Welcome to NFL Daily. I'm Greg Rosenthal and I'm beyond lucky today to be joined in the studio by Steve Weisch and on remote in Ohio by Nick Schook. We've missed a lot of news in this feed here since, since you were on the NFL last tape to podcast, and we are going to catch up today with Steve and Nick. Thank you for joining me, Steve.

I was waiting for John Facunda's voice to come in with that music right there. I mean, just like the whole symphonic element of that's strong for the daily.

You. Yeah, you just heard it for the first time. Yeah, we're adding elements as we go here, shookie. We've got a tour group right outside the window waving at me. So, yeah, you can check us out on YouTube as well. And it's good to see you, shook. And, yeah, for the YouTube audience, just take off your hat and show your sunburn right now. Cause it is like the best bald sunburn I've ever seen.

Look at this, dude. You got roasted.

This is what happens when you wear a backwards hat because you're trying to protect your bald head from a sunburn when you're playing sand volleyball, but you forget about that little setting or rising sun, depending on your preference right there and how it's just imprinted in your forehead.

Uh, so as I mentioned. And how are you, shooky? Yeah. Had a good off season.

Yeah. You know, we're, we're cooking. We're ready for the season. I can't wait to get the fresh tape going. There's so, you know, you guys talked about on the show yesterday. There's so much unknown. We don't know yet, but we're going to find out. That curiosity, I'm just ready to go. I want to find out. I want to learn. I want to be a sponge and soak it all up.

I know this is a week that is, it's like the last truly quiet week and you never know. Things could change. But this is like really the last total week of the off season. Next week, the Houston Texans will be reporting in full by the end of the week, and rookies for some teams start reporting earlier in the week. So, yeah, football is back and we're going to talk about what's happened really in the last six weeks because I'm just a nut about this and this show, and I wanted you two guys on for this, especially cause Steve's going to be joining us during the season quite a bit, and I really am excited about that. You are as well you're gonna be big parts of the show. And the show at its core, once things start going, is gonna have a really important news element. We're doing this daily and that's partly to catch everything. Like if we miss something, we're gonna catch it the next day. But we didn't catch any, you know, anything for six weeks or so. And I just, I guess, I guess my takes have been building up and I wanna go through all the biggest stuff that's been going on this offseason and I made a list and you guys added some stuff and we're gonna draft off that list what we think mattered.

Cause obviously all of it didn't really matter that much or what we think is interesting from this offseason really looking at kind of late May through now. And Nick, I'm going to let you start off. So it's a draft with absolutely no repercussions. You can't really win this draft, I guess. But I'm going to give you the first pick of a news story you want to talk about.

This is going to be the longest run up of a draft card in the history of a draft. We're coming roughly 2500 miles across the country, but we're handing it in now. And it is the massive quarterback contract that most everybody expected would happen before long. Trevor Lawrence is locked up through 2030. Massive deal for him, $275 million and a deal that I think some people probably don't feel a hundred percent confident in. But if the Jaguars see Trevor Lawrence as their guy, they had to make this. They had to get this done. It's just as simple as that. It's a product of the market and the rising quarterback contracts. And now the question becomes, does Trevor Lawrence live up to that? Because we've seen flashes of greatness from him. We've seen inconsistency. Last year he suffered some injury issues for the first time. And the Jaguar season as a whole last year, in my opinion, was just a season of near misses. And it started with Lawrence just to tick off this way, just missing a guy by a yard this way. Mistakes here could never really get into a rhythm and they fell apart down the stretch.

So him getting this contract now, it's a vote of confidence. You have your quarterback established, but the pressure instantly is on to live up to that contract. He's no longer a rookie. Just trying to find his way.

Yeah, the pressure's on because when I saw this, Nick, this is the one where front office guys, Greg, that's where they say, what do we do if we let him go? Like if we don't pay him, what's, what's the next plan? And that's where a lot of teams get caught. Like, you know, what are we doing? You know, who's, are we going to be bad enough to draft a guy? We want to go through that because the coaching staff is going to get fired? Or do we really believe that Trevor Lawrence is that guy? And as Nick said, we've seen flashes where there's been no doubt. I've talked to coaches who've been like, man, this guy is seeing the field differently. He's picking us apart. But we've seen some inconsistencies. And we saw last year when Christian Kirk went down, they could not generate much of an offense. Is that on Trevor Lawrence? Was that other guys not stepping up? Was that on the play calling? What happened, you know, with the way they were supposed to function? We saw him try to gut through that ankle injury and things like that. I think that's where it works.

But this, this season is going to be interesting because last year, this time all the Jags are going to win the AFC south. Now I there in the, I mean, Tech Houston is a team to beat. The Colts with Anthony Richardson, they were on the cusp of a playoff.

I mean, Trevor Lawrence is the like third most exciting quarterback in this division now. Sorry. I mean, that's just because I like Anthony Richardson. I'm not saying he's better than Trevor Lawrence, but I want to see him.

I thought you put Will Levis ahead of him.

Will Levis is exciting. We're going to have Nate Tyson on Monday and he is the biggest Will Levis fan out there.

Will ess, he's shown flashes, too.

He's compelling. These contracts are tough to analyze because they're also similar and that doesn't seem right. Like why is, why is Trevor Lawrence getting close to the same contract as these players that are just clearly better than him? But it's just how the NFL works. Like, you just can't change it. It's really cause of the salary cap and the guys like Mahomes and Allen and Joe Burrow and Herbert and those contracts are a little better with Jalen Hurts, right? If you really look under the hood, this Trevor Lawrence one was like a small discount actually, in terms of the first three or four years, we're okay, but kind of at a lower level and long term definitely at just like a slightly lower level. But that's just how the NFL works, that everyone gets about the same contract and you hope if the top twelve quarterbacks are all pretty close in contracts that your guy is just higher on that list. And Lawrence hasn't been yet. But it's also a no brainer. Cause you just don't want to be the cowboys in wait until the last year. Cause you'll end up paying more. And Dak doesn't have that contract.

And to me, Trevor Lawrence is at a similar place in the pecking order. It kind of reminds me a little bit of Kyler Murray, who's also a number one overall pick, where he was at a similar place. The difference is Lawrence just had the hype. Like Kyler Murray, I think has had moments and he's shown where he is, but like not exactly where you want to be. And that to me that's where Trevor Lawrence is. It's just people expected more out of Trevor Lawrence so they grade him on a different curve.

