NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Graybeards 2023: Best available free agents over 30 years old

Episode Date: March 31, 2023

A room filled with some heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Gregg Rosenthal and Colleen Wolfe bring you the latest news from around the league, starting with the NFL tabling the conversation about flexing Thursday Night Football games (7:08). The Patriots are reportedly "out" on Lamar Jackson (16:58), we discover a "new" Marc Sessler (18:55), Gregg recaps a busy Falcons offseason (22:16), Ran Carthon called the Derrick Henry trade reports "erroneous" (25:52), and we have a handful of Odds and Ends (33:57). Then, Dan introduces the 2023 Graybeards roster (38:17), hitting every position from quarterback (43:28) to running back (47:20) to wide receiver (51:30) to tight end (54:23) to offensive line (56:22), then flipping over to defense with EDGE (58:03), defensive tackle (59:35), linebacker (1:00:09), cornerback (1:01:05), safety (1:04:05), kicker/punter (1:04:49), and the coaching staff (1:06:01). Note: timecodes approximate.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast is only as old as they feel. From the Chris Wesleying podcast studio, it's Around the NFL. I am Dan Hansis, room heroes everywhere. Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal, the great Colleen Wolf. How is everybody? We're great. Really good.

That's a great zummy drop because it is Greybeard's Day here on around the NFL. And we're going to get to it in a little bit breaking down the best remaining free agents, age 30 and over. And it's a pretty decent crop. I'm not going to say it's as good as the team last year, which I predicted would be 10 and 7. How did they? What did the Greybirds finish in the end last season? As usual, they ended up at 4 and 13. But I had a lot of optimism about the graybeards last year.

This team, I'm not as pumped about. I mean, they were better than the Bears and the Texans. They definitely closed better than the Bears. Pick and third. They were competitive throughout the season. We'll also go through some news. We had our big ATN dinner with a grave digger yesterday. Ooh.

Yeah, a state of the union. That was nice. Justin, how was that? I know it was long-awated. and we had a couple of Diabolos. Oh, yeah. You know, it was a nice tequila drink there in Culver City. It was fun.

I had a good time with you guys. I feel like we bonded a little more. Got closer. What did you think, Mark? Did you feel a... I had a tremendous... Tremendous time, and it was a pleasure to have Justin there and to talk to him.

Ever since, I mean, it sent me into the night, and I just feel that I'm on sort of on eternal autopilot at this point. Both Graver and Sessler have complained about lack of sleeping. Now, Grave Digger is part of... Partly because Ms. Paramore, Yessica, also was out drinking last night, and he just said they didn't get a lot of sleep. So read into that way, we will.

I did have to face the center in the middle of our dinner. Had to pull out my phone, do a quick face time. He's got bit. He's got bit. He did this bit during the dinner. He had pre-plan. So good. He had a run-in-back.

He had pre-plan bits. The early show and the late show. It did get me. I bought it. I bought that you were truly got a face-time. Well, once we learned at Super Bowl week that you had a five-hour face-time and watched a movie together.

I was like okay everything is believable at this point so but that means you guys are in love yes so good for you good for you has a little anxious attachment do you guys are going on there do you guys have um like in your neighborhood or I live in kind of like a small town like a community people do they know that you're like NFL network people like the people in and I've never even met my current neighbors so I would say no unless I'm being heavily spy I mean Twice in the 10-year period, someone has either seen me running or walking and said, like, NFL no work, I don't know, but that's, that's the limit of it. Really? Yeah, like, that happens here and there, but not in this twice and 10-year-man.

You've sort of seem really friendly. What about you, Colleen? I've tried to talk to my neighbors. They don't want anything to do with me. I know some neighbors. Actually, yesterday, I rolled down my window to try and say hello to someone that lives on my street, and she just kept walking. I was like, fine, fine, we won't be friends. I won't have any friends in this neighborhood.

Didn't you eat? Because I think this happened to all of us during Corona when you're broadcasting out of like a room in your house and you realize it's coming right through the window into the neighbor's yard or territory. Didn't you receive a complaint? Oh, I got a passive aggressive written note left that please asking me to please close the windows

when I'm working and broadcasting because my voice carries. And multiple times there would be neighbors that yelled, turn down the TV, and then John would yell back, she is the TV. Yeah. It's like a Bronx high rise in 1966. I mean, you were in a tightly, I saw that apartment.

It was tightly packed in there. Yeah. And I was hosting total access, like almost five days a week from a guest bedroom. Why did we just keep doing everything when coronavirus was raging? I think ultimately to- We didn't change anything. We just did everything from our homes. Well, there was the need for paychecks to continue to floss their way into the

The budget. I bring it up because, yeah, because I'm also like a very active, as you are, Greg, I know, a little league dad. So I know a lot of the people and I've gotten to know the people in the town. And they do know I work in NFL network and one of the lines that I get a lot. And somebody did it, said it to me in my driveway while I had the leaf blower out the other day. Yard work. He goes, doing my yard work at my tan. And he's like, hey, and I could tell he was thinking of something to say.

He's like, what am I going to say? What am I going to say? yet oh and that is like the moat that's the trope line that everyone says to me hey recover from the super bowl yet i'm like i think the statute of limitations is up on that small talk it's almost april sir you ever get that you ever get a hey recover from that super bowl yet i mean that specific does anyone live in a community besides me what if that guy's listening i'm close even with a number of my neighbors but the NFL network thing never come never came up or doesn't care to be part of a Maybe they just don't care about football or it's never, it's never been brought up.

All right, that was good. All right, let's get to the news. That's great. I had one funny experience. You know, one of the rappers is two chains. One of the rappers. I saw him on the sidelines, one of our games. We had invited him, I guess, and I didn't know why he was called two chains.

I didn't know who he was. And I said, hold of staff, make sure you point him out to me. I want to be respectful. I mean, I don't, I would listen to his stuff particularly, but I do want to be respectful and appreciate his support. You know, so they did. And I said, you know, and I said, I can see why, you know, your nickname is two chains. You know, these big chains around his neck and what have you. So he said, well, you want, you know, we can get some chains for you.

I said, I don't think about, I'm not sure that's the right look for me. The two chains. Arthur Smith, oh, excuse me, Arthur Blank, who is the owner of the Falcons, speaking of two chains. And, yeah, you definitely heard the queens in Arthur Blank there when discussing two chains. I think so. And that comes on the heels of Robert Kraft, casually named dropping Meek Mill making a push for Lamar Jackson to New England. I kind of can't believe that Meek Mill didn't get it over the goal line, quite frankly. I would love to see their text conversations.

Like, they're just their back and forth. What's that rapport like? Yeah, I wonder if Robert Kraft is like, do you feel like when way older people are texting, anything can happen? Like I would even point to go look at Tom Brokaw's tweets and things like that. It's like, this was a newsman at one point

and I'm not, he cannot put a sentence together on Twitter. No. All right, let's get into, we were talking about some of the rule changes and the proposed rules at the owners meetings this week. There is a, there is a push to, flex Thursday night football and make games flexible from Sunday to Thursday night.

There already is a new rule in effect that now allows teams to play up to two Thursday night football games, but this is an idea of taking the looking of the schedule and then based on what, you know, let's be honest, helps Amazon. They're a major corporate partner and gives Al and Kirk a better game in the booth, especially late in the season, the idea of flexing games to Thursday night. And that was tabled by the owners, which means it wasn't shot down. It was just pushed to the side for now, which means there's a chance that this is going to happen. On the Giants co-owner, John Maurer is one of the more influential figures in the NFL,

and he spoke out adamantly against the idea. I am adamantly opposed to that. Flexible scheduling as it is is really inconsiderate to our season ticket holders and to people who fill our stadiums every week. People have gotten used to going from Sunday afternoon, the Sunday night. That doesn't mean that they like it. This year, we could be flexed to Monday night, which I think is really inconsiderate

to our ticket holders. But to flex a game back to Thursday night, to me, is just abusive. Abusive, Gregi. Big word there. I thought about, like, the history of the NFL when listening to this because the two most vocal opponents of this rule are John Marr, you heard there. and the Rooney family with the Steelers, and so many of the NFL's best decisions

that they've made over time have been from ownership like that, original owners, really pushing back what's good in the interest of the league versus owners just wanting to make money in the short term. I mean, that's why the league is essentially socialist, that they share all the money, that the cap, it's better for all.

