The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 611 - Calvin Ridley Suspended For 2022 NFL Season, The Aaron Rodgers Decision Looms, Shams Charania, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: March 7, 2022

On today's show, Pat, AJ Hawk, and the boys chat about all the Aaron Rodgers drama and whether or not they're surprised that Rodgers hasn't made a decision yet, AJ being in attendance at David Bakhtiari's alongside Rodgers, Matt LaFleur, and many other former Packers teammates, how the vibes were, what AJ took away from the whole weekend, when he thinks Rodgers will ultimately make his decision, and much more. They also chat about all the different franchise tagging going on, what different transactions might happen over the course of the next few days, and the breaking news that Calvin Ridley has been suspended for the 2022 NFL season for gambling on games this past year. Joining the progrum to give all the latest info on the NBA including whether or not the Lakers are back, the Nets status moving forward, Zion Williamson's injury update and being back in New Orleans, when Ben Simmons is slated to return, and more (21:02-47:12). Next, 9 year NFL vet at Defensive Back, host of the Man-To-Man podcast, Everything DB, Darius Butler joins the progrum to chat about the Patriots potentially letting JC Jackson go instead of franchising him, his thoughts on the combine, if you can take anything away from those drills at the combine, why everyone is running insane 40 times, and he chats about his thoughts about the new Batman movie that had him in a war on Twitter over the weekend (1:30:31-1:54:08). Make sure you subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show and listen everyday on Sirius XM Channel 82, Mad Dog Radio. We appreciate the hell out of all of you. See you tomorrow, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello beautiful people. It is a glorious Monday, March 7th, 2022, and this sports show shall begin right now. Can't thank you enough for joining us. It was a beautiful weekend. I hope you had the same. Today is a day where we talk about sports and there's a lot to chatter about. Is any of it real? We have no idea, but there's a lot of fugazi bullshit floating out there we have aaron rogers skeptics saying that maybe his four teams are torn tearing him apart is he going back to the packers who knows did we all think he maybe what he gave his answer by now yes but allegedly denver tennessee and pitts Pittsburgh are still in the running, and they all have deals in place for Aaron if he was to make it.

Now, Green Bay Packers have come out and continuously said, we have not heard a single offer yet. So I guess Denver, Tennessee, and Pittsburgh in-house have crafted together their own picks maybe or their own trade on what they would do to get Aaron Rodgers. We will talk to A.J. Hawk in one hour from now. He was at the wedding this weekend that this dude was officiating. Now, the interesting thing about him officiating that wedding this weekend is, you know, he's got the long hair right now. He had a suit on.

At one point before the groomsmen got up there, and before, obviously, the bride and their crew came, he was standing up in front of a congregation, you know, looking away. That had to look like David fucking Koresh. Yeah. Had to look like the Davidians out there. I hope there's photos that'll continue to be released. I guess there was an all-star cast out there to celebrate Bakhtiari getting married. Congrats to Bakhtiari.

Congrats to Bakhtiari. Congrats to Bakhtiari. But we had boots on the ground with a big old jaw who was able to listen, hopefully, to what everything was going on. What did he hear and what is happening? Once again, the internet has reported that Aaron will make his decision by tomorrow. And that might be because the franchise tag window ends tomorrow at 4 p.m. So who and where will Aaron Rodgers end up at is a fascinating question. I'm riding alongside everybody else.

Got a lot of tweets telling me that he's coming on this show to tell everybody tomorrow. Once again, just like last week, I don't believe that is the case. I have not been told a single thing. Can't wait to hear how that whole thing goes. There's people on TV that we've never seen before saying that Aaron Rodgers is incredibly selfish for thinking like this and doing this. And maybe that's because you don't have anything to talk about, but also because we did assume this was going to be wrapped up

a lot sooner than it currently has. This is a massive decision for Aaron Rodgers, a man who I've not talked to since last time you've seen him on here, when we learned that he was pooping and puking at the same damn time for about 12 days. That's a big-time That's big time conversation. Another big conversation. Lamar Jackson is still without a long-term deal with the Baltimore Ravens.

He was on the shop. He talked about wanting to become a champion and being a billionaire. How he handles his business going forward is going to be fascinating because everybody knows he and his mom represent him. It's not an agent. It is him making this decision it is it would be him going to the Baltimore Ravens and saying hey this is what I want this is how it wants to go I'm excited to watch along everybody assumes that the franchise tag him two times so he's like three years away from becoming a free agent that's a lot of football

left to be played excited to see how he maps that entire thing up. Big news for us and for the world. Kirk Herbstreit, Thursday Night Football on Amazon. Congrats, Herbie. That's awesome. It is being reported that that is the case. I may or may not have texted the source directly a few days ago before everything else came out. I believe it is happening. So congratulations.

And welcome to the men's league, pal. It is great to have you in the NFL. He is obviously an absolute monster at what he does. Flawless, smooth, very calm, calculated. Been there, done that with every type of game through his years at ESPN and the biggest college football games every single Saturday night. National champions. He's called Monday night football games.

He's called Sunday afternoon games for the NFL. This dude is a wizard At color commentary And I think the Amazon folks Although they might have missed on Troy And they might have missed on some others They found a home run with Kirk Herbstreit Who the internet is reporting will still be doing

College game day and still be doing College football which is what he has said Since the very beginning on this show I love college football and never give it up But if I get a chance to do something else, I might dabble. Now it's with Amazon. Who knows how many millions this is going to be? Because allegedly they were offering Sean McVay $20 million a year, allegedly. Now, is Sean McVay saying that just so he can get a new deal with the Rams? Possibly, but allegedly that is how that whole thing went down. Troy Aikman just signed for 17. a half M's on Monday Night Football.

Thursday Night Football with Amazon. Let's assume this dude's getting paid a lot of money. Congrats, Herbie. Herbie's always been very good to us, very nice to me, and I can't thank him enough. And I think he'll be a great asset to the NFL. And, you know, if he ends up falling in love with a gun, commit full time to the men's league.

Might as well. The boys are here at Ty Schmidt at Boston Connor. Tone Diggs, one half of the hammer. Cowboys was here. Let's start with you, Ty. We all assumed that the Packers were where Aaron Rogers was going to remain. That sentence made sense, right?

Yes, it did. Because Packers is plural, so you would use were. And where, they are also a destination. We thought he would stay there. That sentence made sense, right? Yeah, you did. Because Packers is plural, so you would use were, right? And where, they are also a destination. We thought he would stay there. We thought this thing was wrapped up like a week, week and a half ago. But it turns out he is torn. Now, was he torn because he didn't want to make a decision before Bakhtiari's wedding?

Because he knew that if he said, hey, I'm going back to the Packers, that Bakhtiari wedding would just become an Aaron Rodgers celebration back at the Packers, or do you think there's a chance that Aaron Rodgers, for the first time in his career, is getting a sniff of maybe some other places that are interested, get a chance to learn about some other teams, seeing if the grass is green or anywhere else, and does that worry you at all, Ty Schmidt? To be honest, the entire time since the season ended, I didn't think there was any way he was going to go anywhere but to the Packers. But you start hearing the reports that he is torn, and I think I always thought that when he told us he would come back soon,

the sooner he got it done, the better. I mean, he said last year, you know, like, retirement doesn't really scare him anymore. He was kind of worried about that a little bit. He didn't know what life after football was like. Then he jumped off some waterfall. Exactly. He was singing Taylor Swift in the kitchen. Poncha Karma.

Poncha Karma. Pooping, puking. All the stuff that he's finding out that he really enjoys. The longer he kind of waits and has to think about it, I think maybe the longer it is like, hey, maybe retirement isn't that bad of an option. I still think ultimately he is going to come back to the

Packers. You mentioned it. Like, the media is always going to say whatever. They're going to spin whatever bullshit yarn. It's like if anyone would know, I feel like it would be someone from this office or AJ or something like that. I mean, we've had the guy on every week. So to think that he would just all of a sudden, you know,

like all these people on the outside have a better idea of what he's actually going to do than we potentially would, I don't necessarily buy that. Not that he's going to tell us before he makes a big decision or whatever, but I just, you read all that stuff, it's like, okay, well, yeah, if you aren't happy with who your quarterback is right now, then you probably are putting some sort of hypothetical trade together if he hasn't signed with the Packers yet. If you think you you can get him you're going to try to get him but i ultimately think with the box yari stuff too in the wedding i think you're right i mean michael

silver already tweeted something about it box yari had to take time out of his day to be like hey what the fuck what the actual fuck mike yeah what is the deal because mike silver who i don't like i think he's a piece of shit but he is is somebody who has, you know, done some stuff for you. I have actual personal beef with this guy. So I don't like him. He's done a lot to the game, though. He says, today Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari is getting married in California. Aaron Rodgers is set to officiate it.

Matt LaFleur will be there. Rodgers is likely to tell the Packers what he wants to do by Tuesday afternoon. Timing is kind of wild. Now, Tuesday afternoon would also reflect the franchise tag ending day, which Aaron Rodgers has admitted because of the Devontae Adams situation. And then Bocciari goes, what the fuck? It's my wedding day, dude. Come on.

What do we even got going on? Which I enjoy. Bocciari might have had a couple of booze, too, before he got his name sent to that tweet. Mike Silver's been around. I don't like him, but he's been around, so he has his sources. Everybody seems to have their sources. Florio has but he's been around so he has his sources everybody seems to have their sources florio has his sources right rap report has his sources silver has his sources there's a lot of conversation and then immediately upon those people announcing that stuff everybody on the internet who doesn't like aaron starts going

of course this guy wants the attention about him he wants attention about him it's like it's not him reporting these it's everybody else reporting these and the reason why the conversations continue to happen is because there's nothing else to talk about so if you want to bash Aaron because of this I think you could potentially bash him for his silence for how long it's taking but the fact that there is potentially other teams in the running and he's torn and everything like that that's not him that's everybody else reporting it not Aaron and I don't want to be the guy who always has to come out and say, Aaron doesn't deserve the heat that he's getting. In this particular case, I guess with how long it's taking,

people could get impatient in it all. But whenever all the rumors and hearsay start kicking out there from anonymous sources, like that's not him. That's either league sources telling other people. That's what maybe somebody within the packers building thinks is going to happen who knows if any actual decision makers or people in the know are saying any of this stuff but it has certainly gotten a lot more fascinating over the weekend and you can already tell they're kind of starting to lay the tracks for that narrative of that he is you know

a selfish prima donna asshole who just wants to get paid more because who's that woman in for greenberg this morning i've never seen her before. Let off the show. Let off the show. Aaron's incredibly selfish for Delanus. It's like, I don't know who you are. And Orlovsky was like, I don't think it's that selfish for this guy to make a lifetime decision. He's taking some time to do it.

And then Dominique Foxworth, who I don't know if he's normally on Aaron's side. I'm not 100% sure. He goes back and forth. But he was even saying, like, the player here has a little bit of leverage and say he's a two-time MVP. And this is the first time he's ever really had the chance to think about life could be with another team. So that could take some time.

And maybe Aaron didn't expect it to take this amount of time. Maybe Aaron thought after the punch of karma he had his entire mind cleared. By the way, that lady's probably really good at what she does. But, like, who the fuck are you to say that Aaron Like, you know what I mean? Come on You just expect it at this point, though You know, it's like, I mean, they have at least

Swagoo even hopped Oh, yeah, it is selfish Swagoo is what? The vaccination police That's why he started hating Aaron Rodgers in this entire thing I love Swagoo, too Like, I'm a big fan of his But it is incredibly selfish

Everybody knows that he's trying to figure out what his future is Like, because it isn't happening on their timeline it's selfish or whatever like what the fuck i don't understand it i would never understand it but i'm not aaron rogers and i mean if you want to bury him for you know signing up to drink parasites to poop and puke and so right you can do that but also when it's like the rest of his life the rest of his career and his legacy decision i assume he didn't think it was going to take this long. It is taking a lot longer than thought, but just immediately labeling him a selfish individual is just like continuing to paint a narrative

that I don't think is necessarily factual. I was also thinking about it this weekend. In the grand scheme of things, like, yeah, it's probably not as quick as we would have wanted him to decide or expected him to, but remember, like, last year, it was, you know, a fucking week before training camp. It was like, what the hell's going on here? I mean, it's still only March.

There is no official deadline until tomorrow at 4 p.m. So, like, I mean, maybe it was wishful thinking to think that he was just going to do it last week and it was all going to be, you know. I thought that's when it was going to happen. So did I. I think we all did, by the way. So did I. But then as it kind of started to drag on a little bit more,

it's like, okay, well, they're still negotiating. Like, again, I still think he's going to be a packer. Who is that lady that's hosting? I turned it on this morning while I was doing the Stairmaster. I turned it on. I'm like, all right, here we go. Get up. I enjoy get up.

They got a lot of researchers over there. But obviously somebody was telling her, like, don't you think this is selfish? That's an asshole, right? It's like, all right, are we really covering sports now or are we just trying to paint narratives about people that we don't you think this is selfish? He's an asshole, right? He's selfish? It's like, all right, are we really covering sports now, or are we just trying to paint narratives about people that we don't really understand? I think Aaron's obviously not a very, you know, normal person. By the way, Matt Rushmore in the history of football,

like that's not going to be normal. But I just, I don't know. That whole, it's like, is he? I guess because he wants to think about his future for a little bit. He wants to decide where he's going. I just don't understand. Well, think how long it takes to go on Yelp and Zillow for, I don't know, 20-some-odd NFL cities and see where he wants to go the most.

And, like, researching cities, got to go visit all these cities. Buy property in all of them. Look at the rosters of all these teams. I mean, it's a lot of time. Yeah, I think so, too. I think there's a lot that goes into it. Plus, you know, Denver, you've got great laws over there. I'd be cool to go visit them out there.

Beautiful out there. It is very beautiful. And everybody says their team is ready to go, even though I don't. I mean, this is just like last year when everybody's like, he's going to Denver. And if he goes to Denver, they'll win a Super Bowl or whatever. I'm like, Denver? Really? And I think it's because they're in that AFC West division

that kind of you rule everybody else out. It's just like the Raiders. The Raiders never really get talked about. Broncos never really get talked about. Chargers never really get talked about because it's the Chiefs division. But maybe if he goes over to Broncos, maybe Devontae Adams goes over there. And if he goes anywhere with Devontae, who knows how it's going to go. What if he goes to the Titans, even though the Titans have come out and said,

Ryan Tannehill's our quarterback. There continues to be reports from around the NFL that the Titans are in on Aaron Rodgers. What does that mean? Probably nothing. We don't know. People could just make things up. We learned last week from Daniel Jeremiah that some of his mock drafts in the past were actually created by his 13-year-old kid.

That's right. So whenever we hear about reports from anonymous league sources, who is that? We have no idea. Yeah, and people who are saying he's selfish clearly don't think about the fact that, and you said this last week, Matt Stafford leaves, he wins a Super Bowl.

Tom Brady leaves, he wins a Super Bowl. Peyton Manning leaves, he wins a Super Bowl. It's like, if he wants to take a couple weeks to figure out like, okay, if I go to a certain few places, there's a massive chance that I could probably take that team to the next level. In Tennessee, if it's him and Devontae

and A.J. Brown and Derrick Henry and Mike Grable and Terrell LaJuan, that team, I feel like, would be ready to go, which sucks for the Colts. Yeah, it absolutely sucks for the Colts. And how come Indianapolis is not anywhere on that list? Carl's a guy.

