The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 622 - Matt Ryan's Introductory Colts Press Conference, Colts GM Chris Ballard, Ian Rapoport LIVE From Liberty's Pro Day, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: March 22, 2022

On today's show, Pat, AJ Hawk, and the boys chat and watch Matt Ryan's introductory press conference as an Indianapolis Colt, why he seems like the perfect fit for the team, how he looks and feels like a franchise Quarterback, who else might be coming to the Colts now that the Quarterback situation is resolved, and more. Joining the progrum live from the Liberty Pro Day to chat about which teams are there looking at Malik Willis, where he might end up going in the draft, where he thinks Baker Mayfield is going to wind up, what moves we might see on the back half of free agency now, if teams are looking more towards the draft for depth is friend of the show and NFL Network Insider, Ian Rapoport (18:50-46:53). Later, Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard joins Pat and AJ Hawk to chat about how the Matt Ryan trade came to be, why he thinks things didn't ultimately work with Carson Wentz, if they'll continue to sign guys in free agency, if he hears any of the noise about not spending money, why no one wants to be patient anymore, and much much more (46:55-1:26:47). Make sure you subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show, and listen on Sirius XM Channel 82, Mad Dog Radio. We appreciate the hell out of all you. See you tomorrow, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello beautiful people. It is the Indianapolis Colts finally have a quarterback Tuesday, March 22nd, 2022. This show begins now. Can't thank you enough for joining us on this glorious day. Yesterday was one for the books. Yesterday was, you know, a day that I've been waiting for my entire life, preparing for my entire life, dreaming of my entire life. Obviously, we had the Daily Show for three hours, about 15 minutes here at youtube.com forward slash the Pat McAfee Show, and the people that watch this show,

you all are the best motherfuckers on Earth, and it's because of you that I get to do the other stupid stuff that I get to do as well. Not only this as a living, like, this is stupid, and I'm very thankful, and I think all the boys are as well. But immediately following filming or doing this show, I went to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and filmed an episode of Peyton's Places with Peyton Manning and Jeff Saturday. No idea.

Two and a half hours or so. That'll come out in the fall. Should be electrified. Okay. I don't know how the hell they're going to piece it together. I didn't see all of the filming. I just know what I was a part of. I don how the hell they're going to piece it together. I didn't see all of the filming. I just know what I was a part of. I don't know how they're going to

piece that together. Hey, I'd memorize some lines. Oh. Hey, I'd memorize. I did not know I was doing that until I got there and then they were like, all right, here's the script.

Here's what you'll be saying. And then, all right, and then they pulled the script back and I'm like, oh, okay, so let's do that one more time. Yeah, let me see it. Did you hear, just block, Jeff.

No, that was not a part of this particular episode, but I should have brought that up at some point. Damn. Well, I was reading the first script. Yeah, I was going to say they didn't. By the way, very well put together, the script. I mean, it is like a. You don't read the script, the script reads you.

Well, not in this particular case. I read the script because there were some things in the script that I would definitely not say, but also somebody who is much smarter than me in the world of whatever they were doing wrote the script because there were some things in the script that i would definitely not say but also somebody who is much smarter than me in the world of whatever they were doing wrote the script so there's a reason probably why the script was what it was it feels like it was all very much like tied together it was awesome to be a part of like legit honor to be a part of the crew that they had like hey top notch production peyton manning like they were having like the top of the top well-oiled machine yeah it was full it was it was like they were having like the top of the top. Well-oiled machine.

Yeah, it was like a full movie was being shot, by the way. Lighting, audio, cameras, assistants, tech, this whole thing. And they had the entire Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The entire place was there shooting. It was magical. I was up in the, it's called the crow's nest, where you wave the green flag and then the checkered flag and the red flag and the black flag and the white flag all right well anyways the person that does it i think is a kind of a smaller person like a like jockey size okay sure because the ladder to get up

to that thing was literally this thick literally this thick and then the hole to get through literally shoulder of my shoulders and then you're standing on top of the track literally i'm on top of the track i'm just hanging out there for a couple hours i mean it was awesome it was awesome i got some sign up which was nice okay but it was i guess that episode's coming out in the fall got to see jeff saturday again love chatting with jeff got to see peyton again love chatting with peyton can't wait to see him be a goddamn owner that's what i said to him he wouldn't give me any inside information i was like why not hey bro this might be the last time i see you before you're a fucking owner in the nfl congratulations yeah i'll pay it you know a couple of those like kind of shoo it off it was amazing i was very thankful to be a part of that and then immediately after that wrapped

hopped on a plane flew to beautiful chicago illinois and i can't thank the people of chicago enough for the love they gave me whenever i walked out into the arena last night and made my Raw debut. Finn Balor gets a big dub. Austin Theory looked like a bum again. I mean, what a night. Yesterday was one of the coolest days of all time, and I can't thank everybody enough for allowing me to live this life. It's the dumbest life

of all time. I will continue to try to enjoy every single moment. I will continue to try to do my best at everything I am doing, and thank you all so fucking much for all these opportunities. The boys, obviously a massive thank you to all of you for making this all possible as well. The Toxic Table here at Ty Schmidt at Boston Connor. I'm going to start with you, Connor. Colts got a quarterback, pal.

You're fucked. The AFC was just put on notice. I've been waiting to wear this. I was sent this months ago. It's a wonderful hoodie. It's Tommy Hilfiger. You want to know that because I cut the sleeves off. Right here.

Right here is where it said Tommy Hilfiger. Right down here. Okay. And I get the fuck out of here, Tommy. Oh, like Adrian's Adidas. Yeah, right here. Now, listen, if I was him, I mean, Tommy's made a lot of money. Oh, yeah.

And I'm like, is Tommy the name of the person? Or is it like one of those like, hey, name's John, thing's Jimmy, actually? His name might be Tommy Hilfiger. I'm pretty sure it is. I appreciate Tommy Hilfiger. I agree. Well, Mr. Hilfiger, you did a great job with this product. I mean, it's very comfortable and nice and all that.

But as soon as, you know, I seen the sleeves on, I cut them off. And then I was like, I'm not wearing that until they're an actual team again. I actually said that. I am not putting that on until they're – they didn't have a quarterback. They didn't have a lot of people. We just lost Zach Paschal. He went to the Philadelphia Eagles. He's a touchdown scorer in machines.

Sirianni knows that because he's seen him in Indianapolis. So I said, I'm not wearing that very nice tie-dye hoodie until the Colts have a team. Yesterday, I traded for Matt Ryan. They re-him up on a new deal for like two years,

$54 million guaranteed. $27 million against the cap each year. How you doing? Keep it moving. Fucking love it. Let's go ahead and win the fucking Super Bowl now. So I said, let's put that hoodie on for the first time since I've got it months ago, because now we have a quarterback.

Now we have a team. Is Jonathan Taylor still on the squad? Yes. Is that offensive line still on the squad? Yes. Is Darius Leonard, DeForest Buckner, Kenny Moore, and the boys still on the defensive side? Yes. Rigoberto Sanchez punting the ball in fourth downs?

Love the Colts. Here's the hoodie to prove it. This thing feels good. Yeah. Looks good. Looks unbelievable. By the way, I'm not sure two months ago this thing would have been able to fit. So it seems like Chris Ballard is maybe waiting for me to get in shape enough to wear this.

Speaking of Chris Ballard, he'll join us in about two hours. Here we go. He'll join us at 2 o'clock Eastern Standard Time. I can't wait to chat with him about his patience. Very. Yeah. Very patient. Still only got one guy.

We traded for Yannick Ngakwe, too. Let's not fucking get crazy here. We lost Pascal, though. We lost a couple other people. But right now, he signs Julio and Jarvis Landry Everybody's pumped Yeah All of a sudden

Everybody's like Oh Colts won free agency Because they got Matt Ryan A pro You see him coming off That Indianapolis Colts plane Leader That's what the fuck

A quarterback Hey that is Franchise quarterback Bang up Looks like he's 6 foot 6 Handsome Unbelievable suit Great suit

Fit perfectly. Walking off of a G5. Just, hey, I'm here to lead your football team and not do anything crazy. And we're all, thank God. And there's some people on the internet that keep bringing up 28-3, 28-3, 28-3. Send that shit to Niners Faithful, okay? That's Shanahan. That is not our guy.

Matt Ryan, he wanted to hand that, but he knew good football. Yeah. What? He knew good football, but he got sacked on third down, got knocked out of field goal range. If he knew good football, he just would have thrown it away. Yeah, but intentional grounding there, even worse. True.

Because the clock stops. He threw it up to Julio, though. He'll be in the area. Well, maybe. I'm not 100% sure. Look at this handsome son of a bitch. Welcome to the Colts. Looks great. I'm so happy for that. But anyways, handsome son of a bitch. Welcome to the Colts. Looks great.

I'm so happy for that. But anyways, yeah, Chris Bowden will join us in a couple hours. Rap Sheet will join us in about 10 minutes. He's out at Liberty's Pro Day. Here we go. O'League Willis working out today after Kenny Pickett worked out yesterday. But, Conor, let's get back to it. Indianapolis Colts now, not in Fandle, but in my eyes, odds on favor to win a Super Bowl.

How do you feel about that? Yeah, I doubt it. I mean, they're not even the odds on favor to win a Super Bowl. How do you feel about that? Yeah, I doubt it. I mean, they're not even the odds on favor to win their own division. I think Bob Woods is probably. We, by the way, they call him Bob Trees. Yeah, Bob Trees. Yeah, Cooper Cup put out an entire message about how hard Bob Woods works. Hand in the dirt is really the only way to change your culture,

and he's got his fingerprints all. I mean, Cooper Cup looked like a poet oh yeah and how he wrote his uh basic tribute yeah to robert woods after leaving and thanking him for everything he's done for not only the rams but also cooper cup who is the um triple crown winner and yak leader of the nfl last year with matthew stafford so those are very powerful words that i didn't necessarily want to read because you know the colts could have probably got robert woods here and I believe it was only a sixth rounder for him coming off an ACL. But nonetheless, Titans

are a very formidable foe. They got Vrabel who's able to coach a bag into winning games it seems like. And their players are great. I understand that. But we now have an adult playing quarterback. We now have a grown human playing quarterback. Not that Carson wasn't an adult have a grown you know human playing quarterback not

that carson was an adult he is definitely of age and very mature yeah but the way he played was that of a high school football player it really was a great high school football player oh yeah carson carson all-american all-american carson he's in that under armor all-american game he's doing a hat pick and shit that's how he played that's how he plays his greats are his moments of greatness is like holy like exhilarating this guy is unbelievable you can see how the highlight package could paint a narrative but man all the decisions in the the way he treated the ball and the which by the way the ball is the program and the program is billions of dollars and fans all around an entire i guess i I would say state, but I think there's Colts fans elsewhere, even though it's a newer team in the NFL.

I mean, it was just, now I feel like everybody in Indiana is taking like a, okay, he's not Peyton. All right. Will anybody be Peyton? No. Peyton's got a fucking statue. He's not Andrew Luck. But also, is that good news?

Because Andrew Luck also got hurt because of the way Andrew Luck played. He's probably not nearly as talented at the high end whenever andrew luck was playing and when andrew luck retired but matthew ryan is a fucking great to get for the colts and where we were sitting with the money that we had a being able to pay him now re-upping him we i mean you got seven and a half million dollars as soon as you landed so maybe that's why he looks so damn good it's probably his family big smiles family. His family, big smiles. Oh, yeah. Big smiles by the whole family. Two kids.

Very cute. Wife looks incredibly happy. Beautiful family, Matt Ryan. But we have an adult playing quarterback now. Yeah. Better fucking tighten up. I'm not going to worry about the Colts. I'm worried about the Bills.

Colts are back. We still got Jonathan Taylor. Colts are back. I think it's definitely a playoff team, no doubt about it. And then whenever you get in there, anybody can win. Excuse me. At Tone Diggs, one half of the hammer. Dad!

You made a sound. Were you listening to what he said, or was that just your brain making a sound out of nowhere? Well, it could have been just an instinct or whatever. But, I mean, if we want to play the odds games and where odds goes and stuff like that when teams get these players, Fandle has them as eighth in the AFC, and last time I checked,

eight teams don't get in the playoffs. Well, yeah. What does Fandle know? I saw them put a boost out that was less than what it would have been straight up. Yeah, so they've kind of been off their game lately. That's a good point. They did move, though. The division odds move whenever we got Matt Ryan.

