NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Mailbag: Lamar on a Different Team, Sean Payton's Legacy, Next 5 Super Bowl Winners

Episode Date: May 6, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal and Patrick Claybon open up the NFL Daily mailbag and answer questions from the listeners about possible Super Bowl winners over the next five years, Sean Payton's legacy, possible  quarterback movement over the next two years, Lamar Jackson's success on another team, the state of the NFC South, Travis Hunter's success and more!NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Welcome to NFL Daily, where this podcast, unlike the Aaron Rogers, Arizona Cardinals talks, is very real. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm in the podcast studio named for my friend Chris Wesleyan, and I'm with another one of my friends, Patrick Claybott. I just randomly remember Tom Savage.

Shout out to Tom Savage. Naming some guys. Just, you know, thinking about things that are real. Also, my love for you. Thought he might be something. Savage, former Houston Texan, big arm guy. It would fall for some of those big arm guys who could stand in the pocket, take a big hit, go through their reeds maybe, like Andrew Walter style.

But how silly is that? Yeah, no. How silly? It was like a selling point of these quarterbacks. This guys can get blasted. And we're like, yeah. You know who's good at that getting blasted and making great throws? Tyler Shuck, been watching him and little worried about the amount of vicious hits that

I'm finding on film. talking about the talks out, you know, I mentioned Aaron Rogers. We're going to get to him a little later in the show. The news, and we'll see if this changes later in the week, it's not worthy of leading the show with. You need to do better news right now, but we do have some news, including DJ Reader, signed, Russell Wilson. That's going to come up later.

Instead, what we're going to do is put the listeners front and center, Patrick. Yes. And we're going to start with some fun mailbag questions in the middle of this May week. and we're going to start with Travis Hogan. What NFL teams would you pick to win a Super Bowl in the next five years? These questions are going to go all over the place, specific, not specific. But this one I like because it's tough to answer him. And it reminds me of one of Damashek's best bits of like you think, oh, this guy's going

to win the Super Bowl, that guy's going to win the Super Bowl. Only one team gets to win every year. And doing this exercise, coming up with five, you just realize how many teams, even if you spread it out and there's only one per team are going to be heartbroken. And it's not going to happen for them. What is your list of the five teams that will win a Super Bowl in the next five years? Actually, it can't be five teams.

You could have the Ravens winning four times if you want. No, well, just based off of, I was trying to go through and picking, yes, I did put the Baltimore Ravens on, so that would be one team. But I couldn't make the list without including the Chiefs and the Eagles on there because, like, I can envision a circumstance, obviously, where the Chiefs get back and the Eagles hire a, another future head coach, offensive coordinator,

and they fix all the problems, and they go back to the Super Bowl. Okay, let me stop you there. Yeah. We agree. We both have the Ravens. Maybe it's wish casting, but I think they make a good case

for a team that's competitive. They have the quarterback situation, good organization. I agreed with you on the Chiefs. I wanted to pick teams that I want to see win the Super Bowl. But as I sat with it, I was just like,

they still are going to have Patrick Williams. I'm picking most likely. Are they going to get that step, Curry in 22 type title. Not that Mahomes is that far at the end, but just like that one more, the Patriots got that one more in 2018. I mean, heck, Chiefs fans will say

we can get more than one more. I disagreed with you on the Eagles, though, because the quarterback situation is crazy enough, the organization is great. They're so talented. It wouldn't surprise me. But do I think Jalen Hertz gets another Super Bowl? I decided to go with more of what I want,

but I see you there. So I have two. We agree on the Ravens and Chiefs. You have the Eagles. Who are your final two? The Buffalo Bills. Same. And the Green Bay Packers.

Did not have them. Speak on those two. Well, I think obviously the Parsons injury was significant in terms of the impact for the 2025 Green Bay Packers. He comes back as healthy. They, I wouldn't have necessarily made all the moves on offense that the Packers made. But they feel confident with it. A coach and a quarterback that have played and been together. for a while, I could see them winning in the playoffs,

including against the team that was better than the last year in the Chicago Bears, who had narrowly edged off of this list by the Packers. And the Buffalo Bills have the biggest cheat code in sports. If they don't fail it. If they don't continue to fail them, they'll win the Super Bowl. So I agreed with you on the bill. So we agreed on three teams. And according to science, the Ravens, Bills, and Chiefs,

congratulations, you've won the Super Bowl in the next five years. We agreed. I think the bill, I just think Josh Allen, it'll, it's going to happen. It should happen eventually. I did not have the Packers on my list, but that's a good way to go, is just think,

org, quarterback, coach. And they really checked those boxes. So I feel bad. They were the second to last team that I left off. I put the Chargers and the Lions is my last two. Now, this is where the org, they're not really passing those tests,

but they're certainly passing the quarterback test in the case of the Chargers and coach, I believe. And the organization at least in terms of the front office and the coach in Detroit. Detroit was a little bit of wish casting, but I decided that's where I'm going.

This is a great young-ish nucleus in their prime. I don't think the window's over. In the next three or four years, I think they can get it done. It would be amazing to see two of the organizations that have never won a Super Bowl. This is where my sentiment got in a little bit. I decided to give one of the Chargers and the Lions

is my last two. I completely understand that for the Detroit Lions. The Chargers thing is kind of throwing me off a little bit. Okay. Why? Um, good tackles, good, great quarterback, good coach. We got some defensive talent. I'm using we.

They're right across the, yeah, no, I, South Bay guy, Greg. I stand, I stand the Chargers. I stand the El Salvador Chargers. I'm all about it. It seems a little more of a long shot. My first three off were the 49ers, Packers, and you also mentioned the Bears. Also apologies to Drake May and Joe Burrow and the organizations that they play for. Next question. How will Sean Payton be remembered?

