The Ringer NFL Show - ‘GM Street’ — Injury News and JERRY JONES IS MEETING THE POPE! (Ep. 112)

Episode Date: June 20, 2017

The Ringer's Mike Lombardi and Tate Frazier discuss what Terron Armstead's injury means for Drew Brees and the Saints (03:30), whether the Lions can overcome the absence of Taylor Decker (12:15), the Jaguars' loss of Jalen Ramsey (17:30), evaluating a young Randall Cunningham (22:00), Jerry Jones meeting the Pope (31:30), and whether Tom Brady will play in China (33:15). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to GM Street. I'm Tate Frazier and own the line in a remote location. Mike Lombardi. Lombardi, how you doing? I'm pretty good, Tate. You know, I'm like 48 hours of the NBA draft. Sixers make big trade. So, you know, it's a second year in a row. They had the first pick of the draft and everybody's taking credit for it. So all the hanky fans are coming out of the woodwork. I love it. They're not out of the woodwork.

No, actually, take that back. They're always out. They're full force. What's funny to me is that last week we had this podcast and you seem very stressed. You know, you had the number three pick at this time. The big trade hasn't been made. Everyone's, you know, in Philadelphia land is like, should we trade back? Should we try to get more than one pick? Blah, blah, blah. Now you have the number one pick.

It's pretty much locked in. You're going to get Markle Fultz. Sixers fans, I've never seen a group of fans be so excited before a game has even been played. They've already, they're tweeting out pictures of the three guys together. They actually only have one picture when they're all together, and Robert Covington is actually in the picture. So, you know, people are, like, photoshopping the three of them on the floor. My only fear, and I'll say to you, Lombardi, because, you know, you're a true Sixers fan, and you've seen a lot.

I just hope that Fultz's knees are, they hold up, and I hope that they all actually are healthy and get to play together. Because if they do get to play, I think it'll be fun, but I don't know. I think Photoshop's going to play a big role in the 76 season based on just the amount of games these guys miss for hemorrhoids and coughs and flus and symptoms. I mean, you know, Abit pays 31 games. Simmons missed the whole season. We've never seen these guys on the court, and that's what Kentucky fans really mis-evaluate. Now, I'm writing an article this week about the Rams and why the Rams have been so unsuccessful. You know, it's funny, tape, the Rain 90, they've only been in four playoffs games, four playoff series. Yeah.

They've won one Super Bowl. I mean, they've been in four. Ten wins or more four times. And the fifth year they went to the playoffs, they were at 8 and 18. and the Rams were believed in assets and liabilities, much like this hanky guy does. And therefore, there was no cult. And I think Brett Brown, I think the only thing that gives me some, I like a lot, I think he can blend the team together.

And at the end of the day, I would have gone crazy about that many assets. I think it's good for the Sixers. I like the optimism. I like the positivity in Philadelphia. They need that. Every once in a while, when I always thought of Philadelphia fans, it just seemed like people spitting while yelling at players. and now I see this whole hinky thing

and everyone seems happy, everyone seems excited. So I'm more just pulling for the positivity in Philadelphia and you seem like you guys have been through it. What was the record you guys have lost 273 games in the past four years? We've had Roy Rubin from the Long Island Blackbirds. He was a college coach that became the coach. It won nine games. We've endured pretty much a lot.

But the best is that fan that was given Russell Westbrook the finger on the opening day last year. Remember that guy? Yeah, when Russell Westbrook did the point at him, like, is this guy being serious? Football time. Let's talk about some football. It's kind of going to be on this bit of a sour note. We're talking about culture, a culture that seems to be, you know, since like 2009,

Sean Payton's created quite the culture down in New Orleans with the Saints. There was some unfortunate news with the Saints. Their left tackle, Terran Armstead, who had been there, got injured last year to the IR. But this Saints' Offensive Line was actually ranked by ESPN in December as the top-ranked offensive line in the NFL last season because you know what, Lombardi, they don't get penalized. And it's a big loss for Armstead to be out. He tore his labor, him.

He's going to be out four to six months. He's going to undergo surgery actually, went under surgery yesterday. So now he'll start the rehab process. But when you just look at that Saints' offensive line and this blow in general, I mean, what does it mean for the Saints? And what does it mean for Drew Brees, who's an old quarterback that is used to being an elusive guy, but now he's going to have to do a little bit more of the season? That's a really good player.

