I mean, I think that's, you know, that's the goal, is to PLE for life, to win gear, you know, with my teammates for the city, I think, you know, those are, those are always things that you kind of keep in the back of your mind, but, you know, there are also things that are, that are kind of in the future as well. So, I love the every minute of being a Toronto Maple Leaf. Like I said, it's such a tremendous honour and, you know, I can only kind of take it one day at a time, but, yeah, I hope that's the case. Did John Tavares hack into the brain of Austin Matthews there? He literally said it's a tremendous honour. Oh no, is he slowly? No, I don't, I don't think that's, that's gonna happen. Good job by saying, man, cooking up that intro. I also would have accepted, no, I can't say the whole thing, but the Leo DiCaprio, I'm not leaving. The show goes on. I would have also accepted that, except maybe the show goes on doesn't feel so fitting because you want the show to look a little different, you know, hey, same cast of characters, but maybe a little better writing, you know, final episodes there, penultimate episodes have been a little eventful in all the wrong ways for this team as of late. What will change in definitely a new era in a leafland? We'll ask our next guest and this insider brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom. Visit Don Valley, northlexus.com. When this story broke, I said, bring me Luke Fox. And they said, well, got him in a couple days gunner. He's a busy man. Everyone wants to talk to this guy right now. Luke, we have plied you out of summer. You hockey men need to get back to work. How you doing this morning? I'm doing okay. Yeah, I had to shave. I had to drive downtown. Oh, man, it was a lot. Yesterday. Well, I mean, at least it was at least it was worthwhile, right? Like this would have felt a little different. No offense. If this was like the McMahon and Simone Benoit extensions we got later in the year, a little bit of a bigger deal with the captaincy changing hands. I'm sure you've answered this question a few times. I'm sure your thinking is maybe, well, I shouldn't say I'm sure I wonder if your thinking's evolved over the last couple of days. What do you make of the news and what do you make of it coming now, Luke? Well, I think there's, there's two sides to it, right? There's the Austin side. And one of my big takeaways from yesterday was just how much it meant to him. I mean, sometimes when he, you know, passes someone on the record book, he kind of says what he has to say. And I'm sure it does mean something to him. But this meant a lot more. You know, he said a couple of times that he got chills and just the smile on his face. You could tell this was a big deal to him. He wanted this. Someone asked the question, you know, when John, you know, calls you to say, I'm going to pass you the captaincy. Did it ever cross your mind to say thanks, but no thanks. And he's like, no, no, I think it like he's probably wanted this since, you know, 2019 when, when John first got the captain, there was a lot of buzz of who was going to get it, you know, would it be Austin? You know, there was even some, some murmurs that Morgan Riley would be in the running. But, you know, he's an alpha dog. He wants everything. He wants a gold medal. He wants a Stanley Cup. You know, he already has three rockets in a heart and a calder. He wants everything he can possibly get his hands on. And when you're, when you're like that, when you think that way, of course, you want to be captain. This felt inevitable to me. He's already one of the faces of the league. Like the NHL has met every event. He's right there with Connor in terms of, let this, let's get this guy in front of the camera as much as possible. You know, they announced the, the four nation's face off teams, the, the first few guys. And he's the face of team USA at the first press conference. So you're already got one of the faces of sport. At the very least, can he also be the face of the team? And, and I think a lot of people's mind, he already was for a few years. And this is, this just makes it official. What's more interesting to me, I think it is the John Tvera side because it's rare. And each situation feels a little bit unique. But when a guy has to give up the sea, that's a completely different story. And the way he handled it, this felt night and day from last time a captain of a Canadian team, I was thinking about Blake Wheeler, which he was straight up stripped. And this, this was a much more graceful, classy passing of the torch type situation. You know, the, I agree, the John Tvera side of this is, is very interesting. And it does feel like, and it's kind of a weird way to put it, not that I believe that he needs a redemption tour, but it does kind of feel like the beginning of the John Tvera's redemption tour, handing over the captain seat to Austin Matthews and that was, you know, very well received among the fan base, but also like, you know, creating some of that goodwill so that it does keep the door open for him to return, because I believe that the narrative has changed a little bit on John Tvera's. And that people are like, okay, I could see him coming back. Whereas at the end of the season, it was like, there's no way that you could bring this guy back even for this coming season, let alone the season to follow that. Yeah, I certainly think there's a path. I mean, I once again, we're dealing with a cap world. And yes, the cap's going up, but, you know, Neelander and Matthews raises kick in. Tveras is entering his age 34 season. So, you know, by the time his next contract starts, he'll be he'll be 35 when the puck drops. So they have to be careful here. But I do believe there's a path and there's certainly a willingness on the players part to work with the team here. I mean, that is that is quite the slice of humble pie that you gotta eat to give up the cap and see what it means so much to you. Let's remember this is this good as a hometown guy. He had an opportunity to go anywhere, not anywhere, but a lot of a lot of enticing places as a free agent. And it meant a lot for him to wear the the