NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Minicamp begins, Stephon Gilmore absent
Episode Date: June 14, 2021Another Monday pod! A room filled with some heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal bring you the latest news in the NFL as 18 teams start minicamp this week. In New England, Stephon Gil...more is absent (10:43) and N’Keal Harry is fighting for a roster spot (16:53). In other news, Russell Wilson details his “unfortunate situation” (18:39), Le’Veon Bell is bad at apologizing (22:01) and Kyler Murray wants to run less (26:20). Then we have transaction wire news (29:32), Von Miller speaks about the Aaron Rodgers rumors (34:31) and we close the show with a trope classic: Ezekiel Elliott is in the best shape of his life (38:08).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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And I'm Bucky Brooks.
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The Around the NFL podcast, missed out on DogeCoy, to the moon.
Money is into that stuff. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. I come to you from a virtual room, back in the old virtual room, filled with some heroes. Mark Sessler,
Greg Rosenthal, wow, boys.
Listen, this time last year, we were doing bunker casts.
We were in the darkness.
We were in caves and garages and had no contact with the outside world.
This weekend, you know, really starting with Thursday with the Pridecast,
the first annual around the NFL podcast Pridecast from Morocco's and great feedback on that show.
Everyone seemed to really enjoy it, and we love being out there.
And then Connie and Gonzo and Kristen, their friend, launched the latest Dad Summit.
So we were partying at her place.
And then there was a boat cruise out on Rina Del Rey that I was lucky enough to be a part of.
Wow, that was a summer weekend.
Yeah, I was there on Saturday.
It felt like more of like the training ground, the warm up.
The kids were, you know, were allowed to be.
their part of the festivities and then the boat was just like full on debauchery but i give them a lot of credit
they had like good kids uh free stuff to play with like they were very they were very on top of it and
then it looks like sunday was just i don't know it's a lot yeah well i'd like to i missed out um
you know we had we had a lot of soccer um activities in our house so it's playing that role marr you are
getting a lot of mileage out of soccer is going on lately whenever there's any type of social
engagement. Oh, yeah. Well, no, I mean, I wasn't using that as a leverage to not go somewhere,
but it didn't work out. But I want to know more about this boat trip because it sounds,
it sounds frisky. It was great. It was booze crews. We had a nice crew there. My wife was
there. Connie, Lakeisha, handsome Hank, our great friend Deeker, Drew from the network side,
Just like a really varied crew, a bunch of Philly maniacs, like Channing Eagles and all this other stuff going on on the boat.
It was fun.
But I got the farmer's tan of all time.
Really one of the top farmer tans I've ever had in my life where it's just like it's crazy.
Like it's wild.
But that's part of being in the sun.
And we're back outside around other humans.
And that's awesome.
Part of being a farmer.
I mean, you know, right.
It's part of having alabaster skin, but living in Los Angeles.
That's true.
Austrian skin, Dan, that you were talking about.
It does. Well, you know, I survived in the sun
during the Pridecast.
I made it. I just made it.
I know you were tucked away in the shade, Mark.
And then I saw you text the next day. You were like,
is everybody else okay? Man, that sun was killer.
Mark was like on a Tahit and vacation underneath a palm tree
during the whole show.
That's what I don't get. I came home and I had like a killer sunburn.
Yet I spent almost no time under the sun.
So something very strange.
happening in the atmosphere.
It's the lack of the Austrian pigmentation, bro.
Okay, we'll chalk it up to that.
All right.
Nice show today.
Nice show today.
We've got two more shows this week as we edge into summer.
And this is a big week around the NFL because 18 of the 32 teams start minicamp.
And we're going to kind of just spin through it.
an old school bunker cast type vibe here.
We'll just do a spin around the league,
go a deep dive on the news side of things.
And I feel like that's the good way
to get us caught up.
That's what we do.
Because Greg, you know, listen,
it was a little frivolous.
You know, we got loose, Suntars.
They had some fun.
But we are a football podcast
and we just got to like get very serious about that.
I don't think we need to get too serious.
Deadly serious.
If we had the juice to be able to pull that off
like every show, I think we would.
But I don't know if we have that inside of us.
to do, you know, that wouldn't, it wouldn't be special anymore if we could do that.
I'm almost surprised that we reconvened before taking this little breakthrough.
That was like a WrestleMania event for us.
And now we're like in a, that would have been a good last show.
It would have been, yeah.
This is like a Nanuette, New Jersey, like undercard that people are apparently still
going to be listening to.
Like we're Monday, Wednesday, and then we're off for six days, but we're still coming back
next Tuesday or whatever.
It feels like it's the last week of school, you know, like and everyone's going to get out for
summer break.
but it really isn't you know you guys have your tv show i'll be gone next next step by next week
we've got the tv show and like it all it all turns around pretty quickly is what i'm saying
it feels like it because the nfl's about to take off for a month and a half and my kids are done
with school as of friday so or a lot you've got to love you've got to love the fact that gregg's
first move is to downplay the concept of vacation it's not really a vacation we're not really
getting away we're not really doing anything we're going to be back next week yeah i know but that's depressing
I don't want to think about that until next week.
