Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Tom Verducci talks Cubs & Drew Dalman is retiring (Hour 4)

Episode Date: March 3, 2026

In the final hour, Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris were joined by Tom Verducci of SI.com to discuss expectations for the Cubs and the World Baseball Classic’s momentum. After that, Rahimi and Harris discussed if the Bears will re-sign All-Pro safety Kevin Byard as NFL free agency looms next week. Later, they reacted to the breaking news that Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman has informed the Bears that he’s retiring at 27 years old.

Everybody in this industry wants expectations. You work hard to get expectations. And that's what I can refer to. You work really hard to build a roster that has expectations. You work really hard to get on a team that has expectations. So that's what we want. Sometimes I think there's a misdomer with that. Truly excited that we have expectations.

It's not easy to get them. And so you work hard to get them. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 The Score. That was Craig Counsel. And we stick talking baseball and go to our hotline. And that is where we find Tom Verducci, the senior writer for Sports Illustrated. He has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. Analyst and reporter for Fox Sports and their Major League Baseball coverage.

And he is nice enough to join us on Zoom and on Twitch. Twitch.tv slash The Score Chicago. Hi, Tom. Thanks for joining us. Hey, thanks for having me. Glad to be here. We just played a cut from Craig Counsel's Soundbite where he. he was talking about the expectations for his Cubs team.

I think that's where just I want to start with you, you know, seeing what you've seen out of what the Dodgers have done, what the Brewers did and some of the trades that they made in the offseason. Where do you put this Cubs squad as far as playoff hopes and divisional hopes as well? Well, I'm not putting anybody above the L.A. Dodgers. I mean, they're as good as advertised, two-time defending champs and absolutely loaded with the additions they made with Diaz and Tucker. But, I mean, I don't think it's asking,

much, even though it has been recently, to have the Cubs be better than the Milwaukee Brewers, right? I mean, they should be. They weren't last year. All due respect to Milwaukee the way they just don't miss a beat, even when they miss players. You know, 97 wins last year and then, you know, taking the Cubs out in the postseason. There's no reason for me to think that the Cubs should not be better, at least on paper, than Milwaukee Brewers.

Now, I haven't been able to prove it on the field, but, you know, kind of the push poll between the Brewers losing Parole. The Cubs picking up Bregman. On paper, I'm going with the Cubs as the better team. But again, they've got to show that to me, not just the 162, but as we saw last year in the five-game series. And Tom, it feels like we've seen this before, and people have been okey-doked because they believe,

okay, now the brewer's time is over. And it's almost like you have to double-check the math that you were doing because you end up being wrong at the end of the season. Like you just mentioned, is there anything that makes you want to double-check your math saying the same thing, probably that you've probably said the last couple of years? Yeah, man. Well, first of all, I love watching the Brewers play baseball.

And I think actually Craig Counsel's got his team playing with that similar DNA. You know, really good fundamentally. I thought last year the Cubs put a big emphasis on base running, and you could see that. That's not something that happens by chance. That's a culture that's established in spring training that you take every 90 feet as hard as you can. I think they did that. We know how they're good they are defensively. I mean, last year, the Toronto Blue Jays were the best defensive team

in baseball by most measurements. And to me, the Cubs were right there. You know, it just seems to be that the Brewers have figured out how to match up pitching. And I think you saw that in the postseason as well, that they just kept coming after the Cubs of waves of pitchers. You know, Peralta was the only guy who pitched, I think, beyond four innings in the five-game series. But they seemed to have an answer at the right time.

So give them credit for identifying pitchers. Obviously, they're not really signing major free agents to fill these roles. but they do a great job of having their stuff play up. Murph does a great job matching up against them. On paper, again, you've got to say, listen, starting pitching for the Cubs is a big advantage over Milwaukee coming into the season. And I do think that should play out in the course of 162.

You get to the postseason, it's a matter of, okay, what does your rotation look like at that time of year? That's where obviously the loss of Horton last year really hurt the Cubs. Well, and we expect to see a lot more out of Cade Horton, expected to pitch today, as we know, in Mesa. And also, Tom, just the ceiling for him. You know, we didn't get to see him in the playoffs. He had that rib fracture from an illness.

