The Bobby Bones Show - Lots to Say: NFL Daily's Gregg Rosenthal

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

Matt Cassel starts with Bobby Bones finally breaking 80 on the golf course. Matt recaps his birthday weekend before looking at the NFL's hope to play 18 games in a season.  What kind of strategy is used if starters can only play 16 games? How does this change the record book?  Brock Purdy gets paid but he got a no trade clause?  NFL Daily's Gregg Rosenthal gives thoughts on the Bengals dealing with Trey Hendrickson.  How do Geno Smith and Pete Carroll change the Raiders? Gregg touches on the Browns QB room before moving to optimism around the Patriots.  Matt wonders how George Pickens improves the Cowboys.  Should the NFL allow players to participate in Olympic Flag Football?  Greg weighs in on Aaron Rodgers interest in the Steelers.  Why has Gregg's opinion on Caleb Williams and the Bears changed this offseason? Plus, Gregg explains why working sports on the West Coast is better than the East Coast.  Matt has played in Chicago and wonders how fans would receive the Bears building a dome.  Is the 'cold' really an advantage for other teams like the Bills and Packers?  Matt explains how he learned to watch film and got DVDs to take home.  Looking back to last week's conspiracy theories, did Shaq confirm an NBA Draft conspiracy? We wrap up with plans for the week, including Bobby wanting to go to Vegas to speak with Pete Carroll.   Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel is part of the NFL Podcast Network See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Search 40s and free agents and listen now. Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and IHart podcast. We got lots. Yeah, we got lots to say. Now here's Bobby and Matt. All right, you're the dealer. Dealer's choice.

There's like 80 things to talk about. You're up. You pick whatever you want. You want options or you want to go blind. No, I mean, one thing that I did see on your social media this week, we've got to start with your week of sports last week. Yeah. Well, we've talked about it on this show, right? Never, never broken 80.

And golf, I've never broken 80, yeah. Yeah, we did talk about that. We did. Never broken. And you've been close. You've been at 80. But last week, you've finally accomplished something that has been avoiding. You're choosing this over Brock Party's contract.

you're choosing the, there's like eight things. We're definitely going to talk about Brock Purdy's contract. But I think first and foremost, we've got to talk about the elephant in the room. Because that was one, but you also meddled in your first ever pickleball tournament. Yeah. I mean, this is, I'm basically putting you on a pedestal to let you brag to our audience about one, your athleticism, your determination, and what you accomplished this week. I was reading online, some people have sent out one of the greatest weeks in sports history. Oh, no doubt.

They both happen the same week. Yeah. I shot a 78, and as a quiet 78, had no birdies. No birdies and you shot a 78. That's consistency, my friend. As consistent as possible. You know what I bought one of those mini drivers? Oh, you did buy that.

And not the actress mini driver. No, the actual golf club. Yeah, which you can use as a driver, or you can use it like a three wood, but it's shorter shaft. Also, your nickname in college. Yep. And a slightly larger head than the three wood, but a slightly smaller head than the driver. and I just kind of kept it in the middle. Yeah, I don't know what.

So it was a game changer for you. It was my irons where I was playing pretty. I was just playing consistently pretty good. And if you can get near the green and have a shot to two-putt, that's all it was. I didn't even realize I was getting close to breaking 80 until like whole 16. Okay, so is that when you clinch it up a little bit? And you're like, okay, look, I'm at the, I don't clench. I'm at the cusp.

I don't clench. No, you didn't clench. Obviously, 78. I don't clench. Never. No, there have been times. but generally, I don't want to say I don't feel pressure,

but pressure doesn't make me clinch. Pressure excites the crap out of me. But there really wasn't any pressure. You weren't playing like a tournament, were you? Nah, but it was awesome. So I got a 78, and then I played in a pickleball tournament. Didn't really know what I was doing. I signed up blindly,

and I went and I played, and my rating is like a 3.78 or 3.8. What does that mean? Exactly. What does that even mean? So in golf, you're handicapped. You're G-H-I-N. You're like a 12 in golf.

Okay. I'd imagine you're what, a 6 or 7? No, I'm right there with you. A doper is that in pickleball, and I don't even know what that means. So you've got to plug in your... When you beat somebody... When you beat somebody, you see what they were, and then you get points. Got it.

Something like that. Do they mix and match partners, or are you bringing your own partner? I played singles. Oh, you played singles? Yeah. Oh, okay. I'd rather grind it out. Yeah, obviously.

Because I feel like that's the one thing I can control was me. Yes. And so I played singles. And yeah, you play round robin. I'm going to give you 30 more seconds on this. I played 14 games the whole day. Oh my gosh. Dead.

That's a grind. It's a grind. Yeah, like my ankles and my hips hurt still a little bit. But you play like round robin. You play everybody in your side of the bracket, which are like six people on my side. I play all of them. Then you go to the metal round if you make it. And you play another little tournament.

End up with a bronze medal. I got beat once in the round. Robin and then I beat that person in the metal round and then I got beat by somebody had already beat. But I ran to the fence and freaking kill my shoulder. Blood everywhere. Yeah. It was awesome. Yes. That's the only match. You're like a gladiator out there. Yeah. So, just intimidating people. That was it. So that's what I did this weekend. You were baseball games? Baseball games. Eight of them this weekend. Both my sons. But you didn't play. Your kids. Yeah. I don't know what I didn't play fast pitch. I'm going to go out and play fast pitch.

So your kids played eight games? Great weekend. This is my birthday on Saturday. That was fantastic. Get to go watch the kids. But my one son, he pitched in his game, pitched a one hitter, lost one to nothing. No way, no run support. Who is he? Paul Skeens? In a nine year, nine-you baseball team, like nine and ten-year-olds, there was one run between two teams. It's unheard of. Normally these teams, like they'll score 16 runs. It'll be like 16 to 10. It was absurd. But we ended up losing. So we got knocked out of that tournament. my other son, he's a big kid, goes out there, knocks three home runs on Saturday. He was four for four with three home runs.

Pretty good day at the plate. Wow. He's a big kid, bigger than the other kids? Yeah, about a head taller. Your size? Are you guys? He's taller than I was at his age. He's only 11.

He's wearing a size 12. He's like 511. No way. Yeah. Do the doctor still think he'll grow? I think so. I think he's going to be like one of those seven footers. At least that's what he's so far off the growth chart.

it's absurd. So maybe he'll hit early puberty, slow down. I don't know. Your wife was an excellent athlete at USC volleyball player. Does she have height in her family? She does. So her grandfather, her two brothers, were all 6-4-65.

Her dad. I'm 6-4. Man. So there's possibility there that he does get up into that upper echelon. And his hand-eye coordination for an 11-year-old is pretty good. Great. Great, yeah. Kids can play ball.

So it's fun. What do they like the best? You know, it's seasonal because I don't force them to play all the different sports. And the fun part about this age is you don't really have to focus on one thing. So when it's football season, they play football. When it's basketball, basketball, baseball, they play baseball. And they kind of fall in love with it for the season. And then as soon as that's over, they're on to the next thing.