I mean, Armstead's one of the better left tackles in football. So you lose a really good player, which he's been on IR two years in a row now. And they've gave him a $65 million extension. Right before that. So they haven't really gotten rid of a player. And, you know, he's punched a bag in an OTA day, and he tears the labrum injury or whatever he has. And then therefore, he misses time. And then really the injury that really, to me, is the one that's significant is Max Unger.

And Unger's going to miss time, too, because Unger is the glue to everything that the Saints do. What the Saints have always believed in and why they've been. so effective and why Drew Breeze has been so effective as detection. They're tackled. They want those rushers to widen up the field. And Breeze being shut in the pocket. What they really want, why they sign Larry Warford to a lot of money, why they put

Pete inside a first round pick who thought was a left tackle. They want to build a firm pocket so Breeze can step up. They want that pocket. They don't want anybody in the paint. Paint clean. And with Unger and not healthy, they don't really have a center on this team. So now you lose two players. You lose Armstead.

They draft Ryan Ramsteck. he's also hurt. You know, he's coming off an injury. They've been working him at left tackle. He's got a hip injury. So when he comes back, will he be good enough at left tackle? And can he play left tackle? Is he going to be the answer? Is Khalif Barnes going to have to go in there and play? So for me, I think the injury, they can overcome the Armstead injury. And I think this state, when you know, when you get an injury in May and June, it's a little bit like Rocco told Michael Corleone and Godfather, too. It's difficult to overcome, but not impossible. You can overcome them now because you have time. You can work some things around. When you get this in week four of the season and you've got to move this guy over here and that guy over there, that becomes really a tough challenge. So for Sean Peyton and the offensive line coach, Dan Rauscher, they can go in there and say, look, here's what we have to do. We've got to, you know, we'll put Ramshack over there. We'll help him. The question's going to be who's going to be the center. Is it? Wait, who they just signed. I don't think it's going to be the guy. They need a firm pocket guy in there.

and I think the Saints will be on the waiver wire. I think they'll be looking for a lot of teams trying to find that guy somewhere because that's the injury to me that's going to be the most telling for the Saints' offensive line. And how tough is it as a GM when you had this type of situation where free agency has passed? You've already had the draft. I mean, luckily for them they drafted Ryan Ramcheck. I mean, luckily for them they made that trade to get the last pick in the draft from the Patriots and draft Ryan Ramchek was the 32nd pick.

But for them as the Saints as the organization as a GM, is it tough to have that? situation happened where you're really banking on Armstead to come back since he was out last year to really make this tough forward and do well in that contract that you just gave him. And then, you know, Gerai Evans, who was a guy who was their right guard, who comes from Seattle, he goes and signs with the Packers and Free Agency. You have all those moving parts. I mean, is it frustrating as a GM when this stuff happens, or is this more of the same where you're kind of used to it and you have to adjust on the fly and that's what every team's doing?

Find a guy. That's what you get paid to do. You know, it's the scene in Apollo 13, where they throw all that crap on the table and they tell you, we got to make this into that. That's kind of where you are at this time of the year. When you get into the season, you know, those got home. Now you've got a chance to get them back. And I think that's where Sean Payton is.

And I think if they can get some – and Breeze, they can play an inexperienced guy at Center because Breeze is going to make all the calls. Yep. Breeze is going to do all the mic points. Breeze is going to tell everybody who to block. Breeze is going to get everything handled. So all they've got to do is execute. They need a firm guy inside. and whether they can find that guy or not.

And I think the pressure is on poor Dan Rochery. He's going to find a guy. And that's why offensive line coaches really should be the highest-paid coaches in the NFL. They should be the highest-paid assistant. Pre-Ajorge in or college, a guy who was a seventh or sixth-round pick into a starting line. And he's worth his weight in gold. And if he can develop players like Dante Scarnacki can do for New England, you know, you can do it. When Belichick and I were in Cleveland together, you know, the crazy, you could read the Cleveland

plane dealer. And Bernie Kozar was saying we couldn't pick off. offensive lineman. It was horrible. He was getting beat up. We hired Kirk Frenz, who's now the head coach of Iowa. All of a sudden, we became really good evaluators of offensive linemen. We had like seven or eight offensive linemen. We knew what we were looking for. And I think that's where the saints are. They know what they're looking for. They may find somebody to fit in. The center position is the most important one. They've got to fix that. And for Max Unger was actually the guy, the center for the Seattle Seahawks. That was the big deal or the big chip that was sent over from Seattle for in that Jimmy Graham trade in 2015. So Unger comes over to the Saints has been a big integral part of that. And honestly, when that trade happened, everyone looked at it as if Jimmy Graham, the Seahawks really stole one. But they've really missed Unger in Seattle. And you know Russell Wilson has missed him.

