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This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human hey, this is Levar Arrington here from up on Game. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card members can earn unlimited daily cash back on everyday purchases wherever they shop. This means you could be earning daily cash on just about anything, like a slice of pizza from your local pizza place or a latte from the corner coffee shop. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app to see your credit limit offer in minutes. Subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch terms and more at applecard.com Today's podcast is brought to you by Ferguson Home. Whether you're a homeowner working on a remodel or a pro managing multiple projects, Ferguson Home is where great ideas become stunning spaces. Ferguson Home is designed for the way you want to shop. Experience today's top products by top brands like KitchenAid firsthand by visiting a Ferguson Home showroom where you'll explore stunning displays featuring today's latest products and innovations. Or browse their extended selection of products online@FergusonHome.com the volume. Is going on. John Midkoff three and out podcast we had done a big mailbag at John Midoff is the Instagram fire in those dms? Get your questions answered here on the show. Did like an hourong mailbag and then news broke. The Baltimore Ravens had said we're out our picks, we want them back and they have backed out of the Max Crosby trade. So I did like a 5, 6 minute just instant reaction to the information we have and just my thoughts on what the Raiders should do moving forward with their star pass rusher, which I think includes just keeping them but we'll do that at the top and then we'll dive into the mailbag. So best part about the podcast business, we can adapt on the fly. We can pivot quick and that's what we had to do because this was not a story that I think most of you would agree. We could have envisioned coming that the Ravens are like actually take backs, we're good. I mean give us our pick back. And because it's not official, nothing actually officially happened and Max Crosby did not get traded to the Ravens. Could he get traded somewhere else? Time will tell. There's a fluid situation and we we will be on it throughout the week as things change. But wow, did did not see that coming. So again, Max Crosby then mailbag tomorrow I'm sure we'll have more information to this and we will dive deeper into it as well as dad Diaries and some other stuff going on in the National Football League. So let's just dive into some of my initial thoughts on this just bizarre crazy out of left field, maybe not out of left field situation in involving this trade. Well, obviously the breaking news on Tuesday night was the Baltimore Ravens had said take backs, we don't want them, we're out. And the Raiders released a statement that the Ravens have backed out of the trade with Max Crosby. So all the Raider fans who had been doing mock drafts, you know, should we take an offensive lineman? Should we take a wide receiver? Do we just load up on tight ends and is the Oregon guy there? Do we take, do we take that freak show? What do we do? You no Longer have the 14th pick but the good news is you still have Max Crosby. And I I'm on this three and out text chain is how I found out about the information right as I finished. And one thing Jackson put in the group text is that he was watching insiders on NFL Network and Golo bald guy said that it's a medical reason which you know clearly when you are make a trade. Gino Smith today got traded to the Jets. He's in New Jersey getting a physical. So if you're a for a trade to go through, you got to pass the physical. Clearly the Ravens saw something that they weren't comfortable with and I, I don't know how Max's cap number coming back the $30 million impacts other signings yesterday. My, my guess would be that they still have the, the cap space because my initial take after seeing this I I would say, I don't want to say unprecedented. I'm sure people have backed out of trades before but for the most part during this Monday and Tuesday when a trade goes through, when a signing goes through, that guy ends up on the other team like Linder Bomb is not going to back out of the deal and sign with someone else. I, I, I can only remember that happening once. Now free agent signings are different than trades but Emmanuel Sanders years ago you know was going to sign with the Chiefs when they had Alex Smith backed out and went to the Broncos I think when they had Peyton Manning. So it, it's pretty rare like once you these guys have been finding out their market since the combine is when unofficially tampling tampering really starts. So my take would be if you can afford to keep all those guys you kept yesterday assuming Max is not adamant that I have to go somewhere else because you saw that video it's like he, he didn't want to leave the Raiders could you just keep Max Crosby? Could you just keep Max Crosby with all those guys you signed yesterday and just try to be a credible team and then add Mendoza, you got high pick in every round and just try to improve your team that way and you have like a credible NFL team with bunch of NFL vets who have played at a pretty good high level on defense to go with Max, multiple guys in the front seven. Right. So my, my initial takeaway, again, this is pretty raw and real after the breaking news within the last 15 minutes. If I'm the Raiders, I would just keep them because here's the other thing. All those teams, and I was saying over and over they're going to get two first round picks. Well now all those GMs that would have traded two first round picks are, are surely hitting up DaCosta like what'd you guys see? What, what the hell happened? And he's probably telling them like we didn't feel comfortable now medical information, depending on who you ask. Like once upon a time Nick Saban's doctor said do not sign Drew Brees. His shoulder doesn't work. The Saints said we'll sign him. How'd that work out? Nick Saban went to Alabama, worked out pretty well for him, but he had to leave the NFL, didn't have a quarterback. And Sean Payton became Sean Payton with Drew Brees and Drew Brees now Hall of Famer. So I think certain doctors, certain can see certain things and certain other people can disagree. It happens all the time during the draft. Did a medical examination at the combine. Go. We think this guy's got a degenerate knee, a degenerate shoulder. I would not draft him. I don't think he's going to get a second contract. And teams take that guy off the board and then that same guy is drafted and goes on to have a great career, make Pro Bowls, get a second contract, become, you know, a great consistent player for whoever drafts them. Right. So I, I think these situations are pretty rare and especially this situation feels a little unprecedented given the amount of compensation in which they had traded for the player. Pick 14, I mean, is a lot. And obviously the following year's first round pick, especially given this is like a high level organization in the Ravens. So it's, it's definitely shocking when you read the post from the Raiders, but it is what it is. They backed out. And if I'm the Raiders, my take is on Tuesday night at 5:30 in the afternoon or dinner time. I would just keep back to Crosby if that relationship is not fractured enough. Like you just want to stay. You just want to continue to be a Raider because we would like to continue to have you to play along with all these other guys. And my guess again, I. This information's flying. A lot of stuff's going on. If I'm a, if I'm just going to take a guess sitting here on Tuesday night before free agency starts tomorrow. Now they've backed out of the trade. Assuming that this trade doesn't, you know, somehow get worked out, I would guess Max Crosby is on the Raiders in 2026. So did not see that coming. The NFL is pretty crazy. This feels like on the crazy scale, pretty high, right? This, this is not something that you expected to happen given that it felt like the Ravens were all in. They were already posting pictures of him in a RA Ravens uniform, CGI or AI or however you do that. So you just never know. And clearly the Ravens were not comfortable with whatever their doctor saw and said, we're out. And the Raiders what? Yeah, we're out. Those picks aren't yours. Those. That 14th pick is ours. So because nothing is official until you pass a physical and the league year doesn't technically start till Wednesday afternoon, Max Crosby still a Raider. And that's my, my official take. If I'm Smitek and I'm Brady and I'm the Raiders, I just keep Max Crosby. