NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Early OTA Buzz, Another Eagles Win, Bills on Hard Knocks and RIP Jim Irsay

Episode Date: May 23, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Patrick Claybon and Nick Shook to get you caught up on all the news from around the NFL. First, the crew talks about the news coming out of the owners meetings including the tush push surviving for another year (01:25), playoff reseeding (05:30), the installation of the Protector of the Year Award (08:30), the Bills and NFC East being on Hard Knocks (16:20), and the passing of Colts Owner Jim Irsay (19:15). After the break, the trio checks in on some of the buzz from OTAs including Drake Maye and the Patriots (27:58), Caleb Williams and the Bears (31:50), Quinnen Williams and the Jets (36:20), and more!  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we will continue to push that tush. I'm Greg Rosenthal here in the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio with my friends, Patrick Claibon, and from Ohio, Kent State's own, Nick Shook. Let's go, Patrick. Let's do it. I was thinking after all the shove discussion, that old high school cheerleader treat, like cheer. Shove that ball across that line. Shove it. Nobody, nobody's familiar with that

one. It's perfect for the situation. I got nothing. I wasn't listening to the cheerleaders during the game. Oh, he was out of. You know, he was out there. From the man who loves to flex, a total flex. Yes, we're going to hit the news. Obviously, there were a couple rules, proposals that failed at the latest league meeting, some hard knocks news. OTAs have started. That's fun. I got to admit, like hearing little updates about depth charty stuff, it does make me feel like football's back a little in a way that's meaningful to me. So we're going to talk about that. obviously it was a tough loss for the NFL community on Wednesday when Jim Mersey, the owner, long-time owner of the Colts, passed away.

So we will talk about him as well. But yeah, let's start with the rules. And I'm a little surprised because both the proposal to kill the Tushbush, essentially, and the proposal to reseed the playoffs, according to reporting, kind of came directly, indirectly, I guess would be the right way to say it from the league, that the league was supporting this.

And yet, both measures did not pass. The tush push was shot down, even though more teams wanted to kill it than not 22 to 10, but you needed 24 votes. So for the 2025 season, the Eagles have a little bit of an edge with that play. But other teams could take advantage.

manage of it too, Patrick. Yeah, and the discussion out of Philadelphia all week was like, hey, you know, Jordan Milata, like, hey, if they ban it, we'll just do something else. Like, Jalen Hertz and AJ is saying it's just one yard. Um, but then you see the reaction from Eagle Social, right? And they post 26 minutes of, of the, I wish we would still go brotherly show, but I guess the touch is gone. We lost that war. Is, is over and it's here now. Um, where, you know, you kind of see all sides of this. I think, like, Maybe we go a direction because if the league wants to do it from a standpoint of watchability and like, is this what we want football to be, then I guess get rid of quarterback sneaks altogether, like if that's a particular concern. But yeah, we've got one more year and we can see a very dominant team that's very good at it, be very good at it still.

Well, I think the Eagles are the face of the rebellion. They didn't get the two teams that they needed to to cross the aisle and shoot this thing down. but at the same time, it's a matter of, yeah, this is still kind of football and it's a product quality thing, I understand. But football at its purest form, right, its most basic form resembled somewhat of a rugby scrum before it developed into what we now know. And it's still a brutal game in which you have to win in the trenches. And in short-hearted situations, the solution is simple. Don't let them get to third or fourth and one. Find a way to stop it. It's not going to last beyond this season, I don't think. I think they'll win the war of attrition.

but as of right now we get one more year of an ugly play that is highly successful for one team. It's fine. Like they would have figured it out. I do believe that.

Like they are a great quarterback sneak team. It is ultimately a quarterback sneak play. Like the push of it all is only part of it. And to me, you know,

maybe not the most important part. The important part is that they just have a good offensive line and they coach it up well. It's the same reason why the bills are excellent attitude. I like the teams that voted for it

or against it just for no reason. And like the Patriots are just like, yeah, we think that's fair. Like, you should be able to figure it out. Good job. Good job, Patriots. I thought it was interesting that some of the ex-Eagles coordinator's teams voted to ban it. The Cardinals with Jonathan Gannon, the Colts with Shane Steichen and the Saints with Kellynne Moore. But then I thought more about it.