Fando, by the way, their book is, yeah. Yeah. What are you even talking about? Matt Ryan knows the Titans offense because of Artie Smith. Okay. Because Artie is a Titans guy. Yeah, but the Titans, I think, changed their offense, didn't they? Did they?

I mean, Artie Smith was with the Falcons last year. Yeah, I figured he was just bringing that offense to Atlanta. And now Matt Ryan can just tell the defense, hey, this is what they're trying to do. Matt said, no, it's did they keep Artie's offense. Do you think the Titans just said, you know what, Artie Smith's gone fucking contribute to him. We're running his offense.

Well, they had a great offense, but they changed the recipe. I mean, their offense is pretty simple. Just hand the fucking ball off and see what happens. Well, that's what our offense could look like, by the way. We might be paying a guy $27 million a year just to hand the fucking ball off and see what happens. Well, that's what our offense could look like, by the way. We might be paying a guy $27 million a year just to hand the ball off. And as long as he says, yeah, I'm going to hand the ball off this play,

I'm happy with it. That's what you did last year. Just need a guy not to go, nah, I'm fucking done. But if Ballard, who's coming on in an hour and 45 minutes, if he comes on here and I say, how about just Jarvis Landry, Julio Jones, and then bring in Gilly Lock too. Why not?

You can still do that. You can still afford that. And he's like, well, Pat, I'm actually fucking doing it today. Yeah, that would be. What if he came on the show with an announcement? That'd be pretty sweet. What if he came on the show and was like, I don't even know if this has gone out yet, but fuck, we just got Jarvis fucking Landry.

I'll be like, what? Let's go banana land. Then I look right at you and I go, Patriots got to be shitting their pants right now because the Colts are all the way back. Do you think I give a shit what the Indianapolis Colts do? They will fuck it up somehow. No, no, no.

I do not care about whatever goes on in this city when it comes to football because at the end of the day. I thought we were looking for parades. At the end of the day, you got a 37-year-old quarterback. Is that how old he is? He looks like he's 31. He's old as hell. No, his face, he looks good.

And don't forget that we destroyed Matt Ryan. We destroyed the Falcons franchise. We actually had their owner walk onto the field in the Super Bowl and said, oh, Arthur Blake, why don't you go to a porta potty, get the diaper, because we're about to fucking take the soul out of your franchise. And that's exactly what we did. So, sure, Matt Ryan, Boston College guy. I love him.

Great to have him here in Indy. But, no, I don't see the Colts doing anything meaningful this year, next year, the year after. Maybe when Arch Manning declares and the Colts doing anything meaningful this year, next year, the year after. Maybe when Arch Manning declares and the Colts – Perfect timing. He's 37. Exactly. There you go.

42. He retires. You go 1-16. Then you get the number one overall pick. It'll be like a better office record last year. Bingo. Turn it around. Just be throwing little five-yard outs.

Exactly. 75 times. Matt is at that age where the bench started declining again. Yeah, but Matt Ryan appears as if he does work out. He eats healthy. He also, Cordero Patterson did everything for their offense last year. He wasn't available until last week. He wasn't available until last week.

Imagine we give Matt Ryan, Cordero Patterson, Jarvis Langer, and Julio Jones. By the way, you can afford all those people. Do you want Julio? See, probably a good price. Probably get Julio Judson at a really good price.

Well, also you get Julio. He knows the Titans offense. So you bring him right in and then he can just tell you what they're doing. Easy. Him and Matt can piece it together. You guys still run on the same stuff?

Yeah. Exactly. All right, before Rap Sheet joins us here in about five minutes from the Liberty Pro Day, in which a lot of big names are there. GMs for the Steelers, the Panthers. Football team, I believe, as well. And commanders. Also there, I don't know why, what that's all about.

They just signed Carson to a hefty deal. Oh, yeah. Maybe they're looking for the future. Who knows? But we'll talk to Rapshie. He's live down there. What are they looking at? And also, Kenny Pickett's pro day was yesterday.

He looked like he did well. Remember the Carolina Panthers GM said, fucking ball, get on with it. Hey, take this ball. What did he say? Fucking ball. Hey, say, fucking ball, get on with it. Say them fucking hands, boy.

Take them fucking gloves off. Wear it warm weather. Grab that goddamn football. Pinch the pigskin, boy. Hey, McAdoo, look at this fucking hand in that ball. Imagine if that is what they did. I think that's what they did. No, yeah, I'm pretty sure.

Hey, Ben, come over here. Get a look at this. Hey, McAdoo, fucking hey, come look at this thing. You've seen some quarterbacks. Good, haven't you? Eli, we're fucking Eli. That's a good one. Get a pair of hands.

And then Kenny's just holding that ball. Literally, Kenny was just holding the ball like this. Got a fucking thumb going down on that third panel there. You tilt your hand, boy. Rotate the stick. He's getting fucking hands. Can't wait to hear what actually happened. until we get to that rap sheet will know all the answers obviously it is time for a new segment that i cannot wait for like this this is the

inaugural but it will become a traditional ladies and gentlemen it is the first installment of t4 tones tasty tournament talk all right installment of T4 Tone's Tasty Tournament Talk. All right. Tony! Wow! All right. T4 begins right now. Tone, I can't wait to hear your tasty tournament talk.

What's going on in March Madness? What do we need to look forward to? There's 16 teams left. Okay? Sweet. And a tournament. We started with 68. We're down to 16.

Sweet. And the tournament. We started with 68. We're down to 16. Sweet. These spreads so far against the spread. Favorites and dogs, 26 and 26. We are completely even. Wow. I saw it was 17 and 17. It is continued. 26 and 26.

The favorites had their way in the first round. Dogs had their way in the second round. 28 and 24 are the overs, so a little bit of the over, even though the Mickey Mouse basketball. Okay, bad basketball. Four double-digit seeds are left. We got St. Peter Peacock. Hey, let's go.

Come on, now. Let's go. They're taking on Purdue. It's going to be a tough 12-and-a-half hill to climb there, okay? They're going to do it, though. And then we have Michigan, who is an 11 seed. They're making their glorious run through the tournament. One of only two Big Ten teams left.

Big Ten dies. They had eight to begin with, I think. Yeah, nine maybe. Just Purdue and Michigan left. And then the other two double-digit seeds actually play each other in the battle of the weather. Okay? It's the Iowa State Cyclones versus Miami Hurricanes. Oh, water, wind.

Yeah. Water and wind. Wind and red trucks. That's right. Sorry to hear you this morning. Oh, no. We'll see who comes out of that. Some big teams that lost.

Baylor's at. Kentucky's at. Lost to St. Peter's. Baylor's at. Kentucky's at. Lost St. Peter's. Baylor got taken down by Tar Heel. Shout out, Zito. Iowa and Tennessee came in very hot. They are both at. Auburn and Wisconsin, also big teams that are at.

The SEC only has one team left, and they had a fucking, you know, they were pretty good. Arkansas's left for those boys. Oh, whoopings. Yeah, whoopings. Let's call the Hogs. Yeah. You know, they're a lower scoring team. They play good defense. Arkansas's left for us, boys. Oh, whoopings. Yeah, whoopings. Let's call the Hogs. Yeah. You know, they're a lower-scoring team.

They play good defense. Oh, boring. Yeah, good stuff like that. Yikes, not watching that. Game starts Thursday night. I'll be playing it Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as well. And then the week after that will be a Final Four. Wow.

There's T4. Thank you, Tony. Thank you, T4. That was a great addition of T4 I don't know what the next one holds But the inaugural T4 was a fucking home run I appreciate it And that's Tone's Tasty Tournament

28-24 on the overs 26-26 on the underdogs or favorites That's wild How's that happening? Because it feels like it's madness But really it's just the most consistent tournament we've ever seen. Our favorites were 10-0, I believe, to start covering. Oh yeah, we all ate shit.

Including the play-ins. It's been a tough betting tournament. There's been a lot of buzzer beaters, a lot of overtime games. It's been exciting so far. It's been nice. It's been madness. These 16 teams left, they are pretty sweet. Johnny, great work, Tony.

Thank you, Tony. Been pushing that for about a week now. Happy we got him. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, a man who was live at Liberty's Pro Day. I'm sure this isn't something he can normally say that he does. Liberty, obviously not a big program, but this year, all eyes are on the quarterback named Malik Willis. He was an absolute stud at the Combine, actually helped

a homeless person through the ball over the place, ran well, and was well-received. Is he going to be the No. 2 overall pick to the Lions? Is some other team going to trade with the Lions to go No. 2 overall? Who knows? Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now from his pro day, Ian Rapoport. What's going on, dude?

What's up? Is that an indoor practice facility there? It is, as a matter of fact. Liberty, okay. Liberty has an indoor practice facility. The Cincinnati Bengals do not have an indoor practice facility. Just want to let everybody know that. Yikes.

Place looks beautiful. It's packed out, huh, Ian? Everybody's there. Yeah. I would say the most notable here, the entire Washington Commanders staff, except for Ron Rivera, is here. All of the Carolina Panthers people are here. From Scott Fitterer and Matt Rowe, all of them are here.

Atlanta Falcons have GM Terry Fondo, all of its coordinators, a bunch of others. OC of the Steelers, Matt Canada's here, Tomlin's here. So, all of these sort of quarterback people you would expect, they're all here front and center, talking to Malik, watching the drills and all that. Can you just take your AirPods off? Hang on.

Every time. I don't know why. They're supposed to be better. We should buy them new AirPods. Hey, they're supposed to be better. Should we buy them new AirPods? They're supposed to be better, but it's not your fault. I think it's the AirPods' fault. This is that Apple thing. This is that Apple thing. The iPhone got worse.

I think the AirPods got worse. But cinematic mode. Yeah, you sound amazing. We heard everything you said there. Hey, the Commanders being there, that's surprising, right? Were they at Kenny Pickett's yesterday as well? What do you see out of this? I don't know if they were at Pickett's, but I think they were. I'm pretty sure they were, and they are planning to go to Ole Miss Pro Day tomorrow,

assuming that the tornado or something doesn't – I guess there's like a tornado. I'm not like a big weather guy, but that's what sources tell me. A lot of them. Could be a hurricane, either a tornado or a hurricane, one of those things. Tornado, I didn't know. Yeah, tornado. They started in Texas and it's now moving east. They are here. They're doing

their due diligence. Might they take a quarterback? I don't know, but they're going to do all the research until. It'll be either they're going to take a quarterback or they'll want everyone to think they're taking a quarterback. Somebody jumps over them to take one and then they take whichever position player they want.

Which is, you know, the draft is the best, but that's one of the fun things about it. That's good gamesmanship there. Hey, let's show face here so people think we want this. Then they get a little scared or whatever, and they move above us. That's like Tom Telesco when he was drafting quarterback at six, and there was what? It was Burrow, then it was like Chase at two.

Two. Two, it was four or five and then two was five right before them yeah but he he had trust that nobody else is going to take a quarterback basically he was like we liked all three guys that were at the top of the thing and we just trust that nobody's going to take a quarterback it's like that was probably difficult knowing that your entire franchise is sitting there potentially which like you know i get it you you have to wait through five picks like that's hard a quarterback, it's like, that was probably difficult knowing that your entire franchise is sitting there potentially. Which, like, you know, I get it. You have to wait through five picks. Like, that's hard. How about the Patriots? Waiting through 14

picks, including a couple trades, knowing you wanted Mac Jones. Hey, did they want him? Is that real? I thought they didn't want him, and then when he showed up, they were like, yeah, alright, we'll take him. Fuck it. No, no, no. I know. They wanted him. Now, I mean, did they think he was worthy of, like, the number one or two pick?

Probably not. I don't think a lot of people didn't. Now, looking back, you know, the way he played as a rookie, I would say he literally could have been drafted anywhere, and I'd be like, okay, that makes sense. But back then, a year ago, when we didn't know anything, people would say, oh, it's a reach, it's a reach. I think the Patriots wanted him all along.

I think they thought he was the best fit. But they just needed someone to think that they were not that into him so nobody would jump them, which, of course, nobody jumped him. And they just sat right there and got probably their quarterback for the next 10 years. Which is 15 years. It's like he figured it out. I was trying to think of the tweet I saw yesterday, maybe from Pro Football Focus or somebody.

