The Ringer NFL Show - The NFL Lie Detector Test and All the Madness of the Week Before the Draft

Episode Date: April 19, 2023

Nora and Sheil discuss the latest in the news cycle, including Trey Lance on the trade block, and finish by dissecting what's recently been churned out by the rumor mill. Hosts: Nora Princiotti and Sheil Kapadia Associate Producer: Stefan Anderson Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal and Conor Nevins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'm Ben Solac and I host the Ringer NFL Draft show with Danny Kelly, Danny Hyfitz, and Craig Horbeck. Join us twice a week as we talk everything NFL draft and break down all the players who will make your team better, except the Rams because they don't really have any picks. Check us out on the Ringer NFL show on Spotify. Hello and welcome to the Ringer NFL show. I'm Nora Pryanti. I am back with Shiel Kapadia for the second time this week. It's just delightful to get to pod with you in this pre-draft week, the last week, the last week, for the draft, I feel great about getting to do two shows with you because you have sound

reasonable analysis. And Stephen and I were talking about last year, last week, that this is the week when like the takes just get crazier and crazier because everybody's gotten their good takes out about the draft, but we still have a week of time to kill. So things just start getting a little bit wild. So I know that by getting to do two shows with you this week, we're going to get we're going to stay away from that silliness. We're going to have just like sound, reasonable NFL takes. What do you think about that?

Yeah, I think there's there's like a fatigue. And so there's so many people analyzing and talking about the draft that if you want to stand out, you kind of have to, you know, if there's something you feel sort of strongly about, like I think you and I are similar. Like we would probably explain it in a way that people realize we feel sort of strongly about this. But, you know, there are others who just, you feel sort of strongly. Just take it all the way.

That's not a bad career move. but yeah, the rumors are flying. There could be some veterans on the moon. I mean, there's a lot of stuff happening. So this is generally a pretty fun week leading up to the draft. So we're going to do a fairly similar thing with just different topics, different rumors, different news items to what we did on the Monday show, which is we're going to keep playing a little bit of NFL lie detector here in this final week leading up to draft week. First, though, we've had a sort of newsy start to the week. So I want to go just through a few news items that have come across the desk in the last

couple of days, starting with the Steelers who made a trade for wide receiver Alan Robinson. The Steelers are paying just $5 million of his salary next year. The Rams, who signed Robinson to that big deal last year, are taking on $10.25 million of his $2023 salary while also just swapping $7.00. rounders with the Steelers in order to complete the trade. So pretty low risk deal for Pittsburgh. What did you think about the Allen Robinson trade for the Steelers? Yeah, I mean, statistically, he was like one of the worst wide receivers in the NFL who actually played and was on the field last year.

33 catches, 339 yards. You look at any of the advanced stats, like, you know, legitimately like a top 10 wide receiver. at the same time, I'm not going to sit here and question what the Steelers do at wide receiver, given their history. So like you said, it's, it's five million. Like, I personally would have been hesitant to even pay five million for Alan Robinson. Like, I think there are other parts of that Steelers roster. Maybe it would be money better spent. At the same time, maybe they see something. And maybe they're thinking, hey, this is a buy low. He's going to be a wide receiver three here. we've already got Deontay Johnson and George Pickens.

And so it's a pretty low risk move. It's not a move that I necessarily would have made, but possibly it works out for him in kind of a smaller role in Pittsburgh. Remember how good the press was in training camp last year about how Alan Robinson was looking in that offense? Like, that's the reason why I feel pretty good about it for them is, yeah, I mean, maybe $5 million is a little bit steep at the same. same time, the Rams got those 33 catches. They will end up paying him close to $26 million

just for that. They were so, so, so excited about him last year. And obviously, that turned out to be wrong. But if there's even a kernel of truth and that some of what happened was just a byproduct of that offense being absolutely stinky last year, I think it's worth doing. I mean, we see these wide receiver deals, it's a position where the value seems to go up and up and up. I mean, I would rather have O'Dell Beckham than Alan Robinson, but O'Dell got 15 million from the Ravens. I'm not too worried about adding a player who a year ago, right, was commanding so, so, so, so much more. And then he didn't work out there, but basically nothing worked out there. So I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that Alan Robinson still has something to offer.

Unfortunately, I like Kenny Pickett a little bit, but I do think that he ends up on the long list of sort of not terribly exciting quarterbacks that Alan Robinson has played with. Although I suppose Stafford would be the alternative to that and that didn't work out very well. So we'll see. But ultimately, I think a low-cost move, a relatively low-cost move for a receiver who somewhat recent, was commanding a much higher price. Seems like a good thing to do. For the Rams, I think it just shows how far they've fallen and that they're in a position

where they're willing to get basically nothing in return and just eat all of the sunk cost to get rid of that $5 million off their books. Yeah, that was, the Robinson move was like an under-the-radar, sort of a league-shaping move last year. If you remember, Jordan Rodriguez, I think was the first one

who reported this that the Eagles were, like, they thought they had Alan Robinson, and the Rams went up a little bit, outbid them, and the Rams land Alan Robinson. You think, oh, the Eagles lost out. If the Eagles make that move, they're not in position to then trade for A.J. Brown, who is like a key component in taking them to the Super Bowl. So it's so funny just when we analyze front offices and this GM's good and this GM's not good or this. It's like, man, there is so much luck involved with this stuff.

We're just, if the Rams don't do that, the Eagles do it. The Eagles offense isn't as good. You know, last year, Howard Roseman's getting criticized for how could you pay Alan Robertson $15 million per year. Then he's not even performing like a number two wide receiver. And so all the narratives that we're going to talk about. And I'm going to fall into the trap a hundred times in the next few months on this podcast, falling into those traps.

A lot of it is just shaped by, you know what? Sometimes you get a little lucky with some of those moves and those end up shaping your season. I mean, I just remember last July and August, there being so much stuff coming out of there. Like, you wouldn't believe how good Alan Robinson looks. Like, he is the key to this offense. It's going to really take it to another level. It's just going to be the greatest thing. His connection with Stafford, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Meanwhile, the Stafford elbow thing is how, like, this is a good, it's a great butterfly effect example with the Eagles thing. And it's also a good reminder to not always believe what you hear during training camp. Yes. Yeah. It's hard. I've been there. You're out of practice. It's really fun. You're like, oh, my gosh, look, this person's dominating. You fire off a tweet. And then, you know, five months later, it doesn't look good. But I would say, you know what? My fellow reporters, don't be afraid. You cannot live in fear. You report what you say. We're not always going to be right. But it's only practice. But that's part of the job. So it's all good. But yes, we should keep that in mind, Nora, in August when we are looking at some of these reports or going to practices and checking ourselves a little bit with what can now be termed the Alan Robinson rule, I guess. All right. Next news item, some very nice news that came out yesterday on Tuesday, which is that Damar Hamlin is going to come back and play football.

