The Kevin Sheehan Show - The Mitch Trubisky Show

Episode Date: March 1, 2022

Kevin with a ton on the news, rumors, and speculation about Mitch Trubisky's pending free agency. Kevin also on Russell Wilson's comments this morning on The Today Show. Also, Kevin with a strong documentary recommendation. 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 Cheyenne Show. Here's Kevin. Today on the show, Mitchell Trebisky Day. We're going to talk a lot about Mitch Trubisky on the show today. There's just been a lot of discussion, reporting, rumoring, reckless speculation,

and who knows if there's any substance attached to any of this. But what we do know is that this team has some ties to Mitchell Trubisky, and has been in the discussion as far as Mitchell Tribesky goes in the past. Today is the Mitchell Tribusky show. Ultimately, I will tell you exactly what I think they will do and what I would like them to do. I start by doing something I promised to do on the last show and I never got to, and that is reading some of the very nice reviews some of you have written on Apple, as I've mentioned many times and as I've requested many times, it's really helpful if you have the time and it takes like 30 to 60 seconds to rate us and review us on Apple.

These are very important things for us right now on the sales side. But this from Team Money Smooth, hey Kevin, just to let you know, we are Baltimore area people, Ravens Orioles and Terps fans, but I'm a longtime sports fix fan. And now my 11-year daughter is a huge fan of the podcast. Episodes with Tom are the best, but we love hearing Terp Talk and the never-ending Washington football discussion as well. Bring back the sports fix on Sports Talk 980. If possible, please read the review on my podcast. My daughter will freak team money.

Thank you. And that's really nice to know that your 11-year-old daughter enjoys. the podcast. Thank you so much. This from Swanay 426, I started listening to Kevin on the radio as a Michigan State fan following Kirk Cousins. Even after Kirk left, I kept listening to Kevin for his takes on the NFL and the Washington drama that seems to never end.

Even if you don't like anything, Washington, Kevin's a great least. Listen, thank you for that. From G.C. Falcon Hoya, Hall of Fame worthy is the title of this review. There is reason why the D.C. Sports Podcast Association rank them number one. Kevin and Tom are simply the best as a lifelong D.C. resident now living in Connecticut, listening to the show every day reminds me of home and helps me never forget the daily pain and struggle we go through as fans of the dump freeze commanders.

Misery Loves Company also. Kevin Fix the Crest. so we owe him. Thank you for that. I don't know if I fixed the crest. But I certainly brought it to their attention, among many other people. Keep writing those reviews. They're very nice. From Chris St. Mary's. I'm a regular listener. Best podcast for D.C. Sports by far. Laugh out loud when listening to Kevin and his interactions with Tom and Cooley. I think Cooley will be on the show this week. I've given him the assignment. I've given him two assignments, actually.

I want him to do a film breakdown of Malik Willis. And I really want him to delve into Mitch Trubisky deeper. I'm just starting to think that Mitch Trubisky is a possibility. We'll get to that here momentarily. But thank you for the reviews and the five-star ratings. There are a couple that aren't great, but most of them are exceptional. And it's a big help, as I've mentioned to you, many times. These are the things that actually advertisers are looking for. They're looking for the

combination of the number of people listening and what those people think in kind of expressing their loyalty to the show, and that's reflected in these ratings and reviews, especially on Apple. 90% of podcast listens are on Apple, and we're running somewhere in that general area as well. I know many of you listen on Spotify and Stitcher, and many of you listen through the website, the Kevin Sheeonshow.com. I know because I see those numbers as well. But anyway, thanks. Okay.

I'm going to do a lot on Mitchell Tribusky today on the show. Why? Well, there were reports. There were rumors. There was reckless speculation. There's just a lot of stuff around Mitchell Trubisky and some of it dealing with our Washington team. I will get to that in a moment. But there are just three quick stories that I wanted to mention that have kind of

have broken here recently as I'm getting the podcast recorded here. Number one is Chris Ballard, the general manager of the Colts, essentially said the criticism of Carson Wentz, is fair and that he needs to grow up. That's paraphrasing, but not, you know, a ringing endorsement for anybody that wants to trade with the Colts for Carson Wentz. Surprising. It really looks and appears as if the Colts really want to move on from Carson Wentz. Wentz, and there are way, way too many red flags around Carson Wentz to deal for him.

