With the $5 meal deal in McDonald's, you pick a Mac Double or a Mac Chicken, then get a small fry, a small drink, and a four-piece Macnuggets. That's a lot of McDonald's for not a lot of money. Price and participation may vary for a limited time only. First of all, congratulations on becoming the official grill and bar sponsor of the National Football League. How does it feel to serve up the NFL? Man, it's a real dream come true. I'm glad we'll be able to serve up some extra heat this season. Do you have any plans to celebrate? Absolutely. We're going to serve up America's favorite bonus wings with just 50 cents each to kick off the season. Any of our sources, whether it's in restaurant or to go, it don't matter. It's all 50 cents all the time. Are you worried at all about any competition this season? What competition? Limited time price participation in selection may vary, tax and gratuity excluded. This episode is brought to you by Progressive. Most of you aren't just listening right now. You're multitasking. But what if you could also be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers you save by switching save nearly $750 on average and auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. So, multi-task right now. Get your quote now at Progressive.com. Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates. National average 12 months savings of $744 by new customer surveyed who saved with progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. There's the midfield decoration for the 100th season of New York Giants football. I guess it'll be there all year long. I kind of like it. It's kind of a nice distraction from the ugly uniforms they're going to wear week one against the Vikings. That Michigan rip off thing. That abomination. There are some of those Nike five abominations in the NFL. I don't like the Giants throwback. I like that logo at the middle of the field. Yeah, I do too, Mike. I don't like to throwback jerseys. I'm not big on that. I guess that's a good off my lawn. But I like the traditional stuff. Give me the traditional stuff. Cowboys, Raiders, Packers, Bears. Steelers did the, you know, it's been almost 30 years ago when they decided to go with the rounded numbers. That was a big deal. The rounded numbers and the logo on the shoulder that has the bear side of the helmet. That was a big deal. But now it's like every year, you have to have a program to keep up with all the different alternate uniforms and helmets. And every team's got their schedule release of when they're going to wear their funky uniforms and I'll get off your lawn. Everyone else get off my lawn. I like the traditional uniforms because it speaks to the history of the NFL and John Ficenda and, you know, when Shareen and I were growing up and we fell in love with it. All right. The Chiefs will be very happy. The fans will be happy to know. And I've been trying to get to the bottom of this for weeks. And I think the problem is the NFL doesn't really want to talk about it because they don't want it to be a story because they'd rather it not be covered. Because if it's covered too much, then they have to put the guy on paid leave. And that's what paid leave is there for, to have a guy that you otherwise would be talking about, not around, to be talked about. The Rishi Rice incident, the eight felony charges flowing from the street racing video that we've seen many times. It happened in late March. He's facing those charges. The case is moving forward. A couple of weeks ago, I was trying to figure out, is he going to be on the field week one? Well, we will assess the situation under the personal conduct policy after the legal process concluded. But fine. Are you going to use the commissioner example? It's because it's right there in the personal conduct policy. If you're facing felony charges, you can be put on paid leave and he's facing eight of them. And they'd never give a clear answer. And yesterday there was a conference call with reporters. It was all on the record. I'm not talking out of school here. And they were trying to be evasive about it. They were trying to not answer the question about whether or not he's going to be put on paid leave. And finally they did with a cleanup on aisle five that they swooped in at the end of the call and acknowledged they won't be putting them on paid leave, barring a material change in his case. They finally gave us an answer to the question. People need to know if the guy's going to play or not. I had written multiple times in our story from two and a half weeks ago. Apparently it was ignored because the same damn thing was reported by the Washington Post two days ago. The exact same thing we reported two and a half weeks ago. They're going to wait until the case is over. And then they'll review it under the personal conduct policy. And if he would have been put on paid leave, it was going to happen already. Look how quick Mike called junior of the Browns got put on paid leave because of a domestic violence case. That's the key. It's not domestic violence. You're far less likely to be put on paid leave. If you're accused of domestic violence, felony or misdemeanor, you're far more likely to be put on paid leave. Well, and he was lucky Mike that nobody died in the wreck that he caused because then I think he would also be on paid leave if that had happened. But fortunately, no one no one was killed in that wreck that he calls here in here in Dallas. So yes, yes, but but I'm sorry to interrupt you. We heard them yesterday talking about the hip drop tackle and how they're trying to remove the behavior from the game. Yeah, the behavior is the problem, not the outcome. Absolutely. Because, you know, you play Russian roulette and you only shoot yourself in the head one out of six times. The other five times, no harm, no foul. What the hell are you doing playing Russian roulette? And you're playing Russian roulette when you're driving like that with somebody else's life. So the fact that he got lucky shouldn't change how the NFL feels about it or anyone else. That's where the disconnect is here. And that's what bugs me about this. He should be on paid leave. That video, that video is horrifying when you see it. And he just got lucky that nobody got killed. So they've finally given us an answer. Finally, for she rice, barring a material change between now and Thursday, we'll see him playing for the Chiefs against the Ravens to start the season. Well, and that's good for the Chiefs that he's going to be out there. He will be suspended at some point. I would bet my next paycheck on that. He's going to be suspended. The question is when, and it's, you know, court cases take a wall and the investigations take a wall. So it's going to be a wall, probably be in the next season. But the Chiefs will have him this season. They need him after Hollywood Browns injury. He did become their