Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Mike Florio: It makes sense for Bears to 'monitor' the Maxx Crosby situation (Hour 2)

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

In the second hour, Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris were joined by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk to discuss the Ravens backing out of a trade agreement to acquire star defensive end Maxx Crosby from the Raiders after Crosby failed their physical. How many teams are interested in Crosby now? After that, Rahimi and Harris discussed Team USA’s 8-6 loss to Italy in the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday and detailed how manager Mark DeRosa erred with his lineup choices. Later, they held the Halftime segment.

This hour is brought to you by Menards. Save big money at Menards. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a man who's got a massive brain. Mike Florio. He used to be a lawyer that he decided to take his talents to the internet. NBC Sports.

I'm sorry, I'm late. I was talking to Robert Kraft. That is at the time for an airing of grievances. Pro football talk. I got a lot of problems with you, people. No, you're going to hear about it. Chicago Sports Radio 1043, the score. I want to keep talking to Legos.

Well, it turns out that there's a lot of problems with a lot of people right now, and we know just the guy to talk about it. Mike Florio, he is the creator and editor-in-chief of Pro Football Talk. He joins us every week at this time, Wednesday's at 11. Today is no different. He is at Pro Football Talk on Twitter, and he is on Twitch. Twitch.tv slash The Score Chicago. Mike, thanks for joining us on this wall.

wildly busy day. Yeah, you know, free agency was actually kind of boring at first. I know that there are transactions that Bears fans are interested in, but there really wasn't a whole lot of sizzle when the biggest quarterback on the market is a guy with six career starts and the most disgust and highest paid relative to the market signing as a center. We needed a little B-12 shot, and we got one last night and it continues today. Mike, what's your reaction to this?

your understanding of when people talk about a failed physical, it seems to be very vague and very much at the behest of whoever or whichever organization is doing the evaluating here. And that is a reality for every trade that happens, every signing that happens. I remember a few years ago, Jimmy Garoppolo signed with the Raiders and the reporters were in the press room waiting for the press conference and it was delayed and they basically said, allah the Wizard of Oz, go home and come back tomorrow, because they found something in the physical that required the deal to be reworked. So none of these deals that have been negotiated since noon, eastern, 11th Central on Monday are done until they're done, and they can't be done until

the teams get a chance to look at the guys. These deals are done sight unseen for the most part. You're going to bring the guy in and make sure that everything's fine. For trades, it's the same thing. before the Ravens were going to commit a couple of first round picks and presumably adjust Max Crosby's contract because his average of 35.5 million per year was well below the going rate at the high end of the market of 46.5 million for Michael Parsons. You want to make sure that you're comfortable. And in hindsight, now we raised the flag that, hey, hey, none of these deals are done until they're done. Both teams have to communicate the terms independently and identically to the league office. anyone can back out for any reason and it violates no rules. I wish I had been more clear on the reality that you've got a guy who just had a meniscus repair in January.

So you're not assessing whether or not he can pass a physical and play today. You're making a projection that he's going to be able to pass and play later. So it's a big gray area. And for the Ravens who had never before traded a first round pick for a progester, player in franchise history, they got to be damn sure that they're making the right move here and it's not going to blow up in their faces. And Adam Schaeffer reported last night, this wasn't just one doctor going rogue or getting a wink and a nod from somebody in the front office who had cold feet about this transaction. They consulted with multiple doctors and they decided they weren't

comfortable moving forward. Mike, that's it. I feel like there's been a general understanding of where Max Crosby was going to be physically at this point in time, but that the price of the two first round picks was the real concern for multiple NFL teams. We've seen multiple reports. I believe it was an issue of perhaps they just didn't feel like that first round pick asking price made sense anymore for them to the tune of two of them. Yeah, you're taking on a significant risk that you're not going to get a return on your investment of two first round picks and, and, and,

And it never got to this point, but I believe his contract would have been renegotiated on the way through the door because the Ravens were inheriting four years at a total average payout of $29 million. Why wouldn't you expect something more that puts you better in line with the market, especially if the Ravens think enough of you to give up two first round picks? And that's always, you know, it's a sliding scale, the components of a trade. What do we have to give up to get the guy? What do we have to pay to make him happy? We saw what the Packers gave up for Michael Parsons and made him the guy who's at the top of the market. So you just better be sure that you're comfortable with the medical side of it.

