NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Marcus Peters Trade Reaction & RapSheet Rumors Roundup

Episode Date: February 23, 2018

A room filled with heroes- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling & Marc Sessler- assemble for a TGIF edition of the pod. The heroes discuss the latest news, including a the big Marcus Peters trade (9:00); The Rapsheet Rumors Roundup, with reports involving Sammy Watkins, Martinis Bryant and Tyrod Taylor, among others (19:00); A new segment: Forgiveness (not the Don Henley BANGER), where the heroes each forgive an NFL sin from the past (33:00); And lastly, the return of the ATN Mailbag (48:00).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Squarespace. Yeah, let's talk about it. The future is coming. Make it brighter with Squarespace. Squarespace makes it easy to turn your idea into a unique website, Squarespace. Showcase your work, blog, or publish content,

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Around Squarespace The Around the NFL podcast Couldn't care less about the Welcome back to another edition of the around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined by a room Heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan.

Happy Friday, TGIF. Invented that. It is about 14 degrees in here. Greg is in a, a, what looks to be, what would I call it, a wind park of some nature? It's like a light jacket. Light jacket. It's similar to the 1980-style jackets. It has a 1980-5 to it.

Like you need to have a like a moped that you drive to like an ex-girlfriend's house on. It sounds like a weekend plan right there. For the listeners, it's actually not that cold. I grew up in a cold town, you know, the winters could be rough. The wind would cut right through you. And sometimes the only way to get away from it go about 400 feet under the ground nice and warm under there magma bad news sometimes you don't come back up that was my life so when i come into a temperature controlled podcast studio me i don't know wasn't really reading right here

that uh pearl river new york has been rated the number one place for millennials in the entire state of new york so it sounds like a real rough and tumble white and uncle millennials don't have any money i basically you know from according to our twitter followers every once in while we hear that it's basically a hide out for, you know, Wall Street fat cats. Bidehouse is up there. A lot of firefighters, a lot of cops, and a lot of miners. Few are minors than there could be. Well, sometimes we lose minors.

They repopulate. That's what we had. That's what we had. The mine runs out of gems and gold and silver to dig for. You've got to move on to the next hard-scrabbled villa. And yeah, I got out. I got away. It doesn't mean I forgot where I came from.

That's why I'm feeling nice and toasty with you guys right now. Welcome to the Around the NFL podcast. Presented by nobody. It's fine. That's good. But holding to no one, right, Wes? We've got two ads in this program, so we sort of it. That's a good.

We are beholden. You did just say it was presented by Squarespace. Yeah, well, you know, that's a good callback. Lizzie. So, yes, we love those people at Squarespace. Big show today, a lot to get to. Some big news. One of the top cornerbacks in football.

Looks like he's heading elsewhere in 2018. We are also going to go through some reports around the league with our good, good colleague rap sheet. Rumors roundup. The rap sheet rumors round up. I like that. We are also going to debut a new segment. Forgiveness.

Forgiveness. Okay. That's the name. Fight through it with the little C. um forgiveness don't mean the don't henley banger love that song though remember that one oh yeah forgiveness forgiveness even if even if you don't love me

did you were you aware of that song Greg no like most of our most of our listeners that's dated that's too dated I think that might have been a really ill conceived homecoming theme song of what in my high school year really yeah because it was like one of those years where literally no one basically went. Some council of student council people decide the song and no one was happy with their dates.

So we picked a really cynical old song. More evidence, Greg, that you were born at age 32, by the way. You were like in junior. Or you've masked your entire childhood based on something that you don't want to bring up as an adult with us or anyone else. I mean, if that means that I missed that on the Don Henley catalog, I'm fine with that.

Greg's like our Dick Whitman. This whole past is a mystery. Yeah, so we will talk about. forgiveness. Who do we forgive as we look forward to a new season? And we promised it on Wednesday. We'll hit the mailbag. So a lot to get to. Real exciting. Before we do the news, Lindsay Fulton, our producer behind the glass, before Thursday's show had told us that she had, I don't want to say absentmindedly, but an ex-boyfriend had invested in Bitcoin once upon the time. and she told us the way it was being explained to us, gentlemen, and tell me if I'm off here. Lindsay seemed to be thinking it was a coin flip

whether cashing in on that Bitcoin was going to make her a millionaire. She said that you would probably know by today's show. No, she said she is likely a millionaire right now. She said likely that she's a millionaire because of the Bitcoin that she bought 10 years ago. All right. So let's now throw up behind the glass. Lindsay, are you a millionaire? I haven't checked yet.

I have to mine the Bitcoin. How is that on the back burner? First of all, I bought the Bitcoin, not my ex-boyfriend. I bought it, so it's mine. Second of all, like I said, it was being used. He suggested I purchased it for some of the-pronounds. My ex-boyfriend suggested I purchased the bitcoins for a shady internet activity, I think, you know, things that aren't legal in Ohio that are legal in California. Okay.

So I made like a fake email address to buy just so it couldn't get traced back to me. and I need to like dig deep into where which one of those Juno or AOL email addresses it's connected to you. How are you not doing that the second you leave work or during work? I wouldn't do anything else. I wouldn't eat. Because she already said she's likely a millionaire, so there's no real like rush right now. She's going to just a matter of finding out for sure.

I know it's there. I just have to find it. Yeah, but to Greg's point, the lack of motivation around uncovering this large S is I find it's a bit puzzling. I would be all over it. I have to sit down and really. look for it. Yeah, well, what did you do last night? Actually, I went home, I went home and I went to sleep.

I was working, working hard. I went home and I went to sleep. I think this bodes well that her new, as Mark said, her newfound largesse is not going to change her. And remember, Lindsay, when, if it does turn into a major seven to eight figure payout, that we were all supportive of you and we love having you as a producer. And honest talk here.

If you do, let's clear, 5 million, are you done as our producer? Five million, that's not enough to, like, not work on again? Of course it is. What are you talking about? Of course it is. I would be gone in one second if I had $5 million. I would not ever walk through the door again. Mark would be gone if you give him $5,000.

Yeah, let's dig deeper. What's the number? You can live off of the interest of a $5 million bank account for quite a $5,000. bank account for quite a little over under one million dollars that you would be gone one million i would set my own terms and say i work from home essentially i occasionally call in for like a two-minute segment on the pod maybe and i'll file something when i feel like it if anything above a million if nothing else you could look for work that you know you like more than working with the rest of us i have a i have frivolous spending habits you know i like candles right exactly so i'd be a little bit worried that it

You could buy the local Yankee candle in the Mall of America and run that store. That could be your job. That was a pretty good store. It did stop there. I had to pay extra to bring some of the candles back here. Aren't candles just tallow and a wick?

