The Kevin Sheehan Show - Redskins Cut Mason Foster

Episode Date: July 23, 2019

Kevin talked about Mason Foster's release from the Redskins emphasizing that the team really likes Shaun Dion Hamilton but lacks apparent depth at the position. Kevin talked about the Wizards new organizational structure and the forthcoming max contract extension for Bradley Beal. Thom called in from the Poconos to talk Skins, Ted Leonsis, and more. Kevin finished up with some NFL power rankings, NFL season props, and some Terps Football discussion. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. All right, I am here. Aaron is here. Tom is on another vacation. We forgot about that yesterday. We always forget about his vacations, yet he takes so many of them. He will call in for a brief chat in about a half an hour or so. This show is presented by Window Nation. If you're in the market for Windows, call 86690 Nation or go to Windonation.com. and tell them we told you to call. You don't have to spend one cent for new windows for two years more on that coming up soon. What a change in the weather, Aaron. It felt comparatively to what we've had over the last week, like fall this morning,

even though still relatively muggy with the rain. But God, it felt so nice with temperatures in the 70s. And it's supposed to be a spectacular rest of the week after today. You know, no, or very low humidity, temperatures in the 80s, and then getting hot again this weekend, but not 100 plus hot, which is nice. Maybe we just went through the heat wave of the summer. Now, we've had them before in August, certainly. Right. But, man, that was brutal late last week and over the weekend, and it felt great this morning.

By the way, this morning I read Jerry Brewer's column in the Washington Post, and I would recommend it, to all who are Wizards fans or, you know, are just interested in all of the monumental sports organizational changes. Jerry's story titled, Succeed or Fail, Leonys bears the brunt of responsibility for organizational changes, has a final paragraph that I want to read to you real quickly. It's not long, but to me sums up his story and sums up in many ways the way I think. Quote, if it works,

we will laud Liances's diligence and creativity. If it fails, we will mock the three months and three weeks Leonsis spent building a tech company structure for a franchise

that just doesn't know basketball anymore. Closed quote. Read the column. I like Jerry a lot. I think Jerry writes, I think he's brave. I just think he's smart too,

and I typically like his columns. And that one was a good read this morning. Again, if you're not into the Wizards or Leonsis or monumental or anything, it's not for you, but it was for me. You know, Ted is part of that release yesterday. He said it's a new leadership team with a forward-thinking structure to adapt to the new NBA that requires every possible strategic advantage with a leadership brain trust from inside and outside the NBA to challenge our thinking and adapt to an ever-increasing

competitive environment. I'm not sure what he said, whatever it means, I'm not sure if it's going to work or not. I'm not smart enough to figure it out. But let's just hope that the results are that the team ends up with the next LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, or Kauai Leonard.

That's what it needs to result in somehow, some way. Like Wizards Version 2021 needs a top five, top six or seven player. That's what it needs. You know, again, I have no idea if Sashi Brown and Tommy Shepard and JT3 and all of these new people and this apparent new organizational construct, so unique, so smart, so tech industry-like, will succeed or not, I don't. But I just hope that somehow Rui Hachamura or Troy Brown Jr. turns into Kauai Lennar. because that's what has to happen for them to turn into a contender.

Now, maybe all of this stuff, these org chart changes and this new think, this new strategy will result in the next Kauai Leonard or Steph Curry or Kevin Durant or LeBron James. I just don't know that I trust that it will instinctually. I got a bunch of tweets, one in particular from Corey, who said, and I'm paraphrasing, and I like Corey. Corey tweets me all the time, and he's smart, and he sends me a lot of good stuff, but he essentially, you know, ripped me for ripping the way Ted speaks,

and he said, I don't necessarily know why you would rip somebody who, you know, isn't trying to speak to the lowest common denominator. That's a paraphrasing of his tweet, but essentially what I've said before is this. I just have often thought that those that speak, that way, that speak in a business tech kind of a way with, you know, long paragraphs and business terms that they're covering up for something. It's not that I don't trust Ted Leonis. I've said this a million times. I actually think he's created really good consumer products.

I'm not talking about on the floor or on the ice, although they did win a Stanley Cup. I'm talking about you go to his arena to watch one of his teams. It's a first-rate experience. And I think he took a lot of what he learned in a consumer business, America Online, AOL, and brought it to sports. And I think he succeeded in that way. But there's a lack of trust I have in most people that talk that way, that talk like VPs of strategies, not CEOs who tend to be and understand that you've got to be a little bit more relatable to a larger, your larger audience. But anyway, with that said, I hope it works. I do hope it works. But the bottom line is, if they don't figure out a way via this organizational construct or any other to land an elite

player along the way, they'll never contend because that's what the NBA is. By the way, Tommy Shepard announced yesterday. I think he did it on a podcast, actually. I'm trying to get him on this podcast. I am. I put in for him. and we're going to see if we can get that worked out, maybe tomorrow. I hope to have Tommy Shepard on the show. But he announced yesterday on I think Woj's podcast that the team will offer Bradley Beale that three-year $111 million maximum contract extension once he becomes eligible for it, which I think is this Friday.

Shepard said, quote, at the very first moment allowed we are going to offer Brad the full max extension, Once they offer it to him on Friday, Beal has until October 21st to sign the extension, which would start with the 2021-22 season. So he's under contract for this season, and then he's under contract for next season. And then after that, he could become an unrestricted free agent. If he signs this extension, it would add three years starting in 2021 to Beal's current deal. We'll see if Bradley Beale signs that. My feeling on the Beal loyalty thing from the Wizards

is that the NBA favors the bold and unfaithful more than the methodical and loyal. I really do. I think the NBA favors those who are aggressive and not necessarily unfaithful or disloyal, but that those that move on from really good players for a chance to get an elite, player, it has a better chance of paying off in a big way. I personally would have been seeking out

offers if I had been the Wizards, if I'm Tommy Shepard right now, to see if I could strike gold for a player at his most valuable level, perhaps. I mean, right now, Bradley Beale may be the most valuable he'll ever be as a trade piece. Two years left on a contract coming off a 25-point-plus season, a player who more likely than not will never be, in my view, the kind of elite player that you have to have to build a championship contender around. I don't see Beal being that. I think Beal's a very good player, not an elite player. He's a top 25-ish player, not anywhere near a top 10ish player, top 15-ish player. He's just not. He's closer to 30 than he is to 10. I appreciate the sense of loyalty to a very good player who is also a very good representative of any organization.

