NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Potential Surprise Cuts with Conor Orr

Episode Date: February 23, 2021

A room filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal are joined by Conor Orr to talk potential cuts but first, reminiscing on stories with Chris Wesseling (2:08). The heroes take you through the latest news in the NFL starting with a Cam Newton run in with a high schooler (19:05), Sam Darnold trade talks (24:22), and what Russell Wilson is worth for a trade (30:03). Before getting into surprise potential cuts (47:43), we do a deep dive on Pokémon (37:35).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. We'll never wear lanyards again. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. as Dan has as I come to you from a room filled with some heroes, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal, and boys, did you know that mitochondria is the powerhouse of the sound?

Well, I feel like... Where did that come from? I did learn that in science about 27 years ago, I believe. It is trending on Twitter right now, globally, or at least nationally. J.J. Watt tweeted that five hours ago. and people are going nuts, connecting dots, trying to figure out what is the code in there, if any, connecting him to any number of teams

that are pursuing the future haul from Pass Rusher. And, you know, you guys are educated men. I was wondering if there was anything you took out of that. mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. Anybody got anything? There is a link to our show because our friend of the show, Seth Payne, down in Houston, not being on the Jack Easterby beat for a minute, put up a post suggesting this, that the translocation of active mitochondria during buffalo oocytes in vitro maturation, fertilization, and pre-implantation embryo development, some sort of science jargon, but he tied it to the bills, and people are thinking this could be a hint that he is headed to Western New York.

You know, there is somebody else that I, he always seems to have a strong, a unique take on things. And I take what he says seriously at all times. And I'd like to know his thoughts on us. In fact, let's bring him in. One of the all-time friends of the Around the NFL podcast and now a big old star for SI and Monday of winning quarterback. Connor, or are you kidding me?

Connor, mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, buddy. I don't see how you could take that any other way outside of the fact that he's going to Green Bay. He's going to be a packer. And this all goes back to, you know, cows, milk production, Wisconsin, mitochondria. It all folds in really neatly there. How? Yeah. You know, Greg, I don't want to bore you with the science, but I think it's pretty easy to get from

point A to point B there, but I do enjoy J.J. Watt is doing like a, I guess it's sort of a breaking bad thing, right, with the episode titles or the Ozarks when they had the pictures at the beginning of every episode. He's having fun with it. He's like every other, you know, kind of boring, boring old white dude at this point. So I'm happy for him. I do like when he tweeted out something like, free agency is wild. And then people are just like, oh man, Jay J.J. Watts, He went there. Like a ton of like, like, what? Like, this guy's hilarious.

It's, it's like, the baseline, and this was an old, old Westism, you know, the baseline for like considering what's funny from an athlete is so low, it always drove them crazy that people thought like Peyton Manning was like the second coming of George Carlin or something. That's like, you could just say the most basic thing possible and be like, these athletes, they're wacky. They're really hilarious. My problem with this whole thing, though, is like, so with Tampa Bay last year, I started running my mouth, like the second that Tom Brady got there.

And I was like, all these superstar, like huge air quote acquisitions are so ridiculous and meaningless. Like Rob Grunkowski, Leonard Fournett. And I was like, you guys think this is a dream team? This is just an absolute joke. And then, you know, of course, one of my articles ended up on Tom Brady's postseason hype video, like giving us all the little things. And so, you know, it felt good, I guess, to get, my point there was, I was going to say that all these fans are getting excited to decipher these codes from, like, who's eventually going to be like a middling 33-year-old defensive end.

But, like, of course, he's going to have 24 sacks next year and break Michael Strayhan's record and make me look like a huge idiot. I do love the idea of Tom Brady's, you know, like circling around in his basement stewing over a Connor or think piece. Yeah, but that means Connor made it. I mean, to be included in that, shows the visibility of his platform, which is astounding. But you're right. I think, and there is only one, Tom Brady, obviously. But, yeah, he does remind you that, you know, don't count out the old guys having another huge year in the tank. I think Watt certainly qualifies.

Connor, what's going on? How are you? What's going on in your world? Are you happy? Are you content? What's new? I just just making it through you know I think we're all we're all learning to swim in a little bit of a different way during these times but at the same time it has made work like we all are very lucky to do this job and to talk about football but I think we've sort of double and triple down on that appreciation over the last like 10 months you know I have you know people that I know who are like whatever you know you're doing something very granular but we do get to in the middle of the day, even if it's a pandemic, be watching football.

You know, and so I think that that's sort of changed my perspective on a lot of stuff. But I still, I get to write about, I get to write about all sorts of fun stuff, wrote about Pokemon today. So that was, so that was good, you know. We're going to get into that a little bit later because Pokemon's one of those things that, whether it's because of age or just I've never really been connected to sci-fi and that culture or whatever that is. I don't even know what it is.

That's how I to touch I am. I would like to know more about Pokemon and the NFL and how they connect. But Connor, you, of course, as a former NFL media employee, we go way back. And we got a big show Connor is going to be with us. We're going to get into the news and we're going to take a look ahead at surprise cuts. And there's going to be a lot of them releases, cuts, some that you've. expect some that you don't with the salary cap going down. And Greg, you've been grinding it out on the old dot com with pieces the last few days. So we're going to get into all that. We're going to

do some news. But Connor, as we've been doing the last couple of weeks now, following the passing of Chris Wessling, you are a former NFL media cohort. And we had a lot of good times together. We still have great times together whenever we see each other at tent pole league events, although they haven't been happening for about a year now. But since you're on the show, have any memories you want to share about your time with Wes, either at the company or before or even after? Oh, my God. There's just so many. And I was going through my phone after I had heard the awful news. And it's so like Wes that our last conversation just left. you with this beautiful feeling and he's just such an incredible guy like we were talking about

he texted me in the middle of the day about like an orioles game that he was watching from 1995. Mike Messina was pitching and he knew that I liked the Orioles and so we were talking about that we were talking about books and just the way that a certain passage in a book made us both feel and you know he was just talking about these these golden moments that we have in life and that's really what life is all about and I went back and I read the text and you know we've all I think during the pandemic sort of looked for the big answer like what are we doing here and leave it to West to be able to just have dropped that in a text message you know to you in the middle of November at a time when he was hurting you know and that's just so like him he was he was such an example

of a way that we should be living life you know it's just so appreciative of every moment of every meal and so you know that that really meant a lot to me that i got to go back and and reflect on that but uh i would say my favorite west memory you know when i first started working here i was so intimidated by him because he was his football knowledge is just out of this world and he has a BS detector like nobody else i think you guys know that and i was like you know is he going to like me is he not going to like me and uh you know lo and behold fast forward to i I think it was our first Super Bowl together, and we're down in Arizona at the league hotel after the Panthers lost to the Broncos. And that whole year, we'd had a running bit about me picking against the Panthers and everybody getting, you know, upset.

And, you know, we started keep pounding. And, you know, you guys were taping the podcast. And so I was back at the hotel and I was arranging for your arrival. I cleared out the downstairs shop of any beer and patron that they had, and I was getting ready for the gang to be back. And I just remember sitting with Wes, and we were in a big table, you know, in full view of the entire hotel, and we're just screaming, keep pounding at the top of our lungs.

But he brought this, like, such a twang to it, and it still makes me laugh. Like, I can hear it right now. He's like, keep pounding. Yeah, there was a real base to his delicious. of keep pounding, for sure. Keep pounding. Oh, my God. Yeah.