Way too many. Absolutely no from me on Carson Wentz. Would it be an upgrade over what they have? Maybe. But there's something not right there with Carson Wentz. This is now two teams that have essentially said, we don't like the guy, period. Number two, Jimmy Garoppolo is having shoulder surgery and will not be. available to start practicing or playing until the summer, but the 49ers apparently are still

going to trade him. I would just tell you, I think I've said this before, I'm sure he'll get traded. That's fine. But if there are odds, like long shot odds on him staying with San Francisco, I'd put a couple of bucks on it, just for grins. Because I know that they like him. I think that they're not entirely sure about Trey Lance yet. And he's under contract. And what are they really going to get for Garoppolo? I mean, they're not getting a first round pick, I don't think. Even though Jay Gruden thought they could get first round picks plural when he was on with me recently. I think that is Jay not really paying attention right now to the market, but he could be right as well if there became like a bidding war, but I don't see multiple firsts. I see Garoppolo being a second and like a

conditional, something like that. The other quick thing that broke as we started to record this podcast is Washington announced some coaching changes to their staff. They promoted offensive quality control coach Todd Storm to assistant tight ends coach. They promoted coaching intern Christian Garcia to defensive quality control coach. And then they promoted Luke Del Rio, Jack Del Rio's son. They promoted him from offensive quality control coach to assistant quarterback's coach and offensive quality control.

And they promoted Vincent Rivera, Ron Rivera. son to assistant linebackers coach in defensive quality control from a defensive quality control coach. Okay? So there you go. The sons of the defensive coordinator and the head coach getting promotions. All right. Why do I want to talk about Mitch Trubisky? Well, let's start with this report from Jordan Schultz. This came out last night. Jordan Schultz was, and I don't know who he's with now, to be honest with you, but he's been with Yahoo and S.I. and various people over the years. My producer, Brendan, says he's a credible reporter when it comes to the NFL and the NBA. He tweeted out the following last night, Mitch Trubisky drawing lots of free agent buzz.

Several teams, including the commanders, Steelers, and Saints are all interested in the former number two pick sources say. Trubisky is still 27. Bill's love. loved having him, and several execs told me that Mitch is viewed as a starting QB right now. When I read that very early this morning as I was getting ready for my radio show, I had a couple of thoughts. Number one, it is not surprising to me, and we've talked about this for a while now, that, you know, signing Mitch Trubisky may be a competition. that you may be in competition with other teams.

By the way, I'm not promoting the signing of Mitch Trubisky. At this point, you'll hear my definitive opinion on what I think they will do and what I think they should do coming up here shortly. But I do think there's been enough smoke around Trubisky and Washington going back to last offseason, you know, before the trade deadline. John Kheim, in writing about Washington's quarterback situation this morning, also talked about some of the ties that Washington has with Trubisky. New tight ends coach Juan Castillo was with Trubisky for a season in Chicago.

Rivera, John reminds everyone that Rivera is super tight, obviously, with his former defensive coordinator, Sean McDermott, who's the head coach of the Bills, along with general manager Brandon Bean. And they can provide some good insight on Trubisky's development after his one season in Buffalo, and Charles Leno Jr., Washington's starting left tackle, played with Trubisky in Chicago. So there are some ties here, and there obviously with some discussion last off season. It is interesting to just consider that if they really, really liked Mitch Trubisky, why didn't they sign him last off season?

He signed a one-year deal with Buffalo to be a backup with a $2.5 million base salary. There wasn't a lot of interest in Mitch Trubisky last year. Washington essentially chose Ryan Fitzpatrick over Mitchell Tribesky. So I think there are some ties there, and I think there's a lot of smoke in that they like him. I found, I didn't find this. Let me give the right person credit for this. My producer, Brendan, on the radio show, found this story, which I read this morning on the radio show. We know that there's been some interest in Mitchell Trubisky.

Again, the disconnect here is, well, why didn't they sign him last year when he was super, cheap, you know, and you could have gotten them for nothing with no competition, et cetera. And they went with Ryan Fitzpatrick instead. Back in 2017, when Mitchell Tribusky was a rookie, they played Carolina. And Ron Rivera said this about Mitch Trubisky when he was coaching the Panthers. This is a story from NBC Sports Chicago. Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera saw a lot of Mitchell Trubisky last year with the North Carolina quarterback on TV quite a bit in the Charlotte area. The Panthers are set with Cam Newton.

