Dan Reacts To Greg Cote's Miami Dolphins Apology | Local Hour

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Dan Reacts To Greg Cote's Miami Dolphins Apology | Local Hour

Date: April 29, 2026

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Episode Overview

Broadcast live from The Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami, this Local Hour centers around a fiery and humorous internal debate: Greg Cote’s public (and somewhat reluctant) apology and reversal over his Miami Dolphins NFL Draft reaction. The crew digs into the local sports scene, especially the Dolphins’ and Marlins’ current state, debates the value of “junk” (in all its forms), and spins off into a hilarious sidebar about couches and home comfort struggles. As always, the show blends sports debate with banter, South Florida inside jokes, and a heavy dose of self-aware media critique.

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Main Segments & Key Discussions

1. Greg Cote’s Draft Reaction, Apology, and Dolphins Debate

Timestamps: 01:31–05:11, 21:38–44:41

• The Spark:
  Dan Le Batard calls out Greg Cote for not apologizing for his negative instant Draft Day take on the Dolphins’ pick—despite later admitting in his column that he was wrong.

  • Dan (01:31): “He just dismissed me… with a middle finger and said, ‘You analytic freaks.’”
  • Greg Cote (03:12): Clarifies that gesture was for someone else but doubles down on his skepticism about analytics culture.

• Heat Stats & Analytics Argument:
  The show digresses to dispute Greg’s claims about the Miami Heat’s offensive rating, with hilarious real-time fact-checking and a mini-takedown of old-school vs. analytics approaches:

  • Dan (02:25): “You’re not accounting for the pace of play… You’re not accounting for general offensive explosion all over the league.”
  • Greg Cote (04:28): “But only one team was better at scoring points than Miami… I’m not apologizing for the season.”
  • Billy (04:55): “In Greg’s defense, offensive rating does adjust for pace.” (everyone erupts)

• The Dolphins Draft Pick U-Turn:
  Dan grills Greg for being “shocked” on draft night that Miami passed on local hero Reuben Bain for offensive lineman Kaden Proctor, but then reversing his opinion in print.

  • Dan (23:30): Reads directly from Greg’s column that admits: “I was part of the parochial knee-jerk opinion… I was wrong.”
  • Greg (24:27): Tries to defend his flip-flop: “The only thing I regret… is using the phrase ‘dust has settled.’”
  • Dan (24:05/44:09): Keeps pressing: “How can your opinion already be wrong… three days later, when nothing has happened?”

• Debating Fan Sentiment vs. Team Need:
  The group weighs the value of selecting a local star (Bain) for emotional investment versus a more “need-based” pick (Proctor).

  • Dan (37:12): “What you don’t get is what this team doesn’t have, which is a local guy that people just care about… It was gift-wrapped.”
  • Mike Ryan (38:15): Offers nuance, contending the overall draft class inspires trust and calling out the team’s improved talent-acquisition strategies.

• On Journalistic Contrition:
  Dan refuses to let Greg off the hook, “Look into this camera right here. And apologize to the Miami Dolphins for you being so shocked… that you had the immediate wrong opinion.”
  Greg, reluctantly: “When someone admits they were wrong… you should be giving me credit. Nobody in journalism does this.” (31:50)

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2. Marlins Talk & Shohei Ohtani vs. Janson Junk

Timestamps: 05:30–09:00

• Dan bemoans the show’s lack of baseball focus and marvels at Ohtani:
  “He’s a freak… there haven’t been any players in the history of doing these things.”
• Greg on Marlins Wild Card hope:
  “The Phillies and the Mets suck so badly… that opens up wide the NL wild card race for middling teams like the Marlins.” (07:09)
• Jansen Junk Name Debate:
  A playful back-and-forth erupts over whether “Junk” is a good or bad name for a pitcher, and the positive/negative connotations of “junk” in baseball.
  • Dan (08:09): “That’s a bad name for a pitcher, correct?”
  • Greg: “What? I think it’s a great name. Junk.”
  • Team debate ensues, leading to:
    • Stugotz Top 5 List: “Top five ways the word ‘junk’ is used positively.”
      • #5: “Junk ball pitcher.” (Dan instantly: “I invalidate your list.”) (20:32)
      • #4: “Junk drawer.” (20:39)
      • #2: “Junk food.” (21:27)
      • #1: “Junk in the trunk!” (21:33)

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3. The Couch Dilemma: Zaslow’s Quest for Comfort

Timestamps: 10:20–15:07, 35:39–36:35

• Zaslow’s Couch Complaint:

  • Zaslow explains his family room is set up for optimal sports viewing, but he hates his couch so much he’s forced to watch on a tablet in bed.
  • Zaslow (10:53): “I don’t like my couch anymore. That’s a problem. I want a new couch.”
  • His wife, on the other hand, sees no need since “they just finished paying it off.”
  • The crew rags him and jokes about couch-renting, deep vs. shallow couches, and “mansion” titles.
  • Greg (15:07): “Can you call it a mansion if you can’t afford a sofa?”

• Couch Features Gone Wrong:
  Zaslow describes buyer’s remorse with the fancy features.

  • Zaslow (19:25): “It’s one of those deals like, ooh, you press this button and it reclines… But the reality of it is, I don’t need all that bullshit. I need a deep couch that I can just chill in.”
  • Greg describes his own couch replacement after his dog Charlie ate it (19:56).

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4. Meta Sports Media Jokes & Self-Deprecation

Timestamps: 11:42–13:46

• Zaslow’s Audience Antics:
  Jokes about being called a “cuckold” by fans/media, stemming from rampant sports media trolling.
  • Dan (12:03): “It’s also a lane nobody else has in the national sports media, the one that you have. But…if you want to do the heel turn into full cuck, the audience is already treating you as if you are.”
  • Zaslow protests: “I will never be a cuckold.” (12:21)
  • The show mocks the audience for endless chair/room social media gags at Zaslow's expense.

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5. Heat & NHL Playoffs, Quick Fire Segments

Timestamps: 18:49–19:25; 41:09–41:53

• Greg Cote on Hockey:
  Delivers a typically irreverent hockey take, calling Connor McDavid “overrated” (19:10), drawing mock horror from Mike Ryan and Stugotz.
• Dolphins Roster Construction:
  Who are the receivers? What’s the plan with Malik Willis, the youth movement, and expectations of a long rebuild.
  • Dan (40:26): “There have never been lower expectations on a Dolphins season than the one that’s approaching.”