We will have some time off, but it'll be closer to the end of this month early July.
But all right, let's get to.
Without further ado, we have sitting in because Ricky's still on this Bachelorette party,
which is wild, by the way.
We got some dispatches, some pictures, some video clips,
some crazy stuff going on with these Bachelorette parties.
And by the way, one of the people on the booze cruise was Ricky's girlfriend.
And I did ask her, there's the ATN Media Insider.
I did ask her, are you really okay with her going to this bachelor at party
where the bachelorette is actually her Ricky's ex-girlfriend?
She said she sniffed it out, had conversations with when the relationship first started,
and feels comfortable with the situation.
And I just wanted to say that's what Eric had said as well, so it all checked out.
I would say this too.
I mean, Erica, in terms of what content we're getting from the party,
and she's been very generous with sending along clips
that I don't think would be necessarily put out for the public.
She's the gatekeeper,
and there is no hint of her running afoul of the rules.
She seems to be to have her act together.
Some of the other people involved in the lesbianic bachelor party,
to me, do not seem to be playing by any rules on any level.
So if anything, Eric, has done her job to contain herself.
Lesbianic
Bachelor of Party
All right, let's do the news
But anyway, Dan Greg
Mark Sessler
You got a huge fan down here
Some bloke and Aussie
Loves Dan Hansis
Dan, you're the best
That's my story
There we go
We corrected that issue Mark
It's been corrected
And by the way
Like I'm not sitting around
Fuming over that event
But you know
I don't think about it
I think that Kyle is an ally
Of our show
And by the way
I thought about it enough where I've actually spoken to the person who spoke with Kyle,
and I have full details on what that actual conversation was, and we'll just leave it right there.
Wow.
All right.
Speaking of which, we had developing news, we were looking for the mysterious Aussie, big fan of our program.
And sure enough, the miracles of social media, we found him.
And he is a, it turns out he's an actor with a really, really impressive IMDB page.
And he's currently on an Amazon program.
His name is Matt Leneves.
Let's listen in on Matt's social media experience.
G'day Dan and Kyle.
I'm the mysterious Aussie from the bus.
It's day night of quarantine.
Clearly, Kyle's lost his mind.
he's doing Aussie accent impersonations.
He's locked somewhere in this hotel.
I'm not sure where.
We're not allowed to see anyone,
not allowed to open the door.
Kyle!
Nah, he didn't hear it.
Anyway, day nine's been made a lot more special
because I've got a shout out from the around the NFL.
I've been listening to you guys for 10 years.
You're the greatest.
Honestly, Dan, Greg, Mark, Ricky,
and the late great, Chris,
you guys hold a special place in all your fans' hearts.
I just want to say thanks for everything that you do.
And hopefully one day we can all meet.
Take care.
What a class act.
And you could see Matt Lenevis on Amazon's absentia.
How about that?
Wow.
I'll tell you something else.
He was on a show because I went kind of did a deep dive into some of his work.
He's the one I spoke to.
He's a wonderful guy, total sweetheart.
And he is on a show called The Offspring.
Thanks for breaking that news.
No, he's just a great guy.
He was on a show called The Offspring.
And he appears in, he sort of shows up around season two, episode four.
And he is like the hunky love interest.
Like he sizzles on screen.
He is leading man, energy, and vibes.
So I would suggest anyone go check that out.
He is a genuinely talented actor.
Wow, hunky sizzling.
I haven't heard Mark this excited since Brad Pitt took his shirt off.
I would have.
Well, that's fair.
But I would have Emily, you know,
she's in casting to take a look at his.
at his skills too. They are legit.
Wow. And to be clear, Mark, we didn't think that he, like, said Dan, Greg, and the guys.
We never thought that. You know, that we were putting on Kyle.
You know, that we're putting on Kyle.
That was very clear, I thought.
I think there was a bit of a game of telephone that happened with that interaction.
But that explains it.
That's fine.
I do appreciate all the tweets that have come since seeing, like, great to hear Dan, Greg, and the guys all back together.
I do not. I don't like those at all. They bring me no pleasure.
In fact, they border unknowing.
You know, it did.
It also crossed my mind.
You know, Matt is a successful actor.
I wonder if we have any other well-known listeners, like people that are successful in the entertainment field or, you know, sports and another sport or whatever.
I doubt there's a lot of NFL stars listening to our show, but you never know.
I would wager no.
What if, like, Jack Nicholson was like a huge fan of our podcast?
That would be awesome.
I don't think so.
All right, let's get to the news.
All right.
Let's start with Greg's Patriots.
Stefan Gilmore, the 2019 NFL defensive player of the year, star cornerback.
You know, he is at a bit of an impasse with the team regarding his contract.
and he is not at mandatory minicamp.
The Patriots, one of these 18 teams this week.
Everybody needs to be there.
And if not, you're getting a fine.
Gilmore is not there.
And it's unclear if he plans to be there for the rest of the week.
He's subject to almost $94 or $93,000 in fines if he misses all three days.
Greg, we know how Belchick can be and he is not afraid to move veterans.
Do you think Stefan Gilmore is going to be on the move at some point before 2021 season begins?
