The Kevin Sheehan Show - Can They Afford Terry?

Episode Date: June 9, 2025

Kevin opened the show with a response to an email wondering if Washington can afford a big new contract for Terry McLaurin. Kevin also discussed the Packers releasing CB Jaire Alexander. Salary Cap Expert & NFL agent J.I. Halsell joined Kevin to talk about what a McLaurin contract might look like. Plenty of other NFL discussion with J.I. as well. Kevin finished with TJ Oshie's retirement, NBA Finals Game 2, and the French Open.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. This from Carter C to open up today's show, Carter writes Kevin. Any chance the team, and then he writes in capital letters, can't afford to sign Terry McLaren. And then he adds two winking emojis after that.

That's an interesting thought, Carter. I think one worth exploring, and I'll begin to do that. right after I tell you that the show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Windonation. 86690 Nation if you need new windows, or go to WindowNation.com. Mention my name, and they'll come out and give you a free in-home, no-obligation estimate. The team opens up its mandatory minicamp tomorrow. It is scheduled to run through Thursday. They put out a tweet today showing that Laramie Tunsell had arrived.

Nothing about Marshawn Latimore or Terry McCle. Lauren. So look, let me just start with Carter's email because it was interesting to me. I thought it was worth sort of flushing out a little bit because it's not the craziest thing to think about. You know, Josh Harris had to essentially borrow a big portion of the $6 billion to buy the team not even two years ago in 2023. You know, that was a price that required 20 plus limited partners to get it over the finish line. We know about the massive expenditures that they've made since purchasing the team on things like the existing stadium, not to mention what they're going to have to spend on the new stadium, you know, when the city council votes to approve, which I think

they'll do by the end of the month. But, you know, they've spent 75 million, maybe close to 100 million at this point, just to make FedEx Field, Northwest Field, a better experience. for fans, not to mention a safer experience for fans. Remember, that thing was falling apart when they bought the team. Railings were falling on players, pipes were bursting. You know, the thing was a disaster. They had to spend it, you know, spend that kind of money just to get it back up to code. And they went beyond that. But in terms of the football team, this Terry contract extension conversation, where last week it was reported that he is frustrated with the way the conversation is gone, the

negotiation is gone, is it possible that the frustration stems from the team, you know, wondering whether or not it's the best use of what they have in terms of cash? Last year they signed Sam Cosme to a contract extension, four years, $74 million, $42 million, guaranteed roughly, $20 million at signing. that's the biggest commitment to a player that they've made. We know last year, you know, free agency was mostly about one-year deals, a couple of multi-year deals, Zekler, Louvo, you know, et cetera. We know that this year, the Kinlaw deal,

the three-year $45 million deal, which was, I think, $30 million guaranteed, was the biggest deal that they've done. Terry's deal is going to be, you know, 100 plus million, somewhere between 90 and 120 million. You know, with 70 guaranteed, maybe more, this will be the biggest commitment to a player that they've made since buying the team. And in the back of their minds, for planning purposes, cash-wise, you've got the new stadium whenever that process begins at the RFK site with a lot of money required. And I think that there are going to be funding mechanisms which won't require everything out of pocket, you know, right away, clearly. But what will cost them a lot over the next two years is the contract that they'll have to sign Jaden Daniels to in the offseason of 2027.

It is something to consider. I would say that I don't think that there's any truth to that. I just, look, they were willing to trade for Trey Hendrickson, but not at the draft choice competition. compensation that Cincinnati wanted before the draft, which was a first plus, maybe a first and a third. They weren't willing to give up that. But if there had been a price that seemed fair, they would have had to pay Trey Hendrickson, a lot of money, you know, somewhere, you know, more than maybe what Terry's going to earn. I personally still think that the hang up over this contract extension, first of all, not unusual timing-wise.

You know, Terry didn't sign his deal in 2022 until June 28th. He missed mandatory minicamp that summer, too. The 49ers, when Adam Peters was in the organization, and it's been the same without him, they've been notorious slow rollers on negotiations. Deals don't get done until the very last minute, see Brandon Ayuk from last summer. I think it has a lot to do with that along with, you know, this thing that I talked about last week. You know, Terry is going to be 30 years old. So the years that you're going to be paying them for are going to be in his 30s, his early 30s,

maybe up until the point, you know, if you count 33 years old or 34 years old, the beginning of the mid-30s. And I think the other part is, you know, deciding what Terry really is. he's not an elite wide receiver. I know many of you hate when I say that. He's not in the Justin Jefferson. He's not in the Jamar Chase. He's not even in the AJ Brown category. He's in a group of six, seven, eight guys, maybe a few more, that if you put him into a hat and just picked blindly, you take any of the guys that came out of it because they're all, you know, really, really good in their own right. And he's part of that group. You know, that's not a slight. He's just not in a elite receiver who dominates football games.