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Notable Quotes

• Greg Cote (04:28): "I'm not apologizing for the season. They weren't good enough…"
• Billy (04:55): “In Greg's defense, offensive rating does adjust for pace.”
• Dan (24:05): “You’re admitting you were wrong—even though nothing has happened…You just had one opinion, and now you have the opposite opinion three days later when nothing has happened!”
• Greg (31:49): “You’ve been yelling at me as long as we’ve known each other that I never admit I’m wrong. And now, when I admit I’m wrong, you’re all over my ass about it!”
• Dan (37:12): “This team has nobody you care about. The fan base does not have an emotional investment there. To me, that's worth picking him at 11, even if it's four picks early.”
• Mike Ryan (35:39): “When I look at the draft as a whole, I think it deserves us trusting them, even though we got off to what seemed like a rocky start.”
• Stugotz (21:01): "Junk mail. It organizes the mail I don't need."
• Zaslow (10:53): “I don't like my couch anymore. So I don't want to watch in there at night. At night I want to be comfortable. This is a very big problem. I want a new couch.”

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Highlight Moments

• Greg Cote’s live, public reversal on his draft take, including Dan’s incredulity and lack of satisfaction with Greg’s apology (24:00–31:00)
• The entire “junk” debate and Stugotz’s Top 5 list (20:28–21:37)
• Zaslow’s personal misery over his couch, and the crew’s lampooning of “mansion” dynamics and home-decor priorities (10:53–15:07; 35:39–36:35)
• Dan’s meta-commentary about sports media personalities and “cuck” lane (12:03–12:49)
• Greg Cote’s hockey and Heat takes, plus the off-the-cuff roasting from the rest of the crew (06:34; 19:06; 19:10)

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Episode Structure & Tone

• Language & Tone: Rapid-fire, irreverent, steeped in South Florida sports fandom, inside jokes, and playful antagonism.
• Attribution: Quotes are directly labeled with speaker attribution and timestamps.
• Flow: Segues seamlessly from heated sports debate, to friendly mockery, to wild tangents on couches and language, all fueled by the show’s lively, bickering group chemistry.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode is classic “Local Hour” Le Batard—combining a nuanced, honest look at sports fandom (and changing journalistic opinions) with big doses of humor and meta-aware media bits. The main story is Greg Cote’s flip-flop on the Dolphins pick, but you’ll also get debates about baseball names, couch legitimacy, and what “being a local” means for South Florida teams. The chemistry, ribbing, and wild tangents are the show at its oddball, communal best.

Transcript

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[Dan Le Batard]

today because I just asked him if he apologized in his column for his Draft Day reaction to what the Dolphins did, and he said, I didn't apologize. I was wrong, but I didn't apologize. And then it escalated to the point where he just dismissed me with a middle finger and said,

[Greg Cote]

now that was a different subject.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was the same area of conversation. But he dismissed me before the middle finger by calling me. He just said of me, you analytic freaks, Right?

[Greg Cote]

Yeah, you all get carried away with dissecting everything. Like if I tell you that, wow, the Heat. Heat was second in the league in points scored this year. A fact. If it's a fact, I got to check that. I think they were second. And then you're going to dissect it like, well, you know, that doesn't come. No, no, it was impossible.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's not that. You wrote in your column about Riley and Shula. You said, after an awful, embarrassing playoff exit two seasons ago, the Heat improved by six wins this season and had the highest offensive rating in club history.

[Greg Cote]

Right. It's a fact. Well, but Jack, thank you.

[Dan Le Batard]

Cortez says it's not a fact. He writes in the notes that he decided to write to your column because every time you write a Colum. Zaz used to do this. He's got criticisms, he's got critiques. Every time you write a column. This is what Cortez wrote after what you said was the highest offensive rating in club history. This is just made up bullshit. The Heat were first in offensive rating when LeBron was here. Cody doesn't know the difference between offensive rating and pace and points per game. And you called him and me, you analytics freaks.

[Greg Cote]

Yeah, and I think I gave a middle finger to Cortez, not to you. I want to make that distinction. Look, I can't get Internet right now. You guys mustn't pay your electric bill. But if I could get Internet, I

[Dan Le Batard]

would all have Internet here.

[Greg Cote]

I don't have Internet. Look, and the lights. I'm trying to look up something to verify my case, and this is a conspiracy. I think Cortez has arranged for me to be offline right now if I were to be online. Oh, look, here it is right here. Okay. Offensive rating. This is Basketball Reference.

[Stugats]

You're online again.

[Greg Cote]

Pretty reliable offensive rating. An estimate of points produced with or scored per 100 possessions. This year they had 116.7, the highest in club history. The. The highest rating they ever had in the Big Three era with LeBron was 112.3. Now you can spin that and say, well, that's offensive ready. That means this because that. I'm just going by pure numbers here. No, but I wrote was accurate.

[Dan Le Batard]

No, but the part that's not accurate because the analytics are just numbers and they require context. The two things that aren't accurate here is you're not accounting for pay pace of play. They had the highest pace in the league. They were not the most efficient team in the league. And also, you're not accounting for general offensive explosion all over the league. Everybody's better at offense.

[Greg Cote]

Yeah, but. But only one team was better at scoring points than Miami. Look, I'm not apologizing for the season. They had. They. They weren't good enough. Although they would be in the playoffs had Bam not gotten hurt against Charlotte. But nevertheless, the. They're not good enough. I'm. I'm not saying they were.

[Dan Le Batard]

They wouldn't have gotten into the playoffs. They would have. They would have lost to Orlando. They would have.

[Tony]

It's too early for this from this guy. Stuff him in a locker.

[Greg Cote]

Move on.

[Billy]

In Greg's defense, offensive rating does adjust for pace.

[Tony]

Thank you, Billy.

[Greg Cote]

Thank you, Billy. I mean, I wish I'd have said that. He's right. It's adjusted for pace. I don't know what you guys are talking about.

[Dan Le Batard]

Billy's right that you're right.

[Greg Cote]

Yes, Orlando.

[Dan Le Batard]

Billy could have said it's adjusted for

[Stugats]

anything there and you would have ran with it.

[Greg Cote]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats podcast.

[Dan Le Batard]

I feel pretty alone here because I'm surrounded by people who want to talk about hockey and basketball and none of them them stayed up to watch Jansen junk out duel. Shohei Ohtani, none of them have watched the last two Marlins games against the Dodgers. They should have beaten them two times.

[Greg Cote]

That's right, should have.

