Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Would acquiring Maxx Crosby make the Bears a Super Bowl contender? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: March 3, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris opened their show by pondering the Bears' chances to land Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby in a trade. Would acquiring Crosby make the Bears a legitimate Super Bowl contender? Later, the opened the phone lines for Score listeners to share their thoughts on the topic.

This hour is brought to you by Vesectomy Clinics of Chicago. The views and opinions of Lela 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. Gay thanks, bye. Rahimi Harrison Grody, 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. In my snoopings, I noticed that the Lions on the player survey, the offensive coordinator got a C. Do you think Ben Johnson knows that, looked it up and has pinned it up, maybe just on the refrigerator with a magnet on there, just to C, grade C? Because you know he's still pissed off about that 50 burger.

There's no way. He's upset. He was also really upset about the last game of the regular season. He's a simpler game plan. Hold him back at all. Nope. Come on, Ben. What do you think about that?

Huh? Taking your shirt off at the Bulls game? You think this is funny? No. You think this is some kind of game? I'm sorry. Making jokes about your quarterback? What do you think this is?

He's saying you want a piece of me? I could drop you like a bag of dirt. You want a piece of me? You got it! I imagine he's going to get Cubs season tickets this year, which will be a blast, to see him with his shirt off in the left field bleachers. Why do you think he's in the left field bleachers? Do you think he's a little left field bleak chip?

Right field sucks. Good, better, best. It's over, Denver. South Park whooped your ass. You better shut your mouth before I shut it for you. What do you want to do, huh? Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043. The score.

I think Ben Johnson's having fun. Flashes the camera at the Bulls game. He's outside. He's telling people how much he loves Tyson, Bayesian. He's driving around from Indianapolis back to Chicago for the Combine. It's just out here. He's doing things. When does he go back to being that dude, the scary dude?

Training camp. Yeah. OTAs. So OTAs? Maybe mini camp. Listen, it's kind of scary to see him turn it on and turn it off. Like he's got this public persona, as you mentioned at the Bulls game. I mean, you could argue he sparked a 270 run.

Like, there are things happening right now with Ben Johnson that if you go back, what, three months? It's a different person that I remember being stern with everyone about everything. I think coaches are right when they say players will test you. You know, players will see what they want to get away, what they can get away with, I should say. and you have to, especially after a training camp last year where they said steps were skipped, that you'd better bring it. So I trust that he knows when to turn it off

and when he's allowed to have a good time. How much of a good time do you think you would have if the Bears got Max Crossby? I was about to ask you the same question. I don't know that my brain right now is ready to bend, to understand, and comprehend what Ben Johnson would be like at a Max Crosby introductory press conference. And yes, we have probably been the show here on 104-3, The Score,

who has carried the Max Crosby flag. The first show, we've had it the longest. We have run with that flag. I think at this point we're doing laps around Soldier Field. We love us some Max Crosby talk. And our listeners do too. I think it's their favorite non-bear. You know, I think he's number one.

But there's, I don't know if it's chicken egg, if it's, if it's correlation causation here. But Draft Kings now has the Bears as the favorites at plus 200 to get him from the Raiders. Via Trey. Is this the same as when the Bulls were the favorites to land Janus Antedacompo? Is that the same vibe? Probably because here's the other, here's the other. highest marker on the board, second highest. Staying put with the Raiders is a plus 350.

So the bears are more favored to get Max Crosby in the betting markets than Max Crosby staying with the Raiders. Is that you putting your money where your hope is? Is that what's happening here? Is this like when people started to bet on the Bulls in 2021 and 2022 when they had that nice run where DeMarr was just hit in game winning threes? and it was good money. It was a good bet to buy to have them win the Eastern Conference, which they certainly did not win.

I put money on the Bulls this year, so don't ask me about that one. Marshall, how did that go for you? It did not go well, but we can get to that later. What I will say is Chicago? What was the bet, though? I put a bet in at 40 wins, 45 wins. I had Billy Donovan coach of the year. Several bets.

Several bets. several bets. You're a value guy, though. I am a value guy. I got all those at respectable prices. I will not be getting any of that money back. I will tell you this, though. The Twitch mob is already roasting you.