And so that combined with age is part of the reason they may be stuck right now. J.I. Hallsell will come on with me in the next segment. Jay, an NFL agent, a salary cap expert, a friend of this show for many, many years, a DMVer. We'll get him on in the next segment to discuss this. I did not ask him about the idea that the team could be in a cash bind because I didn't read this email until after I had recorded the interview with J.I. But J.I. coming up in the next segment of the show. Interesting email, Carter. It's not crazy. I mean, remember also, you know, Harris needed a lot of help funding, the new arena. That thing fell apart in Philadelphia for the 76ers. You know, know, they are still not even two full years of shelling out $6 billion. And we know what they've

spent. And it's been quite the commitment. And it's appreciated. I would hope by all of you, it is by me, in terms of what they've, you know, put out there. And so I think this is going to get done. I think it'll get done before camp. I haven't come off of that. I think it's just delicate. And it could be delicate for more reasons than just age and where Terry sees himself among wide receivers in the NFL. It could have something to do with what Carter wrote about. Could. I mean, they're going to have to, you know, shell out 70-something million at signing, you know, 50 million at signing, you know, 70-something practically guaranteed, you know, 120 and escrow, you know, and accounted for. Although that doesn't seem to happen as much as it's supposed to happen.

based on the collective bargaining agreement, but they got a lot of big numbers coming down the pike. That's for sure. All right, NBA Finals game two. I'm going to hold off on that conversation until the final segment of the show. I do want to talk about the story today in the NFL, the big story I would suggest, is that Jair Alexander,

Longtime Corner for the Green Bay Packers is getting released by the Packers. And I know a lot of you are like, why not sign him? He won't be expensive. First of all, I wouldn't hold your breath on thinking that Alexander is going to sign on the cheap, on the super cheap, because I don't think that'll happen. I do think it's an interesting conversation, and I don't think the team will be interested in signing him personally. But there are very, they're striking similarities between Alexander and Marchon Latimore.

Basically, the same age, same amount of years in the league, same amount of kind of pro bowls, all pros, etc. You know, a mix and match there. Alexander's got more all pros. Marchand Latimore might have a few more pro bowls. Really good corners. At their best, high-level borderline elite cornerbacks in this league. Here's what I would just say about Alexander. I don't think they should be opposed to it if they feel like at this point,

Marshawn Latimore is trending towards being square peg into a round hole. I'm not suggesting that they feel that way. But one of the things I said right when the season ended, you know, I said, you know, here are the off-season priorities. First of all, view this as window number one to try to go win a Super Bowl. Window number one, meaning Jaden's on a rookie contract. And I talked about things like you want to bring back guys like Wagner and Ertz and Mariotta and even a guy like Jeremy Chin, which they didn't because you want good players and you

want the culture that you've started to create to continue. Secondly, it was you've got to focus on defense, specifically guys that can stuff the run, but you'll also need a pass rusher. Thirdly, and I've got this in my notes from right when the season ended, figure out the Latimore situation. If there's a concern culture-wise, playing-wise, a dress corner in the off-season. Now, they did that by drafting Trey Amos in the second round.

They got a guy that basically had a lot of people thinking he could go as early as mid-first round. But what I wrote, and here's the note that I added to that, don't ever fear cutting your losses before they lead to more losses. And that's specific to Marshawn Latimore. If for whatever reason, they're back there saying, fingers crossed, that this one turns out okay, rather than saying, oh, we got it right. He just was hurt, was never really healthy, didn't acclimate, but we got the, right guy. We got a smart guy. We got a committed guy and we got a guy that's, you know, healthy now. And we feel really good about it. Because if they don't feel good about it and it's a fingers crossed situation, you, you know, you consider, you know, the options. Look, I think their situation

at Corner is better now than it was last year regardless of whether or not they add somebody. and even regardless on Lattimore, you know, paying off. Because last year they had St. Juist, they had Mike Davis, they had San Ristill. And this year, you know, at least on paper, you've got San Ristill who proved he could play on the outside. You've got Latimore. You drafted Amos. You brought back Igben O'Gennie. You added Jonathan Jones.

You know, you're just, at least on paper, you're better off than you were a year ago. But I don't think Alexander is going to be super cheap. You know, the real similarities between Latimore and Alexander after, you know, them both being star players when they're healthy is that neither one of them's been healthy. Alexander's been injured the last two seasons. He's played 14 out of a possible 34 regular season games the last two years. But he's getting released by Green Bay. he's going to want more than a one-year, you know, prove-it deal.

And somebody's going to be willing to give him much more than a one-year prove-a-deal. Remember, with Marshawn Latimore, you basically only have commitment-wise, cash outlay-wise, about $2 million per year for the next two years. New Orleans had paid all the, you know, upfront and guaranteed and signing bonus money. Same with Tunsell. Not the $2 million part. They still owe him, you know, base salary much more significant moving forward. But I think Tunsell's salary in this upcoming season is $21 million.

