Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - ESPN's Myron Medcalf thinks Aaron Rodgers is done in Green Bay

Episode Date: May 11, 2021

Matthew Coller and ESPN's Myron Medcalf start off by talking about Adam Thielen's bad take on Lambeau Field and then dive into the Aaron Rodgers situation in Green Bay. How much blame does Rodgers deserve? Are we as petty as Rodgers? Why didn't the team give him more of the things he wanted? Plus are there any similarities with the Vikings drafting Kellen Mond to the Packers picking Jordan Love? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Get Coors Light in the new look delivered straight to your door with Drizzly or Instacart, Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado, and as always, celebrate. Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider presented by Scout Logistics. Matthew Collar here and joining me, he's been away for a while covering college basketball, I guess, for ESPN. Myron Metcalf, what's going on, man? Excited to, you know, have an off season in the basketball world, but, you know, football never stops. So a lot of cool developments there. Yeah, just a couple in maybe the, say the land of green Bay. So we're only going to talk about Adam Thielen saying Lambeau field sucks. That's what, that's what we're going to talk about here for five straight

minutes. Not talk about Aaron Rogers at all. Look, here's the thing. I would defend Adam Thielen a lot of ways. I would say he's a very great receiver that he's great route runner. He's got good hands. I would even say he's more athletic than you think. Just kidding. But I would not defend that take. Sorry, man. Sorry, I can't.

Like Lambeau Field, are you attacking the stadium? You can attack the franchise if you want. You can make fun of Wisconsin. Can't attack Lambeau Field. Yeah, you just don't go there. You know? And the thing is, like, I mean, that stadium is going to turn on the Vikings

because of the rivalry but he's going to get some extra uh with that uh and I just like to me you can't believe that like Lambeau's one of those places where I don't care who you're a fan of I don't care what sport you love you want to go to a game there and you want to be a part of that just to say that you did it because it's just one of those magical places. Even if you hate the Packers, it's a unique place. And I have never, ever heard anyone opposing fans, Packers fans say it's a terrible place. I mean, it literally embodies football when you think about the fact that there's no like big owner I mean the people own it you go to games every driveway and parking lot is parking for the games you go to a breakfast in the morning and people have Green Bay Packers bibles and coats and there's just nothing like it so i don't know i don't know

i don't know that's one of those things where as you're thinking it you got to be like yeah this ain't worth it because it just it just wasn't and it was false i mean that's the other thing it was like it was completely false adam you know that yeah and uh there are worse opposing locker rooms if that's part of his beef there's certainly way worse field like playing surfaces. Just look at Chicago for both of those things that soldier field, even after, after they redid soldier field still has the worst turf. It still has the smallest opposing locker room that I've ever been in. So if those are complaints, I mean, also even when you just walk up to Lambeau field and I'm not trying on a Vikings podcast to give too much credit to the Packers, but we're talking about their stadium, a building like there is a mystique

about it. That is truly something to behold. Like I can't stand the New York Yankees, but I had to go to Yankee stadium. I am not a Boston Red Sox fan. I had to go to Fenway park. Like these are, it just, it falls into the annals of great stadiums. I'm sorry, Adam Thielen. That's just, that's just a no go on that take. So it's it's not the most important discussion to be had with the green Bay Packers though. I just want your reaction as someone who grew up in the sad state of Wisconsin, Myron what's going on with Aaron Rogers, man. Like is it just start with, do you think he plays another game for greenback?

Oh man, that's an incredible question. I'll say no. Um, and I'm basing that on what people who know a lot more than I do have said, I've heard more negativity, more, it's probably not going to work out than I've heard. No, no, he's coming back. This will blow over. You look at the different situations. Russell Wilson came out and said, you know what? I don't know if I want to be here.

I don't know if this is a place for me. And there were reports about what was going on with Pete Carroll and control. That died in about two weeks. It was there and then it was gone, right? The whole Russell Wilson thing. This isn't the first time we've had a disgruntled quarterback. But this isn't like this just happened within the last couple of weeks. This has been building.

