The Fumblerooski Podcast - Save Yourself -Ep 275 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: May 28, 2024

Should Bengals be concerned about Higgins and Chase potential holdouts? Which starting quarterbacks are on thin ice headed into 2024? Adam Wright and CJ Medeiros debate these topics and more!

Jamar Chase and T Higgins are not present at OTAs and quarterbacks are on the hot seat going into the 2024 NFL season. I'm Adam Wright. This is the Fumble Rooski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the staff 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 Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. We have a lot to talk about. So Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins, as I mentioned before the show started, have not been present at practice. And we're going to go over a couple of quarterbacks who we believe are,

we believe patience is wearing thin with the organization they are with. Certain quarterbacks, there's actually a lot more than you may think if you really take a deep dive into it, especially if this season doesn't go very well for them. But we're going to lead off with Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins. So most people already know that Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins are getting close to free agency. Their rookie deals are almost up, and they are at a point where they either want to get a massive extension or they want out. Tee Higgins, at this point, has requested a trade. However, he did say that he will play in 2024 if he doesn't get a deal. And Jamar Chase hasn't said much, but I think him not being at OTAs, I know they're optional. Everyone says, oh, they're optional. They don't need to show up to these.

Most players do show up to these. It's not the fact that they are optional. You don't have to go. Most players end up going. So it ends up being kind of notable when players don't go. Right? So I just think that part gets so confused sometimes. Yes, we know they're optional. Relax. But it doesn't mean that it isn't notable that they aren't showing up to these

because most players end up going. So it's something to point out. Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins, most notably, are not there. In the same way that last week we commentated on Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb not being at their practices, and it's not a coincidence that these players, all four of them, are due for big deals eventually, one way or another. So here, Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins. Now, the angle we're going to take with this is a little different than just the wide receiving position in general. We already talked about that last week. And I think there is something to be said about it, because I think Tee Higgins and Justin Jefferson will end up being paid before Chase and Higgins.

So that will boost their asking prices a lot, especially for Jamar Chase. The thing is, I want to look at the Bengals in this, because it's not just Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins who are having financial issues. There is also Trey Hendrickson who has requested a trade as well because he wants another big deal. And the Bengals are right in the middle of their championship contention window. They went to back-to-back AFC championships a couple of years ago years ago this year the only reason they weren't in contention is because their starting quarterback got hurt so their window is shrinking very fast and it's getting worse by these players who are requesting trades or asking for big money but cj what are your thoughts here? The Bengals have mismanaged the situation, and it's horrifying to watch, and I'll tell you why.

See, Adam and I were talking off camera, and Adam mentioned, and I'm going to reiterate, that they just kept taking the can down the road. This is a serious issue, and you have left it to the last possible minute to the point where now Trey Hendrickson, the best player on your defense, needs a deal. We haven't talked about him yet, but he's worth noting how it factors into the Bengals' money equation as well. Tee Higgins, you gave him the tag, you know, kicked the can down the road.

But then there's Jamar Chase, who is one of the better receivers in the game. Granted, he needs to stay healthy, but when he's on the field, he's top five. There's not really too, too much of a debate. And you have all these guys that now need deals and just looking at their cap situation, I hate to tell you this, Bengals fans, but I don't see a world where you re-sign all of them. Now, Hendrickson, he is the best player in your defense, and Jamar Chase is one of the better receivers in the league. So just doing some basic math here, you would think that T. Higgins is the odd man out. I think that's what it's going to have to be.

Because if you try to pay all of them, if somehow you are able to maneuver that, then I'm sorry, you've put yourself into the depths of cap hell. Yeah. And especially for Chase. Adam and I were talking about how receivers factor in in an offense. Should you pay them versus a quarterback? We talk that to death. But there is something about the market

that we need to bring up. The clock is ticking in more ways than one because on the flip side, over to Minnesota and down in Dallas, Justin Jefferson and C.D. Lamb also need new deals. And it's kind of like a game of hop tail. It's like, all right, the burden's on you. Nope, now it's on you.

