# A.J. Brown is a Patriot, Inside Myles Garrett's Trade and Blockbuster Winners and Losers

An episode of [NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/680904259), 2 Jun 2026, 1 h 08 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/8c6d9305-eda4-4bbc-9557-b45d0159748b/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=deff018f-4b51-4501-937c-ae27003475d1

Gregg Rosenthal and Jourdan Rodrigue do a deep dive on the two BLOCKBUSTER trades that reshaped the NFL. First, a look at A.J. Brown being traded from the Eagles to the Patriots and a discussion on the Patriots' approach to the offseason, Brown's fit with the Patriots, and what's next for the Eagles post A.J. Brown. After the break, Jourdan takes you behind the scenes of her reporting on the Myles Garrett trade and explains the timeline of the deal, Jared Verse's part in the trade happening and the future of the Rams roster. Finally, Gregg lays out the winners and loser for both trades. 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 aj Brown is officially wide
[0:09] Speaker 1: Receiver one. I'm Greg Rosenthal here in the Chris Wesley
[0:12] Speaker 1: Podcast studio. We're back in the studio and we're back
[0:14] Speaker 1: with Jordan Rod Reig. Great to have her back on
[0:18] Speaker 1: the show. And what a show for you to return
[0:21] Speaker 1: to because Jordan Rod Rieg aka Athletic National Insider RAMS Insider,
[0:29] Speaker 1: is going to give us all the inside scoop on
[0:31] Speaker 1: the Miles Garrett trade coming up.
[0:33] Speaker 2: You know, my favorite text I got from you when
[0:36] Speaker 2: all of this was happening, Greg was that I'm really
[0:39] Speaker 2: focusing on the positive or the correct things, which is
[0:42] Speaker 2: the content that we will be doing on NFL Daily,
[0:44] Speaker 2: and how we can best maximize the continuation of the
[0:47] Speaker 2: regular season because there are in fact bare feels and
[0:50] Speaker 2: moves and trades happening right now. I think June first
[0:53] Speaker 2: is becoming quite an exciting day.
[0:55] Speaker 3: That's gonna be.
[0:56] Speaker 4: Greg Rosenthal is.
[0:57] Speaker 1: Going to be a part of our Winners and Loser
[0:59] Speaker 1: segment at the very end of the show. I'm me
[1:01] Speaker 1: not you now, I mean always, but there's lots of
[1:05] Speaker 1: winners and losers, and yet it wouldn't be the worst
[1:08] Speaker 1: thing to have another little NFL ten Pole Day where
[1:10] Speaker 1: transactions happen. And yes, there was another one on Monday
[1:15] Speaker 1: after Nick Shook and I taped the Miles Garrett reaction pod.
[1:19] Speaker 1: It was AJ Brown finally going to the Patriots. So
[1:22] Speaker 1: here's how today's show gonna go. We're gonna talk about
[1:24] Speaker 1: AJ Brown. We've kind of put off having the full
[1:27] Speaker 1: throated conversation about AJ Brown to the Patriots until it
[1:30] Speaker 1: actually happened, And now it has actually happened. So we'll
[1:33] Speaker 1: talk about the AJ Brown trade, give it the love
[1:35] Speaker 1: that it deserves. But then we'll also talk to the
[1:38] Speaker 1: woman who literally wrote the story on the Miles Garrett
[1:41] Speaker 1: trade for the athletic follow up on some of the
[1:43] Speaker 1: sound we've been getting from both sides, and some more
[1:46] Speaker 1: behind the trade. Uh activity, you know, just a little
[1:49] Speaker 1: inside scoop is a fun one that Jordan has. Yeah,
[1:53] Speaker 1: one of the craziest trades of NFL history and one
[1:55] Speaker 1: of the most surprising, certainly. And then we'll do some
[1:58] Speaker 1: winners and losers at the end of the show, all
[2:00] Speaker 1: these trades. But yeah, let's start with AJ Brown. It
[2:03] Speaker 1: did finally happen. The reporting that we alluded to even
[2:06] Speaker 1: on Monday show and has been kind of talked about
[2:08] Speaker 1: for a little while now was right on the compensation
[2:12] Speaker 1: that it was a twenty twenty eight first round pick
[2:16] Speaker 1: going to the Philadelphia Eagles. It's also a twenty twenty
[2:22] Speaker 1: seven fifth round pick, so that was just a little
[2:25] Speaker 1: bit extra that we didn't know about. But essentially it's
[2:28] Speaker 1: basically just the first in a couple of years for
[2:31] Speaker 1: AJ Brown. I think the compensation is about right for
[2:35] Speaker 1: both sides. We can get into the money of it all,
[2:37] Speaker 1: which I find really interesting, but I sort of want
[2:40] Speaker 1: to start on the Patriots team build of it all.
[2:43] Speaker 1: There was this idea after the Super Bowl, Hey, we're
[2:45] Speaker 1: not going to try to rush things, Jordan. We're gonna
[2:49] Speaker 1: build this team the right way. You know, we don't
[2:52] Speaker 1: think we're necessarily just one piece of weight, Like we're
[2:54] Speaker 1: thinking long term. How do you think this AJ Brown
[2:57] Speaker 1: trade fits with that? And really how they've attached this
[3:00] Speaker 1: entire off season.
[3:01] Speaker 2: It does not fit with what you just said. Actually,
[3:04] Speaker 2: what it does fit with was a team that says
[3:06] Speaker 2: all of that because they understand the important importance of
[3:09] Speaker 2: not skipping steps and being patient in terms of especially
[3:12] Speaker 2: getting some of their depth a little bit more squared away,
[3:16] Speaker 2: fixing some problem areas, including the offensive line, fixing things
[3:19] Speaker 2: like the run game, getting a little bit more creativity
[3:23] Speaker 2: in their passing attack. But at the same time, it's
[3:25] Speaker 2: a team that's realized, oh yeah, Drake May going into
[3:30] Speaker 2: the third year of his relatively cheap rookie contract and
[3:34] Speaker 2: also wanting to maximize that window. So a team that
[3:37] Speaker 2: sort of is manifesting itself as wanting to be patient
[3:42] Speaker 2: behind the scenes, probably not very.
[3:44] Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not faulting them at all. I think they're
[3:48] Speaker 1: just telling us you're always saying, and you just said it. Well,
[3:51] Speaker 1: that teams tell us what they really think by how
[3:53] Speaker 1: they do an off season. So yeah, like you can
[3:57] Speaker 1: say we're not skipping steps, I don't think they need
[3:59] Speaker 1: to skip step. Dy had a time a cap space
[4:00] Speaker 1: for a second straight year. They couldn't spend it all
[4:02] Speaker 1: last year. But let's just take a step back and
[4:04] Speaker 1: look at what they did this offseason. They traded a
[4:08] Speaker 1: future first for aj Brown, who's been a top five
[4:11] Speaker 1: ish receiver for most of the last few years.
[4:14] Speaker 3: Maybe he wasn't at that level last year.
[4:15] Speaker 1: What we can get into that they also signed one
[4:18] Speaker 1: of the other top free agent wide receivers available in
[4:22] Speaker 1: Romeo Dobbs, who now slides in I think more comfortably
[4:25] Speaker 1: as a number two. So they completely replace the top
[4:28] Speaker 1: of their receiver room. They have a new one and
[4:31] Speaker 1: a two. They sign one of the more expensive blocking
[4:34] Speaker 1: tight ends in free agency in Julian Hill, who's now
[4:37] Speaker 1: out for the season. We can get to that if
[4:39] Speaker 1: we want a little more. Very disappointing from Mike Grable.
[4:42] Speaker 1: He talked about it on Tuesday. He suffered an injury
[4:45] Speaker 1: knee injury at practice. But they gave seven and a
[4:46] Speaker 1: half guaranteed for a blocking tight end. They were short
[4:50] Speaker 1: at edge. They gave twenty three and a half million
[4:53] Speaker 1: dollars guaranteed to an edge player. They sign one of
[4:57] Speaker 1: the most expensive guards and the guy I thought was
[5:00] Speaker 1: the best guard in free agency another week spot in
[5:02] Speaker 1: Elijah Vera Tucker. Draymont Jones was the edge that I'm
[5:05] Speaker 1: talking about. And you know, a young player goes out
[5:08] Speaker 1: at safety, they bring in a trustee veteran that they're
[5:10] Speaker 1: familiar with in Kevin Byern. That's an aggressive as hell
[5:13] Speaker 1: off season. It's one of the more aggressive off seasons
[5:16] Speaker 1: any team's had in the NFL, and reminds me a
[5:19] Speaker 1: lot of what they did a year ago, and to
[5:21] Speaker 1: be fair that what they did a year ago is
[5:23] Speaker 1: what helped them get to the Super Bowl.
[5:24] Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think too it's picking and choosing maybe
[5:29] Speaker 2: different spots injuries aside because those that especially to the
[5:32] Speaker 2: tight end, because their room was already a little bit
[5:34] Speaker 2: thinner now with some of the departures in free agency
[5:37] Speaker 2: and all of that. So this to me, was understanding
[5:41] Speaker 2: where they needed to be aggressive. There was a time
[5:46] Speaker 2: when Mike Rabel first took over, and you're looking at
[5:48] Speaker 2: this roster, and this roster was trying to recover from
[5:51] Speaker 2: those really awful last couple Bill Belichick drafts, and there
[5:56] Speaker 2: was just so much need to even understand where the
[6:00] Speaker 2: biggest problems.
[6:01] Speaker 4: Were about to be.
[6:02] Speaker 2: Right last year, they played enough football and played long
[6:05] Speaker 2: enough into the postseason to really see glaringly where those
[6:09] Speaker 2: issues that they were going to need to be aggressive.
[6:11] Speaker 2: If they did decide that they were going to try
[6:13] Speaker 2: to be aggressive, which when you have a quarterback like
[6:15] Speaker 2: Drake May, you must decide either you're going to be
[6:19] Speaker 2: aggressive or you're going to go for a build that
[6:22] Speaker 2: all also will probably include either a fifth year option
[6:25] Speaker 2: or an extension in terms of the length of that
[6:28] Speaker 2: type of a patient build quote unquote, they don't think
[6:32] Speaker 2: they have to quite do that.
[6:34] Speaker 3: Why bother patients? Yeah, overrated.
[6:37] Speaker 1: Look, Rabel had a sustained run in Tennessee, but it
[6:41] Speaker 1: didn't last forever. That's just how things go. You have
[6:45] Speaker 1: Drake May twenty four years old on his rookie contract here,
[6:49] Speaker 1: he's entering his third season. You mentioned, yeah, he'll be
[6:52] Speaker 1: a contract eligible after this season. I think finances, so
[6:56] Speaker 1: spend now while he's cheap, right. And one of the
[6:59] Speaker 1: things that whether it was Belichick or Craft or what
[7:04] Speaker 1: helped out Rabel and Elliot Wolf was they left so
[7:07] Speaker 1: much cap space for the next people that arrived. And
[7:09] Speaker 1: you mentioned the lack of good draft picks, like their
[7:12] Speaker 1: drafts haven't been that good with Rabel and Wolf either.
[7:15] Speaker 1: Like we'll see about last year. The first one was
[7:18] Speaker 1: a fiasco other than Drake Mate, which is a big
[7:20] Speaker 1: other then, but I could have picked Drake May third overall.
[7:23] Speaker 1: So I'm not gonna give them too much credit, but
[7:25] Speaker 1: that's it. I'm just saying everyone would have taken Drake
[7:29] Speaker 1: May third overall.
[7:30] Speaker 3: They have nothing else from that draft.
[7:32] Speaker 1: I actually went and looked because we're doing the GM Draft,
[7:34] Speaker 1: they've started to prep for it a little bit. A
[7:37] Speaker 1: lot going on at schools these days. I knew I
[7:39] Speaker 1: wouldn't the next couple of nights. So they only have
[7:41] Speaker 1: five Belichick starters left, and one of them they must
[7:46] Speaker 1: just made take it like a massive pay cut. So
[7:48] Speaker 1: they have really turned over their roster, and I think
[7:50] Speaker 1: a J Brown and Romeo dops specifically address one of
[7:52] Speaker 1: their biggest weaknesses and will help out their young quarterback.
[7:55] Speaker 1: The question I have for you is do you think,
[7:58] Speaker 1: at this stage of his career rear AJ.
[8:01] Speaker 3: Brown is that dude can be that dude?
