NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - The Ugly Truths of Free Agency

Episode Date: March 15, 2017

A room filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Chris Wesseling & Gregg Rosenthal – recap all the latest news from around the NFL including the Patriots resigning linebacker Dont’a Hightower, and the Seahawks picking up running back Eddie Lacy. Then, the heroes break down the ugly truths of free agency – what teams are telling us through their free agency moves without even realizing it. Plus, Marc Sessler’s tax returns!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 takes no days off. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I'm joined by a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosethal. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. What?

Ew, creepy. Greg. I'm thinking a weird smile. What? Yeah, we are not a video podcast, and some would say, thankfully so. I agree with that right about now. That was strange, Greg. That's how you open the show.

Just trying to shake it up a little bit. I want to make love to Greg. Not after what I just saw. And also not before, by the way. And it was Sydney, I found out, Dan, I thought that you would, you know, set that entire car interview up just to get that kind of content out of me to assassinate me on a later podcast. But I found out. It says a lot about what you actually think about. me but go on well i mean and then i find out that it was sydney who did it which changes everything i think

about sydney unbelievable behavior by you sydney i will say that the people called for it i had a mass oh after that bear and like a sheep you just followed their orders and it did what they said don't listen to mark you did a great job yeah it's one of the hottest drops of 2017 giving the people what they want is the role of professional wrestling not journalism sydney what was this is not Thank you, Wes. Since when is this podcast, journalism? It's a form of journalism. We're a narrative-based group.

We are not narrative-based. That's some other podcast in this building. Wow. Wes fired up for a man wearing a, like, a Perry Mason button up. You're very fired up right now. My first career cardigan. I've never worn a cardigan before. Let's talk about it because you are, once again, an established.

You are fixated on my shirt right now. And not only wearing a button-up cardigan, you also have what looks to be a brand new white t-shirt. I'm taking a picture of it to share with people. I'll post it after we finished today. It looks very nice. You look sharp, as my father would say. You look sharp, Danny.

But also, I've never seen you in an outfit like this. Again, more evolution from Wes in a relationship. It was presented to me, and the corner office downstairs, which contains a shadowy league figure, I believe has issues with the way I dress sometimes that I wore a hoodie on TV. Andrew Siciliano also took a shot at me on Twitter for wearing a hoodie, which I proposed was perfectly fitting for a Bill Belichick segment. I agree with you.

I didn't know he was taking shots. Were they taking shots of the man cat? I'm actually surprised. Ciciliano did on Twitter. You don't want to take shots at the cannon. You don't bring a pea shooter to a cannon fight. No. It happened.

It's not like West, though, to take shots and then just fold. You know what I mean? To just buckle and say, all right, I guess I got to. I don't have, like, prepped vengeance drops on a podcast. I just get my vengeance. I like it. Wes, you're a badass. Big show today.

Like today's show. I can get behind today's show. Can't always say that. Sometimes I get up here and while one of you guys is just making some point, I'm thinking to myself, damn, I can't get behind this show today. Oh, we know. I like this show. But today's show.

The telltale part of that is when you then repeat something we just. said like right afterwards that's what we know you're not invested in i was doing a bit but now you're turning it to attack on me um what's the pre-show grade do you want the pre-show go it's nice to have a callback to the pre-show grade every once in a some good news to get to second week of unofficially this is the second week of free agency so there's some good name still out there some names that came back uh into the uh fold with uh former teams or current teams what then it makes sense. Anyway, some good news to talk about a new segment that we haven't done before.

I'm excited about that. Damn, this is not a good grade, though. Other stuff, too, you're excited about. That was the last thing you were excited about. Yeah, usually I want to go higher, but in this case, I'm going to go with a B-minus. Pre-show grade. So a lot to get to. Yeah, we're going to do news, and then we're going to hit a second.

that we will call La Raville about what teams are telling us and they don't even realize they're telling us this. And that's what a la Raville Magnifico is. And if you don't know what that is, that is, say you're in a conversation with someone

and they're talking to you and you're talking to them and then they say something, it's just an example, profoundly idiotic. Or they say something like super dumb, maybe super racist, whatever. They don't even realize they did it. They just hit themselves. And you walk away from that conversation, learning a lot about that person,

even if they don't know that they just had class and session about themselves. That's what's happening in the NFL right now with teams. It's a good thing that we're here to see what entire franchises and organizations cannot see about themselves. Exactly Sipped through it Oh there's And there's one other thing Coming up today

Coming up later We got him Mark Sessler's tax returns Hey What's this guy hiding anyway Stay tuned There's another part to this I was yesterday

My off day And you know Early evening This news from you comes over Attached to a hideous photo of me What are you mean hideous

Pretty hideous And I thought What's the other side to this What was wrong with that photo? I don't know. It was like a grainy, sort of a granulized. Yeah. It was supposed to be kind of, you know, oh, you know, I got dirt on this guy. He's not as squeaky clean as you thought. Bring it on. I'm excited to find out what you have on me.

B-plus. I forgot about the big Sessler tax returns coming up later today. But let's do it. Sid, let's get into some news. I want him big. Yes, Pete Carroll. We'll get to that in a moment. We'll start, though, on the throne of ease. I mean, again and again and again. Yep. Danta Hightower, staying in New England,

the linebacker, his agent announced it on Wednesday that he has a new deal with the New England Patriots worth $43.5 million over four years, $19 million guaranteed, according to Rapsheet. That won't win me any sandwiches, by the way. And this comes after a total farce of a free agent tour that took him through

Florin Park in New Jersey. It took him to Pittsburgh. I think there was another stop in there somewhere not to Hight Tower, but the speculation all along was that he was just trying to drive up his price to stay with the Patriots. And Chris Wessling, the rich continued

to get richer because now Hightower was one of the key parts of that defense staying in town and they got him at a pretty good deal considering his ability. We've Greg has specifically mentioned a couple of times in this podcast that Hightower probably hasn't gotten enough credit for two game-changing plays and the last two Super Bowl victories. Beyond that, he's Luke Keakley's primary competition for the best blitzing inside Labbacker in football. And if you watch the sound effects from the Super Bowl, clearly one of the team leaders, the defensive leader along with Devin McCordy.

This is the Patriots approach. They did it with McCordy two years ago. let a nucleus player, a team leader, go out and establish his value on the open market so you don't... I think it's probably a little overblown so you don't insult him with a lowball offer, but it helps the team if you know that you still have a chance, if you can tip the scales with your Super Bowl window saying, hey, look, you know you're going to win here. Take a little bit less money, but we're not going to insult you with the offer and then everybody wins.

And by the way, while you go on your little journey to find out what you're worth, stop by the Jets building, get some cupcakes and turn the Jets into an utter embarrassment. If I'm a Jets fan, I'm furious about the fact that they catered to him with sweets and cupcakes when they had no idea if they'd land. I mixed a cupcake in a brownie. I'm calling it a crowny.

And they reportedly offered him more money, $12 million a year. It's an embarrassing little nugget to become news fodder, but it made sense for them to go after him. I wouldn't have not gone after him just because I had a feeling that he wasn't serious about leaving town, and they made a very real offer. I mean, it's just another disappointment. And to me, it's like, you know, and we talked about this on our NFL network hit today. There's this real feeling to me.

