HENRY TO’O TO’O signs a contract extension – two years, $16M

Summary

Podcast Summary: Payne & Pendergast

Episode: HENRY TO’O TO’O signs a contract extension – two years, $16M

Date: August 7, 2026
Hosts: Seth Payne & Sean Pendergast

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the Houston Texans signing linebacker Henry To’o To’o to a two-year, $16 million contract extension. Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast use the news to analyze the Texans' defensive outlook, the team’s roster-building strategy, and the culture under head coach DeMeco Ryans and GM Nick Caserio. The hosts also discuss former Texan C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s recent comments, salary cap management, and a smattering of Astros and NFL preseason storylines, all delivered with their trademark banter and deep ties to Houston sports.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. DeMeco Ryans on Henry To’o To’o’s Impact

[00:55]–[01:43], [35:16]–[36:04]

• Head Coach DeMeco Ryans praises To’o To’o for his intelligence, versatility, and leadership:
  • "He brings this smart calmness to our defense, right? Always in position, always exactly where he should be. ... You can count on him."
  • Highlights To’o To’o’s ability to handle mic and will positions and willingness to accept coaching tweaks.
  • Notes that Henry’s passion and fire are contagious among a group of physically tough, high-motor linebackers.
  • “Henry is a guy that I feel I can always count on ... can take the coaching well and go apply it on the field and put himself in position to make plays.” – DeMeco Ryans [00:55], [35:16]

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2. Breakdown of To’o To’o’s Extension

[04:30]–[06:27]

• The deal is viewed as both "reasonable" and a win-win.
  • “Hashtag reasonable. Like nothing gets you more excited than a reasonable deal.” – Seth Payne [04:30]
  • To’o To’o becomes the 30th-highest paid linebacker – essentially average pay for a starter, reflecting his solid, dependable value.
• Both hosts agree:
  • Houston's extension strategy is intentionally measured, balancing high-end spend (Will Anderson, Derek Stingley) with “blue-collar” steady players.
  • Seth: “You need your blue-collar guys there who are solid, steady, and dependable. That’s what Henry To’o To’o is.” [05:42]
• To’o To’o’s family and loyalty to Houston factor into the extension.

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3. Player & Locker Room Perspective

[07:56]–[08:54], [13:23]–[14:26]

• To’o To’o’s emotional and personal connection to Houston – as seen in his wife’s TikTok after signing.
• He credits offseason discipline, family support, and offseason “village” for his improvement:
  • "It takes a village to raise a child. So it was a whole village that kind of put into this offseason ... I want to be the best player that I can be for this team." – Henry To’o To’o [08:12]
• Reflects candidly on overcoming mistakes and adversity:
  • “I ain’t gonna lie that was probably one of the toughest times of my life... missing that tackle on Baker Mayfield... It helped me develop to be a better linebacker... I love hard times because it doesn’t do nothing but help me grow.” – Henry To’o To’o [13:23]

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4. Texans’ Defensive Core & Roster Management

[10:53]–[12:45], [16:07]–[16:41], [36:04]–[39:02]

• Nearly the entire starting defense (except Tommy Togiai) is now under contract for at least two more seasons; several core players are signed through 2027 or beyond.
• Caserio’s philosophy:
  • Layer expensive stars with “solid state, steady and dependable” rotational players.
  • On Tommy Togiai: He’s viewed as the possible next extension challenge due to his increasing market value and the financial squeeze of retaining starters under the cap.
• Importance of defensive depth and competition – Texan culture now balances stars with hungry, competitive rookies and role players.
• Seth: “There are guys on this defense that are being paid well, but who also don’t have contracts that prevent a rookie from taking their job... It’s still a competitive situation.” [16:07]

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5. C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s Comments on his Texans Departure

[24:48]–[31:49]

• The hosts play and then dissect 38 seconds of CJGJ’s recent media statements from Bills camp, where he defends his short Texans stint.
• Seth’s reaction: scathing.
  • “One of the most idiotic little defenses of oneself I’ve ever seen. This is when the guy decides to defend himself with no lawyer.” [24:54]
  • CJGJ suggests coaching staff didn’t “speak up” about his release; Seth says that’s “precisely the kind of thing coaches wouldn’t weigh in on.”
• CJGJ says it’s not fair to blame an 0-3 start on one person; Seth counters:
  • “They went 13-3 after you were gone... Since you’re the one who’s bringing it up. Yeah, things got way better after you were gone.” [27:48]
  • Discussed specific reports of CJGJ freelancing, "pocket Watching" other players’ contracts, and general locker room unrest.
• Broader point: The Texans acted swiftly, as New England once did, to cut ties once issues became clear.

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6. Building (and Paying) Elite Defenses in Today’s NFL

[17:52]–[18:49], [37:08]–[39:13]

• The hosts challenge takes like Shady McCoy’s (“Why pay for Clowney, you already have a great defense?”), stating you can always get better or deeper.
  • “Okay, they’re already a great defense. Does that somehow mean they can’t be a better defense?” – Seth Payne [17:52]
  • Clowney’s bargain deal ($5M range) gives them high-end production at a rotational price.
• The modern defensive tackle market: Paying $20M+ per year is standard for top DTs; Togi could command that if he hits free agency.
• The Texans' willingness to spend, and tough decisions looming (e.g., Tommy Togiai).

