The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Football GM: CFB Championship, MVP candidates and NFL big news items

Episode Date: January 6, 2024

In this week's Football GM edition Mike and Randy start their discussion with the College Football Championship match up. From there, the guys take a look at some of the big news around the league this week........David Tepper's incident, Dak Prescott on the rise and choices for MVP. Then lastly, we wrap things up with the GM notebook and Week 18 predictions.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

is the athletic football show's football GM podcast welcome everybody to the football GM podcast mike sando here along with the GM Randy Mueller happy new year Randy how are you thanks mike happy new year to you I'm doing great kind of uh some cool topics to yesterday I'm looking forward to some cool games this weekend and how about culminating in a national championship game on Monday night that any of us who grew up with a pack 12 pack 10 pack 8 you know uh Big 12, Big 10, anybody that grew up in that era is going to find some history, if nothing else, to root for in Michigan, Washington Monday night. Kind of cool. I'll tell you, the Michigan-Alabama game, in that Rose Bowl setting, Kyle, there's nothing better, especially now, you know, and I've been to Rose Bowl games, but now in this era where you've got the, you know, the HDTV and it really looks good, you know.

I mean, that setting was unbelievable. I kind of wanted the Washington game to be there, too. Especially now, Washington, Michigan. right? That'd be the one to have there. That'd be the one to have. It's just such a great venue. But the Washington game itself was amazing. And we're going to start a little bit there because there's a couple quarterbacks in the game that are interesting. And then, you know, Jim Harbaugh's situation as well as it pertains to the NFL. So let's just let's just start there, Randy, because this Michigan-Washington game really has some interesting

NFL tentacles to it. Like we mentioned with Harbaugh potentially moving in the NFL, which was a storyline the last couple years, Randy, that I sort of got tired of, you know, and I've, shoot, I've contributed to it too. I've done some analysis and stories about columns in the past about, hey, what would it look like, what are the NFL fits? And then he just ends up going back to Michigan. But I think there's a couple reasons here, how we actually think it may happen now. So there's some things to talk about with that in terms of, you know, just overall and where he'd be a good fit. And do you, if, if you, if you, if you, How strongly do you feel he's coming to the NFL?

Well, I feel like maybe this is the way in a lot of industries and in business world, there's always timing, right, involved. And it just seemed to me like the last couple of years, the timing had not been right. And maybe some of that is about fit like you mentioned. But I just think it's more of this year for Jim Harbaugh. It's not if he's going to leave. It's just where he's going to end up.

That's just kind of the way I feel. Which assumes that there will for sure be a team that wants to hire him. And I think that was part of the missing equation in the past where we heard that his interview with the Vikings went, he kind of, you know, was a put off a little bit, you know, where they thought that he was conveying this idea that the job was his if he wanted it. And we all know, you know, it's kind of become a little bit of a joke, you know, some of the interpersonal stuff with Jim Harbaugh can make it challenging to hire him. But, but, but, but, um, but, um, You know, his hiring of Don Yee as his agent is the number one indicator to me because

Don Ye is about as connected as you can be in the NFL for agents. Most people probably know that he is Tom Brady's agent, Jimmy Garoppolo's agent, but he's one of these guys who's got connections at the highest levels around the league. And you don't need me to tell you that. You go back with them at least 30 years, right? More than that. But that hiring to me is a big tell. I think it's definitely emblematic of what may happen.

I think the fit is definitely something that's held Jim back from jumping. And I also think that he's been through a lot at Michigan, right? I mean, a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of, we can talk about this year in suspensions, but we can also talk about this is a guy who, a few years back, Michigan went to and asked him to take a pay cut. So these are wounds, right, that don't always heal. and sometimes it's just time, right? I remember this when Chris Peterson left Boise State and came to University of Washington,

the best way to describe it for him after a really storied career at Boise was, it's just time. It just feels right, you know, timing is right. And I think hiring of Don Yee goes probably to the next step, and I don't think we've been that far with Harbaugh leaving before. Yeah, Don Yee has been around the NFL forever.

I mean, I've done several contracts with him over the years. Very good at his job, very connected, like you said, at the higher levels, and that means with ownership. I would never compare anybody to Scott Burroughs in baseball. But Don Ye is grown up under probably a mentor for a lot of us in the business in Marvin Demoff. And we all know Marvin is, you know, Dan Marino's agent, John Elway's agent, Kurt Warner with the C's agent when we had him in Seattle. And Don was his sidekick, right? He learned the business from Marvin, and I have always thought Marvin was maybe the best ever at doing what he does.

So I think this is an indicator that Jim is ready. The fit is a little bit unique because Jim's unique. And you said people chuckle sometimes when trying to describe what kind of a personality, the quirkiness to the way he operates. You see videos all the time. of people making fun of all that. But with all due respect, he is a hell of a coach. He does a really good job with people in his own building. And really, that's all he cares about. And I think it's probably time for him to make that move. He's been successful. He's gotten Michigan to the point now where

I think he could check the box as mission accomplished. And I think that is something that drove him in the past. And whether they win or lose Monday night, I think you could have to admit, hey, he's got Michigan back. They've been in the playoffs, I think three years in a row now. So the skins are on the wall for what he wanted to do at Michigan, his alma mater. That's just my feeling. A successful run there. Now, okay, Mr. 10 years with the Chargers, is this a spot for him? Because that's come up a bit. And I've talked to some people that are, you know, have some connections there. And certainly you could make a case that they need a name in that market, but that hasn't been their way to go, usually to get the big name because a lot of

other stuff comes with it. Is Jim Harbaugh actually a good fit there? Because really at heart, he's a football coach, Randy. He's not a GM, right? Wouldn't he be a good fit there or no? Well, I think there's possibilities because I think you're right. There are ties. And people forget, Jim was the coach at University of San Diego and the Spanos has owned the Chargers in San Diego. So I'm sure there's some connections that go back 15 or so years. Here's the thing. And I think he would be good for the Chargers. I don't know that the Chargers realize how good he would be for them. They've always been a team that has not, and we've said it on the podcast here, they've never really been willing to commit to the power of a personality like Jim's. They've kind of hired people,

and I'll say throughout my tenure there, they've hired people with lesser cachet, people that really didn't know as much as them. You know, it's kind of been a hiring practice that I I've thought they've had for years. And I think, frankly, it hurts the franchise when you're afraid to step out like this and hire people that have perspective and experience and then actually trust them. They haven't been wanting to do that for whatever reason. And then that takes a commitment of financial, you know, driving the Brinks truck up and dumping it on the yard. And they've never been willing to do that either.

So you could really say the biggest personalities they've had were Bobby Ross as a coach and probably Marty Schottenheimer and both ended badly. I mean, Marty was 14 and 2 and they fired him. So they can talk about all the consequences and all the issues he had with the GM there, Marty, but Dean Spano signed off on it. So there's a lot of dynamics in play there that I'm not sure that they would be committed to this. I do think it makes some sense. But if we just go on history and what they've done in the past, there's never been an indication

that they would take on a contract, a person of this power and of this personality. in the past, that's for sure. Yeah, absolutely, and it's going to be uncomfortable sometimes. And even, you know, in San Francisco, when he was there, there was always sort of, you know, it eventually ran its course, right? It was, it was, there was some budding of heads and that sort of a thing. So, okay, do you have in your mind somewhere you think he'd be a great fit? Well, and I don't know what's going to happen in Vegas.

I know the players have the direct path to the owner and all have spoken out with regard to keeping Antonio Pearson. And he's done a good job. I totally agree. I happen to think that would be a great fit. I think in D.C. Harbaugh would go a long ways toward reestablishing their credibility as well with a new owner. But I think you'd have to pair him there with a strong-willed, experienced GM that can navigate.

