NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Jaire Alexander Lands In Baltimore and What News Really Matters?

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

Patrick Claybon sits in for Gregg Rosenthal and is joined by Omar Ruiz to take a look at the off season's biggest storylines and tell you if they think it matters. First, the guys get you caught up on news from around the NFL including the Ravens signing Jaire Alexander (03:05), an update on Kyren Williams' status with the Rams (06:15), and Travis Hunter's usage next season (14:14). After the break, the guys compare news from this season to news from last offseason and ask does it matter, including Justin Jefferson and Ja'Marr Chase getting contract extensions (18:22), Trevor Lawrence and Brock Purdy getting contract extensions (30:25), Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley being the Madden cover athlete (33:52), who will be on Hard Knocks (37:25), 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.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Welcome to NFL Daily. Hopefully you are safe, healthy, and ready for some football discussion. What's up, everybody? Patrick Claibon here in the... Chris Wessling podcast studio.

Greg Rosenthal is off gallivanting in his ancestral lands with his offspring. Hopefully Greg's having a good time here to celebrate. Not celebrate because Greg's had the team on his back like Greg Jennings. Since the inception of this show, our first trip in the podcast studio signs Greg for me. Omar Ruiz of NFL Network spending time actively disregarding his news shift to spend this time with us. Thanks for spending time, Omar. Hey, thanks for having me. I love the Greg Jennings reference.

Fun fact, I had the walk-off interview with him when he was a Packer and they played the Minnesota Vikings when the Vikings Stadium was being built and they were playing at the University of Minnesota field. So it's a very memorable interview I had one of a couple games I did in that old facility and, you know, bringing back some core memories there.

Yeah, and it's funny because there's this whole generation of NFL fans that only knows Greg Jennings from the YouTube Madden Cleveland. clip where he's scoring a touchdown with a broken leg that I'm constantly referencing. It's like pure internet versus the people who are like, oh, Greg Jennings. He was a good player. The very solid Packers wide receiver. That's kind of that argument for, yeah, they didn't have to draft guys in the first round

because all these guys drafted after the first round, they had a lot of success with. So what we have done today, I have kidnapped Omar from his news shift because it's that time of year where we are constantly doing news. The news department at NFL media is the backbone of this operation. And I'm biased. The centerpiece of that backbone, the core structure is the person that is doing the news updates. And that is the task that Omar has today.

And every day, it's like a chaos, a collection of everything to make one minute of television worthwhile to people. And Omar, at this time of year, it can be a little tougher than others. Oh, it is. Well, thank goodness. We had four teams delaying their mini-camps to this week and giving us some actual Patrick Mahomes in the news today. Lamar Jackson speaking this week.

And the Rams going to Maui with the Maui camp and the Giants and all their quarterbacks are in minicamp. So, you know, we have some actual fodder, some actual news. And yeah, it's a fun time a year before. I think we all check out for a little bit, Patrick. And that's the hope today. we're going to when after we we're going to hit the news to today and then we're going to look back at the news of the day from June 2024 all of the consternations surrounding the discussions

of all of those news items and we're going to ask the simple question was this important like how much did this actually matter so so we're going to get to that but we start today with a little bit of the news that the news of the day as of this point because again Omar could bolt out of here at any moment to go do some more. news. The Ravens sign Lamar Jackson's college teammate, Jair, Alexander, to a new deal after they couldn't get things worked out in Green Bay. There was discussions of a potential trade all offseason. This was a thing that it's like Jayaer is coming back. Maybe. No, he's going to be a Raven, Omar. Yeah, I like this move for the Ravens because they're obviously one of those teams. Because

of Lamar Jackson, they're always going to contend. They're always going to be among those teams we talk about at the end of the year. Are they going to make some noise in the postseason? Is this the year, they get to the Super Bowl. So when you're building their roster, as Eric Dacosta does and John Harbaugh does, getting a piece like Jair Alexander could be that difference at the end of the year. When we're talking about depth and the war of attrition, that is the NFL season, not to mention he's a good player. Yes.

You know, we kind of forget that because he's been on the shelf so much the last couple years, but if he can stay healthy, if they can build depth in that room, then he can be a difference maker as well as being, you know, a key depth piece for a AFC. contender. So I like the move. And I would imagine, and obviously Lamar Jackson alluding to it when he campaigned to get Jair Alexander and for them to sign him, they were in the same recruiting class. They played three years together at Louisville and they're both first round picks, 14 picks apart in the 2018 draft. So they're obviously boys. I'm sure Lamar Jackson vouched to Eric Dacosta and John Harbaugh for him, his character, his locker room presence. It'll be exciting to see what he does there in Baltimore.

