The Kevin Sheehan Show - Wentz Predictions

Episode Date: December 29, 2022

Kevin and Thom today on what they expect from Carson Wentz against the Browns on Sunday and beyond. Lots on Heinicke, Derrick Carr, and Thom's prediction on Sunday's game.  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. I'm here. Tommy is here today. Apologies for getting the show out later yesterday.

We'll get the show out a little bit earlier today. I did want to wait for Ron Rivera-Carsson Wentz and Taylor Heineckee to speak yesterday to include that into the show. And then we had some difficulty with some mic issues in getting the show. out. So we are all set today and we're back on our somewhat normal schedule. And Tommy, by the way, is here for just a few more days before he makes his annual January trek down to Florida, down to Destin, Florida. And so this will be a drive down there, right? Do you have some of those, you know, side trips planned out, you know, museums, monuments, etc. No. Last year, that was unusual on the way back from Destin. We conducted Levero Southern Soul Tour through Muscle Shoals and Memphis and Nashville and Louisville, which was a great trip. And I'll have to show you sometime because for my birthday, my wife put together a photo book. You know, you can have these photo books made now. You send away your photos and they actually make a book.

Yeah, right. Of the trip. I'll have to bring it in a show it to you sometime because it's really cool. So you're not planning anything this time. No. This is just, we drive to Chattanooga, stay overnight, and then we're, I'm usually a pompano Joe's overlooking the golf by 2 o'clock the next on the year's day. And why not another, you know, side trip somewhere, either going down or coming back? Well, my wife is not a big fan of the road trip.

She wants to just get there. Does she give you a hard time for driving instead of flying? No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. We want our car down there. Okay. And we don't mind the drive.

And she was a good sport last year. It was like a baseball road trip. We went to four different cities. Right. You know? And we've got a road trip planned for this coming year, but as a separate standalone of the California Pacific Coast Highway.

Oh, well, that's a beauty. That is a beauty. I've never done that. Yeah, you guys will enjoy that. How long, so from, I'm going to guess from your home and Frederick to Chattanooga is seven hours. Nine hours. Nine hours there. Okay, now I make it to Nashville in like seven and a half.

So I guess I'm just flying or maybe Chattanooga's further away. I don't know. And then... Look, and I've seen the way you drive. You're lucky you have a license. Do you still have a license, by the way? I do have a license. And then, so then it's another, what, six or seven hours to Destin from there?

Six hours. Okay. Six hours to death. People don't realize how far west it is. We're in the central time zone when I'm down there. Well, you're in the panhandle. Yeah. It's pretty far west.

Where does that... Florida is such an enormous state. Did you just figure... that out? Well, I don't think most people realize. I went to school in Florida. I know it was in a former state. It's kind of. He went to school in Miami. Right. But if you drove for Wear all the way to Key West, that's like 11, 12 hours. Oh, yeah. Well, you've got. In the same state. You got to get on that Route 10 and take it all the way through, you know, Tallahassee, the state capital. And, you know, and then, you know, it's a long way. Look, I think I've mentioned this to you before, but my

best friend or one of my best friends growing up was, went to Villanova, went into the Marine Corps as an officer, went to flight school and was in Pensacola for a few years. So several of us made several trips down to Pensacola to visit him. Now, the best part, Pensacola was actually a lot of fun. But the best part about being in Pensacola is you were just a few hours away from New Orleans. So you would just get on Route 10 and take that, you know, through the state of Mississippi into New Orleans. So we were always, for whatever reason, I think we went to Marty Graw. I've only been to Marty Grawl once.

I passed on the other trip that a lot of my friends went to. And by the way, the trip that I went to, I'll never forget being at Marty Graw. And being, I was so sick, Tommy. I had fever, strep throat, bronchitis, the whole thing. But it was Marty Gron, New Orleans. And, you know, my friend group was like, you know, man up. You know, you're going to be fine. Just, you know, keep drinking and everything will be fine.

I guess, you know, at 20 years old or 21 years old, you're just fortunate to have, to be able to bounce through things like that. But I love that. I love that West Coast panhandle of Florida. It's a great spot. And your spot, and Destin is very pretty. And it's probably what? An hour away from Pensacola?

Something like that? Yeah, about an hour away. Yeah. An hour away from Panama Beach and an hour away from Pensacola. And we spent a day at Pensacola last year, took in the sites there. And it's a nice town. I think I told you this. There was this bar that my buddy in all of his,

Marine buddies, you know, hung out at. And so whenever we were down there, this is where we always went. And I'll never forget the bar. It was called flounders. And it was, I mean, it was a lot of fun. And we had several, several nights there that were fun. But that's about the only place in Pensacola that I could name was flounders. I have no idea if it's still there. If anybody knows anything about Pensacola, tell me if flounders is still there. But I wanted to, I thought I told you when you were there, last year, maybe the year before, to go there. Do you remember me telling you that or not? Probably not.

No, I don't. I don't remember that. Yeah. You know, it's a big, it's a big military town. Yeah. There's some kind of big Air Force base there. And there's always a fighter jet. He was in flight school there.