And the problem is this. The Raiders dropped this bomb on Twitter last night saying the Ravens backed out of the agreement. We'll have no further comment at this time. It creates the impression the Ravens did something dirty, that they did something they shouldn't have done. And the Ravens have been silent about it. I think from a PR standpoint,

the Ravens would be wise to find a way to get their story out there directly, not by leaking anything to reporters, but issue a statement that, hey, this deal wasn't done. None of these deals are done until the physical is passed, and we decided not to pass.

You know, what they could have done, they could have waited until the deal was official today pending a physical, and all of this could have happened tomorrow. That would have been an even bigger mess, but that's the thing we've seen from time to time we've seen trades fall apart after the deal's done, after it's announced pending a physical, and the physical isn't passed. This isn't the first time that's happened.

It's just the most dramatic and jarring way that it's unfolded. Mike Floreo joining us here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie as he does each time this week. He's the creator and editor-in-chief of pro football talk. And Mike, maybe I am a conspiracy theorist, but it's hard for meetable. believe that this would have gone down in the manner that it did if Trey Hendrickson wasn't out here still dangling, no one meeting his price, the price kind of lowers for what people think he's going to get on the open market. And in less than 12 hours, they go from backing out of this deal to signing Trey Henderson. Does that make me a conspiracy theory? Because I don't

think that the Ravens do this unless they have the backup, because I see the dearth of available edge rushers after free agency the frenzy was over. You know, the phrase conspiracy theory is a lot more or a lot less fun than it used to be. Now you don't want to be labeled a conspiracy theorists. There was a time where it was kind of cool. But consider the way this all played out. And at a minimum, the Ravens got lucky because Trey Hendrickson, if his demands weren't unrealistic and he came into this process wanting a lot more than the market was going to bear. There was a report from Jonathan Jones of CBS yesterday. that there was a $10 million gap between what Hendrickson wanted and what teams were offering. It reminded me of one of my good friend's father's favorite sayings, if I could buy you for what you're worth and sell you for what you think you're worth, I'd be very rich. And if Hendrickson had just been more reasonable, he'd been gone on Monday.

But because he was being stubborn, he was there, and the Ravens could swoop in and get him for $28 million a year, a million per year less than what Crosby was going to cost them with. out a renegotiation of contract. Crosby is going to be 29 and two first round picks. They get Hendrickson for 28 and no picks of any kind to be surrendered to the Cincinnati Bengals. Mike, how many teams do you think are left now interested in Max Crosby still in the NFL? Well, I think plenty of teams are interested if they can pounce on this weakness that the Raiders may now be dealing with

because they've gone out and blown their budget on a bunch of free agents. And reportedly, they're going to honor the agreements. It'll be interesting to see if one or more of those guys fail their physicals on the way through the door. But the Raiders could, if they want to, they could call up the age of retaliate of Lindelbaum and say, you know, we made this offer under the notion that Max Crosby's $30 million salary for this year was going to be off the books. Now that it's back, we've got to reconfigure. and we're sorry, but we can't proceed with this deal.

The Raiders have every right to do that. So they're going to proceed, but they do have a problem now. And even though they can automatically restructure Max Crosby's contract and reduce the cap number for this year, it's still $30 million in cash. And these teams all set a budget for each year of the cash they're willing to devote to free agency and to the rest of the roster. So they got to go back to Mark Davis and say, hey, you know, that budget that we came up with. We need to add 30 million back into it now if they have to keep him. And right now, all indications are, and who knows what to believe, because it could be posturing, the Raiders are content to keep him. Crosby is content to stay. And he may have had like an epiphany.