And ultimately, with about one year, $4 million, there's some incentives there that could change that value. But you have to wonder, why does it feel like they were the only players in this? Because I understand Jair has missed games. He only played in seven games last year. But you go back to 2020, he only, there was an injury. He only played four games. He played 16 the next season at a very high level, if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah, he went to the Pro Bowl and got second team Associated Press votes there. at the cornerback position, people get hurt. You know, it's something that happens, but Jaya Alexander still can play cornerback at a high level. Yeah, I think he's one of those players that probably would have gotten a lot more noise closer to training camp. And I think the Ravens just jumped on it early

before there was really any competition for their suitors. And again, I think when you talk about, you know, the presence that he has, and we know he can be a big personality. We saw what he did in Carolina a couple years ago. Maybe it was last word. He inserted himself as a person. a captain because he's from there, even though he wasn't an actual captain.

You know, those are the things you might have to deal with with Jair Alexander, but again, with Lamar Jackson, the two-time MVP vouching for his old college buddy. I think that made a big difference there with, you know, DeCosta and Harbaugh and everybody else being on board with that. And as a franchise ideology, they don't think you could ever have too many cornerbacks. And they had injuries in the secondary in the offseason as well. So it's a good opportunity for the Baltimore Ravens. and, you know, they do it again.

They get a veteran who can play very, very good football. We'll go to here in Los Angeles, Sean McVeigh says that the Rams have made progress with Kairn Williams as far as a contract is concerned, a guy who looks to get the lion's share of carries and opportunities. And it makes me wonder, Omar, because we've seen relationships between Sean McVeigh and running backs deteriorate in the past. How confident are you that this one is ultimately going to, going to work out. I think it will because I think Kyron Williams showing up at OTAs, showing up at

minicamp, despite the contract negotiation, I think is a testament to that relationship with Sean McVe. As it currently stands, I think behind the scenes, they've expressed to Kyron, and they've publicly said just how important he is to their success, how they want to build around the run game, and how it's not just that he's productive, but how he runs the football. So inspiring He's a heart and soul type of figure for that offense and obviously want to build around what he can do on the football field and the way he has shown up. And I saw him out at OTA practice a couple weeks ago, still has that big smile on his face. And he was doing a lot of stuff on the side because, you know, when players are having these negotiations play out, they try not to get too in the weeds, you know, maybe mixing up with other players, don't want to get hurt in that sense. So he's kind of doing stuff, but he had a good attitude.

He's running around, still sprinting, kind of showing that energy. that we see on Sundays showing that in the OTA practice despite this contract negotiation. So I think all of that together kind of shows the good faith that's there between him and the organization and the reason why I think, you know, I'm pretty confident that that'll get done at some point. Yeah. When the relationships work, they generally do with Sean McVeigh and company. And that's why they're making efforts to get Jalen Ramsey back.

But Sean McVeigh did say there are some obstacles in acquiring Jailen Ramsey. I'm assuming Jailen Ramsey's not going for one year, $4 million probably. 24 million obstacles, to be exact, perhaps, based on what he's expected to be paid in 2025. Yeah. And so the Rams, obviously, are going to be a contender in the division. Another long time NFC. Western, Callais Campbell, back with the Arizona Cardinals, had some thoughts this week about what he would like to do because he's still, he's playing at a relatively high level at a relatively, you know, advanced age for the NFL.

I'm not going to call Cleas Campbell old because then I have to find him here. Here's what Calais Campbell had to say. But I take being a mentor, you know, with a lot of honor. You know, I enjoy passing knowledge. I feel like, you know, it's no point for me to die with all this knowledge, you know, go to the graveyard or whatever in my career with all this knowledge. I have to share as many people as possible, and especially people that are going to help us win ballgame.

Don't scare them like that. This is fine. Don't mention that. Hopefully he's got 60-something more years of ability to pass on this knowledge. Yeah, one of the better guys in the league and looking at. And just some of this list of other guys who were drafted in 2008, Omar, podcasters, Chris Long and Martellus Bennett, CBS color broadcaster Matt Ryan, team color broadcaster, Keeb Taleb, and Bears' second all-time leading rusher, Matt Forte.

These guys have been out of the league forever, and Kaleas is still doing it. That's amazing. I think Joe Flacco is in that class, too, right, 2008? So you got these 2008 draft class guys. And for me, because you said, you know, looking in the mirror and all that, I love when these old guys still play. and Aaron Rogers, for all the drama that he can bring, it makes me feel not as old, quite frankly, just to be blunt about it.

And with Cleas Campbell still bumping around, and like you said, playing at a high level. And I think when you talk about what he meant to that Dolphins team last year and when they had hopes to turn their season around, if they were going to make a push to the playoffs, and they didn't want to trade Campbell because they was such an important piece to that team. Obviously, they fell short and it didn't work out for them,

but just goes to show you what he still means to an organization. what he still means to a defense and especially with the Cardinals a lot of people talk about them perhaps if they can get kind of Kyler Murray to play consistently all year long and Jonathan Gannon can finally get that defense to take that step to the upper echelon

if Kaleas Campbell is a big part of that that would be an interesting topic to talk about down the road. No, and for sure and you spent so much time with this team in this Gannon era where I've called the the 2024 defense the search bar because all season I was like, wait, who is that?

who made this play? And so now you add Calais Campbell to that group. What do you think that does for the Cardinals specifically? Oh, it brings leadership.