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock bet. Florida's Sportsbook March is officially here and that means more college hoops. And it takes center stage, baby. Stakes are rising, the shots are falling. And now is the time to hit the hardwood with Hard Rock Bet. Sign up today and double your winnings on your first 10 bets. Max, $50. That's right. Your winnings are doubled on your first 10 bets. So if you would have won a hundred bucks on your bet, that makes 200. That's how you start March hot. And the welcome offer is just the tip off all tournament long. Hard Rock BET is rolling out daily dancing boosts featuring a live profit boost and a parlay profit boost every single day. 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We've seen some little moves. Romeo Dobbs like him as a player signed with the Patriots. Jenkins, the former offensive lineman from the packers who was cut signed with the Browns. We're still waiting on Trey Hendrickson and obviously some some potential trades. You know AJ Brown could Mac McCorkle Jones, it's actually Mike McCorkle Jones be be traded. So we will do that. The dad Diaries obviously Fugazi Friday later this week, but today will just be a heavy, heavy mailbag. At John Middel Coff at John Middle Coff is the Instagram fire in those dms. Get your questions answered here on the show. I had so many. I was like, you know what, we've been grinding. We did a big free agency pod the last couple days. I've done multiple podcasts with Coward. So let's just do, let's just empty the clip here on the mailbag. Fire in those dms. They are always wide open and you're welcome, you're welcome to come on in as many young middle aged men do with football questions. My DMS look a lot like a babe, except I'm a dude and all my questions revolve around football. But it's all dudes. We will start here with with Tyson. Question for the podcast. When it comes to the Steelers quarterback, why is Will Howard not a viable option to try out as the starter? I get that the franchise isn't interested in a rebuild, but he did sit a year behind Rogers and that's not nothing. I'm a big K State fan so I'm big on Will Howard. I saw flashes of greatness at Kansas State, but when he transferred to Ohio State and got around NFL level coaching and truly excelled, he won the natty. He was good. I mean he was, he looked like Peyton Manning in the playoff games. He was, he was dominant player. Just wondering if there is a reason why he's not in the discussion to be the quarterback in Pittsburgh. He's already on the roster after all. I, I think this one's pretty simple. They have a new coach who's an offensive guy who was not in the league last year. I, I, I think it's fair to say he didn't evaluate him coming out of college given that he got fired right at the end of the season. That being Mike McCarthy. 2 the way the league works, whether you're the Pittsburgh Steelers and every single year minimum you're trying to win nine games, 10 games or you're the jets or the Cardinals and you stink to go into a season with the six round pick who's never pretty sure he never had it. He even play a snap last year like an offensive snap. If you watched every snap of the Seals, I'm obviously he got hurt. He was on his reserve for a minute. I, I don't think he played a snap, did he? So you're, you're looking at a guy who not only didn't play, who's also a later round pick. And fair or not you fight an uphill battle when you are a late round pick. And typically you have to earn your way in camp and in OTAs and then work your way up with the coaching staff. So let's say the front office, Omar and his crew really like this guy will would have to do it in training camp and preseason games and then would need an opportunity through injuries like when you look at the famous third day quarterbacks but specifically like six and seventh rounders obviously Tom's the most famous ever but let's just use a purdy a couple years ago who's a seventh round pick who was multi year starter dominated in the Big 12 is you need things that are out of your control to go your way and that's typically injuries but they don't hand the starting spot when you've never played to a sixth or seventh round pick. It just, it's never happened, it never will happen. So fair or not now who knows, maybe Will Howard becomes a really good player. I'm with you. He's pretty intriguing guy based on that run they had at Ohio State. Now you get a Michael Pittman, you get him DK Metcalf, he's got guys to throw to but like does Mike McCarthy think he's good enough? Is Mike McCarthy going to risk his opportunity becoming. I mean this is the last job he's ever going to have obviously. But his hometown team with the six round pick, year one like that could go the wrong way. So we'll see. Again, I'm recording this Tuesday afternoon. Do they make a play? Do they trade for a Mac Jones, a Tyson Badgett do they are they interested in the Kyler Murray? They're pretty fascinating team but it just doesn't work that way. Another Steelers question. So now always being relevant, never bottoming out is badass. You basically said the Steelers were stupid for holding on to a couple months ago. For holding on to that a couple months ago is this baby brain? Listen, I talk a lot my point simply and me and Colin brought up the Steelers yesterday trading for Pittman. I do respect I don't agree like I I think this would be a great time to bot about this year but that is not how they operate. So arguing it was like I said this forever against Tomlin like it was time for a Tomlin divorce a couple years ago but I was done talking about it. Why? Because they were never going to get a divorce from Tomlin. They were never going to fire him. Clearly we're never going to fire him. Even this year is like they were clearly not good enough. Late in the season, like probably after Thanksgiving before Christmas there was a report on a Sunday like the Steelers may, you know, mutually depart, but they will not fire Mike Tomlin. So you get to a point where if you don't control the situation and you're, you're like me commenting on it, it's pointless to talk about the same thing over and over and over again. Rooney, once they gave the press conference, I think this was either after Tomlinson stepped away or maybe the day that they hired McCarthy like rebuilding is not in their vernacular. Like they don't speak like that there. And my point is like I, I can in a league full of the jets and the Cardinals, the NBA full of tanking teams and the some of these teams in baseball spending less money than some players and individual players in like the NBA and NFL make. It's just I, I can respect something even if I don't totally agree with it and they've operated for a way for a long period of time. If you told me they had a credible like if you just told me Dak Prescott was the quarterback of the Steelers, I'd be like they could win the division. They're. They're flawed team but like they're a quarterback away from being pretty solid. A lot of teams flawed. So I just think they got to figure out a way to get a credible quarterback and they have too many good players and now McCarthy like they're never going to draft one or two even if they started, let's say Will Howard. They started Will Howard and it turns out like a lot of six rounds, seventh round players and this is no shot at him personally but like he just sucks. I I still think they would figure out a way to win like five games. If you win five or six games you end up drafting like ninth, not first. Now you're in much better position to move up to get one of the top guys. But I think that's easier said than done. I mean most of the shitty teams. Maybe it changes now with the Giants with Harbaugh but they've been drafting high, it feels like it for a decade. The Cardinals draft high every single year. The. I mean the Titans have been bad for a long time up until Liam Cohen. The Jags always drafted high. So like some like that sucks. Do you know what's like watching a season that just now I part of the Steeler thing is like their expectation is to compete against the Ravens. To compete against the Chiefs is to compete against you know the Bills. And that gap has widened over the last three or four years. But a big reason for that is like they got Mahomes, they got Lamar, they got Josh and you've had nobody. Even last year with the 41 year old Aaron who tried, who did a valiant effort like I respect the shit out of him last year. Don't understand why people say Jordan Love was in so so my overall point is we could argue till we're blue in the face whether like this is stupid. It's not. That is what they do, right? You could be like God if you go to in and out you're just cheeseburger. That's. That's your only option, right? The Steelers