NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Patriots Opt-Outs, Aaron Rodgers on Love and Brian Baldinger

Episode Date: July 30, 2020

A bunker filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Ricky Hollywood and Marc Sessler bring you all of the latest news around the NFL including some major Patriots opting out of the season among others (6:45). Aaron Rodgers opened up about the Packers drafting Jordan Love (30:40) and Brian Baldinger joins the show (39:47).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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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the NFL podcast is floating on a dark lake. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansus coming to you from a virtual room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal. What is up, boys?

Big day. You know, last day we see the Texas backdrop for you, and the first day we welcome in Brian Baldinger to the show. So, I mean, it's a big show. It's a big show, frankly. I really like to allow Greg to make the opening comment because it's a total dice roll on how it's going to go. And I thought you did a nice job there, Greg.

I myself would not want the responsibility. We definitely miss Chris Wesleyan increasingly. We definitely have had Baldi on our show in some capacity. Now, whether it's been on the podcast. Okay, my fault. Our Twitter show, actually. He appeared on our Twitter show, and it was actually a Chris Wesleyan kind of run segment

where he broke down some film with us to some degree. So, Greg, do you want to take a second shot? No, I mean, this is the podcast. Those shows, those are blasted off into the sun. I don't know if he's been on our podcast. I don't think so because I just feel like I would remember him in the studio. And we almost never did the outside of the studio. You would definitely remember, Greg.

There's no question. Guys got a memory of a goldfish. All right. And just a little bit of internal housekeeping here, Mark Sessler. You are not allowed to opt out. out of this podcast. Doctors note or no, you're here. I mean, if you were to, yeah,

I mean, what is our equivalent of $150,000 off like a star NFL's contract? 26 bucks or something? I don't, I don't, I don't, there's no option to not be here. I am here. Here I am. It's actually a good question. Let's say, I'm just going to throw a random number out there. I mean, we're making close to league minimum, I would imagine.

So you'd have, you're not, maybe the star player comparison doesn't work. I wish. You opt- Yeah, that would be awesome. All-le- in our industry. I see. Our industries league.

I see. Sorry. If I gave you, Mark, 25 grand as an opt-out stipend, would you take it? For the entire year? And you just get...

Yes, I would take it and immediately somehow retroactively put it all into Kodak stock and just sort of fly into the skies. Little stock he right there. I love it. Some nefarious stuff going on.

Some nefarious stuff going on with... It's newsy. It's great. It's really showing the full breadth of the Sessler knowledge. I love it. Too much time on Twitter Middle School. Also, weird, because Wes obviously down right now, he's in the process of fighting the Big Sea for a second time.

You would be down to leave Greg and I alone. on the show for your little Kodak financial gambit. I think it's, you know what, I would compare it to, and I'm different than you guys a little bit. It's kind of like when you suddenly have the house to yourself for like a day, and it's awesome for a day, but then it's a little bit less appealing. I think the opt-out would be an incredible freeing experience, and then I'd be missing this and you guys soon after. So it's probably, you know, if I had any advisors, they should advise not to do it.

plus that like that one 50k or whatever it would translate to in our world i mean that's what i'm saying it's like it's just alone they're not making you know they're basically not they're not getting paid they just get you know part of next year's salary fronted it's you know for them i mean that that that's not you're not playing the game well you know with that i mean sessler can dig up a dot if sessler can dig up a doctor's note for one of his maladies over the years he would be able to get the money at a higher level and not have to pay it back yeah i think That's fair. That's fair.

I would say how many years are we told like the Mark Sessler insurance scam related with the NFL? There have been some of those with employees you guys knew well back in the day at the NFL. But I feel like six, seven years ago from that. You guys can keep pinning all these things on me and I will allow it today. Today alone. Yes, Brian Baldinger is joining the Around the NFL podcast for perhaps the first time, but not the first time we've spoken with him. And we do know enough as fans of our league that he is as good as it gets when it comes to tape dogging.

With all due respect to the great Chris Wessling, Baldi does it at a level that he's turned into a cottage industry for himself with Baldi's breakdowns and all that. So we're happy to have him on today's show and we're going to break down kind of just chop it up with Baldi a little bit. Not necessarily tape breakdowns, but just where he's at in the league. and where he's at right now in this very strange time in human history but before we do that yes, let's do some news

Now I'm a buck Hopefully I don't suck That was Rob Grunkowski strumming an acoustic guitar Singing the lyrics Now I'm a buck Hopefully I don't suck

That's about right that clip was perfect it was like the exact amount of time that rob grankowski like stays funny for it's like for about eight seconds you're like oh yeah grong's funny and then you're like okay let's move on i also found interest in that clip a little bit when i saw it and i clicked it and he's holding the guitar and i'm thinking wow you know still waters run deep maybe there's a little depth of this guy he knows how to play guitar people always you know portraying him as this like lunkhead well no he's just hitting it like a preschooler. There's no fingers on chords. He's just strumming along like my

three-year-old would. He has as much guitar skills as Harrison Hanses basically. Well, he is not allowed to also be a great guitar player. So I'm sort of satisfied to see that he not only mildly sucks, but outright lacks skills. Rob Grunkowski jumps ship from the New England Patriots and now other people are joining him, albeit in a much different scenario. This is the big news that came down in the NFL on Tuesday, Danta Heightower, the star linebacker opted out of the 2020 NFL season because of the coronavirus pandemic. And he wasn't alone. Six players overall for the Pats opt out, a group that includes

starting right tackle Marcus Cannon, starting safety, Patrick Chung, Reserve running back, Brandon Bolden, fullback, Danny, Vital, Vital, and Reserve Center slash Guard, Nahi, Tehran. High Tower, though, obviously is the big name on top of this list. And Greg, you're being a real trooper right now. You're not showing any signs of anger or worry. We have bigger problems in the world. This is a team that lost Jamie Collins in the offseason, Kyle Van Nuoy,

