The Ringer NFL Show - Training Camp Primer! Questions We Want Answered Before Week 1

Episode Date: July 29, 2026

Sheil and The Ringer’s own Diante Lee start the pod by analyzing the headlines surrounding Jalen Carter’s extension with the Eagles, Vita Vea’s trade request from the Bucs, and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan's car crash. They then take a look at some of the buzziest NFL teams around the league and propose fake training camp headlines they think their fans would love to see.(00:00) Questions we want answered before Week 1(02:42) Eagles extend Jalen Carter(11:20) Vita Vea requests trade from Bucs(20:01) Kyle Shanahan’s car crash details(24:54) Baltimore Ravens training camp headline we’d like to see(30:02) Los Angeles Rams training camp headline we’d like to see(34:37) Dallas Cowboys training camp headline we’d like to see(40:46) Chicago Bears training camp headline we’d like to see(44:48) Seattle Seahawks training camp headline we’d like to see(49:00) Las Vegas Raiders training camp headline we’d like to see(52:10) Denver Broncos training camp headline we’d like to see(55:02) Tennessee Titans training camp headline we’d like to see(58:34) New York Giants training camp headline we’d like to seeThe Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available.Host: Sheil KapadiaGuest: Diante LeeProducer: Chris SuttonVideo Editor: Stefano SanchezProduction Supervision: Conor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopowell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Ringer NFL show. I'm your host, Shield Capadia. It is Hope season. So today we're putting ourselves in these shoes of various fan bases and coming up with headlines. We would want to see between now and week one. It's just an exercise to look at the biggest training camp question stuff we can actually get information on between now and week one. We'll do that with Deontay Lee. Before that, though, there's some news around the NFL.

Jalen Carter got a contract extension from the Eagles. Vita Vaya of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has a trade request in. And then there's this Kyle Shanahan story, which we spoke about as well. Now, just a heads up. After we recorded the segment on Kyle Shanahan, he met with a group of reporters in the Bay area and actually clarified some things saying that the car accident he was in was actually his fault. He wasn't on his phone, but he had dropped his phone.

It got stuck between the seats. He went to look for it, took his eyes off the road and got in the accident. He said he was going 20 miles per hour when he came back up, got his eyes back on the road. The airbag hit him in the face. That's according to an NBC sports report. So there was public records that had indicated a 21-year-old woman was actually at fault, but Shanahan said that wasn't accurate. San Francisco's VP of Security said the inaccurate report was the result of a clerical error.

So details continue to come in on that bizarre story. again, that was from NBC Sports in the Bay Area. Some of those details I wanted to get to you at the front of the show because they were not available at the time. Deontay and I talked about Shanahan. All right, let's take a break. We come back and we talk to Deontay Lee. All right, welcoming in, my friend, Deontay Lee.

We're going to do a little news off the top, Jalen Carter Extension, Vita Vaya trade request, this Kyle Shanahan story. And then we'll get to our exercise. Deonti, how we feel in training camps? opening up ready for another season here. Look, man, I just put some gas in the car because I'm taking a couple trips up to Los Angeles

so I can go check out the chargers in the Rams. So yeah, I think we are ramping this thing up, little by little. There we go. Before you know it, preseason, week one, halfway awards, you know, playing off all. Gotta be honest with you, The more you say, the more this sounds like a threat. It's causing stress.

Okay, let's not cause stress. Let's enjoy it. Let's be thankful football. is almost back here. Big news this week. Jalen Carter gets the extension from the Eagles four years, $152 million per Adam Schefter. That's $38 million per year, eclipsing Jeffrey Simmons, who is at 35.2. So he is, Jalen Carter, now the highest paid defensive tackle in the NFL, Deonté. I was a little on the fence, you know, when I talked about this, I think just a week ago on the Ringers Philly Special. I said, I think something

is going to get done, but I'm not like totally confident that it's going to get done because it's a little bit of a tricky situation. What do you make of the deal that Jalen Carter got? Are you surprised? Do you think the Eagles were wise to make this type of investment right now? I think and I think that you've reflected similar terms on this. I don't think I've ever really doubted that they would extend him. I think that the terms were always going to be the question, right? And I knew, at least I had assumed that whatever we would hear back, you know, once it officially went out, that he would be the highest paid defensive tackle in NFL history, right? But I wanted to see just how real that money would be once we started to see all the

contract details laid out. And I mean, if he is able to maximize, you know, he hits all the incentives and it's here for all, you know, it's here in Philadelphia for all four years, then you would be talking to talking about maybe 40 million per. I think off of his guarantees right now, you're talking about high 20s, which is pretty good, you know, it's market rate. And I think that it makes sense for what his ceiling is. I think that this doesn't necessarily close the conversation, though, on what version of Jalen Carter are you going to receive in 2026 and 27? And when we get to 28 and 29, is he going to be so good that not only is this deal making all the sense in the world,

but you are already starting to think about ripping up the last year or two of what its extension is going to be, and it's tacking on a couple more years where he can continue to be at the top of the market. I think that that's still a little undecided, but also, I think the terms of this deal are not a big surprise, knowing that Philadelphia has always kind of viewed him as a high-ceiling investment. And if you're looking at his peaks, he has definitely looked like the kind of player that merits getting paid what he'll be paid on this deal. Yeah, you alluded to it there. This is about projection. And you're getting a player who you feel like has the potential to be best defensive tackling football, defensive player of the year candidate,

game wrecker, can take over possessions, can take over series, can take over halves, whatever. The case Maybe you feel like you're paying for that for the next four years. But you mentioned it. That was not the player we saw last year. And he was coming out, you know, he had two shoulder injuries. So I'm not, and he had a long Super Bowl run. So there are valid reasons why maybe he wasn't that player. And I could still show you a highlight reel of like, here is 10 plays, best plays from last year.

And you're like, okay, that looks like one of the best defensive players in football. But in terms of like game to game, even possession to possession, that kind of consistency. I wouldn't say he was one of the best defensive tackles in football last year. So I get the projection, but I think that's why it was tricky because you add that in with the fact that this is a guy who had serious red flags coming out of college. I mean, I have to believe that that was the thing that I don't want to say hold up because it got done before training camp, but the fact that it didn't get done earlier in the offseason, you know, they have more information on that stuff than you and I do as far as publicly

reported stuff. He hasn't really had issues since he. joined the Eagles out of Georgia. But this was a player who was not on everybody's draft board. He only slid to a range where the Eagles could get him because of those off-field issues. Otherwise, I mean, based on film, he's the number one pick, like almost every year. Unless there's a quarterback taken. So, you know, I think they tried to figure those things out.

And I think they just bet on the upside, bet on the ceiling for Jalen Carter. And now it's a matter of kind of him proving you right as the franchise that, hey, I can handle this kind of money. I can be more consistent. And we already know what the peaks are. That Super Bowl run in 2024, they don't beat the Rams unless he just takes over the game with those two plays at the end. So his impact at the highest level,

you really can't question it. 100%. And I think that another interesting kind of layer of this is the conversation around Jordan Davis when he got paid, right? Because you're coming off of a Jordan Davis season where the summer previous we hear all about, he's changing his diet. He's spending time on the Peloton.