I don't think certain franchises are places where you can roll out a first-time GM. I think Washington is one of those. It's just too, maybe it's the beltway, right? We all know how political it is and how you have to navigate sharks and all kinds of stuff in the real world. Well, it's kind of that way in football too there, in my opinion. A lot of different media outlets, a lot of different agendas, you know, involved.

And so I think if Jim, which I think he would be a good fit, if paired with the right GM, that could be a spot. So I guess to answer your question, I see Vegas, I see Washington. There may be a surprise or two before next week that also jump in mix. I think Jim is, is at this point, because timing is good and we're all victims somewhat of recency bias, and he will be playing in a national championship game on Monday. Jim's the kind of guy who a team might make a move that hadn't planned on making a move if they thought they could get him. That's really interesting. Washington would be so cool for him and their family because John is right

there in Baltimore. These guys could be, these guys could have Friday night dinners, you know. That would just be amazing. And it does feel like. Like, you know, we knew all along probably when Jim Harbaugh left to the NFL that he's coming back one more time. And this is the time. I think he's at that age where he's not too old, right? He's when he's 60 years old, so it's not like he's 68 and people are thinking, well, you know, he's not going to be a head coach again. This is his sort of sweet spot, and he's on a high note with Michigan. It's probably time to get out.

That would be interesting. I think a lot of people, you know, would have thought Chicago, you know, where he played, obviously. would be a good fit, but I don't know that that's going to happen there with their setup and situation. Do you have any thoughts on them? Yeah, I'm with you on that. I think Matt Everfus has done a really good job. I'll be honest with. We've always been critical of the head coaches that can't fix their side of the ball. Well, you can't say that about Matt. He's fixed his side of the ball. Defense has improved. I'm not saying they're Super Bowl level, but they're good competitive defense now, and he's had a lot to do with that. And by the way, he changed, had to change course

with installing himself as the coordinator halfway through the year. So he has done a good job there. I don't think there's going to be much, if any, change in Chicago, except that, you know, I guess you could look at the quarterback, but I think Eberfuss is staying and probably deserves to stay, to be honest with you. Yeah. One last spot for Jim Harbaugh. What do you think of New England?

That would be interesting. I think he's such a hard charger that you would have to couple him with a finesse GM that can, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, what's a finesse? Give me an example of, are you thinking of a, somebody, somebody that can be a peacemaker somewhat, that can be a referee at times. That comes with the job. Trust me, I've been there. You have to referee a hard charging owner and a hard charging coach, and sometimes you are in the middle of it. Shoot, I've had the breakup fights between head coaches and personnel directors when I was the GM, just because they're so passionate.

And I don't mean physical fights. I mean legitimate arguments that, hey, we need to have a cooler head prevail. So maybe. I think Jim would be a good fit for a lot of places if he's coupled with the right group. I think where a team will make a mistake is if they do hire Jim and they pair him with some young inexperienced general manager that he just runs right over. And he's not qualified. And I think Jim, with some truths from him, would say I'm not qualified to make these decisions

that sometimes the GM has to make. He wants to win the game, and that should be his focus. He's not worried about next year. He's not worried about a contract. He's not worried about the message, well, if we hadn't blown up the building, Jim, we'd have a place to meet today. He's on today.

He's a perfect example of a ready, fire, aim coach. He's on today, you know. So, and there's methods to that, and it's valuable. You just got to have the right other people around them. Yeah, and so one last thing on this, and we'll circle it back to Don Ye, his agent is one of the things that can kind of sometimes be annoying and a detriment. It can be

positive too, but sometimes you'll see, you know, the team hires a coach and then that coach's agent kind of finesses in the GM he wants, right? He gets his own guy, the agent gets his own guy to be the GM too. And a lot of times I would say, I don't like that. But with somebody as strategic as Donnie, maybe he could help get somebody that actually is a great fit for Jim to succeed, right? I think it's a giant, yeah. Playing chess with that. As opposed to playing checkers like some other people do when getting their people these jobs. Yes, just get my guy in. Okay, he's in, but that doesn't make any sense. Don Ye could actually maybe make it make sense. 100%. I think Don is a great hire by him, and we've said some of the reasons, but that is exactly right. Don will know good ideas from bad ideas.

He'll know good potential GMs compared to reaches that probably aren't ready for the chair. He understands the relationship that that GM has to have with agents, with coaches, with players. And I think he's a great sounding board. A lot of times it's not just the negotiation of the coach's contract or really have a player's contract. It's the finding of a partner being that person's voice out in the public when you can't be that guy and being a sounding board. I used to think the best thing I could ever do when hire an agent was to have someone

to bounce things off of because sometimes you think you're in it on your own. and you really are because you can trust very few people when you're a coach or a GM. But if you have a really good agent, you can bounce things off of and know it's not going anywhere. It's not a bad ploy to use the betterment of your setup, which actually helps your longevity in a particular job. The last thing I'll say,

regarding John Yelso, is he represents Kailin DeBore too, the Washington coach. So he's got both these guys in this game, not bad. When you told me that, I had to sit back in my seat, I got to process that. That's a lot of information. right that could be used in a lot of ways you know that's when we're not going to turn the Hogan's Heroes guys over with that information we got to have a real plot to think through

this and it's got to be a design that yeah that's just I I don't know if I'm rambling but that was a that was a great tidbit that there's a lot of dots to connect in a lot of these jobs and for years we used to kind of chuckle that Jimmy Sexton having the guy who was leaving in college the guy who was coming in in college the guy who was coming in college the next guy in college, he had them all, right? And so you had it all covered. I didn't realize Don was still that widely used by a lot of these top coaches, which is an advantage if you're a client of his for sure. Yeah, it's Juan Lozano, I think, is a direct agent, but he is part of the Yee and Dubin group. So I got you. I don't want a slight Juan there. If he's doing most of the

lead work on that, I'm not sure how that is. I just know they're all part of the same group. Gotcha. And Don would obviously be a big advisor there. and a resource. So yeah, I thought that was kind of interesting. Let's talk a little bit about the quarterbacks, and I don't want to spoil. I want to tease your Monday column.

I don't want to spoil your Monday column here, Randy, because you're going to write about these guys. But, you know, you had put on our radar a couple weeks ago, three weeks ago maybe, hey, J.J. McCarthy of Michigan has the potential with a good performance through the playoffs just based on his skill set

to really, quote, unquote, rise in the draft relative to where a lot of meaty people have because once the NFL people really dig into him, they may like him as much as almost any other quarterback in this draft. And you already indicated you'd have him above Drake May, who you're less high on than some others. And then all of a sudden out of this, you know, Michael Pennix got on the kind of the national radar with his great performance.

Let's talk a little bit about these guys. Just to sort of, what's the update on McCarthy based on, you know, I guess how he played against Alabama. Do you think he's solidified here or what? Yeah, I think it's definitely a fun topic, and you alluded to it. I'm going to write something next week for the athletic. I just think these two make four some great comparisons, and the research I've been doing on these two guys even digs deeper into that,

and I'll have a lot more details, but the experience levels, the skill sets, you know, one's a six-year guy, one's a three-year guy, the systems that. and play. A lot of people kind of bang on Michigan system being simplistic for the most part. That's something you don't bang on University of Washington. It is a spread system where they're throwing the ball downfield all over the place with explosive plays. And it just led me to believe this is a great setup. Now, having said all that and piggybacking on what you said, Jay, J.J. McCarthy is not committed to coming out in the draft yet at all. So he's a third-year player who would have to commit

sometime before January 15th to enter the NFL draft. And that has not happened yet. But I think these two players are at different points in their careers. Their skill sets are different as well, but they're in different learning curves with their systems and schemes, and both are being used totally differently. So I just think it's a kind of as a tail of the tape is an interesting deep dive. Have you mentioned McCarthy? And yeah, I'm very high on his skill sets. I thought he physically showed some things to me during the season this year that I didn't frankly see in any of these other quarterbacks, but he just hasn't produced at the level where you'd say this is a no-brainer. He needed to play good.