And then, you know, just, I mean, every time I came, you know, just him being so warm. And, you know, I remember going to the cozy together and just hanging out and having drinks. And we would always talk about Steely Dan together. And I would always put on, if I knew that he was coming, I would put on, this must be the place by Talking Heads, which is one of his favorite songs. And he would always turn to me and say, that's my favorite song.

And it's, yeah, I know, because I put it on because I knew you were coming. And, you know, but he, yeah, God, I mean, you know, I just miss him every day. And, you know, I just, you know, pray for Lakeisha and Lincoln and know that I'm thinking of you guys all the time. So you mentioned that the post Super Bowls.

And there is like, Mark and I were texting about this yesterday. There is like an innocence that's kind of lost now with West Gone. and you look back at, you know, the times that we spent together, hundreds and hundreds of hours, thousands of hours, not just with the mics in front of our faces, but just by the virtue of what our jobs were, we were always together, whether it was in the newsroom,

traveling together. And the Super Bowl was always that culmination of a long year of work, even though, as we all know, the football calendar doesn't really end at the Super Bowl. For a lot of people, Super Bowl is the end of the season. As Mark is lamented, it's not the end of the season for us, but also it is when you get to, to the game, the long Super Bowl week at the city where you cover the game, and then

you watch the game, and you go through the long day of Super Bowl, and then the way it always has worked out, then we would go, and sometimes we'd go to a radio station in recent years we've done it from the stadium itself. We would do the post-show podcast. We'd usually be one of the last people out of the building on Super Bowl Sunday. And then you would get that release where we would all get together. And Connor, all-time hero, Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco when you had us well-stocked and we turned the lobby into a party. And you're right, with Wes and the golden moments, like he enjoyed those moments. Like, all right, we worked hard, we did the job and now we're going to have fun together. He, I remember, too, the Seahawks Super Bowl,

the interception at the goal line, right? And I had come from, you know, a newspaper background. And so you're used to being in these just dead quiet press boxes and everybody's so serious about themselves they take themselves too seriously and i remember that entire game that that was the first game i think i ever watched with west and he is on his feet from the minute the game starts and he's yelling and he's like oh did you see that you know and he's like turning around and he's like you know and i'm i'm like oh my god like what is going on here and and and but it it was just this moment that hit me like oh my god like we are we're watching football for a living and like this guy embodies that appreciation and that in that endless joy and so that was like

you never heard him complain about it once he was just this this beautiful soul but that game too in particular just like every two seconds yeah you see that catch you see that bad you know and just oh he was watching games with him was just unbelievable i sent you connor that picture of west in an easy chair in that hotel lobby after you and you know when you say to connor go please if you wouldn't mind, would you fetch a couple beers? He doesn't show up with a six-pack. It was like bottles of wine. It was a massive assortment. Yeah, it was just like Connor was the absolute best person on the planet to do that job. But there's a picture of Wes. We're all exhausted just sitting there and he had this big woolen cap because remember how cold and windy

that Super Bowl 50 was in San Francisco. And if I'm not mistaken, that was also the game that in the middle of it, West got yanked out of our ability to observe because Marshawn Lynch retired like minutes into the game and suddenly West was stuck writing this article. And that was, you know, there were times when you could look, I was sitting next to West and you could feel sometimes the irritation in the timing of a situation coming off of. And I was like thinking, my God, I'm glad I'm not writing that piece right now. But Wes is doing it. He did a great job with it. And he celebrated after. He was a unique guy on that front. And Marks, Washington Lynch didn't even have the common decency to stay retired, at least.

I mean, if you're going to make us deal with that, make Wes deal with that. If Wes is writing your retirement post, stay the hell retired. Well, now, Connor, you're taking his place as the guy that's going to need to have the knit cap at the Super Bowl, because now you're going West-style shaved head, and it can get a little, you know, he often commented, you know, get a little cold and get a little cold without that hair as protection. I didn't realize how much just a light, thin dusting of hair on top of your head actually did for you until I confronted the looming baldness, got rid of the hair, and then, you know, went outside one day, and I was like, oh, my God, it's cold. It's five degrees colder, you know? Yeah.

You know, there's a reason we were born with that stuff, you know, whatever it is. In the evolutionary train, there was a purpose for that. When you were talking about, like, the back and forth of having to shave your hair. head frequently. And in missing spots in the back, I mean, you have a lovely wife at home when she shave your head for you so that you don't have to deal with that. Right. It was, yeah, I would say it was one of those days where, like early on in COVID, where we just, you know, nobody knew what the heck was going on. And it just felt like normal was never going to return. And so we were just like, you know what, we're going to lean into this. We're going to order, you know, our own hair cutting kit

off the internet and we're going to go outside and we're going to shave dad's head and it was uh she's been great she's been my barber ever since and uh i wouldn't trade her for the world i i recently got the i made the decision oh this could save us potentially hundreds of dollars and i got all the equipment to start giving my boy's haircuts and i gave one of the most insane looking haircuts to my eldest son jack and now it's like now i'm in my caught in this in between because Harrison's hair came out okay and Jack's, he looks like a child from an orphanage. And I'm like, should I take that as practice and keep building toward it or should I bail on this? I already have the equipment. I'm kind of caught in between right now.

You got to go to Dan. I mean, we grew up with this very vibrant company coming to age in our youth. Barbizon, remember, you go there and get a few skills on, on haircuting and maybe some makeup as well. Not a bad thought. It's no different than going to, you know, before my wife was cutting my hair you would go to you know super cuts or one of these chains and it's like I told people it's like seeing an off-Broadway show you could get the next Picasso in that chair you know you could get the next star the Lynn Juan the Lynn Manuel something thank you uh or you could get you know a horse Tony Danza and and you know like there are times when somebody would give me the greatest haircut of my life and send me home

feeling good. And then there's another time where you get a stylist who's talking about how she was like a roadie for alien ant farm and is just here trying to get, you know, a couple bucks and you're like, just please get away from my head, you know. But, you know, these are the chances we take. Lynn Manuel Miranda. Miranda. That's the name. Sorry. Sorry. And one final thought before we, before we get to news, because you mentioned the golden moments. And I had a moment on Sunday night, where I was sitting outside in Southern California, and for all California's ills right now, and there are many,

one of the great things about living here, and it's cliche, but whatever. If you grow up in the Northeast, you get it, is the weather is so great. And it was the middle of February, middle of February here, and it was just, you know, 65 degrees and a perfect sunset.

And I was grilling, and I was on my second Tito's, and I had music playing out of the garage. And I thought this is always, usually when I would text Wes and I would be a little bit loose and a song would come on or I'd be grilling and you always think about Wes

with the big green egg and everything and I'd shoot him a text about whatever and it actually that was one of like and it happens occasionally like a sad moment where I got really sad because I like oh I can't text them but that at the same time

even though that was sad it again kind of speaks to Wes at that in that moment which is like a perfect life moment It was like, oh, I was thinking of West. That's when Wes and I would communicate because Wes, that would he live for those moments, too. Truly special man, Chris Wesleyan.

All right. Let's get to it. Let's do some news. Oh, where's your dad? You're a free agent. What's your dad? You're a free agent. You ask.

Talk to you. You have. You know, very rarely would I get on a high school kid getting buried by the National media. But, you know, the kid that came after Cam at Cam's camp to help other kids, that's a bad job by that kid. I'm happy at least someone got to him and had him do the old cliche, take out the notes app and write the apology and tweet it out. Hopefully he meant it. But I truly, you feel for Cam then because then that goes viral. And Cam is ultimately right. At the end of the day, Cam is rich, even if he is a free agent, you know?