number one receiver last year. 79 catches almost 1,000 yards of seven touchdowns. And they've improved that receiving core. And part of the reason they improved that receiving core was not knowing his status at the time. So they went out and said, "We're going to get better at receiver." And they are. They've got a much better receiving core. And they would be able to absorb his absence much better. But they do have him now, Mike. So that's good for the Chiefs that Patrick Mahomes has, where she rice to start the season and probably for the entire season. The better you are, the more tolerant a team will be with some missteps. And the Chiefs regard her she rice as a guy that when he goes back to Dallas, he gets around friends that influence him in a way that isn't productive for anyone. There was the other incident that ultimately didn't result in anything because the, remember it was a photographer who was at a bar and there was an altercation and charges were pressed, but then they were dropped. But, you know, the Chiefs love this guy because when he's not in Dallas, they view him as a different human being altogether. And he went in there last year and he figured out the offense faster than Tyree Kill did as a rookie. Remember Tyree Kill's rookie season. He made most of his waves in the return game, not as a core part of the offense. Where she rice figured it out, he had almost 1,000 yards. He got better in the postseason. This is a guy that could really take off this year. That's one of the reasons why they're behind him because he really is the best option they have to become what Tyree Kill was for the Chiefs offense. And it probably won't be until next year that he's suspended and we'll see how this all plays out. And, you know, the reality that no one got seriously injured or killed will probably buy him some lenience at some level, even if it shouldn't, because the behavior is what needs to be addressed. But you're right. It'll be this time next year as the Chiefs are getting ready to host the opening game because they won their third Super Bowl in a row. They were talking about the number of games that Rishi Rice is missing because of the March 2024 incident. Yeah, and these things are never resolved quickly, and this one wasn't resolved quickly and won't be resolved quickly. So I expect them to have him for the entire season, and I think the Chiefs probably expect to have him for the entire season. So that's good for them for this season, and they'll take that into account in the off season when they start, again, managing what they need to add in either free agency or the draft. They'll probably be looking at the receiver position, knowing that Rishi Rice is going to have to have some kind of suspension that he's going to have to serve. So, but for this year, Mike, they haven't, that receiver core is upgraded. I stupidly thought two years ago that receivers would be the detriment of this team, and they had no chance even to make the playoffs much as the Super Bowl. And last year, I was like, oh, they can't win the Super Bowl again. That receiver core still is a good enough. Well, guess what? Patrick Mahomes is good enough. So whoever you give him at receiver, just like what the Patriots did with Tom Brady for years, aside from Randy Moss, whoever you give him at receiver is good enough because he's good enough. Hey, look, the team has no chance to make it to the playoffs blowing up in your face. That's my move. Don't take my move. Okay. One of the reasons that the Chiefs felt good post Tyree Kill, they thought they stole Caderius Tony, a first round pick in 2021 from the Giants who had grown exasperated with Caderius Tony, during the 2022 season, traded him to the Chiefs for a third round pick and a sixth round pick. And he ultimately caught a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl, had a nice punt return that helped the Chiefs position themselves to win. But last year, Tony was not good. Week one, multiple drops, four or five of them. He had that play where he lined up ridiculously offside on the double pass, the lateral across the field from Travis Kelsey, the touchdown in the Buffalo game that got called back. And then the game against the Patriots. He had a drop that became an interception. And that was kind of the moment Patrick Mahomes had had enough and we didn't see Tony again the rest of the year. Well, we're never going to see him again with the Chiefs. He was waived. He's out. He hasn't been claimed. He hasn't been signed. I don't know what his future is. But here's GM. Brett Beach dipping into the past on whether he has regrets for making the trade that got them kid areas Tony. I don't think we're sitting here going for a third trade Super Bowl had we not made that trade. So from that standpoint, do it all over again in a heartbeat. I think it's always disappointing when a player's tenure comes to an end in that situation, meaning you'll have players that the age catches up to them. You'll have players where maybe it's obviously a really serious injury and then you'll have players that you move on from where the talent just wasn't there. So I think when you have to move on for from a player and the, you know, the full product or the finished product or untapping all that talent wasn't realized. There's a disappointment and, you know, I think it goes both ways. I'm certainly sure that, you know, there would be things that he would do different in regards to just some of the policies and stuff and taking care of the body. But again, I think it's a, it's a process. He's a really smart kid and I do think he'll figure it out. And again, I think he'll end up making plays for a team down the road here. I mean, we'll see. We'll see. There's always a coach that thinks that he's the guy that can get through to the player who for whatever reason wasn't getting the most out of his God given abilities. And that's always kind of a tragedy when someone has a high degree of ability in whatever field. And is using it, but not maximizing it. And I think that's the knock on Tony. He didn't get enough out of his God given skills. Who, if Andy Reed couldn't, Shireen, who is going to get Caderius Doney to change? Is this going to be a potential Chris Carter? All he does is catch touchdowns, transformation where this is the wake up call he needed. I don't know, but I think he's really going to have to humble himself. He's going to have to prove to an organization. He loves football. He's shutting out the distractions. He's focused on the game. He's focused on being the best player he can be before he's going to get another opportunity. Well, and Brett Veitch also alluded to the little things and it almost sounded like, you know, there was the work in the off season and the work in training camp and all those sorts of things. And it is sad. You know, I think back to Johnny Menzel and how great