NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Sam Darnold to the Panthers

Episode Date: April 5, 2021

A room filled with some heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal bring you all of the latest news around the NFL starting with Michael Strahan's gap (4:36), and Aaron Rodgers hosting Jeopardy (12:05). Could the NFL podcast be traveling to Germany soon (17:52)? Rich Cimini joins the show to talk about the Jets (22:16) and Sam Darnold is heading to Carolina (34:30). The heroes give some hot pop culture takes to close the show (44:37).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 traveling to the draft. Welcome. Hell no. We're not. Welcome to another edition of the Iran.

on the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. I come to you from a virtual room filled with some heroes, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal. You know, I had the good fortune spending Easter Sunday, part of it with Lakeisha and her mother, Nana, as we call her, and Link. That was very nice. It was great to see. You know, it's Easter weekend. We hope everybody that celebrates had a good one. And I actually, for the first time, was trying to explain the basics of what Easter is to the boys beyond the Easter bunny, which is the only thing that matters in their world and this idea of Jesus and God was the father and Jesus died. And the boys naturally ask, well, if God is Jesus' father, why did he die? And that gets me thinking about Wes and how did that

happen, such a good person go. And then you get to see Link on Sunday and see him happy. holding Easter eggs and my boys showing Link how to find eggs and oh it was nice boys I have I saw some photos of Link dressed up in the little bunny costume and I am I'm it is not an overstatement to say he's one of the most majestically cute babies I've ever witnessed I really it's also just having spent a little time with him his eyes when he looks at you but that's cool you dove into the theology side of things I think you did a little bit job with your summary there you might have missed a few little pointers, but it's tough to wrap your head around that when you're like five years old. Well, that's for the theology podcast, Mark. And if we're going to do a

deep dive on the son of God, that's something that we need to unpack in full over several hours, I would guess. Yeah, Link looks more like Chris, I think, every day. You just see it. And Chris's brother, Phil sent us a picture of Chris dressed up as a mailman. I believe it was for Halloween or maybe it was just for fun. Why not dress up as a male man as a little boy? And I could just, you can just see, you can see Link, you can see Link's face in West. And that same Easter question came up in my house too, Dan, which is even more complicated. Because, you know, my kids went to a Methodist church for preschool.

And so I was like, you know, you learned, you learned there like what that was, God. The ropes. And I said, Jesus. And she's like, he's the one with the beard, right? I was like, yeah, that's him. But it is, it is, I'm like, this is the day he came back. Well, where was he? Okay.

I like the idea of Greg, ever the contrarian. Like, Jesus, he's the one with the beard. And Greg's like, well, we don't really know if you had a beard or not. We're not sure he had a beard. Just the way he's portrayed and art aesthetically. Anyway, but it was great. And then, you know, again, this is not the theology podcast, but you don't know where Wes is right now.

But the one thing we do know is that Link was in the backyard yesterday and And Wes is all over his face. And it's just like, Wes is here. He's here on this earth in his son. And that is, as we've talked about with Lakeisha, like the miracle of that, that small gap where Wes got sick, he got better. And in that gap, he got married. And Link came into the world. And then sadly, Wes left, but the boy is here.

And he's our responsibility in a lot of ways to help raise because Wes unfortunately can't do it. So, oh, man. It was nice, though. welcome to the podcast big show coming up I actually after I had a couple Tito's hanging out with the Wesslings I texted the boys Mark and Greg and say hey would you indulge me and let us have a little jet segment a formal jet segment all segments sometimes become jet segments on the show and I apologize for that but this one is going to be a Jets related one with the number two overall pick they're in the catbird seat a lot of people feel with this draft and where

are they going to go with that pick and where is Sam Donald going to go? Rich Samini, one of my favorites in the history of NFL beat reporting will be on the show a little bit later. But before that, let's do some news. April Fool's.

Come on, man. The gap is here to stay for a little while. Not going anywhere anytime soon. So April Fool, everybody. Mark, one word. Disgrace. Stop. Well, you know, something that you've been real hot on over the last week as we entered April

was the concept of like poorly done April Fool's Day's jokes. And I couldn't be more in agreement with you that this prank began before April Fool's, taking us all to a totally different world thinking like, you know, your friend with the Gap Tooth, suddenly feeling he's being, you know, edged out and doesn't have someone to look up to. it was all a fraud i didn't find it that hilarious um you know these april fools jokes a lot of them are real suspect i mean i in one hand i'm with you on the other hand the most of people annoyed at aprilful is just because they fell for it i mean immediately half the responses to this tweet was april full isn't it true as you're you were hurt a little bit it was incredibly successful

you know it was like march 29th or something though that's right yeah it was the 30th i think or 29th and you're right but a lot of people were responding saying april so i was like it couldn't be right because it was an ad and it's a paid ad and all this stuff um but more power to strahan he got paid a lot of money to not fix his teeth like he got paid a lot of money to do an april full because it was still a paid ad are we talking about you are you still talking about the paid aspect of this i'm saying that's but i'm just saying that's the only reason he did it it's not like strahan was like i'm going to have some fun with the guys no this this company presented did like a $500,000 thing you can do and you're going to get a lot of attention and this

and that. And here's what we're going to do. And he did it. And we all fell for it. And hang on. Slow down. Not everyone. A lot of people were in my mentions on the minute it happened saying it was fake. So I guess people were on here. Yes, I guess we quote unquote fell for it. But if you're doing an April Fool's prank before April Fool's, it goes beyond prank and it's just lying. He lied. And you know, got banged in the biggest of all spots because we did like, 19 minutes on the podcast last week on it. But you know what? If you're going to do an April Fool's joke to really be a craftsman,

to be someone who understands the nature of it and to really be skillful at it, that's cheating. That's like starting a race and getting a three second head start. Right. Why should we not take him at his word on March 29th or whatever it was? If it were on April 1st, it's like, okay, this is clearly joking. What if it was on like June 15th and he just did it as a prank? That would be okay?

