Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Jeremiah Sirles gives his chance of a McCarthy turnaround

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

Former Viking Jeremiah Sirles joins the show to discuss the turbulent 2025 season and the percent chance he thinks J.J. McCarthy can turn things around. Plus, Maggie Robinson joins for our weekly Robinson Roundup, reacting to the latest news across the league. The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider, presented by Fandul, and it is once again time for Tuesday morning, Lefgar with Jeremiah Searles, who is literally sitting by the ocean. It is bull season in the college world, and if you're watching on the video side, it looks just like it does in Minnesota, I think, with the ocean right next to you. Uh, Jeremiah, I appreciate your time, uh, even though you are amid your work as an NFL agent to still have some offseason Minnesota Vikings talk. Why don't we just begin with the most obvious thing that Kirk Cousins is going to be the quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings in 2026. How let me let me ask you this question. That's, that's only half quarter 10% joking at this point. But, but, but let me ask you this question. How optimistic are you? Give me like a one to 10 that the Vikings quarterback situation when we start week one next year that we'll be saying

on Tuesday morning left guard, I feel pretty good about this. Like, where's your one to 10? Ooh, at this exact moment, like a two, I think like at this exact moment, like a two, now let's get, let's table that discussion and say, okay, two now and then let's see at the end of March where we feel, right? Like after March, let's say, okay, they did something in free agency. And then let's do it after the draft, too. Like, okay, maybe they did something in the draft. So I think that scale has room to rise. But I think two is probably the floor.

Two is probably the floor. And that's about where I'm at with it right now. Yeah, I don't blame you for having a two on that because when we look at all of the potential options and the performance by J.J. McCarthy and the way that the season ended, even guessing that he would be healthy enough to start week one, the way that things have gone for him health-wise is a leap right there. expecting him to make a ginormous jump from where he finished the season to be ready to give you confidence in year two. I was just doing a little comparison because E.J. Manuel in his

first year started 10 games. And so did J.J. McCarthy. And I can text you the side by side, but it looks almost exactly the same in terms of touchdown interception ratio, quarterback rating, yards per attempt, time sacked, yards scrambling and things like that. and teams have not been super patient that didn't draft in the top three with quarterbacks who have performed this way. Is there a particular option for you on the quarterback scale where you could have that moved? Because like you're saying like it's a two right now, but I don't know what they're going

to do. Is there something that could happen and don't say burrow? It's just not right. It's like teasing fans with Joe Burrow. If it's not that level of, hey, you landed an elite quarterback for three, first round picks or something, is there one that could immediately move your needle significantly? Significantly, Daniel Jones, maybe, right? But even then comes with its own bag of worms of coming off the Achilles and we saw how long it's her Kirk to come off the Achilles. Will he be ready for

week one? So I don't know if significantly is the right word that I would say, but that would move it up. I mean, I'm not saying all of a sudden it's like an eight, but I think that would move it up. honestly, Kirk Cousins moves it up. Kirk Cousins, as much as we had our issues with Kirk and had our disagreements with how Kirk was paid, I think you look at the room that is right now and go, yeah, Kirk's an immediate upgrade to both of those players in that room today. Now, for the future, I mean, you know what your ceiling is with Kirk.

He's not a Super Bowl quarterback. He's not going to leave you all the way to the show, but he's going to be better than what the options are right now. All right, let's just go all the way down the Kirk Cousins path. But let's just say that Kirk comes back. Is he in a competition? I don't even if I can do this, Matthew. I just,

I honestly don't know if I can free myself to have this discussion. I saw, I saw. So they re-they redid something with his contract to make this even more possible, by the way, today. So this, this is not a ridiculous concept, especially since Kirk in that quarterback documentary,

said at one point, like, why did I even leave Minnesota? Like, they had an offer on the table. He could have been the bridge quarterback instead of Sam Darnold. And then who knows how our lives are different had that happened. But I think he left Minnesota with no real ill will against the Vikings for wanting to go in the direction that they went. And over the end of the season, he do have to admit, Kirk played pretty well down the stretch and won some games with that team. how would we feel if that happened? Like what would it mean if that happened?

Here's the thing with Kirk. You bring Kirk in, it's not to compete. Kirk's not going to sign somewhere where it's a legitimate open competition. He's at the point of his career where he's, I'm not doing this anymore. Like I'm not doing the fight for my life, sing for my supper.

I am what I am. You like me or you don't. You sign me to be the starting quarterback or you don't. I'll go find someone that will because if Philip Rivers can get his old ass off the couch and go start multiple games, I sure as heck can start in this league. And I think that's a fair request and a fair response from Kirk and his camp.

So if that's the route that we go and we say, okay, JJ, you need a full another redshirt year, right? You're taking the medical 60 year, you're taking the COVID year, chill out. That's when you go get Kirk. Like you go get Kirk and you fully set that expectation. Kirk is our starting quarterback. I know he can run my offense. We've got to keep number 18 happy. Like all these things are all predicated off of win right now.

Figure the future out later. And that's where we would come. We would come to if I'm Quasi and I'm KOC and I go to sign Kirk, obviously you're going to say it's to win a Super Bowl. But in reality, that is the truth. You have to know that you're not going to have Kirk for an extended period of time. It's going to be a one or maybe two-year quarterback rental. But if you sign him, it is all in, figure out the cap later,

kick everything down the road as much as possible and go all in on this roster to say we have one year to keep lightning in a bottle and go win a Super Bowl and then you have to go do it. There's a few things that get in the way of this being a good idea. Number one is that well Kirk did play well. His performance

down the stretch still wasn't the Kirk that we saw here. Then I think what in 2021 throws for 33 touchdown seven picks. 2022 has all the comeback wins and 2023 is looking at really sharp before he gets injured, beats the San Francisco 49ers, plays great against the Packers, and the numbers for him have not been the same since he got injured, which does make

it tough to project that you could be any type of legitimate contender. Now, if you have Flores back, which we'll get to, and you draft, I don't know, Jeremiah Love, and you're talking about a run game and offensive line, I think both you and I are very optimistic about, and then you're saying all Kirk has to do is his job. The problem is that there's a job doer in Detroit who is better than what Kirk is right now. There is a quarterback who's volatile, but very, very good in both Chicago and a Green Bay. So you'd be going into the NFC North battle at a deficit at the quarterback position. What you'd be hoping is that just he could keep the train on the tracks and operate an average offense.

And to me, that's fine. but, and it would be more entertaining than what we had this season, but that's not at all the type of thing that they talked about since they got here. This regime has talked about trying to build for a Super Bowl, and even as bad as they missed on the Darnold versus J.J. McCarthy thing, the aim was in the right place, and I think we would agree with that, that if they had found someone who played like Brock Purdy, this team would be very scary to anyone going up against them.

had they gotten, you know, top 12-ish type of quarterback play this year. It would not feel like a serious attempt at that. It would feel like going back in time to the other times that they extended Kirk just to make sure that they had enough quarterback play to give them a chance to make the playoffs and save jobs. Yeah, but the biggest issue there is you've hamstrung yourself with the cap, right? You planned, like you said, and I agree with the plan and the direction of, hey, we're going to move on from Kirk. We're finally going to end this carousel that we spin ourselves round and round on with Kirk Cousins. We're going to draft the quarterback in the first round.

We're going to get them on the rookie scale contract. We're going to get the cash heavy roster and support around him. Like everything we talked about, we agreed upon. We said, yes, that is the way to go. That's the way to do it. The problem is every great plan and just like every great game plan, I'll do coach speak here. Everyone's got a good game plan to get punched in the mouth. Well, J.G. McCarthy, you punched the Vikings in the mouth.