And once he comes back from that foot injury, I mean, obviously that will help out the Saints a lot. I do have some good news for the Saints. Zach Streif, who is their right tackle, who may end up being their left tackle depending on things work out. He said that Ramcheck is a sponge, is what he said, is the quote. he's a sponge and he said Ryan's got talent and he's able to convert a verbal message into a physical action. I think that's the biggest thing when you look at offensive line at least from what I've watched over the years is that you know you can tell someone something. But to get those big guys, the big ugly is to be able to get a message and to be able to do that with their body and be able to move in those ways. I mean, those are really the key things that make you a good player.

And, you know, Ramchick was a D3 guy that went to Wisconsin and did really well. And he seems to be saying all the right things. So hopefully the Saints have a bright future with Ramcheck there. Armstead, hopefully he gets well soon. Work his game plan a little differently. He's not going to be able to leave the left tackle out there, especially on third and seven, and leave him without a little chip or without something helping him on the way out.

So you can prepare for it. But, again, losing left tackles, you don't have two backup left tackles that are just really good players. It's hard to overcome. And I think that that's where the Saints, at least they have enough time and they can move some pieces around. And look, we know this. The Saints are going to run the ball a little bit more

because they need to make play action passes down the field. And I think that's where you'll see the Adrian Peterson, you'll see the Mark Engram, you'll see them start to run the ball a little bit more. And I think Sean's a good enough play call for trouble working around. Yeah, and this gives a, you know, for someone like Adrian Peterson, who's not necessarily known for helping him pass protection, if he's in those situations and he's asked to chip a guy on the left side because they're worried about that left tackle. I mean, that's just something fun to watch as a fan to see Adrian Peterson sort of kind of age into that position where,

you know, he's not just a superstar running back. Much they get out of Peterson in the passing game, was it Minnesota couldn't do it? or in the Saints to it. To me, that's the question. If they get something out of Peterson, if they get him in space in terms of of the screens, the best screen team in football, this is by far the best screen.

And they have 14,000 screens. They can run them from every different direction, and they execute them really well, and you can't tell they're coming. You'll see the passing game. That'll take a lot of pressure off the left tackle. And we've seen Peterson this offseason. I mean, there's been a lot of stories where,

you know, he's taking offense to people saying that he can't catch the football out of the back field, that he's a one-trick pony, all this stuff. So who knows, maybe AP had. a new day down in New Orleans. Another guy, this is going to be the torn labrum podcast, it looks like. Detroit, their left tackle, Taylor Decker, is actually, he has suffered a torn labor room as well. He was actually tweeting at Armstead, and they were both commiserating over the fact that they had to deal with these tough injuries.

He just had surgery on June 5th, and he is also out four to six months. So the lions are dealing with this. They just made the trade for Greg Robinson. They just signed Cyrus Quangio, so they have a little Alabama-Alburn thing going on with their left tackle position now. When you look at the Lions, I mean, Decker is obviously a big loss for them, but do you think they can find something with the second-chance guys in Cuanjo and Robinson, bringing them into Detroit? I think it's going to be a challenge for them to find one.

I just don't see how Ron Prince, the O-Line coach, is going to be able to kind of find a way to get Robinson. And Stafford's a lot different than Bree. Stafford doesn't. He'll step up in there, but Stafford, and he needs his left tackle. I mean, this is why I think Bob Quinn, the general manager of the Lions, put so much money in his offensive line. He knows they're going to sign Stafford to a huge contract. They know they've got to keep them healthy.

He put a lot of money. You know, T.J. Lang, he spent a lot of money for, spent a lot of money for Ricky Wagner. He had Taylor-Decker over left tackle. So he's building this line, and he's feeling like, you know, we've got something going. Losing Decker is going to be hard. And I think the guy that you didn't mention, Corey Robinson, who's kind of been, you know, he's played a little bit. They've kind of gone back and forth with him, whether he can stay healthy and durable enough. I don't know, but he could get a look here.