Now, I'll be honest, I wasn't enamored by the way he played in the Alabama game. I know they won the game. I thought his performance was average. I thought he got caught up in some nerves early on and really struggled. And frankly, I didn't think this was an Alabama team that really compared to some of the better Alabama teams that they've had. So I thought the Michigan-Alabama game, although it was a great, you know, finish and all that, I thought it was average as far as skill and quality of play.

So I didn't think JJ played great. Now, his numbers were fine. I know that they elected him player the game and all that. But when you're an NFL evaluator and you do it for a living and your future is really teetering on these things, you dig in a lot of ways and see things different. And I thought from a just an evaluation on one game, JJ wasn't what I wanted him to be. I see the flashes.

I see all kinds of crazy things that I think will be better at the NFL level. But for me, right now, there's still a leap of faith that you have to take to commit to J.J. McCarthy as a top choice in this NFL draft. Do I think he'll get there? Yeah, I do. But I do think there's, and I'll talk about this, but there's some things, there's some gaps in there. Michael Pennix, on the other hand, has filled in a lot of gaps for those who don't know Washington

football and he's been doing it all year. He has, but, you know, and I've watched, you know, I've watched four or five games, but this one I watched, you know, every play closely because of the nature of the game, just such a big game. And I was, I was even having watched him throughout the year, it was still wow to me. And I kind of came away from this thinking this, Randy, without knowing what happens Monday night, without knowing what's going to go through the pre-draft process and physicals and all of that, because obviously Pennix has had some injuries. But I just thought it would be fun to say right now

on January 5th, 2024, you'd better hold one of the top blank picks in the 2024 draft if you want Michael Pennix. What would be the number you'd put in there? I would say probably top dozen picks, to be honest with you. Yeah. That's how much his stock has risen. And you're correct, he hasn't played like this all this year, but he shows in flashes and put it all together last week a lot of skills and tools that guys playing on Sundays now don't have. Exactly. Yeah. Little stuff.

Like, even I see it, you know. I was putting together a little list last week just for my own good on maybe some postseason awards for quarterbacks in the NFL. And I was breaking down the criteria, you know, most accurate, best pure passer, best processor, best deep ball thrower, all those things. And in doing this, I think I found myself a couple different times. I think I might have to put penics right now in the top two or three and hasn't played a snap of deep ball throwers. I just think what he does and how he goes about throwing the deep ball is rare in the NFL. And this comes from, I think Warren Moon was the best

deep ball thrower I've ever been around or seen. He was awesome. I also think an under the radar guy in doing this was Jeff Blake, who we had in New Orleans, who was in Cincinnati and the Jets before that. Great deep ball thrower. They had a knack for being able to hold the ball because of their arm strength and arm talent. They could hold it longer. Therefore, I think they could judge receivers longer before they had to let it go. And that went a long ways to it. The other guy who really threw a great deep ball was Kurt Warner. And I know we're talking about two of the three. I just mentioned our Hall of Famers.

But our former defense coordinator at New Orleans, now the color guy for the Colts radio, used to say, and when we got ready to play the Rams, Rick Venturi, you're talking about Rick. Yeah, every time we play the Rams, he'd come to my office and he'd say, Randy, this guy's dropping bombs down,

smokestacks all over town. He said, we can't defend this. He said, he's just riding around dropping him, and they go right down the chimney. And that's what deep ball throwers do. When I saw Pennix last week, I saw some of the same characteristics. It's like when he throws the deep ball about 10 feet above the receiver's head, a parachute comes out and it just lands softly right in their hands.

You know, that's how, I think that's how good he is at throwing deep balls. And I don't think that's something you can coach. I don't think it's something you can really judge. It just happens. You see it time and time again. and pretty soon a guy's a great deep ball thrower. I have a hard time trying to describe it, but I did see that in Pinnix.

So, you know, it's going to be fun for NFL teams to dive into this stuff as well. I know, just watching them. I was just, now let's do the, what's the opposite of deep balls is the short pass as well. Okay. How many times do you watch, even in the NFL, when they swing that pass out into the flat,

it's on, it's on the guy's back shoulder or the guy has to wait for it. This, Pinnix is throwing the ball out in front of the guys. catching it in stride. Just little nuances of that. He just seems to have such a great feel for the game. And I love how their play calling kind of comes to life through him where just when you

think you're going to jump on the run or this type of a pass, he just scampers up the middle for 12 yards. And you go, oh, that was the thing we weren't thinking about on that play. They're just, they've just been a step ahead. So really fun to watch. And his peer passing ability, man, you're right. It looks a lot better than some of these other guys who are actually. playing on Sunday. Well, I think the big thing everybody's looking for now and you see it with the

great ones around the league is they can alter their arm angle and release point. And I had not seen Pennix do that really a lot to this point. He did it last week with three or four throws and he's done it with some other ones where he'll drop down and throw it side arm or underhand and get rid of it quicker than you think he could. So he's definitely removing a lot of hurdles. The biggest hurdle he's going to have, Mike, is, and you mentioned it in the medical stuff, passing physicals, just durability. We know he's a six-year guy, but two ACLs. Another season ended with a, I think it was a flat fractured clavicle or shoulder. There's some issues there that get him hurt or that have got him hurt. And to see if that's a trend or if it's just some

couple one-off years, we'll see. Yeah, you know, the quarterbacks obviously have a lot to do with how much and how you get hit, right? So I noticed in this game against Texas, I thought there's no way Texas can win this game unless they start hitting them, you know? So I don't know if he's been a guy at Washington who gets hit a lot or not, but... Well, yeah. And it's not as big a deal as it used to be because we don't hit quarterbacks anymore, right? Yeah, yeah. Nobody can hit a quarterback anymore. You don't land on them and crush them and all of that the same way. It's become a different tactic when trying to get these guys on the ground and you don't have to have Terry Bradshaw's and Roger Stobox and, you know, that kind of guy that can endure any. type of a hit.

Yeah, absolutely. Okay, we got a bunch of good stuff here. Something you wrote about this week caught my attention in your column. You wrote about Kyler Murray and his e-vow, which I think people should definitely check out on the athletic. But there was also a note in there about Dak Prescott, who we all knows having a really good season under Mike McCarthy, and he's in the MVP conversation, along with Lamar Jackson. Some others, we'll talk about that in a minute.

But you wrote in there that you felt like... there's still room for growth for Dak here and that he may be ascending, which, Raina, that's pretty amazing because usually when you're in the league for 10 years, you are what you are, right? And I've even at times this year when Dak was hot, thought, okay, guys get hot for stretches. But by the end of the year, it's going to be what he's always been. You sort of feel that way. But you don't really feel that way with Dak.

