immediately. So there you go. Another outlet for the program. Huge news. Wow. Man, things are looking good in 2018.

I mean, I don't think it's as big news as the big news. Brown's wide receiver news. I broke. What was his name? Larry Pinkard? Yeah, I couldn't remember. Larry Pinkerton. Okay.

We will be back tomorrow Thursday. There are more press conferences. Maybe we'll do some combine talk. We'll figure it out. But thank you for listening. Yes, subscribe on Spotify if you wish. I don't know how it works. But whatever we do it, our Apple podcast or Google something or other.

Whatever. Was it? Google Play. And, of course, leave five stars, leave comments. We appreciate it all. Thank you, Kevin Patchy. Google Play. Nice work.

There's somebody out there using Google Play. Let's get out of here. This Dan Hansa signing off for Kevin Patrick coming at you. Rap sheet. The old boss, the mailman, the sizzler. The best GM of all time. Till Thursday. This is an I-heart podcast.