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00:00Welcome to our number two live right here on this Tuesday morning on the
00:04early line on SportsGrid. He is Donny Rightside, I am Ben Stevens. In this
00:09second hour, a focus in full on the National Football League offseason that
00:14really circulates around all seven teams that made it into the postseason around
00:20the AFC. And a big question or two throughout this offseason for everybody
00:25including the AFC champs and the team that came up just short of history and
00:30that three-peat as a Super Bowl winner in Kansas City. But we'll talk Lamar
00:35Jackson in Baltimore, we'll talk Josh Allen in the Buffalo Bills, we'll talk
00:39those wildcard teams as well, and then to start off our third hour DRS, the
00:45Pittsburgh Steelers in the tricky QB situation in the Steel City. Plenty to
00:50come over these next two hours up until 11 a.m. Eastern on TEL. It's nice to
00:56always look ahead too because we just finished up on the NFL season, it was
00:59great, it was glorious, the best team we've ever seen won the NFL
01:01championship and away we go and you can start to sort of plug some of those
01:04numbers in. And also the befores Ben and the afters, right? We're sitting after the
01:09NFL season but before a lot of things are gonna take shape like who's gonna
01:12get those franchise tags, who's gonna be moving in free agency, who's people gonna
01:16be drafting, the combine actually coming up. So a long way to go before we get to
01:19OTA so it's fun to say okay what's this team need, what's the outlook for the
01:24next season? Love to do that stuff. Absolutely so. In DRS when you make it
01:28to the postseason, when you get to a conference championship game, heck even
01:32when your hunt for history in three consecutive Lombardi trophies comes up
01:37short, there was a lot to like and a lot to build on. But when you reach that
01:41stage and your expectation is significant football games in playoff
01:46matchups and you do come up short, it also leaves with a lot of questions to
01:50be asked and answers that need to be had. We start with the Kansas City Chiefs, of
01:56course the number one overall seed in the AFC this year and still the reigning
02:02AFC champs for a fifth time in the seven seasons that Patrick Mahomes has been
02:06the starting quarterback in KC. Donny, our questions for Kansas City entering
02:11this 2025 offseason, not Andy Reid, not Mahomes, but maybe another familiar
02:17figure as we look at the offseason outlook for KC. Tied for the second best
02:22place to win Super Bowl 60 at plus 650 alongside the Baltimore Ravens. We'll
02:28talk the flock in just a little bit. Second to last pick of that opening
02:32round come late April, only five draft picks in the 2025 draft and not exactly
02:38the greatest about a cap space as they are slightly over and in the red. But
02:42let's start with big question number one and that of course will be a familiar
02:47face in Travis Kelsey who said he is going to take all of his time this
02:51offseason to really sit back. Now the season has come to a close in focus on
02:56his football future. Donny, big question number one to you. Will Travis Kelsey
03:01be back in Kansas City in 2025? I'll take the underdog role and say no at
03:06this point, but sometimes you do the definitive answer right after the Super
03:10Bowl. They do like to decompress. I get that, but understand from a competitive
03:13athlete as well. You had that bad taste in your mouth. Most athletes don't like
03:17to go out that way and say, boy, that was horrible. Now you look at his
03:21brother actually went out that way with a team that was 10 and one Kareem off
03:25the rails and got hammered on a Monday night playoff game in Tampa Bay and
03:29Kelsey. You know what? That's enough for me. I don't know if I can come back and
03:33do this again. Then he retires and actually win a Super Bowl. So now you
03:36probably have a little bit of buyer's remorse. Okay, that's roughly stuck it
03:38out one more year to get back to the Super Bowl, win it, and then I could
03:41retire on my own terms. So his brother did something that many of us thought
03:45that maybe not where it's like, you know what? The loss was so bad and
03:48stings, but sometimes your body just tells you like I barely made it through
03:52this season. How can I go through another year all the way through just
03:55to try to get to the Super Bowl and play that hard and risk health and harm on
03:59top of that? So for me, I look at Kelsey saying the heart of a champion wants to
04:03come back. But sometimes we just get into that weight room bed that first
04:07time and go, you know what? I just don't feel like being here in March getting
04:10ready for another season. That's a passion leaves the body. Yeah. And
04:14D. R. S. It's a really good point that you brought up as we were discussing
04:18this in the Super Bowl build up on that media night in New Orleans. Travis
04:22Kelsey was gung ho. Still got a lot of football left in these legs, man. Still
04:26ready to play. And there was a thought not just from Kelsey, obviously
04:29believing in his team and organization, but from the odds makers as the Chiefs
04:34were the favorites for Super Bowl 59. But the Chiefs would make history as
04:38the first ever three beat champion in the Super Bowl era. It would be hunted
04:43down a fourth consecutive Lombardi entering the 2025 campaign. When that
04:48falters, when that comes up short, I think it allows you a time to reset
04:52even more so than if you had reached the pinnacle once again. And for Travis
04:57Kelsey, it's not just his football life at the age of 35 has spent 12
05:02years in the NFL, all in K. C. Still at a pro bowl level, but not quite the
05:07all pro that he was. They are asked for six consecutive seasons, I believe
05:12from 2017 through 2022. He is still my homes is top target. I think I've said
05:18this a few times. 133 targets to lead the Chiefs this year. Nobody else on
05:23the roster even got to the century mark. He is still playing at a very
05:28high level. Is it the elite level that Travis Kelsey had seen throughout the
05:32prime of his career? No. Can he still be a productive contributor?
05:36Absolutely. But it's not just football. It's everything else that Travis
05:40Kelsey has in his life. A media darling who could sign the biggest TV deal
05:45maybe ever, much like his brother Jason or just focus on his own podcast and
05:50still make a ton of money. And, of course, a very, very famous significant
05:55other. He could ride Swiss coattails as long as he would like the R. S. And
05:59take a few years from getting his body banged up and playing football if he
06:04wanted. Ultimately, I believe Travis Kelsey returns to the NFL and, of
06:08course, Kansas City in 2025. But I would not be shocked by any means if he
06:14did decide to hang it up. No. And also take a look at like what the future
06:18could entail. Like you tell me you're gonna call Netflix have a 10 part
06:22episode on. You know what? Follow me around in the offseason where I retired
06:25with me and Taylor Swift, which we're probably gonna get engaged. What that's
06:28worth on the open market at this point. Like he has so many avenues that again
06:32I always talk about the players in the seventies and eighties. Yeah, I'm gonna
06:35play my 15th year because I'm only making $300,000. That's the length of
06:39the rest of my life. And I can barely walk when Kelsey walks away from the
06:42game and makes exorbitantly more money than he does today. Those challenges
06:47fight with you. Like, why go take part? Hey, well, I would love to hang around
06:50for a Super Bowl. He's had multiple Super Bowls. He's the best tight end in
06:53the history of the sport, and it's gonna walk away to more money. It sounds like
06:56a lot harder decision that in the past was like I have to play because I have
07:00to keep winning because I need to keep playing for a paycheck. He doesn't need
07:03that. I don't believe Travis Kelsey status is Kansas City's biggest
07:08question of this offseason. Number two, I think, is really where we can start.
