The Bobby Bones Show - Lots to Say: NFL Week 1 Picks and Fmr NFL LB Lorenzo Alexander

Episode Date: September 3, 2025

Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel discuss the first week of College Football and Bill Belichick's loss to TCU.  Matt recalls Belichick's reaction to bad losses and how it differs from the NFL to a college game.  Onto the NFL, Tyreek Hill will not be a captain with the Dolphins.  What does a captain do on an NFL team?  The AFC East could look very different this season.  Matt notes Micah Parson's injury and wonders how he was cleared through a big money trade.  What will the Cowboys be without Parsons? Matt reveals a game in Week 1 that he's really looking foward to watching.   2x NFL LB Lorenzo Alexander talks about fighting past being a practice squad player and making it to an NFL roster. Lorenzo explains how he went from playing special teams to becoming a pro bowl linebacker.  Working with the Cardinals now, Lorenzo looks at the futures of Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr.  Which rookie player will have the biggest impact in Arizona?  Looking at Week 1 games, Bobby and Matt make their picks starting with Cowboys/Eagles.  Bobby explains why he's ready for the Chiefs to have a big season.  Aaron Rodgers first game with the Steelers is going back to face the Jets.  Both are looking forward to Ravens/Bills! 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 IHeart Podcasts. We got lots to say. Yeah, we got lots to say. Now here's Bobby and Matt. Usually only my wife will ask. Hey, did you shave today?

I had to ask because every time I look over at your face, it's just this baby face. just smooth. And I don't even think I've ever seen stubble on you. Maybe a little. The question asked to me right before we hit play was do you shave every day? And I shave with a straight razor

on the first day of the week. So Tuesday would have been the first day of the week this week. Okay. So but Monday and Friday. Straight razor, that's all the way down. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I do the electric razor, which isn't as good. It's not as good, but you still shave.

shave every single day. Yes. For the most part, weekends I don't always shave and if I have nothing because mostly though I'm on camera in some fashion every day.

Now, not NBC like you. Which by the way, let's go, Mr. NBC, Week one. Knocked out of the ballpark. But yeah,

I shave pretty much every day because I got to be on something. Your entire body or just your face? That's only on Wednesday. The entire body is on Wednesday. I neared. How did week one go college football?

It was great, man. The environment was incredible. There's 107,000 people at the big house. The big house can be one of those places you go to that it's when you walk in, you're kind of overwhelmed by the environment. But then when you get actually people start filtering it, it's not super, super loud like some of these environments where the fans are all on top of you. But again, the big storyline was Bryce Underwood, the 18-year-old.

Dude, he looked awesome. You were closer than I was, but I didn't watch some of the game. As an 18-year-old, yeah, it's a five-star. but you can be 10 stars at times and still be overwhelmed by your first. First start in that type of environment. And the kid comes out, and I swear to you, first play. He's like dancing and shotgun, like, vibing. And then he just starts ripping darts all over the field.

I mean, it was really impressive. And he just turned 18, like last week or the week before last. He's 6-4-2-30. I mean, so it was fun. It was a good game. New Mexico, obviously, was overmatched, but they battled. And so it's college football start. Let's go.

feeling about that Oklahoma Michigan game next week. Oh, dude, it's going to be awesome. Yeah. Yeah, in Oklahoma. Yeah, Oklahoma is a six-point favorite, I think. Six-point favorite. But Michigan's ranked higher, but that's all because they've got to go down. Right, and Jackson Arnold had a hell of a game.

Jackson Arnold plays for Auburn now. Oh, never mind. Last year, last year he played for a... I take that back. But he didn't have a big game. You're right about that. He did have a big game, didn't he? That's right.

You know what? I'm going to start studying a little bit more. John Mateer is the kid. John Mateer, that's who it is. You're not have to know the SEC. You're not at it. You're work for the freaking Big Ten. That's right.

But John Mateer, he had a day. Yeah, he had a great day. Again, they didn't play anybody. But they also brought his coordinator. He's the offensive coordinator. He's the offensive coordinator that he was with last year. To be fair, his coordinator came and then brought Mateer. Yes.

Yeah. I think that's a recipe for success. If you've had seen somebody play under a certain system and you want that same product, this coach went out and said, you know what? I'm going to go get his offensive coordinator, bring him in, and then they're going to bring in John Matier, who's an absolute stud. Dual threat can run it, throw it. I think it's great, great decision.

It's like hiring in basketball, the dad, as an assistant coach, if you want to get a five-star player to come to your university. Hey, whatever it takes. I mean, and at the end of the day, the guy walks into the building, the learning curve is not as steep, right? He understands exactly what's to be expected. He's run the offense before, and you saw it, at least in the first game. Obviously, they're going to get tested this week against Michigan.

It's going to be a lot better. but those are interesting circumstances. Yeah, Oklahoma looked good. My team Arkansas looked fine. We played out. What did you guys play? Alabama A&M. Yeah, exactly.

The out-of-conference games are always funny because it's like Miami of Ohio or... At least that's a real school. Yeah, it is. Not that the school of Alabama A&M isn't real, but they're not a traditional division one school. Right, exactly. And so we beat them like 53 to 7.

We didn't cover. Our defense looked terrible, but it's game. You can only beat who's in front of you, right? Hey, that's all you can do is go out and get better each and every week. Just go out and beat who's in front. Yeah, right in front of you. Okay.

Well, we've come to the table with three different things. Now the one of us know what the things are. I shall let you go first. I mean, if we're going to stay in college football, did you watch any of the Belichick first game? U.N. What's the whole thing? You watched the whole thing? Man, I started to watch it.

First drive, I was like, oh, look at this. UNC's going to be awesome. First drive, they looked great. Look great. Went right down the field. and then it was a disaster, an absolute disaster, especially with the notoriety of the game, ESPN covering.

I mean, did you see Herb Street near the end of the game? He's putting his headset on his dog. What's up with the dog, by the way? Well, it's his second dog, too. His second dog, I know. The first one passed away last year. I went through the dramatics, and everybody did across the country.

It was pretty sad. You know, the dog goes everywhere with him. And I got a shout out the dog and the trainers because the dog looks to be pretty good. I mean, he's healthy. Yeah, and mines. And doesn't, if you all brought my dog, you go crazy. He'd be jumping on top of everybody.

Did you see the McAfee kick? You know, where the dogs out on the side. He crapped on the side. Also, that kid who kicked, I mean, sandbagged the crap out of him. Oh, yeah. He's like, yeah, well, my brother kicked. Do we ever find out? Because he kicked that ball so pure for the $100,000?

Yeah, and only one attempt. You know, sometimes he'll be like, all right, I'll give you a second one. I wonder. Well, he didn't need a second one. He didn't need one. Yeah. He crushed it. And he's like, yeah, I kick with my brother.

wonder what that kid's real story was because he kicked a crap out of that soccer style kicker yeah it was awesome what was it was 250 he handed out to him oh was it 250 yeah oh dang yeah uh the game last night well two nights ago because this comes out Wednesday uh that it was interesting because North Carolina moved through them very quickly very easily

TCU then just bullied them bullied them that TCU running back he's a stud big boy and can run he broke one off for like 75 yards yeah he went to the house Yeah, I was going to ask you, and I'm glad you brought this up, because this was going to be one of mine, but I'll pivot. What's Belichick like after a bad loss like this? Yeah, you know what? It's always interesting because he's actually easier on the team after a bad loss than he is if we've won by a significant amount. Like he nitpicks the hell out of you, and you don't even feel like you won the game, right?

You're sitting there going, wait, what just happened? I thought we did really well. and then after a loss a lot of times he comes in and he's got a little bit of a different temperament and it's like we got to get back to work we've obviously got to fix the mistakes that we made in this game and there's a lot. We had a game actually my third start of the year we're playing Miami

and that was the Wildcat game where they came into New England and just ran all over our face. Ronnie Brown and all these guys and so they just crushed us and so he came in and wasn't as aggressive toward us. And then what he did is he took the tape and he's like, he did like the ceremonial thing where he went out on the practice field, dug a hole, had a shovel there, dug a hole and buried the

tape. He's like, it's done. It's over. We're moving on. We didn't talk about that game one more time. We watched the film that day, buried the tape and moved on. So I'm sure it's a lot tougher in that building because to rebound from a game like that in college is a little bit different, especially when you can see that your talent is not the level it needs to be. So there's going to be some changes made for sure, probably at the quarterback position. Less games as well. Less games. Every game matters.