I don't know about you guys, but we're all parents. And I watched that. And a couple of things stood out. The high school kids standing around, the mouty one, their looks were one of awkwardness because they were like, suddenly our friend, who is our teammate, and, you know, we like this guy, is taking on Cam Newton, which is sort of hard to process.

But then as a parent, I was just thinking, it made me uneasy. I am praying that my children never approach anyone. with that, someone of that stature and an accomplished person with that kind of attitude, I would be, I would run away, I would fly to the farthest reaches of the world to get away from having to deal with that. It made me think of once at a St. Patrick's Day parade in Scranton, Hillary Clinton was running in 2008. And I didn't, I wasn't nearly as mean as this kid was to Cam Newton, but I remember like

just being in the moment and seeing her like 10 feet away from. me and just being like Hillary Clinton you know and I'm like now like as a 32 year old I'm like what was my plan if she had turned around and addressed me and like thank God she just kept walking and it was one of those things where this kid probably didn't think that Cam Newton was going to turn around like he thought he would be hilarious with his friends and then as soon as Cam turned around you just saw the life drain out of his face but I think what was amazing about it was cam is such that boy did he turn the power of television production on that kid in a cocaine heartbeat and all of a sudden this kid is like cam cam cam gets the cameras around and it makes

it a teaching moment totally flips the narrative and just pins this kid under his thumb and makes them look like a little jerk and uh you know you know that i think lesson learned that day i would say if there was one misstep by cam is that when he took to social media to a address the incident. That would have been a good time, especially with the kids of America involved here and teaching lessons, to drop that dopey font of his that he uses with his post. Just right and standard King's English. Let's roll forward as a society and accept that as a failed experiment, just like that kid failed in his attempt at garnering attention. I don't know. Greg, is that unfair? You've been silent. Well, it just feels like if it's one of those

stories that it was only a story because of the day it happened. Right. It's like, why is anyone talking about this? If this offends, you go to any high school classroom in America for three minutes. Like, you will see something that offensive. And like, be a 16-year-old for three minutes. Like, you or one of your friends will probably say something that offensive. Like, do we need to talk about it that much? Greg letting the kid off the hook, it sounds like. All right. You need a contrary to take. Greg delivered it. Well, I said before the show, it's like, why is anyone talking about this? That's all.

To your point, though, I do remember being that age and the Hillary Clinton thing, like my friend and I were at a Mets game and we were centered over like the outfield somewhere and we spent seven straight innings trying to get Kirk Gibson's attention, shouting at him, berating him, waving our hands and giving him the finger.

And finally, like in the eighth inning, he finally looked up and he was like, fuck you. And we were like, yes, we did it. We did it. So it's like when you're that young, like, you don't like, you're just want to get the famous person's attention. So not to stay sidetracked here, but now you're giving me memories. The Yankees had some truly dreadful teams in the early 90s.

And there was a matinee game in August and they were probably 25 games under 500. Me and my cousin Matt were in the upper deck and right field of the old Yankee Stadium, which was really now that it's gone. And there's a new stadium there. The old Yankee Stadium, the upper deck used almost hangover the field. So if you were there in the front row and the place was empty and the right fielder was in the field, you were kind of on top of them. So me and my cousin Matt, we were probably both like eight or no, probably about nine or ten, just screaming at the top of our lungs for like three straight innings. Mel Hall, Mel Hall. And finally, like, he just looks up and he's like, what?

We had nothing else to say. We just wanted a reaction. I guess that kid wanted one too. He got it. It was every day of their lives for 17 years. You know, if you had a long MLB career, it's just like every single day, every day. Sneaky challenge of being a major league baseball athlete basketball after. All right. Let's get into it.

Speaking of New York sports, we haven't touched on Sam Darnold in a minute here. Sam Darnold is the entering his fourth season in the league. Very disappointing first three years in New York. there are different ways to look at it. Darnold being not living up to the prospects of being a number three overall pick and not playing well, but then also the Adam Gays disaster in general, the Jets putting a lot of bad things around him. So with the Jets potentially ready for a fresh start, Darnold is reportedly, allegedly on the trade block. NFL networks Ian Rappaport reports the Jets have received, quote, real interest in Darnold.

And Rappaport added that the team would complete their evaluations of the top QVs in the NFL draft before making any decisions on what to do. Greg, so this is, this all seems to be pointing a certain direction that Darnold will be moved. What are your thoughts about where this is and in general, just the subject of Darnold and where his career goes from here? Yeah, I thought, you know, when some of the New York reporters said a second round pick is, you know, where it's starting for Darnold, I took that to me. that's like what that's what the Jets want and maybe they're not even getting that yet and my reaction is similar to the Wendst thing when I heard that they were getting off for two seconds I was like take it now before anything changes trade Darnold now like his numbers over his last you know 16 games football perspective put this up today it's like are literally worse than Dwayne

Haskins and Haskins is younger we would never think to give Haskins like the benefit of the doubt that Darnold has, compared to Gardner Minshu, who's also younger. It's like, of course, he's not even in that same ballpark. Like, yeah, the gays thing was a disaster, but he's played a lot of football. And there's almost no historical precedent to be as bad as Darnold's been and recover for anything more than league average. That, okay, maybe you'll have a couple seasons where people are like, hey, this guy's an average or above average. Like, take Take whatever you can get now. I think the longer you wait, and I just don't expect them to be with the Jets.

I guess I've sort of thrown in the towel there on Darnoff. I would just ask, like, you know, we talked with Damashchak on our last show about the subject of quarterback saturation, which has not been the case for 90% of this podcast, but the last couple of years, like, who's calling? I look around. It could be, I guess maybe the Bears. That would make sense. I could really see Darnold in a Chicago Bears uniform. I mean, the Panthers potentially, I doubt that.

What if you're the Jets and the only real interest you got came from, in the end, based on other stuff happening, the New England Patriots, would you ever move them just to move them if you were to land there? He seems like the anti-patriots quarterback, though. I would say take what you can get. Well, so did Camduty a year ago. I think they would want, like, guys who are either athletic or, like, process. quickly, like just the kind of mental mistakes that Darnold's, I guess, shown. And again, you have to give them some leeway with gays, but it's like, what are we hoping

for? If they, if they could get a second round pick, take it while they can, is what I would say. It's a great point on saturation. I was talking to Jordan Palmer, Carson's brother, who trains draft prospects and has Trevor Lawrence this year. And he had said, like, dude, I have clients now 10-year-old, 11-year-old kids in Germany. Like, that's how many clients I have, and I'm training them all to be NFL quarterbacks. Every single college in America is four deep with kids who are capable of starting in the NFL. It's gotten that good. You know, and teams on the flip side have gotten willing to bend their idea of a traditional offense to make something work. So once that all comes together, like, we're not going to,

you know, the game is going to be so saturated that we're done getting attached to this idea of a franchise quarterback like i think that they're going to be as replaceable as you know maybe a really good wide receiver or defensive end like you can move on and you can make it work without them i think it's been it's it's hard for jets vans because you really did invest in darnold and everything pointed to him being the right guy right down to like we talk about west uh west uh saw good things from darnald we talked about tony romo talked about how he saw special things and special trades in Donald. A lot of smart football people think Donald's a player, and a lot of people still think he could be a

player. Dan Orlovsky at ESPN is a vocal supporter of Donald. And he's actually younger than Gardner Minchu. You know, he's 23 still, which is insane. So there is this path where it's like, could he get straightened out in the right situation, a la Tannahill, a la Alex Smith. But at the same time, with a new regime, with the Jets, with Joe Douglas now firmly in charge and handling all aspects of the roster building with Robert Sala there.