07:13It's the offensive line and how Casey should try to address that this offseason
07:17that starts in the NFL draft come late April. Number two, where should they
07:22look with their first round pick
07:26luxury position, right? 31st pick here. Don't complicate it. Just take the best
07:30player. If it's a tailback, you take him a tight end. You take him a wide
07:33receiver. You take him a cornerback. That's what you had because it's never
07:36a bad pick there because you're gonna get leftovers for a guy that was
07:39supposed to get drafted in the teens. But so many people ahead of them saying,
07:42You know what? I gotta have a guard. I gotta have a center. I gotta have a left
07:45tackle. We gotta improve positions because we're bad. Just take the luxury
07:48pick whatever it might be, and I wouldn't mind it. Another speedy wide
07:52receiver to come back with. She writes next year and also Xavier worthy in the
07:55mix. I don't mind it. Just take that luxury and maybe it's on offense for me.
07:59D. R. S. I think this offensive tackle class at the left side is good enough
08:03for Kansas City to find somebody with some value late in that opening round.
08:09There's probably gonna be 56789 10 offensive linemen drafted in the opening
08:14round as they're often are. To me, that should be a priority for Casey. We saw
08:19them rebuild that old line after their last Super Bowl loss to Tom Brady and
08:24the Buccaneers after they got absolutely housed by Vic Fangio and a
08:28four man pressure in Super Bowl 59. To me, that is their main priority once
08:34again. I don't think they have the left side tackle their their blindside
08:38blocker form of homes on the roster right now. I think they go and try to
08:44get him in the opening round of this NFL draft. That to me is the main priority
08:50for Casey overall draft free agency trade or otherwise this offseason. By
08:55the way, quickly, their home schedule next year. Remove the division rivals
08:59been Ravens, Lions, Texans, Eagles, commanders and Colts. They're gonna need
09:05some help next year. That schedule. Goodness, man. Never easy when you are
09:10Kansas City, not the reigning Super Bowl champs, but still the reigning AFC
09:15winners. How about the team? They lost to Buffalo Bill. The two teams have
09:19played in the AFC championship game, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo
09:23Bills. And despite Buffalo outgaining Casey in Arrowhead and winning the
09:28turnover battle, Bill State still came up short against their playoff nemesis
09:33for a fourth time in the last five years. The Buffalo Bills ousted from
09:37postseason consideration by Kansas City. Will 2025 be different? Will
09:43Buffalo finally stand atop the AFC and get back to a Super Bowl for the first
09:49time in more than three decades? That, of course, will be the question this
09:53offseason in western New York and how the bills plan to address it. A 13 and
09:5914 that won the AFC East for a fifth consecutive year plus 7 50. The price
10:04on the bills to win Super Bowl 64th shortest number, but a full dollar
10:09behind both Casey and Baltimore for what would be the best odds for any AFC
10:15teams. 30th overall pick to end out the opening round. Eight overall draft
10:19picks and again slightly in the red and over the cap about $14 million. Big
10:25questions for Buffalo D. R. S. Number one. Should they try to swing big in
10:31the trade market and acquire a superstar? Yeah, you're right in that
10:36window right now for a Super Bowl with arguably the best quarterback in the
10:39game. You could say in Josh Allen, maybe the most talented overall. You're also
10:42looking at where they were hoping to swing big in the past. Remember those
10:45rumors like, you know what? We'll pass on Christian McCaffrey. So big deal.
10:48It's just a running back at this point. Imagine McCaffrey with Alan just a few
10:51short years ago when he was healthy and saw what he did for the 49ers. So I do
10:55think that goes in the back. Now they did say, Okay, we can't beat Patrick
10:58Mahomes. Let's go get von Miller. And it didn't work out in spades for them.
11:01Let you say quality signing injured a lot, spent a lot of money wasn't worth
11:05it on the back end because why you didn't accomplish your goal by getting
11:08to the Super Bowl. But that shouldn't stop you from heading into the 2025
11:12season. Say we are so close. What do we need? How did the Philadelphia Eagles
11:15absolutely crunch the Kansas City Chiefs? It's with a great pass rush and
11:20swinging for the fences, which means Miles Garrett should be target number
11:23one. Now, also, when we're taking a look at are you buying on them? I just
11:26talked about the Kansas City Chiefs, Ben, with their home schedule next
11:29year, which is tough. And also you look at the bill schedule. It is. But the
11:32weight of the games that you need to win and hard to win, as we like to say,
11:36are on the road. They have such a manageable road schedule next year.
11:40Ben Falcons, Panthers, Browns, Texans, Dolphins, Patriots, Jets and Steelers
11:44are the road games there. If you can handle your business on the road and
11:47then still have a great winning percentage at home that sets you up for
11:51that number one overall seed, which, again, no guarantees that you make it
11:54to the Super Bowl. But your path to victory going through Buffalo is much
11:57easier at home than it is away. And if you're adding players like Miles
12:00Garrett, just to say, you know what? We might not have the best secondary or
12:04the best linebackers, but our front four could be one of the best in
12:07football. Boy, that is a recipe for success. So, yes, swing for the fence in
12:12free agency and that home run hitter. It's Miles Garrett. Yes, for sure. Free
12:17agency, trade market, do what you need to do. But Cleveland wants to first
12:22ground picks for Miles Garrett. Sure. They want three. Sure. Do what needs to
12:26be done, Brandon Bean. And I do think there is a chance that Buffalo sees a
12:30drastic improvement. Miles Garrett would be a guy to move the market to make
12:35Buffalo a little bit closer to Kansas City and Baltimore. If not, at some
12:40point this offseason, become the AFC title favorites entering next year
12:45because Donnie, the question for Buffalo is not how do we keep winning
12:48the A. F. C. E. S. How do we keep winning a few playoff games each and
12:52every year? It is directly looking at one franchise in one guy. How do we beat
12:57Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes to get to a Super Bowl? If Mahomes never
13:02existed, if the Chiefs dynasty did not exist, Buffalo probably has multiple
13:06and Marty trophies with Josh Allen at this moment. But it's not that easy. You
13:11are a prisoner of your circumstance in Buffalo is still trying to get that
13:17playoff monkey off its back. And that, of course, is the chief. So that's a
13:22yes. They should swing big in the trade market or this offseason. Question
13:28number two. Do the bills need an elite wide receiver to take that step as well
13:33this offseason? Everybody needs one, but also you have to understand you can't
13:37just grow one out of a tree. It's like, Hey, look, fantastic. A lot of coming
13:40to town like the best guy on the market, which we thought was gonna be T
13:44Higgins that would get a ton of money. Looks like he's gonna be franchise
13:46tag. So it's not as if you could just go out and say, You know what? A. J.
