The Kevin Sheehan Show - Rivera on QBs + 2 Bids In!

Episode Date: March 28, 2023

Kevin opened with the breaking news today that not one but two $6 billion bids have been submitted to Dan Snyder for the Commanders. Al Galdi jumped on with Kevin to recap the Ron Rivera media get-together in Phoenix today. The guys discussed the Rivera's comments on the quarterbacks and whether or not Sam Howell and Jacoby Brissett will legitimately compete for an 'open' job. Lots on Rivera's Chase Young comments and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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 Chean Show. Here's Kevin. Not that it matters to any of you, but you're listening to the second version of the opening segment of today's podcast. Why? Because I had to totally ditch the first segment of the show today.

Because of all of the breaking news related to the sale of the Washington commanders. And there's a lot of news today. And I'm going to get to that here. momentarily. Let me first mention that the rest of the show, I did not have to shelve. And the rest of the show is a beauty because my good friend Al Galdi will join me starting in the next segment. And we will talk about Ron Rivera's get-together today out in Phoenix with a bunch of the beat reporters here locally and others. He said a lot, not that, you know, what he said today, we can hold him to because he might change his mind and say something else next week. But Galdi and I are going to break down the Ron Rivera get-together, media get-together from earlier today in Phoenix.

We'll also get Galdi to weigh in on the Nats. They open up on Thursday, opening day against the Braves at Nats Park 105 first pitch. The show today is presented by MyBooky. Go to my bookie.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. And MyBooky will allow you to cash in and cash out quickly. This is perfect, as I've been mentioning for the last few weeks, if you just want to bet the tournament. If you just want to bet the final four and the national championship game, go to my bookie.ag.

Use my promo code Kevin D.C. You make a deposit. You wager that deposit amount one time. And my bookie will allow you to do something most books don't allow you to do, and that is cash out. If you win, obviously, right away. You don't have to wager the deposit amount multiple times. You just have to wager the deposit amount one time and you're eligible to cash out. Go to my bookie.ag again, my promo code, Kevin D.C.

If there's something written in the promo code area, erase it and write Kevin D.C. So let's start with the breaking news. Adam Schaefter's had a lot of it, if not most of it, actually. Adam Schaefter reported earlier today from Phoenix, where he is, that, the Josh Harris-Mitchell Rails Group, which now includes Magic Johnson, officially has submitted a fully financed bid that meets Dan Snyder's $6 billion asking price per source. This is not a surprise to me. I've been predicting Harris and Rails and Magic. It is a surprise that they did eventually come up to Snyder. $6 billion ask. As recently as the weekend, I was told, they are standing firm on something less than $6 billion, but something more than Tillman Fertita's initial bid of $5.5 billion, which

was reported, I don't know, at this point now, a month ago. So Harris, Rails, Magic, and the rest of their limited partners have a fully financed bid submitted to Dan Snyder for $6 billion. But that wasn't the end of Schefter tweeting, because the next Schefter tweet came a little while later. Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos, remember him from Friday, also has submitted a fully funded $6 billion offer for the commander's sources tell me as in Adam Schefter and Brian Windhorst. Shefty and Wendy, as Greenie would say. with two groups known to have submitted bids, there is a growing belief a purchase agreement could be in place by the NFL draft.

Now, let me just mention this. A purchase agreement by the NFL draft, I think still would require three-quarters vote, more legalese, a closing date, etc. I don't think Schaefter is implying that the deal could be rhaps. up by the NFL draft. Maybe he is. That's a month away. And I guess they could, you know, absolutely fast-track this for sure. But there you go. Shefter reporting two bidders with fully financed bids submitted for $6 billion to Dan Snyder. So it looks like Snyder did have more than one bidder. Nothing on Jeff Bezos at this point. Nothing on that. And, you know, Snyder's

strategy, perhaps, of bringing Bezos back into play via those tweets from Charles Gasparino from Fox Business News last week, you know, in trying to get the Harris bid up to $6 billion because it wasn't at $6 billion a week ago. Getting a Postalopolis to actually make a bid for $6 billion. I don't know if Bezos is going to have that opportunity or not. Stay tuned on that. But two bids in, here we go. I still favor the Harris group, primarily because he's been vetted. He's known. Josh Harris owns a small stake in the Steelers.

He was a bidder on the Broncos last summer. And he's an existing majority owner of two professional sports teams already, the Devils and the 76ers. I still think it's going to be Josh Harris. I still think Harris, Rails, Magic, that group ends up owning the team. That's still my guess. To be fair, though, I don't know anything about Steve Apostolopoulos and his group. I don't know anything about that bid right now. Maybe we'll learn more here in the hours after I release this podcast or in the days to come. There was something interesting, though, about Apostolopolis. Follow along, because this came from J.P. Finley.

I saw it a few minutes before I started to re-record the open of the show. JP tweeted out a Jason Wright tweet from earlier today. Jason Wright, team president, tweeted out an AP story about Sheila Johnson publishing her personal memoir in a book called Walk Through Fire. Sheila Johnson, for those of you who don't know, is one of the most successful female business people in the country. All right. She's the BET founder or co-founder. She owns the Washington Mystics. And Jason Wright tweeted out the story about her personal memoir. And one of the people, as J.P. Finley points out, that liked Jason Wright's tweet about Sheila Johnson's personal memoir. One of the likes was from Steve Apostolopoulopoulos. He liked that tweet. Now, I wonder if Jason Wright knows Steve Apostolopoulos. Or if Steve Apostolopoulos is just following Jason Wright or just saw the tweet and liked the tweet

because the other part of this is, is Sheila Johnson a part of the Steve Apostolopoulopoulos bid? The funny thing is last week, I mentioned that the Josh Harris bid made sense to me because they were, you know, information was leaking about the over. overall group, you know, Mitchell Rails, local successful business person, Magic Johnson. And I predicted last week, and I didn't know anything about whether or not this would happen. But I predicted that the next thing we would learn about the Josh Harris bid was that there's a significant female limited partner involved in the group. And I said somebody like Sheila Johnson. I mean, that was the first name that came to mind because Sheila Johnson is a.

no name, especially in this market. Maybe she is a part of the Apostolopolis bid. Stay tuned. But it certainly seems like we are heading towards the end of the Dan Snyder reign. There were other things that I had in version 1.0 of the opening segment of the pod today. I'll save some of that for tomorrow, but I just wanted to mention one thing, and that is, congrats to Kevin Willard and the Maryland basketball team. They are keeping Jamir Young.