It's no difference. It's a little dirty. It's the 8 June 15th, March 3rd. 30th is all the same because it's not. But anyway, for the record, and you know I'm always, I'm hot about Strahan because of the Sack record. Now you got this on top of it. I'm doing it.

Ricky, I declare vengeance on Michael Strayhan. I don't like you. You know, I just, you know, I'm trying to be positive in the world and, and, and, and not be, you know, so negative of things. But in this case, I have to. I declare it. What that means, nebulos. I mean, he, he, he deserves.

serve some bad luck he's been on a winning streak like no other remember when it was him versus tiki yes i mean that was that was how michael strahan came to the national consciousness was a schism in the locker room and all of new york uh took tiki barber's side at the time a little bit which is funny to think about in retrospect they were like i don't know about the strahan guy all right let's get to some news vengeance has been declared upon michael strahan in the biggest of all spots. Deshawn Watson, it is now really, when you look at the big picture of everything and what this, who this player is and where he stacks up in the landscape of top quarterbacks in the league and where his standing was with his team and where he could be going, the fact that it is all in

the back burner with a civil lawsuits, 20 of them, and now a criminal investigation. This is sadly the biggest story of the offseason. The Houston Police Department has opened an investigation on Deshaun Watson. Jane Doe has officially filed a police officer. report on Watson. That leads to the police department now launching an investigation into the allegations. So we'll see where that goes. What that means for his immediate future as a player. We don't know. But Greg, just the fact that there is now an active criminal investigation could open the door for a move by the NFL that takes Watson off the field no matter where he ends up. Yeah, I think it raises that chance. And I don't even think it was necessary.

for him to potentially be suspended, but it opens up the possibility of a commissioner's exempt lift. The NFL has seemed to make some sort of separation between a civil case and a criminal case, and so now Watson's facing both, and a lot of people will say, well, this has to play out. That's absolutely true, but even like Ben Rathesberger, who ultimately was not convicted of anything, was suspended after all that play out. And it took a long time. So that's just something to keep in mind with what's probably the most similar case with a high profile quarterback. Yeah, I just, I mean, you know, I think where we were six weeks ago with this or whatever and where we are now, that it's, you know, people reach out to us and say, why didn't you take a stronger stance on this

or that? It's like, you really do. I mean, I think day by day have to let the facts come in. And I'm at the point now we're just as a human being. I'm looking at. the fact that he, I think that just someone, someone pointed out the idea that someone would visit so many different massage therapists is just a little weird. Like there's, right, there's just something about that that is unusual, especially unusual for athletes, according to people that are in the nose. So, you know, it starts to just stand out more and more to me as something that could deeply impact, you know, his career and in Hacton, if all of this is as stated, there's just an incredible list of victims.

It is. It's so disappointing, right? I mean, it's disappointing in a way because it's Deshaun Watson. And we don't need to get too deep. But I do think that Jenny Vrentice article in MMQB was a case of reporting that I think is going to have an impact in the NFL offices, among other places, too, because that was not from a woman that was looking for any financial reenumeration or anything. that. It was just reporting. That really stood out to me, too. I'm with you, Greg. And I think

that it's just shifted where this is potentially very, very serious. And we'll hang on and see. Greg, you had mentioned Nick Casario in a recent podcast interview with Albert Breer. Yeah, he was on last week with Breer. And, you know, Albert Breer, who I think is pretty tied in with Casario from their days in New England together. um you know thought that casario was making a pointed pivot in how he was addressing watson whereas in the past he basically was saying we're not listening that's our quarterback we're not we're not he's going to be our quarterback that's how they were playing it publicly and now when he was asked about it last monday he said we're going to have to look at all options

you know this is essentially saying that this is a different situation and what that remains to be you know what happens with that we'll see but it brir who seems pretty tied into maybe how they, they could possibly be feeling, thought they'd, that they'd be more open now because of this, uh, to trade. And whether that was before or after the draft, who knows. All right. In other news, Aaron Rogers, uh, spoke to ESPN in a video interview, he had this to say. So far, it's definitely been my team. I said, I said last year, uh, I didn't know if that was actually possible, uh, to be able to finish there. I still feel like that's, that's kind of where we're at. I mean, I don't know that a lot of that's in my hands, but I guess we'll just

kind of see as we go. It's so different, though, you know, the difference mark between where Aaron Rogers was after the draft last year to where he is now. He's coming from a position of power. He's the reigning MVP. So you don't feel him speaking defensively here, rather more like, hey, that's something they got to figure out. I'm cool. If they want to keep the MVP, that's good for them. If they want to get me out of here, I'm going to make someone great. It feels different with Rogers now. Yeah, no, I think last year felt, you know,

there are people that know him felt that he was genuinely annoyed, but he is in a position of internal power and external power. He's also signed through 2023, and there were no whispers at any point during the year that anything anyone saw from Jordan Love, even in Packers practices, would suggest that you deep six the MVP for him. I mean, I think he's just sort of being philosophical,

about it. Anything could happen. And we're in an environment now where like the idea of a big name quarterback leaving team A for team B was prohibitive for so long. It just seems like it's in the air. It's more possible for people like Russell Wilson and Aaron Rogers than ever before. But I don't take, it doesn't, to me, it's like, cool, let's see what happens. But I don't, it doesn't shake my foundation as a football analyst or fan that anything is going to happen anytime soon i mean last season should have completely taken that mystery out of it yeah and he's doing media because he's hosting jeopardy the next two weeks starting monday the day we're taping this and uh so he has to answer these questions i don't think he's going out of his way to but i do think the way he answers

them um is in such a way that the packers by adding some guaranteed money to uh to his contract by adding essentially another year of guaranteed money, maybe at the least, would maybe have him answering these questions differently. If that's important to the Packers, I think, and I kind of think it will be, I think they'll address it in the summertime between, usually these things happen between OTAs and training camp. Speaking of Aaron Rogers and Jeopardy, hit it, Ricky. And now, here is the guest host of Jeopardy, Aaron Rogers.