If he only wins one Super Bowl, will he be viewed as someone who underachieved or first and foremost as an offensive wizard? This is from listener Top Trevor on Blue Sky. Yeah, Top Trevor. Shout out to Top Trevor. I think one of the more absurd things that we'll do is say somebody has only one world championship. Right.

Like it's the thing that the Maddox and Glavin and Smoltz, Braves guys, like they only won one world. You got to say that about legend. Derek White? I mean, he earned that thing and he's got to be a champion forever. But in terms of a coaching moment, which is about decision making and preparing a team and executing,

that onside kick in the Super Bowl with the biggest stakes ever with one of the best to ever do it on the other sideline, that's going to overshadow anything, especially because we place so much importance in the Super Bowl and we decide who was good and who wasn't based on that one game of the results in February.

That's how Sean Payton's And plus, you know, if we're thinking about how people will be remembered. People remember the 2018 NFC championship where the Saints were pretty fair, you know, they were robbed. It was one of the worst calls in NFL history.

I think people tend to just give them that Super Bowl over the Patriots. They shouldn't. That would have been, you know, a good game. But people remember that when thinking about Sean Payton. They would have had more than three points. They absolutely would. I would have. I would have given the Saints

I just established them as a minus three favorite in that game. a little bit of a favorite over that Patriots team. Hall of Famer, in my mind, Sean Payton, reminds me a little bit of Andy Reid, if Andy Reid didn't just keep spiking the football here in Kansas City, kind of the Andy Reid in Philadelphia. It's insane to me Mike Shanahan hasn't made the Hall of Fame,

but to me, Sean Payton is very similar in that he really helped to change offensive football, and he just won a lot of games. He's 184 and 1. His winning percent, uh, sorry, 184 and 101. That's incredible. and 101. 184 and 101. His winning percentage in New Orleans and Denver are almost the exact same, right around 630.

I mean, that's incredible. 11 double-digit win seasons. I think doing it again with the Broncos says a lot. Yeah, the playoffs, he's gone exactly one-in-one seven times. So he's just been a lot of like, I'm going to win the wild card or divisional round, and then my team's going to lose. That's unfortunate. It's a small sample size.

But to me... A small sample size that includes the worst call in NFL history and a Jared Stidem start. Here's how I'll remember him too as like the last real Bill Parcells guy and the real protege of Bill Parcells,

not Bill Belichick. And here's my hottest take is better coach than Bill Parcells. That's not hot at all in this studio, Greg. I mean, just in terms of Super Bowls and like name value, people... Okay, good. I'm glad to you're...

agree. I would check a little bit of a, I mean, Parcell's a little bit of a Belichick merchant and media merchant, but I think Sean Payton brought more to the table. Yeah. And I would challenge anybody that disagrees. You get a season.

It's great too. I don't know why I'm jogging him. You give, you get a chance to have a coach, coach your team for three years. Are you taking Sean Payton? Are you taking Bill Park? Exactly.

Let's be real. What quarterback will be on a different team in 2027 that would shock the 2025 version of you? This is from Caroline Kelly. Although women, that listen and watch the show, you're more likely to get your question asked because we just need to get them represented here in terms of the question. This was on Instagram. And the trick of this question is, if we're saying the name, I don't know if it would shock the current version of me because I have to

come up with him. But this was, I thought, a really fun question. It is Kirk Cousins. Oh, stop. Because he's still in the league? In 2027. All right. So we get the six or seven or eight Cousins games this year in 2026 and 27, Kurt Cousins is starting a quarterback somewhere. Bad answer. You tell the 2025 version of me that Kirk Cousins is starting for

blank. I'm shocked in two different aspects. One, that that team is starting a quarterback and two, that that quarterback is Kurt Cousin. All right. You won me over because it's funny. I came up with a few. You only asked for one, Caroline. But would Jalen Hertz shock you? No, it wouldn't shock me that the sequence of the happen.

I think it would be the same. How about DAC Prescott? I don't know what would need to happen for this to happen. But that would be on one hand shocking. But you're trying to think of like a guy who could someday shake loose somehow. That could be one. But I'm settling on my final answer. The real shock would be Matthew Stafford.

How about him starting for another team in 2027? That would be shocking. And yet, like, couldn't you see it a little bit? Yeah, the sequence of events where there's a question mark about Stafford's availability. And so the Rams are not necessarily ready for the Ty Simpson era to start. So Dak Prescott finds the play for the Los Angeles Rams. Matthew Stafford's like, wait a minute, I'd like to play football. And then you have a host of suitors, except the team that's on Kirk Cousins.

Matthew Stafford. I thought you were going to say, yeah, Ty Simpson's starting. for the Rams, but that's funny that that Prescott is starting over Ty Simpson. That would be shocking. Eric suggested to me Joe Burrow, which is going to be speculated and worried about in Cincinnati, but I don't think

they'll let go of Joe Burrow. You'll have to pry him out of their dead cold hands, you know? Yeah, that would shock me. Cheese Tony asked that I mentioned that the Packers haven't made any offensive moves this offseason. I mentioned it on the show and on social that they made two acquisitions,

a fifth round guard in Skymore. And Packers fans were so mad. We didn't need anything on offense. We were fine. What's your point? What's your point? Cheese Tony, who's cool, he wasn't getting all bothered.

He just said, what would you like to see in the mad? Which I think is a totally fair question. I just want to defend myself and just say, I thought that was interesting. If you go, I went back, I went and looked through all the other teams. There was no other team that,

and I'm just saying like third round guards, like help. full veteran depth that different positions. There's no other team that had anywhere even close to less than like five or six. It's just very rare to see like literally no acquisitions and they do have some time to add some.

But to answer cheese Tony's questions, I think you could use a running back. Josh Jacobs, Marshawn Lloyd. Lost the manual, wasn't. I think you could use a tight end. Not sure how I feel about Luke Messgrave in general, but I think you've got to start planning for the future.

and Tucker Kraft's coming off an injury. And then depth really throughout, you know. You just signed tie rod. So I guess that's a third player. That's good news. Yeah. The depth, severe hits at depth. Right.