You know, what do you expect out of Kate Horton? What intrigues you about him? Yeah, love his stuff. He's got a special fastball, really good command of the change up. I just love his aggressiveness on the mound. He looks like a position player who's pitching, right? Really athletic delivery repeats that really well. Here's the key, though, guys.

I mean, to me, it's like you have to get your master's degree. as a pitcher by going through a full season and breaking through the 162 innings. And I get it. You know, the game has really changed a lot. We don't have those guys throwing 250 innings even. But for a young pitcher and your team like the Cubs, man, you got to prepare yourself to pitch that seventh month. Packing on the innings and getting through the big season, that's the breakthrough.

It's like running a marathon, right? You're not going to get there by running a bunch of 5Ks. You have to train to get there. And this is the season where I think he's, he, he, should be able to break through that 160 mark, take that into September, until October. But until young pitchers do that, you know, it's hard to learn how to do that. And physically and mentally in the grind, I think he's fully equipped to do that. Don't get me wrong.

But this is where I like the Cubs depth of pitching, because we tend to look at who's their top five, but man, you better go into a season with six or seven or eight. And I think the Cubs do have those options. Tom Verduci, joining us here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on. 104-3, the score. Tom, the senior writer for Sports Illustrated, who has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981. He's also an analyst and reporter for Fox Sports Major League Baseball coverage. And Tom, I'm really curious on the whole, what has your attention the most here as we're about halfway through spring training?

Well, I think I look at a kid like Connor Griffin with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who comes fans will see a lot of, not just this year, but over the years. Really intrigued whether he's going to make the opening day roster for the Pirates. He should be there really quickly. I'll watch this kid hit, and, you know, it's special. I mean, you see a kid like Jackson Churio in the division who, you know, hit the ground running and signed that long-term extension. If I'm the Pirates, I'm trying to lock him up right now. I mean, to me, greatness as an everyday player, and I know I'm asking a lot for a kid, but to me, he's one of these special elite players. You really don't make a mistake on young players like that, whether it's Fernando Tettis Jr.,

Bryce Harper, you know, Mike Trout. And again, I'm not saying this guy's Mike Trout. I'm saying is as an everyday player, you can bank on those guys having repeat performances at a young age, I believe, when they really stand out like this. And I do think he's one of those players. So the division is going to be better, I think, because Pittsburgh really made some adjustments to their offense. I mean, they need it. We all know that. We know how good their pitching is. I'm not sure they're a playoff team yet, guys, but I think that's another team you're going to have to contend with. We know the Reds with their pitching are going to be there, and the Brewers, no matter who's on that roster are going to be there. So, you know, I look at the Central now as a much deeper division than it's been the last few years.

I think that's fair, especially when you consider moves like E. E. Oh, Hedio Suarez, going back to the Reds after the excellent season he had. I know his time wasn't as good with Seattle, but those moves tend to add up. And the Reds made some trade deadline deals, too, that I think may help them long term this year. Yeah, no doubt. I think if you give me a whole season of Hunter Green and Lodolo and that young pitching staff, and I say young, but most of them have packed on those three, four, or five big league seasons where they should be at prime years to break through, sort of like Edward Cabrera. We talked about Horton, but Cabrera with the Cubs is in that same category.

When you get to your late 20s and have major league experience, I call them young veterans, that's when you start seeing the best out of young pitchers to me. And I think Cabrera is in that mix as well. So, yeah, I would not discount the Reds at all. Playoff team last year. You know, they got boat race in the short series by the Dodgers, but, you know, that was just a matter of the Dodgers just out-talanting them. But I think they're at pain.

