Double bag alert, double bag alert, double bag
alert, folks. That's right. Gino Smith and Trey
McBride gets paid. All right. Joe Milton heads
to the Lone Star State. We have to talk about
the takeaways from the NFL owners meetings. All
right. And we are on the final divisional rodeo,
folks. That's right. The AFC North. All right.
All of this and more. on the 75th episode of
the Football Junkies Podcast, all right? I am
your host with the most, all right? I am your
chief bag roll dominance. I am your chief head
of the table, anything and everything related
to the bag and more, okay? I am the man with
the plan. I am your GM who currently is not on
a team right now, but don't you worry about it,
okay? Don't you worry about it because guess
what? I got two mock drafts for two different
teams lined up already. may post them today may
post them tomorrow I don't know stay tuned though
I am all these things and more but most importantly
the most important thing that you must remember
is I'm your host, Kale. You already know how
these things are about to go. You already know
how these episodes are about to go. A bunch of
truth bombs, a bunch of reality checks, a bunch
of controversial things that may be said. But
guess what? It's all out of love because guess
what? We got to give the people what they need.
And what is that? Their football junkies fix
to end the week. So guess what? On three, one,
two, three, let's lock in. All right, folks,
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okay so let's just get into it so gino smith
inks a two -year 75 million dollar extension
that can go up to 85 .5 million all right 66
.5 million guaranteed and he'll be making 37
.5 million a year which really isn't bad now
when we look at his uh his stats for for last
season 578 attempts for 407 completions, 4 ,320
passing yards, 21 touchdowns, 15 picks, 7 .5
yards per attempt, and a 70 .4 completion percentage.
Geno Smith is still a really productive quarterback,
all right? He is somebody that he's not going
to woo you with his play. He is somebody that
he's going to get the job done. He's not somebody
that's going to be in the same conversation as
a Mahomes, a Burrow, a Lamar, or a Josh Allen.
He is somebody that's sort of like in that Baker
Mayfield type of realm, all right? Somebody that
he's going to win you some games. He's going
to make some crazy plays, but he's not the creme
de la creme when it comes to quarterbacks. Not
to mention... We all know that he had his best
years under Pete Carroll. So it was only right
for them to make sure that they lock him up because
when they traded for him, he was on the last
year of his deal that the Seahawks gave him.
So all it is is just adding on two more years,
which really isn't bad. Really think about this
for a second here. You got Geno Smith for two
more years and he's only making $37 .5 million
a year. That's not really bad. It doesn't break
the bank. It doesn't put you in cap hell. It
doesn't do any of those things. Not to mention,
in some ways, you can push back on the priority
of quarterback for maybe another two years if
you choose to do that. Now, at the same time,
maybe next year you may want to still take a
quarterback just in case. If you see a little
bit of regression, you can still do that because
why? His contract is not something where it's
ironclad that you have to, you know, stick through
it and all those different types of things. It's
not like that. It's a very simple deal. It's
somewhat of a deal that what Baker Mayfield got
from the Buccaneers. So all in all, both sides
win. Now, when we look at Trey McBride's deal,
all right, four years, 76 million. 43 million
guaranteed, and he'll be making 19 million a
year. When we look at his stats, 147 targets
for 111 receptions, 1 ,146 receiving yards, two
touchdowns, 10 .3 receiving yards per attempt.
When you look at these stats, you're probably
thinking, you mean to tell me they reset the
market for Trey McBride based off of these stats?
Yes. You have to turn on the tape. You've got
to see his performance. Trey McBride, within
the last three years, has been one of the rising
stars when it comes to tight ends. You are talking
about somebody that when he gets the ball, he's
going to make a play. Better yet, he's going
to extend the play as long as he can. We have
seen multiple games where he'll turn a 5 -yard
game into a 15 -yard game or a 20 -yard game.
That's just how skilled he is. Not to mention,
he's someone that sort of flies under the radar
when it comes to his performance. He has definitely
been one of the more consistent weapons for Kyler
Murray. Not to mention, he's put everywhere.
Sometimes they'll have him lined up in the slot.
Sometimes they'll have him blocked. They'll have
him everywhere. And Trey McBride does it all.
It was only right for the Cardinals to make him
the highest paid tight end. Because now what
you're starting to see is, and this probably
dates back all the way to maybe the Gronk years,
is that quarterbacks love having a reliable tight
end. A tight end is a quarterback's best friend.
Because when you need them the most, they're
always there to get you out of the pitch. Look
at all the great quarterbacks in NFL history.
They've all had a really great tight end, from
Brady to Gronk to Manning and Dallas Clark, which,
just on a side note, Dallas Clark and Madden,
within the last few years, unstoppable. Don't
ask me how I know. Luke, if you're listening
to this, don't even start. Don't even pull up
the clips. We're not going there, all right?
Now, back to the situation at hand. we are starting
to see a resurgence in the tight end position
as a whole. We are starting to see teams now
value the position of tight end because normally
back in the day, the tight end was like the really
big bulky dude that he may get five yards or
he may get five to 10 catches a game, where now
you're starting to see them get a thousand yard
receiving seasons like a receiver. And so it's
only going to continue to go up from here at
this point. And Trey McBride is somebody that
is going to kick down the door when it comes
to the next generation of tight ends. When you
have people like him and Isaiah Likely and Pat
Friermuth and who else? Who else? Who else? Who
else? Sam Laporta. There's a lot of tight ends
right now that are monsters that pretty soon
they're going to get paid as well. I would not
be surprised if Sam Laporta shatters the tight
end market again. Just saying. Now let's get
into this Joe Milton trade situation. So Joe
Milton was traded to the Dallas Cowboys yesterday.
All right. So the Cowboys receive, of course,
Joe Milton in the seventh round pick and the
Patriots receive a fifth round pick. Now, according
to Jordan Schultz. He had interests from multiple
teams. Some of those teams included the Raiders,
the Steelers, the Eagles, Dallas. But apparently,
his preferred destination was Dallas. And I can
respect that. And I love that the team granted
him his preferred destination instead of just
sending him to a place that gave them the best
offer. Now, I know there's a lot of Steelers
fans that are very butthurt about this. Because
I was just arguing with one yesterday about it
on Twitter. At GM Kale, by the way. G -M -K -A
-L -E. And he was basically in his feelings and
basically saying, you know, well, he's overrated.
And why in the world would we want somebody that's
overrated? There's no need for getting him. He's
not overrated. He's a project. He was a project
coming out of college. He was never going to
be this. first rounder or second rounder or third
rounder. None of those things. He was very raw.
Sure, he has the athleticism. Sure, he has the
big arm. Sure, he can throw really fast and it's
a beautiful, you know, it's a beautiful motion.
All of those things. But the fact of the matter
is he hasn't had a lot of opportunities to play.
And so with the Patriots signing Josh Dobbs,
he was going to get buried in the quarterback
room. And so instead of that happening, you might
as well just want to put him in a better situation
with Dallas because we know sometimes Dak will
get a little bit hurt. So this in some ways is
an insurance policy. It's not a he's going to
be your replacement. No, it's just insurance
policy. That's all it is. Joe Milton at best
could probably be a career backup. And that's
perfectly fine. You can still make a lot of money
being a career backup. It's not going to hurt
anybody. Now, I will say this for any person
that feels like Joe Milton is overrated. Your
expectations for Joe Milton is too high. We all
know that Joe Milton is a work in progress, that
this is going to be a two, a three or maybe even
a four year project. And it's going to take you
a while and it's going to be nasty. It's going
to be ugly. But at best, like I said before,
like I just said. He's probably going to be a
career backup and that's perfectly fine. So let's
get into all the stuff that we need to talk about
when it comes to the NFL owners meeting. So a
few things were passed, a few things were tabled.
And when I mean table, that means that they will
be talked about and probably voted on in a later
part of the year and whatnot. So here are just
a few things. One of the things that was passed,
if I'm not mistaken, and it was actually proposed
by the Eagles, which is crazy, which is during
the regular season in overtime, both teams are
guaranteed a possession, which, I mean, that's
not really bad. Another rule that was passed,
which was proposed by the Steelers, is during
the negotiation period of free agency, teams
are allowed to have one video call or phone call
with no more than five free agents. that's not
bad now could this go in a few different directions
yes could a team probably try to you know manipulate
the rule or whatever yes it'll probably happen
but i like the idea i just want to see how it's
going to be used moving forward and i'll just
leave it there so resolution was passed to basically
get rid of the chain gang and replace it with
this Sony Hawkeye technology that will be measuring
first downs. Let's be real here. In the last
few years, we have seen the chain gang mess up
very badly when it comes to a lot of calls. We
have seen them give people first downs when we
know it wasn't a first down. And so... On one
hand, it sucks because that takes away jobs for,
you know, for those people and whatnot. But at
the same time, we've reached a point now where
technology is a little bit more accurate and
it's a little bit more better and it's a little
bit more consistent than what the chain game
was. Like we literally saw somebody use a card
to determine if the football passed the first
down threshold or not. It was time. All right.