Or do you think this is just contract posturing and they'll get something done?
I don't think he'll be on the move because Belichick loves Stefan Gilmore so much.
He made very similar noise before last season and they gave him some extra guaranteed money going into the year,
which is very rare for them to do where they didn't give him a contract this thing,
just like gave him a little extra money, which is I can,
only remember them doing that with, like, Wes Welker.
He speaks so fondly of Gilmore, and he tried to, Belichick did almost cover up that he
wasn't there today, like, oh, there were weather issues, so we're not totally sure if
everyone's going to get here, and they asked specifically about Gilmore, and he was kind
of putting it off.
He almost trying to do Gilmore a favor.
I can't imagine they're going to give him some monster contract extension, so that's
problematic.
He's coming off a quad surgery, which is pretty serious for an aging cornerback, but I think he's
all in it to win it this year.
and Belichick is in that they'll come to some sort of agreement,
maybe with something similar to what they did a year ago.
And they're not too worried about minicamp is my guess.
Training camp is a little different.
Yeah, I mean, I think he, you know, Gilmore has a point.
He's the 24th highest paid quarterback in the league.
He's making about $7 million base salary.
So it's just, you know, even his camp is probably saying,
look, we've got to maximize your earnings.
You're 31 in September.
let's get you as much money as we can.
But do I think that you're going to get a massive multi-year deal?
No.
But maybe it's just what they did last year
because it would be atypical of the Patriots this offseason
to suddenly start shedding star players.
If anything, they seem like a team totally trying to bounce back
and win the AFCs.
It's funny, like you mentioned that, Greg, about,
you know, weather issues or having some travel.
Like, this is the same Belichick who,
remember when the bomb cyclone blizzard hit,
New England and it became a big story in January 2018.
He's like, nobody, nobody is late for practice.
I don't care what you have to do.
And the guys were so scared of Belchick that they were all like checking into local hotels
so they could walk to the facility if they had to.
Now Belchak's like, ah, you know, summer storms and things of that nature.
No big deal.
Right.
It's all about the player because in that case, he was using that specific example.
I remember it well in the snow to make an example of Adelius Thomas who was on his
radar from the moment that he signed with New England. And that was like one of the last
draws. And I think he loves Gilmore. And Gilmore wasn't quite as good last year when he was
healthy. And then he had a pretty serious injury. So he's a little bit of a question mark in
general. But I just can't imagine they would they would trade him because you're not going to get
like another good veteran in return. Only draft picks would be what people would send for him.
In 2009, linebacker Daliaz Thomas told ESPN he showed up nine minutes late for a team meeting.
After snowfall nearly caused him to get into an accident on the way to the facility.
Belichick sent him home.
You guys like shaking up.
He almost got himself killed trying to get to football practice and he gets sent back in the car.
It's funny because they're kind of similar.
They're two of, if not the two biggest free agent contracts that Patriots have ever signed.
And Adelius Thomas was a total bust.
And Gilmore, yes, okay, he's 24th in base salary this year.
But that stuff is always a little misleading, because when he signed the contract, it was, you know, it blew the doors off for cornerback contracts.
And everyone was like, I can't believe they're signing someone to the number one cornerback contract in the league.
It's just since then it's been totally past.
He's gotten that signing bonus money.
And that's why, you know, just sprinkle him a little money, Belichick.
Stop sweating the small stuff.
You're on your boat and, you know, this.
Yeah, it doesn't sound like it is.
That's what I'm saying.
Sprinkle him a few million and hopefully this will go away.
By the way, over at the piers, at the Marina, Marina del Rey, Snoop has a boat out there.
Wow.
A big purple yacht.
And there was another one, a really obscenely large yacht called the Hotel California.
And the, you know, how with the boat on the back, it's the name of the boat and then where it's from.
And it was Winslow, Arizona, which is, you know, famous line from, take it easy.
by the Eagles. I figure that as Don Henley noted Dick of rock and roll with a obscene,
ugly yacht ported in Raina Del Rey. These are just things you notice when you're out on the water.
It's good dot connecting. Well, was anyone embarrassing on that boat, by the way, did anyone,
you tell us. On our boat, no. On your boat, I don't know about the other boat. On our, on our boat, everyone was,
I wouldn't say good behavior, but everybody was able to comport themselves with dignity. I saw one
woman on a neighboring yacht, and we were on a yacht. We were on like a little party.
pontoon basically but a woman being she was completely passed out and she was on the top level of
this like multi-million dollar yacht and they had to carry her body and she was a large woman had to
carry her body straight down like some like a ladder to get her down to the main level of the boat so
they could get her off the boat and I guess get her into an ambulance I hope she's okay that's like an
alcohol poisoning scenario uh that sun that'll get you um and also speaking of the since we're in the
Patriots realm. Greg and you mentioned bus. Did you see this report from the Boston
Herald that Nikiel Harry and maybe this is just an observation that don't put too much into it
could be fighting for a roster spot this summer. This is a first round pick in 2019, Greg. And I
went and checked out your projected starter series. You don't have Harry listed as a starter. Patriots
obviously made some big signings across the board on offense. Do you, would that be stunning to
if Harry got cut
third year of his career
as a first round pick.