He said yesterday that he plans to return to the NFL this season that came shortly after Brandon Bean, the Bill's general manager, announced that he'd been medically cleared for football activities. Obviously, this is following that horrible accident that we saw in their primetime game last year and all of all of the really scary health stuff that followed that, which Hamlin confirmed was commosio cordis, which is the condition where basically you get hit in the chest at the exact wrong time. And it causes your heart to stop.

That, I think, was what it seemed like was the logical conclusion. But that was the first time that. he had said indeed that that's what happened to him. Good for him. That's sort of all I have on this. There is some weirdness making this about football at least for me, but he was off to a really promising start in his career and more than deserves to live that out if that's what he wants to do.

And it's just great, but he's in a position where that's possible. Yeah, like you said, it's not our decision or choice about whether he should play football or not. It's undeniably amazing news that a guy at 25 years old gets to choose his path in life and what's going to make him happy after he was fearful. Everyone around him was fearful. We were fearful that his life might not be the same, that he might be near death on that football field, which he was. So just the idea that he has all options available to him now, whether he continues to pursue this, whether he does something else after he gets back into the mix a little bit, whatever. But those choices are available to him.

And, man, that night when we were all just watching that to say that, all right, on April 19th, he's going to be fine. These options will be available to him. You know, that would have given a lot, myself included, would have given you pause. Like, well, I hope that's the case, but I don't know that that's going to be the case. And so, yeah, it's just fantastic news. And whether it's football or something else that he decides to do, he's 25 years old. I mean, he's got his whole life ahead of him. So it's awesome.

Yeah, yeah, it's, you know, everyone thankful that that's the news that has come out. All right. And then last thing, Ian Rappaport reported this morning that the 49ers have received some calls about quarterback Trey Lance. Now, rap sheet was pretty careful to note that they have just fielded these calls. They have not been making them themselves. But it's another little nugget about the 49ers quarterback situation, which is pretty interesting. Brock Purdy, who seems to be the desired starter there, told my dear pal, Dory Epstein from Yahoo Sports last week, that he's, quote, not really sure if he'll play in 2023.

he is recovering from that UCL repair surgery. The 49ers have said that they anticipate him be getting some kind of throwing program in a couple months. But obviously, that's more commonly a baseball injury, although he did not have the full Tommy John reconstruction, but it's a little bit of a wild card procedure and recovery process for a football player, particularly for a quarterback, obviously, using that elbow.

So what does all of this mean to you, in terms of the 49ers going forward with Trey Lans who they're getting calls about. Brock Purdy, who has this questionable health situation, and then, you know, Sam Darnold in the mix here for Kyle Shanahan to work with. Yeah, I think when I looked at this, my first take was like,

there should be a lot of teams calling. I mean, there are so many teams that could just would love to take a flyer on a young quarterback like Trey Lans. I mean, he's still got two years left on his rookie contract. I don't know if he's going to be good or not. But like, you know, it's a nice flyer to take if you're a team, like, let's say, the Tennessee Titans where you don't have a great means to have a plan post-Rion Tannahill. Your GM came from San Francisco.

If you're the Houston Texans and we believe these reports that they don't love C.J. Stroud or Anthony Richardson and they've got D'Amico Ryans who was with Traylands in San Francisco. If you're the Minnesota Vikings, a team that is just like, you got Kirk Cousins, you don't have a lot of the hells going for you. you don't have a plan in 2024 or beyond. So those were some of the teams I jotted down, honestly, like eight or ten more that should at least call about Trey Land. So I do think there would be a market, a pretty, you know, maybe a significant market for

Traylands. Remember when Sam Darnold got traded from the Jets to the Panthers, that was after three years of statistically being one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL and the Jets got a second and a fourth round pick for Sam Darnold. So like, could you get a second that turns into a one for Trey Lance or something? I mean, maybe. So that's one end of it. And then the other end is what you mentioned, the 49ers.

Like, I don't know what they're going to do. You know, to me, they would have to be really motivated to trade Tray Lance, given Brock Purdy and the uncertainty around that injury. I know they signed Sam Darnold. But if I were them, I'd be like, we got Lance on a rookie contract. Maybe he makes strides. If not, he gives us an insurance plan. Every year, we're talking about a 49ers quarterback injury as they go to like, you know,

the second or third round of the playoffs. there. And so they would have to really be motivated. So I think the compensation would have to be really good. But you could tell me anything about the Niners. Like you could tell me they trade, Tray Lance. And then guess what? Tom, you know, Brock Party gets injured and Tom Brady gets a call in mid-October. You could tell me, you know what? The Patriots, the first half of their season doesn't go great with Mack Jones. And Kyle Shanahan gives his buddy Bill Belichick a call and says, hey, come on. You know you're trading him in the off season. I need him this year. Let's do another deal like we did for Jimmy Garaple. Like they could go in a number of different directions. You could tell me,

you know, we're going to read those Alan Robinson reports. We could read those from 49ers reporters in August. Ms. Sam Darnel, this offense, you know what? Pretty quarterback friendly. He's looking good. So I have no idea what's going to happen. That's not a could. That is going to happen. And I need to look me in the eyes right now. We all need to do this. We all need to go through this exercise, we're not going to fall for it. Nobody's going to fall for it. We cannot do this because there is a 100% chance that during training camp, Sam Darnold has not been a good quarterbacking NFL, but he is a relatively experienced guy who has a history of when the bullets are not flying quickly, when it's not a real game situation with real pressure, he can look real good.

And he's going to get in that Shanahan offense and we are all going to convince ourselves of something that will burn us just yet again. We cannot do it. I'm going to start pounding the table on this right now. Yeah, you're right. I'm with you. I won't do it. We won't do it.

You're right. It's not a could. It is a will happen, especially he showed some of those flashes last year with the Panthers. Now you put him with Shannie. And that absolutely is going to happen. So I don't know. This is, I don't know.