And this is not a shot against the Patriots, but more just about maybe the culture, the league shifting a little bit. And the NBA and LeBron James and Dwayne Wade started this thing. But this idea of where now rivals will come together on a team. We saw it with Kevin Durant and Golden State this past summer. and they say, you know, let's all get together, get the band together and really launch something special together. I think this kind of points to me some of the craziness and some of the issues potentially with the salary cap now that it's so high that teams have, if you're run well and the Patriots that run as well as anybody, you can really manipulate how much cap space there is. And they're able to now just bring in player after player after player despite having a loaded roster and now High Tower they could fit under the cap when you would think they would have no business being able to do it because they're well run.

and there's a ton of money to spend. Well, I blanch at the whole idea that they're loading up this year. If you really look at what's happened, they've just, like, they've barely had a net plus. Like, they lost their tight end, so they replaced them with a lesser tight end. But that was kind of their choice, wasn't it? It was Martell's Bennett's choice, I think, not to take their offer.

Yeah, and so they did that. The one major move... By the way, you have the best tight end on planet Earth, you know, on the roster also. Sure. Larry, you know, Jabal Shear, leaves Larry Guy shows up. Dante Hightower leaves.

That's nice. He's also the one guy of their core defensive players that they did resign. The other ones are elsewhere. I mean, they took about five, seven years where they didn't find any great defensive players. They found three in Jamie Collins, Chandler Jones, and Hightower. They only kept one, and that was Hightower. They pick up Brandon Cooks because they gave them a better offer than the Titans

or any other team would give the Saints. That's really the one major addition. They're getting Stefan Gilmore, but they're losing Logan Ryan and probably Malcolm Butler. Like if you kind of add up all the pluses and minuses. Well, you're working under an assumption there, but okay. Yeah, sure, but they lost one starting cornerback. They picked up Gilmore. That's a nice, you know, plus.

All I'm saying is if you look at everything that's happened in totality, this offseason time, they don't seem like a totally different team. They seem like a very similar team. Here's the thing, though, that Belichick is the most active trader in the NFL. Other teams, even, you know, three, four years ago, trades so rare in the NFL. Belichick constantly churning the roster and his decisions eight out of ten times, if not nine out of ten, are correct. He correctly assesses when players should come into the organization

and when they should leave. So yeah, you can kind of try to level the playing field there with that take on what they've done, sure. But at the same time, the Patriots are operating at a completely different level than any other team we talk about on this podcast. I love the move to keep high tower. I mean, don't get me wrong. I think what you said in terms of his leadership,

not that we're around the team that much, but just being at those Super Bowls and, you know, reading. Like, it is nice for them as a fan, for them to keep one of those core guys. Like that they should have a couple guys that mean something to them. I thought he would have been. Bro the fans of bone once in a while, Patriots.

I thought he would have been a great fit in Pittsburgh, but it didn't work out. But he was a guy that made sense for them to go out. Craig, you're at your heart, even though you try to distance. listen yourself from it. You're a Patriots fan. On this podcast, year after year, you try to distance me from it. You tamp down whatever great things happening to the Patriots, and you're doing it again

because this team seems significantly better than the team just won the Super Bowl. Why? I don't see the... For all the comparison to the Warriors at all. Yeah. Belichick is a team builder with 53 players, and he's always going for the right mix of personalities and leadership and, you know, locker room. It's why Jamie Collins isn't.

on the roster and Chandler Jones isn't if they were built if they were just collecting stars those two guys would still be on the roster but this is about building a team and I don't think it's a bit it's not like they went out and got JJ Watt that would be the equivalent of getting Kevin Durant if Chandler Jones was a better value he would be on the team but he was worth 50 to 60 million dollars guaranteed and they knew they weren't going to pay that Dante Hightower for whatever reason I think this is stupid of the NFL the teams don't value inside linebackers. For whatever reason,

he's not a huge difference maker as a pass rusher or a past defender and teams don't pay for that. It's also a really big linebacker who doesn't fit a lot of schemes. That's fair too. He fit Pittsburgh,

but it's like he's not valued in the market, so he kind of worked with them. If some team was going to pay him like a superstar, like pay him close to what you thought, you know, where he'd be the highest paid player,

then he'd be gone. In other Patriots news, they added another running back to the mix, Rex Burkhead, who had a nice season in Cincinnati last year. Wes, you wrote in our piece on NFL.com that he outplayed Gio Bernard and Jeremy Hill in the backfield for the Bengals, ranked number 72 in our top 101 free agents. And he joins now a crowded backfield already James White and Dionne Lewis on the roster. Mark, where does Rex Burkhead fit in and what's a very busy backfield, even if Ligarra Blunt's not coming back?

It's a good question. I, they paid him more money than any running back in New England has received since Fred Taylor way back when. And to me, how much did they get Fred Taylor? He was like 40. I don't know, those contract totals, but it was apparently more than anyone since. You got 3.15 Burke had dib for one year. I think that he's got a role in this offense. It's not just, let's see if you can come in and be redundant with Dion Lewis and James White.

Maybe they give him a chance to compete for earlier down snaps. I love the signing for New England. He's a good fit for New England. It was easy to see this signing coming. It's hard to see exactly how they're going to use him. Bill Belichick pays premium for special teamers. Rex Burkhead led the Bengals and special teams tackles last year. He drafted Devin McCordy a round higher than anyone else would

because he saw him as a four-down player with special teams value. He did the same thing with Patrick Chung. Special teams mean a lot to Belichick. He pays Matthew Slater a ton of money. I think that Burkhead's going to play on all. offense too, but I'm not sure if we can divine exactly what his role is going to be. To West's point, one of, if you pay attention to Belichick's weekly press conferences, especially the ones of the conference calls with the media from the team

that they're playing, when he spots, spotlights different players, he seems to always bring up a special teams player that people don't really know that he's been watching and he likes how they play. I'm sure that he was scouting, Berks, yeah, for a while. And Dionne Lewis was hurt last year. He got hurt in the Super Bowl. he's an injury-prone guy. He's never carried the ball more than 60 times in his career. He's not. Burkhead and James White,

I mean, people think, okay, early downs is he a passing downback? I mean, James White essentially started the Super Bowl, and these guys play early downs. They play first and second down. So most of their downs are passing downs. I think they'll figure out how to use them later. I don't think that's all planned out. They'll just see how it shakes out,

but they think he's a good player. And it wouldn't surprise me if he plays more than either of those two guys. Yet LaGarrett Blunt got 300 carries last year, which is more than just about any running back in football. Let's move on. Derelle Revis. He ain't going to the slamma. All right. A judge has dropped all charges against the former Jets cornerback, stemming from an alleged assault in Pittsburgh last month,

a 31-year-old cornerback, who's currently a free agent, was facing five criminal charges attached to the incident that took place in Pennsylvania. Here's a Revis. told Adi Kinkabwala of NFL Network, what happened is in the past now, and all I can do is move forward. And great, you felt very strongly about Revis being done, not wanting to even play anymore. He's not going to play for the money because he already has the $6 million for the Jets.