They'll be able to score runs. You mentioned with Suarez there. So it's set up to me as an interesting season in both. exactly because the Dodgers have set the bar so high, but the great equalizer is the postseason and find a way to get to the postseason. Listen, Toronto almost took them out last year, the year before the Padres had them on the ropes. It's not like the Dodgers are a sure thing, but you got to get in there, and I think there's a lot of competition for playoff spots, especially in the NL. Tom Verducci with us here on 104.3, the score, Rahimi Harrison Grotie. And Tom, I look at this

World Baseball Classic, and it just seems like that event has changed so much since the last time we had it. Because of the way it ended last time with that kind of the climax, the climax of the Otani versus Mike Trout, what are you expecting this time around that maybe we have gained because of the way that last event went? Yeah, good call on your part, because there's no doubt that that's had an effect on this WBC going. It's three years ago, but I feel like there's momentum because of, you know, the last chapter of that book that was written in the last WBC, which couldn't have worked out any better for baseball. It was a great game, an absolute dream matchup, one-run game, ninth inning, Otani on the mound, literally coming out of the

bullpen while warming up in between at bats for Team Japan, crazy, and pitching against Mike Trout. It was great finish. And you notice this is the stacked USA roster, right? They didn't have to go begging for players to sign up the way they had in past years because the players felt the momentum. You know, once you get Aaron Judge on board. There's nobody who's going to say, well, I really don't want to play. So I love the roster they have together. Team Japan is still loaded again. I know Shohei's not going to pitch, but this team is 30 and 8 in WBC competition. They know how to play. I call it tournament baseball. You know, they keep the game close. They have a deep pitching staff. They just find ways.

So I don't discount them. And then you look at the Dominican Republic team. They have a starting lineup with eight players who got MVP votes last year. It is absolutely the most firepower I've ever seen a WBC lineup. I think the event is really fun. I know a lot of fans, like if you're a Cubs fan or a socks fan, you want to know what's going on with their team this time of year, who's going to make the roster, how they're doing in spring training, but just kind of break away from that mindset a little bit because these games are played at playoff intensity level. And I know sometimes, you know, you don't feel it going into it. But I know being at the ballpark there, you feel the intensity.

It does feel like playoff baseball. The rules are a little bit weird. I get it because there's pitching limits and stuff like that. I'm not saying it's postseason baseball, period. But there is a want-to and a care factor. And hey, you got to love an event where people bring musical instruments to the ballpark. Like, I was starting out in Miami, and that place is just

crazy. People bring in percussion and brass instruments and who knows, maybe they'll show up with a piano. I don't know. But the fans and the atmosphere is definitely part of it. Oh yeah, that's that's a big part of it. I think that's something that we take away. And, you know, we had Tom, the director of Homecoming, which was the documentary that came out about the Dodgers and Cubs trip to Japan. And that was something that they touched on as well. So I think it's very valid. I also want to ask you just about that World Baseball

Classic the last time, you know, until that point, I don't know that any of us thought we'd get the matchup of Otani versus Trout. And to have that happen, I think that was. was a lasting moment with a lot of people that that leads them to want more in a case like this. Yeah, no doubt about it. And I think what Shohei is today, you can almost trace back to that. Listen, we knew he was a great player. But we had not seen that kind of emotion out of a Shohei Otani. And he's playing on an Angels team where he literally never played a meaningful game when you're talking about the second half of a season, you know, not just getting into the whole season, but not playing a meaningful September. So this was a first.

first time a lot of us here in the States get to see Shohei playing with something really on the line. And if you play for Team Japan, man, just look at their TV ratings. I mean, it means a lot to those guys. And you saw the reaction that strikeout, first of all, volunteering to come out of the bullpen like that was just crazy, right? And then reaction that you saw. And we've seen since then, now that he's played for the Dodgers the last couple of years, when you put this guy in a big spot, he's actually even better. I mean, as crazy as it sounds, to me, he's the most talented player we've ever seen in baseball. And now we can say that he's passed the test of being battle tested, that, you know, when the chips are on the line, this guy's going to do anything

typically come through. The gaming had against Milwaukee last year was an all-time postseason game. Pitches game seven on two days of rest in the year he was rehabbing from surgery. I just can't say enough about him. So if we wind up with, you know, Japan and the USA again in the final, I think Fox will be happy about that, the Tani and Judge in the final. To say the least. Tom, is there somebody you think could have one of those emergent world baseball classics? I know the names are so big, but still, is there somebody who think might rise to the occasion on this stage? Out of any team? Wow, that's a really good question. You know, I would say Paul Skeens, I don't know how he's going to how many times he'll start he'll start in the first round limited to 65 pitches but

i mean i i've everybody gets jazz for the tournament and brice harper as well especially putting on the stars and stripes uh but you know as a former air force academy cadet man you can tell how much it means to paul skeins to be in this situation if you ever watch paul when the national anthem is being played he stands at military attention i mean this guy does everything very purposefully. And I got to believe his heart is all the way into this tournament.