He is coming back to Maryland next year. I'm sure it took a hell of an NIL deal, but that is big news for Terps fans. Jamir Young's second team, all Big Ten this year. I know he didn't play great down the stretch, but they don't have a point card right now. And now you've got Jamir Young, Deshawn Harris-Smith in the back court.

And there is more to come, I'm sure through the transfer portal. But that's big news and great news for Kevin Willard and all of us who are Terp fans that Jamir Young is coming back. All right, stay tuned. Up next, Al Galdi joins me, and we will go through the Ron Rivera Get Together out in Phoenix. He said a lot, and we'll get to it starting next

right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Again, all I said was Sam's going to get the first crack. I didn't say Sam was the guy. He's going to have to come in and earn it. And if Jacoby comes through and earns it, I'll play Jacoby. I'm going to play the guy that we believe at the end of the day gives us the best chance to win football games. That was Ron Rivera earlier this morning,

saying that Jacoby Brissette has a chance to win the job, essentially, that if he ends up coming through, he'll play Jacoby. he's going to play the guy that gives them the best chance to win football games. There was a lot more on the quarterback position and a lot more overall. Ron Rivera spoke for nearly 34 minutes with reporters out in Phoenix this morning. And here, jumping on with me right now is my good friend Al Galdi from the Al Galdi podcast. You can get Galdi's podcast anywhere you get a podcast. You can follow Al on Twitter at Al Galdi.

I was going to record Galdi earlier this morning, but we both said, well, why don't we wait until Rivera talks? Because it would be better to sort of react to what Rivera said. Now, look, many of you may not know specifically what he said today, but that's why we're here. We're going to give you our notes from the Ron Rivera presser out in Phoenix. And that was a big part of what stuck out to me. Actually, there were several things that stuck out to me during the press conference. But let's start there, Al. What did you make of his comments about, you know,

what he really kind of laid out as kind of a true quarterback competition heading into training camp? Yeah, well, I think we've all been conditioned in learning to speak Ronnie these last few years that, you know, what he says in the moment may not be what he says the next day. So, you know, you wait a while, you might hear something totally different. But look, he has been preaching quarterback. competition. This has become kind of an annual thing where he, in the offseason, talks about a quarterback competition and that it turns out that we don't really have one. Remember, he did

this at 2020. Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen, did it 2021, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Taylor Hineke. He didn't really do it last year. But now he's back to doing it this year with Sam Howard DeCobie Brissette. Look, I do think that there should be competition. I don't think Sam should be handed anything. I just have a hard time, like, believing with full conviction that Ron is, in fact, going to go ahead with a true competition. I think this may be along the lines of what we had in 21 with Fitzpatrick and Heineke where you may say competition, but we know that the idea was for Fitzpatrick to be the starting quarterback. I think the idea here is for Sam to be the starting quarterback. But look, if he falls all over himself at off-season practices and training

camp, I think there is a possibility for set is the week one starter. I just, you know, knowing what we know, experiencing what we have experienced with Ron as a head coach, you know, we've kind of seen this movie before with him talking up a quarterback competition. There's no doubt that, you know, it takes, you know, three years to learn Ronis. And we are now approaching year four. We're like, it's like when you get to French four, French four or Spanish, I don't know about Spanish, I took French. French four was really hard.

The first three years were just kind of, you know, laying the foundation. And then it got even harder. So it might actually get harder for us. But yeah, I mean, he's very likely to, in his next. next presser, you know, talk about how, well, look, you know, Jacoby Berset we brought in as the veteran and, you know, as a mentor and we really like the person he is and we think he's going to be great for Sam and then emphasize, you know, kind of it's Sam's job to lose. But there is no question in today's presser. It is as clear as he's been in Ronis anyway that this,

at least as of today, now again, understood, it could change. And we can. And we can, And, you know, your gut is that you still think, you know, it sounds to me like your gut is that they're still going to kind of go with Sam. But he's just, you know, trying to create maybe the illusion of a competition. I heard a little bit differently. I heard a guy who probably really loves that they got Jacoby Brissette and realizes they've got a guy. You know, he talked about his quick twitch. They talked about every throw, you know, that he can make every throw. And what a great guy he is.

that, you know, from people in Cleveland. I don't know if you've had anybody on from Cleveland. I've had a couple of people on from Cleveland on the radio show. And I don't know. There was something else, though, that, well, let me ask you, what else stood out on the quarterback front from Ron's presser today? Well, hearing him talk up, Sam is part of why I feel the way I feel. But he really had a lot of nice things to say about Sam. He referenced Ron did pro football focus. Yes, she did. We talk to the PFF guys about Sam.

So there does seem to be a real liking to Sam. We got some of this from Martin Mayhew in his session with reporters on Monday afternoon. You know, almost like a gushing about Sam. Now, you are getting high praise for Jacoby Percette as well. I just think they really want Sam to take this and run with it. I think that's what they really want. I don't think they're just going to gift him the job like he does have to do his part at least to an extent. But more and more, it feels like, no, they really want Sam.

to go ahead and beat a guy. And, you know, of course, it's so funny because Ron did even want Sam starting initially in Week 18. But the other thing, I think, was, like I said, almost like the gushing, the high praise that Ron had for Sam. Yeah, I want to play that right now for everybody so that they can hear it, because that was on my notes as well. Ron really selling Sam Hal.

Here's what he said. You know, it's one of those things that I've talked to a couple entities that typically do these write-ups about the draft. And when you go to them and you ask him, hey, can you tell me what did you guys have on Sam if he had come out in 2021? Okay. I have a number of them tell me that they had first round grades on them. Okay, go back and ask to call them. And it's, you know, the people at Pro Football Focus.

I did a thing for them at the Super Bowl while I'm doing the universe. Hey, wait a minute, can you guys tell me what you guys had on San? And right off the bat, they told me we had first, second round grade on it. So that's one of the pluses, plus is in positive. If the guy had come out, he'd been a first or second round pick. We're fortunate. He fell to the fifth round because people don't think it was a strong class. Yeah, that stuck out to me too, Al. Let me just say this, first of all. I agree with you that what they want and what they should want is for Sam to take this and run with it and make it so obvious that there's no debate. Or at least make it obvious that it's a dead even race for this thing. Or maybe he's just slightly behind Berset. That's their preference.