I'll tell you what, we're going to see Revis again, in my opinion. And you know what? He dropped a big hint today when he let people know outside the courthouse that he's already down 10 pounds, and there's whispers that he's more than willing to play safety. Dorel's coming back, Greg, and it's going to cost you sandwiches. Where did you see the reports of any teams being remotely interested in paying him $8 million a year? Naturally, they were going to wait for the criminal situation to play out.

Now he's unattached. No one's paying him that money. Why not buy low while he's in the middle of that situation? It's easy to see where this is going, though. He's already started the redemption tour. I'm willing to change my attitude. I'm willing to move positions. The next one is like, look, I know I have a reputation for being a mercenary and getting every penny.

but football really means a lot to me. I got a wake-up call last year when I looked washed up. I don't want to go out like that. I'm going to take less money to join a contender. Anyone who will have me, I'm going to rewrite the last chapter of my career. And do not forget about the tour. That all works. Don't forget, Greg, let me finish.

Don't forget the tortured jet fan angle, which is he is destined now after leaving the Jets and winning a Super Bowl with the Pats, coming back to the Jets, a big expensive homecoming and bombing out. Now to have, as you put it, Mark earlier today, an Indian summer run with the Steelers or whoever else will have him. He said the Steelers would be a dream come true. And he also said that, you know, the hunger to play

is definitely still there. But that's the problem. The hunger was there last year. That's why he needed to lose those 10 pounds. He just stole money from the debt. That's the guy you make cup. That's the guy you make cup. Right.

The rest of the NFL knows he just stole money. I don't think teams will even approach $8 million for him. Why do you keep saying that? Why do you think it has to be $8 million? Because he is playing for free if it's under $6 million. This was the theory that, you know, that I threw out, which that part is a fact. Then there was a report, you know, from Pro Football Talk that said his number would be about $8 million. That would make it worth him to play.

I think he's still in the delusion that, okay, now I'm going to put it out there, that I'm serious and I'm going to go get that money. And I think if he's getting one year $3 million offers, which is about where I put where he'd be, whatever it is, I think he'll be like, no. I think you're under, under-evaluating. He's not going to play for free. Who he was for his entire career before last year, which was very strange, both on and off the field. If he's really dedicating himself to going out, I think he would take a pay cut and try to extend his career.

Like Wes is saying, it's not a pay cut. It's free. Is he not going to get money? He is making the $6 million from the Jets regardless. So if he does not get more than that, he's playing for free. Okay, but he still, he gets to pay. play and maybe write a different ending i think so you're buying this you know he's just gone

through a traumatic experience and a lot of times when that happens you come out look at my eyes are open and i'm going to tell all my friends and family how much i care about them is this is a new me here we go i mean he's just come out of this experience you think that darrell rivas if he's on some crappy team and you know it's late summer that he's going to want to do this still i'm not i just don't know about a crappy team like it's it's kind of like adrian peterson it's like yeah you might be interested in it. Our team's interested in you. Yeah.

If he's in shape and he put some tape out there or something, I think he could get somebody interested in him. I really, but he's got to put his best foot. He can't still be, hey, I'm the guy with my agent blowing up my deal. He's got to be a completely new person for marketability.

Of course I could be wrong and he could want to prove all that and you wind up winning those sandwiches. My point is if you're looking at his history, what player is less likely in NFL history to play for free for the love of the game than Dorel Rivas. I don't think there's that many players. You're underestimating the redemption angle and the known fact in NFL circles that these players have to have storylines that drag on throughout the offseason

just to keep Mark Sessler employed. It's well said. And he was a ferocious competitor, Greg, for his entire career. Yes. Whatever happened last year. So I know what, based on what we saw from him last year, yeah, he probably doesn't care anymore. But if he has some type of come to Jesus moment, we'll see. Well, that's what's happened, apparently.

Come to Revis moment. Moving on, Eddie Lacey, come to China food moment. He agrees to a one-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks. The big running back signs a deal that is worth $5.5 million, including $3 million, fully guaranteed. And, Wes, what is this deal? tell you about Eddie Lacey in the year 2017. It tells me the Seahawks are pretty generous. It tells me that the Seahawks might be making a mistake

when they watched Thomas Rawls set the franchise record two games ago in the playoffs against the Lions for rushing yards, that Eddie Lacey can give them something that Thomas Rawls can't. And I know that Lacey had the best yards per carry of his career last year in a very small sample size. I beg you, go watch, you can find this on YouTube, you don't need game pass. Go watch highlight clips of 2013-2014 Eddie Lacey when he's 30 or 40 pounds less, and his footwork is exceptional.

He is not that back anymore. Well, the deal has $3 million guaranteed, and Pete Carroll has always been of the velocity, more running backs the better, like Bill Belichick. They have 10 on their roster. I don't think it has much to do with Rawls. They showed last year you need running. Rawls is one of the most injury-prone guys out there. ProCise is coming off an injury,

probably not a 300-touch type of guy. Lacey's, you know, kind of on and off. So why not? Just add another talented guy. I like it. Carol talked openly about their being competition at the end of the year. And so I don't think they have a clear number one. We know that. And he also sounded very concerned before that final press conference

about ProCise's overall durability. And I think there's legit reasons to look at all, any of the guy that would be carrying the load there would be that. Lacey's had of himself, though. So it's, but it's a nice Seahawks-type running back. Let's not forget the other part of this, though. Eddie Lacey is at a crossroads in his career. It was reported that in one of the free agent visits he took, which were all around the same time, he weighed in at 267 pounds.

I want him big. And that's what Pete Carroll said. I want him big, and I'm fine with it, and Marshaun Lynch played at 240 and all that. But that is a big boy. I think he was listed at 234, which I'm. I don't think he ever was last year. Maybe during his P90X height mark, which a little shot against the P90X industry that he's 267 right now? Well, I mean, I think with anything you do, some of these guys, metabolism-wise or habits-wise, you know, weight is added on more easily.

But you've got to stick with it. You can't do something for three weeks. He gets down to a certain weight, and then you just ditch it all and you go back to whatever your habits were before. I don't know what he's doing right now. Should he inch towards body by Audrina? No. Your new obsession? That is not an obsession of mine at all.

Currently, I believe he was doing the 21-day fix. I saw the tweet yesterday. 21-day fixed that Connor and I do. It's not a good advertisement for the 21-day fix. But that is, it's a real thing, though, because the 21 days ends. Then it's 21 days is over. It's like you need to keep. You got to keep at it.

You have to have a maintaining regimen. I mean, Wes, you tweeted out that article about Lacey profile about him back in his rookie year. Tyler Dunn. I think he's a different type of. guy i mean he's a he's a guy who i think needs to search for his love for football or he sounded like a depressed guy like he'd never really gotten over what had happened with hurricane katrina and and hurricane katrina broke his heart he was heartbroken and i don't think he's ever recovered from it and this is an excellent article if if any of you listeners want to search tyler done i believe it

was the milwaukee journal sentinel and eddie lacey and hurricane katrina you'll find the article It's a really, really well-written article. Let's move on. One last thing about, do the Seahawks deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their offensive line and running game anymore? This is a team giving Luke Jokal 8 million for one year. And every year we give them the benefit of the doubt, you'll fix it, you'll figure it out. I don't know if they will anymore.