I guess there was like 26 quarterbacks drafted in the first round from 2006 to 2016. None of them are with the original team they're on. It is so hard. And by the way, we did not check that stat. I don't think you did either. We just assumed it was right. But it is so hard to find your quarterback. Is Malik Willis the number one quarterback in this class in everybody's eyes or do you think

that changed a little bit yesterday with how can he pick it perform because we heard the carolina panthers gm say fucking get over here bull fucking hold that football no no no hold on let me correct the record they did not ask to see his hands they They did not ask to measure his hand size. He was brought over to them to look at his hand size. Scott Federer was checking it out, and then he pointed out to Ben McAdoo, the offensive coordinator, hey, check out his hands. They didn't ask for it. Somebody brought him over and said, show him your hands.

And at that point, they took a look at his hands, and they were like, oh, those look like hands. And then that was brilliant. Oh, so there wasn't any, it wasn't the Carolina Panthers saying, hey, fucking boy, get on over here. It wasn't that? No.

No. I mean, also Scott Fitter is from Seattle, so even though he's from Carolina, he doesn't talk like that. No, he does. Has to. Listen, we didn't know. Right.

No, I get it. I mean, look, when Marty Herney was there, he does talk like that, so that actually say right no i get i mean look when marty herney was there he did he does talk like that so that actually made sense but he's not anymore um no and i think they were you know it's funny because what i heard they basically were like i think we're gonna go viral and then they went viral looking at his hand size which you know it's i know it's a joke and i think hand size is comical but it is a a thing. Like, if he's going to go to Pittsburgh, like, he's going to go to Pittsburgh, he's going to have to be able to hold a football in rainy and cold weather. Like, that's actually a real thing.

Yeah, it's a real thing, especially with, you know, like the way pass rushers are nowadays and, like, just trying to chop or get to the hands or get to the body. I mean, you've got four fours coming off the edge now at all times. There's a chance you're going to get hit in the pocket without getting sacked. Can the ball pop out easier if your hands aren't as big? Probably. But I was actually thinking about this yesterday.

Got some offensive line drills going on. HIT! HIT! HIT! I was actually thinking yesterday. I like how many calls you're getting. I mean, shit's going to happen today. That's good for our show. I was actually thinking yesterday as we were talking calls you're getting that means shit's going to happen today that's good for our show I was actually thinking yesterday

as we were talking about to get over here Bowen shows your fucking hand like in a couple years if Kenny Pickett goes on to be a good quarterback which could happen by the way I think his brain

the offensive man he had to do it he could throw the rock he played in Pittsburgh so he's a Jersey guy I think he's tough like he could go on to have an incredible career

and we'd have to be like do you remember when the only conversation about him was his damn hand size like it's such a trivial thing now with that being said i could see in like two three years from now kenny potentially not not not saying this is likely but there's a chance him not panning out and being like we knew it his hands hands was too small it's like all this we never know the thing is like i i mean i've done this for 10 years in my position i've where i spent talk to everyone pre-draft and i try to figure it out and all that and like i have no idea like there's no rhyme or reason the thing i remember

always is one of my you know probably years where i dove into it the most was mariotta and jamis were coming out right and so those guys were like really, really, really highly sought after coveted prospects, obviously easily one and two and all that, right? And then the next year, everybody was like, well, you know, those guys, you know, these guys aren't quite as good as Mariota and Winston, but they're pretty good. And so everyone like paled in comparison to Jameis and Marcus Mariota and everyone ended up better than both of those guys who are sort of bridge starters at best so no one knows anything but I always think of that because like for years no one measured up to like Jameis and Mariota and now everybody

surpassed them you know what I mean all right so let's get let's do some NFL talk here before we get back into the draft talk because you being on site we have to ask questions about it we'd be you know dumb not to Mariota going back to Artie Smith as soon as Deshaun didn't work out was that already I was basically already in the plans was Matt Ryan definitely gone regardless as soon as the Deshaun Watson thing started do you think in your eyes or was that bridge already kind of kind of done there no I wouldn't say definitely gone, but that's when I... So as soon as it became clear, probably midday, I guess Friday,

I guess Friday, that Deshaun was probably going to Cleveland, it was like, alright, what's going to be the fallout? So you thought, alright, well Saints are going to sign Jameis. They stayed in contact with him. They were negotiating. They put it on pause. Then they did a deal. Okay, that makes sense. And then it was like, is Matt Ryan going to be

so upset that he wants out? And I don't know that he was like that. I don't believe that he asked to be traded, but he was definitely amenable. And I think the team, once it was like, all right, we're looking around for another quarterback, it is clear that the quarterback

on our roster is not the long-term answer. So then a trade makes sense and to me it was all it was only the Colts like I think the Carolina Panthers would have done it but they're not going to trade him in the division obviously so it was really just the Colts the whole time so when it sort of became clear yesterday morning that he might be traded it was like all right he's going to be traded to the Colts or no or he'll stay and probably just keep playing. And then the Mariota follow-up.

They knew that was probably likely because he was still out there and already knows him and knows his offense. And do you think they're done at the quarterback position as he's a starter? I think they're done until the draft, and then they may take one in the draft. But, like, everyone who doesn't have a long-term guy will look at taking him. Are they there?

Yeah, they're here. Terry Fondo's here, the GM. Dave Ragone, the offensive coordinator, he's here. Maybe the birds. Just like that. Marcus Mariota signs a deal about $8 million, right? Is that what it is, about $8 million a year? A little less.

I think it's $7.5 million or something. Mitchell Trubisky signs about... It's basically just a one-year deal and then a $12 million option. Is this it? Yeah, it's via Tom Pelissero. Pelissero on it. Yep.

Got to update. Got to do a Photoshop picture of that one, though. Yeah, well... Get a Margo and Falcons jersey. Hey, did you see our Matt Ryan in the Colts?

Yeah, yeah, we got it. Don't you worry about that. We got it. We got it. No, hold on. Atta baby, Dirty! Dirty! Take me through. We got it. No, hold on. Atta baby, Dirty! Dirty! Take me through your excitement level yesterday.

Okay, so as I was sitting there, you know, there's a lot of, are the Colts going to fucking do anything? A lot of that, you know? And then in the morning, it felt like the conversation was, would you rather have Baker or Matt Ryan? Like there was numerous, numerous polls on random people's Twitter account. Like if you were building a franchise, would you rather Baker Mayfield or Matt Ryan? Baker Mayfield or Matt Ryan?

Every poll I saw said Matt Ryan. With that being said, I am not an anti-Baker Mayfield guy. I'm excited to see what happens with Baker Mayfield. There are anti-Baker Mayfield people out there, and we will get to that in a second. But Matt Ryan, as soon as I caught wind that that was potentially going to be the case initially I was like fucking Matt Ryan and then like as I kept thinking about it I was like yeah this is exactly the human we need this is exactly like with everything I was mad about with

Carson with the offense and the team that we have with Jonathan Taylor behind everything I was mad about with Carson this is the complete opposite. I'm like, yes, this is exactly right. Then watching him get off that G5 today in that tailored suit, I'm like, yeah, this is our guy. This is what we needed on this team. We need an adult at quarterback. I think I'm very happy about it.

But initially it was like, ah, I don't know, Matt Ryan. And then I started peeling back the layers. I'm like, yeah, let's go. I was very pumped about it, Ian. I mean, there's a couple things. Because I think it's a good trade. I think he's got enough left. Two years, probably.

At worst, one year, which is fine. But probably two years. And you still have to find your franchise guy. And I get it. They've sort of had to band-aid this and scotch tape it together. On the other hand, the money is not bad. It's $20-something million. You only give up a three.

Obviously, you want to win, but at worst, I will say at worst, he will be an average quarterback. At absolute worst. You have a great running game and a great defense. That's fine. You're in the mix. That's all we needed. That's all we needed in Clowntown. Just an average quarterback. That's all we needed. That's aown Just an average quarterback That's all we needed

Any other big time moves you see happening? I mean, Baker Mayfield We just said we'll get back to Is he going to get cut? How's that whole thing work out? They should not have to cut him Unless they need to sign someone right now I don't think they will have to

Which I don't think they do I don't think they should cut him But what don't think they do. I don't think they should cut him. What's probably going to happen is eat a bunch of salary and trade him to somewhere where he's that bridge starter. It's really a question of, remember the Panthers did this with Teddy Bridgewater where he had a big salary. They ate

I can't remember, $9 million of it or something. Then he got traded before the draft. I could see that for Baker. Where though? Seahawks or the Panthers. Seahawks, Panthers. Seahawks have been kind of attached to Baker Mayfield in weird conversations. Different

insiders, not insiders, different media people have reported Baker and the Seahawks. Look for Baker and the Seahawks and potentially be a thing. Has that ever been something in your eyes, even though you don't know anything about Seahawks and Seahawks fans tell us that about you every time you talk about the Seahawks would potentially be a thing. Has that ever been something in your eyes, even though you don't know anything about Seahawks and Seahawks fans tell us that about you every time you talk about the Seahawks? I would say that's inaccurate.

You know, they like Baker, but the contract is a problem. So I'm having trouble gauging how much real and true interest there is because all anyone talks about is $8 million. Like, we're not going to do that. But, you know, if Browns would take on half, and remember, it's fully guaranteed, so as of now, they're going to pay all of it. So if the Browns would take on half,

and then he becomes an $8 million bridge starter where maybe he becomes the guy or maybe he doesn't, like, that's more palatable. So, you know, I would say at least that is a possibility for the Panthers or the Seahawks closer to the draft. Don't you think it's fascinating? Don't you think it's fascinating that the Panthers did this with Sam Darnold? Right, and obviously they did it with Teddy.

They did it with Sam. Now they're going to give it a go with Baker. Who's calling you? Anybody good? Is this any good calls? I'm sure this is one of your listeners just calling me being annoying. Oh, classic. Shout out to the arrow.

Tell your people to not do that. It's very annoying. Hey, it's Palisero. It's probably Palisero, right? No, block number. Oh. Remember the prank you, Palisero? Remember the first time I was on here,

I was excited because someone called me for a block number. Now they do it every time. It's not as funny. Come on, guys. Come on. Get over yourself, dude. You got a new thing. You're wearing it up.

It might have been Vinatieri. It might have been Adam Vinatieri calling you. Maybe he has an update. He shows up on my phone as a no number. That's actually really obnoxious. Who do you think you are? He is a Hall of Famer, so I get it. Not yet. He will be a Hall of Famer, but he's fucking Adam Vinatieri is who he is.

I don't think he uses his phone a lot. I guess of all people, he can probably do that, yeah. I don't think he uses his phone much either. I guess of all people, he probably can do that, yeah. And I don't think he uses his phone much either. I think he is. Off-grid. You're going to call from Vinatieri. I get a call from a blocked number, and I'm like, well, I'm not answering that. And then I'll text Vinatieri, this you?

And he's like, yes. I'm like, all right. Something must be up right here. His kid just signed with UMass. Did you break his retirement? I feel like you did. I didn't do it. He just came on here and was like, you want me to do it here? And I was like you did. I didn't do it. He just came on here

and was like, you want me to do it here? And I was like, no, I don't want you to do it. He was like, all right, I'll do it right here. I was like, I don't want you to do it.

He's like, I'm retired. I'm like, all right, there it is. There's no formal retirement from the NFL. You know, it's kind of a weird process. I learned that when I retired. I'm like, what happens?

They're like, you're retired. I mean, you mean your retirement, which I broke. Well, you actually held off, which we were very thankful for. No, it is weird, though. Every year, there's a couple guys who retire,

and I really don't mean this to be insensitive. I really don't, but they retire, and I'm like, have they not retired already? We got some questions for you. Okay, we get it. A lot of people are saying about you whenever you hang up the insider game as well. That's unbelievable.

These guys work their entire lives, okay, for your entertainment, for your job. For an Instagram post or a tweet. They want the likes. That's what Tom Brady did, by the way, and then he just said, actually, never mind. Not selfish at all. How about that $518,000 touchdown ball? Oh, boy. Would you find out what happens there?

I think that's fuck them, right? Yeah. I guess it is, isn't it? I assume it's too bad for you. I don't know. Real quick, real quick. Do we really care if somebody's paying $518,000 for a fucking football? No.