13:49Brown is upset in Philadelphia. Let's go pry him loose. Everybody would love
13:53that. But if they don't, what they need is competency. And again, I do give
13:56their front office credit when they got Amari Cooper. What were we saying?
13:59Ben, like, You know what? Good move here. Rebirth. And, you know, he's
14:02playing with a great quarterback. It just didn't work out. Keon Coleman
14:05drafted higher in the draft. Didn't work out in his rookie year. Maybe he
14:08takes that next step. We love clear Shakir and we love the Titans that
14:11they haven't. Certainly the wonderful quarterback. That is Josh Allen. They
14:15don't need the number one wide receiver because I'm saying that because I just
14:18don't think it's available out there like this. Devontae Adams shake loose
14:21from the Jets and come there. Or is that the same thing we're talking about? As
14:24we just saw last year, excuse me, with Amari Cooper. So for me, it's not a
14:28necessity. It would be a luxury for that to happen. But I just need basically
14:32Keon Coleman to step up and be that one to punch with clear secure in the slot.
14:38Completely agree. D. R. S. Is it a necessity? I would say no. Would it
14:42obviously be a huge plus of benefit without zero doubt? There are not many
14:48elite wide receivers assuming that T Higgins goes back to Cincinnati either
14:54on that extension or at least giving since the leg up through the franchise
14:58tag. Keenan Allen, a veteran, would step on digs. A free agent make his way
15:04back to Buffalo. Amari Cooper is a free agent. Brandon cooks Chris Godwin.
15:09But I think the Bucks will probably look to bring Godwin back this year as
15:14well and have that leg up an advantage in doing so again. Not a necessity
15:19obviously would be a point of emphasis perhaps and a big swing for Buffalo. I
15:24think if they're going to make a big swing, it's trade market. It's Miles
15:27Garrett. Does Cooper Cup do that much? If you were to trade for the veteran
15:31wide receiver, I'm not so sure. But Donnie, that is the point right for the
15:38bills. Can they finally take that leap in 2025? It will be the same question.
15:44More than likely, Buffalo will win 10 11 12 games. More than likely, Buffalo
15:50is going to win the A. F. C. East. More than likely, Buffalo is going to win
15:53its opening round game, even if that is the divisional round. But if they see
15:58Kansas City, did they do enough this offseason to finally move past the
16:02Chiefs? To me, that will be the outstanding question in the big
16:05question for Buffalo until the answer is something different than no.
16:10Yeah. And also I like their schedule, which the schedule is half the battle.
16:13Also keep in mind last year been the N. F. C. What did they get the benefit of
16:17the ninth home game? The A. F. C. Gets that favor this year. So you're looking
16:21at teams like the Buffalo knows getting that extra home game. Maybe that plays
16:24into it because you want to get that top seed at home for the rest for the
16:28playoffs. We'll see if they can do that. Maybe if they add some extra players,
16:31it helps them along their path. The odds market expects more out of Baltimore
16:36than it does Buffalo. The flock in seven years with Patrick Mahomes as the
16:41starting quarterback, the Chiefs have won the A. F. C. Championship five
16:45times. They will be the reigning A. F. C. Champs entering next season on this
16:50side of the National Football League. Who did the Chiefs beat and said A. F.
16:53C. Title game, the Buffalo Bills. So you would think the bills probably have
16:58the next best price outside of Kansas City. You would be incorrect at this
17:02stage of the 2025 NFL offseason from those teams around the A. F. C. To win
17:08Super Bowl 60. In fact, the Chiefs don't even have the best place by
17:12themselves. They have to co second best number behind Philadelphia alongside
17:18the Baltimore Ravens, both the Chiefs and the flock at plus 6 50 to win Super
17:23Bowl 60 12 and five. The record for the Ravens. Second consecutive A. F. C.
17:27North Divisional Crown 27th overall pick for the Ravens. Seven total draft
17:33picks in the 2025 NFL draft. $6 million of cap space. The arrest here. The
17:39Ravens are once again losing in the divisional round on the road in Buffalo.
17:44A great game that came down to a drop to point conversion as the flock tried
17:50to battle its way back. And yet the odds makers still have a higher
17:54expectation for the Ravens than even that of Buffalo. Big question. Number
18:00one, understanding the lack of relative success Lamar Jackson has had during
18:06his tenure in the NFL is an early playoff exit. Now the expectation a. K.
18:12A. For some further clarification. Are we done even thinking the Ravens could
18:18win an A. F. C. Championship at this stage? I'm not. They're hard to quit
18:23because like when you lace them up to start the season, they're always in
18:27your conversation. Like you ever look at the Ravens while Lamar Jackson's
18:30healthy entering into season and paid going like, you know what? I just think
18:33this is the year they go under 500. Like we champion like the Pittsburgh
18:36series. Hey, just get a game like we have championship aspirations for a
18:40team that hasn't won a championship in quite some time. It was the last
18:43season 2012. So we're going on approaching like that 15th year
18:47anniversary coming up sooner than later. But I just look at the regular
18:50season, say, okay, outside of catastrophic injury and Lamar Jackson
18:53is okay. A quarterback. They're going to win double digits, which is what
18:56they do. 10 and 6 14 and to 11 and five. The one down here in 2021 eight of
19:01nine. Then right back to 10 and 7 13 to 4 and 12 and five. It's what they do.
19:05They're gonna win double digits. They're gonna challenge for that division
19:07championship. They're going to make the playoffs and it's one of those teams
19:10that even though they haven't had success in playoffs, meaning getting to
19:14the Super Bowl with Lamar and winning it, you're still looking at them as a
19:16team that can go anywhere and win. Like look at the price points. Like if they
19:19played, they played the Buffalo Bills. They're close and spread where I think
19:22that they close as a favorite against the Buffalo Bills or darn near close to
19:26like a one or two point spread either direction. They probably had that same
19:29spread in Kansas City, which shows the amount of respect that they get. And
19:32it's not just a number that you pull out of a hat. They're that good on a
19:35game to game basis. They just not been able to get over the top. But as I said
19:40to start the conversation, I can't quit him. Like I expect them to be in the
19:43playoffs and doing damage even though they haven't done that over the past
19:47couple of years, a three and five playoff record for Lamar Jackson with
19:52only one AFC championship game appearance to show for two years ago.