But that appreciation and loyalty towards this player is not going to result in a championship contender. By the way, as an aside, I think Beal is going to have a massive season next year. It's not going to lead to playoffs. I think it's a team that will struggle to win 30 games, but I could see him averaging 27, 28, 29.7.7. a game next year. You know, and I know some of you will say that his supporting cast is going to hurt him, not in an NBA regular season for a player like him. He can go get buckets. He's going to go off next year if healthy. It's not, again, something that will lead to winning short term and maybe not even long term in my view without a true number one star, like a true number one,

you know, top 10, top 12 player, star to go to go side by side with him. But I think he's going to have a big year next year. All right, moving on to the Redskins. Enough about the Wizards. I love Aaron when I sort of have the idea of doing something wizards related because it's in the news, but keeping it super short and then it goes 10, 15 minutes and people perhaps don't really care much about them. And I know they are totally irrelevant right now on the local sports landscape.

They are. It pains me to say that, but they are. Kareem Copeland in the Post this morning wrote something that I wanted to read because I think there's some new information about Trent Williams in here. I said yesterday that there's going to be some story on Trump Williams or Brandon Sheriff, I felt like it was imminent, mostly because we're getting ready to start training camp. But he wrote in this morning's story on Trent Williams that he said first of all, and this was the reporting yesterday, I think, after the podcast. I don't think we had this on the podcast, that Trent Williams more likely than not will not report to training camp. Kareem Copeland in the Post wrote,

quote, one person with knowledge of the situation did not believe Williams would be in attendance when camp started and was unsure whether the holdout would drag on into August. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity, given the sensitive nature of this situation. He went on to say, a different person who was familiar with the Williams' thinking on the matter

confirmed he was frustrated with the way the medical staff had handled a recent issue. That recent issue being the scalp surgery that Williams had. Another person in Kareem Copeland's story, another person who Kareem writes, is familiar with the Williams thought process, said the surgery gave Williams a scare. The belief is that Williams is taking a stand, for the entire team, Kareem Copeland wrote.

There have been multiple complaints about Washington's medical staff in recent years. He has the clout within the organization to voice his displeasure without the risk of significant retribution. So this is a story in reading it this morning that had multiple sources, all right, adding to the story or at least refreshing the story, and making it much more about the medical than about a new contract. My belief at the time when this broke and he didn't show up for mandatory minicamp was that this was more about leveraging his current situation, which is, hey, they don't have another left tackle,

he's only got a couple of years left on his deal, he's approaching that age where the next deal is perhaps his last big deal, and he was going to take advantage of it to get a big new contract extension from the rest. Redskins. I think that that's what it was more than the medical, but I think that there was some backlash to the discussion that this could be more about money. I think most fans and a lot of media people said, no, you've got a decent size contract, you've got two years left on it, you haven't played 16 games, you're getting older, it's not the right thing for the team to do to rip up this deal and give you a new deal and to give you a new deal and to give you

an even bigger deal than the one you have. And perhaps with that, he said, well, let me go back to this being more about a stand about the medical. That's just one theory I have. I do think that Trent Williams had a life scare and realized, hey, this may be my last chance, and I've got a lot of leverage right now, and I should try to strike while I have this leverage for my one last big. contract. And I don't blame him for that. He's got two years left on the deal, but I wouldn't

blame the organization if they said no. And if he said, well, then I'm going to hold out, then I wouldn't blame the organization for trying to deal him. That would be my preference rather than giving him a new deal. My number one preference, if I'm not going to get significant compensation back, although I think there could be a situation in the next few weeks where a contending team all the sudden because of injury has a need for a left tackle and maybe is willing to give up a first round pick for Trent Williams. I could see that happening on a Green Bay team or a Chicago team or a Minnesota team or a team that doesn't have much depth along the offensive line loses their starting left tackle. They could get desperate and send the Redskins a first. And if that

situation became available, I would kill them for not acceptable. I would kill them for not accepting it. Because again, my mindset is 2019 is not a contending season and 2020, more likely than not won't be a contending season. So let's look at the young group we have on defense, the young situation potentially at quarterback, the young situation at running back, some of those young receivers, and let's start acquiring picks to keep adding young talent so that by 2021, 2021, this is a really good roster. Anyway, I just thought that the Cream Copeland story really made it sound more like this is a medical gripe

and that his concern is about the medical staff and we have heard this before about their medical staff. A little bit of breaking news from the Redskins per Aaron Hawksworth. Here is Mason Foster's being released. Interesting. That is really interesting because I, I'm trying to think who I read very early this morning that said not one inside linebacker on this roster is a lock to make the team. And obviously, some are going to make the team because you need outside linebackers.

But that's a save. What's the cap savings there? It's like three, it's right around three million because we thought this could happen, you know, prior to free agency, if you recall. Right. Does it indicate the cap savings? I forget what it is off. I'm pulling it up on Sport Track here. It says his cap hit for 2019,

would have been 4.25 dead cap. So it seems like 4 million. Okay. I think it's less than that. I think I did the math before free agency, and I thought it was less than that. But still, so they're saving a little bit of money there. But remember, who were their inside linebackers right now

without Mason Foster? Well, Sean Dionne Hamilton, is one of them. You, they, they, remember, they signed John Bostic as an inside linebacker. They, you know, injured his Rubin Foster for the season. They drafted Cole Holcomb. Help me with this. Josh Harvey Clemens, as an inside backer.

They drafted, well, they drafted Cole Holcomb. That was the one inside backer that they drafted. they are turning loose a veteran inside linebacker who's been a tackling machine and has also not been happy at times. You know, he's wavered in his level of happiness with the team. Somebody will pick up Mason Foster. Oh, absolutely. I mean, look, let's put, he was projected to be the starter.

Yeah, they must have seen enough from Holcomb, from Sean Deanne Hamilton, who I liked last year, and maybe even from Bostic. Very interesting. Yeah, I mean, I'm looking at Our Lives is a great, So I don't know if you ever use that. They have a full depth chart. They had listed Foster and Bostick as the presumed starting middle linebackers. Obviously, they weren't, you know, basing it off anything inside.

But, yeah, I mean, Bostick, I think, might be the guy who steps up here. I guess. But remember I asked Cooley that? I asked him about the possibility that Bostick would start. And he said, that's not likely. I'm pretty sure Cooley said that. It could have been J.P. who said that to me. I forget.

But anyway, all right, well, there you go. No, news before training camp breaks or starts, I'm sorry, on Thursday that Mason Foster has been released. And who broke that story? Aaron Hawksworth. Aaron Hawksworth from Channel 7, not Channel 7 anymore, NBC Sports, Washington. All right, there you go. By the way, a couple of other red-skinned things before we get to Tommy. So they have this Forbes list, you know, that comes out every year, valuing franchises, sports,

franchises, the 50 most valuable sports franchises. And the Redskins have been a consistent, you know, top 10 type of franchise, despite the lack of on-field success. I mean, the Cowboys haven't had much on-field success either. They are the number one sports franchise, according to Forbes, with a value of $5 billion. Now, there's something else about the Cowboys that I'm going to get to that blew me away and probably makes Dan Snyder more jealous. than the value alone. And I'll get to that in a moment. But the Redskins are the 14th, actually tied for the 14th most valuable sports franchise. They're tied with the Cubs with a $3.1 billion valuation. That is a 0% change from where it was a year ago. So it didn't go up. It didn't go

down. Other NFL teams ahead of the Redskins are the Rams, the Giants, the Patriots, those are the NFL teams ahead of them and the Cowboys obviously. So the Redskins are actually the fifth most valuable NFL team at 3.1 billion, but the Cowboys are number one in all of sports at 5 billion. If you're interested, number two were the Yankees at 4.6 billion. Real Madrid has a 4.24 billion value. Barcelona was next. And then the Knicks at 5 overall with a $4 billion valuation, the most valuable NBA team despite their lack of on-floor success. Then it's the Manchester United, the Patriots, the Lakers, the Warriors are ninth, and the Giants are tied for 10th with the Dodgers.