That's why. He's a goddamn ball player. He ain't leaving. He ain't going anywhere. Carl is looking to be returned for another year. Yeah, most likely. You think Aaron was like, I don't know if I can beat Wentz out. Well, I'm guessing he didn't.

Well, then after that Jim Rome interview, I don't know if he thinks beat Wentz out. Well, I'm guessing he did. Well, and then after that Jim Rome interview, I don't know if he thinks – because Mason, like that, the confidence there. Mason had a rough interview with Jim Rome. I mean, that was not necessarily his finest moment. But also, I think the Steelers are in for whoever as well. Oh, yeah. Not as much as the Commanders.

Well, yeah. The Commanders, the Washington Commanders, there was a report last week week and it was headlined that the commanders reached out to the chiefs about Mahomes the commanders have reached out to every single team about their quarterback situation allegedly now even more is coming up they reach out to Russell Wilson and Seattle Seahawks uh Ian Rappaport reported how serious are the commanders in their search for a QB sources say they made a strong offer for the Seahawks on Russell Wilson. It didn't go anywhere, but a signed Washington

is ready to deal. And given what they have on their roster, they may be a QB away. Got Scary Terry catching the rock, and then obviously on the defensive side of the ball, you got the young stud Chase kind of pillar over there. But Ron Rivera said, listen, I don't know how many

more years I'm going to be coaching. We've got a brand new name. We've got a brand new ownership. The wife is now in charge of running things. We've got a whole new building. Our stadium is still probably going to leak poop juice. It will have to. Every once in a while it will fall apart.

But it would be nice if we had a new quarterback for this brand new era we're about to enter. And they think that if they get a QB, they're going to be able to win some games. NFC East is you know, wide open. So if they get Russell Wilson in D.C., that's a place where Russell would want to go, right?

Some of the reports, I guess, are that maybe you know, Louie DiBiase Lou. What up, Lou? I think that was my doctor's name. Louie Dibiase? Dibiase is definitely a name I know. Doc Dibiase.

Dibiase, right? Wasn't there one of those pronounced Dibiase? Is that Dibiase right there? Looks like a Dibiase to me. I don't know if he's related to the Million Dollar Man or not, but. Yeah. I think it is Dibiase. Maybe it was just a Million Dollar Man.

The Million Dollar Champion, Louie Dibiassi. I was just thinking a million-dollar man. A million-dollar champion. Louis Dibiassi. Just said on NFL Network, the offer Seattle turned down from Washington from Russell Wilson involved multiple first-round picks. Again, got to wonder if it is because Wilson and the Seahawks want to keep this thing going or because Wilson has no desire to be a commander.

He said, we are not commanders. Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, that's just going to be a constant conversation piece because Russell Wilson, just like Aaron Rodgers, just like Deshaun Watson before the 22 allegations that were very, very serious and justice, whatever happens there, they all saw quarterbacks leave, get more control, be much more happy, and win. So if you're one of those guys that's up in the top elite echelon of quarterbacks in the NFL, you can't help but get a little nosy, I'd assume.

See, you know what? Peyton was cut from Jim Hersey 10 years ago today. Wow. 10 years ago today. Anniversary. Peyton Manning was cut from the Indianapolis Colts. And he goes over to Denver. John Elway says, hey, here's the keys to the building.

I got to go run like 45 car dealerships anyways. Good luck. All right, so good luck out there. Boom. They win a Super Bowl. Go to another one. And Tom Brady, you know, after getting offered a deal, allegedly from the Patriots, goes down to Tampa.

Hey, here's the keys. Do whatever the hell you want. Boom. And he immediately wins a Super Bowl. Matthew Stafford, after 12 years in Detroit of not saying a damn thing, finally says, you know what, it's time to move on. After the seventh regime change and all these losses and inevitable misery right around the corner for another season,

get me out of here. And Sean McVay, while they're down at a Cabo restaurant or resort, says, why don't you come over to LA, pal? Matthew Stafford goes over there. They go all in. Bang! Wins the Super Bowl. It's hard, I would assume, as somebody who knows that your entire legacy is going to

be judged upon how much you win, how often you win, how many rings you have, and the stats that you have, not to see what everybody else is doing and winning and not think, maybe I should do that myself. It's interesting. It's only going to heat up as this continues to go kyler murray wants a new deal before the draft yeah okay kyler murray wants a new deal before the draft i don't know if that's gonna if joey burrow joey burrow needs to say i ain't playing till you guys give me yeah 400 million dollars seriously if you're a good quarterback right now the world is your oyster and you need to dive in there. Well, I mean, and when you look at the NFC, too,

if Kyler signs that long deal, he's probably one of the only young guys. That's why, back to Aaron, that's why you should stay in the NFC, right? Like on the AFC side. I don't think any of these quarterbacks are at the top or worried about anybody else. Everybody's talking about, oh, he wouldn't want to go. Russell Wilson wouldn't want to go to the Broncos or wherever because he's in Patrick Mahomes' division.

I don't think any of the top guys care. Just not even thinking about it. I don't think they care at all. I honestly don't believe that. Tom Brady just went right into Drew Brees' division. True. I'll go right down into here. Noodle arm Brees.

Yeah, but the Saints were a buzzsaw at the time. Yeah, they won the division even. Bingo. See, here we go. I'm going to go try to win that. I don't think anybody cares about that whole thing as much as we do, although if we were to map out somebody else's decisions, it'd be much easier if they're on the NFC, I think.

But to win it, you're going to have to beat everybody anyway. Also, I think with the trade stuff, that's why it's so interesting, especially when you talk about Rodgers, about how the front office basically said, hey, we'll help facilitate a trade if you're not happy anymore. But you look at him and Russell Wilson, teams are offering, allegedly, three first-round picks, a couple starters in return, and that's still not enough to get these guys.

So you wonder, is there ever even going to be an offer that any of those teams deems OK to give up these guys? Yeah, and that was allegedly the big agreement before last season that Aaron had with the Packers was this year we'll do this, and then if you want to leave next year, we'll make it happen. Then now it's coming out like the Packers aren't going to agree to any of these trades. It's like, well, that wasn't – I thought that wasn't what the –

that's a business, I guess. Yeah, good faith. Joining us now, Switching Sports, is a man who knows everything about the association. Hell yeah. Which is happening currently. 56 points is what LeBron James just dropped the other day right in front of Matthew Stafford.

So he's all the way back. Are the Lakers going to make a playoff push? Oh, my God. How about the Nets? Seem like they kind of stink. Are they dead? What? Oh, no.

And Zion Williamson walking around with the bumpest hands in the middle of a grocery store. Is he back to tell us everything happening in the NBA? Ladies and gentlemen, senior insider for the stadium and athletic. Ladies and gentlemen, friends of the show, Sean Schumannia. Hey! What's up, dude? Pat, are you ready for Wrestlemania

Hey listen I'm in the process Okay I'm in the process I've been heavy on the Stairmaster I've been Ketoing I'm starting to see the weight already start to peel off The arms are already starting to get a little bit more ripped up The abs are starting to come in there The explosion in the legs

Is already coming back Just days back into this routine I'm feeling damn good, Shams. Hey, go ahead and crack that inside information if you'd like to, pal. See, I saw that the other day, and I was just like, yo, I got to cover this. So I can't wait to watch it, though. Well, Shams, I want to let you know. I want to let you know.

That's a bad picture of me, okay? I was like 265, 270. You look way too nice. You look way too nice in that picture. Come on, Pat. Well, thank you. In this particular case, you know who I am? I'm living a5, 270. You look way too nice. You look way too nice in that picture. Come on, Pat. Well, thank you. In this particular case, you know who I am? I'm living a dream.

Yeah. Being a WrestleMania. The guy I'm wrestling right there, Austin Deary, which I didn't know was happening until he came out and literally smacked me in the head, okay, then he ran off like a little card. I had no idea. This dude's like 24 years old, a little thirst trap,

a little bitch. Oh, jeez. I've seen little rats like this before. Hey, listen, filter face. I ain't got no problem smacking you around, but I'm going to have to get back in shape. Ain't nothing to worry about. I'll be there.

Hey, Shams, I'm excited for it. I'm pumped for it. Thank you for asking. There's a lot that's going to take place, though. You know what I mean? I'm going to have to get back in the ring. Oh, hell yeah. I'm going to have to get back in the ring.

I'm going to have to do the entire thing. Get these legs out. You know what I mean? Get in there. Let's talk about your sports, Chumps. Let's get to it. Let's get to it. Hey, that picture of Zion Williams holding a bumpus hand while they're standing up on,

that guy's wearing Jordan sweats. I don't know if that guy's with Zion or not with Zion. He's wearing a turtleneck with a chain. Is this in Portland or New Orleans? Because you reported that Zion is to return to New Orleans. They have just won four straight games. They're getting a playoff push. Zion's cleared for action. Are the Pelicans going to win it all with Zion back in action, Shams? That was in New Orleans. Zion Williamson returned to New Orleansleans on friday and listen to me the fact that he's in new orleans means that in his mind he's going to be trying to get back

and trying to ramp up eventually to try to play there's about a month left in the season you have less than 20 games left in the year so zion williamson if if a return this year wasn't really in the cards i mean you probably just end up staying in Portland for the remainder of the season. But the fact that he's now come back to New Orleans and he was making the rounds all day Sunday. Really, I saw he went to church, some Baptist church on Sunday morning. He was in the grocery store. He was seen all over town having meals and just doing whatever it is he wants to do in New Orleans,

which is exactly what New Orleans and the Pelicans have wanted, enjoy the city and become one with the city. And so he was able to do a little bit of that on Sunday while the team was in Denver. I would expect him to start re-ingratiating himself within the team this week and try to make a comeback this year. But I know for sure the Pelicans are going to be very cautious, and I haven't gotten a sense or a sign that he's going to be able to return this year.

If anything, with just so little time left in the season, it's just going to be tough for me to see the Pelicans clearing him for basketball. But it is a positive step in the right direction for Zion Winston to be back in New Orleans and try to at least make a comeback before the year is out. So you said they're not going to play him? I think that unless he makes a remarkable turnaround and really starts...

Listen, he's been clear to gradually progress in basketball activities, which means that he's going to start ramping back up again. It'll start with non-contact work, then one-on-os, then progress continually two-on-o, three-on-o, four-on-o, five-on-o, and then hopefully go try to scrimmage five-on-five. Now, will he get to that point in time before the end of the regular season?

That's what we'll see. But usually, the ramp-ups like these can take multiple, multiple weeks. What was he doing in Portland? I thought that's what he was doing in Portland. What are we even talking about? Well, in Portland, he was doing a lot of individual work. The team wasn't in Portland with him, so he was just doing a lot of 1-on-0 stuff and trying to get his foot right.

Again, he fractured his foot last summer. He was supposed to be back by now. David Griffin, the Pelicans, they all said he'd be back for opening night. He wasn't able to come back opening night. Obviously, he had multiple setbacks. So, for right now, there was a lot of confusion. Would he have another surgery? Would he be done for the year?

The fact that he doesn't have to go under the knife, it is a positive sign, but as of right now, to me, he's still facing an uphill battle to try to get back on the court. As much as in his mind, he feels like he might be able to make a return. So, Zion and the williamson team including pastor at baptist church who blessed him oh my god zion's back oh my amen amen amen oh my god he's. They all think he's ready to go, but you're saying it will be the Pelicans

who ultimately, potentially say, nah, you're not ready yet because they don't think he can run in their system. They don't think he can keep up. What do you think it will be because of? I mean, it's going to be because he won't return if he's not 100% in shape, right? If he's not in basketball shape,

if he's not in conditioning shape. What was he doing in Portland? What was he doing in Portland? I don't understand. The difference, though, between doing one-on-one work without any type of real program or real structure versus actually trying to get as part of a team structure. So I think that it's much bigger and a different setting for him to be in New Orleans,

be at the facility, be training with trainers, with coaches, and being around that program and that structure versus, you know, being a part of something that's obviously much more dialed down, which is his own one-on-one training. Oh, so he's half-assing it up there in Boylan? He's racing a bunch of times. What are we saying? I don't understand times i thought that's what he was doing i thought he was getting back in shape so that he could go down to new orleans the foot the body and if he thinks he's good to go and then the pelicans say he's not

good to go that sets up for a bunch of like right that sets up for a lot of this right over the next couple weeks i mean listen it's gonna be a group thing right he's gonna have to feel like he's 100 and if he feel like he's one i mean there's no way he feels that way right now right now he knows he has to ramp it back up what the fuck has he been doing what has been going on he's just been playing basketball up in portland been out over a year he hasn't played since i believe last april for A guy that's been out over a year. He hasn't played since, I believe, last April. For a guy that's been out this long, he's got to be able to ramp up the right way, spend multiple, multiple weeks working out with trainers, working out with coaches.

That's what Pelicans coaches, not whoever was training with him in Portland. I'm mind-boggling because as soon as I saw your tweet, I'm like, this island's bad. Yeah, let's go. He's stepping in the right direction. He technically is back in New Orleans, I'm mind-boggling because as soon as I saw your tweet, I'm like, Zion's back. Yeah, let's go. He's stepping in the right direction. He technically is back in New Orleans, and he technically is trying to progress toward playing.

Now, will that happen with a month left in the year? I mean, time is up against it for him right now. He's running up against whether he's going to be able to make his return. But this is a team that's – I mean, they've won four out of the last five. They should be a team that makes the play in. And at that point, I'm sure Zion Wilson will want to be a part of any type of playoff basketball if there is playoff basketball this year. Well, you know, they did change the entire playoff system to hopefully get Zion into the playoffs. And somehow the Pelicans were still unable to reach the playoffs.

Now they're making a playoff push. He's back in town. He thinks he's healthy. He's a double-double king. And they're not going to play him. That's going to be the playoffs. Now they're making a playoff push. He's back in town. He thinks he's healthy. He's a double-double king, and they're not going to play him. That's going to be a conversation, I assume. I assume that's going to be a loud conversation. Can't wait to see how it pans out. Speaking of another live conversation, hey, Ben Simmons up there with the Nets. He gets traded. Harden and Joel Embiid run the pick and roll. The Sixers are all the way back. Simmons is in the Nets.

They lose. They're under.500. Are they dead? And is Simmons playing? He's not playing against the Sixers, I guess, which is what the entire internet assumed was going to be the case, that this back injury was going to take place until after the Sixers return game. Does that have anything in this, or is he just trying to get back to being healthy

and hopefully joining his teammates on the Nets? No, he trying to get back to being healthy and hopefully joining his teammates on the nets no he needs to get healthy and you know he tried what happened to this guy he hasn't been playing he's been practicing what happened i don't understand how this works that's probably zion right there zion's probably telling you hey tell him tell him i'm healthy anytime anytime that you sit out for a year and you ramp back up, you're going to deal with stuff. But your body, you're going to deal with stuff. So Ben Simmons tried to ramp back up.