I was like, the coaches are only so important, especially those coaches, no offense. Like, they're not making the decision whether to vote yes or no on that play. Ownership is. And also, like, Stuyken's offense, right? And then the fact that the Cardinals have a quarterback that's diminutive, right? I don't know how many shoves you're going to run with Kyler in that spot. And some teams just don't want to put their quarterback in that position. I did see the argument where it would have eliminated pushing everywhere, like including

like linemen coming down late down the field and that would have been a catastrophe for officials. And like, I understand keeping the play. I wanted to keep the play. but I hate not doing things because it's too difficult for the officials to get it right like get it right. I didn't feel that strongly

but it just seemed stupid to kill a play just because one team does it because it works so well. So I just didn't want it to happen but I also get it. I think they maybe went wrong by putting so much into the player

health and safety aspect of it when there was no proof that there was any problem with health and safety. So it just seemed phony. That said, they did get 22 teams to agree and one thing that

Roger Goodell, the commissioner said about the Tush Bush, and now we can talk about the receding, that he made clear was these issues were not done for, in his mind, that they were kind of going to bring it back up again potentially next year, that they have more to look at. And so he said, talking about the receding proposal, which would have had teams seated by order of their record, irrespective of winning the division,

and potentially recede in the second round as well, where the best team would pay, you know, the team with the lowest seed. Like, all of that was up for grabs. And he said they got valuable information back from the ownership of what they actually want. It does sound like the league would rather a team that wins a division with a bad record be seated lower, which or play on the road, which I would be for, but it didn't even get close, Nick. It didn't even get voted on. So it sounded like they just did not have the votes there.

Yeah, I think this is a type of. into the schedule because, you know, if you do a cross-sport comparison with the NBA, when they went to the reseating format that they have now where division titles don't matter, they play 82 games. There's more balance to their schedule. Yes, you play less Western conference than Eastern Conference if you're in the Eastern Conference, but there's more games to work with. In the NFL, we're rotating inter-conference divisional opponents by year. The entire AFC North will play the NFC West one year. And sometimes that leads to unbalanced strengths of schedule, which then lead to weird records. And it takes a little bit of the importance

away from the divisional games as well. You still want to win division, but it just isn't as coveted as before. So I think if they can kind of couple this and marry it with the way that the schedule is built and maybe take a look at that too, it's more likely. I definitely think at some point they're going to find a way to make it work. It's just they need more time to figure it. I'm for the NFL's position on this one. I'm against it in terms of the tush push. I think that was that was dumb to try to kill that. I would like to recede. And the scheduling argument doesn't make sense to me because the schedule is inherently so uneven in so many ways and helps teams get higher seeds and win the Super Bowl because of the

schedule. There's like there's no fixing that totally. And and just because the schedule's uneven, it doesn't mean that the receding possibility like helps that at all. It might hurt it even more. It's sort of like a brain buster. But ultimately like the schedule to me doesn't make any different. Yeah, it's a question of which team and which accomplishment are we going to prioritize because the balance is always going to be in one direction. or the other, are we going to prioritize the team that limped to a division victory against a bad division or a team that wins 13 games? Yeah.

But they have a juggernaut in their division. Like, why are they getting punished? Right. That's the whole idea is to help out the Vikings from a year ago or the Packers. And to me, that makes sense. Like, it depends on the year. But you think of that Carolina Panthers team with Rivera that had a losing record. You know, there has been some.

some bad division championship teams. And like, it's fine. You do keep the importance of the division because you got to win it to make the playoffs. And then anything can happen. We've seen that. But, you know, make it happen on the road. I like that the NFL did announce that onside kicks. They are going to adjust that.

That you can attempt an onside kick at any point of the game as long as you're trailing. So that's a slight tweak. And that they have introduced a new award, Shuki. Are you excited about the protector of? the year award. Yeah, baby, because offensive linemen never get any credit or consideration for offensive player of the year or MVP because it's the most overlooked position in the sport. And now they have something to chase, which I'm very excited about. Also, guys, I have a quick question for just to ask you, do we think that the whole

proposal of like fourth and 16 on your own 20 as an alternative to the onside kick is dead? Yeah. It feels like that's off the table. There's been a bunch of chances, a bunch of discussions. It doesn't seem like it's happening. Maybe, yeah, a few years from now, they'll try to revive it. That is a bummer. But it is exciting. The Protector of the Year award, the offensive linemen, it will be determined because the NFL is saying, you know, us media folk, we can't comprehend offensive line play.

And they're probably right. And they're going to have this award decided by like a panel of esteemed ex-offensive linemen. I just want to make sure that these guys are actually doing. in the work, though, because in the ones that they mentioned, I think would be an R. It was Andrew Whitworth. It was Jason Kelsey. I believe it was La Charles Bentley.

They had some specific names out there. And Andrew Whitworth was integral in making this protector of the year award happened. But Dion Dawkins, the Buffalo Bills player, is the one that kind of really pushed it publicly. And yet, Eric Roberts made a whole sound clip trying to give NFL Daily credit, actually. for helping to make this happen and he insisted that we play it at this point. I want to be the change that you want to see in the world.

Let's make a Penae Sewell for Offensive Player of the Year Candidacy. I've been banging the drum for him as an Offensive Player of the Year candidates. I'll throw him here in the MVP as well. I think it's totally fine to make the award what you want. If an offensive lineman

is that incredible that he deserves something. You did it, here we go. You did it. I got to give it the assistant. I got a chef.