Right, like you ruined their whole game plan on how they wanted to. build how they wanted to structure how they wanted to go now what you don't have the you don't have the money to just go okay eject button let's go sign a 60 million dollar year quarterback like yeah you could find a way to figure it out but i'm already looking at things that are saying like hey kelly and hardgrave cap casualties next year and you're like man like you're talking about cap casualties while also trying to go sign a quarterback that you think can take you to the super bowl those two things don't exist together they just don't coincide so if you're going to look at it and go we're moving on from JJ, I don't physically know unless you start axing people at the knees

how that's even going to work from a roster perspective and a cat perspective. And I don't, I feel for Rob Rzinski, man, that dude's going to have some sleepless nights moving forward. And whoever does the accounting for the Wilf's when they send them to bill at the end of the day. It's tax season. You need losses, right? You got to tell you those losses. That's true.

I think your point, though, about if you sign Kirk, he's the source. starter. And even if they had a competition, it would be like a Daniel Jones versus Anthony Richardson sham competition because, and here's what's going to happen at training camp. I've watched, I don't know, four or five Kirk Cousin's training camps. The ball's not going to hit the ground very much. He's going to get up to the line of scrimmage, call out every single check and change and look and everything else. And he's going to throw the ball on time. And it's going to look way better than it does for a young quarterback who's still trying to figure it out. I think in the perfect world if you're not getting someone who could move the needle as a quarterback,

which to me, Kyler Murray is the only one with the upside. And I know that everyone makes the same face and the same, you know, maybe vomiting that you're doing. But, but you have to admit, though, a 28-year-old quarterback with elite rushing ability, number one overall pick, can throw the ball downfield stuff. At least, great kill-to-death ratio on Call of Duty, too. At least, at least, he is a top-notch chess player. At least what Kyler has, though, is a universe. We said this about Sam Darnold. You made a puke face for Sam Darnold.

And what did I come back with? At least there's a universe where there's a chance the guy just clicks in is great for that one season. And that's what happened. So it's not an insane idea. Kirk, to me, lands in the spot where you have enough to beat out JJ, but not enough to really get you anywhere if he does. And that, to me, doesn't work. It just doesn't fit. So if you're just trying to survive and be in the conversation, I don't know if you can really get behind it for me.

But then when you go through when you mention like Daniel Jones, how different is that, though? If it's Daniel Jones, like how much better is Daniel Jones going to be than Kirk Cousins? I want them to have a guy who is legitimate cup. If it's not someone who's a serious starter and then they're just done and if that's the case, then okay. But I want someone if they're still curious about J.J. McCarthy. who is a bar setter that he should be able to beat in training camp if he's good. And if he's not, then that person can still get you to the playoffs. To me, that is like Mac Jones.

But that's Kirk Cousins to me. Like, that is Kirk Cousins. That is Kirk Couss to me. Like, that is Kirk Cousins. That's Daniel Jones. That is Jacoby Burset. Like, there's a handful of those guys that I think are in that realm of possibilities. And so then you start really looking at it going, then what's the point of all this?

Are we just trying to find a bridge gap? And again, going back to the Wilf's don't like to lose. We know that. That is not something they like to. They don't ever want to be picking in the top 10. Like, they just don't. And that's fine. That's great for an ownership.

But if that's the case, they're going to look and go, hey, I don't care what it does. Win us nine games next year. Win us 10 games. When us 12 games. We can't be this. And so if you're going, okay, well, now we need to start planning for 27 cap, 28 cap. Yeah, Daniel Jones on a one year or Kirk Cousins on a one year or Kyler Murray on a two year makes sense to bridge that gap until you dig yourself out of the cap hole that you've dug

yourself in because of all those things. And so I don't think there's a world, there's not a quarterback out there right now that's going to hit free agency that I think takes us to the level that you want to go to, the level that most Viking fans want to go to, which is win the Super Bowl. In order to make that happen, it's going to have to be a blockbuster trade that's going to give up a lot, give up players to get off our cap, give up draft picks, and truly go all in. Then you you're going to have to make the decision if you're Quayzee or your KOC. Is that worth it? Is that worth my job?

Is that worth my future to do this right now? Because if it doesn't work, I might as well start packing my bags to Cancun right now. So it's one of those all in or one for all, all for one type of things. Or you just kind of have to kick the can down the road and understand the next two years are going to be a really struggling offense because the quarterback play. I will say about Daniel Jones. He was in the top 10 and expected points added this year. and he has taken a team to a playoff when I was there.

And so I think that maybe his ceiling is like a touch higher, but he is coming off the injury. As you know, not all Achilles injuries are built the same. Brian O'Neill had one and came back the next year. Kirk Cousins had the bad one that hindered him. And also age factors into that, I think, as well. But, you know, I do think that there is a difference between a Kirk that is going to start. if you get him versus someone who's more of competition like Mac Jones,

but has also been to the playoffs before and won games in the right type of system. So I do think that there is a thread the needle, but what this might come down to, because when you look at the numbers, they don't compare very well to quarterbacks who had a lot of success. There's a lot of quarterbacks in that list through their first 10 starts that were one and done type of guys. So the Vikings would be justified based on the injuries

and the production historically to just go get somebody else. And from the pressure from the rest of the roster, Alec Lewis wrote about Justin Jefferson and how, hey, he was a good soldier this year. You can't ask him to do it twice. You can ask him to do it once, but you can't ask him to do it twice. And I certainly get all that. What it may come down to, though, is the belief in J.J. McCarthy, the person, more so than the technique or the skill or whatever it might be.

and I think that going out of the season that was put into question a lot more than it ever was for me during the year. Like a lot of the stuff with McCarthy was like, man, this kid just keeps getting hit with bad luck. But then we get these little dribbles of, well, we told them not to celebrate into the end zone, which I know you could go, well, who cares, right?

But if your head coach in the National Football League tells you you are not doing something as a rookie type player and then you do it, I mean, that's, that's just a little bit of a, like, how coachable is this? And, you know, throwing out the fundamental stuff. And like, that's not something a coach should have to do, you know, things like that. And then at the end of the year, I was really struck. So I didn't talk a lot about it, Jeremiah, about how McCarthy took himself out of the game and how he acted on the sideline.

Because to me, that's not an area, that is, that's not an area I feel comfortable with going in any place with it. But when Ben Lieber did, and it seemed like Lieber's head was about to maybe explode as he was talking about it, I sent that to you. What did you make about Lieber's commentary of the way that McCarthy handled the end of the year? First of all, hats off to Ben Lieber for staying a professional. Like, you could see the blood pressure rise in his brain. You can see the face. You could see his joking naturally.

Anyone who, like, has hung out with Lieber knows he's a very funny guy. He's fun. but he is still that that football player that crazy that we all still have in us and i saw that start to turn in him the same way it starts to turn in me when sometimes i talk about kickers right is it just kind of get angry inside your own little brain there and you could just see him in every way shape imaginable that he could say without being censored by the team in which he works for how much he did not agree with any of the stuff that j j jay mccarthy did on sunday pulling himself out of the game the biggest thing for me was that he kept him

hammering on was the theatrics of it. If you're hurt, get it. Got it, man. Your hand hurts. But to then do the towel and holding it, like, it just seemed like it was so over the top. And it's like, what are we actually doing here? Like, if this was actually as bad as you're making it seem right now, you shouldn't have played today. Or who'd you lie to? It just raises so many questions. But if you're a starter, I mean, this goes back to the Anthony Richardson thing a few years ago, right? I'm so tired. I need to come out of the game. I get it. Your hand hurts. You have a broken hand. There's a lot of factors that are going on there, but don't make it such a big deal. Don't make this huge thing about the towel and, oh, poor me and my hand, I can't keep playing. I'm pulling myself out. You can have a player you can. And I get that. And I'm never going to say, I didn't hold the ball. I don't have the broken hand. But I've played through some crap. I've played through some nonsense. And anyone who's played in the National Football League has. No one's ever said every single game, like, oh, I feel so good. It's a tough guy's league. And those are the kind of things. things that you do that your team looks at you a little differently. They just do. And I'm not saying it as this, everyone on the team's like, oh, McCarthy's a P word, right? Like, we're not, we're not saying that.