It just makes too much sense, I think, at the number two pick to get a fresh start there. Tanna Hill's a good comp because he came into a terrible situation in Miami and played receiver in college. And it's like you saw things, like Tanna Hill was average from the jump. And I guess that's where you hope there's some GM like a Lewis Riddick if he was in charge of a team that like still believes in his college evaluation

so much that he'll give. give up a pick for me. I'm not even sure that guy's out there, though, because what he's shown on tape, it's just, he's never shown to be like average, like Tannahill did right off the gym. That's my question. Just I don't understand like where all this interest is coming from, but

TBD. In other quarterback news, check back in on this Russell Wilson situation. Wilson kickstarted a lot of chatter and a lot of phone calls being made

when he told a couple different media outlets that he's sick of being hit and essentially that improvements need to be made with Seattle to get over the hump and get back to the Super Bowl. NFL networks Tom Pelliserro reported earlier this month the teams have continued to call the Seahawks about Wilson's availability and then Michael Silver, our own Michael Silver at NFL Media, reports that teams believe a deal with Wilson would start with three

first round picks and Connor like we talked about this Greg a little bit with Deshawn Watson as well like is there a limit with when you're coming up with random trade compensation packages for a true superstar quarterback is it where does it get ridiculous is it five first round picks 10 first round picks like at what point do we not buy into this being feasible and is three first round picks a worthy price for a 32 year old quarterback I would compare first round picks to gin and tonics, right? And that once you get past three, you're in a realm of ridiculousness and trouble that doesn't offer any sort of sound return for you. But yeah, I think that Russell Wilson is interesting in that none of this is unintentional, right?

This guy has his entire day planned out physically, but also mentally every day. This is exactly what I'm going to do. this is how I'm going to think I mean he has a mental processing coach that helps him along in this way and to go out and state what he has it to me feels a hundred percent planned and maybe he wasn't getting what he wanted on the other end of conversations with seahawks management whatever it is but you know this is a guy who knows exactly what he's doing uh you know Aaron Rogers gets a lot of credit for doing that in Green Bay but Russell Wilson is not far behind in terms of someone with that power that cachet and that knows how to sort of move the chess pieces around on a sleepy afternoon in the NFL offseason. Yeah, I mean, it also feels a bit quirky to me because the Seahawks don't value gin and tonics. I mean, I don't think, I can't think of a team that cares less about first round picks. So why, what is in this for the Seahawks on any level to trade them? Like, and again, where? Right. Well, that's where it makes it. I think there'd be plenty of wares.

Sure, but I mean. Denver, for any of these teams, by the way. I, three, sure, four, five, I don't know. I think five, I would give up, like, depending on who you are, people get so, I think first round picks are somewhat overrated, that you can, you can, like, look at the last five Seahawks' first round picks. Now, they're a unique team, they're usually drafting late, but James Carpenter, Bruce Irvin, Germain Affetti, Rashad Penny, L.J. Collier, and Jordan Brooks. I would trade 15 of those guys for Russell Wilson.

What's the difference? And you could do that with more teams than you think. And those five would not add up to me to Russell Wilson. So I don't think for a team like the Patriots or the Broncos, teams that literally have nothing right now, that that would be too much. Because you should be able to figure out how to build a team other ways, too, with the rest of your draft picks and free agency and trades and everything else.

And that solves like not only solves the biggest thing that you could have, but gives you a monster advantage at quarter. too. Here's something interesting I learned from the latest Monday morning quarterback Peter King column. He was talking about Deshaun Watson and he was cooking up trade possibilities for the disgruntled Houston passer and he said, keep in mind, teams cannot trade draft picks beyond 2023 right now. So I guess that's the limit. I don't know if that's something that is written in stone, but the way King wrote it, it seems like it is. So, you can't do more than three

and then you have to, I guess, get creative second round picks and then players. The Rams would have already traded him, I guess, if it was possible. Right. I mean, you're just like you're shooting an arrow into a future GM, but... What about this, Mark? How about this is a move? What if you offered let's use the Browns as an example? If you offered 10 first

round picks between 2040 and 2049, would you give that up for Russell Wilson? Hell yeah. Like, that's the kind of GMing I would do, which is like bury a few someone who's three like four months old right now but will grow up to be a general manager they can deal with it that bill's gonna come do though i mean maybe we won't be around for it

i hope we will but it's not that's 20 years away imagine 10 straight years without a first round pick and the guy imagine you're 20 years old at that point you're like wait why is my team always terrible oh we made the worst trade ever 20 years ago and never got out of the divisional round well it's like you pay bobby benilla a million dollars every year until uh you know jesus returns. I guess that's why they make those rules, because the NBA is running into this a little bit. Like, the Thunder have, like, 13 first-round picks through 2027 or something like that, and the Pelicans have a ton of them, too. And there is something about it that it just feels ridiculous, but also, like, an interesting experiment. That was always my favorite thing to do

on Madden the day, like, before the draft, you would trade your entire roster for first-round draft six and then you would end up with picks like two through 17 and you were just you were just on the clock for like 55 straight minutes and just uh yeah uh the fantasy is real i've always and this goes all the way back to uh why not my not days of the year on the NFL podcast and you're old i believe the college football game um Connor um but you have always been a person that when you get into your sport video game you dive deep like you really get into the roster management and all that stuff. It's almost like actually playing the games as secondary for you.

And I think there's a whole market of people that are like that. Yeah, it's funny. Like, after that, we did that whole bit. It really did take off. Like, there are people who do that now. That's like what they do on YouTube. I'm not saying that we deserve credit for it. But when you're old and you don't have time for the franchise setting on a sports game now,

like the only video games that I play, my wife and I play Family Feud for the Nintendo switch at night when the kids go to that. It's adorable. And so you have to build... That's the cutest thing I've ever heard. You have to build like a character archetype from like this just man and like you're just like, yeah, he's like a bored businessman who's going to moneyball family feud and figure out a way to, you know, and then the wheels are turning even if I can't play Madden necessarily. On the subject of games, before we get into the cuts and franchise tag players,

Connor, you have a new feature up on s.com about Pokemon. And I revealed my ignorance on this earlier. I referred to it as a science fiction game. Maybe I'm right. I don't know. Now you have a chance to really provide some clarity there. But Cassius Marsh, the linebacker, who also is such a fan of Pokemon, that he's taking his love to the next level.

Do you want to share a little bit about this piece that you've written? Because it's very interesting. So, yeah, I'm standing, you can't see behind me as my entire Pokemon card collection is kind of like stacked up like a big tower. I can send you a picture afterwards, but we had, someone had emailed. Are you serious, by the way? Yeah, 100%. Wow. Okay.