They should. Roast away. Hey, look, I admit what I deserve. How's that 46 looking? It was 45. I'm tired of Mully and Hall. I've been out here, specifically Mully, trying to stretch the wind total.

I think Spiegs was at it too. 50 wins, Marshall. I was like, no one ever said anything about 50 wins. I heard 66. Okay. All right. All right. What I'm saying is the Chicago better has so much power when it comes to the way this thing moves. What about the Chicago best? Listen, from plus 650 to plus 200 in one day in 24 hours? Here's what I think we can agree on.

The likelihood of Max Crosby staying with the Raiders, I actually think at plus 350, that's amusing. to me. I know John Spitech has said all the right things the Raiders general manager. I know he's acting like he's going to be there. I understand that that's a guy who's young enough to where you could build around him. He's far and away

your highest paid player over $35 million a year. Which is why I think it's tricky if the bears want to try to do this. Like, you're going to need somebody from that movie, the accountant, to help you guys out with your cap, if that's the case. The cap is,

for everybody who says the cap is non-existent. Ryan Poles doesn't feel that way. Just so you guys are aware. Like Ryan Poles has said, and he was quoted as such last week at the Combine, that he can't be kicking the can down the road. So that's something he's been mindful of. The cap may be non-existent to you,

but to Ryan Poles, he's on the record as saying that's something that, the situation he doesn't want to get into. So if that's the case, you're going to have to have some absolutely creative account. to get this done. Isn't that what Matt Feinstein's for, though? To get the creative accounting done? He's the cap guy. I mean, and you need a

cap guy on your team. There's no doubt about that. But they can only do so much when you're GM and he's still got two bosses and Kevin Warren and George McCasky, when your GM says he doesn't want to get into a situation where he's mortgaging the present for the future.

So there's that or the future for the present rather in this case. Either way, it kind of applies. I just think with it's Max Crosby, you figure it out. That's your job as the general manager. If Max Crosby's available, if you've got your rookie quarterback, sorry, not rookie quarterback, but if you got your quarterback on a rookie contract, figure it out.

Like, okay, we're talking about odds, right? You're talking about the second highest odds are him staying in Vegas. What do the odds move to if the Bears get Max Crosby on this team? That's the odds I'm thinking about. Well, and in the meantime, what is the likelihood? Like, what's the real likelihood? Here's some quotes from Ryan Poles that make me think this way. Poles said, this is a unique situation where we've gotten our roster in a position

where we have a lot of talented players, a lot of guys getting paid well, and that puts some constraints on the cap. Yes, it does. And we already saw one team who was over the cap and the Lions make a move that, you know, you could argue kind of starts a different path for them. David Montgomery getting traded over to Houston. Now, David and Montgomery jokes about whether or not he said he wanted to get traded, but it's a done deal now.

So polls continued on Tuesday of last week, so this is a week ago at the combine saying this. So we got to make some tough decisions. When we win games, you create these relationships. There's leadership guys, or there's guys that were captains and mean a lot to our organization. But when you're kind of put in a corner, that's what the league's been and has been. So I think he understands.

he's not going to do something extreme when he's already invested so much in the defensive line. But I think we are all in the same spot of there's a difference between having what you have on the defensive line currently, which wasn't fully realized last year whether or not you want to get into it and how. Yeah, Grady Jarrett wasn't healthy. Dio Dangbo is out for a considerate amount of time after tearing his Achilles. We've talked about that. Montez Sweat got back to form somewhat, you know, with 10 sacks and earning his contract a little bit better. Sacks of consequence, maybe we break that down at some point.

Dauvin Dexter had six sacks. We find out that from Brad Biggs, D'rvon Dexter isn't going to go anywhere in this last year of his deal. So that line that has gotten so much attention and so much money given to it hasn't produced based on the contracts. The quality of Max Crosby is, even if, roughly 38 or 35.8 million. He is. So that's what makes us so tough. Like, everybody listening knows.