Who's going to have to sign first? Because somebody, one of these three teams, is going to blink first. And in a way, you want to blink first because whoever signs first, the asking price of the remaining two will increase. So for the Bengals, especially with Chase, you need to get a deal done sooner rather than later because if either Jefferson or Lamb get their deal first, Chase's numbers, or at least the numbers that he wants, will increase. And that is just a fact.

Now, as for how you deal with Higgins, I hate to tell you this. I don't know. You can't trade him because the time of you getting, like, a late first, early second rounder, that's gone. Because now obviously, you know, like we don't really know where these teams are going to end up in the draft because, you know, season hasn't started yet, obviously. And you have no leverage because he's a career number two

who wants to be paid like a one. I know Adam's more bullish on him than I am, but I'm not debating what he is. What there is no debate about is what he wants. He wants to be paid like a one. He's on an expiring deal. And when you combine these together, I hate to tell you this,

but since he has no leverage, the time of you getting a first or even like a high second, those days are gone you've waited and like adam said off camera you have waited too long so it might and especially if you want hendrickson who's like a top 10 edge rusher on the defense as well it might behoove you to just bite the bullet and settle for something over nothing. Because if you think that T Higgins won't walk in free agency, you are incorrect. Yeah, I, I do believe that T Higgins is the odd man out. You have your wide receiver one in Jamar Chase. And I think having two wide receiver ones

is a luxury. It's not a need. It's the same way the chiefs handled this past offseason with their two corners having two top corners is a luxury so between um they already had trent mcduffie who's under contract for a few years and legerius need is a one but he's going to ask for a lot of money and you still needed to pay chris jones between the two you chose chris jones because trent mcduffie is still a top corner and you don't need two number ones a gym uh you have jamar chase t higgins he's still a one i still have high respect for him and i would love him as a new england patriot, but the Bengals do not need two. Take Jamar Chase and then go get yourself a wide receiver too, and you'll be just fine.

Especially if you continue to improve that offensive line, it means the need for that offensive talent in the skill position players will be a lot less because Joe Burrow will have more time to throw. So I think that's the bigger thing to look at there. But I also think Trey Hendrickson, they should try to keep him. They definitely should try to keep, they need to keep at least two of the three. I think you and I can both agree on that. In fact, we agree on everything I'm noticing on this. Jamar Chase is a must keep. You can't, you can't just let him, uh, you can't let him walk in free agency. Um, what I will also say is, uh, the asking price is going to become a problem because Jamar, uh, whether, whether both of Justin Jefferson and CD lamb get paid this off season,

that's one thing. But even if one of them gets paid, we know it's going to be a lot of money. We're looking at possibly very close to, if not at, quarterback level money. And Jamar Chase is going to look at that and say, I'm at the same level as these guys. Give me that too, or else I'm leaving, or I'll demand a trade. And what are the Bengals going to do about it? Tee Higgins also wants out too. They can't let both of these guys go. Jamar Chase has all of the leverage and they're going to have to overpay for Jamar Chase. And that's something to look at because that may leave very little money for Trey Hendrickson to get paid. So the Bengals are in a tough spot.

And it sucks that they did this to themselves because they looked like one of the best teams with one of the brightest futures in the league. And the fact that they have kicked to the can, that they have procrastinated this whole thing so long to the point where you can't trade T. Higgins for anything, to the point where Jamar Chase is about to ask for a ton of money, more than he would have gotten if you looked at it earlier.

Trey Hendrickson already has asked to be out, and you just paid Joe Burrow a ton of money. What are you going to do here? I'm very curious as to see how the situation plays out for Cincinnati because they're going to lose at least one or two players here. Yeah, you're right. And honestly, I don't see a scenario where they lose all three. Oh, definitely not.

However, I just want to say if it does happen, then I don't remember the name of their GM, but he needs to be flung into Lake Erie. But that, I mean, now that I think about it, I do see a scenario where they're only going to keep one. Because you mentioned it, like the longer they wait on on chase the more is asking price will skyrocket and that will leave you less money for hendrickson who like we said you know is not gonna you know he was also like unhappy yeah so he requested a trade so he's he is unhappy yeah and i don't want to encourage their procrastination but the only saving grace is that

it's just otas you know we say oh you know it's always a big deal they don't show up but still you at least have some amount of time yeah but if training camp starts and Higgins or Chase or maybe both aren't there, then it's like a complete – no, that's a six-alarm fire because if neither of them are there by actual training camp, then you're officially cooked. Yeah. Yeah. This is going to be interesting to see how it pans out.