But it takes a little time. There's this period of time right after that season that they're still in love with the last sport. So they're like, oh, I don't want to play baseball. This sucks. and then a few weeks in, they play a few games, they're on board. When do they get to play tackle football? So my oldest son played fifth and sixth grade tackle football, which we never had like middle school affiliation between the school and football at that age.

But they have a full football team for fifth and six. So he played last year. And that was his, oh, well, maybe he played the year before for Blaze. There's a youth group out here called Blaze football. He played as a fourth grader. I think I was more comfortable with him playing tackle football because I knew his size. He was the kid with the dot on his helmet. You can't carry the football.

You can only play offense and defensive line. Get him a little tough. So he did that. So he's played for two years. So we had fourth grade. I was good on fourth grade. I got worse as it went because everybody kept growing. Yeah.

Oh yeah. There's a lot of those guys. So in fourth, fifth, sixth grade, I played quarterback as a kid. That's why Boomer Science was my favorite player. And then Steve Young, left-handed. Yeah. When you were fourth-fif, and sixth grade. Were you playing football at all? And were you heads and shoulders above the other kids?

Fourth grade was when I started and I played quarterback when I was in fourth grade. But it's one of those things in Pop Warner. You played kind of a different position. I played quarterback and linebacker. I played a little bit of the defensive line just to fill in. So I was always super competitive and always had a skill set. I wouldn't say I was the best. The first year I played, we had this kid named Justin Scullin on our team, a running back. guy looked like Walter Payton. Like he just ran through everybody. Every time he touched the ball, it was incredible.

I think then, like you said, as we got a little bit older, everybody started to mature a little bit. He started to cap out. And then you saw him go from being a human highlight reel to just a normal player. So it's always interesting at that age because you never know how guys are going to develop into their bodies, how their skill set is going to develop. And a lot of guys are late bloomers and just come. on later in life, but you've got a lot of those guys that go out there and just blow you

away with their skills at a young age, but then people generally catch up. I think I'm late blooming now. I shot a 70 and won't a pickleball medal. That's what I'm saying. Same week now. Greatest week of amateur sports you've ever seen. I don't want to put amateur sports tag on it. Well, you kind of have to. Are you a professional? Well, define professional. Well, are you a professional? Nope, I'm not. You're right. Good point. Okay. Okay. My pick. I want to talk about, and we've talked about it briefly, and we've given our own theories on the NFL going to 18 games, which at some point they're going to go to 18 games.

Right. You don't float it for this long without having the plan of doing it. They're kind of warming us into it because they've already got us to 17 games. Like they warmed us up for that. There's another game coming, another game coming. And so the latest story has been that the NFL is setting the groundwork for in either 26 or 27, adding that next. that next extra game.

So I'm going to read you some of the rumored twists. Some of them we were kind of on when we were predicting what would and could work. Right. So to address growing concerns around player health and safety, the league is proposing that each player be limited to 16 games per season, even with an 18 game schedule. That's exactly what you were saying. You've got to sit your starter at least one game,

and no matter who they are. Which makes backup quarterbacks so much more valuable. Right. And there are running backs that can't play. Like you literally can't play two of the games. So what's the even point of going to 18 games if you're competing for that last wildcard spot or whatever it might be? And the entire year you've played your same starting lineup and you've got your guys to go. It's now week 17.

And you've had to grind to get to that point. And now you're saying, we got to play with all backups? Well, I think you're going to have to strategize. You're 100%. And you only have a 53-man roster. Are they talking about expanding roster? So as of what I read, no,

but I think that has to happen, right? You probably go to 60 at least if you're having to play. Because, I mean, also think about quarterbacks. How many quarterbacks play the full season, not hurt anyway? Gosh, not a lot. Yeah. So it's rare anyway that a quarterback is. is able to play all 17 games.

But obviously it would be more money. So that's another game. Television rights. All of things. Everything. Fewer preseason games. So three now, I think they'd want to go to two. Just more attention, right?

So you have another week. But then it's a strategy of do you sit your quarterback against weaker opponents? Right. Do you load manage a bit like the NBA does? And you're also thinking about. divisional opponents. You're going to want all your dudes for divisional games because if you win your division, you're going to go to the playoffs.

So then these out-of-conference games don't have as much meaning because you're probably sitting there going, ah, you know what? It's not a divisional game. So let's sit them now or sit partially like the wide receivers or whoever it might be that are going to be impact players for you late. So you know at the end of the road, you're ready to rock and roll. Do you sit players week one when you know the other team is? and at full case.

There's a lot of strategy that will probably have to be played in order to figure out. But backup quarterbacks, I think their value, I won't say sky rockets, but I'll say mid-rockets. Yeah, I'm going to definitely get back in shape just in case. You know, they've had a few injuries at the quarterback position this year. It's week 17. They're not going to play their starter. Yeah, I'll come in for a week, guys. Think about how much more value the third string quarterback would have.

Huge value. Because for at least. four weeks. Well, two weeks for sure they're going to be the backup. For sure. That third string guy, his, I mean, I think it drives everybody's value up just a little bit,

but especially the backup quarterbacks. You also might see teams keep four because, like you said, how often do you see a quarterback lose time during a year, let alone be done for the season? That backup quarterback's playing. Now you've got a third string. I mean, case in point, Brock Purdy, that's exactly how he stepped on the field.

was their start, both of their stars get hurt. And that's the way he got his opportunity and took advantage of it. It's wild. And I think the players would make more money. I think the revenue, the revenue share would be bigger. So I think it'd be a win. But again, you're talking about more. It just hits.

Just hits. For sure. More hits. And they're trying to say player safety. But I mean, the salary cap is 280 plus million this year. Quarterbacks are getting 50 million. a year guaranteed contracts. I mean, it's a pretty good time to play in the league.

Let's be honest. What do you think about because if they did this, it would be even farther from like the records. And I'm not always a big record guy, but like all-time records are, if you set them in the 70s or 80s, they're pretty much all gone. Right.

Because they weren't playing as many games. But you add another game. It's also why baseball doesn't really manipulate itself because baseball is America's pastime. We want everything to be true in tradition. so they're going to be at 162 forever, even though it's to the detriment of the sport. Right.

Where the NFL has at least embraced, hey, we're going to change, and some of the records will go because we're playing more games. Does that bother you at all if they add games? Therefore, they're giving players more opportunity to break old records? Well, I think the record should start.

If you have a 17-game season or an 18-game season, they shouldn't compare those records that are set in a single season to the ones of teams that played only 16 games because they get an extra game or two, whether it's a rush or a, record or a passing record. I don't think it's fair to compare those who think because we're not comparing apples

and apples here. So I think that they should start when did we start the 17 game season, 18 game season? Then those records should be held for the seasons that took place with an extra game. That's just my opinion on it. So there's a record for 17 game. Right. There's an 18 game record. Well, now they'll be an 18 if they go to 18.

