The Kevin Sheehan Show - On Brandon Aiyuk Watch

Episode Date: April 28, 2026

Kevin and Thom today talked Brandon Aiyuk to start. What are the chances he ends up in Washington? Is he worth a long wait? Are there other options at WR? The guys went deep on the 49ers situation with him and how it might resolve itself here in DC with Adam Peters and Jayden Daniels. Thom had Commanders' draft thoughts and told an interesting story about Monte Coleman. Kevin talked Nicola Jokic's legacy which he thinks is on the line later this week.   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match   Ready to do your own spring reset? Join Thrive Market with my link www.ThriveMarket.com/SHEEHAN for $20 off your first three orders plus you’ll get a FREE $60 gift.   Chime is not just smarter banking, it is the most rewarding way to bank. Head to www.Chime.com/SHEEHAN. It only takes a few minutes to sign up.   So if you are looking to make Mother’s Day perfect, or just want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal next time you host, go to www.GOLDBELLY.com and get free shipping and 20% off your first order with promo code sheehan.   Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to www.Quince.com/SHEEHAN for free shipping and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. 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 Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. The show's presenting sponsors,

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you should make. 86690 Nation or windownation.com. Tommy's got some thoughts on the draft. We're going to get to those. He wrote a column about one of the players that Washington drafted over the weekend. But Tommy, I'm going to start this show with this from Rick. Rick writes, Brandon Ayuk watch.

How about the Brandon Ayuk warning? I'm watching, waiting, and worried. this will never work. Even his personal coaches, like the former Bengals wide receiver, are warning people to stay away. He's referring to T.J. Hushman Zada, who used to play with the Bengals,

and has been on a couple of podcasts talking about Brandon Ayuk, and not favorably. He's been pretty tough and harsh about a guy that I guess he was coaching or was a personal mentor. You know, he said at one point, I don't know what's going on. I don't know what he's going through.

I hope it's nothing mental that's affecting him. It has to be because nobody in their humbly right mind turns down $120 million plus the $70 million or so guaranteed. Not to mention he's just done some erratic behavior. He was speeding at 110 miles per hour past the state. stadium. Yeah, he recorded himself doing that. You know, he talked about that. And there are others. You know, I had Dante Wittner, you know, former skin, actually,

for a year, but longtime safety in the NFL who played for the Niners and does a 49ers podcast. And he was pretty harsh in talking about IUK too. And both of them have kind of said, you know, they don't expect the 49ers to do anybody any favors. you know, and John Lynch over the weekend, you know, emphasized once again, yeah, we're open to talking about a trade, but we're not going to release him. I thought this was a good place to start, Tommy, because we are kind of on Brandon Ayuk watch now, now that the draft is over and the bulk of free agency is over. I think he's going to end up playing here next year.

I would say there's an 80% chance he's going to end up playing here. And I think some of what they did in the draft over the weekend, speaks to that, drafting a slot receiver, when there were outside receivers available, that actually may have been rated a little bit higher on, you know, for some anyway. Not that I have a problem with the Antonio Williams selection, but he's an inside receiver. They probably see him. Yeah. They drafted an anticipation need.

Yeah. That's, that was a need. That's not good, supposedly. You mean drafting for need? Yeah. I mean, if they, I've been told. Yeah, if, now, they, I don't tell you he was the highest rated player on the board, and he certainly was one of those receivers expected to go somewhere in the third round,

but there were three or four receivers that, you know, like I had my guy, Warren Sharp on the show yesterday. There were a couple of guys that were rated higher by consensus boards, Brazel and Zachariah Branch and a few others. But what is your, I mean. it should be a little bit disturbing, a lot disturbing, that a player who isn't even here yet with the track record that he has for problems help dictate the commander's draft.

That's not good. Yeah, I don't know if it dictated their draft, but I do think it is an indication that they took the slot. Let's just say that Antonio Williams and Ted Hurst, receiver from Georgia State, who's bigger, or Brazel from Tennessee. Let's just say that they had both kind of on equal terms, or all three of them on equal terms, and they opted for the guy that's going to primarily play inside. My guess is that they would do that because there's an expectation that they're going to add a number two outside receiver. And that person is Brandon Ayuk.

Here's the other thing. How long will the 49ers let this go on? How long can they let it go on? This is the thing. Like, I want to start with this because I hear from people like Rick all the time. Like, absolutely not. The decision making, the judgment, you know, and then occasionally, and Rick didn't do this, people will throw in, I mean, he was just, he was good. No, he wasn't good. He was elite and descending in 2022 and 23.

Go back and just watch Brandon IUC's highlights from 2020 and 2022. This is an elite level receiver. He finished 2023 as the number two ranked wide receiver in the NFL per pro football focus for whatever it's worth. So I want to, I'll start there. Like I loved the player when he was playing in San Francisco and would say occasionally, man, this dude, I remember saying this in like 2022. This dude is so underrated. He is uncheckable.

And he doesn't get talked about at those levels. But by the end of 2023, he was getting talked about, you know, in that top 10 area. And he was only 25 years old at the time. That's almost three years ago. I understand that. And then he had the summer of 24 going into that season with the contract. negotiation that got pretty ugly. He was immature, you know, with the way he handled it.

And during that summer, remember, he, you know, let the Jaden Daniels practice, training camp practice video or OTA video out. Like, there were some red flags around his behavior during the contract negotiation. He signs, and then he gets a devastating knee injury early in 2024. But I wanted to just start with the player. Like if you got that player, he'd be the best receiver on your team. Like, I'm sorry for all of you Terry McLaren people. I like Terry, and you're going to kill me for this.

But Brandon Iyuk in 2023 was better than Terry McLaren. He just was. So if you got that guy back, he's also at this point three years younger than Terry. If you got that guy back, physically fine, mentally it turned out that it was just a terrible relationship. He was with the wrong girl this entire time. And he's got a new girl on the East Coast and it's perfect. Sometimes Tommy, I've heard that the second marriages are the winners. So that's number one.

He at his finest is not just good or okay. he'd become one of the top two, three, four players on the team and make a massive difference. And in combination with Terry, you know, and I think Chigar Conquo at tight end, I think he's, you know, going to be a really good player. All of a sudden now you have one of the best past catching situations in the league.