Why? Well, I think some of it is based on, in fact, you and I together kind of did a deeper dive about halfway through the season where we looked at all kinds of analytics. on where the Cowboys were offensively, where Dak was, kind of where his numbers had taken him and had not taken him yet. And it was about at that point where I felt like the Cowboys turned the page and really changed gears in what they do on offense. And I credit it to two things. One, Dack's willingness to have an open mind to one learn a new system. This is Mike McCarthy's really first year of his pure system. Now, I know there's some carryover with what they did with

Kellan Moore, I get it. I know a couple of those coaches, and they've obviously shared that we're not doing everything different, but they finally allowed Mike McCarthy, as in Jerry, to Mike McCarthy to actually run his offense. So DAC has had to learn some new principles, some new philosophy, some new things of the trade, tricks of the trade, right? And different expectation level for what Mike thinks is important as a quarterback. I frankly think Mike is one of the best with quarterbacks, and I've witnessed his offseason quarterback schools and all that, and I know it pays off. Dax had that now for two or three years.

So I credit Dack with being willing to learn the system, but I also credit this to him of, by doing it, he's perfected it. And the reason I said, I don't think it's the best yet, because it's just year one. And really, it's only been eight or ten weeks that he's excelled at this level. I think if you give this guy another couple years with this system, the ceiling has been raised for Dack Prescott.

I've never seen him play better already, and I see no reason why that bar, couldn't continually be raised just because of his body of work in Mike McCarthy's system. And I say that in comparison to where you remember when Peyton Manning went from Indy to Denver? They ran Peyton Manning's offense. When Tom Brady left New England and went to Tampa, Tom Brady told them what we were going to run. So those guys, and again, great players, maybe some of the all-timers, they, and even Aaron Rogers going to the Jets.

he's running his same stuff. I often wondered, what if he really did open your mind a little bit and listen to a different way of thinking, could you not even improve on what you did and the game that you brought to a new team? Well, Dak didn't have to go to a new team. He just got to learn a new system. And frankly, the Cowboys have fought Jack's learning a new system up until now because they had hired coaches in the past or systems in the past and kept the continuity.

Dack didn't have to learn something new. But by hiring Mike, and that's what made him, you know, good at what he does and a head coach, is they allowed him finally to have his own blueprint on the offense and Dax ran with it. So long convoluted answer, but I credit Dack for being willing and I credit Mike for taking him to new heights. And I don't think we're settling in on the top of where this marriage and where this offense can go. Yeah, that's exciting for a cowboy fan. So Jerry Jones, even if you have a disappointing exit to the playoffs, let's not pull the plug on this thing, right?

Because this quarterback, who you're going to pay a lot, we've been looking at what they're going to pay DAC almost with a roll of the eye because it would be too much for somebody who, you know, is kind of hovering around the top 10 quarterbacks, but not pushing top five. Well, look, if he's going to be pushing top five in the future, then it doesn't pay him, right? And keep McCarthy, let's do this. He's going to be the highest paid player in the history of the game, Mike.

I'll put that Starbucks on that right now. At some point, whenever they sign him, the longer they wait, The price is only going up. I thought they already should have signed him. But it's already going up, and he'll be the highest paid player in the history of the game whenever that happens, probably this offseason. Yep. Okay. Moving along, some good Jacksonville video of David Teper throwing a glass of ice.

And I thought, you know, Randy, you sat in a lot of owners boxes, although not, although probably not with 10 different owners. Right. I mean, you've only, you've been with a few owners in the owner's boxes. But you've been around, you've been in, you've been watching. Watching from Pressboxes, even in games that you didn't, it could have been you could have scouting the team or it may not even been your team. So you've been around a lot of these, you know, owner types through some tough losses and some really frustrating things.

Where does this Tepper thing sort of fit in on it? What do you think of it? Have you seen stuff that was worse? Is this normal? It just got in this era, got caught on video. What's up? Well, I don't think you need me to tell you that it's not normal. It might be one of the most childish things I've ever seen.

You know, and you're right. It goes on in there when they don't have the camera on them, you know. Well, just picture this. I have Paul Allen on my left and Bill Gates on my right. Do you think they're throwing any drinks at some idiot fan outside the box in the kingdom? Probably not, right? I mean, if anybody's throwing it. Not those two guys.

They're throwing drinks at me for being the idiot from Idaho that's positioned between these two guys that have changed the world. The people are saying, what's wrong with that picture? You were helping them, give them some IT, some tech support on their laptop. when they were in there. Right. They did not confuse me with being a propeller head, that's for sure. But I'll say this,

it's bad for the league, it's a bad look for everybody, but it's really a bad look if I'm a Carolina fan. This guy's impulsiveness has just reared its head time and time again. I don't know David Tepper,

but I've heard some of his ramblings and I mean, I don't want to sign up for this. I feel bad for Scott Fitter. I feel bad for everybody involved. I can only compare it to this. And this was really when I was younger in Seattle, we used to, our coaches box in old Mile High Stadium

was up in the top. And believe it or not, there were fans right outside the doors and the windows. And they were like surrounding us. And they would beat on the glass. Every time something would happen, they would stand up and like me looking at you, they would beat on the glass and yell

and then screaming at us on the inside. It used to obviously take. And you're pissed off because Denver just scored or something. Yeah. But it choice. It taught me a lot. It showed me how you can't respond because you know why they're doing it? They just want a response.

They want a response from you. They want you to flip them off or do something stupid, you know, so this can happen. Well, obviously, David Temper's never been in a position like that. I guess when you run hedge funds, they ought to make, they ought to put glassing around your office and let people come and start beating on the window when you're making trades and running your hedge fund so that you can get the idea that, hey, these guys are just doing this as fans. Nobody really cares.

It's not, I don't think you can make an excuse for what he did, but this happens. And his reaction was childish. You know, I don't really know what to say about it. I know that they find him $300,000. I get it. That's a lot of money. And some people are saying, oh, that's a, you know, some people lose that in their couch at night watching TV, you know. But still, it's just bad.

Him, it's nothing of his worth. If you look at the, you divide 200,000, by billions, that, that, That is a cup of coffee for him. It really is. I mean, it's like five bucks for him, if that. So, yeah, I thought that was interesting. But we know who he is now through this season more fully. I think this season has cemented who Tepper is.

And we had some, before we had some whispers, I'd talk to coaches or other people had been there. And, you know, they didn't like this or that. He was a medler, this sort of thing. I think this season has cemented who he is and creates big challenges for their team going forward, you know, unless they, just happen to find the right people and can get the most out of their team, this is going to be an issue for them. So obviously that's what we learned. It is confirmation. I should say more confirmation for me that when he says we need to find an innovative offensive play caller, that tells me he doesn't get it. That's the least of our problems. Trust me. So this is just more confirmation of that

that above whoever that coach is he hires, they got big problems. And it is a giant nightmare. Who whoever, if it's Scott, if he stays GM, if they hire somebody, they aren't paying the guy enough. Whoever that is, I can tell you that. The guy should, he will earn his money in balancing everything that he has to balance with an owner like David Tepper. Yep. All right. So I wrote a column this week, kind of a week away from voting in some of these awards, Coach of the Year and such. And I was curious on your feeling on some of these.

So for Coach of the Year, I've got D'Amico Ryan's kind of heading into Week 18. Kevin Stafansky, Sean McVeigh, right there with him. For me on Ryan's just, hey, taking over a team that has been a laughing stock, 11, 38 and 1 the last three years. To turn that around, I think, is a little bit underrated. It's not like he went to a team like Denver that has had a history of success or, you know, he went to a place that we were not that long ago. We're talking about Jack Easterby and the whole, Deshaun Wagon.