[Dan Le Batard]

If they didn't always spend money on relievers who are gas cans. What is the Fairbank situation? I'm not going to be able to get you guys to talk about this at all. Right. I see everyone just drift off the moment. It's a late night baseball game and Ohtani's pitching and he's still a freak. Like, I don't care how common you think it is to see somebody going out there throwing 100 pitches, striking out nine guys. He's not. He's an. He's a outfielder, baseball player, infielder. He could do. He could probably catch. And my guess is that there haven't been any players in the history of doing these things. Not Rick and Keel, not anybody who could pitch the way he pitched yesterday as a position player.

[Mike Ryan]

Remarkable. But he's been doing this for some time and it's not all that odd to see him pitching during the regular season. It is odd to see Connor McD David on the brink of elimination. And so that's an odd. In terms of, well, in terms of sports priorities, that's something that happens less often.

[Zaslow]

There was so much last night. We. You had multiple NBA games. I was flipping back and forth on my tablet, of course, in the Zaslow Mansion bedroom. And I was also flipping with the hockey. It would never occur to me to put the Marlins on when you're.

[Billy]

When you got Jansen junk on the mound.

[Dan Le Batard]

Are you kidding me? Get the hell out of here.

[Billy]

11 straight scoreless innings for Jansen junk.

[Greg Cote]

There's one thing interesting about the Marlins right now, in my opinion, and it is that the fact that the Phillies and the Mets suck so badly, a combined 20 and 38 firing managers, that opens up wide the NL wild card race for the middling teams like the Marlins, where if we can, if we can get lucky and be four games over.500, maybe we have a chance to make the wild card. We journalists, I'm speaking As if I'm a fan or the Marlins.

[Zaslow]

I can't do this in April. It's April and you're talking about almost May.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay. But the part that I'm just. I understand that you don't want to do it on the Marlins. Ohtani pitched yesterday against the Marlins, got his first, and he strikes out nine guys. Now, there are other interesting things about the Marlins, including that junk's going to make a hell of an ace once they trade Sandy mid season. Because they are going to trade Sandy. Like, I think that's pretty much guaranteed.

[Greg Cote]

They would have less here if he hadn't sucked.

[Dan Le Batard]

But that's a bad name for a pitcher, correct?

[Greg Cote]

What? I think it's a great name. Junk.

[Stugats]

You know, being a junk ball thrower is, like, a good thing.

[Dan Le Batard]

Put it on the poll at LeBatard show. It's not a good thing. That means you don't throw hard.

[Zaslow]

Greatest junk ball thrower Jamie Moyer.

[Dan Le Batard]

Put it on the poll at lebaton.

[Kyle]

Lefty specialist, though.

[Greg Cote]

Craig Nafti. Hard to hit junk.

[Dan Le Batard]

Put it on the pole. Junk. Good name for a pitcher. Bad name for a pitcher.

[Kyle]

Dan, I think you're doing a thing of, like, generations past where, like, bad meant good, but good meant bad.

[Greg Cote]

Bad.

[Kyle]

And you're like, what? Why is everybody saying everything's bad because it's good?

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, junk doesn't get to be good. Junk is junk. Junk.

[Mike Ryan]

I've heard it in a positive way. Like, that guy's throwing. That guy.

[Kyle]

Tough to hit.

[Greg Cote]

Yeah. Tough to hit junk.

[Dan Le Batard]

I think that junk is a slur for a pitcher. I don't think pitchers want to be known as junk throwers. Are they changing? When did that change? No one alerted me to this time.

[Mike Ryan]

Those guys are. They really do harder now. And it's harder to see a guy that just throws junk. But. But it was not a negative thing. Now, if a guy's last name was Hanger. Yeah.

[Stugats]

Or Meatball Janssen Hanger, that would stand.

[Zaslow]

Meatball. It's tough to. To put in a positive light. Man, that guy throw the Meatball.

[Dan Le Batard]

The Braves have a bummer.

[Billy]

I will say, yeah, Aaron Bummer, who gave up two runs last night. That's a bummer. But I will say, like, being a junk ball thrower, not necessarily a good thing.

[Mike Ryan]

Now, if a guy's got a good

[Billy]

fastball, you tell him to stay away from the junk because he throws four or five different pitches. Now, that's where you could be using junk in a positive connotation, which is exactly what you would do with.

[Dan Le Batard]

Junk is a slur for a pitcher. Junk is an insult. It is pejorative for a pitcher. I have not been notified otherwise. You mentioned the Phillies. Don Mattingly managed his first game for them yesterday. They got their first shutout of the season. But you guys don't want to talk about any of this. You saying you're toggling between games. This must be very frustrating to you because you are a multi television person. You have bragged about the fact that you are somebody who's watch all of these games. You don't miss any playoff action. It's on all your televisions. But once you're relegated because of your wrestling habit to having to hide under the covers and watch the tablet in bed, it's harder to toggle back and forth on an iPad. You're. You're going between games, but you don't have two, two games up at the same time, do you?

[Zaslow]

No. No, I don't. That is an issue. And I will tell you where the issue stems from, okay? Because I need a little bit of help. Because in the Zaslow Mansion family room, I got the multiple TVs, of course, so I could watch multiple games. That's no problem. But when I watch on my tablet, it's obviously because I'm in my bedroom and my wife doesn't let me put the TV on. So I'm watching on the tablet, you know, on my stomach. Everybody knows that by now. Here's the problem. You may be saying, zaslo, why aren't you watching then in the Zazzle Mansion family room where you have multiple TVs? Dan, I don't like my couch anymore. That's a problem.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can't you get a new couch? Shouldn't you get a new couch?

[Zaslow]

Yes, but, you know, my wife rightfully points out couches, especially good ones, expensive, are very expensive. And she sees it as, there's nothing wrong with this couch. She. She's like, we just got done paying off this couch, you know, and. But I don't like the couch anymore. So I don't want to watch in there at night. At nighttime, I want to be comfortable. This is a very big problem. I want a new couch.

[Dan Le Batard]

You got to get a new couch there.

[Greg Cote]

I know. Get a new couch.

[Mike Ryan]

It's more of a chair guy anyways.

[Zaslow]

Don't. Don't do that. It's not true. And let me tell you something else. All right, people, you listen to me when I said, stop sending me hotel room pictures with the empty chair. So you know what people are doing now they're sending me pictures in the hotel room where there's, like, a stage. There's a stage that. That people apparently are watching on. That's not me. I would never get that hotel room.

[Dan Le Batard]

I would advise you stop sending me that. I would advise you. In the modern media age, you see everything is collapsing, right? Sports media isn't what it was. No. Media is what it was. No one has the cuck lane. It's not taken by anybody. You adamantly denying that you're a cuck.