There were some flare-ups with his back, and so it kind of delayed his season debut. Obviously, he's not going to make his debut in Philadelphia. But I am told he will be in Philadelphia. He'll make the trip, and the plan is for him to be on the bench with the team in Philadelphia. Listen, this game has been much anticipated since that trade was made. Even him sitting on the bench is a very much anticipated moment in this NBA season. So, listen, I think there's a school of thought.

Why is Ben Simmons going to be on the bench if he's not playing? Does he know that he's going to get booed? Well, I think it's actually prudent because there's a very good chance these two teams will play each other maybe as soon as the first round of the playoffs. So if these two teams are going to be playing that quick, you don't want Ben Simmons to jump into the fray in the first round of the playoffs. You want to make sure he's able to get that experience in Philadelphia

out in the regular season. So I think that was kind of part of the thinking of him going to Philadelphia and sitting on the bench with the team and with him instead of just delaying it and just staying back. And then just if he wants to make his return to Philadelphia in the playoffs, that's a high-stakes situation to make a return. So I think for both sides, it's getting everything out of the way.

Let's let those Johns kill them on the bench. You know what I mean? Hey, Philadelphia. I'm sure they'll be nice. I don't want to bring it up, but we all know Santa got it. Santa didn't openly say, I hate this city.

Santa just showed up right they got absolutely killed through shit at syria are they gonna have like a little bit of a helmet for simmons on the sideline there or no uh i mean listen he's gotta he's gotta stay uh protected for sure so i don't know what the plan is over there he's gonna be guarded i've seen i've seen some pictures with glass where he might be covered. You never know. Anything could be possible. Listen, Ben Simmons, for the Nets, Ben Simmons has to get back

on the floor. I do expect him to make his debut at some point this month now. That's probably two or three weeks out. There is optimism that he's going to be able to make his return at some point this month. They need to make sure he gets on the floor healthy they need to make sure the mandate that we've been talking about for months and months and months now gets lifted there's a private sector

mandate that still is hovering all over this net season um that new york city still has in place that's preventing kairi arun from playing so uh the nets there are two things that they need to get uh hopefully uh falls in their favor over the next few weeks and that's ben simmons health from playing. The Nets, there are two things that they need to get hopefully falls in their favor over the next few weeks. That's Ben Simmons' health and the mandate getting lifted. Is Ben Simmons there for the long haul? How many years are left on his deal? Do we know that? He's got

three years and over 100, I believe 110 plus million. Okay, let's go back. He slaps the floor. He's learned how to shoot. These next three years are going to be the best three years of Ben Simmons' career. He's going to have to get through Philadelphia fans first, though. One more thing before the boys have some questions for you.

We appreciate you joining us every single time you do. You keep us updated on all things. Is there something going on right now? Are you about to break some news? Nothing's going on. I'm just getting blasted with text messages right now. Is it because a lot of the what the fuck went on in Portland? That Zion's not ready to play basketball.

I thought that's what he was going to Portland for. What's going on with Ben Simmons? We thought he was mentally not healthy enough to play in Philly. Here it is. Here it is. Said Adam Silver, he was sitting there with Jerry Seinfeld down at the Duke game. He's got Colin Shamsharania here in the middle. Hey, by the way, not your world because it's college.

Damn losing to UNC on that day. Hell yeah. Losers. Oh, my. No, listen. Everybody shut up. All right? That's unacceptable.

What a send-off. That was tough. Hey, those kids would go win a natty for them. That would be a whole different game. That's right. Let talk about braun james he just dropped a 56 piece this comes after a clip from him talking at the shop not being you know heralded as one of the greatest scorers of all time pisses him off he has like 36 000 maybe like 37 000 now at this point i don't know the actual numbers third all-time leading scorer he's like 4 000 points ahead of michael jordan by the way so he's way up there he drops 56 he's still trying to carry the lakers this season are they still dead completely or what's going on with the lakers

i don't i don't think they're dead but yeah i mean lebron james has been carrying this team uh for for really weeks now so uh his his he's, he's carrying the entire burden right now. But listen, Russell Westbrook took a step in the right direction the other day, I thought, the way he played against the Warriors. And so this team, as long as they have LeBron James, they're in it. They're hoping for Anthony Davis to return at some point late in the year. But listen, this is a team that's going to be probably a play-in team, and then they're going to have to hopefully have some breaks

and get lucky in some way. Hey, the NBA having LeBron in a play-in game is like dream scenario, right? I mean, that's pretty big. Those will do numbers. For rating, I mean, I think last year when they played the Warriors in the play-in game, that one definitely did numbers. So, yeah, I mean, listen, that's why you go and you get the play-in game and you get the play-in tournament so that the ratings increase.

It's like baseball. You know, baseball's got 7,000 games, but then they have that one game. Hey, this one gets you in. Season definitely mattered, but this one gets you in. Same thing with basketball over the last couple years. Golden State, complete opposite, right? They are – Golden State's a wagon right now. Is that accurate?

They're going to win it all? They need to get Draymond Green back. They need to get James Wiseman back. And once those two guys are back, I think you're going to be able to see whether this team is going to be able to make a run, right? Draymond Green, the hope is that he's back sometime middle of this month. And once you get Draymond Green back, that's really the anchor of this team, the heart and soul of this team.

They need him back 100% and healthy. If he's healthy and he looks like the Draymond Green we saw earlier this year, the Draymond Green that made an all-star team, I think they're going to be one of the favorites along with Phoenix in the Western Conference. Do you think there's too many games? All these dudes are hurt?

No. There's been 82 games for the longest. I think it's an unfortunate stretch especially with back injuries right we saw derrius garland go through it draymond green had a back issue ben simmons had a back issue um you know kd obviously had the knee so he's back right kd's back right two games schedule i mean this is something the nba has been doing for decades so guys got to play that wait i think i remember them talking like the sleep schedule is insane a lot of these guys only get like four hours of sleep the recovery is

terrible so that's been an entire conversation piece kd's all the way back though right that's what he didn't want to come back until he was 100 he said i don't want to be used as a decoy i like to go in there and be full time is kevin durant all the way back yeah he's back and we saw him last uh yesterday against boston i mean he looks 100 back he just needs to make sure that he can get the help on a nightly basis right when uh when kairi erving is playing 100 full time when ben simmons is back on the floor uh this next team with kevin drann on the floor they're a threat to beat any

team in the league but they need those two guys next to him to be able to you know make that next run but uh kevin drann looked great the other night in Boston. He looked like he didn't miss a step. Excited to see him the rest of the week as well as Thursday against Philadelphia. I love Kevin Durant. Everything about him. He's an absolute dog. He's a

savage. He's a troll and he's great at what he does. He doesn't care about anybody. He cares about his teammates. He doesn't give a damn about all the noise. I absolutely love it. Go ahead, Connor. Yeah, Sean, speaking of Boston, they are by far the hottest team in the NBA. Probably going to go win the championship this year if I had to guess.

Do you see them adding a piece like a Zion? 14-2 in the last 16. We are rolling right now. Celtics team. Jason Tam just had 54 points against Kevin Durant. Beat his ass in and out of the paint. It's his first game back. Kevin Durant's first game back.

Yeah, 100% though. Don't matter. He's unbelievable. Shams, so the Celtics championship? Yeah, probably. I don't know about a championship, but I mean the turnaround that they had this year, they looked like they were dead in the waters early in the year. I thought there was obviously a lot of talk.

Which direction will they go? Will they break up Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum? They kept both of them. They stuck with Marcus Smart. They stuck with this group. Really, pretty much the core of this group is the same as it's been for the last several years. This is a team, to me, that can really give any team a run. Try to make a run again to the Eastern Conference,

which I believe would be their fourth Eastern Conference final in six years. So they've been on the doorstep a few times of making the NBA final. They haven't been able to do it. I think this year they've got a good shot to get back to that point. I don't know if they've got a championship team, but there's no question. The run that they made, the turnaround they made, you have to give Imei Yudoka credit. You've got to give Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum a lot of credit

because those two guys, Marcus Smart called them out early in the year saying that those guys need to learn to trust their teammates, need to learn how to pass the ball more. And both of those guys are making strides with their leadership, and that's what this organization is needed. Hey, Shams, listen, you don't have to lie to Connor, all right? Celtics stink. They're dead.

No, no. These ain't the days when Paul and all the boys are jogging out of there. Don't you worry. Brad Stevens, actually, you know, now he's in the presidential role. Yeah. Your guy. Your indie guy right there. Yeah.

Yeah, you guys, they ran him out of town. They say his head stinks. Get him out of town. He's the president. He still works for the team. What do you mean? Yeah, kind of. But that's like the John Elway movie.

Like, yeah, we're going to promote you. Yeah. Run you out of town. Give you a better job. Is he actually calling the shots over there, Brad Stevens, now?'s like the John Elway movie. They're like, yeah, we're going to promote you. Yeah, run you out of town. Give you a better job. Is he actually calling the shots over there, Brad Stevens, now, or is it just a figurehead? Brad Stevens is the president of the organization. They have a few other, you know, Mike Zarin, Austin Ainge,

who's Danny Ainge's son. He's still in that organization. They both have, you know, prominent roles, but there's no question. Brad Stevens, this is Brad Stevens' show. Brad Stevens' vote's worth two. Yeah, bingo. Is that accurate? I don't know about two, but he's definitely got the number one vote.

Oh, yes. He's got two. Yeah, go ahead, Evan. Shams, what's this rumor that LeBron's going to own a team in Las Vegas? Yeah, I don't know anything about that one, so I definitely cannot answer that one. Really? Sure. Oh, so that's all for the days. That's a bunch of bullshit? Wow. That's a bunch of bullshit?

That's a bunch of bullshit. I haven't heard it, so when I hear it, I'll come on and we'll talk about it, but I haven't heard it yet. Oh. Sean, so listen, I ain't talking out of pocket. I might be out of the circle. I don't know. I might be out of that circle. I have no idea. Now, last week you said you called Rich Paul and said, like, hey, is there any beef between you and

LeBron and the Lakers? And he said, absolutely not at all. Now there's a conversation about him being. How about this one? LeBron is still playing. Maybe when he's close to retiring, I'll ask. Oh. So is there any talk at all about an expansion? I think the league's always been looking into it.

But with the pandemic the last couple years, it kind of got prolonged. I haven't gotten the sense that it's in the next one or two or three years now could could it could the plan start to develop in that amount of time for sure but i don't think this is something that's going to pop up in the next you know in this calendar year how about the pacers they they still going to be in the nba next year or are they going good question yes the paces will be in the nba next year wow how are we doing are we good are we terrible no not very bad i, not good. Very bad. I don't know if Miles Turner and Malcolm Brogdon are still going to be there. It seems like clearly there's two different directions that team can go.

They could keep both of those guys and keep retooling with a bunch of vets and young players. But, yeah, the Pacers will still be in the NBA. They stink right now though, huh? They're looking like they're a lottery team, yes. Oh, man, we stink! I haven't even paid attention. Now it's like basketball season.

Now's when I would get into the Pacers. You're saying the only thing to get into is maybe they lose more games to gain a half a percentage opportunity to potentially land in the number one overall pick. Is that still happening in the NBA? People are tanking so they can gain a half a percentage or maybe a percentage higher so they can get a higher pick in that lottery that isn't rigged at all, right?

I mean, that little bingo ball isn't rigged at all in that entire thing, right? No one's going to say it, but, I mean, just look at the bottom teams and you're going to see a bunch of teams that are clearly, you know, you're going young, right? You want to build around young players, but usually when you have a team full of first and second year players, that usually means you're going to be, you know, fighting for lottery positions. Unless you're Memphis. Memphis is a two and three year guys, and they're competing for a top seed. I watched the NBA through social media clips, okay?

Ja Morant has all the social media clips as of late. Has he just come on into his own or am I just learning about him more often? He, cause it feels like he's the guy right now. John Morant seems to be the young guy that has gone Trey young last year during the playoff run there. Whenever he was making all of Madison square garden, Matt felt like he had his big, like, Hey, how you doing, I'm Trey Young moment.

Is that happening with Ja right now, and how are the Memphis team? Yeah, no question. I think Ja Morant has definitely been one of the faces of Italy. Memphis is going to be a team, again, I don't know if they're going to be, like Boston, I don't know if they're going to be a team that gets to the finals, but they're definitely going to be a hard out in every round. They could make a run to the conference finals. And Ja Morant, because of their success,

because he's been able to stay on the floor for the majority of the season, and the way the highlight plays, the way he moves, the way he plays, I mean, this is like Derrick Rose, Allen Iverson, Russell Westbrook, kind of all packaged into one. And the way the highlight plays he's making right now, there's a reason why he's on every single social channel out there. He's a dog, right? That's what everybody says.

He's just a dog. To me, he's loyal. He's got a lot of Giannis in him where he's going to attack you. Like you said, he's a dog. He's a guy that's going to play hard at all times, lead the right way. He's exactly the type of player that you want to lead your franchise. Was he in that Foot Locker commercial you were in when you were looking for a new phrase?

Do you remember we were watching it last week? Guys, I need a new phrase. He should have been there. I don't think he was there, though. Hey, look at you getting a phrase. Let's go, Sean. Saw a photo of you last week crossing nobody, but it was better crossed than the other person that was in the photo with you.

And I saw the Foot Locker thing. Let's go, Sean. Go ahead, Tom tell me i'm speaking of jaw is there conversations around the nba you know greg odin kevin durant zion john morant like is that's that's happening right uh i mean i i think you hear it sometimes in barber shops and like maybe pundits but i haven't that's not something i talk about on a daily basis with my people. Thank you, Sean, for being positive, asshole. He is special, and he's an insane athlete. He can do stuff on the floor. I think J.J. Redick said it best.

He does stuff on the floor that no one else can do. And so that's 6'6", 6'7", for him to dunk the way he dunks and move the way he moves. It's uncanny. He just needs to get healthy. But what was he in? What was he doing he doing in port wasting a lot of time why do you go to portland just hang out yeah listen he was making sure the foot was healing right spending time training uh under you know whoever he was training with over there and making sure before he gets back to new orleans he his foot is healing the right way.

It is. He's back in New Orleans. Now he's going to try to ramp up. Portland must be gorgeous. He just went up there to hang out. Beautiful. He comes back to New Orleans like, nah, he ain't ready. Now he can ramp up.

Now he can ramp up. I don't understand. It must be beautiful. I don't know if anybody could stop you on the court. I think the entire NBA is very lucky that you chose to cover it and be an insider because with handles like this... Holy shit!

Look at that Mamba mentality! I can shoot it a little bit. I can definitely shoot it a little bit. I'm just saying. I think you got a little wiggle in there, too. I'm not 100% sure because this is a static photo, but I think there was a little bit of wiggle in there, too. Let's go, Shams. Hey, we appreciate

you. Who's winning it all? Thanks, guys. You ask me this every time. I think it's like five or six teams that I think have a shot. Golden State, Utah, and then in the East, guys, I mean, Miami, Milwaukee, Philly, Brooklyn, Boston. Where the hell's the Bulls?

Throw Boston in there. Chicago's four, five, six seeds right now. The East is going to be a fun, fun Boston in there. Chicago's, you know, four, five, six seeds right now. Like the East is going to be a fun, fun playoff run. I can't wait to watch. This is when basketball gets good. When did the playoffs start? April 16 is when the play-in tournament starts. So that's really when the fun begins.

