The Ringer NFL Show - Will Bill Belichick Coach Again? Which Teams Will Make the Super Bowl? Have the Bengals and Dolphins Improved? | Extra Point Taken

Episode Date: May 7, 2024

Should Bill Belichick coach again, or should he remain in the media? Sheil thinks he could be a budding star in the content creation space. How good of a job is the Patriots GM job? Ben isn’t exactly sure what it means when they list the position as "de facto GM." Which six teams from last season that made the playoffs will miss them this upcoming season? Plus, way too early Super Bowl predictions. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Sheil Kapadia and Ben Solak Producer: Cliff Augustin Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal and Conor Nevins Social: Eduardo Ocampo and Kiera Givens Video: Ronak Nair Musical Elements: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Bill Simmons. I am thrilled to announce our newest YouTube channel. It's called Ringer Movies. If you're a fan of our movie coverage here at The Ringer, then you're in luck. Because every episode of The Rwatchables and the Big Picture, now on YouTube. Like Bill said, Ringer Movies will feature full episodes of my show, The Big Picture, the Rewatchables, as well as special live episodes, deep dives into movie history, and a bunch of other fun stuff featuring other movie-loving Ringer personalities.

Search Ringer Movies on YouTube and Experience the Joy, Chris Ryan impersonating Wayne Jenkins on camera. Welcome to Extra Point Take and Shield Capadia here, joined by Ben Solac. Yes, it is a quiet time in the NFL calendar, but that's not going to stop us from firing off some takes. Benny Souls, I don't know about you. Mine are all over the place. I mean, I don't know what I'm talking about. Either this is going to be my best show ever or my worst show ever. I'm like the boomer bust Eagles in 2024 for the show.

So you can be the judge. Already in early May, we're all over the place. Where are you going to be in mid-June? Where are you going to be in July? Well, July August, I'm set. I'm like, all right, here's what I think. Here are my, so this is kind of like a rough draft of my summer takes, as the audience knows. This is your last week.

CCO has everybody feels like that. Yeah, I need to get people, you might make a point where I reconsider and say, all right, I'm going to come back to this. You know, you, we were on a call. And as the audience should know, you're last week before paternity leave. And you said, chill, if you got some season takes to fire off, go ahead and fire them off because we're not going to be talking. for a little while here. So I took that, then I ran with it today. Listen, I, I,

I generally really don't like the summer stage of the content mill where you're just like, okay, like, find a new way to talk about this, find a new way to talk about that, like, you just got to get to August, everything. Missing it for return to leave is great. I'm going to fire, I'm just going to fire off opinions. These, this is the flags I'm planting. And then two, three months from now, those flags will not count unless I go and I call them back. So this is, this is consequence-free, take artistry, all right?

what I've long dreamed to have. I like it. I call it rough drafts. You said it much better. You have a better vocabulary than me, as the audience knows. A little housekeeping, remember, you can subscribe to Ringer NFL on YouTube. You can see a bunch of the extra point taken content. You can see the other Ringer NFL content.

A lot of good stuff on there. So be sure to check that out. All right, you know the drill. Three takes a piece. I've got the extra point taken today. I'm going to start off with one Solek and I'm just going to get into it. All right.

My first take, Bill Belichick should never coach in the NFL again. Now, you're saying, you're saying, Sheal. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, all right, Schill's going to talk about how Belichick actually did a bad job last year, about how he was nine games under 500 and four years since Tom Brady retired,

about how he built a terrible roster, about how he made some baffling hires on the coaching staff. That's not what I'm talking about, Solac. This is actually complimentary. I'm talking about Bill Belichick content creator. This has been a flat out revelation over the last couple weeks. So here's what happens. So like a lot of times when someone in sports comes across as boring or unlikable,

there are people close to them or media members that say, no, no, no, you don't get it. Once you get to know this person, they're great. They're funny. they have a personality and a sense of humor. Most of the time, that's a flat out lie. It's not, they're boring, they're not that entertaining. You know, it's like the whole athlete funny thing.

They're complete boars. But guess what? With Bill Belichick, it might actually be true. His breakdowns during the draft select, they were terrific. He was prepared. He had actual analysis. He wasn't afraid to be critical. He had good energy.

It was like he got coached on how to do this. He seemed to realize his job was not just to inform. And we know he can inform. He's got a lot of, you know, he obviously is a smart football mind. He knows the league. He's got stories. But he was also able to entertain during the draft. And then Sunday, the Tom Brady roast.

How much of the Tom Brady roast has been so lucky? Zero percent. And that's exactly as much as I would like to watch. Does not interest me. Does not interest me. There's not a single piece of like, oh, like, it's lifestyle and it's reality TV. it's roast, but it's football, a content that I have enjoyed. I'm not a big hard knocks guy.

I didn't watch the quarterback documentary on Netflix. I watch Tom Brady roast. None of this. I'm here for, I'm here for the football, all right? I'm here for any of the trappings around it. All right. The purity of the sports, you love of the game. Actually, as I was asking you that question, I was like, you know, you're like my nephew.

I don't know, is this appropriate for Ben? I shouldn't even be asking him this question. This might not be appropriate for Ben to watch. I appreciate you. me from the course and rabid world that is the Tom Brady roast. So anyway, Belichick, during the Tom Brady roast, he gets out of his comfort zone. I know he didn't write all the jokes, okay, but he gets up there in front of that audience, that stage, he makes fun of gronk, he makes fun of Danny Amandola catching straights.

He makes an Alex Guerrero joke. He goes for it, and guess what? I was entertained, and I never thought I would say this, Sollack, but there is massive potential to Bill Belichick content creator. The last thing I need is for 73-year-old Bill Belichick to return to the sidelines to a team next year and go back to being a complete misrep. I don't need that version of Bill Belichick anymore.

I want this version. This is the perfect final act. He appears to be having fun. He knows the players. He knows the league. He has stories. All the ingredients are there. And this might sound like hyperbole,

but I'm dead serious. I think he can be the best ex-coach player analyst we have. From what I've seen over the last two weeks, I want to see what he can do in this space. I want him to stick with it. So owners stay away. Billy Boy, welcome to team content. Let's not go back, my friend. All right. What do you think? Let me throw some cold water on this real quick. Because on the NFL draft show, we had this debate a couple weeks ago where I was like, Belichick and content, like this is this like, it was right when he signed the Manningcast deal, right? So he's going to be able to Manningcast every single year. And I was like, this is not going

to be good. It's not going to be entertaining. And everybody was like, no, it's great, whatever, whatever. And firstly, again, like me being a football purist, I just don't think the Manningcast is very good. I want people, oh, I love the Manicast. It's amazing. No, it's not. It's not enjoyable. If you are in the, you know, football content media space, Solac is just going to crush you during this episode. It is not, it's not, it's not, I, like, he's not, I, like, he's not, I, like, Peyton and Neil, I need to get better at being on TV. Like, they're like, the whole, like, the whole, like, like, bumbling, we're confused. We don't know when we're tossing to, to break.

we don't know how to like transition questions. Like it was funny and cute in like year one, but we're in year three or year four or whatever. It's kind of all right. Like I'm, you got a celebrity on crazy. Like what's happening? I want to watch the football.

I think Belichick right now is, is benefiting from super low expectations, right? We're absolutely like when Belchick got on McVey and it was like, oh, he has clearly watched the prospects. Like cool. Like he's able and willing to talk about them. And then like the roast thing.

I mean, that doesn't interest me at all. Like he had somebody write jokes from great. But, But this is coming in with the expectation that you're going to act like he always has acted at press conferences, right? Where he's like doing the football stuff. He doesn't want to be answering any of these questions. But this is such a different world than that.

And so, okay, he's, he's friendlier with Pat McAfee and he's willing to sit up on stage and do the roast thing. Great. But there's going to be a Tony Romo effect here. We're in year one. And he's going to know everything about all the players and all the teams because he was just studying all of them. So he's going to have free insight off the dome. He can walk out with no prep and say, I agree. way more interesting and enlightening things than almost anybody else in media,

anybody else on a desk. And he's going to say stuff on the Manningcast where he and Peyton are talking about the mechanics of calling a timeout, correcting the two-minute warning. It's going to get all over the internet for two weeks. It's going to be such cool insight. But is Belichick really going to approach media with the amount of interest and dedication and detail-oriented that he did coaching football? I would be stunned.

I don't think media's going to hold his interest. And accordingly, if he stays in media long term, because he's going to be the best media guy there ever was, I think he's going to go the Roma way. We're after a few years, we're just like, oh, you're just kind of coasting, right? You're just kind of going off what you know. Like, I don't think Belichick's going to be like the dedicated five days of prep

scheme analysis guy when he's 78 years old. And he's like, oh, I guess he's making. 78. Okay, I thought he is 78. Right. When he's just making millions of dollars from all these media deals and he could just hang out and go, watch lacrosse and vibe like i don't think he that that's going to hold his interest

enough for him to be like media savant bill belichick i don't buy it okay first of all when did you take over the grouch mantle uh of this podcast and i'm team sunshine when did you take over the bill bellichick man exactly this is role this should be our theme for the show roll reversal extra point taken first of all uh he had he already had we can only go off a small sample and he has put in the work for the appearances that he's done so far. I mean, the draft, he didn't need to do all that, you know, what he did and scout the players. He was out of the league already before he needed to watch these guys. And this doesn't have to be a 20-year thing. The guy's in his 70s, give me the next three years where you already know all the players in the

league. And also, I disagree with the notion that he wouldn't put in the work. I mean, Tony Romo, the way he approached his career and the way Bill Belichick approached their actual like football careers were very different. And so it stands to reason that they might approach this in a very different way. Like Bill Belichick has been a football junkie. He cares about the history. He knows the history. He has analysis on current players about trends, all those things. So I actually disagree with that. I don't think he would mail it in. I think he would be too embarrassed to just go up there and mail it in. I think he would put in the work and I think he would be very good at it. I want him calling games, honestly. I was, I was like, I would love for him to just be a, you know,

in the booth during one of these primetime games next year. I, here's here's, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me hop to the defense of the game callers. Okay. Calling a game takes a lot more skill. Like a lot more like talent on the mic, on the juggling of all the balls and all the pots on the stove and the understanding of the flow and how it's going to play on television. Like I think a lot of times when I talk to like my regular pals,

they're like just calling a game like whatever. Like I don't think people realize the amount of skill that goes into it. It is a really challenging and hard thing to do. I think it is like it waves. away that disregards the work that like Greg Olson put in. Like Olson started and like was not good and then put in time to get good to say like, oh, go like Belichick call games, right? Like, like, if we, and I'm sure we will, like I think your prediction is absolutely correct.