And then he's under contract two for $26 at roughly $21 million. That's another contract extension, though, that isn't that far away. You know, that is a contract extension that is next off season. so he doesn't get to 2026 playing on a one-year deal. So they've got some big expenditures coming up. Although, you know, you look at their roster and it's like, they're going to have to pay Frankie Louvo. They're going to obviously have to, based on his performance this year,

it's either moving on from Duran Payne or paying him. You're going to have to, who am I forgetting? Well, Jaden is the big one, clearly, but that's two years away. All right. J.I. Hallsell will join me next. We'll get into some of his thoughts regarding Terry McClorn and just a lot about what's going on in the NFL with available players, what the prices would be for some of those available players, etc.

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Joining me right now, an old friend, J.I. Hullsell. Happy birthday, J.I. It was nice to learn that this was a big day. I did not reach out to you to wish you a happy birthday, but I did so accidentally, and I want to wish you a happy birthday right now. But I reached out to J.I. Because J.I. over the years has been our salary cap expert on this show. And J.I. is an agent to players in the league.

He is a salary cap expert. been working in the league, including for our team many, many years ago. And I was just thinking about you last week because, you know, there was this story that came out that Terry McClure is frustrated with the way contract extension talks are going. You know, not unusual for this time of year. But I wanted to get your overall thoughts on where you think Terry and the team might be right now. and then how this gets resolved and what it looks like when it gets resolved. So with that, I'll turn it over to you, birthday boy. Yeah, well, I appreciate the thought, man.

In terms of Terry McLaur, I think the challenge for him is he's clearly number one wide receiver, even with the arrival of Debo Samuel. I think the challenge, though, for him is he's 29, right? And I think what you see in Terry McLaren's scenario is a situation. really not too different than Chris Godwin minus the injury part of the Chris Godwin scenario, right? So when I think about, okay, you've got a number one wide receiver, but he's 29 years old, how do, and we know that the number one wide receiver market is in excess of 30 million per year, you're the Washington commanders.

How do you find some middle ground to give him a market appropriate deal, given the fact, though, that, again, he's 29 years old. Okay, so before we get to what you think that looks like, what do you think of that report last week? Is that just an agent trying to create leverage? Well, yes, it is likely coming from the agent trying to create leverage by saying, you know, that his client is disappointed with kind of the pace and tenor of the conversation. But, I mean, look, again, he is exactly what you want in the locker room. exactly what you want from a culture building standpoint.

The fact that, yeah, that we are here, now, granted, look, we've still got another, you know, month and a half or so before we get the training camp, but the fact that they're, it sounds like they're not further along in the contract conversation, I'm sure, is frustrating for both Terry and his age. What do you make of just the Adam Peters 49ers experience and the reputation the 49ers have for, you know, letting these things sort of drag on and getting them done at the 11th hour. Do you think some of that's in play right now? Sure, without a doubt.

I mean, that's the culture that Adam grew up in from a front office cap management standpoint. I think the key word that you mentioned there, though, is that ultimately the deals do get done. And I suspect that won't be any different for Terry McCorn, especially given who he is both on the field in the locker room. So Terry, you mentioned 29. He'll be 30 when the season starts or a week into the season. And you mentioned Chris Godwin.

I think a lot of people listening would say immediately, Terry's a lot better than Chris Godwin. I'm not, I think Godwin's a good receiver. I think Terry would be ahead of Godwin. Godwin's always been a number two to Mike Evans when both have been healthy. But, you know, given the age,

and then what else is in play here. From Terry's side and Terry's agent's side, what do you think they're looking for? I mean, they're obviously looking for a deal reflective of a number one wide receiver, regardless of what his age is, and that's a deal in excess of $30 million per year. If you're telling me that Brandon I, you can get $30 million per year, why can't Terry McCorn get $30 million plus per year? And the club will say, well, Brandon Iyuk's a lot younger than Terry McClearn, so we don't feel comfortable paying a receiver who will be 30 years old in the middle of this season, a number in excess of 30.

So now you have to start looking at, okay, well, what's the lower tier number one wide receiver market, the high-end number two wide receiver market, coupled with the fact that we just gave Devo Samuel a reworked deal that has a one-year average per year value of 24, or just under 24 million. So, you know, those are all of the different parameters and considerations, right? T. Higgins is a number two wide receiver in Cincinnati and is making just under 29 million per year. And I'm not saying that Terry McCorn is or is not T. Higgins, but again, T. Higgins is a number two wide receiver making 29. So therefore, if I'm Terry McCorn, how can you tell me that I should make less than 29? So these are all of the different

things that kind of come into play when we're trying to craft a win-win deal both on the Washington side of this and the Terry McClellan side of it. Jay, I get into this a lot, especially this time of year and for the last few years when it comes to Terry. And that is, you know, what is he really? You know, to me, I've said this many times before. There is an elite group here of wide receivers. To me, it's Chase and Jefferson, and then we can start talking about Tier 2 receivers. If you want to throw A.J. Brown into that tier one. I don't think he's at their level, but I know some people will throw him into that level. How do you view the wide receivers and Terry's place among them? No, I agree. He's not at the elite level. He's not going to command 35 million plus per year. But like I said, two seconds ago,