Now. Here is something that was tabled but was
proposed by the Lions. During the seeding for
the playoffs, teams will be seeded based on their
regular season record instead of division championships.
On one hand, I do like this, but I don't know
how to really feel about this. Because on one
hand, I understand the thought, but I feel like
you still have to weigh division rivals a little
bit more. Because I think when you still value
division rivals, I think it makes the matchups
more intense instead of just saying, oh, with
a better record, then you're going to have a
higher seeding. No, it still needs to be determined
of what happens in your division. Because guess
what? You could lose each and every one of your
divisional games. But if you have the best record
or one of the best records, guess what? You're
going to have a high seed. That's not really
fair. So, Lions, you thought you were going to
be sneaky, but clearly it backfired, and here
we go. Now, here was something else that wasn't
approved. It was actually shot down, and it was
proposed by who? The Lions. Get rid of automatic
first downs for any defensive holding or illegal
contact. Lions are being very sneaky now. We
can't be doing this, all right? This isn't jail
ball. This is football. Come on. We all know
that you guys have corners that like to be a
little handsy and whatnot, so it wasn't proved.
So stop it, all right? Here is something that
I think it could open things up for special teams,
and that is touchbacks on kickoffs will be marked
at the 35 -yard line. Let's be real here, folks.
In the last few years, the NFL has definitely
tried to make the kickoff a little bit more safer
because we have seen some very horrible injuries
when it comes to the kickoff. And so on one hand,
I understand that they're trying to fix it and
they're trying to keep special teams and that's
perfectly fine. But at the same time, you don't
want to mess up special teams and kick off to
the point where it could actually hurt a team
that actually help the team. When we looked at
last year, we didn't see a whole lot of, you
know, kickoff returns like we have seen in the
past. And honestly speaking, there was a point
in time where I didn't like the kickoff. I just
felt like it was stupid. Not to mention, it also
is a disadvantage for rookies because you know
why? College football still does the old traditional
kickoff. But the NFL has changed. So you would
think with them passing the resolution that they
did last year or the year before last, that college
football would have instituted a change as well.
But clearly that's not the case. And clearly
that is very much needed. That's the only way
that players will be able to be adapted to the
changing times. Otherwise, it's going to be a
learning curve for any person that's coming into
the league. So that resolution is sort of a wait
and see type of situation because I already know
there's probably going to be a special teams
coach or coordinator or whomever that's going
to come up with something crazy. I just know
it. I know it. Somebody is cooking up a strategy
right now. Wait. Just you wait and see. Somebody's
going to do something crazy that's going to catch
everybody off guard. But moving forward, the
banning of the tush push was tabled, and this
was proposed by the Packers. Here is something
that I think that needs to be talked about with
the tush push. On one hand, yes, I understand
it's basically the most broken move in football
and that nobody can stop it. But I think we have
to look at the side effects when it comes to
the health of the players that perform the tush
push. You are literally burying yourself at the
opponent's legs and knees in order to get to
the first down. That's not safe at all because
it will take the right player who will be just
as ballsy and gutsy to do it that will literally
deliberately try to basically headbutt himself
to try to stop the tush push from happening at
this point i think we need to look at the the
side effects that may come with this instead
of just saying oh we need to continue to keep
this play going no i am against the tush push
i think it is a very dangerous move I think it
is a move that puts offensive linemen in harm's
way. I think it puts defensive players in harm's
way. And I think it is a move that all it takes
is just one situation and it can cause a serious
injury to somebody. And I don't want that to
happen. I don't want to continue to see players
being carted off and whatnot because they're
just trying to stop a... stop a play from happening.
I don't want to see that. So at some point, the
league is going to have to come in and the league
is going to have to figure out a way to get rid
of this tush push. Now, could there be a more
safer option? Sure. Perfectly fine. But right
now, the current version of the tush push is
not healthy and it's not safe. Now, I probably
sound like a parent, but who really cares at
this point? Because When you look at the interviews
from those Eagles offensive linemen, some of
them say they don't get feeling back in their
legs or their arms or their neck and whatnot
for a few days. I'm sorry. If I'm the owner,
if I'm anybody that is high up within the NFL,
we have to come together and we have to ban this
move. Because we just finished writing almost
a billion dollar check for CTE. You're going
to have to probably write another one for each
and every player that tried to do something similar
to the tush push. Do you really want that? Probably
not. Now let's get into the divisional rodeo,
folks. Man, we are just breezing by everything.
This is probably going to be a very short episode.
I'm just letting you guys know right now because
there's really not a lot to talk about. Everybody's
getting ready for the draft. It's really not
a lot of stuff to talk about right now. Everybody's
doing their 30 -day visits and finishing up on
their big boards and all those different types
of things. So it'll probably be a little bit
of a quiet period. Most likely, I probably will
not put out an episode next week, depending on
if Aaron Rodgers wants to take his head out of
his ass. you know actually decide to to make
a decision and whatnot maybe i'll do episode
but um but most likely i'll probably just be
working on clips from all the you know other
previous episodes of the divisional rodeo and
whatnot and you know put those out for for you
guys so let's just get into the divisional rodeo
because we have a lot we have to talk about okay
so afc north browns bangles ravens and steelers
okay so let's start with the browns okay so their
salary 19 .2 million with a rollover cap of 41
.9 million. Their free agents, Jedrick Willis,
Nick Harris, Nick Chubb, Elijah Moore, Naheem
Hines, Jordan Atkins, Maurice Hurst, Michael
Dunn, Ronnie McLeod, and Jermaine Effetti, just
to name a few, okay? Now, when we look at their
draft picks, okay, we all know they got their
first, their second, they have two third round
picks, they don't have a fifth, they have a fourth
round pick, they have four sixth round picks,
as well as one seventh round pick. So all in
all, you have a lot of picks, which you're really
going to need it because right now your team
is in bad shape. Really bad shape. All right.
And we look at positions of need. Quarterback,
running back, tackle, defensive line. Let's be
real here, folks. The Browns are in hell. The
Browns are in hell. And they put themselves in
this situation because they decided to double.
Well, no, not double. They tripled down on trading
for Deshaun Watson instead of trying to give
Baker Mayfield a legitimate chance. Because let's
be real here. During Baker Mayfield's time, there
were a slew of head coaches, a slew of offensive
coordinators, a slew of changes that were constantly
happening almost every single offseason. So he
never had stability. Now that he has stability,
guess what? the Buccaneers see the best version
of them and they're benefiting off of it. Meanwhile,
you're in a situation where you done gave this
Joker a fully guaranteed contract and now you're
trying to figure out how in the world can we
build this team while we're giving this fool
all of this money. So now you have to figure
out exactly, one, are we going to draft a quarterback?
Two, what do we need to do to take us to the
next level? And three, Do we have the resources
right now if we don't trust any of these quarterbacks
to make a trade for a veteran quarterback? Because
right now, all you have is just Cam Ward and
Shador Sanders. So right now, you have about
three weeks to figure out if you're super high
on both of those quarterbacks. And you have to
figure out who are you going to get. So right
now, you have a lot of tough decisions that you're
going to have to make moving forward. You may
not like them, but you're going to have to make
them fairly soon. Even the Browns owner has come
to the realization that he whiffed on Deshaun
Watson. This is what he said at the owners meeting.
And I quote, we took a big swing and miss with
Deshaun. We thought we had the quarterback. We
didn't. And we gave up a lot of draft picks to
get him. So we've got to dig ourselves out of
that hole. The trade was an entire organization
decision. And it ends with D, his wife, and I,
let's talk about himself, So hold us accountable,
end quote. Yes, you must be held accountable
for this move because this was the dumbest move
any person could have made. But you know what?
It is perfect because you know why? The Browns
make some of the most dumbest moves when it comes
to quarterback. I can't even tell you how many
quarterbacks they have basically ran through
within the past 15 years. But there is a theory
that I do believe in. That I think it could happen.
And Diana Rossini of The Athletic talked about
it a little bit about a few days ago. And so
basically, she has heard from the grapevine that
there is somewhat of a connection between Kirk
Cousins and the Browns. And what is that connection?
Kevin Stefanski. Kevin Stefanski was the offensive
coordinator for the Vikings when Kirk Cousins
was there. So I think the both of them have a
pretty good relationship. And I think Kevin Stefanski
would be open to getting someone like a Kirk
Cousins. Now, the problem is this. Kirk Cousins'
contract is really bad. And so you're going to
be having to figure out a way to make that contract
work with the cap space and everything moving
forward. But the thing that works in the Browns'
favor if they were to make this move is this.