If we hear in two months like, oh, NBC is thinking of putting Belichick on Sunday night football as the color guy, like right now, that wasn't made up. I don't know. Like I'm not saying Chris Collinsworth doing anything. But like, oh, they're good Belichick on the A team. I think that's going to stink. I think I think he's going to walk out. I think he's going to get five easy weeks

or he were like, or not even five, like 15 easy weeks, one whole season where he knows everything about all the scheme. And like it, again, it's Romo stuff where it's like,

it's cute that he's cutting off Jim Nance and it's funny that he's like blumbering through his sentences. And like Romod's his like, you know, like his random sounds or whatever, Belgium will probably be like, you know,

eight awkward seconds of silence after they cut to Taylor Swift. He doesn't know what the same. I'll be like, ha, ha, how adorable. And then after a couple years, we'll be like,

wait, this isn't pleasant. You have to actually like learn how to do that. And I'm unconvinced that Belchuk will be interested in learning how to do that. Why should he? His greatest head coach NFL history. Why should he sit down and have some like TV executive explaining him how to call a football game, teaching your grandma how to suck eggs?

Like, I don't think he's going to care about it. It's called personal pride. And when you were saying Greg Olson, I was like, why couldn't he put in the work that Greg Olson put in? I could absolutely see him doing that. I mean, the guy's been on a coaching schedule for his entire life. Like, it does take work to call games and be good at it. I agree. It's a much easier lifestyle.

23-year-old is like ready to learn a new skill. When's the last time you met a 73-year-old to learn a new skill? Okay. Listen, mom and dad, Capadia, if you're listening, don't worry. You know, we've got your back. You can learn new things.

We can, you know, my dad knows how to use, you know, he can text. You know, he can sometimes get to this podcast on spots. Huge for him. Huge for him. All right. So, all right. So we disagree on that.

I like it. A little roll reversal. Solex is usually the one. Gasson Belichek up. Now that Belich is out of it. of coaching and in this new space, I'm telling you, the guy has the potential to be really good. It's a small sample. I didn't think I would be saying that.

I thought I'd be ripping him. I thought I'd be taking Solac's angle on this. I'm not. I think if he puts in the work and I think he would put in the work, this is going to be a nice final act for Bill Belichick. All right, let's move on. Soak, what do you got? What's your first take?

Okay. I don't know if the Patriots' GM job is good or bad. so I'm going to present the case for both that it's good and both that it's bad, and then you're going to tell me if this is actually a good job or not. So this is less of my first take and more of my, I tried to make this my first take. I came down kind of 50-50 on it, so we're just going to have a conversation about it. That's good, because I'm making you do work on the rest of my takes. Excellent. Okay. So for those who don't know, report came out,

I'll record it this Tuesday. Report came out on Monday. The Patriots are moving forward with a search. and then the framing was for a de facto GM following the draft and the work of Elliot Wolf, who was the de facto GM, that's what de facto means, right? I'm not making up de facto. De facto here being like in place of the standard GM.

Anyway, so Elliot Wolf ran their front office for the past agency and for the past draft. They asked him at the combine. I'll never forget this one of my favorite moments ever where I was just at the podium and the beats all around it. walks up and the first question is what so uh what's your title it's so different than how all the other teams run anything they do and he was the director of player personnel and he had kind of taken

over my grod previously or excuse me mike grow had previously been the director of player personnel and they kind of flip-flop spots and it was are you the gm no but i'm acting like the gm and we're changing the scouting approach and like it was it was a little bit of like a mess in terms like knowing just how much control elliot wolf had uh all together wolf does not have the gm title and it appears that the Patriots are going to spend May interviewing internal, or it said they're interviewing external candidates, for sure. Instead they're interviewing internal candidates, I imagine they will just keep face. But interviewing external and internal candidates to see if they can find an actual GM, who apparently might also be a de facto GM. I don't really understand the terminology there.

So I think to myself, I'm a good GM candidate, what I like the Patriots job. And there's, there's arguments on both sides. I think the, I think the initial brush is going to be like, oh, this is a bad job. Like, this is not a good job. And I think, that that's a fair read. First, you're walking into really high expectations. The Kraft family and the page was won a lot of football games over the last couple decades, won a lot of Super Bowls, right? This is not the sort of team where you're going to have a few years to go A&8 to get to a point where you can go 11 and 6, right? Like there is very clear urgency in the building for ownership for Kraft to win now. Robert Kraft's kind of been a really big

figure over the last few weeks, the Dynasty docuseries, another thing that I'm not going to watch what I have read about. And kind of a little bit of anti-Belchik pro-Craft PR being rolled out over the last few months. You get the sense that the Kraft family was really involved in the quarterback decision that they made. They took, Drake May at 3 overall.

There are reports that John Crafts, the son of Robert Kraft was kind of in there, kind of helping run the draft that was making the call on quarterback as well. So heavy ownership involvement, to me always a little bit shaky when it comes. I have a GM job. I want to be able to do my job. I don't want to be able to just be constantly fending off the owner and the owner's son

pretending that they know football. And so the ownership focus and the intensity of the demands on winning now, that's definitely a turnoff. And the other thing is I don't get to pick my quarterback. I inherited the guy. They went and they took Drake May, right? And so if I don't like Drake May,

or if I don't want to hitch my wagon at Drake May, I'm worried I'm going to hold this job for two or three years. I'm going to do a good job getting wide receivers in and offensive linemen in and making Drake May look like kind of decent. By the time we get to the end of his rookie contract, he's not going to be good enough that we want to extend him. So I'm going to need to go get a young guy. But I just went eight and nine.

And, oh, I've been here for four years. We haven't won anything in the crafts want to fire me. Like, no, I don't want to do that Drake May thing, right? I like to, you know, walk in and be able to build a bedrock for my guy and go get my guy. So that's what would make it a bad job. The argument for a good job, Schill. You do get a free roll of the dice on Drake May probably, right? Like, you typically see a GM gets one chance to draft the quarterback top five.

And if he misses, he's done. The Patriot's job, you get two roles probably. Like, one role is Drake May. But you can go and play him for two years, right? Go walk in there, get him out in the field quickly. And then if you don't like him, you're able to keep your job by saying, hey, like, I didn't draft that guy, you know, I came and I believed in him. But like, let me go and get my dude.

Like, this is how I would build the receiver room and how I build the office the line room and the office coordinator job. This is how I would, you know, create the incubator for the young quarterback. and you can probably get a second roll of the dice. I think that's really attractive. I think if you're taking a young GM job and you're expected to make a top five pick of a quarterback like in the immediate future,

you kind of have a short shelf life. Here you get two rolls of the dice. I think that is really attractive. I do think that you like what you have defensively right now. A lot of times when you're taking jobs from teams that are top three, top five picks, the cupboard is bare. Defensively, the cupboard's not bare in New England.

The defense had great stretch it down. Of course, last season, Dronmeo stays and remains the defensive guy. I think you have half of the ball short term solved or short term you don't have to touch it too much. I think that's a great relief in terms of how you want to approach this summer.

And then the last thing is that there's really not a lot of future money tied up. The veteran deals right now that the Patriots have signed into 2026. This is not rookies, but just veterans, are Kyle Dugger, Christian Barmore, Hunter Henry, all of which were signed this past off season, all of which are fine market-baked deals

for good players. And then Kendrick Bourne, which is like really a one-year deal and they just have future money tagged on it. And Antonio Gibson, which is like a bottom of the roster special teams guy. There's a lot of money to play with in 25 and in 26. You're recovering from some bad contracts,

but you're kind of at the tail end of that recovery, and you're about to enter the new era of like, oh, we have a lot of money to spend and we can be more aggressive. And so it is a good team to build. You have great defensive bones. You have good young players in Duggar, in Barr more in Christian Gonzalez, right? Like there's some, in Michael Nguyenu, right?

You have an Buena as well into 2026 and beyond. So you have some good young players, some good young cornerstones that you like. And you have a franchise quarterback who, if he hits, like the biggest issue that gets GMs fired, somebody else just solved for you. And you just kind of gets a ride on that wave. So I think there's a legit argument for it to be a good job as well.

So that's my presentation on the Patriots GM job. Sheal, you're, you know, Alec Halliby, you're Ian Cunningham. You taking that job? You like it? Yes or no. Well, you know I'm Team CTC. So what is it paying?