That would never happen now. Can you imagine owners sharing all their money with other teams that are making way less money? It would never happen like that now. And I think it's one of the reasons the NFL is so great. And they try to keep the long-term interests and the fan in front of mind. And I love that Mara is standing up and doing this because it is absolutely insane to imagine a scenario where you're going to New York for a game and you find out 15 days before. It's not that far before. or 15 days before, that actually it's canceled,

it's on Thursday night, figure it out. And I think, excuse me. Absurd. Mara, I think, is speaking out of frustration because they only miss this being passed. Edit that out of the show. Absolutely do. They only miss.

I knew that it was going to happen to. I feel it coming from me too. I knew it was getting edited out until now. I know. I knew it's going to happen. It only fell two votes shy. And so I think Mara knows that, you know, behind the scenes, they're going to find a way to get two people to say yes

because it's just inevitable. And it just made me think randomly of that Corona-era Raven Steelers game that happened at 340 Eastern on a Wednesday. Oh, my God. And the quality of that game for multiple reasons, you know, that would be different. But TNF games to me always feel a little tilted, a little strange, a little bit of a lower quality product. And I just think we're moving closer and closer to games happening

all week long all the time which I know Greg you sort of said that was a you were witch casting that at one point I felt like eight years ago I was at a different point in my life I feel differently when I when we started to experience elements of that a couple years ago was like we don't need that right so we don't that players don't

I know what you mean Greg but that was just funny how seriously you said that I was a different man then it just was like it was back when I was working at Rotow World I started that the two games a day for the whole season theory yeah but now I I need more time. I need more Greg time.

That year in 2020, we did, I think I hosted Thursday night football on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And I'm so intimately familiar with the games that we've had on Thursdays throughout the years. And the Broncos Colts game from last year still haunts me that went into overtime that was so incredibly terrible. And that one they wouldn't avoid it. That was week three and like. Everyone thought that'd be a good game with Russell Wilson, and that one you still get stuck with. It was actually so bad that it ended up becoming entertaining.

It came back around. It went so far off, but you can't put people out like that. It's so expensive, first of all, to attend a game as a fan. And then it's extravagant to travel. If you go on the road, you're paying for hotels, you're paying for flights, you're doing all of this ahead of time. That's so much money that you're putting people out. People are taking off from work.

I mean, it is just, I feel like that's, It has to be a non-starter, but obviously if there's... It's close, and Roger Goodell was really upset when... I hate that. I hate that for fans. You can tell he really wants to... He was upset with the way that Mara talked about it because of the light that it painted the NFL.

And to be clear, I do want to explain what the rule would be. It's weeks 14 through 17 only. And Monday Night Football is starting that too next year, by the way, which is a huge change. And as Mara mentioned, is similarly abusive to fans. not, it's not as dramatic, but that's still a pretty big difference. Like if, again, if you're flying into a city. And you can play more TNFs, by the way.

They don't count if it's back-to-back TNFs. It's short week TNF. So if they, if you already had a TNF in week 10 and they want to put you on week nine, then you could get up to like three. And they absolutely do that with the Cowboys, by the way, who essentially play that TNF after Thanksgiving every year. And that kind of counts with a problem. Of course we want the best games possible in prime time.

I don't, I don't want to be doing a two and a half hour pregame show for two terrible teams. But it's just like there's got to be some type of middle ground here. As always, in the NFL and life, follow the money. I'm sure we'll find that middle ground. I get it, but like... But that's why this is happening. Right.

Absolutely. Huge deals with ESPN, with Amazon. My take as Amazon must not have been happy with what was going on. Of course not. They paid so much money. I mean, before when it was on NFL Network, the network could eat it. And what does CBS and Fox, like, put their foot down, you know? And they're just being, these games get plucked away.

Right. Are they second-class citizens in this? Because they're paying a pretty penny as well. They'll still have their protected games. And so I don't know how that rule changes exactly, but it won't be like the top. I guess what I would say is like, yes, these games aren't great. We still have three, sometimes four days of games at that time of year. It's still an NFL game between two NFL teams.

and more people will still watch that on a streaming platform than literally any other show that is on television that week. So, like, I get it, it is about the money, but it's like, in the answer to when is enough, I guess is never. But that's not a reason. People still watching that Texans Broncos, like they're still watching it. Like, just eat it a little bit, I guess. What Mara's talking about, and I like seeing an owner talk like this on behalf of the fans,

Like the fans that are affected by this season takeholders are the diehards of the diehards. And they're just going to do it. They're going to swallow it because they care that much. But it doesn't mean you should do it because you can. Speaking of John Mara, he, man, he's a quote machine this week at the owner's meetings. He was on the NFL radio on Sirius XM talking about Brian Daibol and his big year and his rock star image he has now in New York after leading the Giants of the second. round of the playoffs and he had this a little quotable gym

I knew when you were hiring Brian Daybold that you knew all you needed to know to hire him but he's so built for New York he's so built for the personality of those fans like that guy Parcell's had it but this guy has it and it's

they love his animated routine really. Oh we kid him I mean right now he's Bono walking around New York City but I've told him I said in this business it doesn't It didn't take long to go from Bono to Bozo. Wow, that was workshop. Just a good time to check the sync on these podcast Bozos.

Yes, as Bozos ourselves, we can relate to that. Wow. Bozos to Bono, though, for you guys. Depending on your point of you. Thank you. We did some research in that clip where, yes, if you're new to the show, I think it was a sound engineer who wanted to, who called us Bozos and we overheard it.

That was six years ago. You see him frequently now, too, right? You'll see him floating through the hall. And Greg claims to have had multiple conversations with them. I just had sort of a sheepish interaction. I brought up the bozo's line. He likes it. It's a good running.

He likes it. I'm sure he loves it. Greg, I definitely trust you to have the temperature of what will make someone uncomfortable or not, for sure. You said you bring up every time you talk to him. No, but it's like, I think he worked on game debut, so I was like, you know, you'd see him and, you know, and yeah, a little bozo talk. By the way, by the way, there were on the dayball front, there were reports that, you know, the owner's meetings is partially a vacation for these guys in a drinking event, in a day drinking event, in that dayball was the first NFL head coach reportedly to crack a beer at about 10.30 in the morning. Respect. Phoenix time.

Respect. He's working off East Coast time. Walking down the street with shades on. He's feeling himself. The athletics, Jeff Howe reports that the Patriots will not trade. Oh, Gregie. Let's give Gregie some sad violin here. will not trade for Lamar Jackson this offseason.

Howe said that the Patriots could test Jackson's true desire to link up with an affordable deal, is the way he put it. But it is unlikely that that will be the case, and it will be McLemore Jones rolling forward. McCorkle. McCorkle Jones. Look, I'm riding with McCorkel Jones. I've been higher on him.

Oh, stop it. Consensus, he's just not Lamar Jackson. So that's my whole, you know. I think you've wavered on McCorkel a little bit in the last seven months or so. I think he can be a plus starter. But he's not Lamar. The only way they would ever get Lamar Jackson is if a report like this came out like four weeks before they actually got him. So that's my.

So you're not giving up hope. I'm not given. I can't imagine a world where the Ravens and the Patriots are agreeing on something, too, just in terms of. of their history together. But I don't know, maybe Mac Jones turns things around this year with Bill O'Brien. Like, they do have that former relationship from the couple weeks at Alabama where Mac Jones was teaching Bill O'Brien the whole system where he was gone.

I think he'll be good. I think it'll be better. But you want to get me excited about life in the NFL as a Patriots fan in 2023. Get me Lamar Jackson. Yeah. I mean, I think if you're in the AFC, it's so top-heavy with quarterbacks. And Mac Jones probably is a bounce back. candidate but the idea that like they've gone and got anything other than a middle tier

signal caller at this point like mezzanine level what what is the ceiling for new england i just i find it to be an uninspiring era i like i like this feisty sassy sizzler today ever since the throat clear you've been absolutely well that was a low point rampage start with a i mean it's a new start with it we saw it last night then what do we i don't know if we ever even should talk about it i i don't know if it's a personal thing or not You didn't see it last night, me. Well, it was, it's not personal. It's not personal.

That was something on the books with Justin for a long time. Uh-huh. But I don't, can we speak on it? The dinner? I don't know what you're discussing. But your, your meal? Your food. Oh, sure.