Yeah, every game matters so much more. And you're right. It's such a drastic, or at least last night, with TCU, it looked like such a drastic difference of talent. Right. I think, though, TCU is better than about 90% of ACC schools, to be fair. They are, and that's the one differentiating factor. when you talk about college football and NFL. NFL, the guys are so equally talented on each team.

Now, you might have your Joe Burroughs of the world or Josh Allen's, but every week you know you're going into for a dog fight. You're going to have to play your best in order to win because that team, even though the record might not reflect it, they can beat you. Whereas in college, there's such a talent gap. When you, from recruiting or the players that you have, that you can't make that up by just having good coaching.

And it kind of showed last night. when I was with Jerry Jones, he was talking about the talent disparity in college versus in the NFL, where he said, well, you just said, he was talking about how every week, it doesn't matter how good your team is,

it's such a slim margin. Right. Between the really good teams and the really bad teams, which allows the really bad teams at times to beat the really good teams because they're all professionals and the stud starter and the guy that just made it, there's not a lot of difference between.

There's not. And every team has their super, regardless of if you're at the bottom of the league in certain statistical categories, but you go out there and you have a bad day at the quarterback position and you throw a few picks and give them an opportunity to go down on a score or put them in a position to, those really bad teams can beat you. I remember when I was in Kansas City my first year, we're playing the Steelers, Ben Rothersberger.

Our team at that point had won like two games all year. We somehow pull off a victory in overtime, hit a few throws, kept it close. we had a strip sack and go down, score. And there was no reason why we should have won that game. Like that team already was at nine wins. We were at two. It's just one of those situations. Like I said, you come out and the ball rolls your way a little bit.

You've got enough talent to overcome that. One other question about you in this topic since you brought up college. Did you ever watch or ever get a chance to watch any of the Netflix series, any given Saturday? I did not. Okay. So what's happened and I didn't want it to happen is that I watched it and I avoided it because I didn't want to like other players on other teams. I just like to universally hate everybody that's not Arkansas.

Right. So I watch it. And there are some players I liked on the show that don't play for Arkansas. And I found myself rooting for them this last week. And I didn't like how it made me feel. Is it like a hard knocks, but it's any given Saturday? Every episode, and I believe there are five, maybe six episodes, they focus on two games specifically from last season.

Okay. For our week, Arkansas Week, it was Arkansas and Tennessee. we beat Tennessee. It was a massive upset. And it was also in that same episode, Vanderbilt in Alabama when they beat them. Oh, man, that was a huge upset. It starts with like LSU.

And by the way, Brian Kelly, not likable at all. I really don't like him. Not likable at all. He just looks like he's always pressing the panic planning and always blaming players instead of just being like, okay, that's on me or whatever it might be, but his temperament.

Nothing warm about him. Nothing about him comes across, is genuine. You're right there too. Also doesn't seem genuine. Just always pointing the finger. It's never his fault. Great ball coach. No doubt about it.

Good team. But like the kid, the weak's kid that plays linebacker, like they focus on him. And his brother also plays on the team. And then at the end of it is younger brother who was a senior in high school play. So they have three brothers playing linebacker at LSU. But I'm watching LSU and I like LSU fine. Actually, I don't like LSU, but when they're playing Clemson, I'm all LSU. Yeah.

Because also screw Dabo. So. You don't like Dabo? I like Dabo. people you're either one side of that fence or you're the other side of fence but we can get in that after dad will a big time does on my radio show and so i cursed them i cursed them on the air two years ago and they've sucked every sense yeah yeah we we did chimes and everything cursed them and so but i found myself rooting for the kid at lsu the specific kid and i was like come on dj lagway yeah stud

stud he there's a whole episode on him at florida coming in yeah freshman and you know grand murchs grand murch was the guy was a dude and he's he was a dude and he's he's he was a dude and he's He gets hurt. Mm-hmm. And so, I was going to go in and figure it out. And I just found myself rooting for these villains. They're villains to me.

They're not, they're not villains. They've all got a great story. You're right. When they take their helmet off, they've all got a great story. Yes. Leave their helmets on.

Leave their helmets on. And I don't want to know warm stories about it. I don't want to know that you're a good person and that you love puppies. Yes. And that you, no puppies and all that stuff. I just want to look at you and see you in that uniform and know, you're the enemy.

I want to be disgusted. You're the enemy. But then I end up. lacking the coach. And I'm like, what's happening? So, okay, good. Let's roll on my first one. And it's going to be ended with a question about captains. But I'm going to start with Tyree Kill, not a captain on the Dolphins. Now, Tyree Kill did say it wasn't going to come back and play for the Dolphins, if you remember. He's like, I'm not coming back to this team. He's back with the team. They announced the captains. He is not a captain this year. So my first question is,

does that matter? Second of all, what the heck do captains do on an NFL team? Is it just something you wear on the jersey or is there actually a role? I think there's a title to it and then also a responsibility to be a captain. I was named captain when I was in Kansas City. And it's an honor because it's voted on by your teammate, by your peers and who they see is a potential leader of this team. And it's a leader of what you do on the field.

But more importantly, it's what you do off the field, how you lead the guys when, and you're going through adversity and all that stuff. So captains, I think, play an important role. And also, they're sounding board for the coach because the captains are the one group that go in and meet with the head coach on a weekly basis, usually on a Tuesday or a Wednesday to get going. And you might even have a second meeting.

And you're able to give the opinions or the thoughts openly to your head coach when you're in those meetings about the pulse of the team, right? What's going on? What are we struggling with? why can't we get this going, right? And so you're that voice, and there's a lot of responsibility that comes with it.

But whether or not it impacts you on the field, if you could be the greatest player in the world, but your teammates might not view you as one of those captains. But don't they sometimes just give the C to like the most famous player on the team? Yes, a lot of times they do. A lot of times they do. But that might be more of an indictment on Tyree Kill

and maybe how he handles himself. And I'm not spreading rumors. I don't know any of this. but at the same time, there might be other guys that they look at. I can spread some rumors because I do know a little about it. Yeah, you know a little bit about him. He's been a problem. He's problematic.

And I know people who are adjacent to the organization right now. Yeah. And yeah, he's problematic. Yeah, he's problematic and he's a little bit selfish. And really good receivers in league a lot of times, they are a little bit selfish, right? They want the ball. They're the alpha. And that's just how it goes.

But that also sometimes reflects in their personality and how they interact with their teammates. And it's not a good look. So what do you think about him not being a captain? I'm not surprised with all the stuff that you've heard internally from that building. And then even on the outside, some of his, you know, antics and what he's been in trouble for. That doesn't surprise me. There's a shot that the dolphins are a dumpster fire, right?

There is a shot. There is a shot. But they're really talented. And I do like that coach. And I know that he's going to. I like McDaniel too. I think he's fun. And quirky.

He's, yeah. Quarky is the perfect description. His press conferences are money. I mean, I love listening to the just different banter that he comes up with. Yeah. And I think he's super talented.

I just think that he's been knocked off his pedestal a little bit from when he first got there and the excitement that went on. And then you, Tua, I think Tua is a really good quarterback. And he's got a lot of talent around him. Can he stay healthy? Will the defense,

show up. You know, it's all those different factors that go into a season. 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 IHeart radio app. Apple Podcast. podcast or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Daniel Jeremiah.

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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 I-Hourdes. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Whenever you look at that division as well, you got the Patriots, and they're getting a lot better. They're getting better.

And not only they're getting better, they're also going to be consistent because they have a consistent leader now in Brable. 100%. And that's not just for me going, oh, I remember when he played for the Patriots, or I saw him the coach of the Titans. We've been here with him. Right. In this town, you know him.

Yes, I know him well. It's a very consistent guy. Like he builds and breeds show up to work and be consistent first and foremost. So that itself is going to really help that organization. They got a good quarterback. They got a good rookie running back. Kevin, you excited about you running back? Treviour innocent.