I think Jamar Chase is a slam dunk. He's going to be on the team, whether it's with him being paid $30 million a year or with him settling for any sort of deal. He'll be there. He's going to be on the team. My question is T. Higgins and Trey Hendrickson. I think between the two, Trey Hendrickson is one to stay not t higgins he is he's going to be in a very different uniform next season yeah and the bangles did this to themselves

again you and i go a step further because you remember back in the day in the draft where they ended up getting chase in 2021 where they said you could go with the luxury in Chase or you could go with Panay Sewell. They were at a crossroads there and they chose Chase. So it's clear that the Bengals value Flash. And I'm not going to speculate. However, a small part of me could see a reality where they pay Higgins and Chase and tell Hendrickson to get lost.

Ooh, that's an interesting one. Yeah, because that moment in time made it very clear that the Bengals value flash. Maybe not substance, but they value flash. And think about it. Is it really out of the realm of possibility? Because, you know, you've got to keep Burrow happy. Well, how have the – let's look at – why don't we look at the Chiefs, though? So they – so the Chiefs, they overpaid their quarterback,

the guy who has the flash. They managed to keep Travis Kelsey around. They had to trade away Tyreek Hill, but they've kind of cheaped out at the offensive line, and they've been just fine. Because they're actually, like, drafting well with the O-line, though, because Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith were slam dunks. The only thing is like tackle.

And you got to remember, they paid an ungodly amount of money to Joe Tooney as well. They did pay Joe Tooney. And by the way, even though he's not good, you need to look at Jawan Taylor's contract because it's horrifying. Well, yeah. But like, that's what I'm saying the tackle position is arguably the most important position on the uh on the offensive line and they haven't been doing well there but they've been fine like they I wouldn't say that they have bad tackle play it's it's very uh what's the what's the way i would call it sloppy

but they're keeping their quarterback upright and they're kind of doing the bare minimum there and they're making it work well you have to remember it's also my homes i love burrow but he's not on my home he's not my homes yeah yeah well, if we look at Joe Burrow on that top tier of being top three in the league, he's got to make it work with what he has. Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins have been a luxury. I strongly believe he can do well with only one of them there. I do believe that. But they need to stop.

They've been working on that offensive line. But at what point are they going to actually improve it? As in results, not just personnel. They've brought in Lyle Collins. They've managed to do their best to keep Jonah Williams happy. They brought in Orlando Brown Jr. I'm probably missing a couple of names. Ted Karras was there.

They just signed Trent Brown. They just drafted Amarius Mims. They're doing all these things, but I'm clueless as to why this offensive line has been so bad. Because maybe you could say the personnel was good, but not great. They're underperforming. Even if they're underperforming, they should be better than they are. There's something off there. They should be much better. Like at least be average. If you're average and it's an underperforming offensive line, fine, cool. Not good. I don't love that, but at least you're probably going to win a Superbowl with that. At least you're keeping Joe Burrow on his feet, but they're playing like they're one of

the worst offensive lines in the league year in, year out. At what point do you look at their offensive line coach and say, maybe it's you who's the problem. If we have Orlando Brown Jr., Lyle Collins, Jonah Williams, Ted Karras, like how are you not making that work? Alex Kappa, that's actually a really good offensive line personnel and you are managing to make it look like one of the worst something's off there but there's i mean like i said the bangles have a lot of problems there and i think they're very lucky that they still have the talent to win a super bowl maybe they can go out for one last dance and then they can figure out their financial issues, but we'll see.