That's why he was there. Okay. Well, there's always fighter jets flying over out building. Yes. And stuff, that's really cool. I really like that. Yeah. Yeah, he was there.

And then ultimately, in B, ville, Texas was the next stop after that. But anyway, enough of that. So we have a decision at quarterback. The team tweeted it out. Here's something I can't figure out. And I'm wondering if you even know the answer to this. I saw this very early this morning.

I saw that Ian Rappaport tweeted out, Washington has chosen to move forward with Carson Wentz. at quarterback. It was very much like an Ian Rappaport, you know, breaking news item. And it just said that early this morning, it just said that it was 19 hours earlier. You know, it didn't have the exact time of the tweet. Did it happen before the team announced it or not? Or do you not know?

I do not know. Okay. I think. I'm assuming it happened before the team announced it, but I don't know. I'm not assuming that necessarily. I think that the team broke the announcement on Twitter at 8.03 a.m. So I'd have to find out exactly what time Rappaport's tweet was. But whatever, it's not important.

That's inside baseball stuff. But the only reason I bring it up is because I said to you the other day, don't be surprised, you know, after Ron said he's holding off if Ian Rappaport breaks it, you know, later in the day. Well, that didn't happen. Well, that was a, I know, but it was still a, it was a really, reasonable expectation. It was a good guess. You know, Ron Rivera does have a very close relationship with Josina Anderson, who covered

the league for many years. And she was the one that tweeted out shortly after the team announcement yesterday that Carson Wentz is going to play the final two games unless the final game is meaningless and then Sam Howell would play. I actually, I think I mentioned this on yesterday's podcast. There's a chance that the final game could be meaningless in a positive way and a negative way. Positive meaning they've already clinched the playoffs. That could happen if they beat the Browns and Seattle, Green Bay, and Detroit all lose.

And it could also be meaningless because they've been eliminated from the postseason if they lose to the Browns and Green Bay and Detroit both win. I would imagine that if they clinch a playoff berth and the Dallas game means nothing to them, that they're actually going to play card. and went to in that final game anyway to get him more work with the stories. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, he needs the time out there on the field.

However, living at that time will wind up being if he survives that long, he'll need it. Yeah, your position. So I said it yesterday on the podcast. I kind of understand it. I'm fine with it.

My expectations are not wildly high. that it's going to produce a lot more. I think there will be moments against the Browns when we're watching that it's obvious that they made the right decision. And then I think it's very possible. There were moments where we say it wouldn't have been any different had Taylor Heineke started the final game. I do not agree with you at all that they owe Taylor something at all.

I don't agree with that mindset. The idea here is to put your best team out there that gives you the best chance to win these games so that you can get into the postseason, and they believe it's Carson Wentz. I don't know that I totally agree with them. I'm fine with the move, but again, my expectations on it being wildly different are low. I think they should stick with the same formula. You put two scenarios out there. You didn't put the third scenario out there. What's that? That it's much worse than it was with Taylor Heineke. You didn't put that out there. No, I don't think it will be.

It could be. Again, when I say my expectations are that it's not going to be wildly better, I don't think my expectations are very high that it's going to be wildly worse. But I really tell me the truth is, I don't know what to expect. There's clearly a physical upgrade in Wentz. And let me also just say in Kime, told me this this morning as well, but I learned this yesterday. I think while it was a relevant conversation during the five one-and-one run to believe that maybe Ron

could lose the locker room or however you want to describe that, that the leaders on the team and the team were very happy with Taylor Heineke's starting and that it would have been a bad move to go to Wence, even though Wence was not even an option until the second Giant game. Let me just make that clear. Wence was not an option until the giant game Sunday night and Landover on December 17th or whatever date that was, December 18th. It's different now.

The team understands it and the team is fine with the move. That's what I was told. Kime was told the same thing. So I don't think that the issue of Ron, you know, having to go against locker room sentiment right now is an issue

at all. You're probably right. I believe that. I mean, uh, You know, there was enough of a setback in the games where Heineke played that it would probably diminish any kind of fear that Taylor's Heineke supporters might have in the locker room. They love Taylor.

And ultimately, ultimately. They love them, not in a condescending way, but they do like them a lot. These players want to get paid and they want to get catches and they want to win. and ultimately that that's the bottom line. All right, so what are you expecting? What are you expecting Sunday? What am I expecting? That's kind of hard to say.

I'm like you in the sense. I don't really know what to expect, except I keep having a vision of Carson Wentz on the ground, and I'm not wishing this. Yes, you are. Okay? Yes, you are. No, I'm not.

I'm not wishing somebody to get hurt. I didn't say, get hurt. You're wishing that he gets sacked seven times so you can say I told you so. Well, I don't think he'll survive seven sacks. Okay. I think he'll wind up having to be taken out of the game because he's not going to hold up. So is that your expectation? Yes, that's my expectation.

Okay, so you do have an expectation for Sunday. You're not like me. Yeah, I tell you why, it's like my long shot, my long shot, on Tuesday I said that Taylor Heineke will be back under center before the end of the season again. So this is my long shot expectation. Did you describe that as a long shot on Tuesday? Yes, I did. Okay.