But I am saying that your team will view you differently. The people in the national football league will view you differently because there's a difference between being hurt and injured. And I'm not sure which one J.J. McCarthy was on Sunday. Yeah, I mean, you could just see in Lieber's face, his co-host tried to kind of like, okay, let's light in the room a little bit because this guy might throw a chair. And he was like, I'm going to move forward with that. But, you know, this is something that Kevin O'Connell has brought up too. So that's why I wouldn't be dismissive of it. I saw a fan, a lot of fans discussing it. And, well, I'm, of course, not going to be dismissive of a former

player who was tough as hell when he was out there, you know, kind of taking a little bit of umbrage with the way that it was handled. But also, you know, O'Connell has kind of talked about this before. He was on the Vikings entertainment with one of his weekly interviews. And he talked talked about, hey, just run the next play. Like, we don't need to do all this nine stuff and everything else. And then this is another coaching point that did not get listened to as he gets a taunting penalty. And I think it was Cfer who had the stat that there's only been 17 quarterback taunting

penalties since 2000. And I mean, it's so maybe some of them were like Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen or something, guys who have earned that type of cash. Yeah, Philip Rivers, although he wouldn't have used any of the bad words. that might get you a flag. But it's like, it's, it's just a little bit of understanding the environment and that awareness, like you ran for nine yards on a first down. There is, it's not necessary to get a taunting penalty after that.

Like, it's just, it's just not. Now, if you scored a 50 yard touchdown and that you did an excessive dance in the end zone and dunked over the, okay, all right, well, I'll take your taunting penalty, but it's a nine yard game. I mean, it, we're not talking. And then so these little things are, it's like the people who have been in your shoes, who have been in the huddles and the sidelines, they see these things and go, what's up with this? Like, this just doesn't look like the way that people do it.

And so it's not like a critique on his actual personality as a good person or very likable to us. He's been great with the media, you know, in front of the cameras, off the cameras, everything else. I think the guys really like him as a person. But there's some of these things you do where you go, I think that KOC must feel like I can't really control this situation when he's out there. I mean, a piece of it goes back to me, too, is, you know, how bad was that ankle spring? Right. And I'm not trying to point fingers, right?

I mean, he missed a lot of time for that ankle spring. And a lot of it said, hey, soft benching or whatever we wanted to call it or that piece there. But when you really start thinking about it, it's like, maybe he just was like, I'm a track mentality. I got to get out there. I don't feel 100%. I can't, I can't do what I need to do. But then the other stuff that you're talking about, like the tonic. penalty, the dancing, it almost feels like he's trying to do too much because he knows

his play is not at the adequate level that it needs to be at. So it's like, hey, if I'm not performing at a top 10, top 12 quarterback level like I need to, I need to, like, feel like I am. I need to show the world that I am Baker-Maafield, right? Everyone's like, and there is a point to, right? Everyone thought a little bit similar stuff about Baker, right? Like when Baker first entered the league, it was cocky, it was arrogant, it was, it was all that now it's moxie and it's its attitude and it's grit he earned that right and he had to take his

lumps along the way in cleveland because of that and that might have been part of the reason he didn't work out in cleveland and i think that you can always give a guy the benefit of the doubt if he's a young player he's a young player guys in the room like jefferson o'neal need to sit him down this off season and be like enough enough right you we've now seen you on the field for a year We've seen you off the field for a year. This is how you need to act. Enough of the nonsense. I don't want to hear the number nine out of your mouth again.

We're just going to go out there. We're going to play football. We're going to win games. And you're going to earn the right to do the stuff that you want to do right now as a rookie. This is not college. This is the NFL. You're going into your third year. The young guy excuse is done.

It's gone. It's out the window. You can't do this stuff if you want us to win football games and get us where we want to go. And if he can't listen to that and he can't move on from that, then we have a really big problem. So this is the sense that I have always gotten from his teammates to this point, whether it's Jefferson. Jefferson has been referring to him as the Youngen, his teammates,

whether it's O'Neill or other captains in the room when they talk about him, I think there's a little bit of acknowledgement of he didn't do this to himself in terms of putting himself in this position. And there's two questions that we kind of kept going back to in the offseason with him as one, how are you going to lead a room of veterans? And it was always like, well, you know, he's so energetic and he's so, you know, fun out there and everything else. But I think we got our answer is that there's a reason we asked it.

It's really, really hard for a young kid to come in and just command an entire franchise. You have to play really, really, really well, or you have to be really well mature beyond your years. I think there's a reason some of these 24-year-old quarterbacks have had more success doing it because they've just older, more life experience. when you're that young. And then, you know, we talked about how he would deal with failure. And he cited that sort of saying that he thought he did really well with failure. And I thought the opposite.

I mean, I thought, yeah, this is what it's like when a young kid who's never failed gets punched in the face. They don't know how to react. So a lot of it for me comes down to the franchise's decision. And their evaluation of him and his personality and his readiness technically. and from an X's and O's standpoint of how he could run the offense, to me, they just got way over excited by him taking QB2 reps in a 2024 training camp and didn't see this stuff coming, which is not J.J. McCarthy's fault.

But I think he needs to be much older, much quicker if he's going to win a competition and take this over. I wouldn't count it out, though, Jeremiah. So give me a 1 to 10 on the chances that we go, into the season thinking J.J. McCarthy has taken a big step forward and is ready to be that guy. It's a trap question, but it's also the one that has to be asked. But it's also the one they're asking in the front office. I'll give it a five. I mean, you look at it and you're going, yeah, 50-50. If this dude goes in the off-season and he stays A, he can stay healthy

the entire off-season. He gets with whoever he needs to clean up his mechanics and really focus every day, throw in the football. He gets with Justin Jeffers. in the off season. It gets him to figure out how they can work together. He works with Kevin O'Connell. He grows up a ton. Like, there's a lot there that you're going, okay, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, the problem becomes if you miss on 25 to 30 percent of your ifs, we're right back in square one. And you have to have an organization with Kevin O'Connell and this offensive staff and look at each other and go, are we willing to bet our jobs on this? Are we willing to bet 18 games in 2026? that this dude is going to do everything we asked him to do this off season.

He's going to be able, capably to do these things. And then can he go and execute it on Sundays in the fall? And if the answer is yes, then yeah, you probably roll with him as your guy. But if the answer is maybe, you can't do it. You just can't bet your jobs on a make. Unfortunately, this has been a purple insider viewpoint for a long time that if five things have to go right and each of them has a coin flip chance, then you do the math on that.

And it's not a very high chance. And I think that if you had everybody in the organization, so I remember 2018 before Josh Allen jumped over Anthony Barr, I was chatting with somebody in the Bill's front office about Josh Allen before that game. And I was like, I was like, man, I don't know. Like I just wasn't really super sold on the accuracy coming out of college. And that person just stopped me and said, he's got everything, dude. Don't work. Like, don't worry. We know he's going to come along.

Every guy is bought into this dude. He's got it completely. And then it took a while. But if you asked everybody now, would you say that they would all say, we're all set? We know he's got that part. And so if you need tweaking to how you can run a real NFL offense, not the paired down version that they ran at the end of the year, now that's when people criticize O'Connell for him. I'm like, wait a minute, you shouldn't have to do that. He should be able to run his NFL offense that Sam Darno won 14 games with last year.