And what am I getting paid now? That's going to be the number one. to look at. I want to answer that question, but I need to get something off my chest about is Bill Belichick one of the greatest defensive coaches in NFL history? What are we doing this for right now? No, I'm asking you. Is he or is he not? So how are we all assuming that this defense losing him is just going to come in? Is the talent that good? Like the talent's fine. I like Christian Gonzalez. I like Christian Barmore. I like Kyle Dugger. I like Matthew Judon. Is this like a top five talented defense in the NFL? No way. And now you're losing the guy who like orchestrated

the whole thing. And we're all, oh, the Patriot, I keep here in the Patriots defense is going to be good next year. Are we sure the Patriots defense is going to be really good next year? Like, I think they're going to be okay. But that I just need to get off my chest because people, you can't on one hand tell me what a great defensive coach Bill Belichick is and then say Bill Belichick's gone, but it's all good. Gerard Mayo was there. They're just going to run the same stuff and be fine. And no big deal. I mean, like that, that doesn't, um, compute to me. All right.

So that's one. I do agree with you on that. But I will say, do my two responses are one. I think you're underrating the roster a little bit. This is a very, like, the starting 11 is like all plus dudes.

There's not a lot of like, oh no, the weakness of like, Jelani Tobai, Juan Bentley, Jibrill Pettles, all these dudes are plus starters. Like this is a good depth chart.

It might not be the rounds, but this is a good depth chart. And then also I believe in Mayo. I like Mayo quite a bit. This is a good defensive depth chart. Come on. Please. Come on.

More with less. More with less. All right. So that's the defense. Is it a good job? I think your point about the quarterbacks is probably the biggest one. That would be the deal breaker for me, because you're right about that. I get to go in.

I get to build as much as I can around Drake May. Offensive line, wide receivers, tight ends. That is the number one goal. If I'm taking the job, I'm ignoring everything else, I'm saying, all right, how can I put pieces around Drake May to get the best version of Drake May? And if Drake May is a good quarterback with the pieces I put around him, it's going to look like I'm doing a good job. That's a win. If Drake May looks like a bad quarterback with the pieces I put around him, then guess what? It goes to what you just said. Well,

I didn't draft Drake May. Drake May was already here and I got the job. So now I've got good pieces around him. He might not be the guy, but let me take a shot on the guy and then we'll go from there. So from that perspective, it's attracted. Now, the biggest really factor, I joked about the CTC, but the other big factor in GM jobs is ownership. I don't have a say, it. I don't have a, Have the crafts done anything in the last four months that lead us to believe that they know what they're doing in a post Belichick world? I mean, take just this, for example. Like, I'm glad you brought this up, So, like, because I was searching for news for this week. And I totally, like, I didn't miss this.

Like, I had read it before, but I didn't think to have a take on it. This is a freaking weird story. You move on from Bill Belichick. And then you have the number three pick in the NFL draft. And Elliot Wolf, like, you said, no one knows is, wait, does he have the keys? Who's making the call here? He says he has, yeah, he has final say. Then there's reports that Jonathan Graft is involved.

Then you draft a quarterback top three, which is like a huge franchise shaping decision. And now two weeks after the draft, you're running a search for your front office leader. And Elliot Wolf is in the running for this job, but he might not get that. Like, what is happening here? What, the chain of events here? And I know you'll tell me, well, you might not tell me. The audience might tell me, well, it's hard when you have a scouting staff in place and you make a change in January. Then you don't want to.

I mean, who, yeah, you need, other teams made the change. This was a big decision. You had as clear of an expectation that you were going to move on

from Bill Belichette for longer than anybody else did. Right, exactly. So thank you. You're right. Yeah, that excuse is even worse than I was giving it credit for.

So I would be pretty, I would be asking around. What's it going to be like for me to work under that ownership? Because the expectations are going to be high. I don't know if I'm going to have full control here. The coach is already in place.

the quarterback is already in place. Like some of these things that if you're a GM that wants to go into a blank slate environment and make some of those calls, they're not going to be available to you in New England. So I have real questions about the ownership, the leadership of that franchise. And so that would probably give me pause.

Now, at the end of the day, there's only 32 jobs, and you would probably look at it. And some of the stuff would probably be more attractive than some of the other stuff. So I would probably, depending on my options, be like, yeah, let's go give it a shot. It's not like on my list of no chance. Am I doing this?

But this is weird. This franchise is not operating well in their four months since they moved on from Bill Belichick. Yeah. I cannot stress how poorly managed, I think, the transition of power to Elliot Wolf into he runs free agency, into the draft, into we're now going to interview external candidates. But again, like what is being presented as like still a de facto role. I don't like just just go back to a traditional team structure. Like it's a constant.

it's another example of a constant issue the NFL owners make, which is when they like stumble upon or or happen upon or inherently, they inherit some sort of like atypical structure, they think as businessmen, they're like, wow, like we've found like, like, you know, such an edge. Like, no, you just gave the keys to Bill because Bill could run the whole team. And like, there's a reason why most of the other teams are doing it, a GM who does this and a coach who does that.

It's because it works. It's because it's the right balance of power. Like you just have to, don't think that you and New England do things in a different way and different culture and like, oh, look at us with our unique approach. Like, the unique approach only works if you have unique guys and you can't just go out

and find a unique guy. That doesn't just happen. Like, oh, let's go find the unique one. Like, that's not how it works. You get a little bit stumble on them. And so you have to go back to like, all right, like, does it have the GM's going to run things this way? And then head coach can run a thing this way.

We're just going to let them do this for a couple years and evaluate. But because the crafts are, I think the crafts are extremely like, we need to win now to prove that this wasn't just Bill and this wasn't just Tom. Like, we're really good owners. And we don't know how to lose because they're like this. I think they're jumping at shadows, right?

I feel like everything that happens, they're reacting too fast to it. They're being too aggressive to it. And honestly, like, I say that, but they did hold their water at pick three and take May, which I think like there was, you know, there's draft movements and who's the quarterback going to be. And so maybe they have a steadier hand on the wheel than I think they do.

And they're just kind of presenting us a little bit. easy to move, easy to scare off their spot. But altogether, like, I'm worried about the last few months of how the Patriots are building their team. It's confusing to me. Listen, it's either one or two things with that pick. Either they let a guy make that pick, and now they're going to replace that guy, which is weird,

or it's two. Owners made the pick. And then if you're a GM, do you want to go to a place where the owners just made the pick? You know, what does that say for the future? So, yeah, I don't know. I have a lot of concerns about the day. direction of that franchise. At the same time, if Drake May is a great quarterback, guess what?

It takes care of all the other issues you have with the franchise. We see that over and over again with NFL organizations. All right, let's take a break. We'll come back, get to my second take. All right, we're back on extra point taken. All right, my second and third takes are connected here, Solex. So here's what I'm doing. Since the NFL moved to this format with 14 teams making the playoffs, we have seen at least six new playoff teams each season. And so every summer I like to try to predict who are those six new playoff teams going to be and who are the six playoff teams from last year

that are going to drop out. So I made a little rough copy, a little rough draft, you know, old school, high school days, turning your rough draft by Wednesday. I think that was a thing. It was a long time ago for me. Maybe you can tell me. So rough draft, I'm going to run this by you.

We don't need to talk about all six. We don't have, you know, we don't have the time to talk about 12 teams on this, on this one episode. We'll have plenty of time to get to all of them. I need one from you that you're on board with and one from you that you disagree with. So I'll, and then we can talk more about those two teams. So I'm going to give you all six. Here are the six teams that I think will drop out of the playoffs from last year and not make it this year.

As of May 7th, I need to make that clear, subject to change. the time we get to August. But here's what I came up with. All right. Wait, did I tell you I'm going to give you the ones that are going to make it this year or the ones that are going to miss it this year? You told me you're going to, the ones you were going to make it.

But in general, the explanation was a lot. And so I might have that wrong. All right. Teams that missed the playoffs last year that are going to make it this year. That's it. There's six of them. All right. The Cincinnati Bengals.

The Los Angeles Chargers, the Atlanta Falcons. The Chicago Bears. Yes. The New York Jets. And the Seattle Seahawks. So those are the six I have right now. My rough draft, my first copy of this, taking a shot at it.

Of those six teams I mentioned, again, Bengals, Chargers, Falcons, Bears, Jets, and Seahawks. Which is the one where you say, yes, I'm on board with that good call. Which is the one where you say, Sheel, you're a dummy. Get that off your list by the time we get official. takes in August. I feel like the one I like the most initially is like the bears and that scares me. Oh, wow. But I'm not going to say that bears. I'm going to say, I'm going to say the Falcons. The Falcons are in a, are very clearly should win the NFC South. They have the best where have I heard this before? They have the best division. They have the best quarterback in the

division. That's for the first time in the three years I've been telling you the Falcons are going to win the South. They have the best quarterback in the division. Michael Pennix. you're of course talking about. And Kirk Cousins. Offensive line is solid to great at all five spots. They have good weapons of Drake London and Kyle Pitts, Bejohn Robinson. I think Robinson, but again, like doing talking about like getting ready to start looking at stuff. Robinson, man, in this offense, last year they were giving Kyron Williams like 25 touches a game.

They're going to give it to Bejan? Bejon might just be the best player, like best fantasy player football next year. I'm so excited for Bejohn. But I think offensively they're going to be on. going to be great. And then defensively, they have some gaps. They played a little bit over their weight last season. I think they could regress. But I do like Ryan Nielsen. I think he's a good DC. I've been a big AJ Terrell guy. You're going to get Grady Jerry. No, he got moved, right? Nielsen is now in Jacksonville. Right. Yeah. Nielsen now in Jacksonville. Excuse me. Yeah.

And then Atlanta now has Jimmy Lake. Right. So either way. I do like AJ Terrell. I do like a Grady Jerry. Good save, though, on Ryan Nielsen. So I think the Falcons are good enough that I should expect them to win the South. I expect them to be a 10-win team. And, like, that's the team that I think is most likely to make it. Chicago, very tempting, though, just because such a fun team look at the roster. We've talked about them before. And, like, they feel like they're a playoff team of what their build as.