Right now you don't, and you are in dire need of another. And I don't know that they feel like they have the other on the team. Is it Diami Brown? Is it, you know, Trailing Burks? I doubt it's any of those people. I think they're waiting on Ayuk.

But to what you asked, and this is where people like T.J. Hushman Zata and Dante Wittner, who came on with me a few months ago, people who are close to him, you know, have said, the 49ers don't need to do him any favors. I take it a step further. The 49ers don't need to do Brandon Ayuk's new team any favors. in the situation is this. They are not required to make another payment until September 1st to him. So they could take it to August 31st and release him and not have paid him one more penny. For those, by the way, that don't know, Brandon Ayuk has literally had somewhere between $30 and $40 million in guaranteed money voided from his deal.

and if you want to know who's right or wrong in this particular situation, understand that Brandon Ayuk hasn't fought to get it back, neither has the Players Association on his behalf fought to get it back. So they must feel like the voiding of between $30 and $40 million of his guaranteed money was justified. And the justification was he had simple, simple milestones, like showing up once to two times a month to the 49ers facility to get his knee looked at. And he didn't do it. He went AWOL completely.

So if I were a 49ers fan, I would say to hell with him. Take it all the way up until the end of training camp. Maybe somebody will get very desperate in trade for them. But even if they don't, I'm not going to do Washington. a favor, you know, and let him, you know, have an entire offseason of OTAs and a full training camp. Why would I do that? They're in my conference.

Why would I do them any favors? Why would I do him a favor? He went AWOL on us. Guys, a flake. So if you play that out to the end and you're still interested in him, that's a disruption from your team right from the get-go. No doubt. If you're sitting, if you don't get him,

part of the calculus for Washington should be, we're into this. Let me just say this. I would assume that if they do this, they have all of the information. I mean, I would hope that they're not just winging it and saying, hey, he might be crazy, but let's just give it a whirl.

I would assume, that Adam Peters, and by the way, maybe even Jaden Daniels, because he's a friend of Jaden Daniels, they played together at Arizona State, that they've got a lot of information on what happened in San Francisco, and they're comfortable with it. And I would assume that they have the medical and where he is, and there have been some reports that he is totally healthy, the knee's fine, he's in shape. There have also been reports that he's not reachable by anybody right now. Adam Schaefter talked about that in his report over the weekend. Here's what Schaefter said over the weekend.

He said, I think the reason a team is not trading for him right now is that they don't want to assume the current contract that he has. It's a situation where he hasn't been in clear and constant communication with the Niners, and they've had a hard time getting a hold of him. Other teams have attempted to reach out and they've had a hard time getting a hold of him, too, closed quote. look, the obvious part of the Schefter statement is that you'd have to be insane to trade for him because you would assume his contract, which has two years left on it at an average of $27.5 million per in base salary. You're not doing that.

You're doing a one-year deal for a lot, a lot less money with most of the upside in incentives. That's how you do a deal with Brandon Ayuk. trading for him, you assume that contract. But it's interesting that he wrote, other teams have had a hard time getting a hold of them. Well, they must be getting permission to get a hold of them from the 49ers because that's tampering. So let's assume that they've said to other teams, go ahead, try to reach out to him, see if you can, you know, get him to tear up his current deal and do another one and trade us a seventh rounder. or maybe other teams have tried to reach out to him, but the only team he wants to talk to is Washington.

Because it certainly seems like this is the place he's wanted to be, going back to the contract negotiations of 2023. My question... Go ahead. Let's have this blueprint out here. Washington wants him, okay? They may have made decisions on drafting based on their desire to have him.

They're not going to trade for him because of the contract, so they'll be willing to disrupt their offense on the eve of opening day to bring him here. I don't know if that's true. That's a question. At what point do they move on from this? At what point do they say, if he's not released by this date, we are moving on. Because at that point, as you would say, the juice ain't worth the squeeze.

If we've got to bring him in here on September 1st, let's just say that by the time he gets acclimated to the new offense and, you know, that really we're not going to see his best until the middle of the season, if that's the way they feel. So there may be a cutoff time. You've been running receivers out there already. all training camp, all exhibition season, that you're going to turn around and say, sorry, we're bringing this guy in. Yeah, well, I mean, that happens a lot in the NFL when you realize that somebody much better than what you have is available, you know, or there's an injury or whatever.

But yeah, would you do that? I don't know. That's the question. I don't know that I'd be thrilled about Brandon I, you joining the team, you know, September 1st. I mean, there's so much about his situation we don't know. I have to assume,

for the purposes of this conversation, that, you know, if Ian Rappaport is correct from over the weekend where he said Washington has significant interest in Brandon Ayuk, I mean, pretty much everybody is reporting that. I have to assume that this isn't like, we haven't talked to him,

we don't know if he's mentally stable, we don't know if he's physically okay, but we're just going to, you know, we're just going to do it anyway. I have to assume that they've crossed T's dotted eyes on everything that you need to know before deciding to wait for him. And we're assuming, I think, that there's a certain level of knowledge available to Adam Peters that may not be available to maybe other front office executives. around the league because he was in San Francisco. Yes, but with respect to what the situation is now, I wouldn't necessarily assume that Washington's got so much more information than everybody else about what happened in San Francisco

or how he is currently, mentally, or physically. I'd be disappointed if my general manager, who didn't spend three or four years with the 49ers didn't have a pipeline to the necessary information. Well, again, I think Adam Peters and Jaden Daniels too, they have a lot more history than everybody else. They may understand the man a little bit better. In Jaden's case, he may have lived the day-to-day drama of the last year as a close friend of his.

But in terms of his physical readiness, his psychological readiness specific to what happened in San Francisco. I would imagine the league most of the league knows the basics of what's happened here in the last year plus with why he's behaved the way he's behaved

and why the franchise can't wait to get rid of him. Okay. But you know, my philosophy is that, you know, if your personnel guys, can't find players who are reasonably normal human beings, then you got loudly personnel guys. I would never think that you have to compromise

your standards and bring in a volatile personality just because he's so much, he's so talented. That's never the way I would do business. I totally agree with that. Let me just say that prior to the protracted contract negotiation with the 49ers in 2023, he was, by all accounts, an absolute gem. As a teammate, locker room, the whole thing.