What is your sense? I kind of feel like a team might get pretty aggressive. and we're going to look at the compensation and go, whoa, they gave up that for a guy who started four games in two years. But I look at some of these teams and they have connections to them and they could see the upside and they could see the rookie contract and they could really talk themselves into it. What do you think? Are we going to, is this going to be something where there's actual movement before the draft or I guess even after the draft? I would not be surprised because draft status sort of dies hard in the NFL, right? Like, Trey Lance has not worked out in the way that the 49ers obviously hoped he would when they went up to get him.

But he's still a high first round pick. And teams don't forget about that stuff. Teams don't forget how you reviewed when you came into the league. And then also if there is, and I think you're right to mention that there are quite a few teams that kind of make sense to sniff around here, you start getting a little bit of competition. all of a sudden, Trey Lance might, you know, I'm not saying

they're going to get multiple first round picks for him. I certainly don't think, I think even a one is hard, but you start getting into that range and all of a sudden, here's a chance to recoup

one of the three, right, that you spent to be able to go and draft him. And I've got to imagine that that looks pretty attractive to the 49ers. I don't think they pick, they have.

those three, they pick in like the 100-ish range, like three times in a row. The first pick might be like 99. And then they have 101 and 102. I'm not sure of the exact numbers on that. But that's like what their draft position looks like. They have to wait for a long time. So particularly if something could happen in the next week or so, I wouldn't be shocked if that's a really, really, really compelling idea for them, especially since even though there is so much uncertainty around Brock Party's health, they've made it really. well known that he is is the guy that they want to be the guy there. You can take that, I think, in two ways that are reasonable.

One is literally Brock Purdy. We want Brock Purdy. We're going to wait until Brock Purdy is healthy. And then it's going to be Brock Purdy, Brock Purdy, Brock Purdy. The other thing is that I think I'm doing a little bit of, you know, Kyle Shanahan on the couch, which is probably only useful. if you're looking for the answer that we all might be dead in a week. But if we go back to when they traded up for Tray Lance,

and there was all the rumors that, you know, Mack Jones was who Shanahan really liked, but eventually he got convinced. And there was an idea that they wanted to find someone who could be more of an elevator at the quarterback position as opposed to the sort of paint by numbers guy who was going to run the offense the way that Shanahan wanted him to. I just wonder if, you know,

the Lance experience has soured Shanahan a little bit on that idea and the success they had with Brock Purdy, who, you know, he's a more mobile guy than Jimmy Garoppolo was in that offense, certainly, and there were some out-of-structure things that he could add there. And also, it's not just about creation out-of-structure that they were interested in getting and adding what they hoped Lance could be to that offense.

But I wonder, if you're Kyle Shanahan right now, you're sort of reverting to that you know, man, I'm really good at this and I can make Brock Purdy or Mac Jones or I'm not saying in, you know,

in this world, but like a Kirk Cousins or an unretired for the second time, Tom Brady look really, really good and I would just rather try it that way than mess around with this idea that we

could get more explosive and more dynamic, but not be able to execute sort of the ABCs of that offense quite as well. I just wonder if he's gone back to that philosophy, which I think would be one, another indicator that they might be willing to get a deal like this done, and then two might have some influence on, okay, what are they looking for in return? I still, I just, there's a little bit of a Mac Jones thing where if that really has gone sour in New England, I wonder if it's at least worth talking about. You know, I said on Monday when we talked about it, I think Mac Jones is going to be the starter in New England. And it's hard for me to see something working out there that's worthwhile to both teams.

But I wouldn't rule out a phone call. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, your Shanahan points a great one. I mean, I always thought Kyle Shanahan wants a robotic quarterback. Like if he could just use a remote control or like an app on his phone, do this, do they look here, do this, do this, do this. Like that's his ideal. He wants like the AI quarterback. Yes, he wants the AI quarterback.

That's exactly right. But the Tray Lance thing was, remember, the conversation was well, yes, they get to the Super Bowl with Jimmy Garapolo, but you even see the limitations in that game. And he wants someone who could do a little bit more in the run game or out of structure. well, now you had, and it was only eight games. Let's remind ourselves. This was eight games of Brock Purdy that they're making a lot of decisions on, or potentially making a lot of decisions on, but it could have emboldened him a little bit. Hey, a robot's pretty good. You know, we've got Debo Samuel and George Kittle, and now you have Christian McCaffrey and we've got Brandon Ayuk, and like, you don't need, I don't need the quarterback to lift everyone up. I want the, I need the

quarterback to just do what I tell him to do, and that's going to be good enough to win games. And honestly, while most of the time when coaches think like that, I rip them. And I'm like, it's about the players. It's not about you. With the shade of hands had the success doing it. So I can't be like he's wrong. I mean, he has absolutely done more with less at quarterback than maybe any other coach in the NFL right now. So if he goes back to that thinking and says, all right, we made a mistake with Tray Lance.

Let's move on. We'll plug a robot back in there who can do what I need him to do and we'll win games. Like, he's probably going to be able to do that and win games as long as. that supporting cast is healthy. I've mentioned the Mac Jones thing before because we know Shanahan loved him and I think it fits into that idea of him wanting a robot. And people have responded saying, well, they already have their quarterback. Why would they go after Mac Jones?

They have Brock Purdy. I agree with you. Eight games. They're putting a lot of stock into eight games. I believe that they are putting that stock into it. But can we just remember that Brock Purdy just had this like crazy surgery? He didn't have the full reconstruction again. Yeah, it's a big injury.

It's a big injury. So this is not my saying Brock Purdy was Mr. Irrelevant, and I don't believe that he did anything in that eight-game stretch that they fell in love with. I think that happened. But he had a big injury. You cannot. You cannot, cannot, cannot go into the season with Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold. You know, if something happens with Lance, it cannot just be those two.

Because you might end up. up with just Sam Darnold. Because he literally said last week, he just doesn't know. It's your throwing elbow. It's really complicated and it's sort of variable. And it's going to be months before he starts throwing. So there's just absolutely no way to have that kind of certainty. This is a roster that is ready to win games.

The NFC is so wide open. On the one hand, they must be sort of exhausted of doing these crazy things for quarterbacks. But at the same time, like, you just can't roll it out. Yeah, you're right. They're built to win now. I mean, they're among what, the three favorites probably in the NFC. So yeah, this is, you always balance long term with short term. But have you looked at Kyle Shanahan? Like, you know, you made the we're all going to be dead comment. Like the man has aged. The man needs a Super Bowl ring as soon as possible. I feel like or his life is even going to get more stressful than he's going to be filled with more anxiety and he's going to be even more burned out than he already is. So, you know, Yeah, I think the short term probably is taking more precedent than the long term, especially, supporting cast, landscaping the NFC. I mean, it's right there for them if they get good quarterback play this year.