So the long shot is that Taylor Heineke is going to be back in because Carson Wentz can't hold up against the pressure. And it's worse. Yes. That's the long shot. What's your best odds shot? Carson Wentz, those two interceptions, gets sacked five times, and they lose to the Browns. That sounds kind of like your long shot. No.

No. In my long shot, he doesn't get a chance to play that poorly. He doesn't survive long enough to play that poor. Okay. But both your best-odd shot and your long shot include Carson Wentz playing very poorly. Yes. Okay. So your expectations are that Carson Wentz is going to play poorly. The long shot portion of that expectation is that he gets benched for Taylor Heineke at some point during the Browns game.

And not necessarily bench for performance, just can't play anymore. Can't play anymore. My long shot is that he comes in and plays like he did actually in the next to last game. against Tennessee, which was, I think, his best game. It wasn't the Chicago game. He was hurt going into the Chicago game, and then he got hurt worse by breaking his finger midway through the Chicago game. But the Titans game was probably his best game of the year until the very end, where he, you know, went 25. Before the final two throws, he was 25 of 36 for 359 yards, two touchdowns, and no point.

picks before those final two throws, including a 75-yard throw, a 34-yard throw, a 39-yard throw, a 32-yard throw, a 20-yard throw. They were very explosive on that day against Tennessee with not much of a run game, although they did try in Brian Robinson Jr.'s first action. He had nine carries for 22 yards in that game, but they were not yet, you know, dedicated to kind of a run first. my long shot is that he ends up with a game like that, a wow game. Because the truth is, until the very end, it was kind of a wow game from him. And by the way, on that final drive, which was 18 plays 87 yards, down 17 to 14, taking over with four and a half minutes to go in the game,

he completed some big-time throws until the end when he threw an interception. and by the way, I'll remind everybody, he nearly threw an interception on the play before the interception. Yes, he did. It's like you knew that interception was coming, basically, the way he was performing down there near the goal line. And as the kids like to say, ultimately, in almost every situation, Carson Wentz, will Carson Wentz. Is that what the kids say? That's what the kids say. That's what the kids say.

Carson Wentz will Carson Wentz. So my long shot odds are that Carson Wentz comes out and starts slinging it around the park and has a big time game that doesn't end with an interception, but ends with a 35 to 14 route of a Cleveland team that should be a nice, as Michael Phillips described it, soft landing, you know, reinsertion into the lineup game. Cleveland's not very good. Wait a minute. You told me their defense has been playing better.

It has been playing better, but it has struggled to stop the run. And they have nothing to play for now. You know, last week against the Saints, they were still playing with playoff contention. Now they've been eliminated. And Deshawn Watson hasn't been great. Again, I think I said this yesterday, maybe not to you. But Mary Kay Cabot, who I had on from Cleveland on the radio show yesterday, They did say that Watson keeps getting better game by game.

Tommy, I could easily see them losing this game. I mean, let me be clear on that. The quarterback, the quarterback had something to play for. The Browns may not. You're right. But the quarterback certainly does. No doubt. Kevin Stefansky is coaching this game with probably something to coach for,

although apparently he's not in much trouble because Deshawn Watson's only started four games. And they'd like to see him, you know, with a full season with Kevin Stefansky. but they still have Nick Chubb. He's one of the two or three, four best running backs in the game. They've got Miles Garrett and Jadavia and Clowny and Denzel Ward, but they've given a lot on the ground. My long shot, again, my long shot is that Wents comes out and offensively they put up 30 plus in Route Cleveland.

My best odds are that they look like they've looked with Taylor Heineke against a team that is much easier than the 49ers, all right, to run the ball against, that they're able to run the ball and get themselves into one of these coin flip games that they were in starting back with the Packers game when Taylor took over. Every single one of those games with the exception of Houston was winnable, and every single one of those games with the exception of Houston and San Francisco. Let me add that game into there, was loseable, and they were winnable. They were all coin flip games. If Duran Payne doesn't get a fingertip.

The Eagles game wasn't a coin flip. Of course it was. What are you talking about? I mean, if not for the 15-yard, the fumble on the 15-yard face mask, Philadelphia is driving. Philadelphia had big plays. It was the turnovers that cost Philadelphia. They were in scoring positions multiple times.

Yeah. It was definitely a coin flip game. You didn't think that that was a tight ball game? I didn't think it was a coin flip game. That's different than a tight ball game. Well, okay. A coin flip game, to me, would mean like the end of drive. The last two minutes are going to decide the game.

Well, they did in this particular game. Well, they did in this particular game. Washington drew a penalty on Brandon Graham 15 yards with two minutes to go or Philadelphia gets the ball back down five. Philadelphia had the ball back before, and we had the missed face mask in the fumble. As they, you know, they had the ball, down 23, 21 in the fourth quarter and had the 50-yard pass, but then the fumble after the guy got up and kept running. Who was that?

I forget who that was. Right. Wasn't A.J. Brown. Yeah, I think it was a coin flip game. I think they all were with the exception of the Houston game and the San Francisco game. And the San Francisco game, the truth is at 2114 late. in the third quarter, it was still a game within reach. Although in watching it, I never felt like they were going to beat the 49ers.