Through a lot of spots. You can use a veteran wide receiver. People think they have enough wide receivers. Okay, you just totally counting on, you know, Jaden Reed and in that group to just stay healthy. It's a little dicey. But it's more that every team replenishes through the draft in some free agency depth every year.

year because then you just get caught, you know, and that's what could happen. But they also have time. Tyrod Taylor, for instance, is a good example of the types of signings. I think they could and should make, including an edge. But that wasn't the question. It was about offense. All right. Our next question is a big one. We might have to do a whole show on this, but we'll do a quicker answer here. Rando Johnson asked what new offensive trends could emerge in 2026. I think the leaning into heavy personnel, will continue. It's 2027 when the pieces are going to start to zag

related to that zig. I think we'll see more shifts to combat that. You already had an offball linebacker drafted in the top five. More line, yeah, more value for the offball linebackers, more linebackers. And so we'll start to, but I think in 2026, especially with the tree having the most dominance it's ever had,

throughout the league. I think that trend is going to stay through and become even more expanded. Ali Connolly's talked on the show specifically about Bryce Young thinking like maybe they'll go to a little more spread and point guard offense almost to combat that. And I think as part of that, to me, is pace. That's something I could see being a trend. How do you prevent Ryan Flores? And it's not like this hasn't happened.

Brian Flores and all these different defenses, which are doing so much before the snap, post snap, trying to confuse you. You just play faster. The Saints were the fastest team in. in the league last year, Kellan Moore talked about it. I think they might lean into that more. I think there's an advantage to be had there if you can do it well. It's always tricky.

You got to have depth. You got to have everyone on the same page. But when you looked at the top of the league in terms of pace, for what it's worth, a lot of the best offenses. The Rams were right up there. The bears were very high. The Eagles in the Super Bowl a couple years ago, I thought, really underrated part of that game beating the Chiefs was how quickly they played to prevent Spags from doing what he wants.

So, yeah, a little more. Let's pick it up. Picking it up. Let's get back to a little bit. Let's get Chip Kelly back. Not going that far, or even like 2011 Patriots, which one of the most fun teams offensively of my lifetime, 2011 Patriots. Are there any good football books worth reading? Greggie's Takes 2 ass.

What a great name with 2 G's and going Gregi like my mom does. Really, that's the only person that's ever done. I put this question on the show because I wanted to tell people, we're going to have Chuck Closterman on NFL Daily in a couple. weeks talking about his book football. Now, I haven't read it yet. I have a copy. I'm going to read it before we talked to Chuck in two, two and a half weeks. But I just thought, well, there's one book. If you happen to, he's a very compelling thinker. I like his takes on sports. I haven't read this book yet, but I think it's going to be interesting. If you want to kind of read along with me and we're going to have Chuck on the show to talk about the book and other books, one thing I do

want to talk about. He doesn't know this. I just want to talk about football literature. in general and books. What are some of his favorites, my favorites, and just talk about football books. I feel like they're underrepresented. So I just want to throw out that out there. If you want to check out Chuck's book in the meantime, you can read along and we'll talk to him more deeply about this exact subject.

The next question, after the regular season, what are your favorite position battles? For example, Bill's defensive end, edge, or the 49ers wide receiver two in 11 personnel, which got really specific there. Yeah. I like that. I love it.

So that battle off the top of my head, what is DeJohn Stribling, and Christian Kirk's in that mix, and Ricky Pearsall. I mean, Pearsall's been a pretty dynamic receiver. I don't know if that's much of a battle, personally. Yeah. I think it's Evans and Pearsall. There's been so much shriveling discourse that I think people forgetting the Mike Evans of it all. And, and yeah.

Piercell's what you want in a modern receiver. He's not a modern number one receiver, but if he's healthy, he is kind of a perfect modern two that you can use. So I think it's going to be those two guys for that. But what do you got for your answer here? You got to come up with your own. Yeah. Well, I was going to say in terms of the book, the three-week professionals, which I did read.

What's it called? Three-week professionals. It's looking back at the 87 player strike, I think, with so many labor-related issues that everybody's going through. It's a worthwhile read to. Hell yeah. I'm always looking for new good football books. I feel like I've read them all at this point.

And there are a ton. They're underrated, but there's not a ton coming out every year. Was Sean Payton involved in that story? Because he was quite active as a player. He was one of the best players in that strike. He was the starting quarterback of the Bears. So I always found that interesting.

A little Sean Payton. Sorry. I'll give you my position. Yeah, give me the position battle. Okay. I got a couple. Broncos running back. It's fun.

Jonah Coleman. J.K. Dobbins. You got R.J. Harvey. Dolphins wide receiver. I just have no idea who's going to play there. So just watching that. The Eagles wide receiver after Tavonte Smith, let's assume that A.J. Brown gets traded.

That's just a little bit of a grab bag. People, I think, are just slotting in Lemon, but he's got to prove it. And Donatavian Wicks and Hollywood Browns there. and see if they add anything. So I think that's a fun one. The Chief's Edge, they have some young players opposite Carl Loftus,

but it's like between Jolati and who they draft, R. Mason Thomas. They have their first round pick from years ago. And a decade, like someone needs to step up. That's another one, keeping an eye on. There was so much Bradford discussion last year. The Seahawks won the Super Bowl.

Wondering if there's any sort of movement up front for the Seattle Seahawks in that capacity. So you were talking about Anthony Bradford. You weren't misnaming Sam Darnold as Sam Bradford, which I often do. No. No Sam. Shout out to Sam. Trying to clarify that for the listeners who might not know Anthony Bradford conversation.

That's a good one. Yeah. Then the, not the Xavier Legat of all, but Carolina Panthers wide receiver. Yes. where it has been such a constant thing even through in and throughout seasons. Get some answers there.

