# Daily Buzz: Donald OUT, Tua IN and More Week 1 Notes

An episode of [NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/680904259), 8 Sep 2026, 31 min.

Audio: https://pdrl.fm/91be81/podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/claritaspod.com/measure/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/9ce11dad-e86a-444f-ba83-ae27003475be/eb7f57c9-cf29-46c4-92e3-b4bf01751cc8/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=deff018f-4b51-4501-937c-ae27003475d1

Gregg Rosenthal and a surprise guest get you caught up on all the news from around the NFL including Aaron Donald not playing in the Rams Week 1 game against the 49ers, injury updated for Nick Bosa and Christian McCaffrey, Christian Gonzalez getting a new contract with the Patriots, the Falcons announcing Tua Tagovailoa as their Week 1 starter and more! NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcasts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we finally made it to
[0:07] Speaker 1: the end of the offseason road. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm
[0:10] Speaker 1: here in the Chris Wessling podcast studio for the 111th
[0:16] Speaker 1: and final episode between the Super Bowl, between the Patriots
[0:22] Speaker 1: and the Seahawks. And the week one kickoff recap between
[0:26] Speaker 1: the Patriots and the Seahawks. And yes, I am flying solo.
[0:30] Speaker 1: We decided it was going to be a simple news only.
[0:34] Speaker 1: So what is that? I know it's been a little
[0:38] Speaker 1: stormy here in Los Angeles. Is that Nick Shook? Is
[0:43] Speaker 1: that Nick Shook arriving for the 2026 season? What a surprise.
[0:50] Speaker 1: Who saw that coming?
[0:52] Speaker 2: With a chair.
[0:53] Speaker 1: Nick Shook's been driving across America and ultimately finishing a journey.
[1:01] Speaker 1: because we're not letting you go back to Cleveland anymore,
[1:04] Speaker 1: that he began with me in the NFL Network newsroom
[1:08] Speaker 1: over a decade ago in Culver City. He went back,
[1:11] Speaker 1: he worked for the Browns, he worked for us from Cleveland,
[1:15] Speaker 1: but we've been teasing it and now we've got Shook.
[1:17] Speaker 1: He's our big off-season acquisition in the studio forevermore.
[1:21] Speaker 2: We're finally here. I'm ready to get rolling. I'm excited
[1:24] Speaker 2: to be here. The season's here. I'm here. Not in
[1:28] Speaker 2: a box. Let's go.
[1:29] Speaker 1: That was so stupid. If you like seeing just how
[1:34] Speaker 1: much Nick shook towers over me, like he did when
[1:37] Speaker 1: we went and saw the Dodgers this weekend, check us
[1:39] Speaker 1: out on YouTube. Subscribe. Watch us. You can check us
[1:42] Speaker 1: out on NFL Channel now. three times a week, Tuesday, Wednesday,
[1:46] Speaker 1: and Sunday. And we love our podcast listeners because that's
[1:49] Speaker 1: what keeps the ship afloat. Let's get into the football.
[1:52] Speaker 1: It will still be a simple news show on this program.
[1:55] Speaker 1: And we have to start with the Melbourne game. Aaron
[1:59] Speaker 1: Donald is not going to play. We are taping this
[2:02] Speaker 1: on Tuesday afternoon, LA time. And I bring up that
[2:06] Speaker 1: timing to point out that Sean McVay just did a
[2:09] Speaker 1: press conference and he's still in Los Angeles. The game's
[2:12] Speaker 1: in about 48 hours. They have not left yet. Aaron
[2:15] Speaker 1: Donald will not be leaving either. They decided he is
[2:19] Speaker 1: not ready to play in week one. There already is
[2:22] Speaker 1: some reporting indicating that he's likely to play in week two,
[2:27] Speaker 1: but they just don't want to risk it. He's not
[2:29] Speaker 1: even going to fly over to Australia. Does that change
[2:32] Speaker 1: how you're thinking about this game?
[2:33] Speaker 3: No, I'm not worried about Aaron Donald's involvement in this game.
[2:34] Speaker 3: I'm more worried about the clock, the body clock. How
[2:36] Speaker 3: do you adjust to going to Australia so quickly as
[2:39] Speaker 3: somebody who's done some road trips with some NFL teams
[2:42] Speaker 3: and done the two-day trip to Denver?
[2:43] Speaker 2: Okay. And the difference in it, is it going to
[2:45] Speaker 2: make a big difference? Is this a test? It's fine.
[2:48] Speaker 3: Of strategy in how you approach an international game. Kyle Shanahan,
[2:52] Speaker 3: the Niners, been there like a week. He doesn't know
[2:54] Speaker 3: if up is down, left is right. The Rams, the
[2:57] Speaker 3: Rams don't care.
[2:58] Speaker 2: They don't care at all. They're just going to stick
[3:00] Speaker 2: to the regular routine.
[3:01] Speaker 1: I think it's fine. I don't want everything about this
[3:03] Speaker 1: game to be a referendum on how they approach the trip.
[3:06] Speaker 1: They did it similar to London. We've seen it both ways.
[3:10] Speaker 1: It makes sense to me as someone who's made a
[3:12] Speaker 1: trip to essentially the same time zone to on a
[3:15] Speaker 1: yearly basis, which Tokyo is, that that first night, you
[3:18] Speaker 1: just stay up as late as you can, you get
[3:20] Speaker 1: one good night's sleep in, and then they're going to
[3:21] Speaker 1: play the next day.
[3:22] Speaker 2: But did you play a football game the next day?
[3:24] Speaker 2: I didn't. You played in a mountain.
[3:25] Speaker 1: I might have gone out for a jog or something
[3:27] Speaker 1: like that. The Rams are expected to have their left tackle,
[3:30] Speaker 1: Alaric Jackson, and Puka Nakua. I was keeping an eye
[3:35] Speaker 1: on whether the NFL was going to suspend either one
[3:37] Speaker 1: of these guys at some point. There's been reporting from
[3:40] Speaker 1: Adam Schefter that Nakua might not get suspended this season
[3:43] Speaker 1: at all. I am surprised about Alaric Jackson. The NFL
[3:48] Speaker 1: has a pretty clear domestic violence policy and he's entering
[3:52] Speaker 1: a diversionary program. So I don't know if he's off
[3:54] Speaker 1: the hook permanently or they're waiting for something else to
[3:56] Speaker 1: happen on a legal front. But that is good news
[3:59] Speaker 1: for them because he might be going up against Nick Bosa.