Hey, I want out, I want out, I want out. He goes through this experience in Baltimore. And now he comes back. It's like, you know what, I'll just stay here. And I'm happy with all these guys we've signed. Maybe we're going to be competitive now. So he may truly be interested in staying. But this is all part of the pushback to get the next team if there is one to be more reasonable in what they think they can get him for. And I look at it this way. We talked earlier today on PFT Live about whether or not a trade could still happen. I think it can happen, but maybe it's going to happen once he's able to pass a physical. Maybe it's going to happen later in the year, maybe even after the draft. Maybe they still get two first round picks, but it's 27 and 28,

not 26 and 27, after the dust settles on a lot of things. And after the doctors of whichever team may be interested in Max Crosby can get a look at not where he is and might be, but where he actually is after months of rehabbing this meniscus repair on his knee, which is usually a three-month injury. Mike, these are excellent points to bring it up. And it makes me so curious because I feel like now is the window if you're willing to take the risk where you're going to get the low deal, the low value of getting him in your building, And if he builds it back up and he's back to playing, isn't that going to be back to two first rounders?

Well, I think it would be, but here's the other reality, too. And this is why it's in Max Crosby's interest to take a step back and continue to rehab and get himself healthy. Because if part of this transaction is about getting Max Crosby a raise, the team's going to be reluctant to do that too. So let's wait and thread all the needles at the same time. Trade and contract. You want to get that new deal done as you go through the door. once the trade is over. So if he would be traded right now

and the team would say, we'll take a look at your contract once you're healthy. There's less urgency to do it. And they've got four years where they can squat on it. So I think that for both the Raiders and for Crosby,

it makes sense to wait. And yes, it's going to be hard to get two first round picks again, but it's a very different situation if Max Crosby is fully and completely recovered, gets a clean bill of health from the doctors, not just the team doctor, but anyone else that the team that would trade for him would be consulting with. And the Raiders, instead of getting the 14th overall pick this year and a

first round pick next year, they're going to get maybe a first round pick next year and a first round pick the year after that. So should the bears do this or what? I think it makes sense to monitor the situation. If they were interested in him before, it makes sense to see where it goes from here. and this could be a guy that you get at the start of training camp if he's healthy. But I would definitely want to be sure that this guy is good to go because the knee could be a problem. If you have that many doctors looking at this thing after a meniscus repair and having red flags, and think about what happened here. And, you know, Max Crosby was mad when the Raiders finally shut him down at the end of the year with two games left. He'd been playing all year

with this meniscus injury. And I talked to an orthopedic surgeon last night. It's going to make it worse, and it puts stress on other elements of the structure of the knee, this incredibly complicated joint with all these different interconnecting, interlocking pieces that need to be all working right for the need to operate the way it needs to. So that's really the key. Will he be good to go? When will he be good to go? And if the bears were interested before, if and when we get to a point where we know that he's healthy now, and I would suspect that any physicals that may be conducted in the future by a prospective Max Crosby trade suitor, those are all going to be done very quietly and discreetly and no one's going to know,

because nobody is going to want to be in this position where they're pulling the plug on a trade, and the Raiders don't want it to happen again. Crosby won't want it to happen again. So I think that the passage of time, and if he can get healthy, that's the thing that could change everything. So the bears just need to monitor. Anyone that's interested in Max Crosby needs to see how the next few months play out. Looking at the rest of free agency, have there been anything that's really stood out as far as a big surprise or a team maybe more active than you thought or just the amount of money that's being handed out where, say, I don't know, a center gets, resets the market by getting 150% of the value of the previous high for a center. Well, that really was crazy to me. And what I want to know, and I've been trying to find out, and it's hard to get to the truth on this.

Everyone, as best I can tell, is saying they were at 22. The Ravens were at 22. The Giants, I, I, I, I, have heard bowed out once it went above 22. The commanders, they were supposedly around 22. Like, if he goes to the Raiders for 27, who finished second? Was somebody at 269, 265, 26? Where was it? And they clearly overpay. A 50% bump in the market, that is ridiculous. And you can say, well, that's what a dysfunctional team has to do to kind of reset the narrative. You've got to overpay. You've got to find a way to win the jump balls. You know, ideally, you're a team. that can offer as much and maybe even a little less than whoever else is out there for a guy to say, I'll take less and go there. And Nevada's got no state income tax. They've got some positives,

but the team has been bad. But to go 50% over, I want to know who they were bidding against and whether or not at the end of the day they were simply bidding against themselves. A fair question. And I think also with all the reports, Mike, and we've talked about this before regarding Tom Brady and how much he's actually running the team or running the team by proxy. I couldn't help but think of that part of this in addition to John Spitech as the general manager. I feel like his influence is larger than even has been reported and perhaps what we may think. I don't disagree with that. And last year, Brady managed to avoid any of the blame for the complete and total train wreck

that was the 2025 Las Vegas Raiders, even though it was the first off season during which he had a piece of the team. Owner Mark Davis made it clear last January, January 2025, that Tom's basically the new right-hand man. He's the guy who's going to stabilize the organization. He's the guy who fills the shoes that were vacated by John Gruden when he was pushed out in 2021.

