The Fumblerooski Podcast - Becoming A Journeyman -Ep 340 The Fumblerooski Podcast
Episode Date: February 25, 2025Could Matthew Stafford really be traded once again? Are the Chiefs and Travis Kelce preparing for a last dance season? Are top draft prospects justified in sitting out the NFL Combine? Adam Wright and... CJ Medeiros debate these topics and more!
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Matthew Stafford is potentially on the trade market.
The NFL Draft Combine is upon us this week,
and Travis Kelsey most likely is going to play in 2025.
I'm Adam Wright.
You're listening to the Fumbarooski Podcast.
It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet,
but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws.
Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns.
Someone's got to get that six or seven spot.
He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie.
Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides.
Welcome to the Fumble Rooski Podcast by Power88 in Secret Weapon Consulting.
I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. And so as of later this week,
we are going to be getting the NFL Draft Combine. And that goes from February 27th through March
2nd. Plenty of things to watch there and we'll get to it, including those who won't be there which is a couple couple for the
second year in a row a couple top prospects expected not to participate um but we're going
to start off with matthew stafford so there's been some trade rumors flowing around in the latter
half of the 2024 season and into this off season, which is that Matthew Stafford could get traded
from the LA Rams to somewhere else.
The guy is relatively old, but for a quarterback, he still has a few years left in him.
Potentially.
I mean, we don't always get our Tom Brady's, but you can get some good production out of
quarterbacks in their late
thirties. It happens all the time. That being said, he has been granted permission to gauge
trade interest per Tom Pellicero. And as of this morning, Jeremy Fowler said that he does expect Matthew Stafford to be a Ram in 2025, but he also expects that he
gets paid plenty of money. Um, this is fairly significant because if he ends up getting traded,
then he gets traded to one of the quarterback needy teams, and that may shake up the NFL draft with plenty of quarterback needy teams.
It also shakes up where Aaron Rodgers ends up going,
where Sam Darnold ends up going, Russell Wilson.
But if they keep him, if they keep him and decide to open their wallets
to keep him here, let me remind you, their free agency class has both
of their starting tackles currently heading to free agency. And as of right now, we do not,
Aleric Jackson, their left tackle has not been franchise tagged. As of right now, Joe Noteboom
has not been franchise tagged. And if you go ahead and i think there's a strong possibility that
alaric jackson stays on the rams and maybe joe noteboom if you go out of your way
to give this old quarterback matthew stafford a much larger deal I think it all but guarantees that not only are at least one of the two gone,
there's a strong possibility that it's going to be your most expensive guy, which is Aleric Jackson,
a guy who you don't want to see go out the door. I already believe that there's a good chance he
leaves if he signs this deal. There's a lot of offensive line needy teams out there
that are willing to open up their wallets for Jackson and Noteboom.
You have a chance to keep both of them.
If you go and give Matthew Stafford all of this money,
there's a strong chance you lose both
cj your thoughts well for starters you mentioned the matt stafford you know a bit old uh for
quarterbacks at least or for players in general he's 37 and it's not like I knew it was around that age.
Yeah.
I just wanted to add some context.
So it's not like we've seen any like drastic visual decline.
Right.
Like, it's not like, oh, my God, like he's, you know, it's not like Aaron Rodgers where he's just not passing the eye test anymore.
But he's still good the thing is if you're a team and you know you're sniffing around matt stafford you know via trade you gotta say is it worth it because you
already know my stances on trading for guys you have to extend you know like he's one of your
rental guys so you have to pay to get him in the building and then you have to pay the player,
right? You basically have to pay twice. You have to pay for the privilege to pay. That is so stupid.
And which is why, once again, I don't believe in these one year rental types like
the trade and extend guys, but whatever. So here's the thing. This is per NFL insider, Peter Schrager.
Matt Stafford wants to be paid over $50 million a year on a new contract.