There's been a lot of bad stuff there. And to just walk in and day one, be nine and seven with a chance to be 10 and seven and going to the playoffs. To me put a degree of difficulty, but there's some great choices this year. So who would you have for your coach of the year right now? Well, and I agree with you. I think Ryan's has done an awesome job, to be honest with you. And the culture change is something that everybody talks about, but very few actually can

execute it. and I think he's went a long ways toward doing that. But for me, only because of the amount of hurdles that this guy has had to overcome is Kevin Stefanski. I don't think nobody, I don't think anybody's adjusted as well as him to the amount of injuries and the amount of change that he's seen on this roster. This is a team that without their three best tackles, without probably their best player, their running back, without really great weapons on the perimeter.

I just think his coaching schemes every week have shown his adaptability to win the game and give themselves a best chance to win the game. And, oh, by the way, he manages the game pretty dang good from the sidelines as well. So I think the encompass the big pick, the total package for what Kevin Stefansky has had to do this year, for me, sets him aside. And I understand the comeback might be, well, the numbers on offense don't show it. The wins show it. And I think he's one of these old-school, old-hearted coaches that manages a game to win it, not necessarily to win the stats battle.

Yeah, you noticed that when you went to watch him play against Seattle, you were in the stands for that. I remember that was one of your takeaways, was you just liked how he structured the game, you know, even though it was like ended up being a close loss, but you liked just his handling of things. I think he plays the game to win, and every game it's different, and he'll use different tactics depending on the opposition and the tendencies that they show. It's almost like a younger Bill Belichick. It's a guy who really thinks beyond the basics for, I think, half the coaches in the NFL nowadays are just calling plays. And I think his system is totally different and set up, and his mindset is different. It's a program. It's a system. And if this, then this, then this. and it goes much deeper than that.

And I just, I'm being impressed by it. And again, he's doing with Joe Flacco, Mike, who was on the couch. He was on the couch a month ago with us watching games, you know. And that's the part of it that, you know, I think I have to vote on this by January 10th, but I would love to see how things play out a little bit more because Flacco, you know, if their offense, and there's been, they did have, they've had a decent game or two on offense with Flacco, but if that were to continue and they were to elevate the offensive side or who knows, make a push in the playoffs because they're a team that, you know, has beaten Baltimore, right,

in that division, man, it could really cement it for him in my mind. So we have to make some of these decisions before we get to see how it plays out in the playoffs. But I think you make great points there. I wanted to also mention Sean McVe. I just think the expectations around that team, they're getting so much out of a bunch of young guys, no one had heard of you. They can make a case they have offensive and defensive rookies of the year candidates. And then what's going on with Stafford, he's got the run game going.

It's just a nice setup. And by the way, that offense of the Rams dominated against the defenses of Cleveland and Baltimore, the two best defenses in the league, that is impressive to me. They came out on Baltimore and ran the ball like nine plays in a row. That has been impressive to me for McVeigh with an honest. offense that can pass, that can run with a rookie no one was really talking about before the year being a top five receiver in terms of production and then doing it against the top defenses to a point where now going into the last week of the season, they can arrest,

the Rams can arrest some starters if they want. That's crazy. That's unbelievable where they're at, where they're at. Never would we have made that bet. I would say even through 12, 14 weeks, you wouldn't have said, who's the team most likely to be able to arrest people week 18? because they're locked in. They wouldn't have been on the list of bets.

No way. Yeah, which I don't, you know, I didn't get to the executive of the year thing. But, I mean, just off the top of my head, without looking at it more or less need, the GM, there's got to be, I mean, they've got a bunch of young guys this year. And they've proven everybody wrong with, on both sides to the ball with players that no one was talking about before, now looking like stars. I mean, that's a, that's a great job, isn't it? Yeah, I totally.

agree. And a lot of times it's, and it should fall this way where the coach of the year and executive of the year come out of the same group. I know the year I want it in 2000. Jim Hazett was also named NFL coach of the year. So sometimes that's the way it works when it's really a team effort regardless. But the coach has done a great job because the GM has given him some pretty good pieces to mold, but neither is successful without the other. So it wouldn't surprise me if less won. It wouldn't surprise me if Andrew Barry wanted in Cleveland either with it, with with the moves that they've made. Yeah.

On MVP, you know, Lamar Jackson's the huge betting favorite. That's sort of where I was at. I don't feel great about the MVP candidacies necessarily. It wasn't like just an overwhelming one. But, you know, I made a case for him as just kind of the leading passer and rusher for a top six offense, a premier game plan consideration every time his team goes out there, you know. And then they've done great against the good teams.

They've faced four division leaders this year. He's got 11 touchdowns, one interception. His team won by 25 points per game, which would be, I think, a record at least in the last 25 years. But I was curious with you because you had seen so much growth in DAC. Would you lean towards DAC or are you with Lamar? What do you think? Well, I think the difference maker for me is I like DAC, as you know, but Lamar's complete season, just a complete body of work to me merits, you know, top billing.

At the halfway point, he was my MVP. So, Dax's been very ordinary. I thought through the first six or seven weeks, Lamar was already at MVP level. So the seasons are long. I agree Baltimore has a great defense. They've got, you know, a lot of growth themselves. And to be honest with you,

Lamar has grown as a player in ways that I wasn't sure he could grow. So, I mean, his poise in the pocket, his just awareness within the pocket, his ability to move within the pocket, but yet have his eyes up looking downfield. All of that's improved. So he's kind of won me over this year as having the most complete body of work and thus, you know, for me, is a no-brainer as the MVP. So let me just take this one step further, Mr. GM.

As we get into the off-season, Lamar, Jackson, and Dak, for that matter, too, have been sort of stalwarts of Tier 2 in my quarterback tiers survey. And they get some tier one votes, especially Lamar has gotten some tier one votes. It's always been a deal breaker with a lot of folks that, you know, there's a pure passing component of being a tier one quarterback. The game gets reduced to having to win from the pocket. And so if there's questions about your ability to do that, even if you're amazing in other ways,

that's been a hard one for him to overcome. And sometimes in the playoffs, it's sort of shown up. We don't know what's going to happen in the playoffs, but right now do you think that these guys, Lamar Jackson, Dak Prescott, would be trending towards Tier 1 on your ballot if, you know, we had to sort of start projecting now. For me, they would, Mike. I don't think there's a lot of doubts anymore with their skill set.

They've both improved in some areas where I wasn't sure they could and they have. I've never seen Dak throw with more confidence and conviction right now. It's like every ball he knows he can thread through a needle. and he's willing to, under the right circumstances, do that. And the way Lamar's vision is improved and is poised within the pocket, these are things that I think you have to have to be a tier one quarterback in the NFL. And I think they both have given us plenty of examples this year that they're probably going to be raised up into that group.

I would turn it around this way too. Are there any guys that were tier one that you think might fall out of that group if we had only so many seats in tier one class? Yeah, so the guys that were Tier 1 this last season included Patrick Mahom, I think he stays there. Joe Burrow, I mean, just on his own, Joe Burroughs, people aren't going to probably take him out off of the injury. Josh Allen, we haven't even talked about, but he probably stays up there, right? Well, I think so. How about Josh Allen not making the Pro Bowl?

That's another one that, I don't know. So where are you at? Interesting, because, you know, he's got so much production. Should he be an MVP or is just kind of hard when your team is, you know, I know they've got a good record. now, but sort of the way their season has gone has not allowed him to be in that conversation, but why not Josh Allen in the MVP consideration? I agree with you. I've said it all year long. He's probably the most fun for me to watch. I love his game even when he completes seven passes. It is a fun watch. It's about a skill level that I've never seen. Who did I hear? Oh,

Vic Fangio said, and I just heard this in the last 24 hours or so, he's, I remember in my report writing this exactly the same way as Vic described it. He said he's John Elway on steroids. You know, not steroids, not taking steroids, but I'm not steroids. But that's the skill set that I always thought Josh Allen has had. So I think he's an MVP candidate every year. But yeah.