It brings productivity, especially up the middle. You know, when you're talking about, you know, stuffing the run and the things that you kind of have to do to be a successful team,

the way Jonathan Gannon wants to run that defense. And I think what we've talked about so often is the draft class of 23, of 24. So many young players have, played like you mentioned you're you're searching who is this guy and campbell brings a lot of leadership

to that team knows how to play at a high level has played in a super bowl his rookie year so he you know he's he's played in big postseason games obviously was part of that Jacksonville jaguars team with jalen ramsie speaking of ramsie back in 2017 that made that deep aFC run and that was a similar type of team we had younger players that were had cut their teeth for a couple years and they put it all together. And I think that's where the Cardinals are at. So the experience he has from that to bring to Arizona back where he started his career in the place that he had gone to a Super Bowl. I think all of that is kind of the pieces that they're looking for. I think a lot of talents there. Obviously, they spent a lot of draft capital this past draft on

defensive players. And I think Cleis is a player that can bring it all together and get it going the way Gannon one. Yeah, there's reason to believe. This is not just like, oh, they're talking about the Cardinals again. reason to believe the Cardinals can make trouble in the NFC West as you know there's been a lot of changes and of course the most consistent parts generally being the Rams and the 49ers

we don't necessarily feel the weight about the 49ers perhaps you know John Lynch is crying poor this week saying all right we got to you know we had to pay the quarterback he also essentially played for free for four years so yeah you figure those things out and speaking of retirements off of Callais Campbell again

hopefully you play forever Calleus Dan Mears the original K.C. Wolf is retiring after 35 years as the mascot. He was the longest tenured mascot in the league. Omar, by more than 12 years, according to the website.

No way, but that's different than the bandit guy. Right? No, yeah. Again, it's very important. Dan Mears, the K.C. Wolf is not to be confused with the imposter superfan that was arrested on federal bank robbing charges. That's what I just want to make sure. 17 years for bank robbing

and money laundering, not Dan Mears. He kind of cast aspersions on the entire wolf community. Dan Mears was doing it the right way. The other guy was robin banks and following the team and leaving a massive trail of breadcrumbs for the FBI. But you said 35 years from years? That is incredible. In a costume. That's a long time. I just imagine all those trips to the tunnel taken off the day. And then especially in those cold weather playoff games when it's negative seven and seeing all the steam come off his face, I wish there should be an NFL films documentary, not just him, but all the mascots, especially the ones that play in the cold weather elements, especially in playoff time. And my goodness, that's a, that's

Dan Mears ought to get his, uh, an arrowhead right there, his name on there and, uh, maybe retire. Yeah, maybe put some fur up there in arrowhead in the, in the top next to the lights. You know, we talk about suits all the time in corporate America. Well, shout out to the folks in the suits. Yeah. On Sundays and Thursdays and occasionally, too. days and Saturdays. 35 years. Rocking big old suits. That's a long time to do anything, Patrick.

Literally anything. One of the newest guys, not doing it for a long time, but doing it to a level that we appreciate in the offseason, James Gladstone down for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Had a conversation with friend of the show, Andrew Siciliano, about just what Travis Hunter is going to do after they gave up so much to get them and probably for good reason, in my opinion, how do you approach, how much you play them, and where you do it? He does not tire. He has got a spark. He has got the energy. The capacity from a physical standpoint, just to be able to do it, it's certainly there. It'll be in terms of one game

to the next. Where does it fit? Where does it make the most sense? Certain game plans might dictate usage differently. So there it is. And that's the obvious answer, right? It depends on the game plan. But you know what I'm celebrating Omar? An opportunity to get on my soapbox and have an agenda pushed out to the people on this show with you by my side and I'm glad. Here we go. So Travis Hunter played more snaps in college football than anyone in the history in a single season last year. He won the Heisman trophy. He was drafted to be an offense player, question mark. Defensive player? Question mark. At some point, someone needs to say this season that Travis Hunter is a high motor guy, right? At some point, Travis Hunter has to break the

barrier and be the high motor guy if he's going to play. The highest of motors. Right? If he's going to play all these snaps on offense, maybe, question mark, all these snaps on defense, when are we going to break the barrier and get somebody in the secondary to be a high motor guy if he's literally playing more football than everybody else, Omar? See, my thing with Travis Hunter and I want him to succeed, I think this would be an amazing story if he was an elite NFL player on both sides of the ball the way he was in college. And like you said,