[8:05] Speaker 1: I think it's a really interesting question with both of
[8:08] Speaker 1: these trades, and we'll get to Jared Verse.
[8:10] Speaker 3: To me, I think some of.
[8:12] Speaker 1: The trade evaluation has to come down to how good
[8:16] Speaker 1: is AJ Brown going to be? How good is Jared
[8:18] Speaker 1: Verse going to be? Is a question we can talk
[8:20] Speaker 1: about later. How good do you think AJ Brown is
[8:22] Speaker 1: going to.
[8:23] Speaker 4: Be in the short term? Still that dude?
[8:26] Speaker 2: And that's exactly what our entire conversation has been predicated
[8:29] Speaker 2: on so far in this show, is in the short term,
[8:33] Speaker 2: which is what they are clearly planning for to continue
[8:36] Speaker 2: to stay aggressive with Drake May on that rookie contract,
[8:39] Speaker 2: where they are spending aggressively and maybe drafting less aggressively,
[8:44] Speaker 2: trying to maybe troubleshoot their own draft classes and establish
[8:48] Speaker 2: data points with veterans that they like and then try
[8:52] Speaker 2: to draft according to those traits as they go. You
[8:54] Speaker 2: need to build that up in your internal scouting system.
[8:57] Speaker 4: You need to understand what.
[8:59] Speaker 2: Type of players you like, what you don't like, who fits,
[9:02] Speaker 2: who doesn't, traits, and how to put them together.
[9:05] Speaker 4: All of that takes time.
[9:06] Speaker 2: They're doing it by spending a lot of money and
[9:09] Speaker 2: being aggressive in these types of trades, and then their
[9:12] Speaker 2: drafts know their drafts are not where they should be,
[9:15] Speaker 2: but they probably are thinking about that too and how
[9:18] Speaker 2: they're going to need to draft very well on the
[9:21] Speaker 2: other side of whatever this push is. And so you
[9:24] Speaker 2: know my colleagues, sact Berman's really plugged in in Philadelphia
[9:27] Speaker 2: and he's talking about some of the consideration or the
[9:30] Speaker 2: conversation about you know, the next two years of AJ
[9:33] Speaker 2: Brown are probably going to be at the top of
[9:35] Speaker 2: the league, like really really really good. After that, it's
[9:39] Speaker 2: just not we just don't know, because he'll be what
[9:41] Speaker 2: thirty two at that point, and we just don't know.
[9:43] Speaker 3: Thirty or thirty one.
[9:45] Speaker 1: Yeah, he's twenty eight, he's sneaky young, Like I was
[9:47] Speaker 1: surprised when I looked he's about to turn twenty nine,
[9:49] Speaker 1: so it's his age twenty nine season. So yeah, it's
[9:52] Speaker 1: the twenty nine and thirty seasons that they are probably
[9:56] Speaker 1: hoping are really maximum.
[9:58] Speaker 2: And that fits year three of the quarter ex Rocky
[10:00] Speaker 2: deal with five potentially available to them. He would be
[10:03] Speaker 2: an extension before that, but you can backload that too.
[10:05] Speaker 2: So this all makes a lot of sense to me,
[10:08] Speaker 2: and again to your top of the show point does
[10:11] Speaker 2: point to a team that knows it's trying to max
[10:13] Speaker 2: out just this windows specifically, and good teams often think
[10:16] Speaker 2: in two to three year windows. There's no there's very few.
[10:20] Speaker 2: There are some either continuous builds because of you know,
[10:23] Speaker 2: organizational catastrophe, or there are some super long builds because
[10:28] Speaker 2: there's just been depleted staff and roster and all these things.
[10:32] Speaker 2: But good teams turn over two to every two to
[10:35] Speaker 2: three years, and they look at increments of time every
[10:37] Speaker 2: two to three years.
[10:38] Speaker 4: And that's what I think the Patriots are trying to do.
[10:40] Speaker 3: They are so deep at receiver.
[10:42] Speaker 5: Now.
[10:42] Speaker 1: I think Dan Orlowski got a little over his skis
[10:46] Speaker 1: on ESPN saying they're the deepest wide receiver group in
[10:48] Speaker 1: the league.
[10:48] Speaker 3: It's like, I don't know about that.
[10:50] Speaker 1: But they did draft Kyle Williams in the third round,
[10:52] Speaker 1: who I loved last year. I remember coming into the draft,
[10:55] Speaker 1: didn't do much. He was sort of the ultimate sacrificial
[10:59] Speaker 1: lamb as an act X receiver, just clearing, like running
[11:02] Speaker 1: clearing routes. As a smaller guy, it didn't really make sense.
[11:05] Speaker 1: Keishawn Boody was much better at that role actually being
[11:08] Speaker 1: an X receiver. He's still on the roster, so he's
[11:11] Speaker 1: essentially AJ Brown's backup. But they feel a little duplicative.
[11:17] Speaker 1: You have Kyle Williams as as a backup. You have
[11:20] Speaker 1: Matt Collins, who's one of the best sort of prototype
[11:23] Speaker 1: fourth receivers, like a really good special.
[11:25] Speaker 4: Teamer, training camp hero Matt, who's a good.
[11:28] Speaker 1: Backup to Mario Douglas, who's made a lot of plays
[11:30] Speaker 1: for them and was a guy that Drake May trusted
[11:33] Speaker 1: over the middle of the field.
[11:35] Speaker 3: And your Guyftim Chisholm, you know still there.
[11:37] Speaker 4: My god, Oh my god.
[11:39] Speaker 3: It's a lot of guys, not even.
[11:40] Speaker 1: It's a lot of guys, And we'll see Booty might
[11:42] Speaker 1: be available, as Booty sometimes is in a trade, but
[11:47] Speaker 1: there's no point in trading him right now. Maybe maybe
[11:51] Speaker 1: in training camp he's at the end of his his tenure.
[11:53] Speaker 4: Well, that's what they do.
[11:54] Speaker 2: That's what they did when they were configuring this roster too.
[11:57] Speaker 4: They waited.
[11:57] Speaker 2: They had this scene the names escaping right now, the
[12:00] Speaker 2: safety that was one of the guys that was a
[12:02] Speaker 2: holdover of the Belichick era.
[12:04] Speaker 4: As well as Dug Yes.
[12:05] Speaker 2: And they waited all the way into training camp and
[12:09] Speaker 2: they waited.
[12:09] Speaker 4: They waited forever because.
[12:11] Speaker 3: He got nothing for him. Again, to be clear, but
[12:13] Speaker 3: in terms.
[12:13] Speaker 2: Of their roster configuration, in terms of their roster configuration,
[12:17] Speaker 2: like it seems to me that this is kind of
[12:19] Speaker 2: how they prefer to operate.
[12:20] Speaker 1: Sure, and you can't really have too many receivers. They
[12:23] Speaker 1: have six I would say that are definitely NFL quality.
[12:27] Speaker 1: One of them could get hurt or you trade one
[12:30] Speaker 1: of them. We'll see. My friend Matt Harmon worried me
[12:34] Speaker 1: a little bit.
[12:35] Speaker 3: With his reception.
[12:36] Speaker 4: Matt Harmon just to be he used.
[12:38] Speaker 1: To work together. He was just starting out in fantasy.
[12:41] Speaker 1: I did his old podcast Backyard Banter when you were still.
[12:44] Speaker 2: In Like I have gone to breweries with and Josh Morris,
[12:48] Speaker 2: so I.
[12:48] Speaker 4: Think that counts fair.
[12:50] Speaker 1: He worried me writing up this trade, pointing out that
[12:55] Speaker 1: ag Brown is one of his all time favorite receivers
[12:58] Speaker 1: to chart to you know everything, and that he just
[13:00] Speaker 1: wasn't getting as open versus man coverage, especially deep down
[13:04] Speaker 1: the field last year. That he was still very much
[13:06] Speaker 1: a good receiver last year, like against man, like a
[13:10] Speaker 1: top twenty receiver, but not that elite wide receiver against
[13:14] Speaker 1: man coverage where he was like top one or two
[13:16] Speaker 1: getting open just the year before. I know, the argument's
[13:20] Speaker 1: going to be, like he wasn't happy there in Philadelphia,
[13:23] Speaker 1: and that certainly was a product of, you know, maybe
[13:27] Speaker 1: his diminished production. Then again, he was quite productive late
[13:31] Speaker 1: in the season. It's hard for me to imagine like
[13:33] Speaker 1: he's trying less like in the games where he dominated,
[13:37] Speaker 1: and he kind of dominated a sneaky amount of games
[13:39] Speaker 1: last year, like yeah, he killed the Bears, he killed
[13:40] Speaker 1: the like that Rams comeback was largely because they couldn't
[13:43] Speaker 1: cover him one on one, Like there were three or
[13:45] Speaker 1: four the Cowboys game where he was pretty awesome, and
[13:48] Speaker 1: so he's a little worried that the client has started.
[13:51] Speaker 3: He was saying flat out it started.
[13:53] Speaker 1: It's kind of just a question of like does it
[13:56] Speaker 1: go off a cliff he's not that old, or does
[13:59] Speaker 1: he maintain at this level where he's I think realistically,
[14:03] Speaker 1: maybe more like a top ten to fifteen receiver that
[14:05] Speaker 1: would be good enough. He brought up the name Alan
[14:09] Speaker 1: Robinson as a worry of a guy that he absolutely
[14:13] Speaker 1: loved and he saw the warning signs and then fell
[14:16] Speaker 1: off a cliff at a similar point, I don't think
[14:18] Speaker 1: A J.
[14:18] Speaker 3: Brown will be like that.
[14:19] Speaker 2: I have so much respect and an admiration for Matt's work.
[14:24] Speaker 2: It's a valuable resource and an ingenuity of his own
[14:28] Speaker 2: creation that is really awesome. However, I don't think you
[14:31] Speaker 2: can comp him to Alan Robinson. When Alan Robinson was struggling,
[14:36] Speaker 2: like separation was struggling even before the Rams decided to
[14:41] Speaker 2: sign him in free agency. That was the whole thing
[14:44] Speaker 2: with him was you know, this is so out of
[14:47] Speaker 2: their prototype, like why would they why would they do this?
[14:50] Speaker 2: And so you know sign signs, The signs are very
[14:53] Speaker 2: different here, I think, and I kind of look at
[14:56] Speaker 2: Howie Roseman and the reports especially early on about how
[15:00] Speaker 2: II the ask was from Howie Roseman, and to me,
[15:03] Speaker 2: that says a lot about where the Eagle's own internal
[15:05] Speaker 2: scouting thinks that he is or thought that he was.
[15:08] Speaker 2: And then ultimately, I mean, this thing dragged out for
[15:10] Speaker 2: so long you have to take less.
[15:12] Speaker 1: Let's talk about how Howie Roseman addressed it with the media.
[15:16] Speaker 1: I don't think he was on camera, so it was
[15:19] Speaker 1: just a lot of quotes and they were instructive on
[15:23] Speaker 1: how clearly it pained Howie Roseman.
[15:26] Speaker 3: This is not plan A.
[15:28] Speaker 1: They saw what aj Brown did for them as a franchise.
[15:33] Speaker 1: They just signed him to a big contract relatively recently,
[15:37] Speaker 1: so they're also taking a lot of financial pain to
[15:41] Speaker 1: have to trade him away.
[15:42] Speaker 3: That's why they waited for June. First.
[15:44] Speaker 1: He said they could have taken a pick in this draft,
[15:49] Speaker 1: and he more or less indicated that he could have
[15:51] Speaker 1: had the Patriots twenty twenty six first round pick. I
[15:55] Speaker 1: didn't say that exactly, but that's what I read into it.
[15:58] Speaker 1: But it wasn't worth it to them because they would
[16:01] Speaker 1: have had to had so much more salary cap pain.
[16:05] Speaker 1: Now you can spread that pain over a couple years
[16:08] Speaker 1: and you're getting worse.
[16:09] Speaker 3: And he acknowledged that.
[16:12] Speaker 1: I felt better as a Patriots fan of how much
[16:16] Speaker 1: it seemed to pain.
[16:17] Speaker 3: And I don't think he was just saying that.
[16:19] Speaker 1: I do think it just became untenable Aj Brown specifically
[16:25] Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts with this team, with this build, it just
[16:28] Speaker 1: wasn't It just wasn't gonna work vibes wise for another year.
