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John Middlekauff
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John Middlekauff
The volume. What is going on everybody? John Middelkopf 3&out podcast how are we doing today? Probably not as good as the bills who just landed themselves a wide receiver. The bears ship D.J. moore to Buffalo. We will discuss the trade. I told you yesterday. I said get ready, probably get another one. And we did. Max Crosby is a story that just won't go away. Cam Jordan, legendary Saints player, is going to Be a free agent. It's Fugazi Friday, so I saw something on the Internet over the course. I don't think we've done one in a while. This probably within the last week that involves a cheeseburger and a CEO. And then we'll also do a mailbag at John Middle. Cop at John Middle Coffee. Is the Instagram fire in those dms. Get your questions answered here, here on the show. Other than that, yeah, everyone get fired up for the weekend. Hopefully you guys are enjoying yourself. And if you live in a cold weather place, hopefully it's starting to warm up because it's going to be 90 degrees here this weekend. But you guys know the drill. Subscribe the 3Now podcast if you listen on Collins feed. All of our podcasts are up on this streaming service called Netflix. I don't know if you ever heard of it, but you can watch all of our podcasts on Netflix. So go check those out. And we had a big week. We had on Derek Carr a couple days ago. He was really good. We reacted yesterday to the Chiefs trade. We'll react today to another trade and I'm sure next week we'll have a bunch more trades. So we got free agency right around the corner. All I can say is buckle up, let's talk some football. One pet peeve of mine before we dive into the nitty gritty is I saw a lot of this on the Internet today. They gave up a second round pick for DJ Moore. You see this all the time. You see it with first round picks. You guys realize, I know you guys do. But do some people not realize that they're not all created equal? Because if I told you that the Rams had traded pick 13 for Trent McDuffie instead of pick 29 for Trent McDuffie, you'd be like, God, that's a lot. Pick 13. Because pick 13 is worth what? Two pick 29s. So not all picks in a round are created equal, clearly. So the Buffalo bills trading pick 60 for DJ Moore might as well be a third round pick. I, I saw so much of this today. It's like, God, that is a lot. Well, the Houston Texans, for example, have the Washington Commander second round pick. Well, guess what happened last year. The Commanders sucked. So what happened to the Texans? They got pick 37, also happens to be in the second round. What pick would you rather have? My point is, when we see generic traded for a couple first round picks, traded for a couple second round picks, that looks great on paper, but where do those picks actually come in the Round. Well right now, unlike when a trade happens in camp or during the season, we don't know where they're going to fall. They traded pick 60 for DJ Moore. A team, let's face it. And the thing I appreciate about the Bills and I would imagine Brandon Bean feels this is like, is there a team next year with more pressure on them than the Buffalo Bills? Joe Brady, Josh Allen, the Bill's overall operation. How many teams in the league could say with a straight face, if we're not in the AFC or NFC championship game, it is a complete failure? The Rams, I mean you'd say the Chiefs, but I mean we got to see Mahomes health. The Ravens, they, the Ravens just missed the playoffs. Maybe the packers if Micah and all those guys are healthy. Want to see what happens this off season with the Eagles? Like it's not that long of a list. It's. I wouldn't even say Seattle. If you tell me Seattle makes the playoffs again and losing the second round, I'd be like, that's an incredible two year run by Mike McDonald. The Bills are in super bowl or bust these next couple of years in Josh Allen's prime. That's why they fired their coach. That's why they elevated the offensive coordinator. They're trying to take that next step and that next step is simply making it to the big game. Something that has eluded them for a long, long time. Obviously they've never won it. I mean they lost four straight, which I saw this clip of Trent Williams saying that he would rather not lose before the super bowl than go to the super bowl and lose. He said it's the worst feeling he's ever had in his entire life and they haven't even got the opportunity because they haven't got there. But my point is, I can't even imagine what it was like. Like to be like a 28 year old Bills fan back in the early 90s. You just go to every super bowl and lose. But I like this trade for the Bills. They need wide receiver help. I mean their unit's not great, but their offense actually is pretty good. And it's been statistically one of the best offense in the league for several years now. A huge reason for that is they probably have the best player in the league at quarterback. Cook, their running back is a stud. They got multiple tight ends. Khalil Shakir is probably one of the more underrated players in the league. Joe Brady talked about it like Joe Brady was the guy. And I heard this at the combine pounding the table For Keon Coleman. So when the owner said at that press conference that Keon Coleman was a coach's pick, it was Joe Brady's pick. Or at least he was one of the guys leading the charge to make that pick. So to me, that would be a positive for Keon. I would expect him to have a good season because that guy is going to coach him hard and be invested in him having success. And then you immediately insert a guy who has proven that he can get a thousand yards year after year with random quarterbacks. What do you think it's going to look like with Josh Allen? So is he losing a step? Is he as good as he was four years ago? Probably not. But you're telling me DJ Moore can't catch 80 or 90 balls for the Buffalo Bills? He's proven he can play in cold weather. I mean, two years ago on an awful Bears team, he almost caught 100 balls. And last year on the Bears, their first two, their first two picks were Loveland, who essentially is a wide receiver and he's elite, and Luther Burton, who clearly Ben Johnson loves. I mean, those were two picks that had Ben Johnson's fingerprints written all over. So he was kind of getting phased out. They need defensive help and now the Bears have two picks at the end of the second round. I would say if Drew Dahlman hadn't retired, they would probably just use some of this ammo to go get Max Crosby. Now with the center missing, it probably makes things a little more complicated, but I, I think this is a no brainer move for the Bills. What else makes you comfortable too? Where, you know, like when you, some of you guys that work in different companies, when you go, hey, we just hired this guy, you know, my boss used to work with him at this other company. We know him well. He's awesome. I, I see it at the volume, we have a kick ass sales team. Well, our main sales guy, the head honcho Dane, used to work