he was in college, but didn't put in the time and didn't put in the work. And you can't, in the NFL, you've got to put in the time, you've got to put in the work. You can't just have the talent and be a great player. And you think about all these players and he's probably going to be one of these players, Caderius Tony, that we're going to be talking about it. What if, God, what could have been with Caderius Tony? And I think he's a first round draft pick for a reason. He could have been a great receiver in this league. And now the question is, who gives him a chance? Who pulls that out of him? I do think he gets another chance somewhere because he's so talented. Somebody else will give him a chance. But like you said, Mike, if Andy Re can't get it out of you, I don't know who can. I don't know who can get to him to make him put it all together to where the talent equals the work level and the commitment and the love of football. Sometimes guys just don't love football too. And that's a huge problem. If you don't look, it can be about the money, but you've got to have a true love to football. Felix Jones was one to me. Cowboy's drafting the first round and you could just tell he never had that love of football. And if you don't have that, I just don't think you can become a great player. The first Arkansas player, Jerry Jones ever drafted during his tenure with the Cowboys. That was the year that he wanted Darren McFadden and didn't get Darren McFadden. So he settled for Felix Jones instead, but eventually did have Darren McFadden, who did rush for a thousand yards in that year between Ezekiel Elliott and who was after Ezekiel Elliott. Wait, no, it was before Ezekiel Elliott. It was between DeMarco Moore and Ezekiel Elliott. I knew my brain was misfiring there. I knew it was happening, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. Caderias Tony also is the answer to a trivia question. Who was the guy at the center of the first major urban Meyer screw up in the NFL? Because it was after the draft in 2021, after round one, he just blurts out. Man, I really wish Caderias Tony had fallen. Dude, you drafted Travis ATN. Take that guy and don't talk about somebody who's under contract with another team, but that was the Caderias Tony draft day escapade courtesy of Urban Meyer. Chris Sims was only with us one day this week because he went to Kansas City to sit down with a quarterback you might have heard of his name. I think his Patrick Mahomes. Here is Chris and Patrick Mahomes, and the full interview will be available on YouTube if it isn't already. We'll have it next week during the pregame prior to the Raven's Chiefs contest. But here is a little snippet, including behind the back pass and a teammate who is dating someone who happens to be a little more famous than Patrick Mahomes. You guys amazed me because you're different than the Belichick Brady, you know, we're going to keep things buttoned up. You guys almost embraced the big shove, right? And then it's Kelsey decides to start dating the most famous person in the world where I think most coaches will be like, "What the hell is going on? We got to deal with this now." I mean, how do you guys seem to embrace this stuff and make it all work? I think it starts with Coach Reed because he always says, "Let's your personality show." And he wants you to have fun. And then when you have a guy like Trev and Dayton, like you said, one of the most famous people in the world, I think it's just because he's such a good dude. It's like, it's true, it's real. He's outside the building, he's doing this stuff, but when he's in the building, he's working his tail off to be the best of the best. Your Hall of Famer tied in, that's going to be in that special room or whatever you call it, like where the best of the best are is the hardest work you do to practice. It leads everybody else. And so it's not even that it's a distraction. Like you said, I mean, I like playing Sunday Night Football. I like playing the first game of the year. I like playing in the Super Bowl because that's when I watched it growing up. And so, why not embrace it? Embrace being that show that comes to town and gets to play against the best of the best and get the best from every single team. And then I think just being part of it, I mean, it's been a heck of a ride and I'm enjoying every single bit of it. Entering Year 7 as a starter, he's never changed. That's the greatest compliment I can give to somebody who has seen the meteoric rise that Patrick Holmes has. He's the same kid that he was coming out of Texas Tech. I didn't know him before that. I assume he's the same as he was growing up and it's a testament to his upbringing, his family and his own character. He has never changed. And I wax more and more poetically every year about that because he keeps getting bigger and bigger every year and accomplishing more and more every year. Six years in the NFL as a starter and his worst case scenario is losing an overtime in the AFC Championship game. It's unbelievable what we've seen from him. Pretty amazing, Mike. And when you look at Tom Bray, everybody remembers all the championships he won, but there was a large gap between his third and his fourth championship. And you wondered if he would win that fourth. And with Patrick Mahomes, I mean, here he is so early in his career with the championships that he won. He's won. If they do something really special that's not been done in the Super Bowl era this year, I do think we're going to be start talking about whether it's Brady or Patrick Mahomes as the greatest of all time. Regardless of what happens, the rest of Patrick Mahomes career, he's been that good in this era. It's unbelievable what he's accomplished. I saw him play a ton of games at Texas Tech, watched most of his games. And I thought he was really good, but I never dreamed that obviously nobody in the NFL did either outside of Andy Reid and Sean Payton wanted him. But to do what he's done in the NFL is just it's unbelievable what he's accomplished already this early in his career. You make a great point too, because we feel one way about the possibility of the Chiefs winning three in a row. The reality of it happening, if it happens, our mindset changes. And as the confetti settles, and we start to think about what it means. I remember when Brady came back to beat the Falcons in Super Bowl 51. That was the thing that elevated him to a new stratosphere. That made it, and I remember saying, if you like football at all, you've got to see Tom Brady play in person once before he retires, because this is Michael Jordan's stuff now. That was the transformational moment. And I think for Patrick Mahomes, despite all the great things he's done, three in a row would be a moment where our view of him changes, and it reaches a higher level. And maybe three in a row is better than seven sprinkled out