their only option starting from ownership again it's not like Omar and even Tomlin might have been open to it maybe but their owner like that's doesn't tolerate it. So that that just comes with the territory. Don't understand why people say Jordan Love was inconsistent this past year. 23 touchdowns and six picks in the second highest QBR. He has two or three below average games and the rest he was really good to great. I understand he needs to stay healthy but don't understand how people don't think he's a really good quarterback. Your thoughts on him moving forward? This is where it's like the chicken or the egg. You know La Flor gets criticized pretty heavily with his play calling. You can watch games and I bet if you went in the building players and coaches they'd all have slightly different opinion. The, the let's go the Bears playoff game if I remember correctly they're just kicking their ass, right? And Jordan Love looks awesome and then all of a sudden they just stall out in the second half and you're like, what is going on here? So I, I think part of it is there is no disputing he's a good player. Right. They made the right decision in the Rogers pivot, extending him like he's a good starting quarterback who you can compete to be a top one or two seed with. Right. Some of their issues last year were out of his control defense got injured when Parsons hurt his acl like they were a team that was going to compete to win the nfc. And obviously he's the starting quarterback. So if you have a team to compete to win the nfc, you have to have a decent starting quarterback. I don't think anyone in the NFL would argue he's not a solid player now. Great player. I, I don't know if I'd go that far. He can have great drives. To me he can just be pretty inconsistent in games and that's the difference. Why he's not like one day Jordan l could be like a top five or six quarterback and kind of why he hovers, you know, farther down now he is a guy that, it's not like he's played that much. Comes from Utah State, sat for a while. Now he's in what several years starting sound like he's a seven year starter. Look at Dak Prescott, how much better Dak Prescott is today than he was six or seven years ago. So you could make the argument the best football for Jordan Love is ahead of him. He has an offensive play calling head coach. They have a ton of turnover. Right. Dobbs is gone now. Offensive line changes. Rashawn Gary, I mean correct me if I'm wrong, has he been like the team captain for a while? They cut the corner. Who's injured? Nixon. They've just had, they just had some turnover of some core guys that have been on their team. Now they still have the tight end, will come back off ACL injury. Josh Jacobs still a really good player. You know Christian Watson, when he's healthy and right. I mean he's, he's a explosive playmaker. Micah Parsons went healthy, is just an elite player, but they've definitely had some turnover with a core group of guys that have won a lot of games and I had a future. Them play the Broncos in the super bowl and up until Parsons got injured, I felt pretty good about it. Today's podcast is brought to you by Ferguson Home. 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It wasn't about the money. He just didn't think we could win. That hurts. But retaining bowls and letting Liam walk, I get it. Well, by all accounts, the 49ers, you know, this is where you got to be careful about in this time of year. I was like, God, the 49ers gave him three years, $60 million, and then it came out like 12 hours later. Well, they, they only guaranteed $16 million. So it's like a one year $16 million contract. And I'm a huge Mike Evans guy and I see people nitpicking the movement. If I'm the 49ers and I can get Mike Evans for $16 million, I get, I'm an older team. I do that every day of the week and twice on Sundays. So I would do that move every day of the week. If I'm the 49ers now from Mike's perspective, by all accounts, the Buccaneers offered more, even if they just match that guaranteed money. California's state income tax, over 14%. Mike Evans. And you play the Rams. Technically, it's in Australia. I'm not sure how that gets taxed, but you pay. It's impossible to pay any more taxes for an NFL player, given the way you're set up. Washington State has high taxes. I think this year you play the Chargers in Sofi, so this is like he's used to get paying zero percent income tax. And when you're making $20 million, you know, you talk 14%. You're talking, you know, one and a half million dollars. It's a big chunk of change. I say this all the time. People like, wow, they're so rich. It's like, well, fuck. Any human being factors that in. Once you get to a certain point in life and whether you're making $100 or whether you're making $100 million, like, if that's not a conversation, you're probably not great at business. So I have respect for Mike that it's like, he left a lot of money on the table to go play for Kyle Shanahan. And right now, if you were going to play, if you're him, you know, they've had this turnover with the offensive coordinator. Baker did not play well last year. Now he was banged up. But in fairness, Like, Mike had 24 touchdowns within the previous couple years. So they'd had a lot of success. I think the Bulls thing, it does feel like it's coming down the home stretch. Like, if you're a betting man, I. Is Todd Bowles going to be the head coach there in 2027? Probably not. I personally like the Saints a lot this year. They signed etn, maybe they trade Camara. I think they're kind of a team to watch. Clearly, the Panthers have invested. Not. Not that Mike's factoring in, like, Jalen Phillips and Devin Lloyd, and they should be solid. The Falcons, I. They have no quarterback, but they have a lot of talent on their team. Maybe Mike was just like, I'm ready for a change. I'm ready. I saw McCaffrey get a second lease on life when he went there. I go to a place where I can be featured and we're on the same page. There was that famous clip last year was a Thursday Night Football where he's screaming at Bulls. But he clearly. Which always isn't the case, especially with older players, sometimes you got to take it where you can get it. Like Jason Light loves Mike Evans and they did it clearly was not a financial decision. So I think the only thing you would say is he didn't believe in the football direction which from an offensive standpoint I I listen if all things are equal, which they're not here, he's taking less. But if you're as rich as Mike Evans and it's like I'm gonna take a couple million dollar hit, it's not going to change my life. So I am willing to make a football decision over money decision who would play for Todd Bowles in that situation over Kyle Shanahan, especially on offense. There is not a person if you're, if you're going to put money in a different bucket, which he clearly did, you would choose Kyle Shanahan in that opportunity and the 49ers are going to need him. I mean as of recording this, Juwan Jennings still a free agent. Pearsall has not proven he can play a full season. Kittle I keep hearing hey, you know George Kittle. George Kittle tours Achilles. Do you follow him on Instagram? He's in a boot. We all love George Kittle, but that's a pretty major injury, major injury for an older player. So I'm excited. I think Mike Evans going to be a fan favorite fast, but the 49ers are going to depend on him big time. I also think the Liam Cohen thing, I think that is so easy to say. No one does that because you could do it with countless Dan Quinn should have got fired after they lost super bowl to keep Kyle Shanahan, but who fires a coach after they won the Super Bowl? Todd Bowles has just been winning the division like you're going to fire him to keep Liam Cohen. And for every Liam Cohen that works, there are a lot of guys that do not work. Again, I'm not even trying to defend Todd on that one. I'm just or the Bucs organization. I just think that that move never happens ever. Question for the bag Schneider just came off winning a Super bowl and seems to be comatose in free agency. So far he has only signed Rashid Shahid. This is not unusual for him and I don't even disagree. Taking a step back in free agency as not one of the usual big spenders around the league. But it seems every year fans who follow the team are constantly frustrated with him sitting back and letting top free agents go to other teams without being rumored to be involved in signing players. Could you just talk about a strategy and maybe give an insight into how GMs like Schneider operate well, they gave Shahid a lot of money. By all accounts it was like 50 million. They guaranteed them $30 million. So that is, that is not nothing. I think he would say he's got a