And again, hopefully he'll get to pitch either in the semis or the finals and can stretch him out to 80-something pitches. I'm not going on in a limb by saying Paul Skeens is going to stand out. But again, for a guy who hasn't played a meaningful game in his young career, these are the most meaningful games

that he will pitch in so far. And I got to believe he's going to relish the spotlight. Tom, speaking of standing out the other local baseball club here, the Chicago White Sox stood out for all the wrong reasons just a couple of years ago. But now people are saying they are on the rise. I guess if you're at the bottom, there's only one way to go. What are you hearing about the White Sox here this spring? And they try to come back to, I don't want to call it relevance, but to being a team that can compete. Yeah, it's a great question.

I spoke with Will Venable out in spring training. I could tell even a difference in his demeanor. he's always upbeat so you never have to worry about that but i think he's established a culture how he wants the team to play and especially with some of the younger players where you know it's montgomery and teal and these guys we know really good offensive players i think the question is how far have they come in terms of the young pitching you know i still think they're a little bit short there but you can definitely see this train heading down the tracks in the right direction here i get well a lot of credit i think he was a good

to hire. It kind of reminds me now of, I just saw the Cardinals extended Ali Marmo. And he's a good teacher like Will Venable. And when you have a young team like this, I don't want to say you forget about the one lost record, but are they growing? Is the team going in the right direction with the young players? And you want teachers with a young team. And that's how I look at Will Venable. So like the future of this team, it's going to take a while. I don't think it's an overnight process by any means, but it's going to come down to how their young pitchers develop. We're talking to Tom Verducci.

Nice enough to join us here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score. Tom, thanks for taking the time and chatting baseball with us. Thanks, Tom. Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks for having me. That's Tom Verducci. You can, of course, check his workout at Sports Illustrated. He has a nice breakdown of that world baseball classic.

And he'll be working for Fox. So, safe to say, pretty exciting month for Tom. Yeah. And after our previous conversation with Evangrelic, it's kind of, it feels like not a last hurrah, but it feels like this won't be the same this time next year. So I am really, as a baseball fan, people ask, what's your favorite sport? I always tell them baseball was my first love. This feels like a love letter type of season to the sport because it may not be the same when it does come back as what I remember growing up.

I can't turn the page to the last page of the book yet. I'm still in chapter one. Okay. You know what's not in chapter one? You know it's at the end of a chapter of some sort? What's that? Kevin Byard's contract. Oh, that's definitely, we're trying to figure out

is there going to be a sequel or not. Exactly. And on this franchise tag day, although I don't think that's his fate. There was a report from two friends of the show that deserved some time as far as shedding some light on his status with the team. So we'll discuss it next.

Rahimi Harrison Grody. That sounds so crazy. One of four points of the score. Wow. I like that. Middays 10 to 2 on 104 3, the score. Dives to throw. Pressure up the middle.

Zips one deep in the heavy time. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 to score. That is courtesy of Fox. And Kevin Byard did do it better than anybody in the regular season leading the league in interceptions. And he is one of four safeties on the Bears whose contract is up. He is a free agent. And as we try to figure out on this franchise tag deadline day, what Kevin Byard's fate is,

I don't think it's going to be that just because of the safety salaries in the league and what the average would end up being. So that is not necessarily my concern. But it is trying to figure out if he comes back to this team because Ryan Poles mentioned him by name at the end of season press conference, which I think matters to not just him, but others. It's not even that he just mentioned by name. it's that he wasn't mentioning other people's names.

He singled him out. And he's long held that not only is he important based on what he did, specifically in the second year of his two-year deal with the Bears, but he is an established leader of this team. And when you start to build a culture of winning, if you can retain the leaders that helped instill that, of course you want to keep them as long as it's at a reasonable cost because salary cap. Right.