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7. Miscellaneous Houston Sports and NFL News

[03:01]–[03:46], [39:33]–[42:56]

• Fun side notes: Hosts discuss Big3 basketball night at Toyota Center (spotting Dwight Howard, Lance Stephenson, and Michael Beasley).
• Astros update: Yordan Alvarez leads the AL Triple Crown race; discussion of upcoming Padres series and pitching rotation.
• Brief tangent on NFL preseason (Hall of Fame Game):
  • Stats for Haynes King and Carson Beck, light mockery of preseason hype graphics.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Nothing gets you more excited than a reasonable deal.” – Seth Payne [04:30]
• “He’s a guy that I feel I can always count on... Henry is a guy who can take the coaching well and go apply it on the field and put himself in position to make plays for him.” – DeMeco Ryans [00:55], [35:16]
• “I love hard times because it doesn’t do nothing but help me grow.” – Henry To’o To’o [14:23]
• “They went 13-3 after you were gone... Yeah, things got way better after you were gone.” – Seth Payne on CJGJ [27:48]
• “There are guys on this defense that are being paid well, but who also don’t have contracts that prevent a rookie from taking their job... It’s still a competitive situation.” – Seth Payne [16:07]
• On Clowney/defense takes: “Okay, they’re already a great defense. Does that somehow mean they can’t be a better defense?” – Seth Payne [17:52]

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Important Timestamps

• 00:55: DeMeco Ryans on To’o To’o’s value to the defense
• 04:30: Initial reactions to the extension – “Hashtag reasonable”
• 08:12: To’o To’o on offseason preparation/support system
• 13:23: To’o To’o on learning from his mistakes (“I love hard times...”)
• 24:54: Seth’s takedown of CJGJ’s comments (“One of the most idiotic defenses...”)
• 27:48: Payne: “They went 13-3 after you were gone... things got way better...”
• 35:16: DeMeco Ryans reiterates To’o To’o’s dependability
• 39:33: Astros weekend preview, Yordan Alvarez Triple Crown odds

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Tone & Language

Throughout, Seth and Sean riff with their signature blend of humor, deep football insight, and real-talk analysis. They keep it approachable but sharp, rooting everything in specific on-field details and data-backed comparisons while indulging in laid-back locker-room banter and nostalgic references (like SNL’s “two wild and crazy guys”).

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Summary Takeaway

This episode exemplifies the Texans’ rising culture: smart, disciplined extensions; a focus on both stars and glue guys like To’o To’o; and a willingness to confront problem cases head-on. The extension is lauded as a model of value and fit, and the hosts use it as a launching pad for bigger conversations about team-building, locker-room dynamics, and Houston sports as a whole—essential listening for any H-Town sports fan.

Transcript

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[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Hey there, it's Jill Schlesinger. I'm launching a brand new show. It's called Money Moves. Follow and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[Seth Payne]

Sports Radio 610 presents Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast. We coming to eighth time.

[d'Amico Ryan]

Let's get the work in, man. Let's go.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Great day. Great day.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, give me some juice, baby. Oh, yeah. Let's do it.

[d'Amico Ryan]

What Harry brings to our defense, he brings this smart calmness to our defense, right? Always in position, always exactly where he should be. So he's. You can count on him. You can put a lot on his play. He can handle things. He can play the mic and the wheel position. Very versatile guy. And Henry plays with passion and fire, man, that rubs off on other guys. Like to see him play. Is fun to watch him play and you mix him in with Aziz and Lassiter. Got some wild and crazy guys running around who love to hit, love to play physical. But Henry is a guy that I feel I can always count on, like asking guys to probably change up techniques, put him in those situations where I may want to change some things. Henry is the guy who can take the coaching well and go apply it on the field and put himself in position to make plays for him.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

There you go. That was Texas head coach d' Amico Ryan's as we bump in on practice number eight today live at Texans training camp. Sean Pendergast and Seth Payne, of course,

[Seth Payne]

couple of wild and crazy guys.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

A little homage to Saturday Night Live 1978.

[Seth Payne]

Nico's a little too young to remember the two wild and crazy guys.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

You never know what people watch on Tick Tock, man, that's the stuff I'd be proud of.

[Seth Payne]

Pointing out that he knows them and he's much younger than us. Yeah, yeah. I think that the part there though, too, when he talks about tweaking the techniques a little bit. There is an element to the Texans defense where, you know, people say, oh, they're so simple. They're so simple. Teams know what they're. Offenses know what they're running, but they can't do anything about it. That's the beauty sometimes of having a scheme that looks like it's simple is you can really screw offenses up by just tweaking things a little tight.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

That's what you're expecting this year?

[Seth Payne]

Well, no, no, no. They've already been doing that. I think there's. They'll do more disguising this year. But like they've been this way all along. It's that you almost lull offenses into thinking they know exactly what you're running. But all you have to do is tweak up your responsibilities or exactly just what leverage you're taking on a play. And it really. It really screws an offense up. But that's. That's where you need smart football players to be able to do that stuff.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yep. And the reason we bump in this morning with a bite about Henry Toa Toa. There's no practice yesterday. There's no Astros game yesterday. I said in my sports report I did for the fm's this morning. Good day to go day drinking yesterday. There's really nothing going on except we went to the Big Three last night at Toyota center to see our friend Alex Del Barrio. That was fun. Yeah. Had a good time at that.

[Seth Payne]

Saw Lance Stevenson go off all over the place.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Michael Beasley go off.

[Seth Payne]

Dwight Howard, like. Like a slightly physically less impressive Dwight Howard.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

He's still a physically impressive human being compared to all the other humans.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

But a lesser version of himself.

[Seth Payne]

His shoulders look more like softball than cantaloupe now. You know, it was. It's not. He's a. He's. He's an old man.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

By athlete standards.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah. Yeah. And kind of played like one last night. Yeah. So if you want to see your heroes from back in the day, look somewhat human. The Big Three, it was fun. We had a good time at that last night. But the reason we play the d' Amico cut on Henry Towa Toa. Henry Towa TOA signs a two year, $16 million extension yesterday. So we can talk about that deal. Certainly we can talk about the Texans defense and what that means to them. How Nick Casario and DeMeco Ryan's have now stacked this defense not just for this season, but for a lot of these guys, at the very least next season and for several of them, including Henry Toa Toa now beyond next season. But I guess what. What were your initial reactions to the deal?

[Seth Payne]

I got all excited. Hashtag reasonable. Yeah. Like nothing gets you more excited than A reasonable deal.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

It gets a lot of traction when you do hashtag reasonable.

[Seth Payne]

Yes, yes, yes, this makes sense. I'm not overly emotionally moved by this, which is the appropriate response because it's the right thing to do.