Maple Leaf. And it meant a ton the captaincy. He put his heart and soul into it. So, but I do believe there's a path I asked him, you know, about the contract negotiations about his willingness. And he said, absolutely, he wants to come back. You know, he doesn't want to get into details. That's the mandate under trade living is we don't talk publicly about any contract negotiation. When it's done, it's done. But certainly, I think he would be willing to bend a little bit if it meant staying a leaf. Now, we saw with Stephen Stamkos, there's only so far, you're going to, you're going to bend. These guys, these guys still have some pride. You know, you can't just lowball them a ridiculous offer and accept them to eat it. But I do think there's a certainly a willingness on Tavares as part to work with the team. And he does want to stay. Yeah, man, it's it's fascinating. And just the parallels of all of it. It's like the lightning that happening and then had been immediately getting his extension that basically is the same number that Stamkos ended up getting. Yeah, what a what a messy situation. It was there. You talk about contracts, obviously, that leads us to a natural segue. But I don't want to go there yet. I want to throw something at you that I have to be honest, in the moment feels like an overreaction to me. But watching all this yesterday and the conversations we've had around it for the last three, four days here, I genuinely wonder, Luke, and ever is a really long time. But will we ever see a born and bred raised in Toronto? And I'm not talking about Canadian. I'm not talking about he grew up in, you know, you know, you know, North Bay or something. I'm talking about a GTA guy being captain of the Leafs again, because I think John Tavares shouldered that weight as well as anybody ever could. And part of its personality, he's never going to look super free and easy and happy. But he never looked one of those things for one second other than when the first second they put the sea on his jersey. And it's not that Austin Matthews doesn't appreciate it. I echo everything you said at the beginning of the interview of how he clearly cherishes this. But he was able to acclimatize himself to it. It wasn't when he was four years old, ripping around the ice, going, hey, you're going to be a little leaf one day. You're going to be like Matt, so you're going to be like whoever. I just wonder if it is truly too much for anybody who grew up steeped in it the way Tavares did, the way Marner did, the way Easting Cowan very well might have been, you know, we can go down the list. I don't want to make it about any one guy. I just genuinely wonder if it's if it's ever going to be to or if there will ever be a kind of GTA guy that can that can handle that weight and not have it crush them a little bit. Yeah, I think I think I think there can be. I wouldn't rule it out. But you know, I don't think it's going to be any time soon. I think Austin, Austin's reign is going to be at least four years long. I thought it was interesting yesterday that he said that he wants to be a leaf for life, that he's already, you know, the end goal is is to make it work here to get on the winning track and maybe sign another deal and if he does, you know, they're not going to take the see away from him. So yeah, but I think it's possible. The stars have to align, right? You have to have one of your best players, one of your leaders and he also has to be from the GTA for that all to work. But I thought John acquitted himself fabulously as captain, you know, Trey Living said it multiple times. There's no slide on Tavares. He's just aging out and it had become apparent to management. I think became apparent to the teammates that the real leader was Austin. I mean, the guys in his prime, he's 69 goals, Selky finalists, like the writing was on the wall who the leader was. This is more of just a symbolic thing. And then there's also the element of, you know, that was unspoken. Hey, we didn't make any real changes to the core. So this is a bit of a rebrand or refresher. Like, you know, they use the word the next, the phrase the next chapter. It's also a there's a marketing element to this too as well. Yeah, never forget about the dollars and cents when it comes to something like this. But I wanted to ask you, Luke, about John Tavares, the demeanor, his demeanor and how this all kind of played out because I do I did have the thought like if John Tavares was a little bit more bombastic and a little bit more outspoken, something that two words that we do not use to describe John Tavares. If he was either of those things, if this is a different off season and different type of conversation with a guy who is maybe outgoing as your captain, like, do you think that if if it was, I don't even know which player to use, because they're all kind of the same, but if it was someone that was a little bit more outspoken, do you think that the Leafs broach this subject with him? Possibly not, but I think it has left to do with with John's demeanor and more to do with the lack of success of the team and feeling they needed to shake something up. You know, if John was the same personality that he was, but they had just come off a conference final, maybe we're not having this conversation. I think a lot of it has to do with, you know, we've had the same leadership and we're getting the same results. We try to make a trade. We gave all our guys no move clothes so we can't make a trade. So maybe this, maybe this is something. And, and you know what they said it, like this day was going to come. There was going to be a time where Austin was going to be captain. He, he's the man in the room. Like, come on. So whether it was going to be this season, this off season or next, it was going to happen. I, I, it's kind of crazy. I think it's because there's not much news happening in the hockey world that this has become a really big deal. But I think that the play, the players know who, who the leader is. And what, what, one of the interesting things that we haven't got to is in John's prepared speech, he made a point to say this has nothing to do with me being