What's interesting about this is, first of all, half of the 50 are NFL teams. We knew that. I mean, that's basically what it's been. The NFL teams, because of these lucrative TV deals, are the most valuable in sports with, you know, these soccer teams, you know, abroad being. right there with these NFL teams. So the Cowboys reported in 2018, $365 million of operating income.

So just think of essentially profit before taxes and some of the other stuff. It's an EBIT number, not an EBITA number, for those of you that understand that stuff. $365 million essentially in operating income or pre-tax profit. That's the most by far in the NFL. Nobody's close. The Redskins are at $122 million in operating income. The Redskins and the Cowboys used to be one-two in operating income,

in revenue and in profits. And the Redskins have dipped, and the Cowboys have grown significantly. That's the number more than the value I'm sure that Snyder looks at as a business person and says, we're not making enough money. The Cowboys are making $365 million pre-tax. We're at $122 million. They're three times bigger as an operating business than we are. That is an unbelievable disparity between the Cowboys and the Redskins.

And it used to be close. I don't remember specifically what it used to be, but one has gone north and the other has gone south. And we know why the Redskins have gone south. They're still all sharing in the same television dollars, but the Redskins aren't selling anywhere near as much merchandise. They don't have the same corporate sponsorships, and they clearly don't have the gate that the Cowboys have in that huge stadium.

And there are other ways the Cowboys make money as well, and they're making a lot more money than the Redskins are. I guarantee you that Snyder couldn't care less about the value disparity of $5 billion and $3.1 billion and cares mostly about the Redskins being a third of the size of the Cowboys when it comes to operating income. It's amazing. By the way, if you're curious, I mean, the Patriots operating income is at $235 million. So still, you know, 130 million more that cowboys generate in profits. And then the Giants are at 149 total million.

And then I think it's the Texans, believe it or not, before the Redskins come in at 122 million. But I guarantee you that that is a number that Snyder talks to Bruce Allen and everybody in the organization, especially on the sales side, about all the time. not making enough money. Well, you know what? Put a better product on the field. You put a winning product on the field and that number will change. All right, let me get to Windon Nation. The intense summer heat was certainly back over the weekend, even though it cooled off today. And that summer

heats causing your old leaky windows to produce unnecessary high energy bills, allowing damaging UV rays to fade your valuables, making your windows even less effective. Well, listen up. While the kids are at camp and families are taking vacation, my good friends at Window Nation, Harley, Aaron, Eric, and all of them, they're working hard. They're trying to satisfy their already existing 80,000 satisfied customers, which includes me. Their A plus Better Business Bureau rating tells you how good they are. Right now, they've got extra capacity. They want to keep their factory busy. They've got installers working. So for the first time ever, you'll get one free window for every window That's not new. What is new, however, no down payment, no payment of any kind, and no interest for 24 months for two years.

I promise you that window nation is worth the call at 86690 Nation. I've used them. Many of our listeners, many of my friends have had windows installed by window nation. There's no risk to call them to come out and give you a free estimate. And again, right now, if you buy, you'll start saving and pay nothing for two years. years. Trust Wind Donation. They are the company that I trust when it comes to Windonation. You can visit them at Windonation.com or call them at 86690 Nation to get one free window for every window you buy. By the way, no minimum or maximum purchase required there. Plus no down payment, no payments of any kind, and no interest for two full years. Call soon. This deal ends. This sale ends on July 31st. All right. Let's bring in Tommy, who is taking some time. off and he is in the Poconos enjoying himself and you're nice enough to break away from the crowd

and your family to call in. I wanted you to call in today because I spent a little bit of time yesterday and a little bit more time today talking about all of these big, you know, transformational moves within the Wizards organization because clearly they're very difficult to figure out, you know, in just reading the press release. But basically they've added some new names, and they've made Tommy Shepard, the permanent general manager. What did you make out of all of it? Are they going to win the title in a few years? Well, you know what?

We've come a long way from the Wizards General Manager's job being the best, most important, open job in sports, haven't we? I think so, yes. Good point to remember that, yes. Yeah, we've come a long way from that, haven't we? This was the major reboot for the most important available job in all of sports. You know what? I may have Tommy Shepard on the show tomorrow. That's the first question I'm going to ask is,

how did it feel to nail down the most important available job in all of sports? And he's going to say, you mean me being in charge of the e-sports team? Right. Because he's in charge of that. Yeah, I know. So what do you make all this? organizations don't do this unless they've been a disaster. I mean, this is, this is, this is like turning, twisting yourself inside out because you have no answers.

That's what it is. And basically, let's remember, this is like plan C or plan D. I mean, originally, they wanted to hire the guy from Denver, Tim Conley, and he turned them down. Then, despite what else you would read anyplace else, they went after. Messiah Jiri in Toronto and got their head handed to them with a threat of tampering charge. So that didn't work either. And look, if they had hired Messiah Jiri, none of this other stuff happened unless the jury wants it to happen.

There's no director of feel good or anything like that like there is now. So we're on to plan C or D at least. Wow, but that's not what he said, Tommy. This was, you know, this was a. This is a new leadership team with forward-thinking structure that's going to adapt to the new NBA and give them every possible strategic advantage with a leadership brain trust from inside and outside the NBA to challenge our thinking and adapt to an ever-creasing competitive environment. You didn't read the press release?

It took me a while to get to this, but this is what they've created. It doesn't sound like Plan D. Well, it is. It is. So we need to remember that. And this is something right out of his days with AOL. That's what it is. This is like this got the AOL blueprint all over it with synergy and holistic approach and all that stuff.

And then he had the nerve to mention the Clippers and their path to success and what they've done. The Clippers are successful now going into next year. Because of one guy, and his name is Jerry West. Yeah. Yeah. They don't have any Jerry West up there. Yeah, it helps. Look, who knows, it may work.

But let's, I mean, but this town, I'm telling you, I mean, people cover teams on their knee pads with knee pads on. It's unbelievable. It's ridiculous, Kevin. The way people say, hey, maybe this is a good idea. Maybe this will work. That's your first move? Well, it's because they understand core competencies, and they've given him their buy-in, and they're very synergistic with him.