[Henry Toa Toa]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

A two year extension. So it's not a long term deal. And it makes him the 30th highest paid linebacker softball linebacker in the league, tied for 30th. So he's in the top. I think the next ranking down was 33 or so. So you know, in a league where by and large these days most teams have two starting linebackers because they play more nickel than than their base defense, he's about halfway out of 64 teams. He's being paid like an average linebacker and if he had gone to free agents he probably would have gotten paid a little bit better than this. But also if you gone to free agency, might have been able to get a three or four year deal like let's say he had played exactly the same with his this year that he did last year. So I think it makes, it makes a lot of sense for him. It's a nice, it's, it keeps him in Houston. He and his wife seem to love being here. But I think for the team, look you're going to pay money for your high dollar items like Will Anderson and Derek Stingley but you also, you need to have your blue collar guys there who are solid state steady and dependable and that's what Henry Toa Toa is. So it just, it made sense for both sides. I think it's, I think it's a testament to the Texans culture that a guy like Henry Toa Toa especially who family is very important to him the like he is that old school wants to, wants to do it for the team, unselfish, all of that. I think he just likes playing here.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And there are a lot of guys on this defense that just appreciate how much fun it is to be on a good defense in a good locker room and he doesn't need to be overly greedy or think about how much more he could get somewhere else.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

No, no. But it's a nice big raise for him like you said. I think I do think I agree with you. I think if he had a good season this year heading into a contract year heading into free agency, there would have been some team that's looking for. You know, we see these teams all the time. Tennessee was one of those teams last year. They're just overpaying for guys that have played on good defenses or shown something and that's what free agency is all about. Some team. If Henry Towa Toa had a solid year, I'm not even saying he needs to be a Pro Bowler. It's hard to be a Pro Bowler on this defense because they have so many of them already. You can only put so many Texans in the Pro bowl, including one at linebacker and Aziz Al Shayer. If he had a good season though where other teams watch him enough, he'd have made 10 million next year for sure a season. So that's why I agree with you. I think it's a good deal for both sides, especially if you're Henry Towa Toa and you want to be here. I don't know if you saw the TikTok that his wife put up of him getting home from practice or getting home. I guess they didn't practice yesterday, but just getting home from the building yesterday, it was really cool, man. Like to see how emotional the two of them were about being in Houston for two more years on top of this. It was really. We don't, you know, back in the day you never got to see that stuff. We get a lot more window into some of these guys private lives.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, that's good. It was pretty cool to see that. It was pretty cool to rely on what they told us they did.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah, yeah. No, now we have video.

[Seth Payne]

Now we have proof that they like.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Sure.

[Seth Payne]

None of it's wondered whether those two were for real or not.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

That's right. Here was. Here was Henry Toa Toa. I think it's interesting that they put him in front of the media. Maybe they didn't know the contract was coming. You know, normally you'd put a guy in front of the media the day after he signs a contract.

[Seth Payne]

He sounded like he didn't know it was coming.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

No, I know. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Like, no, I just. And I'm saying maybe media relations didn't know either. But he did meet with the media a couple days ago, the day before the contract, and he talked about his off season preparation and coming back this year.

[Henry Toa Toa]

Man, it was a lot. It was a whole lot. I feel like I spent a lot

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

of time with Aziz.

[Henry Toa Toa]

I do every off season, but I was here most of the time spending time with this training staff, with Mike Eubanks, spending time with them and then just working on footwork stuff here with Aziz. Me and Aziz spent a lot of time together this off season and then obviously going back home working with my coach, coach Juan, working with my dad doing Some forward stuff there. So it was like a, it's like my term, it takes a village to raise a child. So it was a whole village that kind of put into this off season knowing what kind it is for me personally, but for the team collectively, like, I, I want to be the best player that I can be for this team. So I try to use all the resources that I had available to be able to make that happen, to be the best I could be. Yeah.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

I mean, the year personally, the party says part where he says what a big year it is for me personally kind of does indicate that maybe he didn't know that yesterday was going to be the day it was coming to fruition, you know, or at least he's playing coy about it, right?

[Seth Payne]

No, and he's, you know, like, yeah, right. The contract is the contract and this is a big year for me. And he kind of quickly brushed by that. I think that the, I don't think it was because he had an interception the day before in practice.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Can you imagine? That was the tipping point.

[Seth Payne]

I don't know.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

It was a good play.

[Seth Payne]

It was a good play.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

But I feel like, I feel like with CJ which is one of the follow up questions you have to. This deal is okay, another Texan gets paid and extended. Is CJ Possibly going to be one of these guys we hear about? I do feel like with CJ I, there, there could be a part of the way the team is looking at him and watching him operate in the off season and kind of watching him in these first two weeks where the most encouraging thing for me about CJ Is that I've heard him at least once and I think twice talk specifically about his involvement in the pass protection because that's really what this defense, that's, that's a huge part of just what this offense is. Is the quarterback being sure that it's as, like get it. Making it as easy as possible for the O line to block things up by getting the protection right. And that tells me that he, he spent a whole lot of time in the off season learning exactly how to operate that part of the offense. And it's a lot like any, any coaches. I remember the first time I really started learning about offensive pass protection, offensive line pass protection, and being kind of grudgingly admitting like, okay, these offensive linemen are smarter than I've been giving them credit for. This is way more, more stuff than I'm paying attention to in a football game when I'm a defensive lineman and as a Quarterback sometimes is like to really dive into that. It's not just like, oh, okay, I got a. I've got a. I've got a pretty good notion of what's supposed to be going on. You got to become almost like an O line coach and understanding protection, I

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

guess, who's left of the Texans. We'll go through the defense here and how they've locked these guys up. I guess the only other extensions I could imagine happening before the season with the Texans, I could see a C.J. stroud extension. I think it's a coin flip right now as to whether we see that or not. But Nick Casario went on Rich Eisen yesterday and again repeated what he'd said in the press conference and on our show, which is that there have been productive conversations. And I guess on defense, the only starter that's not under contract beyond this season is Tommy Tokii right now. Everybody else on that defense is under contract for at least two more seasons. And then there's several that are under contract, including Toa. Toa Jalen, Petrie, Reid Blankenship, Stingley Aziz, Will Anderson beyond 2027.

[Seth Payne]

Tommy Togi might be kind of the dividing line for what the Texans can and can't do right now or what they're willing to do in terms of spending a boatload of money on good football players. You got to try to keep as many of them around as possible, but you got to make some hard decisions to say goodbye to some guys. If you're Togei and his agent, you're looking at how well he played last year and how much defensive tackles get paid and how much teams are willing to pay guys in free agency to just fix. The Texans are playing like five different teams this year that have spent good money on at least one really good defensive lineman to try to fix their defense. The Bengals spent money on three free agent defensive linemen to try to fix

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

traded for Dexter Lawrence.