he didn't just play more snaps than anybody. He played those snaps at the highest levels of college football and won the Heisman trophy. My thing is, is after watching so many players and covering this league for as long as I have, you just see how much work behind the scenes goes into being an elite, elite NFL player. player. I'm talking about the film study and the working on the body and the studying of

the playbook and analyzing every different move and tell of their opponents, individually, collectively in the scheme, all of it that goes into being a Hall of Fame pro bowl type of player. To find that time to do that on both sides of the ball, I think that's where the tricky element of how to use Travis Hunter, how good can he be come in. Because I think there's no question that he can has the stamina to do it. I remember Daniel Jeremiah is saying when he went to that pro day or what did they call it the oh the showcase NFL showcase yeah how he did all these running routes and he didn't break a sweat a single time. And so I think he that is the difference making element to him. I think the stamina is what separates him from anybody else who's

attempted to do this. He is just wired differently in that way. But just again, the time behind the scenes to spend to become elite at both positions, that is the tricky part. And I think that ultimately will be the story of his success, how he navigates that. Yeah, I say it all the time. You acquire unique talent and you utilize that talent

uniquely, and I can't think of a talent more unique than Travis Hunter based on what he's able to do. There's a great bit over on NFL.com. Our dear friend, Judy Batista, has an offseason article that I think everybody needs to pay attention to. It's things to maybe not pay too much

attention to. She pointed out that it's, it's tempting to look at Travis Hunter's snaps in Jags' minicamp and say, oh, he's going to play this. There's a lot to go. But we're going to take a page out of Judy's book when we come back. And we're going to examine what are the offseason stories from last year? Did they matter? And do their corollaries matter in comparison this year? That's coming up when we come back right here on NFL Daily. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero.

We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development

to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow.

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or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant.

And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a football. fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL, visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Back on NFL Daily. I love this music coming out of break that we generally do.

We found, because Omar, the intrepid reporter, was asking about our break. break music. It's called Breaking Easy. Breaking Easy. All right. The smooth, what sitcom do we reference? Three's Company. There it is. Sounds very 70s, 80s-ish. Shout out to Joyce DeWitt. And breaking. Oh, there it is.

Oh, my goodness. It's, um. And Breaking Easy sounds like a breakfast restaurant, too. Shout out to my hunger. I can actually, I can actually see the still shots of the, of the stars of the show fading in and out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. while this is playing and it's like oh yeah it's uh john ritter the star three's company and

and the one that did the workouts what was her name oh suzanne somers there it is that's the three joyce de witt john ritter and susan summers we did it uh no googling as as we gently fade back and forth shout out to those of you who are watching us on youtube uh feel free to comment say say horrible things about me specifically said oh my i'm And like and subscribe. I've always wanted to do that. We got it in there. We got some more internet stuff that we'll wrap up the show today with that's a little bit of a tease.

But I wanted, because we do this, we spend so much time trying to scrounge some days for offseason news before you go off and start covering the training camps and getting in there in person and doing like actual stuff. But it's some days it's a bit of a slog. Oh yeah. And I wanted to look at June last year. and say, how much of this stuff actually had an impact? And we're putting, not necessarily you, because you guys are listening to us or watching on YouTube and liking and commenting and subscribing.

But there's this general pack of folks that consume NFL news in a bunch. And it's like, well, how much of that really played out? So let's go through the top offseason stories of 2024, starting with the number one story, last offseason, Omar, the Vikings signed Justin Jefferson to a four-year, $140 million contract extension. At the time, it was the biggest of an NFL history,

but it seemed like a foregone conclusion because it was Justin Jefferson, it was the Vikings, and it felt like it was going to happen no matter what. And the biggest for non-quarterback, right? Right. Set the bar there. That was the marketing statement that they had out at the time. And then we see there, Jamar Chases did the same thing.

It's a bar again for, non-quarterbacks, but I think it was, it was big because Justin Jefferson, I think the confidence that they had in him, I felt the Vikings and obviously the confidence that they had in Kevin O'Connell to coach these quarterbacks. But as long as Justin Jefferson is in the lineup, I think Kevin O'Connell felt that I could play J.J. McCarthy. And obviously, before he got hurt, I could play Sam Darnold. I can play anybody. Josh Jobs. And actually win football games with the Minnesota Vikings. But I think it's Justin Jefferson, the foundational piece, the confidence that he exudes not only in the locker room on the field, the confidence that he instills into his quarterbacks. And I think that

was emblematic of what we saw play out. And the Vikings, you know, won all those games, went to the playoffs, San Darnal had a career year, made $100 million now in Seattle, and now ushers in the J.J. McCarthy era in Minnesota. But I think Justin Jefferson is the key to all that. And honestly, because there was a time in a copycat league where narratives generally develop among media and we were watching

Super Bowl 51 earlier today in the newsroom and I bemoaned as I always do they only threw Julio the ball four times and because the Falcons lost in that Super Bowl and there was that run of Patriots championships and then the team that had Randy didn't actually win

there was this idea that oh well if you have a top flight wide receiver and pay them then you can't win the Super Bowl But then the Rams have Cooper Cup win with arguably one of the best wide receiver seasons of the past 30 years. We just saw A.J. Brown and the Eagles win a Super Bowl. And Jamar Chase very, very close. In fact, if Aaron Donald wasn't one of the best players we've ever seen, Jamar Chase might have scored a walk-off touchdown in that Super Bowl where now the idea has shifted.