If you insert him on this Bears defensive line, rec shop will be happening. You know, after seeing the Seahawks in the Super Bowl with waves of a pass rush. What's concerning about it is, as we talk about Max Crosby and the idea that he could be moved as early as this week, if you listen to Albert Breer

and what he's talking about. and the odds moving here on Rahimi Harris and Grotty on 104.3, the score. Here's the difficult part for me, Leila. As I look at this and understand everything you just said, but also understand the Bears won the division last year, and they did it, and you could argue the defensive line was their weakest of all the positions. Like defensive line versus linebacker, secondary, versus the wide receiver room, the offensive line, certainly, the quarter.

quarterback position. I make the case that the defensive line was the weakest part of the team. Point blank and period, even with Montez sweat, not being awful. And the most expensive. That's a tough, that's a tough thing to marry together, right? Like, you underperformed as a unit. Also, we invested as much, if not more money into this part of the football team than we did anything else. And I understand injuries happen.

I get it. Grady Jared had to have surgery. Diode Dingbo, out for the football. the year. I understand all that. But the reality is, if you're going to win in the National Football League today, you have to have a well above average defensive line. And here's the other part about what polls had to say. There are some things you can do. You've seen that before I, you all have seen that before I got here. You can accelerate and then after it goes away pretty quick. So you've got to balance both. Unfortunately, that's not reality in terms of picking

it and you do want to go all in and hurt your, do you want to go all in and hurt yourself down the road? So he said that. Our mindset is to do both. Win now and then be able to sustain that and have flexibility. It's not going to be easy.

A Layla. Does that, I mean, so the GM said it himself. He's not willing to put all of the chips in. And, you know, he's not worried about the 2032 Cubs, but he kind of is. Who do you have as the gold standard as far as general managing in the NFL? Howie Roseman. Is he seem like he's worried about the future when he makes all his deals?

You know what makes him able to do things in the way that he does? Because he drafts really, really well. That's it. He drafts well, and he's not siding players to contracts like that either. And so what I'm saying is... Like a Montes-Swat deal. You've got two different paths here. three if you want to count trades,

but free agency in the draft to build your team and make your team better. He's got elite three technique on his rookie deal. And we know the story behind that, don't we? Yeah. It should have been awarding now that I look back at it. So my point is,

Ryan Poles is telling you this is the way I have to do it. And no, I'm saying to Ryan Poles, no, this is the way you're choosing to do it because you don't know how to do it the other way. And that is the concern. Well, I think there's also different mechanics. The Eagles have had private equity take a stake of their team, right? So they have had that buy-in.

The Bears board is still comprised of family. You know, they've kept that in-house. So outside of Pat Ryan. So based on that alone, you know, it's a different setup entirely. Like there's no better way to view that than when you've seen what they do at the stadium. but your GM who's in charge of all of this basically said that he's he didn't say he's not going to do it

but he leans toward not doing that in his statement that he made would it surprise you at this point if he did it that's the question well and then here's the other part that he said so let's listen to Ryan Poles in his entirety when he said I hope eventually to have a quarterback situation where we've got to pay a young

quarterback so that comes into play as well I think we're getting closer and closer to clarity on that side of things which helps us to start build those models to make sure that again we're doing the right thing for us moving forward and we are not putting ourselves in a situation where we've got to make really tough

or bad decisions down the road that hurt us. This is a good decision. It's just a matter of how you construct it down the line. But already some of the decisions that we thought were good. You knew that when you were traded for Montes-Sweigh, you were going to have to extend him. and especially after he had that 10-and-a-half-sack season.

So he changed the defense that year. But now you have a different defense. And that's what makes it so tricky. They clearly believe that Montes-Swet would be more productive than he has been. And when I say more productive, I'm not saying that he didn't have a productive season. But when I say more productive, I'm saying someone who's in the pro-bowl discussion, someone who's in maybe even an all-pro discussion, and not getting the consistency.

Go back to early in the season. He's got to win his one-on-man matchups. Like, yeah, we know. And he wasn't doing it consistently enough. And that's just one guy. And yeah, you can put faith in Austin Booker and some of these other guys. But at the end of the day... Got to extend Austin Booker in a couple of years.

Well, that... Next year, right? That is a little further down the road. And that's fine. But the idea here is to get a game record when a game record becomes available. The Packers went and got Michael Parsons. Now, he got hurt. I get that.