But I found this part of it to be so fascinating because let me just start with this. Who gives a shit what entities think? You know, entities that do mock drafts thought about Sam Howl and what pro football focus thinks about Sam Howell. Now, PFF is different because they're actually a customer of PFFs. But he was pitching so hard there and talking about the, you know, if he had come out the year before a first and second round grade. By the way, he then says, you know, but this year, because it was a perceived to be a weak quarterback class, he fell to the fifth. Well, actually,

it would work the opposite way, Ron. If it was a really strong quarterback class, that would be a reason that he would drop to the fifth round. If it was a weak quarterback class, which it was, you would have thought that he would have gone higher. But anyway, man, he was, and this isn't the first time we've heard it since the season ended, but you know what? it struck me as Al. Remember how hard he was selling Carson once after that deal? I mean, two totally different situations. But he was pitching so hard on Carson and then did it again. You know, remember the week of the Chicago game when the Vanada story was out and, you know, he

said, no, I did the analytics, I did the film work, I did the studying, the whole thing. If you believe in him that much, I'd rather they lay low under promise and then have Sam way over deliver, but that's not what happened today. No, and we've kind of, again, with the Ronnie's thing, like, we've come to know this is kind of how he is. And I don't know, maybe this is just like what he finds to be the prudent approach and these off-season impressors is you talk up the new guy. You know, it does, though, at times, weak of you're trying to convince people, maybe even trying to convince yourself that this guy is the guy. Because, like, you said, if you really believe in him, you're not saying this.

and, you know, he's selling Sam really hard. So, yeah, you know, I don't know. Like, again, he changes his mind. So it's becoming increasingly difficult to know, like, what does he truly think? Or if he's such that, like, just at any moment, he can kind of just think something polar opposite to what he previously expressed. I mean, unless, and I guess this is possible, unless he realizes that he was wrong about Sam as last season went on, and that he should have played Sam sooner, and that he should have been all in on starting Sam

for Week 18 initially, as opposed to the little game he tried to play with starting Taylor and then, you know, going to Sam and like a relief roll. Like, I guess that is possible that he realizes that he was wrong, and he's maybe trying to over-correct for that. But it is just such an extreme departure from where we were at. I mean, we were told in August and September and October, no, Sam's not ready.

Sam's not an option. He has to work on his footwork. He has all these mechanical things. He has to work on. This is a developmental season for Sam. We went from bad to six days after their season ended. I think it's important to remember the timeline. Their season ended on a Sunday with that went over Dallas.

It was the following Saturday that we had multiple reports that Ron was telling offensive coordinator candidates that Sam is being positioned to be the QB1 for next season. That is a jaw-dropping 180 from where we were just a few days earlier. And it's still kind of difficult to wrap your mind about how exactly, and why exactly did that happen? It happened because it was the right kind of PR strategy at that point. It was such a disaster with the way the quarterback situation this season ended with the Cleveland game, obviously.

And, you know, they were selling hope. And Sam, having played that game against the Cowboys, in which he threw 19 passes and only completed 11, I'm not knocking the game. He was effective as a runner, and they beat a team that looked completely disinterested. and what seemed to be kind of a preseason environment, even though Dallas had a chance that particular Sunday heading into it, not a great chance. But I think, you know, basically in that moment like he does,

you know, speaking Ron E's, it occurred to him at that moment. Wow, you know what? I think actually people would get excited about Sam Howell and people are. Not everybody, but a lot of people are getting excited about Sam Howell. Look, you mentioned the over-correcting. what's really interesting about this if you think about it. Like if they really, you know, if, you know, hey, I mean, you know, these entities that do write-ups on the drafts, I mean, they've been telling me, I've been, you know, I've been seeking them out.

They've been telling me that he would have been a first and second round pick the year before. And, you know, a lot of people that are knocking this, you know, look at what the draft people are saying, well, first of all, who gives us shit what the draft people are saying, you're the head coach of the football team? Secondly, if they're so right and you're so right, why did you even have to consider whether or not it made sense to play him in the finale against the Cowboys? That should have been a no-brainer and it wasn't for him, as you've discussed and I've discussed. And by the way, how about let's go backwards a little bit more? Why didn't you play them earlier when the offense was completely stagnant and was having QB issues? if you were so sure about him, and he talked today also about when they started to really get a sense that Sam, you know, was more than just, you know, kind of a fifth rounder or whatever is, you know, when Carson went down and he became the backup, they started to see things. And if you really saw it, you should have played him earlier. And you certainly shouldn't have gotten to week 18 and had it be like a tough call and have your quarterback and Taylor Heineke have to convince you to play.

Play them. I mean, the whole thing is really, it's nuts. Here's my, I want you to comment on that, but my overall feeling is they have no idea if Sam Howell's going to be any good. They had no idea during the course of this year. They weren't super confident. They weren't super negative necessarily. They certainly didn't think he was good enough to be better than Taylor Heineke or Carson Wentz. Now, Carson Wentz could have been, you know, a face saving move or, you know, a face saving, you know, wing in a prayer there against Cleveland. But they certainly didn't feel good enough to play him when you were struggling offensively, when you'd become stagnant offensively.

And they were, you know, they were ready to pull the plug on Taylor even earlier than when they did it. And I think this is, you know, this was the first thing that came to mind in the offseason and let's slap the QB1 label on him. And oh, by the way, he does have a much stronger arm than Taylor. And he's really mobile. And he's smart. He's a good guy, and we can sell the fact that two years ago he might have been a first or second round pick. That's what I think's going on.

I don't think they have any clue as to whether or not he's going to be good. Doesn't mean that they don't have a clue with respect to whether or not he'll start, but I don't think they have any clue as to whether or not he'll be any good. Yeah, and I don't know how you could. I mean, you can think things, you can project things, you can expect things, but until you actually see him do it in games, like it's all hypothetical. I mean, I do think this with Sam, I don't think he's like your normal fifth round quarterback. And I've talked about this on my show.

