NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Teddy B gets traded, Aa-Rod gets paid

Episode Date: August 29, 2018

A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler & Chris Wesseling - discuss the latest news from around the league, including Teddy Bridgewater being dealt to the Saints (6:10), Sam Darnold announced as the Week 1 starter (14:00), Aaron Rodgers's record-setting contract extension (16:50), Mychal Kendricks charged with insider trading (19:40), the Bengals sure up their defensive line (22:20), Alshon Jeffery not playing until Week 3 (25:20) and the Packers ship Brett Hundley to the Seahawks (28:10). The heroes then delve into their annual suggestions for the ‘Team of ATL’ (33:20).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast. It's Hump Day. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast presented by New Era. My name is Dan Hansis and I am joined in a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosethall. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan.

Humpty, Yolo! A little concern that Dan. is progressing through Hump Day by drinking La Croy whatever that stuff is, the soda that you're drinking. It's just not a drink, no, I don't match, it does not match well

with the Dan Hans's persona that I have come to know. Well, maybe it's time for everyone should evolve. We've known each other for many years. This is evolution. And if you think I'm just going to be drinking a big old bottle of Yoohoo for the rest of my life. Diet Coke. I'm not asking for Youhoo. It was not a request for you to back cycle

and to Yoohoo, but I just not fit you. Do you want to know the back story? I think it fits perfectly with a guy this concerned about his hair and just loving hair products. It's like right in on brand. I have LaCroix backstory. LaCroix, which if you're not aware, is a flavor soda water.

A little trendy. Yeah. A little. And it's very popular, at least in Southern California. I don't know if it's a national thing. But we have to, today's our video show and you could check it out starting on Thursday at I don't know, 9 a.m. Eastern?

Noon Eastern. No, Eastern. Nine a.m. Pacific on Thursday, you could check it out. But we do, like fancy boys, we go when we get makeup for the video show. And Daddy likes to pop down the hallway after the makeup and go into the little talent area, holding room, where Daddy gets free stuff. Sometimes I get a lollipop. And sometimes I open the fridge and they have bottled water and Gatorade. And now, for the first time ever,

It's fully stocked with LaCroix. So today is a success at a high level. Not buying a word of it at all, but I will allow you to, that's your story. You can live with that story. Especially calling yourself Daddy in a room full of men. We're not your children. YOLO! Big show today, a trade involving my beloved New York football jets.

Also, Aaron Rogers, doing some business with the Packers long-awaited on that front. And then, of course, oh my goodness, it's that time. Every year, it's a tradition. We pick a team of around the NFL. And coming up later today, the vitally important part of the first step of the process, nominations for a team of around the NFL 2018, who will succeed the Los Angeles Rams in 2018 as the team that we all support as the podcast. we adopt them as a podcast, we all nominate later today. Or could it be back-to-back Rams action?

We don't know. Greg? Well, I like that idea, but I already know that that's a non-starter, so that'll never be brought up. I'm just saying, no one wants the Rams again. No, the Rams I thought were in this choice. I feel like I've joined the process, and it still has to be completed,

so I'm rooting for them this year, but I'm going to be rooting for like five teams. So I'm happy to get another one in the mix. There you go. And one bit of housekeeping. before we get to the news as you may be aware. I'm sure you are if you're a regular

listener of the show. We are heading to London for 10 days starting on Saturday. Can you believe it? And one of the events, we're doing a bunch of stuff over there, we're all excited to do it. But one of the events that personally I'm

the most excited for is doing a live show from London. And we now have information. Information. Erica Tamposi, the loose cannon. Behind the glass, it will be held at, who, what is the name of this place? The Curtain Club.

The Curtain Club. In Shortage. In Shortage, that's on Curtin Road. Original. It's all starting to make sense. On Tuesday, the show begins at 7 o'clock. Keep an eye out. from our respective Twitter handles.

Today, Wednesday, we'll send out a link to get tickets. Limited tickets. This is not going to be, this isn't Wembley Stadium. There's only X amount of tickets available to enjoy a live show with the heroes. A special live show, by the way. We're going to make our Go Get My Lunch predictions for 2018. It'll be a lot of fun. We'll meet a bunch of people hang out, probably have some beers after.

That's what we do around here. So next Tuesday, live show in London at the Curtin Club. We've been waiting for this for years. Limited, limited. This is what it's all about. I mean, we'll also have the Piccadilly event on Saturday, which can house as many people as want to show up, and I think there's going to be some sort of Q&A after.

And I think we'll also probably have some sort of meetup during the week. Maybe it'll just be after this live show. But we are getting... So there's more to come. Yeah, and we are getting... And we see the tweets of, you know, hey guys, where are you going to be at this hour and that? hour and when can we have you come over to our house and have like a roast beef dinner it's like

here's the thing we we are still learning about our schedule um in small increments rose beef dinner you said i'm just saying there's a lot of very nice very nice very nice invitations but we simply cannot we don't want to put out bad information so we're not putting out really any because we don't have any other than curtain club local cuisine to really make the story sizzle i used to live in england i'll never forget i would go over to my friend's house up the street and his his parents would sit down to these massive British dinners and I How old were you?

Four or five, six years old. I couldn't identify a single thing that I saw on any of the plates. It was not the food that I ate in my house. It was not. All right. So Mark returns to his homeland. That is the subplot

that should not be overlooked here. Mark returns home. Let's do some news. Where is this offensive jugger down we saw in the free season? Relax. Bees a B quarterback, not a gay quarterback. Relax, relax.

I like it. Five letters here. This is for everybody out there in Packer Land today. R-E-L-A-X. Relax. An original Chris Wesleyan composition. Can you believe it? Great musician, West.

People don't know that about it. Electronic house musician. Just pop some. mollian and listen to a little A-Rod, relax. I'm doing things in the studio. You guys don't even know about it. They're like the Beatles in 1968, just fearless. Like Steve Ioki in 2015.