Okay, because they probably have. Don't care. A lot of people are like, oh, he's going to be pissed or she's going to be pissed. It's like they just paid $518,000 for a football that money's going to charity.

Yeah. I don't know if they're that furious. Unless they remortgage their house for it and like that was their entire saving. That'd feel terrible.

That'd be some moron. And also, they should make better decisions. Yeah. You know what I mean? But also, his first retirement,

last touchdown ball, he could still market that. Exactly. You know, you could get Jim Irsay to buy that five, ten years from now. Or that guy could just use it as like a tailgate ball

next year and just scuff it up in the parking lot and just treat it like a regular football. Yeah, 500 and 82, like a baby Duke. Yeah, exactly. What were you going to say, Ian? No, I was going to say, doesn't Irsay only buy guitars? No, he's got everything. I think he's got like some Buddhist script thing.

Ooh. I think he's got a lot of stuff. He just bought Muhammad Ali's gloves. He ran Lincoln stuff, too. Yeah, he's got some Buddhist script thing. Ooh. I think he's got a lot of stuff. He just bought Muhammad Ali's gloves. Abraham Lincoln stuff, too. Yeah, he's got some Lincoln. Hey, he's a museum. He's a museum. And then he takes it on the road and does concerts with it.

Oh, so sick. It is awesome. He's really crafted something that only he could do. It's like, all right, get this collection of shit you literally cannot get anywhere else that i actually loaned to museums and stuff like yeah hey yo go ahead and come on back and then also you're gonna get a concert from like uh some acdc folks jim ursae and like the best drummer and guitarist right it is insane it's awesome the jim ursae collection can't wait to see it live now maybe matt ryan will be in there as well. Got some questions from the boys, Ian, if that's okay? Go ahead, sure.

Go ahead, Ty. Rapshie, now that all the quarterback dominoes that matter have fallen, are the receivers who are still kind of out there, are those guys going to start getting picked up, you think, or because it's such a deep receiver class, our teams kind of hold off until the draft?

First of all, Baker Mayfield can hear you. That was very mean. Oh, no. We didn't know what was going to happen with him. In a post on social media about you. We're pro-Baker Mayfield. He's not started right now. No one's signing anywhere because of Baker.

That's true. The receiver question is a good one, though, because I really felt like we didn't really have a receiver break the bank. I mean, Alan Robinson got a nice deal, but there was no like massive mega deal receiver and the draft kind of ruins it because like this year and like last year and like the year before, so many good receivers in the draft that teams are like, you know what? I'm not going to reach.

I'm just going to wait. Like I'll sign Marquez Valdez scaling for $11 million a year, which would be a great deal for him, or I'll just wait. And so I think a lot of people are like, like even the Packers trading Devonta Adams, who is, you know, the best receiver in the game, or at least top three, they got a first and a second, like they'll probably draft someone and, you know, not be the same, but almost okay. Because the receiving class is so good and it's going to continue to be good because that's what this game is about now. Hey, I just want to let you know, you are currently being filmed by somebody.

Cody Carpenter of NFL. He works at Roto Underworld. Okay. Okay. Roto World. He's in the same, he's got the same media credential you have, pal. He is currently filming you from across the indoor practice.

Seems creepy, but I get it. Now he's just saying, hey, look at the big-time star over there talking into the wall by himself. Has Malik thrown yet? Has Malik Willis thrown yet? He's going at one, so we've got a couple minutes. There's some sort of pad thing going on. Hold on.

We've got some pass rush action going on here. Roll at the end, outside line. Good news for all those Liberty players, by the way, that all these coaches and scouts are here because of Malik. Malik Willis was saying that before, because he was chatting it up beforehand and whatever and you know people are excited to see you and he's like i'm excited for everyone to see my teammates and he was like and all he wanted to talk about was how now we know there's like a receiver who

he thinks may get trapped really you know a couple really really fast guys like he is and and he might be right like someone is going to be signed or drafted out of here because they were here for Malik Willis and they discovered something. It's just like a really cool random NFL thing that happens sometimes and he's very excited about it. Malik Willis, no matter what. Somebody, some GM is walking out of here.

Is that him? No. Who is that? Can we say good luck to them? Are you allowed to talk to the players or no? No. I stay out of it. Yeah, we did that.

We did that. We did that. We did that. We did that. We did that. We did that. We did that. We did that.

We did that. Remember that? That's right. Starting now. Hey, good luck, dude. All right, go ahead, Connor. Yeah, Rapshie, there was a report that the Niners have received a trade offer for Jimmy G for just two second-round picks.

Is that real or is that John Lynch is trying to drive it up to get a first rounder? I have not heard that. I mean, I think that's the price they would do it at. I haven't heard that. And I'm looking around like, who could that be? Right. I mean, they're not going to trade him to Seattle, I don't think. I don't believe the Panthers have made that offer, nor, you know, is anyone trading for Jimmy G right now just off surgery. I'm still not so sure about that. So I imagine if they had that offer, they would take it.

Lynch isn't a big bluster guy. He doesn't lie. He's a pretty regular dude. I have a hard time imagining he would say that unless he really had it. But I don't know. I have not heard that. And I'll tell you this. The longer we go in this thing and Jimmy G is still on the Niners makes me

think that, like, they could keep him. I mean, let him into the playoffs last year. I know it wasn't perfect, but, like, would it be the craziest thing in the world to keep him and let Trey Lance learn for another year? Like, I could think of worse outcomes for the 49ers. I just don't see a spot for him. Wouldn't that be exactly what every other team exec would say whenever they're thinking

about getting Baker Mayfield or not? Now, Jimmy G's already been paid, though. So that's the difference here. Baker has not been paid yet. So I think that should be addressed. Just like Jameis didn't get paid. Jameis, I mean, he made money. He was an NFL quarterback, obviously. but he didn't make that second contract.

And he has another 60 years of life to live, too. So whenever you think about money and everything like that. So I think that is the differing between those two. But, I mean, that Baker Mayfield situation is going to be fascinating. We'll see how it plays out. Mary Kay of Cleveland.com is reporting that and she's been around Cleveland I think for she has good sources and everything

okay so you say Mary Kay does a good job Joseph Person by the way also does a good job he reported something the other day we told you about and then you acted like you reported it a couple hours later we remember yeah you did it I think he's here actually

well you should go fucking apologize. You should go apologize. I'll tell you something real quick about Joe Person. Sure. When I was covering SEC, I was covering Mississippi State, and I was covering Alabama. He was covering South Carolina, and he was the reporter that I emulated. I wanted to be like Joe Person.

Wow. Holy shit. So now you're just taking a shit. That's awesome. Right. So whenever we brought him up the other day to you You were like good reporter good reporter Deep down you were like

That's my hero That's my guy Joseph Person breaking news there That Deshaun was not going back to Carolina I forget what I was going to ask you about there What were we just chatting about Mary Kay By the way you just stealing somebody's thing

That you loved is wild. But, I mean, we do it every day. Millions and millions. I mean, yeah, we do it all the time. So, I mean, who are we to throw stones at that whole thing? But Mary Kay said that if he was to be cut, the Steelers would pounce at the opportunity to sign Baker Mayfield. And, you know, they got Mitchell Trubisky.

They were at Kenny Pickett's thing yesterday. Now, granted, that is in their building, actually. Now, today, they're at Malik Willis. What do you think the Steelers are looking into? And do you think that's accurate with Baker? What do you think the market is for him? I'm sure that she is on. I'm sure she knows something.

I would be surprised just money-wise because they gave, you know, Trubisky real money. I think I can't remember what it was. Was it $8 million a year or something like that? $7 million. $6 million. Like four against the cap. Was it six?

Yeah, okay. So like really good backup money slash bridge starter. That makes sense. That would surprise me. I mean, to me, the spots unaccounted for are the Panthers and Seahawks. So my sense is if Baker's cut, which, again, I don't. The Steelers would pounce. I don't have to cut them. I would think it's the Panthers and Seahawks. So my sense is if Baker's cut, which again, I don't... The Steelers would pounce. I don't have to cut them.

I would think it's the Panthers and Seahawks. Somebody writing for Cleveland.com saying Pittsburgh would pounce on something Cleveland is just... I think that's... Saying that, I'm like, holy shit. She must know something because... Good for clicks. Yeah, go ahead, Tone.

Ian, how are you today? Good to see you. Malik Wills is number two overall at fanduel sportsbook or is the odds on favorite to go number two overall in the draft at fanduel sportsbook do they think that's the lion someone will trade up to number two have you been hearing that it potentially could go that high and can you tell colbert to go get the honey badger please i see there well hold on say say that again about who's number two. Malik Willis is the favorite to go at number two in the draft.

Interesting. Wow. Is that the lions to a trade up? What do you think? See, is that why it's weird? Everyone's been asking me about the lions and Malik Willis. Like,

I wonder if that's why I sort of didn't know where that came from, but I mean, I guess that's possible. I would not be, I came into this draft season or whatever a couple weeks ago i guess when the combine assuming that the highest quarterback would go would be mid first round now i think they're going to go probably in the top 10 yeah because the thing happens this year as happens every year where you're like oh these quarterbacks are maybe everything and then you're like well we got to have one and then also quarterbacks are making everything. And then you're like, well, we got to have one. And then also, if quarterbacks are making $50 million, which they are now,

then, you know, would it make sense to take a flyer on a guy who's going to make a lot less in the first round? Like, to some teams that don't have one, it would make sense. So, like, I think quarterback probably goes in the top 10, maybe multiple quarterbacks. Okay, so Kenny Pickett, allegedly an anonymous NFC assistant general manager, said it's going to be tough to see that guy go past the top 10 or whatever. And that's kind of what you're reiterating, which is what we talked about. Those who missed out in free agency, all of a sudden these guys look a lot better as quarterbacks than they did before Russell Wilson was maybe available.

Yeah, and even the teams that could take him, they could take him and they don't have to play him, like Washington, like Pittsburgh, like all those guys. Everyone's going to be looking, as they should, because if you don't have one, you spend the rest of your life looking for one, or you have to trade three ones and more and make a fully guaranteed contract to get one. Hey, that Deshaun Watson deal, a first and a fourth next year,

a first and a third the year after that, and then a first and a fourth the year after that, and then a first and a fourth the year after that, that's a big-time dealer. That's a lot. It's a lot, but again, if he is what he should be, which is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, no one will care about the picks, and it'll be 100% worth it. Yeah, off-field, it's got to get figured out as well.

Ladies and gentlemen, live Liberties Pro Day friend of the program can't wait to follow along and see how Malik did on your Twitter account ladies and gentlemen at Rap Sheety and Rapaport

speaking of intuition a man who has had to lean on that immensely throughout his term as general manager for a team right here

in the middle of America. He's got a southern draw, but don't let that fool you. He's a savage when it comes to building a football team. He had a program ready to go, and then a quarterback retired nine days before the season started. Ever since that moment, he's been trying to track down and trace a franchise quarterback that can lead this group with seven pro bowlers, multiple all pros, to the promised land of the Super Bowl in which the owner has promised two of them within this decade. Ladies and gentlemen, general manager for the Indianapolis Colts,

Chris Ballard. Thank you. Thanks for having me. How y'all doing? Hey, much better now, Chris. What the fuck? Hey, that took a long time, Chris. I'm on this microphone every day

looking at your salary cap with $70 million. We got no quarterback. Did you know it was going to all work out? And did you hear the calls from the Colts Nation wondering, hey, we're going to get a quarterback. What the hell is going on?

Nobody has any patience anymore. Nobody has any patience. You did, though? Yeah, I mean, you just sit back and you wait and things will work out the way they're supposed to work out. I mean, I want, I would love to do it on everybody else's timeline, but unfortunately it doesn't, it doesn't always work that way. All right. So let's talk about it. Moving on from Carson. Whenever you made that decision, the back with the backup, I don't want to say the backup plans, but the plans for who was then going to become the quarterback for this team that has been very talented, I mean incredibly built, very talented team.