But before you got hurt, we were all sitting here saying that's a team that is scary and could win, you know, the NFC. Well, and then for the people who just say, like 630, you can cut bait on all of the high-priced defensive line players next year and save significant cap. If you want to join in on the conversation, 312, 64, 64, 67, 67. You have to juggle things this year. Then next year, the D-line would right size and you move on with significant cap space next year. Okay, cool. Montess, what's a 35.48. million dollar dead cap hit since you think that that's

an easy way out of this. Dio Dengbo's getting paid 20.5 and he'll be a 22 million dead cap hit next year. So I don't necessarily think that it's as simple as what you think it is. Grady Jarrett's going to be 18.92. Well, his dead cap hits 21.

So they're already over. So I don't think that that's as simple as a thought process as you may indicate. So 630 on the text line, and he is me and I am him. The cap is non-existent when you actually enter a competitive window. You pay off the loans down the line. I'm a firm believer in that.

Same way if we're talking baseball, I'll trade the prospects to win now. I mean, based on the salary cap growth, that's a good argument you can make. That's the way... Given how much it's grown, even in the past five years. And that's the way Howard Roseman has been operating. He understands that the bill will come due one day, but as long as the salary cap continues to grow. As long as there's not a pandemic stopping the revenue that's incoming,

he's in good shape to, yes, continually kick the can on the road and give this group that he has right now. Just like Ryan Poll should be doing with this group and this head coach Ben Johnson has right now, as many chances, as many bites at the apple as you can get. There should not be, unless there's significant injuries, like Caleb Williams is out for the season or something. There should not be a point where you're trying to figure out,

okay, can we not be as good? Now, be as good as you can with everything that is allowed from a cap standpoint. Restructure. Cut guys, trade guys, get draft picks, develop draft picks. These are the things that have to happen for them to take advantage of the next, let's say, five years. Which is why, yeah, the odds may be saying the Bears of the most likely team. But it's also probably why the next best odds are at 350 plus 350 for Max Crosby to stay with his own with the rate. But I, if you're SpyTech, I just don't know how you don't let him be free somewhere else because

you won't be good when he's at his best and then use those picks and those players to help build your team. That that's what I would do if I was the Raiders without a franchise quarterback. Get rid of the guys who cost all the money and rebuild your team through the draft. So this is from Kevin Fishbane and this is just another thought. he and Dan Weider had an article in The Athletic about it, and he said after hearing that quote that I read you guys from polls saying it's not going to be easy, Fishbane said, on the surface, my gut reaction to that was,

this is not someone willing to sacrifice the future for one player. Then again, and here's the $35.8 million question, is Crosby the exact type of player worth that kind of haul? Yes. So there's a cop to be made here. that sadly is in front of our faces. So we should probably do that next. In the meantime, this is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 The Score.

If you want to call and chime in on our conversation, we welcome you at 312-644-67-667. Our producers are Ray Diaz, Tyler Buehderbaugh, and also Brandon Fryer helps us out as well. You can join us on Twitch and YouTube at our address changed The Score Chicago. Our Twitch mob is up and chatting there as well. So you can join the conversation there if you like. And then our video producers are Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, and Max Curtis, along with Cody Westerlain.

So there's an easy comparison here that might be the easiest way to sell all of this. I'll do that next. Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi, Harrison Grody on 1043, The Score. I've been playing tackle football since I could walk. Yeah, Max Crosby's a lot. going to let you know. And yesterday, just yesterday, the Bears were at plus 650 odds per draft Kings to land Max Crosby. They have now moved to the favorites at plus 200.

The Raiders, his actual team, are second to the Bears at plus 350. When Chicago gets organized, you guys can really move a market or two. Yeah. This is nice work. Yeah. Go team. I don't like the plus 200. there. That's not a smart bet, is what I would tell you on that. I want to read you this comment,

though, Leila, from 9-20. Trading for Crosby would be a panic move by the Bears acting as if they're not used to being a winning team. It would jeopardize the future and in the best, oh, now I've lost the, I've lost the plot. Oh, best future put them back to where they were a couple of years back. More than Crosby is needed on defense, teams will be able to focus on him and reduce his impact because there's no one else to worry about. It happened in Dallas during the playoffs with Parsons. Stay calm. Trust the process, including drafting players for future success. Don't panic because we were finally a quote unquote good team last year. Yeah, okay, except the process has netted you a pass rush that we just talked about, which is very expensive, injured, and not effective.

