The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Big pressure on the Browns; Mack trade analytics a joke; Big Ben's rep getting hit; Belichick's vacation hustle

Episode Date: March 19, 2019

Subscribe here to the 3 and Out with John Middlekauff Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/3-and-out-with-john-middlekauff/id1352730623?mt=2.  In this episode, Middlekauff looks at why their is ton of pressure on the Browns to win now, why John still thinks the Raiders trading Mack was a bad move despite recent praise by analytics experts, the damage being done to Big Ben's rep, why Belichick vacationing is misleading, and answer listener questions in Middlekauff's Mailbag.. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to www.theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Subscribe now! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

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Free agency, I wouldn't call it done. We still got players out there. But it's, you know, it winds down. The second and third tier free agents, the older players. You see the Justin Houston's of the world, you know, still around. There are going to be signings that happen in the next week or two that are going to have a big impact in the fall. But the big name and the big money guys are off the table. There's actually a lot going on.

I saw this weekend. Vegas has the Browns as the favorite to win the AFC North. I got some thoughts on that. There was a story from my colleague at the athletic, Vic Tafer, who covers the Raiders, that the Oakland Raiders won an award at the Sloan Conference, which is the conference run by Darryor Mory. It's like the analytical conference that they have the best trade of the year, which I think is an absolute joke.

And when I say the best trade of the year, it's not Amari for a one, the Kaleel Mac Trade. The Sloan Conference gave them credit for the Killelea McTrade. Got some takes there. I don't remember free agency ever happening before where a team loses a couple

key players and that incumbent quarterback on that team reputation was more just destroyed in a short period of time as Ben Rothers-Burg has we'll talk about that. And then I own an apology

to my favorite. favorite coach of all time. I've been reading the millennial way, aka audio book, the Belichick book by Ian O'Connor. It's really good. If you like football and if you listen to this podcast, you probably do. But if you just like, you know, reading about the highest level human probably to ever come in to the NFL, it is a fantastic read. Slash, again, for me, listen. But it's a really good listen, I'm only in like the Cleveland Browns part. Haven't even got to the Patriots yet. It's really good.

I highly recommend it. Some of the stuff in there on him and Parcells was fantastic. So we'll talk about that. And then we'll get to the Middlecoff mailbag. Slide up in my DMs at John Middlecough on Instagram. Fire on in there. Same my Twitter account. Also got a YouTube channel, John Middlecough.

You can find me all over the internet. And I'll be giving sports takes. But if you want your question answered for this podcast, you've got to go in my direct messages, Instagram, and ask me a question. I got some questions to answer, and we'll get to that a little later. Start with the Browns.

I've been thinking a lot about this, and it really kind of hammered at home when I saw a headline by Florio on Pro Football Talk that Vegas made the Browns the favorite to win the AFC North. And I said, Jesus,

I mean, should we pump the brakes a little bit? And then I started realizing, well, on paper, it's not that crazy, right? They add Odell Beckham Jr. They got rid of Hugh Jackson. They have this young quarterback that looks really good. The Steelers got worse. Their two best players are now gone.

Now, granted, one guy didn't play last year in Levion, but that's a big loss for him. Antonio has been one of the best players in franchise history gone. The Ravens are going through just a period of transition. You know, in Lamar Jackson, how can their offense kind of change and what will it look like with a full offseason? and next year, and the Bengals are in Chambles. So it's not that nuts.

But then I started thinking, has there been a coach, a first-time head coach, in recent memory, with more tangible pressure on them to win now? Like legitimately to win now. Matt Nagy, coach of the year last year, they didn't have that much pressure. If you would have got 8-8-8, it would have been a good year. Now, granted, he ended up winning the division and hosting a playoff. game. You look at Gruden last year, there was a ton of

hype, but it was more for his salary not necessarily him. And then once he traded Khalil Mack, I don't want to say he got a pass, but people looked at the team a little differently. Like he was punting on the season, and it turns out he was. Well, the Browns have gotten the opposite, right? They got Freddy Kitchen,

first time head coach, really was a first time coordinator last year, and they already handed him a pretty good team, and then they added O'Dell Beckham Jr. So you're like, cheat and they traded for Olivier Vernon. They had some other sweet moves. Added Kareem Hunt, you're like, these guys, these guys are wheeling and dealing.

Their personnel on paper is fantastic. Their personnel on paper 100% is a playoff team. But we know over and over that football is not played on paper. Now, I was a part of the quote-unquote dream team. The difference is the Browns have much more young, just ascending talent. with Baker, who's a really accurate quarterback. They have an elite slot receiver in Jarvis Landry.

They have a really good running back in Nick Chubb, and Odell Beckham is a game changer. And the tight end to Joku is really good. And defensively, they have some pieces. But I would say anything less than Matt Nagy's first season where he won the division and hosted a playoff game would almost feel like a letdown for the Browns. It's crazy to say, but it feels like the Browns are a locked playoff team.

And I think we usually can do that with certain coaches. But most time in the NFL, things sneak up on you. Harbaugh's first year. Matt Nagy's first year. Even when Andy Reid got to the Kansas City Chiefs, they were drafting one overall. The next year they make the playoffs. I mean, his first year, they made the playoffs.

I don't think anyone quite saw that coming. But you usually know right away when you got a really good head coach. I think the pressure on Freddie Kitchens, who again, I'm rooting for, chubby bald guy, red rosy cheeks, quarterback at Alabama back in the early 90s, I want him to do well. But I don't think in recent memory, you just go all these new coaches,

just the amount of pressure on this guy's shoulder to lead this team to the playoffs. He takes pressure away from Baker, he takes pressure away from Odell. To me, it's all on the head coach. The GM did everything he had to do. Now, I'm always someone who says that, like, we just talk about GM.