Save for the candle. Save it for the Yankee Candle podcast. All right, let's do some news. Good luck, Lindsay. Hey, New York City, I'm here. I got the Yankees hat on. I'm headed to spring training on Monday. I can't wait to see you guys. Hey, Aaron, Judge. I know you want to throw some passes, so let's play some ball,

and we'll see. We'll have a little home run derby too. Stan, I'm coming for you, too. We'll have some fun, baby. And let's go win a World Series. Why not? Peace. Someone short-circuited the robot's blurry.

I got a kick out of Russell Wilson, who, in a publicity stunt now is in the Yankees' farm system saying, and it felt kind of unironic, let's go win a World Series. Does he think he's actually on the Yankees now? He's finally on your team, just the wrong one. I like the fact. He has a new. newborn child, and he's just like, yeah, I'll see you later. I've got some important work to do for the Yankees for a couple of weeks.

It's not like I'll be busy during the football season anyways. You're going to go field grounders in Florida for three weeks. Good luck to you, Russell. All right. Let's do some news. Start with the big trade or the trade that's soon to be. Where are we at on this? It's pretty much a done deal.

It's a done deal. Rapsheet reported that the Kansas City Chiefs have finalized a trade agreement Friday to ship cornerback Marcus Peter to the Marcus Peters to the Rams ESPN first reported the deal we don't have the terms of the deal as of yet the Rams do not own a 2018

second round pick they sent that away to get Sammy Watkins but they are going to now have Marcus Peters and Greg will start with you on this one the Rams this feels like a great trade we don't know what they're descending back

but for a team that seems very close Los Angeles to now get upper tier cornerback. Seems like a major win-win for them. It's a tough one to evaluate the value, especially from the chief side, so we'll just have to wait and see on that.

But from the Ram side, it's such a great marriage of player and scheme. You know, some coaches have a quarterback-friendly or quarterback-proof offense. Wade Phillips has a cornerback friendly defense. When I did that feature on him last

year, all the defensive backs talked about that this is a defensive back-friendly scheme because the ball gets out of the quarterback's hands so quickly that leads to big-time interception totals. It really favors cornerbacks who can play man-to-man defense and who have ball skills, and that's Marcus Peters in a nutshell. No one has better ball skills. No one has better instincts in terms of going after the ball than Marcus Peters. And I think he's not going to have to cover as long in Los Angeles. Angeles, as he did in Kansas City, and I just think he can become a dominant player, and it's at a

cheap price. I mean, they are paying them very little for the 2018 season, and they have his rights for the 2019 season at the fifth-year option level, which is another bargain. So to me, it's a very safe pickup in terms of improving their team for the next two years. 1.8 million he's scheduled to earn in 2018. Over the last three years, no cornerback has a lower opposer-passer rating on throws in his direction than Marcus Peters. He also has seven more interceptions than any other cornerback over those three years. And all of that tells me that somebody very high up in the

chiefs organization did not want to make a decision on his fifth year option by May or extend him for big money. I love this by the Rams because it's another example of less need, who I think a couple years ago on this podcast and other places, you're kind of wondering what the less need experience was going to bring to the Rams, ultimately aggressive. They're going to lose Trimane Johnson, and Kavon Webster is coming off in Achilles' tear. So you needed to address this position. And they've done it in the best possible way. I want to know what they've given up, though, because the 49er, it has to be what they've

given up, because the chiefs initially wanted Robert Quinn as part of the deal. That's not happening. But to find out that the 49ers and Browns also pursued him, pursued this player, that the 49ers and Browns have. way more, if it's a third rounder compared to a third rounder from the Chiefs, it's higher in every single category. The Browns could have given up way more than you think

the Rams would have. So I'm wondering what this package is. It's probably pretty aggressive. It must be. To your point, and it might include a first round pick, not this year, but maybe next year, something like that, or future picks. There are maturity issues. Of course, if you remember back at the Metalands earlier,

last season, or in the middle of last season, when he threw a penalty flag into the crowd left the state left the field was not ejected an embarrassing scene but then after that he got suspended a game which was a big deal because at that point the chiefs were in tatters their season seemed like it was going down they still suspended it because that's so that tells you how you know pissed they were at him then he came back and played in an all pro level the rest of the season so it seems like maybe what we saw against the jets in that game they probably have been annoyed by him or have been had their patience to

tested one too many times, and they decided to move on. If you're the Rams and you say to the Chiefs, I really want this deal to happen, give me an honest take, if I'm less need, on what this player's issues are in the locker room, why you'd want to give up this player. Do you get any sort of an honest answer from the Chiefs? I would say absolutely not. Well, there's no way to really know what he's like, but I think to Wes's point earlier, I think the Chiefs had made a decision.

they were never going to make him the highest paid cornerback in the league or close to it, which is what a long-term deal eventually would have to cost for him. And you have to believe it's because of his behind-the-scenes issues, not his play, which has sometimes been a little streaky, but overall has obviously been excellent. Well, one last thought on this, before the start of the league year, the Chiefs have traded their most valuable offensive and defensive players. The AFC West is wide open. And this looks like, it looks like a rebuilding team to me.

Peter's, we should mention, was left out in the cold by his college team, Washington, wanted nothing to do with him. It's the only reason he even fell to number 18, kind of like a Des Bryant situation where he probably would have been a top five pick in terms of his talent. So that's now a couple different teams that have given up on him. But I love that the Rams are just going for it. The Rams, let's make them the team of ATL again in 2018. That's unprecedented, but we could talk.

about it plenty of time let's move on a team in the a fc that a lot of stability is the jacksonville jaguars who of course made it all the way to the afc title game uh last season and the first year together for doug morone and uh head coach dog marone executive vice president tom coflin and general manager dave caldwell nice start to that uh what do what do they call it not a trifecta a triumbrant Triumvirate? Triumvirate? Or triad? Whatever it is.

A trio. I'm just going to go with trio. All of those worked. You're battling illness. Just go trio. Anyway, the Jags handed out contract extensions to all three men. Deals that run through 2021. So, Mark, the Jags obviously like the direction the organization's going.

And stability is always good. I mean, these extensions, if everything suddenly went south very quickly, it's on the owner to pay it. It's not on the cap. So extend all you want. But I think it's a sign that the Jaguars are saying if you're Tom Coughlin and Doug Morone, it's a nod to David Caldwell who drafted well. I think that Gus Bradley did very little with the players that he brought on, but the trio of them feel poised to go the distance together.