Did I have a note
that he's not a lock
to make the team?
You didn't.
I went to check specifically
to see if you would address it.
That's why I wanted to ask you.
He looks like the fourth receiver.
But then if you're like the fourth receiver
and you don't play special teams
and he has been a stiff,
you could very well see
them do one of these fake
face saving trades
August 20th where they trade
him for a conditional seventh, which is like the condition is, Nickeel Harry is no longer
Nickyell Harry after we trade him, which, you know, they don't get anything for him.
It wouldn't shock me.
He's not looked good.
It's not look good.
That's rough.
That would be rough.
He was taking four picks before Debo Samuel, 19 before A.J. Brown.
And then out of curiosity, it's like, who else in that first round is no longer with their team?
And there are two interesting cases.
You had one quarterback, of course, Duane Haskins.
and then Giant Safety DeAndre Baker,
who had major legal issues.
Well, that's usually the earliest
that a first round pick ever gets cut
is training camp of their third year.
And even that's pretty rare.
But that's like the, that's like always,
unless there's something crazy
like the two guys you mentioned.
Although Haskins, I guess, that was just,
that was an all-timer.
That was an all-timer.
In other news, another Rosenthal favorite,
Russell Wilson, spoke to the media
at the end of OTA's,
late last week, and he addressed, you know, all the drama that swarmed around him earlier
this offseason and how in some ways they got blown out of proportion. Let's hear what Danger Russ
had to say. You know, obviously I love Seattle. I love playing here. You know, I've had a great
career here so far. I've always wanted to play here for my whole career. Obviously, I think there
are some, you know, unfortunate frustrations after the season. Obviously, you want to win it all and do it all
and do everything you can, you know.
And I think everybody on our team does.
We all want to win it.
And, you know, I think unfortunately got a little, you know,
a little bit blown out of proportion, a little bit.
I browse race.
I don't know, like, who's the unfortunate?
If you're saying that they had unfortunate feelings
and he's including himself in that, that would make sense.
I think he did a little bit.
He was saying right after the season,
there were some frustrations about how things,
ended first round exit after a 12 and four season.
But you know who you are, Russell Wilson.
You've spent years building yourself up to where you are.
Your agent, forget all the off the record stuff that they were clearly doing.
His agent literally went on the record with Adam Schaefter and listed the four teams that he would be traded to.
And so they asked Russell Wilson, I don't know who it was, but kudos, because that was the follow-up to have about that quote.
And he was just like, well, I just wanted to, you know, make it clear if,
they were going to trade me where I would want to go.
But the Seahawks were like, we don't want to trade you.
We never brought that up.
John Schneider was clear about that.
He was on the record, too.
So to try to like paint that as like it was blown out of proportion,
you guy literally what I just, I just threw you a piece of raw meat, Greg.
But I agree with you were saying.
He's not, he's a little clumsy with how to play the game.
There are other guys out there that can do this in a way that doesn't lead to this type
of, I wouldn't call this a Miaculpa, but walking back certain elements of his offseason strategy.
Well, what about the anecdotes of him storming out of meeting rooms and, you know, being so
upset with the offense? I mean, I think when he was at the Super Bowl, sitting with Goodell,
watching Tom Brady, you know, win it again after going to Tampa Bay and having incredible
say and pull on a new franchise, that started him and five other quarterbacks down this road of
malcontent status. And yes, it got, it got, it just, it didn't have.
for him. He didn't get moved. I think they addressed his concerns to some degree by trading
for a couple linemen and adding people and, you know, resigning Chris Carson. But like had the Bears
trade scenario been okayed by Seattle and Russell Wilson wants to finish his career with the Seahawks,
would he have been okay going to Chicago? Would he have been okay being traded? Or just none of that
happens. So now you're back in front of reporters and you have to make good with all this absurd drama
that occurred. Right. I just have some faith in the audience a little bit here.
It's like we can handle the truth. You don't have to, like everyone sees through this stuff
anyways. So, you know, Seahawks fans are going to love you if you play well. I mean, it is a tricky
thing to like go back and, you know, get them back all on all on your side. But I don't know,
just be honest. Speaking of malcontents, Levyon Bell, currently without a job in the NFL.
Bell. He made some news early this week by coming after Andy Reid on social media writing.
I'd never play for Andy Reid again.
Dot, dot, dot. I'd retire first.
And then this had one of my favorite headlines of the year so far, the offseason.
Labion Bell apologizes for public comment about Kansas City Chiefs Coach Andy Reid,
but does not regret at all what I said.
That's not really how it works.
Levyon walked it back thusly.
I said what I said and I don't regret at all what I said
for those who have a personal problem with me
because of what I said, that's fine.
You have your right.
Just understand I also have my right
for how I feel about my personal problem with dude
because of what he said to me.
Bell, of course, was cut by the Jets in the middle of the season
in 2020 after signing a huge deal with New York
a couple of years earlier and bombed out there,
went to Kansas City,
He didn't even play in the AFC title game in the Super Bowl
and now is back on the street.
And this is probably not a way to hang around in the league
going on public with this stuff.
But that's what he did.
