NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Sifting Through Super Wild Card Rubble

Episode Date: January 17, 2024

In a room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Marc Sessler take a look at the league after the dust settled on Super Wild Card Weekend. Before the heroes take a look at the state of the league, they get you caught up on news including Mike Tomlin's future (04:24), the Saints sticking with Dennis Allen (07:40), the Flacons interviewing Jim Harbaugh (19:50), and the Patriots introducing Jerod Mayo as their new head coach (23:17). After the break, the guys sift through the rubble left from Super Wild Card Weekend and talk about the Rams (34:20), Browns (39:34), Cowboys (44:30), and Eagles (01:03:31).  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. 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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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. That pizza was great, Mark. From the Chris Lesling podcast studio, it's around the NFL. I'm Dan Hansis, Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler, heroes both. What pizza are we referring to, Mark?

I mean, no, because, like, we were just talking before the show that we now, you know, we regularly read ads for eye heart. Part of the gig. Yeah, it's like, we're happy to do it, obviously, like, to varying degrees. And, like, I, you know, I don't know how they pick what we're each being tagged to read, but I got a DiGerno one that is nationally, it's like a receiving. You poured your heart into the reading out. I really do. And I actually have eaten Dejournal pizza, and I do believe in it. I don't want to give them, I want them to come back with a second spot and maybe more of a bundle of an offer for me to continue to pitch them.

But, like, I will say, like, I believe in the product, largely. And I put my heart into the read. And I've had people call me up from, you know, other parts of the country and say, just heard you, uh, doing a pizza spot on my AM radio station. I feel a little conflicted here. Yeah. Conflicted. Yeah. Because this Friday, you know, sometimes I mention I do the pick show with Patrick and Cynthia, the game debut. This Friday, you guys can see the debut, 8 p.m. Eastern, of the Little Caesar's in-show ad that we filmed weeks back.

So it's a bit of a conflict. For multiple pizza jobs. You guys have the whole thing covered. Yeah, multiple pie houses want us to speak for them. I think there is a certain absurdist humor to Mark doing a read for any food product. Yes, I got out of that. But it's like you have seen me eat pizza. That would be,

you would be a great sponsor because you'd be like, I don't like much food. But this food satisfies the market. I think to really get the cross-promotion going to Giorno, it's now taking that. The first read was a little shock and awe and now adding some nuance.

Be like, listen, hi, I'm Mark. I don't like food. But what I must eat. Right. I like the pitch. I mean, I need more of a more weight in the creative process here. They just kind of gave me the text last time.

But I think now that they see the, the ground swell here. If you want to cook the meal, you better let me shop for the groceries. Hi, I'm Mark. On a typical nine hour day at the office, I just drink 17 coffees and then like a root beer. But I'll eat some disorder.

But I believe that. I've seen you eat pizza. It's one of the foods I have. Yeah. This is the Wednesday edition of around the NFL. This is, you know, that nice little, that buffer zone. so we're we've moved away we've moved out of the port of wild card super wildcard weekend

and we have our preview uh episode of the divisional round the best weekend of football of the year coming up tomorrow uh but for today i think it'll be a good kind of sifting through let's let's be honest the wreckage sifting through the wreckage staying of super wildcard weekend and and figuring out some of these teams that you know, didn't, it didn't go their way. Um, what happens next. Uh, so we got that coming up. Uh, but before we do, oh, right, once again, it's turning into the, uh,

Jimmy Kimmel saying, oh, we ran out of time for Matt Damon situation. Yeah. I did tease Colleen coming back, but listen, I don't even need, I don't have to get into it. And I won't. Colleen's not here today. So that is three straight weeks. I've teased Colleen on the show. Next week.

Maybe. Hey, you know what? Let's go for it. Next week. Colleen returns. Looking forward to it. It's a good, like, you're, you know, part of your showman duties.

It's just the buildup. Right. And then... And she's been a part of that, too. I know, I should have double checked with her. But I just assumed, but you don't assume. In the words of the second bad guy

in Under Siege 2, Dark Territory, Assumption is the mother of all F-ups. That's what I did. You came up with that. He was pretty... I feel like I've been, hearing that since I was like a youth

but I don't know the movie came out in 1995 well you weren't a youth you were in your 20s at that point but like you might have seen it he elevated the phrase no doubt all right let's get to the news came out of his ex-wife's body came out of his ex-wife's

body came out of his ex-wife's body body I'm not even going to give it a context if you missed that episode. You just know Greg had comments about that. And we're going to get to the Patriots and their coaching staff and who's on it

and who's not in a little bit. But let's start with Mike Tomlin. And, you know, Tomlin was the subject of a lot of speculation in December when the team was seven and seven. and it was having a disappointing year. Then they reel off three straight wins, sneak in the playoffs, get dispatched by Buffalo on Monday,

leading to a post-game press conference and a tense moment at the end where a reporter for ESPN, Brooke Pryor, asked, hey, you know, you got one year left on your contract. Tomlin gave a little look and then walked right out the door without saying a word. Which takes us to Tuesday where Tomlin told Steelers, players, and coaches

that he plans to coach a team in 2024. a day after he walked out on that press conference. And I think it's interesting, even how it's reported here, Greg, that he told the Steelers, players and coaches, I'm coming back. So assuming Pittsburgh, there's not a disconnect here, it will be Mike Tomlin once again back for yet another year. Yeah, we know he's a man of his word,

but I am very curious just to watch what happens this offseason because he's going into the final year of his contract. That's new. And I just wonder if him walking off the set there was almost like a warning shot of like, don't ask about that. Because there's at least one route that he could take here, which his old boss or his old colleague,

Kevin Colbert took late in his career, where he just kept going into his contract years. He wasn't sure. That was a little different. He was thinking about retiring and whatnot. And I do wonder, and this would be something that will hang over the team, if Tomlin is interested in like,

maybe I will go into my contract year and not sign an extension here, maybe the Steelers don't want that to happen and they'll try to get them signed long term but it's just something to watch with the insiders this off season. I guess also because like when you argued that Belichick would never

be true trade bait that he wouldn't go to another team and have that team have to give up a first round pick or multiple picks for him or whatever. Like coaches are unwise to do that and if you're on your one year deal you could be Mike Tomlin and if you get to end of next season and your quarterback situation isn't refreshed or vibrant or better

than it has been for the past couple of years. You then become one of the most highly touted coaches out there. He's not that old. He's still got plenty left. And he could go almost anywhere he'd want to with the best possible roster and not give up assets in return. So it's like you can't do that when you're still up two years.

And so if you get to one, you're getting closer to freedom if he wanted that. But he sounds loyal to Pittsburgh to me also. And he's also 20 years younger than Belgium. Could be a money thing too. Steelers. Like, does he get the top of the coaching market? money maybe he doesn't maybe it would take him becoming a free agent to do that uh in other news the

new Orleans saints make moves on their coaching staff um headline by pete car michael junior the longest tenured offensive coordinator in football he will not return to the saints in 2024 the head coach dennis allen announced that on tuesday they're also parting ways with a few other assistants on the staff um and you know 18 years which um 18 season with the Saints. It's literally longer than any head coach in the league. And obviously, you know, right? Yeah, it is.