at Barstool. Guess where he took a lot of sales guys from? People that work for him at Barstool. Why? He knows them. They can close, they can crush. And what has happened, they crush it. You work with people that you've already worked with can make the transition much smoother, especially when they are talented. I don't care what business you're in. Joe Brady has coached D.J. moore before when they were in Carolina. So he not only knows the player, he knows the human being. So when you're going to go, God, they had to pay a little. They really had to pay A lot. It's pick 60 in a draft that is viewed as not great. I the the chance for a team that is in super bowl or bus mode is going to get a player at pick 60 who can help them get over the top or, you know, like a starting high end guy. Historic percentages would be like less than 20% now. Doesn't mean you can't find elite players with that pick. The Bears could find a guy within five years. We go, God, that was a hell of a pick. But the Bills are trying to win in 2026 and DJ Moore gives them a chance to win in 2026. So I like this move a lot. I love the amount of teams in the NFL. We know the Eagles always do this. The Rams clearly do this. The Bills are now doing this. You know, the Chiefs historically are always really aggressive. You know, Sean Payton in Denver is going to maintain his aggressive nature. You know, the Giants were sniffing around on McDuffie because Harbaugh, it's not like he's trying to lose. You just have so many teams in the NFL who just think like we're playing to win this year. What can we do to get aggressive and win? And I saw Colin talking about this how picks can be a little overrated. I don't think they're necessarily overrated, but I think we overvalue the likelihood of the picks working out when they do. They're incredible because if you hit on a second or third round pick, you get a starter, a Pro bowl guy who doesn't make much money. It's an economic windfall to your salary cap. But we all know, we all follow different teams. They go, I'm pretty fired up for this second round pick. Love watching him. In college he was an All American and then he's not that good and then a couple years later, he's not even on the team. It literally happens every single year, over and over and over. I actually learned this when I left the NFL because I was going to these training camps and I was just talking about these guys and getting excited and trying to hype, you know, as part of the hype machine. And I go to Niner practice, I go to Raider practice, but God, I love this fourth round pick. I love this third round pick. I mean, everyone talks about the first round pick, but you know, you talk about the second round pick, the fifth round pick, and then all of a sudden by the end of training camp, an undrafted free agent has beat that guy out and he's taken that guy's spot and that Fourth round pick gets cut on the practice squad in three undrafted free agents that no one ever talked about make the 53 man roster. Happens every year with every team. So anyone criticizing giving up a second round pick? Well, yeah, if they would have given up pick 35 for DJ Moore, I mean, like that's a tad aggressive. You probably could have just got some equivalent of DJ Moore at pick 35 for way cheaper, potentially. And maybe Brandon Bean would say, yeah, we tried last year with Keon Coleman. How'd that work out? You'll be like, yeah, good point. So easy trade. And for the Bears, totally understandable. I would imagine this is the best offer they could have got. Like, I don't think that they just sent him to the best team possible. I think a lot of teams were probably interested in DJ Moore in the third round range and a team got pick 60 instead of pick 75. And they said, we'll take it because his role on this team, for whatever reason, his rapport with Caleb is not great. And they've invested heavily in other players at the skill group, right? Their tight end has a chance to be elite. They drafted Rome in the top 10. Now there's a ton of pressure on him to be really good. There's a ton of pressure on him to kind of step up and be a number one wide receiver, which is going to be difficult. There's going to be a ton of pressure on Luther Burn. Listen, you show signs last year. He, he's. There's no disputing his talent and physical gifts, but it's like, hey man, you're going to be a full time starter now. You and Rome are going to carry the load. You and Rome, ideally, like, can you guys bring us, you know, Rome, can you catch 90 balls and can Luther, can you catch 75? Like in teams? The other thing is, it's not even just about the production. It's like every game you go into in terms of our outside wide receivers, the teams are game planning to shut you guys down, right? The top corners and the coverages are for you. And that's part of the NFL. It's the way this business works. So I have no issue with the Bears doing this. This has been rumored and talked about for a long time that, you know, D.J. moore, would it be Rome or D.J. moore? Listen, Rome makes less. Rome still has a high ceiling, but part of having a ceiling is like there's the unknown of can you hit it? Like, we know what DJ Moore's good is and it's pretty solid, right? Is it elite? No. Can he be a 90 catch guy next year for the Buffalo Bills? 100%. Was he going to be a 90 catch guy for the Chicago Bears? No. And you get off the money, you free some cap space, you add some picks, you need defensive help. So if they don't get Max Crosby, I would imagine that they use those couple late second round picks again. I think it's like 57 and 60 on defensive players or center. They also have a left tackle problem because their left tackle towards Achilles. So the Bears, you know, in this weird way coming off this incredible season that was touched by the football gods like the Angels carried them, do have some question marks, right center, left tackle, bunch of guys on defense, pressure now on some of these young wide receivers to take a jump and to be like carry the load guys. So I'm excited. I, I again I said yesterday, Chiefs, Rams felt like a win win. This feels like a no brainer move for the Bills and I would imagine Chicago would be like we need to get off his money and this was the highest pick we get, so we took it. Right. And we have to see who they draft. But totally understand where they're coming from as well. Some other stories, some rumors about the Cowboys sniffing around on Max Crosby. You know they got two first round picks, 12 and 20. I, to me, Max Crosby is a player if you think you're a player away, right? So if you think you're a player away, like if you told me the Bills gave two first round picks for Max Crosby and listen, I'm not talking financially, I don't think it would work right now, I'd be like, I totally get it. If you told me the Broncos, the Raiders wouldn't make a trade with them, but the Ravens, the Eagles, like I'd be, I, I, I, I get it, right? To me the Cowboys, like guys, you might be a step away from being two steps away. Let's just take a deep breath, let's assign some guys in free agency. Use