Let me get real personal here for a minute, not knowing anything about the situation. I'm being a little reckless. That's never stopped you before. Yeah, reckless speculation, have at it. The age he's at is the age where problems come up. It is 28? Yes. Yes.

In the 20s, that's when problems come up. Well, he's 28 now. Yeah. This is a three-year-old problem. Yeah, it's coming. It's two-year problem. There's two summers ago that you had the country. This is the time where,

personality changes sometimes take place. Okay. Thank you, doctor. So, I think that if they were to do it, the chances of it working out would be better than not. But as I sit here today, not knowing if they'll do it, I think the chances of it working out better than it won't

are like 50-50 at best. I don't know. We don't know what they know. Here's the one thing that I wanted to add into the conversation about this. He is without question, you know, along with George Pickens in Dallas, who most people think at this point won't play with the Cowboys in 2026. They will end up trading him because he doesn't want to play in the tag and they don't seem particularly interested in extending him. And no, I don't think there's any chance that Jerry would trade George Pickens to Washington. And let's face it, do we want to give up, you know, he's had his issues too, you know, in terms of locker room fit. I mean, going back to Pittsburgh, obviously. He's really good, too, by the way.

But there are other one-year flyers out there. You know, Brandon Ayuk's not the only player. First of all, you could just say, you know what, Joanne Jennings? You're still out there. Let's just go get Joanne Jennings. He's our number two receiver. He's a phenomenal locker room guy. He's a great blocker.

We need our wide receivers to block in the new, you know, David Blau's scheme. Let's pay him and let's bring him in. And now we've got Terry Joanne and we've got, you know, Antonio Williams or Luke McCaffrey. We've got Chig. We're good. You could go Stefan Diggs. And I would like some of you out there, all of you out there, I guess. to consider, but some of you to jump on board because I know that you're thinking about it.

Stefan Diggs, for one season, could be a huge, huge addition. I know he's a pain in the ass. I know that he is a short dose kind of person, and he wears out his welcome with quarterbacks and with OCs and even head coaches. I also know this. catches last year for over 1,000 yards and was a big part of why New England had the season they had. And he is one of the absolute badass competitors in the NFL. And he shows up on game day.

No one's ever, ever said anything about Stefan Diggs, you know, sulking on a bench or, you know, not showing up on game day. He would be the perfect number two for 2026. Now, you're not solving a long-term problem. If you get Ayyuk, you could potentially, you know, have not only your number one this year, because he'd be one or one-A with Terry, but if Terry doesn't come back after this upcoming season, you're going to need receivers, you know, in 2027 and beyond. I think Stefan Diggs, now, he's got a lot of legal issues right now. He's got a lot of shit going on in his personal life.

This assumes that he gets all. all of that cleared up. You know, you could go Keenan Allen, who's still out there for a year. You could go, if Tarek Hills healthy off that injury, you know, for a year, D'Andre Hopkins, I mean, he's older, Brandon Cooks, hell, I'm not totally against bringing Debo Samuel back. He hasn't signed anywhere at this point. I thought he played well last year, and I think we never got an opportunity to see what he would provide to the offense because he didn't play with the rest of the offense enough. But there are other options out there if this is going to be too long to wait for or not worth waiting for.

But I do think that between now and the beginning of next year, or let me amend, between now and the beginning of training camp, worst case, they have to add another receiver. This receiver room, maybe it's okay. maybe Diami Brown's back and it's the perfect fit here. And Traylon Brooks, who they loved and they brought back, has a shot to be it too. But it's not a great receiver room right now, especially when you consider that this could be it for Terry this year. Yeah. No, it's not a great receiver room. This is why, I mean, we never got to see what they would do.

this is why I would have preferred if I was a fan to have them pick Carnell Tate if he was still there at 7. They never got that opportunity. So, I didn't have a problem with Sunny Stiles because there was no obvious receiver choice there available at that point. But you're right, it's not,

I mean, it's not a great receiver room, and you're right, there are options out there. And they're not all crazy people. Well, I mean, a lot of them are. I mean, you know, Tariq Hill, Stefan Diggs. I'm going down the list of guys that are actually out there and available. You know, Josh Reynolds is out there. I mean, he's had, you know, a year or two here or there.

Tyler Lockett, he's too old at this point. Tim Patrick, I think he got hurt last year. Sterling Shepard. Yeah, Brandon Cooks would be. somewhat interesting to me. Keenan Allen's always been one of my favorites, but I don't know what his condition is. I mean, I can wrap it up

from my end, and then you can add to this. I think they are going to end up signing Brandon Ayuk as long as the 49ers move on from him in a timely manner that works for them. I don't think they'll sit here and wait until August 31st. I think that they would like to get him in post June 1. Maybe it's after OTA days in minicamp when it happens. They get a deal worked out that's $6, $7, $8, $9 million, the rest of its incentive-laden.

It's one year. Maybe the team has an option for a second year, you know, a higher number. And they get them in here for the beginning of training camp. If they can do that, and I have to believe that, that they know enough to know that this is worth taking a shot on, and that maybe his second place in the NFL is a happier place for him, and his behavior is different. Because I think he's an incredible talent,

and it would be a massive upgrade to this football team's chances in 2026 if you got that player that we last saw in 2023. I mean, you immediately become a different team offensively. And I think they can be really, really good offensively to begin with, even if they don't add anybody else. We saw that in 2024. But I think it's going to happen, and I want it to happen, but I want it to happen with the rosiest of pictures painted.

He's healthy physically. Mentally, it was all about a bad relationship with one. Lynch or with Kyle. He is in a happy place here, and he's ready to roll. And he's ready to roll on a one-year incentive-laden deal. Sign me up for that one. Yeah. If you feel confident that his issues were personal with people in San Francisco

and not something that's going to carry over, and it costs a lot of money. That's a no-brainer. Of course. All right. Yeah, you take them in, but I don't think you're going to get that from this guy. And here's the other thing. Is Washington the only team that's going to want this guy?

It's a good question. I would assume that if he is physically healthy, that yes, even if there are questions about his mental stability or his judgment or his maturity, somebody's going to think that our place is going to be the place for him. He's too talented if he's physically healthy. Yeah. Yeah, I can get this guy to play. Yeah, so I can't imagine unless people have information that's like stay away information. Like, you've got to stay away from this guy.