Mark Sessler. Drum roll, please. I'm so excited about what you're going to say. I don't know what it is. Maybe even a breaking news. Yeah, this is. It could go either way. He had dinner.

Mark Edward Sessler for dinner last night at our ATN summit had a towering double cheeseburger. What? Yeah. Let's play some celebration music. Let's do something.

This is shocking. And he did it without even... None of us even noticed when he ordered it. It wasn't until the burger arrived and we're like, wait, well, I didn't do it for effect. I mean, I, you know, I hadn't eaten around you guys in a while, but I just was trying to change up my diet a little bit and try some new things.

I will say, it might be the reason I was up all night. Our celebration music is the night court theme. I think it's appropriate. I like it. So it's in our library and I labeled it as a funky romantic jazz. Yeah. As you said last night, maybe some decisions that you made in 1997 and haven't really rethought since,

you're willing to rethink. Yeah, it's not a day-by-day thing. I'm just trying it out. It was remarkable. And you did wake up at midnight wide awake and never went back to sleep, correct? I do think there is a link there. I would suggest there is some connection.

I would imagine because that wasn't just any cheeseburger. No. That had some real girth to it. Yes. It was a double. I mean, I think we sort of all got the same. They called them doubles, but it was, it wasn't really a double. I mean, there was a lot of patty in there.

It was a big patty, but it was like, they call it double because they, like, have two different types that they smash together. As a journalist, I must ask, how did you like it? I liked it a lot. And I think the thing about food that is weird is like, I haven't had one. Is when you like it. Give him some time. I haven't had that particular dish in a quarter of a century. Wait, so wait, that burger with us was the first burger?

No, I haven't eaten hamburgers. I've had like other meat bacon. And I've tried little things that are like I don't, some things just do not appeal to me. That at the moment it did. But it was like I had just had one yesterday. It felt that familiar. It wasn't like you forget. Your taste buds seemed to never lose their memory.

Who says a man nearing the half-stop. century mark can't reinvent himself that's what i take yeah i don't say that i don't none of us should i guess now i want a burger um wow yeah i didn't know it was such a big thing a huge thing i didn't even know whether we should bring it up it felt intensely personal i'm i'm fine with that you did it's not a huge deal to me huge announcement mark a media a carnivore all right wow that was that was such a revelation and conversation just now we've got to take a break regroup and we'll be back with more news all right here we go in other news i know it's hard to recover from that the falcons the falcons the falcons signed colias campbell formerly of the ravens

to a one-year deal um Atlanta's been beefing up the defensive side of ball he uh and there's a team that cannot get to the quarterback uh and wasn't very good against the run either Campbell's 37 years old, Connie. Everybody loves Clias Campbell. I mean, there was a time where he was one of the best defensive players in the league. That's not quite the case anymore, but still obviously capable, had a market. Multiple teams were interested. He chooses the Falcons, a team, and this surprised me because does Clias Campbell have a ring?

No. No. Falcons probably not winning a ring this year, but ultimately he wanted to go to a place that, I guess, that he liked. I have an answer. I have an answer for you. He has 99 career sacks, and just as his personal goal, he wanted to have at least 100. Oh, I'm sure. But you could have gotten both.

He's coming back. I mean, yeah, but like he was a cap casualty because of the Lamar Jackson situation in Baltimore. So I think that they probably thought they would be able to bring him back, sign him for cheap. But, I mean, now he gets to get paid probably a little bit more with the Falcons, get to that mark for himself. He's coming off a good season for himself in his standards. And look, he had five and a half sacks last season. That would have been second on the Falcons in 2022. That would have been first in 2021.

The pass rush is a perennial problem for the Falcons. So they've done a lot of additions to this defense already. They bring in Jesse Bates. They signed David on Yamada. But it's a nice signing, I think, for them. And I just love Callais in general. He almost won a Super Bowl. I had to check because I remembered.

I thought I covered him on that Cardinals team that made it. It was his rookie season. So, man, he has been in the NFL a long time. I wanted to take this moment to just take a quick look at the Falcons off season, just because here are the people they've brought in that are probably starting for them. I don't know if there's a team in the NFL who will be starting as many people as they sign in free agency. Calais Campbell, David on Yamada, you mentioned those, Caden Ellis. The linebacker, who had some nice times for the Saints, but wasn't really a starter there.

Jesse Bates, that's four starters on their defense. Mack Collins and or Scotty Miller, maybe one of those two guys is right now, at least, starting at wide receiver. John, who Smith is like the backup tight end, but they might start two tight ends. Man, that is a lot of free agency, and I think that's Terry Fontano and Arthur Smith knowing, like, maybe from the outside we're not thinking this is a team that is going to win or needs to win, But I think they know that they need to maybe have a winning record. They have a new defense coordinator, too. D&P's out the door.

Ryan Nielsen takes over. So there's a lot of change. I mean, to me, of all the teams and free agency, they went for it, but not enough. Because it's like they stand out there as this totally logical other than quarterbacks. Well, Lamar Jackson, I'm saying this, would have been like suddenly you think completely different about the future of the Falcons. And you're trying to fit Desmond Ritter in there as your guy, and it's a TBD. He came down to the jets. the Falcons. He said he thought he would have a chance

to have a bigger impact on and off the field. He stressed as a man of the year formerly for the NFL in Atlanta. Widely celebrated as one of the best dudes in the sport. And yeah, he won man of the year. He's basically every locker room he goes into. He's the most respected guy. So

good for him. I was a little surprised. I was hoping he would land with the Jets, but we'll see what he could do with the Falcons. In other South Division news on the other side, Titan's general manager, Rand Carthon, rejects any notion that Derek Henry is on the trade market. Here's what Carthorne had to say at the league meeting. There's nothing new to report. It was an erroneous report that came out.

I spoke to Todd, you know, Derrick's representative, and, you know, we're in a good place. So it's nothing new to report from there. I know Derek trains like crazy in the location where he trains. I know the location I don't want to put it out here, you know. But Derek is going to be there. You know, he's going to spend and take his time away and do what he has to do to make sure that he's ready to go. So I feel we're in a good place.

Was this taken from like the ballroom of a steamship or something? Where was he there? It's like a waiting area. It's like a garage, parking garage. It's one of those little couches in that, uh, Biltmore. We were there four years ago. Right. And thanks to Tehran Davenport at T. Davenport underscore NFL for capturing that video.

Aw. Well done. Great job. they should trade Derek Henry I think that's there's no way that's not still a possibility if it's like right around the draft and the team decides like where we're sitting

there's a running back that we want or we don't I just love the idea of them I've said it all along to Buffalo but second note Rand Carthon looks like a go he's a well-built individual looks like he's 12 rounds with someone I don't know if I had really seen

Ran I think of his father Maurice was that his father? Mo Carthon I don't remember him back with the Giants It's not a typical name, so I'm going to guess there is a connection. He said, I don't know, that was pretty strong, saying it was an erroneous report. I think maybe there were some teams or there was some talk and they realized that the value wasn't kind of come back and they decided now

they'll probably keep him. And Mike Rabel said he expect Ryan Tannahill to be the Titans QB. He said, of course I expect him to be the QB. But he also said it won't commit to anybody on the entire roster being on the roster after what happened with AJ Brown. So I guess it's leaving a little. I'm sure he's picking up the phone. listening to offers even if he's not actively calling around the offer they like

sounds like they're compounding their mistake you shouldn't have traded a j brown and you did and now you should trade derrick henry and you're not going to well then your offense so you're just blowing up the whole thing obviously because you have no passing game and then you're going to get rid of him and no running game how can he have no market though he's got to be a contender he's a running back that sees him yeah but you can make a deal and get some draft capital back but it's like a one year rental basically i think i think there maybe maybe maybe there'd be a team that would actually pay him that money but they're just like i'm not going to give up anything all right i would give up a late round swap and at that point the titans don't

want to bother ignore the chance to get derrick henry with something left in the tank and potentially chip on a shoulder at your own peril is kind of where i come from you imagine i know he hasn't been the same guy but last year or so but we need some trades i i was thinking about that looking back you know we had those all those wide receiver trades we had the quarterback moves 22 off season better than 2023 off season step it up okay okay Ran Carthon, by the way, is indeed the son of Maurice Carthon, who won two Super Bowls with the Giants in the 80s and early 90s. Yes, Justin.

Is there a GM head coach duo you would take in a fight over Vrable and Rand Carthon? Not at all. Maybe Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes. That's the only one that I could think. What's Holmes looking like these days? He's a big bulky man. Is he? I'd like to know what Joe D could bench press.