I don't know what's going on there. I don't think they've ever, they don't deserve it with the offensive line. I mean, that has been, they've been trying to fix that. for five, six years now. They've tried to do it different types of ways and none of them have worked. Yeah, their philosophies, which had it worked, it would have been a revolutionary.

We rethink how you build lines and stuff, but it's not. And you can't just magically cook up an offensive line, especially at the tackle positions. Trojanet. Trooperat. Trooperat. Trooperate.

Oh, Julius Thomas. The new Miami Dolphins tight end, who signed a big deal with the Jaguars two years ago and then was hurt constantly, looked slow. He definitely wasn't on the body by... What is it, Mark? It is called the 21-day fix.

Where am I getting the body by Audrina? I have no idea. What's the name of the woman that... Autumn. Autumn Calabres. Because there are no men named Autumn. Autumn Calabres. It's not body by autumn, though.

It's named something entirely different. So Julius, he looked like a big boy with the Jaguars and couldn't stay healthy. But guess what? Julius Thomas wants you to know. that all of his injury problems are now behind him. Here's his quote. I don't really have any handicaps.

Anything that will hold me back, Thomas said, via the Miami Herald. I feel really good. I know that I'll be able to play at the highest level I've played in my career. So what a move by the Dolphins. They're getting, obviously going to get 15 touchdowns from Julius Thomas. It'll be the old one with Peyton Manning. It's done. Done deal.

Great sign. Seal it up. Seal it up. Lock it up. And we're rolling to the pro ball. Talk about father time, never losing. a battle. I mean, Julius Thomas can control whether he gets

injured or not on a football field. How is that possible? Maybe he's on that 21-day body by Adrina. I don't appreciate the knocks on this workout program. That's not a knock at very well. That's not a knock at all. Eddie Lacey might not be a great advertisement, but Mark Sessler

is a walking billboard. I want to go, I need to start it after looking at Mark's body. I have a free I have a free set of DVDs. I'll lend it to you. Hello, Body. All right good. Beach Body.

Next topic. What was that? Beach Body. Next topic. Let's move on. Coming up later. Oh, gotcha. Mark Sessler's tax returns.

They call Mr. Bones. Why? Because he's got so many skeletons in his closet. Stay tuned. All right. You know what? We'll have to see what this is about, but this feels nonsensical to me. Oh.

There's a bigger payoff than Rachel Maddow. Did you check that out? I refused to watch it on TV because I knew it was going to be the biggest dud in the media this year. Damn. You should have. That's a hot tech. Hot take. You should have took that to the mess.

Is that even hot? Like, didn't everybody know it was going to be a dud? What is a 2005 tax return going to possibly show? That's my question for Dan. If that's what he's attempting to do to me. Coincidentally, the one I have procured also 2005. Wow. The Russians more involved than Marx.

How's he going to pay taxes when he doesn't have a job? Moving on. Did you not have a job in 2005? Let's just say I might have a defender in the room that can, you know, help me out if I need some talking to on your part. What's what that means? I don't know. Let's move on.

The Minnesota Vikings have assigned wide receiver Adam Thielen to a three-year, 17 million contract with 11 million guaranteed. Nice little season, Adam's coming. Nice little contract for Adam Thielen coming off a season where he finished with 69 catches for nearly 1,000 yards, 14 yards per reception. Five touchdowns was scheduled for restricted free agency, but the Vikings wanted to make sure they kept them around.

So now you got, what do you got the wide receiver corps? You got Laquantred, well, whatever's going on there. You got Stefan Diggs. You like him. He's a nice piece. And now, Theelin, what do you think about this move, Mark? Well, we just talked about Thomas Rawls being two games removed from a career game. It was Thielen, who's two games removed from having 202 yards against the Packers' defense.

I think Thielen, we all grew to like them more as the season went on. He had about 400 yards over the last five weeks of the year, an integral part of their passing game. An impressive guy, of course you re-signed them in my book. Led all wide receivers and catch percentage on deep balls last year, 70.4% catch rate Wow. It's exceptional. You need one more receiver, but that's a nice twosome right there. I mean, that is a story to be a local tryout guy that got a $17 million contract.

That just does not. That's Wayne Krabet-esque. I don't know. There's not that many in, you know, the last 10, 20 years. It was meant to be the guy from Germany. That didn't quite. Right. Mabo. Come back to us.

I know the enlightened sports. Or don't. I know the enlightened sports writers of America have determined that you're no long. allowed to compare white receivers to white receivers, but there is a lot of Jordy Nelson to his game. They also need Treadwell, who had one catch last year to, you know, live up to the draft stock. It's a 203rd overall pick.

We said there's one, they're missing a guy. Hypothetically, it's the guy that they invested our first round pick, and he needs to make a big leap in year two. Is he going to be a making the leap candidate? Probably not, would be my guess. No. You got to show a little bit of something. Not unless we want our track record with that series to continue.

This is a smart move. I don't think the Vikings have had a very good offseason. But, I mean, this guy's making less than Marcus Wheaton. He's making way less than Kenny Stills and the other guys that signed us a nice deal. We haven't killed Making the Leap yet. It lives on still. It is a horse that has been beaten on the ground for four years.

It's got to stick around for Chase, you know, the original making the leap number 39, 2013. Chase Daniel. It's going to happen in the metallands this year. It's going to happen. By the way, I like the, any time you want to dig in, Wes, on the ESA, the enlightened sports writers of America, let us know. Give us a little like tape, a little peel back the curtain. It's, you know what, 15 years ago when the first person mentioned it,

maybe we shouldn't all be comparing these guys to the same race. It was great. And now the group think has shifted entirely the other direction. And the pitchforks and torches come out. If you dare say that Cool Beasley plays a little bit like Wes Welker. It's a good point. And yet it's not. I'm uncomfortable.

It's not totally been rooted out. There was someone, there was a Patriots fan. I'm not going to say who it was in our office that compared, it was you, wasn't it? Chris Hogan, you know, compared Chris Hogan to Julian Edelman. And come on. Well, you've just called someone out. Someone's going to figure out that story and it's going to get back to them.

I'm just saying, you know, he's not this little, you know. It's also not the end of the world. We got out of these little guys in the slot. No, he's a huge physical receiver who goes deep. That is, that is the example. Sorry about that, Kevin Patcher. Here's a fun little story. The NFL released to agents and others across the league.

Their performance-based pay system, like of every player in the league on all 32 teams, how much players got based on playing time. And the player, there was one player who got the fewest dollars of anyone in the league. and it was a name that we might be familiar with. We've talked about him a lot on this podcast in the last, oh, hell, four years, but the last few months, especially. Tony Romo played one series, Mark. Do you remember what happened in that one series for Tony Romo this year?