Yeah. Let's go. Keep going. And so someone had emailed us at SI and said, you know, there's a Steelers player who's thinking about opening a Pokemon card store. And there was someone in our office that said, that sounds like something that I'd be interested in. And then one of our editors said, if Connor doesn't do the. story, he's going to have a heart attack. Like, he has to do it. And so everyone called me, and it was good. Everything worked out. But yeah, Cassius Marsh is incredible. Magic the Gathering

savant. He actually, his car was broken into, and he had $20,000 worth of Magic the Gathering card stolen when he was in Seattle. And then all of a sudden, the community kind of got turned on to the fact that he was into it. He became this sort of like athlete surrogate for trading card games and he's like you know what i love this i'm going to open my own store in the middle of pandemic i don't care what's going on and so i got a tour of uh the store it's just going to cash cards unlimited yeah cash cards unlimited just got open next week and it's legit like he has uh it was just like surreal like all the conversations that i've ever had with players about things that they don't want to talk about and things that really i don't want to talk about either

And then now here I am with like an NFL player being like, wait, is that a first edition base set blister pack right there? And he's like, oh, yeah. Can you zoom in on that real quick? And I was like, oh, yeah. Oh, you have all the team rocket sets. Okay, good, good, good. You know, and so it was cool. But, you know, really like I got to talk to some of the people who are kind of steeped in the magic, the gathering world.

And it's really neat story. Like parents are sending him thank yous for making it seem a little more mainstream, a little less like hard quote. or quotes, nerdy. And it does sort of bridge that classic divide between the jock and the nerd. And I do think that there is like a cool thing that he's doing there. There is sort of like another step toward acceptance, if you will. I think also like, I mean, if I were to pick an NFL player that would be operating in Pokemon realms, Cassius Marsh wouldn't be the first. He's like a giant muscle bound figure with his both arms are canvas with tattoos from shoulder to wrist and here he is playing it's not a child's game at all i guess it's a collector's i

don't know how to describe it you do it better than i you sent cards to my kids they still remember you for that hmm that's right i'm uh yeah i'm i'm i'm cool in that way i like you are still collecting still still trucking i like this quote from marsh all of this stuff it's art for the new generation these cards are similar to buying Picasso they're high-end collectibles high-end art a lot of these pieces are extremely rare. Some of these sports cards are one of one. It's like getting a personal piece from a famous artist. It's just in its infancy right now.

What kind of value do you have in that room you're in right now? So I started clearing out stuff that I had additional things of during the pandemic and was able to sell cards for a pretty decent amount of money. And I posted my entire collection and then I immediately like yanked it back. off V-Bay because I was like, you know, what am I going to do? Like, you know, my kids aren't going to care about this. And then I was like, but what if they do? And like, so I all of a sudden, like, grabbed it, grabbed it and took it down offline. But it's fun, you know, that's, that's something like got into when I was a little kid, hardcore. And then Cassius

March and I were talking about this. You go to college and you give everything away because you think, God, if anybody finds out that I do this, they're going to make fun of me. And then you get to your dorm room and everybody has a game boy. Like, there was 10 people on my floor that were all playing Pokemon and I was like wait this is okay like why did I why did I get rid of this and uh so after once you have like a little bit of disposable income you get back into it a little bit just to sort of have something to do help you zone out excellent check it out um you go to Connor orr's uh Twitter page easiest way to find it at C-O-N-O-R-R-R what a name it is also uh and it's on sI dot com all right let's

Dan, does that solve your science fiction issue here? Have you... Oh, I still don't know what they are. I don't know, like, what Pokemon is like a cartoon, but it's like a, like, are they aliens or what? I still don't really know what they are. And the magic there's, there's wizards involved and stuff. So I don't, but I don't judge.

I just don't understand it. It's a world that's strange to me. Like when I was in college, I had a roommate, he was a senior. It was the first place dorm I got put into, so it was just a mix of guys. and he would have like Dungeons and Dragons battles with these other guys. And they all looked like Gareth from the UK office. Like I was like, all right, well, that's a whole thing that I'm not really plugged into, but I know it's got popularity.

I would say that Pokemon are more like animals that you would encounter in the wild and then domesticate and then they help you along your adventure to fame and prominence, but also self-discovery. That would be the best way that I would. That was good. I like that. I mean, that's interesting. All right, let's get into, let's move on now.

And Greg, like I said, you've been busy. You've been pounded out bangers. That's what you do. You pound out bangers from your little home office behind closed doors. And let's dig into, let's dig into. You made it sound so weird. That and like animals you meet in the forest and they advance your life. along, a lot happening here.

A lot of it just sitting on the couch in the main room, really. You pound out bangers in the main couch? Okay. Yeah, with just the madness going around me. There's something about like sitting back here, like at a desk, you know, when you're not podcasting, that feels like it's too much like it's even, it's too close to go into the office. I'd rather just sit on the couch.

All right, I'm with you. All right. Let's get into it. We'll start with some. We're going to get to some cuts, some surprise cuts. And it should be known, by the way, that we have a little bit of an issue here because Greg has been writing about this stuff on our website for years. Connor does the same thing for SI.

That means double the power. But there can only be one that truly sits atop the throne as the true master of this type of article. And Mark is going to let us know who that is at the end of the show. Oh, perfect. Um, anyway, let's start with the 2021, um, NFL franchise slash transition tag primer, colon, who are the no brainers? Debatable candidates? I never do the headlines. I don't understand the headlines sometimes.

You know how that works. I guess it's, it's SEO, but there's a lot. Anyway, um, all right, Greg, let's start with the no brainers. And, um, it should be known. Everybody should be aware that just because the team tags somebody doesn't mean that players going to play for the team. So I'm curious, Greg, setting it up that way. You have DAC atop the

list, Alan Robinson, wide receiver of the Bears, Chris Godwin, wide receiver of the Bucks, Teller, Moten of the Panthers, Moton? Yeah, Moten. Moten, the tackle. Kenny Colladay, wide receiver,

Lions, okay? Of those guys, who's the most likely or who are the guys you see there that could get moved, do you think? And who's definitely playing for their team in 2021. Ian's putting out a little bit of like watch Alan Robinson possibly get traded or maybe Goladay. Like does it really make sense for them to be paying $16 million when they're rebuilding?

So they could be possible trades. But it gets to the point of like all these teams that are, people spend so much time in January of like these are the free agents we want to get. And a lot of them are these three receivers, you know, Robinson, Godwin, and Goladay. And none of them are going to be available. except maybe in a trade that's going to cost a lot. And I've been setting up the list, you know, the free agency list, and man, I think it's bad this year.

Usually I'm kind of pumping it up, and especially at receiver, it's bad. So maybe some team, I would give up a nice pick for Alan Robinson and give him money. I would give up a second round pick at the least. So I think the Bears could get something. But the most likely outcome is they're all with their teams, and they're all staying put because, like, letting go of good guys is stupid. Alan Robinson seems, you know, there's a continued streak of, he seems a little disenfranchised, and I don't blame him. I would love to see Alan Robinson with a functional quarterback for the first time in Earth history.

I'm not sure it's happening with the Bears, or I am sure it's not happening with the Bears. All of a sudden, then he'll just end up back in Jacksonville, the Circle of Life. It always drops you back off in Northern Florida. The Circle of... If it gets paid, yeah. he seems to be he's the one that seems to be trying to grease the skids to get out of town he's doing like different podcasts and he's making it pretty clear yeah we mentioned on this podcast a few weeks ago that he's been dropping all sorts of hints in his social media about where he might want to end up um all right you have a category say yes what does that mean exactly great it's just i think it was like an elliott smith reference from like eight years ago that just out of apathy has just stayed there forever but you know one of the all time elliott smith's song Ah, okay. And of that category, what's the name that jumps out to you?

