Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Full Show — March 9, 2026

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote reacted to the Bears adding defensive tackle Neville Gallimore, safety Coby Bryant and linebacker Devin Bush shortly after the NFL's legal tampering period opened.

The score. This hour is brought to you by Cars for Kids. The views and opinions of Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies, literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey. The sports thoughts of Rahimi Harrison Grody may change at any time. It's just sports.

Okay, thanks. Bye. Rahimi Harrison Grody, 10 to 2 on 1043, The Score. This is Mark Rody, Dan Reader, and DJ Moore, the greatest hit. It's an album. Playing the greatest rock and roll hits of all time. So let's start with greatest hit number one. Track one.

DJ Moore with Mark Grody after the Browns game. Number one. Did you need a game like that? Did I need a game? Yeah. For what? Just in terms of all of us talking about the lack of targets that you've had relative the past years?

I mean, if you say so, will they shut y'all up? Perhaps. It ain't going to shut you all right there. That was my jam right there. He knew what was going to happen. This song right here has been on the charts for a year now. Top five. I think it was the number one single for a record amount of weeks.

And that is this song. Here's how gratifying is it on WSDR the score. Number two. A gratifying is it when you win that battle and get the football thrown to you. What? How gratifying is it? Does it please you? Man, when you win your 101, it's a big play to be made.

because, you know, you just got that one person to beat. Once you do it, you got grass to run. Oh, your favorite song. What's our next song? It's a very popular song, but... How could anyone forget the famous, Does It Pleased Me? Featuring Dan Weeder. Number three.

Does it please you? I mean, is that so... It doesn't please me, but it's good to see. Good to hear him out there doing that, and that means he's doing gross. Does that please you? It does. This one was... Didn't make the charts, I don't think.

But it low-key, maybe, like, it's a favorite. Here is DJ Moore My Feet on 104-3, The Score. Number four. That's out of your control, right? Like, no, that's not out of my control. They, my feet. What do you mean? Like, what do you mean?

Like, so when I slipped, I already knew I was like, man. Now, that's what I call DJ Moore, volume 10. Lila Rahini, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio, 1043. The NFL negotiating period opens in 56 minutes. Does it please you? We've already got some breaking news.

And unfortunately for everybody, including especially our show, Max Crosby did get traded to the Baltimore Ravens. Max. Yeah, what happens now? Do we just, as a zombie horde, do we now just start saying, Tray like over and over again instead of Max. Trey. Trey. 30 million.

We want to give $30 million a year to Trey Hendrickson. Which is what his salary was last year with the Cincinnati Bengals. Also, the Bears did get a new center, but it is not Tyler Linderbaum. It is Garrett Bradbury. They traded for him from New England Patriots. And since he started every game for the Patriots, for the Patriots last year and played 100% of the snaps in the regular season, it's safe to say that that is the dude.

So if you were hoping to also mindlessly run toward Tyler Linderbaum, I don't think he's walking through that door either. So I went from Linderbom to, well, if not Linderbombeam, then maybe Tyler Biottoe, no, Tyler Biotish to the charges. Well, what about Connor McGovern? The bills don't see. No, four years, $52 million with the bills. Garrett Bradbury, who's he?

Oh, he was on the Patriots. he played in the Super Bowl, he's okay. And then there's a description of, well, the Vikings may have overdrafted him. Just what you want to hear. Now, has he been consistent? Yes. This reminds me of how we got to Bradbury,

it reminds me of any time I'm about to go on vacation. And I start looking at hotels, right? I'm like, okay, well, here's the most expensive hotel. It looks like it's the most luxurious. The ballout option? Yes, the ball out option. And I'm like, but, you know, I don't need to ball out. It's just me on this vacation.

I'm not with anyone else. Now, if I'm with other people, I will choose a higher caliber of hotel. But for me personally, I can go bare bones. But if it's a vacation, like a true vacation, not a work trip, a true vacation. Let's go ahead and up the ante just a little bit. So then it becomes a battle of how luxurious do you want to be and what is your price point? And can you get that negotiated down to something that you can be satisfied by the time you click, you know, payment. Lowered expectation.

I mean, kind of. I will say that with both, with Tyler Linderbaum, assuming he is destined for another team, unless there's some crazy surprise party that we are not aware of, there is the part of, yes, I would have been thrilled that the Bears had gotten Tyler Linderbaum. But there's also the part where it's like, okay, $25 million a year would have been a lot of money. It's the same thing with Max Crosby. would I have been celebrating that the Bears acquired Max Crosby? Yeah, I probably would have been,

and we all would have been excited about Max Crosby, getting to know him, all of that stuff. We'd have been unconscious. Yes, but then there's a part where, okay, don't have to give up your first round picks for the next couple of years and whatever else the bears would have given up to get Max Crosby. So there is, while I would have hit the yes button, and I know Ray Diaz would have done the same thing,

there is a little bit of relief when it comes to it too. hasn't, okay, there's more to spend in other places because there's a quantity issue here, too, in terms of what the bears need. It's like the marketing trick or the merchandising trick when you have three TVs in front of you, people tend to pick the middle price TV, even though perhaps the lower price TV may be a better quality. That's just what people usually do. I'm laughing at this because this encapsulates, I feel like, the feeling of the fandom. This is a guy named Joey Hansen on Twitter.

and he's in Vancouver. So Brad Biggs reposts an hour ago on Twitter, busy several days ahead in the NFL. Bears have brought linebacker to Marco Jackson and defensive end Daniel Hardy back. It is going to be very interesting to see how Ryan Poles attacks this.

After a trade for center Garrett Bradbury, is that an avenue to fill another hole? Joey Hansen posts this with this quote. I'm going to delude myself into thinking this is Biggs hinting at a Miles Garrett trade until something else happens. Two minutes later, Brad Biggs replies, I'm not.

Walla, welcome to today in the NFL for the Bears. I do love that social media exists for instances like that. And for today's like this. Like today is going to be such a fun day, I think, in terms of the emotional roller coaster that not just us, but all NFL fans are going to feel one way or another. And there will be, quote unquote, winners and losers. let's be honest, by the end of this week, about how you feel your team did in free agency. I think the thing that separates Bears fans right now in this moment is that you're riding the high of a division title.

And ultimately, even if you're not sure about the general manager himself, Ryan Poles, you trust Ben Johnson. So going back to the Bradbury acquisition, right, you have to say, Ben Johnson would not have signed off on this if he didn't believe he could be a functional part of this offense going forward. even if he's not as good as Drew Dalman. He's not going to insult anybody's football sensibilities. That's the way I look at somebody like Garrett Bradbury. What is true, though, is he's not as good as Drew Dalman. So it is a step down from the guy you had.

It is obviously a much cheaper option. If we want to talk about that and the $5.7 million against the cap that it was, would have been a higher number, obviously, for Drew Dalman. So it is one of those scenarios where it's not what you want. We can't sit here and tell everybody how important Drew Dalman was to the team and then say, well, Garrett Bradbury is just a good. He'll be fine for the next 17 games because he played for the Patriots. We should also remind you that this show is called Rahimi Harrison Grotie here on 104.

We're not just three disembodied voices. That's Mark Grotty, Marshall Harrison, Laylorah, Rahimi with you on this Monday. I also want to get back into the conversation surrounding Connor McGovern because, Mark, we talked about this last week. there was the discussion that was, oh, well, the bills hadn't even talked to Connor McGovern, and that was giving people this sliver of hope. Do you remember how skeptical I was about that? Yeah, I do.

That may just be because they think they're resigning him. Narrator, they resigned him. I joke about the not having a left tackle store, but the center store is also not exactly robust. It would not have, you're right about that. It would not have made sense from a Buffalo Bill's perspective. at that point. If you're doing what you're doing, if you got, you have Josh Allen, you just got DJ Moore, you know, what, you're going to take the center away from the guy now, unless they thought they could do better than that. But yeah, that made total sense for them. And that,

that was the, that was what happened. That was the chain reaction, like knowing the Bears not wanting to do the Linderbaum thing, the Adish, back to the Chargers. As Layla said, Connor McGovern, back to the bills, who's left, who's next on the chart. And that turned out to be on the Bears' depth chart of centers, it turned out to be Gary. Bert Bradbury. And I want people to understand. Like when I made the hotel reference earlier, the reason that came to my mind first

is because, yes, I did stay at a Holiday and Express all of last week when I was calling those Girls State Championship games. And here's the thing. People sometimes don't sign up for the points, right? But I sign up for the points. It's the IHG group. And even though I probably won't be on my own accord

staying at a Holiday Inn or a Holiday Inn and Express when I'm going on the vacation I talked about, I understand that I like a good Kempton, which is also an IHG hotel. The Bears had a Kempton they were staying in with Drew Dalman. And then the Kempton was occupancy was full. They can no longer stay there. But maybe this could be, I don't know, a Crown Plaza?

Like there's other levels above the Holiday Inn and the Holiday Inn Express that you could stay in. And if Ben Johnson says, I stayed at this one, it was great. I'm riding with Ben Johnson to the wheels fall off at this point. Well, also, is it as much of an issue now that Caleb Williams is in his, will be third year in the NFL, his second season under the Ben Johnson offense. I think consistency clearly was a priority for the Bears. And that's why the consistency that Garrett Bradbury has had, which is still an important piece of it to me,

when you consider that the year before, the Bears had over 20 different combinations at offensive line. When they had that many combinations during games to start, obviously that's more than the regular season. So is it enough that he needs to? to do the homework for you, or is it that this is a guy who clearly worked with Drake May very well? And now Caleb Williams will be in a second year of the Ben Johnson offense. And is it as important that you get somebody when there's a foundation established now?

Will he know enough to be able to fill in the gaps for each other? The blocking is the main question here. But there's still a level of consistency that seems to matter a lot to the bears. If you know, based on how he was available for New England last year, that guard center guard are still the same every Sunday. That's a key issue in this. And to the tune of only $4.7 million with the cap, I think that there are priorities the bears clearly have that we aren't talking about.

And, you know, for people who say, oh, well, pass rush is what they need, they spent money on the pass rush last year. This is life when you don't have a ton of money under the cap anymore. You don't get to always take the big swings you want. And that's what's happening. The thing that is interesting is the people who are saying pass rush over center. And I was not here for this discussion last week, right? And I know I've been one of the people banging the drum as a Maxinez to go get the best pass rusher you can get to add to this team so that the defense can be as good as the offense potentially.

But once you took the center away, my entire way of thinking changed. I was like, they better figure out center. And remarkably, they did it very quickly. did not take long. And so to understand that they addressed it, that tells you how much they value the importance of the center position on this team and making sure that the offense continues to trend up and not either, A, get stagnant, or take a step back. Well, the good news, too, about Garrett Bradbury sliding in is that you do have the two guys directly next to him, Joe Tuni and Jonah Jackson, who were both very good and both understand.

everything that is going on, both understand, even though Drew Dalman might have understood Caleb Williams a little bit more intimately because he was in all of those meetings, those guys can talk privately and on the record and in the locker, I'm on exactly what Caleb Williams needs. So there is that advantage to have had that. Is it ideal to not have Drew Dalman there? Of course not. We know how big it was, but to have those other two guards there still, that's going to help a lot. Well, and again, I think the expectation was set when the Bears had a lot of money to spend last year. They spent and got the best free agent on the market at center.

They were not able to do that this year. And that's where the retirement effect does hit the Bears in a sobering manner. But that's not to say that Garrett Bradbury can't get it done. It's just the reputation of who was available. The best free agents that are on the market this year is Tyler Linderbaum. So when that was the expectation last year, I think that's why this comes with a bit of a feeling like this, where I don't necessarily know if disappointment is the word, but it is concern.

It is concern because the last thing you want to do is drop off from anything you had happened last season. Right. I mean, like I said, we can't, we raved about what Dolman has done this year and his, the consistency. And when he left, we all talk, well, this is a problem. Yeah, it's a big problem because of how smart he was, what the stuff he took off the plate of Caleb Williams. We can't now go and just say, well, and he's a great, Bear Bear, he's a veteran. He's going to be fine. Like, he might be.

but we don't know that yet. It's also a big deal because not only what you talked about with the consistency of Dalman, but how traumatized Bears fans are from their experience with centers over the last you fill in the blank. The fans? What about me? I have a cover of this.

You're also, yes. You fall into that fan category when we're talking about this specifically. How long would you say Bears fans have been traumatized by inconsistent play at the center position? I mean, until last year, I guess it was probably five to seven years, something like that.

And so to have that, and you didn't even think about Center for a whole season with a second year quarterback who was playing his first year in a new offense, that is remarkable. The guy previous to Dolman, I guess, and he wasn't even a great at center, was Cody Whitehair, who was a really good bear, but a better guard, and he did have his issues at center, and then we can go through the litany of centers prior to that, but I don't feel like doing that right now. I mean, look at what happened with Coleman Shelton. Coleman Shelton ends up playing with the Rams and having a great year. So there's that part of it too.

You know, Coleman Shelton at the time was considered he was a guy, but I don't know that any of us considered him here the guy. No. But it was part of a greater issue with the dysfunctioning offense at the time. Well, look at him now. Yeah, it worked out. Good for him. Almost to a Super Bowl.

And the hardest division of football and the Seahawks were the only thing stopping. It was kind of a punchline. Like Coleman Shelton and Ryan Bates battling it out for center. I'll admit it. Like we're all like, who is this guy? Who is his lefty center? But he gets the last laugh. He's having a nice career now.

Speaking of that, guess who is set to expect to get a payday today? Larry Borum. Because he started so many games with Miami. So keep that in mind. What we're talking about today, you're going to have a lot of old friend alerts in the league. And I love the comments on the text on everybody chiming in. First of all, thank you for all your hotel references. I love that.

The ISG points. People got a million points out here. I do not have a million points. 847. I do like the fact that Bradbury worked with a rookie quarterback in Drake. That's a plus. And it's important to note also that Joe Tune and Bradbury have a relationship after being in college together and teammates. So I think these are all positive things that Ben Johnson is certainly aware of.

Brian Poles is aware of. And I think that's why even though Mark's like, I don't know what's going to have. I have a good idea of what I expect that. It should be fine. It should be. But we can't just say, yep, you got your Saturday. No big deal. Drew Dalman's gone and Greer Barber is here.

By, by, given the resume and given that he was available every snap, man, that, that means a lot to me. It's like the video, you know, the made something to me. Also, 219, we can call the new center gear bear. I like that. I like that. At least we got something down today. Three, two, one. Yeah.

I like it. I can't spell Bradbury without bear. Carebear stare. Carebear stare should have been more powerful in our lives. Hotel, hotel holiday inn. Say what? That's from the mob. Thanks, Mom.

We both were singing lyrics at the same. We saw that lyric, you and I both at the top, refreshed at the screen. Hotel, Hotel, Hotel, Holiday Inn. Why do corporations like Pitbull? Because he mentions everybody. Hotel, Motel, and Holiday Inn. That covers it. That's all the basis is.

that are covered. Corporate friendly. I can't think of a holiday in anymore because now I'm going to think of that cinnamon roll. The guy's face turns into a cinnamon roll when he's talking about staying at a holiday in Express. Oh, no. Yeah. Not a cinnamon roll, Marshall. If your face turns into a cinnamon roll, contact your doctor.

This is Rehemi Harrison Grotie here on 1043, The Score. We appreciate you joining us on this very busy NFL negotiating day. Just a reminder, the league year begins in two days on March 11th. We broadcast live from the scores Hyundai Studios brought to you by. your local Hyundai dealers. You heard Marshall Harris. You heard Mark Grotie. I'm Leila Rahimi. Our producers are Ray Dehaz, Tyler Beaterbaugh, Bryden Fryer helps us out. And our video team is deep. It is Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, Max Curtis, Cody Westerlind as well. You can text and call us because you are. 312, 644, 67. And you can join us on Twitch. Twitch.tv slash the score Chicago.

We're at the score Chicago. Our address changed. can still find us there. Our Twitch mob is up and chatting. And we are on YouTube at the score Chicago as well. This is a good day to at least keep one of those browser tabs open on us, if you know what I mean, because there will be news. So we will get the latest news and go over who we're about to meet, the gear bear. What does Matt Chatham think about that nickname? He covers the Patriots. He is a former Pat's linebacker as well. We always talk to him about Patriots Matter. So let's get to know the new guy. Next. Harrison Grody.

I'm not a fan of any team. I'm just a fan of being right. Middays 10 to 2 on 104 3, the score. What did the season mean to you? Yeah, just a lot. It's been a fun group to go work with, for sure. How surprising was this sort of offensive performance compared to maybe what you were expecting

after just the last of a week? Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Surprising is the right word. certainly didn't do a good enough job. It hurts, so try and learn from it and move on. That was Garrett Bradbury, who is the new center for the Bears after the Super Bowl

lost to Seattle. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 The Score. And for more on Garrett Bradbury, we go to our hotline and also we go to Twitch. Twitch.tv.com slash The Score, Chicago. That is where we find friend of the show. he is a former Patriots linebacker three-time Super Bowl champion. The owner of Rub Smok Love

Premium MeatRubs and Seasons Visit rubsmokelove.com. It is Matt Chatham. Matt, thanks for joining us. Great to be with you. I think for us, the first place to start is number one, you know, as you observing this Patriot season, which was successful outside of

that Super Bowl L, this is a guy in Garrick Bradbury who consistently was there. You know, every single snap of the regular season. He was there in every game. How much do you look to that consistency is something that we can look forward to here observing him with the Bears? I would say more of my experience from playing than the media years, there's always a type like Garrett on good teams. And that's usually the guy that, you know, maybe it was more heralded earlier in his career. First round pick originally

played for an extended period of time for that team, has made money in the league. And then another team gets him when it is apparent that he's still got, you know, tread on the tires. But he's not going to come in and necessarily make Pro Bowls or anything like that, but he's just going to be steady, dependable, and like you mentioned, he's going to play 17 games. So he's kind of the guy that, you know, oddly enough you see when a free agent comes to a place that has, you know, had a coaching change and they're sort of looking for their leaders, a guy from the outside that immediately was a podium guy right off the bat. You know, someone that the organization trusts enough to basically give their message

week in, week out and be the guy they put in front of the microphone. the cameras. So that's very telling with him as well. The other thing I would say about Garrett's performance during the year, other than the Super Bowl, which they got a lot of, a lot of flack earned for pocket pressure up the middle, he was a kind of guy we just didn't talk about much, which is usually a good sign. It's not like, oh, this one's, you know, they hit home run on this free agent or this one really stocked. Garrett was really consistent, but unspectacular. And I think that's at the price point we're talking in the stage of career. That's really what you're hoping you're getting in Chicago.

look at Gaird, I think we're all trying to figure out just how good he is because, again, last year the Bears went out and got the best free agent center that was available in Drew Dahlman, only got a gear out of him. And now you're wondering, okay, looking at his time in the NFL, what can we expect? Is it more of what we saw in Minnesota? Is it more of New England? But I think because of the guards who he's playing in between, he should be adequate. I don't know if adequate is the right word or not. Tell me what you see here. I always kind of cringe a little bit with sort of evaluation of players as if anything non-pro bowler is sort of a problem. And it really doesn't work that way, in my view, as long as you win your matchup, play after play, you're going to be a net positive.