And I actually think it's been building since Mike McCarthy. The credit that Aaron Rodgers got for how he carried that team under Mike McCarthy wasn't sufficient in my opinion because I think he won in spite of Mike McCarthy and when you're doing that and you have a Super Bowl and you're seeing Drew Brees and Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and these other quarterbacks continue to play at a high level as they age you expect the same sort of treatment and I think that's where it starts with Aaron Rodgers he's saying I'm the best thing you got going I'm your best chance to get to a Super Bowl how dare you go out and draft a Jordan Love and not give me more weapons and I think he is at a point where he's not going to budge.

And I think what he wants, it's not just the extension being the highest paid quarterback, all that stuff. The level of respect and admiration I think that he wants. I don't think the new regime is going to give that to him. Like 30 years we're talking of the Green Bay packers being led by a hall of fame quarterback now i'm old enough to remember watching don magic mckowski throw four interceptions in a game when i'm watching that old country buffet with my dad after church one day and i'm like that's our quarterback dad like you kidding me we're done as a franchise. Sterling Sharp needs help, you know? He's not, he deserves better.

Like, that was the frustration of being a kid and a Packers fan. Then Brett Favre arrives, and you get this run of almost 30 years where you've never had to think about quarterback. This is also a very spoiled franchise that hasn't had to deal with the things other teams have had to deal with. So they've gotten very comfortable. The flip side is Aaron Rodgers has sort of made himself the king of that. Brett Favre was trying to be one with the people. I mean, I don't know who Brett Favre is today, but the guy who played quarterback for the Packers was the kind of guy where people said,

I'd love to go have a beer with that guy. Aaron Rodgers has never been that. Aaron Rodgers has been the underdog who overachieved, and now you all should recognize my greatness, because guess what? It might not last forever. You combine all of those things, it's just hard for me to see how Aaron Rodgers sits at a table with the Packers and their administration and everybody leaves saying we're in a good place. This feels like a divorce that's been in the making for a while. Usually Courtney Cronin is in charge of pie charts here, but I think I need you to fill one out. Pie chart of blame here though, because I'll give you the, the things to fill it in.

You you've got their general manager and his overall Brian Gutekunst his overall arrogance to draft a corner this year when there were great wide receivers on the board, Rondell Moore is on the board. You could just give them right to Aaron Rogers and be like, no, we're going to stick with our board and pick this overdrafted corner. It's very bizarre. And, and, you know, even to do it last year and be like, no, we're going to pick a running back in the second. So Brian Gutekunst and his overall arrogance is one Aaron Rogers, pettiness and the, I'll just give you three,

just this is how it goes. Like what percentage is just when a quarterback gets old with a team, when he's been great, it usually doesn't end super nicely with John Elway raising the trophy and walking off the field. Yeah. Oh man. Pie charts are great.

I think Brian good. Coons is a 50% of that pie. Here's the deal. There are GMs who want to win and understand that their legacies will be defined by how often they do that by whether or not they do that at the highest levels there are GMs who believe that they've got to build something from scratch even if there's established culture they want their legacy to be I, right? And a lot of those guys lose in the end because they can't get outside themselves

and realize that, you know what? If you're not extending the success of this organization, that's gonna be what defines you more than anything. You came into a situation where Aaron Rodgers is going into his late 30s and he's playing some of his best football. That's not an easy thing to find. You've got an MVP quarterback right there. You've got a chance to get to the Super Bowl, back-to-back opportunities you've had with this quarterback in his late 30s. He's asking for weapons. All you have to do is offer those weapons to him. Where

did Tom Brady go? To a place that had a bunch of weapons. What is Russell Wilson asking for? More weapons? Every single quarterback in the NFL has the same wishlist every single offseason. Can you give me more weapons? So to me, if you're Brian Gutekunst and you look at that wish list and you go, you know what? I'm going to build things my way. To me, you've already lost because you've decided that you want to be known as the guy who built this. What the hell are you building? These are the Packers.