We just won't stop talking about offensive linemen. I nodded. You know, in that clip, I nodded. You said plenty. I think we were saying back then, too, like,

why not put a fourth place vote on some offensive linemen, too, to recognize them or for offensive player of the year, give a first place to us, but now they get their own award. Yeah.

And maybe let's open up this panel to more awards and just make the criteria. Are you going to change you, how you vote based on somebody winning the award previously and you're bored of them winning the award. So you're not going to vote for them again. Why don't we just get rid

of that in everything? Wow. I like that. Sean O'Hara was another name. Orlando Pace, Will Shields. I wonder, how did they pick this panel? Who knows? They know line play. You know, we don't.

I mean, that's true on some level. Like, I'm all for that. I just want to know that everyone's putting a lot of work into it. They are. They definitely are. I'll tell you that it made me feel really good about five years ago, sitting down with Sean during our trip to New Jersey

when COVID was shutting everything down. And he sat down next to me, he goes, I know you know offensive line play. We're speaking the same language. So it's good to see him on this panel because that man, among many others, nose ball. Okay. I just mean, is he like,

grinding and watching five or six games from all these guys during the season, all that sort of stuff? Because here's what they don't. police is the associated press vote. I mean, some of those votes have been and are done by people who should not have a vote. So I think the offensive line

protector is going to be better. The NFL is going to allow NFL players to play at the Olympics, which is cool here in LA. Let's get a sign to that, Patrick. Me and you. Yeah, let's do it. Can we do that? I would love to. I was kind of heartened by hearing, you know, that some of the

NFL players, including JJ, Justin Jefferson talk about potentially competing for the gold medal. You know, just think about the chances of, you know, playing in the Olympics and, you know, getting a gold medal is a dream, you know, just reverting back to being a kid and watching the track and field, you know, meets, watching basketball win the gold medal. How about that? Do we actually buy that big time stars are going to want to do this, Shook? Yeah, I think that there's going to be.

I have to be some things that you build into the contract to protect you against injuries suffered in an Olympic event since we've never seen that before. But I just think about Court of Gold, that Netflix series that documented the 2024 Olympics and basketball and how popular that was, how captivating it was, and how the action itself was so entertaining. You take that to football. I know it's not the same sport. You're playing with flags and everything else. I just think the opportunity to entertain and to engage a whole new subset of fans is the limit. The potential is limitless. I think it's fantastic. I think players, will be very excited to participate.

A lot of guys with the Pro Bowl. They went from passing on it because they didn't want to play another game with pads on to now. Oh, let's go have fun because it's like playing, you know, San Lot football again. It's like you're a kid again. And I think we're going to have better integration across the sport, like between flag football and actual football.

I really think there's going to be more respect for the flag players and probably vice versa. And I can't wait to see like what the apparatus looks like. What is USA football? Right. Who's the Jerry Calangelo of U.S. Let's say football. What's that going to happen? And how do they determine who, how are the players going to try out?

Because I'm sure the best way to grow the sport would be to have some NFL players in there, certainly big name players. Like, am I sure that Tyree Kill, let's just say he was the same age or Justin Jefferson are going to be the best players at flag football? I don't know. I don't know that. Maybe they, maybe they will be. Maybe the flag regulars will be great.

Or maybe it's some like NFL players like like Braxton Berrios in his prime is like, better at flag football than like super duper starts like that wouldn't shock me would it because I don't really know what translates but clearly like getting you know having to deal with getting tackled doesn't matter anymore and I think that matters you know for who's good or who's not yeah I think that some things are always going to matter like route concepts and leverage and and talent and speed like I think like you could have a kailer murray team with devonte Smith or like Rashid Shaheed and

Josh Allen. Like you could make it work with a lot of people. I think you could make it work with just about anyone in terms of trying to win for the U.S. team.

But if you told me that like Khalil Shakir is a better flag football player than a lot of the like Lindjamar Chase, I think that's that's possible. Wouldn't it be? You know,

this leads me to the next step in that evolution, which is basketball and introduced three on three in the Olympics, right? We have the big three league. Who is the media

superstar, the entertainer that leads a flag football professional league and convinces some of these NFL players to go play for them. Who is the ice cube of flag football? That would be Greg Rose. I need more capital here. And no, that would be tough. I would have to leave the NFL because I would immediately be a competitor. They're trying to be that. They're, you know, Roger Goodell is trying to be the ice cube of flag football. It is, it is a big time push. And I think that's cool. Our friend Our friend Phoebe Schechter, who's been huge in terms of helping to build the flag among people overseas and women and here. It's pretty cool for the people that have been involved to see this all happening now. So yes, the other news before we get to Erse is that we got our Hard Knocks team.