Tomlin is now that longest tenure head coach. He was a member of Sean Payton's original coaching staff. He arrived as the QB coach in 2006. And of course, it was when Peyton was there was Peyton's offense and Peyton was running the show, which I guess eased Carmichael's transition when Dennis Allen took over. But at this point in time, and we're going to get to Dennis Allen sticking around, Mark, in a second some comments made by the general manager they are making changes just not at the top

I mean the Pete Carmichael thing I'll never forget being at like a Hall of Fame game literally like during deflate gate or something or during like the whole bounty gate thing and seeing Pete Carmichael on the sideline late August this was like a billion years ago so it's like he's been around forever he was the interim before the other interim came back

right I mean so he's always been like Peyton's guy but I think two things I feel a little bit Like, there were whispers when they tried to elevate him to O.C. That he didn't really, really desire it the way that you'd think, like, when you hear, like, you listen to Jordan Rodriguez Playcaller's podcast series, like, all these guys are dying inside and burning just to get a play into the playbook. They want to be part of it. They want to create.

And, like, you didn't get that vibe from late career Carmichael in this situation. And I, you know, Matt Harmon, our friend put a comment out saying that, like, on the week to week basis of watching film and watching offense that, like, the Saints were the one kind of the film that would drag them down to the mud on a week-to-week basis. And it's like they could use some new ideas, some fresh life. It's the way of like keeping the head coach, but hey, we are making a change. And that's fine. It has been the same system.

I mean, it's Sean Payton's system. They were average on offense the last two years. They weren't much better with car. They did finish better offensively. So I think that's at least, and their offensive line, I think, played well considering the relative talent. that they have so now it's like it's car and all these guys starting over in another system which has its own share of risks right and you know if they don't get better next year they'll come for the head coach and a lot of people thought tennis allen should have been out this year but mickey lumas decided uh that the saints wanted to go deeper with alan and he had a press conference today which was hyper enjoyable uh just a warning mark to you and the other misophonious out there yeah he's chewing gum that that sound you're about to hear is a man chomping violently on a piece of bubblegum

while addressing the media into a microphone good luck Bill Belichick here's his first three seasons six and ten seven and nine seven and nine Tom Landry oh and eleven four nine five and eight four and ten five and eight Hall of Fame coaches, all of them. Bill Walsh, first year, two and 14, second year, six and ten. So I think the easy thing to do is just look at the results and say, oh, no, we've got to have a change.

And I want to address the misophonia, which I'm coming around on now. But we've got to let this guy cook because he's just getting warmed up here. Go. Whoa. You got to look beyond that. You know, what are the reasons why we were 9 and 8 instead of, you know, 13 and 4? And look, it's collective. It's the players.

It's the coaches, it's me, it's our personnel staff, our roster, it's variables, sometimes that we don't have any control of. And so my assessment is Dennis Allen is a good coach. And again, you know, with Sean Peyton, we went 10 and 6 the first year, but then we were 7 and 9, 8, and 8, and I heard some of the same noise. But at the time, I knew we had a good football coach. And so I think sometimes the hard thing to do is to be patient. and recognize your other shortcomings and get those fixed, and that's what we're doing. I love that Saints fans despise Dennis Allen,

and then the GM comes out, and he does the cliche, like, 80s bad guy move of popping in the gum. Whenever you want, if you were getting into character, and you want to be, okay, we want you to play this as a kind of overconfident buffoon who's also dismissive of what other people think to be an obvious problem.

The first thing you do is you talk that way. And the second thing you do is you pop in the piece of gum because it adds to this allure that you're not even going to take this seriously, even though everyone around you is deadly serious about the problem around your organization or in your high school. Yeah, I mean, I was doing a thing where I'm watching him like on the monitor. And the whole noise part of it bothered me a little bit less. But then if I turned away and just did it like people driving around a car right now

or running or jogging and listening to that. Like it drove me 10 times more insane. But the hubris, the DJF element to all that, and the hubris to suggest to a room of like hardened football reporters that I'm going to list off three or four Hall of Fame head coaches from 20, 25 years ago who lived in a totally different NFL and then say, I'm equating that to Dennis Allen. That is, that's hubris.

That's absurd. Maybe James Winston should be the quarterback because there is some connective tissue there when Winston was, like, trying to say, this isn't a shot at DA. We just made a team decision without him to score that touchdown, not realizing that he was actually making the coach look worse. In this situation, you are not helping Mickey Loomis, Dennis Allen by invoking some of the great coaches in NFL history saying that they started slowly and then came out.

If anything, it just makes you look sillier and weaker by comparison. Yeah, because I don't know if he's counting Dennis Allen's Raider. I love it. I do love it. Because if you counted Dennis Allen's Raider days, you could keep those. records rolling and start with 4 and 12, 4 and 12

0 and 4, 0 and 4 24 and 46. I love Mickey Loomis still being around because there aren't many teams like this where he Oh boy. He is

the best in the NFL and P. Carmichael was like this too at keeping his job. Like he has been in this job for 24 years. Mickey Loomis and he's not just the GM. He's the executive. vice president at one point he was running the pelicans that was a long term bit on this show i don't believe he's still running i mean i know he's not still running the pelicans anymore but

he has as much power i believe as almost any decision maker in the entire league because he he almost feels like ownership and i i think he don't chew gum like that unless you are completely safe and he's got like he's got the media people that like are his guys he's got the ones that are against him and he's definitely firing back against the ones that are against me he does some local radio hits where he just like goes off and you're just like wow this guy is almost untouchable and i think he like and his own fan base greggie like the way he was and i'm joking but serious but chewing the gun that way addressing the media in that type of hyper confident way is being dismissive of what is he would if if we could hear it clearly out in southern california in new

Orleans, it must be an absolute blizzard of the criticism and negativity around the coaching staff and the team in general. So for him to come out publicly, like, I'd be pulling my hair out if I was a Saints fan because I'm like, this is the guy that's leading us right now. Like, he's on his own planet. Does that magic with the cap, you know, year after year. There's also, you know, not a lot of years like this one, where there's some high profile, attractive program building proven coaches out there.

And you're going to not even think about making a change. I think when everyone here is like, oh, Dennis Allen isn't going anywhere. To me, that was like, okay, Mickey Loomis is going in. At some point, Gail Benson, who owns his team, is going to step in if they struggle and have to push the eject button on the whole thing. Because it's like Mickey Loomis kind of runs the team. And he likes that he has a coach that is, you know, under his thumb to some degree. Sure.

Like, maybe this is just, like, I'm basing this off of personal experience. Like, do you don't, does it not feel like fewer people, and I'll start with adults I'm not like gauging children but like fewer adults are walking around chewing gum than in the past do I used to chew gum all the time

I don't ever think about buying gum so that's me I get that that's just me but like you walk around seeing a lot of adults chewing gum oh well if you're talking like bubble-licious no but people that will chew it for to fresher in their breath I think that's still an industry that's thriving yeah thriving

I mean it's I hear what you're saying we also live in Los Angeles I don't know, maybe this is like a healthier because I do think like, it seems like people eat less candy, less gum, less soda, in general than when we were growing up and we were just like... Less cigarettes. Right.

Well, there's that. That's... There's a link right there. I have found an article in the Atlantic mark that says gum sales are down 32% from 2018. Industry analyst. So it's lost a little juice. Let's bring it. Let's bring a gun back. That is a significant decline, by the way. For only five, five, six years, too.