Okay. So let's finish on the Falcons and then we'll get to the team you think I'm crazy on. Yeah, I'm with you. I mean, you just look at it and, like, I don't, you know, I don't know that they're going to win 13, 14 games, but Kirk Cousins, the pieces, the offensive line, Zach Robinson, an interesting offensive coordinator hire. You would expect that to be a solid offense in 2024, better than the other offenses in the division. And then they had the easiest schedule in the NFL.

Again, if this sounds like deja vu, I understand. We've said this before on the podcast. But if you go by projected wind totals in Vegas, and I used Warren Sharpsite for this, he puts it out every spring. they had the easiest schedule based on projected win totals of any team in the NFL. So I just look at those two things and I look at the other teams in the division. I'm not going near a Tepper team again until they prove. Otherwise, are the buck's going to do it again? You know I'm not picking the Saints.

So yeah, it's almost process of elimination default. But yeah, I feel pretty good about the Falcons. All right, which is the team I'm most nutty on? You need them again or you got them? No, I've got them. Okay. I'm talking about Bengals' concern in my third take. And so I'm not going to bring up the Bengals now.

I am concerned about the Bengals. I'm very suspicious about the Jets. I don't like, I just don't. It's such a, they have to run so pure. It's such a thin line for them to be successful in playoffs. Like, Rogers has to come back to Achilles at his age, be impactful. We have to remember that like, it's not like Rogers, oh, a Green Bay, and he's been there for 25 years

or the begillion around knows all the players. Like, Roger still has, like, no reps with Garrett Wilson. Like, they just like, right, like, obviously has a ton of reps with Nate Hackett. But, like, other than that, like, Rogers is still very new to the Jets offense. So it is reasonable to expect an onboarding period, right? And they don't have it, like, my best friend Alan Lazzard, like Al-Nazard's not going to be a big part of this offense anymore, brother.

It's Mike Williams now. It's Malika Corley. So it's reasonable to expect an onboarding period. I think that even at the end of the Green Bay era, you started to see that the offense had to change to a change to a account for Rogers' lack of mobility. I think that that's going to be way more heightened in New York. And so now you're asking Nate Hackett, you can't just run the old Roger stuff. You can't run the 2018, 2019, Roger stuff. You got to run like some new stuff for them because he can't do

what he used to be able to do even before the injury. And so like, they just have to run so pure on offense to get that unit to a point where it's impactful enough that you really trust them to make the playoffs. The thing is like, they do have a wide range because the defense can carry that team quite a bit. So like, even if the offense is just like good enough, if they, if they have a great defensive season, which is reasonable to expect, given the amount of resources and how well they performed over the last couple of years. They could still make it, but the division is tough. Dolphins are still up there. Bills are still up there. I'm talking about the dolphins in a second. So it's not the easiest division. Conference is still very tough, so it's not like wild card

as a walk-in. I think the Jets will be on the bubble the entire time. Don't get me wrong, but like, I don't know. The offense doesn't scare me the way it's supposed to scare me. When I think playoff team, I'm supposed to be able to think about the offense winning games, just straight, scoring 35 and winning. And I just don't feel that way about the Jets. I simply don't. All right, here's the case for the Jets, and I generally agree with everything you said.

This could be one that I back off of once we get to August. They've got some regression stuff that could work in their favor that I don't think I realized watching live last year. So one, they were 27th in adjusted games loss last year, which is the metric now on FTN fantasy, where it just measures how impacted was each team by injuries last year. And you say, yeah, of course, she'll Aaron Rogers, but it wasn't just Aaron Rogers. They had other injuries.

And so they were 31st in terms of adjusted games lost on offense, 27th overall. So one of the most injured teams in the NFL. So I'm not telling you, they could very well be very injured this year. But even if they're like average injury luck, it's going to make a big difference. Two, they were 25th in EPA on turnovers last year. So that's combined, EPA that your defense gained by takeaways and EPA that your offense gave away with giveaways. they were 25th there and so that's something else obviously if aaron rogers is healthy that's

going to make a big difference the guy does not turn the football over uh much at all that's another one and then third they have the fourth easiest schedule in the NFL by the projected win total so this is a this is a easier uh slate than they faced last year and then as we talked about in our last episode you add mike williams you add three new offensive linemen you draft olufashnu like it might not work but you put some pieces in place where maybe it has a chance. And so if you're like a top eight defense and you're like the 14th best offense,

maybe that gets you into the playoff. So it is fragile. There's no doubt about it. It's fragile. I don't know if I'll be able to talk myself into it by the time we get to August, especially with Natty Hackett as the offensive coordinator. But who knows, maybe I'll stick with it.

All right. So for my next take, I will do the teams that are going to fall off. But before that, Soak, what do you got? What's your second take? Uh, before I get to my second take real quick, I just saw Tom Pelliserra speak from last night that I missed. Uh, Bangle's senior personnel executive Trey Brown has declined to request to interview for the Patriots de facto GM position per source. Brown will remain a top GM candidate next year's cycle. So two notes. One, a top candidate already said no. And two, Pelliserra described it as de facto again. What are the Patriots hiring for? Are they hiring for GM or not?

They are very clearly hiring for a role that is, hey, you are our GM, but we're not. going to call you GM. Why would anybody take that? All right, I'm looking up here. So like, because you and I, you know, sometimes I say I'm a first generation American, so I don't get all the sayings and you something, you know, you used analogy, as someone pointed out last, uh, the episode. So we both have our issue. So I just looked up, uh, definition of de facto. Okay. So why is it's just, all right. Uh, a circumstance. No, that's not right. What I'm...

Oh, good. Excellent story. I'm having a senior moment here. All right, here we go. De facto. In fact or in effect, whether by right or not, the island has been de facto divided into two countries. So yes, it is, you are the GM, but we're not calling you the GM, right? That's the easiest way to say it.

Yeah. I was going to say analogous. And then I changed course in the middle of the word. I was using the wrong case. I know what de facto means. I'm pretty sure I got de facto down. This, I don't know if the page was interrupted. There we go.

Okay, my second take. I admire what the dolphins did this offseason for their short-term chances of winning the Super Bowl. I am very concerned about the long-term future of Miami Dolphins. So, for those, quick summary, for those who don't remember the dolphins off-season super well, Some big departures, right, both starting defensive tackles in Christian Wilkins and

Raquan Davis land on other teams. Christian Wilkins, obviously signing the super mega awesome deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. This was a player that dolphins were trying to keep, and they were trying to have a negotiation with him last season. They never got close. Then Wilkins had a career year. And then he went and he made insane money in Las Vegas. Good for him.

Xavier and Howard, who was their starting corner, who was getting old and getting injured, getting up there. He leaves as well. He's gone in free agency. Brandon Jones was a starting safety for them, gone in free agency. They had Jerome Baker, who was a draftbacker for them, long-time starting linebacker for them. He lives in Free Agency. Right guard, Robert Hunt.

He signs a massive deal with the Carolina Panthers. He's out of here. Connor Williams, who's their starting center? He's out of here. He leaves for Dallas. Connor Williams went to? I think he went to Dallas. He's got his departure as well.

A lot of guys out of the building in Miami. And they didn't have a ton of money to play with in free agency. And they were more aggressive than I think people anticipated they would be. and they spent a lot of time plugging some of those gaps with veteran free agents, right? Brandon Jones leaves it safety. They signed Jordan Poir to a one-year deal. Shaq Barrett, they bring in to be an edge rusher out of Tampa Bay. He's on a one-year deal.

They go and they get John New Smith. Everybody's favorite move Tide-end. Look at him. He's so fast. They go sign him to a two-year deal. Now they have a better tight-end and they had at Durham-Smith. Jerome Baker's out. Jordan Brooks is in on a three-year deal.

They bring Aaron Brewer in the center out of Tennessee to account for Connor Williams. Kendall Fuller, the corner of Washington, one-year deal to account for Zavian. Howard. So they've brought in a lot of veterans. And like some of these names, Kendall Fuller, Aaron Brewer, uh, Jordan Poir, Shaq Barrett. These are like a little bit older and a little bit incomplete players. And they've been given big starting roles in the past and haven't necessarily risen to them. Or they've one year flashing a plan or, or just beyond their prime. And so that's why these guys were available for the dolphins. But they're thinking, okay, we can bring these dudes in and like at least get something out of them right now, right? Like Aaron Brewer's on a three year deal,

but you probably don't want Aaron Brewer to be your center for the next three years. Right? Like, like Jordan Poir, Kendall Fuller, these are one-year deals. They're trying to hold the spot for you. I think like Jordan Brooks, he's a piece of piece. But other than that, like, this was a lot of like short-term stuff. So then you get to the draft. And you're looking at the Dolphins roster, and you're like, man, they lost multiple stars on the offensive line.

Toronto Arms had left tackle, probably not like, you know, many more years left on his career, a lot more trend of that tires. Like, they really need to get to a spot where that offensive trench is stronger. And you look defensively. And right now, like, okay, Zach Seeler's back and Jaylon Philips, going to be back from injury, Bradley Chub, whatever. But they lose Roe Kwan, they lose Christian Wilkins. Like you need to add guys at defensive tackle.

All they did in free agency was like, you know, won your deal to your tart, one year deal, Neville, Gallum wards, like some of these dice rolls. Like they got to get better in these trenches, man. Like, this is concerning. And then the Dolphins spent a first round pick on Chop Robinson. It was like a one step, you know, project pass rusher speed, 21 overall. The second round they went.

They got Patrick Paul, who was a developmental left tackle. He's their armstead replacement. And then they did it, right? fourth round pick, Tennessee running back Jalen Wright. We have Rehm Moster. We have set in records for NFL touchdowns at a single season. We spent a second round pick on Devon A Shane last year. We need ourselves with Jalen Wright.