Kirk Cousins has a no trade clause. So Kirk Cousins
can dictate where he wants to go. He can literally
force the Falcons to send him to the Browns.
And not to mention, the Falcons can't ask for
a first round pick. They can even ask for a second
or a third round pick. At best, they could probably
just ask for maybe a fourth round pick that could
turn into a third round pick based off of certain
criteria. At this point, if you are the Browns,
you have to weigh out every single option. Now,
I know today is the Colorado's pro day. It was
originally supposed to be yesterday, but they
had inclement weather, so they pushed it to today.
So maybe they'll be super confident in Shador
after his pro day. I don't know. But they have
a lot of tough decisions that they're going to
have to make. Now, running back, it's not that
high of a priority. You can get that. Day two
or day three, honestly. Tackle, I do feel like
that is another priority of a need. I think outside
of quarterback, that needs to be the second pick
that needs to be made. Because right now, you
have a question mark when it comes to left tackle.
As well as right tackle as well. Wyatt Teller
is getting up in age. And so right now, you may
want to try to maybe get a... succession plan
going for him. And so right now, you do have
some options because I do believe there's going
to be some pretty good tackles that will be available
in the second, third, and fourth round. The question
is, how high are you on them? Because you can
get someone like a Charles Grant who has positional
flexibility. You can get someone like a Josh
Conley who he's better in pass protection than
in run protection. You can go and get Donovan
Jackson. You have options at tackle. but you
are going to have to invest a high pick in getting
one. Now, defensive line, you can double dip
with that. I think if you get one maybe in the
third and then maybe in the sixth or maybe fourth
round, I think that that would be good because
right now you need to bolster up that defense
a little bit more because all you have is just
Greg Newsome, Denzel Ward, and Myles Gary. You
don't really have anybody else. So you need to
start making significant draft changes right
now. You have to start hitting on your draft
picks. Now, luckily, you have a lot of draft
picks this year. So you can address a lot of
these needs. But at the same time, you need to
choose quality over quantity. Don't get the person
that went to Alabama. If there's somebody that
you are really high on, just get them. Because
right now, the Browns, how can I say this? The
Browns are in such a bad situation that it's
going to take them at least five years to really
be competitive. Now, granted, Deshaun Watson's
contract, if I'm not mistaken, ends in two years,
which is great. But, I mean, you're still taking
on a lot of money. I really don't know what to
tell you, Browns fans. But when we look at candidates
for restructure, extension, trades, and cuts,
David Njoku is a question mark for an extension.
And the only reason why I say that is because
does David Njoku want to stay with the Browns?
Does the Browns want to keep David Njoku? Because
right now, if you trade away David Njoku, you
could probably get some pretty high picks for
him. Just saying. Same thing with... with Greg
Newsome, trade or an extension. Because right
now you have a lot of large contracts on your
books. And so you're going to have to find a
way to make everything fit with the cap restrictions
that you have. Same thing with Wyatt Teller.
Now, if you give Wyatt Teller an extension, his
market value is three years, 23 .3 million, which
is only 7 .8 million a year. That's not bad.
That's actually pretty good. Deshaun Watson,
restructure. You can continue to try to do a
restructure, but at this point, I think it's
just best that you just take it on. Take all
of it all at once and then you'll be fine. That
way you'll have a whole bunch of cap space to
play with once his contract is over with and
you don't have nothing to worry about compared
to trying to push things down the road and kick
the can down the road, all right? The main takeaway
from the Browns is this. Rebuild. That's what
you're going to have to do at this point. Because
right now, you are in such of a fucked up situation.
I mean exactly the way that I say it. That you
are going to just have to let certain things
just play out. You are literally going to have
to let some contracts just expire. Just so you
can one, clean up your books. Get rid of that
toxic energy while at the same time, try to reshape
this team. You've learned your lesson. You realize,
hey, don't put all your eggs in the house, in
the car, and everything else in one basket for
one person. Don't do it because this is what
happens. You don't get anything out of it. He's
enjoying his life, enjoying the money that he's
getting while you are trying to figure out what
you're going to do moving forward with quarterback.
But guess what? The Browns will be the Browns.
Sorry, Browns fans. Now moving on to the Bengals,
all right? So with their salary, $24 .4 million
with a rollover cap of $5 .9 million. Their free
agents, Mike Hilton, Joe Beshe, Von Bell, Tre
'Veon Williams, Deontay Smith, Cade York, and
Chris Evans, just to name a few, all right? Your
draft picks. You got your first, your second,
your third, your fourth, your fifth, and your
sixth. You don't have a seventh round pick, all
right? Positions of need, DB, both cornerback
and safety, edge, D -tackle, linebacker, interior
offensive line, all right? Here's the problem
with the Bengals. You have put so much money
into literally three people that now you're going
to have to really start hitting on your draft
picks. Beforehand, you really didn't have to
as much, but now... You really have to start
hitting on your draft picks, okay? You really
have to start being consistent with great drafting.
Because you done gave Jamar Chase a whole bunch
of money. You done gave Tee Higgins a whole bunch
of money. And you done gave Joe Burrow a whole
bunch of money. Not to mention, you still have
another side of the ball that is very, very deprived
of talent. And so now you're in a situation where
a lot of the things... That were somewhat hidden
or not really talked about as much in the past
are really starting to come to fruition, which
is you guys are really cheap organization. You
guys don't like paying your players. Why? I don't
know. And so now you're at a crossroads where
you're trying to figure out, hey, do we continue
to be this cheap organization or do we somewhat?
Step into the modern era and actually value our
players and actually take care of our players.
Because right now you're in a situation where
Trey Hendrickson wants to play for the Bengals.
He's literally said he does not want to reset
the market, but he wants what's his. And for
you guys to basically have the approach that
you have had. shows me that you do not value
your players. You do not value the hard work
that they put in. You do not value the sacrifices
that they put each and every single season and
off season for this organization. And that to
me is an atrocity. This is what a Bengals executive
said about Trey Hendrickson in his trade talks.
Miss Katie Blackburn. Okay, this is what she
says. And I quote. I think he should be happy
at certain rates that maybe he doesn't think
he'd be happy at. I think some of it is on him
to be happy at some point. And if he's not, you
know, that's what it holds up sometimes. So,
you know, it takes him to say yes to something.
And also, we have all the respect in the world
for him. Now, the quote that she just said definitely
didn't make any sense. It sounded like she just
had maybe about three or four mimosas, okay?
That's why I had to stop and read it for a little
bit because it really didn't make any sense.
But her approach is the same approach that the
owner and everybody else in the Bengals front
office has when it comes to contracts and players.
Literally, you could have had Jamar Chase and
Tee Higgins for a discount last year. But instead,
you took a risk and you say, you know what, we're
not going to pay you. And in doing so. Jamar
Chase wins the Triple Crown and you have to reset
the market for him. And you may have to pay more
for Tee Higgins. How does it feel, Bengals fans?
How does it feel to root for an organization
that continues to just give you the middle finger
each and every offseason when it comes to paying
their players? And so now you have to figure
out, one, how can we somewhat be a little bit
more competitive? And two, how in the world can
we go back to the Super Bowl? Because right now,
as long as you have Jamar Chase, Tee Higgins,
and Joe Burrow, you do have somewhat of a small
chance of making it back to the Super Bowl. But
you have to build the rest of the team out. And
you're going to have to do that through the draft.
Because again, you put a lot of money behind
Tee Higgins, Jamar Chase, and Joe Burrow. So...
Let's get into the positions of need. So for
DB, you can go about this a few different ways.
You can go, you can draft a few, or you could
pay Von Bell and then draft somebody else. But
you're probably going to have to invest a high
pick when it comes to both cornerback and safety.
Now, luckily, the safety class is actually pretty
good this year. So you could get a Malachi Starks.
You could get a Nick Emanuara. You can get Andrew
Makuba. You can get any of those type of safeties
if you want to take that route. Now, if you want
to take corner, right, you can get Will Johnson,
Siobhan Revel, Benjamin Morrison, Azra Thomas,
Trey Amos. You have options for both cornerback
and safety. Now, edge, me personally, I'm not
that very high on these edge rushers, personally.
I just feel like for Edge, you could probably
get one in maybe day two or day three, personally.
I don't see a need to invest a first -round pick
into any of these Edges. I feel like they are
very unfinished products. I feel like just because
they went to a certain school that it just gives
them a bump in reputation and whatnot, and I
feel like it's being... fueled by a lot of media
personalities, and I'll just leave it there.
Defensive tackle, you can address that at any
point in this draft. You can address that in
the first day, second day, third day, whenever.
But you are going to have to make significant
additions to this defensive line because outside
of Trey Hendrickson, if he stays, all you have
is B .J. Hill. That's not enough. You're going
to need some more. Linebacker, you might as well
just want to draft one. Because right now, Jermaine
Pratt is probably not going to come back to the
Bengals. And the other linebacker, who is somewhat
of a dirty tackler, but that's another story
for another day. That's all you have. You don't
really have anything. The Bengals' defense is
so bad that they're going to probably have to
invest at least half of their draft picks to
the defense alone. Interior offensive line, though.