a failure or me losing, losing a step. I still have it. And what I'm interested to see is maybe we see a bit of a bounce back here. I mean, father time, you know, conquer all, but John Tavares is not going down without a fight here. And I would expect maybe this will actually light even more of a fire under his belly. Yeah. I mean, I, I, you look at the numbers last year. I mean, it, it felt like a 40 point season. He still had 65 of them 29 goals so much on even strength. We know the shooting percentage dipped. Yeah, I think there's very much a world where it's a bounce back to a like 75 point, John Tavares and boy, we all having a very different conversation about that, including his agent heading into, to a potential contract discussion there. Do you read anything into Marner and, and Riley being there? I mean, there was the question asked and true living answered it of, yeah, John will still be wearing a letter, the letter A. Naturally, that means he's either sharing it with Marner, sharing it with Riley or one of those guys is, is going to lose it. What did you make of, of them being there? Cause you know, the, the way I've looked at it specifically with Marner with Riley, it's almost doesn't matter to me who cares. But with Marner, if he wasn't there, we would have had, I don't know that I'd be doing it, but somebody would have had the comment of, look at this hiding doesn't want to be there. He's sulking because he's not, you know, on the level that Austin is. And if he is there, then he gets to ask all the questions that we want to answer about, or gets to answer all the questions we want to ask about his contract. Do you read anything at all into him being there? And I guess the second part of that is, what do you make of true living so emphatically saying, yeah, John's wearing a letter. Yeah, I think a lot of it was optics. It was like, we're one big happy family. Um, you know, John Tavares, his whole family, including his parents, of course, his wife and his kids, sporting his two sons, sporting Matthew sweaters were there. Awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, it was awesome. It was a really nice touch. It just speaks to John's class, because Austin didn't know that was, was happening. And, you know, Matthew's parents and his sister were there. And then it was the whole MLSE family, like there was Tana bomb, there was Kelly, there was Shanahan. And there was, you know, the, what we expect to still be the leadership group in, in Riley and Marner. So I think they were just trying to show like, Hey, this is a celebratory day. Everyone's on board. Um, you know, and it made for, for good optics. I think it was a smart move. Um, speaking to Marner for a little bit after he wasn't as jubilant as some of the other players. Um, you know, he was asked about his future and he shut that down. And he's like a, you know, that, that's not a topic for today. I'm here to celebrate these guys. Um, I think things are still tense there. Let me put it that way. But I agree to your point, if you wasn't there, then it becomes a story. And now it's kind of a non story. Yeah, it certainly is. You mentioned, you know, who we heard from last one before I let you go here, Luke is that I don't, I'm not remotely surprised by this. But yesterday was certainly about Austin Matthews and him taking hold of the captaincy and becoming even more at the face of the franchise. It was kind of also about Brad your living furthering his stamp on that. I don't think that's what he said out there to do. No, Shanahan was there. He got asked the question and he laid it out. Yeah, I went to John about this. I don't think that should surprise anybody, but it is remarkable that it seems like every time we hear from true living, he further, I don't know, like tightens his grip on on the Leafs org and that that shouldn't be a crazy thing to say about a general manager, but it's kind of weird when there's a president above him. Yeah, he's done a really good job at that. I mean, considering when he came in, he was so hamstrung by the contract situations of the guys making the most money that really he has put his stamp on his team. It's been like 14 months, so he's changed the coach probably year too late, but he's changed the coach to a guy that certainly sees the game the same way he does. He's really remolded the blue line, whether it was at the trade deadline or now in the off season with Hannah in particular into more his style of guy. And now he's changed at the captaincy. And a lot of that, he said it was his idea after having a season behind the curtain, this idea started percolating. He saw that guys were gravitating a little bit more to Matthews than they were to Varus. And one thing I would say that I didn't write and I don't think it's been brought up every time you would ask us a question about himself. He'd kind of you know, you wouldn't get the greatest answer. He would downplay his stuff. But you ask him about Pontus Holmberg, or you ask him about Bobby McMahon, and the guy goes off like he's the greatest player that ever lived. He is a real team first guy. Luke, Luke, just look at his reaction when one of those guys scores like don't get me wrong. He likes when Nieland or Marner talks one, but like if somebody else on the team, one of the others, for lack of a better term, he is over the moon jubilant. We do have to scoot. I didn't want to cut you off there. But yeah, no, it's just I wholeheartedly agree with that. And boy, sounds like a pretty good trait to having a captain to me. Sixteen angles, doesn't hurt either. There he goes. Luke Fox, we love him. I didn't even get to tell him he gets to grow to summer beard. I think he has like three more weeks before they're going to make him shave again. That insider brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect X months online and in the showroom, visit Don Valley, North Lexus.com. Get a slide right over. Gonna slide in a little Blue Jays talk today. Brandon Wiley, MLB supervising editor at the score joins us now. Brandon, how you doing this morning? Thanks for jumping on. I'm good. The adjustment for the West Coast game is always a tough