[16:31] Speaker 3: It was a little less about the football.
[16:33] Speaker 4: Yeah, I think.
[16:34] Speaker 2: I mean, they clearly valued him so much, but there's
[16:39] Speaker 2: an entire team construction and dynamic that they also had
[16:42] Speaker 2: to think about, and then also the happiness of a
[16:44] Speaker 2: player they may really like and want to keep around,
[16:47] Speaker 2: but it clearly wanted to be elsewhere. So I mean
[16:51] Speaker 2: all of those I'm not saying that effects necessarily his
[16:55] Speaker 2: play on the field.
[16:55] Speaker 4: It might. We talked about this with Dexter Lawrence as well.
[16:59] Speaker 2: There's just all always, more often than not, with these
[17:03] Speaker 2: premier players. To me, there's a honeymoon bump usually yes,
[17:09] Speaker 2: at the new place Ashley wide receiver, and I feel like,
[17:11] Speaker 2: and if you have a really good quarterback also, it
[17:14] Speaker 2: could last to more than one year.
[17:17] Speaker 4: It could last a couple of years.
[17:18] Speaker 2: So I, you know, I'm pretty optimistic about this, and
[17:20] Speaker 2: I think how he knows that too, about that bump, uh,
[17:24] Speaker 2: and because he's enjoyed it with some players as well,
[17:27] Speaker 2: and so I just I don't know.
[17:29] Speaker 4: I think that's part of it too.
[17:30] Speaker 1: I went to watch aj Brown film from last year
[17:33] Speaker 1: and there are some great plays down the field of
[17:36] Speaker 1: him dunking on.
[17:36] Speaker 4: Yeah. I still think he's a top receiver.
[17:38] Speaker 1: I tend to agree about that bump, and he can
[17:42] Speaker 1: look at the player that he has most reminded me
[17:45] Speaker 1: as a pro. I've always thought was his closest comp
[17:48] Speaker 1: because there's just almost not any that have come along.
[17:52] Speaker 1: He's not at Terrell Owens' level, but I think he's
[17:56] Speaker 1: been more of a leader than Terrell Owens. Everyone here
[18:00] Speaker 1: in Philadelphia who talk about their experiences, his teammates and
[18:04] Speaker 1: the players, I don't think his leadership even last season
[18:08] Speaker 1: was a problem for them. He said on Monday in
[18:13] Speaker 1: an interview with Maria Taylor We're going to listen to
[18:16] Speaker 1: in a second, that he did regret taking anything to
[18:20] Speaker 1: social media, and he said he learned from that, but
[18:23] Speaker 1: he has zero regrets about how he handled everything through
[18:28] Speaker 1: the regular media, where he sometimes was vocal and he said,
[18:32] Speaker 1: I was a captain trying to hold my team accountable.
[18:34] Speaker 1: And if you go through the rest of the locker room,
[18:36] Speaker 1: he doesn't think anyone would have any problem with the
[18:40] Speaker 1: type of leadership. And I think that's an asset of
[18:42] Speaker 1: maybe why the Patriots wanted him.
[18:43] Speaker 2: Ironically, the b reporters have gone through the entire locker
[18:46] Speaker 2: room and truly, other than there was clear a separation
[18:51] Speaker 2: of friendship or just like drifting apart with the quarterback.
[18:54] Speaker 2: Like other than that, you could not find. And even then,
[18:59] Speaker 2: he could not fault his ability. He could not fault
[19:02] Speaker 2: his Uh, they're they're all on the same page in
[19:05] Speaker 2: terms of team goals like and and so you know,
[19:08] Speaker 2: they went through over the last two years, the whole
[19:11] Speaker 2: beat's gone through and tried to find anything something and
[19:14] Speaker 2: they and they can't, you know, And I think that's
[19:16] Speaker 2: really telling. A. J.
[19:17] Speaker 1: Brown spoke with Maria Taylor from his house. The setup
[19:23] Speaker 1: was strange. We'll get to that in a second, but
[19:24] Speaker 1: you just talked about the friendship between A. J. Brown
[19:28] Speaker 1: and Jalen Hurts. Brown spoke at length about that to
[19:32] Speaker 1: Maria Taylor.
[19:35] Speaker 6: Nothing happened, Nothing happened you know, you know, people just
[19:39] Speaker 6: grow apart. That didn't happen between me and him or
[19:42] Speaker 6: our families, wives, anything, nothing like that ever happened, you know,
[19:47] Speaker 6: you know, but life happens, you know, and you know,
[19:50] Speaker 6: you just look up sometimes and you just you find
[19:52] Speaker 6: yourself drinking away, you know, And and that's fine. And
[19:56] Speaker 6: I think both parties accepted the.
[20:00] Speaker 4: It's a serious conversation for those listening.
[20:04] Speaker 2: There's a very well placed, beautiful like vase with a
[20:08] Speaker 2: bowl on it full of potpourri or orange peels or something.
[20:12] Speaker 2: And I just had that architectural digest to Coda Johnson,
[20:17] Speaker 2: I love limes. Okay, in my head, I doubt you're
[20:21] Speaker 2: familiar with me, not familiar listeners. The listeners will know
[20:24] Speaker 2: about this one. It's it's a very I Love Limes moment.
[20:28] Speaker 1: Shout out to Maria Taylor and the seven PM and
[20:30] Speaker 1: Brooklyn crew that's usually Carmelo Anthony's podcast, who clearly got there.
[20:35] Speaker 3: You know.
[20:35] Speaker 1: Maybe it was late. Notice they talked about there was
[20:39] Speaker 1: nothing in the house because A. J. Brown is moving.
[20:41] Speaker 1: AG Brown literally was in Foxborough I think later that
[20:45] Speaker 1: day taking his physical.
[20:46] Speaker 3: He is on the field.
[20:48] Speaker 1: As of Tuesday, there's some beautiful b roll that if
[20:52] Speaker 1: you're watching on YouTube, you can see of just aj
[20:55] Speaker 1: Brown jogging and talking to Rabel. The Patriots are sending
[20:59] Speaker 1: out social of him catching one handed passes. He's wearing
[21:03] Speaker 1: the number one. You know, Jalen hurts his number. No, no,
[21:06] Speaker 1: I'm sure it's nothing.
[21:07] Speaker 3: To do with that.
[21:08] Speaker 1: That's what That's what I said, wide receiver one at
[21:10] Speaker 1: the top, that that's what he's going with now now
[21:13] Speaker 1: that he is in New England.
[21:15] Speaker 2: There's hey, look, that is a some b roll of
[21:18] Speaker 2: what Summer calling the deepest receivers Room.
[21:21] Speaker 3: Yes, there you gokey.
[21:23] Speaker 4: One thing about Maria Taylor.
[21:24] Speaker 2: She's always going to get the interview and I can't
[21:26] Speaker 2: believe they got that. They got that done in such
[21:29] Speaker 2: short time, Like that's pretty incredible.
[21:31] Speaker 1: He was a little circumspect and sad for a guy
[21:34] Speaker 1: who clearly welcomed her into his home, like not always
[21:39] Speaker 1: giving that long answers about the Philadelphia experience.
[21:44] Speaker 3: He said he was grieving. I think it was difficult.
[21:48] Speaker 1: He also made it clear that by the end of
[21:50] Speaker 1: last season, he said, that's when I decided, But he
[21:53] Speaker 1: just was like I wanted my agent to handle it.
[21:56] Speaker 1: But clearly you know he he wanted out at the
[22:01] Speaker 1: end of last season, but it was a little distracting
[22:05] Speaker 1: because they were doing the interview right in front of
[22:10] Speaker 1: a carpet that said Patriots man Cave and it was
[22:14] Speaker 1: like a ten x twelve foot carpet Patriots man Cave.
[22:18] Speaker 1: And she's like, well, that's you got that quickly and
[22:21] Speaker 1: he was like, no, I've had it for like years.
[22:25] Speaker 1: She's like, you've had a Patriots man cave carpet in
[22:28] Speaker 1: your basement for like three years.
[22:30] Speaker 3: And he's just like, I'm just ride or die Patriots. God,
[22:35] Speaker 3: I love it.
[22:36] Speaker 1: But usually you see professionals kind of give up the fandom,
[22:38] Speaker 1: and she, to her credit, did a good job digging
[22:42] Speaker 1: into that. And he's just always been a Patriots fan.
[22:45] Speaker 1: His older cousin was a Patriots fan, and he said
[22:49] Speaker 1: that was kind of his role model in life, was
[22:51] Speaker 1: his older cousin, and so he just followed it. AJ
[22:53] Speaker 1: Brown posted on Instagram pictures of him wearing Tom Brady's
[23:00] Speaker 1: jersey as a youth, as a baby essentially, but then
[23:04] Speaker 1: everyone realized like it was with the wrong uniforms and
[23:07] Speaker 1: it was just Ai.
[23:08] Speaker 3: So it was like a J Brown.
[23:11] Speaker 1: Putting Ai uniforms on himself and then posting that just
[23:15] Speaker 1: all is just a little strange, but but he does
[23:19] Speaker 1: have the bona fides because he talked about how like
[23:21] Speaker 1: when the helmet catch happened, like he got so upset
[23:25] Speaker 1: that his dad had to like slap him upside the
[23:27] Speaker 1: head and be like, start to act right. You're not
[23:29] Speaker 1: acting like there's other people around you. And he says
[23:32] Speaker 1: he kicked his entire family out of the out of
[23:34] Speaker 1: the house, and that he's been living and dying with
[23:37] Speaker 1: the Patriots fortunes ever since. He spoke about it from
[23:42] Speaker 1: Foxborough on Tuesday.
[23:46] Speaker 7: Just talking to my mom and I was like, man,
[23:48] Speaker 7: I'm still in awe. You know, I'm trying to adjust,
[23:51] Speaker 7: and you know, walking up the heel with the with
[23:54] Speaker 7: the uniform on, I was like, man, this is uh,
[23:57] Speaker 7: this is this is this is this is real.
[23:59] Speaker 6: You know.
[24:00] Speaker 7: And I caught myself one point in practice wasn't paying
[24:05] Speaker 7: attention because I was like, I'm a Patriot, you know,
[24:09] Speaker 7: you know, and just trying to take it all in
[24:12] Speaker 7: as much as I can obviously, you know, you know,
[24:15] Speaker 7: I got back to work quickly. But he's just his
[24:18] Speaker 7: loves to it, and I'm like I said, I'm enjoying it.
[24:20] Speaker 7: It's obviously I know this ain't heaven, but you know
[24:23] Speaker 7: it's close to it.
[24:25] Speaker 3: This ain't heaven, but it's close to it. About Foxborough,
[24:28] Speaker 3: let's go.
[24:29] Speaker 2: Yeah, of course you're trying to like gauge his like
[24:32] Speaker 2: true fandom credentials as a Patriots fan, Greg, But you
[24:36] Speaker 2: know what he looked like and listeners, I know, if
[24:40] Speaker 2: you go watch it on YouTube, he looked serene. That's
[24:43] Speaker 2: what he looked like to me as he was talking
[24:45] Speaker 2: about this has been a real journey for him. I
[24:48] Speaker 2: think people are seeing the results of this and forgetting
[24:52] Speaker 2: about just how freaking long all of this dragged out,
[24:55] Speaker 2: and probably the mental stress of it and trying to
[24:59] Speaker 2: come departmentalized and trying to not maybe pay as much
[25:02] Speaker 2: attention to all the things that all the talkings on
[25:05] Speaker 2: around you. And it's just been a main topic of
[25:08] Speaker 2: most news cycles for months and you.
[25:11] Speaker 1: Know, for three years if you really think about it.
[25:13] Speaker 1: Really the first season, I mean his season, that season
[25:16] Speaker 1: was good, but the team was a total mess when
[25:18] Speaker 1: they collapsed after the super Bowl. And then if you
[25:21] Speaker 1: remember the super Bowl season that they won't that's where
[25:24] Speaker 1: he breaks the book out like there was tons of drama.
[25:26] Speaker 2: How could we forget about the Leadership book?
[25:31] Speaker 1: Yes, so that's been really a story for a couple
[25:35] Speaker 1: of years. And the friendship with Jalen Hurts thing was
[25:38] Speaker 1: weird because when it was sold to us, and I
[25:40] Speaker 1: think there was a lot of truth through it that
[25:41] Speaker 1: he was really close friends with Jalen Hurts and I
[25:44] Speaker 1: understand him not going into detail about that, but just
[25:47] Speaker 1: saying they drifted apart. And you know, professional friendship, you
[25:52] Speaker 1: know you got to make that work.