And it should snuff out if there were any remaining. There were when they first hired Tom Coughlin, oh, could Coughlin at some point get the itch and like replace Morone and become the coach? Well, that was nonsense very shortly. to that journey. But at this point, I think they're set to sit down and say our Super Bowl window is open. We've got to address the quarterback position. But if we do that, who knows? You've got five years together. And this was a contract, I think, given because unlike most coaches, Maron kind of signed a prove-it deal as a coach. Just he only had a couple years on his initial

contract less than you normally see because he had risen up from the interim. It's like, it was kind of a prove-it contract as coaches go. And I'm sure his agent, you know, wanted that to be fixed now that they made the playoffs and you line up all three guys. And a lot of the Caldwell decisions that he made helped set up this run that they had on defense. The free agency moves, some weren't great, but for the most part, they did a pretty good job adding players 2015, 2016. Took Coughlin and Marone one year to go from a streak of the worst record in the NFL to the doorstep of the Super Bowl. One player that won't be involved going forward, by the way, is Chris Ivory. The team cut ties with the running back.

He signed a big free agent deal a couple of years ago. Ivory figures to find work, but he won't find the same contract. Where is he going to fall in the top 101 free agents that the scientists are cooking up? Oh, you should have seen it, Mark, downstairs. The scientists, saying things that they couldn't take back, fighting over people like Frank Gore. Oh, where does A.J. McCarran go, just hissing at each other. And I think while it's distressing to see, you understand it's coming from a place of passion. Absolutely.

Uncomfortable at times. This couldn't be more exaggerated or misunderstood. But I get that because Dan's not a man that's used to conflict just normally. He's not comfortable with it. And so he sees two men just having a discussion and he doesn't know what to do. Okay. Well, that's... That felt like a slight projection by Greg.

Yeah, I don't even know what that was really about. We can maybe dig into that after the show in a private conversation for looking for some real conflict. I'll meet you in the parking lots what I'm saying. And we'll talk it out, man, the man. Our parking lot is thick with NFL security. I maybe take it down to Alanda Drive or maybe the cozy in. A fight in the cozy sounds fun.

They would welcome that. Like they've never seen a fight before. What were we talking about? Oh, so, yeah, where's Chris Ivory fall? Probably outside the 101. Maybe he'll bump Frank Gore out. Yeah, probably towards the end. My initial instinct would be not on it at all

But then I realize we do have Doug Martin and Gore there on there Ivory's in that mix All right Now it's time to move on to oh yeah There's so much news to dig through So let's take a spin around With our rap sheet Rumors

Roundup Rumors Oh like a roundup like a cowboy thing Yeah get along doggy Rap sheet rumors roundup Good All right. This is all reports coming from Ian Rappaport, our NFL Media Insider. Let's start with Sammy Watkins, a free agent.

Rapsheet reported that the Niners, Bears, and Browns, all teams to watch on Sammy Watkins. Well, this was prompted by the report that Lamarcus Joyner will likely draw the Rams franchise tag, allowing Sammy Watkins to reach the open market. And once he gets there, Rapsheets said, look at the teams that have wide receiver needs. 49ers and bears Browns, I've heard them connected to Terrell Prior reunion again

in addition to other things too Brown's got to spend this money somewhere Niners feel like they're in on everybody I think that's absolutely right and I think if Lamarcus Joyner had been available if they had gone that way and let him go to market We don't know for sure but we're not sure

but that's what I think the Niners and Browns would be after him too I like that move keeping Lamarcus joiner Sneaky cut candidate Sammy Watkins It does point out that these risky less need trades you know, they don't all work.

They gave up a second round pick for 590 yards of Sammy Watkins. That was a disastrous trade. They would flat out cut him. I think that's a possibility. Because of his attitude and off-field issue. Just watch it, monitor it. Okay. Ooh, look at Mark.

You're talking to some sparrows. NFL media insider. Look at his face. I don't think he's a beloved character behind the scenes. You know, this is the rap sheet rumors roundup. The Sessler rumors roundup. We can do that too right after. He's got roughly 1.5 million followers.

I think he's got more traction in this category. The Titans, the Bears, the Panthers, and the Saints. Teams to watch on Jarvis Landry, who of course was franchised by the Dolphins this week. But that doesn't mean he's going to stay with the Dolphins. Could be traded all four of those teams. Greg, which one of those teams would you like most to see Landry making plays with? You know, about like three yards from the line of scrimmage next year.

The Saints really stood out. there. I'm surprised by that unless they're just in this sort of all-in while Drew Breeze is here. Let's try to win the Super Bowl. Why would it they be? And maybe that makes sense. I think Rapsheet was just dot connecting to where he played college bowl. So you're putting this hardcore

just like random speculation by the insider. Well, I think Ian hears things that inform his speculation, but that seemed more like... Here's say? Is that what you're saying was? Rabsheet actually specifically said played his college bowl at LSU. It seemed more of a... Chicago geography.

Chicago would be interesting. I think they're going to spend some money. He would certainly help out Mitchell Trubisky. The Panthers have the lowest amount of cap room of any of those teams. They need to make some moves. But there's whispers that they want to overhaul their entire wide receiver department. My Titans prediction got deep-sixed. We had a video hit.

And then moments later, they slapped the franchise tag on Landry. And Deep Sicked my Landry to Nashville, it's speculating. I bet it was a banger. The Steelers will listen to Martavis Bryant trade offers. This does not feel surprising at all. Brian has been suspended for an entire year, off-the-field issues. Seemed to be, I don't like to throw malcontent around. It seems like I have an ugly word.

Some people that organization might label him as such. Well, he wasn't happy. He literally was a malcontent. It's kind of a harsh word. Well, he was. I mean, the Peters trade, we've been talking about the trade tsunami this week, and the Peters trade was the first water lapping up along the shore.

People better run. Seek high ground. The tsunami is coming. I mean, Bill Belichick listened to the Niners ask about Tom Brady, so I think, yes, it's possible the Steelers who spent much of the season trying to get rid of Martavis Bryant would

listen to trade offers. I don't know if that's a massive leap in logic. How's the rap sheet rumors roundup going so far? I like it. Feels like a scene undermined by Mark. No, that particular bullet point could use some help. Interesting, Mark Rapsheet, he. Yeah, and by the way, we're going to get...

Don't try to cook that up. We're going to get Rapsheet on the show in Indianapolis for another Rumors Roundup, and we'll straighten everything out. Seahawks, more likely to work out a new deal for Earl Thomas. So, you know, maybe slowed down. I already announced months ago that the Legion of Boom was dead, but now it's starting to feel possible that at least Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman, maybe we'll be back.

Does that mean that the Legion of Boom is alive? I don't think so necessarily. They were always the two most important, I would say. He is due, 8.5 million Earl Thomas. They are bottom eight in cap room, so it feels like one of these ones where you can create some room and give him an extra year or two that maybe means nothing when you boil it, boil it down.

I think if a team really, like the Cowboys, want to give up a nice fancy pick for him, they would listen. And that's what Rapsheet said, that if you're willing to overpay for Earl Thomas, then it could get done. Richard Sherman's not going anywhere any time seen because he's still recovering from an Achilles injury. Opening the kimono West came up with the name of this segment and really the guts of it. Naming it the rap sheet rumors round off his reporting.