Did you have options? Did you have ideas? Were you waiting to see how things shaped up? What was the mindset when you trade Carson to the commanders? I just thought we'd kind of wing it. That's what it felt like. That's what it felt like. No, I mean, when, when we, you know, when we made the decision, you know, ultimately to, to trade Carson, we knew, we knew there was going to be a little bit of panic mode going,

just knowing that, you know, we had some, you know, we had some, you know, question marks at the position. But we also knew that there was going to be some options out there. And if we were just patient and let the thing play out, we thought it would work out for us. And we feel like we got a little lucky with getting Matt Ryan in the building. We feel very fortunate. How has it lucky with getting Matt Ryan in the building. We feel very fortunate. How has it been with getting Matt Ryan in the building?

Also, from when you first started talking to him and he realized that Indy is an option, was he receptive? Yeah, he was really good, and the Falcons were great. Atlanta was tremendous through this entire process, and I think it was good for both parties. I think it was good both, you know, for the Falcons as they, you know, start. They got a new regime and, you know, really quality coaches and people. And it was time for them to, you know, to get moving forward with their new plan. And they knew that we had avoided the position, so it made it work. And then talking to Matt, you know, it was a lot like when we talked to Phillip,

where you're getting a guy that wants to win, is driven to win. We think he's got a lot left in his career. He's really smart, takes care of his body, does all the right things, and we think he's going to add a piece to us that's going to help us. Whenever you chat with matt and obviously was he pissed about atlanta looking into sean watson did you get that sense from him or did they both kind of understand it was like time to move on no there was no animosity um from matt and i think he just i think it just came to a point where both of them thought you know what it's time it's time

and uh you know i won't speak for him or I won't speak for the Falcons, but I think it just was a point where it was time. So Yannick Ngakwe, you trade for the Raiders. You trade for Matt Ryan. People forget you traded for DeForest Buckner. You're still sitting on a bunch of salary caps somehow, like somehow, someway you're still sitting on it all. Is there more moves to be made?

Are you still going to be active? How do you view this entire free agency going? Are you in full draft mode right now, or are you still trying to balance them both? Balance them both. I mean, as opportunities present themselves. We knew we had to get this settled first. Hey, you can't sign anybody else without a quarterback, right?

I mean, that's something that's real. And let me tell you something. It's hard to convince them to come here when you say, hey, we'd love you to be here, but Pat McAfee's going to be throwing you balls. No, they would have came. Hey, listen, I don't have to wear the glove. I got nine inches here, you know what I mean?

I got nine inches here, a thumb to pick you. But I assume that is something difficult that you knew you had to get in play. We have to get a quarterback first before we can pitch everybody else because your team and building seems amazing. But without a quarterback, you can't do shit, right? Understood. And look, I understood it from their end. I mean, you know, you have players out there

and they want to know who's throwing them the football. And so that kind of indecision, you know, caused some apprehension on guys and that's okay i understood it um but we also knew we weren't going to rush the decision and we wanted to make sure we got it right and we felt we did so whenever it comes out that you know baker mayfield interested in going to the indianapolis colts and there's other people that were looking into going to the indianapolis colts can. Do you listen to any of that? Were people just blowing up your phone from a bunch of quarterbacks

that felt like they weren't necessarily in the best spot? How did you figure out that Matt Ryan was the guy? Well, one, I don't listen to that shit. So it doesn't – I mean, I don't – you know me well enough. Like I don't – like we just kind of put our – we just work. We stay connected through the league to make sure we knew what was going on. And then we were able to connect with Matt. You know, after visiting with him, we felt it was –

we felt this was the right move to make. Just a third rounder for that. Everybody's like, hey, they got more from Mohamed Sanu. You had to feel pretty good about that when you hung up the phone? You're like, yeah, yep, we got a big contract, but we got a lot of salary caps, and they're getting a third rounder for that. Everybody's like, hey, they got more from Muhammad Sanu. You had to feel pretty good about that when you hung up the phone. You're like, yeah, yep, we got a big contract, but we got a lot of salary caps, and they're getting a third runner. You hang that up and you celebrate? And is that why you're complimenting Atlanta right now or no? No, we celebrate the fact that we got a good quarterback. It's a great deal, though. You have done an incredible job with your trades. Now, granted,

Carson was only one year. He's moved on for a multitude of reasons and a lot of rumors and everything like that. But you have made moves, and you have drafted well, and you've paid everybody, basically. I think you still owe Quentin. Like, you're going to have to pay Q, I think, a lot of money. You're going to have to pay him a lot of money. He deserves it.

You've still got a couple holes, though, that are big-money positions. You know, left tackle is still wide open, right? I mean, that is still something you've got to worry about, you've got to think about. Is there any other, you know, as you're trying to piece this puzzle together, where you're going to spend your money,

or is the plan still to build up your people in-house? No, we'll look at it, but I'll tell you what. We, like, I think one of the people that was kind of, you know, everybody just kind of brushed off the signing, but Matt Pryor, like, Matt Pryor played really good for us this year. And I think people kind of ignored it. Even against the Raiders, when you go back and watch the Raider game, he was outstanding at left tackle. So we'll give him the first shot at it.

We'll continue to look to add depth as we need to. And we'll look both in free agency and the draft. But he'll get the first shot at it. He ended up starting five or six games for us last year, both at right, left, and at guard. He's a young player. We think he's got a lot of talent. He's a big, strong man. And when we gave him a chance to perform, he performed really well. And it's been fun to watch him work and kind of buy into what we're asking him to do. So we'll give him a shot at it. And we think he's got a lot of upside. But we'll continue to look.

And we'll look at every position. We've got to add some depth pieces. And we still have some players that we think could still help us in play as we go along here. Look, I mean, I know everybody gets excited about March, and I get it. And Super Bowls are definitely one in March. I mean, we know that. History's proven it.

and Super Bowls are definitely won in March. I mean, we know that. History's proven it. So it's, you know, you can acquire players between now and October that can help you win. And it's not just a two-week period in March that determines, you know, the outcome of the season. Do you have any kind of plan for – now you mentioned Matt Ryan. He has a lot of good years left.

Do you have any plan on how long you guys may have him in India or how much longer he plans on playing football? No, I mean, look, we know we have him for two good years for sure. Hopefully it's longer. You never know how things work out in the league. I know this, spending time with him today, he's really driven to win. And he's a tremendous competitor. He's really driven to win. He looked good. He's a tremendous competitor. He's kept his body in great shape.

It's going to be fun. It'll be cool to watch this thing play out. I think he's going to do really well, and I think our team's going to embrace him. I think you alluded to it earlier. You said some guys wanted to know who was going to throw the ball to him. You need weapons. I think you know that. I think we

all know that looking at it. Zach Paschal, all he does is catch fucking touchdowns your exact words he's now with philadelphia ty's a free agent who knows how that whole thing pans out obviously you still got pitman jr and strahan i believe is back off of injury but when you look at the weaponry for matt ryan there's people there's some big names out there, and I know big name doesn't necessarily mean big production, but the wide receiver, do you feel like there's a lot of depth in the draft? Do you think there's a lot of young guys that you can find and have great success with? How do you plan on addressing that whole situation?

That's good because we got some young players we like here. We want to see them play, that's for sure. Both Patman and Mike have a lot of talent. We have some other kids that have done some things here also in the past, just in spot duty. I do think T.Y. Hilton can still play. He's extremely smart. He's very much a big part of our fabric of what we do here. So we'll see how that plays out. And then there's other players on the market. So we'll continue to monitor it. And, you know, as we go forward, we know we, we know we still got work to do. What was that? Hey, wasn't that good? Yeah.

It was, it was rude. I went in a circle and I gave an ad. I mean, that was really, that was probably one of my better ones. When I look back at it, that was probably one of my better ones. When I look back at it, that was probably one of my better ones. Let me ask you this. When Kalen asked me, are you getting a suite? We need to get this done. So did you hear what I said? We need to get this done.

Did you hear what I said? No. So this is what I said literally yesterday. You know, Kalen reached out and was like, hey, just wondering if you wanted that field suite still. I said, how much, how's the internet, and who's the quarterback? That was right after he was dead. Internet will be great.

No, we got to get that going. Hey, listen. Hey, you're 1-0 in that suite now. Yeah, I know. You're 1-0 in that suite. Don't freaking be bringing the bad karma and jinxing it. got to get you back in that suite listen you got a quarterback okay that was right i was actually i've had this hoodie okay i've had this hoodie for like a month and a half two months i've been waiting it's almost too warm now i've been waiting to wear it i'm like

well i need a goddamn quarterback before i put this thing on. Did you sleep so much better last night? I know you said you're patient and you can't listen to the outside noise, but obviously after last year, what happened, the way the season ended, you don't have a quarterback. There had to be some stress, is there not? I mean, there had to be some stressful moments. And last night had to be quite a celebration at the Ballard House. I don't know if, I mean, like, I was pissed at the end of the year.

I mean, and I'm still got it. Like, it's still, I don't think that, I mean, like, I was pissed at the end of the year. I mean, and I'm still got it. Like, it's still, I don't think that'll ever leave me. I just, the way it ended, I mean, look, and I don't, at the end of the day, I didn't get enough to help our team get it done. And that freaking, that freaking bothers me, you know, because I feel like I let a lot of people down. So I don't know if it was the – like I don't ever worry about the outside pressure. I put enough internal pressure on myself to make sure that we're putting a team on the field that this city

and all the ex-players that play for it can be really proud of. And I was disappointed. That's where the pressure came from more than anything. And, you know, did I sleep better last night? Damn right I did. You sleep better too. I did, yeah. I did.

I slept very well. I can wear that Tommy Hilfiger hoodie too. Damn right I did. I wear this aura ring, and I think I got like six and a half hours, and the average here lately has been a lot less than that. Well, I'm happy for you. I'm excited to see what your resting heart rate is on that aura. You know, every once in a while.

I got up to 160 or 155, I think, when Vince offered me the WrestleMania match live. My aura was like, hee! Spiked straight up there. I love it. I love taking care of myself, as do you, obviously. You're yoked in this entire thing. Was there some uncomfortable moments after that season?

I remember, I think you and I exchanged text messages, I think, afterwards, and you had just got done doing your two-hour press conference that you do that not a lot of guys do, by the way, especially after losing to Clowntown, not making the playoffs, whenever everybody expected the team to take another step. You sat up there, I think it was two hours, and literally just kind of let everybody ask their questions, take their shots.

And I think I texted you and was like, hey, really impressive shit today. Like, just getting up there and facing the music is something that not everybody wants to do. But in the men's league, you have to do it. You did it. And you said something about, yeah, I still got the poison in me, though. Like, this is going to take a while for me to get out of there. And obviously, there was conversations between you, Frank, and Ursae.

And we all know how passionate Ursae is about winning and how in he is on all the decisions. There were some uncomfortable conversations, I assume, huh? Did that bring you guys closer, you think, in this entire thing, you, Frank, and Jim? Conversations, I assume. Did that bring you guys closer, you think, in this entire thing, you, Frank, and Jim? I don't think you can get better without those uncomfortable conversations. I mean, it's not, and we're just talking ball. Like, we're just, you know, we're not attacking each other.

We're just talking ball. And what's the best way to win? What we what did we what did we do wrong what mistakes did we make and let's get them fixed and here are the here are the solutions um and and problem here the problems and here the solutions like don't like it's easy to bitch like that's an easy thing to do in this world today and it's easy easy to make excuses and you can try to BS your way out of stuff, but it is what it is. Like we weren't good enough. That, that falls on all of us. And we got to get better. And we got to find a way to improve. And that's, that's,

that's what the conversation centered around. Chris, I don't know if you saw this, but Odell Beckham Jr went out on Twitter and said it was a great signing. And Matt Ryan's going to get to do some special things for you in Indianapolis. Are you aware of the tweet? Do you get excited when you see a great player like that endorse your QB? We got good hoodies from Tommy Hilfiger, too. He's super lit, dude.

Super swag. No, I didn't see the tweet. I stay off of Twitter, but I'm glad he approves. He's a great player. I'm glad he approves. He's a great player. I'm glad he approves. He's a great player. Hey, he's also a free agent. Great player. Coming off an ACL there. Whenever you're making decisions on guys and

trying to figure it out, injuries. For instance, Bob Woods was just available. Robert Trees out there is how Cooper Cup calls him. Wide receiver for the Rams, now for the Titans. Went for a sixth rounder. Whenever you look at players that are, and I think Frank Reich told James Palmer, and who knows what's real and what isn't, he said he wants a quarterback that can do and play through OTAs.