Thank you, Johnny Gilbert. Welcome to Jeopardy. As a lifelong fan of Jeopardy, it is an incredible honor to guest host. Now, I've had the opportunity to do a lot of amazing things, but winning Celebrity Jeopardy and getting to share the stage with the legend Alex Trebek is something I will never forget. Alex was such a gentleman, so smart, so precise, I was in awe. And I will work hard to honor his legacy.

Scott, Brandon, Joe Beth, let's get in the Jeopardy round with these categories. that, the first episode of Alex Trebek on Jeopardy, which I love Jeopardy. I've always loved Jeopardy. And it was very sad that evil bastard, the Big Sea got Alex Trebek earlier this year, late last year. And now they have had, they've been putting different guest hosts in there. That's actually the first time. And he did a nice job with it, but I actually got the vibe that Aaron Rogers was nervous. And I imagine that for anybody, even a guy as cool as Aaron Rogers is, and he's kind of famous for being, like, cool under pressure. You could see it, the, the

a bit of a nervous shuffle to him. Maybe, you know, a little nervous, a little nervous farts popped out there on the way to the main stage. I don't know. What do you guys think? Well, I mean, also, I'd say, like, Trebek certainly had reps. And by the time we, you know, we're watching Jeopardy, Trebek, it was like, you know, basically making a cup of coffee for him.

But I think he was a little nervous. I still think he did a really good job. I think you'll see him get better. This is Aaron Rogers. I bet he gets a lot better from episode to episode. I would more say, what if you're like a Packers fan who has been installed as guest on Jeopardy, my performance would suffer because I'd be like, I'm not, Trebek would be surreal to begin with, but like, what if you were a huge football fan and

you're fielding these questions from Aaron Rogers? Like, we, you know, go back to Win West's Toaster, even trying to win stuff on the fly. It's a whole different world and you need the most calm environment you can get. He's going to jack some people up. What was her name, Joe Beth? I wonder what Joe Beth is thinking. Yeah, handling the pressure, I think it's got to be a huge, maybe the biggest part of being on Joe. I'm with you. I was thinking of Aaron. Aaron Rogers not seemed like the type to be watching the social media clips. But when I was watching that, I was imagining myself as Aaron Rogers and being like,

oh, couldn't you pick something from the second week, you know? I'm sure I had a bunch of good jokes in the second week. That was like my cold open to the whole thing when I'm, and I was definitely nervous. Yeah, that's like if what's the award that we're nominated for, the Omni? I don't know where it is anymore. I forgot. But imagine if they said, oh, yeah, you have to send one episode to the Omnis. uh for the nomination it's like oh yeah send the first episode from july 2013 it's like no no no no no no no

under no circumstances are you to do something like that um anyway good luck good luck to rogers i will be watching it's on the dvr actually a dvr jeopardy and i thought dr oz did tremendous work in his guest hosting stint just oh please that guy's a quack i can't believe they gave him that uh that's fine i'm not talking about anything covid related or anything else i'm just saying he did a very nice job in the jeopardy chair that's all in other news we know the international series is building up in the NFL all 32 teams are going to play an international game in the next decade we've seen games in Mexico City we've seen them in London and German Germany is up next Deutscheland as they say German games coming soon maybe as soon as 20 22 and you know what that means boys we have a fervent audience over sees, including in the Deutsche Land. Perhaps we're going to get to go there.

That sounds nice. Yeah, that should be the new hashtag, on to Berlin or on to Germany. We don't know if it'll be in Berlin. But yeah, Peter King reported that that basically I think they're hoping, you know, four minimum international games a year that I think one's going to be Mexico and one's going to be Germany. There actually might be, the UK fans might be. a little upset because there might be fewer U.K. games potentially just doing the math that maybe

there's only going to be two or three. They could have more than four, but I'm excited. The ratings like in Germany for football is really high. A lot of people fly in from Germany to see those UK games. I'm first generation, you know, my dad was born in Germany. So send me to the homeland. Bring me back. Your dad was born in Germany? That is a newsflash, developing news. I had no idea. My brother is a German citizen, weirdly enough, because you could fill out some paperwork as part of reparations. You know, my dad was a Jew born pretty deep into World War II in Germany. So they did some things. Did they flee during?

They were able to get out in 1941. Why would you not be allowed to be a citizen too, just your brother? Oh, no, I could have gone through it. It was like a multi-year, a lot of work process. He was thinking of living there. I don't know what the benefits would be totally. Well, my follow-up question would be, you want to be the ambassador to the German game, but you had a chance to become a citizen.

It's not like they were calling my cell phone. I mean, my brother investigated this, and, you know, he found something out, and he put in the hard work. He spent a lot of time over there and stuff. I have not done that, but I want to go. Well, by the way, I was there just a few years ago, so if you need any pointers at all. No, no. No, we're sitting in the whole pod.

We're sending in the whole pod. We're not doing this. All right, play the marketing grim clip. No, no, no. But I mean, here's the other thing. Like, not everyone. So are you going to, would we take any pains to learn the German language? Or do we just roll in there assuming everyone just cozies up and speaks our version of English?

So you want us to be fluent by the time we get there? Well, it's different than going to England where it's like, hey, we're up on stage and we all speak the same. It's a point. It's like, you know, you go to German. You can't just assume that everyone is going to be. be like, we'll speak the King's English to make these, you know, chaps from Los Angeles comfortable during their stay here. I mean, we've also not been invited yet. But it just doesn't seem realistic that the three of us are going to speak fluent German by the time of these

games. So maybe we need to find out how, because I know Kings English, as you put it, for a lot of countries is a second language. I don't know if it's got big pop in Germany. If our audience there, obviously they know English if they're a fan of our show. So we should have a pocket. Let us know. We just need to know how much. Let's hear from the German listeners. Maybe we'll just bring like Sebastian Volmer around with us everywhere. He seems very involved with the international NFL efforts, you know, former Patriots. Henry has all these answers. He can he can just escort us and translate and it'd be cool to have like a 611 German dude with us the whole time. And obviously the halftime show has to be the band that does the