massive contract coming for jsn. They have some young nucleus on defense which are going to get paid premiums. He paid the offensive lineman, was it Charles Cross last year? While Sam Darnold does not make Josh Allen money, he doesn't make chump change. If Sam Darnold A three year, $100 million contract and whatever, $30 million a year, if that was a guard or D tackle, he'd be one of the highest paid players in the league. So it's like he makes a substantial amount of money relative to football players. And I think you look at it like Kobe, Kobe Bryant, our defensive backfield is our deepest position, right. With Witherspoon, Eamon Worry Woolen, who's a big free agent was a fifth round pick. So part of my strength as John Schneider is I keep the cupboards full by letting guys finding guys like that in the fifth round and then letting them walk in free agency and getting comp picks. So you could argue the Kobe Bryant deal like they had the money to do that. But I think he goes, that's a position of depth. Mike McDonald is my strength. Right. One advantage the Seattle Seahawks have is my head coach is a defensive dominant wizard. So I could find guys for cheaper. And then when I get the opportunity to blow it out on a defensive lineman, I do that. So I don't really have a big issue. I don't think he let anyone go. It's not like he let Earl Thomas walk out the door. Right. He didn't just let Cam Chancellor is prime leave. I think that's how he looks at it. I also think here's the other thing. When you look at a lot of these players that got signed, Jalen Phillips, Tyler Lindenbaum, like some of the high like you are paying a massive tax to sign that guy, Devin Lloyd, these guys are getting substantial, substantial raises from other teams. So if I'm willing to let you walk and I'm John Schneider and I've been doing this for almost, I mean he's been working the league since the mid-90s, but he's been the boss for almost 20 years. I do think he has a pretty good feel for I can't let this guy leave and I have to keep this guy. I, I think he's earned the benefit of the doubt of kind of knowing what he's doing. I don't think there were too many players for a team that just won the super bowl of like how'd you not sign that guy? That would be my take. Because this is not, you know, in baseball, Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge or Bryce Harper or one of these guys, a free agent, like it's, it's a plug and play sport, right? If you get the opportunity to sign Shaq or Kevin Durant, right. In basketball, that's not the way NFL works beside like Reggie White. Historically, there aren't that many guys in their prime that truly hit free agency and this year clearly wasn't Great question for the Pod. What on earth are the jets doing at quarterback? Are they actually going to draft Ty Simpson? Because that is bust written all over it. Also, in the event Aaron Rodgers retires, doesn't Kyler just feel like a Steeler? Also looks Kevin Stefanski found another terrible left handed quarterback. I do not understand what type of traits the man looks for in a quarterback. The jets, man. I, I, I think the jets and the Cardinals feel like just lost at sea. Just truly lost at sea. I mean yesterday I saw some of the reactions of the Cardinals who are going to stick with Jacoby, who actually wasn't bad and signed Gardner Minshew. The Jeffs just traded for Geno Smith. Now granted, by all accounts the Raiders are eating the majority of a salary. The jets are just paying them three or four million dollars. Like you said, they'll probably end up drafting Ty Simpson. If I'm a, if I'm a quarterback, that's the last place in the world I'd ever want to go would be at the Jets. I mean that's a place where careers die. I mean hell, Geno's career died there and then he got resurrected other places. So I don't know, man. I think in fairness, if you do not have a quarterback, there aren't really options, right? Like what are the jets supposed to do? What are the Cardinals supposed to do? All the reports said Malik Willis had options to go other places and chose to go to Miami. I would too. He knows the coach and he knows the gm. So why would I go to a place where I don't know any people? I just was with these guys when I resurrected my career. They know me as well as anyone could know me in this situation. So I think when you look at the jets, it's like what were really their options? Kyler trade for Gino? Like if I'm defending them, they don't really have any to Me, Ty Simpson. That's got disaster written all over it. It really is. Can you explain the Rooney rule and why the Bears don't get a comp pick for Ian Cunningham? I do believe they got fucked because you don't technically like the comp picks. The Niners got these for years. So when Robert Sala or D', Amico, Ryan's or Mike McDaniel, not a white guy, gets a head coaching job from a coordinator job, you get two third round picks. I'm trying to think they had a couple executives too. I think was one but when your executives become an assistant GM or pro personnel guy and become the gm, same thing as a coach, you get multiple third round picks. Well, the league argued that Ian Cunningham is, is by the letter of the law a lateral move because Ian is under Ryan. Paul's in Chicago and he's technically under Matt Ryan in Atlanta. Though Matt Ryan said when he got hired I am not going to be running free agency and I'm not running the draft. Let's face it. Matt Ryan is a figurehead who is being paid a lot of money to kind of keep good vibes and you know, interact with the coach and the GM and kind of just keep everyone on the same page. But if you think Matt Ryan is going to like Texas to scout players or is ranking as big board in free agency that that is Ian Cunningham I do believe and I think Ryan polls mentioned this like this is wrong like Ian, Ian Cunningham is running their personnel department like he is the GM but they don't get any credit for it. And I don't think this is like it's, I don't think the Falcons attempted to, you know it's not the Falcons pick. The league just creates these picks out of thin air. But Bears got screwed. I, I, I, I would agree with Bears fans there. Good day. John, do you like the moves the Raiders have made so far? Spending most of their money on defense and not on offense with a rookie quarterback coming in knowing that some say you build your defense through the draft and offense in free agency. I think the number one key where I will defend the Raiders of buying all these different players is their team was so shitty, it was so bad that you just need NFL bodies on your team. Like the Raiders are not trying to win the super bowl next year. Honestly they're not going to make the playoffs next year. They just need to get the train back on the tracks and be like a six or seven win team that when you watch them all season long ago that's An NFL team because what they were last year was not no different than the Cardinals, no different than the Jets. Once you get to the point where you are that bad, you need to just figure some things out. And they had a bunch of cap space there. There was more good defensive players than offensive players I would say. So they, you know, from quitty pay to Quay Walker, I mean those guys have been long time starters on competitive teams. Obviously quay more than Quitty because the Colts never make the playoffs. But you know they paid for Linderbaum and Naylor, the wide receiver from Minnesota. But I have no issue with like they're not planning on like they don't have delusions that they're going to be some 13 win team next year. But their team was so shitty, it had been so bad and they've made so many bad moves. Like they traded for Devonte Adams. So one year they lost a first round pick and then Devonte is obviously a couple of years late, not on the team anymore like they have. And Gruden drafted really poorly for a long time. Like this is not a great roster. So I have no problem with overspending and paying guys a little too much just to come be on a team to try to make it decent. Within a couple years some of those guys contracts will be over and you can cut them for no dead, dead money. I don't know why anyone arguing that like the Raiders are doing this idiotic. If the Chiefs are like a good team did it, I'd be like that's pretty risky. You bring in a lot of bodies in a lot of different personalities. Obviously most good teams don't have that level cap space. But if it was a consistent playoff team, you'd be like God that's, that's historically doesn't work. The Raiders are not like historically. You couldn't be much worse. They made the playoffs twice in 23 years. So I, I got, I got, I completely support it. And did they overpay for the center? Sure. But they