And it's funny because we're talking about this because the money's insane. Right? But we said the same thing with Patrick Mahomes and is he signed that ten year, $450 million deal. That is a bargain.

Oh my gosh.

And it's only like four years after he did it.

Speaker one.

I kind of knew that though, when they made that ten years, any ten year contract in the NFL bargain. Yeah.

But yeah, I mean, I think that's where we are.

All right, let's go. Draft pick number two, Steve Weiss. Let's go.

Okay, well, I'm going to stay in the division because this has been the summer of CJ Stroud.

Okay.

You talk about the six weeks, Greg, if you, if you had your eyes closed, you would have missed it because he's been everywhere.

Right?

You know, he did the thing over in Asia, which was great with Micah Parsons. He's been on all these podcasts. We see him at the fanatics white party, but then we also see him in the street in Houston, like after a natural disaster, like just helping out, you know, playing catch with guys. And the fact that this was a player who last year was being debated, is he the number one or the number two quarterback coming out of the draft? A lot of people didn't like him because he was inconsistent at Ohio State, comes in and has this huge first year completely franchise changing. And legitimately you can say that a franchise changing player. The Houston Texans were the poster children of dysfunction. And in one season with him and Dimiko Ryan's coming in, he elevated guys around him, took them to the playoffs and is now on track. I mean, a top five betting favorite to be the MVP next season. So the fact that he has shown some of himself, Nick, like, as a human being, on top of what we saw on the field and heard about what he did in locker rooms and inviting guys over to his house every Thursday night, whatever.

This, to me, the summer CJ Stroud has been absolutely fantastic in the fact that, you know, Micah Parsons is sitting there talking about, I could hang, I could hit five three pointers in an NBA game. And Stroud's like, no, you can't. You're not even getting one off against these guys. Like, don't be stupid.

He has no filter when talking about other players. And he's, you know, we talked about him on, on our first show, too, just from a football perspective. But you're right. I just love him as a, as a person. Like, he wasn't, wasn't afraid to throw a little shade there at Aaron Rodgers. Like, not the biggest Aaron Rodgers fan. He was just talking about his game and he's a ball knower and yeah, he was doing something. Who knows? Maybe other Cowboys teammates would like to do just shade, you know, micah just a little bit. Just like if he's getting out of order, just say, say something back. Are you a big CJ guy, Nick?

I would like to go on the record as stating that I was one of the bigger CJ guys out there just from his combine workout, his presence at the combine. I was taken aback at his press conference when people were asking him, hey, why don't you run that much? And, you know, what are your greatest strengths? He goes, I don't run that much because I don't feel I need to run that Matt much because my greatest strength is my accuracy, and I'm going to show that off in the field. And then he went out there and put together one of the best workouts, obviously against air. But I, that I've ever seen from a quarterback at the combine. I was instantly, you know, taken by him. I was ready to roll with him as my franchise quarterback. And that doesn't even, you know, tie into the fact that I watched him religiously at Ohio State because I felt like he didn't quite meet expectation at Ohio State. So at that point, as soon as they took him and proceeded, it was like, all right, well, he's in a situation now where the Texans have done some things in the offseason.

Maybe they could.

Speaker two, are you a Buckeyes fan?

Speaker two I am a Buckeyes fan.

I mean, that's everybody from Ohio is.

I know, but that's pretty harsh to say. He didn't meet expectations like I watched.

Yeah, but you understand, Justin Fields was really special at Ohio State in a different way. So it was a slight step down. But it's funny because their careers are the exact opposite.

I mean, how about that semifinal game? I don't know if anyone can top what Cgstrad.

That was his best performance against George. You didn't know.

Yeah.

Until then, you didn't really know that. And I looked back and thought, man, I wish you would have been that guy against Michigan the last couple of years.

Oh, there it is.

I know.

Yeah. Gotta get it up.

But, you know, four straight.

It's like a competition between the Ohio State and Michigan. Who can be the most annoying fan base in the entire country? I'm sorry, on any planet. And I don't know. I don't know who it is. Michigan probably has the. The honor right now just cause they have the title. All right, I'm going to pick third. I'm going to talk about Brandon Ayuk. 49 ers are very active, and maybe we'll get to a few other players on them. But he didn't show up for minicamp. Surprise. Had a meeting with the 49 ers that we heard about. Let's actually listen to Brandon Iuk. This is courtesy of the Pivot podcast.

If I were to take a guess, probably a niner uniform. Probably a niner uniform. I mean, if not a niner uniform, probably a Washington Commander uniform. If not a Washington commander uniform, probably a steeler's uniform. From your lips to God's ears.

So that was wild, because he was answering a question about where he sees what uniform he sees himself in 2024. And he started with the 49 ers, to be clear. And I believe that is by far the most likely option. But you don't hear players normally just mention the other team. You know, he kind of knows something there. Commanders, of course, is run by Adam Peters, who? Washington, you know, in the 49 ers building. So he. He knows how good they are. And this is just one of those to watch. We're going to have Ian Rappaport on later. We're going to talk about some potential holdouts, kind of which guys he thinks are more likely, less likely to hold out. But Iuk was making a lot of noise in the offseason. It's gone up and down, like whatever week you check in, and it depends, it changes whether you think he's going to show up, how happy he is. I think they know how good he is. But is interesting that look, CMC got his two year extension that was worth about $19 million per Juwan Jennings, another wide receiver, got what I think for the 49 ers was a steal.

Cause that dude is a good player.

He moves the chains, man.

He might have sold himself a little short, but I get it. I would be like that, too, if somehow I was an NFL player. It's just like, I don't want to chance another year where I could tear my teletend. So they, they gave him a nice contract and Brandon Iook still unsigned?

Well, he's still unsigned, but I think they get it done. I mean, the Niners are a team a lot like, you know, the Rams, a couple other teams where they get deals done right before training camp or right as you enter training camp. But if you look, ever since Brock Purdy has taken the field when he came on as a rookie against Miami, the connection he has with Brandon Iook is completely different than what he has with any other receiver, any other player on the team, right? The 49 ers basically throw the ball fewer than any team in the NFL. Right there. Right there at the bottom in terms of pass attempts. But when he throws it, it's to Ayuk.

Right.