keeping up with Bowringer song. I don't think there's any question like who it has to be German cold play. That's what's happening in the news. All right. Up next, yes, we're talking with Rich Samini, the state of the Jets, and full disclosure. Right after we finished this interview, the Sam Darnold news went down. So check out this interview with Rich Semeni, where we talk about it. It actually sets it up nicely, boys, with some context of what the decision was in front

of the Jets. And on the back end of this conversation, we'll dig in on the trade details of Sam Darnold. Arnold going to the Panthers. And now a very special guest, one of my absolute favorites. As a Jets fan, he is the source for me for Jets reporting and just knowing what's going on with the team. And now he joins the around the NFL podcast, maybe for the first time ever. I'm not sure. Rich Zamini, welcome to the show. Yes, I'm a rookie. So first time ever. Thanks for having me, guys. I have to say, I've met Rich multiple times. He's helped me out with some stuff I've written in the past. And I always kiss the ring when I see Richard the

combine. He's a New York guy. I think you're a Hall of Famer and your local high school. Is that so? Is that so as well? That's a big one. Yeah, crazy, right? But no, I've read your jet stuff, Dan. I know I can feel the passion and the, you know, the frustration comes pouring out in some of your writing. I know, I know. I try not to, but Mark, Mark gets it. It's hard to hold it all inside. And, and Rich, like, this is a fascinating, fascinating time in Jets history, of course. And it also feels it's the whiff of, you're thinking of three years ago. Because it was supposed to be, Sam was supposed to be the reboot of this team and everything was supposed to be going upward from there. It does feel like we lost three years. And now the Jets

are trying to figure it out again. And the 49ers make that blockbuster trade 10 days ago to get to number three. A lot of people connecting dots. Well, if the Jets aren't involved with that trade, they must be locked and loaded on Zach Wilson. Is that how you see it as we approach draft day you know it's funny uh last for a few days ago on friday i was having a conversation with a scout who lives in the western part of the country and i usually go to him with quarterback questions because he's that's his area of expertise and i was talking to the scout the other day and he goes weren't you asking me the same questions three years ago you know Arnold and rosen and josh allen were coming out and i said you're absolutely right deja vu all over again uh yeah i mean here we are again

And I certainly think the Jets will be replacing Sam Darnold with the draft pick. And I do believe everything I've heard is that Zach Wilson will be that pick at number two. Do you think when you're looking at Wilson or what you've heard about Wilson as a prospect, sometimes that he is a little reminiscent of Sam Darnold too as a prospect where like maybe the weaknesses, you know, not as many snaps as a college quarterback. can miss some throws, like the crazy arm, the crazy athleticism. Like when I've heard people talk about him, I'm not like a draft Nick,

he kind of reminds me of Darnold coming out as a prospect, which if only just because it's the Jets would maybe like freak me out, Slate. They are really similar. In fact, one of the throws that Zach made in his pro day, that rolling left, fade away, throwing to the right hash,

which was an incredible throw, was similar to some of Darnold's throw. throws that he's made in his career. And there's the same in that, you know, they can make the off-platform throws. They can use different arm angles. That's what everyone was talking about with Sam when he came out. And, you know, there are some similarities. You know, it's an intriguing decision.

In all my years are covering the jets, and that's many, as Dan would attest to. I think this is the most polarizing decision that they've had to make. Just in terms of, I think the fan base is completely split. You have half, let's keep Sam and build around him, and the other half is ready to move on and draft someone else. So as a journalist, it makes for great copy and talking points, you know, for a few months leading up. I guess when I look at the Jets, I mean, in Sam Darnel, is there a tougher quarterback to really evaluate the wreckage that he's been through the past couple of years?

So much of it feels like I don't really put that on Sam Darnold. And if you're the Jets, and we're talking about the similarities between, him and Zach Wilson, is it more just a matter of, we have to move on and refresh the quarterback position, but more than we're certain that Sam Darnold we've seen the best of? How can they really ascertain who Sam Darnold is at this point as a player in terms of being put in the right system and the right position, especially with like the new offensive group they've got coming in? I mean, you think you'd get a much better version of Sam Darnold and you could sell that draft pick for so much. I just wonder if there's any thought to that, maybe keeping him,

and pulling a stunner. Yeah, personally, I've been kind of vocal about that. I know I've been annoying some jet fans. That's what I would do. I would keep Sam and bet on him in this new offense, a very quarterback-friendly offense. We've seen what Shanahan could do with it. Now they have Mike LaFleure as the O.C.

It'll be better coaching. I feel he wasn't coached well the last two years. He regressed under Adam Gase. You saw at the end of Sam's rookie year, when he was in a similar type system under Jeremy Bates. You know, he showed promise at the end of that year. He went toe to toe in a couple of games with Aaron Rogers and Deshawn Watson at the end of the year. And there was reason to hope. But since then, it's been a decline. And I'm not making excuses for the guy. He has not been a good quarterback

over the last three years. In fact, he is the lowest rated passer over the last three years combined in the league. I think it's 39th out of 39 quarter qualifying passers. But coaching, supporting cast has been been shaky at best. He's had no running game. And so it's really difficult to do an evaluation. But I think the point you bring up is excellent. It's the financial part that's a really big part of this decision, which is why I think the Jets will lean towards starting fresh with the rookie quarterback contract. Well, what about Rich with the kind of a half measure here? Because, and you've written about this, the Jets had a window earlier in this off season where maybe they could have been aggressive in moving

Darnold and try to get a second, third round pick, whatever. And then a lot of these starting jobs filled up. So his trademark, you would think, is depressed at this point. Wouldn't it just make more sense at this point if you really, you love Zach Wilson, he's your guy, that you decline Donald's fifth year option, you keep him in the building, and then maybe have them, you know, actually be in a competition this summer. And if Donald is clicking in this offense and all of a sudden he realizes potential, you have a great problem at the end of the season.