[25:54] Speaker 3: How are we doing?
[25:55] Speaker 1: You know, friendship profession it's different, like you know someone
[25:57] Speaker 1: from Afar, then you start working.
[25:59] Speaker 3: Together and then you learn the real you know, real person.
[26:02] Speaker 2: I've told you this in person. Sometimes you shouldn't meet
[26:06] Speaker 2: your heroes and sometimes you should. And you're a person.
[26:08] Speaker 2: I'm really glad I met.
[26:09] Speaker 3: Okay, thank you. I'm glad it was.
[26:13] Speaker 1: Not too much there. I was like, I set you
[26:15] Speaker 1: up a shot at me. No, I wanted you to
[26:17] Speaker 1: take a quick shot at me. Yeah, look, aj Brown.
[26:20] Speaker 1: He went into his mental health, which he's spoken openly about,
[26:24] Speaker 1: especially during that Super Bowl season which they won, which
[26:26] Speaker 1: has been difficult for him, and when Maria Taylor asked
[26:29] Speaker 1: him about it. He kind of indicated he felt like
[26:33] Speaker 1: he did keep that very step. He kept himself in
[26:36] Speaker 1: a good place, but also he had to kind of
[26:39] Speaker 1: put himself first in a way, which was difficult. And
[26:42] Speaker 1: I think it's the reason that he's in New England
[26:46] Speaker 1: right now. One thing that Howie said that I didn't
[26:50] Speaker 1: want to forget about was just about the pick that
[26:53] Speaker 1: they got.
[26:53] Speaker 3: And I talked about this with Schuck.
[26:56] Speaker 1: We don't need to linger on it, but he said
[26:58] Speaker 1: for us to take a twenty twenty six pit, that's
[27:00] Speaker 1: a late first cap, consequences, etc. We've always been in
[27:04] Speaker 1: the mindset that a pick is a pick, a first
[27:07] Speaker 1: round pick is a first round pick.
[27:09] Speaker 3: It doesn't matter.
[27:10] Speaker 1: Teams are still going to be playing football in twenty
[27:13] Speaker 1: twenty eight.
[27:14] Speaker 3: And that's how I have always thought about it too.
[27:15] Speaker 1: I've always thought it's weird that everyone says, well, it's
[27:18] Speaker 1: not worth as much if it's one year out, it's
[27:20] Speaker 1: kind of worth like a second round pick.
[27:21] Speaker 3: No, it's not. It's worth a first round pick as
[27:24] Speaker 3: long as you're employed. This is stupid. How he agrees
[27:28] Speaker 3: with me.
[27:29] Speaker 2: Yes, yes, and you know, like he also that's what
[27:33] Speaker 2: people with job continuity can say yeah, also exactly, so
[27:36] Speaker 2: they're you know, good for him.
[27:37] Speaker 1: He's right, that's someone who's thinking truly long term.
[27:43] Speaker 2: Did you gather yourself for there? You want to tell
[27:45] Speaker 2: the listeners? What what?
[27:48] Speaker 3: A little spittle came out?
[27:49] Speaker 2: You're just really excited about this. I'm just so happy
[27:51] Speaker 2: for you. I'm really happy for you. This is your moment.
[27:54] Speaker 1: So I think I think it's fair compensation for both sides.
[27:56] Speaker 1: I think how we did a good job getting the money,
[27:59] Speaker 1: I mean the pick that he got. One thing I
[28:01] Speaker 1: did want to point out was just the contract. He
[28:04] Speaker 1: is due about thirty two million dollars this year. Essentially
[28:07] Speaker 1: they only add him for one year. It's more likely
[28:09] Speaker 1: a two year, fifty ish million dollar contract, which is
[28:13] Speaker 1: twenty five per year. One of the benefits that both
[28:17] Speaker 1: the Rams and the Patriots had in these trades was
[28:21] Speaker 1: they these veterans, it's a little rare, are pretty recently
[28:24] Speaker 1: just signed big contracts, so they don't have to sign
[28:27] Speaker 1: new ones, and the cap space is kind of crazy.
[28:31] Speaker 1: If AJ Brown balls out, maybe he gets a new contract.
[28:34] Speaker 1: But the cap figures of what they are paying Aj
[28:37] Speaker 1: Brown seven million dollars this year, eleven next year, seventeen
[28:42] Speaker 1: point eight the year after that, and twenty three the
[28:44] Speaker 1: year after that, things will change. But in terms of
[28:47] Speaker 1: cap figures, they're paying thirty six million dollars for a J.
[28:50] Speaker 3: Brown over three years.
[28:51] Speaker 1: So I think that's part of the pain that how
[28:54] Speaker 1: he Roseman feels that he's.
[28:56] Speaker 3: Paying that rate.
[28:57] Speaker 4: They've been doing that right, He kind.
[28:59] Speaker 1: Of paid the front end, So I think that plays
[29:02] Speaker 1: into it if you think that the Patriots gave up
[29:04] Speaker 1: too much shy.
[29:05] Speaker 2: I also think part of the problem is when this
[29:07] Speaker 2: initially leaked, all of the chatter about him wanting two
[29:11] Speaker 2: first round picks, or there's a sky high asking price
[29:13] Speaker 2: and all this stuff. Some of that leads to us
[29:16] Speaker 2: maybe thinking this is less of a good value of
[29:20] Speaker 2: a trader. He's receiving less good value in return. I
[29:22] Speaker 2: think this is fine. I think this is about what Yes,
[29:25] Speaker 2: you would think a twenty eight, twenty nine year old,
[29:27] Speaker 2: even a great receiver would get a first rounder and
[29:31] Speaker 2: then a middle to late late middle pick. Like I
[29:33] Speaker 2: to me, that seems fine.
[29:35] Speaker 3: So let's put a pin in this.
[29:37] Speaker 1: We'll do some winners and losers at the end so
[29:39] Speaker 1: we can get our last thoughts out here for the
[29:41] Speaker 1: day on AJ Brown. But let's talk Miles Garrett after
[29:44] Speaker 1: the break. But as we go to break, I love lines.
[29:48] Speaker 3: Can we have some sound? Can we have some sound?
[29:51] Speaker 3: Eric proverts?
[29:53] Speaker 7: Obviously I notice I haven't, but you know it's close.
[29:55] Speaker 5: To it is this seven.
[30:07] Speaker 1: No, it's the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio. My friend Jordan Rodrigue,
[30:13] Speaker 1: who's just been waiting for me to stop honking about
[30:17] Speaker 1: the Patriots so she can get to her banger. The
[30:24] Speaker 1: inside story of the Miles Garrett trade to the Los
[30:29] Speaker 1: Angeles Rams.
[30:30] Speaker 3: A lot of directions that we can go, and we
[30:32] Speaker 3: should go.
[30:32] Speaker 4: Where do you want to start?
[30:34] Speaker 3: I think how you.
[30:36] Speaker 1: Started the article, which was how long of a process?
[30:43] Speaker 1: This was this offseason specifically a multi month process, but
[30:47] Speaker 1: even going back a multi year process, the RAMS fascination
[30:50] Speaker 1: with Miles Garrett.
[30:51] Speaker 2: Yeah, And also I want to start by saying this
[30:53] Speaker 2: was really fun to report on because this is one
[30:56] Speaker 2: of those things where you have a series of hunches
[30:59] Speaker 2: and ins and you start putting together puzzle pieces over
[31:03] Speaker 2: a lot of time and keeping all your notes on
[31:07] Speaker 2: like even you read in the story, even interactions between
[31:11] Speaker 2: people that you see that normally you wouldn't sort of clock,
[31:14] Speaker 2: but seemed to kind of be relevant in that moment.
[31:17] Speaker 2: And then we're beyond and you know the Rams. When
[31:21] Speaker 2: Miles Garrett's contract got adjusted. This was in late March.
[31:24] Speaker 2: This was about five days a weeksh before the NFL
[31:28] Speaker 2: League meetings in Phoenix, Arizona this year. It sort of
[31:32] Speaker 2: sents a signal out across the league, as we thought
[31:34] Speaker 2: at the time, and we had a lot of fun
[31:36] Speaker 2: talking about it at the time about how people were
[31:40] Speaker 2: going to think that he was tradeable. He had previously
[31:43] Speaker 2: the year before he had requested a trade and then
[31:46] Speaker 2: you know, that didn't happen, and stead he got the contract.
[31:48] Speaker 2: He had the no trade clause in the contract, which
[31:51] Speaker 2: was a real power lever for him. And but that
[31:54] Speaker 2: move in itself, which was you know, we had a
[31:57] Speaker 2: lot of fun with, but also the league was very
[31:59] Speaker 2: much talking about out and at that point, the Rams
[32:02] Speaker 2: among other teams started calling the Browns right and asking,
[32:06] Speaker 2: you know, what are your terms, what do you want?
[32:08] Speaker 2: What is he available? Those kinds of things. To my understanding,
[32:12] Speaker 2: Andrew Berry's fending off a lot of these calls. Doesn't
[32:14] Speaker 2: want to trade him at the time. But it's interesting
[32:18] Speaker 2: because then they go to league meetings, and the Rams
[32:23] Speaker 2: were really really supportive of a draft picks proposal submitted
[32:28] Speaker 2: by the Browns, and that Andrew Berry sort of presented
[32:32] Speaker 2: the case for where teams should be able to trade
[32:35] Speaker 2: draft picks five years in advance instead of three, which
[32:39] Speaker 2: is what's currently allowed. And Sean mcvay's on the Competition Committee.
[32:42] Speaker 2: Sea McVay is like all public about how the rules
[32:45] Speaker 2: never going to pass and hell no, and it's just
[32:47] Speaker 2: not it's going to be dead in the water. But
[32:49] Speaker 2: the Rams themselves were very supportive of this and on
[32:52] Speaker 2: the record being very supportive of this proposal. And so
[32:56] Speaker 2: these two teams start really paling around. I'm watching this.
[33:00] Speaker 2: I'm watching Sean McVay and Andrew Berry joke around with
[33:03] Speaker 2: each other and sort of rib each other as they're
[33:04] Speaker 2: walking into a privileged session.
[33:06] Speaker 3: And that stands out to you seeing Andrew Berry smile.
[33:09] Speaker 4: Well, that's the other thing I have to say it.
[33:12] Speaker 2: These are things that stand out to me because if
[33:14] Speaker 2: you remember, and I know you do, leading all the
[33:17] Speaker 2: way up to this year, the Browns had pissed a
[33:22] Speaker 2: lot of people off because of that contract that they
[33:24] Speaker 2: gave to Shaun Watson, and so No, it was not
[33:28] Speaker 2: a regular occurrence to see the Browns palling around with
[33:31] Speaker 2: other teams. It was not a regular occurrence to see
[33:34] Speaker 2: like that actually happened where the Competition Committee, one of
[33:37] Speaker 2: the guys on the Competition Committee and Sean Mavay, who's
[33:40] Speaker 2: basically being put on all the talk shows to talk
[33:44] Speaker 2: about the Competition Committee making a beeline for Andrew Berry
[33:48] Speaker 2: as if they're old they're longtime old pals, and so
[33:51] Speaker 2: it just and the chatter about Miles at the time,
[33:54] Speaker 2: it just started sticking with me. And then so come
[33:57] Speaker 2: to find out, you know, through this reporting process, that
[34:00] Speaker 2: is when it all started, was during that two week window,
[34:04] Speaker 2: and then the rams just started going after it, just
[34:07] Speaker 2: hitting the gas less sneed and Andrew Berry would just
[34:09] Speaker 2: bounce terms back and forth all the time for weeks.
[34:13] Speaker 2: They would just be constantly running ideas off of each other.
[34:16] Speaker 2: And it built from there to the point Greg where
[34:18] Speaker 2: they had a really good idea that this was going
[34:21] Speaker 2: to get done before the first round of the.
[34:23] Speaker 1: Draft, which is fascinating and I think provides context to
[34:27] Speaker 1: the Ty Simpson pick. Yeah, it does, and we can
[34:30] Speaker 1: get into that a little bit. Look, gms Lie, they
[34:34] Speaker 1: have to lie. There are certain times when they have
[34:37] Speaker 1: to lie more than others. Andrew Berry was asked at
[34:40] Speaker 1: the owner's meeting about Miles Garrett and said, I don't
[34:43] Speaker 1: want to waste any more breath about it. Miles Garrett
[34:46] Speaker 1: is a Brown for life. He pretty much just lied there.