Okay, this is a team that has one of the richest legacies in all of sports. You have a quarterback who's won a Super Bowl. And here's my thing on the Super Bowls, right? Let's go to the last 20 years. Tom Brady's been involved in 10 of those Super Bowls. He's won seven, he's lost three. So Tom Brady, there's Tom Brady Mountain. You've had to conquer him in some way to get through half the Super Bowls. There've been two really good Steelers teams that won them. The defensive forces that won those Super Bowls. You could put the Ravens in that category that won the two, the Potempa Bay Buccaneers, the Denver Broncos or Peyton Manning

when he wasn't that good the year after the MVP year. I'll put them in that category as well. So now you're talking about 15 of the 20 Super Bowls are accounted for. That leaves four or five real Super Bowls to me in those 20 years kind of up for grabs right russell wilson got one patrick mahomes got one peyton manning in indianapolis got one drew brees got one and aaron rogers got one with the green bay packers if you look at the

super bowl in the last 20 years that way then you understand that it's very, very difficult to identify, to nurture, to find a quarterback who can put you in that conversation consistently. And Aaron Rodgers has done that. So I blame Brian Gutkus for half this because part of it is it's his ego to me. And he didn't have to, it didn't have to be this way. Quarter of it to me is Aaron Rodgers and his pettiness. At some point, I understand the fans who say, what else does he want? You've been near the mountaintop a couple of times. Tampa Bay was right there. And at the end of the day, you all just didn't perform. And you were an important part of that. You had nothing against the 49ers last year, but you were right there.

At some point, you got to go, what do you need uh to really put you in this position where you think you're going to conquer everybody in the nfl this this young nfl with all these quarterbacks who are coming up and getting better and better is it fair to ask for everything you know uh what more can you offer aaron rogers that legitimately makes them the team to be in the NFL I don't think it's that simple so there's half a quarter of it for him and then I think another quarter is like breakups are never easy and divorces are never easy and especially when it involves star players Peyton Manning got cut I mean Joe Montana got traded. These things get nasty. They get ugly. And I think there's a part of it.

But it does feel to me that this was preventable. And I think that's the most frustrating part. It didn't have to be this way. And that's why the Packers are going to be kicking themselves if this all goes south. Folks, the football offseason is off and rolling. And SodaStick has you covered with Minnesota sports-themed gear. Some of my favorite football designs that you have to check out include the Chuck Foreman Spin Doctor gear.

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Check out Birdie Golf at 494 in Valley Creek in Woodbury, just a short drive from anywhere in the Twin Cities metro and at birdiegolf.com or you could call 651-998-2200 today. I'll see you there. Well, one thing that Brian Gutekunst doesn't seem to realize is that they've gone 13-3 the last two years the minnesota vikings have gone 13-3 twice in my lifetime i think so um when you think about it from that perspective it's like buddy the reason you went 13-3 the last two years is aaron

rogers the reason that you're consistently as a franchise right there in position to have playoff tragedies that have cost you chances to win the Superbowl as Aaron Rodgers is because of Aaron Rodgers. Anybody else in that offense probably does pretty well last year. Do they win the MVP? Do they need to? No, they don't because this guy is your one shot. And the other thing too, is when you look at Tom Brady playing into his forties, I mean, this isn't like, oh, Aaron Rogers, you know, this is it for him. This is his last year and he's about to fall off the way that he played. You can keep up this level of performance if you're the Packers and thinking that it's

you as the general manager or you as the coach. I mean, this is where I kind of can't wait for the Los Angeles Rams to go 8-9 this year, thinking, ah, it's Jared Goff's fault, not me, Sean McVay, or not the roster that started to really slip in terms of their weapons and offensive line. And no, no, no, no, I'm still a genius. I'm still a genius. I'm still a brilliant team builder, Brian Gutekunst. It can't be that this quarterback is the reason we've been so successful, but I would challenge anybody to find teams that went back to back 13 and three without a hall of fame quarterback. You will not find it. It does not happen. Um, so, and, and the Vikings are proof of that. They go 13 and three, and then the next year they're eight, seven, and one, because that's football for you. Unless you have Aaron Rogers, the fact that like Kansas city even did what they

did last year, it almost never happens to even get back there. And they're looking at my homes and going, gosh, man, couldn't even get the Super Bowl win. It's just, it's amazing the difference when you have that person from when you don't. So even if Jordan Love is as good as Kirk Cousins or as good as whoever,