your picks 12 and 20, draft some more defensive guys. You drafted pretty well. Historically, I don't think the Cowboys should be in the Max Crosby business. So if I was them, you know, there's been some rumors about Trey Hendrickson. That makes a lot of sense. I, I do think Trey's market's going to be kind of unique coming off iuru's injured, little older, but I mean the previous two years he was 17 and a half sacks a season. He's fucking huge. He's going to have a fascinating market. I mean I think he's going to be probably one of the more intriguing guys for all the good teams. And I, I think the Cowboys, you know, you had a little bit of advantage with the state income tax. You know, Jerry kind of mentioned this in his, I almost called the Winnebago. It's like, it's like this RV that he parks right between the downtown Marriott and the JW Marriott in Indianapolis. It has the, the star on each side. It's just pretty badass. I, I don't think he sleeps in it. I, I would imagine that Jerry sleeps in the jw, but it's definitely nice enough when you see the, when the local reporters go in there to interview Jerry. You could sleep and live in there. So maybe he does. But I just appreciate, I, I would doubt Jerry drives that up from Dallas, maybe has someone else drive it. He PJs up. But Jerry was pretty cocky, acted like he was going to spend some money. So we're going to find out. Cam Jordan will be a free agent. This dad is just incredible. He's had, he's played for 15 years in the NFL. Defensive lineman. He's missed two games in his entire career. You know, we throw out the word durability sometimes and I think we give some guys benefit of doubt. I think it's borderline impossible to be more durable than Cam Jordan has been. And you can't convince me playing in the trenches and that the amount of games that some guys that maybe didn't have his toughness, didn't have his pain tolerance, would have not been able to go two games in 15 years to meet these type guys. You know, Calais Campbell, I'm not paralleling their careers. I'm just saying high character, winning players, productive players, durable, tough players, guys that bring intangible stuff. I could see a good team giving this guy a little bit of overpay to bring him into a unit, to bring him into a defense, to kind of uplift the group. So I, I think Cam Jordan's gonna be an interesting guy. And listen, part of the NFL is I, I talked to Sherman about this at the Super Bowl. It's like, it's hard, man. Sometimes you got to let go of like legendary veteran players after like seven or eight years. Who knows, the Chiefs might not resign. Travis Kelsey. Travis Kelsey will go down as one of the greatest players in league history. He was Mahomes right hand guy for three Super Bowls. He will have his number retired. He will get a statue at Arrowhead or wherever the they build their stadium in Kansas Or Missouri or somewhere in the vicinity of that area. And if you told me that, like, yeah, they didn't really offer him a contract, I'd understand that's part of the way the world works in the industry of football. So I don't think it's weird at all. Now there's some rumors that maybe the Saints could resign them. I think sometimes just time, man, it's just time to pivot and go in a different direction. You get new coaches, you get new ideas. I just think this comes with the territory. You could argue he's such an anomaly. How many guys in the Internet era have played for a team for 15 years? Non quarterback, non like Eli Brady, Rogers, Big Ben. I'm talking position players. It doesn't happen. It just doesn't happen. So to me, Cam Jordan, hat tip to you. Two games in 15 years. What a badass. As we go into free agency, which is going to kick off here in a couple days, you do have to be comfortable. You're getting taxed. You're paying a premium to buy a guy and all these free agents, you know, Alex Pierce, excellent season last year, looks like a very talented player who's trending. You're not buying Jerry Rice or Randy Moss in his prime, but you're going to pay a guy a ton of guaranteed money. You know, you're going to overpay. That is more money than their current team was willing to pay him. Think about that. The team that drafted them, and more than likely a lot of these guys were like, Linderbaum and Pierce were highly valued by Eric Dacosta and Chris Ballard. They like those players, but it's a business. They had a number. They weren't. They didn't think it was worth it. Now could they be wrong? Time will tell. But we saw last year, and sometimes you can't afford to keep guys like Milton Williams. The Eagles couldn't keep him on the team, but the Patriots gave him like $26 million a year. And people thought at the time, like, holy moly, that's a lot of money for a guy that's never had 50% of the SNAP counts for his own, you know, during the course of his NFL career. But the reality is, even if you overpay a guy and he's not going to be a Pro bowl level player, if he's a really good player and a productive player for you, you're going to feel good about it because you don't have to give up a pick for it. You just acquire the player for money. So I think the key with free agency and the good teams do this, and we talked to Schneider and Howie about this, is you locate one, two or three guys. You're not throwing a wide net. Now your personnel department has watched every guy. I, I love when I see a report of so and so team is. Is monitoring the, the Tyler Lindenbaum situation. We are monitoring the Khalil Mack situation. You guys realize all 32 teams jobs are to monitor all these situations. It'd be like if someone was covering me like an NFL team. It's like Middelkopf is monitoring every story right now that is out there in the National Football League and trying to figure out what he's going to talk about on today's podcast. Like, no shit. That's what we do. Part of your job as a GM is to literally monitor every player that's in the league, current player on each individual roster. You have everyone graded. All the free agents, all the guys that might get cut, all the, all the draft picks. It's like whenever, when someone asks me, like, do you have to evaluate all the draft picks? Yeah, that's part of the deal. You need draft grades and work done on all the players in the draft. Obviously, if you have seven or eight picks, you're not going to get all the guys. But what happens in a couple years? You might trade for one of those players. Those guys become free agents, those guys get cut, they become available. So you have to have work done on them. It always cracks me up like, so and so team is monitoring the situation on Jalen Phillips. I would hope that every GM in the league is monitoring the situation, even the ones without the cap space, because you never freaking know. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Band. Florida's sportsbook march is here. That means college basketball takes center stage. Stakes are rising and the shots are falling. Get it. All your action you need on Hard Rock Bed Hoops is on every night. That means you can get same game parlays going every night of the week when you sign up today and double your winning on your first 10 bets, max 50. That's right. If you would have won 100 bucks on your same game parlay, make that 200 bucks. The hard Rock Vet Sportsbook app is the only legal sports book for whenever you're in Florida. 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John Middlekauff