Just like in watching them against the Eagles, I thought they had a chance, but I thought up until the very end, the Eagles would still pull it out. But I think that that's my best odds, is that we're going to see a game similar to these games that have been played pretty much all year. They're going to be a run first. They're going to control the ball. They're going to score. maybe there's a big play in there or a red zone touchdown pass that we didn't get from Taylor,

but I think there will probably be a turnover on a sack fumble. There will probably be an inaccurate throw that gets picked off one of those two, and Washington will pull out a coin flip 20 to 17 type of game, 24 to 23 kind of a game. That's my best odds. my my where I'm where I think it's the super super long shot is that they look a lot worse on offense than they've looked that's my super super super long shot I yeah why did you say it laughingly condescendingly why do you always do that okay so condescendingly that's my super long shot You think that the notion that that could happen is so absurd.

You have to make it a super, super long shot. I can't just be a long shot. Well, because I already gave you my long shot. So I had to, I had the most likely is another coin flip game. The least likely is that Carson Wentz lights it up. The next less likely, there are two least likelys. All right. The least likely number one is Carson Wentz lights it up. And the least likely number two, which is a longer shot,

is that they're horrible on offense, much worse than they've been. That's what I got. You got anything else to add? Well, you're right in the sense that they'll be able to run the ball. They should be able to. Yeah. I mean, they should be able to run the ball. Other teams recently have been able to run the ball against them. And Washington has been able to run the ball against teams that don't even give up a lot against the run because, you know, Brian Robinson, Jr. gets three yards, turns a two-yard run into a five-yard run often.

Now, they didn't run it well against the 49ers. Man, still can't get over how impressive the 49ers are on defense. They are really impressive on defense. What else about Carson Wentz, Taylor Heineke? Here's a question for you. You scoffed and you laughed very condescendingly the other day when I said that Carson Wentz has a chance and opportunity in these final two games to basically be here next year. I didn't say that he would do it, but I said the opportunity exists for him to play very well for them to win, for them to get into the postseason, have maybe a competitive loss or who knows, a shocking win, and end up being the guy,

depending on, let's put the ownership situation to the side and just say the Martins, the Marty and the Martin and the Rons are going to make decisions and they're going to be able to make the decisions they want early in the offseason. And I think the opportunity exists for Carson Wentz to be the guy at the end of this season that they view is number one for 2023. I'm not predicting it'll happen. I just think that he's got that opportunity to prove it to them. you disagree, right?

You think that ship is sale. Well, no, because you already took the ownership out of it. I say a new owner is never going to put up with Carson Wentstein as quarterback next year. That's just not going to happen. Okay. So take the owner out of it. The ownership situation out of it. You have to factor in the account that if we believe that the front office and the coach

were solely behind the decision and the move to bring Carson Wentz here, if we believe that, and that's a big if, then coaches and general managers like to be proven right. So yeah, I could see a scenario

where if he doesn't shit the bed here at the end that these guys who say, you see, yeah, we were right. We're going to show you we were right. We're going to keep them. That's what coaches and GMs do. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Do you think it's a big if since Carson Wentz is now back in? Do you think that idea that this was an owner decision on Carson Wentz, that the fact that he's back in the lineup right now kind of proves that maybe it was Ron and Martin and Marty and everybody else or not? Let me ask you a question. Or do you think that Dan's still pulling the strings? What's the back of the baseball card tell you? Well, the problem is that the back of the baseball card might now have a different team. Like the guy on the baseball card is moving on to another team.

So do you think he's still engaged? We don't know that. That's what we, what do you know? What do you know? What's the information you have in front of you? Hold on. Let me flip it over. Let me flip it over.

Here it is. 2001 fired Marty Schottenheimer after he won eight of his final 11. games hired Steve Spurrier. 2008 decided to float out Jim Fossil to the public. Bad response.

They elevated June 212, Robert Griffin the third relationship. Okay. I know what the back of the baseball card says. So that's what I would go by. Okay. I wouldn't project

as to what these guys might thinking. I would rely on what has happened. happens. Here's what I would... And your track record tells you that, yeah, this was an owner decision. And until proven otherwise, Your Honor, that's the demo. Well, Counselor, I would just suggest to you that if this really wasn't a Ron Rivera and other people involved in liking Carson Wentz and feeling desperation, because all they talked about was quarterback when the season started.

And they couldn't come away with no quarterback in the offseason. I just think that they would have stuck with Taylor if they really thought that Carson Wentz was, you know, that was the owner. He was wrong. It was proven in the first six games. You know, the guy that was his backup, we were looking for somebody to replace the backup, but we're going to stick with him. Put it this way.

If Carson Wentz didn't start this week, that would have definitely told you what everybody thought about Carson once. And there would have been no chance that he would have been back next year. So that opportunity, assuming ownership is kind of out of it for the time being. Because, you know, practically speaking, Tommy, this thing won't happen until March or April, right? Right. It's going to be hard to, unless they've got, you know, Sean Peyton and Vic Fangio and Tom Brady standing by right now saying, don't worry, we're getting the team.