He's making sure that he's in the proper shape to be more available. And then you get that proof of concept that shows Philadelphia, hey, you're the player that we thought we were getting when we drafted you. You have added to your game. You have adjusted on some of the things that we felt like you needed to in order to be the best version of yourself. Here is your reward for the time that you've put in. Whereas, as you were saying with Jalen Carter, this is much more a, hey, we've just seen what you are at your peak. We're betting that that is a more likely outcome for the next half decade of your career. than what we saw in 2025, right?

And if we're to assume that the shoulder surgeries were successful, that his recovery from that is successful and that he will be durable again, then I can understand why, you know, Philadelphia might feel like what we saw in 2024, where he looked like, hey, this guy might be knocking on the door of being a Jeffrey Simmons, of being, you know, an Aaron Donald level type of playmaker on the interior. I get it from that perspective.

And I also think about signaling, right? And not that Howie Roseman needs to go send a message to the rest of his team about what he's willing to do at this stage of his career as a GM. But I think if you're Quignon and you're Cooper Dijin, you see this deal and you feel good. You and your agent are feeling good because it lets you know, hey, this team has now identified some of these young core defensive players as guys who are worth paying.

And if despite, you know, Jalen Carter's shoulder injuries and some of the things you mention about what the circumstances were for him coming into the league, if they were so willing to pay him, we stepped in the league basically as all pro players. If we're talking about Mitchell and Dijin, we'll be just fine, but it's our time to come to. the table and talk about what our contracts are going to mean. And I think that really this deal, along with the Jordan Davis deal, is just really table setting, I think, for what the next era

of Eagles football is going to be, that they are clearly just going to make those guys, their defensive anchors, they're going to get younger and cheaper on the offensive end. And we'll have to see if a guy like Jalen Carter can reach his peak often enough for this defense to be able to lead the way for whatever the next iteration of Eagles football is going to be. Only 25 years old. So you feel like, all right, we're paying for the peak now. Let's hope he reaches that. But, man, to put it into perspective, you know, $38 million a year. So Jeffrey Simmons is making 35.2 and Chris Jones is making over 30.

Those are, he's making $10 million more per year than every other defensive tackle other than those two. So this really does, you know, reset it in a way. I was thinking like, all right, maybe he'll beat, maybe it'll be 35.5 and I'll just beat Jeffrey Simmons, but this is 38, which is. which is legit. And you have an owner who will pay cash and you have a front office with stability so you can work on, you know, years at the end of these contracts.

This is tough, Deonté, for owners who want to, you know, not pay players. I'm not saying the salary cap is fake. The salary cap is real. But there are ways to keep a lot of your best players. You just mentioned at this time next year, Cooper DeGine and Quiguanian and Quigal will be paid at the top of the market and they will be Philadelphia Eagles. I feel confident saying that while other owners and franchises will say, well, You can't keep everybody.

So, I mean, it is one of those things that there are tools you can use. The owners have to be willing to spend to implement some of those. If you're Stephen Jones after this deal gets done and you see Nicole Lynn's name in the text messages after this deal gets done saying, hey, can't wait to talk to you sometime between now and the end of this season, I know that you've got a knot in your stomach knowing that someone like a Quinn and Williams for an organization like Dallas now, you're going to be looking at a pretty hefty bill, even if someone like Quinn and Williams isn't getting 38 million a year.

We obviously, I think that there's another news item. We'll get to a Vita Vaya. Now is the defensive tackle who wanted an extension from his current team. It might be looking for other suitors elsewhere. Like the market rate now, I think, is going to get a lot more tricky for defensive tackles, which is funny if you think about how undervalued, I think they were, you know, maybe a half decade ago before some of these young guys started hitting the market or coming to the end of their rookie deals or their first extensions.

Now it's time to start talking about paying these guys like the highest paid non-quarterbacks in the league, which is going to create some really interesting conversations around franchises. Yeah, the price only goes up. So you take on some risk, but you say, hey, if we wait a year, you know, that's going to be 41, 42. That's just the way it works in the NFL. You mentioned it. Vita Vaya, next news item here. Request the trade, according to ESPN from the Tampa Bay Bucks.

He's 31 years old, entering the final year of his deal, set to make $17 million per year. and they haven't been able to come to terms on an extension drafted by the Bucks in 2018, has played 112 games for them. I was looking at just the numbers, which the numbers don't always tell the whole story for a defensive tackle specifically, but eighth in pressures among defensive tackles last year, if you look at some of the metrics with the run defense in terms of run stops, not as good, which it's funny because always in my head,

I'm thinking Vita Vaya best maybe run-stopping disruptor defensive tackle in the NFL, the pass rush maybe wasn't there earlier in his career last year was a little bit different. How do you think this plays out, Deontes? Is this one of those classic late July trade requests where we all know, week one, he's going to be on the box probably with a new extension? This is his way of exercising leverage, or are you saying, nope, I actually wouldn't be surprised if he is traded at some point between now and the start of the season. I think if you're asking me today, this sounds very much like a, all right, defensive

tackle is going into the GM's office and asking for money. GM says, our quarterback's deal is ending. Can I please work that out first? And I promise we will get back to your deal. And he is just trying to exercise just a little bit of public leverage to make sure that his deal isn't put on the back burner for too long. I would not be surprised if this ultimately lands in someone like VA getting extended for another three or so seasons in Tampa Bay. That said, I mean, we are going to have a conversation about what Tampa Bay's franchise is going to look like if Baker Mayfield is able to secure a 52, 53, 55 million per year contract, right?

And given where the market is at for quarterbacks, especially for someone like him, a veteran who has proven himself as a multi-year starter that's made the playoffs a couple of times since he's been in Tampa Bay, that might be the going rate for someone like Mayfield. And if he's getting paid that, knowing that this team is already kind of veteran-laden,

has paid a lot of guys that are supposed to be cornerstones for this franchise, maybe someone like VA does end up on the cutting room floor, you know, for this roster. I don't think that's the best way to approach this team from a team-building perspective. I still very much have a vision of the best version of the Bucks featuring him as its centerpiece, its best run stopper. One of the only things I think that has kind of been consistent on a week-by-week basis for the Bucks defense because they've had guys who have been hurt over the last couple of years. But I would not be surprised if a 30-plus-year-old D-tackle,

maybe ends up being the next in the list of lines of guys who ends up getting paid at another spot because they have to prioritize what they're doing with the quarterback position right now. Yeah, I was trying to think of compensation for Vita Vaya. Dexter Lawrence got the 10th overall pick in the offseason, but he's two years younger than Vita Vaya. And I think for as much as I've loved watching Vita Vaya, and he's one of those guys that you hear offensive linemen talk about him and they're just like, oh, my, like, I do not want to go up against this guy for 45 snaps on a Sunday.