I mean, look, he's empowered everybody here. It just drives me nuts the way he speaks, and somebody ripped me on Twitter for belittling the way he speaks. Not belittling, I'm just annoyed by it. I always find and have always found that people that can't speak directly in a way that 90% of the people will understand are hiding something most of the time. You're right. But anyway, I, if none of it, look, I like Tommy Shepard. I actually, I think he's a quality guy and will be fine, but it doesn't matter if they can't land the next KD or LeBron or Kauai.

I don't know how all of this stuff gives them a better chance of landing those people unless Shepard. has just a much better eye for you know, Steph Curry at 7 or Kauai Leonard at 15 or, you know, Janice at 16. You know, if he's just got a much better eye than Ernie, hopefully

he does. But that's one person. You know, that's not a, that's not a result of a new organizational construct. If one person can't call a shot on the basketball operation, now, I assume Tommy Shepard won't be as obstructive as Ernie was.

Ernie ran a one-man show to a fault. He didn't allow any opinions to sway him one way or the other. It was Ernie Grunfeld and he shut everybody else out. That's actually what helped Tommy Shepard, because he could look Ted in the face and be honest and say, look, I mean, I told Ernie not to do this, but he didn't listen. I mean, because Ernie didn't listen to anybody. So maybe Tommy Shepard's different.

And I think for the most part, it appears that he's made some decent moves early on in his tenure as assistant general manager. But let's not go crazy. He didn't earn the job. He didn't like, I mean, people said he earned the job. I mean, he's done okay. We don't know what the results are going to be. I mean, I think he's a good guy, and I think he could be successful. and, you know, I think he's got tremendous diverse NBA experience in all kinds of roles.

But still, like you said, I mean, it's not brain surgery to figure out how to be successful in the NBA. All right, let's move to something else because I think actually, and I know I say this all the time and I continue to talk about them, but I am convinced sometimes when I'm sitting here talking about the Wizards, I have this, I have this internal sort of sense. that, oh my God, nobody gives a shit. Move on to something that people care about. So that's what we're going to do right now because the Redskins actually start training camp on Thursday. And I actually wanted to start with, did you see what Adrian Peterson said yesterday about Case Keenham?

Yeah. Oh, he's making the case for Case Keenum to be the starting quarterback. And I don't know if he's speaking for himself, if he's speaking for his teammates, or if he feels he needs to speak for his coach to give his coach a little edge going in the training camp. Yeah, I mean, just for those that missed it or didn't hear it yesterday, Adrian Peterson was at SportsCon in Dallas, which is the Comic Con for Sports in Dallas. And he said, quote, offensively, we really look good with Case Keenham back there.

He's a veteran. He's been in the league for a long time. He's a gun slinger. He's a guy that's going to throw the ball and spread it around. closed quote. Yeah, I mean, that is, that's a pretty clear, you know, message that a veteran like Adrian Peterson, who could be in his last season in the NFL, you know, could be, doesn't want, you know, to live through what would be a, you know, a typical rookie season potentially with, with

Haskins, which usually does not result in playoffs. Yeah, look, and he knows that if they go into the, season with a rookie that teams are going to stack the run and force the Redskins to pass. And that's not a good formula for Adrian Peterson. No. So, I mean, I just kind of curious. He seems like a pretty smart guy and a leader. I just wonder if this is, he's just speaking off the cuff or he just anticipates that

they're going to need all the help they can get. in pushing Case Keenham as the starting quarterback during training camp this year, because other forces may be in the works against that. It is, from whatever we think about the state of the Redskins, and, you know, there was a story, I don't know if you saw it by this financial website, Wall Street 24-7, that did a study on attendance drops in sports, and the Redskins' attendance over the last 10 years have been. it's dropped, it's the number one drop in the NFL by a long shot,

fifth most lost fans at the gate in all of sports. And, you know, I mentioned yesterday, that even pales in comparison to how, you know, significant the television rating drops have been for them over the years. So we do understand that there is a significant level of fan erosion with this franchise right now. With that said, it's a very interesting training camp with an incredible, with a very compelling storyline, which is, will he start the opener or won't he start the opener? That's the whole, that's the number one storyline in this camp. People can talk about, oh, we've got to find a receiver. Now they've got to find inside linebackers. They cut Mason Foster today as a cap savings cut, I'm sure.

They may be more confident in some of their other players like Sean Dionne Hamilton. Who knows? People will talk about geis and they'll talk about sweat, and I'll be talking about sweat. There's no storyline that comes close to the Dwayne Haskins storyline. I would disagree with you right now. I think Trent Williams is the main storyline. Trenton Williams, if he doesn't report the camp, which nobody expects them to. But the quarterback thing is right there. That's what's going to attract people to Richmond.

If people are going to go watch the Redskins and training camp more than they have in the past, they're going to see the rookie Dwayne Haskins in camp. And it's going to be, look, I don't know. I don't have enough knowledge about how this works. But as of right now, Jay Gruden has to divide reps up between three guys. I mean, can he honestly give the rookie more reps than Case Keenum, who's, you know, supposedly learning the offense as well? Can he look at Colt McCoy in the eye and say,

not going to give you as many reps while he claimed there's a competition for the starting job. I mean, that's going to be a hard thing to do. All right. Let me go back and acknowledge that the Trent Williams thing is a big story. The more interesting storyline for Redskin fans is whether or not Haskins is legit and how ready he is and will he play early or not. I still think it's the bigger story. But you're right, the Trent Williams story and following this here early in camp will be, a big deal. Now, with respect to the reps, again, I think I brought this up with you. I brought it up

with Cooley. I don't understand why they just can't add a few more reps at the end of practice for Dwayne Haskins if he's not getting enough. I mean, this is, Dwayne Haskins is the long-term plan and may be the short-term plan, but at the very least, he's the long-term plan here. how do you get him into long-term development if he's not taking reps in his first training camp? I don't understand because we've heard so often over the years. You know what? The backup quarterback and then the third string quarterback really doesn't get to do much. In fact, the third string quarterback often gets more work as sort of the scout team quarterback than the backup does. But I would think that here early in camp, Haskins is going to get significant.

reps, that these things are going to be split either two ways or three ways depending on Colt's health, and that they're going to get a quick look-see in this first week of camp to see if he's got a legit chance to push Keenham and Colt. So do you think there's a drop-dead date where Jay Gruden has the name of starter? No, I don't. I mean, I think there's a drop-dead date in which he needs to know who his starter is, but not that he needs to announce it. Okay.