And then, you know, when you're talking about the accuracy, the footwork, the timing, getting on the same page with Jefferson, like all these things can definitely happen, but can they all happen at once? That, to me, is threading a very difficult needle. Now, let's move on to Brian Flores. I mean, any day this story could change. But the more things that come out, let me read just something from a really good friend of mine, John Krasinski, from the athletic. and John is it's going to have to load in my phone. Hold on. Okay. Here is what John said about the Brian Flores situation. He said, I can't tell you the exact nature of the conflict or drama behind the scenes, but there's something going on that does not or that does lead me to believe that it's not a foregone conclusion that he would be here to be a coordinator that he could leave to go somewhere else, which would be a disaster and a terrible look for the Vikings. Now, I don't know, like any specifics. on whatever conflict could happen. But I do know, Jeremiah, that he didn't sign an extension

and that there has to be some sort of reasoning behind that that may not just be a betting on himself and money. And then I saw Diana Rossini tweet out what we all already kind of figured that Dallas would be in the mix for this. If Brian Flores leaves to take a lateral move, how would we view that? I mean, I think it is definitely a viewpoint of they have internal issues. and I think that if you start looking around going, okay, well, what could those internal issues be?

I don't think it's do KOC and Brian O'C or Brian Flores like not like each other anymore? Like, do they not want to go over and have their wives getting a disagreement? Like, I don't think you can go to that. It has to go down to decisions about the future of the franchise, right? Decisions about most likely the quarterback position. You know, that for me is the thing where if I'm Brian Flores, I'm going, dude i am turning out an elite product on defense an elite like the best of the best i am doing that and we won nine games and go to the playoffs this year and you tell me that we still have

faith in the kid when i'm done with the kid like i'm done with this guy i've seen this movie before i'm right about tua right now everything i said about tua down in miami and i got fired for is true like and you don't want to hear me on that then i'm going to go somewhere where i don't have to worry about this conversation. I don't have to worry about a quarterback conversation. I'm going to go to Dallas where it's Dak. Dak is what he is. He's going to win us a lot of games. He's got CD. I got to fix the defense. We're probably one of the best teams in the NFC next year. It's the only logical thing in my brain that makes sense if it's not a if it's not a money conversation. And if I'm the wills, so I'm backing up a Brinks truck to just say how much money do you want,

please stay. It doesn't even necessarily have to be over dramatic. It could be that and maybe the opportunity to win because if you're looking at this team's prospects for next year, if we were to do, and I don't think that our friends of Fandu will have them just yet, but if we were to do over unders, if you and I were going to 32 teams and we were to set over unders, right now, we would have to put it at like eight and a half or seven and a half for the Vikings next year with so much uncertainty. And that's what's in everybody else's mind as well. And if you're telling, and I mean, Brian Flores is involved in this because he's got to stop

the other side of the football and he had to be heroic to get them to nine wins if you go to Dallas you have the 15th best defense you are in the freaking playoffs guaranteed with the way that Dak Prescott who had one of his best years and just got left out to dry all season long so you could see why they would be interested in it as well so it might not have to be super personal of there is a major you know clash between the two or whatever else it could just be that and Anna Rossini has reported on dissenting voices. I know Alec Lewis has reported on that as well during last off season. And I wondered about, think about Zim, think about defensive coaches.

What do they want? They want a quarterback who's just going to keep the train on the tracks, is proven. And then they could do their thing. They don't like volatility at that quarterback position. So I'm just trying to put three and three together here with a couple of these things. But I do think it would be a devastating blow to them. Now, if he gets a head coaching job, it's like, hey, that's life. Right.

Yeah. But if he takes lateral move, then it will say everything that you need to know about where he thinks this franchise is headed. Couldn't agree more. I could not agree more with that statement. I think the head coach, everyone would go, yeah, checks out. But the lateral move wouldn't make a lot of sense. And it's one of those things we're going, okay, where there's smoke, there's fire.

Right. And that's what it would look like if he took the lateral. All right. Is there other things on the roster that you're interested in? because, you know, there's, there's 53 guys that play here. It's crazy. How about, how about, how about just your most, I want, I want two things for you. I want your most intriguing situation on the roster.

And then also something that, like, let's just lighten it up a little bit. Maybe you were excited about from this season. I think I'll, I'll start with the excited thing. You know, I was looking at this the other day. Harrison Smith and CJ Hammer are the last two players that I played with that are on that roster. Minnesota. I was looking at it the other day when those two guys depart from Minnesota, the last of the 2017 roster, which was my last year on the Vikings, is completely done for me.

And that was kind of a sad realization for me, you know, because I love rooting for my guys and my old teammates. And I can remember when CJ came on as Hammer Time, as Tony Sparano used to call him. And he just lit up the preseason. I can remember Anthony, or Harrison Smith and Anthony Barr and Sendejo and that whole crew that were right there in my little locker clump, just being awesome dudes and such great memories. And so watching those two guys get their standing ovation and having them get the chance to walk out in front of Vikings Nation like that and go out as elite players for this organization. That was kind of a cool and somber moment for me, but super excited for those two guys.

I mean, what careers both those guys have been. I do want to say, I mean, I don't have to tell anybody about Harrison Smith. He is one of those guys that's an honor for me to cover. you don't get many chances. And I feel like I've gotten a few. Daniel Hunter and Harrison and Patrick Peterson, even at the end of his career and he's like leading the league in interceptions. And it was so cool to see a guy whose skills that diminished just like Harry,

but is still great at their job because of everything that they know and can do. And just the Jefferson, obviously, watching a guy come to life and be this good at football. It's amazing to see that. But I want everyone to understand how. respected C.J. Ham is. And I think that you saw it there. And Minnesotans, they, you know, he's from, he's got the whole thing. And they, they love C.J. Ham. But inside that locker room, guys look at him and say, this is, this is an amazing human being. To last in the NFL as long as he has at a position that people have been trying to get rid of for, I don't know how long. And to

fight your way, year in and year out, onto a roster to the special teams, to changing to be a past protector under KOC because he didn't use him as a runner anymore and be that type of leader. I don't, unless you're in there, I don't think you can fully understand how other NFL players view someone like that. Absolutely. I mean, he's the definition of a glue guy, right? He keeps the room together.

He's a leader. By the way he acts, he's not a superstar. And so he doesn't act like a superstar, but he's respected like it. And I think that's when you can really see it. And I mean, I've loved CJ since the day he walked in that door. And yeah, you can't, you can't, there's guys like that on each team that you don't really know unless you're in the market, right? Everyone in Minnesota knows about C.J. Hand, but the guy in San Fran or the guy in Dallas doesn't know about C.J. Han. And there's guys like that on every single team. And it was a privilege to get to play with him even when he was a young guy.

All right. Give me your biggest intrigue that has nothing to do with the quarterback or defensive coordinator. Yeah, my, my biggest intrigue is, what does this offensive line look like next year? Surprise, surprise, right? I was super, super excited with four, fifths of this offensive line for when they were healthy. You know, I think you look at the center position, and that's the big question mark is what's going to happen with Brian Kelly. But Donovan Jackson, slam dunk first round pick. I think they nailed it. I think they did a great job.

The dude is tough as nails. I mean, hearing Brian O'Neill say the dude played with a broken wrist for majority of the year. I mean, your hands as an offensive lineman, it's like asking a carpenter not to use a hand. Like, it just doesn't work. And so you have a rookie scale, a guy who's brand new. coming in, starting majority of the games, play-through injury. That's the kind of makeup you see.