We got to complete the trio, the triumvirate of running backs. After the draft is finished, they signed late last week. Odle Beckham Jr. in free agency. Another one year deal, another one of these veterans that's like probably not going to be around long term for you, but maybe has something left in the tank, maybe has a season left. You go and you look at this roster, man. And like, their interior offensive line is Isaiah win, Aaron Brewer, Robert Jones. That's, that is some scary, scary stuff in terms of the future of that line.

And even like the current world of that line. But I get what they're doing. I get it. They're saying, listen, we don't really win through our line. So we're not like, if we were to spend the time and the resources to actually build a really good unit here, it'd be too late. Tua's fifth, they're on Tua's fifth year option right now. They have to make a decision on Tua next offseason. Jalen Waddle, fifth year option coming up.

They got to make an extension. Figure out what they want, Jail, Tariq Hill, what's the future of this wide receiver room going to be? For the current construction, the current constellation of stars for the Miami Dolphins, Tua, Tarek, Jailen Wadle, Jailen Ramsey. This is probably it. This is the last year where you can expect like those four guys to all be on the same team. I would be flabbergasted if they are Tua,

if all four of those guys are back, next season. And they're just like, oh, run it back again, running back again. Unless they have a lot of team success this year and they feel like

that that's, that's the move. This is probably, right now, like they have one year left with Tua being like under $40 million for them to really say, like, all right,

like we're going to do the thing. And that's, and this is what it looks like. It looks like Jaylen right and O'Dell Beckham Jr. It looks like we are going to have so much depth at running back and at wide receiver.

We're going to have so much speed, so much ball in the hand talent, John Smith, the tight end, that even when Tyree Kil gets Gimpy and we 15, we're going to be fine. Even when Devon A. Shane can't take the number of hits we need him to, we're going to be fine.

So you're just going to have dudes in the hopper. Like the big problem for the dolphins to solve philosophically from Mike McDaniel was like, how is your little speed, race card, you know, sexy Porsche offense going to continue to play? It's not working in the postseason. It's not working in the cold weather for you. What's your solution? And this solution was, I'm just going to throw bodies at the problem.

I'm just going to have guys on guys on guys at these positions. And accordingly, defensive line suffers and offensive line suffers. But hey, like, we, we, the Patriots are appointed for, transition. The bill's arrow is kind of pointing down. No, no, no, so the jets are going to be like, we're going to try to get it done right now. So I look at this roster short term, and I'm like, all right, they put, you know, they wadded up some, some paper and plugged it in the gaps at corner and at linebacker. There's, don't worry, Jordan Poir will be good.

It's like, Kendall Fuller's going to start for us. And it's duct tape over a leaky boat, ma'am. They're trying to get it done for one more year. And I get it. I understand it. But boy, oh, boy, when I look at this team long term, I'm scared of the amount. They have so much money taken out of future years right now. On Armstead and on Tyreek Hill, dead cap from the Ramsey extension all the way into the future.

Like they have so much money tied up into future years. And it's all for like this year with two on the fifth year option. And after that, the future is very dark for me for the Miami Dolphins. Yeah, it's not. I don't think it's a very well-managed team. I mean, just take the Christian Wilkins example. Like most of the time that guy will not just get to free agency with no frame. franchise tag, no nothing, and then just you let him walk and he gets paid there.

So you let and this team just screams to me like, I don't know, it's been two years in a row where you get to the end of the season and you're not feeling good about this football team. You feel great about them in September and October. And then as the season goes on, we're having that conversation, as Mike McDaniel been figured out, does he have a plan B? Is two of the guy? Can they win this way against the AFC juggernauts? I mean, last season against playoff teams, the dolphins were one and six with a minor.

minus 110 point differential. That was like a bottom five point differential against playoff teams. That was in a season where they got to a healthy for 17 starts. Is that going to happen again? Like one thing that's good to do this time of year is like remind yourself what were the narratives

or what were the storylines at this time last year. You know, so don't be totally shaped by just what happened in one season. And I think with the dolphins at this time last season, we're going, can to a tongue of Iloa stay healthy? And it's not his fault. Again, I even like, like I mostly hate having this conversation because athletes do not choose to be healthy. They're playing a violent sport. It sucks.

I don't want them to get injured at the same time. He had a pretty serious injury history there. So you have that defense. You'll lose Vic Fangio, you know, highly regarded defensive coordinator there, budding heads with whoever it was, whether it was with personnel, coaching, whatever, you'll lose him. And then just personnel-wise, you get worse, I think overall. You know, you mentioned all the roster moves that they've made, but you look at the roster overall. And I don't think it's as good as it was last year.

So yeah, to me, they are a very fragile team. I would not want to put that money to, you know, I would not want to sign to a tongue while to that contract. If I'm just being honest. And so we'll see if they do something more serious this offseason or not. But they, you know, just being honest with my, you know, go into my next take here, they look like a step back team to me. Maybe not.

Maybe the offense will be very good once again. And that'll be good enough to carry them. and they'll get into the playoffs, but I don't know, I would not be surprised if we're talking about them the thing is the team that takes a step back.

Right. The thing is, if they aren't demonstrably a step forward team, they're just inherently a step back team. Because if they walk out and they have the exact same September in October that they had this past season

where they were leading the league in EPA per play on offense, they were leading the league in points for game. Actually, I think they were second points for game. But they were top one, top two with the niner's and every single offensive metric. They put 70 points in the Broncos. They do that for the first two months of the season.

There's seven and, one. You and I are going to get on here and go, we don't, we don't care. Like, it's not, you already showed us you could do this. Like, oh, you can run the score up on the 24th best defense and congrats. We already get that. We, like, we get the schick. You're really speedy and you run four plays and it's by 90 yard touchdown. Congratulations. It's fun. When it's working, it's very fun. There's no doubt about it. But you got to, you got to become something else to win January football. You clearly do. And if we don't, if we can't see that in the fall months, then we're not going to, as the guy was,

I was buying all the dolphins. Like I very much believed in that team last season that that was their year to push. Because right, for me it was as long as two is healthy, we're good. But I grossly overestimated that their ability to stay healthy as a full team, their ability to stay healthy and physical

and good and cold football situations down the stretch. And they very clearly choked it against playoff teams. Yeah, the, this, if the idea is just, okay, run that back, run the construct back, and just get a little bit luckier against the bills and against the chiefs, I kind of get it. Like I do.

Like, you look at the Chiefs regular season game and you go, oh, we lost because the fumble, the rumble recovery for a touchdown. And then you go to the playoff game and you go,

all right, well, so long as we don't play them in negative 30 degrees again. Like, we got them. Like, I understand how you talk yourself into that. It's just like,

all right, you get one more shot, buddy. Tyree Kill is 30. Right now. Tyree Kill's cap hit in 20206. She'll has $56,000, $56 million.

Okay? Like, you can't, you can't, you're, you are not going to have Tua, Tyreek, Tauron Armstead, Jalen Phillips, Jailen Ramsey, you're not going to have those five guys, like healthy, all on the team with money,

like that's not going to happen anymore. This is it. You are just up against the wall, the water's up to your neck in terms of the contract that you've signed, the players you invested in their respective health, and also their game, their skill, right? Like, there are some receivers who can keep playing when they're 30, 31. Tyree is going to start to slow down, man.

He already is starting to slow down if you watch. him right like he he rolls up onto the sideline and he had to give him four games over breathing like he isn't what he was this is it man for miami like i i i don't say it's gonna be mad at me at this take because fans of teams never want this to be the case but this is it dude yeah i uh i agree all right uh that'll lead into my next take we'll take one more break then we'll get to our final takes and the extra point taken all right we're back on extra point taken all right so my third take goes off my last one goes off what just solek just said again, on average, six teams that make the playoffs one year,

drop out the next year. So who are those six teams going to be? I'm taking my shot. Rough copy, first draft, as of May 7th. Here's what I've got. The one team we just mentioned, the Miami Dolphins, I got them out. The Tampa Bay Bucks, the Cleveland Browns, the Pittsburgh Steelers, that one hurts me,

the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys. Those are the six teams. This was hard. This was a lot. It was easier to find the six teams that I wanted to put into the playoffs, the six teams that didn't make it last year to put them into the playoffs. It was much harder to identify the six teams that made the playoffs last year that I said you're not making it this year.

All right. So out of those teams, bucks, browns, dolphins, Steelers, Rams, Cowboys, Solek. Which one do you most agree with? And which one do you say, I don't think so she'll stop being a hater. going back to the postseason. Okay. So the team that does not make the postseason got to be the Steelers, right?

Like that's, I feel like that. Gotta be. They shouldn't have made the playoffs last year. But they're better this year. And they're the classic shouldn't have team. And they always do. Okay. There's so much better this year.

Wide receiver two is Roman Wilson? Right? Multiple rookies potentially starting on their offensive line. I like the way they approached it. Don't get me wrong. But it's not like they, I don't, I disagree with like, oh, they are for sure better. Like Patrick Queen's definitely better than what they were playing at linebacker last year. I got no, no bones about that.

And Minka Fitzpatrick's coming back and T.J. Watson, okay, it's like, defense could be healthy. Cam Hayward's coming back. Like, great. I, like, the argument for them being demonstrably better is just like Matt Canada was so bad that Arthur Smith is just going to improve the entire offense, which like I will hear from a humorous perspective. I'm not sure it totally convinces me in like, hey, they're making the playoffs. Not in the AFC North, man. Like that, that, that, that's concerning to me. Yeah, I think that is valid. I mean, Arthur Smith over Matt Canada, that should be a massive upgrade. I look at the roster.