So I think he's a great player. But I think it comes down from what Dexter Lawrence got. Again, he's a little bit older, 31. He's thinking probably a day two pick. I don't know. I don't think so. Right? That's the range we're talking about.

Maybe day two plus a late day three pick, you know, something that's going to, something you can punch into whatever your little points calculator to say that it comes out to be in like the 30th overall pick, whatever, you know, trade value chart you're working off of. I could imagine that being what's on the table. And then when you think about the fact that there's reporting that he wants to be on a contender, if you're a contending team that feels like he might be the missing piece for what you're trying to build,

you would definitely, I think, part with the day two pick to be able to bring in a guy like Vea. I wrote down three teams just because, you know, I always do this, Deont. I'm like, oh, this guy's probably not going to get traded, but then I'm like, all right, well, at least, you know, what's more fun than looking at? Yeah, what's more fun than looked at? three teams I looked at, the bills, disastrous run defense last year. You know, they're trying to win the Super Bowl right now. The Cowboys, I know that, you know, they got Kenny Clark is next to Quinn and Williams.

I feel like there's a way to, you know, bolster that run defense. And then the 49ers who, you know, traded for Osso Diggizua in the offseason. Via is a very different player where I kind of like that fit, you know, that pairing. at defensive tackle. Those were the three names I wrote down where if I'm the G&M, I'm at least calling and saying, hey, what's the price? And I'm calling Vita Vaya's agent and saying, all right, what kind of extension are we looking for it? Maybe you don't do it, but I'm at least making the phone call with those three teams. I don't hate that. You know, the Bills is really an interesting one, right? Because now you're having a conversation,

I think you'd be having a conversation with Tampa Bay if we're to put on our hypothetical hat saying, are we doing a swap at Oliver for Vita Vaya, right? Are we doing a swap? Are you at asking for De O'O Walker. But yeah. You know, like, so now you're going to have, because if you are, if you're Tampa Bay, you can't just let an all-pro, like, Bita Vaya, leave and say, we're just going to leave this massive gap on our defensive interior that we have no prayer of being able to kind of replicate his production,

even in the aggregate. We need to have a guy that can step into that spot with a high enough ceiling or floor to be able to feel like we can put together a viable front for our defense. I think a team like Chicago, you know, is something that that would be really, interesting. It's a good one. In the offseason, there was a bunch of reporting that they were kind of poking around Max Crosby. I think that the price, you know, given what the Ravens rescinded trade ultimately turned out to be, was probably just a little hefty for Chicago. But hey, if you're looking for a vet that could step in and you can say, hey, if it's just a day two pick, that also means that we don't

necessarily have to tie ourselves to giving you your next payday. We can go bring you in and say, hey, ball out for us, get us back to the playoffs. Let's get a deep run. And then you can go hit the market and maybe you can go get yourself a two or three year deal where you're getting paid Chris Jones money right to continue to play as a defensive tackle that would be really interesting to me I would like to also throw the chargers out there as the team might be fascinated by they brought in Delvin Tomlinson I don't think that Delvin Tomlinson precludes you from going out and get in Vita Vaya if he could be your starting defensive tackle that's another one and I feel like I've said this multiple times this off season where I just keep looking at the charges and

I'm like, hey, man, like, when are we going to push the button on speeding up? It's contention timeline with the quarterback that you have, man. Like, I think that a guy like that, a distressed asset like that, if we're to assume that would be willing to make this ugly enough to try to put real pressure to either get this deal done or get him out of town, I think the charges maybe could go get him at a discount. And I think I've seen the 49ers listed as well. They're a fascinating one for me. So I'm like, man, I don't know.

I don't know if you are familiar with the term unction, right? I don't know if Cliff has brought up the unction. No, give it to me. What are we got? I'm the starting incorporating this. That's for our washed up, our washed up guys who get together, right? We call that the unction. I feel like San Francisco's already got a lot of 30 plus guys that they're leaning on

or people who are approaching 30 if they're not already, who they're leaning on to try to hold on to the last little bit of this contention window. If you genuinely feel like we've got to take the biggest swing possible to stay competitive in the deepest division in the NFL. A guy like Vea there, who is also a Northern California guy, maybe that is something where you're able to get that done. So those will probably be the three teams that I have my eye on most. And I think that we're laying out teams that should have legitimate interest,

and maybe that does bump up the market to a first round pick, which I guess kind of turns this right back around to where you're asking Tampa Bay, is that enough to part with what has been a franchise-changing talent, especially on the defensive side of the ball? Detroit was the other team where I know it's not a need. I know they drafted Tileak Williams and Avali McNeil. That's one where sometimes you just close your eyes and picture, can I see this player in that uniform?

And just like Dan Campbell's like, I love this guy. Dan Campbell will be loving that guy up. Yeah, and he's just making big plays and big games and the crowd's going nuts. So we'll see. You made a good point that it's not just Vita Vaya. Baker Mayfield, there's no, it sounds like according to the reporting, they are not close to a deal. He's entering the final year of his contract.

Was he just? playing this out, and is he kind of a big domino to fall in the quarterback market after the season, potentially? So that's kind of one to keep an eye on there with Baker Mayfield. All right, last one here, last news item here, Deontay. Kyle Shanahan involved in a car accident on July 14th, Deontay. Information is still coming out about this, but, man, suffered a concussion, fracture to the nose, ribs, hand 40 stitches in his face. This is all of. according to the athletic. Chris Sims, his close friend said he was close to losing his right eye.

There are questions now about, hey, who knew about this? And why didn't they report it? There's kind of a media angle about this. I don't even really know what the analysis is, Deonte. But luckily, it sounds like the other driver was not seriously injured. And it sounds like it could have been worse for Kyle Shanahan. But he will be away from the team as he kind of recovers from these very serious injuries. So the football angle is not the most important, as always,

but that still is a story as we look ahead to this season. I mean, 100%. I mean, obviously, you know, my jaw was on the floor when the news first broke, right? And you hear the details of the injuries. And I think it's just natural to have concern about just what kind of condition, you know, both Kyle Shanahan and the other, you know, victim of this car crash might have been in. So it was a relief to find out that the woman that, you know,

he had this collision with was able to leave. the site with relatively minor injuries just seemed like she was more shaken up than anything nothing so significant that she had to be admitted to a hospital and i think that for shanahan to hear the news that like 40 stitches you know broke all these breaks in his face his hand you know the severe concussion i mean it does open up the question of just kind of what kind of condition he'll be in to start the season and i think that you know the other thing you pointed to i think that this is probably just like endemic to just where things are right now in our social media culture right where there has to be there's just a very natural conspiratorial reaction i think to to news

stories like this i don't think that you know the situation between diana rucini and mike rabel helped in that regard for this and it's not to draw a direct parallel i just think that that just kind of speaks to where fans minds are at whenever they hear that something you know um drastic or dramatic has happened with a member of a coaching staff in the nfl and i think that there's you know i've seen maybe some reporting. I'm not sure if it's been substantiated across multiple platforms yet that he may have been in use of a cell phone

at the time of the crash. Sports illustrated, yeah. They reported that. So, you know, that obviously opens up some concern about just like, you know, distracted driving. And, you know, for me, is that that his home for me, both as a parent and as a coach of teenagers, right?