And yet, one of the highest paid in the league. So that's what makes this so tricky. And the drama is really part of this. Like you mentioned the plot, and you can join our conversation. 312, 64, 64, 67, you can call in text. But the question is really at the center of this. Does he make you a Super Bowl contender? Does he do what Micah Parsons did for the Packers?

Where we know what the reality was when he got injured and how the Bears ended that saga last season. but we know that once he was traded to the Packers, once the Cowboys made the stupid decision of trading him inside the conference, thereby also lowering their playoff chances, then the Packers became a discussion for possible NFC representative to the Super Bowl.

We know that that was a game changer as far as what we thought their division win total was going to be. Had he been healthy, how would that have looked? Miles Garrett is here to tell you that the Browns beat the Packers with Micah Parsons. But given that the bears have, I think, more weapons. They had more, they won the season series. They beat them in the playoffs. I know it took everything they had, but so do most NFL games.

When you consider how the bears are on the upswing and you consider that we haven't seen the realized Caleb Williams yet, we hadn't, we saw Colson Level in his rookie year, Luther Burton and his rookie year, all the tools and the weapons the bears have. How much of a difference would Max Crosby make? I think it would be the same type of conversation if he were on this team. Now, they've got four safeties that are all out of contract now.

They are likely getting Tremaine Edmins out of the building and releasing him for a cap casualty. T.J. Edwards isn't healthy. There's a lot of issues with the defense right now. But does that change how you feel about him on this team? Doesn't change how I feel about it. Look, I'm being very blunt. If you have a chance to get a game wrecker to pair with a quarterback who's not getting paid as much,

you do it. And by the time the quarterback is getting paid, some of this other, I won't call it deadweight, some of this other weight that's heavier and more dense than it should be at some of these other defensive line positions can be gone from your team. How about that? Is that a better way of putting it? Well, and people are talking about the 2027 cap hits. That doesn't apply.

Crosby's available now. Yes. If he's still available in 2027, then it's a different discussion. But this is what the scenario is in front of you right now. And the reality is, if you don't go get him and someone else goes and gets him, guess what? He's no longer available to you. You better pray it's not in the division, and you better pray it's not in the conference. Brian Baldinger added to the drama yesterday when he was on our afternoon show with Spiegel

and Holmes. Listen to this comp. I feel like Max is worth anything, like everything. Like, that guy is just a difference maker. It's just a culture builder. Like, he sets the tone every day in practice from the day, you know, from the moment he walks into the building, I do the Sack Summit every year in Las Vegas. I'm around him a lot.

Like, it's just, you know, I mean, he watched, you know, Jordan show during the pandemic, and he changed his entire life. He wants to be Michael Jordan. He wants to be the best that's ever done it. And he just has that level of commitment. I guess the last dance is what it was, right? Yes.

Like he watched that thing. His life changed in those 10 episodes. And he wants to be Michael Jordan. And to do it in Chicago, I mean, you know, I went to school in Michigan. You know, that would be, I think that would be a great fit. If you could make something like that happen, I see the general matter of John Spitech is shooting all these rumors down. The rumors are out there. Like, you have to make the phone call to John SpyTech and just find out just what it takes.

He's got a rich contract, but he's worth every penny of it. Nobody will play harder. Nobody will make your defense better. He's just a difference maker. And those are the guys that basically set the tone every day when you walk into Hallis Hall. Man, listen. I heard this live when he was having this discussion with Matt Spiegel and Lawrence Holmes. and my first thought was even like as he got into the story about wanting to be Michael Jordan,

how the last dance changed his perspective about sports and playing football. And we already heard what he said on his podcast with Caleb Williams. How can you not want this guy to be on your team in Chicago? He's flirting. There's no doubt about that. You bring up Jordan, you bring up the last dance. But he's flirting. Talk to Caleb Williams.