Their line does look better, though. Amarius Mims and Trent Brown. Trent Brown being your swing tackle. Amarius Mims being your left tackle. That has some potential there, or maybe right. That has some potential, and maybe it gets better to the point where Burrow doesn't need all of these elite weapons maybe he could just be like patrick mahomes you know and just have his travis kelsey which would

be in his case jamar chase why just the rest of the passing course sucks and then he's able to make it work we'll see but it doesn't look good over there what's up there's one thing though that you mentioned i do want to build on before we move on to the next segment yeah quickly though yeah you mentioned about hey you know if they get their one last dance super bowl then you figure it out yeah i would argue that's bad for them because if they win the super bowl hey hello we're both pats fans we saw what happened when you have a good player in a contract year who wins the super bowl they bolt for the door because as

soon as a player gets their ring they prioritize money and they will leave so i would definitely say they win the super bowl you can officially kiss hendrickson and higgins goodbye chase you can at least resign but i don't know we'll see right okay so we're gonna move on quarterbacks there are a lot of them where if they underperform this year there are no excuses left they may lose their jobs and we are going to get into all of that next this is the fumble ruski 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 Fumblerooski podcast. Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, quarterbacks in the hot seat for 2024. Let's just hit the ground running here. Let's name off a few that are some of the more obvious ones. Russell Wilson, Daniel Jones, Derek Carr. Three players who they got their deals, and they're in a situation where they've either had a lot of chances to prove it

like daniel jones and russell wilson or they have good situations like russell wilson or derrick car that should be playing better these are i would think that these are slam dunks there should be no arguments here whatsoever giants fansants fans hate Daniel Jones. You know you're bad when your own fan base wants you out. And I understand them keeping him around for this year. I do. And I'll tell you why. He just got handed a massive deal. Imagine if they traded him away right after that deal. Any other player who's looking to get re-signed with the Giants or looking to sign there, they're going to look at that and they're going to say, well, I could sign

this deal and you could ditch me right after. There's no security there. So I do understand why they're keeping Daniel Jones for another year. They put themselves in this position, but once you do, you cannot just sit there and say well now well now you're out if you commit to that deal you have to commit to it um you can't because you have to worry about what other teams what other players think of you um because they or players on your team think of you um russell wilson that's an interesting one um this guy at some point we're gonna stop looking i mean i feel like we've already stopped looking at this guy as a star quarterback a true franchise super bowl winner this would just if he plays bad now this would just be the nails in the coffin

for him he may i genuinely believe he will never find another starting job if he if he has another bad year yeah no no you're right you're right and the thing with russell wilson is that he's only on a one-year deal with uh the steelers and let's just say he hasn't performed up to snuff well uh i got some news for you they uh they have a little guy named Justin Fields right behind him, and Fields, who's a former first-rounder, itching to play again is breathing down Wilson's neck. So the margin of error for Russell Wilson, admittedly, is not great. Yeah.

Next is Derek Carr. That should be an obvious one. He's on his second team. He hasn't done really anything since 2016, nothing to lead you to believe he could win you a Super Bowl. That year is literally a flash in the pan. I do miss 2016 Derek Carr with Amari Cooper. That was a fun year with Michael Crabtree

and back when the last time Latavius Murray was an RB1. Yeah. I miss that time. It does wonder, though, would he have stayed at that level? Would it have not been a flash in the pan if he didn't get hurt? The world may never know. However, the thing with Derek Carr is that I don't know what to make of the Saints. Because when I look at the Saints themselves, do you know what I see? Remember the Indianapolis Colts when Andrew Luck

retired? That's how I view the Saints. They're too scared to suck out right, so they're going to continually settle for mediocrity, which is why they keep kicking the can down the road in terms of cap space and i was like oh my god mickey loomis is the cap wizard it's like oh my god what do they get out of it they're not winning so i just the the saints are set to be at best at tip top mediocre for a very long time and they just keep cycling through cycling through all these not starting caliber quarterbacks after Breeze left. And only when they stop using all these bridge quarterbacks

to build a bridge to nowhere is when they can actually step forward. Yeah. Okay, let's move to some legitimate picks that could actually have some bearing on it. Let's go to yours. I know you liked Dak Prescott as one who could be in some hot water. That's right. So Dak Prescott, I know what you're thinking. Oh, but he was in the MVP conversation last year. Oh, but his numbers are really good. And I will grant you that those are

both very valid arguments, but his numbers at the end of the day, they're empty calories because sure. I could pull out the, Oh, he's ringless, where's the hardware argument? But I'd like to go a step further. Dak Prescott has never been to an NFC championship game. To my knowledge. Yeah, he never has.