And I think he's that kind of player. I think the other thing you also look for is when he hit the 29th and 30th year, those are the years in which you're logging games, right? It's different when a guy, you know, puts his first six or seven together, makes all the starts. and then all of a sudden later, you're going to miss a few games each year, and then now you're doing a new contract and go, oh, gosh, can he pull it back to how he once was? I think with Garrett, though, again, look at type beyond just his sort of demo. He's also a 6-3-300 guy, and we know in the NFL, the centers aren't always the biggest guys on the offensive line. So he's not going to be, I mean, if you're hoping Chicago to sort of dominate down the middle of the pocket,

as far as really pressing it forward and giving Caleb all the room in the world to work, he may not be that guy. You're certainly not going to run the ball between the guards, just blow people off the line. He's a 6-3-300, not a huge, no overwhelmingly powerful guy. But he always grades really well in Passpro. He fronts his guy up. And he's a great communicator. He runs things. He's going to be now playing next to Joe Tooney, who he's obviously very familiar with Joe from the NC State days. So he's just not going to screw up. And he's going to, by and large, do what you expect of him. But again, when you're not spending 10, you know,

like open market free agency kind of dollars in the center, 10, 10, 10, mill or more, something like that and you're not using a first round or second round pick on it. That's what you really hope to get. You know, you're going to get something stable, and I think that's what they've got. Yeah, I mean, he's affordable and he would have been affordable for New England, too. Is the only reason the Patriots are not keeping him? Is that Jared Wilson, whom they drafted in the third round, is either center? 100%. All he played in college was center, and then he came over, and because of the Garrett edition, it was sort of, Garrett was sort of the safety pick, right? And again, this is something you usually

see throughout the course of, you know, an NFL season or roster to roster, they have a high value guy they like as possibly the center, but center men have been a real problem two seasons ago for the Patriots. So Garrett's sort of like the insurance and not a super high dollar insurance at that state of his career. And then, you know, Jared Davis can come in and, you know, oh gosh, you looks like he maybe has the flexibility to play another position while Garrett sort of stabilizes things. But then you see, yeah, you know, Jared himself had a little bit of rough play. down the stretch. And you might just look at your off-season thing and go, hey, you know what, he may be more comfortable with his old position. And it's great to have a guy in a rookie

contract as opposed to even a not-so-expressive guy that came here as a free agent. So they also have another guy on the roster named Ben Brown, who was an undrafted free agent. And I know rosters love this when you eventually find a guy that his second and third season starts to sort of the competency, especially in times of other injuries where he steps in and plays at the same level, kind of give you the confidence that, hey, man, we don't need to go spend the first or a second or high dollar free agency to find our left guard. Maybe we have him and Jared can slide over to center. And that makes a guy like Garrett a little more expendable. So I think it generally isn't just, you know, it's fit on particular roster. Maybe more valuable

as another team than it is to your particular situation here. We're talking to Matt Chatham. He is the former Patriots linebacker, a three-time Super Bowl champion and friend of the show here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3, the score. And Matt, is somebody who would have to face an offensive line like this as a linebacker. you hear about that consistency like we mentioned, for example, or when you know that Caleb Williams and I brought this up too, we'll be going into his second season under Ben Johnson's offense, his third overall. You saw what Bradbury was able to do with Drake May. How hard would that be as a linebacker to just know you've got an experienced center up front, somebody who's got a lot of

at least a year more of experience now as a quarterback and that exchange potentially helping and just making it hard from a defensive standpoint? I think the thing that you you would want, you know, from the defensive side of the ball, looking back across, as a center that gets overwhelmed by push. You know, if any nose over him or any tackles, can pocket push and really put him into the pocket so you know you're always going to be flushed. But if you're solid up front and you don't get into confusion element, and I think that's something that when you want, I think Caleb Williams is probably more of the guy you don't

leave the pocket. You'd love to close the phone booth around him. So, you know, you just don't want a guy who blows calls, you know, from the center position, any kind of confusion about who's coming and who's not. That can often be on his plate. But again, I just don't think Garrett's that guy. I don't think Garrett's a guy who's going to make mistakes, and that's why he's so valued.

And he's the kind of guy that provided this continued health is with him. He could play until 35. He just has always sort of been that steady, always there, always doing the right thing. Never dominating, but the kind of guy you'd love to have on your roster. Making the calls, Matt, is something that we talked about immediately. When Drew Dalman is gone, tires, you're like, well, is Caleb going to have more responsibility? What do you see as the progression of that, the quarterback taking more responsibility for the offense? Is that something? Because

you've seen it with same quarterback class, Drake May. When do quarterbacks generally take that step and how important is that? Or maybe it's not as important as we think it is. Yeah. That's stuff for me, from my offensive line and friends. Of course, that's not my universe. But it tends to be more, it tends to be more from a coordinator standpoint. Coordinators often will have systems that that dictate that the line of the ones are going to make that call. They'd rather have the center make that call and put more on the quarterback's plate.

There's others that expect the quarterback to be a doctorate. And he's going to call every part of the segmented portion in a call. And he needs to know the front and pointing out the mic and turning protections and sending backs all on his own. And some don't make them do that. So I don't necessarily say, hey, once you've progressed a certain point, then the quarterback should. Some systems just simply don't ask that of it.

quarterback ever. You know, you may go through 15 years in the league and never have had to do that. I think Cam Newton has spoken about this extensively where Cam had gotten here late late in his career and had never done that before. It wasn't because he hadn't progressed. I mean, he'd been an MVP. So it's just, I think it's more system dependent upon, you know, how much they want to ask the quarterback to do that. Everybody okay in New England? Has everything sort of settled? I mean, I don't even know like the reaction, like having you lose the Super Bowl. You got to the Super Bowl, which is awesome. We weren't expected to win it. But how's everything? in New England?

I think our bigger concern now is snowfall. You know, two feet. We don't get this here, right? So I worked for a couple seasons at the Big Ten Network. So I was here at Nesson and I would fly midweek to Chicago all the time. And I'm telling you the difference between, hey, it's kind of cold here. It's, you know, 20. Maybe it gets down to 10 occasionally.

And you get a little snowfall between getting off that plane in Chicago and having to be maybe 10 or 15 degrees cooler and then much more snowfall that stays for four and five months. That's not something we experience here. So, yeah, I mean, we played in the Gravy Bowl. I mean, it was all extra. Yeah, that's what I wondered. Yeah. Yeah, we're just, you know, we're entertained to be here.

It was great. It sucks. They didn't finish it off, but it's one of the youngest rosters in a league, brand new head coach, sky's the limit. Hey, what's next? Well, for us, next was snow. And that's probably the part we're more disappointed. Next, snow.

And a bunch of money under the cap for the Patriots, which makes a day like today really exciting. DJ Moorg, though, did get traded to the division. You know, there's that. piece of it as well in Buffalo. Yeah, interestingly enough, I mean, that Stefan Diggs, I would say Stefan and DG are comparable players. They're really intermediate route runners that are pretty efficient, catch the ball well. But then when that last team made the move, they, the role had diminished a little bit. So maybe there's a resurgence opportunity there for D.J. I don't know, but I think, you know,

the way this would be digested locally is, okay, the bills didn't go out and sort of spend top of marketing get an air quote, you know, number one kind of thing. They got a guy who's had many many thousand yards seasons. He can be that kind of player, hasn't been recently, so it's more a question mark of where he'll be. I think generally in this division, if, you know, you don't see sort of that go get the top dollar free agent once free agency, you know, window opens, then that's probably seen as, okay, well, they're not swinging for the fences. I think that would have also been digested that way here if they'd have retained Stefan Diggs and not tried for something, you know, a little bit younger, maybe a higher, higher, you know, higher or ceiling part of his career now.

So I think we're all kind of shopping in the same neighborhood right now until we see otherwise. Well, Matt Chapman, always great to talk to you. Matt Chatham, the former Patriots linebacker, three-time Super Bowl champion. Matt Chatham is also the owner of Rub Smoke Love premium rubs and seasonings available on rubsmoklov.com. There is gold bark, beefcake, and gold bark bold. Ooh, bold. Yeah, so we enjoy checking that out as well.

and Matt is on Twitter at Chatham 58 in case you want to check them out there. Thanks as always for joining us, Matt. Thanks, guys. That is Matt Chatham, the former Patriots linebacker. Coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, the score. As much as we've talked about Center, as much as we've talked about how nobody under safety right now is under contract for next year. Brad Biggs brought up something else that I wasn't even thinking about.

So let's think about it together next. Rahimi Harrison Grody. We are the best show in this town to have the coach and or quarterback sit right here. Because we're here for a good time. We are here for a good time. We're fun. We're funny. We're serious sometimes.

Sometimes we cry. Sometimes we laugh. Like, this is perfect. If you wanted a high chance of a drink spilled all over the studio, we are definitely repeated. Middays 10 to 2. Maybe we're the show for you. On 1043, the score. See, there it is.

Pitbull tells you, which hotels he stays at, all of them. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 The Score, and this is NFL negotiation period day. It starts in just under 15 minutes, about 14 and change, to be exact, 13 and change. So before 11 o'clock, we're also trying to address which positions need attention for the bears. And that's why it surprised me to hear Brad Biggs this morning on with Mully and Haw. Ask about cornerback. Because with Jalen Johnson playing under an extension, Kylea Gordon playing under an extension.

And theoretically, those two being in a physically better place than they were last season. And then also just having backups, as opposed to say safety, where nobody's under contract right now. I did not think of corner as something the Bears needed to address. It's not high on my list. It may not be high on a list. And I understand it because, hey, we're the station that's been on that Maxenisa train. and we've been the station for the last four seasons now.

It's been what's your biggest concern about the Bears? It's edge rusher. It's getting to the quarterback. It's affecting the opposing quarterback. So I get it as much as anyone. At the same time, I understand the realistic situation of you can never have enough edge rushers and you can never have enough corners, enough people who can affect the passing game.

And the depth is important in understanding with free agency, yes, you've got guys coming back theoretically. They have their two starting corners. house, whether it's Tyreek Stevenson, opposite of Jalen Johnson, or go down the list. But I think it is a concern because you've got to have the depth. Last year, if nothing else, was very much an example of why depth at that position is so crucial. Yeah, well, and Kyler Gordon needs to be mentioned in that as well. You have two fifth round picks from different years. I don't know what the story is going to be with Zay Frazier. If he is going to be good to go, but maybe he could be your

surprised Nishon Wright if they don't bring him back. Similar build, big, big, tall, slim guy like Nishon Wright. You have Terrell Smith. That's the other fifth rounder from the same draft as Tyreek Stevenson. And hopefully, I mean, I'm assuming that we're going to get Jalen Johnson back that was previous to last year. But when he came back, and I get it, he was playing injured and he wasn't himself. He was not very effective as a cornerback for the Bears when he played last year. Well, and that's the thing.

Brad Biggs doesn't say this for no reason. He's saying this because if he's thinking about it, therefore we should be too. And that's why on paper it looks like the bears would be okay at corner. The Zay-Frazier thing is a concern. That was a fifth round pick that the bears devoted to him. And we know that that's a round that has seen some fruit for the bears and other players. Darnel Mooney, somebody we talked about last week. That's a good example.

You can get value and quality in that round. So when he's brought up, number one, what can we expect out of a guy who missed all of last season, even though Al Harris was very strong and positive about him? Number two, are we overestimating how much ground and what we think that Jalen Johnson and Kyler Gordon can cover? And then the Bears theoretically should be okay with having some of these guys turn into free agents or at least be up at a certain time. I'm looking in the direction of Tyreeks Stevenson because they're okay with four safeties being up at the same time. So I think what that means is where is Nashan Wright going to go?

And is some of the bear's salary cap money that they're freeing up not just to get a safety or two or three or four, but also to perhaps pay what we think might be in the neighborhood of five to seven million that's been estimated for what Nishan Wright could get after the season he had? It's crazy to me because when you talk about Nishan Wright specifically and the fact that they had him on what, a million dollar deal this past season, the idea that he would get this 700% increase in salary and you'd be the ones willing to pay it. Understanding that that's almost saying, hey, we're going to put way more money into secondary compared to defensive line where you told us you were okay.

Now, if the injuries are the same, guys being out for the season, we're talking about a torn Achilles, we're talking about other injuries to big-time players, Diobdingbo, then at the same time, shouldn't you expect that Terrell Smith and Zay Frasers to also, stepping in that same way that you're expecting Diodinga to somehow contribute to the defensive line? Well, yeah, that's just it. Like I'm thinking about those guys.

All the guys we've just mentioned, Tyreek Stevenson, Zay Frazier, Terrell Smith, and I'll even get into Deshaun Wright. The Tyreek Stevenson thing, he has run hot and cold with the bears since he walked in to Hallis Hall. He walked, and I covered his first training camp, and it was assumed he was a second round pick that he would be a starting cornerback in that year, and it would be no problem. But then all of a sudden, we're watching out there, and there's Terrell Smith, who was drafted in the same class as the fifth rounder, who we mentioned. It's like, wow, it appears that there's a real competition between the two.

And maybe that was just because Tyreek Stevenson needed somebody to keep them honest out there. Don't get too cocky. And then we know what happened the year previous to this with the debacle in Washington. And even this year, he had a really nice run of games this year. And then towards the end, it felt like they did. didn't trust him anymore. So it's been a wild tenure for Tyreek Stevenson. So for me to think that they trust him, I would say they don't. We don't know about Zay Frazier. It looks like he could be a good product, but he obviously was dealing with some issues. And then that brings me back to

Terrell Smith, who has been injury-prone, and they, from the beginning, haven't necessarily even though he's got a decent amount of snaps in his career, they have not seen him as a slam dunk starter. And then lastly, Nashon Wright, does this mean that maybe they do feel they need to pay him or that they're about to lose Nishon Wright to free agents because they don't want to overpay a guy who had his first real year in the NFL and there's no precedent before that.

I mean, Nishon Wright was in a starting role when he was on the Cowboys. He was expected to be a part of that defense and Al Harris was there at the time. And then when that changed, he ends up going to Minnesota where he said he just hoped to make the team and not the practice squad. But

Terrell Smith may be the keep part of this. He was out for the season last year, suffered that injury very early on. That was preseason. What was the latest time? We even had a timetable, an update on Terrell Smith when it came to his health and getting back. Because at the time, don't you remember, we thought that that mark was a big loss. Yeah, a huge. Like he felt like, and that Terrell Smith, an up-and-coming player on the verge of maybe being a starter. Like he was getting more and more snaps in the place of Tyreek Stevenson. And now I'm kind of like, I'm not really sure where the team is with Terrell Smith.

Well, and also Tyreek Stevenson, guys. Like when you consider, we were trying to figure out, was there a disciplinary issue that maybe happened that nobody knew about? And that's why he wasn't seeing snaps toward the end of the year, especially in the playoff games. And remember, he did make a difference in the game once he got in? Yeah, that was, that was peculiar how they started the, I'm trying to remember exactly which playoff game that was, where he didn't.

Bay. Yeah, it was Green Bay where he doesn't start the game, where also at the nickel, Kyler Gordon was not used as much early, early, early on. But they both came on as the game went on and had more. You remember Dennis Allen, and this is why I was like, is it a disciplinary issue? He came out flatly and said, listen, Tyree Stevenson can be a factor, but Jaylon Johnson and Sean Wright are just playing better. And at the same time, he made sure to include that Stevenson was still, quote, unquote,

in the right mindset, so he was available and would be a part of plans going forward, just a more limited role. Yeah, well, we need to figure out if it's even, with positions open, we need to figure out how much the bears may think that that factors in with cap space, but I don't know if it's enough to cover every need they want at the level they need. Join me, Leila Rahimi, next Thursday, March 19th from 7 to 9 p.m. An Old Crow Smokehouse in Wrigleyville for the finals of Bud Light's official mini-hoops mania. Hang out with Bud Light and the score as one winner heads to Vegas.

That's right, Vegas for many hoops, for a chance to win $10,000. That's Thursday, March 19th, starting at 7 at Old Crow in Wrigleyville. Coming up next, the window will be open. So let's open the negotiating window together. We will examine what's going on and also tell you what our top priorities for the bears are. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 The Score. The score. Open the gates.

There's plenty for everyone. No need to panic. There's plenty for everyone. There's plenty. Don't stampede. No need to stampede, sir. It's not even open yet. We came back early.

We've got 10 seconds. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5. There comes. I like a countdown. 3. 2. 1. Happy legal tampering.

period negotiation window pretend like teams didn't talk to each other and people didn't talk before this doesn't it feel different? Wait, wink, nod, nod. How about that? Doesn't it feel different? I can't believe you just called it the legal tampering period. You hate that.