If that information isn't out there, yes, there's going to be a market. But, you know, it seems like he wants to play here. But if you're saying could somebody offer him a much bigger deal, could somebody get desperate and trade for him and take on? his contract, I doubt it? I don't want our team to do that. I do not want our team sending a sixth rounder to San Francisco to acquire this contract for the last two years.

I think that that would be way too risky because if he doesn't work out, you're on a hook. What's your deadline to get it done? June 1st? Training camp. End of July. The end of July. Yep. end of July. If it becomes clear at that point that the 49ers are just going to wait until

the last second that they're not going to do him or any his acquiring team any favors, then I go to plan B and maybe plan B for them is to stick with who they have. You know, maybe they learn over May and June during camps and OTAs. You know what? We're going to be okay. We were okay in 2024 with Terry as our best wide receiver. And Diami Brown and, you know, Olamidi's. Zichias and Jameson Crowder and Noah Brown. We're going to be just fine. Luke's ready to step up.

Trailing Brooks can play. We really like the rookie Williams. Diami's back. We're going to be okay. Maybe that's plan B. Maybe plan C is Stefan Diggs or another veteran are just hanging out there and they're ready to sign for the absolute veteran minimum to come in and give it a run. But training camp is my cutoff.

I want it done by, you know, whatever that date is, July 25th, July 24th, whatever date that is. That makes sense. That makes sense. All right. I want to hear about your thoughts on the draft, including the column you wrote about one of their draftees. We'll get to that after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, I introduced you recently to Thrive Market. I told you it's a product that I use that I think you should use too.

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86690 Nation, Window Nation.com. All right. So the last time you were on with me was prior to the draft on Thursday. So on this show, you have not had a chance to weigh in on their draft. So what did you think? Well, like I said earlier, my preference would have been if he was available to go for a guy like Carnell Tate with that number seven pick. But that being gone and not being any other obvious offensive player there, maybe, to help them. I was okay with Tony Stiles from all accounts.

You know, he's a terrific pick. You know, he was a force of nature at Ohio State. He could be a game changer. And that's what you wanted, seven. Look, Warren Sharp, who you had on the show. And I know you talked about this then. You know, he rated Washington. It's getting the best value out of their draft of any team.

in the lake. And again, I understand nobody knows anything, but Warren Sharp knows more than I do. Okay. But you do realize what he, his study produces. It doesn't produce whether or not Washington's draft will end up being the best draft. In fact, somebody from his own shop gave the draft a C-plus. His personal study was taking the consent. of all of the big boards out there,

and then judging each pick based on where the pick was supposed to happen. So in Washington's case, literally every player but their seventh round quarterback was a player that was supposed to go earlier than when Washington selected that player. So that's why ultimately they had the most valuable... I know, you're right. You can't ask for much more than that.

No. You know? No. I mean, they got players. Somebody knows anything, and they're not reaching on guys. It's just the opposite. You don't want them reaching on players, 100%. Yeah.

Now, can I just tell you something real quickly? Because I asked him, I said, so they had, you know, an incredible value draft. But when they were selecting some of the players with tremendous value, you know, where they were selecting them, were there players at the same position with even greater value? in that particular spot. And we've talked about Antonio Williams already.

That was the spot that he focused in on. He said they got great value with Antonio Williams. He was supposed to go, I think it was five spots earlier at 66, and they got him at 71. But he said that a few receivers, specifically, Chris Brazel from Tennessee, would have been better value, had they, selected him at 71. He went, he was on the board. He ended up going 83. And then there was one other, Chris Bell, Louisville, went 94 overall, and that would have been even greater value because his

consensus was much higher than 71. So they could have gotten even better value, but they still got really good value with Antonio Williams. Yeah. So, I mean, overall, look, my favorite player, is Klan Allen Ketron Allen from Ketron Allen from Penn State whose nickname is Batman.

Right. You know, I mean, this is great. And he's such a personality. I mean, did you hear his, when,

did you read the transcript of his press conference? I did not. He, he's, he's, he's, he's so full.

He's so full. He's full of himself. but in an enjoyable way. Okay. You know, in a way that, you know, he doesn't understand why everybody else isn't having as much fun as he is at this point. And he keeps using,

he keeps going to this phrase, you feel me? You know, you feel me? Yeah. And that's what Omar used to say all the time in the wire. You feel me? Yeah. You know, so I love the fact that he's got this,

nicknamed fat man that he embraced it. Speaking from one true fat man to another, I respect him for that. You know? And I mean, I wrote a column pointing out there's some historic lines in movies that refer to the fat man, you know, in the Maltese Falcon. Uh-huh. You know, it's the fat man here.

You know, Sidney Green Street played him. And in the huffler, Paul Newman is watching, you know, Minnesota Fat, Jackie Cleason play. And he's saying to his manager, look at the way that fat man moves like a dancer. And then there's another one, a great one from True Grit, where John Wayne declares that he's going to take Ned Pepper and his gang in to be arrested. and Robert Duvall, because I only deal with the original, Robert Duvall says, let's bowl talk for a one-eyed fat man. You know, I mean, it's a historic, dramatic nickname that goes far beyond just fat man.

But fat man specifically, yeah. Not, you know, not chubby, not, you know, big boy, just fat man. Fat man. Yeah. Because we had a fat rob. We had a fat rob. Remember the running back fat Rob, Kelly?

Did you like him as much? It wasn't fat man. I didn't like him as much. Yeah. No. But this guy parted is this guy is personal. And let's face it.

I mean, I don't know anything about how he'll do, but it seems like they got a steal on this guy. He's Penn State's all times leading Russia. I know he is. I actually didn't know that. This is a player that I actually really liked. I talked about him last week. I like the player, but I did not know he was Penn State's all-time leading Russia, you know.

Fatty McFunk. I hope he sticks. Fatty McFunk is the all-time Penn State leading score. Yeah. Okay. What else about the draft other than the nickname of Ketron Allen? Well, nothing. I kept thinking that this is going to be in Washington next year, the whole time I'm watching it.

Now you got a rooting intro. now. He's got to make the team. Yes. Who was the guy from Temple that you absolutely fell in love with? Oh, Matt Ionitis. Matt Ionitis, right. Yeah. And I was right about him. You were? Yeah. Speaking of being right in the draft.