So just like that, I'm expecting his trade value to plummet. Because look, is he good? Yeah. Has
there been any like severe decline? No, there has not. But are you going to
sit here and tell me that he's worth $50 million a year? The answer is no. No, he's not. I mean,
I'm pretty sure most quarterbacks can look that good when they throw to Cooper Cup and Kuka Nakua,
you know, but Kyron Williams running out of the backfield but you know it's whatever I digress so he apparently said he might emphasis on might take less money to stay with the Rams
but honestly if you're the Rams I'm not hating the idea of just cutting your losses because
here's the thing Dianaussini put out a report
that said apparently the rams are comfortable with backup jimmy garoppolo who by the way is
also a free agent who's a free agent i met uh becoming their starting quarterback if they decide
to move on from matthew stafford which already shows that they're planning to, you know, like they're exploring
all eventualities, which I mean, obviously most GMs would, you know, try to prepare for anything.
However, the fact that they are considering this, that's smoke and where there's smoke,
there's fire. And the thing is that $50 million price tag with Stafford
is scaring a lot of teams off, most notably the Steelers.
Apparently, you know, the Steelers are another team that's sniffing around them,
and they apparently have said they would not pay that $50 million a year price tag,
and once again, if you're a team, why would you?
And the only saving grace that the Rams have as far as the way
cap space going is a Cooper Cup. He's going to be trade. It's a matter of when, right?
Not if. However, if you want a team to absorb his entire contract then uh you're probably not going to get a whole lot out of it
and i feel like the rams would like to get you know something of value for him right i mean
it would make sense but for me even if you do let's just say you find a team that takes all
cups contract right and you know then you can say oh well we're just gonna go you know keep Even if you do, let's just say you find a team that takes all of Cupps' contract, right?
And then you can say, oh, well, we're just going to go keep Matt Stafford.
That seems like a financially wise decision.
It's not even just Noteboom and Jackson, right?
Wide receiver three to Marcus Robinson, young outside linebacker Mike Hocht, Jimmy G, like you said, the guy who you would be comfortable going with is also a free agent uh deep threat Tutu Atwell linebacker Christian Roseboom who
by the way is like extremely underrated uh starting strong safety John Johnson swing tackle
Connor McDermott so oh yeah and starting, Akella Witherspoon as well.
This really slept on defensive tackle, Bobby Brown.
So the thing is, they're not stars,
but there are starters that are also free agents.
And you can kiss all of, if not most of,
if not all of them goodbye if you get back Stafford.
You better hope that he doesn't want $50 million a year like he hinted
if he stays with you, the Rams.
But I don't know.
I kind of feel like he's gone at this point.
If they have said they're comfortable going with their backup Jimmy G,
meaning they'd have to resign him, then that points to Stafford leaving.
Yeah. Well, here's my question though. What kind of price do you think Matthew Stafford would
command as far as trade value if the Rams were to to deal them away so teams that need a quarterback
um going down the list it would probably start i mean teams that would command a first round pick
that is um i don't think the raiders would give up this year's first because it's it's the number
six overall pick you can't give up you can't give up. You can't give that up.
You can't give that up for a 37 year old quarterback as good as Stafford is.
And I believe still is by the way,
perhaps the Seahawks,
if they decide they want to move on from Gino Smith, which reports recent reports say that they're going to keep,
they're going to keep them around and extend Gino.
But if they move on from him and trade a late first for Matthew Stafford.
I just, would they really trade Stafford in division, though, I guess is my question.
Yeah, that would be an in-division trade, and that's really rare especially with quarterbacks that
would be respectfully a really stupid idea if they decided to do that
probably um i'm just looking at other teams over here uh
there's really not much as far as quarterback-needy teams
in the back half because, I mean, they're all teams that just went to the playoffs.
Like, usually those teams do have a quarterback.
The only team that I can think of, really, is the Seahawks with the 18th overall pick yeah but the 18 overall for matthew stafford
if i'm the seahawks i might do that i might do that when's the next time they're going i mean
when is the time that they're going to have a draft pick high enough to find a quarterback
to be their franchise guy.
I mean, you know, you're right, you're right.
It's just, once again, what can the Rams actually get for them, though, like you asked?
Because as far as I go, I don't think that any team would be willing
to give up a first.