[d'Amico Ryan]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

Well, I'm including Dexter Lawrence in that. They're paying a lot of money. Right. So that might be the tough one, is that I think the Texans could love Tommy Togi, but also be looking at him and thinking, man, if we can get him to a really reasonable deal right now, that's a discount. That's a good bargain. But we also understand that he, he might see that, man, this is a potentially a 20 million per year plus guy.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah, it might have to be a situation like we just heard Henry saying where he just loves playing here. You know, he really, like he's flourished here this is where he became a guy who could be worth something like that. So they've done a really good job of putting this defense together. Here's one more from Henry Towa Toa. I know you like this one the other day. He had a bad game against the Raiders last year. That was the one game Aziz missed where Henry had to have the green dot on his helmet. So he had a lot on his plate that game and had had some. Had some rough snaps in that game.

[Seth Payne]

And he also mentions the. The Buccaneers game in this. In this one, too.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Oh, missing that tackle.

[Seth Payne]

Missing the tackle on Baker Mayfield.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yep. Here's Henry Toa Toa bouncing back from bad games.

[Henry Toa Toa]

I ain't gonna lie that that was probably one of the toughest times of my life. I think Tampa was a hard one for me and then obviously the Raiders game was a hard one for me. But I think to those two games, it was just like digging deep on finding who I truly am as a player and as a man. You know, throughout my career I've had bad plays, but I never had bad plays like that. So being able to chin check myself, look myself in the mirror and be like, am I going to forward? Am I going to give up? Or am I going to fix what's happening in front of me and go out and be the player that I know that I can be. So I, I think those two games specifically, it helped me develop to be able to be the better linebacker that I needed to be and the better man that I need to be because, you know, you hate giving up stuff like that. And whenever you get punched in the mouth, it sucks. And like, it honestly just gave me the time to look in the mirror and was like, all right hand, what are you going to do about it now? Like, what are you going to do? You going to fold up? Or you can go out and play some good ball. So I'm super grateful for it. I tell my parents and my wife this all the time. Like, I'm so grateful for hard times. I love hard times because it doesn't do nothing but help me grow the.

[Seth Payne]

That's a good cut. When he said chin check himself, he would have gotten extra credit for you. Said, I got a Ken Giles myself. I'm tough enough to.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah, that would have been a nice homage to Houston sports right there.

[Seth Payne]

You know, I've always been very gentle with him when it came to that missed tackle versus Baker Mayfield because I made this, a similar mistake on a blitz when I was a young player. Be a hypocrite well, you know what somebody pointed out to me yesterday? They went back and watched that game and they brought up the plays that they thought I was talking about. I totally screwed it up. In my mind. I had a bad play where I allowed myself to get held and missed a tackle on a Boomer siasson scramble. I got like, it should have been holding, but I, as a defensive line coach, used to tell me, you allow yourself to get held, though. The blitz was on a running play where I came too wide and made the same mistake that Toa Toa did on Baker Mayfield, but I missed a running back.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Was it on somebody as slippery as a Boomer Esiason that play?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. So the. I think the biggest thing about. There were another. There was another play in the Bucs game, too, where it was. He. It was a breakdown in discipline, in where he was positioned in the play. And I think that, like, in learning from that, like, he's a young player that learned from it and became better. And then I think, likewise after the Raiders game, I think he learned from that and became better. It also helped get Nazeez Elshire back.

[Henry Toa Toa]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And I think there's, you know, he's a guy that has done a lot in his first three years to become a much better player than I expected him to be. After his rookie year, he changed himself physically. He's just steadily taken step after step after step to become a more solid linebacker. But I think the, like, the price tag is right for him.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

This is.

[Seth Payne]

This is. This one makes a whole lot of sense. And it's also, I think there, look, there are guys on this team, on this defense that are getting paid well, but who also don't have contracts that prevent a rookie from taking their job sometime in the next couple years. It's still a competitive situation at a lot of the spots on the defensive line, even defensive tackle. This is where they've got so many defensive tackles right now. So if they. If they can't retain Tommy Togi, they've got other guys that are like, scratching and clawing to be the next Tommy Togia.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

It is wild, man, that they've got this thing locked down for to have this many good play. Like, you know, back in the day, Bill o' Brien would lock guys down, but they were below average football players, you know, and more on the offensive side than the defensive side. He kind of let the defensive side go to hell in a hand basket at the end. I was doing that this morning, too. I was watching old Bill o' Brien press Conferences around the Jadevian Clowney franchise tender contract dispute. Yeah, boy, that's interesting to go back and watch. Oh, yeah, o' Brien like, hey, we want him here. You know, he just needs to come in. He's doing the things you were talking about.

[Seth Payne]

Southern Bell, o' Brien in and sign the tender.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

We can't really talk about it.

[Seth Payne]

I don't even understand what the conflict is here. I'm just sitting here drinking my sarsaparilla, wondering why, where is that old Genevieve? And anyway, YouTube's the best.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Never forgets.

[Seth Payne]

Shady McCoy was critical of the Texans signing Clowney because he said, hey, they're already a great defense. What they need is help on offense, which, like, yes, the umbrella statement there is good. I think there's two things that I have issues with there. It's like, okay, okay, they're already a great defense. Does that somehow mean they can't be a better defense?

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

That's $5 million, right?

[Seth Payne]

It's a bargain deal into the amount that you can get out of him. If you look at the production of the guys that they had in Danico Autry and Derek Barnett last year and the number of snaps they played, Genevion Clowney for, less money can give you more production than both those guys combined like that. It is, it is an awesome deal for. If you're comparing this defense this year to the Texans defense last year, no, they had backup defensive ends that were really valuable and were a big part of the success of that team. So they needed to do something to be sure they had that just to get back to where they were last year. And then Clowney, for the price they're paying, is a really, really good deal.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

What a horrible take.

[Seth Payne]

Well, it's almost like, yeah, as if paying a guy $5 million, five and a half million dollar base salary, somehow procurement precludes you from doing anything on the offensive side of the ball.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Well, as if you. As if. Yeah, like just because you think.