Debo Samuel, get some, kiddo, get some. But it's predominantly to IU. And that, and that combination you can't mistake because the Niners are all in on Brock Purdy. Right? So I think you're going to end up seeing something with Iuk getting done. And maybe after the season when they've got a pay, Brock Purdy, maybe that's when we see Debo Samuel finally come off the books and get moved to another team that way. But I just think Brandon Iook does get done. But it is hilarious that he said, well, this team, that team, you know, it is completely different. But he's such a good player. He's such a great route runner. You talk to DBS who face him inside, outside, like they're like, that is their legit number one wide receiver.

And it's interesting, too, that he's a pretty wise player, or at least he, he's kind of playing the situation fairly well in that he's thought about teams that need receivers or were in the receiver market. The Steelers were one of those teams in the offseason, and he obviously sees the opportunity there, whether it's with Russell Wilson or Justin Fields or whatever it is, he sees the opportunity. But it's funny because you talk about Debo Samuel probably being the guy who comes off the books. He's probably the first Django piece out of the tower. But you think in reverse and pecking order, I could be last in this offseason, you know, set of deals in any circumstance, not just because he's Brandon Ayuk, but because you're obviously going to pay McCaffrey and you get Juwan Jennings cheaper. It's funny, though, because I think about them last year and, and, you know, you have Debo Samuel and you have Christian McCaffrey and you have George Kittle. And then Brandon Iuk starts making all these plays with Brock Purdy. And for a while I just believe that, well, maybe that's just a product of scheme and you can only cover so many guys and now you could just happens to be the guy who ends up open because of scheme and.

And how they're dedicating their coverages. And then we got through the season and I look back and realize, no, he's just a damn good football player and continue to be one and he's going to get paid like one.

He's a great example of the guy you are drafting is not the guy necessarily that he's going to be in year four. Cause if someone had said that that dude was that when he was coming out of college, was going to be one of the best route runners in the league, he was just not that dude.

Steve Smith said it. Steve Smith said it.

Okay, well, I didn't. I didn't see it. I didn't see it. And not a lot of people saw it, but Shanahan saw it. What you did see was he was going to be one of the Yak monsters right off the bat. Like he was going to make people miss and he'd be a different version of like a Deebo. But now he's complete. He's clearly, to me, more valuable than Debo and I do. Now as we're talking this through it, this is why I wanted to do it with you guys, just like process all this stuff. Like, oh, yeah, the Jennings deal sets them up for when they trade debo, like, because that's paid. You know, they just spent their first round pick on a wide receiver, Ricky Parasol. So I was kind of surprised by the Jennings deal, but they're locking in a really good number three, one of the best in the league, great blocker at a low rate. And that's going to free them up to trade Devo. So we saw, we solved the 49 ers, so we did. Nick, why don't you go up, take another story off the board here.

Actually, we're going to solve world hunger. I'm going to go back to the Texans for a second because part of the summer of CJ Stroud connection was his teammates who got paid and the people that they brought in. Nico Collins gets a new deal in the offseason. You might see that and think, Nico Collins, how is he getting that type of money? Well, if you watch the Texans last year when it wasn't Tang Dell making plays, Nico Collins was CJ Stroud's favorite receiver. It was obvious in the preseason that Nico Collins was going to be his favorite receiver. He was the most reliable and he's exceeded all expectations. So, of course, now is the time with the guy on the rookie contract and CJ Stroud to pay him. And people probably still aren't going to pay attention to him because they're not going to think about money when they think about brand name. They're going to go to Stefan Diggs. They're going to go to tank Dell because his nick's name's tank. But Nego Collins continues to be an integral part of this offense. So I'm happy for him that he got paid. And again, that doesn't happen without CJ Stroud.

And it just kind of, you know, points again to how you put a franchise quarterback in there and a young one who has success and it just spider webs out and everybody around him, they all get affected positively by it.

Yeah. Look, man, you know what the Nico Collins contract, the amount of Ross ain't Brown wide receiver contract. Since we're talking about you.

Yes.

I mean, that's why we're having the stair step. We talk about how the quarterback contracts are coming like that. Now you're seeing that $30 million a year apy, which now Tyreek Hill wants to get back. On top of that, he was the highest. That's something that we're seeing with these contracts. But speaking of the Texans, I mean, look what they did defensively. They add Daniel Hunter after lose, Jonathan Grenard, they add Deniko Autry. I mean, he, that guy's been a heck of a player. Like this team getting Joe Mixon and Nick, you know that. You know, being up there in AFC north country, that dude is a 7th rounder. Steve.

It's almost too much. There's almost like everything's a little too perfect that it worries me.

Yeah.

But sometimes the hype team that had the big lift the year before, sometimes they continue and take that lift. The Julyans did it a year ago.

Yep.

I tend to, and I did it, I like, was fading essentially the Jaguars last year, because when you jump up that much, usually it's hard to maintain it. And my instinct would be to do that with the Texans this year, too, but I just can't do it because of everything you just said and because it's CJ and yeah, Nico CollIns people were like, I can't believe Nico Collins is making that much money. Watch Nico Collins. Like, people get too carried away with, oh, is he a number one or is he a number two? He's one of the 25 or so best receivers in league. He is a tall, physical guy who can snatch the ball, play on the outside and make really good plays after the catch. Like, he really is a complete receiver. He's not that different, actually, from Niuk, not quite as physical, but that was just 24. When you do these contracts they're tacking on, it was an extension, so it looks like it was 24 million per year. But really, if it's the whole contract, it was 18 per year, which for a wide receiver is affordable these days. We'll probably talk about more receiver contracts because we haven't talked about the biggest one.

But first we're going to take a quick break back on NFL daily. Oh, let's just get to it. We might as well talk Justin Jefferson. That's been the biggest contract since we last talk to y'all out there. And yeah, Justin Jefferson signing the biggest contract in the history of football for a wide receiver and bigger than some top shelf quarterbacks were making not that long ago. Steve.