over 20 years. Maybe it is. We won't know how we feel about it until it happens when it happens. Because who knows what's going to happen. But man, it's impossible to ignore what the Chiefs have done the last six years and not think they're going to find a way to be in the conversation. It's a minimum in the conversation, and possibly at the top of the mountain, when it's all said and done. One of the teams you'll have to deal with, the Baltimore Ravens, they start the season with the AFC Championship rematch. When we return, GM Eric Dacosta says he's seeing a different side to quarterback Lamar Jackson, and that might be a good thing for Ravens fans. We'll be right back. With the five-dollar meal deal at McDonald's, you pick a McDouble or a McChicken, then get a small fry, a small drink, and a four-piece McNuggets. That's a lot of McDonald's for not a lot of money. Price and participation may vary for a limited time only. I will be healthy. First of all, congratulations on becoming the official grill and bar sponsor of the National Football League. How does it feel to serve up the NFL? Man, it's a real dream come true. I'm glad we'll be able to serve up some extra heat this season. Do you have any plans to celebrate? Absolutely. We're going to serve up America's favorite bonus wings with just 50 cents each to kick off the season. Any of our sources, whether it's in restaurant or to go, it don't matter, it's all 50 cents all the time. Are you worried at all about any competition this season? What competition? Limited time price participation in selection may vary, tax and gratuity excluded. 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Create or join a private Yahoo! Fantasy League and enter the $1 million NBC sweepstakes plus earn extra entries to win when players on your Fantasy roster score touch down during an opening weekend game on NBC or PCOT. Download the redesigned Yahoo! Fantasy app or go to nbcsports.com/fantasymillion to learn more. He mentioned before the break the fact that Eric Dacosta was talking to reporters and had some things to say about a different side to Lamar Jackson, specifically his emergence as a leader. Here's Dacosta. He looks fast as heck. He looks really, really fast. He's throwing the ball extremely well. What I've noticed about Lamar really is more of an intangible thing. His urgency with the other players, he's just really in tune with the other players. Every single day in practice he's so engaged with the coaches. He's engaged with his teammates. Heck, he's engaged with me. We talk personnel. We meet after practice just the other day talking about personnel. He's got some great ideas and suggestions. He just really wants to win badly. I'm seeing that as a player, I've always known that. But now I'm seeing his personality come out more where I can really get a sense that this guy is so hyper-focused on this season and really working to get a ring. Well, hey, that's great news for the Ravens. To see that come out from Lamar Jackson, to see him understanding there's only so many years you can do this. You only have so many chances. And when you have to deal with Patrick Mahomes, and he saw it last year firsthand at home in the AFC Championship, it's the second time they've lost a home playoff game as the one seed. They lost to the Titans in 2019 as the one seed, and now they lost in 2023. The Chiefs is the one seed. And it's becoming a thing. The failure of the Ravens under Lamar Jackson to deliver in the postseason is becoming a thing, just like it is for the Bills. But the problem is when you have to deal with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, that's going to happen. He's going to make a lot of quarterbacks and teams feel like they can't succeed and deliver in the postseason because Mahomes is always in the way. I think it was that Titans loss probably more than anything, Mike. But yeah, you've got to deal with Patrick Mahomes and the AFC just to get to the Super Bowl. Joe Burrell was able to do that one year, but it's hard. It's really, really hard, but I do like what I'm hearing from Lamar Jackson. He's down to 200 pounds, Mike, and that's 15 pounds less than what he was last year and 30 pounds lighter than two years ago. So hopefully he can hold up at that weight. If he can, he should be faster, and he says he feels faster and lighter and all those sorts of things. But it just feels like, too, that he has a stronger comfort level in the offense, suggesting players that they should go after in the offseason, suggesting plays to the coaches and things that he likes about the offense. He's really kind of taken ownership there, something that I don't know that we've seen before in his career, despite the two MVP awards. So he's got a chance to be even better than what he has been, and obviously he was the best quarterback in the NFL last season, had a career-high 3800 passing yard, 3600 passing yards, and we know what he can do running the football, and he's getting better as a passer, Mike. So, you know, he's only 27. I just think we're going to see Lamar keep growing and growing and growing. But yeah, he's got to beat Patrick Mahomes to get the Ravens to where they want to go, and that's something that he hasn't done. We complained about this dynamic earlier in the program, but now's the time that I guess we lean into it a little bit, because we'll see Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in their traditional uniforms, Thursday Night Week 1. Week 4, Sunday Night Football on NBC and Peacock, we will see the Ravens in their all-black uniform. That's against the Bills, and then Purple rises, Vikings say cease and desist with the Purple helmet, November 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals. That is a Thursday Night game. That will be a monumental week in our country, not because of that Thursday Night game, but because of whatever happens on Tuesday night into Wednesday, possibly into Thursday, possibly won't be settled. Ravens Bengals will possibly be a diversion from all the, when in the hell are we going to know who won the damn election talk on November 7? So that's the uniform schedule for the Ravens. The rest of the time, it's just their regular Ravens uniforms. Now that you know that, you can relax and enjoy your Labor Day weekend. How much might this get in a third MVP award do for Lamar and his standing in the NFL? In other words, you know, we talk about, it's unique that he would win that many MVP awards and not win a Super Bowl. It's kind of like what we were talking about with Travis Hunter to have the win a Heisman on a losing team. If you don't win a Super Bowl and you win all these MVP awards, where does that put you in the hierarchy? Is it Dan Marino type thing that we're talking about to not win a championship and win an MVP and be one of the best quarterbacks of your era? Well, I'm looking now at the