The Bobby Bones Show - Lots to Say: NFL Network's Rhett Lewis and Getting Yelled At

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

Bobby Bones tells Matt Cassel about meeting BC Head Coach Bill O'Brien and the stories he told about Matt.  How did Matt call out Bill Belichick in a team meeting?  Matt looks back at his days with the Vikings and one of the biggest blowups he's ever had with a coach.  Bobby tells his own clash with boss story that actually ended with a handshake! NFL Network's Rhett Lewis weighs confidence vs arrogance for Prospect Shedeur Sanders.  When could NOT working out at the Combine hurt a prospect's Draft stock?  Rhett offers his thoughts on what the Titans will do with the #1 overall pick. Bobby and Matt reveal their most underrated NFL players and free agents. Bobby asks if Matthew Stafford is underrated and should Daniel Jones be on this list? Where will Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, and Justin Fields play this season? Plus, We wrap with Mount Rushmore of TV Shows. Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel is part of the NFL Podcast Network See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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.

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Open your free IHeart radio app. Search 40s and free agents and listen now. Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and IHeart Podcasts. We got lots to say. Yeah, we got lots to say. Now here's Bobby and Matt. Hey, everybody.

Thanks for hanging out with us for another hour plus. I was talking to Coach Bill O'Brien. I think you familiar. Billy. Billy O'Brien. Sure. him. I never know if people are actually friends with people. And he was like, Matt's my friend. So do you vouch for friendship? I'd vouch for friendship, for sure. I mean, you know those

relationships that you build and you have common ground. He was with me as an understudy to Josh McDaniels. And then over the years, you know, we've kept in contact. Now, I haven't talked to him in a little while, but every time he gets a new job or do something like that, I send him a text. He response back. So I'd say we're friends. And then if at the same time, if I saw him anywhere, we'd hug him? I'd give him a hug. I'd smack his butt. He loves you. I'd be like, let's go have a beer, bro. I thought, because now he's the coach at Boston College. Right. He was the Penn State head coach. He was the Texans. He went into the Sabin rehab program. You've got to love that program. It's put many coaches right back to it. I mean, right back on top.

And so I was told, like, he's a bit of aggressive, I would say, a mom. emotional. Yes. So I did not know how he would be when I was talking to him. I loved him. Oh, he's got a great personality. Yeah. I asked him, we were talking about certain players, and I said,

Matt Castle, what story do you think he told? Because I had him do one story about certain people. He did JJ Watt. He did a couple of different players. But I said, what's your one story about Matt Castle? What do you think he told? Gosh. I don't know.

Did I tell you the story about when Matt Light took all of my playing cards, broke into his hotel room on a road trip, plastered him all over his bathroom, underneath his pillow, all the stuff, because I used to give Billy O'Brien shit all the time. Just because I loved it, because his reaction, like you said, he's emotional. And he's got that personality where he overreacts.

Oh, F you, Castle, what do you do at, Castle? This had. So Matt Light broke into his room, put him everywhere. And he came out, and he's like, what the F are you guys doing? He liked to play cards? No, like, it was my playing card.

So my, the face, like my playing card. Like a football card? Yeah, a football card. Oh, got it. So we got like 50 of them. And we put them all over underneath his pillow, on his television, everywhere. That's a good one. That's not the one.

So that's not the one. You want to try one more? Hmm. I don't know. There's so many different, probably so many different stories that he has, probably particularly during like meeting times or when I was popping off during the hallway or even games. You're on the right track with meeting times. Mm.

No, just go ahead and tell me. This is the story from Coach Bill O'Brien, Boston College Coach, who also coached with Matt. First of all, Matt was a guy that was so well prepared, and so when his time came in 2008, he was ready to go. And that's an example that I use all the time. Hey, you never know when your time's going to come. And that was in the very first game of 2008.

I was the wide receiver coach. Tom got hurt, and Matt had to step up, and he did. We went 11 and 5. I think we're one of the few 11 and 5 teams to not make the playoffs. You know, we had a good football team. and Matt did a great job. But we had these quarterback meetings with Bill, like, once a week. They were awesome.

You know, Bill would come in there, and I learned a ton in these meetings. But in this one particular meeting, Bill came in, and he didn't have any socks on. So Castle is sitting there, and, you know, it didn't smell great. And so, you know, Bill had taken his shoes off and he had his feet up and he's showing the film. And all of a sudden, Castle, like, Castle's like, what is that smell? And so everybody's kind of like, oh, my God, like, Matt. Matt doesn't, as you know, Matt does not really care about the awkwardness that he's creating. So he just said it again.

He's like, what is that smell? And so then finally it was like, Matt said, Bill, is that your feet? And Bill just looked over at him and said, Matt, just shut the F up. And we went right back to the film. Do you remember that one? I sure do. Yeah, I mean, that was our Friday meeting. And that was the highlight, low light tape that he'd come in.

It was a teach tape. It was all the good quarterback plays. across the league, good throws, good decisions, and then you get on the low light reel, and that was bad decisions, forcing balls, doing all that stuff. But Bill would always run that meeting, and so he'd come in and Billy O'Brien was there, Josh McDaniels was there, the quarterbacks were there,

but Bill loved to take his shoes off. Also, that was a normal thing for him. It was a normal thing, and normally, sometimes it was underneath the table, sometimes it was on top, but I was like, dude, I mean, it was rank. Did you know it was him? Oh, 100%. Nobody else had their shoes off. to Belichick, you just openly were like, dude, what's that freaking smell?

My give a shit factor at times is I have bad decision making at times. And I knew that maybe that would spark, like, maybe I'll put my feet down. Right. So I was like, what is that smell? Gosh, and they all knew because we talk about it when he wasn't in the room. And then Bill doesn't say a word. He's just rolling through the, and I go, what? What is that smell?

And then finally, I was like, nobody responded, but I could see like little smirks and Billy O'Brien's like putting his head down like what are you doing Castle I finally said Bill is that your feet and he without without hesitation Castle just shut the F up and I was like yes sir but at least I got my point across like hey like maybe maybe the appropriate socks or some shoes but it was one of those things that I just kind of at times would definitely be comfortable being uncomfortable would Belichick ever be the Belichick he is now meaning as a media personality, he's a little more open, a little funnier. We would only see the press conference and the sideline version of him.

Inside the locker room, inside the facility, was he ever the guy we see now that was kind of funny? He would be in like individual meetings. When we had those quarterback meetings, he'd say some funny stuff and he was more loose. When he was always up in front of the team, though, he was very professional. Like you knew the hierarchy and he's at the pinnacle of that hierarchy. Now, how he would do presentation, though at time, that's when it got fun and that's when it got interesting because he was very

witty, but he had this very dry sense of humor. So like they're running through this defensive film after a game one time and he's like Asante Samuels, look, but we talked about being physical, but tell me, tell me, is this being physical? And it shows Asante like turning down a tackle and he's like, that's it, Asante, throw marshmallows at him, hit him with an eff and pillow. And then he'd be like, hey, Richard, I know that you are a rocket scientist and college, which way do you think you go on a rip call? And he goes, right coach, he goes, brilliant, brilliant. How about Liz? And you go, left coach, he goes, God, you're unbelievable, you're so smart. Then why are we going the wrong direction on our rip and Liz calls? Like, he would just call

people out like that, but it was funny as long as you weren't at the point of attack. Because when you're at the point of attack, you're just folding going, oh, God. The culture inside the locker room as far as other players speaking out. Was there like a Patriot Way class, whereas if you go out there, you don't say anything? Or was it just understood because you watched Coach Belichick? You mean in terms of the media? Yeah, like if. Oh, it was, yeah. Did they tell you that or did you see it and go, this is how we need to do it? Bill was very straightforward. Look, we don't talk about injuries. We don't talk about other players. You talk about what's going on with you. If you have an injury, it's day to day, period. Even if it's not,

it's still day. Even if it's not, it's day today. If you have a possible, of playing or in the eyes of the media or your opponent, your day to day. Now, rookies were told, look, you haven't played enough, so just shut the F up. That's all, that's what he said. So rookies knew and understood. If I say something in the media, then you 100% are going to get called out. Like I told you, I think we already discussed this one. First preseason game, go out, I go in in the second quarter, play the rest of the game,

threw a touchdown on a blitz zero, which it brought everybody. After the game, they asked to do an interview on the field. First on the field interview, maybe since high school, who knows? And that was a local reporter. Nobody cared. So I sat there, I answered the questions, but I was being very honest. They were, you know, bringing max pressure. We checked to a seven-man protection.