Why do you think I did it with a mock countdown mark? Oh, okay. It's called tone. This news hit just a few minutes ago and this is important. This per Ian Rappaport, the 49ers are now said to be open to trading Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams sources say if the situation doesn't get revolved

resolved. A resolution has not been easy and Williams is reportedly frustrated with the process. He is due $32 million in salary with a 38 million plus cap number. Because there's no such thing as a left

tackle store. 37 years old. I think I'd prefer to go to the Taylor Decker store of left tackles. Yeah, did Taylor Decker declare himself available? He posted. He posted and basically said,

hey, I'm out here. You guys are looking at this all wrong. We could just call up Jason Peters. Get him involved. Get him off the fishing boats. Aging. Jason Peters, who told us more about the bears that year than the Bears coaching staff did? Listen, I'm just saying, you could coax him out of I'm trying to remember if he

officially retire. Maybe not. Check those paper. Does anybody ever retire anymore? For the record, if Alexei Ramirez can play in the World Baseball Classic at 44, perhaps Jason Peters can still play in the NFL. That's amazing. Yeah, it was amazing when he came back like he did to the Bears at the age of 40, and he was pretty effective.

We need Jason Peters. He delivered. He was magical because he still had elite skills and still was in good shape and also didn't care. So then he just told people what was going on. The Taylor Decker thing, he requested his release. because he was asked to take a pay cut from $18.2 million. He is 32 years old, by all accounts, still above average as a left tackle, not considered great or elite anymore if that's where he was at one point in time,

but that's what you're looking at. So there's some expensive, but you do have to take care of left tackle, and you must take that seriously, even though they got away with Theo Benedetti, it last year and Ozzy Tripilloing it last year and to varying degrees of success. Yeah, I see that. He's very holiday inexpressy. And I don't mind a holiday and express. I had a refrigerator and a microwave. So I knew I was living large. You spent a long time downstairs. You did. We lost a lot of good midnight out there.

I get it, man. I know the downstate world, man. I got you. Do you get that complimentary breakfast in the morning? Some of those eggs in you? face turn into a cinnamon roll. Make yourself a waffle and a little waffle iron. What I did was grab fruit and leave with the fruit. I don't know if I'm even allowed to do that, but the fruit was there. I was like, I'm going to have it not for breakfast, but for a snack later on. I think they know who you are.

They probably knew you were a guest and they were cool. Don't ever look like you're not supposed to be at the free hotel breakfast. That's how you give yourself away, right? If you look both directions and then run off with some waffles, that might show your guilt. Yeah, just confidence. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotia on 104, 3, the score. And while we're waiting for some news and we're absorbing more from the NFL as this day is one where you're going to find out which teams want whom. For example, where's Tuatung of Iloa going?

Reports say that Atlanta is interested in his services. That would make sense. We're going to get a lot of those details. But just like we brought up Corner in our previous segment and Brad Biggs telling us essentially you should pay attention to Corner. that asks the question then what is your biggest priority for this team for me last week as of Tuesday at three o'clock it was get a new center that became number one that seemingly has been addressed with the trade for garret Bradbury so now it is more so than safety even for me because I feel like there are a lot of people available who else is playing linebacker for your team

I'm not nearly as worried about linebacker some of these other positions just because I feel like, first of all, linebacker while being important, because every position on the field is important, it's less important than defensive line and it's less important than secondary. Until you have like three dudes available. And I guess if Ruben Hippolyte is going to be somebody who they can depend on, despite being a healthy scratch when he was available and then injured when he played, Noah Sewell's out with the torn Achilles. T.J. Edwards had a broken leg. You're hopeful he's available for when the season begins, but I'd imagine there's a ramp-up period there.

Now, Noah's brother, Neffi, is also on the team, but the DeMarco Jackson thing was big for me. You know, the fact that the Bears got that business out of the way, I don't necessarily know. Is he somebody who you trust to start? Like, Mark, what do you think? That's a great question, and I just wonder if they're going to give it a try.

They're just going to let him loose, that there was enough of a sample size with, obviously was very good on special teams. He was, I believe he was special teams, or not special teams. I believe he was defensive player of the week for the 15 tackle game he had against Pittsburgh. I mean, they had a success. Like, Aman Ogbong Mamiga had a couple of, or at least one really nice game. It may have been the same game that DeMarco Jackson played well.

And so they did have, like left tackle, like patching it together and making it work, they were able to make linebacker work. I was really surprised that you were kind of, either one of you were questioning DeMarco Jackson is signing. I think that's an excellent signing. Well, does he start? Start. Yeah, I think he will start because, as you said, he was the NFC defensive player the week, and it happened in that 31 to 3 went over the Browns. We have breaking news here on the score. This is from Tom Pelliserro for everybody

wondering what was going to happen to the real blankie for Caleb Williams. Alamede Zakias, well, according to Tom Pelliserro, he is headed to the Falcons. That per sources, seven years after making Atlanta's roster, he is headed back. So that sounds like that is what is going on when it comes to Alamede Zakias. All right, he can't hurt you anymore. So you don't have to worry about Alameda Zakeas on third down or not blocking. Yeah, so seven years after making Atlanta's roster as an undrafted free agent, Ozzie is back in the ATL.

Wow, Tom. It's a lot of acronyms there. on a deal negotiated by B. Parker of Vayner Sports. So farewell, Alamedez, Aes Akees. I thought he would be better. I thought, like, 39 catches 313 yards last year for the Bears. It wasn't all bad with Alameda Zakias. A lot of us thought I remember thinking in training camp just watching those two.

It seemed like Caleb and Alam, like he would have been the safety valve, and he was at times, but never quite what I had thought. But those are the types of guys that you're going to be bringing in now. having some pretty good depth there right now. You know what Alameda Zakias ended up being, and I'm completely good with it, and it was functional, and it worked for a time, and he served a purpose. He was Caleb Williams' training wills and Ben Johnson's offense. Okay, so you said that linebacker's not your priority.

No, linebacker is, like, I feel like they will find what they need at linebacker. I'm not as concerned about them being able to find a linebacker. My priority is still up front. Like, give me an edge rusher. I think two things. What do you do when you've already spent a lot of money on it, though? I think you draft. I think you draft.

And that's, you know, from a free agent standpoint, yeah, you got to sign the safety. I'm hoping it's Kevin Byard, two years, 10 per. That should get the job done. If it doesn't, now, and this is why it can grow to be a bigger deal than what I think it is. I think they're absolutely going to get their edge rusher help from the draft more so than free agency. Not that they won't sign someone in free agency, but let's be honest, it's not going to be Trey Hendrickson, I don't think.

May I throw some names at you, Ms. Marshall? Yes. For possibilities, and this is a guy in my work going through all of the defensive ends and interior defensive linemen drafted from 20 to 32, which I did over a couple of weeks ago, one of the names that popped up was O'Dafé Owe, who was drafted by Baltimore at number 31 overall back in 2021. Last year he was traded mid-season but did have

7 and a half sacks in 12 games for the Chargers. He is young, 27 years old, 30 sacks in five years in his career. He has not been an overwhelming guy but he's a guy who can seven to 10 sacks in a season. That's

one name that you should keep an eye on. I think he exactly, and he was brought up to me probably about a month ago by Clay Harbor. He is exactly the type of guy that I could see being functional with this team under the employment of Dennis Allen as he sees fit because he has a certain versatility to him. And what he was able to do in that short stint with the Chargers in that system tells me, okay, maybe Baltimore didn't get enough out of him. And now Dennis Allen can get what he needs. I mean, he had 10 sacks in 2024.

I like him as a guy because, as you said, he's young. he's got enough experience that now maybe he's ready to take the next level with a payday on the line. I like this. Is he dialed a dang well then? No, no. Maybe ready to take the next step. Your top four, your top four cap hits now. Armante's sweat edge at 25.085 million.

Jalen Johnson, your corner at 25. Joe Tuny is at 21 and a half. Dio, another edge is at 20 and a half. Then it's Jonah Jackson. Let's do six. at 19 and a half for the cap hit and then it's Grady Jarrett at 18.9.

So that's why, yeah, to a man, if money is not an object from a football standpoint, edge rusher is something that the bears need. But I just, I go back to the concept of

how much does Ryan Poles after spending all that money think edge rusher is what they need? Well, I'll say this. This is why Adafé O.A is not Dio Dingbo. I don't think this is as much a theoretical,

let's take the pressures and try to convert that into sacks. He's had sacks. He had seven and a half sacks, not a projection like it is with the Chargers. He also has a double-digit sacks season under his belt. You know who doesn't? Diodeo Dingo. Wait a second. Was this Ian Cunningham's first actual order of business other than saying Kirk Cousins wasn't

going to be there? Was his first siding a lot of a day is the keyist? Makes sense, right? Especially when you tie in that connection. I didn't even tie in the connection, but I guess, I guess, yeah. Bear South. Bear South, Atlanta Bears. You know what that tells me is that Ian Cunningham was one that said,

hey, hey, Ryan, hey, man, I want a Lamedez-A-Chias. If you're the Bears and you're trying to petition to the NFL, and you're like, oh, yeah, if Ian Cunningham didn't get a promotion, then why did he sign a Lomede Zakias for his first order of business? Huh? But who in their right mind would do that. Yeah, well, look who he signed. A Lomeda-A-Chius.

If that doesn't say give us two picks, I don't know what. Ian Cunningham is about to destroy the Falcons. No, I'm kidding. I'm joking. I will say this. I will say this. I rest my case. Alameda DiCiaeus is a lot cheaper than, I don't know,

Alec Pierce, who just got a deal, according to Tom Pelliserro, of four years, $114 million. Yeah, it was never going to happen here. 84 million guarantee. Alec Pierce. We have conflicting numbers. Uh-oh. What do you have?

Showdown, according to Adam Schefter, it's 116. According to Pat McAfee. So a two-year... According to... I hate when you guys fight over other people's information. No, I'm not fighting at all. She could definitely be right. I'm just saying, like, this is what Tom said.

Yeah. So it's interesting because... The way the payday comes out, those numbers, is like, did you get it from the team, or did you get it from the agent? And with Tom Pellazero, he got it straight from the agent. Because it says, C.J. LeBoy and Michael Swenson of Wasserman Football.

So the Wasserman Agency. You want a few other defense events to play with here? But I also want your priority because you haven't given your show. Oh, we're doing the priorities. You know what it is right now? What I need to hear today, and I think I made a prediction that we hear this today, somewhere along the line, whether it was on podcast or wherever, is, you're going to bring back Bayard. Safety right now, as we sit here today, that is absolutely what I want to know about right now. For Byard, who, when he first came here to the Bears, because you got to look at this relatively, two years, $15 million.

Now you would expect that he would make 10 to 12 million dollars per year, probably a two-year deal. You say, well, he's 33 years old. Do you really want to do that? The guy's never missed a game and he just had what you could say was his best year yet in the NFL. So I want to know what they're doing. Is there any chance? I haven't heard a thing about Jaquan Brisker personally. I've heard nothing.

He's expected to get maybe a three-year $30 million deal. So that would be actually similar to Byrd, but probably the extra year. whereas maybe Byer, because of the age, would not get the benefit of the longer contract. So we just went from the line outward on the Bears' defensive unit. Yeah. You said edge rusher. I said linebacker and you said safety. And now I'll say this.

When I say edge rusher, I'm talking about their overall priority. Like this is what needs to be addressed. If we're talking about just what should they have done today, I'm with Grody. Kevin Byrd is the move today. Considering how important it was to this Dennis Allen defense, then I could even make the argument for it being a general priority too for the Bears to make sure you have a safety. And I know it's not ideal to have your safety be one of your best players. You don't want that, but maybe that's just the way it is. So wait, which is your top priority then?

I'm saying edge rusher is still my top priority, having someone who can actually get to the quarterback. But at the same time, in free agency, I expect them to address to address. Rest safety first, and Byard should be the call. Unless someone's out here paying in $15 million a year, you should be able to get Kevin Byer to come back. Okay. So, yeah, I went with linebacker because that was my priority of filling the space. Yeah.

So I'm still sticking with that being my priority. Filling the space is absolutely edge rest. However you wanted to find it. I assume the bears are going to sign safeties. I think there will be safeties on the bears next season. I can see them bringing back Elijah Hicks, too, unless Elijah Hicks hasn't signed with anybody. I mean, he's a very good special team's player.

Elijah Hicks. I know people don't hear a lot from him, partly my fault. Great locker room guy, great dude, very well liked, and they're strong player. You don't want him as a starter at safety necessarily, but he's a good guy. I wouldn't be shocked if they brought him back for depth. He's a details guy. Like, he does what's asked. Absolutely. He has the specialty of special teams, and he can get out on special coverages and stuff like that.

Yeah, he'll have a long NFL career just because of that. Some more secondary news, and this is where the cornerback discussion kind of comes into play for me. So we got the news earlier today about the Jacksonville Jaguars agreeing to a deal with Monterec Buster Brown of three years and 33 million. The price on corners is going up. The Raiders reportedly, according to Ian Rappaport and quarterback Eric Stokes, have agreed to a three-year $30 million deal. He's getting $20 million guaranteed. That is not a cheap position by any means in the league. So that's why I keep this top of mind when Brom,

Brad Biggs said that. So then that's 10 million per, right? So that that, that sounds about right for a corner. Yeah. So I think, you know, when you consider Jalen's a $25 million cap hit. You know, it's another reason to I just thought of this, too, like to staying in the secondary, is that Ryan Poles has said, I've heard him say in various interviews at various podcasts and maybe even here the last two years is that he is, when asked what the hardest position to evaluate is, what would you guys say? Ryan Poles says a slam dunk, no doubt about it, the hardest position in the NFL to evaluate. What would you guys say? I would say secondary. Yeah. Safety.

Safety. I would have said corner maybe. She says safety, hands down, is the toughest bit, which makes me think even more we're going to get information on either Kevin Byard or if they have to go to Guantzker. Because if it's such a tough science in the draft, then I don't think that Ryan Poles is going to. I mean, of course you have to still draft safeties, but he would prefer to go with the known, the known, than the unknown from Bears. Oh, the known. The known. So that's what it is.

That's what it is. Are you living in it? Are you coughing in your information? Oh, my goodness. So much so that you can implement it with a game plan and you know your coach gave you the right game plan. Wow, this is a big day. Mark the tape right there. You know what?

This is so big. That is amazing. So you're living in the known and I agree with you. and that's the thing about Kevin Byard. Don't forget, that's the man he name-checked when he was first made available talking about the off-season. He's like, oh, yeah, we'd like to have these safety... Kevin Byrd, certainly going to have a conversation with him about coming back.

And then thanks to our name of Bears Receiver who disappointed you segment when everybody started to bring up on the names, I did laugh because George McCasky named checked Darnell Mooney and it doesn't always work out the way you want. Also, to the person 708 who texted us on the text line, Mike Evans to the Bears. Man, I wish, but I don't know that that's happening. Mike Evans, in case you didn't know the long time,

TAPA, Buccaneers receiver, 12 seasons with the team. He's expected to become a free agent as well. We have a lot more to come here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3, the score on this negotiating period day. You can talk to dudes day. I think, Marshall, you brought up a good rule change that as we go around the NFL and kind of get into some of the more notable moves that have been made so far. I think that part of it also affects it.

So let's get into just some of the details. And yes, more moves that could lead to Bears' moves or not. Next. Rahimi Harrison Grody, Midday's Tyndall 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043, the score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody. All three of us with you today, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Lailah Mimi and Ray Diaz, who just had the best announcement of how to put the negotiating window that is open. I'll present to you, but I have to ask you a question first.

How are you guys feeling in there? Is it cold? Because the negotiating window is wide open. Oh. You know it's bad about that? When you said, is it cold? I was like, I guess it's not because I took off my hoodie. So usually I am freezing in here, and it's not cold. Football dad jokes.

I liked the one you said. earlier to Taney, do you feel the breeze? Oh, that's how I said. I couldn't even remember how I said it the first time. Do you feel the breeze? And then I was like, please say that on the air. And then more things happened. So now we're getting a report from,

is it Tom Pelliserro guys about Kenneth Walker going to the Chiefs? Okay, I had heard that as a potential. Ian Rappaport. Thank you. And I actually think that this is notable for a couple different reasons. That is a marked

definition there. Who did they get to be their offensive coordinator? Eric P. Enemy, former Bears running backs coach. Then they go out and get the Super Bowl MVP. It's not quite a, it's not quite blank them kids or blank them picks, but it's definitely blank them passing yards. Like they're going to run the football in Kansas City. Well also because Casey hadn't been, wasn't Casey last year, you can't get away

with who do they draft? Who are they going to make great? now that we don't know anything about. Now they're like, yeah, we need a brand name back here. And so they got a brand name. So a brand name back there. I love this right now because as we see it kind of come together for these different teams, you're like, ooh, that team's taking a step back. Oh, that team might be back where they were.

Ooh, that team was already good. Why are they getting better? Ooh, that team is going to run the football. That's what I see happening. Like, that is a new day for them in Kansas City. Yeah, I'm going to get after you ass. Pretty much. That sounds like what happened. Man, you know what?

Eric Studezville, he better be entertaining, man, because... The enemy was. From one ear to another. It's a lot of pressure for Studezville. I don't think we're going to get that sort of stuff from him. Maybe. What about Press Taylor now? He's got a lot of pressure in the press conferences now that Declan Doyle is gone,

and Declan Doyle has Max Crosby. Oh, man, yeah. You can make the arguments that Declan Doyle got a job. from the work that he did in front of the media and answering every single question well and intellectually well. This is a time where I want to just point out one difference between this negotiating window

of two days versus years past. So every year we get new bylaws and resolutions. One of the resolutions proposed by Pittsburgh, the Steelers, has been accepted. So this is resolution G1A, officially from the NFL. Yes, you could say that in this context. For one year only, that means this is a one-off,

this permits clubs to have one video or phone call with no more than five prospective unrestricted free agents during the two-day negotiation period permits clubs to make travel arrangements with such players upon agreeing to terms. So you can get some FaceTime with these guys if they're trying to figure out where they want to go and you're trying to figure out if you want to bring them in.

But I think it's going to be more of a recruiting call, because you've obviously done your due diligence at this point. Well, it's also just them softening the, because really what's the penalty? If you're not going to punish anybody for this or you're going to be selective as to how you do it, or you're even going to be like the NBA where they're like, ah, tapering only applies to the heat and the bulls.