Yeah. You know, in Facebook, I know you don't do Facebook anymore. Right. But I still like Facebook and enjoy it. And they have reels that include memories of stuff you've posted years earlier. They'll show you... Kind of like, you know, the photos popping up on your iPhone from years past, you know, putting together. Yeah.

Yeah. All right. And there was one that came... There was one that came up... That you were right about. I think it was... Hold on a second. It was from 2013.

I put this out on Twitter. 2013. Players, I would like to see Redskins take... This is when they were Redskins, by the way. take over next two days wide receiver Justin Hunter at a Tennessee

tight end Travis Kelsey wow at a Cincinnati wow that's a good one and offensive tackle Brennan Williams out of North Carolina so I wanted him to take

Travis Kelsey and he went to third round I was going to say Cincinnati he was at a Cincinnati went in like I thought the third or fourth round wow

third round yeah yeah do you know that That was the 2013 draft? Yes. Because that third round was the 2013 draft where they selected Jordan Reed, right? Pretty sure because, yeah, third round, 2013. Yeah, 2012, RG3.

2013 was the next year. Yep. Yeah. But as talented as Jordan Reed is, I think we could say Travis Kelsey would have been the better pick. Yes. Although so many conversations, you know, Kirk Cousins, when I had him on, he talked about Jordan Reed. Kirk Cousins has talked about Jordan Reed a couple times. Jay Gruden always talks about Jordan Reed. Anybody that was here during those years, I mean, Cooley used to just say, there's, I mean, this guy is completely uncheckable.

Like, he is a Hall of Fame pass receiving tight end talent. they had two offensive weapons that if they stayed healthy were game changers. Chris Thompson was the other. He couldn't stay healthy either. Yeah, I mean, Chris Thompson was not at the level of Jordan Reed, talent-wise. No. No, no, but he could change a game. Yeah.

Jordan Reed, had he not had those concussions, had he stayed healthy, and let's just say was still playing in the NFL, you know, heading into his what, would this be? 14th season? I mean, we could have been looking and talking about a Hall of Fame career. No doubt. God, they were good offensively. When Kirk took over a quarterback, they really, Deshawn, Pierre, Jordan Reed, like you said, Chris Thompson out of the backfield.

Man, they had some weapons. And then Vernon Davis, you know, joined the team. They had some weapons offensively. That was never their issue during those years. I'm looking at that... Well, they don't have many weapons now, do they? No, I'm looking at that draft right now, just the tight ends. Guess who else was selected in that draft, tight end-wise in 2013?

Who? Zach Ertz. He was selected in the second round. Okay. Pretty good tight end. Yeah. All right, so you like Fat Man, K-Tron. Alan. I do too. Let's hope he makes the team so you've got somebody to

follow and get excited about. Because remember, of their six picks, this is really important, I think, just to emphasize, because I can already hear it coming, you know, midway through the season, Adam Peters stinks. I mean, already four players have been released or they're on practice squad or they're, you know, they're not active. Let's remind ourselves that four players of the six were drafted from the fifth round on. So more times than not, that's not where your biggest producers come. They do come from those areas.

Of course, they do. But, you know, their draft this year is at left tackle, Laramie Tunsell. That's where the second and fourth rounder went to one of the five best left tackles in the game, who has now been signed to a contract extension, and we'll probably play here until the very end of his career, hopefully. They're not letting this good left tackle go like they did the last one for Peanuts, Trent Williams, to San Francisco. All right.

I do want to get your thoughts on Monty Coleman. I know that you tweeted about him, and I talked about him yesterday on the show as well. And this is an NBA conversation that we're going to have that I'm surprised you're not initiating. We'll get to that and more after these words from a few of our sponsors. Okay, guys, I'm about to tell you about the most incredible, unforgettable gift you can get mom this Mother's Day. Have you heard of Gold Belly? Sure you have, because I've been telling you about it for two years. It's this amazing site that celebrates the best of America by shipping our country's most iconic foods from legendary restaurants straight

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in the district when I was watching the NFL draft this year, knowing that it's coming to Washington next year, and just imagining what a madhouse will be. It is going to be a madhouse. Yeah. A million two. You're only a couple of blocks. A million two.

They're expecting over three days. And yeah, you're right in walking distance to Shelly's. Yeah. You're right in walking distance. There'll be a lot of cigar smokers in that crowd probably, you know. And Shelly's will be their headquarters for basically. you know, enjoying a good smoke. They'll find out there's a lot more there than just a good smoke, good drinks,

great food on their great menu, you know, and I was thinking like this summer, there's two big events in D.C. this summer. 250? There's the UFC fight that they're going to have at the White House this year. That's going to be a big deal. That, Shelly's will be the headquarters for that place, because you know there's a lot of cigar smokers that are UFC fans. And then you've got this auto race coming up.

You know about the open car? Yes. Yes. Yes. I've heard. Yeah. Yeah. It's August 21st and 23rd to Freedom 250 Grand Prix.

They're going to be driving by Shelly's, but they won't be, they won't be far away. And Shelly's will be another central location for you to go for all the events that go on all summer at Shelley's Backroom. You can find out more at shelley's backroom.com. It's going to be quite the summer and then next spring here. Plus, we've got, you know, the 250 celebration on July 4th, which will be, you know, pretty crazy. Before we get into what I wanted to get into, I just read this, because I did tell you that I read this during our little break here. It comes from Chet.

Chet writes, can't believe how you've avoided talking about your girl Rusini in light of all the new details. First of all, Chet, she's not my girl. I like Diana. I've had Diana on the show many times over the years. I certainly have really enjoyed her being on the show, and I've always liked her personally. But beyond that, we have talked about it. And what new details are you referring to? The pictures from six years ago in the, you know, during COVID in the bar in New York or the casino photos, am I missing something else, Tommy? Because I just checked the internet and checked, you know, X to see if there were any new developments. I don't think there are any new developments. It does seem to be a story that people are really obsessed with.

I've heard from so many people I would have never heard from. about this story. Yes, I agree with that. Look, I think, I mean, at least my position from the beginning was I didn't think she was credible. I thought the athletic looked really bad rushing to her defense in the first place. And both those things turned out to be true. The implications for her are different than the implications for Rabel.