[GameTime Ad Voice / Podcast Host]

For years, Gone south has been a podcast about crime in the American South.

[Seth Payne]

But for our new season, we're widening

[GameTime Ad Voice / Podcast Host]

the lens through deeply reported narrative driven stories. We're digging into the myths, scandals, and power structures that still shape the south and in a lot of ways, the country itself.

[Seth Payne]

Follow and listen to gone South Season

[GameTime Ad Voice / Podcast Host]

5, an Odyssey podcast, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows. We have the tech to get food delivered in 15 minutes, but we all have horror stories about buying tickets. The GameTime app gives fans the advantage. Get amazing tickets in just a few Taps fees are included, so what you see is what you pay. And the gametime guarantee means authentic tickets at the best price every time. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to concerts, sports, comedy and more with GameTime. Download the GameTime app and create an account for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

I'm Tobin Heath.

[Seth Payne]

And I'm Kristen Press. We're World cup champions, Olympians, and the hosts of the recap show. Week in and week out, we sit down with sports legends, cultural icons and global change makers to talk everything from clutch games to causes that matter. This is about creating the future of women's sports. A future that's honest, inclusive and real.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Join us for Reimagined Journey.

[Seth Payne]

Follow and listen to the recap show

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

wherever you get your podcasts.

[GameTime Ad Voice / Podcast Host]

Most of the time, La Playa sounds like this.

[Seth Payne]

For some, La Playa also sounds like this.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

The 30, the 20, the 10.

[GameTime Ad Voice / Podcast Host]

But no matter what, this is our Playa Corona. La Playa awaits.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Relax responsibly. Corona Extra beer, imported by Crown Import, Chicago, Illinois. Something's a problem. Doesn't mean there aren't other things that need to be fixed.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

You know what I mean? Well, it's like, oh, yeah, I got my A1C under control. Well, you should have been, you know, like, it's. Yeah, you got to work on your cholesterol also. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

You should probably stop shooting heroin. Yeah. You know, it's. Listen, Sean, good. Good job on your blood sugar and all, but this heroin thing. Yeah, it's. It's becoming an issue.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Oh, I just needed to fix that, that's all.

[Seth Payne]

Maybe switch over to black tar. It's cheaper.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

I'm spending a lot of money. I didn't realize it was so much.

[Seth Payne]

You're out here spending like you got high end heroin money when you got the, when you, you don't.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

The moment, you're not really thinking about it, but if you take a step back. You're right, you're right. It's hard to fit all those drugs under the salary cap, man. All right. Pain and Pendergast with you here on a day eight practice here out at the Methodist Training Center. Texans back at it today fans out here today night practice tomorrow. If you got tickets for tomorrow, don't show up here at nine in the morning. I mean, you can, but you're not going to see anything. 6:00pm Tomorrow is practice, by the way. Baseball talk. I'll talk baseball for a couple seconds. Jordan Alvarez, he is favored to win the Triple Crown in the American League. Minus 150. So that is the favorite right now that he's going to win the Triple Crown in the American League. I didn't realize how far out in front he is in some of these stats. Holy smokes. He's 29 points ahead of the next closest guy in batting average. There's your baseball talk for the Open Baseball talk on Sports Radio 610 presented by Xfinity. Score the most reliable Wi Fi one price five years guaranteed Xfinity. Imagine that. All right, up next, CJ Gardner Johnson spoke about the Texans yesterday at Buffalo Bills training camp. Seth Payne is going to tear apart 38 seconds of CJ Gardner Johnson audio limb from limb. We're going to do that coming up in Spain.

[Seth Payne]

And Pendergast

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

hi, welcome back. Texans Training Camp. We are live here at the Methodist Training center waiting for practice number eight of training camp 2026. Been a lively and good training camp so far here for the Houston Texans. Henry Towa Toa signs a two year sixteen million dollar deal yesterday. We'll talk more about that in headlines. If you missed it, we talked about it extensively in the open. You can listen all day long on the free Odyssey app and you get our podcast. By the way, we are under a week away from the changeover to 95. 7 the fan. We're all very excited about that. Thursday morning 8am we pull the switch. We got a bunch of good guests lined up which we'll be talking about more early next week. And this is no joke. Like we've got some big names lined up for our show on Thursday morning. Next week we'll be on 6am to 10am but the big switchover happens in the middle of the show at 8am I don't know how camp's going with the Buffalo Bills. Probably a relevant camp to at least keep eyes on since that's the Texans week one opponent. I'd imagine it's going fine. They got a new head coach in, Joe Brady, who's their old offensive coordinator. They also have CJ Gardner Johnson on their team.

[Seth Payne]

That's right.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

They signed him. C.J. gardner Johnson is on his 45th team in the last three years. Thereabouts. I counted, it looks like it's about

[Seth Payne]

four, six teams in the last, well, six, five teams in the last six years. But that includes two separate stays with the Eagles.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

It's four in the last calendar year.

[Seth Payne]

So he's in the calendar year.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

In the calendar year. He was a Texan this time last year.

[Henry Toa Toa]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

But then he went to. Where did he Go before Baltimore. Baltimore. And then Chicago.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Then Chicago. And now he's a buffalo bill.

[Seth Payne]

So six teams in the last six years.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah. And four in the last 12 months.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

So it would appear C.J. gardner Johnson might be running out his string just in general as a football player here. Yeah, we'll see. He's on a one year, $3.5 million deal with the Buffalo Bills. He had a media scrum yesterday. Here's 38 seconds of audio with CJ Gardner Johnson in which he talks about his brief time in Houston last year, including the 03 start. Well, all reports out of here were that those three losses each had plays that C.J. gardner Johnson kind of went into business for himself. So we're going to play this audio and then Seth is going to go back and pick it apart limb from limbs.

[Seth Payne]

One of the most idiotic little defenses of oneself I've ever seen. This is when the guy decides to defend himself. And with no lawyer. Yeah, right. Right. That's what. Yeah. Defending yourself, that is. No lawyer. Yeah. It's bad. It's bad. Here we go.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

C.J. gardner Johnson.