I mean, think about even what that standard is. Even Russell Wilson could not drag his team back to another Superbowl and how difficult that is even these other elite quarterbacks. And so I guess I just look at it as like, yes, they're right that they have to stack up a roster because if you're Seattle, Wilson can only drag you so far, but to ignore what this guy wants and say, no, no, no, I'm in charge here and you're the employee and I'm the employer. It just like defies any sort of logic. And that's why I think it's more of like 75%, um, Brian Gutekunst because the asks were not that hard. I mean, draft a wide receiver. Is that tough? Um, so that that's kind of how I lean,

but I wanted to ask you like like, how how petty are you? Like Aaron Rodgers is the all time standard for petty and for like hold a grudge. Where are you on that? If there was like a petty meter, are you like in the red, orange, yellow? As a younger man, I was known to hold grudges like my siblings would tell you that I was the kind of guy who, if you did something in like 1991, I was still reminding you about it in 95. Like it hadn't left me yet, you know? So I certainly as a younger person was far more petty. I mean, nowadays, trying not to hold things against people, but I will say things have happened to me in my career that I've never forgotten.

You know, I've had situations in my career in the sports world where things happen and you know what? I moved on, but I never forgot certain situations or certain conversations. So I definitely have some of that career pettiness I think a little bit um but but I also think if you know you're good at something if you know you're capable and all you're asking is for someone to back you on that and they say I don't know there's nothing more deflating than than like going to someone and just wanting them to have your back and then they don't i think aaron rogers feels that you know i think more than anything he's going to the package and saying trust me on this trust me that if we

get a couple new young targets uh has anyone seen the kid justin jefferson just west of here and what he was able to do in year one? Can I have one of those? Can you give me a couple of targets just to open up this offense so they can't put four guys following Devontae Adams? Like. To me, he was saying, do you all have my back? And I think the Packers are saying, no, we don't. So I can relate to that. In those situations, I'm super petty. Like if we're close and we're cool and I'm like, hey, I just need you to have my back, and you're like, yeah, I don't know,

it'll be hard for me to ever repair that in the future. I'll be cordial. I'll be cool. But we'll never be as close as maybe we would have been after something like that happens. I am close to Aaron Rodgers level petty. I mean, just like I am, I am there, there are things. And luckily my wife finds it entertaining because there are things that people said to me 20 years ago that I will still bring up and just be like, Oh man, well, I was told I'll give you an example. When I was an intern in sports radio, I was like writing

columns for the website and a guy who was a regular guest on the show, who was like a TV, whatever, one of those people, he, he was like, seems like you're trying to impress yourself too much with the writing. So then every single time I got like a job or whatever, and pass this guy in my career, be like, well, I guess I just impressed myself again. You hate to see it. Damn, that's too bad. So that's me. That's how I am.

So in a way, I probably don't ding Rodgers enough for it because I'm exactly like him. And I would probably act the same way. I'd be like, oh, Justin Jefferson looks pretty good. If only you had a quarterback. Oh, I guess your scouting department. Well, a bunch of geniuses you got there. You drafted a guy who couldn't be my backup Tim Boyle is my backup and Justin Jefferson is breaking Moss records oh really that's part of it but to hear that's a

that's a big thing that people aren't including in this conversation right let's not pretend that like franchises don't move on all the time. They do. It happens all the time, but there's a difference between Joe Montana and Steve Young sitting right there, or the Colts got this great guy and Andrew Luck that everybody has agreed is going to be a great quarterback. And he was when he was healthy from Aaron Rogers to Jordan Love, like Jordan Love statistically in his last year

was not the best quarterback in the Mountain West. Okay. You can say what you want. He lost a bunch of talent, all of that stuff. I get it. He was better his sophomore year. I get it. But he was not this dominant force in the Mountain West.