Yeah, look, a four year, $140 million deal. The Vikings tried to come to a deal with them last year and they couldn't get there. And, you know, good for Jefferson because you saw how the market is absolutely gone insane. I talked about it on the show earlier, that 30 million APY for receivers is now kind of the floor for the elite guys. And Justin Jefferson, think what you want. He is probably the best wide receiver in the NFL. And the Vikings know that. He's a cornerstone. They've got a quarterback in Sam Darnold who they're not paying big money to, and then they drafted a quarterback who they're playing a rookie numbers to. So you can afford to do this, especially when they made some of the changes that they made, getting somebody who costs less and Jonathan Granada as an edge rusher. Then the Neil Hunter got rid of Marcus Davenport on one side because he developed some young pass rushers. So they've got a good offensive line. We'll see what happens at running back right there. You know, they got Aaron Jones up there. So, I mean, the Vikings are one of these teams where if they even get adequate quarterback play with a guy like Justin Jefferson, we're going to be talking about them being a playoff team when no one is mentioning them right now.

When you got a guy like Justin Jefferson to occupy defensive coordinators game planning all weekend, he's going to be worth the money for that alone to open up the rest of the offense.

I mean, he's the, he's the best receiver in the league, I believe, since he entered the league. So it's not surprising that he's the one to break this barrier. But, wow, $110 million guaranteed Nick. Like that is more than on some big quarterback contracts not that long ago. And you think like that, oh, is that crazy for receiver? And then I think like, Derek White, my favorite player in the NBA, got 125 million. So, man, Justin Jefferson's underplayed. Have your kids bee be basketball players. What do you think, though, Nick, of like, wide receivers have really turned into even maybe ahead of edge rushers, the number two position now. And I think it's partly an effect of the analytical thinking of front offices. It's like that's, that's sort of a drum. Pff. Types have been saying for a while that, like, wide receiver is probably the next most important position. Maybe it's defensive in.

Well, first off, I knew the Celtics would make it in here eventually, so congratulations, Greg. But yeah, I look at it kind of as an inverse with the Vikings, especially because you have a rookie quarterback and there are a few, just a small handful of receivers who can perform regardless of who's throwing it to them. And Justin Jefferson is among that group. So instead of paying a quarterback 30, 35 or more million dollars a year, you pay Justin Jefferson that money. You go with a rookie, you go with a Sam Darnold as a veteran, potentially starter, maybe backup. We'll see how that shakes out. Right now he looks like he's going to be the starter, but there's a lot of camp left to go. And you take those combined financial savings and you just dump it on that receiver, a guy who elevates the rest of the offense. He can, you know, he's one of those rare guys that you can double him and he's still going to make plays. He's going to make plays when it's fourth in a mile and climb the ladder and make a one handed catch to keep your team alive in a thrilling game.

That's just who he is. You pay these guys. Cause, you know, no matter what draft class it is, it's once in a generation or right around that range that you're going to find a guy like Justin Jefferson. So even if it hurts your walleth, you know, it's money well spent.

Yeah. Informs why they let Kirk Cousins go. They knew they were making doing this contract all along. I mean, Quest, he said it. He said, we're going to make him the highest paid non QB in history at the podium. That's what I knew. Like, oh, a, this is happening and b, they've already offered that, but he didn't take it like he wanted more than that, which is incredible. Let's listen to Jefferson and then Steve. You're going to, you're going to pick after that.

This is definitely, you know, of just like I've been saying, this is the start of a lot, you know, this is something that I've been waiting for. And now being the leader of this team and, you know, carrying myself a different way, just like I told him, I'm going to be on everyone, but I'm going to be on everyone hard and I'm going to make sure that I'm the leader of this team and we're working to where we want to go, which is a world championship.

Jefferson has cut through just like few others because if you watch youth flag football, they're all doing not just his gritty, but, you know, with the upside down. They're, they're all doing Jefferson celebration well.

And they love him in Minneapolis. I mean, I'm a native of there. You know, they love them, the organization, the community. So, you know, that's it. So my turn to redraft, right? I'm coming in next in line. So I want to go to Micah Parsons. Okay, we've got Malik hooker taking, you know, his teammate, taking shots at him, with him and him going back and forth. But Micah has been joining CJ Stroud a little bit about being out there in the summer of Micah, but you gave us a quote talking about his new defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer. Members old DC, Dan Quinn.

Yeah.

Who moved him from an inside linebacker to an edge rusher, where he's become a star, says honestly means them have probably set a total of 20 words together. He's a very quiet person. All I keep hearing from the coaches, him likes it like this. Well, I like it that way. So I can't wait to sit down with him because that would be pretty cool. Obviously, old school mindset, old school mentality, you know, I think he's had a lot of great players, but he ever ain't ever had a Micah. He's never had a Micah. He hasn't. And this is where it's going to be very interesting. Cause, you know, he said. He's only said 20 words to Mike Zimmer. Mike Zimmer will say some things to him that are often preceded by an f and followed by an f. Mike Zimmer is. I knows him quite well, right. And Tim is one of the best coaches. But where I think Micah Parsons like, okay, we again, we saw Dan Quinn previously move him from inside to edge and kind of use him as that little kind of unicorn type defender. Nobody may do that better than Mike Zimmer with certain guys.

And I want to go back to when Zim was a defensive coordinator on the Falcons 2007 team with Bobby Petrino as the head coach.

Wow.

That staff, by the way, was absolutely fantastic. But Zim had a guy outside linebacker named Michael Boley. Right? And this is a guy kind of a long, rangy dude. Just kind of a dude, though. And when Zim had him bullied, two interceptions, seven passes. Defense, four force fumbles, three sacks, 110 tackles, seven quarterback hits. Sim goes to Cincinnati, does the same thing with guys like Carlos Dunlap. Does the same thing with guys like Gino Atkins and Vantage burfect. You know, he did the same thing with Anthony Barr. Symbol find a special talent. He sees things in guys that other people may not see. We all see it in Micah, but he might be able to do something with Michael Parsons that we have not before. So again, we all know this is a one year audition for that coaching staff right there. They have got to get to the playoffs and make a deep run. But I think Mike Zimmer paired with Micah Parsons, and this is no shot at Dan Quinn because he's fabulous at making people into stars and putting people in position to succeed. That could be an interesting marriage. Either it's going to be highly successful, like I did say, with Michael Boleye, or it could be a nuclear disaster.

Because Dan Quinn is a very player friendly guy and Mike Zimmer guys love playing for him, but he's one of those old Bill Parcells type of dudes who will tell you about yourself in ways that you don't want to hear.

Do you think Parsons is disciplined enough in terms of doing what the coaches want him to do, to play in that sort of defense? To me, he has a little bit of Lawrence Taylor to him. Talent wise, and sometimes he's just doing his own thing, but it works quite a bit.