[4:02] Speaker 1: Nick Bosa and Christian McCaffrey both had full uniform helmet
[4:07] Speaker 1: on when they practiced in Australia last on Tuesday in Australia.
[4:12] Speaker 1: It was Monday for us that you're getting to.
[4:14] Speaker 2: And somewhere it's Wednesday.
[4:16] Speaker 1: Right. Like, the game is on Friday morning in Australia.
[4:20] Speaker 1: Kind of crazy to me that Bosa has not really
[4:24] Speaker 1: fully practiced once. Since Terry in his ACL and he's
[4:28] Speaker 1: going to play in this game. Yeah, I'm a little
[4:29] Speaker 1: concerned about it, honestly.
[4:30] Speaker 3: And the fact that he was dealing with knee issues,
[4:33] Speaker 3: some swelling and that sort of thing in camp that
[4:35] Speaker 3: kept him out. I'm a little worried about suddenly just
[4:37] Speaker 3: going full go without any real ramp up. But but
[4:39] Speaker 3: these are the pros. These are the guys that, you know,
[4:42] Speaker 3: know how to handle this better than I do. So
[4:44] Speaker 3: I'll trust the process. I'll trust that they'll be perfectly fine.
[4:49] Speaker 1: I think Nick Bosa will be a part time player
[4:53] Speaker 1: for now.
[4:53] Speaker 2: Pitch count.
[4:54] Speaker 1: Kind of like Aaron Donald's going to be. But if
[4:57] Speaker 1: you look at that edge group, and they actually lost
[5:00] Speaker 1: one of their depth pieces, Sam Okuwanu, who's played a
[5:04] Speaker 1: lot of snaps for them and was part of a
[5:06] Speaker 1: group that just isn't very deep. He broke his foot,
[5:09] Speaker 1: we found out, in a practice leading up to them
[5:12] Speaker 1: going over to Australia. So he is going to be
[5:14] Speaker 1: out for a long time. The group is Nick Bosa,
[5:17] Speaker 1: not at 100%. Romello Haidt, a third-round rookie. Keyon White...
[5:23] Speaker 1: who was shot early in the offseason and has recovered
[5:26] Speaker 1: enough to play. But it was like a waiver pickup
[5:27] Speaker 1: for them. And then Khalid Kareem, who is a guy
[5:31] Speaker 1: they picked up off waiver.
[5:34] Speaker 3: It wouldn't be an NFL season if the Niners didn't
[5:36] Speaker 3: start with a bunch of injuries.
[5:37] Speaker 1: It's not a great pass rush, even when they do
[5:39] Speaker 1: get healthy. And as I mentioned on the preview show, Look,
[5:44] Speaker 1: it's an offensive line for the Rams that dominated this
[5:47] Speaker 1: matchup a year ago. Let's quickly hit just some news
[5:50] Speaker 1: out of the Patriots and the Seahawks who are playing
[5:52] Speaker 1: that kickoff game. Christian Gonzalez signed his big contract less
[5:57] Speaker 1: than two days before they have to suit up in Seattle.
[6:01] Speaker 1: I do not think that's a coincidence. Four years, $ 135
[6:03] Speaker 1: million on the contract extension, $ 102 million guaranteed in terms
[6:05] Speaker 1: of new money average and guaranteed money You can kind
[6:14] Speaker 1: of play around with these numbers. Let's be real. He
[6:17] Speaker 1: is now the newest, richest cornerback in NFL history. I
[6:22] Speaker 1: do believe, Shook, that the threat of him not suiting
[6:25] Speaker 1: up for week one helped them get over the finish
[6:27] Speaker 1: line here.
[6:28] Speaker 3: I think this is a classic example of a hold-in
[6:32] Speaker 3: or a contract dispute in which you really refuse to
[6:35] Speaker 3: budge and you force your personnel chief to answer for
[6:38] Speaker 3: it multiple times ends up playing in your favor where
[6:41] Speaker 3: you end up getting the money that you want because
[6:43] Speaker 3: the threat, what is one thing? This actually motivated me
[6:46] Speaker 3: the last week. The season's coming. You got to make moves.
[6:49] Speaker 3: You got to get ready. I had to drive across
[6:50] Speaker 3: the country. Patriots had to pay Christian Gonzalez to make
[6:53] Speaker 3: sure he was on the field. They can't afford to
[6:55] Speaker 3: not play without him. So good on him and his agent. Congratulations.
[6:58] Speaker 3: It will be superseded by somebody else before long, but
[7:01] Speaker 3: good for him.
[7:01] Speaker 1: It's the same agent as Devin Witherspoon.
[7:04] Speaker 2: Top two contracts.
[7:05] Speaker 1: Because Gonzalez had another year left on his rookie deal,
[7:09] Speaker 1: to me, he's not the highest paid. Because if you
[7:11] Speaker 1: actually do the total deal, it's $ 25, $ 26 million a year.
[7:15] Speaker 1: It's totally reasonable. There were these little whispers. I wasn't
[7:20] Speaker 1: the only one. You know, there has been this strange vibe,
[7:24] Speaker 1: sometimes publicly and sometimes behind the scenes of like, how
[7:27] Speaker 1: much does Mike Rabel and the Patriots, how much do
[7:29] Speaker 1: they really love Christian Gonzalez? Maybe they were negotiating behind
[7:32] Speaker 1: the scenes. There were some little trade rumors bubbling around.
[7:36] Speaker 1: I think this was a real thing, whether the Patriots
[7:38] Speaker 1: were ever serious about it or not. I think there
[7:41] Speaker 1: were other teams that maybe thought, They could go get him,
[7:44] Speaker 1: but in the end.