I think there's a lot with him that you could say, all right, like, yeah, he's a fifth rounder and yeah, most non-first round quarterbacks don't become good NFL quarterbacks. That's true. I mean, the data is overwhelming in that regard. But, you know, most fifth round quarterbacks, most day-to-day-three quarterbacks weren't viewed the off-season prior to their draft as potentially being the number one pick in the draft. which they were taken. So, like, I think there was a little bit of contact with Sam. I do think things got really strange with the quarterbacks in the 2022 draft. I mean, it is odd

that the first 70-some ticks came and went and only one quarterback got taken. Like, even if you hated that quarterback class, the position is important enough to where you would have thought that more than one guy, more than Kenny Pickett would have gone over the first, you know, 70 picks and changed in that draft. So I thought it got a little overly punitive with the way teams viewed these quarterbacks. But look, it was not a great quarterback class. Everyone has talked about that. And it's entirely possible that, you know, years from now, we look back at the

Sam Howell Hype, the same way we look at like the John Beck Heist. We're like at the punchline as opposed to being anything more than that. But I am intrigued by them. I'll admit, I got excited when the reports came out six days after the end of the season that Sam with the QDU. I was like, wow, hey, let's go. You know, they see something in this guy. You know, like

they got beyond that. Well, that was the point. And yeah, right. I mean, so I think, you know, there was some, I don't know if wisdom is the right word, but there was a method to what the team was trying to do. And I don't think that it's like inconceivable that Sam Howell ends up being a good quarterback. It just, it is tough. Like, again, as much as, you know, we reference, you know, a Brock Purdy type or, you know, a Kirk Cousins type or a Dak Prescott type,

the overwhelming majority of non-first-round quarterback do not become good NFL quarterbacks. And so it is statistically very unlikely that this works. But like I said, one of the things I am clinging to is that it is a little different with Sam. He's not what I would call like your normal day three quarterback. Yeah, I hear you on that. I mean, when they drafted him, you know, last year, I remember saying, look, this is not your typical, you know, fifth rounder. This isn't, you know, a guy like Clayton Thorson or Easton Stick, I think were my two examples. Like nobody's ever heard of them.

people have heard of Sam Hal because he was a projected much higher draft choice, not only the season before, but really going into that final season there. The example is Christian Hackenberg. I mean, he was a guy that the year before was supposed to be like a first round pick and ended up going either in the second or third round. I forget the Penn State quarterback from years ago. And there are probably a couple of other examples. But I did this on the show a few weeks ago.

Out of the 129, fifth round or later draft choices, going back to the year 2000, so this century, exactly one became something, like legitimately something. Now, several people, by the way, reached out to me to say, hey, you forgot about Tony Romo. He was an undrafted free agent. Fair. Fair point. And by the way, you could look at Kurt Warner, obviously, as well. I mean, but you're talking about, like, it's not just that the chances aren't, you know, overwhelmingly long. It's like, you know, they're lottery odds almost. And again, you're right, he's a named, he had a name that people recognized.

But a lot of teams in a bad quarterback draft that needed quarterbacks passed them up. And so we'll see. I like some of what I've seen Sam Hal too. I mean, you know, I'm hopeful. He's got a big arm. He's mobile. fits kind of the quarterback of today's game. And, you know, he's got to, by the way, the thing that really stood out to me in that Dallas game,

more than anything else was his quick release, you know, and we'll see with Eric Bienemy if Bianami can really coach him up. By the way, that's another conversation about this whole thing. Alan, I'm curious as to what you think, because Tommy and I were talking about it yesterday, and I think we've talked about it previously. And that is, you know, who's under more pressure to win this year? Ron Rivera or Eric Bienemy. What do you think?

Well, obviously they both are. I mean, I think Ron is from the standpoint of keeping his job. Like, I think the enemy, you know, he'll get employed elsewhere if somehow this all blows up. You know, with Ron, this may be it for him as an NFL head coach if this stint doesn't go well, especially if this season doesn't end up going well. But there's no doubt. There's pressure on both. I mean, I think at least with the enemy,

he'll be able to say, well, you know, Washington, what do you want to do? And a lot of guys are able to come out of this place when things don't go well and find employment elsewhere and even do well elsewhere. With Ron, you know, I think this could be kind of his last charge as a head coach, especially again if this season doesn't go well. I mean, if this season ends up being like the Jake Rood in 2019 season,

like let's say, and I hope like, heck, this doesn't happen, but let's say the team gets off to a terrible start. And Ron, you know, doesn't even last until Halloween. I mean, who's going to hire him again as a head coach? I mean, maybe he gets a defensive coordinator job. But I would say probably Ron from that standpoint. But yeah, there's no doubt. The enemy is under pressure.

I think there with the enemy, and I can kind of understand the psychology here, you know, if he just comes here and the offense is decent, I think that will be viewed as good work by Eric BN. I should have asked the question differently. It's not about winning for Biener. It's about, you know, upgrading significantly what this offense is been from recent years, and that's a win for him. Yeah, I think so, because this offense hasn't been decent since you know who left as the

quarterback. I mean, we're going on five years. People get very triggered when you say his name. We're going on five straight years of bad offense with this team. So it didn't come here, especially if Howells the quarterback, and just make the offense like middle of the pack, you know, like top 16 in the NFL, top 18 in the NFL. I think people will look at that and say, yeah, you know, what he did a pretty good job with it? So my answer to the question that I asked you sort of awkwardly or clumsily is I think that Ron is, you know,

basically winding down in his career anyway. I think this year, this season upcoming is probably going to be his last in coaching. His last is a head coach, his last in coaching, and he'll, you know, take that last year of, you know, whatever the money is and sail off into the sunset. I mean, assuming that they don't make a big run this year, and, you know, I don't think they will. I don't see this as a playoff team necessarily. I certainly don't see it as a Super Bowl contender. And so I think Ron is just, you know, hoping that things go well, but ultimately this is it for him.

Whereas with Bianami, this upcoming season is his chance to become a head coach. And while the team doesn't need to win 10 games and win a playoff game, the offense, as we were just discussing, needs to be a lot better than it's been in recent years, and that shouldn't be that difficult. But if you end up pushing a project for too long, then you may not, as Eric Bienemy, get the results you need. And that's why I think that there's actually more pressure on Bienemy. It's a bigger year for Bienemy,

and that ultimately, because he does have total autonomy over this situation, if Brissette, as Ron Rivera said, gives them a chance to win games, a better chance to win games, then more likely than not, he's going to be a better quarterback for Bienemy. Because you know what, Al, as much as Bienemy would benefit from developing a young quarterback into a guy that looks like an NFL starting quarterback by the end of next year, he would benefit not at the same level, but he would benefit if he took Jacoby Berset with a pretty good team around him. and the offense was better, and Jacoby Brissette all of a sudden became Gino Smith. And I don't know that that is possible.

I mean, it's not impossible. And I'm not sure Gino Smith is a legitimate top 10 quarterback anyway, but he got a big contract to stay in Seattle. But he would benefit if Brissette took a major step at 30 years old like Gino Smith did. So there's actually two ways to go for Bienemy, and I think that he'll end up making the decision that gives him the best chance to, you know, know, coach a much better offense. Yeah, I think it's going to be really interesting if Sam struggles early to what extent

you see patience exhibited with him, you know, because we've seen with quarterbacks, if you kind of just stick with the young guy, things can end up working out. I mean, this isn't a perfect example of that because he did get bench in favor of, or no, he came in from Mr. Biske, I guess. He got hurt, though. But Pickett, I thought, got a lot better as last season went on. You got to kind of ride it out with these guys. And if there's something there with the guy, to me, you'll see it as the season goes on.

