The Fumblerooski Podcast - Risky Business -Ep 188 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: May 19, 2023

Can the Bengals pay Joe Burrow and contend at the same time? Does Matt Ryan have any future left playing in the NFL? Adam Wright, Justin Tucker, and CJ Medeiros debate these topics and more!

Here's Edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. It's a catch! It's a catch! It's! Side-line! Touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field to Watkins!

Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Touchdown! Well, a familiar face from the NFL world has joined the CBS analyst group as contract talks between the Bengals and Joe Burrow have opened up. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast by Power 88 and Seeker Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright, Justin Tucker, CJ Medeiros. Well, we are kind of heading into the summer here. It's kind of the end of May, so June is starting up, and we promise we will get out all of our summer coverage,

which will transition us into the 2023 NFL season. But we do have a great show planned tonight. As I previously mentioned, Joe Burrow and the Bengals opened up contract talks and some interesting reports coming out about what's going on with that. And Matt Ryan joining the CBS analyst group. Not just that, but the fact that he's thinking about not retiring yet. It's not a retirement post when he said that um are you guys ready to do some bengals talk i am i can't speak for uh tuck tuck our favorite raven definitely

is let's talk about this all right so the bengals have been talking about it all season long, excuse me, off season long. And so the most intriguing part. So we all knew that we all know that he's going to be signed one way or another. The question is, is it going to be a team friendly deal or is it going to be a loaded up contract that's going to impede theede the bengals ability to sign players to build a team around joe burrow and they also have have players on the offensive side and defense and defensive side of the ball that they're going to want to resign and retain so that they could continue to contend um so what do you So what do you guys think of this? So what do they need to do in order to also retain players who are going to be free agents soon?

T. Higgins, right after this season. And Jamar Chase as well, coming after 2026. But still, it'll come up. Yeah, this is going to be an interesting conversation to have. If I'm Joe Burrow, I'm going to talk like the way I've been talking. I'm going to take like a pay cut, like not necessarily a pay cut, but lesser money. So I can have better pieces surrounding, which will be a good idea for him considering the weapons and the arsenal that he has surrounding him. So if I'm Joe, Joe Burrow, I'm probably not going to make as much money as, say, Lamar Jackson,

but I'm going to keep the quality pieces around me for years to come. Like a T. Higgins, like a Jamar Chase. Maybe in the future they might have to get rid of Tyler Boyd, but if they can keep the money within reason, I don't see them losing any of the weapons that they have currently if Joe Burrow does indeed want to take less money. Yeah. So, honestly, Joe Burrow doesn't strike me as the kind of guy

who would demand a huge contract, not unlike, you know, like a Deshaun Watson-type deal. Then again, the Holmes didn't strike me as that either, but they gave him a huge deal and I got to re up it. But then again, I think that's more of the chiefs overcompensating than it is in the homes, but burrow,

he, he knows the value of having a good team around him. Excuse me. And when you look at, like, like you mentioned his weapons, you know, chase and Higgins are going to need new contracts.

You got to keep around Joe Mixon. If he can stay clear of the legal issues, you mentioned, his weapons. Chase and Higgins are going to need new contracts. You've got to keep around Joe Mixon if he can stay clear of the legal issues. You have Tyler Boyd. You've got some good pieces on the line and some good pieces on defense. Joe Burrow sees how incredibly close they are to getting their first ever Lombardi. And if he's smart, which I think he is, he's not going to want like a mega deal. Now, obviously, he's going to make probably over $100 million because that's just how you pay quarterbacks now. But it's not going to be like $200 million with $150 guaranteed,

like nothing like that. Yeah, and honestly, I do believe that it's going to be team-friendly because you're also hearing from other players as well that that has been on on Burrow's mind that he wants that he he wants to he still wants to get paid. Everyone does, but he wants to be paid in a manner where he can still be competitive. The team can still be competitive and be able to resign all their significant pieces. T Higgins said this. He you know, he praised who he is as a leader. And he also said that they've had conversations about how they want to keep

everybody around T Higgins included because Higgins is he's the first domino to fall. His deal is up after this upcoming season. And then there's Joe, then there's Jamar chase down the road, who is not going to be cheap by any sense of the word because that guy is – I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that he is one of the top two, three players at his position in the entire league. So that's going to be – I don't think it's an exaggeration. Top five, I could see top three.