one, but I'm surviving here. Yeah, you're surviving. You're talking to two guys. Well, I mean, Marquesi's just filling in in this life here, but you're talking to a guy whose alarm clock goes off and four in the morning every day. So sympathy, a little hard to find around these parts just being honest. I'll give it to you. Okay, there you go. One of us is feeling sympathetic for you. I'm going to jump right into it. One of your latest pieces. What will Vlad Guerrero Jr's next contract looks like? There's a lot of conversation about what's going to happen the rest of this season. But I think that's ultimately the question most people are looking at. I think we're past the idea of will it come? Does the team want to pony up? Is there a neighborhood? I think there's certainly going to be one, but I also think with baseball contracts, the numbers people, or the people when they think of numbers, they can be, you know, literally $100 million apart. What do you think this deal is going to look like for Vlad? Yeah, I think one of the things I like about baseball the most and you just talking about the least is that there is no salary cap. So there's a wide range of possible outcomes here. I'm glad. I think definitely he sees himself as one of the higher top echelon players and his play right now is fully deserving of that. I think the first couple months of the season, we were all debating about like what Vladimir Guerrero are you going to get? And I think this is kind of, I think he's he set the bar pretty high for himself. And I think it's made it a little bit easier to peg his future earnings because I mean, the first couple of months it was very hard. He probably looks like he might be a $200 million player. Now I think he's probably around a $300 million player. And I tweeted earlier this month that that he looks like he's in the devil's range, which is about a 10 year, $313 million player. And I think over the last month and a half, definitely since the all star break that he's he's probably going to be the next $300 million player for sure. It's kind of weird to say and you and you outline it in in your article about the richest first base contracts in MLB history. And we could be and probably are in that range where Vlady Guerrero Jr. is the highest paid first baseman from an annual value standpoint in Major League history. I didn't think that we would get here only because, you know, we've, we've seen some dips and in his play and you know, the envy, the almost MVP season kind of swayed us away from like, what is this guy really because that does look like the outlier. But the way that he's played lately has certainly changed the narrative. My only question here is, do you get a little bit concerned because when the games mattered earlier on in the season where they were, you know, let's let's call them in it. He wasn't performing at the level he is now when the games mean a lot less for this team. Yeah, I think that's definitely part of the equation. I think that's also part of the equation for the whole J team in general moving forward is what really are there. I know they just what the angels and the angels are, are not a good team and the pitching staff looks really good. And maybe that gives you some false sense of hope that, Oh, maybe things are maybe we're closer than we think next season. But I think that's something that the Blue Jays are going to weigh. I think what helps that front office when they're they're discussing, extending glad is that they know him, him better than anyone. I mean, to look at the angels, they signed Anthony Rendon to that massive contract and that's probably one of the worst contracts in sports right now. Yeah, just ask Anthony Reddon. He doesn't even like playing. Yeah, exactly. But he's a guy that the angel signed without knowing one of the benefits that I think the Blue Jays have is that they know Vlad inside. I know maybe Vlad was dealing with an injury or in the season that that they didn't make public. So I think when it comes to an extension talk, they're obviously they know Vlad better than anyone. They know it makes him tick. Maybe they know what they've unlocked here. That's made him so successful a little bit. Maybe they know what slowed him down earlier in the start of the season. So I think yeah, that all goes into the equation. But I also think with Vlad is that we've seen him maybe become more of a leader this year. One thing that I think really goes well in Vlad's favor is that he plays every day and to go back to the richest contracts and I'll be history. And yeah, he's the first baseman, but I don't think we need to. I don't think we can totally box him in as just a first baseman. He's pretty athletic guy for a size. He's I know that his glove is worse defense has taken a step back, but I think he's definitely good enough to play first base and also he can move it. Maybe we'll order third base a little bit. We saw that this year. So there's some versatility there. And I think the bat's really going to age very well, which you don't always see with first baseman. And obviously he's he's young. We look at Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera. These guys signed their massive contracts when they were in their early thirties and Vlad's going to be I think. So he signed an extension going into this year. He's going into his age 26 season. So you have that age too as well. So I think there's so many other factors that that makes him more than I guess just the first baseman. Yeah, there's there's I think one of the biggest factors and this isn't so much about him as a player, but it more more lends itself to the team's urgency to do this deal is just everything else has kind of fallen by by the wayside like even a guy like Jose burrios really on in the season. We're sitting here going, Hey, maybe maybe say young hasn't quite had that type of season. Kevin gosman. I mean, the highs have been high. Low's been pretty low, bass it up and down as well. And then, you know, but yet, quite frankly, having the season from hell, I wonder how much of the impetus or what's kind of drawing the two sides together is that the J's really need