[7:46] Speaker 3: What do you think happens in this scenario if they
[7:48] Speaker 3: don't make the Super Bowl last year? Do they feel
[7:50] Speaker 3: the same amount of pressure to make sure that he's
[7:52] Speaker 3: locked up or not?
[7:54] Speaker 2: Contract-wise?
[7:55] Speaker 1: And that he had an awesome Super Bowl.
[7:56] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[7:57] Speaker 3: Because he hasn't been top-tiered through.
[8:00] Speaker 2: He got hurt in his rookie year, and he's been ascending, but.
[8:03] Speaker 1: To me, he's kind of like, in the NFL draft,
[8:06] Speaker 1: how you evaluate not just production, but traits. His top-end play,
[8:11] Speaker 1: and I would say that was the majority of his
[8:14] Speaker 1: second season, the 2024 season, he looked like he could
[8:18] Speaker 1: be the best cornerback in the league. Like him and
[8:20] Speaker 1: Patrick Sertan. So once you show that level of play,
[8:23] Speaker 1: you get paid like that. Now, last year was a
[8:25] Speaker 1: little up and down. There's an injury. You know, it's cornerback.
[8:27] Speaker 2: A little bit of fall in love with potential there.
[8:29] Speaker 1: A little bit.
[8:30] Speaker 2: Don't fall in love with potential.
[8:31] Speaker 1: I love the energy you are bringing. How are you doing, Chuck?
[8:34] Speaker 1: I mean, like, was it, you know, you left Cleveland.
[8:37] Speaker 2: I'm happy to be here. I'm ecstatic. I'm excited. I'm
[8:39] Speaker 2: fired up.
[8:40] Speaker 1: I know, but it's a lot. It's a lot. You
[8:41] Speaker 1: were there for a long time.
[8:42] Speaker 4: Yes.
[8:43] Speaker 1: Family.
[8:44] Speaker 2: It is an adjustment, I will admit.
[8:45] Speaker 1: You go into the Dodgers game with me and my
[8:47] Speaker 1: son and our friend Tracy.
[8:49] Speaker 2: Shout out.
[8:50] Speaker 1: You know, that can't fully replace your family, although we're
[8:53] Speaker 1: pretty lucky.
[8:53] Speaker 2: No, that's true.
[8:54] Speaker 3: I mean, it was a great introduction. And, you know,
[8:56] Speaker 3: I got to say, I nailed my home run prediction.
[8:58] Speaker 3: So got to be excited about it.
[8:59] Speaker 1: Shout out Tommy Edmond.
[9:00] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[9:01] Speaker 1: That game, by the way, Christian Gonzalez saved a couple
[9:04] Speaker 1: would-be touchdowns. They have it on. in our office, which
[9:08] Speaker 1: you're now a part of, they already put your name
[9:10] Speaker 1: on the desk and everything. The, uh, Seahawks could have
[9:14] Speaker 1: had more big plays in that game. I remembered how
[9:16] Speaker 1: Darnold missed a couple of deep shots where there was miscommunication.
[9:19] Speaker 1: Gonzalez saved a couple like that thing could have been
[9:22] Speaker 1: a big time blow. I think the Patriots could go
[9:25] Speaker 1: deep a little more in this game than they did
[9:27] Speaker 1: because the Seahawks aren't as deep on their backend. Ty, uh, Okada,
[9:32] Speaker 1: who played a lot of big snaps in that game,
[9:34] Speaker 1: is not expected to play in this game. Nick Emanwuri
[9:36] Speaker 1: has been limited throughout the entire week, and we'll see
[9:42] Speaker 1: if he's close to 100%. We think it's going to
[9:46] Speaker 1: be a better Patriots offense in general. Do you think
[9:49] Speaker 1: it's going to be a worse Seahawks defense?
[9:51] Speaker 2: I don't know if I'd go that far.
[9:52] Speaker 3: I will say that what the football world was introduced to,
[9:56] Speaker 3: if they weren't paying attention as closely as some of
[9:58] Speaker 3: the people like we were... in the Super Bowl, was
[10:01] Speaker 3: how Nicky Manmori freed up Mike McDonald to do all
[10:03] Speaker 3: kinds of different things defensively. And how important he is
[10:06] Speaker 3: to this defense. And how important he could be to
[10:08] Speaker 3: this team in this week one game. But I don't
[10:11] Speaker 3: necessarily think that they'll be much worse. They did lose
[10:13] Speaker 3: a couple of other guys. They lost Rick Wool and
[10:14] Speaker 3: they lost Boye Mafe. They aren't in the top two
[10:17] Speaker 3: in my power rankings, but they're at number three. So
[10:20] Speaker 3: I'm going to give them a, you know.
[10:21] Speaker 1: Put a pin in that. I gave you some grief
[10:23] Speaker 1: last time we talked power rankings. Because it's a big earner.
[10:28] Speaker 1: They already made you do another one, even though nothing's
[10:31] Speaker 1: really changed in the last three weeks. I'm going to
[10:33] Speaker 1: pick some nits with that. Also, Travion Henderson, don't expect
[10:35] Speaker 1: him to play in this game for the Patriots. The
[10:38] Speaker 1: next time, by the way, you'll hear from this podcast,
[10:40] Speaker 1: Jordan Rodriguez and I will be live. Check us out.
[10:43] Speaker 1: Join us on YouTube after the game, recapping the kickoff.
[10:47] Speaker 1: So let's get to the rest of the news that's
[10:49] Speaker 1: happened since we last recorded. Tuatunga-Vailoa will start week one.
[10:55] Speaker 1: It's crazy that we got this deep information. into week
[11:00] Speaker 1: one preparation without knowing who's going to start. You just
[11:04] Speaker 1: had a telling intake of breath sigh, which I found
[11:09] Speaker 1: a little intimidating. Showed off the muscles here. Why did
[11:13] Speaker 1: the Falcons make you do that?
[11:16] Speaker 3: Because it's been a tough situation for Kevin Stefanski to navigate.