[Zaslow]

I'm not a cuckold.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's also a lane nobody else has in the national sports media, the one that you have. But if you'd like to take it a step further, you're a wrestling fan. If you want to do the heel turn into full cuck, the audience is already treating you as if you are.

[Mike Ryan]

No, no.

[Zaslow]

I will never be a cuckold.

[Billy]

All right?

[Zaslow]

One time. One time, Billy Crystal showed up in my dream. It wasn't real. It was a dream.

[Mike Ryan]

To be fair to Zaz, no one has that lane being a cuckold. But also no one has the lane of constantly having to deny being a cuckold.

[Dan Le Batard]

I put him in both lanes, and I'm saying if he wants to. If he wants to take it further as he evolves and grows in the modern age, it's already something you're associated with as much as Falwell's kid.

[Greg Cote]

100%. When you hear the word, you think of Zaz.

[Kyle]

That is true. Anytime I see the Cook chair, I'm

[Zaslow]

like, that is such bullshit. And you know what's the real bullshit? You are glossing over the real problem here. And the real problem here is how do I get a new couch?

[Greg Cote]

Call up Tim Couch.

[Zaslow]

He'll.

[Greg Cote]

He'll give you some advice. Somebody had to say it.

[Dan Le Batard]

Horse. Horse.

[Greg Cote]

Yes. Oh, I forgot. I wasn't supposed to hear that.

[Dan Le Batard]

You are supposed to hear. It's only. It's your inner monologue. You're the only one hearing it. You don't engage with it. You just. And it does a lot.

[Tony]

Trying to explain.

[Greg Cote]

The inner monologue rules.

[Tony]

It's funny.

[Dan Le Batard]

It does sound too much like my inner monologue. I think. I think we need to have some range between yours and mine, because it

[Tony]

could keep applying pressure to Zaz to have someone take his wife for content.

[Zaslow]

Zack.

[Dan Le Batard]

Zaz, from what I can tell about his sofa situation, Content. From what I can tell about Zaz's sofa situation, he's not in control of anything at home. Even buying his own sofa, which has to do with his personal comfort so that he can watch the games, which is about the only thing he cares about in the world. Like, you have to be able to overrule your wife there on that one thing. Like, you can. You can take advice everywhere else, but you're working so much at this point that you should be able after a year of work to have the couch that you want so that you can enjoy the games and not have to toggle back and forth. That's not the way to watch any of that last night, going back and forth. You need both games. You. All the games on at the same time.

[Zaslow]

I shouldn't have to lie in my bed watching in the dark, total darkness, watching on my tablet, switching back and forth between, like, four games that were going on last night. I want to be in the Zazla mansion family room on a brand new couch. And you know what kind of couch I really want, Tony? I want one of those deep couches. You know about those deep couches.

[Kyle]

You want a deep couch looking like a little kid with your legs up in the air?

[Zaslow]

Yeah, I want. Yes, yes. I want my legs to be dangling off the couch.

[Kyle]

So you got a shallow couch right now?

[Zaslow]

Yeah, like a regular shallow, hard.

[Dan Le Batard]

Is that what you don't like about it?

[Zaslow]

It's leather. And like, leather looks good. And people hear leather couch, like, oh, that's fancy. I got news for you. It's. It's not comfortable. Leather couches are not comfortable. They're not good.

[Greg Cote]

Can you call it a mansion if you can't afford a sofa?

[Zaslow]

No, it doesn't do the fording. Okay? Just because you can afford something doesn't mean that you go out and do it. You have to. You have to respect the dollar. Greg, you need me to tell you about respecting the dollar?

[Greg Cote]

I don't respect the dollar, clearly.

[Zaslow]

Well, because I. Because I'm respectful. All right? I respect the dollar. And you don't just spend all willy nilly. But I need one of those deep couches.

[Kyle]

But Zaz, in the playoffs, you got

[Greg Cote]

to suck it up.

[Kyle]

Everybody's expecting you to watch the games and be ready and knowledgeable about these games.

[Zaslow]

I am.

[Dan Le Batard]

No, I'm sucking it up.

[Kyle]

Is going down to the leather couch and sitting your ass there and watching all the games.

[Zaslow]

A new couch.

[Greg Cote]

You can rent a couch.

[Zaslow]

Rent a couch.

[Greg Cote]

Rent a couch. You can do that.

[Dan Le Batard]

How about a sectional?

[Greg Cote]

How you feel about section?

[Dan Le Batard]

Put it on the poll at Lebatard show. Can you call it a mansion? If you can't afford a couch. And also our leather couches uncomfortable. Because I don't think leather couches are uncomfortable. That's not. That's not something I. It's not something I've even heard before. And you guys are agreeing about it casually and it's legitimately not anything I've heard anyone ever say.

[Greg Cote]

You're supposed to melt into a lot of that. Yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

So what's happening? How long can get sticky?

[Stugats]

They can get a little sticky.

[Dan Le Batard]

How long have you had your couch?

[Zaslow]

Maybe like four or five years. It's enough already.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay, so you're tired of that couch. Although I do want four or five years isn't a long time. I know that's a. That's a relative novice.

[Zaslow]

That's the problem.

[Dan Le Batard]

Couches.

[Zaslow]

That's the problem.

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[Mike Ryan]

Hey, it's Mike Ryan and I want to talk to you about the random midweek hang that you have with your friends. Maybe it's an NBA game. You get a text, hey, come over. You want to watch the game? And maybe you're like, ah, I don't know. I kind of just wanted to stay home. And then you think about it after your buddy hits you up and you know just the thing that'll make that regular hang, that regular midweek hang around the basketball game into a special time, into a Miller time.

[Stugats]

That's right.

[Mike Ryan]

This happened to me just last week. I grabbed a six pack of Miller Lite, said I was on my way, and next thing you know, we're arguing about rotations like we're on the coaching staff yelling about a missed call and the game's coming down in the final possession. It was one of those nights that you look around, you take a sip and you think, yeah, this was the right call and my friendship's stronger for it. Cheers to legendary moments with Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Hey, Roy, buddy.

[Greg Cote]

Yo.

[Mike Ryan]

You know that energy shift when the game gets good and everybody all together in unison knows to stand up on their feet? Oh, absolutely, Mike.

[Greg Cote]

Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

You've been at many big time sporting events. You know that moment quite well. That's what it's like when you take your first sip of Cuervo.

[Greg Cote]

Oh, delicious.