And then obviously, I think he had really good flashes. He had some rough games with the needles pointed straight up for him. Get a healthy Darrasaw back in 2026, not have this kind of shadow game of what's happening on a weekend, week-in, week-out basis, right? And then you have Wolf Prize coming. I mean, obviously, I think people will be probably hotter cold on him. Love that he had the contract, expect more out of the contract. He is who he is.

$92 million did not make him out of Vanica. But then you look over there and go, okay, how many, how much gas in the tank is Brown-Roney-Laddle? Right? And what's the future for that position? Like, that's the position for me that I need to start seeing future tiles being laid. Is it Walter Rouse? Is it a high-round draft pick? Like, what is the future of the right tackle position?

Because I don't think anyone would believe in a lot. I said, oh, Ryanne is going to play another five years. He might. But at the same time, you need to start thinking about what the future of your right-tackle position looks like. And so center backup tackle is kind of the roster spots that I'm really looking at. Center, center, center. I mean, I think we're going to be talking about it all offseason. Do you draft someone and then bring in a kid and ask him to do all that?

Or do you try to get a veteran? But the list is not very impressive. Do you roll with Blake Brandel and Michael Juergens and have a camp battle there since at least those guys know the offense and you know their strengths and limitations? A very tough position to deal with. And, you know, Ryan Kelly, when he was in there, you've, this is the first time in my career that I've been like, oh, that. That's what it looks like when you have that guy at center. It is an ultimate cheat code,

but there's only like five of those guys in the NFL. Love to see it, hate to see it. I think we could just maybe look at some of these first round games. I love to see it is games in the playoffs. The game we saw the other night between the Steelers and Ravens, like thanks for getting me ready for the postseason. I'm going to say this one, though. I love that the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears are playing in the playoffs.

Ultimate rivalry, soldier field, in the cold. On Fanduel, the Bears are 1.5 point underdogs. I just, that to me is my favorite matchup of the weekend. Cannot wait to see it. Love that it happened. Yeah, no, that's, I mean, love just what the Bears did the sheet. I mean, I know we're a Viking Center podcast here, but you got to respect with Ben Johnson and that crew was able to do

and turn that place around as quickly as they did. So, yeah, I mean, the whole playoff sheet, you just look at across the board. You're like, hmm, maybe even then it's like bang or bang or bang or bang or bang. all the way down the road. So, yeah, I'm super excited for the playoffs to start here. I'm going to go love to see it was that FCS playoff game last night. Yes. That was their national championship game last night.

That was fantastic football, right? It's back and forth. It's game is in control. And then, oh, here comes the kicker. And they're talking about he's got a helmet that doesn't fit right. Like, it's like they just kind of threw it on them. Like, hey, you don't need one of these. Just put this on.

It's left over from the back. When he goes out there, it gets one blocked. You've got the drama. You've got overtime. That was just a fantastic. football game last night. And what I loved about that too was, I mean, there was like 30,000 people there, the atmosphere, the crowd, the drama. If you miss, hey, look, the guy in the cowboy hat flipping off the flipping off the fly every time we do the extra point. The FCS playoffs. This is us going

like way too deep. Have been some of the craziest games I have ever seen in my entire life. And randomly, the coach of Montana State. I called him once for a story. And he called me back. We talked for like an hour about West Coast offenses. So like shout out to my guy who called me back in 2016 because you guys went to Shermer. And is it Brent, uh, vegan is his name? He was, uh, he was like rooted in the West Coast. So I was looking for a college coach who might call me back and talk West coast. So there you go. Um, congratulations to my very good friend, uh, in Montana State. I love that. And I mean, I would also piggyback and saying that the FBS game between Ole Miss and Georgia. Some of us were at the veterinary office getting our dog, uh, sewed up because he cut his

paw. So I was texting with you and watching the game on my phone as Mr. Buddy is bleeding all over the veterinarian's office. And I'm like, what is this game? And you know, the, the doctor's coming in. Well, you know, we put in stitches. And I'm like, uh-huh. Yeah. Okay. Well, yeah, but look at this. Like, they missed the face mask. Right. Why aren't they going for? I was going crazy. Why not go for it on the fourth down there? The other one would be the closing of Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, beautifully done by the Buffalo Bill's organization. They had up on the big screen, all the memories and stuff and people videotape that. I watched it as a place that I used to go for my Bill's pregame shows over and over again, grew up with,

you got a chance to be there as well. It's a special place and I hope forever that we have outdoor football in some places. Yeah. I mean, I don't want to see the day where everything's in a dome. I just don't. I like when you see the paint chipping off the helmets because it's so cold, right? And the line of scrimmage is just nothing but smoke. Like, please, please don't go to a dome, especially Kansas City. They're talking about going to a dome. It's like, no, don't. Don't ruin the game that I love.

I guess my last hate to see it would be, sorry, Baker Mayfield and Todd Bowles. I don't, I mean, the study needs to be. you let Kirk Cousins knock out of the playoffs. I mean, how did you come to this? I remember on this show in September, we're going to do, Baker's going to win the MVP. Baker's going to get himself paid MVP season,

everything. And it's like, oh, where's Liam Cohen? Right? Like, you kind of look back like, what the hell just happened? But that was a crazy falloff for the Buccaneers there at the end. Baker Mayfield's record with the Bucks, now not that different than his record was with the Cleveland Browns,

which is pretty interesting. 500 quarterbacks. I know people don't like win-loss record, but they tend to always find their way back to that if they start enough games. And that's kind of what Baker is. He is like a more aggressive and entertaining Kirk Cousins, which is not an insult, but it's also not like worth maybe making your franchise quarterback with that dollar figure. Anyway, well, we will welcome Kirk back when he returns as the 2026 starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikes. We did give him media good guy for his final season. And he is a pleasure to deal with. And I, I'm excited for his broadcast career someday. But when he walks back in that door, it's going to be

weird as heck. Anyway, uh, Jeremiah Searles at the, what is that, who, Hulu bowl, Hulubol. All right. Well, have a good time. If you can, if you find your way to some decent weather or, I mean, I'll do my best. All right. I'll do. All right. All right. All right. That's enough. Thanks, Jeremiah. Football. Folks, as you know, Purple Insider is always growing and changing and I'm looking to take steps forward in 2026, just like your business. Now, I'm lucky to have a great crew, but as a business owner, I am well aware of the challenges of trying to find quality people to add to the roster. So if you're hiring for your company in 2026, let me give you a little advice. Check out ZipRecruiter with new goals in 2026.

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safety information all right now we welcome in special contributor to purple insider maggie robinson for the robinson round up and uh wow maggie do we have a lot to round up here we've got the playoffs starting and we have a lot of coach firings take us whatever direction you want to go with all the madness of the NFL well congratulations everyone. We made it through the end of the regular season. A round of applause for you for sitting on the couch long enough to watch all of that. Some of it painful. Some of it not. But that means we just had the NFL's favorite unofficial holiday black Monday, okay? Coaches have been let go left and right. And by let go, that's a very polite term. They've been fired. They've been

dropped. Teams are moving on. And as of just a few minutes ago, John Harbaugh was fired from the Ravens, okay? He was the second longest tenured coach in the NFL, 18 seasons with the Ravens. They've only had three coaches in their 30 year history. His release really says something. And I really want to ask you right now off the cuff, what do you think this means for the league and for John Harbaugh? Well, number one, it feels like they chose Lamar Jackson's side and that Lamar will be staying and picking the new quarter or the new head coach. And the quarterback should always be the one you pick when he is at the level of Lamar Jackson. And with John Harbaugh, one of the great coaches of the last two decades,