We're going to do a division again. Shout out to NFL films. They got an Emmy for the in-season Hard Knocks Division series on the NFC North. which was great. It's going to be the NFC East. It was the AFC North, rather, last year. And Eric Roberts's Buffalo Bills are going to be on hard knocks for the first time. Was surprised because they are not in that group of teams, Patrick, that like you can make to do hard knocks.

So they flat out volunteered at an interesting time in their run, which they've been like the most consistent winner in the entire NFL other than the Kansas City Chiefs. and now they're going to be in the spotlight. I like it. They're not scared of attention. There we go. They're not running from anybody. Brandon Bean will line you up on a radio show. Like, it doesn't matter.

Anybody can get it at any point. I love it. Shout out to the bills. It's the year of Steinfeld and Josh Allen. I mean, we could go from Josh Allen MVP to, like, the biggest most culturally significant, you know, movie of the summer in sinners with Steinfeld, to hard knocks with Josh Allen. Cut to next year, Roberts. Alan wins the Super Bowl. Steinfeld gets an Oscar nomination or win next March. We're just rolling through.

How do you feel as a Bill's fan about being the Hard Knocks team? Well, the Josh Allen iron is hot right now, obviously. Like you just laid it out. There's plenty of other things. Dion Dawkins, Keon Coleman. They're always good for a quote. Good. New stadium coming up, the farewell of the Ralph. Lots of storylines. Do they open with the crane, you know, going from over the new stadium. and the horizons of Josh Allen's future. There's plenty of options there. That might get into why it's happening, the stadium part of it.

Because clearly, you know, their owner, Terry Pagula has to be foremost among driving this. He's ultimately in charge for them to volunteer. But I'm glad they did, Chuck. We got a good team. No offense to your Browns, but like, we've seen them in a fun hard time. No, I agree. I'm tired of the afterthoughts. The team.

that basically are trying to climb back into relevance being a hard-knock team. Let's get a real team, a real contender, and dive in. And, you know, producer chops out of Eric right there with the opening shot being the crane. I think that's a great idea. It's true. It is almost always the team trying to rise or trying to bounce back. So I like one that is on the cusp. And it kind of worked for the lions who were, you know, on the rise.

But I feel like hard knocks, you know, help make them a national team. in a way that the bills certainly would not mind. Let's wrap up talking about, in terms of the news, talking about Jim Ursay, who died on Wednesday at the age of 65. According to everyone close to the Colts and everyone that reported on that, it was a big surprise. And I think it really knocked a lot of people back because he is synonymous with the Indianapolis Colts.

And I think just like one of the foremost owners, obviously, like every ownership group is important in different ways. But at this point, he's actually kind of part of the old guard. And Judy Patista wrote a great piece talking about how he went out of his way to try to learn from the old guard. Art Rooney, Wellington, Mara, Lamar Hunt. How do I do this? Because he was put in a position at a pretty young age after his father died of alcoholism, after he was the GM of the Colts to become an owner and, you know, has a legacy that's going to live on in Indianapolis. Just look at the skyline there with the like the museums and

the building and obviously Lucas Oil Field that he helped build. And to to think that a lot of the last interactions that people had with Jim Mersey was a tweet to say, go Pacers, go get this done. And it seemed like the circumstances just willed them. themselves to happen in that. You can see the way other people react to him and probably one of the more accessible NFL owners who publicly dealt with struggles that I think, you know, not to highlight or celebrate them, but I think to see somebody in that position go through something real, kind of allowed that level of connection between a lot of NFL

fans and Jim Mersey that you just don't get another place. Ran into Steve Weiss on the way. in here and said how great a job he did because they were just on the air and then this happened and I was watching his coverage and accessible is really interesting point because I think Steve would say like the most like someone that a lot of not just reporters had relationships with but players had really close relationships with fans had relationships with I can't remember going to Colts training camp for a Frank Gore piece I don't know when that was now six seven years six years ago, seven years ago. And Urse is just driving around on the golf cart,

handing out envelopes of cash at random to fans, just because he wanted to. Whoever he thought was kind of being the best fan and being the most energetic, like, he was doing that. And there's so many stories of his personality on a 101 basis. But you just heard it, Nick, from like the ex-players, just saying what he meant to them. Ryan Kelly, who lost, his child at a young age saying how much Jim Mersey's support meant for him in that moment and giving him all the access and help that he could have. And I think it's really telling that Edron James, Marvin Harrison, and Dwight Freeney all chose Jim Erse as their presenter at the NFL Hall of Fame. And Erse was on record saying like other than the Super Bowl title,