And it's amazing that Brady has avoided that scrutiny. And I think one of the benefits of Brady being spread too thin, no one really stopped to say, hey, this is Tom Brady's mess. Well, moving forward, if it is a mess, it's Tom Brady's mess. And I think at some point to do the job right, you got to be all in, which means giving up your 37 and a half million per year from Fox and rolling up your sleeves and getting to work and not being involved in this and being involved in that and living in Miami. You got to move to Las Vegas at some point.

You truly have to be all in to do it right. But there's also a chance if he would ever do that, it's still not going to be any better. Why do we think that because Tom Brady won seven Super Bowls, he's magically going to be this great leader and builder of a football program? I mean, the Falcons are taking a risk that Matt Ryan can do that. Was anyone else trying to hire Matt Ryan to come in and run a football operation? I think all the way back to John Elway with the Broncos. Who was trying to hire him to be a general manager? Now, they won a Super Bowl because he was able to get Peyton Manning through the district.

door and he made some other good moves. But that's really the question. Number one, you can't do it right if you're just halfway in. And number two, even if you go all in, do we have any reason to think that Tom Brady knows how to build a winning football team? Don't ask Michael Jordan. I'll just leave it at that. I do want to ask you, on behalf of our listeners, it's still something that gets brought up pretty often. And I know you touched on this yesterday with Mully and Haw. But the lack of compensatory picks where the NFL awards 15 teams, compensatory picks, 33 total, and the bears are not one of them. If there's a way for them to voice their frustration that's more effective than talking to us, they want to try to get a message to the league. What do you recommend?

Well, I assume that the announcement of the compensatory picks earlier this week means that any and all available internal appeals have been exhausted, that whatever the bears could do to say, hey, 345 Park Avenue, we'd like you to reconsider this situation. To me, this is one of the most strange, unforced errors that the NFL has ever committed. There was no reason not to give the Bears the compensatory draft picks for Ian Cunningham, elevating from Assistant GM to GM of the Falcons. And it only got worse when Matt Ryan says, well, hey, Ian Cunningham's running everything. And you've got both teams saying, yeah, I think the Bears should get the picks. Think about it this way. I always look at a controversial outcome where people have legitimate reasons to complain by flipping it over.

If the other thing had happened, who would have complained? If the Bears had gotten the two third round picks, who would have said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Matt Ryan's really the primary football executive in Atlanta. The Bears should not have gotten those picks. No one would have said that. So the whole thing is just stupid to me. And it's another example of how the NFL tries to avoid true accountability for its failures in hiring, both as to coaches and executives, over decades, by coming up with these clunky, band-aid, PR-driven excuses

instead of addressing the real problem. And as DeMora Smith, the former NFLPA executive director, explained to me, we had an interview at the Super Bowl, Radio Row. You can find it on our YouTube page. The problem is there's never any real accountability. It's the commissioner every February at his Super Bowl press conference with a word salad answer when the question comes up. And then it's like Punc Satani Phil, which is perfect because this year it happened on February 2nd. You disappear for a year.

Nothing happens. And then the next February, the commissioner comes out for the press conference, gets asked about it, gives his word salad response, and disappears for another year. And nothing ever changes. So the whole thing is a mess. And it's going to continue to be a mess until there's real accountability. ability. The problem is there is not. Oh, that's bleak. But we appreciate it regardless, Mike. Thank you so much.

Thanks so much, Mike. Have a great week. You too. Thanks for the fireworks as well. Mike did the fireworks on Twitch. Well, he's got those special powers that he knows how to use that stuff. I can't even get the thumbs up to work on my end. Well, and he did it while he was talking as like a casual, you know, background. He's just like, phew. Yeah, I can make this happen. Also, everything Mike just said in that last answer. Just echoing my sentiment about the NFL and just that's why you have to know when to

hold them, no one to walk away, no one to run. Nah, F that. Fight the power. I mean, 224 gave us what they think is Roger Goodell's email at the risk of doing something. I'm not sure that that's it. Yeah. And then I looked and I googled it myself and a different email address came up. Don't be giving us your ex's emails over here. Don't be giving us some email you want everybody. the horde to go email when that's not who that is. This is like the Bears Stadium site search all over again.