But you've got to sort of stick it out with the guy. And so, yeah, I mean, I think there is going to be that push-pull of what is in the best interest of future employment for Ron Rivera and Derek B. Enemy versus what is in the best interest of the team and the quarterback position. You bring up a really good point because, you know, struggling young quarterbacks can struggle in different ways from, you know, a coach's perspective. They can struggle because they just don't have it. And they can struggle because they're young and they're learning, but there's still something there. And that's going to have to be their call.

You know, we may be able to see it as fans, but not like they'll be able to see it. If there's something there and he's having the normal bumps in the road that young developmental quarterbacks, even though Martin Mayhew didn't refer to him as a developmental quarterback yesterday, but if he has those normal bumps in the road, but they're bumps surrounded by some moments where we say, wow, and they say, wow. And then they get the other part of it, which is what's going on in practice during the week

and what's going on in the quarterback's room. Then you show patience if there's something there. But if you think ultimately after five, four or five games that, you know, you weren't sure going in and now you are sure, he's just not a starting quarterback in the NFL, no matter how patient you are, With a fifth rounder, you can cut bait. With a first rounder, you're more inclined because of the investment size to have to hang in there a little bit longer. Because at some point, you really saw a future starting quarterback. Yeah.

That'll be on them. For sure. Not that we won't have our own opinions. Yeah, no, absolutely. And that's part of the information that we don't have. Like, what does Ron really think of Sam? Like, does Ron think that Sam could be a franchise guy? Is Ron just going with Sam?

Because Ron doesn't have any other options. Like, you know, there are degrees of light. You know, I mentioned John back earlier. I think we've come to know, and you know this well. You know, Mike Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan, they may have thought that, you know, maybe possibly there's something with fact, but they weren't like all in on him as the future of the franchise. You know, there was some talking up that was going on with that. And so you wonder with Sam, like, is there some of that going on right now or no?

Do they legitimately believe this guy could be something? and of course we don't have the answer to that. So with respect to Rivera today, the other thing that he said is, you know, he's not ruling out a quarterback at 16 in the first round. Now, he also said, and I made note of this, that he's gotten to his evaluation of other positions, but he hasn't yet gotten to quarterbacks. He's going to get to those here over the next two and a half weeks. He said he's evaluated two quarterbacks, but he's got more to go.

So this was kind of, it appears, based on what he said today, the last position that he got to in terms of evaluating. But he did say not ruling out a quarterback at 16. I forget, what did he say last year with respect to 11? I don't remember what he said. I don't remember him ruling one out. Yeah, I don't either. They had Carson. They had Carson, so I don't think anyone took that seriously.

Yeah, it was kind of funny the way he talked about potentially taking a quarterback in the first round, because you're right, he didn't rule it out, but he also said, well, I'm not even done evaluating these guys. And then later on, he got asked about it again, and he kind of was like, well, I didn't say we were, he said, he said something like, I said, I'm considering it, but I didn't say that, like, I'm definitely open to it. I don't know, he sort of hedged on it. So it just kind of sounded like lip service. I mean, I would be surprised if they went quarterback at 16. I think they should be open to that, but it doesn't feel like that's a real true option for them, but we'll see. Yeah, I mean, I hope they're open to it.

I think that this should be, I mean, the fact that he's getting to this particular position last, when there are, you know, a couple of guys that appear to be legitimate, you know, top half, top 10. Look, they'd have to trade up more likely than not. The way things are getting mocked right now and things change between now and draft night. But I don't think that Anthony Richardson or Will Levis or Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud are going to drop to 16. I don't think that's going to happen. It could, and they should be prepared for it.

But anyway, anything else on the quarterback front from him? No, I mean, he said nice things about Bresset, but, you know, those are the kind of things that you expect to hear and Bacchew said a lot of nice things about Berset on Monday afternoon. I mean, I think they really like Berset. I like Bucet. I think a lot of people like Bucet. He had a sneaky, impressive season last year, and so if it ends up that he has to play,

I think you might actually be in very capable hands with them, but obviously, like, long-term, the better scenario is Sam Howell coming through. You know what's interesting, too, I was just reminded of this. I agree with you on Berset. I mean, I don't think that Chacobi Berset is a franchise quarterback and the way we think of franchise quarterback. I don't think he's a top half of the league quarterback, but I think he's better than anything they've had recently,

and I think that he is, by all accounts, a great dude. and a great teammate and smart and all of that. You know, he was asked about Taylor Heineke and how close they got. And I'm going to paraphrase it here real quickly. He said that Taylor's group, you know, that they wanted some things that they just couldn't get to. You know, and those things were, you know, ultimately the compensation. I mean, what else would it be? Right.

I mean, Taylor, you know, already told you the best gig in America as being a backup quarterback. It's not like he was demanding to start. It was compensation. Taylor's representation wanted X, and Washington wanted to pay X minus. What's interesting about that is that, you know, Jacoby Brissette was paid more and guaranteed money than Taylor Heineke. You know, Brissette got the most valuable and the most lucrative of the perceived backup quarterback deals. So they were willing to pay Brissette.

what they paid Berset. They were not willing to pay Heineke less than what Atlanta paid him because they weren't willing to match what Atlanta paid him. I just thought that was interesting. And I think it's an important point because I think it gets overstated like, oh, the Falcons gave Taylor money that the commanders just couldn't match. No, the commanders wouldn't match. The Taylor from Atlanta got a two-year, $14 million deal, $6.32, full. guaranteed. Perthet, one for eight, seven point five, fully guaranteed. I mean, the difference really isn't that much. Like, if you really wanted to keep Taylor, you could have given him the deal that the Balkans Taylor. I think, yeah, I mean, I think both sides were kind of ready

for a departure. You know, it's possible that they could have come to an agreement. Like, I don't think they like hit each other and they're at each other's throat, but, you know, I think Taylor was ready to move on. I think Ron was ready to move on. And I think the contract details are key because if you remember when the Falcons Heineke deal initially was reported, it was talked about it, two years, 20 million. People said, oh, wow, 10 billion a year. It's like, no, that was those are the terms of the agent. That's right. And that's not what he got. And yeah, it's so true. The money really isn't that different between Berset and Hineke. Yeah, they wanted Bressett more. There's just, there's really no other way to, no other

conclusion to get to. The other quarterback things real quickly, you know, once again, like Mayhew did yesterday, they just have not been interested in Lamar Jackson. And like I've said, Alan, I don't know how you've handled this part of the conversation. But, you know, when Florio was out there, you know, pimping that Ron was being super clever and super deceptive in terms of his public comments, I'm like, no, no, no, Ron telegraphs everything. I mean, first of all, you've got to be able to speak Ronese. And Florio doesn't speak Ronis. But the, but, you know, he told us in 21 were going to swing big, you know, and they went for Matt Stafford. And then, by the way, he then conveniently said, no, we're in roster building mode after they had swung for for Stafford.