19:57Now at home against Kansas City as a favorite, the Chiefs won outright in the
20:03charm city. Donnie could win it all could win the AFC and represent that
20:09conference in a Super Bowl. Sure. Will me expecting them to? No, not until I
20:16see something change. And again, Lamar Jackson has been one of the issues, not
20:21Mark Andrews in a couple of critical drops, but Lamar Jackson in the biggest
20:26stages playing games that he does not play in the regular season turnover
20:31prone when he often takes care of the football at the highest degree
20:35throughout a regular season. The talent is there. The coaching is there.
20:39The consistency is there. The congruency is there. And for whatever reason, in
20:45the most significant of moments, the worst performances come out. I don't
20:50know why I couldn't tell you why. I don't know the psyche. I don't know the
20:54mentality. I don't know the schemes. I don't know the performances except on
20:59what we have seen and what the numbers tell us. I think there is reason to be
21:03cautious. The R. S. Of the Baltimore Ravens. If you wanted to say that
21:07Kansas City was the favorite to win the A. F. C. About a dollar in front of
21:11Buffalo and the Ravens were backed by three bucks with the third best number.
21:14Sure. A sprinkle on Baltimore. But as the co favorites, at least right now to
21:20win the A. F. C. Based on Super Bowl prices. Not for me, but it just feels
21:26like they're regular season is foolproof. Like you can't win a Super
21:29Bowl unless you actually get to the playoffs. It seems like one of the most
21:32clean runs you can have every year again. Boring, catastrophic injury is
21:35the Ravens will be beating teams down and quality opponents all season long
21:39on the way to double digit victories. And you say to yourself, Okay, we're
21:42gonna roll the dice once again to the playoffs. Sooner than later, Lamar is
21:45gonna come up big, even though he hasn't come up big. So by your beware,
21:49as we like to say, and I'm gonna beware and I'm gonna buy and I'm probably
21:53gonna lose my money again on the Raven. You need to be in the position to be
21:56in position. I understand it more on the Ravens and elsewhere in the A. F. C.
22:00The offseason outlook for all seven teams that made the A. F. C. Post
22:04season continues here in this second hour. We're discussing the Baltimore
22:08Ravens at this moment. D. R. S. And you made a good point. The Ravens under
22:12John Harbaugh with Lamar Jackson as their starting quarterback continue to
22:16be in the best positions. A playoff team with the opportunity to change the
22:21narrative of lack of success, not a narrative, the proven resume that has
22:26been unsuccessful in the biggest playoff spots in the last 56 years in
22:32the charm city. I would just say this. I think the chiefs path to the A. F. C.
22:37West, the bills path to the A. F. C. East is much more favorable than that
22:42path for the Baltimore Ravens in the A. F. C. North. If the Bengals do bring
22:47everybody back and if Joe Burrow continues to remain healthy, I'm not
22:52saying the Ravens are gonna miss the playoffs. Baltimore is going to be
22:55there. But this is a postseason conversation where Baltimore has
22:58continued to falter with this very same cast and crew year over year, not
23:05because of some flukes or because of one opponent because Lamar Jackson has
23:09not played his best in those spots.
23:13Yes, and that's always going to doesn't come down to the quarterback like the
23:18schedules that are upheld this year, which we talked about who's gonna have
23:20tough home in a way, but it always ends up with one thing. You have to be
23:23Patrick Mahomes in the biggest moments to get there, and nobody seems to be
23:26able to do that. And you pointed out rightfully so remove Mahomes from the
23:29situation. Hey, Lamar is a two time Super Bowl champion. Josh Young
23:32finally gets over the hump and wins his first Super Bowl. It's hard to do that
23:35unless you get them out of the way. But we keep bringing up like Lamar Jackson.
23:38I like I always like to give the benefit of the doubt because you see
23:41greatness in Lamar Jackson's game. Multi time NDP could have won it again
23:46this year, but it just hasn't worked out once they got to the playoffs. But
23:49I'm willing to say, like, as long as he is healthy and they're in a football
23:53game, I'm past the Hayes. Rookie doesn't how to pass the football. Look
23:56at his passing statistics of the past. He is a wonderful passer. It just
24:00hasn't worked out. And yes, you are right. Ben goes on the road to Buffalo,
24:03fumbles the football, throws an interception, but also at the end of
24:06the game, I'm throwing dimes all over the place to Mark Andrews, and he's
24:09either catching and fumbling or just not catching them at all. Sometimes
24:12you need your team to pick you up, and it seems like the Baltimore Ravens
24:16never can pick up Lamar Jackson when he's somewhat off and just play a more
24:19complete game around them. Maybe that changes. Maybe it doesn't.
24:23Lamar Jackson has won two NFL MVP awards in his six years beginning the
24:28season as a starting quarterback for the Ravens and had even his best year
24:33statistically this season and came up short because of that narrative,
24:37perhaps, and finishing runner up to Josh Allen. Lamar Jackson's
24:41performances throughout the regular season. Not my issue. Lamar Jackson's
24:46performances in the playoffs needs to get better consistently throughout the
24:50entirety of a game for Baltimore to make a difference. One final big
24:54question for the Ravens DRS. We can make this rather quick. Ronnie Stanley,
24:58one of the key free agents for the Ravens this offseason, Lamar's blind
25:02side blocker, the left tackle, who was a pro bowler this year after a few
25:06seasons where he wasn't fully healthy, played all 17 games this regular
25:11season for the flock. Now, Friso asked the question, our producer like this,
25:16do they give Ronnie Stanley a blank check? I'm not so sure that's the way
25:20to phrase it, but should they make a point of emphasis to be bring Stanley
25:24back this offseason because he is a free agent?