and now you lose the heartbeat of the center of the defense. what are the Patriots and Bill Belichick going to do here? Well, the losing High Tower is significant. Losing him and Cannon are really the ones that I'd be focused on. Cannon, who's been injured quite a bit in his career and mistimes because of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which is one of the reasons he actually is one of the medical issue opt-outs, which are a little different. You get paid a different sum, and he's one of the few actually that's declared as a

medical opt-out. Danta Hightower and Patrick Chung was the voluntary opt-out. And if you were going to pick one guy on the Patriots who's like Mr. Patriot, who's Bill Belichick's guy more than anyone, it's Hightower. I mean, he is the leader of that group. And he's so versatile in terms of his intelligence, not only as an inside linebacker, but he could also play on the edge where, you know, they're very thin in terms of a blitzer and he keeps people in place.

I mean, he is the Patriots defense to me. Devin McCordy's the other guy I would put there as Mr. Patriot, and maybe it's Julian Edelman next. And you know who's after that? It's probably Patrick Chung. I mean, Belichick loves Patrick Chung. I haven't quite understood the fascination the last year or two. He's certainly on the decline.

They drafted a player at his position. They're pretty deep at safety. But High Tower at linebacker and then Cannon, who's been a very good right tackle, and that I was been talking about should be a strength for them on the offensive line. Those are massive losses. Those are two of the highest paybacker. players on the team. And so, you know, they're getting hit more, and it doesn't look like there's a ton of more opt-outs coming, at least not right now. They got hit more than any team

in the league by far. I mean, the snaps they've lost on defense is significant. And I know that it's, you know, I myself, look at the Patriots, and no matter what befalls them in the offseason, I just ticket them for 12 and 4. This is a legit concern, because it's more the kind of thing that they probably will find a way to navigate the regular season better than most. And from a positive note, you could say, I mean, it's opened up cap room for them, which they definitely needed, and they can make a few moves. For what? What are they going to do? Sign clowny?

I'm not saying clowny, but the idea that you could. I mean, there are veterans. Antonio Brown's out there. There are veterans out to fill holes. I mean, it's not a great situation. But, I mean, to your point, he calls High Tower Mr. February. I mean, I don't know if they win some of those. Super Bowls. I don't think they do without

Hightower playing the way he did. So you know, it's a key piece gone. But the reasoning behind what Hightower did and what Chung did, and they both have, you know, newborns in their house, this is the real life scenarios we're dealing with this situation. But I'm with you. I feel like yesterday

there was a flood and there was maybe a little bit of sense of dread or panic that there could be a lot more. And today, so far, as of when we're taping, it is quiet. Well, the The opt-outs made sense on Tuesday because that was the first day of training camp for everyone, so it was like a soft deadline. Now, the actual hard deadline is only a week after the players actually signed the CBA, and they haven't done it. So they still haven't signed it.

And this particular part of the CBA, I guess, is what they're still talking about a little, just in terms of figuring out the language. So players technically have at least a week more to opt-out. But you would think the majority of them have already happened because that's when you're going to do it. it before you start showing up for work. I wonder how many, if any, players opted out. And the Patriots had the most players, but there were many more guys like Eddie Goldman, Star Lutelelli, Devin Funchis, Marquis Goodwin,

and the list goes on, were affected by what happened in Major League Baseball, where the count for the Miami Marlins now is in the high teens as an outbreak, a legit outbreak within their clubhouse, shut down the Marlins for an entire week of action and MLB is scrambling and changing up their schedule and it was the proof to some that the idea of trying to hold a professional sports season

outside the quote unquote bubble, which the MLB is trying to do, which the NFL is the model NFL is trying to do. I wonder if that affected it at all because, yes, the start of training camp, it was a neat lineup to where guys would start to opt out, but it also came a day, after Major League Baseball basically went on fire?

I'm sure it gave some people pause, but I mean, if you look at, for instance, why Marquis Goodwin did it, it was very much a family situation. His wife has been through three miscarriages, and he basically said, you know, I put football first for years and years. I'm finally going to put my family first.

I was some of the other, you know, there is definitely body mass index, a trace between a number of these guys. Eddie Goldman is a big dude. Stard Lute Laleigh is a big dude. Goldman, one of the best players, that defense. Absolutely, but I mean, well, these losses are real. I think that, you know, Star Lutelelele is not necessarily playing the way of his first name at this point in his career,

but he was an important signing to them. Nice, bro. They have depth there. Funchis, losing Funches for the Packers, I think, you know, we'll get into probably some of the stuff maybe Aaron Rogers talked about, but they were all ticketed to draft a wide out. You went and got Funches, and now it's nearly August, and you've lost a guy who was ticketed as a starter in certain sets. And for the most part, go ahead, Dan, sorry. No, I was said that could help Alan Lazard have a bigger role on that offense. But before Wes went down, we talked about Funches as a potential breakout guy for the Packers this year. Yeah, and he's the guy who made a lot of money from the Colts last year.

He got that second contract, even though it was one year, you know, that was $10 million he got from the Colts. And I think that that's a through line, too, for some of these guys. Now, Eddie Goldman maybe is an exception. But Michael Pierce is a player from Minnesota. They really expected, you know, to be a factor for them. And he's gotten paid before. And you look at Chung and Hightower, you know, it is sort of heartening. I mean, you obviously respect the decision the guys are making.