And frankly, if I'm a GM, I don't give a damn
what the Rams want. If you have to trade for a quarterback who is openly demanding that much
money, then no, I'm probably not going to trade him. I mean, trade for him at least.
Like, $50 million a year, just not worth a first.
If I'm a GM, there's no way in hell.
I don't know.
But once again, that's just my opinion.
That's where I stand.
Is there a GM that would be willing to do that?
There very well could be.
Wouldn't be a smart GM, but he could be out there as far as all quarterbacks go uh all teams that need quarterbacks
go um obviously in the top three there's the tennessee titans the cleveland browns and the
new york giants but they're not giving up i mean far as I know, they wouldn't give up a top three pick.
There's the New York Jets who are sitting at seventh and the Vegas Raiders who are sitting
at sixth.
But again, a top seven pick for Matthew Stafford.
I just, I don't think so.
Maybe if they traded a 2026 first, okay, then we might be on to something.
But the New Orleans Saints, they're at nine.
Number nine for Matthew Stafford?
Seems like a bit much.
It's a little bit much for a 37-year-old quarterback.
Now, if this guy was – if Stafford was still in his early 30s or his 20s,
okay, yeah, give up that pick because there's
nothing more important than a quarterback that can win you a super bowl um however
if he's 37 you may maybe you'll get two years out of them. Maybe. If you have anything left.
I mean, not always.
Quarterbacks can't always go that long.
Most of the time they do if health allows them.
But it's not a guarantee.
So are you giving up a top 10 pick for Matthew Stafford?
I don't think so.
Maybe a late first.
Like I said, Seattle, I can see it.
But as you mentioned, giving up, trading a quarterback in division
to make the Seahawks significantly stronger.
Their defense is getting younger, getting better.
Offensive line needs some work but if they
got with the weapons that they have giving them matthew stafford would automatically make them
one of the stronger teams in that division no yeah it definitely would so now that i'm really
thinking about it i think if you're the rams you're basically just
screwed you know you gotta pay him that much and he's unmovable and the only way you do is if you
basically accept peanuts in return i just i don't see personally any scenario where this ends well
for them yeah all right we're gonna move on and we're going to get to some
nfl combine coverage that's all next we're going to get into well a few top prospects some notable
prospects who are not playing some of it is more justified with injuries. Others, they're just not participating just because they don't see the value in it.
And who could blame them?
That's next.
This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast.
It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet,
but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws.
Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns.
Someone's got to get that six or seven spot.
He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie.
Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides.
All right.
We are back.
Fumble Rooski podcast.
Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros.
All right.
So the NFL Draft Combine starts later this week on February 27th, and it goes all the way into March 2nd.
A couple notable attendees, such as Travis Hunter,
who wants to play both positions.
He's registering as a corner, but he's also saying,
wait, I am participating in some of
the wide receiver drills. So don't rule me out as a wide receiver just yet. I'm just participating
as a corner. And that does show off that he does have a preference of where he wants to play. He
wants to do both, but it appears he likes corner a little bit more.
But it may also depend on who drafts him.
If the Patriots end up taking him at four, it's hard to see him playing.
I mean, I don't know what the Patriots are thinking and what any other wide receiver needy team thinks,
but it's hard to see him being drafted to play corner. If that team
needs a wide receiver, because the coaches are just going to play you where they want to put you.
Either way, another guy is Will Campbell. Everyone is going to be looking at his arm measurements,
which is interesting, but what people won't be able to look at is Ashton Jenty,
who will not be participating.
The Boise State running back.
Shador Sanders is not throwing.
And Cam Ward is considering not throwing either. He's still on the fence about that.
So for the second year in a row,
a couple of our top prospects in this draft are not,
they're not going to participate.
So if you remember last year, Caleb Williams,
Jaden Daniels, and Drake May all did not throw
because they knew they were going to be top three picks.
They said, why are we throwing?
If we are, why are we throwing in an event
that does not really accurately portray our skills,
has a history of doing that,
and potentially tanking our draft stock?
Now, a lot of people like to say, well, it's a competitive thing.
If they're afraid that they'll do poorly, then what does that say about them?