list of the all-time MVP awards and they have a designation of whether it's your second, your third, your fourth. Dan Marino didn't win two. I don't think Dan Marino won one. Oh, 84, he did. 84, he did, obviously. That was his year. He had 4,000 passing yards when 4,000 was unprecedented or 5,000. Excuse me, set the record that year. Was it 5,000? Was it 5,000? If I lost my damn mind, it was 5,000. It was 5,000. It was 5,000. Anyway, it's happened so often since then, I've forgotten that 5,000 was once a big deal. All these other guys with multiple MVPs have Super Bowls. The only one with multiple MVPs that doesn't play in the pre-Super Bowl era, Jim Brown. You've got John Unitus who ended up with a Super Bowl ring even though he was beyond the height of his abilities. Yeah, it's unprecedented to have a guy with two MVP trophies and no Super Bowl rings. You get to three, it's just a different set of circumstances that we haven't seen before. And like I said with the possibility of Mahomes winning three straight Super Bowls, we won't know how we really feel about it until it's a reality. Yeah, he's got plenty of time to go win one. There's no question about that two and four in the postseason, but he's got to figure out how to beat Patrick Mahomes. And I think this is a big game for them because if he comes out and they do something and beat the Chiefs, you know, it's a confidence thing in all those sorts of things that we talk about. Hey, we did it. And it doesn't mean that you're going to do it again, but I do think it shows you that it's possible. And this is the game plan that we use and all those sorts of things. So, you know, I would love to see Lamar Jackson win a championship just because I think he's been one of the best players in the NFL and the time he's been in the NFL. And I like great players to win championships. That's what it's all about. So, I hope that he does one day, whether it's this year or some other year. I hope he gets an opportunity to do that and fill that success in the postseason. And as I look at this list of MVPs, I still, I still see one. And there's one who was the MVP and won a Super Bowl the same year when we were still in high school. And he was a kicker. The strike shortened 1982 season. Mark Mosley. Mark Mosley was the league MVP and the Washington franchise went on to win the Super Bowl that year in the strike shortened season. So, anyway, we'll see how we feel if and when Lamar Jackson gets that third MVP or if he gets a Super Bowl ring along the way, it's just harder to do it with Pat from my homes hanging around and taking away everybody else's accomplishments because he can't be stopped as we've seen over and over again. All right. Let's take a break. We'll return the Texans won the AFC South in a surprise last year. We'll hand out some superlatives as we preview the AFC South for 2024 next year. I'll give it to you. Oh, and we're back. Draft King Sportsbook is the number one place to bet touchdowns. And new customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets instantly plus get one month of NFL plus premium. Download the avenues promo code BFT live when you sign up. All right. We've been previewing the divisions this year with something a little different than we've done in the past just because it can get boring just to say, what do you think of this division? So, it's kind of a yearbook style in advance. Superlatives are predictions are estimation of who the best or worst may be. And let's start with most likely to succeed offensive edition within the AFC South. Sherrine, who do you have? I think it's pretty easy, Mike. It's CJ Stroud because of what he did last season. I think we're already talking about him as one of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL. Now, you've talked a lot about sophomore Jinx. How's he going to be in his second season? What did he do in the offseason to prepare and all those sorts of things? And we're going to find that out. But I think we're going to see an even better CJ Stroud this season. You just look at that receiving core. Now that he has step on digs to go with Nico Collins and Tank Dale, they cut Noah Brown, who had two 150 yard games for them last season because they're so deep at receiver, Dalton Schiltz at tight end, Joan Mixon at running back. This is just an offense that has an opportunity here to be very, very explosive. And I think CJ Stroud is the best quarterback in that division. 2021 was a long time ago, but not that long ago. I think Jonathan Taylor is going to turn the clock back. He had injury issues in 2022. Last year, the holdout plus injury issues and just all that acrimony and consternation about his contract. This year, everything's fine. Everything's good. Anthony Richardson, if he can stay healthy, it's a great one to punch. And I think Jonathan Taylor can get back to being the guy that he was and that could help the Indianapolis Colts, possibly the postseason, possibly division title. This seems like a fairly wide open division. I know a lot of people just expect the Texans are going to pick up where they left off. But a year ago, they've been left for dead. Everything can change in one given season. And it might not be the cakewalk that we think it is for the Houston Texans. All right. Most likely to succeed defensive edition. Shireen, who do you have? There are really some great defensive players in this division. And I hate to stick with the Texans on every one of these. And I like two players in particular on this defense. Will Anderson, now that he has the Neil Hunter opposite him and Derek Stingley, I think is going to have another great year. I'm going to go with Will Anderson. He was the other first round draft pick that the Texans had and played really well as a rookie. I think he's going to be better with Hunter opposite him and really taking him under his wing and teaching him some things. So I'm going to go Will Anderson. But this entire division has great defensive players throughout. There are a lot of players you can pick. When you're talking about a pass rusher, ideally you're on a team that has the lead more often than not in the second half, pinning the years back, chasing quarterbacks and getting more sacks. And I feel like Neil Hunter has never really been appreciated the way that he should be. I remember interviewing him seven years ago and looking straight up into the sky. The man is a giant. He is a great player. He was the fastest. He had the most sacks of anyone in NFL history by the age of 25. I think that was the record that he set. He had injury issue that wiped out a full season. There was a neck problem. He's out of Minnesota for the first time in his career. I think he's going to be special this year. I think he's going to be dominant. I think some teams are going to wish they had gotten in the pursuit of Neil Hunter when he was available in free agency. So