Don't be given us your personal vendettas over here. Okay, maybe you should do that too. I'm going to find, does anybody have a fax machine? Maybe that's what we do. We send a fax campaign. There's one around here somewhere. What's the most annoying possible communication?

Facts. Not even close. Maybe a singing telegram. Hmm. There are ways. singing telegram is not bad coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison Grady I don't know to call this

I don't know that it's overconfidence but it's some sort of misstep that should have never happened as bad as what it is Layla I wouldn't call it a national disgrace I would definitely call it a national op what is Team USA doing at the World Baseball Classic That's next.

Bette the States Unites World Beresball Classic. The Italia batte the United at Houston 8 to 6.

And then that is the very beautiful Italian call of Team Italy's 8 to 6 win over Team

USA in Houston. I made out Houston. I made out World Baseball Classic. I made out United States.

That's all I got out of that. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie. on 104-3 the score. And here's the thing. That's fun. It's beautiful.

Laveithae Bella, as they like to say in Italy. But at the same time, it causes a bit of a problem for Team USA, Marshall. A bit of a problem. Why is it a bit of a problem? Because they thought they had already clenched advancing to the knockout stage before, you know, that game. And then accordingly, they didn't win.

And then they realized, oh, wait, we have not clenched. Now we're depending on outcomes of other games as to whether or not the United States of America will be able to participate in the American pastime when there's only eight teams left. You see, what had happened was... Perfect example of usage. It really was.

And why do I feel like that happened twice yesterday with the Max Crosby trade that wasn't and Team USA, who was down eight to nothing? This was not some casual, hard-fought game. Peacro Armstrong had two hundred, home runs. Way to go, Pete. One of them was a three-run jack. That was very important. Pete did his part. So did Kyle Teal. So did Sam Antinacci. Not just for the White Sox, but for Italy. And then they got to drink espresso in the dugout and it looked lovely, especially in Houston inside.

You don't have to worry about the heat or humidity. It all sounded pretty great. Team Italy was rocking and rolling and ended up winning by that final of eight to six. But Mark DeRosa had had this quote after the game, Dero, as he is called. is the manager for Team USA. Tone of respect for Italy. It's weird. We want to win this game, even though our ticket is punched to the quarterfinals. The ticket was not punched to the quarterfinals.

You cannot pass go. You cannot collect $200. You now have to rely on tiebreaker scenarios because Team USA may be eliminated without playing another game. Mark DeRosa, of course, is an MLB network analyst. So, of course, he was on before the game. And we had warning signs that, wait a minute, this might not be what it appears to be.

There were signs. There were definitely not signs. There was one of those neon oversized billboards glowing flashing that something was a miss. because when you heard Mark DeRosa on the network he works on, he talks about baseball for a living. Every day, MLB Central. He's talked about it with us as well. And to understand that he didn't quite have the scenario understood,

and I'm trying to figure out, is that on him or is that on someone within Major League Baseball as far as Team USA? I want to know. Oh, we have the audio? Oh, yeah, we have audio. I thought I was trying to set you up for that, yeah. So you got nine bodies ready to roll today, I would imagine. Absolutely.

I'm going to look at it. I'm going to get some guys off their feet. No question about it. I'd like to get Goldie a start. And, you know, he has been awesome, just a leader of men behind the scenes with Aaron Judge. I'd like to get him in there. I'd like to get Gunner in there again. A ton of respect for Italy.

It's weird. We want to win this game, even though our tickets punched to the quarterfinals, because Mexico plays Italy. actually tomorrow. So this, the way the schedule lines up, this is an important game for us.

Nolan McLean will start. He's on the bump and he's good to go. Maturing. Is he good to go? You see what had happened was... Is he good to go? Is Nolan McLean good to go?

I asked that because Nolan McLean pitched three innings and gave up, well, you talked about it. Kyle Teal, get yours. Sam Mantonacci. Touch them all, Sam.