I don't want to go too much. I don't want to go too much. I don't want to go too much outside of the topic, but I will say going into this season, this past season, I did say I believe that Jamar Chase is going to be top two next year. He wasn't. And if it weren't for him getting hurt listen if you miss five games in the year and you still get over a thousand yards that is a ridiculous stat line and if he didn't get hurt he would have been right there with justin jefferson as one of the top wide receivers in this league. He was just that dominant.

I'll say that much, but it's still, regardless, regardless of how we feel, that guy's going to get paid. But you still have to pay Joe Burrow and be able to retain T. Higgins. I think Joe Mixon's going to be replaceable. I think he's replaceable. And with the way he has been acting off the field, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to get rid of him and draft another running back down the uh down the road or at least let him walk yeah there is one thing though that i do want to bring up i don't know how much it rings true today but but you can ask any Bengals fan right now,

and they will tell you that their owner, Mike Brown, is cheap. Obviously, you pay for Joe Burrow, right? Whether he takes a team-friendly deal or not, so be it. But there have been times when the Bengals were top 10 in cap space and they just didn't spend because Mike Brown didn't want to. And I do have a few friends who are bangles fans i asked them a question on their minds is that if they even if they do get burrow is mike brown willing to pay for higgins and chase i personally lean yes but even they

don't know but i i think they will that's just. Yeah, well, they kind of have to. And also, it's not just the pass catchers that they want to retain. You don't want to compromise on this offensive line. They have built it up over the past couple of years, and it's finally starting to pay off. Towards the end of last season, it was playing the best it has in years. And now they added some depth, bringing in Orlando Brown and holding on for now to Jonah Williams. So, and also have a lot, having Lyle Collins, they brought in Cody Ford to be a backup guard in case, in case one of those guys goes down.

But they have pieces everywhere on that offensive line. It's the deepest it's been in years. So do you really want to screw that up by going cheap? Or not even that, going really expensive on your quarterback and then having to – I mean, a quarterback can only be so good if he's getting killed every other play. True. That's something to keep in mind. Not just the pass catchers, but also your offensive line.

So you've got to be able to keep this group together if you want to even be competitive, let alone be contenders. Fair. He does need an O-line because, my God, he needs help. Yeah. It's amazing the way he's been able to play the past couple of years despite the offensive line troubles. But there's no denying when that offensive line is playing well

that Burrow and the Bengals are borderline unstoppable. They don't lose when the quarterback's on his feet. He just doesn't. You could see the way the Bengals played when they traveled to Buffalo, and then you saw the way they played in Kansas City. They still barely lost the game, but Burrow got sacked five times. That was ultimately what caused them to lose that game also the interception you know yeah i'm not gonna nitpick i'm not gonna i'm in

a good mood i'll let him be for now oh how very nice you are truly i'm a nice guy i'm a nice guy listen when you leave it that when you leave that close, then there's going to be small mistakes like that or falters by the refs that are going to be the difference in that game. So don't leave it that close. Cut down on your mistakes. That's why I was not on the bandwagon of saying that that win for the Chiefs was fixed. No.

If you allow your quarterback to get sacked five times and you get what's coming to you that's what happens that is what happens it happened to the eagles in the super bowl as well you left it that close and then you left it in the rep in the ref's hands to screw it up that's what happens fair that's what happens not the refs aren't perfect and your players aren't perfect either so control everything that you could possibly control including these contracts so they're gonna have they're gonna want to work on that and make sure this joe burrow contract is team friendly so that you can retain t higgins you can hold on to Jamar Chase, keep that offensive line intact that you've built up for years. So that stuff is all important.

Also on defense, I mean, having a good defense is pretty good too. I mean, that's something you might need. They don't really have any legit stars there, though, do they? They don't have anyone where you look at and you say, this guy is a superstar. I think Trey Hendrickson is the closest they have to that. Yeah. They don't really have any stars.

It's good pieces. I like DJ Reader. I think he's a top 5 D tackle, but outside of him, I'm like Trey Hendrickson. It's not really much. Oh, wait, Eli Apple. He's probably the biggest name on defense. For the wrong reasons.

Yeah, for all the wrong reasons. It's a good reason, but he's probably the biggest name. Yeah, you think of the Bengals defense, you do think of Eli Apple. Even though he's not on the team anymore, isn't he? He's still a free agent right now. Surprise, surprise. And Jesse Bates is gone. Von Bell is gone.