But that's not a conversation that he had just had with him. That's him going back off recollections of years of those two guys knowing each other. And he's going back basically to the pandemic and talking about the production that you've seen since then, how it was influenced by the story of Michael Jordan and his documentary The Last Dance. It is. And you know what? That does, when you hear Max Crosby talk and the cup that Tyler Bueberbaugh played coming into our segment is a good indication of it. That seemed like the right.

motivation for the right personality, married with the physical gifts that Max Crosby has. And you always wonder, well, why do some guys, why do they only get to play 50, 55% of the snaps and other guys are like, you can't get me off the field? I think we've gotten since the end of this season through the words of Max Crosby and others describing Max Crosby, an understanding of why he is the latter guy and not the former. Well, this is what this season is about. You know, Lawrence Holmes called it lying season where the GMs all lie and then you're just trying to figure out which one

is lying the least or which one you can just predict the best, not even lying the least. Like, do they have a tell? Do they have a bluff? And he's creating a market for himself. He shouldn't have to, but he is? But I don't think Maxxie's lying in anything. No, I'm not...

Max isn't a GM. Yeah, I'm just making sure we marked the delineation because I think, yes, GMs do lie. And you know what, players, Miles Garrett told me last year he wanted to trade. What happened after he said he wanted to trade? Miles Garrett got a significant ton of money. He got like the Scrooge McDucks swim in the coin vault money. Hey, life is like a hurricane.

I mean, sometimes it bees like that. And then he got the single season sack record. So I'm just saying, sometimes you got to say what you got to say to get what you want. They paid him. He was happy. And then they beat the Packers in a mysterious game. and then and then he reminded Michael Parsons of it and then he got the single season sack record.

Yeah, he's son Michael Parsons. He's just on his own podcast. And his girlfriend did very well at the Olympics. Chloe Kim, Yeah. Congratulations. Really good year for Team Miles Garrett outside of the record and all.

Yeah, the record. But they still beat the Packers. They did to be the Packers. Thanks, Browns. I like, I like Miles Gary. I do too. He's a funny guy. I do too.

I really, like that would be, as much as we talk about, Max Crosby and I get it. The plan B's and we're going to go over that a little bit. Like for everybody saying Miles Garrett, if we're going to go to this place, if we're going to go to the glamorous dare to dream crazy space, we're nothing stopping you, then you might as well. 312644-4-6-7. Share us with us your dream concerning Max Crosby.

Do you want him? Are you hesitant to pay all that? Let us know. Well, 773 has a good point here too. I think that's me. And think about seven last minute wins last season. If we can add 10 to 15 sacks helps not being put in those situations.

Not a doubt in my mind. And unlike what Ben Johnson has to say, I disagree with him a bit on the, you know, you really want your pass rush to keep the lead. You see what Seattle did in the Super Bowl? Nah. You want that pass rush to wreck the whole offenses plan. You want them to think that they got something going

and then Seattle's defense is like, never mind. That was one of the, those games where I think Clay feels the same way, Clay Harbor, where it like broke your brain because I'm like, oh, that's how you do it. You know, it's like watching Oklahoma City

in the finals and the way they built their team starting at the Paul George trade. They're in town today. What's up, Thunder? But same idea. You know, like once you see how it should be done, then nothing else matters in your head. Yeah, and the Bears have seen, based on who played in the Super Bowl

and who won the last two Super Bowels, by the way, a pretty good model of what you need on defense these days. Yeah, 8-15. Do you know who else beat the Packers twice? The Bears. I think we deserve to be reminded. I think that should be something that we remind ourselves about. It's kind of like the time-honored chant at the University of Texas.

What time is it? 1037 and OU still sucks. Oh, wow. Like what time is it? 1037 and the Packers lost to the Bears twice last year. They did. After one guy said it as introductory press, conference. He really enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year. He went out and beat Matt LaFour

twice in the season. That end of the day is after Packers always. DJ Moore. And he did his best to make sure that that happened. That's for sure. That was after the first win over the Packers, right? That was a Saturday night game. Ah, we love to see it. Although DJ, the problem is DJ probably is the most enticing possibility. It's just whether or not, like, do you have no idea if your quarterback is

Mendoza and he comes in, you know, is that, is that the partnership you want? You know, that's another question too. I think it's a foregone conclusion the Raiders get Mendoza. So then it's just a matter of who does he want to work with. We're taking your calls as well. 312, 6444, 67, 67, and go to Charlotte. That is where Sean is listening. Hi, Charlotte. Hi, Sean.

Hey, guys. Hey, Layla and Marshall. What up? Show. Look, I would love to have Max Krazi on the show. Or not on the show. We would love to have him on the show, too. I called you Charlotte earlier. Let's just, we'll start again.