You know, you can't tell. He's a big guy. Solid and Joe D. Solic could handle itself. Yeah, Joe D's looking like he whipped himself in a shape, too, based on the footage from the owners. Joe D looks like the bouncer, like the double-duce type guy. Like he's, you know, not going to win any physique competitions,

but probably is stronger than a bull. So I think they would have a chance, the gangrene contingent. But that's a good conversation. Yeah. Send us on Twitter people. Send us other GM coach, like, brawl rankings. What if, like, Mike McDaniel comes out with one of those, like, member of the guy with the green?

dust, did he just spray in someone's face? Use a different way to outwit your opponent. You're talking about Rick the model Martel or Mr. Fuji? Mr. Fuji to his salt in the eye. Well, there's some guy with green dust. It was like it blew the whole matchup. Rick Martel had his own cologne called arrogance that he would spray

into people's face. Yeah, McDaniel needs something like that. Like a smoke bomb would be perfect. How about Bill Belichick? It would just be himself since he only hires like friends and family members. But maybe since they don't really have a GM, it gets to be Bill and Steve. I could see Steve with that mullet running into the

Travis Kelsey and his brother Jason have a very popular podcast. It is called The New Heights podcast. The New Heights podcast. And part of the, one of the traditions of Kyle Brand on Good Morning Football does a great job every year,

breaking down the coach's photo that gets put out each and every year. Check that out. I have it on my Twitter profile. That's one way to access it. Kyle's profile. I'm sure he is amplified. as well but um amplified uh anyway uh the kelsey brothers uh jason asked travis to name as many coaches

as he could and it was a fun exercise it's even better when you see the image but it's fun just listening along as well here we go let's give it let's give it the Travis Kelsey try right now i can i can i'm i'm the worst with names but i can tell you team okay all right starting on the left chargers standing up got it sitting down standing up standing up chargers giants yep san fran Kyle Who the fuck is that guy Josh McDaniels He didn't know McDaniels

I don't know the next two Steelers Can you pause it there a second McDaniels looks a little different He does even a couple years ago Yeah he does So that there's a There's something there

Okay keep going He did not know Arthur Smith Not a surprise I don't think Arthur Smith's wife Might not know Arthur Smith Oh wow Okay go on

Is that Steelers Tampa Is that Tampa? Detroit Campbell's Campbell Campbell No chance you're getting this one Zero percent chance. No chance on Kevin O'Connell.

After Jets, nothing. I've never seen that man in my fucking life. Okay, pause there. Yeah, that's Eber Fluse. I couldn't name Eber Fluse. There's some tough shadows on their faces too. It's a bad one, but yeah, he had no chance at O'Connell, which is funny to me.

But Eber Flus, I think, if you ask the entire country, Jonathan Gannon might be in there too. It might come in 32. of guys who have done a year in the NFL. And the next guy, Shane Sike and who he had no concept of. And it's funny that Sala, I was like, oh, I thought Sala was taller. Then I realized he's next to O'Connell who's eight feet tall.

Right. And Campbell. All right. This is so good. I mean, three in a row. I have no idea of those dudes are. Everybody between the judges. Those are off as a coordinator.

Shane Stigke for the Coles. Come on, Travis. Jason's pretty good. Who's next to Ducky P? Who the fuck is the one? You should definitely know that one. You should definitely know that one. Oh, Miko.

who's the other one? You should know him because he's arguably your biggest rival. Oh, that is. Yeah, that's Sinci. That's not. He's a doubt. What's his name? What's his name?

What's his name? What's his name? Hold on. He's a dog. He's a dog. No one's ever said that about Zach Taylor. That's, uh, that's coach. That's, uh, oh, my God.

This is so good. A positive. Do you want to keep going or do you want to, or is that enough? I think that's good. Yeah, that's good. He did. He did drop. Stifanski was the guy as, there's no, uh, there's no chance that guy's a coach in the NFL.

And he's a fast fast. which I, why is DeFaniel had a good one, too. Seems unfair to Stefansky. It doesn't get out of place. Calling Mike McCarthy, Dave, Matt Foley, Chris Farley's character. I guess he was on S&L recently, so he had it on his mind. Don't do that.

He called Sean Payton. He called Sean Peyton QBs. Quarterbacks. It is a little next level, and I love that because then you realize not all NFL players are big NFL fans like us. And him not knowing Sean Payton's name is a little next level. Quarterbacks. It's quarterback.

I would love to do the column, like, Travis Kelsey disrespects the game. Just slaughter him for 2,000 words. All right, Connie, you ready for some odds and ends? Oh, sure. Cool. All right. Here we go. No pressure.

All right. I have to do it different, too, right? No, just, you know, whatever feels, it's a creative choice. Do it your way. Okay. Odds and ends. Odds and ends. Everybody, tell your friends, it's odds and ends.

We have to stop this. I think we need to go. I think the room is haunted. The building is haunted. You're welcome. Oh, my God. How do you, how do we recover and do a football podcast after knowing the world is ending? I just pull a knife out of my pocket.

That used to be such an enduring delight. Right. Something's changed. All right, here we go. 8 o'clock delight. Marvin Jones, he's still at it, and he's back with the Detroit Lions. Good for him. Zach Taylor said contract talks with Joe Burrow are underway.

That is huge. That's an interesting subplot, considering all the Lamar drama and, you know. Let's keep an eye on that one. It's the Bengals. Anthony Richardson meets with the Panthers. He's the number 10 ranked prospect by our friend, DJ. He's not going there. Who's on the podcast?

No, he is not. Raiders too, though. Raiders would be an interesting spot. A little, what do they have? Seventh pick? Seventh pick. Connie, the Kelly Green Unis are back with the Eagles. It's about time.

So it's not like a color rush thing. Is color rush still a thing? Did they get rid of color rush? I think that's been gone. But it's an alternate uniform. Yeah, they're not going to wear it. You have a take on that mark. I don't have a take.

I just think that I always hear like the best uniforms of all time are the Eagles Kelly Green uniforms. And it's like. Yes, that's correct. I just simply totally disagree. I'm not saying that I think they're fine, but like that's an over-celebration. in my book of what's your top what's some of your top what's better tell me what's better new york giants everything is better than the eagles wow that is everything the new york giants

have ever done i'm so offended by it i mean not their team last year the classic cleveland browns better than anything that the eagles have ever done oh oh get out of here that's he's back to meet he's back to the brown no i'm just i think those are classic uniforms that have not changed i like and the kelly green are fine it's just i think we're acting like now the world's problems have been solved because they're going to showcase them for a game. We'll see. And maybe while we're here, the Eagles chan is a rip-off of the Jets' chans. So that's cool, too.

I mean, why is everyone coming for me today? What is this? Speaking of the Jets, the Sacramento Kings. Odds and ends is dark. That's what's going on. You didn't show up to the dinner? Like, where, we're hitting out. Ghosted us.

The Sacramento Kings clinched a playoff spot, which means the New York Jets now have the longest playoff drought of the four major U.S. sports. And that's compounded by the fact that they also haven't been to a soon. Super Bowl in 54 years. That is all going to end this season, though, Dan. You'll always have your chant. In part, well, shut up. One of the reasons, one of the reasons why Aaron Rogers going to a team with a very good

defense is interesting in a big subplot this year. That is brutal. And the crazy thing is that 10 years before this 12-year drought, they were kind of in the playoff semi-regularly, and they made it to two title games, and then it got very dark, very quick. It's a little more embarrassing for an NBA team, like every NBA team. team and NHL team makes the playoffs a little harder in the NFL. Who's right?

Who's behind the Jets? It's getting easy. Now for the NFL. The Lions have to be, well, they've been in the playoffs, but like they're not in a while. They might be number two. No, but they had even that. 2014, maybe, what that was? 2015, when the Descott game.

It's the Broncos since they were on the Super Bowl. Really? Yeah. Well. And the lines are won behind them. I mean, it's not like hard to make the playoffs in the NFL either. No, you're right. Now it's 14.

So it's 14. out of 32 instead of 16 out of 30. I'm just saying it's like It was Cleveland in the Jets for a long time because that round Steelers game altered the scenery. Yeah, Broncos post-Super Bowl has been like a sneaky bottom five franchise. Been rough.