[11:20] Speaker 3: I think that the tone of the conversation prior to
[11:23] Speaker 3: their preseason finale was that they really shifted toward hoping
[11:28] Speaker 3: Michael Penix could play in week one. And then they
[11:30] Speaker 3: rolled two out for the preseason finale and he fumbled
[11:32] Speaker 3: away possession. He didn't look great. He bounced back a
[11:35] Speaker 3: little bit, but it was marginal at best. And I
[11:36] Speaker 3: just thought, man, there's... It's not that there's no way
[11:38] Speaker 3: that you can justify playing him in week one, but
[11:40] Speaker 3: Michael Penix really has to not be ready to go
[11:42] Speaker 3: in order to have to roll with Tua Tungabailoa, which
[11:44] Speaker 3: I think is a disappointment for what the Falcons probably
[11:47] Speaker 3: were hoping for going into week one. I also think
[11:49] Speaker 3: it's temporary because as it stands right now, they probably
[11:53] Speaker 3: want to see Michael Penix out there and not Tua
[11:54] Speaker 3: based on how he's looked in this preseason.
[11:56] Speaker 1: Not the greatest sign for Tua that they waited until
[11:58] Speaker 1: the last second. And they're not starting... Tua over Michael
[12:02] Speaker 1: Penix as his backup. Michael Penix will be inactive. Cooper
[12:06] Speaker 1: Rush will be the backup. Shout out to the Jack
[12:10] Speaker 1: Strand believers out there. Like, where's he? He's just hanging out.
[12:14] Speaker 1: Let's listen to Penix talk about his way back to
[12:17] Speaker 1: the team. I had that conversation. I just told him
[12:20] Speaker 1: I'm not where I want to be right now.
[12:21] Speaker 4: And I want to be able to be 100% so
[12:24] Speaker 4: I can help this team with football games.
[12:26] Speaker 1: And I'm really close. Really close. Sounds like it was
[12:31] Speaker 1: Penix's decision.
[12:33] Speaker 3: And it's a bummer for me because the week prior
[12:37] Speaker 3: he was talking all about, basically a week, week and
[12:39] Speaker 3: a half prior, he was like, yeah, I think I'm
[12:41] Speaker 3: on track to be mentally and physically ready for week one.
[12:43] Speaker 2: And he's not.
[12:44] Speaker 3: And you can tell there's a sense of disappointment in
[12:45] Speaker 3: his voice there where he's like, I'm failing my team.
[12:48] Speaker 2: I'm failing myself. But he's not. It's just one week.
[12:50] Speaker 1: Pretty rare in football. And we'd have to know the machinations.
[12:54] Speaker 1: But the way he made it sound, he went to
[12:57] Speaker 1: Kevin Stefanski and say, It doesn't feel right, which I
[13:01] Speaker 1: really appreciate. I actually don't think it's concerning. I think
[13:04] Speaker 1: these guys know their bodies better than anyone, and sometimes
[13:08] Speaker 1: just hearing athletes talk about recoveries from this, it is
[13:11] Speaker 1: partly mental until you fully trust what's back, but... he
[13:17] Speaker 1: has a better sense, I think, than anyone else is
[13:19] Speaker 1: going to. And so if he feels like he's not ready,
[13:22] Speaker 1: he's not ready. He has recovered from a number of
[13:25] Speaker 1: ACL surgeries. He has been through this before. And so
[13:29] Speaker 1: it's smart of him, and I appreciate it. I think
[13:31] Speaker 1: it shows some maturity to not force himself back.
[13:35] Speaker 3: But the question is, how long does the Tuatango-Vailoa starting
[13:38] Speaker 3: experience happen?
[13:39] Speaker 1: How long does it last? He says, I'm really close.
[13:41] Speaker 3: It was really close a week and a half ago.
[13:42] Speaker 3: Is this a month-long thing?
[13:44] Speaker 2: Is this two weeks? What is it?
[13:45] Speaker 1: I don't think it's going to be very long. And
[13:47] Speaker 1: Tua could always play his way into the job, but
[13:50] Speaker 1: it's always a big question when you look at the schedule.
[13:54] Speaker 1: It depends what version of the team you play. And
[13:56] Speaker 1: I don't know that Michael Penix is going to be
[13:57] Speaker 1: a big upgrade, but I have a feeling he will
[14:00] Speaker 1: be in this system over this version of Tua. They
[14:03] Speaker 1: are at Pittsburgh week one. We got to figure out
[14:06] Speaker 1: who's taking what games on Sunday, by the way. You
[14:08] Speaker 1: don't just get all the good games just because you're
[14:10] Speaker 1: writing about it. Is that a game you want?
[14:14] Speaker 3: Uh, maybe Kevin Stavansky familiar with playing in Pittsburgh. Do
[14:17] Speaker 3: I want to sign up for the two experience?
[14:19] Speaker 1: Aaron Rogers versus two. I feel like you can do
[14:21] Speaker 1: better in week one. Um, and then the Carolina Panthers
[14:25] Speaker 1: are the home opener for Atlanta in week two before
[14:29] Speaker 1: they go to green Bay and new Orleans after that.
[14:31] Speaker 1: So all those teams will be watching this situation and interested.
[14:35] Speaker 1: The most surprising transaction I saw. Over the weekend was
[14:39] Speaker 1: Darius Slayton was cut. Wouldn't have been that shocking if
[14:41] Speaker 1: it happened on cut down day because we heard it
[14:44] Speaker 1: could be coming. But they're a little thin at wide
[14:48] Speaker 1: receiver now because they've had some injuries. And he's guaranteed
[14:52] Speaker 1: $ 9. 75 million, which tells me that Joe Shane... Regret giving
[15:00] Speaker 1: him that contract, by the way. If you're just looking
[15:02] Speaker 1: to give Joe Shane L's, here's another one.
[15:04] Speaker 2: There's a lot.
[15:05] Speaker 1: There's a few. And that they just couldn't even get
[15:08] Speaker 1: a late round pick swap. They held on to him
[15:11] Speaker 1: for as long as humanly possible, hoping to get something
[15:14] Speaker 1: for him, some team to take on a little bit
[15:16] Speaker 1: of his money. It's a major misfire that he can't
[15:19] Speaker 1: make the team. It does save them a little bit
[15:21] Speaker 1: of salary cap space, which... is your new beat. You've
[15:24] Speaker 1: been really trying to figure this out. But I think
[15:27] Speaker 1: we figured it out once we looked at the cap
[15:29] Speaker 1: space of the Giants. They have no cap space.