Yeah. I mean, again, I think he will because, again, Zimmer has shown historically to make guys better. Now, he's, he's tough and it wears on guys, but, I mean, you'll find most superstar athletes, especially defensive players, they want to be coached hard. They may not like the guy, but they want to be coach hard if they're seeing the results. And that's going to be the big thing with the Dallas Cowboys this season.

Mick, let's, let's go to you next with a pick. I want to get through as much as we can before we get Ian in on this show.

All right, we brought this up earlier, but Anthony Richardson goes down with a shoulder injury after the first month of this season and completely fades from the consciousness of football. Fast forward to where we are now. He just completed mandatory minicamp and he did pretty well. He had to sit out because of fatigue. But this guy is on track and he's on his way back. So are we worried about his shoulder? Are we just gearing up for year two in which hopefully he makes it through a full season?

Ooh, I am worried. Let's actually listen to Anthony Richardson and see what his reaction was. This was in June that you're talking about when he, when he was not full. Go at the mini camp practice.

Yeah. Nah, nah. Nothing to worry about. You know, dealt with this before. You know, normally I just ice up and just go back at it again, but, you know, they said there's no need to try to rest out there for the last day, you know, when we got the season coming up. So I got six weeks to keep practicing and keep throwing and just keep getting my shoulder healthy.

I'm a little concerned. Aren't you, like, make it through the end of any camp? You just don't know at this time of year.

But you see, he's reckless and let's also not, you know, the way the style he played was reckless. Let's also not forget, when it comes to college players, they end their seasons and then they go straight to training. Like the hardest guys ever work is coming out of their college years into their rookie year. They have no breather. They've got no time for their body to kind of recover. Maybe that's what happened with him. And, Nick, I'm coming back to you because I know you live in the Cleveland area. I'm more worried about the Sean Watson shoulder than I am and Richardson shoulder just because the way the surgery that he had the way that they've limited him because it seems like much more of a structural issue than it does with Anthony Richardson.

Yeah. It's not often that you see a quarterback get a, you know, suffer a glenoid fracture and then just come back perfectly fine. And, and the Browns kind of were a little tight lipped to a degree on Watson and didn't show a lot of footage, you know, on social media and that type of thing. But again, it is minicamp. I agree. And, and the thing with that situation is the Browns are experiencing deja vu once again. Their entire season, you know, hinges on whether Deshaun Watson can play well and if he could be healthy enough to play. You know, they got, they pulled a rabbit out of a hat last year with Joe Flacco. That guy in that situation is not going to replicate itself in another year. So you need him to play well. So, yeah, I would actually be more worried because I think more rides on Deshaun Watson than on Anthony Richardson. But between the two quarterbacks, the higher ceiling, in my opinion right now is Anthony Richardson. I just can't wait to watch him play. Like I, now, I thought he was one of the sloppier quarterbacks in that class because, you know, he just, his mechanics were a little sloppy, he's a little lazy with it.

He wasn't fine tuned, and he'd missed some throws. He even did the combine. But, my God, man, watching Shane Steichen work with him just for a month, you could already see the possibilities there. You could see what could be ahead for him, and you just, it just left you wanting more because, I mean, chains Dyken, that's one of the coaches that we really didn't spend too much time talking about at the end of the season for the job that he did, because we were paying attention to teams like the Texans. But, I mean, he did a fantastic job in his first season as a head coach, and that was with Gardner Minshew. Imagine what he could do with a fully healthy Anthony Richardson. So I cannot wait to watch him play it. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed. But he stays healthy.

He has such a weird come, not a weird, intriguing skill set. He just, I went back this offseason and watched every, every throw he had. Not that there were that many. It was four. It was four games. It was really two, two and a half. Two games and then two half games. And he has incredible pocket presence for a rookie. Like, he moves like, like, in a way, like, like Brady and Rivers move just like, make making the little subtle adjustments and knowing, like, you can't teach that. And he makes really good decisions, I thought, for the most part, in terms of where he throws it, and he seems to get through his reads pretty quick, but he's just not accurate. And he was, and he was, he wasn't. It wasn't preventing him from being effective, but he still wasn't accurate for the Colts, either. So he's, like, got all these really next level, mature trade, and, oh, by the way, he's built like Cam Newton. Newton and run like that. So it's like, that is such a crazy combination that all he's got to do is get the accuracy to be somewhere in the Josh Allen range, and that'll be more than good enough.

That's a great comparison. Cause remember, Josh Allen didn't have, you know, and Anthony Richards got less of a body of work as a starting quarterback than Josh Allen had, and we saw the improvements. Josh Allen had, the accuracy department. Anthony Richardson could be right there.

Okay, I want to move on to a story that surprised me a little bit this last month, not Tua being unsigned. And I want to get your perspective on this, Steve, because you've spent a lot of time with Tua, and it's a tricky one, but Tyreek hill talking a little bit about how he wants new money and that this becoming a public thing. You mentioned that about Jefferson. We do have a quote here from Tyrico.

Very, you know, proud of those guys, you know, happy for, obviously, my teammate wattle, you know, getting his new deal. So for guys like me, that's great. You know, I'm 30 years old, you know, also looking for a new deal.

So very, very excited to see where.

You know, I fit in.

Right.

It's amazing.

He's the receiver, and maybe we'll talk about with Ian, too, that, but I could see him holding out. You know, this is a tricky situation for Miami. Like, can you pay these, both of these guys? Tyreek Hills getting up there in years. I mean, he's 30, but he's still.

One of the most dangerous players.

I get it. But he also has multiple years left on his contract. So do you want to be giving new money to a guy that's, like, under contract or, you know, do you want him to maybe be a little unhappy and.

Well, they honestly can't afford it because they're going to pay to him. Okay. So. But let's move on from that. Remember, they paid the, you know, the. The whole Bradley chubb con.

Are they going to pay to at the level of like, it's got to be up there. Okay.

It's got to be up there. I mean, for nothing else, agents aren't taking, you know, hometown deals and trying to convince other quarterbacks to do it. Right. His number is going to be there. But maybe there's an out after two years that both of them agree on. Maybe there's the structure of it allows it in a way as to where he gets a bunch of money up front, but then in two or three years, they can get out without taking a big type of hit. But, you know, maybe you don't pay Tyree kill this year, but you sweeten it up next year. You have to see where things go. You've got Jalen Phillips, you've got some players be saw him lose a guy like Christian Wilkins because, you know, they've got to pay. They're going to have to retool their offensive line, you know, a little bit more Castron Armstead. You know, he can't, their o lie.