And then last year, they were going to swing big. They called all 31 teams looking for quarterbacks. And they made the big offer on Russell Wilson. They were very, he was very clear. You know, Lamar Jackson's not been an option for them. And the other thing that he did mention with respect to sort of roster building is, you know, it's this convenient thing of, well, this is what we're doing because this is what we probably have to do because of the ownership situation and everything else. So we're going to couch it as we got a really good young guy that we love. And by the way, all the draft entities said how much they loved him and how high he would have

been drafted the year before. But we're focused on roster building. You know, that was his thing. And remember, we heard a lot of the roster building, you know, conveniently after they went after Stafford. And it's just, it's Ronnie's. It's part of the Ronnie's, you know, language that whatever is the convenient

answer for the moment, and right now, it's like, hey, we got a rookie quarterback deal. We got a Brissette at $8 million. We have very little invested in that position, and that's been the plan all along is to roster builds. Yeah. Yeah, it's very true. He did this in 2021 with a fat,

He said the exact same stuff of how, well, you know, you don't, you can get away with not devoting somebody's resources to quarterback. And then, of course, last off season, he said the exact opposite. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing with Ron. Like, whatever is sort of convenient to say or feels appropriate to say in the moment is what he says. And I think if you understand that going into when he's speaking, okay, I think it's like if you actually start taking him at his word, as I think we all did initially, but now that we kind of know him better, you know, you know the appropriate.

way to interpret what he's saying. The other thing, too, and I'm just thinking about this, you know, when you've been roster building for a few years now, because ultimately, well, I mean, Carson Wentz was a big number last year, not a massive, massive number, but a big hefty number for a quarterback, certainly for him anyway. But, you know, you've kind of been in this roster building mode because you missed on Stafford, you missed on Wilson, and at what point is the roster building over where you then just go out to the quarterback tree and pick the quarterback off and plug them in.

Because whenever you hear the roster building conversation in the rookie quarterback deal, and he brought up Brock Purdy's name. I mean, look, it'd be great. First of all, I have no idea if Brock Purdy is actually the answer. He looked really good. And he is the diamond in the rough, you know. But, you know, just go try to find another Brock Purdy in the seventh round or in the fifth or sixth round.

It's hard. There's no quarterback tree to go. to. What else stuck out to you? Because I got something that I thought was pretty important, and I'm wondering if anything else seemed important to you in terms of what he said today. Yeah, I mean, he didn't have much to say about the ownership stuff. I mean, he gave kind of the usual line of, you know, it hasn't really impacted us. You know, he got asked about Chase Young. And I think this Chase Young stuff is really interesting, this public dangling of the fifth-year-option. in front of Chase. This is very unusual that a team will be this publicly undecided about a key player

contractually. And I don't know how you view this in any way other than this is some sort of messaging. I mean, this reminds me so much of Ron in the 2021 season, sending initially veiled public messages to Chase and then ultimately like really clear public messages to chase, you know, with them not adhering to the defensive scheme, et cetera. And to me, like, I don't know how you see this any other way. Now, Ron, on Tuesday morning said, well, no, this is about the injury. That's why we have this uncertainty also sort of alluded to, hey, the ownership situation maybe is going to impact whether we exercise the option. I don't buy for a second that they haven't decided whether they're going to exercise the option. We're deep in the offseason at this point,

or at least deep enough to where that decision to me has been made. This is unusual that both Ron and Martin have expressed this public uncertainty. I think it's messaging. I think they feel like they have to send these public messages to Chase. I think the immediate reaction to that is, well, why? Why do you feel that way? And, you know, that's disturbing. But it's hard to ignore this. I mean, this is going back to Ron leading up to the Super Bowl,

the Thursday before the Super Bowl when he made the media round. That's when he first expressed this uncertainty. Like, this pretty clearly is like a strategy from Ron. You know, like talking points for the off season of this is how we're going to address the Chase Young fifth year option. And it just really stands out that they continue to say, well, we're not sure when I think, I think, and I would guess a lot of people think, no, that decision already has been made.

Yeah, so I want to play that particular, because that's the part from the rest of the press conference that I made note of as well. I want to play it so that everybody can hear what Ron Rivera said when I think it was Matt Paris from the Washington Times, asked him about picking up the fifth-year option on Chase Young. I think the biggest thing more than anything else is we'll continue to finish that process. You know, and I mean, we really are. I mean, it's one of those things that you've got to really think it through. You've got to be able to plan it out.

And with the situation we're in right now waiting on, like everybody else, to find out, you know, ownership, we, you know, we've got to kind of drag our feet a little bit until we get to that point and find out, you know, do we have to find out from whoever the new ownership. But to be honest, if there's a new owner, we have to go to them. and find out, you know what I'm saying? So I don't know at this point. But I know we are still talking about it. Between Martin, Marty, Eric,

Rob Rogers, and myself, we've talked, we've had a couple of conversations. We like what we're seeing. His progress has gone very, very well. It continues to work out and just get stronger. And there's some real positive signs right now. Because the big part of his, too, is we don't know what the new ownership wants.