But I don't know. There is part of me, it is sort of heartening to see someone make a decision that isn't about money. We're just so, and I'm guilty of this more than anyone who's always talking about the bottom line for these. guys and and they they are making a decision that's not about money they are saying we we just value things a little differently this year high towers made a lot of money in his career but he was going to make eight million dollars guaranteed this year you know and patrick chung is he ever gonna like is chung gonna make this team in in 2021 maybe maybe not he knows that um he's passing up he's passing up that money so it's it's like putting your you know it's putting your heart where

you know, it's saying, I value something more importantly. I agree with you. And I think that, you know, all this stuff about the Patriots, you know, but Belichick trying to dial up a tank job is absurd. They just don't operate the way. But it is fair to say that with New England, there might have been a bit of a different complexion for certain veteran players who have basically been through everything you could ask for in an Annanville career,

a guy like High Tower. And the money is still there next year for him if that happens. And if it doesn't, he'll be fine. I think there are probably a lot of stories we won't hear about of certain players in a certain financial bracket or if you're a young quarterback and you fear never really, you know, materializing again, you know, you don't want to be upstaged or a lot of these guys for, you don't opt out and you have family reasons and you have good reasons and they're not doing it. They're just going to roll into it. I think there's a lot of people that are not making that

choice. I absolutely feel the same way. Greg, with what you said about, you know, the players kind of going away from money, which is heartening. It also tells you how scary this all is that players feel that is the best decision to give up $8 million because you don't feel like you can be safe, that your family can be safe. Do you think, hmm, I don't want this to come off as insensitive or silly, but do you think if Tom Brady is still the quarterback in New England, there's the same number of opt-outs?

Absolutely. I don't I I also think well first of all you have to break down each one you know Canon had had cancer and so he's he's sort of in his own he's at a really high risk and he's had health problems even since then he's at a recurrence so he's one guy chung and hightower I think really does speak to people who have done it before have made a lot of money and and I guess the key I am thinking about with all these guys you don't really know like they're They're saying a statement, okay, and In Chung did speak on CBS and talked about the people around him.

But even then, that's what they're presenting publicly. This is a very private medical thing to talk about. And so I don't know. I feel like a lot of these players have their own reasons. And I think if they feel that strongly, I don't think, like, having a chance to go win another ship is going to be the reason that they play. But I guess you never know. I mean, from a league-wide angle, if the opt-outs, you know, I'm sure we'll get a few. more. But if they were to pause here, the vast majority paused here, it is an incredibly

small percentage of players. I mean, it's basically the equal of had you had a real training camp, you would have lost far more players to injury and soft tissue, maladies, and all this other stuff. I mean, the number could have been 200 people. We do have one more significant one. We do have one more significant one just dropped. Hit the breaking news, Ricky. Nate Solder, a former Patriot, is opting out of the 2020 season, was a disciplined pointing signing for them, but still was on the books there to be their left tackle or right tackle, potentially. They drafted Andrew Thomas, but they also drafted a third rounder named Matt Pert, I think,

who in theory told her was going to battle with, but it was probably his job. He was making a lot of money. He was one of the highest players in the league, and he's sitting out, and he's someone who his son has had, you know, an incredibly tough life with a lot of heart surgeries and things like that. And I don't know the reasoning right now behind it, but that, that, immediately came to mine. Wow.

So soldiers out and, yeah, he's, when he signed with the Giants a couple years ago, I think it was the biggest offensive lineman contract in the league and he has been a huge bus for them, but still that affects them. That's a big loss for the Giants potentially. I guess I'm the only other shoe I'm waiting for to drop here that would take this to another level is what happens if a quarterback does it? Is that something we'll see? like a star quarterback.

Is there going to be someone at a higher level? And if that happens, would there be a potential domino? I think that's the one part of this angle right now. I'm waiting to see how it plays out. That's sort of what I was pointing at before. That I think that there is some, it's not equal with every position. You know, there were rumors that bubbled up to the point where NFL Network had to address them yesterday about the idea that Nick Foles was someone that was going to drop out.

I mean, it came from a weird place and it never happened. But isn't there way more pressure on a starting quarterback to just put football first and not even consider the idea of walking away from your team than a defensive lineman? I just think there is. From a PR standpoint, everything. Right. It would affect everything on your team. Right.

It would take a different level. And this is probably unfair too. But when I saw that Donovan Smith, the Bucks left tackle, showed up to, you know, work and he's not going to opt out. And he had talked about possibly doing it. I mean, I just, I just wondered, is Brady texting with him, you know? And maybe he's texting with him in a pot in a way that's like, hey, man, I respect whatever you do. But whatever it is, I don't know, you know, you do wonder what kind of, if there's any internal

pressure within teams. Well, it's different that if Blaine Gabbard were the starter in place at this point, I think that Brady seems to have been ignoring this from wire to wire. Or Cam Newton and Jared Stedham up there. Right. It's a little different up there. I wouldn't be surprised. And I would expect that if Belichick is spoken with these guys,

he seems like one of the first people to be like, make the decision for your family, like, first. I know that sounds counterintuitive, you know, coming from him. He's like, make the decision you're going to be comfortable first. And they obviously felt comfortable doing that. They've put the time in. And other COVID-19 related news, 32 players have been placed on the NFL's COVID list

ahead of the start of training camp, including two first-round picks, Justin Jefferson and Isaiah Wilson, both players on the COVID-19 list. There's all sorts of, obviously, hoops to get through. You've got to make sure they're healthy. Then they have to do multiple tests to prove that they have the necessary antibodies and they're not testing positive for COVID-19.

It's a setback for those guys, and there will be more. There will be way more. That's, to me, that number was, was interesting. First of all, the COVID list is interesting. You're not going to know, unless the players tell us,

who had it or not, because the COVID list is whoever tested positive for, you know, for COVID-19. And if you were around someone in the last X amount of days who had tested positive. And so the NFLPA is actually sending out numbers.