And people realize, hey, if you have good players, players, you put them on, you pay them and you try to use them however you can. And just see how dominant they can be in an offense and how they dictate coverage and just what impact it has on their opponents. And I think Jamar Chase is certainly one of those. And I think it's not only just the production that a player like him and Justin Jefferson can provide, but it's like I said, the scheming and the matchups and with the chess match that you have, when you have one of those guys, you know that the opponent's defensive coordinator is staying up at night trying to figure out schemes and what else can that benefit you as an offense going against

that with a player as dominant as those two. So I think it is shifted back in that regard. And I think you know, the money obviously continues to trend up with the salary cap and all that. And you can afford to do stuff like that. But yeah, the Cooper Cup, you know, Super Bowl 56 season and going against Jamar Chase. That was an epic, epic season for both those guys and obviously played out in the Super Bowl that way. Yeah, I'm going to actually give the edge to the Jamar Chase version of this story because it's the Bengals. And it felt like for a while, like, is this going to happen? Is one of the top four receivers in the NFL going to be able to hit the open market because we don't know what the Bengals are going to do? And they still, you know, Trey Hendrickson and Shemar

Stewart, as they very well know, there's still some contractual malfeasance. going on in Cincinnati, but we can definitively say that paying one of the best receivers in the NFL as an off-season story, it matters. Oh, yeah. There we go. I appreciate it. Well, it's funny you mentioned that because, yeah, I think we talked about Justin Jefferson, how it mattered, I thought, last year, how I think Jamar Chase is going to matter this year.

But I think big picture, this was the opportunity for the Bengals to shed the Bengals are no longer the Bengals. They pay not just Jamar Chase, but T. Higgins. as well, and kind of get acknowledgement for Joe Burroughs words that, hey, sign these guys. We're in the business of getting good players. And they shed that reputation for all of what?

Two weeks? Because Joe did mention Trey as well. And this week, some conversations have been happening. Hopefully those conversations are fruitful, both for Trey Hendrickson and for the Cincinnati Bengals because they're obviously a very, very fun team. Our number two story from last year was the NFL announcing training camp schedules and dates for all 32 teams.

That was a huge article on NFL.com and clearly because fans want to be a part, they want to participate. It's a story folks who are interested in. It made me wonder, do training camp dates matter for the teams? And statistically, I went and looked it up, Omar. The chiefs, the Eagles, these Super Bowl contenders generally start around July 18th to the 22nd. but so does everybody else. So that doesn't actually matter.

But in terms of when to get guys in, do you think the dates, Omar, matter? I don't. I think in today's day and age with the sports science and the 15 trainers that the teams have on staff to make sure that every practice and every allotted minute of practice time that they get

with the collective bargaining agreement that it is allocated so fine-tuned and they dedicate year-round sports science to it that whether they get there July 18th or July 24th, that they'll have them ready by September 10th and they'll figure all that out. So the dates, I don't think matters. But by the way, how are we ranking this

based on the clicks on NFL.com or how is it? It was purely on NFL.com. Shout out to Dave Ely. I went through. He was my source to go through and mine the data to see what the people What the people were really, really interested in because, yes, obviously, fans of this institution, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal, know that, you know, we can get into the minutia. And there are some minutia stories that I do want to cover because they're fun and silly and involve players who can be somewhat hilarious.

That's a little bit of a time. And I say, I am curious. I was curious to see when the Chargers opened up. Obviously, we live here in L.A., one of the teams that I would cover because the Hall of Fame game is in July this year. So I was like, holy cow, when do they open up training camp then? And it was July 17, so I have two weeks to prepare for that game in Canton. But it seems like that creeps up every year a little bit earlier. You know, we're going to, we come close to hitting seven days in a week.

The pandemic helped with that. Eventually, we're going to get 12 months in the year. And it's going to happen. And we're going to be doing this podcast from your actual house. You're listening to this. Okay, so let's go. We determine the particular training camp dates. Don't actually matter.