That's kind of an interesting case. Aaron Jones, I think the more I've thought about it makes sense to keep for $8 million, which would be the franchise, or less on the transition tag. This is another one where little people around the league are like thinking, I just assumed he would be gone and they would let him go, but that would annoy. Do you say little people around him? Yeah, I don't know that. What is, I caught that too.

Yeah, just me, you know, people like me, little stature. Oh. They don't think it makes sense to actually let him go. Aaron Rogers would be pissed. Connor, you don't want to piss off Aaron Rogers. Like, why not keep Aaron Jones for $8 million for one year? I think that's a bargain. If you make Aaron Rogers mad, you're not going to get yelled at.

It's like it's the fear of what is going to happen. Like, you're going to make him mad and then you're not going to hear anything. and then like a month later you go to dinner at his house and the meal is totally poisoned, you know? And that's like the kind of person he is. And so, yeah, I would 100% like to keep Aaron Rogers happy. And it totally makes sense. If you look at where running back contracts are headed, he could almost be getting, you know, 60% more than that on the open market. If a team, you know, if there's a team that is going for it, quote unquote, this off season, like I could see him being a $12 million a year player for two for one or two years.

and so $8 million makes a ton of sense to me. Who cares if you drafted his replacement already? You're going to need three or four good running backs. The Athletic Shield Capadia believes Aaron Jones could get up to $15 million in free agency per season. Have there been enough running back deals that have blown up in recent years that that market is not going to materialize? For Jones, I know he's a special player. Well, I know he's a very good slash great running back, but is he a special running back that would get that kind of money? I think so

It only takes one team And we've seen that time and time again The whole like running backs aren't going to get paid Because it's all gone poorly And now even the Panthers are maybe trying to trade Christian McCaffrey Like that's all true but everyone got paid Like mixing got paid Camara got paid

Derek Henry in his own way got paid Like if you're that good that you usually do So get like a one year contract Seems nice They have their cap issues That's the problem But they're going to cut some players They're going to cut Preston Smith, they think

they've already cut a couple players like Christian Kirksey and you find a way to keep the guys you want. So the Packers in one world are going to get J.J. Watt but move on from one of the two past rushers they got in the offseason a couple years ago that had become incredibly expensive for them at this point. I think so. I think that's possible.

Possibly play J.J. Watt at running back to replace Aaron Jones. That would be okay. That would be a great experiment just to line them up back there for a whole year. I would love just to see what his numbers would be. Like, does he run for 500 yards? I mean, we have a little bit of a test case with Derek Watt, you know, as, you know, been in the league for a while. You know, you've said it yourself, why are you picking on Derek Watt?

I'm not. I'm just saying he's a running back Watt that we've seen, you know, fullback, I guess. What would J.J. Watt's longest run be over the course of a year? 11. 80 yards. 80 yards. I don't see that happening. Although, I mean, you need like four smaller, as Greg would say, little people at most, four of them to drag him down.

I would compare his output on a game-by-game basis to what Labion Bell did with the Jets. A lot of one-to-two-yard runs and maybe a nine-yarder when the crowd would be like, oh, yeah, he's back, baby. I was putting together, like I said, that free agency list and I'm doing the running backs or whatever. And I'm thinking, like, oh, is Levyon Bell's career over? That was crazy. Like, that was fast. It happens really fast. Like, Levy on Bell, who I thought was almost a bargain for the Jets.

Like, I think there's a pretty decent chance his career is over. I don't know. It's just like, don't have your kids be running back. Well, he was so selfless to take the year off and do it for all running backs. You know, nothing but praise. He came, yeah, he came, he went away for that year and he came back a different guy. It just wasn't there anymore. A third of the guy.

You could say that. All right, before we move on to Surprise Cuts, Greg, so on the leaning no, is that an Elliott-Smith song as well? No, no, that's just like, you know, the lean, yes, the lean no. Oh, okay. Is there, what is the, you have Shaquille Griffin, Griffin the cornerback for the Seahawks of the top of the list, Matt Milano, the linebacker for the bills.

You got a couple linemen for the Pats. Tell us about this list. Is there anyone you would disagree with Connor, especially if you have a list that, like Curtis Samuel is the guy, I think will get paid a lot. Joe Tuny is going to get paid a lot. There's a chance I think Bill Belichick will just eat the poop, as you would say, Dan,

and just paid Joe Tuny like $18 million a year because he just feels like dumb for letting him go and having tagged him and not signing him to a long-term deal a year ago. Otherwise, he's going to be like incredibly rich Joe Tuny. I mean, I don't even think it's a sandwich prop, Greg. I think if he's not on the Patriots, I think the Jets would go all out for him

because they were ready to make the move last year and then Tune was a surprise tag. I think some of them are interesting, like, if you look in New Orleans at, like, Hendrickson and how insane their cap situation is, and it just goes to show that we are saying right now, oh, this team will not use the salary cap. This team will not sign a guy to a high-end $15 million deal. And then all of a sudden, like, there's just this switch that flips, and it teaches us all what we learn every year is that none of our understanding of the cap,

is even close to what it needs to be and it's all mysticism and it's just an excuse for teams not to pay players and then as soon as you go whoa ah and then all of a sudden you have 20 million dollars in cap space and you don't know how it happened and like field yates tweets well it was just a series of small corrections in the back end of the deal uh if you you know five cents here and there and all of a sudden you have a hundred million dollars in caps space that's a good yates that's a good that was not a field yates impression that was like a please feel i'm a big fan of Don't think that I was making fun of you. But I would say it's just more like it's that,

and it's not just field. It's like anybody who. That's his corner. It is a corner of his, yeah. It's sort of a collective voice of anybody in that corner who really nails the deep minutia of contract. Mickey Loomis is the king of the Saints. I think there is something to that, Connor,

that like they're trying harder by shuffling. It's the same thing with the rant. Every year we hear the rant, Oh, the Rams, they've given it up. There goes their window. Like, they're in salary cap hell. It's like, no, you can, if you, especially if your owner's got enough money and to figure it out to just give people cash up front and keep just spreading out to the future. Like, it's always, the spaceship is always going up.

You can find a way. It's like your neighbor who, I've said this on another podcast before, but like you're looking around and you're like, I've sneakily Googled how much you make. How is your house so much nicer than mine, you know? And you just start like, and you just start like looking around and then it's just like, well, if you reverse the mortgage and then you triple the mortgage and then you have the mortgage, you know, and then all of a sudden they gave me a check for $80 million. And it's like, how the hell does that work? Wait, how do you know how much your neighbors make? There's a lot happening there, Connor. Oh, boy.

Do we want to get this? I'm curious. We're all curious. We're all reporters here. He's a turno. Yeah, you're a journal. We haven't been doing great journal work lately, or at least aggressive journal work. Oh, so do you find their tax reports or something?

Is that what you do? Take us through it. Go ahead. Nobody's listening. Go ahead. I would just say that anything is possible if you put your mind to it and if you're connected to the internet. So we'll leave it at that. I feel like that's a comfortable way to listen.

I will say speaking of journals, this one. line from Greg, I was my favorite line in this entire article. The Associated Press reports that Matt Milano will test free agency, comma, and who am I to argue with such a monolith? This continues a B-line of Greg's habits to constantly bury the Associated Press whenever he has that's not a barrier. What is this problem with the Associated Press? I don't know this at all. We all have little biases that come out in our writing, and for Greg, it's usually you're targeted at the AP. I don't even know what this is all about. I don't know the background.