I feel like that could be a sneaky first round
pick. And let me explain why. Gray Zabel. And
I understand people are probably tired of me
talking about Gray Zabel, but you have to hear
me out. Gray Zabel, to me, has such a high potential
that you have to get him. You have to make that
move. Because he has positional flexibility like
no other. He could probably be elite. at both
guard and tackle. I'm talking about the best
of the best. Or you can take the route and get
Tyler Booker if you want to. But remember, during
the combine, especially for the offensive lineman,
both of these two were tried at center as well.
So I think making that investment would also
benefit Joe Burrow as well because you don't
want Joe taking all these hits. So you're going
to have to protect him. Sure, you have the weapons
and you can get more weapons in the later parts
of the draft, but you are going to have to protect
him a little bit better. Now, when we look at
candidates for restructure, extension, trades,
and cuts, Trey Hendrickson, trade him. Trade
him. You have shown an unwillingness to pay him.
Trade him. When we look at his market value,
it's two years, $62 .9 million, which is $31
.5 million a year. Now, I think he could probably
demand a little bit more, maybe about 34, maybe
35, possibly, maybe even a little bit more. Jermaine
Pratt, trade him. Trade him. You're not going
to pay him. Trade him. Get rid of these guys.
Cam Taylor Britt, you could give him an extension.
And I only say that because his market value
is fairly low, and I feel like he can't demand
a whole bunch of money. Now, when we look at
his market value, it's only four years, 59 .7
million, which is only 14 .9 million a year.
That's not bad. I think that's right around the
ballpark that the Bengals will probably pay him.
And so, all in all, just get rid of people that
you are not willing to pay top dollar for. Even
Trey Hendrickson had something to say about this
on the Pat McAfee show. This is what he said,
and I quote. Through this process, communication,
when I say it's been poor, it's been like here
and there. And respect to Jamar and T. I don't
want to take anything from all the great things
they've accomplished in their careers. They deserve
everything that they've gotten, and no doubt
in my mind they're going to excel in the National
Football League. I have a tremendous respect
for both of them. But when it comes to my situation,
it would have been nice to know in some ways,
hey, we're going to put you in the queue. No
problem with me. End quote. He also said this
as well, and I quote, We're on the DN, National
Football League Street. The market value for
that is going up like it did for wide receivers
last year, which is true. Where I fit in that
role is all up to the discretion. We're willing
to talk about those things with the market continuing
to go up. I'm not going to apologize for that
because I've been basically asking for the same
thing every year. to be solidified as a Cincinnati
Bengal for life. End quote. That is somebody
who is willing, willing to end his career with
the Bengals. But the Bengals have their heads
so far up their ass that they don't even realize
that they have someone who is loyal to the team
through and through. Trey Hendrickson. was a
breath of fresh air when he signed with the Bengals.
He has been killing it each and every season.
And so why wouldn't you want to pay him? It'll
be different if he said, hey, I'm trying to reset
the market. It'll be different if he's trying
to say, hey, I want something like Miles Garrett.
But he's not. He's just trying to get what he's
due. And the fact that you have basically put
him on the back burner is so disrespectful. Because
who else do you need to pay right now? Who else
is a top priority? You already took care of the
two most important people in Jamar Chase and
T. Higgins. Who else do you need to take care
of? What else do you need to do? So if you are
not going to pay him, trade him. And please,
for the love of God, stop having these high...
expectations for a team to give you a first round
pick for Trey Hendrickson. Stop. Just stop. Stop
being just fools when it comes to the business
side of the ball. Joe Burrow is trying his hardest
to break you guys out of this mold that you guys
have been in for the last 20 and 30 years. But
you guys are so reluctant to do that, that guess
what? That will be the reason why you will never
go back to another Super Bowl because you guys
are not willing to pay top dollar for the players
that actually deserve it. Now, when we look at
the Bengals in its entirety, let's just be real
here. I think the head coach, I think his seat
is getting a little bit warm because last season,
it really wasn't that good. It was tough. Now,
granted, They went on that run in the later part
of the season, which was phenomenal, which me
personally, I feel like they should have made
it into the playoffs instead of the Steelers.
Steeler fans, if you want to fight me, that's
perfectly fine, but I said it and I'll stand
on it. The Bengals should have made it to the
playoffs instead of the Steelers because they
won out. They won out against some very tough
teams. They were able to do that. And so they
should have made it to the playoffs. Unfortunately,
they didn't, but right now they're at a crossroads.
You can continue to stay in cheapness or you
can step outside of the boat, step on land and
say, hey, listen, we're going to change our ways.
We're going to be a little bit more open and
we're going to change things around for this
organization. For the betterment of our players
and for a better chance of possibly winning a
championship. And I'll leave it there. Now on
to the Ravens, okay? When we look at their salary,
okay? $12 .2 million with a rollover cap of $2
.1 million. Now when it comes to the free agents,
Deontay Johnson, Marcus Williams, Tredavious
White, Nelson Aguilar, Arthur Marlette, Josh
Johnson, Brent Urban, Deontay Hardy, Trivion
Mullen, Christian Matthews, excuse me, and Owen
Wright. Let's get into these draft picks, okay?
So you got your first, your second, your third.
You have two fourth round picks. You have a fifth.
You have four, okay? Four sixth round picks and
one seventh round picks. Oh, you have a lot of
picks. Okay, cool. Positions of need, guard,
edge, safety, and receiver. Now receiver is a
little bit controversial, but I'll explain it,
okay? So all in all, You're still in your Super
Bowl window. You're still in a really good spot.
You don't have a lot of big needs that you need
to fill, okay? I think personally, guard and
edge are 1A and 1B when it comes to positions
of need. And let me explain why. Guard, at this
point, you need to make a significant draft pick
for. Because Daniel Folele is ass. Daniel Folele
is trash ass. Think of the most stinkiest trash
can you could possibly find. I'm talking about
a trash can that has been sitting out on a hot
summer day. I'm talking about the hottest day
you could possibly remember. And it just stinks.
The minute you open the door, it just stinks.
That's Daniel Fulele, folks. And it's no disrespect
to him, but you have not been playing good, sir.
So right now, you need to be put on the bench.
You need to be put on ice at this point. Now,
the problem with the Ravens is this. You are
not in a position where you could possibly get
a good interior offensive lineman in the first
round if you want to take that route. Because
right now, if they get Tyler Booker or if they
get Gray Zabel, oh, it's over. It's curtains,
especially Gray Zabel, because I think Gray Zabel
to the Ravens would be such of a hit that they
will have arguably one of the greatest offensive
lines in NFL history. Not to mention the Ravens
have a history of developing really great offensive
linemen. And so I think that would be a great
place for him. Now, Edge, I'm a little bit on
the fence about, and I'll explain why. there's
probably only one edge rusher in the first round
that I probably would be head over heels for,
and that's Mike Green. Outside of that, I can
probably talk myself out of everybody else, and
it's no disrespect to any of them, but there's
not like a TJ Watt in this draft class. There's
not like a, what's a good pass rusher? What's
a really good pass rusher? There's not like a
pass rusher that just everyone just wants. This
is a draft class when it comes to pass rushers
where, Sure, there may be a few that may interest
you. Sure, their skill set would probably be
an upgrade for your team, but it's a whole lot
of what ifs, not a lot of certainties when it
comes to these edge rushers. And I feel like
Mike Green, from a skill set standpoint, has
a lot of upside to his game. I feel like, and
this is just me personally, this is the account
that I have for Mike Green. I think his comp
is T .J. Watt. I think Mike Green, if put in
the right situation, he could be a poor man's
version of T .J. Watt. I really do. I think everybody
else, it's a shot in the dark, just being honest
here. Now, safety could be a sleeper of a first
-round pick, and let me explain why. With the
uncertainty of our Darius Washington possibly...
you know, re -signing with the team and Marcus
Williams not coming back to the team at all,
I feel like drafting a safety in the first round
could be a possible hit. Now, again, the problem
with that move is you are so low in the draft
that guess what? You probably won't be able to
get any of the top safeties. That's the only
problem in every other position of need that
they have right now. is that they're too low
in the draft for them to get any of the top players
within those positions. And so, most likely,
you're going to have to trade up. Now, luckily,
this is just my prediction, personally, I think
a lot of teams are going to trade down or possibly
trade out of the first round. Because again,
as I've said before, and a lot of people have
also said as well, this is not a really good
draft class. This is not a draft class where...