All right, we'll get to Aaron Rogers in a second, but let's start with a big trade that went down about an hour before we came upstairs. Teddy Ridgewater, a New York jet for a brief time, about five months or so. But in that time, he built up his value by playing very well in the preseason by what looking healthy in practice and and the Jets pull the trigger on a trade to the New Orleans Saints, a team that before today didn't really have a clear path forward post-Rubreeze. And now they do a the terms are the Jets send Bridgewater and a fifth round pick, I believe. Sixth round pick to the Saints in exchange for a third

round pick. Chris Wessling, you wrote about this on NFL.com, your reaction to the trade. I think if you were sitting in Mike McCagnan's shoes or standing in his shoes in January or February, this is the best case scenario. For all of your plans, you, Sam Darnold falls to number three. You draft him. He plays well enough that you are comfortable starting him in week one. And Teddy Bridgewater plays so well that instead of getting like a conditional seventh rounder for him. You get a third round pick for a guy that you were going to have to pay $6 million in the coming week just to put him on your roster. So to me, whatever McMcCon, whatever McAgnan's expectations were, I think he had to have exceeded them. And it gets him a pick back. He gave up

three second round picks plus the first round pick just to move up for Darnold. So they're going to be short on young players coming up. It helps them out. And it's an all-in move for the Saints who are trying to win this year. And as much as I'm hopeful that Teddy Bridgewater is, is maybe the next quarterback of the future in New Orleans. It's really complicated for that to actually happen. Drew Breeze is on the cap next year for $33 million. Teddy Bridgewater is a free agent next year who may have some value. So it very well could be a one-and-done situation.

It's just complicated. It reminds me a lot of the Jimmy G. situation. There's obvious differences, but there's an established quarterback. How is he going to handle it? will Teddy want to sign a long-term contract extension now that sets him up to be the quarterback of the future? Maybe everyone can all agree and it works out, but it's a little complicated. I mean, I think right now, though, it's very much about this season. The Saints and Sean Peyton and Drew Brees have a Super Bowl window and those things shut quickly. And this is what

it is, the anti-Jerry Jones handling of the backup quarterback situation before Dak Prescott showed up, where the minute Tony Romo gets down, you have an absolute no-nameer coming in, and the season is toast. Now you've got someone, it would have been Tom Savage. Your season is over if Tom Savage has to step in and play three or four games for some reason. Now you cannot lose those games in that division. The one thing I'd say about Teddy Bridgewater, though,

it shows you when you net one of these devastating injuries, it is possible that he travels through three seasons with two pass attempts. Instead of being able to go somewhere this year and showcase yourself in a bad quarterback team where you get to play eight or nine starts, really impress and go out and make a lot. a lot more money next off season.

It's another year where we may not see him at all. And there are still, there's a level of assumption that Teddy Bridgewater is now fine, which we have not seen him on the field a lot. He's played a little bit of preseason here, a little preseason there, a very brief cameo at the end of last year. Now, the knee is okay now. And if you read Ian O'Connor for ESPN wrote a really good piece, digging into the specifics of that knee injury, which, you know, he came close to losing his leg if there would

have been nerve damage. It was that blown up. It was described as a war injury. That's how bad it looked. So will that knee, because we talk about San Bradford all the time, can his knee hold up over a full season? We don't know if Teddy Bridgewater really still can do that. Thank you.

But they, I think it's a worthy gamble by the Saints because he's shown enough and he's so well respected, Wes, in league circles. Absolutely. And I think Greg's right that it's complicated, but it gives the Saints options. Drew Brees will be 40 years old in January. and as we've seen with just about every 40-year-old quarterback except Tom Brady, when the end comes, it comes fast. You're not prepared for it.

You're not ready for Peyton Manning to all of a sudden not be able to throw anymore or Brett Farve to just fall apart. And if Drew Breeze falls apart, there's always the franchise tag with Bridgewater. And let's not remember how Drew, not let's please remember. How about that? Okay. I was going to say. Otherwise, just forget what I'm about to say. But let's say, you know, it was Sean Payton who took a chance essentially on Drew

Breeze when the Dolphins passed on Drew Breeze because of knee issues and stuff for Dante Culpepper and that set that franchise back a decade plus and now you've got Teddy Bridgewater potentially as a final salvo for Sean Payton if he's not there that much longer we don't know.

Connected dots in terms of connections in the league. Bill Parcells and Teddy Bridgewater have an extremely close relationship. Bill Parcells and Sean Payton also have that deep connection. And Jeff Ireland who's the one, it seems to be the general manager there in New Orleans.

I wonder how Drew Breeze is taking the news. Mickey takes some fire. People are given Jeff Ireland Mickey. They are feeling themselves right now because they gave up their first round pick to go get Marcus Davenport next year. So they don't have a first round pick. They don't have a third

round pick now because of this Bridgewater trade. And it does give them options and I think it's worth it to possibly get a young quarterback. But it's complicated. I mean, Drew Breeze just recently. signed a massive contract with the Saints. He is signed through next year,

and it's kind of hard for me to imagine Breeze and Bridgewater on that team together next year. It might be one or the other. Hey, I'd love to see a team going for it. Thank you. Thank you for going to go get a Super Bowl. Also, Tom Savage, we know about Tom Savage. Tom Savage is real bad football.

Makes them better on special teams. I think Tayson Hill was going to be their backup quarterback. He had probably earned that in the third preseason. and just because Tom Savage doesn't look great. But he's one of their best special teams players. He is pretty fascinating. And now he's back to the third quarterback and play specials. It's like a better Joe Webb.

Yeah. And that's what you want to be. And Greg, you mentioned it's complicated. Also, harkening back to your old Myspace days. You always had that right under Greg Rosenthal relationship status. It's complicated. Never had a MySpace page. Did you guys?

I have never even been on my space. Absolutely. After I went on my first time I ever met Simone, who I now married. too. Before we went on our first day, we communicated for three months exclusively on MySpace. Wow. My first interaction with my wife also, a Myspace message. I also communicated with your wife on MySpace, but I thought, you know what? We have Dan a little real estate here.

How dare you, sir? That'll be fine from you. And with Teddy Bridgewater now out of the picture in Florham Park, the path is clear for Sam Darnold, which takes us to our, oh my God, our pre-season. and spotlight presented by new era. The decision is made you will not see Sam Darnold playing in the fourth preseason game because he'll be playing week one against the Lions

so the Jets move forward with the third overall pick and congratulations Mark Sessler because you got yourself two sandwiches. So to my boy, Greg. That was it. We both got a sandwich. We lost. And Wes and Dan.