It's just going to take a couple of months. Don't commit to anybody. And we'll make the swap in, you know, right before the draft. You know, start studying up on the draft. I don't know. Is that possible that it's happening that way? I don't think so. Because how can they be assured that they're going to get the team?

I don't know. You know what? I think it's possible. I think each ownership group, maybe the most, maybe each ownership contender probably has a team in mind that they have either spoken to or researched in their mind ready to go. But that's what usually happens. All right.

I have one other question for you. I think it's just one more. I might come up with another one. What do you think the future for Taylor Heineke is? As a backup quarterback in the league. For whom? I don't know. I don't think it's here.

Let's assume that Ron and the Marties and the Martins all have decision-making ability. He's going to be an unrestricted free agent when the league calendar starts. What do you think they'll do? They'll try to re-sign him to be the backup quarterback here next year? Why? I don't think so. Why? Because they have Sam How?

The guy they drafted. What if Carson Wentz completely, you know, soils himself in these findings? final two games or, or let's just say he plays just mediocre and they lose one of them and they don't make the postseason. Then I think that chances increase that they offer Taylor. But I don't think Taylor will leave. I think he'll get a better offer. To be a backup somewhere else?

Yeah. I actually think the odds are in favor of him resigning here as a backup quarterback for, I don't know, three, four million a year. Something like that. Something in the Colt McCoy, Gardner, Minchew range. Especially if it's, you know, we're talking about the coaching staff returning. And then I think Washington, I think the odds are that they'll resign him and then they'll try to draft somebody. I guess, you know, Derek Carr's now entered into the mix. Jimmy Garoppolo will be in the mix and they liked Garoppolo more than last year.

which we've talked about, I think, before, and I think we agree on this, that would have been the best path for them to do this year. Which one? Where they don't trade for Carson Wentz. They draft a quarterback in the first round who's available, and then they use him to break him in slowly while they're playing Taylor Heineke at the beginning of the season. I think my view was slightly different.

I think that you and I both felt like the biggest bad, off-season bang would have been drafting a quarterback. I think I suggested finding a lower-priced veteran, whether it was Marioota or Tribisky or somebody like that, to come in and start until the young guy was ready. And not to start telling me. Same philosophy. But same philosophy.

That's right. And I actually, I don't know if I've said this before, but watching Kenny Pickett in Pittsburgh, I actually think that Washington should have taken Kenny Pickett in the first round. Yeah. Although John Dotson is really, really good. I know, I know.

But they have no shortage of weapons right now with a healthy Curtis Samuel. Right. You know, Washington's going to end up depending on what happens in these final two weeks in their playoff positioning. They're going to end up somewhere in that, you know, 15 to 20 range in terms of a picks. And that's, you know, there are going to be a lot of quarterbacks available in the first round and a lot of them are going to go before the, you know, top half of the draft is over in

2023. Let's talk about some of the others when we come back, including the incredible story out of Vegas with Derek Carr. We'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Tommy, tell us about your favorite spot in a great spot downtown Shelley's back room. Well, as you know, as we've talked about, I'm about to head down to Florida. and people ask me, well, are you looking forward to it? And I always say, yeah, I am except I can't get to Shelly's from Destin, Florida. I can't just drive down to Shelly's and have some of those great chicken tenders they have or great burger and have a smoke with my friend. So I really do miss that.

I guarantee you there's no place down in Florida within any distance of where I am that comes close to Shelly's. There's very few places I'll bet you around the country that are as good as Shelly's when it comes to a cigar lounge. I'm sure they're one of the top cigar bars in the country, and that's a well-deserved reputation. Yeah, that's true. That's true, by the way. It's not just because they're a sponsor of this show, but everybody, when they come into D.C., if they're a cigar smoker, they know Shelly's, and they go to Shelly's.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That's what they do. You know, it's funny because I meet a lot of people in there who are tourists or who are businessmen who come to town, you know, and they come to Shelly's, and I have conversations with them, I met a couple of the other a couple weeks ago from Ohio that were in there

and they loved it and they said next time they come to Washington they can't wait to come back to Shelly's. It's that kind of place. It's very inviting. It's very comfortable and it's the place to be. Shelly's back room, 1331 F Street, Northwest.

Right there, 13th and F, a great spot in town. All right. Let's get to some of the stories from yesterday. Starting with Derek Carr, not only being benched, but being demoted to third string by

Josh McDaniels. They're going to start Jarrett Stidham. Stidham was with Josh McDaniels in New England. They drafted him out of Auburn. He's going to get this start. By the way, just so everybody understands, the Raiders are not mathematically eliminated

from the postseason. It's a long shot at 6 and 9 that they can get in. But if they were to win, their final two games, or certainly if they were to win this week, there's a chance they could go into the final week with a chance at the final playoff spot. But they are benching Derek Carr. Derek Carr is done in Vegas. And by the way, one hell of a career. I've never been a huge Derek Carr guy. Cooley was on Derek Carr when he was at Fresno. He said, this guy's going to be drafted high. He's going to be a longtime NFL quarterback. When he was drafted. He was drafted. He was

drafted in the second round. Cooley thought people should have taken him in the first round. And, you know, since 2014, 35,000 yards, 217 touchdowns, 99 picks on some teams that were pretty bad around him for the most part. Last year they got to the postseason, had a chance on the final drive to tie Cincinnati. Cincinnati would go on to win that game and went onto the Super Bowl to represent the AFC. He's been a fixture in Oakland and Vegas, and has always been a great guy and a great teammate and a great leader. I mean, people have said that a lot about him.