[d'Amico Ryan]

I'm glad you asked about that text.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

You got me pissed now.

[d'Amico Ryan]

I'm sorry.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Appreciate you.

[Seth Payne]

Is that a good thing?

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

That's a great thing.

[Henry Toa Toa]

Okay.

[GameTime Ad Voice / Podcast Host]

What.

[d'Amico Ryan]

What happened?

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

You said there were lies, like the way things ended.

[Seth Payne]

Y' all still ain't got no confirmed

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

real story from what really happened.

[Seth Payne]

Let's talk about that. You want to talk about it or where's the real stories at? What did I really do?

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

They released you in September after you had, I think, a leg injury in August, Right?

[Seth Payne]

They released me because I wasn't dealing with the team and I didn't fit well. Well, why hasn't the coach spoke up

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

about it on the field or off the field? They say you didn't fit well after

[Seth Payne]

the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

[GameTime Ad Voice / Podcast Host]

I didn't fit well.

[Seth Payne]

That was already starting 0 and 3.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

So how can it possibly be a one person? So now you're going to be fired up Week one.

[Seth Payne]

I'm feeling it. No, Josh will handle it up and the defense handle up. So we'll do what we got to do. I mean, that's a good team.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

I'm not putting on past him.

[Seth Payne]

It's just the situation that how they handle me, and it just wasn't respectful. So as a grown man, I feel like when you see me, you see me. Yeah, it wasn't respectful.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Okay. You would take these one at a

[Seth Payne]

time because each step along the way, I'm like, with each sentence. Okay, so first of all, the reporter screwed it up. That reporter sounded like he had no clue about all the. The story that came out after he was. After C.J. gardner Johnson was let go, about him abdicating his responsibilities on the field and really big and harmful plays for the Texans defense. Pointing fingers in the locker room, all of this stuff.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Pocket watching.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, pocket watching. Other contracts. Other contracts. We kind of assumed it was probably Jalen Peters, so.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Take these one by one.

[Seth Payne]

All right, so why hasn't the coach spoke up about it? What the hell are you talking about?

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Is he talking about d'? Amico?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. If those stories are true, how come this coach hasn't spoke up about it? That's more of an argument that it was. That it was true.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

If a coach is going to speak up about something like this, usually coaches don't say a damn thing. If. If d' Ameco felt like there was errant reporting on or something, he might say, hey, you know what? It wasn't bad with CJ we had a great time with him and everything. It just wasn't going to work out. Like, it wasn't as bad as it's being painted out. So, yeah, they never. Nobody's ever like, oh, I can't believe d' Amico hasn't weighed in on this. No, this is precisely the kind of thing that d' Amico and other coaches wouldn't. Wouldn't weigh in on. Right. The other part. All right, after starting 03. The quote, after starting 03. So how can it possibly be on one person? All right, first of all, straw man, Nobody's claiming that any football game is ever about one single person. Like we talked about earlier with Shady McCoy. Yeah. There's multiple areas that you have to address. But.

[Henry Toa Toa]

But

[Seth Payne]

how on earth can you sit there and say, oh, we're 03, but it's somehow. It's my fault. C.J. gardner, Johnson, they went 133 after you were gone. This is a bad look for you. And trying to say that it wasn't about you when they went on a 133 run after they let you go. Yeah, they were a better team. Look, correlation is not causation and whatnot. But since you're the one who's bringing it up. Yeah, things got way better after you were gone. The situation, how they handled me, it just wasn't respectful. All right, now, this is the thing. I don't know who gave DJ Bienna May some of the info about what happened in the locker room. You don't know if that came from players, coaches, equipment, staff, whatever it might be. I felt like as far as the team and how they released them and everything, it just made sense that they released them when they did and they would go on to have great success on the defense without him.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

You could also tell that whoever fed it to DJ also gave very specific things in each of the games that were where fault was attributed to CJ Gardner Johnson.

[Seth Payne]

Right. And it's stuff that you wouldn't necessarily know exactly unless you knew exactly what the coverage was. Like when C.J. gardner Johnson took the route in the flat and when he was supposed to be covering Brian Thomas Jr. On that long reception in the Jaguars game, that was like you wouldn't 100% know that that was the case unless you knew what the coverage was. So that's coming in, that's coming from inside the building, but from whom? You don't know it was the team, the players, whatever it might have been.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah, the.

[Seth Payne]

But then beyond that, it's just that this is now like CJ Garner Johnson in his mind is 60 when it comes to it being the team's fault for why he was let go. You know, the Eagles didn't treat him right after they didn't choose to.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Oh, you're saying it all as previous.

[Seth Payne]

It's always, it's always the team's fault and that's.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Are you in retrospect, I thought about this yesterday watching this audio and I know there's a whole thing like hey, like did the deontay Johnson is the example a couple years ago like hey just get him in the building. And maybe here in our environment they we get a better version of themselves. I think Stefan Diggs was a guy who had issues at previous stops and he came here and I thought they got for the brief time he was here, I thought they got the best version of even voted digs a captain.

[Seth Payne]

Everybody that everything that Texans fans are saying right now about C.J. gardner Johnson's to Bill's fans is what Bill's fans were saying to us about Stefan Diggs.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Correct. Now in retrospect though, Stefon Diggs prior to coming to Houston had not been on four different teams in four different years. I listened to that audio yesterday and the further and further away we get from it, I'm shocked that they brought him in here. I know they got him for nothing. They traded Kenyan Green they were going to cut. So they did one of those deals where the Eagles are looking to unload a contract. By the way, the Eagles who resign everybody, they give extensions, they have credit cards out through for the next six years to re sign everybody. They just made Jalen Carter the highest paid defensive tackle. They don't let guys go there. They rarely have cap casualties because their owner is so willing to do all the voidable year things that rich owners can do. I'm just. The further and further away we get from it. I'm shocked that he ever became a Houston Texan in the first place.

[Seth Payne]

They did. I'm not shocked because I think that's exactly, that's something. That was an old New England Patriots thing that I'm glad that Nick is open to, which is sign a guy like that, get him in the building like Albert Haynesworth in New England. And as soon as you realize, okay, yep, he is exactly who people said he was, then you get rid of him.

[Henry Toa Toa]

You gotta be.