Sam Antanachi, you show him what for? And so back-to-back home runs tells me he was indeed not good to go. Three innings, three runs, all of them earned, two walks, four strikeouts. So that's improvement.

And an eight to nothing lead for Team Italia. Eight nothing. Yeah, it was, it was a whoopin. I guess somebody told him after the game or during the, when do you think he found out? Do you think it was like us when we found out on the air about Drew Dalman retiring?

Yeah, it was probably like that. The look of, oh no. Mark DeRosa did speak after the loss to Italy. Yeah, I misspoke. I was on hot stove with a couple buddies today and completely misread the calculations. We knew that Mexico was going to play Italy and then running all the numbers if we lost tonight with the runs allowed and run scored and outs. so I just misspoke. He owned it.

But I don't think he misspoke. I think he didn't know. When you say I misspoke, they said they had the ticket punch. He thought they were headed to the quarterfinals, regardless of the outcome. On the newly created Luis-on-Hellacuna scale. Oh. Is it to the level of saying four times in an off-season

that you thought the guy was a switch hitter? On four different occasions. like for that part completely independent it was it four times like in a segment we do on the radio right it was like four different occasions he was talking about this player that he had traded for and said he was a switch hitter so that's improvement i think this is right there i think this is actually worse i haven't heard any of that i didn't hear all of it i heard a lot about most of it but what i did hear i did not hear any of that this is improved he actually contradicts himself trustman in the soundbite because he says

he didn't hear it, but he did hear it. Yeah. So here are your tiebreaker scenarios now, just in case you need them. If Italy wins, then Italy and United States advance. Mexico is also guaranteed to advance with a win. Assuming a nine-inning game,

United States will advance if Italy gives up five or more runs and losses. Assuming a nine-inning game, Italy will advance if they lose but give up four or fewer runs. And much to our chagrin here on Rahimi Harris and Grotie, Italy and Mexico will now not be on Tooby, our favorite network.

It'll be on for real Fox Sports One. I have never watched Tobey. Fox Sports One for real. I've never watched Toobie. I guess I need to check it out. I watch the Super Bowl on TV in Thailand. All I've ever seen on Tooby is like clips from those independent films that Ray was talking about with really bad jump cuts and just things that don't make sense.

I like it. Things that look like they were shot in a story. student project of an elementary school. And now like a 2B product, we now have to figure out Team USA's fate in the World Baseball Classic. If they don't make it, Leila. If they don't make it. I don't think it's national disgrace.

I think it's a national ope. No, it's a national disgrace to have the World Baseball Classic, and it's your sport. This is like the Canadians not making the knockout stage of hockey. That's what this is like. Somewhere in here is a joke about an American lack of preparedness. Oh, that's us. Somewhere in here is a joke. It's bad, Leila.

This is already bad, but it becomes so much worse if they don't find their way into the quarterfinal. I just, and it was obvious in watching the game that you knew that USA didn't think that that game counted based on not just the lineup, as we mentioned. but it just felt that way. Like when you were watching it, that's how I felt. Like I was happy for Kyle Teal and Sam Antinacci. Let's not get a twisted there. You know what? Four of the home runs were Chicago people.

Maybe if they had started Bryce Terang, who went one for two off the bench, they would have won the game. How dare you? Maybe they would have won the game. I still cannot cheer yet for Bryce Terang. You might have to. You might come up with a situation where

if they make it to the quarterfinals, If he gets it, look, if he gets another plate appearance at the World Baseball Classic, that's what we're talking about right now. I mean, Aaron Judge, when I'm having to read a quote from Aaron Judge, where he says, it's out of our control. Now we just need a little luck and we'll see what happens. Aaron Judge. How ridiculous is that?

How ridiculous? Aaron. Who made Minutemade Park, aka Dakin Park, look like a bandbox the other day. If you're depending on Italy. It actually is a bandbox. In baseball. to help you out. I just want to...

Like Mexico, I get. Like, Mexico, that's a baseball. This is what happens when you give up eight runs to Italy. Well, that's it. Now that the team who beat them handily is going to have to be the team who helps them out because that is also a bit of symmetry.