GMs with personnel, John Dorsey hired Freddie Kitchens. So if Freddie Kitchen fails, that is on John Dorsey. This is the first head coach he's ever hired. Because when he got, when he became the general manager of Kansas City, Andy Reed hired John Dorsey. It wasn't the other way around. So this is whether Freddie Kitchen fails or not, and I do think it'll be somewhat difficult for him to fail.

But just to think that they're a lock playoff team, say what you want about the Steelers. Every single year, they're competitive. The Ravens do have a culture of just toughness, consistent on defense. John Harbaugh has accomplished more, hell, in one season than Freddie Kitchen has in a lifetime. So that they're going to jump those two teams,

again, while easy on paper is difficult in reality, but it shows you when you make these enormous moves and people think you have a young quarterback, they think you're a playoff lock and we see it all the time. I thought the Raiders were going to be a playoff lock last year. This was before Khalil Mack was moved. And the reality was, They wouldn't have been, even if they would have kept Khalil Mack.

Because, you know, it turns out John Gruden, sometimes there's egos in front offices. Like, John Gruden was trying to have players fail so he could make Reggie McKenzie look bad. It was low-level stuff. The good thing is, Freddie Kitchens and John Dorsey are kind of tied at the hip. So John Dorsey's going to try to help him out,

and he's going to try to help him out. But at the end of the day, can you scheme up and can you on game day make moves that are better than John Harrow? Ma'an Mike Tomlin. And whoever else, whether you're playing Belichick, whether you're playing Andy Reid, whether you're playing the San Diego Chargers, the Houston Texans, the Indianapolis Colts, like can you out-scheme those guys? Monday through Saturday and then on game day make in-game adjustments.

I don't know. I would, just history would show us, I'd probably bet against it. As crazy as that sounds, as much as I like them on paper. The chances that Freddie Kitchens at 42 has just been some under the radar diamond in the rough seems a little outrageous now am i disputing that it's not possible that yeah he just was kind of overlooked you know just a running back coach quarterback coach he should have gotten his chance he was kind of got the short end of the stick got screwed kind of yeah it's possible in this day and age with the media hype and with coaches how fast the buzz grows i would probably

bet against that though i i think the pressure on freddy kitchens year one is as immense as we've seen for any first-time head coach, you know, maybe ever. And again, if they do not make the playoffs this year, if they do not make the playoffs this year, it's not that crazy to think he could be a one-and-done coach. Again, I'm not anti-fraid of Kitchens. I'm rooting for the guy. But man, it just, the heat is on.

Okay, this story really stood out to me. And my friend, colleague, at the Athletic in the Bay Area. He's the Raiders beat reporter for the athletic San Francisco. He's covered the Raiders since I've been in the media in the Bay Area forever. The big fellow, Vic Tafer. He wrote an article where he got Daryl Mori on the phone, and Darrell, I guess they do an award for the best trade of the year. And they awarded the best trade of the year to the Raiders for trading Kalil-Mag. and what they got back.

And I mean, I had to read it twice, to be honest with you. And then I read Daryl's quote in the article that said, analytics typically fly in the face of conventional wisdom pretty often. So like when everyone's hanging the left, they hang a right. They typically disagree with just conventional wisdom. But I don't think this is that complicated. Who won and who lost this? trade. Now, I don't think we have a loser quite yet, but I think under zero circumstances,

can you give the Raiders a win right now? The Chicago Bears, essentially, as we sit here today, traded pick 23. Think about this. Odell Beckham just got traded for pick 17, which by far was the best asset in that trade. And the Giants are getting eviscerated, absolutely destroyed. Their general manager is called a dumb shit every day. And they gave up 17 for Odo Becker. Kalee Mack, every team in the league would rather have Kaleel Mac than Odo Beckham. He's 100% durable.

He doesn't miss games. He missed a couple this year. But for the most part, he's been very healthy, high character guy, zero issues. None. And then this year, when he was on the Chicago Bears, he was an all-pro pro-bowler, an elite player. Like, I got news for you.

Like, them getting, two first rounders wasn't that crazy. If Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack were put on the trading block last year, both of them would have got that type package. Why? Because they're Hall of Fame level players. The Chicago Bears, as we sit here right now, won the trade. The Raiders got picked 23.

And then next year, the Bears are going to be good again. So they're going to get picked 24, 25. They also swapped second and third round picks. So if the Raiders go 6 and 10 this year, the Bears get their second round. pick. Colin talks about this all the time that Jerry's famous quote and I've been thinking about it forever ever since I heard it. You never get a premium without paying a premium. It's like

in the Bay Area. When I bought the condo that I'm living in right now, I over, the bid was at a number, I overbid it by $50,000. Actually, more was like $60,000. I was then in the final four. I didn't even get it. And there were places down the street for almost double the amount of money, a little less, probably 30% more than what I paid. A nicer building. There was a really, really expensive. I couldn't even really afford it at the time, but I wanted to live there. And at the time, it was like, God, you're going to pay that much for a, it was a one-bedroom condo. I live in a two-bedroom condo. The two-bedroom condos there were almost double what I paid for my place. Well, I just Googled before I'm going on this little rant,

that place is up like 200 grand in the last, you know, 25 months. So you buy a premium, you pay a lot, you usually are, it's reciprocated. Like the Bears would do that trade a hundred times out of 100.