I signaled the hitch. He made a great play. Went and broke it for a touchdown. So then I get called into Bill's office the next day. I think I'm getting a pat on the back. Because you didn't say anything crazy. You weren't like talking crap or. I was just breaking down what happened the sequence of the play.

And I just thought that was normal, right? I don't feel a lot of these questions. And so go in, he absolutely lays into me. Like, Castle, they don't know what the hell blitz zero is. And then you tell them we're checking protection. We're signaling. Just shut the F up. And don't say another word all preseason.

And I just walked out with my tail between my leg, just like, oh, God, that was a backfire. But that was a clear illustration. Don't say much. if you're a rookie. So over the past four weeks, I came out with the Castle Patriot's jersey, rocked it, looked great in it. Looked great.

Looked great. Today, I'm in the Castle Vikings jersey. You look good in purple, bro. Purple feels weird. It takes a little adjustment. It does. Like, I don't think I'm going to play for the Vikings after wearing. I don't think it's...

I don't know. You look good in purple. It pops a little bit. I don't think I'm going to go to Minnesota, though. They do play in a dome. What's your highlight from your time in Minnesota? Um, you know, it was probably my first start there. Christian Ponder got banged up the week before.

He got a rib injury. And we went to London the next week to play the Steelers. We got out there on a Monday. And so I'm going through the week as if I'm the backup quarterback. So I'm enjoying the sights and scenes. I'm playing golf on our off day with Jared Allen. I go take the linemen out to a few different pubs. Like we're, we're living it up a little bit because at the time,

They didn't say anything about me playing, but I was taking half the reps, but they thought that Ponder was going to play. So I'm walking out on a Friday, which is like our prep day. And Ponder comes up and goes, hey, they tell you yet? I go, tell me what? And he goes, you're starting this week. I'm not going. I was like, it would have been nice to hear from the coordinator, the head coach.

Anybody had no clue. So I take the reps. I get the walk through the next day, and we go out. And it's at Wimbledon, which is historical, awesome stadium. packed to the brim with fans. You know, a lot of purple there because of the Vikings and all that stuff. Wimbledon?

Do you mean O2? No, maybe I don't mean Wimbledon. Yeah, like they have the big O2. What's the big stadium there? It can't be Wimbledon. That's what they play tennis. No, maybe not. Unless 11 people watched.

Yeah, it was a really small crowd that day. No. 30-yard field. What? It's not Wimbledon. Don't they have like the big O2? Mike, what's the big stadium there? Yeah, I'm seeing the O2 stadium.

You don't think that was it? No, it had a more legendary name than that. Was it Big Ben? No. Big Ben's the clock. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. I should know this.

I'm going to put five bucks. It was 02. Wimbley? Will you? It could have been Wembley. Wembley. It could have been Wembley. It was Wimbledon, Wembley.

You know, very similar. You know, two lords. How'd you play? Played awesome. Went out. We won the game through three touchdowns, I think. It was a battle back and forth, but we beat the Steelers. And then after the game, brother-in-law is there.

Go out and rage all night. London, it was a blast and great experience. So that was probably one of my most memorable moments because it just was the circumstance playing in London, big time game, and on that stage, and also the first start for me as a Viking to go out and perform well. It was cool. By the way, for those that are listening to this or watching this,

I'm getting Matt to sign these and we're giving these to you guys. I did have these full mannequins of him in my house, but then I met him and I was like, I shouldn't have these anymore. It could be weird. So we're going to get him to sign them. So what we'll do is I'll post it, And then all you got to do is like repost it on your story. I'll pick a couple and then we'll sign them and send them off.

There's a story you were talking about Belichick, kind of giving you the business. Yep. Did you do that in his office or did it matter? That was in his office. But most of the time when he got after players, he wanted to do it in front of the entire team. Because what that did is it held everybody accountable. You never knew when his wrath was coming. But what it did was when he'd come up on a Wednesday, usually or on a Thursday,

and he'd start quizzing guys. He'd say, who's their nickel back? who's their starting Mike linebacker, what's their favorite blitz on third down? If you didn't know, you'd get embarrassed in front of your teammates. And I think that holds more weight than anything else. When you're a player, the last thing you want to do is be embarrassed and feel like you haven't been accountable to your teammates.

So it was a way in which it was psychological for all the players that you had to go home and study because you didn't want to be that guy that sat there and said, I don't know. And then listen to Bill, just get after you. 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. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the free IHeart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL Daily, and listen now. 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.

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Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. being yelled at in an office by a man that's tough for me I don't know how I would react to that now if it's for a reason in front of everybody I think I would deal with that a lot better the only time is that the only time anyone's it let's go back to the office time did you ever get yelled at again singularly by any coach oh yeah and in a room like just one-on-one Todd Haley for sure yeah we had a full blowout it was during a game this was an interesting one playing Tennessee

this is for us to win the AFC West. And we had this game playing where Charlie Weiss, our offense coordinator at the time, we had talked about during the week. We're going to check out of Blitzero because that's what they wanted to run. But we had like outside boss. It wasn't a good play. Hey, boss, hold on. Boss, you know what it is.

Yes, I do. Back on the strong safety. Yes. Let's go last week. Yeah. That was, you're right on it. So we were out leveraged in that point. So we just checked to the quick passing game.

Well, Todd wanted to run the ball. Well, he was getting after. me all game long. And then third quarter comes around. I have a boot, pull up, didn't break contain, run back up, and I can already see he's steaming, right? And so we ended up punting. I'm coming off the sideline, and we get into a little verbal altercation. I said some things that I probably shouldn't have said. And then now I'm sitting on... Like what? Well, well... Periphrase. Well, I said like he ever played the position. Yeah, and that'll do it. I felt that. That'll do it. Yeah, that was that kind of stung. And so

So deservedly so. He was hot. It came over to where now we're sitting down. And he's ripping into me some more. And I was like, Todd, that's not what we need right now. We don't need you coming over here. Ah, ha, ha. And he goes, F you castle, you're benched.

This is the third quarter. We've got, I think, a 10 point, maybe 14 point lead at that point. So I'm not kidding you. Brody Croyle, you're in. Brody is my boy. And I'm sitting there and the coaches are like, hey, Cass, I don't know what's going on. man, this is what he said. He won't talk to me.

He walked down on the other. And he's deservedly hot, but I've had verbal altercations. Like, the intensity of the game gets the best of all of us at times. And sometimes you have that abrupt thing. So he won't talk to me. And he says I'm out of the game. Well, I'm like, I'm a team captain. We're in the third quarter.

We're up by 10. This is to win the AFC West. I was like, and I did something I shouldn't have done. I ran back out on the field. No way. That's freaking borg. Did. And they won't give me a play in my helmet.

So I call my own play. go. So then they send Brody out on the field on the second play. So now I'm in like this weird circumstance of- It's quarterback purgatory. You don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. So I walk off the sideline. I'm like, what are we doing right now, right? I'm hot. Like my, back then, my testosterone levels were way higher than what it is right now. So we get done quarter changes. And even the crowd's like, is this a curtain call? We're up by like 10, 14 points. But I, but it's, It's the end of the third. So quarter switches, Brody goes back out, first third down, throws a ball, gets tipped, interception.