They weren't in the market for a quarterback in the 2017 NFL draft, but Trubisky nonetheless stood out to the seventh-year Carolina coach and former Super Bowl winning Bears linebacker, that being Ron Rivera. For Rivera, more than Trubisky's arm strength or athleticism, what jumped off the screen to him was, quote, Rivera saying, leadership. When you watch him when he's playing, I love watching guys that either get on their teammates,

when they're not doing it, or they take accountability when they make a mistake. And you saw that with him. We think the young man has got what it takes. We like who he's going to become. We do. We think the future can be bright for him. We are big fans here. Closed quote.

That was back in 2017. Good job Brendan Dar, my radio producer, finding those quotes from Ron Rivera. I don't think I've read them before or heard them read before. you know, that is Ron Rivera speaking very highly of Mitch Trubisky, and again, he did play at North Carolina. And, you know, you always have a little bit more, you're a little bit more clued in to the local college football players sometimes in the, you know, that are close to the, you know, NFL market that you're coaching. You know, Maryland players are sometimes seen more often and talked about more often when you're right there essentially in the same market with them. So Jordan Schultz put that out, and I read it, and I thought two things. Number one, there's going to be competition for them.

We've talked about the possibility that this was going to happen. Lots of teams need a quarterback, maybe more teams than last year or the year before. Some teams super desperate and think that if they can get a guy that can play that has started before, that, you know, has some mobility. Like, think about Pittsburgh. Mike Tomlin's talked about mobility. Ron Rivera talked about mobility. Mitch Trubisky's pretty damn mobile.

So is Marcus Marriota in terms of, you know, those other tier quarterbacks. But Mitch Trubisky, there's going to be competition for him. Again, I think we've, you know, I'm beating a dead horse here because I've thrown this out a couple of times over the last couple of weeks. But he may not choose here. I'm not suggesting that I'd be devastated if he didn't. But he's going to have choices. more likely than not. And that leads me to this second point.

And this is what came up as I was getting ready for the radio show in my own mind. I started thinking about, well, if he's got choices, he certainly wouldn't choose a place that is going to draft a quarterback in the first round.

Like he's going to go to a place where they are committed to him. First of all, a one-year deal for six million bucks? Probably not. To get Mitch Trubisky, you may have to commit to some sort of three-year, $36 million deal, 24 of it guaranteed. I don't know. I have no idea what kind of deal he's going to get. But if he's going to start, he's going to get a starter's deal. And it's going to be a deal that gives him some ability to make it happen in the place he is and some stability in terms of where he's going to be and contractually.

Like I don't think we're in, you know, the Mitch Trubisky possibility in terms of acquiring him. If we're thinking one year, six million bucks or two years, 12 million with six of it guaranteed. I don't think that's it. And then if he's got choices, the contract will drive part of that decision. And why is he going to go somewhere where they're going to draft a quarter? quarterback at number 11 overall. So I started to think, you know, all of the conversation about the other tiered quarterbacks, Mitch Trubisky, Marcus Marriota, Andy Dalton, James Winston, you know, whoever else you want to put into that conversation. The tier that you might seem, that you might

believe to be just below Jimmy Garoppolo, I'd throw Garoppolo into the mix of all that. The big difference is you got to trade for Garoppel. You know, Mitch Trubisky, you don't have to give up any compensation for. You don't have to give up any compensation for Marcus Mariotta or Andy Dalton or James Winston. But I just was wondering, like, if they signed Mitch Trubisky hasn't been the, I mean, the thought for me hasn't, haven't most of you been thinking all along that if they go that route, if they have to go that route, because they don't land on, you know, Wilson or Watson.

I mean, Rogers is out of the equation now. You know, Diana Rusini basically told us on the radio show on Friday that Rogers wouldn't come here. So we're talking about Wilson and Watson. By the way, there was something said about Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson said something about Russell Wilson, which I will play for you next segment. But the bottom line is there's going to be competition for Mitch Trubisky. Even if it's just a moderate level of competition, he's going to have choices. So he's going to take, you know, he's not taking a one-year deal. And he's not going to go somewhere more likely than not where they're going to draft a quarterback. Well, I don't want them to sign Mitchell Trubisky and then

not draft a quarterback. I don't want them to draft a quarterback if they hate all the quarterbacks. Let me put, let me throw that into the mix here. If they evaluate all the quarterbacks and they're like, we don't like any of them, none of them are guys that we would take in the top two rounds. So I don't want them to reach for somebody they can't stand. But let's just say they really like Malik Willis's upside and think that he has a massive ceiling. I don't want them to pass on that at 11, or even pass on the possibility of trading up a few spots to get them, just because they've signed Mitchell Tribisky. But what I'm suggesting here is, if Washington's one of those teams sniffing around on Tribisky, and it makes sense, then maybe they're sniffing around on Trubisky because they believe Trubisky is the answer. They believe Trubisky is the guy that at 27 years old can be their quarterback for the next five to ten years.