His hair is doing the first term Obama thing. Get a little worried. All right. We're going to move on to our lie detector segment after this short break. All right. We are back. And Sheal, this is the best part because you're going to set me straight on what's going to happen with all of these big high profile hot topic NFL stories.

You're going to be able to tell me exactly what's going to happen around the league. And so I'm going to start with the story that has been a story, even though absolutely nothing has happened for a month now, which is Aaron Rogers. So the rumor that I'm asking you to lie detect here, tell me if it's true or false, is that Aaron Rogers would have been traded by now if he hadn't said he'd be 90, he'd been 90% retired at the end of the season on Pat McAfee's show a month ago. And I'll give you a little bit of context, which is that Rogers went on McAfee, said that his plan was to be with the Jets and that he made that 90% retired comment.

That was a month ago, if you can believe it. Both Joe Douglas and Brian Kudakouns have said things in the interim that indicate that they are expecting this deal to happen. Douglas said at a WFAN event last week that Rogers is, quote, going to be here. He also dumped ranch dressing on a radio host. I was going to ask you if you watched the clip, yes. Like, what is going on, man? And then Goudicund said at owners meetings that they were working on it, that it didn't

necessarily have to be the Jets first rounder. Every verbal utterance from these guys is just like, this is all fine and dandy. But nothing's happened yet. And last week, the great NFL writer, Charles Robinson from Yahoo, reported that the 90% retired comments that Rogers made on the Pat McAfee show,

scared Jets owner Woody Johnson and have maybe caused the Jets to dig in a little bit on what protections they would need as far as the draft compensation in a trade. And then we have seen rumors about other. teams may be getting involved if this thing slips up between Green Bay and New York. The 49ers we just talked about have been one of those teams. Yard Barker, the website Yard Barker, so I will say to maybe take this with a grade of salt,

although no offense to the fine folks, a yard barker. I'm just not particularly familiar with your work, have floated some stuff about the Titans maybe getting in the mix. So, Sheal, is this 90% retirement? thing, really why we don't have a deal between Aaron Rogers and the Jets yet? I think kind of. I think it may have played a fact. Like, I think the Jets were probably already thinking when you're discussing compensation. You have to think of a wide range of outcomes.

And one of those outcomes is Aaron Rogers plays for you in 2023. And then Aaron Rogers decides he wants to retire. Like Aaron Rogers is turning 40 years old in December. Tom Brady has messed up all how we think about. aging curves in the NFL. Like quarterbacks do not play high-level football in the NFL at 40 years old most of the time. So I think if you're the Jets and you're discussing the compensation, you want some protection

that, hey, yeah, okay, you want, let's say, a first round pick in 2024. Well, we'll make that a second that turns into a first maybe if Aaron Rogers plays well for us in 2023, if he stays healthy, and if he still wants to play for us in 2024. I don't know, something like that. I'm making up the terms. but you want some type of conditions in there. And so maybe that comment, like they were already probably thinking about that, and then maybe that comment makes them think about it a little bit more, that, yeah,

you know, that we probably don't want to be giving up big time draft capital if this is a one-year rental type situation. So it really is a tricky situation because, like, there's been all this talk about leverage. Like neither side really has great leverage. The Jets don't have any, they literally have no other options right now. at quarterback, they're out there telling people, they're getting Aaron Rogers. And then if you're, if you're the Packers here, like, you can't keep Aaron Rogers on your roster. We know of precisely one team that wants to trade for Aaron Rogers. And it's the New York Jets. So how long can you

hold out here? So I was thinking this, nor are you a, are you a rock, paper scissors fan? Like in the Prince Yati household growing up, did you, if it was like, all right, whose turn is it to, I don't do the dish or whatever? You do a, hey, let's do a best set of three RPS. We did this in college. me and my roommate, who's taking out the trash? Best of three RPS. Was that in your world at all? Or are you looking at me like you are a weird person? I knew you were weird, but now it's taken to another level.

No, so I'm, so yes, rock paper scissors has been a part of my life. I am the weird out here because I'm an only child. So I was, you know, I never had to fight. I never had to fight. Or the other way to say it is I had to do all of the chores myself. And I didn't have an opportunity to win rock paper scissors and avoid taking out the trash. But I went to boarding school for high school.

I lived with roommates in college. I have lived in a lot of roommate situations. So I know the rock paper, scissors life. Okay. I'm down. I'm down with the RPS. In case you're wondering, why is this moron asking me about this

when we're talking about Aaron Rogers? You mentioned the ranch thing. It's Joe Douglas dumping a bucket of ranch on a radio host. I had to click it to find out what is going on. year. So Joe Douglas is apparently not opposed to a little promotion. Here's what we do. Joe Douglas, I can't imagine the two sides are that far apart, right? It's probably like, it's probably literally it could be the conditions on one of the draft picks. Like, I think it's probably going to be something in the two second rounders range. And then it's, hey, what are the

conditions on one of those that can make them better or worse? I think both Brian Goodacunts, Joe Douglas should agree on like the two offers that they're different on. Then we should do a little televised 30 minutes. I don't know. Maybe the rinker can get involved here. I don't know. 30 minutes, a little RPS, best out of three, whatever money is made. We can donate that to charity, although I don't know if NFL owners don't, you know, they might want to just keep it for themselves, but whatever, we could try to convince them a little good PR, donate it to charity. Everyone can have a laugh. They can joke about how they've been negotiating this deal for like six months and this was the only way to solve it. We'd all watch. You know, we'd watch. That would be content. We'd do a post,

We do a post RPS pod on it. I'll throw my hat in the ring for that right now. I think that's how we finally settle this. Because otherwise, I don't know why either side would really have motivation to just give it. So as a person who absolutely loved and was just delighted by the situation in 2018 before the draft where the Raiders and 49ers, do you remember this, had to flip a coin at the combine to determine the draft order? It was so dumb. it was the greatest thing ever because they had like they built like a ring.

I think they did it where, because that was what they did it in the old bench press area. And you just had like these prospects finishing their bench presses. And then they had like, I think Rod Woodson was involved and they came and helped officiate or was part of flipping the coin or something. and they had a special coin made for it that had the 49ers logo and the Raiders logo. And it was just really ridiculous to determine the draft order. And I think it was kind of a high pick, too. It was like the ninth and tenth picks. I loved that.