He's also thrown a lot of picks. He's been sacked a lot. I've never put him in the Matt Ryan Kirk Cousins conversation. I just haven't. But I've always felt like he's, you know, a top half of the league guy. And so now, you know, you throw in with Garapolo, you throw in with potentially Brady if he comes back for another year. Who knows what will happen with Rogers in Green Bay. But Derek Carr is now, you know, one of those quarterbacks that will be sought after in this offseason.

CBS Sports.com's Cody Benjamin wrote that the top contenders are Tampa Bay 1, Washington 2. They write, Tom Brady, he writes, Tom Brady seems bound to be elsewhere in 2023, either via retirement or free agency, and coach Todd Bowles may or may not be safe, meaning they could be looking at quite a cleaning of the slate. But with so many veteran weapons, Leonard Fournett, Mike Evans, Mike Evans, Godwin, etc. In that division, they may be looking at cars a quick fix. For Washington, they write, Ron Rivera can insist they need a long-term answer or quarterback all he wants, but few teams are perpetually hunting for mid-tier veterans like Washington.

They'll have plenty of financial flexibility if and when they cut or trade Carson Wentz. And assuming Rivera sticks around with his staff, Carr has ties to Jack Del Rio, the second-hand man. Del Rio was the Raiders coach during Carr's 2015-2016 breakout season when the quarterback let a 12-and-3 start, before, if you recall, breaking his leg late in the season and missing the playoffs, late in the regular season and missing the playoffs. Last year, they wanted Russell Wilson. We know that. The year before that, they wanted Matt Stafford.

They struck out on both. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Looks like a major blessing in disguise that they didn't do what Denver did with Russell Wilson. They then, you know, turned towards Garoppolo. Gropolo ended up having that surgery. Wentz really wasn't available. You know, Mariotta and Trubisky and those kinds of guys were available. They got desperate.

They ended up trading for Wentz. They ended up beating his whole contract. If Wence doesn't take this last opportunity, two plus games here in Washington, and Washington's back in the market, which, by the way, is my prediction. They'll be back in the market. Should they want Derek Carr?

Here's the thing Tommy that I think is really interesting about this team, which I didn't believe a year ago. The Bruce Allen were close, which was always laughed at by all of us. Last year, the Ron Rivera trying to pitch to prospective quarterbacks that were looking for new homes, how close they were. Ron Rivera may have been right. I think this is as close as they've been to being a playoff team, like a legitimate, consistent playoff team, not a Super Bowl contender, but a playoff team as they've been in a long, long time. They have really good players on defense.

The weakness was supposed to be the secondary in the linebacking core. Jamon Davis is better, improved and looks like he's going to be a good player. and their secondary, especially their safeties have really stepped up. They have incredible playmakers on offense. Their wide receiving core, we'll do this when the season ends. It might be top 10, top 12 in the league.

They have a really good running back situation. I agree. I agree with all that. They've got great skill positions on offense. They have a good defense. And they are close to being a playoff team. Not a championship team, like you said, but a team that makes the playoffs, you know, more than one every three or four years.

I still think that, again, you know, what clouds all this is a new owner. A new owner, will the new owner feel obliged to make a big splash with a big name? or will they have the patience to draft their quarterback in the first round and let them develop? I mean, which is what I think they should do. Unless they can get Aaron Rogers, I'm not interested in bringing anybody here. That's it. Yeah, so my position has been for a couple of years now. Keep swinging until you land on the next Mahomes, Allen, Burrough, you know, Herbert, etc.

that's the way to ensure that for a long period of time, regardless of what's happening around the rest of the team, that you've got a chance to win 10, 11 games a year and be in the mix, you know, and have a legit chance to, you know, swing for a championship. Now, this year is a weird year. You know, the run first has come back. You're going to have a bunch of teams in the NFC, including a team right now that is basically the favorite to get to the Super Bowl

out of the NFC that's playing their third string quarterback, whether or not it'll happen with Brock Purdy, who knows. But, you know, I still would prefer to have Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, or Justin Herbert. That would still be the way, and I would keep swinging until I found one. Now, this team is different in my mind's eye than it was this time last year. Now, I think Duran Payne and bringing him back is important to continue what they've started here defensively. If Chase Young, you know, plays like he can play, and there were signs in his

debut last week that athletically he hasn't lost anything, that would be amazing. And now all of a sudden maybe he's your best player on a defense that's already really good. And by the way, really young. And then you've got, you know, Dotson and McCorn and Samuel in Gibson and Brian Robinson, Jr. Now the veteran quarterback, if it's clearly an upgrade, and Carr would be an upgrade over what they have. I'm not a massive car fan, but I'm a much bigger fan of Carr than I am Carson Wentz.