that to him was the greatest honors and the highlight of his NFL career. Yeah. And I think it typified who he was as a person, somebody who was so passionate about so many things, chiefly among them, the Indianapolis Colts in the city of Indianapolis. I mean, this is a guy who was deeply involved and very expressive and would not hide that. Just because he happened to be an owner of a team and came from wealth, he didn't let that limit him or, you know, make him, you know, prevent him from engaging with the fans and the people in the city that he called home. And especially a home that they had to kind of claim when they moved from Baltimore. And he made such a positive impact on so many people. And the saddest part about it is that he was only 65. And I feel a direct

connection to this. My dad died at 63. And it was also unexpected. And I'm sure, you know, his family is, you know, having a tough time right now. It's way too young to pass. And it's definitely going to leave a void in the NFL that the Colts are in the league at large. You're going to have to find a way to Phil. Yeah. He's involved his daughters. And Tom Pellasaro talked about this very prominently, you know, his daughter was representing him at the league meetings already. And so, there is some preparation for this, but you can never be prepared. And yeah, you mentioned family just, he comes from a fascinating lineage in a way that his father, and I think Jim Mercy knew this and would defend on some level, was one of the most

embarrassing NFL owners ever. You know, he died of alcoholism. He had many public in front of a microphone incidents that did not reflect well on the Colts or himself because of his alcoholism. They moved the Colts out of Baltimore in the middle of the night, which was a dark moment for the NFL and certainly for Baltimore. And yeah, you won't hear any of the ex-Colts players from them talk about. Bob, or say, the way that everyone is talking about Jim. And I bring that all up to me in that.

like I think that does show a strength that like your how you were raised and the mistakes that the generation before you that he obviously struggled with made that you don't have to make all those same mistakes either. And I think the the legacy that he has with the people around him and just the outpouring of how much Jim Mersey meant to him says a lot. Yeah. And you can see it. You can see the way the community and the league all over has reacted to this like it's Jim Arsay meant something

to football and to America and to fans and yeah an interesting guy you know like I mentioned he was a GM

which is crazy he was the youngest GM in the history of the NFL at the time and he traded for Eric Dickerson they had been awful for about 10 years straight and they did make the playoffs

you know he was GM for a time probably not the job that he should have had but the job that he did have but also was you know very decisive in making the biggest decisions

in this organization's history there's a famous story that Bill Pollyan wasn't totally in on Jim, I mean on Peyton Manning and that he at one point like slammed his, his, you know, fist down on Erse's desk. Bill Polion did this and was saying like that Peyton Manning's ceiling might be Bernie Cozhar. And the line is that he said, can you live with Bernie Kosar?

Because he thought the ceiling reportedly of Leaf was higher pounding on the desk. And Erce was like, no. Peyton Manning is my guy. I am not bending on this in the same way that he did not bend on the decision to cut Peyton Manning and move on to the Andrew Luck era when that crazy season kind of all came together. So he made tough decisions and still had like the love of respect of Peyton Manning afterwards, which I think says a lot. We're going to take a quick break. But yes, rest in peace to one of the legends of the game, Jim Ursay, dead at 65 years old. what's up everybody daniel jeremiah here and i'm bucky brooks on move the sticks we take you inside the game

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We're going to do some OTA nuggets, some OTA buzz. Love it. We have on-field stuff to talk about. one thing I wish I'd mention with Ursaid too is like he helped get the insider out to paint thank you immediately he walks out of that meeting and it's like he had just finished listening to ether or or not like us even though it was before not like us like he he had it was like two solid minutes ripping him to shreds in a sense where we're expecting like oh you know you have to use the right language yeah no he's actually like stupid it's trash get him out of here and he did it a legendary

in removing a literal problem. There was a problem for decades. Shout to Jim R. Yeah, for a little context. That was what, three years ago now at a league meeting. And he even said as he was doing those two minutes

that I will not be silenced. He made it clear that like he was not supposed to be talking about getting Snyder out the league at that point. But it had clearly gotten past the point. And Snyder had been bad for all NFL business. And sometimes it takes someone with power like Jim say to speak a little truth, and he helped grease the skids to help the Washington commanders out. So Washington fans should be grateful as well. All right. Let's talk about some nugs.

We can just bounce around. It's the teams with the new coaches. I'm not pretending that any of these stories are massive. It's just kind of fun to talk about 2025 football happening on field. The very first OTA that media was at for the Patriots, Drake May just throws four picks. I mean, why is he got to do this? Shook out of his first nine passes. Four picks. Panic in the streets.

Panic in the New England streets. Yeah. Everybody calm down. You hired a defensive-minded coach for a reason. He's already got his fingerprints in the defense. It's confusing Drake a little bit. Give it time. It's May.