Now the linemen, everybody are coming off the sidelines screaming. Like, not necessarily at me, but just the circumstances of what's going on. So I'm like, are we done messing around? And even the coaches at that point didn't really, they didn't know what to explain it, right? And he says I'm still out. well, Lyman are in my ear. All the different leaders on the team are like, Cass, you got to go back out there.

I was like, dude, I'm in a, all right, I'll do it. Next series comes up. They punt to us. I run back out on the field. And bro, he's like, you're putting me in a bad spot, Cass. I'm like, dude, I'm so sorry. I run back out on the field. They won't give me plays again.

So now I call my first three pays. We get a first down and all of a sudden is, all right, Cass, let's get into zero on, Sprint 38, alert, Sprint 39. I was like, really now? So I finished the game. We win the AFC West on that day, but it was a fractured relationship.

Obviously, people are hot. I can't really enjoy it. He's mad at me. I get it. I deserve that backlash. I go in on a Tuesday because I called him on a Monday to try to clear the air. He said, come in, meet me at 10. I go in.

I'm there at 9.40. He doesn't allow me into the office until 10.30. So I sat out there just twiddling my thumbs, and then he got after me in that meeting. for all the normal stuff. I'm insubordinate, you know, wants to find me conduct detrimental. And I said, look, I understand your position. At the end of the day, I am your captain, and you can take the money.

I'll apologize to you, whatever you want to do. But we need to put this to bed because we're about to go to playoffs in two weeks. And so that really, that was a bad, bad circumstance. But that was probably my most intense conversation with the head coach. I want to option that for a movie for Disney Plus. That's my favorite story ever. That's it. That's the greatest story.

It was intense because he was an intense competitor. I respect him as a coach, but there was times where just our two personalities, it was like this. We just, we were oil and vinegar. That's a great one. Yeah. Once, I've had two adult men yell in my face.

They have two stories. One, I was working at a radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas, and I was doing night, the night shift. So it was like 6 to 11 p.m. And so I would be, there and, you know, playing them a little songs and talking in between. And there was another station that was very similar to ours. And I had my guy, my secondary guy out, like the station van.

And the other station can put stickers all over the freaking van. Well, that's, one, I got to peel the stickers off now. And, like, that's against the law. Right. So, because there's destruction of property. And so I'm pissed. Yeah. Super competitive.

Sometimes I get so triggered while being competitive. I know it's not going to be good for me, but I'm willing to. willing to go. Like, I'm willing to go down with a ship as long as, like, for five seconds, I feel good about it. Like, I'll go 10 years of pain, but for five seconds, I'm going to feel better. Yes. It made me feel better. So I'm like, all right, we're about to go break into this radio station. Like, that's my immediate thought. It's not, we're going to win over three, six months. It's we're going to break into this radio station tonight. And we're going to end it, which was my plan. So I got my guy, his name is Gelligan. And I said, hey, we pulled up the inside of their studio on the internet. They had pictures of inside their studio.

And so I showed him how to work everything in their studio by pointing at the different buttons. And I'm like, this button does this. You're going to go in. And he's like, he's going to get a notepad. You did reconnaissance. They had a picture of every part of their studio. It was the greatest point. So I said, okay, you're going to go in.

And it was like 10.30 at night. And they just don't let you walk into a radio station. But they had just flipped a format, which was they flipped to a country station. At the time, I'm doing like pop and hip hop. And we had a cowboy hat in a country station. next door, I said, put this on, just say you work for the country station, I bet you they're stupid enough to let you in. So he puts a cowboy hat on.

He goes over, knocks on the door. I'm in the parking lot. I watch him. You got your hoodie on? Well, I'm down. Like, I'm scrunched down in the car in the back part of the parking lot where there's not a lot of lights at front of station. And I see, they open the door and let him in.

And I'm like, oh, my God, this might work. So I had told him when you go in, go into the bathroom and stand on the toilet because they will know if they're extra feet in that building because at night there's like seven people total. Right. Anybody extra they're going to know. I said stand on the toilet in the very back stall and lock it because if they come to it and it's locked and there's nobody there, they'll think it's broken. So he stands on the toilet. He texts me.

I'm in. I'm on the toilet. I'm like, stay until I give you further direction. Oh my God. So it's about 11 o'clock and I start to see people leave. And I know there are probably like three people on the whole station after 11 o'clock. And I told him, I said, go in. And once you get in, I showed him how to call me from their,

they're like phone bay. It looks kind of like when you see the pilot flying, they're all these buttons. You're like, what do they all do? But if you learn them one by one, you kind of understand. And so he goes in and he calls me from the microphone of the studio. And so I see the number of the station, Alice 107.7. And he goes, I'm in.

And I'm like, all right, you know what to do. So I had instructed him to pull the music 80% down. If you go all the way down, it's silent, and there'll be an alarm that goes off with the engineer. Got it. So I didn't want the alarm to go off. Right. So he pulls the music 80% down. And he turns the phone all the way up.

And so I hear him go. And so I told him, I didn't want him to get caught. So I said, what you do is when you're done, you walk out, you lock the door behind you so no one can get in. And you get in the car. This is amazing. And then we will drive away, and then I will take over their airwaves. Yeah. I don't want to leave a man behind.

Right. It was. No chance. Yeah, we mean, we weren't the Navy Seals, but we were like boys. We were trying to break into federal communications. Like, we were breaking the law. And so, and I was, it's some stupid stickers, too. Like, but I wanted them to burn.

Yeah. And so he does it. And I test the mic. I go, and I hear it come through the car. And I'm like, oh, we're about to. So I see him come out of the building. I have the phone muted. And I'm like, you locked the door.

So no one can get in. Because there's not an engineer. There's just one person at each station. They can't get into a door. And he's like, yeah. So we drove out of the parking lot and I took over and I was like, okay, everybody listened to this station, you're stupid.

You what you should, and I went on. I went on and off like three minutes. This is unbelievable. And I went, if you're not listening to Bobby Bones, you're the dumbest thing. I was just saying nonsense. And I started like singing. I was doing everything.

And then I started to go, stop listening. Stop listening. And one of the ratings go down. Stop listening. Finally, like three, four, five minutes later, I hear, we're off the air. Somebody gets me back on. And so we're like,

let's go, it's awesome. What? And so, in my mind, I'm King Dingling a broadcast. I'm like, you just won. I'm like 22.

Like, no one's ever done this. I just hijacked the whole station. I'm not thinking it's like a federal crime to take over. You didn't think of that before? No, no, no. I'm kind of glad I didn't because I wouldn't have done it. Because like I said,

I get so triggered. And so I get a call at like 7.30 the next morning. I remember having a celebration at Waffle House that night after we're like, nobody's ever done this. And nobody will do it. We're the, so. I got to call at 7.30. And it was my general manager.

He goes, hey, you need to come in. And I'm like, to be rewarded. Nice. About to be celebrated. No one's ever done it. Nobody has the borgia to do this. Other than you, Bobby. That's right.

And we're going to put you on the pedestal. I am a leader. So I go, and so I get there and walk into his office at about 8 o'clock. And the door's open. All the salespeople are right behind. And they're starting to mull around. He's screaming. Like, like spit, you know.

Oh, yeah. That's the dumbest thing. we can lose our license you will go to jail i should fire you right now and like spitz it's all over and i'm like oh my god i did not expect the reaction right because i was an idiot and he said shut the door and i was like if he just did that with the door open like what hole is he about to puncture like with the doors yeah yeah or like he puts on a glove to go into it and so i shut the door and he looks at me and i can just feel his shoulders kind of drop a little bit and he like His fists were balled up.