[Mike Ryan]

It's the signal that says, we're not checking the time anymore, pal. It's when small talk turns into stories. Cuervo, man. It's that high five. A random stranger effect. That's right. The game is popping. You're hugging people you never met before. That's the kind of energy that Cuervo brings. It's so smooth, so delicious. That's the Cuervo effect. Keep it Cuervo.

[Dan Le Batard]

Don Lebatard.

[Greg Cote]

This guy comes in as the next Wayne Gretzky. His nicknames include the chosen1 and McJesus. Okay. He's a great player. He scores a lot of goals. He scores a ton of assists. But it hasn't translated to making Edmonton a powerhouse in the league.

[Mike Ryan]

They're in the final stugats.

[Stugats]

What's your nickname for him?

[Greg Cote]

Look. Overrated.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the stugats. How did you get tired of it, though? You. So did you have anything to do with the selection of it?

[Zaslow]

Yes, of course. And it's one of those deals like, ooh, you press this button and it reclines and it's like, oh, this is a fancy leather couch. And it's got the cup holders and it's got the. It's got the charging ports. I got taken away with all of that stuff.

[Greg Cote]

Yeah.

[Zaslow]

And the reality of it is, I don't need all that bullshit. I need a deep couch that I just chilling and my feet can dangle.

[Greg Cote]

No, I haven't. I have a fairly new couch, and it's got that recline and it's got the cup things, and it's just.

[Dan Le Batard]

How old is your couch? Your couch is old.

[Greg Cote]

We bought a new couch. It's probably a year because Charlie.

[Stugats]

Charlie, Charlie ate his couch and Charlie ate his couch.

[Greg Cote]

So I gotta get a new one.

[Zaslow]

I need a new couch, man.

[Stugats]

Yeah.

[Greg Cote]

I'm gonna start a GoFundMe page.

[Zaslow]

All right.

[Greg Cote]

So that Zaz can afford a new couch.

[Zaslow]

Not about affording, but I will take free couch.

[Tony]

We get lifted around like a pharaoh.

[Stugats]

Dan, I did make. Because you mentioned junk, you besmirched the word junk. I made a top five ways the word junk is used positively.

[Dan Le Batard]

Ok, but it's not on a pitcher, and we can do that in a second.

[Stugats]

I mean, maybe it is in here. You don't know that.

[Dan Le Batard]

All right, let's see what we've got then. Top five. Let's go.

[Stugats]

Number five, junk ball pitcher.

[Dan Le Batard]

I invalidate your list and don't want to hear the rest of it.

[Stugats]

Oh, number four, junk drawer.

[Dan Le Batard]

A junk drawer.

[Stugats]

Everyone loves a junk drawer.

[Greg Cote]

Get out of here.

[Dan Le Batard]

What are you talking about? Junk.

[Zaslow]

It's where you keep the batteries.

[Stugats]

I'd love to look in your junk drawer.

[Mike Ryan]

I don't believe Dan has a single ally in this room.

[Greg Cote]

You got to have it. You got a tube of chapstick, you put it in the junk.

[Dan Le Batard]

A junk drawer is positive paperclip.

[Zaslow]

It's got stuff you need.

[Greg Cote]

All right.

[Dan Le Batard]

Put it on the poll at Lebiton show. Do you think of the junk drawer as a positive place?

[Stugats]

Now follow me on number three because you're going to dismiss it right away. But I have an argument. Number three, junk mail. It organizes the mail I don't need. Okay? If not, my mailbox would just be chaos.

[Dan Le Batard]

Nobody likes junk.

[Stugats]

No, I know, but it's. I'm appreciative of the junk.

[Billy]

The junk mail folder is really what you're saying.

[Stugats]

I don't ever look at it, but it's just like I'm glad it's there. It's just getting all the crap out of the way for me. Number two, junk food.

[Dan Le Batard]

You got me there.

[Tony]

I mean, number two, huh?

[Dan Le Batard]

You got something better than junk.

[Kyle]

Oh, I know what number one is, baby.

[Zaslow]

Tony, fist me.

[Mike Ryan]

Junk in the trunk, buddy.

[Stugats]

Junk in the trunk.

[Zaslow]

Fist this bomb.

[Greg Cote]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

I want to read from Greg Cody's column here because I can't believe what he did. I am really stunned that on Thursday of last week we did a live stream and we had the reaction that we had overreaction. Dare say I don't think it was an overreaction.

[Greg Cote]

Well, I come to realize it was. Hence my column, which you can [e-mail] Go ahead, Dan. I didn't mean to interrupt your flow or your show. Yes, you did.

[Dan Le Batard]

The Miami Dolphins had a chance to get someone I could argue is the best. The best pass rusher in Miami Hurricane's history. I might get an argument from you guys, but I don't know who'd be arguing this One vociferously.

[Greg Cote]

Hall of Famer Ted Hendricks would like a word.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay. And fair enough. A Hall of Famer from the 1970s. And Reuben Bain would have to do a lot in order to be what he was professionally. But I have no qualms saying that since I've been watching Hurricane football. This is the best pass rusher that there has been from the edge. I think Warren Sapp getting pressure up the middle was lunacy. But from the edge. This is the best I've seen. They passed on him to take an offensive lineman when they have done a lot of drafting of offensive linemen to not excite the fan base and never been able to block anybody over the last 25 years. So Greg Cody in the fifth paragraph of his most recent column, Dolphins new GM earns trust on Proctor.

[Greg Cote]

Not my most recent column, but continue. My most recent column was the one about Pat Riley chasing the ghost of Don Shulin trying not to end his career so futilely and so disappointingly.

[Tony]

Where's my click? Click.

[Greg Cote]

Go ahead.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, it's weird for you to interrupt your own inner monologue. That's a little weird.

[Greg Cote]

No, I always listen to my inner monologue.

[Mike Ryan]

How about Kenard Lang?

[Dan Le Batard]

You weren't listening to your inner monologue. That's why you interrupted your inner monologue. This is in Greg Cody's column. The start was inauspicious. Well, no, the instant reaction to it made it seem that it was. I'll admit I was part of the parochial knee jerk opinion in the moment that Miami should have selected available Miami Hurricanes edge rusher Ruben Bane, and therefore anyone they chose instead would be an awful pick. I was wrong.

[Greg Cote]

Yes. A man of us.

[Tony]

Yes. This is a good segment. Keep reading.

[Dan Le Batard]

And I'm glad I've waited a couple of days until the draft was over and the dust had settled to write this. So you're admitting you're wrong, even though nothing has happened in the last three days to change in the three days between those two opinions? Nothing has happened that is different. You just had one opinion in the moment, and now you have the opposite opinion three days later when nothing has happened.