I mean, I'm getting technical there, but I think, you know, Cooley told me and Shanahan told me, all right, after the draft, both of them said the same thing, that Jay will know within the first week of camp who is starting quarterback against the Eagles is going to be. He's going to know within the first week of camp

whether or not Haskins has any chance to play early in the season. Now, whether or not he will tell us that is a different story. I don't know that he needs to tell us that. I don't think he should. I know that, but we'll know by the second exhibition game, won't we? After the second exhibition game? I think we'll know for sure when we get to the all-important third pre-season game in Atlanta, and we see who takes the majority of snaps in the first half,

or the first, you know, two and a half quarters. Yeah, so we'll know by then. Yeah, we could certainly know by then. But anyway, that's it, unless you had anything else. I know you're busy. You see that USA Today had an article that says the Redskins are going to go 3 and 13 this year. I didn't see that. I saw, I saw pro football talk this morning, which I think is Florio, more likely than not.

Fitzflorio, had them as the 27th ranked team in their new, you know, pre-training camp power rankings. Here it is right now. Look, I mean, 27th. 3 and 13 is even a stretch for me. I think they have the potential to be 4 and 12 bad. I think they're going to be closer to 7 and 9 than that. But even I wouldn't say they'd be 3 and 13.

I think that I think the chances that this season goes completely sideways like 2014 did, like 2013 did, are higher than normal. And that's saying a lot for this organization because they're already, you know, pretty high. But it's higher than what they typically are. Last year, there was some confidence with a veteran quarterback that you traded for that he could take a team that had, you know, that had been very close. to the playoffs in 2016. It made the playoffs in 15, you know, should have made the playoffs in 16. And without all the injuries, probably would have made a run in 2017. I think there was legitimate optimism last year.

This year, however, you know, you got lame duck coaches. You got coaches that left the organization for lateral, for what ended up being lateral moves. You couldn't attract anybody here except for one guy whose dream it was to play for the organization and landing Collins. I think this season has the potential to go sideways much more than the last few did, and sideways to me means 3 and 13, 4, and 12. It has that kind of possibility. Now, if they stayed healthy and they played to the level of their roster,

yeah, 7 and 9, 8 and 8 is a possibility. Not much better than that, in my view. Tommy, you and I have made predictions together on this team for pretty much, the last 10 years together. This will be the worst preseason prediction of, for me, over the years that I've been doing this on radio or on the podcast. I just don't have a good feeling. Now, I did not have a great feeling in 2014 either. When they, you know, when Chanahan left, when, you know, they brought in Jay Gruden. I didn't have a great feel for that season either, and I think I probably predicted seven and nine.

I can't imagine that when we get to the week of Labor Day, after Labor Day, when we start making predictions, that my prediction will be any better than 6 and 10. I don't see it. I don't see like this dominant defense. I hope to see an improved defense. I would love to see a defense that approaches a top 10, top 12 defense, but that's not enough to win 7, 8, 9 games on its own. Oh, by the way, I agree with you probably.

By the way, keep your eyes on Mason Foster's social media accounts. Because he likes to go off. Yep. He's going off before. Yeah, that he got cut, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a few bombs on there pretty soon. Yeah, great point. Because he will. Now, if he wants a new job, he should be careful.

Yeah, of course he should be, but he shouldn't have done what he did in the first place on those social media accounts, you know? I mean, I don't think that's the way he seems to operate. I mean, he needs to shut up and just get another job someplace. That's what he'll need to do. I will tell you that I'm a little bit surprised. I would not have been surprised had he gotten released before the Ruben Foster injury, before, you know, free agency or before the draft anyway. I'm a little bit surprised. They are thin at inside linebacker.

They're going to potentially have to start a newcomer in Bostic, a second year guy in Sean Dionne Hamilton, or maybe a rookie in Cole Holcomb. Now, I know that they like Josh Harvey Clemens, especially in coverage. And who knows? Maybe they take a guy like, I don't know, maybe Ryan Anderson's on the verge of moving inside,

and that's going to be a big story here, you know, on Thursday or Friday. Friday. I don't know, but I think we would have known that in the many camps and OTAs. I'm a little bit surprised. Mason Foster, I always appreciated the kind of player he was. He was a tackling machine. He was smart. He made some big plays for this team over the years. Remember, they picked him up off the scrap heap in 2015, on their way to a playoff appearance. I don't remember that from Tampa. Do you have anything else for me? No, okay, boss. I'll see you on Thursday. Oh, real quickly. What do you think about this netting? You know, the Nats are going to be one of these teams to test the netting. Their game got rained out last night with the Rockies. They're going to test this netting all the way down the first and third base lines. What do you think of that?

I'm okay with it. I don't have a big problem with it. I've sat behind netting before at games, and it doesn't affect my vision at all. You know, I mean, it doesn't, it's no big deal. You forget it's there, but that's just me. You always have those good seats down there right behind home plate, behind the netting. All right, well, I mentioned yesterday, these four games against Colorado, Colorado is terrible right now. They've got to take advantage of these games at home, and hopefully they can. All right, I'll let you run, and we'll talk on Thursday, I think. There's a chance we might take Thursday off, but I'll let you know later today. Okay, boss. All right, have fun.

I'll see it. All right. Tommy, everybody. Quick word about stamps.com, especially if you are involved in a small business. You need stamps.com. It's one of the most popular time-saving tools for small businesses. Stamps.com eliminates trips to the post office and saves you money with discounts that you can't even get at the post office. I know I'm running a small business here, the Kevin Sheehan Show podcast. We're not quite doing the operating income of the Dallas Cowboys.

but we're building it. We are building it, Aaron, aren't we? And Stamps.com's been a huge, huge help. It brings all of the amazing services of the U.S. Post Office right to your computer. Whether you're a small office sending invoices, which is what we do, or an online seller shipping out products

or even a warehouse sending thousands of packages a day, Stamps.com handles it all with ease. Here's how it works. Use your computer, and you use your computer and your printer to print official, U.S. postage, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any letter, any package, any class of mail, anywhere you want to send it. Once your mail is ready, you just hand it to the mail carrier

or drop it in a mailbox. It's that simple. Now, here's the savings opportunity. With Stamps.com, you get five cents off every first class stamp and up to 40% off priority mail. It's a no-brainer. It saves you time, money. It's no wonder. Over 700,000 small businesses already choose Stamps.com. Now here's more of an opportunity to get you involved. My listeners right now are going to get a special offer that includes a four-week trial plus free postage and a digital scale without any long-term commitment. Just go to Stamps.com, click on the microphone at the top of the homepage and use my code. Type it in Kevin D.C. That's K-E-V-I-N-D-C. That's Stamps.com, enter Kevin, D.C.