[34:50] Speaker 1: That's fine. I'm not sure why he's still lying. This
[34:54] Speaker 1: was him on Tuesday.
[34:57] Speaker 8: We weren't Miles wasn't on the training block, we weren't
[35:00] Speaker 8: auctioning him off.
[35:02] Speaker 4: This is not something that was a primary consideration going
[35:05] Speaker 4: to the spring.
[35:05] Speaker 1: You wouldn't change the contract if you weren't trying to
[35:08] Speaker 1: make him available period, full stop.
[35:10] Speaker 3: And even saying no, no, no for.
[35:13] Speaker 1: A while up until like late March, which is in
[35:15] Speaker 1: that late It's just a negotiating strategy. You're absolutely open
[35:20] Speaker 1: to the idea of Miles Garrett being traded.
[35:22] Speaker 2: There are like seven loopholes he can hide behind here too,
[35:25] Speaker 2: which is why gms say these types of things. After
[35:28] Speaker 2: a beloved fan favorite player and in this case absolutely
[35:32] Speaker 2: alien superstar does get traded away, one of them being
[35:36] Speaker 2: Miles Garrett had a no trade clause which he waved
[35:39] Speaker 2: because he wanted to come to Los Angeles. You don't
[35:41] Speaker 2: just accidentally wave your no trade clause right knowing it
[35:45] Speaker 2: was Los Angeles making the offer. Waves no trade clause
[35:48] Speaker 2: comes to LA. He could hide behind that, oh, because
[35:50] Speaker 2: he has a no trade clause. There's no way we
[35:52] Speaker 2: could even entertain the idea. You can hide behind the
[35:55] Speaker 2: fact that, yeah, he was shutting teams down at the
[35:57] Speaker 2: beginning of this, they weren't sitting there and dialing out themselves.
[36:04] Speaker 3: You do what you want to trade so much.
[36:05] Speaker 4: But that is the loophole exactly.
[36:06] Speaker 2: But the signal was sent already across the league, right
[36:09] Speaker 2: league people were talking about this contract adjustment. The signal
[36:13] Speaker 2: had been sent. But you know, GMS Greg, he can
[36:17] Speaker 2: hide behind that loophole because I'm not actually dialing the
[36:20] Speaker 2: numbers on my phone. I'm receiving calls because of this
[36:22] Speaker 2: thing that we did in the contract.
[36:24] Speaker 1: And I think Browns fans are thrilled is the wrong word,
[36:29] Speaker 1: but they got a really good return, and I guess.
[36:33] Speaker 3: I follow it.
[36:34] Speaker 2: I have Jared Verse. I'm just saying he is not
[36:35] Speaker 2: Miles Garrett. Nobody's saying that they are going to that
[36:38] Speaker 2: fan base is going to absolutely love Jared Verse.
[36:41] Speaker 1: Okay, let's get into that then I misspoke on Monday's pod.
[36:45] Speaker 1: I was really annoyed at myself. I always think of
[36:47] Speaker 1: Verse as a second round pick because they never have
[36:49] Speaker 1: any first round picks. But he was a first round pick.
[36:51] Speaker 1: So it's a fifth year option which will be available
[36:54] Speaker 1: to the Browns, which means he has three years left
[36:57] Speaker 1: on his contract.
[36:58] Speaker 5: Now.
[36:58] Speaker 1: They could still give him a new contra tracked after
[37:01] Speaker 1: this season, but holding his contractual rights for the next
[37:05] Speaker 1: three seasons I think makes them even more valuable. And
[37:08] Speaker 1: I do buy the idea that Jared Verse in like
[37:13] Speaker 1: a world where he was available in a trade where
[37:16] Speaker 1: the Browns just wanted him or some teams wanted him,
[37:18] Speaker 1: that he would be worth a first plus. I don't
[37:21] Speaker 1: know if it's two firsts or it's a first and
[37:23] Speaker 1: a third. But to get a player who when I
[37:26] Speaker 1: made my Edge Rusher rankings I had tenth overall, I
[37:29] Speaker 1: think that's a fair I think he is not a
[37:33] Speaker 1: top I don't know if he'll ever be a top five.
[37:35] Speaker 1: He needs to develop, but he fits into a larger
[37:39] Speaker 1: plan and he is a difference maker, and he's from.
[37:41] Speaker 3: Dayton like man. He really checks a lot of boxes.
[37:44] Speaker 1: And you, as you say, like you think the Browns
[37:45] Speaker 1: are going to love him, So it makes sense financially
[37:48] Speaker 1: and from the team build perspective when it comes to.
[37:50] Speaker 2: The Browns great personality too. It's a young they're really
[37:53] Speaker 2: leaning into for the most part. There's still some veterans there,
[37:56] Speaker 2: Denzel Ward being one of them, but for the most
[37:58] Speaker 2: part they are leaning into a younger core and he's
[38:02] Speaker 2: perfect for that. He is he is, He fears nothing,
[38:06] Speaker 2: and you'll hear him definitely on the field, and he
[38:09] Speaker 2: plays like he fears nothing. And I think Brown's fans
[38:12] Speaker 2: will Rams fans certainly appreciate it. Browns fans will absolutely
[38:15] Speaker 2: appreciate that as well. The thing here, though, is it
[38:19] Speaker 2: wasn't necessarily that Jared Verse was on the table right away.
[38:22] Speaker 2: Like I said, these guys go back and forth on
[38:24] Speaker 2: these terms for a long time, and even up until
[38:27] Speaker 2: the end of it, it was very clear that Browns
[38:29] Speaker 2: were not moving off of if you're not going to
[38:32] Speaker 2: give us this pick, hol that would be if you
[38:36] Speaker 2: don't send a player, you know, you have to send
[38:38] Speaker 2: more picks, obviously, and if that's not going to happen,
[38:41] Speaker 2: you have to send a player. And it's you know,
[38:43] Speaker 2: they really they've got a lot of young edge rushers
[38:46] Speaker 2: on that team on the rams, and so you're you're
[38:49] Speaker 2: thinking about if you're Sean McVay and and you're less sneed,
[38:52] Speaker 2: you're thinking about the pick application or the pick translation
[38:57] Speaker 2: to what which player would would give them the different
[39:00] Speaker 2: sliding scale of what the pick and player combination would be,
[39:02] Speaker 2: if that makes sense, like you're looking at the total
[39:04] Speaker 2: equation at the end. And so that was a real
[39:08] Speaker 2: point of angst internally.
[39:09] Speaker 4: I do know that.
[39:10] Speaker 1: But you said they had a feel that it was
[39:12] Speaker 1: going to happen before the draft, which if we're to
[39:14] Speaker 1: believe Andrew Berry, which maybe we shouldn't what he said Tuesday,
[39:18] Speaker 1: because they asked them, well, when did things change, and
[39:19] Speaker 1: they said, well, when Verse was in it. Once Verse
[39:21] Speaker 1: was in it then, which kind of indicates to me
[39:24] Speaker 1: Vers was probably on the table before the draft.
[39:27] Speaker 2: Multiple players were on the table before the draft. The
[39:30] Speaker 2: fact that he was one of them is huge.
[39:32] Speaker 3: I'm gonna guess I'm not going to ask you to
[39:34] Speaker 3: do you tell me.
[39:35] Speaker 2: He was absolutely top choice, like priority, They really really
[39:40] Speaker 2: wanted him.
[39:41] Speaker 1: Byron Young would be the other logical one because he's
[39:44] Speaker 1: a good player at the same position.
[39:47] Speaker 3: I don't know if he was.
[39:48] Speaker 4: And I think too.
[39:49] Speaker 2: It's interesting because they this was basically done Saturday, right,
[39:54] Speaker 2: and then there was sort of a cooling off period
[39:57] Speaker 2: of like.
[39:59] Speaker 4: Are we really doing this kind of a thing.
[40:03] Speaker 2: And there was such a similar to the almost similar
[40:09] Speaker 2: to the aj Brown trade, with how many weeks and
[40:12] Speaker 2: months that it dragged on. This was just privately, it
[40:16] Speaker 2: was almost like a when it actually happened. Internally, it
[40:20] Speaker 2: is almost like a Okay, I guess this happened. You know,
[40:23] Speaker 2: they are all ready for it and waiting for it
[40:25] Speaker 2: for so long. Just the final the final terms of
[40:28] Speaker 2: it had to be worked out. It was I would
[40:32] Speaker 2: say almost inevitable by the draft that Miles Garrett was
[40:36] Speaker 2: going to be a Los Angeles.
[40:37] Speaker 3: With the Eagles ever involved.
[40:41] Speaker 4: You'd have to ask the Browns.
[40:42] Speaker 2: I don't know, because but I do know that one
[40:44] Speaker 2: of the reasons they wanted to keep it so quiet,
[40:46] Speaker 2: I mean, obviously, is so there weren't more teams that
[40:50] Speaker 2: were trying to get in the mix on this. However,
[40:52] Speaker 2: I'll also say this, people are really trying to assess
[40:55] Speaker 2: and evaluate this entire thing without factoring in the no
[40:58] Speaker 2: trade clause. Myles Garrett and Sean McVay had previously encountered
[41:03] Speaker 2: each other just in passing after a game at Sofi
[41:07] Speaker 2: Stadium the Rams won.
[41:09] Speaker 1: You know, oh yeah, Zach Jackson. It's a great story
[41:11] Speaker 1: on that, And it was in your piece on his podcast.
[41:14] Speaker 2: It it was Sean McVay was openly fanboying over Miles Garrett,
[41:20] Speaker 2: like two Miles Garrett and Seck.
[41:22] Speaker 1: Garrett was looking for the bus and he pulls up
[41:25] Speaker 1: in his car and he's like, hey man, you kept
[41:28] Speaker 1: me up all night.
[41:29] Speaker 4: He's like following him all the bus all week.
[41:31] Speaker 3: I did not sleep because of you.
[41:33] Speaker 2: And and year over year especially, you know, there's on
[41:37] Speaker 2: the Rams beat, there's oftentimes where like you know, one
[41:41] Speaker 2: of the beat writers is helping out colleagues write like
[41:43] Speaker 2: a big story about a star player who's achieving a milestone.
[41:46] Speaker 2: Miles Garrett is one of those players. So Sean's gotten
[41:49] Speaker 2: questions about Miles Garrett over the years, and I will
[41:51] Speaker 2: say he is the one player who's ever been comparable
[41:55] Speaker 2: in their minds, not quite because there is no Aaron Donald,
[41:58] Speaker 2: but comparable two that in terms of potential to be
[42:02] Speaker 2: the best ever at his position. And that is absolutely
[42:06] Speaker 2: what Sean McVay thinks of Miles Garrett as an outside
[42:09] Speaker 2: pass rusher, and he also he's like a fan. He's
[42:13] Speaker 2: like a fan of him. He's like one of his
[42:15] Speaker 2: favorite players of all time. And so this is like,
[42:18] Speaker 2: this was so aggressive behind the scenes, but they didn't
[42:23] Speaker 2: want to over commit, and a lot of other things
[42:25] Speaker 2: I mentioned in the article, a lot of other timing
[42:27] Speaker 2: elements all had to be true at the same time.
[42:29] Speaker 2: That no trade clause was huge, not just not just
[42:32] Speaker 2: for getting this done and for Miles Garrett having some
[42:38] Speaker 2: autonomy to choose, but it also immediately rules out other
[42:41] Speaker 2: teams because the player doesn't have to waive.
[42:43] Speaker 3: It for everybody.
[42:44] Speaker 1: It's like the NBA, and once you are kind of
[42:46] Speaker 1: locked in on a team like he could have stiff
[42:49] Speaker 1: armed any other options. My feel of the Eagles was
[42:52] Speaker 1: if if they were really involved, like nitty gritty like
[42:56] Speaker 1: they were on the AJ Brown, I mean, like the
[42:58] Speaker 1: Rams were on the AJ, I think it would have
[43:00] Speaker 1: gotten out more. The Eagles seem to operate in a
[43:03] Speaker 1: way and this is almost like, you know, a financial
[43:07] Speaker 1: services strategy.