Wes and I, yeah, this was not. Hornhole. This was a wager involving a rookie quarterback. And it's just another reminder that these teams want to get the kid in fast. And what's going on with the Browns, your brownies mark. And Baker Mayfield is very unusual in the modern day. What do we think about Darnell? My one concern there, I have to say, as a Jets fan is they play three games in 11 days to start their season. He's 21. He's the youngest quarterback in the league. He wasn't lights out in the preseason. He showed moments. Is he ready for the moment? Well, it's coming whether he's ready or not. His next level ability to adjust to defenses is what's impressed a lot of, like, the player analysts like Dan Orlovsky or some other ex-quarterbacks that have watched kind of how mature he's been, which is really against almost his scouting report coming in, mentally coming into the league.

And if that's the case, then he's going to learn the most by playing. And what are you going to do? The only thing that it created, I think, essentially this is what they wanted. They wanted to see him go out and essentially earn it. But he proved it. He proved it. I think he earned it. So that's why it's not like they're backing into this. The only thing that's tricky when you're on a bad team, potentially like the Jets, is that if he really runs into rough waters and you have to take, behind the scenes,

you've got to rest him or something, he needs a break to get him out of this, out of the fray, and you put McCown in for a game or two, that's hard to repair. I think, Greg, you made the point with Mayfield a week or so ago that you'd rather put the rookie in if you're going to make any changes later in the game when the first guy fails. But that said, this could be a 98 cult situation where they just let him go wire to wire, and if he stays healthy, he's going to learn a ton.

That's how they're looking at it. And the Jets, yeah, I don't think they're going to be a very good team this year. They have a bad offensive line. They have no pass rushers. The special teams is a total mess, which I don't think teams, people don't take that into account enough when figuring out how a team's going to be. Then it haunts you all year.

Yeah, and we'll see. But I think ultimately it's the right move. The line in Jeremy Bates slash Todd Bowles slash whatever the Jets have been trying to do on offense is what worries me. Because I think Darnold has shown that he can get it done. That is the preseason spotlight presented by New Era. Moving on, yes, Aaron Rogers and the Packers finally did business. The two sides agreed to terms on a four-year, $134 million contract extension rap sheet. And James Jones of NFL Network reported.

Rogers also receives a record 57.5 million signing bonus and will earn more than 80 million by March alone. Rogers had previously signed a five-year 110 million extension in 2013. He's obviously the highest paid player in football now and after Mark a season, an offseason where it was like Jimmy Garapolo and then Joe Blow, who's not a bad quarterback. No, it's all right. That Ryan Kirk Cousins. That Ryan Kirk Cousins. Everyone was passing the hot potato on the high. paid guy. Now the guy that always should be the highest paid is the highest paid. And I kind of like

that for some reason. It actually makes me feel comfortable. Yeah, I don't know what he's done to earn this, but I can live with the contract. No, I think he's, listen, this is a lot of this is back pay for the amount of money he should have made a long time ago. It's, to me, it sort of stands out as the anti-Joe Flacco deal where the minute Flacco signed that post-Super Bowl extension, everyone was going absolutely nuts. How can you possibly pay Joe Flacco, this kind of money? And then you realize every quarterback's going to get paid. This is the guy that probably should have had like five contract revisions since then. He's been underpaid.

No matter what he's been paid, his whole career, it's always been underpaid. And so get closer to paying these guys what they deserve. 67 million before the end of the calendar year? That's a paid it. 81 by next March. I don't care about your guarantees and your could be guarantees and your maybe guarantees or whatever. 67 million by the time the calendar flips to 2019. Well, and 57.5 million.

million to sign. So that made me think of that hard knock scene when everyone asked like what went into Baker Mayfield's bank account that that week. Like what did it just say? So if you're getting the $57.5 million signing bonus, you figure Uncle Sam takes out half of that, I would guess. That's a solid like 29 million just on Friday shows up. Uncle Sam could repave every road, every road in that state with what they're taking out of his contract. So please do. Hands off my property, Uncle Sam. I earned it. That's not how this works. Johnny government ain't touching my money.

Got to me in jail. It wasn't long ago that Stafford was the highest paid player in the NFL, and now he's the third highest paid quarterback in his own division. Yeah, he had the highest signing bonus. It does show Kirk Cousins' contract kind of changed the game a little bit for quarterbacks. It really did make their contracts more fully guaranteed at the top. And they're all going to be like that moving forward.

Moving on on Tuesday nights of addition of hard knocks. We saw Michael Kendricks, the former Eagles linebacker, now with the Browns, give a very honest scouting report of some Eagles players during a defensive team meeting. I woke up this morning and the first thing I saw on the left hand side of my little Twitter account was that Michael Kendricks was trending. And I was like thinking to myself, oh, my hard knocks recap. I should have led with Michael Kendricks. This is obviously a huge story. But no, unfortunately for Mr. Kendricks, he's been charged with insider training. trading, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced that Wednesday morning.

Kendricks, along with a co-defendant, were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of securities fraud per U.S. Attorney William McSwain, a close friend of Mark Sessler. No. Kendrick released a statement on it. I look how you answered to that. On Instagram, apologizing for something that he said happened, I think, four years ago. But I'll tell you what, speaking of Uncle Sam, unless I don't like this. I think this is how they got Martha.

Mr. Stu. Yeah. That's how M. Stu got got. She ended up going in the big house knitting in her cell for a couple of years. Not a good sign for Mr. Kendricks, and I'm sure the Browns are probably looking at a roster replacement. I don't know. Well, when this happened in our newsroom,

like everyone was trying, because suddenly it's like, do I work for Forbes.com? I have no idea what to do with this story. And our desk wrote it up, but no one knew what the ramifications were. And basically it looks like, according to some articles, that you could face a maximum of $5 million in fines. That's the lightest thing potentially that could happen, or up to $25 million, if it's a business, which he isn't,

or 20 years imprisonment. So this is a murky swamp that Mr. Inside Trader has walked into here. That's not a crime you want to commit just. as a bit of advice. Let's calm down, U.S. government. I mean, 20 years, guys skimming the books a little bit. But if it were lighter,

if it were lighter, everyone would be doing this. Who among us hasn't done, like, a little insider trading? It's like you get a little information, you just dump that stuff. He said he had a, what, like a high school buddy who went on to Harvard and tried to clue him into a few things, and he trusted him, and he probably should. I wonder what...