Before we get into the mailbag. Fugazi Friday. I truly believe this is one of the greatest clips I've ever seen on the Internet. And it was the McDonald's CEO. His name is Chris Long last name. Very difficult to say. He looks like a guy that takes health very seriously. You can jawline, skinny, looks like he runs or pelotons, probably a couple smoothies during the day. Intermediate, intermediate fasting, a lot of greens, protein heavy, not many carbs like you. You can just view some individuals especially as they get older and go that, that guy takes hell seriously. Well, he's a CEO of McDonald's, which obviously is the largest chain restaurant I think in the history of the world and currently the biggest in the world. Right. They do a lot of money worth of business. I think billions upon billions of dollars of revenue. And I'd be lying. I mean, I got a sauce about for McDonald's. Coffee's a little weak though. It tastes pretty good. Definitely don't hate a good McFlurry or two. And every once in a while, if you're starving, cheeseburger ain't bad. He did a video of like, I think it's called the Arch. I've never had it, but it's probably somewhat in the, in the Big Mac kind of world, I would guess. And he was doing like a taste test slash to promote it. And he put it to his mouth. He could barely bite the burger. And I was just thinking like, and I, I googled it today. On average, the last couple years, he's made like 18, 19 million dollars. So this is a very lucrative position being the CEO of McDonald's. And there are a lot of people all over the world that are in positions at a job at a company that don't believe in the company, that don't associate with the company outside of work. If I, I've known people in the beer industry that don't drink. So this is not like something that doesn't happen. But if you're going to put a guy on camera to eat a cheeseburger from McDonald's and make it look like the burger has the plague in it and he could barely touch it because he knows there's a lot of stuff in that burger that are bad for his body, someone probably should have thought, let's get a chubbier guy that is just going to slam this burger, hammer some fries and wash it down with a Coke. And that was not what they did. And then a Burger King, Wendy's, all these other companies came out with their CEOs doing it, making fun of it, attacking burgers. But I just think sometimes I, I could imagine he was excited, he wanted to do it. And then when the light went on and rubber was meeting the road, he looked at that burger and thought to himself, I haven't eaten McDonald's in years, potentially decades, maybe ever. I just work here. I make a lot of money and we're very profitable. But it was hilarious. So if you haven't seen it, just type in CEO McDonald's east, the big arch. And you know it right away when you see a guy. Because if you see a guy and he's super skinny, unless he's like Chad Johnson, you're like, you don't eat McDonald's, bro. And this guy definitely doesn't. And he was caught red handed. Okay, let's go. Mailbag. At John Middlekopf. At John Middlekopf is the Instagram. Fire into those DMS and get your questions answered here on the podcast. This is a Bears question. Can you explain the DJ Moore trade from the Bears perspective? If tied to cross be okay. But otherwise why would you give up a top wide receiver? He said a number one wide receiver that made some of the biggest catches in recent Bears history when Roman Burden aren't close to being number ones yet. Keep up the good work. Part of the business, and we touched on this a little bit, is projecting, right? Is projecting guys roles. Guys step up. I do think they're pretty equipped with two tight ends to be take a little bit, no pun intended, of the burden off Luther Burden and even Rome that I think in a perfect world level and have like 90 catches, I think ket in this offense could have like 50. So you could have 130, 140, 150 catches between your two tight ends. And if both the wide receivers can just, I don't want to say be complementary players, but give you 150 catches between the two of them. So maybe Rome gives you 80 the other guy gives you 60. I guess that math would be a little off. Be more like 85, 65, something like that. You'd be in pretty good shape. But that's part of drafting. Like it puts pressure on the guy, but you better be right. And I think Ben Johnson's really high on Luther and Loveland and clearly for them to okay this trade, they feel pretty good about Rome. And I think there's a ton of pressure on Rome to become. You don't need Randy Moss or Jerry Rice. You could win a Super bowl with two number twos. Like, can they both just become like really good players? Like at the end of the day, the Bears did not were not a Super bowl team this year. And I mean they got farther than they probably should have with that bad of a defense. It wasn't. I mean the offense had weird spurts, but their defense was atrocious, which is ironic because their defense actually played pretty good. What was it against the Rams? But yeah, I, I just think that part of the business. You got to make financial decisions. DJ makes a decent amount of money. The Bills guaranteed more money. The Bears weren't going to do that. It's. It probably factors in financially as much as it does the projection of the other wide receivers, which they're clearly doing. And that's also when you have a good coach. Do you know what the ultimate kind of theme is in the building? He'll figure it out. That's part of having Andy Reid, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVeigh, Ben Johnson. He'll figure it out. He'll get it done. He'll make something happen. He'll find someone. If those guys can't, I. That's how you have to think. What up, man? This is from. From Gilly. I want to know why the media is so obsessed with trying to push Max out of Vegas. Max. And the Raiders have said multiple times it's not what they want. But every other day someone is starting a new rumor. It feels somewhat orchestrated at this point. One of the best known paths to success in the NFL is getting a young quarterback and surrounding him with high end talent, apparently. Except when it comes to the Raiders. The Patriots, Bears and Commanders wouldn't have had the same success they did the last couple years without if they dumped veterans around their young quarterbacks. So why are the Raiders any different? In addition, the media says a trade them to a contender. Well, they'll get a pick in the high 20s and then in the next segment they'll say There are only 15 first round talents in this upcoming draft. I think it's bullshit. The media has taken it upon themselves to try and force this. They've tried their hardest to get them to trade the first pick as well. So