Wait, why? Why is that a thing? So if that's the case, then they might as well actually officially allow some productive conversations to occur. The better question is, does anybody actually spend an hour? Because when we're getting news minute by minute like this within the first half hour of the window being open,

what is there left to do with some of these guys? And Mark, I want to know what you think, too. I sincerely doubt a lot of these conversations even go an hour. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, maybe 20 minutes or so, get on the calls and make sure you're on the same page and then move on. But, yeah, no, I agree.

And I think it's, I mean, something that's being done, already, they may as well make it out front and make it legal and make it real because if everybody's doing it, then you might as well make it out in the open. I mean, it's kind of like the situation with Connor McGovern, for example. So the latest report that we had had prior to the weekend was the bills had not conversed with him. And then suddenly, well, he's resigning with the two. Four years, 52 billion.

That's kind of how I see this part of this year going. I think the conversation when the govern specifically, as Grotie just mentioned, was like, oh, by the way, four for 52. Okay, yeah, yeah. I know I haven't heard from you in two weeks, but that works. Well, when you assume you're going to get a deal done, too, perhaps that's a reason there hadn't been a lot of discussion. And I feel like that's happening right now. For example, one of the texts we just got out on our text line, do you think that if the Eagles release Jalen Carter, would the bears consider signing him with his dysfunctional past?

They're not releasing. Why would he release? Hey, hey, guys, like right now? And all actually, I know you're laughing, Leila, but they, right, presently, the bears may not have the proper infrastructure to take care of him. Still, I'm joking. Of course, if you could get him, you get him. But the defense is kind of not there at the moment. Okay.

So the original report was from Mike Florio, who said it was a report that the Eagles have received trade calls that doesn't mean he's getting released. Shoot or shoot. People, yeah, that's, that's really, you know what, right? Dare to dream. Dare to dream. It's shooter season is what it is. Not just for us, you know, treating this, like, the store where we have unlimited funds, like we're on a shopping spree that we won, the old service merchandise shopping spree

at the end of Will of Fortune, circa the 1980s. We're not living in those times anymore. So let's fast forward to 2026 and look at the reality of limited resources. Do you know what his fifth year option sounds? is. Just so you guys are aware, his fifth year option salary, because of his Pro Bowl appearances, which I like Jervon Dexter, but he has not had them for people who say that Jervon is better than Jalen Carter, which is also strange to me. His fifth year option salary has spiked to 27.127 million. So almost 27.2 million. Didn't I just say that Montes, what was your highest right now, your highest cap?

come on guys like what are we doing here well this is all this talk is coming because in part in part because eagles have a lot of guys they're trying to keep or sign they signed um tackle jordan davis to a three year 78 million dollar extension um with 65 million guarantee locking him up through 2029 there's also the question of i think i brought up jalen phillips i can't remember it was here or last night but jalen phillips also i think the eagles would are desirous of getting something done with him. So the Eagles, Eagles are trying to keep the band together,

but that is an expensive band right there. And as long as they continue to do well in the draft, they can pick and choose who they want to keep because they know they've got a new wave of guys coming up that'll be ready if not their rookie season, that second year of their rookie contract, to contribute to a team that's been very good and very consistent for a while.

now under Howie Roseman, who is, as we know, not afraid to kick the proverbial can down the road. Well, that's the difference. It's just because one team does it or just because another team, like, say the Cowboys do it, doesn't mean the Bears can. And for all of us talking about the stadium, too, which I think is a big part of the discussion, in this scope, do the bears have the capital, knowing how much of the gap they have to fill in on the stadium? do they have the capital to kick the can down the road? Like that's part of it is a cash-rich team like the Cowboys

or the Eagles who you know got into a private equity interest. I don't necessarily know that the bears are in that position credit-wise to be able to do some of these things. There is an amount of capital that you have to have. Do I know what it is offhand? No, but I understand that teams who have those influxes are probably more likely to do those things. the way I'm looking at the Eagles like the cap hits right now

and the way it looks for the multi-year table and the way it goes up. The multiverse. Their own version of the multiverse, it feels like they're going to have to make decisions and they've been very good at making the right decision on these types of moves. So when you hear things like, oh, well,

AJ Brown might get traded and understand he's owed over $100 million over the next four years. years. Easier said than done sometimes. And I do wonder if the bears are just trying to avoid ever being in that situation. Especially being in that situation before

you're at least on the second contract of the quarterback, Caleb Williams. There's always a way, though. Like, I get it. Like, there are, we could all look and look at the salary cap, but there are, yes, there's always a way to kick the can down the road. Now, the bears have done that

in the past. It has worked to varying degrees, giving up assets. I was talking about this last night on Fox 32, a little bit different, but the bears have had those years where they are the team twice in the last two decades, where they have given up the two first round picks and extra stuff down the road once for Jay Cutler, second for Khalil Mack, who by the way is going back to the Chargers again after flirting with the bear. That's okay.

That's okay with me. I mean, you're obviously, we're not getting. getting premium Khalil Mack anymore. That wasn't a make or break thing. Oh, we're not getting Khalil Mack. No, it wasn't. You understand? Caliol Mack's not the same Kalil. There were a lot of people who called for Khalil Mack.

There were quite a few people who wanted Khalil Mack. You know what I say to that? Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. But we saw it. We saw it on our text line. We saw it in social media. There were a lot of people who thought that he would come back. But Khalil Mack still got paid very handsomely too.

35. Is he a slam dunk hall of famer? I heard somebody say that. Like, Killeelbeck, no doubt about it. Slam dunk, got to be a first round hall of fame,

first ballot Hall of Famer. I don't know. He was on that trajectory early in his career, but quite frankly, since the year 2018, has it's kind of been a wee. Here's why he is. Here's why he is.

A first ballot? Oh, not first ballot. That's what I mean. So it's like, like, no, he'll walk right into Canton, Ohio. Oh, I thought the question was, will he be a Hall of Famer? He's definitely a Hall of Famer. Yeah, I think he's a Hall of Famer about.

But I mean, like, automatic, you don't have to think about it. Yeah, first ballot. Oh, I don't think it'll be first ballot just because the way it works. But I think he will be a Hall of Famer, no doubt. And it won't take long. So was Rashon Gary not hacked? Oh, that's a great. That's a great point, Leela.

Tell the story. Tell the story, Leah. Tell the people. You see what had happened was, Rashon Gary told everybody who wasn't going to be a Packer anymore. He had this really cool custom graphic that was made, kind of like the one Kenneth Walker just busted out. saying he was a part of the cheese, but Kenneth Walker waited.

So Roshan Gary on Friday, about the time our show ended around 2 o'clock or so, posted this big graphic about how he wasn't going to be with the Packers anymore, but all 6'5-200-some-on pounds of him was going to play in the NFL somewhere else. It seemed pretty well done, seemed pretty legit. And then suddenly it was like, I've been hacked. I didn't say that. Then the next thing you know, you're getting the reports that Rishon Gary is being traded to the Dallas Cowboys because the Dallas Cowboys need an address shirt.

Oh. Who was then traded to the Packers who played opposite Rashon Gary. And the Packers are going to receive a fourth round pick in 2027 as the return that per in Rapaport. Well, if it isn't you trying to fix the problem, you create it down in Dallas. I just. But he wasn't hacked or he was hacked. Or does he just repost it and be like, psych, I wasn't hacked after all?

He knows that we know that he wasn't hacked. This is why today is dawn. You could be like, oh, well, you're talking to five people today. We've been talking. We've been talking to people. He was not hacked. The fact that it's the same exact graphic as the first giveaway. The second giveaway is how well done the graphic was.

I mean, this wasn't some, like, thanks for the memories, like with a random picture. It was, like, there was calligraphy involved. Like, the cursive was exemplary. Like, clearly this man knew he was no longer going to be a Packer. it just took a little longer for him to be dealt to the Dallas Cowboys. So no, don't lie and tell us you were hacked because you're offending not our football sensibilities, just our regular life social media sensibilities. Come on, man.

Offsides on Rishon Gary. From a bear's perspective, I'm happy Rishon Gary is gone. From a bear's perspective, I'm worried that Rishon Gary is gone because what did they got up their sleeve? They have Zaire Franklin. Could there be more beyond? What are they going to do with their actual? extra resources, but yeah.

I think they are very bullish on Zaire Franklin. And I think that that was probably part of what they wanted to get done was adding him to the team. It's just Roshan Gary. Like every year, this guy, like, he's the up and he's great. He's his up and

come and then gone. I guess that's the NFL. In 2024, Zaire Franklin had 173 tackles. So he becomes a replacement for Quay Walker. But I think that they have to move some money around to allow for these guys to be on the team because Gary made a ton of money. He had that $496 million contract. I was worried they might have been gearing up for Max Crosby

or Trey Hendrickson or something like that. That's just maybe that's just my barrenoy. They very well still could be because Overthecap.com is I don't know how much they get to refresh it right now and when it becomes active and how that number is going to change based on today. but according to over thecap.com right now, the Packers have $19.7 million of cap space. Is that enough to somehow work a Trey Hendrickson deal and extend when you know Hendrickson made 30? Yeah.

That's a good question. Yeah. But that should be updated with the Franklin move, for example. So I wonder how much that plays into this. We have more to come here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104. this opening of the NFL negotiating window, which happened about 40 minutes ago. Stay with us. Rahimi Harris and Grody, midday's 10 to 2 on 1043, the score.

This is Rahimi Harris and Grody on 105, 1043, the score. And I'm reading like 18 tweets that we've got here. So let's go through some of the news that we're seeing. In Rappaport, according to sources, the bucks are finalizing a deal to re-sign their standout tight in, Kate Otten, taking a big time target off of the market and a deal done by Excel football. Not surprising or necessarily notable, but it is interesting to see some guys staying in place. Another former Chiefs cornerback in LA, former Kansas City quarterback Jalen Watson, this according to Adam Schaefter, reached agreement today on a three-year deal with the Los

Angeles Rams. That is per calling Roberts of Excel, who's very busy because he is getting the news out to everybody. He was also involved in the previous news, and it's, $4,120 for Jalen Phillips to the Panthers with 80 million in guarantees. So that is big. And then there's this. What I tell you guys about left tackle being not exactly a bargain? Adam Schefter reporting, Commander's Pro Bowl tackle Laramie Tunsell reached agreement on a two-year 60.2 million dollar contract extension with Washington.

So at two years 60, that sounds about in the neighborhood of 30 million. Or as Grody was saying, last week, 30 mil-dough. I think you said it in an interview as a unit of measurement. Is that like million dollars converted to an abbreviation? Yeah, it's a cool way of saying now. It's a contraction? Yeah.

Is there a hyphen between the mill and the dough? Or is that just straight through M-I-L-D-O-D-O-G-H? Or is it M-I-L-D-O-G-H? Because that would also... No, no, no, no, no. Just Mildo. Everything gets misspelled anyway these days. So just go with a mill, though.

I'm sad to see Jalen Phillips off the board. I really like Jalen Phillips. I don't know if he was realistic to think that he was actually going to come to the Bears, but that's tough. He's gone. Off the board, scratch him off. Where do we go now? Where do we go now on the defensive line, on the defensive end?

Also, this news coming down that Michael Pittman, according to Adam Schaefter, is being traded to the Steelers. He has the Colts. Yeah, he had the franchise put on him in 2024 by the Colts. And then signed a three-year, $71 million deal, 46 Mildo guaranteed, and now he is on the move from the very disappointing Indianapolis cults from last year relative to the way they started their season. Well, a lot of that had to do, I think, with Daniel Jones going down, and apparently they're

working on some huge deal for him now, so he's going to get paid this off season. Yeah, Cordorek goes down, it is tough. Apparently this is a pick swap, according to Schefter. Trade terms, teams are swapping late-round picks, plus bits, is preparing to sign pitman to an extension. Who's throwing him the ball? Likely Malik Willis, is that the estimation? Do we feel like that's the likely move for Pittsburgh?

Well, we got Malik Willis news just in this very moment. Seriously? Yeah, Packers, free agent, quarterback Malik Willis reached agreement today with the Miami Dolphins Corrine to Adam Sheffton. Literally, you spoke it into existence. Turns out he may be one of the 32, eh? If he hadn't heard, too, at Tunga Voloa, he was released. least was that it or cut or I don't know what the exact terminology was so yeah that's why that so

okay I just got your tweet right because our Wi-Fi doesn't work in the back of the studio well well kind of makes things hard on a day like this so that's that's big are you happy about malik willis being out of the division I am because he's a very capable backup he looked good against the bears he absolutely did so I guess I don't really care, but relative to him playing well against the Bears, I suppose. He was problematic. His ability to run really threw the Bears off, if you'll remember. Yeah.

And there's a reason why the Bears won two out of three games against the Packers, but it was close. It was really, really close. His line was Tyson-Bajun is stowed with the Bears. Everybody's happy. As long as nobody is messing with, because, hey, I know there was that big flurry of Tyson-Bajun talk at the Combine. I love Tyson.

Stand by. Well, Ryan Fulson said he received calls. Exactly. And with all the movement that we're seeing, whether it's Tuatong of Iloa, whether it's Kyloa, whether it's Kylo whether it's Malik Willis, if he is considered by the league to be in that tier of quarterbacks who are, Ben Johnson says, one of the 32, is he a capable backup? Is he somebody people trust? So if that's the case, then I feel like what we're seeing is.

movement on that side of the quarterback market. So it just makes you wonder how much of a bridge quarterback he could be. Now, here's the other part of this. Aaron Rogers is still out there. And I don't think he's retiring next season. Marshall's guy. So what happens to Aaron Rogers in all of this? Or does he say it's either I'm starting or nothing?

I think Aaron Rogers is going to be back with the Steelers starting and it's going to be fine. Yeah, I ever have no other. names necessarily attached of substance. Can you see another scenario where he's starting somewhere? Well, I was questioning whether or not he was going to complete the Bratfarv arc, the team arc, and go to Minnesota. But it sounds like they've got a lot of options there as far as what they want to do behind JJ McCarthy.

Minnesota is going to have a parade of quarterbacks maybe. Yeah, stand by to see what they do too, like in their quarterback room. Trying to figure out, you know, what the rest of the division is going to do and monitoring that, to me is just as interesting as following what the bears are or are not doing in free agency as opposed to whether there's more trades to be made and or, you know, how they're looking at this draft. We have a bear signing. Oh.

This according to Tom Pelliserra. The bears are signing defensive tackle Neville Gallimore to a two-year $12 million deal, sources tell the insiders. You got your defensive lineman market, Marshall Harris. Who? Neville Gallimore has arrived. He is here, and he will be a depth piece on the Chicago Bears defensive line. That's what this is.

Yeah. So we were wondering. You need players. That's it. You need players. And as we've seen with the injuries that have been a concern, you need more so than you most likely think. Nose tackle for the cults. So the cults are making some moves with some people.

Like the cults are wheeling and dealing, it sounds like when it comes to transactions, trades, and the like extensions as well. And we'll find out more about Neville Gallimore. What I can't tell you is he spent the first four seasons in Dallas, and then he played a year with the Rams. And then he played last year with the Colts, where he started all 17 games, or excuse me, he played in 17 games, started eight of them.

I want to see how this matches up with what other moves they make, right? But that's $12 million that's been shuffled into that position, $6 million for the 2026 season. 29 years old for his, for his career in a career, 147 tackles, 7 and a half sacks, six past deflections just off the thumbnail that I'm looking at right now. Yeah, he's from Ottawa. He played nose at Oklahoma. Yeah.

He is Canadian. Oklahoma. Ontario. Okay. I thought he said Iowa at first. Ottawa. I think I did too. Sorry, my bad.

Ottawa. Okay. Well, hopefully we can learn more about him, but he was a third round pick in the 2020 NFL draft where the Cowboys took him with the 82nd overall pick as well. Okay. Yeah. You know what it is? Michael Pittman had a $29 million cap hit since we're examining Colts news.

That's large. Wow. It is not small. It is a significant cap hit. Well, that makes it make more sense as to why the deal was what it was. We have more to come here on Bohemi Harrison Grotie on 1043, the score. So we've got three. pieces of news when it comes to the Bears

DeMarco Jackson staying with the team, Daniel Hardy staying with the team, and now defensive lined up with Neville Gallimore, the former Colt. Does that mean that, I guess I've sure thought of this right away, that they're not bringing back Andrew Billings, that this is more of Dennis

Allen's type of guy at that position. What about Dominique Robinson, too? Yeah, he's the defensive end, but he's going to be yeah, we'll see. We'll see about Dominic Robinson. I imagine. I'm thinking of the backup D-Rob was effective last year. Yeah, I don't know if they look at him necessarily as their starter,

but I know that it felt like, although Billings still played plenty last year, it never felt like he was a Dennis Allen guy. So maybe this is a Dennis Allen guy. He was a me guy. I always liked Andrew Billings. A me guy? I liked Andrew Billings.

Oh, you like. I thought you meant like you were saying he's like selfish. Like he's a me guy. That's what that connotes. Me, Leela, I liked him. Okay. And who didn't? It's like, big guy running.

and around. I mean, it's massive. And frankly, the Bears needed way better run defense. He had a nice run

with the Bears. For all the pass rush we talk about, their run defense was terrible. Some might argue he was as big as an apartment complex.

He's an apartment complex. Yeah. What if he ends up on the Packers? And he could be back with the Bears, too. I don't know.

I'm just, I'm trying to connect dots and figure out the significance of the sign. I mean, I'm following money here. You know,

I'm thinking about it. I think about it in position group in term of money. That's why I was also thinking out loud about DeMarco Robinson. Dominique Robinson. Thank you. I just call him DROP all the time. That works. I feel like everybody does. So that's my thing is, oh, how much money is allocated to this position group as a whole.

It's a cheaper option, I think. Yeah. So I think that that's a fair question. So we know Daniel Hardy. We know DeMarco Jackson and now Neville Gallimore. Those are the moves with the Bears. Five on it is coming up next. as we take a look at the NFL on this negotiating window day.

The score! This hour is brought to you by Menards. Save big money at Menards. I got five. It's time for five on it. Rahini Harrison Rooney. Bring you five topics on their minds today. On 104-3, the score.

Number one. The free agent negotiating window has been open for about an hour. What do you think of what the bears have done so far? We got a nickname for him. This is pretty good work out of Tyler Buterbaugh. Do we have three options for nicknames for Neville? You do. You want me to listen?