That's a good one. Rico Dottle versus Caleb Johnson. You kind of assume Jalen Warren is who Jalen Warren is, but I think those two guys, yeah, maybe going against each other. Dottel probably with an edge there. The new group brought them in, but those guys are kind of similar.

Next question, how can fans push back against reporting starting to turn into mouthpieces for organizations and agents. Interesting question by Seahawks fan, aka Muffin War 942A. Oh, yeah. Yeah, Muffin War is in. Who won the Muffin Wars?

Has it really changed? My only issue with this question is, I am old enough to remember, you know, early days of the Internet, Len Pascarelli, writing the tip sheet on ESPN and all, like, it's always kind of in mouth pieces. That's my only disagreement

with starting starting to be because there's only so much access that goes out there and traditionally people who have been aligned with capital

are the ones who get that get that access. But to answer the question fans can be skeptical of certain things in certain positions and be vocal about it but it's

kind of, it's the astronaut meme always has been. Probably the difference is the breadth of the types of different reporters that just are employed, like enterprise feature reporters. There's just less of that and that now, where sometimes you would get pretty interesting insights. I do think that's declined a little bit, just as the industry has less people in employ. So support your independent, you know, journalistic enterprises and not independent. Sort of support them all.

Yeah. that's probably the number one. Start locally because these folks don't exist. Like the capacity to have the job doesn't exist. And if you call out people on social when you think they're being mouthpieces, they hear it. It has impact. So that's another way to do it too.

When you think someone's really carrying the water and they get a lot of pushback for that, like they notice. Some. It's something. Well, does it have an impact on all of them? No. A little bit. I think it can't hurt.

I mean, it might make you feel better at least. here's a couple of Ravens questions here with you in the building, Patrick. Oh, okay. Would the Steelers win the Super Bowl with Lamar as quarterback? Relatedly, Baltimore's 3 and 7 versus the Steelers in the last 10. Why do football, quote-unquote, experts think they're so much better. Let's handle the second one first because I don't think it's that interesting. Well, because they've been better.

I mean, they were better three straight seasons before last season. If they're healthy, their ceiling has been higher. They've gotten further in the playoffs. they have been better. But it's a fair point that the Steelers have done a good job head to head

in that rivalry. Yeah, they have prepared and been a good divisional opponent. The other question to me is more interesting. Would the Steelers win the Super Bowl

with Lamar as QB1? And I added an extra element to this. Let's just come up with the teams you think would win the Super Bowl with Lamar as the quarterback.

And by win the Super Bowl, I don't think it's like, look, the biggest favorite for the Super Bowl, for the Super Bowl, in the strongest of years of the Chiefs, let's say, are still unlikely to win the Super Bowl. Like the most likely team to win the Super Bowl, if they're awesome is like 30% or something, 25, 30%.

But I'm just saying if you put Lamar on their team, maybe they would be the favorite. If you had to pick one team to win the Super Bowl, they would be the favorite. I came up with a little list, and it's really a testament to how good Lamar is and these organizations. but I don't know if you have a list

or you want to start of who wins with Lamar and would the Steelers win with Lamar? I think this Steelers team probably would not. I think an interesting question when I first saw this was would the Steelers have hired Mike McCarthy if Lamar Jackson was their quarterback? Would Mike Tomlin have retired if Lamar Jackson

was their quarterback? No and no. I mean no and yes. Why not hire McCarthy? I think that would be a fine pairing. Well, I just in terms of you know, what they would like to execute and execute a vision. I think the 2021 Steelers with like the ghost of Ben Rathusberger

that like somehow made its way to lose in the wild card round. I think they would have been a significant contender. You know, the last two seasons of like, this is 10 and 7 in three consecutive years for the Mike Tomlin Steelers, all losing in the wild card round. I think they advance. they win a playoff game or something but the the problems that the Ravens

had at times which is the defense isn't as good in the playoffs always some years yes some years no has happened to the Steelers and not enough offensive depth and creativity that's been the problem with the Ravens and you know Steelers yeah and it takes us back to the the Sean Payton question about only

one Super Bowl it can be incalculably like Legerius Sneed can punch the ball out on yard line and it doesn't happen so this question almost doubled as a how good is the rest of your roster question. So I don't know if I'm just indirectly answering who I think the best rosters in the league are.

But here's my list of the teams that I think Lamar Jackson would win the Super Bowl with. I'm just going to make them the favorite. No team would win the Super Bowl. But just let's put them as like the betting favorite. I think they'd have as good a chance or better than any other team. The Buffalo Bills, you put them on the bills. I think they're, I mean, I guess that's not much of an upgrade.

Yeah, because I guess because a potential playoff opponent doesn't have. take the bills away you put you put lamar on the Eagles we're not trading AJ Brown in this situation I like I like that situation Lamar Eagles let's win

is Lamar in a big enough of an upgrade on the Rams that you make in the favor I think Lamar and Sean McVeigh I'm going yes Sean and Eric's saying yes did you say yes yes the initial

the Houston Texans screams that's on my list out of my brain that would be a surefire Texans and Seahawks are similar to me in that their defenses speak for themselves. And Lamar is obviously a big enough upgrade on Darnold that I think they're the favorites

and a big enough upgrade on C.J. Stroud that they're the favorites. I'm going to give them the Broncos. You give him to the Broncos. We're winning the Super Bowl. The 49ers. I just want to see Lamar and Kyle Shanahan for one year. That team's going. He's still got some old talent.

And I'm sorry to Jared Gough, but you give him the Lions. We're going. That's a lot of teams that just won the Super Bowl with Lamar. Well, yeah, it changes things. Eric said the Chargers. I'm going to go, no, too many bad memories of, I know Greg Roman's not there anymore, but Harbaugh, Lamar. I just feel like they end up in the same place that the Ravens did. Yeah, they're the fun chargers now.