what's the deal here? Sorry for the long question. As a Raider fan it's frustrating seeing the NFL try and constantly screw the Raiders is Al Davis. I can give several examples including the Gruden firing, the trading. The Raiders are not trading Fernando Mendoza to the jets for fucking seven first round picks. They're not trading Fernando Mendoza. They're gonna draft Fernando Mendoza. Slow time, not much going on. You know, it's like the Thunder and the spurs can't carry segments. So you got Stephen A, Colin Zion, fat, you know, there's only so much going on. So you got to manipulate stories, you got to create angles which is the business they're in. The Max thing though started with Jay Glazer at the late December which the Raiders did the rights thing. You're sitting down so we can get the number one pick and you need knee surgery. And it worked. And listen, it pissed Max off which wouldn't you want him to be pissed? Wouldn't you want him to be mad? Right. So I, I think they understand it. I think it's pretty clear that Max and Spy Tech have a good relationship. But I also think that the Raiders know in their division that they're not close to winning next year, that they are still a couple years away and what if in three years Max is not the same player. So if you can get two first round picks for him right now when you're probably going to win five or six games next year. Derek Carr came on the show and they made the playoffs. His third year with the Raiders. First year I was there, they started Owen 10 and finished 3 and 13. It's not going to be great next year. And even if Max is there, like I saw Miles Garrett on the Browns, he's a better player than Max crowd, it doesn't matter. And their defense is pretty good. So I don't think I know you. Raider fans get so offended by the media and in fairness they've been talking shit about you for a long time. Some of it, most of it probably self inflicted but that's neither here nor there. I, I, I do think there's validity to this one and it started with Max and I think some of these stories have come out like, you know, Max is. Max started looking around, he realized there might be greener pastures. I think he started changing his mindset because he's had time over the last couple months to say I do not want to be traded, I want to stay here. And I don't blame him. He just kind of. I think he's letting it play out and my guess is he's traded in the next three or four days and I don't think that's a bad thing. I do think that's the right move for the Raiders, for the bag. So a bit tongue in cheek, but then a bit not as an international NFL and 49er fanatic who traveled from Australia to our last two 49er Super Bowls, Miami and Vegas. I was at them both too. Not the games, but that week I they were awesome. 2. I mean, I don't think anyone would complain if you put the super bowl in Vegas or Miami every single year. I support the league expanding abroad and can't wait for the Niners, the Rams matchup down here. So here's the rant to anyone from the NFL who ever mentioned the term world champions about a Super bowl win, but now whines about flying around the world. They can shut the bleep up. I agree. I've always hated world champions, but now it might have a little more substance and validity behind it. Right? If, if you're truly going to play all over the world, yeah, maybe our world champs. And I and I totally get it. For those of you that live internationally, if you live in some of these places in Europe, if you live in Mexico City, if you live in Australia, it's pretty cool. And if you're a Niner fan, they're coming to Australia. I bet that game rocks. Mailbag Moving to Pacifica or Half Moon Bay from Tampa Bay? Those are two coastal areas in the Bay Area because my fiance got a promotion with her company based out of Palo Alto. I'm only going to be there for one and a half, two years, quote hopefully. And I'm still owning my home in Florida. I'm a Florida guy at heart, so I love surfing, duck hunting, spearfishing. Based off my knowledge of San Fran area, I might hate it. I wanted to see what the what do you think I should do to make the most of my two year stint in California? I've never been in my life and I know it's your home turf. Well, if you like to surf. Not a surf guy, right? The one thing I learned at Cal Poly, which is in the middle of California, that most of us from Northern California, there's a culture. Anyone that went to school with people from the beaches in Southern California Or San Diego, there's a surf culture and they are, they kind of fit that stereotype. Even though the surfing up in Northern California is better, we have bigger waves. The problem is it's like the largest concentration I think beside like South Africa of great white sharks in the world in Mavericks, which is, you know, can have like 50, 75 foot waves. Breaks on a reef also has sharks everywhere. So I don't know if you're that good, but there is really good surfing up in that area. There's definitely duck hunting inland, you know, close to where I grew up in, closer to like the, the Central Valley. I don't know, I'm just, I would just soak it in. Everyone in life, if you get the opportunity when you're young, should move to a place now. It's going to economically cost you guys a little bit though. She's getting a pay raise, but she's going to give a lot back to California. Somewhere where you just, you're not comfortable, move to a state. I did this when I in my 20s to Philadelphia and it helped change my life. It put me in an uncomfortable situation because the older you get, the less likely you are going to be with change. So when you're young making some of these quote unquote force moves, obviously it's typically connected to a job, is an incredible life experience. Even if you don't think you have that much common with the people or you just, just take it in. I mean, if you move to Half Moon Bay, it's on the fucking water in the Pacific Ocean. So now it's expensive. You know, you're gonna, you're gonna pay a lot, but just find a place to rent and just. There's a million things to do now. I don't know what specifically you want to do. I would. It's not. Northern California is not like Southern California or Florida where you just go hang out at the beach. You know, born and raised probably hour, hour, 15 minutes from some of the beaches like Bodega Bay. You just. Northern California is not a. Go to the beach and just lay there and look at the water. Like it's, it's, it can be cold, it can be windy, the water is freezing cold, but it is cool. There are a ton of good places to eat in the city. You go to Lake Tahoe, you go to Yosemite, there, there are a lot of places to go. You could go down to the Pacific highway and go to Southern California, go to San Diego. I would definitely go to San Diego if I were you. Taking that, that's more like beachy town. You go to the Central coast, which is where I Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, but Pismo beach is probably three and a half hours from, you know, Half Moon Bay. You can, you can find enough to enjoy yourself for sure.