And this reminds me of that. So I'm totally in on it. The thing that I think we need to have happen is we got to get the competition committee involved first just to determine what I view as the, the most controversial rule in the rock paper scissors universe which is rock paper scissors shoot or do you display on the final count

do you have a viewpoint do you know what I'm saying? Yeah yeah I well the first one there was what I do rock paper scissors and then on shoot you're showing the rock paper or scissors. So I can head up that competition committee meeting and we can be in and out of there in 10 minutes. But if we want to do it at like a nice hotel or something and get lunch catered just to talk about it, I'm in on that too. I'm very much against the philosophy that you display

your rock paper or scissors on the third on the scissors. Okay. Yeah. But I do, I've come across people in my life who subscribe to this view and I just, I think it's, I think it's, I think it's blasphemous. It's like the fumble out of the end zone rule. It's just the most, it's the least popular rule in the score. We got to get rid of it. Other than that, as long as we've got that squared away, I'm totally on board with this. I will ask you, because you think that we could settle this with some fun on games, do you think that they're just, do you think they're just not fussed about this? I am starting to get a little bit of anxiety about this situation just because it hasn't happened yet. But do you think that they're just

waiting until, for instance, the day of night two, if it's going to involve those day two draft picks and that they'll just get it done then and then it'll all be fine. Or, I guess implicit and part of this question is that there's some animosity here. I am starting to be of the belief that there is tension. Do you think it's just they're not in a rush? Well, I think from the Jets perspective, you're not really in a rush. I mean, you don't really like, all right, if he shows up to OTAs or mini camps, like, I don't know who. I think that stuff is overrated for a quarterback like Aaron Rogers. If he's there on August first, then you're fine. So you actually have months here to work with. For the Packers,

there actually is a football question involved in this. Like, what do they value more? Do they value getting draft fix immediately more? Or do they want to spread out Aaron Rogers dead cap hit? Because if they wait, wait till after June 1st, yeah, then that dead dead. money, I think it's $40 million or whatever, they can spread that out over two years. So internally, I'm sure I know that, you know, they've had those discussions. Well, what do we value more? I mean, I would, you know, I don't know. I think if I were Brian Good at Cuts, I'd be like, we're trading Aaron Rogers. Like, I would like to get some players in here pretty quickly and start to build the next era with Jordan Love. But that might be short-term thinking. Maybe it's better for

them to spread that cap hit out. So I think it's more probably on the Packer side about, hey, when do we actually want to execute this, assuming we can agree on compensation, whereas the Jets really have, you know, every reason to be patient unless they're worried that like Aaron Rogers, July 15th is going to be like, you know what, it's been a pretty fun summer. I don't really feel like going back to training camp. I'm just going to retire. But he'd be giving up a lot of money there. I don't think that's going to happen. So I think the Jets can kind of be more patient, whereas the Packers actually have a decision to make on what they value more. That makes sense.

I still think you're playing with a lot of fire because neither team, as you said, is in a good situation if this doesn't happen. If we get through the second night of the draft and this hasn't happened, I'm going to be a little worried. I'm just going on records and I'm going to start getting a little tense. Just because of the timing in combination with some of these rumors, the thing about the 90% cracks me up because I just don't, if that's really, like, I think if you're the Jets, it's smart to bring that up and say, hey, remember, like, you can't expect us to be given you our first rounder here when the guy says he was 90% retired at the end of the year and we might just have him for one season and

we don't like that and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Get your leverage wherever you can get it. If they are actually worried about this, I think they're playing themselves because Aaron Rogers is full of crap. Yeah. Yeah. That's true too. I just,

maybe I am way too cynical, but like this dude loves to say that he's, oh, I can walk away. I don't need you. I'm my own man. He loves that. Also,

he's making, what, $60 million this year? Like, again, I don't mean to be like a cynic over here. I just, I do not believe for a second, but that is true. I think that that's a nice thing to go on the MacCabee show and say because it drives home this.

I'm my own man and I don't need the system thing. But sorry, it's a lie in my personal view. I agree. Yes. All right. Moving on. Nick Castario, Texan's general manager, is on the hot seat in Houston and might return to New England after the draft. This, I believe, was first floated by John McLean, longtime NFL reporter based around Houston,

who wrote a piece mentioning a rumor from the league meetings that Casario could leave the Texans after the draft and go back to the Patriots, although I will say McLean said he wasn't totally buying it. Casario has since sort of denied this. He had a press conference on Monday where he made the Leonardo DiCaprio and Wolf of Wall Street reference and said, I'm not leaving. but he also kind of danced around whether or not it had come up. He said there's never really been any substantive discussions of the sort, which does, it seems like if it had truly never come up,

you could say something a little bit more concrete than that. It could just be press conference mealie mouth, could be not a clear denial for a reason with Damiqa Ryan's there. It's an interesting situation because you don't totally know who has the reins, who has the power. But whenever there's a new head coach in a place where the previous GM stays on, you do sort of wonder about that pairing and if it's going to work out for the long term. So what do you think?

Is Nick Serio truly on the hot seat? And is there any possibility he ends up back in New England? Yeah, I would say my lie detector is not going off for the first part of this, maybe for the second part of it. You know, I don't know about the New England thing and the way he can. kind of left there and whether they would want to bring him back. But could I see a scenario where he's out of Houston, you know, a month from now? Absolutely. I mean, remember, D'Amico Ryan's was a highly coveted head coaching candidate. Like, he had options where he could say, all right, I can choose

where I want to be. I can make certain demands. And as you just said, D'Amico Ryan's very well might want to have somebody who he knows better, who he has a relationship with. He might want to open it up to other GMs and bring someone in of his own. That would not surprise me at all as they start kind of this new era at Houston. And, you know, if you're the Texans, like the Nick Casario thing has not worked out. I'm not saying it's just Casario. I think bad ownership, they had the whole Jack Easterby thing. But, you know, you had David Cully, you had Lovie Smith.

Now you have Domeico Ryan's. Your team has stunk. It's a terrible roster. There were the Josh McCown rumors a year ago. Did Nick Casario even want D'emico Ryan? Was that like his choice as head coach? I mean, he might have been pushing for somebody else internally. Like they've really been sort of a train wreck and embarrassment of a franchise,

like one of the worst franchises during this era, the last three to five years or whatever it is. And so I would not be surprised at all to see him go somewhere else. And DiMiko Ryan say, all right, I'm bringing in my own person here. I'm the one who's ultimately going to have a lot of say with this stuff, but I need someone to lean on. That would not surprise me at all. I'm with you.