[43:09] Speaker 3: Like they want to they want to know what every deal.
[43:11] Speaker 1: So they're going to talk a little bit about every deal,
[43:13] Speaker 1: because it's it's good to just know about every deal,
[43:16] Speaker 1: but doesn't it doesn't sound to me like it got
[43:19] Speaker 1: that close. I think if Jared Verse like improves significantly
[43:22] Speaker 1: as a player, then then this can be like a
[43:25] Speaker 1: home run for the Browns. Obviously they have to take advantage.
[43:28] Speaker 1: I think if he stays where he is, he's a
[43:32] Speaker 1: like a great pass rusher. And Andrew Berry kept mentioning
[43:35] Speaker 1: like it's a short list of players who have made
[43:38] Speaker 1: the Pro Bowl original ballot. He said, original ballot, you know,
[43:41] Speaker 1: back to back seasons to start their careers.
[43:43] Speaker 3: He's absolutely right.
[43:44] Speaker 1: If Jared Verse takes it to another level, Like he
[43:46] Speaker 1: misses a lot of tackles, he's in the area, but
[43:48] Speaker 1: doesn't finish a lot of plays. But he is the
[43:52] Speaker 1: type of guy that almost every pass rush plan needs
[43:55] Speaker 1: because and he's like the best version of it, just
[43:57] Speaker 1: like the strongest guy ever. If he can take his
[44:01] Speaker 1: game to another level where he's finishing plays even more,
[44:04] Speaker 1: then it really becomes a home run. That said, like,
[44:07] Speaker 1: you love it from the Rams side, because, as I mentioned, financially,
[44:11] Speaker 1: not only are they getting this guy who can change
[44:14] Speaker 1: the math for the rest of their defense and make
[44:16] Speaker 1: all the other players better. He's only do one hundred
[44:18] Speaker 1: million dollars in cash Miles Garrett for the next three seasons.
[44:21] Speaker 1: The Browns have already paid him a lot of that money.
[44:23] Speaker 2: And I was told that the Rams do not plan
[44:26] Speaker 2: to touch that contract, at least in the short term,
[44:28] Speaker 2: at least in the next year. So, you know, I
[44:30] Speaker 2: think that's always a grain of salt conversation. They've never
[44:34] Speaker 2: acquired a premier player and then not extended them on
[44:39] Speaker 2: their contract. They they've always done that, but in this
[44:42] Speaker 2: case it was a little bit different. It got me
[44:45] Speaker 2: to sort of raise one eyebrow because you know, it's
[44:48] Speaker 2: multiple team stores. They're pretty adamant they're not touching the
[44:51] Speaker 2: contract as it stands right now, and we're like pretty
[44:54] Speaker 2: open about how nice that contract was.
[44:57] Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, he just got it, and so the
[44:59] Speaker 1: Browns it kind of like the Eagles did for Age Brown,
[45:02] Speaker 1: but even more so a lot of the heavy lifting
[45:04] Speaker 1: in terms of upfront money and guarantee. Okay, what you
[45:07] Speaker 1: just said, I want to give you a couple of
[45:10] Speaker 1: quick hitting follow ups. One, you know, Aaron Donald. Yeah,
[45:14] Speaker 1: in the piece, I believe it was in that piece
[45:16] Speaker 1: that there was that quote that Aaron You know, there
[45:18] Speaker 1: was a joke in the RAMS building that Aaron Donald
[45:20] Speaker 1: was their best cornerback. When we were asked who's the
[45:22] Speaker 1: best cornerback? It's like Aaron Donald because he makes everyone
[45:24] Speaker 1: so much better, and like Miles Garrett can be that
[45:26] Speaker 1: sort of player. Is there a chance that we get
[45:29] Speaker 1: the real Aaron Donald back? Do you think next to
[45:32] Speaker 1: Miles Garrett?
[45:33] Speaker 2: It's funny, you know, I know that the fan base
[45:36] Speaker 2: would love that. I never say never on anything Rams
[45:39] Speaker 2: at this point in my time covering them. I mean,
[45:43] Speaker 2: look at what they've done over the last like six
[45:45] Speaker 2: seven years, right, I have not heard anything on that.
[45:48] Speaker 1: So Pat McAfee and I saw this just as I
[45:51] Speaker 1: was walking in.
[45:51] Speaker 3: I should have mentioned it to you.
[45:53] Speaker 1: Contacted Aaron Donald and Aaron Donald see in the gym.
[45:57] Speaker 1: I don't know, but Aaron Donald's response was, well, I
[46:01] Speaker 1: got to see, you know, if I could possibly get
[46:03] Speaker 1: that spark back again.
[46:04] Speaker 3: I don't have that spark right now, but I'd have
[46:05] Speaker 3: to see.
[46:06] Speaker 1: So it wasn't exactly a no, which it generally has
[46:08] Speaker 1: been whenever they've asked Aaron Donald in different podcast situations
[46:12] Speaker 1: and he's been like, I have no desire to play
[46:14] Speaker 1: football again. That feels like mostly a no, but he
[46:17] Speaker 1: didn't say no.
[46:19] Speaker 2: One of the things that's really interesting about this though, too,
[46:22] Speaker 2: is like to that point, the Rams first called the
[46:26] Speaker 2: Browns about Miles Garrett back in twenty twenty two, when
[46:30] Speaker 2: they were in their quote unquote like run it back mode,
[46:32] Speaker 2: like trying to figure out how they were going to
[46:34] Speaker 2: do that, and Aaron Donald, as we now know, had
[46:38] Speaker 2: already started talking to them about, Okay, I want to play,
[46:42] Speaker 2: you know, two more seasons and we'll do this deal
[46:44] Speaker 2: and then give me an out clause just in case
[46:46] Speaker 2: I decide I'm done, like all of these things. And
[46:49] Speaker 2: that to me was because there was always another you know,
[46:53] Speaker 2: there's always this sort of commentary internally, like it was
[46:56] Speaker 2: the Rams.
[46:57] Speaker 4: The players.
[46:58] Speaker 2: The Rams have always been obset with our Miles Garrett
[47:02] Speaker 2: and Joe Burrow.
[47:03] Speaker 3: Wow.
[47:04] Speaker 2: And they're not going after Joe Burrow at this point
[47:07] Speaker 2: as of now.
[47:08] Speaker 4: Yeah, and.
[47:11] Speaker 2: It's like going after you give it a couple of years,
[47:14] Speaker 2: going after Miles Garrett. Is that was there thing of like, Okay,
[47:18] Speaker 2: let's keep Aaron in the league as long as we can.
[47:20] Speaker 2: And so that that's always there's always been sort of
[47:23] Speaker 2: that like sort of joking, sort of not kind of vibe.
[47:28] Speaker 2: I can't say whether or not. They always said give
[47:31] Speaker 2: him a chance to miss it and we'll see. I
[47:33] Speaker 2: don't know if he misses it that bad quite yet,
[47:36] Speaker 2: but you know.
[47:37] Speaker 4: We'll see.
[47:38] Speaker 1: I guess the quote was, yeah, he said he's thirty
[47:40] Speaker 1: five and he's got to see if he can fire
[47:43] Speaker 1: that light back up.
[47:44] Speaker 3: I mean, who knows. It doesn't mean too much.
[47:46] Speaker 1: There on a more like nitty gritty level, How do
[47:52] Speaker 1: you think does it impact their team bill just in
[47:56] Speaker 1: terms of who's going to get some money in the
[47:59] Speaker 1: short term because and by short term I mean this offseason,
[48:03] Speaker 1: who could get a long term contract because a few
[48:06] Speaker 1: good players are eligible. Number One is, by his play
[48:10] Speaker 1: on the field, the most underpaid player in the entire
[48:13] Speaker 1: NFL for the last three years. Pukunakua Byron Young is
[48:18] Speaker 1: a third round pick who would be you know, extension
[48:22] Speaker 1: elible eligible you next year they're going to have Kobe
[48:25] Speaker 1: turner up. So I don't know if you if you
[48:29] Speaker 1: just have any vibes or feel of like maybe how
[48:32] Speaker 1: Garrett impacts any of their team build process.
[48:35] Speaker 4: Well as far as they are.
[48:38] Speaker 2: Clear right now, all of this is in the parameters
[48:41] Speaker 2: of right now, right they're not touching the contracts, so
[48:44] Speaker 2: that's as cost control as it gets in terms of
[48:47] Speaker 2: they know what that number is going to.
[48:48] Speaker 3: Be for Garrett.
[48:49] Speaker 2: For Garrett Try mcduffy similar they just paid him, what
[48:53] Speaker 2: was it, four year, one hundred and twenty four million,
[48:57] Speaker 2: So that's that's also something where they know that number.
[49:01] Speaker 2: At least this in part informed the ty Simpson pick
[49:05] Speaker 2: because they were so confident that they were going to
[49:08] Speaker 2: get Miles Garrett and get Miles Garrett's contract as well
[49:13] Speaker 2: in combination with Trent mcduffy, in combination with some of
[49:17] Speaker 2: these guys, that they will eventually pay a couple that
[49:21] Speaker 2: you mentioned being cost controlled on the other side of
[49:25] Speaker 2: whatever this particular run this year costs in terms of picks,
[49:30] Speaker 2: in terms of monies, in terms of resource allocation overall,
[49:36] Speaker 2: understanding who their quarterback is going to be and having
[49:38] Speaker 2: that quarterback being cost controlled on the other side of
[49:41] Speaker 2: whatever all of this cost for as long as Matthew
[49:43] Speaker 2: Stafford is trying to take them to championships, that was
[49:46] Speaker 2: hugely important for them because of all of those things
[49:50] Speaker 2: that I said that are true at the same time,
[49:52] Speaker 2: and that's where that is where there were really two
[49:57] Speaker 2: big parts to that Ty Simpson story. One of them
[50:01] Speaker 2: was the you know, the the Sean McVay of it
[50:03] Speaker 2: all in this early press conference and and the misunderstanding
[50:06] Speaker 2: and and sort of the things that were pissing him
[50:09] Speaker 2: off that led to it, and then him them going
[50:12] Speaker 2: on the press tour about you know what is accurate,
[50:15] Speaker 2: which I know to be true, which weeks up to
[50:17] Speaker 2: the draft, raving about the kid and loving the kid
[50:20] Speaker 2: as a prospect.
[50:22] Speaker 4: That was one part of the story.
[50:24] Speaker 2: The other piece of this that nobody knew except for
[50:28] Speaker 2: a very very small amount of people in that building,
[50:32] Speaker 2: was that this was all setting up preparation to bring
[50:36] Speaker 2: in Miles Garrett as well, specifically Miles Garrett.
[50:39] Speaker 1: And in theory, yeah, you're you're gonna have less draft capital,
[50:43] Speaker 1: but you don't feel the need for it as much
[50:46] Speaker 1: because you have a quarterback in place. To me, I
[50:48] Speaker 1: didn't actually hate the process of the T Simpson pick
[50:52] Speaker 1: as much as I question, and I think it's the
[50:55] Speaker 1: ultimate reason why people then love that pick, just the
[50:58] Speaker 1: evaluation of Ty Simpsons. So he's gonna have to be
[51:01] Speaker 1: They're gonna have to be right about that. He is
[51:03] Speaker 1: an outlier in so many different ways. They are trying
[51:07] Speaker 1: very much to do that what the Golden State Warriors
[51:10] Speaker 1: did in the second run of the Steph Curry Area
[51:13] Speaker 1: when they and they said it publicly and everyone got
[51:15] Speaker 1: on them for it. This two timelines thing where they
[51:18] Speaker 1: had these three high draft picks and we're going to
[51:20] Speaker 1: try to win the title with the old guys, and
[51:21] Speaker 1: we're gonna have the timeline for the young guys to
[51:23] Speaker 1: be ready. The Rams have plenty of young guys. It's
[51:26] Speaker 1: not just Ty Simpson, but yes they have. If you're
[51:30] Speaker 1: if you're watching, Nick Harris pointed out on Twitter, like
[51:34] Speaker 1: their first round pick since twenty fifteen, you got Girly,
[51:37] Speaker 1: you got Goff, you have no pick for about eight years.
[51:40] Speaker 1: Then you have Jared Verse, who was traded just like
[51:43] Speaker 1: Goff was once traded. Then no picking twenty five, no
[51:46] Speaker 1: picking twenty seven, and then you got Ty Simpson there
[51:50] Speaker 1: holding the fort down.