It's a bunch of oohs and ahs and oh man, I want
that person or oh man, I want that person. I
want that person. I want that person. It's not
a lot of those type of players in this draft
class. It's a lot of developmental players in
this draft class. It's a lot of players that
it's going to take you about two, maybe three,
maybe four years to really see what you have
in these players. So me personally, if I am the
Ravens, you can go about safety a few different
ways. You could address it in the first round,
which means you're going to have to trade up,
possibly maybe in the teens, or you could take
a risk and maybe see who falls out the first
round and then go on attack mode in the second
round. Because I think someone like Xavier Watts,
man, let me tell you something. Xavier Watts
paired up with Kyle Hamilton, even though they
were college teammates. The brothers of destruction.
The brothers of destruction. OK, that's like
putting prime Troy Polamalu and prime Ed Reed
on one team. Mook, I promise you. We're not having
those conversations. I can assure you we will
not be having those conversations if this does
happen. OK. For all of those who don't know who
Mook is, Mook is a really good friend of mine
who's a Ravens fan. So, yeah, we'll just leave
it there, okay? Maybe one day he'll make a guest
appearance or whatnot. But the fact of the matter
is this. You could probably get Nick Emin -Warren,
but the only problem is it's going to take him
a while to be properly developed. You could get
someone like Malachi Starks, who is probably
the most balanced safety prospect out of all
of them. Now, I have been able to review some
of the All -22 from Malachi Starks, and I can
tell you this. He's good. He's a really good
safety. The only knock that I find in his game
is he's not a willing tackler. He's not the best
when it comes to his tackling technique. I think
that is probably the only thing that would hinder
him from possibly being drafted super high. Me
personally, and this is just my personal opinions,
and I will continue to say this and stand on
this. I feel like to me, Malachi Starks is more
of an NFC type of safety. And I feel like Nick
Emanwari and Xavier Watts are more AFC type of
safeties. And let me explain why. A lot of AFC
teams, they require their DBs, both cornerbacks
and safeties, to be at least of a decent tackler.
NFC teams, on the other hand, not so much. And
we all know that the AFC is more physical than
the NFC. And so I feel like Malachi Starks' game
would thrive on a team like, I don't know, the
Eagles or the Seahawks or 49ers or any of those
teams. Compared to if you went to the Steelers
or the Chiefs or the Jaguars or the Colts or
the Texans or... any of those different types
of teams. But back to the situation at hand.
If you are the Ravens, you don't have a lot of
tough decisions that you have to make, but at
the same time, do you really need to use all
of your draft picks? No. I think if you trade
it up in the high teens, maybe like the 12th
or the 13th pick to get whoever you want, okay,
that's perfectly fine. No one's really complaining
about it. but you don't really need a whole lot
of players anyway. Because why? Your team is
mainly set right now. You just have to add and
just upgrade a few different spots. Even with
receiver, like I put it on here, but then I wanted
to take it off. I don't feel like receiver is
a high need because you have Dehop, Rashad Bateman,
Zay Flowers, Tez Walker, and I think you have
one more person. And even then, if you really
want to get a receiver, You could get a receiver
in the fourth round, fourth or fifth round, honestly.
Take a swing at somebody. But you have to start
giving people like Tez Walker a chance because
Tez Walker has the upside to be a really good
receiver. He's got the size. He got the speed.
He got the build. He has it all. He just has
to get more reps and more playing time. That's
it. End of discussion. Now, when we look at candidates
for restructure, extension, trades, and cuts,
Trey White, extension. He's probably cornerback
four, cornerback five at this point. One year,
$1 .3 million, which is only $1 .4 million a
year. Light work. Lamar Jackson, extension. You're
going to have to do it soon. Derrick Henry, extension.
His market value is two years, $27 .5 million,
which is $13 .8 million. Now, for some Ravens
fans, you're probably thinking, hey, that's a
lot of money. Well, guess what? Derrick Henry
was doing his thing late last season. Derrick
Henry is the reason why the Steelers this year
are going to have to draft at least probably
two defensive linemen. End of discussion. Kyle
Hamilton, extension, market value, three years,
$60 .8 million, which is $20 .3 million a year.
You are going to reset the market for Kyle Hamilton.
You are probably going to reset the market for
Tyler Linderbaum as well because those two, those
are Ravens for life type of players. Those are
players that will end their career with the Ravens.
Those are the type of players that you will find
every way to never let them hit free agency.
Don't even whiff with free agency. Now we look
at Tyrell Linderbaum's market value. Three years,
$48 .2 million, which is $16 .1 million a year.
That's not really bad, honestly. Now when we
look at somewhat of a breakdown with Lamar Jackson's
contract, okay? His cap hit this year is $43
.6 million, and then next year it's $74 .6, and
then the year after that it's $74 .6. So you
probably want to bring down those cap hits just
a little bit, while at the same time giving Lamar
a little bit more money. Now, when we look at
Roquan Smith, because I had him for restructure,
but then I had to look at his contract, and looking
at his contract, it's really not that bad. Sure,
you could probably bring down the cap hits just
a little bit, just to create a little bit more
cap space. But all in all, I think the Ravens
are in a pretty good spot. But time is ticking
for them, okay? This is what Steve Bishotti said
on the State of the Ravens right now, and I quote,
I want to win now, end quote. That's one, okay?
This is what else he says, and I quote, we've
got a window with Lamar. I know what we can do.
I know that we work to put ourselves in position
to win. We all get credit for that. That's all
you can do. I hate it that every year you just
have to start back over again. But you know what?
This is not for the meek, end quote. So Steve
Busciotti, Ravens owner, is letting everybody
know, like, listen, we have the team to win.
As long as we have Lamar Jackson, we'll always
have a chance to win. We'll always have a chance
to possibly win a Super Bowl. which he's not
lying. That is the truth. But time is running
out. You have to win a Super Bowl to justify
every single move that you have made so far,
from the trade for Roquan Smith to the drafting
of Tyler Linderbaum, Kyle Hamilton, and Rashad
Bateman and Zay Flowers and giving Lamar the
extension that they gave him and then making
the move for Derrick Henry and all those different
things. You have to be able to justify all those
moves by winning a Super Bowl. Now, granted,
I understand. It's tough to do that when you
got, you know, Mahomes and Burrow and Josh Allen
all in your own conference and Justin Herbert
and whatnot. I get that. But every single year,
you guys are super dominant in the regular season.
But when it gets to the playoffs, you guys freeze.
You guys are choking on Popeye's biscuits. Cold
Popeye's biscuits, to be specific. And so now
you have to find a way to get over that hump.
You have to be able to make it to the big dance.
That's the only way that you can really say,
hey, it was all worth it. Every move, every cut,
every signing, every trade, every draft pick,
all of it was worth it by holding up Lombardi.
Now, granted, respect to John Harbaugh for doing
what he did to his coaching staff this offseason.
It takes balls to make the move that he made.
He called Chuck Pagano and got him to come out
of retirement to join his coaching staff. I don't
know if people understand Chuck Pagano. Chuck
Pagano is probably one of the best when it comes
to the secondary. So he is going to bring the
best out of Kyle Hamilton. He's going to bring
the best out of Nate Wiggins, out of TJ Tampa.
out of all of those guys. He's going to bring
the best out of them. And then not to mention,
he made other additional moves when it came to
his coaching staff. He brought in Chuck Smith.
He brought back Dean Pease. So you see that there
is a head coach that says, listen, my view is
different. So maybe if I bring in somebody, maybe
they can tell me something that I'm not doing,
that I can fix. That can take us to the next
level. That takes balls to do it. And John Harbaugh
did that. And I can respect him for it. So when
we look at, you know, everything in its entirety,
the Ravens are in a good space. It's just right
now you just have to win. That's it. You have
to win. Do what you need to do to position yourself
to win. If you do that, you'll be able to be
a champion. That's it. Now on to the final team
of the divisional rodeo, folks, and that is the
Steelers. So your salary, $34 .6 million with
a rollover cap of $6 .8 million. Your free agents,
Preston Smith, CJ Henderson, Demonte KZ, McColl
Pruitt, Tyler Maticiewicz, Cam Sutton, Max Sharping,
and Calvin Anderson, just to name a few, all
right? Your draft picks, you got your first,
you don't have a second because you used that
to get DK Metcalf. You have your third, your
fourth, your fifth, you don't have a sixth, and
you have two seventh round picks. Your positions
of need, quarterback, corner, defensive line,
and running back. You could probably put wide
receiver in there too. Maybe. So here's the problem
with the Steelers. You are waiting for a 42 -year
-old quarterback to make a decision on if he
wants to play or not. And I'm probably going
to go on a rant, probably for the rest of this
episode, but I think it's very much needed at
this point. And I feel like I am in a position
where I can say what I'm about to say. To hell
with Aaron Rodgers. To hell with Aaron Rodgers.