It was only 21 players who did test positive since the start of camp. But 30 people are on that list. So, you know, do the math. Some of them were just, like, around other people. You don't know who's who, but that's just the first round of testing, which was just quarterbacks and rookies last week. In theory, you know, that leaves about 85% of the league who still, we don't know their test results. And so, I don't know, you would

expect that number if about 30 of the rookies and other players got on there, you would expect that number to double or, you know, or even more in the next handful of days. Yeah, and I think the variable, and you hear it more from veteran players than maybe really coaches are saying at this point because why go on record deeply about it, but that this requires intense cooperation, individually, making individual choices on what you're doing when people can't see you. That's great at the facility that everyone's behind plexiglass and distancing, but then you're away from the facility for large chunks of time.

And we see players get in trouble and do things they shouldn't be doing almost weekly, if not more than that. So I just think the doorway is open to chaos unless one team really, I would honestly say take your team and if you want to win the Super Bowl, everyone get into one hotel and don't leave it for the whole year. You're going to have far fewer issues. But, you know, that's just my absurd. Well, I mean, it's not going to be fun, though. Your guy, Sam Darnold admitted he that's going to be the most boring person around this year because he doesn't want to take any risks. Yeah, and that's going to be a huge challenge. We talked about that on Monday show, that,

yeah, not making any excuses for them, but just asking these young men, rich, have the world at their feet to stay isolated, stay inside for the greater good of their team, for their families, for the league itself, well, there's going to be temptation. We're going to see how it plays out. Let's stick a pin in COVID-19 talk for a while. Okay. Till Friday. Yeah, so I just wait until like mid-September.

I'm with you, Dan, you know. The Chargers and defensive end, Joey Bosa, have reached agreement on an extension. Five years, $135 million is the report out there. Keeps Bosa with the Chargers for the next six seasons. That deal reportedly includes $78 million guaranteed at signing and $102 million guaranteed. That's a record for a defensive player breaking your boy, Mark Cecil, Miles Garrett, who just got that big deal from the Browns a couple weeks back. it is huge money.

Does he deserve to get paid at that level, Greg Rosenthal? Yeah. It's funny because Nick Bosa came in and he was pretty flashy. It's like Joey Bosa is still better. I mean, Joey Bosa last season is one of the three or four best defensive player in the league. He's such a freak. They've seen him enough. He had the injuries a little bit early.

He had the contract holdout. I just think if you're going to invest in a guy. like him, like just entering his prime. They know him well. They know he works hard, all that, all that stuff. Working hard is great. Being Joey Bosi freakishly talented is greater, you know, and he's proven that. I know he doesn't, like, get the attention that some other big-time players are,

but I think if you were holding, like, an NFL-wide draft and, like, you have to take him by position, and you're doing pass rushers, I mean, I think most GMs would have him in their top two? I don't know. I'm trying to think. He might be the guy that they would say, if I have to start a franchise with one pass rusher, he might be it. Yeah, I think it was a no-brainer signing. And immediately it's compared to maybe the way the Jamal Adams situation was treated in the positions they play. There was no factor to not make this happen with someone that they've grown in-house. I think Tom Telesco's added a lot of talent to that defense.

You know, one little, and I'm not bringing up a corona thing, but I will say something that I found hopeful. If you go back and look at what Bosa did as a rookie, he comes rolling in, missing the first four games. he appears in week five, everyone wondering what he'd be like. Two sacks, totally dominant right away. It kind of shows you that maybe a lot of these guys are going to be, they'll still find a way to thrive at certain positions. He has nine games with two plus sacks in his career. You know, I think you can look at the injury situation as a little concerning.

He's missed 13 games. You know, Clowny gets killed for that all the time. Clowny's missed six games over four years. Over the past four years. But no-brainer, what are you doing if you don't? re-sign him. Cornerback, left tackle, edge rusher, cornerback. These are, quarterback, these are the premium positions that get the absurd $100 million

plus guaranteed type contracts. Bosa's not even 25 yet. He turns 25 this month. He's averaged almost a sack of game since he entered the league. He's a total stud. He's getting quarterback money. Quarterback money. Yeah.

If only he, if only he played a. in a bigger market. Like people would pay attention to them more, you know, if only. Yeah, their market is arguably shrunk somehow. I don't know. It's not what you think moving in L.A. I have no idea what's going to happen with the Chargers in L.A. But that effectively, everything with that gets, the pause button gets pushed,

which I'm sure Chargers management is like, all right, that's not the worst thing to happen this season. Nobody's going to be talking about how nobody's in that building watching Chargers games because nobody's going to be in any building across the league for the most. part. In other news, the Titans, they use free agency to sign Vic Beasley to give them an increased pass rush. But here's an issue. Beasley did not show up to the team facility with the rest of the veteran players to begin the COVID-19 screening. So the Titans then place him on the reserve, do not report list. And no reason was given for Beasley's

absence yesterday. Greg, was there anything new on this? No, I did see our old. What's going on here? I did, no one knows. No one, I think, I think there's going to be some holes in reporting in general compared to most years. It's like you're not going to be able to have any reporters at practices. Like the contact between the teams and the, all the reporters are at home. So you might not get the story sometimes. I did see our Mark, one of Mark's best friend, really his mentor, D. Orlando Ledbetter.

Tweeted something. And he was just speculating. But he said the reason Beasley couldn't get any trade interest. at the deadline last year when the Falcons were trying to trade him is that the word around the team was that he didn't really love football that much

that he seemed like a guy that maybe could take it or leave it and so I don't know the Orlando Ledbetter who covered him for five years was putting that and putting some context I doubt he would just put that out there without having some feel of the situation

so that's the only context I have on that I mean it is odd because they said that he was present and available and, you know, around for every Zoom meeting they did, obviously easier. Then he doesn't show up. It feels like a very ripe scenario, and I don't know what this individual is up to, but Frank Signetti has not been on any sort of a real NFL case of late. But suddenly of a player, he's got a lot of money attached to him.