Yes. You got the Canadian bulldozer. Hell yeah. Big Canada or Big Nev? Big Canada. Per the Oklahoma. I'm going with Big Nev. Big Canada is big, so, you know, there's that.

Like, what's little Canada? Prince Edward Island? But it's not population dead. How about that for Canada? It's got wide, luxurious lanes. It's a great name, by the way. I think Neville Gallo, I don't think he needs a nickname. That sounds regal.

It's like a Grady Jarrett. These are some good names starting to stack up on the Bears' defensive line all of a sudden. Yeah. If he's out there making plays, he could have a one-name name like Oprah. Because, like, just Neville. You don't know who we're talking about. That's right.

Neville. He's here. He does add an important depth for the Bears. So I like that they are working on the defensive line. I think you're right, Mark. There are some personnel on the D line, I think, that we still didn't know whether or not they fit in Dennis Allen's preference or his scheme or what he wanted. How many players were there by necessity and how many were there, especially last season because of the injuries. How many were there because of actual desire?

So that's something that I think this season and the off season we're going to try to figure out. good job bears keeping Daniel Hardy I think that we don't agree on much as a society but I feel like Daniel Hardy is one of those people we do agree to and DeMarco Jackson made a lot of sense too he he was appropriately honored by the NFL for the work he put in as backup on the linebacking core and then on special teams I don't know that slow and steady wins the race when we're talking about the frenzy that is free agency but I do like the moves that they have made so far without further examination into Neville Galloway, Big Canada, Big Neve, the Canadian bulldozer.

I do like all those names. Gallagher. It's a little long, what did I say? Galway? My bad. Gallimore, yes. Listen, I like what they've done so far, and I want to believe that more stuff is coming.

Malik Willis got paid, by the way. What are we talking about? NFL announcing that it's three years in 67.5 million, with 45 million fully guaranteed. Go get him, Malik Willis. Because of his games against the Bears. That's what it is? That's what it was.

He had a monster game against someone else, too. Hey, he earned it, man. I'm trying to think of who that was. Was it, was it Minnesota? Who was left on the Packers schedule last year? I don't be remembered. I'm about to tell you, it was a monster game where he went 40 for 54.

What? No, that's wrong. Wow. That would have been crazy. That would have been crazy. That was crazy. Marshall Harris. Stop saying crazy stuff over there.

I said, I'm sorry. It was against Baltimore. Baltimore. And a loss. And then the other game. Other purple team. Yes. You saw where my brain was.

It just didn't make the completion. He was 18 for 21 for 288 yards in the touchdown. He also ran it nine times for 60 yards in that game. It was a loss, but he was out here doing his thing. Get your money, Malik Willis. Yeah. Are you done, Marshall? Yes.

Answering the, okay, I just want to make sure. It's my fault. I interrupted with Willis getting dollars. It's all good. I just didn't want to jump in if you hadn't finished. I'm excited about what DeMarco Jackson might do. If they really are going to just let him loose and be the starter, hopefully in theory for 17 games at the age of 27, a two-year $7.5 million deal,

if you could get this guy to be good and be a starter, that is a win for the Bears. He had that, he had some nice games, including the 15 tackle game against Pittsburgh last year. So I'm glad DeMarco Jackson is back. You need guys like Daniel Hardy on your team. Two years, $6 million, perfect for him to keep on being one of the Bears' best special teams player. No argument with that whatsoever.

And hey, I'm enjoying getting to know all about Neville Gallimore. I do wonder what it means for Andrew Billings, who might just now be off the roster for the Bears. But we'll see. Number two. I'm going to take the first question and flip it and reverse it. Okay? We are about an hour and five minutes into the free agent negotiating window in the NFL. What do you think about what the Bears haven't done yet?

Safety, anybody, anybody going to play in the middle of the backfield? Anybody? I need something to happen there. I need somebody to be there. And yes, I think a lot of us are, I hope, rightfully assuming, Kevin Byard comes back to this team. but if there was ever a time to get paid, if Malik Willis showed you anything, get your money while you can,

and with the opportunities that you've been given, what if the Titans want him to come back? That's been a big speculation as well that they want to write the wrong of letting him go to begin with. And after seeing what he did in leading the league in interceptions, at some point you have to, I think, settle that discussion somehow. Who's your priority?

Who's your first priority? Is it Kevin Byard in the secondary? Is it signing him on the safety unit? So that's probably what I would have expected to see happen by now. If it was a done deal or if it was a set as we all thought it was, even going into today. Like, don't you guys think that that was something that we would have expected to see by now if it was that simple or that much of a priority? Well, the way you stated it, Leila, with the something needs to happen at safety,

I'm going to be more specific. They need to bring back Kevin Byard. And it's not just me saying it. I think Ryan Poles let the cat of the bag as soon as the season was over. And the way he spoke about him as compared to other positions. Kevin Byard has been a leader. Kevin Byrd has been the guy. What you got?

What you got? We have one bear going to the Titans. He wasn't a bear this year, though. Oh. Mitch Trubisky. Two-year deal to the Titans. Let's go, Mitch. Mitch Trubisky is more likable than he's ever been.

Accepting his lot in life as a backup quarterback. swung through Chicago. Was it this training camp that they had the... Yes. Yeah. Yeah, that was when the Bears had 500 yards of offense in a game. And I didn't care because it was the preseason. Slowly but surely working his way to Hall of Famer at the Bank status as a clipboard warrior. And I ain't mad at it.

And these times, I am not mad at at at all. But to finish my thought on Kevin Byer, let me tell you something. They need that dude. Three-time first team all pro, including last year. if it costs more than the $10 million, I'd lean into it, perhaps, depending on how far north of a $10 million AV it's required. Okay, this is also per Jonathan Jones,

the CBS NFL reporter. The Chicago Bears are eyeing Seahawks safety Kobe Bryant, sources tell NFL on CBS. Kobe. Okay. One Kobe leaves town, perhaps another one return. Has anything happened with that I've missed with another Colts guy. As long as we're doing all those Colts talk, Nick Cross, the free agent safety of the

Colts, 24 years old, 67 games over four years, four picks over the last two years as a starter. So that's another name to keep an eye on for the Bears. Apparently, like the Bengals might be in the mix on him. Okay. Since they've got some money to work with now. They also, supposedly, they were eyeing Rashon Gary. So they might have eyed him go right on a to Dallas. I don't know. But those were the two names that I saw with the Bengals potentially. And I'm with you guys on Byrd.

I am surprised because I've been predicting it every turn. The first thing that we would hear is a deal in place for Kevin Byard. I just don't know exactly what I think I know what he values right now at this point in his career, but is there a bear's discount because

of the comfort theater has there? Because they are on the upswing, because he's the loudest, biggest voice in that locker room. There's a lot to like if you're Kevin Byard about being back with the Bears. But if somebody else like the Titans, as you mentioned, or another

team, wants to offer him, you know, $12, $13 million a year, you'd probably have to talk to your family and be like, hmm, we could do this for that and be really happy for a long time. But the Kobe Bryant News makes me wonder. That makes me wonder if that has become a priority for the Bears over

Bired. Maybe. Well, I think it fits more in terms of timeline if they want to get younger at the position. This is a guy who is 26 years old. Six foot one. You know, Dennis Allen likes him lengthy. Good ball skills. He had four interceptions, which was tied for eighth last year.

39 solo tackles, seven pass breakups, and one force fumble last year. And that's a guy you would pay more than the $10 million per. Well, and Cam Curl got his deal, right? Yeah, he did. So that was over the weekend. and Cam Curl, three years, $36 million. So there's that part of it, too.

Five on it. Number three. It's five on it on 104.3, the score with Lailorah, Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grotty, and keep it locked here because we're bringing you all of the free agent news as it comes in fast and furious. Here's question number three. According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Raiders weren't even going to entertain the idea of trading past Russia, Max Crosby to the Patriots, because as an unnamed source, put it, quote, no way Tom was sending Max to Vrable, unquote.

So that being Tom, being Tom Brady, Vrable, of course, the coach Mike Vrable for the Patriots. On a scale of 1 to 10 on the Petty Meter, trademark, how would you rate the idea that Brady would refuse to trade an elite player to his former team? Okay, here's the thing. With other minority owners of NFL teams, do you even hear their damn names?

think about that. My question is not even about the fact that we think that Tom Brady is involved to this level. But that, so now not only is he running the team, he's also John Spitech? Is that the idea? Somehow he's also affecting, how much of the team is he running at a given time while also doing the NFL on Fox while also doing whatever else? That became the more significant question for me in all this. And I guess the petty meter was high.

But if so, how much of a hand does Tom Brady have in the day-to-day operations of the Raiders? That's still something that I'm very much trying to figure out. And if that were, because the Raiders went to the Super Bowl, and if I could think of a team in the NFL is probably the farthest away from it, it might be the Raiders. If that truly mattered, it shouldn't in the case of one team trying to rebuild, well, another already went to the Super Bowl. Like, that battle was lost a long time ago.

Shouldn't matter. you get the best deal possible for your team. What's your number then? I want to see if mine's higher than yours. I think it's probably like an eight or a nine because apparently Tom Brady's doing a lot more than anybody understands, even though his stake in the team financially

is lower than others. If this is a true story, this unnamed source, and Tom Brady is just like, nope, no matter what they offer, we're not giving them up to the Patriots. I put the petty meter at a 10. It's at a 10. It's a 10 out of 10.

Like you're just saying, even if someone offers you the best deal, you're going to keep them away because it's your former team that you went out early. By the way, you left them and still won another Super Bowl in Tampa Bay. So it's not like this grievance where the Patriots were winning without you. It's the other way around. So wasn't that victory enough? And to your point, Layla, about how much is Tom Brady doing all these jobs?

I think he is of the mindset. If you've heard him talk enough about the way he is in Max Crosby levels of obsession with the game, that he wants to have influence over anything and everything. And I think that plays a part in why he's looking at this is something that he can control. Whether it's to the detriment of his team or not that he's a minority owner of, we'll find out. I have this down as a, as you said, I like the caveat. If this is the case, like I have it as a 10 on the petty scale. Okay.

I also took the time to set a few other meters here. Go ahead. I also have it as a 10 on the dumb meter. Thank you. I also have it as a 10 on a bad personnel guy meter. And I also have a 10 as being on the dangerous meter. If you're going to live like that and whatever would that move, I mean, the Raiders got what they got for Max Crosby.

They're doing real well. They've got $88 million in cap space. They're rolling around in it right now. If this is the way this guy is going to operate going forward, then it's, this is bad news for Las Vegas. Well, that's the point. Your job is to get the best deal for your team. It's not to issue vendettists.

What other vendettas has he got? What other players around the league does he not like? What other teams and GMs does he not like? Hey, newsflash, Tom. The Patriots are good without you. And you were also good without them, hence you winning a Super Bowl with Tampa. Why is this still a thing? Let it go.

they can't if they can't you know what that's going to do it's basically hurting your team as we've mentioned yeah who would want to go there as a free agent when you have no idea who's running one and how dangerous bad dumb petty I talk about it every day ddbp program it's my dbdp program dangerous bad dumb petty dbdp you know what else it is we needed something else after olatasp if you'll recall that was obvious lack of talent at the skill position oh yeah with you and Bernsey, right?

Yeah, and so that's past. You know, Olatasb is not a thing anymore. Also, Liam Cohen had the last laugh with Fazzat. So at least we've got another one now, D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D. D-D-D-D-D. No, it's D-B-D-P. Unless you want to go from Eddie. D-D-B-D.

P-D-D-B-D? P-D-D? We need a question here badly. Here's a question for you. Which team do you? considered to be the messiest in the NFL. I'm not just saying this because it's in the division. But show me a team,

show me a team messier than the Minnesota Vikings. Who's their GM? How much money are they over the cap? We had to look it up, didn't we? Who's their backup quarterback? Is the GM for real or is he just hanging out for the draft? Who hasn't made any moves today? What the hell's going on up there?

Wait, are they the weird-ass Minnesota Vikings? Oh, yes. The twins are no longer weird ass. Extended. The twins have very much told you that they're rebuilding or whatever you want to call that. They've infected the football team. They have made themselves a good sale candidate is what the twins did. Fair.

So the twins told you who they are. The Vikings are now $4 million over the cap. But at one point last week, they were at $46 million over the cap. And they're having to get rid of some major assets in order to be able to do so. So the Vikings might be it. They got rid of Quasi Adofo Mensa timing-wise way too late in the cycle, seemingly because Sam Darnold made the Super Bowl.

So you should always have main character energy. Don't make somebody else tell you what to do with your personnel. It just seems all very haphazard to me. At a place that looked like it had it sewed together, keep in mind there's a 15-win team last year. I'll say this. This question. There are a lot of combinations you could go with, a lot of contestants for this award.

I'm sorry, but as long as Jerry Jones is out here, Jerry Johnson, I'm going with him. I'm going with the Dallas Cowboys. You mentioned it earlier, Leila. I think we've been talking about it for weeks now. You are trying to solve a problem that you created that didn't need to be created when you traded Michael Parsons. Instead of just paying Michael Parsons. And now you just look foolish. And it's been disarray since you last appeared in the NFC championship game.

30 years ago. And I don't see it changing anytime soon. And that's just the bottom line. Like, Jerry Jones, they're the messiest. They're the, he's the GM and the owner, and it's bad. And it's every year he shows you why it's so awful. They franchise tag George Pickens when they could have just signed him and extended him, which would have governed them more money to work.

with under the cap. They're still 18 million over. I hate to pile on and make it two out of three, but you and I were talking about it as we walked in the building today. Why didn't you just keep Micah Parsons in the first place?

This is what I believe I said. And you're like, yes, cronies, that's what I'm saying. Because he couldn't quantify his emotions. I guess, ego. Micah bothered Jerry on some level that he was mobile and had leverage. Well, you said it as we were walking in. Like he wanted to, it's the ego, the win, the negotiations. Oh, we don't need you. We can survive without you, Micah Parsons. And now they're

trying to get another guy in there. Well, they did. They had to get Rishon Gary, who is not nearly as good as Micah Parsons. Don't forget trading for Quinn and Williams. Yeah, that is also there too. There's so many different ways you can look at that. Number five. Five on it on 104. One of four three, the score. Here's our final question. On Friday, Packers, Eddrusher, Rishon Gary took to Instagram to post a farewell message to Green Bay and then deleted it. Packers beat reporter Rob Domoski took to X to report that Gary's IG account was hacked. And then this morning, we got the news that Gary was traded to the Cowboys for a 20, 27 fourth round draft pick. You follow all that? So, did Rishon Gary get hacked?

No, Rishon Gary didn't get hacked. He hacked himself. And I don't know why Rob Demoski wanted to. I guess, you know, that's doing the right thing as a reporter. If somebody tells you they were hacked, then you say, hey, he says, as he was hacked. But at the same time, Rob, he's on the Cowboys now. You're not going to see him like that anymore. You don't owe him anything. That was a whole graphic that he posted. That was very intentional, that looked purposeful.

He wasn't hacked. He just jumped the gun. If he was smarter, it had a brand new graphic that didn't look anything like the first graphic. And then maybe he, maybe, maybe it would be believable, but probably not. What if it was like clip art and it was like you and I like scrolling on a tablet? and it said like Roshan Gary, Cowboys then just drew like a curse of star

colored it in. I would love that. I'm here. There's no way he was hacked and he knows that we know he wasn't hacked. It's just what people do now in the world when something... Wink, wink, night. Yeah, we all know and he knows and Rob Demoski probably knew and everybody knew, like it's just, it's silly.

You're dancing the dance? Yeah, yeah. They did a little dance on the dance floor. Like the Pat Benatar dance from Love is a battlefield? Love is... I don't remember the dance. Love the song. It was very choreographed. It did not look like they were in a battle, but they were in a battle.

Same idea. They were pretending. Love is a battlefield. Yes, it is. This question that we had at the beginning of our show meeting today looks a lot more valid about an hour and a half into this negotiating window in the NFL than it did even when we asked it. Are the bears more focused on capitalizing free agency or the draft? It becomes more compelling by the minute today.

So let's examine next. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Midday's tidal two on Chicago Sports Radio. Rivers down the middle of the field and it is hitters. That courtesy of CBS and we do have some significant Bears news. It also makes everything, I think, make a little more sense. This per Tom Pelliserra, we heard the news just moments ago that the Bears were looking into the services of Seattle safety, Kobe Bryant. And now, according to. to Tom Pelliserro.

It is happening. He reported about two minutes ago that the bears are citing Kobe Bryant, that per sources. Now, Bryant had been a safety with Seattle for the last four years. He has a total of 66 tackles in the 2025 regular season, 39 of those solo, 27 assisted, just part of that outstanding Seattle defense. But when we look at the interception numbers, he also, not bad for him. by any means four interceptions in the regular season last year.

And that per Tom Pelliserro, other sources reporting it as well. So he's 26 years old. I think this does change how we felt about Kevin Byrd and what the hope is and perhaps what the price was for Byrd and maybe his age factors in going into what we're seeing now. This guy is kind of played all over the place, though, like in specific spots. His 2024 season, he was a strong safety. played in 17 games, started 11 games.

That would be obviously last year, two years ago now, in the 2024 season, but was still very effective. He's a tackler too, 73 tackles that year, 66 this year. He was a cornerback for Seattle in 2023, playing nine games at the position, starting twice and has been relatively durable throughout his career. So on the overall, with the up-and-coming factor, with the four interceptions in a key place for obviously the best team in football last year, this is a good signing for the Chicago Bears. No, it's a great signing, in my opinion. And the thing that sticks out to me is that versatility, which you're alluding to Grody,

because we know that Dennis Allen likes weapons. He likes guys that he can have do different things depending on the scheme, the down and situation. And imagine having a guy like Kyler Gordon, but also having. more players like that that can play strong, whether it's down in the box or in coverage. And this guy has experience covering guys. I'm interested to see what else they do because, again, they didn't have any safeties. Now they're going to have one more. And you've got to add more to that, whether it's through the draft or through free agency.