The other guy is... Carl Nassum. No, he's not crawling. Yeah, but when you hear insider trading, From the Browns, you expect it to be Carl. Yeah, you would think so. He should have been talking to Kendricks. They should have been listening to Kendricks.

The co-defendant is a writer for the show Blackish. Oh, really? Yeah. So it's quite a bizarre stew. What a dragman. Just blame the Ivy League guy. In other news, the Cincinnati Bengals did business, legal business. Signing two-time All-Pro defensive tackle, Gino Atkins,

and two-time Pro Bowl defensive. Offensive end, Carlos Dunlop, to separate extensions on Tuesday. Atkins agreed four years through 2022. And Dunlop, what did Dunlop get? Three years, $45 million through 2021. So this is a very, very good, Greg, Cincinnati defensive line, and they are doing work to keep them in house. How about a little love for Mike Brown?

You know, people talk about him as kind of a cheapo, or like can't, you know, run the organization right? And he's keeping two guys throughout their whole career that have been great Bengals. And Gino Atkins especially is a guy, who knows, we might be talking about as a potential Hall of Fame or someday, and they're taking care of business, kept them there the whole time.

There is a salary floor in the NFL, and large part because of Mike Brown. Yeah, that's fair. I mean, I'll give these guys, like, Gino Atkins has not missed a game since 2013, Dunlop not since 2012. They've been durable. Wow.

And they've been there every single game. And Dunlap was one of the dudes that was on that trip I went on. And I'll say one thing about him compared to almost any player I've ever seen at all. It's like the dude is so into his diet. He refused like opportunities to drink essentially throughout the trip. Every morning working out insanely. Like he was in just tracking him since. Like he is very into going into the season and his best possible version of himself.

So I, he, you say his best version of himself? A little bit of that, a little bit of that. You can't say anywhere. You just banned it on Friday. I have already, I have already described, told you about this, how this works. I banned it. I can use it in its many forms. No, you've been using it more lately.

It doesn't make any sense. It's now it's more in my, it's in my mind. Because now it seems like it's not something you hate. And if you missed Friday show, Mark banned the phrase. Society had it banned by Mark, living your best life. and now you're using it. I actually did not just say it a second ago either. I didn't say.

Well, you said something kind of like that, as I'm saying. Well, I mean, please, there's only so many words that are available to us. I also sometimes allow people to use it. I allowed Erica to use it in an Instagram post after she went on a giant gal pal trip to Big Bear. Thank you. Erica, did you clear it with Mark? I did. I texted him.

Yeah, I was like, hey, do you mind if I post this? I was like, it's cool. In this situation, it feels organic. You're a monster, Mark. How about Dunlop and Atkin? both from the same draft class, 2010 Bengals' draft class. And then the next year they draft A.J. Green and Dalton. And they've gotten better as they've...

Atkins was pretty great right away, although take them a little... Dunlop's gotten better and better as his careers go on. So you've got to give a little credit of the coaches, too. In the Eagles Nest, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports at Alshon Jeffrey, their star-wide receiver, will miss, quote, at least the first two games of the season as he recovers from off-season shoulder surgery. He's expected to be activated off the team's public. this weekend, and that's notable because if they kept him on the Pup list,

that would mean he would miss six games of the regular season. So they think this is a situation, obviously, that he'll return before then, maybe as soon as week three. And just like with the Carson Wentz situation, West, the Eagles in defending their championship are smart to play the long game with one of their most important players. Sure they are. And if you're an opponent, you hit the lottery if you play the Eagles in September.

Because nobody knows if Carson Wentz is going to be ready. Nobody knows if Nick Fools is going to play well. Al-Shon Jeffrey won't be out there. They've got a lot of guys coming back from injuries. They've got Nigel Bradham. Nigel Bratham. Their best linebacker suspended week one. Jordan Hicks, another linebacker coming back from Achilles. This is a banged-up team right now, so you want to get them early. Al-Gallar, Nelson Aguilar, hasn't practiced much. Mike Wallace, who I think is an upgrade, hasn't really done anything in the preseason. So you're looking at, like, maybe Shelton.

Gibson is a big factor. Week one, you know, you're Dallas Goddert, the backup tight end. They're losing, they're missing Timmy Jernigan for about half the year, so you're right. They've got some issues. Yeah, I mean, they talked about that Goddard and Zach Ertz are going to be used in two tight-end sets probably very, you know, a lot. And they have the Falcons, obviously, in the kickoff. Then they have the Bucks, then the Colts. Bucks and Colts, not, I think the Bucks might be a little bit better than people think.

They got Ryan Fitzpatrick, though, in the Colts. It's just that that's not the worst sketch. for them to try to get through this, but they've got to get over their own issues. I liked, speaking at Kendricks, one of his scouting reports was of tight-end Zach Ertz. He said, you know, 86, the best receiver on the team, but he's not somebody that loves the blocking side of being a tight-end. And I like this, I like different like football parlance. I enjoy that. He doesn't want any smoke.

I just like that. And everyone in the room knew what he was saying. And so it is a shared dictionary that they use. Absolutely. I mean, that can be used well outside of football, just life, life in general. Like, you don't want your kitchen to be smoky. Like, if something were burning and, like, it's all around the room, you wouldn't be really into that.

That's one way to use it. Yeah. Also, like, it kind of is a replacement for getting your hands dirty. You know what that smoke. West, you're going to be changing diapers soon enough. You don't want that smoke. It is bad. It's annoying.

I think that's. I have five. I have younger brothers. I changed diapers for many years. I'm looking forward to our next edition of, like, white guys talk about the modern lexicon a few months after the fact. He doesn't want any smoke. Finally in the news, the Packers Trade. Ooh, trade alert involving a quarterback.

Another one, nice way to bookend the news. Packers trading quarterback Brett Hunley to the Seahawks, Tom Pellasero reports, our own Tom Pellasero. The compensation from Rapsheet, a 2019 sixth round draft pick. Hunley, who flopped in his audition last year to be Aaron Rogers' backup. Now gets a chance to backup Russell Wilson and Mark Sessler, the man who flopped in his audition to be the Browns franchise quarterback last year. Deshaun Kaiser has himself steady work as Aaron Rogers' new backup. I mean, I guess you could say the writing was on the wall when they traded for Kaiser.