[Seth Payne]

You gotta be willing to cut ties and not continue to try to muddle through a really bad situation. So I felt like they handled that perfectly. Maybe they should have seen the writing on the wall earlier. Maybe if he had, maybe if he hadn't gotten injured in camp, then maybe they, you know, they would have seen more of that behavior. He showed himself earlier if he was out there.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

This is the second year in a row now too where he's had an injury in a camp practice, been carted off and been pretty damn dramatic about it to the point where it looked like he was done for the year and now all of a sudden he's back.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah, he was back practicing. For those who saw the news over the weekend that oh my God, C.J. gardner Johnson got carted off again. Yeah, he was at practice with a sleeve on his calf yesterday. Yeah, so. Yeah, so he's, he's dishing on the Houston Texans.

[Seth Payne]

The story he had also told to a Buffalo reporter, he told it to the Athletic earlier this, this off season was that it all started.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

La Playa can sound like. For others, it's.

[GameTime Ad Voice / Podcast Host]

But this is our Playa Corona.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

La Playa awaits. Relax responsibly.

[GameTime Ad Voice / Podcast Host]

Corona Extra beer imported by Crown Import, Chicago, Illinois. We have the tech to get food delivered in 15 minutes. But we all have horror stories about buying tickets. The GameTime app gives fans the advantage. Get amazing tickets in just a few taps. Fees are included. So what you see is what you pay. And the gametime guarantee means authentic tickets at the best price every time. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to concerts, sports, comedy and more with GameTime. Download the GameTime app and create an account for $20 off your first purchase term supply.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Hey, what's up, flies? This is David Spade. Dana Carvey. Look at. I know we never actually left, but I'll just say it. We are back with another season of Fly on the Wall. Every episode, including ones with guests, will now be on video. Every Thursday, you'll hear us and see us chatting with big name celebrities. And every Monday, you're stuck with just me and Dana. We react to news, what's trending, viral clips follow and listen to Fly on the Wall everywhere.

[Seth Payne]

You get your podcasts started when he got into it with some friend of the GMs.

[d'Amico Ryan]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Who wasn't even involved all that much with the team. And ever since and after that. Okay, so. Yeah, okay, again. Yet another altercation apparently where CJ Gardner Johnson wasn't to blame.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

And we're not like some guy who's nameless, some guy who's not even all that involved in the team. But he's a friend of the GM. There's a good chance it might have been Cal McNair. I know. Like, how the hell does he know who is and isn't involved with the team all that much? Some guy who's sitting around on a golf ball.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Might have been us.

[Seth Payne]

Could have been. No, we were there.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah, yeah, we were at the cream bar.

[Seth Payne]

But we didn't get into it with C.J. gardner Johnson.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

No, but he might have just thought we were mean mugging him or something like that.

[Seth Payne]

He might have imagined that we were.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

All right, Payne and Pendergast with you here on a Friday live at Texans training camp. All right, headlines are up next. We'll get into Henry Towa Toa's contract extension. We'll lay out this weekend for the Astros. And another big contract signing in the NFL yesterday. We'll get to all of that. 222.

[Seth Payne]

Payne and Pendergast with today's headlines.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

All right, let's get to headlines. Texans training camp starting at 9 o' clock today. Practice number eight of Texans training camp out here at the Methodist Training Center. If you are headed out here, say hello when you come scurrying in with Everybody else at 8 o' clock for your first come, first serve seating. The big news yesterday. No, no practice yesterday, but there was Texans news. Henry Towa Toa signs an extension. Linebacker signs an extension with the Texans. It'll keep him here through 2028. A two year extension for $16 million. Towa Toa was heading into a contract year and now The Texans have virtually every piece of their starting defense. Tommy Togiai, the only one not under contract beyond this season. Here was d' Amico Ryan's earlier this week. On what Henry Towa Toa brings to the Texans defense.

[d'Amico Ryan]

Well, Henry brings our defense, he brings his smart calmness to our defense. Right. He's always in position, always exactly where he should be. So he's. You can count on him. You can put a lot on his play. He can handle things. He can play the mic and the wheel position. Very versatile guy. And Henry plays with passion and fire. Man, that rubs off on other guys. Like to see him play. It's fun to watch him play and you mix him in with a Z. And Lassiter got some wild and crazy guys running around who love to hit, love to play physical. But Henry is guy that I feel I can always count on like asking guys to probably change up techniques or put him in those situations where I may want to change some things. Henry is a guy who can take the coaching well and go apply it on the field and put himself in position to make plays for him.

[Seth Payne]

This is a deal that it's very, very reasonable. It makes sense for both sides. I think you have a solid steady off ball linebacker that does exactly what you want him to do. And as part of a great defense where you can't pay everybody like they're an all pro and you can't have 11 all pros on there. You're not like at some point the Texans are going to have to make hard decisions on who they can and cannot keep. It might end up being Tommy Togi. Tommy Togi is at a point where he played really well last year but it was kind of a. He kind of just a surprise unveiling to the league. He wasn't even on the game day roster to begin the season.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

He was inactive for the first two weeks.

[Seth Payne]

And he plays a position where as a free agent he could make. He could be making 20 plus million per year and still be, you know, like right around the 20th highest paid defensive tackle in the league. So I don't. That's going to be an interesting one. If they extend Tommy Togi before the season begins. That would be a surprise, a very pleasant surprise. But I'm just. I think it might be.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

But you think he gets paid in that range, huh? He could on the open market.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, I mean well, 20 million isn't that much anymore. Yeah. Like the guys that John Franklin Myers made 21 million in free age.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

But you think he'd be well, that well thought of around the league.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah, that, that's. And Togi's a guy you feel like is going to maintain that level of play. Like, he just seems like a very. I mean, d' Amico's described him the most consistent guy on the team.