[51:51] Speaker 3: They better be right about that kid.
[51:53] Speaker 4: What have they got against Jared's you know?
[51:55] Speaker 3: Oh that's true. That is mean.
[51:57] Speaker 1: More on that in a second. We're gonna do some
[51:59] Speaker 1: winners and losers. Let's take one more break. I'm going
[52:01] Speaker 1: to come back and just hit some final thoughts on
[52:04] Speaker 1: these massive league changing trades. Thank you to the heightened
[52:12] Speaker 1: drafting AJ Brown back in the day and leading to
[52:15] Speaker 1: this moment with the Rabel and then the Rams and
[52:17] Speaker 1: the Patriots and the Eagles, just giving us some great
[52:20] Speaker 1: June content.
[52:33] Speaker 3: Back on NFL Daily.
[52:37] Speaker 1: Jordan's done snooping, Jordan's done seeing how Andrew Barry Sean
[52:44] Speaker 1: McVay are laughing. It almost reminds you of those like
[52:47] Speaker 1: nineties movies where it's like, oh, the cool kids suddenly
[52:51] Speaker 1: hanging out with the dorky girl who happens to be
[52:53] Speaker 1: like really hot and then takes off her glasses and everyone, Oh.
[52:57] Speaker 4: Wow, exactually, and I'm the loner at the lunch team.
[53:00] Speaker 1: Oh yes, you're not in this analogy Winners and losers.
[53:03] Speaker 1: Gonna just throw out some rapid fire winners and losers.
[53:06] Speaker 3: Let's start with.
[53:09] Speaker 1: The schedule makers, the NFL writ large, specifically NBC, Maria
[53:15] Speaker 1: Taylor and Netflix. For those first two games, we got
[53:21] Speaker 1: AJ Brown. Now it felt a little too running it back.
[53:25] Speaker 1: I know, the Patriots had made some moves and everything.
[53:27] Speaker 1: It felt a little too.
[53:29] Speaker 3: Man. We just saw this game.
[53:30] Speaker 1: And it wasn't great, but now you got AJ Brown's
[53:34] Speaker 1: first game in that Patriots number one against the most
[53:38] Speaker 1: physical secondary in the league, and that's how you're starting
[53:41] Speaker 1: the season.
[53:42] Speaker 3: Just gives a little extra juice, not that you really
[53:44] Speaker 3: need it.
[53:45] Speaker 1: And then even better, I think is the Miles Garrett
[53:49] Speaker 1: debut is in Australia of all places, and it's against
[53:54] Speaker 1: Trent freaking Williams. So just I don't know if the
[53:58] Speaker 1: NFL had an idea or asked about. Probably not about
[54:01] Speaker 1: the Garrett thing. I'm guessing they did ask about the A. J.
[54:04] Speaker 1: Brown thing, and maybe that informed decision.
[54:05] Speaker 3: I have no idea.
[54:06] Speaker 2: I was just thinking about how we with Colleen we
[54:09] Speaker 2: did a would you rather? And mine is dangerously close
[54:12] Speaker 2: from becoming dangerously close to becoming true because it was
[54:17] Speaker 2: would you rather get followed around for the rest of
[54:19] Speaker 2: your life by what fifteen cats?
[54:20] Speaker 1: Yes?
[54:21] Speaker 2: Or sacked one time, surprised by surprise by Miles Garrett?
[54:25] Speaker 4: And I picked the latter because I feel like it
[54:27] Speaker 4: would just be over quickly. I hope he doesn't hear.
[54:30] Speaker 1: This right, or if you report something McVeigh is not
[54:34] Speaker 1: happy with, he could set that up.
[54:36] Speaker 4: Yeah, it too.
[54:37] Speaker 2: It's just a little too zip code adjacent here.
[54:41] Speaker 4: For me to be to truly comfortable.
[54:42] Speaker 1: The betting line moved for the first game Miles Garrett
[54:45] Speaker 1: apparently was worth a point or at least so many
[54:49] Speaker 1: people were just like, oh, the Rams are gonna win
[54:51] Speaker 1: that It actually moved from two and a half to
[54:54] Speaker 1: three and a half. But I guess I would say
[54:55] Speaker 1: losers here on the flip side of that would be
[54:58] Speaker 1: those left in the NFC West here, Charles Cross and
[55:02] Speaker 1: the right tackle to be honest, he's gonna move, yeah,
[55:04] Speaker 1: back and forth. But Trent Williams, that's a win for
[55:07] Speaker 1: just fans watching those two Hall of famers go after
[55:11] Speaker 1: each other now a couple times a year in Paris.
[55:13] Speaker 1: Johnson's who's one of the better young left tackles in
[55:16] Speaker 1: the league. Nice nice matchup.
[55:17] Speaker 2: Did you see the post, uh Johnny v out of
[55:22] Speaker 2: the Phoenix market That is media member there.
[55:25] Speaker 1: Yeah saying the difference between the two teams is like, yeah,
[55:28] Speaker 1: one is trading for Garrett and the others in a
[55:30] Speaker 1: contract dispute with Jacobeys that stuff.
[55:32] Speaker 9: We live the duality of man that division, and I
[55:36] Speaker 9: know the NFC West has had its moments over the
[55:38] Speaker 9: last handful of years there was a moment when the
[55:40] Speaker 9: AFC North was really rocking with.
[55:44] Speaker 1: Three great teams, and even the Browns had their moments.
[55:48] Speaker 1: But this is this NFC West is as good as
[55:50] Speaker 1: any division, which which is why that like the pressure
[55:54] Speaker 1: on the Rams is really interesting. They they are the
[55:57] Speaker 1: they are entering the season as like the favorites, the
[56:02] Speaker 1: one team that is the favorites in a way. And
[56:05] Speaker 1: that's why I was getting out with like a jokey
[56:07] Speaker 1: tweet I had that they're they're going to for winning
[56:09] Speaker 1: now in the in the most winning now way ever.
[56:12] Speaker 1: And that's all I meant was just like they're going
[56:14] Speaker 1: to be viewed as anything less than a Super Bowl
[56:16] Speaker 1: as a disappointment, which is tough.
[56:17] Speaker 3: It's a tough place to.
[56:18] Speaker 2: Live, that is it's it's I know you meant it
[56:21] Speaker 2: as like a joke, but that is true.
[56:23] Speaker 4: That is absolutely the intent. It's super, super difficult to
[56:26] Speaker 4: be that way. The pressure of the strain.
[56:28] Speaker 2: I told you what it felt like the last time
[56:30] Speaker 2: around when I was sort of in the building, Like
[56:32] Speaker 2: experiencing all of this as as a beat writer, like
[56:35] Speaker 2: that is a huge amount of strain. Here's my here's
[56:38] Speaker 2: my take. My opinion on all of this, and I
[56:40] Speaker 2: said this in twenty twenty one two. This is either
[56:43] Speaker 2: going to go exactly how they want it to or
[56:46] Speaker 2: it's going to be a disaster. There's not going to
[56:48] Speaker 2: actually be a middle that's my take.
[56:50] Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, I think they I think yeah different. I
[56:54] Speaker 1: think the most likely outcome is somewhere in between. That
[56:57] Speaker 1: they're a very, very good team, but they probably don't
[56:59] Speaker 1: win the super Bowl, just because no one is probably
[57:01] Speaker 1: going to win the super Bowl.
[57:02] Speaker 2: But I call it a reverse Jeff Fisher syndrome that
[57:06] Speaker 2: they have. They spent so much time in the middle
[57:08] Speaker 2: there right now, they would rather burn in the sun
[57:11] Speaker 2: in glory or burn in hell than be in the middle.
[57:14] Speaker 3: Life is short. I think that's the way to do it.
[57:16] Speaker 1: Aj Brown, when asked by Maria Taylor in the interview
[57:20] Speaker 1: what he thinks went wrong, what was tough, he just
[57:23] Speaker 1: said it was all just expectations. Yeah, and he was
[57:25] Speaker 1: saying expectations I think from the outside, But he said
[57:28] Speaker 1: it was more from ourselves that we just knew we
[57:32] Speaker 1: were so good. We had everyone back, we should be
[57:36] Speaker 1: going back to back. We tried to say we're not
[57:37] Speaker 1: defending anything. I think it's harder when you are defending
[57:40] Speaker 1: the title. The Rams are not doing that. So many
[57:42] Speaker 1: of the players on the roster have not won a title,
[57:44] Speaker 1: most of them obviously, so that I think helps them out.
[57:47] Speaker 1: But just he said, the expectations is what made it tough.
[57:50] Speaker 1: All right, another winner. So yeah, just making June first
[57:53] Speaker 1: the day. I think the NFL network tent pole promoters.
[57:57] Speaker 1: Let's make June first like a thing moving forward. That's
[58:02] Speaker 1: like makes some We needed some shoulder programming, to use
[58:05] Speaker 1: an industry term around this. We should have been a
[58:07] Speaker 1: little more ready for it. I'm calling out the NFL
[58:09] Speaker 1: Network and ESPN for this.
[58:11] Speaker 2: Yeah, they really could have checked their emails from you
[58:15] Speaker 2: that you undoubtedly sent them about your notes on the matter.
[58:19] Speaker 2: It already it's just an extension of the regular season.
[58:22] Speaker 1: There is a real point within this that I'm serious about,
[58:26] Speaker 1: which is that the expanding cap space and the TV
[58:29] Speaker 1: money that's come into the league and the fact that
[58:32] Speaker 1: there is just way more cap space has made huge
[58:35] Speaker 1: trades way easier. And so I think as the NBA,
[58:40] Speaker 1: which still kills the NFL in terms of massive trades,
[58:44] Speaker 1: their salary cap structure right now, they're almost in like
[58:46] Speaker 1: version three. It's making it harder and harder and harder
[58:49] Speaker 1: to make massive trades because you have to match the
[58:52] Speaker 1: salaries and they're much more almost of a hard cap
[58:55] Speaker 1: now than the NFL. Weirdly, the NFL is in this
[58:57] Speaker 1: place where it's actually pretty easy to make these massive truths.
[59:00] Speaker 1: I kind of as I'm thinking of similar trades in yesterday.
[59:03] Speaker 3: Show, I kind of forgot about.
[59:04] Speaker 1: Oh yeah, the other argument for best player, a defensive
[59:08] Speaker 1: player in the NFL was traded literally like nine months ago.
[59:10] Speaker 3: Forgot about that one.
[59:11] Speaker 1: Yeah, pretty similar also happened yes winners people who pre
[59:16] Speaker 1: wrote their AJ Brown trade analysis, Bill Barnwell, David Ely
[59:21] Speaker 1: and the guys on the NFL dot com Chad Ask
[59:25] Speaker 1: Chad Graff had what Mike Reese had a pre written one.
[59:28] Speaker 1: And then Next Level The Ringer Fantasy Show was in
[59:32] Speaker 1: Europe at some Spotify thing. Must be nice, and so
[59:36] Speaker 1: they pre taped a breaking news podcast.
[59:40] Speaker 3: That's next level. Shout out to.
[59:42] Speaker 1: Danny Haifitz, Danny, Kelly Craig quarterback, That's that's pretty awesome.
[59:46] Speaker 3: Should we be doing that?
[59:47] Speaker 1: Eric, I want to get your thoughts pre taping a
[59:51] Speaker 1: breaking news episode? No, what if we could get a
[59:56] Speaker 1: trip to Europe, and so that was like covering us
[59:59] Speaker 1: on both ends if.
[1:00:00] Speaker 3: We have to do it because we will be in Europe.
[1:00:02] Speaker 1: And then yes, yeah, because they didn't have like the
[1:00:04] Speaker 1: trade terms or anything, although it was but how would
[1:00:08] Speaker 1: you feel about two breaking news podcasts in the feed
[1:00:10] Speaker 1: within one hour of each other.
[1:00:12] Speaker 3: We could have done that.
[1:00:13] Speaker 1: That was Miles Garrett, AJ Brown Double Guts yesterday was
[1:00:16] Speaker 1: pretty wild.
[1:00:17] Speaker 2: So here's the thing. Credit to them because they did
[1:00:19] Speaker 2: pre tape that. But I also saw the post where
[1:00:23] Speaker 2: it was Craig and Danny Hifitz I think if I'm
[1:00:26] Speaker 2: remembering correctly. And then a third like more unwelcome guest
[1:00:29] Speaker 2: that they pouted in the caption. So everyone go check
[1:00:32] Speaker 2: out that caption, and our buddy Danny hig Fitz is
[1:00:34] Speaker 2: certainly going to love us for pointing this out. And
[1:00:38] Speaker 2: they still had to do it live because the Miles
[1:00:40] Speaker 2: Garrett trade was.