He's a prime position, and he's gone AWOL. I mean, that's the perfect place for a league-mandated PI to step in and, you know, gumshue his way to an answer here. That would be my directed. Signetti shows up. Crime hits the bricks. You know, Frank Signetti, you know, a big part of this podcast. What was he, you liked him when he was the Rams offensive coordinator, I believe. But he's bounced around as a quarterback.

You know, according to his wiki page, that couldn't be wrong. It doesn't seem like he has a gig right now. Had one last year, so. Well, he was always moonlighting. He's got some time. He's got some time to look for. I mean, the PI thing was always happening kind of off the clock, right? You know, getting pulled into a case and more obsessed with it.

But he just has more time to do what he's naturally gifted at, more so than being an offensive coordinator. You could scrub your own wiki. And you know Frank is scrubbing the PI element of that off the wiki because he's working a case right now. He's working a job. And that takes focus. And it takes a level of under the radar living. Oh, you know what? He's actually at Boston College as the coordinator.

It was not in the NFL, but he is at Boston College. Yeah, he's in Boston. He's doing a lot of Boston College. I mean, hey, if you're working in college football, you're probably going to have a lot of time this fall, too. I would say, connect some dots. If you want to do a little Google search, Boston College up there outside Boston, what time, Newton, if there's any missing persons in Newton, Massachusetts.

It's a good chance that Frank Signetti is on the job. Speaking of D-led, Mark, not to keep up bringing up COVID, but listen, it's insidious, as we've talked about. Another bummer, you had a press pause on that Carnival Cruise to Nova Scotia that you and the D-leds were going to go on together. Sessler-D-led Carnival Cruise trip together. Yeah, I see no evidence that my admiration for him goes in the other direction, so I didn't hear about that trip personally.

He may be going. You didn't invite me. In other news, our friend Kyle Brandt of Good Morning Football has a new gig. I guess he's moonlighting with The Ringer. and he has a program called 10 questions with Kyle Brandt and the premiere episode. He starts with a bang because it's Aaron Rogers, star quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. Really some good stuff. Rogers was very open with Kyle on a number of topics, including what's going on with his future in Green Bay and Jordan Love,

the surprise first round pick in Wisconsin. And I'm going to play two clips for you boys. The first one is Rogers kind of throwing some cold water on people talking about the cyclical nature of life, how what happened with Brett Favre and Aaron Rogers as a rookie was similar to what happened now with Aaron Rogers and Jordan Love. Here's what Rogers had to say. In 2004, the Packers were 10 and 6 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. We were 13 and 3. And, you know, one game from the Super Bowl, won a playoff game at all.

home, obviously won our division, a little different circumstance. Not to mention that Brett had talked about retiring for a few years before that. So, you know, I don't, and I've talked about playing in my 40s. So, you know, when people start talking about the parallels to this and that, well, I, you know, I fell to 24. They traded up and drafted Jordan. And Rogers also, by the way, Rogers said when the pick happened, he was tracking the draft board and different wide receivers that he liked. And then when Jordan Love's name was called by Roger Goodell, he poured himself four fingers of tequila

because he knew the firestorm that was headed his way. He was also very open about what this means for his future and the possibility, really the probability that he'll end his career elsewhere. I think that's probably what happens, you know, based on, you know, just the circumstance around everything, you know, you look at just look at the facts. You know, they traded up, they drafted them. I would say they like them.

They want to play them. And I get it. I really do. I don't harbor any ill will about it. Like, was I bummed out? Of course. It wouldn't be. You know, like I wanted to play my entire career in Green Bay.

Past tense, I wanted to play my entire career in Greenback. It seems like a man who's still processing it all. You know, it was like, it was like talking to someone who's in the middle of, you know, knowing maybe the relationship's going to end. and is putting on a tough front a little bit, but it's still a little fresh. Like, he started with the kind of very cool and calm, and the whole thing is calm.

But without Kyle even sort of, you know, asking another question, Aaron starts, Aaron Rogers immediately starts bringing up all those differences between his situation and farm. Like, he has taken note of the differences, that they are not the same situation. And when he says he'll probably, you know, know, be playing else or whatever, I don't know.

You just see this little fire inside of him that's like, I don't know if he really believes that. I think in his heart of hearts, he believes he's going to light up this, light up the field so much that they're not going to have a choice but to ever get rid of them. Right. I mean, this story is far from over, but I think that Kyle asked the question in a good way. He basically said, A, are we going to move on from Aaron Rogers if you're the Packers? Or do you just have a first round pick that you traded up for?

sit on the bench and not be used for four more seasons. As, you know, Aaron Rogers has said he wants to play into his 40s. And that's where he kind of came to the conclusion again that, yeah, I just don't see that happening. I mean, it's the former that they probably move on from Aaron Rogers, which, you know, he's sort of hinted at that before. But if that's in your mind as a quarterback, as a starting quarterback in the face of your franchise, that's got to be a distraction no matter what you say, right? I mean, it's got to be something sitting in there in your head.

They brought in someone who looks like a potential replacement. He's not a six-rounder. He's not even like Jimmy Garapolo when they brought him in. It had nothing to do with replacing Tom Brady at that point. And let's face it, the way this our league is, when you have a first-round rookie on his first deal, every year keep him on the bench, you're wasting away, you know, golden years in terms of cap flexibility and the ability to get a champion on the field with a cheap quarterback.