That would make sense.
If this was an accurate measurement on how these players will be in the NFL, it would
make sense.
However, it doesn't because it doesn't accurately portray their actual playing ability on the
field.
You want to know that Ashton Gentry is fast?
Watch game film.
If you want to know that Shador Sanders can sling it,
watch a Colorado game.
So I kind of understand the issue here.
And again, like I said last year,
when we posted a reel about it these prospects
aren't dumb they know that this event does not really accurately portray their skills and if
they have a bad combine it tanks their draft stock and they end up being drafted by by a team
um that doesn't really want them or is just settling for them it's a much less and
they get they get much poorer treatment if they're a lower draft pick than if they're higher
so why would they again why would they throw why would they participate
ashton gentry we already know he's going to be the most the first running back taken off the board
i would expect him to become a Dallas Cowboy,
but who the hell knows what that old fart is thinking over there in Dallas.
You would think, but we'll see.
So I found that to be a little interesting.
Got reports yesterday.
Also another guy who is not participating,
and the reason I didn't mention him at first,
because he's fighting through injuries,
Abdul Carter is not participating for a lingering shoulder injury
that he played through during the college football playoffs,
which is understandable.
And we also know that he's probably going to be a top four pick.
In fact, I'll go as far as to say he will be.
But even if he did, let's say he wasn't fighting through a shoulder injury and he didn't participate.
Who the hell cares?
Really, who cares?
It just does not accurately portray these players.
And if they overperform, then they end up being overdrafted
over players who did deserve it, right?
The John Rosses of the world, the Trayvon Walkers of the world.
Trayvon Walker in, I believe it was 2021?
2022.
22.
He was projected to be a late first round pick.
Then the NFL draft combine happens, and he ends up be a late first round pick. Then the NFL Draft Combine happens,
and he ends up being the number one overall pick.
Over Aiden Hutchinson, who deserved it.
Over Kayvon Thibodeau, who is still better than Trayvon Walker.
You look at all those players,
and Trayvon Walker ended up being taken first overall and now the jaguars we can't we can't
fault just the just the combine because the jaguars were dumb enough to take him
they could have easily just taken agent hutchinson and ignored the smoke but they didn't
so i just don't think it's an accurate representation on how the sport is played
it's not a track meet that they're
training for. It's the NFL, which is very different. Maybe it measures athletic ability.
Maybe you can hold some stock to it, but I just think it's, it's so, it messes up the draft order.
Draft boards get all screwed up. It's why you kind of have to take some of these mock drafts right
now with a grain of salt despite the fact that the the draft combine is all that the the draft
itself is about a month and a half away despite all of that you have to take all these mock drafts
with a grain of salt because the draft combine is almost certainly going to mess something up.
It's going to, it's going to jumble everything up and you're going to get some player somehow
who's going to get overdrafted or somebody's going to have their tank, their tanks, their draft,
excuse me, their draft stock tank. Here's another guy i want to look at tetero of mcmillan
and i think this is going to accurately portray him because i think the guy is slow as molasses
you you see him play and maybe maybe he just has straight line speed fine he has no explosiveness
at all no no he's not huge and clearly he doesn't know how to control it
he has good route running skills i'll give him that he has very good hands i'll give him that
great size and he knows how to use it the problem is he has no explosiveness
and he's not very fast either now again we're going to be watching that 40 time, but if he tanks it,
then get ready for him and his draft stock to tank. And if he ends up working out now,
I don't believe he will. I don't love McMillan as a draft, as a draft pick, but if his, if he
ends up panning out after his draft stock tanks, let's say he falls all the way to 20,
and he pans out when he was supposed to be a top 10 pick,
that's another bad look for the combine.
CJ, your thoughts?
First of all, as the OG McMillan hater,
I'd like to say, oh yeah, he's slow.
And first I want to talk about,
there's this one thing that all of his,
mostly Arizona fans have been saying well regular speed and game speed are different he's football fast
and it's like what if he runs a fast combine i'm like okay cool game speed football fast cool cool. Watch film. Like actually get off your keyboards and watch film. He couldn't get
separation in the Big 12 and you expect him to get separation in the league. That's stupid.