Yeah. So as we're talking about somebody, so the only other guy who could drop out would be Justin Herbert. And I struggle with that a little bit because I think he's a big victim of having the opposite of Lamar. No run game, no defense. and he's just the only reason to even watch him, in my opinion.

So would you, how much would you take that into account for him? Do you think if Lamar Jackson was on, or Dak Prescott was on, you know, on this charger team with a bottom five defense every year and overrated weapons around them? They'd be just having great years, and we'd be talking Tier 1 about them? No, it's a good point. but I think this, at some point, Justin Herbert has to step up, and he's got to play all the time and show us what everybody thinks his toolbox has as far as skills go. And again, I'm not down on him. I just haven't seen the consistent production that we see out of these other guys. Plus, he never plays in a big game. Has there been a team more irrelevant? I mean, they just fall out of it

and everybody stops talking about him. In fact, the minute they fired Brandon Staley, no one's mentioned the Chargers in month and a half. So that's just part of it. I'd just say this. Like if he, if he were the quarterback of the Ravens, I don't think they have a worst record.

My opinion. I don't know, coach. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe. You think Justin Herbert's going to run around like Lamar Jackson?

No, I'm just saying that if you give him a top five defense, I think he wins 13 games. I agree. The team build itself, they have no team build that compares to Baltimore at all. I do agree with that.

But that down on Justin Herbert. But yeah, that gets back to your Cleveland discussion. Cleveland has a similar record to Baltimore with a bottom five offense. It's unbelievable. Yes. It's unbelievable. So, yeah,

these are great discussions. So we'll see how that all shakes. I agree with you. I do believe that a lot of people are going to have your opinion on Justin Herbert, which people have already kind of had like, hey, we need just to see some more results here, right? And we can't just always make excuses of the team forever, right?

And just keep someone up there. on their talent. So I think that'll be a fascinating debate. Some of it's going to come down to, you know, some of these folks I talked to in the league. Did they play him? Did he light it up that week? Because I've talked to people who have played him when he played well. And they were like, wow, even this year, Justin Herbert.

Wow. So there will be an interesting discussion around this. But I agree with you. I think Lamar is going to trend in the tier one direction, unless there's just some horrific playoff game where he throws four picks like kind of the Brock Purdy effect, right, where he was coasting along. And then he has one bad game and people are like, oh, you know, reassessing a little bit.

So how about this, though? And this isn't part of the show and probably for another show, but the starters in the Pro Bowl, I believe, are Tua and Purdy, right? Now, this might spawn a whole discussion on the Pro Bowl, a Pro Bowl being totally irrelevant. And I get it. But where are these guys standing on your tears? Purdy and Tua.

Yeah. I think they're going to be in two. Yeah. All right. You still want Herbert over Tua for sure, no doubt about it? Oh, no doubt about it. Okay. You take him every day of the week.

You wouldn't? Okay. You'd take Tua over him? No, no, no. I haven't made up my mind. I've never been asked a question. I just think these are interesting discussions to maybe not necessarily have on the football G. I think of this still have to happen.

For this summer, when we're sitting around the campfire having a beer, we might want to bring this up, you know? Yeah, I do want to bring it up. Yeah, I do. I do. So that's a great one, but I would definitely take Herbert. So, you know, and the Chargers are really the only people that could screw up two decades of Philip Rivers and Justin Herbert. Yeah, I lived in 10 of those years. So I lived in one of those decades. I'm going to keep saying it until you can't say it anymore. Norv Turner was the coach there the last time they won the division.

Division. There's four teams in the division, Randy. You're going to have Philip Rivers and Justin Herbert for 20 years. Yeah. And it's been 15 years since you won. a division title. Division. So that's a major problem. And look, it's going to cost Philip Rivers when people want to talk about him for the Hall of Fame. Eli Manning's going to have possibly a better chance because he won two Super Bowls.

No doubt. Who do you think's better, Philip Rivers or Eli Manning? Not close. I agree with you. Yeah. So that's some of that team component around it that I think makes all of this so fascinating. Rookie of the year, Pooka Nakua maybe was edging a little ahead to me. Do you stick with Stroud?

Are you waiting this week? because just, hey, what Stroud did a quarterback? Sorry, he's got to be it for you or where are you at? I think Pukua has come out of nowhere more than anybody, that's for sure. Nobody expected this, and therefore his impact on the production he's had is brighter. But I think what C.J. Stroud has done is really hard to do and has changed the way that whole city perceives their team and the country perceives their team. So I'm C.J. Stroud all the way.

I think it's the hardest position to play. And, yeah, for me, it's Stroud, no doubt. Okay. That could be influential for me when I go to Casta Ball. It comes back and forth. Defense of the Rook of the Year, I had Kobe Turner of the Rams. I don't know who, you know, Jalen Carter and Will Anderson are the odds-on favorites. Jailen Carter, to me, on the bad defense is a little bit tougher.

Will Anderson's been good, but is Kobe Turner, is he a reach just because he was a later pick or what? I don't think he is at all, but I watch the tape. And I know you talk to a lot of people as well. And I think what the Rams have done on defense with four or five of these young guys on defense is way under the radar for people. I think Kobe Turner is a really good player. And yes, he would get my vote.

I just don't know if he'll get enough votes because I don't know if that many people dig that deep. And maybe I do it. Yeah, he's third in the odds behind those other guys. Yeah, that's good. That surprises me, but I'm glad to see it because this is a guy that can affect the game much the way that Aaron Donald does. And oh, by the way, it helps to have $99 on the other side of him.

It does. Nine sacks, though, is I think the same number that Donald had as a rookie as well. So that's a lot from, you know, his position. And like we said, getting the executive of the year, coach of the year, all that stuff for the Rams. What a great job, a great season for them. And it's not over. They're going to get a chance in the playoffs.

And they're probably going to play Detroit. So we won't, we'll talk about that next week. What do you got in the job? GM notebook before we get to our very pivotal picks. Do we have to do that pick section? I mean, that's kind of... I was 3-0 last week, Mueller. I mean, I got no problem.

What you're talking about? I was two and two. You were two and two. That's not terrible. Yeah, and I get it. But here's what happens, Mike. I make these picks and it ruins my Sunday because I care what I say.

I'm telling you, it ruins my games. I just want to watch the game and let it come to me. I don't want to have a rooting interest of self-agenda because I gave the wrong impression or lean somewhere here or there. It's nuts. But anyway, we'll get to. I know. I hear you on that.

I hear you on that too. As long as you have good reasons for it, you just can't control what's actually going to happen in a game where each team has 11 possessions or whatever. It can get sideways in a hurry with one thing going off the rails. So I think people are understanding of that. And I had picked the Dallas Detroit game. I had the winner right. I didn't know the referee was going to call tripping on the wrong team.

I didn't know they were going to not listen to the guys coming in to report. I mean, that stuff's hard to factor in and the point spread mattered. You know, that's crazy. Yeah, that's football, though. That's football. I understand it. But it is a notebook item for me this week as well. Just the referees in general.

And I know that game gets a lot of dings and attention and narrative because of the Brad Allen stuff. But there were plays before that when we called the tripping on Dallas, when it was actually a Detroit lion that did the tripping. I lose faith in the system and the process and the people involved. How do you do that? Well, how about this? This is a prime time game that everyone's watching, including three, four, five park. Yeah.