25:28Of course you should. I mean, you want to keep that offensive line intact. It
25:31should prove in fact that if you keep your offensive line attack year over
25:35year, those guys work well together. They understand the communication and
25:38also the faults that they can cover up for. Maybe my guard can't pull this
25:41way. I can't do this. So it does make some sense. But there are salary cap
25:45restraints is saying like, yes, let's just make him the highest paid left
25:48tackle in football. I don't know if you can do that, but there are ways around
25:51that there's salary caps where you can say, okay, I'm gonna tag. I'm going to
25:53transition tag, go out and shop for your deal. But the one thing I think you
25:56can ask Lamar Jackson, we like Ronnie Stanley back. Of course he would. Of
26:01course, it's also huge to have Derrick Henry back, not just to protect Lamar
26:04Jackson, but to instill what was a gruesome ground game this year. One of
26:09the best in the National Football League. If Stanley were to walk Kansas
26:13City's like, Hey, we'll pay, we'll pay whatever. We'll still find some deal in
26:17this whatsoever to get Ronnie Stanley in there who didn't restructure his deal
26:21entering the 2024 season as smart teams do to make it a little bit more cap hit
26:28responsible cap hit favorable and pay some more bonuses up front to Ronnie
26:33Stanley. Let's go from the AFC North of the champions of the AFC South for a
26:38second consecutive year, the Houston Texans. But it wasn't an overly
26:42promising season DRS for Houston because the expectation entering 2024
26:47wasn't when the AFC South they were expected to a minus money favor to get
26:52that done. But could they challenge the Chiefs, the Bills, the Ravens as one of
26:56those true contenders in the AFC? They did win a playoff game in the opening
27:01round, but they went to Kansas City is nearly a double digit favorite and based
27:05on the closing number slightly covered, but in a game that wasn't all that
27:10competitive 10 and seven record for the Texans more than likely going to be
27:14booked as a minus money favorite to win the AFC South entering this year. The
27:18biggest change for the Texans now entering year number three of the
27:22D'Amico Ryan's tenure with CJ Stroud at the quarterback spot is a new offensive
27:27coordinator. Nick Kaley comes over after a few years working under Sean McVay in
27:32L.A. Bobby Slowick was shown the door. So big question number one, did the
27:38Texans make the right move getting rid of Bobby Slowick? Uh, I'm gonna say yes,
27:45because I do think at this point there was just a couple years ago, Ben, that
27:47was not a healthy franchise. Everything they did look like it was backwards.
27:50Nothing was working out. But I do think they've moved forward because the
27:53hiring of D'Amico Ryan's as your head coach, he has major input in this. And
27:57if you think D'Amico Ryan says, You know what? I think we took a step back on
28:00offense here. I think we can be better. I'm getting feedback from my players.
28:03This is the right move. I'm gonna trust in that because a couple years ago I
28:06went like, What do you mean you're getting rid of Bobby Slowick? This guy
28:07was the next hottest candidate to be a head coach. Now all of a sudden he's
28:10not good enough for you at this point. And maybe Slowick goes to Miami as the
28:13passing game coordinator, rebuilds his career and comes back. But for me, I'm
28:17not looking at as a detriment. There's a reason they moved on. I'm gonna trust
28:20D'Amico Ryan thinks that's best for his football team, for them to get a new
28:23offensive coordinator. Because the one thing is clear, the offense wasn't as
28:26smooth as the year before. But understand this too. Tank Dell goes down
28:29with a catastrophic injury. Nuclear College missed so much of the season
28:32with a hamstring injury. And Stefan digs your big offseason acquisition to
28:36come over and be that veteran number two slash one a to Niko Collins. He gets
28:41injured as well. So there was a lot of things that went against the Houston
28:44Texans this year. But if they feel was a need to move on from Slowick, I'll
28:47trust them right now. I will. CJ Stroud was not nearly as good in his
28:51sensational rookie season. Was it a sophomore slump? Eh, did the NFL learn
28:56the book on Stroud? Maybe was his offensive line awful? Yeah, that's
29:01priority number one in my estimation for the Texans this offseason. But even
29:06with all of this, D. R. S. Maybe faltering slightly or disappointing
29:10slightly on some of those optimistic offseason expectations entering 2024
29:16still think the Texans are going to be the favorites in the A. F. C. South to
29:20win the division for a third straight year. But what exactly is that price? Is
29:26it minus 1 50? Is it closer to even money? Are they still the shortest
29:30price team? But at a plus 1 50 price where Jacksonville and Liam Cohen aren't
29:34all that far behind. What do you believe the Texans A. F. C. South
29:39number will be entering 2025 when the divisional markets become available?
29:44I mean, they're gonna come out as a favorite. I don't know what that's
29:46going to be because me is the handicapper goes, Okay, I'm really not
29:49trusting what Tennessee is going to do next year. Still in a rebuild mode. I
29:52look at Indianapolis. They're trying to figure out their quarterback. Maybe
29:54they get it together there with Richardson. But I look at the
29:57Jacksonville Jaguars and figure that they come into training camp healthy
30:01with a new outlook on offense, and they add some pieces there. They're really
30:04gonna change Houston. Now, if you would have told me, Ben, Hey, look at the
30:07way Houston ended the season last year. They knocked off Kansas City. Maybe
30:09they made it to the A. F. C. Championship game and lost, but everybody
30:12was healthy. As we said, you have two catastrophic injuries at the wide
30:16receiver position that you can't just make phone calls like, Hey, let's get
30:19T. Higgins in here. They're hard to replicate those moves. I like the
30:22trajectory that organization, but I'm not as high this year, Ben, as I was
30:26last year on the Houston Texans. I think it will be close to even money
30:30that specific A. F. C. South price. I think it probably trickles into minus
30:35money just based on credit pedigree in the relative lack of strength around
30:40the A. F. C. South Donnie. I think both of us expect Liam Cohen to unlock
30:45Trevor Lawrence and a rather talented Jacksonville roster that they can
30:50Houston in the division, but the Colts and the Titans for sure not. And so I
30:56do believe the Texans will be minus 1 25, perhaps to be that A. F. C. South
31:02divisional favorite entering 2025. The Texans did not maybe match the highest
31:08of expectations, but they still wanted division and won a playoff game for a
31:12second consecutive year as a home dog. Do we have some playoff questions about
31:18Justin Herbert? Now let's get to the wild card teams from 2024 around the A.
31:25F. C. And Donnie, although it was a disappointing effort out of the
31:29chargers in their wild card round game in Houston, I think overall year number
31:34one for Jim Harbaugh to come to Los Angeles and bring the bolts for the
31:37postseason and 11 regular season wins wildly successful. However, faltering in
31:44that playoff spot in the performance that Justin Herbert had throwing more
31:48interceptions for in that single game than he did the entirety of the regular
31:52season. Just three. A couple of questions. 32 to 1. The price on the
31:58bolts to win Super Bowl 60. They're not gonna be the favorites in the A. F. C.
32:02West. That, of course, will be Kansas City until changed otherwise. But $63
32:08million of cap space, 22nd overall pick eight total draft selections in 2025.
32:14Chargers can certainly make some moves. So question number one for L. A. This
32:18offseason, where on offense should the bolts invest that money?
32:24Wide out, wide out, wide out and more wide outs here. I love the offensive
32:28lines. Got two big tackles out here ready to take them into the next
32:31millennium. Over the next five years. You also take a look at the running
32:34back position. You could get some upgrades, but it's wide receiver. You
32:37hit a homerun this year in lab. McConkie, one of the better young slot
32:40wide receivers here. He looks like he's Cooper Cup reincarnated back in
32:44his prime, which is fantastic. That is one of the toughest positions in
32:47football to cover, which means you should be eating on the outside. Not
32:51have a guy like Quentin Johnston, who can't catch a football. It's 50 50 at
32:55best that the boys in the hands or in the face while he's wide open. You need
32:59to have competent wide receivers on the outside. They could actually get open in
33:03order to push Justin Herbert. Allow him to throw that football downfield.