I'm fired up about to watch him run. Yeah, I feel like it's bad for not only the Dolphins and what they're doing, but what everybody else is doing around them. Yeah. And it's not that I think the Jets are good, but I don't think the Jets are going to be as terrible as they have been. I think they also have a coach that is going to do. And again, I know that's an offensive league,

but it's almost like the defensive coaches come in and reset culture and consistency. And they reset that culture and consistency. I'm not saying they dynamically rebuild a team the quickest. I don't think it's Ben Johnson. Right. But I think that's what the Jets need to kind of go, this is our freaking foundation. And they don't have Aaron Rogers, and I think that's a plus.

Right. And that's what really good coaches do. They set their foundation. They give a clear expectation. And if you're on board, you're going to be there. If not, you're not going to be there. And that case and point was with the Patriots, they cut Gibral peppers who you think is going to be there

and going to be a stud for them. And then Kyle Dugger, who they just signed the year before to a three-year deal, was taking third string snaps throughout camp having to prove himself. So it's all about giving these guys the opportunity and the understanding, like, you've got to earn it each and every day. And that's what good coaches do. And don't forget the bills in that division.

I didn't even mention the bills. The bills are already. I was going to say, the bills are the premier team. They're top dog. I feel like the dolphins are losing out twice. One, I feel like their team is starting to be a little bit of mess, and then everybody else is getting better around them. And even the Jets, who are the worst, are getting more consistent.

I think they're going to have more consistent leadership. All right, back over to you. You know, the story obviously broke last week, and it's old news at this point with Parsons going to Green Bay. But the real question is, like, they're coming out now with the report saying he might need an epidural in order to play. And I was like... Because he's pregnant. Do you guys see that?

Yeah, because he's... He's going to have a baby. It's crazy. On the field. And he's going to start on Sunday. His son is going to start on Sunday. Yeah, because he's that talented. No, but it's crazy because I've been through that process, right, where you get traded. And I got traded from Minnesota after I had a bad foot injury where I broke three bones and I was out for the rest of the year. And I remember going in and you go through a very thorough physical. They check everything from top to bottom. But particularly, if you're coming off an injury,

they're going to check that injury. They obviously have known or have heard rumors about his So he was in treatment with the Cowboys. He was in treatment with Cowboys, right? And so the fact that they're saying he might need an epidural or might not be able to play because of a back injury, that is a call for concern to me of what doctor completely cleared him for this four-year worth potentially $188 million? I mean, that's a lot of money on the table if this guy isn't able to go and go consistently throughout the year. Can I give you another I've heard? Yes, I love those.

And I'm not connected. You're way more connected than I am, but I have like three ears in the NFL. One dolphin's adjacent. One cowboy's adjacent. Okay. And so not only have I heard this from him, I've also heard it from other people talking about it, is that everybody hated Michael Parsons.

Yeah, I think the image that you see of him being just an absolute savage on the field might be different than how he interacted in the actual locker room. And part of it, even you saw him, he was laying down on the sideline. during one pregame. And I didn't know if that was staged. Like his, his agents like, hey, piss him off a little bit, do this, you know, rile their feathers. But at the same time, there has been those rumors that he's not as outgoing or he kind of

beats to his own drum in the locker room, which could be a problem as well. And also can be okay. Like, everybody doesn't have to be liked. Right. I mean, there can be people that are completely disliked that show up and do their job. But he wasn't well-liked. And I don't think the team is sad as humans that he's gone. but a 26-year-old super elite pass rusher.

He's a superstar. He's like the likes of LT was back when he played for the giant. I don't know. Have you seen him rush the passer? I have. I think in a few years we can make the comparison. Yeah, he's going to have to go out and continue to do it. L.T was the Carolina game last, or two nights ago.

I know. L.T. Him, Michael Jordan, Randy Moss. Brew. Brew. I didn't see him there. Yeah, they were all there. They were all there to see that shalacking.

That's one of those after the game you want to go see coach You're like maybe maybe I'll call them Is there a chance that the Cowboys fleece the Packers I mean I think the Cowboys have a pretty good team Now they lost their best player on defense And I think that's the question mark that they're going to have Is what do they look like on defense Because they just lost that guy

I know they brought in Kenny Clark Who I think will help them in the middle But it's going to be whether or not their defense can step up Because that puts a lot more emphasis on that offense scoring more points, which I think that they're capable of doing. But can you consistently stop people? And that's been their Achilles heel. Well, it's the Bengals.

Yep. That's exactly what, that's basically the prototype of it. It's like, look at the Bengals. You got a star quarterback, you got two star wide receivers, and you got a whole lot of points. Look at the Cowboys now. You got Dak, borderline star quarterback, but you got C.L.L. And you got Pickens now.

So those mirror each other. I would say that Hendris thinks a little better than anything that the Cowboys have defensively. Kenny Clark. What? Big Kenny Clark guy. Kenny Clark, yeah. No, I'm familiar. Yeah.

I was like, I'm not making the comparison. Can you imagine, though, if with all the crap going on, it would be such a cowboy thing to go out and beat the Eagles. It would be such a cowboy thing to go out and actually have a good season. I mean, my friend Eddie is a massive Cowboys fan. And I'm like, oh, you guys know you're going to be good now, especially that you don't expect it. You've been whining about the trade. Yeah. So I'm going to take yours and pivoted over to mine.

And so mine is a bit of a fantasy conversation where the Dallas Cowboys on offense, I predict, for the same thing that you just said, they're going to have a great fantasy year because they're not going to have a defense. They're going to have to throw a lot. And when you, Dak can throw. Dak can rip it. And Dax now got two, he's got one great wide receiver, one possibly really good wide receiver. and they just signed the tight end to an extension. Ferguson?

Yeah, Jake Ferguson. And Ferguson is somebody who's getting closer to the ceiling. Yeah. Like he's becoming a better past catching tied end. So I think that is an offense that's going to be against Cincinnati like in that they're going to score a lot of points for your fantasy teams. And that's been the issue with the Cowboys for so long is they're regular season. They crush the regular season.

it's when they get to the playoffs that they have, what, four Super Bowl wins since, I mean, four playoff wins since the Super Bowl's. Man, if they had that, that 12.6 billion dollar tag that they have on that thing, that would be at 20. No, but they've won four playoff games in like 30 years or something like that. And they've always been, though, a good regular season team. It's just can they get over the hump when they get to playoffs and beat the elites? And that's where they've failed.

My lasting Cowboys' playoff impression is Zeke being the long snapper. Remember that? Yes. And he just gets crushed, the last play of the game. And the offensive coordinator, who's now the coach of the Saints. Yeah. I remember him just hanging his head in shame. He was the coordinator, right?

Kellynne Moore. Yeah, Kellyn Moore. Kellymour former Boise State, quarterback. Stud. That is my lasting impression of the Cowboys in the playoffs. is that where Zeke was playing like seven-on-seven center, like flag football center, and just getting rammed. Yeah, it was Kellan Moore.

Nice. That'll be an issue. Kellan played with me in Dallas when I was there, and you always knew he was going to be a coach duty. He had this little notebook that he'd bring out, and he'd draw plays all the time, and then he would talk about the type of system that he wanted to run and all this stuff.

He's like a savant. Brilliant mind. Are there guys that are so, their love of the kids, game is so pure and you can tell just when you meet them. They're always doing stuff like that. Oh, 100%. And you know those guys, too, that after they're done playing in whatever capacity, they're going right into coaching. And he was one of those guys. I played with another one, Alex Taney, who's now with the Indianapolis Colts. He was the backup quarterback for a really long time and never really got a shot. But at the same time, he was meticulous with his notes. And then he had a

separate binder that he was writing down plays and trying to think of the system that would best fit if he was in college or if he was in the pros. And so you see these guys and you're like, they just have such a love and a passion for the game. If they get a shot, they're going to grow into something and be really good at it. Kevin O'Connell's another guy like that. Oh, you could tell when you were playing with him?