I can't say the same for the Raiders. We're going to find out. Also, this notion, Darry's big thing is like first round picks are valuable. Yeah, if you told me the Bears had gone 5 and 11, And the Raiders had pick four, pick nine, and pick 27. I'd go, yeah, pretty good trade.

But I'm sorry, Kalil Mack, multiple teams were offering multiple ones. And every team in the league was willing to pay them. That they won the trade? I'm honestly kind of at a loss. I think under no circumstances, in no way. And Darrell was like, I had to tell the Raider guys, and they were like, are you giving me shit? No, I'm telling you the truth. You won this award?

I think it's a joke. to be honest with you. I go, hey, Daryl, would you train James Harden for five first rounders? Let's say the equivalent in the NBA. He'd say, no. Say, of course not. You don't ever give up Hall of Fame players that are good humans and dominate. He took the Bears, and I know a lot of people with the Bears, in the scouting department,

the head coach. They thought they were going to be solid before the Kille-Mack trade. I mean, they added Roquan Smith and Kille-Mack in the off-season. They added Nagy. They thought there were going to be, you know, eight, nine wins. He took him to 11, 12 wins. Like, Khalil Mack is a difference maker. I watched him carry one of the worst defenses I've ever seen

and make them respectable because he's a turnover machine and help the Raiders get in the playoffs a couple years ago. And again, he's as high character of a human is me personally in my short time being around the league ever been around. Like you follow him on Instagram when everyone's out partying and clubbing. He's playing like tick-tac-toe with his trainer, shooting hoops with his brother. I'm sorry, that's the guy you trade two first round picks for.

And if you are going to trade two first round picks for them, they better be good first round picks. You know, the Amari trade, good on the Raiders. They weren't going to pay them. They got picked 27. Again, not ideal. Here's the other thing. What was the cost to acquire?

You use the fifth overall pick on Khalil Mack. And now you're getting back the 23rd pick, and let's say next year's the 25th pick, do the 23rd pick and the 25th pick Also when you have to swap your second round pick Equal the fifth overall pick Like Amari was the fourth overall pick You got back the 27th pick

I'm sorry those aren't good trades They're just not when those guys keep playing well And they're ascending players Their arrow's not neutral It's not pointing down they're pointed up I hope Daryl Morey knows the Bears wouldn't trade Khalil Mack back to the Raiders for three first-round picks. I'm a believer in analytics.

They do matter. This is the most asinine. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. Opinions are flying. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicel Life 12 in the TikTok podcast. podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

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Dumb Award, in the history of awards, there's been a lot of dumb awards. I think I've ever seen. It does not add up. Kaleo Mack was an all-pro, and beside Aaron Donald, probably the best player in the league on defense. He was that good last year. And the Raiders won the try? trade. Their fourth overall pick is their fourth overall pick. The Bears gave them 23. And again,

don't ever forget, the Raiders, while trading Khalil Mack in 2020, did a pick swap where they have to give up their second round pick. That's insane. That would have been like Gettlement, including their next year's two to get like an extra three. It was stupid. It made no sense. It's still to this day, because first off, you never trade a high character ass kicker in a prime of his career. Not when the salary cap is rising at enormous levels. You don't do it. You just don't make that trade. And you never give up an extra asset in that trade, even if it is a pick swap. It was laughable at the time, not as bad now, but still, the Raiders by no means won the trade and should be handed an award for the trade. This episode is brought to you by Royal Caribbean, an award-winning

global cruise line. A vacation is what you make it. So are you ready to make the most of it? A Royal Caribbean adventure is the perfect opportunity to not just take a vacation, but to take it for all its worth. We know you're eager to get back out there, and with Royal Caribbean, you can make the most of the moment and rise to the vacation. This is not just a cruise. This is the biggest, boldest vacation on land or at sea. This is pushing the limits of what could be done at sea and on land, breaking records and earning honors along the way. With over 270 plus destinations from the Caribbean, Alaska to Europe, and the biggest ships in the world to take you there. Each one of our cruises is packed full of onboard features. You won't find anywhere else.

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Listen, it's a new year, 2022. We're all trying to find people that hire, for those of you listening that are in HR, running small businesses, wherever you are. And LinkedIn makes it easier than ever to find people you want to talk to faster and for free. Create a job posted minutes. I've done it on LinkedIn job.

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That's LinkedIn.com slash J-O-H-N John to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Can I tell you about my friends at Shopify? It's the sound of another sale on Shopify, the all-in-one commerce platform to start run and grow your business. Shopify gives entrepreneurs the resources once reserved for big, business so upstarts, startups, and established businesses alike can sell everywhere, synchronized, online, in-person sales, and effortlessly stay informed.

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This possibility powered by Shopify. Go to Shopify.com slash John, that's all lowercase, for a free 14-day trial, and get full access to Shopify's entire suite of features. Grow your business with Shopify today. Go to Shopify.com slash J-O-H-N Shopify. Shopify.com slash John. One thing since last year my dad passed away, and there was a line or just a line

that you never really truly become a man until you become the man in your family and your dad dies. And there is some validity to me. to that statement. But I also think you just spend more time, you know, thinking about the way you treat people, just the basic things he taught you. You know, am I living up to that standard? You know, the name that you have is from him. You know, do people that interact with me that, you know, not professionally necessarily, but that too, but just in any walk of life, do you just do things

the right way? And your reputation in life does matter. Now, people can make up things about you, but for the most part, if your reputation is solid or is bad, that's going to get around. You can't really hide it. You know, you can't, you are who you are.