33:07That's what I need. If you just told me like in hockey, like, Hey, you just
33:11got to load up on goalies until you get one. Drift seven goalies every
33:14single year to find one. Continue to draft wide out because that's when this
33:17offense is really going to take off. That's all I need to see. Competent wide
33:22receivers to go along with McConkie and we got something here because on the
33:26office, they're pretty good. It's how great Roman and largely Jim Harbaugh
33:31built this bolts team. It's why they drafted Joe. It's why they did not go
33:35after a wide receiver early in the opening round in 2024. The bookends of
33:40their line. Sean Slater, first round pick at a Northwestern in 2021. Pretty
33:46darn good. A pro bowler this year back healthy and playing in 15 games. Joe
33:50Alt on the other side, a darn good rookie season with only more growth
33:55expected. J. K. Dobbins is a free agent. He was great with the Chargers this
34:01year in 2024. We'll see if he remains in 2025. Of course, the familiarity with
34:07Roman in a Harbaugh name from his days in Baltimore, but Donnie's spot on on
34:13offense. It's receiver and then another receiver and then potentially another
34:17receiver to help out Justin Herbert. Latina Conky was basically his only guy
34:22in that AFC wild card game against Houston. Donnie Justin Herbert does not
34:28necessarily have the playoff track record of Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen.
34:32Certainly not Patrick Mahomes, not even Joe Burrow. Only two wild card games,
34:38but both were rather embarrassing. The loss in Jacksonville now in 2022 when
34:43the Chargers led 27 zip in the opening half in salt, one of the largest
34:48halftime lead or one of the largest opening half lead just playoff leads in
34:54general evaporate in that drastic comeback for Jacksonville was tough. Not
34:59all on Herbert, probably more on Brandon Staley, why he is no longer the head
35:04coach in L. A. This one against the Texans, though, not a good look to throw
35:08more I. N. T. S. In one playoff game than you did in the entirety of the
35:13regular season. So that's the question for L. A. Where is there room for
35:17improvement? Donny? Question number two for the bolts this offseason. How far
35:22are the Chargers from the top of the A. F. C.
35:26They're not far off. They really aren't. Now, granted, you do have some
35:29superstar talent. If we're just talking A. F. C. West, of course, you're gonna
35:32have to overcome the chart. Excuse me, the Kansas City Chiefs and then, of
35:35course, the Denver Broncos. Then you go back out east. You look at that entire
35:39A. F. C. North. It's tough to deal with. At that point, the Buffalo Bills. We
35:42understand it. Also, teams improving on a year to year basis will let you say
35:45the Miami Dolphins will come from. But I like the shell of this team. I love the
35:49head coach. I love the quarterback. I just need wide receivers like when you
35:53watch his team play, they're always going to be equipped to win. And you're
35:56right. It was an anomaly where, hey, the great thing about this charges team
35:59is sure. They're not letting Justin Herbert just throw it all over the
36:02Lapa boy. When he makes plays, he makes smart decisions, and you're always
36:06gonna be in football games when you don't turn it over. Case in point, the
36:09Philadelphia Eagles run through the playoffs, having what? 10 turnovers go
36:12their direction one to the opposite way. You're gonna win a lot to have all the
36:15sudden implode in number one on the road. Fresh over performance issue a few
36:20years ago, where you imploded against the Jacksonville Jaguars. So I love the
36:24coaching staff. I think they'll get it right. And the fact that they came in
36:27instead of saying, Let's just run this back with the talent that we have. You
36:31saw the house cleaning here. Let me get my guys in the building. It was
36:34successful because you made it to the playoffs. I'm looking for the next step.
36:37I'm not looking for the charges like, Hey, don't step back this year. No big
36:40deal. No, I'm looking for them to make the playoffs and get a win or more this
36:45year in the playoffs. Jim Harbaugh is a program slash franchise builder.
36:50Wherever he has been at every level, he has been a collegiate or now
36:55professional head coach. FCS San Diego. Great. Brought back a dormant Stanford
37:01program at the FBS level. Reinvigorated his alma mater at Michigan, of course,
37:06ending with a national championship in the NFL. Immediate success in San
37:12Francisco with the 49ers and much the same here with the Chargers. Are they
37:18going to win the AFC West this year? No. Can they challenge the Chiefs even
37:22more so? Yes. Are they going to be a minus money favorite to make the post
37:26season more than likely? Donny, that's not what the Chargers were entering
37:30this year. Win total of 8.5. And we went all around the AFC with how many
37:35quality teams there were entering 2024. And most of those remain. The Chargers
37:40weren't one of those favorites to get into the postseason. We looked at teams
37:44like the Dolphins and the Jets in the Bengals, the Steelers. Heck, even the
37:48Browns at times in front of the Chargers. And that's where L. A. Exceeded
37:54expectation. But once you exceed expectation, that ceiling rises and you
37:59need to make sure you continue to live up to what that is going to be season
38:03over season and also spending wisely. So 60 plus million dollars in cap space.