So there was another tweet that my producer Brendan made me aware of. It came from Chad Ryan. Chad covers the team from Australia, covers the commanders from Australia. I don't know that I've, I don't think we've ever had Chad on the show. I'm not super familiar with Chad. If Chad's listening to the podcast, probably isn't, but I don't mean that in a disrespectful way. I think I've seen his name before,

but I guess there's lots of Washington football team people out there, you know, blogging about the team, tweeting about the team. But Brendan told me that he's doing a really good job covering the team and he's gotten some things right. He tweeted out the following. For what it's worth, my understanding is that the Marties, as in Mayhew and Herney, are only interested in a first-round QB if they don't bring in a starting QB via free agency or trade. If they sign a Marriota or Tribusky-type QB, they will not be using Pick 11 on a QB.

That's what I was just saying. That occurred to me this morning after reading the Jordan Schultz thing. Like, okay, Trubisky all of a sudden might be the hot quarterback free agent. after, you know, Garoppolo gets traded and Watson, you know, stays in Seattle, or Watson stays in Houston or Wilson stays in Seattle and Rogers gets traded to Denver, whatever. And, you know, you're not going to sign him without paying him and then probably committing to him that you're not taking a quarterback to replace him. Why would he come here if you're going to draft a quarterback at 11? Okay. A couple things.

Number one. Jay Gruden told us on the podcast, remember last week, that he thinks Mitchell Trubisky, he's not very high on Mitchell Trubisky, that he'd have to earn the starting job in a competition with Taylor Heineke. I disagree with Jay, I think, but Jay knows quarterbacking much more than I.

But I think Mitchell Trubisky is an upgrade over Taylor Heineke. I do. And I think if they presented it or posed it as a competition and they just signed him to a two-year or a three-year deal, Mitchell Trubisky is going to be your starting quarterback next year. I wanted to point that out. Just a reminder that Jay's not super high on Trubisky. And, you know, by the way, why is everybody all of a sudden high on Trubisky? Well, he's out of sight, out of mind. And all of a sudden it's like, wait a minute, there's this guy that sat behind you.

Josh Allen. Remember him? He was 11 and 3 in 2018. Had some big games got hurt, you know, and his performance tailed off, but he really proved in that one year that he was a big time starter. And now all of a sudden, everybody's blaming Matt Nagy for why it didn't work out in Chicago. But the people in Buffalo love them. Execs around the league are talking about him as a starter. Somebody tweeted this to me, and I can't find it right now. I'm not going to look for it right now, but I'm going to paraphrase it. They said, you know, the Trubisky phenomena right now is similar to what Tommy used to say about John Beck. And that is the worst thing that ever happened to John Beck is John Beck. John Beck got a chance to play.

Like John Beck was like this mystery, oh my God, John Beck, I mean, until he played. And, you know, he basically soiled himself in the games that he played in. Now, not apples to apples, because obviously Tribisky has played and has started and has had some success. But he hasn't played in a year, and it's kind of like out of sight, out of mind. It's like, haven't heard from him in a while and he got to sit behind Josh Allen and he wasn't that bad. You start to forget. So there's probably going to be a market for Mitch Trubisky. He's going to have some choices.

It's possible that if Washington goes down that path because they strike out on Rogers, Wilson, and Watson, which I think more likely than not will happen, although we're going to talk about Russell Wilson here momentarily, then Washington's probably going to be in the Mitchell-Tribisky sweepstakes, if you want to call it that. Seems kind of like we're inflating the prize of winning Mitch Trubisky, but there's going to be some competition. And that just brings into play the possibility that if they go down that route, they're not going to draft a quarterback. So I would net the whole thing out by saying, number one, I am not in favor of Washington signing Mitch Trubisky as the guy for the foreseeable future. Like a guy they believe can lead them to a sustained run of playoff appearances and

contention. Because I don't believe Mitch Trubisky is that guy. I do, however, think Mitch Trubisky has a, you know, perhaps a ceiling that he has not come close to yet. And I think he is 100% an upgrade over what they have. but I'd only be interested in Mitchell Tribisky if they're also, if they're interested and if they seem to like a quarterback

with big ceiling, you know, a big ceiling like a Malik Willis if they draft Malik Willis simultaneously. I don't care about, you know, competition or fans wanting the rookie to play if things aren't going well. I don't care about any of that. I want high-ceiling guys, more than one potentially, especially if they've got really, really low floors.