I had a few other things that I wanted to mention today. I mentioned to Tommy that Nats got rained out, so they're moving that to Wednesday. It's a split double header tomorrow. Interestingly, it was MLB who called off the game. Normally before the game, and if the game doesn't start, it's up to the team to call it. But MLB stepped in and said, we're calling this year. Well, the forecast was really dire, and it didn't turn out to be that way everywhere. I don't know what it was down at the park.

you know, in the immediate suburbs where I live, Maryland suburbs, there was a heavy downpour at around 830 to 9, and that was it, basically. I don't know. It may have rained overnight. You know, I'm not saying it was the wrong call. It's just interesting. You don't normally see MLB, and I wonder if it has to do with some of these situations where they delayed the game for hours just to cancel it or vice versa. Yeah, I mean, that may have been the case. I'm just, I'm into this pennant race right now. This is something that I actually watched a lot of the Atlanta series from over the weekend. You know, Colorado doesn't excite me as an opponent, but the Dodgers coming in this weekend,

and then, you know, the Braves next week. I mean, you've got some big series for the Nats in the month of, you know, at the end of July, August, we'll see what happens at the trade deadline. They are being mentioned right now as an aggressive, you know, pursuer of bullpen help, but other teams and other contenders in the national league are looking for the same. But this could be a lot of fun over the next two months for them to be in this pennant race. And look, if they end up being a wild card, how dramatic is a one game wild card to advance, you know, to a best of five against the number one seed?

Well, even if it is just a wild card race, instead of a pennant race, there's, what, six teams within about three games of the wild card right now? So that's going to be, I don't know if I would say just as exciting as a pennant race, but it'll be very exciting to see that, too. Definitely. So there are a couple of other things that I wanted to get to. Tommy mentioned some of these NFL power rankings that are flying out right now, you know, pre-training camps. Many teams, actually several teams are already in training camp right now.

Most report here at the end of this week. But I did, I saw this story, and I'll be honest with you, I must have missed the original story on this. Landon Collins, Michael Phillips, our friend from the Richmond Times dispatch, tweeted out yesterday that he chatted with Landon Collins and that the Flight Marshal's nickname is no more. Quote, oh no, we don't have a nickname yet.

You've got to let the fans make that up. You can't just give yourself a nickname, closed quote, that from Landon Collins. I had not heard the flight marshal's nickname to begin with. I think the Redskins social media around the time when they signed Collins and had those press conferences was slightly tried to push that. I do remember that being a thing and kind of rolling my eyes at it. Okay. Now, what I read was that this may have been a nickname from late last year.

I don't remember that at all. Now, late last year, a lot of us were checking out even though we were talking out, even though we were talking. about the team. We were watching more of other NFL games and other NFL teams, but I just, I had not heard the flight marshals thing. I'm just glad he said what he said, because this organization has spent far too much time over the years with self-enointed nicknames without any production or success, either previous to, prior to naming themselves, whatever they've named them name themselves or afterwards. It's been annoying to everybody to hear capital punishment or you know, Hogs 2.0 or whatever it's been in recent years without any performance, any success.

So I am glad that he said what he said. I would have been, if I had heard today for the first time that Landon Collins is nicknaming his secondary or defense, the flight marshals. I mean, what is the flight marshals anyway. What does that even mean? I don't know. It's like, it's like, you know, some, I can't remember who was, there was the no-fly zone and some team had. So it's a, it's a secondary thing, clearly. Yes. All right. So they're going to marshal over the air, I guess. Whatever it is, it would have been, I would have killed him for that. I've already been upset with how much discussion of his former team he's had and the predictions of winning Super Bulls, plural. You know, that leads me actually into this OBJ, this O'Dell Beckham Jr.

story. Speaking of Collinson, do he also say that he was never going to refer the Giants by their name anymore? Yeah, and that, you know, these were going to be the most important games, like for the next four years or whatever, the eight games against them are going to be the most important. Well, you know, you got 14 other games each one of those years that you got to play well in. But it leads me into this Odell Beckham Jr. story in GQ, where the quotes made the rounds yesterday. He said, quote, he felt disrespected by the Giants. my, this is the actual quote, actually, quote, my initial reaction was not disappointment. I felt disrespected. Like after everything I've done for them, this is me being honest. This team has not

been good for the last six years, period. Even the year we went to the playoffs and everyone was talking about this and that, and we went there, and I didn't have a great playoff game. Don't get me wrong, I had a terrible game, but I left the game with seven targets, and I'm supposed to be your number one receiver. I left the game with seven targets. We lost. They scored 40 points. It's just all bad. I felt disrespected because I felt like I was the main reason at keeping that brand alive. Oh my God. The narcissism. I felt like I was the main reason at keeping that brand alive. They were getting primetime game still as a 5 and 11 team. Why? Because people want to see the show. You want to see me play. That's just real rap. I'm not sitting here like it's because of me. Actually, you are.

You just said it's because of you. And then he says, I'm not sitting here like it's because of me, but let's just be real. That's why we're still getting primetime games. I felt disrespected. They weren't even man enough to even sit me down to my face and tell me what's going on, closed quote. Man, the unbelievable amount of time that Antonio Brown and OBJ and Landon Collins, these are the three that I've paid attention to the most and they've been the most outspoken about their former teams. The amount of time they've spent talking about their former teams, if I'm their new team, I'm irritated by it. And if I've got big balls, I go to them and say, stop talking about your former team. Prove it to them on the field that they made a big

mistake. That's what I want you focused on. I want you focused on proving on the field at how much they totally screwed up by letting you go or by trading you. Man, these receivers are out of control. Just so everybody understands, OBJ, he's one of the reasons you watched the Giants the last few years. I was going to say he's not completely wrong with what he said. But here's where he's wrong. Do you know, the Giants, whether they had OBJ or not, we're going to play national primetime games against the Cowboys or the Eagles or the Redskins. I can't remember their schedule last year exactly. I'm going to pull it up right now. Here's why you can say it is right to defend him a little bit. I'm not defending him at all. I'm going to defend him a little bit here. They did get more

prime time games than most teams in their position and a big part of it. They always do because it's New York. It's the NFC East. The NFC East teams. But Washington got what one one? One Last year? Last year, more than one or two last year. Well, take out the third. So the one game against the Saints on Monday night. Right. What else? Hold on. I got to pull up the schedule because I can't remember it right off top of my head. They had the Thanksgiving game. Saints Monday night. They had the 425 main Fox slot against Dallas on the 21st. Yeah, so they had the Thanksgiving game. They had the Thanksgiving Day game. They had the Eagles game on Monday night in December.

which, by the way, was for first place. And then they had the Saturday game. Well, that's not really a prime time. It's a national television game. But that wasn't a highlighted feature. You know, that was against the Titans. And anytime you're in a holiday weekend on a Saturday in the NFL, that's a big spot and gets a big national rating,

and they try to put decent games on there. I do think that the Giants and Chargers followed it. Maybe one extra game because they had a star like OBJ that people wanted to see. That's fine. And I'm not saying, again, OBJ was a draw. But the Giants have drawn a significant number of primetime games, and they always will, because they are New York. There's no OBJ this year, right? So let's see how many primetime games they got this year.

One, two, three. They got three this year. And that includes a Thursday night? That includes the Thursday night at New England, a Monday night against the Cowboys, and a Monday night at Philadelphia. Okay. So, you know, they're not, and they stunk. last year and they've stunk in the last few years. So they still, what did the Redskins get this year?