That's a problem because now you've got to prove yourself as an NFL quarterback who didn't face the same level of competition. And a few guys have done that. I get it. But at you at least got to come in and you got to be sitting right there and you got to be having reports out there saying you all got to see Jordan Love in practice. Let me tell you guys, because we heard those buzz that buzz with Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre. Those things were happening from year one with Aaron Rodgers. And that's why they moved to kind of say, it's time, Brett. You haven't heard any of that buzz with Jordan Love. It wasn't that he just wasn't the backup. There has been no one credible who a year into this experiment who said, just wait. So wait a minute. I look at Philly and Jalen Hurts. There's enough confidence in him that the Eagles say,

get out of here, Carson Wentz. We're moving on from you. Okay. I can look at all these other quarterbacks, young guys around the league, and they're getting reps, but no one's even telling me that Jordan love looks great in practice. It's so much harder. If you're Aaron Rogers to look at this and go, listen, man, y'all can replace me, but you can't replace me with him. Right. I mean, you got to move on. I get it. You got to do what you got to do, but that can't be the guy who comes behind me.

Brett Favre was so furious because he knew Aaron Rodgers was going to be great. That's what affected him. Joe Montana was mad going to Kansas City. He knew Steve Young was going to be great. Peyton Manning, after the surgeries and the injuries, he knew the Colts. He didn't like it. But he could see what Andrew Luck was going to become. What's next, Green Bay?

How do you get rid of an MVP? And you have a guy who's not even ready to be a backup. You've got problems. This is like when the Houston Oilers traded Warren Moon to the Vikings and their answer was Cody Carlson. I was just like, is that going to work? Is that going to work, Houston Oilers? Your franchise is going to move maybe.

But no, I really do think that that's a factor. He must see him in practice. Just be like, come on guys. You need me. I know you need me. And the fact that they've tried to walk everything back and they've tried to be like, Oh no, it's fine. Yes. We're in good spirits with air like, yeah. Okay. Because you'd show them the door and you would trade him if you were confident in your guy. So clearly they're not. And that to me also, I totally agree. If that's a part that Aaron Rogers is mad about,

it's like, it wasn't that you even drafted someone good. It's not like you drafted number one, you drafted a guy that most people had as kind of a second round talent, just like a lot of, a lot of issues mechanically. And Oh, he's got this great athleticism. Well, okay. A lot of people do now. I mean, you've got to be accurate and smart and all these things. So I don't know. Yeah. It all plays into it. I kind of think that if you were going to draft his replacement, like if Atlanta had drafted adjusted fields, if you were Matt Ryan, you'd have to go like,

okay, man, you don't get the fourth overall pick very often. And guess who earned the fourth overall pick? This guy was playing, you know, I was playing quarterback. We got the fourth overall pick. I walked myself into it. When you trade up in the twenties to draft, I mean, it's all, it's all,

if you wanted to break up with someone, I mean, what would you do? You'd leave your phone out and unlocked. Well, you've got texts with another girl, right? Like, I mean, you just come home, you spray yourself intentionally with woman's perfume and come home. Even if you weren't with someone else, you're like, yeah, I mean, who knows, right? What is this?

This is like George Costanza trying to get the Yankees to fire him with them trying to get Aaron Rogers out. It's it's true. And that's what makes it so compelling. But let me ask you this a little change of direction though. So Kirk cousins has obviously said nothing about Kellen Mond being drafted. The only thing he did was when he tweeted out, welcome to the new draft picks. he kind of like buried kellen mond in between some of the other ones and it's sort of like wyatt davis first and patrick jones second we need pass rush and you know that kind of thing um how do you think he feels about this i think he hates it and you know like i think we're going into the next couple of months when we think that the Aaron Rodgers thing will be the most compelling thing in the division.

And it will be, you know, especially if they make a move. But number two is going to be this Calum on situation. Like people seem to think that he's the kind of guy who is going to develop into a good quarterback, a guy that you can throw out there and see what he has, what you couldn't do with Jordan Love, apparently. I think it has to bother Kirk Cousins because he hasn't done anything to not make this a competition. And I think if you're the Vikings and you've got a GM and a head coach trying to hold onto their jobs, this is not going to be a 17-game experiment with Kirk Cousins.