And he's an outspoken dude and he always has been.
Who would have thought a couple years ago?
You go back to 2017, which is great season.
If we said in 2021, I mean, running back careers changed drastically.
But like Wayne Galman has a job right now.
Taiwan Jones is on a roster.
and levy on bell cannot find a job and to waste um the fact that i mean the a we're discussing
this and it was you know it's a light time for the NFL and it popped up and so of course we're
going to but the fact that this is something that was i had to ponder in my mind this stupid scenario
um going after andy reed without clarifying what it was andy reed said and then as you said dan a totally
um a totally false absurd fraudulent uh semi apology that really wasn't
one at all. I just I find it to be extremely mentally tiring. Probably like his agent saying,
hey, a dummy, go apologize on Twitter. We're trying to get you a job and he couldn't do it. He couldn't
successfully. Right. A lot of apologies are like, I'm sorry if you were offended. This wasn't
the worst. That's the worst ones. This wasn't quite that. This was just, I apologize, but I don't
regret what I said, which just doesn't make any sense. Yeah, it's, it's that time of year where
this was a comment as a, it was like a response to a comment in someone else's Instagram post or
whatever, but I think the reason why it made news, not just because, oh, wait, Libyan Bell's,
you know, still around is no one, no player has ever disliked Andy Reid. Like, that is the one NFL
coach that seems to have like a 99.9% approval rating and that every, like, is the ultimate
players coach. So when
you talk on Andy Reid, I think then that
got people's attention. And it's funny, when
he was talking his way
out of New York and he was burying
Adam Gase, everyone was kind of siding
with Bell because everyone knows Adam Gase
was in over his head and really bad at communicating.
And I remember thinking to myself as
like, I think this one's getting
like a little mixed up because I think
Adam Gase is awful as a head
coach and a communicator, but I also think
that Lev Bell is a bit of
a knucklehead. And now he's
doing it again at this latest stop. You said it. You said it, Mark. In 2017, you could say Levyon
Bell and Todd Gurley were the two best running backs of football, and neither of them have a job
here in June, 2021, both still in their 20s. All right. The post-Steeler's Levyon Bell and
Antonio Brown experience has made not just Mike Tomlin look better for keeping the train on the
tracks for as long as he did, but just the decisions to let them go better in hindsight.
And one last note on this, Honey Badger, he chimed in on the controversy, or if you want
to call it that, he tweeted, these fellas blame everybody for their lack of success.
That's how I know I'm built different.
Oof, that cuts the fellow star, Tyron Matthew.
All right, here we go.
Moving on, Kyler Murray, the former number one overall pick entering a very pivotal third
season in the NFL with the Cardinals.
And this feels a little tropey, a running quarterback, sharing his feelings in the off
season about wanting to run a little bit less.
Let's listen in to Kyler Murray.
Honestly, the way I see it is, you know, my leg should be a luxury.
And it kind of wasn't like that last year.
It was kind of me having to run for us in a sense.
And, you know, once, you know, I was, you know, my shoulder was banged up or whatever,
and I was, you know, I wasn't trying to put myself out there and take those hits and stuff like that.
We kind of, we kind of took a law, you know, hit a law.
And, you know, honestly, I think it was good for us.
You know, I think it was a lesson for us that, you know, we can't be one-dimensional.
We just got to be better in all areas, all aspects of the game.
Mark, we were socially distanced in my old garage last,
late last season, it was a Thursday night game,
I want to say maybe late November,
when he injured that shoulder,
and that maybe gets slept on a little bit of their season
and he was never the same after that.
Maybe he's thinking,
I need to avoid that type of injury happening in the future,
but at the same time, like, this is what makes him special, right?
It is.
I mean, it totally neutralized their offense.
You know, they scored after that game nine fewer points per game.
And it was an offense that I found frustrating to watch
to begin with, especially in the red zone.
And we've talked about Cliff Kingsbury.
But when you took away his running element,
because, you know, they tried,
he played hurt, given credit for that,
but he wasn't able to just take off and run the same way.
They were not, they just were not,
they were easily kind of suppressed on offense,
and they fell apart.
They were six and three.
I mean, that Hail Mary game against the Bills
feels like a million years ago
because the way that season ended.
So I hear what he's saying,
just because in terms of like career longevity,
I mean, no one had more rushing yards outside.
side of Lamar Jackson than him on the ground from the quarterback position.
But if you do take that away, what's special about their offense from looking at
them today?
I mean, I just don't see something special at all.
Yeah, I'm glad I heard the quotes with him saying it because I think he's talking about
his own improvement too.
I mean, I think he's talking about I don't want to rely on that either and we had to.
He was on pace to break Lamar Jackson's rushing record before that injury.
It's kind of like, okay, players are just best.
better now in terms of athleticism than they used to be.
But to me, he's there with Lamar and Michael Vick
as the three best running quarterbacks ever,
just in terms of just purely, like, good at running.
He is an unreal, I mean, he still put over 800 yards.
He made guys miss.
And I think that was part of the excitement early in the season
was he was just making stuff up,
but they did not have a lot of plays
within the structure of the offense.