That's true. But somehow. Not a regular mom. I'm a cool mom. Somehow, that doesn't make sense to me. All right, final one before we take a break. We're going to do a little news after the break. Peace Quiz asked, do you all just work for ESPN now or just some who decides what's different about it now?

I mean, those are great questions. I don't really know the answer to that. But yes, Patrick is technically an employee of the mouse. And myself and NFL Daily is an NFL media enterprise, loud and proud. So is Eric. And we're working together to make the football landscape a better place. Yeah. We're still working on some of the answers there. The best way to handle it, I can answer it is that Patrick is here right now. We're having a great time.

And NFL Daily is not going anywhere. We're locked, loaded. We're working on growing and improving for 2026. Let's take a break. We're going to come back with a little bit of news and then also get to more of your mail back. I don't have that free pass to Disney. That'd be nice.

Radio celebrates Asian Heritage Month. Discover powerful stories, vibrant cultures, and unforgettable music. From inspiring podcasts to playlist that span East, South, Southeast, and West Asian artists, honoring the voices shaping our world. Listen now on the free IHAR Radio app. And at iHardio.ca. Back on NFL Daily. First and foremost, a news show.

It's important to me. Yes. But our producer, Eric Roberts, was so disgusted by this news rundown. He said, you've got to put this after the break. The news isn't worthy of opening the show with. It was a response to you saying, what do we lead with? Yeah, that was a problem. If you're asking that question, it's pretty obvious, none of it.

These are important. Some are less important stories. Do you want to stay updated on the NFL? You love the NFL. Come in. Come in here. The first one is from ESPN's Josh Winefuss. I don't know if you happened to notice that there was a lot of Aaron Rogers to the Cardinals

talk over the last handful of days. Maybe there was just like a vacuum of information. A lot of speculation. Could he go to the Cardinals, Mike LaFleur and whatnot? According to Wine Fuss, that's quote, not real. I tried to go forensic on this. There was a Kendrick-Born tweet at Aaron Rogers after the signing where he said, come on, we're waiting on you.

And he added Aaron Rogers. And that's it? I think that's how this started. I think people just started like speculating. Would it be a logical place for him? And you started to wonder, is there any world where he goes elsewhere? That would be a spot. Why would he want to?

Why would they want to? It's not real. It's like the woman on the plane, you know? Pointing at the person. This person is not real. Yeah. So the lead story that you decided to go with is a story that's a story that's not real. A story not being a story.

Okay. How about if I had led with? DJ Reeder, a genuine member of the top 101 free agents of 2026, signing with the New York Giants for real money, 5.5, 5.25 guaranteed, will be paid over $6 million this year, two years, about $12 million. This latent free agency, pretty good money, replacing an excellent player, but plays the same position in Dexter Lawrence. Should I have led with that? Yeah. Okay. All right. Only because we had the discussion.

I mean. Yeah. Reeder. Not Dexter Lawrence. By any means. No. He's getting up there in years. PFF liked him a lot for what it's worth.

Still effective. If you're just talking about run defense and how they played it in the year 2025, I would say DJ Reader played better than Dexter Lawrence. Now, he does not give you any pass-rest juice. And Dexter Lawrence does. And Dexter Lawrence has a real ceiling to be one of the best players at his position. I'm not really saying, that it's a one-to-one replacement.

But considering the situation. If you're going to not have Dexter Lawrence. Yeah. If you're going to have Dexter Lawrence, if you're going to tell me, would you rather have DJ Reader and Francis Maui Noah on a rookie contract

or Dexter Lawrence with the new raise? I think it's a reasonable decision they made. I would make the same. Russell Wilson has an offer from the Jets, but he's also trying to drum up some business in terms of being part of the broadcast crew somewhere, possibly CBS, according to Andrew Marshawn.

What do you think? It makes, remember there's like a six-week period where it was very anti-Russ a few years ago? Do you remember that? I was probably leading the church. No, you weren't. There were some other very notable voices in terms of that. And it makes me think back of how deleterious that could be

to his, to his... You mean like in the locker room, some of his ex-teammates and whatnot? Yeah, there were ex-teammates. There were people on the outside talking about, you know, brief interactions with Russell. Oh, yeah. I was not attacking the man's character ever. Yeah.

It was always just I thought he might not age well. And so that that's what it made me think of that, you know, in terms of his ability to be on TV and people being skeptical, like, is he being authentic or all this other stuff? That could have an impact here. And my other thought was maybe Russia just chill. I don't know. Yeah.

Just underrated option. Made a lot of money. wife's got money. You got a lot of kids. I mean, that'll keep you busy. Chilling. Consider it. Ex-athletes.

Probably not getting a great offer from the Jets, but interesting that he has the offer. I'm assuming the one and I answer on that sooner than later. And it sounds like, yeah, he's looking to go into media. Just say something interesting. You know, he hasn't always done that in front of a microphone, but almost no one does it at halftime. There was that moment where he was really honest about the Denver Broncos

and the contract situation. more of that. That version of Russ, put it on. Brian Gutakunt is a general manager in the NFL who now has been there a minute. Like, he's almost been a decade. He spoke this week about the future return of Michael Parsons, Tucker Kraft. Let's take a listen. Yeah, no, they're doing great. You know, you know, Chuck's been here every day,

and he's obviously a little bit ahead of schedule just because his injury happened quite earlier than Mike has did. But Mike is such a, he's a little bit of a freak. And so I think some of that's taken over and he's doing really well as well. So certainly expect both those guys back early in the season and that'll be a big part of what we're doing moving forward. That is Sirius XM Radio, Brian Kudukun's appearing. Expect those guys back early in the season. I know that's not set in stone, but early in the season, that's news to me.

Yeah, that's news. Hopefully, you know, they wouldn't, you know, come back too early because I would like to see Tucker Kraft and Micah Parsons in weeks 10, 11, 12, 13, 4, more than 1, 2, 3, and 4. But if they're ready to go, then they should go. When you look at the Packers roster without Micah and Tucker Craft on the field, it's a lot of like good, but maybe not great.