And if he can't play and he struggles and Wilson takes over very quickly, yes, Darnold leaves as a free agent and you don't get that draft asset. But to me, that's a willing, that's a good gamble to take. And then you finally get a chance to get that one last evaluation of Darnold in there. And you still get the guy that you see as the future potential. Well,

I do know that there are some people in the building who are in the Darnold camp. And I think this coaching staff, I've said this before, I think Michael Fleur and Robert Sala really think, they can make it work with Sam. So you could get the best of both worlds the way you described it. And in fact, I talked to Josh McCown the other day, and he is very close with Sam. They're talking and texting all the time, and he thinks that scenario can work.

I personally am not a huge fan of that scenario because in a year, Darnel can walk as a free agent. At least now, if you trade him for maybe a low two or a three, you can get compensation for this year. So that's another thing. And do you want to saddle a rookie head coach Robert Sala with a quarterback controversy? You guys know how we are in New York. Yeah, but if he's good, Rich, if Sala's the real deal, he can handle that. And if he's not the real deal, he can't. So to me, that's not a good enough excuse to not give out a chance.

I don't know. You know, Sam would win that job. I mean, Sam would be the starter. There's no way a rookie, in spite of all of Sam's struggles, he would be head and shoulders above a rookie coming in. And actually, from Sam Darnel's perspective, I think there is upside to that scenario because he's a free agent a year from now.

He has to do whatever he can to improve his value. And I think the Jets would probably afford him the best opportunity to play. Where else is he going to go and be a week one starter? Probably nowhere else. And so he could increase his free agent value. I would just take the compensation. Now, I think it's a very awkward situation.

Then you're almost putting off the for a year. You're a two and 14 team. You have the second pick in the draft. I would try to get that guy in there as quickly as possible. I would use Miami last year as a model for that. Now, Tua didn't start right away. They, you know, what was it was like week six or seven that they eventually brought him in and then they took him out and brought him in a little bit. I would do something like that. You're two and 14. You're not going to go to the playoffs this year in all likelihood. And so I think you're prolonging the inevitable by keeping Donald around for a year. One more question, Rich, I have to ask, I have to ask you to share this with the audience.

It's my favorite. You've been covering the team since, what, 1990, I believe it was, 89. And you've been through a lot of dysfunction as a beat reporter covering coaches that were in over their head. And Adam Gase, that era has to stack up against any of them. But the Rich Cotide era for Jets fans of a certain age is still kind of the gold standard with Gase right there. Can you please share the Kishon Johnson hurts his knee in his first rookie camp and you trying to get the scoop on what's going on? And there may be being a rich coat tight disappearance involved.

Yeah, it was actually not, it was the regular season. It wasn't even rookie. Yeah, it was his rookie year. And so Kishon hurts his knee in practice and they said they were taking him for an MRI. In those days, we had a free run of the place. You know, now there are, this was at Hofstra, by the way, on Long Island. And then reporters could go into the parking lot and talk to players after practice at their cars, which, of course, when Parcells came in, he put everything off limits. So, like, I mean, this is the star rookie player.

So I went outside the locker room, probably late afternoon, 4, 430, and sat outside the locker room for Kishan to come back from his MRI. And while I'm sitting there at about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Rich Koltight ambles out of the locker room. and he's about to step into his Mercedes coop, his really snazzy two-door Mercedes. And he goes, I'll be back in a little bit. I'm just going out to grab a bite to eat. I'm like, okay, see you later, Rich. Well, I sat on the same stool until about 8 or 8.30,

until it was dark and Tishon came back. Rich Cotite never came back. He was done. He was done. He worked bankers hours as an NFL coach, which we all know is unheard of. of he never came back. And I could vouch for that because I was there the whole time.

And Kishon came back. And I got my story, even though I waited three or four hours. And he did have a minor knee injury. And I think he had a scope and missed three or four games. But yeah. And I was later learned that Rich Kotite, and actually Boomer Asiason tells a very funny story, that Kotite actually kept a car, another secret car in the back of the building. So he could slip out during the day and no one would know he was going to.

not. And get the golf course. That's a next level. Yeah. So I have to catch one day where he used the front door car. And that was part of the Rich Kotai era. Yes, that's my team, everybody. Rich, thank you for joining us. And I, and I wish you were the best. And also, you deserve it. Been on the beat this long to cover a champion. So as Rich Biningo is known to say, from my lips to God's ears. And the other thing I wish for you is that Carl Lawson or someone else from this draft class gets to the quarterback of regularity,

so you never again have to write the lead. The Jets haven't had a premier pass rusher since John Abraham left in 2005. Hey, like nothing more to cover a championship team. All right, great. There he goes. And check out the flight deck. That's Rich Semeni's podcast covering the Jets

and all of his great work on ESPN.com. Later, Rich. Thanks, Rich. Thank you. All right. Yes. Thank you to the great Rich Samini. All that conversation about Sam Darnold and what the Jets are going to do. Well, they made the decision on Monday trading the former number three overall pick to the Carolina Panthers and head coach Matt Rule. The Jets get three draft picks in return, including a second rounder in 2022. So Sam Darnold heads to the Panthers. Another domino falls there. Teddy Bridgewater was the, the incumbent in Carolina, and he's either now going to be the backup or be moved elsewhere. You would think maybe we'll get into that. And the Jets now, everything is cleared, the runway, as it were, cleared for the Jets, who now have no quarterback in the building, but the number two overall pick.

And Zach Wilson will be sitting there. So connect all those dots. That's where this is going. Mark, your initial thoughts on the trade, Sam Darnold, to the Carolina Panthers. So my initial thoughts are that this doesn't always have. or perceived perceptionally seemed to happen. But I think both teams got value. I think the Panthers were in hot water on the Deshaun Watson front and that's who they wanted. I think they were going to do and sell the moon for that. You get Darnold. They picked up his fifth year option. The Jets got

picks. We just talked to Sam Darnold that like, look at, if people had wanted Sam Darnold, if there had been some sort of bum rush for Sam Darnold, there would have been more value. But that just wasn't the case. And Joe Douglas over and over has not been fleeced and They have, I think, 21 draft picks over the next two years with seven them in the first two rounds. So the Jets are still in good position. I think they cleaned up what would have intentionally been a little bit messy to have Donald and Zach Wilson there. I know some people feel differently. But for the Panthers, I love the idea of offensive coordinator Joe Brady showing that he can do what Adam Gase and others have not been able to do.