I believe he led him to a touchdown, if I'm not mistaken. He did. He was three or four through for like 30 yards and a touchdown. And for that baked into his contract, he got $64 and $11. for that. What? That was in his contract, based on playing time.

Interesting. Want to hear some other fun nugs? That feels a little low. Is anyone listening? 64 bucks to lead a team on a touchdown drive in the 2016 NFL season, a little low. You know who got the second most money in a performance bonus? Dak Prescott. He got 355,000 because he started every game.

Reggie Bush. he had a negative rushing yardage total last year, still took home over $14,000 for his efforts. That's the agent you want. This is from the league. It's not in your contract. It's from the league's, you know,

performance pay system. So there's no value judgment. They're just like, Tony, you earn that extra $64. The league actually pays the teams back for this. Yeah. It comes from the league. It's supposed to help out guys essentially underpaid on their rookie contract.

So, for instance, a Patriots rookie center, David Andrews, got an extra $420,000, one of the highest numbers, I believe, on this list. That basically doubled his salary, and he didn't even know it was coming. Panthers Reserve Guard, Ryan Wendell, played a single snap on special teams. $250 and $70.

Not bad. That Reggie Bush cash is like an Osweiler-level heist. Didn't he average negative yards per carry for the season? He did. Negative yardage. I knew you weren't listening to me before. That's a tough way to go down. $14,000 for getting zero.

Negative 0.7 yards per character? Here's the ultimate scam. It really ruins his whole, like, pro football reference in ESPN stats. It's the last number that you'll see from Reggie, which is negative three. And he, yeah, his name is not popped up in free agency. That's fitting. Chase Daniel, by the way, who got $7 million last season to throw one pass. So he got $7 million, and he also gets an additional $2.28 and $12.

So that's a nice thing on the key. That's good take-home pay for throwing one pass, $7 million, $2208. What's the going rate for producing five to 600 podcasts a year in writing upwards of 3,000 articles? You don't want to know. 3,000? Well, you do know, actually. $228 is like one night at the bar in L.A.

And finally. I want to see what Mark would look like after 3,000 articles. I'll show you. Go look at my author page. How about that? Justin Hunter. What was he, former second? It would be like 15 a day.

Well, that's called 2012. Yeah. Justin Hunter, yes, old second round pick. Of the Titans, the Titans. That's correct. Former making the leap. Once compared to Randy Moss. Oh, boy. Anyway, Justin Hunter is bouncing around the league a little bit in his career.

He has 78 catches for 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns in four seasons. And he, so not a great prolific career. But he's staying in the business. He just signed a deal with the Steelers, which probably, up to this tweet that Greg really got a kick out of the story isn't finished just yet hashtag Steelers Nation I mean it's one of the greatest stories ever told who thought we were getting an epilogue on this one people were waiting people were waiting it ain't over yet it's coming back he combines

martavis Bryant size with Sammy Coates hands God forbid the guy believes in himself I mean Come on, Mark. This story. You're going to get behind this tweet in a big spot? I'm just saying, you know, he's getting absolutely destroyed on the show for having some sort of self-confidence in his abilities. You hate when people have too much confidence.

That's one of your best. This didn't, this seemed like, you know, a fair level amount of, hey, everyone has given up on me. I have not given up on myself. This would be the equivalent if you, like, worked at a gas station, and then you got let go. And then you caught on as a bus boy, DJ Friday.

Yeah, right. And then over in the corner of the restaurant, Greg is giggling at you. Giggling at your career. You went to your Facebook page, the story isn't finished just yet. That would be ridiculous. That would be ridiculous. He wrote a memoir called The Story Isn't Finished. It's a tale as old as time.

Well, he's a millionaire and we're not. So he wins. I have some breaking news. Wow. I thought that marks have a broken news for you. Reading this article in popular science. And, no, listen to this. Humpback whales are now organizing in huge numbers,

and nobody knows why, in weird parts of the world. Scientists have never seen more than 15 or 20 humpback whales together, and now they are arranging in groups of 200 or more. I saw a Simpsons episode about this. That doesn't sound good to me. When the dolphins rose up against the people of Springfield and took over the world, I think Mother Nature is gearing up for a fight. Yeah, why don't, let's keep, you know, worrying about a wave three of the free agency.

That's more important than this. You know, Sully's back in the building, by the way. Everybody loves Sully. And he's feeling good. This is his third tour of duty. He's coming into our ears telling us about some movies. I don't even know what you're talking about, Sully. Can you put him on the cans a second?

A guy, like. Yeah, you were talking about Simpsons and the Dolphins. Right. Hitchhiker's guys. guide the dolphins take over the world, I do believe. I didn't see that something with you guys. Yeah. Hell no.

I knew Sessler would have my back on this. I have not seen it, but I have your back in theory. Yeah, that's right. Great. It's an okay movie. It's an okay movie. I haven't read the book. That's like a Mark Sessler slogan right there.

I have your back in theory. I mean, you know, I can't speak to it. It sounds like a fine film. Hey, Sully, it's good to have you back. Good to be back, fellas. Good to talk to you guys. he's coming in hot though he's back on his first day oh he's flying daniel jeremiah hadn't even said hello to him and he comes in with like three different podcast ideas i'm not going to be ignored

dan oh jeremiah is just like what did you say what did you say dj i'm not going to be ignored dan um that sully's like coming in like it's senior year at high school oh yeah is that fatal attraction drop might have been glen close i won't be ignored that's like some boiling rabbits Let's not put it on the shadowy league figure his radar. Oh, sorry. Yeah, that's senior year. Look, he's coming in and out of the room behind the glass. Clearly, does not have a lot of work to do downstairs.

It's like it's all – All his classes are electives. He's already like – he's going to college. He knows where he's going. He's going to SUNY Buffalo. He's all locked in. I organized my classes last semester of college where I only had classes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. It was an absolute coup d'etat over the school system.

system. Sally's on the eight and skate program. Come in for eight hours and skate right out the door. All right. That's what's happening in the news. And Mark, sorry that we got on your boy, Justin Hunter, a little bit there. Well, you know, I wasn't going to bring it up. But there was a, that specific making the leap.

Wes and Greg, it was sort of a he said, he said thing, where they both debated their future. I don't know who had what side, but someone's not right. I think I had the wrong side. You had the pro Justin Hunter. Yeah, that's the wrong side. But little did we know that Greg would, you know, take it out on Justin Hunter by, you know, laughing and giggling at him and shredding him as a human being.

Can't have it both ways, Greg. That's a fair point by Mark. Can't have it both ways. Supported you in the good times. Here's the good news. Now I'm off. You also wrote the Chase Daniel making the leap, so he still got him potentially as a starter of the New York Jets in a few months.

I got Gino Smith is out there too. He's out there. I mean. Still clinging under that one. Out there is a nice way to put it. Talk about an advertisement to end that series on NFL. Did you read, by the way, the New York Daily News, Manish Meta? Takedown.

You know Smith? Take down. Cold-blooded. My God. Cold-blooded. Back to us. I think that reflected worse than Mniche than did Gino Smith. Yikes.