[15:31] Speaker 2: Exactly.
[15:31] Speaker 3: So it makes sense for a little bit of cap
[15:33] Speaker 3: relief to be more flexible at this period at the
[15:36] Speaker 3: start of the regular season. And if you want to
[15:38] Speaker 3: convert one person off the practice squad up to the
[15:40] Speaker 3: active roster and keep them there and things like that.
[15:43] Speaker 3: But what it really tells me more than anything is
[15:45] Speaker 3: that Malachi Fields exceeded expectation and they feel very good
[15:49] Speaker 3: about Malik Neighbors and they feel very good about the
[15:51] Speaker 3: rest of this group, which like you said, is pretty thin.
[15:53] Speaker 2: Odell's also on that team. We got to remember that factor.
[15:56] Speaker 3: And ultimately, they looked at a guy who turns 30
[15:59] Speaker 3: in January as somebody that they no longer wanted on
[16:01] Speaker 3: their team for the rate that he was at.
[16:03] Speaker 1: What do they got to do? They got to get
[16:04] Speaker 1: it right before the game starts? Because right now, they
[16:08] Speaker 1: have about a million dollars in cap space. But there's
[16:10] Speaker 1: actually four teams that have negative cap space right now.
[16:14] Speaker 2: I would imagine it's right before.
[16:15] Speaker 1: They got to figure things out in the meantime. But
[16:17] Speaker 1: that's crazy. I can't remember the last time a non-quarterback
[16:22] Speaker 1: had that much guaranteed money on his salary and was
[16:25] Speaker 1: just flat out cut. They're going to pay him to
[16:27] Speaker 1: go away. He could land with another team. The Titans
[16:30] Speaker 1: tend to like ex-Giants, although they're pretty deep at wide receiver.
[16:33] Speaker 1: The Saints are a little thin. I could see them
[16:35] Speaker 1: adding a veteran. Daniel Jones had some nice days with
[16:38] Speaker 1: Darius Slayton, so he'll land somewhere.
[16:40] Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. And he could definitely use another receiver.
[16:43] Speaker 1: Injury news in the same division. Tyler Smith of the Cowboys.
[16:45] Speaker 1: This came out of nowhere. It's going to be out
[16:48] Speaker 1: for free. four to six weeks with a thumb injury.
[16:51] Speaker 1: They showed us how much they value Tyler Smith by
[16:54] Speaker 1: giving him a monster contract. He's one of the better
[16:56] Speaker 1: guards in the league. I think this offensive line has
[17:00] Speaker 1: kind of one of the highest ceilings, lowest floors of
[17:03] Speaker 1: any offensive line in the league, where they could be
[17:05] Speaker 1: top five, but they could be sub-mediocre. This is a
[17:08] Speaker 1: disappointing way for their season to start.
[17:10] Speaker 2: This was their most dependable lineman. And this is the
[17:12] Speaker 2: guy that really was.
[17:14] Speaker 3: allow them to kickstart the reconfiguration of their offensive line
[17:18] Speaker 3: when they moved on from guys like Nick Martin and
[17:20] Speaker 3: mainstays that moved, you know, that either retired or moved
[17:22] Speaker 3: on elsewhere. And so to lose him at this stage
[17:25] Speaker 3: is disappointing, but I understand the logic behind it, which
[17:27] Speaker 3: is go eat your thumb fix because offensive line, much
[17:29] Speaker 3: of it's about grip strength. And can you get your
[17:31] Speaker 3: hands in a guy and hang on to him? And
[17:32] Speaker 3: if you can't use your thumb, I mean, we're the
[17:35] Speaker 3: reason that we're evolutionary, like, over some mammals is that
[17:39] Speaker 3: we have opposable thumbs. So if you don't have a
[17:41] Speaker 3: thumb that allows you to get into the chest of
[17:43] Speaker 3: a defensive lineman or a blitzing linebacker, I guess you're
[17:45] Speaker 3: going to be a little bit limited in what you
[17:48] Speaker 3: can do. So get it done now, four to six
[17:50] Speaker 3: weeks before you even get to the halfway point of
[17:51] Speaker 3: the season.
[17:52] Speaker 2: It makes sense.
[17:52] Speaker 3: But if you look at this team now, the questions
[17:54] Speaker 3: with them were tackle. Where's Terrence Steele right now? Tyler
[17:59] Speaker 3: Guyton was like threatened a little bit in camp for
[18:01] Speaker 3: his job, right? And now they have TJ Bass playing
[18:04] Speaker 3: left guard.
[18:04] Speaker 2: Suddenly the strength of this group Diminishes a little bit.
[18:07] Speaker 1: Yeah, they traded for Broderick Jones because I don't think
[18:10] Speaker 1: they're happy with Terrence Steele. We'll see. They have a
[18:13] Speaker 1: very tough matchup in terms of their offensive line Sunday
[18:16] Speaker 1: night football week one against the Giants.
[18:19] Speaker 2: The Super Bowl for the Giants.
[18:21] Speaker 1: It is big. If the Giants got out to a
[18:22] Speaker 1: 1-0 start beating the Cowboys, that'd be big. I couldn't
[18:26] Speaker 1: help but notice Jerry Jones doing the thing that he does,
[18:30] Speaker 1: which is stay in the news with a little bite
[18:34] Speaker 1: that he feels like everyone... is going to jump on.
[18:37] Speaker 1: He noted, after doing some restructures, they've changed some money around,
[18:42] Speaker 1: that they have, quote, serious financial room for a trade.
[18:46] Speaker 1: They have opened up about $ 30 million in cap space.
[18:50] Speaker 1: And so if they wanted to trade for a certain
[18:54] Speaker 1: edge rusher from the Raiders... That fits in perfectly into
[18:59] Speaker 1: the Cowboys salary structure. I would not expect that to
[19:02] Speaker 1: happen before week one, obviously, at this point. But if
[19:05] Speaker 1: the if the Raiders are one in five, I wouldn't
[19:08] Speaker 1: be surprised to hear Max Crosby's name thrown out there.