Considering you look at everything that's happened. Been rough. All right, let's take a break and then get to the gray beards. Elway was like sea crest out. We go. Gray beards, we're gonna save the day. We're gonna save the day. just give us one last say

we're here today gone tomorrow will you watch or follow age don't mean I cannot play you will see me lead the way Gray beards never go away Gray beards never fed away There goes

My hero He's over 30 Well done Well done Goose bumps Wow That was some range right there Now we have a full band

You were unhappy with the performance a year ago report And I was not here I messed up the role I was not given clear instructions that I was a backup singer last year You were assigned to some backing box I think we even in real time started over We did

And I was very nervous about the second time Because I still was unclear on the second go around Right now I get it I think this time what we did was important We did a run through before the show I will say the run through was not duplicative of what happened when we actually did it. So that threw me. The run-through was a little bit

tighter, I thought, than the actual performance here, but by no means was it a failure. It was good. I think we all felt it in our souls. It's not about, you did a great job closing it. It's not about, you know, hitting the perfect note. Right. Feeling the music.

And Greg, and I spoke privately with Greg about this. I said, Greg, the final line is the cathartic payoff of the whole song. And you creatively take that but it's got to come from your heart and Justin pointed out because I asked for some lyrical help

I forgot what the lyrics were and Justin what did you point out to me earlier this morning well when you sent me the lyrics this morning you had all the gray beards you were referring to them in the third person like they never go away the lyrics I had remembered

there was something I were missing but the actual lyrics are more first person as if from the point of view of the gray beards like give us one last say which I think it's really as we age right there's a ship there You feel more connected to these players. And I certainly do.

I find some conflict with where you're going here. There is an early line. We're here today, gone tomorrow, which is, you know, that speaks to all of us. That's where all the human condition. But then it flips around and says the graybeards never go away. They never fade away. They're eternal. They don't go away.

I think that's the duality of man there. Thank you. All right. And then you was aspirational. You also capitalized him. Right. Which is essentially. That was Jesus.

All right. That's what you're referring to. A religious component to this as well. It's a lot happening. The original graybeard. Jesus was 33. So he was a graveyard. He'd be on this roster.

By the end. And probably unstoppable. For the theology podcast, Tugbo. Sorry, God. All right. So what is, what is this? What is this? What are the grave?

It's really about that song, but then there's a segment we have to do. So this is a, this is. This is the 10th year I've done this on NFL.com. I've written the Graveirds column, which is my, you'll see it everywhere, and it comes out on other lesser platforms across the web. Oh, here are the best remaining free agents, and all right, anybody could do that. But I like to kind of just dig a little deeper. Who are the best remaining free agents who are age 30 or over?

And these are the players that the league kind of forgets. are ready to phase out, hence the lyrical and feel of that song. Like, don't forget about us. So, like, we are not fading away. Give us one more chance. So that's what this is about. And there are every year with the unstoppable march of time, always new names to add.

And I'll start with the quarterback position because we have a couple new names. Starting with none other than a man that has been waiting to become a gray beard for a long time. Really feels like for about five years now. And now he is. Carson Wins. Here's the quarterback room, okay?

And we could talk about where these guys fit in, the order they should be in, but my three quarterbacks in this room. Oh, you've got three? Yeah, I'll probably have a cut. I'll probably have a cut down day. That's going to be sad. And summer.

But Teddy Bridgewater also. Getting cut from the graybeards is when you know it's time to hang up. I got Teddy Bridgewater and Carson Wentz in an open camp competition, both 30 years old. both first year eligible to gray beards. And then I got Joe Flacco in the room. Just got Joe in the room because Joe doesn't want to stop playing and I respect that. And he literally has a grizzled beard at this point.

So he's in there. But it's Wentz v. Bridgewater. And I know where this room is going to come down and say Teddy all the way. And I don't necessarily disagree with that either. But Teddy, there's a reason Teddy's still in the market right now. When he has gotten opportunities in recent years, he hasn't been able to stay on the field. And I wonder if he's just breaking down. Wentz has just been mostly ineffective.

I think you could use both in this offense if you wanted to. We're not going to do that plan. All right. But then I'd go Teddy, but did you give any consideration to Cam Newton? No. Not just flat out, no. I think this is one of the better quarterback rooms that Greybirds had. I mean, you could argue this quarterback room is better than a couple NFL quarterback rooms.

Wow. The Falcons? I would take him over the Falcons. I'm taking Wend to Teddy over. That's my favorite job. I mean, the Texans, they will add one. Just wait until Cam finds out he's not on the graybeards. He is not going to be pleased with this.

Teddy and Carson, they both have trouble staying healthy. So when one guy goes down, you'll have another guy ready to go. Can I say I don't want to also say that. I don't think Cam is graybeards eligible. If you're out of the league for a full year, I don't know if I can put you on. I think you're kind of out of the football until otherwise we're told that you're in the mix. I think Teddy fits in when saying a good question. Question is, like, does he want to be a backup?

Does he want to be a backup on the graybeards? I mean, who knows? He's going to get an opportunity, though. Doesn't this one, for some reason, these two guys really hit me with the passage of time, like that they are now eligible for the graybeards, because we were doing our show when Teddy Bridgewater suffered that injury. That's a very memorable NFL moment. We were doing our show during Carson Wentz's rise, of course. And, like, I remember what a huge Wentz guy, Wes was during that run and everything. and now he's on the great years.

That 2017 season. When he scrambled for that touchdown, blew on his ACL. Even the season before, though, too, like at the rise. He was an MVP. I can still see the replay of that. And then I remember even after he came back and he was kind of with an Eagles team

that was very mediocre, I remember I liked the way he played. Like he was kind of being let down by those wide receivers all the time and he just put his body on the line. And then I wonder if a lot of that also took a toll on him. But here he is.

now 30 years old. I think Nick Foll's winning the Super Bowl and then having like a statue. Good room. There's another quarterback room for now they're better than the Colts. I would take them over last year's.

Last year's tandem, by the way, was Ryan Fitzpatrick and Gino Smith. Oh, I take it back. That room was better. Talk about Gino going from Greybeard's backup to how many guaranteed dollars did he get? And Seahawks passed a number

guaranteed, but yeah, 25 a year. Matt Ryan, by the way, is available? I don't know if he wants to play football. We considered Matt, but it's just, that's not the direction we want to go. I feel like we watched 14 too many Matt Ryan games a year ago. The running back room, it's tough. It's tough.

So I like Derek McKinnon a lot. I mean, the guy had 10 touchdowns last year in Kansas City. I think he's a good guy to have. And he was the lead back for most of their season. I mean, or the season went along. And then he kind of, Isaiah Pichenko kind of rose up. But McKinnon's a nice guy in there. Your friend, Mark, Mark Ingram, he's up there in age two.

So I have him on the roster, but I'd like to upgrade if I could. He's a good guy for the room. He's an excellent locker room guy. There's going to be a lot of contents on this roster. There's no way around it. Yes. Rex Burkhead I put on here. That was also for you, Mark.

I know you're like your white running back. I am not a Rex Burkirk hard guy. You're a white running back guy, though. According to you. The star of my high school football team. Rex Burkett. There you go. And then I actually have to eliminate this guy

because if I'm going to eliminate Cam for the same reason, I had David Johnson comeback season. No, no, he was in the NFL last year. Was he? With the Saints, briefly. Okay. So David Johnson,

comeback season with the Z. I kind of, I thought you might have Latavius Murray on this list. I'm glad you mentioned it. Okay. So this isn't fit. This is going up on NFL.com next week. So I'm kind of workshopping.

Are you writing it right now? So I. Here, give me some tapping with your. Your fingernails, Connie. Are we getting any bylaw? Right, because I want to be a pro-personnel director at some point for the graybeards, maybe an intern. And I was. Right now you're a singer for the graybeards, so we're getting there.

I was dogging that tape, raw dogging it. Oh, we don't. No. Nope. If you just look at the tape. That sounds kind of like a porn. You know who was pretty good in the National Football League last year at playing football and running with that football? Tell me, that was obvious.

We didn't need to say it. Latavius Murray. Latavius Murray was. All right. Big back tall. He looked pretty, he looked almost, he was frisky last year. All right. How about a Latavius McKinnon tandem there?

I like that. All right. You know what was sad is I led to look up Zeke's age and he's like 27. He's not even close. He's not even close. This, okay, and just because this is always fun, last year's running back room, Jarek McKinnon. Great signing.