And if you see his separation issues in college and you say that won't follow him to the league,
you are stupid and you don't deserve to watch football. And the combine,
look, I get it. I get why the players don't want to. Because if you think about it,
if you're a top prospect, right? You know, like your Ashton Genties, your Cam Wards,
your Abdul Carters. First of all, actually Carter gets a pass. He's hurt. You know,
he's still got that shoulder issue he got in the college football playoffs. Totally get it. But think about it this way. You have nothing to gain from it and everything to lose. If you turn
in a bad combine performance and you're projected to be a top pick, that's just going to take a
sledgehammer to your resume. It sucks, but that's the thing. You literally have nothing to gain from being good.
You know, best case scenario, you solidify yourself. Worst case scenario, you fall out of
the top 10. But, you know, Adam, you covered that. But on a player by player basis, Jenty,
I get it and I don't, because I don't know if you've seen he's already falling in mock drafts it used
to be he was a top 10 pick and if he wasn't then he wouldn't get past Dallas the most recent mock
draft I saw saw him going at like 20 to Pittsburgh he's falling there's no way around it he is
falling because it's almost like teams realized oh, maybe Philly's the exception off the rule,
and running backs in the first round are still a luxury.
Let's go over the top ten picks,
and you tell me if they want a running back with their number one pick.
Tennessee Titans, they're going quarterback.
Browns quarterback.
Giants quarterback, if not best player available.
New England quarterback. Fuck. What? No. Excuse me. uh giants quarterback if not best player available new england quarterback uh fuck what no excuse me
i'm muscle memory um best player available jacksonville best player available vegas
best player no luxury that is the ultimate. Their offensive line is still terrible,
and their defensive backs literally could not cover a traffic cone.
Jets, best player available or offensive line.
Panthers, best player available or wide receiver.
Yeah.
Wide receiver.
That's that reeks of McMillan, by the way.
Yeah.
Uh, new Orleans saints.
They have Camara.
All I'm saying is I don't see one that, that even needs a running back.
I don't think it's a matter of, I don't think it's on ashton gentry not so nine was new orleans and then chicago the bears they kind of need a they
kind of need a tackle yeah um san francisco they have they still have mccaffrey then it's dallas
that's the only team that really reeks of running back needs.
Is it really on,
is it really on gentee or is it just the fact that the top 10 teams in the
draft really don't need a running back?
No,
I mean,
it's not on gentee per se,
but I don't know what to tell you.
He's still falling down the draft boards.
Like nothing we can say can change that.
I mean, it used to be he was going to go top 10.
I mean, I could see the Raiders trying to go all flashing at him,
and I could definitely see a team like the Saints reaching on him.
But I don't know.
Once again, running backs are just – in the first round especially,
they are luxury picks.
And a lot of people disagree, but a lot of people would be wrong. And as far as Cam Ward not
throwing, I get it, you know, but I disagree, but not for the reason you think. You know, people are
talking about how, oh, it's an indictment on character, right? If they don't do it, you know,
they're afraid they're going to look bad or whatever. Like, well, they don't do it you know they're afraid they're gonna look bad or
whatever like well i don't agree with that argument all i'm gonna say is that's a red herring as far
as the combine goes okay because cam ward already he has character issues like you remember that
bowl game right where miami was playing and he subbed himself out and like didn't and like refused to play after halftime,
that's your character concern.
And honestly,
this at the combine,
you know,
where he's like not going to do any drills throwing wise,
that's nothing new.
Like,
I mean,
I just think that's like not important because if I'm a scout and I saw
what he pulled during that bowl game,
I'm sorry, red flags flying.
That is a lack of character.
It's a lack of leadership.
And then again, I just don't like Ward as a prospect anyway.
Sanders not doing it.
I mean, I get, once again, I understand, I think he should, because he's another one that in many scenarios is falling down draft boards as well.
In fact, Ward has officially overtaken Sanders as the best QB prospect, which admittedly is something that I don't agree with.