Mitchell Tribesky to me is a guy that if everything's great around him and you've got the right offensive coordinator that's going to leverage, by the way, his athleticism, and I do consider him to be a very athletic quarterback, not Lamar Jackson, all right, not, you know, not Kyler Murray, but he's a very high-end mobile athletic. quarterback. I also think he can make every throw, but I also think he's inaccurate, and I've pointed this out, this example I've given many times. I was out on Mitch Trubisky the day on fourth and three in New Orleans in a playoff game. He ran out of bounds two yards short of the

sticks on a big drive in New Orleans territory in a one-score game in the playoffs. Just one of those plays that just stuck with me. Like there he is, six to two, 225 pounds. mobile as hell, fast, and here comes the New Orleans defense on fourth and three or whatever it was, and he runs out of bounds two yards short. Doesn't even give it a chance. Taping out, get their ball at the 40-yard liner wherever it was. I don't want that. But I'll also say that I think Mitch Trubisky at times played at a fairly high level in Chicago in 2018. You go back and look at that stretch of games where he played really well, throwing for 300, a dual threat quarterback as a scrambler, as a zone read guy.

And if you, you know, if you've got a decent team around them, it'd be a, it'd certainly be a better offensive team than it was last year or the year before. I just don't know what the upside is. Ten wins, you know, a wild card once out of every three or four years, if he were to be here for four or five years. Again, let me just go back to it. If they sign them, you may be getting a team that believes that they're signing him to be the guy, not just one of the guys that hopefully emerges along with a rookie.

So I don't want them to sign Mitchell Tribusky without also, if there is a guy that they like enough, taking a chance on a guy in the top 40 picks in the draft. First round, 11 overall, preferably, Malik Willis, preferably. But if it ends up being Desmond Ritter in the second round, so be it. I want somebody with upside who we're not familiar with in terms of what his NFL upside is that gives some semblance of, all right, you got a guy that might be able to do it somewhere down the road or maybe right away. Who knows when you get him in there?

You might get Malik Willis in there. I'm telling you, after watching all that Malik Willis tape from a couple of weeks ago, I'd be surprised if he gets to 11, and I'd be surprised if he's not playing for a team next year. Like playing in games as a starter. But what do I think they'll do? So Mitch Trubisky, if that's what it is, only if they end up drafting a quarterback. Again, assuming that they really like somebody. Not just Mitch Trubisky, not in favor of that.

Number two, like a Mitch Trubisky-Taylor-Hineke combo next year? No. that doesn't do anything for me. I just don't think you're going to be a very good team. I think you'll be better offensively with Trubisky in there, and I think you've got a chance to be a competitive team, but you're not competing for anything of significance with him as the quarterback. What do I think they're going to do?

I think they're going to keep swinging big on whoever is legitimately available, and I think they're going to strike out, and I think they're going to end up signing Mitchell Trubisky. and I'm now worried that that's going to be it. And then they're going to say, we've got other needs. We are going to draft Nikobe Dean at number 11 overall. By the way, Kuiper in his latest mock draft this morning has Washington taking Kenny Pickett at 11.

Small hands picket. Apparently his hands are like 8.5 inches. It would be the smallest hands ever at the Indy Combine. We'll find out for sure if they measure his hands over the next couple of days. I don't know if they will do that or not. Anyway, that was the Mitch Trubisky a discussion. There was one other tweet real quickly. This came from at NFL draft scout, you know, as we're on the verge. Well, Indy has now started, the combine started. I've talked to more NFL teams this week about Mitchell Trubisky than any of the 2022 quarterback class. I think that says a lot.