But with that circumstance where you only play 16, your stars are only allowed to play 16 games. It's kind of weird. Imagine fantasy football. Oh my gosh. Can you imagine lineups at the end of the year, just getting changed? My Hose isn't playing? What do you mean? Championship Week? Oh my God. Yeah, that would be a nightmare.

That would be a nightmare. But it would also be awesome. Like I, as a fan who did not have to get hit over and over, more football for me is just more fun. Yeah, as a fan, it's great. Yeah. You get more football, more entertainment. Your team's going to play. Get another probably home game for all these teams. or most of these teams. So as a fan, yeah, the more the merrier.

When football season ends, it's always a depressing time of year when you're like, oh, man, what are we moving on to now? It's usually NBA at that point. But it's always for true football fans, you're sitting there going, I want more. And then it's over.

I think for mid and fringe players, it's a benefit. Because mids are going to be worth more and fringe are actually going to have a spot in the league, which they're constantly fighting for if they're practice squad on another team. Like I think those guys get a shot. Yeah, we'll get to 18.

I don't know if they're going to do all that, but they float a lot of stuff just to see how the public reacts to it. Oh, for sure. And then they react on our reaction. There will be an 18th game, probably not 26. I would say 27. But man, if they, I think it would be so interesting.

I won't say fun. I think it'll be so interesting to have to have players sit two games because it's strategy, but again, I don't pay money to go watch an old, bald dude strategize. Yeah, plus the coach, can you imagine the coaches sitting in the room this week? Like, all right, you want to sit?

Like, just pissed off. Like, you've got your team's at full health. Our guys can go. You always talk about we're going to play the best guy that gives us the best chance to win, but now you're forced not to because you have to strategize it. So it's a lot more work in terms of the front office, GMs, coaches, everybody involved in personnel decisions, that's a game changer.

You mentioned Brock Purdy a second ago. Yeah, you got paid, $265 million. That's a lot of money. Heck, yeah, that's a lot of money. How do you feel about that contract? I think he struck as the iron is hot. Is that the term that he is? And he's a guy that went in there, has played well. I mean, last year was not as successful as he wanted to be,

but they had an ever-revolving door at the wide receiver position. there was a lot of injuries on that team. Running backs too, McCaffrey was hurt. He was hurt almost the entire year. Yeah, they just need to put him in like a little bubble. Just please don't touch the trophy. Please don't touch the trophy. So at the end of the day, they believe that he's a guy that gives him the best opportunity to win.

He stabilized that position where they've been looking for that guy for a long period of time. And when you turn on the film and you watch this guy play, he does an incredible job of his processing ability. he's accurate as all get out. He throws with timing. So he's a perfect fit for the Shanahan system. He's been there and he's proven that he can win ball games for him. Five year, $265 million. I think $170 or so was guaranteed.

But he has a no trade clause in his contract. Love that. That would feel definitive. Like that would be a great feeling to have a no trade clause. Like you actually have some control over your future. Right. When you have control over your future because I've had it where I did not have the no trade clause, in my contract when I was with Minnesota,

I got traded to Buffalo, Dallas, in the same year. From that point on, I was like, please put a no trade clause. I didn't even know that that was something that you really need to pay attention to, but it's also a commitment by the team of saying, hey, we believe in you long enough that we're going to give you the option

as a no trade clause. If we want to trade you, we have to come to you for your approval. And that gives you some sense that they're committed to you. As a fan, I don't love it. As a player, it would be greatest. I just think of Bradley Bill.

Like in the NBA, like, you couldn't trade him. He had a terrible contract. He ended up not being worth the money in Washington. And then he's like, fine, I'll get traded to Phoenix. He sucks with the sons. So as a fan, you would like to be able to trade them if they suck. As a player, man,

that's awesome. Well, forever, that's how the front offices work. The ways that these contracts were designed, they'd put a, they'd sign a guy for six years, guarantee the first year, maybe two years. But then from that point on, for those last four years, they can cut you, they can trade you, they can do. So these contracts were always in favor of the actual organization and the team.

It was never in favor of the actual player. Now that tide has changed dramatically because you're seeing a lot more guaranteed money, guaranteed contract, no trade clauses. And so, and that comes with the success of the league. That's a lot of money. Congratulations to the guy that was NFL poverty. Not real life poverty. Mr. Irrelevant.

Yeah. Like $800,000 a year or so he's making. Yeah. He's barely getting by. But that's NFL poverty. And in San Francisco, that's like normal. Yeah, you're sitting there going, oh, man. This apartment cost me.

Yeah, he had a roommate. I mean, for sure. He had to have a roommate. Yeah, congratulations. Yeah, that's amazing. We have Greg Rosenthal from NFL Daily coming up next. And we'll talk about the Cowboys. We'll talk about Aaron Rogers.

We'll talk about the Browns quarterback situation. We'll do that when we come back. The 26 NFL draft is here and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the Combine, the NFL draft, Pro Days, trades.

This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. to my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding.

It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

on now with Greg Rosenthal, a host of NFL Daily, which is a podcast that's daily NFL news. We were kind of listening in a minute ago. And I think we should start with some of the stuff that you guys were talking about in the old daily there. Do you want to talk about the Bengals for a second? Do you want to tell us what's happening with possibly the second or third best defensive player in the NFL? Little Trey Hendrickson? Yeah. Look, I don't think he's the second or third best player.

That's why you caught me off guard there. I was like, is he the second or third best pass rusher in the league? You could make an argument. But to me, it's just like the Bengals being the Bengals, which is not paying their players on time. And Bengals fans will say, like, we literally just paid Jamar Chase. And we literally just paid T. Higgins. And it is tough to pay everyone.

But they're low-balling, Trey Hendrickson. They tried to tell him before last season they would take care of him. And when you make those sort of promises, as I'm sure you know, Matt, like then you get into the next offseason. and he literally led the league in sacks, you're going to have an unhappy player. Really unhappy player. Let's switch to the Raiders.

You've had a longstanding support for Gino Smith. And what are your expectations of the Raiders and also Coach Carroll this season? I mean, it's year one. He's there. But I think bringing Gino Smith over is a big ad. Yeah, like the Carol juice and just good vibes is carrying like a lot of optimism.

when you look at their roster, it's not great. And Gino Smith being a clear upgrade at quarterback. Like, I love Gino, and I think he's a better than average starter, one of the best, like, pure throwers of the football. But man, they got a lot of holes. Like the offensive line is a question. Pretty much the entire defense is especially the secondary. And yet, I sort of believe that Pete Carroll can get it done.

I think between both of you guys, Greg and Matt, talking about Pete Carroll, one of my buddies said, how does Pete Carroll stay relevant being that old? So, Greg, I want to ask you first, and I want Matt to follow up because Matt played for him. Because Pete Carroll is no spring chicken. He still is very youthful feeling, but does he feel youthful in person? Oh, yeah. It's crazy to think that he's older than every coach in the NFL. There's so many that seem older, that act older.