And everybody's saying, well, Shadur Sanders just throws screens and dinks and dunks.
Into which I say, okay, Ward, I don't think has ever beaten a top 25 school in his career.
He throws weight around with bad teams.
And then when a good team comes to town, he gets his doors blown off.
So do with that what you will the thing is the combine itself
is almost becoming irrelevant at least if you're a good player if you're like a fringe first rounder maybe like a mid-rounder you want to show off your skills right but if you are i don't want to say
lock but if you're fairly certain to go in the top 10, once again, you have nothing to gain and everything to lose.
Right.
And you also have your pro day too, so there's that.
Listen, all I'm saying is that there are a lot of teams in the top 10 that really don't need Ashton Gentry.
The Dallas Cowboys literally do.
And for that, it seems like maybe he knows where he's going.
If he's really going to...
I mean, league executives talk.
It's not like they talk about who they're taking,
but maybe you can kind of gauge what they need.
And they also talk to the pro
the prospects that are going in drafts too. I just feel like it makes a lot of sense for
Jente. He's the number one running back prospect in this draft and probably one of the better ones
in recent memory. Uh, so I just, I don't hate it. I really don't really don't um all right we're going to move on i think we've
done our fill of combine talk for one season um but we're probably going to talk about it plenty
more on friday because right uh it will be right in the midst of it uh the that's the 28th
on our friday episode so we're going to it starts on the 27th so we'll we'll have our stuff to talk
about uh again all eyes will be on will campbell's arm size because hold on hold No, no, no. Before we stop, that's something I meant to say.
The arm size thing is so stupid.
Yes.
I'm not saying it's not stupid, but that's what the.
Yeah, no, I'm not saying you.
That's what the knock has been.
No, I know.
I'm not yelling at you.
It's just like.
His arms are big enough.
Does it matter?
Remember when everybody was freaking out about Joe Burrow's hand size
and how he didn't have the big enough hands to play quarterback?
Look at how wrong you were, analyst.
And this is the same thing they did with Peter Skowronski.
He was like the number one ranked tackle,
and then there was just this massive hit piece against him that his arms,
he's better as a guard.
Like, does it really matter? Like, oh, his arms are an better as a guard like does it really matter like oh he's his arms
are an inch short oh my god the world's coming to an end like good if his arms are up if his arms
are up to snuff amongst league executives then he will be the number one prospect who will clinch it
i'm not saying i'm not justifying it at all no i know you're not all i'm saying is not to mention and
also it can't sometimes these things can be problems like you mentioned you mentioned joe
burrow's hand size they also mentioned kenny pickett's hand size and that actually became a
problem the kid actually blows dude that that i'm sorry that that's such a red herring and it's a
bad faith comparison because his hand size was the least of Pickett's problems.
That was like number 10 of his red flags.
Other than the fact he couldn't read a defense, he didn't have an arm.
Hand size was just...
Finding out Pickett had small hands is like finding out you lost your remote
after your house burned down.
It's pretty far from your mind when there's other problems.
All I'm trying to tell you is that these executives care about that.
And whether you like it or not,
the NFL draft combine will either artificially inflate of that,
the value of a prospect,
or it will.
I mean,
yeah,
no,
that's,
that's what he is. the only flaw of his game,
the only downside has been that his arms are small.
If it turns out that they are actually not that small,
then he's, just book it, he's going to be the top prospect
in this draft as far as tackles go.
And the Patriots may end up biting they may end up taking him at four so just think about that for a second i still don't like that
but all right just because i'm not big on o-line and like the top five i'm not either but will campbell has had a lot a lot of buzz to him
and the only the only hit on him has been his arm size the kid has a great attitude
he's produced amazingly on the team over at lsu and if it turns out his arms are not that short,
boy, his stock is going to go through the roof.
So just remember that.
Also, same with Ted Roick McMillan.