[1:00:41] Speaker 3: Good point, such a good point. You can only.
[1:00:45] Speaker 1: Have too many things that you can plan ahead. The
[1:00:47] Speaker 1: NFL is just too unpredictable. We're winners, me and you.
[1:00:51] Speaker 1: How about five first round picks traded for veterans, including
[1:00:55] Speaker 1: two from the Rams alone Trent mcdufvey was one of them.
[1:00:58] Speaker 3: In this season cycle, We're going to do.
[1:01:01] Speaker 1: A little episode coming up about like why trades are
[1:01:04] Speaker 1: more prevalent, So this this is going to make it
[1:01:06] Speaker 1: easier Andrew Siciliana. Yeah, he's a winner, just always because
[1:01:12] Speaker 1: now the last call that he had of Miles Garrett
[1:01:16] Speaker 1: having a sack is like in al Timer and as
[1:01:19] Speaker 1: the you know he's done the Rams preseason in the past.
[1:01:23] Speaker 1: He was going to have some good inside scoop of
[1:01:25] Speaker 1: all the Jared Verse universe. You know, he knows Jared well,
[1:01:28] Speaker 1: so it's just all said.
[1:01:29] Speaker 4: Jared Verse is all you had to say. Yeah, the
[1:01:31] Speaker 4: Jared Verse.
[1:01:34] Speaker 3: How about Mike Rabel getting his guy back and A J.
[1:01:38] Speaker 1: Brown speaking about the accountability, the tough coaching. He never
[1:01:42] Speaker 1: knew why Mike Rabel was always just on him, just
[1:01:45] Speaker 1: asking for him to be even better back in the day,
[1:01:47] Speaker 1: but as time went on he appreciated it, and A J.
[1:01:52] Speaker 1: Brown and Rabel, you know, kind of continue their relationship
[1:01:57] Speaker 1: as coach and player. Let's listen to Mike Rabel joke
[1:02:00] Speaker 1: about it on Tuesday.
[1:02:02] Speaker 8: I mean, I think that that was known a long time,
[1:02:04] Speaker 8: you know, I mean I think I knew that, you know.
[1:02:06] Speaker 8: I mean, I think he showed me pictures when he
[1:02:08] Speaker 8: was a little kid wearing my jersey and stuff like
[1:02:10] Speaker 8: that that that didn't wear. Yeah, I mean I think
[1:02:16] Speaker 8: I knew that just from the time that he you know,
[1:02:19] Speaker 8: like when I think when we drafted him, he was like,
[1:02:21] Speaker 8: I wish the Patriots drafted men, so well, that's that
[1:02:24] Speaker 8: didn't happen. You know, the Titans drafted you.
[1:02:26] Speaker 1: Well, for a second, I thought he was saying that
[1:02:28] Speaker 1: AJ Brown put a in AI and the mic Rabel.
[1:02:32] Speaker 3: No, that was just Rabel being funny.
[1:02:33] Speaker 4: Like can we save some of our water on the planet.
[1:02:35] Speaker 3: That would be great to be real.
[1:02:37] Speaker 1: The last few weeks have been good for Rabel because
[1:02:39] Speaker 1: it's just gotten back into normal football stuff, which I
[1:02:43] Speaker 1: think is positive for him. And then it's also putting
[1:02:48] Speaker 1: his predecessor Bill Belichick in the loser category here because
[1:02:54] Speaker 1: I don't know if you remember who they drafted instead
[1:02:56] Speaker 1: of A. J.
[1:02:56] Speaker 3: Brown.
[1:02:56] Speaker 1: AJ Brown again on this Maria Taylor interview, said that
[1:03:01] Speaker 1: he left the green room crying because he was hoping
[1:03:04] Speaker 1: so much that he would get drafted by the New
[1:03:06] Speaker 1: England Patriots. Is mistake, guy who instead drafted your fellow
[1:03:12] Speaker 1: alumna Nikhil Harry, oversized Bulky Sun Devils strong ex receiver
[1:03:21] Speaker 1: Nikhil Harry. If Bill Belichick had just drafted Lamar Jackson
[1:03:26] Speaker 1: as everyone said they were gonna do the year before
[1:03:28] Speaker 1: and said they took Sony Michelle, they won a Super Bowl.
[1:03:30] Speaker 1: But if they had taken Lamar Jackson and AJ Brown
[1:03:33] Speaker 1: and back to back years instead of Sony Michelle and
[1:03:36] Speaker 1: Nikhil Harry, he might still be coaching them. It's about
[1:03:39] Speaker 1: the players, not the coach.
[1:03:40] Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
[1:03:41] Speaker 2: And how many other lives would be unaffected.
[1:03:46] Speaker 3: Loser here? Anyone who had a Rams versus Jersey.
[1:03:51] Speaker 1: My daughter and my wife who were very upset hated
[1:03:55] Speaker 1: this trade. And Jared Verse. That sucks for Jared Verse.
[1:03:58] Speaker 1: I know he's from Daton, He's gonna have good attitude.
[1:04:00] Speaker 3: It kind of sucks.
[1:04:01] Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's okay.
[1:04:04] Speaker 3: I have to point out.
[1:04:05] Speaker 2: Underrated food town. I will say I spent I've spent
[1:04:08] Speaker 2: some time in Cleveland. Underrated food town.
[1:04:10] Speaker 3: Have a chance to win a Super Bowl? You fit here.
[1:04:14] Speaker 2: My really good friend called me this morning at seven thirty.
[1:04:18] Speaker 2: He's a big time Browns fan, and I knew he
[1:04:21] Speaker 2: was upset. Because, as I mentioned, he called me at
[1:04:24] Speaker 2: seven thirty and he told me that he read my
[1:04:29] Speaker 2: article that posted today alongside my colleague Zac Jackson, and
[1:04:34] Speaker 2: it reading it, in his words, felt like I was
[1:04:37] Speaker 2: stabbing him with a spoon. Dang, I would say, Jason,
[1:04:41] Speaker 2: maybe you're kind of a loser on that one.
[1:04:43] Speaker 3: Dang, Jason getting stabbed.
[1:04:45] Speaker 2: I'm a loser because I got called at seven thirty
[1:04:48] Speaker 2: in the morning.
[1:04:49] Speaker 1: Yeah, that's too early even for a text. If I see,
[1:04:52] Speaker 1: there's a lot of inks.
[1:04:53] Speaker 2: I've been getting some screenshots of group chats, like there's
[1:04:56] Speaker 2: a lot of eggs.
[1:04:57] Speaker 1: You know, I've been a parent a long time now,
[1:04:59] Speaker 1: I'm up like six fifteen, six thirty. But you only
[1:05:03] Speaker 1: send even a text. Never call that early. You only
[1:05:06] Speaker 1: send a text that early. If you see someone's already tweeting,
[1:05:08] Speaker 1: then it's safe. Like if I see you've like sent them,
[1:05:12] Speaker 1: like your article out at seven forty five, I won't
[1:05:15] Speaker 1: feel bad sending you a text that early. But that's
[1:05:17] Speaker 1: sort of the I'm just giving some advice here. Let's
[1:05:24] Speaker 1: show the Quinton Lake tweet that he had too about
[1:05:28] Speaker 1: Jared Verse, which he said, Jared, my lockermate is one
[1:05:31] Speaker 1: of the most amazing human beings and teammates I have
[1:05:33] Speaker 1: ever been around. Sucks that some things are out of
[1:05:35] Speaker 1: player's control, but love and support is what he needs
[1:05:37] Speaker 1: in the moment. Love my guy to death and can't
[1:05:39] Speaker 1: wait to see him tear up the lea. Everyone just
[1:05:41] Speaker 1: accepts this stuff, and I get it.
[1:05:43] Speaker 3: You have to.
[1:05:44] Speaker 1: There's no other option, but it does suck. The Rams
[1:05:47] Speaker 1: had no loyalty for Jared Verse, and I do think
[1:05:50] Speaker 1: it's painful that it's like a one way street, and
[1:05:53] Speaker 1: I appreciate, Like both my daughter and wife hated the
[1:05:56] Speaker 1: trade because they're friends of Jared Verse and Jared Verse
[1:06:00] Speaker 1: and they're like loyal to that, and that's how I
[1:06:02] Speaker 1: feel as a fan, Like when the Celtics traded like
[1:06:05] Speaker 1: Marcus Smart. I don't want them to trade Jailer, but
[1:06:06] Speaker 1: like I think it's a totally valid and worthwhile like
[1:06:11] Speaker 1: emotion and thing to have that Like, actually, I hate
[1:06:13] Speaker 1: that trade. It kind of sucks that you traded away
[1:06:16] Speaker 1: a guy that I liked. You didn't have to do that.
[1:06:18] Speaker 1: You might not be better, it might not work out,
[1:06:20] Speaker 1: it might actually make you worse. And the people doing it,
[1:06:23] Speaker 1: they never get traded like they get fired. But if
[1:06:26] Speaker 1: they're going you know what I mean. So I think
[1:06:28] Speaker 1: it's okay for people to like be like that kind
[1:06:30] Speaker 1: of sucks to not be loyal to a young good player.
[1:06:33] Speaker 3: It sucks for him.
[1:06:34] Speaker 2: Everybody is allowed to feel their feelings however they want
[1:06:36] Speaker 2: to feel them.
[1:06:37] Speaker 4: That's all I have to say about it.
[1:06:38] Speaker 1: We don't have to just accept that the Sabba is,
[1:06:43] Speaker 1: but it will be.
[1:06:43] Speaker 4: Cool feel your grief.
[1:06:46] Speaker 1: Yeah, well, we'll have to get a like the Bills,
[1:06:49] Speaker 1: I mean the Browns Rams matchup at some point. We
[1:06:52] Speaker 1: do have a Bills Rams matchup in week five. I
[1:06:56] Speaker 1: bring that up because I have some Bills on my
[1:06:59] Speaker 1: lose your list here. First of all, they're gonna have
[1:07:02] Speaker 1: to now go against Miles Garrett. I was thinking more
[1:07:05] Speaker 1: of Maxwell Harriston, who's kind of an undersized first round
[1:07:08] Speaker 1: corner they drafted, and that's who A J. Brown likes
[1:07:10] Speaker 1: the dunk on. So they're gonna have to They're gonna
[1:07:12] Speaker 1: have to deal with a J. Brown undersized cornerbacks, don't
[1:07:15] Speaker 1: you other? Christian Benford is probably gonna get the matchup there.
[1:07:18] Speaker 1: But a fun little Bill's Rams matchup.
[1:07:20] Speaker 3: On Monday Football.
[1:07:22] Speaker 4: This is a pretty long episode.
[1:07:24] Speaker 1: It is it is long. I think Eric just said
[1:07:27] Speaker 1: it was seven hours long. I mean, when are we
[1:07:29] Speaker 1: gonna get these two big stories?
[1:07:31] Speaker 4: I mean, you're at Maxwell Harriston at this point, so
[1:07:34] Speaker 4: you know.
[1:07:34] Speaker 3: You was literally the last one on the list.
[1:07:36] Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, Maxwell, Harrison and the Bills got DJ Moore.
[1:07:40] Speaker 1: But I don't know if you're feeling as good about
[1:07:42] Speaker 1: that as you would be if you've got a J
[1:07:44] Speaker 1: Brown or Miles Garrett. Let's get out of here, hit
[1:07:48] Speaker 1: that music.
[1:07:49] Speaker 4: It was great being back, Greg, great.
[1:07:51] Speaker 3: To have you back.
[1:07:51] Speaker 1: It's not gonna be the last time that Jordan is back.
[1:07:54] Speaker 3: This week we're getting in the lab.
[1:07:58] Speaker 1: We're ranking general manager later this week with Ollie Connolly.
[1:08:02] Speaker 1: Before that, though, we will be back in the studio
[1:08:04] Speaker 1: with Patrick Clayband. I don't know what we're gonna talk about.
[1:08:08] Speaker 1: I think we said it off here today.
[1:08:10] Speaker 3: We'll see you next thing.
[1:08:11] Speaker 5: H

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