if Brandon I. Youke is a $30 million per year wide receiver, then Terry McClearn should be a $30 million per year wide receiver just purely based upon just looking at player side by side. He Higgins is a number two wide receiver and is $29 million per year. Zbo is 24. And then you've got guys like Devonte Smith at 25. And so, like, that second tier of wide receivers is kind of in that 30 million per range. But, again, the thing working against Terry McLaurin is the fact that he'll be 30 years old during the course of this season. So, yeah, so where is the middle ground?

And there are other considerations structurally to kind of mitigate the risk for the club and for Terry to make more money. But I think from a pure APY standpoint, you're probably looking at a deal at the top end. end of 20 million per, you know, 25 plus per year. Yeah. I mean, I've suggested that it's got to be right around 30. It's not Jamar's 40. It's not Jefferson's 35. I don't even think because of the age it's CD Lambs, 34 million, or Metcalf's 33 or

AJ Brown's 32. I mean, but it's, it's, it's, you know, right around where, you know, Tareke Hill signed a deal, by the way, at 30 million per year, and they're basically the same age. And to your point, and I was a big brand in I, you. fan this time last year. You got injured, you know, and the holdout was kind of contentious and a bit ugly, but I think Brandon Ayyuk is a number one wide receiver in this league when healthy. We'll find out, you know, in the years ahead. But to me, it just feels like 30 million a year. Do you think the team will go there and just give me an idea of what you think this structure would be?

Yeah, I think if Terry absolutely needs to have 30 million per year attached to his contract, I think what you could see is similar to what the, I think it was the Raiders, Devante Adams deal, definitely the Tyreekill Dolphins deal, where that last year of the deal is really inflated so that it gets the total value of the deal to a 30 million per year deal. But in reality, it's really more a 27 and a half, 28 per year deal over those first two or three years. I think I'm not too different than you. I don't know that he's a $30 million per year wide receiver, but I do think that he's a 28 or 29,

and when we're talking about what's the difference there, I mean, you're talking about the difference of like $3 to $6 million over the total value to deal. And don't get me wrong, $3 to $6 million is a lot of money. But I do think that he's probably in that $28, 29 per year range because I think T. Higgins is a great kind of, barometer in that he is an elite number two wide receiver. He's at $29 million per year. Terry McCorn is a number one wide receiver, albeit going into his age 30 season. And I think

those two dynamics kind of offset each other, which then say Terry McCorn is probably around T. Higgins's $29 million per year. Prediction. Will it get done before camp? I think so. It has to get done. I think Adam Peters has seen the importance of having kind of these pillar players in your locker room as you try to build culture, whether it was the George Kittles of the world when he was in San Francisco. Terry McCorn is one of those types of guys from a locker room standpoint. And like a George Kittle, he is super productive on the field as well. So my sense is they get this deal done maybe just a little bit ahead of training camp so that it doesn't become a distraction as we go into camp.

And my prediction is that, yeah, it's probably in that 28, 29 per year range. All right. I want to ask you about a couple of other players. What do you think happens with Trey Hendrickson in Cincinnati? That one's super contentious, right? And he's another player whose age is working against him, right? But he's still playing at a high level. This one, he could be this year's Hassan Reddick,

in that this one could drag into, the regular season would miss games for him missed game checks and fines. But I really do see this one potentially being the 2025 version of Hassan Reddick. What do you think he deserves? Because he's a much better, he's a much better player than Hendricks than Hassan Redick is as a pass rusher. He's a dominant pass rusher. Sure. Yeah. I mean, but at the same time, you know, he's not going to get elite edge money because of his age.

He's 30-plus years old. So is Daniel Hunter. No, and Daniel is still playing at a high level. I mean, just like Trey Hendrickson, and they used to reworked the deal that they just signed with him last off-season to reflect that. So I say all that to say that, okay, why can't Cincinnati do that? because Cincinnati has just a history of, quite frankly, being cheap with their contracts in terms of how they structure them and what the values are.

And when they've just paid T. Higgins and just paid Jamar Chase, already paid the quarterback, at some point, you know, skimp, for lack of a better word, somewhere else. And, you know, for them, it might have been wise to trade Tray Hendrickson when they had the opportunity to so they could go get this contract elsewhere. And that's not to say that that won't happen down the road here. But he's deserving of a high-end edge contract, not elite, because of the age. You're better at this than I am, much better. If he did get traded, if I told you he got traded, let's just say before camp started or during camp,

what do you think the compensation Cincinnati would accept is right now? Look, they're in a tough spot just because the world. knows that the player doesn't want to be there. The world knows that, you know, they want him at a bargain-based price, but probably won't. He's not going to play under that. So therefore, they have no leverage when coming up with trade compensation. Now, given that he's an elite or not an elite, he plays an elite position of edge rush,

an important position, I should say. Maybe it's a mid-round pick. Maybe it's a fifth-round pick. But it's not going to be like a top 100-pick, third round. Really? Really? It's probably, yeah, it's just, if you want to go get a player and you know that there is angst between player and his current team, it really devalues what you can probably get.