Lots of Mitch Trubisky discussion. Lots of Mitch Trubisky interest. There are some Mitch Trubisky ties here. By the way, I would point out, too, I believe that Cole Holcomb and Mitch Trubisky may have played together at North Carolina. I don't think Diami Brown was a teammate of Trubisky. I don't think so, although maybe he was. Drafted in 21, Diami Brown.

Nah, he couldn't have been, right? Anyway, that's it on Mitch Trubisky. Russell Wilson said something this morning to a very familiar Today Show host, I think he is. You're going to hear that when we come back, all right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This segment of the podcast presented by MyBooky marches here, and the madness is officially begun. It's time to shoot your shot and score big on the nonstop action with MyBooky. Predict winners in each round of the MyBooky bracket contest for a chance to win. listen, a Bitcoin, a doodle NFT currently valued at over $50,000 and over $100,000 more in cash prizes.

Whether you're filling out multiple brackets, betting the national championship winner, or simply looking for player in game props, My Bookie has you covered for March. Sign up today with MyBooky and use my promo code, Kevin D.C., to make your first deposit. If there's something already written in the promo code section when you sign up, erase it and write Kevin D.C. You'll earn a free entry into the My Bracket contest. Selections for the bracket will officially begin on March 13th and close March 17th at 12 noon. So make sure you get your deposit in now using my promo code Kevin D.C. to secure that free entry. Bet anything anytime anywhere with my bookie, go to mybooky.com or mybooky.orgie.orgie. Craig Melvin, who is a part of the Today Show,

had Russell Wilson and his wife, Sierra, on the show today. It was the third hour of the Today Show. Craig Melvin made it clear that he was a Washington Commanders fan and listened to him asking about the possibility of Russell Wilson coming to the East Coast. Would you ever perhaps consider moving east and playing for a team? I love the East Coast, but I think the West Coast is better for me right now. I got my whole family over here. So, you know, I'm from Richmond.

I know what you mean. I got people hitting me up every day, but all my friends and all that from East Coast. But Seattle is the place that I'm at right now, and I love it. And it's great. Yeah, that was a diplomatic answer from Russell Wilson. He said and handled the question the right way. I know, as I told you two to three weeks ago, whenever it was, that Washington would be on his list if he were to put out a list of teams that he wouldn't mind being traded to this offseason,

where Washington was not on the list last year. I think, you know, of the Rogers-Wilson-Watson group, in order I would put the odds on Watson being traded the highest, although there's so much unknown about that, followed by Wilson followed by Rogers. I still don't think that the odds are like better than 50-50. I think there's like maybe a one-and-four shot that Wilson could get traded. but I think those odds are higher than Roger is getting traded, but not as high as Watson getting traded.

Anyway, the bottom line is the reason I think there's a 75% chance he won't get traded is probably the same reason any football fan would think that there's a 75% chance he's not going to get traded. And that is, who are you going to play quarterback? Why would you bring Pete Carroll and that whole staff back to trade Russell Wilson and start a rebuild? Like it doesn't make any sense. Seattle played pretty well at the end of last year. We've documented their last two games. They scored like 90 points in aggregate, something like that.

Russell Wilson played well. They had Rashad Penny ran very well, and they started to play well. Why would you trade Russell Wilson if you have Russell Wilson and you're bringing back the coaching staff to try to win again? Like if you're rebuilding, Pete Carroll would have been gone. I don't think he's going to get traded. I just think there's a better chance he would get traded than Aaron Rogers. And I think if he were to get traded, I don't think Washington would be off his list,

but there are teams that are in better position to trade Seattle or offer Seattle a much better deal in the division alone, Philadelphia, three first rounders and Jalen Hertz, the Giants, two early first rounders and Daniel Jones. We don't have a quarterback that we can send back, and we've only got number 11 overall. And then, you know, that's if Seattle wanted to trade him to the NFC. Anyway, I wanted you to hear that exchange with Craig Melvin this morning on the today's show. Different subject. Did you see the story yesterday about the five teams that will be playing the international

games next year when the NFL schedule comes out? There will be five international games, one in Mexico City, one in Germany, I think in Munich, and then three in the UK. I think all three of those will be actually in London. And they announced five teams that will be playing in those games. Now, there was some reporting. I think J.P. Finley reported, and I could be wrong, it may have been somebody else, but I think J.P. Finley reported or somebody mentioned J.P. reported that Washington was going to play one of their games abroad next year.