Yeah, if it was like, no, this absolutely isn't happening, I think he probably could have come in a little stronger with how he worded those comments. But as you said, sometimes we make too much of press conferences, so maybe it was nothing. But yeah, I would say my gut tells me, like I would definitely go over 50% that this is something that could happen

that Nick Casario would be gone after the draft. Yeah, I hate the idea of firing a general manager after a draft. I think the last time it happened was Mike McCagman. I will never understand why teams would think about doing this. I know the work starts a lot earlier

in the season, so you sort of don't want to lose that. But just like, if you're going to let go of a guy, don't let him make your draft picks. Don't let it make the number two overall pick in the entire draft and then be like, we don't want your services anymore. Just a weird thing to do.

That said, you mentioned Jack Easterby. That was a weird situation. He and Nick Casario knew each other in New England, obviously. They came in to some degree in tandem. Easterby is obviously no longer there. He had a very close relationship with the owner. You don't know how that affects things.

And I just think that any time there's a new coach in the type of position that Domeco Ryans is in where there's been a long-term commitment. It's just a reasonable thing to buy that that guy might want his own, that that guy has a lot of power within the organization in that moment and that that guy might want someone

who he has a say in picking to be leading the personnel department. Do you think, because I love doing the sort of if-then thing with these, which is like if you think this thing is true, you should also think this thing is true. I think if Casario is feeling a little bit of warmth in his seat right now, I think that adds to the likelihood that they take a quarterback. Because if you take a quarterback really, really high,

I think they got to do it anyway. But if you take that guy and he's sort of yours, sometimes I think GMs do that to extend there. employment opportunities. So I wonder if that plays into that at all. I kind of think that D'Amico Rines is going to make the decision. Like, like you said, it is weird. It is awkward, but I think he's probably leaning on, all right, this scouting department has done all this work. We don't have time to do a full GM search right now. We have the number two overall pick. We'll lean on their scouting. But ultimately, Domeco Rions with ownership, will make the decision.

So I go into this draft thinking Domeco Rines is making the calls. and not Nick Casario, even though Nick Casario is the GM. So I don't know where that leaves us with who they pick. I'm with you. I think it's got to be a quarterback. You got to get a quarterback at some point. But regardless of what the decision is, I'm going to, unless I hear otherwise or the reporting is otherwise,

I'm probably going to put that decision on Demico Ryan's ledger, not Nick Aserios. Interesting. Rumor number three comes from none other than Von. Miller, which is DeAndre Hopkins will be traded to the Buffalo Bills. Hopkins, of course, one of a couple Cardinals players, now including Buda Baker, who have asked to be traded out of Arizona. There have been some references lately to the bills as a landing spot, most notably Von Miller, who said yesterday that he talks to Hopkins all the time and that he wants to be a Buffalo

Bill. Hopkins also did a video podcast recently where he was asked to give responses in facial expressions. to the idea of playing for various teams. What world do we live in? This should be a segment for us, by the way. I was so jealous of that as a fellow podcaster. Yes. Well, the funny thing is at first I was like, I was making notes of how to explain this.

And I was like, oh, he was on a podcast and he was asked to respond in facial expression. It's just like, that's not how you podcast. But it did have a video component. It's 2023. We're, you know, we've got our own video stuff. Yeah. Selects doing the play sheet.

We're all over TikTok. It's great. You know, it's a brand new world we live in. Anyway, he was asked to give responses and facial expressions to the idea of playing for various teams. And the four that were floated were the Bills, Chiefs, Patriots, and Jets. And Hopkins had what looked like a positive response to the Bills and the Chiefs, but a negative response to the Patriots and the Jets. So, DeAndre Hopkins will become.

a Buffalo bill, let's say before the start of the regular season. What do you think, Michelle? I say no. I say the lie detector is going off. By the way, I love that. Yeah, part of the football analysis now is we have to analyze facial expressions. We have to analyze like weird emojis on social media. It is a, I am too old for, for this where I'll just tell me. Talk to me. Followed their official team account. Yes, that too. I need words more than anything. So I was looking at the DeAndre Hopkins situation, turns 31 in June. Nora, I was looking last year. Two wide receivers in the entire NFL, age 31 or older, had more than 500 receiving yards. Marvin Jones and Adam Thielen. Those were the only two. Like this is, I love the, yeah, yeah. I mean, DeAndre Hopkins,

amazing player, has had an amazing career. He very well could be the exception, but he carries base salaries of 19.5 million and 17.2 million in the next two seasons. He'll be age 31 and age 32. And then there's some reporting that he actually wants a new contract, whether it's an extension or to have those numbers rework. This is somebody who was coming off a six game PED suspension last year. I just look at the bills, or really a lot of teams honestly, and say, are you going to give up? left capital and pay a player who's 31 years old that kind of money. And I don't think the bills would be willing to do that. I could be wrong. I don't think the bills would be willing to do that. I'm not sure how many teams would be willing to do that. Like maybe it's a situation where the Cardinals have to take on some of that salary.

I mean, the Cardinals might have to just end up releasing him if they don't want to just pay that money and don't see him as part of their plan. So I think if he gets released, it's a different story because now you're not giving up draft capital, you can structure the contract in a way that maybe has incentives if he plays well, that kind of thing. So if that happens, then Buffalo, maybe you look at it, but to give up something and then take on that salary for a player his age, I don't see it for the bills. I wonder if where this ends is the Cardinals in order to get some real draft capital in return, agree to eat some of the salary? Because I do think.

that if you're a win now team, particularly with the way that this wide receiver class is viewed around the league, I think you could probably get somebody to go there. Maybe even on draft night, right? Like, maybe you're one of those teams at the bottom of the first round where you don't like how the receiver board is shaking up and you don't feel like you're going to be able to get a guy you want there. All of a sudden, I wonder if Arizona was willing to make it. financially a little bit easier to swallow if the idea of bringing DeAndre Hopkins in immediately starts to look pretty good to some teams. I do think the money right now

is tough because as it currently stands, the teams that could literally could trade for him without doing a lot of restructures are the Bears, Panthers, Lions, Colts, and Packers. And that's before factoring in that they need to be ready to sign their rookie contracts. And we know the salary cap can be manipulated. But I do think that right now,

the fact that he is owed $19.5 million next year from the team trading for him and close to 15 in 2024, I think that's an impediment in getting buyers. I think I land with you specifically on the bill. Bill's, although you could, you know, Stefan Diggs didn't show up to their offseason program earlier this week. He's expressed in frustration last season. That hasn't always been smooth sailing. I think they need help at receiver, even if they have Stefan Diggs at his best and he's perfectly healthy anyway. There's some things about the fit that are nice, but I don't think it fits very well into their team building philosophy. That said, if we made this just D'Andre Hopkins will be traded, I would go yes.