You guys are waiting for somebody to make his
decision. He is dragging his feet on figuring
out if he wants to play or not. To me, this shows
to me, and I can be 100 % wrong, that he does
not want to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He is waiting for a better opportunity to arise
so that he could go to that specific place. I
think he's waiting to see what the Vikings are
going to do. I don't think the Steelers was his
top choice. I think we were probably his last
choice if we're being real here. And I can understand
why because the Vikings are in a better place
from a roster standpoint. They have the weapons.
They have the defense. They have it all. They
are closer to being a Super Bowl contender than
what the Steelers are. I understand all of that.
But why in the world would you go out your way
to meet up with DK Metcalf, the arguably number
one receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers? You
met up with him. You had a professional videographer
and photographer to come in and take pictures
and video. Of you guys practicing. Why would
you do that? Think about that for a second here,
folks. Why in the world would Aaron Rodgers want
to do that? Because you know why? It's all about
him. It's all about him. It's all about Aaron
Rodgers. It's always been about Aaron Rodgers.
This is just me personally. If Aaron Rodgers
is going to make his announcement next week when
Pat McAfee's show has this big show in Pittsburgh,
kiss my ass. Kiss my ass. Because you know why?
You are showing that you are not committed enough
to be my quarterback. You are showing to me that
you are not willing to just sign the contract.
Sign the damn contract. What is taking so damn
long for you to figure out if you want to play
football or not? If you don't want to play for
the Steelers, just say that. Just say that. I
would be so much better if we just said, you
know what, we'll just roll with Mason Rudolph.
We'll bring in possibly Joe Flacco or Carson
Wentz or any of those other remaining veteran
quarterbacks and then draft Riley Leonard or...
Will Howard or Jalen Milrow or any of those guys
compared to waiting for a 42 -year -old to figure
out exactly what the hell does he want to do
with himself. He's been dragging his feet this
entire time. And I understand that the season
is grueling and I understand that you want time
for yourself. I understand that you want time
to just breathe a little bit. Enjoy life. Enjoy
the fruits of your labor. I have no problem with
that. But we are three weeks away from the draft.
And this fool, and I mean fool, has not come
to a decision yet on if he wants to play for
the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are not
going to give him more money. The Steelers are
not going to up the ante to force him to come
and sign the contract. If he does not want to
come and sign this contract, let it go. Let it
go. Art Rooney said it best. Art Rooney is getting
ticked off. There are probably people within
the organization that are getting very tired
of just waiting for Aaron Rodgers. Roll with
Mason Rudolph. You're not going to win a whole
bunch of games this season. You are not going
to go anywhere. That's not the goal. The goal
is to position yourself for next year to make
a big swing and to get your quarterback. That's
what it is. So stop waiting for somebody that's
not committed. He hasn't been committed because
I guarantee you right now, the moment that you
sign him, and I said this a few episodes ago,
the moment that you sign him, everything that
you guys do will be documented and exposed. So
if you have a problem with Aaron Rodgers, guess
what? Most likely he's going to talk about it
on what? The Pat McAfee Show. Do you really want
that? No. No. Well, you know what? I really don't
understand. What I don't understand for the life
of me is you have Mike Tomlin that is playing
the favorites game when it comes to Aaron Rodgers.
When he should have said, you know what, we do
have a deadline for Aaron Rodgers. And if he
does not, you know, if we don't have a decision
by then, then we will go in a different direction
and we'll, you know, we'll make some additions.
Omar Khan said that he wanted to have four quarterbacks
on the roster. Omar Khan is going to make that
move with or without Aaron Rodgers. I'll put
a bookmark for that because we have more stuff
that we have to talk about. Corner. I put corner
on here because right now you don't have a succession
plan after Darius Slay. All you have is Joey
Porter Jr., Beanie Bishop. and Brandon Echols,
and Corey Trice as well. But the problem with
Corey Trice is what? He hasn't been able to stay
healthy. If Corey Trice stayed healthy, I feel
like the need for corner would be diminished.
But because he has not been able to stay healthy
since being drafted, you have to now shoot that
up to a top priority at this point. Because right
now, You do not have a quarterback one on your
team. Now, can Joey Porter Jr. turn into a quarterback
one? Possibly. There's a chance. But at this
point, he is not quarterback one. And I don't
think Darius Slay is going to be playing for
a whole lot longer. I just don't, personally.
I think this is probably going to be his last
year, and then he's going to retire. Defensive
line. You are going to have to double dip at
defensive line. Outside of Cam Hayward and Keanu
Benton, Who else do you have that you can say
is really productive? Montrevious Adams? He can
be a hit or miss sometimes. Isaiah Loudermilk?
He is just a death piece. Who else do you have
on this defensive line that you can rely on?
Nobody. So most likely, your first pick will
probably be a defensive lineman. And your probably
third or maybe fourth round pick will probably
be a defensive lineman as well. But you are going
to have to make a significant... investment into
the defensive line because you have neglected
it for so long. That is the only way that you
can really get the best out of Cam Hayward and
Keanu Benton and TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith and
Nick Herbig and all those other guys. Now, running
back, you can address that later, honestly speaking,
but I wouldn't be surprised if they address it
high. Because there's so many really good running
backs that they could get that I think would
match the system that they have currently. I
think getting someone like Barshall Toohan or
Damian Martinez or Caleb Johnson or Dylan Sampson
or Omarion Hampton, any of those running backs
would be great for the Steelers. Another position
that needs to be talked about is safety. Because
we have seen their level of interest in safety.
They have talked to, I think, just about every
single top safety. From Malachi Starks to Nicky
Manwari to Xavier Watts, Jalen Reed. They've
talked to a lot of safeties. I'm just saying.
I'm going to save that for that part. But I want
you guys to keep a close eye on that. When we
look at candidates for restructure extension,
trades and cuts, TJ Watt extension, we all know
he's going to be a stealer for life at this point.
Market value, four years, 128 .9 million, which
is 32 .2 million a year. I think it may be a
little bit more debatable. Deshaun Elliott extension,
because right now this is probably the best that
he has played out of his entire career. And so
you have to reward him for that. Three years,
21 .2 million, which is only 7 .1 million a year.
That's not bad at all, personally. George Pickens,
trade. Either trade or extension. Because right
now, you're not about to pay DK Metcalf and George
Pickens top receiver money. You're just not going
to do that. And even when you look at his market
value, it's four years, $94 .2 million, which
is $23 .6 million a year. Here's the problem
with George Pickens. And I'm just going to be
completely honest here. George Pickens has the
talent to be a top five receiver. but he has
the attitude of an adolescent. I'm just going
to be completely honest here. He is somebody
who has all this potential in the world, but
his attitude is so ass that teams, even the Steelers,
are just fed up with him. When you have somebody
that is not committed to the game like how he's
supposed to be, teams are not going to want to
invest into you. They're not going to want to
do long -term business with you. You have somebody
in George Pickens who showed up to the Chiefs
game during Christmas late. You have somebody
that will take off on plays, will crash out on
the field, will have temper tantrums when he
does not get the ball. This is literally somebody
who got checked by Jalen Warren because he did
not block for Jalen Warren. Think about that.
Do you think any team Any of the 31 other teams
will be willing to give George Pickens a whole
bunch of money? No, because guess what? Sure,
your talent may be great, but best believe there
is somebody in the next draft, free agency, trade,
whatever, that could probably do the same thing
that you're doing or maybe even a little bit
better. The world does not revolve around George
Pickens. And I think the Steelers are starting
to come around and starting to realize that.
And so if I'm the Steelers, trade him. Because
you already know there is a good chance that
leading into training camp, this is going to
get messy. This is going to turn into a drama
-filled situation. Do you really want that? No.
Trade him off. Get a second round pick for him.
Move forward. Kyler Austin, I had him listed
for an extension, but with a question mark. And
let me explain why. I think giving Calvin Austin
an extension probably wouldn't break the bank.
I don't think it would be something where it's
like, you know, super expensive, like 25 or 26
or like 30 million a year, no. But I think it
probably would be a team -friendly deal. I think
Calvin Austin would probably do something like
that. Mika Fitzpatrick, restructure. When we
look at his contract right now, here's what it
is. His base salary this year, 15 .5, and then
next year, 17 .6. But his cap hits, okay? His
cap hits is $22 .3 million, and then next year
is $24 .4 million. I'm sorry, folks, but his
play has not justified neither base salary or
cap hits at this point. Minka Fitzpatrick has
not been the same. Now, I understand there was
a year where he was hurt, and there was another
year where he really wasn't playing in his position.