Well, then there's no way they're trading him. There's no way because they wanted a first and a night two pick before the draft. Right. But now, this is where the other clubs start playing, like, okay, you guys can live with this headache if you want to. We're going to start getting into training camp, and we're going to start getting into the part of camp where coaches just want to eliminate distractions. And this is going to be a big distraction that Zach Taylor is going to have the answer at every press conference. At some point, if you know you're not going to give the player the contract he wants, we got to get something in return. and yeah, it might be a fifth-round pick.

But that's why I said two seconds ago, perhaps they should have moved on earlier because then they would have probably gotten more in return via trade. Do you have any idea what Nick Chub got from the Texans? I don't, but I would imagine it's probably something very close to the league minimum just because... Injuries. You know, the position he plays because they already have Joe Mix in there, because it seems like he's still working back from the knee injury.

My sense is it's probably a one-year league minimum deal. Do you think J.K. Dobbins is in that same boat? Well, he was when he was healthy last year in L.A., their primary back. He beat out the Gus Bust to be the primary back there with the Chargers. So I think his calculus is slightly different, but it is just a function of where we are with the running back market from a supply and demand standpoint that a good player like a JK Dobbins is still out there in free agency. How do you think it works out in Buffalo with James Cook?

Yeah, so I actually just did an interview with our old buddy, Rhino Haller, who used to cover Washington for the post, and he now covers the bills, and I was talking with him about James Cook's situation. I think here's the thing about James Cook is that, he's done it for two years in a row now in terms of being a Pro Bowl caliber running back. You know what you have in James Cook both on the field and in the locker room. Those are the guys that you should reward as an organization, regardless of the position, right?

And what I was telling to Ryan was that with James Cook, and you've seen this with a lot of the other running back deals as of late, they're only like two or three-year extensions, right? And so maybe James Cook, who's also relative to the running back position, a little bit older. Like, he's going into his age 26 season here in 2025. So if you do a two-year extension, if you're the bills with James Cook, now you get him for age 26, 27, 28. The problem of his career is a running back.

And I get James Cook going to want some more security than that, like a longer term, a longer deal. But the fact that the matter is, you know, they're probably not. I think you could see a James Cook deal coming in at, say, 20 million total guaranteed on a two-year extension. So the win for him is that he gets that kind of generational guaranteed money. But then for the Buffalo bills, you're not having to pay him that guarantee as if, you know, he's going to be on a three or four or five-year extension. And then more importantly, mathematically, without going into all of the math, let's just say his deal was worth just under $13 million.

million dollars per year new money. When you factor in what he's supposed to make this year, which is a little over $5 million, you're actually going to end up paying him $10 million over the next three seasons, which is the same amount of money that the Vikings are paying Aaron Jones. So if you're the Buffalo bills, if I can get James Cook at an Aaron Jones price for the next three seasons, three seasons you do that deal. If I told you that, let's just say Trey Hendrickson resigned in Cincinnati, but Washington added an edge pass rusher. before the season started from the group of, let's just say, Clowny, Zedarius Smith, Judon, Von Miller.

I'm sure I'm forgetting somebody else that's out there right now. Who do you think would make the most sense? If Hendrickson was off the market? Yes. Yeah, all those guys you just listed are older, right? Especially when we talk about Clowny and Vaughn Miller. I don't love really any of those options, but I do understand the need in having to go get one.

Vaughn Miller is still a highly productive player when healthy, right? So perhaps Vaughn Miller, but again, this is a guy who is going into like year 15 of his career at this juncture. But Vaughn Miller, again, is still a highly productive player when healthy. So I would probably have to go with Vaughn Miller. of that group of aging edge players. By the way, because you answered with Hendrickson being off the market first, if we said that it actually required to get Hendrickson a third rounder and a player, say Johnny Newton, all right, would you do that deal if you're Washington?

And then you've got to pay them. Yeah, and then you've got to pay them, right? I think you have to see, okay, if they're not happy with their existing edge players, then yes. I think for a team that is on the cusp of being a Super Bowl contender and maybe winning a whole thing, in this league, as the Eagles showed in the Super Bowl, you've got to be able to rush the passer. And Trey Henderson's a guy in spite of his age who can do that. I think if it requires giving up a young player like Newton and giving up a mid-round pick, like a third-round pick, I think you do that deal.