[19:12] Speaker 1: spice up some trade deadline episodes.
[19:14] Speaker 3: That cap space is kind of a myth, too, because
[19:17] Speaker 3: they have projected five next year. So it's really like
[19:19] Speaker 3: an all-in situation.
[19:20] Speaker 2: Let's go do it right now.
[19:21] Speaker 1: But at the same time, Jerry's not affecting next year.
[19:24] Speaker 3: We've talked about this with Jerry because he's been saying
[19:27] Speaker 3: this since they were still at training camp and he
[19:29] Speaker 3: was outside doing a press conference. It's almost like he
[19:31] Speaker 3: just likes to tease us with the idea that, yeah,
[19:33] Speaker 3: we could, or maybe just put it out there that, hey,
[19:35] Speaker 3: you want to move one of your guys? We're kind
[19:37] Speaker 3: of all in right now. We'd pick up the phone
[19:40] Speaker 3: and talk. A deal, potentially. Until it happens, though, I'm
[19:43] Speaker 3: just going to take it as bluster and keep an
[19:46] Speaker 3: eye on the fact that they have cap space to
[19:47] Speaker 3: work with.
[19:47] Speaker 1: You're right. That could all be rolled over next year.
[19:50] Speaker 1: But I think there's a part of Jerry that doesn't
[19:53] Speaker 1: like that they've had this quiet Yeah, he wants to
[19:56] Speaker 1: be in the news. off-season. By the way, when you
[19:59] Speaker 1: were doing the, you know, The opposable thumb. The opposable
[20:02] Speaker 1: thumb bit. I was just thinking, how different is this
[20:05] Speaker 1: than if you were just in a box in Cleveland?
[20:07] Speaker 2: You wouldn't see my hands.
[20:08] Speaker 1: Well, you wouldn't be doing the bit.
[20:09] Speaker 4: No.
[20:09] Speaker 1: It just would be different.
[20:10] Speaker 2: Because I would block my face.
[20:12] Speaker 1: I love it. For as much as we've worked together,
[20:14] Speaker 1: we haven't done a lot of podcasting in person together.
[20:17] Speaker 2: Yeah, this is number two.
[20:18] Speaker 1: Let's go. Nick will be part of our Sunday night recaps.
[20:22] Speaker 1: You're going to be part of the Tuesday show. We'll
[20:25] Speaker 1: try to get Nick mixed in as much as possible.
[20:27] Speaker 1: And then Thursday nights, you continue in your primetime journey
[20:30] Speaker 1: with us. Harrison Smith is back with the Vikings. The
[20:33] Speaker 1: unretirement that Vikings reporters seem to see coming throughout much
[20:39] Speaker 1: of the offseason. So that's good news for them. I
[20:41] Speaker 1: kind of was wondering about their secondary. It looked very
[20:44] Speaker 1: thin at safety. And so Harrison Smith out there to
[20:47] Speaker 1: prove that you don't really need training camp. This is
[20:51] Speaker 1: going to be his 15th season, and it is a
[20:53] Speaker 1: complex defense that Not many people really know what Brian
[20:57] Speaker 1: Flores wants to do. Harrison Smith is going to make
[20:59] Speaker 1: them better. They also signed Kyle Van Noy, fun old name,
[21:04] Speaker 1: to the practice squad. So we could have Van Noy
[21:06] Speaker 1: and Van Ginkle on the same team.
[21:09] Speaker 3: The Minnesota Van Vikings.
[21:11] Speaker 2: There we go.
[21:12] Speaker 3: Yeah, the Harrison Smith thing, by the way, it's the
[21:14] Speaker 3: classic case of, congrats, you are the latest Michael Strahan
[21:17] Speaker 3: to just avoid training camp entirely in the preseason and
[21:20] Speaker 3: then join the team you've always played for.
[21:21] Speaker 2: Good job, Harrison. Way to play it.
[21:22] Speaker 1: Michael Wilson signed a three-year contract with the Cardinals. I
[21:26] Speaker 1: mentioned it briefly. I think this is going to turn
[21:28] Speaker 1: out to be one of the best contracts in the league.
[21:29] Speaker 1: He is a rising young player. I really loved his
[21:33] Speaker 1: perspective when he signed the deal, and I just wanted
[21:37] Speaker 1: to get that into the show. It was a really
[21:40] Speaker 1: cool example of what these contracts mean to the players
[21:45] Speaker 1: and the people around them.
[21:46] Speaker 4: My dad came from Montego Bay, Jamaica. Grew up with
[21:50] Speaker 4: a schizophrenic mom. Came here when he was 18. You know,
[21:53] Speaker 4: was a construction worker for 35 years. He probably won't
[21:57] Speaker 4: want me to say this, but he's like, he never
[21:58] Speaker 4: made over $ 100, 000 in his entire life. And my mom
[22:01] Speaker 4: was born and raised in Wellington, New Zealand. Came here
[22:04] Speaker 4: in her mid-20s to pursue a nursing career. So I
[22:07] Speaker 4: think it starts at their story Right. Two immigrants came
[22:11] Speaker 4: here like my mom still to this day doesn't know
[22:14] Speaker 4: much about football. To be honest, she really doesn't like
[22:16] Speaker 4: me playing football. So she's always she's a nervous wreck
[22:19] Speaker 4: during the season.
[22:19] Speaker 3: And so.
[22:21] Speaker 4: This is a big win for the entire Wilson family. And,
[22:25] Speaker 4: you know, starting back from their store.
[22:28] Speaker 1: Very cool.
[22:28] Speaker 2: What do they always talk about? Life changing money.
[22:31] Speaker 3: Three years, 75 million for a guy who really worked
[22:34] Speaker 3: his way to his role with this team. I mean,
[22:36] Speaker 3: that has got to be such a rewarding feeling, knowing
[22:39] Speaker 3: that you can be financially secure and you can help
[22:41] Speaker 3: your parents and appreciate the path they took to get
[22:44] Speaker 3: you here.