This is going to be where we're at at game six. And if Kellen Mond is developing in practice, and if his teammates have his back, and if there's a push with this organization to say, listen, we're two and four, we need a spark. It's going to happen. So I think Kellen Mond is in arguably the most favorable position among these young quarterbacks.

He ain't Zach Wilson and the spotlight in New York. He's not Trey Lance. And, you know, everybody's saying, oh, San Francisco can go back to the Super Bowl. I mean, he doesn't have any of that. He's just a guy who kind of has to be ready, I think, by week seven or eight to potentially fill in, replace Kirk Cousins if he's not getting the job done. So I think Kirk Cousins has to be furious knowing that Kellerman is, is not there to be a two, three year development project that, oh yeah,

he's going to be ready to go, you know, this season. Hey everyone. I want to tell you about our friends. It's Scout Logistics, and I really do mean it when I say friends. They are fans of Purple Insider over at Scout Logistics, and since they reached out wanting to support this show, I want to tell you about what they do. Scout Logistics is just-in-time transportation for full tractor-trailer loads, and if you're wondering what that means exactly, well, if you own or work for a company that needs shipping solutions, they are the preferred carrier of fortune 500 companies across North America. And we have quite a few of those in Minnesota, right? They can ship perishable

non-perishable FTL or LTL, and they have on-time delivery rate of over 99%. So if you're like them and you enjoy the show and you have shipping needs, check out scoutlogistics.com or call 855-217-2688 extension 232 to connect with them directly to find out how Scout Logistics can minimize risk and overperform and go the extra mile for your company. Kirk Cousins is also a guy that has a different way of evaluating himself than other people do. I think like when we ask him about games that they lose, he'll say, well, I, you know, when I look back at the tape, I'll evaluate myself and how I played. Like, this is the most oppo of any quarterback I've ever heard in post games where it's usually like,

if you lose, I did everything wrong and it's all my fault. And you know, the goal is to win everything else where cousins just has this different tact about him, especially. And I know this annoyed some people like with the Vikings that they'd lose a one point game on a final field goal. And he would sort would sort of you know be smiling and shaking hands with ryan tannahill or something and everyone kind of be like hey kirk are you upset or just happy with the way you played you know and and i don't know if that's like a natural just demeanor thing from him or it's sort of a lack of awareness which i think is one of his qualities but i i wonder when it comes to this if he looks at it and just can't like, can't process why they

would be thinking about another quarterback where the owners of this team are saying, look, we've paid a lot of money and there's, there's one position that determines winning more than all the others. Tennessee had a horrible defense last year. They were in the playoffs because their quarterback played pretty well. Right. And then, you know, they've got a running game too, but ultimately they had one of the most efficient passing games and that's what's going to drive your success. So I, I wonder if yet, if infuriated would be it. I don't think that he's going to be so motivated though,

by it that all of a sudden he plays different. I don't think that that's a thing that exists. I just don't think that's a thing that exists like in sports that like oh you drafted my replacement well now i'm gonna go michael jordan on your ass like i don't think that's possible well and it's not necessary for a quarterback with his market value let's say the vikings decide they're gonna move on from kirk cousins is this career over absolutely not no. No, no, definitely not. Because there will be three or four teams who will be saying, oh, oh yeah, add him. You know, like Kirk Cousins is going to keep getting paid one way or the other. Everyone thought that Kirk,

Carson Wentz legitimately tried to play his way out of a starting quarterback opportunity in the NFL. He was as bad as you can be among all the starting quarterbacks. I think he had the lowest QBR on top of it. Guys in the locker room are starting to back off of him and go, I don't know, man, his energy. Isn't really helping the team, you know, apparently not even talking to his head coach and all the drama there. Carson Wentz literally checked every single possible box that you could in

terms of, yeah, I don't know if you want to trade for that guy and make him your starter. And you know what the Colts did? They traded for that guy and they made him their starter. So I think if you're Kirk Cousins, I think you may be frustrated with what Kellen Mond represents, but you also know if it doesn't work out in Minnesota, Kirk Cousins will get another opportunity to be a starter in this NFL.