Did the Steelers get a good deal in Rogers for what they paid? In the short term, yes, but they still haven't solved their long-term quarterback issue, and maybe they went into it thinking, we don't really like this year's crop of quarterbacks in the draft, and we already went through the Kenny Pickett experience. So let's go and let's run it with Aaron Rogers this year with the eye towards going to get one of the young signal callers in next year's draft. But they definitely got a bargain basement deal. It's being reported that he got about $13 million as the base value of the deal that can go up to $19 million. For a starting caliber quarterback, that's a significant bargain for the Steelers.

You know, obviously got a lot that comes with him, but I think some of that is overstated, quite frankly. But yeah, no, they've managed their quarterback room really interesting to past couple of off seasons. When you think about last year, the two-headed quarterback room of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, who they got both of those guys at value, and then now to get an Aaron Rogers out of value as well. Again, great short-term solutions, but they still need to find the long-term answer.

All right, two more for you. Number one is, just because I'm curious, especially after Rogers signed in Pittsburgh, which was expected. You think Kirk Cousins just backs up Pennix Jr. in Atlanta this year? It doesn't seem like there's a landing spot for him. Yes. I think that from a Falcon's front office perspective, you just view Kurt Cousins as an expensive insurance policy.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with that concept. Now, the price point, you know, he's a little steep given what you paid him last year in free agency. but yeah, he's an expensive insurance policy at the most important position on the roster. And if you are the Atlanta Falcons, you made it very clear from a roster building standpoint. You wanted to be very, very secure and strong at quarterback. And that's why you go and sign Kirk Cousers last all season

and go draft Michael Pennick in the first round. And so you are comfortable with, yeah, having an expensive insurance policy if that means that we've got the quarter of, quarterback room solidified. All right. Last one. After Barclay's contract last year in Philadelphia, I want to know if you have thoughts on the next running back

that will sign a blockbuster deal that will exceed Barclays, you know, 20 to 21 million a year. It could be Bejohn. I think it just depends upon, yeah, does he have a true breakout season, which he hasn't yet, right? And I think when you're the Atlanta Falcons, talking about Falcons again, I don't think that they've shown necessarily, like, they're not adverse to investing money into their guys.

Now, they're going to have to pay Drake London as well at some point here, too. But, yeah, Bijon, I think, just off the top of my head, is probably the next guy. We'll see kind of where the Kyron Williams deal lands because that one seems like it's pretty close, but it's not going to be an elite deal in the Saquan-Barkley neighborhood. I think just because of his pedigree and if he can have a truly breakout season, Bejohn might be the guy. That makes sense to me. I was going to say either Bijan or Gibbs. I mean, we're still a couple years away from Gibbs, but he might be the one

right after Bejohn. Well, yeah, no, he's going in, this is year three of Jemir Gibbs in Detroit. I think some will say, and look, he is shown that he can beat the bell cow when David Montgomery is hurt. They've had some of those games, right? But particularly if they can win, they can win it all. Like, that kind of honeymoon after winning tends to allow guys to get paid. And so I don't think you're wrong in terms of Jemir Gibbs could also be another one of those guys. I think, yeah, he and Bejohn might be the two guys who, if the start, as a line could get to that 20-plus million.

Right. I was confused there from a, they got picked in the same year, in the same draft, by the way, both in the first round. Thanks for doing this, as always. Glad you're well. Happy birthday to you again. I appreciate it, Cough. At Salary Cap 101 on X on Twitter, J.I. Hallsell, everybody. J.I.'s doing a great job as an agent. He had a couple of players picked in the NFL draft. So best of luck to him. We'll finish up with a few things including Oklahoma City's game two win last night in the NBA finals.

We'll get to that and more after these words from a few of our sponsors. One for seven in the series on the power play are the Capitol. And it's Benik who's next up and rebound. Oh, she! The legendary Doc Emmerich on the call, nearly seven years ago to the day, it was actually June 4th, 2018, game four of, the Stanley Cup finals at Capital One Arena. T.J. Oshy and the cap struck first on the power play in the first period. They went on to win the game six to two to take a commanding three to one series lead,

and they clinch the cup a few nights later in Las Vegas. T.J. O'Shee, retired officially just a few hours ago. This segment of the show brought you by MyBooky. If you want to bet on sports, go to mybooky.ag or mybooky.com. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. And MyBooky will give you a cash bonus on your initial deposit. They've got everything you need for the Stanley Cup finals, which game three is tonight back in Florida. How about the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals? An overtime game and a double overtime game. They've got game three up in the NBA finals Wednesday night back in Indianapolis. And Oklahoma City, is a five and a half point road favorite. All the NFL stuff you need for 2025, mybooky.ag promo code, Kevin, D.C. So T.J. O'Shee retired today. Of course, he was out all of last year with the back injury. 16-year NHL career comes to an end at the age of 38 years old.