But you slide Dax Hill into a starting role, and then you bring in Nick Scott. So they're kind of set at the safety position. And then they drafted a kid in the second round. They also have Chidobe Awuze, who's arguably their best corner. Yeah. When he's healthy, at least.

So you have some pieces there. That defense is good as a unit, but they don't have any singular superstars. You don't have, like, on the 2018 Patriots defense, like the Stephon Gilmore, who's like, that guy, you got to watch out for that guy. They don't have that. They should get it. What if they got Marcus Peters? What do you think of that?

Oh, don't mention that to Tucker. I'd throw, I'd put a hole in the wall. Darn. With a firearm or with a... I'd put a hole in the wall. Well, like, why do that you should be more more efficient don't no no no just shoot the wall and just make sure there's no one else on the other side of the

wall oh yeah that's true i don't want to get anyone else hurt just hurt the wall exactly like if i'm like if i'm doing like if i'm in the middle of something and i'm like on the treadmill or i'm lifting something and then all of a sudden I look at my phone, breaking news, Marcus Peter signs with Cincinnati. I might just throw the weight or something. Or that's new workout motivation. Yeah. I'm just saying.

Yeah. Look, this Bengals team is probably, this is their best shot they're going to have at a title in a long time. Best in the past couple of years where they've been in contention. Even their Super Bowl year. Even this past year when they actually kind of, it looked like they improved their offensive line. They all got hurt, so what did they do? They went into this offseason and they improved their depth at the position.

They brought in Orlando Brown. He's going to be their starting left tackle, but then you move Lyle Collins. Lyle Collins is going to be hurt, but then you move Jonah Williams from left tackle to right tackle where he'll probably be a lot better. And then you still have Lyle Collins in your back pocket. He doesn't have much leverage in terms of contract talks because he's hurt.

And he's also kind of old so i mean you this is the best depth you've had and at the guard position you lost that that kid that you got whose name is escaping me who you got from uh geez what's his name kappa alex kappa lost him so what So what did you do? You bring in Cody Ford, a guard, to be a backup there. Then you also have Ted Karras at the center position. I mean, you have everything there. You got everything. So you just don't want to screw it up. But, all right, I think we've talked this part to death. We're going to talk about Matt Ryan joining CBS,

but most importantly, talking about how he could potentially still come back hasn't quite closed the door on his playing career just yet. We're going to talk about that. This is the F is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. It's caught! It's a catch! Side-line!

Touchdown! Unbelievable! Slings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 Seeker Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright, Justin Tucker, CJ Medeiros as usual. Hope you guys are all having a great Friday night on this fine May Day. May Day.

Get it? I hate you all right well so matt ryan has announced yesterday that he is joining cbs as one of their analysts and most importantly he did not he he specifically said this is not a retirement post so he's just looking for work right now. And he happens to know a lot about football surprisingly. Right. Cause you know, he plays in the NFL played.

We heard that. Listen, but he won't, he clearly wants to come back cause he hasn't really said if whether or not he would leave um he's leaving the door open on on coming back in fact he said it's not a retirement post so there's really no speculation he wants to come back and he wants to sign so i in i think we all feel the same way on this. This guy needs to hang it up. He's in his late 30s right now,

and the last two teams he has been on, which were not the worst teams in the world, they've been just flat-out garbage. It just doesn't look like this guy can play anymore. I don't know. What do you guys think? So here's the thing with Matt Ryan. He's like, oh, hey, I'm Matt Ryan.

This isn't a retirement post. My question is, okay, why? Why is it not a retirement post? I mean, it's not like he did well. For the Colts last season oh did he take a step back he had a 67 completion percentage which is pretty good but barely cracked 3 000 yards with 3 057 14 touchdown passes compared to 13 picks and a passer rating of 83.9 we'll call an 84 he lost his job too yeah and he lost his job i was getting

that thanks adam but oh and that wasn't sarcastic i mean literally thank you for yeah of course but oh my god this was far and away like arguably the worst season he's had and when you looked at him last season you could see yet he he's cooked i, I don't know why he wants to come back. I mean, look at how he led the Colts. The Colts were like the fourth worst team. They had like literally the fourth overall pick in the draft, which they used on a quarterback. So, yeah, sorry, Matt.