Yeah. Well, he was young when I played with him, but you could tell that as he moved on in his career, that ideally was the direction that he was going to go. Are there guys that know in their heart of hearts? They're always going to be a backup. and that is their job. That will always be their job

and they're just going to be a good backup. Or because they've been competing at such a high level of their entire life, they're still holding on to that shot that they can just get a shot. I think there's both of those personalities show up, right? That guys are just holding on for dear life, hoping that they get a shot to prove themselves.

And there's other guys that are completely content with making money, being a good soldier, supportive, doing whatever they can for the team and taking that approach. And I always love being around. guys like that because it helps the room. You spend so much time with these guys, particularly in the quarterback room, watching film, breaking stuff down. But if you can be a resource on the sideline and have one of your buddies come up to you and say, hey, check out the backside safety. He keeps

cheating in this three-by-one set. He's coming and try to snag. You got the one-on-one backside. Awesome. I love that type of information. I feel like I'd be a terrible backup quarterback because you'd want the started to suck. Yep. I'd want him to suck or get hurt. And that's not nice. It's not good of me to be a backup quarterback and want the starter to tear an Achilles. No, that's not good. He'd go down and I'd be like, oh, no. But in my heart, I'd be like, let it be an Achilles, baby.

Maybe like a hip pointer where he comes out for a little bit. No, no, I want to go forever. Because I need more than a game. I'm getting thrown in, the vibes off a little at the beginning. We're a little unsettled here to start, but you can be that second start. I'm ready to rock and roll third. I got a whole week to prepare.

Yeah, that's. Yeah, I'd be a terrible backup quarterback. I didn't feel that way about Tom, but when you look at it in retrospect, I was like pretty appreciative that he stayed out the entire season. Were you always ready? You know what? Playing the backup position in the NFL or anywhere is probably the toughest position to be in in a mental space. Because when you go into a game as a starter,

number one, you get the reps throughout the course of the week. You're throwing to all the starting quarterbacks. And then as a backup, well, as a starter, you also have your first 20 plays that a lot of people don't even think about. It's scripted. Like, and you've rehearsed these plays. You've gone through them and walked through. You've run them in your first and second down.

You've run your first third downs. And so you're very prepared mentally to have an understanding of what to expect when you go into that game. As a backup, you could be sitting there and all of a sudden in the fourth quarter, like Christian Potter got hurt one time and I think it was in like the fourth quarter.

And all of a sudden, we got to go 80 yards against Chicago. We're down. And I was like, man, I got to get my stuff together. because you really don't have an idea of what exactly we're going to call. Well, guess what we did go down score? Let's go. Cast man, back at it. Back at it.

But, yeah, that is one of those tough situations for any backup because you never know when you're going to go in the game or be called upon. And you're not completely prepared for the moment. You know the plays and all those things, but you might be thrust in to a third and long situation. I remember when Marcus Marieto went down against Jacksonville, we were third and 15 and I had to go in the game

and try to throw a ball fresh off. Definite passing situation. Passing situation. What happens? Ben Jones, I love him to death, but he always floated that ball

a little bit to my right. The ball goes off to the side. So I tip it up, off to the side. I got to pick it up and I'm scrambling out to the right trying to throw this ball downfield now incomplete pass,

but I'm looking at going, really, that's how we're going to start? Like, tip ball looks like a fumble. I got to pick it up off the ground. I was like, but you just have to, Then all of a sudden, once you get into that second, third series, you settle in like anything. And it's one of those.

Then you start to feel the game a little bit better. If I'm doing human nature, Bobby, human nature would be, I go in, I'm to back up. Game one through three, I'm super prepared. But I didn't get any action. Game four through six, I'm pretty prepared. But I didn't get any action. Game seven through nine, do I even have to fully prepare?

I mean, I haven't got any action. Game 10, I'm calling me. pants down because I didn't even put any effort into it. And it's getting cold outside. I don't care if you find me because Vinnie Tessa Verdi came in and he was a big dude and he's like, you guys are getting fined if we're wearing coats on the sideline. I was like, screw that, find me. It is cold out here.

I'm trying to keep my hands warm. Your feet are getting cold. And again, I've been put into games where it's late in the season. It's the third, fourth quarter. You've been just sitting there picking your nose doing nothing. And you're going, what in the hell's going on? I can just see me getting less and less prepared. the longer it goes when I've gotten no action.

And not consciously. Right. But it's why am I going to put all this extra effort into studying every nook and cranny, every detail, getting super granular when it hasn't actually had a chance to manifest into anything? Yeah, try waiting eight years like I did through college and then my first three years of the pros. I was like, man, I should not be this complacent at times. But I mean, you do sit there and you're going, man, I've been told for so long. you're a playaway. I was like, when the hell is this play going to happen? It's a play going to happen. Yes.

You know, you're sitting there like, I'm ready, I think. But you definitely have to guard yourself against complacency as a backup quarterback because the longer you get into the season, like you said, and you're just kind of sitting there and you're preparing mentally. But it's more of mental approach than anything because you're running scout team as well as a backup quarterback to get your throws in. But the scout team is a bunch of crap, right? They circle guys that they want you to throw to that you know the ball's going to get picked off and you're going, gosh, I mean, I would never make that throw in a hundred years.

Well, we got to get that safety, you know, a touch. We want him to go over there and make sure that he's in the right position. I was like, well, that's just bad habits for me. So you're fighting those bad habits as well. Dang. All right, we got one more each. Take it away. One more each.

You know, the game that I'm looking forward to seeing is Chicago Bears against the Vikings because I think these two young quarterbacks, both high draft picks, but we don't know what we're going to see at a JJ McCarthy coming off the year that they had. And then you've got Caleb Williams with Ben Johnson coming in with a lot of high hopes, but there's been so much speculation and everybody's on board with what's Caleb Williams going to be. But I just think it's an intriguing game going into the season with two young quarterbacks that have so much promise. And it'll be fun to watch these guys and how they lead their team.

The last thing I'll talk about is I watched Tom Brady do an interview talking about quarterbacks and how they celebrate. And Tom Brady was like, you know, when I watch a quarterback and he's doing all finger guns to the crowd after he throws a touchdown or he's doing this animation to the crowd or to the bench,

he goes, I don't like that. Tom said, I like it when they go celebrate with the team. He said he would tell his offensive linemen, if I throw a touchdown, we throw a touchdown, we meet in the end zone and we celebrate together. I thought that was interesting. I didn't know if that was something

that you knew he did. was that something you knew he did? Well, when I got there, I was kind of indoctrinated into that whole environment. And I always remember coaches screaming at us, even during practice, like, hey, if we score, you guys go celebrate. It's hard as shit to score touchdowns in this league.

And if you get a chance to celebrate with your teammates, go do it and have fun doing it. And so when I got to New England, that always was kind of what they did, right? everybody would meet down in the end zone big guys would run down picking people up we're hooting hollering high fives coming off and that was just kind of the culture or however you were the standard that they set and so i never knew anything different and it i guess even when i went on in my career that's always kind of my approach was to go celebrate with the team it wasn't like look at me because i did it all no it takes

11 guys on the offensive side to do their job at a high level for you to go down and have a successful drive every single time. Former NFL linebacker Lorenzo Alexander coming on next. We'll talk to him when we come back. 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 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. Up next, Lorenzo Alexander, what's your favorite part of his story? I love the fact that he was a grinder. I mean, he was undrafted, bounced around early in his

career on practice squads, was looking for the right fit, but finally made it. And it was because he was willing to do anything. If you see it, like, he played defensive line. They said he played offensive line at times. He played linebacker and just kept at it. And a lot of guys at one point or another, they're finally like, okay, this is probably not going to work out. But he just kept at it and eventually became a pro bowler. It's an incredible story. Yeah, his best year was when he was 33, he had 12 and a half sacks. You're just now 33. Imagine that. How about that? Thank you. I feel so much younger today than I actually am. He's a two-time pro bowler.

Here he is. He is also now the Arizona Cardinals analyst for the radio there. Oh, wow. I've got to ask him about Monty Awesome for it. My boy, the GM. Oh, yeah. I didn't know who that was. Yeah, well, not you do.