I think the Lions are a team in transition. You know, they won nine games last year. They made the playoffs. They barely made that. They limped into the playoffs. This Decker injuries, to me, is going to be hard for them to overcome. It's going to be hard for Stafford, for him to overcome it. And, you know, I know they've tried to make some improvements to their defense,

but the reality of it is, for me, on their defensive line for them to do it and to overcome offensive line. Excuse me. And I just think Detroit is not talented enough. as a football team to duplicate what they did last year. So losing Decker, to me, really hurts them. And it's funny that you say that Robinson is not a left tackle because Jim Codwell came out and explicitly said that Cuanjo and Robinson are, quote, unquote, both left tackles. So he is not quite seeing the same thing.

Well, that's what they are on paper. They look good on paper. You know, it's like the 76ers. You've got a nice team on paper, you know? That's why everybody around here is on paper. You know, they look good. You know, you fill a depth chart out on paper. But when the game starts to go, and if you leave Greg Robinson with an open edge over there on that side,

whether it's Clay Matthews coming off, it's going to be any of those rushers from Minnesota that get a chance to go over there. I mean, you're playing, you know, Detroit has a challenge. They play Minnesota in the dome. Crowd noise, tough for left tackle. You're going to have to protect him. Robinson can't hear. It's going to be hard for him to pass protect. They go into Green Bay, tough player.

They get a snap count advantage. You know, those are four games where you're left tackle. I'm just not sure Robinson's going to be able to handle that. And whether they can handle it as an offensive line remains to be seen. This is where depth plays such an important part. And I don't know if the lions have enough depth, especially in their offensive line. Yeah. But another guy, Kwanjo, I mean, he is, people remember from Alabama, the 2013 team.

He was an All-American. He was a big five-star recruit. I mean, his brother was sort of the same way. They were just high-profile guys coming out of high school. And then, you know, he was drafted second round, goes 44th to the bills. And then Chantrell Henderson takes a spot with the bills. I mean, he plays a little bit last year due to injury. He has a very weird offseason, and he has that hip injury,

has surgery that he's coming back from. I mean, is this one of those situations where he gets his second chance, Cuangio and maybe it can turn it into something where he can be a star and actually tap back into that talent? Because what we saw in Buffalo was nothing like what we saw in Alabama. And if he actually becomes that same kind of guy, I mean, who knows, Detroit maybe has a huge influence. flux or talent, or either it goes the opposite way where you have two guys that really are just

kind of washed up at this point. Yeah, there are, Coonjo's a guy that look better at Alabama than he has at any time in pro football, whether it's health, whether it's the injuries or what happened. But when he gets strapped in the second round of Buffalo, you know, they got set. They needed Quangio to be the right tackle. Couldn't really handle that. Got beat out. Never really could find a home.

Maybe changes seem to have worked cut out for him. I think this is one of those situations where, you know, Jim Colwell is going to demand that these guys become left tackles. and I think it's going to be whether they can do it in the preseason. The challenge is really going to be on them. I just don't see it happening, especially for the way Stafford plays. He needs really good protection on his blind side. It's a challenging job for him.

I don't see either guy being able to do it. And I think this is why Detroit's going to take a little step backwards. I just can't see Detroit winning those games, close games down the stretch like they did last year. I think depth is going to be a problem. And last year was the first year that we saw Jim Caldwell smile on the sideline. So it looks like that we know we may look. lose that this season, unfortunately, if things don't go right on the offensive line. Let's jump into another guy that unfortunately is dealing with some injury problems down in

Jacksonville, and that's Jalen Ramsey. He went under the knife to repair what the team is calling a core muscle injury that happened during OTAs. They say it shouldn't overlap into the start of the season. He's already tweeting stuff out saying, you know, to all my fans and supporters, I'm going to attack rehab, you know, saying all the right stuff, he's going to be fine. But Ramsey's probably the guy coming into a second year for the Jaguars that really needs to be the big name on that defense. I mean, obviously there's Dante Fowler, and there's big name guys, but he's probably the face of that defense on the Jaguars.

I mean, do you think this will hinder Ramsey and the Jags defense this offseason? I mean, the kid looked like, and in this scheme, you know, remember now, they might have changed coaches. Gus Bradley's not there, but they're not, they didn't change coordinators. Todd Wash is still the defense coordinator. They're still going to run the Seattle style scheme, which really predicates

the corners to be free safeties that play corner, and that's why Ramsey's so effective for him because Ramsey can make plays on the And 65 tackles last year, you know, 14 passes broken up, two interceptions. He can find and track the football. The key for Jacksonville, more than anything. Ramsey gets healthy. They've got another corner in A.J. Boyer, they found him.