I wonder who this eliminates for the Bears. Like, is this a, is Joaquin Brisker goodbye because he was the young guy and this is the young guy that decided to sign? Maybe. I mean, drafted the same year, right? so that would make it makes sense 2022. There's also this. So according to SpotRack, this was from the fan-sided blog 12th Man Rising.

They said that SpotRack reported that Bryant's deal would be estimated to be two years in the $28.8 million range. So that means about $14 million or so when it comes to what potentially as cap hit could be, probably more, if there's a signing bonus there, or what the discussion is,

or what that looks like as far as how the bears manage this money. So that's significant, too, when you consider that they're only under the cap, according to over the cap, by about, let's see, 21 million or so. 25 is the latest number now for over the cap. So I think that is starting to refresh itself. So 25 million. So when we keep that number in mind, and that number will change, we know that based on how this goes

and how the reporting goes. but how are they factoring into what he will do? Is it a three-year deal for him? You know, does he get a longer contract to maybe kind of offset those expenses? I don't know, but it's worth a discussion when it comes to his value. And for him being a safety off the board early,

of course we ask the question what that means for Kevin Byard. But it sure sounds like comparable stats. Yeah, I mean, it can be interesting to see where Jaquan Bristler lands. Like at this point, it sure doesn't feel like he's coming back to the Bears, but I am interested in who will kind of take a chance on Dequan Brisker,

knowing his injury history, although he was terrific last year and totally durable, but he's an interesting case. I'm anticipating that one. He was durable last year. That's what I mean. That's what I said. Yeah, but I mean, like, that's the hard part is trying to measure that durability throughout multiple years.

Especially because of all the head injuries. I mean, like, you know, unless guys aren't paying attention to the bears and his injuries, that's a huge part of the Brisker story and future. He did everything he could, I think, to try to answer that issue, but there's only so much you can do when that's the career. Well, the good news for Biskers

is that he had his best game at the right time, and that was against the L.A. Rams, where he was just unbelievable. Definitely finished on a strong note, and if you remember the way he left the field after that game, he kind of let you know he thought his time with the Bears was over. Yeah, he told me he hadn't heard from anybody, so, you know, you see.

The other thing is, as we absorb the news that the Bears have one safety, and Kobe Bryant, of course, from the Super Bowl. winning Seattle Seahawks is the understanding that I'm really curious about the details financially of his deal. Yeah, we got to find that out. But he looks like a willing tackler too. He's had 71 year was 18.

That was a year he played cornerback. 73 and 66 tackles in his years, which obviously you have to be. And he just spent one year. Like he said, at strong safety. Last year he was their free safety. I mean, I think that those are good numbers. You know, the four interceptions that was tied for eighth. Tremaine Edmonds had four interceptions last season.

But when you consider the 66 total tackles, 39 of those solo, the stats are comparable, are they not? Yeah, yeah. No, absolutely, absolutely, you know. With Tremaine Edmins, I guess this replaces his production, although be it from a different position. From a turnover standpoint, a takeaway standpoint. No, not if they don't replace Bired.

They're... Or they think they just did. I still think they're going to get something down to buyer. I think they're going to get something down on buyer. You know what? And that might be me doing the old hope wishing. Sure. There's still,

it feels like there's still room for it. A little bit. No, the hope wishing. That's where we are now. It's just hope wishing. Like, I'm hoping that the wishes might come true. Like I,

that sounds lower confidence level than wish. It is. That's why I said it just like that. Because wish casting is like, oh, here's something that I could wish for, but I'm now hoping to be wishing. Position of need taking care of. So the next actual literal position of need is left to

tackle, right? You don't have that. No, they still need three other safeties, though. Well, I'm just saying, like, they're on the board with safety. At least they're on the board. But let's get back on the board with left tackle now, please. I just, I'm not. I don't, I can't see it.

I can't see them signing a left tackle and free agency. You think they're going to draft their next left tackle? Or trade or trade. Or maybe, like, you can't leave out the event. Maybe he gets better. Canadian Eagle. Yeah. I mean, it could, right?

They could say, yes, there's something there. And Theo Betta, there still needs, some things need to be smooth out, but maybe they think they can get them there. Well, let's be honest. They've already said there's something there because they gave him a chance to start last year. They did, but it seemed like they lost some faith in him as the season went on. We have terms from Jordan Schultz. Shultzzi.

Three years and $40 million. Three years, $40 million. So that's $13.3. So that's $13.3. And then put the little repeating line over to the point three. Three years, $40 million. Yeah. Okay.

The estimate that on Brisker, I'm just like trying to compare from everything I saw, three years, $30 million. So a little bit more to maybe a little bit of a sure thing. But if it's over $13 million A-AV, which is what that is, you can't tell me this doesn't affect what they expect to pay a guy like Kevin Byard if they expect to pay a guy like Kevin Byrd. And that's why I moved on to left tackle. Because that's going to be in the next. So you resigned and did Kevin Byers not come back. I don't know. I'm kind of with you.

I think I was wish casting it before I heard the number. I was like, I still think they're going to get them. This certainly lessens the chance. But it's not, it can't be ruled out still. He's still out. Kevin Byard is still available. Center News for the Lions per Tom Pelliserro. Their signing center, Cade Mays per source.

Maze. Pain. Is it pain? That reminds me of a Jim Kramer, you know, the CNBC man. Financial dude. Where he hits the House of Pain button on a stock. House of Pain. I didn't watch closely enough to know that, but I believe you.

Cade Mays is the former Carolina Panther Center. He is 26 years old. All caught. All right. So the Bears have a Kobe White. They have a Neville. Gallimore. Gallimore.

I was going to say Gillings for some reason. Neville Gallimore. Daniel Hardy is back. DeMarco Jackson. is back. What am I leaving out? Well, I just want to let you know they don't have a Kobe White.

They have a Kobe Bryant, but I've already done it once today. And we're going to do it. We miss you, Kobe White. I don't care what anybody says. But yeah, Kobe Bryant. Thank you. But at the same time,

if we're not shifting from safety to another position, I am curious as to whether or not they're just like, we're going to deal with safety through the draft. We're going to deal with left tackle through the draft.

I think the point can be made that Ryan Poles doesn't believe that this draft class is that deep. Also, in the division, this is worth noting, Diana Rusini with this one from the Athletic. The Buccaneers have been focused on improving their defense

and are signing former Lions linebacker Alex Anzolone. So he is out of the division. And this is for you, Marshall Harris. Former Steelers running back, Kenneth Gainwell, is signing with the Buccaneers. why is that for me I need you explain that to me

you never talked about the Steelers this last season all he talked about was his obsession and that's Aaron Rogers his obsession is an obsession I'm Max Crosby on this is this not a direct quote from you Marshall Harris Super Steelers Super Bowl was that not yep that was what he said

that has never been uttered except for by you Ray Diaz just now I said they had Super Bowl potential Is this us feeling the breeze of the window of the negotiating window being open. That's right. That window's open. It's breezy.

Do you feel a breeze? Actually, if you go outside today, you can feel a heck of a breeze. It's a nice day. I can't believe y'all. I can't believe y'all would try to twist my words like that. I actually think that the Diana Receivie Post said Marshall's boy, Kenneth Gainwell. And I've never been high on Kenneth Gainwell in that manner. All you have to do in this city is give a little bit of positivity towards Aaron Rogers and you get crushed.

The next thing you know, you want to. to hang out with Aaron Rogers. It's not positivity towards Ben Rogers. This guy was like, this guy's going to the Super Bowl. Somebody on Twitter says that they saw you guys in camera, weo together. And let's let, let Marshall say what he really said. It was more so the positivity for Mike Tomlin. And I thought that was a marriage that could work.

He got fired. Now nobody's in the marriage. No, no, no, no. We're not going to do that to Mike Tomlin. Mike Tomlin stepped up. Yeah, he quit. He was like, enough of this. Aaron Rogers made Mike Tomlin quit.

Oh, wow. Marshall and Aaron Rogers were hanging out in Camerrio, says some dude on Twitter who won't reveal his name and has 12 accounts. Do you think Steelers fans would have wanted to push him out the door as much as it seemed like they wanted to if they knew Mike McCarthy was going to be the replacement? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Also, 773 at our text line wanted to correct you. In all caps, they put Colby White. You didn't get it right either.

You didn't get it right. That's like Emma correcting us. You know it's so funny about that? I had to, for the first year that Kobe White was here with the Bulls, had to keep from calling him Kobe Bryant, which I know it was like a huge insult to Kobe Bryant because Kobe White is no... And now I'm going to have to be careful here with Kobe Bryant

to not call him Kobe White. Give me like 10 more of those, like two weeks worth of it, and then I'll stop. Kobe Bryant. See, this is 104 to score all over again. Get used to that 104. I'm not. I see 607 all the time.

I rip three off the top just to get you. Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant. Thank you. Yeah, we're going to have you right on the wall, like Bart Simpson at the beginning of a Simpsons episode. And I'm going to feel weird about calling him Kobe Bryant, even though it's his name because I'm used to.

And every time you Google him, you have to put Kobe Bryant football player, Seattle, Seahawks, Chicago Bears, or else you just get all the Kobe Bryant stuff, the one you know. Oh, man. The more you know, bears. This is a sad, sad, sad thing from 630.

We have Theo at left tackle, not a killer, but it's a body. We only have one safety. Do the math. Grody, but like the way they just put the The Coop is hard today. Somebody else goes, well, we've got Dave Frazier coming back and Terrell Smith, so we're fine at quarterback. Oh, okay.

You sure about that? Well, I'm glad to see your confidence. Question for you, Grody. How many Bears did Marshall lose due to his Rogers loved from 217? I didn't I don't love him. I do respect the future Hall of Fame or Aaron Rogers. That's all it is. If you loved him, you wouldn't

even make the bear scale. Like you wouldn't be eligible for her. You would be ineligible for My bear's scale. You could be on the afternoon show, Hallis scale, maybe. Wow. They have a Hallis scale. Wow.

Mm-hmm. We have more free agency news, and we'll discuss the latest developments as we get them real time. The Bears reportedly signing safety, Kobe Bryant, to what looks like a three-year deal. More to come here on Rahimi,

Harris, and Grotie on 104-3 Chicago. Nope, can't do it. Kobe Bryant. Scores. Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi Harris and Grody on 1043 The Score. Your name's Kobe Bryant. What's the reasoning to why your parents name you Kobe Bryant? My big brother, swears up and down, he named me, but he wouldn't name me at seven years old.

I'll get him out of the way with that. He's cabin. He's cabin, big cabin. My dad, he loves Kobe Bryant, just how he represented himself. Just not as an athlete, but as a man, no, just the mentality that he had. He knew I would be special when I was born. They knew it. They knew it. God's plan.

God's plan. Wanted to spell it differently so I can create my own legacy, but also represent the Kobe Bryant as well, too. That is from Brad Parker's YouTube channel. He's from The Score app. Not to be confused with the Score, Chicago, not to be confused with whatever I said a few minutes ago. This is Rahimi Harrison Crotie on 1043, The Score,

and this is a busy, busy day. How about some more news? Do you guys want more news? Yes. And Rappaport. For those of you who thought Tyler Lindervaum was not going to get paid, You were dead wrong. Ravens, three years, $81 million.

Linderbom! That's a Linderbom right there, and now we can go play football and grow with young Mendoza. We said Ravens, right? Yeah, Ravens Pro Bowl Center. The Raiders are closing it on a deal for Ravens Pro Bowl Center. So, yeah, he's going to the Raiders. Yes.

The Raiders. I would assume Mendoza, we've heard nothing different. It's a perfect fit for a rookie quarterback to get the best center available. on the market. Mendels is going to the Raiders. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So I guess that from that perspective, that actually makes sense. And yes, they have, they had, I think if I had it right, they had to start the date, $88 million in cap space. So that's a good move for there. They were flush with cash.

Plus with cash and they made a good move right there. Oh, somebody got run over by Alexis, just like Parks and Rec, Jean-Ralphio. Uh-oh. Yeah, that's how they ended up being flush with cash. Don't you know the story? I don't know the story.

I haven't seen the whole series. Yeah. fuck out right over by Alexis and then they became flush with cash. Oh really? And then they created I believe total entertainment 720. Deadlift shrimp was an employee. None of that is real. So Tyler Linderbaum said to make $27 million a year. What was all that, oh, he's not going to get paid a lot of money? No, man. Who said that? People said he wasn't. Randos who thought they knew what they were talking about like, bro, trust me, bro, there's no way he's going to get that money. While are you hanging out with Tom Brady? Because otherwise, he just got paid.

Yeah. So the centers are all falling in place now. Linderbaum headed to Vegas, Beattish, Tyler Beattish, stays with the Chargers, Conner McGovern, four years 52 million with the bills, and the bears, of course, with Garrett Bradbury. Here's what I know. Tom Brady has scouted the Ravens. Hence he sent Max Crosby there, and now he's taking their center. He knows the Ravens. That is a, that is reportedly from Adam Schefter a record.

deal. And I would assume that is the AAV for a center that sets the market and the record, yes. 27 purrs. Like, where would that be on the bears? Like, you know, if you at the top. That would be above Montes sweat. Yeah. That'd be enormous. Well, see, I've got the cap table open as one of my 200 tabs I have opened today. Only 200? Stand by, please. John Harbaugh strikes out. Montez is at 25.085. So yeah, that that, and that's before signing bonus and whatever else. And sometimes the cap it is more than your salary, you see. So that might be even higher. Yeah, I really thought it was going to be John

Harbaugh that was going to step up the ex-Baltimore head coach now the Giants bringing back his guy, or Todd Munkin, who is now the Cleveland head coach, who was the OC. There was some whispers. Maybe Cleveland, but... I think they just

had to structure Deshaun Watson's contract for 25,000th time. Again. The fact that he's back next And a career is crazy and wild. Yeah, he's like, Deshawn Watson, still there. Healthy, ready to go. Mm-hmm.

What an awkward training camp, OTA, whatever. The Browns only had $15 million in cap space, at least according to this. So that would have been a dream for them then. That was impossible. Yeah. So the Raiders had 101 million. That's what it was. And 27 of it is now going to one man.

After the Crosby trade, yes. Tyler Linderbom. He got paid. paid. He bet on himself and did the right thing for his for his paycheck. What a great thing though. I mean, what better thing to do than to start to get to put the infrastructure in place for the Raiders for the number one overall quarterback. As we learned, you might want to set things up well for the number one overall pick when it's a quarterback. It's such a great point. And all the stuff that has been written about the botched

developings of quarterbacks, like the number one guys, and we could say that some of that may have happened to Justin Fields here with the Bears. Was he surrounded by, for one year, Caleb Williams was not surrounded by the right people in the building. So that is the exact right thing to do by the Raiders, whether we want to admit it or not. I wonder what, I wonder where Cam Jordan fits into all of this, by the way. I know his name was mentioned a bit last Friday, but he's 37. Okay, I see your Cam Jordan.

I'll raise you a Bosa. There's always a Bosa available. There's a Bosa store. There's always a Bosa store. Limited quantity in the Bosa store. But yeah, no, Cam Jordan. I thought about Cam Jordan, but just my instinct, Loyola, too old.

The age, right? Yeah, I'm scared of that age. The Saints had a 37-year-old linebacker and a 37-year-old defensive lineman on the team. Wow. Yeah, they had to refresh, I guess. But as far as I know, Cam Jordan still.

available. Joey Bosa, still available. Guess who's out of the division? Jonathan Allen. Who's out of the division? Kingsley and Iigbari. One year 10 million dollars with the New York Jets. Okay. That according to athletes first. Whenever I hear someone's out of the division, I always hold my breath because well, if they're gone, who's coming?

Don't worry about that right now. Let me know if Justin Jefferson is out of the division, then I'll start being interested in that. If you love ball, you want Justin Jefferson on on an offensive-minded team that's functioning. Let me know when Michael Parsons is out of the division. I love bears. Let you know when who's out of the division.

Michael Parsons. Yeah, he's still here. Yeah. Jordan Addison also, let me know when he's out of the division. There's a Bosa. There's a Bosa warning at the top. Warning, boasas are extremely fragile. It's true.

Amon Raus Saint-Brown. Let me know when he's out of the division. And speaking of DeMario Davis, the 37-year-old linebacker that I mentioned, two years, 22 million to the Jets. Play until you're 40. to Mario Davis. That's good money at that age especially. Did you mention Michael Parsons

out of the division? Let me know. Okay, so I thought you had. I got stuff over here. Maybe you want to set an Alexa for that, you know, or Siri. Like if somebody of super significance leaves the NFC North, like let us know. Yeah, absolutely. Dingding. A reminder. Yes.

Okay. Ding ding. Where's Micah Parsons? Is still in the division. For now. Ding, ding. Ding. The most, that would be the guy that we would most want out of the division probably right now, or do you go? Yes. Yes. Yes.

Especially healthy Mike of Parsons. Hutchinson, maybe? No, well, Hutchinson. Jared Goff? Yeah, Jared Goff. I mean, that's a pretty good quarterback right there. I mean, like he makes the top five, right? That's what we need to do.

We need to wishcast people we want out of the NFC North. Oh, like one player off every team. If you could take one guy off. Just one? That's only three. I'm just trying to make it challenging. We don't need to make it challenging. All right.

Jefferson, Micah Parsons. Yes. Amon-Raw St. Brown. The end. Or Aidan Hutchinson. Yeah, I think Hutchinson over golf. Who do you think other teams would take off the Bears? Would it be Caleb?

Yes. Yes. He's such a wild card right now, and they're like, and he's going to get better. Yeah, because that's the problem. Look, the division has had it good for decades, as in, could this be the year the Bears have a quarterback? And that's what they fear. You should fear that, by the way, NSC North.

Fear the 18. Fear the Caleb. You know what else you need to fear? Take the North. Oh, D-T-N. Dan Widerer. We did. Mark Gertie's partner, senior writer for the athletic. He'll help us break down all of this news next.

The score! Ann Widerer. Bears reporter and senior writer for the athletic. You're going to be relying on a lot of young players, guys that have to materialize into who they thought they were. The Bears are who we thought they were. On their contributor for 1043, The Score. We'll mention this mainly because Dan Weirer said we were.

would mention this nugget. Host of the Take the North podcast. We're going to take the North and never give it back. Dan Weider. Thanks, Coach. We'll go first to Dan Wheatier. On Chicago Sports Radio, 1043, the score. Easy.