Hell no. Let's go to one that I do think in terms of fan interest is peculiar to me because it generates a lot of discussion. And as the bean counters, no, there's no such thing as a bad thing. Number four story, because there were some negative stories that we're not going to talk. We did lose Larry Allen last year. Chiefs player had a cardiac arrest. There was, and, you know, of course those things matter. But the number four story, the Vikings unveiled the Winter Warrior.

alternate uniform for 2024. And the Ravens revealed a new alternate purple rising helmet. And it made me think of the announcement for the announcement, Omar, of a new Chargers uniform that has yet to be seen. But they announced that an announcement is coming,

which is a particular NFL practice that we love so much. So as a fan, do you get excited for new uniforms? I don't get excited for new uniforms. No! Where's that hell? but I do admit when I do see them

so when I see that it's been announced I'm like okay who cares but then on July 15th I think is when that Chargers is going to be released when it comes out and it's flying everywhere on social media I'm like oh these are nice and same thing I remember the Vikings last year and just thinking but those were icy

I think they were all white right right and we're like oh man these are going to look something else speaking of Justin Jefferson he's going to look great in these And so, yeah, so similarly, when they actually come out, I pay attention, I'm all over it. But as far as the dates being released of the uniform reveal, not as big of a deal. Yeah, I think specifically, just my, again, no fashion knowledge whatsoever. I am famously not a fashion guy. I'm rocking this network T, network polo because it keeps me from getting grief for wearing shorts.

the IZod shorts that I got from T.J. Max 12 years ago that somehow are still in my life. They're horrible. That's besides the point. We're both acknowledged Costco wardrobe guys through and through. Yeah, shout out to the shark. Some unfortunate political opinions. But, you know, Greg Norman shorts on sale at Costco. The Chargers wouldn't announce an announcement of uniforms to me if Powder Blue wasn't a significant portion. Yes. It has to be. And so that's, that's my potential thing.

Does it matter? No. But it is, it's going to be exciting to see a uniform that generally everybody loves. So number five, let's get to quarterback contracts. And I think we need to preface this by making it about the player. Because in 2024, Trevor Lawrence got a five-year contract that could be worth up to $275 million. And in 2025, after much discussion, probably the most discussed quarterback contract from the moment. He finally started, like he got on the field, Brock Purdy did,

and the universe will never know because his elbow exploded in the NFC championship game, how that season would have gone. How do you feel about those offseason stories mattering? And does the quarterback involved in them change that for you? It certainly does. And I think what I think is interesting about those two is to me, they were related. Right. Because I think there was all that debate.

You mentioned Brock Purdy discussion for years. what was he going to get? Because obviously his rookie year, he exploded on the scene that ended with that, you know, busted elbow in the 2020 NFC championship game. So it had been debated for years. And then once I saw that Trevor Lawrence got what he got in 2024, I was like, oh man, Brock Purdy is going to get paid. Now, obviously, we didn't know exactly how much, but he wasn't going to do any hometown discount or settle for anything less than close to market value once I saw what Trevor Lawrence had done because if you watch football, whether you're a Brock Pretty fan or not, you cannot disagree with his productivity on the field. And whether

yes, he has an all-star team around him or not, he functions in that offense the way they want him to function in that offense. He does it at a high level, has taken a team to a Super Bowl. When you compare everything that he's accomplished to Trevor Lawrence, it's not that close. But financially, you know, it's kind of set the table for what. we saw Brock Pretty get paid. And I still don't even think he matched it with Trevor Lawrence got in terms of dollar amount, but it kind of set the table for him. And I think Brock Pretty got what he earned.

Yeah, and Brock Purdy, the minute he signed that deal got more money than like five times as much money that he'd gotten over the course of his entire NFL career at that point, and it's deserved. Look, I think it's very difficult. We saw dimes get more money than Aaron Rogers this offseason. and it's difficult to find a quarterback. I think both of them clearly deserve to be paid, but it's just such a windfall for the 49ers

to get Brock Purdy where they did. And obviously the perception that Cal Shanahan has just made this creation of a quarterback that's just a product of Shannon. That's not how the world works. It's just not. And if they had protected him properly, he would have thrown a touchdown pass to win the Super Bowl.

But, you know, candy and nuts and Merry Christmas is and all that way. And I think the argument against that that I have is if it was so easy to create that and manufacture it, then everybody would have been playing at an MVP level under Kyle Shanahan, which obviously wasn't the case. And you just go ask the 2017 and 2018 49ers before, you know, they got Jimmy G

and, you know, somewhat competent level quarterback play. And then I think Brock Purdy has stepped it up from there and delivered and got paid accordingly. Yeah. And the number one overall pick, you know, the number one recruit in high school won a national championship, six, five runs a four or five. getting paid. Yeah, that matters. But the guy out of Iowa State that was the very last

pick in the draft, that matters more. But yes, offseason quarterback, it matters. It matters. Let's go to one that's a little fun, a little silly, because the number nine story last year, Christian McCaffrey got on the cover of Madden 25. This year, Sequan's on the cover of Madden 25. Do you believe in curses, Omar? Oh, I do. Oh, my gosh, he believes. Man. Oh, and so I'm nervous. I am so nervous for Sequin because I loved how much he impacted the egos. I loved watching him play ball last year. And to see what he, what happened to Chris McHaffrey last year. And after he came off, you know, the fantastic Super Bowl run, finally had that first full season with Shanahan and the 49ers that go to the Super Bowl. Oh my gosh, this is going to be a team that's going to be contending for