And I'm thinking, is he going to punch me? And his fists relax. And he takes his hand and he puts it out and he goes, dude, that was awesome. That is a great story. I was not anticipating that. I got screamed. I thought I was going to be fired or be punched. Right.

And then, but once the door was closed, he was like, that was awesome. That's all time. The other one was, now this is nothing like yours, but I was a captain in high school. It's very similar to yours. We're very similarly athletic. And so I on the coin toss, they deferred. I said kick. Which man.

Yep. You're kicking off on both halves, Bobby. We kick both halves. And the coat, as I was coming off, Coach Gandalf grabbed my face mask and he said, you're the smartest player I've ever coached. But that's the dumbest effing thing I've ever seen anyone do. Like loud. Like everybody heard it.

That one hurts. Like that one still hurts in my heart a little bit. Did you guys win that game? We lost by six. Oh, yeah. I'm not kidding. I'm not kidding. we lost by six.

That makes it sting a little bit more. Yeah, that sucked. That one still, like that one hurts a little bit still because that was stupid. I just remember, like, everybody's fired up. We're gonna, we want to play defense. We want to play defense. And I'm a captain, and I was like, we want to play defense.

Okay, we'll kick. I remember the ref going, are you sure? Heck yeah, I'm sure. We're kicking. Okay. We did, there was a player of ours, a captain of ours, that did it in a professional football game. No way.

For the Kansas City Chiefs. And they let them do that? Like, the referee didn't like say that? The ref told him three times, you know that means you're going to kick. Are you sure you want to kick? And he was so enamored with the fact that coach said, hey, we're going to defer. I'm a pro basically. I'm a professional like him.

Who was it, do you know? No, I don't. I need to go back. Because you know what we had was you had your typical captains right for the year, but every game you'd pick two captains for that game. And so it was always ever revolving, rotating door on those captains. So sometimes those captains would change, and I'll tell you what. I sat there on the sideline.

I said, did that just happen? This deferred. And we still decided to kick because I was getting ready to go out on offense. And I was like, oh my God, we're kicking both halves. This is unbelievable. Lose a possession. Rhett Lewis coming up in a second. He works for NFL Network.

We're going to talk Combine. We're going to talk draft. Also, something you brought up is that he is on the radio, the broadcast team for Indiana. which had to be a good year. The best year for them. Magical. Yeah, so we'll talk to him coming up in just a second.

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 Rosent. on the free IHeart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL daily, and listen now. 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 movement.

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. All right, Rhett Lewis on with us now. Hey, I'd like to start with your take on Shudder Sanders being either confident or arrogant. Because that's been the talk of his interviews.

What do you know? What do you think? Yeah, look, I think there is a fine line, right? But what I do think is that ultimately when it comes down to it, like you want to do that's got some edge playing that position. You want to do that's the alpha in the room. We want to do that's got belief in his ability. You want to do that that can summon that belief from the rest of his teammates.

I know, Matt could probably, you know, tell you a bunch of stories of guys like that, that are, you know, trucks, not trailers, right? That bring everybody along with them. I think that there is, there's probably some things that come off. as more arrogant, but I think ultimately it does stem in a confidence of upbringing. I think it stems from a confidence in ability because he has been the best player pretty much on his team and in his group and in his world everywhere he's been. And I think it's something to think about.

But ultimately, I think when it comes down to it, you're going to see the ability kind of take over when it comes to the evaluation of this player. And I don't think anybody's going to sit there and say, taking this kid because, you know, he can speak a little brashly about his talent and his ability from time to time. Speaking of the quarterback position, you look at this year's draft class, comparatively speaking to last year's draft class, and you've got your two top dogs, kind of Shador, Cam Ward, but talk to me about maybe some of these guys further down the list that you've evaluated,

you saw maybe help themselves during the combine, that you think might have a great chance or elevated their stock going into this draft this year? Yeah, look, I think, you know, I think as you get, there's definitely some people that left Indianapolis, right, thinking, oh, maybe Shador Sanders is closer to Jackson Dart at Ole Miss than he is to Cam Ward, you know, at Miami. And while that might be the case for 20 teams, it only takes one to say at number three overall, you know,

we really like Shador. We're going to take Shadour, right? So, I mean, like, we can talk all. we want about what you know what what the narratives are around there but ultimately it only takes one team to say that we're comfortable with all that we think he's going to be our franchise quarterback so i brought up darts name because he is one of the ones you know that that fits right there in that next group of quarterbacks i thought the quarterback that probably did the most for himself over the course of the week in indianapolis was tyler shuck from louisville uh who goes out there runs four six six

six four. He is a prototypical, you know, NFL, let's say, frame profile at six foot four and you know, 230 pounds. And like he moves around pretty well. Obviously, as you saw him run the 40, maybe not quite as good as Brady Cook from Missouri, who kind of dominated the day athletically. But Tyler has a fantastic arm. It is more natural, I think, than some other guys. Like the ball comes out easier than it does with Jackson Dart. I think some people will look at seven years of college and he'll be 26 years old this fall and be like, whoa, how look it as are positive. I'm like, this dude's seen a ton of ball.

He's played in five different offenses. He's seen a lot of defense too now. And I just think he's been kind of around a lot, right? He's, you know, he was Justin Herbert's backup at Oregon. He was in Trevor Lawrence's recruiting class. Like the guy, the guy has seen a lot of football. And I think when he comes in, he's going to be more prepared to get out there and play quicker than some guys that we're going to say.

We saw that with Jaden Daniels and Bo Nix last year. Both those guys started over 50 games in their career. I mean, Bo Nix had the record before Dylan Gabriel broke it for starts in college football. So I look at that as a positive. He's a really mature dude. You would love him if you get a chance to talk to him in person. Like he understands. He is aware.

Like he felt like Brian Brom and Jeff Brom at Louisville this year were really good for him as kind of like a pro style type of offense. And I just think there's a lot that he can do well. A little Rhett flex here as Rhett played Division 1 wide receiver Indiana. Like he's not just a guy that knows football. Like he played football and he was a wide receiver. So let's talk about wide receivers for a second. Sure.

Is T-Mack dropping a bit? It's a fair question. And I do think, again, for guys who don't perform or participate at the combine, I don't know that it necessarily hurts them. But I think you also miss an opportunity to stand out above the rest. And so if you are clumping certain guys together, as, you know, teams often do, and we certainly do in those that evaluate the draft, I think that you have now given an opportunity for other guys in your cluster to rise above. So like right now, like I think you're looking at, and again, they're different players stylistically, but Ted McMillan is your prototypical ex receiver, right? Whereas Emeka Buka, Matthew Golden, maybe not quite like on that level is that type of player frame wise, physicality wise.

but you see Matthew Golden run 429. He's got excellent tape from Texas this year. I think you start to think, like, okay, like is there a scenario where a team might feel more comfortable? And from what we understand, and I learned this from my buddy Daniel Jeremiah earlier as we were talking, like it sounds like Tet might not, he might not even work out at his pro day.

So we might not get to see him at all in the run up to the draft process. And like when you watch them on tape, like there's certain things that you're like, huh, that doesn't quite stack up to a guy that we've all kind of considered is the number one receiver. He doesn't necessarily drive off the ball with like aggression and with, you know, with burst in the way that some other guys in this class do. He can get a little lackadaisical at the break point. He sometimes relies on his frame when he doesn't create separation to go up and win a contested catch, which you love, right? You love him down in the red zone. You love him,

you know, when he can use his size and he turns into a monster with the ball in his hand. and he can stiff arm you a couple of different times and go turn a, you know, a six-yard gain into a 16-yard gain. But I think it makes you think because the guys like Golden and Ibuka who's going to run really fast at his pro-day, like if I had to describe them with one word,

it would be professional. Like they are pro receivers right now. So I also really like Trey Harris. He didn't run as fast as I thought he would, but I've seen them run faster on tape. Well, we've all heard about this draft class for the running back position. It's a strong draft class. And you kind of look at it and you say Ash and Jen team potentially at the top.