[Greg Cote]

Okay, the only thing I regret about what you just read is using the phrase dust has settled, which is a little cliche. Ish, which I try to avoid. Look, I felt the way you did in the moment initially, because my first reaction was surprise. I didn't think that. That Bain was going to last that long. I thought he was going to go to New Orleans a couple of spots earlier.

[Dan Le Batard]

Hence the disappointment. Hence the Reason for the disappointment?

[Greg Cote]

I wouldn't say it was surprise as much as disappointment, but the two sort of were hand in hand since then.

[Dan Le Batard]

There's no objection to this pick if Bain's not available. There's not a real objection to the pick.

[Greg Cote]

Okay. Some. Some people might have mentioned Caleb Downs, the safe, the best safety draft they could have had.

[Mike Ryan]

There was some. And like the Saban comments, Kaden Proctor was a bit of a flawed prospect despite him being.

[Greg Cote]

Okay, for what it's worth, and this is anecdotal evidence, Mel Kuiper Jr. Who researches the draft like nobody else had him going exactly 12th.

[Dan Le Batard]

He's a first round pick. Nobody's disputing that. Look, I don't think the reaction was what you normally get in these circumstances when something's a reach. That's not what this was. Nobody's objecting to this because it was a reach. Everyone agrees this is a big, strong, physical person who's a first round pick who deserved to be in the top half of the first round. The reason people are upset is because somebody who's local, who's available, who we've actually scouted for several seasons because all of us have watched him play. It's not just watching one Alabama game where they throw a screen pass to this guy and he runs it, you know, toward the goal line.

[Greg Cote]

Yeah. I don't want my new general manager to make a popularity contest of this and, and earn the easy applause by taking who he thinks the fans would want. There's a reason that the NFL waited until the middle of its first round to draft Reuben Bain. And that is whether we make fun of it or not, the short arms gave pause and told some teams that maybe how great he was in college will not necessarily transfer to the NFL. When I considered that possibility and when I did more research on Kayden Proctor, which is largely that he's not only. He's not only a behemoth, but he's extremely quick getting, getting out of his stance and into his blocking mode.

[Dan Le Batard]

Did you not know this when you were doing your research on mock drafts for your Exactos and your Zagat drafts?

[Greg Cote]

I did, but I didn't consider it as fully as I needed to. I had him going number 17 in

[Dan Le Batard]

my mock drafts in terms of physical freaks. Okay. We talked yesterday about the fact that there's a. A dude from Nigeria that the Eagles just drafted even though he's played no football in his life. I just don't even understand Tony.

[Zaslow]

My 8th round idea would hit.

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't understand he stacked how much catching up he must have to do when other guys have played eight years of football and he's just strong athletics.

[Kyle]

He's 6 4, 306 pounds and runs a 4, 6, 3. You know, you tell him, you guy

[Zaslow]

with the ball, go get him, Dan. The eighth round, you only select players who've never played football. Literally everyone's on the board.

[Stugats]

It does seem like we're taking Brooks Austin's take and just flying by him. And it's like he's even probably sitting back being like, he could be good.

[Dan Le Batard]

Look, Brooks Austin did say, look, I'm not doing. Actually what happens all the time around these draft picks where you just grab someone's opinion and parrot it all season long. Proctor was talked about in just about every Alabama game, they were talking about him. He's in the backfield. They do strange things with him because he's giant. Like. Like his trait is he's giant and strong.

[Mike Ryan]

He was somebody that broadcast would focus on. He was hard to miss. He had a real good stretch of the season. But also, it's not like that loss at fsu, people didn't notice him. He was a turnstile in that game.

[Zaslow]

I'm telling you, the eighth round starts. One day you're a schoolteacher, the next day you're in Dolphins camp. It'd be wild.

[Dan Le Batard]

So just what I'm used to, just so that you guys know where it is, that the local, regional, the resume. Locally, what I'm used to being taken, if it's an offensive lineman with that pick is Bryant McKinney. And what that looks like in college, no one gets a sack on it. Like, not in practice, not in. Not in. Not in professional football. No one ever can get past the guy on the left side. That's not this guy. Like, if you were not watching Alabama this year, Ty Simpson was viewed the way that he was because he didn't have enough time. Because this guy was. This particular guy was promising but not very good. Like, he was okay, first round talent, but got blown by all the time,

[Greg Cote]

okay first round talent, strong behemoth and quick. Those are some assets that the Dolphins really liked, and I can see why. Something else is that he's 20 years old, he's not fully developed, and they think they can develop him. Another thing they love is versatility. He was a left tackle. He can play right tackle right now. The Dolphins list him on their depth chart as the starting right guard. The other thing is, if you take a year to develop this guy, okay, if you take A year to develop him. You only increase your chances, which are already pretty good, that you're going to get the first round draft pick and maybe get archmanning.

[Dan Le Batard]

How can you be wrong already three days later about what your initial opinion was? That's what. I don't want to actually argue this again. Too late for that, obviously. But how can your opinion already be wrong? How can you be admitting your wife would love for you to this easily admit when you're wrong. You do not not admit easily when you're wrong. In the entire time I've known you, how and what change that made you other than Homer ism. And just hearing these people talk, it's not like you broke down film. You read what other opinions were other than Brooks Austin's, and those opinions swayed you.

[Zaslow]

Like, did you feel bad?

[Greg Cote]

For who?

[Zaslow]

For your reaction? Like, did you feel like you made the kid feel bad based on your reaction?

[Greg Cote]

No, no, not at all. Look, my reaction Thursday night when I was doing my live mock draft in the other room over here, I had about 10 to 15 seconds to write what my reaction was, which I've already discussed in the moment, was, wow, I am shocked they didn't pick Reuben Bain. That was my reaction, okay? And I reconsidered that because I researched it further. That was a very fast, sped up first round. I didn't have any time. I'm not making excuses here. I'm giving you reasons. The Herald wanted me to instantly create and publish a poll on. On how most people felt about the first round pick.

[Dan Le Batard]

It sounds a little bit like excuse making.

[Greg Cote]

No, it doesn't. It isn't because I'm explaining. I'm going behind the scenes to explain part of why I didn't have much time to think about.

[Dan Le Batard]

You're saying that the draft expert for the Miami Herald was so shocked by what has happened that he gave the wrong opinion. That's what you're saying.

[Greg Cote]

No, no, I'm not. You're putting way too much weight in a live mock draft review.