Like, he has just energy, like, that's crazy. And I think he just connects. Like, he's a person that's always connected with other humans in a way that, like, A lot of head coaches, frankly, don't. I totally agree with him. He's got this youthful energy about him. And even though he's, what, 73, he connects with his players,

he understands his players, how to get the most. And he teaches and coaches from a position of positivity. And that's pretty special. And I think that that's why he gets the most out of those guys. So it'll be interesting to see how he does with the Raiders. But to say that he's still got it, absolutely.

I talked to him last year when we went out to Washington when his son was out there. and he had a conversation with me over the phone for 30 minutes about the history of the zone running game and the outside zone. And I was like, coach, you need to get back into it. He's like, don't worry, I'm not done yet. So it's pretty funny.

And I guess that's my next question about Pete Carroll. And again, I'll go to Greg and then to Matt. Does Pete Carroll need football to live? I guess so. I think a lot of these guys do. He was teaching at USC. He actually finished out the class after he took the Raiders job.

People were going to his class and he literally was the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, which is wild. I think it's just in his blood. I think he wants to connect with as many people as he possibly can. That's where he gets energy from. And you hear a lot of these coaches

when they stop coaching, like there's too big of a hole to fill. That's why his old rival, Bill Belichick's at UNC right now. Yeah. When you're a ball coach, you're just a ball coach and you have to have it. It's in your blood.

think that he's that type of person where he can't sit around and go through an offseason and all that. If he has the opportunity to coach, he's going to do it. Greg, let me ask you about the Brown situation. If we read Twitter, it's, well, check it out. Sanders, crushing, Gabriel, fine. But then you start to read reports coming out of the Browns. And it's like, hey, they're both actually doing pretty good. Like, what do we believe? Are there PR teams already working within the Browns? it's just like a lack of information and people just making stuff up. I mean, they're rookie minicamps.

I don't think you can take anything from anything. I do think they'll give them a chance, both those rookies to play. I don't see a world where Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett are on the roster in week one. I think they'll keep both rookies, but neither one of those guys are going to start week one. But man, they're just starting. And generally this time of year, I think anyone that's trying to like draw conclusions from anything has an agenda or doesn't know what they're talking about. All right.

Let's talk about the team that you really want to talk about. Your diehard Patriots. Let's go. Brave, had a heck of an off season. What are your expectation for them? Over under 10 wins? Wow.

It's so crazy how optimistic it is in New England. Like, man, they were such a bad team. But yes, they must have filled, what, seven, eight starting jobs. I think because of the schedule being so easy, it's reasonable to hope for them to have a winning record.

But I thought it was crazy that, for instance, in Vegas, they look at the Jets as three wins worse than the Patriots. To me, the Jets, the Dolphins, and the Patriots are all in this similar sort of zone where if things go right, yeah, they could win 10 games, not really be a Super Bowl contender, but compete. But there are a lot of ways that things could go wrong still. They're counting on a lot of new faces on the offensive line for the Patriots. I think the defense will definitely be better.

Will it be good? I don't know. But either way, we got Drake May and we're feeling good. So we're recording this Tuesday afternoon, and it goes up bright and early Wednesday morning. So the last I read was the Packers have changed their language on trying to get the Tush Push canceled. And it's mostly you can't pull or push.

Where do we stand right now? Yeah, I think it sounds like there's a good chance that it'll pass. I'm annoyed by it. I don't, that they're changing the rule to me. It just feels like sour grapes. It feels like this is sort of anti, anti what the NFL should be for. Like a team executes a play so well that we just get rid of it.

Like I don't think it's that big of a deal. I think they should keep it. We'll see if people agree with me. Well, the Cowboys will probably see it week one because they're playing in Philly. And my question is they added George Pickens. How much of a difference will he make for this team this year? And does that put them in a position now to compete in that division? I think it's huge because he just upgrades the position they were the

worst at, which was receiver depth. Even their tight end position, like Jake Ferguson's a good player, but they didn't really have a second weapon behind CD Lamb. Like he compliments him very well. He's never played with as good a player as CD Lamb, who's a lot more versatile than him. But you have Pickens kind of in that old Michael Gallup role, and he's playing for a contract. They've had good success with guys coming in that were maybe, you know, a little divisive in their old spots and then playing for a contract and then getting that contract. I think a Roy Williams back in the day. I think a T.O. back in the day, I think Pickens could be a lot like that. Let's stay

with the Cowboys for a second and talk Dak. But let's do Dak and let's do Lamar and let's do Josh Allen. All three of these guys theoretically needs something to happen this year, right? Sure. Well, what do you mean by Lamar needs something to happen? Can't win in the playoffs.

Josh Allen can't beat Mahomes and Dak can't win. They all have different villains, like different bosses. They're need to beat. I know. It really reminds me of the Jordan era, you know, Eastern Conference teams, or even the LeBron era, Eastern Conference NBA teams where it's like, I don't know how much better Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson can be on a week-to-week basis. Like, they are clearly the top three quarterbacks in the league along with Mahomes and things just got to break right. They're doing

it the right way, which is getting back to that spot each and every year. But their offenses were dominant last year, way better than the Chiefs. So I just, I just, think they have to keep knocking on the door. Doc's in a different position where he makes more money than all of them because the Cowboys blew that negotiation. He's coming off a second serious injury and he's got the focus of really the entire country because they are the team that gets the most attention. And it's an interesting part of his career with a young offensive line that there is a lot

of heat on them. I think with Alan and Lamar, like, if they keep getting back to that point, eventually they will break through. That's just what sports usually tells us. What do you think about the NFL and the pushback? They're getting a little bit about the flag football being part of the Olympics and allowing players to play. You hear a lot of different opinions about it in terms of, you know,

potential injury, this, that, and the other. But what do you think the stance is right now in the field for the NFL? Yeah, it seems like they're open to letting some players. I want to see the details. I have no idea how this is going to go. I guess it's a question of what matters more to you if you're the NFL. growing the game in terms of flag football and getting that gold medal,

which I would think they would be able to get without the super duper stars or risking the injuries of those players. To me, let them play if they really want to play, but team owners might feel differently. Maybe they, and I guess it's all scheduling because baseball would let their guys play in the Olympics, the world championships,

you know, and injuries weren't really, a concern. I think we only saw one guy even halfway get hurt. So do you think they're worried more about injuries and just not saying it than they are? Like, I'm just confused on the flag football thing and what really is the issue here? Yeah, I don't, I don't really know either. Like, and are those players necessarily going to be the best options? Like, if they train for it, sure, but I don't, the skill sets to me would be different. First of all, you got to kind of learn flag. And then, you know, the players that excelled, you know, some of those shifty slot receivers you played with more than a few,

Matt, like the guys who dominate in padless practice early in training camp, like those are the guys that are going to be awesome in flag football. I would love to see it. It's here in LA. I'd love to go. Maybe the NFL will send me. I don't know. Maybe the NFL is just worried that, God forbid, we send Lamar Jackson, Tyree Kill, all these guys out there and just get drummed. Oh, yeah. You said your best. You know what I mean? You said your best and you go and just get drummed by Poland.