But, okay, here we go. I just, for me, I don't know how. I'd like to see behind closed doors what they fell for with Sean Kaiser, because one thing about him last year was a turnover machine. There's a lot to like, but he's an absolute turnover machine. How is that a huge upgrade over Hunley? Who Hunley was also, I think neither the answer, that's what I'd say. Kaiser got banged last year.

I don't know if it's not. Yeah, okay, but I'm not going to suddenly, like, view him as one of the steadier backups in the league. I'm not, we haven't seen that. We haven't seen that. I just thought I'm saying maybe we shouldn't write him off because last year was a sinkhole in Cleveland. You know what I mean? He's a reclamation project. Watch out for Alex Magoo in Seattle, by the way.

Try keeping him down. He's a deep backup. You think he's going to make the team now? Well, if he doesn't, then my comment will go by the wayside. There's some buzz circling back to Hard Knocksmark that Devin Kujoos, who's like the feel-good story of this season, of the tight end, might be pushing Seth DeVolve, you boy, for a roster spot. Your take on that.

Well, I mean, Seth DeValve has been so involved in sort of secret community work in terms of stopping crimes. We've gone over this in the past that maybe he's taken the eye off the ball on the football. You've got to keep that day job intact to hide who you really are. And Cajus is working with,

we're in less like magic crystals and stones. So there's a lot happening with that tight end group. A lot to track there. That's what's happening in the news. Let's do some housekeeping here. The weight is nearly over. Football is almost here, which means it's fantasy football season

and Fanduil has never been more fun or easy to play. If you're not a fantasy expert, then Fanduil is clearly the place to play. Fan duel is something for everyone, and there are more ways to win than ever before. How did Greg do with his ad reads on Monday? I didn't catch the show, by the way. Well, Greg did fine, and Patrick Claibon did handle the couple as well.

We split them up. Excellent job. And I noted that I'm not allowed to perform that service according to one person downstairs. I noticed. Really? You don't remember that incident? Oh, I do know what you're talking about.

Yes. My direct report. There's a new Reddit thread devoted strictly to Greg's ad read. Really? What's it called? What did Greg call the... I think it's called in support of Greg's ad reads. Really?

By the way, Dan, that person is not your direct report. You are the direct report in the relationship. I tried to give Claibon all four of them. He only took two. I was fine with your ad read, but my boss said that you did a poor ad read. Right, but you just called your boss your direct report, which would make you... My direct report. Yes.

It is in reverse. You are not the boss of that. Fandole really getting their money's worth with this one. Here's how it works to pick one team to win each week, and you can't refuse that team again for the rest of the season. This, again, is the free $250,000 Survivor Contest. This locks before week one. So don't miss your chance and sign up now to get into that free 250K

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And while we're here, Mark Sessler, we've got to read for you. Let's see what we have here. Intro. Not supposed to read that part. You may or may not have heard, but Lowe's is a new home of craftsman, which means that at Lose,

you'll find an ever-growing selection of mechanics tools, tool storage, and more in store and online. Ready to help tackle projects throughout your home, Greg. Greg hates tools. You're going to warm. up after you hear this. If one of those projects happens to be in a really tight space to get to,

then you definitely need to check out the 120-tooth ratchet. It has a three-degree arc swing, you guys. Do you know what that is? Do you know what it does? Yeah, it's an arc. Well, I'm supposed to say we don't either, but we do now, so you were supposed to answer in the negative there, Dan. A three-degree arc swing means you can loosen or tighten bolts with less movement in those hard-to-reach spots. That should make it easy to tackle any auto-or-do-it-yourself on your list plus they come in a gun metal chrome finish that's not only sharp looking should have had a hype in there please copy in the music it makes them corrosion resistance cool right guys now this is called the call to action section shop the new home of craftsmen today at loz.com backslash around that's loz.com backslash around very nice all right let's move on now and get to it it is time oh it's that time of year let's fly loose Let's get it. The team

of ATL The team Team Of ATL Only one team can earn the right Now's the time to shine light

On the team R-R-A-T-A-N-A. This is a very special honor. There it is, Dick Banks, the one-man house band on loan from the Dave Damashek football program. The team of around the NFL every year, we pick one team that we get behind as a group. They become our collective team, and that's good, because this is a podcast that houses a Patriots fan, a Jets fan, a Brown fan, and a former Bengals fan recovering Bengals fan

who is views himself as something of a free agent if you will was Yeah an agnostic A free agent A searcher And a man that carries stones and crystals No I don't get into

Gajus stones and crystals That's a lot of Hocom So let's go over Before we get into the nomination process And remember We each nominated a team And for a team to be the team around the NFL. It has to be unanimous. All four of us must agree that that is the

team. Um, 2017, the Los Angeles Rams. We got on board. There were some positive buzz around the Rams entering the season, but I think we still kind of got in there on the ground floor before they had their final 11 and 5 season. No one knew what they would be when we picked them as team of AT. That was good. The year before was, uh, Vikings. The Minnesota Vikings, which I would say was on my part, a very forward-thinking exercise, seeing what they would become, but just a little to... Well, like choosing the only season where Mike Zimmer didn't overachieve

or didn't make the playoffs. Basically, the one bad Mike Zimmer season. That is another way to put it, and what I like is that that was a unanimous vote, but by the end of the season, apparently only I voted for the way this show played. That was self-inflicted. That was all in your own mind.

Subplots ever in the history of this program was the Vikings at Year started off 5-0, And then they proceeded to lose a number of heartbreaking games losing like three points, two points, one point. It was a mess. And Mark getting more and more uncomfortable and self-conscious about being the man that nominated the Vikings. Just insane texts during Monday night football about like,

oh my God, people are going to, you like turned totally against them by the time they were five and three. They embarrassed me. They embarrassed me. But simultaneously, Dan was acting like retroactively that he had voted for the Raiders and like I nominated the Raiders right a very entertaining Raiders team that went 12 and four another team that was kind of under the radar I always thought that was the team so I was the only year they over it yes I was a little salty that the Raiders didn't get picked so maybe the Vikings failing

was more validation it was it was a tense environment where I think we even had to have a couple conversations as a group outside of the podcast to discuss the year before speaking of tense I I believe that was the year 2015 of the then San Diego Chargers. No, that was the Cardinals. Oh, no, no, no. Cardinals was the first year, correct? Panthers was the first year. Panthers Cardinals, Chargers, some order.