So that kind of took a couple people out that I thought were potentially going to be Indianapolis Colt quarterbacks. Whenever you're judging injuries, is it much different than it was like five years ago, ten years ago with how rehab and everything is? Is that even something you guys think about anymore? Well, absolutely it is. And you just got to know where the risk, you know, where is he along? How far along is he in his rehab?

The kid matters, you know, the player matters and how driven he is to get back. So it does come into consideration, but you've got to tie in all the factors and then make the best decision you can about what his future is going to be and when he's going to be back and what kind of production he's going to give you when he gets back.

What's the main thing you look for in a guy to join your culture that you have built over there? Dude, they've got to be about the team i mean you got to be i mean look the one thing i'll give all our guys credit for man they they work and they play for each other and they're about winning and about and about the team and that's important and it doesn't and they're all judging like i don't care like the locker they know they freaking know know, who's in and who's out and who's putting in the work. They got to look each other in the eye every day and know who's putting in the commitment and the commitment level they have to win. So who we bring in is extremely important.

And how they fit in to what we do is extremely important, especially because we have so many of these guys that they've been here four or five years and they've had a taste of it and they've had a taste of success and they've had a taste of failure and they don't like the taste of failure. None of us do. So when you bring someone in, they've got to be willing to fit into that into that environment uh that we have do you think the narrative that you're scared to spend money is a real one or no it's bullshit i mean i mean we we traded and paid buckner we just traded for matt ryan darius leonard's making pretty good money. I mean, if you just look

across the board, I mean, look, everybody's got their own way of building it. And, you know, we have our way. And I would tell you, even the team, even, let's just, I mean, because I think Les and the Rams have done it, their scouting staff has done a tremendous job. But it's not like they're a big

free agency tree. Now, they've traded for a lot of guys that are big, you know, that are great, great players. But it's not like they're a big free agency tree. Now, they've traded for a lot of guys that are great, great players, but it's not all been through free agency. And so there's different ways to do it. And everybody has their own way. I don't know there's any way that's perfect. This is our way, and this is what we'll continue to do. And I'll continue to be kicked in the face for it until we have a little more success but that's okay hey listen you don't hear it anyways hey

you don't hear that you think you're not sleeping you're just looking and talking ball you know what i mean with that great southern accent hey that accent is so where are you texas that's a texan accent right there texas city where's that southeast tech southeast Southeast Texas. We're about 45 miles south of Houston. Is that where The Big Green was filmed? Ooh. The Big Green. What's the movie? Oh, Chris.

What is it? Steve Guttenberg. Chris, you would never. Listen, maybe that's a problem. You don't know what The Big Green is. I mean, is that a. All right, I'm writing it down. Whenever the draft moves along and whenever that whole thing happens,

you do get kicked in the teeth because you have the most salary cap space. We didn't have a quarterback. There's a lot of big names out there that are available. Moving on from Carson, there were so many rumors that came out. Rumors upon rumors upon rumors. If you had to address why

you thought Carson Wentz wasn't the right quarterback for your team in 2022, what would it be, you think? Like, what would be the act? Because we've heard a lot of shit. I mean, there's, and by the way, I watched every single game. And I don't know how his parents have watched him play football for his entire life. I almost had a heart attack every single play, honestly. And as somebody that has been, you know, very fortunate enough to have a front row seat to a lot of very good football and they listen to people talk about football that have very high

football IQ not that I do the ball is the most important thing the ball the ball the ball the ball and then next is like the health of the quarterback and he in my eyes not saying you're saying this but in my eyes every play he jeopardized both of those things and it was like that toughness was amazing. It's commendable. It's admirable. It's like, hey, that is awesome. And his great moments were incredible.

But it felt like every single play there was a chance we're going to lose the $30 million quarterback and we're going to lose the ball on it. You know, and it's just like, was that what it was inevitably? What do you think? It just wasn't the right fit. What do you think it was looking into the 2022 season while you moved on from Carson? Yeah, that's it. And look, Carson, like all the rumors and all that crap out there you Carson played good football for us you know I mean at 27 touchdowns seven interceptions

he played you know good football for us and there's a point when we were and unfortunately you know through you know missing all the training camp uh with the with the foot and, you know, through, you know, missing all the training camp with the foot and then, you know, starting the season off as slow as we did to finally get our footing and go nine and six. And then that ended the way it did. And unfortunately, it ended the short-term and long-term, were we willing to, at the end of the day, stick with Carson? Yeah, we had talked about that. But then when we had a chance to move him, sometimes it's good. I heard somebody say this, and I did think this was good.

To move away from the family can be good. Because he had been in Philly, then he'd been with Frank. I think sometimes to get out of your comfort zone can be really good for a player. And I think it's going to be good for Carson. And I think it's going to be good for him. And I think he'll do really good things. And for us, it was just a matter of we needed to find somebody that we really thought was a really good fit here, both in the short and the long term.

Not that it didn't. Sometimes it just doesn't work. So whenever you make that decision to move on from it, because you guys had to do a bunch of interviews. Frank had to do interviews. You had to do interviews. And the answer was out, we're going to do what's best for the Colts. We're going to do what's best for the Colts. Were you guys still in that process?

Were you still in the decision-making process, trying to figure out what was actually best for the Colts, and you weren't trying to deceive anybody or whatever trying to give or deceive anybody and whatever you're talking like that now was this a difficult i assume this was a very difficult decision to make whenever you're talking about the trigger man of a billion dollar operation it's really hard and he played you know good football so and he's a he's a good person i mean it was a really difficult decision um and you know there, there was some tough moments, tough conversations. But at the end of the day, we thought, you know, we did what we thought

was the best thing for us. You just restructured Matt's contract, I believe. Was that something that was being conversated about before the trade? Like that had to be a part of it? Was that Matt's people being a part of that? Or that you or is that just a mutual that was all that was just mutual they were great to deal with Matt was great to deal with um and it was just making sure we were able to guarantee Matt no doubt he'd be here for two years um um so it ended up being a good thing for for both of us you like seeing Kenny Moore and Darius Leonard out there two of your pillars for your defense, saying, hey, come join us here in Indianapolis.

We got a crew. I love watching them on the internet. I've enjoyed them immensely on who they think would be able to fit in because Darius Leonard, when he was on our show and there was a chance that maybe a player would come to the Colts, he said, well, better be able to work. Better be ready to work. We work around here.

So I feel like a lot of the players on your team have taken a lot of ownership over the culture, and they've gone public like, hey, this guy would be good here. This guy, hey, come here. You enjoy that type of thing. Is there still pieces you're looking at, you think? Do you listen to the guys? Do you chat with the guys that are your pillar players? Well, there's no doubt we talk.

I mean, like every time we make a move, they're some of the first ones I reach out to to make sure they get connected quickly. They're the leaders of the team. We're going to go as they go, and we're going to go as that locker room takes us. And look, the onus lies on us as a personnel group to make sure we're getting guys that fit. They know. They know the expectations. They know what the standard is.

So getting guys that will, that will come to that and play to that standard and perform and practice and do the things they want to do. So no, they are, leave us to say they are very active and I appreciate it. I don't mind. I don't mind it. Hard knocks hurt at all?

Or help? Good. That's good. That's good. Hey, listen, Chris. As we were watching it during the season, I was like, man, this is fucking awesome. It's like I'm literally back in the building.

I was back in the building that I was in, going through the day-to-day. And obviously, the NFL Films crew that puts together Hard Knocks is top-notch, notch obviously it's incredible but in season i thought was a very interesting decision because there's already enough distractions you know it just feels what are your thoughts on it now that you're looking back on it you know i never watched it to be honest with you did you tell him edit me out of there? Cause you, you were about to give a couple of speeches and they, you know what I mean? Yeah,

it wasn't about that. To me, when we did, when we, as an organization decided to do it, you know, we had long talks with, with,

with their people about, you know, content and what could go in and out and making sure it wasn't going to be a distraction. And the biggest thing that I told him, I said, look, I want it to be about the players and coaches because that's what this league is. It's about the players. I mean, this is a players league.

And so let's tell their story. Let's tell their story, not only off the field because that's important, but less what they go through during the week to get ready to play. Like it is freaking hard. It's hard. That's important, but less what they go through during the week to get ready to play. Like, it is freaking hard. Oh, yeah. It's hard. I think sometimes people don't realize how hard it is on these players to get ready for each Sunday. So I wanted to make sure that was part of the storyline as we went into this.

And, look, NFL Films was tremendous. They are. And they did a good job staying out of the way i didn't feel like it was a distraction for us i thought our guys handled it really well there wasn't a ton of cameras around the building um and it didn't it didn't look i didn't feel it ever became a real distraction okay have you talked you talked to many players and did any players come to you and say like, hey, either I love this or we don't like this and it was a distraction?

How did they feel? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. There's some that wanted nothing to do with it. Okay, we're not going to force you to. And then some embraced it. And so it was but I would tell you this, I think more enjoyed doing

it than, than the opposite. Did you learn anything? Oh, you didn't watch any episodes. I was about to say, I didn't watch it. Were you scared to watch it? You didn't want to watch it. It was uncomfortable or you just, it's not like your thing. I don't know.

I just, I mean, I'm freaking living it. What else do I need to do? I mean, I'm like, I'm here every day. Hey, I learned a lot about Bubba Ventron's family. That's right. I learned about Bubba. I get to see it. And I would see the cuts before, like I never watched it live, but

I would see a lot of the cuts, you know, before just to make sure that we weren't putting something out that we didn't want, you know, to get out. But saying that, I mean, you know me well enough. We're pretty open. Like, there wasn't a lot of stuff we cut out and tried to hide.

I mean, you know, it is what it is. I mean, look, I always laugh sometimes. Like, there's all these trade secrets. Like, whoever blocks and tackles and executes and doesn't screw the game up on Sunday usually wins. Yeah, and at the end of the day, that's real. There's a lot of money being thrown around. There's big business that happens. And at the end of the day, that's real. There's a lot of money being thrown around. There's big business that happens.

And at the end of the day, it's blocking, tackling, throwing, catching, running, kicking. That's it. Who can do it? Who can't do it? And when the pressure's on, those big moments, man, you guys had a wave. You stunk early. Then you guys get incredibly hot.

Oh, my God. Christmas Day, you win with what? Connor playing for your team. And Ty playing for your team over there in Arizona against a good team. And then those last two games. I think it's good for you in the end. I think five years from now you'll think about that year when we lost to

Clonton down in Jacksonville. That really put everybody and realigned everybody in the building and kind of set you there. But man, you're living in the middle of just absolute purgatory hell right now with that team.'m excited to see how you guys bounce back chris i got a great text from a good friend um and he said he goes unfortunately it's hard to harden up and toughen up during times of prosperity and he's and he was right and the one message that i thought was really good he he said, look, the toughest players in the toughest teams are always in the mix.

And so we have a, you know, I really believe this as an organization and as a team, we have an opportunity to, you know, we can go either way. Like we can let it affect us or we can let it harden us and use it as a launching point. We plan to use it as a launching point. We plan to use it as a launching point. Man, Matt Ryan coming out of that G5 this morning in that suit. As soon as I saw that picture of him, I'm like,

there's a fucking quarterback in the NFL right there. That is an NFL quarterback. His suit looks so good. I mean, you had to pay him $7.5 million, I think, as soon as he stepped foot on it. As soon as he stepped foot in Indiana. Congrats, by the way. Yeah, he earned to pay him $7.5 million, I think, as soon as he stepped foot on it. As soon as he stepped foot in Indiana. Congrats, by the way. Yeah.

Yeah, he earned it. He deserved it. He just looks like the epitome of what you would want at quarterback. I assume that the entire team's ready to rally. Go ahead, Tom. Chris, you don't have a first-round pick this year, and I believe you didn't have a few the previous years besides last year. Is that just because you like to sit back, have a pop, and come on our draft special?

Or is there a reason that you're avoiding the first-round picks? No, it's always for Pat. Thank you. Thank you. Look, this is – and sometimes I feel like I get used because I get kind of slid in these slots when he just needs somebody. No! He knows I'll do it.

But I always do it for him. I keep it just. I want to keep that time where I'm loose and we can come on and visit. We got a quarterback. Do we still have Jonathan Taylor? Yes, we do. Hey, how about Jonathan Taylor becoming a superstar last year? I think Hard Knocks helped with that, by the way.