A Stanley Cup winner here in Washington, a U.S. Olympic hero, as well back in the Sochi Olympics in 2014. What a job he did here in Washington. And, you know, during that 2018 run to the Stanley Cup, 21 points in 24 playoff games, a league best six power play goals, and two game-winning goals. He scored twice for member two in game six of the Eastern Conference,

finals against Tampa Bay to force a seventh and deciding game. Of course, when the Caps beat Vegas for the Stanley Cup championship, he shared that moment famously on ice with his father, Tim, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's six years earlier. His father passed away back in 2021. And if you recall, in his first game back after his father's passing, he had a hat trick. Oshy finished his career with 302 goals, 393 assists, and 695 points in 110 career games. He also had 49 shootout goals that's tied for third overall and 21 game deciding shootout goals, also third overall all time. T.J. O'Shee retiring from Hockey. By the way, there was other Caps news from over the weekend. Spencer Carberry won the Jack

Adams Award for the best coach. He won NHL coach of the year. He's 42 years old. He's got two years left on his current deal. He's done a hell of a job, and they won their first playoff series this year since 2018 when they won the cup. The NBA finals last night goes to Oklahoma City, 123 to 107, game two, that evens the series at a game apiece. The game not that dissimilar to game number one. The big difference is that Indiana didn't remain in striking distance. Not that I would count them out of any game, but in game one, the lead kind of hovered between 10 and 15, whereas last night the lead was kind of between 16 and 23, so a much bigger

mountain to climb and they never really threatened to climb it. So Oklahoma City evens up the series 123 to 107. A couple of things to point out from the game last night. Number one is this, and I'll start with Indiana. There's been a lot of conversation about Tyrese Halliburton. Is he a superstar or not? He's not. Not yet anyway. Superstars don't have the kind of games that Tyrese Halliburton occasionally has. Now, he finished with 17 last night, but he entered the fourth quarter in a game that was super lopsided with five points on eight shot attempts at that point. You know, superstars go out there and perform every single night with the stakes being what they are this time a year, and he's had some games that have been head scratchers. You know, game one, even

though he had the clutch finish. He really didn't have a great game overall. Last night, he had five points entering a fourth quarter that was mostly, you know, a game that had been decided, ended up with 12 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't a meaningful 17 in total. He had a game in the Eastern Conference Finals, Game 5, where he went for eight total points on two for seven from the field, the series before that against Cleveland, game three. He was two for eight for four points in a game. He's a really good player, a clutch player. He's having an all-time clutch postseason.

He's not a superstar. Maybe he'll become that. But he has too many moments where he is invisible in big moments. And I would say that the first three quarters of game two of the end, finals is a big moment, and he was invisible last night. Not invisible was SGA, a true superstar in the league MVP. 34 points last night on what I thought was a much more efficient night and a better night overall than he had in game one. He was 11 of 21 from the floor, 11 of 12 from the free throw line. He had eight assists. He had four steals. He collapsed the defense consistently. They ran a lot

of the screen action with him higher up on the floor closer to half court, which meant once he split the hedge or split the switch or went around the switch, he was going downhill and wreaking havoc on Indiana's defense. And he made a lot of the right plays last night. I did not think Jalen Williams was good again. He's going to have to step up on the road. Jalen Williams, who is, for those of you who don't know, you could argue the second best player on Oklahoma City.

He is. I think Chet Holmgren has a big-time future. Don't get me wrong. But in the two games here in the finals, he is 11 for 33 from the floor. He's two for nine from behind the arc. He just is rushing things. He's taking bad shots. He's turning the ball over. He did last night on a couple of bad turnovers. He's going to have to play better on the road for them. What they got last night, though, is they got a much better game from Chet Holmgren, who was really not a factor in game one, in part because I suggested, you know, on Friday show and even with Legler, that they were shooting too quickly. They didn't run a lot of stuff. But last night, the story for Oklahoma City after SGA's big night was their bench. So off the bench, Alex Caruso had 20 and off the bench with the best plus minus.

of the night as well. Aaron Wiggins, X-Turb. Wiggins has been in Oklahoma City since he was drafted in 2021 in the second round. He's already gotten a big contract extension. He, of course, a part of Maryland's 2020 co-Big 10 championship team, a major factor on their 2021 team as well. He's had a really good career so far. It's a quick, it's an early portion of his career. This is just his fourth season, but he had some games this year. He had a 40-point game, had multiple 30-point games, but it's been interesting in the postseason. He hasn't played a lot. He's had a couple of moments here and there. Game one, I think it was against Memphis. He had 21 off the bench and what turned out to be a 51-point win, 51-point win. But there have been games where the minutes were like single-digit minutes,

But last night, he came in off the bench. He was aggressive. He hit a bank shot, sort of a runner to get started. And then he went five for eight from behind the arc, had 18 points in 21 minutes, had a plus minus of 24, the best on their team. Aaron Wiggins, outstanding last night for the former turf. And Oklahoma City, you know, they didn't turn Indiana over at the same rate that they turned them over in game one, although they did, you know, force 15 turrets.