[22:45] Speaker 1: Crazy story of his immigrant parents and just everything that
[22:50] Speaker 1: he's gone through, and yet he's still not the best
[22:51] Speaker 1: athlete in his family. Sophia Smith, his wife, the soccer star,
[22:55] Speaker 1: if you know, you know. A couple other quick items.
[22:58] Speaker 1: The Hall of Fame changed their bylaws. We'll get into
[23:00] Speaker 1: that more when we get to Hall of Fame voting season,
[23:04] Speaker 1: but They're trying to fix what happened last year with
[23:06] Speaker 1: Bill Belichick. The biggest change to me was they just
[23:09] Speaker 1: got rid of about 22 of the voters, some of
[23:10] Speaker 1: the riffraff, apparently. A few bits of news, which will
[23:15] Speaker 1: hit deeper on our preview show, but I did just
[23:18] Speaker 1: want to get it out there in the interest of
[23:21] Speaker 1: being as up-to-date as possible. It's a weird week because
[23:23] Speaker 1: we're not coming off game. So these teams have already
[23:25] Speaker 1: been practicing for week one a couple times. They practiced
[23:29] Speaker 1: late last week. They practiced on Monday. They're back at
[23:31] Speaker 1: it Tuesday, Wednesday, depending on the team. The Chiefs said
[23:34] Speaker 1: they are likely to start Khalil Benson at left tackle
[23:38] Speaker 1: week one because they won't have Josh Simmons. If you
[23:40] Speaker 1: listen to myself and Nick Wright, I said that Josh
[23:42] Speaker 1: Simmons might be the most important non-quarterback in the entire
[23:47] Speaker 1: AFC playoff race. Wow. Like just in terms of determining
[23:49] Speaker 1: whether his team is going to be good or not
[23:52] Speaker 1: because it's such a steep drop off and they're going
[23:54] Speaker 1: to have big questions in that first game against the Broncos.
[23:58] Speaker 1: Anthony Richardson officially won the QB2 job in Indianapolis last
[24:01] Speaker 1: Alec Pierce is expected to play in week one for
[24:04] Speaker 1: an Indianapolis. Joe Milton got cut surprisingly since we last taped.
[24:08] Speaker 1: He is now on the Cowboys practice squad. I was
[24:12] Speaker 1: really surprised that they did not make him the backup coach.
[24:17] Speaker 1: No faith in my guy, Joe Milton. The Giants extended
[24:20] Speaker 1: Jameis Winston and John Runyon. So it'll be interesting to see.
[24:23] Speaker 1: Does Winston outlast Jackson Dart in New York? I don't
[24:26] Speaker 1: think so. I think they like that combination. But Winston
[24:29] Speaker 1: is going to be there a couple more years. I
[24:30] Speaker 1: hope he doesn't outlast Jameis. That's a low price backup.
[24:33] Speaker 1: John Runyon is a solid guard. And then Josh Jacobs,
[24:36] Speaker 1: I noted, moved his court date up to September 10th.
[24:40] Speaker 1: Josh Jacobs on the commissioner's exempt list, which means He
[24:44] Speaker 1: is away from the team, but not officially suspended while
[24:48] Speaker 1: he works through the legal process being accused of domestic violence.
[24:53] Speaker 1: And so they are trying to, I think, settle his
[24:56] Speaker 1: case legally in a way to get him back on
[24:58] Speaker 1: the field sooner. I think he still will be suspended
[25:01] Speaker 1: six full games at minimum when he does settle his
[25:05] Speaker 1: court date. But we will see. Quickly, before we let
[25:08] Speaker 1: you go, we're going to do a couple of things.
[25:12] Speaker 1: I'm going to get your predictions for the Super Bowl
[25:14] Speaker 1: and the conference title game because myself, Jordan, Patrick, all
[25:20] Speaker 1: gave our predictions. And yes, two-thirds of the podcast so
[25:24] Speaker 1: far have picked the Houston Texans to win the Super Bowl.
[25:30] Speaker 1: What is up? You have the Texans 10th in your
[25:32] Speaker 1: power rankings, by the way?
[25:33] Speaker 2: That's still in the playoffs.
[25:35] Speaker 1: I mean... Do you want to get into it?
[25:37] Speaker 2: Let's get into it.
[25:38] Speaker 1: Sure. All right. Well, we're going to have you come
[25:41] Speaker 1: on Power Rankings Day, you know, throughout the course of
[25:45] Speaker 1: the season. Not much has changed since last time, but
[25:46] Speaker 1: 10th is kind of ridiculous. Also, the Patriots are not
[25:49] Speaker 1: top 12. They were in the Super Bowl last year. Yep. Right?
[25:53] Speaker 2: Yep.
[25:55] Speaker 1: Do they look worse right now than they looked last year?
[25:57] Speaker 3: I'm concerned about their defense. They're going to be better offensively.
[26:00] Speaker 3: And let's talk about the teams that lose the Super Bowl.
[26:01] Speaker 3: How do they usually perform the next year?
[26:03] Speaker 1: Sure, but that's... Power rankings, very vague. I want your picks.
[26:09] Speaker 1: I want your picks. Let's just go because if anyone
[26:12] Speaker 1: missed it, they should check out our podcast or our
[26:14] Speaker 1: YouTube episode. It's our most listened to podcast of the
[26:20] Speaker 1: 111 that we've done all off season. So people wanted
[26:23] Speaker 1: the predictions. I thought it was unfair as someone who's
[26:25] Speaker 1: going to be on this show as much as anyone
[26:27] Speaker 1: along with myself and Jordan that you didn't get yours.
[26:29] Speaker 1: So give me your AFC championship game result. We'll build
[26:34] Speaker 1: up the drama. And then we'll go to NFC Championship
[26:36] Speaker 1: game result, and then we'll go Super Bowl.
[26:38] Speaker 2: All right. Well, first off, 111. Good job with the
[26:39] Speaker 2: math there.
[26:40] Speaker 1: Thank you.
[26:40] Speaker 2: Give the cap to you.
[26:42] Speaker 3: We are going to go with two teams that do
[26:45] Speaker 3: not include the Houston Texans.
[26:47] Speaker 2: Sorry.