You know, trying to make sure people are navigating the road safely. I think the ultimately where I land at is glad that he's okay. I don't necessarily want to shrug off some of the big reactions on social media. Why didn't we know this beforehand? It seems pretty clear that maybe the 49ers have just kind of asked this local beat reporters that when they maybe kind of access some of these police reports and put two and two together

that, hey, because he's going to be limited, we'll put out a statement on it. Details seem to be emerging from there. So it doesn't necessarily seem like much of this was hidden. It just seems like the attention on it was delayed. and if he's going to be in good enough condition to coach this season, I think that we'll ultimately be able to kind of put this story behind us. Yeah, according to the athletic drugs and alcohol were not believed to be involved. And even that Sports Illustrated story that said he was holding and using a cell phone at the time

also said that the other driver was deemed to be at fault because she swerved in to Shanahan's lane. So again, this is kind of, you know, I don't want to say, like developing story. know, gale, gossipy and rumory. But we just, there are more details now that are coming out about this and we'll find out if it's worth kind of having another conversation. But yes, get off your phones if you're driving. Yeah. I think that's number one. Do not be looking at your phones while you're driving into your point about the social media landscape. I logged on earlier today, Deontay, before the pod to make sure I'm not missing any breaking news. And all I saw were posts about whether men are allowed to get pedicures or not. And I logged right on. And I logged right on.

I'm right there with you. I'm right there with you. You don't need this. It's not healthy. You don't need this in your life. Let's just fire up the mics and talk some football. So there you go. Go touch grass, as always, is the lesson whenever you log on.

All right, let's take a break. We come back. We are going to talk about touching grass and training camp and headlines that if you are a fan of a specific team, you want to read between now and week one. It's a way to look at some of the questions we want to answer during training camp when we come back. All right, we're back on the ring around at Bell Show. So I just mentioned the exercise.

It's very simple. If you are a fan of a certain team, we came up with headlines you want to read between now and week one. Deonti, you lead us off. What do you got? I think in this exercise, one of the biggest things I had to check myself on is like, let me not be lazy and just find five quarterbacks who I think have interesting

storylines and just say, oh, fans will love to hear that they're on fire at training camp. But I will offer this one up to start with because I think that this would have the biggest implication on just what the Super Bowl picture would look like. I think if we see a headline that says Lamar Jackson, Declan Doyle, on fire to start training camp, new look offense is moving the ball up and down the field. Anything in that realm, I think, would immediately change or just open up maybe some new conversations on, hey, I think we all know that Jesse Minter is a great ceiling raiser and floor

razor for a defense. There's questions on what Declan Doyle is going to be as a play caller, just what the shape of an offense is going to be with someone like Lamar Jackson, entering his 30s, approaching his 30s, and what, you know, I guess the interminable Derek Henry as a running back, as your lead back, is going to look like. So I think if we got news that with this addition, maybe of an under center run game, maybe taking some things off of Lamar Jackson's legs, given what he looked like last year when his struggle to scramble around, if he's able to pick stuff like that up quickly, knowing that there's not, an obvious number one, you know, can't guard them wide receiver on this roster.

I think that people would be fired up to know what that Ravens offense would look like. This is interesting. I had a Ravens one down too. It was less about scheme on field performance and more about feel and vibes, Deontay. I had down Ravens vets energized by Minter's new, fresh approach. So I think this conversation lets us know. there's a lot going on with the Baltimore Ravens at training camp this summer. Like Deontes said, you have a new scheme offensively.

You have a new offensive coordinator for Lamar Jackson. You got a lot of moving pieces on the offensive line. You have, like you said, I would have described the best past catching group in the NFL. You know, I like say flowers, apart from that, you look around and go, is there enough here? Can they do more with less because of the quarterback? Because of the scheme, that's interesting. And then I was just thinking about Minter. And, you know, I think Bill Walsh, I can't remember if it was a 10-year rule or a five-year rule or another number.

But basically he said, you don't want to coach in one place for longer than X amount of time because the messaging gets stale. The demands are too high. That's a Larry Bird thing. Yeah. Oh, Larry Bird thing. Yeah. I think that's a Larry Bird thing. I think he never, once he moves to being an executive, I think he had some kind of quote about, and I'm paraphrasing here that like he didn't feel like a head coach could maintain a locker room for longer than like a half.

decade at a time, that it's, or that's the likelihood that your voice goes stale after about a half decade just leaps up exponentially on a year-to-year basis. Okay, this explains why I googled Bill Walsh, five-year-old Deontay, and I couldn't find, but now when you Google stuff, you don't know, then it's going to give me some summary on a 10-year rule. I'll say, you know, Jim and I is going to give you conflicting stories. It might be a long year for the Ringer NFL show. Your voice struggling a little bit to do some of this research.

Okay, Larry Burr, that's why I have Deonté here to correct me. So John Harbaugh did not abide by that. He was there for 18 years, and you definitely felt that staleness in a recent years. And I think that's a part of the reason why they went to a new coach, and I have a new voice and a new approach and change and freshness. And it's just like, how did the Ravens take to this? Because they have a lot of vets on that team, Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews, safe flowers, Ronnie Stanley, Roquant Smith, Trey Hendrix.

I mean, I could Kyle Hamilton. You can go on and on. There are guys who have kind of been around, whether it's a shorter amount of time or for a very long amount of time. And I think if you're a Ravens fan, you really want to embrace the idea that these guys are having a great time with this new coach who, it seems like expectations are high. Everything you hear about him, it seems like is pretty positive that Jesse Minter. I remember us having conversations in the winter or, you know, about, hey, who are some of the head coaching candidates that really look interesting. and I think he was on the top of a lot of people's list. So Raven's interesting for a number of reasons, Deonté, this summer for sure.

100%. I mean, I think that this is, they are not necessarily at a crossroads year. I think that last year probably qualified a little bit more of that because of, you know, the John Harbaugh element that kind of loomed over the late season. Is he going to stay or not? But this is 100% a pivot point for this team. You know, they made some moves, changed some things around with their roster. there is the Lamar Jackson extension

that's going to be looming throughout this season. Only signed to the 2027, man. That's crazy. Quarterbacks don't go into the last year of their deal very often. So yeah. And when you have a cap hit that high, you almost can't. So it's like, yeah. Yeah, that is a very interesting storylines are going to be abound,

I think, especially for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations and has just come up short, you know, repeatedly over the last few years. And they're still among the favorites. I mean, you go on Fandul. I forget their third, fourth, fifth, something like that. Yeah, top five. Top five in Super Bowl odds.

So Raven's a good one to start on. All right, I'm taking some low-hanging fruit here, DeAte, because we haven't discussed this. I know this has been discussed in your group chats. I know you are excited about this. Here's the headline. It's official. Aaron Donald is back with the Los Angeles Rams.