I also heard that there was a chance, good chance they would be playing one of their games abroad, and that maybe they would play a game in Germany. Well, these five teams are the Arizona Cardinals, the Green Bay Packers, the New Orleans Saints, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. These are five of the ten teams that will be playing. Now, it's assumed that the five teams that were put out there are going to be the five teams that are giving up home games to play. abroad next year. Now, I haven't seen that confirmed, but if that's true, well, Washington does not

have a road game against any of those five teams, which would mean they're not playing in Europe next year. Now, if these are just five teams and they aren't necessarily giving up home games, they're just five teams committed to playing abroad next year, then the only possibilities would be Green Bay and Jacksonville. Washington has Green Bay and Jacksonville. Washington has Green Bay and Jacksonville, on their home schedule next year. So if Washington's playing in Europe next year or abroad next year, Mexico City, Germany, or any of the three games in London, then they would be giving up a home game to do it

against either the Packers or the Jags. I think it makes sense for Washington to play a game in Europe or play a game abroad and to give up a home game to do it. They're essentially the Jacksonville Jaguars in terms of their home attendance. probably less than Jacksonville. But anyway, I didn't know if you saw that story. Also, did you see where Detroit, Green Bay, and Washington are the three finalists for the 2024 NFL draft?

Would Washington be a good NFL draft city? Well, we're two years, you know, a little bit more than two years away from that. I don't know what the state of the organization will be. If they're playing games in Dumfries, it really doesn't matter where you host it. you'd get a big crowd. You could put it in Washington. You could put it in April with some beautiful, you know, scenery, some beautiful shots.

It would be post-cherry blossom time at the end of April, first part of May. But, you know, the fact that the team may or may not be good, I don't really think has anything to do with whether or not the NFL would consider it, the NFL would want a great turnout and a great venue. I think they're actually for the NFL draft. given how transient the city is and how many fans of other teams there are now in this city, it actually might be a good place for it.

Lastly, did you see Michael Phillips story that the new stadium in Dumfries, Sterling, or Woodbridge, will have a roof on it? I don't have any problem with that. All these new stadiums have roofs. I prefer outdoor stadiums. I love the possibility in the north, you know, in the colder cities, although if they're playing in Dumfries, they're almost in the southeast at that point.

Sarcasm. But I love the possibility of cold weather games in the northeast and the Midwestern cities that have outdoor stadiums. The NFL loves bad weather cold games, snow games. They love them. They rate very high, by the way, when there's a snow game, regardless of who's playing in it.

But I would imagine that almost every new stadium is going to have a roof. You know, what are the last few? So-fi. Minneapolis, am I forgetting one? And if it's Washington, they will, of course, according to Michael Phillips, they'll end up having a roof on top of it. I don't have any problem with it, really, at this point.

To be honest with you, I don't care that much. I do have two things to finish up the show with. One of them has to do with the new stadium. It's sort of a reminder. And the other is a recommendation, I think maybe for the second time, but maybe even a stronger recommendation. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

All right, two things to finish up the show with, then we'll get out of here. Number one is last week we were having the conversation. Tommy and I were about, you know, Sterling and Dumfries and Woodbridge, the new Virginia stadium site finalists. Neil and Rockville, you know, one of our several legal contributors, Howard Gutman's one of them. Neil and Rockville's another.

Neil sent me this text, and he said, just so you know, he said, and I think I did know this, but he said, just so you know, Dan owns the 200 acres that FedEx Field sits on. He's also the lease holder. He wouldn't need all the infrastructure on the FedEx Field site, the FedEx Site and Landover. It's mostly there. It's not a traditional lease because it was a guarantee that the team would play there until 2027. which was a promise made or a commitment made with the state and county in exchange for some infrastructure dollars in zoning. There's nothing kicking them off his own land in 2027. Yes, I'm pretty sure we did know that, but I do appreciate the reminder because all of the Virginia talk and all of the urgent talk about got to break ground within the next year, if you're going to get this thing done by 2027, the bottom line is he doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't. doesn't need to be anywhere by 2027. They want to be somewhere by 2027. And then they would,

you know, if they built the stadium out in Virginia, they would just sell all that land in Landover at the FedEx Field site. But they don't have to move. They don't have to build a new stadium. They could keep that stadium. They just had a commitment to play there through 2027. He owns the land. He can lease it at the stadium back to himself, you know, or have a lease through it back to himself to play, continue to play there. He can build something else on that site. There's enough land to build another stadium while the other one still continues to house the team for the next five years. I think it's going to get done somewhere else. Obviously the preference would be D.C., but it's a good reminder that there's really,

the urgency is sort of faux urgency. He doesn't need to go anywhere. He owns the land. He you know, doesn't need to do anything other than play in that stadium through the 2027 season. Now to open up somewhere else for the 2028 season, they probably have to break ground in the next year. All right. Last thing, I've mentioned this before, but I'm going to mention it with even more emphasis. There is a show airing right now, a documentary airing right now on the ACC network titled The Tournament, a history of ACC men's basketball. It is produced by Jonathan Hawk and John Dahl.