Let's stick into that just a little bit for a second. A shot at our own insider? Well, I think it's more rumors season than reporting season when it comes to trades. Interesting. We'll talk to you in about that as well. Why is the right side of this table, Greg and Dan, constantly trying to generate false heat between Mark West and Rapcheed. We are here trying to. We are getting his info. We spend all day long getting his information out on NFL.com.

Denver Broncos don't want to trade Emmanuel Sanders. That makes sense. Nice little player. Guy can play ball. $10 million against the cap this year, had some off-the-field issues, had some drops issues last year, turning 30 years old. but rap sheet says, and this is a good point, if the Broncos want to bring in a quarterback, don't you need somebody to catch the ball?

They have very little proven depth behind Sanders and Mr. Marius Thomas. Kissing old rap sheets, cowboy boots. To Wes's point, Benny Fowler, Jordan Leslie, Tim Patrick, River Craycraft, Carlos Anderson, Isaiah McKenzie, Penny Bell. Behind Demarius Thomas, that is your wide receiver group. So Manuel Sanders, maybe keep him around.

Craigcraft sounds like a Saturday afternoon activity of New Orleans. It's a copy and paste job. Jordan Leslie is not a real person. Is he? He was on the Cleveland Browns. These are all real players. River Craig Craft is a person? These are all, this is their depth chart.

This is really them. Carlos Henderson, who they drafted in the third round, he didn't mention him. But yeah, these are real people. Carlos Henderson was the second, third to last person I mentioned. Old Kenny. Bills are not planning to cut Tyrod Taylor in my. in my weekly good, bad week column on NFL.com.

I take issue with this. It's like, think of this as a marriage between two lovers. And for years now, the bills have been emotionally, just the emotional neglect upon Tyra Taylor, who's a perfectly decent date.

They were stepping out on him. Yeah, stepping out, basically rubbing his face in their infidelity. And now, instead of just setting him free and letting him find true love on his own, they are talking about the idea or it's being insinuated now

that they're going to trade him, which is an arranged marriage. So now you're going to potentially force him into a negative situation or a situation where he's back to being a backup behind some Jemoke like Joe Flacko again. And it's just like bad karma on you, bad relation karma on you, relationship karma on you.

I have a theory. They can't chase after anyone like Kirk Cousins. They have needs all over the place despite making the playoffs. But how do you get an inexpensive quarterback? They have two firsts and two seconds. They are a candidate to trade up and get one of these top four quarterbacks in my mind. Yeah. And this is just an advertisement.

Please give us a pick for Tyrod. Sure. Is anyone interested in him because no one buys that he's going to be on their team next year? And he doesn't control something because he's due $18 million next year. So he's not getting traded to be a backup anywhere. Only a team that would really, really want to take on that salary would go for it. Dan, how do you keep the one you love? Treat them right.

You don't. Love is non-possessive. Ooh. Upended. Wow. I love it, though. I mean, you're right. If you love someone, you have no desire to keep them.

What do they say? If you love someone, set them free. Yeah, if they come back to you, they're yours. That reminds me now since we're talking about Don Henley, adult contemporary rock. Remember that Sting solo song? If you love somebody, set them free. Absolutely. You know that one, Greg?

No. The Headley pot. Sting, who lit up the Super Bowl pregame show. I don't know if lit up's the right word. The Shaggy came out. Shaggy and Sting have an album out together. I didn't realize that they are very close friends. It's an unusual pairing.

Like Don Henley, a big hit with like mid-50s bankers. Sting has roots in ska music, which is similar to reggae. Oh, there you go. Greg hates all people older than him. Even if they're six or seven months older than you cannot stand. Greg, well, no, Greg wants everyone to know this is like back in his Delaware days with his purple hair and mumbling into the mic. You're just so counterculture, man.

I don't think it's counterculture to not be the stig. Hey, have fun, listen to music design for the man. It's like dead milkman mixtape falling out of his back pocket. Henley and Sting are counterculture at this point. No one, you know, the culture has passed them by. Finally, a little extra bonus rumors round up. this one for a little Tom Pelliserro pop. A little Pelliserro pop.

Oh, yeah. Sam Bradford, pending free agent, he's made over $114 million in his career. He doesn't need to work. But Pellisero says that San Bradford, quote, absolutely wants to play in 2018. To me, what I got out of this report was Pelliseros spoke with Dr. James Andrews,

who went out to clean out a bonespur. and some cartilage damage in Bradford's knee and said the joint itself is sound, ligaments intact, no reason for concern going forward. Oh, no. Why would there be any concern? I'm just saying, like, people have written San Bradford off. No, I'm not. But I think it would be insane not to be concerned, considering they had no idea why he

couldn't play football last year, and he's had multiple surgeries, reconstructive surgeries. I just watched for the first time, my nieces, I have a seven-year-old niece and a five-year-old niece who are here this week. Both girls, huge fans of a league of their own. I rewatched the film with them. Quite an enjoyable movie. Very good. Even though it's old, Greg.

I like that movie. I haven't seen it in a long time, but I remember. Jimmy Dugan, who played by Tom Hanks, the manager. Sam Bradford made me think of it. I have no cartilage in my knee. Great line. Ended Corey Holt's career. And Curtis Martins.

All right. There you go. Nice rap sheet rumors roundup. Yeho. All right. What just happened? All right, moving on. Here we go, Greg.

You ready? Forgiveness, baby. And I don't mean the Don Henley Banger. We need a title for this segment. Is that not going to know? That is the title. Football feature. Oh, no.

It doesn't have to be. Good workshop. It's right on a piece of paper. Once it's on the paper, though, it's... If we were still allowed to play music on this podcast, we could call You Are Forgiven from the Rushman. more song. Would have been nice.

Would have been nice. Thank you, Shadowy League figures. I was reading. You're heartless endeavors. Yes, correct. I was like reading a book, you know,

not to bring it down a little bit, but, you know, it was about sort of end of life. It was written by someone who works in a hospice care. Oof. You know, and the, sounds like a real page turner.

It's a good one. And, and they said, you know, the most important thing a lot of times when you're, when you're on your deathbed is forgiveness. You know,

you want, you want to forgive. give your children for things you've done or you want their forgiveness or you want forgiveness of your parents or vice versa. It's all about forgiveness. And I thought,

let's get ahead of the game. Let's not wait until we're on our deathbed and let's let some forgiveness out to the football community. I like that. That's because you think that you're forgiving someone else but you're really forgiving yourself. Right.