And I think the other NFC West teams,
which, you know, have some big defenses,
is the Rams and the 49.
They seem to have a pretty good beat
on what Kyler Murray wanted to do
and knew how to stop it.
Transaction wire, the Dolphins sign linebacker
Jerome Baker to a three-year,
$39 million contract extension.
Sell it, Dan.
That is the same Jerome Baker coming up
back-to-back, century mark tackle seasons.
Career high seven sacks, good for you, young man.
Get your dollar.
James and Crowder are going to have less dollars
in his pocket this season.
after Rapsheet reported that the Jets renegotiated their deal with the wide receiver.
I heard from a little birdie.
He basically got his salary slashed in half.
So he's probably going to make him in the area of $5 million on a one-year deal.
And still not out of the question that he gets traded before week one.
And finally, Nick Mowens, the former 49ers, quarterback, has signed with the Eagles.
A bit of an interesting landing spot because, of course, your favorite.
favorite marks, Stone Age Pony, Joe Flacco is there already backing up.
Jalen Hertz, you wonder if Mullins is a camp arm or a legitimate option for them?
I don't, Mullins, like, I get that he's, you know, not maybe a starter, but Mullen's did some good
things in San Francisco.
I kind of wondered if maybe, you know, with the Niners link in New York, that maybe the Jets
would have gone after someone like Mullins.
They've got James Morgan.
I think it's a little telling, to be honest with you.
why, like, Robert L.
We don't want anything to do with it.
He's sloppies.
Are crazy.
I mean, remember, they always show those stats of, like,
the best yards per attempt in the first, you know,
a thousand throws of his career.
And it's like Nick Mullins is there with Dan Marino and Mike.
Right.
We outplayed CJ Bethleh.
I think he's a great example of, like,
if you're a football fan or you're not, like,
plugged in 24-7 on the team,
you looked at some of his games and his numbers.
You're like, oh, Nick Mullins is good.
and then the 49ers couldn't wait to get rid of him,
and then he sits on the market for all this time before getting a...
He was hurt, though.
He was coming off an injury, so that's partly why I think he took so long to get signed.
I don't even know if he's healthy.
He has come back from an elbow.
That is true.
Not Tommy John or anything, but it was an elbow injured.
Of these three signings, the Baker one, it was such huge money.
It just got me thinking how the dolphins are very unpredictable team.
And one of the reasons I think they're unpredictable is,
I don't know if any team disagrees with PFF more than the Dolphins.
PFF has a pretty large influence, I think,
in the way that the media, including myself and others,
talk about players.
And a lot of times at these positions, when it's like,
well, I don't really have that how to Jerome Baker take,
you know, you head over to PFF.
And PFF has, you know, buried them as one of the worst players.
And the dolphins also have made these moves
where they've cut or traded players
who are very highly graded at PFF.
They seem to love their young offensive line with PFF hates.
I don't know, like, what this all means in the long run,
but it's like they just gave a guy who PFF thinks
is one of the worst linebackers in the league, like massive money.
So we'll see who's right.
Miami or PFF, the war is on.
Well, I mean, if you look at like what Brian Flores said about him,
like Brian Flores loves him, and they've got Jalen Phillips,
and, you know, this guy can rush the passer.
He's good in coverage.
They also, though, like, do you...
Doesn't leave the field, which is rare for a lineback.
or at that. Right. Do you re-sign Emmanuel Agba? I mean, that's someone out there. And also
Mike Isicki, who I think is like definitely someone to hold on to is in the final year of his
contract. They're going to have to start paying players soon. It's interesting with Crowder and
the Jets. Last season, when the season opened and it was a forgettable season on so many levels.
But you know Chris Hogan was their starting wide receiver?
He's playing lacrosse now. He's now in the National Lacrosse League. And now, flash, I'm not saying
the Jets are loaded at wide receiver all of a sudden. But all of a sudden it's like it's gotten to
the point where James and Crowder, especially with the emergence of Elijah Moore,
who people are going nuts about and every right of about the Jets having an amazing initial
camp with the team, that Crowder doesn't really have a spot. He was there clear cut number
one last year. We'll see how that all sorts out. Well, I would like to say they should keep
them. Yeah, I think smart teams need like four or five options now in the passing game and the
Jets are one of those teams that has it. It's awesome. And shout out to Chris Hogan, by the way.
We were there while he was making some catches in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl comeback against the Falcons.
Chris Ogan, a little bit of a forgotten player in that game made some pretty big plays in that game, Chris Ogan.
I actually lost a sandwich bet because I think I had a sandwich bet something along the lines that he'd have 120 yards receiving.
Didn't go that high, but I know he had at least four or five catches in some big plays.
Because I blocked out a lot of that Super Bowl second half.
But I do remember more with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent, Chris Hogan, 7-11, always open.
Yeah.
He was one of those, the great underdog stories of Hard Knocks about seven or eight years ago.
Greg, I want to check in here, you know, on this podcast, we're tracking that Denver Broncos quarterback room very closely.
Oh, I'm not putting them in the show anymore.
Let's stop this, please.
And you had pointed out, no, I think it's only fair.
It's only fair, Greg.
Okay.