Yeah. Oh, that would be humiliating. The sport we invented. We're really the only ones that play it. It's now an Olympic sport and we don't win. The 2026 NFL draft is here and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh.

We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my favorite part of the calendar.

Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the combine. The NFL draft Pro Days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down. every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits.

To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team.

Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Aaron Rogers. I don't know, dot, dot, dot, dot. Yeah, I expect him to be a Pittsburgh Steelers. Sooner than later, I think he just wanted to skip this part of the off season or there's something going on with him personally. But the person who's spoken with most clarity in this whole process is Art Rooney, the owner.

He keeps saying what everyone else seems to be afraid to, which is just like, yeah, we totally expect Aaron Rogers to be on the team. he's going to be on the team. He said that multiple times in front of a microphone. So I think they must have some assurances that it's going to happen eventually. And for whatever reason, it's not happening yet, but I'm not too worried about it. It does make them more interesting this year, certainly, than if Mason Rudolph was their week one starter. All right, Greg, I also know you're a huge tennis fan. Who's your all-time great, greatest tennis player? And also, what are your thoughts on pickleball? It's a great question. I mean, who, Who is my favorite? I mean, I was a Federer guy, ultimately. I think it's not just about, like,

grand slams that you won. It's just like, who is the absolute best at their absolute best? I was a K. Nishikori fan. He's still playing, actually, just as a shorter guy myself who plays tennis. And I know you're a big pickleball guy, Bobby. So I kind of want to hear you because I need you to humanize pickleball for me, because I feel like my interactions with the pickleball community out here in LA have been negative. And I need, you know, it hasn't shined a good light on on the pickleballers out there. So I'm going to compare the pickleball community to the CrossFit community

as far as the communities. Because they won't shut up. Like shut up. You don't have to tell us all the time. You don't have to talk about your... And I play and I get annoyed with them. I also love to go to TikTok and watch people comment

and how it's not a sport. Yeah, is it... It's fun. It's difficult as difficult as you want to make it. One of my best friends was a number one in the world tennis player and he makes fun of pickleball constantly. But he also will admit that, yeah,

it's pretty difficult. So I'm not somebody who's going to fight you over pickleball Because tennis is by far Like it is so much harder No doubt about it It's why the best tennis players Are the best pickleball players Right?

It's like guys coming out of college going Well, I've kind of maxed out my tennis career So let me go and dominate pickleball Do I love playing pickleball I meddled in tournament this weekend But's up Yes, but I'm not going to act like I could also hop into a tennis tournament

I used to get the best tennis equipment for free All of it I get all the lacost I wanted I'll get all the Babelaw I don't even know what they were. Best rackets. And I sucked. And I never got better than slightly above suck.

I got pretty good at pickleball in like two weeks, Greg. So I'm going to be honest with you. It's a lot easier. Wait, who's your friend, Roddick? Andy Roddick? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Roddick was talking smack. Yeah.

That's amazing. See, my thing was I'm going out to the public courts here with my son out in California. And when the pickleball thing happened, like they swarmed. and they just weren't cool about it. They'd just be like dropping all their equipment on the court, public courts, and being like, no, we've got these. And I was like, they're public courts. There's no such thing that's got these.

Like, no, we're starting in like 45 minutes. I was like, that's not how it works. And they're trying to like kick me and my son off. And like, that happened multiple times. I was like, you know, there's enough courts here for everyone. That's all. I'm just. I think that the bad taste in your mouth is it's deserved because they are quite obnoxious

with the battle over how tough the sport is. but anything can be hard if you try hard enough at it. But yeah, no, no, it's pickleball, the community. And I own part of a professional pickleball team. So like I couldn't be. Wow. I couldn't be anymore in it. Yet.

Yet I will say, you're right, Greg. You're right about that type of person and they're everywhere. And I also don't get along with them. So do you still play tennis a lot? Not really. I play with my son. He's getting better and better. So there is a point where he's going to just be better than me.

but that's mostly when I play, not with other adults as much. But some of my good friends are pickleballers too, so I know it's cool. I know it's fine. Okay, I hate to get off pickleball because I could do this for an hour. But I got like two,

I've, like at least three other things I want to get into. And first, Caleb in Chicago, he was watching film apparently by himself, crying in the tree house. I'm not sure what was happening with him in Chicago, but, and then Kurt Warner

had a really interesting perspective on like, hey, they teach you how to watch film, but you don't need somebody holding your hand the whole time. What do you feel about this situation? That was so fascinating that he was that open with a writer who's doing a book. So it wasn't something that was coming out right away. And I don't doubt that that was a bad fit for him, Shane Waldron and Matt Erefluse.

You just look at the way the bears have run offense for a handful of years. It was a bad fit. but him being as open and honest about, man, they thought they didn't even want to go to Chicago that they were going to try to burn the city and all this stuff before it happened and then he changed his mind and everything. It's one of those things where we want our athletes to be honest.

So I think that's cool that he did that, but it's also probably going to be a lesson for him that I'm not going to be that open and honest with the writer in the future. And he ended up giving this book a good plug. Yeah, one other question about, that story in the, or that part of the book,

they, you know, if you read the excerpt, which I just read the excerpt, it was that Iberflus, they were on their way out. They knew they were on their way out. So they just checked out.

I find that not to be common in any part of life whenever you want to stay in the same industry. You don't just check out with a month to go, even if it's going horribly, because you want to remain in the industry and owners, general managers.

Not only do they talk, it's a very incestual world. Yeah. It's funny because they were right, Caleb Williams and his father. It was a bad situation to go to. Everything that happened showed it. You know, the offensive coordinator that they had doubts about, he got fired before halfway through the season,

if I'm remembering right, he definitely didn't make it to the end. And so they were right about that, but you got to try to make the best of that situation. But it is the Bears, you know, in the defense of the Williams is like thing that they've done again and again and again and again, which is that the coach and the GM aren't aligned. that one is hired and the other is fired and then they're not on the same page. And you do get a feeling with Ben Johnson coming in here, hopefully, that it's really his show

and he's quarterback first and he's building up the offense. So I'm usually skeptical of all the Bears' optimism. I faded them on my podcast three straight years when we do the over-unders before this year. I'm like there's way too much hype about this team. I'm kind of buying in this year that at least Ben Johnson's the right guy, I think, to turn this around. I was going to say because when you look at what they did in the draft, of Colson Loveland, Luther Bird and the third. They brought more personnel in for that offense to surround Caleb Williams.

Do you think this is a situation for him? I do. But do you think this is a situation where he's going to make a significant jump from this first year, which was chaotic to the second year? Yes, I do. And that's the year you see the biggest jump, especially with quarterbacks. Used to be that way. Lately, like they've been coming out of college more ready to go, the great ones like

C.J. Stroud and Jane D. Daniels in their rookie year. But I do think coaching make such a difference. And I just think they're going to focus on what he can do well. And we know that Caleb Williams has a lot of strengths and not ask him to do things that he can't do well. And the offensive line just on paper, they just gave Joe Tunney this new contract and they drafted at the position. And they obviously got a guy in free agency, Drew Dalman at center. Just everything around him seems like it's in such better shape that he's not going to have to be a hero to be a good quarterback. And to me, that'd be a big step up. He's got to get the ball out of his hand a little faster.