You look at the depth chart. It's pretty good depth chart overall. It's not perfect. You mentioned some of the flaws, but it's a pretty good depth chart overall, but you have questions at quarterback. Here are the other things that scream. I don't know if they're going to, you know, make it this year. One, they have the hardest schedule in the NFL. You mentioned it. AFC. North, AFC, in terms of projected win totals, they had the hardest schedule in the NFL, too. They were nine and two in games decided by seven points or fewer last year, which goes to your point. Yeah, they made the playoffs. Should they have made the playoffs last year?

Certainly got a little lucky there. And then they were second in turnover EPA last season. That is hard to count on from one year to the next year. So yes, they would have to be a, I don't know if significantly, but they would have to be a better team this year than they were last year to make the playoffs. I don't know. I might talk myself into the Steelers by the time. We get to August, but I agree they deserve to be on there right now. All right. So that's one you agree with. Which one do you disagree with? I think the Cowboys are making it for sure, right? You're the Cowboys and the Eagles making it? Because really, to me,

it was a coin flip. I looked at them and I go, all right, well, I don't, I think one of these teams might not make it. And I ended up choosing the Cowboys. So make the case for the Cowboys. The reason the Cowboys made it last year are still all there, right? Like, the Cowboys last year were just like, there was a stretch where Dak was playing at an MVP level. I think Dak over the course of the season was playing like top five quarterback caliber play, C.D. Lam playing top five bar receiver caliber play. And then Micah Parsons and the amount of speed and pass rush that they had as a defense

would allow them to beat some bad offenses. I think that they run into some Shanahan issues, but as long as you avoid enough Shanahan teams are going to be okay. They have a defense coordinator change, but I still think enough bread is buttered on the, the, uh, Michael Parsons,

to Marcus Lawrence, Sam Williams, uh, the pass rush of it all. They, they could be successful. I think that Dron Blanche and Hervand Deggs. Again,

like the, the issues with those corners are known, right, the aggressiveness and the hunting interceptions, but still like those are talented starting players. Like, it's a little bit like, um,

similar to the Dolphins argument, but less frail, less fragile, where it's like, okay, we know what they are and we know, we know how this works, right?

We've seen DAC Be just like, a quarterback of a double-digit win team from multiple seasons in a row now. Like, this is just a really good roster and good players and a playoff caliber team. For whatever reason, the Cowboys are very reticent and, excuse me, they're very hesitant to commit to that. But I still think that, like, for the purposes of 2024, I expect the Cowboys to be in the playoffs. Yeah, they were my last team on.

Again, it was really tough. They're tied with the Eagles at plus 120 for the division. They've been a very good regular season team. They did very little to add to the offense. lost four starters, but they did draft two offensive linemen there. So maybe those guys come in and fill in. And I love the Mike Zimmer hire. I mean, I think he's going to be a very good defensive coordinator,

and they've still got talent on that side of the ball. It just feels a little unsettled. You know, you have Dak Prescott going into the final year of his deal. You have Mike McCarthy going into the final year of his deal. You have unsettled contract situations with C.D. Lamb and Michael Parsons. But maybe none of that matters, and they just win 12 games again. And then we see what happens in the playout. So, yeah, that was a difficult one for me where I didn't want to put them on,

but I was just looking at it and saying, all right, well, who do I feel better about here? And so I ended up going with the Cowboys. All right, so that kept me, what do you got? What's your third take? Yeah, so I brought this up when you were talking about teams who missed last year, who might make this year and talking about the Cincinnati Bengals and their potential to hop up into the postseason. I, on an episode a few weeks ago, I said, like, well, because the Ravens are going to be

clearly favored to win the AFC North again. and you hit me with like a not so fast, like, what about the Bengals? And I was just like, I wonder, like, no, like, the Ravens are very clearly a better team. It wasn't, like, prepared to talk about it yet. Like, but in my head, I was like, what are we doing? So Bengals go through now that their draft and they go through the whole, their offseason. I'm looking at this team, Sheal, and I'm just, I'm, like, officially stance, like, flag planted. I'm just, I'm worried about the Cincinnati Bengals.

There are a lot of issues with this roster. Uh, firstly, since we last spoke, T. Higgins turned the, bus around on the trade request and say, get me out of here. This like four seconds after Trey Hendrickson, star edge rusher, uh, uh, double digit sacks in three of the last four seasons side of the Cincinnati Bengals, uh, please trade me as well if you're not going to extend me. I, the Bengals have had to now spend a lot of their, their post draft process saying, actually, hey, like, um, we're not going to trade our guys. These are our guy. We like them. Like, we don't want them to leave. But it, uh, it is worth asking why star edge rush.

Russia and star wide receiver two, not a wide receiver one, which is part of the problem. But these top guys, these, T. Higgins is a drafted and developed Bengal. Hendrickson is a guy who the Bengals, like,

invest, he was the third Azure Russia for the Saints. They put a big contract on his table when he was like a rotational guy, faith in him, why these guys are trying to get out of Cincinnati. Because we'd like to, would like to get traded away, right? So I think, firstly, like, I have questions about,

why, why are multiple star players requesting trade? That just, like, raises hairs on my back, even if, like, the main takeaway is T. Higgins or Trannerson want more money. Sure, fine. We're still walking into the summer with everybody knowing that that guy and that guy don't really want to be here as much as they're supposed to want to be here.

Now, let's look, uh, roster-wise. I thought one of the big issues for the Bengals over the last couple of seasons has been offensive line play. Every move that they have made to solve that has not been a move that I have liked. I'm not a big Orlando Brown guy. He very clearly presents issues for you at left tackle. You saw those issues last year for Cincinnati. He is giving up pressure off the left side.

He's constantly getting put back into the office of, into the quarterback's lap. I don't think he's a solution at that position. At right tackle, they move on from Jonah Williams, and they bring in Trent Brown, who asked Patriots fan that I felt about Trent Brown last season. Like, Trent Brown is a highly mercurial player. He is very up and down. He's not reliable to stay on the field.

He's not reliable to be good when he is on the field. This is a total dice roll. And they draft the Marius Mims in the first round to get ready for the post future of those guys. Get ready for the after Trent Brown of it all. Maybe Mims wins that job early. Get ready for the after Orlando Brown of it all. But okay, that's a future investment.

I thought right guard Cordell-Voson was a big issue for this team last season. And they did not make any moves to replace him. They're just going to roll him back out there. At left-guard Cordell-Wolson, they're just going to roll him back out there. They made no moves to replace him. This office aligned to me has multiple liabilities. At left-guard and right tackle, I don't even think, like, you can make too much of an argument on that. And then I have a left tackle issue, which I know people argue about whatever, what have you, great.

I got Joe Burrow coming back from injury, right? So I'm not how Joe Burrow with two major season ending injuries. We need to talk about the fact that Burrow is a little bit like, all right, like, he's a health question, right? Is he reliably going to make a 17-game season? Right now, the answer is no. So I have health concerns with the star quarterback and his ability to stay on the field for an entirety of a season. And then we get to the defense. Jesse Bates, gone.

DJ Reader, gone. Cheeto Ouzier, gone. I mean, they are bleeding talent, and they have been trying to draft and develop to replace these guys, and they just have not had as much success as you would like to, right? And so, all right, safety was a huge issue for this team last season. They bring Vaughn Bell back. They go and they get Gino Stone from Baltimore.

I think it's smart moves. I think it's good moves. I don't think that you expect this to be like a top flight safety room. You need Gino Stone to have been like a really plus start of just hiding in Baltimore for seasons. Like that is a thin bet. They are super young at corner, right? where it's Cam Taylor Britt and it's DJ Turner. It's Dax Hill they drafted last season.

It's Josh Newton who they drafted this season. But besides Mike Hill and at the nickel, they are just asking young players to solve that problem for them. And I like a Cam Taylor Britt, but I don't like Cam Taylor Britt against wide receiver ones every single Sunday. That's scary to me. And then on defensive line, man, they had no pass rush besides Trey Henderson last season.

None. Zero. They have a massive sack-getting problem outside of Henderson. Sam Hubbard, who's supposed to be the other guy for them. He's been banged up. He's coming off a major knee injury. They're hoping that he's going to be, better year two off the injury versus year one. Joseph Osai hasn't developed the way they wanted him.

Two Miles Murphy was the first round pick. Gonna break the roster last season. BJ Hill is now a replacement. Shelton Rank is your replacement for DJ Reader. These are replacement level veterans. Like in terms of plus impact players on the Bengals that I expect to play for 17 games. So you even throw Burrough in there. Like to me, you have a plus starter in Burrough.

You have a plus starter in Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. You have a plus starter and T. Hendrickson. That's four? I'm unconvin. Like maybe Logan Wilson, I'll give you at five? Yes. Yeah? Okay, so I give you Logan Wilson.

But is Logan Wilson really impacting the game to the same level that like... You said plus starter. He's a plus starter. Absolutely. Right, but linebacker's one of the positions where if you're a plus starter, sick. Like, great, awesome. You don't really have enough range of an influence at that position. You have to be like an elite player.

You have to be a Roquan Smith or Fred Warner. But still, I'll give you Logan Wilson. I'll give you a... You want Ted Karris or Alex Kappa? I'll give you Alex Kappa, right? Sure. Like, I give you those guys. two of the five, two of the six, one out.

They want to get out of Cincinnati. They don't want to be there, Sheel. And so to me, I, how did the Bengals make their postseason run? The defense was dominant in the playoffs. And then Burrow, Chase, and T. Higgins were gamers, right? They shine when the lights were brightest. They made the plays in the fourth quarter. How is this team win?