So I feel like the other 31 fan bases, there's already some fatigue with the Rams hype, but I'm sorry. A lot of it is, you know, your team should be making more. exciting moves, okay? And trying to add the best players in the league. So that's not our fault that they're doing stuff. But Aaron Donald appears to be seriously considering a comeback to play with the Rams and Miles Garrett. Sean McVeigh was asked about it already. And he was kind of like,

if he decides he wants to do it, we're going to make it happen. So it's not official, but it really felt like this is probably going to happen. Aaron Donald, 35 years old. I was looking up when he last played, just trying to jog my memory, 23. First, team all pro, eight sacks, 16 tackles for loss, 23 quarterback hits, top 10 in pressures for a defensive tackle. We know by all the workout videos that the man is staying in shape, Deonti. I always like to look, when he's got the dumbbells and he's getting ready to lean back for the chest price, I'm like, what number is, well, how do they make dumbbells that big? That is not at my local gym that I'm paying, you know, $12 a month for.

You know, I'm trying to, your 40 years, when you get over 40, Deonté, your whole algorithm is like, you must lift weights, you must get 10 K steps. So I'm like, all right. Absolutely. Let me make sure I'm doing that. But I'm not pushing the same weight as Aaron Donald. But this is exciting, Deontay, Aaron Donald, Miles Garrett, potentially on the field together, two of the best defensive players of all time. I don't think that's hyperbole. Certainly two of the best defensive players of our lifetime.

And I actually think we're going to read this headline at some point in the next month. I mean, I think if there were any likelihood that it wasn't going to happen, the Rams would be pouring cold water on it as to just not give anybody any false pretenses about what's to come the rest of this preseason. But it does seem like everything is kind of marching right up to that headline that you're describing. I think that really the decision seems to be very much in Donald's hands, right? Like that's just kind of my read of the situation is that, hey, after doing all this working out and training, if he feels at 35 that he can ramp his body up,

up to a degree where he feels like he can still be maybe not 2020, 2021, Aaron Donald, but can still be some facsimile of that version of a player in spurts that he'll be back. And for us as content people, there's nothing more than I am looking forward to than seeing a third down where Miles Garrett and Aaron Donald are standing next to one another. That photo alone, we will be looking at two Mount Rushmore-esque producers over their careers. I mean, you just don't get enough opportunities with that.

Yeah. You don't get any opportunities. That left tackle. That's going to be rough. I know. I feel like we should just preemptively apologize to whoever's doing that. I'm with you. It feels like,

you know, the timing of this is interesting. Does he, you know, I don't know many vets who want to do training camp. And again, look at Aaron Donald. I don't know that that is completely necessary for him to participate in

training camp. Is he like, I want to get a couple weeks of practice it and I want to play the whole season? Is he like, hey, let's keep in touch. but this is, you know, why don't I join in October?

Why don't I join in November? I don't have 17 weeks in May, but I can give you eight in the regular season and the playoffs. Does he just, is he like, no, if I'm going to do this, let's do it. I'm going to do it. Yeah, the way I always do it. Yeah, and I don't have to play 80% of the snaps, but I want to be part of the team from the beginning.

And if we need to ramp, you know, ramp it up a little bit or keep me on a snap count, I'm probably going to be yelling at you. But, you know, I understand that that might be smart. So it can go in a number of different directions. But, man, like I looked at his age and I'm like 35. Like, you know, we're going through this exercise now where you go through all the rosters and teams and try to come up with your analysis. Like, there's plenty of 35-year-old still playing in the NFL, Deonti.

He's not 43. He's not 45. 35 years old for one of the most impressive physical specimens we've seen here. It seems perfectly reasonable. And, man, it would just be fun, the first nap to see, you know, what kind of stunt are you using? or are you just like, hey, you whoop the left tackle. I'm going to whip the left guard here. Let's have something on the other side where the center can't slide.

I don't know. The possibilities are endless, but it would be a lot of fun, certainly, to see that. All right, what do you got? What's the next headline? Next headline says, Dak Prescott, C.D. Lam, say they've never practiced against the defense that makes things this tough. I think that that would be just an absolute, you know, watershed moment for a Dallas defense that has clearly been the anchor holding this team where it's been at, you know,

right on the fringes, but not necessarily truly in the playoff to contender conversation. I think that, you know, there's a lot banking right now on Christian Parker as a play caller, right? It's pretty rare for a guy who does not have play calling chops entering a gig for there to be as much hype and expectation about what he's going to be in terms of changing the way that we should expect a defense to play on a snap-by-snap basis. And a lot of this does, I think it is founded in, you know, his history, both in Denver, you know, developing the defensive backs there. You think about the time in Philadelphia.

It's like you get two rookie D.Bs and Cooper DeGine and Coynean Mitchell, and they instantly look like they need to be in the top five, top three conversation at their positions right off the bat. That's certainly something that should give you a lot of hype coming into this gig. But I am fascinated to know, like, when it's, you know, the third quarter and you haven't been able to stop the run. for the entire first half and you've got to have an adjustment, what is he actually going to look like? And I think that, you know, if we get any kind of early inklings that he is able to strike a balance with this very interesting collection of young guys

who have not proven themselves, veterans who have been banged up and have struggled trying to move from one scheme to the next, like what is the style of defense that he actually lands upon that is going to give them the best chance to be successful? And is he a fast enough play caller? Does he have a clear enough vision of defense to be able to get these guys all on a court

to start off, you know, this preseason and going into week one. All right. We're on the same page, Deontay. I had very similar. Iron sharpens iron, Cowboys defense winning its fair share of battles at training camp. Because I think you've nailed it. This was a very good offense last year. They've been a very good offense.

Basically, anytime Dak Prescott has stayed healthy. But the ceiling is going to be determined. I think they're going to be good again this year in 2026. But the ceiling is going to be determined by whether that defense can be any good. They actually don't even have to be good. Like, I'm talking mediocrity. competency because we still don't talk enough about how they traded Micah Parsons. And the year after they traded Michael Parsons, Deontes, they had literally the worst defense in the NFL.

I mean, I know I've said it a million times, but it's like I would just still be, you know, it'd be so infuriating if I were a Cowboys fan that that was the case last year. So Christian Parker feels like one of, you know, sometimes there's those coaches who it's like, everybody seems to just say positive things about them, like anyone who has crossed their path. Like Mike McDonald's was kind of like that. I felt like before he went to Seattle. And Christian Parker feels like he's that kind of guy. But is the talent good enough, is my question.

Like, let's say, you know, how good of a job does he have to do? Let's say you put a league average defensive coordinator on the Cowboys. Like, the talent to me is probably below league average, right? Like, he kind of need the coordinator to do more with less. I would think if you got a replacement level to average defensive coordinator, I think that best case scenario, you'd expect them to be in like the 18th, 19th range, right? I think it's lower a lot of life, I would say. I think that that's possible.