wanted them. You know someone was going to be willing to give him 24, 25 million dollars. They have a rookie quarterback coming in now. All of a sudden you get a starting center. You have a good left tackle. You could draft another offensive lineman with the 14th pick. Question for the pod. Just curious, how come the rest of the volumes podcasts aren't on Netflix? Did you make a separate deal just for three and out with Netflix? Well, we have a lot of different partnerships in this venture and one of our business partners who I'm in Business with, I guess indirectly, directly through the podcast is iHeart. So this Netflix deal, I think they ran the Netflix deal that then comes through the volume that was then asked to me like, was this something you'd be interested in? But from what I was told at the super bowl party is, you know, iHeart has what, 6,000 podcasts. That was a number that was thrown out to me. There are only 15 of them through the, under the iHeart umbrella. That and they sell ads for us like we're in business with them that are, that did the deal with Netflix and your boy is one of the 15. No big deal. But it wasn't, it wasn't necessarily. And you know, we have other, there are other shows like Joe and Jada is a volume podcast that is, this is on Netflix. They were just at the Phoenix Raceway with Michael Jordan. I didn't get the invite to that one, but it was, it was, I think ran point by iheart on this, this deal. So that's, it's, it's kind of complicated. Right? There are a lot of different people involved in these operations, which is cool. I mean, iheart's been incredible to me. So I, I, I'm very happy to be in business with him. But that's kind of a short cliff note version of how that worked out. It's not like the, the volume sold all the shows and some of the shows are more directed toward, you know, the other medium. You guys can figure that video one how he doesn't sell a cow that still has milk. No on Jalen Carter. The reason how he would trade Jalen Carter is not because of his talent. Right. He's a heifer. He's pumping out milk left and right. He is an elite talent. It's. He was a red flag coming out of college for a reason. I don't think he's the easiest guy to deal with. And now you got to pay the piper. And that payment for a guy like him is probably $150 million guaranteed. Think about that. His number guaranteed would be closer to Jalen Hurts than it would be like A.J. brown and Devonte Smith or Jordan Davis, his college teammate. He is an extremely expensive next contract. That's where the conversation starts. And that's now. Could they play it out another year, then trade them? I just think there's a complicated situation for a guy that's talent is, I mean, you could say he's one of the most talented players in the NFL. I think that's more than fair to say. Ravens fan. Why do more Teams not use the transition tag. It feels so obvious it's cheaper than the regular tag and no team is trading two first round picks for a center. So at worst the Ravens would have gotten one more year out of Linderbaum and a chance to continue negotiating. Maybe a team does negotiate with him and work out a trade with us for less than two first rounders, in which case at least we get more for him than a compensatory third round pick. Two drafts from now the Vikings would have done that same thing with Darnold. Either get two first rounders if another team signs them, keep one more year on a cheap tag, or if he gets an offer, gets a reasonable, then you can match the offer. Someone else did the dirty negotiating for you. I usually love rgm, but this feels like a serious WTF moment. Well, let me just bring up Lamar Jackson contract to get the Raven stuff. So if I type in the Ravens currently to their contract situation, they have, they currently have negative $10 million in cap space and Tyler Linderbaum franchise tag number. If they were to franchise tag them, that number would have been basically $26 million. Now the transition tag would have been lower than that, but it still would have been like over 20. This is the thing why they couldn't do that because a couple people have asked me, you can't put a transition or a franchise tag number if you do not have the cap space. So if the let's just pick a number, $25 million. You have to have $25 million in space because this is not something you can manipulate. You can't fudge the numbers. The number is the number for one year. And part of the reason they couldn't do it because they didn't have the space or they weren't willing to cut and get rid of other guys to create the space. It was he was extremely expensive. Whether they wanted to keep him or whether they let him walk. I mean think about this. His cap hit would have been the fifth most on the team. It would have gone Lamar, Roquan, Matabuque, Crosby and him 1 through 5. Lamar this year is $74 million, which might change in a couple days, but they would have had to get that done. The Lamar finagling of the contract before tomorrow or if you're listening to this today, you're basically putting a puzzle together and maybe they thought they wouldn't have been able to get Lamar done. So I, I, I don't think the Ravens really liked him, but there were financial constraints that there was nothing you could do like you don't think how he liked Reed Blankenship. You don't think Sirianni and the staff and Vic Fangio wanted to keep him there. Comes to a point again, money's all relative. Whether it's 10 million, whether it's 25 million, whether it's 40 million. You don't have the money. You don't have the money. Not that they. I mean the owner literally has the money, but the salary cap limits what you can do. So I think that plays a huge, huge role in a lot of franchise decisions. And now that a lot of these good teams have huge cap numbers on three or four players, it's harder for them to franchise tag a player after free agency is over. Could you talk on the pod about what NFL scouting interviews are like? I've heard you talk about how to get into the industry, but never about what the inter interviews themselves are like. I'd love to know how technical personally personality based each interview is or if they ask questions to gauge the interviewees knowledge of that franchise. Also, who is conducting those lower level scout interviews? I assume it's not the gm, but I have no idea. I'm interning in high finance this summer, but have always wanted to be a scout and I feel like this would be super cool to learn about. Well, I've only been into one. I guess I've been a part of other interviews when other guys interviewed. When I interviewed for the Eagles, I just met with our crew. So our crew at the time was I. I was picked up by the guy whose position I was taking over. He brought me to the office. I met with Lewis Riddick, who you now see on espn. He gave me a couple players to watch. I actually went to eat lunch or I guess breakfast in the cafeteria and there were like three other people there, multiple people interviewing for the same position and then other guys interviewing for other positions. It was like, God, this is like, this is like doggy dog here. It was kind of intimidating. They gave me a couple players to watch. I watched them. I kind of wrote them up on a piece of paper. I think I gave it back. And then I think I met with Veech. Me and Veech, who was like the SEC scout at the time was kind of like a hybrid role. We kind of talk football, talk life. I think I ended up meeting with Howie. I don't know a lot of it. You know, once they say okay, this guy knows enough football to come take over this position, then it's kind of getting a feel for the guy. So a personality is pretty big for sure. Like you, you have to have a base level of football knowledge. And in that interview, they didn't know me. Right. If you're, if you've been 10 years for the packers and you're interviewing with the Les Snead or you know, Jason Light, like probably less getting super, super nerdy on football, it's like, yeah, I know you know football. You've been the college scouting director for the packers for 10 years. It's probably more getting to know you, the guy. Maybe some big picture thoughts you've had, maybe things you've learned throughout your career. For my position at the lowest level, it's, I would say this my recommendation for lowest level people. And having been one, I mean I've been a low level guy to start my career in my 20s where you just do, I mean, pick up sandwiches, get gas for people. I mean, I have done the dumbest and lowest level tasks you can think of basically right up to like cleaning the toilets to then become. And working your way up. Your personality and just your willingness to do anything is really, really important. It's why Jackson