we're heavy on the Texans, but there's a reason. They were pretty damn good last year. And they went out and tried to make themselves better. And to Neil Hunter will make that happen. Dynamic duo from the AFC South, Shirene. Well, this was a little bit hard in that there's not a quarterback and a receiver who've been together, who've been great. In other words, you know, if you're going to pick Stroud, you're probably going to pick digs who wasn't there. Have we seen enough from Will Levis? Have we seen enough from Anthony Richardson? I don't think so. So to avoid going Texans all the way through, I'm going to go with Trevor Lawrence and Christian Kirk, because then I pick my Aggie too. I know they drafted Brian Thomas, but I just think Christian Kirk is a big part of that offense for the Jaguars. We haven't even mentioned Trevor Lawrence's name. Former number one overall pick. So I'm going to go Lawrence and Christian Kirk. See, and I agree with you. We keep coming back to the same teams. And I wanted to give Will Levis a shout here, because I think he could be good this year, but who's the guy that naturally fits? I'll say Trevor Lawrence and Brian Thomas Jr., because I think that is going to be a more impactful relationship than Trevor Lawrence and Christian Kirk. So we have half of our dynamic duos on the same page, but not on the rest. Division King, AFC South winner. I have a feeling I know who your answer is going to be. Yeah, I'm picking the Texans. I think they're going to repeat as division champions. I think they've got a chance to be really special this year. I like what they did in the offseason. I love what DeMico Ryan's did in his first season as head coach. I like that coach. I like everything about this team. And they're going to have more of a target on their backs, because they did something nobody expected them to do last year. But people still aren't talking about them as a Super Bowl favor. We're still talking about the Ravens. We're still talking about, obviously, the Chiefs, three Pete and all those sorts of things. So I still think they're under the radar slightly, Mike. Yeah. Look, we know that there's 50% turnover in the postseason field. Roughly 50% every year. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. The challenge is figuring out which half made it that isn't going to make it back, and which of the teams that didn't make it is going to rise up. Last year, we wouldn't have dreamed the Texans would be one of them. I think they showed us enough for us to think they'll win the division. The question is how far can they advance up the playoff tree? So even though I think the division is more wide open than we realize and any of the four teams could win it, the Texans did enough last year and they're the first team ever to go out and add a 1,000 yard rusher, a 1,000 yard receiver and a double digit sack specialist to come in and make the team better. They went all in. One Texas team set all in. One Texas team did all in. The Texans did all in, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now. Yeah, and I think that's accurate. Let's say they have a ton of injuries. We don't know enough about Will Levison and Anthony Richardson how they're going to be because they didn't play enough games last year, but we do know what CJ Stroud is and we know what Trevor Lawrence is and I do like the Jaguars. I think they've got a chance to win that division, but they need to get it done again this year because they failed last year. They didn't hold on to the division lead when they should have and the Texans swiped it from them. And so now they've got an opportunity to come back this year. I think Trevor Lawrence is a really good quarterback, but they're another team that needs to show they can consistently win, win the division and get into the postseason and succeed. All right, we need to take a break. When we return, Drod Mayo will share, not as a guest. We just have the clip from yesterday. It sounds like I was implying he was going to be on the program unless somebody else knows something I don't will have his sound from yesterday on why he picked Jacobi Brissette over Drake, made a quarterback, plus the Browns have freed up a lot of cap space. What are they up to? That's next year on PFT Live. Would you consider yourself a dog and what does dog mean to you? So great question. So look, this is a dog. Everybody's a dog, but you have a different kind. So you got Chihuahas, you got Pitbulls, where I was a German Shepherd, me a politician, massive. So like, yeah, I'm a dog person. So it's like, you kind of got to, sometimes you got to pick and choose what kind you is. That don't mean to be a chihuahua, but at the same time, you can't just, in every situation, you're trying to be aggressive over the top. So you got to be smart with it. Be the dog, are you? All right, so I'll say, I'm a pit bull, but with the body of a Neapolitan mess. Can you translate that? I don't know what a Neapolitan Mastiff is. I would have thought it was some sort of a dessert. No, I'd heard of Mastiff. I didn't know there was a specific Neapolitan version of the Mastiff. I don't like really big dogs. Because number one, they don't live as long, but it's just a really big dog just overpowers you. I was petting a great day in this past weekend. I mean, the head's bigger than Sims for crying out loud. And think of all that big poop you have to clean up. No, no big dogs. Yes, yes. That's true. The smaller the dog, the smaller the poops. Okay. There's Macy. Oh, there's Macy. And I don't know, that's like some weird, like it's me and Macy combined. That's not the usual Macy file. I can't remember when we did that. But yeah, that's disturbing. Okay. Drud Mayo, disturbing for some Patriots fans, that he has decided to go with Jacobi Bissette over Drake. May, here's Mayo from yesterday explaining his decision at who the starting quarterback will be. We have decided, or I have decided that Jacobi Bissette will be our starting quarterback this season. Now, I'm saying that as an organization, we're 100% behind Jacobi. There is no, you know, you got a guy right here. You got a guy right there. We're 100% behind Jacobi. And I had an opportunity to talk to Drake. I had an opportunity to talk to Jacobi separately and also together. And I feel like we're all on the same page from an organizational perspective. You know, we can't go into the season saying, well, he's going to go XMI weeks. Like, look, as long as Jacobi's going out there performing the way that we all have confidence in him doing, he'll be our quarterback this season. Drake May responded to the news by saying, I can't say I'm disappointed at the same time I want to be playing. And one of the issues, and Gerard Mayo spoke to this last week on the pregame radio broadcast before the preseason finale. Early on, Drake May was too deferential. He's broken out of