38:08Most would say, Oh, that's absolutely fantastic. Again, it's not a great free
38:12agent market where it's like I have five top receivers we can go after. You
38:16don't want to waste that money, reinvest in the team itself. But I just trust
38:20Harbaugh's vision of what he wants to do, and I'll be fine with every decision
38:24he makes, which includes maybe not getting a number one. But I do want to
38:27see them in the draft. Hey, man, just keep taking flyers because the one
38:29thing we understand is you can't just make Quentin Johnson be a great wide
38:32receiver. You either catch the ball or you can't. The other AFC West
38:38Wildcard team Broncos death ending out this second hour as we continue our
38:44offseason outlook for all seven teams that made the AFC postseason six in
38:50this hour to start our three. The big question for the Pittsburgh Steelers,
38:55perhaps the only playoff team, at least certainly in the AFC, going to have a
39:00different starting quarterback entering 2025 than they did in 2024 at either
39:06stage, either to start the season or throughout the year as well. For the
39:10Denver Broncos, the R. S. You know that quarterback Bo Nix after a sensational
39:15rookie year under the guidance of Sean Payton learning in the fire and coming
39:21out on the other side. There should be a lot of reason for mile high optimism
39:25entering 2025 a 10 and seven record for Denver with a preseason win total of
39:31five and a half 48 to one. Now the price to win Super Bowl 60 20th overall
39:37pick some good draft capital and $34 million about of cap space this off
39:43season. But of course, when you have a rookie quarterback performed the way
39:47that Bo Nix did, that will be the focus of the offseason building around that
39:52QB spot. Donny, big question number one is Bo Nix more likely to regress or
39:59improve in 2025? I'm going to say improve and yes, regression sometimes
40:05in the sophomore slump does happen because I like to say defensive
40:08coordinators are pretty smart creatures out here. They're gonna have all off
40:11season to find out what you did really well during the whole season and what
40:14they're going to try to take away. But understand this to the Denver Broncos
40:17aren't a ready made product. This is a team that was supposed to be losing in
40:21the salary cap dump that they had with Russell Wilson. And now you saw over $30
40:25million to play with, which brings me to my next question for Bo Nix is how
40:29is he going to regress when I think the weapons around him are going to be so
40:32much better? Like just talk about like what you say where we're going in the
40:35draft. Let's just say the first round pick is Ashton Jeanty. Boop run again
40:38fixed right off the bat. You still have a number one or what you figure can be
40:41your number one in Cortland Sutton, a great veteran guy. Let's just say you
40:44add another wide receiver a tight end here. You have the skeletons I should
40:47say of a very good football team. You just have to fill it in now and Bo Nix
40:52we played a lot of college football. We saw that really benefit from that and
40:56came right into the league where Sean Payton didn't baby him. Ben, this wasn't
41:00like, Hey man, game managed. Let's hand the football off. You're not gonna throw
41:03more than 15 times and then we'll see if we can add more to your plate late in
41:06the season. This guy was slinging it from day number one day number two, not
41:09having all that much success early, but Sean Payton understood this was not
41:13about actually making the playoffs this year. This wasn't about being an ultra
41:16competitive team was let me find my quarterback and baptism by fire and it
41:20worked out in his favor. So if I'm gonna say that often it's gonna have more
41:24weapons. I don't think both nicks is taking a step back. I really don't. I
41:28don't either. Listen, I would lean more with improvement as well. The sophomore
41:32slump. I don't expect it for Bo Nix and he has one of the brightest offensive
41:37minds still guiding him in Sean Payton that we have seen in the National
41:41Football League in the last 22 and a half, three decades in Sean Payton, who
41:46did say, Hey Bo, go out there, kid, take a couple of lumps. First two games for
41:51Bo Nix, multiple interceptions in both without a single touchdown toss. Now we
41:56had a couple of rookie moments throughout the remainder of 2024, but
42:0129 touchdowns to eight I. N. T's in the final 15 games for Denver as opposed to
42:07zero touchdowns to four picks in the opening two. I think Denver should be
42:13optimistic, but how much optimism in what is expectation back to back
42:19playoff births or could Donny big question number two. Could the Broncos
42:25actually win the A. F. C. West?
42:28I don't think so yet because I still always I'm going to give that not if
42:32we look like the pecking order, right? The Raiders are so far down, you can't
42:35even see him at the bottom. But if we're talking about top, it's still the
42:37Kansas City Chiefs. But I do think the Chargers have a slight leg up on the
42:41Denver Broncos right now. But that margin for error is close between those
42:45two teams. Could it happen? I guess it could. But are we talking about outside
42:49of catastrophic injury? Hey, my home plays the whole year and they really
42:53good enough to knock off the Kansas City Chiefs on the length of a season
42:56and not have those down spurts where you still have a young quarterback
42:58you're hoping for. I don't know if that's going to happen. I don't think
43:02it's this year, but if they just stay on that same Super Bowl winning coach,
43:06they have a quarterback. They figure is gonna be young and be there for at
43:08least the next decade, improving that roster on a year to year basis. Why not?
43:12They were way ahead of schedule last year. I don't think that schedule jump
43:16is gonna be as big as it was last year, but still be competitive enough to be
43:19in the playoffs. Absolutely. No, I do not believe the Denver Broncos are
43:23going to win the AFC West. A playoff team. Sure, that should be the
43:27expectation. Now it's really the same way I feel about the Chargers, and it's
43:32easy to say, Well, until I see a change, I don't expect that to be the case.
43:36The Chiefs have won the AFC West nine consecutive years. They have been
43:42dominant in this division against the very teams and for a lot of it, the
43:47same faces they are going to see in 2025. So the Chiefs still going to win
43:52the AFC West Chargers in the Broncos, though, factor into that playoff
43:57conversation. Our three up next live right here on the early line. We
44:02welcome you to our number three on this Tuesday. He is Donnie Redside. I
44:06am Ben Stevens. One more hour to go on the Spiz Grizz network. We round out
44:11our offseason outlook for the seven AFC playoff teams from a season ago by
44:17hearing from you about the Pittsburgh Steelers in the age old question, the
44:21quarterback position in the Steel City this offseason. Then we'll talk to
44:26Keith Stewart about some notable news around the PGA Tour. A TGL triple
44:32header last night, of course, get you ready for a new week in the world of
44:37golf and a huge Tuesday night slate in college basketball, as they often are
44:42fewer than four weeks away from Selection Sunday. John Rothstein will
44:46join the show later on in this third and final hour. Drs a lot to get to.
44:51Can't wait for your college basketball best bet of this Tuesday as well. Let's
44:56go. Let's have some fun getting in a swing of things, iron some things out.
45:00And by the way, could my best bet be a game itself or maybe a guy lining up
45:04three point shots? Or could it be a maybe a player prop of 16 and a half
45:09points? Could we be looking at like a, let's just say a dentist as a head
45:13coach somewhere in that environment? You never know, Ben. You never know
45:16where we're going tonight. See that? See that? I know, but I'm not gonna
45:20spoil it. I think it's based on those context clues. All right, Drs. We
45:25talked about in our second hour, the offseason outlook for all of the A. F.
45:30C. Playoff teams were at least six of the seven in the entirety of that
45:35second hour. Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, Texans, two wild card teams out of the
45:41A. F. C. West, the Chargers and the Broncos. But now it's time for the
45:45Pittsburgh Steelers, who are the only playoff team, perhaps in the entirety
45:50of the NFL, but at least in the A. F. C. That will have a different starting
45:55quarterback to begin 2025 than they did to start 2024 or even midway through
46:012024. The Vikings also in the N. F. C. More than likely, at least J. J. McCarthy
46:06was in house. I'm not sure anybody's in house right now for the Pittsburgh
46:10Steelers, who is going to be the Steelers starter at the quarterback
46:13spot next season? It's a question for all of you and fade the public.