I do think that poor health, poor health has been such a weight on this defense. I'm trying to imagine if Duran Bland is healthy and back to the level of corner, even if he's not getting the pick sixes that he did at his absolute in his best season, I still think that he can be a good enough zone corner. I think you add a Kobe Duran, you add. of Jalen Thompson. I think that that back end is just enough for it to just not be the kind of abject disaster. It's been at its absolute worst. And maybe you are right. Maybe still, you're probably talking about the 23rd, 24th best defense in the league. I think that if Christian Parker is as he's

built to be and he can get this defense, like you said, it doesn't have to be a top eight in DVOA, a top eight, you know, in score, you know, in yards allowed or points allowed per game type of defense. if we're just in that 13th, 14th range, and the offense delivers again by being another top three to five offense, that should probably be enough. I mean, especially in the NFC where obviously the top cluster of teams are very, very formidable,

but there's plenty of opportunity, I think, for you to make it in as a five, as a six, as a seven seed in a wild card. I think that that's about best case scenario for Dallas and knowing what you have on offense, you should feel like we can go on the road anywhere in the NFL. And if our quarterback is having the right kind of day,

we should be able to get to the fourth quarter within a possession. And that's really all you can ask for. I think a lot of times just for not an obvious Super Bowl favorite going into a season. Yeah, I've got the bar even lower. I feel like 20, 21, 22, 23, if their defense is somewhere in that range where it's like, all right, this isn't going to be defense

that's going to win you games, but they're going to kind of do enough to give the offensive chance. Yeah. You know, because again, last year, they just, they couldn't do it. I mean, they were last in the NFL. They were terrible. You didn't have a chance in some of those games. The margin for error was so slim on offense.

So, yeah, you say 13, 14, maybe that's the upside. If you can get to 22, 23, that might still be good enough. You just kind of need to get out of that basement. And maybe they have enough talent to do that. I mean, they made a lot of changes. Six new starters, I think. The rookie Caleb Downs, there's, feels like there's a lot of pressure on him to be good right away. But I'm with you.

If you're a Cowboys fan, I don't care about what the headlines are on offense unless there's a big injury. I kind of know what I'm getting there. It's all about I would rather see the offense struggle and have Dak Prescott coming out saying, yep, those guys this year, man. And there was some of this in the spring already, but you take it with a grain of salt. You really want to see in training camp when it's competitive those guys winning their fair share of battle. So we're on the same page with the Cowboys. All right, let's take a break. We come back.

We got some more headlines we're looking for. during training camp. All right, we're back on the Ringer NFL show. All right, Deontag I got one for you. Deja Vu, Colin, Caleb Williams shreds, bears defense once again. This is one you want to read two or three weeks in. Here's what you want to happen. Your favorite bear's writer is basically tired of writing the same thing every day

that Caleb Williams is on fire, that the ball's not touching the ground, that he just has such a feel for what Ben Johnson wants to do now that he's in his second season because the bears are a tricky team to project for 2026 where Caleb Williams was so exciting last year. They had a top 10 offense. The highs were so, so high. Yet I think it's fair to say there were inconsistencies. There were times you watched them and go, all right, you know, he's got to clean that up. Oh, he missed that throw. Accuracy, all those things. So if I'm a Bears fan, I just want to read about how Caleb Williams has taken yet another step because his ceiling.

There's a best case scenario this year where Caleb Williams is in the MVP conversation. And if you can get some little inklings of that in August, I think that bears fans, they're already over the moon, but I think they would be even more so, even more hyped for this coming season. I mean, he was on my list of headlines you would want to hear. I think that mine was more so like,

Caleb Williams is consistently meeting that 70% completion rate that we've heard out of Chicago, since Ben Johnson was hired, right? And that's, I think that for him, his big thing is like this is, even in consideration of throwaways, maybe, you know, broken plays, stuff like that, where you might adjust a completion percentage, Ben Johnson still expects for you to hit that 70% mark just on every throw you're making. And if we get any type of inkling that Caleb Williams, as we approach, you know,

as we approach the end of training camp, you know, next week or so, that he is dicing defenses up in that type of way, dicing the bear's defense up in that kind of way on a consistent basis. I think that the energy around Chicago will definitely swell. Especially in the NFC North where we have a lot of teams that are competent or better, but none that really look, that clearly look like they should be taking a step forward. Even with Green Bay's talent, you know, you think about Tucker Kraft and Michael Parsons being out for at least the first month of the season being on the players unable to perform list.

There's an opportunity if Caleb Williams is hot to start this year, that Chicago can clearly identify itself as a team that you have to take seriously on a year-to-year basis now because of their head coach quarterback combination. So I think my eyes, Bear's eyes, and I think anybody in the NFC's eyes, will be trained on what the Bears' offense is going to look like as we approach this year. Yeah, the division's tough to project. The team is tough to project because they really, if you look at some of the turnover numbers I was looking at, they had basically, they benefited from turnovers more so than every team but won in the last 10 years.

Like it was some of the big, you know, the turnover EPA was some of the biggest we've seen in recent memories. So you say, all right, that's not something that generally carries over year to year. You mentioned the accuracy. It's supposed to run rate. That's another thing. That's not always sticky year to year. And they were one of the league's best. Yeah.

So a lot of their success, I think, will be found in metrics that are very hard for you to guarantee will be the same from one year to the next. and yet like you mentioned, you're like Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams, kind of feel good about that, you know, good about that for the future here. So you mentioned the accuracy. I was looking at PFF. They do the adjusted completion percentage where I think they take away the throwaways and the spikes. And Caleb Williams was 35th out of 35 for them. Now, he attempts high degree of difficulty throws.

There's no doubt about any, and he makes some high degree of difficulty throws that no one else is making. And he's so good at avoiding sacks. And he's so good with his leg. So I'm not saying, this isn't me saying, oh, man, I don't buy it. But that just feels like an area where, man, if he gets better at that, now you add that in, that consistency with all the other stuff. Now you get to that point where you're really talking about him in another class of quarterbacks. All right.

That was the Chicago Bears. All right, Deonti, do you have any more for us? Any other headlines you want to see? I'll start with the defending champion Seattle Seahawks. I think that a headline I'd be looking for is Mike McDonald says Brian Floree might bring a brand new look to this offense, run game still looks strong. I think that that's really what Seattle is banking on, right?

Like you think about Kenneth Walker being on the way out. You think about Clint Kubiak being on the way out. And truthfully, the explosive plays were what buoyed this offense, especially early in the year, right? And I think that as they sputtered, you saw less explosive plays and their turnover luck start to go in the opposite direction on the offensive side of the ball.