that shell and he's more competitive and asserting himself. And that's part of what they wanted to see. You want to see it happen organically. So, and look, any time you're the new kid, you're going to be quiet. You're going to watch. You don't want to come in and just be a jerk and start telling people what to do. You want to get your feet wet. You want to get your sea legs. You want to understand how you fit into this broader structure. And I think that's what Drake May did. And he's accelerated past that. I think it's just a matter of time before he's the starter. And it did catch my ear when Gerard Mayo said, we've decided, no, I've decided. I don't know whether I'm going to say that was meaningless because it would be easy to start reading meaning into it. And I don't know what the meaning would be when he says, we've decided, no, I've decided. Regardless, he said, we're 100% behind Jacobi Bursett. And they are, and they will be until the moment that they aren't. Yeah, one of your favorite lines, Mike, but it's accurate. As long as Jacobi Bursett is leading them and they're winning games, which I don't think is going to be very long. He's going to be the quarterback. And after that, it's going to be Drake May. I don't think he's going to hold the starting position very long. I do think Drake May is ready to be the starting quarterback to the Patriots. I just don't think the Patriots are ready for him to be the starting quarterback based on how bad that offensive line is. We talked yesterday about David Carr taking 76 starts as 76 sacks as a rookie. And that just, that killed his chances to become anything other than what he became. And maybe he still would have been that same guy, but we'll never know. I just think that district is confident. So you don't want to do that with a rookie quarterback. Just have them get pummeled and have no chance. And they want to give Drake May a chance. But I do think it's sooner than later, Mike, that he will be the starting quarterback of the Patriots and replace Jacobi Bursett. Other news that popped up yesterday morning. And back in February, Andrew Berry, the jam of the Browns, said that it isn't a necessity to restructure Deshawn Watson's contract this year. He's got that $46 million salary every single year fully guaranteed. Well, they restructured it. They took the $46 million down to the league minimum. The rest of it was converted to a bonus spread out over multiple years. And result, they created $36.8 million in cap space this year. But the other side of that, his cap number for next year with that $46 million salary is $72.935 million. His cap number for the year after that, the final year of the contract, $72.935 million. And he's got a $38 million parting gift, dead cap charge in 2027. So I don't know what they're thinking. And I don't know whether they just want to have flexibility in case an opportunity arises during the season. If all else fails, you can just carry that money to next year and use it to address $22 million cap charge Deshawn Watson's going to have. But, you know, they picked up $36.8 million for a reason. And it was easy to do it. Most of these contracts have the right in there for the team to just basically wave a wand and restructure all the way down to the minimum salary and kick dollars into future years. But it just was weird to get so caught up in. Oh, look at all this cap space they created. The other side of it is look at all this cap space. They're pushing into these years where there's already a pretty big cap number. Yeah, they're projected to be over the cap. No, we don't know what the cap's going to be next year. But they're projected to be over by $44 million. So I'm guessing that's why they did it, Mike, to carry that into next year. But I'm worried for them because of Deshawn Watson's shoulder. Are we positive that that shoulder is good? Are we positive that he can stay on the field? He hasn't shown that. And if that shoulder is messed up and he has another year like he's had the previous two years with the Browns, they're tied to him. They can get another quarterback in there and get that. You don't have to play him necessarily. But does it this mean that they're tied to him now for the next two years for certain? The dead cap hits are just too much. He's got to be on the roster. They're not going to trade him. Nobody would want that contract. Right? They'd have to do the Brock Osweiler thing where they basically give a draft pick. A big draft pick to get somebody to take the guaranteed money or trade him and pay a bunch of the guaranteed money. They're eventually going to have to decide whether to keep him through the end of the contract or do the Broncos Russell Wilson rip off the Band-Aid and pay him $46 million minus whatever the league minimum is that he gets with another team if he gets anything. But this is going to go down as one of the worst trades of all time because the contract was so bad and they gave up three first round picks and three other picks that could have become the nucleus of a team that is already great. They swung for the fences and they hit themselves in the head with the bat and they still have a great team. That's what makes this so unique. This is the first time that we can say that team made an all-time historic bad decision. But man, they're still pretty good. How much better would they be if they hadn't stepped on that rake? Well, and they rebuilt the Texans. We just talked about Texans got a shot this year. They just rebuilt the Texans and the Texans I would say probably are a better team than the Browns this year and they did it overnight with what the Browns gave them through the draft. So yes, they're still a really good team. They thought they were missing that quarterback and they went and they overspent because that's the way they were gonna get to Sean Watson was that fully guaranteed contract that they gave him and now they're stuck with him for lack of a better term. But that's what it is. They're stuck with him regardless of how he plays this year, regardless if he stays on the field, Mike. On the surface, the fact that the Browns are still very competitive takes some of the pressure off of them for him to deliver, but it still underscores the fact that if they didn't have that, that anchor weighing them down, they'd be even better. A ton of pressure on Watson though to finally deliver. You know, in hindsight, you don't want that fully guaranteed five year contract. You don't want everything that goes along with it, especially when you're coming off of all the off field ugliness sitting out a full year because you refuse to play for the Texans and they basically paid you to not play. Talk about a hold and that was a full year hold in. He didn't want to be there. They were gonna trade him. They paid him his full salary that year. They didn't trade him and then the next year the