A lot of BB pluses. Then you put those two guys, that's a different looking team. They need him at edge, Micah, obviously. But that position, I think, is more of a weakness than they seem to believe. And I think they should add one of these edges that are out there in free agency.

our old friend of the show, Tyron Matthew, had him on ATN back in the day, had him on NFL Daily, always one of the best voices. He's got his own podcast, and he made some really interesting comments about Alvin Camara. And this was all in much support of Alvin Camara

and the Saints for what it's worth. And there was like a four-minute clip that got cut down, and people should give the context to the entire clip. but the nuts of it was that Alvin Camara was one of the people that helped to spearhead the firing of Dennis Allen

and that there are some people in the Saints organization that are a little unhappy with Camara that basically said like, look, look, you helped to get Dennis Allen fired but since then you haven't really produced at a top level. I can speculate who I think that. I know who you think of it.

it is. Who do you think I think it is? I think you think it's the boss. Mickey Loomis and Dennis Allen loved loved each other. That was his guy. And yeah, maybe Mickey is a little salty that Alvin Camara.

I mean, if. But why would those two things be related to each other at all? You can believe Dennis Allen should have been fired and also have none like plenty of people believe that. Right. Some of them had good seasons. Some of them didn't. It's just.

The two things have to do with each other. I guess if like you're going to be that much. of, and I wouldn't say a spokesperson, but if you think that he had that much sway on you, Mickey Loomis, who presumably was part of making the decision to fire Dennis Allen, although maybe it was ownership. So it's just, to me, this is a great use of a podcast. This is the good stuff to me. How do you feel about it?

Tell me how you feel about it. In the Bayou with Tyron Matthew. Check that out. Dial to the Honeybadger. I just thought, that's good. When you're giving us the inside scoop that these are the things that happen inside organizations where people are lifers, which happens in New Orleans. There are a lot of lifers, not just Loomis. It's also Alvin Camara. He's saying he's never going to play anywhere. So those are like two important people in the history of the Saints. And it's fun.

Yeah. I think Alvin's going to eclipse Mickey in terms of the way people feel about their accomplishments. Well, certainly in terms of the fans. Yes. Just want to note to you, I know you were tracking this. some C.J. Strout's looking, C.J. Stroud is looking really good in the workout pictures, and he has cut out all sugar from his diet. Excited. All? All sugar. That's what it said.

That he was only having, like, water and other stuff that didn't include sugar. That's it. Doesn't seem fun. Yeah. That would be tough. It'd be difficult to, you know, because we, our brain runs. Well, there goes fruit, too. Yeah.

Fruit has a lot of sugar. I would hope he's, he just means, like, like, overly processed sugar. Okay. Still has an apple. That's good. I really feel like CJ, his last season, was a little misunderstood. He was literally 13th in the NFL and EPA for dropback last year with a pretty weak

offensive line. Like, the regular season was fine. Wasn't great. It was up and down. The postseason meltdown being what we remember. Stefan Diggs was found not guilty of assault and strangulation in the case that related to a former employee of his. He is an unsigned free agent currently.

so we'll see if this verdict changes that. And then there's a report that a deal is close with the NFL refs on ESPN, and that would prevent a lockout from the NFL refs happening, which would be good news for everyone. Let's get back to the mailbag where we left off. What 2025 rookie is set to make a big leap? This is from Nikki D. Williams. And shout out to Nikki D. Williams.

all pro cornerback Travis Hunter. Yes, that was the first one I put in. I just think it's going to happen. You know, not to just try to like be right in what I said last year, but just having him play cornerback and be a good cornerback and fulfill a need. Well,

all pro would be great at the next level. I think he can be that. And it's like, then it's just a top five pick on a cornerback, which is a reasonable thing that you can do. And so, yeah. I'm with you. I'm going to be hitting that as a,

take throughout. I'm looking, that's what I'm hoping happened since you took Hunter. Either of the first two picks of the draft would be good choices. Cam Ward would have been another one. I'm going to go with two guys. Amari and Hampton, I just feel, was better

than the final stat showed and could have one of those second year fantasy running back seasons where suddenly he is RB4 at the end of the season with about like 1,800 yards, something like that crazy from scrimmage. And then Jahad Campbell, who I had a pretty

up and down rookie season in terms of just not getting on the field enough. It's a tough position to learn, but it's a great place to learn it. And the Kobe Dean's gone. I think I'll have a good one too. Also, Matthew Golden. Yeah. It's just going to have so many more opportunities.

And I, you know, Goudicundt in that interview, talked him up as a guy they're excited about. I kind of forgot he had a good playoff game against the Bears. Four for 84 in that game, made some big place. This is a specific question for you, Patrick, as the, why just me? Momentum expert. Am I?

From top five receiver on Instagram, if a team believes momentum is real, wouldn't momentum work as a placebo effect? I'm not even sure I understand what this means. Well, what he's saying is because the placebo effect can be real and in certain circumstances such as IBS or any other thing, you could see a 30% improvement in terms of the power of positive thought, historically with the placebo effect,

where you do have some situation. IBS and irritable bowel syndrome? Yes. Okay. Just me. There was one study. Okay. Because, you know, the question, because it was specifically for me, I wanted to go in.