this right now. And Vlad is held up his part of the bargain. This isn't them just capitulating going, all right, we need some good PR. We'll just hand over buckets of money. But I think that's the other thing that's driving the impetus of this from the J's perspective is especially this offseason, like they're going to need to start it with a win of some sorts, especially if the GM is coming back, which it seems like is more and more likelihood than it was before the deadline. Oh, I agree 100% and to go back to the devil's example, I mean, they almost had to sign divers. It couldn't have been a good problem. And it actually can't be a more perfect example. Well, I mean, you let Mookie Betts walk. I know that the J didn't let show Hayo Tani walk, but I think that was a huge hit publicly to say that they were all in for him. And he basically went to the team that everyone thought he was going to. And then the Blue J struck home for the rest of the offseason. So if you're not going to sign a homegrown player like Vlad to a massive extension, I think that sends a message to the fan base is who are we ever going to sign? If not him, whoever. And I do think this one office does need a bit of a cleanup with the fan base and I think sounding vlog is a long way in that and I think there's extra pressure in that. And I do think Vlad knows that. I do think he wants to say everything publicly. He said, he said that. And if the James really wants to build this thing long term, even if they go into a retool, I mean, Vlad sells tickets, how much money did Rogers just pump into the stadium? They need to sell seats. They need to have TV subscriptions. They need people to spend money by jerseys, by concessions. And not only is Vladimir grow and sanely talented, he's also a player that a lot of fans grab a gravitate towards. So yeah, I think Vlad definitely has the ball in his glory and he can pretty much command whatever he wants. If he wants the Blue J's to allow him to get to free agency because if he does get to free agency, he's going to be highly cabinet. Yeah, I find it really hard to walk both Boba shut and Vladimir Jr. to free agency and not get a thing for him. That would be that's that's a crippling move for a franchise. But I wanted to ask you just as we look forward to, you know, the rest of the season and into next year, when you look at the lineup specifically, who are you putting in pen right now that is currently in this organization? When you go one to nine, you say, okay, I know I can pencil, I can put this guy in pen like Vlad, he we know if Bo is is here, he's obviously in pen. After that, who do you have in this lineup that you're like, okay, I know this guy is going to be here, whether productive or not, but I can slot them into the lineup. Yeah, I was looking at the lineup the last couple nights and you really underestimate how much work the front office has. I mean, a lot of the young players coming up, it's a great story, but relying on young players, I mean, not to knock David Schneider, but last year, he looked like he was going to be a lock full time player. And now that's obviously not the case. So just going to the lineup on Springer, obviously, because of the contract, you almost have to put him at right field, a bar show at center field. I'm glad at first, I mean, Kirk by necessity, I don't feel him as an everyday catcher, I think they're going to have to really upgrade there. And after that, I think left field second base, third base, D H, all of those, all those holder are all of those positions are holes to me. Obviously, bubble shot, he's a lock and shorts up. But yeah, there's a lot of needs in the lineup. There's a lot of need defensively. There's so many needs in the pitching staff, but there's, I don't know how Ross Atkins and Marshall pyro are going to attack this off season. Obviously, I think getting Vlad signed is priority number one, but if they're going to have to spend their way out of this, they're going to have to get very creative because just even looking at the term, they're going to have to offer some of these, some of these free agents to entice them to come here. There's so much heavy lifting. And I know they want to compete in 2025, but I honestly don't know how to do it. And if they get pulled off, like good for them, but yeah, looking at this lineup, I mean, Ernie Clement is a nice bench piece. I don't really know what to make a Joey Lopropito so far. I know the strikeouts have been seriously concerning a little Wagner on a two game sample size. He might be all a femur, but yeah, there's a lot of heavy lifting to do so far. Yep. Very, very many questions, very, very few solid answers, not from you, all your answers for solid, but just the bluejay. So boy, do they have some work to do as you as you noted there. Check out your latest piece on the score. What will Guerrero's next contract look like an illuminating look? Because again, I think a lot of people throw out numbers in baseball and they're not really tethered to reality. They do a good job of doing so in that column. Brandon, really appreciate the time. Thanks so much for getting up this morning. Awesome. Thanks guys. Appreciate it. There he goes. Brandon Wiley MLB supervising editor at the score as mentioned earlier in the show today, Blue Rodeo hits Budweiser stage on Saturday, August 24th, along with guests, Matt Mays and begonia. We're giving away tickets during today's show to enter for your chance to win text in today's code word blue to 59590. Again, that's blue to 59590 standard message and data rates may apply. We're giving away one last pair of tickets tomorrow, but if you don't win with us, make sure to secure yours on ticketmaster.ca. The Patriots made a trade. No, not for Brendan. I you actually, they're getting rid of a good player NFL. Well, what's going on? Make up your mind. We will talk to somebody who knows what's going on in the NFL. Jim Monos joining us next former scouting director and player personnel with several teams, including Matt Marchese's bills. He joins us to back clean up on the show. Fan morning show continues next on Sports Snap 590 the fan. The best blue Jay