Because when you wanted to surface Von Miller quotes when he was apparently giving a little nod to Teddy Bridgewater as the guy he wants to be the quarterback, I must just let you know that Vaughn's going both ways on this one.
Okay?
So they're asking him about Aaron Rogers.
And Vaughn said, listen, I got to ignore all that stuff.
You know why?
Hold on.
Wait a minute.
He said.
We've got Drew Locke.
that's who we're running with
that's who we're going into the season
with until anything changes
Greg that is a shot across your bow
directly
well maybe he
maybe he's a leader on the team that heard
you know Locke wasn't too happy about these other
converses you know so now
he's just trying to make up for it
you know
I don't know people have talked
at that camp I think I wouldn't shook
Greg up a little bit Mark
I was I didn't want to go down this avenue
yeah I don't
But, Mina Kimes pointed out to me just recently, Teddy, 17th in QBR last year, 13th in completion percentage over-expected.
Hey, the stats are the stats.
The stats don't lie, you know, they don't.
Stats never lie.
That's true.
They're having a tough time, though, the receivers dealing with both quarterbacks because people are saying that Drew Locke's passes.
And I'm not saying the guy is Mr. Accuracy, but that they come in fast, hard.
but the teddy's balls like teddy's throat football throws are like these looping more looping
arrangements where it's tougher to they don't come to you as quickly and so it's you can't they're
not both quarterbacks are very different which one would you rather have i'd rather have the catchable
ball and we've seen uh those drew rocket rocket that's firing into the off your sideline since
since college i want that like chad pennington after his third shoulder surgery looper
Comeback player of the year.
He made it work.
He was awesome.
He was awesome, by the way.
Since it's the total offseason depth right now, I do have a Chad Pennington take.
I think he's pretty, he's now like used this sometimes as a, not a punchline, but it's like, oh yeah, this guy who was nice.
He like overcame like shoulder.
And people do, I don't think I understand what a baller Chad Pennington was.
He is historically underrated.
Like he had incredible quarterback.
skills. And if he had a better situation at points, like he would have won even more games.
He was a great player. That's all I'm saying. I think what he really got dinged for more was he was in
the Tom Brady draft. And he was a first round pick. So everyone says, oh, the Jets, they blew it.
Tom Brady won 187 picks later. But yeah, especially before he got hurt. One of the better jet seasons
of the last 20 years is when Pennington replaced an aging Fini Testa Verdi. And the Jets won
the division in a playoff game in 2002.
He was a legit badass, hurt his shoulder.
His next level, like the throws he could make
and attempt because of his accuracy, he is one of the best
throwing, like, quarterbacks of all time in terms of putting it
where he wanted to.
Right.
And great with the play action, he really was.
He was the best Jeff's quarterback in my lifetime until this kid.
That's all.
That's all. The Chipotle kid came along.
Wait, so Zach Wilson is now he's already superseded.
I like to think so.
That's the way I'm trying to be positive.
about this. Finally, in the news, I did a little search of this just so I had the article in front
of me and it came up the Spanish language version for ESPN.com. I just thought the headline was
funny. So here it is. Dallas Cowboys Ven to Ezekiel Elliott in la Mejor Forma de su vida.
Which means sound the trope alert graver.
Troopalert. Trooper. That means Dallas Cowboys on Zeke Elliott. He's in the
the best shape of his life.
Yeah, we did it.
Super Trope alert.
Oh, boy.
Sess was ready for vacation.
No, no, no.
I mean, I actually like,
I went back and looked at a couple other off-season.
And there were similar headlines in, like, 2019.
Cowboys running back, Zeke Elliott is still in Cabo,
reportedly in great shape.
Ezekiel Elliott's weight is at the lowest it's been since his rookie year.
I will say this.
If there's one thing, like one of the first conversations I had about football with West,
was about running backs.
And he really, I think, bought into when you found a running back hit the scene in August
in like truly great shape, then they started to run really hard in the preseason.
It was predictive of a big year.
I mean, Elliot, if anything, played behind an offensive line last year that was an absolute
injury wrangled mess.
They had three, their three best linemen, Zach Martin, Tyron Smith, and Lail Collins played a combined
600 snaps, 618 snaps
154 and 0. I mean, they just
didn't, they were a hot mess. So
would Elliot in good shape be better?
Maybe, is it a trope? It's a huge
trope. Well, it should be stated
that his backup ran really well last
year and looked better than Zeke in
he did. He had 100 attempts. I mean, do you
that I like Pollard a lot, but do you, is
Pollard suddenly like, I'm not saying he's better
than at peak Zeke Elliott. I'm just saying it's not
like that line. I mean, if Pollard was
bombing out as well, I just
think Zeke Elliott probably maybe, yeah,
wasn't the same guy physically last year maybe and now he's realizing it this is his money's involved
here because if he has another bad year he's in trouble it COVID missed a lot of work like he um
he is someone he's a trope being in the best shape of his life personally like this has happened three
times he does right you know for what it's worth you know I think it's tough to put this on players
too often but I having gone to Oxnard very often like on the first day of their training camp or a
couple times. The story is always either Ezekiel Eli is totally out of shape and winded,
or Ezekiel Ali is in amazing shape. And it seems to go every other year. And that just seems to be
where he's been as a player. And often when he has shown up and people are all excited about it,
he does play awesome that year. And when he shows up and out of shape, then that's what happens.