We could have figured this one. Panthers was the first year, then the Chargers, and then the Cardinals, Vikings, Rams. That's the order. So this is close enough. This is the sixth year, right? This must be the sixth year based off that. So we're going to each nominate a team. And then we will make the announcement, make it official next week from London, maybe even at our live show.

That could be fun. Unless we can't all agree. Yeah, we'll figure it out. It will get decided one way or the other. So why don't we get into it? Again, the floor is we each get the floor to really make a sell. And this is your chance. So the more research you did, the more thought you put into it, you'll probably get what you put in.

So Mark Sessler, why don't you get us going with your 2018 nomination for the team of around the NFL? Team of ATL. Wes talked about searching and growing and changing throughout this process. And I long, for a long time, many years said that I simply would not even root for, much less often not even watch a team that plays in a dome. For aesthetic reasons, drove me nuts, just felt like I like the elements, I like the snow. I don't, I, pretty much the entire podcast you've been talking about. Yes, so, so, but I, but I need to change on some things in life.

And this is, this is one of them. And the team that I'm nominating, number one, plays in a dome. Number two, it is a, it is a city that if I had a chance to just vanish for maybe three or four decades, just ghost the all of civilization, all of society. It is not East Rutherford. It's an outdoor arena. This is the city I might pick. It is high on my radar. I had one of the best weeks ever there, uh, before one of our social.

Super Bowls. Dan and I hung out late into the night listening to incredible music, drinking incredible, of course, imbibing incredible drinks out of small plastic cups from place to place up and down the street. This is a city. You can find that in most cities. Yes. This is a city where Greg Rosenthal and his youth in his heyday, or maybe I should say his salad days, more appropriate, hung out with comedian Anthony Jezelnick doing a host of mind-expanding drugs, among other things. Listen to a bunch of hot rap. Listen to Hot Rap, became a rap fan of many sorts. Got jailed.

I think we know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the New Orleans Saints. Wow. Because... Oh, huh. Okay. Here's the thing. The Saints were also a team on my radar for years and years

for consistently churning out milk toasts eight and eight campaigns where you just couldn't figure out of this. You didn't like the GM being the GM of the football team and the basketball operation. You hated that. Did not at all. But last year... It's still the case. But last year...

But last year, the results were different. I feel that Sean Payton has somewhat proven, again, how incredibly creative he can be as a coach. You've got Drew Breeze. And look, it's probably not the final season, but this team right now in an incredibly stocked NFC is going to be in a big matchup almost every single week. And this Teddy Bridgewater trade helped a lot in my decision-making

because they're not the team in my NFL.com picks that went out today, who I picked to win the Super Bowl. So that doesn't really matter to me. but I love that they went out and got a capable backup. If anything happens to Breeze, you have Teddy Bridgewater in there. You have one of the most fascinating backfields in all of football with Alvin Kamara and Mark with a Kay Ingram when he comes back from his little PED band.

You've got talent all over the place on both sides of the ball. I think they're the most fascinating division in all of football. And this is my team. I never thought I would nominate the New Orleans Saints as a team of ATL. But I looked at their schedule from wire to wire. They have incredible matchups. I think even if they don't even win the division that they got in as a wild card,

they're the kind of team that could get hot with that coach and that quarterback and get back to the Super Bowl. It's almost a decade ago they did it the first time. How about you close this whole thing with another? Way to get out ahead of the curve on those plucky upstart saints that are Super Bowl favorites. Well, we continue to pick hot teams.

I guarantee you, it will not be the last Super Bowl-type team in this nomination. process, especially from the little gigglers over here. I know. I'm thinking of... You guys are unbelievable to do that. That is some unbelievable stuff. I know what's coming up.

I've responded to... I know what's coming up. I'm responding to Chris Wesleyan's just burn. Nice burn. This guy picked the Panthers always going. The Cardinals were a Super Bowl team. The Panthers were a Super Bowl team. Come on.

Let us all remember, of course, that this is really the team of West team. Right. See, I will not pick up an underdog type team. It will never get through. It will never get through. Three years later, you still have not thanked me for trying to save you from the Chargers' boring-ass team that one year.

It's just that we know that underdog teams that might go seven and nine or eight and eight to be fun the entire way will never win this contest. So I went with one that is a mixture of... Don't know, no, no, I'm just saying. There are no rule. I believe in this team. There's no rule.

There's just fun. This will be fun. Boys, boys, take a deep breath. Okay. We will. Okay. You guys can keep going. Okay, thank you.

Eric. We appreciate it. I like it just for the, storyline of the Saints playing the Super Bowl in Atlanta. And then to make it even a little more exciting, let's make Teddy Bridgewater the starting quarterback. I don't know what happens to Drew Brees in the meantime. And we're flying.

That would be an incredible error. That would be the biggest, like, poke in the eye of the city of Atlanta ever. It would at least be intriguing. Why are you trying to poke Atlanta in the eye? I'm not. Believe me, he's not. All right. Let's move on.

Mark, don't get upset. You have to stay strong. No, what I see it as I'm standing up for my selection. I liked it. I'm standing up for it. Now, Chris Wessling, what I said by team of West T.Ls, Wes is a man, he's a man of his principles. He's a man who, in a lot of ways, is the face of this exercise

because he's a guy that doesn't have a team, a guy that loves to eat tape. This guy, he likes the smoke. Is that what it is? Is that what the term was? No. I mean, that is. He doesn't like the smoke. It makes sense.

It doesn't make sense. He's a tape. He eats tape for dinner. Andy Benoit. You're not eating tape like Wes. Drink your glass of milk. He's probably eating more tape than me. Maybe.

Anyway. Anyway, so, Wes, a man that is very strong as opinions. If you need a reminder when you see him in London, tell him that LeBron James is better than Michael Jordan and see what happens. You'll be laughed in the face. Will not go well for you. He's a passionate man that it's going to be very hard to swing his vote away from whoever he's about to nominate. And what typically happens, Charger season, notwithstanding, as Wes pounds the table for a team, he wears us down,

and we just end up going with whatever Wes picks. So this is Vegas, the heavy favorite. Absolutely inaccurate. You went with the Chargers over my dead body one year. Last year, I wasn't even on the show when you guys picked the Rams. Were you happy with our pick last year? Well, yeah, I picked them to go to the playoffs and won sandwiches off. I think we picked.