I want to ask one more quarterback question, and it has to do with the Saints. And I don't know, who's going to play quarterback there? Are they even going to have a quarterback? Yeah, I think it's Tyler Shuck. Look, he's their guy. He is a really unique prospect in that he's 26 years old, but he didn't play that much in college because he was always hurt. So those are pretty big red flags for me.

On paper, he is really talented and, like, can throw, everything that you would want to do and move well. And I get why they were into him. And he's the guy that Kellynmore wanted. I don't really know what Kellyn Moore has done since he's gotten there other than say, I want Tyler Shuck. So I got to assume he's going to be the starter week one.

I mean, with everything, you've covered the NFL for a really long time, right? And what are some significant changes that you've seen over time, both on and off the field that you look at our game now and it's much better, much worse, whatever it might be? That's interesting because, Now I have the quarterbacks in my head.

And the way that I think the skill position players, like quarterback and wide receiver especially, come into the league, they come into the league ready to go in a way that I think the NFL has kind of met college where it is and adapting a lot of what they do well. But the other thing that goes along with that is that the NFL, and you know this, Matt, like how different off-season practices are compared to even 20 years ago,

it's crazy that it really feels like September. And the Patriots were always kind of like this, where they use the first month of the season to feel things out? Where's your strengths? Where's your weaknesses? You talk to coaches now. Like September just seems like an extended preseason. And even October, and these games mean a lot,

it feels like September, October. Like they are just figuring out what they can do because they weren't able to practice in pads and really get to know their team and practice the situations as much as they used to be. What's your day like? Walk us to what it's like for you. Because we listen.

Yeah, we listen almost all days. But I don't know. I'm always curious about someone's daily routine. I mean, it's like you, I'm sure. Although you have like four shows, Bobby. I don't know. It's prepping. It's like the second you finish a show.

So I just finished in the morning. You start prepping basically and planning and getting everything together for the next day's show. And whether that in the off season, it's definitely not as intense. but like we just did a Brock Purdy episode that was fun kind of talking about how he I think was worth the money and helps like explain how quarterbacks are paid and stuff so it's kind of going through all the numbers with Purdy

but also going through the tape but I always just enjoy watching the game so that you can you know as much as you're talking about and like getting ready for the next show and then then you do it all over again. What time do you wake up in the morning? Well I have kids so I'm now like a 615, 6.30 a. Oh you got to get up before that.

I tell you I've got five and I'm, I'm a 530 guy. You got to take a breath before they wake up. Oh, you're saying wake up before they wake up. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You can't roll out of bed and then get him up. I'm not beating my son, though.

He's up at like 545, 550 every morning. I hear him downstairs already, so I can't beat him for whatever reason. And then what time do you get to check out of the NFL office? I mean, I'm not here every day in the off season. It really depends in the season. And, you know, we're here through every game. And then we do a show after the late. game. And so those are late nights getting out of here at 10 p.m.

But that is one of the best things about living on the West Coast. I mean, the weather is great. But to me, sports, and I know you guys are East Coast guys, but like to me, sports are just so much better on the West Coast. And working in sports is so much better on the West Coast because you don't have those 1 a.m. days that I used to have on the East Coast, at least it's like 10 p.m. Yeah, I guess the problem, because the weather's great. Tax is not great. Not great. Watching live television great, right? Because everything is. everything's on earlier. But I think the thing that would be difficult for me since my morning radio show is like a syndicated show.

I'd have to start at 3 a. Like when I was out there living for Dancing with the Stars because I went out there for like three months. Right. I had to start at 3 a.m. Oh. Which because I had to be on the air on like Boston and all those East Coast markets. I think that would be the torturous thing about living out there full time. That would be brutal.

And traffic because I'm always car sick. Are you not always car sick? Greg? I'm not car sick. The traffic, you know, you learn to manage. learn to work around it. I've never had a situation where I had to like drive through crazy traffic to get to work or whatever. So you just you just know what to avoid. But you're right. They tape good morning football out here. My friend Colleen Wolf was hosting it today and she was

here at three in the morning. So I'm glad I'm just, I'm just a lowly podcast host. My advice, you know, yeah, do podcasts. You can kind of plan it around your schedule at least a little better. You guys check out the show, NFL Daily. It's NFL News, analysis, opinion. It's funny. Greg's funny. You guys follow them on Instagram and Twitter. Greg G. Rosenthal. No, it's 2G's in your name. Wait, Greg, you're 2G, Greg? That's,

I mean, three total. 60% G is my wrapping. G'd up from the feet up. You have to it. So two Gs at the end. Has that always been misspelled? That is. That was the way to just like end it. You know, that says there's no Gregory here. It's just Greg. Rosenthal is kind of a long name.

It's filling in a lot of boxes. when you're, you know, putting your license name in there. So they just wanted to keep it short and tight, Greg. All right. Well, Greg, look at two Gs. Hey, Greg, thanks for the time, man. We're big fans. And we look forward to seeing you again.

All right. Thanks, Bobby. Thanks, Matt. See, buddy. Thanks, Greg. The 2026 NFL draft is here. And the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Rodriguez after night one on Thursday.

Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down. over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Daniel Jeremiah.

And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the combine. The NFL draft Pro Days trades. This is where teams reshape their future.

This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely.

It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I want to talk about the Bears, and I want to go to you first because the Bears, first of all, Soldier Field, it's awesome, the history, but it kind of sucks. Yeah, it's an iconic place for sure. So like Soldier Field going there, the vibe, the fans themselves are kind of gritty, everything.

but the field itself, yes, there's more to be desired. Amenity is not the best. Not so much. Yeah, if you were to go and check out its tri-velocity rating, probably not high, uncomfortable a bit. It's also freezing freaking cold in Chicago in the winter. Very cold. Did you ever play in Chicago?

We did. We played in Chicago. I was with the Tennessee Titans. So it was either 16 or 17 that we went there, and it was a cold, damp day. It wasn't wildly cold. It wasn't that time of the year yet. but it's just miserable to play in those conditions, honestly. I mean, they have a grass field, which I don't mind.

It's better than turf when it gets really cold because of the hits and when you actually land on the ground, it doesn't hurt as much. But at the same time, as you said, there's more to be designed. So if we were talking about the bears and I said, hey, they were considering moving into a dome, regardless of where that is, if you're Bears fans, is your identity so much the cold

that you don't want to go to a dome? or if you're a Bears fan, do you just want to be warmer? I mean, I'm going to speak from the heart here. Yeah, do that. Give me the dome all day long in Chicago. I mean, players probably are fired up about it. Fans, if you're diehard fans and you love going to games and painting your chest and being that dude

that's going to be out there drinking his beer and just loving those elements, they're probably not going to like it, but you can still take your shirt off in the dome. Pay your chest, drink your beer. Drink your beer. Yeah. Shower yourself with beer.