Everything's fine. Relax. No, yeah. I'm not too worried. But I did listen to Tom Curran's podcast on it. And he was like, one was just like a bad overthrow on an open short receiver, which Drake May does do more than you want. It's got a little young Josh Allen in him. Another was just some missed assignment and yeah, the rest is, you know, it's first

day stuff. I did think it was noteworthy though. Christian Barmore is out there and reportedly looking really good. He's fully cleared. And I did a podcast with Taylor, Kyle's over who covers the Patriots and he was great. And I started thinking about this Patriots roster. They added a lot of free agents, and obviously they're excited about their draft, but I think just as important for them are actually these guys that they have on the books that have been good players in the past, like bouncing back. They have a number of them, but Christian Barmore would be number one amongst them, because this dude could be like an all pro pro bowler type and supposedly looked really good. Yeah, it turns out when there's a roster devoid of talent that in and of itself

depleted, things are going to be very, very bad. And so, yeah, the Patriots will be significantly better. Can't wait to root for them. Oh. To lose every single. Oh. Wow. That was a great rug pull. That's fantastic. Why are you going to root against them?

Well, you know, they're back. The Patriots are going to be back back. They're going to be good. Their quarterback's going to be good. They got, you know,

they got their partnerships with the schedule release video. And they're like, hey, you know what? If you don't like the Patriots, you keep doing it. And so. Yeah.

That, that really bothered me. their schedule release video. If you know which one I'm talking about, my God. Come on. We're just trying to make it easier on us. They're just bringing things back to reality, Greg. Barmore, yeah, I mentioned those like veterans that they could bounce back.

Ramandre bouncing back, I think would be good. I think Kendrick Bourne, actually, if he makes this team, could help them out a lot, a year further removed from surgery. Mike and Wenyu got a ton of money and then at his worst season. Now, the coaching was terrible, but like that's someone. And then, uh, I did. think about this and the people watching noted that

DeMario Douglas, like, they think he could have a monster role here. It's like, if you look at this roster, Shook, I don't know if there's a player that on most rostered would, even though they're deeper, would be a number two receiver. Like, Stefan Niggs isn't healthy, so I'm not really counting

on him yet. So I look at this roster and think of what's worked for Josh McDaniels in the past. And I think DeMario Douglas is a good player, and I could actually see like DeMario Douglas kind of being literally the centerpiece of their passing game. Well, yeah, and I think that points to why you made that note about Kendrick Bourne, too, is a lack of available guys.

But don't forget about Mack Hollins, who had a nice little year in Buffalo. If Jalen Polk would have just lived up to his expectation as, you know, a relatively early pick, then this wouldn't really be much of a discussion. Fresh start. Because he was inconsistent, yeah. But luckily, he's young, and he's only got a year in the league. So maybe we end up talking about them having a nice little trio once Diggs comes back healthy depending on how good he is.

I'm surprised at the Mac Hollins disrespect from Greg just now. I mean, he's more there for like blocking, you know. Right? I think Mac Holland can play. Greg's not a fan of being grounded, you know, walking barefoot.

That's what it is. The Bears are one of the teams that are also practicing this week. Caleb Williams, they didn't schedule him to talk to the media, which they don't have to at this time a year, but the media certainly would want to talk to Caleb Williams

because he's the start. Carding Quarterback. And because Caleb Williams made some news last week, we didn't get too deep into it. He made the news, the comments to Seth Wickersham for a book that's going to come out in September. But the excerpt came out last week. And it detailed a very organized and interesting effort by Caleb Williams' father to explore not getting drafted by the Bears, which I don't blame him at all. They had the right idea. Ben Johnson was asked about all of that coming out. I love it. I love it. I love the opportunity to come on in and change that narrative. That's where great stories are written. And so we're looking to write a new chapter here, 2025 Chicago Bears and looking forward to the future.

I can just feel Patrick wanted to just jump in and take apart this story. No, I mean, area man considers his options, right? Like area man considers relative leverage. with regards to employment for his son. And now, like, we have a story about a book. The story was written by writer. I guess we'll find out who wrote this story to sell Seth Flewickersson's book at some point. It was just, you know, it comes out there. But I just, I don't understand the idea. Ben Johnson, right, had numerous jobs that he didn't take. Any number of people who have romantic relationships. At some point, that person was considering not being with you. Like, The circumstances change.

And Caleb Williams is a quarterback of the Bears and he wants to win there. I don't understand why this is a... Well, because I don't think it reflects negatively on Caleb Williams. If anything, he went into the facility and at that point said, all right, like, let's try to win with these guys. I do think it's interesting that Carl Williams was on the record believing that the rookie, you know, draft. And I think you're on board with him is unconstitutional. And it's like, and, uh, I mean, that doesn't, the paper hasn't, doesn't do anything anyway. Like the cap, um, that they have and that they explored very serious legal options to

potentially get out of it and that the Vikings were the team that they were, that they were interested in Ryan Poles and the bears had to say like, we're taking you no matter what, man. You can do whatever. You can say what you, you want. Um, you know, Carl Williams said Chicago is the place that quarterbacks go to die. And he, He wasn't wrong, and they viewed the situation, Nick, correctly, that Shane Waldron and Iber Fluse were not the two guys to help his son maximize his talent. And they didn't. Yeah, but Lawson, that is the beauty of how quickly things can change in the NFL

because of the lack of patience. And especially when all signs point to whatever you have in place not being the best for the organization, well, then they get fired. And then somebody who is the ideal fit for you, at least on paper, comes in and takes the job. Like Patrick just said, you know, Ben Johnson took that job because he knew of the potential of Caleb Williams and how they could, you know, make some magic together. I also just want to note, though, how the grin, the slight grin on Ben Johnson's face just kind of illustrated how crazy he is as a football guy to be like, oh, bring me more. I want the adversity. I want the challenge.