I want to see your data. I want to see your sources. I mean, it's the Atlantic is not a false. The Atlantic has an article how chewing gum lost its cultural cachet. Mark, you're all in this. Wait, it's by Mark Sessler. Wow, that is crazy. I will counter that with a September article.

The title of the article is called, it's just not cool anymore. That is, that's true. I know, but he does not, okay. The global chewing gum market is forecasted to make sales amounting to $48.68 billion U.S. in 2025. So it's still huge. I'm just saying. Compared to what, though.

Not as huge. Relative. I don't know. 50 billion is 50 billion of me. Well, that's fine. Like, I think Greg's study tells us. It's kind of like how people are like, oh, TV is dying. It's like, okay, but you still have these advertisers paying millions of dollars

and millions. So it's on the downslope, but big gum you're not going for. 32% is a notable number. Based on sales per region, the largest market for chewing gum can be found in Europe, followed by the Asia-Pacific region the North American market ranked third where the beloved chewy candy sales are expected to reach

$3.5 billion U.S. dollars by 2024. So, listen, I'm still betting big on big gum. You keep doing that. Nobody ever went, no one ever went broke betting on big gum. You know what I mean? The awful stick gums

which lose its flavor within like 30 seconds. Yeah. Those I think are gone for the most They've been outclass Or like fruit striped gum Things like that It's literally gone

That has been They go Like if you have it for 30 seconds And we need a higher quality gum For sure You know it's a wild thing Still on the market You know how

Or maybe you don't know But chewing tobacco Which is tremendously destructive Snuff and things like that That are you know Everyone knows they were sold in pouches And I think Major League Baseball and the miners

Now have banned its usage it was prevalent in 60s, 70s, 80s, into the 90s. Big League Chew is still out there, and its packaging is literally packaged in tobacco in the same way the chewing tobacco was. I mean, Big League Chew was the jackpot of gum in many ways. I thought juicy fruit as a sort of less sweet type of trinket was good, too. Yeah, by the way, somebody gives me a slice of big red right now.

Yeah. I'm going Loomis on this, baby. We're a piece of gum. I'm going full Loomis. Okay. All right. In other news. The Falcons, man.

The Falcons are casting a wide net with big fish being dragged in because a couple days after Bill Belichick had a meeting with the team and had an interview. The Falcons announced Tuesday that they completed an interview with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. So you go, you go Belichick Harbaugh back to back. Belichick, the most successful NFL coach ever, Harbaal, who had huge success with the Niners years back and just won a national title with Michigan.

I mean, they got to, you imagine this isn't going to end with them hiring some offensive line coach. One of these dudes is probably going to be their coach, right? You would think so. And they have we have a tracker for coaches and interviews. They have requested and started interviews

with other candidates like Mike McDonald, the Ravens coordinator and Bobby Slowick, the Texans. So they have had some Adjuro Evaru, the Panthers. So they've dipped into that pool, too. And yet it feels like they're the only team that's gone, Harbaugh-Bel-Cech. What a world that, to me, that Jim Harbaugh and Bill Belichick

are competing for a head coaching job in the year of 2024. Yeah, and like Harbaas come vaguely close. There was interest with the Vikings two years ago in the, I think he wanted the Chargers job a year ago also, which makes sense. He wanted the Broncos job last year, too. They shot him down. I mean, I thought that when Michigan won that title, I was like, you got to give a thanks to the Vikings and the Broncos for turning him down.

Yeah, I mean, the Falcons, though, it's like, I could see Belichick being like, if I want the Falcons job, it's, it's okay that we don't have a quarterback because I can do my Bill Belichick things and we'll find one. But, like, Jim Harbaugh almost, I feel like from the, hit the ground running, needs to be attached to, like, a promising young quarterback. I don't like the idea of him going two years with the chaos they've had. The buzz is, he might want to draft one, depending on where he goes. That's what it is.

Jay J.J. McCarthy, his quarterback at Michigan, who's, seen as kind of like a late first, second round type of guy. I mean, in fairness, to Harbaugh, I don't think he's one of those coaches that can't be successful unless you give him a star quarterback. When he came to San Francisco, Alex Smith was a draft bust. Yep. Turned him into a big-time player. And then Colin Kaepernick took the league over for a while.

And obviously in Michigan, he's found ways to make that organization. He just doesn't seem like someone that's going to hang around for nine years somewhere. So it's like you don't want to face of time. No, you're kind of signing up, I think, and that might be the trepidation. for a lot of these teams going back to last year is you know what you're going to get he's going to be painting the ass

he's going to be maybe even maniacal you're probably going to butt heads with him by the end of year one but he's been successful everywhere he's gone so that's a deal with the devil feel strong

but you know if you're getting into bed with Harba you make your team better it's going to be a huge pain in the end you'll be the center of attention I'm waiting for one of these you know Domino's the drop here.

And part of it is as we're taping, we don't know about the Eagles and the Cowboys. And maybe that's holding things up. And then you also have the guys that are in the playoffs like McDonald and Ben Johnson feels like the bell of the ball, the Lions OC who's going to get one of those jobs. So that's holding things up a little too. And I like that.

You don't need to have this be such a like mad dash. All right. In other news, we talked about on Monday night that the Patriots quickly moved on from Bill Belichick by promoting Drodman. Mayo to head coach. And on Wednesday, the Patriots held a introductory press conference for Mayo.

Here's a little bit from that. What walls need to be knocked down in your opinion? What relationships need to be rebuilt? And Robert, you can take it as well. Yeah, as we evaluate the players, the scheme and things like that, I think you have to evaluate the culture and evaluate how the pieces fit. I will say this, like my philosophy, I don't want to be in an echo chamber. I just don't.

I want people who are going to be honest and open and then hopefully come together and make a sound decision. That was really a theme. I watch Rod Meo. Man, it was like whiplash watching that compared to a Bill Belich conference where he's just like joking around.

He wasn't nervous at all. You can see how he could be a charismatic speaker, but also pretty loose. But he hit that pretty hard that he was lessened to the schemes and how everything is going to look and more about developing people and really like

he was trying to, he was as respectful as possible to Belichick but saying kind of like this needs to not just be a one-man operation. I want to listen to everyone in the building. Our insider, Ian pointed out how like literally like assistant coaches aren't allowed to talk to people walking by them

in the hallway, like media people, like that sort of stuff. Like your key card only gets you into certain rooms. And I think that was what Mayo was talking about. It was just like, let's take away the, skull and crossbones stuff

about being the Patriots that it's so dark in everything and let's like develop players and be human and that was sort of what he talked about is he was worried more about like I want to develop these guys and be their leader and everything else will fall into his place and this was a totally different

in terms of laverience you can get with Robert Kraft a different version of Robert Kraft in this press conference where he opened up talking about the fact that you know he has been close to Gerard Mayo since 2008 when they drafted him and gotten to know him really well. I mean,

Jared Mail calls Robert Kraft. This kind of blew my mind, and I love it. And I was like, would this ever be the nickname Bill Belichick uses for Robert Kraft? He calls him Thunder Cap. I was so confused

because he kept talking about Thunder. That's calling him. That's the whole time. And I missed that that was actually Robert Craft and he just kept talking about, I was like, who is this Thunder guy? I mean,

but I think the thing is because the Belichick thing, I just got so stale over the last year and a half. Like, this felt like such a sea change. And I kind of think, it behind the scenes, Mayo and Kraft,

like their relationship has, was there a bit of a, hey, things could change and I have some ideas and like, you know, a lot of it, I think. Mayo refers to Kraft as. Thundercat. I thought it was the other way around. No, no, no, no.