Boy, do we have some news to talk about with Dan Weider? He is Mark Grady's partner on the Take the North podcast. He is manning the athletic right now because Kevin Fishbane is on paternity leave. Congratulations, Kevin. So Dan is in a lot of different places covering the Bears and he is doing it for us. also joining us via our hotline, Dan, what is the news that stands out the most to you today? And what do you think happens now with the rest of the safeties now that the Bears have signed Kobe Bryant to a three-year reported deal? Well, I think the biggest news in my world is that Kevin Fishbein's on paternity leave.

This is a problem here in the athletics, free agency tracker world. All kidding aside, a lot is moving fast and furious now. And obviously, you add a proven playmaker to the back end of your defense. but if it comes at the expense of subtracting a guy who was the leader in interceptions and one of the core team leaders of your team last year, you've got to kind of wait to see what that ripple effect is going to be. So a lot going on, really eager to see what happens in the Bayard market. You're seeing some of these massive contracts given out.

I think the Linderbaum news here within the last 20 minutes gives you an indication of why the Bears didn't want to play in that deep end of the pool. And yeah, it's going to be a fluid day. certainly a fluid day and before we focus on today just going back to last week in the max crosbie news i got to ask you know it sounds like as rich eisen was one of several people who said that the bears met the raiders asking price of two first rounders but the ravens had earlier picks does that mean the bears really were after max crosbie to the level that maybe people don't understand not sure yet marshal i don't have any uh reporting to confirm that or deny it

this point. So that's going to be something that we'll be, we'll be pecking away at here in the days and weeks ahead to try to figure out just how, how active and aggressive they were in that sweepstakes. I think that'll probably come to light in due time. But yeah, certainly, you know, on Friday, you're kind of waiting for things to sort itself out. And then you get the trade for Bradbury, you get the Crosby to Baltimore News. And all of a sudden, you had two big answers to what the Bears were going to do or not do at center and defensive line. Yeah. Speaking of, of defensive line. There's another name there, a more modest contract,

but the three years, $40 million to Neville Gallimore a nose tackle. What did you think about that moving, what that might mean? No, give those numbers again. I don't think you've one's quite right there. I think it's three for 40 for Kobe Bryant, right? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You are correct. I don't, actually, you're right. I said three years, $40 million. That is for the safety Kobe Bryant. I don't have the numbers in front of me on Neville Gallagher, but it's much more modest than, yeah, $40 million. Much, much, much, much more modest. Yeah, I think 12 million, I think it is.

Two for 12. Two for 12. There it is. The biggest, biggest news in the league if that rotational nose tackle had gotten 40 million. Good for him. My bad. But what do you think about Neville Gallimore being here for $12 million in two years?

This will be his fourth team in four years. He has been primarily a rotational guy, a guy that can help your run defense. By all accounts, you know, a good locker room guy is, going to come in and give you some talent and depth in the middle of your defensive line, but not necessarily a guy that, you know, is going to be a huge splash or turn a lot of heads around the league. And so that seems to be like a depth addition here. And we'll see what else they've got in store for that position. And always an important reminder on this day, as everyone kind of feels like these four or five hours are the be all end all of the offseason,

the bears still get the end of the first wave of free agency. They get the second wave of free agency. They get the third wave of free agency. And there is a draft next month. month. So they have a lot of different avenues to go down as they continue to fill out this roster. Do you feel better? Marshal was literally asking me, Dan, to make him feel better about the lack of splash. And I said, dude, it's not even at the time. It's not even 1 o'clock. It's not even Tuesday. The league year has not even opened yet. Dan, I just see lots of people. It's like holiday shopping. I see lots of people buying things. He's like, wait, am I missing out on buying things? Like, I want to make sure that I'm keeping pace. The tuggle me, Elmo is sold out.

Yeah, tickle me almost sold out. I'm sure you guys have waited at the doors of Walmart on a Black Friday or two back in the day to just storm through the doors and get a TV. And sometimes it feels like you got to have it in that moment, but you could probably go back and get that same TV at a, you know, a little different price three days later. And so it's just, you know, you just got to kind of let this all play out. The NFL does such an amazing job at marketing this stuff that it does feel like a game is being played today

and that you've got to win today. I like that. But that's not necessarily the case in free agency, right? League, you just got to, you got to understand kind of, again, the number of different avenues you can go down, the parameters you've set for yourself, which they do a good job with this front office under Ryan Poles at House Hall's Hall of doing and staying disciplined to those. And then you just go about understanding plans, A, B, C, and D, and being very flexible because this stuff, as you know, and as you've experienced today, it moves fast. Is that what you would call the Raiders signing Tyler Linderbaum to a $27 million a year AAV contract? Three and 80? I haven't seen the guarantees on that yet, but I mean, the initial sight of that, you know, made my jaw drop because that's record setting for a center. And obviously he's a very proven center. He's a, you know, top of the top of the league guy at that position.

But, man, like, that's a heavy price to pay up there. Obviously, you're looking to pair him with a young quarterback with the number one pick that you're going to use next month in Vegas. And so that's fascinating. But you look at that deal. You look at the money that Alke Pierce got to stay in Indy. You look at Jalen Phillips going to Carolina. on a four-year $120 million deal. Like, there's some cash being handed out here today.

And, you know, like, you just got to figure out where your place and all that is. Are you surprised that we're coming up on the league year, and there really hasn't been any talk about restructuring for the bears to create more cap space and to create more funds where they can get in that deeper into the pool? I mean, there's clearly in the shallow end right now, but the deeper end of the pool. Well, you don't always hear about those right away. And if there's a need for them to restructure something to,

to make something happen, then I think they'll go down that route. And a lot of times you're not going to do that until it becomes absolutely necessary. There's certainly mechanisms to do so. But you know, you always got to remember that restructures, you know, that bill comes due at some point, you know. And so, again, like the bears don't have to feel like 2006 is the only season they have to go pursue a Super Bowl. You're trying to do this here with a head coach and a quarterback that you feel very confident in at this stage. And, you know, I like to remind people that this is still that kind of league, right? if your head coach and your quarterback are all that they've been

atarticized to be at this point, you'll be competitive for a long time, whether it's on Caleb's rookie deal on his second deal or beyond, whether it's on Ben's, you know, first two seasons or is, you know, next four.

Like, you've got a window open here and you've just got to be very, very responsible about how you attack competing within that window. And I think that's probably part of what's going on right now is they set their course. Quick theory for you, Dan, and a question, if I may, the theory is we're talking about the mentality of wanting the bears just to bust the doors down

and give the deal out at midnight. You know what ruined it for the Bears in his franchise? Once upon a time ago, you remember the player, Dan. It was under Lovey Smith and Jerry Angelo that they went to Julius Pepper's house and they were at his doorstep and they signed Julius Pepper. So I'm just trying to think of the mentality and where it is in Bear's history and some of the splashes that they have made in the past. But I always have to think about Julius Peppers.

But my real question is, and you can comment on that if you want, is is Marco Jackson the bear starting linebacker for 17 games this year? Is that why they signed him to the two-year, and let me make sure I get this one, right? Two years, seven and a half million dollar deal? Yeah, I mean, he's set up to compete for that role, right? And you saw when he was called on last year that he answered the call, you know, and did a great job during those stretches of November and December

when the bears were beat up at that position. And we obviously know T. Germain Edmins is no longer here. We know that T.J. Edwards is recovering from a pretty significant injury. and so you've got a guy that you already know, and he's been productive. He knows Dennis Allen very well, and that gives you that comfort. And so his return is a big deal. I think for Richard Hightower, the return of Daniel Hardy is a big deal. And now you're going through it.

I think yesterday I had counted 39 open roster spots of which I thought probably 19 would be guys that could, you know, 19 spots in your week 1, 53 that weren't solidified yet. That's come down a little bit here today with DeMarco Jackson and Kobe Bryant and and Gallimore, and they're obviously going to continue through the process. We also talked about just cornerback as well, because Brad Biggs, Dan brought it up earlier today, asking what the bears were doing. And that had been a position where it hadn't been as concerned because, well, they have multiple players signed as opposed to safety. You know, how do you, how do you examine what's going on there knowing Nashan Wright is also a part of this discussion as a free agent?

Yeah, well, I mean, I think our thought all along was that Nashan Wright's production last year, is going to price him out of where the bears could keep them at, particularly given that they're paying Jalen, they're paying Kyler in the slot. And obviously, you've got Tyreek Stevenson with another year to see what he can do. So it's going to be interesting. I think when people talk about the bear's ability to sustain the success they had last year or even go a little bit better,

you have to remember that they didn't ever have full strength, Jalen Johnson. They barely had full strength Kyler Gordon for four games. So if you get those guys back and playing at the level that you paid them to play at, all of a sudden you feel a lot better about your defense. Same goes with some of those guys up front, particularly Grady Jarrett, and if DiO Dangbo can come back off his injury and give you some splash that he hasn't necessarily provided at any point in his career, then you start to feel better there.

And so, you know, we'll see kind of how this entire defensive puzzle comes together. I think you feel confident that Dennis Allen has a vision, right, to blend this together. I think partly when you look at Kobe Bryant's arrival today, you see a guy that is versatile. And, you know, DA loves those versatile D-Bs that can allow you to be really creative on the back end of your defense and keep opposing offenses guessing. How likely do you think as we talk with Dan Reader, the senior writer at the athletic covering the Bears? And the co-host, of course, the Take the North podcast with Mark Grody. And, Dan, how likely do you think it is that the Bears get their needs met in a way that they can draft the, quote-unquote, best player available like they clearly did last year?

That's what you do in March. And it really is a matter of, and I've said it a couple times here over the last few weeks, your goal is basically to set your team up so that if they canceled the draft, you'd feel okay going to the starting gate of the season ready to compete. You know, and so you would want to have placeholders in every one of your starting spots, if possible, right, that allows you to then pivot and be flexible if the draft board breaks in a way where you're like, man, we really like this for this need, but this guy's just too good of a player to pass up on. Right? And part of the reason that you don't have DJ more anymore is because Luther

Burden fell into your lap last year on day two of the draft. And then it allowed you this year to kind of say, okay, we're going to take those resources that we had allocated to DJ, and we're going to use them in a different way. And so that's the importance of this month is being able to set yourself up so that then when you are trying to be a team that drafts and develops, you have the maximum flexibility on draft weekend to go after the premium talent that's available in every single round and most notably on days one and two. I want to go back to D-line really quickly. You and I have talked about it on Take the North since really the end of the offseason

when we start to look at their needs. I think we use the phrase they're going to have to hire from within basically for the defense and DiO Dangbo has to get better. Shamar Turner is a second rounder has to show something. All of us to ask, is there any name signing that could still be coming on the defensive line, Jonathan Allen, maybe defensive end, Addafe Owe, who I assume is not off the board yet unless it's gotten by us here in the last few minutes, anything on the defensive line, or is that the draft too?

Well, yeah, I was going to say two things. The last time I checked in on Jonathan Allen, it didn't feel like there was anything moving in that direction. Okay. As far as the bears are concerned, I do think you bring up a good point because the edge class next month in the draft is considered very, very strong. And so if you feel like you've, you know, started to lay out your draft board and you've matched it up against what's available in free agency, and you say, look, like, we can wait until late on day two. And we've got four picks now in the top 90 and still get a guy that we think can be an impact edge rusher.

Then it gives you a little bit more patience and calm during this stretch when everything else is breaking loose. So that's important to remember here that this is a really deep edge class there. And then again, you know, one name that we haven't mentioned a lot of either is Juvon Dexter. like you've got him still on the interior line and you're going to try to push to get the most out of him with what time you have left with him, you know, and see if you can start to, again, squeeze the return on investment out of the guys that you've invested either big contracts in or premium draft picks in. That is Dan Weider. We know you have a curfew since you have to be everywhere. You just never know what's happening. Yeah, we will let you get to it.

So, Dan, thanks so much. And we look forward to the news that you report on this very big day in the NFL. Thanks, Dan. Enjoy the week and stay calm. See, but. TTIN. Stay calm. We're not necessarily staying calm.

Yeah, why stay calm? It's actually the opposite of our job. Yeah, don't be telling us to stop. Don't calm us down, Dan Weeder. I need to stay calm or calmer than I've been. Are you calmer after hearing? Because, you know, Dan, Dan is the, he is the, what he does really well amongst other things. The perspective that that man gives is amazing.

Okay, this is occupied my mind for the last few minutes. Acupado? all? Listen to what this, listen to this deal. The Titans are signing ex-Giants wide receiver Wadale Robinson, who had a pretty good game against the Bears to a four-year $78 million deal with $38 million guarantee. Pardt! Wadale Robinson! What the hell's going on, Park! Is it just got paid. Are you saying you don't think that he's maybe worth that that that, that, that, that, that, type of money, $19.5 million per year? Do you? I don't know because his quarterback was concussed

for much of the last season. But Wando Robinson has talent. I saw the talent on the field. I mean, we saw, yeah, he was in the right spots on the routes against the Bears. But what we know is if you don't have someone distributing the ball in an efficient way, your talent's not going to shine. Hello, Jordan Jefferson. Hello, projection. That's what that is. Yeah, because he's, okay, so that he had 92 receptions. That was, and you're right, a lot of this, you have to take with a grain of salt because of dysfunctioning offense, which very much was the case. 92 receptions last year. 1,114 yards.

That's it. That ties him for 14th. Four touchdowns total, but it's the Giants last year. 11 yards per catch, which is 71st. I wonder if this is going to be the new blankie, for lack of a better word, for the Titans and Cam Ward. We were talking about Blankies last week, aren't we?

This is Blanky. I think Brian Daible really likes Wondale Robinson, so that makes it make some sense. Clearly, offensive coordinator now for the Titans and former head coach who obviously saw everything that he's capable of.

And I know he didn't necessarily have a starring role until last year, but he has had 90 plus catches each of the last two seasons. 622 yards out of the slot. That was good for second to Trey McBride in the league, so maybe that's the idea there.

Not even Pooka Nakua had that many yards in the slot. He only had 594 during the regular season. A little hot read action for Robinson going forward. No, you know what? Bless them. All of these people who are getting to the Titans, right? Ridiculous pay to the Titans. Paydays.

It's funny because when we were having our show meeting. That was Ryan Porth, by the way. That's how I'm going to whiteboard that. People were just like, why is Grotty just spouting up? Where'd you get in? When did you get in? Because Ryan Porth, one of our bosses here at the score is a huge Titans fan. So he knows all minutia.

When we were talking, discussing our teams that are dysfunctional in the NFL, he raised his hand and said, I offer the Tennessee Titans. I don't know what he thinks about this, but we'll find out. It's a big swing. All right, forth. Bye-bye, sir. It's a big swing. The Raiders have, according to Adam Schafter, agreed to terms with receiver Jalen Naylor on a three-year, $35 million deal with $23 million guaranteed for Ken Sarnoff and Joe Dibendetto of one-of-one agency.

That is a locally based firm. so that is news regarding the Raiders. They are going to use some of that $11 million of cap space. 27 million of it going, though, to Tyler Linderbaum. There was a question on a text line about, well, what if he retired? He's his own man. How about we let him decide what he wants to do for a living and for how long? It's like Dalman has started a trend with centers doing one of doneers with their contracts.

And there was some news out of the Saints as well. they picked up... More like the a a inch. Well, I think they're trying to make a splash. They signed Travis A-TN,

so that's supposedly happening. And there is news about Travis Kelsey reportedly expected to return to the Chiefs for his 14th season. Did you catch the ATN money,

by the way? I did not. 52 million for four years. Oh, man. That's why I wanted to make sure he got it. He is good. He's very good.

He is good. He wanted to be closer to home. But the way you're looking at me after I told you before. That's to be Ian Rappaport on X. Hopefully they caught her on Twitch. Twitch. That's a lot of money for a position that doesn't get a lot of money

these days, unless you're like, Seekwan. Sequin doesn't make that much money. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Well, he signed two years ago, right? Yeah, yeah, and he's only played one season. Are we close to extension time? But they won the Super Bowl. They did.

They did. Ding, ding. Yeah, you out Benump to Bum bump to me. Every time you make a point, you have to either have ding-ting or some sort of sound. I'm getting NFL slap-happy right now. Let's get serious. Who do we have coming on? This is great.

She's a person that I have looked up to in my little old career. We have Seahawks reporter Jen Mueller, who also was a very big fixture for the Mariners broadcast as well out of Seattle. Joining us next to talk about the big news regarding Kobe Bryant. So Ray, nicely done. Rahimi Harrison Grody. I don't want to break time, I want to yell, a bunch. Can we handle more Anthony Heron? Midday's 10 to 2 on 104-3, the score.

Rogers, downfield, looking for Austin, picked up by Kobe Bryant. Number eight picks off, number eight. And down across the 45-yard line. Second pick thrown by Rogers today, and Kobe Bryant, who had three of them last season. That is Adam Amin. on Fox Sports. This is Rahimi Harris and Grotie on 1043, The Score, and we go to our hotline. That is where we find Jen Bueller. She is at Jen Talk Sports on X. She is the Seattle Seahawks Radio Network sideline reporter, the founder of Talk Sporty to me,

and somebody who inspired me for many years. Jen, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you so much. That's a great way to start this conversation, as if I wasn't already excited to talk a little football. Well, it's true. Gotta give the flowers where they're due. Jen, doing things when not a lot of women's sportscasters were out there doing things. So thank you for that. You are welcome. Thank you. In the meantime, the vaunted Seattle defense is a little less strong today with the signing of Kobe Bryant over to the Bears. What do you make of just him moving and what he meant to a championship season for the Seahawks?

Yeah, I mean, he's part of the best defense in the league. and one of the best defenses that we have seen in a while. So he was a key piece, and he started 15 games. That is the most time that we have seen him on the field during his career. He is tenacious. He is gutty. I always enjoyed conversations. I find him to be very thoughtful.

He is very intense. He has always had something to prove, and I think that he will continue doing that in Chicago. It's unfortunate you can't keep the entire defense together, but I know that John Schneider and Mike McDonald's, They kind of expected that that was going to be the price to pay for success. Jen, I think you summed up nicely when you talked about the best defense in a while because that's how dominant this one was on the way to a Super Bowl.