[26:47] Speaker 3: Somebody's got to be different here. We are going to
[26:50] Speaker 3: go with the Buffalo Bills. Shout out to Super Producer
[26:53] Speaker 3: Eric Roberts. And we are going to go with the
[26:55] Speaker 3: Cincinnati Bengals, also in the AFC Championship game.
[26:59] Speaker 2: You want my winner of that game right now?
[27:00] Speaker 1: Of course.
[27:01] Speaker 2: Please. I'm sorry, Eric. But it's going to be the
[27:04] Speaker 2: Cincinnati Bengals.
[27:05] Speaker 1: Okay.
[27:05] Speaker 3: Going back to the place they last appeared in the
[27:07] Speaker 3: Super Bowl. SoFi Stadium. Next door.
[27:10] Speaker 1: And I can do that. Joey B is happy.
[27:11] Speaker 2: Exactly. He is happy. And I can also accurately say
[27:14] Speaker 2: that now that I'm here and not in a box.
[27:17] Speaker 1: I like that. I do feel like the Bengals are
[27:19] Speaker 1: one of the trendy teams. But I'm glad we get
[27:22] Speaker 1: some Bills representation. It would have been good to get
[27:24] Speaker 1: them in the Super Bowl. I feel like.
[27:26] Speaker 2: Of course.
[27:26] Speaker 1: I feel like that would have been nice. But I
[27:28] Speaker 1: did notice two... Of the 19 NFL.com voters, had the
[27:32] Speaker 1: Bengals winning the Super Bowl overall? I don't remember if
[27:35] Speaker 1: you were one of them. I'm going to find out
[27:36] Speaker 1: in a second.
[27:36] Speaker 2: I was not.
[27:37] Speaker 1: But first, we'll find out what your NFC champion is.
[27:40] Speaker 2: This is where it gets less interesting. We're going chalk.
[27:43] Speaker 3: We're going rematch. We're going Rams and Seahawks. I think
[27:47] Speaker 3: this time it's not going to take place in Seattle.
[27:49] Speaker 3: And I think this time the Rams are going to
[27:51] Speaker 3: come out on top. And it's going to be Rams-Bengals,
[27:54] Speaker 3: another Rams-Bengals Super Bowl showdown at SoFi in LA.
[27:58] Speaker 1: And the Rams win again.
[27:59] Speaker 4: Yep.
[28:00] Speaker 1: Oh, come on. That would be rude.
[28:02] Speaker 3: Aaron Donald's back. We know what he did last time
[28:05] Speaker 3: they played in this game. Yes.
[28:06] Speaker 2: So the roster is very different.
[28:07] Speaker 1: Yes.
[28:07] Speaker 2: But it would be, maybe I'm just one.
[28:11] Speaker 3: To, I'm a glutton for punishment in some ways because
[28:13] Speaker 3: I have the bills losing on the doorstep of the Superbowl.
[28:16] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[28:17] Speaker 3: I have the Bengals getting back to the Superbowl and
[28:18] Speaker 3: then being vanquished by the same team that broke their
[28:21] Speaker 3: hearts last time. And one of the central figures of
[28:23] Speaker 3: that heartbreak is back with the Rams.
[28:25] Speaker 4: Okay.
[28:26] Speaker 1: So just, I guess I like sequels for the record.
[28:30] Speaker 1: chook is the big rams you know homer on this
[28:32] Speaker 1: podcast oh you're the only one that took.
[28:34] Speaker 2: Him you know what that's intentional on your part to
[28:36] Speaker 2: win the.
[28:36] Speaker 1: Super no i i picked what i thought would be
[28:39] Speaker 1: fun bengals rams is one of like my favorite days
[28:44] Speaker 1: in in this profession it was just a lot like
[28:47] Speaker 1: my daughter is a huge rams fan and was there
[28:50] Speaker 1: and she got to see her team win and i'll
[28:52] Speaker 1: never forget after the game, taking the picture with so
[28:57] Speaker 1: many of Chris Wesseling's brothers. The NFL did an incredible
[29:00] Speaker 1: job getting a lot of Chris's brothers to the game
[29:04] Speaker 1: in the year after he died. We're here in this
[29:07] Speaker 1: podcast studio bearing his name. And at least I know
[29:11] Speaker 1: Phil still listens daily. And so I just want to say, Phil,
[29:17] Speaker 1: This fellow Ohio native, Nick Shook, is bringing you all
[29:20] Speaker 1: the way back.
[29:21] Speaker 2: To the Super Bowl. Follow me.
[29:23] Speaker 4: No.
[29:23] Speaker 1: And then heartbreak again. You're just trying to... That would
[29:28] Speaker 1: be brutal. It's not about the destination. It's about the journey.
[29:31] Speaker 1: Maybe last time, but if they lost again in the
[29:33] Speaker 1: Super Bowl to the Rams, that would not be fun.
[29:35] Speaker 2: I just don't recommend doing the drive that I just
[29:37] Speaker 2: did last week. No.
[29:38] Speaker 1: It's good to have... you here, Shook. Like I said,
[29:41] Speaker 1: he'll be a huge part of our shows all season long,
[29:45] Speaker 1: including on Thursday night when you and I are going
[29:48] Speaker 1: to recap live the Rams and 49ers game.
[29:51] Speaker 2: I can't believe it. We're already back in primetime.
[29:53] Speaker 1: It is so good. I mean, the offseason, look, it's
[29:56] Speaker 1: in the name, NFL Daily. We love covering the league
[29:59] Speaker 1: all year round. But we love getting out of here
[30:03] Speaker 1: on time. The next time you hear from this podcast
[30:06] Speaker 1: will be Wednesday night. Again, you can join us live
[30:09] Speaker 1: on YouTube. Myself and Jordan Rodrigue, we will see you
[30:14] Speaker 1: about five minutes after the game if you want to
[30:16] Speaker 1: join us then. But you can always watch us, listen
[30:18] Speaker 1: to us anytime you want. Chucky, a pleasure.
[30:22] Speaker 2: Football's back.
[30:25] Speaker 1: It's not even a lie. Football is back.

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