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John Middlekauff
We're lost. It feels like we're going round in circles. I'm going to ask that man for directions. Hi there. We're trying to get to the state fairgrounds. Well, you're going to take a left
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John Middlekauff
The show has been great lately with all the information from the combine I have a mailbag question. I think it was the right move for the Colts to sign Daniel Jones the to the tag. He's been the best quarterback they've had since Rivers or Luck and it seems like the coaches and players really like him. However, a ton of people online are saying they should have signed Kyler Murray. I don't really agree. The narrative seems to be that Kyler is a high level quarterback, but I can't remember that being the case. Is he ever been better than Jones, both 19 quarterbacks? I think Jones is the best in the class. What are your thoughts? I was I saw Peter Schrager tell I I had the TV on and he told McAfee that if you take he wanted to do something for TV at ESPN where you take five plays of Kyler Murray's career and he could make the argument like these are some of the best plays you'll ever see. And I remember when I first got hired at Fresno State and Pat Hill used to hate highlight tapes because it's like anyone can make a highlight tape look like a future Division 1 player. Any guy in this draft could make a five play highlight tape that's going to get drafted in the third day. That would look like a first rounder. You don't play highlight tape. You play football. So part of Kyler Murray's problem no one ever disputed on an individual play basis he could make one of the best plays that week in the National Football League and he's done it. But that's not football. Football is like every single series, every single half, every single week, doing it week in, week out. Like if I had to have a player, if they're both healthy, I would rather have Daniel Jones 100%. Kyler can't see now he's injured and I just think he's a highlight player. The issue with Daniel Jones is he has a torn Achilles. He has a torn Achilles. So there's going to be pressure on the Colts next year to try to win. It's like is he going to be ready for week one? And if he is, how good is he going to be early in the season? I think that's a little concerning now. Doesn't. Didn't he have a major injury? Didn't he tear his ACL in New York? I mean he's had some major injuries. Chiefs fan how do you think the Chiefs approach the running back position? I see many having love there at nine but I can't see the Chiefs waiting to hope he is there and not instead grabbing one of those free agent backs and then taking a d lineman at 9. Thoughts? Also what are your favorite areas to stay in Tahoe? We've stayed at Edgewood and loved it but recently we have rented homes along the Rubicon Beach Bay. We've stayed the last couple years in an inclined village. It's on the Nevada side opposite of Edgewood. Edgewood is where they play the golf tournament with all the football players which is beautiful as well. I grew up staying on that side of the lake where heavenly the ski resort is one of my good friends in me still is he was at my wedding has a his parents have had a pad back then at a smaller lake on his dad was from South Lake Tahoe but my my mother in law she couple years ago bought like a townhome on the other side of the lake which listen Lake Tahoe is hard to beat. I personally like Incline Village a lot but you can't beat Edgewood. I've never stayed at Edgewood. I've been there boozing a bunch of over the course of my youth but I've never actually stayed there. I've definitely gambled at those casinos though. You just. It's. It's hard to be in Lake Tahoe not have a smile on your face and a beer in your hand in the summer winter I you couldn't pay me to go anymore My my winter sports and I love skiing probably in junior high and high school. I I can't even fathom skiing ever again. I don't even think I'll put boots on my my feet ever. Can't risk breaking a leg. Tearing an acl, ripping an Achilles. No chance head injury. Those days are done. What was your question? The Chiefs. Yeah free agency. I don't know. One thing they could do is take an impact lineman at nine. They could always take the other Notre Dame back and pick 29 if he's on the board he can fly, he can return, he can catch Price. If they did want a running back, I, I definitely think that that would be an option. As I've gotten older and moved further into hospital administration, I focus on learning from people who clearly know their craft. Watching you transition on Netflix and interviews with top NFL executives, it's clear you operate at a high level. Is my mom. No, this is a guy named John. As your career advanced, did you also find yourself intentionally seeking out high level mentors? Even if very informal or like when you met Coward? Would love to know the details of the story. Yeah, I think I've just been very lucky. Once I got out of college and I went to work at Fresno State. Pat Hill, I went to work for the Eagles. It was Andy Reid and Howie Roseman and I was around, you know, Veech and other people in that organization when I got into this business. Now I've been around and associated with Colin for a long time. So I, I don't know if I specifically. It's not like I go on LinkedIn and go, I want to connect. I'm bad at that type stuff. I've just maybe been unintentionally intentionally seeking these type people and I've just ended up working for, around or with people that are much higher level than myself. So some people, and you sound like it, are good at, you know, seeking out mentors, seeking out people. That's not, I'm just not great at that unless I'm at the combine. I start introducing myself to everybody. But I've been very fortunate to, to see firsthand what it looks like to be really successful. And I think, you know, a lot of these Lou Holtz speeches have gone viral. I think most messages from successful people tend to be pretty similar. It's about consistency, it's about discipline, it's about treating people the right way. It's about having a good foundation at home. You know, I think a huge advantage in life is having a, you know, if you are married, liking and having a strong partnership with that person. If you do not, there is no point because your life will get derailed. It just, it's not possible to function if your home life's in shambles. Unless you're like Tiger woods in 2008. Most people can't. So I, I think all these clips of Lou Holtz and some of his speeches to the team and stuff, it's, it's all tends to be in the same world. And I think most people I've seen, you know, Pat Hill was one of the best, you know, smaller school head coaches in the country for a decade plus. Obviously Andy speaks for itself and Colin. They all have a lot of similarities. One, ironically, they're all friends with each other. But two is like work ethic, energy, passion. Like there are like some things that go along with these people. And I think you see this, whether it's Warren Buffett or Bezos or the guy crushing it that owns three H vac companies, you know, in your town, who's a multimillionaire that no one even realizes. It's like they're all kind of grinders and they all kind of like the grind. And if you don't like, it's just going to be hard to do it doesn't mean you got to every single day wake up with a smile on your face. But I think most people are pretty passionate about what they do and pretty fired up. You know, don't go around life just kind of pouting and pissed off. Doesn't mean you can't be pissed off on certain days. But like that you kind of gotta attack the world a little bit every day. As Jim would say, with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. Again, some of these things people make fun of. I don't know. Most successful people I've seen all these guys are like, I mean, Andy and coward worth who even knows how much. Pat Hill was making millions. He was the first million dollar non power four head coach back in the early 2000s. I think they all have like the same three or four characteristics. So I, I think I've just been lucky to experience it more than like seek because I, if someone just tells me something that's not, I sometimes my wife, like we were trying to install, we had to, she had a Cherokee. We got her a new bigger car and we sold the car to the dealership. As we're leaving with the other car, we're trying to install the car seat. And she brought the directions. And I'm like, Maria, I don't learn that way. So you can, she's like, read the directions. I'm like, I, I can't read that. Like I won't, I'll get frustrated. So I let me go to YouTube and let me try it out. That's how I'll figure it out. And we all kind of learn different ways. So it's like I could sit with, get advice from certain people. I, that's not really. If I had a phone call tomorrow with Warren Buffett not saying I wouldn't take things away, I'd be better off having Warren like, hey, give me a couple of things and let me just try them over the course of the next year and let me get back to you. Like our motto at Cal Poly was learned by doing and that's truly like I sounds corny or whatever. That's how I learned. I can't learn. I, I realize why I never learned in school because you just sit there and they go over PowerPoints like I'm, I'm not paying attention. But if you told me to go do something with what you're trying to teach me, I'm probably more likely to learn. We finally got the car seat in but lady that sold me the car was like what are you doing? Our elite edge rushers now overrated and overpaid. Garrett, Watt, Crosby, all