Yeah, who had 10 touchdowns for the chiefs and won a Super Bowl. And David Johnson. who i i was thrilled when he was on the graybeards because that was the first year eligible and then it just he just ran out of juice i guess another passage of time moment what he at one point in the nfl got a guaranteed uh contract i believe with like 40 million dollars guaranteed or something insane that happened i remember uh the running backs coach on all or nothing pulling him into like a training room after his rookie season and saying like you have the ability to be one of the best running backs that has ever played this game yeah and another west

favorite I didn't even suffer I know he was banged up but did he ever suffer like any type of catastrophic injury or it was just like another example he had the terrible like he was yes he did he never really was the same after it

what was it in he? Mm-hmm I think so or tough position tough position wide receiver all right for the second straight year we got O'Dell there it's kind of where he's at this point in his career and by the way there are reports out

that multiple teams have offers out to O'Dell now and he was initially looking for 20 million. Now, the idea is that it might be closer in the range to 15 million, which is still a lot. What is going on with this? I don't believe that. I mean, I believe it'll be an up to, but I believe it'll be significantly less than 15 with some incentives.

I mean, he came out on Twitter and totally denied that, but behind the scenes, maybe that was a start 9 and 6 million incentives, something like that. Does he count if he wasn't in the league at all last year, technically with your rules? Ouch. Well, he was injured. It's different. It wasn't out of football. it was injured. Right.

But good. That's good. He actually did spend last year on the graveyards. Good dynamic. Note that. That's good. Tony holding checks and balances. I like that.

That's important. For the second straight year. Oh, another first time entry, age 30 season, Jarvis Landry. So we can get O'Dell and Jarvis on a team together. That Browns. So in. That browns wide up. That was a magical season.

It's the beginning. of the end of this Browns era. For the second straight year, we have Julio Jones here, kind of a legacy pick. I don't know how much juice he has, can't stay healthy, but he's a gray beard for me right now. And now we have some other

options here. Randall Cobb is another option in the slot, but I think he's duplicative with Jarvis. You don't want to upset your guy, Aaron Rogers. Right, that's true. No more drama. T.Y. Hilton. Oh. Interesting.

Made a couple plays when the Cowboys signed him. I mean, he was better than some other... He made a huge play like right after. I think I'm like third down, right?

He had that fourth and 31 was to... Yeah. Not a terrible wide-out collection here. How about Robbie chosen Anderson? He changed his name.

Never been signed. Lock a room headcase. We're not going to have Robb. But he's age 30. He's the first year. And give me a little timpany drum here. Because I've been waiting for this.

We've all been waiting for this for what feels like 15 years. For the first time. age 30 season you're not going to fucking believe this i think i know it is go ahead sammy walkins sammy walkins is finally 30 what sammy walkins who is 27 for eight straight years is now 30 three time making the leave candidate that's shocking like a playoff legend that is actually like literally a clutch player usually people get more respect when you have the kind of clutch moments he had

in the playoffs. A lot of big mo. Juju Smith-Schuster has now taken his crown as the wide receiver that is 27 forever or 25 forever. Sammy Watkins came into the league at nine years old. I like that group. I'm going to say it. Like if everyone stays healthy, that's better than a few rooms in the NFL. I mean, that's pretty big a gift.

That's better than the Titans receiver group right now. Well, these guys are literally all available. Oh, bar. Yeah. Well, you're going to get. Every single one. I mean, Julio, Julio, it feels. like he might be at the end of the line here.

Kenny Galladay is available, by the way. I don't think you want him, but just want to... You're going to get four or five primetime games with O'Dell and this crowd. Actually, now I'm looking at last year because Jarvis turned 30 last November, so he was eligible. So last year we had O'Dell, Antonio Brown, Jarvis Landry, and Julio Jones. So how did that go? Very similar positional group. Antonio Brown that year, you know, at that point, it was like, is he still in the picture?

And then I think he, like, stripped nude in a swimming pool around families. and then it was kind of like, okay. Against the code of policy for Graveyard. He's kind of nuts at a level that there's no coming back. Nude in the public swimming pool. You know what? I think you owe me a sandwich that we never talked about, that he would not be back in the NFL.

We'll have to check out, go get my lunch.org. All right, moving on. Tight end. This is a tough room. Tough room. I got Cameron Brate, who I believe is looking to retire. for me to help with that. Okay.

That seems like a liability. Okay. I have Eric Tomlinson in his age 30 campaign. Okay. Pinch yourself. I have 40-year-old Mercedes-Lewis. To me, he's a gray beard. He is.

He's 38. The Jets are putting the final touches on a $100 million deal for him, but if that falls through. I think you're struggling here to find any playmakers. So why not have a guy who's just a sick? tight end. I'm not saying you're putting him on the front of the

pamphlet or whatever. Wasn't he in the same draft class? It's the press guide. It's like, I guess now the team pamphleteer. I would like this, oh, we have this pamphlet of Jewish sports heroes.

But I feel like he embodies what you want. He's like the Kaleas Campbell signing for the Falcons. It's kind of amazing that he was drafted at the same time as MJD. And we've been working with MJD for, I don't know. It feels like 10 years. And that MJD was a better draft pick.

That was the, Of course. The sneaky part. He was a much better player than Mercedes-Louis during their Jaguars. I feel like if you watch Sunday night football with MJD as we did this past season, Mercedes-Lewis comes up every night in some capacity as one of the great players of his era. Mikul Pruitt also in the mix there. That's a tough room.

It's a tough room. Kyle Rudolph's out there hasn't done much, Tyler Croft. I like that last time Kyle Rudolph made a play. It's been a while. Brady did not get him going. I would maybe go Lewis and Croft. But, yeah, it's not too spicy. I like the offensive line.

And by the way, some of this research was done last night after two tequila. So there could be some guys that are actually claimed. You did get a coffee, though. Got a coffee that help because you were going to work on this. Well, it's not due for a week. Also, the artians continue to workshop it and put our byline. But Daddy's going away next week.

So Daddy's got a right this tomorrow. Jog through it. This is the best offensive line. I think the great beards have ever had. It's very good. So I have Donovan Smith on the left side. I got Roger Saffold at left. guard i got ben jones at center i got greg van routin at a rotin at right guard i got taylor luan

i'm kicking him to right tackle and then it's swing tackle to give me some coverage because we got some injury concerns got cam fleming hmm there's eric fisher out there last year he was on the team it didn't work out so isaiah win former first round pick of the uh oh wait 30 no he's 26 george fan what am i thinking fan was a consideration as well how about jason peters as the veteran in a many years he was a gray beard but we've moved forward from Jason. Wow. Although he's like, he is a great graybeard because they keep rolling him out there

like halfway through the season. It's just like, oh, yeah, he's fine. I just got bored of putting Jason Peters on this list. I get it. I take it back now that I realize I had three players that were like 27 on my original list. Oh, right? There's a lot of Titans on this line, right? Three is that by my count?

Gabe Jackson, I believe, is 30. He's played a lot of football. Was making a lot of money for the Seahawks. I think he could put him in there over Van Ramos. Roten. All right. Let's do that. Justin Pugh.

I wasn't strong about him. Dennis Kelly is a solid swing tackle guy who is also a former Titan. He's out there. Just used last year's Titans line. Yes. We're not trying to do that. Please re-sign the worst offensive line in the league. Luan, though, gives you like the podcast pop and whatnot.

I like that. I like that. He hasn't retired or anything. So he's up in the air. He's with us. He's feeling good. He's feeling good. He's got some juice back in that knee, as he said.

I don't know what kind of juice, but it's in the knee. Defense, edge rusher. Welcome, Jadavian. clowny i'm sure i'm going to enjoy having you around uh we also have leonard florid we got some good that's a good one this is we we've had evan sylvan on the past i gave evan a blow this year because sorry i feel like go ahead hit it again that sounds kind of like a porn uh because you know evan i is this very serious football man and i just was giving him a it's given him a break in 23 and we're going to bring him back in 24 if he wants to join

miss. But he is pointed out last year. He's like, oh, yeah, you just get these like rotational veteran pass rushes and you could make some damage here. So I got Clownie, Leonard Floyd, Melvin Ingram the 3rd, Frank Clark, Bud Dupree. That's a, that's a solid group. It's a great group. Great might be overstated.