Hi, Sean, you're on the score. Yeah. So I would love to have Max Krazi on the Bears. But when I started looking through Spotrak cap hits per season and how players are ranked of defensive players. and of the last 15 Super Bowl champions, none of them have had a defensive end in the top 25 of cap it for that season. If you want to expand it to be edge rusher, DN, O Off or outside linebacker, only teams had someone in the top 25.

That's Baltimore Ravens, 2015, Denver Broncos, 2020, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So I guess my kind of concern is the general philosophy of investing in just one pass rusher when really you can spread that cap allocation across the board. Of course, they can get creative with how they actually allocate or structure a deal, so maybe they fall below that top 25. But I think really that's my main concern because you're so invested in one specific rusher. So I don't know what your thoughts are on that, but I think overall it's just a questionable strategy. Sean, no, I get it.

It is a questionable strategy if you don't pull it off right. If Michael Parsons gets hurt like you did last year, that's a reflective of that strategy backfiring on you. Yeah. But at some point, you got to get somebody to do something. And I got to tell you, what else is a failing strategy is paying guys like Dio Odingbo and drafting guys that don't develop into these big home run hitters that you need at edge rusher? Well, and the, I, but he's, he's right. Like, the bears, you know, when it comes to how they rank versus what they're paid,

that's, that's the whole discussion, you know, and that's the frustrating part. That's, that's the entirety of the discussion, especially when you consider there teams out here like, like Denver, who had far and away the most sacks in the league as a team, and then that practically gets them to the Super Bowl if Bo Knicks hadn't gotten hurt. You know, that, that's, that's the hard part about a lot of this. this is defense is also based on if not it's based on your offense functioning to a certain degree and everybody being healthy that's what makes this hard like offensively you can you can plug and play a little bit more understandably so like you you know the drop off with somebody

leaving like this and you understood like with with micha parsons out that changed exactly what the packers were doing and i think the bigger point to be made here is that they weren't one player away The Packers were not one player away from being a contender. Is he so good that when he's healthy that he's able to change the discussion? Yes. But when he's injured, if the rest of the team can't get it done in a way that is suitable, then they weren't one player away. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see exactly how many players away the bears feel like they are.

And that's what this is going to probably come down to. 312, 4, 4, 4, 6767. I want more calls. Sean's call was great. I like a viewpoint that is dissimilar to my own because I like to parse through it. 7.08 on our text line. Please tell Sean to stop killing my Max Crosby Buzz with facts and reasoning. That's fair.

If you'll remember this time last year, I'm pretty sure we decided the Bears were going to have Nick Chubb on their team. So there's that. He had a really impressive day at the gym that one day when we saw the video. This is just that time of year. It's lying season including to ourselves. 312-4-44-67 is our number. let's talk about some of the alternate players that I think also fit into this dare to dream vibe that we have going.

So are the numbers true? Are the betting numbers going to follow the actual process of Max Crosby possibly going to the Bears? We discuss it next. Rahimi Harris and Grohury. Bears tight end. Cole Kamet. 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 call, you can now hear the score all day, all the time, all you want. You can hear all the bear's hot takes you want. Well, that's perfect. I'll make sure I blast that in the locker room. Rahimi Harris and Grody, Midday's Tyndal 2 on 1043 The Score. 312-644-67.

67 is our number here on 104-3, the score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody. The Bears are now the favorites to land and Max Crosby, according to Draft Kings. That number moved overnight. The Raiders aren't even the favorites to keep Max Crosby. The Bears are number one. The Raiders are number two.

So let's go to our phones. And Anthony in Plainfield, Anthony, you're on the score. Hey, guys, thanks for taking my call. the morning to you. Yeah, so the Bears have finally accomplished something that we haven't seen here in decades, right? And that's the combo between quarterback and head coach. I think we could all agree.

That's the most important step. From here, we now have a window of the two years, at least on the rookie deal, and then an extension moving forward. You have to take advantage of the two years. And players like Max Crosby, not just the player, but the position and the top three at the position don't grow on trees. They don't become available often, okay? As far as the cap standpoint, you losing Edmonds, you're losing DJ Moore, you're

basically breaking even with bringing in Max Crosby as far as the dollars are concerned. After the 26th season, and I think one of the textures kind of hit on it earlier, those three big contracts on your D-L, Montes, White, Grady Jarrett, they combined, okay, for maybe $12 million in dead cap space. if they are to get released after the 26th season, and you save roughly $50 million if the three of them are released. The cap problem is not an issue after this 26th season. And again, like I explained, you get rid of Edmonds and you get rid of more.