We've had Mnich on the show before. I like Mnich. He'll take on the anybody in the Jets. He's kind of like the way Frank Ayasol is for the Daily News or maybe he's ESPN now. No, Daily News, I think. Wherever he is for the Knicks and Nick's ownership is trying to keep him out of the building at this point. Maniche don't care. I mean, he took the flame through him.

If you just want to, if you want to read the calm where a player is eviscerated like you've never seen before, there were no survivors. It was like Greg Rosenthal and Justin Hunter. I think I'm skating free on this one. All right. Let's next segment. Dan's Dream. La Raville. La Raville.

Magnifico. Magnifico. What teams are telling us without even realizing it? You have to be, you have to have a keen eye for the ways of the world. You know, the football cognizanti, they like to think they know what's going on. But this is a segment that shows that we are not just a narrative-based podcast, West. We are peeling back the layers of the onion to let you know what's really happening with these teams. and by no means are you to go back in midway through the season

and listen to this show again. Just assume that what we're about to say is right, we have cracked the case with these teams before the season is even a twinkle in the eye of these teams because these moves that they've made in free agency, we're about to tell you what's going on with the teams. They don't even know it yet. Mark, you want to get us going?

No. Okay. West, would you like that? to get us going. I've got a couple. All right. Get us going. Drop a Laraville Magnifico on us. La Raville Magnifico. John Fox is already fired.

Why are you even playing out the season, Chicago Bears? You downgraded almost across the board in everything you tried to do. You got Marcus Wheaton and Kendall Wright coming in to replace Elshon Jeffrey. Mike Glennon's not as good as Jay Cutler. You might be, I don't know, is Dion Sims the answer at tight end? What's going on there? How is this going to go from a team that couldn't win more than a handful of games last year to one that's going to flirt with 500?

I don't see it. John Fox, pack your bags. One of the great shocks in the history of the show is that the coach of the team that Mike Lennon signed with will be fired according to Wes. Duke Shocker right there. Not saying you're wrong. Hey, I invite you to put your eggs in the Mike Glennon basket and see how that turns out for it. They think that they're trying to compete and you're saying they're not competing.

Yeah, the La Ravis. Heo Magnifico is you're probably even worse than you were last year. And I know you're trying to save jobs, but it ain't going to work. They think they've upgraded their roster. They think they've gotten a younger, better quarterback at this stage. They have overpaid for every other team's disappointments. And I don't see that as a way to get. Well, Mike Lennon wasn't a disappointment for the bucks.

How can you even say that? He started two years. Then they drafted James Winston to replace him. He absolutely was a disappointing. Teams don't go out of their way to try to pay a disappointment, in $8 to $9 million to not pay. They liked him. Or they don't trust this.

They wanted to pay him to be their backup. Quarterback at number three. I agree. I essentially agree that they've downgraded. Could Mike Lennon be better than Jay Cutler long term? Of course I think he could. He's played 18 games in his first two years. I think just deciding we know exactly what's going to happen from here on out.

It's a little early. Well, why don't we just get rid of the segment, Greg? I'm saying what are the odds that he's better than Cutler this year? Yeah, it's not super high. That's the quarterback position. You take out that 85 Super Bowl and Bears fans have had one of the roughest roads around and it's undersold. I don't think that the ownership group in Chicago cares about winning the way that some others do. I really do not.

And I agree with the West 100%. Fox, to some degree, is the victim of what I think the whole team is doing and it's not acting in a competitive manner. It's strange because I think Ryan Pace, the general manager and Fox, know that their jobs are on the line. So I think these are the moves done by a group that knows their jobs on the line. And this was the best. You have to be given sign off to spend money in certain ways. You have to have an owner that's in there. But they're spending money.

That's not an argument. I just think that you did not go out. I like Glenn into some more than some do. But I don't think that you went out and reached for the absolute sky with your quarterback solution. I will throw out another, La Raville. The Houston Texans are, they're in a spot. And they know it. I mean, they realize that they bang themselves with Brock Osweiler.

And they were willing to send him to the Browns just to get him out of the building. But now what they're doing is, and I don't think they've made any formal overtures about how much they want Tony Romo. I guess they can't because he's under contract with another team. But everyone knows what's going on here. They got Tom Savage currently in line to be the team starting quarterback. And this is a team that otherwise is really set up to make a run in the AFC. They have a chance, especially with J.J. Watt coming back to Davian Clowny, the way he played last year.

They have some really good defensive players in the mix there, obviously. But what are they doing? They are essentially praying for a Tony Romo safety net here to save their season. And having a safety net that is Tony Romo is like having a safety net with a hole in the center of it because Tony Romo is 37 years old he's thrown what four passes in almost two years there is no guarantee that he is a guy that can do anything for you uh in terms of carrying a team deep into the season or into the playoffs and yet i feel like those texans they're putting themselves in a position here where they're either going to be not even thought of is even

an also ran the season uh or they're going to be get robo and everyone's going to say oh this guy is with this team has the ability to take down the patriots in a big spot but putting all your eggs on the tony romo basket in the year 2017 there is not a bigger risk in the league right now i don't think the texans realize how much of a risk they're taking by this being their only route towards a super bowl so the basket is made out of tony romo and the eggs are in there And also, the Texans are the flying Walender brothers, and Tony Romo is the safety net with a hole in it. I like these mixed metaphors you got in.

Let's mix them up. Let's have some fun. They both work. Let's have some fun. I think they have put themselves in a corner where they have to get Romo. Everyone knows it. The cowboys know it, which is why they're holding on to him. I don't think that's going to work.

The Texans, and theoretically, the Broncos have done a nice job kind of calling their bluff. and I think the Texans are going to get a chance to give him money, and that's what's going to happen. I mean, they're sneakily the most desperate team in the league when this is what you've resorted to. And it is the trickle-down effect of... Well, you're saying is it risky if you get him, too, or just risky that you might not get him?

It's risky that your entire organization now is based around the hope that Tony Romo picks you or you're able to facilitate a move to get him into the building. That is tremendously risky. in the year 2017 to ask Romo to basically make your season relevant. What I like, though, because they're opening themselves up for a lot of critique if they don't get Romo, and depending on what else, shakes out of the position. But how often, whether it's in sports or politics, whatever, people make a mistake

and they just dig in, they don't acknowledge it. I love that they got out of this Osweiler contract. Any way they needed to do it, we'd be killing them all off season and deep into next year if they stuck around with Brock. and because you took it, you swung for the fences with Osweiler and it didn't work out, I don't think that you

stop taking chances at the most important position. I think you go get Romo. I'm not saying they shouldn't. I'm just saying... They aren't a fix, but your other option is that they do something

I guess the safe move would be to go get Jay Cutler, but it's safe and it's also a non-galvanizing mood and we know what Jay Cutler's ceiling is. The safe move would have been holding on to Osweiler. The what? The safe move would have been holding on to Osweiler.

Which I'm very glad that they did. I think they showed Moxie to get out of the situation they were in. It's funny during our podcast prep meeting, we wondered, how long will it take before Bill O'Brien does the 2017 version of both those kids can play? While we were recording the podcast, we get an email. James Palmer just had a hit on NFL Network saying Bill O'Brien is very comfortable with the notion of Tom Savage starting for this team. He has to say.