That's a lot about that. And if you would have listened to the or pay attention to the lyrics of forgiveness by Don Henley. I would have learned it a long time ago. He told us about this in 19. Right. He's like, here comes a book from a hospice 40 years from now. I'm going to drop it to you right now in 1990. By the way, I'm not sure Don Henley came up with the concept of forgiveness either, but if we were going to continue to, you know, a staple of every religion going back 4,000 years. If you followed, if you're a fan of rock history and you know anything about Don Henley, maybe not probably the biggest forgiveness guy out there in the game right now.

So, yeah, listen to it. What's the phrase? Listen to him. Don't follow his actions. All right. Here we go. Forgiveness, comma, and I don't mean the Don Henley banger. Everyone, let's go around the room. And who do you forgive, Mark Sessler? Well, when Greg, you texted this early and I thought, you know, I don't really,

I would need to be offended by something that happened in the NFL. And for me, my honest emotional reaction to 99.999% of NFL transactions or actions are just like, I'm over it by sundown for the most part. But there is one. No, no. And I didn't respond for a while. But then I thought, yes, you know what? That's not true.

There is one that if you had not come up with this, I probably would have let it sit there for another 10, 20, 30 years. But it's all about. Save it from your deathbed thought. I do not want to hang on to this anymore. Because I honestly have gotten into fights with people over this. I remember getting into fight with a close family member long time ago who was a friend of a team related to all of this,

the Baltimore Ravens, I need to forgive Art Modell. Wow. A lot of Browns fans. A lot of Browns fans will not agree, and they have to go through their own journey with that. I totally get it. But I was thinking about one aspect of Art Meldell

that I think Browns fans would just say, most of them say, who cares? But when I first fell in love with that team, and they lost the drive, and they lost the fumble, and they lost to the Broncos two years later in a third AFC championship with no name because it was just a wipeout. Art Modell up in the owner's box, slumped over, depressed.

His heart bled for the Browns. And that part of the, that's the one part of that man that I can still remember fondly. And not to say too much more about it, but I have clung on to this. And it's made me annoyed, angry with Cleveland's fate ever since, especially to watch Art Modell do what he did and go win a Super Bowl somewhere else. No Browns fan needs to be happy about anything that happened to him after Cleveland. But to your point, it's affected me more than it's affected anyone else. I'm a little tired of it. How many more years do I need to be...

Are you starting to get angry again? No, how many more times do I need to cling to some football narrative that I had no control over that just simply didn't go my way? It's, I'm over it. So I forgive our Modell. I forgive the whole Modell family. I want to turn a fresh page and move on. Wow.

Question. Does this extend to forgiving the city of Baltimore? My problem with Baltimore, it's a little bit of a different case, is they had it done to them and did it to someone else. I don't think that's a good lesson for anyone, but almost everyone involved in that had nothing to do with the first part of it. So I don't, actually, I'm a Browns fan.

I'm not going to like the Ravens anymore than Dan likes the Bills or the Patriots, but enough with confronting Ravens fans at pubs, which I've done multiple times. I'm over it. That was going to be my follow-up question. What are your action steps? My action step is to release the anger and let it go.

Save the Baltimore forgiveness for like season five. If this was a TV show, Mark just hit us with a banger of a pilot. It's going to get the show picked up. Everyone's going to say, wow, this is something else. That's a later beat. And then now for the Modell show. That's a big one. Very good.

Nice forgiveness. I can't top that. I'm not even sure who I'm going to forgive you. I had like three or four. All right, Wes, you're up. Yeah, mine feels like a molehill compared to my matter. Mine is very small. I dumped the Tennessee Titans.

Yes, you did. And really didn't care much for Marcus Mario da rest of the season because the Titans did something really stupid. They signed a backup quarterback who for three years has not been able to throw a football. And every time Matt Castle plays, the field shrinks to a 10 by 10 pit at the line of scrimmage. because Rashad Jones is safety for the Dolphins goes 100 miles an hour at the line of scrimmage every single drop back from Matt Castle knowing that the guy can't throw anymore

everyone in the league knows the guy can't throw it wait this doesn't sound like forgive Did you forgive Matt Castle? I'm not, who are you forgiving? I don't know a segment about forgiveness turned into a hit piece on Matt Castle and a tight Well I get it because he hasn't taken enough This is part of the process

This is part of the process This is cathartic for me This is why I had good There's reasons for dumping the Titans. But this is a new regime now with Brable coming in, new offensive coordinator. If they cut ties with Matt Castle, I will forgive the Titans. Well, if Matt... I like that.

I like it, but if Matt... If Matt is out there listening right now, if I'm Matt Castle and I would be thinking, what do I got to do, West, to get your forgiveness? I was a seventh round pick who didn't even get to play in college. a great career. I love the game. I've tried to play it as long as I can. Love my family. Love God. Back off me. It's sort of like how Mark felt about Matt Flynn for a couple of years. He's out there collective millions of dollars when it's clear he can't throw. Highly annoyed. And really, the blame is not on him. It's on the Titans. I should hope not

not. Gentlemen, let's not count other people's money, though. It's not their fault that they're agents. Nice job. That's what I'm saying. It's not his fault. It's the Titans want to offer me $3 million a year to throw at 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. I can do that. I mean, he's made it now. I'm counting it up here. 14 seasons and six different teams for a guy who didn't throw the ball in college. Give it up for him.

It's only three of those years that he's been unable to throw a football. Forgiveness. That is the sound of forgiveness right there. Moving on, Mike McAgnon, I forgive you for Christian Hakenberg. Okay. Good. The Hackenberg thing was not butt fumble bad, but it was the most embarrassing thing to happen to the Jets since the butt fumble. And it continues to be a source of punchlines. And with good reason, you drafted a guy in the second round based on the fact that he looks like a quarterback in like a TV movie, which in retrospect, maybe that was not the way to go. He'll probably never play a snap, certainly for the Jets and probably, let's face it, maybe ever in the NFL.

So if you want to talk about burning draft capital, a team, the Jets that have historically been terrible drafting in the second round. So to find someone that stands head and shoulders above anyone else in terms of terrible use of a premium draft pick, Christian Hakenberg, embarrassing, terrible, set the franchise back. But now, I forgive you, Mike McCagnan. But there's a caveat here. There's a caveat.

We've got to learn, yeah, we're still going to school on forgiveness. Yeah, there's a caveat here because it's not a free pass. I'm willing to move forward but you are sitting right now Mr. Big Mac on a war chest that after you get rid of Mo Wilkerson and a couple other floatsum

Flotsam? Flotsam? Flotsam? Jetsum? You will have over a hundred million dollars to spend and you have Kirk Cousins who's on the right side of the Dalton scale and you have the sixth overall pick with the opportunity

to possibly move up if you really want to. Just get me a quarterback. easier said than done but if you come out of this with a real option that the fan base can get excited about I can move past the fact that you made one of the most disastrous draft picks in the last 10 years

And I will say one thing in his defense Picking it in the second round was outrageous but if outside of Dak Prescott which everyone's like oh you know Team X didn't draft Dak Pesk, well we get it but you look at the other like eight quarterbacks taken after Christian Hakenberg it is a bunch of junk outside of maybe

Jacoby Brissette. It is a bunch of junk. Christian Hakenberg is real. So he had to pick someone, but you're right, the Hakenberg narrative has been disastrous because he hasn't even seen the field. I think we're still learning about forgiveness as a group. Because, you know, when you're on your deathbed, I don't know if you can give caveats with your forgiveness. You're running out of time.