And so that would, you know, who knows what that process may be when we get close to the May 2nd deadline. So we have to kind of wait a little bit until then, or at least close to it before we can do something. I just was stunned by the answer on this, him talking about needing to kind of wait for new ownership to take over. By the way, many times, you know, anybody that still thinks that this isn't happening, it's happening.

and everybody out there knows it. But, you know, he just signed Duran Payne to a big contract extension. They've been active in free agency. This is picking up a fifth-year option for, you know, a projected, the fifth-year option for Chase Young is projected because Pro Bowls factor into it. He's got one Pro Bowl right now at $17.4 million for the 2024 season. And he basically used new ownership and needing to wait on new ownership as the reason. Well, what if new ownership isn't in, you know, somebody followed up and said,

well, will the new owner be there by May 2nd, which is the deadline? He said, well, I'm not saying that. You know, and then he discussed a little bit there about the injury process. And look, they already played him in multiple games at the end of the season. He was cleared, you know, by the doctors. And by the way, I thought he looked pretty good athletically. I really did in the games that he played. But this is, to me, in listening to him, and by the way, he was, if it, go watch this answer. He's grinning as he's saying it, as he's giving the answer to Matt Paris. You know, it could have been over anything. I think this was a clear sign that right now, as of today, they're not picking up that fifth year option. Or he didn't want to give a definitive answer

on it today because they're unsure best case. But blaming it on or giving them, the reason is waiting on new ownership was pretty weak, pretty weak as it relates to the fifth year option on Chase Young. You know, I was thinking, so where is this going to go? Like, if the decision has been made, what is that decision? And the conclusion I came to is they're probably going to exercise it because otherwise, how bad does this make Chase look if you've been expressing this doubt and then you don't exercise the option, at least if you express the doubt but then exercise the option, and you could kind of count it as well, you know, message delivered.

We try to express the uncertainty, but, you know, we exercise the option. It really is going to look bad if they don't exercise the option. Like, to me, you really can't overstate this. When you don't exercise the 50-year option on a player, that is an indictment of the player to say nothing of a guy who was a number two overall pick in a draft. Like, however you want to dress it up, like, that is a screaming indictment of the player, be it due to the injury or underperformance or attitude or whatever. I mean, if you had been told on that night in 2020, when Washington took Chase with that number two pick, that Washington will not be exercising the fifth year option.

Like, what would we have all thought then? And so if they don't exercise this option, what is that going to say? And, you know, with Chase, as we've come to know, it may not just be about the injury. Like, there's been enough from Ron, especially back in 2020, one to where, you know, you wonder about, like, is he a hard guy to coach? does he not take the instruction? Like, what is the deal to where Ron has to keep sending these public messages to chase? Yeah, I mean, it's technically if it's all about an injury, it's not a screaming indictment of the player.

And it wouldn't be a screaming indictment of the organization. If it were all about this guy just isn't the player we picked, number two, he had a very serious injury, and he's never going to be the same, we don't think, physically. That's not really what he focused on. You know, he focused on they can't make this decision until they hear, from new ownership. And then he did the thing and he did the thing

where he compared, you know, Chey Shang, which he did, you know, a couple of months ago to Duran Payne. He actually messed up. He said,

you know, we didn't pick it up on Duran either. Yes, you did. You picked up the fifth year option on Duran Payne. That's what he was playing under last year. But, you know, kind of using this,

you know, Duran Payne, it was an incentive year for Duran to prove it. And then Duran got paid and what a great job. Duran did. Well, I think it was as much as they weren't planning on keeping Duran Payne until he blew up and had an amazing year, because they knew they couldn't keep all four of them. And a year ago, there was still a decent chance they were going to pick up the fifth year option on Chase Young.

But as it turns out, Duran Payne may be the best of the four are certainly tied for first. And I'm talking about the four first round draft choices on defense. But I don't know. You're right. It's odd, and it would be a major indictment if it's not injury related that you don't pick up. It's a major indictment on him and the organization that took him number two overall. If you don't pick up the fifth year option on the number two overall player in the draft, who turned out in his first year to be the defensive rookie of the year.

And I think there's a lot in play here. There is a lot in play much beyond. the injury here. It'll be interesting because, you know, if they don't pick it up, it makes them look bad too, Galdi. It makes them look bad. Yeah, I mean, the pick already is regrettable just because, you know,

knowing what we know now, you're going to take in, you know, Justin Herbert or, you know, if you want to really say Jalen Hurts, maybe you say him, but like, yeah, but at least you say, all right, if he's playing well, Chase Young, and he's a dominant force, like, okay, we at least got ourselves a really good defensive player. Three NFL seasons, he's only had one good

season suffered an awful injury that ended up being a lot worse than we ever knew. And, you know, he did look pretty good late last season when he came back. So that was encouraging. And I hope like Kecky killed it this coming season. But, yeah, this, again, public uncertainty that's being declared by now both Ron and Martin about the exercising of the fifth-year option. You know, it's hard to ignore not just what they're saying, but like, why are they saying this?

Why are they doing this? Why are they communicating this so publicly? Yeah. All right. Anything else from the presser? There was one thing I thought was interesting. He admitted last year's draft. They had five players that they were targeting.

And, you know, at 11, I mean, I'm pretty sure if Drake London had fallen to 11, they would have taken him. I also think if Charles Cross, the offensive lineman that went to Seattle, or maybe even Garrett Wilson, was still there at 11, they would have taken one of those players. but the other players they had were, he said there were three wide receivers, two offensive linemen. Well, you know, the offensive linemen that had a chance maybe to make it to them cross and maybe Evan Neal, who ended up in New York. And the receivers, I'm pretty sure, were Dotson, obviously, who they picked and they were able to trade back for London and I believe Garrett Wilson was the other. And three of those players went before and then they traded back or four of those players went back. were gone by 11 and they traded back and made a really good deal ultimately. And I think got some good players out of it.

Anything else from today's presser? You know, he talked about the offensive line a little bit. And Fahue did on Monday, too. You know, I think this is huge, right? I mean, I think we all saw. The offensive line was awful last year. And that's a huge part of his offseason is upgrading that thing. It even made you on Monday admitted that he's still not in love with the depth that the team has.

So, you know, it's not necessarily anything that Ron said about it on Tuesday, but just, you know, the idea, like, have they done enough there? Because as we all sort of came to know, quarterback, nothing matters more than that. But the cratering of the offensive line last year was such a big deal and was such a big part of them missing the playoffs. And if they don't get that rectified, you know, it may not matter who's playing quarterback this season. Yeah, he was also asked about the offensive line coach replacing Matsko. and he suggested that they're working through it, but there's a guy on staff that they really like, and that would be Trevelle Wharton,

who's been the assistant offensive line coach and was with Matzko, and a guy who, you know, was with the Panthers as well. All right, I want to ask you just two or three questions on the Nat season. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This final segment of the show, today is brought to you by Windonation. Go to Windonation.com, call them at 86690 Nation. If you need new windows, get them now because Windonation's offering you, first of all, a free estimate,

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Galdi's still with us. The Nats open up on Thursday against the Braves, a season that on paper does not look very encouraging. The over-under-on wins for the Nats, 61 and a half, only the eight. have a lower total at 59 and a half, at least on one of the sites that I'm familiar with, including my bookie, by the way. So what are the chances that they end up exceeding expectations?