show out there. Period. Blair and Barker, be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Final segment of Matt Marchese's sojourn to the morning show. We've enjoyed having them and you know what we thought would be a nice parting gift for Matt Marchese and a parting gift today for all of you will be to talk a little football here. We've been bogged down rightfully so in Leafs captaincy news, but it is time to talk plenty of NFL because their storylines are plenty. Jim Monos joins us now former front office executive bills, Eagles and Saints in their Super Bowl season as well. Also a writer of the Monos report on the go long site. Jim, thanks so much for jumping on. How you doing this morning? Good morning fellow. Thanks for having me back, man. Must be football season. So I see the phone numbers pop up. So I'm got excited. Yeah, it is. It is football season. I know this is never the case for you guys, but it always kind of for me anyway, sneaks up on me a little of like, okay, yeah, off season draft, but whoa, preseason here already. And now we lost the preseason game from a few years ago. So it's crazy to think how close we are to the to the start of the season. You know, I'll admit I'm a Patriots fan. I do not like it in this business from people just talk about their favorite teams. But the NFL news is kind of conspiring against me to have to talk about the Patriots here. What a 180 six days ago, five days ago, they were trying as hard as they good to trade for Brendan Iuch. And today they're saying, we'll see you later. Matthew Judod, who's obviously one of their their better defensive players. Do you think the missing out on Iuch is tied at all to the moving on from from Judon? And if so, it's kind of crazy how quickly a team would would not that they're not trying to win, but kind of flip the way they're going about things in the preseason here? No, I think you I look at the Patriots a little differently as far as when they draft a quarterback number three. That means this season is a wash. They don't even plan on playing may from the start. So that tells me right away that when you're playing for set, it's a wash. Ownership's okay with it. Everybody's on board. We're going to try to get make this. It's all about May at this point. How can they get may? Now the storyline for me with the Patriots is Milton. When I studied him in college in May, the difference between those two is really just consistency overall. May is just a more accurate passer. And May's weakness is accuracy, but he's more accurate than Milton, but Milton's but Milton's talent level, they got a good value pick where they drafted Milton. He can be a good number two that can come in and create some headaches, run around, throw the ball 80 yards. The Holmes and Josh Allen, if they do do a long ball contest, Milton might win. It's insane. He won about 67 yards in the air, Tennessee one time in a game. That's hard to do. So point being is they have two young quarterbacks. They're going to try to build around. I just look at this year as a wash. I don't use the word tank. I use the word wash. Okay, one one team that's not going to look at the season as a wash and it's close to home for you is the Buffalo Bills. And I keep I'm it's weird because I'm not so worried about the defense, which I probably should be a little bit more, especially because the safeties are while Taylor wrap and a bunch of other guys and maybe cold bishops in that conversation. But I look at the offense and I say, okay, no Stefan Diggs and I'm a realist here. I'm a fan, but I also know that this team performed better offensively when Stefan Diggs was not the focal point of the offense. Do we have enough of a body of work from Joe Brady last year to know that this offense will continue to play at a high level? Especially considering the fact that he's got an entire off season and training camp to work with this group. Yes, I think there's been enough body of work with Joe Brady and of course the quarterback Josh Allen. So I just feel like the confidence level from McDermott to move on from Dorsey when he did it was seamless for the most part and the whole big thing had nothing to do with ability talent production. That was a locker room thing. We've all been there. Well, I say we but when you're in the front office, we've all been there. When there's a player that's a distraction, you have to move on from that player, especially if it's a distraction to the quarterback. And that's all what was happening with Diggs. But the point being is I think there is enough Joe Brady success to say that this offense should, when I say should, it better or else it's this thing's going to get ugly for the bills because that's to move on from Diggs and to move on from Dorsey. Those are, hey, those are baller moves. That's what you get paid to do as a GM. But now you got to hit on your moves at some point. So with all that being said, and, and Brent and I had this conversation this week, it does kind of feel like a low key narrative Josh Allen MVP season. You know, he, he doesn't have the number one receiver. It could be potentially that his best two receivers are a guy that was drafted in the first round last year in Dalton, Kincaid and a guy who was drafted in the second round this year in Kiaan Coleman, guys that could make an impact, but are still really young. They don't have that established number one wide receiver. Josh Allen put this team on his back last year, especially at the end of the year. And for my money, I know Lamar Jackson had a great season, but when you break it down, Josh Allen had a better season from a statistical standpoint. Do you look at this and say, this could be the year where Josh Allen gets that MVP because narratives do tell the story and they certainly lean people in one direction or another. It really is kind of setting up that way. If he could lead this team to the playoffs again, with a lot of people really not being bullish on them at all. So are you trying to make me put a bet in for Josh Allen today after we get off this phone call for MVP? Just so you know, at all points and times he is just an evangelist. He's like, Hey, have