Right. Although right now, for Rabel, this thing is not going away. it's like it's taken on a life of its own concerning him you know he goes it so this this could be what he chet's talking about no braybill goes in the counseling he misses the draft yes some days of the draft you know uh okay we know those those are things that we have not really talked about i guess from braybill's point of view not from her point of view because she's disappeared you know she she hasn't been out there but Rainbow's got to stay out there, and this doesn't seem like a story that's going to go away.

Now, on the surface, the implications for him was he cheated on his wife. That's not a prerequisite for doing your job as a coach. No, no, it isn't. We've seen coaches and players involved in a lot worse. Yes. But for her, it's different because you have a relationship like that with somebody you cover then you hurt your credibility of your coverage. That's right.

Two different things. Totally agree. So, yeah, there's two standards here. But this thing is like, it's like a dog on Rable's ankle, and it won't let go. Well, and. I don't think we... I think... Yeah, go ahead.

Finish. Finish. I mean, I mean, you know, it may stop, but I guess they're, I don't know when their OTAs are. you know, but when he'll have to appear before the cameras again. And, you know, if there'll be continual questions, because, you know, they may get a lot of non-sports people who show up at their events with only one reason and one reason only to ask Frable about the affair continuously.

So it's messier for him right now than for her. The two situations are completely different for each of them, as you described. I mean, the, Diana Rusini situation, as Tommy said, just so, because I've had these conversations with friends of mine. It's an ethical issue. She cannot be again an insider, a reporter. She absolutely will have a future being a pundit, you know, on barstool. She's going to get hired at some point.

And she'll host a show. She'll be an opinion person. And she's got all of this background on the NFL. And by the way, she does have a great personality for that kind of setup. I just want to say this about Vrable. I'm not following it super closely from like a lot of people are. I mean, when the pictures pop onto my phone, obviously I look at him. But when I saw that he was going to miss part of the draft for counseling,

all I could think about was if I were a Patriots fan, I would say, you're going to do what? You're going to miss the draft for counseling? How about the counseling happen on Monday after the draft? Because as a fan, I feel for you and your family, and I want you to work to mend this situation if it needs, mending. I don't have all the details. For all I know, maybe everybody knew it was going on. I don't know. But you're my football coach and you're very important in the evaluation and the procurement of our

talent. You know, you're not missing the draft for counseling. What are we talking about here? You're a football coach. That's personal. It doesn't impact me at all as a fan of the team. I don't want you because some crisis counselor or some PR person told you that, oh, you'll become more sympathetic if you go to counseling during the draft. That's terrible advice. Most fans are like, dude, all I care about is you win and you continue to coach the team and build the team the way you started to do it last year. I care about you. I want you to get your personal situation, you know, fixed. I want you to become a better person. if you need to become a better person and a better family man and all of that.

But this is my diversion. I'm not involved in your life. That's dumb, him missing the draft. Dumb. And it's not going away for it. It's not going away for the Patriots. It's not going away for Vribal. How do you make it go away?

To me, it would have been day one. I apologize to all the people that my actions impacted. most notably my family, and from this point forward, this is a private matter between me and my family. But I'll take any football questions you have. Here's one way not to do it the first day. Call it laughable. Right.

Because he's not laughing now. No. Nobody's laughing now. I mean, look, in the moment, it could have been laughable for many in the audience paying attention and maybe this was just truly just they ran into each other with a bunch of friends but she couldn't produce

the hiking videos she couldn't produce any of it and look I mean I think that yeah I just his situation completely different from hers and I'm hoping and praying it works out for her

and her family because professionally this is obviously a really big hit to what she's been doing. But I'll tell you one thing I've known about her for a while. She's tough. She's competitive as hell. And she will land on her feet professionally somewhere.

It just, I don't think you can correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think it can be as a reporter anymore. Because she crossed a line that's going to be hard to kind of walk back. Right? But you're right. You're right about all that. and professionally, I've had, early in my career, I had moments that seemed really dark,

and it's never quite as bad as you think it is. Never. Okay. It never is. And there's generally always a recovery. There's always a way out. My father-in-law, who passed away now two and a half years ago, he used to have this, he had two, he was one of those people that we all continue to imitate imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

but he would always have these sayings and you know i worked i think i've told you this before as a young person i worked with him in a company with the woman who would become my future wife um as well and um he had a lot of wisdom he had run big companies and and um he had this expression next like trust me It's not as bad as you think. Just keep moving forward and tomorrow's a completely different day or next week's a different situation. That's really hard for younger people, I think, to understand.

But it is true. I mean, you know, when you get so worked up and you get to the point where it's impacting you and look, mental illness is a real thing. I'm certainly not here to tell you that it isn't because I know it is and I've dealt with people who are very close to me. but there is an element of being able to just let it slip off your back and just continue to move forward. Show up for work, show up for the next thing. And especially in the world we live in now, man, it gets forgotten pretty quickly a lot of this.

Yeah. By the masses. This one's not going away as quickly as I thought it would. No. People really seem to be, and part of it is because she, She is and has been, you know, a sports personality because Diana's kind of turned herself into a personality, you know, over the course of her career, you know, at ESPN and even with the athletic. And there are so many of those videos with her doing what she always did as a guest. She was fun.

She was flirty. And she said things, you know, that were, you know, fun in the moment. but now when you play them back after all of this, they don't look as fun as they did in the moment. Yeah. Anyway. All right. There you go.

Chet. No new developments, really, but we talked about it a little bit more. So I did want you, before I get to this NBA thing that I want to end the show with, I know that you got a chance when you were coming. covering the team towards Monty Coleman's last few years of his career. I talked about him yesterday. I knew, let me ask you this. When you saw the news of his passing,

did you have a sense that this one was going to hit the people that knew him, played with him really hard? Not really. Okay. I didn't have that. Okay. No. So what do you want to say about Monty Coleman?

That's what I thought about initially, because Doc and art, you know, art, you know, over the years, and a lot of those guys, Jake, a lot of those guys, they really loved Monty Coleman. Remember when we had Richie Pettibone on for the Lunch with a Legend? He loved Monty Coleman.