no question about that. And you think about last year where they are, one Mark Andrews catch away from maybe getting that chance. But the fact that he was not able to get to the Super Bowl with Lamar Jackson, it shows you how high the bar gets set when you have that elite quarterback. So they're kind of trying to go for something like the, you know, Tony Dunjy to John Grude. this is an old reference, but a very, very good coach to maybe somebody who can just add a spark

on the offensive side of things and get them to a next level. I personally think that this season was just derailed by Lamar Jackson injuries and the roster starting to corrode, but it's clear that they feel like they need a new spark there. And now this throws an entire wrench into what a lot of teams were planning on, whether it's some teams that were planning to keep their coach, that now go, wait a minute, we could have John Harbaugh as our coach. That's actually an upgrade from, I don't know, Aaron Glenn in New York who had one of the worst seasons I've ever seen in my entire life or the Tampa Bay Bucks who are sticking

with Todd Bowles, but, you know, coming short of the playoffs falling apart the way they did. So there are things that are still not resolved in the NFL. And this could also matter to Brian Flores' coaching search because when you look at the pool of candidates, you go, I don't know, Flores, probably has the best resume of most of these people. Well, he doesn't have the head coaching resume of John Harbaugh. So the Vegas Raiders were a team that we've all been talking about for Flores. Could they make a big play for John Harbaugh or even the New York Giants,

which would be my pick right away for where Harbaugh is going to go. But an incredible career, we do usually see this, though, eventually that if you don't get it and you got the all-time great quarterback, that there will be a change. I don't think he's going to stay on the market long, like you're saying. But this is, I think, in the rundown of coaches that I have listed, this is the most shocking to me. He just felt like such an establishment figure in the NFL where you grow up and you're just like, of course it's John Harbaugh.

It always has been and it always will be. That's not changing. Nope. Everything has to come to an end. And this one ended pretty unceremoniously with that loss to the Steelers crazy game, Tyler Loop, just absolutely fumbling the bag. you feel bad for the guy, but that is quite literally your one job. You do have to wonder, though, had he made the field goal, if they went into the

playoffs, if they won a playoff game, if Lamar got a little bit healthier and they got hot or something, if that would have changed all of fate? How many times have these kickers completely altered people's careers way too many and a lot for Minnesota Vikings people as well? They know how that feels to miss the key kick. But I really think what this came down to is when you see the tension over the last couple years between the organization and Lamar Jackson that I think they need a coach like a Kevin O'Connell who's going to have a very tight relationship with the franchise quarterback, not someone who is kind of an overseer of the entire thing, but somebody who can really be hands on with QB1 the entire time. So now I think the dream of the Vikings trading for Lamar Jackson is probably off the table, but I don't know. Maybe they're trying to blow the entire thing up.

I'd be pretty darn shocked if that happened, but certainly not the only head coach who lost his job this week. Let's run through it. I'm going to give you some names. You're going to give me some quick thoughts and we're just going to ping pong back and forth. All right, Rahim Morris out from the Falcons. They've already requested interviews with Clint Kubiak from the Seahawks and the Dolphins defensive coordinator, Anthony Weaver. What do you think? Yeah, that's former Vikings offensive coordinator Clint Kubiak, who's done an amazing job this year with the Seattle Seahawks. It feels like with Rahim

Morris, there's a little bit of unfair to that because they draft Michael Penix. They play him a handful of games. He gets injured. They go back to Kirk. They finish with the same record as the other teams in the NFC South. And then you're just fired after a pretty short period of time, a little bit harsh there. I think what you can really feel. with Atlanta is their owner's desperation to win as he is in his 80s signing Kirk to that huge contract. Oh, if we just get the quarterback, then it will all be resolved and they lived in Midland. You want to talk about kickers, though? They lost several games this year just on game winning kicks that went awry. If they get those kicks, then they're easily in the playoffs with

as bad as Carolina and Tampa Bay are. I think that's a good job for someone to take over, but they have quarterback questions there just like the Minnesota Vikings. So, I don't know. It's just that maybe their division is a little easier to win than it is for the Vikings. All right. Next up, Kevin Stefansky fired from the Browns. My hot take here, I think they're doing him a favor. He walked into like a hot mess of a team who just made some super questionable front office moves and he was expected to just kind of turn it around. I think he's kind of being able to watch his hands of this, say, you know what? No longer my problem. I'm walking away from like kind of a dumpster fire other than Miles Garrett single sack record broke that round of applause for the guy but i think

kevin spansky is like honestly he should probably be a little relieved right now i 100% agree that he should easily upgrade and will be hired as one of the quickest candidates i think to get a job and will be on everybody's list kevin safansky's a two-time coach of the year and i think overall a good coach but when you look at the quarterbacks that he's had through the time that he's been there Baker Mayfield, who kind of showed you why Cleveland moved on this year as he melted down the second half of the season. And then this year, Kevin Stefanski being accused by the masses of trying to purposefully hold back a bad fifth round quarterback in Shadur Sanders, who may one day develop, but

certainly didn't show a whole lot to prove that he's a franchise QB. I think with Stefanski maybe moving to a team with more stable ownership, maybe one where he gets a little more control of the situation. he should probably only go to a place that has a quarterback that has some promise. New York Giants make sense for him to, possibly the Atlanta Falcons, but I'm not sure of a team that doesn't make sense for Kevin Stefansky. He's also a pen alum. Did you know that? I did know that.

I had a conversation with him about that one time. That's awesome. All right. Pete Carroll fired from the Raiders. And I think this just puts emphasis on a point that we have learned this season, that sometimes it's okay to stay retired. no one is asking you to get up off your couch and play or coach NFL football. You stay right there.

No offense, Pete Carroll. I think it's time to hang it up. Somebody like Pete Carroll should have been in an advisory role with a team that was maybe struggling and needing to rebuild and he could work their way through it, but not taking on head coaching duties at that age. I mean, it's kind of sad the way we've seen Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll, two of the all-time greats now finish out their careers. And with Pete Carroll, I think he was.

taking on a situation that he thought was in win now, but you look at that roster and you go, where's the winning now, especially with the chargers, the chiefs, and we see how good the Denver Broncos are. Did you think you were just going to take over the division? Because they never really treated it like it was a long-term build. They started an old quarterback. They drafted a running back. That's something you usually do when you're on the cusp. And then Chip Kelly becomes the offensive coordinator. There's differing reports on whose idea that was, but whoever it was. That was a bad idea. So, I mean, he hasn't been good in the NFL since like 2014 or something. And then you bring him back. Very odd. Brian Flores, though, with a connection to Tom Brady,

seems like a prime candidate for Las Vegas. That's why if you're a Vikings fan, maybe you're hoping that John Harbaugh now ends up in Vegas because Brady connection and if anybody's going to kind of buck the trend or go against the league, A, the Raiders franchise is steeped in history of doing that. So I wouldn't be surprised if they give Brian Flores a very serious consideration. And I have heard the Brady thing is no joke. He is stepping into a very strong advisory role kind of in this job search candidate interview process. He will have a very heavy hand in this. So it's not crazy to think that his influence will be felt in all of these decisions. And I think this is now going to show us just how impactful him being a minority owner is. And it's going to

bring up even more questions of, is this man just an executive? or is he a broadcaster, how is he allowed to do both? We're also seeing this over in Atlanta, not to derail the conversation quickly, but we're seeing this over there with Ryan, now I'm looking at, Ryan Day. Matt Ryan, Matt Ryan, oh my gosh, where to come up with that? Matt Ryan, who is being looked at for their head of football ops position and also trying to stay on CBS sports. But the president was set with Brady. I don't know.