And now that, you know, you do have to rely on a game that involves Mexico. My, my, my, my. How the turn tables, as we like to say. How the turn tables. coming up next, it is halftime here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. And as we all look for the, how do I put this? As we all look for the Fountain of Youth,

I have found a reason why people age that I think you will all want to be interested in. So as soon as the mouse is back on the hamster wheel here at Rahimi Harrison Grotty for the Wi-Fi, I'll get that story to you post-haste. Next. More Rahimi Harrison Grody. Back in 60 seconds on 104-3, the score. Allstate's new home insurance is now better than ever. We're making getting the right home insurance that's right for you.

Super easy with our improved online quoting tool. It explains how each coverage option works for you without the headache. Yep, you can start protecting your home in a matter of minutes. So check Allstate first for home insurance that's better than ever. You're in good hands with Allstate. Savings vary. Coverage subject to terms, qualifications, and availability. Allstate North American,

Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. Another app for inventory, one for CRM? Oh, don't forget accounting. Wait, which login was that? Or you could use O-DU, one fully integrated system that does it all without the hassle. Ah. Ditch the app overload. Get everything your business needs on one platform.

Try O-D-D-Free today at O-D-O-D-Com. That's O-D-O-O-O-D-O-com. AC unit or heat pump cranking, but your home's still uncomfortable? Window Nation keeps your home comfortable no matter the weather. Plus, in March, the more you buy, the more you could save up to 50% off all window styles. Visit WindowNation.com to schedule your free consultation today. What time is it? It's halftime.

This is halftime, and it is a day of what seems like you see what had happened was... So, Trey Hendrickson is now a Baltimore race. even. That's not Max Crosby's name. He's still in Las Vegas for now. For now. Potato potato. Team USA needs help from other teams to advance in the

World Baseball Classic because they lost to Italy. Embarrassing. Starting Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan McLean. So embarrassing. Better options were available. And we're trying to figure out if the bears are

somehow still in the mix for Max Crosby. The mix is with two X's. I know you asked. Mike Florio talked a lot about it as well, and we're all still trying to figure out what's the most annoying way to contact the NFL to let them know we're not happy about the Bears having two compensatory third round picks for Ian Cunningham getting promoted. I got to find my inner Karen and unleash her. I think, but Karen is on the side of bad. This is the side of good. No, sometimes Cairns can just be complaining, like,

Even though they know there's nothing that is going to be done, they just continue to make things bad by complaining. Taking up space. 217 says, oh, boo-hoo, better team won last night. And I said he didn't start Bryce Harper. He had Nolan McLean as the starting pitcher. Rather have Bryce ready for the actual season. You're a Phillies fan calling the score?

You'd rather have Bryce Harper ready for the Phillies. I don't understand him. Bryce Harper played in the game. Bryce Harper was a pinch hitter. Just like Bryce Terang. Take that out. So that actually brings me to my next story. Dealing with difficult people might aid you faster, study finds.

Might. Might. You don't say. In this study published last month in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, I call it the Department of Obvious. Researchers found that people with more hasslers in the, their life or those who create problems or make life more difficult, have a higher biological age compared to their actual chronological age? You don't say, quote, these results suggest that

the hasslers in one social environment may constitute an overlooked but consequential biological risk factor. Overlooked, do you say? The study even accounted for several other factors. occupation. I would say that that comes into play. Adverse childhood experiences and smoking. But still, the impact of negative social ties remained significant. We have a number. Each additional hassler is associated with 1.5% faster biological aging and roughly nine months of additional biological age among individuals of the same chronological age. So that puts me at 87. That's how you feel?

Look, I'm going to try to be less difficult, okay, going forward. I don't want to age you. You are not the problem? I don't want to age you. Did you tell me you'd rather have Bryce Harper ready for the regular season, despite him physically playing in the World Baseball Classic last night? I did not tell you that. Interesting.

Listen, I posted this information from this story you're reading on my Instagram because I was like, that's me. Yeah, because I was like, that's me. I don't actually deal with difficult people unless I'm forced to and I look to a solution where I, A, can disassociate myself with the difficult person, or B, come to understand what the difficult person needs to alleviate the situation and make them less difficult for me personally. I use it for content. Well, clearly, we're using it for content the two of us right now.

but I think you just have to stay away from difficult people. Like, there are choices you make early in life, right? You can't control who you're in school with, who you're in classes with. A lot of times you can't control where you work early on in your career, right? Because you need money. But if you excel at what you do, you're going to have more options. It's just like the dating pool. If you are better, you're going to have more options.

because people look at you and they're like, I want to be with that person. I want to be around that person. If only it were that simple and linear. I think it is that simple in a lot of ways. For you. Oh. For me, okay, I can only speak for myself. I think it is that simple.