Oh. Line is problematic.

Yeah. I mean, so there are things they're going to have to do. But you can see the way some of their contracts are set up with other players where they're, they can probably get Tyree kill done because we talk about his age. Nobody wants to face Tyree kill except for, well, now he's in. He was with the Chiefs, now he's with the Titans.

The DB, who was Jerry sneezerius need.

He'S the only one who's like, okay, I have no fear of Tyree kill.

And you mentioned it earlier, Jalen Waddell signed a new contract. It was one of those that was the third highest in new money. But if you really look at the full contract, because it was tacking years on, it's really five for 108, you know, so I do look at it that way. It gets spun a little bit, but still a great, a great deal for Jalen Waddle. Are you as confident in weish, I guess, as about the Tua thing? Cause I don't know, man. Okay. Okay. He's the Tua whisperer here.

I don't like any of this with the dolphins just because, Greg, think about it. Where did your kids when they were growing up keep their toys? You know, in one spare room or in an extra space in your house, right?

No.

Okay. And eventually they got new toys and you had to get rid of the old toys. You can't have too many toys with these dolphins like, and I agree, Steve, nobody wants to face Tyreek. And that's the move right now for the next year or two. But if he's got multiple years left in this deal and he still wants a new deal, he's 30 years old. I know receivers always want new deals, even right after they get paid. They want new deals because the market keeps going up. But eventually you got to accepted. Look, we got to get rid of the old toys. These are, these are going to become hand me downs. Donate these. We got to let them walk. You know, it's going to, it's going to be unfortunate for them, but I think that's the issue, especially if you paid to. And I, you know, I agree with you, Steve. He's going to get paid. I think it's kind of a lot like the Trevor Lawrence situation. Yeah, he led the league in passing yards last year, but if you ask, ask the average Dolphins fan right now, I don't think that they'd feel 100% confident in Tua as the future quarterback unless they see it done again this year.

And I think that's why, part of why we haven't seen it done yet.

All right, tune on the tuna. It's going to be all over it.

I haven't been told that we have Ian Rappaport on the line. This guy is a big deal. He's the NFL Network insider. I have. I have a request for you, Nick. Can you hang out with us and return for the final segment of the show? Ian actually has something in his contract that he won't be on air with any one of your, you know, physical stature. I don't mind it, and I'm the smallest guy at the company, but. But that's, you know, what's happening.

Hey, man, it's okay. I can go sit down. It'll make everybody else feel better.

All right, we'll take a quick break and we'll have Ian come on and then we'll wrap the show with Nick in a little bit. Welcome back to NFL Daily. I'm excited to welcome in Ian Rapaport. This is going to be part of our show. If we have our wishes granted every week. It's not always going to be you, Ian. It'll be an insider every week to give us the lowdown. You are NFL media's foremost insider. Don't tell that to Garofolo and Tom Pelacero. It's good to have you, Ian.

I appreciate you taking time away from tennis, watching to join me all in on Taylor Fritz saw Navarro lost. That kind of sucks. It's been very fun.

Oh, so you're breaking that news to me. Yeah, it really shows how much I love football and was excited to launch this show this week that I am basically missing the second week of Wimbledon. Other than like, the early morning stuff, it hurts. But Zverev is out and that is like almost like winning the championship every tournament. When he loses, I celebrate. And I'm hoping Alcaraz, you and Taylor Fritz's girlfriend. Yeah, that's it. We're going to talk like a little holdout. Steve had to go running. Look, there's a lot going on at the building today. He is hosting NFL insiders all week, so you guys should check that out. And Ian will be on that as well. You're always on it. I want to talk holdouts down. We've talked a little bit already on this show about Tua and Tyreek, but I'm going to throw a bunch of names at you and you can either rank them or just tell me who you think is most likely to actually hold out once we get to training camp and tell me if I'm forgetting anyone. I'll throw Tua Tyree, kill CD Lamb, who we have not hit.

And I'd like to Alvin Camara, Brandon Ayuk. Let's throw in Hassan Reddick, who still has not really showed up for the Jets, Amare Cooper and Jamar Chase. That's where. Where I kind of leave the list there.

Okay, we'll go to some of the players who did not show up at minicamp. And these do not always correlate. It's not like a player misses minicamp. And then you know that he is going to hold out because we have seen very few actual, real holdouts. So a couple last year, obviously, it was the Zack Martin that was one, it was the bosa that was another. We don't see a lot of them. But I think one thing players are sort of realizing is if you really want to get paid, if you really want to use the leverage you have, staying away with holding services is certainly a way to do it. I would say Cdlim and Brandon Ayuk are two that are least possibilities. And, you know, look, we. We know this because they were not at minicamp. I mean, CD Lamb is obviously very serious and seemed like there's been too much headway there. I think that's another one to watch. Jamar Chase, I know he's very serious. I know wants to make, let's just say, one penny more than Justin Jefferson. He did decide to show up at minicamp, which seems to mean potentially that he would maybe show up at training camp.

Now, is he going to do anything? I don't know. So a lot of time the difference here is just are you physically present or not? Because you can hold in, which had the same effect as holding out. You just don't get fined as much, which is why it's something that has been obviously pretty attractive to players.

So I do want to pat myself on the back here because no one else is going to do it for me. Ian, I think I created.

You're sitting there by yourself in a room.

Well, that's true. Yeah. Steve had to go. I think I coined Holden. I really did. Really, I'm, I want it like it because it was a new CBA thing and I started writing it on our website and I started saying it on the podcast and we put it in some headlines and I swear I hadn't seen it anywhere else, and now it's just a thing. So I've contributed very, very little to the football community over the years. But I think I contributed Holden.

I.

Feel like you did. I mean, I don't remember seeing anyone else besides you do it, nor did I really pay even attention.

No one else started saying it.

I feel like, I don't know if, I don't think I created it, but I feel like I helped popularize officially official, like, when he reported a deal and then it becomes announced. So I would give myself kudos for that one. Now, there's other nonsense that I'm sure I've contributed to the NFL lexicon. Scooptown, I feel like, was one of my original words, which some people use to describe our little world. But yeah, your contribution is noted as well.