And it's a good start for a fresh start for Sam Darnold on an offense that is much, better in much better place than the Jets had been the last couple of years. And with that number eight pick, you can go offensive line. You can do what you need to fortify the offense. They went all defense last year. So I think it's a, you know, it's maybe a two-year window to find out what you have in this guy. And if it works, it's a great story for Sam Darnold. Right. And it could be a one-year window. Even picking up the option, it's only guaranteed for injury only. I'm always surprised teams don't pick up those options because it's not that big of a risk. You're just hoping He doesn't have a major injury.

I love it if I'm, you know, Daniel Jeremiah or the people that were banging the drum saying Sam Darnold is one of the best quarterback prospects they've ever seen, which so far hasn't looked good. And he is now going to, I think, what's a pretty quarterback friendly system. You know, we were, you know, I was much higher on Teddy in general than you guys last year. But you still could look at the numbers. Like if the floor here is Teddy Bridgewater throwing for 4,000 yards and going up and down the field and moving the ball, like you would think Sam Darnold could do that if, as Danny would say, he can play the guitar. I don't necessarily think they'll just hand him the starting job just because Teddy's do so much guaranteed money that it doesn't make sense to me for them to dump Teddy unless they have somewhere to dump him, like someone wants him.

or an upgrade, which would have been Deshaun Watson, that doesn't look like it's happening now. So I kind of expect that both Darnold and Teddy will have a chance here to play, but you would assume Darnold is the favorite. Yeah, I would say Darnold's the heavy favorite, but we'll see how it plays out. It gives them options, and it is the,

and we talked about at the top of the show. What's that? I was just going to say, but to be fair, Teddy's played at a higher level and we've seen it than Sam Darnold ever has, including in his first couple seasons. I'm just saying. We do, Greg, but I mean,

everything the Carolina Panthers have said and done this offseason told us they're not happy with Teddy Bridgewater. He was in the building. Right, but they gave up a second round pick. Not this year's pick, though. That's what got it done. What they gave up a second round pick, but it's next year's second. You know, that's putting a certain value. You know, that's where Jalen Hertz gets drafted or different guys get drafted. Those are not guys you necessarily think are going to be your franchise quarterback. That's all. The reason I think it's clearly Donald and Carolina is because Matt Rule had Teddy Bridgewater in the building for a year running his offense with Brady and clearly I mean they made it very clear as we've been

talk about they weren't thrilled with the results so I guess they could fall back on Teddy if Darnold disappoints but I would think maybe they're looking for a fresh start just like the Jets and and for me it is I did have a lot invested in San Donald all Jets fans did because he was the highest draft pick by the Jets since Joe Namath and everything pointed to him being the real deal but you know as has been talked about ad nauseum it was you know the circumstances that that he he was forced into as a jet were unholy it was really the between the coaching and the personnel and issues in the front office it felt like he never had a chance so do i have a do i have a fear a deep down that he still can be a really good player and maybe even better than zach

Wilson in a more healthy setup. Yeah. And that's why I said to Rich, I said, what's the harm in keeping him in the building and seeing if he actually can realize that potential. But at the same time, I do trust the process. And I do think that if they really do love Zach Wilson and you restart that rookie contract clock and, you know, I heard a lot of people in my mentions on this podcast saying, you're crazy about the Jets even getting a second rounder for San Donald. There are people that believe this guy can play. So the Jets now can get a high, that's a premium draft pick down the line. And maybe you turn that into something.

And now you just hope, you hope that Zach Wilson is a big time player. There is the nuclear bomb scenario where Wilson can't play and Donald becomes a star in Carolina. What I want for San Donald is for San Donald, and it's not going to be happening, Greg, and you still have Cam Newton as your quarterback. What I think is going to happen here is. is he becomes a rich man, Zandi Dalton, is Sam Darnold's ceiling. And I hope he gets there. And I just hope the Jets pick a quarterback doesn't bomb out like the rest of him.

It is, as Rich said, it's a fascinating decision. And there were fans of Darnold in the building for the Jets that wanted to keep him there. They made this decision, and it's a big roll of the dice. Either way, it would have been a big roll of the dice. I mean, the Jets are the first team in the modern era to pick two, to pick, ostensibly a quarterback in the course of three years in the top three to pick two of them. I could have laid that out a little bit better. Well, you know, it's a first thing I thought.

It's surprising, actually. Didn't the Browns do that like four times? And like they didn't, but it wasn't top three. That was the difference, you know? Right. It's worth a shot for the Panthers. I haven't been high on Darnold. So I'm of two minds.

Like when everyone defends Darnold and puts the context of what he did, I think of, you know, the Facebook, the social network, when Zuckerberg says to the, you know, the Winklevoss twins, like, if you'd invented Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook. And it's like if Sam Darnold was Deshawn Watson or Patrick Bomes, he would be one of those guys. Like, you would overcome your surroundings. But does he have a higher upside than when he's shown? Of course. And so I kind of think it makes sense for the panther because I'm always banging the drum that

when you don't have a quarterback, you should just keep taking swings. Like, stop being so precious about it. Like take a million swings. You don't know which is going to stick. You only had to give up next year's, you know, second round pick and a fourth and a six. So it's not a crazy high pick to give up. And you get to evaluate him for a year or two. Unless he stinks.

And that's a nice second round pick. It's, there's a bit of a gamble here. And it tells you how what a, the Deshaun Watson situation, how that's changed so much and how it's led to the dominoes falling in a different way. because I really, it feels like Watson was, there was a tractor being pointing towards Charlotte with him, and they had to scramble and adjust. You have to call the Panthers in terms of the overall offseason chase for a quarterback. I put them in the losers bracket because what they were shooting for was so high.