you guys heard about the great Josh Allen? Remember that throw that wasn't completed in the playoffs last year? Yeah. So the answer? Yes, he is. Yes, I am. So I will, I agree with you. I think he was better than Lamar last year. I think he could be the MVP this year. If you're asking me, I do. I think it is set up. And the reason I believe that is when I was with the Saints with your breeze and won the Super Bowl, nobody really remembers those receivers, but I can tell you every year when we had breeze, we had Jeremy Shockey, we had Jimmy Graham, we had monster tight ends. And that is huge. We never had a true number one wide out. We had Robert Meach of who could take the top off every Henderson take the top off Lance Moore was the route runner Marcus Colston was your big body ex. Like we had a mix of players that coach Payton just used the breeze made it work. And that's what the quarterback does when you have the right quarterback. Yeah, a lot of people, I think we're putting Jalen Hertz rightfully so in that club you have the success he has early on. And then you see the quite frankly, the entire Eagles org just fall apart from week 11 of the season on. I mean, any quarterback losing a center that they've had as much chemistry as him and Kelsey had had together. That's going to be a massive, massive adjustment. What do you make of the Eagles? I mean, I, I've seen teams fall off a cliff in the season. It's usually not that stark. I just, what do you make of them heading into this year? Because their season last year was just so jarring. I mean, going into week 11 or 12, I think 10 and one and then finishing the year the way they did. What's scary for me with Philly is I don't feel like it's a talent problem for them. I think that's what we're all agreeing on. Like, how can you be that good and then that bad? And then you find out it's internal. If it's fixed internal, none of us know the head coach is still the same. So I'm going to have to wait and see on these Eagles right now. I'm a little concerned. I certainly think they're good enough. But I got to tell you, I'm not a natural like Jalen Hertz to me. Everything needs to be lined up for him. He's obviously, he's tough off the charts, tough athletic. He's not a natural quarterback like throwing the football for him and picking apart defenses has never been natural. It's why he was benching college. So Jalen Hertz has, he's not a, he's not Josh Allen. He's not Mahomes. So they, he as good as he is, he needs help. So if they're not clicking on all cylinders on defense and the run game and I, I see where it can fall apart. But obviously they're good enough with that up front. And if they are running the ball with Barkley and Hertz is not turning the ball over and they're on in sync with the head coach, the talents there. But that's what's scary about week one against Green Bay. That's one of those games. I want to bet so bad. And of course we will because it's early, but and the only game on that night, but man, that is a scary game to bet because we need to watch a lot to see how that Philly team looks. It's funny that you mentioned that with Jalen Hertz. I had the same thought like Jalen Hertz as a quarterback throwing the ball doesn't, has not shown me enough. And then you mentioned the Packers in that, in that conversation there. And Jordan Love is a guy that, you know, even in a short window, like from week 11, he was the best quarterback in the NFL. I don't think that was even a question, but it's funny because this narrative of like, you need athletic quarterbacks is fine. I get that. And Josh Allen is that. And Lamar Jackson is that. But even Lamar is a little bit limited as a thrower partially because, I mean, they haven't really surrounded him with weapons until this past year. But you can say the same thing about what's happening with Anthony Richardson. Like what's Anthony Richardson going to look like? At the end of the day, all these athletic traits that guys have are great. Like Patrick Mahomes is athletic. But Patrick Mahomes, like you said, can pick a part of defense. I think we get so caught up when we evaluate quarterbacks and wow, look at the athletic prowess this guy's this guy has. And it's like, yeah, you know, he's not a great thrower of the ball, but boy, he can run. I think we've strayed so far away from the, you know, the typical, what wins you games as a quarterback thing. And we get so caught up in the athleticism. We forget what actually works in this sport. It's an organizational decision when you're trying to decide on your quarterback, the style when you're looking at Richardson and Lamar. Cam Newton is a great example of Vince Young taking it back. But those guys, those, their legs are part of what makes them special, but that injuries are going to be part of that as well. That is just going to happen with running quarterbacks. And I'm with you. If I'm, I'm, you know, we know what these quarterbacks are making now and then I'm not, I want a guy that can move, but his strength has to be taken apart, throwing the football. It can't be his legs. I don't think that should be his strength. Yeah, no, I don't, I don't think you want to look at it as the, the trait that you most value in your quarterback. It should be a secondary thing for sure. And the secondary thing can be tremendous, right? But even like, let's even think about Lamar Jackson, right? The best version of him that we talk about is when he's using his legs to set up things, whether it be for the run game for other parts of the team or, you know, opening up the deep ball, that that's when he's still at the kind of, kind of best version of, of himself. The going back to the AFC East, you know, bills, I think are, are the favorite in that division and rightfully so. It does feel like a real kind of have and have nots there. How much of the Jets going to going to push them this year? I mean, hard to read too much into their season when everything that happened at quarterback, but I am not necessarily just of the belief. Well, Aaron Rodgers there and everything's going to go perfect this season either. No, it's never that easy. If we think about