wearing me out. When I was at the golf course while he kind of stood out, it's like he just had a lot of energy and a lot of passion. And I think most people, if I'm hiring you to be my offensive coordinator or my financial advisor, like you're gonna have to have a resume and know what you're doing. But if you're taking over a position, like an entry level position, a lot of it's going to be energy, effort. I mean, I'm watching Jackson at the combine just fire around interviewing McAfee and getting videos of me talking every. He's just a lot of it. When you're young and when I was in my early to mid 20s, it's just like positive attitude, energy, effort. Like, what do you need? Throw some like energy ideas out there. It's less about can you figure out this entire business that's not as important? Not, not that you can't develop into that. But I would say one thing I brought to the table and something that I look for in people is just like energy, effort, passion. You know, when you're young and if you're smart enough and if you have a feel for whatever you're doing, like you in finance or us in the podcast business, you're going to be just fine to figure it out. But it's, it's pretty hard to take entry level people that don't have A lot of juice. Like, I'm not a big person that gravitates to people without juice. Like, you gotta have some juice and then as time grows, you gotta have ideas, you gotta be able to execute. You gotta come through. But like, when you're really young, just getting your foot in the door like it to me, it's a lot about, like, that's what I brought to the table for the Eagles was just this guy's just bringing it now. I was up a lot, lose things. I wasn't the most. I would say punctual is the wrong word. I was punctual. I was always on time. But there was like a, you had to be pretty dialed in with your ability to keep track of a lot of different things. And at the time, technology wasn't as good as it is now. So, like you're keeping things on paper. It was a lot. I mean, it, it was intense. But I think what saved me is people like me, you know, so when I screw up, it's like, why not get fired? Gonna get screamed at. Didn't necessarily think at the time. There were a couple times, like I thought that Friso State, like Coach Hill would fire me, like multiple times. Puts a little hair on your chest though. A lot of teams should be interested in Kyler Murray. I think him going to the Vikings is a perfect fit. But shouldn't the following teams reach out to the Texans, the Colts, the Steelers, the Saints, the Falcons and the Dolphins? I think they're all reaching out. I mean, clearly Kevin Stefanski is too athletic and is too strong of an army. I think Kyler's a pretty fascinating individual. Whether it's fair or not, I, I do think perception becomes reality. And back to the call. Almost said, call her daddy. Call of duty thing. I, I do think hangs over his head. I don't know. I, I, I think he would be the type guy that if you talk to 10 coaches, you would hear like 10 different opinions. But I don't think a lot of people would stake their job on Kyler Murray. I mean, he's gotten multiple people fired now. I mean, he just has. I've heard you mention the Rams a lot recently. My guess is he ends up on, on this, on the Vikings, just because that's what everyone says, you know, he's not going to go, go back to the Cardinals. Gino's on the jets, he's not going to the Jets. The Dolphins don't need him. Like where his options. That's why I've said all along, like, call Like Andy Rita, like, hey, can I be your backup? Can I resurrect my career as a backup? Kind of works. Ask Sam Darnold what it's like resurrecting your career as a backup kind of worked. Look at Mac Jones. I've heard you mention the Rams a lot recently about how making the trade with Atlanta is why they are in position. They are in now. My question is, if they just drafted James Pierce, don't you think they could be super bowl champs, seeing as they came close in the NFC Championship game? He'd be a headache right now. A headache? A headache. Have you read some of the stories that have come out about the situation with the WNBA player, about leading up the weeks leading up to the incident? I, I, I've never, I've said this forever. I do not go to my athletes, my celebrities, my leagues. If you're looking for life lessons and them to be the moral compass of your life, you have a massive missing hole somewhere. Your parents, your grandparents, your significant others that people have let you down. So if you hold them accountable to what you would hold your own children accountable for, you got it. You got problems. I'm sorry, I've never looked at. Their job is to make money and win games. And we can debate on the order. So people get into business with guys like James Pierce all the time. But when you get in business with James Pierce, it can backfire. And as it did on the Falcons, backfired hard. I'm never one to say, like, yeah, he won't play the league. I would be stunned if he's in the NFL in 2026. So that pick is a disaster. He got 10 sacks out of him, but you missed the playoffs. And now who knows when he's gonna, he might go to jail for years. Like, not like, you know, spend 30 days in jail. We've seen guys spend 30 days in jail, come out and play hell. Michael Vick spent a couple years, almost won the MVP when I was in Philadelphia. This guy could be going away for a while. So I, I don't think the Rams have ever thought twice. Plus, I think there's a pretty good chance James Pierce wasn't on their draft board because you know what good teams do? They go, this isn't worth it. And I always say this about, well, we weren't comfortable taking him in the first because he was a massive red flag off the field. But in the fourth round, he was too good to pass up, which is true, that you have to give him less money. So you're Passing up, giving him guaranteed money to now giving him a couple hundred grand. You can cut them whatever you want, but you're still getting that guy on your team. He's still coming in the building. He's still interacting with your guys. Your coaches still have to deal with them. Jim Washburn, the famous defensive line coach, told me one time, he said, you guys up there, it's so easy for you to say, coach, this guy's a headache. But look at this guy bend the edge. Look at this guy bull rush. And then we draft him and you don't have to deal with him anymore. And he's in my meeting room every single day for six months. It's my problem. There's some truth to that. And I say, coach, that's why you guys make way more money than all the scouts. But J. James Pierce, I'll say this. If there was a redraft of 20, 25, James Pierce would not be selected. I. I can say that with conviction. James Pierce, 100% sitting here today, would not get drafted. And it has nothing to do with his talent because he's a baller. I appreciate your diaper story. My son no longer needs diapers. My kid goes through an insane amount. I mean, we counted one day, I swear to God, it was like 10 and two hours. If you give the gas drops at the right time, those pipes just started flowing. I got a pretty good dad diary pipe story coming tomorrow. But my son no longer needs diapers. I did, however, pay 1500, almost $1600 to renew his car insurance this week. That buys six months of coverage if he gets a speeding ticket. Quote, very likely it goes up from there. Is that better than cleaning up? I'm gonna say yes. Funny. Think about parenting is your problems don't go away. They just change. Pretty true. You could make the argument. I was thinking about this. I remember when I got in the Tesla, when I rented the Tesla. I think. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger probably the next month or two and get one. I got Maria a new car, but it's like I. I dry, I get in my car somehow. I've needed a new car for 15 years. My wife and kid got a new car. She already had a newer car, but the AC didn't work well enough in an air conditioning. I couldn't have no AC flow in the back. And I'm still driving this 2011 beater Tahoe, which I. It doesn't. I'm not a huge car. It doesn't matter to me. But once you get the technology of something new. It's hard to get back into the 2011. No Bluetooth, you know, just my dashboard's cracking. But it's Old Faithful. I have no issues. It's paid off, it's cheap. I don't drive enough to have the. The gas really hit me at all. It doesn't really matter. I'm gonna miss that car when it's gone. But it's. Once you make the transition to driving a brand new car and getting back into your beater, you're like, this sucks. But yeah, I hear you. Your problems, you know, life's. It's crazy as you get older. I saw Will Compton tweet something out the other day. Like his daughter was just staring at the ceiling. And he's like, what are you thinking about, honey? And she looked at him and she said, turtles. And he kind of laughed. He's like, how simple it is, the life they lead. And the older you get, like, in theory, life should get better, you know, especially if you're married with kids. Your. Your career, like, your trajectory should be aiming up, you know, your 40s and 50s. It should be for most people when they do the best financially. You get to watch your kids grow. But the stresses of life, the things of, you know, giving a young. I would imagine your kids 16 or 17 years old, like, looking back, my grandpa had given me a 1994 Brown, like, diarrhea brown. I mean, it was just an ugly looking car, but it's. My dad wasn't gonna give me a car, so luckily my grandpa Woody gave me when I turned 16, like 2001. Ish. 2002. His Ford Explorer. And I was mobbing that thing. I mean, back in the day, in the 80s and 90s cars, I mean, once you got above in most cars, like, I'm not talking like Corvettes, but just your average truck, SUV, Ford Taurus or whatever. Once you hit like 60, 65, it started rattling a little bit. Now it's like I. I see Miles Garrett. He gets all these speeding tickets. Well, yeah, he's worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He's driving the best cars. If you tap on the gas, you go like 80, and you don't even feel it. My wife's new TAHOE. You go 80, it's like, it's smooth, you know, my parents had an Expedition. I remember my dad got a new one, like 2000. And back then, like, like a brand new, fully loaded expedition was like 30 grand. But I remember mobbing that thing a little bit when I was 16. He'd let me take it every once in a while on like a Friday night with my buddies. What you got above, like you couldn't sniff going 80 without feeling like that whole thing was going to fall apart. Now every car, I mean, my brother's a farmer. You get in his trucks, the newer versions, you can go 75 and it feels like you're going 30. So I don't know how any of these kids. But back to my Tesla story. When I read of that Tesla when we went to visit my family in Reno and you're just flying around 0 to 60, like I'm in an F1 car. I can't imagine having a 16 year old boy and letting them drive a Tesla. I would 100% of crashed that thing 20 years ago. 100%. There is no doubt in my mind when I was 16, 17, 18 years old that me or my friends would have totaled Teslas. They just would have been too fast. We would, we went so fast in our shitty cars. And the other thing is you, as you get older, I remember being a kid and you know, you live in a neighborhood. Oh you know, there were people obviously with young children in my neighborhood that were always screaming at you to slow down, right? And then they put the things out front that have like kids at play, 25 miles an hour and under. And you're young, you're thinking like this loser. And then the older you get, now I scream at like Amazon drivers, like, slow down. Stop going so fast. And I've already told Maria, like, there's this one place where we live that it's kind of, you can't really see. And most people in the neighborhood go relatively slow. But there are definitely some of these delivery drivers that come around the corner like they're Lewis Hamilton. So I say, hey, we walk Jack, we got to be on the other side. Because if this guy's coming 30 miles an hour and we can't see him, that there's no room for him around this corner. It'd be a disaster. I think about sometimes when I'm walking the dog. I mean, I, I've screamed at people to slow down five people in the last like three weeks. So I hear you. Your problems just, just change. Good problems to have expensive, you know, you value, you know, I don't think your kids really value all that type stuff. And then you get out and once one day all those bills start coming your way and you're like, wait, this actually costs money. Car insurance is outrageous. I was watching a video on Fernando Mendoza Breaking down his pros and cons as a quarterback, kind of sounding like an NFL scout, which got me thinking. As a former scout, did you have any knowledge of the schematical side of the sport to help in scouting? Or was that something you left to the coaches? Knowing how players read coverages, their angles on tackles, hand and foot placement, dropping depth, did you pay attention to any of that stuff? Or was it just based on how good of a player they were overall? P.S. hope Jack is feeling better and wish you and Maria all the best. I appreciate that. Well, in my experience, my office and the scouting and recruiting offices at Fresno and in Philly were with the coaches. So you were spending so much time around those guys that your knowledge of like football nerdy scheme just improves exponentially. I mean, really, really fast because you're, you're just kind of inundated in that world. And then when you actually scout, like if you're just watching a guy, Fernando Mendoza, you don't know the play call. So any questions you may have on, like, what's he seeing? Or whatever, you take notes and then you get a hold of the offensive coordinator or the quarterback coach and then you talk to them about it. So when you're saying, hey, he is really good in these situations at reading this coverage, I thought they were getting that. I read an article yesterday, Ted Nguyen of the Athletic, who's a Bay Area guy who's really good, did a pretty in depth thing on Fernando Mendoza and he got a, he got the quarterback coach or maybe was the offensive coordinator on record and was just kind of breaking down all these situations of like they, they went over because I think this guy had coached Justin Herbert with the Chargers and he was showing Fernando different looks and they got the same look against Iowa and he remembered it. And some of these shots against cover two and cover three, running vertical routes. And it's just any questions you have. Part of being, you know, scouting these college guys is you just then asked their coaches and over time you develop relationships with the position coaches and the, and the coordinators that you can just shoot them texts, right? And I remember one thing, one of the guys the Eagles taught me, he said, your first year, when you do it, you're not going to know any of these guys. So go out of your way to send thank you cards. Like if you meet a guy, shoot him a card. Hey, nice meeting you. You know, personalized card with the team's logo. And those are ways to stand out. And then over time, you've been doing it long enough you just get to know these people, and they get to know you, and they throw ideas off you, and you throw ideas off them. But there are going to be certain times, like when you're just watching the defensive end, you can kind of tell, like, he's just being asked to go get the quarterback. But obviously there are some times with a corner or a linebacker, you don't know the assignment to say, this guy sucks in so and so coverage. Well, what if that's not even the coverage he's running? So you have to do digging and know that that's what's going on. And that's kind of your job because you are going into these schools, you get to be around these coaches and try to get their information. Unless you're going into North Carolina. As someone at the combine told me, they are not the most welcoming university. Of all the visits Kyler Murray spots, I haven't heard anyone really consider Philly. I'd like to see Philly bring him in and compete with Jalen Hurts, but I'd see. But I'd see them ultimately give Jalen the nod of how that camp went. I've heard a couple people bring this up. There is no way Kyler could beat out Jalen Hurts in the training camp. I just. When you factor in the money, when you factor in how invested they are, it wouldn't even be a fair fight, even if it was a fair fight. And I don't think Kyler could beat him out to begin with. With. I hear what you're saying. I would never put it past Howe to kind of throw a curveball, but I. I think that would be pretty stunning. Indy, I believe he would be able to beat out Daniel Jones if he stays on the transition tag. Also, Sten got the best out of Herz in Philly. Kyler is a more talented. Jaylen Kyler's been really banged up. That's. That's an underrated part about this conversation. He's had major injuries, right. Missed serious amounts of time this year. Was he injured or was he benched? But I think we're almost overvaluing Kyler's talent at this point. When he came out of college, there was no disputing his speed, his arm pop, meaning arm strength. But I. I don't think that's the guy we're dealing with right now. So I. I'm not as high on Kyler Murray as some people are. Maybe I'll be wrong. I. I mean, I'm not acting like I know everything