Not to mention Troy Aikman is helping the Miami Dolphins to find a general manager. I mean, look, as you're in journalism school there, Maggie, we used to talk about standards and conflicts of interest. And I think if you're being taught that now, it's just antiquated because nobody seems to care. But there is an old part of me that went to school now quite a few years ago that's like, wait a minute. Tom Brady is really not just an owner who's sitting in the background like Magic Johnson with the Washington commanders. he's taking a forefront role and calling the games on Sunday. That is a little uncomfortable, but I will say he has become a better broadcaster. So that's fine.

But it's, it's get, it's getting weird out there. And I think the NFL probably needed to reject that idea from the start because now everyone's like, why not? I can do this if Tom Brady can do it. But if Brady's taken real command there and now he's like the guy that's running things, that does, I think, increase the chances because. Brady kind of has an old school mindset. If you listen to him talk, I think Brian Flores does too. So that's one to certainly keep an eye on.

Things are also getting a little weird. You just said that about this whole situation. But Carolina fired Jonathan Gannon one day after his birthday. They couldn't even give him two days in between. Worst birthday present ever. But I think it was time for him to go. Arizona. You said Carolina, Arizona.

Arizona. Excuse me. Yep. So Jonathan Gannon, I think, had a pretty, bad break there where Kyler Murray stays healthy all last year. They're eight and nine. It looks like they're on the rise. Murray gets hurt. They're a middling type of team and then they have to go with their backup quarterback the rest of the way. And for those of whom do not like the idea of Kyler Murray in Minnesota, I totally feel you. I don't understand why. But with Kyler Murray, they went 13 and 17 under Jonathan Gannon. With everyone else, they went two and 19. So they

They were hit by having to play backup quarterbacks a lot, and they did not win because of it. That hire always seemed like a guy who wasn't quite there yet, like a good defensive mind, but being given the keys to an entire franchise, plus that franchise is just awful, just absolutely atrocious. If you were grading all the franchises, you'd put Cleveland at the absolute bottom under like 50 miles of mud. But then once you got to the ground, you would find the Arizona Cardinals right there along with them. So bad franchises stay bad. But that is another team that if their ownership said, we really need to get serious now,

then they could look at someone likes Defansky or John Harbaugh. And then the final two coaches, these were done earlier in the season, but they're brought back up because now they're interviewing people. Brian Daibel fired from the Giants and Brian Callahan fired from the Titans. You know me, Tennessee girl. I'm just hoping that someone comes in there and turns that ship around. And they've been interviewing the Titans have,

the chief's offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, they are throwing out all sorts of tentacles just trying to see who takes the bait. I'll be really intrigued to see who they pick up there. And if the front office and the head coach can finally maybe work together as one, and then the giant situation,

they kept Joe showing. I think that's a little questionable. I don't know if I have full confidence in the man. And he says he's really trusting in the young talent, but the young talent was never healthy enough to all be on the field at the same time for more than like, two games this season.

So I don't know. He also got put on blast by making the Barclay trade on hard knocks. I don't know if I trust the guy's judgment. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, that's true. I think in history will kind of justify him with Saquan Barclay because they were never in a position to really win the last two years anyway. So you might as well just let Sequan go and get your comp pick.

But in terms of their actual roster build, it's odd because when you look at a lot of their moves, they add up to a pretty good rebuilding team. Jackson Dart has a lot of talent. Malik neighbors, you know, they go and sign or trade for Brian Burns and then, you know, draft Abdul Carter, who had his moments this year. But it just has never added up to really anything since he's been there. And that's the question. Is it the coaching?

And I think there's a pretty good argument for that being the case, the overall culture that was created there. But I'd be pretty nervous if I'm taking over that job. And you have to go to a general manager that is on the hot seat himself. That's a weird position to be in because you could be one and done. If it doesn't work out, they could just, oh, we're firing the GM. We're firing his coach hire too. So that one to me screams, you're not, you're either not going to get very good candidates or what could happen is just like the Jaguars last year.

They kept their GM and their main coaching guy, Liam Cohen, their main coaching target, he said, I'm not working for that guy. So they fired the GM and hired Liam Cohen. It was maybe the best thing that's ever happened to the Jaguars. I feel like that could happen here as well. It just has the potential to get messy kind of on all these fronts. And just to quickly wrap us up, I want to run through some assistant coaches. The head coaches get all the love. But there's been a bunch of assistant coach moves.

And these are some big names who actually had some impact or lack thereof this season. Here we go. Matt Eberfluse, let go from the Cowboys. Steve Wilkes fired from the Jets. The Jets need all the help they can get. Good Lord. Joe Witt fired from the commanders. and Cliff Kingsbury let go from the commanders.

They're parting ways. It's a mutual separation as he kind of looks at these new head coaching jobs. And most recently, Johnny Morton, offensive coordinator, fired from the Lions. Yeah, that's a lot of guys. The Lions one was inevitable. That didn't work out at all. Turns out replacing Ben Johnson, as I'm going to keep giving you credit for this. You were on, hey, that offensive coordinator, that's pretty tough to replace.

And you were absolutely right about that. let's see, Cliff Kingsbury is the other one is pretty surprising because, I mean, I guess backup quarterbacks will just put you on the hot seat, won't they? I mean, last year, Cliff looks like a genius and he's working with Jaden Daniels and they go to the NFC championship. Daniels gets hurt this year and then you're just out because Mariotta, and by the way, it wasn't even really Marioada's fault. They had a bottom three defense for the entire year.

I mean, if Mario, Mario probably could get them to a 500 type record if they had a an average defense so he ends up being the fall guy you know it doesn't always have to make sense it's just somebody gets tossed into the volcano and i think this is what's interesting is that you know the vikings as of this moment have not announced any changes to their coaching staff or their front office or anything how often does it happen that a team disappoints let's look around the league you know with Atlanta being out kingsbury being out john harbaugh whose quarterback was nearly MVP last year and they're one catch away for maybe going to the Super Bowl and these guys are out. And I don't know. Like it's a little bit interesting. And maybe we will see a change with the

Vikings. But accountability is a real thing in the NFL and maybe overreaction at times. Do you think, though, not to like, well, yeah, to push back on you on that statement, is anyone going to leave the Vikings front office, not be fired, but be like, you know what? I think my time here is done because I was reading about some kind of tensions in the front office and in the locker room. Is that legitimate? Is that substantiated? Yeah. I mean, I think what you're referring to is maybe the Flores thing. And if there is tension between Flores and the front office and they have to choose, then I think they might choose Brian Flores. He's harder to replace than a general manager, probably. And that's the thing. Like the Vikings off season, just because nothing has

happened yet, is certainly not over in the first couple of days. There could be something. something that surprises us because you don't know how the moving parts are going to go. If Brian Flores, and again, this is only speculation, I'm not reporting this, but you are mentioning something that was tossed out there by John Krasinski of the athletic about Flores. And clearly he didn't sign an extension for a reason. If there is some tension there, it could result in him taking a lateral move if he can't get a head coaching job.

Or they could just say, hey, you got to choose. It's me or whoever, if that's Kway. Adafelmenza, I don't know, but they would probably choose Brian Flores. So, I mean, we're obviously keeping an eye on it, but if nothing changes, I think that's also interesting as well. Like, then they, if nothing changes, then they really think, guys, it was just the quarterback. And I think that's actually the right explanation. It's telling either way, and that does feel like kind of what we're leaning towards.

Okay, this upcoming weekend, though, is wildcard weekend. And there's some good matchups. But we have the Broncos and the Seahawks on a buy. So they will be resting up. Honestly, well deserved, okay? But there's some spicy matchups happening. Who are you looking at in this wild card weekend? Because you got some really good rivalries.