Thunder, which is short for young Thundercat due to what he calls the 82 year old's young heart because he's friends with Meek Mill, that's why. There's other reasons. And he wears Nike. There were other reasons, too, but yeah. He has a very young wife. I mean, not as young as, you know, when he met her.

No, she's older now. Well, right. She is older than me, so I'm seeing very young. Let's not talk about wives, Greg, because I know where you're going next. I couldn't even remember what body part, what I was even talking about back then. They didn't talk any Steve Belichick, by the way. But it's funny you mentioned why. That's what you were talking about, by the way. Yes, Robert Kraft.

From when Steve Belichick emerged. Yes. And maybe he'll stick around, maybe not. There were no specifics, really, about what Mayo is going to do. But Kraft compared Mayo to his. his new wife, Dana, and to Bill Belichick, and to his first wife, Myra, and said, like, these... Checking all the boxes.

I just go with my gut. And that's the only time I've had these feelings about certain people. And I knew it in a day. And I sort of knew that about Gerard Mayo in a day. And this was always my plan. And it spoke to larger things that it sounds like they're just going to be promoting from within for their GM and front office that they are going to look at outside people. But he was kind of like, it's my motto.

my company, other NFL teams are different that I'd rather develop from within and we have a lot of good people from within and I'm not going to specify, blah, blah, blah. There was one very succession type moment where there were some penetrating questions like, well, why is Jonathan Kraft not even here? Like, you know, some would think

he's running the whole thing behind the scenes. He's not a serious person. Basically, he did say that. He didn't say that, but he's like, you know, the Kraft family has so many businesses. Jonathan Kraft is dealing with an almost emergency type situation in one of our companies and couldn't be here today.

Just kind of was like, okay. I will see. I still think, Greg, we'll be talking about it as the months past that, oh, Robert's more involved than he's ever been. He was... With decision-making. Right.

They asked him that question, and he said, you know, I guess it's... Sorry, young Thundercat. Right, young Thundercat said, it's going to be the same as it's always been. We don't get involved with that at all. We're going to trust them to do their jobs. We know what we don't know.

We look at it like we're fans. The only time we get involved, involved is if there's some sort of character issue thing. And other than that, we're going to trust them. There was one moment, which it legitimately, the whole thing made me feel better about the Drodmeo thing. And we'll see. He's in a very difficult spot. But, you know, he said, I'm not trying to be Bill Belichick. You can see that and that's good. But there was a moment where they asked, you know, whether, because he had said it was important, it meant a lot to him to be the first black head coach of the Patriots. And they asked Robert Kraft, is it important to you that he's

the first black head coach? And Kraft had this answer, like, I don't see color. that doesn't matter to me. He just happened to be the best man for the job. And I thought the way Mayo then took what Kraft just said and answered it, said a lot about him. I do see color because I believe if you don't see color, you can't see racism. And whatever happens, black, white, disabled person, even someone with disabilities, I always, you know, for the most part, people are like, you know, when they're young, they kind of make the spot hot.

Young people know what that means. But what I would say is, like, no, I want you to be able to go up to those people and really understand those people. So it goes back to whatever it is, black, white, yellow. It really doesn't matter. But it does matter so we can try to fix a problem that we all know we have. For him to say that right next to Kraft after Kraft said that, I thought it was telling and it was great.

And I just think it just shows he's not afraid. and he kind of knows being a black coach in Boston's going to be tricky. A lot of people, I already saw it to it, like, aren't going to even like those comments. Like, it says a lot about him. I think that he could have the respective craft to kind of go against what craft just said right next to him and address kind of a serious topic, but in a totally respectable and respectful way and be like, yeah, you're like, I am the first black coach for the Patriots. And like, I know that might be a thing.

And I don't know. I feel better about the whole thing. I think it's about a bit of an outdated cliche for someone that is open-minded about things and race relations to say that I don't see color. That's now not necessarily the way to go about it, but 20 years ago or whatever, that's what everyone would say if you were trying to express yourself in a certain way. Boston Sports has a horrendous history when it comes to black players and coaches and look at all the major teams, whether it's the Red Sox, the Celtics,

and the Patriots, and I know Belchick's been there forever, but 2004 it took to get your first black coach. That was obviously overdue. Let's see how Mr. Mayo performed. I got to defend my Celtics, at least the organization, not the fans.

They broke a lot of boundaries. Of course, Bill Russell as a head coach early in the NBA, I think, a first winning championship, stuff like that, and bringing players in. But you're absolutely right. It's a little thorny, and that's why I thought that moment, it was pretty interesting.

Russell documentary is eye opening what he went through um okay let's uh let's take a break and then when we get back we will and this is an easy work but we brought the uh we've brought the wrecking ball out we've brought all the trucks are rolling in uh the back hose and we are sifting through the wreckage of wild card weekend common men that's what it's about We'll be right back. Hey, this is Matt Jones. Now, I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero.

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Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. 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. Derry, welcome back. All right, I was just saying that we're sifting through the wreckage. Here's what I want everyone to be doing.

Mark, I want you to be in one of the trucks, but you know, on a construction site, there's just always one guy, even if it's just rubble, just shooting water somewhere. Just want you just hammering an area with water, just with a big old hose. Wet it down. Just wet it down. Sure. That sounds like one of the easier jobs on the site. Yeah. Okay.

I'm going to be actually in a collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up and some papers and just like talking to people. Okay. Oh, wow. Okay. Greg, you are in, you know how there's always a trailer. you're in the trailer and um nobody's actually out working you're no you're you're answering phones and you're you're like setting things up

and then uh and then eric you and randy doing that work we got shovels shovels and shovels and shovels and wheel barrels and you got the you got your um your tats are out because you have the t-shirt and you're looking pretty good hell yeah and randy's grinding as well i like that that's that's how i see it look what is it what do you guys think i think what you described is you guys had the white helmets on and we have the yellow helmets. I think that's the hierarchy on most construction. I like that you positioned it as common men, but then

put us all in like mid-level middle management office jobs with the people that everyone out is whispering about being jerks. I don't know, Mark probably is more seen as able to kind of travel, he's code switching. Because you're just fired out. You're blasting that water in there. But that's to soften up the rocks and the soil for those guys to have to take the shovel. I'm helping them, if anything, and I, so I care about their plight. And, you know, I think that the common man is also equipped to just talk about disasters versus cleaning them up. And that's what we can, Randy pointed out that Mark might be OSHA.

O'Sha. To make sure everything's up to, to code. He's a code guy. OSHA rolls in, cess dog, eating as the Giorno's. I'm still doing those spots. There's a microwave in the trailer. Yeah. And then, you know, after I got my sleeves rolled up,

I pop into the trailer, you go in the trailer, Greg, who's already in the trailer, we're just feasting on DeGerno. And then... Well, we've been working hard, so it's not, you know... And then it's like, we're like, oh, there's a couple slices left. Should we tell Eric and Randy? And then Greg's like, no, let's save it for later.