Did you mention Mel Ingram? Yep. Justin Houston? Yeah, he was cut. He didn't make it. Wow. Marcus Golden. Unless you think he should be ahead of.

Dupree or Clark. Houston had some moments last year. I would. He has been excellent for the Ravens, and then no one signs him until about August. He's not going to make the Hall of Fame, but he's like the Hall of Very Good. And yet, no, he's like the new Indomaconsu.

He signs for like $4 million every August and ends up playing really well. If you added Carlos Dunlap, you could have literally every player that I went to Italy and Germany with on this roster. Well, let me make that adjustment right now. But Dunlop actually continues to be a good player. No, he doesn't make it, but that's cool.

Interior line, here we go. Matt Ionitis, Shelby Harris. Mark with a C. Akeem Hicks. And yes, Indomacin Sue, always available this time a year for the Greybeards. Felt like maybe that was Sue's last time around last year. It just felt like it was Dimitin Sheen Richards.

How old is Aishon Robinson? I think he may qualify. Oh, he does not qualify. No, he's too young. He was a guy that, I know our friend Jordan Roreg. thought he was going to get $8 to $10 million and clearly didn't and is still a free agent but it's a good ball player but he's not old enough

my bad linebacker is a little bit tricky I got Denzel Perryman Marcus Golden he's now signed oh he's out okay thank you checks and balances Marcus Golden Anthony Barr Kyle Van Noi John Bostic this is where the team weirdly starts to fall

apart good line play but bad linebackers Anthony Barr feels like a, like a gray beard. All right. After that. I hope you have a good secondary. Is there another inside linebacker to add to this? I couldn't believe that Kwan Alexander.

Quana Alexander is a sneaky Sammy Watkins All-Star. He's 29 years old. When did you turn 30? If it's before February 13th or so, we're good. The desperation in your voice. We need a little inside help here. When he said that, um, I was telling. AJ Klein is a guy who's played football.

He will be 29. at the end of the season, Kwan, so you're in trouble. Okay. Cornerback, we always have trouble at cornerback. Obviously, speed is an issue against faster teams. Marcus Peters. Marcus Peters. Let me just check the 22 team.

By the way, tight end last year I had Gronk, who never actually signed with the team. And Jared Cook. That's a good room. I like that. Where's Jared Cook now? Was he? He's a free agent again. In my mind, for some reason, he's just.

just always a saint forever and so wait you had the services of gronk in this theoretical yeah he plays in the graybeards you don't want him to sign this year he's not in the mix he's been out of the league for a year now you put gronk's a good guy to put on the cover i i guess you're putting obj and uh in landry on the cover of the of the pamphlet's just a giant face shot of cars and wins like they do love where he looks sweaty with the eye black on he's like we all know Yeah, something like this. I really go ahead and start to take command. We want to recreate that energy that the commanders.

You have to. I feel like you should do more of a, like, I know they traditionally play in San Diego, but maybe they could do a year in Baton Rouge, and you just do like a sort of LSU theme with OBJ and Jarvis Landry and just get the locals to come out. I mean, I feel like we just did that with this too. Like a high school football game, but it's kind of like the USFL. It's like they just pick a different place, it seems like, and they just stay there.

All right. Just branding. You're a singer, okay. Let's just stay in our lane. She can sing her. All right. My tackles last year, by the way, had Dwayne Brown on the left side.

And then Quentin Spahn. Spain, Spawn. Spain, yeah. Spain. Matt Paradise. Where is he now? Not playing for...

Daryl Williams and Eric Fisher. That was last year. Last year on the edge, I had Melvin Ingram, Justin Houston, Jerry Hughes, and JPP. That group was better than some group. in the NFL. That was a good group. Last year I had on the

interior, Akeem Hicks, Klaas Campbell, Linval Joseph, and Sue, Sue's always there. The Eagles were like looking for help in the middle of the season in the front office. It was like, forget the analytics. Let's look at the great. Exactly. Signed two of these guys. At linebacker, I had A.J. Johnson,

Donta High Tower, who recently retired and Anthony Barr. And now we'll move to this year's cornerback group, Marcus Peters, Bryce Callahan. Where's Logan Ryan at? He's a safety, but I think he could definitely be in that group. Let's kick him out of there. Byron Jones, William Jackson.

I think Byron Jones, like, said he can barely. Yeah, that's not a good sign. That's not worth of course. Barely a walk, that's a problem. Troy Hill. I mean, he's, I was like, don't say walk. Don't say walk. Yeah, I'm not trying to make light.

But it seems like his career might be over. Unfortunately, he did a nice career. I'm going to put three question marks next to Byron Jones. Maybe he can. Walk. Okay. We might have to replace him. Safety, Adrian Amos.

Oh, yeah. Rodney McLeod. McLeod. McLeod. Dron Harmon and Logan Ryan. That's a good group. And Logan Ryan's family famously was going to that dog shelter with Tom Brady every week. That could be a little bit of Instagram pop for you guys.

Good for the community outreach. I like the cornerback group, actually. I'm going to propose Peters. William Jackson and Anthony Brown and Callahan, that's a four pack right there if you need four. That's not bad. Coming off an injury, Anthony Brown,

but it was a good player. I'm trying to see if Jamal Adams will be safety eligible for me next year. No, but he's turning 28. He's got some time. All right. Hey, kicker and punter. I got two 40-year-olds.

You have a great kicker. Robbie Gould. That's money in the bank. Boom. And punter Andy Lee. Two 40-year-olds. Will you, I mean, so how does that work with the kickers club? Is there like a legacy wing?

Yeah, I mean, it's, yeah, there's tapioca served and, you know, the bedtime's very early. It just doesn't get, like, crazier? The club closes at 9 p.m. in the graybeard's wing of the club. It's what Mark hates most in the world, grown men drinking milk. As opposed, do you enjoy that? No, but for some reason. Yeah, but who knows anymore? I was half to expect Mark to order a big pint of milk.

No, that's milk. yesterday at dinner with a burger. That does not appeal to me. For some reason, we spent five minutes last night on Mark's hate of grown adults that drink milk. No, just grown men. Grown men. It's okay for women?

Yeah. I'm not really, it's not something I think about a lot, but like the idea of like dad's drinking full glasses of milk is weird to me. My pushback was like, is this a large segment of the population? I feel like he's hitting out at a very scarce group here. I have witnessed examples and it just threw me. in the wrong direction. Head coach, all right, head coaches and staff have to be 50 and over.

For the second straight year, Mike Zimmer is my head coach. Oh, okay. Why? Who do you guys want? I'm open to suggestions. I want son of a bum. I want Wade Phillips who's killing it. He's killing it in the XFL.

He puts the gray in gray beard. I don't know if his hair is actually gray, but how old is Wade Phillips right now? And at no point has he ever not coached well. The last time he was in the NFL, he was doing well. 75 he's 75 i think this is a good team to bring like jerry glanville back into the public imagination who would not being a jerk is jerry no yeah i spoke to him a couple years ago and he could not have been more of a live wire so i just think like this team you want to spice him up a little bit i don't know if mike zimmer's that guy zimmer is a little bit like of a disciplinarian i feel like

these guys he's 81 yeah it might not vibe well wait i feel like uh good vibes i i feel like Mike Zimmer deserves he see but he also fits the profile of what I'm looking for just a mean old man okay Wade's a nice guy I could make him the DC want a curmudgeon I mean at least the DC but I mean all right so the OC I have Greg Roman um 50 years old so he's he's eligible for the first time he doesn't have a job I didn't even yep defensive coordinator I have Rex Ryan actually who expressed interest in joining the Bronco staff so he's his heart I think is in it and he's got to be probably in the 60s now right around there and then the special teams coach

we're actually keeping the chair empty until Mike Westoff comes back from Denver so that's out of respect who's gonna do it doesn't matter just whatever Westoff would have done is kind of their guiding principle

like we're gonna have a giant Mike Westoff sign in the practice bubble it just says do your job with like a mean old Mike Westoff your kicker and punter are combined 80 years old so they seem to they'll have some internal knowledge

I'm looking up an eternal compass weight is four and two right now is the head coach of the roughnecks. 6.67%. I'm looking at trying to because I wanted as defensive numbers. The XFL's, you know, stats page,

first time I've been here, admittedly, they could go a little more. They've got like four stats. Greg has notes. They've got like four stats. Not including like points allowed or anything. A melbaq question we didn't get to last week was like, why are you guys not talking about the other leagues?