years. And they still might be. But then he gets hurt and misses almost the entire year. And it just sort of validates that Madden Curse again. And so anyway, Sequin Barclay, when I saw that, you know, I did cringe. And I'm nervous. I'm nervous now, Patrick, because the Eagles, just like every Super Bowl winning team, for the most part, has good fortune in injuries. And the Eagles, you know, for the most part, were spared, you know, true catastrophic injuries last year. And so, yeah, so I worry. You know, I'm like a mom over here.

I'm worried about Saquan Barclay. Well, I wonder if 26 can assuage your concerns because he was talking about managing his body this off season. I want to see if you feel differently after hearing this. Everyone that I trust and told me basically sit my ass down for a little bit. So in past years when I was younger, you know, you think like, oh, someone's getting better than me or, you know, like I'm relaxing and, you know, I see Derek Henry running hills

or see Christian McCaffrey posing something. Like, the old of me would be like, oh, I got to go, I got to go. I still have that competitive nature, but two completely different seasons. So just listen to everyone. And when it's time to go, I've been going. And when it's time to back off, I've been backing off. And so it's something that we've seen from the Kansas City Chiefs going to all these Super Bowls. Eventually the mileage adds up.

Do you feel less worried now that Sequon says he's going to sit his ass down? No, because it's the NFL, man. There's every single play there's risk. involved and and um but i do like and i think we saw that last year when he decided not to go for the record and kind of sat there and and even individually i think it was the rams game on sunday night football when he could have gone for maybe the franchise record um and he decided to let the young guys play so i mean he has shown that selflessness that i hope that karma kind of comes back around and keeps him healthy because he is just so much fun to watch obviously the reverse hurdle and

everything that landed him on the cover last year. But just a special player, so much, you know, quality entertainment watching him play. And a good dude. You know, I've seen him a bunch of times behind the scenes, just kind of, you know, a good person that he is. And so you just root for guys like that. And like I said, you know, the, you know, Matt and Curse and what happened with Christian McCaffrey. Because you say the same thing about Chris McCaffrey, just such an entertaining player to watch. Such a good dude behind the scenes. And that you don't want to see any of these guys get hurt. And then when you, when you see that, again, I just got a little. nervous well i will yield to omar because he's he's making this show possible today so the madden cover

it matters yeah well but hopefully hopefully it doesn't uh hopefully it doesn't so the last before we get to the you know some more fun ones uh number 10 story last year the hard knocks in season was featuring the afc north teams uh the browns did not have uh the best the ravens had a very solid season the Steelers played both of their quarterbacks. The Bengals had a traditional slow start. This year it's the NFC East. There it is. Oh, yeah.

It's like, imagine the gnat pops of like a sprinkler going. And then you get. I hear Liam Schreiber warming up his voice. It's like, you know, doing his Pasinda impersonation. Now it's the NFC East. Do you feel like it's going to ultimately matter for the Philadelphia Eagles, maybe the Dallas Cowboys, the commanders, probably not the Giants.

But do you think Hard Knocks matters? I think it'll matter for the Giants because they have those quarterbacks. And I think we would all be happy if the New York Giants quarterback room had their own documentary, their own hard knocks in and of itself. I think that would be quality entertainment

and Russ Wilson, James Winston, Jackson Dart, Tommy Cutlets, you know, going off there. and so I think it'll be quality entertainment obviously being in the media capital of the world there in New York and so much coverage obviously the Cowboys

are no strangers to hard knocks I don't think that'll be a distraction for them. It'll be interesting to see how Philadelphia responds obviously to defending champs and you know a lot of tension on them already and so yeah

and then I think Washington is one of those teams that because of Jaden's play last year I think we're all confident that they're going to be contenders for years to come i think dan quinn's a fantastic coach so he'll have them playing at a high level and i think it'll be one of those opportunities to expose the commanders to the national landscape for jaden daniels to become a household name perhaps and for several of these young players on washington who who aren't big stars like a zach hurts or a bobby wagner you know uh terry mccloren to become

bigger stars in their own right especially for a team that um who we think is going to contend for to come and these are going to be guys that we're talking about for several years to be exposed to the national audience might be a fun interesting watch yeah and now the the task well the tough task for adam peters to turn everything around has already been accomplished but now you've got to continue that and you know get guys like terry mclaren happy with their contract and and uh yeah get back get back to the nison championship i know it's funny we started talking with this discussion on justin jefferson and jimar chase and you just mentioned terry mccloren looking for a new deal I remember that off season.