have been on irrelevant teams for years. Garrett has a record year and the Browns did nothing. Similar to how they lay how they say how hard it is for a team to win a Super bowl after paying the quarterback. Would it make sense to trade a high priced edge for multiple mid level starters and spread the cap? I do think it's hard with the Garrett thing. The Browns are a joke. Like if you put Miles Garrett on the Bills like he could win a Super Bowl. If you put Miles Garrett on the Rams as a defensive end, unless you're like Lawrence Taylor in 2026, you're going to need a good offense. You know TJ Watt by the end of the year. Look at the Steelers, right? Crosby played for the Raiders. I mean Geno Smith's throwing a pick every game. Some of these articles coming out, Chip Kelly, he wouldn't even come to the locker room at halftime. He let his assistants talk to the team. I mean you talk about an all time mail it in for $6 million a year. I mean talk about an all ski mask team. Guy would be the head coach. So I, I think you're using these three examples like now I don't know how good TJ still is as he lost a step but these guys when they're playing well, if you put them on a team with a good offense they're going to make a big impact. The Steelers haven't had a quarterback for like eight years back when Ben was good, I mean this year Rogers tried but he's 41. The offense kind of sucked. He got injured and Crosby is, I, I can't blame Max Crosby. So I, I, I think I have a hard time having an issue with having one of those guys on my team. What Peptides do you take? I'm just, we're four days in. I think it's BPC and CJC are the, are the two I'm slamming five days a week. Haven't quite noticed a difference yet. Lady said that it might take a little while. I, I'm a big believer. I remember in high school what was the stuff, what was the stuff that McGuire was taking Andrew? I remember some of the guys on the football team started taking it. I was like give me some. So I bought some. But I, I, I didn't I, I lift way more in my 30s and 40s than I ever did in high school when I was a football team and I would just take it thinking I would get big. Nothing happened. Probably wasn't great for my body. It's like Maguire looks like that. What am I going to look like? I'm going to be sweet. I know we are a good football content part of the year, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Angels owner Artie Moreno saying the Angels fans don't care about winning and that it's not even a top five priority. This feels like a giant slap in the face. As a lifelong Angels fan, my family has given this scumbag too much of our money and I'm no longer spending money on this lifeless franchise. Last year at a game Angels fans showed up in all white angel costumes with halos and it got a lot of media attention. And then you heard sell the team chance over the tv. It almost feels like this was a retaliation for that. Does it make sense for the Major League Baseball to step in and force a sale of a team since he is obviously doesn't care to be competitive. MLBPA can't be happy with him openly admitting the price of winning is too high. If I was going to defend him a little bit, he's made some insane signings over the years, right? He gave Albert Pujols like 10 years, $300 million back when that was a ton of money. He gave Rendone after the Nationals won the World Series a ton of money as Rendon even played. I mean that's an all time ski mask contract. I mean they've given trout like $3 billion. He plays like seven games a year. He has paid a lot of money to individual players. None of it's worked out. I mean shitty signed Otani out of Japan and the guy left to to the Dodgers. I'd say the highlight. Well when I was in high school you guys beat the Giants for the World Series. That sucked. Russell Ortiz, Dusty Baker, that that still stinks. But what's his name? Who's your closer? Bonds hit. Bonds hit a ball. And what was your third baseman's name? Not. You guys had a pretty sweet team. They panned to him in the dugout and he's like, that's the longest ball I've ever seen hit. Problem is the Giants were down two runs. It was a solo home run, the ninth. But you guys, listen, you won a World Series. That was pretty cool. But that was a long Time Ago Now, 2002, not to date myself. That's, I was, I would have been probably 18 when that happened. Now it's 2026. So I feel your pain. I, I don't know, man. Baseball's a weird business. It really is. You have the Dodgers spending all this money. You have the Phillies and the Mets and the Blue Jays and the Yankees. And then you have teams, they don't spend any money. Then you have these weird teams like the Angels who are periodically pay for a big time guy. But then their team just sucks. I don't really have an answer. My I, I don't baseball is just a bizarre ecosystem of owners, of teams, of finances. I, I, I, I've never followed it less to have like a concrete answer. And specifically, I don't really know anything about the Angels. You could argue don't give him your money anymore. And what's even more valuable than money is your time. So it's like you're giving your money and then you're going to a game for three hours. I would stop that. I know you've talked a lot about Jalen hurts and how he doesn't fit in with the Eagles. Back in Oklahoma, when he was there for a year, a lot of them, a lot of the same stuff was going on. Even at parties, he just seemed above it all. Reminds me of Russell Wilson. Let me defend Jalen here. All of our personalities are different. Philip Rivers is different than Dak Prescott is different than Mahomes is different than Lamar Jackson is different than Jameis Winston. So every quarterback's personality is not going to be the same. Jalen is a different cat. I don't think he's exactly holding parties at his house for all the team to come over. The key to being the quarterback, though, whether you're Jalen or Russell Wilson or whether you're Patrick Mahomes, does every guy in that huddle want to go to war with you? Because if they do, you can't really ask much more. And that's, you know, no one's ever questioned Jalen's work ethic, his focus, how how hard he tries up until this year when he stopped running. But listen, I, I knew people at Oklahoma when he played there. It was just easily. He was. It was a big, A lot different experience than Baker Mayfield in the locker room. Right. But you don't. Not everyone has to be the same. I think the bigger issue is, does he do everything that's needed from your star quarterback to ingratiate himself with his teammates still at this famous level in which he's at. With the money? Because everything I've heard, that's what Lamar does, that's what Josh Allen does, that's what Patrick Mahomes does, that's what Dak Prescott does, that's what Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and Philip Rivers and all those guys did that. That's the price of being the quarterback. Sometimes on like a Thursday night, you got to take the guys out for some beers, even if you don't want to go for beers, even if you don't want to go to the pizza joint, even if you just want to go home and hang out with your wife and watch a movie and go to bed. Like, it's. Sometimes you got in certain roles in life, especially ones that pay premiums, stuff that's not part of your contract is required. And that, that's where I think there's going to be a lot of pressure this off season on, on Jalen to like, you really need to be all in on your group. And you know, obviously if you're playing well, no one criticizes you, but when you start playing kind of hit or miss, people start nitpicking you. And I think he's just, he's always been a polarizing player. I mean, he was a second round pick for a reason. He got benched at Alabama. He went from playing well in the super bowl to this year led the league in three and outs. So I don't have a great answer there, but it doesn't bother me. Like, ideally, I want Tom Brady, right? Brett Favre, Troy Aikman, the guy that every teammate loves. Doesn't mean you got to be best friends with everybody, but you need that guy to respect you. And for whatever reason, Russell Wilson could never get the respect out of guys in Seattle. I don't know if there was resentment, what was going on there. That's not how it started with Jalen, with the Eagles. But it does feel like it's kind of got to that point where, and this is probably why AJ Is going to get traded, because they kind of need to reset in that locker room. But it's going to be incumbent on Hertz. Like bro, we we need you to kind of rally the troops. Like Jason Kelsey's not here anymore. Fletcher Cox not here anymore. Brandon Graham's probably not going to unretire again. So I'm fascinated to watch the way this all shapes out and keep firing those dms at John Middlecoff. At John Middle Cop is the Instagram. Appreciate all you guys and see you next week. The Volume
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This is Julian Edelman from Games With Names. I want to take a second to talk about something that's personal to me. I've had the privilege of working closely with Robert Kraft for a long time, and one thing I've always respected is how seriously he takes up standing up to hate. As a Jewish athlete, my identity is something I am proud of, but I also know what it feels like to be singled out for it. That's why this new commercial for the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate that aired during the big game really hit home. It's about showing up for someone when they're targeted, even if you don't have the perfect words. And sometimes standing next to someone is enough and you can show support by sharing the Blue Square.