Turnovers still had another 10 steals in the game. They just were much better offensively last night. People will point to the rebound numbers. They out rebounded Indiana by 8. Remember, one of the reasons they got out rebounded in game one is they had so many more possessions because of the Indiana turnovers that more shots went up on the glass, which gave Indiana an opportunity for more rebounds. But yeah, they're the best team. I would still be floored if they lose this series.

I picked them in five. I think they still have a chance to go to Indianapolis and win two. I definitely think they'll come back with a split. But big win for them, an absolute necessary win. You know, the other thing real quickly, and I don't know if you guys who are paying attention, have noticed the same thing. But after the game, Gilgis Alexander was on with Scott

on his sports center. Aaron Wiggins was on. Their team is made up of a bunch of impressive guys. They are young, but they're all excellent interviews. SGA is a good interview. Jalen Williams is a good interview. Chad Holmgren's pretty good. You know, last night watching Aaron Wiggins. Caruso's a great interview. They just seem like this is a team that is so young guys and they've got so so many high draft choices, we may be at the beginning of an unbelievable run for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA. I know we said that about Denver a few years ago because Yokic was 28, I guess, when he won the title, something like that. They've had a hard time keeping a team together with depth. They did not have the draft capital that Oklahoma City has

and has had. And they weren't as young of a team. But just an impressive team overall. By the way, did you guys see this from Game 1? The two-minute NBA referee report after the game in discussing something that happened with 22.1 seconds left in regulation. If you go back to Game 1 at the very end of the game, Oklahoma City had the ball up one. And with 22.1 seconds left, there was a scramble for the ball, and the ball got knocked out of bounds. It was off of Siakum. You could see it was off Seacom. And in fact, Seacum gained some level of control of the ball. The Pacers challenged the call, hoping that they would get the ball or that they might be able to go back post and call a foul. Well, the challenge was a call stand situation, and Oklahoma City kept the basketball up one.

But when they got the basketball back, there were 14 seconds. They reset the shot clock to 14 seconds, which would indicate that there was not a change of possession. But the NBA two-minute report, and describing this coach's challenge, described Pascal Seacum as gaining control and possession of the ball before he went out of bounds. Well, that means that Oklahoma City should have had the ball with 22.1 seconds left in the game and the shot clock turned off. It should have reset to 24. And with 22.1 seconds on the game clock, it would have been turned off. It's interesting to me that not a big deal has been made out of this. I've seen some things. on Twitter about it. But in describing this challenge, the referee report was that Pascal Seacum

gained possession of the ball. And immediately, Oklahoma City gets a reset of that shot clock, hence it's off. Hence, they would have taken control of the ball with 22.1 seconds, forcing Indiana to foul them. They would have gone to the free throw line. And maybe they miss both. Maybe they make one. Maybe Indiana still down three if they make both free throws, comes down and hits a three to tie the game. All of those things are possible. But they messed it up.

The referees did on the shot clock at the end of game one. Cost the thunder dearly. For sure, they lost the game on the Halliburton game winner. When they went down the floor, down one instead of being down more likely than not, two or three in the game. I like Oklahoma City moving forward. I've not come off my feeling that they are just flat out the better team. Not a great weekend for the Nationals who lost the last two to the Rangers

after winning that game, that first game against the Rangers. And by the way, not only winning that first game against the Rangers on Friday night, but winning it against Patrick Corbyn, who went the distance. He went eight innings and pitched five hit, two earned run ball. But the Rangers got no offense for Patrick Corbyn that night. But the Nats lost the last two. And then one other thing that I just have to mention is yesterday's Alcarez-Center French Open final. Look, I used to love tennis.

This is being called one of the all-time epic tennis matches, five hours, 29 minutes. Five sets, Alcarez rallying from two sets down to beat Sinner. He faced three championship points and rallied back from that in the fourth set. The five-hour 29-minute grand slam finale, the longest French Open men's final ever, and the second longest men's grand slam final of all time during the open era. I watched not all of it. Five hours in 29 minutes is a pretty big commitment. saw some of the early portion of the match and then watched the last hour of it. I think the thing

to appreciate is that this was not a match lost. Both of these players were hitting winners and played at a very high level. And I think that's why some believe, you know, it's a recency bias, but some are calling it the greatest men's final of all time. There are lots to choose from for me, in my lifetime, it's the 80 Wimbledon final between Borg and McEnroe, the famous 1816 fourth set. Tiebreaker that McEnroe won before losing 8.6 in the fifth set. But it was a terrific match, and Alcarez is something else. Man, he's won five majors now. And again, I think I mentioned this on the Saturday show when we had Tyler Beaudish on it.

But congrats to Cocoa Gough. She's a favorite of mine. she won her second major beating Sabalanka in three sets coming from a set down in that one. But the tennis yesterday, I know some of you watched it and it was, it was riveting. You know, these epic long tennis matches are real exciting sports theater. There's no doubt about it. All right, that is it for the day. Back tomorrow with Tommy.