But talk to me about this draft class and how much value there is throughout these boards that these guys are looking at. This is a really deep, really deep group. And you wonder, like at some point, does that hurt the guys who are going to be considered up at the top in the first round? Because teams are going to be wondering value-wise, like, okay, do we want the very top of the class and use a high draft? value resource on that in terms of like a first round pick or do we feel like we could go a little bit less than the top of the class and maybe get a better value on in round two round three round four i think with genti like the dude's just a stone cold stud like there's there's nothing not to like about ashton genti's game and you guys will appreciate this like he's not i don't feel like you

have to pigeonhole him into a certain system right like he's not just a zone runner he's not just a gap runner like he can they did almost everything at boise and he accepted at all of it. Like they had 20, you know, like they, they were really, uh, kind of balanced in the different schemes that they used to run the football and get the ball into Genties hands. So you love that. Um, Marian Hampton, I think is close is close from UNC. He's got maybe a little bit less in terms of like wiggle and like horizontal. Um, you know, he is a vertical aggressive, like downhill, get out of the way freight trains coming down the tracks type of runner. Um, and so maybe does not have as, as little much in as much in the shiftingness department as gentey.

But I think the dude that really helped himself was Quinchon Judkins. You know, I think there was talk, you know, Trivion Henderson, it kind of ascended to be that maybe that third guy and the better of the two Ohio state backs because of his home run ability. Well, shoot, at 20 pounds heavier, Quinchon Judkins ran a 40 time. It was about, you know, 600's, you know, slower than Henderson. It was like 4242 to 448. I was an excellent time for Judkins.

He had really good jumps. well. He's, I think, I think Quint John Judkins is, is on the way up, in my opinion. So final NFL question, and then I'll let Matt get into Indiana stuff. But would you do a monologue on the Titans and what the crap is about to happen with the Titans? Yeah.

So if I'm the Titans here, again, I think we're talking Cam Ward in last year's class, if we're talking quarterbacks, he's probably closer to Bo Nix than he is the Caleb Williams. Okay. So if you're putting that into context, you're talking about six quarterbacks went in the top 12. And you're talking about the guy who could be the first one off the board, probably closer to the sixth one off the board from a year ago. Is that what I want to do if I'm a first time GM in Mike Burgundy? Is that what I want to do if I'm, you know, Brian Callahan going into year two, you know, as the head coach of this franchise. And now we're kind of tied to this quarterback into the success of this quarterback.

I think, again, like we talked about with Shador at the top, like with Calihan, like you're going to be confident in your ability, right, to go out there and develop a quarterback, but also you want to make sure it's the one that you're going to see wearing a Titans uniform for the next 10, 12, 15 years. And I don't know that I feel as confident about that with Cam Ward and with this group as I do that Abdul Carter will be a Pro Bowl player for the next seven to 10 years at edge. And you're already given Harold Landry permission to go seek a trade. Why not go get a a slam dunk of a prospect and a player in Abdul Carter,

line him up at your edge and he will wreak havoc. I mean, look at what the Texans did last year with Will Anderson. Like that was a slam dunk. Really clean prospect, really high floor. You know, maybe didn't have like the super upside potential as some of the freak athletes that we've seen go, you know, like a Trayvon Walker,

went a couple of years ago to the Jaguars and is, you know, proven to be a really good player. But Will gave them a franchise cornerstone on defense. And if you're not sure, that the guy you're taking at one on offense can do that, then go get the guy that you feel really dang comfortable with can be a piece to build a championship defense with an Abdul Carter. And that to me is block it up.

All right. I saw you last year, Big Ten Media Day. You know, that's where all the hopes are. You went to Indiana. You're the color analyst. Talk to me about how much fun this year was and your head coach, Kurt Zinetti, who I love. Oh man, I actually just talked to Kurt this morning.

And now he's the same dude, man. He's like, you know, we didn't do anything. You know, like last year, that is, wipe the slate clean. That means nothing to us right now other than maybe it opened up some doors for us in recruiting, what you love, right? And that's what winning does in college football, transfer portal high school recruiting, that whole thing. But he's just, he is so focused.

Like he spends 90% of his day watching tape in his office, whether that's recruiting, whether that's trends of college football. I think he's watched every touchdown that was scored and every passing touchdown that was scored going from yard lines. Like every 99 yard touchdown he watched all the way down to every one yard touchdown throw he watched over the course of the last couple of weeks.

I just, I love his attention to detail, his focus, the way he's always constantly on the hunt for complacency and wants to snuff that out as soon as he sees any of it. I think he's got a really good quarterback. In my opinion, I think this is the number, the number two, number three quarterback in the Big Ten going into the season and Fernando Mendoza coming over from Cal. I think Drew Aller is kind of unquestionably at the top in terms of returning quarterbacks. But I think Fernando Mendoza might have a higher ceiling than Curtis.

I don't even, I don't think I have to say might. Fernando Mendoza has a higher ceiling than Curtis did when he came to IU. And we saw what Curtis was able to do in this offense. So I got really high hopes for him. But again, like they've raised the ball. so now they got to work to kind of keep pushing that thing up. Signetti felt like a wrestler cutting a promo at times. Oh, yeah. And I wonder because at a school like Indiana, because my school is Arkansas,

we have to do extra things to get noticed. So how much of that was truly him and how much of that was truly him elevated like a wrestler cutting a promo so he could be noticed? I think it's a really good question, Bobby. I can kind of see that comparison too, you know, with Arkansas, what you're looking for is like you're looking for hope. Like fans are looking for something to latch onto.

And I think that was one of his most impressive qualities is like his awareness that this is what this place needs right now. They need me to go out there, whether you want to call it brash and, you know, outlandish and, you know, big ego and all that. that rallied a fan base like you would not believe. The people coming out of the woodwork to support Indiana football because there was a head coach that had a winning track record and believed that his blueprint would translate to wins at this level.

And lo and behold, it did. And now did they benefit from a favorable schedule? Sure. But did he go out there and evaluate players better than almost anybody in the country did this last year, players that would fit and win at Indiana? absolutely put together an incredible coaching staff. All that stuff goes together. I think outwardly, again, externally, people see it as like,

oh, who the hell is this guy? Like, what the hell is he think he's doing, Brad? Like, just, you know, boasting and talking all this crap. But internally, that created such belief, confidence in this program that had not been there in my lifetime. So I'm forever grateful for everything that Kurt Signetti brought to the table there. and I'll be curious to see what it looks like this year, certainly. So is it safe to say that Indiana is now a football?

Football program versus a basketball or football school versus basketball school? You know, I think now we have great duality. Okay, we have great history with the basketball program. We are building, you know, we are building a blue blood type of mentality and kind of taking that from the, from Assembly Hall there across the parking lot from Memorial Stadium and bringing it over into the rock, right, where the football team plays.

So I think we got the best of both worlds. And I'm, you know, Scott Dolson to me, if we gave an athletic director of the year award, I don't know if we do, but he would win it with what he did with Kurt Signetti and what he's going to do with the next basketball hire. Final question. I'm getting hit by my guys here because we got multiple Longhorn fans.

I hate the Longhorns, but I have multiple Longhorn fans in the room. They're saying, ask about Quinn Ewers. Yeah. So Quinn Ewers, to me, when I saw him this summer at the Manning Passing Academy, throw with, you know, 40 of the best players, you know, 40 of the best quarterbacks and go through a number of workouts in addition to coaching up a bunch of high school kids. I was like, Quinn Ewers is QB1 in this class.