No, yeah. An NFC championship. That's right. He never made it past the second round. I think his two playoff wins all time. That's right. And if it past the second round. I think has two playoff wins all time. That's right. And if you're the Cowboys, you were, remember the nineties, they were kicking ass and taking names. This once proud organization is settling for mediocrity. And I said that when they hired Mike McCarthy and I'll say it now that they are going to keep Dak. So the thing is, the biggest factor in all of this is that Dak Prescott has one more year on his deal.

And it's just, can you say to yourself, look in the mirror and say to yourself, Dak Prescott is worth being paid like a top five quarterback. Because anybody with a functioning brain would tell you, no, he is not top five, nor should he be paid like one. He is not worth what he is asking. And especially when you have actual top five talent at their positions for Dallas and CD lamb and Michael Parsons, it's becoming blatantly obvious that they should take precedent. And I know Adam and I have talked about before, you know, when you pay a non top 10 or a non top five quarterback, like their top five about how you kind of set yourself up for failure if you're dallas why don't you do that for yourselves i usually don't to yourselves

and i usually don't advocate for this but it might be time to just roll the dice and look elsewhere well the only issue that i have is that jack prescott's probably going to have another good year they didn't have enough of a change in talent so that we can believe that Dak's going to have a bad year. He's going to be good again. He still has CeeDee Lamb. He still has Brandon Cooks. And the offensive line looks fine still.

There's nothing that I've seen to believe that Dak Prescott's going to have a down year. And because of that, the Cowboys are going to be roped into giving him that money. And I know you have been perfectly clear about, I'm looking past the stats in your take. But if you do look past the stats, again, I look at this the same way I looked at the Giants when I said that I understand them keeping Daniel Jones. Is that in the same way that after you pay them, you can't get rid of them, before you pay them or decide not to after them having a career year, that's another thing that could get some blowback too.

Because Dak Prescott, he is what he is. I get it. But he has played his ass off over there. He has a good head on his shoulders. He puts up good stats. He has some problems when it matters most. But it's going to be hard to just say goodbye to Dak Prescott for the Cowboys because that's going to face some major blowback around the league.

If you let a quarterback who's been loyal to your organization his entire career there, he's played his ass off, and they just say, yeah, you're out, goodbye. I understand it from a logical standpoint, but look at it how the rest of the league is going to look at it. They're going to say, well, you're not loyal to your players, so why would I want to go to your team if I'm just going to be traded away or let walk if I have a career year?

So it's a lot more difficult than you might think. My pick, I'll give you this one, and I'm skeptical of him for the same reasons that I was skeptical of Dak Prescott. Tua Tungavailoa. This guy, before Tyreek Hill was on the team, was a decent, average, not great quarterback. He still isn't great, but he's been putting up good numbers ever since Tyreek Hill joined the team. You have Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddell, and now you added Odell Beckham Jr. to play in the slot. That may not seem much, but the fact that you have him as your third option, and he can still kind of play, and play in the slot too,

that is a combination where if you have any sort of, I think he's going to have a good year, but I want to see a playoff run out of this guy. I don't think he's capable of it. That's the issue. And again, like we're looking at Dak Prescott, Tua Tungavailoa, we're about to touch on Kirk Cousins. Three quarterbacks who are putting up the type of numbers that would get money,

but we know damn well that giving it the eye test, they are not worth that money. But it becomes hard to just let go of them for their own reasons. So yeah, I think Tua has a great chance to throw for 30-plus touchdown passes in the same way that Joe Burrow has that chance. But we know that those two are not equals at all. One's capable of winning the Super Bowl. The other isn't.

One has gone on deep runs. He did it back-to-back years. The two years he was healthy, Joe Burrow. Tua Tungavailoa hasn't even sniffed it yet. Yep. And another thing that we need to remember about tua is just the unclutchness of him it's that he's quite literally a fair weather quarterback when he's in the sunny confines of hard rock stadium he's playing lights out. But when there literally comes actual January football where it's cold, he shrivels up.

And beyond that, over the last two years where he's been paired with head coach Mike McDaniel, do me a favor and look at his record against teams above 500. I believe he is one and six. And the one team he beat were the very fraudulent on the road Dallas Cowboys. So he can, he bullies around weak teams. But once again, it's all, and I've said this about the Dolphins before, it's all flash, no substance. Because when Tua actually has to play quarterback and you take away his gimmicks and his tricks, he is at best average. He is a Polynesian Nick Mullins.