I can't even act educated on that. I don't know Monty Austin for it. He lived here. He was with Tennessee before and we're really close family friends. Oh. So if we wanted to go to a game, you could be like, 100% I've been to a game. And he even has a sweet.

Stop flexing. It's a nonstop. So much fun. All right, here he is. Lorenzo Alexander. We were hyping you out before you came on. I mean, we were going about your story. Like, you'd have loved it.

I wish you could have been here. It's like when someone goes, why couldn't you eulogize me when I was alive? Like, we were just selling you big time. So first question I want to ask you, Lorenzo, is like, why did you keep on? Because a lot of people, Matt Castle was just talking about in his career. He had seen guys that played for a few years and maybe didn't catch on quite yet,

but that we both really admire the fact that you kept at it. Well, I mean, to be honest, I thought about quitting early on too. And it really wasn't that long when I look back retrospectively. You know, my first year I got cut and was on practice squad with the Carolina Panthers. And that second year, I was with the Washington Redskins at the time of the commanders. But it really came down to my mom and my uncle that encouraged me to keep pushing through it. Because at the beginning of my second year in the NFL, I had gotten cut, had done a couple of workouts. And I was like, man, I ain't doing this.

man, I went to Cal. I can go be a lawyer or something else, right? I got this great education. But, you know, being told you're not good enough or we don't want you, it's not something I want to continue to put myself in front of. So it's really my mom and my uncle Steve that really encouraged me to keep pushing through. And then, you know, God really making a way for me. You know, my workout with Washington, I actually didn't get chosen. My man, Alice Guerrero, who's now a business in sports business world. doing really well for himself. He actually pulled his hamstring in that workout.

And then they ended up going with me because he was injured. And so that's how I even got an opportunity with Washington, right, showing what I could do in practice squad, being a hard worker, taking every single rep I possibly could. Now, and that's not me exaggerating by any means. When I say every single rep in practice, special teams, defense, offensive look. And that's how I started playing all these different positions.

based on what they saw there. So my uncle pushed me, God opened up a door, and then I walked through it and went all out because I'd been cut. Had to be humble in some ways, had to grow up in a lot of ways, and I didn't look back after that. Can you talk to us about that mindset? Because obviously you're undrafted, and when you come in as an undrafted free agent, so to speak, you've got to earn your way and earn your keep. But the mentality of after getting cut and doing all those things of how you just continued

to grind and finally got that opportunity and seize that. Yeah, you know, I don't think people really understand what the NFL is until you're in it, right? And I think most of us grew up being that dude, being him. You know, as a young kid say, or my son would say he calls himself hematty. And it's really hard. It's a shock to the system, right? It's very humbling in a lot of ways. And I think at that point, you really have to look internal and say, hey, why did I start doing this?

What is my dream? What is my passion, right? When I was in the backyard or out at the park, it never was. was a I want to be this starting player I want to play in the NFL and so for me it was about shifting my mindset and figuring out where I could get in where could I feel a void

and where can I feel a niche at and push through because I knew I was capable. I just had to make some tweaks to who I was as a person, young person in that time right? And all that entails of what they tell you a professional athlete how you should act and what you should be doing

in terms of being off the field. Had to make some maturity decisions there and grow up. But I always knew I belonged. It was just about getting the right choice. Because you mentioned being undrafted, right? My rookie year, they drafted another de-tackle ahead of me, actually a detackle and a defensive end,

Javon Hay and a T.S. Ellison. And I remember over hearing a conversation like, hey, we got to keep this dude because we drafted him, right? And so it wasn't even necessarily something that I could do or change. And so it wasn't until I got with my man, Chris Draft, who came on later in Carolina and told me, hey man, just worry about the things you can control. And once I had that shift, it really allowed me to go out there and be free, not count

numbers, not worried about what somebody else was doing because I had no control over that. I just had to go out and showcase who I was. And by doing that, playing the game wholeheartedly, I got my opportunity, you know, after making a tackle with my helmet, when my helmet came off. And that really gave me a lot of love back in like, what was that, 2007 playing Tennessee Titans in the preseason. I have to assume that you chose to be versatile, like that you felt like, for me to survive, I need to make my versatility known.

So what is the conversation with the coach going, A, I want to be on special teams. Do you have that conversation or they come to you? No, you have that conversation with the coach. And for me, you know, when I first came to the league, people don't remember this because it was a long time ago and I had almost two different careers. I was a D-tackle.

So I was, you know, 6-1, 6-2, as I like to say. And I was, at my heaviest, 315 pounds, right? That's not a special team. his body. Back then, you could get away with being in the wedge, and that was probably about it. And so I really had to change my body over the course of the years. I think I started covering kicks when I was like 285, so kickoffs and punts and then really working my way in there. But I had to beg Danny Smith. You know, I was a detackle. I didn't really have a shot at playing any of the core special teams, but I used to go and sit in every single meeting, knew all

the stuff. Hey, Danny, man, when are you going to give me a shot? Hey, Danny, when are you going to get me a shot? I had to almost beg for him and let him know that I wanted to get out. out there. And so I advocated for myself. I showed up. I did all the work. And when I got my opportunity to get exposure, I went out there, covered a kick, and made some plays. I remember my man, Mike Sellers got hurt in 2008. We went back home, played in Oakland, and he got hurt that week. So I fielded in for punt. And if you know any special teams coaches, they don't like just putting people in their own punt because too many things can happen. Got my opportunity because of an injury, once again, had four tackles on special teams in my hometown on punk coverage.

And that was really, I think, the birth of what I was able to do there on special teams and really showcase my ability. But it really started back in high school. I went to a small high school and I had to play everything, you know, kickoff and offensive line, defensive line, some linebacker, some running back at times. And so it was in there and it was just, you know, it was a great precursor to what I would be able to do in the NFL when I got that opportunity. Lorenza, how validating was it when you were called and told that you made the pro bowl?

Obviously, you were a two-time pro bowler, but that first one's, pretty unique, I'm guessing, because I remember my own experience. I teared up, but I was like, it's just validation, but especially with the road that you went down. Yeah, it was dope, man. It was, you know, you wait for that call all day. It was actually probably a couple of years, you know, overdue. They always say you go in late and stay a year too long or whatnot because just special

teamers, they just take one person from each conference. And so it was definitely an overwhelming experience. It was really cool. because, and I would say more so now, it's really hearing about guys, you know, that respected the way you played the game more so than the accolades. But that experience was really cool

because I thought it kind of validated me was coming out 2012. I was also becoming a free agent, so it all kind of happened at the right time as far as taking my game to a Pro Bowl level. You ended your career in Buffalo. How cold was that? Hey, I live in Phoenix, Arizona right now,

the hottest place in America. That should tell you right there, right? It was the coldest place I've ever been. You know, I grew up in Oakland, West Coast, through and through. And I can't even describe how cold that first year was. But it was all worth it. I mean, that's one, some of the coolest fans

and coolest people I've ever been around in terms of, you know, just really making you feel like football is family and it's a community sport, right? It really felt more like college going up there. But it was cold, That's why I don't live there. You're now doing some, you're covering the team, the Arizona Cardinals.

So I think about the Arizona Cardinals. I'm thinking about Kyler Murray. And he's had somewhat of an up and down career. What are the expectations for him this year? I think it's to take another step forward, right? I think in a lot of ways his career is in, you know, a little bit of a flux. It's like a flux year. I think if he goes out and plays really well, he'll be here for a long time.

But I think if he had some struggles and his team underperforms, again, there may be some transition there. But I like to think that he's going to take that next step, right? You know, and I think you have to kind of cut his career in half, like before the knee tear and after the knee tear. I think after the knee tear, hanging out with Buddy Morrison as he went through his rehab. And if you know Buddy Morrison at any bit,

he's been around the league in the league a long time. This dude is old school, Pittsburgh, through and through blue column. I think a lot of that rubbed off on Kyler, doing that recovery process. And so this is his third year in this offense with that new mentality. And each year he's gotten progressively better

from a leadership standpoint, maturity standpoint, and that's why I think this year he's going to make another breakthrough and be able to finish a season off strong. He's always been good through the first 10 to 12 weeks, right? They kind of fall off towards the end, but I think this is the year they do it. And for him, it's almost like that Josh Allen effect

where Josh used to try to do too much for him is also the same. Knowing when I just need to, hey, man, let me just throw this ball out of bounds, especially with the defense they got now. Let's just punt this thing away instead of throwing a pick or a pick six like we saw in Seattle last year in the fourth quarter of the game. Not that that lost you the game, but that puts you a real bad position to win the game, right? And so I think that's where I see him evolving the most this year, along with Marvin Harrison Jr. taking another step, bigger, stronger.