And one thing has been pretty clear over this last week that the reputation with Antonio Brown and Levy on Bell leaving, despite Antonio Brown's craziness and Levion Bell making a terrible business decision, their reputations haven't really changed much. But the one guy's reputation, and it's always been a little sketchy,

I think in league circles known as a drama queen, not faking injuries because he is tough, but just kind of making them a little more than what they actually are in Rathusberger. But the reputation of, he might not be a great guy, and we have some evidence, right? The thing that happened in Tahoe years ago, Some of the weird stuff over the year with Todd Haley. Then there was a story this weekend that Big Ben intentionally fumbled out of spite because he wanted to kneel and Haley called a run with a minute left up 10.

In the video, I wouldn't say he didn't fumble on purpose, but it's hard to say that he did fumble. You know, it's just you can go either way. What thing's pretty clear though, is Ben's not the best guy and he's not the easiest guy to deal with. When you look at the NFL and quarterbacks, like say what you want about. Rogers, he's kind of an intellectual elitist, but I don't think people say he's a bad human. Like Peyton Manning was really hard on teammates, but everyone respected him. One, because he was Peyton Manning, and two, just how hard he worked, just, it was hard being him.

You know, he took all the bullets. Like, Rathesberger points the finger. Does anyone in life, whatever business you work in, any office environment, hate more than a finger pointer? a guy, especially at the top of the food chain, that refuses to take responsibility for his actions, Ben's the worst, probably in my lifetime of covering sports and just being around sports, by far the worst.

It is never his fault, ever. And A.B. is really the first guy that's like, this is kind of bullshit. You know, now, is A.B. perfect in this? No. But did he have a point, like, why can Big Ben just blame me for running the wrong route when he threw it to the defensive lineman? Why can Big Ben just blame other people, blame the coach when it was his fault? Never takes any responsibility.

Like, for all the people that, you know, I've been trying to act like Levion and Bell, Levy on Bell and Antonio Brown got ruined over this last, you know, a little bit, like their reputations got hit. I think no one, and I don't even think it's close. I don't remember a quarterback taking a bigger reputation hit than Big Ben over this last week. I think if you ask the common guy, yeah, he's a good player, but, God, he's kind of a slap. I wouldn't want to play with him.

Now, if you look at it like the perfect player, it's like Brady. Every teammate loves him. All the guys like him, young and old, takes all the responsibility, the ultimate player you'd want. It kind of feels like Rathsburgers the opposite. The Steelers chose Levion and Antonio over him too. Big Ben's going to be 37. He's going into a contract year.

Is this really the guy that you want to build? it all around. You know, I mean, you have before, and it worked, and you've had a lot of success. But is it over now? Like, now do the young guys, Juju tweeted about how much he liked and respected Antonio, that they know this is all BS? You can only do the Bobby Knight, do as I say, not as I do, for so long, until you're not when you're a player and a quarterback, and you're not that as talented as you once were,

and people are going, I'm not listening to this guy anymore. This guy's a clown. And I think for the first time you saw Antonio Brown, who I wouldn't say was on an equal playing field, because at the end of the day, Big Ben's a quarterback, but was as close to an equal as you're going to have. I mean, he was the best wide receiver in the league for like six years. He said, this is bullshit.

This is just wrong. This guy's mentality is like it's 52 of us and him. And again, I think you could pull that off if you were Tom Brady, but Tom Brady doesn't even attempt to do that. I think Big Ben's reputation, I wouldn't say ruined, because you could argue his reputation's never been that great. But it is not in a good place right now. And I think the Steelers need to be awfully careful.

They've drafted two young quarterback. Remember last year when they drafted Mason Rudolph? And Mason's like, I can't wait to get around him. And then the next day, like Big Ben said on his radio show, like, I'm not going to help him. It's just kind of an asshole comment. I might not have set that up perfectly verbatim. But then Big Ben kind of watched.

locked it back. I mean, it was just kind of a dick move. It's just kind of unnecessary. Like, Ben, you had Antonio Brown. Why didn't you try to figure out a way to get it done? Now, the Levion thing was more money, but it's always something with Big Ben. And I've been a big fan of his as a player. I really enjoyed watching him over the years. There's nothing like when he was a younger player and he was on just because his ability to break tackles, keep plays alive, make unreal throws. He's won two Super Bowl's a starting quarterback. Ben to another. His resume is Fantastic. Like five or six-time Pro Bowl, he's going to go to the Hall of Fame one day.

But one thing's clear, you know, as time's gone on, that, you know, he's just, the Steelers went all in on a guy that's not really the best guy. Usually quarterbacks, you know, I was around Michael Vic. He wasn't, he had his flaws as a player, but everyone loved him. The whole team liked him. You know, I see it with the Raider. Like, most guys liked Derek Carr. Like when Kaepernick was really humming, and even Alex Smith, guys liked them. Now, towards the end, people didn't like Kaepernick as much. But people really liked Alex Smith. Being liked by your teammates, when you're the main guy, is pretty important when you play quarterback.

Does it matter if you play safety or guard? No. But when you're the quarterback, people say, well, you're only leading the office. No, you're kind of leading the team. You know, the team, the coach, they're dependent on you. It's like when Brett Veats was asked at the combine, you know, people, of course, Twitter was trying to make a big deal about him, saying that Patrick Mahomes playing basketball,

that he had to nip that in the bud. He's kind of being serious, but he's also, he set it on an NFL network at the combine. Like, hey, Patrick, this entire building, players, coaches, their families are now depending on you. We're all in this on you. So we need to play well, make right decisions, treat people the right way.