here. At what point does not doing big trades or big free agency moves become the owner's fault. The Lions have been releasing and trading cornerstone pieces and seamlessly and see seemingly been becoming worse this off season. After the news of Crosby, I'm sitting here wondering if it's Sheila Fordhampton's hamps. Is that her last name? Sheila4's fault for not having enough cash to restructure big contracts like golf. That Golf. Golf and Penne Sewell. Or could it still be our GM being too scared to pull the trigger? I need answers. I don't know, man. I don't know. I mean, you guys, it's a Raven. So if I wanted to look at the Detroit Lions, you guys currently have $5 million in cap space. Jared Goff is taking almost 25% of your salary cap. Almond Ross St. Brown is. Has a bigger salary cap hit than Jalen Hurts. So, I mean, those two guys are taking basically 35% of your cap. And if you factor in, you know, McNeil has kind of been a disaster, and Penne Sewell, you. You're talking over 50% of your cap between five guys, and you kind of get lucky because Aiden's contract is. Is manipulated right now. Jameson doesn't make that much. Laporta, Gibbs are on rookie deals. But, you know, Gibbs is going to need a contract extension. If Laporta is healthy, he's going to get a big contract extension. Like, this is kind of the business you're in, you know, and it kind of starts with Golf. Like, golf makes a lot of money. Golf's gonna make $55 million this year. 55 million in cash. Think about that. That's a lot of money. I mean, can. How do I look at the cash breakdown? So this year he's gonna make $55 million. God, Jared Goff, what's his career breakdown? Can I do his career earnings? So I want to see career earnings. Let's play a game with Jared Goff. I'm gonna guess he was drafted 2016, so we're talking over a decade. I'm gonna guess $260 million after this season. I was wrong. He's made $260 million. Now after this season, he will be over $300 million. So, I mean, Jared Goff's living like an NBA or major league baseball player. Underrated part like he. There's only one cap hit in the league bigger than him. It's Lamar Jackson. Congrats on the baby. Hope to have my first here soon. Congrats to you. Congrats on the sex. Just A quick question for the bag. What does this season hold for the Chargers? I've been a big Herbert fan since he was drafted. I'm not selling my Herbert stock. Chargers have a lot of cast base but merely made any moves. Could you see them getting AJ Brown? They only have five picks in this draft, so I figured Ortiz would make it rain in free agency. Good teams like the Raiders had to do that. Good teams, like competitive teams. The Chargers, the Chiefs, the Broncos, like you just even the Bills like you extend your own guys. Maybe you get a guy, trade for DJ Moore, sign Kenneth Walker. You don't sign like seven guys, especially day one. That's not really. That's not good business. You want to develop the guys. You know, you're comfortable with those because if you do sign guys, they cost a lot of money. So I, I don't think, you know, Seattle's like, why isn't Seattle not signing anybody? They just won the Super Bowl. Who are they going to sign Jaylen Phillips to? $100 million? I, I just think that, that that's not the really the way good teams work. Good teams lose guys. That's the business. When you're good, you lose players, especially guys that aren't top two or three players on your team. And if you are going to lose one of the top three or four guys on your team, you trade them. The Chiefs, I think charging me pretty good. I mean, I think they have a chance to. If Herbert can never figure out how to play well in the playoffs, I think they could win the AFC. I mean that's. I'm, I'm the number one Harbaugh guy. I think Mike McDaniel saw this video of Khalil Mack, who just. Cleo Mack looks like an actor that you would have seen like the 90s in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie who just happens to be able to rush the passer. But I, I think they're gonna be pretty good. If I'm the Niners, I would trade Mac Jones and sign Cousins on the cheap. Sounds too easy. What do you think? This is our last question. I think there's a chance Cousins a shot. He's 37 years old. The Achilles, he could never really move. I mean, I listen, he was. He had become a really good player four or five years ago. But the guy we saw these last couple years is just, I mean post injury is just not the same. So to me, I'm out on Cousins. I, I think Mac Jones, this version that the 49ers have found is dramatically better player in 2026 than Kirk Cousins. I mean dramatically. And if money's all equal, there is not a question in my mind I would take Mac Jones. I personally would not trade Mac Jones if I'm the 49ers for anything less than a second round pick. And I don't think anyone's giving them a second round pick. So it's just one of those where I'm just going to keep Mac Jones. Why? Because I need a good backup quarterback. I mean, look at the Bears. Technically if they don't trade Tyson, they're going to have three quarterbacks. You never know when a guy gets injured. Can you win games? Like if you're a team that has playoff expectations, you don't want your season derailed because you're starting quarterback. It happened in the 49ers two years ago. Purdy got hurt and Kyle Allen had to play and they immediately lost. This year Purdy missed a ton of games and I forget Mac Jones's exact record, but he won, I think four games. He was exceptional for them, especially given what the expectations were. So I think Mac Jones value to the 49ers is, I would say infinitely higher in their building than it is to anyone else. And typically when you have that for a guy, it's like, yeah, we'd be open to trading him. Well, you can't trade a guy if I value him way more than the entire league because whatever anyone's going to offer me is not going to be high enough. Listen, we all have. Delusion is probably the wrong word because they saw it. They, they felt Mac Jones, I mean he carried them at times. I mean he was, he was unreal in the Rams game playing with random guys after they had just lost Bosa. So I just think that a lot of teams like, yeah, take back Jones for like a fourth round pick and the 49ers, like we're not giving away for a fourth round pick. And that's why he'll just stay on the 49ers would be my guess. And I think I saw today Rossini said like the, the asking price is astronomical, which is one of my favorite words. So I, I could see that. No different than this is different. But how he's asking price, obviously AJ Brown's a better player than Mac Jones is way higher than clearly the league is willing to give him. Which I don't blame him because how he goes. I'll just keep A.J. brown, right? He's already on my books. He's one of the most talented players in the league. Like, if you're not willing to give me what I need for him, I'll just keep him and I'll just deal with his emotions somehow, some way. Because I'm not just going to give them to you for a third round pick, which I originally thought was going to be the case like two months ago. And then at the combine, I was like, that is not happening. They are not just giving this guy away. They fucking like him internally. The players like him, the coaches like him. He just wants the ball. They just wants the damn ball. Which, listen, he's a receiver. Hard to blame the volume. This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.
Episode Title: Ravens CANCEL Maxx Crosby trade with Raiders + NFL Free Agency Mailbag
Date: March 11, 2026
Host: John Middlekauff
Podcast Network: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume
This episode delivers instant reaction to the surprising news that the Baltimore Ravens have backed out of a major trade for Raiders star pass rusher Maxx Crosby. Host John Middlekauff provides a raw, real-time assessment of the deal’s collapse, what it means for both franchises, and wider lessons about NFL trades. The bulk of the episode addresses an extensive mailbag, covering NFL Free Agency, team-building strategy, coaching, player evaluations, and the business of football, with John’s signature insider tone and candid takes.
Segment: 00:53 – 10:50
Breaking News Reaction (00:53):
Significance & Rarity (03:40):
Reaction for Raiders (04:33):
Medical Uncertainty & Market Impact (06:50):
Official Take (10:35):
Segment: 13:00 – End
View: Niners value Mac Jones “infinitely higher” than other teams; unlikely to trade him for less than a second-round pick. Cousins past his prime after injury.
This summary provides a comprehensive overview of episode highlights, central NFL developments, and audience questions—useful for both die-hard fans and casual listeners seeking key takeaways.