All right. We can't wait to keep up with everything happening in the association via you. Ladies and gentlemen, senior lead NBA insider, writer, and analyst for the athletic and stadium. Ladies and gentlemen, Sean Sharani. Thank you. Fresh out of a wedding in Santa Barbara, California. Whoa. Two people deeply in love decided to commit forever to each other.

It was beautiful. No stone left unturned from the photos that I seen. It was a glorious occasion. A B-list? Sure. What is he? Yeah, yeah. I'd give you Bela.

Bela's A-list Hollywood star was playing the piano at one point. There was flowers. There was love. There were booze. There were celebrities. And there was one man officiating the entire wedding that the entire world is looking at to decide what they are going to do with their programs depending upon what he does

with his program. Ladies and gentlemen, a man that was there had boots on the ground, jaw in conversations, ears listening all over the place, somehow made his way back to Columbus, Ohio already, didn't even miss a day, probably incredibly hungover. Ladies and gentlemen, Super Bowl champion, college football national champion, COVID survivor, Aaron Rodgers' best friend, A.J. Hall. Hey, A.J. A.J., how you doing, Paul? I'm good. I'm doing well.

How are you guys doing? Hey, we're very impressed that you were able to make it back for today's show. Thought there was zero chance you were going to fly out to a wedding in California and make it back. Thought we wouldn't see you until at to fly out to a wedding in California and make it back. Thought we wouldn't see you until at least tomorrow. The fact that you're here, we're very thankful.

Thank you, AJ. What am I, just going to hang out and spend a day? My wife and I spend a day in California by ourselves. Well, I don't know what you would do.

We took off. Believe me, when we left the hotel to go to the airport, there were some people still up, still straggling in from the party so like yeah we got out of there pretty early okay so let's talk about a great party

it sounds like a good time bach tiaris hey forever we love love people are having a good time out there a lot of big time names out there aj hawk how was your time out there at his wedding i had a great time it was it was good to catch up with some former teammates you know clay matthews out there josh sitting got to see those guys. Randall, all different kinds of guys that I played with. Micah Hyde was actually there. Micah, I played with my rookie year. Fun to see him.

Crazy that he's going into his 10th season. I was talking to him about that. So, yeah, it was a fun time, man. There was others there. LaFleur was there. And there was somebody officiating the wedding named Aaron Rodgers. Don't know if you know that. Was there a moment where there was no groomsmen up there, no brides?

He was just standing in front of an entire congregation. Did he look like David Koresh? And did you get any photos of that? I did not take any pictures, really, when I was out there. But, yeah, there was a time. There was a few, I don't know, maybe 20, 30 seconds when he walked up by himself and then he stood up there in front of everybody, yeah. How did he look?

How did he do? Was he comfortable, calm, poised? What was the speech like? What was the service like? Well, we were all set to heckle him, do whatever it took to get him off his game. Siddy and Clay and I, no question, and Randall. But you know what? Not surprising.

He was prepared. He was very funny and very, like, touching and emotional. He did a great job. I think he gave the bride and groom what they wanted. It was good. And they did get married. They are officially married, I believe. Yes! What a success story. What a love story.

Love, love. We love love around here. We do love love. We kind of get attacked for naught sometimes when we have to say the hard things that nobody else wants to say, but we love love around here, don't we? Did he do that? Hey, Bocciaris, we love you. Love Hey, Bocciari's, we love you. Love you, Bocciari's. Did the officiant of the wedding do any of this at the end of it

whenever he was walking out? If he did, I did not see it, but that would have been a nice touch. Did he say anything in the service like, hey, Bocciari, it was fun being teammates with you now that you're married. I don't have to deal with you anymore. Was there any type of that during the service service or those conversations happen afterwards at the reception oh good tmz

obviously and he's just sending it in wow yeah i don't know yeah that's a good picture yeah it was it was uh he didn't he made plenty of jokes up there during the during his little you know during the ceremony but they were all i feel like everybody was laughing it wasn't just one person he didn't sit out there and say okay i've had fun with you david now i'm off to denver to go see greener pastures hey that's a good transition thank you aj that's good hosting so as you were traveling out to california for this wedding in which aaron was involved a lot of your former teammates and the celebrities around miles dollars oh man top gun how's his face his face is good after getting jumped in hawaii he looks great that's good good for miles

thought he was dead there for a little bit yeah seriously you know what i mean he thought he was yeah i was very worried about miles teller's face happy it's okay you know that's a that was a real shame there the way that whole thing happened. I was pissed about it for weeks. Bum be a part of it. Because we broke that news that he got punched in the mouth. It wasn't anybody else. It was our story.

Inside source. Fucking Miles Teller. So let's talk about the wedding. Right before you guys go out there, a bomb is dropped. Boom. And I think it's because of Combine conversation. I'm not 100% sure. And I don't know who was initially the one reporting it.

I don't know if it was Mike Silver, who is a piece of shit, but he's been around the NFL for a long time, and he has a lot of source. I don't know if it was Ian Rappaport. I don't know if it was Fowler. I don't know who it was exactly. But somebody said, hey, listen, Aaron's torn. Aaron is very, very torn up about this because we

thought this thing would be ending last week he'd just go back to the Packers they were in the middle of negotiations now Fowler's reporting it's going to be a three to four year deal if he is to go back to the Packers even though initial reports were it was only going to be a two-year deal so who knows anything maybe nobody and if it is a four-year deal. So who knows anything? Maybe nobody. And if it is a four-year deal, maybe the last two years are voidable so that it can spread out the bonuses for all of them. That is all to be figured out at this point. But we all assumed he was going to still be a packer going into this weekend. Then the bombs dropped.

Like, nah, he's torn. He might go elsewhere. Then there's three other teams, the Broncos, the Titans, and the Steelers are potentially in the conversation, says Florio, because of his insiders and who he's hearing from. After going to the wedding, what are your thoughts? Did you ask Aaron directly, and what did he tell

you he was going to do? I did not ask him directly what he was going to do. He was like, even, bitch. Our show is boots on the ground. You're right. As what didn't Rap Sheet tell us, i'm not using my sources correct yeah it's your friends they're not your friends or your sources i just turned this thing all the way up as loud as i could just blow up both of my ears oh no oh my god that hurt

so bad that's why i can't be playing basketball that's why this was zion's thinking probably but whatever you think about aaron rogers and you know the entire situation a lot of noise tomorrow the franchise tag deadline ends at 4 o'clock. He obviously knows that. He mentioned that whenever he was thinking about going, whenever he was telling us he was going into decision-making mode after the PK, obviously, after the Ponch Karma cleanse. He had that.

Was there any sense that he hated everybody there? He didn't want to go back to the Packers? Was there any conversation at all that you heard? I did not get the sense that he hated everybody there? He didn't want to go back to the Packers? Was there any conversation at all that you heard? I did not get the sense that he hated anybody out there. His head coach was out there. Coordinator Stenovich was out there as well. Everyone seemed to get along great as far as I was able to observe. Pull on the ticker.

Do we have a ticker? I don't even know. Do we have a ticker? Pull on the ticker right there. Pull on the ticker. So, did we know? Is this information confirmed, this so-called bomb that you say dropped?

No. Of course not. None of it is. None of it's confirmed. The only thing that is confirmed is that we thought his decision would have been made by now. And since everybody else thought that as well, they are now labeling him selfish.

And he is obviously manipulating the media to be about him and everything like that I got people tweeting me of course you're talking about Aaron Rodgers well the MVP of the league is potentially on the move have to talk about it he is the story though on every single network right now and they were calling him selfish prima donna prick

everything like that basically because of sources that were breaking information about him that weren't necessarily him. It's an insane world that he lives in, and I'm happy to hear that you were with him while all these things were breaking down. You have a daily show you're a part of,

and you chose not to ask him anything about it. That's a good friend, AJ. That's right. You're a good friend, AJ. He was a bit preoccupied, by the way. He was going through the program that he was going to run that night earlier in the day when I was able to sit down with him for a little bit. I was more quizzing him on the program and what it was going to be, how long it may be.

I know the sun was coming from one direction, hitting me right in the side of the face. It was about 445 at night. You know how I go with that. I am not good at staying awake. That sun's hitting me right in the left side. But luckily, Aaron was entertaining enough. I stayed awake, and I really enjoyed the ceremony. Oh, she didn't snooze during the ceremony.

That's a compliment. Wow. That's a big time compliment good work yeah aaron was very uh diligent very nervous for his performance up there is that the first wedding he's ever done i believe it's the first wedding he has done i don't think he was nervous if he if he was he didn't show any signs of that either before or on stage you know love was in the air out there from what we heard. What does that mean? Well, there were some photos and some hanky panky. What photos?

Honestly, I haven't seen any photos because I know it wasn't a big thing out there. Well, somebody snuck photos. Of course. Somebody always will. This photo was on TMZ, but there was, I guess, reports that he was getting his rear end

pinched by somebody. Oh, jeez. During the cocktail hour. his rear end pinched by somebody. By the cheeks. During the cocktail hour. During the cocktail hour. By somebody. You know that cocktail hour? Who was pinching his cheeks? You know.

Well, you know. I don't want to say the name, but she was potentially a part of the conversation that we had with him a couple weeks ago in the background, but he turned the TV off. That's cool. So you don't deny it. I haven't seen the picture, but hey, whatever is out there, if you see a picture and you think it's real, it might be real. I don't know.

We got you. His little baby cake's pinched. Is that news? Well, it is news because of who was doing it, because of everything that was potentially said. But, I mean, you had the eyes on the ground there, and you say if you see the photo, it's real. If not, everything else is real.

I kind of have my blinders on man a lot of the a lot of the weekend what a terrible spot you're in there's so many yeah it's really not it's really not because i don't have any information i didn't i'm not out there like do you think i would get invited to things if i'm out there quiz and do so hey like i don't want to can i record this like what should uh you want to talk about like i'm not out there no i know that but you just see something, and then you're coming right into the – you know the Thunderdome. Yeah. We're going to say, oh, who did you talk to out there?

Did you have any conversations with anybody else other than Aaron out there? Yeah, I talked to a lot of people. It's fun. Actually, I talked to somebody. I forget who it was. Just before the show, I started thinking about this. I don't know who it was, but they thought you were for sure wrestling Vince McMahon. And I was like, I don't know. Maybe eventually he's wrestling Vince McMahon. That's Vince McMahon and I was like I don't know maybe eventually he's wrestling

Vince McMahon that's what I thought what is this guy Austin Deary dude that's the internet the internet said I was going to wrestle Vince McMahon it was news to me I didn't even know I was wrestling this guy until he slapped me in the mouth AJ this guy smacked me in the mouth

knocked your headset off is that right yeah right there in Miami I I thought Jimmy Butler was – I mean, you kind of put your face out there. You kind of welcomed that. No, I was letting him know. What? What? That's almost what I was saying.

What? What? Excuse me. I was having a good time. It was one day removed from being told I have a WrestleMania match. This is awesome. What's your problem, AJ? Stop siding with these goons.

Who'd I side with? I didn't side with Austin. Adam Cole. Adam Cole. Then now Austin Terriot. He's a nice guy. Adam Cole. Adam Cole. And now Austin Theory. It's a nice guy. Adam Cole still is a very nice guy. Son of a bitch.

Out there. He's a sack. Never was. And neither are you, by the way, because, you know, you put us in a spot where we have to ask these questions to you, and I never get a goddamn answer. Yeah. Interesting.

You would have thought of us. What was LaFleur like? LaFleur's eyebrows looked incredible? Yeah. Very nice tux. Yeah. Very squared away. Very impressive person. Yeah. No question. You didn't play for him, right? What was LaFleur like? LaFleur's eyebrows looked incredible? Yeah, very nice tux. Yeah, very squared away, very impressive person. Yeah, no question.

You didn't play for him, right? When did you meet him for the first time? Actually, when I was, I had a long and lustrous career with the Atlanta Falcons for about three and a half weeks. He was the quarterback coach during that time, so I briefly met him and talked to him then and then reconnected a little bit this weekend. Oh, so this is the first time meeting LaFleur? What were your thoughts on him as a human? I got like i said the most time i've spent with him oh

he's awesome super smart super driven like detail oriented seems to really really care about the team too has a good time yeah definitely like a guy that we actually can talk to like real conversations not just like hey man so what do you think i should do should i go more two by two or three by one in the red zone like he's not one of those guys did man, so what do you think I should do? Should I go more two-by-two or three-by-one in the red zone? Like he's not one of those guys. Did you talk to him about this? I did not actually. I honestly didn't think about that.

I should have. All right. I mean, I'll text you next time. Do you think they'll ever really, like if you keep doing it, they might actually get quieter the more you do it. No, no. Well, you think every time you do it, it does raise a decibel level, do you think?

It has to, yeah, because people forget to cheer. Oh, yeah, here we go. We need to cheer. Did he do it at the wedding, too? Did he do it at the wedding? Probably did. Afterwards, I'm going to pronounce you husband and wife on the floor. Yeah!

Come on! Come on! Come on, guys! Come on! If we could have set that up before, if we would have talked about that beforehand, I think the old Takatari family would have been all in on that. When they like, and I now pronounce you man and wife or whatever, and then all of a sudden the floor gets up and pumps the crowd.

Come on. Let's go. Make some noise. Is that what he sounds like when he does it? I don't know. That's what it looks like through the TV. I don't know. I've never heard him speak.

I've never talked to him. But it does look like he's doing, come on. Come on. Come on, guys. Get up. But I love the way he coaches. You know, because the way Aaron ch But I love the way he coaches. You know, because the way Aaron chatted about him is like he delegates,

he's not scared to admit when he doesn't know something, seems like he's a cool dude, and he does dress incredibly sweet as well on the sideline. Of course, though. Those things, though, are awesome. I mean, Ty, I think you should have maybe been the officiant of that one. Sounds like Green Bay Packers heaven over there. Well, I mean, if he was calm, cool, and collected and having a good time, then I see no reason why you would think Rodgers is going anywhere but the Packers.

Because if he potentially wasn't, I mean, I guess maybe he's still showing up because Bakhtiari's there, but that's a very awkward situation. He knows Aaron's going to be there a bunch. You can book it. Rodgers is going back to Green Bay. Okay, lock it in, says Ty. Here we go. What a ticker.

Ty Schmidt says, because LaFleur was having a good time at Bakhtiari's wedding and he wasn't uncomfortable and it wasn't awkward, book it that Aaron's going back to Green Bay. Boom. Think it's as simple as that? See, that's not how I think. Hey, that's reading social cues. What, you thought it was a goodbye party?

What are you saying, Tony? Well, I mean, if he was going back and well he would have announced it before the wedding now that he's waited till after he didn't want to have the wedding be awkward because he wasn't going back well see i also thought there was a chance he didn't want to announce it before the wedding because that wedding then becomes a celebration that aaron rogers is back with the packers as opposed to the bakhtiari wedding like that is a real thing that could have now this is assuming is assuming that Aaron Rodgers is a human, which a lot of people don't think that is the case.