And they're not sitting down at 28th in the draft. They have the eighth pick, but there's just too many other teams with the Niners trade that have crept ahead of them. And they're in a bit of a fix. So, yeah, this is a potentially good scenario for them, but it's no home run. It's like we're waiting to see in year four if Sam Darnold is actually as good as everyone's been saying he is. Isn't it like Teddy all over again, different circumstances, but that's what it was last year for the Panthers. We know Teddy Reddorf has never really proven that he was a real franchise quarterback, but we believe in his potential and it didn't work out.

Now it's Donald's turn to be in that role under Matt Rule. it is disappointing i think you're right the watt that i hadn't thought about the watson news maybe that informed the 49ers trade maybe it didn't but either way the combination of the watson um news that's been that we've talked about and the 49ers trade had to leave the panthers thinking they're not getting who they want at eight or it's going to be tough to trade up like because because i was thinking they still were a candidate to trade up to four or five they didn't it wouldn't have had to go too far uh but now now that they know it's going one, two, three at quarterback. Jets are taking Wilson, 49ers will take who they want. It's like they got to have another option because they clearly, Teddy was not

enough for them. It's too bad. It's too bad. It's too bad with Arnold, too. I really, oh man, I really wanted that to work. But it is exciting at the same time when you watch this Zach Wilson footage. Now it's starting to buy into another quarterback, buy into another jersey for my sons. it's it goes on and on and on the search for the true successor to joan amen all right before we go you know we're in the uh off season here kind of it is the Greg you pointed it out on text this morning it's definitely a bit of a dead area when you get out of the free agency fund and before the draft really hits fever pitch that's where we are right now right no pro days no more signings, the phantom owners meetings or the talk about that was, in theory, last week,

that was the 17th team. Yeah, it's as quiet as there is three weeks in a row on the NFL schedule except for July, I would say. That's the only time that's quieter. And I, Bart, did you hear about this talk that they're going to potentially? I don't think this is written down yet. For any of the teams that aren't involved with the Hall of Fame game or I think the Thursday night opener, everyone's going to launch the same day. And it might be a blowout like for uh training camp open spectacular midnight madness kind of thing yeah midnight madness you excited about that will be that we're gonna put we're gonna put mark out by uh the rams facility as it opens at six a m live on the scene i you know that i find the rams a little spicier at this

point um then then in years past but i dan is absolutely um on point with that it's going to be treated like you know, we've landed on Mars and started a new colony. We'll be treated with that level of groundbreaking verb. Got to own July. But I wanted to see since it's been a little quieter, what are you guys into? And Ricky, jump on right now. What's the pop culture that you're into?

I'll start. I watched a movie on Netflix, and I needed a laugh. We all need a laugh, even as things in the COVID world get better, but it's been a tough 12 months on a lot of levels. bad trip eric andre that movie absolutely destroyed me slayed me and full disclosure i've met him a couple times he was in bob my friend bob uh in jason's movie a few years back he's a very nice guy and i've always loved the eric andre show on adult swim um it's absurdist uh brilliance and he took like the elements of what makes that show uh funny and great and then somehow tied it to a narrative

structure on so i mean it's not citizen kane but like there's an actual movie connected to his uh the eric andre greatness uh for people that are fans of him and there are scenes in that ricky and i know you it sounds like you watched it that had me uh laughing at my arse off oh so good and tiffany hadish i mean she killed it her best work i'm i um i do uh another podcast as you guys know the jesselnick and rosenthal vanity project and that was anthony we do recommend station every week, and that was his recommendation last week. So this is back-to-back podcast I've been on, and he gave it a hard recommend, and he's a tough judge for sure on the comedy.

By the way, we have a live show on Tuesday night. Listeners should check out for tickets on that. How about that? Well, we're here. Wasn't planning on it. He's plugging himself. Just own it, Greg. It's cool.

Let's be happy. Where is it? Where is it? I mean, no, no. It's not in person. It's just like a Zoom show where you can pay to watch. It's like a special show. And I assume Ricky would be.

Oh, yeah. She's a big, she's a huge part of it. You're making them pay for it? We're making them pay for it as just, you know, a special little different show. You know, you can talk with us afterwards. It's good. Dan, do you think Craig would ever do that for free? How much is it cost?

How much is it cost for people to watch you on a video screen? $15. This will be, you'll appreciate this. $15 for the normal. show, which will be longer than normal, but you can, for 75, you can get VIP tickets and stay like an extra hour and ask questions and stuff. How many people have snatched up to $75 tickets? A surprising amount of people have bought it.

I, too, had nothing, I had nothing to do with setting all this all up. I was like, what, really? Are you giving Ricky cut of the proceeds? Of course. Of course. I got your back, Ricky. Love you. Don't let them push you.

I'm going to recommend, I'm just going to jump in and do, The latest season of Last Chance You, just because I feel like our listeners, maybe there's some crossover here. They did basketball this year, and it was East L.A. I know I've given a lot of Last Chance You love on this show. You really have. You're a big fan of it. I know, because I do think it's one of the better, like, documentary shows, like, showing a certain slice of life right now out there. Like, it's really well done.

And this time it was a basketball team. It was East L.A., so there's a little bit of an L.A. vibe, having this awesome season. and somewhat of a spoiler alert, you know, it's last season. So the world, obviously, with COVID infringes by the end. But, man, the characters and just how they do it is really compelling to me. Like, to me, it's a good, if you love sports, like, it's partly why I, it makes me, like, love sports more because it's the people that are really doing it for, like, the love of the game. And you see what they go through to try to get to their dreams.

I'm behind on that show. I haven't watched it. So, like, where would be a good jump in season? I think this one is the first time it's a basketball season. It's a totally different vibe because of that. But I think this would be a good one to jump in. All right. Good to know.

I'm writing it down. Mark? So I know I'm supposed to pop culture suggests it needs to be something that has been created recently. So I will give you one thing in that category. You know when you're married, it's tough to find. This better not be a Mandalorian season. And why did you tweet last night that animals are not from Earth? Like, are you okay?