Tampa with my Brady sign, it took that it took time for them to click. So I think the Jets will have some bumps in the road, but I will say that if Rodgers is healthy, I think we all can agree, they're going to be a problem. If he is healthy, that's a big if and that's a hard way to make a living, hoping your quarterback's healthy, but we know that the bills aren't going to, it's going to be a different game against the Jets. Miami, obviously, you got to show up and the Patriots, like I said, I think the, I think you get two against them this year, which is nice. Yeah, I mean, that would be, that would be great. It hasn't been super easy though, unfortunately. Now you never, never, no, no, never. So looking at the Jets and the Dolphins, I was thinking about this yesterday when, when I knew we were having you on and I look at the Jets and the Dolphins and say, okay, I know there's been a lot of pressure put on Robert Salah to perform with this group, but I will make the argument that Robert Salah, yes, the defense has been great. And that's his bailiwick, but he, he hasn't had a quarterback since he's been in New York. I don't care what anybody says. Mike McDaniel has been handed basically everything that he's wanted from an offensive perspective. He, he wanted to keep two around. They signed him to an extension. You know, Tyree kill was there. They draft jail and waddle, like everything that Mike McDaniel has asked for, he has gotten. So which of those two coaches has the most pressure on them to perform this season? The Jets have more pressure. It's not even close. I think, and I'm with you, I, I agree with everything you just said, but it's, it's clear that the way those organizations just from, just get the quarterbacks out of it, the way they're being run right now, the Miami is insane. Like he just hired a new defensive coordinator, Anthony Weaver, who I worked with was fortunate enough to be here in Buffalo with. So I'm, I just feel like Miami is still on that. They feel like they're trending in the right direction where I think the Jets are all looking around like, what the hell do we even pass? Like, are you a good coach? Are you a healthy quarterback? So like I think I'm, I'm going with the Jets on the pressure. Yeah. I, I, I agree with you there. And it's New York, right? Like there's always just a little little added action. Wait, it's New Jersey. Hold on. Okay. Well, Jim knows that either way. No, enough ordinary people in the, in the tri-state area. Okay. Is that work better for all of you? Jim really, really appreciate the chat. And yeah, keep that phone on because I'm sure we'll be bugging you again. Yeah. Look forward to speaking again. There he goes. Jim Bono is also a writer of the Monos report. You get that on the go-long site. Didn't talk about Caleb Williams in there because we got to mix it up. Can't talk about him every single day. I saw, you know, I'm not going to sit here and tell you I was watching preseason, but these throws, they keep making the rounds that he makes rolling out pressure there. He just really does kind of have that special it factor about him. It feels like he's going to be one of those guys. I have to be honest. I was rooting for a world where he kind of stunk and I got to see all the bad takes on either side of things here, but I don't think that's going to happen. I think he's going to be really, really good. I don't think that's going to happen. And that's part of that is, yes, the, the player himself, but I think part of that is the, is credit to the Chicago Bears in that front office for finally doing it right with a quarterback. Look at that receiver group and Colcomette as the tight end. Like Roma Dunes is amazing. DJ Moore is amazing. Keenan Allen, right? All these reports that he's like fat all of a sudden. He's still a very, very good receiver in the NFL. Lots of teams would love to have him. He may end up being their third best receiver. That guy's a, that's guy's a whole of famer. I assume this guy is going to like have a successful life, whatever it looks like. So I don't envision the scenario will open itself to me, but I would love in 10 years time to sit next to Justin Fields and just get him going on exactly that of like, Oh, okay. When it's Caleb, we clear out the whole world for him. We make everything super safe and easy, but it's me. You got me playing running back back there effectively. It is just the classic case of, and he wouldn't be wrong to point out any of that. And guess what? The Bears wouldn't be wrong to say, Hey pal, that's great. You ain't Caleb Williams. Yeah. I, and I'm a big Justin Fields believer. He's not as good as Caleb Williams. I still think that there's a path to NFL success for Justin Fields. And I still, I would bet that Justin Fields makes more starts in Russell Wilson this year in Pittsburgh. Yeah. I mean, the upside certainly is there. There's no upside in rush, you know, exactly what that is. I mean, there's upside for all of us because we could get like, let's ride or let's well, just the worst or whatever, you know, he's going to be like, he's going to be playing catch with a baseball glove out there or something. Just yeah, he is truly the worst, just insufferable rust. So for that, I want him in our lives starting because I don't know what do I care how well or poorly the Steelers do. Also, I couldn't think of a person to be more aggrieved by Russell Wilson than Mike Tomlin. Does it not feel like those guys would not so much click James Harrison and Mike Tomlin? Hmm. I can see it. Russell Wilson and Mike Tomlin and all the difference. Mark Casey, you're done. Like you will still appear on sports upon another fan. I should clarify that. I'll just be waking up tomorrow morning to talk to us all here. Thank goodness for the leaf news. Truly we've been without it. And this is back tomorrow. So you'll be hearing less of me and I'll be sitting in a different spot. I can't wait for bed to be back. Enjoy my week here with Mark Casey. Thanks so much to the guys behind the glass. It's been another great addition if I do say so myself of the fan morning show on Sportsnet 590 the fan. Good morning. [Music]