Tom Savage is real. You say that, but this is a team that constantly says that over and over. They're now waiting to find out if they gets, he can't say Tom Savage is not a starting quarterback and then you get nothing. Well, that's why I like the Romo thing because you do have Savage and we, you know, we can make fun of them.

We haven't seen him play yet. I think the Texans do like him. The Texans did make the playoffs with Brock Osweiler and, you know, in a little bit of Tom Savage. They made the playoffs with Brian Hoyer. So I think if the worst case scenario is Romo gets hurt and you have Savage, it's like, okay, we're just back to where we're the last.

two years where we were a playoff team just purgatory though i mean you're not really a real but it's better it's better than a lot of places that wish they were in purgatory and people are getting fired and the and the texans are lucky that at the end of the day it's a it's a complicated situation they're in but they're lucky when you whiff the way they whipped on brock osloi we talked about this when the signing happened this idea that if you're if you're wrong about this guy you're basically you're fired well you're fired and you screw your franchise for a few years because it leaves you in nothing and then what do you do you have to wait out this guy's contract they're able to get rid of his contract. And now you have this borderline Hall of Fame quarterback that might have

something left in the tank. And you might have a chance to wipe out Osweiler entirely. So they're lucky, but also it's still really risky. If it works out for them, the entire AFC South should not be happy with the Browns. They're lucky there was a team out there willing to make a bizarre trade for Brock Osweiler. Over under half, one half, Brock Osweiler starts for the Browns in 2017. Under. You're up The Vikings Great The Vikings have revealed

They have no clue What they're doing On the offensive line They never have And they're just desperate And they're just hoping That throwing money at a problem That they can't fix will work

And we'll see if it works They'll just pick two guys in Mike Remmers and Riley Reef that are on some of the, you know, these best free agent available list. Team, you know, guys, other teams don't want, plug them in at their tackles and just hope that they don't get fired after this year.

At this point, a year ago, we were actually lauding them for signing Andre Smith and Alex Boone because the Vikings were talking about, we got to get tougher. We don't have an offensive line. We got to get tougher. Mike, we were like, wow, Mike Zimmer is really on top of things here. Andre Smith, no longer on the team.

their offensive line was, I would say, the worst. In a bad league of offensive lines, I would say they are the worst. And so they looked at the market. They decided to be the team that didn't care and they just spent all the money they could on below average players. And maybe it'll help them.

Maybe it won't. I don't know what the other options are, but they're saying we can't coach offensive lines. We don't know what to do with them. We are desperate. Let's just pray. You got to pray just to make it today. Big hammer hit of 92.

Les? What are your thoughts about what the fellow scientist just said? I mean, it's a little, you took the gloves off there a little bit. I mean, I don't know why you hate my grammar so much. That's the reigning team of ATL, buddy. I'm just saying that's what their moves are telling you, is they're telling you we are coming from a source of desperation. We don't know what to do.

We're going to try this. I'm not even really blaming them. Because what's their alternatives? They also signed Jake Long last year. It's like they're just keeping trying. They clearly have shown, and I think there are some teams like this, that they can't coach offensive lines very well. Because I think with the talent that they've had in that building,

they probably should have been better over the last few years. So they're just hoping, and they're on their, like, what, fourth coordinator? In the last, you know, under third or fourth coordinator in three or four years, they're just hoping that these guys can solve it and save them. Otherwise, I think this is a group, especially Spielman, that could be in a little bit of trouble. I can't manufacture a defense for the Vikings after Greg just eviscerated them.

The analysis was pretty tight. Now, you, Mark, we're getting to you. But I just thought there was there some connected tissue to what Greg was just talking about to what you had a thought about another team in the NFL. Well, I mentioned the Bengals and Cardinals as teams that missed their Super Bowl window. And as they are built right now, the Denver Broncos are right there with them,

that they have decided that coaching will fix their offensive line issues. And it wasn't just past protection. Their running game disappeared last year. They have not fixed their tackle situation at all. They've decided Donald Stevenson might, after he was one of the worst right tackles in football last year, he might be one of those, as Vance Joseph said, basketball player type of guys with quick feet who can play left half. with the right coaching. That requires a huge leap of faith, and I don't think they got better.

Their run defense fell apart last year. You signed Damado Pico and a couple of guys. That's not an upgrade. I mean, I don't think their run defense really got much better either. How are the Broncos better in the toughest division in football? We've always praised Elway for really two things, which could not make you a better GM, possibly. A, aggressiveness when needed, and B, cost. or an ability to not be desperate. Like, for instance, last year with Brockhouse, whatever, here's a certain point, you let him move on.

But in this case, it was inactivity. You didn't go out and get these guys. Now, the only thing I'd say is that some of these deals that were handed out to pretty average tackles are insane, some of the money that's out there. But you're right, what are you going to do with the guys that were there last year? They suddenly going, it's not that they were young,

first year guys that are developing, in many cases, aging old veterans that underperformed. It is early, and that's the thing. don't know what there was no magic solution in these first four or five days because what is the alternative elway goes and signed matt collil for 30 million dollars guaranteed or riley for 30 i mean he he did dip in i mean he gave 11 million guaranteed to menelick watson was kind of an underrated you know move but it's at this point not underrated but overlooked like because at this point he's their left tackle i mean i think they would like to probably get other options or in draft

or spent four years trying to replace that that's what i'm saying all these guys that you Teams are trying to replace. I'm not saying I even find fault with Elway's approach. I'm just saying this is the state of your roster right now. And as much as I like Trevor Simeon, we're not talking about it above average quarterback situation here either. So are the Broncos West? The Broncos, if I had to predict the AFC West right now,

would be my fourth place team. Wow. And that, I mean, so the La Reveille Magnifico here is that the Broncos, without realizing, are revealing themselves as an also ran, who watched their window closed because they could not build that offensive. line. I think I would extend it beyond the offensive line to you are mediocre at best at quarterback and your run defense absolutely got shredded last year.

It's not fixed. All right, Mark. It is your turn. Coming up later, uh-oh, we got Mark Sessler's tax returns. Looks like Mr. Squeaky Clean has been hiding a little grease. Stay tuned. I cannot wait to find out what this nonsense is about. I do not have a negative.

Mr. Squeaky, clean. I mean, please. We'll get into it. But my... My law reveal is... Besides the tax return situation. Besides that. It's a positive one.

No team in sports understands the laws of attraction better than the New England Patriots. I will explain why. Please, too. All right. I just came up with that a few seconds again. We've cleared out the... next 30 minutes of the show.

Now, all we're being told now is that the Patriots are so happy with what they've done and they are going to make a run for the title next year, which is, you know, we know that already, that no way would they part ways with Jimmy G. Jimmy Garoppolo is staying put, but God forbid that Tom Brady, who's missed outside of suspension, games in one season alone his career were to go down. We'd be just fine with Jimmy G and everything would be there. Utter nonsense. They don't have a pick before number 76.