I mean, he just chucks it all over. I mean, you could just tell he throws go routes to say, see, look, I have an arm, but he doesn't. Because I could set my watch to Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddell, you know, just trying to circle around and actually like backtrack to the duck that he's thrown. And it's just, he can't, it's not even that he doesn't have an arm, it's not even that he can't play in bad weather. It's just that he can't beat good teams. He genuinely can't. And he will not win you a Super Bowl.

It is becoming blatantly obvious that he is a shell being propped up by talent. And we know this because when you compare how he played before Tyreek Hill got there and after, it's quite literally night and day. And when Tyreek Hill is not on the field, he reverts back to his old self, even with Jalen Waddle. Yeah. And speaking of players who get cropped up by talent, I think Kirk Cousins is right there too. And Kirk Cousins has played, just look at the talent, the offensive talent, and credit to the Vikingsings for getting him this talent you want to make sure you're taking care of your quarterbacks but looking at looking at the talent that he has had throughout his vikings career justin jefferson stefan diggs adam thielen jordan addison tj hawkinson delvin cook

do i need to say anything more right yeah sure you and alexander madison for those few games where he was because he was all right he was a good backup running back he was he was a solid change of pace and whenever they had had a bad matchup right um either way look at that talent that he's had throughout his career and you're still questioning on whether or not he can win a Super Bowl? Why? Why? That shouldn't, like, that's the dumbest question I've ever heard. Kirk Cousins, I do not believe, is capable of winning a Super Bowl.

I didn't like how the Falcons overpaid for him. I thought they should have gone in for a quarterback, which they did anyways. Stupid dumbasses. But in the same offseason, that's just another conversation to be had. But four years, $180 million. You can say all you want about the Pennix pick. I think I hate the Cousins contract even more. And I think that's why I don't care that much. I think it was a stupid pick. Don't get me wrong. I don't hate the pick as much as anyone else because at least they have somebody who they can believe can win a championship in that quarterback room. They have somebody. They shouldn't have given that cousin's contract. I agree there. But if your goal is winning a championship why

do you have two starting caliber quarterbacks on your roster now i don't think like we're the question banner says quarterbacks in the hot seat cousins is not on the hot seat he was again like we just said with daniel jones he was just given this deal. So even if he sucks, they're not going to just say, okay, it's Penix's turn. No, they're not. They won't do that. They're going to give Cousins at least another year if he sucks this year. Next year, we can have this conversation on this segment going into 2025 and say, yeah, Cousins sucked last year. If he sucks again, you have Penix. He's getting older. You don't want him to, he's already 24, Penix. If he sucks again, you have Pennix. He's getting older. He's already 24, Pennix.

If he's there any longer on the bench, then why are you drafting this kid? By the time he's ready to start, his prime years will already almost be over. So yeah, I actually liked the pennix pick a lot more than the than the cousins contract which is why i don't hate it as much i still hate it don't get me wrong i'm not defending the atlanta falcons for their stupidity i'm just saying that i like the idea of drafting the quarterback more than paying the average quarterback, if that makes sense. I hear you. I do.

But is Cousins on the hot seat? No, not this year. But just consider one thing. He signed a four-year, like, $180 million deal, was it? Yes. So just hear me out can you see him actually starting and playing in all those four years because to be perfectly frank i can't and that's why i think it's fair to include him in the hot seat thing because especially if he sucks this year he'll still be the starter next year but there's a very real chance he plays like a year and a half if he sucks.