No, I would never be that, be that guy, you know? A couple slices. We're sharing. All right, let's get to it. Yeah, we're at the site. We're at the demo site. and it's time to start figuring out what to make of, you know, the situation. We're going to get to, it's not, we can talk about any of the teams that are playing

this upcoming weekend. That's certainly welcome. But I think a good focus of this segment is going to be around who's not playing and what comes next. And Greg, do you want to get us going at the construction site? We've got to sift through this wreckage and what are you taken out of it? hose it mark you know the Rams are are a site that I think

it's soaking wet better shape than than we expected it was totally torn down a year ago that's that was the thought and yet Les Sneed said famously in the off season he's got those four weight bearing walls Matthew Stafford

Aaron Donald Cooper Cup I think Sean McVeigh was a weight bearing wall and you know what they proved to be much more more on it in terms of being optimistic about what this team could do in terms of a reset. But I've heard Rams fans and there's a couple in my house and thinking about like the next few years, wow, they're really set up. And I don't think you want to get a twisted here.

They have over $40 million in cap space. They can open up some stuff. They actually have some draft picks to play with. And I think they're going to want to keep, I don't think they're going to want to get rid of all their draft picks suddenly after having such a good draft class and seeing what that can do for an organization and having a first round pick this year. I don't think that's what they're going to do. But this isn't a long timeline. Matthew Stafford, how long can you expect him to stay healthy and be playing at this level? Certainly, Aaron Donald, the greatest player in franchise history, and one of the greatest players of all time, certainly Cooper Cup, the way we saw him. And they're not getting rid of Cooper Cup because

of salary and everything. But this is closer to the end of their timeline. They have a window here for a year or two more. And so I'm just very curious about how aggressive they are going to be. instinct is extremely aggressive, that they are going to see that this window is now the next two years here. And yes, we have this great rookie class. Kyron Williams made all pro and Kobe Turner gets defensive rookie of the year and all that stuff. That's all great. But now is their window. And I think they are going to be as aggressive as any team trying to bring in more firepower on both sides of all, especially defense, but maybe some more weapons on the offensive side too. And one of the teams, to me, that's going to define the offseason

because we've seen that they're not afraid to be aggressive. I think it's a great call. They did it a couple years ago and we were like, oh, they bought that title on credit. Now they're going to have to pay the price. Not if you're well run. Not if you know what to do. And that is great the way he explained that, Sneed,

because it's so true. If you have the pillars, whether we want to call them walls or pillars or whatever, construction stuff, if you have that base, you could build around it pretty quickly. And they have literally no dead money. And dead money is not a killer.

made the, they almost made, they did make the playoffs with that much dead money, but they like eight, you know, tens and tens of millions of dollars in dead money last year so that they could open it all up now. He's the defensive, Kobe Turner is a defensive rookie of the year of Greg Rosenthal. I said votes, I think. He's going to get votes. He's going to get it outright, but I could be wrong. He's in that world.

I mean, he's probably going to come in third if I had to get it. McVeigh came out, you know, and this is no surprise, completely strongly and said we're 100% behind Matthew Stafford for next season. I'm with you that, you know, that there is the health concern with him. Stafford and Donald also confirmed they're both coming back, which was a question. So you don't have, it's not an immediate offseason thing. But like they put a fourth round pick into Stetson Bennett, one of the few players that didn't work out last year. It's like there is a world where you, if you're Sean McVeigh, you want to keep firing and bringing in quarterbacks and developing and getting something because.

I don't know if that's the time, though. I think, I think it is actually. I think it's like you put them behind staff. But that costs money and that cost resources. Don't you want to. A draft pick though? I'm saying like not a high draft pick. They'll be in the middle.

Keep bringing in quarterbacks. And then there'll be a time to go maybe chase a veteran. But like you've got an MVP level quarterback for next season. And that's what I mean. Like use your any premium picks and your money like build around him and go for it. Most likely I agree. Although this is, you know, by all accounts, a really deep quarterback class. It would not surprise me at all if they look heavily into a first or second round quarterback.

Because now to me is the time. I really believe in that. I think the Packers have shown that that's a great way to do. I think the Patriots used to back in the day and it was. smart. Maybe it's not your first round pick, but maybe maybe your second. See, now I don't agree with you anymore because I agreed with your initial conceit,

but I would say that if you're going to go all in in this short window where you only got, how many elite years left do you have of Stafford and Donald and Cup? You know, like, this is the time. That was the whole thing where people killed the Packers for taking love. I think they dedicated with free agency,

with trade, certainly with their other draft picks, but they got to be feeling pretty good. They just got four more weight-bearing walls. Maybe they're not walls quite yet, but four rookie starters who are going to play for them for four years without having a first round pick in Avila and Byron Young, and so I think they'll

feel confident that they can keep adding. But quarterback is a tricky spot. Go ahead, Mark. I would point to a team that lost, the Cleveland Browns, and they had a, you know, a nice season. I mean, it ended on a high note before the playoff game when you went out

and got flacco, and I think it's like, cool, Kevin Stefansky might be the coach of the year. And a lot of this stuff was good, except you look at what's happened since. Today, they fire Stump Mitchell, the running back coach, who's a very good running backs coach and went through this entire journey without Nick Chubb. They fire their tight ends coach, T.C. McCartney in a year when David Nogoku turned into like a top five tight end, they fired their offensive coordinator. So I meant there's the inside the building, there's wanting to reimagine certain things. And I think a lot of that has to do with the quarterback that we were able to forget

about Deshawn Watson. But you can't forget about the other, they're in their off-season mode now. And they basically are looking at one of the nastiest cap situations in the league. Deshawn Watson's, and I get it, you can finesse some of this and move it down the road, but you can't move it down the road forever. Deshaun Watson costs 63.9 million next year. That is a player who's not been worth one-fifth of that right now. Amari Cooper, cost 23 million. You're only established wide receiver. Denzel Ward, oft injured, good cornerback, very good cornerback, cost 23 million. Miles Garrett, no problem of this one, costs 20. Jedrick Wills, your up and down left tackle, who's coming off a big

injury, costs $11 million, it's getting more and more expensive. So it's like you're this top heavy roster. They essentially have the second most dead money in the league. They're $11 million in the red with the second highest, like, cap charge. So it's like, Andrew Berry did an awesome job last offseason of adding a bunch of players that changed that defense. And yet you remain a team that is somewhat hung out to dry by the trade you made for a quarterback that's done nothing to suggest that he's been worth that deal.