Thank you. This is a tough combination, I think, ian, me and you were just, like, going to be so obnoxious as a combination that I don't know what that's going to do. Maybe the listeners will love it. Maybe they will hate it. Assad Reddick, though, is a weird one.

To me to find out.

Yeah, I want to actually go back to cd quickly because, like, what are the cowboys doing with Dak and CD? Because, like, why? Why are they the team that keeps waiting when it just seems like they look at the Eagles, for instance, their division, it's like, oh, the smart teams get two years ahead of it and instead they're a year behind. Like, why does that keep happening?

Yeah, I mean, that is true. And, you know, look, the Eagles are unbelievably proactive and a lot of times it works. Not all the time. Sometimes you extend your own player and it, you know, kind of blows up in your face. But these are the guys you should know well, right? So when Devontae Smith gets $25 million and all the other receivers, you know, jump him by a little but still jump him makes the eagles seem like, well, they really are ahead of it. Now we'll see what kind of year he ends up having, but certainly someone who should get that kind of money. You know, I think the Cowboys have spent a lot of years dealing with dead money, dodging dead money, and I do think they wanted to take this year to kind of get their feet under them getting better salary cap shape and not essentially over leverage themselves. Now that can be good. But what I think has happened is they've seen the market climb as high as possible. I mean, the quarterback market for sure climbed when Trevor Lawrence got 55. The receiver market sure climbed when Justin Jefferson got, was it 34, right that he ended up getting broke?

That deal, I should remember it. But anyway, so I do think the Cowboys would like to pay. CD Lamb the Dak Prescott one is interesting because up until recently, there's been almost no movement there leading me to think, not reporting, but just think that he might actually play it out. And then Dak talked at his camp and said, there's been conversations back and forth. This is the first time I think we've heard that there maybe have been contract conversations, so we'll keep an eye on that one. But basically what they've done is let the market develop and then they're going to end up paying a little higher than they probably otherwise might have.

Or the way you're talking about it, to me, like, if I hear that as a Cowboys fan, I worry because that sounds like a potential reset year. If things just don't go well, like we don't know how this season's going to go, maybe it's going to go great and they're going to want to keep everything together. But if, you know, the Mike Zimmer experience doesn't go well and you're not using all the resources you can hold on.

Start, start at the top, start at Mike McCarthy. I mean, of all the decisions that helped color the Cowboys season, not extending Mike McCarthy, having him play out on a lame duck year, you know, certainly affects it as much as anything. And so, you know, in any other situation, you would say obviously you're going to extend the coach. Obviously you're going to extend the starting quarterback, move on from there. They haven't yet done either. And I would say both would seem a little crazy taken out of the context, but what I mean, they really are setting up like a. If it doesn't work this year, at least with McCarthy, if it doesn't work this year, we'll just move on. Now, moving on from Dak is much, much, much harder because you could say whatever you want about the MVP candidate and someone whose stats are as good as anyone and someone who's probably as underappreciated a quarterback as there is in the NFL. But if the Cowboys let him go to free agency, who are you going to replace him with? That's the biggest thing. And there are no answers.

Right. They, they won't find an answer better than Dak. I think it's crazy, but I also think they just look like an indecisive team. And I love it when we get, you know, Ian's a reporter. He's a reporter's reporter. He's our insider. But I do love when we can get a little bit of analysis, a little bit of opinion from Ian here on NFL Daily. I guess I'll, I'll wrap with Hasan recid. The jets mess this up by trading for a guy who, like, wasn't happy to be there. Like, I I can't remember ever a guy getting traded for in an off season and not showing up. And you could be quick on this. I I know you got to go get back to the insider, but it's like, what is happening here?

I don't remember a similar, I'm sure there have been some. I don't remember a similar situation. Did they screw it up? I mean, I don't think so. Because honestly, if a guy didn't show up for minicamp, I mean, sure, we spent a lot of time talking about, there was a reporter whose name I totally forget who one time said to me, this road will be better if we ignore everything that we report from may til training camp starts. Do you remember who that was?

No. No.

It could've been anyone. Oh, it was you.

Oh, thank you. I didn't know I was a reporter or else I would have thought that that was me. Something that smart. Yeah, you're right. It would be better. Not much that happens before then, other than, like, actual transactions and injuries and stuff like that.

Right.

Other than actual transactions. But if we get through training to training camp and he hasn't signed, then it's a thing. I do not yet think that it's a thing.

I love that Ian is clocking and writing down things I said from, like, years ago and using it as gospel to give back to me in a, in a live setting. That, that makes me feel special right here. Ian, thank you so much. We hope to have you on, you know, throughout the buildup of the season and hopefully in the season. I know you're a busy man. Appreciate your time.

All right. Thank you for having me.

Thanks, Ian. Back on NFL daily, we got people coming, people going. Steve Weiss, as I said, is out the door, but Nick shook is back to wrap up the show with me. And I gotta say, nick, we didn't get to everything on the news rundown and so I'm gonna try to get to everything now and good luck. It's like a long list and you can feel free to jump in when you can or ask you. But basically everything that happened in the NFL for the last six weeks or so that we did not hit at the top of the show. Let's, let's play some NFL films music. We have this huge library and it just feels like we got to start just taking full advantage of it. It's free and it's amazing. Let's go, Randy. Oh yeah, this is my favorite one. I mentioned Juwan Jennings got that contract. George Kittle, Jimmy Ward. Of the 49 ers coming off core muscle surgeries. That's kind of like a sneaky biggest news out there. Darren Waller retired and also released one of the most regrettable music videos I've ever seen. Shook.

It was bad. It was bad. It was really bad. Don't, don't watch it. Just, just move on with your life. You never saw it.

Maybe do watch it, but at least a skip to the really crazy part, which is like the last minute and a half with the Kelsey plum look alike Falcons. They only got fined a fifth round pick for tampering with Kirk Cousins. Remember when we thought that that was going to be a really big deal? It was not a big deal. The Jaguars finally got a stadium deal done, but they're not going to play in Jacksonville in 2027. That's on my radar. Is it like a sneaky crazy story that's going to be coming up? The Chicago Bears are your hard knocks team this year. Like, I'm excited for way more eberfluss in my life. We also found out the in season hard knocks team is actually four teams. It is the AFC north. What do you think about the development envision getting a whole hard knock?