They signed him to a huge contract. They get Barry Church in there. They got Gibson. I mean, this is a high-paid, you know, you've got a first-round pick in 16. Gibson's a high-price-free agent church. And then you got Boyer, a high-price. I mean, they paid money for the secondary. Yep.

The key is going to be the front. The key is going to be, can Dante Fowler? Grow up. Can Dante Fowler play attention to detail? Can he rush the passer better than he showed last year and show power when he rushes the passer and not just be a speed-edge guy that people just wash past? I think Fowler's the key component here.

You know, the third round pick in 16, the kid from Maryland, I don't know how to say his last name. He really was the better rusher of anybody that they had down there last year in the defensive front. And he showed that he can do it when play with power. and rush and speed to power. This is a big year for Fowler. I think Campbell be in there.

Kalees-Ka-Kellie's Campbell be in there. It helps. But I think Fowler's got to be the guy. He's got to be the guy to make Jacksonville's defense because about Seattle and their secondary, which is wonderful. The front controls the game. And if the front doesn't play well,

then it's not going to matter who's in the back-in. But when you look at guys like a Telvin-Smith, I mean, he really can take that lead next year in his fourth year, too, because Telvin Smith is one of my favorite linebackers to watch him football coming out of Florida State. I mean, I think he's almost had a hundred tackles the past two years. He's been something to watch. He's probably the one bright spot on the Jack's defense other than Ramsey that I enjoy watching on a consistent basis.

Look, they've got some really good players. I mean, Malik Jackson, when he was in Denver, Tate, he was one of the best defensive tackles. Now, they paid him a lot of money, and maybe he's over, maybe he's now no longer hungry. He's one of the best defensive tackles. He was, even though he didn't have a lot of sacks in terms of production, his turries on quarterbacks and getting in the paint was, unbelievable. He is really a good player. They need Sheldon. They need all these defensive linemen to take a step.

They've got speed. Miles Jack now. We didn't see much of Miles Jack. Miles Jack's got a chance to be a really good player. He's healthy and he's ready to go. And he can turn it on. That gives him a Mike linebacker. That gives him their Bobby Wagner. I mean, Jacksonville's problems on defense are all solvable if these great players that they've signed

play great. If the guys that they think are good are really good, it's all going to come back to my man. And how could we get through a podcast without talking about my man Blake Bordle. Of course. Who's going to really put dedicate himself this offseason to another having a great year. He's tired of losing. That's really what it's all going to come down to. Because

this defense never gets a chance to play with the lead because you know why? Blake never gives him the lead. And that's what really the Seattle defense is all about. 2015 Blake Bortals, if you're out there, we're looking for you. Mike Lombardy's going to... No, 25, Blake Borg. He's no, that's that we don't want him, Tate.

He's the guy that he was leading... He's better than 2016 Blake Bortals. That's all, you know. We're just trying to get something. Pros. I mean, that's what he did. The game's over, and he's throwing touchdown passes. You know, it's like calling, it's like what people do with the cubic quarterback rating on, you know, if they throw those one-yard touchdown passes and they mean so much, it helps your quarterback rating,

15 years, no doubt. Poor Bortles. He can never get a nice compliment from Mike Lombardi, maybe one day. Hey, look, if he plays good, I'll be the problem. I'm sure you'll be dialing my number right away. You know, I mean, I've got no problem in a minute I'm wrong. I mean, that's part of, you know, the thing about scouting is, and this is really important as we enter the NBA draft.

If you ever talk to a scout who tells you he's never been wrong, he's a bad scout. Because we can only learn from our mistakes. We can't learn from the successes. We have to learn from our mistakes. And what happens is I learned this a long time ago. I was in one time I was sitting in a room in Washington State. And I'm watching tape. And the scout from the Philadelphia Eagles comes in.

And he says, and I'm like, and I'm a young, young scout working for the 49ers. And I say to the scout, I said, hey, man, great draft. You got Randall Cunningham, we should have never taken Randall Cunningham. He's terrible. He sucks. So what do you mean? I was with Randall Cunningham at UNLV. He says, oh, he's terrible.

We should have never taken him. He can't play. He's not even a good punter. So I think he's really a good player. We should have taken Darren Gilbert from Cal State Fulton, the offensive tackle, who went to the Saints. I think Randall's going to be a good player. No problem. I leave.