There is some logic to the Cardinals just saying, nope, sorry. We have no good players. We can't afford to get rid of the last one we have. It's not Kyle or Murray. But I just think they need to be in total rebuild mode. And if that takes eating some of the salary in order to get a draft pick back, which is something that I think would be doable, I think they should do it. So I think he ends up getting traded probably wouldn't be willing to go over 50% specifically to the bills.

So far be it from me to deny. the NFL prognostications of Von Miller. He was very good last year still. I mean, he came back from suspension and had 64 catches for 717 yards in nine games. And if you look at Kyler Murray's splits over the last two years with and without DeAndre Hopkins, like he had been a huge difference maker for that offense. So yeah, you could be right. If a team can kind of get there talking themselves into just sort of a one year commitment

somehow and not have to give up much, then maybe there would be more of, a market. And your point about the draft class is a good one. Yeah, it's not, like, I don't think teams are going into this thinking they're getting a great starter in the draft specifically if you're picking one outside the first round. So maybe that would make him more appealing. It's just the wide receiver market's unpredictable. I mean, we thought Odell Beckham, the junior had no market and then all of a sudden he gets 15 million guaranteed from the Raven. So it's a good reminder that it only takes one team to surprise us with some of these moves. That's a great point to end on. We will

take another short break and then be back to talk about the first round quarterbacks. All right, Shil, we are down to our final two rumors. Number four that I have for you, more than four quarterbacks will go in the first round of the draft. Now, I think the thrust of this question has to do with Hendon Hooker, who is in an interesting spot. 62 on the consensus big board. Arif Hassan keeps track of that stuff. I think it's a really, really helpful tool this time of year, which I think paints a good picture of if he weren't a quarterback sort of how he's seen as a prospect. This is a 25-year-old quarterback with an ACL injury, but there is buzz. There is some serious buzz that this guy is going in the first round. Ian Rappaport said the

other day that he thinks it's more likely than not that he does. Peter Schrager, who's super tapped in, published a mock draft the other day that had him going 11th to the Titans. And I've also seen lions, Vikings, commanders, saints. I am framing this as a hendenhooker question because I think for most people he's QB5 behind Young Stroud Richardson and Levis in some order. Obviously, you are more than welcome to think differently and explain this in a different way. but do you think that we get to five quarterbacks

in the first round? Presumably that includes Hendenhooker. My first note on this one was this one was hard. I couldn't decide. I was going back and forth. I was saying yes, no, yes, no, as I prepared for the podcast.

I think I'm going to say, I think I'm going to land on no. I mean, I can buy that teams really like Henton Hooker. I can understand that. I can see that. But a quarterback who turns 26 in January, who's coming off a November ACL tear, you're going to, I mean, think of how you, we've talked to GMs before, how they value first round picks. I mean, more important than like family members when you talk to some of these GMs. No, what?

Give up a first round pick. What are you nuts? No way. It's like they're both valuable resource. And so there's just like too much there with Hendon Hooker where I can buy that a team's going to take him in the first round. Now, I could absolutely be wrong about that. You just mentioned it. There are plugged in people who think he is going to go.

Also, if you're a team who likes him, there's a benefit to getting him at like pick 30 over pick 38 because you get the fifth year option for a quarterback. If you do hit, he's going to be less expensive for you. So I could see that as well. But I don't know. I haven't settled on what I think is going to happen with the quarterbacks, but I think weird things are going to happen with the quarterbacks, whether it's Anthony Richardson slipping more than we think

or Anthony Richardson going before C.J. Stroud, whether it's Will Levis slipping. And we're thinking, man, we did that podcast before the draft. And now it's the end of the first round. And Will Levis is still on the board. Could Hendon Hooker go before Will Levis? Like, that seems like within the possible range of outcome. So I have to get all my ducks in a row.

We're going to podcast again, I think, on Wednesday, right before the draft next week, where I will come with fiery takes for that show. of here is exactly what's going to happen, my official predictions, but it feels like there could be some weirdness with some of these quarterbacks. Ultimately, I think that, no, fewer than five quarterbacks will go

in the first round of the draft. How about you? Where are you with it? So I think you and I disagree on this one. I just think someone does it. I agree it's hard, but I think the fifth-year option, especially with quarterbacks,

is a really compelling piece to these NFL teams. And I just go down the list of the teams that are going to be drafting in late in the first round who might need quarterbacks now or who might need quarterbacks soon. And I look at the, even the Packers at 15, the commanders at 16, the Lions at 18, the Bucks at 19, the Seahawks at 20, the Vikings at 23, and the Saints at 29, and just go, I think one of those teams is going to do it. I think one of them, particularly in a draft. And I know we say this every year. I know the league as it gets closer and closer to the draft,

basically every year goes, oh, well, you should wait until next year. These guys aren't the, you know, no one likes this class. There's only 15 real blue chippers. But I'm going to say it again because it is, it is what people around the league feel is that in the second half of this first round when you get laid into it,

there just aren't that many players who teams are looking at as, like, real difference makers. It is by the nature of the position easier for a quarterback to become a difference maker if he's even half decent in the long term than any other player at any other position. I think the league knows this. I think more and more we see that be an operating philosophy around the NFL. And I think it's going to get Hendon Hooker draft in the first. first round. Absolutely could happen. I think the age also is like, feels like a little bit less of a factor with quarterbacks. I don't know. I mean, quarterbacks are going to play into their 30s if they're good quarterback. So you don't have to worry about a guy falling off

the map at, you know, 31, 32, like I mentioned with a wide receiver. But man, that would be, it's going to be fun. I don't know that I would be able to do that for sure, a 26 year old, soon to be 26 year old quarterback coming off in ACL. But, man, that would be, it's going to be a CLE. But I could, like we said, takes one team to fall in love. They make that pick. They like the fifth year option possibility. And they take him in the first round. I think the age thing is less a concern about, well, you know, how much are we going to get out of him?

And more to me a concern about how good he actually is. Because you're just looking at a lot of tape where, and I've heard our colleague Ben Solac describe him this way, where he just got to be sort of a men among boys. and if it takes that at the college level for a prospect to do his best work, then I think it's pretty natural to worry about how that's going to translate to playing in the NFL where everybody's good. So I'm not saying that I would do this, but I do think that somebody in the NFL is going to...