Yeah, I mean, they can't be with. Basically, I mean, I should know in about a month. Like, even if I don't know. if they get a rookie quarterback, at least get one of these hot shots and let's fly and see if it works out. But no more reaching and standing by your gut instinct and all that.

Let's go. Figure it out, Big Mac. You're up, Greg. You have so many choices to figure. Yeah, they're all molehills compared to these, but I'll do the one that feels most personally true, which is that I forgive Drew Bledsoe. And this is, you know,

this is something that probably no one other than myself would even know, but I've probably gone out of my way over the last 15 years whenever the subject came up to point out some of Drew Bledso's less admirable character traits during the 2001 season

that people seem to forget about when the rise of Tom Brady happened. I've always liked to kind of point that out. Like, okay, hey, like this guy that has been, you know, kind of somewhat beloved, I guess, would have been New England area. Like pointing out something past the fact.

Now I think we're older. We've seen different things. He's at his winery. He has his winery. But also maybe I'm older and understand the dynamics a little better. Things happen in people's careers. You know, people are coming up to possibly replace you. It's a very natural human reaction maybe to be territorial.

You're competitive. Like that's one of the things that maybe made you a great athlete in the first place. And now I think it's kind of flipped where it's happened to Tom Brady on some level. And I certainly don't hold anything against Tom Brady for being very competitive and maybe doing some things to the guy below him. And so I've always held that in my in my heart that like, yeah, this Drew Bledso, he's not, he's not the great guy. Everyone says. And that was maybe a fault of my own, not of Drew Bledso. So I forgive you.

I think that's the most tender I've ever heard, Greg. That was pretty. Very human. That was pretty great. Okay. Then I guess I get made a good choice. I like that. I'll quote the great poet, Don Henley.

Right. I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter. but my will gets weak, and my thoughts seem to scatter, but I think it's about forgiveness, forgiveness, even if, even if you don't love me. Anybody else have one? Nothing more needs to be said. I think I'll save them for the next time.

We're bringing this one back in a couple months. Save it for who don't we forgive podcasts. Can I just throw out one more because it's important? Sure. I forgive you, Sean McDonough. You took unnecessary criticism when you replaced my boy, my sweet prince, Mike Tarrico, as the play-by-play guy on Monday Night Football.

And in retrospect, that was very unfair. McDonough didn't do anything wrong other than not be Mike Tariko and not many people are Mike Tariko. It was hitting out and Sean was an easy target. But now that John Gruden's gone, fresh slate, I hope Sean McDonough is part of the new team. Really? And I like to look at this as a perfect place.

It feels like a bridge too far. A fresh start for both of us. So I'm sorry, Sean McDonough. And while we're on the topic, who do you guys want to replace John Gruden? I would swing for the fences on Bruce Ariens. I like that a lot. I like that.

It's not another former quarterback that they're rolling out, hoping to get the next Tony Romo. Ariens is we know that he's, in some cases, painfully honest. I think he has no, he's not trying to get back into coaching, so he doesn't try to have to, you know, soft sell everything and tell us how great everyone is for his next big contract four years from now. He just could be honest. I like it. I like that, Arian's choice. Just to throw a different name out there, just to make this room go crazy. How about J. Cutler? Just to make the whole world a little wilder on Monday night football.

I like it. I like it. I like it. I like it. I like to see it. I want him. to go, is he going to go back to announcing? Have they talked? I hope he, I think he does. I think he would. Unless it was always a ruse or he was just waiting to get paid, but he went through an interview process. No, he was hired. He was like announced. He did some interviews about it. The one thing I don't think we have to worry about because he bombed what essentially served as an audition on the first Monday night last year. I don't think we're going to get

Rexy. No. I think if Rexy would have killed it and people were talking positively about Rex Ryan's doing what was the Niners game or whatever it was, he would be a real option for them but i don't think it's going to happen i agree all right before we hit the mailbag oh yeah square space support for today's show comes from square space make it stand out with square space uh with beautiful templates created by world class designers furry body parts is that is that mean it's over you said the right word i just thought that that's the way to keep it fresh and mix it up you You don't know what's coming. Oh, okay.

Squarespace makes it easy. Who provides this copy, by the way, Lindsay? Squarespace. Okay, well, there's a typo here. I'm going to read it as they sent it to us. Squarespace makes is easy to turn your idea into a new and unique website, showcase your work, blog or publish content, even sell products and services of all kinds in just a few clicks.

There's nothing to install, patch, or upgrade ever. And, Wes, you know, this part's for you. destiny is calling it says you need a new website that old blog spot account it's dunzo bro sons of the tundra sons of the tundra it's done courts of thunder gregg it's obsolete it's coming it hasn't even started it's time to make it real with square space head to squarespace dot com for a free trial and when you're ready to launch use the offer code around to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com, baby.

Offer code around. All right. All right. Now, did we learn a lesson from Thursday? Oh, no. It's breaking news. Okay. Longtime Jets linebacker, David Harris,

announces his retirement. Oh, boy. I'm sorry to the listeners. Once again, your hopes were up. You thought a major, a major announcement was coming from. If you don't think I'm just going to create some sort of item of news in every show

for the rest of the off season, you're sorely mistaken. So I'm glad this actually happened. And if David Harris, a great 11-year veteran retiring, doesn't merit mention. Hey, I love the hitman. Did you know he was known as the hitman by Jets fans? I didn't know. Very nice. Nice career.

Yeah, a really nice career was durable as hell. It was the backbone of their defense for a decade on some very good Jets defenses in the Rex Ryan era. He got old, as happens in football. And he went to the Patriots to chase a row. ring did not ever find a role and now he's done. David Harris was a nice player though, Greg.

All right. Let's now move to the mailbag. Oh yeah. It's been a while since we hit the bag. Thank you to listeners that sent in. As always, there was no shortage of topics and questions. Hashtag ATN mailbag.

So let's go through some of them. Here's a go to Wes. I'll start with you on this one. This one from John Newby. At Real Newby, am I crazy for hoping that Vikings avoid Kirk Cousins and just signed Teddy B and a solid backup? Injuries aside, don't they have similar upsides? I like the question. Well, I think I know where Wes is going on this, but that's one thing that seems to be not being discussed a lot, that they have these options in house the Vikings.