But that is something that could have crept into his, you know, universe in his whole thought process. Did you, I mean, you had to have. Like, you had to have gotten some sort of hint about how he's, like, do you think he's nearing an answer? I said from day one. No, I don't know if he's nearing anything. I don't know what he's waiting for or whatever.

Yeah, I still, like I would say to his face all the time, you're going back to Green Bay. I always say that. All right, so after a wedding in which Aaron was the officiant of, with Bocciari, LeFleur, everybody there, A.J. Hawk back saying, just like I said before, still going to the Packers. Those reports of him going elsewhere,

and then the Packers have come out and said, we have received no official trade offers. And then the reports are, these teams already got trade offers ready to go. It's wild about who knows what. Who's speaking to who? Who wants certain information out? Who doesn't?

That is the game we have to play all offseason. Hopefully we'll get an answer from the officiant. Doctor of love. That's right aaron rogers hell yeah that's something he's i mean he's the only one that knows though right now he is truly the only one that knows what he's going to do whoa okay there's some more news from aj hawk from the wedding i knew it who else would know if he hasn't told if he hasn't said anything to the packers whether he's coming back, whether he wants out, whatever, how many people do you think he's telling? What if he doesn't know?

He probably has no idea. I think when he knows, he'll know. So he has to figure that out by tomorrow, right? 4 o'clock is what everybody's saying. I don't know. Is that what they're saying? I mean, he doesn't have to, but that would help, wouldn't it? Kind of does.

All right, put it down. AJ Hawk says he doesn't have to know. He can wait until July 30th if he wanted. If he doesn't want to play with Devontae. Write it down. He can wait until September 27th after they play a few games. What? I don't think he could.

I think they'd want him for the start of the season. That would be a little tough. What would he do? That's the feeling you got from going out there? No, I didn't gather anything going out there. Oh, okay. All right, let's move along since we're obviously not going to get anything we've reached. I would love to know what you want.

I cannot wait until this is done, by the way. The whole thing? The whole thing, yeah. Yeah, me too, buddy. How about it? I don't even talk to the guy. I don't go to these weddings, and I just get fucking added. Bang, bang, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb.

It's all right. I mean, it doesn't matter. Like, we don't, nobody really knows. Nobody has any clue what's going on, really, ever. So, here we are again. All right, welcome to the show. Welcome to the show. I just can't believe, on the drive, when you two were sitting in the big rig from California

to Columbus, that you two didn't talk about this at all. What are you insinuating? COVID's dead, but if it wasn't, I think what Diggs is saying is you would have been up there with them truckers up there coming all the way through from all the way over. I guess there was eyes

on the convoy by the Italian boys heading back to Pittsburgh this weekend. And I'll tell you what, I thought we'd beat COVID already. But I was down in Miami. They didn't see that. Everybody, we're talking, full. In Florida? Yeah, Miami.

I don't think Florida. Miami. First time I landed in an airport, everybody's pissed, by the way. Everybody was miserable. I've never seen anything like it. You live in fucking Miami. What are we even doing? Over there. Alright, dude. Jeez Louise. Hey, is there any way? No. This is Miami.

Alright. Great to see you. Can you take... Are you actually pissed right now or is this just your natural tone? Bring the mask down. Miserable. Put the mask back on miami was full it was the most it was maybe the most mass conscious uh area that i've ever been even in the arena oh yeah legit like been around we're in california we've been in all these i've been in new york baltimore philly i've been all the big cities that were kind of having a mess

miami was the most masked group of people at work that i have seen at the airport at the arena everything like that and this came after i thought the speech said that we beat kovat so i was very i was very surprised in that whole thing but maybe that's what the truckers are still driving private don't let the santas get down there and see that oh yeah listen tear that place apart. Take the fucking mask off. Take those fucking masks off. Word if you want, but you're not fooling anybody. Okay.

Respect. DeSantis has been his own outlaw since the beginning of this entire thing. Boy, the internet loved him telling that kid to take the mask off. Oh, man. the internet loved it kids reaction to it too like jesus christ what did i do someone just told me i had to put it literally somebody my teacher just told me i had to well in the sense like what is your teacher okay fire the santa's going to tell your teacher doesn't want to teach anymore that's why it's an entire thing it is it is interesting because obviously there's something very serious going on around the world.

And I don't know enough about the politics, but I thought we had beat COVID. I don't think that is the case, though. After landing in Miami, I do not think that is the case. I still think we're in the middle. Hey, a dude on a guy, one of the flight attendants did mention, I overheard him talking to somebody saying he thinks the 18th they might take away masks in the airplane. That would be awesome. Whoa. That's a they might take away masks that's a big deal breaking that's a big deal we better have covered figured out by then yeah how many days is that 11 days yeah well they better figure it out fast i mean he could have been he could have been making that up easily but i i heard that i was like oh okay i didn't know if they're ever taking masks off on airplanes what was that that was the person on the microphone

because every once in a while some people get on there and cut like a hot five-minute promo. You know what I mean? Is that what they were saying? Is that who it was? Or was it somebody just... No, he was actually very nice, but he was talking to somebody in front of me and saying, he's like, oh, we would probably still wear masks, but the 18th, I think they might go away. I was like, oh, okay, nice.

That'll be an entire conversation. I did see something here. TSA did say that it would end March 18th. Holy shit. Okay. So 11 days from now, we beat COVID? That sounds like it. Holy shit.

But right now, we didn't? Yeah. So they're projecting 11 days from now, we'll do a little bit better? Sounds like it. All right, let's go. Let's go. I don't want to celebrate too early. But what day of the week is that?

It's a good sign. We all just hopping on planes? Oh, it's a Friday, too. That's cool. Oh, for the weekend. Spring break. Oh. St. Paddy's.

St. Paddy's. It's a day after St. Paddy's, right? But that's St. Paddy's weekend, I guess. St. Paddy's is going to be big this year, isn't it? Not like the first one where most people can be out, I guess. I went to the mall this weekend. Never doing that again. But went to the mall this weekend never doing that again but went to the mall this weekend and it was like the first weekend i think where everybody was like the weather was nice and the covid fear was a little bit lower i think for

some people it was packed out i mean that place was packed out at the mall feels like the world is all coming back now seems like we're doing this 11 days 12 days in advance we shouldn't we should maybe be waiting a little bit but it feels like saint patrick's day is going to be uh we're back bitch celebration yeah wow saint patrick got rid of the snakes now the masks well covet it sounds like gonna be a big day for us irish lads uh boys huge well saint patrick was italian so listen no he wasn't don't even do he wasn't. Don't even do what you just did. Don't even do what you just did. Son of a bitch.

Let's move along, okay? Franchise tag deadline tomorrow, 4 p.m. Everybody assumes that Aaron Rodgers will have his decision by then? Do they? Are you trying to look at me? I'm not trying to look at me? I'm not trying to. So what do they have to do with Devontae Adams before 4 p.m.? What has to happen?

They have to tag him or not tag him. They have to decide to tag him. He doesn't have to sign off on the tag, though, right? No, they designate him a tag, but they could potentially want to use that for somebody else if they know Devontae's not going to be there because Aaron's not going to be there. Why would you keep them both?

Who knows? The NFL can figure out their own thing. Green Bay can figure out what they want to do. Aaron's decision, we all assumed, will be done by now. It's obviously a much larger decision than anybody is giving any respect to at this particular point. His future, his legacy, championships, his life, whatever. Hopefully he'll make that decision.

But tomorrow by 4 p.m., teams have to have it designated who they're going to franchise tag. Cleveland Browns today, David Njoku, tight end for the Browns, has officially been franchise tagged. That does not mean a long-term deal cannot be reached. They can still negotiate after the tag has been placed, but it does mean he is definitely going to be a Cleveland Brown for at least another year.

Now, this automatically brings a lot of stats and facts and tweets from people about Njoku and whether or not he's worth the millions and millions of dollars guaranteed that comes with the franchise tag. I guess he's only had one game with 80 or more yards than that game this past season. Bill Barnwell tweeted that. That was an interesting stat. They must view him as a very critical piece of that offense, whether it's blocking or in the locker room or whatever the case.

Austin Hooper due another $13 million next year. Now the decision about what he's going to do or what they're going to do with him is up in question. But Njoku is the first official tag of the 2022 year over there in Cleveland, A.J. Hawk. Yeah, they definitely value Njoku. I mean, watch the guy. He's an absolute freak athlete. You watch him move. I know he had some drop issues early in his career A.J. Hawk. Yeah, they definitely value Njoku. I mean, watch the guy. He's an absolute freak athlete.

You watch him move. I know he had some drop issues early in his career. He doesn't anymore. He's definitely gotten better at that, and they value him a lot. But something's going to have to happen with Hooper's contract, right? Either move stuff, give him bonuses, make him take a cut, something for him to be there. Well, I think if they cut him, they save a certain amount of money,

and then they'd probably trade him. I assume some teams are going to want Austin Hooper. He came in as a road grader for Atlanta, but to make some plays for them as well. They save a certain amount of money, and then they could probably trade him. I assume some teams are going to want Austin Hooper. He came in as a road grader for Atlanta but could make some plays for them as well. Post 6-1, trade or release, they save about $10 million. So that's potentially what everybody's staring down. So that stinks for Hooper because June 1 is a long time. There's a lot of contracts and teams that already get pieced together.

Who knows what that entire thing unfolds. Baker Mayfield's going to be their quarterback next year. Njoku is going to be there. Chubb, Hunt, they got that offensive line. I mean, they got a squad. Are they going to be able to do anything? Who knows? Chris Godwin, allegedly going to be franchise tag for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now, that has not been

officialized. That has just been hearsay. There has been rumors on the internet. We all know. I mean, I was supposed to, Vinceahon was supposed to fist fight me in here on the internet that's what they said um aaron rogers supposed to come on last week on tuesday and tell us what uh he was doing that is what the internet said the internet now says chris godwin probably getting franchise tag that's via tyler dragon wow that's a Tyler Dragon. I'm not questioning the Dragon. Bucs are expected to franchise tag wide receiver Chris Godwin before Tuesday's

deadline per source. Chris Godwin obviously got injured this year. He was playing injured, but was a massive piece of their offense. Absolutely incredibly talented and very tough. A lot of teams would have wanted Chris Godwin. I know a lot of Patriots fans were pumped for him. Colts fans were pumped for him. Packers fans were pumped for him.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise tag him, lock him down for at least another year down there. They got some salary cap stuff they have to do and a lot of unrestricted free agents on that team. Godwin appears to be staying in Tampa Bay. Who's going to be his quarterback? Nobody knows. What about the rest of the roster? Who else is up in the air right now

that they have to make a decision on? A bunch, right? A bunch. There's A bunch, yeah. There's literally 13 or 14 guys, I think, that were starters that they have to figure out what's going on for the future. Tom Brady, he could come back. We'll figure out a way to pay him anytime, says Bruce Arians.

If he wants to come out of retirement, he's playing for us. We'll figure out how to pay him. That'll be interesting to watch that. Bruce Arians said, on the record, do you want Tom Brady out of his Tampa Bay contract? Give me five number ones. Fuck. Easy. Give me five number ones. You want Tom Brady. You can get him right out of Tampa. You give

him five number ones. This franchise tag, you know, next 27 hours, I guess, or 26 and a half hours is going to be fascinating because with the salary cap going up, that means the franchise tag numbers are only going to go up for the next couple of years. Who do you want to keep around? Who do you not want to keep around? Who do you want to shape a team around? I mean, it's very, very interesting. And this is a big part of, you know, roster construction here. Who are you designating not allowed to leave as somebody that got franchise tag before? This is a pivotal part of a team success yeah okay why was do we know the the reason why the franchise tag exists like why did they put

it in play well it's because they wanted to fuck the players out of a free agency period they wouldn't want is it to like is it like a buffer year basically okay we're not exactly sure we can't work out a long-term deal with this guy no it's i don't want you to be a free agent yet we're not 100 sure if we want to give you a long-term deal or we guy? No, it's I don't want you to be a free agent yet. We're not 100% sure if we want to give you a long-term deal or we don't know what the proper price is, but we do know that other teams want you. We want to kind of figure it out still. So you can only do it now two times.

You used to be able to do it like three, four, five times. I think Vinatieri got franchise tagged three times. Damn. I think in a row. And his agent just happened to be the same agent as somebody else. There was some little, there was a little. And then as soon as he was able to become a free agent, it was like Packers want you, Colts want you, this team.

Like everybody on earth wanted Adam Vinatieri. The franchise tag for a long, long time, including now, has been something that's been hated by players. Absolutely hated by players because it's robbing a player of a free agency period where they can go and get that long-term wealth, that bag. And the team basically controls the future. Now, guys are still getting guaranteed money. It's a lot of money.

It's the average of the top five salaries at the position minus any of the bonuses, which does end up kicking your rate in a taint most times. But, yeah, the franchise tag has been hated by everybody. AJ, did you ever deal with any of that, or was every deal kind of smooth for you? I never dealt with a franchise tag has been hated by everybody AJ did you ever deal with any of that or was every deal kind of smooth for you I never dealt with a franchise tag situation but I believe Charles Woodson was tagged a few times I don't know if he was tagged in Green Bay but before Green Bay I think or after like he's he made some money being franchise tag too if you can do that multiple years so Julius Peppers in Carolina I think he was tagged like three four times three times Kirk Cousins was tagged like two three times Vin think he was tagged like three, four times. Three times. Kirk Cousins was tagged like two, three times. Vinatieri was tagged like

three times. They're saying Lamar Jackson will just get tagged two times. He's got one year left, and then he got two tags potentially. So he has three years before he becomes a free agent. That's how everybody's viewing it. Don't you think he would grow disgruntled with the organization if he continues to get tagged and doesn't get a long-term

deal? Well, they're saying they don't know if he wants a long-term deal because allegedly he has not broached the Baltimore Ravens about a long-term deal yet. Him and his mom. He represents himself alongside his mother. And Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio puts out, and by the way, Florio, lawyer, been around the NFL a long time. Seems like he does report a lot of negative stuff,

but the NFL is filled with a lot of potential negative stuff. Mike Florio says, Lamar Jackson's failure to engage the Ravens on a long-term deal is strategic or misguided. That's two very different. Which one does Florio think

it is? Well, it's either strategic. I think he's torn on it. He's like, this is either an incredibly smart move or he's misguided. Regardless, the 2019 NFL MVP is three years away from the potentially becoming an unrestricted free agent and picking his next team. He's talking about the two franchise tags, which is the limit now. After the new CBA, you can only get franchise tag twice, even though players were trying to fight for zero franchise tags. So they're saying, so Florio's saying,

because of this, you could make the assumption that Lamar is not happy in Baltimore and he doesn't want to stay there? No, I think business-wise, I don't know. I have no idea. He wants to get to free agency

a couple years down the road when the cap's even higher? Yeah, and also, he just was on the shop and he said what he learned from LeBron James is he wants to be a champion and he wants to become a billionaire so those he's got money business i like that him and his mom represent himself by the way every other agent would have somehow got him believing he should have moved to wide receiver they would have told him you should potentially think about becoming a slot wide receiver him and his mom

steadfast on them a, I'm a quarterback. And if you look back at the combine interviews for Lamar Jackson, I didn't see any NFL Network clips of this, of them asking him, don't you think you should not be a quarterback? You should try to do wide receiver drills or you should try to do this. And he, no, I'm a quarterback. I'm a quarterback. I'm a quarterback.