And like we said, the Bears are over the cap currently. Now, this is from our friends Dan Weiderer and Kevin Fishbane. It was basically a here's what we heard at the Combine story. And in it, the question was asked, will Kevin Byard be back? On the back end, safety Kevin Byard stood out as the player league source is expected to be the bear's top priority to resign. So that is in line with what we were thinking. A team captain and first team all pro, there wasn't much hesitation over where Byrd stacks up, with Jaquan, Briskarne Ashon Wright, and C.J. Gardner Johnson.

Kevin's a special player poll said in January. I have no problem saying that's a player we would like to have back. But again, when you add the other safeties into the mix and all the other decisions we have across the roster with cap restraints and things like that, it will be a challenge. Even coming off of a season in which he led the NFL with seven interceptions, Byard's market may not be as robust as he'd hoped. So this is new.

One league source believes by the Bears could potentially bring him back on a deal similar to the two-year $15 million package he originally arrived with. Byard will turn 33 in training camp and still doesn't register league-wide in the Kyle Hamilton, Buda Baker, Kirby Joseph, Derwin James class at the position. Quote, that's a very, very select group, the sort said. After that, it falls off. That market should play in the Bears' favor. end quote. I don't know if it's going to play in the Bears' favor enough to where they need to sign him at a deal that is favorable to the team more so than it is to Byrd after the season he had. That's my concern.

Well, it's interesting because if that really is a possibility that he could come back on a similar deal, then that's obviously a win for the Bears. Because of the leadership we talk, and you are taking a risk when you're talking about an aging player like Kevin Byard, not that he's old, but he's older in football years. And that's one interesting thing. Now, Brad Biggs wrote about this similarly, and he talked about the fact that he would expect him to get a raise and could see something close to $10 million a year annually. And see, I think I'm more in line with the Biggs camp of, yes, you can hope that it's closer to that end than, I don't know,

the 25 and a half million, you know, that the elite safeties of the league make a year, Hamilton. But I don't think that's what we're talking about here. It's that when every dollar counts, we just talked about the bears being over the cap. How does that factor in in making sure it's a deal that suits both parties? That's the kind of line that really Ryan Poles has to walk. And because he mentioned this as a priority, this should be one of the first dominoes to fall for him. As he sorts out, okay, we've got a clear cap space.

what restructuring and or cuts need to be made. Hey, Tremaine Edmund, how you doing? And then, all right, obviously Byrd is at the top of his list or near the top of his list. I don't have his list in front of me, but based on what he said, I'm curious to see if they get a deal done. And if they don't, that's where when I start having some questions. All right, like, how are you going to replace what happened at safety last year for the Bears when you knew that the line play was not quite up to snuff? Meanwhile, in Tennessee, there's this from Titans Wire. This is Titan-sized, which is a fan-sided site.

Titans roster move just sparked reunion rumors for a franchise legend. And that's where they show Kevin Byrd. Now the Titans have a lot of money under the cap. So they've got room to work with here. And they also talked about the possibility of Byard coming into play here. They said, the ageless Bired. ageless is coming off of a fantastic season with the Bears. The former Middle Tennessee State standout,

notched a league leading seven interceptions, as we know. Bayard was truly fantastic, adding 93 tackles and eight past breakups to his defensive totals. So you could see why other teams want him back. And frankly, the Titans may want to make a mistake right, because they let him go. So the Titans don't have three starting caliber safeties that says,

nor do they have enough depth behind their two injury-prone starters. Bayard would address that hole in a major way. I think Bayard is looking to start somewhere. I don't think he'd be a backup. Are you taking as he would be a backup for the Titans, though? Well, when they say two injury-prone starters, it's like, well, do you still consider them starters if he comes into play? Oh, no, I think he becomes one of the starters.