I just, to me, it feels like a 50-50 shot at this point that this is Rogers' last year in Greenback. I mean, the financials are tricky, though, to move them even after this season to something. Yeah, but I don't know. You can work that out, though. They could probably find a way, I would guess, because what are you going to do? What's your other move? Either bench Aaron Rogers in 2021 or keep Jordan Love a first-round pick on the bench until his third season. That just doesn't happen.

It doesn't, but there's a couple of factors. One, you know, Love's not going to get the build-up to his rookie season. and that, you know, the Packers would have liked. I mean, I think about Aaron Rogers' buildup, and this is back when we were overly eager to, like, you know, evaluate OTAs and mini-camps, but, like, Aaron Rogers was terrible, you know, he was, like, infamously terrible in the off season, and he started camp bad, and everyone in Green Bay is, like,

Craig Nall is better than this guy. You know, Craig Nall is, you know, and the odds on Jordan Love, who was very raw, to put it mildly coming out of college, like, looking like a world beater right away. It's pretty long. Like, I don't know. if he's going to be the backup. It might be Tim

Boyle. And who knows, Jordan Love might never be that great. I mean, that's the thing. Like, drafted a guy in the first round easy. Him being anywhere close to where Aaron Rogers was after a few years in the NFL. Good luck with that. I mean, he might never be that good. It's when I see that, you know,

barring a regime change, the front office went out of the way to trade up for him. When front offices do that, they want to see a return on investment and they want to see the player. And how many guys have been labeled as raw and red shirt and projects and then a year later they're stars i mean i could give you 15 of them all right let's hear well i'll put it in a written piece and send it away i don't time for right now

called him on his bluff he had no answer well you know what there were people saying oh i'm not sure patrick mahomes even mahomes was spoken about that way you know just john watson everyone you know it's josh allan well i've teased my article i've given you two of my 15 so that's how you do it finally in the news john lynch oh what a success it's been in san francisco the general manager who was hired without any front office experience back in january of 2017 he's turned that organization into one of the top teams in the league and they rewarded him for it with a new contract extension mike garifolo reported it's a multi-year deal we'll keep him in charge of the team through 2024.

Good job by you, Mr. Lynch, and good job by the Niners for thinking outside the box, which not enough teams do, let's face it. And for almost letting your coach, who is, you know, deciding pretty much right away when you hired Shan Am, he's the key guy. Now, let's find someone that works with him. You know, every situation's a little different. I don't think you can expect that out of each. But Shanahan's still the key guy.

And I think Lynch is there to, like, execute his vision. It's a way in which Kyle Shanahan is already better than Mike Shanahan. Because Mike Shanahan, to me, is one of the best coaches of all time. And he ruined it by always being infighting with his would-be general manager. And he was always fighting for power. And it was always a distraction. And he wasn't good at the GM part of it either. And Kyle and John Lynch seemed like they work great together.

And it reminds me of Pete Carroll and Schneider. because Pete Carroll's the key guy, and Schneider's the one, okay, executing what Pete Carroll wants to do. It's similar in San Francisco. Yeah, I like the way you put that. And I'm sure Kyle Shanahan learned, you know, infinite amounts from experiencing what his dad went through. And their demeanors are a little bit different. But, you know, it was a year ago that, you know, people were wondering, is John Lynch on the hot seat? Is Kyle Shanahan on the hot seat?

And it shows you how much can change in a year. But they always were well-matched and married together. and the best teams do that, and it's incredible how many teams in sports struggle to do that, and it's ego. It's in the opposite is happening here. And I think that John Lynch, you know, a lot of people when he came in off at a, you know, former player in the media, it's like, well, that's not where a GM comes from. Well, Mike Mayock has shown you that's not true also. And Lynch, I kind of reminds to what happened in Buffalo a little bit, too.

Coach and GM quickly got the right players in place to give Shanahan the right kind of players he needed for his offense. where other teams, you're into the year three or four of a GM and a coach and like, oh, we're still missing like all these key ingredients to functionally operate on a Sunday. It's like, can you please get your act together, not the case in San Francisco? All right. That's what's happening in the news. All right. As promised, one of our favorites in the football cognizanty.

It just so happens that he is a colleague of ours with NFL Network, the great Brian Baldinger, better known as Baldi. Welcome to the Around the NFL podcast, Baldi. Good to join you guys, man. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. You know, we've kicked this season off. It doesn't feel like it, I think.

But it is officially kicked off. So at least there's some news to talk about here. And we can kind of get into the league a little bit more than, you know, what we've done over the last four months. Yeah, we could definitely get into the league. But I definitely want to start because, you know, We've all been with NFL media for years now, and Baldy is something of a legendary figure behind the scenes at NFL media because you're so well known for your globe trotting and your adventures. And I was just wondering if during this this COVID-19 pandemic, which has kept us all, you know, sheltered in place for the most part, if this were not, if this were normal times, would you be on a beach in Bali somewhere, you know, chewing tape on a beach?

beach and while supermodels dance around you in front of a bonfire. Like, are you missing out on that type of baldy type adventure in 2020? I am, I mean, I missed out. I was all scheduled on a trip to, to Romania. I was going to Boothrest. It was the hidden jewel of Eastern Europe, hadn't been there, one of the 68 country. I mean, I've only been to 68 countries, so I'm trying to get some more notches on my That one.

I had a trip with my mom to Sicily, had a chance for that one. I just wanted to go for the canollies, honestly. I think I could have gotten there. My mom probably would have bagged the trip. But I would have gone. I didn't know if I could get back. I have friends that are stuck there, which is not a bad place to be stuck.

But the only person who still calls you Brian, your mom. She's still called me Brian. So she's the lone, he's the lone one left. But, you know, when your mom can call you really anything she wants, which goes by the phone. I feel like no virus can totally. contain Baldi, though. And I do see your backgrounds.