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John Middlekauff
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
In this episode, NFL analyst John Middlekauff fills in and dives deep on the NFL’s pre-free agency storylines, including blockbuster receiver DJ Moore’s trade to the Buffalo Bills, the Bears’ evolving roster, Cowboys’ rumored interest in Raiders’ star Maxx Crosby, and broader themes of roster-building around high-level draft picks and free agency. The episode is candid and conversational, filled with insightful NFL analysis, a healthy dose of humor, and interactive listener Q&A.
(02:07 – 20:40)
Bills acquire DJ Moore for pick 60 (late 2nd round), sparking debate on value and urgency of ‘win-now’ moves for Super Bowl contenders.
Perspective on Bears’ decision:
(12:30 – 20:40)
(20:40 – 28:00)
Moore’s departure amplifies pressure on recent draft picks—Rome Odunze and Luther Burden—to produce as top targets.
"You don’t need Randy Moss or Jerry Rice. You could win a Super Bowl with two number twos." (22:30)
Bears needed cap relief; Moore “makes a decent amount of money”; Bills were willing to guarantee more than Bears.
(28:00 – 32:53)
(32:53 – 34:51)
(34:51 – 38:44)
Free agents are paid above what original teams offered; “You’re going to overpay. That is more money than their current team was willing to pay him.”
GMs always monitor the market and prepare for any situation—media reports of ‘monitoring’ are redundant.
Teams tend to target a few key guys, not cast wide nets in free agency.
(29:01 – 31:50)
(31:51 – 66:44)
Bears’ WR Trade Logic: Focus on projecting roles, future potential of Rome Odunze/Luther Burden; cap savings and belief in coaching staff’s ability to “figure it out.”
Maxx Crosby Rumors: Media cycles speculating on Raiders trades; Middlekauff suggests trade is possible in days as Raiders aren’t ready to win now.
NFL Globalization & "World Champions": International fans push back on the “world champions” tag; if league goes global, term has more meaning.
Moving to the Bay Area: Life advice for a listener relocating for work, highlights surf, outdoors, and why changing locations early in life is valuable.
QB Debate (Daniel Jones vs. Kyler Murray): Middlekauff prefers Jones for reliability—notes Kyler is “a highlight player” but lacks consistency; Jones’ Achilles injury is a concern.
Chiefs Offseason Strategy: Possibility of taking a running back at No. 9, or drafting D-line then addressing RB later.
Mentorship & Career Success: Middlekauff credits luck and opportunity for proximity to high-level mentors; values “learn by doing” over direct advice.
Are Edge Rushers Overrated? Debate on value of elite pass rushers on losing teams—Middlekauff stresses the right environment matters more than raw stats.
Angels Ownership Rant: Calls out owner Artie Moreno’s lack of competitive drive, empathizes with fan frustration and explains why MLB is a “weird business.”
Jalen Hurts’ Leadership Style: Acknowledge that not every quarterback has to be the same personality type, but crucial to be respected and rally teammates—especially for Philly post-Kelce/Cox/Graham era.
On DJ Moore’s fit in Buffalo:
“You’re telling me DJ Moore can’t catch 80 or 90 balls for the Buffalo Bills? He’s proven he can play in cold weather.” (09:45)
On trade pick value:
“Not all picks in a round are created equal... pick 60 for DJ Moore might as well be a third round pick.” (05:15)
On the Cowboys and Maxx Crosby:
“If you think you're a player away... I’d understand [trading for him]. The Cowboys... might be a step away from being two steps away.” (29:38)
On Cam Jordan’s career:
“He’s played for 15 years in the NFL. Defensive lineman. He’s missed two games in his entire career. ... Borderline impossible to be more durable than Cam Jordan.” (33:48)
On NFL free agency:
“You’re not buying Jerry Rice or Randy Moss in his prime, but you’re going to pay a guy a ton of guaranteed money... the team that drafted them... had a number. They didn’t think it was worth it.” (35:20)
On McDonald’s CEO viral fail:
“If you're going to put a guy on camera to eat a cheeseburger... get a chubbier guy that is just going to slam this burger, hammer some fries and wash it down with a Coke.” (29:45)
On learning and mentorship:
“If I had a phone call tomorrow with Warren Buffett... I’d be better off having Warren give me a couple of things and let me just try them over the course of the next year and get back to you. Learn by doing.” (54:10)
On Jalen Hurts’ leadership questions:
“The key to being the quarterback… does every guy in that huddle want to go to war with you? Because if they do, you can't really ask much more.” (64:10)
For listeners seeking a genuine, no-nonsense breakdown of the NFL’s biggest pre-free agency storylines—with some fun asides and real-world wisdom—this episode captures the pulse of a league in perpetual dramatic motion.