Well, it would depend what your expectations are. I mean, they lost a major league worst 107 games last year, so if your expectations are for another 100 lost season, and the team only loses like 97 games, and, you know, that's better than what you thought, and that's a 10-game improvement from last year, but that's obviously still a really bad season. I mean, I think the team is going to be really bad once again.

The starting pitching projects to be really bad, and there, once again, isn't a lot of depth. The offense, I think, is going to really be a problem. I don't know where this team is going to hit homers. Like, beyond Joey Menesis, who had a great two months last season, but, you know, it's far from a short thing. There's no one on this team who profiles as a potential, say, you know, 30 home run hitter.

And that's a real issue because now in Major League Baseball, you've got to hit for power. You've got to hit homers. And that last season didn't hit homers. And this season, at least on paper, don't look like they're going to be hitting homers. But, you know, I think if you're a fan of that, you know, a couple of things that you're thinking about. So, number one, as odd as it may sound, like, just divorce yourself from wins and losses. Like, the season isn't about wins and losses. It really is about the development of young players.

And then that, at least now, do have some promising young players. at the major league level when you look at the catcher, K. Bairt Ruiz and the shortstop, C.J. Abrams and second base, but Louise Garcia and a couple of guys in the rotation, McKenzie Gore and Josiah Gray. There are some younger livers as well. So how those guys do matters. And, you know, if it's DJ Abrams or McKenzie Gore has a really good season,

in a lot of ways, it doesn't matter whether that lose 95 games or 102 games or 110 games. Like, who cares? You know, they're a bad team. But if the young guys are doing well, that's encouraging. The other thing is the Nats farm system now is in better shape. M.O.B. Pipeline last week came out with its ranking of the farm systems. Nats are number 10 after having been in like the bottom fifth of the majors in form system rankings for years. Now, that ranking is due in large part to the one Soto trade, not due to like better drafting and player development. But there are some exciting prospects in the system.

And so it's not like unfathomable that a year from now, two years from now, there's reason for real optimism. of what the Nat. But unfortunately, the reason for optimism is not in place right now. So you pretty much answered what my next question was going to be, but let me add to it. If these young players, if this is a season about C.J. Abrams and Ruiz and McKenzie Gore, then, and they come through and they really show promise, and it's like this is your foundation for a team that can contend. How many years away? way would they be from contending? I would say

two years. So if those guys do well this season, then I think you can start to look at 2025 as like the step forward year. So not just fairly that they're a World Series contender in 25, but they can have that step forward season. You know, not unlike, say, what the Orioles did last year, where you

take a massive leap, your in postseason contention until late in the regular season, that kind of a thing. So I think 2025 would be realistic. You know, the problem, of course, would be if these guys don't do well, then you know you have to sort of re-engineer some things. And, you know, looming over all of this, of course, is the national ownership uncertainty. And the uncertainty with management, you know, Mike Rizzo is going into yet another contract season.

David Martinez is going into yet another contract season. The potential exists for the reset button to be hit again. And if the rebuild isn't going well for both Mike and Davey to be at a job, and then a new GM comes in, maybe with new ownership at some point, and you start the process all over again. So, you know, that possibility is there. But at least right now, you've got some promising young pieces and just got a hope like heck that those guys pan out.

All right. Great job. Really appreciate it, as always. Al Galdi, the Al Galdi podcast, anywhere you get a podcast, at Al Galdi on Twitter. I will talk to you soon. Thanks for doing this. Yeah, no problem.

I enjoyed it. So I'm going to finish up the show. today with just a little bit more Rivera from Phoenix earlier this morning. I'm going to play two sound bites for you, and I'm just going to play them back to back. And let me just be fair here and tell you, they're not the entirety of the sound bites. They were very long answers to questions that dealt with Ron's emphasis today on roster building. There was kind of a theme. It was one of several themes, but one of the themes was we have so little invested in the quarterback position with Sam Hal on a rookie deal and Jacoby Brissette, you know, on a backup quarterback deal that we're

able to focus on building the roster out. And he mentions in both of these answers that I'm going to play for you back to back, the Kansas City Chiefs on two different occasions. So listen to these answers. Again, to be fair, they're not. played in their entirety. They'd be too long to play. But really, the emphasis for me is to comment on him bringing up the Kansas City Chiefs two different times in the press conference today. Here's what he said. Again, the context being, you know, roster building being a focus for them with so little invested in the quarterback position. Well, what we really want to do is we want to look into how Kent City is able to do it. I know there was when Coach Reed,

did one of his interviews, he talked about, you know, guys that have contracts that are friendly and give you the opportunity to continue to build your team. That's something that, you know, we've got to figure out and we're working on. You sit there and you watch what Kansas City did, and you see those things and you think to yourself, wow, we've got to be able to distribute the ball that way, get into her hands quickly, let them be dynamic and explosive. So let me be brief with my thoughts on this real quickly. why I played these two sound bites. So Ron Rivera brings up the Kansas City Chiefs twice. As I mentioned, it was more in the context of emulating the way the chiefs, the Super Bowl champion chiefs, the way

they construct their roster, with the way they do their contracts, et cetera, and then you heard him there at the end, talk about some offensive philosophy distributing the ball, getting it out into their playmakers' hands, et cetera, et cetera. And what occurred to me as I was watching this earlier today, is that he did not mention the name Patrick Mahomes one time. You may think I'm nitpicking here, and if so, that's fine. But I don't know, it would have occurred to me, and I think it should have occurred to him, that as you're sitting there discussing the following the lead or following in the footsteps or following the example of the Kansas City Chiefs, you might say something like, well, of course I get it. Like they have Patrick.

Mahomes and we don't. I mean, we like our guy, Sam, but he's not Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes is one of the all-time greatest already, and that's a big difference. Like, I recognize that the chiefs have had all of this success because of Patrick Mahomes, not as much based on kind of the way they've built their roster or the way they've constructed contracts. And, you know, it's Patrick Mahomes. I mean, at some point, I don't know, I thought maybe he would, you know, acknowledge, what he hadn't mentioned yet, which is there's a big difference between the chiefs and most teams in the league. And the difference is right now the Locke first ballot Hall of Famer, Patrick Mahomes. I mean, I don't think he thinks he's sitting there in front of a group of people with, you know,

hockey helmets and drool cups in front of them. I think, you know, you've got to recognize that everybody's sitting there saying, are you bringing up the chiefs without? bringing up the big difference between the chiefs and what you're trying to do is that they have Mahomes and you don't. All right, I'm done for the day back tomorrow with Tommy.