Your reputation when you're in that situation, to me, does kind of matter. And even if you are a bad guy in the peak of your powers, you can get away with it. But the older you get, and Big Ben's not getting any younger, and he's not, he really, he's been kind of hit or missed these last couple years. Now his hit is still really good. But he's got to be careful.

And he's not going to change. I mean, he is what he is at this point as a human. But, man, I, as someone that's always been a big fan of him, I kind of question myself, like, is he a great guy? Is he someone that I'd want to be associated with? Like, I don't know. And I've always kind of defended him, but I'm starting to think twice that, Maybe he's the one that should have been getting eviscerated the last six months and not Levion and Antonio Brown.

I owe a quick apology. Apology might be strong, but I had some fun last podcast at the expense of the hoodie. And the hoodie has been in Barbados with Kouralinda, his girlfriend. They've been having a good time. And one just topic I did last week was pretty telling that free agency is happening. the hoodie has multiple big free agents and Trey Flowers and Trent Brown and he went on vacation.

Pretty nuts. You know, pretty crazy? And you know what it turns out? I was reading Peter King's article. It's not called MMQB anymore. It's like Football Morning in America or something on NBC. And he had a lot of Drew Rosenz... He talked to Peter talked to Drew Rosenhouse

about just the movement of Antonio Brown and Trent Brown. And Rosenhouse had a pretty telling quote in there. He basically just said, don't let the pictures fool you. Belichick and I had a conversation about Trent Brown on like Tuesday morning at 4.30 in the morning when he was in Barbados or whatever. And it got me thinking, you were not Bill Belichick. Bill Belichick eats, breeze, and sleeps football. Now, he's at the point in his career where he can go on vacation and still do business,

partly because of technology. I used to tell my dad all the time, like, I can do business on. my iPhone from the couch while watching I can send emails, make calls, you have no clue where I am at. I mean, hell, I do what, my business now runs out of a home office. Everything is dependent on the internet

and Wi-Fi. But I was just, Belichick didn't take last week off. He was just not in his office. Why? He was already prepared. They had number set. He knew, he is so far ahead of the game.

Like, Belichick, I'm telling you, this book on Bill Belichick, Ian O'Connor's book, I think it's just called Belichick. I'm listening to it. It's just fascinating, how brilliant the guy is. And again, I was tweeting out the pictures, making fun of him on here. But Phil Savage once described Bill Belichick, and he worked for Bill Belichick in Cleveland. He said, there's a football treadmill, and it starts the first day of training camp.

And it goes up until OTA's end. So basically about 10 months. and Belichick never breaks stride for those 10 months. Majority of humans fall off. Even Phil was like, it'll wear any human out. He doesn't break stride. His ability to understand the league, know the league, be the smartest guy in the league, like he was calling Jerosenhouse because he would have taken Trump Brown back,

just for the right price. Once they got to that number, he was never going to match it. But if he could have got him, you know, for 20 million guaranteed, maybe Trump Brown's still on the Patriots. But I think we all, and I'm included, just thought Belichick and Cougar Lindo were swimming and who knows where Barbados. Belichick running around half-naked, doing flying squirrels off the dock. Like, Belichick doesn't even give a shit. No, he's, he was up at 4.30.

You know, Colin Drew Rosenhouse, checking in with agents. I'm sure checking in with the home base. They know what they're doing. Six Super Bowls later. He actually won two. And part of this book, and it was, you saw this if you watched the 30 for 30 with him and Parcells. like Parcells was not the scheme guy Parcells was the leader

Belichick was the scheme guy Belichick was the guy that slowed down the West Coast offense Belichick was the genius over time he's developed some of the Parcellian kind of attitude they go about it a little differently but Belichick's the total package

and I think it shows you if you're going to be good at anything in life you have to be consumed by it and I know you've ever been on vacation with a girlfriend or even your family they're like, hey, can you just turn off your work? Can you just separate? Just leave the phone at home.

Well, no, I can't. I got a big boy job. People depend on me. I think about my job a lot. It consumes me. Now, it's not the healthiest way to live, but find me the best person in any profession. They're thinking about their job 24-7, 365,

in some form or fashion. And I made the mistake of thinking that he was just, again, swimming laps with his hot girlfriend. And it turns out that was not the case. He was doing that, but also while he's making phone calls, checking in probably on every free agent he was interested in, he was working the whole time. He just knew he didn't have to be in the office.

You can go on vacation. And you know what? You win your six Super Bowl? You get to go on vacation. But like anyone that's the best at what they do, even when you're on vacation, you're working. And you're actually probably working more than even you'd like to on vacation. But that's the point in time he's at in his career.

He's so good he can go to Barbados during free agency while still keep it in touch and still be, what would you say, the heavy favorite to win the Super Bowl in 2019, 20? They'd be my pick right now. They got seven picks in the top 90. They got their starting left tackle coming back off injury. They still got TB12 and they still got Bill Belichick. Okay, let's get into the Middilkopf Mailbag. You know the great thing about doing a podcast is I actually just went to.

dinner. Now I'm back, but it's all one podcast. It's like I never even left. You know, if this was a live show, I wouldn't have been able to do what I just did. But I've been gone for an hour, and if I didn't tell you, no one would ever know. So let's talk about Middelloff mailbag questions. Do it every week. Slide up in those DMs, and I will answer the questions from Instagram at John Middlecoff, which is my name, is my handle. Okay, here's the question. I've been getting a lot of Colts questions. I was going back and forth with Trevor here, and kind of the crux of everything is, I really appreciate you the answer the question.