I'm going to prove you all wrong. I love it. Yeah. I love how he handles his press availability. Like he said that was such confidence. like, oh, you're coming to me with that. Like, he is the right guy. But through no, you know, fault of Caleb.

He's literally glowing. Yeah, like, through no fault of Caleb, like, they lucked out. Caleb Williams and his father, but like, the Bears could have easily with a little bit of luck won some more games last year. And they could have wasted three years on Matt Eberflous and Shane Waldron. And, uh, it didn't, it didn't happen. Caleb actually told Wickersham, I quote, I wasn't ready to nuke the city. It would have been aggressive.

I think at some point, some player might really do it, even more than Eli Manning did with the Chargers, but it will not be Caleb Williams. So they're back. They're on the field. That's fun. Quinn and Williams and the Jets are back on the field. I saw that they had a 100% attendance.

That's fun. I mean, no one's hurt. Everyone's showing up. No one's holding out. And Quinn and Williams was up talking at the podium and was asked about the tweet that he had. had during the off season where when they got rid of Rogers he said oh great another year of rebuilding definitely think it was an immature thing for me to do at the moment out of emotions

out of frustrations it's definitely immature and ever since and I haven't talked to Aaron previous that and just just looking at it and trying to grow as a leader trying to grow as a player trying to grow as an adult talking to him talking to the staff and everybody else just gave me super, super excited and super confidence that we're going in the right direction to win football games and to do the things that I want to do, like to change the whole narrative

of the New York Jets losing streets or the playoff streets and different things like that because I was drafted here a long time ago and I was paid to help change this thing around and I wear that with a badge of honor and like a cape to make sure that before I lead

this game, the New York Jets are going to be on top. And good for For Quinnon, I think on both counts, right, like being frustrated, being there, being a very good player on a bad team that has, the push was, hey, this guy is, this guy is, you know, levitating above Nazareth and he's going to save football, right? And that's the pitch. And then, like, you get rid of that guy and it's also, well, now what do we do? Right. And so I understand that reaction. But I also like that, you know, the coaching staff, they reach out, they dictate the plan to us. And he's not saying like, oh, I shouldn't have said that. He's saying, I understand the plan and the vision now. I see that. And, and yeah, things are good. I just watched that and thought about how these players grow before our eyes.

Like Quinn Williams, he said, I got drafted there a long time ago. I was like, man, well, it wasn't that long ago, was it? But it's been a minute. It was 2019. And I think of him with the braces on and how he looked partly physically, but more how he sounded back then. And now I'm listening to him now. and it's like, okay, he entered the league on one level.

Now he's a full-grown, you know, adult and leader of that organization and one of the best at his position in the entire league. And I would not want to mess with Quinn and Williams this year. I don't know why. I just feel like he's ready to go. Yeah. I also feel like his maturity is potentially synonymous with where the Jets are heading as an organization by hiring Aaron Glenn and having a, I think, a smart offseason.

You know, they seem to be headed in the right direction. And it's probably better that they're not in the spot. spotlight with Aaron Rogers and everything else like they were the last two years. That's kind of the get rich quick approach, at least a quarterback it was. They're lurking. They're under the radar right now, but keep an eye on them. And I think it's because of players like him and the leadership that comes with Aaron Glenn, don't be surprised if they exceeded most people's expectations this year.

Yeah, Garrett Wilson and Soss Gardner are both there. In theory, they could be looking for new contracts. But like I said, 100% attendance. And Wilson was supposedly very active catch and passes from Justin Fields. It's all happening. There's a center battle. Joe Tipman versus free agent pickup Josh Myers. We've got position battles.

We've got one in New Orleans. Supposedly it was supposed to be a three-way quarterback battle. Everyone kind of forgets about Jake Hainer. With a good reason. Being in the mix with Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shuck. Jake Hanner was hurt in the first day of OTAs and apparently got to miss some time so he won't be part of that competition. But we're taping this on Thursday.

Spencer Rattler, according to Nick Underhill at New Orleans football. looked, quote, awesome in the first OTA. Shook 8 for 8, hitting some passes downfield. Don't give up on Spencer Rattler in this battle just yet. I mean, he was the type of recruit back in the day, but I'm more curious about where Nick Underhill lands, which side of the agenda battle does he land? Is this pushing Rattler toward the front, or is this legitimate?