Loved him. And thought of him as just one of the most underrated players in franchise history. Remember, he did not like Wilver Marshall very much. You speak to that about underrated. Look, and by the way, what I tweeted was something from my book, The oral history, you know, Hail Victory, the book I did about the football team.

It's available. The story about how him and Art Monk were very close. Yeah. And he used to fish in Carlisle. And there's an interesting story about how Art Monk ran screaming from into the woods once because he got a spider web on him, and he freaked out. You know,

Monty Coleman was with him and thought that was real funny. But anyway, I interviewed Monty Coleman for the book, but then he told me something that he didn't want in the book. Okay?

He was bitter over the way he was used here. He resented that he was used as a Swiss Army knife, basically. You know, he resented the fact

that he played in 200, 15 games, but only started 62. He thinks it took away from the spotlight that might have shown on him if people saw his skills as a starter at one position. Why didn't you put it in the book? Because he asked me not to. Wow.

Of course I would have put it in the book. Wow. That's really, I did not expect that for me. you today. I did not expect to hear that. But there's a lot that makes sense about it. I didn't know. That's a big reveal. I didn't know that he was bitter about it, had no idea that he was bitter about it. But there is a lot that makes sense. He was a gifted athlete. And he was known as much as, like you said, a Swiss Army knife as he was a great linebacker. I mean, they shut down the run and shoot because they added him as essentially their sixth defensive back because he could cover anybody. I mean, that was one of the stories Richie told us about Monty Coleman, is that you could, you know, they had so much success in shutting down Atlanta in Detroit and the Mous Davis run and shoot offense.

And it was because he had Monty Coleman. He had a Swiss Army knife. he had somebody that could literally line up and blitz as an outside linebacker stop the run as an edge, but could also play safety because that's what he played in college. He ran 4-4.

He was basically too talented for his own good in a way. But, you know, that's so interesting because one of the things that pops up immediately when you go to Monty Coleman's pro football reference page is that the only accolade

is three-time Super Bowl champion. No Pro Bowls? This is what... This is what he said. Exactly. Yeah. Interesting. I mean, you could make the case.

Him and Wolverhammer Marshall or maybe the two best linebackers they've had in the past 40 years. Yeah, because you're not going to go back to Chris Hamburger, especially... No, I'm not. Yeah. No.

No. But, yeah. And, I mean, you know, like the Super Bowl year of 91. He played 16 games. He started one. Yeah, but his snap counts were always high. He was on the field. I know that. He played a while. I know. But he was not a starter. No, he wasn't a consistent starter. That's true.

Image-wise. Yes. Award-wise. Yes. I pulled a clip yesterday. There is a Monty Coleman sort of highlight thing on YouTube. because when I talked about him yesterday on radio, I mentioned that, because I always felt this way, especially when they tried him on a kickoff return,

on a reverse on a kickoff return, you know, at one point during his career, it was a Gibbs play, that he reminded me of Thomas Hollywood Henderson, who played for the Cowboys and was truly one of the more gifted linebackers of the mid to late 70s. He had major drug issues, you know, eventually was out of the NFL pretty quickly with, you know, drug addiction, etc.

By the way, he's not alive, is he? Yeah, he is. He is alive, Thomas Hollywood Henderson? I think I'm friends with him on Facebook. Oh, I think maybe you mentioned that to me. So Monty Coleman, I always thought of him athletically in that same class. So one of the play-by-play calls that I pulled from this highlight package was a Monday night game with Frank Gifford calling Monty Coleman,

tackling Tony Dorset for like a two-yard loss, and Howard CoSell talking about, this is a guy headed for stardom. It was his second year in the NFL, and he has the same sort of talent of one Thomas Hollywood Henderson. CoSell said that about him on that night. That's a really interesting tidbit about him, but it makes sense.

I'd never heard it. You know, all the players that used to talk about him sometimes unsolicited, it was just about what a great teammate he was and what a great guy and great person he was. So all of that bitterness, and he never complained. He carried it. He carried it. He carried it with him. Yeah.

Interesting. He did what was best for the team. So you've got him as one of the great linebackers in franchise history. I've got to... I mean, this is not a linebacker, you have a franchise. No, it isn't. You know?

It isn't. No. I mean, Sam Huff, if you want to, you know, call him, you know, he was. I know he's a giant. I know. Yeah, you got the later Sam Huff. Yes. You didn't get the best Sam Huff.

I was giant years. And they've had good linebackers, you know? but, you know, on paper, it's not in a press. London, London, Fletcher. London Fletcher. I was trying to come up. Yeah, I'm like, wait a minute. It's not of the last 40 years.

There's no way it's him in Wilbur Marshall. London Fletcher. Yeah, London Fletcher. You're right. Yeah. Um, okay. Uh, I've got something for you when we come back to finish up the show right after

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This segment of the show is brought to you by My Bookie if you want to bet the NBA playoffs, if you want to bet the NHL playoffs, if you want to bet the Kentucky Derby, This weekend, my recommendation is to go to mybooky.com or mybooky.ag and bet those things there. Now, I'm not encouraging those of you who don't bet to just start betting, talking about those of you who do bet on sports and you may be doing it somewhere else. Do it at MyBooky for this reason as much as any other. They're giving away free money to my listeners. When you go to MyBooky as a first-time customer or as a returning customer and you make a, a new deposit, they're giving a 50% cash bonus when you use my promo code, DC Reload. D-C-R-E-L-O-A-D.

Doesn't matter what the deposit size is. You can deposit $1,000. They're going to put an extra $500 into your account. You'll have $1,500 to wager with. Take advantage of that offer this time of year. It doesn't last typically in a lot of spots, but my bookie's been offering it to my listeners for a while. I did check out the post-draft numbers on win totals for the 2026 NFL season. Washington's over under number is still seven and a half. So they weren't blown away with the sunny styles pick with all seriousness involved in this part of the conversation. Linebackers don't move season totals. Even rookie quarterbacks rarely move season totals. If you want to know the truth, the draft doesn't move

anything when it comes to odds for the upcoming season, because most of those players aren't going to be impact players in their rookie seasons. But Washington's over under total, Tommy, remains at seven and a half. Now, it's costly to bet over. It's minus 124 to bet over. and it's very cost effective to bet the under plus 106. So if you were to bet over seven and a half, if you think they're going to win eight or more games, you know, you have to bet $124 to win $100.