46:25At sports grid on Twitter, who will be the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback
46:29next season? Aaron Rodgers, Justin Fields, Russell Wilson or your fourth
46:35and final option other. And if you did select other, we asked for a reply and
46:41we got a pretty a couple of pretty good responses as well. Most of the public
46:46though, D. R. S. 40.5% Saint Justin Fields is going to be the Steelers
46:52starting quarterback to begin 2025. Donny, are you fitting the public? Yes,
46:59I am. Like, did we not watch what the Pittsburgh Steelers did last year? Did
47:02you not watch when they acquired Justin Fields and everybody's like, Oh, that
47:06could be an interesting move only for Mike Tomlin call every radio station on
47:10the East Coast and say, Why are you making this a big deal? Yeah, we
47:12acquired Justin Fields. He's never going to play for me and he won't be my
47:15starter. Wait, that doesn't make sense. Oh, let's play it out how it goes in
47:18the regular season. Justin Fields takes over as the starter because Russell
47:22Wilson is injured and fields leads them to a winning record. Mike Tomlin goes,
47:25Yeah, we are lucky basically to have a winning record with this guy.
47:28Quarterback. He's immediately going to the bench only to praise Russell Wilson
47:32the entire way as if he was a seven time Super Bowl champion and can do no
47:37wrong. So now we're going into the offseason where nothing we hear from
47:41the Steelers but praise for Russell Wilson, right or wrong. But now we're
47:45led to believe that the public wants Justin Fields to be their quarterback
47:48when Mike Tomlin already told you I can't even give this guy a 50 50 chance.
47:52I'm giving the benefit of doubt to Russell Wilson the entire way through.
47:55I don't think there's any way shape or form. Justin Fields is the starting
47:59quarterback for the Steelers last year, just based off what their head coach has
48:03completely told me about Justin Fields. He's not my starter.
48:08Mike Tomlin has been pretty adamant about that in the offseason, even with
48:13Russell Wilson during training camp dealing with a calf injury. Well, is it
48:17an open quarterback competition? Nope. Doesn't matter what they do in the
48:20preseason. It's Russell Wilson. Well, coach, Russ is not played or practice.
48:25How do you know? Nope. Still, Russ, if he gets back, he's not back. Justin
48:29Fields gets off to a great start for the Steelers. Russ is back. All right, sit
48:32your behind on the bench, Justin. This is Russ's team and it was great to
48:38start and it was awful to end a losing skid in the regular season that, of
48:43course, carried over into the playoffs. So, Donny, that, of course, is the big
48:49picture question for the Pittsburgh Steelers. What are they going to do at
48:52the quarterback spot this offseason? Who is going to be that starting
48:56quarterback? Here is the offseason outlook for the Steelers, just to put
48:59everything in context as we did for all of the seven playoff teams in the AFC
49:0510 and seven record for the Steelers once again. All 18 years under Mike
49:11Tomlin. The Steelers have at least not had a losing record, have not won fewer
49:17than eight games. And, of course, the R.S. Have been a playoff team a ton in
49:23that span. But here is what I think complicates the Steelers quarterback
49:28question more than most. Neither of these guys are under contract. It's not
49:33like, well, we'll decide what we do in July with Russell Wilson and Justin
49:39Fields if we don't trade for somebody, if we don't draft somebody, if we don't
49:43sign somebody. Both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields are free agents. The
49:49Steelers would have to actively choose Donny to bring one of those guys back.
49:55I'm not so sure they are going to. But there was a conversation DRS you weren't
49:59here for on Friday. Turned out to be a lot of speculation. It was an
50:04interesting report from a known sports media person, Ryan Burr, who worked for
50:09the Golf Channel for many years about the Jacksonville Jaguars receiving calls
50:14from the Steelers doing their due diligence about Trevor Lawrence's status.
50:20Basically, it's like if Donny and I called the Jags and said, hey, is Trevor
50:24Lawrence a free agent? They would have said, what are you talking about? Basically
50:28is how that came to it. Jacksonville is not trading Trevor Lawrence this
50:32offseason, but the Steelers are maybe making some calls around the NFL. But it
50:37did lead to some reporting from an actual NFL insider in Albert Breer, who
50:42was asked about the Steelers quarterback situation. And of course, Donny, when
50:47one report comes out, other reporters want to be involved in all of the
50:52conjecture. And Breer did say that he has heard from some around the Steelers
50:56organization that within the actual building, they're not too fond of Russ.
51:03They actually believe more in Justin Fields at this moment. Do you put any
51:08stake into that in that Fields might return just because they like him a
51:13little bit more?
51:15Here's the again, but you have to listen to some of the reporters who are tied
51:19in. But I just go with the Steelers have told us here and also understand this
51:23like Mike Tomlin, which is a shame for the Pittsburgh Steelers and their fan
51:26base. This was a team that was used to competing for Lombardi's. Now their goal
51:29was actually just to be 500 or better. And if you're looking at Mike Tomlin,
51:32whose goal apparently is to be 500 or better every year, who gives you the
51:36best chance of going out and actually playing quarterback? Is it Russell
51:39Wilson, who didn't play very well last year, but at least he actually plays
51:42quarterback? Or is it Justin Fields, who's not going to throw the football
51:45and try to use his legs the entire way? And that's the best point of entry
51:48because the one thing the Steelers are at that crossroads, they're good enough
51:51to make the playoffs. We're not good enough to win a championship. You know,
51:54you can't do that unless you actually get a quarterback. How was their best,
51:57you know, pathways to victory in the past? Drafted Terry Bradshaw worked out
52:01pretty good in the 70s. Drafted Ben Roethlisberger worked out pretty good in
52:04the 2000s. You're not going to win anything with Russell Wilson, Justin
52:08Fields, Aaron Rodgers on your roster. Is it better to say, Well, we know we can't
52:13win anything. Let's just get the best veteran in here to win nine or 10 games
52:16to make the playoffs and then reset and wait until Mike Tomlin is either forced
52:20out or decides to leave and or retire before you tear it down. That's the
52:24issues that we're having. But for me, like if you tell me right now, okay, we
52:27made our move. It's Justin Fields as a quarterback. Like, I don't know if I'm
52:29ever in on the Steelers, but I'm completely out on the Steelers at that
52:33point. For sure. Could that be the first losing season for Mike Tomlin or the
52:37first season with fewer than eight victories? Perhaps nobody that we listed,
52:42I think, elevates the Steelers to an actual conference contender. And that's
52:47kind of the big picture question for Pittsburgh as well. With another nine
52:51and eight season, potentially a playoff berth, but he wanted done be enough to
52:55keep Tomlin around. This Steelers team has not played in the conference
52:59championship since 2016 has not appeared in a Super Bowl since 2010.
53:05Couple of replies, by the way, for Sam Darnold. Even Matthew Stafford got his
53:10hat thrown in the ring. I guess we shall see.