He's coming off an old pro season. Yeah, I would too. But the way they said that, there was room for error there. So there are other teams who want him. If you're the Titans and you've got all this cap space, it makes sense as to why you would want to write that wrong. But in the meantime, is Byrd going to cost too much if the Bears are working on something else,

like getting under the cap, for one? I think there's ways around the cap consternation. But you do have to make priorities. So I guess the answer to your question, Lelah's, what would be prioritized more than Kevin Byer in looking across this roster right now? Well, number one is do you want to trade for somebody who is an edge rusher in Las Vegas? Or do you want to sign a free agent, Edrusher who's maybe in Cincinnati? In addition to the free agents you already signed last year?

These are the things that Ryan Poles has to sort out. Trey Hendrickson made $30 million last year. Are you restructuring Cole Commet's contract and giving him more money, which could help you right now but won't help you in the future as far as salary cap? Are you letting Tremaine Edmonds go? Because now you have a massive linebacker-shaped hole you've got to fill. T.J. Edwards, is he going to be healthy right at the beginning of the season? I'm sure I could go on Calci or one of these websites and find out just as simple.

Will Tremaine Edmonds be on the Bears next season? or no, and the odds would be so ridiculous that it wouldn't be worth me betting on it, but he's not going to be on the Bears next season. And that is the expectation. So I start from the middle, I start closest to the line of the scrimmage, and then I go out. So for me, what is your defensive line looking like? And if you know what that looks like, then you've got to figure out linebacker, then you figure out secondary.

It's harder, though, when you have so many free agents in your secondary. What if I tell you that defensive line looks like Austin Booker, Montes, Sweat, and Grady Jarrett, and Devon Dexter, and O'Dio Dingbo, when he comes back, I can just start naming all the players who are on the field. That still doesn't solve your linebacker problem. So if you think the team is on the field, then you go next to linebacker. Then you try to figure out what's happening a linebacker. Play a linebacker, you can get a linebacker in the draft. I think they thought they were doing that when they got Ruben Hippolyte in the fourth round. Or maybe Ruben Hippolyte is an answer one year extra development.

DeMarco Jackson. He's a free agent? Yeah. Bring him back. That's another one. So that's it. There's all these other possibilities where you're left, I think, looking at that before you look at your secondary.

That seems to be the way they've addressed this previously. Yeah, but I think with this specific player, Kevin Byard, in this specific position and coming off an all-pro, Pro Bowl season, and understanding what he's meant to your turnaround, And if the D-line doesn't get the job done and you need takeaways, he's been a guy who's been a big part of that. Well, if he's as much of a priority as you indicated calling him out by name, then it's probably a discussion that not only it happened already, but that is continuing to go on right now. What salary are you comfortable A.A.V. giving him? I think, I think, I think 10 million a year. Yeah, that's it. But see, here's where it starts to add up, like Nashon, right? for example, is probably in the seven range after getting paid one million.

But you're not paying the shine right. Or are you? Oh, you think he's coming back? I don't know. That's my point. So, he said he wants to come back. If we just go with the Tyreek Stevenson, if we go with Jalen Johnson. You could restructure Jalen.

Yeah, there's... Jalen's a 25 million cap hit, I mean. I feel like there's some flexibility there to work with. Clearly, Jailen Johnson wants to play a season where he's... healthy and on a winning team like he did this season, but he wasn't quite as healthy as he wants to be. And I say quite as healthy. He wasn't nearly as healthy. I mean, we didn't think he was coming back for a time. And he shocked us all, kind of. Well, that was a roller coaster. We thought he'd be ready by the start of the regular season. He wasn't. Then he, when he got out

there, re-injured himself. It was bad. So, but either way, hopefully that doesn't happen. And that was a training exercise. That was a training injury as well. So that's, that's something that I'm really hoping gets monitored, his training and hopefully he doesn't injure himself again. In the meantime, yes, the bears have cornerbacks. Sure. Now, could they pull a Citi Gardner Johnson where Citi was originally a corner and then moves to safety? I don't know. But I don't know that that's necessary. I'm not saying CEDY's the guy either. I'm just using him as an example. So I think the bigger question becomes like how much do they think it's a priority versus how much we think it's a priority. I feel like everything on that defense is a priority.