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or at least appreciating the player Nicole Yokic has become. The Joker has become at 31 years old, you know, a player that I think is going to go down in history, is one of the greatest 10 to 15 players of all time. And a player who in the center conversation is probably going to end up in the top five of all-time centers. He is the greatest passing center I've ever seen. Walton was close, but no one's going to match his assist numbers. He's averaged a triple double the last two seasons. But Tommy, he is struggling in this.

postseason series. I know, he's struggling against Rudy Colbert, right? He's really struggled against Rudy Gobert. They played last night down 3-1 in a series against Minnesota. This has been a very good NBA rivalry in the postseason for the last few years. Anthony Edwards is out for the next two weeks. Minnesota's best player, one of the best players in the league, is out. They also lost Dante DiVincenzo, one of their best shooters to a torn Achilles.

This all happened in game four, and they, they, Minnesota, still won game four. They wanted to take a three-to-one series lead, and Yokic was not good. He did not play well in game two, game three or game four. And then last night, down three-one, they were at home. Denver won the game, 1-25-113, no Anthony Edwards, no D. Vincenzo. Yokic, 27 points, 12 rebounds, 16 assists. He had an outstanding game and they rolled. They were up 20-something heading into the fourth quarter.

They won by 12. But the reason I bring it up, I may have done this the other day with you, but probably not because these bad games have come really since we last had a show on Thursday. I think this is a really big game coming up for Yokic, these next two games, if there are two more games. They won the title in 2023. he was hailed as this is going to be the beginning of the Yokic and Denver run. They're going to win titles, plural.

They're going to be in the finals. They're going to be a threat to go to the finals every year. They haven't gotten past the second round since they won the title in 2023. Have not been past the second round. They've been in back-to-back years ousted in the second round. and they are on the verge right now, down 3-2, of being ousted in the first round against an opponent now that for the third or the second straight game won't have their best player and arguably their best shooter.

He has to win tomorrow night, Thursday night. They play Thursday night, game six in Minnesota. He's got to win that game and then he's got to win game seven. He has got to get into a series against Wembeyanama and Santa. Antonio, or in my opinion, his legacy is going to start to take a hit because he's 31, one championship in a sport that's measured in championships. This is the one sport where we talk about rings and titles because one player has the most impact in this sport versus others. And if it's just one and then he never even sniffed another one. Part of it is because he's got two potential

dynasties in his own conference, OKC and San Antonio. I think this is like one of those, like if you're paying attention like I am as an NBA fan, you might have a different opinion of Yokic if he gets ousted in this first round in terms of how you'll view him, you know, five, ten years from now, 15 years from now. I'm not sure that I would judge a guy. I know you put more emphasis on it in the NBA for titles,

you know, based on how many titles that he has. I just, I don't think I would make that judgment. I think, I don't think, it would not diminish for me his greatness one way or the other. I mean, if this is the case,

then let's stop talking. talking period about who's the greatest. And just give it to Russell. I agree that it's Bill Russell. I understand that. You may not judge based on titles. I have a slightly less kind of stringent, you know, take on titles being a measurement for NBA greatness. But the masses talk that way.

It's very important in the Michael versus LeBron conversation. Yes, it is. It's everything, yeah. So I, look, I've watched this guy, and for me, you know, Wilt, Elijah Juan, Kareem, you know, I didn't see Russell and I didn't see Wilt. I'm going, you know, off of everything that I've heard about all of these players that played before my time. And I know you love Wilt too. I mean, I would have him right there with those guys. and I still think in many ways

I'd put him there with those guys but it's like you know what does Shaq have four titles right Shaq's got four, Kareem's got five Russell's got whatever he's got you know, Wiltz got the the titles in

the 72 title with the Lakers and the other one with the Warriors too right? Yeah Russell's got the is it 11 10? What is it with Russell? I don't even know 11 Jesus God.

Elijah one during the Jordan heyday. Jordan had to go play baseball, take two years off. Elijah one's got two. That's still the finals that I wish we would have had a chance to see. Elijahon's Rockets, Drexler, Elijahon, etc. Against Jordan's Bulls.

But this guy, he should be in that conversation when his career ends. But if you only have one deep playoff run in your entire career, if that's the way it turns out, his legacy is going to take hit. That's always going to be a big part of the conversation.

He won one title, never got back to another one. In fact, never got back to the Western Conference Finals after winning the title because it was dominated by OKC and San Antonio. I mean, that's the problem more than anything else with him, is that the West is just loaded with great teams, but he's got to get by Minnesota. They've got to go there Thursday night. He's got to play well.

They have to win that game, then they've got to win game seven against a depleted Minnesota team. You can't lose this series now. And it's going to require one hell of a game six from him because that place is really, really raucous and loud. There have been some really, really good performances, good games. I know I do this to you guys every single year. You've got an eight seed leading a one seed right now in the east, three games to one. The Pistons are down three one. They were the one seed in the east.

I'm sure you didn't even know that. I knew that. And here's the other story that's an interesting one. You know, the Lakers tomorrow night will have a chance to eliminate the rockets in five. It's not going to shock me if Houston wins another game. LeBron's played, you know, really well. although he's had back-to-back games of just too many turnovers. Kevin Durant hasn't played in three of these games.

And Kevin Durant is probably on the verge of, you know, needing a new home. There's a lot of discussion that Houston wants to move on from Durant. You know, Durant's legacy is taking kind of a hit here over the last six, seven, eight years. Yeah. And he basically has suitcase will travel and that's hurt him. And the titles that he has, you know, he chased a 73-win team and jumped on board. The guy from the ringer, I think his name is Ving, he reported that several teams would be interested in Kevin Durant, one of which would be the Washington Wizards. Of course.

But you know what they'd have to, the only trade possible would be to trade Anthony Davis. for him because you can't have both of those contracts. So they'd have to give up AD and you'd have to his, I looked at the difference in contracts. It's about 15 million for next year. So Durant would have to come with another player as well. But you know what's weird? I don't even think I'd want Durant at this point. But he'd be a good fit with Saar with Tray Young. But so will AD for different reasons.

All right. You got anything else? I got nothing else for you today, boss. All right. We'll talk on Thursday. Back tomorrow, Jay Gruden will be on the show with me tomorrow.