Well, I mean, Hard Knocks are not. I mean, everybody else is watching the same games we're watching. He's once in a generation, I think, Chris. I honestly believe he's once in a generation. When did you draft him? What pick? I don't know. Somewhere in the second.

We got him. Sometimes you get a little lucky, man. Yeah, I mean, I assume the night you drafted him, you were very flustered that he fell all the way to you and then immediately upon getting him like oh my god this guy's different i've heard from everybody in the building from equipment managers athletic trainers coaches i think you have even said it's like hey this dude everything not just on the field you see it but his work ethic how intelligent he is how nice he is to everybody everything about him just screams like all. He has absolutely

risen into a superstar at this point. Obviously, you knew this was going to happen, but how do you continue that trajectory with him? What do you think? Keep handing him the ball. Yeah, well, hey, amen. By the way, Matt Ryan, $27 million. Hand it to the guy behind you.

Honestly, a lot of us feel that way. I don't want to say like, I don't want to speak for all the ex-Colts players and obviously got Reggie coaching in there now and a couple other which is a great move I love that I think it's good for everybody I think it's good for the Colts you know to get some OGs in there that are like hey this is how this whole thing goes not that they don't right now but I've talked to a lot of ex-players and it's like hey you got a once in a generation guy in that backfield back, legit. I feel like we all actually feel that way. I'm sure you do as well. How do you continue to mix it up?

Do you have to design new plays for him? Do you just expect him to keep growing and getting better? What do you think of Jonathan Taylor going into this next season? Well, I mean, look, Frank and the staff do a tremendous job, you know, making sure that we get touches and doing whatever we need to do to win. You know, I mean, whoever's, you know, there might be a game where Jonathan doesn't have a ton of carries and Naheem ends up getting, you know, more touches.

It just depends game to game. And there'll be games when we got to throw it 55 times to win. I think it just, it's a week to week thing. We do know he's going to be, you know, we do know he's a unique player. Chris. Chris. He needs to get touches. Chris.

Let's not throw the fucking ball 55 times. You got Jonathan Taylor back there. Why don't we throw you the guy? I guess you got to keep him alive, though, too. That's another thing. Oh, jeez. You know what will be great? You know what's going to be great this year?

Is when you're in that suite right down there in the end zone after you buy this suite and get your whole set up. You need to get a whole, you need to set the show up there. Like I've been pushing this. Why can't you set the show up down there?

Well, how's the internet? That was literally my second question. How much? We'll get the internet. No, we'll get the internet working. We'll make sure it works good. How about like arrival too? Like how do we get, because last time I got there, I had to walk like four miles

for the entire thing. Is there any, is there anything we can do about the arrival of that thing? We'll get you, I promise you, we'll get you parking. Oh! Okay. Alright, I'll want it. We'll get you parking. Alright, I would like to buy it. You can officially lock it in. I'm in. They sent me the price. Okay, I would like to buy the field suite. Let's go undefeated now, huh?

Okay, no. We're 1-0 with you there. That's what I'm saying. In that suite. Let's fucking keep it good. Tell Matt Ryan, all right, in the building, I bought the suite. We got the good internet. He needs a win now.

What is the expectation whenever you talk to him? Like, hey, this team needs to go to the Super Bowl. That's what we need to do. We need to get to the playoffs. What is that conversation like with Matt? Because he's an adult. He's been around. Obviously, he understands the expectations, but learning about the Colts and learning about the culture, what is the first couple conversations with him like? I mean, look, this is where, like, right when he, like, the

first conversation is, I want to talk to my, you know, I want to talk to Mr. Ursae, and I want to talk to my teammates. Like, he wanted to reach out to mr ursae and i want to talk to my teammates like he wanted to reach out to everybody on the team and make sure he knew that they know that he was available um and he's come here to work um and and do his part which i think is is is really cool so we gotta we gotta just work like we can't control what's going to happen in September. All we can control is right now. So we'll start players are working on their own. We'll get to OTAs and we'll go to work.

Is he buying Tony Stewart's house? I don't know. $30 million. It's good. It's an hour's house. It's probably a little too far away. Well, there's a $14 million.

Yeah, he's got a $14 million one here downtown as well. Hopefully he's able to find his home. When's he planning on moving? Is he moving in soon? Is this whole thing happening rather quickly, or is it OTAs and stuff like that? Well, he just got here today. Well, fucking stay.

He just had to get a physical I know he's got a press conference coming here Pretty quickly so What time? I think it's at 3 I'm looking at Connie out there at 3 Okay well This is what we need him to tell us That he's able to go

Hey Boom Hey Boom Hey maybe 55 of these chris you know what i mean hey boom boom okay i'm not a football mind but i'm just letting you know what i would like to see all right like last couple questions chris you spent too much time with us already we appreciate you so much go ahead ty chris you mentioned how it's a player driven league and i think we're seeing that more so than ever with guys who are seemingly unhappy with their situation

kind of dictating where they go next, and you're obviously no stranger to making trades. Is that something that you guys are monitoring just as much as who's available in free agency, or is that kind of like a fool's errand when you're trying to find out who's available and who's not happy, and if it's someone that you guys can actually get to help the team?

I think everybody's tracking that. You know, we talk to each other. I mean, you talk to other GMs and you talk to other teams and you're tracking what's going on and seeing who fits you. So I think it's a natural occurrence of what goes along in the league. And usually it's contractually why guys are pissed. So when they go somewhere else, they get a big new contract. Well, shout out to two years, 54 million.

For Matt Ryan, go ahead, Connor. Yeah, Chris, there's a report that you guys tried to reach out to Houston to possibly gauge the interest on Deshaun. Was that a real report, one and two also? How many times do teams tell you, you know, don't even call because we're not going to pick up? Well, first on, you know don't even call because we're not going to pick up well first on on you know he's in cleveland so i won't comment on that one um but i've been told no plenty of times i mean that's part of it i mean sometimes their players are just not available to you any trades happen that kind of surprise you?

I mean, nothing surprises me anymore. Nothing. Really? I mean, when you see the movement across the league now and not just talking special, unique, generational players getting moved, nothing surprises me anymore. Hey, well, you know, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, they did a lot of good things together. They sold out there, you know.

How did I not know that was going to happen? Well, last year, you were right. It only took to the last of the interview. That's good. I mean, that's a good thing. Well, Jarvis Landry is out there. Odell Beckham Jr. is out there. I mean, Gilly Locks, the fucking Gilmore's out there. Tyron Matthews is also out there. I mean, a lot of guys fucking new mores out there. Tyron Matthew.

I mean, a lot of guys. We don't need a linebacker. We're going to linebacker, but you know, just go arm set. I believe it's still, hey,

prior to the player, the prize player. All right, ladies and gentlemen, I can't thank you enough for joining us. Chris, you're the best. I apologize for the lack of patience,

but I got to talk every day. You know what I mean? I got to talk. That's okay. No, I take it. Well, you can keep kicking me in the face. I take it. lack of patience, but I got to talk every day. You know what I mean? That's okay. No, I take it well. You can keep kicking me in the face. I take it well. Well, you don't want me kicking you in the face.

You know what I'm saying? No, but all right. So I'm buying the field suite. You can lock that in. Good work. You came in here. Salesman. I can't wait to be there.

Can't wait to watch your team continue to grow. Can't wait to see what Conti does. I'm sorry. Matt Ryan does in like 17 minutes. Shout out to Conte. You just said Connie. Hey, ask Connie. Hey, you know, Connie loves sharks. You should ask him about that. Conte! I didn't know that. Where you at?

Conte, you ever talk to Ballard about your love of sharks? Sharks. Do you love sharks? Love them. Love them. I got my ears supposed on so he couldn't hear a word you said. That's the head PR guy and whenever I was at the Colts, he wasn't the head PR guy.

It was his job to come get pissed off at me about my tweets and he would have to come talk to me and say, now I am letting you know that the way you worded this particular tweet is not... And I say, Conti, you go fucking tell them. And Conti's like, can we just... Conti is a go fucking tell them. And Conti's like, ha-ha.

Can we just? Conti is a great guy. He's tremendous. He is tremendous. I love him. There's not anybody better in the league. I agree. And he was with Matt Ryan, I believe, in Atlanta where he first got his start.

So it's a coming home for everybody. I'm excited to see what you do. Ladies and gentlemen, General Manager of the Indianapolis Colts, a team led now by Matt Ryan. Chris Ballard. Thank you, buddy. Yeah, man! Hey, brother. This question's coming from Pat McAfee.

Oh, okay. I couldn't tell. Yeah. So it says, Matt, thanks for coming to Indy. You're the best. I like where this is headed. Oh, yeah. That's a good start.

What do you know about Jonathan Taylor? He's a beast. Yes. He's an absolute headed. Oh, yeah. That's a good start. What do you know about Jonathan Taylor? He's a beast. Yes. He's an absolute beast. Yes. Okay. We played Buffalo. We played Buffalo in – when I was in Atlanta last year,

we played Buffalo late in the season. And so getting ready for them, we watched one of the games where India had played against them. And I was like, man, they ran the ball pretty good you know against good good defense so let me pop on a few more just let me pop on see what they're doing maybe on the offense because middle of the season we're rolling right you guys are rolling here so um I got a chance to to take a peek at some of what he did last year and and he's special. You know, I really do think he's special. I think he runs the ball extremely well.

He's got great vision, you know, great balance, good speed, good power. Why? Catches the ball well out of the backfield. Why? Willing in pass protection. Why? I had lunch with Quentin and Ryan Kelly today. Why?

They talk about how he's willing and smart in pass protection. I've been around a long time. You don't get backs that do all of that very often. And when they do, they're game changers. And so I'm fired up to play with him. I really am. Sent him that text message yesterday and said, I can't wait to get the chance and opportunity to play with him.

Fucking right, Manny! Yeah! I can't wait to get the chance and opportunity to play with him. Fucking right, Matty! Yeah! Woo! Hey, Kyle Davis asked that question. Athletic trainer for the Indianapolis Colts. That was amazing. Thank you, Kyle.

Hey, whew. Man, it sounded like he's okay. Yeah. Boom. The only follow-up I would have, Pat, if your guy gets another question in there, ask him if he's watched all of the Colts games two to three times already from last season. Follow-up. Follow-up.

Why does anyone even go to press conferences? You can just do this. Well, I do believe people are going to be pissed that we were able to do this. I will say. So shout-out to Connie and Kyle Davis, athletic trainer for the Indianapolis Colts there. Not a media member at all. I'm asking this on behalf of Pat McAfee.

And how about Matt Ryan? I think Matt Ryan thought we were potentially in there. Would love to meet you, pal. Your answer is everything I need to hear right there. Isn't that, AJ? Isn't that everything you want to hear right there about an MVP in the backfield? And literally all I've been screaming about for, what, a year and a half now at this point? He's a game player, a game changer.

And I love the fact that Matt Ryan was like, hey, Randall Boggins, let's go take a peek. I wonder what that night was like when he was watching. Like, what is this thing here? This guy is insane. I need to be a Colt. That's why I'll go to Indy. Jonathan Taylor, probably the reason why we got Matt Ryan.

He said Indianapolis was the only place. He thought back to that week whenever he was playing Buffalo, and he thought, holy fuck, there is an alien plane running back to the Indianapolis Colts. I'm so excited about that. Our first question, I think,

would have got a better answer with the way we worded it, but, you know, Zach Kiefer has a great mind as well. Thankful for Matt Ryan being here. Excited to meet him in person someday, AJ.

You should have him in studio soon. Well, he's going to be sticking around in the facility probably, you know what I mean? Maybe you go to the facility and talk to him there. What's your code of protocol, is that it? Yeah, it's good to be sticking around in the facility probably. You know what I mean? Maybe you go to the facility and talk to him there.

What's your code of protocols? Yeah, it's a good question. It's over. I don't want to be the one that gives them a mask. Then you can ask him or you can show him pictures and be like, what do you think about Smoke Stewart's house? We should ask, like, are you vaccinated? Oh, no mask.

Yeah, well, the NFL protocols are done. All right, that'll be next time. All right, we're out of here. What do you think on your feet there? Well, it wasn't really that great. I mean, I wasn't really that good of a question. You got a great answer. Three questions that, you know, you were going to ask.