[Dan Le Batard]

What I'm putting on is you're saying

[Greg Cote]

my opinion was written fully two days later, it was published online Sunday and in print Monday. Okay, you can read that. And look, you've been yelling at me as long as we've known each other that I never admit I'm wrong. And now when I do admit I'm wrong, you're all over my ass about it, which I don't appreciate.

[Dan Le Batard]

I just can't believe it.

[Greg Cote]

You're a hypocrite. Okay, you gotta take It. You gotta take it for the truth. It is when someone admits they were wrong. Nobody in journalism does this. You should be giving me credit. Okay. My initial opinion was very surprised that they didn't take Reuben Bain. And then I had to research how good Kayden Proctor really is, which I did. Okay, you can continue on this subject. I'll continue to talk about it as long as I want to look into

[Dan Le Batard]

this camera right here. And apologize to the Miami Dolphins for you being so shocked by what they did that you had the immediate wrong opinion. They shocked.

[Stugats]

Apologizing about a draft grade. That's pretty funny. Like we don't know who's right or who's wrong.

[Greg Cote]

He's apologizing. What's hilarious about this?

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[Dan Le Batard]

Hey, Mama.

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Thanks for making all my favorite recipes.

[Zaslow]

Hi, Ma.

[Dan Le Batard]

Thanks for your unfiltered advice.

[Zyn Advertiser]

Hi, Mom. Thanks for always being by the phone.

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[Dan Le Batard]

Don LeBatard.

[Stugats]

All right. We gotta go back out there. That was big.

[Greg Cote]

Wake him up.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, he doesn't want. He doesn't want to be bothered anymore. Now it's getting tense because he didn't need that result. He needs something that happens.

[Stugats]

You can see mother effing.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can we bother?

[Stugats]

Are we bothering you right now?

[Dan Le Batard]

Turn on your microphone.

[Greg Cote]

My microphone's on ST.

[Stugats]

Paint the scene.

[Greg Cote]

The paint the scene is. I gotta go to work. Good night.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the st.

[Mike Ryan]

Cannot be the environment that eschews someone being emotionally mature enough to take a couple of days, revisit their initial take. See the Dolphins draft in totality, which I think might be the best argument altogether. Yeah, we have our feelings about number one, but look, they got some pretty good players in this draft. Recognizable players. I love the Rodriguez pick. I love the Bell pick. I think when healthy Bell, you can make an argument might be the best receiver in this draft or at least top three in that class.

[Stugats]

Kyle Lewis, the linebacker from Pitt.

[Mike Ryan]

Like they got an edge rusher. Certainly not of the yoke of Ruben Bane. But they did address that need argument is, yeah, we didn't feel great about trading the third, but they got a good player. One that people felt really strongly about out of San Diego State. When I look at the draft as a whole, I think it deserves us trusting them, even though we got off to what. What seemed like a rocky start.

[Zaslow]

I'm telling you, I'm. I'm looking at some of these couches, man. There's so much more room from the front to the back.

[Kyle]

You want a fabric couch?

[Zaslow]

Yeah, yeah, I want it to be soft and it's just. They're so. They're so deep. You have a dog you need? Yeah, I got two dogs.

[Stugats]

Well, that.

[Mike Ryan]

That's going to make the fabric couch a little tricky.

[Zaslow]

Well, I just need. It just needed to be a dark color.

[Mike Ryan]

It's just a little bit more work

[Greg Cote]

urinating on thought you're going to say

[Zaslow]

a couch cover urinating. You don't train your dogs.

[Greg Cote]

A dog will urinate on fabric.

[Kyle]

He's right about that.

[Stugats]

They will excited pee. When they run around because someone shows

[Greg Cote]

up, they start peeing.

[Zaslow]

My dogs.

[Greg Cote]

And a cat will use the. The cloth couch as a. I don't

[Zaslow]

have a cat scratch.

[Greg Cote]

We'll buy a cat.

[Billy]

Yeah, but you can also get one of those like rollers that gets the scratches out of those couches. It's really a benefit. You can get it on Amazon, like, you know, 19 bucks.

[Zaslow]

Some of them are cheap. Damn. But it's like I don't want to get one that's actually cheap. You know what I'm saying?

[Greg Cote]

Cat hating Zaz. Mike is exactly right.

[Mike Ryan]

You're.

[Greg Cote]

You're obsessed with, you know, much greater Reuben Bain is going to be than Kaden Proctor. Everybody else in America has moved past that, but you. The Dolphins had a good draft. They had the most picks in the league and they hit the positions they needed hard.

[Zaslow]

They.

[Greg Cote]

They drafted eight different positions.

[Dan Le Batard]

All the positions they need, all the

[Greg Cote]

positions they needed four more than most others. And they. They hit those four hard.

[Stugats]

I actually think more positively about them taking at positions they didn't need because they're just going for best player available, which is what you should be doing when you're in the spot. The Dolphins are. They took two linebackers in Rodriguez and Kyle Lewis when you could argue their bet their most deep position was linebacker.

[Dan Le Batard]

I will grant you guys, okay, that real leadership risks unpopularity and their hello to this market as the new leaders of an entirely fumigated building was to do something that was unpopular. And Proctor may be good and Bain may be good. That part doesn't even matter to me, honestly, because all of us are guessing there. Any of them can get injured. This is all pretty random. What you don't get is what this team doesn't have, which is a local guy that people just care about who's available, who makes plays, who people have been watching for four years or three years before he gets to the pro team. This team has nobody you care about. The fan base does not have an emotional investment there. To me, that's worth picking him at 11, even if it's four picks early. Because all the time these businesses are in marketing and they could use the help. And it was the easiest help and it was gift wrapped for them.

[Mike Ryan]

Okay, if I may help you out and provide a counter because I think the Dolphins should have picked Reuben Bain. I think they'll regret it. I thought it was funny. But that was not their introduction to this market. Their introduction to this market was purging the team of TUA and bringing in a quarterback when there was an active market for this quarterback. A quarterback that we all need to evaluate to see if we have him at that price. And he is good. That is a great contract and that is a great job. So how do you ensure Malik Willis pans out? You don't help him with Reuben Bain, unfortunately. You help him with guys like Kaden Proctor.

[Greg Cote]

That's another factor I made in. In the column. You're maligning is that this is going to be a running team, okay? This is a running team with Devon Achan and for a change they have a mobile quarterback, okay. They're not going to be throwing the ball 30 times a game. And so to Mike's point, an offensive lineman with this kind of upside is going to be more valuable to your identity on offense.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's a good point. If you expect to be winning in the next two years, I think they're going to have a lot of work to do with this fan base emotionally because they're not going to be winning for a couple of years.