You have Packers Bears. They're both one for one in both their matchups. You got the 2022 NFC East rematch between the 49ers and the Eagles. That was my first championship game I ever worked, went on the field. Felt like a boss. And then you also have the use in Texans against the Steelers, which is potentially Aaron Rogers last game ever. And the Texans are like really hot right now.

I don't know. So the game that I've been pointing out a lot is Packers and Bears. I mean, that one's pretty obvious. Why, you know, two NFC North teams. You don't always see that in the playoffs. But let me talk about the intrigue for some less exciting ones that I haven't discussed much. Carolina is home against Los Angeles Rams.

Carolina on Fandul is a 10.5 point underdog, but Carolina beat the Rams earlier this year, right? Isn't that crazy? And Carolina is the most enigmatic team that I can ever remember. It's 400 passing yards for Bryce Young or 58. And they do take the ball away. Sometimes they got some interceptions against Stafford. They didn't now play the Rams that day, but they certainly found a way to win with turnovers and special teams and things like that. So that would, be the one that would be the most shocking, uh, by far if they were able to pull it off. But the Rams decided to play their starters in the last game and then they have to travel across the country. So there's some factors here that it would be a big shock, but who knows? And the bills and jaguars, this one, talk about narrative games because, uh, the bills are one and a half point favorites. If they lose, Sean McDermott could be fired.

And who knows what happens after that, right? Kevin Stafansky could be coached the pills next year. If Trevor Lawrence wins this game and knocks out the second best quarterback of the generation or third best, depending on where you put Lamar, wow, right? He goes from someone we're all talking about is, well, he just never really, you know, made it as the quarterback we thought to, holy cow, watch out. The Jacksonville Jaguars are super dangerous. And the other one is, you know, the Chargers going to the Patriots.

I think the Patriots are very good. I'm not sure they're quite as good as their records suggest. They had the easiest schedule in the NFL this year. And, you know, Justin Herbert needs a playoff win. I mean, he's gotten to the point in his career. And I know their line stinks and all that. They've had so many injuries is terrible. But how many seasons can Herbert go without winning a playoff game to the point where

then we start talking about, hey, how many different ways can it not be connected to Justin Herbert. So narratives all over the place, implications all over the place in this first round. It's going to be some good, I've said this every week, but genuinely it's going to be some really good football. So,

why don't you pick? Why don't you do some picks here? We don't have you do picks very often. We should do picks. I don't do picks very often. Okay. Why not? All right.

Let's start with Carolina home, 10 and a half point underdog against the Los Angeles Rams. Who wins that one? Uh, listen, this is the Panthers first time to the playoff in 10 years. You can't replicate that kind of juice and energy in the locker room and in those guys. So I'm taking Carolina here. And let me preface my picks by saying some of these are vibe picks. Okay, Matthew, these aren't necessarily all 100% like Maggie has the right stats.

I have the stats in front of me, but sometimes a girl loves what she knows, you know? And I think the Panthers are going to win. So come back to me next to me. I guess we'll see if a girl knows what she knows or if it was a ludicrous pick. I think it probably is a ludicrous pick, but also, you know, they don't fail you out of Jay School if you don't pick the games right. So, hey, look, somebody, there's going to be those graphics that are like, everyone picked the same game.

And one of these is going to not go the way we expect. It has happened before. So, all right, you're going Carolina. The Packers, yeah, Packers at Chicago Bears with the Packers favored on Fandul by 1.5 points. You know, Jordan. Love is back. Didn't he go out with a concussion in one of their previous rematches, I believe. He did. I think it's got to be the Packers. But this is going to be a close game. But I'm with, I'm with Fandul on this one. I could see that as well. It really depends on, as you mentioned, like

Jordan Love coming off that injury. How does he look? Because the Bears do not have a good defense, but also the Packers do not have a good defense without a Micah Parsons. This one could be in the, you know, 38, 42 like San Francisco. Buffalo at Jacksonville, one and a half point favored bills over the Jaguars. This one is also really giving me pause because I think the Jags are so hot.

They are just Trevor Lawrence has hit his stride. I don't know what he has been doing differently, what he's been eating for breakfast, but it's been working. But again, it's still the bills and we can still never count them out and it's still Josh Allen. I think this is his time where he takes

the AFC. I think this is his moment. And so I'm going to give that to him with the bills win. Okay. I like that. Uh, I still have the bills as my team going to the Super Bowl. So I would have to agree with you there. San Francisco at the Philadelphia Eagles, the Eagles favored by four and a half. Listen, go birds. Okay. That's the, that's how I got my foot in the door. But you did work for the Eagles. I worked for them. That's how I got my foot in the door at the NFL. So they hold a spot near and dear to me in my heart. and especially it's a home game. The link's going to be rocking.

It's going to be so good. Philly fans are going to be on their worst behavior. So I have Jalen Hertz showing up and the Eagles winning. There is a playoff Jalen Hertz and there's a regular season, Jalen Hertz. I think San Francisco's defense can't stop the run that they'll get going against the run and then hit some big passes, kind of like Seattle did. Seattle didn't do anything special in the passing game, but they ran the heck out of the football. And I think Philadelphia has struggled to do that this year.

they'll get it together for this game. Okay, two more. The Chargers at the New England Patriots. The Patriots are three and a half point favorites on Fanduil. We've addressed that the Patriots had an easier schedule, if you will. However, they are number two for a reason. I think give them their just desserts. This is their game.

They take this and they run with it. Justin Herbert has been sacked so many times this season. The man just has no protection in front of. of him. I think if the Patriots show up on their best behavior and really put together a full cohesive game, I hate when people say this, but if they play complimentary football, it's going to be theirs to lose. So I'm going Brable and the Patriots. Also, I just think Brable's a heck of a coach. Right. It can't be all Drake May, though. Like, their running game, Romandre Stevenson, Trevion Henderson, depending on, you know, the health situation. But they're going to have to stop

Herbert defensively because the thing is that, well, he has no offensive line. He does have weapons. And if he could get the ball to them, they have a chance. As we saw what that looked like against the Minnesota Vikings, I kind of like the home team against somebody having to travel across the country there in New England. And I agree on Vrable. Last game is Aaron Rogers against the Houston Texans. This one to me feels like if Aaron Rogers survives this game, that it's very good for him much less wins it. This would be a game that I would pick the Texans. But if there's anything that might hold me back there, it's the fact that the Steelers get to play this game at home. If they were going to whatever they call the stadium now in Houston and playing on the

turf for a Daniel Hunter to just fly at the quarterback, but it does slow down the pass rush. I think a little bit that it's going to be most likely cold, choppy. I mean, I don't know. Where do you go with this one? I was honestly going to say the same thing. I think the home environment of a Pittsburgh Steelers playoff game is another one that you really can't replicate. And Rogers feeds off that. And yeah, the guys, we've been saying it all season. The guy's not agile.

He doesn't move fast. We still has eyes in his head and he can still make quick decisions and he can still curl the ball up there. So, you know, he's shown us that he's still got it. So I don't think it's right to just write him off here. And home crowd advantage, I think that really shows through. And a lot of these games, honestly, that's going to be a big thing. Atmosphere really does matter. I think the Texans defense is very, very good.

But, you know, Pittsburgh does get D.K. Meckheff back and probably will come down to whether they can protect C.J. Stroud because the Steelers don't cover well, but they do create a lot of pressure as Lamar saw the other night. So great matchups for this weekend. Great breakdown by you of what happened on Black Monday into Tuesday. And what we've got coming up, Maggie Robinson, every week here on the show, giving us a roundup of what's going on in the NFL. So thank you for your time. As always, Maggie, and we'll talk to you soon.

Thank you guys for having me. Football. Football. Thank you.