Gonna roll the dice with Hendon Hooker. All right, Shiel, are you ready for the last rumor? Let's do it. to fire up the lie detector one last time and I will ask you if Texas running back Bijon Robinson will go in the first round one of I think the biggest questions of the draft lie detector is not going off I feel pretty strongly that he will I don't know where in the

first round I couldn't tell you top 10 top 20 or just between 20 and 30 but yes I feel like pretty I would be very surprised if he did not go in the first round. Some of the teams I looked at, like the Fal, he could go as early as eight to the Falcons. I mean, the Falcons,

I haven't exactly been a positional value type team. They took Kyle Pitts early when they needed to. They're kicking the can on quarterback again. They could talk themselves into, hey, we just signed the right side of our offensive line. We've got Drake, London, Kyle Pitts, and Bijon Robinson.

We'll just plug in that quarterback next offseason. And man, offense. So I could see that. I feel like the commanders at 16. I can just like picture that very clearly in my head. They're just like, oh, why are people overthinking this? Bejan Robinson's awesome. We have the 16th overall pick. Yes, of course we're taking Bejohn Robinson at 16. I could see that one. And then once you get to the 20s, there are a lot of teams that could be interested. I mean, if he's there towards the end of the first round and like the Bengals are on the clock and there have been rumors, are they going to move on from Joe Mixon? You're plugging Bejohn Robinson,

Burrow, Jamar, Chase, T, I mean, that, that would be maybe the most fun landing spot in the short term. So, yeah, I do think he's going to go somewhere in the first round. You have famously done the seven commandments of sound drafting philosophy, a great piece that I always love to read. And I know you've updated it here at the Ringer. I think Bejohn fits into one of your rules, which is if you're going to draft a running back in the first round somewhere, he needs to be an impact player in the passing game.

I think Bejohn Robinson fits that mold. I'm curious, though, at what point in the draft would you become, would GM Shield become comfortable doing this? Yeah, I'm usually more on the side of do not take the running back in the first round. And I hate to, I'm not talking about like people as commodities, but just in terms of like supply and demand. Like we see it every year that you can get a very good running back for like two million dollars on the open market. It sucks for running backs, but like that's just kind of the way the league has evolved.

It's going to be a player who you're not going to sign to a second contract at the same time. If you draft them in the first round, you're getting four years, giving the fifth year option. You have the franchise tag in your pocket. And that's not going to be a lot for a running back. So you're getting them for six or seven years. To me, it's just a matter of, like, how much impact can a great running back have over a very good running back. And also, like I said, the sort of supply and demand stuff and the opportunity cost. You're giving up, taking a flyer on a premium position, an offensive tackle, a corner, a position that, you know, a pass rusher that could help you for, if you hit, it helps you for like 10 to 12 years.

Now, those aren't every case, but if you're talking about upside there. And where if you're saving tens of millions of dollars a year, relative to what you would be paying a veteran for having a rookie at that position. Yeah. So I don't know. I haven't looked at where the exact number would be. I think probably if I were in the 20s and I'm just like we have him graded so far and above everybody else, I would be comfortable having that conversation.

Certainly in the top 10 to 15, I don't think I would be the GM who would say, yeah, we're using that pick on a running back. by the way, the other thing is, we forget this every year because we look at these guys and are like, oh my gosh, he's amazing. He's a once-in-a-generation prospect. If you look at the history with first-round running backs, like, they're not the best running backs. So is Trent Richardson. Yeah. There's a lot of regret. Like, if you just look at the list over the last 10 years, are there some hits? Yes. But it's also littered with like, you know, a handful of guys who you would say there's no way that GM would make that pick again. So we talk ourselves

into these guys. I love him. I watch him and I'm like, all right, if you drew up exactly what you want a running back to be, it might be Bejan Robinson, big, strong, fast, like you said, can catch the ball. So I hope he lands in a fun offense and has a great career. But that's I also want to check myself and

say, well, I could be totally wrong about that evaluation and he could be more good, but not like, you know, one of the best three running backs in the NFL. I think you should go in the second half for the first round. I think, like, For me, I would say if the pick starts with the two, I feel really genuinely good about it.

I feel fine about the opportunity costs that you're giving up, taking a player at a position where if you were paying a veteran, it's more expensive. I feel fine about the risk proposition with running backs and wear and tear and all of the concerns with that position. He's a really, really, really good player in a draft where teams are not that excited about that. many players. I think that that's totally worth doing. I think the league generally is a little bit more willing to extend themselves for running backs in the draft than I philosophically would be. So I would say second half of the first round. I would sort of be happiest in the 20s. But again, I think some teams are willing to do this a little bit earlier than I would be. The falcons scare me, man.

Like, it sounds so fun, but it's just not what they need right now. Like, please, please. But they, as you said, they do not give two flying whatever's about positional value. So it'll be very interesting. I'm excited about this draft. It seems like there's a lot of intrigue. The top of the draft is really, really fascinating. And it's going to be fun to see how it all shakes out.

And Sheal, you and I are going to get to continue potting together next week as as we go through the draft. Steve Norese is going to be involved in that. What else do you have coming up that we can plug before we get out of here? Yeah, it's going to be loaded. Solac and I will do an extra point take it on Monday. And then like you said, we'll be back on Wednesday. We'll be back on Thursday.

The feed's going to be filled next week. And then I do a mock draft every year where I, you know, it's kind of mean I kind of just make fun of all the teams and the GMs. And I say, here's exactly what's going to happen. Here's how the draft's going to play out. throw some jokes in there. And so that'll be up on the ringer.com on Monday. Really one of my favorite pieces to write.

Although, yeah, I feel like, all right, when I pass some of these people at like the owner's meetings or the combine, they might punch me in the face, but that's okay. It's all in the name of content. And that's what we do here at the ringer. All right.

Well, I'm excited to see that. Excited for all of the content coming next week, which is draft week. excited to see you, Sheel, at the Competition Committee meeting to discuss the rock paper, scissors, rules, changes for the Aaron Rogers, Packers, Jets, extravaganza. Very curious to see what comes of that. And this has been the Ringer NFL show.

We will be back next week. Sheel and Ben have extra point taken. And then we're going to have a ton of draft coverage. Thank you, as always, to Stefan Anderson for production on this episode. and to Connor Nebens and Arjuna Ramgapal for additional production supervision.