These are your words, but okay. Well, the monolith part, it just, like, when the Associated Press report something, it feels like, okay, well, that's just a fact. There's no, they are the Associated Press. They cannot get it wrong. Who would we be to argue with that? If you're talking about way back in the day not wanting to use AP articles, I mean, that's just because I liked Mark Sessler and Connor Orr and Chris Wessling

and Dan Hanses is writing so much. Isn't that order? No order. I just remember when I came to the NFL. It's like you'd see all these AP articles on the front page. It's like, what are we doing here? Let's justify our paychecks. Mark was the master of, if anybody has ever read an Associated Press article, right?

It comes with the dateline and then the long M-Dash and then the date line in parentheses, then the long M-Dash and then the AP, and then it gets a. into the news. And when I first started working at NFL network, Mark used to send, and it's a tradition that I carried on to SI, and I've tweaked out a few teammates from time to time, where he'll send like an APR, he'll work up like a 400-word AP article, and he would send it in our chat client of like, you know, Mark Sanchez arrested in high-octane, you know, car chase sting or whatever. And like, but it looks so official because it's got that AP attachment on it. And so, you know, I, um, I did one not too long ago. I texted all my coworkers and I just

said, oh, M.G, in all caps. And I sent it to our group chat. And then I did an AP out of New Orleans that that Cooper Manning had been arrested for embezzling like millions of dollars. And, um, and trying to like corner some like rubber market or something like that. And they're like, oh, my God. And the editor was like, all right, you know, let's, uh, let's start mobilizing on this, you know. You're hoping to cause like sheer panic. It's not going to last for more than four seconds, but you just want that four second panic mode. You also don't want it to get out the door and get kicked upstairs because then you have a problem, you know. That's true.

It's like a very fine line, the needle of the thread. All right. Let's swing to the cut candidates. 2021 AFC slash NFC cut candidates, colon, viable releases and potential surprises. by Greg Rosenthal. Right at the top, on the AFC side of things, you got Von Miller. And it's kind of crazy to think about Von Miller being elsewhere, but he gets paid a very high salary.

He's not the same guy he was, potentially. He's coming off a season that he missed due to injury. And he's got some off-the-field stuff, Greg. It all feels like it's adding up to a end of the road with Denver that has logic. Yeah, I think even before he got hurt and before the off-the-field stuff, they might have found it hard to pay, you know, to not try to save $18 million against the cap. He seems like one of those guys, though, that could have a nice little late season run, I mean, late career run, that he will have interest. Like, usually these big name guys, they get overrated in free agency, you know, Connor thinks so, like the big names. But he seems like he could actually make a difference at some point still.

Yeah, I mean, he's one of those guys that still the game plan would be dictated to you. And even if that's all you bring to the table, you are handing your defensive coordinator more tools in the tool belt, which I think is a valuable commodity. Greg, Mark, what are you seeing here that jumped out to you? You know, the thing, it's not so much about a specific player, but watching what the Eagles and Saints are doing, The Eagles, Greg, you mentioned like multiple wide receivers, and by the time the article was up, you were correct on Alshan Jeffrey, you're correct on Deshaun Jackson, and there could be more. Zach Ertz is someone that could go. And I just sort of like the Eagles are going to look so different, but we talk about the cap not mattering in all this other business. I do think it matters if you're the Saints because I can't remember a team in quite the fix that they're in and just how different these two teams could look next season.

the Chiefs are another one like they're two tackles Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher you could cut them but it's all like cutting guys that you would want to cut anyways in the Saints case it's just like not resigning Trey Hendrickson and Marcus Williams

maybe but they yeah they're among the teams the Patriots I would throw in there as a team that's going to look incredibly different I've heard some like Zachert's trade talk and feels like just like good luck with that I'm not sure they're going to be able to get anything or get anyone to pay $8 million to Zacherts after he had like 300 yards and give up a draft pick for him.

But like some of these teams, the Washington football team is another one that feels like a year late of Rivera coming there, that they could just blow up machine land in Collins, Alex Smith. It's awkward to cut Alex Smith. I know they don't want to, but that's probably coming. Like it does feel because of the cap stuff, like Connor said, people will just use it as an excuse to like release a ton of players especially this year there's you know it's amazing the eagles that super bowl team is basically gone like they're totally wiped out at this point and earth's you

know he's interesting to me and i know people that watch the eagles very closely will tell you that he was not a guy that was resembled the playmaker and the guy that caught the game go ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter of the super bowl he doesn't seem like that guy anymore but You know, guys like Ertz and Anthony Barr, who you have on your list is a potential surprise cut of the Vikings, Chandler Jones, I would hesitate unless the team is having really difficult times with a cap and they need to find ways to get under. And that certainly is the case this year with the cap going down, which was not something anybody could have predicted. But when you have impact star players, they're coming off a year where they just weren't physically right, that it could end up blown up in your face if they get help. healthy and get back to their old ways on a new team. And it was just like, maybe we should have been a little more patient here.

Especially with a realistic length preseason in some way, shape, or form, right? Like, you know, some of these guys. Don't panic, Mark. You know, Mark does not want to see that preseason. Neither do I, so neither does any of us, really. I got to get out of the house. I don't feel like I'm an outlier there. No, you're not.

You're not. But it was your corner. I need to, I need the preseason. I need to be at a banal jet's mini camp practice. in April just to get outside. I got to do it. I need to be there. So we all must suffer through, you know,

we throw in the whole thing. That's five weeks. Practice is good. Green and white scrimmage. That's what it is good. Green and white scrimmage, the Snoopy Bowl, Dan. How can you, come on, you know.

They discontinued that, I believe, which is really a shame because it's cynical people like the Mark Sessers and the Greg Rosenthal's that probably caused the MetLife, Inc. To put the trophy away for good. Well, wait a minute. That one game that I did celebrate. I mean, until, you know, Mark Sanchez had what, was it, just collarbone snapped, like in the fourth quarter of the Snoopy Bowl, totally undeserved to the shoulder injury. It was a shoulder injury.

I mean, my AP report was not far off on Mark Sanchez that day. Followed the infamous bloodied Eli Manning from the Super Bowl. Do you remember the Snoopy Bowl? Do you remember that? Yes. When Eli Manning was sacked by Calvin Pace and there was blood flying from his nose and then the next year, year Rex Ryan put it on the cover of the game notes before the Super, before the Snoopy Bowl, that was like one of the great moments in Rex Ryan.

It's funny how like how small and silly things can get and how high school things can get in the NFL when you cover it as closely as we have for years. That year was, yes, after the Giants, I believe it won a Super Bowl or maybe not, But it was 2009, actually, and the new MetLife Stadium was opening. And the Jets and Giants had both footed the bill for it together. And the Jets were no longer a tenant. And there was this idea, like, who gets to play the first preseason game in the new stadium? And it was such an issue between the Jets and Giants that they were like,

we need to move up the Jets Giants preseason game from week three to week one. So both organizations get to have the honor of playing the first game. game at MetLife Stadium. How stupid is that shit? The honor of things are sometimes. You could proudly say that you were the first team to play in the ugliest stadium in the NFL. Right.