Yeah. And so the issue with the power of positive thought with momentum is it would be a negative when things would, when bad things would happen. Yeah, that would be negative momentum. And so if you believe and were influenced by it, then you would be, be influenced negatively when things don't work out versus the team that acknowledges that good and bad things happen. The impact that we have on those things is what can we do in that moment to prevent the bad things or to make good things happen. And I believe that team would be

advantaged because they wouldn't have these outside circumstances or belief in this weird sports deity that we can't describe or explain. They would just play the game. What if we just replace the word momentum with confidence. And while you're playing well, you are feeling a little, I'm sure you've played sports and had that where like if you're playing well, you have a little more confidence in that day and you're willing to maybe even try some things on those days, you wouldn't on others, and it goes great, you know? Yeah. That would be good. There's a great LeBron James quote about not even being a one leg step back fade kind of guy. But he's also LeBron James. And I think

like you mentioned playing well, that's where the confidence comes from. I just, especially, because when we talk, we talk about momentum, right? It's this idea that we know what's going on in the minds of all these athletes. We don't have access to all that

information. So we're describing, if we're just saying confidence, yeah, and the best way to be confident at something is to be proficient at it. You're not getting people who are not proficient at you look at an 87 Chrysler engine that needs the work, you can have the most confident person in the world.

If you don't know what you're doing, then you're going to get in there and start putting water in the oil tank. So final answer, momentum won't work as a placebo effect. That's what you're saying. No. Not in a way. It's going to make the team better?

No. Too bad for them. A clad 83 asked, would Kyle Shanan prefer a known quantity as his quote, go-to guy to an off-the-rails talented superstar? The use of the word off the rails doesn't really work here with the example, which is, like, what do you have wanted Kirk Cousins over Patrick Mahomes five years ago?

And he says, you know, with context, like, would Kyle just not want a guy with the dreaded independence of thought? No, I think he'd want Mahomes. Yes, Kyle Shanahan would prefer to have Patrick Mahomes. Although they famously, or not famously enough, passed on Patrick Mahomes in the draft where they drafted Solomon Thomas and had absolutely no one at quarter. which weirdly they don't get any grief for. They are the franchise, in my opinion, that's most prone to like this galaxy brain thought and they get bailed out because of Kyle Shanahan's ability.

Right, but would Kyle prefer a cousin's style over that? I don't think the answer is yes. And the ironic thing when thinking about Brock Purdy is he's not that robotic guy. He takes a lot of chances. He is a little more. Mahomesium, not in talent, but in terms of game style. I think actually he's kind of closer to that than the robot.

But he has a little bit of both. I get, I get it. Yeah, he can do the robotic stuff. But when Brock Purdy's telling me, like, next time you're watching Brock Purdy, like, look at his lower half and look at the way he's moving. Like, that's, it was a mistake by a lot of the NFL, obviously. Yeah. But to have him last as long as he did.

I think the better example here is the Rams drafting Ty Simpson over Matthew Stafford, who very much is the independence of thought, probably not going to do everything that you call, but it's going to work out great guy, really. And the fact that maybe Sean McPhase, he's ready to go back to the other guy. It's like you always want the coach that's the opposite of your last coach or whatever.

Maybe he's kind of going back. He would like more say a little bit. I think that's an okay. So do you think this is a message? I don't think it's a message, but I think drafting Ty Simpson, who to me does not have the supreme athletic traits that Stafford has and that you could be aiming for in the first round of the early in the draft,

says something. Maybe a little bit more of like a system guy. If the Cardinals are as bad as expected, will Monti Assen for it be around to draft Archmanning's from Tom Marshall? Cheer up, Tom. It's an interesting one because I don't think that Cardinals are going to be that bad. And the problem is, even if they are as bad as expected, they might have the fourth pick or the third pick

and you're not going to get Arch Meath. I want to know what Tom thinks the record you're going to be. You would think the Cardinals would be patient with Monta Aeson for it because they just decided to restart the whole organization again with a new coach.

But the fact that maybe the first pick was made more by the owner and the coach than the GM, I think it's a fair question. I think he would he'd be around. But yeah, I think arch goes.

I think arch goes one. Sure. So then Austin, yeah, they have to be worse than the rest of the entire league. That's a tough thing to do. As you recover, Patrick, we have a concern listener that is asking, are you picking up any hobbies? You came into the studio today with a medical bracelet on. Yeah. No. Oh, George, thank you for the concerns. No, I'm a horrible patient. I am eagerly pushing to be back and doing all the things that I like to do. And, all those other things i'm i'm just doing slowly uh so yeah he's moving great even last week he was going up the stair making the kids fishing saturday we're there we go we're doing we're doing all the

stuff george all right speed round here for the rest of these probably not going to get through them all but i want to get to as many as we can seehawks won the super bowl as a team with an preseason over under wind total of 8.5 pretty rare which 8.5 over under wind total team could you best tell a story of replicating that success in what is the story good question from John Byrne on Blue Sky. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Yes. Those options also include the entire NFC South.

So if I get a whole division out of it, I'll take the- You just get one. You just get one. Okay, I'll take the bucks. I would take the bucks as well. The story is Baker gets on a heater in the playoffs and the rest of the roster

just plays to their capability and that they improve innumerably at linebacker. Who are the teams with less capital in the draft this year that you thought did well. This is from Ben. A lot of attention on the teams with multiple first round picks. The Bengals stand out to me

is a team I like that didn't have a first round pick like what they did. The Chargers didn't have, they had draft capital. Well, they didn't have that much of it. I don't think they had a good draft. Like that one. What is the thing you're most optimistic about

with the Panthers? This is from my body, my blood. There was also a question related to a meme that I stole to ask the question on Instagram that it's all the NFC South teams with the same thought bubble. And that thought bubble says, wow, this division sucks. Thank God I'm the only good team here.

And the question was, the panthers are the only team. This is, this is right about, right? From a panthers team. What do you think? No, I think we have four even teams. Obviously, you know, Baker goes on a heater. That all changes and shifts. But this is a very competitive.

vision that's going to beat each other up and make it look worse than it actually is. The thing I'm most optimistic about the Panthers is the regime. The front office coach symbiosis. I think they've gotten a group that has a long-term vision. I think the moves this offseason have all made sense. Like they're building something. I think all the changeover is going to stop. Even if they only win seven, eight games this year, I think they are building towards

something. Question from Ricky Fly. Why did the passing of Rondale Moore go without mention? as someone heavily involved in mental health work, felt like an exclusion. I did want to address this because I felt bad. It sort of slipped through the cracks. Rondale Moore, who died by suicide earlier this year. Really sad story.