You're at NFL films. So you're back in the building. They couldn't keep you out, I guess, for too long. No, I'm on the list every day. Every day, I'm on the list here. You know, they take my temperature. I guess my temperature every day. I'm somewhere between 97.7 and 97.9.

I guess my temperature every day. I follow the guidelines here. But I'm on the third floor, honestly. There's two guys in IT that are there. Thank goodness, because they help me out. and that's it so i feel like i've got my own floor my own desk it's a dream film library i mean really i'm i joke with people about this situation at win about practicing you know social distancing i'm like i practice social distancing every day up here you know and everybody wants to come into

the film room and usually what happens is they fall asleep but i kick them out and i don't let them come back in um there's a lot of things that really haven't changed all that much for me here, but, you know, obviously we're through some trying time. So I'm not, I'm not being cavalier about it, but really, I mean, I've kind of had really changed my lifestyle much at all. And you're right. They haven't really been able to contain me. I've been going all over the country. I've been going to a bunch of different camps over the last couple weeks. I was at a quarterback camp for high school players, the top high school quarterbacks in Indianapolis. I saw Frank Reich and Chris Ballard. And honestly,

The wave of quarterbacks that are going to come, our way here pretty soon, they are advanced. I mean, they've been well coached by a lot of people. Wow. Give us the next Joe Burrow that no one has even heard of yet. Good question, Dan. I tell you, this Caleb Williams, who's the number one high school recruit in the country out of Washington, D.C. He's going to Oklahoma. He's coming up on a senior year.

I sat him in the film room, and there wasn't anything that he couldn't spit back at me. But if you put him in Indianapolis at this year's Combine, you might have thought that he could throw the ball with Joe Burrow every day, any day. I mean, you take the names off the back of the jerseys. I mean, this guy is 6-3-220, and he's got a cannon, but he's smart. He knows where to go with the ball. I mean, he's, we're talking about him in probably like three or four years right now. You know, Baldi, I think the last time I saw you in person,

and this was a chance running. Was it at the Century City Mall here in Los Angeles? And it was a day off from work. I had just come out of seeing Jennifer Lopez and Hustlers. And I'm not sure that I, you asked what I had watched. I'm not sure that I was honest with you about what I'd seen because I was, and I'm dealing with that still on this show. But good film, but that feels like a different time.

We can't do any of that these todays, but we can still discuss some of these issues. We had a lot to get to. And I want to ask, because we were talking a little bit of 49ers, because John Lynch, they just gave him the extension. I have been super pro Kyle Shanahan on this show for a long time. And tell me if you think I'm right or wrong, when I just think that he is the greatest in-game play caller that the NFL has today and that I am not seeing a – I think the ceiling for Jimmy G.

Has not been found because of his coach and because of the way that he calls offense. I completely agree. You know, look, Kyle is – I mean, obviously he's been trained by his dad. He's been around it this whole life. But I think that Jimmy Gene, any quarterback that would ever play for him from Matt Ryan, you name a guy that's played for him. They're always going to get challenged. They're going to get challenged every day in practice during games, how he calls a game. I mean, there's just a rhythm to it.

There is a next level of how he, the run game is amazing. You go back and you watch him against Carolina this year. I mean, there were plays they didn't block Lou Kieckley, but they knew they weren't going to block them. They knew the play action and the motion and the quarterback play fakes. We're going to take care of one of the premier players in his league. I think that the play action game that he has is as creative and innovative as we have in the game today, but as we've ever seen in the game about the history.

I mean, he's just a difference maker. I think that the best is yet to come. And people can point to the fourth quarter of this most recent Super Bowl game or the Super Bowl against New England. You could point fault at Kyle and some of the things that he might have done wrong. But it's not going to – it really – I know it irks fans of those teams, but I don't think it irks him. I don't think he stays up at night thinking about the play call that he could have done with Jimmy G. this year or Matt Ryan, you know, four or five years ago. I think he's just looking for the next game to try. to try to win.

And I don't think it's going to change, whether it's regular season or postseason or a Super Bowl. I want to talk about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, because you did an NFL network hit today, I believe, where you discussed their front seven and how it played as well as any front seven in the entire league in the last six weeks. And everyone knows what's going on

on the offensive side of the ball with Tom Brady there. Do the bucks to you? And you study all these teams as well, better than anybody. Are the bucks one of those teams that, to you, is a little bit under the radar as a Super Bowl contender? You know, you have the teams of the obvious contenders, but can the buck, the bucks have the talent and the ability you think and the coaching to maybe go on a run

and are there any other teams that you've been studying that's like, wow, this team is way better than people realize. Well, I think Tampa, you know, to watch them play football the last six weeks, they scored four defensive touchdowns, you know, they brought everybody back. And so if you look at JPP and Jack Barrett on the edges, and you look at Vita Vaya and Indyamacan Su, Indy, Zoo, has never missed a game. I know he's been suspended.

He's never missed a game. I mean, he's a complete pro. So a guy like Vita Vaya watches Indomacan Su how he takes care of himself, how he prepares, how he gets his body ready. I mean, he is a Polynesian power, just a tsunami of power inside. No one guy can block it. And then if you look at what really Devin White did, the second half of the season,

I mean, he's going to be the Pro Bowl middle linebacker for a long time. Next, Alvante, David, that front coached by a very good coordinator and Todd Bowles. Yeah, that's right. Todd Bulls, baby. Well, look, I know people, Todd Bulls in New York, I mean, they think, but Todd Bulls has always been a, I think he knows how to communicate, and I think he knows how to really put players in great positions to make plays, and he's got a lot of talent. Now, you can say the back end, okay, the back end, all he did was they made their mistakes, They played a ton of young guys, rookies, second-year players last year,

Jamal Dean, you go through the list of all the guys. I think they're just going to get better. And the front, everybody knows that everybody's back end of their defense plays better when the front is dominant. And so look at Tom Brady, I mean, you look at, they had seven pick sixes last year, including the final play of the season against the Falcons in overtime. That's how their season ended.