A tuna can. There's no replacing the moment where as a fan, um, you walk through the parking lot that was the old stadium to the stadium that seems exactly like the old stadium and was made 40 years ago yet is just like brand new. You can't replace the chills that. that come about. MetLife Stadium is like, if you're a baseball fan, when the White Sox built their replacement for Comiskey Park in the early 90s,

and it was a very traditional, like, 70s, 80s-style stadium. And then a year later, two years later, Camden Yard shows up, as Conner well knows. And that started the craze of the retro ballpark. And people realizing, oh, we could, like, imprint our personality and make it like this like special place to go see a game and the white socks were like what the hell we don't get to be a part of this like i feel like that with a lot of these NFL stadiums that open now that when the jets and giants did their facility and at the time a lot was made of it and there was a billion dollars and all this stuff like um or maybe that was gerald world but um that all the new

stadiums that are coming out now and we're going to be working at the new rams charges facility once this COVID thing wraps up. It seems like these stadiums are really cool now. And like when we went to Minneapolis for that Super Bowl, like that's an amazing building with the Vikings. Anyway, we digress. The architect, like somebody that I'd talked to you

with a background and design once and not really in football was like, did they realize that the most iconic skyline in the country is like literally five minutes that way? and they just erected this steel wall in front of it so that no one can see it, you know? Visionaries, Connor, visionaries. It feels like a swing and a miss.

Anyway, Greg, before we go, let's put our focus where it needs to be. Anything else you wanted to kind of highlight here, and of course go to NFL.com slash Rosenthal to check out his writings in a more in-depth way. But names that jump out to you that would be surprises, but also it makes sense on something. I was surprised how much Cowan, Boys fans think Jalen Smith might get cut.

That does not seem like a Jerry Jones move to me to, like, admit a mistake two years into a monster extension. But I think that's kind of the levels of Jalen Smith's struggles last year. Like if they're going to cut them, maybe they do it in August. John Smokey Brown, there's an old West favorite. He's something to keep an eye on. I think the bills, like, want to get aggressive and maybe need to open up some cap space to do that. And I like John Brown a lot, but he might be one guy who loses his job because of that. Connor, you had your own list.

Anything that Greg has mentioned here or that you've seen that you disagree with vehemently and you have to call his competency into question? The only thing that I disagree with is that it wasn't up at 1130 last night when I was trying to finish mine. And sometimes you just, you know, you don't copy, but you just make sure that you have everything. You kind of double check your work. And, you know, after getting two kids to bed, you just, you know, two kids under the age two. You just don't feel like You don't feel like being all that creative

You know So take a peek Take a peek Just you know Just like a cross-checking That makes sense That's that's largely what it is Yeah

And less plagiarism What would you take a peek at Greg? I don't know if those things were up Yeah I definitely look at like the free agency list Before I send in my one Just to make sure I didn't miss people I don't know if there

other tag primers. I guess they didn't check that out, but you check out like the local guys who've really got, you know, the inside scoop on the Ravens. And the little people, of course. The little people, you ask around a little bit. You just say, hey, is this stupid? I mean, do you think to yourself, Greg, what would Dan and Mark do in this situation?

Who would they be zeroing in on? No. It's funny because good response. It's funny because, Greg, you called out Damash's sources on our last podcast. Like, I think I know Greg's sources, too, but I will not call them out.

I know who's, I know his birdies. Well, there was multiple this time. But, yes, some are, you know, insiders at our company, certainly. I'm not giving anything away there. But, but others as well. All right. Good stuff. Good, good stuff.

You've said it all, Connor. I thank you for it. Yeah, this was fun. We went so long, you had to grab your power cord in the middle of the last. How is my transition? I've been like, I've been infamous for this now, like throughout COVID for some reason. I just don't bring it with me when I go down to the basement to do this. And before every show, when we do our podcast, our producers, like, do you have your power cord? We need to, like, we need to stop pausing the show 45 minutes in for you to run upstairs and get your power cord. Get another power cord would be what I'd say, SI, step up to the plate. Yeah, you got to put that on S.I. Speaking of monoliths, come on now. Hey, subscribe to a new online product, which is launched. It's great.

Access to some really cool stuff. And buy the magazine, you know? Like, it's still, like, it's great. I was reading it the other day, and it's just awesome. So, bye. I mean, unless that's money that you would allocate to NFL media property, sure. How many covers you up to, Connor? S.I. Covers, which is the holy grail of sports writing.

or has been for most of our lives. How many covers you got? Two. Good for you. So that's two more than I thought I would ever have. That's pretty awesome. Connor's just yet another alumnus of NFL Media who went on to greater things. And yes, check them out at s.i.com.

Your podcast? I don't see you plugging your podcast in your Twitter profile, but I assume that's still happening. The Weekside podcast with Jenny Vrentis. We just did our really fun season wrap. up show. Got some really good feedback from our listeners after like, I guess it's like our second full season. We have a logo now.

It's fun. Yeah. Cartoon like cartoon depictions of ourselves, which means you really have arrived in the podcast landscape. And I feel good about that, yeah. I think the key was getting Breer out of it, you know, it was like a little bit of a wet blanket. You just got to have like the good, you have to have, it's all about vibes.

So once you got Breer off. Off the pod, I just think wide left. Albert is, when we were all in the podcast together, it was like making a soup with three really strong ingredients. And, you know, maybe Albert is saffron or shallots. And they need to stand on their own. And so, and obviously the Albert Brewer Show is excellent. So you should subscribe there too. And now you understand how Jenny and Connor deliver the news to Bert that he was no longer on their podcast.

It's like there's the Wilco poster behind you that I am trying to break your heart documentary where Jeff Tweedy kicks him, what's his name out of the band? And he starts with every circle needs a center. And it's basically not you, you know? Not you, it's me. But you do, and I don't know, I don't know why we tend to ramble a little bit more when Conner's on. But, you know, it's conversational. It's a free-flowing conversation.

We did once upon a time go through our Twitter bios And then you critiqued each one And I just now have to deliver that critique to you Because we all love Jenny And you do great work and you're a natural podcaster Just having that you're a staff writer It's a little bit too minimalist Let's get the plug for the podcast in there

And maybe the podcast numbers will, you know, shoot up a little bit It's funny I That was my initial banging Is yours, Greg, is you still just football? I never changed it And then, you know That was one last great West memory was I didn't look at Wes's before I came on

And then I was great And then I just like Unwittingly ripped it to shreds And then I felt awful about it And then you know Two years later at the Super Bowl I did my list of things that I hate Didn't look at his Instagram

And just like ripped it to shreds unwittingly And I felt you know He was a good sport about it But I always felt terrible about that I think I was like all the people who cut their hamburger open and take a picture of it. And West, it's like, I love doing that, you know. Anyway, Connor, we really appreciate you giving us the time.

And yes, you were another favorite of Chris Westlings. And that's what we've kind of been doing in these shows since his untimely passing, having some of his favorite people on that have been either friends or connected to the show or to the company and you qualified as all three. So thank you, buddy, for coming on, share our memories and giving us your, you know, that Connor sizzle that you always bring. Well, thanks for having me on. And again, you know, for anybody who sees the GoFundMe for Lakeisha and Lincoln, you know,

anything that you guys can do to help make a difference there, you know, please continue to do so. Well said, yes. Check out the GoFundMe. It's pinned on all of our Twitter pages. All right. We'll be back on Thursday with our second episode of the week. Thank you to everybody for following along. And we, again, appreciate all your support during this difficult time for the show.

This is Dan Hansa signing off for Quiet Storm. For you kidding me, the old Boston, Ricky, Hollywood. I'm in the virtual glass. Until Thursday. You know, I'm sorry. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks.

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