I'm not of the opinion that the only way you can win with Sam Darnold is to win in spite of Sam Donald. We've seen, I think, him at his best especially you think of the NFC championship game. Yeah, he had to win that game for him. You know, I think that his lows will still remind you of

New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, Sam Donald. But I think that his baseline now is at a place where as long as you have something in the run game to support him, he can probably get you over the finish line. And I think that that was really probably the impetus in bringing in an office coordinator like Brian Fleury who comes

from the Shanahan tree, which Mike McDonnell has been kicking the crap out of since he's been an NFL play caller on the defensive side of the ball. So clearly, he sees something in Fleury's approach to maybe generating explosive plays that makes him feel good. So I think if we leave training camp with news out of Seattle, that they're able to mash the ball on the ground, they're moving the ball against what might be the best front seven in football in Seattle. And that that's got Mike McDonald feeling excited about the future of the this offense, I think that would be really, really good news. I feel like Seahawks fans are loving this, Deante, because normally when you win the Super Bowl

in such dominating fashion, you are automatically the IT team for the next year. Everybody's just like, all right, that's the team to be. But the Rams said, you know, they're stealing the headlines, Miles Garrett, and oh my gosh, they'll wait, they're going to be the team to be and the Seahawks fans and the organization, they get to just, all right, sit back. oh, winning the Super Bowl, you know, wasn't enough, guys. Everybody's still picking the Rams to be, whether it's true or not, you know? And I think it is partially true.

It's not one of those totally made up things. Like there is some truth to it. I got to feel like this is great for a coach to like, all right, I don't think I'm going to have that much trouble motivating my guys, you know, given some of the conversation happening around the NFL. I mean, I would add to that by saying that not only have we spent so much time talking about the Rams, I think that there's also been a lot of conversation where people presume, that San Francisco will be more stable from last year to this year.

Mike Evans, yeah. In the conversations that we have about whether or not Seattle can continue to contend or be at the top of the NFC this year, the way that they were last season. So yeah, if you're Mike McDonald, who doesn't seem as much to be a rah-rah guy, but if you were ever looking to try to, you know, access that style of coaching, we are certainly providing all of the quote-bullets-in board material that an NFL head coach would like to, you know, motivate his guys with. You know, you just leave the TV on ESPN in the cafeteria.

Turn the volume up for first take and get up, you know. Maybe you print out a little article and put it above the urinal. You know, these are, listen. I'm guilty too. You want to take my, you know, end of off-season power rankings where I had the transfers. Print those out. Those are definitely out there. I've been guilty of it just like everyone else.

What an honor, Deiote, would be if, you know, something you wrote made its way to the Seahawks practice facility above the urnil. I mean, that's what we do this for, right? 100%. I would love nothing more than a player or a coach to pull me to the side and be like, hey, man, you guys pissed us off enough. You specifically pissed us off enough to be able to drive us to get to what we wanted to achieve. Hey, I wouldn't take that as an insult at all. Yeah, Brian Flurry is just one of the, like, I don't know that if you walked,

if he knocked on my door right now, I would know if it was him or, you know, the Amazon guy, and this guy is just going to be directing the offense for the defending Super Bowl champ. So, yeah, I am curious to see what the report. are with that offense this summer. All right, I got one for you, Deontay. Mendoza's progress has Raiders rethinking quarterback plan. If you're a Raiders fan, you don't want to be watching Kirk Cousins on Sundays, you know,

but it feels like the Raiders have just been telling anyone who will ask, and this goes back to the draft. Remember, Daniel Jeremiah and Charles Davis had the back and forth. They have been very explicit that Kirk Cousins is talking about. starting the season, and we're not throwing Mendoza out there until we're totally sure he's ready. And maybe that's a fine plan, no issues with it. You don't have great wide receivers. I don't know about the offensive line.

We'll see it might not be the best environment. So maybe you do that, and maybe that's the best for Mendoza's long-term development. But also, it would be fun if you're a Raiders fan. If Mendoza is just like, nope, I got this. I'm picking this up. I'm making checks at the line. I'm pointing out what the defense is doing. I'm having extra sessions with the wide receivers at 6 a.m. before practice even starts,

and they're just like he's improving too much. He's progressed too much for us to keep him off the field. And we're actually not worried about him developing bad habits because he's so coachable and so into this. So I think if you're a Raiders fan, even though you know, I think we feel pretty strongly that Kirk Cousins will be the starter to begin the season. the quicker you can move to the Mendoza era without his progress being impeded or him developing bad habits, the better because that's what you're most excited about. 100%.

And I think the most foolish thing you can do in football is to speak about your quarterback situation with any certainty, right? Yeah. Like, especially in the position that Vegas is in. Right? Like, I liked what Kirk Cousins look like in the first two months of the season.

I didn't think he was going to be, you know, a playoff quality quarterback, But I thought that his 2025 look encouraging if we were judging it up against what it was towards, you know, throughout the 2024 season. But this is still a 37-year-old who tours Achilles not that long ago. And I think has clearly shown some regression in terms of his reaction to pressure, right? I think that that was a big reason why, you know, it was clear that Atlanta needed to move on, right? Is that he just doesn't react very well to pressure, very similar to what it was early in his career.

some of those bad habits are starting to rear their heads again. This is a guy that's not mobile. So now you're talking about trying to operate an offense with the guy that doesn't have the strongest arm, isn't a play extender like that, and isn't mobile enough for you to kind of draw up some creative play action game around either. I think that they might not have much of a choice in the matter on how things ultimately play out in Vegas.

And it might have to go to Fernando Mendoza at some point. Yeah, you're absolutely right about that. It will be a good exercise to go back to, like, the last 10, 20 years and be like, all right, this is what team said about their quarterbacks in April, May, June, July, August, when it was an uncertain situation, what actually played out during the regular season. So we'll see what their plan is for the Raiders. But yeah, I think we're on the same page that you want to see Mendoza out there sooner rather than later if you're a Raiders fan. All right, Deonti, I got, I only give you one more. And then I know you've got some

quick hitters that we can finish on. But I got one in Denver. How about this one? Chemistry between Knicks and Waddle highlights big day for Broncos' offense. You're smiling. This was like me and you right here. I think mine was like, I think mine was a little more dramatic, right?

I was like Davis Webb and Bo Nix are combining our efforts to shut Sean Payton out of taking the wheels back on this offense. But I think we're on the same page from a chemistry and offensive perspective. Yeah, because the Broncos are another tricky team. You know, offense was good last year. Not great. Wasn't the engine that kind of drove the team to its success. But I was looking at this.

I believe that they're bringing back all 15 players on offense who logged at least 300 snaps last season, which is just like basically unprecedented continuity. And not only that, they're adding Jalen Waddle. So I'm like, oh, is their offense going to be a lot better? Well, then you have the other side of that. Sean Payton's giving up play calling duties to Davis Webb, Bo Nix is coming off of multiple ankle surgeries.

But, man, Waddle's numbers last year with that quarterback situation were really impressive. I was just looking at yards per route run 12 out of 117 wide receivers last year. And he's only 27 years old. He really could be kind of a swing player in the AFC playoff race. Yeah, I think to me, like there's a short list of receivers that I trust in this league, irrespective of a quarterback that you could say we can feed you 100, 120 targets. You're still going to be one of the most efficient guys.