But if he doesn't, then it's fine. But even if he plays lights out and even perhaps wins a playoff game within the next two years, I still don't see him playing all four years in Atlanta. Because by the time his contract's up, Penix is going to be 28. Yeah. because by the time his contract's up, Penix is going to be 28. Yeah, that is a possibility. But another reason why I don't think he's in the hot seat this year. He's 35, but he's a quarterback. So quarterbacks have a longer shelf life than most other,

if not all, positions on the field. So there's something to look at there. But real quick, before we get to that part, before we end the show, I have one more that I think is a hot take, but if you think about it, it kind of makes sense. I feel like I know where you're going. Say it. Trevor Lawrence has played not quite up to snuff

since drafted number one overall. He's up for a big contract, and they're working on getting a deal done but i think there's a reason why it hasn't happened yet like has he really wowed i thought that would happen this past year you can say that their offensive coordinator was bad but i feel like a truly great quarterback can overcome that. Yeah, so like you said, I will grant you, this man hasn't had the easiest trajectory in the NFL. He had to deal with a dumpster fire that was Urban Meyer's professional coaching career. He also had to, and he also currently has to deal with the offensively challenged offensive coordinator, Press Taylor.

But I will grant you that. And, you know, we all know about his OC. And I understand. That's not lost on me. But look at who he has on his roster right now. Travis Etienne, Christian Kirk, first-round pick Brian Thomas Jr., and Evan Ingram, and the dude they got from Buffalo, Gabe Davis. And even last year, he still had

Zay Jones and he had Calvin Ridley. So, what's it going to take? Because he's shown flashes and now that he's a little banged up because he only got hurt last year, didn't he? Yeah. Because I know he's banged up, so only got hurt last year didn't he yeah yeah because i know he's banged up so now that you have a little bit of an injury to worry about hopefully doesn't become a full-on injury history but it very well could we'll never know for sure but when you compile that with his how much talent does he need and i know that press taylor is more of a hindrance than a help, but come on.

You would know if he's a top-tier guy because, just as an example, look at Justin Herbert. He played with, oh, that weirdo there, Brandon Staley, and a pretty terrible offensive coordinator as well and yet we can statefully say that he is top 10 some might have him top five i mean at least statistically so what's lawrence's excuse yeah statistically justin herbert can is pretty good but um there's there's still something wrong there. And I don't believe that Justin Herbert deserves to not have all the blame. Their coaching has been bad, but their offensive talent has been not lacking at all.

You have Keenan Allen and Mike Williams and Austin Eckler. It's like, what are you doing, man? So, yeah, Trevor Lawrence, it's like what are you doing man um so yeah trevor lawrence when has he really literally legitimately proven that he was the guy i think he had that he had half of last season i mean 2022 not 23 he had the last half of that season where we felt that he was finally hitting his stride. After that, he reverted right back to what he was before that run. And that was with Calvin Ridley added to the mix. So if he struggles again this year, and it's not like, yes, you lost Calvin Ridley and Zay Jones, but it's not like you didn't replace those players. You drafted Brian Thomas Jr., who is one of the top prospects at the wide receiver position in

this draft. And you also got Gabe Davis to replace Zay Jones. And you still have Evan Engram. And you have a pretty good offensive line. Offensive line has been one of the bright spots of the Jaguars over the past few years. So I feel like even if you have Press Taylor, who's become one of the most hated men in Jacksonville, you should still be able to somewhat overcome that. I'm not saying you need to win a Super Bowl with it, but at least do something. Figure something out out go to the playoffs man win 12 games in the regular season do something like the some of the truly great quarterbacks are the quarterbacks who overcome the team's deficiencies at least a few of them if you only have your offensive coordinator which is an important weakness if you have a weakness at that spot it's it's bad if you if that's your only spot you should at least show us something

so that's something that um that's just something that to look at for this jaguars team coming going into this year but that is all the scheduled content we have for today do you have anything else before we end the show tonight yeah i just want to correct myself real quick he only missed one game last year so so disregard said about injuries, which just actually makes this whole thing even worse. Yeah, I remember that ankle sprain, which it looked like he was – he didn't look like the same guy right after that, but he didn't look great before that either.

Even when that team was winning, I think they were, what, 8-2, 8-3? Yeah, they were 8-3. But that's what I'm saying. Even when they were winning they just didn't look right. But that's what I'm saying. Even when they were winning, they didn't look right. Yeah. Like something just seemed off there. They were winning games, but they were so – their offense looked so pedestrian for the amount of talent they had.

They were a little too dink and dunk for my taste. So just something seemed weird there. All right. Well, that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. We have new episodes out on Tuesdays at 7.30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and Fridays at 5. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts,

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