We saw a couple of good catches from him. if he ascends his game and makes some of those 50-50 catches for Kyler, along with the rest of the offense, when you think about Trey Benson, McBride, they're going to be really good, I think, offensively this year and give some people some issues. You mentioned Marvin Harrison, Jr., that's where I was going to go next.

And, you know, rookie expectations are always weird because every situation's different. Every organization's different. Every quarterback is different throwing to you if you're a wide receiver, right? And I think him coming out of Ohio State, they were ready for him to beat that dude immediately. And he wasn't, now that's not his fault. It could have been his fault.

There are myriad of factors to play here. Right. Where is the growth with him this year? I think for him is just a confidence in being in it, right? And you could be grow up around the game, right, with his dad and seeing it from afar. But, hey, it's used to work the dude that was out there on the field playing the game. And so you have to experience it for yourself and really gain that confidence and make it your own. And I think his thing is going to be, obviously, got bigger and stronger this year.

as you can see from all these photos of him walking around ripped up. But from him, I think it's just going to be the mental side of the side of just running around and not being mentally drained by the time the ball gets to him to where he may not catch it. So this year in the preseason, he had a couple of opportunities. And you can see him catching the ball and attacking the ball much better with his hands as we all expect that he would this year. And I think that's just because he's not thinking as much because he knows it. He's reacting. He's playing fast and fluid.

And so I just off of just that alone, I think his nose. numbers or his impact, because his numbers when you look at as a rookie weren't horrible, but the consistency from game to game, I think that's where you're going to see the biggest jump where he is a vital threat and option for this offense to rely on week in and week out. Monty, awesome for the GM. They went strong in the draft on the defensive side of the ball. Which rookie do you anticipate having the biggest impact for this team this year on that

side of the ball? Wow. I mean, they got a lot of great guy. I think Will Johnson on the outside, you know, with the defensive line, I think he's going to benefit from that defensive line, the guys they got Josh Sweat, Callais Campbell coming back, D-Rob, stepping up, and the middle of other guys that they got Zavin. There's some guys in that front that are going to cause a lot of tips and overthrows

that he's going to be able to go out there and make ballhawk a little bit. Because that's what they really need on that back-in, the corners to really step their game up. So that's what I'm looking at. And, you know, Manny, you talk about Marnie. He's done a really great job over these last three years. really identifying great talent, but great human beings, guys that understand how to be a pro, how to come in and work and learn through failure and grow.

And then you can see the identity of this football team really becoming more like a Buddha Baker where, you know, four or five years ago, it was just like, man, it's Buddha and then everybody else. There's a lot more Buddha-like players on this team. And you're going to definitely see that, I think, coming in a real effect this year across the board, but in particular as a rookie with Will Johnson. What do you think of the new kickoff rule? I hate that they call it dynamic.

I'm like, what were we doing back in the day, man? We had to cover that thing and actually have to run through, you know, big double teams. Was that not dynamic? But, you know, I like it in the sense of they're trying to find ways to keep it a part of the game. Because there's a lot of guys like me that made their name on special teams,

in particular kickoff that allowed me to work while I waited and not be out of the league, right? And so if they took the game completely out and doing my era, I would become more expendable and never become evolving to the player that I did later in my career. And so I love that they're trying to find ways because it is an exciting play. It is an opportunity for guys that are fighting for roster spots to earn a spot on that team and then grow into the player and you can still go out there and get some big time tackles special teams. So I like it.

I like the way they're trying to figure out ways to make people return it and make it a cool play to see. And I think last year they had, I don't know, probably a handful, if not more, of returns. And I think that's also exciting for the game for special teams. Yeah, the Titans actually went out. They were one of the worst special teams in all football last year, but they hired Coach Fassell. And he's one of the best to ever do it. Do you think that the hiring of a special team's coach is just as important as any offensive or defensive coordinator in the league? Yeah, and you'll see it from team to team.

I mean, when you think about like the Baltimore Ravens, right, and how they play special teams throughout the years, the Pittsburgh Steelers with Danny Smith. There's guys, as you just mentioned, that are big-time stakeholders in the special teams world or that phase of the game. And that's because they coach it well. It's the biggest time that you have transition of field position, right? And then you find little nuances where you can take advantage of the rules

or take advantage of some type of technique to give your team the advantage. So I think it's always, as long as they continue to allow it to be part of the game, it's definitely going to be something that teams try to find and get that, that additional advantage as far as matchups or scheme-wise in terms of winning the game in the field position, right? Because if I have better field position, that means I'm probably score more points. Or if I can back teams up or flip the field, that means my defense is going to be pretty good as well because it's really hard for teams to drive the length of the field.

So coaches understand that, even though fans don't always love it as much or love those guys up as much, it's still a really critical part of the game that impacts winning to losing because you're dealing with field position. You mentioned transitioning there, but I also want to talk about transitioning from the league to back to, you know, just a citizen, like regular person.

I know you're working with the NFL Legends community. Like, what was the transition like to normal person? Because I think that will be kind of weird to go from your identity as football, your whole life, and now all of a sudden you're a normal person. And then what's been a real rewarding thing about working with the NFL?

Well, I think I've always, been a normal person. I've never allowed myself to completely see myself as just a football player. It's a part of who I am. It's one of the things that I've been gifted to be able to do at a high level, but there's a lot of different things that I'm able to do. I coach now. I, you know, I do some analyst stuff, and guys have a array of talents. And to your point, I think the biggest thing is guys get caught up in the football because there's nothing like it and there's nothing that ever can replace it because I can go out there and do a great job and call a great play, you know, on third and 12, and we executed and score a touchdown to win a little league championship.

I'm not going to have 50,000 people applaud me and looking to get my autograph. And that's what guys get tied up in, right? And so you have to figure out what your joy is away from the game. And that's really what I help the Legends community do and trying to help guys, hey, what you did was special. You're more than this game. You have other assets and writing this game. actually helped you cultivate a character

that you can go and be just as productive in other places because most people aren't built like you, right? And so I say I'm a regular person, but I would say most student athletes or sports or athletes are built differently and rightfully so because your job is an online line every single day, right? You don't have to compete for it every single day.

You don't get cut like I did for no reason, right? There's normally a process to that. And sports is very unique where you get simulated adversely daily, And we all have come to find out right. If you have the right perspective, you can grow through that failure exponentially better than someone that just has a regular 9 to 5 that's just showing up to work and not really about losing their job. And so I always encourage my guys.

Use that skill set that you have, that leadership ability, that ability to make transitions and pivots on the move, the ability to handle pressure to perform. Use that in whatever else you're passionate about. And you'll work your way up and find yourself once again in a little. leadership type role in that new aspect of life. And so that's what I do.

And for me, that process was somewhat seamless because I got to choose to walk away from the game, unlike a lot of people do. You know, I was year 15, and I actually said, I don't want no more deals or no contracts. I'm ready to transition to spend more time with my family, which I think helped me in that process, even though still being hard at times, just because you do miss, you miss more of the people, that camaraderie, that common goal, and really doing something that you love at the highest level. on Instagram Lorenzo underscore John

looking forward to the season and hope you have a good season with the Cardinals this year calling the games analyzing, analyzing, analyzing. Analyzing.

Yeah, just go out there, analyze the games. You ever find it difficult to talk bad about players or you're over that? Yeah, yeah, I do.

Because you know how hard it is, right? And you had a lot of respect for what they do unless they just being a jerk about it and not doing, being a professional, then I'll criticize that. But try to always keep things

in context and put things in perspective. that's a bad play, but this is all the things that led to that. So, you know, that's what I wanted people to do for me because I don't know the call. I don't know what the coach is coaching. All I can do is based guess on what I think it should be and always approach it from that mentality. So, yeah, I try to be respectful with the guys grind. Lorenzo, we appreciate the time.