With James Winston throwing a pick six. Might still be on the team if he didn't throw them. that ball. What's that? I think he might still be on the team if he didn't throw that ball. I really did. Season ended on a pick six. I mean, seven.

That's never been done. We've seen a lot of quarterbacks that had dubious distinctions in the hundred year history of the sleep, but seven pick sixes. It's hard to do. And there seems to end that way. And we know that Tom Brady, if he throws one, he's not sleeping for a week. And he's just going to make up for it. So, I mean, I think if you cut down on the mistakes on offense, if you,

you look at what they're bringing back on defense. And if anybody knows Bruce Arons, I know y'all do. But he's the anti-Belichick. I mean, you can get a great joke from Bruce Arons 10 minutes before kickoff. I mean, he's just not. He's going to jump the officials. He's not going to be happy during the game. But he's loose all week.

You know, the thing that always irked me as a player is when coaches would tell you all week long. You know, go back, you know, like all week long, they're just all tight. They're worried. you know, they're scared of their own shadows. And then the pregame speech is go out and have fun. Well, I mean, go out and have fun every day. I think Brady's going to love him. Now, he may not love the exact culture right now.

But I've already talked to Ryan Jensen about Tom Brady. He gets a dissertation every day he's with him on 30 minutes on just snapping the football. You know, where he wants the towel. Like how damp he wants the towel that he's. wears where the laces need to be shotgun under set i mean he gets a dissertation right up in the ball this is what you're going to get from brady right you're going to get an offensive line coach along with quarterback because and i do think there is a concern with their line you know the tackle positions we'll see if you know the rookie works out worse we'll see if donovan smith plays a little

better but ultimately brady is going to make them look better he always does he makes his line better i i think how he would want like a longer offseason he's tried to have it with the workouts that he have. But, Bald, you've been in the league, you know, as a player. You've been in this broadcasting business for over 20 years now, too. So you're a vet. You've been to these camps a ton, like, we're never going to see in August like this. I guess I'm wondering, as someone who's been there who knows what it's like to prepare for a season,

what do you think's going to happen in a, let's say it all goes well. Like, it goes how they want to. You've got about two weeks, really, to get ready. two or three weeks you got a couple weeks where you're actually tackling in pads like what do you think is going to be the fallout of that sort of run up to a season well even before this pandemic i mean nobody was playing in august and so september was the new august you know i mean we saw a lot of bad football we saw the patrons get off to horrendous starts one and two starts so until we saw them get off to bad starts and then they used september to really fix what was broken and figure out the best way to win football games. I mean, they were the poster child for being able to do that. So if that was the way it was before this pandemic, and we're looking at basically six weeks now to ratchet up for the season,

I think the teams that handle the next six weeks the best are going to get out to the best start. But regardless of what kind of start we see, I mean, October is going to be the new September. I mean, we may not see really good football until October. over this year. Because we're going to get a lot of injuries. I mean, whoever, I could look at everybody's starting lineup. I doubt anybody's going to start their 22 that they have right now lined up. I mean, we're just going to see injuries because they're just not going to get battle tests.

Now, I've talked to some teams like the Eagles. They're going to have two scrimmages, you know, once you put the pads on starting August 17th. I mean, they want to try to get to as much full speed contact and work. And I'm sure other teams have other things planned. I'm sure Jim Harbaugh is not going to go, you know, three weeks without a lot of contact. I mean, it's just who he is. But, I mean, teams are going to do it differently. But how you handle these next six weeks, how you come out of it, you know, from a COVID-19 positive negative stance,

how you come out of it injury-wise, how you get the bodies ready to play, how you get teams prepared to play at high levels starting September 10th or the 13th whenever you start? I mean, whoever does that the best is going to get off to a good start. and get off to the best start. And I think it's going to be really important this year. Baldi, thank you so much for joining us. You really are like the Tony Stark of NFL media. You get setting ways, but also no one's better in the business realm.

You're so good to. Give me a suit to. I love Tony Stark. Absolutely. Yeah, okay. All right. Follow Baldi everywhere. He's the best in the business.

Thanks, buddy. Thanks, guys. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it, man. Have a good one. Thanks, Baldi. I do remember him, like, doing some Fox games. I was in college.

Baldi's been part of our lives for a long time before he was colleagues. All right, that was excellent. So this boys and girls you could come back now, Ricky.

This brings an end to my time here in Texas. I just want to say thank you to Bill O'Brien for having me here in his attic. Things did calm down. after last week's issues. And I look forward to heading back to L.A.

and rejoining you guys in the same city tomorrow. And I want to also thank, of course, the Gatesfield Messenger. Oh, yeah. Hey, me. Not this headline. Not vehicle theft leads to extensive manhunt. That's next. The suspect shoots at deputy.

I'm not worried. Have they found this guy or what? I don't know. But it doesn't matter because the Zucer's on the front page of the Gatesville Messenger this week. It's been great being here. I look forward to returning and we'll be back

as a group. Maybe Friday. Are we planning Friday show? Did we ever decide that? Not sure. I think it's a probable. It's a probable assuming we have. We may be a mini show if so be if that's all we have. Yeah. News warrants

is what I'm saying. We thrive at no network show. Exactly. So make sure to tune in for that. And thank you to everybody for listening. Until then, this is Dan Hansa, signing off for Quiet Storm, The Mailman, the old boss, and Ricky Hollywood behind the glass. Yeah, I said Mailman, because he's with us.

He always is. Until maybe Friday. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday.

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