And I think it just, despite all the feel good, Kevin Stefansky is back in a place where this can change so quickly. Like, look at Nick Seriani. It can all change so fast if you're going to get another year of Deshaun Watson underperforming, not being the guy you wanted and you can't surround him with the pieces he needs

and a really thorny AFC North it's like I trust them because of what they did last off season and I think they all proved like GM coach that they're very capable but you're right back into a very tough situation and one of the tougher offseason

maneuverings around in the NFL especially in the AFC. This is just speculation but I wonder if the decision to make the move with some of those coaches is the organization kind of just moving forward and understanding that was a lot of fun with Joe and we got to the playoffs and it didn't work out how we wanted it to but you know

Flacco is probably not coming back and but we are getting Nick Chubb back and the offense with Deshawn Watson who's still our guy was not performing the way we were expecting it to before he exited the picture so they maybe they're judging some of that coaching step based on what was going on with DeShan which is now going to be their offense once again And yeah, I think it all, as frustrating as it is, Gregi, a lot of this can be covered over these challenges if the QB now comes back healthy and performs at a high level. But now there's enough time that's passed since the Houston years and a very serious shoulder injury where you really have very real concerns. And it's also like, man, you gave him a fully guaranteed contract, which makes things infinitely more difficult.

Yeah, they will likely move the money. around in his contract and open up a ton. You can create like $30 million of cap space like that. It's nothing. And I would anticipate. This is, it was a five-year deal. It's only year three, right? It's only year three.

So at this point, they're not going to stop pushing that money. And when you look at the big number of this year, they made it that way last year. They already did it on purpose, knowing that they're going to move it again this year. I was pretty surprised they fired all these long-time coaches. Van Pipe was there for a while.

And Stefanski's an offensive coach. and I know he's the one calling the plays, but I think you're right, Dan, to say, let's build an offense around Watson because it wasn't really working with Watson and we need to make some changes. I want the Browns to shock the world, give Baker a nice contract and be like,

you go against Deshaun this summer. I mean, there are a lot of Browns fans out there, obviously rooting hard for Baker Mayfield, and I mean, I think there's got to be some thought of right that wrong that would be fat that would be totally intriguing and be like baker we can't give you like a big contract but we're not joking around here you go against watson this summer and we're going to give you we're going to pick the best quarterback that'll be a healthy atmosphere for everyone uh all right let's sift through some more wreckage uh all right

got a toilet bowl up there's a baby got it safe all right moving on okay dog collar don't see the dog okay here we go zaddy there he is what's up zaddy um i'm wondering and i'm wondering and by the time this podcast hits who knows maybe zaddy's out of a job in which case apologies but just still enjoy the conversation um i'm wondering if the reason mike mccarthy has been fired yet is because jera is very seriously considering not firing uh mike mccarthy and i know that's not what people want to hear because mike mccarthy's not overly popular or seen as a difference maker, but I also see the other side

of this, which is, and one thing we didn't really dig into, we did mention on Sunday that Dak played poorly in the game, but in general, DAC has one more year left on his deal, and the reporting out there in early December was

oh, the Cowboys are very interested, and probably still are, in redoing the deal or extending the deal and making them the highest paid quarterback in the league, I wonder if Jerry Jones is having a little change of heart or if he's not, maybe he should. Not in the sense of let's get rid of DAC and trade him, which is, I think, insane.

But do the Kirk Cousins move and bring back McCarthy, who as much as he's gotten heat, they've won 12 games three years in a row and be like, I still do believe in this. And what McCarthy said on Sunday, we picked a bad day to have a bad day. And if you believe in the organization, you make some moves to try to get the roster better.

And big 2024, basically we're all in with this core one last time. And if it doesn't work, not only is that he gone, they can have a real conversation about DAC and whether he is the future of the organization. If the goal is truly to win Lombardi. But give him the contract or not? Don't let him play out the contract. Just like the Minnesota Vikings did. And he's got one year left on his deal.

So I wonder if that's a conversation at the start. right now and and and jera who likes working with mike mccarthy and i think he believes in mccarthy wants to maybe push us one more year as much as that doesn't please i think people outside that building i wonder if jera still believes this like the thing i could completely get on board with is not giving dac a new contract not making dac prescott the highest paid quarterback in the league i like i here's the thing with the highest paid quarterback in the league though might not be the worst thing about third if you're a top i would say 13 quarterback you will be the highest speed quarterback in the league.

Maybe that's wrong, though. Why does it have to happen right now, though? Like, I mean, I guess, I think it's fair to wonder, like, to have a bit of a wandering eye with the whole Dak Prescott experience. I get to, like, like, sample size big season, like he was right in that MVP conversation. It looks like he'll be the second. I think he was the second team, all pro, slightly over 30. Yeah.

Like, this is who he is. Just exhaust, because I feel just exhaustion with Dak Prescott versus it's sometimes, like, looking at actually who. he is technically. The hot taker move here is just, and that's almost what the Cowboys exist now, just for hot talk radio and these talking head

TV shows to have their mid January to February filled up. Like, I'm not saying they should dump DAC and like, DAC is actually the problem. Mike McCarthy, who I love is fine. I'm just saying like if it's truly, if you want to look at this globally,

it's a combination of everything. And getting rid of McCarthy to bring someone else but then keep back, who has struggled mightily in the postseason with the exception of a few cases. You might get the same results next year. But the everything is Jerry Jones. Like, that's the everything.

Because, yes, they can run it back. And I don't think that's crazy. And some respected reporters in Dallas are with you, Dan, that the longer this drags down, the more they think there's a chance for McCarthy that he's going to end up staying. But it's like we just went through that all in one more time season. And it's just tough with this team in general

because it's just a very tough spot. There's no easy answer because if you go through it all again, it's just all preamble to getting back to the playoffs again, and why would we expect anything to be different again when it's been the exact same year after year? And yet, I wouldn't blame them. I'm with you. I wouldn't blame them for keeping McCarthy.

Maybe Dan Quinn is gone because he's getting so many coaching interviews, and his defense more or less collapsed down the stretch. I mean, it wasn't Eagles level, but I saw that the five of his seven lowest EPA per play games in his entire tenure with the Cowboys were in the second half of this season. So they had some pretty bad defensive games. And so that will be a bit of a shakeup, but it's tricky because like what, like if you say like, okay, this is it the last time, like they kind of were saying that this year too, you know? And they were, they talked so well and it all seemed different and then it wasn't different. Yeah. And this loss, don't get me wrong.

was worse than the others. The last couple of years, they were getting beat by truly big-time teams, not to take anything away from the Packers and their rise here. But that was, that's the type of loss. If McCarthy does get fired, he does deserve it because there was just so much pressure on that game and they flop. But I just think it's a little bit, if they go and fire them and bring in, I don't know, Bobby Sloick, like, you still got DAC and you still got the same core of a team that melted down last year. Don't be surprised if we're having the same. same conversation next year, just with a different head coach. Here's the thing now actually, in this, I don't think this is hot take you, but I think now

would be the time to trade deck. His value, like, it wouldn't be after he's, like, you, you play it out and you get to the franchise tag and it's kind of like a mid-level year. And then, like, if you want to be bold about it, be bold, because you get a, you'd get a ton. And I don't necessarily think it's like the best idea, but I do think NFL teams could be a little more like NBA teams and, like, considering this stuff with high-level players.

Imagine what you would get for DAC right now. We've talked about this for years. You would maybe get a top five draft pick and you would get a son. We've talked about it for years, Greg. Gera loves his stars and he's loyal to his stars and he, I think he sees

Dak Prescott at a level of QB. And in fairness, and it got a little quiet amongst the football cognizante. You know, Dak, I don't think he's got enough criticism for how poorly played in that game. For all the talk.