I think he's recognized, like, most of people covering the team, that Tyler Shook is a heavy favorite because of his draft status and because Kellen Moore took him. But you never know what could happen once you get out on the field. that he could legitimately, like, be a much better player. You feel, you feel solid that the Chuck is the, is the Moore player and not the Loomis player? Yeah.

Or do you think those two things are, I think the only evidence that Kellyn Moore is part of the Saints organization is that they draft the Tyler Schuck. It has been like, there's been no, there's been nothing has he done, there's no juice. He certainly wasn't part of the whole Derek Car fiasco. I think they let him pick his quarterback is based on the reporting that our friend Adam has done over at the block party but I think he got to pick his quarterback

because that's his thing and so that gives Shuck apparently had a nice throwdown to Rashid Shahid. They're trying Trevor Penning at Guard by the way if you were curious because you know they drafted Banks the tackle in the first round they drafted a tackle in the first round last year

Fuaga so they're putting penning at guard the Browns, they're practicing, they're back, shook, and Deshawn Watson is throwing at the facility to some of the receivers. That cut my eye. I wouldn't think he would have been ready.

I don't think that necessarily means he's going to be ready anytime soon, but it's just kind of weird. Like, he's still there, and he's literally at the facility and throwing to the receivers, your thoughts. Yeah, I mean, he's under contract, but the whole thing's just gross.

And it's just like, ah, no, why are you there throwing? Like, stay in the background. Your time here is done. They have a million other quarterbacks that they're going to try out. Why do you have to insert yourself? But he is employed, so I don't think it means anything.

I don't think it matters in the long run. Well, there's a whole thing where they get a certain amount of insurance money that helps their cap if he doesn't play at all this year. But could he potentially push to play if he's already throwing by the end of the year? Who knows?

Just something to keep an eye. And I don't think he'll ever put on the uniform in the regular season ever again. but he is there. Also there, at least in Dallas, rather, but on the field is Dak Prescott now cleared for everything. Patrick, and they're bigging up George Pickens

at practice. They're running out this four receiver set, they said, with, you know, he's on the outside and you got Tolbert and Turpin working weird things on the inside and CD moving all around. Are you into it? Yeah, I'm into it.

an opportunity for for deck to get that second weapon out there with CD. And if he stays healthy, they're going to win 10 plus games and have a chance to either be successful or disappoint in the playoffs. That's that's pretty much what is going to come down to. I do like these cleared for everything, you know, updates.

And Aiden Hutchinson is cleared for, cleared for everything. And it's like you get to these different points and other players are not at those points. And I think those are legitimate news items you can take away from May. There's not a ton. Like, for instance, Shook, Christian Wilkins is not ready to play football again. I think people forget what a serious foot injury he had.

It was reported by Tashon Reed, who does great work at the athletic, that at some point this offseason, he actually had to put his boot back on during the off season. And I don't know if there was a setback or anything, but he didn't seem that close to getting on the field again. So that's disappointing. But Max Crosby, who had a pretty important surgery, a tight road surgery, was back and fully cleared. Malcolm Coons, who's coming off at Tor and ACL, is not cleared.

So it's just like figuring out who has further to go to get to go play. And Wilkins might take a while. One of my favorite things to do in life is to cross things off a checklist because it makes them feel productive and it's one less thing to worry about. So when they're cleared for everything, all right, cool, set it aside. Don't have to monitor that. Hopefully everything goes well for them going forward. The Raiders, at least Crosby's there.

Luckily, it's May, so they still have time. They have plenty of time and they have made Ashton Gentie changes cool stance. I'm not cool with that. This is the sign. this is the sign that it's May is that I'd pull up Instagram and NFL on CBS tweets or posts on Instagram and getting all my platforms confused. Look at the difference between Gentie's stance. His hands are on his knees down. I'm like, oh God, it's, it's late May. That's this is what we're going to now. As long as Chip Kelly is it randomly trading him to the Buffalo bills in the middle of the

season. I think things will be better. Yeah, I think it's going to be just fine. That is probably our sign that this show is over. Appreciate everyone checking out. all the episodes this week and the Bobby Bowen's episode which we put into our feed, his podcast as well. We will be back next week. We're going to put up a show. Patrick and I

ranking some general managers. Yes, we just mentioned Deshawn Watson. I don't think Andrew Barry's going to fare well. Unless Patrick takes them off the board early. No, we're definitely not Jimmy has them to the credit there, so we're not going to have him. Okay. So yes, we'll be ranking some GMs. We'll be back. Everyone's

back at OTA's next week. We're getting updates on stances. That's how you know football's back. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday.

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies.

whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. This is an IHeart podcast.