And I do remember that week that we had some pre-taped shows, and it happened right before, like, we were taping. It was Combine Week, and we missed that. So that is my error, but it certainly wasn't anything intentional. and rest in peace to Rondale, you know, tragic end and to everyone who's had their life impacted by suicide, too many of us. The next question is about tennis. When is Courts of Thunder coming back?

That was my old tennis podcast. You might have missed, Patrick. And there was another question about men's tennis. And it was kind of talking about also the NBA or the NFL when it gets too predictable. That it's very predictable at the very top. Right now it's always Alcarez and Sinner. Right now Alcores is hurt. So then it's even more predictable.

it's always sinner. The podcast is not going back, so this is what I'm doing instead, which is just to watch women's tennis. It's way better anyways. It's been way better for the last 10 years. I like the top of men's tennis, but in terms of the depth and the stories,

it's better. And it's also best of three sets, which is just clearly better. And the variety of play is better. The drama is a little better. The unpredictability is better. So just do that for now. That's my hot take.

I don't think it's that hot. No, especially right now. We really do miss Carlos. right now in the men's game. I'm with you. With a healthy Jaden Daniels and a rebuilding defense, can the commanders win the AFC East? What, say you? Well, yeah, the NFC East. Yeah,

they could definitely do that. You're not going to win a whole lot if you give up 27 points 11 times like they did last season. The defense is going to need to stop somebody, but yeah, Jayden's healthy, they can win. Which is like, just to say, oh yeah, yeah, improve the defense significantly.

Like, do they have the personnel to do that? That's I have less questions about Jaden Daniels. One of the highest variance teams that I can think of. I think there's a world where they have a season like they did a couple years ago and it all goes right and the new

coaching hires really hit. And there's a world where they come in last place in that division. It could be a tough division. So the Colts have moved on from Daniel Jones and just signed Kyler or Gino instead. And then another Colts fan said, am I crazy or are the Colts rebuilding? You are crazy. They're not rebuilding.

Yeah. Chris Ballad's in year 10. And yes, they should assign Kyler, but not Gina. Yeah, they should have signed Kyler. If they could assign Kyler, clearly. And the reason it seems like a rebuild is probably due to the dime's deal in the injury. But the team that made the sauce trade that's still, you know, making these, you know, cost-cutting moves to keep the team together.

They're not rebuilding. Final question. Ripex asks, why on earth would you leave Bestern Mass, aka Western Mass? That's to me. It's cold, bro. It's so cold. Some people grow up in a place, and there's weirdly not enough of those people, or not that many, and they're like, why would anyone choose to live somewhere so cold?

So that's the main reason, I would say. But Western Mass, beautiful, beautiful place, nice place to grow up. Why did you leave Alabama? The job. Yeah, the job and a very pretty girl moved on here. And so those two things, yeah. There are more opportunities. I did live in New York for a long time.

which is quite cold as well. But again, yeah, fun place, but it's always great to go back. I want to hit one more, guys. Pancakes or waffles. Oh, okay.

We did have a couple. We can speed through. Okay, we did have a couple. This is the one I'm most intrigued by. Really? Pancake or waffles? If you're asking me,

would I like to try the best pancake in the world versus the best waffle? I'm going to go with a pancake. I believe it takes more skill to create a spectacular pancake than it does a waffle, which be kind of factorized. But yeah,

I'm going to say, slab with the pancake. I mean, I love an I hop waffle. I mean, I have pancake for sure. I love a great pancake. I think because the waffle is so consistent, you can just eat that, you can just eat it dry. You just eat it dry. You can just like walk, you could be walking in your neighborhood and just eat a waffle. So I think it's better. Waffles is a hand food is pretty wild. I've done it. We also got a best pasta shape question. I don't know if you had that take. Yeah, no, it's my take would be lukewarm. Mera pasta is relative to the structure

of the sauce, the meat that's in there. There's no best there. You just got to go with the balance for what you need. Bow tie. It's easiest to eat. Dede is good. I like a flat, like the flat wide noodle in general. Mary Zuzu asked an underripe avocado, very green banana or slightly undercooked

baked potato. What's you got? What's the worst? Yeah. Of those. I would say an underripe avocado. That's the one where I'm most. afraid of my future. Because that's where the one that you eat the most of, because like you went

through buying this avocado and it's like, ah, let me eat it anywhere. The potato is inedible. Greg, you were like audibly upset yesterday when you opened up or bit into an under, over, underwripe banana yesterday. Man, I hate very green bananas. And yeah, I just opened it up. You know, the NFL, and this has remained true in the ESPN era as we, we share the building here, really does well with the free snacks just around the best. building. Fruit, snacks, a variety of it. Let's keep that going.

Yeah, I'm knocking on wood over. Together, we can be great. But the bananas are either neon green. No, the bananas are usually fine. You just got to wait a day or two. I'm actually going to blame myself. They're keeping this stocked well. And they just happen to be a day earlier or whatever.

But I bet today, tomorrow, it's got to be looking great. You grab one now and you eat it tomorrow. It's the move. We're not done for this week, Patrick. But you are, at least in terms of this NFL Daily show. good luck in your rehab. Greg just means this particular daily show. Oh, yes.

I'm just saying, yeah, Patrick will be back next week. And we will be back in the feed for a big show. Every Friday, we're going to do a big old honk in rankings moving forward this off season. First up, our coaches draft. Ali Connolly and Jordan Roderig, drafting the best coaches in the league, one to 32. I need to get out of here and start working on my board. We'll see you then.

That's going to get contentious. This is an I-Heart podcast, guaranteed human.