trade happens. He gets suspended. He's played 12 games since 2020 when he had 4800 passing yards and would have been an MVP candidate. He's got to get back to that form and nobody knows if he can, probably including him. We got to take a break. When we return, we're gonna do a draft in honor of college football being back. We're gonna rank the best current Heisman winners in the National Football League. That's next here on PFT Law. All right, it's kickoff weekend for college football. We're gonna do a five round draft as we prioritize the current Heisman winners in the NFL. And there have been some over the years that have not been good. There have some that have been great. There are plenty that are pretty good currently in the NFL. You get the first pick best current Heisman winner in the National Football League. This is the easiest draft number one overall pick we've ever had. Of course, it's the two time MVP Lamar Jackson. I think Pete was already, they were already filling in the spot. Lamar Jackson won the Heisman in 2016. Has now won two MVPs. Of course, has no Super Bowls as we mentioned earlier. That's still missing from his resume. But he has far and away the best player, the only MVP on this list. Number one, easiest pick ever Mike. I don't know that it's as easy as you say it is though. I mean, if you had to choose between Joe burrow and Lamar Jackson, if you're starting a team today and you had to choose between Joe burrow and Lamar Jackson, it's not a no-brainer. It's not a no-brainer. It's a close question and you could make a compelling argument for Joe burrow. Why? Because he shows up and delivers in the postseason. He becomes a different guy in the postseason. He relishes the opportunities in the postseason and he's beaten Patrick Mahomes and he almost beat him again. So it's not a no-brainer. It's a close call. It's a coin flip and I might have picked Joe burrow first. I don't think when you have two MVPs of what they've accomplished in their careers. If you're talking about what they've accomplished, I think it's Lamar Jackson. But if that's a different animal or if we're drafting a team, yeah, I might take Joe burrow over Lamar Jackson. But he's got to stay on the field. He went on the field last year to got to stay on the field, Mike. Lamar doesn't exactly have a stellar history of playing full seasons either. So both guys and to Sean Watson, three of the four quarterbacks in the AFC North have the injury issues. All right, who do you have next? I'm gonna go, Derek Henry. I still think he's one of the best running backs in football and just what he did with the Titans. I love watching him run. I just think it's a lot of fun. He's had a great career. I think he's getting into that. Probably is already there. I haven't really studied it to study it, but a Hall of Fame career. And he's just been, he's been great leading the league and rushing and I think he's still there at his age. And the way he works in the off season, he does it here in Dallas. I just, I think he's gonna have another great year this year. Well, you know, I'll do respect to Kotler Murray and Devontae Smith. Oh, you know, no, no, no. Hey, I was gonna go Caleb Williams. I forgot about Baker Mayfield. Look, I, there was a report yesterday and it wasn't a report. It was quotes from Jason Light, the GM of the Bucks. Any negative press about Baker Mayfield, he sends it to him. And I'm one of the few that is all in with the Bucks this year. I think they're grossly underrated. They probably want me and everyone else to say they're overrated and they're insignificant and we shouldn't pay any attention to them because they fuel themselves with that. But I think Baker Mayfield, for what he did last year, he's resurrected his career. He had flashes of greatness in Cleveland. He was caught in a dysfunctional mess there. He was caught in a dysfunctional mess in Carolina. He's finally had a chance to turn it around and he's on the verge of becoming a franchise quarterback. So give me Baker Mayfield. All right. For my third mic, I am going to take and I'm going against just what I said based on what they've done in the NFL. But Caleb Williams, just based on what he's done in the preseason, the weapons that he has, I just think he's going to have a great rookie year. It's hard not to pick Kyle Murray because if you are basing on what they've done in the NFL, I think Tyler is the next pick, but I'm going to go with Caleb number one overall pick. I'll go with Tyler Murray here. I would have gone with Caleb Williams if you had left him on the board. It's a close call between Kyle Murray and Jayden Daniels, but one guy has proven he can do it. He had the tour in ACL. And I think, you know, all these Cardinals say, "Oh, why do you hate the Cardinals? You hate the Cardinals. I don't hate the Cardinals." I think the organization is dysfunctional. I think the owner probably should have been investigated by the league for a couple of the different things that we've seen come out over the years about the running of the team. But I've always liked Kyle Murray and I think it would be a great redemption story if he can turn it around. And I think he will and I think he's already done great things in the NFL. So I'll take Kyle Murray and we'll take a break and we'll jam in a couple more each before we wrap up the show. All right, current Heisman winners in the NFL. The best of the best. We've done three rounds each. Who else do you have, Shireen? I'm going Jaden Daniels, the commander's rookie. I think he's going to have a well first game and I think he's going to have a ton of well moments this season. I think he's going to be an outstanding NFL player, Mike. I'll go to Montez Smith. He hasn't been spectacular, but he's been a pretty damn good as the Slim Reaper. One of the guys who got paid this off season right before the Avalanche started. It's like Howie Roseman saw what was coming and we're not doing a fifth round. I'll do respect to Marcus Mario to James Winston and Bryce Young. No, no, we're not. We're not doing it. They get the consolation prizes. They get the Rice Seroni because it is the San Francisco treat. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend. Be safe. Have fun. See you next week. The $5 meal deal at McDonald's means you get to pick between them a double or a chicken. Then get a small fry, a small drink, and a four-piece McNuggets. That's a lot of McDonald's for not a lot of money. Get the $5 meal deal today. Prices in participation may vary for a limited time only. Hey Applebee's, congrats on becoming the official grilling bar sponsor of the NFL. How does it feel? I'm glad we'll be able to bring some extra heat. Any plans to celebrate? Yeah, we're going to serve up America's favorite boneless wings for this $0.50 each to kick off the season. Limited time price participation in selection may vary tax number 2D excluded.