God, you served good. Son of a bitch. Son of a bitch. The Jonathan Taylor answer was, is it still going? Can I FaceTime Conti? Oh, it's still going. Conti's got to work. Conti's like, we got a brand new quarterback.

I got fucking texts from this guy. Follow up. Follow up. Where's the trainer? I love the way they're running operation over there. How about Chris Ballard just like, yeah, listen, I mean, I'm getting kicked in the face for all this stuff. And he's talking directly about me as well because I'm the loudest talking

about the Colts, you know. And he's like, just a little patience, please, a little trust, which is what Telesco told us about Chris Ballard. That Matt Ryan stuff, and I know people are going to think we're just saying this, and I'm just saying this strictly because I am a Colts fan and everything like that, but like legit,

when I watched the Russell Wilson press conference, I was like, boom, that's what I want my franchise quarterback to look like. This is what I want it to sound like. This is what I want it to look like. I don't care if it's boring what I want my franchise quarterback to look like. Like, this is what I want it to sound like. This is what I want it to look like. I don't care if it's boring. I want a robot who only wants to win football. Like, that is.

CEO. Like, the CEO of the team. He looks and feels that way. That's Matt Ryan. Exact same there. Like, he has just passed every single test it feels like. For sure. All right.

Now he's got a chip on his shoulder, too. He said this the first time. And you could hear him explaining how he was reshaping it in his mind that he was going to have to go somewhere else you know he was like a lot of guys in their careers have some sort of transaction you know that that was an actual conversation he either had with family and friends about potentially moving on you know and somebody was like hey this happens in the NFL a lot of people he had to reframe it's like you got a chance to hear how he was framing things in his mind to kind of move on and move forward. And it's like that chip on the shoulder with him going in there,

being the pro, and it seems like he is just the picture of a franchise almost at this point. It's like that is what I think I've been begging for, right? I mean, as a Colts fan, that is what we were asking for in those moments of like what the fuck is going on. I think it's the perfect land for Chris Ballard, for the situation obviously. Yeah, you don't get the perfect land for Chris Ballard, for the situation, obviously. Yeah, you don't get the impression that he has to come in

and, like, win over anybody in the locker room. Like, it's immediate, like, okay, this guy's our leader. He's been here before. He knows what it takes to win in this league. And, like, it doesn't seem like there's really going to be much of, like, a growing pains in terms of him coming in and acclimating right away. With that being said, was it Hard Knocks or Amazon?

What were they on? He was on Hard Knock knocks with the falcons oh yeah let a couple fucks fly yeah he did i like that a lot i did you know we did some research on him on whether or not he's a human you know let a couple fucks fly and i'm like all right yeah he's a human he's a human really guys love him yeah and he said he wanted he wanted to meet everybody in the locker room, basically. And he told Chris Ballard the first thing he wanted was everybody's number to reach out and say, hey, I'm approachable. And that's like Andrew Whitworth, right? Andrew Whitworth was talking about his leadership style

whenever he won the Waltz of Peyton Man of the Year, and he was like just caring, like just being there and caring. And Tom Brady, everybody talks about his leadership style and the reason why he is so not only committed to football, but his time is because he's trying to invest in everybody, like be friends. I was like punter of the team, rookie, had no idea how to punt. Peyton's inviting me on golf trips, like to hang out. Like, you know, like that is a part of leadership,

like investing time, energy into people and caring. And it sounds like Matt Ryan is that style of leader if we, you know, AJ, you're trying to talk over his leadership style. And I think that is a very formidable leadership style that I don't know if Ballard said a bunch of it was bullshit, right? He said a bunch of the narratives about Carson were bullshit, but whenever you hear that leadership

style, I at least think to myself, oh, this has had a lot of success in the past. This is good news for this particular team that we have right now in Indy. Oh, I mean, I think this is a no-brainer, especially after seeing the presser, which obviously has no impact on what he does on the field, but this is what you want. You want this kind of guy representing

the Colts. It makes sense. I hope, well, you are getting that sweet, right, on the field. I'd like to come to a game or two. I want to see this guy work in person down low right there. Okay. Hey, listen, I want to let you know, AJ, you're welcome anytime. I mean, you get a bunch of tickets to that, I'm guessing, every game.

Yeah, and by the way, not a bunch of people are going to be there every game. Those are the best guys. Yeah, those are the best guys. We were one of those at a national championship game. Bingo. That's the best. Yeah. Nobody wants to sit.

I don't care. We will sit up. These 16 seats are ours, though, it sounds like. Yeah. Now, granted, the boys will be there, I assume. You know, Connor will be there yelling about stuff. Well, I don't know about that. What if the Steelers play at the same time?

Come watch it on the TV. I'm there. Every week you need me, I'm there. Well, thanks, Fox, for your service. Thank you for your service, Fox. The Lions don't matter. These guys don't want to go. I'm available.

I fucking hate the Colts still. You got nothing else going on. You know I'll be there any time. Press conference just finished. Should I call Conte and say thank you now? So that makes sense. Just have to tell him you don't want a Julio Jones situation. I just want to win.

He's probably going to be walking with Conte right there. Yeah, I'm going to tell him right there Yeah I'm gonna tell him Yeah I'm calling him This is not Professional You know Now I'm being claimed Not being professional

In WWE as well What? Why? Well that's what Corey Gray Was saying last night I remember I was forced To apologize Because of my lack

Of professionalism That's right Little do they know I'm fucking calling Head PR guys after Oh Oh my lack of professionalism. That's right. Little do they know, I'm fucking calling head PR guys after. Oh. He's got a couple things going on right now.

Taking care of the franchise. Helping Maddie. I mean, today's a big day for the Colts, man. Yeah. Hopefully. What you scumbags

did to him years ago is going to drive him and propel him. You heard him talk about what Tom did and Matt did and everything. He said, hopefully we have similar, you know, we're doing. He basically said, we're fucking winning the Super Bowl. Yeah. But he didn't say it. Yeah, I mean, what we did to him is the reason he's no longer an Atlanta Falcon. Shanahan, please.

Thank you. That's why he's no longer an Atlanta Falcon. That's right. He got a head coaching job after that, so I don't know how many people blame Shanahan. Listen, Shanahan's an Atlanta Falcon. Shanahan, please. Thank you. That's why he's no longer an Atlanta Falcon. That's right. He got a head coaching job after that, so I don't know how many people blame Shanahan. Listen, Shanahan's an incredible coach. Okay? Matt Ryan, incredible quarterback.

Things just happen like that sometimes. He's MVP. We saw Julian Edelman make that catch. You know, that incredible catch. Yeah. Incredilman. Yeah. Saw Matt Ryan fumble the football.

Well, I mean, he was getting blasted out there. You know, people really thought that Tom Brady commercial where he throws the ball into the jugs machine and it throws it back. People thought it was real. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, those people are new to the internet and stuff like that. And then Julian Edelman running – you're somehow running post-left and post-right at the same time.

Yeah, I thought that was real yesterday, too. Yeah, that was a couple years ago, huh? Yeah, last year. I saw Gronky, though, send out a tweet and say, oh, Edelman getting back in the game? Yeah. last year. I saw Gronk, though, send out a tweet and say, oh, Edmund getting back in the game? Yeah. You know what I'm saying? He would be fooled by that.

Let her. See, I disagree. I think Gronk is very intelligent, personally. I agree. He's also spent, like, little to none of the money that he's actually made in the NFL. I mean, we have no idea if that's true or not. Come on.

I mean, some of his. Money's money. Wherever it comes, money's money. Like, what do you want to say? He got broken off from Dunkin' Donuts. Yeah, I understand. Listen, completely understand what you're saying, spending your off-field money and all that,

but we have no idea if that's true or not. True. You know what I mean? Because who knows what his investments are in. By the way, his on-field money might be sext. Is that what? Six times? Yeah might be sext. Is that what? Six times? Yeah.

Sext. Is that to the sixth power? Sext tablet? I think so. Yeah. S-E-X-T? Mm-hmm. His money, on-field money, might be sext.

To a sext degree. Yeah, it might be. Absolutely. Because of his investments in NFTs or the stock market or crypto or whatever the case. You have no idea. Ice Shaker also makes a pretty good change out of that. He probably invested in that as well. I would assume he's part owner alongside Chris Gronkowski, his brother.

Got on Shark Tank. I think Gronk's a super smart dude. I think personally. Personally. Yeah. He just likes to dance and have a good time. Yeah. He just plays a perfect...

Gronk character is a perfect big dumb jock meathead guy oh i don't watch any film he said on manning podcast or whatever okay gronk's always open somehow yeah he knows exactly what the defense is doing he is making plays that are insane doesn't watch any film maybe i guess i don't know if he's just a natural freak show one of the only modern players to make the top 100 team in uh in the history of the nfl good on great feel for the good on him if that's the case but i think i think gronk is a genius what were you saying tone you think he's not well i just i genius and if he watches tape or whatever you would know that you could jump off a six foot platform and be okay nice tony so wwe superstar

maybe not his best. And he knows that? He knows that? Yeah. He's hosting. He's not doing anything else. Leonard Fournette signed back with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after taking a visit to the New England Patriots.

This is more of Tom Brady recruiting people back to Tampa. He gets a three-year deal worth $21 million up to $24 million. Ian Rappaport reported that this morning. Congrats to the Bucs getting playoff money back. There you go. Good money. I'm sure the Patriots did not offer anything near that, if they did offer. Well, the way the Buccaneers have worked the salary cap all these years,

it's amazing that they're able to offer that. It's amazing that they're able to even offer that. Gronkowski still, what is he doing? He was at the barbershop the other day, and he said, You know, it's amazing that they're able to even offer that. Gronkowski still, what is he doing? He was at the barbershop the other day and he said, you know, Tom made me wait a little bit. Maybe I'll do the same to him. And he walked out at a fresh cut, great cut. And everybody filmed him.

I guess that's the next decision for down there in Tampa. You got Leonard Fournette. You got Godwin. You got Mike Evans. You're going to have Gronk. Jensen went back there. Still got Werfs. Tom Brady's back in that bitch.

And on defense side, they're able to keep people. It's like the Bucs went from, oh, shit, full rebuild to, we're back. Yeah. We're back. Good for them down there. Can't wait to see Tompa bake you Gronk in yours kind of ride again. We're out of here. Till Mignogna.

Can't thank you enough for watching. We'll be back tomorrow. Hammered Don is in 15 minutes at youtube.com forward slash hammered Don. Big thanks to Chris Ballard and Ian Rappaport. I believe tomorrow we have Gene Sterritore. Let's go. Kirk Cousins. Oh yeah, and we had Matt Ryan on today.

Thank you, Matt Ryan. Thank you. Gene Sterritore and who did you say? Kirk Cousins and Patty the Batty, he did. Thank you, Matt Ryan. Thank you. Thank you, Matt Ryan. Gene Staretor and who did you say? Kirk Cousins and Patty the Batty, I believe. Wow. Holy shit. Yeah. Nice little Wednesday.

All right, we'll see you guys tomorrow, dude. Hopefully I'm going to get some sleep, you know? Have fun at the concert. Take it easy. Take it easy Take it easy Take it easy That's going to sound good in the car.

Is that late? You just read through the set list? Oh, fucking missing that one too. Some good ones early though. Definitely some good ones early. Is there an opener? I'm not sure. Kanye.

Kanye ain't opening for anybody. Kanye's opening for Kanye. And that Kanye concert starts at 8, starting at midnight. He's paying $9 million in overtime. That's part of the art, dude. That's a part of the art. You know, Goldman Sachs used to have interns that wanted to get a job there or whatever. They'd say, hey, we'll have a meeting at noon.

And they would have them show up for this meeting at noon. That meeting was not until like 4 a.m., 5 a.m. the next day. And they just wanted to see who was willing to just sit here and wait for this goddamn meeting. That's what Kanye's doing. That's right. Smart. Hey, who's willing to wait? And if you get into Goldman Sachs, by the way, allegedly you're just going to be rich if you get in there.

And if you get to a Kanye concert, you're going to be entertained. That's what it is. The wait is the hardest part, dude. The wait is the hardest part. You know what I mean? Shout out. Rest in peace, Tom Petty. All right, we're out of here. We're back in about 20 and a half hours. You all are the best. Be a friend, tell a friend, bye. Thank you. សូវាប់បានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា Thank you. សូវាប់បានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា so Thank you.