Callahan's gone, by the way. New O.C. Tell me how this team wins 12 games. this team beats the Ravens consistently. Because it can't be the 2020 model because the defense isn't good enough. And I'm not convinced that the offense, no Joe Mixin, Callahan gone offensive line issues,

is it just bro taking shot to shot to shot to Jamar and T again? Are we doing that in 2024? That's our best approach? I'm worried about the Cincinnati Bengals. Completely absurd. Take all around. I'm glad we can just land in our corners

months before the season even starts to disagree on the Cincinnati Bengals. an extra point-taking tradition like none other. Okay, where do I begin here? Tika is still on the roster. Like, if he doesn't show up, if he gets traded, then we can talk about how they don't have T. Higgins. I mean, the reports just change every two weeks.

He's fine playing. He shows up. He gives an interview. Chad Ocho Cinco says, no, they're going to work something out. He's on the, right now, he's on the franchise tag. He's on the roster. There have been, since the beginning of football, there have been players with.

unhappy with how much they were getting, maybe not since the beginning of football. All right, since we started talking about football, they have been players who have been unhappy with what they got paid, and they sometimes just have to show up and they play, wait a year, and then they get to enter free agency the next year. I mean, he's on the franchise tag. He's getting paid, what, over $20 million per year? It's not like he's still on a rookie contract or something. I think he will show up.

I don't think they should trade him. I think they should keep him. The Trey Hendrickson trade demand, I mean, I've never seen a less newsworthy trade in my life. The guy's got two years left on his contract. He has no leverage to play here. He's saying he retire. Okay. If he retires, what do you want me to do? I'll wear a mustache during a during a, during a, then extra point taken after he retires. Okay. Is there something else you want me to do? You want me to grow my hair. You want me to do some, you're going to die my hair. Go ahead. What's that? Can I decide the style of mustache? Yeah, but I've never grown a mustache. So I don't know that

I will be able to execute it. But yes, you can send me a picture and I will do my best. to make that mustache, you know, appear on my faith. If he retires and gives up, you know, whatever it is, $29 million over the next two seasons, then I will absolutely grow a mustache. So these are off-season storylines that almost always get worked out by the time we get to week one. So I'm not saying they're nothing. They could turn into something. At this point, I'm not worried about them.

That's number one. Number two, they were 11th in offensive DVOA last year with Joe Burrow missing seven games with all those issues you're mentioning with the offensive line with they sit with with with jake browning starting seven games they were 11th in offensive dvoy it is unfair of you to just say oh they just chuck it down field this offense has evolved for like the last three years they've come up with solutions they've problem solved they're not just running the same stuff out there regardless of personnel i think they deserve more credit for that who did all the evolution there i don't know are you can are you totally sure it was brian callahan is i'm pretty sure losing these i'm pretty sure losing these

When it comes to schematic changes, yeah, the first guy I look for is. Maybe the head coach is an offensive head coach too. I don't know. I mean, the head coach is an offensive head coach. I mean, I don't know. So if you're telling me, you feel strongly that it's Callahan, I can't argue. Maybe it was and maybe they'll feel that. Which I think their argument would be that it's a brain trust thing is Taylor plus

Callahan. And then that's why they, they promoted pitcher because they're like, all right, like, you know, Dan pitcher is their quarterback's coach is now the OC. Oh, we're like, we're a big, like, you know, community thing. Now, it is fair to say that, yes, the offense evolved and they changed schematically. I do not think that 11th and offensive DVOA is reflective of the talent on the roster. You say, oh, Ben, like, that's not fair. It's just by, it's my read on the talent of the guys.

Like, if I, if I'm playing. So you think they overachieved or they underachieve? Overachieved. Yeah, overachieved. Okay. Well, that's a good thing. Yeah. I think, I think it's good news for 2023.

When 2024, I expect them to regress back. I expect them to not overachieve and accordingly be worse. I disagree. Now, listen, the Joe Burrow health thing is fair. It's absolutely fair. But, I mean, if you're going to bring it up with Burrow, you have to bring it up with Lamar Jackson. Look at the division. Deshawn Watson hasn't played. And so all those guys have had injury issues. Joe Burroughs had more injury issues than Lamar Jackson. But, you know, like, I don't know. I'm not in the bit. It's hard to predict injuries in the NFL when you have a relatively small sample. Sometimes guys get injured and then they come back and they have a very long streak. So I'm not saying it's not nothing. It could

be something, but you got 10 games last year. Let's say you get 13, 14 games this year. I have no questions about Joe Burrow. And Joe Borough, when he was playing last year, he was playing injured. And so injured Joe Burrow, Jake Browning, 11th and offensive DVOA. Now bring me healthy Joe Burrow. You still got Jamar Chase. I hope you still have T. Higgins. And the offensive lines, I mean, you're right. There are concerns, but I wouldn't say they didn't do anything about it. I mean, Trent Brown had a stretch in the beginning of last year where he played pretty well. Now, I'm not, he's not reliable. There's no doubt about it. I don't know what version of him you're getting, but you did draft a guy

in the first round who has all sorts of traits and played well, and I know it's a small sample, but you have a Marius Mims there. You didn't have him there last year. I don't think Jonah Williams has played well for this team in years now. So like, I think the offensive line situation is actually better than it was last year, better than it was the year before. So I have a lot of faith in this offense to be really good. And defensively, I mean, you don't even mention your boy, Captain Lou, I don't even have a great season. last year, I know he can't do something with nothing, but they can be better than they were last year. I mean, you poo-poo, Gino Stone, and Von Bell. I think that's a nice upgrade. I think those are two

hopefully reliable players with some upside there. Von Bell, you know, at least knows the scheme, can get guys lined up. We'll know all the rules of the defense can be that voice for Louana Rumo. And Gino Stone was a smart free agent signing. I like that one quite a bit. He's a young, ascending player, and a ball hawk. So it's definitely not the most talented defense. I agree with you there. I'm not picking them to be a top 10 defense, but can they be like the 18th best defense in the NFL and be good in a playoff game? I believe, yes. So I like this Bengals team quite a bit. They have the sixth easiest schedule in the NFL when Joe Burrow has played the last three seasons. They're 27 and 15. They went to San Francisco. Remember that game last year where they go to San Francisco

and they beat the 49ers who were the best team in football at the time? I think Bengals are primed for a bounce back season, and this will be a team we argue about many a time both before the season and during the season in 2024. All right. So this is how I want to litmus test you on the Bengals. All right. So you say, I like this Bengals roster. So Bengals is a contending team. Are you saying Bengals are a Super Bowl contender, yeah?

Think so? Yes, 100%. I might pick them. That's my extra point taken. That's bananas. That's absurd. Banana. Anytime you have a team with a top five quarterback in the NFL with Pasket, like,

how can you call that bananas? Of course they can make it. They've been to a Super Bowl. They've been to an AFC championship before. I have Patrick Mahomes and the two-time MVP winner in the division. Listen, you could say, all right, you could give me Mahomes every year. I understand that. That's not fun.

I could pay, okay, I'll pick the Chiefs every year. That's not good for team content. I understand. The Chiefs are more likely to win the Super Bowl than the Bengals. Yes, I will accommodate that. The Ravens have lost a lot of players. The Ravens, you know, like, you look at their roster. I mean, I could point out a lot of holes on the.

Ravens roster. Now, I like the Ravens. I trust the infrastructure there. There's no doubt about it. I think they're a playoff team also, but I mean, I think it's an argument. Your acknowledgement that it is good for team content is a tacit acknowledgement that it is bananas. In order for it to be good for team content, it must be bananas. No, because if you pay, like, I'm not going to pick the chiefs every year to get to the Super Bowl. That's not fun for me. Yeah. Right. But when you, but when you pick the Bengals saying it's good for team content, you are saying that you acknowledge that my reaction is going to be that it's bananas. That's why it's good for team content. No, and picking the chiefs is bad for team content.

Yes. As I'm saying, I said picking the Bengals. But it doesn't mean I don't believe it. I believe the Bengals guy, like it's not a fake take or anything. And I believe it's bananas. And that's why it's good for team content. That's why it's good for team content. So you think the Bengals are a contender.

Now, if I gave you control over the Cincinnati Bengals on day one of the NFL draft and you had a call from a team of the pick in the 20s, which I will say that I was told. that a team in the 20s called the Bengals and offered their pick straight up for T. Higgins, right? Rumor mill, I don't know if it's true or not, but let's use that as a perspective.

At 25 for T. Higgins, you're running the Bengals. Would you have made that trade yes or no? I probably would have made that trade, yes. Right. So you think the Bengals are contenders, but not a good enough contender, right?

Like, you would still move T. Higgins for the first round pick. You would still move T. Higgins for 25. Well, that's the balance every team. faces is the short term and the long term. If I'm getting a potential player on a rookie contract and I know that I can't pay T. Higgins, then, like, that is good value for the player. I mean, I would probably just pay T. Higgins. I'm, like, I think the heart of your argument is about ownership and, like, management with the, and that I don't disagree with. Like, I think there are ways where that team can absolutely be managed differently and they're not maximizing.

Like, if you put a great owner in charge of the Cincinnati Bengals, I think they would have a better chance to win Super Bowl. So I agree with you there. I actually think, as we're speaking, this feels like it's at the heart of his argument here. It probably is. And like, like, uh, well, obviously right now we're like, okay, like, you know, looking like 2024, like I'm letting the dust settle. Like, how do I feel with the dolphins? How do I feel about the Bengals?

Like there's been like the Bengals, like, the Bengals ownership in the way that the team drafts and the way that the team, you know, pays players has like been a point of conversation ever since they realized that Joe Burrough was as good as he is. But so like, yeah, like it's probably an ownership thing. With that said, it, if you still look at the roster and you go, all right, this is a contending roster. but also like if we could move off of probably the third best player on the team for a first round pick we would goes to indicate that the Bengals like should be and need to be entering a point

of transition and like entering a stage of like caring about the future. I'm right now like oh no we're a contenders so we're going to keep T. Higgins. Like I don't think they're good enough contender to justify that. And if you're like, oh, they are good enough contender to justify it, it's still wordingly close to what the dolphins are doing where it's like, oh, we're a contender this year. So keep T. Hayd-Henerson, keep T. Higgins. like what does, what does two years down the road look like? Well, like, you're hoping that Jermaine Burton develops.