They are executive, they are Emmy Award producers. It's also directed by Larry Weitzman, a four-time Emmy Award winner. If you are an ACC basketball fan from way back like I am, I mean, this is part of my sports rooting DNA, just like the Washington Redskins are. This is must watch. It is so well done. I am through the first five episodes.

The first two are very much about the early days in the formation of the ACC and the creation of the ACC tournament by guys like Everett Case and some of the 60s stuff that I don't have any recollection of. It's very well done, and it's a cool history lesson about ACC basketball. But for me, it really starts in episode four, which is when I started to remember ACC basketball. And episode four really focuses in on what was the rivalry of the ACC back then. It wasn't Duke, North Carolina. It was Maryland and NC State. and they had an epic, intense rivalry, which culminated. It didn't really culminate because it continued for a few years afterwards.

But it certainly crescendoed, if you will, with the famous 1974 ACCC tournament final in Greensboro. Arguably, the greatest college basketball game ever played. I know there have been more games recently, and in recent years, hell, that Gonzaggy, UCLA National Semi-Final last year, year was off the charts great. But, you know, Duke Kentucky, obviously in the Elite 8 back at the spectrum in 1992 is considered one of the greatest games ever played. But this one was, too. And this was a game changer for college basketball in the NCAA tournament. But it is such a great documentary. These episodes are so incredible. This one in particular, if you're a Maryland fan,

but I think if you're an ACC basketball fan of a certain age, you remember all of this. and it was so great. Lefty is phenomenal in this. John Lucas, Mo Howard, Tom McMillan, Lenell, Elmore, Monty Tal, Tom Burleson. These games that Maryland and NC State played over a few years were so high level. They were two of the three best teams in America, UCLA being the other. Larry Weitzman, the director of this, said about this documentary. Quote, while diving into ACC history, one of the things that was so fascinating was how much of a family story it is. The players and coaches all know each other intimately. The intensity of the competition feels like a sibling rivalry. All we had to do was sit down with the wonderful characters who have created ACC lore, and the stories and the passion just poured out. The challenge wasn't finding enough fascinating material. The struggle was which, amazing stories we would have to leave out, closed quote. It really is that those quotes really hit

me because I've said this a lot about the NFC East over the years, that Philadelphia, Washington, Dallas, and the Giants, and their fan bases were kind of like family in many ways. There's a real connection there, especially among the longtime fans. It's the same with ACC Baxter, Baxter, I could sit there with, you know, a guy my age that was a Carolina fan or an NC State fan or a UVA fan or a Duke fan and sit there and tell stories about the games and the characters and the tournaments forever, for hours. It was the premier basketball league in the country and the ACC tournament was really unique in sports. You know, for a while, the ACC tournament was one of the toughest tickets in sports period. And the pressure associated with only the winner would go to the NCAA tournament until and through the 1974 tournament made it truly incredible. But I have really enjoyed it so far.

Episodes 4 and 5 include a lot on Maryland's team, obviously in the 70s. And then the team that Lefty won the ACC tournament with the 84 tournament. led by Len Baez and Adrian Branch and Keith Gatlin and Ben Coleman and Herman Veal and Jeff Adkins. That's a great story because it's Shoshowski and his first ACC final against Lefty after failing five times in five ACC finals. Lefty lost his first five ACC tournament finals. All of them were, you know, the first one was by two points. The second one was by three in overtime.

The third one was by a point. The fourth one was by a point. I think the other one was by two points. I mean, it was amazing. Like, it just was an incredible run of just tough, soul-crushing losses. But this is first-rate sports documentary. It's so, so well done. I think if you're a college basketball fan of a certain age, you'll enjoy it.

But if you're an ACC fan, this is must-watch. All right, we're done for the day. Back tomorrow.