Whereas on offense. But you have to start with something first. Yeah. Okay. So what's the biggest priority then? Well, and like I said, I go from the line out. So for me, that means are you good with your line? And if not, that's going to cost you the most money to fix.

Let me be clear. I'm not good with the line. but unfortunately I think Ryan Poles is good with the line because that's where the money already is and he believes those guys are going to come back that have not produced. Okay, so we have some update on the Maxinista movement here. Oh, what we got?

Since this morning, and this is Pro Football Talk reporting that and they were the only ones, Fanduel had the Bears at a plus 200 odds to Land Max Crosby. And for the record, the Raiders were at plus three. They said since this morning, the bears have moved from plus 200 to minus 135.

That's Chicago, man. That's straight up Chicago out here putting their money. They're wish betting. You know, their hope betting. They're saying, you know what? I believe the Ryan Polls is going to get it done. Ben Johnson's going to tell Ryan Poles, go get Max Crosby. Dennis Allen's going to tell him, go get Max Crosby.

I'm putting money on it right now. And now the odds have moved. What did you say right now? Minus 135. That means in order to win $100, you've got to bet $135. That is not where my money would go. Laila, as you know how I like to operate. Marshall likes a value bet.

There's not enough value in this. We have a call for Mark. Mark, you want to chime in? You guys? Thanks, guys. Can you hear me? Yeah. Now we can.

Okay, let me take. All right. I was working at the same time. So I got to say, so why is nobody talking about? about trading off Montes Sweat to get Max Crosby. I mean, I mean, Casey, here's my question. First, would you take get rid of Montes Sweat to get Max Crosby if it helped you? Yeah, but no team is going to agree to that.

Montes Sweat is making, like, a little less than Max Crosby. But the whole idea is that the Raiders would get a haul and then in return, you know, would have more flexibility than they even already have under the salary cap. But if you took a high draft, so you're not going to get a good draft pick for him or anything like that. So if you took something that helped you clear up the space, then you traded for Max Crosby. Trey Henderson is a free agent also at the same time. So think of that dream world. You got Trey Henderson on one side and Max Crosby on the other side.

How much money are you spending here? They're already over the salary cap. But Trey Henderson, the reports that I've been reading about Trey Henderson is most likely he'll take a low 20s deal because he's coming off an injury. So if the Bears, you know, one, he's been with the, you know, with the defensive coordinator before. So he's going to come into it. I mean, what would you want to do if you're in your 30s,

you don't have much time left? Are you going to go for a Super Bowl run and take a $21 million hit? I mean, they basically take $21 million and come to the Bears for Trey Henderson. I don't think Trey Henderson signs for $21 million. I think Trey Henderson, because he got 30, and the market is so high for his services. How much of it was injury and how much of it was business decision last year? Remember, the Raiders shut him down.

He didn't, he wanted to play. Oh, no, Hendrickson is who I was, yeah. No, Hendricks, I think a lot of times that's a business decision. Yeah, I, that that was, you can't trade Montes-Swed for Max Crosby. Where's the money, Lubboski? The Raiders don't benefit from that. He's like, would you do it? I'm like, well, yeah, do it if it was possible.

Yes, if I can get another fantasy football owner and dupe him into making a trade, I will do it every time because that's what this is. That doesn't help you. This is real life. But also, like, how much of a haul are the bears going to give them, too? You know, that's the other part. Two first rounders, DJ Moore. Get it done, Ryan Poles.

Get it done, Ryan Poles. But are the first rounders good enough? You know, that's the other part. Dude, I died laughing when he said nobody's talking about. Yes, we are. But the concept of Trey Hendricksson getting a $9 million pay cut

that dude's driving back to Jacksonville as we speak. He's probably already there, let's be honest, but still. Coming up next here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, the score. The White Sox wanted to celebrate Women's History Month and

the flowers were given out. Some of them are a little unexpected. That's next. Harrison Grody, Midday's Tindle 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043 the score. Shut up, mom. This is Women's History

Month, not just on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 The Score, but in the world. But in the world, yes. And so because of that, the White Sox had on their Instagram a video where they had flowers and they asked their players who they would get the

flowers to, what woman in their life, in honor of Women's History Month. So here's what they had to say. I got to say it. I got to say it on camera. I would give you this power to the most beautiful one of this word. My mom also I give it to my grandma to they're probably at home watching this video. You say I love you. My wife for sure couldn't do this about my wife pulling it down at home supporting me. Love you baby. Definitely my wife 100%. She brought an amazing daughter into this world for me so I got nothing but respect and props to it. Mike Vassel. My mom. She's my mother. I love her so much. She's the most important woman in my life.