You're basically where you're at now. And then you have the ability to restructure, well, there's a couple guys on the line or whatever to fill your holes. I don't know why you would not go for it right now. like it's time it's time to win. If there's a season to do it, why would it not be now? Well, and I think that's the question, right? Anthony is trying to figure out is how much they would take it on the chin this year.

I understand the 2027 numbers. It does get better. But the problem is he's here now, like he's available now. So how much can they move around now to make that happen? And you don't want to get stuck extending people who you don't want to extend. and that's what makes this tricky too. No, I think that's a good point, Leila. 708 asks on the text line,

how do you feel without a first rounder for two years? If I have Max Crosby, I feel just fine, especially when my picks should be in the late 20s or early 30s. So we got into this yesterday, Marshall, the fact that Ryan Poles said to Todd McShay that

he has fewer players on his draft board than he's had in previous years. And the problem with picking 25 is sometimes you've got to have have like 10 or 15 players, you're okay with picking at that spot because you don't know who's going to be taken off the board ahead of you. So if you have fewer players, that would indicate that you have fewer players who you think might be available at that spot. And if you're good, then you don't care as much about not having the two first round picks. I think from a fan-based

standpoint, Kaleel Mack showed you you're okay with not having two first-round picks. The problem was you weren't one player away with Kaleel Mack. So then you actually needed those. but that was the price to get him. So that's why this is, that's why this is a challenge. And I think Ryan Poles believes that he thought he got his guys when he decided to get Grady Jarrett and Dyer-Dangbo last year. So how much does he want to, how much does he want to back off of those guys being his guys? I think you need to figure out if those are his guys or are those Dennis Allen guys?

And how much of a collab was there on saying these are the guys we're going to go out and get in the first year of Dennis Allen being the defensive coordinator. They have a much better idea now of what is needed on defense than they did a year ago, in my opinion. Well, and keep in mind, his mindset is to do both, when now, and then be able to sustain that and have the flexibility. It's not going to be easy. So he gets it more than any of us. It's just a matter of us not knowing how to read his mind.

And whether or not we believe in his ability to, as you said, 2027, you can cut guys, you can do all kinds of stuff. but can you draft and develop guys right now? With a lower pick, a remarkably lower pick. The good news is it's a good year for rushers. It's a good year for edge rushers. It's a good year for defensive linemen. Better pick the right one.

Better pick the right one. See, you look at me like that, but you know. But I, because I have some issues with how they've evaluated talent. Like, Jervon Dexter is a good example. I understand he was a five-star recruit in high school. I understand what he did of Florida. but you wanted him to do something different than what he did at Florida. And I don't know that it necessarily turned out the way you wanted it.

Traits. That's it. So that's where I'm always saying, well, I don't know how much I trust their draft board. Because if you're still of that mindset, then the tape doesn't mean anything. We're just all just going to have to see and see if it works out, like a movie. It's a telltale year. I'll say that for Ryan Poles and his crew. I mean, it's not necessarily for him.

He got his extension. I think in terms of setting this team up to win in the next two years specifically on that Caleb Williams rookie deal, it's a telltale year. These guys, whoever he picks, they have to have a similar type of impact on defense as what we just saw this previous class have on offense. I know we're late to a break here, but I also want to point this out. The Cincinnati Inquirer is reporting that the Bengals, the Cincinnati Bengals, aka Bears 2. The Cincinnati Bengals are not expected to use the franchise tag on Trey Hendrickson. So that probably changes a lot of what teams may want to do as well. So that was from the Cincinnati Inquirer late yesterday.

Just in case you guys didn't know that, the deadline is this afternoon for the tag to be applied. So something to keep in mind. Coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, we're going to switch gears and talk about what's ahead for Major League Baseball. Evendrelik, the writer with the athletic, has been following this. we were not able to talk to him last week because there was a bunch of breaking news regarding

Tony Clark and the Players Union. So we will talk to him about the status of this next season and what's ahead next.