They have laid the deck. They've added all these veterans, despite Greg's protestation that they've actually done no more or less than any other team. They are loading the deck with veterans that can help. And they understand that Cleveland now out there thinking,

we're not just competing against other teams. We're competing against ourselves, if you're the Browns. Here's what we thought we were going to give up for Jimmy G. We're now competing against our form. philosophy of what it would take to get them. We're going to double down, offer way more than anyone ever thought we give up for a guy that started, what, two games, and we are going to completely lace the New England Patriots

with a bounty of high picks to go along with everything else they've done in free agency because the Patriots have played this perfectly. And when you can't have something you want, you do all you can to get it. And the Browns think they cannot have Jimmy G now because the patient Patriots have done such a good job of this that Cleveland's going to give up something they never a couple months ago something no one thought

they'd give up a couple months ago very quickly to get them what's the number one law of attraction we chase that which retreats from us the Browns can't have him so they want him they want him more and more all the time it's almost like that was Wes's that was good

see Mark doesn't want to hear that that's not what I mean I mean I've just no no I'm saying he was supporting very eloquently and really made a strong point. Then you say, oh, that was basically. I'm saying he was supporting. How about an internal monologue, please? Good one, Mark.

You're not going to like what comes up later in the show, though. How much later are we getting? I think we're at the doorstep of this segment. Do we want to do one more or two more? Should we move on? Should we get out of here? I'm fresh out. I am too.

I'll throw one out there real quick. And I was just, I was watching the old football life of Matt Millen. I was revisiting it. And they talk about what a disaster it was in Detroit. And he went from the Fox broadcast booth. He went from a great Hall of Fame level career. Is he in the Hall of Fame as a player? No.

Okay. But a great player and some great teams to the Fox booth, highly respected. And then jump straight into a general manager president type role with the Lions. And in this football life, Ron Wolf, of course, the famous Packers General, manager when asked what went wrong for Matt in Detroit and and Wolf said he underestimated the job the what was asked him it's one thing to know what you're doing in the booth and another thing to really handle the role of building an actual football team and I'm not saying that John Lynch is done and John Lynch it's going to be a disaster but

and Greg you wrote about this in your piece about the winners and losers of free agency that John Lynch, as a total neophyte in the world of negotiations of contracts, it seemed like he might have locked in on guys and just said, I'm going to get these guys no matter what. A lot of money spent. Maybe not all the signings were bad. And, Gray, you could help me out with breaking down who's on that team and who you thought got overpaid.

But the fact that Matt Millen is like the benchmark for the worst GM, anybody remembers. And John Lynch has followed the same path in terms of a zero experience guy. and now he's spending wildly in free agency. And I'd just be a little worried if it's revealing how truly inexperienced John Lynch is and also revealing maybe how desperate the Niners are to hit on something in this great hope with six-year contracts being handed out. We're going to finally get it right with this young hotshot GM. But it just all feels like a bit of a Hail Mary.

It seems a little bit scary because we don't know how this is going to go. That's the big reveal for me there. And I heard from 49ers fans. Were they angry with you about the piece? Yeah, and they were pointing, well, you know, they have other guys that are actually negotiating the contract. Like, that's not the point. They, it's that they're in such a hurry that these are the guys we have to get. I don't think there's a huge market out there necessarily for, you know, Malcolm Smith and Goodwin and some of these guys.

And most of the contracts aren't crazy. There's a couple, like, use check that they were wacky. It's more that most teams, I think the way you do business, you set a value for players. You don't just make a list of 10 players that we have to get. We have to sign them in the first two days. So, yeah, maybe he's not across the table negotiating every last thing, but he's telling his front office get them signed today. Like, got to get Logan Paulson signed on day one.

Can't wait for day two or three. And so it just seems like they're trying to solve their team's problems all in one. Maybe it works out, but most of these guys are just kind of like middle-tier players getting a lot of money. I've noticed something about 49ers fans. Jets fans have accepted their fate This year is going to be a wash Brown's fans have known for a while what they're dealing with

49ers fans are in denial more than any fan base in the league and this has been going on for at least 18 months now that your roster has been barren and you just have refused to admit it and now your GM appears to be a little in over his head and you refuse to admit that too is Kyle Shanahan completely not a part of this

I mean they've talked from the first minute that we're in lockstep, everything that the GM is doing, the coach is signing off on. He's a young guy too with not a lot of experience in his position. I get the sense this list of players to get is a lot of it's probably from Shanahan because some of them are.

Well, aren't they essentially trying to quickly give him a version of what he had last year? And the good thing about it is they're trying to quickly do anything. But that's what they are. But at the same time, if they go to sleep and do nothing, you're walking. Cleveland had the worst record

in the league last year, the Niners had the worst roster. And so they are quickly trying to, they're dumping a bunch of people they had. They have a double need for more people. And I think all I'd say is this. If next off season, when they have a full year together, that they attack free agency, if that's the word you want to use, over aggressively and overpay and do it the same way,

we got an issue. If there's a different, more patient approach when they have a bigger idea of what kind of team they are next year, then I'd pile on Lynch. I think, A, it's not just lunch. It's early, but it's also, I'm already on this Kyle Shanahan is just the most perfect person that we've ever seen on the earth. This guy's part of it. Is it on your radar?

It's big on my radar. It's on your radar. It doesn't have anything to do with the sour way as Brown's tenure ended, does it? I think he was fair to want to leave the Browns, to be honest. I mean, he probably, you know, but it's not just Cleveland that there have been issues with him. I think he's very talented, too. I mean, maybe he turns the whole thing around. gotta take some time

all right we're out of time that's bad news because Mark's tax returns that is that's a big story what's the payoff we're out of time Dan

Dan learning that I made about $208 in 2005 I can't believe you just beat Rachel Maddo we're out of time what do you want to I mean we can't sit here all day we got other jobs here

I would love I would love to dig through Mark's 2005 tax return, we're out of 10. Maybe Friday's show. Come on back. Don't even double down on this. This paid off so beautifully just because Wes is actually upset and I love it. I thought there was going to be a bit at the end. Oh, but Wes, the bit was the setup.

Don't you see now? I know you're going to say that. All right. I wish I had his tax returns. That'd be fun. I think they would be fun to look at it. mundane. I have never been on the IRS's radar. I mean, Wes was like a kid on Christmas morning. He gets downstairs and his parents tell him he's Jewish. This is crazy. Or, or real life with like

seven boys in the house, you get downstairs and you have to share one fire truck. You're going to have been a lot of toys. Got you a bag of rights. There's many boys, right? I don't want to this. I don't want to unpack those memories. Oh, no. But if you come back Friday, you'll hear all about West's childhood. That's right. Even the dark parts, including Christmas morning. Congratulations. I just unwrapped a new cinder block. Ouch, got real.

All right. We'll be back on Friday. Like we said, we tape a podcast Friday morning here in Los Angeles, and we'll get it out to you as soon as possible. So thank you to everyone for listening. And that's it. Let's go. Let's go home.

I always say let's go home, but we're not going home. We're going back to work. Whatever. This is Dan Hansa signing off for Quiet Storm, The Mailman, The Boss, and La Seed. New money behind the glass. Until Friday. This is an IHeart podcast.