[Greg Cote]

But you just drafted a 20 year old lineman with astronomical upside who's going to be your stalwart blocker along with Patrick Paul. When they are good, they're planning for when they are good. Not just to get through the next year.

[Zaslow]

Yeah, but that part's confusing, right, because they just signed a young quarterback to a short contract, by the way.

[Greg Cote]

Okay.

[Zaslow]

So that means they're essentially giving themselves a small window.

[Dan Le Batard]

They're giving two years. It's two years he's got because they've got. It's a three year contract, but essentially with the guaranteed money. This is a two year experiment that they have to figure out whether they can be a winning team with Malik Willis, which I think would be a lot to expect, don't you? Because I thought that the over under. I don't know whether this was before or after Malik Willis. I thought the over under was four and a half. Can you check draftkings for me on that? Like four and a half.

[Greg Cote]

The last time I looked, Arizona and Miami were at the bottom of the over under on wins at 4.5, which means whether they like it or not, they don't have to tank to be bad. The Dolphins, I would argue that there

[Dan Le Batard]

have never been lower expectations on a Dolphin season than the one that's approaching. I would also argue that I would bet the over on every single team to win more than four and a half games. I know that that's not possible, but I would bet that over every time. That is such a ridiculous number for a team they're not interested in winning this year. Like that's, they're, they're interested in fielding a new team. They don't have the players and cannot develop the players fast enough to have that be a winning team.

[Zaslow]

Florida Flores is first year, right? Like this is the only year that rivals that as far as winning expectation.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean you had what you had before that season where people Were saying this is going to be a disaster. I don't think it was as low as four and a half. Nobody knows who plays for the Dolphins like it's a, it's a nobody team.

[Kyle]

Like who's, who's playing wide receiver for this team realistically?

[Greg Cote]

Well, Malik Washington and, and probably Chris Bell.

[Kyle]

Okay, so you're fresh off an ACL injury.

[Mike Ryan]

Who's getting drafted Takes a wide receiver before Bell too.

[Kyle]

Okay, but with that, how do you get a good read on what Malik

[Zaslow]

Willis, Tutu Atwell would like a word.

[Kyle]

Okay, Tutu Atwell, who runs a grade nine ball. Okay, great. The problem is if you're gonna say he's running, this is going to be a running team. They're gonna run the ball 30 times. How do you have a good evaluation

[Mike Ryan]

of a guy that something that you just go over and pass by with? 2. 2. Atwell, he runs a good 9, 9 route. That's what Malik Willis does best.

[Kyle]

Agreed.

[Mike Ryan]

But that's a good asset.

[Zaslow]

Oh, you're being serious.

[Kyle]

No, no.

[Zaslow]

I thought you were joking.

[Mike Ryan]

No, two, two. Atwell does the nine route.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's what he was talking to Tony, thinking he was joking, not thinking he was joking.

[Kyle]

No, no, he runs a great nine route. Like that's why he's still in the NFL. But to the point that Greg was making, he's like, all right, this wants to be, this franchise wants to be a hard nose run the ball franchise and figure out what they have with Malik Willis. But how do you do that with. With inexperience on the outside?

[Greg Cote]

Okay. Obviously they're in as major a rebuild as they, they've been in, in, in. In my memory, they spent a combined 12 to 15 years with UN under the spell of Ryan Tanahill and then two at Tonga Baloa. Two quarterbacks who were just good enough to, to always make you say, are they good enough? Neither one was good enough. Okay. They finally realized that the reason that you never heard of anybody on the roster is that the onerous TUA contract, which they're still stuck with and trying to get out from under, prevented them to sign anybody. With that in mind. Getting Malik Willis was a big deal. Okay? They got a quality quarterback who instantly moved above Quinn Ewers as their starter. He's going to be a good stop back quarterback for a couple of years while they get decent. And, and the bonus might be that they get the number one or number two draft pick next year and get Arch Manning.

[Zaslow]

Wouldn't you say though? Wouldn't you say that because they signed Malik Willis. Wouldn't you say they're desperately hoping they don't have the number one overall pick because they would hope to not be drafting a quarterback next year?

[Greg Cote]

I think if you can get them. They realize they're in a major rebuild. I think the bonus. I'm not saying you intentionally lose, but they may not have to tank to be.

[Zaslow]

But they're not hoping they draft a quarterback with their first pick next year.

[Greg Cote]

I think they might.

[Dan Le Batard]

No. They know that you don't give this guy this money unless you expect. I don't think he's a bandage. I think they love his deep ball numbers and they're going to build something around him.

[Greg Cote]

He's the guy, Willis. They're not giving him major money for a quarterback. They got him at a pretty economic level.

[Dan Le Batard]

They're paying him. Look, you can't do it that way. They're paying more for quarterback next year than any team in the league. The way they suffer through the salary cap of tua.

[Jagermeister Advertiser]

Right.

[Dan Le Batard]

Like they've got the worst money spent in the league at quarterback, even if he's a bargain. Like that's. That's bad money. It's the reason the rest of the team's not going to be that good. The thing that I wanted to get back to though off of the column you wrote because this took a contentious turn and I did not mean for it to.

[Greg Cote]

Yeah, you did.

[Dan Le Batard]

No, I didn't. Because it's funny to me. I will ask the question again because it's so funny. In the review. In the review of it. You were so shocked by what happened in your initial reaction to them passing at Ruben Bane that a lifelong football expert got hazy, got the wrong opinion, and then does do the laudable thing a few days later and say I was wrong when nothing changed except you did research and emerged from your shock haze. That's amazing.

[Greg Cote]

No, it isn't. I think you're amazed enough to keep repeating it and try to get me embarrassed or get me to apologize or something. I'm not. I do neither. And to finish my other thought, the only thing that changes them.

[Tony]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Lean further away from the microphone. That's good.

[Zyn Advertiser 2]

Further.

[Greg Cote]

Further.

[Tony]

All right, now. Now deliver your point.

[Greg Cote]

See me.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is a new and unimproved Dan Levatar show with the Stugach Gamble on

[Mike Ryan]

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[Stugats]

That's right.

[Mike Ryan]

This happened to me just last week. I grabbed a six pack of Miller Lite, said I was on my way and next thing you know, we're arguing about rotations like we're on the coaching staff yelling about a missed call and the game's coming down in the final possession. It was one of those nights that you look around, you take a sip and you think, yeah, this was the right call and my friendship's stronger for it. Cheers to legendary moments with Miller lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.