Jimmy Garoppolo's out there. Now you bring in a quarterback that would clearly be an upgrade over what you have, and maybe you're not a Super Bowl contender, but you're a contender to win 11 games. for the next few years and be in the postseason with a chance. And that's a hell of a lot. Like, I was talking to a friend of mine.

It's like, so what if they do get in? I mean, they should be playing Sam Howe. They need to find out what they have in Sam Howe. It's amazing to me how many people are like, eh, the hell with the playoffs. I mean, I don't want to be in the playoffs unless we can win the Super Bowl. Well, I don't either, but this is so rare that we're in down to the playoffs. the final two weeks. And not only do they have a chance to get into the playoffs, but if they were

to play a team like Minnesota in the first round, they would only be like a three-point underdog in that game. So, I mean, when did it become only if they can win the Super Bowl, am I interested in being in the playoffs? Anyway, I digress from that. Derek Carr, Jimmy Garoppolo, Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers, all of those people would be interesting to me in the offseason. And I think, one of the reasons I feel a little bit differently than I did last year is just because I didn't view them as close last year. I think they've got a really good team around a quarterback that's top half of the league, a couple of offensive line additions. Now, the problem with Derek Carr is this contract. You know, you're probably not going to be able to keep Duran Payne if you trade for Derek Carr.

You know, if you... Right. And so I don't think, I mean, so again, I'm... I mean, the smart fiscal way to go, if you take in everything into account, is to get the rookie quarterback on the rookie quarterback contract. Right, but that's a one in four chance that you get the right guy there. One in five. One thing, Derek Carr has a no trade clause. Let's point that out.

Yeah, but he left the team yesterday. I know. I mean, which, you know, we don't know the circumstances. I mean, personally, I think it, it's always better if you stick it out, you know, even if you've been demoted. And he's been such a great team guy. But I'm sure there are circumstances there. And I did read that the team was fine with his position and he didn't want to be a distraction the rest of the years.

So obviously he's going to be okay with being traded. But to your point, a no trade clause means he can dictate where he goes. Yeah. And that's interesting. I've read speculation that Tom Brady would wind up going to the. to the Raiders because of his past relationship with Josh McDaniel. But I've also read that that relationship soured near the end. So I don't know.

That would be real interesting if Brady wound up in Vegas. What about Brady here? No interest in that, right? Well, yes, there would be interest from me in that. Definitely. I mean, but he's not going to do that until he knows who the new owner is. I mean, he would never come here if Snyder were. still the owner, obviously, you know, nor would Aaron Rogers or nor with any of the top

quarterbacks. Do you think it's possible to have a new owner in place by the draft? Yeah, I think it, I mean, I think it can happen by the league meetings in March, don't you? Yes, I do. Yeah. I absolutely do. Isn't that amazing that we're talking about that? I tell you, did we talk about this before? Like, you mentioned these fans who were saying, well, if we don't have a chance to win the I don't really want to be. And I don't really care that much about the playoffs. There is such a warped sense of what's real and what's worthy in terms of accomplishments. If you have any connection with this football team that you really can't think straight anymore.

It's almost hard to think straight and think clearly because you're so clouded by the the two decades of a poison that you've swallowed, that you really can't consume information anymore in a knowledgeable fashion. That's ridiculous to think that, well, Super Bowl or bust, I don't particularly care, you know, but it's all over the place. And for the media, at least for this person in the media, it's going to require a real 180-degree turnaround if a new owner takes over about

writing about this organization. I'm not saying I can't do it, but it's going to require a conscious effort. I think for the fan base it will too. I'm not really sure what you said. I think I know what you said, but at the very end, you just reminded me that, you know, people like you are going to have to make a big time shift because the easy answer to everything was Dan Snyder. Because it was true. Yes.

And now. I haven't covered this organization like a legitimate sports franchise since Mike Shanhan. Yeah, but we've done this thing where we've suspended, you know, we've done. the suspend reality thing for many years. Yeah, but that's just for, that's like, that's like playing a part in a TV show. That's like reading out of life, you know? When the cameras go off, we'd say, Jesus Christ, do I sound like an idiot? Well, I have said, you know, subtly and directly over the years, I think we, I think

Snyder's also been responsible for the dumbing down of this fan base. I mean, there was a time when I considered this fan base to be as sharp when it came to football as any. And it was. And, you know, what you've seen is you've seen the erosion of, you know, call it 60 to 70 percent of those people that used to say they were diehard fans. And I think a lot of the people that were, you know, were cast off. And part of the erosion were some of those. that we're smart enough to say, I don't want to have any part of this group with this person owning the team anymore.

And what would be great is with new ownership. And I think, look, I've got a list. And I'm holding on to that list in case somebody decides to reach out to me and say, will you help me in the transition? You've got a list. But that list includes immediately, immediately pulling all of the branding that debuted on 2222. I would agree with that.

You've got to pull all of that and you've got to come up with something. And my recommendation would be to do what I hoped would happen even before that. And that is they just stick with Washington as the brand. Redskins not coming back. I recognize that. That's, you know, that horse left the barn in July of 2020 when Fred Smith said, you're no longer getting our money. And PepsiCo said the same thing.