We can still build, you know, the most explosive parts of our offense around you as a featured player. And I think that Jalen Wattle is on that list of guys, right? Like, not a perfect receiver, but somebody that you can definitely take the top off of a defense with, somebody who gives you the threat of yak ability. We saw that in Miami. And I think that if you are a Denver optimist,

And I think I've been over the last two years, in spite of what questions I have on their quarterback, you've got to look at the potential of adding Jalen Waddle as a manufactured touchpiece in this offense as maybe that last kind of ingredient to really turn this team into a true Super Bowl contender. Yeah, Bronco is always interesting with Sean Payton. It's easy to, I was making fun of him all last summer

for his propaganda tour, and then they had an amazing team. So the team's usually good. you're not sure how good or how they're going to get there. But yeah, Jalen Waddle is one of those where if you're like, if you don't really follow the NFL offseason too closely and you sign back on as you get ready for your fantasy draft or whatever, you're like, oh, that's pretty interesting. Jailen Wattles now with a team that won a lot of games last year.

All right, Deont, I think you have a quick hitter or two to finish off with. What do you got? Yeah, we'll wrap up with this one. I think this headline would be let Cam Cook. fans, fans go crazy as Cam Ward dices up to defense. You know, I think that for me, like, this is a subplot maybe for the 2020s season because obviously Tennessee is not in the playoff conversation. They're not a team that we're thinking about really making any kind of noise in 2026.

In spite of, you know, changing their staff, they've added a little bit more talent. I think that there are a lot of people who are just interested in, like, what rookie receiver, Cardinal Tate, ultimately looks like, can he be a wide receiver one? that was a big conversation for him coming into the league. But everything for this team, I think, is just about setting the table for 2027 and beyond for Cam Ward as this team's franchise quarterback. I mean, you just think about, for the people who do go back and watch like the All-22, I think you think about your first impressions of those games if you're watching them on a

broadcast angle and Cam Ward looks kind of messy in the pocket. And, you know, his arm angle is changing all the time. And he's whipping throws. Sometimes that are laying right in the breast basket. Sometimes it seems like, you know, they were. you know, a defender was one stride away from a pick six, you know, like there was just a lot of volatility. Across his body, those became a stable towards the end of the season, roll to your right and then throw

it to the other side, line type throws. Exactly. He loved those. Or roll out. Now I'm rolling out to my right, then I'm whipping out and I'm rolling back to my left, and then I'm just flinging a ball 40 yards down the field, right? Like, there was 100%, you know, a kind of reckless what are we looking at here kind of aspect to his game that I don't necessarily think is endemic to the way that he plays.

I do think he will take chances, but it doesn't always have to be as wild or away from structure, totally away from structure, as we saw in 2025. And I think that there's just going to be a question of, can Brian Daibold step into this building and strike the right balance of cutting Ward loose in a way that makes him feel confident that he can make whatever decision he wants to make from the pocket, while also giving him enough legitimate options within structure to where if guys are open, it's tied to the way that Ward plays or his eyes need to be. that there's enough of a foundation in terms of past protection where he can just do something more sustainable than we saw. Because I don't know if we ever really got more than a string of like 10 or so dropbacks in a row last season where we could legitimately evaluate and say, okay, what are we actually seeing from Cam Ward as a rookie quarterback?

I think that this training camp is going to be a major step in either direction for us to be able to get an inkling of what Ward is going to look like as he kind of gets towards, you know, middle of his rookie deal when we would typically expect to see these young quarterbacks tend to take a step forward. Yeah, you saw some highlights. You're right. But it wasn't like, oh, here's a full game or two full games, back to back.

So we couldn't even get a half a lot of times. It was a roller coaster. It really was an adventure where you could see the talent. You can see kind of the physical attributes, but it was messy. And sometimes it's really messy for a rookie quarterback. And then they come back the next year and you're like, all right, playing quarterback in the NFL. is hard. It's hard under those specific circumstances, but he has something to him. But a lot of times,

I'm with you after year two, you know, if it's still messy after year two, now you're starting to have some of those very difficult conversations. And if you're a Titans fan, you're like, shoot, man, this isn't what it was supposed to be when we drafted this guy high. So yes, the Titans are not the most talked about team, but they are interesting this year because you want to see what Cam Ward looks like there in the AFC South. All right. The only other one I had, was neighbors increases workload optimistic about week one return. And yeah, it's not really that fun of a one to talk about. It's just like he's not on the PUP list.

And this is one of the biggest injuries to monitor in the NFL with the Giants, Deante, because they need Malik neighbors. Because if neighbors is your one, and now you're saying, all right, Isaiah likely, Darnell Mooney, Darius Slay. Now it's like, all right, I can talk myself into it. If you take neighbors out of that and it's just those other guys, now I don't love this situation. I mean, I would say even with the healthy neighbors,

I'm probably looking at this wide receiver core as a below average one just because he's not really surrounded by very much. I think while I am as much of a believer in Isaiah likely as you are, like you just can't guarantee what he's going to look like as a high value, you know, excuse me, high volume number one tight end. And then, you know, it's not neighbors' fault

and it's really not anybody's fault. I think this is just a timing thing, but that cluster of Braxton Barrios, Juji Smith, Schuster, and O'Dell Beckham Jr., all being brought onto this roster, basically within the same day, within hours of each other, I think. Like, I just remember just reading that string of tweets,

and I'm like, what the hell is a wide receiver room made up of these cast of characters supposed to look like in 2026? And that's, you know, not even talking about Calvin Austin, and I think they have Darno Mooney on this team. There's just like these duplicitous,

these duplicitous skill sets. I'm not exactly sure. what a Matt Nagy offense looks like separate from Mahomes because it's been a while since we saw that in the end of his time in Chicago with Mitch Chubisky was not the most inspiring either. So there's just, there's so much that we don't know and so much of this offense that I think is really leaning on neighbors being available, being explosive, and being the lead character for this offense. I just don't think that you can string together a functional style of a modern offense without having a guy's dynamic as neighbors as your receiver in New York.

Yeah, it's one. Now, they did get good news. Like I said, he's not on the PUP list. So that tells you, it's not like, oh, they're sure he's going to miss the first four weeks of the season or anything like that. So now he can practice a little bit. They can kind of ease him in and you see what he looks like. But if you're a Giants fan, you want positive reports with Malik neighbors after having those multiple procedures. Again, he tore his ACL in week four. And then according to the athletic had another surgery in the spring to remove scar tissue. So the giants need him if they're going to be a relevant offense in 2026. All right, those are the headlines. We're looking to read. There's going to be practice observations. There's going to be depth chart notes. Unfortunately, there's going to be injuries. Are there going to be hold-ins, hold-outs, trade reports, all those things coming our way in the next month. It's going to be fun as these teams all get back to their facilities to practice in preparation of the 2026 season. His name is Deonté Lee. Deonté. Thank you for joining me. Thank you to everyone for listening. Thank you to Christopher Sutton for producing Stefano Sanchez on video.

And additional production supervision by Connor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgapal. I'm Sheila Kapade. We'll talk to you next time on the Ringer NFL show. 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-Gambler or 1-800-My reset. Call 1-888-7-7-7-7.

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