My question is this. With him specifically, Kobe White, what impact do you think he'll have? Brian. Oh, Brian. My bet. Kobe White, you know? I just did. I've done it 10 times already.

Yes. I'm sorry. We used to have a basketball player. His name was Kobe White. He just got traded. It's fresh on my mind because. It's quite all right. I love basketball.

So anyway, Kobe Bryant, another basketball player, but that's not who I'm talking about right now. Right, right, yeah. His impact off of that team and now on the Bears, what do you think his immediate impact will be on the Bears? Well, again, it's just kind of the way that he is able to fly around, and he really did grow his game. The coolest thing about Kobe is just the story that the four years in Seattle tells.

I mean, he started as kind of a slot guy. He was so versatile in college that it almost was a challenge in the first couple of years in his career. And what you have seen in the last two years, specifically with Mike McDonald, is how he has handled that safety role. Because that is not where he started when he came in as a rookie. And when you take a look at past completions, I think this year they were completing about 59% of the passes against him. He, you know, has the ability to get those past deflections, to have the interstations, to have the interstations. you had the highlight there, I'd have to study that Bears defense a little bit to know, but here's the thing. And I underestimated this early in my career, and I don't now.

When you get somebody who has been there and done that, you have been through the playoffs, you have been through the battles with some of the best teams in the league, you know, in your division, you have won a Super Bowl. There is part of that that you just can't put a number on and you can't put a price on, and it's really hard to explain what it's like when you have somebody in the locker room who knows what that feels like and knows that should look what that should look like. His leadership skills are going to be as important as anything that you see on the field on game day from him. Oh, that's huge. I mean, Bears fans listening right now. You should love that because the Bears just had two really good locker room guys and Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker, who as we speak right now are still available. And to Jen's point, yeah, like you look at his career, Kobe Bryant's career in 2022 as a rookie, 17 games as a DB.

He was a cornerback in 2023 where he played it in 11 games. The last two years are interesting because he was a strong safety, Jen, in 2024, and then he became the free safety in 25, and he has the four interceptions. You didn't have three interceptions last year as a strong safety. What's his best position, like, and why the change? Well, the change happened with Mike McDonald's and just finding a single spot for him on the field. And I think what really helped him was having Julian loves. I mean, I think you guys are familiar with Julian.

He's from the Chicago area. But he had a similar trajectory in his career, but he played all over in the, you know, kind of the back end of a defense. And so when he got to Seattle, he really worked with Kobe and said, look, here's the mindset you have to have. Here's how you stay sharp. Here's how you make this work to your advantage. And that's where things, you know, kind of took a step in that next direction for him.

I think also when you look at Kobe, you're playing alongside some pretty special guys. You moved him to safety because now you've got Devin Witherspoon who can play, you know, inside and can be that cover guy on the slot. And you've got Nick and Worry now who's listed as a safety. Granted, he can play at all three levels. But I think some of that was just the pieces that you had on defense. I think you saw everybody take a step under Mike McDonald in year two just because of how talent was deployed from. all different spots on the field. We're talking to the Seahawks Radio Network,

sideline reporter Jen Mueller here on Rahimi-Harrison Grotian, 1043, the score. And just to digress a little bit, because he is an Aligni guy, Devin Witherspoon, he proved to be such a special pickup and really was deployed excellently in that Seattle playoff, Ron. Yeah. Yeah. And I love how talented he is. I think I love how he talks more than anything.

I mean, he never stops talking. He is supremely confident in his skills. I am sure he gets under the skin of a lot of guys. But you're right. When he hits like he does and he's just got these natural instincts. And in some ways, Spoon reminds me of Earl Thomas from the Legion of Boom Days. But here's the difference. Earl Thomas would sniff out of play and he would just leave his zone wide open.

And people would be like, what are you doing, man? And I remember a point in time where the coaches told Earl, you cannot do that because you haven't communicated to everybody else. Spoon is instinctive, but he plays within that system really, really well. And I do love the fact that they decided to send him on those blitzes early against the Patriots. He's got the ability. They just weren't doing it very much. And because there's versatility, you know, you knew it was going to be unlikely that you meet Kobe and keep all of those guys.

You're also going to have to pay Spoot in a couple of years. And I'm sure that all of that weighs into the decision to allow Kobe to get a chance to go and win with the bears. Well, and also just to follow up, we were looking at some of the stats on Kobe Bryant, Jen, and it is comparable. You know, Kevin Byrd, of course, had seven interceptions that led the NFL in the regular season, but Brian had four to his name, and that just goes to show he's got a nose for the ball. Well, yeah, and remember, you've got so many guys that made plays on defense.

I think you're going to see another level of Kobe Bryant, because everybody was kind of splitting those plays and those highlights, as is, evidence by the Super Bowl, right? This is not a knock on Ken Walker, the Super Bowl MVP, who just went to the Chief. He was amazing down the stretch. But really, it's that defense and the fact that they were so unselfish. They didn't care who was making the plays. Kobe easily could have had more interceptions. And I think you are going to see those numbers go up because he will be given a chance to be in a larger role in to shy. Jim Miller, joining us here on Rahimi Harrison Grody. She is the Seahawks Radio Network Sideline Reporter.

She's also a founder of Talk Sporty to me. I understand she is also a cooking host. She does it all and she's cooking with us right here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. I got to ask you, as the team kind of takes its next step, the Seahawks I'm saying, you're losing guys because that's what happens every year, but especially when you're successful. What do you think the Seahawks will look like? What do you think the biggest difference will be a year from now without guys like Kobe, not white, but Brian? on the team. It is going to be interesting because you do have versatile pieces. You know, I would expect just right now, straight across the board, without making any other moves, right? You're going to

slide a guy like Ty Okata is to play that role. That's what happened earlier in the year when there were some injuries. He's a guy out of Montana State. He proved to be more than capable of holding down that job and they just re-sign him. So they have somebody in the building who can play that role. Of course you want to add on and you still want to have pieces, but what's interested is how Mike McDonald talked about a guy like Nickyman Worry. Again, listed as a safety, played at all three levels of the defense. And he said, look, if we determine that the best spot is playing corner, he could play corner for it. Like, it would take drafting a couple of other guys and having, you know, just kind of some moving pieces. But we could do that. I would feel comfortable with

his capability and skill set. I do think you have guys that, allow you to kind of pick and choose best available for the overall skill set, not just the position. And I know from talking to John Schneider in the past, they have run into trouble. He personally says this. When he reflects on kind of the things that he has done, you try to pigeonhole like the one for one, right? We lost the safety. We got to go out and get the exact same guy. No, you don't. You need to go out and find best talent for the defense so that you can keep doing the unique things that you're going to be doing. So I don't know that it ends up looking that much different.

I think when the pieces across the front start moving and those edge rushers, I think that's where you start to have a different look and feel to the defense in general. John, one more question from me, back to Kobe Bryant. The bear's brand new safety three years and $40 million can play strong safety and free safety. It also looks like he's a very willing tax. I know people are like, well, duh, he's a safety. But we've seen, I mean, Eddie Jackson was here. He was great, but he was not a willing tackler.

I see a 70 tackle season, a 73 tackle season, a 66 tackle season. Is that indicative of the way he plays? Yes, absolutely. He will put his nose in there, along with his shoulder, his, you know, arms and all of those things. You were going to get somebody who scraps, who fights. He is not going to give up easy yards. He's going to be a sure tackler. And that goes back to his days at Cincinnati, right?

That's not a surprise. That didn't change in the NFL. That has always been one of his strong suit and something you can consistently count on from Kobe. Jen, this has been really informative. We thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks, Jen. Oh, no.

Do we lose, Jen? There you go. Sorry, you broke up, Jen, one more time. Jen, you inspired all of us, not just Layla. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, thanks for giving me a chance to talk football today, guys. We're happy to do.

So that is Jen Mueller. She is the Seahawks sideline reporter. She is at Talk Sporty to me. If you want more of her work, you can find it on X. And yeah, she does do the cooking shows. I forgot about those. She does everything. Where?

I'm very much impressed. Like YouTube thing or something? I'm not sure. Jen is everywhere in all medias. But I want to know where I could find her cooking show. Longtime Mariners host as well. Why, you going home and cooking something, I, Grotty?

You know what? Maybe. I think I saw Jen because the White Sox Broadcasts broadcast was or on CHSN they were using the Seattle broadcast and I think I saw her in the booth Yeah she was Mariners until at least

I think last year a couple years ago because they their broadcast changed hands as well Okay they were root Oh so their MLB run now I'm not entirely sure off the top of my head There's like 15 teams we gotta sort that out Yeah we do Did you figure out where the cooking it's not on the food network

Is it? I'm looking at clips on her at her Twitter page Twitter. So, you know. She still cares about Twitter. So I don't... You can find everything Jen does as well on YouTube at Talk Sporty to Me. Talk sporty to me.

Is that a poison song? Talk dirty to me? Yes. Yes, it is. I do think musically, you're right, Leila. And Angel got its wings today. Mark got a song named correct. Oh, my God, man.

Is that sung by Whale? Oh, yeah, Whale? No. Polk it out. Polk it out. I thought it was whale. Man, there were a few years where I thought Walee could do no wrong. I felt like he was just producing hit after hit. Can he do wrong now?

Or is he just kind of done his thing and, you know, how music moves on? No, he's still, I mean, he's still an amazing artist. I don't think 40s, 30s, 40s? I think late 30s, right? I have no idea off the top of my head. Waleigh full, Irene. I'm doing it right now. He's 41 years old.

41. Okay. Wolley's 41? Yeah, I said late 30s. I was a little bit off. My bad. Good for Wale. Good for Wale.

Congratulations on being 41. Seriously. Good job. We don't make it to 41. Also, everybody reacting to the Mike Evans news, you are appropriate to do so. That also happened. Mike Evans reportedly going to the 49ers. So he was a free agent for about 35 seconds.

We got some. Adam Schaefter. Look at that. Wouldn't you see there that I probably had a correct assumption that they needed to do something about linebacker. According to Adam Schaefter, former Browns linebacker, Devin Bush, reached an agreement today on a three-year $30 million deal that includes $21 million guaranteed with the Chicago Bears. That's per agent. Tell me if you've heard this name before.

Drew Rosenhouse. Three years and 30 is not nothing. Okay. There it is. Devin Bush, Young, he's 27 years old, played in 17 games this year with the Cleveland Browns. He had a career with Cleveland. Our internet today in our studio has on all of the days, even our wired internet has been woefully behind.

Yeah. So that's been a lot of fun. No, three interceptions for 164 yards is something that he had this year. I was concerned about linebacker, and it looks like I wasn't the only one. Thank you. 2019 first round pick. I guess we can talk about it more on the other side. 125 tackles.

Yeah, we should talk about it more on the other side. Two sacks. More on this pickup. And if we have time, A familiar phrase entered the chat over the weekend. Next. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Spares tight end. Cole Komet.

Cole, welcome to the party, pal. Well, thanks for having me. I heard it was a big day. So naturally, I dropped everything I had going on today. You've complained a lot through the years about not being able to hear the score on the 670 AM dial when you're inevitably cruising around downtown. And now that we have an FM signal, Cole,

you can now hear the score. All day, all the time, all you want. You can hear all the Bears hot takes you want. Well, that's perfect. I'll make sure I glass that in the locker room. Beautiful back! Rahimi, Harris and Grody. Midday's Tyndal 2 on 104-3 the score.

Clino Burrow will be back and some changes they'll make in the offseason. First and goal from the 7. Burrow, quick release, has it deflected. It's intercepted. And the Browns may have a chance for a pick six. Bush. He's got up one man to beat. He's looking for Miles Garrett for some help.

He got it. some help and Devin Bush will score. That is one of two of Devin Bush's pick sixes. That one against Joe Burrow. Been chilling at the Holiday Inn. Why do you ask

Chingey? This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 of the score. Who's the highlight courtesy of so we can be illegal? That would be CBS and Tom McCarthy on the call. Oh, Tom. Of course. The Phillies announcer. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody Grody on 1043, the score. And

reason we bring it up is because lo and behold, the Bears also thought linebacker was a position of need, given that they released Tremaine Edmonds, and we knew that guys like Noah Sewell were injured, and the reports are, per Adam Schaefter and others, former Browns linebacker, Devin Bush, reached agreement today on a three-year, $30 million deal with the Bears that includes $21 million of it guaranteed. And Bush, by all accounts, seemed to have a bit of a renaissance with the Browns. And the two-pick-sixes is a good example of what he was able to do. Sounds like turnovers are still a priority for this Bears team, does it not? Yeah, and they have a really good middle linebacker in Carson Swessinger, who was a rookie last year. So that might have been part of

what they're thinking and in him being expendable against the Bears last year. He had a tackle and an assist and a pass defense. And the Bears 3-3 win over the Mighty Cleveland Browns. Those are some of the few highlights the Browns had in that game. But yeah, Bush, three picks, 164 yards worth of that, 125 tackles last year, 27 years old. That looks like a good product right there.

That's a good linebacker. And it makes sense if you're the Browns. You have the defensive player, excuse me, defensive rookie of the year last year in Swessinger, as you guys just described him. So for them, it's like... R-O-Y-D-P-O-Y too. Yes. Yes. Yes. And so you look

at what they have on defense, this made him expendable and for the bears to give him good money and to get a guy who's not past his prime. You know, he's going to be 28 when the season starts. And it sounds like by all accounts that there was a hope amongst Bears, or Browns fans, rather, that maybe Devin Bush would give them a hometown discount, but that did not happen. And the Bears had the money because they were able to free up some space. You know, Tremaine Edmonds leaves, as we talked about, that was an expected cap casualty. So again, I think the pattern to be had here, if you look at them reciting to Marco Jackson,

which I feel like we all feel like was a solid move, signing Daniel Hardy, who seems to unite us all in our celebration of him, then also getting Kobe Bryant, who had four interceptions last season, Jen Mueller telling us in the previous segment that she thinks that number could easily increase. But when you're on Seattle, you just know you have to share defensive accolades. And then now this, you know, career high three interceptions for Devin Bush, are very much, sounds like turnovers are still a huge priority to this Bears team. Do we feel like DeMarco Jackson slash Devin Bush is the way they're going to go until everyone else is healthy? Is that satisfactory?

Yeah. I feel like they found the linebacker they needed to replace Tremaine Edmins. I like it. I mean, I do think that they still have to get something out of room and Hippolyte as a fourth round pick. And maybe they will. Maybe they will. But yeah, I think that's a pretty good one-two punch right there.

I think, with those two guys, and then figuring out, like you said, what the depth is going to be in that linebackers for him. Now they just have to sign three more safeties. Yeah. Yeah. When you say it like that, and it's accurate, it sounds daunting a little bit. But not, not at. I mean, obviously the signing of Kobe Bryant makes it a lot more palatable right now. Like, you know who one of your starters is going to be.

And it's not just because you know that they have one of those four safety spots. but it's a pretty good signing. Like it's a high-level player that you're getting off of a Super Bowl team. I don't know about you guys, but I still keep refreshing my social media, trying to see if Kevin Byard has landed anywhere. There's been any news breaking on Kevin Byard. Nothing yet. No.

What is going? I'm not saying the Bears necessarily. I'm just curious as to who he might be flirting with or who he might be closing in on a deal with right now. Honestly, I think this is positive news that some teams. just didn't come in and lop him up with a bunch of money? Because that's what we've seen today is a lot of the teams scooping up players by flashing the cash. Flash the cash.

Yeah. That cash works. Kevin Byard, no change to the bio. The Pro Bowl is still the link. All right. That's important stuff these days. Although he's an adult at 33. He may not do all the passive, aggressive.

Yeah, he may not. He doesn't, he would not come across as that. passive aggressive social media mind games guy. No, and not just that, but his last post, at least on axes of him appreciating Tremaine Edmonds. Okay. So, yeah, that's quite the opposite, which I feel like all of us would assume out of Kevin Byard.

He seems like quite the adult. But good to know, at least, for, as we try to just see what happens to him and where he goes. This is good from next gen stats. This is courtesy of Roger Blanco, the producer over at Fox 32, who you may have seen last night. I did. I did see Roger Blanco. Shout out to Roger Blanc. Such a nice man. He really is. Kobe Bryant allowed the second lowest passer rating among safeties in 2025, this per next gen stats. 51.4 minimum, 25 targets and coverage.

Bryant's four interceptions were tied for the fourth most at the position. So you see the passer rating list. It is Antonio Johnson. Then it is Kobe Bryant at 51.4 for the opposing passer rating. Then it is Kalin Bullock, Jesse Bates, and Z. Mennie. So that is nice company when it comes to the compliment out of next-gen stats. I'd say it's been a pretty good 24 hours. And I put the 24 hours on there just going back to DeMarco Jackson, Daniel Hardy being put in place, Devin Bush, Kobe Bryant, Neville Gallimore. Pretty good, I'd say. Would you guys agree with that? Pretty good. I'm putting the pretty

before the good. I'm not saying good. I'm saying pretty good is what the bears have done so far. I just don't want to see regression. Like the very least I can ask for out of this team after winning their first playoff game in 15 years is regression at any of the positions where they had a log jammer, perhaps cap casualties. And they need to be better on defense. We all knew that. You cannot go through another year where you are depending on big, splashy interception plays to be the part where you won on defense. You've got to win up front more. And maybe with some of these signings, they've started to get closer to that. I can't call anything that we've seen splashy today because of the net positive, even though you, you know, got a guy like Kobe Bryant,

Tremaine Edmonds was good last year. You know, you just want to see, can you, with the salary cap, the way it is, get better? And I think that we're a long ways away from answering that. We have more to come here on Rahimi Harrison Grotty because Lawrence Holmes and Matt Spiegel have entered the building. They're in. They're in. When did you get in? They're in now. I think they got in about an hour ago. When did you get in? more on that later pat hughes we heard what you did over the weekend so lawrence and holmes or lawrence and holmes and madden spegel oh it's going to hit to a hell of a show right now

hey man it's the negotiating period is open next on the score