I know you think he could still play, but I would just hang it up. Yeah, it's time for him to hang it up. Yeah, it's time for him to hang it up. I knew it was time for him to hang it up when they lost to Minnesota. I knew then and there. I was like, you're up 33-nothing. Yeah, 33-nothing. And then you let 36 unanswered points happen. Yeah, it's time for you to go.

It's time for an entire rebuild. Matt, I'm happy for you to join the Matt, I'm happy for you to join the booth. I'm happy for you to join the CBS analyst group. Hopefully Tom Brady follows in your footsteps and joins the Fox broadcasting booth. I think Matt Ryan has had a good career. I wouldn't say great. I wouldn't say bad. I think good is fair enough for him. He does have an MVP on his resume. He does have a Super Bowl appearance, even though he choked that away. He does have certain things that he can live with, and he might even qualify for the Hall of Fame,

considering his passing yards and all that. So I think he's had a good career. Just hang it up. No one's going to blame you if you hang it up now. No one's going to say you were a bad quarterback. Just let it up. No one's going to blame you if you hang it up now. No one's going to say you were a bad quarterback. Just let it go. Yeah. In fact, people would say it's about damn time.

And looking at his statistics now, not only this isn't arguably his worst season, this is his worst season. This is his lowest touchdown pass total at 14 since his rookie year in 2008 and also this is the lowest passer rating he's ever had since his sophomore season so there's really nothing that you could look at and say that this guy can still play yeah it's like and let's just say you are an NFL team. And for some reason you do say, Hey, let's sign Matt Ryan. Why? Like what incentive is there to sign him? I mean, he's not going to lead you to a Superbowl.

He's not even going to like lead you to be a semi-decent team. I mean, you saw what he did with the Colts. So I just, I don't get it. Like, I mean, I know he probably still wants to play, but I mean, it's time to just look in the mirror and say, that's probably not a good idea. Yep. Lowest yardage total as well.

As far as passing yards ago, lowest yardage total since 2009. So he, this guy has just been, he was just garbage for Indianapolis. I thought maybe he had a little bit left in the tank. He was old, but he was about 37. We've seen quarterbacks who are on the older side, especially with his play style, still be able to extend their playing career for a little while.

We've seen Peyton Manning do it. We've seen Tom Brady do it. We've seen Brett Favre. We've seen, Jesus, what's his name? Complete blanking. Rivers, kind of, yeah. Drew Brees. I'm thinking Kurt.

Yep, Kurt Warner and Drew Brees, yeah. A lot of players have been able to do it with the same play style. He just couldn't. He just doesn't have it in him. We'll see if he's a good analyst. We've seen some good quarterbacks go into the broadcast booth, and they've actually done very well. I think you guys all know who I'm referring to with Tony Romo and also Troy Aikman.

Yeah. Hmm. Yeah, yeah. you couldn't say that so yeah i i think he should i think he he should i wonder how seriously he's taking this cbs job because he should look at this with an open mind and think, could I do this long-term? Because maybe he can. What if he's actually better at that than he is at football? I think it's pretty impressive considering he was, he was pretty, he was a pretty damn good football player.

I hope he is. I mean, it's the best case scenario at this point. Well, I mean, that was the case with Tony Romo, and he never looked back. Until last year where he just fell apart for some reason.

Maybe he could cover a Super Bowl instead of trying to win one. Yeah. But also what's happened with Tony Romo has happened with journalism in general. And in light of the whole DeMar Hamlin situation, listen, no one is saying that, like, no one is rooting against him. But I feel against the Bills, that is. But I feel like the media talked it up so much that they did it to death.

They constantly, during that first game after the Bengals played afterwards, they were constantly talking about him and how it was a storybook win. It's great that they won, and it's good to see that the kid's okay, but you're doing it to death, and it feels like it's not just Romo. It's the whole media, and they kind of treat a lot of things that way. And it's not even that. Have you seen how Romo treats his favorite players? You can tell.

He doesn't even announce games. He fanboys over them. He's like, oh, my God, look at this one quarterback he's so cool i'm tony romo i haven't accomplished anything or something like that i don't know isn't nice guys come on let's not rail on tony romo too hard now i think i think tony romo is pretty good at his job no he talks a little too much but he is but last year was awful and remember like the higher ups at fox had to talk to him isn't he's with cbs or cbs or i'm sorry sorry cbs and remember but either way the higher ups of cbs had to talk to him about how awful he was right but i don't matt ryan just doesn't have that kind of personality. And if he is able to use his knowledge in any sort of way

and make it entertaining, then I think he could do pretty well with this. Now, some people can't. Drew Brees got fired from NBC. Turns out he wasn't that good at it. And, I mean, that's also understandable because these guys are famous for being athletes, not for being speakers on television.