And it's not just you, Greg. And I was very positive about Dak this year, too. But like he flopped epically in that game. A game that the defense, yes, poop the bed. But there was a world where Dak says, F it, that we're not going out like this. I'm putting up 40 points too. And let's see what happens.

And they just weren't up for it. So it's just like, how much longer do we, we could look at McCarthy because he's the easy target and he's the bigger target. But McCartney is the easy target, but it's also a fair target. I didn't say it's unfair, but I'm saying, don't say this is McCarthy's fault and then not look at the QB.

I'll look at both and I'll look at the experience of the entire team. First of all, it was a year ago when McCarthy's like, I'm gonna make my big move. I'm firing our offensive coordinator because I'm better. And look, their offense was great in a lot of ways but collapsed at the exact same time

they collapsed the year before and the year before. It's like. But I'm just going to say like, I think they collapsed in large part because the QB played like dog shit on Sunday. Like I don't know But that happened in big losses.

I just don't know how much I could put on the coaching staff for the way that that was got played. Okay. I mean, I guess like you can, it's two pieces of, of the same pie. But I mean,

what we're talking about is like what you're talking about, I think for the most part is like four drives. And that was it. The season was over because the defense is so bad. Because I disagree. Like the defense had an all time meltdown. And Dak couldn't afford to have four slow drives. And that was all it was.

It was like a couple punts. And it was those interceptions. And you're right. Those four drives. I mean, the pick six ended the game. He was a disaster on those four drives. No argument. And the game was basically over after those four drives.

After that, you know, it's like they. I think if you're Jerry Jones, like you're in Texas and your mind is exploding watching C.J. Stroud, who costs very little money, uh, executing like a team in his rookie season in the playoffs where yours, who is celebrated with like 25 minute long press conferences and endless money melts down January of January, that you throw those press conferences and you spend that money. Like, Jara, Jerra's been telling us,

Dak is a Hall of Fame great for years now. We just haven't seen it when it matters. But he's been telling us the Cowboys are great. It's like, I don't, I kind of thing is, like, oh, these are just stories.

They're story lines. They're narratives. I don't want to read this story again. Right. But the thing that is so hard is, when you say everything, to me, that's Jerry Jones.

And so there's something here that you can't, you can't put your finger on in terms of like, they feel the heat in a big spot. Because, yeah, Dak had the worst four quarters of his life, I mean, the worst four drives, I would say, of his career considering the

spot and then played well after that, but the game was basically over because of the defense. Like, Michael Parsons had the worst day of his life. Stefan Gilmore had the worst day of his life. Zach Martin, you're literally the best player since the triplets left, was getting dominated in that game. Like, they all know showed. Mike McCarthy no showed. Like Dan Quinn no showed. So it's kind of like, what the, what the hell? What do we do? You know what I mean? I'm with you on Dak and he's the quarterback, but it's like everyone sucked. And that's why they're in a tough spot because I guess the, the kind of basic move is like, uh, fire the coach.

And there's having the same conversation of Philadelphia right now. But if you keep everything else for the most part, can you really expect a change? Because they obviously need to. All right. Uh, Greg, you want to do a quickie? I'll do a quickie, um, on a team that is out of the playoffs. It's the Seattle Seahawks. John Schneider held a press conference.

on Tuesday. We're not an alternate site. This is not the wild card site. This is a site. Well, but they're reconstructing. They expected to be back in the playoffs. They had that loss of the Steelers that knocked them out.

They were in position. And this press conference was fascinating because it made, first of all, Schneider, I don't know if he rubbed me the wrong way, but he was enjoying, he's the man now. It's very clear. He has all the personnel say.

He had no say over the old coaching staff. He didn't ultimately have the personnel say. with Pete Carroll, they made a choice. John Schneider's running this organization, and he said he wanted to modernize and get younger. And they're interviewing Ben Johnson. They have like eight different interviews set up, and we'll see which way they go.

But I just thought it was interesting that, like, when it comes down to it and Pete Carroll was very big about this, like John Schneider fired Pete Carroll in my mind. And it sounded like this was in the works for weeks. And that ownership decided that we want to give John Schneider a chance to go run this organization. That's great. been there a long time, they know them.

And it was just, I thought telling in that this thing that, like, it's all, like, he has now a ton of power compared to whatever coach is going to come in. An interesting kind of twist on this reconstruction. I think got a little lost in the shuffle, understandably, because we were all celebrating Pete Carroll, as we should, a week ago of, like, how this went down. It was kind of interesting that the owner. I don't feel, like, stunned that he has been elevated in power through all of this. Yeah. I mean, he won that tussle, if there were.

was a tussle. It felt like a friendly tussle. But he's the right guy to do that, considering who else is there, which is essentially nobody. It will depend what coach, like, they hire in terms of how they work together, even on an interpersonal basis. I mean, I'd add to the Seahawks adventure,

Gino Smith, because I know P. Carroll in theories somewhere, you know, in the building and has a say, but Gino Smith was Pete Carroll's guy, and I think that Gino Smith obviously deserved like a second look and more money and all this stuff after last season. But after this season, but after this season he's Gino Smith

and he is what he is and it's I know on this show we've got like a Gino Smith debate all the time but like you have to convince the next coach to have that same faith in him and I think it would be up to that coach yeah based on the it might be but like I think that's where the Schneider thing comes into it where it's like

the Schneider feel the way that Carol he wasn't effusive when they asked him about it he said well I thought it was kind of like the flip side of Gino's first year where he started off a little slow this year and finished really strong which was kind of the opposite of his first year, which, you know, not great praise, but it depends on who comes in.

They've requested interviews with Patrick Graham, Frank Smith, who's McDaniels O.C. in Miami. I have a feeling Frank Smith's going to get a job in this cycle. Rahim Morris, Dan Quinn, Ben Johnson. We'll see. Schneider is signed through a, his contract goes through the 2007 draft. So he's locked in there. And this is just, you know, he said this in the interview.

Apologies if you already said it great. But our setup earlier was the coaching. staff did not fall under my umbrella and now it will yes he really is there you go he is gathering power that that I think he didn't love carroll's staff choices especially on the defensive it's not necessarily a jody allen decision or choosing this person or that person it's just a contractual situation okay i don't know what that means um you also talked about keeping the positive nature of the pete carroll experience intact that is a must for whoever comes in so make sure you're interviewing for the Seahawks job.

I'm so freaking Jack. I'm so fucking Jack. Like, you gotta have that energy. Mimic that. By the way, not for nothing. We all love Pete Cow, right? Maybe the most famous gum chewer in the history of the NFL.

Now he's out of a job. Right, but I'd say he started chewing gum rough 67 years ago. So just saying like, back to my, you know, industry. I'm giving you're a little pop here. Right. Maybe he was forced out because of gum. How about, you know, it's part of it.

It doesn't seem like this is happening because of his age here, but like when I when people are like oh let's have part of it like Belichick and Harbaugh would be like a good short term coach for a kind of ready made team like a what do they call key ready team I mean Pete Carroll to me turnkey turnkey turnkey operation Pete Carroll seems a little more like a good head coach for a turnkey operation in a short term environment than those two guys in a certain way like is Pete Carroll coaching like the Cowboys, like, would that be that crazy? I don't know. More so than Belichick, I think. He's not getting any buzz, so it doesn't seem like this is happening.