I do my film. He leaves. I misgraded Ruben Mays, just FYI for the record up there because Ruben Ways for that watch. I like your home on us here. This is nice. I mis-evaluated Rubin. Okay, so anyway, so I leave there. You know, five, six years later, I'm the player,

personnel, general manager of the Cleveland Browns. They get a letter in the mail, scout from the Eagles. You know what he told me in a letter? What? He discovered Randall got to him. I love that. Yeah, I love that. No one else saw him.

No one else. No one else could recognize the talent and that I should hire him immediately. What did he think I was a chooge that? I didn't understand. I didn't remember that he had told me this like five years ago. Anyway, not to get off the subject, but that's the point. The point is if you don't admit you're wrong, you can never grow from them. You've got to learn from your mistakes.

And the best mistakes are when the other teams make them. So if you like a player, like I like your guy from North Carolina in this draft, the big tall kid, the long guy that really took away Monk in the Gaff Jackson, right? Yep. I like him. If I'm wrong on him, I don't like him for the first pick in the draft, I think he's going to be a really good role player. I think with Isaac, I think Isaac

it could be great. And if I'm wrong on them, you've got to figure out why you're wrong. You can't constantly pat yourself on the back. Scouts that pat themselves on the back, bad scouts. The only scout that I know that constantly is correct is the Clint Eastwood character from trouble with the curve. He never got anything wrong. That's right. Always. Yeah, never wrong.

He always knew. He always knew. Let's stay in the AFC South, another big name that finally got signed this week. He finally got his dream to come true. Eric Decker is going to the Tennessee Titans. He's going to be in Nashville. His wife's going to have a TV show on CMT. I'm sure she may already have one. I'm not even sure about any of this.

But I feel like that was the reason he really wanted to go there. But Marcus Marriota gets an actual target on the outside. For people that don't remember, Eric Decker, he had the third most touchdowns for why it was here between 2012 and 2015 with 41. Des Brian and Brandon Marshall. I was a quarterback. Yeah. The guy named Peyton Manning, who was a Hall of Famer, was a guy throwing in the ball.

People forget. But Eric Decker, is this good for him? I don't get the signing for the titan over on the draft for Corey Davis. This is what Parcells would call a progress stopper. If Parcells is running the Titans, there's no way he'd sign Eric Decker. Because he would make all the receiver on the team. Because he's never going to play in a kicking game. He's never going to do anything.

So now you've got Eric Decker, you got Harry Douglas, and you got Eric Weems. You've got three guys over 30 on their roster. Okay, Weems is the only one who plays in the kicking game. So say you cut Douglas, who played in a slot last year. But you've got young receivers that need to play. And the only way they're going to play is by them being on the field. I mean, Decker one time was a really good player. Now, he's coming off of, he's got, what, hip and shoulder injuries that he's coming off of.

And here's the true test. When they play cover five men, which is two deep man under, on third and six, especially against a quarterback that can't run, because when you play that coverage and the quarterback, then you pretty much can lock them down. You know, people try to play it against Peyton quite a bit, but Peyton would run the ball against them, or he would be five, he had receivers that could separate running. you play a running quarterback against cover five. He takes off a first down because everybody's back turn.

So when they play cover five against Decker, and he can't separate and he can't make it easy for Marriota, they're going to sit there in Tennessee saying we should have gone young. And I think this is a mistake. I think this is one of those where the coaches are down there saying, hey, we've got to get a veteran guy in here. We've got to get a veteran guy in here. And everybody gets impatient,

and everybody doesn't have enough faith in their evaluations to say, you know what, Sharp could be a good player. And we're not going to try to find a way to force somebody in here. I think the Decker signing, everybody at the Jets is saying, oh, the Jets are tanking because they cut Decker, Decker's not going to be able to get open against Covered 5. So what do you care? Yeah, I'm just a little shocked.

It doesn't make any sense. Yeah, the whole, I feel like the whole spin on the Decker situation, at least from what I've seen, is that Eric Decker is the final piece to make this Titans a complete offense. It's a joke. It's a comical. I don't understand where that comes from. I don't know what his piece is, but he's obviously not speed.

I guess they already have that's what they're saying. And I think he's a red zone touchdown guy. I'd rather have Anquan Bolden. I'd rather say, you know what? I want to give him this tough SOB in here because there's no one tougher in the National Football League than Anquan Boulder. He can't run either. He cannot run a lick. But he can push off.

He can catch the ball and he'll make your team tougher. If you want Corey Davis to be a great player, sign Anquine Bolden. And then you know what Anquin Bolden is? He's the big slot receiver. The Giants drafted Evan Ingram in the first round. They're the same position. Bolden. I think the Decker signing.