Nothing's harder than rough and tumble AFC north football. Let's go.

I also think it was hard to do in season hard knocks and make it great with one team, so you get more good stuff with 14. Mike Tomlin speaking the AFC north sign and extension through 2027. His cornerback Cam Sutton got suspended eight games. That was just this week. They knew he would be suspended when they signed him for an off season domestic assault violation. Aaron Rodgers skipped minicamp. I thought that was kind of a nothing burger, but also was weird. Caleb Clay S. Campbell signed with the Dolphins. That was fun in terms of first team reps. News all Russell Wilson in Denver. All Sam Darnold in Minnesota. Jalen Hurts had a weird comment. Not a weird comment, but 95% of the Eagles offense is new. So this is really Kellen Moore's offense. That's something to know about. One guy we didn't mention about holdouts was Marshawn Lattimore because he showed up. So that is not going to be an issue. Your Browns Chuckie signed Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Barry to contract extensions, and now.

They gotta sign Amari Cooper to an extension because he held out a mini camp. But that'll happen before long.

It was. Yeah, I think that will happen. Corey Linsley, the Chargers center, retired that sneaky, like huge news for them just because he was such a good player. T Higgins signed his franchise tag. Zack Martin said he could retire after the season. Thought that was interesting. The Raiders gave Max Crosby a raise just because you never see this, but they just gave him a raise for this year just because he's so good. Didn't add any years on, just like they love him.

And then he spent that money on a new field at Eastern Michigan as a Mac guy. Thank you, Max Crozi, for reinvesting in the mid american conference.

Reminder. Stevenson got an extension. Najee Harris is not happy, is not talking, is not practicing because they didn't give him a fifth year option or he wants a new contract. Something's going on there. Marshawn lynch and Gavin Newsom have a podcast. What? That's weird. A UFL legend, Jake Bates, who hit back to back 64 yarders, was signed by the Lions. I love this and I love that we end our news rundown that way.

Hey, man, you can't buy big legs, so you got to go sign them, which is kind of like buying them, but not really.

I do love, I mean, if you hit back to back 64 yard as it feels the same, you should absolutely get signed. And yeah, starter news. A couple last things. Just Jaden Daniels, they're not, they're not crowning them quite yet, and Daniel Jones maybe isn't going to be quite ready for training camp. It's something I'm going to keep an eye on. That's it for the news portion of this show. But Chuck, yesterday I introduced just the concept of an after dinner mint, just something nice to end the show on the. And I thought about something me and you talked about. We've known each other a long time, ten years now. I actually hired you back in the day. And for people that don't know that, you can't just tell from the show. Chuck is just a great guy, a great friend, and we've gone through some things this offseason, some ups and some downs, and you told me a great story about your grandfather, who I know is an important person in your life. It really stuck with me. It meant a lot to me. I thought, you know what, if you don't mind to hear it here on the podcast.

Yeah. You know, whenever life gives you some trials and tribulations. I knew a man, I'm named after him, actually. Who he was, a successful businessman, the patriarch of a family, and had a stroke three years before I was born, completely paralyzed in the right side of his body and found a way to live another 25 years and never lost a sunny optimism. I was fortunate to spend a year living with him. My freshman year of college, I commuted. We shared an apartment, and I will forever treasure those talks I had with him. And one of the biggest points he always made to me as I went through some difficulties of just being an 1819 year old kid trying to find your way is, look, life is full of ups and downs. I always looked at him and thought, if he can live another quarter of a century with half of his body not being able to be used, he lost his business, he lost pretty much everything. He lost his wife to Alzheimer's, and yet he was still so optimistic. And every time I would talk about that, he would just look at me and do the hand up and down, ups and downs, ups and downs.

And he passed away, actually, Greg.

A.

Few days after you hired me back in 2014, right when I got to LA, he passed away. And I still think about him to this day whenever things get tough. And I just like to share that message with everybody else, you know, life has its ups and downs when you're down, just knowing up is on the way.

Yeah, it just stuck with me because you said you're there in the room with him, and he obviously means so much to you and your family. You told me all about him and really sound like a great man and leader of your family, but that he just did that motion. And he just said, that's life. And it seems, I think if I was younger and I heard that, I might even be a little cynical about it or like, oh, of course there's ups and downs. It doesn't mean anything to me. But I think as you get older, and I think your whys beyond your years shook. Like, you realize you're never going to get to this point where it's just like, oh, I'm good there. And I think I thought that when I was younger that it's like you're building towards something, and then you get there and you're like, I'm good. This is nice. Like, I'm here to. And as you get older, I think your grandfather knew this better than we do, but that nothing's ever going to stay the same like that. Like, you got to first of all, appreciate when it is going on those ups.

Like, be there, be present and love the hell out of it and understand that it's not going to last. Not that, just that life's not going to last because that's obviously, you know, part of it. But just that. That moment, that stretch of time, those couple years, those couple months, whatever, it's going to be like, that's not forever. And you're going to really be hit by something. That's everyone. That's life. And life is about how you respond and can get through those really tough times, but it's also about how you enjoy and appreciate those great times.

Yeah. The one thing I always remind myself, and I had written on a post it note stuck to one of my computers back in the day, which was a, you know, it might sound dark, but it's true. And you can see it, both positive and negative. Nothing is forever. So when the things are good, enjoy them and embrace them and value them. Soak it all in. And when it's bad, just know this won't last forever.

The dao of shook. Appreciate you, man. And appreciate everyone who reached out and appreciated and enjoyed and listened to the first episode. I know it's different. It's gonna continue to be different. And we're figuring this thing out. And I'm really excited about it. But I do really love all the people who listen and are going through it, too. And knowing that it's a tricky time, but it's also an exciting time. And I hear you out there, and it's really cool that so many of you are gonna be along for this ride. And that includes you. Shook gonna be a big part of the show. And you've been on Sunday nights, and you will continue to be, but you've deserved kind of an upgrade for a while. So, like, yeah, we're gonna be counting on you, shook. And I'm glad to have you here on the second show. Was glad to have Steve Weisch here as well, who'll be a big part of the show before he ran off to go host. Insiders, Ian rapport also helping us out with the holdout news. Excited for tomorrow. We got Mina Kimes. We're gonna look ahead to the AFC and preview their camps.

Until then, I'm Greg Rosenthal. See you next time.