You remember that Chris Jenkins develops. Oh, like the Bengals are now. That's absurd. I mean, they got Joe Burrow who's a better quarterback than Tuotsunga Vailoa. They just used a first round pick on a potential franchise left tackle, who we both liked very much going into the draft. They have one of the best under 25 wide receivers in the entire NFL. You're looking at offense.

Left tackle, quarterback, wide receiver. They're in a great spot for four or five years down the road. I agree with you that Burrow is remarkably different than, than Tua. The dolphins took Patrick Paul in the second round, not a Mary swims in the first round, developmental guy, huge size, and they have Jalen Waddle,

who's not top five Jamar Chase. It's like top 15, right? I didn't say it's exactly the same. I said it's similar. Yeah, I mean, I like the Bengals players better in all three of those spots and the quarterback significantly better. So that matters a lot to me.

I'm just using the paradigm of like, all right, we are really investing short term and we are saying like, we're a contending team now, so it justifies a lot of its behavior. I'm not sure that it does. And I'm also not sure that you're as strong of a contending team

you claim to be. Like, oh, the top 11th, the office of DVOA, we didn't have Joe Burrow. This is all like, like, squint to make it work. It's all like, okay, so like in the world in which pitcher is able to replace Callahan, and Burroughs able to be completely healthy, and T is happy to be playing on the Bengals in 24, and Orlando Brown is good, and Trent Brown is good, and then all the defense problems from last year are solved were a contending team. There's like six conditions to get them to where they need to be.

It's a thin run. They got to run pure. I think you're overstating the issues. I think the offensive line can be average and they can operate. I think the defense can be average and they can operate. Burroughs health is the big one. Guarantee me Burrow for 17 games, for 15 games this season, and I'm feeling great about him. And so I agreed with you there.

There's no guarantee there. This could be if he gets injured again this year, yeah. I mean, we're going to have to have that conversation. I think you, I mean, the Bengals right now have the fourth best Super Bowl odds in the entire NFL behind the Niners chiefs and the Raven. So it's not just me squinting and shooing a year or more in the minority than the public here. Yes. No, no, I acknowledge that. And I'm perfectly fine with that. When I look at this roster, the amount of transition they've undergone, the amount of talent that they've lost, yeah, I'm fine with that.

Listen, we need, if I'm going to take the other side on the Belichick argument, we need some things we can lean on to let us know that the world is still in order. And our Bengals arguments, since like the first day we started this podcast is something that the people, the audience can relate. lie on. By the way, if I ever go... They've won, like, one playoff game. Oh, my God. Are you... That's just absurd. Listen, Cincinnati's, if I ever show up to your city, I expect the red carpet

treatment, okay? I'm going to bat for you every single national... Don't rip the national media, okay? I'm going to bat for you every time we have this argument. Okay, so this brings me... This actually connects to my extra point taken. I did a little exercise. They won two.

My bad. They weren't in the conference championship. Oh, wow. Terrible. Four years with Burrower. No, that's good. That's good. Winning two-ploid of games.

And you've been to the AFC championship once, man. I thought it was just one. I thought it's terrible. Jeez. What a tough start taste. I'm rolling it back. Extra point taken. Here's what I got so long. This morning, I said, what am I to do?

What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I said, Sheel? If you had to pick a Super Bowl match up right now, what would it be? Who do you got? As of May 7th. Let's start that conversation. This was a strange exercise.

So like, I could have believed the teams I was slanting on when I did this right now. I'm debating between two teams in the NFC. Do you want to guess who they are? Knowing my personality, knowing my love of team content, knowing which teams I actually think are good. Who do you think the two teams are that I'm debating between? You said in the NFC? NFC. Okay.

San Francisco? No. Detroit? Yes. Dallas? No. Philadelphia? No. Oh my God, who? Green Bay Packers. I should have known. I shouldn't know. That's on me. Lions and the Packers. All right. So here's how I arrive to these two teams. You mentioned the Eagles. Yes, the ceiling is there for the Eagles. Nick Siriani is coaching for his job with the shadow of Bill Belichick looming. There are still holes on this roster. I think they're probably going to be a good team, but I need more time. I don't think I'm going to be picking them to get to the Super Bowl. How can I trust the Cowboys? It's been, what, 27 years. They haven't been out of the second

round. You have quarterback entering the final year of his deal, coach entering the final year of his deal, did not see enough upgrades to the roster in the offseason, not picking the Cowboys. 49ers, you could absolutely pick the 49ers, but only once since 2000 has the Super Bowl loser gotten back to the Super Bowl the following year. We have talked about this before. It is very hard once you get that close to come back the next year and get back there. So, ruled those teams. teams out. Packers, listen, we love a Packers here. Team on the rise, like the quarterback, like the coach, defense has a chance to get better, a bunch of young players who theoretically should be ascending. I like the Green Bay Packers. And then I got to the Detroit Lions. And I

remember Dan Campbell, remember they lost that game to the Niners last year? And like the first thing he said to the team was like, we might never get back here. It was too real, as my daughter would say, too real that he said that to the players in the locker, minutes after. I think you might have been wrong, Dan Campbell. You brought Ben Johnson back. You still have a very good team. I wish you had one more piece at wide receiver, but you know what? You have Sam Laporta at tight end.

You have Jamir Gibbs at running back. There's enough there. You can have a top five offense. Defensively, I love what you did. You just threw resources at the secondary. Terry and Arnold, you bring in Carlton Davis, Amick Robertson. I'm not telling you they're all going to work out,

but hopefully you have enough there. where the secondaries improved. So you have the coaching staff that I like, you have a roster that I like, you're strong on the offensive line. I settled on the Detroit lines going to the Super Bowl from the NFC as of May 7th. Again, subject to change, that's where I am.

AFC, we already went over it. Listen, you could pick the Chiefs every year. I understand that. If you want to pick the Chiefs, go ahead. Ravens have a chance. Bills have a chance, although it's not their season. I was debating between the Bengals and the Texans

were the two teams I looked at and said, I think I'm going to pick one of these teams to get to the Super Bowl. I ended up on the Cincinnati Bengals. We just had a long conversation about the Cincinnati Bengals. I legitimately can't believe that. That's astonishing to me. Oh, Troberto is so good.

He's like maybe the fourth best quarterback of the conference. What are we doing? Okay. All right. Listen, we're going to have plenty more time to talk about that. So if I had to pick today, I've got the Detroit, Lions beating the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl. That is my Super Bowl pick as of May 7th.

I will be changing this once it gets to August or September. So-Lock, do you want to share the Super Bowl pick if you had to pick one right now? I mean, like, if I had to pick right now, Chiefs over 49ers. Okay, I started this spot by saying that I can, I'm allowed to, I'm allowed to plant flags and there's literally no consequence. I'm going to come back a changed mansion. I'm going to come back a father, right? Nothing I said previously holds. What if fatherhood makes you like love the Bengals. It's something about it. You're just like, I take back everything. Man, what a great family business, Cincinnati Bengals. Newfound respect. I like the way he runs it. I'm going to pass the team down through the generation. One day I'm going to give my daughter with the Browns of, yeah. I'm going to have a team.

I love it. I'm bowed. Um, okay. I actually, I love it. I should, Let me look at the Super Bowl odds real quick. I will say, Bengals I find preposterous. Lions, yeah. Like, I think, right. It is a good point that Dan Campbell, when he said that, he thought he was losing at least one, maybe two coordinators, and that didn't happen.

And then they lose some talent along the offensive line. And, like, the camps on legal situation, I think, was quite the curveball. But in general, like, they recovered at cornerback well. And then they just kind of have questions at guard. and then they need kind of a second player along the defensive line to show up. But a lot of the running back is the same, right? They kind of got the guys they wanted to get.

So I get it with the Lions. I'm very tempted to take the Texans from the AFC. That's kind of been my team. So I'll take Houston. AFC team. They're going to be, it wouldn't be so fun if they beat Dallas. Wouldn't it be so good if Dallas made the Super Bowl and lost it?

And then they had to figure out the DAC conversation. Having made a playoff run, Dak plays, okay, DAC MVP, but Texans win Super Bowl, but then all the discourse is like Dak, and Dak's a horrible game of Super Bowl, terrible game, just a dreadful game. And it's like, all he can't win in the postseason. He's not a champion, he's not a leader.

And they have to figure out how to pay him like $58 million off an MVP season. Yeah, okay, Texans Cowboys has been Super Bowl prediction that doesn't count as of May 7th. I like it. Texans Cowboys and Lions Bengals are the two. All right. It was a fun extra, but that was a, what a spirited extra point taken for May 7th.

Unbelievable. I come in thinking, all right, you know, listen, we'll do our best, but this might not be an A plus show. And maybe it wasn't an A plus show, but we got into it. When we get into it, it's always the most fun. We've got one more extra point taken until our man leaves for paternity leave.

I'm out of here. We're going to do that on Friday. It's the show we did last year where we look into our crystal balls and we identify, headlines that we're going to see predictions for three years from now. 2027 when little Solac is potty trained and running around and doing all sorts of things and talking and being a little Ben Solac out there in Michigan. So yes, we will do that on Friday of this week.

All right. Thank you to Cliff Augustine for producing. Thank you to Eduardo Ocampo for video production and social. production supervision by Connor and Evans and Arjuna, Ram Gapal. We will talk to everybody on Friday. Have a great week. We'll talk to you soon on extra points. Must be 21 plus, 18 plus in D.C.

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