I would, if I was, and I will have a fantasy draft, like millions of
of other people later this summer.
I wonder, I feel like he's a nice bounce back candidate.
I agree.
I think so.
He was on my team last year and I shipped him in a multi-player trade
to Handsome Hank's son in about week eight.
I'm getting off this is Ezekiel Elliott thing.
He was smart.
Highly frustrating.
Well done, Mark.
Well, taking advantage of a young child.
No, he was not a young child.
He was making more, Henry's son was making more transactions
than anyone in the league by two.
But my team, cats are overrated.
was not swayed by that.
I concocted a deal with him, and we made the playoffs.
Plus, he's my size, all of Henry's sons.
Even, like, the five-year-old is bigger than me.
The five-year-old is larger than you.
His five-year-old is giant.
It's going to be interesting.
I think he's going to be a professional wrestler, I'm pretty sure of it.
Something scientific is going on with that third child.
He's far too large for his age.
It's Alfie, right?
He can be Algae.
He's a healthy young.
I mean, Henry will admit it, too, though.
Henry will admit there's something, he's said it.
something i don't know what the word would be something unusual about let's just say special there's
something special going on it's special it's wonderful yeah he could be one of those pro athletes
like aaron judge like six seven two seventy five all muscle like maybe he's just that's his arc
henry is six four or whatever the framework is there yeah
all right he was there on saturday check money it was quite uh like uh that was outrageous when i
heard that.
Sheck back on the scene.
That's how they're mostly known as around the NFL guests.
But yeah, it's like that it was, it was quite a, it was nice to see all these people I
haven't seen in a year plus in the flesh.
If you know how things work here in Los Angeles, certain people that live in, like,
if you live in the valley, like Sheck does, he will never come to the west side of Los Angeles
or its surrounding territories unless.
something deadly serious is going on.
So for him to go all the way to where Colleen and Gonzo live.
Well, they moved to Mexico.
So, yeah, that's, that's, that's a long trip.
That was a show, that was a show of respect.
That was a kiss of the ring of Connie, ultimately.
Absolutely.
That's what I took out of that.
There you go.
Anything else to add here?
No.
You know, things are pretty slow in the sports world where the top headline right now on
ESPN.com, source colon, Crowder takes pay cut to stay with Jets.
That's the number one headline in sports room.
Wow.
Now, we're probably jinxing it, and we're going to have to do an emergency podcast in 98 minutes.
But that's where things are.
But we got you caught up today.
You know what's going on around the NFL after the last 44 minutes.
We've done our job.
I feel like I'm taking a pay cut at our company to keep doing this.
I literally did take a pay cut during Corona.
And there's been no, like, hey, let's circle back and correct that.
It's like, you'll be fine.
By the way, we also took water out of the break from.
Like, I mean, what next?
Do you want to use this platform?
to make a formal pitch to the powers to be to get those wages back?
I just did.
I think if they heard that, they understand that I'm annoyed,
and I would like it to be addressed fast quickly now.
There you go.
You heard it.
Now, boys, I am getting a little head start.
I'm heading back east for the first time in two years.
Coronavirus took so much from all of us.
I did not get a chance to go see my family last summer.
I will be on a plane on Wednesday.
which means you two gentlemen, and I'm sure a fill in hero to be named later,
are going to handle the show.
I have full faith, absolute faith, that you guys can do it.
And I look forward to not listening.
Yeah, I was going to say, please.
But that's it.
I'll be out this week, but we got one more show.
And yes, just to so the audience knows.
It's like the around the NFL broadcast that I will be.
missing. I'm going to get my whole family around. We're going to, we're going to check it out.
I think you guys did a savvy job scheduling these vacations. Why am I doing all of this activity?
I don't, I think I'm one that I should be in a sleeping bag somewhere. We got some of,
we got just so everyone knows, here's the schedule. We got, yes, two shows this week, two shows next
week and the network show is back next Friday. And then we're going to go dark for a full week
and maybe even the July 4th week.
So we've never really done that before,
but we thought this year for a lot of reasons.
It'd be good to take a little time.
It's been a tough year.
And to just spend some family time.
And we hope you're still there when we get back after that hiatus.
But we're not there yet.
Okay, let's go.
Justin Graver, good job, buddy.
Really nice work, filling in for Ricky.
And I'm sure when Justin Graver has a Bachelor party,
it gets as crazy as a Ricky Hollywood bachelor.
Oh, no doubt about it.
That would be my guess just by my limited interactions with the man.
Thank you, buddy.
This is Dan Hansa signing off for The Quiet Storm, the old boss.
And yeah, Justin Graver, I call him The Undertaker, behind the virtual glass.
Until Wednesday, heed the call.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We're going to be able to be.
Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here.
And I'm Bucky Brooks.
On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies
to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends,
and how front offices construct winning rosters.
We study the tape, talk to decision makers,
and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.
It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sundays.
Don't miss it.
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