And is he ever. Dude's completely changed the fucking game over there for Baltimore. I wonder what the future holds for Lamar. I wonder what what the strategy is there has to be some sort of idea but if he's just thinking about guaranteed money for the next few years and then i'll test free agency in a couple years i guess that's not a bad idea either kirk cousins did the same exact thing and will compton said he was just saying i'll take this guaranteed money i'll take this guaranteed money and then i'll get a big old bag maybe lamar's thinking the same. Yeah, do you think for quarterbacks it's a little bit different? I mean, obviously the threat of injury and being worried about that,

but if you're going to play quarterback and you play the way he does, that threat of injury is kind of always there. If he gets tagged twice, I mean, Cousins did too. He's not an MVP, and he ended up getting a massive bag somewhere else. You would think that Lamar will make all that money if they franchise tag him twice, and then he's going to get paid by somebody. Three years is a long time, by the way. That is a long time.

That's a lot of guaranteed money that could potentially come with two franchise tags, so good for Lamar. But Lamar has to be looking at this quarterback market right now. Mitchell Trubisky is going to get north to $10 million a year to be a starting quarterback. That's the conversation piece right now. And that even brought up, and that's via Josh Norris, teams are openly discussing whether Trubisky

gets $10 million or more annually on his new deal. His name is a hot one. It's not manufactured. It's very real. Ryan Fitzpatrick-like money for Mitch. Carolina, Pittsburgh, the Commanders, New York Giants, and Denver listed. The Commanders have been

listed in every conversation, as has Denver and Pittsburgh at this point. Carolina has danced with a couple different quarterback strategies. New York Giants thinking about him is interesting because Dayball comes from Buffalo, where Trubisky just was. $10 million doesn't seem like that bad of money for a starting quarterback. In my eyes, if you think Mitchell Trubisky is going to be a starter, you're paying him $10 million.

Fucking get him in here. We paying jacoby 20 million dollars we're paying jacoby percent 20 million dollars here to be the starter so i don't think like that's that big of a deal that they're making it on the internet like people are saying they're going to pay trubisky 10 million dollars it's like well he's obviously going to be a starting quarterback then if he's starting quarterback 10 million dollars is very very very very very cheap but if you look at the rest of the the quarterbacks in free agency gumpy brought up he said what do you think baker mayfield would get if he was a free agent right now and i'm like that's a hell of a year to be a free agent hell of a year but also i mean

mike i'm looking at for the Colts here. Yeah. Who do you want? Huh? Who do you want? What do you mean? Aaron Rodgers. What are you talking about?

Okay. What? If Aaron doesn't come to Indy, who do you think should come to Indy? Give me Jimmy G, dude. I want Jimmy G just because he's a winner. Now, I don't know if he's going to end up being better than Carson Wentz, and everybody can go right to the Carson Wentz stats of 27 touchdowns, 7 interceptions.

That means you didn't watch the games. He threw 20 picks that were dropped this season in three different games alone. So I don't even want to get into that. Carson Wentz is a great quarterback. There is times where Carson Wentz is the guy. But then there is just this roll of the

dice. I don't give a damn about the ball, my body, the franchise, the program, the city. That happened too much. It happens too often to be a Super Bowl winning quarterback in my eyes. Just in my eyes. This is my personal opinion. I don't know if this is anybody else's opinion. Everybody says I buried Carson Wentz. I don't think I buried Carson Wentz.

I literally just said, I think he's a great quarterback. I think he's a hell of a player. I think he Wentz. I literally just said, I think he's a great quarterback. I think he's a hell of a player. I think he's insanely tough. Too tough almost. I think he's almost too tough. I wish his body was more fragile because then maybe he would learn to give up on a play as opposed to throwing a zero-yard pick-six against a division opponent when you toss the ball from right hand to your left hand and throw the thing away.

I just, in my eyes, with the way the team is built, you just need a steady-handed to kind of you know doesn't it sound like the colts kind of agree with you with all the comments that have come from them where they're kind of evaluating we're gonna do what's best for the team it sounds like they're trying to find a way to move on from carson when it would really really help them financially especially if they could keep him and he was their starting guy and they felt really comfortable with him going forward. Yeah. I don't know what the fuck they're thinking because originally,

and that's a real Chris Ballard was on with Doc. It's here locally for like an hour. I didn't get a chance to hear it because we're in the middle of our show. I will have to sit back and listen to that and hear how he talks, but their mission has been in a way. Fowler described it was coy, which is I think a very solid way to describe it because they have said, hey, we're going to make the best decision for the Colts.

We've talked to Carson. Hey, listen, we talked to Carson. We're going to make the best decision for the Colts. Carson is bracing to stay in Indianapolis. Wants to come back, play another year. I understand because the team is incredible. Probably wants another bite at the apple. COVID year, didn't get really a chance to probably learn as much early. Got hurt

in training camp, so he didn't really get to be in there. Maybe I'm misjudging him, misguiding him. But I would think Ursae and the boys up at the top are thinking to themselves, we're not going through another 17 games of watching this guy try to kill himself every play, right? That can't happen. And that's really the only drawback of Carson. It's like if he learned how to maybe, you know,

let's get that guy some how to maybe, you know, let's get that guy some fucking like, you know, some weed. Let's get Carson just to chill. Listen. Before the games? Just chill out. Yeah, just like because I feel he won't smoke, obviously. Devil's lettuce. No way.

It's not devil's lettuce. It's actually God's grass. Okay. Because it's grown from the earth. So the whole, I don't need to hear this whole hippie devil's lettuce. It's actually God's grass. There it is. Because it's grown from the earth. So the whole, I don't need to hear this whole hippie smoking devil lettuce narrative that you are. It's actually God's grass. From the beginning of time, coming up through earth, that was created by God. Is that what everybody believes?

If you pitched it like that to him, he'd probably be open to it. Because I think it would chill him out a little bit and be like, okay, next play, man, not that big of a deal. Let me throw this thing away. It's just every play is just heart-wrenching. And with the team that we have not making the playoffs, that's tough. That's bad.

I don't know who it goes on. I don't know who's wearing that. I assume Frank isn't necessarily thrilled that the team that is that talented didn't make the playoffs. I assume Carson isn't exactly thrilled that the team that is that talented didn't make the playoffs. I assume Carson isn't exactly thrilled that a team that's that talented didn't make the playoffs. But I would assume that Jim Irsay, when he's walking with his dog Drake, getting on to their 767 planes like,

I got to go to these league meetings and tell everybody why my team fucking stinks. I'm not doing it again. It just feels like that's where they're at. But there might not be any other options out there. Literally might not be any other. Mitch Trubisky is allegedly going to Pittsburgh. He's allegedly, Mitchell Trubisky is allegedly going to Pittsburgh. Jimmy G is potentially going to New Orleans, which means what's going on with Jameis, but also all these reports might be fucking full of shit. We have no idea about anything at this moment, AJ. Yeah. How does anyone really know? But going

back to Trubisky quickly, I understand a team taking a shot on him paying him what 10 12 million dollars a year that's not a ton to pay a guy that's a starting quarterback if he and then all of a sudden what if he becomes your starting quarterback and he like the ceiling on mitch i guess we don't really know how good he can truly be we've seen flashes of it so you bring him in hope he's the guy if not cool thank you for your time here and you go give a shot somewhere else so that'll be an incentive-based contract probably for mitchell and if he gets in there like hey you'll get 10 million and if you start he's probably go up to like 20 yeah just get more even like a couple year deal and after the first year if he comes out and kills it you rip it up give him a big deal yeah that's what nfl teams always do you know because allegedly the packers

and aaron talked last year and they're like yeah you want traded'll do it for you. And then now everybody's coming out. Why would the Packers trade him away for anything other than blah, blah, blah? I was like, well, allegedly, you're reporting, literally, you're reporting last year is that they made a deal that it would be like, yeah, if you want to move on, you move on. But now they're saying, well, he's not going to move on unless it's a good deal. The Packers don't have to agree to it. It's like, who knows, dude.

Can't really trust anything, I guess, these days. And this is I'm sick of it yeah well I mean I'm already sick of it I'm already sick of it dude I can't take it isn't it well we're getting cool we got some pro days that are going to open up soon right we can talk about some pro days did you know the pro days start two days after the combine ends I had no idea they start tomorrow pro days literally start tomorrow same day as the franchise tag deadline at four o'clock i i thought it was like a couple weeks afterwards i didn't know they went right into it you could see why coaches you know are probably not going to combines as much anymore the pro days i get a chance to literally chat put them through my own workout give them a test talk to all of their every coach on their staff to everyone that has come in contact with those

players you can talk to the trainers. That's where you learn a lot about them. Yeah, college pro day seemed like they're going to get much more important over the next few years. Feels like that. And you see how those guys interact with their current teammates, some of the guys that are still on the team, some of the older guys. You can just see them interact in their element and say,

okay, how do other people view this player? Yeah, Mac Jones. Remember, he did two pro days. The second one was a little bit more athletic, Mac. Got Devontae Smith to run some routes because he wasn't going to do anything on his pro day, too. Oh, yeah, then he was laughing with the guy in the back while he was on air. Yeah, just chatting it up.

Oh, he's so cool. Catching passes. Oh, he's so athletic. Man, he's so good at football. No bull. No bull. He's so young, too. Allegedly, the Patriots are looking at Robbie Anderson out of Carolina.

Carolina looking for a quarterback. Bill Belichick's going to trade Mac Jones for Robbie Anderson. Wow. Straight up. I think there's a chance he might even throw in someone else, too. Maybe like a lineman. McCaffrey? McCaffrey, yeah.

Who knows? Why not? Who says no? The Patriots are getting rid of J.C. Jackson. This comes one year after they let Stephon Gilmore out the door. Two of the best corners in the league come from New England. They're both going to be on the road, allegedly, potentially. Yeah, definitely.

And the Gilmore thing, also similar to J.C. Jackson, both voiced how they would want to stay in New England but decided not to. Hey, I'm sure Bill's got a plan. He knows more about football than us. Why would you not tag him? Why did they not tag J.C. Jackson? I have no idea. I thought that was like the most obvious move that we were going to make.

But obviously, Bill's, you know, he's got something going on back there. I'd be very nervous if I was a fan of any other team than the Patriots. Well, the interesting thing is the stats are coming out, you know, or not stats, I'm sorry, sources are coming out and saying that Josh McDaniels, because he went to the Raiders, he took... Yeah. Because he went to the Raiders, he took a bunch of staff from the offensive side of the ball.

So look for Belichick to maybe be offensive coordinator. Let's go. The intrigue deepens on the New England Patriots' approach to offense without a true play caller. There's sort of an open belief league-wide that Coach Bill... So this is the rest of the league. League--wide that Coach Bill Belichick could call the plays or at the very least have more involvement in the offense. He's involved in everything, to be sure, but he could really dig in here.

There's also no major rush, so he doesn't need to force play-calling duties in early March. Four offensive coaches must be replaced after former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels took a Patriots crew with him to Las Vegas. That's via Jeremy Fowler. So obviously New England folks aren't happy that, you know, Josh McDaniels pillaged the New England Patriots coaching staff for his crew. That happens in the NFL. Everybody knows that.

But the first, you know, real thing coming out of New England's camp is that he's looking at Robbie Anderson. Maybe Bill Belichick has completely turned his attention to the offensive side of the ball. Maybe Bill Belichick has completely turned his attention to the offensive side of the ball. Maybe Bill Belichick's like, all right, fucking Steve, you figure it out on defense. I need to get this offense right because we have, you know, we've been good, haven't been great.

We need more weapons. Mac, what do you like doing? What if Bill Belichick is over there with the play calling sheet? What if fucking Bill Belichick's in Mac Jones? Noble. Yeah. What if that Bill Belichick and Mac Jones are like, No bull. What if that's happening? I guess that's the only thing he hasn't accomplished. He's never called offensive plays, has he?

It hasn't been reported that he's called offensive plays. I assume he's always been in the offensive strategery game. Yes. Because remember, him and Tom Brady would have that meeting every single week where they sit down and go through everything. But if he's turning his attention to the offensive side of the ball, look out. Ain't that right? Yeah, that is dangerous. And maybe that's why he's like, JC, I don't need JC. I need more money

on the offensive side because that's where I'm fucking going to play. And that's where they spent kind of last year during free agency. He saw this coming. I'm going to prove myself as an offensive coach. I'm going to make the defense stink and then they'll be like, oh, the defense stinks when Bill's not calling the defense. Oh, so he's burying his kid Steve. Yeah, that would make more sense.

Steve, I need you to take this one. I need you to eat this one. Joining us now is a man who joined A.J. Hawk, myself, and Frank Miraldo in my last scuffle with the stupid Undisputed Era. Ladies and gentlemen, nine-year NFL vet, a man who played corner, safety, and nickel, and hosts the Man to Man podcast and everything DB. Ladies and gentlemen, Darius Butler.

What's up, fellas? Hey, listen. I'm getting back in there, dude. Hell yeah. Hey, man. Hey, I can't believe you let that dude smack you around like that, man. No, I didn't know. I'm lying to you, man.

That's on me, man. He ran away, D-Bud, and I had a job to do. It was in front of Jimmy's people. We're there. It was very nice. Fucking Michael Cole. Michael Cole just sit there and watch that shit. Yeah, he did.

I know. It's unbelievable. He needs to get the singlet back on. Who? Michael Cole needs to put the singlet back on. I concur completely. Hey, Miami, interesting place. Interesting place down there.

I heard you talk about the mask. That's shocking from a South Florida resident. I don't know. Maybe a little different at the Clearport. And I'm not sure how they're doing things at the event. But masks are few and far between down here for a while. Really? Because at the airport we landed at, everybody complete,

like almost like perfect masks almost, not even like a lazy mask. There's a sign that said they're mandatory. Mandatory mask. And then we get to the arena, everybody there that's working, everybody masked there. It was, honestly, it was the most diligent. I was very impressed by it all. Do they hate white people down there?

I felt like I was getting a little bit of a – I felt like I was getting a little heat just immediately upon arriving in Miami. They were not friendly. They were not a friendly bunch. It's a different world in Miami. I mean, you got Florida, and then you have South Florida, and then you have Miami. It's kind of different worlds down there.

I wouldn't say they hate white people, though. But depending on where you're at in Miami, they might be upset with your accent. Because that's kind of English, maybe a second language in some parts of Miami. Well, that's what it did feel like in a couple places. That's real talk. Hey, Greg. Yeah, I love Miami. Great place.

Hit your white ass. Should have brought Zito with you, man. Well, Zito was with me the last time I was in Miami, actually, and it went much better. Very good. It went much, much better this particular time. Foxy. Yeah, I had Foxy with me.

Jeez. I mean, there's the white. He's whiter than I am. Gap model. Yeah, exactly. Who's the H&M white that just landed? Get these gringos the hell out of here, dude. Let's talk a little football.