The league office is watching. I hope they are. Yeah. We have this sort of system a little bit, and I don't know all the mechanics of it as well as some people do in the league, but that type of thing should be corrected immediately. Yes. And that's what was the follow up point on my note for the GM notebook is we had this in the AAF. Bill Polly and brought with.

him in our days together at the AAF, the eye in the sky. And it was able to change anything like this. That particular call to me changed the whole perception of really and the criticism that McCarthy took for not managing the clock also. It affected everything beyond that. So I agree with you. And I know the process now we see these referees talking on mics to who knows who they're talking to. Maybe they're talking to Park Avenue. I don't know. But the lack of transparency for All of this is bad for the game, I think. The good thing about what we had with the eye in the sky was they put a camera and a mic on the person deciding it.

And the fans absolutely love the transparency it showed. Even in the XFL, when they would put Dean Blandino on there, there was a certain amount of transparency that even if he got it wrong, they understood what he was seeing and what he was saying, you know? So I just don't know why we don't do this. Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah, because if it were to be recorded, the interaction.

between Brad Allen and the players that were checking in, you know, and trying to do that. Like, you know, you have those microphones for like NFL films or something where you can hear the guys talking on the field or, you know, maybe they're actually miced up. It would be great to be able to go to that transcript and just say, you know, hey, here's what was actually said. And it would also put, it would also make the referee be, adhere more clearly to a thorough process to make sure, hey, this is all on. the record now.

Yep. Hold everybody to a different standard of accountability. I haven't heard one thing come out criticizing the officials at all. All I hear is from the league. All I see was a report that the players need to do a better job of reporting in. And you know what? They can kiss my ass. That's crazy.

I love it, Mueller. You just threw a drink. You just threw a drink. I'm just, but that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. So we're going to put this on the players for reporting in the wrong fashion and not getting the ref's attention when we have this kind of incompetency going with referees that we roll out there, these teams are, these teams of referees are not put together

with the best and most qualified people. I'll just leave it at that. That's crazy. Well, that's a whole another thing because these guys are, you know, insurance salesmen and, and, you know, school principals and all of that, which I think will be looked back on one day as a big joke. And the reason the league doesn't make these guys full time is because they couldn't buy them out of their law firms, right? And all the things that they want to do, it would be, it would be more expensive and so they just kind of got you. We can find some that we can buy out. Trust me. We can find some additional candidates. You can buy them all out. But but but really there should be that is a that is part of the culture of this whole thing of officiating that just

bothers me and just how it's all cover your butt and all of that instead of, hey, let's be let's be. If you're up front and transparent and honest about what's going on and everybody feels 100% you're trying to do the best job, I think people would actually be a little bit more understanding of errors. I think it's really hard to cut these guys slack when they never made a mistake. Yeah, no doubt. 100%. I think it's a joke what they've done.

And that was my whole point for bringing it up is I just think it's now affecting the integrity of the game. And I can't believe that the gambling arm doesn't say something at some point. If we're going to get in bed with this, they're now determining outcomes of games and points here and there. I can't imagine that they're going to say, oh, that's just the way the game goes. That's crazy. I think I figured this out, though. This affected your picks and you're pissed about that. That's what it is.

Well, that's what brought it up. That was my own boy. This is, you mess with Mueller's picks. I mean, he doesn't even have any money on it, but this is. Ruining my day, man. Roaring his day. All right. What else is in the GM notebook?

Two quick things. Yeah, one, I think we talked a little bit about last week, and this is a question for you as much as anything. Does Denver's handling of Russ and the way they went about trying to change his contract, does that affect any high-profile free agents that they might be coming to get or the agents standing with the Denver process and the way they are treating their players? Does this is going to bite them in the butt down the road as well? I think it could if they handle it wrong.

You know, the column I wrote for Monday was basically, hey, the Broncos' silence on this is deafening. Because I think, you know, look, We can criticize Sean Payton for being pretty obvious that he hasn't embraced Russell Wilson. He's kind of wanted to move on from him. He's been frustrated by him. All that. Those are sort of football type things that happen.

Also, revisiting someone's contract during the season, those things sometimes happen. The idea that you would try to take someone's injury guarantees during the season, that doesn't happen. I can't think of any other opportunity. You've done a lot of contracts. That's outside the realm. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. That's outside the realm.

That's just kind of an area you don't go. and then to have made it be part of a threat to be benched. I think there has to be a little bit more context to this thing. And I've been waiting for the Broncos to explain that because what constitutes a threat is a little, there's a lot of different ways we can do a threat, right? Randy, there can be sort of a little bit implied or someone can pull out a weapon on you, and that's a real threat, right? And just where was the, what actually, I want to hear if Sean Payton's going to not

say he was involved because he keeps saying George Payton, the GM will talk about it, which I've certainly noticed that, but he's been sort of shifting this off of him. But it would be nice if somebody could explain, even if they said, hey, look, we do regret that this was perceived as being just a hard threat on Russ. This is a very unusual situation where we have a new coach come in who's very a quarterback specific and centric, but he inherits a huge contract. And hey, on me, if it's George Peyton saying, this hand up, you know, we were, we went, in retrospect, obviously we probably would do a different type of a contract, but it's a, it's a unique situation. And we were looking for the best way forward.

We didn't want to publicize anything to embarrass Russ, but we did want to have a conversation to see if we could make this last a little bit longer, because under the current terms, we just weren't going to do it. And there's all kinds of things that come into play here. But this is a one-off situation, unlike anything we've ever encountered, and unlike anything we're going to encounter again. And so we take some responsibility. for that. I think if that sort of a thing were to come out, I don't think it would be a big problem going forward. But if they misplay it or more comes out that makes them look bad, maybe it could be. What do you think? I think it might be if players have options. I think,

again, you're talking about a few players have these injuries at this level, these injury guarantees and skill level guarantees at this level. So it's not going to affect everybody, but I do think if I'm one of this stature and if I have other options, I don't know. Trust is an issue and trust is always something it's hard to rebuild. I was thinking this though. If I were a quarterback, I think I'd, if Sean Peyton wanted me, I think that the biggest problem here is that Sean Peyton didn't want Russell Wilson. Yeah. We have all heard, you know, he wanted the charger job and, you know, wanted to be with, with Justin Herbert. And so he just sort of tolerated Russell Wilson at best and complained about him,

you know, in his own way and disrespected him in some ways. And this way would be a big disrespect, even if Peyton wasn't directly involved in the contract talks portion of it. So if I were a quarterback that Sean Payton liked and wanted to be with, I think I'd still want to be there with him. Let's just say if Kirk Cousins were a free agent this offseason, I think being with Sean Payton could be really appealing. What do you think? Yeah, I totally agree.

I think you're right. It's a matter of the marriage and how deep it is. I just think this was a pre-arranged marriage. and I knew it probably wasn't going to work. It was just a matter of how long. The next marriage will be one that they both walk to the author on their own power with. Yeah. So to me, maybe they can spin this as a one-off,

and maybe it really is kind of a one-off, you know, but they looked bad. And I think they still look bad. Denver does until they can clarify or explain a little bit about this, which they've indicated they will after the season and we'll see about that. Last item in the GM notebook? Just one quick note. I don't want to make too much out of it,

but you mentioned I did a piece of it. on Arizona and Kyler Murray this week. And they finished their season Sunday with a game against Seattle. And it just kind of made me think Seattle has a little bit to play for. But my question was, who would possibly get in? Yeah, I did enough research on Arizona to know that they're positioned, in my opinion, in a pretty good spot. They've got mega money under the cap next year to spend.