Okay, I get the franchise tag issues with some of the guys they've had gone after. But with the quarterback in place, he's talking about the Colts, no need for leverage, and marquee wide receivers and pass rushers are gone, where the fuck are the Colts going to spend all their 70 million in Casp Space? And I responded, I just said they ain't, they're just going to roll it over, and they're poised to make a big trade. And he just says, that's what I'm thinking too. Ballard knows the opportunity.

Plus, I got four picks in the top 90. Bet they trade for defense. Prime draft slots for guys like Debo, Debo, Miles Sanders, Ridley, Akim Butler. How would the approach, how would you approach it if you were Ballard? Just because you have money does not mean you need to spend it. Like the Colts, I have no issue with the 49ers signing D.4.

But I would have had an issue if they would have given same contract to trade flowers. Like, if you're going to spend money, you have to do it intelligently. You also, like, keeping cap space and the Colts are on a different level than the Niners, but it keeps you in position to do deals. Like, look at the Browns. If they just would have wasted cap space over the last, hell even before free agency, on just other players, even last year, they wouldn't have been in the position to trade for

Odo Beckham. Like, when you have cap space, if you're the Colts, you can go trade for, a Patrick Peterson. You can go trade for, I'm just, this guy's not on the trade block, but like a Luke Keeckley. You can just trade for whoever. Like, just spending the money to spend the money in free agency in any sport is dumb. Now, if you can get a Kevin Durant, if you can get, you know, O'Dell Beckham, he wasn't even a free agent, but you know what I'm saying, Reggie White's, the Peyton Mannings, yeah. But I'm not paying Trent Brown top tackle money. That's just dumb money. Because having space is a valuable commodity. You can just roll it over every year. And I also think if you're

a Colts fan, it's not like Ballard, who did they not sign that they should have signed, is my question. The other thing is, as a general manager, if your coach doesn't like a player, like let's say you are a Coles fan and you go, we need corners. I'm sure there weren't even that many corners, but let's just say you need safeties. Now they drafted the same. safety from LSU a couple years ago, but from LSU, they draft Jamal Adams is on the Colts, now I'm getting my safeties mixed up. They have a safety, oh, they drafted Hooker. They drafted Hooker from Ohio State.

But let's just say they need a safety. Let's say the coaches don't like the Marcus Joyner, the Honey Badger, Earl Thomas. And given what you have to pay those guys, it's not crazy if you don't pay them. Because whenever you hear these coaches and GMs talk about being in sync, and having a direct line of communication being on the same page, you can't force players on your coaching staff. And I'm just using these guys as random examples. But if your coach doesn't like them and then you sign a guy to a big deal,

that's usually where you get problems. It's because then when the high-priced guy underachieves, and I got news for you that the coach can kind of sabotage a player when you force them on it. So they have harmony in the building. they have a good thing going. They got a ton of picks. And I do think they are poised that if a big-time player, like Julio Jones or Patrick Peterson, if they're able to trade for a guy, they're in position to trade for a guy. I think Chris Ballard knows what he's doing.

He clearly is a top flight, top 4 or 5 GM in the league. He's patient and patience as fans that pisses us off. Sign him, sign him, sign him! Why did they sign the Honey Badger? Why didn't they sign Levy on Bell? You know, because maybe it didn't fit. Maybe the coach didn't want them. Maybe they think they got internal answers.

I don't know. But I don't think just spending cap space is always smart. Like, I like the Raider signing of Tyrell Williams and Lamarcus Joyner. I don't love the Trent Brown money. Like, that's pretty bold. Best guess, John, how will the Raiders address the ed situation? Chances they make a run at Bosa? I think the biggest wild card in the NFL,

right now is Josh Rosen. Is Josh Rosen going to get traded the night of the draft? Because that's, if Kyler Murray's on the Cardinals, that kind of feels like where we're headed, right? Josh Rosen is a draft day trade. If he's a draft day trade, let's assume Murray goes to the Cardinals. Then you would assume Bosa goes to the Niners. But I do think, let's say the Raiders loved Bosa.

I do think the 49ers would be open, okay, two to four, and give us 27. you got a deal right there. So if the Raiders wanted Bosa, they could trade up. They'd probably have to give one of their first round picks. And they could also just sit there and get either Josh Allen or Quinn and Williams, which I think would be the right move. I wouldn't give up one of those picks. I guess unless you really, really liked Bosa.

And, you know, I talk to people in the league. I like Bosa. He looks like a really good player. His workout was solid. They just don't quite think he's his brother. He's clearly going to go really high. And I also think this is the time of year where you can over-analyze a player.

It's clear the guy's good. If his medical checks out, he's going to be a good player. He's going to be a really good player if he's healthy. Now you just have to balance it if you're the Niners, the Jets, and the Raiders. Who do you like more? How would you stack Bosa, Williams, and Allen? And I think certain scouts and certain front offices

will kind of have them stack differently. Hell, there may be a player outside of that group, whether it's Ned Oliver, whether it's a sweat, the Simmons kid from Mississippi State tours ACL, so he's not going in the first round. But it's really, the top 10 this year, because of Gary, all the good defensive linemen,

all the good defensive line prospects, throwing Devin White there too. Like, you're really good, and they all tested well, and they all seem to be good character, high-level guys. It's just pure football. Like, how do you rank these guys? You know, it's easy to be like,

you know, I don't like Josh Rosen as much, the personality, Lamar Jackson, throw. It was easier to stack it. I would say every, most teams had the top two quarterbacks in some order, Baker, Sam, Sam, Baker. Like, who are the best defensive line? And I think you're going to see a lot of differentiating opinions as we get closer to the draft on this. Is it time to change the number of players allowed on active rosters? Highly specialized niche game talk, niche players make the game much more fun to watch. But high performance players are

are often injured and few injuries will derail a season. These guys train so hard and have such short careers, it's ridiculous that a couple of injured teammates could ruin a season. Instead of making a whole new league of busted up players, why can't we just have more flexibility with Pup? I know where you're going. I want to see sumo wrestler lead blocker for a high jumper in a goal line situation. Am I alone on this one?