Thank you very much. Yeah, I appreciate you too. Thanks, Lorenzo. 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 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 team. We got T-101. We got T-1-1-3-A-A-7-7-exists, and how real rosters are built, 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. Okay, let's run down the games real quick. So Thursday night, Cowboys and Eagles. Eagles over a touchdown favorite. Over a touchdown. Seven and a half.

Wow. We'll just go straight up. So no spreads. I'll mention it, but pick your winner. Cowboys Eagles. I'm going to go with the Cowboys. Yeah, I like it. Everybody zigs.

I'm going to zag. Let's zag. Why not? It's my style. Let's go opposite. Chiefs at Chargers, but they're in Brazil. I know that adds such a weird dynamic because the travel is where is it? San Juan or something like that.

Sao Paulo. Yep, that's what I meant. I wouldn't have known. That's brutal travel to get down there. Remember the last time they went down, wasn't it? Mexico where the field was coming up and then the guys had lasers and shooting it into the quarterback's eyes. That was crazy.

That showbiz, baby, in Mexico. Yeah, this is, it's going to be interesting because it'll also be interesting to see how the teams deal with the travel and all that stuff, but it should be a heck of a game because I think the Chargers are better. What? What? Los Angeles Chargers?

Do you think they're better than the Chiefs? No, I think that they're better this year than they were last year. I don't see better. than the Chiefs. I'm sorry. You said better. You didn't say anything at the end. Well, I meant better this year. Got it. I was hicking up on my spit. What did you say? What? They still may win. Who knows? I'm picking the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl this year. Not that's a crazy pick. But the Chiefs have kind of fallen out of like, oh, they're sexy. They're not sexy anymore. To me, they're sexy. They're the hated team because they keep winning. People don't

like winners. They want to give themselves a chance. But with that leadership and Patrick Mahomes and everybody else, they're coming back hungry. Yeah, I'd say that's a pretty damn good pick. Big year for Kelsey, too. I'm going to say it. Then he walks out. Big year for Kelsey. He's going to have a big year.

Because he knows people, if he doesn't, he knows it's all going to be about, he sucks because Taylor's flip is making them. He got engaged. Yeah. He's got to, like, fight for Taylor's honor now. Because if he does not perform, it's going to be her fault. Yes. So play for Taylor's honor.

Play for her. Yeah. Go out there and dominate. Don't you love her or not? If you love her, play for Taylor. It's not about the ring. It's about how you play. They're going to be blaming Taylor if you don't play well.

I take the Chiefs. So true. Taking the Chiefs? I'm going to take the Chiefs. Raiders, the Patriots. Ooh, Raiders, Patriots. Now, an improved Raiders, but they are at the Patriots. What's interesting, though, is there wasn't a game before.

I think that takes a little out of playing on the road in, like, fatigue. Right. I mean, if you play it in a way game or you just played a game and then you have to travel, that's a bit different than your first game of the year on the road, right? Right. And plus, it's a 1 o'clock game. I don't have times. That's going to be an early morning game, I would think, for Oakland going out there.

I'm not Oakland, sorry, Las Vegas going out there. Because anytime a team travels west coast to east coast and you've got an early game, that's a brutal time change for them. They're getting up playing at 10 a.m. basically their time. So I'm going to go with the Patriots. Patriots. Bucks and Falcons. That's interesting, at least.

What? The Bucks and Falcons. Yeah, I still think the Bucks are going to win. I agree, but I think the Bucks are going to be really good. I think they're going to be really good. I think the Falcons are going to be improved. Definitely improved. And I'm interested to see Pinnock's come out, you know,

in his first full season starting as well, because he had some flashes at the end of last year that gave you hope that this kid could be the real deal. And I've drafted Kyle Pitts every single year of his entire career, and I refused to not draft him. I drafted him last year. It wasn't. No, it's never good.

It was never good. It was never what I was hoping for. I think he's still only like 25 or 26 years old is what's crazy. Bengals at Browns. I mean, that's a Bengals walking away, right? Dolphins at Colts. Yeah, that's not a super sexy game. I think Tyler Warren's going to be awesome.

Oh, he is going to be awesome. I think he's going to be awesome for the Colts. First of all, he did everything at Penn State. Like he ran the ball, he caught the ball. I think he's going to be, that he is going to thrive in Indianapolis. He reminds me of like Dallas Clark. Like bring your lunch, pale, going to go. go out, do whatever you ask me to do, can block

at the in line of the scrimmage, can also go out and be a huge contributor in the past game. I think he's going to be super effective as a pro. Let's roll through some of these others. Cardinals at Saints. Cardinals at Saints? I'm going with the Cardinals. Yeah,

did the Saints even have a team? They have enough for a team? They can play seven-man this year? I think they're barely. Kellan Morris, coaching there. Speaking of Kellynne. Good point. I wonder if they're going to fill the team. Steelers at Jets. It's Aaron Rogers. first game as a stealer against the Jets. With the coach that did not want him,

had him fly out there. Remember that? Yeah. Whole conversation flew out there for a five-minute conversation to say basically, we're not going to have you come back. Yeah, he's got a little something for him. Have you seen the clubs have been practicing? He looks very slow,

but I think he just doesn't care and is not going fast on purpose. He doesn't have to be fast. He just has to rip that ball and throw it to D.K. Medcalf and he'll be all right. Giants at commanders? Giants at commanders.

going to go with the commanders. Yeah, me too. McLarence signed. Yeah, I do think the Giants are going to be really good defensively, though. Yeah, they should like sack two quarterbacks at the same time. They have so many pass rushers. And then they bring in Abdul Carter. I mean, they should have, they should sack the quarterback and the second string quarterback

on the bench at the same time. They have that kind of pass-rush. They've got like three first runners. Tibinoe, you got Lawrence, right? And then you got Abdul-Carter. Brian Burns? Brian Burns? Yeah.

Dude. Who we were next to him. We went to the Panthers training camp. Yeah. Last year. Your favorite team, right? Oh, my. I haven't picked yet.

I know. Have two teams left. The Panthers and the Broncos. I know. But Burns is a, and listen, they're all men. No, dude. Burns is a dude. Panthers at Jaguars.

Panthers at Jaguars. Jags are a three-point favorite. I'm going with Panthers. I'm expecting pretty big things. Are you? I'm going with Jacksonville. Hater. Titans at Broncos.

Titans at Broncos. Oh, gosh, it's really hard for me not to pick the Broncos. So I'm going to pick the Broncos. Bonnex, second year, you know, they got a lot more going for them right now. Over a touchdown favorite. Only two games. Over a touchdown. It's that one and the Eagles over the Cowboys.

Wow. 49ers at Seahawks. That should be a really good game. The Niners of Seahawks? Huh? Niners and Seahawks? Yeah. Sam Darnold, first time out there is a Seahawk.

Oh, Coopee Cup is up there too? Yeah, Coop. I'm going to go with Seahawks with the upset. Are they favored? No, they're not. The Niners are two and a half. I'm going to... That's interesting.

Brock Party's getting paid for the first time. Yep. That'd be fun. The Lost Ebo, Samuel? Yeah. Yeah, he's in Washington now. Yeah.

Christian McCaffrey, they say he's ready. He's fully healthy. He did not... I don't think he played any in preseason. But they're also missing. Like, Jennings isn't going to play. Ayuk is still out.

Yuk is out. Yep. So I feel pretty good about my pick. Three more games. Lions at Packers. That's a good one. That's a good one. These last three games are all like pretty premier games.

Right. Lions at Packers. At Packers, I'm going to go with the Packers. Lions been through a lot of changes, both coordinators, but they're still super talented. Yeah, I'm still going with the Packers. I just think that they're going to be at home, got a talented team. Me too.