Are you not allowed? It's like, you mean the XFL and the other thing? It's not personal or anything. It just does not interest me at all. Spring football is a concept. It has nothing to do with me working for NFL. It just does not interest me. That's when I watch the NBA and I watch baseball.

And we talk NFL news. I don't need more leagues. I couldn't agree to any higher percentage with what you just said. And I might have felt differently maybe at different points in my life. Really? If we didn't have this job. Or when you wanted there to be two football games a day every day of the year. Yeah, or like in another, yeah, in another timeline where I've got hot dog fingers or something.

But like I feel like we're still watching football. We're preparing for the draft. Like I'm doing my free agency thing. The, like, we're still doing some NFL watching in the off season. There's only so much bandwidth here. That's all I need. I got the Miami Open to watch tonight, you know. Jesse Pagula.

Let's go. And remember, our team model remains unchanged. Just win sometimes, baby. What do we think? How many wins this year? Five. I'll take five and twelve. That's progress from a year ago.

I think they say at four. Four and thirteen? Yeah. Really? What's killing us ultimately? I'm going to take the... The 80% of your defense, I think? I'm going to take what Wes's traditional role is, and I'm going to say one in 16.

West was, yes, a very... Every year he would like talk it up that like, well, you know, you're looking better this year, then you'd go one in 16. Yeah. But, yeah, real future they have. I can't wait until the first one in 16 team in the NFL. That's almost more embarrassing than 0-17. You couldn't even do that right?

No. Yeah, but last year I thought my team was going to go 10 and 7. I honestly think if I now going through it again, this is a 5-and-12 unit. Okay. Dan, you announced that publicly in your article. Yes, that's how I'll end it. Tough for the pamphleteer to go into the season with that. Is there someone else that can write this?

Do we have someone else That can listen to this podcast Now for them Good stuff Anyway yes You should do the thing Where someone just transcribes the podcast Because there have been

I don't know if it's still an NFL.com writer But there was absolutely an NFL.com writer Who worked in a public medium And would have his show transcribed And then that would just be an article You outsourcing this on the pod This truly next level. Could we just throw in this roster and then put my name in and just chatbot it?

Wow. I think it's a great exploration. See what happens. I haven't tried that yet, but is that how it works? I'm not really sure of the tech. I'd feel a lot more comfortable if you didn't fire up the chat bot. I don't know because Elon Musk was part of a group that sent out like an open letter yesterday begging people to stop developing the chat, GPT, whatever it is program because he's afraid that AI will take

over civilization and humanity. That's good. Just don't take away my blue check mark. Let's start there. I think that's happening soon. Or it already happened. All right. There you go.

Those are the gray beards. The Baton Rouge gray beards. Is that what you said? I think it makes sense. We're just going to rip another team from San Diego because Greg went to college in Tulane. I think like Palm Beach would be better. I just mean you got snowbirds go to Florida. I can just see them.

They're like wearing. No taxes. You like put them in the cash money. I don't know. You could just really. play into the Baton Rouge of it all. And they're a football mad state. San Diego fell in love with this team, though.

Okay. Do we want to do that? Fort Lauderdale. It's bad, Pierre. That's where Aunt Dornlein lives. Exactly. All right. Good one.

Good show. We'll be back next week. I will not be back next week. I will be on vacation, but we have Greg and the gang on Monday. And then I go on vacation after that. And then Greg goes on vacation. and then the show everyone's excited for Sessler Mania. Are you going to be in the host chair?

Yes, he is. I'm not going to change physical seats. I'm going to stay right here because maybe this is the host chair that day. Can I get unsolicited advice? You can. I'll see if I take it. The reason I am in this chair, it is known in the industry. I know you think I came up with this name, but it's an industry term.

It's the power chair. It allows you to have direct eye contact with your producer. Now, you have to turn to make eye contact with your producer. When you are leading the show, and driving the conversation. You're going to want to have that, right, Justin? How vital is it in our conversation? Oh, yeah.

Most of the time when, like, a drop's coming up or a segment or a bit we're doing, it's like, I look at your eyes and I know when to hit the space bar. Now I'll move out of the way. I won't say another word. What you're going to learn is that come that episode, all these rules that have been dropped on our society

simply do not exist. We will be breaking them all. Colleen will be part of it. That's like a tough effort for you as the producer, Justin. I'm looking forward to the chaos, actually. Right. Embrace it. From my experience doing the Monday night thing where I would sit there,

maybe you're spacey like me, maybe you're not. I don't think I looked at Justin once in the 40 minutes or I would forget to look at the things he was sending me on the computer because I just sort of got into my own world like I would do in any chair. So it didn't have a big impact. So very different takes. I would consider your advice. I think Dan makes a good point, but it didn't end up impacting me because I'm just too spacey.

And I'll move out of the way again. I'm going to move back in the way just to say, how about Thursday? it's the chaos cast. And now I'm going to move out of the way. I think that's essentially what it will be. I'm out of the way. I have nothing to do with the episode. I love that.

I'm not going to do what everybody thinks I'm going to do. All right. All right. Before we go, this is not been a great week here at NFL media. We have lost some colleagues to some cutbacks and other things going on behind the scenes right now. Jim Trotter, who's a guy that we all have a ton of respect for, no longer with the company. Mike Giardy who's been on the show and is a great reporter and an awesome guy

is moving on and also as people know by now Rachel Benetta who I have so much respect and fondness for as a person and as a professional I know you guys feel the same way and she has been a great part of this show

and just the brief time she was here and became a really good friend to all of us and she's going to continue to kill it but I think we all wanted to talk about and just at least reference it because it is something that has been kind of weighing on the whole media group. And for us and Rachel, especially, that wouldn't hurt. Yeah, I think, like, Jim and Mike were absolutely excellent at what they did,

and you just can't replace their personalities and their value. And someone like Rachel, I always found her fascinating to work with and get to know because she was an atypical fit for NFL media in all the right ways. And I think sometimes media houses don't know what to do with someone when they're totally original, creative, throwing you for little. loops with their humor, doing stuff on social that was completely unhinged and enjoyable, and just doing stuff that there was only one Rachel Bonetta. And so wherever she goes, she'll be, she'll fill that role again very well.

And so, I mean, it's like, I'm almost like, just excited to see what she does. I hate that. I think my favorite part about this job is the people. I've met so many of my greatest friends here at NFL Media. You guys were my first ever friends when I moved here to Los Angeles. And so I hate losing anyone at any point. And I know it's going to happen because that's just the nature of this industry especially. But it does really, you know, once you get close to people and Jim Trotter, Mike Giardy and Benetta,

I've had a chance to kind of, you know, have these nice relationships with them. And especially Beneta, I've gotten really close with her. I think the world of her, we spend a ton of time together in Munich. And it was just she's. So creative, so talented, and just such a cool, down-to-earth, amazing, genuine person that I'm lucky enough to say is one of my good friends. So she's going to go on and do great things. Yeah, total gem of a human, like a capital T talent where she could be a host. She was a great host on Game Day View and really brought that show together and was really fun doing it.

And I was just thinking like it seemed like she made a big impact in this place. And I was thinking back to when I first met her and it was like a week before the season or a couple of weeks before the season started just a year and a half ago. for the 20, 21 season, you know, to meet and meet the new game debut crew. And, like, we had a lot of good times. The Friday fun show was awesome. And I'll always remember her coming up on stage with us in London. So it's like that is a great memory to have in our back pocket. She's not going anywhere.

We'll be watching her on TV doing who knows what. It was like a packed house in London. And we didn't even give her much, like, direction. We just said we're going to put up some various figures on the screen and then just be Rachel. And the crowd loved her. and we love Rachel and maybe, who knows, we'll cross past down the line. I'd love to echo everything you guys said too

because I worked with her obviously closely producing benched for over a year and, yeah, extremely creative person and I will miss working with her. We did not get better. Hope to see her again soon. All right, now, that's it. We'll be back next week. Not all of us.

And then after that week, we'll all be back together. Recharge those batteries. Day. Fingers crossed. Yes, fingers crossed is right. Jesus. All right. Until then, heed the call. Great beers.

Just give us one last hey. We're here today, gone tomorrow. Will you watch or follow? Age don't mean I cannot play. You will see me leave the way. Gray beards never go away. Graveeds never fed away. There goes my hero.

Watch him as he goes There goes my hero He's over 30 This is an I-heart podcast.