Supply is a little bit different for you. We all deal with difficult people. My thing is how do you blot out the difficulty? How do you lessen the difficulty? I think there's multiple ways to do that. But I completely agree. People say I age in reverse. I've been called, among other things, the Black Benjamin Button, the finder of the

fountain of youth. Shapeshifter. Shapeshifter has also come to my attention. I've said that a time or two about Marshall. But you'll notice, on the rare occasion where I do leave my humble abode, it is only to hang out with people I want to hang out with. And my first question, if there is a gathering of any sort that is more than, let's say, three people, who all going to be there?

See, I don't ask that question. You need to ask that question. No, I go. If I get invited to something and I want to do the thing that that person is doing, I don't want to be, I think it's rude to ask who's going to be there. Why is it rude? I think my piece is worth. It's disrespectful to the person inviting me. I'm either going because that person invited me or I'm not.

So back to that point, guess what? People now know if they invite me somewhere, they know it's a contingency. These are my people. They're not difficult because otherwise they wouldn't be. inviting me. Well, then you wouldn't have to ask. Exactly. But you just said you asked. If it's somebody I don't know. If I don't, like, if it's a fringe person

that I've just met and they want me to be a part of something. And I don't know them that well. But my core people in Chicago and otherwise, they already know what time it is. They know I'm going home by nine. They know all the martial rules. I've seen you out past nine. Special occasions. Special

occasions happened. Remember I had to go to a birthday dinner like two weeks ago? The dinner itself was at 8.30. I'm out past nine because the dinner is at, and I left immediately after that dinner and went home. So Hasslers were also associated having them with multiple adverse mental and physical health outcomes like depression, anxiety, and a higher body mass index.

Wait, what? I can't say I'm surprised by any of this. So being used as target practice by people is not a fun time. Yeah, don't leave. leave. Paying rent is good. That's where the occupation comes in. Well, rent.

Paying rent is important. That is actually more important than these other things. Yeah, you've got to have a place to escape all the people. These findings together highlight the critical role of negative social ties in biological aging as chronic stressors and the need for interventions that reduce harmful social exposures to promote healthier aging trajectories. I like that idea, healthier aging trajectories. I mean, I guess it's good that we find.

get an actual study that verbalizes what a lot of us already knew. This is hilarious. 815. When I started my current job, my boss made us all go to a seminar on dealing with difficult people. And the irony is, he was the most difficult person we all had to deal with. I think he was trying to give them a little self-help. Like, hey, you guys are going to work with me.

I'm difficult. Here's some advice on how to deal with me. I like that, actually. Yeah, see, 513 has the point here. What do you do when the hasslers or family or co-workers? Well, you can limit the time you spend with your clients. Let's just be honest. Like, clients are a big part of this.

You can limit time with your family. That's easy to do. First of all, move. And also... Well, if they're your children or it's your wife or something. Excel at what you do and find another job. Like Marshall's single. He doesn't have kids.

So that's where that comes in. I miss my family all the time and I go see them. And then when I get there and, and I've had enough of them, I leave. And I'm sure they're appreciative of that. I like my family. We goof off together. They would alleviate my stress.

But then I'd be homeless because I couldn't get a job there and I'd have to live with one of them. And then I would be the hassler. Why do you say you couldn't get a job there? You could get a job. This is the business we have chosen. But you could also choose another business. They live in the number two market in the country.

You can also choose another business would be my argument to that. I think they bring up good points, this study. But I'm not quite sure how necessary it was to conduct. Also, are you offended if you were part of the study and you were considered one of the hasslers? No, because sometimes you need to hassle people to keep the difficult people away. But that's the point, though, is then you know that you were one of the people involved

in negatively aging someone? As long as I'm not aging, we're good. I say we hassle the NFL about these picks. Never stop doing that. Five on it is next.