I understand all of that, but brother, you got
to start playing. You got to start making some
plays, bro. Because right now, the Steelers are
showing you that they may be looking for your
replacement. They've looked at every single top
safety. Xavier Watts, Malachi Starks, Emmitt
Worry, Andrew Makuba. They've looked at them
all. So if I'm Minka Fitzpatrick, I may want
to play with a little bit of... I may want to
play like a chicken with his head cut off this
season. Because right now, there is nothing that
you have done within the last two years to say,
hey, we should keep him. Hey, maybe if we just
restructure his deal or maybe if we do this or
do that, maybe everything will be fine. No. Because
since you've gotten this deal, you have not been
the same player. And mind you, when we traded
for him. Those first two years, dominant. One
of the best safeties in the league. Now, what
has he done? You tell me. Because he hasn't done
anything. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. But
when we look at the Steelers in its entirety,
I think the best thing that has happened so far
was the cleaning of their books. I think we have
hit a point where we have had so much... flexibility
when it came to the cap. We don't even know what
to do with it. Because remember, all those years
when we had the killer bees, what was the number
one problem that we had? You couldn't do anything
because why? You had no cap space because he
was paying AB and he was paying Big Ben and he
was paying Pouncey and Castro and Foster and
Alejandro Villanueva and this person and that
person. You're paying all these people. But now
you have a little bit of flexibility, which is
great. And I love that. I love that Omar Khan
is aggressive and wanting to make change and
not satisfied with just enough. I love all of
that. But here's my problem with this team. The
lack of hitting on their draft picks, especially
their first round draft picks. Towards the end
of Kevin Colbert's tenure, there was a phase.
where we were not hitting on our first -round
picks. And it pushed the team back so much that
now, in some ways, they're trying to get out
of that hole. Because remember, we went through
a phase where, guess what? You had Terrell Edmonds,
Buss. You had Kenny Pickett. Better yet, I'll
save the Kenny Pickett and Najee Harris thing.
I'll save that for a moment. I'll put that on
the back burner. Devin Bush, that was a miss.
You traded your first round pick for Mika Fitzpatrick,
which even looking back at it, I still feel like
that was a bad move. And I only say that because
he wasn't worth a first round pick because they
had him at corner. They didn't even have him
in his natural position. He wasn't even having
a phenomenal season. But I understand that you
want to give him the first round pick so you
can seal the deal. So it is what it is. You know,
since then, you haven't had any of your first
round picks to stay with the team. The last first
rounder to get to a second contract with the
Steelers is TJ Watt. And that was 2017, 2017,
2018, if I'm not mistaken. So from that point
on until now, you have had a slew of first rounders
that have not gotten to their second contract.
I'm sorry. That's horrible. That's absolutely
horrible. And let's be real here with the Kenny
Pickett situation. Sure, Kenny Pickett probably
could have played better. But the Steelers did
not put him in a position to win. Because you
decided to keep Matt Canada for an extra year
instead of getting rid of him. What made you
think keeping Matt Canada for another year would
have changed the outcome? He was asked. Everybody
knew that he was asked. But you decided to keep
him. And in doing so, it messed up Kenny Pickett.
And so now, you're in a situation where now,
once again, you're in an offseason where you're
trying to figure out who your quarterback is
going to be. And even then, while we're talking
about quarterback, okay, because I want to reopen
this, you know. We probably could have had Justin
Fields had we done right by him. I think the
reason why we did not get Justin Fields was not
because of the money. I think it was because
of how they handled his situation. You gave a
longer leash to Russell Wilson, but you did not
do the same for Justin Fields. From the moment
that Justin Fields was traded to the Steelers,
what was the number one thing that Mike Tomlin
continued to say? Russell Wilson has pole position.
So the moment that that happened, Justin Fields
was never going to be the solution. Justin Fields
was never going to be given a fair chance. Justin
Fields lucked up that Russell Wilson decided
to push a sled and mess up his hamstring. That's
what it boils down to, folks. But if Mike Tomlin
was actually a fair coach and say, hey, listen,
Justin Fields, you're going to have the first
half of the season. Russell Wilson, you're going
to have the second half of the season. And then
we will come to a decision once the offseason
is over with. Instead of saying, OK, we're going
to pull Justin Fields after six games. Even with
Najee Harris, a lot of people were upset with
what he had to say. But you know what? It was
the truth. This is what he said, and I quote,
My time in Pittsburgh, it was a lot of learning
things. It was a lot of learning experiences.
Playing for Mike T, playing in that division,
there were a lot of ways I didn't even realize
what the NFL was really about until I came to
Pittsburgh. I don't want to go into detail with
it, but I feel there was a lot of stuff in my
game where I could have elevated more and I could
have did more. I feel like I just didn't get
it done. I feel like I was obviously missing
something. It was interesting years there. I'll
just say that. Interesting years, end quote.
He's right. He's 100 % right. The Steelers decided
to draft a running back before addressing the
offensive line. What makes you think any running
back can run behind an offensive line that has
Kendrick Green, old -ass Trey Turner, Kevin Dotson,
Dan Moore, and Chuk Sikor for? What makes you
think any running back can be productive behind
that? Nobody can. And it took you a few years
to finally realize, hey, we need to adjust the
offensive line. And even then, guess what? It's
still not enough. The offense still is not good
enough. So why in the world would you put the
cart before the horse? But this in some ways
goes back to a lot of people that deserves blame.
Art Rennie deserves some blame because you know
why? You can't say in an offseason we want to
run the ball and then you guys draft a running
back in the first round instead of addressing
offensive line in the first round. What sense
does that make? That's the dumbest thing you
could have ever did. A lot of this blame also
falls on Kevin Colbert as well because Kevin
Colbert was not hitting on his draft picks towards
the end of his tenure. Why in the world would
you go and draft Kenny Pickett in the first round?
Why would you do that? Because you know why?
Because you guys want to rewrite a wrong because
you guys whiffed on fucking Dan Marino because
there was an allegation coming out during his
time at Pitt that basically said that Dan Marino
was doing coke. If you were so in love with Dan
Marino, then you should have went to Dan Marino
and asked Dan Marino, hey, Dan, are you doing
coke? Instead of just waiting 30 plus freaking
years and just saying, oh yeah, we're going to
get Kenny Pickett because we done seen Kenny
Pickett for the last few years. Really? Really?
If any of the teams in the top five who needed
a quarterback passed on Kenny Pickett, passed
on any of the other quarterbacks, what does that
tell you? That should probably let you know,
hey, Maybe we shouldn't draft a quarterback this
high. Maybe we should wait a little bit longer.
But you didn't. And so my main gripe is with
Mike Tomlin. Because you know why? Mike Tomlin
year after year after year continues to say we
don't live in our fears and all this Jedi mind
trick bullshit. And what does it do? Nothing.
You guys play super hard and super rugged in
the first half of the season when everybody is
just trying to get their feet wet. But when the
games really do matter, when the season starts
to dwindle down, we start to get ready for the
playoffs. Guess what happened? Y 'all choke on
some Popeye's biscuits. And then guess what?
You look like a sourpuss every single time that
you don't make it to the damn playoffs. We done
went almost nine years of not making it to the
playoffs. And you have not made any significant
changes to your coaching staff that says that
you are serious about winning. John Harbaugh,
your division rival, swallowed his pride and
called Chuck Pagano. Hey, Chuck, can you join
my coaching staff? I got some DBs that need some
fixing. He called Chuck Smith. Hey, can you fix
on my pass rushers? I want my pass rushers to
be more productive. He called a whole bunch of
other coaches to join his coaching staff because
he is serious about winning. What have you done
to say that you are serious about winning? The
only two moves that you made. was get rid of
the secondaries coach and linebackers coach.
And you only did that as sacrificial lambs because
of what happened towards the last game of the
season when Derrick Henry basically cleaned the
defensive line to a tee. The defensive line couldn't
even stop a shred of grass in the wind. That's
how crazy Derrick Henry was running. You have
yet to make any adjustments to your defensive
staff. You have yet to make any adjustments to
your offensive staff. So what makes you think
any person would believe in Mike Tomlin at this
point? None. There is nothing that Mike Tomlin
can do or say that would make me believe in Mike
Tomlin or in the Pittsburgh Steelers. There was
a period in time where the Steelers were feared,
where the Steelers... Was a team that a lot of
teams had to prepare. Because you knew it was
going to be a physical game. Because you knew
it was going to be a game. Where you may be feeling
a little bit achy. Maybe for about a week or
so. Now. Oh we're the laughing stock. We are
pretenders. Each and every year we are pretenders.
And granted I was one of those people that was
drinking from that cup. that believed that the
Steelers were actually going to do something
this year, that the Steelers were actually going
to win a playoff game. One playoff game. Not
two, not three, not four, not five, not six,
but one playoff game. And they did not do that.
They folded when they needed to win the most.
And granted, I understand that five -game stretch
was hell. I understand that. But damn! You could
have won at least two of those games, and you
didn't even do that. You went on a five -game
slide, and not once did you think about bringing
in Justin Fields. Not once. You still rolled
with frickin' Russell Wilson. Because why? He
was the apple of your eye. You wanted to play
favorites, and favorites has not gotten you anywhere.