[d'Amico Ryan]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. And I think. Well, there's a. There's a part of Togei where I think there's. People underestimate just how quick and explosive he is and they underestimate how much of an impact he has in the passing game because he's. He does a great job of pushing the pocket and a lot of things that don't show up as sacks or anything, they just. And even sometimes don't show up as a pressure, but it's because they flush the quarterback out of the pocket and then that's where Danil or will go. I mean, if you go back to some of the biggest and most critical plays for the Texans last year, the interception at the end of the Chiefs game, that was Tommy Togi hitting Patrick Mahomes as he threw the ball. Likewise the pass breakup in that Chiefs game that Lassiter had in the end zone. Yeah. That was slightly under thrown and that was togey eye hitting Patrick Mahomes.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

I'm 100% with you on Togi. I am just really curious. I was surprised. Like that exercise Jeremy Fowler does where all the GMs vote on things. He didn't get a vote. I was a little surprised. Like nobody put him in the top 10.

[Seth Payne]

Nobody knew about him. Well, that's really. Yeah, yeah.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

But that was after this season. They did those.

[Seth Payne]

I know, but he played. He played the back three quarters of the season. Yeah. And he also, you know, he doesn't have gaudy numbers or anything. And they rotate everybody there. Yeah. I think it wouldn't surprise me at all if somebody really identifies him as like, oh, yeah, and shells out, this is a guy.

[Henry Toa Toa]

Yeah.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah. That's interesting.

[Seth Payne]

Ed Oliver makes 17 million per year. Right. Signed that deal a couple years ago.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah, yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. And Ed Oliver has gone like, he had a slow start to his career in the build, but he's not like one of the superstars of the league.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

You and I are on the same page as to what Tommy Togia is as a player. I'm just. The league is so haphazard with how they evaluate these guys sometimes that are play these positions that aren't measured on numbers. So we'll see.

[Seth Payne]

I think. Yeah. But some of that haphazardness though, comes with guys where they're not big marquee names and they're like that defensive tackle position. Yeah. Especially is the kind of place where that happens.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah, yeah, No, I know. Astros, Padres this weekend starting tonight. So a little west coast baseball. I like when they put the west coast series on the weekends.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

You know, they don't have to worry about getting up at five in the morning and having watched till midnight. Renell Blanco, big start for Renell Blanco tonight. Not that he's in any jeopardy of getting pushed from the rotation because they're just. They don't have a lot of guys right now they can trust. But Renel Blanco against Robbie Ray, who I know that was a name that was kind of tossed around at the trade deadline that might be out there. Robbie Ray's got 10 wins on the season, but Renell Blanco has been very hit or miss since he's come back. This is kind of a big start for Dana Brown, this Renell Blanco start, because no pitchers picked up at the trade deadline. So Dana Brown is leaning on the whole, hey, we got Blanco and Wisneski back. It's like I made a trade. I made a trade with the hospital. They gave us some. They gave them back to us from Tommy John surgery.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, why is there a place for them. Oh, why is there a place for them in the starting rotation? Oh, it's because the five other guys you brought in suck. And they're gone.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

That too. Yeah, that too. Peter Lambert starts tomorrow and then TBD on Sunday. TBD is my new favorite Astro. He shows up at least once a week in the rotation. Jameer Gibbs got paid yesterday. Would appear the staring contest between Jameer Gibbs and the Lions is really a staring contest between Jameer Gibbs and Bijan Robinson because Bijan got 25 million a year. A couple days ago, Jameer Gibbs gets up to 25.25 million a year. So that's how that's going. So Jameer Gibbs signing in the fall, and that's another team that's paying all their guys. It feels like. Yeah. Feels like Detroit hardly lets anybody go. And Detroit, like Philly, is a team that's paying a quarterback 50 plus million a year. It can happen. The. The hall of Fame game was last night. We didn't get to see most of it because you and I were at Toyota center watching the Big Three at Toyota center, but I did get home in time for the fourth quarter of that game. It was an exciting preseason game, man. Haynes King was out there. You Aggies out there. I know Haynes King wound up with Georgia Tech, but Haynes King was out there. Haynes King and Carson Beck were dealing last night. They were both.

[Seth Payne]

Carson Beck 15 for 19 for 188 yards.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

That's.

[Seth Payne]

That's a 9.9 yards per yards per attempt. That's damn impressive.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yep, yep. So the Panthers end up winning the game 33 to 30 on literally the last play of the game. A Haynes King scramble from about five yards out, and they win that game last night, 33, 30. So nice having football back on.

[Seth Payne]

Jimmy Horn Jr. Yeah. Four receptions for 44 yards.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Man, it's so weird seeing that. That there's too many. There's too many juniors of guys that I'm like, nah, he's not old enough to have a son in the NFL.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Oh, yeah, and then there's Cecil Fielder, who's got a grandson in the Astros organization now. So those are your. Those are your headlines. By the way, the ESPN poster, the graphic for that game last night was so funny. Like that. They're putting up there promoting the hall of Fame game. They had Carson Beck and Kenny Pickett on there in like the QB1 pose on the poster. I'm like, oh, yeah, that's going to put asses in seats back. It's the hall of Fame game on ESPN or NBC. I guess it was.

[Seth Payne]

All right. Remember when Pickett was so put out that he wasn't being treated like a superstar in Pittsburgh?

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah. He's now been put out by about four different teams.

[Seth Payne]

Did he request a trade or demand a trade?

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

I think he did. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

That's the problem with this now that everybody's so desperate for quarterbacks that all these guys in a previous generation would have been a fourth round pick as a quarterback. Now they're first rounders and they expect to be treated as such. Sorry, Kenny. You're starting in the hall of Fame game.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

There you go.

[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

You're on the poster for the hall of Fame game. All right, coming up next. Okay, we got a nice long segment coming up here. Want to get to. I have three training camp winners so far for the Texans and d' Amigo. Ryan's Nick Casario talked about all three of them. But coming up next, Jadevion Clowney is here. He is a Houston Texan. I'm calling him Texans Clowney 2.0. We're gonna go back through some of the escapades of Texans Clowney 1.0. Do we think the new, mature Clowney would be caught in any of these situations that the old Clowney got into. We will have that for you coming up next.

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[Tobin Heath / Sports Radio Host]

I'm Ana Garcia, host of True Crime News, the podcast. Every week we bring you in depth coverage on cases making headlines as well as those that go under the radar. Tune in for murders that defy explanation, mystery seeking exploration, and shocking secrets that will leave you breathless. Each week we honor the victims by going beyond the salacious in our search for justice. Crime never stops, and neither do we. Listen to True Crime News, available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.