It's not meant for everyone, but maybe he can do it. He should try out. Let's see how it goes. I say the same thing with Tom Brady. He's going to be the color commentator for Fox. See how he does. If he can't, then he can't, but he should definitely

try it. I'm sure it's a lot better for his off-the-field life than for his playing days. Wouldn't you agree? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it looks like his whole thing with Gisele is broken beyond repair, but at but at least you know at least maybe he could salvage something did you hear she's he's talking to Kim Kardashian now they're

good friends oh my god no that's the rumor that's going around they're good friends They've had conversations. They've had phone calls. Ooh, yeah. Cool. I don't care. Alright. So, we've been very on one side on this issue. Can we come up with any reasons just for argument's sake for why

Matt Ryan should play football again? Should try it again? What do you think? The AFC South needs easy wins. If he has to sign, I think it's either the NFC South or the AFC South, depending on which team needs a quarterback. I would say AFC South because he understands the system that the Colts have. He's already been there before.

And it gives Anthony Richardson more time. They don't have to look for another quarterback. He could just be, oh, nah, can't even do that. Garner Minshew's there. Scratch that. Oh, yeah. And the Titans already have Will Levis. And Ryan Tannehill's already the starting quarterback there right now. I mean, Tannehill's not that good, but he's still better than Matt Ryan. At this point in his career, I have to agree. Oh, yeah, at this point, yeah.

So I don't even think we can mention the AFC South because everyone has someone. The Texans have C.J. Stroud. The Jags have Trevor Lawrence. Jaguars are a slam dunk for Trevor Lawrence. I mean, that guy's like over in Jacksonville. They're treating that kid like Jesus. Rightfully so.

And play. Yeah, I was going to say, but if you look at the NFC South, it'd have to be. Yeah, it would have to be the Bucs because the Saints have Derek Carr. The Panthers have Bryce Young and the Falcons. He already burnt bridges there. So he's not coming back. Buccaneers. Yeah.

So like I said, it's gotta be Tampa. And even still, you know, there's Baker and Trask. So it's just going to be which pile of garbage offends you the least. That's literally it. We have only narrowed this down to one possible team.

That's kind of bad. Or unless all the quarterbacks on the Niners get hurt again. Yeah, then they could. Ooh, that's an interesting one. Because it seems like as long as you have a professional who has been there and can throw the ball at least 20 yards and not make mistakes, the 49ers have proven to be able to win. That's not a bad one.

Maybe, yeah. And Brock Purdy might not play in 2023. I don't think he will, no. Yep. Trey Lance, we'll see how things go with him. Jimmy Garoppolo's already gone. Yeah, he's gone. Yeah.

But Sam Darnold's there. That's the gone. Yeah, he's gone. Yeah. But Sam Darnold's there. That's the issue. Oh, yeah. But I would take Matt Ryan over Sam Darnold. No. Sam Darnold's younger. He's younger. He has better abilities.

But I think that Matt Ryan, even at this point in his career, I like his chances of being able to lead teams to wins than sam darnold yeah that's fair because like think about it he has the abilities and he can't win matt ryan he's kind of washed up but i at least he at least has a good head on his shoulders i don't know it's a mid-off if you ask me me, but I'm taking Samson because he's younger. And apparently Kyle Shanahan likes him. Oh, well, if he likes him, then he likes him. What if Darnold gets hurt too? All three of their quarterbacks go down?

Yeah. Nice, Justin. Yeah, that didn't hurt at all. Who texted you? My mom. We got to wrap this up soon. I got gotta go. Good luck on the show, sweetie.

Oh, stop. That's very kind. Alright. Well, do we have any other thoughts before we end the show tonight? Go Celtics. Yeah. Right.

They gotta win tonight. If they go down 2-0, I don't like their chances. Yeah. They have to win. But we'll see. We'll see how it goes. I think they have a good chance tonight. I don't want to knock on wood.

Stop. All right. Well, that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. We have new episodes out on Tuesdays and Fridays at 7.30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We also have all of the episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker,

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