In the same way that if his speed is really bad,
that it could tank his draft stock, if he ends up being fast,
because again, that's the only thing that's been held against mcmillan is that he's slow if it turns out that
he's actually really fast and it's just there's something wrong something wrong with the way he
runs that it makes it look like he's slow expect him to be potentially the first wide receiver taken in the draft and some teams
may not end up pressuring travis hunter to go corner uh to go wide receiver over corner
if there's mcmillan who is actually available just saying so a couple of things may end up happening but we'll get to a little more
combine talk on friday but in the meantime uh the chiefs gm brett veach
has come out with some interesting news about travis kel about his expectations to play. That's all next.
What it means for the Chiefs and potentially the rest of the NFL.
All that is next. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast.
It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when
he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot.
He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie.
Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides.
Welcome back to the Fumbaruski Podcast by Power88
and Secret Weapon Consulting, Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. So today, Chiefs GM Brett Veach has told reporters
that he expects tight end Travis Kelsey to play in 2025.
He adds that.
Based off recent conversations, Kelsey seems fired up
that he's excited to play in 2025.
The reason that this is significant, the reason this became a segment for us today,
this is something I wanted to touch on.
So Travis Kelsey is approaching, this is going to be the last year of his contract.
He's entering a contract year.
He was already unsure of this season
and now kelsey is fired up what does this kind of tell you
that this is probably and i'm just speculating i'm just going off of what i have
all the reports from this season that the chiefs gave him a window of time
to decide that he's entering a one-year deal that you know um he's fired up now i mean it would be a
problem if he wasn't but if he's if he was undecided now he's like all right let's freaking
go and also this is a one-year deal deal and was previously undecided about playing.
What does this kind of tell you
that I believe this is going to be?
This is going to be the final year of his career.
Now one could say, good riddance.
Another could also say,
this may, it might make the Chiefs a little more dangerous than they already are next year.
Because it gives them a little bit of a sense of finality.
It gives them a sense that this is, they're nearing the end of this part of the Patrick Mahomes era Chiefs dynasty.
And that they're kind of getting a little bit of a last
dance type of feel right Andy Reid's only going to be coaching for a couple more years
Travis Kelsey is going to be 36 by the start of this season Patrick Mahomes is going to be
playing much longer he's going to be playing at least eight to ten years longer but again this is the portion of their dynasty
where there seems to be it seems to be they're approaching the end of it
i'm not making any super bowl predictions but if i if you weren't somewhat scared of the Chiefs for next year before, then you should be a little bit now.
Because it gives it a little bit of a last dance type feel in the sense that they are going to try and empty the bucket for this portion of the dynasty.
The New England Patriots, they had their mini first half where they won three super
bowls in four years a couple years later they went 16 and 0 and went to a super bowl and then
most of those guys went on to retire they aged and if they if they were still on the the second
half of that dynasty if you weren't named Tom Brady, you weren't making a large impact,
which was Vince Wilfork was the only guy who was left from that team.
But there was a little bit of a transition period,
a 10-year period where the old Patriots aged,
the new Patriots came in and grew up,
and they started winning Super Bowls.
There may be a little bit of a
transition phase and i think with one year left in travis kelsey's career they have a little bit
of extra fire ad added to them a little bit extra motivation to try and win this year
it's just something to consider what do you think cj yeah i get where you're coming from but i
wouldn't i mean i'm not gonna write off the chiefs entirely but i'm not as scared of them as maybe i
should be because look sewer bowl hangover is very very real and please please you people watching
at home don't say erm but tom brady beat it is tom brady on that team
no okay end of story but i just i don't know the thing is i i know kelsey's fired up like
it's like that lebron gif where he's like oh like you know what i mean like i'm just i'm not afraid
of kelsey anymore i'm just not the only reason he still looks as semi-decent as he is
is because Mahomes literally force feeds him the ball.
Like, Mahomes will just chuck the ball at him 10 times a game.
That's a lot of their game plan.
And even still, Kelsey can only hurt his legacy.
And I've been very open about this.