But to me, that actually makes more sense to me as like a guy who's going to come in that's already ready and just try to win for a couple years. Anybody that's coaching the Cowboys is doomed. They're just doomed. So it doesn't matter. Like, maybe that's the only thing we should have said before. Like, this organization is just swarming with ghosts now.

And you need like Peter Vankman if you really want to find your way out of this. What, Pete going down there? So you have positivity, get zapped away. in the middle of January oh we're not sure what happened everything just changed now Pete's got it

he's got the ghosts good Ghostbusters ref right there you name any other Ghostbusters characters Bill Murray not the actor characters

no salt in the theater though um you saw the first the first one yeah I was a child I mean this young person 84

84 I saw I saw the second one 89 sneaky terrifying the movies in the 80s that were supposed to be kid friendly many times had elements that I just wouldn't I wasn't ready for the fact that the

painting that was scary came to life and he was a horrific man that was scary there's also a scene where a witch flies in from the sky into this high rise condo in New York and steal the baby takes it right out

situation for anyone involved, other than the witch. I didn't sleep well. I'm going to tell you that. You have a quickie mark? I will keep this quick. This is a team that, like, you know, hit wreckage two weeks ago, and we almost never talk about this team, the commanders. But I think collateral damage of what's happened to two teams in the Cowboys and Eagles that we saw as Super Bowl potential teams. Now look where the commanders are after decades of looking like flotsam, jetsam,

and like nobody's apple of the eye, they suddenly, they have a new GM and Adam Peters who came from the Niners and all words are that like he was

very valuable to that Niners team being built the way that he was. He felt like the bell of the GM ball. Absolutely. Like the most competitive

higher. He's like the Ben Johnson of the GMs this year and they, I have a feeling they paid him a lot of money. And Ben Johnson, people are suggesting

that no matter who they go talk to that Ben Johnson is likely the number one target as your head coach. So that pairing right there is intriguing. And the number two pick.

Second overall pick. It was on my list, Greg. I will get to it. Six top picks in the top 100. They have the most cap space in the league. Don't you step on his number two overall take. Well, I'm just like, I have a simple list I'm trying to get through.

But they have a laundry list of draft picks. And I think like a capable GM. And because you traded Montes sweat and Chase Young away, it's like, I would want sweat still, potentially. I would. but, like, Ron Rivera somehow exited the organization with doing like an anti-Lovie Smith.

He could not have been a better soldier from wire to wire for that organization and left with them in great shape for the next coach. And you need somebody to fail with dignity? Ron Rivera is your man. He will be your man. I just think, like, if the Eagles are what we think they are right now and they're going to go through a lot of flux and change

and maybe the quarterback isn't who we thought, and the Cowboys continue to sit and spin on this plan or they're going to bring everyone back and be the same thing. like the commanders, they got a long way to go, but they are one of these teams that you can see the rebuild if they get the right quarterback happening closer to like a Houston Texans

type situation than something that takes three or four years. So keep an eye on that, dude. I'm just not ready to talk about the commanders right now. It's just more, it's much more because of what happened to Dallas and Philadelphia though. I've blocked them out mentally.

To me, those teams don't exist. They're on that list of teams that do not exist for me right now. So I don't even know who you're talking about. Okay, well. They've been flushed, they're gone. But we will talk about it when they hire a head coach. It's been a joy being part of this experience.

No, but Greg was way into it. I know he was. I should have been more thankful. You don't be, yeah, you kind of snapped it, Greg. But I couldn't even hear. You were the Charlie Brown teacher when you were talking about whatever that. I don't even remember the name of the team anymore. That is the role that I continually play on, on this show, according to your ears.

So I will keep doing that. Oh, Mark. Oh, Mark. How I love thee. Quick one on. I'm annoyed now. on the Eagles. If I'm Jeffrey Lorry and Bradley Cooper,

I'm sitting down with Jason Kelsey and it's not talking about retirement or any of that, although it looks like he's retiring, but I'm going to just find out, I just need the dirt, man. You just got to give me, tell me the real stuff, because I know you get it and you see.

Tell me if the coaches need to go. Tell me which guys are cancers in the locker room. Do the organization, this one last solid and let us know what the hell happened here because I think Jason Kelsey is the type of dude that could give you. some straight answers because I think beyond Nick Siriani's

inability to stop the bleeding I think there was some maybe bad apples in that locker room and the chemistry of the team went south too and that happens in all different sports so somebody has to tell Bradley Cooper and Jeffrey Lori who stays and who goes

and my other point is that Julio Jones and I was sad to see him exit with a concussion in what might be his last game he's like the Simpsons I was thinking about this? The first 10 years, just the best, maybe the best ever, one of the best ever. And I was just

hanging around so long, it's starting to dilute like how great he was, but I just want Leo Jones to retire now. I think he could be... I mean, he's also sort of the American office on some level, too, which crashed and burned hard at the end where it was like, wait a minute, we've solved all these storylines, it's been great

and you're still on for four more years. Because you need to make money, we get it. Everyone had to pay the bills. We'll be a Hall of Fame or someday. you know, if Matt Ryan had just put it on his hands a little more in that wildcard game, Eagles maybe never win that Super Bowl. People kind of forget the Falcons had a real chance at that, had a one-on-one matchup and Ryan skies it out of the end zone on like second down, I believe. I'm with you. I have a feeling this Eagles news one way or another is coming today.

So no need to say too much more. We have a show tomorrow. We do. Yeah, we could say more than. Clean up the wreckage of the segment on. tomorrow's show how about that um tomorrow yes it is the divisional round preview so we'll break down all the games and they're all excellent i mean there's not sometimes you know someone sneaks through the wild card round and it's a nice story and then you start getting toward the

next week of footballer like now you're going to get killed we're cleaning them up next And now instead of like four great games, you're going to have this one game that sucks. And then we have to hope the other. No, I think you can make a case for every game here. Greg, give me one game.

You're certain about the outcome on Saturday. No, I don't have one. I do. Texans beat Ravens. Oh, you want it. You need it.

It's happening. You want it. You need it. I have to follow up. I have to, well, that's a good tease. I have to follow up on what I said on Sunday,

which is one of, of those teams the darlings the texans and the packers will win so i got to pick one of them will you lock up a team that's these are all things that we need to talk about yes um winston zedmore raymond stands and dr egon spangler were the rest of the ghostbusters with dr peter vangman which one was murray doctor oh okay peter vagman i'm surprised i don't know you are so plugged in on on this film. I haven't tried. Young children.

I've watched the Ghostbuster films many times in the last five years. Ghostbusters has had a surprising long shelf life. I wouldn't say it had like a huge impact on my upbringing, although I do have a lot of

the Bobby Brown Vigo rap memorized in my head. But I was surprised at dare to do it? Halloween, how many little kids are still wearing Ghostbusters gear? So it's still happening. Well, the new movie that came out

was very good, I thought too. That hooked the back in. I mean, that happened to my kids do. Got the stranger things, kids in it. Always is smart we get Rudd involved.

It's a natural. That's one you do keep recreating because it's like kids and ghosts. Yeah, they're getting well together. Thank you, Paul Rudd.

All right, that's it. We'll be back on Thursday. Until then, you know what you need to do. He'd the call. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks.

On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast.

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