Yeah. I think Golden, it's going to be interesting. First round pick. How much impact does he have right away? Like, he, he, Yeah. Because we talked about Marvin Harrison Jr. earlier. And, like, he was one that everybody expected to really show out

and didn't really have the year that was expected. And then a guy like Malik Neighbors, who was a beast, obviously at LSU, but didn't really have a quarterback. So he didn't know what he was going to do and still showed out like crazy. Showed out like crazy. Yeah, so it would be interesting to me to see what happens in Green Bay. Texans at Rams. Ooh, Texans at Rams.

If Stafford is healthy. Stafford. I'm going with Stafford. If Stafford is healthy, they may go to the Super Bowl. Right. and Houston had redid their whole offensive line, everything. Their defense is going to be good now.

But I think the Rams, after watching them last year in the playoffs, if Stafford's healthy and they brought in, what's his name? Wide receiver. Devonte Adams, yeah. Oh, and they brought in Devante Adams next to Pooka Nakuwa. I mean, they're going to have a team and a squad. I think the Rams are going to be really good, so I'm going with the Rams. Yeah, if Stafford's back works.

Yeah. I don't know how real that is. I was with him in 2018, where the guy just manages, I've never seen anybody play through more pain than Matt Saffert. You know what he needs? One of those chairs from the airport that, like, rub your back. Oh, man, those feel so good. Like $350.

Do you ever get embarrassed, though? Do you ever get embarrassed when you sit? Have you ever sat in one at an airport? Oh, you'd probably travel private. But, I mean, us normal folk will go and sit. You can Google your salary, bro. You can go sit there and I'll sit there, and I'll just see these people walking by me and kind of staring at me.

I'm like, I know I'm a big guy, but this feels great right now. I'm going to pay that $5 for 25 minutes. Yeah, except sometimes I'll pay the $5 for 25 minutes and it hurts. But I don't want to get out because I just paid five bucks. No. So I just sit there and take the punishment of the chair. Or you'll sit next to somebody that has to like, oh. Like moaning, like, okay.

All right, that's enough out of you. Week 1 Super Bowl, Ravens at Bills. Ooh, that should be such a good game. That's almost too good for. Week 1. That's Texas, Ohio State Week 1. It's so good. Oh, man. I'm going with, dude, give me Josh

Allen, reigning MVP to go out there and light it up. I'm going Baltimore. Yeah, I don't think either one of those picks. What's the spread on that? One and a half. Yeah. I hate the half that they always put on there. Well, yeah, in case there's a... Yeah, God forbid, they win by a point. A tie.

Okay, so there's that. Looking forward to it, finally. It feels like football's already been here because, well, you're You're on NBC. Do you know that? I was. This guy's on NBC. Worked out. And so, you know, we had a week, but now we're ready.

NFL, let's go. Let's go. I got a couple other things. Second of all, I'd like to say happy birthday to your daughter. I would like to say happy birthday to my little Lily. Sweet girls, eight years old a day. My youngest is eight. That makes me feel older.

But at the same time, I mean, she's an amazing young lady. Will she hear this? 100% because I'm going to play it for her. Yeah, happy birthday, Lily. I love your birthday. Happy birthday, young lady. Eight years old. Eight years old.

Hang, I remember when. Yeah, I've only got a few more years before she just doesn't want to hug and, like, Dad, don't embarrass me. I'm going to just. That's how I am with you every day here. I'm like, don't. No, because you are a hugger. I'm a hugger.

Every day. Every day. I say this, you have a loving fella. People are like, what's Matt Castle like? I'm like, every time I see him, he hugs me. I'm a hugger. Every single time. Yeah, and you try to, all the time.

Walk in, and he walks right to, right down that line and tries to avoid me like a plague, We'll come sit in his chair and I'll come up and I'll look him in his eyes and like, What's up, buddy? What did you say today? I just want to touch. I like to touch people. I'm a touchy feeling kind of dude. Touchy guy.

Come on. Happy birthday, Lily. That's awesome. Well, what about USC? Are you following or no? Not yet? Yeah, they had a great outing. I mean, they scored like 65 points so they didn't play anybody.

But at the same time, they look talented. I hope Lincoln Riley goes out there and just dominates. I mean, last year, they lost five games. Four of those games, they had the lead in the fourth. quarter late in the fourth quarter ended up losing so they could have easily been a 10-win team but they weren't so um if they can put it all together i mean they've got enough talent to go out and win and i think they're due we're playing arkansas state we've never played arkansas state it's a in state rivalry which we don't need to play the game we shouldn't play the game no it's not we shouldn't

play the game and secondly we play them in little rock in a crappy old stadium fantastic it's it's a nightmare we should win are you going no i'm gonna go probably the next week week we play at Ole Miss. Oh, that would be good. And then I got to go to a music festival and work after that. But then the week after that, Notre Dame's come to Arkansas. We wanted that one. Let's go.

Never been. Notre Dame's never been. I was going to say, I don't, that this is. You mean you don't remember the storied Arkansas, Notre Dame matchups? Yeah, the rivalry that's taken. Taking place forever. Yeah, so that's what's up. Hope you guys have a good weekend.

I got a haircut. About to go get one. Why? Your hair looks great. It's a little long. I got a bunch of press. I got to do tomorrow. So I got to go cut my hair.

Oh, what are we pressing for? Just guesting on a lot of podcasts in Chicago. Somebody like five hours is going from one show. Oh my gosh. Good for you. Thank God I'm not going to be there. Got to promote this show. You're definitely promoting probably something else. No, no, one of them I'm promoting this show for sure.

You're autobiography? No, I'm doing. The first show I'm doing is mostly sports on Barstool. Oh, Barstall, let's go. Yeah, so I'll be promoting this show. Did you see Dave Portnoy? Mm-hmm. Okay.

When he came out, cut it in the wrestling promo? I mean... Out of the hole. It was awesome. I mean, how about when he walked up on stage and just took off his sweater and just shut up? Shut up. I was like, what is going on right now?

It was excellent. Yeah, that's exactly what he wanted. Let me ask you an honest question before we leave. Okay. When you get a haircut. Yeah. Do you go somewhere? I do.

Like, instead of having somebody come to my house or have my wife cut my hair? Well, I don't know if your wife has a floor. Most normal humans go to a barbershop. No, I'm just asking about you. You're not a normal human. You act like you're just Mr. Joe Schmoe. I go to 4010 barbershop, bro, right there. Just asking.

Yeah, in Green Hills. That's all. Yeah, go in there and say, can you make sure that you... There's nothing about you that's normal. You're a very nice guy, but you're... Cut my hair so it doesn't, you know, cover up that bald spot. You're a tall, good-looking ex-pro athlete. Like, nothing about you as normal.

That's totally normal. Yeah. Yeah. You're the one I know. You're the one I know. So who's coming over to the house to cut your hair? She's already up there. She's already up there.

Been with her for you. She has her own salon, but we'll come to my house. Accurate. Accurate. I know it is. Yeah. But you definitely pay for what you get. Yeah.

Yeah. How much is the haircut for you? I think it's 45 for the haircut. It's pretty, I mean, back in the day, you could get like. Yeah, 12 bucks. Yeah, 12 bucks. I used to go to other cuts or you pay probably $10, but it looks like you went to other cuts. Not super cuts.

It was like a random one. And now I've stepped my game up a little bit, you know? These guys know what they're doing. Looks good. Yeah, I always wear a hat. I know. All right. We're out on Bob Jones.

He is pro athlete, extraordinary. Mr. NBC. Be sure to watch them this weekend. Yeah. As you will be this week. At Michigan State. BC, Michigan. It's just one after the other.

I'm not complaining. That's an hour flight. I'm taking that. I do. Because we got to go, like, Oregon this year. Oh, that's a bruntian. I love it out there, but that's a trip. Yeah. Get out there to Eugene.

It's not easy. Yeah, it's tough. Yeah. Yeah, have a good weekend. That's awesome. We'll be looking for you on NBC. My guys on NBC. NBC. Kickoff Kevin, Brandon Ray.

I'm Bobby Bowen. We'll see you next week. We've had lots to say. Goodbye, everybody. Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and IHeart Podcast. For more podcasts from Iheart Radio, visit the Iheart 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 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 am Greg Rosenthal. I know that, Greg.

We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL off season. 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 I-Heart radio app. Search 40s and free agents. Listen now. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.