Like he has that type of armed talent. And you just like, when he's throw, it, it, the release, the way it comes out, the way it gets to where it's going with pace, but doesn't feel like it's going to knock a brick building down, you know, like, and, you know, knock a receiver over. And I think he just ultimately didn't have the season he wanted to. And the oblique injury, I think certainly played a role in that. I think his persona is a little bit more subdued. So it comes off like the opposite of Chador, like it comes off as disinterested. I don't think that's the case at all with Quinn. I think Quinn, again, has more natural arm talent than a lot of the other guys that threw it better than maybe he did this season and even at the combine.

But I think when you watch him up close and personal, you see that thing come out of his hand. I think there's going to be a team that pulls the trigger on Quinn Ewers. And again, it may take a minute, but I think he's going to ultimately, he's got NFL type arm, like NFL type arm quality and armed talent. And whether it gets cultivated or developed or not is kind of the question. But I do think he's in the mix. I think he'll probably end up being, you know, I think he'll probably end up being fourth or fifth quarterback off the board. You guys can follow Ret at Ret NFL.

Awesome NFL network. And then you get to do your own school. Like that's the dream, right? You get to, and your school's good. Yeah. I mean, that's the, that is the dream. Big fan. Thank you so much for spending time with us.

and we're looking forward to the draft. And heck, college football next year, right? No doubt. No doubt. Me too. And this is the draft is what gets us there, man. The draft fuels our football urges, right? Until we get the season on the way. So I appreciate you guys having me on, man. Thanks, Ray.

Thank you. 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 free IHeart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL Daily, and listen now.

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. 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 do want to do something called underrated football. So first, most underrated quarterback in the league right now, who would you give that title to? You know, I don't think it's enough credit is Brock Purdy, to be honest.

And I do believe that he's made strides, but there's always this second guessing that, oh, he's got the offensive line, the talent around him, good head coach. But I think everybody's waiting for that next shoot-up ball and him just to completely implode. But he doesn't. It's just consistent week in and week out.

And the sign of any good quarterback is a consistency factor. And I think he set himself up to be a franchise guy there for a long period of time. Another guy that I think's underrated who probably gets more criticism than he deserves is Kyle Murray. I think he's a guy that's a solid player that puts his team in a position to win each and every week. He's dynamic.

He's a dual threat athlete. And maybe not always with the best surrounding elements around him still elevates everybody. I would have put Brock Party in mind as well. Do you think, though, that it's still that last. pick in the seventh round that is attached to him so much that people won't allow him to elevate beyond that? Or do you think people feel like he's just a system of quarterback and he could have been drafted in the third round and they'd feel the same way about him? Well, that's the thing is I think that seventh round pick will always go with him wherever he is. And so it feels like

anytime you're drafted in the seventh round or even a six round, you have to prove it year and and you're out because then your critics out there say, oh, well, see, he's a seventh round pick. And that's why he's not playing as well. And he doesn't have the dynamic elements to his game and physical attributes that you see in some of these other big time players. That's fine. But how he sees the field, the anticipatory throws, the processing ability,

those are next level high-end quarterback play. And so I think it's a stigma that it will, always go around with him, but he continues to prove the doubters wrong. And now you're starting to see people come full circle and be like, well, man, maybe he is a really good quarterback. And we were just wrong about him early on. And he's just got to keep doing it. So for me, underrated also can mean we rate them highly, but just not highly enough. And I know he's been in the news this week the last couple weeks, but I feel like Matthew Stafford has always left off that list of elite quarterbacks and he's never not been elite. There have been times where he hasn't had the

playmakers or at times his playmakers have not been healthy. But I feel like, and we got to see Stafford play really well last year. Remember, they almost beat the freaking Eagles. Yes. I feel like Matthew Stafford is an underrated quarterback and that he's finally starting to be valued because the Rams had to make a decision. Right. Because from what I hear, both the Giants and the Raiders were willing to pay him fully what the Rams and give them compensation for trades, right? Because it's not just money. They also want the, but the Rams were like, we're going to commit. This is our guy. I feel like Stafford has been underrated because people don't put him up in the top, top tier, or like barely in that second tier. I'm not saying he needs to be with my homes and Josh Allen,

but he's freaking close. This guy is a franchise player. I played with him. I was a teammate with him my last year in Detroit. He's a lead at every level from a leadership standpoint, from a work ethics standpoint from how he sees the game, his mental side, I think I've mentioned this before when we talked. He's got one of those photographic memories, sees stuff and can remember stuff that you wouldn't believe. And then you add on top of it, he's got an absolute cannon for an arm. Great footwork, works at it, true professional of the game. And he went through all those years in Detroit. Sometimes it was the defensive side of the ball. He'd throw for 4,000 yards every year. and then the other quality that he has

is his toughness and durability. He plays through so much. Even when I was there, he had a broken bone in his back. The guy said, I'm not going to miss a start, finish the season. These were pointless games at the end of season. We weren't making playoffs, but he didn't want to let his team down.

That's the type of guy he is. And then he goes to the Rams, wins the Super Bowl, starts to get some of the credit, played big and big moments, beat Tampa Bay down there with the throat of Cooper Cup, go out, win the Super Bowl. And then you look at him this year, and he had a lot of injuries at the wide receiver position

and then all of a sudden those guys came back and he was playing as well as any quarterback in the league this year and then you put that defense and that youth there and everybody sees the value of Matt Stafford including the Rams they go we don't want this guy to walk outside the building area and we'd be absolutely out of our minds we're taking a step back as an organization

because I still think he has at least three years to play if he wants to. The other guy, it's the opposite where people just think he's garbage but I think, as you've pointed out before, a lot of it is where you are, where you end up. I think Daniel Jones doesn't suck as bad as everybody thinks Daniel Jones sucks. I think he had nothing in New York.

He had nobody to throw to. He finally had neighbors for part of the year, but he had nobody to throw to. He had a terrible offensive line. Sequin was hurt a lot until he wasn't until his contract year. 100%. I think Daniel Jones ends up maybe with the Raiders. You're going to see some...

I would like to see him in Indy with Stuyken. 100%. To either give Anthony Richardson maybe another year to sit or to have somebody compete for that job. I think Daniel Jones, I'm not saying he's top tier. I'm just saying underrated. I think he is a pretty good quarterback that people think is kind of a garbage can.

He's a really good quarterback. And when I say really good, I mean, you have to prove it in this league for anybody to actually recognize you as a good quarterback, let alone a really good quarterback. Unfortunately, circumstances will dictate the term sometimes for these quarterbacks. And as you just mentioned, the Giants has been a dumpster fire for a long period of time.

Different head coaches, not great personnel on the outside, let alone offensive line that had struggled, some injuries to key components of that offensive. Sequin Barclay's healthy, that takes pressure off of Daniel Jones. But when you watch him play, you can see he can make every throw. He's athletic. He can take off. He can hurt you with his legs. He can make up for it on that third down run.

When they drop back into coverage, he can take off and be an athlete. So I think you put him in the right situation. You'll see similar circumstances of what you saw with Sam Darnold this year. Maybe to even a different extent just because of his athleticism. So it'll be interesting, but I do think he'll be valued on the quarterback market, particularly with the free agency market and what it is this year. I don't think it's a very deep pool. It's a very shallow pool.

And he's still young enough to where he can go. go in and make an impact, but you brought up indie, and I think that's going to be a team that's looking to add veteran presence. And when you look at Daniel Jones, he checks those boxes, he's experienced, he's started a lot, and when you look at Anthony Richardson, I think he's still developing. You knew that he was going to be a project when he came in. His skill set jumps off the page, and part of that was you watch them at the Combine. That's really where he got all that attention.