I think it was AJ Brown, Terry McLaurin, maybe D.K. Metcalf. A lot of guys got paid in 2022, and it was around like $22, $23 million per year. And now we're at, you know, $35, $40-something million for the receivers, just how quickly that market went up. And it was to your original point, how, yes, the landscape in the NFL has changed. Receivers are perhaps more value. You don't have to have, you know, can't think that, you know, any receiver can do the job if you have a special one.

And it's just kind of interesting to see in this own discussion how the NFL landscape works and how things are very much cyclical all the time. Yeah, it's all coming back. We're going to have foolbacks. We're going to have, you know, Mike Allstats making a comeback. Maybe two-way players, like the 1940s with Travis Hunter. So there's a little bit of a catch-all as some things.

I've decided unequivocally do not matter. The off-season physique updates where people are looking at. Yeah, you're looking at Jaden Daniels, triceps. Folks are scouting Marvin Harrison's triceps. Come on. That's not, that doesn't matter. What about Jackson Darts saying he wants to be the last player in the building for the New York Giants? No, Jackson. Because you and Russ, if you guys are going to have a try hard competition, Jackson, you don't stand a chance. You don't stand a chance. The man is upstairs on a giant mural with integrity. Okay. You want to be the last guy in. You're both going to be JJ Watts,

sleeping in the facility. And you got, you got staff in there trying to keep the place clean. no it's it's impossible don't do it jackson get sleep get rest like you know rest is going to do high knees out to the parking lot didn't in the plane no need to try hard uh one of the stories last year was will levis tweaking his mechanics uh to make his throwing motion more efficient turns out that one didn't matter omar didn't matter they traveled the quarterback number one at all cam ward he could be working on his mechanics too yeah the mechanics of holding on to the football And one of the more fun stories from last June, the announcement of a collaboration between Hallmark

and the Kansas City Chiefs for Holiday Touchdown, a Chief's love story. And Omar, my film, the film critic within me. Did you watch it? I watched the movie. Did you watch it? I've watched that. I've watched Hot Frosty.

The entire Hallmark database has been consumed by, well, notably my wife, but, you know, as her partner and supporter, I'm always, Father's Day. Oh, thank you. You too. Yeah. It has you filling that role. And the bills are going to have their own

Hallmark movie this holiday season. Let's do it. I need more NFL holiday movies. Ultimately, no, it's not going to determine anything wins and losses. But, you know, around that time of year, you can only watch a die hard story. So did you like the Chiefs holiday movie? It was about a lucky hat. Okay. It was about a

lucky hat. Santa Claus was involved. I'm not going to say, if you want to watch the, you know... Spoiler alert. Here on NFL Daily. There was some magic involved in there. It's been magical to spend some time with you here today, Omar. I would like to offer you something.

Oh, okay. I received some NFL collectible teenie mates this week. And they have some rare option. Okay. As a collector of Pokemon and other things. Okay. I think it's important to try to find rare items. Okay.

So would you open your teeny mates? What's the rarest of items? The rarest is a metallic gold shot collar Patrick Mahomes. Ooh. Which is one in 512 packs. Interesting. Okay, here we go. Let's open.

Shout out to Deanie rates, by the way. We, uh, I took my daughters out to March in the Pride parade. Okay. A couple weeks ago and there is somebody from Funko Pop there handing out Funko Pops and my kids got a Patrick Mahomes and a Justin Herbert. There it is. So let's see if I can duplicate a Patrick Mahomes thing here. If I can figure out how to open.

Well, I will, I'm going to. reveal. How did you open it, Patrick? I just, you would think I wasn't a father of three here. I have gnarled fingers. Oh, Eric's got the scissors. Oh, yeah, I got it. There we go. All right. The first survey says, oh, you got Lamar? No, Derek Henry. Oh, Derek Henry. I got Lamar. All right. So we got, okay, teammates. And it's quarterbacks and the teeny mates. Are there multiple? Yeah, we got, we got multiples. Who is this? Oh, Christian Wilkins. A Christian Wilkins team. mate. I think this is D-Hop. Okay. Number 10? Yeah, we got nuke the bomb. Okay. This is cool.

All right. Those are my two. And some, uh, so yeah, we didn't get some puzzle pieces. We didn't get any, any real, Dalvin cook. Oh, you got Dalvin? Yeah, I think so. Okay. Well, to the podcast audience, uh, who's not watching on YouTube, um, we, we, we hope you appreciated the, the audio here. But yeah, we got, we got our teeny mates. And they are, they are very teeny. And it is the perfect way to conclude this edition of NFL Daily. Thanks to Omar Ruiz for, again, kidnapping himself from his news shift and spending time with us to talk about news that matters in the tiniest of ways. Sometimes teeny, sometimes tiny, and almost always a little loony here in the Chris Wesleying

podcast studio. You know, when we're opening tiny bits of collectible NFL memorabilia, after a discussing year-old news. 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 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 strategy. 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