Darius, Bill Belichick says, J.C. Jackson, get the hell out of town. This comes one year after Stephon Gilmore, get the hell out of town. What's that all about? He's focusing on the offense now is what the league thinks. Do you think he wants the defense to be bad because he's going to the offensive side, or does he just think he can create jc's and stefan gilmore's at any given time i mean i feel like you know he he felt he felt like he got the best out of him you know gilmore he had a great run there obviously one of their big best uh moves

bringing him in getting a super bowl he should have won mvp uh jc jackson i think he was a free agent he's one of the top corners in the league now so he'll get paid on the free market but that's kind of the this is what belich now, so he'll get paid on the free market. But that's kind of the – this is what Belichick does, man. He's going to get rid of guys probably a year before the rest of the league would. And he'll go on. He'll put trust in himself, put trust in his staff to build some other guys up that we never heard about and go out there and get the job done. Spent a ton of money last year in free agency,

which is something he rarely does, you know, that tight end room. Got to go out and get a receiver. You went and got a quarterback last year, so maybe he is focusing a little more on offense. But got rid of Van Noor today, too, which was a cap casualty. So it will be interesting to see what changes over there on defense. He hates defense. Debert, were you surprised to see them not just tag J.C. Jackson

and at least try to get another year out of him? Oh, yeah. I was surprised because Belichick always has that top-notch corner, and that was the reason I thought he got rid of Gilmore, because he was going to invest in JC in the long term. But obviously he's got some different plans, so that did catch me a little off guard. But that tag for a corner has got to be pretty high, though.

Well, and also, we don't know if he's going to tag him or not. We've still got 26 hours. I guess reports are that he isn't being tagged. But once again, reports have been wrong a lot. 17-ish million for the tag on a corner. 17 mil for the tag on the corner. $5 million saved by cutting Kyle Van Noy. So maybe Bill is looking to realign his assets there.

When you talk about J.C. Jackson, he's top guy in the league or he's just amongst the top guys in the league? And who's going to be interested, do you think? It's hard to say just one guy's the top guy because it's kind of like, what do you like? You know, Ramsey, he's got to go inside and out. Gilmore's still up there. Slade, love Slade, turns the ball over.

But J.C. Jackson, he's a rare combo of a guy that that can lock up that can strap up a number one and that can also turn the ball over like kind of like a xavian howard you know that's what he does he can follow ones but he's also going to turn that ball over so that's rare that's rare in this league and he's a guy that he's i mean a lot a lot of guys a lot of teams will be interested if they have the money to pay for him uh potentially the chargers you know you went drafted asante samuel jr on one side he'll be holding that down um jc could hold on the other side you got derwin you got joey coming off the edge so that could be a team but

it'll be a lot of suitors out there but you gotta have the money because it's it's gonna cost you that's a premium position let's get them to the colts as soon as possible last question for me before the boys take it away tyronron Matthew is going to test free agency. The Honey Badger is going to be on the market. And there's reports coming out of Kansas City from a local media person, Kent Swanson. Tyron Matthew will test the market per rap sheet. And then Kent Swanson quotes what rap sheet says, probably breaks double digits on salary. Wow, that is not the market

I anticipated now double digits he's describing as millions per year so at least 10 million a year so eight figures is probably a more accurate way to describe that I don't know how this is a big question because we have a list of all the safeties and how much money they make I don't know how and if we could zoom in on that, the average per year, you go all the way down to Logan Ryan, there's basically like 10 different dudes that are making at least $10 million a year, let alone the signing bonuses and the bonuses. You would think Tyron Matthew would be in that class. Is he falling off? And why are Kansas City media people surprised by that particular thing? I don't know. I mean, he's not, it's not like he's that old. We just

saw Harrison Smith get broke off, I believe, last year, the beginning of this season. He got a nice new deal at 32, I believe. So I think Honey Badger, you know, he's a guy that's out there a lot, especially since he's been at Kansas City, rarely misses games, got banged up in the playoffs. But he's a leader, one of those guys that brings a ton of leadership inside that locker room, not only what he does on the field as far as a communicator and a playmaker but i think he was the team's you know

mvp and back-to-back years out there in kansas city once again another great uh sign in by kansas city one of their best uh ever honestly in the free agent you know you went to four afc championships um straight so i think honey badger will get paid somewhere else. I'm not surprised at all. I don't know why anybody would be shocked that he'll be getting double digits at this point. I was very surprised, Rita. I'm like, this guy must know more than I know. Tyron Matthews, Tyron Matthews, the landlord.

What do we even... Get him in Indy. I would love him in Indy. Hey, get JC in Indy too, by the way. Come on. Bring him in Indy as well. Bring A-Rod. Bring, by the way. Come on. Bring him in Indy as well. Bring them all. Bring A-Rod. Bring everybody, right?

A-Rod, Von Miller, bring them all. Shit. Well, Von Miller's going back to Denver, it appears. That's a shame. I did have a little bit of a course there where I thought Von Miller was coming. What do you think about that whole thing? Him posting it. Do you think this is leverage, or do you think that's him openly telling people,

like, hey, L.A. was fun. We won a Super Bowl. There's a new coach and staff. I love Denver. I still have my house. What do you think about that won a Super Bowl. There's a new coach and staff. I love Denver. I still have my house. What do you think about that entire thing? You know, I think it's real. I think it's genuine.

You know, they drafted him, you know, two overall. He was there his entire career. Obviously, things didn't go how he wanted last year. But listening to him speak, he never sounded like he wanted to leave Denver. You know, it was more so, you know, Denver just cutting bait on him and going in a different direction. But even getting interviewed during Super Bowl week, he was like, I'm always a Bronco and blah, blah.

Now that he's on an open market, for him to go out and say that, you know how it goes when there's negotiations. That would be odd for him just to say that if he didn't really want to go back. So I think he ends up back in Denver, according to my sources. Yeah, our sources as well on the internet. 5280, by the way, is a magazine, I guess, in Denver about all things Denver. I assume that is a…

5,280 feet in a mile. Oh, how many feet are in a mile? 5,280, and you're going to run every single one of them until you learn not how to drop or fumble the ball, B. You're killing me. I still use that to this day. Go ahead, Connor. Yeah, D-Bud, did you get a chance to watch any of the combine,

and do you think that this draft in particular is pretty corner heavy, and is there anyone individually that you think will be kind of immediately good in the NFL? I love Sauce Gardner. I love that kid out of Cincinnati. Hey, he's slow. No, he ran a 4-4-1. Oh, yeah, yeah.

The unofficial time was 4-5. He kind of got fucked over. Yeah, the times were all over the place. But I think that, I mean, for any of the scouts, that's obviously a question mark for corners coming into the league. So I think he checked that box. But confident guy, great technique at the line of scrimmage. And just like quarterbacks with corners, man, it depends on so much on what's around them,

what type of meeting room you're walking into, what type of coach you have, what type of pass rushes you have, because you saw a guy like Okuda, you know, go at the top of the draft in Detroit and go in there and struggle for a lot of those reasons. You see Sertain go into a defense like Denver and thrive immediately. So it depends on what type of situation he goes into but I love uh Sauce Gardner and uh Stingley coming out of LSU I'm interested to see he's been banged up for the last couple years in college but um he was the next you know Pat P or the next great LSU corner coming out of that school so I'm interested to

see um how he pans out that never happens with darius never darius always has the best connection the clearest shot of everything he froze up there the sauce gardener oh he's slow that's what the internet was saying because the unofficial time was four or five the official time is actually four four one this goes back to day one of the combat where we're like hey can't just be making up unofficial 40 times on tv because you're changing trajectories of everything that is going on. Now, granted, hand time is a lot different than laser time, but these dudes were flying this weekend.

Another guy I want to ask Darius about whenever we get back there, Smoke Monday is the dude's name. Smoke Monday out of Auburn. I don't know how high he's supposed to go. I don't know how high he is normally. I don't know what he's up to. He looked so good during those drills, and you can't really get much he's supposed to go. I don't know how high he is normally. I don't know what he's up to. He looked so good during those drills. And you can't really get much out of all those drills.

You know, I guess you can kind of get the ball skills, but if the quarterback doesn't put the ball anywhere near the person. Hey, Darius, we lost you there at the end. I like Sauce Gardner as well, by the way. Handled himself professionally. Also, at Cincinnati, he was tasked with a lot of very difficult jobs, I think, in that defense. I think old Luke loved him, and I enjoyed his swag. Smoke Monday out of Auburn, did you watch

the drills, the combine drills? I don't really know who's good, what's good from watching those drills because a quarterback can ruin it by throwing a bad ball. Smoke Monday seemed like he was on for everything. I don't know enough about him, but was there anybody that you watched and you were like, oh, okay, this guy seems to have it? And did you watch those drills and think about whether or not they're important to actual success in the NFL or not? The drills are important. Yeah, I think, honestly, the drills are probably more important

than the 40, something like the 40. But the drill, Hamilton from Notre Dame, that's safety, who people were projecting in the top five. Just to see how fluid he was, obviously how big he is, how fluid he was. He ran well. I think he helped himself a lot on the field. But I think you can get a lot from those on the field drills. You can see how the hip flexibility, how good you get out of your breaks, because those are drills that these guys know what they're getting into, you know, months and months and months, probably years sometimes in advance. They don't change up much. So you should go out there and absolutely crush those drills.

And if you're not, that's a big question mark to an evaluator. You know, just seeing how guys interact with the other prospects, there's a lot of things that goes into it. I don't sit and watch the combine for hours. I watch kind of the highlights. The kid from Georgia, I know he's not a DB, but that D lineman. Jordan Davis, he's awesome. I mean, that's probably the most impressive combine performance I've ever seen.

A dude going 341 with a 168 10-yard split and a 4740. That was nuts. Well, and his broad jump, too. He was very comfortable. He's in balance. He had the longest broad jump, too. He was very comfortable. He's in balance. He had the longest broad jump in the history of anybody over 300 pounds, and he's 41 pounds over 300. I mean, that's – he's a monster.

He made some money, for sure. Robert Mathis, you know, put out a tweet, and he's like, hey, if, if, if, three ifs, if this guy is a dog and a competitor, he could be an all-time, like greatest of all time almost with his size and his ability to move and his bend. He was awesome to watch. Good for all of Georgia, by the way. I think the kicker ran a 4.5 or something like that.

I mean, all time. That whole defense, you know, they were studs all year long, and they went out there and put on a show in Indy. Shout out to them. I hope the combine stays in Indy, too, man. I feel like that's the right place for it. All the reports behind the scenes are saying that no other city is ready yet for at least another year, so it's going to be here for at least another year,

and then it's going to be a real conversation after the next one, whether they go somewhere else or not. So I think it's going to be in Indy for at least another year. It always – I mean, it's no – they're all just boozing all these coaches are boozing out here all right all the media people are just boozing walking around everybody's gossiping about everything going on i don't i don't think there's any other city that's set up better than indy for what actually happens at the combine and i guess the nfl can act like those things aren't important for the combine but that's like 70 of the combine for most of the people that come here

is kind of the outside the field, let's go ahead and network and negotiate. Let's get ahead of this tampering period. Indy's perfect for it. I hope they don't leave, but there's always a chance somebody's going to come in with a big-time check, and we all know. Facts. We all know money. Hey, that hat's sweet, by the way.

Yeah. I appreciate you, man. We're working on it. Can we buy it? Where can I buy that hat at? Not yet. Hey, that hat's sweet, by the way. Yeah. Hey, appreciate you, man. We're working on it. Can we buy it? Where can I buy that hat at? Not yet. Not yet. It's coming soon.

We're working. It's a mock. It's a mock. It's a winner. Put it in. It's a winner. All right, here we go. That's all I needed.

Go ahead, tie it. D-Bud, there are reports that the Packers are already working on an extension with Jair Alexander. For a guy like him, who's arguably like a top five cornerback in the league. How much do you think the whole Aaron Rodgers and Devontae Adams and what's going on with the Packers is affecting his decision process? He still has another year. But how much do you think that's playing into what he's going to do next? Oh, I wouldn't say much, honestly, because, you know, that's once again,back is a premium position, and he's coming off an injury-plagued year. So, you know, as a player, you know your time can be cut at any point.

So he's one of the best in the game. You've got to strike while that iron's hot. You can't be waiting on A-Rod. A-Rod's going to be good regardless. He's about to sign a deal today saying it's going to alter the market, you know, alter the quarterback market. He's going to be good regardless. You've got to worry about your own business so i don't think i don't think alexander

is is too locked in on that go ahead tell me d but uh i saw minka was posted on instagram about getting a bag um where is he at as far as like your safeties go in the league and and like because tyron matthews testing the market like where do you think he'll land as far as safeties getting paid? I mean, he would be the top guy. He should be if somebody's getting paid because he's younger, obviously. He could do just like Honey Badger. He can do a lot. He's a good and deep part of the field.

He can be kind of that rover player. He can cover. He can do a lot. You got Coach Flores back in in the fold so that'll be uh interesting to see if he has any input on they're gonna bury the hatchets okay that that you know they should they should but uh i mean i love mika man i love mika i love his game and hopefully he stays in pittsburgh too get that and get that bag he definitely deserves it uh there's reports now that tyron matthew on Instagram commented on a Saints fan page

that had Tyron Matthew going back to New Orleans. You know, the LSU guy who is still beloved down there, I would assume. That's home. He put two fire emojis underneath a Photoshop of him in a Saints jersey. Do they have the money, though? They got to keep cooking those books, man, because they got to get right. They were $71 million over the side of the cap.

They're only $42 million over now. Only $42 million. Yeah, it'll work. Over the side of the cap. They got to figure this out by next week. Without a quarterback. Yeah. That's crazy.

Hey, they got to figure this out by next week, Darius. Legit, whenever you look at like... All fake. Everything's fake. Whenever you look at like a fake, everything's fake. It's all bullshit. It's all fake. I'll get it done. Just like the chiefs.

Hey, why have we gotten to the point in the NFL where we all just unanimously like, yeah, salary caps fake. Like it's, that is a real thing. They're going to fix this. I think at some point,

obviously there's going to be some team that doesn't have a salary cap guru whose ownership is going to get very loud. But I feel like once people kind of were able to take advantage of the rules, whether it was Veach and the Chiefs or Greenberg down in Tampa or Snead over there in LA, once people started realizing like, oh, we can actually just manipulate this cap however we want to, whenever we want to. Like, why isn't everybody doing that d but do you think that's going to become a thing and a trend and how do they stop it they don't right they can't you just got to keep finding these smart numbers guys i guess because you know how it is it's do business as business has been done done copycat league all those uh all

those things and so i think more people would definitely start doing it um you see uh the rams every all the willing and dylan they did to get a Super Bowl. Teams are definitely going to fall in line with how business is being done in the NFL right now. I love that we 52-80. I feel like an idiot, though. I didn't even see that. Mile high city, man. Yeah, I thought it was an ad draft.

I didn't know what that was. Yeah, me neither. I messed that up. I should have known that. Cracking the code. Best detective in the world. Batman over there. Hey, speaking of. All right right let's get to it i actually told i wasn't heard it was great i told the boys let's wait for the batman talk until the very end here let's

stay on task here with football you hated batman you're not the only one by the way a lot of people do not like batman but you you found yourself in the middle of quite a battle there. Yeah, they got me. Were you a Batman fan going in? Is this something you were expecting to like, and then you just hated the emo Batman? Or what was it? I'm a Batman movie fan. Batman movies, Batman cartoons. So I wasn't big into comic books.