And yet everyone's saying, go get Kirk Cousins when you might have it right under your nose. Yes, he's crazy. Sorry, John. I don't think Teddy Bridgewater's upside is even what Kirk Cousins has done numbers-wise for the last three years when he's been a top-five NFL quarterback. And Kirk Cousins is alone as the only quarterback who consistently gets nailed for being a system guy. I don't ever hear that anybody with numbers like Kirk Cousins is a system quarterback. I don't know if I've ever heard of any quarterback who has the numbers of him who's been called a system quarterback to the extent he has been. Maybe Alex Smith in this season.

Alex Smith does not have numbers even comparable. Well, this year he did. Right, over a 48 game sample size to be putting up over 4,000 yards every year around 30 touchdowns and rate numbers and yards per attempt, adjusted yards per attempt, passer rating like Kirk Cousins and be, you know, just kind of way, you know, offhandedly labeled a system quarterback. I don't see Teddy Bridgewater ever playing at that high of a level. What about Sam Bradford? then. I mean, they're just bringing back Case Kingdom.

Like, why should the Vikings definitely blow up the position when they might have the option? Well, they might not have a choice if they can't sign Cousins. And I think they have good options to bring back then. But I think they understandably could believe that Cousins is a far safer bet than any of those three and that they have a Super Bowl window to win right now while that defense is altogether. All right. next one comes from

you guys ready we are George Harold at George underscore Harold what is Justin Tucker's trade value how about this

how bright is the sun seven number one picks over the course of seven years why would they trade him that's a great question why would you trade the best player in the NFL I have no idea but anyway that's my answer

I have no idea there's no way to compute such a thing. Moving on, Derek, at Derek XVX. Picking a division from each conference, which one do you believe will be the strongest and could potentially produce three playoff teams? I like this one. Nice job.

Derek, three playoff teams. I hate to be a sour puss, but wouldn't this be a better question to ask after free agency in the draft? Yeah, that's a fair question. That's fair point. Where we are today, I finally feel like the AFC South could do that. you've got Deshawn Watson with the Texans

you've got the Jaguars who are a Super Bowl level team and you've got the Titans that just made the playoffs and won a playoff game. Yeah, I would stick with the NFC South who did it last year That would be my pick. Well, but it's one from each comment. Yeah, for the NFC, just because the quarterback are so stable and strong in the NFC South

that you like a chance. In the AFC, I don't like any of those choices, but if I had to choose one, I think I would go back to the north and think maybe the Ravens and Bengals could get back in. I don't know. I don't feel good about any of those. I think the exercise shows you

the NFC right now from where we stand has a much heavier crop of top plate teams. For sure. Next up, Jason Stein at Jason A. Stein asks, why does Colleen not just move her production meeting by 10 minutes? I've always

had the same. Question. It does not involve just her, but it is, we're talking about 10 minutes of human life. Is she going to get fired off that power ranking show? I mean, I feel like she has some sway at this point, Greg. She's the host, yeah. There is something strange that I don't think any NFL network meetings ever start at 1140. You know what I mean?

Yeah. It always is right on the half hour, and there are probably 10 other people in that room, maybe more. Let me ask you this. Have you attended one meeting ever in this building that would have suffered by being 10 minutes shorter. Or they would have suffered by not happening at all. A or B? Next up, Alex at Mr. Holbeer.

Mark, I'll throw this one to you. What's More Likely? Ooh, a little what's more likely? What's more likely? I'm going to modify Alex as just a little bit. The Browns take a QB at one or sign one of the Vikings QBs. I'm going to make it a little bit more broad. The Browns take a QB at one or they don't.

I think that they, it is more likely that they take a QB at one. That's, there's a lot of people, and I'm hearing this on Twitter every day, why would you not take Sequin Barclay? It's like, oh, the Browns need to do this if they know what they're doing. It's like, okay, but then all these same people a month later, when the quarterback they didn't take it one is blowing up with one of the other three teams or turning into a star with the Giants, how could Cleveland have possibly been so dim to, once again, pass on the court?

If you don't do it at one, you're going to pay the price from a PR angle if you miss the guy. Yeah, I would put my kids' non-existent college fund on the Browns taking a quarterback at one. I would be really shocked if they did. First thing John Dorsey did when he got in the building was send his scouts out to start studying the quarterbacks. Why wouldn't you take a quarterback at one? Don't overthink it, Brownies. Get your guy. Next up, this one from Callum Leslie at Calum Leslie 92.

What are the best and worst beers you've ever drunk? Start with West. Wasn't this guy on the Broncos wide receiver depth chart? Well, as I stated on Mark's Bumper's podcast, Einstock from Iceland is probably the white ale is one of my favorite beers. Shinerbach. That's up there. Are you referring to the Heat and Light podcast?

No, this was a previous interview we did. 10 to 12 minute bumpers. Oh, I remember that. Yes, go on. Sorry. Those would be the two top beers. That Blue Moon, is that a beer? It's like a Belgian beer that they always want to put fruit in.

They'll put like an orange peel or something on the side of the last. That's the worst. That is amazing that you said that, West, because I have it written right here, Blue Moon, the worst beer. Don't add us. Oh, that shock top is terrible too. I, for years, because I know a lot of people that love Blue Moon. And to me, I've always said that to me it tastes like salami juice. It tastes like, to me, like decayed carrots.

Well, yeah, and here's the one thing I'm proud of. Very descriptive. I like these. Blue Moon, do not throw a lawsuit at me. I'm allowed to have an opinion. When I've shared that opinion that it tastes like salami juice, I have turned people off the product forever because they at once say, oh, my God, you're right. Once they link it to them.

Right. Yeah. And then they get off it too. So now it's just gone why. What I'm hearing a little bit, what I could not agree with more, is I don't want any beer where they're putting a lemon or orange slice on top of it. I don't do that. I would say, and this is a lot from hanging out with Dan, that beer is not my first choice when I go out to begin with anymore. But I like currently Alagash White.

Alagash is good. I like race or five once in a while. I love fat tire. Oh, yeah. But beyond that, I don't. I don't get that adventurous. There is one type of beer that I'm off of, but I spend a season on, which was a,

they had like the grapefruit or like the, like the, Oh, yep. Very nice. It's not too strong. It's a nice little, not grapefruit and it grapefruit flavored. You're talking about the one with the, the fish on it. Some shandy. Well, there's, I don't know, because there's like,

suddenly LA. Ballast had it. There were like seven or eight with this, too. Yes, but. Greg, do you have any beer? I'm going to go more personal experience. I think I've had the most fun, drinking a bead of amber in my life.

Oh, I love a bit of Amber. Very good beer. And I think I had the least fun drinking Bex beer when I was about 14 or 15 years old. That was terrible. Warm Bex beer in the basement. We constantly had Rolling Rock, which when you would, it was the only beer that we somehow knew. And you would crack it open. And it's no.