Go for it. And still the same environment. Just better overall playing conditions. I would also say, and I say this to Bears fans respectfully, you haven't won a lot. So your identity is not attached to winning in cold where Buffalo is. That is definitely, let's check a box in favor of the bills. If you have to go to Buffalo and play in the winter, check a bunch. That's advantage Buffalo.

Same thing with the Packers. Advantage Packers. the bears haven't won enough to ever go yeah the cold has given us an advantage because they don't have advantages so i would say their identity is not tied to the cold even though it's freaking cold in chicago right because that is an advantage and you think about it with these teams that have open stadiums and the elements like you just brought up two great teams with green bay and who's the other team buffalo buffalo when you would travel from say Kansas city or somewhere like you just brought up two great teams with green bay and who's the other team buffalo buffalo buffalo when you would travel from say Kansas city or somewhere like that that does get cold, but say you're having a hot week and you in, all of a sudden, you go to Buffalo and it is freezing cold, the advantage is for sure the cold team. When Arizona came out and played us in New England, they got off the bus and they might as well just got back on because we beat him by 40 points because they're coming from Arizona and that cold stings. It's the same thing for cold teams going down to Miami in November, December,

when they get that 30 degree change in the heat, it feels like you're out in the desert. And it's an advantage to the Miami Dolphins because they're conditioned to play there. So there is advantages. But like you said, for Chicago, show us the proof where it has been just a major advantage to your organization to play in the cold. Yeah, what advantage? Respectfully. Respectfully. Yeah.

What did Jim McMahon? Yeah. I mean. The fridge. Yeah. 85. 85 bears, babe. So they have, they're considering moving to a dome stadium in Arlington Heights.

I had to look up where Arlington Heights was. Yeah, I saw that and I was like, no idea where that is. So I'm a massive Cubs fan, but I only know north side, south side from my Cubs, White Sox life of going to those games. Olk-Kamiske, the new stadium, U.S. cellular. Is that the White Sox Field? I think it's guaranteed rate field. That's what I think about that.

Guaranteed rate field, come on down. I won't even learn the name of the stadium. But, okay, here's what Arlington Heights is. Arlington Heights is a village in Illinois, first of all. A village. Yeah, is that like because... Is that a thing? I've never even heard an area described as a village.

So in Louisiana, they don't have counties. They have parishes. Oh. Did you know that? No. So the only reason I know that is because I'm from Arkansas. Arkansas. Yeah.

So Arlington Heights is a village in Cook County, Illinois, a northwestern suburb of Chicago. It lies about 25 miles northwest of the city's downtown. So not far. As of the 2020 census, the village's population was 77,000, but it's close enough to Chicago to still be Chicago. Yeah, the village thing's weird. Village things weird. Like, Tiki Hutts?

Oh, you're a full, like... I mean, we're going to go to a village. I guess I think of a village as, like, the M. Night Shyamalan. You ever see that the village? Oh, yeah, that's good. That movie was good. I didn't see that. Was it good?

I don't want to say too much. It was like 20 years ago, but yeah. Yeah, we don't want to spoil it. Those M. Night Shyamalans that gets you in trouble if you. talk too much about them. I think the bears should go dome because they have no reason to, for advantage purposes, stay in the cold. I 100% agree.

And when you look at the speed that they've acquired at the wide receiver position, young quarterback, obviously they made the upgrades to offensive line. It never impacts the offensive line as much as it does. But the skill position, those guys go out there and they have no conditions to deal with. And Caleb Williams, no wind, rain, no, whatever, that's going to definitely help him. We talked about it briefly with Greg Rosenthal, but Caleb Williams playing quarterback, and he mentions,

and it kind of comes secondhand, but he's like, yeah, I had to watch film by myself. What was your relationship with film? And did you have a coach sitting with you all the time watching film? Did they teach you how to watch film? What was it? No, I think everybody watches film a little bit differently, to be honest with you. and I think when I first came in the league, I really learned how to watch film because that offseason,

Josh McDaniels was a stickler for attention to detail. He was very meticulous about it. So we would watch film with the purpose, and it was more just to fundamentally understand what defenses were trying to do. And when I say that, it was if you had, we call it a post-safety defense, so you got a middle-of-field safety, one high.

but the way in which the defenders on the outside of the defense play, particularly on the slot, that nickel, he can carry the seam, he can reroute the guy and play outside. That would make the corner responsible. So every team has these little nuances to their defense. It's still considered cover three, but they change what they do with the underneath coverage, also with the guys from behind.

So you have to learn these things and what to look for when you're watching film. Now, a lot of times when you start the middle of, I mean, the beginning of a week, you go home and we used to get, this is dating myself, we used to get DVDs. It's before they could upload it onto your iPad and do all that stuff. And so it would be plays or you'd ask for a cut up on situational football third down, red zone, the important parts of the game to watch what they do defensively. And so you're trying to get a head start. Now, I'll also say that I had a major advantage because Bill Belichick and I've told you this, before on Tuesdays would bring us in and we'd just sit with Bill and he'd break down the defense everybody from the defensive coordinator his lineage where he came from what he learned from

overall scheme and then player by player would go through strengths weaknesses how we're going to attack them why we're going to attack them and so that taught me it was like a master class in learning how to watch film and what you're looking for in particular players and characteristics that you could take advantage of on a Sunday so then by the time i came in on a on Wednesday and we're doing install and we're putting in 25, 30 passes. This is why these plays are going in because we're trying to take advantage of this type of defensive structure. And so you clearly understand now, not every team has run like that.

And so it's up to the player and the coaches of devising a plan that is going to help that player understand. And I know that it sounded like it was chaotic there last year between the head coach, the firing of the offensive coordinator, offensive coordinator midway through the year. so then you have all these things that you have to address as well. Yeah, it seems like, well, I wanted to hear Eber Flus as part of the story. I do too. But he's not going to give it.

No, no, he's not. So we're only really hearing Caleb, Caleb's dad's part of the story. Yeah, they put me in a small room and made me watch film away from everybody by myself with the lights out. And my eyes had to be closed and only had one air pod. It just feels like since we're only getting one perspective, we're only getting one version of the story. story. Right, because I'll tell you what, it would be hard for me to believe that the team didn't come together offensively. You always watch practice together. When you're in quarterback rooms and you're just there with the offense coordinator or the quarterback

coach and all you do is watch film. Like you break down film, you do install, you go through the game plan. And so to think that there was no time on task with coaches present or other players present, it's hard for me to believe. We were talking last week about the NBA draft lottery and we had the brief conversation of do we think it's rigged and no, I think, and so to you

that it's not worth rigging for a year to ruin a whole brand. Right. It's a billion dollar brand. And so, but Shaq was talking about this. He was asked on a podcast and he insinuates that David Stern, who was the commissioner at the time, asked him where he wanted to play before the draft lottery took place.