But then you take Daniel Jones and put him into that offense with a guy like Stakeon, and you say, hey, let's go, let's see what you can do. I think he could resurrect his career and have this conversation changes. Let's do most underrated free agent out now. I'll start with this one. I think we're seeing a bit of a reemergence of the importance of the running back, not fully. And you have a, this is a jammed draft class with running backs.

Like there's like 12 that could go on the first three rounds. Right. I think Naji Harris has a lot of gas in the tank steel. I don't think he's going to be the every down guy, but he's a monster. I think Naji Harris is not really getting a lot of run as this guy can do it, still has it. I think Naji is probably a bit underrated.

I would have said T. Higgins, but they tagged him. I know. I saw that. Good move by the Bengals. Don't let him go. You know, he has to drive him crazy, though. Oh, yeah. Like, he got a year.

He got a year. And that's the hardest thing, I think. Well, let's go with that. And then we'll talk about it. Yeah, Naji Harris, to me, an underrated free agent. And then also, Mike Gaseki, I think he's still got some good years as a tied-in left. And he had a really good year this last year. And Miami just had to make, like, they had a lot of personnel changes this year.

I think he was a victim of a lot of those cuts. Right. Miami lost. Rahim Morris. Yes. So, Gaseki's still got some tread on the tires. Yeah. You know what? He's also one of those big targets that he's a mismatch problem.

And that's what you always look for at tight end. He's not a true why where he's going to hold down the line of scrimmage and be your blocking tight in. But what he is somebody that can do is when you got wide receivers on one side, you can split him out. He can run wide receiver routes. He can run the slant route. He can run the go route.

And at 6-6 or whatever he is, go up in high point, that's always what you're looking for as an offensive unit is, hey, what mismatch can we take advantage? of and he is a mismatch problem. Not only on the interior part of the offense when you're running against a linebacker or usually a safety, but on the outside as well, just formationally.

I don't want to steal yours. I have an honorable mention. Who's yours? You know what? I think Chris Godwin is a guy that could go out and be a huge value add for any team because obviously he's won a Super Bowl. He's done it. He's had an injury history. But when he is healthy, he controls

the middle of the field. And that's sometimes is the quarterback's best friend. When you're dropping back and you know, look, number one's not open on the outside, but you have a player on the inside that has instincts, has awareness, can feel man versus zone, can break down that man coverage,

get open for you. Those are some of the easiest throws you have, and that continues to move the chains. So I think he's got a guy that can bring tremendous value, especially for a team, say like the chargers or somebody like that that are in need of a wide receiver.

My honorable mention would have been Killil Mack. Yeah, he's like 70, but I've learned from you how important it is to have like veteran leadership who can still play. Yes. Like quality veteran leadership who can be important to the locker room. In some instances, a young locker room. And I think Khalil Mack at times can be looked over because of his age. I think Social Security last year is when it started for him.

Yeah, that's totally fine. But yeah, I think Khalil Mack is an underrated free agent that's out there right now. Obviously, a lot of the quarterbacks are who people are talking about. Right. Sam Darnolds. And we can get to that in a bit. Question just for you. Most underrated teammate you ever had.

Most underrated teammate that I ever had. What a great question. Now, they can be good. Like I, because I would say Stafford is really valued. And people know he's good, but I still feel like he can be underrated because he's not up on the tier that I believe he is. So I can be somebody good. Doesn't it be somebody that they thought sucked? But who was it that you thought, man, probably didn't get the shine they deserved?

You know what? A guy that was a stud, first-round draft pick in Minnesota that maybe didn't get the shine that he always deserve was Chad Greenway. Guy was an absolute professional, played really well. I don't know who he is. He was our middle linebacker in Minnesota. But talk about a guy that was just a genuine leader, a leader of men, a guy that could inspire a great locker room guy, but gave 110% effort every single time he was out on the field. I mean, he was all encompassing when you look at, when you go into a locker room, you want guys like that. But he was a veteran guy.

He was a leader. He worked his butt off. But he led by example. And he also performed on the field. And I don't think he got the shine that he always deserved. But he was one of the top linebackers in the NFL. 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. Chook 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 free IHeart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL Daily, and listen now. 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.

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. Let's do free agent quarterback carousel and how this is going to work. I will say a player. I'll say one, two, three. Well, at the same time, we're going to say the team we think they'll land. Okay. And Roger. One, two, three. Giants.

Go ahead. So Pittsburgh is in need of a quarterback. Now, I know that they're talking about, oh, well, Russell Wilson or Jessup Fields. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Neither one of those guys prove that those guys are still, when you watch Aaron Rogers at the end of last year, when he got a little bit healthier,

his last eight games still showed that he can play at a really high level. Still, if he wants to play, and if he's the Aaron Rogers that's motivated to come out and prove something, He goes to Pittsburgh with a good defensive unit. They've got some pieces there on the offensive side of the ball. And I think that he's a guy. And I know it's short term. And that's the thing that you have to look at when you look at Aaron Rogers is how long do we have them for?

Is it going to be a one and done situation? Could we squeak two years out of them? But if he's Aaron Rogers of the last eight weeks, he immediately elevates your team. And I say the Giants because if Babel doesn't win this year, they're going to get fired. True. If Joe Judge doesn't win this year, they're going to get fired. So I think, and they have, you know, one of the top picks, but you're not going to win quickly. You may win.

You may CJ Stroud. You may Jaden Daniels, but you're not going to win quickly with Cam Ward or Shador. I don't think they're going to. Right. So I think they've got to get a veteran quarterback. And I think Aaron Rogers being with the Jets and just being able to walk, really walk nowhere, they're playing the same freaking place. I think they need a one and done.

I think they can use that pick to actually fill other spots. I think he ends up with the Giants. It'll be interesting because Dayball runs his offense a particular way, and I don't know what type of terminology he's using these days. But you know when you bring anybody like Aaron Rogers in, he's going to want to have a say with what they're running, how they're running with. That's why he brought his own offensive coordinator there to the Jets

or back to the Jets and everything like. that it didn't really work out that well so there's going to be some give and take there anytime you get a guy of that status who's been doing it for as long he's got his likes his dislikes he know what a high quality product looks like so there's going to have to be some give and take there but if they can go out and win save jobs i'm all for it sam donald ready one two three raiders yeah i think we feel the same p carroll p carroll u sc product knows sam darnold really well a guy that could go there and he's still young enough to where he can go

extend his career. But I think Pete's familiar with him and they need a quarterback desperately. They're still talking, though, about Donald's staying in Minnesota. Right. And if so, they're not going to tag him. They're going to give him a two or three year deal. True. And does that mean they don't feel like J.J. McCarthy is progressing.

From what I'm hearing, he is progressing at a decent rate. But it's like a bird in the hand. Right. And a quarterback in the NFL, if you don't have that, you have nothing. you've got to strike when the iron's hot, and that's what's going to be interesting. If he hits the free agency market and they don't franchise him,

well, then he can take calls and understand what his market value is to the Raiders, to the Giants, and then the Vikings are competing with them, but you know that the Vikings aren't going to go all in and offer him this massive contract if they have J.J. McCarthy in the waiting, knowing that, hey, JJ might be the guy this year.

If they like what they've seen, He's a guy that played under center a lot in college. I'm talking about J.J. McCarthy. He's a guy that they drafted in a top 10 draft. They traded up one spot to get him. So if they believe that they can do what they did with Sam Donald last year with JJ, it'll be interesting to see what kind of contract they would offer Sam Donald to entice him to come back. Two more.

Kirk Cousins. Think about it. Hold on. Kurt Cousins. Okay. One, two, three. Chetons. Yeah, you go first, Jets.