Mama V, use her for you. Whether she would take them or not, probably do a leap. I just, I gotta, I gotta say it. I gotta say it on camera. Doolipa all day. My wife. I have to say my wife. To my wife. My mom.

My wife, my daughter, my mom. I want to give flowers to my mom. Love my mom, you know, she does so much for me and I'm so grateful for her. I like to give individual flowers. individual flowers. We do some to my mother and to my girlfriend, Jayden. They do everything for me, so I appreciate you guys.

I'm in posse with cavernas of sosa. Oh, no. So the guy who shot a shot with Duelipa, just to wrap that up was Chris Murphy of the White Sox. This is big time breaking news, and this is not good. Adam Schaefter is reporting

that Drew Dalman has informed the Bears that he is retiring at age 27. Dalman left Stanford in 2021 and after four seasons in Atlanta and one in Chicago, he has made the sudden and surprising decision to retire.

That is within the minute. I cannot believe this. And there must be some further explanation because, you know, I know about retiring early. We've seen so many NFL players do this, but at the age of 20, Wow. This is a scenario that I don't think any of us planned for thinking about that it would happen.

Delman signed a free agent contract last year with the Bears and his work was excellent. He ended up going to the Pro Bowl. Dolman is pivotal to this team and now I find myself in a similar situation except I think Frank Ragnow, that was more expected than this. Yes. This is shocking. Not even to the age of 30. He just finished his age 27 season, finishing the first year of a three-year,

$42 million contract. It's that part, too. We thought we were going to know Drew Dalman's services for another two years after this. Wow. Okay. Not totally panicking here, but this is a huge concern for the Bears.

And we just talked about how the priority was so clear that, oh, yeah, you need to figure out left tackle, but maybe they'll do that in house with the pieces gone. But look at the other four members of that offensive line. And now – Well, I mean, left tackle's been very much a question, Mark. Now, looking at the center position, and how many times have we said, you know what, isn't it good not to worry about center? It was me. I said it. I said I was really happy that I didn't have to worry about the center and quarterback exchange.

Oh my goodness. Now we're going to have major change, as Adam Schaefter reports, that Drew Dalman says he is hanging up his cleats after just five NFL seasons, only one with the Bears. Well, and then there's also the matter of, okay, how does the retirement also affect the cap hits and things of that nature? That is, this is unexpected, and it just leaves us with more questions at this point than we could possibly have answers.

I will say this. Better this decision occur now than later if you're the Bears, because now you are somewhat prepared going into the draft free agency, everything else. You didn't want a later decision on something like this. And the biggest question that I will have going forward until we get an answered is, why? So from what I understand, retirement, and I'm searching here, because this is not something that we've had to deal with. Retirement while under an existing contract generally results in the contract being frozen or terminated,

but it does not instantly wipe the remaining financial obligations from the team's salary cap. All right. So in the NFL, any unamortized, so citing bonus money, money already paid to the player but not yet counted against the cap, immediately accelerates onto the current year's cap. If the retirement happens before June 1st, all remaining bonus money hits the cap immediately. Well, we are well before June 1st. If it happens after June 1st, the current year's pro-rated bonus hits this year, and the rest hits the following year. The player forfeits any remaining unearned salary, which removes that portion from future cap obligations. The team has the right to pursue the return of a portion of the signing bonus for unplayed seasons.

and successfully recovered that amount as credited back to the cap. So it is a big deal that this is not only a retirement that we did not see coming, that it was a retirement that happened before the league year and also before June 1st. Drew Dalman, according to Adam Schefter of the Bear Center, retiring at the age of 27. We'll talk about this with Lawrence Holmes and Matt Spiegel next.