Part of it was if I had to, if I recall, we kept that. I think we were trying to include you in that. We were trying to plead you. Yeah. Yes. The first year it was like a natural evolution to the Panthers for the most part. Yes. So, you know.

Yes, that's true. And they're not all going to be winners. Sometimes we back there. I thought the charges team is a fascinating team, as I recall. But that's the past, Wes. Well, another one of your inaccurate statements. I am not married to this team. I'm about about to propose.

I don't feel that great about them. It's early in the process. There's no team that's really got me like, I don't have a fever for anyone yet. But this team has a little something for everyone but Mark. Okay, let's hear it. But we were told downstairs in our meeting that, hey, if you like a team, you know, just try to go for it. And this is a team that Mark has tried to disband.

This ain't going to work. Dan, it is probably the best special teams player in the league and your fantasy kicker. Justin Tucker. He's home. It's the team that Greg believes will win the AFC North over the Steelers. It is a team that has a lot of new faces, a lot of exciting rookies that will be fun to watch, a whole new wide receiver core that could help salvage Joe Flacco. Speaking of Joe Flacco, looks to me like a much more fun guy to watch this year.

He looks streamlined to me. He's moving well, much more fun quarterback to watch than in the past couple of years. He had me until the Flacco part of this. And then if Flacco doesn't work out, Lamar Jackson could be one of the most fun players in the NFL to watch and a defense that's air every year. To me, the Ravens are kind of exciting. I haven't said, I kind of like the Joe Flacko redemption arc. I know he's not anybody's favorite player,

but I feel like he was kind of dead and buried. I remember Steve Smith completely put him six feet underground minutes after Lamar Jackson was drafted 32 overall. Smith did it on live TV. I think he said Joe Flacco is going bye-bye. Something very disrespectful of a Super Bowl MVP, let's be honest, who is even before the ACL tear a couple of years ago, he was great in that Patriot playoff game where they very nearly left. I've never seen Patriots fans more

scared of a player than they were Joe Flacco a few years ago. Joe Flacco and that guy throws a deep ball was briefly connected to a Johnny Unitas film project and I always like that. Just never got off the ground, I guess the funding or maybe something happened. But yeah, I like that. I like, I don't like the Ravens team is something that I think we're all. all on board with except for Mark. And I understand why you're not, Mark. Well, I think you make good points, number one. And I try to get over some of the Ravens stuff on some level, but I would probably need

to erase like 98% of what's inside of me to like suddenly be sitting around pumping my fist for Ravens victories on Sundays. That said, like in general. Like you were doing with the Rams last year. Right. Yeah. There have been a couple. I think I was in like post Vikings hangover scenario last year.

But here's the thing. I mean, I think the Ravens are much more intriguing this season and this time around than they have been, for me, in a long time. I mean, you basically went out of your way to pick a team that Cleveland moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens and torture my... He just picked the team. I'm just saying, but it's like, in terms of scenarios, this is about as impossible of a candidate as you could bring up for a unanimous vote. but I'm willing to let it just gestate and see how I feel. Let me ask you this. The other team, well, one of the other teams I was really thinking about was the Bengals.

Would they have had a better chance with you than the Ravens? Much, much, much better. I respect the Bengals. You do. Bengals did not steal the Cleveland Browns out of Cleveland. I don't feel too. I would go along with most teams and the Ravens are more interesting to me than usual. But in my heart, they kind of are on the short list of teams that I will never like,

watching them play against another team. I'm never rooting for the Bengals. Dude, does anyone find them? I don't know why. Maybe it's the Patriots fan in me. I just, I don't know. The Ravens seem. Does anyone find them like especially likable historically?

When Ray Lewis is there, I never liked them. I can tell you that. And Terrell Suggs is a hard guy to root for it. Likeable historically, you think? I feel like they've been one of the most well-run franchises in the NFL since they've been in existence. I think it's, yeah. And I guess, like, you know, if you were a Bengals fan, you probably wouldn't feel that way about them. but, like, it's a little different when, you know,

there is still a human fan side of it, and this is a tall order. All right, let's move on to the other side of the table. And for the first time ever that I can recall, because we come to these decisions on the nominees independently, it turns out that Greg and I both are going to nominate the same team. I'll get it going, and Greg's going to come in and be the little Craig Kimbril. Close it down.

A bo-sox ref for you there. I'll be the Louis Severino here. So let's get to it. The Atlanta Falcons. The team of ATL. Wes? Making a funny face. I'm perplexed.

We had always said we're not going to go for the front runners and the obvious Super Bowl contenders and now we've got like three out of four people. It's to me what is... Yeah, got to go for that plucky upstore organization, the Baltimore Ravens. There is something... They haven't been in a place.

playoffs in what, four years? We nominate the teams that are fun to watch, that to me have fun narratives attached to them, good stories to tell. And I think the Falcons, it's a great story of a team looking to get over the hump, a team loaded with talent in a league where the window never stays open for long

and you don't know how much longer this core group, especially on the offensive side of the ball, will be playing together at this level. And in each of the past two years, they were knocked out of the playoffs in devastating fashion by the eventual Super Bowl champion and I think

last year we were at the Coliseum when they took out the Rams in the wildcard playoffs and they looked as good as anybody in the league at that point they go into Philadelphia and they get into a rock-throwing match

with the Eagles and they break down they have four shots from inside 10 yards to win the game and they cannot get it done that hurt. That doesn't even come close to what happened at the Super Bowl the year before when, of course, they had the infamous meltdown against the Patriots.

And the Falcons, and I'm going to throw it to Greg and just add this, the Falcons this year are coming back, looking to get over the hump, and the year where the Super Bowl is being played in their building in Atlanta. And it reminds me of Super Bowl 51, the night before, all of us as a group, We, Keith Hansis was in town, all of our friends that we had brought to the Super Bowl. We made the ill-fated decision to go from one bar to go find what we were told was a really good barbecue place in Houston. That was an absurd journey. I will never forget that.