Not only that, the check is cashed. The money is guaranteed. It became guaranteed on the third day of the league year. So he's already paid. He doesn't have to worry about even how he plays in order to still get his checks. And really actually his 2017 season is also evidence that he'll still get paid. He was bad that year. They had a bad team. He didn't play very well. I think PFF had him something like 18th in the league and he got paid the number one contract that just tells you about the value of that position and how teams are willing to talk themselves into it. The one area I would say, and I don't feel bad for Kirk with anything. He's got a pretty charmed life and he's doing okay. But from a sports perspective,

I feel bad for Kirk in this way. He is always going to be a reflection of whatever else you have around him. Always. That's who he is. And Aaron Rogers is not that Aaron Rogers, whatever you have around him, multiply it by five by five what if it's if it's a team that's bad you're in the playoffs anyway because he's that good the same thing goes for Patrick Mahomes and and Russell Wilson too like the Seahawks with Kirk Cousins last year like eight and eight with him they're 12 and four so there's a big difference but um they haven't built over the last few years some rosters that were deserving of going 13 and three again, either. I mean, they lost key pieces in 2018. Things went wrong. They didn't factor for

them. They've overpaid certain people. They have not built depth in certain places. They haven't drafted well in pretty much any of the last, you know, four or five drafts outside of getting obviously Justin Jefferson. But I mean, it's, it's kind of like, this is, this is what you signed up for. And it was actually on you to make sure that he was, you know, surrounded with a team that could be a 13 and three team. And he wasn't. So it was a tough needle to thread, but he hasn't been any different than Kirk cousins ever was. He's been exactly what you signed up for. And now you're like, oh, actually, we don't like you anymore. It's your fault.

It's like, well, he was Kirk and you signed Kirk. So. Well, and you got the consistency of Kirk. You have this one pro is that, you know, with Kirk, you have the ability to win eight or nine games every year. If you're good and there's a lot around him, that number can go up to 11, 12. But the floor for him also can be, you know, seven games,

depending on how he plays. So I think it's a situation where the expectation of what happened after the Case Keenum year and what the Vikings thought they were going to be and what Kirk Cousins was supposed to represent, to go from that to this, it's just hard to shake that, you know? And I blame the Vikings for touting Kirk Cousins as the missing piece, right?

And that set expectations that this was a team that just needed an upgrade at quarterback and everything was going to change. And then all of a sudden you're going to be in the Super Bowl. So it's, I don't know if he's faced completely fair expectations, but I also don't think he's played to his potential consistently.

So there's just disappointment, I think, all around with everyone involved when it comes to the Kirk Cousins era thus far. And that's why I think it's not going to be the situation where let's ride it out. If you're Mike Zimmer, let's give him a chance. You've given him a lot of chances. I think if Kellerman is showing a lot of improvement, you make the move and you say, let's see what happens with this young guy. Let's see what he can develop into. Let's see if on a favorable rookie deal,

we go in that direction and try to build around him and see if we can get the playoff team again. Because I just don't think you can give Kirk Cousins 17 more games to prove something you know whether it's the fit the franchise whatever it is maybe it's just not working or not going to work maybe this is like a Flacco to Lamar Jackson thing maybe they put non at wide receiver to start no I'm just kidding I don't think he's the type of runner of Lamar Jackson but that would be funny if they were like remember when Joe Flacco had Lamar Jackson wide open in the end zone, didn't throw it to him. He was just like, no,

I ain't throwing passes to that guy. He's going to replace me. So yeah, I think it is really funny that the team with the most stability going forward at the quarterback position in the division is the Chicago bears. Now that you can guarantee who their quarterback is going to be for the next few years. You cannot in Minnesota, green Bay or Detroit. How about that? Myron always super fun to get together with you, man. I hope we can do it on the semi-regular throughout the off season. We'll have a good time. And yeah, we'll, we'll see how all this plays out, man. Like I just keep like, I open up Twitter every day to be like, did they trade Rogers? Like this is going to happen. You know?

Right. So we'll see, man. Well, I appreciate your time. Great to get together with you, dude. Thanks as always, man.