Okay, Jets need a quarterback. And I think Kurt Cousins is one of those guys that you can bring in. He obviously had the Achilles this year, struggled, you know, half the year, played well at times. But a veteran presence with Glenn as a new head coach, guy that can help facilitate his message in the locker room, somebody that can come in, win you ball games, has played at a high level with another year, a recovery year of what he had last year. If he can get healthy,

go in and be a team leader set culture in place. I think the Jets would be a great place. I'm taking the Titans because the Titans will take any scraps. They need anything. They're terrible. It's awful. It's a terrible, terrible, terrible place. So, yeah, we'll take any scraps at this point.

We live in Nashville. I think Kirk Cousins, not scraps, but I think he'll be of the pile of quarterbacks. Right. He'll be the one probably that is good enough to start somewhere that the Titans will go, okay. I don't think the Titans are going to draft a quarterback. I don't think they'll keep the number one pick.

Why would you? You have 18 holes to fill? If they can find a valuable suitor to go and give them a bunch of draft capital and then drop back not far enough to where you still get a valued player, that's the interesting part. It's a blessing. It's a curse to be the first pick overall because you have to get the right compensation for when you fall back. And if you don't, you have to be prepared. to take the best off the board.

And I just don't know if any of these quarterbacks right now are valued at number one pick overall in this year's draft. Final one's Justin Fields. Justin Fields. Well, okay, one, two, three, Pittsburgh. Back up in Pittsburgh.

Yeah, same. I agree. I mean, I just feel like... Or a starter in Pittsburgh, but I think he stays in Pittsburgh. Right. And the difficult part about Justin Fields is Chicago, first part of his career, chaotic. A lot of different circumstances why he didn't succeed, but then he goes to Pittsburgh. And I would have just loved to see more

because you really don't know what you're getting out of Justin Fields because the body of work wasn't extended this year. And I wish that they would have let him play throughout the course of this year so you can really evaluate him, especially down the stretch, how he performs there to really understand,

could this guy be our franchise quarterback in the future? because right now there's so many unknowns that I think they could bring him back on a favorable deal and he still could be the starting quarterback next year but you just don't have enough to go off of. We're going to wrap this show on one final thing. And next week, what I want to talk about too is franchise quarterbacks. Like how many actual ones are there?

So we'll get to that next week. Good conversation. We have to do our Mount Rushmore favorite television shows because we haven't done that. Would you like to go first? Would you like me too? I want you too. favorite TV shows of all time

you get four four is it okay how many heads are on Mount Rushmore I want you to give me 10 what Mount Rushmore you didn't say Mount Rushmore I did the whole time

it's been the Mount Rushmore TV shows I'm gonna go the office the favorite show of all time man yeah I had that on my list I don't own it no but I'm not gonna repeat what you say if it's your favorite you should I wrote so many more okay

oh you had a 10 header that's right the point I'm gonna put the walking dead. Ooh, that's a good one. Freaking loved it. It was my favorite show for a long time. Love zombies.

It got to a point where it was too dark, and I'm not talking about dark where it was like killing and stuff. I have bad vision, and the show was just shot in, like, caves too much, and I couldn't see what was going on. Yeah, and then also, like, going to bed after some of those shows, you're just, you're disturbed. Yeah, I have nightmares. Like, I even tried to read Twilight once and I had nightmares.

I get nightmares for everything. Yeah, I mean, especially when you watch it late at night and you're like, no, I don't need this in my life. I'm going to go because, and I hope this counts. but there were no rules. My hero in life has always been David Letterman, so I'm going to go late show with David Letterman because I, is that cheating?

Why do you look at it? You didn't impose any rules on this? You didn't, yeah, okay, fine. That's fair. Another shout out to Letterman. Letterman, we want to meet you in person. But that's my favorite show. Okay, fire.

But no, but you looked at me as like you were just, you were, did. Okay, what was the last word you said there? Okay, it's a show. Yeah, sure. Thank you very much. Okay, mine's the Oscars then. but that's once a year.

So it's a show. No, I'm just kidding. Go ahead. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. You did mean to interrupt. I did. And I think my fourth show is Black Mirror. Did you name your third?

Yeah, are you listening? Are we just so obsessed with like making me like foolish front of my friends that are listening to the show? No, I don't want to bring out that side of Bobby. I know you'll break into my house. You definitely won't. No, it is number one, the office, Walking Dead.

Oh, yeah. Letterman. I got cut up in Letterman. And Black Mirror. I don't think I've ever seen Black Mirror. The greatest. The greatest? And none of the episodes are connected to the other.

It will mess your mind up. Hey, Mikey, Black Mirror. I love it. Top Show Ever. You've seen it too? Yeah. Amad? Top Show ever.

You too? You watch Black Mirror and you're like, I'm not the same person. I don't know anybody around me, and nor do they know me. And you know what? I think I don't even know if Earth is real. Yeah, you'll question your life after watching the Black Mirror.

Really? And no episodes are connected. I like that. So, okay, that's my. Well, let me hear yours so I can judge you. Please judge me. All right. I'm definitely big fan.

True Detective, season one. Season one was really good. I know after that it fell off, but I'll tell you what, I could binge watch, True Detective. It was really good. Season one, Matthew McConae.

Curb your enthusiasm for me. Great. Has always been outstanding. And a lot of seasons, too. And a lot of seasons. Got that. I want to judge you. These are all good.

Give me something. You know, something that, I mean, I really liked it, doesn't get talked about all the time. Homeland. I liked Homeland, too. Homeland, every episode was just like, intense. It was great. What was, what's her name? Mikey, the blonde, Kate.

Carrie? Is it Claire Dane? That's Claire Dane's. Great job. She was outstanding in that. And if we're going to go old school, you know, growing up, a little reminiscent, I was a big Fresh Prince of Bel Air

Great pick I mean I really wish I could have judged you on any of that because I really felt judgment from you but I cannot Yeah I have to just

I mean That was more nostalgic for me You know fresh Prince of Bel Air And the theme song All time That's a great one I was really hoping I could judge you But I can't

You're way cooler And way taller than me And that's what sucks Both of those No I do love Letterman I do love Letterman How cool is it meant To be taller than everybody

It's great because it covers up my bald spot. You always make it about you, don't you? There he is. And that is this week's episode. We ask. We beg. Bag.

Beg. Please subscribe. And if you don't mind sharing. And by the way, we'll give you a chance to win the signed Vikings jersey. If you go over to my Instagram, Mr. Bobby Bones, I'll put it up. And then we love to give stuff away.

And we'll send you a Matt Castle signed Viking jersey. School of Viking. Did you have to learn that? Like, you kind of learn it pretty quick. quickly when you first come to the stadium and everybody's going, school, school. Yeah, pretty good. That's pretty good. That is a good one. Pretty good. That's one of the better ones. It is. Then when they come out in the Harley and the Vikings on it.

Yeah, it's very original. I like original. I like original. You don't respect originality because you're like, ooh, pig, sir. And that's original, but you didn't respect it. And I will never forget that in my heart. We will see you guys next week. I want to say thanks to Mike Dew filled in for Kevin. Kevin got married. Mike D. is the greatest producer of all time, way better than So Mike, we appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you.

And then read our head of video. Read A-plus, buddy. And our audience of 5,000 Watson, Maude Watson, always good to see him, Mar Watson. He is Matt Castle on Bobby Bowens. We had lots to say. Thank you, guys.

Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and IHeart Podcast. For more podcasts from IHartRadio, visit the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 free IHeart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL Daily, and listen now. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I am Greg. Rosenthal. I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL offseason. This is where teams are built. Free agency, combine, pro days, trades. Every move matters.

From my draft boards and mock drafts to my vaunted top 101 free agents and how rosters come together. Quarterback movement. Surprise signings. We'll tell you what it means and who really wins. Open your free IHeart radio app. Search 40s and free agents and listen now. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.