And he said, Basically, you want warm weather or cold weather? I don't know if you heard this story, but in 1992, I think the draft was in June or something, I meet Mr. Stern in March. And he says to me, hey, no, you are. Can't wait for you to come to the NBA. Then he pulls me into his eye, you want to play where it's cold or where it's hot? No.

Yeah, he did. He asked me that, and I was like, hot. And he smiled and I smiled. That's kind of just a question that you can ask, though, right? without it being fishy. They do play the music behind it on TikTok where it means there's conspiracy. Yeah, that's the general conspiracy,

TikTok music. I don't feel like that question is a wink, wink question. Would you either go play somewhere cold or somewhere warm? Yeah, warm. And also, if you're gonna like rig it, do you send him to Orlando?

Yeah, I don't think so. I don't think he sent him to the magic guy there. No. He probably sent it, go ahead and cut everybody off. But you sent me somewhere warm. That's, that's, yeah. Thanks, commission. That's from Ashley Neville

in her podcast, and also from Legion Hoops. I don't think it was a conspiracy. It is very interesting now to see Cooper Fly go to Dallas. They got the first WMBA pick, too. Did they really? Page Beckers. Oh, the commissioners are working together.

Dallas just sold their soul to the devil, Mike. I think so. So what was it? Who got picked? And the one where they said they froze the envelope? Oh, the Knicks. That was a good one. That's Patrick Ewing.

Yeah. Frozen envelope. So I thought I'd follow that up. What's happening this week for you? anything? This week we got some friends coming in town, some dear friends. Actually, Ken O'Brien, who played for the Jets for a bunch of years, their good family friends are coming here for a wedding this week and they get in today. So we get to have him out. He's also the godparents. He and his wife are the godparents of my son Matthew, so we get to see him be around him for a little bit. It'll

be great. You guys just talk football the whole time? Oh, every day. We're just such meatheads. I don't know if you're kidding. I feel like you're telling the truth. No, we talk a little bit of football, but like we're close friends. I've known him since I was 17 years old. He was coaching quarterbacks at USC when I was getting recruited there, came to my house when I was 17 to recruit me, so I've known him forever. Did he stay when you went?

No, he couldn't, he didn't get along with the head coach, Coach Hackett, so he left as I was coming in. I was just so devastated by it. Wait, you didn't go in under Carroll? No, I went under Hackett. That's probably why I didn't play because Pete Carroll brought in. Oh, man, of course. That's my conspiracy theory.

I wasn't his dude. Play the conspiracy music. Conspiracy music right now. When did Carol come in? My second year. So the first year I was there, we didn't even go to a bowl. And we had a good talent, like Troy Palma, Carson Palmer, go down the list. We had some dudes.

And then Carol came in the next year, like just raging with energy, fired up, ready to roll. We went six and six. went to the Las Vegas Bowl on Christmas Day. Awesome to be in Vegas, but still Christmas Day, really Vegas? Like, we had an Elvis impersonator performing for us. I'm just like, what are we doing here? Then the next year's the year that we went to a whole new level. We went Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, won all those games.

Back to back or three Pete in terms of national champion. And then I left after. that that's the year that they went and played Texas in the Rose Bowl. So they got it going. Pete Carroll earlier and you talked about his energy. What's he like when he comes in at first? Did he have a meeting with the whole team in like an auditorium? I don't know.

That's what I consider every coach doing, like coming in and talking to everybody all at once. Oh yeah. Every head coach I've ever been to, especially new head coaches that come in. They come in, they meet in front of the team, say that they're excited for their opportunity, but they get right to business. They kind of set the tone for what the expectation level is or talk. about their foundation for their program, whether it's physicality, toughness, all those things, and then just kind of lay the groundwork for, this is our expectation, this is what we want

to do, and I'm excited to work with you and get to work. So he came in, but he has a different type of aura about himself. You know, you see, when you see him in those press conferences, or if you've ever seen him interviewed, you know, everybody describes him as useful, and that's true, but he brings that energy. I'm not kidding you. every single day. You never see this dude down. You always see him interacting with players on the field. He's playing catch.

He's getting into drills. He's doing everything that he can do to try to connect. And that's the special quality that Pete Carroll brings everywhere he goes. I've never met him. We should go out to Vegas before the season actually starts and like sit down with him. Oh, he. We should flatten. We absolutely should do that.

That would be awesome. Yeah, because he'll talk for our. hours. I'm telling you, I just meant to call him. I knew he was probably busy or something to talk to him about his son. Brandon Carroll, who was the offense coordinator, just like a, hey, what are your thoughts about now, where he's progressed to? And he talked about that for maybe five minutes. Oh, he's great, Maddie, this side and the other. But then immediately went into their scheme, what they're doing, the run game, how they need to be more physical of front, play from under center, so they get better play action. And I was just like, man, this dude still's got it.

Oh man, I hope you have a good week. I did too. What do you got on the docket? Well, so my brother-in-law is a hitting coach at Arkansas. They won the regional of four teams. Let's go. So now they're in the Super Regional. And so they play one series of three games against Ole Miss in Fayetteville.

So there are 16 teams left in the entire NCAA tournament. If they win that, it'd be their first appearance ever in the College World Series. That's a big deal. So when he was at Utah, he went in as a hitting coach. And their second year took Utah to the first ever college world. World Series. And if he's able to do it here again, his second year, again, he's the hitting coach, but it will not be a coincidence. No, he'll be a head coach. Anywhere he goes, he's turning these programs into gold. His mom has won four national championships in a row at Oklahoma. That's won eight

in total. Has won, like, six of the last eight. Wow. It's in the bloodstream. She had him, and she's like, is it okay if he play softball? Because I know how to do that. Yeah. We're going to go to Fayetteville and hopefully watch Arkansas beat Ole Miss. Let's go. That'd be awesome. Hey, I appreciate you guys. Thanks for listening. If you don't mind giving us a review, if you don't mind writing a little comment. And if you say, hey, Matt, your pants are much looser this week.

I think he's really been focused on his pants not being so tight. No, these are tight, too. I think it's just my legs are getting bigger with all the squats. I've been doing front squats, bro. Front squats. They suck. Like on your, my shoulder. There's my shoulders.

Oh, in your wrist. It's not the most masculine, like, hold of a bar either. Because your elbows have to go in front of you. Sometimes I'll just fold it over. I try to make myself feel like. a little bit better. Or I do towels. You ever do the small towels? No, I never, never tell. You wouldn't do that. Never, you're kidding me. You're real dude.

All right, that's it. Thank you guys. Mike D. Producing for Kickoff Kevin, who Kickoff Kevin is out. He had twins. Twins. A boy and a girl. Incredible blessing. We haven't heard from him other than him commenting on a video. It was the baby video of you and I. Oh, great video. And he was like, this is hilarious. So Kickoff Kevin did have twins.

But Mike D. is producing Brandon Ray is shooting video. He's Matt Castle on Bobby Bowling. We've had lots to say. We'll see you next week. Bye, everybody. Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and IHeart Podcasts. For more podcasts from IHartRadio,

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