Just two primetime games, right? Or just one, the bear game. Is the Bears game the only? Remember how many one o'clock games they have? No, they do have a, oh, yeah, the Bears game. Oh, the Vikings Thursday night game. But everyone gets a Thursday night. Everybody gets a Thursday night, yeah.

So they got two this year. It's actually probably, if you look at an aggregate for the NFC East, it may be the fewest number of prime time games ever because the Redskins and Giants are supposed to be so bad. But the Giants still got three primetime games, even without OBJ. And what they have last year? Did we figure out what they had last year? Here's their schedule from last year.

They had one, two, three, four. They had four last year, three this year. Anyway, Landon Collins and OBJ and Antonio Brown and anybody else that got traded and felt disrespected, they need to keep their mouth shut and go out and have a phenomenal season. You know, OBJ and Antonio Brown are projected to have great seasons. I actually like Landon Collins, liked the signing even though I thought it was expensive, and I'm hoping that he will have a major impact on this defense. But you know what most NFL people think of Landon Collins?

Outside of the top 10 in safeties, closer to like top 15 in safeties. I sort of had the sense when they signed him that he was more respected by NFL insiders than he actually is. By the way, I did write this stat down on OBJ with all of his self-absorption in this GQ story. Last year, he caught 25% of the passes thrown to him in tight windows per Elias or pro football focus or somebody. It was tied for 57th in the NFL. Well, does that factor in, you know, how catchable it was? Because Eli also was not very good last year. I'm sure that a tight window throw is the same for Devante Adams as it is for OBJ.

I'm not talking about the guy that's throwing it, but in terms of how it's defined. I don't know what that stat exactly means because there's the tight windows. There are some sets that do kind of filter out catchable balls or whatever and others that don't. Here's what I saw, 57th in the NFL and tight window throws. And by the way, in big games over the years, he has not played well for them when they've had the few big games that they've had. In fact, that playoff game that he referenced would have been from 2016, right? Because that's when the Giants came here at the end of the season, not needing to win the game, remember? And they run the game.

And they went on and they got routed at Green Bay 3813 and his final numbers. were four catches, 28 yards on seven targets. Actually, it says 11 targets in the actual box score. So he actually lied about the seven targets. I hope somebody goes back and follows up in that GQ story. I didn't read the GQ story. But according to pro football reference, which is the Bible, O'Dell Beckham Jr. was targeted in that playoff game 11 times, not seven times.

the most of any wide receiver or tight end or running back targeted by Eli Manning on that day. 11 targets and he had four catches for 28 yards in that playoff game. So a little revisionist history there for him. There was something else that I wanted to mention and I wrote it down. Mark Sanchez retired. Yeah, he's going to be a college football announcer. Oh, so anyway, Tommy mentioned this and I wanted to go back to it. Pro Football Talk, and it is written by Mike Floreo.

Okay, so take it for what it's worth. I'm not a huge Floreo fan. But they came out with their pro football talk, pre-training camp power rankings. Patriots, one, Chiefs, two, Eagles, three, Cowboys, Four. I mean, the Redskins are 27th. I've mentioned that already. And you know what? I'm trying to think of the last.

Last time, the Redskins preseason-wise had so little expected of them. I mean, it's been several times they've been picked to finish last in the NFC East or third in the NFC East, which is really what they're being predicted to finish now, because the Pro Football Talk rankings have the Giants as the 31st ranked team in the NFL. With Washington, by the way, Florio writes, yes, there's talent, but there's still real issues with the folks running the show and they'll find a way at some point to keep the team from being as good as it can be. I mean, that's echoing the sentiment of this show, Tommy in particular, but I totally agree with it. And that is, you know, even if they find a way to a talented roster, you know, there is the

threat and the aura of dysfunction, internal organizational dysfunction. But wow, the Cowboys at four. I'll tell you one thing about the Dallas Cowboys this year. I hate to say it, but I said it last year early in the season, Aaron. And remember early in the season, I said they are so good defensively. This guy Van deresh is a star. This guy, Jalen Smith, is a star. And they turned out to be a great defensive football team last year.

And they should be just as good, if not better. Not to mention they're well coached defensively as well. Now, will some of this stuff with Zeke Elliott, you know, contract, hold out, getting DAC signed to an extension, Cooper signed to an extension. Will it impact the team? Will it impact them offensively? I don't know. What does Jason Whitten mean in terms of him coming back after a year? I think he'll mean a lot to Dak Prescott.

I actually do. They have a very talented offensive line. It's a very good offensive line. It's better than the Redskins offensive line. They added Randall Cobb to that team. It's a good team. Are they the fourth best team in the NFL? I don't see that.

In the NFC alone, I mean, the Rams and Saints are better than the Cowboys. I think on paper the Rams Saints and maybe even the Bears and the Vikings are better than the Cowboys, along with the Eagles. They've got the Eagles ranked ahead of the Cowboys. But I would think the Bears, Rams, Saints, perhaps Minnesota. I don't know about Green Bay. What about Atlanta? I like Atlanta this year, potentially.

The fourth best team in the NFL, the second best team in the NFC for the Cowboys? I don't know. They do have the Bears as the fifth best team. This could be a Bears year. They seem primed to, you know, he did a hell of a job last year in his first year, and that quarterback can play Tribisky. Vegas is taking more bets on Trubisky as MVP than any other player. Seriously?

Yes. Is he the – he's not the favorite. No, he's not the favorite. The favorite, right? Yeah. he's not the favorite he's at 40 to 1 right now but they're they've taken more bets on uh trubisky than anybody else let me just see on my site it moved i believe it started opened at 100 to 1 he's down to 40 to 1 right now depending on the book

hmm right now my site my homes one luck to wents three rogers four mayfield breeze bris Brady, Rathosburg, Deshawn Watson, Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson, Philip Rivers, Cam Newton, your site has Deshaugh-a-Ropolo, and then Trubisky. Yeah. And they're taking more on him than a-you-know-why? Because I think people think that this could be a Bears kind of a year. Right, exactly. If you think they're going to be 13 and 3, possibly the one seat in the NFC, then you bet their quarterback. It makes sense. I don't believe he's going to win MVP, but the logic's there and the value's there, so I get it. Where's the first non-quarterback among the odds.

Probably Zeke or say, probably Zeke. 50 to 1, I think he's around there. Aaron Donald. Oh, and then Kamara, which does make sense to me. Yes,

that makes sense as well. And then McCaffrey. And then Elliot. Okay. Kirk Cousins is in the top 30 of potential MVP's. You know who's gotten actually a lot of tickets lately,

apparently? Who? Derek Carr. He's got Antonio Brown. He's got some weapons. I mean, he's got a rookie running back. He's going to be throwing. 60 times the games.