I think it's nostalgic, it's wonderful. I think it's a bad signer. Do you think it's for fans? Do you think fans will come out to watch Eric Decker? I think it's for coaches. I could see it now. I could see the coaches in the building running down there. We've got to have a veteran guy.

We've got to have a veteran guy. All these young guys, you know, Marcus needs a veteran guy around them. We've got three guys over 30, but nobody looks at the roster. Like, you can't sign Decker, okay? When you sign a veteran like this, you've got to look at your 45 man, all right? And you've got to say he's going to dress every week because if he's not, dressing. If he's, if he's dressing, and he's got to play in

a kicking game, somebody's got to cover puns and kicks from your receiver core. You just can't do it. And that's where the coaches and that's not their job to know this. The coaches don't care about. They don't care about who makes the team. They don't care about who's on special team. They care about having as many guys that know what to do.

You don't want, you can't do it. Because sometimes when you do this, you find a player. But when you sign Decker, you don't find players. You stop progress, and Parcells is right. that's why the good teams, the teams that understand player development won't do this. And the other thing is, too, now, is you're on the hook for Decker. You know, once he makes your opening day roster, you own him.

So when he stinks in December and he can't run worse than he did, he got to play him. There's no more, you own him. You own him. He's on your team. And then, you know what? You own him for his injuries. And then you own him for all the other.

It's a huge financial commitment by doing this. I'm hoping that he just becomes a country music star while in Nashville. I hope he does too. Look, I like country music. I hope he does. Maybe he'll replace Alan Jackson as the next country star. I don't know. Maybe he and Mike Mularky will do like the new Super Bowl shuffle.

It would be like toned down, a little country, you know? They need something in Tennessee. I mean, but they don't need this. I mean, they just spent the fifth pick on Corey David. They overdrafted Corey Davis by 20 spots, at least for me. Like, why would you now sign Decker? And do you think that sends a weird message to Corey, too, where he's in this position where, because there's been a lot of reports in the

all season that he and Marriota have been getting along and building rapport and then they bring in Decker and he's like hold up. No, they'll probably sell Decker in to help you. He's going to show you how to be a good player. You know, it's like, okay, when the Jets cut David Harris, he said he was the leader in the locker room, right? Okay, well, what's Bowls

getting paid for? What's Bowls just a leader in the locker room? Why are the Jets paying Bowls $4.5 million? Well, Bowles has a word limit every day. He has like 25 words he can use. But he has a command about him. He can lead players. That's what cracks me up about

Well, he was a leader in a locker room The leaders, the head coach You make new leaders Head coaches make new leaders The Jets will find new leaders They don't need David Harris And besides, when you get in a situation Where a guy can't be on the field all the time

Then he can't be a leader Yeah You can't be a leader if you're not the best player Leaders can't be role players The utility third baseman can't be a leader Of the team You don't have enough street credit You know

I mean Marlow couldn't take over the wire until he ran the corners. You know, he just can't do it, right? Yeah. The only leader I know from behind the scenes was Mark Brunel with Mark Sanchez back in the day. That's the only one I can remember. Yeah, and that worked out well. Did he teach him how to butt fumble? He taught him a lot of things that did not work out well for him. All right, Lombardi, let's wrap this thing up. Let's do a little bit of a word on the street

of what's going on. First story, first thing that really struck me that's going on in the world. Jerry Jones, the Jerry Jones himself. the man that invented Jerry World is set to meet Pope Francis. Can you believe this Jerry Jones is going to meet the Pope? How excited is he? I love it. Do you think he brings up Hell Mary or Huge Jumbotrons first? I hope the Pope doesn't get on the bus.

And I hope the Pope blesses all the buss sins. I hope it does. A great lines about Jerry Jones that he could talk a... Could you imagine what he could possibly tell the Pope? Nice. This could be a... I mean, there belongs in the Hall of Fame. The guy's done a tremendous amount for the Hall of Fame.

When I was in Cleveland and we went to the playoffs, It was the 89 season. We went down to Dallas and worked out the facility. Jerry had just became the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, and he took over the Cowboys facility, and that they had basically, they were so, that they closed. Yeah. And, you know, and eventually he turned that franchise,

and now he's got that incredible stadium. So, look, I think Jerry's great. I love him. I think he's entertaining, and I would love to be a fly on the wall, him talking to the Pope. I can only imagine what the topics of conversation would be there. It could only be so good. Oh, my God.