We can have fewer lame duck seasons and foster creativity with offensive minds. I think you might have jumped the shark a little bit, but let's just talk in realistic terms. The active game day roster right now is 45. Yet you dress 53 players, right? Yet, you know, you've got eight guys down on game day that we all see it when we turn on the... Like an NFL sideline,

if you watch college football on Saturday, and each sideline is jam-packed, like 100 players, coaches everywhere, you can't even move. And then you turn on an NFL game, you're like, God damn, there's a lot of room. Because there is. There's only 50 football players

and only 45 have pads on. and then half the coaching staff is upstairs. So I think you see, yeah, there's definitely a need for change there, and I would imagine the next CBA, there is a change. Because right now the situation just doesn't make that much sense. Why do you have guys on your roster, but they can't be active on game day? It just does not add up. I completely agree.

I think it's stupid. Now, sumo wrestlers or whatever is not necessarily needed. but I see what you're saying. They need more people active on game day. Middlecoff. After seeing Dave Gettleman's comments today on Eli can still play and played well toward the end of last year, this has to be a smokescreen just so Haskins can follow them

and maybe trade up from Murray. He can't honestly believe that. Or do you feel that's honestly how he thinks and just sounds so crazy to think someone feels that way? But then again, it's Dave, I suck at my job, Gettelman. Keep up the content. for those you didn't miss, I don't know where he said this

on a local radio show that basically Odell, like they felt good about trading Odell, they thought Eli was good down the stretch. Again, the Giants and Dave Gettlement think Eli is still a really good player. I think he stinks. I think Dave Gettlement is just,

you know, might be losing his mind. I'm okay with trading Odell. You just have to get more back than the 17th pick in Gibral Plippers. That's just not enough. To me, you've got to get at least like one and a two. Anything else is just fluff. His comments about Eli, I just think the Maras, I think he thinks his bosses believe that. I think his bosses love Eli Manning. So he knows, we've all been in

the situation that if you're working for someone and they love something, you kind of go over the top on that subject just because that guy's going to like you more in that situation. It's not that crazy. I mean, the comment is crazy, but if you're going to give Dave Gettleman the benefit the doubt that he's just saying that because he thinks the owner will like it, then that's more understandable. If he truly believes that, he should be fired on the spot. For the podcast, for a team

like the Colts with a massive amount of salary cap space going into the season, why not restructure a lot of players to front load their deals? This would put them at a significant salary cap advantage in 2020 and beyond. Because, I mean, how many players on the Colts actually make big money? You know, I mean,

beside Locke and T. Y. Hilton, who else makes cash? Hooker, all the rookies last year, the running backs, even Eric Ebron was on a no-money contract. Their team's pretty cheap. I don't think they're in cap hell moving forward. Because even Luxville, as we get years away from when he signed it, is only going to look better.

I think that I hear what you're saying, but I don't think they need to do that. Is John going to draft Kyler Murray if Arizona passes? to me, if Arizona were to take Bosa and play with Rosen, I would imagine that the 49ers try to do a trade with the Raiders for Kyla Murray, if John likes Kyler Murray. And that's the hard part about this time of year. Who likes who? It's hard to know. It's hard to know who to believe.

The longer Josh Rosen stays on the Cardinals, I feel less confident than my theory that he's going to go won. It's not really my theory. Hell, everyone thinks that. Is right. Just because there is the curveball that they might keep Rosen. What if John Gruden, Antonio Brown just flew into Oakland, had a press conference, stayed and hung out with Derek, they threw multiple times in the East Bay, then Derek had a party for his son.

He's like two-year-old son at Fresno State in the football stadium, and they just got a bunch of bounce houses. He invited Antonio Brown and his kids. So now if John Gruden were to trade Derek on draft night, that'd be pretty cold-blooded. that would be pretty cold-blooded. So I don't know what to believe. I'm not going to be shocked with anything.

If you tell me Kyla Murray's a Cardinal, Kyla Murray's a Raider, I'm open to any potential. Nothing would shock me. But I don't feel confident necessarily about one individual thing happening. Honestly, I just don't know. I just do not know.

Okay, let's get some mailback questions. I was wondering if you think that Nick Fowles' contract helps or hurts DAC position when negotiating the new deal with the Cowboys. I know most Cowboy fans, including myself, would love to see him sign about $22 million average per contract. Let's see. How many playoff wins does Dak have? He won a game this year, right?

They won the first round against Seattle. They played Seattle? Yeah, they played Seattle, right? Yeah. He didn't win two years ago when he was a rookie. So he's got one playoff win. Foles has four. Now, Dak has better seasons.

Like, Dax had good seasons. Foles just had higher moments. Foles signed for $55 million guaranteed. I think that was the number, maybe it was 50. And I think whatever the total number was. Well, as we all know, the total numbers kind of BS. To me, it's not about the average. It's what you have to guarantee DAC.

If I can sign DAC today for the Nick Foles guaranteed money, I do that in a heartbeat. But does DAC want like Jimmy Garoppel, Derek Carr type guaranteed? Which theirs was like 70? I don't feel quite as good. And I'm not saying that you just see when the guy doesn't play as well, like Derek's contract. Derek signs for $70 million guarantee. And he starts planning out.