And others did as well. But I just think that, you know, it's got to be old uniforms, you know, the uniforms, I shouldn't say old, their uniforms back, Washington being the brand, having nicknames for the team like a lot of soccer clubs do internationally. And the skins could be one of those nicknames. The hogs could be one of those nicknames that people use that people use in writing about the team. But Washington is the brand. But there are many other things. I mean, they've got to end up with a stadium in D.C. I mean, a lot of these things are obvious.

But I think I said yesterday, or maybe it was with you on Tuesday, I get a lot of stop talking about the ownership situation and focus on a team that's got a chance to make the playoffs. But I get more of why are you even spending time, you know, worrying about a team with an average coach, with no quarterback that didn't going to do anything when they get there anyway, when the only story that matters in town, and it's the most important sports story that we've had in town since the two championships, the Caps and the Nats, winning the World Series Caps,

winning the Stanley Cup, is that Dan Snyder is selling the team. And now there's a chance to have professional football back in the nation's capital again. And of course that's the number one story. Well, you know, I mean, that's, yeah, That's been my contention, even when writing game stories on Sunday. Right. Is that it's hard to ignore, you know, the elephant that's been in a room for 20 years.

I mean, that's obviously the big Dan Snyder, and now Dan Snyder's exit is the big story. You know, and to think that you can separate it is naive. But you know what we've been able to do on this podcast for several years? What? Both. We can talk football. We can suspend reality and we can talk about the ownership too. And the truth is that basically...

That's because we're Newman and Redford, buddy. The truth is that much more... We're not talented. Much more of the conversation's been about football than the owner. I mean, it's just that when we do go owner, it's usually animated. All right. Let's finish up with your prediction for Sunday. My prediction is the Browns win, 24 to 15. Taylor Heineke finishes the game of quarterback.

If that happens, I will bow to you on Tuesday as you are overlooking the Gulf of Mexico from wherever you are sitting and smoking a cigar. All right, just a couple of things and we'll wrap it up, Tommy. one, congrats to the Wizards for another good win. They beat Phoenix. I know Devin Booker wasn't playing and Bradley Beale wasn't playing for them. But since we crushed them about a week and a half ago, they've won four out of their last five. Rui Hachamura had 30 last night.

Dilan Wright, I watched the game, was outstanding last night for them. I don't know where this is headed. But they've got good players and they can score. And it helps when you're playing teams without their best player. Let's put it that way. But they did stop the 76ers eight game. winning streak two nights ago, even though they gave up 48 to Embed. So they're playing better.

The Caps are playing better. We haven't talked a lot about either one of those two teams because we usually don't on the podcast. Many people point out. But both teams are playing much better than they have been recently. The Caps have had a longer sustained success this season than the Wizards have. They've won 10 of a 11 year. Who hopefully, if they continue on this pace, they'll get to like a 40.

and 40 season, and God knows what's celebrate that. Okay. I wanted to do one more thing on this show. Did you follow the Scott Joe Buck thing from Scott SportsCenter the other night? I've read about it online that Joe Buck was upset that he felt like he was being ignored by Scott in their interviews with him and Akeman. Yes. So let me just clear up for all of you that have reached out to me, including lots of people via texts that I know. What is this between Scott and Joe Buck? If you didn't hear the exchange, you can find it anywhere on the internet. Okay, it went viral. Scott and Joe Buck, Scott does this hit on SportsCenter following Monday Night Football with Troy Aitman and Joe Buck every single week. You know, it's a segue from the end of Monday Night Football, into Scott's Sports Center show. There was a lot of thought that it was awkward,

that it was confrontational, that they were pissed at each other, that Joe Buck was really upset, that he only got asked one question by Scott and Troy Aitman got asked more. Let me assure all of you that have asked that there is nothing there. Scott and Joe Buck are friends. They have been doing this sarcastic back and forth with each other all year long.

Tommy, even my wife sent me this thing. What happened? She doesn't know who Joe Buck is. And so I just said it's nothing. I hadn't even talked to Scott yet, and I talked to Scott last night. He's like, this is ridiculous. He's like, Joe and I are friends.

We've been doing this sarcastic bit all year long. And he said to me, he said, do you really think Joe Buck, the accomplished broadcaster that he is, would actually be upset that I only asked him one question in a sports center hit. He's like, come on. And I told him, I said, I knew that watching it,

but people who don't know you or haven't watched the segment, if they don't have the context of it, could have certainly seen or felt some awkwardness. And he goes, I guess. But just so that all of you know, there is absolutely nothing between Joe Buck and Scott, other than a good friendship and a great back and forth with sarcasm, lots of it in the hit that they've done all year long.

So I hope that addresses it. Now we can finish the new year now that we got that business. Thank God. We can finish 2022. Happy New Year to you and everybody. We'll talk on Tuesday. Have a good trip down, safe trip down. I'll be back tomorrow with a preview of not only the game against Cleveland,

but the rest of the NFL weekend. Lots of smell test picks. None for tonight. All right, buddy, champ. Senator, have a good trip. Happy New Year. Have a good new year.