And we went on a long journey by foot because you couldn't travel anywhere by Uber or cab because the downtown was basically in lockdown the night before the Super Bowl. And we made this long journey and the place had run out of meat. So it was closed, almost boarded it up, as I recall. And we were kind of on the shady side of town, I remember. And we were like, oh, okay, what's going on here? Right about 100 yards away was the Falcons team, the Falcons fans hotel. They had taken over like a dumpy holiday in. And it was a party going on in front of that hotel.

And to me, and especially with the Patriots on the other side, it was like, oh, this is so fun. This is like the dream as a Jets fan of going to the super. Super Bowl and your team being in it. These people are having the times of their lives. So I'm thinking about what would happen to this team got over the hump and they won it in their hometown. That place would be an amazing party and we'd be at the party. So I want to see the Falcons get over the hump. Greg.

I want to see excellence rewarded. That's why I'm just, I'm picking them today and maybe I'll throw out, you know, you mentioned the Bengals before and maybe that's a conversation we could have because I'd be in on the Bengals too. But I want to see, instead of an upstart, a team that's done it all the right way, that kind of makes decisions the right way, that's built the team the right way, that I enjoy watching play football, that has a great storyline in terms of it would be incredible for this fan base. And really Atlanta sports fans in general have had a lot of pain over the last 20 years. They could enjoy a moment in the sun. And they've been building to this moment, and Dan Quinn's been building this defense. I think this defense is a lot of fun to watch. So it doesn't matter which side of the ball is on the field.

I enjoy watching this team play, and they've been building to something. And NFL can be so random that there's something in me that just feels like the Falcons deserve to have that moment, that this group, they're not going to be together forever, like Dan said. And this is the year that I'm kind of hoping it all comes together, that Grady Jarrett, Dion Jones, and Matt Ryan and Calvin really, and this whole group just plays great and it's fun to watch, and we're along for the ride

and we do it all the way to Atlanta, which is going to be a party for a week except for the day that we go to Tybee, which will be an even bigger party. Do it for the Tybee people. Nicely done, tying Tybee into it there was Greg. That's why they call me Kimbril. I mean, this was a great preseason we all had,

and I think we should acknowledge our mulligan and do it all over again. This reminds me, come on, this reminds me of like that Broncos team that got whacked in the Super Bowl and returned two years later to win it. Wacked in the Super Bowl,

so already it's a totally different situation. The Falcons have been right on the doorstep. They could taste their first Super Bowl. They never won before. This is an organization that's zero Super Bowl. I'm very pro Falcons. I'm just saying they're different than the Broncos in so many ways. It still takes resilience, though,

for a lot of the same people two years later to get back to that game at all and then find a way to win it. And I thought that was something that changed everything I thought about that Broncos team and that era of that Broncos team. This Falcons team is as well-coached as there is in the league and their front office. We've been talking about them for months.

And Matthew Zickis, one of our producers, knows firsthand that there were, there was a lot of support for the Falcons, but there is also a show to do. And I will say one thing that you can say these are all front-running Super Bowl teams, and they are certainly in that conversation. The NFC has about eight of those teams. They have about eight of those teams. And the thing is, when you pick a team from the NFC South, you've got to get out of that division first,

whether it's the Saints or the Falcons or the Panthers. That's a really tough chore to begin with. So it's no cakewalk. We're not picking the Packers of the last six years that just rolled through the North. I think the Packers would be a much better pitch. Well, I'm open to just picking any team, whether they're bad or good or whatever,

if it's a team that you enjoy watching. Like you mentioned the Bengals. To me, that's a out-of-left field. Interesting choice, just because they're so... random. And I would like think, I would think about the Bengals, but it sounds like right now we don't have a team that's just like jumping off. Like I'm in on the, here's the reality. I'm in on the Rams and the Chargers. I just know that you guys aren't going to go with them. Like I like the two L.A team. I'm still all in on the Chargers. I'd love to see Philip Rivers do it. I just kind of feel like you guys, no one's going to go back to that well. This is a higher quality version of the Bengals, but this is a team where we've all agreed that their quarterback is the absolute middle of the league. and the coach, Andy Dalton,

and that the coach is the absolute middle of the league. And is that what we're, I think it's too cute by half to all of a sudden say we're going to get behind the angles and a little disingenuous that we've been burying them for half a decade. Why? But I like change who I like depending on the year.

Yeah. To me, the point of the exercise is to get in on a team before other people do. And you're not getting in on a stature of exercise. Well, I think we all agreed. That was always a part of it. For each of us, the exercise means something a little bit different.

That's been part of the issue. It wasn't until this year that, that people are like, oh, yeah, we should go for the powerhouse teams. There used to be a little shame involved in that. Well, that Cardinals team, that Cardinals team that went to the NFC championship team was fantastic. Yeah, but we got them before they were good. Well, actually, they were eight in one with Carson Palmer the year before we picked them. And what were they total?

Right, but yeah. I was saying they weren't a total. Gotta love the SAG, a lot of juice, a lot of heat. Erica, do you feel that coming through the glass? Yeah, it's crazy out here. It's palpable, right? Definitely. So anyway, there's the nominees.

There are four teams that will not, or three teams that will not be the around the NFL. The Atlanta Falcons. That's true. All right. Do we have any applause for each of these? We're going to, okay, never mind. All right, the Atlanta Falcons.

What? Are we going to go through with this sparse? The Cincinnati Bengals. Wait, they're out there too. Wait, now they're out there? Oh, I'm sorry. The Baltimore, Ravens. And the New Orleans Saints.

Those are the three nominees. Does that mean it's definitely a team of AT&M? Maybe not. But that's who we've nominated today. We'd love to hear from you on Twitter and on the subreddit. And again, a reminder, the round of the NFL goes to London next week. And we will have a live show on Tuesday night from the Curtin Club in Shortich, London. Check out the around the NFL handle on Twitter or any of our handles, quite frankly, to get information on how to get tickets. And tickets are extremely limited.

So be sharp. I hope you're listening to this podcast early rather than later because I'm sure whoever gets this stuff first will get the tickets first. Bang. That's it. That's the end of the show. Wait, can we close that with the Packer song instead?

Kind of into a relax song. All right, this is Dan Hansa signing off. We need this after that. For Quiet Storm, the mailman, the old boss, and a loose cannon behind the glass. till Friday letters here just for everybody out there in Packerland today R-E-L-A-X This is an I-Hart podcast