No, it's just sort of thinking that. There's a possibility. that that's true. Another big social media weekend for Mark. I really enjoyed it. Unpack that. I hadn't seen that. How is that possible?

First of all, I'm not convinced that everything that's on Earth, our planet, originated on Earth. This isn't a strong theory based on, I've had some biologists coming at me saying that's an absurd thing that you wrote. And I agree that it probably sounds absurd. It's a little flat earther in its own. way no i don't believe in that theory i just think that there are various life beings that maybe came from somewhere or something else and if it were all animals i'd be like hmm that kind of makes sense to me it also makes no sense so you know that was not my pop culture reference though animals are

underrated though i mean they are amazing we've just been watching live cams of animals there's another recommendation uh there's a good critter cam out there and i got to say like it's it's better than TV. Like we just have it on in the background. It's pretty fascinating. So I don't know if they're coming from other planets, but I'm into it. We have a ring camera or whatever in our backyard. And Emily has it set up to get, don't worry, Mark, we're getting to your pop culture. No, I want to hear it. It has it set up for like notifications whenever there's movement. And there's like an entire family reunion, uh, of raccoons, like every night just chilling out there on the couch and crawling on things. And it's just like, guys, can we, can we have some respect

for the property? I'm a home. homeowner now. I don't want to have to shoot you. I don't have to put you in a cage or get an exterminator. Just like show some respect. Craccoons are weird too. Don't leave your paw prints on my outdoor furniture. Critter vision has a lot of raccoons too. It's got it's got deer's possum stuff like it. But raccoons are weird because they stand on their hind legs and then they use their two hands kind of like humans and there's something a little freaky about it. I don't agree that all animals are underrated though, Greg. Some are definitely getting a little too much attention. Or properly rated. All right, Mark, your pop culture.

So I was just going to mention, I think it's sometimes, like, what I would go watch on my own and what Simone would go watch would be two different shows. So when we can Venn diagram that and find a show that we like, it's very successful. And we've been watching the show, Ginny and Georgia, which is essentially like a mom that had. Is that Catherine Hegel? No, I don't know the names of the people in it. I'll help you out with that. Yeah, she had a daughter when she was like 15, but now the daughter is 15 and the mom is 30. And it's, you know, she's not ready to be, she's not happy that she's not happy that she's.

30 with a like probably you know no love life and stuff so anyways it takes some twists and turns but we've enjoyed it but the thing i really want to want to mention um is this film that i watched recently from 1977 directed by paul schrader called rolling thunder um this is hard to find but there are one or two little services out there that have it it was it has a very young tommy lee jones and william devane who william devane is someone that i think no one would be like oh i get that i know who that is but if you go and look at the actor in his face. You're like, I've seen, if you're of a certain age, you've seen him in a thousand different things. He was the junk ball starter for Major League. He was awesome

in that. He was the head coach and Rudy. Exactly. So he, everything he does, he does well. And this is raw late 70s cinema about these guys returning from Vietnam. And it goes totally haywire. It is listed as one of Tarantino's top five films. And within 10 minutes of watching it, it made it so clear the influence that he had on him and other genre cinema and just general. So it's not for everyone. I don't think it's a pack a minute at the mall or show it to your nine-year-old type of film, but you could show it to yourself if you're so pleased. I have to apologize. The coach and Rudy was not William Devane. Okay. I think it was like Dan Devine. So close. So, Ricky, so he also, he was not the junk ball pitcher in Major League. I was like, wow, that guy's got range. But that's also Dan Devine.

acting to that guy because I remember that guy and he was a goofball. Anyway, Ricky, your pop culture recommendation. I think I messed that up again too. So I'm going to circle back around on the divine issue. William Devane, just for your reference. Yeah, the Demi Lovato doc, she released her own documentary. It's on YouTube. It's for free.

There's only four episodes. And it talks about her overdose. and all the kind of stuff she went through and like I remember following it and pop, you know, pop culture and everything but to actually hear what actually happened, like her friends were like, oh, we're really talking about it.

Like she was pretty much legally blind when she woke up. She was blue when they found her like heroin all this kind of stuff. Like I had no idea how bad it was. Spoiler alert. Well, that's, it's in the, it's just her book. Public records. Yeah. But it even shows her singing at the Super Bowl in Miami.

the national anthem and sort of her coming back to life literally and sort of her career and it was it was really really chilling but then also to be like oh we were there at that Super Bowl that was the last one before you know we were all locked inside but I remember people on Twitter being like oh my gosh look at Demi totally killed the national anthem when you know she's gone through all this stuff and I didn't really know because I like followed it but like wasn't super like didn't keep me up at night I'm not like a huge Demi Lovato fan but it was really really really heartbreaking and powerful and worth a watch very good yeah I uh I want to see that thank you for reminding me I'm marking that as well last chance you're not going to be watching 70s picture rolling

thunder I'd predict that will not be I'd watch I'd watch a little rolling thunder I'd watch a little of Rolling Thunder. I like that Paul Schrager movie he just released with Ethan Hawk. I guess it was a few years ago, first reformed. Stregor's got some bombs. It did one with Freddy Stenellis too. The junkball hurler in Major League

the character was Eddie Harris. The same actor played Dan Devine, the head coach of Notre Dame and Rudy, but the actor's name is Chelsea Ross. So, right now you got everything you need to know. Not Mark's actor, not even close to the same name, but a coach that he played in

movie has a similar name to that real person's name. Nailed it. No, it's fascinating. That's why you're the host, just circling back on these big issues. All right, that's it for today's edition of the Around the NFL podcast. We'll be back Thursday with another episode of the pod, and then the TV show is back once again on Friday on NFL Network. Please check that out.

But until then, this is Dan Hans. Until Thursday, I should say, signing off for the prize. The old Boston, Ricky Hollywood. Keep the call! I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Lev Florio. And together, We host the NFL fantasy football podcast.

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Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, 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.

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