So he's going to put up the numbers. Did they finally get that, the Alabama running back? Yes, he signed. Yeah, he's signed. Yeah, and then I'm just, let's look through some of these things while we're doing this. Might as well. What about rookie of the year? Rookie of the year.

Yeah, Kyler's the favorite, I believe. Offensive rookie of the year. You know who's number two? Haskins. On my site, Oh, really? Jones is. Murray's 3 to 2 and then Haskins is 8 to 1.

So he's a distant second. Wait, so what's, uh, Murray's a three to two favorite. What's Josh Jones? Josh Jacobs is 10 to 1. Really? And Darrell Henderson's 10 to 1, the guy from Memphis. That's great value there.

10 to 1. You kidding me? Defensive MVP. Let's see if Sweets mentioned anywhere. Sweat, I believe, was... Oh, look at this, 12 to 1. Bosa's 1, Allen's 2, Devin White is 8 to 1, Quinn and Williams, Devin Bush, Ed Oliver, and then Montes Sweat.

Actually, Sweat's got the same odds as Oliver. Wow. When's the last time the Red So, Draskins drafted a player that was in the top five candidates for defensive rookie of the year. Ah, it's been a long time. Well, maybe John Allen with his selection. Maybe Ryan Kerry. I don't think so.

I think people are excited about Montes Sweat. And I told you this one a couple of weeks ago when I saw it, that Jay Gruden right now is the prohibited favorite to be the first NFL coach fired at 3 to 1, followed by Pat Shermer at 7 to 1. Let's update the season win totals. Where are the Redskins, still six and a half? Still six and a half. Yeah. Yeah, but you know what?

If you go under minus 150 to play under plus 120 on the over. I mean, sounds about right. They're trying to incent some overaction because they're getting too much underaction at six and a half. All right. What else do we have here? I got, for whatever reason, my site just put up a lot of NFL futures. bets. They've been, you know, I think everyone's been kind of, it's that time where you're seeing a lot more getting released here. Week one lines, the Eagles are still the biggest favorite at minus nine.

The second biggest favorite are the Seahawks minus eight over the Bengals at home. And the Cowboys are a seven and a half point favorite over the Giants in that. That's a, is that a, that's not a Sunday night game? The Steelers Patriots was the, that first Sunday night game. I think so, yes. Redskins 12 to 1 to win the NFC East, by the way, according to Westgate. Yeah, I mean, what are the Giants? 14. Yeah. Eagles minus 125, Cowboys, plus 150, Redskins plus 1,200, Giants plus 1,400.

To make the playoffs, the Redskins are, it wasn't there. It's blank on making the playoffs. All right. The other thing I was going to mention to you is that did you see what Maryland did for the Maryland Penn State Friday night game in September? Oh, I have not seen this. They've already canceled classes on that Friday. Good.

Which is a smart move. No kid for a Friday night. Well, I was going to say, there's no real Friday night classes anyways, are there? I don't. All Friday classes are canceled. So even the morning classes? Yeah, the whole day is canceled. They canceled all classes for Merrill.

Maryland's got an interesting, I'm actually getting legitimately excited for Mike Loxley's first season here. They've got some talent. the quarterback's going to be the key for them, whether or not this kid from Virginia Tech, Josh Jackson takes over, although I'm hearing some things about one of their true freshmen that they like a lot.

But Maryland has an interesting schedule and an interesting team. If you watched Maryland last year, their skill position players are talented. I mean, really talented. They've got incredible team speed on both sides of the ball, but they play Penn State on Friday night, September 27th. It's a Friday night game on Fox Sports 1, on FS1, in college park.

Not Baltimore. It's not a FedEx Field game. It's in college park. And that's off of an opening three games against Howard, so they'll be one and oh there. Then they play Syracuse at home. Is Syracuse going to be ranked? I don't know about ranked, but they're considered to be. The Maryland schedule is so fascinating this year because there's,

There's not a ton of games where it's just you write it off as losses, but there's almost no games that you just chalk up as wins either. This is a team that could go, I feel like, anywhere from three and nine to seven and five, and it wouldn't shock me. I, you know what, here's the thing. You have to, when it comes to this particular coach, I know a lot of people think, you know, this is high risk, you know, high reward. It's basically that situation with Locksley. This is either going to pay off big or it's going to be a disaster. That's sort of the way I feel too, although the more, like I watched a lot of that Big Ten, you know, football day, media day last week. I think it was on Friday, watched the Loxley interview.

He's just an impressive guy to me. And he's going to get players, Aaron. He's going to get players. That's the thing that Maryland's always struggled. Now, Durkin had actually recruited and put, you know, good classes back to back together. But, you know, if you go back to their most. successful teams. Ralph rarely had a top 20 or top 25 class. He had a couple of them, but not many of them. He did it with X's and O's. He really did. Bobby Ross, the same thing in the 80s. Loxley is going to

get more talent to this program than I think maybe any coach ever has. He certainly has that opportunity. He's a phenomenal salesman, a phenomenal recruiter, and we'll see whether or not the team ends up being well coached. They're in the Big Ten, and they're in the worst division and the toughest division, that being the Big Ten East, you know, with Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State and Michigan State. It's brutal. You know, to me, we've talked about this before. I would define Maryland football, I define Maryland basketball success as you got to be a legitimate final four contender every four years. You know, every four or five years, you've got to be a legitimate final four contender. And in three of those four years, you better be in the tournament with a chance

to make the Sweet 16. If you're going to have one-off year, you go to the NIT, that's fine. Maryland basketball's expectations much higher than Maryland football. Maryland football, I think Maryland football can be what it was under Ralph Regian in the ACC. Now, that's different than the Big Ten, but I think they can be a consistent eight-win team, bowl team, and maybe once every four years, they're pushing the 9-10 win season with maybe a game late in the year against somebody to potentially make a Big Ten title game, although I know that's a reach.

But one out of every five years, have that happen. And then be a seven, eight win team year and year out. I mean, I just want them to go to the Vegas Bowl one year. That's all I want. I don't know why they can't be Michigan State in football. Yeah, they should be able to. Honestly, not the exact same. They're not Ohio State.

They're not Michigan. They're not Penn State. They could be Michigan State. Sure. In football. They could be Wisconsin. in football. Yeah, I mean, obviously, again, in a different style, but yes, that success. All right. I think that's it today, unless there's any other Redskins breaking news or any

any other local breaking news. I don't think there is. All right. That's it for today. Again, the news earlier that Aaron Hawksworth broke is that Mason Foster is going to be released or perhaps already was by the Redskins. And Aaron guessed right. The savings cap-wise is roughly $4 million by releasing Mason Foster. Going to be interesting at that position now. Like who ends up being your starting inside linebackers on this football team? All right. Tomorrow on the show, hoping to get Tommy Shepard on the show.

I am efforting to get Wizards GM Tommy Shepard on the show. We'll also talk to Mark Zuckerman. We'll do some gnats, some more Nats tomorrow on the show as well. Have a great day.