So great. I think it would be great. Ask the Pope, where is Arkansas? Like, could you imagine? The poor Pope. He would have to ride in his little, you know, glass chamber car through Arkansas and all the people with the bailout ties. Jerry might give him a bus.

Yeah, he definitely would. Like a cowboy pope mobile. And the biggest iPad he's ever seen to watch himself, you know, because that's what he'd expect. Another big story out there. Tom Brady, aka the Ted Dants in a football, says he plans to play football in China. You know, there's no game scheduled at the moment,

but Tom Brady wants to play football in China. What do you think about that? Does that mean Tom Brady's playing until he's 50, 60? He could. I mean, you're too old to remember the movie Cocoon where these old people in an old home would go to this pool and become young again. I think Tom Brady must have a pool somewhere where he's doing it

because he keeps talking about playing in China. The question I have is why we haven't developed the German market. When the World League was going good, the German market was huge. Berlin, Frankfurt, the German people, beloved the NFL. That's the market. I'm surprised. We really haven't tried to really enhance because that market was the one area where football boomed in the World League. And they've tried to do China before. I think it was 2007, right? The Patriots before the undefeated season until they were, you know, until the Super Bowl. I think they

were supposed to play someone in China in 2007. I can't remember exactly what it was. But they've tried to do this before. So Brady's heard this whole thing. I just thought it was interesting that there is nothing scheduled at the moment, and he plans to play in China. So for anyone wondering what Tom Brady's plans are for the future, it is to play football in as many continents as possible. Final story that you may find interesting, Lombardi. O.J. Simpson's parole hearing is set for July 20th. O.J. Simpson could come back to football, not to football in general, but just back to the world and the freedom of the world. What do you think about O.J.? I can't believe that this is already here, that

OJ is having trial and could have this point. I can't believe it either. I can't imagine that he could get out. And if I were OJ, I have to think he's got to go to Buenos Aires or somewhere and get out of the country to get his passport. That would be an interesting, I mean, because first of all, you imagine, I mean, TMZ would just be, it would follow his every move. I mean, everybody would be all over it. Occasion of what all came down. I know this.

There's believing that it would be safer on the outside than it is on the inside. Yeah. He's probably going to be upset when he finds out Cuba Gooding Jr. played him in a movie, but that's here nor there. Oh, you know he knows that. He's probably seen it on TV. Yeah, that's true. That's true.

He's probably seen it. He's probably got a flat screen in his cell. You're absolutely right. All right, Lombardi, anything else? You got any parting thoughts for Mark Al-Fontz? I'm excited for the draft. I'm excited for the draft. Are you going to be covering it?

We got it? I'm worried about Simmons a little bit here. I'm worried about him. He's got the third pick. I'm worried about him. When they draft Jason Tatum, I'm just going to tell him that don't get his hopes up because Tatum is good.

But he, I don't know. He's a little overrated, in my opinion. I want to see how that plays out. That's my only thing to say to Boston fans. Give your opinion. You learn from it. That's all that matter. Yeah, I just want to be a scout, you know.

I got to learn from my wrong. Don't send me a letter that you love Tatum five years from now, please. I said I was going to send you a text next year when he wins rookie of the year. And I'm going to say, I thought Tatum was pretty good. I actually liked him. He's a good score. All right, Tate. Have a great one.

All right, Lombardi. That's it for this edition of GM Street. We will actually be out for the next. two weeks. We're going to take a little vacation, take a little break. So we'll come back after the July 4th holiday. If you want to reach out to us, you can find us on Twitter. I'm Tate Frazier on Twitter and Lombardi. I'm Lombardi. I just can't wait to see your reaction. I mean, it's kind of, it's not as exciting now that Fultz, you already know you're going to draft him, but that's still will

be fun. Another number one pick for Philadelphia. You know, the thing I do like about Fultz, you know, Foltz talks a good game. He wants to be good. To me, that's at least he came in there like, he didn't come in like a Prima Donna. He came in there like, hey, look, I want to be a good player. I want to be a great part. I'm going to do whatever it takes. Now we'll see. I believe it. Look, Alan Iverson got drafted not too long ago. And, you know, it's the number one pick as a point card. So there's been

good signs for Philadelphia, so maybe there will be another one. All right, Tate. Yep. Thanks, Lombardi. We'll be back soon. All right, bye-bye.