They've got multiple draft picks that I really like the options that it gives them. They've got a quarterback that if they're sold on the intangible part, which we've all questioned, but they know them better than any of us. They're with him all day every day. And if they feel okay about that, who would you rather be, Arizona or Seattle going forward? And I say that because Seattle has won one game in their own division this year. Forget the rest of their record, but they were swept by San Francisco,

swept by the Rams. They beat Arizona when I believe Josh Dobbs was a quarterback. I don't think Kyler was for sure. So if Arizona beat Seattle this week, would you perceive Seattle as being third in that division or fourth as you go forward? So that's, I don't know. I don't know. I just think it's a tough call.

Yeah. And, you know, organizationally, I think, given, you know, what we know about ownership and some of those things, you might still want to be Seattle. But if we were just playing fantasy football with, hey, you could have Kyler Murray under a contract that's not great, but if you like him as your guy, it's okay. and then you can have all these draft picks, right, to move forward with, or would you, you know, and what do you think of the coaches there that are young? Are you Jonathan Gannon just winning and won in Philly? Well, I think that's what it really came back to for me. It was a really a show of confidence for what Monti Austin Fort has done and Jonathan Gannon has done.

I think they've positioned a franchise that's frankly been a laughing stock for many years because of the ownership and everything else. I think they've positioned them in a chance where they could ascend in a really hard division. And as we all know, finding a quarterback's hard. And they might find a way to work this with Kyler. I don't know. I mean, I've never been the biggest fan. If you had to bet right now, who has a better record next year, Seattle, Arizona? That's an interesting conversation is what you're saying.

Maybe that's the way to frame it. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I think that's a place Seattle doesn't want to be, but it is. And I don't know that they can overcome that in just one game at the end of the season. No, but it just made me think about the question. Yeah.

Yeah. And they could lose. They could lose this game. I mean, they haven't been able to stop anybody. So we will see. It's all I got, man. All right, let's go into the picks. You know, I'm 22, 22, and 2 after last week.

That's pretty good. I guess it's okay. Yeah, it's great. Trust me, that's great. No, I would think we'd be a little bit better than that against the spread. But at least I had to go three and no to get that. Now, I don't know that I love a lot of these games this week, but where are you going? Well, I'm a couple games under 500, so I've got a ways to go.

I was two and two last week. I'm going to try to pick some games that actually mean something. So I'm staying in the NFC South because these teams have something to play for. And I like Tampa, given four at Carolina. My guess is Carolina's cars are running. I think Tampa has to play. I think Tampa's just a better team. Yeah, Baker's banged up.

Yeah, I understand that. But I'm giving the four points. I'm taking Tampa. Same with the Saints at home against Atlanta. Saints are three-point favorite. I think the Saints have to and will play hard. So I'm taking the Saints and giving the three. I also like the Packers at home against Chicago.

I think they're at a point now where they could make a playoff push if they can get in the playoffs. So I like the Packers at home. I don't know where Chicago is going to be. I know they're still going to play hard for the coach and some other things. But I just think Green Bay is a better team right now. So those are the three picks I'm going to make three favorites, but I think they all have reasons. to play good.

Yeah, so I think that Packers Bears game is very interesting. The Bears defense playing well. Yeah. You know, and the Packers' defense having some issues through much of the season makes me, I mean, I won't be surprised at all if Green Bay wins big, but I'm a little, the Atlanta Saint one is interesting to me because I just, I don't know. I feel like on a week-to-week basis, both teams can be bad. I agree.

You know, and like, so nothing would really. kind of surprised me there. One I was going to go with, I think I'm going to take the Giants in five and a half against Philly. Division game, Eagles leaking some oil, they just lost to the Cardinals.

Now, I don't know if the Giants can do what the Cardinals did. I'm not saying that, but I have enough questions on Philly. Run for 221 yards? You don't think they can run for 221 yards like the Cardinals did on Philly? They might.

They might. I don't know. The Cardinals hand. the Eagles, trust me. They handled them up front. So the Eagles are a mess. They are definitely a mess trending in the wrong direction. And I don't know how they solve it because like we talked about before, they are lacking personnel on defense to do anything about it. They can scheme up all they want, but they can't get off the field. They can't cover anybody. They're playing free agent linebackers, practice squad linebackers. They can't stop the run. And I don't know if that changes.

I don't know if you can flick the switch. The other thing that was disappointing to me about watching Philly on tape was the disorganized way they get aligned and lined up from play to play. They just seem like they're in disarray. So that's, I don't know if that's the Matt Patricia effect, but they just seem to be like they're scattered in their minds a lot of times when they play defense. Yep. So I'm not trusting them. I'll take the five and a half.

You stayed away from Indy getting one and a half against Houston. And I may take indie on this. I've been burned a couple times picking indie. You know, I think I picked them the week they were going to play Atlanta and they lost big. So I don't know if there's a little bit of a mirage there, but I sort of feel like they could go either way. Don't you feel like that game could go either way? It definitely could go either way.

It's a game that I had on my radar. I just don't know if I'm trusting 100% either side. If I was going to play it, I might play for Houston, but that's on the road in indie. So I don't know. I just didn't. Yeah. Yeah, I just take the home underdog there.

Yeah. We didn't mention this week the bills playing. The bills are a favorite at Miami. We don't have to pick the game, but where are you out on the bills? Do you think they get it done? Well, I think they can get it done. And I think the hard part for me to project is the dolphins are just riddled, especially defensively with injuries.

They have a lot of people who were really good for them at different points in the season, not playing. really on both sides of the ball. So that's a big issue for me. They've got more to overcome. I think it's indicative of where the point spread ended up, with Buffalo being a favorite in Miami late in the season. I think Buffalo does get it done.

How they do it, I don't know. I think their best formula for getting it done might be just to take the air out of the ball and try to run the ball. I think they found a little something with Cook, the rookie running back. he's been really good. And I think the numbers, and you would know better than I do,

but the numbers since Joe Brady have taken, when he took over the offense, have trended way to the side of running more and being way more effective. And really, maybe that reduces the risk that Josh Allen's capable of taking. But I kind of like where the bills are.

If I was going to lean, I'd probably lean toward the bills. I'm going to stay away from it. I think, I don't feel great about these picks, and I feel like last week of the season is there's a lot of different agendas of what teams are doing.

And it's hard to predict, man. I feel like I would be, if I tried to pick five games and go big, I would go one and four, you know. So I'm picking a couple just because I think it would be lame to just not pick any. But I don't feel great about them. We'll see if I can at least get a split out of them. We made it. One note, if I was going to pick another game, I might pick the Huskies over Michigan only because I think the wrong team is favored, Mike. And that's just my opinion.

So you can take that. Wad it up and throw it away. But I think Washington's a better team. Is it running back going to be okay? They got others. Not to disrespect anybody, but they got others. And they got other ways. I just think the wrong team's favorite, that's all.

Do you want to pick that game? We can have that as one of our picks. We can pick the game. Well, that's up to you. I kind of did. I think the wrong team's favorite. So it's three, I think Michigan's either three or four point favorite. All right.

So let's both take, I'll take the Huskies too. Let's both take you, Dub. All right. That'll be one of our picks. Something tells me we'll be revisiting Harbaugh in the whole situation anyway next week. Yeah, that's kind of fun. So I don't know who's going to win,

but I like the quarterback for the Huskies. So we'll see how that goes. All right. All right, coach. Okay, man, everybody. You can find Randy and you can find me at The Athletic. You can find Randy on X at Randy Miller underscore. I'm there at Sandow NFL.

We will talk to you next week. This was the Athletic Football Show's Football GM podcast. Thank you.