Favorites has gotten you eliminated from the
playoffs for the past eight -plus years. The
one thing that I can respect about Bill Belichick,
as cutthroat as he was, guess what? He never
had favorites. And the one time that he almost
did have a favorite, guess what? The owner, Robert
Kraft, forced him to trade him. He forced Bill
Belichick to trade Jimmy Garoppolo away because
they had Tom Brady. Meanwhile, you have somebody
that plays favorites. Every single year. Even
when it comes to the free agency signings. Favorites.
You see how high he talks about people like Tee
Higgins. Patrick Queen. Patrick Peterson. Darius
Slay. DK Metcalf. All those players. And guess
what happens? At some point in their career,
guess what? They're going to be joining the Pittsburgh
Steelers. It happened with Patrick Peterson.
It happened with Darius Slay. It happened with
DK Metcalf. It's going to continue to happen.
Happened with Patrick Queen. Favorites. When
can we not go through an offseason where we are
the main talked about team? When can we just
go through an offseason where we're just putting
our head down and we're just working instead
of just bullshitting? You, Mike Tomlin, was the
person who decided to go out of his way. along
with Omar Khan, to meet with a player who had
serious allegations and an ongoing investigation
going on in campsite. You met with him. You met
with him. And you decided to sign him. Why would
you do such a damning thing? Why? And then to
make matters worse, You benched Beanie Bishop,
who was making plays, who had four, four interceptions.
Meanwhile, Cam Sutton was playing like dog shit
every single time that he was on the field. They
turned Cam Sutton into a jiff when Isaiah likely
basically threw him down to the center of the
earth. And you mean to tell me that I want to
believe in this team? Hell no. And then not to
mention, let's just keep on going here, folks.
You continue to say that you want Cam Hayward
and TJ Watt and Minka Fitzpatrick to experience
the confetti, to experience winning a Super Bowl,
but you haven't done a damn thing to say that
he is serious about wanting us to win a Super
Bowl. You haven't done anything. Don't tell me
that you want to model the construction of this
team to the Eagles when you are not willing to
do anything of what the Eagles have been able
to do. I want you to think about this for a moment
here, folks. The Eagles were able to win a Super
Bowl, go through some rift within their locker
room, trade away their franchise quarterback,
go through a small rebuild, retool again, Go
and get another head coach and win another Super
Bowl before the Steelers won a playoff game.
I want you to think about that for a second here,
folks. If I am a team, if I am a Steelers fan,
I would be livid. I would be pissed because you
know why? We are wasting the years of a T .J.
Watt. We are wasting the years of a Cam Hayward.
Here you have two blue collar players who work
as hard as they do. In season, out of season.
Who continue to hold the Steelers banner up.
Even though when everybody says, bro, you should
just go somewhere else. You should just go and
just try to see if you can hitch on another team
and possibly win a championship. But they stay
loyal to the team. And y 'all haven't done anything
to say that, hey, we're going to push our chips
in and we're going to find a way. to make sure
that this team is the best that we can be so
that we can try to get you guys at least a playoff
win. T .J. Watt doesn't even have a playoff win.
He doesn't even have a playoff win. Think about
that for a second here, folks. That is ridiculous.
As hard as T .J. Watt plays, doesn't even have
a playoff win. That is a shame before God. And
then not to mention, you have somebody in Mike
Tomlin. Who does not want to make serious changes
to his coaching staff. When literally we all
saw what happened when they had Brian Flores
for one year. You saw how the defense played
so much better. You saw how everybody just did
their job a little bit more better. And you never
thought about, hey, maybe we need to continue
to do this. Maybe we should continue to bring
in some people. And you have opportunities to
do it. You could have brought in Robert Sala.
You could have brought in Antonio Pierce. You
could have brought in Jerron Mayo. But you didn't
want to do that. Do you know why the Eagles are
where they are? Do you know why the Ravens are
where they are? Do you know why the Rams are
where they are? Because you know why? They invest
into scouting. They invest into their coaching
staff. That is why it's not just about the players,
but it's also about the foundational pieces,
actually expanding your coaching staff, actually
expanding your scouting. Stop just going to the
same four or five different schools every single
offseason. Start going to these smaller schools
because what you're starting to see now is players
from these smaller schools. are more refined
in their techniques, and they have more upside
with their game. And they don't have half of
the antics that some of these players that go
to these Power 5 schools go to. Sure, if there's
somebody from Alabama that you really like, go.
But you go to the same colleges every single
year. Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas, Clemson.
Those are the main places you go to. You haven't
really touched the West Coast like how you're
supposed to. The last time that they went to
the West Coast was for who? David DeCastro. And
that turned out pretty well. So you have to expand.
You have to be in a season of openness. You have
to be in a season of expansion if you really
want to tell people that I am serious about winning.
Stop saying that you're serious when you're actually
saying that, you know what, I want to be shitty.
I want to do just enough. I want to just get
by so I can continue to extend the streak of
saying I have never had a losing season. Bill
Belichick has had a losing season. Andy Reid
has had losing seasons. Other coaches have had
losing seasons. What makes you think that you
are bigger than any and all of them? Nothing.
And then... To make matters worse, while we were
going through that winning streak, you decided
to say, and you left it with a smirk on your
face, this is why I'm highly compensated. But
towards the end of the season, you didn't have
a whole lot to say. You looked like you just
finished eating a bunch of lemons. You didn't
know what to say because you got punched in the
mouth. You got punched in the mouth by the Eagles.
You got punched in the mouth by the Chiefs. You
got punched in the mouth by the Bengals. You
got punched in the mouth by the Ravens. And you
couldn't do anything about it. So stop telling
me that you guys are serious about winning. Show
it. And this falls on Art Rooney as well. You
need to expand your coaching staff. That is the
only way that this team can be real contenders.
That is the only way. If you do not do that,
guess what? You will never win a championship.
And you know what's going to happen? And I pray
to God this does not happen. Cam Hayward and
TJ Watt are going to be Hall of Famers who have
never won a championship, who have never even
whiffed a Super Bowl. It's going to be a whole
bunch of what -ifs with their career. Do you
really want that? No. I don't think nobody really
wants them to experience that. But that's a possibility.
So why am I so passionate? Why am I so angry
about the Steelers? Why am I so angry about Mike
Tomlin? Because you know why? Year after year
after year, they continue to sell us the same
thing. And at some point, it feels like we're
like the Cowboys. Every single year, we build
ourselves up. We say, hey, this is going to be
our year. This is going to be something special
than last year and the years before that. And
guess what happens? It's the same outcome every
single year. 9 -8, 10 -8, 10 -7, 10 -6, 10 -5,
11 -4. It's not enough. Never has been, never
will be. This team deserves to win. There are
players on this team that have been loyal to
this team that deserve to win. And if you are
not willing to make the necessary changes, if
you are not willing to make the necessary additions
to make this team better, then go somewhere else.
Just go. Stop wasting people's time. Stop trying
to hype everybody up for the season. There's
not enough promoting videos. There's not enough
teasers. There's not enough trailers. There's
not enough of those that can replace the drought,
the lack of thirst, the lack of winning that
this team has yet to experience. None of it.
Here you have the Ravens, your division rival,
who have made significant moves to their coaching
staff and you haven't done anything. The most
you did was hire a linebackers coach. A no -name
linebackers coach. No disrespect to you, big
dog. How in the world can you say you want to
position yourself to draft a quarterback next
year when you don't have somebody on this coaching
staff that has experience developing a quarterback?
Folks, I could go on a whole nother hour about
how I am so disappointed in this team, but I
don't think nobody really wants to hear that.
But I will say this and I'll leave it and then
we'll do the outro and whatnot. I have very low
expectations for this team moving forward. I
will not be super dramatic. when it comes to
us winning and losing and until significant changes
are made i will somewhat step back when it comes
to the support that i have for this team i have
said it public i've now said it publicly so now
everybody can can backtrack and hold me accountable
for for what i just said but i want to end this
episode here if you guys like what you are listening
please please please please please make sure
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okay? G -M space K -A -I -L -E. It's the same
thing with blue sky as well. G -M. K -L -K -A
-I -L -E. As always, I hope I gave you guys the
fix that you guys need. I love you guys. I appreciate
you guys so much. Thank you guys so much for
riding out with me with a divisional rodeo. It
was great. And we'll probably do it moving forward.
But we'll probably next year, we'll probably
go a little bit more in depth when it comes to
stats for every single team and records and all
those different things. I probably won't be putting
out another episode for a while now. If anything
crazy happens with Aaron Rodgers, maybe I will.
But moving forward, I probably won't. I'll probably
save everything else for the draft and whatnot.
But I will be putting out clips, posting mock
drafts, and other forms of content. So as always,
I love you guys. I appreciate you guys so much.
This is your GM Kel signing out. Peace and love.
Later.