I had a wonderful times with Rolling Rock back in the days. But you'd open it and it smelled like when you'd open a bag of potato chips, that first gust of air that is unforgiving. It's because it's the green bottle. which lets the sun shine in and it skunks it out. That's what they say. There you go. I've heard that.

And if you ever spot the old Zusser, like an airport bar and you don't have the option to get them a Tito's, get me a Mexican lager. And I will take a lime in my Corona or my Pacific. That's different. In general, I just don't like the big giant orange slice on top of a glass of beer, please. Nobody went IPA here. Nicely done. Good job. Good job.

Nice talk. Alan Rees at Archivist underscore AL What do you think of Damashek having a speaking part in Scorpion? Have you guys heard about this? Yes. No. Yes, it's a true story.

Dave has some Hollywood connections, as you know. He's in like a celebrity fantasy football league with John Hamm, for starters. Dick Whitman himself. But he also has a buddy that's connected to Scorpion somehow and it led to Sheck having a cameo. and what can I say? I'm torn about it

and I'm happy for Sheck. I hope it went well. He shot it last week. Why are you torn? I'm torn because the shadowy league figures took Scorpion away from our show, a recurring bit that I quite enjoyed was watching and listening to

horrible Scorpion ads on Sundays during NFL season. So I feel like I've pushed myself away from the program and having Dave enter the fray there. It's a little bittersweet for me personally. Yeah. It's complex for you. I can't wait to watch it. I think he should be in,

he would be great on more strange television shows. That's true. John. At John likes turtles. If Andrew Luck was to come back and see I didn't help out Squarespace, but I will help out John with his typo here. If Andrew Luck was to come back and be healthy. Oh, maybe.

Maybe the best way would be to not mention that he had a typo at all. If Andrew, wait, maybe you didn't have a type of. Maybe it's just poorly working. I think you should add John to your forgiveness. If Andrew Luck was to come back and healthy. Anyway, what do the group honestly believe the ceiling is for the cults? If Luck's healthy, what is Indy's ceiling? Well, no, I don't, they're one of the teams that I think will make about as many moves as any team

because they need to, especially on defense. So it's a little hard to say right now, but the ceiling is winning the division and being a contender, being in the mix. The roof is the ceiling. Yeah. I think their ceiling is every healthy Andrew Luck season where if it's a weak AFC playoff field, they can win a game in the playoffs, but they aren't Super Bowl calendar. Not yet. 10 or 11 wins, the ceiling.

If Chris Ballard can do his job, maybe in a year or two. This one from Bites Choco. Greg, do you think Colin Kaepernick will be the NFL next season? I don't. I was on the camp where I really expected him to get a job throughout. all of last off season up into the bitter end. And it was, it sounded like he was pretty close a couple times. At this point, I'd be pleasantly surprised if he got a job.

I got a bit of a... I hope he does. I hope he does. He should. It's crazy that he wouldn't be in the league, at least on some level. I got a bit of a Cessler that he's going to get signed this year. And it's going to be obviously a huge story. It'll have implications that go well beyond the NFL and all that. It'll be one of the big stories heading into training camp.

Just a Cessler. You just convinced me. I'm backing off me. I mean, he has, does he have an active lawsuit against the league? Yes. Going right now, the unusual situation. I just wonder what team would do that? It's going to take an owner and a coach, I guess, to kind of stick their neck out. Do a couple more here.

Graham Hackney, are the 49ers nailed on? Sounds like a British term. He's from UK. Are the 49ers nailed on as the sexy off-season team in the way the Bucson. where last year, if not, which team do you think it will be? I think that's a, I think that's, I think he nailed it, Graham. I think the Niners are that team that everyone's going to be in love with and are going to pick to either win the NFC West or be a wildcard team.

Does anybody else want to throw another team out there? Well, I'm going to stick with the Chargers. You know, speaking of forgiveness, I forgive them for making all my positive predictions over the last two or three years look bad. They're finally going to get it done. I mean, that's, they're not going to be the trend. I don't know how you top what the next year. Niners did over it with Jimmy Gio over the last five games of the season.

You set the table perfectly to be a raging hype piece the entire offseason, except I don't think it's hype. I think that they've kind of got the right GM, the right coach, and Shanahan has shown that he can quickly build an offense. I think they are that team. I think they are that team. I mentioned Grappolo in the piece I wrote today, and having a little distance, even a couple of weeks, and I know we all love Gropolo.

It is pretty crazy that as of right now, he is the highest paid player in NFL history. I know, despite, I get it. I get it. He looked great in those games, but seven starts, the highest paid player ever in a per season annual average. The 49ers went all in this dude, and we'll see if it pays off. Makes much more sense for Matthew Stafford to be the highest paid player in history. I mean, I just think that, like, the highest paid player in history is often a guy who's... Right, it's going to be Kirk Cousins, which doesn't.

doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I know he's top five numbers. I don't necessarily consider him. Those are guys with years and years of track record as franchise level type guys. I'm just saying. But highest paid in circumstance and the Niners are basically saying, hey, if this doesn't work, get rid of us all in three years, but we believe enough. Right.

I'm with you. Finally, from Thomas Danielian, can you confirm whether or not you will be gracing London with your presence during the international series parenthetical please say yes close parenthetical we can't confirm it yet now

but uh we hope so there's sort of a tractor being pulling us there though because we are real tight with sky sports love them we have seen some changes within the infrastructure here at work that make it

a more favorable option we've got some people inside the building pushing for it polling for it. I'm not going to go breaking news here, but I had a direct one-on-one conversation with a shadowy league figure who assured me that the plan is for us to go to London. We've heard the promises before. That's the only thing I'll say. We are hearing all positive things inside the building, so we can't confirm it, but it looks great. It's more of like a rap sheet level report that this is expected to happen. Interesting. There you go.

Interesting. More a rap sheet shade from left. Get to the bottom of this next week at Indianapolis. We will be back before we're heading to Indianapolis on Tuesday. Monday will be here in Culver City doing a show, a show in which we will unveil the Free Agency 101 list by the scientists, the blood, sweat, and tears, things that cannot be taken back. But it all worth it because they'll have the definitive free agency list. and we will break the whole thing down.

That will be Monday's episode. And then we're off to Indianapolis, so make sure you plug in to the Around the NFL podcast. And don't forget, and this is important to, if you haven't already, subscribe. Even if you don't use Apple Podcasts or Google Play, subscribe to the Around the NFL podcast and leave a review, and we will read some down the line potentially.

But that stuff really does matter. So if you could, we'd really appreciate it. That's it. Standing off for Quiet Storm, the mailman, the old boss, Lindsay Fulton, maybe your last show. Likely a millionaire. How about that? Until Monday. This is an I-Heart podcast.