I believe the past two seasons travis kelsey he had a case to be the goat tight end he has played himself out of that conversation
he has put himself behind gronkowski and gonzalez and if he puts up another lackluster year then
maybe he's also played himself out of the top three maybe someone like recent all-famer antonio gates leapfrogs him and i just i don't see like i don't see him cracking a thousand
yards i don't see him getting double digit touchdowns noah gray in terms of production
is already nipping at his heels and in many scenarios has overtaken him his blocking ability
is getting worse look last dance or not the mentality is one thing with the play has to be
there also i guess that's just what remains to be seen frankly i know you don't want to go out on a
loss but if i'm kelsey i'm just gonna retire man like you're dating the most famous person in the
world you know at like you've helped each other out you you know, you brought the NFL new fans and the NFL, at least now more than ever, has put her music on the map.
Like, I would also say, yeah, no, I don't want to hear it.
I'm just saying, like, there's been mutually beneficial.
Like, dude, just like go out on some beach somewhere, propose, go to your podcast.
Like, that's pretty much it.
You know, like, there's really not a lot you can
do you can only hurt yourself so i mean yeah that's it like there might be a last dance mentality
where there'll be or will there be like a last dance level play on the field will you go 15-2
again probably not once again i will say a cerebral hangover is very, very real.
There's no guarantee that it won't improve a little bit as far as Travis Kelsey's production on the field.
And it literally happened with Rob Gronkowski later in his career.
In 2018, Gronkowski did not look like the same guy.
He looked beat up.
It looked like 10 years in the NFL kind of got to him.
And then you got to the point, he retired in 2019.
He came out of retirement.
Do you remember how rejuvenated he looked?
Just in year one in 2020, it didn't show as far as the results on the field went,
but that's because there were so many targets on that team.
But 623 yards and seven touchdowns, and it is age 31 season,
with his play style of running through your face.
And then in 2021, it showed even more.
In just 12 games, over 800 yards.
Over a 17-game span, that's like 1,100 yards right there.
And that's with Rob Gronkowski's play style,
with a little bit of a spark added to you,
I think, and I think if Travis Kelsey has even 75% of what Gronk had,
I believe that if this is truly how he feels, that this is his last season, that maybe, just maybe, he gets a little bit of a boost from it.
It's a little bit of a boost.
Gets to go out potentially as a champion.
Once again, I just disagree.
Just because, like, you know, I mean, you can do the whole Gronk argument.
But, I mean, they're just two different players.
Once again, he can literally only hurt himself. He's basically a non-factor. gronk argument but i mean they're just two different players you know i just once again
he can literally only hurt himself he's basically a non-factor and when rashid rice comes back and
they develop worthy more kelsey's not even going to be the number one option and when he gets force
fed less it's he i think it's more likely that he plays himself out of the top three tight end conversation that he does win a Superbowl,
but now I'm not that.
Okay.
Well,
we'll see what happens,
but I think it would be a good story.
If the chiefs managed to get a really good season out of Kelsey and they go
out,
they win that one Superbowl.
Imagine, imagine losing
a super then going back and winning it after failing to go back to back and winning three
in a row that would be a pretty good story because i mean we've already we've already
witnessed that kind of story from the from the previous dynasty the new New England Patriots. So it's just a thought that I had.
And Travis Kelsey is one of the great tight ends in our league's history,
and he's playing with an all-time great quarterback,
and he is still their number one weapon right now
as far as Patrick Mahomes' weapons. So it's pretty noteworthy that this could potentially
be his last year of his career. Because not only could it be the last year of his career,
it could also be the end of this half, at least, of the Chiefs dynasty, if it even continues later on down the road um so we'll see all right that's all the
scheduled content we have for today but do you have anything else no all right i am very very
as a patriots fan this is some patriot stuff very encouraged by his by Mike Vrabel's words during his press conference at the combine.
I think they're going to spend, I think they're going to do it. I think they're going to spend
and they're going to be aggressive on it. But that's just me. All right. That'll do it for
us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. We have new episodes out on Tuesdays at 7 30 PM
Eastern standard time and fridays at five
be sure to subscribe to our youtube channel we have all our episodes available on spotify
spreaker apple podcast iheart radio google podcast and so much more also be sure to follow our
instagram at fumble ruski underscore podcast to keep up with our podcasts and the latest
coverage on the NFL.
Otherwise we'll see you next week over and out.