And this is more, I think think tailored to the comic fans you know because a lot of people were hey this is really who batman is to the core of all this shit you know i've been watching batman movies since early night michael keaton jack nicholson i want to see a good batman movie especially if you're gonna have me there for three hours so i i wasn't i wasn't feeling i'm not going to spoil any of the movie but when i walked out of that three-hour movie, emotions were running high. Shot that tweet out. My 13-year-old daughter loved it.

She loved Pattinson. How was he different? How does he play the role different than the guys in the past? D-Butt's wrong. He's wrong. It's a good movie. You're wrong, D-Butt. Don't talk shit about Batman, dude.

When did you find three hours ago? This movie's three hours, like, Titanic long? 256, yeah shit about Batman, dude. When did you find three hours ago? This movie's three hours like Titanic long? 256. Easy. Three hours. You would never guess. In the theater or can I stream it? You can probably stream it on a legal website, I'm sure, somewhere. If you watch

this at home, there's no way you're staying up. I stayed up because the audio was dope. The audio was dope. Some of the visuals were pretty cool. Storyline, the emo Batman. Bruce Wayne, he was decent Batman. Terrible Bruce Wayne. Horrible Bruce Wayne.

So for me, you know, I want to see Batman. I want to see Bruce Wayne. So like I said, I don't want to get too much into the movie. Did you read the comic books though? No, I didn't read the comics. That sounds like a comment that someone who read the comics, like D-Bot, would say.

Oh, he's not a good Bruce Wayne. Get out of town, dude. It's a good movie. I mean, come on, bro. We have Val Kilmer, Keaton, Bale. Clooney.

We get this dude. You gotta have a body double to show they have muscles. Come on, man. Oh, they got a body double for muscles? Oh, no. Holy shit. Oh. i respect it hey d but

i appreciate the fact you're a movie critic and a football critic i i will watch batman's the only one that i'm like actually kind of dialed into because i saw the uh dark knight and then the uh that other one dark knight i'll put it like this. We all grew up wrestling fans. We grew up in the Attitude Era. We saw The Rock, right? We saw The Rock for 20 years. So you saw The Rock for 20 years, and then you turn on The Young Rock. They just give you a whole. Oh, come on.

How dare you, dude? Did you just bury Young Rock? I love Young Rock. That's just. Some people love it. Some people want the backstory. Some people want the whatever. Some people just want to see the fucking Brahma Bull.

I didn't get it. I appreciate you. I can't wait to see it and see if I agree with you or not. You might love it. You might love it, man. If it's three hours, there is zero chance. There's zero chance you're gonna watch it really bingo that's as soon as i see 256 on the bottom if i was to scroll through

and i see it and it says 256 i'm like is this episodic like is there is there six of these i'm the opposite with with superhero movies three hours i'm like oh hell yeah we locked in that's good but this one you're two hours in you like damn i know i got another hour of this bullshit like we supposed to be wrapping this up by now i mean it was when that thing ended nobody stayed for the end this end scene credits video we're out of there man but uh i don't know that's just that's just my opinion are you a superhero movie are you a superhero movie guy? Yeah, big time. Okay, so don't question his legitimacy, you, Conor. That's the best one, D-Bud.

He says, yeah, all right. D-Bud was the only one in the first one that I saw that didn't like it. What's that? I thought D-Bud was the only and first one I saw that didn't like it. Really? That's getting like universal praise. Are you serious? Yeah.

Yeah. D-Bud's in a camp of one on this one. I haven't seen it, D-Bud, but I'm with you. Hey, AJ, check it out, man. I trust D-Bud's review of this movie. I will check it out. Alright, I will check it out.

I trust you. I went in blind. I didn't do any research. I didn't know what comic book it was based off of. I knew Pattinson was doing a role, which, you know, I already had my feelings there. That's a preconceived notion right there, D-Punk. You're going to go from fucking Twilight to Batman. Ladies and gentlemen, the host of the Man to Man podcast.

Can't wait to buy that hat. Movie critic, Darius Butler. We have some big news coming out of the NFL right now. Tom Palacero is reporting that the NFL is suspending Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley indefinitely for at least a 2022 season for gambling on NFL games after he left the team last season. Holy hell. This is massive. In the world with sports gambling growing and blossoming, we knew that there was going to be some moments in time where it was going to be

talked about and conversated about. When I went into the NFL, when AJ went into the NFL or even college, there was signs all over the wall that basically said, don't be Pete Rose. It's not worth it. Do not gamble with your legacy, your career in sports gambling. Don't do it. Calvin Ridley now, at least out for the 2022 season, who knows how much further that's going to be. I guess they'll have to dive into the weeds on how much money or who he was betting on and how he was betting on. He was away from the team. I don't think that's been disclosed publicly, although there has been some rumors behind the scenes that there was some stuff going on personally for Calvin Ridley and it was excused by the Falcons. This is a bomb from Tom Pelissero. Hopefully Calvin Ridley doesn't have a gambling issue. Hopefully Calvin Ridley doesn't have anything else going on in his life.

But this is a bad look for Calvin Ridley. And I assume the NFL is going to make an example out of this as the sports gambling world continues to evolve. Well, so he gambled on NFL games when was already had on a leave of absence from the team this is what got pete rose blackballed from all of baseball right it's the reason why they won't let him into the hall of fame still well allegedly pete rose was gambling on games that he was managing like the actual games and who i mean people don't care it has to be pretty big too if if he's getting busted for this it has to be who like was it just on some website was it with bookies like how does it work it had to be who like was it just on some website was it with bookies like how

does it work it had to be a substantial amount of money too i would imagine for them to do this quick research where's calvin ridley from can we look into that is it alabama is it a legal state yeah and he's in georgia i don't think either of those states are legal so i'm not 100 sure if this is on florida it's not legal either so he was probably with a bookie maybe. By the way, if it's with a bookie, this is so much worse because there's no regulations. Who knows how big it is. I mean, it is just – not that this isn't already bad. This is bad.

Can't have people betting on things that they're involved with. Now, Calvin Ridley's not on the team, so that probably will be his defense. I'm not playing. I'm here. But there are so many meetings that happen throughout the season where you're not even allowed to go to a casino and get a free room from gambling on blackjack in the NFL. The NFL for a long time has tried its absolute best to separate from gambling because the Shield's integrity needs to be kept intact. That is always what we were pitched in all of those meetings. I never gambled on games or sports or anything like

that when I was in the league. I had friends that did it. I didn't know anything about it. Love blackjack though. Man, I love poker, love blackjack. And those are always my questions. So you're telling me if I go to a place in Vegas and I win a bunch of money on the blackjack table and they're like, Hey, you get a free penthouse. They're like, you can't take that because it's from gambling. I'm allowed to play black blackjack but not allowed to receive any of the extra benefits that gambling could potentially bring now with the whole regulations and gambling coming in there this could get messy is everybody's fear hopefully that's not the case there's some more notes zito says coming out about this um falcons calvin ridley suspended through at least

the 2022 seasons for betting on NFL games in 2021 season. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell today suspended Calvin Ridley of the Atlanta Falcons definitely through at least the conclusion of the 22 season for betting on NFL games in 21 season. The activity took place during a five-day period in late November 2021 while

Ridley was not with the team and was away from the club's facility with non-football illness list. A league investigation uncovered no evidence indicating any inside information was used or that any game was compromised in any way, nor was there evidence suggesting any awareness by coaches, staff, teammates, or anybody else. In a letter to Ridley notifying him of his suspension, Commissioner Goodell wrote, There is nothing more fundamental to the NFL's success and the reputation of everyone associated with our league than upholding the integrity of the game. This is the responsibility of every player, coach, owner, game official, and anyone also employed in the league.

Your actions put the integrity of the game at risk, threaten to damage public confidence in professional football, and potentially undermine the reputations of your fellow players throughout the NFL. For decades, gambling on NFL games has been considered among most significant violations of league policy, warranting the most substantial sanction. In your case, I acknowledge and commend you for your promptly reporting for an interview and for admitting your actions. Ridley made petition for reinstatement on or after February 15, 2023. Pursuant to the NFL NFLPA collective bargaining

agreement, he may appeal his suspension by filing notice within three days, a five-day period. He was probably, what, around a bookie in a group that was betting on something, and the bookie got caught, and then the bookie ratted, or somebody in the group got in over their head, or something like that. I don't understand how that could have happened or taken place, but that is something the NFL has been very, very, very diligent on. Since I was in the league, since AJ was in the league, since long before, they knew that it happened,

and it's not something they want with their league. Now, FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, all NFL sponsors, that does not mean that the players, coaches, or anybody associated with the NFL is allowed to gamble on. It just comes with the job. It's a sad situation. Hopefully everything's okay. But that's a bomb to come on a Monday out of nowhere.

He's still on his rookie deal. I learned from my L's. L's from yesterday. Says Calvin Ridley, 3.34 p.m. March 6, 2022. Does that mean gambling? No, no, no. No, no. Life. Bigger. Maybe. It says in the letter, though. p.m march 6 2022 does that mean gambling no no no he means no no life bigger bigger maybe in the letter though in the letter though that shows at least his path to being reinstated when

get out goodell said i would i i commend you for reporting for the interview promptly and admitting what you did so that way you say all right i see a path well they'll let him back in what if he won so much that the book he was like, this fucking guy isn't even allowed to be gambling? What if he turned himself in? What if he won so much the bookie couldn't pay him, so he turned him in? That's what, like, maybe. You have no idea.

And also, most bookies that are working are working with some sort of organized crime. That's why FanDuel is so awesome, because you feel like you're safe, you're going to get your money in an efficient fashion, and all that other stuff. That's scary, though. That is very scary stuff.

Hopefully Calvin Ridley's all right. Hopefully he's okay. But they are not going to be light on this. No. That ain't something they're going to back off. The NFL is not going to back off of this. Because of what he said about the integrity of the shield, it's been something they pitched for a long time.

There's numerous meetings that are like, not, do it don't do it don't do it you fuck everybody over yeah not worth it it's not worth it do they keep his rights to the falcons keep because like he's going into his last year of his rookie deal so is he get does he get cut from the falcons or probably go on the exemption list i assume and he loses gotta be some exemptionless non-football exempt or something. And he loses a salary of $11 million next year. Last year. Man.

All right. We'll learn from this. Hope every player and coach learns from this. It sucks that Calvin Ridley is going to be the example, but that's just the way it is. And hopefully everybody else will understand that if you get the pleasure and the honor of representing the NFL, there are some things you can't do. For instance, you can't get drunk on a Tuesday and get arrested.

You will get suspended. There are other things you can't do like gamble on games or give information to people to gamble on games, and that has been something that has been very well known since the beginning of the NFL basically. Do you think you want to come on Hammered Down? I don't really know if Hammered Down is right. What if we hire him for the year?

Oh, God. All right, dude, you're now the new host of Hammered Down. Calvin Riddick. Because Pete Rose has become like a handicapper, right? He moved to Vegas. He's like, yeah, I love gambling. I'm good at it, too. You know, the thing that none of the reports,

Pete Rose said none of the reports say I was winning. I was winning these bets. That's not normal either. How come nobody gives me any credit? I wonder who Calvin bet on. Good question. I would love to know. Someone snitched on him.

That's how everyone gets caught. They were playing Jacksonville. Well, and Atlanta won, so maybe that. They didn't say he bet on Atlanta, did they? I think they said that nobody was compromised. I don't think they said anybody was compromised. Who knows if he was betting on his team, though? Yeah, we don't know.

What if he was betting on Ohio State against Michigan? That's on NFL. Oh, NFL games. The issue is the NFL games. Five-day period? Yeah, it must have been on a little bit of a bender, a little bit of a run. Had a friend around That was a bookie

Probably talked him into it maybe I don't know Hmm Maybe he lost a bunch And he was like Ah fuck it I never bet I'm not paying you And then

The bookie Did he turn over his phone And let him check text messages And stuff By the way I don't think bookies If you don't pay They turn you into the cops

I think they Break your legs Yeah Something happened Somebody had to have gotten. I think they... Break your legs. Yeah. Somebody had to have gotten caught. I think Bookie got caught. I think it would make more sense if he won a shitload of money and this guy was like, okay, well I can't

pay this guy and I know he's not supposed to be betting. I'll just roll over and die here. Right. Yeah, I'm not an illegal operation, but this motherfucker's doing something he's not supposed to be doing. Do you think we'll ever find out what happened. Yeah, I'm not in an illegal operation, but this motherfucker's doing something he's not supposed to be doing. Yeah. I guess, you think we'll ever find out what happened? Yeah, I'm sure we'll learn

more about this. I don't know how much, like, exactly details, but yeah, we'll learn more, I bet. Hope Calvin's okay, man. Yeah. Yeah.

All right, we'll be back tomorrow. That's, oh, Jack Doyle. It is also breaking news. Jack Doyle, tight end for the Indianapolis Colts of Western Kentucky fame, has retired. Jack Doyle here in Indianapolis, legend. Went to high school here.

Went to college at a small school. I think he was picked up by the Titans. Then they released him. Then we picked him up in free agency. He came in, put his head down, and just went to work. Beloved by everybody in the Colts in, put his head down, and just went to work. Beloved by everybody in the Colts building, everybody in Indianapolis, has done nothing but better everywhere he has ever been. I love Jack Doyle. He was my left wing on my punt team. That's how he got his start in the NFL.

He was nothing but a grinder, took care of me, and then he got more and more prominent in the offense. Still had to play special teams. Grew an incredible beard. He's a stud. I love that dude. Congrats on a hell of a career, Jack. Western Kentucky, I believe, was the college he went to. I was a fan of his back then. Washington College player. Hell of a, just a

grinder. I think he probably ran a slow 40 if they timed it, but he was. One of those foxhole guys, right? Yes. If you're going to be in a foxhole with somebody, you're going to take old Jack Doyle. Whatever.

Yes. Leader, hard worker, lunch pail guy, first one in, last one out, all those things. Jack Doyle, absolute legend here in Indianapolis. Congrats on a hell of a career, Jack Doyle. Now you can officially gamble on sports. Which is, welcome to the park. Hopefully you'll do well.

He knows a lot about football. That dude knows. He has a very high football IQ. I'll be excited to see what he does next. All right, we're back tomorrow. Hammer. Don. Is in 15 minutes.

What if Calvin saw your guys' show and was like, oh, these are winners. Yeah, let's go. Well, it's coming out from Sileona that it was parlays. He was betting on parlays, which professional bettors will tell you that parlays will always get you in the end. All right, we're back tomorrow. See you then. AJ, thank you, pal.

Hey, thank you. Big show tomorrow. Your shirt's awesome. Oh, yeah, a couple dogs on here. Those your dogs? It's a place that says Working Dogs, dogs I believe on here from a kennel right I had one of my dogs for a little bit yeah nice alright that's a cool shirt dude

you look cool thanks alright see you tomorrow everybody bye The name of the city is Kachin. The name of the city is Kachin. Thank you. សូវាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប� The name Zafira means ''Clean'' Religion ''Muslim'' Thank you. Outro Music