You're like, ugh, I don't quite love this. But if he's good, you feel good. It's just, I'm with you. I don't know if it helps or hurts because I don't know if their careers really parallel each other. I think Dallas and Jerry Jones would drive the contract negotiator to Dax House right now if they would sign that contract. I just don't think the DAC would sign that contract. though I think that's probably what he's worth but you know in sports as in life you don't always sign for what you're worth

I'm listening to your rant on Levi on Bell's holdout sacrificing 14.5 million and for the most part I agree however if he suffers a severe to career ending injury this first year and we assume that this could have happened during the franchise tag year would he not end up with 11 million dollars more I believe your argument with Jimmy Jesus ACL, you stated that an injury can just be bound to happen regardless. Here's my thing, though. What about all the players

that just went into free agency? Trent Brown, Trey Flowers, just the countless players in free agency that have signed. Golden Tates. La Marcos, Le Marcus, not LaMarcus. De Marcus Lawrence. I called them La Marcos Almarcus. I was watching the Warriors game earlier.

Lamarcus Aldris. De Marcus Lawrence. Frank Clark. All these guys. They were heading into their free agency here. of them. They played. I guess football's risky. So yeah, I mean, if he shatters his ankle or whatever or tears his ACL, it might have been bound to happen. But couldn't that be said for every player that's heading into their contract year? Why does anyone play? I'm being kind of serious here. Because I think we've kind of jumped the shark. Because I feel no sympathy for a guy that had $14.5 million. And again, how often do career-ending injuries happen? Like once every other year

to a player? I mean, Ryan Chazier had the neck injury. Alex Smith had the foot. So we've had like two in the last two years. Like one a year. The chance that can be Levion Bell? Now again, there's always a chance. But why'd Frank Clark play this season? Why did DeMarcus Lawrence play this season? Why'd D. Ford play this season? Why does any free agent play this season? Those guys were making a lot less than he was making. Uh, sometimes like I'll open a DM and it'll be some, some porno mass email. You just got to decline it.

Question, what's going on with Ed Oliver's talk? The beginning of the season, he was rumored to be a top five pick, and I just see him slipping in mock drafts recently. Was his junior season that disappointing? I'll be honest, I didn't watch him that much this season, but you talk to people in the NFL, they still like him a lot. I think if his medical checked out of the combine, he's going to end up going in the top ten.

I think the one knock is, and you saw this with Aaron Donald, who was a better prospect, when you're short at defensive tackle, it just makes teams uneasy. Like, they want their defensive tackle. And again, this doesn't mean the guy's going to be good to be Roshan Gary, 6'5. To be even Quinn and Williams, I think he's what, 6, 2 and a half. Like Fletcher Cox, that's what they want him to look at? What's that all over?

A shade over 6-1? I mean, Aaron Donald is 2 and he kicks ass and takes names. But when you are short at defensive tackle, it just can make teams uneasy when they have to draft you in the top 6. or eight. So if he ends up going like 11 or 12, it's not that nuts. Remember last year, Mika Fitzpatrick, who I thought was a top five player, ends up going 12. I mean good players, just because you don't go in the top 10 doesn't mean you weren't a top 10 player. It happens every year. So I think when the dust settles and, you know, regardless where he goes, and it kind of does feel like he'll end up going probably 9, 10, 11, 12, somewhere in there. When like you said,

he was projected as a top five pick, we might look back in the draft. in years to go, God. Best player was Ed Oliver, who's drafted 11. Look at Cleo Mac and Aaron Donald's draft. They didn't go one. Cleo went five. But where did Aaron Donald go?

Like 12 or 13? Maybe he went 11, and I think Odell went 13. I mean, great players go all the time in the teens. I say this all the time. Like, if you tweet out so-and-so, I think the guy would be a really good second-round pick. People like, hey,er! Like, going in the second round does not mean.

you suck. This is not the NBA. There's seven rounds. If you go on the second round, I can name like 10 players on top of my head that win the second round that are pretty damn good and making a lot of money. Shady McCoy, Deshawn Jackson, Jimmy Garoppel, Derek Carr, I mean, there were some all pros last year, Darius Leonard, Devante Adams. Going in the second round is not some like, you just suck for perpetuity. A lot of good players go. Drew Buries went in the second round. A lot of good players going in the second round and the third round. Like going on the second day, a lot of good players go on the same. second day. Only 32 guys can go in round one, unless Belichick gets in trouble for something and

they take away his pick, 32 players. So if you're the 37th player, I mean, Zach Hurts, my last year in Philly. How did he turn out? He went in the second round. You can be an elite player and go in the second round. Just for whatever reason, like you're going to see this year, there's going to be a lot of defensive players going. There's going to be a couple quarterbacks they're going to push players down. There are going to be a lot of good wide receivers this year's class. They're going to go in the second round. Just because you go in the second round does not mean Levy on Bell went in the second round. Like to me the second round

means the draft that you are thought highly of in the draft. Like if you go fifth, sixth, seventh round, yeah, you're not thought that highly of. You on the second round, some teams might have thought you were a first rounder. That's a little pep of mine. But I appreciate everyone listening. Three and out

podcast. Have a good night. March Madness, right around the corner. I think when I'll record this later this week, we'll have some March Madness games on favorite time of year. And hopefully some fun shit happens this week in the NFL that I can talk about. Again, I appreciate everyone listening. Share it with your friends.

Share it with your family. Keep subscribing, unsubscribe, and subscribe again, and just keep listening. Have a good day. May the peace be with you. Godspeed, aidos. Until later this week. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this valentines with 1-800flowers.com. From classic roses and bouquets

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